wrong way, and would not change his plans; by doing which he has at least the chance of hitting on a good one, or some better one at last.

A man with a less predominant good opinion of his own abilities would neither continue long in any habitual error, or even trust to himself in adopting other modes if he could avail himself of the advice or suggestions of those of more experience and practice as regards any particular pursuit; for it in no shape follows that he must look for a man of superior attainments of mind to himself in order to derive benefit from his ideas or advice. He may without vanity feel perfectly satisfied that the attributes of his own mind may be incalculably of a superior order to those of him to whom he applies; but a very little modesty must teach us that however great may be the natural qualities of a man's mind, and however highly they may have been cultivated by education, a common plumber's labourer may be able to give him a lesson in hydraulics that would excite his surprise, or, at least, his curiosity and admiration. It is true, the plumber's man may make sad havoc even with his mother tongue, and, if he were told that the Missouri emptied itself into the Caspian sea, would, of course, believe it. He is not one to apply to for geographical information, we must allow; but the man of education need not laugh at the other's ignorance. If he did, I would ask him if he could oblige me by putting on a sucker to my pump? Not he, for the life of him; though a bit of leather and nails are all that is wanted. If, therefore, he wants to interfere with pumps, he had better seek information from others before he puts them out of order by adopting his own ideas and pursuing his own plans in matters that he knows but little about.

There are many persons to whom I stand in the position of the plumber. To such I offer no apology for soliciting their excuses for these sheets; for in such a case, I trust, I am not guilty of an act of presumption. To those who know more of my subject than I do, I offer no apology; for, of course, I do not write for their instruction.

Looking at horses in a general way, so far as they are kept by gentlemen, we must chiefly regard them as objects of show and amusement; for though utility may also be added, still in the hands of persons of condition it is but a secondary consideration in the inducements to keep them. Whether, however, we consider them as objects of luxury or utility, or as both, the keeping them in the best state of health and condition becomes an object of material moment-as regarding kind ness to the animal, vanity as to his general appearance as belonging to ourselves, and also as a matter of pecuniary consideration; for I do not know any saleable article whose price is more enhanced or deteriorated by its appearance than is that of the horse; and that appearance, barring accident or illness, depends wholly on the mode in which he is treated; and, in fact, both accident and illness greatly depend on his treatment also. If it was not so, why do we daily see one man losing heavy sums by his horses (independent of their general expenses of keep, attendants, &c.); another losing only the amount of those general expenses; a third making them nearly keep themselves; and a fourth making them do this altogether, and also occasionally putting something in his pocket by them? This all arises from the different way in which these different men first buy and then treat their horses.

All men, or at least ninety-nine out of a hundred, who can ride or drive a horse decently, are fully satisfied they can also buy him. Now, though riding or driving moderately well is not a matter of very easy attainment, or learnt by the generality of those who keep horses, and though to do both well is one that falls to the lot of very few indeed, the buying part of the business is far more difficult still: yet such is the infatuation of most persons, that though they find they rarely if ever buy a horse fitted for their purpose, and, as a matter of course, lose heavily by all that do not, experience in this particular seems universally thrown away on them, and they persevere in buying for themselves to the day of their death, which is the only circumstance that could prevent their still going to market.

There are certainly some men who, if they really know but little about horses but want one, will ask a friend, perhaps a first-rate judge, "to look out for them ;" that is, they are disposed to honour such a friend by permitting him to trot about to twenty different dealers' stables, and see perhaps forty horses out, and for what? That the intended purchaser may then go and pass his judgment on these same horses! I do not know what such gentlemen may think on making such a request; but this I know, unless a man had made up his mind to the honour of becoming their groom, I should certainly recommend him to decline that of being their tout.

I have an acquaintance who boasts that he never does anything without getting the advice of his friends. This is quite true; he does so. He gets it, but no one who knows him will ever accuse him of acting on any one's advice but his own; and if one may judge by the results of what he does, I should say his counsellor has not usurped all the wisdom of the bar for the benefit of his client. I could say pretty much the same thing of many of my friends who retain the same counsel when purchasing their horses.

