6 
Half-bred  Horses  for  Field  or  Road : 
numbers  the  State  stallions  served  129,000  mares,  and  got  77,000 
foals.  Trotting  races,  it  is  observed,  offer  an  important  means  of 
testing  half-bred  horses ; trotting  races  afford  the  breeder  a 
standard  and  an  aim,  and  they  direct  attention  to  trotting  sires. 
The  mission  to  Austria  and  Hungary  was  in  1881.  The  Report, 
like  everything  of  the  sort  that  is  French,  is  admirably  complete 
and  admirably  clear.  In  Austria  proper  English  thoroughbreds 
multiply  more  and  more,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Oriental  races. 
Many  famous  English  names  appear  in  the  lists  of  stallions  with 
the  note  “ born  in  England  !”  Of  1881  State  stallions,  69  were 
English  thoroughbreds,  749  English  half-bred,  145  Norfolk,  382 
Arab  half-bred.  In  Hungary  proper,  of  1620  stallions,  73  were 
English  thoroughbreds,  571  English  half-bred,  54  Norfolk,  and 
439  Arab  half-bred.  The  Hungarians  have  a stud-book.  They 
have  a great  society  for  the  import  and  sale  of  English  horses 
and  mares  : it  encourages  racing  and  trotting  races  ; fox-hunting 
has  been  introduced  ; and  last,  but  not  least,  at  Ruda-Pesth  the 
Hungarians  have  created  a great  centre  and  focus  for  their  horse 
trade,  and  the  Magyar  language  containing  no  word  expressive 
enough,  or  sufficiently  confidence-inspiring,  they  have  named  it 
“ Tattersall’s.”  * 
Concerning  science,  there  are  more  things  than  are  dreamt 
of  in  our  philosophy.  Nature  and  the  horse-breeder  are 
no  doubt  sometimes  at  cross-purposes ; all-bountiful  Nature 
ordains  for  the  general  good  of  the  world-spread  equine  race ; 
men  strive  for  their  own  narrow  interests.  There  is  amongst 
us  no  man,  however  experienced,  however  practical,  who, 
thinking,  presumes  to  say  to  the  flowing  tide  of  modern  science, 
“ hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  further  ” ! The  all-con- 
taining Book  of  Nature  is  open  spread  out  before  every  one  of 
us  ; let  us  reverentially  search  its  ample  endless  pages,  and 
according  to  our  several  lights  read,  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly 
digest.  I cannot  cite  chapter  and  verse  ; I cannot  expound  the 
laws  of  Nature ; I cannot  preach  to  evolve  truths  from  Nature’s 
teeming  pregnant  texts — would  that  I could  ! Charles  Darwin, 
that  “ Gamaliel  ” at  whose  feet  I would  have  sat,  could  only 
spell  out  and  exactly  decipher  here  a word  and  there  a line. 
But  as  the  gathered  wisdom  of  many  gleanings,  I,  though 
ignorant,  think  I may  venture  to  suggest  one  word  that  certainly 
will  not  be  found  in  that  law-containing  Book  of  Nature,  it  is — 
in  the  sense  of  accident,  haphazard,  or  fluke — the  misguiding 
word  chance. 
“ It  is  interesting,”  says  the  Philosopher, f “ to  contemplate  a 
tangled  bank,  clothed  with  many  plants  of  many  kinds,  with 
* “ Ce  Tattersall  (on  lo  nomme  uinsi)  cat  lo  centre  du  commerco  hippique  do 
la  Hongrie.” 
f Charles  Darwin  ; ‘ Origin  of  Species  ; ’ the  Conclusion. 
