232 " THE WEAK GO TO THE WALL." 



such is the case, wisely declines burthening himself 

 with an unsaleable commodity. In fact, the dealer 

 should have been the last person instead of the 

 iirst to have been applied to. An animal of this 

 description once purchased should be sold only to 

 and among a certain circle, till time and use have 

 rendered him no longer a novelty, and bring 

 him to the price of ordinary purchasers, among 

 whom he would probably be sold, re-sold, and sold 

 again without much loss, if any, to his different 

 masters. 



I have dwelt thus long on this supposed case to 

 account for the great fluctuation often arising in the 

 price of the same animal in a few months, which does 

 not arise from any diminution in his intrinsic value, 

 but depends on the situation in which he is placed 

 from being offered to different classes of persons, and 

 to account for the fact that Gentlemen do, as they 

 represent, often purchase so dear, and are compelled 

 to sell (comparatively) so cheap. But this is not 

 confined to horses only : it will be found to bear 

 equally on any other description of merchandise. 

 The tradesman must have his profit. If you want to 

 dispose of any purchased article, the least you can 

 expect to lose is the tradesman's profit on it, and the 

 quantum of loss to be sustained depends on the 

 judgment employed in the purchase, and the de- 

 scription of article purchased. 



A friend of mine, a very good judge of horses in a 

 general way, went to see a horse for a wager carry a 

 dealer's boy over a monstrous high wall. I accom- 

 panied him, was much astonished at the leap, and 

 quite as much that so heavy-headed ill-made a beast 

 should be capable of the feat. My friend was so 



