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"wisdom" and "being- qualified to act as a magis- 

 trate," are not necessarily synonymous expressions, 

 and we are apt to get a little confused now and then 

 with all these interminable and contradictor}' orders. 

 The following- is an extract of a letter from Sir 

 Georg-e Cholmley : "The cattle plag-ue is not such 

 " a plag-ue as the laws about the cattle plag-ue, They 

 (c are founded upon old superstitions. . . . One 

 " of my tenants lost many beasts before Christmas. 

 te His farm is only two fields distant from mine. 

 " There is always constant communication between 

 " the farms. I never tried to prevent it, but none 

 " of mine took it. In another situation I had others 

 " surrounded with cattle plag-ue 5 ten oxen in a 

 " field where they were well fed, but had not the 

 " whole winter a shed to go into, and they are all 

 " alive and well. The laws are absurd. I have 

 " been most disgusted by poor men and poor women 

 " having- to walk on foot for ten miles and back, in 

 " all weathers, to g-et an order for a pig- to be taken 

 l( across a street. I had fourteen beasts removed 

 " ten miles inland, with an order which the district 

 ee inspector said was quite correct. About two 

 u months afterwards I was fined for doing- this by 

 (e the magistrates assembled at B d t n. Upon 

 {t what gTounds I do not know, as they have not 

 " been stated to me ; but as one of these magistrates 

 " g-ave me an order immediately afterwards to re- 

 tc move some beasts back again on the same road, 



O ' 



" their decision amounts to this : that it is lawful to 



