f
            SHORT  ACCOUNT


OF THE OCCURENCES WHICH  LED TO THE  REMOVAL Of

        DR.  JOHN REDMAN  COXE  L

                         FROM  THE

   CHAIR OF  MATERIA  MEDICA &  PHARMACY,

                          IN  THE
[Pietcnttd with Dr. Coxe'i respecti.]
                                               X 9 S~c n
                 TO THE PUBLIC.  V

   Since my removal by the Trustees from the Chair of Materia Mc-
 clica tuid Pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania, I have been
 busily engaged in preparing for publication an account of the pro-
 ceedings which led to that result.  From the number and extent of
 the documents wh'ch will be required to be printed to establish the
 fuels  of my statement,  the publication will necessarily be delayed
 for some time.
   As many incorrect stories are in circulation in relation to this trans-
action! I have been induced to print an edition of an article signed
 €,A Piitsiciax," which appeared in the "Fenntylvanian" newspa-
per,  to circulate amongst my friends preparatory to the publication
of my own  full  statement.  This article is written with great temper,
and I can vouch for the correctness of the facts it details—facts
which will be satisfactorily established by the documents which 1
shall myself hereafter publish.
  Philada. Feb. 23,1835.            JOHN REDMAN COXE. 
                To the EJitor of tho Pennsylvania".

  I ^"ref^n  no longer noticing  .he  riots  and -nes of  ibsorde,
  i! u  h.vo for the two  last  months  disgraced th<-  I  imersity  01
JelnsYhanl. Th d h »ped that the Trustees would, by the a.option  ot
fome ScTent  measures, long before this time, have  restored  order  to
that Institution ; but of this there appears to be no chance.
  The Medical School appears  to  be now. m a state  of perfcc  an
archy and  confusion, and the students  having taken the t^™'"^*
h to their own hands, and compelled the distinguished  Professor, who
ha?tornearTy  twenty years occupied the Chair of Matena Medica
and Pharmacy. To discontinue  hi.  Lectu.es,  I  consider  it tune that
the public should  be made acquainted with  the  facts
  The cause of  education is  a subject of the  deepest int. res  to the
• ell-being of the Republic; and if it is  desirable that this should  be
fostered  Uie discipline of vour colleges  and schools mu»t be sustain....
  Aware of the deep interest which you  take in every thing connected
with the  education of our youth, I send you  herewith a  biicf history
of all the transactions which have led  to, and terminated in, obliging Dr.
Coxe to discontinue his  Lectures.  1 enjoy  ample opportunities for
obtaining information in  reference  to the medical aftairsol  our city,
and of this you  may rest assured,  that 1 have  detailed  no fact without
taking care to be well assured as  to  its truth.   Should  you determine
to publish the article in your extensively circulated  journal, I am sure
that it will be perused with  intense  interest, not only by  the  members
of  the Medical Profession, but by the public of the United States.
                  I am, sir, Respectfully yours,
                                                   A Physician.


