The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-19 00:00:00

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43 2

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ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL-hfEETING OF

SURGEONS.

A. public meeting of the members of the surgical pro-
fession, called by advertisement, was held yesterday
afternoon at the Hanover-square Rooms, to express
their opinion upon the conduct of the board of manage-
ment of the Royal Free Hospital, in recently dismissing
from his situation Mr. John Gay, who had acted as
honorary surgeon to the institution for the last 17 years.
There was a largo attendance of the members of the pro-
fession, and the large room was nearly filled. Dr. Cop-
land was unanimously called to the chair.
The SECRETARY (Mr. Ludlow) read a statement,
drawn up by Mr. Gay, of the proceedings of the board
of management connected with his dismissal. From
that statement it appeared that in the month of March
last a biographical sketch of Mr. Gay's life and surgical
career, appeared in a professional periodical, called the
Medical Circular, which, among other statements re-
specting Mr. Gay, contained the following : —That the
present position of the hospital was almost solely owing
to Mr. Gay, the principal surgeon—that but for the re-
putation which that gentlemen had earned for it the
institution would be almost unknown—that, unlike most
other surgeons, Mr. Gay was not indebted to the hos-
pital, but that the hospital owed everything to his skill
and enterprise. No notice was taken of these statements
till the month of July, when the secretary of the hospital
was directed by the board to ask Mr. Gay, first, if the
MS., or any proof of the sketch, was seen by him
previous to its publication ; secondly, if he himself
supplied any portion of the sketch itself ; and thirdly,
if it was published altogether without his know-
ledge, whether he had since disclaimed the statements
contained in it ? To these questions Mr. Gay re-
plied that he had supplied the editor of the paper with
such facts relating to his birth and education and with
such references to h,s writings as were required for the
purposes of the biography, but that he was not respon-
sible, directly or indirectly, for any statements of opinion
it contained ; that he had not seen any part of the sketch
previous to its publication ; and that, till he read it in
the paper, he was not aware of the tone that would be
taken by the writer. He added that he had not com-
plained to the editor of any of the statements contained
in it. Another meeting of the board was held upon
this, and Mr. Gay was requested to correct the of-
fensive statements ; on which he wrote a letter to the
editor, stating that he was not the principal surgeon to
the Royal Free Hospital, as there were two other sur-
geons in the institution, and that Dr. Marsden was his
senior ; that the editor had overrated his services, and
especially that he had overlooked the merits of the
founder of the institution, with whom it had been Mr.
Gay's privilege to co-operate for many years ; and he
concluded by expressing a hope that the editor would
admit he (Mr. Gay) was not responsible for the
opinions which had been published. At the next
meeting of the board, in August last, Mr. Gay produced
a reply from the editor, stating simply that Mr. Gay
was not responsible in any way for the opinions ex-
pressed in the biographical sketch. Hereupon the com-
mittee came to a unanimous resolution that the explana-
tion of Mr. Gay was not satisfactory, and that by his
conduct he had forfeited the confidence of the board.
Another meeting of the committee was held in Decem-
ber last, when Mr. Gay again addressed a letter to the
committee, offering to use his best endeavours in the
event of the republication of the sketch, to have the
offensive passages suppressed. The committee, how-
ever, came to a resolution that those letters did not alter
their former opinion, and that Mr. Gay be dismissed
from his office.

The CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting, and sa, i
they must observe, from the papers which had been
read, that the proceedings taken against Mr. Gay had
been taken with design. (Applause.) Mr. Gay had
resorted to every means of conciliation which it had
become a gentleman to do, but every attempt had been
rejected ; and under these circumstances, it did appear
that an indignity offered to one member of the profession
was to a certain extent reflected upon them all. He
apprehended every one would agree that the position of
a surgeon in an hospital ought not to be affected unless
he was guilty of some moral delinquency or professional
incapacity.

