The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-30 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I trust you will allow me space for but a few
words of comment on Admiral Rous's letter. He
appears to consider that the increased size given to
our breed of racehorses, from their having been for
many generations reared in a highly artificial man-
ner, and fed on factitiously rich food, can be at-
tended with unmixed advantage ; but the whole his-
tory of our breeds of stocks of all kinds—witness the
successive breeds of dairy cattle, and some of our
breeds of sheep—show that you cannot give an un.
natural enlargement to a race of animals to fit them
for any of the various uses of man without in sonic
way interfering with their natural vigour. Thus some
of our breeds of dairy cattle have either died out or
have been crossed with a hardier race of animals,
living in a more natural state and feeding on natural
food. Thus, what was called the breed of new Lei-
cester sheep acquired a delicacy that rendered
them of little value unless crossed with animals of a
more vigorous race. I readily believe that our race-,
horses would vanquish the best Arabs in any trial
but one of very long endurance; hut the fact that
the former have more speed than the latter does not
prove that the racehorse would not receive improve-
ment in stoutness and soundness by a cross with a
breed living under more natural conditions. The
vigour of any race of animals is always greatest
when the race is at its natural size. This vigour of
consatution must not be confounded with muscular
power, which is quite a different thing. lam glad
that Admiral Rous admits that the regulations for
the Queen's Plate were revised in the years 1833,
1847, and 1861, " because they broke down so many
horses," for we are always told that the racehorse
of the present day could run the old distances
under heavy weights with impunity if his owner
called upon him to do so. The fact is, when the
old distances and weights became too severe
for the horses then in possession of the turf, only
two alternatives remained to those who had the con.
trol of the turf and to the breeders—either to go in
quest of fresh blood, or to lower the standard by
which the racehorse was tried. Unfortunately for
those who regret the test of stoutness being given up,
the latter alternative was chosen. A test that
would be barbarous now was not so at the begin.
ning of the century and earlier; for while in these
days a single race, as the Derby or St. Leger, is often
sufficient to render the winner unsound for life, we
know that horses of former times remained five and
six years on the turf, and ran great distances under
great weights without breaking down. No one
would dispute that " those who pay the fiddler
have a right to call the tune," or that those who
own horses have not a perfect right to do what they
will with their own ; but when those who agree
with me on the question of the deterioration of
horses in certain useful qualities see all the great
component parts of the racing system—as, for in-
stance, the light weight handicaps, and the univer.
sal practice of running horses at a tender age....
lamented and deprecated by maay of high autho-
rity on the Turf, we may be excused if we think
that it has ceased to be a system likely to secure
and maintain to us a race of stout sound horses for
general purposes, and if we consider, to use Admi-
Roes's graphic words, that it has become "a ;;;.me
of weights."—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,

PErtCY WYNDHAM.
44, Belgrave-square, June 29.

LIBERATION OF GENERAL LANGIEWICZ. The
Austrian Government, on the application of the Swiss
Federal Council, has released General Morgan Langiewica,
who had been confined as a prisoner in the fortress of Joseph-
stadt. The Federal Government has given an assurance
that the general will not return to Poland. The Nord
states that Mdlle. Fustovoloff, the " ea-companion in arms"
of General Langiowiez, is about to be married to a litho-
grapher at Vienna, a Polo by birth.