        UNIVERSITY  OF PENNSYLVANIA.
   It was during the  Summer of 1831,  that the attempt was first made
to  prejudice the interests of the Professor of Materia Medica and
Pharmacy, in the University of Pennsylvania. The plan pursued, which
our space  in your columns will not allow us for the  present to narrate,
was assuredly a most Michiavalian one.   Its  object was to prove, that
the department of "Materia Medica and Pharmacy" was really,   in
the study of Medicine, a very subordinate one, and  that it was unjust
that the student should be compelled to  pay  the  same fee for  his in-
struction in these subjects, as he paid  for his Lectures on  Chemistry,
Obstetrics, &c. -kc.   Will the  profession believe it  possible, that  the
whole of Dr. CoXe's colleagues  signed a  document  to that effect, and
addressed  it to  the Trustees of the Univeisity.   Even  the Professor of
Chemistry, the great object of whose Chair, so  far  as a medical cla>*
is concerned, is to  illustrate  the doctrines of Materia  ^Medica  and
Pharmacyi actually sent  into the Trustees a statement, that the depart-
ment of Materia Medica  and Pharmacy  was too insignificant  to occupy
 the whole time  of a  Professor!!
   The question naturally arises—Cai bono ?  What  object could these
 gentlemen have in depreciating the  interest and  importance  of the de-
partment of the Materia  Medica ? We  cannot pretend  to fathom  the
motives which  could have induced  the members of  so learned a  body,
 to affix  their signatures  to the statement of an  opinion,  of which, we
 feel  assured,   they  must, on reflection have  felt  heartily  ashamed.
 Dr.  Coxe will, in all probability, consider it his duty to become him-
self the historian of  this  transaction  ; and until he does so, and explains
 to the Profession  the motive which actuated his colleagues, we must
 content ourselves  with  merely  giving  the  surmises of  the  public.
 We  are far from vouching  for  their truth ; they may be entirely des-
 titute of foundation ; but such as they  are, we  offer them to our rea-
  ders. 
3
Versity,  finding the duties of his professorship too onerous to  be dis-
charged  by himself, appointed, with  a salary of i 1000 per annum, as
his assistant,  a gentleman well known to the  profession as the author
of a work on •' The Principle*  of Jlrdicine fnmded on the  Animal
Organism."   This salary was paid for some time, by the gentleman who
made the appointment ; but it  being afterwards argued, that as the :;.-
lents and eloquence of the assistant professor gave eclat to the  Med-
ical School,  it was but fair that all of the  Professors,  participating as
they did  in the benefits derived  from  his labours,  should likewise par-
ticipate in the expense of supporting him.  This seems to have been the
view entertained bythe Trustees on the subject, and  a resolution was pro-
posed and carried in accordance with it, by which those Professors who
were not  already  taxed  with the payment of salaries to adjuncts, w*re
to be taxed with the payment of their proportions of this salary.   Now,
the public were uncharitable enough to suimise,that one object at lea.^t,
which actuated the Professors in depreciating ihe importance of Mate-
ria Medica and Pharmacy, was to get rid of the payment of this Salary.
The only reason, however, which they appear  to have* had for thinking
so, wps, that the same gentleman who inculcated the opinion that Ma-
teria Medica :md Pharmacy were of tiifling importance,  proposed that
that Chair should  be united with the Institutes  of Medicine, the depart-
ment taught  by the Assistant Professor; and that  in future "Materia
Mtdica,  Pharmacy,  and the Institutes cj''Medicine" should form one
professorship,and that  the present incumbent of the Chair of Materia Me-
dica  and  Pharmacy should  have associated with him as  co-professor,
to deliver the lecture* 011 the department of the Institutes, the  gentlo-
nnn, who, as assistant professor, had up to this time delivered thesp lec-
tures, and that in  lieu of his salary, he should receive one hall ot  ihe
fee*.
   We  shall  not  pretend  to  offer an opinion, whether  this  was or
was  not the  motive  which influenced 1 lie  Professors,  in deteriorat-
ing the value of  •* Materia Medica and Pharmacy" in the study of Me-
dicine.   The remarkable nature of the denunciation against it, render-
ed the more remarkable from the fact that it  was made by gentlemen,
who, for years, had  been  the associates  of  the  present incumbent,
and who had  never, In fore a salary teas to be paid by thtm  to a>i
Assistant Professor,discoveied that the department taught by Dr. Co,\e
was unimportant;  made likewise by  one genth man, who  had  himself
occupied  that Chair, and who had paid  the highest compliment to its
value and importance, by  publishing a Text Hook for  its students,  a
compliment, hv-the-bve, which he has never paid  to the  Professorship
lie now occupies.  Nothing, we repeat, but  the  difficulty of guessing
at the motives which  actuated Dr. Coxe's colleagues in acting in so un-
countable a  manner, could have induced us  even  to mention these
.surmises of  the public.
   The  good sens.* of  the Trustees was, however,  not to be mi-led  by
opinions so  preposterous and absurd, emanating  although  they did,
from so high  a source.  The  proposition  for  breaking up the Profe-s-
oi-hip  of Mateiia Medica  and  Pharmacy   was  rejected;  and  the
School  opened for the session of 1^1-2,  with the same arrangement
of Chairs, as  had before existed, and  as they still exist in all the Me-
dical Schools  of  any  eelebritv in ihi* country.  The attempt to  prove
