He suggests that, by stating the principles upon which the Society acted, the charge of inconsistency would be seen to be unfounded and warns of a possible split in the Society if they did not defend themselves. He claims that he had not tried to influence the decision of anyone, except to ask his son and son-in-law not to vote at the meeting since he already knew they felt as he did. He also mentions George Stephen's letter to Stokes of 31 Dec and the threats contained in it and regrets that Lushington would probably be unable to attend the committee meeting.