214 ROYAL COLLEGE OP VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
the animadversions as personal to myself, but as offered to 
the President of the College. I was elected by the Council 
to fill that honorable position, and I did not feel that I should 
be doing my duty to the Council if I retained it after such 
animadversions had been passed upon me. Still, I did not 
take it as a personal offence in the least. It could not have 
been a personal offence to me ; but if it was an offence, and 
you all agreed that it was, it was to you through your Presi- 
dent. What took place was reported, and in the shorthand 
writer’s report, and also in the minutes, there is an account 
of what is called an apology being afterwards offered to me, 
and I, with all the cordiality I could command, accepted it, 
and agreed, as I understood, to retain my place as President 
of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. The slips 
containing the report of that meeting came back to me in 
due course, and I found that some alteration had been made. 
Perhaps you may think it was a mere matter of form, but as 
the alteration had been made, I did not feel that I was in 
any other position than that which I held immediately after 
I had resigned. It now remains with you, Gentlemen, to say 
whether I, as your servant, have done right or done wrong. 
I am perfectly in your hands, and shall be very well satisfied 
with any course you may pursue. If another president is 
elected I can only promise you that my exertions shall be 
given to the important matters which are now before the 
Council with as much zeal and energy as I can command in 
order to bring them to a successful issue. I now leave the 
matter entirely in your hands, and it is for you to determine 
whether you are satisfied that what was printed conveyed 
the real meaning of the transaction, or whether you think 
that some alteration ought to be made, not only in the short- 
hand writer’s report, but also in the minutes of the proceed- 
ings of the Council. 
Professor Simonds asked if Mr. Wilkinson had received 
from the gentleman with whom the altercation occurred 
anything, either a statement or an act, which confirmed him 
in the view he had taken ; and if his view now was that he 
simply reverted to the position he was in immediately after 
tendering his resignation. 
Mr. Wilkinson . — I have not received any communication, 
either directly or indirectly, such as has been alluded to by 
Professor Simonds, and I revert to the position that I was in 
when I resigned. 
Professor Simonds . — Were you asked on that occasion by 
the Council to reconsider the determination you had come to ? 
Mr. Wilkinson. — Yes. A member of the Council asked 
