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TORONTO: 1§49. -'i fr 'lEi '\ 7 r '/ I \ y,: •J In drawing up this Narrative, the author has freqlifen J. ihtd through V )t;:-iecam« the subject of my immediate attention. They were remo- delled in the year 1843, and received the sanction of the Government. The following is a copy of themt — OFFICERS OF THE irVSTITUTIOlVt STEWARD, MATRON, PORTER, KEEKERS, NURSES, ORDINARY SERVANTS. COMMISSIONERS. The Commissioners shall meet regularly once a-week (Thursday at 10 o'clO(>k)i for the purpose of examining into the state of the Institution and condition of the patients, hearing all complaints, hiring and discharging servants, receiving tenders for contracts, examininK accounts, and ^enerallf taking cognisance of all matters connected with the institution { they shall appoint ffoin their number one or more in rotation, whose duly snail be to inspect the Institution'tiaiiy recording their names, hour of visiting and remarks, in a book to be kepi for that (lurpose ; see that the patienta are properly attended to, and supplied with wholesome food, lum, were utterly destroyed ; and his destruction was ultimsitely and easily accom- plished by witnesses, whoso personal hostility had been engendered by his own fidelity in office. The same disgraceful system has been practiced against me ; and in order to deceive the country and the government, eveiy outrage of tl)is kind is ac- companied by the reiteration of the most sanctimonious protestations of a dis- position " by rule and by practice to render the servants strictly subordinate to the Medical Superintendent" — and " never to retain any whom that officer thinks unsuited to his duties" ; and even " to dismiss merely because that officer has requested it." Under such a system of hypocrisy and abuse, every institution must pasfi into a state of moral and physical disorder, and every Medical Superintendent be exposed to insult and degraded by failure. Perhaps the first offence I gave in the asylum, arose from ray wish to press forward the Rev. Commissioner Grassett into the attic upon a visitorial tour. The Rev. gentleman had as( ended the stairs, when the effluvia from the room seemed to arrest his humane purpose. Some importunity induced him somewhat farther to advance, when the olfactory impression dissipated his resolution, and he retreated with an agility I did not attempt to follow. In the very room from which those noisome emanations proceeded, were seventy of my fcMow creatures, who lived there niglit and day unpitied and unknown : some were nailed, sleeping upon straw thrown coarsely on the ground ; others, less benighted in their immortal part, occupied cells so small and so close and so f »ul, as to impair their health, retard their recovery and aggravate their doom. Away from those fiiends, whose tenderness nature has (t>y a law Divine) made to enlarge with their afflictions, they suffered without sympathy and were wronged without redress. Fiom the Rev. Mr. Roaf I received an early insult. A patient, when restored to reason, is, according to the Laws, discharged by the Board, not by the Medical Superintendent. But the difficulty and delay in obtaining the signature of the Visiiing Commissioner, (sometimes a serious inconveni- ence) not easily endured m a matter of which the Medical Superintendent can be the only pi oper judge. The Board had remarked to me that 1 had better at once discharge, nnd let them c(mfirm it— on one occasion I did so ; for the Rev. Mr. Roaf, who was Visiting Commissioner, lives three miles out of the city, — and when in it, one can scarcely be expected, for such a point, to hunt him up among the Banks or on the E.schange. Upon the Steward present- ing the paper for his signature, he peremptorily refused, in censorious terms, unhecimin ; towards me, when addressed to an officer under me. Learning that the Reverend Commissioner was in the neighbourhood, I brought him to the Asylum and wislu d the matter adjusted fur the patient's sake : He re- fused. Such captious proceedings impeded the transaction of business, — and tended, moreover, to impair my position before the house-hold. 1 therefore requested the Rev. Mr. Roaf when he had any objection to the formality of my acts, not in the future to animadvert upon them to the ser- vants, but address himself to me, whom he would ever find ready to amend an error. Obtaining leave of absence for six weeks, I left Di. Rolph in charge, who continued to observe every forbearance, under the expectation that the gov- ernment intended, as some of its members had avowed, to alter the system — an intention not really enteitained, as declared by the official Pilot of the 10th instant. The following minute to the Board, by Dr. Rolph, will explain the origin of an early difficulty : — Toronto Lunatic Asylum, Wth Avgust, 1848. ' Upon visiting the Asylum this morning, I find the usual harmony disturbed by a letter addressed by the keeper Hungerford, to the Rev. John Roaf as o Commissioner, stating :-^ ** that Jane Hnm Iton, the Nurse in the Parliame' t Uuildingi, is very unwell, that the Siewari **and .Matron of the Ihetitution intend to procure her discharge, in consequence of bad health, *'— -thai all the old KeepT*. Nurses, &c., seem to be very obnoxious to ihem, and that aho *' now claims the protection oi the Commissioners and the Rev. John Roaf in particular." Upon Visiting again in the afternoon, and evening, 1 find that circumstances have pre* vented any action being tnken upon the matter. Ths Rev. John Roaf has left the letter with the Steward, to take what course he pleased upon it. It has been placed before me as Medical Superintendent, pro tern. My opinion is decided, that no servant can be properly or safely retained in the Asxlum. who has arrayed himself against one of its principal officers, and made himself the communis eant of jealousies, alleged to pervade all the servants of the Branch Establishment.— >8bnuld the old keepers and nurses ent«>rtain ttieae feelings, their discharge is also necessary for the good working and prosperity of the Institution. It is obviously proper that all the servants ■hould enjoy the confidence of their immediate superiors, whose instructions they have hourly ta receive, and obey, and that eervanta should resign, when avowedly distrustful of those voder whom they act. • L>w. In seventy iknowii : ; others, lose ond ite their t Divine) ithy and it, when ard, not iiiing the iconveni- dent can ad better ; for the It of the , to hunt present- US terms, Learning lit him to He re- jss, — and therefore to the the ser- amend irge, who , the gov- system — ot of the the origin , 1848. by a letter staling :— « le Siewar4 bad health, nd that aha lioular.'* 18 have prfr< 1 letter with as Medical he Aaylum, ) communi- nt.— should larjr for the the aervants lave hourljr ful of thoM 1 The documenta placed before me show that there la no foundation for theae prejudicial •■aumptiona, and there are no qualificationti in Ilungertord aa a keeper, to cumpenhale for ihia graiHitoua iniab'liaviour. In the absence of other nuthority to act in the conrfie of the dity, I have deemed it my duty at once to exempt the Siewnrd, nnd inyRcir, Irom his furllier serviceH. J hHV»> accord- \u%\y ret^iiesied the Siewurd tn suspeiui liini fiutii hJH dutien, rfpirt the cose to tlic Coinmia- ■ionera at their next meeting, nnd lo muke lempornry piovifeion to Hiipply the deficiency. Jane Hamilton, being atill in invalid and temporarily relieved ol' her dutire, there '\n no neceaitiiy for considering iirimediatoly tlie p'nrt s.io seems to buvo tnken in this affair. But I have requeated the Steward not to place her ogain on duty until I'urtber advised. JOHN ROLPH, Acting Mtd. Supariitiendent, The letter embodied in this minute having been addressed to the Rey* Commissioner Roaf, and received by him, it was in his power to dispose of it in any way he pleased. Many couises were open to him. He might hav© put it into the fire ; he might have leturned it to Hungertoid, with the admo- nition of a friend ; but, when the Uev. Commissioner l^oaf decided to take action on it in an official character, it becjime liim to observe and not to violate the By-laws of the Ins itution — laws which, when once enacted nnd published, are equally binding upon all. Ky reference to these laws, the reader will observe that the incidents of the week belong to the visiting Commissioner aiiJ the Medical Siipeiintcndent ; to l)oth of wlioin (as well as to the Board tit their weekly meeting) the Steward is bound to report any misconduct of the keepers or servants, or any other irregularity occmring in the House. 'I he greatest confusion, if not collision, would obviously be hazatded, sliould all the eleven members of the Board, at their pleasure, transgress the laws by ob- truding uion every matter their officious inteifeience and conflicting directions ; and leave the medical superintendent, the visiting comiriissioner, and all the household, perplexed whom to obey or what to do. It would be like eleven physicians intermeddling each by his })rescription, with an unfoittinate patient, who, however well he might be managed by one of them, would certainly perish under the nostrums of all ! Decorum, therefore, requited the Rev. Commissioner Roaf, ns a minister and a genteman,to abstain from any unwariantable obtrusion of himself upon the domestic events of the week. Me might, indeed, have kept the letter in his pocket until the next meeting of the Board, and have left them to take action on it. It was further open to him tt) confer with the medical superin- tendent, who is required by tlie by-laws "generally to superintend every thing connected with the internal management of the institution." If he entertained any unworthy jealousies respecting the authority and influence of the medical superintendent, he had the further choice of putting the matter into the hands of the visiting commissioner, Professor Beaumont. The other commissioners were not strangers to this delicacy of official deportment ; for, when the steward reported to Mr. Cawthia the suspension, and the cause of it, and the other olyections to Hungeiford as a keeper, that gentleman said " he could not interfere, but sent his compliments to Professor Beaumont, and that ivere he visiting commissioner he would take upon himself to discharge But the Rev. Commissioner Roaf, treating superciliously both the medical superintendent and visiting commissioner, stept out of his sphere in the assumption of an extra-visitorial function (never assumed before) and brought the letter, the writer of it, and the officer offended by it, into immediate col- lision. Having thus presumed to intermeddle, an opportunity presented itself 8 for the interposition of that spirit of pacification by wliich excitement is oAen allayed, the kindling from collision averted, and a christian harmony preserve d. The inletference was, indeed, in him as on individuul, insubordination towards the laws, tho Board, and the Institution; but, in adoptitig this exceptionable course, the Uev. commissioner miglu have undertaken to settle the wh'^de matter while he was about it. Wmmly as steward Ramsey felt upon ilie subject, what might not have been the effect of u short sermon (nay, he might have humbled ail in prayer upon tiieir knees) for the puipose of bringing a timely acknowledgment from lie party offending, and awakening emotions of fionciliation in the one offended — u sentiment, 1 fully believe, to which the steward would ever be ready to respond, if duty happened not to over»*iile it. Sech, however, was not the spirit to which this interview gave birth, even under the auspices of a christian divine. The following incident, as related at the time of excitement, will partially convey to the reader what his knowledge of human nature must more fully supply. When the steward and keeper had been thus officiously and unoiHcially confronted ; when tho causes of these lurking jealousies were ex})lained and their groundlessness exposed ; and when the Hev. commissioner Roaf had justly said " he did not see what the man had to say for himself," and left the letter for the steward to take what course he pleased upon i. ; the steward, in his excitement, ordered the keeper peremptorily to leave t'le room. In closing the door, it struck the heels of the retiring keeper, who in his turn re-opened the door to tell the officer of it, who again shut it on him with feelings not less disturbed than before. "A small spark may be made to kind!e a great fire." And even at this juncture there was room for the ennobling duty of extinguishing the flame which was about to kindle other minds throughout the whole household, by effecting, through his influence, the instant suppression of the causes before they were diffused through the Asylum beyond redem|)tion. It must, too, be observed that Steward Hamscy was injured in his feelings not only by the imputations thus brought home to him by a commissioner, but by the di«ily irritation of latent jealousies, often, in such situations, painfully felt, though not so easily assigned ; by ill-will, both secret and open, arising from unavailing attempts to mingle real kindness with the unqualified requirement of active duty from persons long accustomed to a compromising sysl« m ; from curtailing past in- dulgences, amounting to official abuses ; and from insisting on the necessary observance of those rules of respectful deportment which former laxity bad unfortunately supi rseded. Thus one keeper has his threat that he is keeping his notes to tell against those of his superiors who keep notes too ; others rudely and stentoriously call from one story to another, Ramsey ! Ramsey ! and kept their hats unceremoniously on their heads (though not Quakers) upon going on business into his room; while another offered a pinch of snuff to the medical superintendent on his tour through the wards, and another as coolly smoked his pipe. Although some of the commissioners lightly esteemed sucli irregularities, and even condemned the steward for his innovations, yet I fully agree with Dr. Rolph, with whom the steward was then co-operating, that, whatever laxity gentlemen may choose to encourage out-of-doors, it is of primary important- within an Asylum to regulate all habits, deportment, and language, so as to contribute to the moral treatment, improvement and eleva- tion of the insane. Few men, placed in steward Ramsey's situation, would, in my opinion, have displayed, under the like combination of circumstances, less excitement than he did, from the above interview. supei with( on tl was is cr to th drun scatt dispi Wal stew real resp parti and the they IS oAen serv* d. owards ionahle wlu»le pan iUe might nging a lions of ich the i«-nle it. til, even lated at owledge keeper of these ed ; and what the lUe what e keeper heels of icer of it, )re. " A juncture hich was effecting, hey were observed iputiitions 'itation of so easily attempts duty from g past in- necessary laxity had IS keeping ; others Ramsey ! Quakers) ;h of snuff mother ns r esteemed ions, yet I operating, srs, it is of :ment, and and eleva- )n, would, amstance», But, in offering these painful strictures in mv defence, it is due to the Rev. commissioner to express a possible belief, that, connecting thin trntisaction with the past state of the iriHtiuition, with the jealousies vvhich werr the keepers to have at each meal, and they usually, u thty say, had longer time. . . , _ •«^4:- : -> 10 *Ini. I have prohibited the Cook*, Ilousemaidi, and Latindref>eea, going in and out of the In uiulion without permisaion from myself, matron or medical auperinlendent ; thia they were never need to befurt?. 3rd. 1'he t'tewnrd will not advance money to srrvanta before it ia due; thia they have not been accustoriied lo. • 4tn. The ateward will not allow the keepers boarding out of the Institution to have any firewood from the stock belonging to ihe Insiiiution, ns heretofore ; the keepera say they alwoya piiid Mr. Cronyn for what he gnve fro'ii the House supply. 5th. The atewnni rrfnsea t.> be re^ponsble tonny Iradeenian for flour, groceries, wood, or anything eloe, lor any aeivnnt in the Institution; this is likewise contrary to their pnst usage. 6ih. The Beer atruck nflf the keepers which are boarding out of the Inetitution and receiving foil pay from the Government, roniiequenlly they ore not entitled to auch a treat : — two of tlieoe keepers are Hungerford and Craig." " CHUtioned by yonraelf for loose and improper conduct in smoking tobacco in the attic in your presence when visiting the pati<>nls. Sent Hungerl'ord to breakfast at 7 J o'clock, A. M., and directed him to proceed up Queen Street, near to the Blue Bell Tavern, to search after Jennings, a patient who made hi* escape from the Institution ; he returned at 11^ o'clock, A. M., under the influence of liquor, after being four hours absent." f.,; This additional offence of intoxication was further brought to the know- ledge of the Board by Dr. Rolph when exan)ined by them. The Board object that Dr. Rolph requested the keeper to be discharged on the original complaint, without being obliged to make an addition to it, before his application could prevail, and the keeper had reason to feel that the medical superintendent had effected his discharge by new and damaging charges not embodied in the original minules. But the offence being recognized, it was the duty of the Board, as it was the inclination of the medical superintendent, to exercise a charitable and becoming forbearance towards the individual with- out prejudicing the claims of the institution for his discharge. When tl-ey intended to evade this offence in the estimate of their duty, candour required they should announce to the medical superintendent, that, unless the mtoxica- tion on duty was by him formally superadded to the original complaint, it was their intention to give it the go-by. Un the contrary, I left them with the full impression, purposely made upon me, that, under all the circumstances, the keeper would be discharged ; and Dr. Rolph was left with the same expecta- tion, informing me that commissioner Eastwood announced on the Board, at his examination, that he could not consent to retain a servant against the opinion of the medical superintendent. The intoxication was a good ground on the part of the medical superintendent for declining to look over the com- plaint which the Rev. Mr. Roaf had introduced against the keeper ; but it amounted to a laxity on the part of the Board to catch at the slightest pretext for looking over the offence of intoxication on duty, in order to avoid a com- pliance with the wish expressed by the medical superintendent for his dis- charge. Had the medical superintendent been corrupt enough to slur over this intoxication it does not excuse the like corruption in the Board, whoclaim the exclusive right " to hire and discharge." As long as they exclusively exercise this right, they must be held responsible, and not allowed, for corrupt objects, to seek frivolous and objectionable ground for throwine the responsi- b-iiity on others on convenient occasions. The desire of the Board to avoid giving due effect and bearing to this offence is the more inexcusable, because it was the neglect of an important duty, namely, the recapture of an escaped lunatic ; a neglect which might have led to the loss *:" the lunatic's life (one having already recently escaped and drowned himself) or to the " gouging of the eyes," not of a lunatic, but of a citizen ; or to the exciting of personal alarm pregnant with serious or fatal results. and out of t ; ihii they ia they have to have any !ra say they eriea, wood, past usage. ititinion and ucb a treat : > in the attic proeefd up 'ho made hia ice oi° liquor, the know- he Board lie original before his e medical iharges not ed, it was iintpn(?ent, idual with- Vhen tl-ey Jr required le intoxica- aint, it was ith the full lances, the le expecta- Board, at gainst the »od ground r the com- 51; but it est pretext oid a com- ar his dis- "i slur over whoclaim exclusively *or corrupt ' responsi- d to avoid >i because n escaped s life (one [ouging of ' personal 11 Being in Toronto for a few hours during the sitting of the Board, I gave them my testimony in favour of Hungerford's discharge. The invcsti* gation was prolonged from the date of the occurrence, the 11th to the 24th August; and Dr. Kolph was thrice summoned with the keepers and witnesses to be in waiting, upon the pleasure of the tioard, for hours together. He was honoured, I learned, with a very scientific examination for an hour and a quarter (afler waiting outside three hours for it) by Professor Beaumont, who, it is said, was not born when Dr. Hulph was |>rofessionally employed during the late war in an army hospital And I am Ui\d he loitereu outside, not seemingly in the character of medical supetintendent, but of a plaintiff in com- pany with his keeper as defendant, ingloriously uncertain what verdict the Boird would render. Such was his position upon those successive summonses to attend upon the Board and await their pleasure. Upon this abuse of office and most unworthy and derogatory way of proceeding, even the present Gov- ernment in their Minute of Council upon this point thus emphatically remark to the Board : — " It is not to be endured that the quiet of the establishment, "and consequently the welfare of the patients, is to be sacrificed to such jeal- "ousies or jeopardized by protracted investigations for the purpose of adjusting " nicely the exact am(>unt of blame attached to each. Every officer and servant " of the establishment must be made to feel his subordination to his superior, " and the report of such superior ought, as a general rule, to be conclusive as " to his m sconduct. " If it be objected that this would place the subordinates too much in the " power of their immediate superiors, the Committee would remark that unless '' this amount of dependence can be placed in such superiors, they are them- *• selves not fit for the station which they fill." The dir'jct tendency and actual t fleets of such conduct in the Board, were to embolden the servants in their insubordination. -^ The steward made the following report upon keeper Craig: — 28th July, 1848. Craig, keeper, cautioned by Dr. Rolph for improper conduct in shoving and using threats to a patient, and being impudent to the matron when spoken to about it. (Copy.) 3rd August, 1848. Craig, keeper, absent 2^ hours at tea, and, when spoken to about it by the steward, his conduct and his answers were highly improper ; in all his general conduct in the house, he is tuibulent and disrespectful. (Copy.) 13th August, 1848. Craig, keeper, absent at breakfast 2 hours. Sir, ;, ;,':, '""^ Your obedient Servant, WM. RAMSEY, Steward. Toronto Lunatic Asylum, 13th August, 1848- From the report made to me respecting keeper Craig, I recommend his discharge. JOHN ROLPH. • ■'* ■■ •'■■'- -' His discharge, however, (wh* ^n had been already sought in vain by Dr. Rees and Dr. Telfer) was refused. He was merely suspended on full pay j 12 »u.i. I,;. 1 and, in the sequel, it will be seen the Bonnl restored him against the avowed dissent of the medical superintendent, with this short minute: " Keeper Craig, upon being called in, was admonished atid reinstated." Both Dr. Hol|)h and myself requested that all intoxicating liquors might be excluded fnmi the Asylum, unless introduced by a note in writing (to be duly filed) from the medical superintendent or steward, specifying the occasion and quantity. This was striking at the root of much of the past and present evils ; and especially needed in a city in which (though small} the amount of intoxication is helieved to exceed that of the largest city in North America. The amoutitof beer for the quarter preceding my entering on duty, exceeded de26 ; for the succeeding quarter, it was d£3; and, since that time, nothing. Thus there was a saving in the annual expenditure of o£100, I)esides the more important point of insuring certain sobriety. The license to have beer in the Asylum, leads to indulgence in its use when abroad ; and hence arose the intoxication of Kungerford when on duty. It was also recommended to the Board to place tobacco under the like restrictions. Bt sides, on one occasion recommending its use to be gradually abolished. Dr. Rees, when medical superintendent, required "a more strict observance of the diet roll and proJiibition (>/' tohacco^'; and afterwards em- phatically records, " the steward is again reminded of the danger to which patients are exposed by the constant and general use of tobacco, which has been so often prohibited within the walls of the Asylum by myself." The utter disregard of his injunction is subsequently noticed by him. Dr. Telfer, also, recorded his opinion that " it should be gradually taken from them "; although, it seems, that, badgered out of his correct views, he was obliged to tolerate an evil which can, indeed, only be corrected by an uniform rule. The prohibition is the rule, the exceptions are regulated by the medical superin* tendent. The deleterious effects of this drug upon man, and especially on the insane, cannot be discussed properly in this place. It is prohibited in the Asylums of Noith America; and, it is presumed, European institutions are not behind them in the wisdom of their regulations. It is absurd to suppose that lunatics, insane upon other matters, should be able to exercise a sound discretion upon the amount they ought to use; and when any quantity is dis- tributed amongst them, there is no security against an unequal and injurious interchange between themselves. The lighted pipes, too, carried by them through the house and premises, add the danger of fire; and 1 found an entry by Dr. Rolph, in the visiting book, of a fire which, from that cause, tHr houra absent. But tliat I atill thought the most worthy proceed- ing would be to disniixs bin 'xi Um hotter — that I could not asaent to hia reMoration. I ! In answer to an intimntiun from the Board that the diMUiiasial of Hungerford would place Ithe Board in the awkward Hituntion of throwing discredit on the man on whose eviuenc* Dr. Telfer and Cronyn had been so lately dirichnrged ) I stated that I could not be guided by any other consitleration thun the well being of the inslitntion and its inmates — that the dig* charge did uot aifect the veracity of the man, only proving his disqualification as a Keeper. i I O.f THR Cask of Kkeper Ckaio. In anoWer to the question what ohjentiona I had to Craig as a Keeper, t stated that the ateward had reported to me hia irregularity in observing the rules and hours of the House« t , I and the addressof hia demeanor when reprimanded for it'— thir own deportment to be injured by it. That the matron complained that he habitually whistled when he was passing by her und scraped his feet and tossed about his head with an air of contempt till he was out of sight again. In answer to the question, how I could be assured it was so ; I staled, that I had the statement of the party insulted, and had myself noiiced his manner and temper to be such as to afford corroboration were it needed — that on a recent occasion, his excitement and duportment to the matron when corrected for undue violence to a Lunatic was most unber.oming, as the violence itself was most unjustifiablo ; nnd when I reached the spot, he continued the same excitement and argued with me the propriety and necessity of the violence — as this occurred in the. ward •midat the Lunatics I cut abort the atttretUion, for such was the character it assumed, on their ;; account; but that so long as 1 was Acting Medical Superintendent I never would allow any further acts of violence to be perpetrated by a Keeper against a Lunatic without my own authority or that of the Steward or Matron, under me. In answer to an intimation from the Board that Keepers must be allowed to take their own part; I answered, that no Keeper was justified in striking a lunatic because the hinatio atruck him — that insult or rudeness is never to be returned to a lunatic, but under every possible provocation there must be coolness and forbearance, and that when force is necessary even for aelf-defeuce, it must be only what is really necessary for the purpose and no more. That persons not willinje or not able to act up to these rules, are not fit to be Keepers. That an act of violence had just happened within the hearing of the Board, tliough they had not em* braced the opportunity of wittiesaiiig it — that the Lunatic whose frantic cries they iiad heard, and which attracted attention even from without, had beeti brought by fourKeepers holding each limb from the attic down to the basement, and were about to put him into a cell upon their own au/Aort ; -■ .. lam. Sir, J.'Vj\' j 'V " ; ,, Your obedient servant, I ' , ,, JOHN ROLPH. To Gkorgk H. Park, M. D. , v < . Medical Superintenden of L. A. • . ■ <<;.''.,; .