MR. CHERRY IN REPLY TO MR. WHITTLE. 
319 
the benefits to be derived from the Charter of Incorporation. I 
shall not combat his ideas, but shall only say, that, out of about 
twelve hundred known members of the veterinary profession, 
eight hundred have thought proper to “ register ,” and at least two- 
thirds of the known old established practitioners have done so under 
their own hands. So much for fact versus bombast. 
There are some other queries and objections, which are not 
worthy of especial notice ; some refute themselves, others will be 
practically answered at the fitting time : and as for the aspersion 
of the gentlemen who compose the Board of Examination — two of 
whom, however, are in the list of the self-appointed Board — it is a 
wanton insult, w T hile the panegyric on the latter is fulsome in the 
extreme. Though I may not be residing in Edinburgh, 1 probably 
know more of all the parties than Mr. Whittle, and certainly do 
know better how to appreciate them. Enough of Mr. Whittle 
and his letter. I have done with him : he may say or do what- 
ever pleaseth him ; to me it passeth as the 
“ Idle wind, which I regard not.” 
But a word to those who may not be quite so wise as Mr. 
Whittle, and who will take advice not as gall, but as it is meant, 
in kindness. 
A diploma from a chartered body will not give a man a business 
or a fortune, but it gives a point from whence he can start with 
advantage. He does not enter on life as a mere adventurer ; he can 
say boldly that he has paid such a degree of attention to the 
pursuit by which he hopes to live, that it has qualified him to 
appear before those who have been appointed for the purpose of 
testing his fitness ; and there is the proof of his having passed the 
ordeal, by the possession of his diploma. The public never look at 
the men who may compose individually any public board, but they 
do look to the competency of the power which constituted them. 
Men tolerate private acts and opinions, but they respect and obey 
the acts of the legislature. 
It is this therefore that constitutes the great value of all diplomas, 
whether of law, physic, or divinity ; it is this starting from a 
known and recognised point, which enables a man to proceed fa- 
vourably, and cceteris paribus , gives immense superiority over 
another not so qualified ; but after the start has been made, success 
depends on individual capacity, rectitude, attention, and knowledge 
of the art or calling. 
No public appointments can be held without proper qualifica- 
tion : even in the Excise — a sort of employment into which any 
or everybody may enter — a certain time has to be passed in in- 
