MISCELLANEA. 
477 
on the Sunbury road, to the fifth milestone next Staines, and 
the carriage was driven by a man weighing thirteen stone. The 
match was duly trumpeted forth in the papers, and the hu¬ 
manity of the parties extolled for commencing at night (regard¬ 
less of the fact of that very night being one of the hottest ever 
felt), together with the usual flourishes about the worthies who 
managed the affair, and the appearance of the mare during and 
after the performance, &c. That excellent body the ‘‘ Society 
for the Suppression of Cruelty to Animals,” to whose laudable 
exertions in favour of the brute creation too much praise cannot 
be given, do not appear to appreciate the humanity of the parties, 
or to relish the undertaking more than ourselves, and sent the 
following notice to the landlord of the inn where the mare stood ; 
and though we should not wish to see it followed up by a pro¬ 
secution in this instance, inasmuch as the parties might pos¬ 
sibly be ignorant of the penalties they incurred^ we yet nope 
that it may act as a caution to them, and all others, against the 
commission of similar atrocities in future*. 
SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO 
ANIMALS, ESTABLISHED 1824. 
Office, No. 3, Exeter Hall, Strand. 
“ Sir, —The Committee of the above Society, having read in the public 
papers that it is the intention of certain individuals to make a horse trot 
one hundred miles within ten hours and a half, in harness, over five miles 
of Sunbury-common, on Wednesday next, June 10, and your house being 
named as the head-quarters, I am directed to inform you, that this Society 
has come to the resolution to prosecute the riders or drivers who may be 
concerned [in such acts of inhumanity and barbarity; and they have deter¬ 
mined to spare neither trouble nor expense in endeavouring to put a stop 
to such disgraceful proceedings. 
I am. Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
“June 9, 1832. “ Henry Thomas, Secretary. 
The following is reported to be the time and mode in which 
the cruelty was accomplished; and we place it on record against 
those who can thus abuse the powers of the noblest animal in 
the creation; of what avail, we ask, could it be—what good end 
could it promote—if even the willing victim had been urged to 
accomplish fifty miles more at a similar rate ? If despatch is 
the object, will it not be much better attained by dividing the 
distance, and placing relays ? and is it likely that in a country 
with such a })opulation, and which has reached such a state of 
* No after-proceedings were taken in this case, but the Society has 
determined to act with promptitude and effect if any “ similar atrocity’’ is 
attempted.— Edit. 
VOL. VIII. 3 T 
