“Indeed, it has been stated from more quarters than one, that the withholding of the medal from me, in the first instance, and the substituting thereinstead a _nominal_ premium of twenty pounds, originated from a personal pique against me individually. Such a report I would fain disbelieve, and yet it is hard not to give it some credence, seeing that the _irresistible cogency_ of my _truths_ and the _indubitable value_ of my literary discoveries are not only not rewarded, but kept back from publication, _until someone else_ more fortunate, or rather _more favoured_, shall _run away with_ the credit of my cherished disclosures.[35] I wish--I desire--I most intensely covet--that the Academy would convince me that _this is not an act of the most aggravated injustice_. “You will please lay this before the Council, and tell them from me, respectfully, that I do not want them either to ‘alter’ or ‘revoke’ their award, but _simply_ to vote me ‘_an equivalent gold medal and premium_’ for my _combined essay_, or, if they prefer, the _new portion_ of it. Should this be refused, _I will put my cause_, etc. etc.--I have the honour to be, etc. etc. “HENRY O’BRIEN. “To the Rev. Richard Row, “_Clerk to the Academy_.” They bestowed some days in consultation upon the above; meanwhile, the transmission of the _Dublin Penny Journal_ to London was countermanded, and not a copy of it was allowed, for some months afterwards, to come within hundreds of miles of the place of my residence. In the interim the ingenious author of the _Celtic Druids_, and who had been _partly_ in possession of my development of the “Towers” for some time previously, favoured me with a visit, during which we conversed principally on historical questions. The next day I addressed him a _note_, a copy of which, with its _answer_, I take leave to subjoin, for the sake of the _terminating_ clause of the latter, being the _self-convicting acknowledgment_ of the “Academy’s” _disingenuousness_. (No. 5.) “_May 2, 1833._ “DEAR SIR,--I hope you will not feel displeased at the frankness of this question which I am about to propose to you, viz. have you any objection to show me in manuscript, before you send to print, the terms in which you speak of me, in reference to those points of information which I entrusted to your confidence--such as the ancient names of Ireland and their derivation, the towers and founders, dates, etc.? “Should you think proper to consent to this feeling of anxiety on my part, I shall be most willing to share with you those other ‘points’ which I exclusively retain.