to give a reafon now for the nag-tail but when he is ia violent action he as formerly for the fort dick. Two things are urged in defence of this cruel mutilation-the utility, and the beauty of it. Let us as briefly as pothole examine both. To make an animal ufeful is, no doubt, the first confideration: and to make a horfe fo, we must neceffarily make him fuffer fome things which are unnatural, because we take him out of a state of nature. He must be fed with hay and corn in the winter, which he cannot get in his open paf tures: for if he have exercife beyond nature, he must have fuch food as will enable him to bear it. As it is neceffary lisewife to make our reads hard and durable, it is neceffary alfo to give the horse an i-on boof, that he may travel over them without jaring his feet.--Bot all this has nothing to do with his tail, from which no incumb ance atifes. Yes, lays the advocate fut docking; as it is necullary for the horse to ta vel, to hunt, and to race, it is useful to lighten him of every incum brance; and as is necefîacy for him to travel through dirty roads, this ufeful to rid him of an indrament which is continually colle&g dirt, and lafhing it over himself and his rider. To cafe your horfe of every incumbrance in travelling is certay right. You fhould fce that ti brge and faddle (which are his great cumbrance) are as cafe as puttible: and that the weight he carrie- or draws be proportioned to his ftreopth. But depend upon it he receives no incumbrance from nature. It is a maxim among all true philofophers, that nature has given nothing in vain: and there can be no reasonable coubt, but that nature has given the horfe his tail to balance and athift his motions. That this is the cafe feems plain from the ufe he makes of it. When the animal is at reft his tail is pendant, raifes and spreads it as a bird does in the fame fituation. Would the fwat low or the dove be affitted in their, fight by the loss of their tails? or the greyhound in his fpeed by docking him? For myself, I have no doubt, but if the experiment were tried at Newmarket, which I fuppale it never was, the horfe with has long tail, however the literati there might laugh at hm, would not be in the leaft injured in his fpeed; and would certainly anfwer better, in all his fudden turns to the intention of his rider. He would extend and fpread his helm ; it would fleer his way; and we would feldom hear of his running out of his courfe or on the wrong fide of the poit. Befides, his tail Befides, his tail probably affils him even in his common exertions, and balances his body when he trots, and prevents his humbling. I have heard a gentleman who had travelled much in the cat remark, that the Turkish and Arabian horfes rarely fumble; which he attributed, and with much appearance of truth, to their long tails. But whatever ufe the tail may be to the horse in action, it is acknowledged on all hands to be of infinite use to him at rest. Whoever fees the horse grazing in fummer, and obferves the connant ufe he makes of his long tail in lathing the flies from his fides,. mul be prifuaded, that it is a moit ufeful instrument: and must be hurt to see him fidget a fhort dock backward and forward, with ineffectual attempts to rid himfel of fome plague which he cannot reach. As to the objection against the tail as an inftrument, which is continually gat'ering dirt, and lafhing it around, it there be any truth in what I have aiready oblerved, this little objection diffolves itfell, elpecially as the inconvenience may with great cafe be remedied when the road is dirty, ei ther ther by knotting up the tail, or by tying it with a leathern strap. But whatever becomes of utility, the horse is certainly more beautiful, we are told, without his dangling tail. What a handsome figure he makes when he carries both his ends well! This is the conftant language of horfedealers, stable-keepers, and grooms; and fuch language, tho' originating in taftelefs ignorance, and mere prejudice, has drawn over men of fenfe and understanding. It is inconceivable how delufively the eye fees, as well as the understanding, when it is fafeinated and led afide by fashion and cuftom. Afficiated ideas of rarious kinds give truth a different air. When we fee a game-cock, with all his fprightly actions, and gorgeous plumes about him, we acknowledge him one of the most beautiful birds in nature. But when we see him armed with fteel, and prepared for battle; we cry, What a fcare-crow! But a cock fighter, with all the ideas of the pit about him, will conceive, that, in this latter ftate, he is in his greateft beauty and if his picture be drawn, it must be drawn in this ridiculous manner. I have often feen it. Let jockies and ftable-boys, and cock-fighters keep their own abfurd ideas; but let not men who pretend to fee, and think for themfelves, adopt fuch ridiculous conceits. In arts, we judge by the rules of art. In nature we have no criterion but the forms of nature. We criticize a building by the rules of architecture: but in judging of a tree, or a mountain, we judge of the most beautiful forms of each which nature hath given us. It is thus in other things. From nature alone we have the form of a horfe. Should we then feek for beauty in that object, in our own wild conceptions, or re-. car to the great original from whence we had it? We may be affared, that nature's forms are always the most beautiful; and therefore we ought to correct our ideas by hers.It, how3 N VOL. XIV. No. 84. ever, we cannot give up the points let us at least be confiftent. If we admire a horfe without a tail, or a cock without feathers, let us not laugh at the Chinefe for admiring the difproportioned foot of his miftrefs; nor at the Indian, for doting on her black teeth and tattooed cheeks. For myself, I cannot conceive why it fhould make a horfe more beautiful to take his tail from him, than it would make a man to clap a tail to him.