< ^'• Oti the 24th August these various natters respecting the suspension of Hungerford, the recommendation of Craig's discharge, and the prohibition of intoxicating liquors and tohacco, came under the consideration of the Board. From the introduction of Hungerford's letter, up to this date, the Rev. Mr. liingerford lo proceed nfttic, who !r the inflli* ly proceed* iroiild place e eviuenc* giiitied by at the dis* Keeper. ed that the the House, aa required tion on iho one, aooii conduct, it uses of tho y it. That ,nd scraped iifjht a/^ain. e statement IS lo afford nient lo iho he violence excitement in the. ward «d, on their rould allow lie without answer to ow n part j the lunatic cry possible ity even for lore. That That an lad not em- iiad heard, lolding each I upon their I fury which roni my di- jehaviour— iper, by llm I I gave him 'his violence able when I taken place jssily of my irerutuent of »r a Keeper ROLPH. ension of bibition of he Board. Rev. Mr. 15 Rofvf had not made his appearance on the Board ; but oti this occasion, he presided as Chairman { and left the following Minute : — Commissionera pretent}~^Rev. John Roaf. J. O'fieirne, J. Eastwood, Dr. Beaumont. The Qlteniion of the Board bping given to the probibiiinn given by the Medical Superin* dent rnspectiog the allowance of Beer lu the Nurses aod Keepers; that officer was called in and asked his reason for that prohibition. He answered tliat in any quontity such beverages partially unfit those who take them for the discharge of their duty. drJered— That the Medical Superintendent having allowed Beer to one closs of Ibe Servtnta of the Inttiiution, the remainder be allowed the rame indulgence. The Rev. J. H. Grasett present. The Board being ananimously of opinion that the Keeper Hungerford's oflr<>nce is not so grave as to call for his dismissal, have reprimanded him, for expresMions contained in a letter addressed by him to the Rev. John Roai, end have reinstated him, on his withdrawing the Slid letter and expressing his regret at any language in the said letter offensive t* the Steward and Matron. The Rev. J. Roaf before quitting the Boatd expressed his concurrence in the foregoing reaolutions as lo John Hungerford. Hungerford was reinstated. Dr. Rolph, who had not been invited to witness the alleged apology (or rather new fashioned way of making one) found that neither the Steward nor the Matron was present or invited to be present, either to see, hear or receive it. He examined the Mirjut»8 again to seeif the Keeper was instructed before going to duty to offer any acknowledg- ment to the Superintendent, Steward or Matron. There was none. He also found that no Christian Minister, overflowing with the milk of human kindness, had done it for him, or introduced him with a ministerial smile beaming forgiveness contagious to all around — oh no I They all started for dinner as faithfully as the clock struck the hour. He next inquired if the Keeper, from an innate sense of propriety, had voluntarily tendered to the Steward or Matron, what he had not done to the Medical Superintendent, any sort of concession whatever. The answer was, none. A Board conducting such business in such an Institution, between such parties, in such a manner, whether from ignorance or from corrupt and un- worthy motives, are not deserving of being sustained by any government ; nor can any government in sustaining such acts against a Medical Superin- tendent, officers and lunatics of an asylum, stand justified before God or man. A Keeper who was harbouring, and encouraging others to harbour' domes- tic jealousies and distrusts, as mischievious in their tendencies as unjust in their foundation — a Keeper " who had no qualification as such to compensate for such gratuitious misbehaviour" — and who even Mr. Cawthra himself would have discharged ; — a Keeper who, three days before the complaint against him fomented by the Reverend Commissioner, had been drunk on duty when sent to seek and bring back an escaped lunatic, and who had further ba^.i reported for intoxication to the Steward (Cronyn) — a Keeper whom the Medical Superintendent had expressed his unwillingness to receive, is again cavalierly and insultingly sent back upon him, and the officers co- operating with him. And at the same time the request for a prohibition against intoxicating liquors and tobacco, alike injurious to the lunatics and the servants, and the root of much of the existing evil, was treated with like marked disrespect — the Rev. Mr. Roaf being President of the Temperance Society. Under these circumstances, the Acting Medical Superintendent deemed it due to the Government, the country, the Institution, and himself, to withstand evils of such magnitude — evils, ruinous and disgraceful to the Asylum — by ■t m BSI 10 . bringing tlic matter a second time under the consideration of the Board, when probably additional members wou]d be present. For this purpose he desired the Steward to re-suspend Hungerford, till the next meeting of the Board ; to which he addressed the following note : — Toronto, rrovincial l.unalic Asylum, August 20th, 1848. The undersigned on Friday Inst, found Hungerford 'estorcd as a keeper, and after taking a few hours for reflection, he deemed it his duty, however reluctant, to renew the suspension. Crnig appears still under suspension, and Jane Hamilton is to be admitted to resume her place as nurse, when her health permits. To the restoration of either of whom, to any station involving ihs responsibility of the Medical Superintendent, or of the officers in immediate relation to him, he has a decided objection. In expressing which, he further conveys the alieady avowed opinion of Dr. Park. It is presumed that the Board of Commissioners will not ascribe the above act of suspension to a want of due respect for them, or to a deficient regard for their authority, but believes that it has been done from a conviction of its necessity for the prosperity and good internal government of the Institution. In reporting this step to the Commissioners, he refers them again to the documentary evidence in their minutes, and his own evidence as well as that of others given before them at their request. Confiding in the disinterested feelings and enlarged views of the Board, he has no hesitation in making this second appeal to their candour and judgment, and in further expressing a hope that under scarcely any circumstances, much less under such circumstances as characterise the present rase, will servants be forced upou the Lunatics, and upon the Medical Superintendent against hie avowed dissent. The undersigned further finds that his request for a confirmation of the rule against the use of intoxicating liquors in the Asylum, has been declined by the Boaid and their re introduction allowed on the ground, that Dr. Park, having allowed beer to one class, the rest shall participate. The undersigned feels most Ailly the irresistible force of the intimation from the Board that such exceptions are injudicious, and calculated like all invidious distinctions, to operate as a naischie* vious example against the very principle sought to be established. He can only obviate the difficulty by reverting, as he has done, to the rule first adopted b^ Dr. Park, who maile it applicable to all, and unwillingly relaxed it with respect to those not immediately connected with the management of the insane, viz. the cooks and washerwomen. For two months, without a word of complaint, there has been a ready submission to the injunc- tion of the Medical Superintendent. But thb acquiescence is endangered by the opposing views of those by whom they arc naturally proud to model their habits and estimate their duly. If the Medi- cal Superintendent can surround himself, and the lunatics, with keepers and nurses able and wil- ling to discharge their humane and self-denying duties, without the dangerous stimulus of inebriat- ing drink of any kind, or in any quantity, he is at a loss to conceive any possible or tenable ground for preventing his accomplishment of it. In addition to the prohibition of all intoxicating liquors, he requests ''e Board to justify his exclusion of tobacco, which ought not to be any longer allowed to the pauents, and cannot, there- fore, with propriety, be allowed to their attendants. Under these circumstances the undersigned respectfully requests the Board to view these important subjects in their many bearings, and to give these prohibitions all the Influence of their high sanction. i^ (Signed) JOHN ROLPH. Under these circumstances, had the Board been sincere in their professions to supply the Medical Superintendent with such keepers as he cordially ap- proved, they might now have discharged Hungerford by grounding the act on the renewed dissatisfaction of the Medical Superintendent ; without even ad- verting to the original complaint, or the offence of intoxication, at which the Board had injudiciously winked. On the 29th August the above Memorandum to the Board was taken into consideration; and the different points disposed of, except the case of Craig, who was still under suspension, and unwell, and whose final restoration was in reserve for another blow upon the Medical Superintendent r.nd the Institution. .,>,.. . . - . " '' • '■-•■■'■-• - present: V 'J 'J 4 Ct ' Rev. J. Roaf— in the Chair. Rev. H. J. Grasett, Dr. Beaumont, . :r < Mr. Cawthra, Mr. O'Bierne. "" •' ;-•■,*?■ , V, r. t<-. : ] '?.•?, (], when desired ard ; to 1848. ling a f«w sume her ny lUiion e relation y avowed the aboTe inrity, but od internal evidence r rcqueat. sitation in that under isent raae, gainat hit the use of on allowed d that such a .qQiachie* ted by Ur. amerliately the injunc- ig views of f the Medi> ble and wil- of inebriat* ible ground justify hia not, there> view these ce of their DLPH. ofessions lially ap- be act on even ad- vhich the tken into •f Craig, ition was f.nd the . i<^ ;:: ;■' 17 Mr. fJraselt presented the dooiimcnt preparc.1 for t'ue B.ianl by Hr. Kolph, resncctin)? the oas- }|pn.iii>n ofthe kpeporx Criiig iind iluiit;errosi'(l of the rasps of (he Kefpor, Iliincfrfoffl, mid the Niirfe, Jane iiaiiiil(oii, nlii'r a coiixiilcraduii ol its si'veral hi'ariii;^^, are sorry u lind ilicir dfrjiion iilisnU^liiclory to the u>iii|tor£ry Medical tJiipLTliiiunciuiiC, and CM|)ccially hu lu Icirii that he huH thought tit tu couniertnand that decision. That we think it therefore nrcessnry to hritiR info iiotiro the fact that ♦" this Hoard helontr the etnploylng and ilischarKiii'^i of the olFicers and s('rvaiit<», exccpliii'^ the Ali'dical Hiiporiiitciuh'ut— niid that it is the desire aiidtieieriiiiiiatioii of the IJoirii, {'ver to discharni.' those chitics with a fidl reyard to tlie iiiflMence and >vi Biibm tied lo, ii wan my hacri d duty, in ibp f-igfii «>f beaven nnd ennli, In bmr up ui nKnuisi an net ol' (trgrndaiioii to ihi> priilbdi'inn ; — and, having done au in this inatnnce, I shall have no confiiience in his future conduct under my authority. 1 bnve thrrefore to request yon to furnish me with n slewnrd willing to co operate with I me, without siiljucting ine to the neccaaity of aeeking oiber methods for present relief in the I munagtnient ol ibe iiiboue. ] have the honour to be, &c., GEO. H. PARK. I Copy. Special Meeting, Ppptember llib. 1848. I Commissioners present: Revs. H.J. Grasctl, J. Kuaf, iMessrs Ewart, Easlwoud, O'Beirne, I Dr. neiuimont, I R»»solvid unanimously in reference to the above letter, that — I The Hoiird considers the Steward obliged to obey the clear orders of this Hoard, and thereforw I snsliiitis him in rephicing Hiinge.ford iipnn the return of the Medical !Sii(>rrinteii(leni ami noi )i(ter- I wards suspending him. That we should be happy in every pr;ictieiible ineihnd lo meet the wi-hes I of the iMediCid ?5ii|>printci|ent, but cannot as he requests conlemplale providing a Citcward who I w ill disobey the orders ol lliis Board. I J, : I That the Chairman send a copy of the foregoing resolution to Dr. Park as an answer lo hi.s letter. ;([ (Signed) J. U. I Special Meeting called by Weekly Comviissioner, Sept. 12. I Prksent— Rev. H.J. Grasaett, Mr. Ewart, Mr. Ei nwood, Rev. J. Rouf, Choirman, Mr, I ' O'Beirne, Mr. Cawihra, and Dr. Beaumont. I Ulr. O'Beirne, Weekly Commissioner, reported the forcible expulsion of old keeper Hungerfoid, I by the order of the Medical Ssuperintendent. I The rtleward explained the proceeding that hnd taken place in respect to the above expulsion. I Ordered, — That the temporary keeper and cook, introduced by the Medical Superintendent to I this Institution within the last few hours in contravention of tlie views of the Board, be now I informed that they have not been duly employed, and must immediaiely retire. I Ordered, — That the keepers be ca'led in iind informed thai they are expected to obey the Medical I Superintendent in all that rehites to the patients, and to treat him with all respect; Imt that in all I other niiitters they will he reqnired to ohey the Board only, whose order will reach them through I the 6tev\nrd and Visiting Commissioner. I Adjourned tdl 'J'hursday morning at 10 o'clock. (Signed) J. R. I The temporary servants above referred to, being needed in the Asylnm, I selected them upon the authority »)f Lord Metcalfe's decision upon the appeal of Dr. Kees, (already referred to in this nanative) viz., that their selection should be vested in the Medical Superintendent, subject to the a]>proval of the Board. , Toronto, Provincial Lunatic Asylum, 15ih September, 1848. I To the Board of Commissioners : Gkntlemen, On the 9ih inatonl I deemed it my duty to relieve the Lunntirs and I mypelf from Hupgerford nao Keeper, and directed the Steward to suspend him : 'I his be I refused to do. I next executed my own order on Monday, by directing Unngerford to leave ; I which he did. He returned in a short time with in.siructions, he snid, from Commissioner O'Bterne, to maintoin bis position in the Institution in defiance. This forcible re entry and 10 contumaciouR po«i(ion I met by dcsirin,; (lie Keo|irri to turn him out ; wbicli orJrr tliejr executed. You have in a further eeriea of compulflory niovptnentM agninst md (hern " to obey tlie JVlediciil Siiperiiitendent in all ilint rehitea to the |io'i''ntp, bnt8', but the moment you place them in the position of Keepers and publish them >n your regulations as subject to my orders, you ran have no power to overrule my proceedings with them in my official duties, without iransmding the bounds ol your commission, invading the more important sphere assigned to me, and wound- ing tlie higli authority under which we all act. Under those extraordinary circumstances, [ have sn'penlcd the Steward ns far as he re- latcH to me. He cnii, therelore, no longer receive my ordeis tor fx^culioii or attend me in my intercoursi> wiih the patients or through the wards. And I shall Niispeiid nil Ke-pers, as lur as they r^U'e to me, not willing a ter their liwful appointment, to olicy me as kceficrs un- coudiiionaily, until tliey are discharged Should I in ^airyin^ out this iiieaEure <'f exigency for the V ndication of myself and the Liin:iti<;M, b^ strHighteneil for aid or security in the inanag''mpiit of the inmuten, I shall call immediaiely upon the mauistnicy mid the police for the needful help, till the august Representative of jler Majesty can redeem the insiilutioti from its anarchy. I am Gentlrmen, Your obedient Servant, GEO. H. PARK. The above letter was replied to by the following note from the Rev. Mr. Grassett : — Sir, — As Chairman of a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Temporary Lunatic Asylum, held this day, it becomes my duty to forwaid lo you the annexed extract from their minutes. I have the honor to be. Sir, Geo. M. Parr, Esq, Your most ob't humble servant. Medical Superintendent, H.J. GRASETT. . V,' EXTRACT. '" Toronto, 16th September, 1848. Mr. Roaf having laid before the Board a letter addressed through him to the Commia. aioners by the Medical Superintendent, it waa unanimously resolved that, — Witliout agaia V".' :1l 20 dlnciiMing the mntlpre which occupy the enrlier pnrt of the letter, we record our ilelermin- atinn that the Steword nnd Keeprrs (thuutih finployrd bvtlim Hoard nod iinhlu to be Bii»peiided or diacharged by I'le JJoar.l only) nre the Kervanis iiIpd oI tli« Mcdiciil Superinlendeiii, who mual be conaidcrt J tlie beai jint^'' ol the per orimiiite of duly in bis (lepnitiiietit. We, how* ever, are now neceKsunit'd lo define tlwil dt|mriint'iit as im Iik ing uidy tlie treninieiit uf the pslienis, nnd are oi o|iini(in that otir int-iriiciionH will rnnblu the iSii-wnrd and Ke»persto ■void KeriouH niJHiaUes in ihcir obcdienie to the sovcial oilicers) under wlioiii they ore placed. Should ihe rvlagistrncy or Puhre Inive any diiiics to perlorin in ttiiH ci-liibliiilinient, they will n* a niaiter uf course b« rf(, the Chairman of the Uonrd mode me acquainted with the printed ReifuUiioiH, whicli, he fnrilicr inlornied me, huvins rHccived the sanctum of the Guvernmi'ni, were the estuhlislipd lawH ol ilie liistitiiiion, and, as sncli, wirefor my guidance ■8 Medii.al Siiperintendont. Wlien ihr'se lawa were thus coiibuinmuted, all were equally bound to obey them. But while 1 have ucted un the faith uf ihem, you appear to me to huve mistaken tbeir letter and spirit. In your minutes of the IGih of September, you recognize " the Steward and Keepers oe the servants also ol'the Medical iSuperinien'Icnt" — vet in the same minutes you deny me the right of even suspending them, as such, for any offence ol which they may be guilty rilher against myseli', the lunatics, or each oilier — Wiilioiit this right (incidenial to my uflice) I cannot properly dischar£;<> my duties; nor can I, therefore, us u servant of the Crown, consent to its impairment without uulhoriiy. You admit in your minutes of the IGih September that "the Medical Superintendent mast be considered the best judge of the peiforniiiiice uf duty in his deparlinenl." Yet when ] have suspended servants in Hie excicise ol my beitei judgment in sindi a matter, you claim the light uf sending them back into inv Birvice nginnst my (!it•^ent. 1 do not tee how yuu tnn assume luy judirment tu he the better in the matter, and >it in every in»eiinlen<) everythina rnnnected with the internal aff«ira. liy your own Laws yuu are only iho supervisors — the Medical Superintendent 18 to see, enforce anil exeouie. If, liierelore, 1 am limited in my duty to the adinimstratiun of a little phys'C to the patients, tlure is now no power ixisting for the daily and hourly moral government of the Institution and snperintendance of its uflairs ; for the Boot d mceta only once a wec-k, and then lor visitorial, not for executive purposes. But admitting these active bet^ right clairn but therm Mec acce atni awai nor 9th 21 wii, coiiGeni tnd hourly dutiea to nppertnin to mc, 8iibj'>ct to your auperviiiion only, I cannot •ubmit to your nrbiU'iry iinpottilion of bad sorvantn upon me and llie Lunatics unleia lo directed by ib« Govprnnient. Uy the printed L'iW8"Tlie Knf'pcrfl aliall l)e pTsoni «>f ^{ood chnracter. buninne," &e. ; and " i^enc'itlly coiiduel tliuiriMcivi-H in iin iiiiexo ptiiMiiil>lu rnnniiur." W'lifii, however, 1, allowed tiy yotir niinuics nr tlic lliili Sciitcintx-r to hu ijic hftt< jur nut hiirnniie, or ol i>XL-o|iliiiiiu(il« coiidiii'i, ymi relu.M* tu (hK-hiirg" Uieni ; and periinui'eously impose tliem upon my hitv c«. 'lo ihid 1 ciiiiiiot }ield wiihoul uuthorily. In ihe printeil Luws I roiid ihiit llif K''<'ptr« "cliull obey tlie instruciions didivered to them by the Supprintcmleni " Itiit hy your minute ortliif I'Jlh S<-pieml)t t-eriotis. 'I'liis is a nicihoii ol trainini^ Keepers and nurses in a Lunatic asylum to winch I ciiniiui assent without lirsi 8iibmiitint{ it tu the Uuvernor-GeneriiL By the pnblisheii Laws iho Sfward " shiill be sirirlly siilijirt to the control of the Medical SupHrintendoni, — and hhnil !«co his iiixtriiciions rilaiivt! lo the medical irenlment and mornl government of ilie piiriients earned intit eHVcl." liut he neverlheleas claims vour authority lo rcfist mine; unit umler your sanction sets ilip i xumple to tbe whole iiouaehold of inaubordinnto nttempts to cvmle coiti|)I unce ■ nnd both he and the kfrpers, instead of resting their defence on the duly ol' prcKnir oheilienie to the orders uf their ini'iiediate superior in the insliintini), ice! piiviiegeii lo treat my ilirec.tiniia with contempt, and to HiicriBi-e their siiiglenesM of purpose m carry nifT out (i^^iinst me a syaleni of forcing into my aervic" and on Hie iiiiiniics improper kei'iicrsHiid niiiHiis. Wh"n I find ih'tt my predcci'K.sor!* bavo l)Hen sulijecti'd to ibe same system and removed by its o|)eraiion : whi>n I have witu'-fscd its past direlul cfr'Ct:^ on the whole htniaehold ; I eliould ftirijet what is due to the i>overnmciit, and country, and inyscll, did I not with due respc^ct, but with all candour, reiicrntp my dissent, and leuve the whole questiiin, as I noiT do, lo the high adjudication of the (Jovernor-General. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your Obed't iServant, GEO. H. PARK. The ponding difficulties became now tlie subject of an anpeal to the Gov- «rnment, and suspended, therefore, any further action respecting them between me and the Board. From what has been ah-eady narrated, it will appear, that the antagonism between us, leally arose not so much from a dispute about our respective rights, as about the mode of exercising them. The Board, on the one hand, claimed not only the right of selecting and hiring and discharging the servants, but also the right of obliging the Medical Superintendent to receive and retain them notwithstanding his objections to their moral or other fitness ; while the Medical Superintendent, on the other hand, claimed the right of refusing the acceptonce of such servants as he knew to be inconsistent with the medical and moral treatment of the Lunatics; particularly as Lord Metcalf had already awarded to him their selection. I, therefore, addressed the following letter to the Government, accom- panied by such documents as had not been already transmitted : — -, . , Toronto, Lunatic Anylum, ]9th September, 1848. Sir, — I have the honor lo request that you will lay before Hie Excellency the Gover- nor General the accompanying proceedings that have taken place in the Asylutn since the 9th iitstant. It will easily be observed by the accompanying documents, that an antagoniam eziste between tbe Commissioners and tbfc Medical Superintendent, which must necessarily be r 22 procinotlve of evil result*. I ilierefote, from a iirong desire to p'-umnte llie wolfaro of the iinf.»riuu:»ie I.uiinucs, b g to be ►lermmed to coll His Kxccliency's sUeiitioii to a iiiBtler to wlncU I ihmU lliH KxcelloiHiy will nt iicli n<> iiiiall «lpgre>i oC ini|Mirioiic(». VVIi 'H me Mi-ilical Mupeniituiidrni tirsi ciilercd upon lliu dmies of his ofHca he found, us iiiiifbi readily bu »>u|i|>(>i»ed Itoiii what hud occurred previous to his nppuinlmi nt, the iiitiiuiiiiii in a very hitd c.iitdit on. 'I'liece was not clulh'iig oi.ough ot any or all kiiid'i t'i>r a elinnge. 'I'here were several |intieni8 that hml even been naked, convlnrilly cmtined in c lis or, if quiel, lying on the (loor nj the attic Wnrd; n iiincf wbi-re from •ixiy to sevt^niy piiticiiis weie kept in a diriy slate, us iliey vere the wo Ht o uss of p.-. tidiits. 1 hey wt-re not lei out hi nil into ihu janl or optru uir— Uf) •lll.vin id Una ^aid wns ulvviiyK hull, scun^i'ly bearcahlt', I'roHi the grtal amount ul' fiiih llntt had been allowLul to licciiiiaihiie in diillri-ni par s of it. I'lie other ward:! were not quite so had ; hul ihuie WMS no pnt nl'the wti»le csiahlishnient hut whul was dirty and otiierw »e budly attend- ed til. i'liere were no liiulis ur |rintendcnt has no menna bj Wnich he can euauie proper aitemion to the unfuriuniite l.ey miiMi be govemeJ, it id neressnry that th s power should, in order to ensure a Inlfilment of dicir prop r dot c^, b(; |)lneei.' in the Superintenpunt. As in the prtsent casp (nnd there ore o.lu-rd aitcady now pending not includatisf'iciory. Wjirn tlie Moard Biibd qiiciitly niPt'iH the keeper or servunt, as *hein. Tiiey liavti bei n by 'he ConitinsHiDners uctually ordered nut m olte / the iMedi- caI riupennicndL'nt in any kbing but wliitt they ir.ay think *' relate:* to the PanentB." The Uiiiortiinae iiiiniies of this Instiiunon appear to be made a matter of secondary consiitera* tion 10 that of a paltry patronage to keep' rn nnd servunis vig trously exercised by the Com* middionerM, whereas I he opinion of ihe iSnperiniendent upon entering office was, and is eiill, that ii is lhi> enrnest desire of His Excellency that the comfurl and well being of the Luna> licB ithould bo the matters uf first consideration. The Jommifsioneis, in the rep.irts ni their meetings, profess great anxiety to m<>et the wislies of the Siiperiniendeni and coidially to cooperate with him, but His Ex<-ellency will well iiiiderKtand ibe diff' rence between proles.-ion and practite. A few niunihs ago a ser- v.inl could be discharged lor disrespectiul conduct to n young mnn, head keeper at the Branch, but in the present case Mungerford, nnd indeed others, were reinined aliliongh charged with improper I ondiiut towards ibe Siipf>rintendent, Steward nnd Matron, und also of drunkenness without a redeeming quality. This is illujtratt-d by the |peai8 tbai they were ordered to lenve immediately, from no other apparent .cause ihan thut the Superintendent r coinmend-d them — tbe cook was to have filled the place of one thai hod just Irfi, and one^is ind spcable. The keeper . here referred to is John O'Neil, named in the acocomptin^ing recnmniendation from the Hon. C. Widmer, M. D. The Institution is in a very crowded siaie, and we riquiro a good supply of effirient and trusty keepers. The Superintendent is anxious to lave keepers tnouith to establish pr.)per night watches for the saiety of the patients, whiih it appears will not be permitted, altbough we have ut present two appalling cpertacleg before us plainly shewing the neressiiy of it — in two OSes patiuutsbnve violently attacked eoch other in the night, beating aDd biting eaoii other without re traint to a srioiis degree. The tinancial affairs of the Institution have been conducted in a very oarelen itifenner heretofore, so that tbe state of its liabilities cannot yet be told. Tbo rnatiiiitiun \n now in n very (lifVorcnl condition— ilir pntipnti artf oil cintlied, ar.'! all gn iniu (lio yirtt (^itcli diiy hIkmi iIic WfntlH^r pet mils. 'I'tio'u tliul iia''<1 to br contincd to iha c>llii vim ntiii air with anttriy it' a(-cuin|mniod willi runiiiiiul)!^ dili^ml keipfra. TliiMt* ilini im-d to lie on llio ntlin (1 lor n«!c"d and lielph'sa, with awiilrd Wg-*, liy lioinjj clothed mill taken luio lint ;nid, Iti'* HWf limy uitU discDlouriuuuH dunjjjjcarcd, uiid in every wny as'iiiiiLd a more lienlliiy uppcar.iiicf. 'I'lu? Sii|ieriiitciidi'nt li«« lind the Ins'itiition Ihorou^lily denned, fo thnl no vis'lor woiilj be ofltMidi (i wi''i (III* atinor'iilifro ol iliu diHrreiil apxriiiuMilH. 'I'lnu iiiosl iiiaieriiilU add* ii» the coiidort mill liralili of lliu ininatea. All ihe.tR i.iiniigea nei^osiiarily iiii-rcovud iho liihur to a very coiiBiderahltf d)-|;rri>e, nnd catiHcd, no doubt, aonie dittsaliiiructiun in llio keepora ond •ervaiiid who wero rei|iiirf'd to nasiat in tho neceannry operations. Tlie Siiprrintendciit \» deairoua thit Iliu Kxcellcncy'H Dlt(>ntion ehoiild be early called to thia matter — in the huiiiblo hope iLut lie will bt) pltaaad to aflord a epeedy and flFectual rcintdy. I have tlio honor to bo, f^ir, Your niosl obedient iScrvant, GEO. H. PARK. In fransmittitigf the nUove nppcitl to the GovcrPiient, 1 was uclvis(Ml by gemlemeii conversnrit Willi ollicial usaj^e, that, tlit; uisclostiro of my cofninuni- catioti to tho Hoard l)y a copy of it, would subject me to censure ; that it was for tiic Government, not fur me. to decide u|)oii tho publication of nuch infor- mation, by fuinishinf^ or withholding a cojiy at their discretion. The commis- sioners, it seems, entertained the same views of oHicial eui|iiette, and, withotjt makirjg it known to me, appointed the Uov. Messrs. Giasett and Roaf to proceed as delegates to Montreal, with iheir representation of these difficulties. Upon reaching Mtmtreal witlt their mission, tho Government gave them a copy of my communication ; upon which they presented the following observations : — Mo.vTREAt,, Thursday, 21st September, J848. Tho iindcrAiirnod being a Deputation from tho Coinniissioners of the Temporary Lunatic Asylum al Toronto. And having been Pivoiirod with a periiRal of dornments forwarded to the Provincial Gnveriinieiit by tho IWedical >Siiperiiit;!ndeiit of that liislitutioii, under the respective datea of •September 8th und 13ih, beg leave to uiako tho following observations upon those dociinients: — The repre»entalions, made reppecting the former treatment of pntienta, lias no bearing upon the Cominii>-sioiierfl. as they entirely leave that departtnent of duty to Hie IMedicul Superintendent, finding for hiin sucli assi:£tance us he from litue to time reports to be requisite. But in justice to the late Superintendent wd must express our full conviction that in •ubslance, and almost in every particular those representations are untrue. That Doctor Park made some improvetneiit in the clothing of a class of the patients, and in the cleanliness and ventilation of the Wards, it is due to him promptly and fully to admit. But it is also due to Doc-tors Rees and Telfer to state, that during their attendance in the Institution there was no deficiencv of clothing, no marked want of clHanliiiess, and nu cruelly. The Institution is visited by the Commissioners in weekly rotation ; it is constantly being inopected by the friends of the patients, as well us other partie.4 who fiom hiimaniiy and other feelings aeek the favour, and has several times been reported upon ui Presentments made hy Grand Jurors; while commendaiions have been constantly expressed. There has been no instance known to the undersigned in which any of the abominutious charged by Doctor Park have been mentioned. Respecting a want of a Brand upon articles of properly in the Institution, it may be said, that inventories of such things are kept, and there has never been an appearance of uny lost by peculation. The employment and discharge c ' Servants are the matters in which the Board is at issue with the Medical Superintendent. 24 Oil those racU the course pursued is tiie one prescribed by the Legislative Act which directs the constitution of the permanent Asylum. The one approvnd by His Kxr-elloiicy in liis disposal of the case relative to Doctor Rees : The one provirled I'nr in the Rules and Ke<{uluiiuns of the Institution, — und tiie one which has been eni|)loyed for many years, Nn person is employed as Keeper, or Nurse, without the approval of the Medical Superintendent, and no person would ever be rutuined vvliom that ofhcer thought unsuiteJlu his duties. Not the slightest ground has there ever been for a suspicion that tl"' Board cared for the patronage which it exercises, and tlierr has hardly he«;n a case in whic. a Servant lias been employed who was previously known to one of tlie Commissioners. In the case of the Keeper Ilunirerford, the Board would have dismissed upon the recommendation of the Medical Superintendent, had it been alleged that he did not well dischar<;e his duties. Rut when the temporary Medical Superintendent declined making anch no allegation, the Board felt that they were euiilled to consider whelhor siitlicient punishment had not been administered, and a very useful object served by the temporary suspension, terminated by a reprimand und a demand for apology. No .slight was thus put upon the Medical Superintendent, although he had stepped out of hia sphere i;i taking up the matter. Ho however directly aimed at subverting the authority of the Board when he immediately followed that adjudication with his reversal, and has throughout sought the power of dismissing the servants, not to remove the inelHcicnt, but to have power of resisting the decisions of the Board. The undersigned directly contradicts the assertion that the financial ofTairs of the Institution are cartlessly managed and its liabilities unknown. The Accounts are regularly kept in books prepared for tiie purpose — are every quarter seided and audited, and are at all times ready and worthy to be subinilteJ to the notice of Hia Excellency the (lOvernor-General. The rejection of the man O'Neil, of which so much is made by Docfor Park, was founded upon the two considerations, that he was brot:ght in to fill the place of Ilungerford, whom ihe Board had not discharged, and that he was understood to have been dismissed from the General Hospital f(»r the otlence of aiding the extraction of a corps and substituting for it in the cofBn some billets of firewood. The nndersijrnfd do not think it necessary to go further into the lengthened detrils fur- iiished by Doctor Parke. But must conclude by giving their opinion that the Board of Commissioners will unnni- Tnonsly consider that the Doctor has in his documents, sent to the Government, added falsehood aud treachery to the assumptions and insult and illiterutuess by which they had pre- viously been pained. (Signed) Rev. H. J. GRASFLTT. J. ROAF. The lanirnage, with which the above documert closes, was twice pointed out (I am tolJ) by the Government to the Reverend delegates as objectionable in its ciiaracter, and worthv of bemg withdrawn or modified by them. This they refused to do ; and the Governor-General was advised to submit to the indignity, with more deference, it inust be admiltee^ to the Rev. ministers, than to tlie rdigion they professed and thus exemplified. It was well, however, for the Government to have a taste of the practical piety of these Delegates towards themselves, under which they displayed the " sub- ordinati'>n to them" that was expected from and observed by rne ; but, in the last minute of council, the reader will observe that their patience under indig- nity was not even as enduring as my own, and it is condemned us "the indiscreet use of terms, unnecessary ns respected the party" (Dr. Park) •'to whom they were applied, and objectionable as respected the quarter" (the Government) " to which they were addre.ssed." Upon ihe return of the Rev. Mr. Grasett and the Rev. Mr. Roaf from their mission, I found the fol- 25 lowing minute of u meeting of the Board to welcome tlicm back nntl sanction their proceeding : — Thi'ksuay, 28ili September, 1848. Curninisfiioiiers met. r u K S K N T : Kev. 11. J. CrascU, " J. Ilouf, J. Kamwdod, Ksq., RI. J. U'lJfiriie, Eb-q , M. J. 0'Bi;irne, Esq , in irn? cliair. The Rev. Messrs. Grnsett and llonf being a depulation to wait on the Government in relation to matters connected with the interference of ilie nieiiiciil 8U|ierintcndent with the authority of the Board, — they made tlieir Kep<(iiit'^tfs- This indignity to the physician and officers of the insti- tution, and atrocity towards the lunati'"s, were accoj7iplished immediately upon their return from Moniteal, and in open defiance of the injunctions they had just received from the Government, to always exercise, (excejit in very extreme cases) their ])owcr respecting the servants of theinstiltition, in accordance with the views of the Superintendent and in support of his authority. If the Government were willing to submit to this contumacious and insolent conduct towards themselves and the llepieseutative of Majesty, it will not, I hope, be deemed guilty or mean in me to siibmit-myself and the lunatics to its consequences. But when the above four commissioners met, thus to disgrace their com- mission and the high authority from which they held it, where were their fellow members ] They reftiained away. Why % The reader must judge. Submitting to this wrong, without suspending Craig, or even complainings 2G :i;i? I communicated tlie facts to thcCJovernment, whose animadversions upon it oro found ill the first minute of cotincil. At a subsequent speci.'il meeting, the follov/ing Resolutions wore adopted and transmitted tc *' o Goveinment: — ^ Spkcial 3Iketing ok Commis^ionehs. Mo.NUAY, IGili Uciober, 1848. P R E S K N T : The llev. 11. J. (uasrtt, '•J. Riiitf, in the Chair, " J. Hay. * ' J. I'i'iislwood, Esq. *' ' J. Kwai', Ks(]. ■' •" M. J. U'lJeiiiie, Esq. Dr. IteHumunt. Read »he Communiciitions forwirded by the Provincial Secretary, under date of 3rd Octobrr 1848. Unaniino».''ly ordered,— That lhe;p hj put upon the miimtes, copies ol' Dr. Park's l-Hler to the Ctoveriiment. under date of Septeinher 13th, 1S48. and of the dociinieiits prepared hy the deputa- tion lately sent to the rSeat of Government, and presented as an answer to ihat letter; and that this Jocunienl be cordially ap[)roved us expressing the senlirnents of the whole Board. Resolved unanimously,— That the Chairman be direrlcd to write to the Provincial Secretary, flcknnwledfjing the receipt of his letter of 3rd October, with enclosures, rejiorling the adoption by this Board of the document prepared by the recent de[)Utalion to Gnvrinmcnt, pointing out ihe ex- isting embarrassed fjosition of the Board, requesting the early attintion of the Ciovernor (Jeneral to the pressing importance of an immediate decision upon the appeal made to him by the Board and Medical Superintendent. Upon the return of the Rev. Delegates to Toronto, I visited, by permis- sion, the Seat of Government. 