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 MEMORIAL 
 
 THE TRUSTEES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CJOLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 
 
 THE CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 iM REPLY TO THE "MEMORIAL OF THE PROFESSORS OF RUTGERS' 
 MEDICAL FACULTY." 
 
 NEW- YORK : 
 
 PRINTED BY J. & J. HARPER, 82 CLIFF-STREET 
 
 1830, 
 
a.z 
 
ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 The Trustees of the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons prepared the following Memorial, with the 
 intention of presenting it to the Legislature while the 
 subject was pending of granting a charter for another 
 medical college in this city. Although the rejection 
 of the bill in the Senate ? in the mean time, has, as 
 they hope, for ever put the subject at rest in the Le- 
 gislature, the Trustees still think it a duty which they 
 owe to those members of the Senate who voted 
 against the bill, and to their own body, who have uni- 
 formly opposed it, to publish the following facts, that 
 the nature of the controversy may be duly appreciated, 
 and the minds of those persons disabused who have 
 read the extraordinary document of the Medical Fa* 
 culty of Rutgers' College. 
 
 NpM-York, April 12. 1830. 
 
MEMOHIAIi 
 
 OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SUR- 
 GEONS OF THE CITY OF NEW- YORK, IN REPLY TO THE 
 "MEMORIAL OF THE PROFESSORS OF RUTGERS' MEDICAL 
 FACULTY." 
 
 To the Honourable the Legislature of the State of New-York. 
 
 Your memorialists do not regret that an opportunity is 
 afforded them, of exhibiting to your honourable body the 
 character of the testimony and the nature of the means relied 
 upon by the individuals, styling themselves the Rutgers' Medi- 
 cal Faculty, in urging before the Legislature their claims to a 
 charter, which will give to them the two-fold power of trus- 
 tees and professors of a second medical college in the city of 
 New- York. 
 
 If the document which has been gravely presented to your 
 honourable body, purporting to be a refutation of the facts 
 stated by your present memorialists in a former communica- 
 tion, is itself founded in truth, then indeed it is entitled to 
 consideration ; if, on the other hand, it can be made to appear 
 that it consists of misrepresentations, erroneous statements, and 
 fallacious reasoning, then it is not only unworthy of credit, but 
 the authors of it are undeserving of legislative confidence and 
 patronage. Now, your memorialists are willing to rest the 
 issue of the whole matter upon their success or failure in 
 showing that the document in question is intrinsically untrue or 
 fallacious, and obviously calculated to deceive and mislead. 
 And that your memorialists may not be accused of perverting 
 
the meaning, or unfairly representing their opponents, the\ 
 have taken pains to give the entire document in their own 
 language. 
 
 Their memorial commences as follows : — 
 
 " The College of Physicians and Surgeons of this city apply to 
 il your honourable body against granting a charter to the undersigned., 
 " and our opponents allege against us in substance, that if we obtain 
 " a charter, we will break down their institution. It is clear, how- 
 " ever, that we cannot effect this result, unless by evincing greater 
 "merit: and shall the Legislature discourage the greater for the 
 " sake of favouring the less ? Such is not the course of the enlight- 
 " ened patrons of science or industry in any thing else ; it is also at 
 " variance with the justice which the free citizens of this community 
 -• have a right to expect from their representatives." 
 
 Is it true that we have alleged against our opponents, that if 
 they obtain a charter they will break down our institution ? It 
 is not true. Our language was as follows : — " The number of 
 " students resorting to the city of New- York is not, and never 
 ". has been, sufficient, competently, to support two schools : 
 " and therefore, the establishment of a second college must 
 " unavoidably result in the eventual ruin of one or both, unless 
 "supported by legislative aid." Now, by referring to that 
 memorial it will be seen, that this opinion was founded on a 
 statement of facts most conclusive and unanswerable. And 
 while your memorialists repeat the sentiment, and deprecate a 
 contest which would be most unprofitable to both parties, and 
 highly injurious to the public, they believe, and they always 
 have believed, it would terminate in the triumph of the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 The great merit to which the gentlemen modestly allude in 
 the foregoing paragraph, will be examined in the sequel. 
 
