A Dissertation on Horses: Wherein It is Demonstrated, by Matters of Fact, as Well as from the Principles of Philosophy, That Innate Qualities Do Not Exist, and That the Excellence of This Animal is Altogether Mechanical and Not in the BloodOsmer, William
History
A Dissertation on Horses: Wherein It is Demonstrated, by Matters of Fact, as Well as from the Principles of Philosophy, That Innate Qualities Do Not Exist, and That the Excellence of This Animal is Altogether Mechanical and Not in the Blood
We have an account in one of his books, (I forget the year when it
was published) of a very famous chariot-race, that was run over
Newmarket between five noblemen; and though it was the custom at
that time to run with a two-wheeled chaise and pair only, instead
of four, we find all other customs nearly the same. The names of
the Horses are given us, their pedigrees, and the names of the
drivers; the course is marked out, judges appointed, betts**
offered, but no crossing or jostling allowed; a plain proof they
depended on winning from the excellence of their Horses alone. But
though a curricle and pair was then the fashion, there lived at
that time a strange mad kind of fellow, haughty and overbearing,
determined that no body should do anything like himself, who
always drove three; and though the recital of this circumstance
may be considered as trivial, or little to the purpose, we shall
find something in the story worth our attention, and with respect
to Horses, a case very singular, such a one as no history, no
tradition, nor our own experience has ever furnished us with a
similar instance of.
It seems these three Horses were so good that no Horses in the
kingdom would match them. Homer, after having been very lavish in
their praise, has given us their names, and the pedigree of two of
them, which it seems were full brothers. He tells us, they were as
swift as the wind, and in his bombast** way of writing, says they
were immortal; which expression is exactly of the same style and
meaning with our modern phrase high-bred, and could mean nothing
else, because in the recital of the pedigree, he tells us, they
were got by this same North-country Horse before mentioned, called
Boreas, and out of a flying Mare called Podarge. But the
singularity of this case is, that the third Horse, whom he calls
Pedasus**, was absolutely a common Horse, and of no blood. Here I
beg leave to make use of Mr. Pope's words, who, in his
translation, speaking of those Horse, says thus:
"Who like in strength, in swiftness, and in grace,
"A mortal courser match'd th'immortal race."
Now as nothing is more certain, than that no Horses but those of
blood can race in our days, I have long been endeavouring to find
the true reason of this singular instance, and cannot any way
account for it, but by supposing this equality of strength and
elegance might produce an equality of swiftness. This
consideration naturally produced another, which is, that the blood
of all Horses may be merely ideal; and if so, a word of no
meaning. But before I advance any thing more on this hypothesis,
and that I may not be guilty of treason against the received laws
of jockey-ship, I do here lay it down as a certain truth, that no
Horses but such as come from foreign countries, or which are of
extraction totally foreign, can race. In this opinion every man
will readily join me, and this opinion will be confirmed by every
man's experience and observation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account