'I'he offensive matter in the con: tiu- nication of the Delegates was not, however, shown to me, peihbps to avoid any ^resh irritations that miglit possibly grow out of it. — Sometime, however, after my return *;o Toronto, I found that the atevvard had been desired, in accordance with the foregoing Resolutions, to copy this document upon the trinutes of the Board, to expose, as was said, my "falsehood and treachery." This revealed to me, for the fiist time, the low vituperation recorded against me in the council chamber in Montreal, as well as in the records of the Asylum ; thus siilje' ting me to further indignity and injury before the household. Not questioning, uiider this mortification, the discretion exercised by the Government in the matter, I prepared a commu- nication of some length, vindicating myself by fact?, as far as they were avail- able, against the " falsehood anrl treachery " charged upon me. Th'^ Hon.. Robert Baldwin arriving in the city to spend sometime, 1 requested Dr. Rolph to see him. Calling irpon me after the interview, he recommended me to withhold the defence I had prepared, stating that he found it would be more agreeable to the Government, if I met it briefly in a way that would cover my own honour, without matter that might disturb the adjustmenlof the difficu ties BO lately effected by the minute of council. With this suggestion I cheerfully complied, and substituted a short communicaticm to the Prt)vincial Secretary, on the 13th November, expressing my consciousness of the truth and integrity of my action in the matters referred to by the Reverend Delegates, and my readiness and abiuty to repel the charges of falsehood and treachery, when- ever His Excellency night afford me an opportunity of doing so. Remarks on the above Document Jrom the Reterend Delegates of the Boards to the Government. In this document the languaee used by the Reverand gentlemen goes beyond controvert- ing ths correctness of representations, by alleging in terms least to be expected from them, that I " bad added falsehood and treachery to the assumption and insult and iiliterateness by which they had been previously pained." 27 The lerms "fuUchood and treachery" apppar on the face of the clocutneni to apply to my reprerentoiioii of the ooiidUion of ilie Institution and 'he treatniaul of tlte lunatics. An enquiry cuuld olone fully meet the nierit.s of the qu>'Bliun ; and therefore ia its ab> Bonce, there cnii be uiTered uiiiy euch vindicuiion as ocknuwIeUgeri lucts may udbrii. The Reverend deleuatea, while negativing the truth uf the rcprebeiitaiions rerpert- ing the lornier treaunent of the pouenis, deny their healing on ihemaelres and their ci'Ueng iitiS . because " they entirely lenve ihni department of duty to the Metiin.! 8nperintend'^n:, finding fur him such aa^istarice aa he iroin tiinu to time r'jtortit to be reqiiisif." Out the very fact uf iheir nUiinddiimir this most delicntf and impoitani duiy to the Medicnl Superiniciidenl ieeiich evidence i>f their iticnpocity to judge of the wmngH eet forth, as to render their use of the terms "fiilsehoiwl and treachery" unvvrrrunlnlde. And moreover, as they limit their duty to the *' finding tuch assistance as the M*'dic>tl Superinien* dent from time tu time reports to be requisitp,'' it ic evident ihut the alleged evils hnve uccnmu ated under t'erv.inis retained in the set vice of past Meuical tfuperintenuents, tiotwub* standing their repeated complaints against them. But the published laws rerpiire " that ll>e Commissioners ahall meet regularly once m week for the purpose of examimnu into the condition of the patients,'' while the v>8itin({ Commissioner " shall inspect the lnstitutu>n daily to see that the patients arepropeily atiend- ed to and supplied with wholetiome food, &c.'' 'i'his acknowledged tibd.idoiiineni of the treatment of the pntients to ihe unsupervised care ol the Medical fjuperintendent, is, there* lore, an ncknowle'^sed dtrn liciion of duty, while it at the saine time tenders the charge, on this point, of " falsehood and treachery" inexcusable at their hands. Never questioning the right ofthe Board of Commissioners " to hire and discharge the Servants," but seelt this very lantinago show to theOoveiiimeiit a self-conviction in the Rev. minds of tlie truth of my statement ] Is it not a rehu'tatit urbTiission of » ^«r/ for the who/ e ? And if the commissioners, in the unworthy discharge of tlieir supervision, tacitly allowed the uncleatiliness to accumulate to a .legrec, which, unscrupuhius persons might say, wna wnt tnnr/.rd, and further lo ced httstilu and unworthy keepers on the Nledical Supeiinti iuUmiI for the discharve of /n'a duty, how could my predecessors bo hehl responsible for the condition of the Asylum 1 Let them, through the post records of the institution, speak now for themselves, and only briefly, as the jiages grow in nuujber far beyond my expectation. Dr. Reea paid all the attention, the conduct of the servants and commis- sioners would allow, to the cleanliness if the latients ; and in August, 1843, thus registers his mortification, '• The cistern provided for tl' palicnis' heads, and ordered to be regularhj used for that purpose, is not _^_. in a fit stale"! Hoping that the ladies in eveiy region where this narrative m.iy travel, will read it, I forbear to detail the obvious condition of the hcuds of lunatics upon theii arrival and during the worse stages •)f their illness in the Asylum, from the daily accumulatiot) of various kinds of filth from various and nameless sources. " No maiked want of cleanliness " — und yet there was not, upon my assumption of duly, such a thing as a halh throughout the whole establishment ! How were the patients, often wallowing in dirt and besmearing their bodies with it of every kind, be ]K)Ssibly kepi in a stale of unclt'anliness not inarJcvd, without a hath for the purpose 1, The civilised world will condemn the uaiU of this means of ablution, as proof of inelllcient discharge of important duty by the commissioners, either from ignorance or corruption. Dr. Rees evi- dently noticed the deficiency, and sought for its supply by this entry, "to ascertain the expense of getting water from the water works." It was not without obvious seciet jealousies and displeasure, that I obtained a bath ; and, upon its completion, I see an order from Dr. llolph to the steward, in August, " To arrange for the patients of the whole institution to have a bath of such temperature as ma\ suit the patients resj>ectively (unless otherwise in special cases ordered) in routine, so that each inmate may have it twice a-vveek." The reader can jutlge how much this aided other means to promote the comfort, invigorate the constitution, and imjirove the habits and mental condition of this ipuch-neglected people. " No want of cleanliness "! Tlicre must have been a want of it in a viarlccd degree, around and about the Asylum, when Dr. Rees recordetl, mj' I June 1844, •' The City Pound, or yard, so filthy as to demand immediate'!^::*'] attention." And the inside of the Asylum could not have been in a better 4 • stale, when, on the 3rd of June, 1844, the learned gentleman writes, " Tar fumigation imperatively needed in the basement story"! Was there nothing 7narln:d, when this corrective was hnpci aUvel u needed ? V\'here were the eyes, the noses, and the consciences, of the Rev. Delegates and their associates when this requisition was made, and throughout that mjnth, in the last week of which, Dr. Rees is |)uinfully doomed to rv,r'»i\b to the shame of the whole Board and household, that " The tar fi)r the fumigation, some time since called for, has not yet been produced "! 1 found the fumigation needed throughout the establishment bnperulivdy ; and this, not merely from the 1.1 30 }| i fiinies ascending fiom below, but from those accumulating above. The furnl* gation was rvrri/tc/ivfe required and actvulhj applied. Why is it neetird so little now t Because, with the assistance of an nble. and active steward and matron, every part of Mie house from top to bottom is as clean and sweet as circumstances will admit It is wtdl known how persons live amidst noisome effluvia, from habit, scprccly cmpla ning of it; though dis- playing the gradual deleterious effects on tlie vital powers and mental energy. This cause conspired, with others, to injure the health of many, ruin the health of some, and retard the mental recovciy of all. 3. The Revd. Delegates hllege "there was no crneUy." Visiting once a week ns a Board, and one of thetn diiily for single inspection, how can thej know anything posi- tively upon thin point? How much brutality there msiy be, night and day, without their knowledge ! ♦♦ No cruelty !" Why was Wallace snspendcil by Dr. Roes, ' not to enter the ward or be called upon to perform any duty in the Asvhnn ?" Was there no cruc/^y when Dr. Rees (3rd Nov. 1844) recorded, "The patifnt Switzer has thrown np a quanrity of blood — it appears he has been troublsome, nud he says that this was the result of being seized by the throat. Such occurrences shonid have been recorded in the Report Book." Can the Revd. Delegates tell us how often such atrocities have been omitted ia the Report Book ? Or what drew from the same learned gentleman the subsequent coinpliiiiit, viz, "The Steward is du'ected to exercise greater vigilance over tiie vn\\\e jyalients and their attendants — all injuries received lo be fully reported in tlie book appropriated for tliat purpose." How many of such occurrences have been 8up|)ressed, unreported ? No crue.ltij— yet have I been told by persons cured and discharged, that they look back with horror at the personal violence they received. No cruelly; when Dr. Rolph reported the violence of Craig; and when Dr. Rees or Telfor recorded that he (Mcllroy) was in great terror of him. When Dr. Rolph iound the patients were treated with the broom-stick ! When an excited patient, held by four keepers by his four quarters, was dragged, in a state thus rendered frantic from the attic to the basement for incarceration there, even when the Medical Super- intendent was in the Asylum ? No cruelty ! to let the patients go about, not only without shoes and stockings, but five of them in the attic in continued nudity, lying oo loose straw in cells ? No cruelty ! when Dr. Rees recorded, on 2nd Nov'r, 1844, that ''the potatoes this day supplied the patients nre scarcely fit for Swine, nor was there a particle of salt supplied, their injurious effects to counteract." " No cruelty," that Dr. Rees had again on the 14th of the same month, to renew his conipliiints nbout the potatoes, and require good ones in iheir place ! Is this the period when the helpless lunatics were fed by contract, at so much per iieud .' If so then or at any other time, who |>rofitted by the arrangement ? ♦• No cruelty," in the remissness of the Commissioners, when Dr. Rees recorded that " The Cellar-Room, in which the patients take their meals, is so darkened by nllowing the wood to be piled near it, that it is unfit to be used for that purpose !" No cruel remissness in these Revd. Delegates and their associates, when Dr. Rees recorded '* that the sheds erected expressly to obtain shelter during bad weather, and for exercising the patients, appear entirely blocked up!" Where was the humanity of the Revd. delegates and the Board ? " No cruelty," when they allowed the friend- less lunatics to be employed in carrying water from the Bay to the Branch Establish- ment, in 8umme»' with the hazard of their drowning themselves, or suffering from in- solation. Where had been their humanity when Dr. Rolph thus recorded, " The patien and inmates are not to be empioyed any longer i'l carrying water from the Bay ,'ie Institution." No cruelty ! when Miss Land, from the Gore District, pay- ing cu '. year, was confined, day and night, in a sundl ill ventilated and ill lighted felou-ct \ till Dr. Rolph interposed in her behalf, and placed her, by giving up the Surgery, m comparatively a palace ? — Within three daiys of which removal from dis- graceful aod unjust acoonunodation, she was visited by some of her friends. No cruel 31 remissness in tlie C?oinmissioner5, ■when thoy nllowcd the nnkod nnd uie niphncholte to renuiin. from their nudity or frojii misornWe rhoicc, fronr» year to yenr in the attic, till from eiifiM'bIrd cir(;ul!itimmissioners had no nght to determine any such points at issue, by the " Legislative Act," because it is not now in force, and never would be, siiould tlie new Asylum be arrested fiom any cause in its ccmple- tion, as the enormous expenditure already and yet to be incurred, destruction by fir»' or legislative interference. It will htt seen that the Minute of Council, hereafter given, intimates the same erroneous view in one paragraph ; only, however, to contradict it in the next paragraph, in which it is correctly stated that " it must rest sdIc/i/ upon what is the true construction of those Rules as they stand,"' viz., the By-Laws of the Asylum. Nor is it true that they havo construed the Rules or regulated their acti(»ns by the decision of Lord Metcalf, on the appeal of Dr. Kees; for in that case, the selection of thf Keepers anc! Nurses " would be vested in the Medical Superintendent"; and the attempt in the Minute of Council to pervert the justice of my case by labouring to show that his Lordship did not mean what he said, is miserably weak and abortive. How are these bye-laws to be construed 1 It has never been denied that the Board have the exclusive right '• to hire and dischaige " — But it by no means follows frrnn the By-laws, that, becau'ie the Board "^iVc the servants " for the medical superintendent, that they can interfere with his action with them in official duty. By the By-laws, they "hire and discharge", but it does not say rondo/ thein. But the very term control, with the addition of the term strictly, is aj)plied by the same By-laws to the power of the medical superintendent even over the steward. The hiring nnd dis' charging a[)pertain to the Board, because they relate to financial matters, viz., the amout>t of wages on hiring, and the paymentof them on a discharge. But the control of the servants is by the same By-laws vested in the medical super- intendent, whose orders they have daily and hourly to receive; who has, through them, to conduct the medical and moral government of the patients, and see that his directions are properly attended tof ff^jift^lias generally to I1 fV 32 nuporintend evorj'ililuc; conm'cfcJ with llie intenuil ufluirs of the itistitutiuti | niid who is 81) paiiiftilly i'(>8|)()tisil)le fur the good interna) goveiiimout, that Hlleged mal-tivatmoiit (sny tl.c cdmniissiimois) lias *' tio btNiiing on them," but "entirely" on the siipfiintcrxK-nt. The crown appoints, and, for anght 1 know, removes the clerk f)i' the lioiisc of AsseniMy; hut, ohce appointed^ he U the servant of the IIoiihc ; the jonrnjils of whicii will show to any inquirer llie jeahmsy displayed upon the shadow of atiy authoritative inter* ferenee hy the crown with that ofHcer. The ciown appoints the speaker of the Legislative Council ; but cannot aflcrwaids interpose its authority between him and that Mouse. The crown ajipoints the clerk of he Legislative Coun- cil ; but he is immediately exclusively its seivant. The crown confirms the election of iheCommtms' Speaker, who in like maimer is afterwards amenable to that body only. The crown had the ajipointment of the wardens of the district count its ; bjit it would have been an act of corruption to interfere with them afterwanls. There was, iher fore, nothing anomalous in my situation or relation to the commissioners and servants. They furnished the servants; in my official duties 1 controlled them. The By-laws limited the Board to the hiring any (;oiilil, coutiary to th ■ hy-law, take unto themstUves tin; inoilical trcvititiL'iit up ti tht; rhonipsoiiiaii or Hydro- pathic system, and iii;ui(liii<; tlie sntiio oxpcnsivc iiwiuiry niid k'i>i3lativc correction. The vvMnt of tlis collision rod need tlu- Asylum to tlic stuto in wliicli 1 foutul it. Tlio late collisions improved tlio domestic |)olico, atid ameli'natcd tlio condition of tlio lunatics in clolliinc^, cleanliness, and ventilation — services for wliicli a just and generous governineiit would have rewaided and sustained nie — services, however, which led to my ruin under an administration unfaithful to those pro- I'essi UH of political honesty and those principles of reform in all public obuaes, by th(! abandonment of which, in these tiansaclions, tlieie will be added nothing worthy to their prcjsent fame or future heraldry. The Legislative Council lias not less tht> |)()wer of rcjcctinjjf bills from the Ifouse of Assembly, because doing so rendi'rs the li'^islation of tin? latter", abortive; nor is the dissent of tho crown objected to, because it annuls the doinjis of two co-ordinate Houses of Parliament; so collision between me and the Hoard would not, in the eyes of a true statesman, be deemed injudicious, or held to offer a constructive argument against the conflicting ])owers themselves. If it was wrong in the commissioners to return unsoberand tuibiilent keepers on me and the lunatics, it was rii^/if in me to withstand it; aiul it became a Just government to inter- pose its ultimate authority to correct it at the present and prevent it for the future. The By-law, the reason of the law, and justice in its application to the respective iKutics in their relative duties and lesponsibilities, require that the control of the sc-rvants should he in the medical superintendent ns long as the relation of responsible authority and obedient co-operation subsist between them. The Board can destroy the relation by discharging, but not by inter- fering to authorise, against the By-law, insubordination. The Rev. gf^nlleirif-n 'iirllier stnie lliat no Keeper or nurse " would ever be retairied whom ilio Medical .Siiperiiilniuiem ilioiij;lii im.-uiit'cl to his diiiieaj" and uL«o that keeper HiingirforJ " would Imvo hocii dis nis.sed on th'i rccDinmendiilioii of ihe Medical yuperin- tendent hud il been alleged ilml he did not well discharge liis dniies '' Yet these geniienipn, on I heir reuirn from IMonireal, on ihe 23th diiy of September last, aided onlv by Coinmishinn rs KmhIwooh nod O'Jieirne (ih« laiter heiiig in ihe Chair) nlier voiing ihuir proce<'diiiii3 willi Uie Guvenimenl •'entirely buiislactury." iininediuiely re-insiuted keeper Criiig, whom llie Meilicnl Snpe'rinlendent th(>iii;ht and hud represented in writing to Ihe IJonrd (18 iinsuiied to his dutes and nuce.^sary to bo discli.irgi'd, " Irom irregularity of conduct, habitual insolence to the tiimvaid and Matron, niid violeme )o the pnlients." Thid marked inconsisuncy between prolession and prnclice is on acknowledgment ol the triiih of much ol' my repreHeniaiion. is a viitdicntian auninst the charge of " t'aleehuod and treachery" nnd is n jiiHiificnton of my seukinjr through the government to avert from the Asylum the evils sptinying frotn this source — evds iniolcrnble 1o the Medical Superintendent — most unwarrantable towards llis Steward and M^^lron, nnd atrocious towards the LuuRiics. It is sloted. indeed, in reference to Ilnngeiford, as a reason for his restoration, that the Temporory Medical Supcrinlrndent declined makiiii; th I hin;j to dc iiv i|ic ri'^lit, niid m id Hi it i liii:; lo v iiili a'c ill" Crown, nn«*98rirnnd ilie l^iniiiiic-i rigiu'isi ilr* mjir I'li-i csficH •. F.ir it' nw 15 d dti yirg ilic tit; In uutlfr iiny cir- c niit.iiin'Bx ol II « Mist» ifiuii ( II iiid r lo -(M.-iiif ,lii' ic-ciiM'^iiUtmi on o ii •Hee) clitirii llie poW'T il' co(!r Mii; II ,\I :ili(' il Hii[) iin'' II It'iiL lo II" I' v<' (111 'iui''i qiinr i:(iiiii ^l I- |iii|i> «•, ill- vfiy [lowi'r |i<>ii,tiiii>iii WDiilu In- (nulfiiii ii>il : kihI I ^liiiilii li<>l>i my odi li iioi iiiiriiiy I 111! I l.iisnri oT i lie ("mwn. liiii liiii 1 1 y i lie p.iii-uit' ip| Jii' IIimmi, hh t'X(ii t hmjiI nii'l f iFi'ctiinl'y c'lifiic'il by riii!'iirr.iH-iiiu mo with micli siTviiiim iia wonlii eiiher diKgrnis me bv luiliire ii> my do-y, or by ciibmission t.» iii^|ii;Milit's lor the «mUi> ol peuee or pliice. IT, iheiefiire, I um cliurncil wiili iin(lcriiiiiiiii>i tho miilinrily »>f Uia Moiiiil, it is only hy the ndi'p- lion ol'a coarao o|)poai;d lo wliiit would uiidi-'riiuiie ilie uiulioriiy ol' ilic down and ruin my eel/". Tliia truth is apparent in tlio IMiiuitrs of Iho Exoculive Council ; a government brow« beaten by t^oiiiiiiiertioneif^ iiuo ilii'ir UMiiid. As '•The Coin nissionnrs cntiroly leave the irnniment of Iho patienla to the de- pnrtmf nt of ilie M di-al Siip'rinti'ndiMii, finding (or liiiii siicli iivaisiunce ns he from lime to time reports to bo reiiiiisiiH," ii is nicoiisisiriu with ilndr pnTifiriiiins lo render ti re suepen- eion nroes.-'iiry ; or lo eviuie ilie rt(iiiisiti(in of ilie .Midical rinpirinieiKifin lor h beUer ser- vniii, by making his eBlimiUii of keo;)erd siiiiiire with ilicir own ; or lo r< quire, when one ground of olijeiMioo is iniide by him lo • ki'^'per, ih:ii, I'oisimth, he must iiiiike nnollier) ami then, prohiibly, another. If ilie eoir,plaiiil is only eiioiii:;li, it is too Irival. Ifilismade nsgrnvnted, it is either niid.ii;inusly nverlnolu'd, or dunoiincpd ns prolixly vindictive in ifs chnraeirr, nlierly niiwonhj of the feelings and poslion of n Medicul iSuperinlCMdeiit, to- wards servants. The Il'-v. Commipsioncrs, in ilint pnrt of tluir rxp'nnntion, intrnded to opprnte as n denial ofihelniHi of my represpninlinn ri'^poi'liiig ihepiist keppin>r(ls evdenco of my tiuili. which the bonks thcmselveB by inspection would corrohornte ; and (ixis on the Rev, DclegMies a method of niisrepreHentation more refined tliongh not l^s^t ohjecroniihlo than the one unjustly charged uguinsi me in words too coarse and vulgar to be here repealed. The above remaiks on tlio doctimont of the Rev. Dclgntos, are unavoidably imperfect, as the only avaihiMe sotiiccs for facts, wcrs the admissions appa- rent in the document, and the equally imperfect records of the Asylum. The antagon sm between the Board and my elf having been mutually sub- mitted to the (rovernment, and taken itit • tlicir consideration, they sent to each of us the following Minute fif Cmiticil (of the 14th October 1848,) as their adjudication upon the matters in difference. MINUTE OF COUNIL. These, documents contain a vnriety of statements, many of which it appears to the Committee, would have been hetliir omitted inasmuch as the orij^iiial qneslion, upon which the difTereiices appear to have arisen, vv.is one respecting' lln; roristriiction of the Rule'* and Kegolations under which they resjioctivt ly acl, as those Rules and Regulations atJ'ect the relative powers of each. This point havinj? been disposed of hy an appeal to your Excellency, would have left the Commissioners and the 5>up<'rintt!iideiil to puisne their respective duties, without giving orca- sion to the irritation which would appear uiiloitiiiialcly to have arisen in the course of the present controversy. The In-ititutinn,nsifs name imports, is strictly of a provisionalchnracter, and the Rules and Regulations for its Ciovernment, it appear.'* reasonable lo suppose, mnsi have been framed with a view to the ultimate transfer of ihe estalilishment to the permanent Asylum, so soon as the new Bnildiu"; should be put up. The Rules and Uegnlations innsi therefore, in the opinion of the Committee, be construed with reference to the statnlary provisions.by which the perina- nient establishment, when in operation, is to be governed. Neither can this question, in the opinion of the Coinniiltcc; be disposed of by any con- Ih ht ^ 30 •itierntion oftlio pxpcdiniicy or iiiPxpoiJipricy of llio eximliiig prnviHinns upon ilip iiibject of It. It liiiii*t rrot Miili'ly ii|i()ii wliiil i^ tin; triit> cnrHiriiciion ol'lliosi' Kiilcs ih they ftiMid. Aiiiliipnn Hcar»riil pi>rii>4ii| ortli'-iii it fippr.ir'^ to tlii> (.'iiinriii C'niiiiiiis>iioii«>r(, nti'l not ill till' Sii|ii>niitiii(li'iit. lli.it the sii|if>iiiir pinviT, ill lln' lii^litiilinii, in tlir; pnrtiriilnr rt'l'tirred l(». iinii>n ol tlic ('niiiniitli'p. I)«> rt'inovrd, when rpfrrnii'M' is hml t'< tlio )'.\|ir(.'«scil opiniiin of iIk; I,i>i.'i4| iiiirp, winch, in iix prnvininnn for tlit> ppiiii iiii'iit lll^tilnlillll, hus vci^tcii even the iippoiiiliiit.'iil ul' the Siiperiiitendciit iiinmvir iti the CoiiMiiis^Miiniis. It is trim tliMt liy llin •jocoiiI nrlii'Ii! «C tlio priiitinl Ilnloi mid I'pi;iil;itlnn?i. the MetJicnl Siipnrinlcndj'iii i-< to ■e inorcover eniirely inconsistent with thai of the fir^t article of the Unles hy which •' tin- hiriim and disrdnryinj,' servants" in e.xpr«>ssly placpil ill the h iiids of iho (^iiiiinissinners. It appears to ihe (,'oniiiiiliep also that ihn opinion ex- nrensprl in Mr. Serrelarv |)d)'s I. tier to llie ('oinniissioners. oflhe ','4tli July, lH4(j, wim not intended to interfere wiili tile superior iintiionly of the ('o'liniis-ioners in tho*« ninltpr», hut rather to provido (or i!i it tiiiitiial innnony of action, which oii^'ht to sniisist lietvvpen llieni nnd the Medical Siiperintendent. Indeed the Iteport of the Coiniiiissioners, of the 2'lth April following. Hhows riearlv that such was Ihe constnirtion pot upon \\n.l Ict'er, and that it wni not considered as transrerrin;; aiiv part ol'ihese powers lo the tsiiperinlcndpnt. 'J'liis con.strnc* tioii put upon Mr. Hccrelary Daly's lellir hy llu? ('oiiimissioneis, was evidently arrpiiesed in by the (loveriinicii! it the liinr?. as nn step apprsus lo liavc hcpii talteii to correct this opinion of the Cn into an en or, nn to tlic intention of the Cioverit- nieiit in »o important a particular, it seems reasonable to suppose, would iiavc been done. The Committee lire lliereforo of opinion tiiat the rniiewal of the; suspension of Keeprr Hiingerford, after the c iso had been heard and disposed of liy tlie Commissioners without, ns it would seem, any new cause for suspension, was beyond ihi; powers vesitcd ill the Medical 1> ipcrintendeiit by the Iliile^j and Hegiililioiis of tiio Institution. The Committee haviiiu tints disposed of the ori<;inal issue belwppn the parties, rnnnot avoid repeating the e\pressi')n of their re;;ret at what appears to be the state of feelinp that has nnforfnnately spninj; up in the course of the Iransaelions out of which it orijiinated. And they woiiid respectCiilly recommend ihat the Conimis^ioiiers should be reminded how iinich it depends upon tliem to secure that ileference towards ilin Medical Snperiniendent on the part of the serv.ints of the estaMisliment, and that order ami discipline anioii;:st liie servants themselves, without which the Institution cannot be salisCactorily or iisr-fiilly conilncted. The air or maniipr of a person may Crerpienilv be more reallv deslroclive of sndi diseipline than some act of nejiliL-eiit omission, or even of direct di?rci;ard of orders. Tlie Committee have been led to this rem irl< not only from the aeneral characler of tiie complaints made by thfl Medical Superintendent, iuit f>oin observing tiiat the Commissioners have ihoiipht proper to restore to his place in the .Asylum a party reported by the actinj; Superintendent, as of a temper ill calculated for any employment in tiie inana{;ement of Lunatics, as having been negligent in bis attendance, and as having been guilty of aclnai violence to one oflhe patients. The Committee, under all the circntiistances, do not feel callec' Jifion to advise a direction to the Commissioners to remove this person at present, but they Ictd convinced tlint niiless an entire change takes place in his carria<;e and demeanour, as rejiresi. nted in liiese Documents, the Comiiiisstoncrs themselves will find it necessary to do so ere l"og. The Committee also feel it necessary to express their entire conrnrrence in the opinion expressed i)y the actin;; Superintendent, that no such force as that reported lo have been made nse of towanls the frantic patients, bv the four keepers, should have been applied without the authority of that officer, when the supposed occasion for it ai-ose, while he was within reach to express an opinion as to its necessity. The Committee feel some apprehension that nnless prevented by n rigorons exertion of anthority on the part of the Commissioners over the servants of the establishment, enforcing at once deference towanls the Snperinterdent and harmony of action among themselves, the Commissioners will nltimitely find it necessary to resort to a substitution of an entirely new corps of servants for those at present employed. Such is often fonnd the only remedy for evils of this kind, and the (?oinmitieo trust that should the necessity for such m mea.snre arise, the Commissioners will act with promptitude and vigor in carrying it into effect. It is not to be endured th.it the quiet of the establishment, and consequently the welfare of the patients, is 37 i to b« Mncriftci>(l to inch je!iloiily tlin e\a<^l a nontit t)rii!iiiii> tilliiclit'il to rJ>'i'tcil til it tills vvoiiid |ila('o tlio ^iili'iriliii itiw loo inuili in tliu power oT tlicir iniiiv'ili III- iiii|ii>rioi'-<. tint (JoniniitU'O would I(mii;iiI< that iinli-^.s iIih utiioiiiit ol' di'pi'iiduticu can be placi'd in niicIi stipcriorH, limy are tliiMns 'Ives not fi. lor tlio H'.aiioii wliicli tiny (ill. Tlio CoiiiiiiitliM! iriistH tliat liiitli till! ('oiiiiii-<-riiM>M*iit IiHiiiiiiion, as it is utidifnitoud that lliu new biiildin;;.4 Will proli ilily liu ruaiiy lor tloi riceiiiioii oi paliMiiis in lliu courso of tin* )>n^iiing Spring or .Siiiiini<*r. Wliili! iho niiiifidi-ncc ri'iiosiii in lioih ilu; Cuniniis.sionerM and llie 8u- pcrintfiidHiit liy the (ioviTiinicni and the anxi>Mis di'rtire to (liN(-liar;:e lli'>ir duty lo the i'dblic, which tlie Coniiiiittee are cuntiJunt tinitil be I'ult by both, ao iiiiperutively call.s Vur. Certified. (Signed) J. JOSEPH. Tlio above Minute of Council thus decidos between the parties the points in issue : suri:uiNTi;NDi:\T. 1. Tiiat the Superintendent oiii;ht not to have disclosed to the Gnvern- ment the defective cendilion of the Institution, us appears to bo intimated in the first paragraph. 