An inaugural address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New York : at the Capitol in the city of Albany, on the 8th day of February, 1826 / by James R. Manley.

  • Manley, James R., 1781-1851.
Date:
1826
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inaugural address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New York : at the Capitol in the city of Albany, on the 8th day of February, 1826 / by James R. Manley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    'lb ma. They were furthermore impelled to this course from the fact having come to their knowledge, that in several instances the law of the State had been grossly violated, and their con- fidence abused. It perhaps is needless to observe, that the resistance of professors to this measure, so righteous in itself, and now so imperatively demanded by the honour of the col- lege, was ill calculated to produce the convic|ion that the change was unnecessary. Professors argued, that it was an innovation on established usage, for the examinations before trustees had always been pro forma merely. The trustees allowed it was so, and that it might have been proper, for that, under the former arrangement of the board, the examination was, in fact, held before the same men, the professors being the whole of their own board, and a large majority of that which recommended the candidates, and it was this vicious organization of it which induced the regents to change its cha- racter. The professors were obliged to submit, but they did it so ungraciously, that the whole school was in rebellion against trustees' auth rit}r. In order to prevent a repetition of the same scene, the trustees, by ballot, appointed a com- mittee to draw up a memorial to regents on the condition of the college, and recommend such changes as they thought the honour and usefulness of the school required. It was done— the college convened to discuss said report and memorial— professors staid to hear it read, but in place of attempting rea- sonably to argue against its adoption, or even to amend it tn any one particular, and in failure of success to enter their pro- test on the minutes to be transmitted to regents along with the memorial ; they, as if by consent, all left the board and des- troyed the quorum. The report, however, was at a subse- quent meeting acted on, amended, and accepted by the trus- tees, and duly sent to the regents. It contained two essential recommendations, calculated in the opinion of the trustees, if adopted, to heal all differences by removing all causes of dis- agreement. The one had relation to finance, the other to the power of making their own by-laws. It was shown to regents^ in that report, that the college was actually insolvent, if re- quired and obliged immediately to pay its debts, notwith-