 " We have no compulso^ process to bring students to our lectures ; 
 M we have no bonus to offer them of degrees from the Regents, which 
 '■'• shall be a license to practicp. One thing only have we to offer them 
 
• lor theii lees aha attendance ; it is knowledge, which, under ever} 
 ;; disadvantage, they come to find in our institution. The complain- 
 !i ants against us also make it an accusation that we put the expenses 
 " of education at our institution as high as at their own 5 which shows. 
 "' at least, that we do not seek to take a mean advantage, or to found 
 " success upon aught but merit. In those circumstances we humbly 
 "..submit, that impartiality is most becoming the Legislature, and that 
 " it should not raise impediments to the free choice of students, as- 
 " sailing their rights and our industry together, with the intent of 
 "constraining scholars, against their judgment, to resort to teachers 
 "'whom they do not voluntarily prefer. If we have committed a 
 ■ ; fault, our opponents are unable to profit by it ; so they pray the 
 " Legislature to punish us for our prosperous attainments;" 
 
 We will not stop to inquire, whether the gentlemen might 
 not as well bring students to their lectures by compulsion, as 
 by stratagem ; but is not the very object of their petition, the 
 power of offering " a bonus of degrees from the Regents ?" If 
 not, if the pupil seeks only for that knowledge which these 
 gentlemen only, it would seem, are competent to impart, 
 where is the ground of controversy ? Surely we have no 
 desire to extinguish this luminous body ; we would rather 
 rejoice to see their influence in promoting science increased 
 in reality, to the unparalleled degree to which they imaoine 
 it already arrived. 
 
 But is it true, that your memorialists make an accusation 
 against their opponents, for putting the expenses of education 
 in Rutgers' College equal to their own ? It is not true. We 
 say, that " so far from competition having had the effect of 
 " lowering the price of education, the contrary has been the 
 : ' result. In Rutgers' College during the present session, the 
 "ticket of the professor of anatomy has been raised from 
 ■• fifteen to twenty dollars, and the matriculation fee from three 
 " to five dollars for each student. Indeed, such seems to be 
 " the unavoidable consequence ; when the number of student* 
 ' is limited, the highest possible prices must be obtained, tn 
 M meet the expenses of the establishment.'" 
 
By what perversion of meaning can this language be cult 
 strued into an accusation? As well might it be called an 
 assault and battery. No ; this gratuitous charge is very ob- 
 viously designed as a suitable exordium to the succeeding 
 part of the sentence ; viz. the success of the gentlemen depends 
 upon their magnanimity and their peculiar merit. From these 
 premises, the Faculty of Rutgers' deduce some instructive and 
 salutary hints, which they kindly suggest for the better con- 
 duct of the Legislature. 
 
 " Say they, ' the number of students in this city is not adequate to 
 " 6 support two schools ;' but we would remind those gentlemen, that a 
 " faculty of physic existed formerly in Columbia College, and that for 
 " a great number of years it monopolized the whole medical education 
 " of the city ; yet it never flourished. We know that one of its most 
 " important and popular courses, had, at one time, but seven students ; 
 " that the whole number never exceeded sixty-four, and never 
 " reached so high but once. During the existence of this faculty, and 
 " in despite of its opposition — the College of Physicians was char- 
 " tei-ed, and the new school in no very long time counted two 
 " hundred." 
 
 In relation to the first part of the foregoing sentence, your 
 memorialists do not think it sufficiently relevant to the case in 
 question, to require that they should examine into the condi- 
 tion of the medical school connected with Columbia College 
 twenty years ago. But your honourable body is invited, par- 
 ticularly, to compare the concluding sentence with the fol- 
 lowing facts, extracted from the minutes of the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons, as recorded by the gentlemen them- 
 selves. During the first three years of the existence of the Col- 
 lege, when one pupil from each county in the state was gratu- 
 itously admitted to the lectures — the numbers were as follows : 
 In 1807 --- - 52 
 
 1808 - --- 76 
 
 1809 - - - - 84 
 
 During the next three years, when pupils were not admitted 
 
9 
 
 gratuitously, with alJ the benefit of competition, the number of 
 pupils was, 
 
 In 1810 - - - - 24 
 
 1811 .--- 31 
 
 1812 - - - - 44 
 
 Now, what do the gentlemen mean when they say, that in 
 despite of the opposition of Columbia College, the number of 
 pupils soon increased to " two hundred ?" 
 
