Minutes of evidence taken by the Committee appointed to inquire into the charges preferred against Dr. Wright, the Apothecary and Superintendent of Bethlehem Hospital, and his answer.

  • Bethlem Royal Hospital
Date:
1830
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken by the Committee appointed to inquire into the charges preferred against Dr. Wright, the Apothecary and Superintendent of Bethlehem Hospital, and his answer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    no right to stamp me as a degraded character, unfit for the association of gentlemen, which is what Colonel Clitherow, in the presence of Mr. Coles, told me on the 30th of August;—that my conduct had been so bad, or infamous, that no gentleman could grant me his support. Colonel Clitheroiv. It is not true. Dr. Wright. I must beg not to be interrupted in making my de¬ fence. Mr. Coles. In the House of Commons, it is the regular practice, when a person states what is not true, that the person charged is allowed to get up and contradict it. Colonel Clitherow. I declare most solemnly, I never made the assertion. Mr. Coles. I declare that no assertion of the kind was made in my presence. Dr. Wright. I have a draft prepared ready to make an affidavit of that and of several other things that passed at Bethlem on that occasion. Colonel Clitheroiv. I distinctly state I did not say so. Dr. Wright. If I state that now which is incorrect, I know the gentleman has a right to interrupt me. Mr. Coles. If Dr. Wright states anything that is false, standing in the situation I do, without having it contradicted, it will lead, as a matter of course, to the inference that it had taken place. I most solemnly declare, in my presence Colonel Clitherow never made such an assertion. Dr. Wright. I declare upon oath that he did. Chairman. It is solemnly contradicted by both the gentlemen; it must be noticed, and there is an end of it. Dr. Wright. I am now going to read—it is rather a digression from what I was prepared to deliver—-what I state positively to have occurred on Monday, the 30th of August last, at Bethlem Hospital, between the hours of eleven and twelve. I think there were then pre¬ sent Colonel Clitherow and Mr. Coles; and the following conversa¬ tion was opened by Colonel Clitherow. I beg leave to state, I have got this as the draft of an affidavit which I am ready to swear to when 1 am called upon — u Colonel Clitherow. You must know, Dr. Wright, the purport of our visit this morning; namely, your conduct on the 25th of August last—the being found drunk in the female galleries for pur¬ poses best known to yourself; and, sorry am I to hear, not for the first time. Go to your friends, and to Dr. Harrison of Guy’s ; consult them. My advice is, that you resign your situation on or before Thursday next, at two o’clock. I, Colonel Clitherow, shall be there,