History of the expulsion of Drs. R.S. Newton and Z. Freeman from the Eclectic Medical Institute : with the causes which rendered it necessary, and an exposition of the slanderous and factious course which has been pursued by the off-casts from the Institute / by W. Sherwood.

  • William Hall Sherwood
Date:
[1856?]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of the expulsion of Drs. R.S. Newton and Z. Freeman from the Eclectic Medical Institute : with the causes which rendered it necessary, and an exposition of the slanderous and factious course which has been pursued by the off-casts from the Institute / by W. Sherwood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    19/32
    THE ONLY TRUE Jju^\ ACCURATE ANNOUNCEMENT BY THEMSELVES. Of the character and abilities of the Spurious Faculty, who now pretend to represent the Eclectic Medical Institute. Compiled from the manuscripts and publications of said Faculty, with a running commentary. The following publication needs no apology. It is customary in Collegiate announcements to speak of the facilities of the Institution announced, and latterly it has become the fashion to state pretty freely the qualifications of the Faculty as they are known or believed by the parties most familiar therewith. This is believed to be a good custom, if honestly observed by true hearted men. The men who unite together must know each other, and they must know each other favorably, by personal knowledge or by report, or they could not unite; con- sequently, when they express their opinions can- didly, they express the truth with the moat favorable construction, of which the said truth may be sus- ceptible; and, at the same time, they are bound by politeness not to reveal each other's faults. Hence it may be said that a college announcement cor- responds to the old maxim, put the best foot fore- most. Nevertheless, it ought to bo a true and honest document as far as it goes. Since the establishment of a new school by Drs. L. E Jones, Newton, Balduidge, & Co., it is to be regretted that their bashfulness has prevented their speaking right out, and explaining each other's qualifications, to the best of their ability ; for they know each other so well, that no one could do bet- ter justice to their own endowments. Moreover, these parties have, within three years past, described each other so fully, so minutely, and with such en- tire and commendable frankness, that no one can fairly doubt the honesty of their opinions publicly expressed, or hesitate to believe that they possess the various distinguishing characteristics which each has discovered in the other, after a long and intimate acquaintance in professional intercourse. It is proposed, therefore, to assist these bashful gentlemen in circulating their honest opinions of each other, which have recently become unaccounta- bly scarce in the market. It is to be hoped they have not entirely consigned to the flames those memorials of their recent friendship, of which such large editions were printed. Some of the choice passages are perfect gems in their way, and although the poet has said, Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathoined caves of ocean bear, Some individuals are not willing these gems should be entirely lost to mankind. To preserve due respect for seniority, I shall first allow Dr. Jones to describe somewhat at length the character of the younger individuals whom he has chosen for comrades, on account of a peculiar congeniality of character in pursuit of a common object. What does Dr. Jones think of Dr. Newton after an acquaintance of several years standing ? From a careful perusal of his various writings, it appears that he considers Dr. Newton a mere pretender to science, not acquainted with the principles of Eclec- tic Medicine, which he professes to teach, and not yet purged of the errors of the old school practice in which he was so recently engaged. He considers him a humbug in pretending to be an author of books which everybody knows he did not write, and a mere burlesquer of Eclectic practice which he does not understand, [although he has learned something of it from Dj. King]. [The reader will pardon the abruptness and severity with which Dr. L. E. Jones demolishes his quondam friend. This is but a con- centrated statement of his views, which are quite familiar to the few who have had the opportunity of hearing his benevolent and refined language for the last three years.] Although Dr. L. E. Jones considered Dr. Newton not yet free from the old school errors in which he was educated, he regarded him as capable, at the same time, of mixing up with old school errors a few of the errors of Samuel Thomson, making al- together a sickly course of medical lectures, and a burlesque on medical reform. Moreover, he regards him as a consummate in- triguer—a man who is all things to all men, and who, fearing Eclecticism would'nt pay, announced himself and colleagues as regular orthodox old school men (at Memphis); but finding that wouldn't work smoothly, tossed another somerset in the dark and came out a full fledged Eclectic. It was not Dr. Newton only who engaged in this double somer- setting between Memphis and Cincinnati, according to Dr. Jones, for his associates, Sanders, Freeman, and Powell, were all concerned in it alike—the an- nouncement that they were regular, orthodox, Allo- pathic—having been written and published by San- ders, [according to Dr. L. E. Jones] under the orders of Newton in their Bulletin. [That such an announcement was published extensively is well known to the public—it is Dr. L. E. Jones who ex- plains that it was regularly determined on by New- ton & Co.] In addition to all this, Dr. J. considers him not only an intriguer, but a scoundrel, on account of his taking sides clandestinely with the Martha Washington prisoners, and publishing a villainous attack on that noble man, Sidney C. Burton, to in- stigate his assassination while he was attending the trial of the prisoners. Dr. L. E. Jones fortifies him- self on this point by the general testimony of the press, which, at that time, denounced Dr. Newton