To Astley Cooper, as to most men who rise to eminence, remunerative practice came but slowly. “My receipt,” says he, “for the first year was £5, 5s; the second, £26; the third, £54; the fourth, £96; the fifth, £100; the sixth, £200; the seventh, £400; the eighth, £610; the ninth (the year in which he was appointed surgeon to the hospital), £1100.” This was in 1800, when his uncle, William Cooper, resigned the surgeoncy. It might have been supposed that the uncle would favour his nephew’s succession in every way possible; but he rather supported Mr. Morris, the strongest competitor. For the rising star made the elder jealous of his brilliancy, and moreover always regarded Cline, at St. Thomas’s, as his uncle’s superior. Thus Astley Cooper’s success was by no means certain, as his political associations with Horne Tooke and Thelwall were strenuously alleged against him. But Astley, ever preferring success to politics, resolved on giving up the latter and on being neutral for the future, at any rate as to all open proceedings. This resolve secured his appointment by Mr. Harrison, the well-known treasurer of Guy’s, who with Sir Astley shares the highest credit in the establishment of its medical school. He now absented himself from Mr. Cline’s political parties, and always advised young surgeons not to attach themselves to particular parties, as their duties must extend to persons of all views. He also, to leave no stone unturned, personally canvassed each of the seventy-two governors. In 1800 Astley made his first communication to the Royal Society, on the effects of destruction of the tympanic membrane of the ear. He had found that considerable openings might be made in the membrane without impairing the hearing power. He consequently applied this operation to certain kinds of deafness resulting from disease or obstruction in the Eustachian tube, and in 1801 sent in another paper detailing the results of twenty cases. Although his success in restoring lost hearing was much less than he had anticipated, the operation has since been frequently performed, and the Royal Society in 1802 awarded him the Copley Medal for these papers. In the same year he was elected F.R.S.