 At this time, 1813, the injurious effects of two schools were 
 felt by both so severely, that a union between them was formed, 
 the faculty of Columbia College bein^- merged in the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons. The gentlemen now composing 
 the Faculty of Rutgers' College, were Professors ; and for 13 
 years, they and their associates continued in undisturbed pos- 
 session of the College. During this long period, in the full ex- 
 ercise of their meritorious powers, of which they never cease 
 to make mention, and aided, too, by large grants of money 
 from the State, what were the results of their wisdom and 
 talents ? It will be found by the following statement, that it 
 was nine years after the union of the two colleges, before the 
 number of pupils increased to two hundred : that then the num- 
 ber began to diminish ; and that in 1825, the last year of their 
 labours, they had but 158 pupils, 
 
 In 1813 - - 99 In 1820 - - 185 
 
 1814 - - no returns 1821 - - 202 
 
 1815 - - 149 1822 - - 201 
 
 1816 - - 142 1823 - - 201 
 
 1817 - - 144 1824 - - 195 
 
 1818 - - 173 1825 - - 158 
 
 1819 - - 155 
 
 " The number of medical students resorting to a seminary of medi- 
 " cal education is not founded on the population of the place, but on 
 " the reputation of the school, and the liberal principles by which it is 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 " governed. Edinburgh has from seven to eight hundred students ai 
 " medicine, and a population less than that of New- York ; but it hat 
 " celebrated professors ; none are oppressed by superior authority, and 
 " they draw students from all parts of Europe and America. Within 
 " four hours' ride is the University of Glasgow ; and they both prosper, 
 " notwithstanding their proximity ; but Glasgow has renowned profes- 
 " sors likewise, and a class of between three and four hundred students 
 " of medicine ; nor is there any attempt made in Scotland to depress 
 " one school, in order to elevate the other. They are left to prosecute 
 " their separate interests, as is the case in other pursuits, by service- 
 " able exertion and superiority of talent." 
 
 The number of students resorting to a medical school does 
 not, it is true, depend upon the population of the city, or town, 
 where the school is situated ; but the number does depend, in 
 a very great degree, up< >n the extent of the surrounding district. 
 Thus Philadelphia has fewer inhabitants than the city of New- 
 York ; but the great body of students who resort to Philadel- 
 phia come from those Southern States which have no medical, 
 schools of their own ; whereas, New- York is surrounded by a 
 comparatively small district containing a great number of 
 medical schools. 
 
 As to the example of Europe on this subject, it is worthy of 
 imitation. There are but two medical schools in England, 
 three in Scotland, two in Ireland, three in France, one in 
 Prussia, &c. ; but in no city in Europe is there more than one 
 school having the power to confer medical degrees.* It is only 
 in the United States that the experiment of establishing two 
 medical colleges in the same city has been made ; and thus far, 
 as will presently be shown, it has clearly proved prejudicial 
 to the interest and harmony of the profession. We have never 
 objected to the existence of rival colleges in separate cities, but 
 we do object to the principle of establishing more than one 
 
 * It is necessary to mention that there are colleges of surgeons 
 and apothecaries that have the power to grant licenses to those of 
 their respective professions, but not of conferring the degree of Doc- 
 Tor of Medicine- 
 
u 
 
 college in the same city ; and we challenge our opponents to 
 show, that in a single instance where it has been done, more 
 good than evil has not been the consequence. 
 
 " In Paris there are several schools of medicine: every hospital is 
 " one, provided with a set of professors. They teach, and such stu- 
 " dents attend them as please. The professor of greatest reputation 
 "has the largest class; the dull or incompetent would have few 
 "hearers. When the student has completed his studies, he gets an 
 " examination before a body of physicians, called the Faculty of 
 " Paris, and a diploma is the reward of his proficiency. Similar to 
 " this is the practice of the most celebrated school of medicine in 
 " Germany, that of Berlin. It has more than twenty professors of 
 " medicine, any of whom the student may attend at his pleasure, and 
 " with the certificates of those attended, he obtains an examination 
 " from the faculty of Berlin, and a diploma or not according to his 
 " deserts. Thus there is emulation between the professors, but no 
 u hostility between the schools." 
 
 The foregoing statement is calculated to lead those who are 
 not familiar with the facts, to believe that the schools spoken of 
 in Paris and Berlin are in some degree analogous in their or- 
 ganization to the medical colleges in this country. Not so. 
 There are indeed many teachers — men who lecture on the 
 various departments of medical science in those cities, and also 
 in London ; but none of those Schools, excepting one in Paris 
 and one in Berlin, have power to confer medical honours,or give 
 license to practise. 
 
 " In Philadelphia, with a smaller population than New- York, there 
 "are near six hundred students of medicine attending its two 
 *'• schools, the University and Jefferson College ; but the constituted 
 " authorities do not oppress one to favour the other. When Jefferson 
 " College applied for a charter, it was violently opposed by the Uni- 
 " versity, as we are here, and through the same selfish motive ; but 
 "the Legislature of Pennsylvania granted the charter notwith- 
 " standing, and medical education in Philadelphia has been the better 
 -« for it." 
 