The office of purchasing anything for friends, is one that a sensible man would certainly rather avoid than seek; for should he, in point of quality or price, by superior tact or judgment, save a friend thirty, forty, or fifty per cent. in the purchase, he would first find it difficult to persuade that friend that he had done so, or that the friend could not have done as well for himself. Then, should the horse or article pur chased turn out ever so well, he will barely get thanks for what he did; but should he or it not realize every expectation formed, the purchaser will not only get constant and sundry direct and indirect hints on the subject, but, worse than all, will probably find that he will be expected to turn salesman. Should he get the purchase off without loss, all that will be thought is, that it was no more than his absolute duty to do so. If any loss accrues, it will probably be delicately insinuated that had the friend purchased for himself this would not have happened; though it may be perfectly well known that he never made a purchase in his life by which he did not lose. But then, of course, that all arose from ill luck, not from want of judgment-for this is a want to which very few are subject, when judging themselves; though their thinking so is the best possible proof that they do labour under such deficiency.

Notwithstanding these stumbling-blocks in the way of obliging another, no man of good feeling or good nature would, where his judgment was properly appreciated, refuse to purchase for a friend if, from

any circumstance, his doing so would render a service; but, then, purchasing for a friend is quite a different thing to playing jackall and starting the game for Mr. Lion to select from, or forking out the chesnuts to save Mr. Pug the risk or trouble of doing it himself. Being requested by a friend to look at a horse he has found, is a compliment : being sent to find one for the friend to look at, is diametrically its

reverse.

Supposing a man to be a known first-rate judge, there are two distinct classes of persons for whom he may in a general way safely purchase, without subjecting himself to the several disagreeable results I have mentioned: First, a man who is a perfect judge himself; for, if from want of opportunity, time, or any other cause, he asks an equally good judge to purchase for him, he will mention (if it is not already known) the style of horse he likes for any particular purpose, then the purpose for which he is wanted, and give some idea of the price he intends to give; or, what is more usual among such men, will send up a check or the amount of money for the purchase. Such a man knows horses too well to expect you to send him perfection; but he will feel certain that the horse sent him will be fit for the intended purpose, and the purchaser will feel equally certain that what he does send will be properly appreciated, if the horse does not quite answer the intended purpose. Knowing the difficulty of getting one that does, there will be a proper appreciation awarded to the pains taken and judgment used in the selection. If, from any peculiar whim or fancy of the owner, the horse does not quite suit his wishes, he will have sense enough to lay the blame on his entertaining such peculiarity of idea, and not on the purchaser; and should the horse even turn out bad or unfortunate, the same sense will tell him that the same thing, or some other, might have occurred had he purchased for himself; nor will his confidence in the purchaser's judgment be at all shaken by the circumstance. These are by far the pleasantest of all men to have to act for.

The other man is one who knows nothing at all about horses, and has sense enough to both know and admit that such is his situation. He will also mention the purpose for which he wants the animal; may perhaps state the colour he would prefer, or the size, or about the size he wishes, if necessary: he will know that if he states the purpose to which the horse is to be applied, and whether show or use, or both combined, are wanted, the proper horse for the purpose will be sent him, whether it is to carry eight stone or eighteen, to draw a brougham, or a pony carriage; possibly, nay, most probably, the horse sent will be quite a different sort of animal to the one he would have purchased for himself. In fact, the one being a judge, and the other no judge at all, it is twenty to one but it will be so; for if not, there would be no use in employing another person. What is, however, generally the result? He finds the one sent carries or draws him pleasantly and safely; he has got what he wanted for his use, and probably writes and tells the purchaser he would not take twice the money given, if it was offered him, to part with his purchase. He would be quite right in refusing it, unless the same judge would good-naturedly undertake to get him another, and even then he would be wise to hesitate. It is bad economy in a man who is not disposed to, or conversant with buying and selling, to part from anything that suits him for profit on its sale;

nor should a man that is suited ever part from a horse who, taking him on the whole, does his business well and comfortably, under the idea of getting perfection. He will not get it, though dealers may assure him that he will. They live by keeping alive his hopes in this particular.

The first, best, and most strenuous advice I would give to any man wanting horses, not being a thorough, good, practical judge, yet wishing to keep the money together, I shall write in large characters

NEVER BUY FOR YOURSELF.

I am quite satisfied that most men who are good judges would, if they studied their pecuniary interest only, very often do much better by letting an equally good judge buy for them, than by purchasing for themselves. It must be observed, I say their pecuniary interest, without reference to their amusement, their whims or caprices. In some proof of this, it is quite well known there are many men who have been employed by dealers to go to fairs and other places, to purchase horses for them, and have always on the average bought well for their employers. These men have turned dealers, and when buying for themselves have been as unfortunate and injudicious in their purchases as before they were successful and prudent. I know one most respectable person he has rung the changes on being dealer's man and dealer himself several times over: he never succeeded for himself, and always has when employed for others.

