MR. MAYHEW’S LETTER TO THE EDITORS. 
673 
undum and they will ere long find that the very army of reserve 
of the enemy will come to see the justice of the good cause, and 
desert from their ranks, when there will be soon a cessation of 
hostilities; which is “a consummation most devoutly to be wished.” 
In conclusion, I beg to apologise for taking up so much space in 
your valuable Journal ; and believe me to be, Gentlemen, 
Nov. 12, 1846. Your’s very truly. 
MR. MAYHEW TO THE EDITORS OF “THE 
VETERINARIAN.” 
Gentlemen, — Mr. Haycock’s remarks in your last number, 
though severe, ’were. just. A case was fairly made out, and the 
charge based upon it directly brought home. I fear, however, the 
circumstance to which Mr. Haycock has so pungently alluded is 
not a solitary instance, but rather the illustration of a system 
which gives a peculiar character to the work pretending to ema- 
nate from a learned society, and to be exclusively devoted to the 
encouragement of science. A publication originating from such a 
source, for such a purpose, conducted by the teachers of a College, 
and ostensibly sanctioned by members of the profession, comes 
before the public with an appearance of authority ; and, if it were 
too much to expect that every article it contained should be cha- 
racterised by genius, at least we might anticipate that every state- 
ment it advanced would be in accordance with fact. No one 
would imagine that a journal supported by the funds of an Associa- 
tion was converted into a medium for deceit to play its antic in, or 
suppose that the sacred pages of a learned record were subservient 
to the dictates of . T will not conclude the sentence. 
On the wrapper of The Record , the names of Messrs. Spooner 
and Simonds inform the world who are the editors of the work. 
The generality of mankind may see nothing particular in the an- 
nouncement ; but to those persons who are aware that neither of 
the gentlemen are known as authors, or have been remarkable for 
their literary tastes, it may seem somewhat strange, and there 
may naturally exist a desire to know how and where Messrs. 
Spooner and Simonds learnt the mysteries of a craft over which, 
without previous training or customary apprenticeship, they are 
seen to preside. You well know how arduous the duties of an 
editor are — how multifarious are the qualifications such an office 
demands, and how varied should be the information of him who fitly 
discharges it. Genius, however, is not limited by probabilities. 
The fisherman in three days became a sovereign, and in less time 
the Professors may have become Editors ; yet, as in every title 
some responsibility is implied, before a man accepts the one. he 
