172 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 



he replied in the affirmative. " Then, Sir," said I, 

 " if you can point out a single sentence from one 

 end of this volume of the * History of Birds' to the 

 other of original matter as your own, I shall be 

 glad to see it." At this he hesitated. I then pro- 

 posed to him to leave the discussion as to the 

 authorship to our mutual friends, who knew every- 

 thing relative to the matter in dispute between us, 

 adding that if they agreed in thinking that he 

 ought to be " the author," it should be so, and that 

 I never would say a \vord more about it. To this 

 he agreed, and as the work was at a stand, no time 

 was to be lost, after naming our referees. Mr. 

 Charnley, the Revd. Wm. Turner, Mr. Sol. Hodg- 

 son, and Mr. Robert Doubleday were instantly for 

 that purpose summoned to meet that afternoon. 

 We both guessed, without saying a word to each 

 other, that Mr. Charnley would be fixed on as 

 President; and he being very deaf, we each of us, 

 without mentioning our intentions, stated our sepa- 

 rate cases in writing directed to him. As soon as 

 he and his colleagues had read Mr. Beilby's he 

 handed it to me, and I read it. Mine was next 

 given to Mr. C., who, in like manner, showed it 

 to the others ; and then gave it to Mr. Beilby, 

 but he declined looking at it, and it was given 

 to me again. After this we were desired to retire, 

 when they committed what they had agreed upon 

 to writing, the whole of which was printed in the 

 concluding part of the preface to the first volume 

 of the " Birds," and so the matter was left without 

 naming either him or myself as authors of the 

 work, otherwise than as before, and of the wood- 

 cuts being acknowledged as my own. After this, 

 Mr. Beilby gave up the engraving business, and 



