Litchfield enquirer., 1858-09-30
MIR. EVERETT ON THE HORSE

mily-1He Horse of Edmund Burie.
 At banquet which closed the Horse Fair in Springfield, on the 17th, speeches were made by George Ashmun, Governor Banks, Edward Everett, and other distinguished men. After some intro ductory remarks by Mir. Ashmun, MT. Everett said:
 MT. President, Ladies and Gentlemen believe one of the exploits of the distinguished person to whom my friend Ashmun has alluded, is to make the animals that are submitted to him lie down and go to sleep. Applause and laughter. hope, sir, that my speaking, whatever other effect it may have, will not produce that * *
 Sir, it is perplexing, it is almost painful to consider what high degrees of intellectual and moral powers are evnced by animals whom we protanely call brute beasts. l suppose it was reflection on these noble qualities of the horse, intellectual and moral, that led the wit tiest, the bitterest, and I am sorry to say, the filtbiest of the satirists of our language-I mean Dean Swift-in that remarkable ra- nance of his, the most fascinating as the most revolting of books, to represent the horse un- der that unpronounceable name which he gives him, as the wiser, the more sagacicus, the no- bier animal, and to describe the human race under the disgusting character of the Yaho6, as an inferior order of beings. l don't know, sir, but you vii. think it rather beneath the dignity of the occasion to allude to such a book as Gulircr's I1arels, and yet it docs marks, one of those passages inte which the wisdom of ages is condensed in a single sen tence, and which is more often quoted, at least of; on shows, than perhaps any other ill the whole compass of literature. The man," says Gull
 liver, who eau make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow on the spot where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind and render more essential service to the country than the whole race of politi- cians put together" Laughter and ap- plause. When this is quoted at agricultural meetings by patriotic candidates for office, this last part of the sentence is generally omitted.
 Renewed laughter.
 The noble qualities of the horse seem, in- , deed to have made an impression upon the most brutalized of our own species. 1 sup pose it is this, if it were worth while to at tempt to account for the freaks of madman, which led the Emperor CaliguIa to erect marble stable for his horse, lnctatus, to pro- vide him with an ivory manager, with housings of imperial purple, breast-plate studded with diamonds and pearls, and to elevate him to the dignity of the Cousuship. This seems, to be surt, mere freak of madness, and yet l am incliued to think that at that time it was a better choice than could have been made out of the venal courterS and factious pr9torians of the imperial court {; and believe, sir, had 1t been put to the vote throughout the Roman empire, then co-eXtensiye with the civilized world, they would have decided that they had better consul iH the horse than in the Elm peror. Laughter and applause Sir, they had been too familiar with the rapacity of the tyrants who chased each other over the stage dagger in hand, not to be pleased with the e- ovation of ruler who took nothing but oats out of the public crib laughter "a ruler, sir, who, while the reins were with him, would at least have given them stable" admins tration. Renewed laughter.
 trust, sir, that the beautiful performances of Mir. Rarey, to which my friend Ashmun has alluded, may be the meaus of diffusing some useful ideas in this respect throughout the community. Whether there is yet some unex- |plained means of influence in the possession of this gentleman not shared by the rest of the community, I know not but one thing, I think, sir, is certain, that one great portion consists in gaining and keeping the affections of the animal by gentle and kind treatment For this, if for no other reason, he deserves the greatest credit for what he has done in this respect, although l believe he is not the first who has succeeded by this same treat ment in subduing the wildness, changing even the native instincts Of what are commonly called the most untamable animals often saw in the streets of London-and I believe the same thing may be seen at Barnum's Mu- scum in New York-what was called The Happy Family"-a collection of animals in a large wire cage, most hostile in their Lature- cats and rats, hawks and mice, owls avd wrens, living together in these close quarters, in the