 The foregoing is not the only instance in which the success- 
 
12 
 
 till progress and flourishing condition of the Philadelphia schools 
 have been triumphantly set forth, to demonstrate the utility of 
 city-rivalship in medical institutions. An examination of the 
 facts in relation to these schools, will show with what correct- 
 ness such representations have been made. 
 
 In the year 1824, when there was but one medical school 
 in Philadelphia, the number of students was 424. In the year 
 1825, Jefferson College was established, and had about 100 
 pupils ; there were in the University that year 487 students. 
 From that time to the present, the aggregate number of me- 
 dical students in Philadelphia has every year been diminishing: 
 so that this session (1829-30), there have been but 362 in the 
 school of the Univeisity, and 112 in Jefferson College ; making 
 in the whole 474: — a less number by 13 than attended the 
 University alone in 1825 ; and more than 100 less than attended 
 the two schools the same year. In Baltimore, the result 
 of two schools has been equally striking. The number of pu- 
 pils in that city was reported at 300, when there was but one 
 school. It has now diminished to about 200 in both. This, in 
 addition to what has been stated on the subject in relation to 
 our own city, is the amount of all that can be adduced, from 
 experience, to show the influence of two medical colleges in 
 one city, so far as respects the number of pupils. And this is 
 the most favourable aspect of the whole matter. The perpe- 
 tual hostilities existing between the respective parties, and the 
 feuds and jealousies engendered by them, not only injure 
 the character of the schools, but are manifestly hurtful to 
 the profession at large, and to the best interests of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 " Our opponents complain that their incomes are small, and ask 
 " the Legislature to act against our institution, that they may be 
 " enabled to make larger profits. They must have great reliance 
 " upon their influence in the Legislature, when they hope to enlist it 
 " as a partv to their personal interests. In default of this measure. 
 
•' they threaten your honourable body with a demand lor Legislative 
 " aid to make up deficiencies. Happy they who have such excellent. 
 " friends and bountiful patrons ! As for us, we assure you we shall 
 ''make no call for pecuniary assistance, satisfied that upon an equal 
 " footing, we and they would have precisely all the remuneration we 
 " deserved. The effects of a fair competition between the colleges 
 " in this city has not yet been tried. One of them has been fostered 
 " indeed by the Regents of the Legislature, and yet with all this nursing, 
 " it does not greatly thrive. The other has suffered under the heavy 
 " hands of both; but yet there is something within it which maintains 
 " it still. With only a clear stage and no favour, it might yet entitle 
 " itself to the approbation of those eminent bodies. After four years 
 "of exclusive favour to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
 " Barclay-street, it comes forward now for an increase of the tariff. 
 " Such are the blessings which the exclusive system showers upon 
 " its supporters, and we trust your honourable body will entertain a 
 "just sense of their value and importance." 
 
 Perhaps nothing in this singular document is more surprising 
 than the unparalleled effrontery of the foregoing paragraph. 
 In referring to the records of the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, it appears, that under the administration of these gen- 
 tlemen, who, were not only professors, but who, with their profes- 
 sorial associates, constituted a majority of the board of trustees, 
 and managed the moneyed concerns of the institution, the sum 
 of $66,457 27, the munificent bounty of the State, was ex- 
 pended, it was said, in conducting the affairs of the College : 
 and when these gentlemen resigned their professorships, the in- 
 stitution was actually encumbered with a debt, as they allege, of 
 $20,000, claimed to be due to them, — the very persons whom 
 the State invested with its property, in trust, for the purposes 
 of medical science ; and for this sum of more than eighty-six 
 thousand dollars, there was nothing to show but the bare walls 
 of the college, and a small library : so that if the claim of these 
 quondam professors had been acknowledged, the institution 
 would actually have been bankrupt. Well may they congratu- 
 late those " who have such excellent friends and bountiful pa- 
 trons," Weil may they dispense with further pecuniary assist- 
 
14 
 
 iiiice ! Well, it may be supposed, could they atlbrd to erect 
 another college edifice ! And these facts serve well to explain, 
 what that " something within it" is, " which maintains it still !" 
 How has it been in relation to the moneyed concerns of the 
 college since the appointment of the present Faculty ? Your ho- 
 nourable body well know, that not a dollar has been received 
 from the Legislature, excepting the continuance of an annuity 
 of $500, received from the honourable the Regents of the Uni- 
 versity ; and that with this, many of the minor debts, contracted 
 by the former professors, have been paid off. 
 
