=Chronic hepatitis= is peculiar to maturity. Brewers' horses--huge animals, fattened upon refuse of the mash-tub, and which are paraded, in all the pride of obesity, drawing one small cask over the stones of London--are often attacked by this malady. All horses which consume much provender, without absolute regard to work, are exposed to it. Gentlemen's carriage horses are very liable to it. A private vehicle is started, and at first much used; but after a time it is equally neglected. The individual does not want the carriage to-day, when the coachman comes round "for orders." Neither is it required on the next occasion. Often a week passes without the fashionable plaything being uncovered. The animals, during that time, depend on the groom for exercise. The coachman may be fond of his horses, and, in his ignorance, may think they cannot have too much rest, or himself too little work. Let the master neglect his duty, and the servant soon follows the example. The word "duty" was employed in the last sentence. It is of an unpleasant signification, and was used in its harshest sense. Kings owe a duty to their subjects; the rich owe a duty to the poor. All authority has some obligation connected with it. There is nothing like perfect freedom in this world of dependence. Man is the king over living things. He may claim his rights, but he at the same time must adopt the weight of his office: he cannot assume the one and discard the other. A monarch is invested with dominion and authority over men; but the stability of the throne is dependent upon the righteousness of the ruler. If he who wears the crown abuses his trust, he may possess "a right divine," but he is speedily without subjects. So, if man is unjust to the creatures ever which he is placed, nature snatches them from his grasp; and he may be invested with every power, but he soon wants animals upon which to exercise it. View the matter in another light, as an affair only of worldly prudence. Knives, formed of the hardest steel, if purchased and put away, in a short time are worthless, because of rust. A house wears faster when untenanted than when properly inhabited.