2. Tliat the renewal of the suspcnsinn of a servant deeincd however un- worthy, is uii excess of power, wiiliout fi\-sh cause of complaint. THE noAitn. That the Board ought not to have reitistated Keeper Craig, " reported by the Medical Superintendent as (fa temper ill caKuhited for any emj)!oyment ill the management of Lunatics, as having been negligent in his attendance, and as having been guilty of actual violence to the patients." 2. That they should enforce defereiico towaiiLs the Medical Superintend- ent on the part of the servants and haiinouy among themselves. 3. That they should not disturb the Institution with protracted investiga- tions upon complaitjts. 4. That every oflicer and servant of the L-t iblishment should be made to feel h s subordination to his superior, and that the repoit of such superior ought, as a general rule, to be conclusive as to his misconduct. 5. This is summed up in the subsequent Minute (jf Council in these words ; " The power of the Commissioners, as respects the servants oCthe Institution, ought, except in very cxtreine cases, to be always exercised in accordance with the views of the Superintendent and in sup|)ort of his authority." 6. That they should, with the Superintendent, " lose no time in bringing the Institution into a proper state of order and discipline." 7. That the Government continued its confidence in both parties. To the adjudication of the government I most cheerfully assented, and by it afterwards scrupulously regulated every action. Had the Commissioners with due deference to the Government, acted upon the principles above laid down (ill conformity, too, with their professions) there could never have been any room for re-suspension, irritating inquiii*^s, or injurious collisions. But disappointed by the contents of the Minute of Council, and writhing under the just censure inflicted, and the wholsome advice administered to them.theCommissioners uiidet took against me a new series of |)ersernfions,and at the same time eluded the goverimient fiir their umvelctime rebukes; till, in the end, they brow-beat them, as will be hereafter seen, into my dismissal. 38 i I It wns after tlioir return from Montreal, in posricssioi' of tlie views nnd inp'riictions of tlio government from tlujir inlciociirse witli tliem; ami after tliey luul in theii doenmeiit to tl.cm dechuetl, as IMini.'.rers of God, " that no person would ever be retained whom the Meilical Superintendent thought unsuitud to his duties;" that tliesj vety lleveiend Delegint's re^t(»red keeper Craig. This hieacli tif goodiaith, violation of their oflicial pledges and high contumacy towards the (rovernintuit, entitled t'ne l.unatic .nyself, and the officers under mo, to a full measure (.f protection. But the v.My men who could dismiss me, merely for convenience sake, could not screw their courage high enough to di/crt the dismissal of the .^'jrvinit, ihosgh tl,»; conduct, to he sure, is condemned. The antagonism, however, haviug been referred to them, and its adjustmen' astunned, it was not a ])!-oper occasion with liigli minded and indeja-ndent men, to condesi'end to this pusillanimity in official duty, this unequal adjudication of pending 'liiriculties an.d undignified conces- sion to an a( knowlcdged wmng, evcMi it! ecclesiastics and their fodowers. Suppose the AJinister.s of State in J']urope or Amcri'.'a were informed that the ovarseers of their country estates persisted in retaining servants guilty of turbulence in their behavic ur ami violence to tneir ma«»'"s dogs and cattle — or suppose the same is re|)OJted to be the ctpel pob.:n>n if their own children — woijld these men of otficial rank thus write : " ifV, vnocr all these circutn- atanres, do not, ff.drallvd vpon to 'idrise a dhcctioii tomuove tlwse servants at present^' 1 Yea — would they not .nstan;ly leave the affairs of st""j, to look after these affairs at iiome for instant correction ] Very well — should they feel less sympathy for fjuiu\lics that) for dogs and cattle. And if the prompt- ings of nature are more tender for th 'ir own children than for dependent Lunatics, where, inb.dialfof the lalier, are the appointed and all-sufficient substitutes, viz, the inffuences of an enlarged piiilanthropy, the responsive be- nevolence of exaileil station, atui the voice of conscience answering to the touching appeal of so many benighted souls? T.t would have been satisfactory had seveiai members of the administration, when visiting for weeks their own hap|>y faiiiilies and sumptuous homes, dur- ing the pendency of these diffi-.-idties, been graciously [leased to ci'oss the threshhold of the abode of our humiliated nature, to search after the trutii with the spirit of the christian, or the eye of the statesman, or the general interest of citizens. But considering myself an officer of the government, T felt myself bound while in orPce. to submit myself to their phjasuve, even should it tomv mind appear at variance with governmental digmtv and execuiive rectitude towards the insane, — I, therefore, did not suspend Craig, but allowed him to renew his oja career in the Asylum, and bowed to the indignity. — Keej)ers Hungerford and Craig having been reinstated i)y the Hoard, it was not long before fresh dere- liction of duty obliged me, in my own ilefence, again to request their discharge. But even when a stnmg and irresistible case is made out, the Board ."till miiki* their com.pliance a giour.d f)r insult and injury ta the Medical Superintendent. Tnjs is exemplified in the following instance : — Apylum, 2nd November, 1848. To the Board of Commiss'nur.rs : Gentlemen, -<-rOi! ilie evening of my fptiirn from IMoiitreal I visited ihe ai=yl.iiii 3t nine o'clock. Ui my B.riving ai tlie aoic doimiiory, 1 found the nigin wnich, <;oiupu8ed of keepiTs Crnig nnd Hungeiford, undressed and in their beds, sleeping ^oundly ; ar> o; un candle was left burning <>n n box in the npartmen; ; a Lunatie. was walking about the ward ; the ciotbinir of the patients was carelessly strewed ubont their beds, and many of tbem with tbeir day-paps oa their heads, and two with their drawers on — all of which was directly cj '1 n| p| aj 01 b 39 coiiirary to the order recorded on the Superintendenl's minute book, nnd expressly nnder- Ktood by all of the keepers. a» Wfll as the elcvvard mid inntron A liiriims patient might, under siKiii ii'giecl of duty, hnvo I'liilcn on oilicra and le oiiucled ihf? seines of violence nnd personal injnry which, in n serious (li.'t»ree, recently ncciirieil in llio case ol Daniel Kerr ; nnd n'l this ni'giit have liapiu-n 'li wiili iis lilile noise as was rrnuircil to iiwiikLMi ihetn. "lie evil arising Iroin a lijjiited cm. He Umis li-ti, it) an <>'. vions miii'ul id' dinj^cr, greatly enhanced by the presence oruiiyiiardiMl lnnuiicc, otien (ii!^|i(>«eti to dc'ild oT niiacliifl In requesting ol tiie iioard Uie d frchaiiic ol tliese Uee|M'rt<, vvio have already herelofote BO abup'Jaiuly ptovod their uaworlhiiKSs, I leul it to be the only way to exoiieralo niyeulf. I hav^ the honotir to be, Gentlemen, ., Your obedient Servant, G. II. PARK. This romplnint against tlie^e favourite kpopors of the Commissioners, was received by them in a spirit (biililnlly comporiinir with their past conduct towards me und my prede- cessors. Having so lar alrenily lull ihtir way as to know how snocestlnlly they could coerce and deceive the Governnieni, llun' set at nought the injuncl ions conveyed >o them in the minute of council; ami, insiead of acting on my repret-eiiiaiion, th'y questioned its truth. 'i'he s'.eward was required to cornihorate my stniement, jiisi as the Mayor hao to corroboiate the Rev. CommiHsioner Hoaf's. Nor was th s deemed t«ulficient ; other keepers were called up to see if confliclinst testimony could not beoiitaiiied to jusu'j' their nliisil. The evidence, however, being conclusive, they diB|)l ived tlier moriiticition liy recording their action ia teni'fl which were sure lo impress the Governmeni and every reader of liieir minnies in pres.'nt and futare lim"s, with l!i'> belief, thai 1 had obtained /lie disniis.~ul upon fnvtdous grounds, (o which they had yielded iii a spirit of questionable eoncei-sion to a l/raiit of a Medical Superintendent. — Omittini; rill the most e-si-nliid particulars of the complaint, contained in my representuliun to ihem, they thus record the diticharge of the kcipcis and the reasons fur it. «' 2nd November, 1.848. •' The Rev. H. Grasett in the Chair. .T. ROAF. J. EA8 rVVOOD, J. EVVART. M. T. O'RKIRNR, DR. BEAUWUNT, " That the keepers Craig and Ilungerford, having contrary to orders allowed the patients " in the attic ward to have their body clothing during the night on, and about their beds, be *' discharged.'' The coiifidetice of the keepcf.s in the laxity of the Boai'tl, aiitl the disposi- tion to embitrrass me either by corrupt actjtiiescence or injurious refusal, will appear in the ftillowiiig transaction. Williout awaiting any previous commu- nication with me, they catne to a resolution to allow the As.sistant Steward, Cronyn, to attend the Medical Lectures during the session iS4S nnd 1849 at f.he University of King's College, with the pennission at the saiTie time to retain his situation in the Asj liim on full pay ; provided he could obtain the concurrence of the Medical Superintendent, as is shown by the following Minutes of the lioard. . >^ Board of Commiesionera, Thursday, 26lh Oct. 1848. Present— Rev. J. Roaf in the Chair, — Rev. J. Grasott, J. Ewart, Esq., J. Eastwood, M.J. Obc'rn, Doct. Beaumont. Received a merriorial from Mr. J. Cronyn requesting permission to ottend certain courses of Medical Lectures in the Univeisiiy. Resolved, — That Mr. J. Cronyn, the Assistant Steward, be allowed, ns Tie was in the years 1846-47, to be absent from the Asylum for as many hours during the day, for the pur- pose c'" attenomg Medical Lectures, as the Medical Suner.ntendeni may think he can spare from bis duties m the Asylum, without injury to the Insntnlion, provided tliat he does, as heretofore, apply his medical knowledge in assisting (he Medical Superintendent, by com- pounding medicines, cupping, bleeding, &c., "hen required : and if it should be (bund that the interestb of the Institution in any degree suffer, thai immediately the privilege of absence be withdrawn. 40 I i If I acquiesced, it was doing wrong; if I dissented, I incurred from the disappointed keeper and liis confederates, fresii iioatility. A8suming(however) honesty to oe tlie best policy, and confidinsi; in the integrity of the Government to sustain me in rectitude of action, 1 addressed to the Commissioners the fol- lowing letter . — To ihe Buard of Comniissioners: : Asylum, 2iid Nov. 1848. GlCNTr.FMKN, 1 hnve carpfullv considered llic minute mnde by the Board upon the subject of Mr. Cronyn's nppl'ciuiiiii for leavii ii» iitiend iho Uni vcreii}' Med ciil L'ciuiea. It rippears incoii> sisteni wiili my duty to give the ussi-nl desired (rout me. li vvnuid be, in my op nioii, an urwarrauinble iuiert'Tenen on my [iint, wiili iin iitieiiilam wliose liino belongs wlmlly M Oie Institution, nn<4 whose absence would impnse incrtased Libaur on the olber utiendants, wboa* duties are ulrcady sn.Ticienily onerous. I liave the honour to be, Genilennen, Your Ol>ed*t Serv't, GEO. H. PARK. They next assailed me with a star-cliamhcr inquiry, accusing me of pro- fe",ai;)nal incompetency iti the treatment of two surgical t ases, and of the offence of employing tlie Porter (Byrne) and head-keeper, Cronyn, in th© compo'inding of medicine, and of itabituai inuiteniion to it»o patients: — Co]^)j of a Letter of Accusation against the Medical Superintendent from, the Board of Commissioners. [Copy.] Tempornry Lunatic Afylura, Toronto, 30ih N;)veinber. 1848. To th" Hon'ble J. Leslie, Provincial Secretary. Sib, I am directed by ihe B.)nrd of this Institution, to forward 'o His Evceliency tha Governor-General, a Stmeiicint this dny ndopted by them in reference to two cases of apparent neijiecter pniienis on tht pnri clihe .^ledical Superiuiendent, together with the tesiiinony in full on wliich liiai iV ment is based. My insiruciions also ore to inform His Excellency that Iho Board did not call in the Medical Superintendent, during the investigation in which that testimony was elicited, the reason for that omission being the difHculiy there is in the Buard holding any couiniunication with that gentleman. 1 have the honor. Sir, to remain your ob't Serv't, J. ROAF, Chairman pro.tem. A true copv, Wm. Ramsat, Steward, Extract from the Report of ihe Commissioners, complaining of Dr. Park's Emidoymenl of Bijrne. "Some time afierwurda he told 10 iward liyrmj m w.uh the wound and diess it w.th ad- hesive pUsif 1^ This Byrne was a gnrdner nil he cume mio the insliuitinn, where for nearly two yeors he was a Kef-per. and has for nlmosl three years been ihe Porter. He cannot read Latin* and has never been indirucicd as to the preparing of Mtdicines, or dressing of MTOunds." Upon the deployment of Cronyn the Report says : *'Upcn the paticnis removal to the Branch Asylum he was in a similar manner left to the judgment and care of the Deputy Steward." (Cronyn) Although the Government did never honor me with a copy of any documents sent to them by the Board, yet I addressed the Provincial Secretary the fol- lowing letter : . \ ' ■' ' SrR, I have received from the Steward documents purporting to be a copy t>f a letter to yen, vrith a statement adopted by the Board, and the testimony in lull oa which that statt- mem b based. ,.,„ . ™ 41 These doeumenta are intended to impeach me as MeJical Superintendent before Hi; Excellency. I have therefore without delny nddresBed myself to you on the sul'jecf, and request the honor «>l your conv(-yiiii» tn His Ex-el eiicy my pL'ifeci nodidess mid nbiliiy to m< ft uml repel all theee uliarj^ed whenever Ilia Excellency may be iiluaeed te utr^rd ino on opporiuiiiiy uf doing su. It is, indeed, iruo tlint I was neither apprised of ihe proceeding of the Bonrd nor invited to attend. Their |jeiaonaI ainniosiiy isnvowed m8 Uie ground (or denying me die henefll ol ihotte rules iif impariialiiy im' before my accusers iiiid jnd^is; but it lahs as a lenson fur suijcl- inj; mo to nn inquisitoriul proceeding wliere this unimosity could ilieplay its activity williout a check and cuueuinute its purjinset. in sccrtl without the li^ht ui'day. I make no comment nn tlie wiinessps thus broui^ht agninst me, b'>can8e His Excellency is already awure of the I'aels benrmg upon tins point. No one charge against me is iv.<:d untrue '.hun anmber ; but 1 mny be permuted to iidveit to the cruelty uf the allegntion that I hod improperly employed an incompetent Porter to nnike np the medicine for the patients. The Comuiiseioners had allowed liini (as his evidence shows) to disciiarge this duty for Dr. Teller lor two yecrs, wiih ilieir acquiescence; and dnrin>! the earlit .- pari of his einphiy« mcnt. there mighi h^ve been room lor questioning h'^ cnpability. Bui it is not jus^t to Ibrget their former licen!>e, in order to make il now iippcar as ii char<;e ngiinst me. 1 have only continued him in hiaduty, after his past employment hnd insured his tilnesa. The intimation in the evidence that he cannot read Lnlin, might induce a belief that the prescriptions are writien in ihnt language, llinugh it is known und is nppnrent that they were by Dr. Tellier^ and are by me. written in English. If il was wrong in me to continue in the duty a niaa wh.)was once a " gardinemnd farmer, and ignornnt oi Latin,*' it was still more objtntionable' to s' ' c'ion it when he began. He was in Dr. Tchcr's time examined by Dr. JJeaumoat, and i.-y !i. -onouuced fit. Wit. Cronyn has been a Medical Student for three years, and attended the Me'dical Lectures at the University in the winter of 1846 aud 1847. He also fills the situation called the AssiiDtant Steward, at the Dronch. I rely upon the justice of His Excallency to afford me the amplest justice which my ease requires. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient and humble servant, GEO. H. PARK. Tho reader may contrast this insinuation to the government with the Reso* lution of the Board, of the 26th October, above given. Next to the atiocious acts already mentioned, is this most unprincipled proceeding. AUhough placed directly by the crown as Medical Superinten- dent over the Asylum; yet the Board of Commissioners, without any previous communicat ?■', w'nh or from the Government, erect themselves into a secret tribunal to tv ■ :r formal-practice in my surgery, and for hazarding the pois- oning of h > ie Its through the potter and head-keeper. Reputation is justly valued l;^ ' vejy man — professional reputation is doubly so: for its loss involves not only geueral fame, but worldly fortune; tho very means of living. Conceive, then. Christian Ministers joining, I ought to say seducing, otheis of the Board to conspire in a seeret art basely calculated to ruin me in charac- ter as a man, and as a physician. To this most presumptuous assumption of jurisdiction is added the crim* inal mode of proceeding. The Commissioners take the evidence of the keepers, ven of Hungerford and Craig, the two discJiargcd keepers', and if I am not * iund to give them credit f«)r more refinement in their moral sense than is ho;v n fHsplayed by the Board itself, a man's reputation stands in fearful hazard-»i am not allowed an oppoitunity of hearing the evidence or cross- examining the witnesses. The evidence is not given under the sanction of an \i' I. 'i« .. 1 > 42 nath : —1 nm not allowed an opportunity of calling professional men to justify mysnlf against the criule lu'tioiis of igtioiatit, disciiarged and irritated keepers. The base and calumnious result of this star-chamber proceeding is transmitted to the goveinment! It is fiU'd as an eveilasiing record against me in the aichieves of my native coun'ry ! It is enil)]azoned by the Commissioners on their minutes to render my professional infamy as lasting as the Asylum. 1 ask for an inrjuiry, and ih;> governmen refuse it ! — The government dismiss mu ! Dismiss mo with all this impeiishable scandal, to tarnish my name and utterly blot my professional reputation. Dismiss me when there is much besides wiiicli malice has indicted in the minutes of the Board, and which has emanated from thiMii in anonymous libels, and unblush- ing falsehoods in the newspapers of the day ! Dismiss me without pronounc- ing •' on the correctness or incorrectness of the statements!" Dismiss me without condescending "to condemn or acquit!" Dismiss me with a load of accusations — with the refusal of an inquiry ! And yet supply these libels to Parliament to be read, printed, published, and distril)uted to my injur}!, with- out even proposing an antidote ! — a course which has rendered the publication of this narrative necessary. I have hunted for a precedent in the history of Toiy govei'nment in the country, from the days of Goui: to tho. f^^^ Colhorne. I am humbled in finding none. The Toiies have, in k ' Miy instances, been severe to their political opponents ; but not an inst i :e like this, of treachery and abandonment towards their fiiends — It is without its parallel. I have sincerely to thank Dr. Workman and Dr. Morrison for their testi- mony, as conveyed in the following letters : — Toronto, 12th February, 1849. Dear Sir, I have refipived your note of this morning, in which you stnte that your "treatment of the casts of Diuiiel fjarr and Jnines McLi'llitiid, palienis under your charge in the Temporary Lunatic Asylum, having been condemned by the Commissioners, upon the judgment of the ttervunts of the Insiitution, you ure desirous of having an expression of my opinion upon the subject." In compliance with the above request I have mnch pleasure in being able to bear testi- mony to the propriety and eHiciency of ihn treuunonl pursued by you in both of the cases referred to. I visited the two brandies of the Asylum in the first week of December last, for the purpose of ascertaining the conilitinii ot ihe patients, and ihe state of the wards, with a reference to certain sanatory precautions which, us Ctioirmnn ot the Bonrd ol Heiiitb, 1 was desirous of recommending, in anticipation of the approaching pfsiiience, Asiatic Cholera; and I had a fair opportunity afforded me, on that occnsioii, of ascertaining Irom yuursflf ond the ward servants, full and minuie details of th'* cases of Carr and IWcLelland. 1 am con- vinced that any member of the profession to whom these cuses should be submitted in the some terms as those in which they were brouij;ht under r4iy attention, and beliire whom ihe potienis ibems'^lves should be placed for inspection, would, wiiliout hesitation, concur in the opinion which I have herein expressad ; and I cannot understand how it is possible that Ihe Commissioners have, as you inform me in your note, felt warranted in impugning your treat- ment. I believe there is nut a Practitioner in this Province who would feel at all ashamed of the cases of Carr and McLeiland were he brought before a competent and impartial tribunal, to render an account of them, after having so well succeedec in restoring the injured parts to a sound state. The loss of Fight, in Carr's case, was o result for which I was fully prepared, after hearing the details of the case, and examining the numerous scars remaining on the lace. Had the treatment of the wounds been improper, the patient's face would certainly have presented a different appearance from that which it bad when I baw him. . , ,..., lam, Sir, with much respect, • Truly yours, (Signed) J. WORKMAN, M.D. Dr. Park, &c , Toronto. > " 43 justify cepera. ;cctlii)g recotd by the lasting !— The idul, to niss me » of the nblush- nnounc- ias me load of libels to , with- )lication in the bled in vere to iiy and ir testi- 849. that your charge in , upon the ion of my >ear testi- tbe cnses r last, for Is, witb a lib, 1 was Cholera ; ursclf ond 1 am con- Lted in the whom ihe icur in the e that the your treat - shamed of tribunal, 3d parts to Toronto, 12ih February, 1819. Dkar Sir, In rpply to your note rpqiiesllng my views of ilie FurgirnI trcotmnnt of two oftheinmntcs of the As\liim, who hml b.'cn inj'iied, my iiUeiiiion iiavinn; hpfcii ciilled lo llu'ir caxes, I beg to ata'e t'lut it wu$ throu^'li the Steward on one of my diily visitci, nnd on the occnsion of n conver.satioii with liiin reimivu to ibi' g'lierni Miainiginieiit ol'sucb ho esiablisli' ment, and the quulitiont ons of iln' persons employed liiercin, ilint ho tnentiuiied 'he^a )inrt c- niarly unfortunalu occuireiiui's ; nnd I miw iioiliing iti their "surgical tieiitnicni" liui what was to jrour profeasicmid cri (lit, tiiiu'r in the; case ol Kierr's eyes, or I\lcL».*llMiid'H fiici', cut by a lioe. The loss of si^iit of the former nfipeared to me lo have bren iiieviiahle from ihe feverily of the injury inflicted ; and the wound on the lace of the other wud healed with far Usa deformity than 1 was pre(*Ared to expect ufler so imiiiluiing un injury. As to the ?orier, so cillcd, (his namo 1 do not now recolji d) who had dispensed medi- cine during the adminisiralion ol yourself and Predrcessors, 1 found hy enquiry of bii:i, uris- jnjr out of my desire to he snii^lied of his" tiincs-s for the duty, ihut he was qunlified, nnd I accordingly pntrusl!>d him, and fliouM feid fully justifipd in doing so ngnin. You are per- milled to make such use of this us you may think proper. I am, Dear ir, yours truly, ,i (Signed) T. D. MORRISON. Dr. P RK, &c., Bay-St. The charge in the Star-Chr.uibor iiiqniiy, of inattention to the Lunatics, is sufficiently answered by the acknowledged in)|)i()venients in the clothing, cleanliness and ventilation. In their zeal, indeed, to traduce me, they have in their communication to the Government, proved too much. The Rev. Commissioner Koaf, for the Board, says that I •' spent in the wards of the general Institution, where there are above a hundred jHiticnts sciittered in eight or nine apartments, besides tlie cells only from^/e to fifteen mimites in a visitJ''— Kow no man could mjive 7;imM^c'* do much more than walk vp stairs and, doirn again. — If I spent, as stated, Guhj 5 minutes in the tcards, there would be about //r/Z/'fl 7n/r eratioii of the Government, "in nrd'r thai the hoard or the .Medical Superintendent may be "sustained in the position wiiirh they respectively assumed as the Government may pee fit." A Resolution in wliich issue is thus joined on the appeal, and the object of such appeal thus explicitly declared. ", As regards the case of the Frantic Patient referred to in their former Minute and alluded to in the document now before them the Committee would remark— J- w I, * It ff V i 40 Tlml fcrerplirfl to it ill tlitj r(inii«r Minute, was ratlinr ait illiistfatiori, by wny of cXtimjilei nf vvliiit lliey coiic<'i\ivl tlii> proper conrxt' on hucIi onrai'ioiix, lliaii a coiKlt'tiinatioii, uvuii of tin) Kt'Ppcr, ill i('s|M'i:i (.1 ihc irivfii ci^o, mncli less as a (•(ludi'mii iium ol" iln- ('itiiiMiis-iiiiiicru ' — aii'l it vva* HO ri^ri'irfil In <'\|ir»^^.-'|m)iI''(I." wiihinit as-*, niny tli it iIumc mi;,'lit not exJHi explin itory cirrii'n.ii.ihiM! t. wlin'li, linl iln- iiiaiirr hicn laki.'ii ii[i a* one ol Cfioipltint to bu Hiiq'iirt'J into, iniiiht Itave rxom.'i'aiiHl a!l iVoiii iJaoif. TliB ("oinmiitt'o had liopnd, that when the siiliordination of fho Medical Superintendent fo the Coiniiiisiionors h id hern seiih-d hy Voor Ivxri'Moin-yV (h-cisioii. hoth ihe. (.'oninii^sioners nnd the Supei'iniendent woiihl have addressed themselves lo their respective diilies — tlie RiedienI Hiiperiiitftiidont in a spirit oC respectl'nl dcdereiice to the Coiiiinissioiiers which their posit'oiiand authority required from him, and tlie Coniinissioncr.') with the reflohitioii oP ulfordiiij; every just and ne(.es:iniiii.''Hioii«'ri I'roiii tho rLM|ioitHihihty lliit pr*)|MMly hihtn^'s lo thelii, mid have only to r«ni irk in conc-hision, th.it whtMUiver ihni Itourd, so hiii<{ iir< it * oniinnt n lo rtiinin Your I'xcelhMicyV coiitidiMirc, h'tvu any rrco iniitMiii ition lo ni.iki , !r coniniiilii' cations with the Governinenl on the siiliJHCt of the ditlicnities tvhicii have unhappily aprnng up between iheni, nnd coitvoyiiij^ to your llxcellency the e.xpressioii of his readiness and ability to repel tiietn. whenever your l!xcel!tn»ses. They do not however tliink that it is the province of the (lovornnient to decide the matter of personal feeliii;; between ih.it otiieer mid thn Commissioners, Hiid the temper manifested in the conr.se of the contest 8iitlicieiitly satisfies them, that sneii would ino8t probn* biy be ih'j sole restiil of entering upon such an invc^^tigation aa the Medicul Superintendent desires. The 'Committee cannot therefore, rccomm"nd your T'.xceJIeney to direct nnv i«uch inqniry< They iiave, in the minute on the letter of the (JommissionerM. siillicienlfy expresned the hope* they entertained that the iriitalion arising out of jiast dillicnliios might have beei> removed by jmhciniis explanations and concessions. Having been disappointed in that hope however, they can but await such action on the part of the respective parties us may require furthei' action un the part jfyonr Excellency in the matter. Cerlilied. (Signed) J.JOSEPH. Ffotn the al>ovG Minu'e f)f Council it appeal's that tlie Government under- stood that they had .settled the anfngoni.sm, between nie and the Boafd, which had been by both parties referred to them. My subordination to the Com- mi-ssioncrs was settled ^ and I, therefore, submitted to the restoration of CIraiij, submitted without, what many tnii^jht riirhtly think, becoming notice of the offensive vituperation addressed against me by the Reverend Delegates insultingly to the Cloveriiment, and jiursui d my .luties in the Asylum without affording the slightest grotjtid for complaint. IIow could there be any other explanation or concession on my pnrt, and how could it l»e imitual, when the Board, or those Commissioners who cilled tlietnselves the Board, refused to submit to the Executive atljudication and officially declared to the Government that they would "hold no further communication with me"? And they further offer official indignity by the threat that should 1 still retain the confidence of the government (as the GdverniruMit had avowed) they shotdd resign. This is cornering the Administrati(m.— It was bringing them uj) to the mark, viz., dismiss Dr. Park or we will resign. The Government, giving an undignified and ufijust submission to this predicament, and after liesitating, like King Herod, which of two disagreeable things to do, humbly begged the Commis- sioners to retract their painful threat, and to relieve the Adntinistration of the hurdon by taking upon themselves the responsibility of recommending a specific, unjust and inconsistent course, viz , my dismissal. The inquiry sought for and refused, was not merely due to me, but most especially due also to die Lunatics. Their well-being must most matetially depend upon the conduct of the Commissioners, and their con'"ormity to such T ii! # 48 jnsl views as mny l)c locommonJed by Mr/r Immediate superior, the Gover- nor Uencral. Their ooiitiimnry in so grave a mnttor, seriously jeopardising ihc iniTiates, rpqiiiietl the Ctovornmcnt t<» accept their resignuticm, not to suc- cuml) to tlu?ir coii(litit)iiiil tliieiu, of it. The ulioh^ of the h-st Minute of Coun- cil, \vl\ih^ it pi»ii)tc(1ly nhstiiins fioiii even a geneiiil ajijnoval of ttieir colitluct, contains intimations so pregnant with just reproach, that no men, not merely seeking to he sntaited with the revengeful pleasure of mv ruin, would or could under it hoiKMirahly have retained their position. 