THE HORSE. 205 



leged as a fancy man, leaving his near side vacant 

 to attract the asking eyes of any pretty pedestrian 

 damsel, whom he may hap to find fatigued upon the 

 road. And with regard to the proper driving paces, 

 it appears to me that either a single, or pair of horses, 

 galloping has an awkward and unseemly appearance, 

 that pace being only tolerable with four in hand ; 

 with which, indeed, it must be acknowledged, if they 

 all gallop handsomely together, there is something 

 spirited and gallant in the show. 



SECTION XXXI. 



Previous to entering particularly into the practice 

 of driving, I feel the necessity of some explanation. 

 I have no pretence whatever to eminence as a drags- 

 man. Whatever I may know, little or much, of the 

 subject, has arisen chiefly from long observation, and 

 the sum total of my pretensions is, that I might for- 

 merly have taken four steady horses through their 

 stage with safety, handling the ribbons in such a style 

 as to escape rebuke or ridicule. This being the 

 case, I shall, for the instruction of the reader, have 

 recourse to higher practical authority than my own ; 

 at the same time using that freedom to which I must 

 yet hold myself intitled, of making any objections 

 that may appear to me rational and appropriate. 

 The highest and best existing authority then, accord-' 

 ing to my estimation, is the well known writer Nim- 

 rod, of the Sporting Magazine. As sufficient 

 vouchers for his thorough practical knowledge of the 

 art of driving and management of the horses, we 