 " Our opponents object to us that we fill the office of Professors in 
 " the schools which we established. Would they have us erect it at 
 " our expense to hand it to them for their emolument ? We were 
 " Professors in the College of Physicians, and give lectures now, as 
 " when we were members of that body. We began by investing 
 "twenty-five thousand dollars in a college edifice, and, acting like 
 " other discreet persons, we keep the control of our own estate ; 
 " although we devote it to public use. In this manner banks, turn- 
 " pikes, insurance companies, &c, are private property, and public 
 " benefits. They require that the offices in the Rutgers' Medical 
 " Faculty shall be open to the competition of all the scientific men 
 " of the country : so they are, as often as there are vacancies ; but 
 "we do not suffer favouritism to fill them." 
 
 We will not dwell upon the absurdity of these sentiments : 
 your honourable body know better than your memorialists, 
 what would be the result to the cause of science, should every 
 man, or body of men, who are able to erect a college edifice, 
 be permitted to assume the responsibility of controlling the con- 
 cerns, and dispensing the important powers and privileges, 
 which are now wisely intrusted by your honourable body to 
 the Board of Regents. That the gentlemen have a right to 
 invest their money in a college edifice, or if they please in 
 a court-house, no one will deny ; but we have yet to learn-, 
 that as a matter of course, they will thereby be entitled to the 
 prerogative of professors of colleges or of judges 
 
16 
 
 ,; - Trustees of a college may, from private friendship, appoint me* 
 •• diocrity to professorships, and seek to enrich it by monopolies ; but 
 " individual interest is not so generous. When your memorialists 
 li had first a vacancy in their body, they appointed to it the most able 
 " Professor they could find ; for they well knew that their individual 
 " interest was increased or lessened by the reputation of their school. 
 " and the ability of its teachers. No trustees could say as much. 
 " When a vacancy occurred a second time in their body, they followed 
 " the same course. To the most worthy was their rule of selection, 
 "without distinction of place or country, justly considering the re- 
 " public of letters as extending to, and embracing, all enlightened 
 " nations." 
 
 The foregoing paragraph affords another striking specimen 
 of the characteristic fallacy of the memorial of the gentlemen 
 of Rutgers'. They have fallen into the unaccountable mis- 
 take, that the Trustees have the power of appointing professors,, 
 Since the gentlemen have become professors by " a spon- 
 taneous association of the elements,"* they seem to have forgot- 
 ten that they were once indebted for those honours to the honour- 
 able the Regents of the University. Surely your memorialists 
 have never arrogated to themselves the authority which their 
 opponents thus gratuitously ascribe to them ; and though the 
 gentlemen exult that such is their independence and power, 
 your memorialists still think that your honourable body have 
 more wisely confided these important trusts to the Regents of 
 the University. But as it is almost incredible that our oppo- 
 nents should be ignorant in relation to the power of appoint- 
 ment, it is natural to inquire, why they should ascribe it to the 
 Trustees, instead of the Regents ? It is sufficiently obvious to 
 your memorialists, that it was for the purpose of charging upon 
 the former, that flagrant abuse of official power, which even 
 their hardihood dare not impute to the latter. 
 
 " The last effort of our opponents is, to bring up the futile and 
 " often-confuted accusation concerning the debts of the College of 
 
 * Vide Dr, MitchilFs Lectures on the origin of Monads* 
 
16 
 
 '' Physicians and Surgeons, in the hope, perhaps, that as the members 
 " of the Legislature often change, there maybe found some one among 
 " them unacquainted with that matter, and who may be deluded by 
 " the hardihood of the charge. To this we simply say at present. 
 " that any inculpation of the former professors is unfounded, is un- 
 " true. And to prove this, our task is easy : we refer to the journals 
 " of the house, where will be found the report of Messrs. S. Van 
 " Rensselaer, General Talmadge, and Mr. Marcy, who investigated the 
 " subject, and attest that no charge could be brought against those 
 " professors. In its necessities they lent money to the College, be- 
 " cause they would be the most lenient creditors ; and they left the 
 " College, because, with other vexations, they were subjected to an 
 " arbitrary taxation, which was tantamount to a confiscation of their 
 " debt." 
 