'J'hus the Council, in gentle terms felt by sensitive minds, charge them with foiintf ling the original reference ; and convey a ri-huUe for their contumacy by slating that (hey " had hoped the Commissioners would (when the sidiordinalion of the Medical Su- perintendent to them had hcen settled hy liis Excellency) have addressed ihcmselces to their dfi'ie.y" — /utd /to/xd, they would (h) sf», " with the resolution of affording every just and necessary support to the ISJedical Superintendent in the discharge of his very resptmsible and delicate duties," fa principle so cgrcgcously outraged in the very face of the Government, by the reinstation ot" Craig over the Lunatics — had hoped, (perhaps the keenest cut of all) that they would have forgotten irritation caused " by their inrliscreet use of terms, nnnecessary as respecting the party to whom they were applied and objec- tionable as lespected the quarter to wliich they were addressed," viz., the pertinaciously retained odensive language insdtingly addressed l>y the Hev'd Delegates to the poli-hed mind of Lord l<]lgin — ^'had. hoped that the express- ion of the opinion, which their former iMinnie contained, respecting tJie spirit in which the acknowled power of the Commissioners ovght to be exercised m matters of the kind under consideratien, uiouJd have conduced, to that end.^* And because it did not conduce to that end, foi- the well-heing of the Luna- tics, they ought to have been dismissed, even had they not tendered their resignatii)n ; particularly as the CTOvernment had already in their foimer Minute of (.'oiiucil, reminded them of the improprieiy of their cf»nduct to- wards the Medical Superintendent upon the complaints he submitted to them, and "that it was not to be endured that the quiet of the establishment and consequently the welfare of the patients shoidd be sacrificed to such jealousies or jeopardized by protracted investigations for the purpose of adjusting nicely the exact amount of blame attached to each," instead of accepting. •' the re- port of such superior ought as a general rule, to be Cuuclusive as to his misconduct." It is stated in tl^e last Minute of Council that " the Government ^Votrrria^rt distance, finds it necessary to delegate to persons on the spot those powers re- quired for the constant supervision, control and dii'ection of the Listitution." But on that very account it is either necessary (as seems intimated) that the Seat of Govornment should be more in the centre of the sphere over which it exercises ad iinisMative vigilence, (which would again bring the Seat of Gov- ernment to Toronto) or that the persons so delegated should be active, eflfec- live, faithful and conscientious in the discharge of their duties, and cheerfully amenable to an ultimate appeal. If this delegated authority is not to be ques- tioned or control ed by the power conferring it, it becomes absohite ; and it becomes, too, irresponsible (the most dangerous and corrupt of all sec(»ndary authorities) when the exercise of the sujieiior power, in ad » ising, it warding and directing, is met by contumely, by resistance, by open violation, and by threatening of resignation. If the Commissioners are to be sole and autocrat- ical, above a word of advice or the duty of acquiescence, it would more com- 49 port With things aa thoy oufrht to bo, that the Oommlssioiicis should assume ilie Executive department of'puhlic aHairs, and the Administration condescend to act a second part in the sphere ofdele^rmion. It is important to remark, tiint llie ifcvercnd Messrs. Roaf and Grasett, with Dr. Beaumont, Messrs. O'JJeirne und Eastwood, ont of the eleven com- posing the Board, were the only agents in all the bitter agitation against me; and were the only persf)t)S, present at the Special Meeting to assume the responsibility, thrown of!', nominally, by the Ciovernment, to require my dis- misal ; but the names are artfully omitted in the communication to the Government, to whom the resolution is reported as carried unani7nously : Yet even of the five present, four were the same unscruj)ulous persons as form- ed the meeting of the Board on the ^JOth day September, (sec page Sf),) when Messrs. Uoaf and Grasett entered on record, the satisfaction of the Board with their conduct as Delegates, and at the same time reinstated Craig. Was It just in the Government to ground their decision, in my case, on the acts of t minority of the Board, when that minority was composed of the very persons whose vindictive feelings had been already actually expressed to them by the Delegates in Montreal, and contumaciously displuyed in their subsequent mis-conduct'? Is it right that I should, or that liic Lunatics should, in such grave matters, be conclusively injured by, ]K)S3ibly, such a quorian of three, d1- lowed by the Commission ] " Placed at a disUuice." And vvliat better is the accountability before us, than the accountability to Downing Street, the inefficiency of which is painfully proverbial to this day 1 If the local government becomes fearfully corrupt upon the odious doctrine (of the Colonial Bureaucracy) of always supporting them, right or wrong, agait)st Parliament and people ; in what better condition will be our divers local institutions, if their local authorities are to be amenable to no actual control, no effective counteraction under complaints, but always to be treated with a complaisant evasion of their culpabilities, and a tolerance of dis- graceful and acknowledged abuses ! Still more dangerous is tliis exceptionable doctrine when connected with services held to he less amenable to reforma- tion because lionorary ! Is a debt of honor less binding morally than a debt of law ? If a friend, refusing compensation, assumes an important agency in my affairs, is he the less bound well to discharge the duty, or the less morally answerable for corruption about it] Do not the aristocracy in church and state owe something, in the nature of benevolence, to the community in which they aspire to personal and official distinction .? And how can the gratifica- tion of their ambition or of their hunger and thirst after usefulness, justify this doctrine of meritorious exemption, on account of their ^'onerous and gratuitous duties" from rectitude of action or the fullest responsibility to the fountain of honor and power in the State 1 The rule laid down by the administration, is the reverse of truth, and inconsistent with their professed principles ; for the I'ule expected from them was, that if responsibility reus cxjjvctcd and would he exacted from any, it tcould be from the rich and lofty ones of the worlds 'placed over the interests, the feelings and the wants of the poor and lowly. No people in the world have suffer'ed more than the people of Canada from the abominable maxims laid down in my case. Throughout the sufferirrg history of the country, the scourge of the magistr-acy, (ever holding '• their onerous and gratuitous ofices'** fr'om the crown, with j)erfect immunity from the punish- ment of their oppressions) was keenly felt and daily complained of, without redress. And the aristocratic Commissioners of the Asylum, empowered with their keepers, to beat, bruise, strait-jacket and incarcerate in cells the de- • a '■m 50 fenceless Lunafics, ought to bo rogaidcil wiih no coi riipt pnrtlnlity ; but tlia same principles of lintior, justifo mid goodCiiilh sliould have been equally cxtontled to mu and tlu: intiiiites, us lotim Hoard. How did tlic inmates in tlie I'enitciuiiiiy in Kingston muIi" r f'i(»ni tluMr Cominissioiieis " with tlieif onerous and giaiuiious servicfs '"I How long they suflrrcd, at tbeir incspon- 8il)lc hands, flagclhitions of" Ixidy and rii'sfn coukl not bo sii])p(»sc!d to (hi wrong, or be subjected to the loto practice ol' \)c\u}j; ra//td fo an orconnt. ; itnismuch as such democratic ci induct towards them, woidd astound our leform government with the dreadful threat of a " resignation" ! Iti truth, the I'eniientiaiy, the University, and the Asyhim.have fallen, from the same objectiouidtle policy, into the same ccmdition } those in the fcutner have relief because seen ami heard by their frietids, while those in the latter are doomed to unchanging hands, because umivdited in their appeals and unsupported by the sympathy of those, who have literally converted an Aaijlinii into u prison, upon whose ihreshliold com|)aratively few have evet deigned to cast their shadow, or have power or influence to oHbrd redress. Suppvso the case reversed. .Suppose I had been thus truly reported to the Govermnent — (thank God, it is not my position) — that I had allowed to lie in a stale of disgracefid nudity (even beyond die unseemliness of savage life) those who most needed that sympathy and redress, which I had never extended to them, while the humane Commissioners had covered my shnino in the matter by clothing these naked and brutally treated objects of human misery ; — tliat during years of careless duty, 1 had allowed, without a lecorded order against it, excited patients to be put togcthei in the same cell ;— tl at I had allowed these hjalhsome cells to be the scenes of the daily and nightly punishment of lunatics, made more frantic by the abuse ; — that I had insulted the CommissioniM's with insulting im|ioriuniiies for the retention of Keepers who fomented internal dissensions, and were convicted of intoxication on duty; — 'that I had encouraged violence ami cruelt\ to the patients by insisting on the reinstatement of Craig, an act unmanly towaids the Matron, and an outrage against humanity and the Lunafics ; — that 1 had destroyed all effectual discipline, by contriving to have unWfuthy servants fully paid dunng the whole period of penal suspension; — that I had wiili unchristian apathy allow* ed these friendless suffereis at my mercy, to pant under a summer's sultry heat, by dooming them to act the part of beasts of burden in drawing water from the bay to the Institution ; — that I had attended neither to the ventilation nor the fumigation of (juarters imperatively needing it ; — that 1 had not secur- ed even a bath in the Asylum, so essential to the comfort and cleanliness and to the ])hysical, moral atid mental imjirovement of the inmates ; — that 1 had introduced inliumanity and insobriety, by allowing (l)csi(les a large amount of other int(»xicating drinks) Ueer at the rate of four hundred dollars a year, besides tobacco, no-one knew how much ; — that 1 had manifested such marked reluctance to attend the meetings of the Board, where my advice upon the afl'airs of the Institution were naturally wanted, that they felt my longer co- operation unwelcome ; — that iVom deficient interest, I even complainetJ of the trouble of aiding the Steward in purcliasing the very articles they had ordered at my rerjuest ; — that I had alhtwed the Lunatics to acquire hal)its of wildness and disorder at their meals, incalculably all'ecting the moial improvement of the patients ; — that 1 had advertised for tenders, and on receiving them, had broken good faith, by a corrupt distribution of the patronage among my friends ; — that I had allowed, even after complaint by the Commissioners, the patients to be fed with bad potatoes, not fit for swine;— that I had allowed ; but t1i0 I equally iintes in -itii their incspon- D the foio : Ci induct (Jicadful , nnd the tndition } Is, U'hile d in their onveifed lave Hver dress. ported to owed to f savage ad never ly slioino t' human recorded i]l;-tl at d nightly I insulted Keepers nation on insisting and an effectual iring the ly allow- r's sultry ng water entilation lot secur- ness and hat 1 had mount of •8 a year, I marked upon the >nger co- ed of the 1 ordered wildness cment of lem, had nong my ners, the I allowed 61 tUdrri, dgaiii jlr repeated remonstrances, to go in n siinering condition without shoes or stockings ; — that I Irul allowed the windows of their dining room, nnd the very sheds erected hy tlio Commissioners for tlie lin|)piness onu exercise of the Lunatics in had weather or iindiM a biiriiin.; sun, to he filled with wood , — that 1 had otlicially recorded ollicial appiohatinii of my own con- duct, when it was done only hy myself; — that I hati accused them in the most indecfM'ous language of "falsehood/ treachery and illiterateness," and that after forcing it on the Governirrent, I had emhlazoiicd it »>n my prescription and order hooks before the whole househohl ; — That I li ul wriitt^n in the Asylum a lihel against the Board and obtained its anonymous ])ublication in the Globe nowspaper ; — that 1 had accused them in the newspapers of making false entries in the Minute lllook of the Asylum } — that I had in a secret way, without u(!()rding ihem intimation or access, collected, as in u star-chamber, the evidence of servants hostile to them, to })rove them guilty of high crimes nnd misdemeanors } hud suppressed known facts to make this criminality fals ly appear, and had (after dressing up the report and evidence} with wilful perversiofis and exaggerations) transmitted the same to the CJovernment to effect their disgraceful removal ; —That I had even allowed Miss l^and, pay- ing £30 a year, to be literally imj)iisoned in an ill-lighted, ill-ventilated cell ; — That amidst the most fearful and frantic veilings of a Lunatic under violent manageiTlent, I had turned the key on my door for security, and rjever ven- tured to the scene of distress and abuse, to do my duty; * — Thar, I had by my whole conduct reduced the Asylum to the lowest grade in the known world for sobriety, cleanliness, chnhing and ventilation. It is an awful catalogue for an Asylum I But with si h aft nrrrny of facts inst me, I could neither eXf)ect or desire to be rctaiiicd on duty without an 'ry. Why, then, haVe the Commissioners been shielded ] ^^ hy with oucu charges, amassed from the records of successive Medical Suj)erintendent8, are not the Lunatics (the most interested of all the parties) allowed such an in- vestigation as shall either redress their wrongs or dispnjve their existence? I am told, indeed, that my dismissal waB preferred, because I was a paid officer, while the Commissioners acted gratuitously, and were therefore enti- tled to every concession from the Government. But the Government, when appointing me, knew, and told both myself and my friends, the spirit with which they expected me to be receive d and treated. The Government with- drew me from my practice, knowing that it was surrendered and my property Bold at a loss- The Government, neither in the first Minute of Council nor at the time of mv appointment, concealed their intention to bestow upon me the per- manent ofKce, and thereby led me into expectations and expences, which could not, without good g'ounds, be justly or honorably disregarded. To ac- cept the resignation of the Commissioners was to comply with their own offer ; to dismiss me, was to take away the very office with its emoluments, which were the substitute for my lost business, and the remaining expectation of ray family. To accept the resignation of the Commissioners was to afflict them with no pecuniary loss; to remove me was to take away the salary on which I and my children depended. To accept the resignation of the Commissioners, was to relieve them, in their own language, of ''onerous and disagreeable duties" ; to discharge me was to inflict a positive and serious injury. To ac- cept the resignation of the Commissioners, was leaving them to the result of * Note:— See page 14. — The evidence of the Medical Safcrintendent before tl>e Board on the case of Crui|{. w m- 1=; %s 52 their own choice; to dismiss me after "promptly anj fuliy ''.iclmitting my fHi- provements in the clothing, cleanliness and ventilation of the Asylum" was directly inconsistent with )ny acknfuvledged deserts. To accept the lesigna- tion of the Commis.^ioners was in accordance with the just censures conveyed to them in tl>e several Minutes of Council ; to dismiss me was the infliction of a wrong after every diffei'encc had heen formally settled by the Gocernment by the first Minute in Council, without the shatlow of oll'ence •;ftcr my avowed Buhmission to it. To accept the resignation of the Commissioners was due to the contumacious act of repelling tht Executive adjudication ; to dismiss me teas undeserved, upon my resfiectfid acquiescence. To accept the resignation of the Cop>missioner3 was to give them their chosen substitute for an investi- gation, which they dared not to ask or consent to; to dismiss me with the re- fusal of ai> investigation, under the most atrocious charges, was ciuel and un- generous, and unjtist in the extreme. The Crovernment chose rather to ruin me, than to relieve the Commissioners, And in the midst of n)y unabated and unoffending exertio:is, in obedience to tlie Order in Council " to bring the In- stitution into a proper state of ortler and discipline preparatory to tii" transter of the establishment to the permanent institution", 1 received the following B3ngulur, and perhaps unexampled letter of dismissal : — Sccrciary's Office, Montreal. 2t)tli Decpmber, 1848. Sm, — ^I hnve the lionoar, by cotninainl ol ilie Governor Genernl, to iiifonn yon that HiB Excellency hiia li;.d under hie CDnsiderntion in Coiiiicil, certain ret^olniions ndojued by the Commissioners of ilie I'empornry Lunatic Asylum, at n niecung lieid on the lltli instant, (of whicli a copy was iransmiiied for His Exceliunoy'd consKleraimn, rii the fame day), reqtissiing thai you might be relieved fioni your duiiea us JMedcai Superinlendeiit of the Inaiitution. His Exfeilency regrets mnrh to find tbnt the antagonism between the commiPBioncrs and jonraelf hu3 continued unnbated, os lii.s Exclienuy hud hoped chat uie diiHcullirs fXisiing between those geiiilemen and yourself, niighi have been removed by m>iiunl explanations and concessions; us, however, that expectation has unlortunniely not been realized, (lis Excel- lency lieela hitnEeirconslrained, fVoin a regard to the int'TcsU ol' the Institution and of the jinblie, to dispense with your services, as iVJedicai Superintendent of the Ins-titution, You wil! thpr 'ore consider yourself as relieved /rom ihoae duiiea, Iruai the date of tlie receipt of this communicalion. His Excellcney feels tlie more pained at being compelled 1o take this course, in eorts?- qnence of your having so recently received the appuintuient in question from His Excei- lency's hands. I am at the same time to stale, ihnt in adopting this course. His Excellency does not in «ny way mean to pronounce upon the correctness or incorrectness of '.he facts alleged either by the Commissioners or by you, nor to condemn or acquit either party as respects the inat- tefi m is8U9 between them. I have, &c., (Signed,) J. LESLIE, Secretary, G. H. Park, Esq., Medical Superintendnt Temporary Lunatic Asylum. Upon this letter, the Editor of The Examiner o^exe{\ tho fallowing striking and stringent remarks : — ( B'rom the Toronto Examiner, Jan. 3ri, 1849.^ LUNATIC ASYLUM. Dismissal of Dr. Park, and ApiOintmemt or Dr. PRiBrRosi!. In tbit numbei oi:r readers will find a letter from the Provincial Secretary to Dr. Park : we give the whole o it: it will best convey to the public bifc dismissal u2 Medical Superin- tendent, and the offi,. iul explanation of the act. F'arless truth is expected from us by that public by whom we are sustained : end could we be induced to bestow out eanction on evil deer.s, from mere party considerations, 7-e shouW only eon and one wor We mil had com vio beer mor poli 53 only deem it exchanging one form of corruption for another. The despatch bespeaks iti e#li condemnation. A public officer, for many years the unchanging friend of liberal principles and iiberni men, woa pinoed by the present Government ns Phy^iula^ and Superintendent of one oi (he most important myiiluliona in the country. Known und reapeuied lor his moral worth uiid profcsaiitiial experience, he enjoyed tbe este>cn and contidcnce oi inure ihnn the Wetjtern acciitin <>t ilie Province. From liie steady exhit>iiiun ui politicul fidelity he conld as Utile expect as deserve unmerited ahnndnntnent. Placed in ihis position by men wliom hi had pertionally served in their career ior pxiice und honour, lie hiul u righi io expect, and the community hnve a right to demand, the extension to hiui ol those muxims ol justice in the vii)laiitii) of'wiiich every tnun, priviiie or public, is deeply inlert-sted. VVion^s which have been perpetrated agiiiii.>t one friend to day,miiy be ns unscrupulously visitfd upon anotherto- morrow ; and it is, indeed, only by such acts, tliat we cun juoge ol the true charocier of the policy which forms the secret springs within the bosoms ol compromising public men. The letter recognizes nn antngonism between the Medic;.] Superintendent and the Com- missione..! ; this antagonism it was the duty ol' the Governn'.eut to enquire into and adjust ; instead of avowing a determination repugnnnt to every Ufiright and consoientioua principle, •• '-.either io admii. or deny — neither to cumlemn or to acqail;'" but unceremoniously to immoiate a medical man, directly iippoinied from Uie Crown, for the corrupt purpose of appeasing Sn antagonism between themselves and the Board ol Comtnisaioners — aa antagonism which the Guveruineiit has not the coiirnge to meet, or the manl'iiess (o pt>t do'vn. Who is ri|{hl and who is wrong is without a biusa renounced. It is like gambling away the fate of others, and dealing out olhciai ruin with a rcckleiis hand. The duties of u Government (if Government onrs can now be called) are far more im- portanl in the righteous administration of all public ufTaiis than in adding to tlie burdens of our Statute Book, or in agernvnting our iiondition, lor centuries to come, under the artful pies o( reforms in Liw and Equity 1 Ij' the decision of si^ih questions, of]':-clinf> the purity of Governmantnlpi' ceediiig!<, e.i.d the right expi ciations of the |ie')|ile, is to hi; reduced to a ^ami of hazard, in order to reiiovcour well paid public fnnciionaries from the pusillanimous com* plaints of embarrassment a^.d annoyance, it would be better ec'uomy, und even lefs uncertain wrong, to let these gentlemen nt once occupy the btrihs suid to be already ripening for them resi)'-olively, and leave the clerk of the Council to throw the dice to see on whom the bluW may chanre to fall. The Commistiioners hnve required the dismissal of Dr. Park, and the Govdnment haviJ obeyed But the people have made their appeals in va>n. Dr. Park himself svlicited an im- partial investigation, but the govemment peremptorily rifvstd to grant it. A coniraHt n^^ces* eary to hold up political delinquency must not he viewed as invidiouN because it \* painful.—. Vi hen, und why, and from ivhom did the Rev. Egerion Uyerson obidin his presrni ofiice, from which his very presenre operates uffensively on the people, nn*i is known Io be most re- pulsive to iheir educational views and vory domestic lelatnms ! *.Vhy was it not in bis case deemed unnecessary *' to pronounce a judgnient upon the correctness or incorrectness of Ihe facts between him and the people, or to acquit or to condemn, the one or the other," in exer- cising n summary jurisdiction tor " relieving him from the duties ol Supeiintendent of Educa- tion, irom the date of the receipt ol a deHpatdi? " The Ministry thnt paused to mnke the Rev. gentleman yield his place to the high-toned expression of public opini'':i, hiaiid convicted by tbe wonton sucrifice ol m long tried friend of the people, in order to heed the bullyingsofi Board of Commiesioners, boHtile, wiiiiout any reasonuble or ju«t cause, to one whotr/ they had recRiiily appoined, (afier sacr ficing a lucrative hut laborious proliession in the coun- try) to fill the office of Medic.il Superintendent in the Provincial Asylum. Where is Mr. Joseph also, the Tory Clerk of the Executive Council! Thio very gentle- man, against whose political h story and prinriples they used publicly to indulge in impassion- ed condemnation, and whom ihey np< nly avowed their deienninrtion not to retain on acep- ' tance of office, continues as their Clerk, closely to observe their acts, record their proceedings, and perhaps overawe their deliberations. But if some mysterious agency staid their purpositf in his case, could not truth and justice have overawed i.heir subservient/ to tbe animosity of a Board of hostile Commissioners? Who now dischargee the duties of the office this tyranny has vacated? Dr. Primrose^. Of his personal and professional merits the country must judge. But when the people in k great strugele hove prevailed, they little expect, and most certainly will not endure, to letihi^ enemies of their principles supercede their hmg tried friends. This learned genilemsn. kin> died, with others, by a mistaken zeal, gnve bis countenance to the unconstitutional drstiirbsncei at the celebrated Durham meeting generally called (the Ministers know why) *♦ the Durh m Races," which will long live in public recollection. This honour now conferred upon hm, emanates from the very men whose heads were threatened with bludgeons, and whose eua- ■tiluents w.ro outraged — not merely by a large amount of public injury but even with the loav 54 of life;— j'rom Ihe depcenilent of one(tlielate venernble Doctor Baldwin) whose "g'oylialr*," he was to)d in tueek expectation of hit; lute, nione Htoid the blow which his pohircnt virtues were about to provui^e Irniii sotne uiiI^humh infurinieii hnnds : — t'rom another, whoFe fleotneHS aloofi sovec' him i. live to eactiUcti an boncei n an; — aod fion) a third, who evuporuted no one knew wjjeie-. Every rule of public duty, eyery sentiment of public fnilh, ev^ry aseocjnlion with the living uiid liic (lead, nii^ht well iiave pabicft the bunds which subycribid the wnnlun and avowedly raiisek'SR spolintion of a ll< former's place and /'ame. We have been guilty of ex* tenuating their eigniiiciint leaning to 'Mir poiiiicul adversaries. Never will we be guilty of vi|)dicutin{<; (heir qwn lerjy;iverEatii^n, nnd demolition of our friends. '.II AFPESTDIX. i ■^ :ii ■I ••■ ' ' From the Globe of the 22nd November. The Examiner of the I5ih inut. comnipnces an edilerial article by faying, "Regarding the horrible atfjir in which o Lunatic had his eyes so injured that he lost the u<>e of them, the Ca7ia(//V?:'f inlurmotion is in the main correct. Dr. Pork, almost immediately alter entering on bis dniies in the Asylum, gave oiders to the keepers, on no account to permit more than one e.vciifd patient to be in one cell at the same time." 1 bis statement, by the evidence of the Slewurd, and of uU the keepers, is untrue, and such orders were not given to any of ihem uiiiil after t e iUth S'^ptember lust, that night on which one patient (CarrJ was HO injured !>;/ another patient (Uickerd) as subsequently to lose his sight ; and that by the injuries then icceivcd. This deplorable event, both by the injury and the consequent loss of sight, was kf'pt by the .Medical Superintendent from the knowledge of the Commis- sioners, ond they first were apprised of it by their deptjjtation to government receiving the information at Montreal, as ibe basis of one ground of complaint made by the Medical Superintendent against the Board. The Examiner tayp, '* the keepers were instructed to keep a strict watch on the cell* contr.ining a plurality of excited patients." All the keepers say that they received no instruc- tions, before the injuries done to Carr, t. e., before the 11th September, and then an order was made by the medical superintendent that two keepers should remain during the night in the attic ward, keeping wulch alternately, and that the other parts of the house, where the male patients arc kept, should be visited by them three times during the night. Now the cells in which the excited patients are placed, are on the basement floor, and consequently, even if this watch and their visits had been ordered and carried out before the injuries done to Carr, it is a mere rhonce whether this order of the medical superintendent would have prevanied the culiimiiy the watch being stationed in the attic, ond the patient having been eonSned in the basement at the time of (he accident." The Euuminer says, " A violation of these orders * * * led to the frightful injury of one of the patients !" meaning Carr. This is necessarily untrue, as neithei the orders nor anything ofiproachmg to llieni hud been given before the injury had been inflicted. 'Vho Exumiuer ei\ysi '* the Commissioners took up a position wholly incompatible with the proper puwrr and authority of the medical superintendent, and therefore subversive of thot strict discipline necessary to the safe keeping and efiicient treatment of the lunatics." The Comniissioners assumed no more power ihnn that which they have olways exercised, and which is in accordnnce with the statute detailing the powers of the Comrrissioners of the permanent A.ivin(; the e Medical 1 the cella instruc- 1 an order i night in where the Now the lequently, ines done luld have fing been injury of trders nor tible with irersive of unaiics." exercised, pre of the the Gov* ded their distinctly >ndent in lue to the uons ond n thought endent." ucb sup* 3oard for ts. It so ougb the fi he has t keeper, for very , or even The Examiner says, " Accordingly on the night on which the injury in question was inflicted, the nigiit watch, insieail of attending to iheirduty. had consulied th< ir own ease in preference to the eatVly of the pmieniB, and gone quietly to bed." From this it would be inferred that the fnedicai siipfrintendBiu h;id, lieioie tlie injurips were done to Carr, ordered two or more (lersoiis lo kerp a niyht wiiich ; but no such order iiad bi en jj'ven by the medical siiperiu'eiuleiit, and his practice was, prior to this aid occurience, to reiain hut one keeper in the ailic ward during the n gbt, wiiuse duty ii waa to rtMiiai.i tliroiiglioui the night in thai ward, unless called from it by any disuirbaiica in other pu.lr "f tlic building. The medical superintendent desires to Inve abeoiuto power in employing and disinissing servants ; the Board in every case consult him, and require his approval, but do not consent to leave him uncontrolled. A i-hoit time buck he assumed the power to suspend a keeper f.ir a very trivial fault, and then brought in, to till the vacant place, a man discharged from the General Hospital, for as^sisting the stealiliy removal of a dead body, and the substitution of billets of wood in its place. 1'bi« in a Lecii'ircr in a Medicul School was enough to call forth caution on the part of the Board. The Examiner misrepresents the cose when he speaks of the Commissioners noting against the Doctor; for they are mrTuIy on the defcnsivK, and the Dofior commenced ond has been urging on the exist ing disagrpein(»nt. He, contrary to oil the previous pmciice, took upon him to suspend a keeper, niul tint for ix rn'ittiT not at all in the Medical department —when, after the Cummissioners had allowed the punidhineiil, and obtained an apology, (and this contrary to their own view of jmticp, ami iiiTely lo upheld the aiilhoriiy ol" the medical superintendent,) the kei>per was re-in-iatfii, the Doctor re BUt-jended him, then liirntd him out into the strepi. and, at last, agan h;id hmi violiMiily piil out. lie ai'trrwards appealed to the GoverniDciit, several weeks (jifmc the CoiiiiiiissiDUfrs (*i)llowed the example, — and did this without informing them of his- doing so, mul i)v menns of statemeuis ii >t :>iily entirely untrue, but somn never even fionr I of by thij Comiiiia.-sioiiers. The representation, then, of the Comrnisaioui^rs being the promoters of the dilliuuhy, ia a m^ire ruse lo divert the public •ya from the real state ol' the case. To the Editor of the Globe. Lunatic AsvLusf, 29lh November, 1848. Sir, — Your paper of ihe 22nd November contains on oriicle on I he Asylum, in answer to some editorial remnrks in the Examiner. Upon inquiry I find it was banded to your office through the Rev. Mr. Roaf, who stated that it had been drawn up by Dr. Beaumont, sanc- tioned at a meeting of the Commissioners, ond ordered by the Board to be printed. As the statements ore most unfounded, and at the same time calculnted to injure ihe institution as well as myself, [ deem it my duty to offer for your columns the I'olluwing cluiation of the material points in reference to the occurrence on the night of the lOih of S. ;iu uiber last, by which a lunatic had his eyes so injured as to lo.'