Letters to ... the Royal College of Surgeons in London, on the unprofessional conduct of Mr. Liston / [James Yearsley].

  • James Yearsley
Date:
[1842]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letters to ... the Royal College of Surgeons in London, on the unprofessional conduct of Mr. Liston / [James Yearsley]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I may ask, was this conduct indicative of an honourable mind, which, feeling a stain like a wound, would have lost not a moment in repairing an injury unjustly or unconsciously inflicted ? Was it the behaviour of one who felt himself above all shadow of suspicion of having acted with intentional injustice ? Above all, was it ho¬ nourable to the head or heart of one who, on taking office as a mem¬ ber of the Council of the College of Surgeons, bound himself by the most solemn obligation “ to demean himself honourably in the practice of his profession, and to the utmost of his power maintain the dignity and welfare of the College ?” or of one who, on the same occasion, swore “ not to advertise or publish anything prejudicial to the interests, or derogatory to the honour of the College, or dis¬ graceful to the profession of surgery?” My first impulse, under the wrong from which I suffered, was to resent Mr. Liston’s conduct to the utmost, and endeavour, as I felt I had the means, to convict him, in the eyes of the world, of a false and malicious slander. On mature consideration, aided by the coun¬ sel of friends on whose judgment I rely, I came to the determina¬ tion of submitting the whole matter to a more impartial tribunal than Mr. Liston’s sense of justice, or my own feelings—to jmur own honourable body, from whom I feel secure of fair and candid treat¬ ment. Mr. President and Gentlemen,—I read in the regulations “ that the College will at all times protect and defend every member who may be disturbed in the exercise and enjoyments of the rights, privileges, exemptions, and immunities acquired by him as a member thereof.” Relying on this liberal and just regulation, nothing would give me more pleasure than that my operations and their results should be made the subject of your most rigid scrutiny, either by examin¬ ing the subjects of them yourselves, or the medical gentlemen, members of the College, who witnessed them. If, in any instance, they have been “horrible mutilations,” “unnecessarily severe,” “sanguinary,” or “unwarrantable,” let me receive the full measure of your disapprobation and censure. If, on the other hand, they have been such only as you yourselves have, under the same or •other circumstances, performed—if cure in some, amelioration in others, and injury in none, have been the result, I would claim the expression of your sympathy with me, under a gross act of unpro¬ voked injustice. Whether Mr. Liston has demeaned himself honourably as a mem¬ ber of the Council, in encouraging quackery, by giving a testimonial in favour of a secret, and therefore empirical, process, which nobody knows better than Mr. Liston, is cf merely temporary service, I
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