PURCHASING HORSES. 169 



f 



such things. The finished coachmen of the Pearl, 

 Age, Manchester Express, Berkeley Hunt, &c., held 

 it miserably slow to say a word to their teams, unless 

 it was to quiet them, or preparatory to a pull-up ; 

 the double thong drawn gently across a wheeler, or 

 the point lighting like a fly on a leader under the 

 swing-bar, was enough for such teams as they drove. 

 I leave you to judge by this, whether on such horses 

 as first-rate workmen in the field ride, they would 

 not hold it infra dignitate to use an expedient some- 

 times resorted to by a whip on a tired horse." 



"Then, I suppose," said Pupil, *' I should be held 

 a Goth by these highflyers, if they knew I had even 

 asked the question." 



'* Not at all," said Mentor ; '' the voice often 

 stands in better stead than whip or spur ; in a case 

 of sudden emergency it is quicker in its eff"ect. It is 

 only its frequent use I disapprove, knowing that by 

 it it loses all effect, like the Welsh coachman's sepul- 

 chral appeal to his horses." 



*' But the whip and spur do not lose their severity 

 by frequent use." 