 Your memorialists are not surprised that their opponents 
 should be startled by the ghostly train of associations, un- 
 avoidably awakened by the subject to which they have alluded 
 in the last paragraph. We would not wantonly disturb the 
 peace of the gentlemen, by a recurrence to transactions which 
 were so disastrous to their reputation and to the cause of medi- 
 cal science ; but when it is said by them, that " any inculpation 
 of the former professors is unfounded, is untrue," your memo- 
 rialists are in duty bound to state, that without explanation it 
 is calculated to mislead. If the gentlemen mean it to be un- 
 derstood, that the reports of the Regents, and of their commit- 
 tee, exculpate them from any charge which rendered them 
 obnoxious to penal law, their assertion is doubtless true ; but if (as 
 would be inferred from their statement just quoted) they mean to 
 represent that there is any thing in those reports, contradictory 
 of aught that has been advanced by your memorialists in relation 
 to the moneys expended during their connexion with the College, 
 or the financial embarrassments of the institution at the time of 
 their resignation, then, we repeat, their statement is evasive, 
 and calculated to mislead ; for not a statement has been made 
 by your memorialists in relation to the improvident expendi- 
 tures of the former professors, or to the debts of the College 
 
17 
 
 Contracted by them, that is not confirmed by the records of 
 the institution. What but an acknowledgment of these facts 
 can be inferred from the last sentence of the foregoing paragraph? 
 "In its necessities they (the professors) lent money to the Col- 
 lege, because they would be the most lenient creditors." For 
 what did the College want money ? It had received, as we 
 have already shown, more than sixty-six thousand dollars, while 
 under their own management ; and if its credit were good, and 
 only a temporary loan were required, why the necessity of such 
 lenient creditors? And finally, why the necessity of that " ar- 
 bitrary taxation," (by the Regents, be it recollected,) which, 
 "with other vexations," induced them to leave their places in the 
 College? Vexations they have indeed had ; and we would ask 
 the gentlemen whether one, more ominous than the fear of the 
 ' confiscation of their debt," was not, that at the time of their re- 
 signation, a proposition had been for some days pending in the 
 Board of Regents, to dismiss them all from the College ? 
 
 " We humbly solicit a consideration of the premises, and that your 
 st honourable body will adopt that rule of free exertion which is now 
 ** universally admitted to be the most conducive to improvement in 
 " every medical pursuit. 
 
 " We have not the least objection to the Regents having a superiii- 
 " tending inspection over the teaching part of our establishment, in 
 " common with other institutions of the state. 
 " All which is respectfully submitted,, 
 
 " DAVID HOSACK, 
 " WM. J. MACNEVEN, 
 " VALENTINE MOTT, 
 " JOHN W. FRANCIS. 
 " City of New- York, March 10th, 1830." 
 
 Your memorialists acquiesce with their opponents, in humbly 
 soliciting the consideration of your honourable body in the 
 premises ; and after having reviewed every point of contro- 
 versy between us, we only ask that favour and patronage may 
 be bestowed or withheld, according to the soundness or fallacy 
 
18 
 
 of the arguments and representations submitted. With as 
 honest conviction, that the more scrutinizing the investigation, 
 the more sure will be the triumph of the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons, your memorialists would confidently inquire, 
 whether a single fact has been adduced by their opponents, to 
 refute or invalidate the statements in their former memorial — 
 and whether a single argument in favour of their claim has 
 been urged, which has not been shown to be fallacious ? The 
 gentlemen of Rutgers' have indeed made frequent allusion 
 to their superior merit, and on the other hand, they have not 
 failed in the present instance to insinuate, what they have often 
 said before, that the professors in the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons are unqualified by their ignorance and dulness 
 for the stations which they fill. This calumny the gentlemen 
 have no doubt recurred to the more readily, because they knew 
 full well that their rivals would never condescend to reply to 
 it ; and your memorialists regret that they are obliged to repel 
 the aspersion, in order to disabuse the minds of those who are 
 unacquainted with the respective parties. But they do assert, 
 without fear of contradiction, that if the learned Faculty of 
 Rutgers' College is held in higher estimation than that of the 
 Professors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, either 
 as teachers or practitioners, it is only in the opinion of the 
 populace, founded on the repeated declarations to that effect of 
 the gentlemen themselves. Such is not the opinion of those 
 pupils who have attended the lectures of both ; such is not 
 the opinion of the most intelligent portion of this community ; 
 and such certainly is not the opinion of the majority of the 
 best informed and most respectable physicians in this city. 
 It is true, the present Professors of the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons have not rendered themselves notorious by 
 lauding their own names, nor have they seen fit to step aside 
 from their professorial duties, to quarrel with their assail- 
 
