332 LETTER TO 



as has already been mentioned, signed a certi- 

 ficate of my fitness for being a fellow of the 

 Royal Society. Now, as a good moral reputa- 

 tion is always esteemed there a necessary ingre- 

 dient of fitness, he must certainly have then 

 believed me to be possessed of that qualification. 

 That he professed a similar belief, only a few 

 months before Dr. Pitcairn proposed me, I can 

 assert upon the authority of Dr. James Robert- 

 son, a fellow of the college, at present with his 

 Majesty's forces in Minorca ; and I take upon 

 myself to say, that nothing happened in that 

 short interval, which ought to have lessened it. 

 Sir Lucas Pepys was another of the fellows 

 who voted for the rejection of Dr. Pitcairn's 

 proposition. In the beginning of the year 1797, 

 I appeared before the Board of Censors of the 

 college, to complain of irregular conduct in an 

 apothecary, who was also present to answer to 

 my charge. Sir Lucas Pepys, then sitting as 

 president of a court, the members of which are 

 sworn to do justice, addressed the delinquent in 

 a grave and solemn speech, in the course of 

 which he delivered these words : " Dr. Wells 

 is no mean person; he is well known to the 

 world both as a gentleman and a scholar." 

 Whether this opinion be just or not, is at pre- 

 sent no matter of inquiry. But in tenderness 

 to Sir Lucas Pepys, acting as a judge, under 

 the solemn obligation of an oath, it must be 



