e done every day, and they
look upon it as one of the necessary actions of a reasonable being. But
the violation of marriage, or any other unchastity, was never heard of;
and the married pair pass their lives with the same friendship and mutual
benevolence, that they bear to all others of the same species who come in
their way, without jealousy, fondness, quarrelling, or discontent.

In educating the youth of both sexes, their method is admirable, and
highly deserves our imitation. These are not suffered to taste a grain
of oats, except upon certain days, till eighteen years old; nor milk, but
very rarely; and in summer they graze two hours in the morning, and as
many in the evening, which their parents likewise observe; but the
servants are not allowed above half that time, and a great part of their
grass is brought home, which they eat at the most convenient hours, when
they can be best spared from work.

Temperance, industry, exercise, and cleanliness, are the lessons equally
enjoined to the young ones of both sexes: and my master thought it
monstrous in us, to give the females a different kind of education from
the males, except in some articles of domestic management; whereby, as he
truly observed, one half of our natives were good for nothing but
bringing children into the world; and to trust the care of our children
to such useless animals, he said, was yet a greater instance of
brutality.

But the _Houyhnhnms_ train up their youth to strength, speed, and
hardiness, by exercising them in running races up and down steep hills,
and over hard stony grounds; and when they are all in a sweat, they are
ordered to leap over head and ears into a pond or river. Four times a
year the youth of a certain district meet to show their proficiency in
running and leaping, and other feats of strength and agility; where the
victor is rewarded with a song in his or her praise. On this festival,
the servants drive a herd of _Yahoos_ into the field, laden with hay, and
oats, and milk, for a repast to the _Houyhnhnms_; after which, these
brutes are immediately driven back again, for fear of being noisome to
the assembly.

Every fourth year, at the vernal equinox, there is a representative
council of the whole nation, which meets in a plain about twenty miles
from our house, and continues about five or six days. Here they inquire
into the state and condition of the several districts; whether they
abound or be deficient in hay o