548 
VETERTNAEY AFFAIRvS. 
uneducated to and unconnected with its particular calling. Who 
constitute the governing body of the church ? Clergymen. Unto 
whose guidance are the interest and welfare of the law entrusted 1 
Lawyers. Who constitute the council of the College of Phy¬ 
sicians 1 Physicians. Of Surgeons 1 Surgeons. Of the Apothe¬ 
caries’ Company] Apothecaries. Who govern the Goldsmith’s 
Company, the Mercers, Cordwainers, &c. ] Why, individuals se¬ 
lected from each respective body; qualified from their knowledge 
of and interest in it to watch over and protect it. 
Shall, then, a profession enrolling on its list from five to six 
hundred members,—many of them members of other colleges, and 
all of them recognised as gentlemen, by the rank given them in Her 
Majesty’s service—be controlled, thwarted, and insulted by a 
certain number of individuals, aliens to their acquirements, their 
interests, and their feelings ] Sir, again I repeat, that I, for one, 
am proud of not having signed a petition addressed to such a tri¬ 
bunal. 
But while I object on principle to the authority thus usurped, 
am I borne out by its results in practice] Ay, to the utmost 
bearing of humanity. What single step have the Governors of the 
Royal Veterinary College taken for the last twenty years to assist 
the onward progress of the profession] Why, they invited 
members to become subscribers to the College, and thereby assist 
in disseminating its doctrines, enlarging its utility, and identifying 
themselves with its interest. They decided that veterinary sur¬ 
geons should constitute a portion (and why at this time of day only 
a portion]) of the Examining Committee, knowing full well that, 
from their practical experience, they are best enabled to judge how' 
far the young aspirant for veterinary honours is qualified to practise 
what he had been taught. But why enter into details when their 
entire system has been to invite inquiry, to attend to remonstrance, 
and to accede to the thousand and one petitions that have been 
laid before them ] nay, even going the extravagant length of ap¬ 
pointing two professors to teach those departments of the art 
which, up to the time of the formation of the English Agricultural 
Society, had, no doubt, received their most serious and deliberate 
consideration, but with the result of which, up to that time, they 
had never thought of favouring the public. 