-With regard indeed to the natural beauty of a horfe's tail, we want little reafoning on the fubject. In conjunction with his mane it gives him dignity.It hides his ftraddling buttocks, which is a decency in nature we should admire rather than deftrov.It forms a contraft among the legs. The four equal legs of every animal are its greateft deformity; and their famenefs of courfe gives the painter the most trouble in the management of them. In many of her forms indeed, where nature does not feem to aim at beauty, the neglects this economy: but as if fhe meant the horfe for one of her molt elegant productions, fhe has provided for him in this refpect alfo, by giving him a graceful flow of hair, which hiding fometimes one leg, and fometimes another, introduces a pleafing contraft among them all.The accidental motion alio of the tail gives it peculiar beauty; both when the horse moves it himself, and when it waves in the wind. The beauty of it indeed, to an unprejudiced eye is confpicuous at once; and in all parade and ftate horfes it is acknowledged : though even here there is an attempt made to improve nature by art; the hair must be adorned with ribbons, and the bottom of the tail chipped fquare, which adds heavinefs, and is cently fo far a deformity. The captain of an English man of war gave me an account fometime ago of his landing in one of the pirati cal ftates of Barbary, while his flip apchored anchored in the bay. He was received by the Dey (I think, of Tripoli) with great civility; and among other things, faw his ftables. They were lined with a very long, double row, of the most beautiful Barb and Arabian borfes. He was ftruck with their beauty, to which their grand flowing tails, combed, and oiled in the niceft manner, were no little addition. As he continued his walk through the itud, he came to a couple of horfes with nag-tails. On inquiring into their history, he found they were Eng. lifh horfes, which had been prefented to the Dey. The horfes themfelves were fit to appear any where; but the contraft of their tails, he thought, in fuch company, made fo very trange and difgraceful an appearance, that he was afhamed of his countrymen.The cafe was, his eye having been thus accustomed to the beautiful forms of nature, had gotten rid of its prejudices; and being a rational man, he faw the matter in its proper light. 1 fhall conclude my remarks on this cruel mutilation, with an epigram by Voltaire. That celebrated wit was in England about the time when the barbarous cullom of docking horfes was in high fashion. He was fo fhocked at it, that he wrote the following verfes, which, it is faid, he gave to Lord Lyttleton. have led men to cut off the tails of hofes, have led them alfo to cut of their cars. I fpeak not of low grooms and jockies; we hare lately feen the ftuds of men of the first fashion, mifled probably by grooms and jockies, producing only cropt horses. When a fine horfe has wide, lopping cars, as he fometimes has, without fpring or motion in them, a man may be tempted to remove the defor mity. But to cut a pair of fine ears out of the head of a horfe, is, if poffible, a ftill greater abfurdity, than to cut off his tail. Nothing can be alledged in its defence. The ear neither retards motion nor flings dirt. Much of the fanie ground may be gone over on this fubject which we went over on the last. With regard to the utility of the ear, it is not improbable that cropping it may injure the horfe's hearing: there is certainly lefs concave furface to receive the vibrations of the air.I have heard it alfo afferted with great confidence, that this mutilation injures his health : for when a horfe has loft that penthouse which nature has given him over his ear, it is reasonable to believe the wind and rain may get in and give him cold." But if thefe injuries are not eafily proved, the injury he receives in point of beauty may ftrenuously be infifted on. Few of the minuter parts of aniVous, fiers Anglois, et barbares que vous mal nature are more beautiful than etes, the ear of a horfe, when it is neatly formed and well fet on. The contrait and the convexity being generally feen of the lines is pleafing, the concavity together in the natural turn of the ear: nor is the proportion of the ear le's plea fing; it is contracted at the inferion, fwells in the middle, and tapers to a point. The ear of no animal is fo beautifully proportioned. That of fome brafts, efpecially of the favage kinds, as the lion, and pard, is naturally rounded, and has little form. The ears of other animals, as the fox, and cat, are peinted, hert, and thick Thofe Thofe of the cow are round and heavy. The hare's and afs's cars are long, and nearly of the fame thickness. The dog, and wine have flapping ears. The theep, alone has cars that can compare with the horse. The ear of the horse receives great beauty alfo from its colour, as weil as form. The ears of bay and grey horfes are generally tipped with black, which melts into the colour of the head. But the ear of the horse receives its greatest beauty from motion. The ear of no The ear of no animal has that vibrating power. The ears of a fpirited horfe are continually ip motion; quivering, and darting their fharp points towards every object that prefers and the action is till more beautiful, when the ears are fo well fet on, that the points are drawn nearly together. Virgil, who was amongst the most accurate obfervers of nature, takes notice of this quivering motion in the ears of a horfe. courage; and of anger or malice, The former he expreffes by darting them forward; the latter, by laying then back. This digreffion hath carried