CONCLUDING CAUTION TO PURCHASERS. 513 



On the first day of his riding him, he cut one of 

 his heels so deeply by an over-reach, that he could 

 not try him again for a period of two months. His 

 hocks then gave way, and the money was, after 

 some hesitation, offered to be returned, but the pur- 

 chaser preferred taking another horse, at the same 

 price, which proved one of the best hunters he ever 

 had in his stable. 



The followino- remarks of the editor of the Bri- 

 tannia newspaper, (December 15, 1841,) in a re- 

 port of a trial of warranty — Hazell x. Bardell — 

 in which a verdict was given for the plaintiff, are 

 very much to the purpose : — 



" This is one of that class of actions which go 

 under the name of Horse Causes, and in which the 

 witnesses on both sides usually seem to consider 

 they have a prescriptive right to indulge in an un- 

 limited quantity of what is technically termed 

 ' hard swearing."* We should say there is no 

 branch of dealings in which every class of society 

 is so frequently taken in, as in the purchase of 

 horses. A dashing sheriff 's-officer who, in his time, 

 had played many parts, is, for the moment, meta- 

 morphosed into a nobleman, wishing to dispose of 

 some thorough-bred animals, in consequence of his 

 unavoidable absence on the Continent ; or an ima- 

 ginary lady of quality, existing only in the fervid 

 imagination of some ' horse chaunter,' desires to 

 part with an exquisite pair of ponies, of so gentle a 

 character that a child might drive them. There 

 are no specific rules by which persons can conduct 

 themselves so as to avoid these impostures, but 



