ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF ASYLUMS AND HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE.

The annual meeting for 1857 was held in London, on the 2nd day of July, at the Great Western Hotel, Paddington; Dr. HITCHMAN in the chair.

The following officers were present:

DR. HITCHMAN, President for the past year.

Dr. FORBES WINSLOW, President Elect.

Dr. THURNAM, Ex-president.

WM. LEY, Esq., Treasurer.

Dr. BUCKNILL, Editor of the Journal.

DR. CAMPBELL, Auditors.

Dr. PRICHARD, S

DR. LOCKHART ROBERTSON, Honorary Secretary.

And the following members and visitors:

F. D. Walsh, Esq.

Dr. Sutherland.

Sir Charles Hastings.
Dr. Sherlock.

Dr. Kirkman.

Dr. Chevallier.

T. N. Brushfield, Esq.
Dr. Monro.

J. Millar, Esq.

VOL. IV. NO. 23.

Dr. Boisragon.

J. Cornwall, Esq.

Dr. Burnett.

T. Allen, Esq.

F. D. Tyerman, Esq.
W. G. Marshall, Esq.
A. Richards, Esq.
Dr. Tate.

Dr. Blandford.

B

The CHAIRMAN (Dr. Hitchman,) in resigning the office of President for the past year, made the following address: "Gentlemen,

In resigning again to your trust the office of president, which I have had the honour to hold during the past year, I beg to state that no incident demanding a special report from me has transpired, except the proceedings of the Society in reference to our associate, Mr. Millar. That case is, I believe, as well understood by the members as by myself, and yet a recapitulation of the chief facts may not be irrelevant. to the business of the meeting. In Sept., 1856, Mr. Millar published a pamphlet detailing the perpetration of an act of injustice by the Committee of the Bucks Asylum. So unjust was the conduct of the Committee, as related by Mr. Millar, that men were reluctant to believe that a body of English gentlemen could be capable of such proceedings. The Association shared in this doubt. The Superintendents of asylums had had large experience of the high character of the English Magistracy, and had found in them a chivalrous sense of honour, and a love of open even-handed justice and manly candour; and an especial abhorrence of mean, clandestine, and anonymous charges. They hoped, therefore, that the Committee of the Bucks Asylum would be no exception to this rule, and that the Committee would accord to Mr. Millar the right of meeting his accusers, of knowing the charges and hearing the evidence which was brought against him. For my own part I strongly believed this, because I knew the chairman of the Bucks Committee to be a gentleman thoroughly conversant with business, long and intimately accustomed to the management of public societies of a scientific and benevolent nature. I had heard his character pourtrayed in high terms, and, moreover, knew him

to be associated by relationship and intimacy with a family for whom I have great reverence. I felt that all the facts were not before the public, and prior to calling upon the Association to protest against the proceedings of the Committee, I addressed the chairman, Subsequent events proved that I had erred in my opinion, and that sufficient allowance had not been made by me for the contagiousness of passion, and the fanaticism of corporate bodies. The following fact would be incredible, were not Mr. Millar in possession of the minute to vouch for its accuracy:

"19th Sept., 1856. Extracts.-At a meeting of the Committee, present, Thos. R. Barker, Esq., Chairman; John Lee, Esq., L.L.D., Christopher Tower, Esq., W. Lowndes, Esq., T. T. Bernard, Esq., C. T. Gaskell, Esq., J. T. Senior, Esq., W. Pennington, Esq., the Rev. A. P. Cust, the Rev. C. E. Gray, the Rev. R. Townsend,-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee that the application made by Mr. Millar, for an extract of that part of Mr. Carrington's letter, on resigning his office of chairman of the Committee of Visitors of the Lunatic Asylum, dated 8th January, 1856, and entered on the minutes of the Committee, on the 15th January, 1856, be not acceded to.'

And, the following is a copy of another extract in Mr. Millar's possession :

"At a meeting of the Committee of Visitors, held on the 24th Oct., present, Thos. Raymond Barker, Esq., J. Lee, Esq. L.L.D., William Lowndes, Esq., C. Tower, Esq., C. T. Gaskell, Esq., J. T. Senior, Esq., T. T. Bernard, Esq., the Rev. C. E. Gray, the Rev. A. P. Cust; 'Mr. Millar applied for a copy of the charges made against him, which led to the resolution passed by the Committee on the 29th August last. The Committee decline to furnish the same.''

