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EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
notoriously vicious and obstinate. He practised his skill in private, and 
without any apparent forcible means. In the short space of half an hour, 
his magical influence would bring into perfect submission and good temper 
even a colt that had never been handled ; and the effect, though instanta- 
neously produced, was generally durable. When employed to tame an out- 
rageous animal, he directed the stable, in which the object of his experiment 
was placed to be shut, with orders not to open the door until a signal given. 
After a tete-a-tete between him and the horse, during which little or no 
bustle was heard, the signal was made, and on opening the door the horse 
was found lying down, and the man by his side playing familiarly with him 
like a child with a puppy dog. From that time he was found perfectly 
willing to submit to any discipline however repugnant to his nature before. 
“ ‘ I once/ says Mr. Townsend, £ saw his skill on a horse, which could never 
before be brought to stand for a smith to shoe him. The day after Sullivan’s 
half-hour lecture, I went, not without some incredulity, to the smith’s shop, 
with many other curious spectators, where we were eye witnesses of the 
complete success of his art. This, too, had been a troop horse, and it was 
supposed, not without reason, that, after regimental discipline had failed, no 
other would be found availing. I observed that the animal seemed afraid 
whenever Sullivan either spoke or looked at him : how that extraordinary 
ascendancy could have been obtained it is difficult to conjecture ; he seemed 
to possess an instinctive power of inspiring awe, the result perhaps of a 
natural intrepidity, in which I believe a great part of the art consisted ; 
though the circumstance of the tete-a-tete shows that upon particular occa- 
sions something more must have been added to it. A faculty like this, 
would, in other hands, have made a fortune ; and great offers have been 
made to him for the exercise of his art abroad, but hunting and attachment 
to his native soil were his ruling passions. He lived at home in a style 
most agreeable to his disposition, and nothing could induce him to leave 
Duhallow and the fox-hounds.’ ” 
Mr. Castley goes on to say that — 
“ The days of miracles and of magic are gone by ; and however necroman- 
tic this may look (for I believe no man on earth can account for it), it is 
nevertheless quite true. There are so many living witnesses of the extraor- 
dinary power this man possessed, and his mystical art was practised for such 
a length of time, and on such a variety of subjects, that there is no such a 
thing as doubting the fact. It is a fact , be it recollected , of the nineteenth 
century, . My friend, Mr. George Watts, of Dublin, who is a man not at all 
to be swayed by superstitious notions, has told me that he had more than 
one opportunity of witnessing the wonderful effect of Sullivan’s art. c And 
if I had not seen it myself,’ he always observes, ‘ I would not believe it.’ 
One remarkable instance in particular he relates, which, as it affords another 
practical example illustrative of the point at which I wish to arrive, I shall 
take the liberty to repeat. This incident took place at the Curragh of Kil- 
dare, in the spring meeting of 1801. Mr. Whallev’s King Pippin was 
brought there to run. He was a horse of the most extraordinary savage 
and vicious disposition ; his particular propensity was that of flying at and 
worrying any person who came within his reach ; and if he had an opportu- 
nity, he would get his head round, seize his rider by the leg with his teeth, 
and drag him down from his back. For this reason he was always ridden 
in what is called a sword , which is nothing more than a strong flat stick, 
having one end attached to the cheek of the bridle, and the other to the 
