blood; or on the other hand, if his colts are strait** upon their
legs, and found to be good racers, shall the perfection of such
colt be imputed to the blood of the father, when we can account
for speed in the one, and the want of it in the other, from the
different attitude of each Horse? We are further acquainted, that
the Horses we call Turks, are in reality Arabs; that the true
Turkish Horse, is a large, heavy, majestic animal, of no speed,
designed to ride on for state and grandeur; that it is the custom
of the bashaws in Arabia occasionally to choose, from their
provinces, such colts as they like, and send them to the grand
seignior's stables which they do at their own price, and which the
Arabs, who breed them, look upon as a very great hardship. These
colts are again picked and culled, after having been some time in
the grand seignior's stables, and the refuse disposed of at his
pleasure, so that the fine Horses found in the possession of the
Turks, are either some of these which are cast from the grand
seignior's stables, or which the Turks buy from the Arabs whilst
they are young. And he farther acquaints us with the reason why
the Turks choose these Arabian Horses when young, because, if
continued long in the hands of the Arabs, they are small, stunted,
and deformed in shape; whereas, when brought into Turkey, a land
of greater plenty than the deserts of Arabia, they acquire a
greater perfection both of size and shape. Now, whether these
Turks and Arabs are of the same or different extraction, may
perhaps be very little to our pourpose; but it is absurd to
suppose that providence has bestowed a virtue on a part only of
this species produced in any one country, (which species was
undoubtedly designed for the use of man) and that mankind should
not be able, in any age, to determine with precision this virtue,
or fix any criterion, whereby to judge with any certainty.