Mr. KEMBLE DR MORGAN, in moving the first resolu-
tion, said there would, perhaps, be different opinions as
to the propriety of members of their profession allowing
biographical sketches to appear. (Hear.) For himself,
he had a strong opinion on that point ; but it must be
borne in mind that if Mr. Gay had allowed his biography
to appear without making any comment upon it at the
time, that was done by the advice of one of his colleagues,
who advised him to take no notice of it, and told him
the affair would only be laughed at, as, indeed, it ought
to be laughed at byall sensible men. (Applause.) But sup-
pose Mr. Gay had written every syllable of the article
on his own life ; they might have said he was a vain man,
but there would have been an end of it; it contained nothing
insulting to the hospital. But there was something
more than a dismissal of Mr. Gay, which had tended
strongly to enlist the sympathies of the profession in his
favour. For himself, he had no acquaintance with that
gentleman—he had never met him till this occurrence
took place Why, then, had he felt so strongly upon the
subject? It was because of the conviction upon his
mind that all this was done by a single individual who
exercised an undue influence over the medical profes-
sion—(applause and hisses)—an individual who pro-
fessed to be the guardian of the rights of medical
men, and the defender of their honour, but he feared
that his acts had not borne out his professions. But
he hoped one result of this day's meeting would he
that the profession would not submit to his dicta-
tion any longer. Ho concluded by moving the first
resolution—that without expressing any opinion as to
the publication of biographical sketches of the lives of
members of the profession, that meeting recorded its
conviction that Mr. Gay had been guilty of no act which
called for the inference in any manner of the governors
of the hospital ; that his dismissal front office with no
charge against his moral or professional character was
an act in the highest degree oppressive and unjustifiable.
Mr. WEBER, of Norwich, seconded the resolution,
and called upon the members of the profession present
to emancipate it from the dictation of the Lancet.
The resolution was then carried unanimously.
Mr. JORDAN, the senior surgeon of the Manchester
Infirmary, in moving the second resolution, said the
charges against Mr. Gay were far too insignificant for
the punishment he had received, and lie hoped that the
vote for his dismissal would be reversed by th ,se go-
vernors who did not vote on the first occasion. He
moved that the dismissal of Mr. Gay by the committee
of the Royal Free Hospital was not only unjust and
oppressive to that gentleman as an individual, but that,
if adopted as a precedent, it would be most injurious to
the interests of hospitals generally, as well as insulting
to the profession at large.
Mr. HOLMES COOTE, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously.
Dr. DROURT moved, that copies of the statements and
of these resolutions be forwarded to the public and to
the medical journals, to the heads of the medical profes-
sion' and to the officers of her Majesty's household.
Dr. CONQUEST, in seconding this resolution, said it
appeared to him that a gross insult had been offered
to the profession generally in the person of Mr.
Gay. He had not seen any charges brought for-
ward which would justify a reprimand, much less a
dismissal. (Applause.) He had known Mr. Gay in-
timately for the last fourteen or fifteen years, and he
had never known anything of him unbefitting the cha-
rae,er of a gentleman and philanthropist. He never
knew a man with a higher sense of honour and integrity,
and he believed that be would submit to any sacrifice
rather do a dishonest act. (Applause.)
Mr. LIDDELL, of Ely-place, Goodman's-fields, here
askel what was to be done with Mr. Gay's place. It
was aot yet filled up, and lie presumed no man of re-
spectability would take it. (Great applause.) He pre-
sumed also that Mr. Gay's colleagues had resigned, and
that they only held their places till their successors were
appointed. (Applause.)
This gave rise to a conversation of a very exciting
nature, as a question was put to the medical lecturers
connected with the hospital present, whether they ap-
proved of the proceedings taken against Mr. Gay.
Dr. CORMACR, one of the lecturers, repudiated the
proceedings of the governors, as far as he was concerned.
His sympathies were entirely with the meeting and with
Mr. Gay, though he strongly disapproved of the system
of biographies. (Applause.)
Dr. GALLARD, another of the lecturers, said he had
come there to learn the real facts of the case. After
what he had heard, there was only one course open to
him, and that course he was determined to take. (Great
applause.)
There were then loud calls for Mr. Gant, and that
gentleman, in answer to questions put to him, said he
had voted conscientiously, as one of the governors of the
hospital, for Mr. Gay's dismissal, and that he had sent
in his testimonials and application for the vacant place ;
but that, he said, was only done formally to keep his
standing in the hospital. He would not accept the
situation if it were offered to him.
Each of these admissions gave rise to a storm of hisses
and great confusion.
The resolution was carried, like the rest, unanimously.
A resolution was then moved, and agreed to, to open
a subscription for defraying the expenses connected with
the proceedings, and thanks having been voted to the
chairman, the meeting adjourned.

DEATH OF A DISTINGUISHED OFFICER.—Major Ro-
berts, for many years a resident stipendiary magistrate
in the West of Ireland, died un the 16th instant, at his
residence, near Dublin, at an advanced age. He had
but a short time retired upon a pension. Major Roberts
was one of the few Waterloo men left. He also served
with distinction in the Peninsula, and was at the battles
of the Pyrenees and Vittoria, whilst connected with the
71st Highlanders.
LIFE-BOAT AT HARTLEPOOL.--The seamen of the above
port held a meeting, to take into consideration the awful
sacrifice of life near Hartlepool during the past week,
and they determined to have a life-boat of their own, not
being satisfied with the conduct of those who have the
management of the life-boat now under the care of the
pilots and fishermen there. The seamen complain that
their brethren are drowned before the boat is started.
Resolutions were passed to the effect that a second life-
boat was necessary, and that the same be the property
of the Seamen's United Friendly Association of the
port. Twenty pounds were voted out of the funds of
that association, and a book was opened for voluntary
subscriptions of seamen and the public generally. Bravo
Jack ! May your endeavours be crowned with complete
success.