A dealer''s yard. 505 



very respectable appearance, carried on this trade 

 for a great many years, and although frequently 

 brought before the Police Magistrates, he always 

 escaped punishment from the difficulty of proving 

 fraud. The horses selected for this purpose are 

 generally of the finest symmetry and appearance, 

 but from accident or disease rendered useless. 



The interior of a dealer's yard during the hours 

 of business, is by no means an uninteresting sight ; 

 at all events an entertaining one, especially in Lon- 

 don. The anxious stare of the by-standers, whilst 

 listening to the insinuating oratory of the dealer- 

 interrupted only by a parenthetical exclamation to 

 his man to " heep his whip still^'' an admonition 

 which he knows better than to attend to — together 

 with the alternate workings of doubt and confidence 

 in the customer, exhibit human nature in some- 

 what more than her every-day costume. Horse- 

 dealing, however, like the game of whist, requires 

 a partner, and it often happens that there is some 

 one in hearing of the customer to confirm what the 

 dealer has advanced, and " caveat emptor^^ should be 

 always present to his mind. Shameful misrepre- 

 sentations of the merits and qualifications of horses 

 are made on those occasions, and although there 

 may be several honourable exceptions amongst the 

 higher order of dealers, we may quote the words of 

 an old writer, who says, that " as mortar sticketh 

 between stones, so sticketh fraud between buyers 

 and sellers of horses." 



A large horse fair is the scene not only of amuse- 

 ment, but those who think with Pope, that the best 

 2u 