19 
 
 ants. They have been devoted to the object for which they 
 were appointed — to the instruction of medical students ; 
 and we would now confidently inquire, whether, from aught 
 that has been adduced by their opponents, there is the 
 least proof that they have not fulfilled their respective duties 
 ably and faithfully ? Does it appear that the expectations of 
 the medical profession, or the community at large, have not 
 been fully justified by the new Faculty ? Has any complaint 
 ever been heard from the pupils who have attended their lec- 
 tures, or from the Trustees of the College, or from the Regents 
 of the University ? In short, has complaint ever been heard 
 from any source, independent of their predecessors in the 
 College ? Your memorialists venture to say, it has not ; and 
 after the repeated declaration of the gentlemen, since their 
 resignation, that they would break down the College, we hum- 
 bly submit to your honourable body, what weight ought to be 
 attached to their defamation — what claim they have to legisla- 
 tive encouragement and favour. 
 
 Would that our opponents were as sparing in their asser- 
 tions as they are in their proofs — then would we respect their 
 arguments and honour their intentions ; but we appeal to your 
 honourable body, whether from their own showing we are not 
 compelled to withhold from them both confidence and respect. 
 They insinuate that the present professors owe their appoint- 
 ments to private friendship (a compliment which the Regents 
 of the University will no doubt fully appreciate). They ac- 
 cuse us of hoping to enlist the influence of "-the Legislature as 
 a party to our personal interest ;" of " threatening your honour- 
 able body with a demand for legislative aid to make up defi- 
 ciencies ;" of seeking to " enrich the College by monopolies." 
 Now, what evidence is there in support of these grave charges 1 
 Your honourable body know full well there is none. Was it 
 from motives of personal friendship that two members of the 
 
20 
 
 present Faculty were invited to resign eligible appointments 
 which they held in other highly respectable institutions, to ac- 
 cept of professorships in this ? or was it not rather that those 
 gentlemen were better qualified than any other that could be 
 selected to fill the stations they occupy ? — Again, we would 
 ask our opponents, on what authority do they say that petitions 
 by your memorialists to the Legislature for money have been 
 accompanied by a threat, and that application is now made by 
 them " for an increase of the tariff?" We fearlessly aver that 
 these assertions are without prooi and without foundation. If 
 your memorialists have at any time solicited legislative aid, it 
 was not for the purpose of enriching the professors ; it was 
 not " to enrich the College," but it was for the purpose of re- 
 lieving the institution from embarrassments under which it 
 labours, in consequence of the numerous prosecutions of these 
 " lenient creditors." And what is the nature of the " mono- 
 poly" concerning which our opponents have been so clamor- 
 ous ? It is this — the Trustees of the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons ask, that the present Faculty may be permitted 
 to occupy the places which were voluntarily abandoned by their 
 rivals, and to which they were appointed by the Regents of the 
 University, unmolested by the hostility of another College, till 
 they have had an opportunity to show their power or inability 
 . to build up a school, worthy of the population of the city and 
 the character of the State ; and if after thirteen years' proba- 
 tion, their success shall not have equalled that of their predeces- 
 sors, your memorialists hereby solemnly promise, for them- 
 selves and their successors, to abandon their trust for ever in 
 favour of the medical Faculty of Rutgers' College. Your me- 
 morialists ask for the present Professors this simple privilege, be- 
 cause, as is well known to your honourable body, they accepted 
 their appointment with an implied pledge on the part of the 
 State, through the Regents of the University, that they should at 
 
91 
 
 least be allowed the same field for the exercise of their talents 
 and enterprise which had been abdicated by their opponents. 
 This is what the gentlemen now petitioning for another char- 
 ter denominate "the exclusive system," and from the vehemence 
 of their opposition to it, it might be supposed they were moved 
 by an hereditary and unchanging aversion to an alarming 
 scientific aristocracy. It remains to be shown with what 
 consistency the gentlemen are now contending for the op- 
 posite " rule of free exertion ;" and as your memorialists 
 would not willingly misrepresent them by quoting an abstract 
 or isolated opinion, they humbly solicit a careful comparison of 
 the sentiments which these gentlemen have published at vari- 
 ous times, in regard to the proper organization, government, 
 and patronage of medical schools. On one occasion, the 
 learned President of the Rutgers' Medical Faculty warmly 
 approves of " vesting the internal government of the College 
 in a Board of Trustees, to be composed of the President, Vice- 
 President, Professors, and Treasurer of the College ; with 
 others of the most respectable members of the profession; — - 
 under the superintending and paternal care of the Regents of 
 the University."* On another occasion, the same distin- 
 guished individual exults, in behalf of himself and associates, 
 that they have assumed supreme power; and, as exclusive 
 judges in all matters appertaining to the administration of the 
 College, which themselves have established, hail the time as a 
 new and auspicious era in medical science. He remarks — 
 " Now no longer under the restraints of rivals in the profession,, 
 envious of our prosperity ; no longer impeded in our progress 
 by a Board of Control : but happily left to our own judg- 
 ment and experience to direct us, how far, and in what man- 
 ner we can best offer instruction," &c.f 
 
