OF THE OX. 127 



proposed by a people so lavish of its wealth 

 when useful and great undertakings are de- 

 signed, without paying a natural tribute of 

 regret, to the memory of a Prince who took so 

 deep an interest in the progress of agriculture, 

 and who, had he still been living, would have 

 known how to direct with a firm and steady 

 hand, the right measures to be taken amidst so 

 many intricacies and embarrassments. 



Sometimes allusion has been made to France 

 in the speeches delivered at these meetings, 

 presided over by that active magistrate, the 

 Lord Mayor. In the course of these remarks 

 the speakers have praised and held up to ad- 

 miration the advantages of her system of cen- 

 tralization, the decrees of her sanitary police, 

 and the promptness with which she executes 

 the measures which the public interests re- 

 quire. That is true. France is certainly in a 

 state to resist the scourge with very effectual 

 means to arrest its progress ; but if in this 

 matter, as in some others, she have acquired a 

 superiority, it has only been by an experience 

 dearly purchased, these epizootics having re- 

 turned more than once to destroy her flocks 

 and herds. Politically, the same might be 



