RIDING RECOLLECTIONS 



mere volition of a creature so much smaller and 

 feebler than itself, it seemed to acknowledge 

 some mysterious and overmastering power such as 

 the disciples of Mesmer profess to exercise on 

 their believers, and this, in truth, is the whole 

 secret of man's dominion over the beasts of the 

 field. It is founded, to speak practically, on 

 reason in both, the larger share being apportioned 

 to the weaker frame. If by terror or resentment, 

 the result of injudicious severity, that reason 

 becomes obscured in the stronger animal, we 

 have a maniac to deal with, possessing the 

 strength of ten human beings, over whom we 

 have lost our only shadow of control ! Where is 

 our supremacy then ? It existed but in the 

 imagination of the beast, for which, so long as it 

 never tried to break the bond, a silken thread 

 was as strong as an iron chain. 



Perhaps this is the theory of all government, 

 but with the conduct and coercion of mankind we 

 have at present nothing to do. 



There is a peculiarity in horses that none who 

 spend much time in the saddle can have failed to 

 notice. It is the readiness with which all accom- 

 modate themselves to a rider who succeeds in 

 subjugating one. Some men possess a faculty, 

 impossible to explain, of establishing a good 

 understanding from the moment they place them- 

 selves in the saddle. It can hardly be called 



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