FRAUD. oOo 



terest, the law will not take cognisance of the im- 

 positions which may be practised upon him owing 

 to his negligence. Vigilantihus^ non dormientibus, 

 jura suhserxiunt^ — (the laws relieve the careful, not 

 the negligent,) — is an ancient maxim in the law, 

 and forms an insurmountable barrier against the 

 claims of an improvident purchaser. In Dyer t*. 

 Hargrove, (a case in Chancery,) a purchaser was 

 compelled to take an estate, though varying from 

 the description inserted in the particulars of sale, 

 in consequence of not having taken the trouble 

 to look into the truth of the statement. And in 

 another case, of Bayly 'e. Merrel, it was held, that 

 " no man was bound to give credence to another's 

 speech ;" and the Judges instanced a case where 

 '' a person buys a horse under a warranty that he 

 has both his eyes, when he hath but one, in which 

 case the buyer is remediless ; for it is a thing which 

 lies in his own cognisance, and such warranty or 

 affirmation is not to be material, or be regarded ; 

 but otherwise it is, in cases where the matter is 

 secret, and properly in the cognisance of him who 

 warrants it." 



Perhaps enough has now been stated to show the 

 value of '•'' caveat emptor'''' to all who purchase or 

 sell horse-flesh; and there only remains one species 

 of fraud to be mentioned, which, although for a 

 long time practised with great success in London, 

 is nearly worn thread-bare by means of the seve- 

 ral exposures of it by the press. We allude to 

 the practice of chaunting unsound horses, as this 

 species of SAvindling is called, by the means of 



