done much, but it is reasonable to expect that
encouragement will do more; for this show
rewards, while the society only punishes.

One hundred and twenty-five animals were
entered for the show, and though some of the
most notable specimens were sent by
distinguished personages, the great majority were the
property of very undistinguished personages,
viz. costermongers and chimney-sweeps. When
it is remembered that the show continued for
four days, during which time the exhibitors
were deprived of the services of their animals,
it will be readily understood that it was no easy
matter to bring so many of them together. It
was, of course, necessary to indemnify the
owners of the donkeys for their loss of time;
and in some instances to persuade them that the
promoters of the show meant them no harm.
But when this had been accomplished by the
tact and energy of Mr. Douglas, the manager,
the costermongers entered into the affair heart
and soul, and seemed to be quite alive to the
humane object of the exhibition. The lower
classes are usually rather suspicious of the
patronage of great folks; but on this occasion
they found the great folks and themselves, as
regards mules and donkeys, on the same footing.
The Prince of Wales and the costermonger
exhibited their donkeys side by side; and if the
stall occupied by the prince's donkey was rather
smarter in its appointments than some of the
others, was not the stall occupied by the mules
of Mr. Tom Sayers quite as smart? And while
the ass-cloth belonging to the prince was marked
with three feathers and the letters P. W., were
not the mule-cloths of Mr. Sayers embroidered
with the letters T. S., a garter, a lion rampant,
and a figure of Mr. Sayers himself, stripped to
the waist, and standing in an attitude of
self-defence? Princes, earls, prize-fighters, and
costermongers were all, for this occasion at least,
simply exhibitors of mules and donkeys.

The donkeys and mules exhibited by the
"swells" were, of course, pets, who fared
sumptuously every day, were regularly washed and
cleaned and currycombed, and had never,
perhaps, done a day's work in their lives. The
prince's donkey, Vicar, may have once tasted a
thistle, as Brummel once tasted a pea, and as
Lord Brougham once ate a fourpenny dinner in
the New Cut. And he looked like a donkey
who would say, with the view of making less
fortunate donkeys contented with their position,
that he never enjoyed anything so much in his
life. He was evidently, however, a donkey who,
as regards thistles, was not permitted to indulge
his predilection. It was to be expected that all
the pets would look well, and they did, but it
was not to be expected that some of the
work-ing class donkeys, the "mokes," accustomed
to drag fish and vegetables about the streets all
day, and to be ridden within an inch of their
lives on Hampstead Heath, should look equally
as well. But they did. Indeed, on the whole,
I think the costermongers' donkeys were the
handsomest in the show; and, judging from the
sleekness of their coats and the soundness of
their knees, they appeared to have been well
taken care of and kindly treated. The affection
which their masters lavished upon them in
presence of the humane public was most delightful to
witness. Great hulking fellows with beetle brows,
bullet heads, and deeply scarred cheeks, were
seen handling their donkeys with the greatest
tenderness, gently smoothing their coats, patting
them on the back, and even, embracing and
caressing them. Going round from stall to stall,
and seeing affection welling so liberally from
such unlikely fountains, I should not have been
surprised if I had come upon the long-promised
exhibition of the lion and the lamb reclining
together on terms of the most perfect amity.
Not an improper adjective, not a sound of a
blow to be heard! Had Mr. Douglas thrown
some spell over those costers, or was it a dream
of the good time coming? In genteel Accents,
and in a tone of quiet philosophy, I heard two
gentlemen, in the very narrowest of corduroys,
the very wispiest of neckerchiefs, and the
greasiest of caps, set upon heads displaying all
the generally received developments, natural
and accidental, of ferocity, thus conversing:

"I should not wonder, William, if this here
show would do a great deal of good in perventing
cruelty to hanimals."

To which William replied, "I have no doubt
of it, Joseph; and it's just the thing as is
wanted, for the way in which some fellows treats
the poor beastes is shameful!" And Joseph,
as showing his reprobation of the conduct of
such inhumanity, put his arms round his donkey's
neck and demonstratively embraced the animal.
I concluded that William and Joseph were of
those exemplary persons who, when they have
donkeys that won't go, disdain to proceed to
the extremity of walloping, but, instead, give
them some hay and some straw, and incite them
to action by a mild " Gee-up!"

It is worthy of remark that the donkeys were
all in much better condition than their masters.
Regarding them both as pure beasts, any one
desiring to possess a specimen, would have
infinitely preferred the donkey to the man. But
this, after all, was a compliment to the men, for
they had lavished all their care upon their
donkeys and bestowed none upon themselves.
Best clothes and clean faces had not been
thought of. They came from their work "just
as they were," and though there, was a great
show of linen, it was occasionally displayed in
quarters where it is usual, in other society, to
conceal it most scrupulously. This circumstance,
together with the complete indifference to their
own appearance, manifested by nearly all the
men, suggested to my mind that after the donkeys
have had their turn, it would not be a bad thing
to have a show of costermougers.

After witnessing so many evidences of care
and kindness bestowed upon the poor donkey,
it was most gratifying to me to be present
at the distribution of prizes on the last
day of the show. One by one, as their
names were called out, the men entered the
arena with their animals, and advanced to the