The preamble alludes to meetings of 22 June 1772, at which
[Robert Edge] Pine had narrowly escaped expulsion, had then crossed his name out of the roll and written the word "resigned" opposite; and 25 October 1772 at which Pine insisted he was still a member, and caused a motion to be put as to whether a member had the power to resign. When the President refused to put the question, several members struck their names from the roll and declared they would no longer be members of the Society. The case, then, asks whether the Fellows who had resigned could still be considered members, and whether submission of a letter of resignation or erasure of a member's name from the roll was sufficient to enable that member to withdraw from the corporation. The opinion is that of
William Whitaker, who considers that a Fellow cannot withdraw himself from the duties of the Society without its assent.