THE ADVERTISEMENT, 5 



the plate of which serves until it is policy to make a 

 new move, when a fresh one is engraved, bearing ano- 

 ther name, the wardrobe is also changed, and the cut of 

 his jib so altered, by trimming his whiskers or shaving 

 them clean every morning, that his victim who is sel- 

 dom gifted with a superfluity of natural intelligence 

 would have great difficulty in recognising the accom- 

 plished chaunter in the crowded thoroughfares of London, 

 where this peculiar business is chiefly carried on, for it 

 is comparatively unknown in the provinces. 



The horse chaunter rarely exposes himself to the 

 amenities of the criminal law ; and even if he did, his 

 victim will generally prefer to let the matter drop, 

 sooner than rake it up again in a police-court ; for he will 

 say to himself, " I shall be so ashamed to let So-and-So 

 hear of it, and every one of my friends will think I 

 have been foolish, and after the exposure, I may net 

 get my money back." And so, for this' reason, many 

 horse-chaunters have, from time to time, escaped, and 

 will again, for the very same reason, in spite of all that 

 may be said by way of warning, because the stock of 

 fools is kept up by constant reinforcements. 



In the case above referred to, an advertisement ap- 

 peared in a morning paper, written in a classical style, 

 and purporting to emanate from a gentleman who was 

 anxious to sell a pair of superb and high- stepping car- 

 riage horses. A first-class carriage was hired to stand 

 in the coach-house, contiguous to the stable, in which 

 the pair of beauties stood, (the value of said carriage 



