Dear Sir,—

With profound respect, I duly received your letter of 4th inst.,¹ and liberty to publish it.² The matter is so grave that I required a night’s rest before replying; and to-day I find no alteration in my opinion of yesterday, and I see no reason why I should not express that opinion to you, and to the world.

My opinion, then is, that that letter is the turning point in the game which I have been playing, and I believe it to be worth some Fifty Millions Sterling to England alone. And I believe so, because I believe it will enable me to suppress the Potato Disease several years sooner than would have been otherwise possible.³

I beg leave to return for your perusal (but please let me have it back) the answer you did me the honour to give to my question: What is an individual?⁴ If you can permit it, I think it would be of great importance to have it published, as it leaves every man free to form his own opinion.

I am, dear Sir, | With the most profound respect, | Faithfully yours, | J. Torbitt