88 THE LIFE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS 



the religious tenets which they believe to be the only 

 true ones, and conform to the rites by which the sincerity 

 of their religious profession can alone be put to the test, 

 I never felt the least difficulty in associating in philo- 

 sophical disquisition with any person on account of what 

 his creed might or might not be. 



" So much, Sir, for myself. On the part of the Royal 

 Society, whose Chair you do me the honour to say I have 

 not disgraced, I cannot help being astonished at the 

 sentiment in your letter, which expresses a disgust at 

 your recommendation to them being slighted ; and still 

 more at your conceiving the rejection of Mr. Cooper as an 

 intended affront to you. ... To hint even, that the 

 Royal Society were capable of combining together in 

 order to pass an affront on you, is what they as a Body 

 must feel as a serious charge on their character and 

 reputation ; and is one, I boldly assert, which is void of 

 the slightest foundation in fact. 



" With you, Sir, I have hitherto lived in friendship, 

 and have ever set, I trust, a proper value on the influence 

 your discoveries have had in the advancement of Science. 

 Your friendship I wish still to retain ; and I hope the 

 frankness of my letter will not alter the sentiments toward 

 me which are expected in you. I shall therefore in con- 

 fidence add that, whatever Mr. Cooper's scientific merit 

 may be, no token of which he has hitherto brought for- 

 ward to the Society there are, I am firmly convinced 

 reasons wholly independent of his religious opinions ; 

 which, however the partial eye of your friendship may 

 have overlooked them, do fully justify the late conduct 

 of the Society ; and will, if any appeal is made to the 

 public, acquit them wholly of the charges you are inclined 

 to bring. " 



This short misunderstanding with Dr. Priestley was 

 one of the minor difficulties which Sir Joseph had to face 



