LETTER TO SIR ASTLEY COOPER. 
103 
, r e can now say to the very man whose opinion is of more conse- 
uence to us than those of all the others put together, “ out of 
trine own mouth have I convicted thee/' Even you, yourself, 
lir Astley, must admit, much as you love your very old friend, 
tie Professor, and much as your very old friend loves you, that 
n this subject, in his multifarious turnings and windings, he has 
t last out-reasoned, if not completely outwitted, himself. Were I 
) write volumes, I could not pen anything stronger, or more to 
ie point, than this: it is what I have all along been contending 
)r—the Professor has “ caught himself in his own trap;” or, to 
se a fox* hunter’s expression, has “ pounded himself'” at last; 
nd I see no possibility of his “ getting out ” without “ opening 
gate,” or “ making a gap,” through which we may “get in.” 
To you, yourself, Sir Astley, the fellow-apprentice, the con * 
rtre, the old and intimate associate of Professor Coleman, I must 
ow address a few words in particular; and, if you please, I wall 
ut them into an interrogative form. Pray, w^ere you mainly in- 
I rumental in our exclusion ? and did you so ( reluctantly , no 
oubt,) pronounce such a cruel anathema upon us purely from a 
rofessional conviction of its rectitude ? Or did it not occur to 
ou at the time that your old and inestimable friend was not over- 
partial to our company? You may, perhaps, not be altogether 
ware of the secret or inward cause of this, but “the fact speaks 
3r itself.” 
I dare say, by this time, Sir Astley, you have set me down in 
our mind as the determined opposer of Professor Coleman; and, 
perhaps, farther, you begin to suspect that envy, or some such 
in worthy motive, is urging me on in this theme of invective. If 
ou entertain any such feelings as these, you cannot fail to be 
urprised when I inform you, that, so far from being inimically 
isposed towards Mr. Coleman, I profess to be, and maintain 
hat I am, one of his staunchest and best veterinary friends. I 
•ffer him little adulation, it is true; but I show him how he may 
htain a good deal ; and what is more, and better w orth his con- 
ideration, I point out to him where a door may yet be opened to 
he advantage of the scattered and forlorn profession over which 
le presides. 
According to these outlines, then, of the veterinary relations 
nd concernments of the gentlemen who sat on this committee 
>f exclusion, pray w hat am I to think of their proceedings ? How 
( im 1 to estimate their resolves ? What part did Drs. Babington 
md Pearson take ? What, surgeons Bell, Brodie, and Green ? 
pur report informs us, “that Dr. Babington and you, Sir Astley, 
lelivered their opinions at considerable length against the addi- 
ion of any veterinary surgeons to your committee.” You must, 
