308 THE HORSE. 



contests of men or beasts, whether in the race or 

 combat, I apprehend there is no considerable party 

 in this country, disposed to call for a legal prohibition 

 of them. Excesses, indeed, may occasionally arise, 

 which the law at present in force, is, or may be ren- 

 dered fully competent to repress ; and there can be 

 no greater difficulty in ' drawing the line' in this, 



than occurs in such a variety of other human con- 

 cerns. 



The following picture of a bull bait, celebrated 

 last autumn at Smithwick, was drawn by a surgeon, 

 an inhabitant of that town, and an eyewitness. " The 

 bull was brought to the stake on Monday, and very 

 early in the contest, about three inches were torn off 

 his tongue, that he could afterwards neither eat nor 

 drink, nor retain the spirit to defend himself ; yet he 

 was again brought to the stake on Tuesday, and again 

 on Wednesday ; and on the Wednesday evening he 

 was seen creeping towards the slaughterhouse, with 

 his poor mangled remains of life, after the rate of a 

 quarter of a mile an hour, attended and goaded on 

 by an infuriated rabble of human demons, there to be 

 slaughtered for human food." I may venture to say, 

 that throughout the long course of years, in which I 

 have known or seen accounts of bull baiting, there 

 has not one passed, in which similar or greater atro- 

 cities have not been perpetrated ; but those tortures 

 which are inflicted on the tame and mild spirited 

 beast, in order to excite his passion and resistance, 

 are absolutely too horrible and damnable for recital ! 

 The fautors of this sport boast of its wonderful effi- 

 cacy in teaching men courage and contempt of dan- 



