The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-01-29

soon acquired large and lourishing pi,o-
tice. This he gave up when elected w ,aec
charge Of our Western Asylum. ne y
laudably ambitious, and has Tor se,e'h'
years hborcd faithfully and effectively III
his new field, in which he Is aided D! ac-
tive and skilled assistants. To say no'hlhg
OF the injustice Of the transaction, must II
not he wretchedand cruel policy 10 declare
vacant the offices OF such men III oruer
10 substitute in their stead others who very
possibly will not be so skilful-for men III
flourishing practice would be slow 10 Jay !,
down with such an example OF change anu
uncertainty before them--and who very GER
tainly will be totally inexperienced IN the
affairs Of the asylum, and who will know
absolutely nothing OF the peculiar cases OF
the hundreds OF patients now there, WIN
all Of which the present officials are by TINS
time familiar.
Must not the effect Of these changes,
when made without good cause, be inlu-
rious and distressing TO the patients them-
selves, who are entitled to our liveiiest
sympathiess The physicians now in charge
have watched over them, have studied their
cases, have ministered to them with tender
est care. Are these to be supplanted and
strangers nut in their Places Must new
condolences be established, and the story OF
their sufferings and Of their disorders,
often of the most delicate nature, he poured
| forth into stranger-ears! -,
/ He would ask members on the other SIDE
/ IL they deal thus with their own wives ana
daughters? Would you require hem 10
abandon physicians whom they know, ana
whom they trusted. and compel thcm 10
resort to Others, for no better reason .ii'''i
difference Of political opinion between you
and your family Physician II one OF you
were stricken with small-poX-a disease
which has caused you some uneaslncss OF
late-would you. before calling in one OF the
eminent physicians OF the city, hrst IN
1uire what his views were on the deDt
question, or on the prepayment OF Il capl-
/ tation-tax, and decline relief at his hands
| IL he Glanced not TO agree with you about
these mattcrsS Most assuredly You would
/ not act thus in your own case. Why then
should YOU make such inquiries with re-
ference to the physicians who are in charge
OF these great charities?
II will aid you in your judgment on this
point il you will only make the case your
own, and resolve to do unto these afflicted
ones az you yourselves would like to be
dealt with II in their case. There is an
incident related OF Horace Mann, of Mas
sachusettS, which is not inapplicable. Mr..
Mann was urging the claims OF refOrma-
tory institution for boys, which had cost
fifty thousand or more dollars, and he said
that "the sum, great a it was, would be
well spent il one boy should be rescued
thereby from his evil courses" A gentle
man who heard the speech shortly thereaf-
ter said to the speaker: " MIR. Mann, did
YOU not state the case too stronglywhen you
said that all that money would be well spent
/ If il should rescue only one boy from his
evil waysY" "NO, sir" said Mr.. Mann
promptly, "not if it were my boy" He
would beg members on the other side to
make this matter personal to themselves.
II Won had mothers, or wives, or sisters, or
daughters in these aSylums-and there
are mothers, wives, sisters, and daugh-
tiers there, often OF poor men, who are
not on that account the less entitled to our
tender regard. and frequently there are
most refined and delicate ladies there
would YOU, il called on to remove phys-
clans who had cared tcnderly and skill
fully for pOur mother, your wife, or your
sister, or your daughter, and who thor
oughly understood her case, and who had
shared her confidence, would you not in
stinctively declare that ii should not he
done? "Noi not ii my mother, or my
wife, or my sister, or my daughter Is to be
injuriously affected thereby, either in her
health, or even in her feelings"