306 LETTER TO 



college to propose him, he may be admitted, 

 provided they think him fit." 



" Now I will consent to the learned Serjeant 

 making this rule absolute, if he can prove that 

 this by-law is unreasonable ; for we are here 

 upon the reasonableness of the by-law. I read 

 that part of the charter which gives them au- 

 thority to make by-laws, and I defy the wit or 

 imagination of man to put another question 

 upon the court here, than Whether this class 

 of by-laws, taken altogether, be unreasonable. 

 I consent to the rule being made absolute, if 

 any one of my friends, or all of them together, 

 can, in their imagination ; I do not appeal to 

 any experience they can bring ; but if they can 

 in their imaginations, however fertile they may 

 be, figure to themselves an inconvenience that 

 may arise from them. They may say, Oh, there 

 may be a conspiracy which may exclude a vir- 

 tuous and enlightened man ! Setting aside the 

 main improbability, that members of a learned 

 body could league themselves in a conspiracy so 

 base and so scandalous, as to refuse to examine 

 a man proposed to them by one of their own 

 order, under their own laws, from a professional 

 jealousy, lest they should be eclipsed by that 

 person, &c." 