me much farther than I intended; but the mutilation of the tail and ears of this noble animal is fo offenfive to reafon and common fenfe, that I have been imperceptibly led on by my indignation. Tho' nothing I can fay on the fubject, I am well perfuaded, can weigh against the authority of grooms and jockies, fo as to make a general reform; yet if, here and there, a fmall party could be raised in oppofition to this ftrange cuftom, it might in time obtain fashion on its fide. We commonly fuppofe, that when mankind in general agree in a point, there is truth. I believe no nation upon earth, except the English, have the cuftom among them, of docking, nicking, and cropping their horfes. The wifdom -Si qua fonum procul arma dedere, too of all antiquity decides fully against the practice. Iuftances perhaps Stare loco nefcit; micat auribusmight be found in the bas-reliefs of The fame word which he ufes here to the Antonine column, and other reexprefs the motion of a horfe's ears, mains of Roman antiquity, both of he ufes elsewhere to exprefs the gleam- the cropt ear and of the hogged-mane, ing of arms, the glittering of a gem, (which I take for granted were never and the vibrating motion of a ferpent's practited except in cafes of defect,) tongue. But it is not only the quiver- but I am perfuaded, no one inftance ing motion of the horfe's cars that we can be found in all the remains of admire, we admire them a fo as the Grecian, or Roman antiquity, of a interpreters of his paffions; particular- fhort dock, or a nag-tajl. ly of fear, which fome, denominate Hiftorical Account of Marfeilles; by Lord Gardenftone *. MARSEILLES is undoubtedly the most ancient city in France; -it was founded by a colony of Grecians feveral centuries before the Chriftian æra-When the reft of Gaul was in a fate of barbarity, Marseilles long fubfifted as an independant repub lic, governed by excellent laws;flourishing and advancing in wealth and population by its great commerce, to fuch a degree, that at different periods they fent out colonies, founded and peopled other cities and towns, on or near the Mediterranean coaft, N 2 particularly From "his Travelling Memorandums, just published." particularly Nice, Toulon, Hyeres, Antibesat length it was fubjected by the Romans, and governed by a maritime prefect, fent annually frem Rome -Cæfar's account of the fige of Marseilles is a precious morfel of their hiftory. They long enjoyed the important benefits of a free and independant republican state;-during that happy period, they not only flourished by commerce and opulence, but were alfo diftinguished for learning, arts, and sciences.-The Greek language was fpoken with high purity at Marfeilles t.-Cicero celebrates their literary fame, and attefts, that in his time the Romans fent their youth for education indifferently to the academies of Athens or to Marfeilles. With the lofs of liberty, as ufual, their glory and profperity declined, and ceafed to make a great fi gure in the world. This city almoft perifhed in the common ruin of the Roman empire, when conquered by the inundation of barbarous nations: yet in confequence of a fingularly great and natural advantage of fituation, they foon revived; and even during the dark ages of Gothic ignorance and tyranny, they continued to practife a very confiderable and extenfive commerce. It is certain, and demonftrated by experience of ages and nations, that the government of petty princes is lefs favourable to the fecurity and interefts of fociety than the government of monarchs who poffels great and extenfive territories.-The race of great monarchs cannot poffibly preferve a lafe and undilurbed state of govern ment, without many delegations of power and office to men of approved abilities and practical knowledge, who are fubje&t to complaint, and refponfitle for their adminiftratior, or without an eltallfled fyftem of laws and regu lations ;-fo that no inconfiderable degree of fecurity and liberty to the fubject is almost infeparable from, and effential to, the fubfiftence and dura tion of a great monarchy;—but it is ufual for petty princes to practife an arbitrary and irregular exereife of pow er, by which their people are reduced to the condition of milerable flavery. -Indeed, very few of them, in the courfe of ages, are capable to conceive any other means to maintain the oftentatious flate, the luxurious and indolent pride, which they mistake for greatnefs. I heartily wish that this obfervation and cenfure may not, in fome inftances, be applicable to great landed proprietors in fome parts of Britain. One of the moft pernicious confequences of the Gothic conquests was, a diftribution of vaft territories among their leaders or petty fovereigns, with the various titles of kings, princes, dukes, mar quiffes, counts, &c-A great part of France was fo divided and fubdivided.-This country of Provence, comprehending Marteilles, was for ages governed by a race of counts-though they had affemblies of the ftates, or parliaments, thofe af femblies never poffeffed any regulated or established conftitution, and were no more than feudal head courts of the fufuperior, or over-lord, which he might call and diffolve at pleafore were always either fervile or tumultuary; and no real fecurity or public advantage could ar fe from their unfettled and undefined pretenfions to rights and privileges. The ftate of Britain was not, for ages, materially different. Marfeilles languished under this goverument ; but ever fince their umon with the great monarchy of France they have been allowed to enjoy valuable public rights and municipal privileges, They + Their carmen langurge new is either a Celtic jargon, called Patois, or a mixture ef corrupted riench and Italian ;—but the better fort speak French properly. |