^e his sight — it is denied ilmi I had before that viine given ony order '' not to permit more than one excited patiei i one cell at the same time." In answer to this bold ond astounding declaialion I con ^r.y, inii any gentleman in the city or country is at any lime ai liberty to visit the Asylum, and see the following oider, made by me in writing in iho book approprke boldness of criminniinn it is said that " this deplorable event, both the injisry »nd the consequent loss of sight, was kept by the medical superintenitent from the knowledge of the Commissioners." Any gentleman, upon calling ol the Asylum, may see in the Keeper's Report Book the morning entry of the accident, by the keeper. mm I* •IS Any gentleman that plroBCB mny also eee the Prescription Bouk, which forlfa«r containg the nome of the patient, accident, ond trentmpnt, ■> Any Renilemnn may iilso see the bod where the pnlienl laid in the attic ward, subject while under trealment to the view ol tiie Cotnmisaiuners. The above pnl)lic entries on the records oflhe Asylum bring nil important events to the knowledfre of the inquiring Comtnissinnerfl ; nor is it any piirt of my duly, nor is it the practice, beyond civih public entries, to make to the Commibsioners uny verbal or written repor.. By the printed laws of the Anylum *• the Commissionprs shall meet regularly once a Wfek (Thursdpy , at lOo'clock) tor the purpose of examining into ibe state of the Institution end condition of the patients,'' And the vi-sitinjj Conmiissioner in rotation for the week is required " to inspect the Institution daily, and see thnt the patients arc properly attended to." Ii was, therefore, their neglect of duty, not my oonceulinent, which kept these matters from their knowledge. Having thus nfnted the main charges, I leave untonohed some subordinate matters which, however, may wiih rquol readiness be niiswered should circumstances need it. From the above, it will be spen :hal my unaccepliible appointment to the Asylum has not been less embarriis-'ing lo nie tlsiui to trv predecessor. But in llie liiiilifnl and e(ri'.ieni dis- charge of the dii:i('S entrusted to ine, I shiill rely upon the aninoval nl ijie Crown from whom I receive my Hpiioiutnient, — upon the support of an inielligeiit public, tind of an liunourablo and enlightened profession. 1 am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, ' ' GEO. II. TARK, M. D, Medical Superintendent. " ' / To the Editor of the Globe. Lunatic Asylum, 30th Nov., 1848. Sir, — By order of the Board of Commissioners of this Institution, I request permission to make a few explanations of matters referred to in Dr. Park's letters in your number of No. yenibcr 29th. In doing this we overcouie u great reluctance to refer publicly to incidents in a hospital, and that a hospital for the insane : — but, as they are already divulged, we think it best tliat accurate information should be abroad. Before proceeding lo other matters, I would relate that the paper which yon were so polite as to publish, was Nov. 22, drawn up mainly by Dr. Beaumont, in consequence of his having taken down, as amanuenses of the Board, minutes of the investigation from which it lesulted, and partly by njyself, as chairman during the investigatio-,, — but it contained sugges- tions from several Commissioners, and all of it was adopted by tae wiioie Board, which body, tlierefore, is to be considered as its author. When it was asserted that the Medical Superintendent had, previously to September 10th, given no orders prohibitory of two excited patients being put together into a ceil, it was done upon the unanimous testimony of the Steward, Porter, and Keepers, (regular and supernii* rnerary), that no such orders bad they received or heard of. True, some of the keepers ex- plained that on one occasion the Doctor had reirnrked upon the uiidesireableiiess of siK;h a practice, but they added that he had not forbidden it, and that it had been continued as una- voidable with his full cognizance. The Steward also said that he hud freque nily reported to the Doctor sUch proceedings, and had never heard a complaint or probibiticn respecting iheui. Nor could the Board find a report any more than a recollection oTsnch an order. There was, and is, kept, a book for the Medical Superintendent's orders, but no such entry as is re^ ferred to. was discovered there. Hence the full conviction that such an order had not beea given before the appalling occurrence of September 10th. We are now told of an ordcv made on June 20th, and indeed there stands one under that date. But w/iereis it? Not in the order-book, but in a prescription-book, kept in the Doctor's own office, and which as belonging, strictly to the medicai department, is never seen by the Board, nor consulted by the Steward or the Keepers. While the tfooks which come before the Commissioners are regularly bound, this is merely enclosed in paper, and is cover with scratches, commonly made when peo. ie are sitting in listltssness and using materials which are private and unimportant. Entered there, it was not likely to be seen by any besides the Doctor and the Porter, whom he leaves to Qotupciuid and administer his medicines, as well as to dress his patients' wounds, There it 'r conliiDB d, subject >nt8 to the is it the or written ly once a Institution lie week is ended to." liters from ite matters lit. im has not ri<;if nt dis- oin whom lunourablo indent. ., 1848. mission to er of No- cidents in a think it were so ce of his which it d sngges- ich body, ber lOlh, wns done supernu- L'pers ex- f sik;]) a d as nna< sorted to ng theixj. Tiiere as is te^ not beea in ordcv ot in the elongine, Steward f bound, 1 peo .8 Entered te leaves There it 67 remained unknown, and even admitting it In have been made on June SOlh. oould not be it- gHfdod as binding on the Keepers, or within the views of liie Commissioners. In fnct thera was not, properly spenking, an order, at all. One proof ihat it was not expected to be seen by the Boara, is the circnmstimee that while the Dncio- has had his mis-spelling corrected in the books which come isnder the Commissioners' notice, his errors in this book remain nntonch* ed. I have said, " admitting it to have been made on June 'JOth." because of this there is not sufficient proof. The entry, whenever made, was open to the I'orler. and yet it was not seen by him on June 2l)th, nor until within the last few days, — it wns not mentmned by the Doctor during the period between June 2()ih and September lOth, — it was not referred to when the accident occurred, but a new one was giv^i., — !•» censure was adnnnistered to the keeper by whom (if by any one) it had been violated, and whom the Doctor has since recommended for permanent employment — and it was not once pointed out even to the Steward during any of the recent explanations of the occurrence. Add to these facts that several of the Doctor's entries in his regular order book, art altered—^ that the entry in this case is at the bottom of a page, and that in this book he has never put another general order of any kind, and it will be evident that there is yet wanting the proof that the order in question was made on the 20th of June. We repeat that neither by Dr. Park nor by Dr. Rolph was this order at any time brought under the notice of the Board. As to what passed between Dr. Park and liie Steward, afier the appearance of the expla- nations in the Globe, we know nothing, excepting that the Steward says that he never denied his ignorance of the order in question. Dr. Park, to prove that he did not keep the know* ledge of the accident from the Commissioners, refers to the " Keeper's Report book" as con- taining the morning entry of the accident, by the Keeper. True — but that book also is one of the books of Ute Medical department, is used for reporting to the Doctor the state of the patients during his absence, and is never on ordinary occasions seen by the Board. Had tlie criminal error which is imputed to the keeper actually been committed, it was the Doctor's place to> report to the Board the ofTence, and its results — this was not done, and the inference is, that as the Doctor was at the time complaining of even trivial misdemeanors, he was silent on this matter because he saw in it no disobedience. On the very day after the accident there wai recorded a long complaint of another affair — but of this serious one nothing was said. An order for a night watch was also made, but no mention of ti>c dreadful accident by which that order was caused. As to "the bed where the patient laid in tne attic ward," it is not expected that the Commissioners will enquire into the individual maladies of the patients, and in fact they studiously avoid interference with the Medical •'^actice in the institution. The sittings of the Board and the visits of the weekly Commissioner are intended to meet cases of complaint against, officers and servants, to give orders for whatever may be required by the Doctor and Steward, and to maintain within the Institution the needed attentions and harmony, but with* ont the slightest inquisitiveness as to the medical or moral treatment; thus it would not eome before the Bonrd that the dreadful affair had occurred unless it were reported, and reported it was not. It is not for us to divine motive ; but a sufficient explanation of the non-mention of the cas^ might be found in the fact that ufter its taking piace, the Doctor saw that he could prevent excited patients being put together (for this is now forbidden), and that it was not by "gouging," as has been rumoured,butby aubsequgnf . •iflammation that the man's sight appears to hcve baen lost. Having thus shewn the real state of the case, and the nature ot Dr. Park's statements, the Board will not feel itself called upon to answer every representation which he or any other party may see fit to send abroad. At the Board there is but one view of these unhappy affairs; and we feel no willingness to be in any relation (not even that of controvertists) with a person who can publicly vilify a servant whom he privately recommends, and who drags before the gue of the oommunity the aafCering of hisderaiiged and wounded patients. Yours respectfully, . . . , . JOHN ROAF. Chairman, pro. tan, '< The following iHter from the gentlemen whose signatuTes ft bears, affords the most abundant testimony I could desire-^heir high position in society and in the commerci«l circles, renders my obligation to them the greater. To all but Mr. Lesslie, 1 was a perfect stranger ; but upon presenting my request in person, unsupported by the presence of a single friend, I recived from them that urbanity and generos!.:y in manner and conduct, which I ca^inot, without Mi: \^ IP*". .A 4. 58 emntinn, thus publicly ncknowledge. Had not the same generosity been man- ifested by the citizens of Toronto, for which 1 owe a lasting debt of gratitude, I could not, nor could any man, have bourne up ajainst the abandonment of the government, and tlie ])eraecution of certain Commissioners. . . . , Toronto, 12lh February, 1849. " To Geo, H, Park, Lnle Medical Supprintrndent of the Lunatic Asylum, Sir, We hnve fXHrnined the entry mnde by you, that, "there must not hercnfter, be two psrited patirntM put into the same ceil at a lime." And find that the entry itself carrieM with it (independent of circuniNtuiilial proof.) the fullest cvuience of having been written at the timeof ita (late, the kOlh June, and not subsequently in Sept^embcr, as alleged by the Reverend Cummissiuncr Iloaf. ".,'. ,! (Signed) »->i.»;' tcv»' J. LESSI.IE, SAM'L WORKMAN, K. M. niiErr, E. F. WmiTEMORE. Toronto, Dec. 6th, 1848. K' To the Editor of the Globe. Sir, — Your pnper of the 2nd December, published n letier signed by the Rev. J. Roaf, aa teiiipornry Chairmnn of tie Uoard of Coiiiiiusiiiuners in the Asylum, and I'uriher assuiluig me as VIedicul Supcrlnleiidenl. The former publicotiim wna nnniiymous, a method of injuring nguinat which f publicly proteat. We are now informed thnt tbia nnonyinoiis libel waa not wliject to prove that 1 mode Ihe entry of the accident in the *' Preacription Book" instead of making it in the "Order Book "; and it ia put before the public in a way to induce a belief that I had an option to record the accidunt in either book. It ia further charged that the order ahown them was entered falsely and Bubsequently. , - ;.> . .,r , Now on the 20ih June there woa no other book ihnn the prescription book, known to me, the prerent Steward, or the Board, for auch entriea. It waa known, and la not9 apparent, that from and ufier theSOth June I had made many subsequent ordera in the same book ; although, in the very face of thia written evidence, the Rev. Mr. Ri«af in hie letter denies it to the public. It was known ihat the *' Order Book" referred lo aa the one in which I ought to have made the entry in queation, hod not at Ihnt lime any existence, ne appeared to tiie Bonrd, from the Steward's book containing a requisition lor it, aigned bj Dr. Rolph, and from the purchase of it from Jnmea Le^8lie, Esq., after the 25th July laat, end from ita having been audited in the accounta by the Board. It ia for the public to judge of the magnitude of my cause of complaint, againat such injuJoua iniarepreaentationa. The charge that the entry is a falae one, ia best met Hy an invitation to any gentleman to visit the Aaylum and judge by inspection. Hod the Board poanesaed no opportunity of examining the entry, the injurious allegation might be aomewbat inexcusable ; but to do so againat known and internal evidence to the contrary, entitles me to complain of a wrong for which one can scarcely find a remedy. The Hnord are furth»-r mnde to soy that the order waa not referred to by me when the accident occurred ; but a '* new one was given '' This ia easily answered, I never mode a "new one." Having made one on the 20th June, I deemed it needless to repeat it ; though the timely repetition would hnve justified no such crimiaation as the Board atiempts. A»y othdr order made was not made by me. i; 69 Th« Donrd, indeed, are mnde in till* letter to «ay and repeat, •• (bat neither by Dr. Park nor by Dr. Rolph was tliit Order it any lime briiu)rbt under the notice of ibe Oonrd.'' lint though the ordt'r itaell'mny not have been nhown to the Coniinit-flionera, yet \he estahlishtd practice under the order, nil well therefore bh iih presi iiietl cxiHtcnco, was brongnt to their knowledge by Dr. Rolph on the J4ih (lay of August, in the f.dlosving written terms, vit. : " In one of these relh »(iin«iinicH four lemaieB ure slmt up : while a whole cell is opprupriatud to another, whose hubitg and ciulcnce reiidtr il uvsiife tu udimt of an amociale." The above shows what was the piaclicc, and that even peerenble lunniics were crowded painfully together intosmnll tells, niiich in nerd of ventilation, in order to prevent a violation of thut prncti'-e. I'he practice is the order iit operation. Ytt it is niioinpled to impeach my veracity on this point by the servnnts and steward, whose Ittter for that purpose stantla at the bead of that of the Rev. J. Roaf s. This is done lor elTeci, that it may appear as if I had alleged of tho present steward's di'daiations more than is true. But the Rev. J Ronf acknowledf^es the following ndniission by the keppera, viz. :— •' True, some of the keepers explained that on one occasion the Doctor hud remarked upon the undesirableness of such a prnctice." Is this not, in evcrv well regulated institution, eonaidered and respected as no order and a prohibition (on T Yet the Uoard complacentlf add for the keepers. " but he did not foibid il I" When Ministers preach on the undesif" ableness of falsehood or prevarication, do they not regard it, and is it not received, as a pulpit prohibition T What sort of servants will there be in the Asylum, it, when Ihey henr reviarks upon the nndfsirahlencss ofnny prnctice. Ihe Board will Ihiis o|a|)|)nitiliiu'iits an; to he homo inuiifiiily and gener* «ii.«ly. I liad mIko iiiyxelf on ineclini; iJr. I'lirk, c«)ii^'rutiiliitod him upon hit) good forlnne. When the disturhancert commcn'-ed 1 sat down to aclln^'i(' Aledicid Siipxrinieiuleiii had not lakrn place. Of course I could expeC the inipiitaiion of iinworlhy motives — hut while I love all men I fear none— Ihongh to dtfy none — my actions 1 leave lo he jiid:,'ed, hiil my moiivea are reser> ed for ihe judgment of God. I care liitlu lor insnlta and .slanderH and injuricH from the iingenerona, and have no expectation of reproach frdni the hotter part of the comnninity, and iMJionid have been unworthy of my poeilion, had [ (mm regard to my own peace or interests sl^..nd back when my .oervicea were wanted, or had I left oiher CommissionerH to hear more than i..e'ir own ahnre of re^ipon^ibiruies and duly. For iIk; proceedings of the Conlmi^'.<„ ,H<0 J ,» 1 ' > ' • To fhe Editor of the Globe, Stit,-^Yoar pnper of the 16th inst. coHtains a letter from the Rrv. Mr. Roof, who atat^ that "his principal object" in appearing before, the public was '*tn explain his own positioa r»^Mcting the affair in queaiion." Had be confined himself to that purpose, I should most certainly itot bnte noticed it. And I shall now pass over without remark all that portion chamcteriaed by an altered and subdupd tone (although containing irrelevant reflections and itiainu&tiona against me) lest I should, in needlessly enlarging my defence, :veaketl hit own %rith the kh^istittn community to whom it seema specially addressed. . . 61 Jlbt that pnt'tion in wliich ho is again voluntarily put forward by the Hotmi ngoihit tttUt fespeclinK the " only one point in the riiFe ol lh«> conimlBBion'ra upon wtiu h larth*>r explk' nntiiin i8 rcqnireil liy die oiminiiniiy " I .•tlinlt iintii:« wiili ali lorlitiHranee. Tlio KfV. IVlr^ Roni B^ya, " 1 believe there is f>iil) one point in the Cnse ol the loniniiraionira upon which explanation ia required by the coDiniiinity, nnd will, in pnasing here, advert lo ii. I mean the cireuiiiHlance ol'nn order b()(d( hoini; pnnliased ofirr the WOih June, and the infrrencor thnt before ihat purehnao iheri; wns no ofd^r book in txiHteine.'' The fiict la, that f ver niuoe 1842 there hne bepii kept a rtgiilnr book, iubcilpd oti the side, in gilt letter, "dnilyoider book," otiH Rpproprintcd to the orders of the Medicu? Superiniendcnl. It waa nved by Dr. Reea, Dr. Teller, nnd Dr. Pninrooe. The Inst named genili'innn made an entry in it on June 5ih, and on June l,3ih lelt it not hnll Blled for the uae of Dr. Park. Dr. Rolpb beinf aoinetiine alterwurds on duiy, ond not knowing nf thia book, nor hearing of it from the atewnrd, who nlso lind just corne into the instititnon, ordered the porcliase of a new book, but there the old one reinnins. and in that ahould any order of the 2Uih June have be{ht to hnve entered orders in nn onknown bonk f Again, if this concealed book renlly existed in the Asylnin, ond waa "the one which any order of the 2()ih June should have been pined," how came it thnt neither the steward not nry^elf wna infirnnd of iis existenfe* and how is it ihni the Rev. Mr. Roof, with his own bnnri, endorsed in the book of the steward the order of Dr. Rolph to purchase the above- named new order-book ? On the other bond, if this conccoled bonk teas hnoien to the Board and regorded as the one in which I should have made my orders, nnd in which only th^ Commissioners, the Steward, and the Kf-epera would be likely to find them, how came the Board to allow the period Irom the i:ith June ti> the 30ih Nov. (the dny it was brought to light) to elapse whh» out requiriwg the orders lo be therein entered, where they expected to find them 7 Agnin, — How can it be said that ever since 1842 there has been kept a ^' regular book,'* when, nfter the commencement by Dr. Rees, there are no entries in it through a period of two years nnd five months, os may be aeeertnined by inspection 7 How can it be called *' ■ regular book" when my predecessors were allowed, with at least the tocit acquiescence of the Board, to enter their orders in the Prescription Book 7 And as a port of the truth should never be concealed, ought it not to hove been statfd •* to the community,' that my predecessors had entered orders in the same Prescription Book as cnntnins my order of the 20tli Jun", and that there were orders therein entered by me ofter that date, with tbe tacit acquiescence of the Board, till the requisition by Dr. Rulph of the 25th July 7 Had I made the entry nf tbe 20th of June in the concealed bonk by any chance discovery of it at tbe moment, it would have been charged against me as a secret entry in a lost abandoni-d book, so irregularly in use as to have been unused for two years ano five months; and that I ought tohuve entered it in the Prescription Book, where tbe gentleman pieceding me had jnst done so, and where, as it related to tbe treatment of the patients, the Boera eepected but failed to ond it. I am, Sir, ,,.^ , , , Your obedient Servant, '.'■■■ GEO. H. PARK, M. D., Medical Svperintendmt* LETTER FROM REV. JOHN ROAF. To the Editor of the Globe. A Toronto, Dec. 81, 1848* Sir, — Now that Dr. Park has allowed his case against the Commissioners to beconae aqiier' fien of/acts we can make short work of it. The principal item in his last letter is the following:— 1. "The Rev. Mr. Roafwith his owrt hand endorsed in the book of the Steward the order of Dr Rolph to pijrchase the above-namerf new order book." Mr. Editor, neither I nor any one else endorsed that order as will be seetf by the following copy of it and the certificate i — " Jdlt 27.— a book to enter tbe visits of the medica! attendant, conformable to the printei regulations. JOHN ROLPH." FT r III d3 "A bo(fk c'ittlflj tlie Ititq'ikitinn dnd Order Book oftlia 'forohtn tjinnti«: Anytuiii lin« tiedrt mown (o me, from whieli book ihe rorM;;oiti;; i^ n true extract, — duteil 37tli July, 1848. Ntf btlier riiifimture being atlucbvd tlivreto, bul tliut ufjoliii Kolph. nF.o. (jurNkt. Mayor uf Toronto. Teroiito, Dec. 21, 1848." 3, Dr. Piirk cnlU the " Daily Clrdcr Itook'' tonitaltA—\m\ loMt, butconcenled-^rcpenting thu tnriii fletett (iiiieH ill Ilia letter. Now, Eiir, Dr; Teller wus nuceeeded by L)r. Priiiiroiie, who given the folluvviiij; ! — " I Reriify ihntilie daily order hook belonging! to the Iioiiatic Asylntii Wns Open and nneoit fcealed durins my altenditiioe ui Medical diiperiiileiideiit« up tu the l^^th day oC Jiinn. 1848. FHA8. S. I'llIMllOSE." T^hnn the Book Wita handed to Dr. Park. Why coiikl not lie, ns well aa Dr. Primrose, tee it where it ordinarly lay. Dr. llolph got unoiher procured and therefore the old one was nc gldcted — and yet, iiJ NnviMnher, when the porter was iiiterrogiited rO>pectilig i(, he went and put hiit hand (ipon it— lying tipOn tlie pile of old booki*, and davs that he Could haVe round it at •ny time. It in phibable iliitt ud foine rnriiitiire in the Doctor's office waHrcinovbdulelV weeki aHer bin cOiitihg into the Itii'iitiiiion, the book may havti been put amotijiMt the others, and ttiui not being known to Dr. Rolph or the Steward, Wax not enquired lor, wiied Dr. Rolpli (know- ing what is wanted in an hoitpitul) rt-qnired one. I3ut this lact doeo nrii c-Xpluiii Dr. Park's •tfetited ignorance of the book — /'or he wad in the Institution iievCrul week^< befofe tiie removal ofthe fiiriiitiire, and, it' he knows any thing of hospitals, must have at ofice fell the heed of the book, which, too, at that limu lay where Dr. PriiiirosH round and left it. Beaide^, the qnfenliun irt tvhy an order ol'.lnne 2lllh, wax not put into it, and as the iciiiovhI of the furniture did not take place till aoine weeks after that dale, does not explain his not using the book ut that date. 'There is not the slightest appearance ofthe "daily order book " having been even out ofthe Doctor's Way—but there is every appearance of Us having been netiltcttd by himself. 3rd. Me says that in my last letter, I was " again voluntarily put forward by the Board •gainst him.'' Mr. Kditor the Doctor evidently knowit the falsity ol lliis statempiitt for he says that my iettef Was " especially adiiressed ' to a Christiiiii coniiiinnity '" and with this, of course, the Board could have nothing to do. lie has, in many insiuiices, maligned the Board to the Government; and seems to be so eager to do it, as to go on, even when his readers have be* fore them, the disproofs of his assertions. 4th. He alleges that " there were orders therein, (that is. in " the same prescription-book "( entered by niA after (hnt date, with the tacit acquiescence of ihe Board, till the requisition by Dr. Ilolph, ofthe 35th July." Now, by orders, are of course meant, not prescriptions, or tem- porary arrangements, but general of standing rules, such as tint. " two excited patients shall Hot be put together" : and. sir, upon an exuuiinatiou of the said prescription-book, by several parlies in succession, it is found that there is no such fffneral order made by the Doctor. This fact, too, has been admitted by himself in convert^atioii ; but now, to influence sotiie country people, who get only one side ofthe question, he boldly asserts Ihe contrary. For the same deceptive purpose, he strings together, in his letter, questions, which he well kilbWs, have no real force. For instance, " (low came the Board to allow tlie period from the 13th June to 30tli Novr. (the day it was brought to light), to elapse, without requiring the orders to be therein entered, where they expected to Hitd llieln? Answer — Because, as the Doctor well knows, the orders were presented to the Board in the Jiew book, and therefore, the old Olio was oiitof iisn, " How can it be called a ' regular book', when my predecpfsors were allowed, with, at least, tacit acquiescence ofthe Board, to enter th^ir orders in the pre* scriptioubook 7 Answer — Brcausc the Board, never meddling with the Doctors' pre.«cript ion- book, know nnthing of orders being there ; and because, if they had known it, they would probably not h»ve interft-red, unless some dispute as to such orders, had arisen ; in which eases, the Doctors would have had to show, that they had brought such orders before the attention of the servants. •* How can it be said, that ever since 1842, there has been kept' a regular book', when, after the commencement by Dr. Ilees, there are no entries in it, tliroiigh a period of two years and five months, as maybe ascertained by inspection." Answer — Because soine- tliiies. Doctors have no general orders to give, for a long time together; and because sometimes Doctors are inattentive to rules; and because tho Board docs not examine the order-books, except when some difBculty arises, — such books being kept principally, to promote dofinite* ness in tho orders of olHcers. and evidence in cases of couipluints." From these trumpery questions, as well as the preceding strong assertions, you will see the spirit in which the Doctor is trying to push through the minor parts ofthe case. From the larger facts be draws his readers— such facta as the concurrent testimony of the Steward an4 63 Keepers— (lie ofder not being Recti by lliu iiinn wlio made up the preicii|)iions lying 6(1 Mid Biiiiie page, RiiJ all llmt tblluw — tlie iKiii-uiitorcttiiieiit iiitd iiuii-pntcluinulioti of iliu order for •everal iikmiIIm— tlie absence of |nniiMliin«ul unJ cunHiiio u\ion tl>u Kuvper wlio put the Putieiita tojjethcr, i&c, &,c. It in inineceitsury to uinch any at.siirihin niaciu by mich h puriy | ■nd tlie public wtU uow undumlaiid tbe Uourd'«reBulutiun loliuM nuconiniiinicalion witli hiiu/ 1 roiiinin> Mr. Editor, - Yuufd truly, J. ROAF* Lunatic Asyhiiii. I^llh t^ec. 1848. fo the Editor afthn Glube. Sir,— 'In a lote iVo. ofyowr pnp»'r, ihe Ref. Mr. Ilonf makes shcrt work of the fact oChig havmt; endorsed tlie order for the new Book, or of ItM hnviiii; letn done by atiif une et$e. H« denicait : and, apppnling will) the Siewnnl's bo'df in hand to hid worship the City Viayor, Oenrf(e Ournntt, Esq., obtaii.i a certitiuale intended tu corrobor«le the Kev. gentleman's word upon the maiter< As every one cannot olr.ain the like vieAr of (he document in question, I aubj.tin a fa* aiimile }— n o » '^ "^ !: a * "• r 9^ K - 5 ft- S^'' S'* R.8^ 3 r July 26.h. 2 Tonif handled scrubbing Brushes, 2 White-wash Briiehes, 1 Tea pot /"or St-rvunl's kuch-^n, 2 Inrge Iron Cooking Spoons, 1 Meal Forh. J. Roaf^ " ■ ■■ ■■■ "■ ■ •" Williim Ramsef, John Roiph. J, Boafj Mod. .Vttonil. pro temp.