LETTER FROM MR. BUOTT. 
611 
both by one of the deputation from the United Society to Sir George Grey, who 
talked of the 1 misrepresentations 1 which had been used to obtain signatures to 
the recent memorials. Some correspondence from Walsall, bearing on this sub¬ 
ject, will be found in another part of this journal. He did not venture to de¬ 
scribe the misrepresentations, but we do venture to describe his accusation as 
slanderous and untrue.’’ 
I did not “ describe the misrepresentations,” that is, I did not give the preene 
words used by fifty men in fifty different towns, all tending to a common resu:t 
upon 1000 minds, simply because it was an impossibility. The nature of the 
effect shows the nature of the cause. The effect was, that something like 1000 
members of the United Society were induced to sign a memorial in favour of a 
Bill which proposed to register and tax them without enfranchising them. Can 
it be possible that they so understood it ? ISTo ! Indeed it is a moral impossibi¬ 
lity that they should. Then what is the inevitable conclusion? Why have 
they repudiated their signatures? The answer is what they themselves affirm, 
viz. that they were deceived as to the nature of the Bill for which they were in¬ 
duced to give their signatures. 
But what are the facts? It is indisputable that 100 non-pharmaceutical chemist s 
at Birmingham, with several pharmaceutists and Mr. Snape, the chairman, 
Mr. Packwood, the secretary, Mr. Miller, Mr. Foster, Mr. Litchfield, and other 
members of the United Society who signed the memorial, afterwards repudiated 
their signatures, because, as they say (not as 1 say), the Bill for wdiich they 
signed had been misrepresented to them. These 100 chemists of Birmingham 
amply prove my case. 
I refer with equal confidence to Wolverhampton. What say Mr. Lowe, 
Mr. Perkins, Mr. Wedge, Mr. Lister, and others who constitute the petitioners 
of that town? I think I recollect their statement word for word, because it 
was uniform. They were, it was intimated, to be freed from the competition 
of huckstering druggists, and to be admitted to membership with the Pharma- 
eeutical Society. Even at Nottingham, where unusual efforts have been made to 
stifle the reforming spirit of the United Society, the non-pharmaceutists generally 
(and some pharmaceutists too) gave their consent to the Pharmacy Bill only 
upon the condition that the privilege of exemption from jury service should be 
extended to all chemists brought under its provisions. * 
But why need I individualize towns ? The case of Birmingham is that of the 
Potteries, of Liverpool, of Manchester, of Hull, of Wolverhampton, of Walsall, 
and numerous other towns. The statement from each is substantially the 
same,—that by a suppression of the fact that the non-pharmaceutical chemists 
to be registered under the Pharmacy Bill were not to be incorporated or repre¬ 
sented ; or, by the assurance that the Bill had been so altered to meet the wishes 
of the trade, that they would be relieved from competition with small shop¬ 
keepers and grocers, be exempt from jury service, and brought within the pale 
of the Pharmaceutical Society, they were induced to sign the memorial, and 
that they repudiated their signatures on finding the impression produced upon 
their minds by such misrepresentations was not correct. Indeed, even without 
this direct and incontrovertible evidence bearing upon the case, it is impossible 
to account for such uniform misunderstanding and such uniform repudiation, 
except upon the theory of “ misrepresentation.” 
t I trust I have said enough to vindicate my character from the aspersion cast 
upon it. I will do the writer the justice to believe that in his own heart he 
does not accuse me of wilful untruth and slander; but that he w r ould say u an 
accusation affecting the reputation of others, unsupported by evidence, is slan¬ 
der and untruth and I am willing to accept that qualification, in the absence 
of any impartial tribunal to which the matter might be referred ; but, failing 
such qualification, I hurl back the charge of slander and untruth upon those 
who made it, and at their door be the responsibility of embittered strife. 
