TRUE BRITON. 107 



endeavoring to prove that what was known as the Justin Mor- 

 gan horse, the original forefather of the family, was, if not 

 absolatelj, at least as nearly as possible, a thoroughbred him- 

 self. 



But now, to come directly to the point, we find, from a mass 

 of affidavits, of exactly of such a character as one would be led 

 to expect, made by the sons and grandsons of the man himself, 

 "and of the neighbors of the man, who owned this horse above 

 half a century ago — a horse of whose pedigree the owner kept 

 no records, and of which he himself evidently knew nothing, 

 except what he had received from the loosest hearsay evidence, 

 and village or bar-room gossip — something to the following 

 effect. 



The horse was got by a stallion, variously called "True 

 Briton " and " Beautiful Bay," owned by one Selah Norton, of 

 East Hartford, Connecticut. 



Of this True Briton, which must not be confounded with 

 the True Briton got by the imjjorted horse Othello out of the im- 

 ported mare Gant's Milly, whose name is in the Stud Book — 

 nothing can be said to be authenticated, even if it be conceded 

 that he was the horse stolen from Colonel Delancy, at Kings- 

 bridge, who commanded a corps of refugee cavalry, and was 

 the son of the importer of Wildair, Lath, and the celebrated 

 Cub mare — although it depends only on an '• it is said " that he 

 was the stolen horse. 



Thus far I am disposed, however, to accept the tradition. 

 That the horse belonging to Mr. Justin Morgan was the son 

 of True Briton, is probably a fact ; and that True Briton was 

 stolen, as described, is probably true also ; since that is the sort 

 of fact concerning which tradition is likely to be correct ; an 

 exploit of that kind, during the existence of a partisan war, being 

 of the very nature to create much attention, to elevate the suc- 

 cessful marauder into a local hero, and to render the stolen 

 animal also notorious, and nnlikely to be mistaken for another. 



We now, however, come to rumor number two, restiug on 

 nothing but the merest local gossip, that True Briton was the 

 son of the imported English horse. Traveller, then standing in 

 IS'ew Jersey. 



From this vague rumor, elevated into a fact, we are next 