- July 27ih. A Book to enter the visits of the Medical attendant conformable to the printed regalations. John Roiph. Orders or regolations in ofHc'nl life, rerpiiring cnnfirtnfttion, are customarily endorsed in yarloHs ways ; for examjile, on the face of the order, on the margin, on either Bi<)ps, above it, or any wh^re below it, or nhonl it. To the first order of the Cfiih .Inly, the Rev. Mr^ Roal''a signniure appears, close upon its upper margin, nnd n strong I ii« with red ink separate* thin sigrrature from the order, that is above it in the original, by tlie space above represented, un inch. The order for the biok is also sppnrnted frorr? the order next above it by a line with rei ink, and Mr. Roiif's signature is placed below this line and immediately above the ordef dcIcd 27ih July, as represented above. The infeience 011 inspection is irresistible, that each signature is hitended for the ordef in immediate and close relalton to it. The above evideife, taken in connexion with the farf of bis not visiting on the 26tl» Joly, the dstteoflhe first order, is conclusive of the correctness of my (brmer stntement : if be bad vi.sitcd on this d They were appointed under the hand and seal of Lord Metcalfe, and not under the great seal of the Province ; and they were twelve in number. — But on the death of Lord Metcalfe, those persons who had been thus appoint- ed Commissioners under his private seal, ceased to be so. While, however, this fact was known, they were still left to exercise a void authority. This is as much the case as if this House should presume to continue legislating after a dissolution ; or as if a man should per sist in acting on a power of attorney after the death of the person who gave it. This was a strange laxity in omcial matters ; and he should show there was the like laxity of principles in action. Dr. Park, appointed by Lord Elgin, was the only person in the Institution who was acting lawfully \ the Commissioners must have known they were acting un- lawfully under a void commission. Dr. Park was appointed by the Government to fill the situation he had occupied, and . he had accepted it with the view of being t appointed to fill the permanent situation in the new Institution, which was about to be put in op r -ation in a few months. Dr. Park, previous to accepting this sit- uation, was in the enjoyment of a large practice, which it was not to be expected it would have been worth hir while to have abandoned, were it not with the view of obtaining a permanent situation; and he had more than a reasonable right to hope that if he honestly and benefi-^ cielly performed the duties of the tem- porary office, he would be appointed to the permanent one. His appointment was :nade in May, 1848. He might mention that some of the so-called Com- missioners for themselves and others for their friends, were also candidates for the situation. For vsome reason he must say, that Dr. Park was not courteously received by them, and afTairs therefore never went on smoothly. He CMr. B.) was, however, happy to say, that Dr> Park was a man of too much spirit td fJ6 allow himself to be treated in an im- proper manner by theCommissioners, so called, and much less was he a man to allow the defenceless objects of his spe- cial care and trust, to suffer from the coHtinuution of past abuses and neglect. I The conduct of the Commissioners iiad been exceedingly improper towards Dr. I Park, and they had had the indelicacy, not to say the indecency, to publish in U the Glohe newspaper an anonymous ar- ticle, written in the Asylum, reflecting on him. When theCommissioners had so far debcended from thei"" dignity as to become libellers by writing and pub- lishing anonymous slanders against tho iMedicui Superintendent, he fMr. B.) thought that fact alone sufficient reason why Dr. Park should have redress gran- ted to him, and such Commissioners be ' removed If such delinquencies were allowed by the Government in Commis- sioners, what must be expected from inferior officers instructed by their ex- j ample ? Perhaps intemperate Commis- ' b'ioners would be readily pronounced pernicious in their influence, and unwor- thy of so high a trust; but clandestinely to concoit a libel in an asylum against I its physician and superintendent, and promulgate its injurious calumnies by the prostitution of the Pres^ to its basest purposes, was a revolting violation of official rectitude and moral princ;ple ; and no wonder that the Institution was, under such auspices, in a most dilapida- ted stale, characterised by essential de- ficiencies, tolerated cruelty and habitual j' drunkenness, as di-^closed in a melan- choly degree in ^Ue official reports before ' the Houis. He (Mr. B.) might ask why tiiese Commissioners were, under these circumstances (and there were others still more glaring), retained, and Dr. Park, at their instigation, sacrificed to their effrontery towards the Govern- ment and th;.ir vindictiveness towards hliu. It wr.s a fact well known, that it required men of a peculiar disposition to take the charge of lunatico ; this was ^ required not only on the part ol" the ness and final What was the qpe;*'on when medical attendants, but fxUo on the part of Keepers, and it was more especially required on tlie part of the latter, that ihey should bo hun^ane and sober, and possess all the qualifications necessary to preserve the Institution in a state of cleanliness and order ; points which were all-import>-.nt to the health, happi- recovery of the insane, state of the Asylum in Dr. Park went there ? He found it in an nxceedingly disorgan- ized and filthy condition, and as there were no females present in the house, he (Mr. B.) might without indcHcacy say, that the very walls were covered with ordure from the excrements of the pa- tients, and corruption in the most dis- gusting and indecent manner ; this filth had been left after those poor people, whOjfrom the aberation of their intellects, had been unable to look after them- selves. And this and other kinds of filth i.ot only incrusted the walls, but incrusted too the attic floor and corners, requiring in the process of cleaning hoes and deck-scrape s. There was not c /en a bath to keep the persons of the lunatics themselves clean, and hence the I'matics and the establishment a- bounded with vermin ; and not only did Dr. Park find this filth and dirt, but he also found some of the poor lunatics in a state of perfect nudity ; this waij notorious in the city of Toronto. In this state of brutal nakedness they were left to sleep on straw thrown on the ground for their bed j and either dis- gracefully at large, as injurious specta- cles to the moral and mental improve- ment of the other lunatics, or shut up tor decency in cells unfit for the habita- tion of human beings. Five of this most suffering class, were reduced by this most unprecedented cruelty and friendless abandonment, to the most piti able fatuity of min ' and ruin of health ! ^uch was in truth and without exagger- ation, the condition of the Asylum , besides the drunkenness which was al lowed to exist ; and he was at a lobs to -4, w in oor not we Coi fid ed a waj "nl 67 1 the part Especially Iter, thai sober, and necessary a state of nts which lih, huppi- lie insane. Asylum in ml there ? \f disorgan- nd as there 8 house, he il'.cacy say, vered with of the pn- e most dis- r ; this filth [)or people, ir intellects, after them- er kinds of 3 walls, but and corners, of cleaning lere was not rsons of the and hence alishment a- not only did dirt, but he r lunatics in ' ; this was ;'oronto. In ss they were •own on the i either dis- irious specta- ital improve- ;s, or shut up or the habila- Five of this •e reduced by cruelty and the most piti lin of health '. hout exagger- the Asylum ,vhich was al- as at a lobS to know on what principle of good faith to the public and to the defenceless hinatics, or upon what principle of party government, such Commissioners could be sustained, who had been guilty of such a dereliction of duty in such mat- ters. As soon, however, as Dr. Park went there, he set about making a re- form, as a man of strong mind and vigour, under a full sense of duty, ought to do, and whether in so doing he acted prudently for himself or not, he did not stop to consit'er. In the first place he required that proper clothing be provi- ded for the lunatics, and the naked be clothed ; and thai all the dirt and cor- ruption should be cleaned away and all the rooms h'"- made sweet and well ven- tilated ; he likewise required that a pro- per bath should be provided ('which had never been apparently even thought of by the Commissioners — neglect in so obvious and essential a particular being certainly unpardonablej, and that all the lunatics should be kept properly washed and clean fand without a bath it could not be donej, and not unneces- sarily confined in cells. For acting in this manner, he had been rewarded with the antagonism of the Commissioners, which ended in their procuring his dis- missal. It was also discovered further, that some of the Commissioners had friends in town who were in trade, and who occasionally got some little pick- mgs from contracts furnished to the Asylum. He (Mr. B.) had been autho- rized to make those statements, as a ground why the Commissioners might have a little stronger antipathy against Dr. Park, than otherwise might have been tjhe case. The greater part of the contracts were given to persons who had not tendered the lowest for them, and were given to relations of some of the Commissioners,who furnished inferior ar- ticles,while other persons who had tender- ed the lowest and besl articles received a very small portion. Another thing was, that the servants m cliarge of the N'nnticj were allowed a oertam portion of strong drink daily, amoutrting to ovpr $100 aquarter for beer, besides other liquors as brandy, wine, &c., and this Dr. Park would not allow to any of thosfc who had anything to do with luna- tics. He had taken this step not only as tt matter of right in ordinary circum- stances, but from the scandalous fact of seeing persons drunk and feverishly ex- cited, when they had lunatics under their charge ; and he (Mr. B. j was sure that he would be borne out by the medi- cal gentlemen in the House, that none of those who were in the charge of lu- natics, should be permitted the use of strong drink. This action of Dr. Park gave great umbrage to the Commission- ers, and they directed that those servants should, in defiance of the orders of Dr. Park, be permitted to have beer, and passed a resolution to that effect. Their conduct towards Dr. Rolph was similar to that towards Dr. Park. Dr. Park had occasion to absent himself for 8 short time, during which Dr. Rolph performed his duties at the Asylum, ind he soon perceived all the inconveniences of which he (Mr. B.j had spoken. He had occasion to find fault with keepers Hungerford and Craig, [the VisitingCoin- missioners not having at all visited for the week,] and to suspend them for causes which are thus officially reported by the Steward, in the documents before the Houiie : " 1st. I only allow one hour for the keepers to have each meal, and they usually, as they say, had longer tirae." " 2nd. \ have prohibited the cook, house- maids, and laundresses, going in and out of the institution withoat permission from the Medical Superintendent, Matron, or myself; thia they were never used to before." , " 3rd. The CUeward will not advance money to the servants before ii is due ; this they have not been accustomed to." '■ 4t,h. The Steward will not allow the keepers boarding out of the institution to have any fire-wood from the stock belong ing to the institution, as heretofore •, the keepers say they always paid Mr. I viii««vi wmv *■!■«' ■ 68 I 1 !,' V ! ■r; ' M 'i I f Cronyn for what he gave from the houae I supply." " 6th. The Steward refuBcs to be rc- oponsible to any tradesman Tor flour, gru- ceries, wood, or anything elee, for any servant in the institution ; this is likewise contrary to their past usage." "6th. The beer struck off the keepers boarding out of the institution, and receiv- ing full pay from the Government ; con- sequently they are not entitled to such a treat — two of these are keepers— Hunger- ford and Craig." •'Cautioned by yourself for loose and improper cnnduci, for smoking tobacco in the attic in your presence, when visiting the patients." " Sent Hungerford to breakfast at half- past seven o'clock, A.M.. and directed him to proceed up Q,uecn-8treet, near the Blue Bell Tavern, to search for Jennings, a patient who made his escape from the mtititutionj he returned at half-past eleven o'clock. A.M.. under the influence of li- quor, after being four hours absent " " Craig, keeper, cautioned by Doctor Rolph, for improper conduct m showing and using threats to a patient, and being- impudent to the Matron when spoken to about it."—" 28th J4ly, 1848." "Craig, keeper, absent 2 1-1 hours at tea, and, when spoken to about it by the Steward, his conduct and his anstvers were highly improper ; in all his general conduct in the house, he is turbulent and disrespectful."—" 3rd August, 1848." " Craig, keeper, absent at breakfast two hours."—" 13th August, 1848." These keepers were thrown back on Dr. Rolph against his consent. This unwarrantable act ill comported with an extract from a despatch from Lord Met- calfe, which he would read to tiie House : " His Excellency als'^ conridere that the selection of keepers, and other persons employed to attend upon the patients, should be vested in the Medical Superin- tendent, subject to the approval of the Board of Commissionerr. ; as he ought to be the best judge of their fidehty, and from the observations on the ctate and progresii of the patients, to form an accu- rate judgment if the fidelity oC the 1 attendants." ^jentlemon who could so f-tr for^^'t themselves, m not to act in accordance with the spirit of such advice from the very Governor-General who had ap- pointed them, were guilty of conduct proving them unworthy of their trust, of the sanction of Government, or the support of this House, — particularly, as they had with the grossest indelicacy, he should rather say in a most dishonor- able way, called in the servants to col- lect from them in secret, behind tbo Medical Superintendent's back, what they could elicit against the doctor, — and he felt most concerned to find such dark proceedings and such ex parte statements, received with complacency by the Government. When circum stances of that kind took place, hov* was It possible that the Medical Super intendent could preserve order and dis cipline in the institution ? The Medical Superintendent in an institution of that kind, ought to havtj a similar kind o{ control to that of the Colonel of a regi- ment. It ought to be sufficient for the Medical Superintendent to say, that a man was not of a proper temperament to have him at once discharged ; and no institution of the kind could be properly conducted, if the servants were to be under the management of the Commis- sioners. It was the duty of the Com missfoners to look after the place, and see that it was kept clean and neat, which they had not done ; but they had no right to interfere with the duties of the Medical Superintendent. The con tinued care, superintendence, and treat ment of the patients for the recovery of their reason, belonged to Dr. Park ; and he could only fulfil those duties through the keepers and servants , and he could no more do so with bad keepers than with bad medicines. Indeed, the Com missioners (bearing in mind, however, that they really were not Commission ers.) had no more right to interfere with the treatment of the Physician, adminie tered through the keepers, than with his treatment bv medicine, Besides the irregularities before mentioned, a num „■■. *■ ■i|lli|up«nill lllji, 69 accordance cse from tho 10 had ap- of conduct their trust, [lent, or the licularly, as indelicacy, >st difihonor- vants to col behind tho back, what le doctor,— to find such h ex parte somplacency len circum place, hov- ;dical Super rder and dia The Medical ution of that nilar kind oi lel of a regi- ;ient for the I say, that a temperament rged ; and no i be properly J were to be the Commis' of the Com e place, and an and neat, but they had the duties o( it. The con ce, and treat e recovery of >r. Park ; and uties through and he could keepers than ed, the Com ind, however, Commission interfere with cian, adminis than with his JBesides the loned, a num ber of violent and excited lunatics were kept Bleeping in one cell ; this Doctor Fark desired to be put a stop to, and oven this was made a matter of crimina- tion. [Here some hon. members from Lower Canada cried *« question," "ques- rion," and got impatient. Mr. Cartier, ind some other Lower Canada members however, said a few words to the effect, that the question was one of importance, and desired tho hon. member to conti- nue.] The whole matter being made a subject of complaint to the Government by both parlies, a dispute arose on the point, if the Medical Superintendent possessed the power to suspend a ser- vant. Here the hon. member read the resolution, dec, also from the report of the Government, to the eflfoct that a was clear that the Commissioners possessed the right of dismissing ser- vants, according to the regulations of tho institution. He might here observe, that at Utica, in the Slate of New York, ID a similar instituation, one of the best if not the best in the world, the Medical Superintendent had the right to engage or dismiss servants according to his in- dividual discretion, and he (Mr. B.) ihought properly so. Which regulation reads as follows : >. " The Superintendent shall be the chief executive officer of the Asylum. He shall have the general superintendence of the buildings, grounds and farm, together with their furniture, fixtures and stock ; and the direction and control of all per- sons therein subject to the laws and regu- lations established by the managers. He shall daily ascertain the condition of all the patients and prescribe their treatment in the manner directed in the by-laws. He shall have the nomination of his co- resident officers, with power to assign them their respective duties, subject to the by-laws ; also, to appoint, with the managers' approval, sucn and so many other officers, assistants, and attendants as he may think proper and necessary for the economical and efficient perform- ance of the business of the Asylum, and to prescribe their several duties and places, and. to fi;c, with the manager's approval, their u. pcnsation, and to dis- charge any of them at his sole dirt^ctiun." Which well accorded with Lord Met- calfe's dirnction which had been so strongly and impertinently superseded. Great care ought to be taken on the part of the Commi-ssioners with regard to the manner in which they acted towards the Medical Superintendent. The Com- missioners were not satisfied with the first report of the Government ; but wiahed to appropriate to themselves all the praise, and to heap on the head of Dr. Park all the reprobation. He (Mr. B.) was certain that no disinterested person could read the statements of both sides, without feeling satisfied that there had been great disingenuousness on the part of the Commissioners. They sent to the Government a strong remon- strance against their report, and threat- ened that they would resign, if Doctor Park were not discharged. Here the honorable member read from their remonstrance, to the effect, that they considered either Dr. Park, cw the Com- missioners must be unworthy of the con- fidence of His Excellency ; that they could not hold further intercourse with him, and that if to longer continued in office, they would resign. The govern- meat then made another report, instruct- ing the Commissioners to take some spe- cific step, and that if it had become im- possible for them to continue as they were to recommend some special course. They assumed the responsibility cf re- moving Dr. Park, and the government while it did not approve of the step, at the dictation of the Commissioners did remove him. The Commissioners call- ed all the servants into a room, and ex* amined them on the business of Dr. Park, and made a statement behind his back. Such conduct had been condemned in the House of Commons over and over again, it had also been condemned by the hon. Attorney General himself in a similar case today. He (Mr. B.) would also mention another fact, that those persons called iCommlssioQers had charg;ed Dx. •- •» (11111.1 II ■ 1^ 70 .11 ^1 r n Park with making a t'aise entry in a Book of the Institution, relative to which he(IVIr. B.) would re. 'I the following letters : Montreal, 25ih April, 1849. My dear Sir, — Dr. Park has requestod me to mention to you the state in which 1 found the Lunatic Asylum when I visited »t witii him in the month of December last. I visited jie several wards, the whole of which were perfectly clean, and the pa- tients seemed as contented as they well could be. I heard several of the Keepers state that the cleanliness and improved ventilation had been caused by Dr. Park's reformation in the Institution. Dr. Park showed me the book in which was written the order that two patients i^hould not be confined in one cell. It had every appearance of having been written at the time of its date — and on any other aupposition it would be difficult to account for Its similarity to the preceding and suc- ceeding parts of the book, or why half a page should on the supposition that the order had been inserted at a later period, have been lefl vacant. •no>f*.i My dear Sir, Yours fkithfuUy,' (Signed) JOHN WETENIJALL. Hon. H. J. BouLTON, } &c. &c. &c. ^ * -•ir^{iy\ •:• . . .. "Toronto, 12th Feb., 1849. ' To Geo. H. Park, . - " Late Medical Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum. " Sir, — We have examined the entry made by you, that ' there must not here- after be two excited patients put into the uame cell at a time,' and find that the entry itself carries with it (independent of circumstantial proof) the fullest evid- ence of having been written at the time of its date, the 20th June, and not subse- quently m September, as alleged by the (he Rev. Commissioner Roaf. rSignedJ '=J. LESSLIE, "S. WORKMAN, " R. H. BRETT, and " F. E. WITTEMORE. He (Mr. B.) had also examined into it himself and had found the statement contained in the letters correct. lie would not oc'r'upy more of the time of the House, and would conclude by moving his Resolution. The fion. member then moved the following Resolution : — " That it is the opinion oi 'iiis House, that an investigation should be made by some disinterested persons, into the sub- ject of eompiaint preferred by George II. Park, Esquire, kite Medical Superintend entofthc Provincial Temporary Lunatic Asylum at Toronto, against the persons acting as Commissioners of that Institu- tion, as well with a view of doing justice to the Petitioner, by affording him an op- portunity of defending his character against aspersions cast upon hmi by them, as of ascertaining whether any change be required in the Taw regulating the man- agement of the Lunatic Asylum, now be- ing erected there, and expected shortly to be placed upon a more permanent foot- ing." Mr. Attorney.Gcneral Baldwin re- gretted that the hon. member for Nor- folk, had not brought the present ques- tion before the House at an earlier period of the Session, as more time would then have been afforded for its discussion. The hon. gentleman might put ivhatever shape he pleased on the matter, his motion was still an attack on the Government, and unless the House were prepared to sustain the Go"ern- ment in the course they had taken in that matter, it would not in anything. There were a great many colateral cir- cumstances connected with the case, in- volving matter of a great deal of irrita- tion on both sides ; but any body who knew nothing of the case, would have inferred from the speech of the hon. member, that all was proper and calm and cool on the part of the Medical Su- perintendent, and that all the heat and ill feeling were on the part of the Com- missioners, — in fact, that the Medical Superintendent was all right, and the Commissioners all wrong. In the first place, he (Mr. B.) would ask of whom did the Commission consist, and whether they formed a tribunal or a board from whom Dr. Park had the right to expect any prejudice against him. [Here the hon. member rend the names of the 71 fy moving mber then n : — lis House. », made by Lo the sub- George II. iperintend ry Lunatic he persons lat Institu- ing justice him an op- character m by them, change be T the man- n, now be- 1 shortly to inent foot- •i '.•„• 11: . LDWiN re- !r for Nor- Bsent ques- m earlier more time ded for its man might sed on the 1 attack on the House e Go"ern- id taken in anything, ilateral cir- le case, in- I of irrita- body who ft'ould have f the hon. and calm ledical Su- le heat and if the Com- le Medical It, and the In the first sk of whom nd whether board from It to expect [Here the nes of the Commiasionors. ] There was Dr. Beau- mount,* a most respectable man, and as regarded his politics they were doubtful, but he was always considered to be a Reformer, and he could not at any rate be supposed to be prejudiced against Dr. Park. Then there were Hon. R. S. Jameson, Mr. Hwart, Rev. H. J, Gras- sett. Rev. J. .J. May; William B. Jarvis Conservatives ; and they were men whom it was not to be supposed would lend themselves to do an act of injustice towards Dr. Park or any body else. Then there was Dr. Gwynne, the Rev. Mr. Roaf, Mr. Eastwood, Mr. M. J. O'Beirne, ind William Moore Kelly, Reformers. It was totally absurd to suppose that a Board of Commissioners thus composed, could have any political or any other bias against Dr. Park, The present motion was condemnatory of the course taken by the Government. Hon. Mr. Boulton here rose and de- nied that the motion was an attack on the Government, in any other manner than that they allowed themselves to be made use of by the Commissioners. Mr. Baldwin of course accepted the explanation of the hon. gentleman. He would observe that the commencement of the attack was made by Dr. Park, To form a correct judgment of the case, it was necessary to revert to what was the first issue. It arose out of the case of a keeper named Flungerford. [Here the hon. member read from the 2nd page of the Government Return of the Correspondence, &c., in this case.] — The hon. member read in so low a voice ab to be nearly inaudible, as were also the commentaries he made. He was understood to speak to the effect that the business of Dr. Park requiring his ab- *Dr. Hall eaya ia his February No. of the Brit- ish American Medical Journal, in reference to this most respectable man : — " We believe in Dr. Park's perfect competency to the task which he was called upon by the Government to dis- charge, although a disgraceful md most unpro- fessional attempt has been openly made by a medical member of the Board, to impugn his surgical treatment of a case at the Asylum." senr.e from IhP town, he got Dr. Kolph to perform his duties during his absence. Dr. Rolph found fault with one of the servants and suspended him, — and that the Board of Commissioners were of opinion that the offence which had been committed by the servant, was not of a nature which justified his dismissal. That the Commissioners had the power to dispose of this matter, nobody would deny ; and the question that the Govern- ment had lo dispose of was not whether it was expedient or desirable to alter the law, but to decide upon it as it stood ; and by the law it was clear that the Commissioners had the power to inter- fere and prevent a servant fronii being discharged, if they did not deem the of- fence he had committed sufficiently grave to justify it. Then, instead of making the matter an appeal to the Go- vernment, he immediately re-suspended the servant, in direct defiance of the Commissioners, while they were his superior officers ; the question was in whose hands was the general superin- tendance of the place, — it was clear that it was in the hands of the Commission- ers ; and also in defiance of the Com- missioners another servant was placed in the room of the one who had been suspended.* When Dr. Park returned he chose to make the act his own. Had he ('Mr. B.^ been the Commissioners he did not say that he would have used the forbearance they had used, and that he would not have asserted his ai thority. They did not take any step until the re- turn of Dr. Park himself, on the 9th of September. It was on this point the issue was joined by the parlies them- selves, and not on general terms, which was clear from the letter of Dr. Rolph. [Here the hon. member read from the letter of Dr. Rolph.] The hon. member read from a letter of the 13th September, and also from a letter of the Commissioners on the 18th September in the G vernment return, in * Note. — Not in defiance, but for reconside- ration, u 72 r'v whicli they assented that this point was the subject of issue between them. Both parties made this the subject at issue, the cotnmissioners asseverated that it was so. He (Mr. B.) had already read the rules of the Institution, and he asked how the Government could have come to any other conclusion than the one thoy had come to ; that the Commissioners had the power in this matter and not the Me- dical Superintendent. * That was the po- sition in which the government were placed in that matter, as the Institution at present existed, and he asked how any government could ask Commission- ers gratuitously to perform their duty, when they had the government of the Institution vested in them, if the Medical Superintendant chose to put himself in such a position as Pr. Park had done, to show that the temper had not been all on one side, he would mention that Dr. Park chose to thrust himself in the presence of the Commissioners after he had been told that they did not want him, and that they could not regard him in any other light than that of an intruder. Of neces- sity the government must have with- drawn their confidence from the Com- missioners and told those twelve men whose name he had read that they must be dismissed or take the course they had taken, when they had been informed that the Commissioners could not go on with Dr. Park. He had to say, that there had been no circumstances since they had been in the government whiqh had per- sonally given them so much pain as had the case of Dr. Park, but they found |;| * The following is taken from the British American Medical Journal, edited by Dr. Hall, who, on giving his opinions on the conduct of the CommiBaioners in this case, says : — " We venture to assert, that in no hospital in the United States or the British Empire can a si- milar example of collision be adduced between a managing board and the medical ofdcers. We know that in the Montreal General Hos- pital, the suspmsion of a nurse by the at- tending physician is her virtual discharge by the committee ot management. It has occurred with ourselves, and we therefore speak from personal knowledge of the workmg of thiq Inpti- cation. one of the finest on this continent " themselves cotnpelled to luke the courso they did. As t\\.r as regarded appointing a Commission of enquiry, theTemporary Lunatic Asylum would only exist a few months longer, and he (Mr. B.) saw no use of appointing a Commission, us the new Asylum would be in operation in a few months, and then there was nothing which could not be better brought before the new Commissioners than before a Special Commission. The hon. gentle man talked of the appointment of a spe cial Commission as if it were a matter of no expense ; and then considering tiie persons whom they would have to try, he would ask the hon. member whom ot the twelve Commissioners he would se- lect to try. The whole of the responsi- bility that the government had was in the appointment of Commissionors, to select persons in whom t^e public had confidence, and when they aad done that, it was all that they could be e^cpected to do. He ('Mr. B.) would ask any body if he would remain a Commissioner after he had received the direc* defianee tho Commissioners in question imd received from the Medical Superintendent when they were unquestionably his superior officers, and if Dr. Park had not commit- ted the same offence towards the Com- missioners, which had been imputed by by him to the servants and against which he protested. Ife (Mr. B.) had hoped that there would have been a better un- derstanding and that a better sense of the respective duties of each would have led to a more amicable result ; but he repeated the government could by no possibility have taken any other course than the one they had taken j that they could not have appointed a Special Com- mission without great expense, and that it could have done nothing which the Commissioners of the new Institution coold not better do. He (NLr. B.) how- ever painfial it might be to him, was pre- pared to take the responsibility of the course the* government had adopted. Hon. Mr. Boulton could not agree with his hon. and learned friend that- this 73 le courso ipointing mporary ist a few ) saw no II, as the tiun in a ) nothing ht before before a 1. gentle of a spe matter of sring the ■e to try, whom of vould se- responsi- d was in onnrs, to iblic had lone t!