234 
THE CHARTER. 
very properly, that a charter was the first desideratum, the Com- 
mittee concentrated their efforts upon that point, and they happily 
succeeded in making themselves masters of it ; and now that they 
have done so, and that they feel firm in their new position, now , we 
repeat, comes the time for making renewed exertions, in order to 
complete the task but “ half” fulfilled. This must be done by 
the Council. And that they will enter on their labours with every 
cheering prospect, every prospect of success, the amended Bill of 
the Medical Profession, amended and submitted to Parliament by 
Sir James Graham himself, plainly enough points out to them : 
only, for example, let us peruse the clause numbered 35, and sub- 
scribed, “ Penalty for False Pretences of Qualification,” 
which runs thus : — 
“ And be it enacted, That every unregistered person who shall 
wilfully and falsely pretend to be, or take or use the name or title 
of physician, doctor, bachelor, or inceptor, in the faculty of medi- 
cine and surgery, or apothecary, or any name, title, or addition, 
implying he is registered under this Act, or recognised by law as 
a medical or surgical 'practitioner , shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor in England and Ireland, and in Scotland of a crime 
or offence, and, being convicted thereof, shall be punished by fine 
or imprisonment, or both, as the court before which he shall be 
convicted shall award.” 
Mutatis mutandis, this is precisely the clause we want in the 
Bill to be sought by ourselves, in addition to one (the surgeons 
already are in possession of) exempting us from juries and paro- 
chial offices, and of such other clauses as may, on due consideration 
by the Council, with the assistance of some legal advisers, be 
deemed applicable and proper for our especial case. This consti- 
tutes what Mr. Mayer has characterised as the remaining “ half of 
the duties with which the Veterinary Committee were entrusted;” 
and it is a “ half” which, in our opinion, will not prove difficult of 
accomplishment, so soon as the surgeons shall have been put in 
safe and quiet possession of their Bill ; for that we hold to be very 
instrumental, as a precedent, in the obtainment of ours. 
And as “ the first Monday in the month of May” is now ap- 
proaching, on which we are directed by our Charter to hold our 
“annual general meeting,” and by which time it is not unlikely 
the surgeons’ Bill may have been “ read and passed” by Parliament, 
that will offer a most fit and proper opportunity for bringing the 
business forward ; and we trust that he who has so kindly reminded 
us of our duty on the present occasion, and who on occasions past 
has spent so much of his time at a long distance from home in for- 
warding all our professional interests, will not fail, at our general 
meeting, to be in his place, and then and there to bring the all- 
