New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-10-28
SIR MORELL MACKENZIE. :
SOME INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF HIS
RELATIONS TO THE LATE EMPEROR


fyxou THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRISuSr@
London, October T.
c.. uo,ou Mocborz;e,s hook is discussed, even
by some English papers, as II 1t were al Original
attack by him on his German colleagues How
short our memories are The truth is that from
tho time Sir Morell was first called in to con-
sult ON the late Emperors Case, he became the
object Of attack. not the author of it The Ger
man doctors were all ready TO operate when he
ste,ned between them and their victim. Pro-
lessor Won BerQmanns own account gives the
hos. nossible picture of their eagerness for the
knife Prince Bismarck himself was aston
ished at their courage II courage IL is 10 De
o.und They never forgave Sir Morell his benef-
can't tnternosition. They assailed him in prl-
vote Their friends in the press assailed him.
Politics presently became mixed up with medl-
cal questions, and q powerful party In Germany'
which saw its plans thwarted by this Engish
doctor. assailed him. There was no limit TO
their anger or to the expression OF It, FOR
long time Sir Morell submitted in silence. Ills
position was in every respect difhcult one
His German enemies made no allowances for his
difficulties and such friends as he had IN the
German press did not know and could not state
the whole case. Upon the Emperor's death the
Germans. with full access to private records
published their story; story so libellous upon
Sir Morel that no English publisher ventured
TO mint it in England. English publishers
were fairly warned that they must take the con-
seouences il they did Was he to sit down under
these caumnies?
He was I apprehend, bound to defend him
se1f IN some way. Whether he chose the Deso
NAV be question One austere critic condemns
him because he made money out Of his defence
No doubt this editorial Rhadamanthus gives away
the paper in which he lays down the law 10 ms
readers / do not myself quite see why sir
Morell Mackenzie should have refused the pay
ment offered him for his pamphlet III were
an editorial Rhadamanthus, perhaps should sec
better. But is it really more wicked to accept
what is offered you for book than to accept
what you can get from the pupIc ZOE eonue"i''is
the book and its author?
Sir Morell Mackenhes case is complicated oy
.he hostility of part Of the English physicians.
He has never been entirely popular with the
medical profession in England. l believe they
accnse him. like our editorial Rhadamanthus, OF
making too much money. He was so immeasur-
ably superior to all his rivals that the very doc
TORS who dishked him were compelled TO seno
their patients to him for treatment 1hey iooKeu
about for a competitor who might be set up
against him. After many years they 1ounu one
He was a pupil of the man they sought to sup
plant. but what mattered that? The chance
came when Mr. Gladstone lost his voice. Inc
new man was called in to restore 1t. lie dhd not
restore il. but he did, I believe, all that sKlH
could be expected to do. On the strength OF TINS
success d'estime" he has since been wloely
recommended, and, presume, deserves the recon-
incubation he gets. But there is still only one Sir
Morsll Mackenzie and there is no sign Sna' MS
reputation in England is likely to be diminished
Inv the outcries of the Germans, who were turned
awav from the bedside of the dying Emperor
IN make room for the hated Enghshman.
Hated he was at one moment more nercely
than was known to the world When in Berlin
last March I went out to Charlottenburg to see
Cir Moreu Mackenzie A German friend asked
II would take message to him.
"Yes; what is iii
Tell him on no account to show himself in
Berlin"
81 But why2'
.He will be mobbed perhaps Killed, II he does"
yIpon nv replying that I could not deliver
warning so serious as that unless l could give
some authority my friend said: You shall have
all the authority you want tomorrow morning
And he returned next morning to ask me 10 say
to Sir Morcl Mackenzie that the President OF
Police in Berlin wished him to understand ne
could not be answerable for his safety if he were
He laughed. "You need not suppose" he said,
that yours is the first message Of that sort have
veceived II have had one have had twenty =
He was as cool as possible about it; not visible
sign of alarm or concern. Not long after, as we
all know. he did 20 into Berlin. His patient went
and the doctor went with his patient, driving IN
separate carriage. There may have been
change in the feeling of the Berlin mob IN the
interval Perhaps the English doctors quiet
courage and his devotion to his patient changed
their feeling. Whatever the reason, he was moi
mobbed; he was cheered.
His position at the time at Charlottenpure
seemed to me strangely interesting; even patheuc
No doubt 1t was the most brilliant physician
could hold. All Europe was watching him. Hl'
patient was an Emperor. Yet it was by no wist
of Sir Moren Mackenzie's that he was there OF
remained there. He had asked more than once
to be relieved. but neither the Emperor mol
Empress was willing he should go. They believed
in him. and in him only. 1t is easier to under
stand their feeling after reading the recently pub
Isbed letter Of the Empress, and those two lines IL
fac-simile of the Emperor's handwriting, referring
70 the April crisis when Bergman ill-treated me-
Both Emperor and Empress believed that hat
Bergman and Gerhardt had their way. the Crow
Prince would have died under their knives, year
before. III. said Sir Morell to me, you care
20 Judge what chance the Emperor would have
had of surviving the terrible operation they pro-
posed, you have only to look at the result of the
very trivial operation of tracheotomy which actu-
ally was performed. That was last November
This is March. and he has never rallied" His
view was shared by the Emperor and Empress,
and the preservation of the Emperor's life during
more than a year-a year which brought him to the
throne-may be taken as the measure OF their
gratitude.
But, except the Emperor and Empress ana o
few hardly more than one or two, OF those abou
them, Sir Moren Mackenzie had not friend II
Charlottenbury The Court was against him
Ministers were against him public opinion wa
aaainst him lie was surrounded. even within tn