>at, peeled to iny body >ner after ianee tho received 3nt when superior t commit- the Com- iputed by nst which ad hoped jetter un- sense of ould have 1 ; but he lid by no ler course that they cial Com- and that vhich the nstitutioii B.;how- , was pre- ity of the opted. lot agree d that this waa necessarily a question against the government and he regretted that he should have put it in that light, though he by no means admitted that a Respon- sible Government could make itself ir- responsible by counteracting inquiry in- to their own acts. The hon. member here went again over the circumstances of the temporary appointment of Dr. Rolph, during the absence of Dr. Park on his own private business in the coun- try He stated that it had been done wiih the consent of government. He thought that when a gentleman of such high talent as Dr. Rolph was acknow- ledged by the country to possess, and who when he received no pay for the services which he performed, found it necessary to take the steps which he had taken, to vindicate himself and the Lu- natics against filth and dirt, nakedness and cruelty, and drunken and violent keepers ; he (Mr. B.) thought that this gentleman was a good and substantial witness of the fact that the Commission- ers had acted improperly. The hon. and learned gentleman had read over the names of the Commissioners, and had remarked that a great part of them were Reformers and could have had no preju- dice against Dr. Park. He (Mr. B.) would remark that if this were so, it was a sword which would cut both ways. It was not a question between Dr. Park an isolated reformer and an op;wjnent, but with one Reformer against a number of Reformers, and further, all this state- ment about those Commissioners (who, however, were not Commissioners) that they were too respectable and honorable to do wrong and so forth, is the old lan- guage of old times, when all the delin- quencies brought to light by Lord Dur- ham had ever been denied effectually, by the same convenient ofRcial phrase viz : " such honorable men cannot do wrong !" But this was begging the question for their misconduct wis the point in issue. The hon. and learn- ed gentlemen when the opposition W48 in power^ never a,Uowed w eyi' dence of their good government, that they " were honorable men." How can the hon. and learned gentleman d«- j fend himself in the like way againat a^ ' charge of mal-administration, But hoir can the hon. nnd learned gentleman pr»- tend to allege that these Commisaioneri could not be supposed to wrong Or Park, when the most grievous wrong! by them are to be found in the very do* cuments laid before the House, wrongs both to the Lunatics and to Dr. Park f Had the Commissioners been guilty of no wrong to the Lunatics, in foretng back upon (hem drunken and cruel keep- ers ? in leaving them in a state of nudi* ty and brutality Mn allowing deficien* cies in cleanliness, clothing and ventila- tion, in which points the documents ad* mit Dr. Park had made improvements t In allowing the Lunatics to be converted into beasts of burden to carry the water from the Bay to the Institution ? Was it no wrong to advertise for tenders and break good faith ? To charge Dr. Park with a false entry as of the 20th Jun*,. a charge denounced as untrue by th* hon. member for Halton, and by Messrs^ Workman, Lesslie Whittemore and Brett ? To combine to write and publish in a newspaper an anonymous libel against Dr. Pork ) Was it no wrong to Dr. Park, was it no grievous insult to the government, to deceive them with the charge that Dr. Park had intrusted the making up of th«) medicine to unskilful hands, by suppressing and concealing the fact that they had themselves licensed the same persons to do so to other Medi- cal Su' jrintendents for years before ? These are matters which appeared in the oflicial documents he held in his hands — and how can the hon. and learn- ed gentleman in truth and candor say, that these hon. gentlemen could do Dr. Park no wrong ? And how could the hon. and learned gentleman allow such wrongs to remain unredressed 1 How could he lend executive countenance for any expediency, to such foul proceed- ings ? How could he conscientiously al: 74 ( ) 1i low a Public Officer to be so unjustly, cruelly, and vindictively maligned with- out redress, and without an impartial en- quiry ? And how in the name of every- thing just and honorable among tnuii had h« brought himself to leave it as the gov- ernment had done, to such Commission- era to decide for them whether Dr. Park should or should not be continued Medi- cal Superintendent 1 And that it would be beUer to offend one, than a number. He (^Mr. B.) did not say that such was actually the motive on which the govern- ment had acted, but he laid the fsct be- fore the House, and it might form its own opinion of its merits. The issue railed between the Medical Superintend- entand the Commissioners, if Commis- MOAers they could be called, was raised ia August and joined in September. It arose from the desire to obtain the dis- missal of two men, over whom the Me- dical Superintendent could aot keep pro- per control, one had been drunk, and the other cruel. The hon. and learned gen- tleman had in effect complained that Dr. Rolph was not quite as good a Medical Superintendent as he, the Attorney Gen- eral, would have been ; that Dr. Rolph had re-9iL8pended Keeper Hurgerford, in- stead of appealing to the government. What ? embarrass the government with it ? He had heard a great deal and too much about embarrassing the govern- m%nt— "it was a side way of getting rid of questions great and small. But had that way been adopted, the hon. and learned Attorney General would not have been without a ground for crimina- tion. It would have been said by those hon. Commissioners (^and what would they not say and do after the disclosure in these documents before the House) that the embarrassing complaint was pi- tiful and vexatious ; that Dr. Rolph or Dr. Pa.k bad only to have repeated their dissatisfaction by bringing the matter again under the consideration of the Commissioners to have insured their cheerful acquiescence — yes ; and the government would have said so too, and have said (uot without some grounds for it^ that the Medical Superintendent should have first tried to adjust the mat- ter with the Corr...iissioner8by a rehear- ing of the matter instead of embarrassing the government with it captiously in the very first instance. Indeed, a govern ment might have to sigh over embarrass- ments without number, if every point of difference was immediately referred to them instead of being settled or attempt- ed to be settled amicably by the elements of adjustment in the Institutionjitself. To avoid this grave charge of embarrassing the government the adjustment was sought for in the right way, as he {'Mr. B.) thought, by bringing the matter by a re-suspension, a second time under the notice of the Commissioners ; and as there were only a few Commissioners present when the objectionable keepers were returned, it was fair to presume that a re-consideration of so improper an act by the whole Board, would have avoided the continuance on d'^ty, against the wishes of the MedicalSuperintendent, of Keepers, one of whom, as appears from the documents before the House, had been drunk on duty, and another addicted to cruelty. He (Mr. B.) must say that both Dr. Rolph, and Dr. Park would have fallen farshort of their high sense of official duty, had they ta- citly and corruptly allowed such mon- strous abuses to be practised. He ^Mr. B.^ thought it ten thousand times better to suspend, and re-suspend and discush, as long as room was left for so doing, than that the interests of the Lunatics should be disgracefully compromised. The hon. and learned gentlemen had asked how the government could have dismissed those twelve men who had no- thing to gain and nothing to lose. He CMr. B.^ considered that as a proof that there was np responsibility anywhere. The Commissioners had been treated as if they had been appointed according to law, and he (Dr. P.^ had been appoint- ed by them. Had such been the case, Dr. Park would at once have said, 75 rounds for rintendent It the mat- a rehear- barrassing jsly in the a govern Bmbarrass- ry point of eferred to )r attempt- e elements ililself. To ibarrassing ment was IS he ("Mr. matter by B under the 's ; and as imiKsioners >le keepers Lo presume mproper an would have 'ty, against rintendent, as appears the House, nd another (Mr. B.) h, and Dr. lort of their ad they ta- such mon- He rMr. imes better ind discusb, so doing, Lunatics mpromised. tlemen had could have vho had no- ) lose. He El proof that anywhere, n treated as ccording to en appoint* 3n the case, have said, " Well, I am your servant, appointed " by you, and I can't help the servants '* of the Institution being drunk, and " having a jolly spree, &o., If you *' choose to have it so." Hut this was not the case. Dr. Park was appointed in- dependently by the government, and was answerable, not to the Commission- ers but to the government and the coun- try, not only for what he did, but for all wrongs which he allowed to exist,or cor- ruptly assented to. And Dr. Park had a right to expect support from the gov- erniaent, this house and the people in resisting such monstrous abuses as exist- ed in the Asylum. Even had Dr. Park been appointed by the Commissioners, he (Mr. B.) could not say he should make himself a willing party to their violation of official duty. The follow- ing facts are revealed ; he (Mr. B.) would read them to the House : " Your Petitioner further represents, that the said Commissioners consented to the request of Assistant Steward Cronyn, of the Branch, to be allowed to absent himself daily from his duties, for as many hours as might be needed, for his attend- ing the Medical Lectures at the Univer- sity, if your Petitioner would consent thereto in writing. Whereupon, your Petitioner respectfully represented to the Board, that such consent on his part would be ' an unwarrantable interference on his part with an attendant, whose time belongs wholly to the institution, and whose absence would impose increased labor on the other attendants, whose duties already were sufficiently onerous.' " Would the hon. and learned Attorney General say that such a fraud upon the Institution was to be endured, or such an abstraction of the safe-guards provided for the Lunatics ? Would it have be- come Dr. Park to consent to this corrupt proposition ? Had he not done honor to himself and to the government who had appointed him, by politely negativing it ? It is out of all governmental pro- prietyCif propriety can be held to belong to modern governments at all Jto require a physician, who has a professional and moral character to sustain, to be a party to the official delinquencic s of others ; and, as in the case of Dr. Park, should bis honesty expose and irritate Commis- sioners, he was to be turned over to their tender mercies and even prompted to de- mand his dismissal — *' hon. men who could be supposed to do Dr. Park no wrong !" and the government exonerate themselves' by saying, «* oh, the Com- missioners demand it ?" ('Here the hon. member was for a short time interrupted by a message from the Legislative Coun» cii.^ He proceeded to observe that the hon. and learned gentleman who had preceded him had spoken of the Com* missioners as a dispassionate body, and that the government had recognized their right of dealing with the case of Dr. Park. He fMr. B.jl could not see on what principle of justice they had the right to do so. It was admitted by gov- ernment that nothing was imputed against the character of that gentleman. It was true that Dr. Park, might have shown some warmth, but then was it un- likely that he should do so, when he was treated by the Commissioners like a com- mon menial servant — that when called into their room he was left standing, and when he bad listened to their questions, he was told " now sir, you may retire." He fMr. B.) asked if this were the way, a gentleman standing in the position that Dr. Park did to the Commissionem, ought to be treated, he having been lis well as themselves, appointed by the Crown, and answerable to the Crown, and not to the Commissioners for what he did ? Here were matters of dispute between the respective parties ; and con- sidering the late conflict in which they were engaged, he (Mr. B.) considered it too much to refer the question back to the Commissioners to be adjudicated upon by them. The government did not de- sire to have a quarrel with the Commis- sioners, who, as he had said, were their friends, Dr. Park was also their friend— and the question might be, would it be better tQ disoblige one friend or several? The government in their report of the #w M ;:! II ■U' r^i t lit 14th Oct., woundup by recommending both parties to bury their troubles, and expressing confidence in both of them. The Commissioners spurned the advice of the government. They showed ex* ceedingly great warmth and made use of language that would be odious when ap- plied to anybody — the language of com- mon Billingsgate was not the language which should have been made use of on such an occasion by them. The course the government had adopted had preclu- ded Dr. Park from taking notion against anybody. If the Commissioners had been appointed under the Act, and they had turned out Dr. Park, he would have had the right of appealing from their de* cision to the government. The govern- ment should have said to the Commis- sioners, " we have given you advice which if you don't like to follow, why we are obliged to you for what you have done, but we must accept your resigna* tions however reluctantly, rather than perpetrate a wrong against a public of- ficer, equally as yourselves, entitled to oiir just and unpolitical consideration." Instead of taking this course, they suffer- ed themselves to be dragooned by the Commissioners, and Dr. Park was left without any other remedy than the one he now sought. In his present position the Commissioners of the new Institu- tion could not entertain his application, they would say " No Sir, wo can have nothing to do with you, you have been dismissed from the office you held, in the last Institution, and we must presume your guilt, as the government have dis- missed you summarily without inquiry, and even refused it." He (Mr. B.) could not agree with the hon. and learn* ed Attorney General that the general superintendence of the Asylum was in the Commissioners, because the by-laws passed by the Commissioners, and sanc- tioned by the government, voted the ge- neral superintendence in the Medical Superintendent, while the general super- vision (which was a very different thing) belonged to the Commissioners, and was expressiy reserved for themselves. How could Dr. Park be Superintendent and not superintend ? Why call him Super- intendent, and by By-laws make him Su- perintendent, and then say, the Commis- sioners are the Superintendents ? If there was anything wrong in the superintendence of the Asylum, Dr. Park as Medical Superintendent would be blamed. Hi» hon. and learned friend had said " of what use is it to appoint Commissioners if you have no confidence in them." But does it fol- low because they were appointed from having confidence in them, that they are to be sustained when they have proved themselves unworthy of it 1 It was as much the duty of the government to dis- miss bad Commissioners as it was to ap- point good ones, and far more was it a duty to sustain a faithful Medical Super- intendent, than to sustain from any mo- tives of expediency, corrupt Commis- sioners. But sending r Park back to those in question, anu /iting them to demand his dismissal, was like sending the lamb to the wolf. These gentlemen had libelled anonymously Dr. Park in a newspaper— had charged him with false entries-^had held an odious, disgraceful secret inquiry against him, telling the very government itself, that they had closed the door upon the accused, desi- ring the inquiry, merely because they did not like him. And to those very same Commissioners, the government dragooned by them, had left the decision, of Dr. Park's case £^nd fate. He had been left to his enemies, instead of re- ceiving the ordinary protection even of his of^cial and professional character, by the government who appointed him. The House too, had received, and print- ed, and distributed all the false, scanda- lous, and malicious communicalions of the Commissioners — and can the House refuse in fairness an inquiry, due to ths reputation of Dr. Park, which they had thus injured ? All that he (Mr. B.) de- sired was to give him an opportunity o£ clea^ring himself. rr v^es. How ideat and im Super- :e himSu* » Commis- mts ? If f in the lum, Dr. ent would i learned use is it yoa have doe3 it fol- nted from U they are ive proved It was as lent to dis- was to ap« I was it a cal Super- n any mo~ . Comnois- ■k back to g them to ce sending gentlemen Park in a with false lisgraceful Lelling the : they had ;used, desi- sause they ;hose very overnment le decision . He had :ead of re- 3n even of character, )inted him. and print- ie, scanda* icalions of ihe House due to ths h they had Wr. B.) de- ortunity oi Mr. Prick rose to speak. • "^ Mr. BouLTON did not thmk it rieht that he should then rise to do so. He ('Mr. B.) had waited after his hon. and learned friend the Attorney-General had sat down, to see if any other member of the Government were going to rise, and It was only for that he fMr. B.) should have the reply. Mr. Price would not have spoken if the hon. and learned gentleman had confined himself to replying to the re- marks of his hon. friend the Attorney- General, but as he had not done so, he (Mr. P.) felt himself bound to speak in reply. He asked tho hon. member for Norfolk, if he thought 'hat he had done justice to his friend in putting off tho consideration of his case until this late period of the Session, It was for this reason that impatience had been shown by some hon. members, and not because It vvas an Upper Canada question. He asked if Dr. Rolph was put on by the Government or by Dr. Park, for his own private business. The question was a simple one, and he defied any body to put his hand on his heart and say that the Government could have taken any other course than they had done. Dr. Park applied to him (Mr. P.^ for his support when he wished to get the office, and he (Mr. ?.) gave it to him ; and it was a painful duty that obliged them to take the steps they had taken. When Dr. Park took tho office of Medical Su- perintendent, he knew that the power of appointing and dismissing servants was vested in the Commissioners. While Dr. Rolph was performing the duty of Dr. Park he dismissed a man. The Commissioners were dissatisfied, not deeming the charge upon which he was dismissed sufficiently grave to justify his dismissal, and inquired if there were any further charge against him, they wrote a letter asking if there were no other charge, and they objected to tho man being dismissed on that charge. The Commissioners waited until the return of Dr. Park, on the ground that he was their servant, and not Dr. Rolph- Oa the return of Dr. Park, instead of r«. commending him ai a drunken man to be dismissed, he chose to lak* up th« challenge with the Commissioners, aixl to dispute with them, on what was th«ir undoubted privilege. Then, becaua* tho Government had acted as they ought to have done, they were to b* told that they had supported injustice becauM thoj were desirous of not offending a numb«r of their supporters rather than one. Mr. BouLTox had only mentioned that tc take away the force of the argu* ment of the hon. Attorney .General. Mr. Price continued : — It was not to be expected that the Government could take upon itself tho iquabblee of the institution. And as regarded iaiuing a Special Commission, at the expense of thousands of pounds to the country, be asked if that were reasonable becauM certain persons had called each other bad names. The Commistionen wore responsible to their country and their God, with two hundred lunatica undor their charge, for the acts which they performed. The hon. member for Nor« folk had adverted to Lunatic Aaylunif in the United States, and had told them that there the entire control was vetted in the Medical Superintendent. That was not the question now ; if he thought that oura was on an improper basis, why- did he not bring in a bill in order to get it changed, and not bring a charge against the Government for having car- ried out the law. But he (Mr. P.^ be- lieved that the law as it stood was a wise one, and that Commissioners should not be mere ciphers. In the Meidical Has- pital of this city, they saw a similar power vested in the hands of the Com- missionersof the institution. He (Mr. P.) did not believe that this was an iih* proper principle. He for one would never consent to give one man the en- tire control over two or three hundred unfortunate human beings, who had lost their intellect ; no, not if he were an angel from Heaven ! And if he CMr- T7« 78 p.) vvrere so unfortunate as to liav-e a •on, who should be so unfortunate as to lose bis intellect, God forbid ! that he should send him to any institution whore one man had the entire control. Mr. McDonald of Kingston, thought that after carefully rbading the papers which had been printed by the Govern- ment, ond after hearing the remarkH of the hoB. Attorney-Generol West, that the Government could not have taken any other course than the ono they had taken. It was n well known i'act that Dr. Park had been appointed from poli- tical reasons, without any reference an to whether he were the most proper per- .'•on or not. He (Mr. McD.; thought the Government had acted with great firmness in taking the course they had taken, and that they deserved great oorodit for it. i Col. GuoY would like to know before the question was put, what parly the kon. member for Norfolk supported 1 The motion was then put and lost. YgMj—Mpssieurs Boulton of Norfolk, 'and Thompson-— 2. ^v'.ci JVay*,-^Messieur8 Armstrong, Badg- ley, Attorney-General Baldwin, Beau- bien, Bell, Solicitor-General Blake, Bourillier, Cameron of Kent, Cartier, Cauchon, Chabot, Christie, Davignon, DeWitt, Solicitor-General Drummond, Pettier, Fournier, Fourquin, Gugy, Guillen, Kdll, Holmes, Jobin, Johnson, Laui-iny Lemieux, Macdonald of Glen- «arry) Macdonald of Kingston, Marquis, • McConnell, McLean, Merritt, Methot, 'Mongenais, Polette, Price, Robinson, Seymour, Smith of Frontenac, and Smith of Wentworih— 40. ..^ "' The above proceedings in Parliament on my petition, are given in full as taken m short-hand by one of the regular Par- L Ijameatacy reporters, of Montreal, .' f) lTo justify my conduct, as Medical Stiperintendent of the Asylum, 1 am . eatisfied' that it will be quite sufficient to give to the public an opportunity of examining for themselves the speech and rpply of the Hon. H. J. Boulton in sup- port oi the prayer of my poliliuu, ami thn opeechcs of the Hon. Attorney General Baldwi.n, the Hon. J. H. PKict and Mr McDoNELL, of Kingston, ugatuiit it, und in favour of the Bo-cnlled Commissioners Upon a careful examination it \vill be found, that the gravest charges that can be brought against me arc that I pre aumed to uuspend a vvorthleeu, drunken Keeper, and that I placed another survam in the room of the one suspended '' in defiance of the Commissioners" (which m untrue ae far as it relates to its being done " in defiance of the Commiasioners," but expressly subject to their sanction, as io fully proved by the documents published oy the House) ; that I remained in the room while the Board ol' Commie sioners were sitting, after I was told by them '• that they did not want" me. Now, what it; the position of the Com missioiiera according to the views of the Hon. H. J. Boulton, borne out as they arc by the documents published by order of the House? The Commissioncrtj, from neglect and improper conduct, had allowed (during years of careless duty without a recorded order against it,) excited patients to be confined together in the same cells, from which practice serious bodily injury had occurred, and the patients made more frantic by the abuse of being ho confined , they had, for years, allowed large quan tities of beer, to the amount of $100 a quarter, and other intoxicating drink to be used by the otTicers and servants oi the Institution, and persisted in employing Keepers after they had been proved to be guilty of cruelly, drunkenness and other improper conduct while on duty, against the repeated remonstrances of the Medical Superintendent ; by order oi" the Com missioners the friendless sufferers were unmercifully doomed to act the part of beasts of burden, in bringing water (i-om the bay to the Institution ; they had al lowed the apartments to remain badly ventilated, until remedied by Dr. Rolph and myself; they had never even pro- cured a bath for cleansing the patients, which is so essential to their comfort, health, moral and mental improvement ; they had, according to the evidence on the records of the Institution, allowed the patients to be fed on bad potatoes not fit lor swine, and allowed them to go in a I suffering condition, without shoes or clock II, .111(1 thr. CfCiicral c utul Mr Hit it, and nissioners It will be s that can Imt I pre , drunken er vurvuni undod ''in (which ii; its boiii^ issionora," sanction, documentu [ remained r Commie- nxB told by me. ' the Com ewB of the it as they d by order eglect and d (during a recorded ents to be cells, from injury had lade more ) confined , irge quan t of $100 ig drink to ervanta ol employing oved to bf. and other ty, against lie Medical the Com irers were he part ol .vater from jy had al lain badly Dr. RoLPH even pro le patients, ir comfort, rovemcnt ; snce on the lowed the toeo not fit to go in H Ds or Gtock • t n inga; during Dr. Tllfch'h nupcrinten- donee, rotten tea 'i>:d been furnished tor the use of vhe patients, by one of the ComniiBaionerB, which had been purchased by him at the rate of three pence u pound ; they continued the employment of per- uon« after the charge or peculation orau- gar, tea, and other articfcs belonging to the Institution, had been made apparent against them — they published anonymous libels against me in the Globe newopaper; they wantonly charged me with making false entries in the books of the' Institu- tion; they charged me with falsehood, and treachery in matters which they admitted in the main to be correct; they, as in a Starchamber, collected from servants hos- tile to mc, evidence to prove me guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, without allowing mo any access to, or even afford- ing me intimation of their proceedings, until they had sent the same to the Gov- ernment; they rmppressed known facts to Kubserve their own vile purposes, and to this end, filled their report and evidence with wilful perversions and exaggerations; they advertised tor tenc'ers, and broke good faith by dividmgr the contracts among their friends, giving the party who had tendered the best articles for the Ic»».'eic price but a small portion; (this is the ef- fect of doing things in secret ; the peo- ple's money is squandered, and important public trusts violated! no honest man would ever find it necessary to do anythinij in the Asylum, that he should be afraiu to do lU the face of day,) they allowed seve- ral patients to remain constantly in a state of perfect nudity, and otherwise cruelly treated them, while I caused proper gar- ments to be prepared for the comfortable clothing of those most unfortunate and brutally treated individuals — they allow- ed the whole Institution to become filthy, and infested with vermin to an extraordi- nary degree, and I do not believe there was at the time I entered the Asylum, an Institution of the kind in the known world, in a more deplorable and disgraceful con- dition. With such an array of facts, I cannot imagine how the Hon. the Attorney Gen- eral could find any difficulty in deciding which of the Commissioners it would be proper to " try," as by looking over the records of the Institution, we find that most of them never attended to tiicir duty at all, and for uuoh neglect, should havD been relieved of office without delay. Those who did attend, and allowed oae quarter of the charges above enumerated, to exist, should be discharged for frow ignorance or wilfully neglecting to corrtot ouch pernicious practices. To enter into any comment upon the speeches would be superfluous, as every ciiurge made against me, (all that could be made were made) by the Hon. the At> torney General and the Hon. Mr. Pric|, is ably and fully refuted in thtj speeda and reply of the Hon. H. J. Boulfon. As to the " Responsible Government" aspect of the question, I have but to add, that as a warm and(I trust)ev«r>con8isteQt supporter of the system, I cannot but look upon the course taken by the Administra- tion in stifling enquiry mto the merits of the case, as being destructive of its very first principles. The appeal of the Hon. Mr. Baldwin to the House on the ground that a vote for investigation would be a vote «f censure on the Government, is unwor- thy of him and makes the CMe a thousand times more grievous. If the Government did not feel that it had acted improperly, why ehouid it have objected to inquiry ? If it were right in Its decision, a Coihmittee of the Legislature would have confirmed it af^er a due examination of the facts — if wrong, a strong and generous Government should have had manliness and courage eno'if^h to acknowledge its error. If the Adminis- tration for the time being can by threat- ening resignation, frighten the people'* Representatives into a stifling of inquiry into alleged abuses, then Responsible Government is a delusion, a mockery and a snare. If, at the mere dictum of the Cabinet, t.^e majority of the Hous« :• to be prevented from exercising its own in- dependent judgment on the acts of its servants, — if the House is to be the echo of the Ministry, instead of the Ministry echoing the matured opinions and judg- ment of the House and country, then is the House and the people responsible to the Ministry, instead of the Ministry being responsible to them — a system of respon- sibility from which every lover of British fairplay, will from the bottom of his heart pray to be delivered. It must not be supposed that becauBc 80 '1; if u ti a i^ 4 h ^. ^4 ,< H b C I h«v« omitted to record iny obligfttionc tmi a of my incumbency of office, find nothing to accuse myself of •««d confiding ir the judgment ot an en- lightened and juflt community, feel' -sat^ isned that the verdict given agjainst me will be reversed by every disinterested and independent innabltant of my native countipy who mayj^ruse these pa^cs. With these few remarks I leave the sub- ject for the present, intending to avail my- self of the advantage of the suggestion of- fered in the first parts of the Hons. Messrs. Baldwin and Price's speeck^s, viz., to bring the subject, at the next sitting of Parliament, " before the House at an earlier period of the Session,'^ whetv they may have the time and opportunity (if they should happea to have the will,) to discui^a more at length "a subje • so important to the public) bdth in a charita- ble and moral point of. view, as well as involving a large pecuniary interest," and thereby arrive at the proper mode of correcting all the evild Hdw existing, and redressing the wron^ th&t have been so unwarrantably practised. GEO. H. PARK, M.D. Montreal, June 1st, 1849. ' tn; Erratum.— -Page 79, eishth line from the bottom, instead of ''then' is,'' read, then tV'i.f Ac. .. • .,• til I 9 8 -rr n f/nl hlu-.i fi-ii,u ■giii.''4v;'i,'«~£J ji.'i t(Hi if- /ff ::»!<;; ;i^:r.''-. Olnoria ji!ornn-;svpUt:t;r!'iof;';;y< ■' .,f ». -)^*.*i<-.fii \d v.:.,o 2-^i'-:^ uru.i ,;f!« viaiaym ii .noiex;!:"'!.' n •.-■ ;:i rijH *i,3 rtftjJviJ OT.f.'ii ';..!» hi '.',1 ■ai nvn> II* j gn^aioiu.:** fcr-i! ' ;... iaiilo feJao 8ti} fro H'-:ir . i ;, orbs OiiJ ocI'U uioai-'iifi.t u- Vibaihc.it ftrniriTo !'V!r^^..:: ; j t- sldja^to-rrsn^T >:)1 r- iq ^vt'i j .% :-' ii is I ni't ■ .,■ (..J t,-i 'I ; .11':}. I. < o .10. I I't.i r. ■. « !(.i ■Dii.' •i <.; : u;; ■.■' • ','' '' ' , ' ij'i'.lw nV'.'if; in .{, I .\ • v.l. .ia\ ♦■ ♦ ; i:. ii 'io ( !,'iC-.i* I /; lliVJ .'or -i-f i^n 3D'?- :ui a .''la:. b /.: t . I - ii ^-' '>lfl|'l'i,.j,' '. !• ■ l)li'. »I J J.'' imty, feol' aat- eh- against me y disinterested at of my native hese pa^^es. I leave the sub* Dg to avail my- e suggestion of- e Hons. Messrs. sechss, viz., to e next sitting e House at an on,'' when they opportunity (if ^e the will,) to "a subje ' so Jth in a charita- ew, as well as y interest," and roper mode of iw existing, and it bftv^ i)een so >Ai^K, M.D. -T-r^ -— shth line frooi then' is," read, I * i felt..'' 1 !i ' ' .' ■' ■; , ( , ■ .1,,. ■ , . '■* ■' ^4 tt ' ! •V/ . .ci'liU ^ it; •^'n^'^h ' ' 'ill,. !ii?. 1' 1 '■'