230 SUCH IS THE FAVOUR OF PRINCES. 



of being sold to him, particularly a horse of the 

 value of the one described. He knows he cannot in re- 

 purchasing do justice to himself, and at the same time 

 give satisfaction to his customer; consequently, to 

 avoid, if possible, giving any offence or losing his 

 money, he begins (and perhaps with truth) by de- 

 claring "that his stables are quite full; that he has 

 really more horses on his hands than he knows what 

 to do with ; that the season for harness-horses is 

 nearly gone by ; that he is selling off his own horses 

 of this sort to make room for hunters, which are the 

 only horses he intends buying till the spring; that 

 in the spring he would be happy to buy a dozen such 

 as the one offered ; but that now he should have to 

 keep the horse and lay out of his money for at least 

 seven months before he could think of even offering 

 him for sale." Now all this is more or less true, 

 though the whole is set down as mere excuses on 

 the part of the dealer; and they are most unques- 

 tionably brought forward to avoid entering on the 

 proposed treaty; and it finally ends in his giving 

 what is really the best and most honest advice under 

 existing circumstances, namely, that the horse should 

 be turned out for the winter ; in which case he would 

 again come out a splendid horse for the purpose for 

 which he was at first purchased. This advice is, 

 however, almost certain not to be attended to. The 

 real fact is, his owner, as a man of fashion and 

 fortune, was determined to have one of the finest 

 horses in London for his cab : he bought him ; 

 his friends had all seen and admired him ; the no- 

 velty of the thing was over: and a new toy is 

 wanted, for as toys such horses must be esti- 

 mated. The owner was determined to have a whistle 

 for his amusement; he bought a highly ornamented 



