St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1858-10-07
EVERETT ON THE HORSE,
At SPRINGFIELD, MASS, SEPT. II, 1861

of intellectual and moral power are
evinced by animals whom we profane-
ly call brute beasts. lsuppose it was
a reflection on these noble qualities of
the horse, intellectual and moral, that
led the wittiest, the bitterest, and, |
am sorry TO say, the filthiest of the
satirists of our language--l mean
Dean Swift-in that remarkable ro-
nance of his, the most fascinating
well as the most revolving of books,
to represent the horse, under that N
pronounciable name which he gives
him, as the wiser, the more ~sagacious,
the noblcr animal, and to describe the
human race under the disgusting char
Of the Yahoo, as an inferior or
der of beings. | don't know, sir, but
you will rather think it beneath the
of the occasion to allude to
such a book as Gulliver's Travels"
and yet it does contain, among many
most instructive remarks, One of those
passages into which the wisdom of
ages is condensed in a single sentence,
and which is more often quoted, at
least part of it, at all agricultural and
rural shows, than, perhaps, any other
in the whole compass of literature.
The man. says CULVER, who can
make two cars of corn or two blades
of grass to grow on the spot where
only one grew before, would deserve
better of mankind, and render u more
essential service to the country, than
the whole race Of politicians put to-
gether." Laughter and applause
When this is quoted at agricultural
meetings by patriotic candidates for
Office, this last part Of the sentence is
generally omitted. Renewed laugh
fer. The noble qualities Of the horse
seem, indeed, to have made an impress
sion upon the most b~rntaliacd of our
own species. l suppose it is this, if
it we're worth while to attempt
to account for the freaks of a
mailman, which led the Emperor Cali
gula to erect a marble stable for his
horse Iucitatus, to provide him with
an ivory Manager, with housings OF
imperial purple, Il breast-plate studded
with diamonds and pearls, and then to
elevate him to the dignity Of the con
sulship. This seems, to be sure, n
mere freak OF madness, and yet | am
inclined to think that at the time i
MAS y better choice than coaid have
been made out of the venal courticrs
and factious p]ratorians of the impe'
rial court, and | believe, sir, had il
been put to the vote throughout the
Roman empire, then cO-~cXtcnsIvc with
the civilized world, they would have
decided hat they had a better consul
in the horse than in the Emperor
Laughter and applause. Sir, they
had been too familiar with the rapaci
tv Of the tyrants who chased eaci
other over the stage, dagger in hand
not to be pleased with the elevation
of a ruler who took nothing but oat:
out Of the public crib laughter -
a ruler, sir, who, while the reins were
with him, would at least have givel
them a stable administration. Re
newcd laughter. | hope, sir, wit
the Governor, that the general result
of these exhibitions will be that, Will
they tend to improve the animal him
self, they will also tend to enlarge on
sympathies toward him, and thus, il
the final result, to secure him bette
treatment /; and there is too mucl
room for Improvement in this respect
sir, in all parts of the country. lsaw
but a few days ago, in the city Of Bos
ton, a brute in human form perche'
upon the side of his wagon, holdin:
his horse with a careless and loos
REIN, going at a smart trot all tn
while, allowing him to go down o
his knees on a sharp corner OF tn
slippery pavement. The noble an
NAL made convulsive and finally SUI
c~essrul effort to ccovc himself; hu
he had hardly risen to his feet whe
the driver lcaped from his wagon an
began, for what was his own fault,
apply the handle of his whip to til
head and the inside of the legs of til
noble beast, and could scarcely b
restrained by the indignant rcmol
STRANGE of the ~bystanders. | trus
; sir, that the beautiful performances
Mr.. Rarcy, to which my friend AS
nun has alluded, may be the meal
, of diilusing some useful ideas in tn
respect throughout the communit
Whether there is yet some unexplaine
means of influence in the posscsslt
+ .of this gentleman not shared by Il
b rest of the community | know not
4 but one thing think, sir, is certain
i that one great portion consists III Sai
+ ing and Keeping the affections of Il
+ animal by gentle and kind treatmcr
For this. it for 10 other reason, he d
serves the greatest credit for what
has done in this respect, although
. believe he is not the first who b
$ succeeded by this same treatment
subduing the %wildness, changing CIV
< the native instincts of what are co
e monty called the almost untamat
&C animals. | often saw i'll the streets
e London-and | believe the same thil
IF may be seen at Barnum's Museum,
1t New York-what was called "T
N Happy Family"-a collection of a
mails in a large wire cage, most III
tile in their nature-cats and ia
ID hawks and mice, owls and wrcns, |
ut ing together in these close quartz
. in the utmost smity and friendsh
T. | asked the Snowman what was
secret of the operation by which
II brought about those astonishing
ly suits. He told me it was persever.
rs kindness. He did not say, sir, in W
lg particular way that kindness was
tc be manifested. l believe part of
ed consisted in always keeping them S
piled with plenty of the food they W
he fond of ; but it was persevering kl
Sc ness. My experience led me to tn
nd that the amicable relations thus est
to lished among the animals did not
on tend to outsiders ; for | rather III
vertently put my finger through
bars of the cage, when a large
ID. spranG It il MithLsuchSaRid1tx-th