A short account of the occurrences which led to the removal of Dr. John Redman Coxe from the chair of materia medica and pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania / presented with Dr. Coxe's respects.

  • Coxe, John Redman, 1773-1864.
Date:
[1835]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A short account of the occurrences which led to the removal of Dr. John Redman Coxe from the chair of materia medica and pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania / presented with Dr. Coxe's respects. 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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    e i • n l„ Kri^flv statin* that the students were transactions of this session, by briefly staun0 vu i induced, by some means or other, to get up a Memorial to the lrui ices declaring that the Professor of Materia M.-dica WU £»P* tent' and r fueMing his dismissal!! '-The prayer of this Memo Ud WM nottoZSZd to by the Trustees ; and even .o had the bonoil?£JtatSe.J of his profession at heart w..£Uo tog^l here the matter would have u rminated an 1 thai ■< • M unJJ« ing tod so prejudicial to the latere* of every Awdemical M in the country, as those which had been enacted n the 1 Diversity Of Pennsylvania would never again have been permitted < Uf. Tor tnc Iwofoil 'wing *,, the aflfiir.of the Uaivcraity moved tm%in$ofara *°« ^monloMnXj. There A; no rioting nor disturbance in the ?U£m!S dents to decide on the competency of their 1 £ e ■ ■ no but that past grievances bad been almost forgotten by the 1 rof< 0 latcria B a, and that the id. hie being mm made the^«bi«ct rf per* n, * >ne which n< ed bis mind.—Delusive hope!—The storm of opposition, itie true, had for a seed 1 ,;v itself, but the calm an 1 tranquillity were illusory and dc ve As the volcano, after an irruption, will tor years appear to remain I rest, while the element- of disorder ami destruction tre busily prep*- Ing within its br. An to pour out by ita ci rs ol fire, to •stroy and desolate every living » which, deceived by its calm, has unwa.ily settled within the sphere i jnflu it was with the University of Pennsylvania. The- opposition to Dr. pOX6, although it had ceased to manifest itself openly, had not died; it had not even slept: but tly and unceasingly it was preparing its plans, and feo combining its ele: i, that, on its second irruption, it might the more certainly consummate its saciifu We do not pretend even to guess, as to who were the authors and organiz f the rebellion which was this year got up against the Pro- fes 1 Materia Medics and Pharmacy. That a plan was organized for this pur; is demonstrative evidence, and evidence which no man of judgment can hesitate to receive. If the disi >ction which has been expressed by the students against Dr. Core had originated from any incompetency on his part, in the performance of the duties of bis Chair, this dissatisfaction would assuredly bare manifested it- self at the close, not at the commencement of hi* Lectui Lf S- son, the business of the session was gone over, and, on its termina- tion, there was certainly no stronger evidence of dissatisfaction ex- pressed by the pupili of the School against the zeal and ability of the Professor of Materia Medica, than against that of any of his colleagues. But, this year, disapprobation was expressed, and a disturbance was got up in the Class Room of Dr. Coxe, the very first day he mad his appearance in his Chair, viz. on the delivery of his Introductory Lecture. We insist that this single fact furnishes unquestionable evi- dence, that a plan was organized before the commencement of the Lectures, (by whom, we do not even pretend to surmise,) for his ruin and expulsion from his Professorship. Who, we would ask, consti- tuted the members of the Class, to whom Dr. Coxe delivered the Introductory Lecture referred to? Was not a large proportion of them young gentlemen who had just commenced the study of medicine, and who had never before heard a Lecture delivered on the subject of the Materia Medica ? And will it for a moment be believed, even by the most credulous and stupid, that these ingenuous and generous youths would, unless excited to it, have so far forgot the modesty and generosity of their natures, as to have offered insult to a stranger,— aye! and to a stranger surrounded by the imposing influences of acade- mic authority, and rendered venerable by the hoary head of age. It is impossible!—It is not to be credited! Our account of the riots which have occurred in the University of Pennsylvania during the present session, must, from the limited space you can spare us in your colujnns, be necessarily much abridged. We shall merely detail a few of the more prominent facts. The pro*