A very slight expenditure of the last-named quality would save the equine race from a long list of ills which now are consequent upon mortal ignorance or upon human brutality. It is painful to reflect how many of those affections spoken of as equine disorders might be cheaply eradicated by the more reasonable treatment of the animal which man proverbially esteems to be his most hazardous property. Cruelty is a very extravagant indulgence. There are now living persons who merely treat their horses according to the dictates of reason, and whose stables are graced by working lives of an extreme age. When he last walked through the Royal Mews, the author was much gratified to behold several fine animals, in the full enjoyment of strength and of vigor, which had more than attained their twentieth year. It might prove nationally remunerative if all of her Britannic Majesty's subjects would permit the creatures over which they exercise legal ownership to live and to labor for their natural terms of existence. However, during the glorious days of post chaises, the horses for these vehicles generally cost £30, while, as an average, they existed upon the road only two years. What a sacrifice of life and of money! Each horse cost the postmaster £15 yearly; while the animals working for the queen, and drawing carriages not conspicuous for lightness, if bought originally for a like sum, would not cost more than £1 per annum. The contrast is certainly startling. But to perfect it, there remain to picture the sorry jade which was formerly harnessed to the public chaise, and the stately creature which, in all the delight of beauty, accompanies Royalty to the Parliament House. But there are other items to be considered before the opposite accounts can be fairly placed one against the other. A post-house generally was a pest-house. The miserable inhabitants of such a building did not suddenly die off, but, like other things, horses rocked to and fro before they fell. The closing scene of life was heralded by many fits of sickness, each of which was of varying duration. Were we to reckon the money which loss of services abstracted, the extra cost of those attentions which are imperative when health is failing, and the hard cash paid for veterinary assistance, very probably a far wider distance than at first glance is apparent would divide the Royal Mews from the sheds which used to form a part of every large roadside hotel.