 *Dr. Hosack's letter to Dr. Stringham, published 1811. 
 + Inaugural Discourse, bv Dr, Hosark. 1R26 
 
22 
 
 Again, the same gentlemen say, in an address to the Legis- 
 lature, in 1816, in speaking of the Medical Faculty then in 
 connexion with the identical College with which themselves 
 have since been united, " Self-created medical institu- 
 tions of this kind, require but slight patronage to spring up, 
 whenever the good opinion which a few gentlemen entertain 
 of their own talents shall induce them to assume the office 
 and character of professors. Their task is also very easy ; 
 for they are accountable to nobody for whatever they do, or 
 what they neglect. Far different is the spirit in which the 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons is founded, under the 
 sanction of the Legislature." 
 
 While there was a faculty of medicine in connexion with 
 Columbia College, it was assailed by them with unceasing 
 hostility ; and the existence of two schools in one city depre- 
 cated as an evil most portentous to the interests of medical 
 science. At a much later period, in a memorial addressed to 
 the Legislature, they say — " The practice of all nations shows 
 the impropriety of incorporating two medical schools in the 
 same city ; and that the advancement of medical science is 
 best promoted by one :" and the schools of Edinburgh, Paris. 
 Philadelphia, and other cities, are cited to sustain their po- 
 sition. 
 
 At a still later .period, one of their members, in a letter to 
 one of the Regents, exclaims — " Medical science will be ruined 
 in this State, if the Regents augment the number of medical 
 schools." 
 
 Now, these same gentlemen are importunately soliciting a 
 charter for another school in this city, decrying the injustice of 
 existing monopolies, strenuously contending for the utility of 
 rivalship, and again they cite the schools of Edinburgh, Paris, 
 and Philadelphia (with what propriety we have already 
 «bown). to illustrate the reasonableness of their application. 
 
&3 
 
 Ask them what has taken place since 1824, that now renders 
 it expedient to have two medical schools, and they will tell 
 you " there has been a vast increase of population ;" while at 
 the same moment they assert, in the document which we have 
 been reviewing, "that the number of medical students re- 
 sorting to a seminary of medical education, is not founded on 
 the population of the place," but on the merits of the teachers. 
 
 After the consolidation of the two schools, when all oppo- 
 sition was suspended, and our opponents left to prosecute their 
 career under circumstances singularly auspicious to their private 
 interest as well as to their reputation, instead of depending upon 
 their merits to build up a useful and profitable school, they im- 
 mediately began to implore assistance from the Legislature ; 
 and the most liberal and often repeated grants from that ho- 
 nourable body did not stop their importunity while they were 
 connected with the College. Now, their views on this subject, 
 too, have changed, and they declare that men of their merit 
 will never need pecuniary favour. 
 
 Contradictory opinions like these might be multiplied to an 
 almost unlimited number ; but your memorialists have only a 
 wish to cite enough to show that their opponents are egre- 
 giously wanting in judgment and stability, or that their schemes 
 have been selfish, and their statements insincere. In either 
 case, they must be deemed unqualified for the important trusts 
 for which they are petitioners. We are willing to leave it with 
 them to settle the alternative. 
 
 We therefore pray your honourable body, to leave them and 
 their enterprise, for the sake of the community, and the peace 
 of the profession, to the certain and inevitable result of their 
 own unquestioned merit. For since this is so fully established, 
 that pupils " under every disadvantage go to their institution," 
 it must indubitably continue to flourish, independent of that 
 "bonus of degrees" which they now so modestly and re- 
 
24 
 
 specttully solicit ; or rather, which they will condescend to 
 accept, provided the Regents will go no further than to inspect 
 " the teaching part of their establishment." The prayer of 
 these petitioners is, "for a clear stage, and no favour." We 
 most sincerely desire that it may be granted, and that the 
 favour of your honourable body will be reserved for those who 
 deserve and can duly appreciate it. All which is respectfully 
 submitted. 
 
 By order of the Board of Trustees, 
 
 JOHN WATTS, Jr., President 
 NiCHOii H, Dering, Register. 
 
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