On the reception of the letter from the Bucks Committee, disdaining to answer the simple enquiry which was made to it, the Committee of this Association felt that the time for a public remonstrance had come, and the protest which nearly all the members have subscribed was the result. As I adopted, rather than composed that remonstrance, I may be permitted to state that it was drawn up with much clearness and force, and received the approbation of nearly every member of the Association. Two or three gentlemen, from motives which I am not at liberty to explain, hesitated to attach their names to it, but from every superintendent (with one exception only,) I received a courteous reply to my application for his signature.

Perhaps no document ever elicited so much unanimity of opinion. It was posted to every magistrate in the county of Bucks, previous to their meeting at Epiphany Sessions. Mr. Millar has stated, that it was only on the day of the Session, namely, Jan. 5th, that he was supplied with a copy of the charges preferred against him. To these charges Mr. Millar has since published a "refutation," which has been read probably by all the members of the Association. These must have rejoiced to find, that, notwithstanding all the aspersions which have been made upon Mr. Millar by a Committee of the Bucks Asylum, imperfectly acquainted with the proper management of a Lunatic Asylum, that Her Majesty's Commissioners in Lunacy, skilled and experienced in such matters, have since given public testimony to the value of his services, and to the creditable state of the institution. And while the Commissioners have done this, his professional brethren have upon public grounds, and upon public grounds alone, come forward to protest against the injustice with which he has been treated, and to bestow upon him their sympathy and their aid.

For myself, I have seen Mr. Millar but once, and then only for a few minutes; yet I rejoice at the manner in which he has passed through this persecution, and beg to congratulate him upon the high position which he now holds in the opinion of his professional brethren, and in the estimation of the Commissioners in Lunacy, and of this Association. Few men have had the good fortune to be thus supported, when calumny and injustice have fallen upon them. Sustained by the inner consciousness of having acted well, such praise, and such sympathy, are a deep consolation, and a rich reward; a guerdon of honor to himself, and a brand of perpetual shame to those who have wronged him."

Dr. Hitchman then resigned the chair to DR. FORBES WINSLOW, the President Elect, who, in taking the chair, delivered the following address:

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

Gentlemen, I have the honour of occupying on this occasion the distinguished position of your President, and in that capacity it is now my privilege and pleasure to appear before

you.

Addressing myself to a body of gentlemen distinguished for their ability, experience, and knowledge of the morbid phenomena of mind, as well as practical acquaintance with the

treatment of the insane, I ask, Is it possible for me to give you any information you are not already fully in possession of? Is it in my power to impress upon your mind a higher appreciation of the noble and honourable vocation in which we are all engaged, than that which I believe you have already formed? I despair of bringing before this Association any novel facts in pathology or therapeutics--any startling deductions calculated to excite your interest, attract your attention, or instruct your understandings. However, I will, notwithstanding the obvious disadvantages under which I labour, -with, I trust, an unostentatious distrust in my own capacity either to inform or please-venture to address to my fellowlabourers in the great work of love and Christian philanthropy a few words in relation to the anxious, onerous, and often painful duties which devolve upon all engaged in the treatment of the insane. It is well that we should, from time to time, whilst occupied in life's pilgrimage, lean upon our staff, pause, and seriously consider the position it has pleased the will of Providence that we should occupy. It is right and befitting that we should occasionally solemnly reflect upon the PAST, dwell with earnestness upon the PRESENT, and seriously ponder over the FUTURE. In commercial phraseology, it is right that we should occasionally take stock, examine carefully our ledger, ascertain with accuracy the balance at the banker's, and consider with business-like precision and exactitude our credit and debtor account. The process of mental retrospection cannot be otherwise than beneficial to us all. It is well that the man occupied in the higher spheres of usefulness, who is cultivating the more abstruse and philosophical departments of the science and art of medicine; that he who is entrusted by the Legislature with the care and treatment of the insane, should frequently ask himself the question, what are the functions delegated to me? Do I entertain a right appreciation of my important duties, and am I so discharging them that at the great and final day of judgment I shall be in a position to give a good and faithful account of my stewardship?

Considering our vocation in its strictly scientific relations, need I observe, when comparing it with other branches of our noble profession, of which it forms a part, that the practical psychologist occupies high and honourable vantage ground.

It is not my intention to breathe a word in disparagement of other sections of the medical profession. Each class holds an honourable rank in the great circle of science; each division