MR MAYHEW’S SECOND LETTER TO MR. BARLOW. 443 
seen proof of more than ordinary ignorance. I, therefore, must 
have some evidence that Mr. Barlow is, by his lofty position and 
unprecedented acquirements, entitled to play the inquisitor. If 
he will give me the proof, I shall be happy to be interrogated. 
Would it not be better for himself, did he, instead of scribbling 
siily slander and foolish flattery, seek to forget his own desire to 
be known, and try to earn honestly the notoriety which he now 
wants to gain by disreputable truculence 1 
He talks of his anatomy. To scrape out with the scalpel is a 
dirty occupation, and, unless it be followed for some higher pur- 
pose than itself, degrades the party who pursues it. Perhaps 
Mr. Barlow has to be informed of this. He seems to view the 
groping about in filth as a noble business, and asks which is the 
branch of science that ranks superior to anatomy ! Now, as ana- 
tomy is the lowest branch of science, he may take his choice of 
the other divisions, and not run much risk of committing a mis- 
take : and if I did not specify the particular study to which I in 
in one part of my letter alluded, it was because I did not wish to 
insult Mr. Barlow, by imagining him to be so obtuse as to require 
obvious instruction. He is certainly unhappy in his capability 
to comprehend : how he managed to learn so much when he can 
comprehend so little, is to me a wonder. Whence he gained his 
knowledge, when he confesses he does not understand plain Eng- 
lish, is to me most strange. If, seeing his limited intelligence, I 
presume to doubt until he adduces some evidence of his profi- 
ciency, I trust the generality of your readers will hold me excused. 
There is, however, one point upon which I am enabled to con- 
gratulate Mr. Barlow; and if with equal zeal he would cultivate 
his understanding, perhaps, before another month shall expire, 
I may be enabled to compliment the gentleman upon his being able 
to comprehend what I have written, and to properly interpret the 
paper concerning which he seems at present to have no idea. 
His manner of putting words together has improved to a greater 
degree than I could have supposed possible in so brief a period. 
The change is so sudden and entire, that, in effect, it appears more 
like a pantomimic trick than an actual circumstance. Did not the 
name appear at the end of the epistle, I could, for the style, have 
mistaken it for the composition of another and a clearer and a 
more active letter- writer. As it is, the transmutation is the most 
extraordinary instance of the powers of education that there is 
upon record ; and unless it were impossible to imagine such a thing, 
one might be induced to suppose some kind patron had nobly con- 
descended to play the assistant. 
I have the honour to be, &c. 