The fact I have stated must at first appear somewhat unaccountable ; but a little consideration will show that it arose from a very natural cause. I have said the person was a respectable man: I need not, therefore, say he was an honest one. Why he did not succeed as a dealer did not arise from ill luck, imprudence in his business, or from not being a good salesman; but from buying badly for himself. The cause was this. No man knew better the kind of horse to buy to pay ; and when employed for others, his good judgment and honesty never allowed him to buy any other; but when laying out his own money, he departed from those fundamental rules that should invariably guide every man in purchasing to make money, or, at least, to avoid loss. He would sometimes give an imprudent price, because he fancied a horse; sometimes would let a money-making horse escape him, because he did not fancy him; and at other times would be tempted by a comparatively low price to buy one that his judgment condemned. While when acting for others he allowed no whim, fancies, or price to hoodwink his good judgment as to what ought or ought not to be purchased. If, therefore, such a man would allow fancy to mislead-in fact, direct his judgment, what may we not expect one to do who does not buy expressly for sale, and is not an experienced buyer?

Many a good judge is often so captivated by some peculiar point in a horse, either as to beauty or qualification, that he is tempted to buy him against his judgment; he has a right to do so if he can afford to pay for his whim, but he would not buy such a horse for another. In laying out the money of another person, or in giving advice to another, he would only look at intrinsic value; that value might consist in beauty, or action, or both; but he would use his best efforts to get his friend or employer value for his money-in short, would only buy a horse likely to keep the money together."

If a man fell in love with a beautiful face and faultless figure, accompanied by the temper and disposition of a very fiend, perhaps nothing could induce him to forego possessing his idol; but he would not select such a one as a wife for a friend. I have seen good judges thus infatuated with a horse who, taking him in all particulars, was about as desirable an acquisition in his way. This is another idol. I congratulate the man who gets both; but looking to the latter only, if good judges, when buying for themselves, will sometimes get into such scrapes, what have the bad ones to expect?

The man who is not a horseman must further bear in mind the very different situation in which he will stand if he gets a horse that does not suit him, to that of the man who knows what he is about. If the latter gets hold of a horse with certain failings, he knows how to eure or palliate them; or if not, to so far hide them as to enable him to get rid of them, and the brute with them. The man who is not a horseman can do neither. Whatever the fault may be with him, it will be shown in all its deformity; very probably be made worse. Tattersall's 66 to be sold for what he will fetch" is the only remedy. There another Mr. Green gets accommodated; the original one, notwithstanding the lesson, no doubt going to market again; he will then probably get the significant colour changed, and he gets done Brown. This do possibly makes him look very Black, till he again sells, and again buys one who, on his mounting him, makes him look very Pale, and throws him. This makes him Black-and-blue: he sells him, and gets another bargain. Before mounting, he looks at his bruises; he finds they are Green; and when he is mounted, the people look at him, and declare he is Mr. Green again. I have given what I know to be good advice to such persons; that is not to buy at all. If, however, they are determined to run the risk of doing so, I will tell them the only sort of horse they will have a chance of not losing much by; and, on the other side, the sort by which they must lose.

Every man knows the purpose or purposes for which he wants a horse; but as possibly he does not know the sort fit for the purpose, let him at least show this much judgment-let him buy one that has been satisfactorily doing the same sort of work he wants him for, and one that has been seasoned to it. Such a horse, from many circumstances, he may have the opportunity of buying at a fair price; in short, at something like his ordinary value. I am now only alluding to road horses, for we will not suppose any man insane enough to contemplate buying hunters unless he is a good judge of them; and indeed, unless he is this, and a good horseman to boot, he will have no occasion, or, I should think, inclination to possess them. Mrs. Glass says, "first catch a hare;" but she supposes you to be already a cook, otherwise she would probably have said "first make yourself a cook :" so I should say, first make yourself a horseman, then get the hunters.

When I recommend the tyro among horses only to buy such as he has seen doing in a satisfactory way the description of work for which he wants them, I must give him another caution, and that is, to consider whether he is judge enough to decide whether the horse has done this work in a proper manner; for a satisfactory way, as the term is now applicable, renders it by no means a definite one; as the question may be put, "satisfactory way" to whom? For if it is only satisfactory to