ted to regions of romance, where it is
matter of profound deliberation, whether an egg shall be broken at the
large or the small end. Such things are too bad for the nineteenth
century; and in England, too, with her enlightened parliament! But until
these questions are better examined, our guardian must bestir himself
about articles susceptible of cholera contagion, while he enjoys his
good quarantine pay, his good half pay from another department as I
believe, and withall, if we are not misinformed, a smart pension from
the Gibraltar revenue, for what granted nobody can tell.

The documents above referred to, would appear then to be the whole on
which the College admit that they formed their opinions, and people may
now judge whether the verdict be according to the evidence, or whether
it be not something in the _lucus a non lucendo_ mode of drawing
conclusions:--most persons will probably think that, on such evidence,
there might at least have been a qualified opinion. It appears, however,
that having come to _a decision_ on the 9th of June, that the disease
was communicable from person to person, they in three days after,
approved of persons being sent to Russia to find out whether they had
decided rightly or not. Are we now to expect that, should the occasion
need, they will heroically make war against their own declared opinion?
For my part I expect from them all that should be expected from men; and
the liberal part of the world will not fail to see from this, that I do
not despair of even Dr. Macmichael, being still open to conviction. Let
it not be for a moment understood that, in any-thing which has been
said, or which may remain to be said respecting this gentleman, or in
any-thing which may be hereafter said respecting Dr. Bisset Hawkins's
work, I mean to insinuate that contagion in cholera is not with them a
matter of conscience; but I certainly do mean to say that their zeal has
manifestly warped their judgment; and not only this, but that it has
prevented them from laying statements before the public on the cholera
questions with all the impartiality we might have expected from
gentlemen of their character in the profession.

In Dr. Macmichael's pamphlet, consisting of thirty-two pages, and
professing to be a consideration of the question, "Is cholera
contagious?" we scarcely find the disease mentioned till we come to page
25; the pages up to this being occupied chiefly by a recapitulation of
opinions for