that the department of Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy wis of  minor
importance  in  the study  of medicine, having failed,  a new discov-
ery was now  made.   The Professor of Materia Mediea, who had been
considered worthv of being the associate of Rush and U istar, &c. &c.:
of those great nun who gave to the University ot Pennsylvania that
name and reputation on which she now  lives and whose compete*-
PV| when placed in such a galaxy, had never been doubted, was now
declared to be incompetent ;-we shall not pretend to  inquire as to
the source  from  whence this  charge iir.t originated.    That it v>as
made, and that it led  lo disturbances  in the  class during the session of
 1*31-*  i< a fact of notoriety.   But we  must  abridge a history  ot the 
4
             e t •     :^«  k. hri*flv  atatin"  that the students were
transactions of this session, by briefly  siaune  i» *
induced, by some means or other, to get up a  Memorial to the True-
lees  declaring that the Professor of Materia  Medica  was incompc-
tcnt'  aS  requesting his  dismissal !1!-The  prayer of  this Memorial
wa/not listened to by the  Trustees;  and every  man  who had  the
hoaow^ nd  he^interesu of his profession at heart was led to hope Uiat
here  the matter would have  terminated  and that scenes so  unbecom^
ing and so prejudicial to the interests of every Academical Institution
tngthe country, as those which had been enacted .neUnc^y of
Pennsylvania, would never  again have been permitted  to occur.
   For'the two following sessions, the  affairsof the University mored
 on, j;i so far as the public could discover, most harmoniously .  There
was no  rioting nor  disturbance  in  the  theatres-no ^""JX
dents to decidf on the competency of their Professors.  We doubt no
 but that past grievances bad been almost forgotten by the Processor o
 Materia Medica,  and that the idea of his being again made the  subject
 cf persecution,  was  one which  never  entered his  mind.—.Delusive
 hope!-The storm  of opposition, it is true, had  for a season ceased to
 show itself, but the calm and tranquillity were illusory and deceptive
 As the volcano, after an  irruption, will for years appear to remain at
 rest, while the elements  of  disorder and destruction  are busily prepa-
 ring within its breast, again  to pour out by its craters rivers ol tire, to
 destroy  and desolate  every  living existence, which, deceived by its
 calm, has unwarily settled within the  sohere  of its  influence,   bo  it
 was with the University of Pennsylvania. The opposition to Dr. Coxe,
 although  it had ceased to  manifest itself openly, had not died; it had
 not even slept: but secretly  and unceasingly it was preparing its plans,
 and feo combining its elements, that, on  its  second irruption, it might
 the more certainly consummate its sacrifice.
    We  do not pretend even to  guess,  a* to  who were the authors and
 organizers of the rebellion which was this year got up against the Pro-
 fessor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy.  That a plan was organized
 for this  purpose, there is demonstrative evidence, and  evidence which
 no man of judgment can hesitate to receive. If the  dissatisfaction which
 has  been  expressed  by the students  against Dr. Coxe had originated
 from any incompetency on his part, in the  performance of the duties
 of his  Chair,  this dissatisfaction  would assuredly have  manifested it-
 self at the close, not at the  commencement of his Lectures  Last sea-
 son, the business of the session was gone  over,  and,  on  its termina-
 tion, there  was certainly no stronger evidence  of  dissatisfaction ex-
 pressed by the pupils of the School against the zeal and ability of the
 Professor of Materia Medica, than against that of  any of his colleagues.
 But, this year, disapprobation was  expressed,  and   a  disturbance was
 got  up in the  Class Room of Dr.  Coxe, the very  first day he made
 his appearance in his Chair, viz.  on the delivery of his  Introductory
 Lecture.  We insist that this single fact furnishes unquestionable  evi-
 dence, that a plan was  organized before  the commencement of the
 Lectures, (by whom, we do not even pretend to surmise,) for his ruin
 and expulsion from his Professorship.   Who, we  would  ask, consti-
 tuted  the members of the  Class, to whom  Dr. Coxe  delivered the
 Introductory Lecture referred to?  Was not a large  proportion of them
 young gentlemen who had  just commenced the study of medicine, and
 who had never before heard a  Lecture  delivered on the subject of the
  Materia  Medica ?   And  will it for a moment be  believed,  even by
  the most credulous and stupid, that these  ingenuous  and  generous
  youths would, unless excited to  it, have so far forgot the modesty and
  generosity of their natures,  as  to have  offered insult to a stranger,—
  aye I and to a stranger surrounded by the imposing influences of acade-
  mic authority, and rendered venerable by the hoary head of age.   It is
  impossible!—It is not to be credited!
    Our account of the riots which have occurred in the University of
  Pennsylvania during the present session, must, from the  limited space
  you can spare us  in your coliynns,  be  necessarily much abridged.
  We shall merely detail a few of the more prominent facts.    The pro- 
5
(ession  will no doubt  be soon furnished with  a  full statement  of the
whole  transactions,  by  the gentleman whose character and  reputa-
tion  have  been so wantonly attacked.
  As we  have  before mentioned,  the plot  to  ruin the  Professor  of
M Materia Medica  and Pharmacy "  contrived  by whomsoever  it
might, must  have  been  all  arranged before the commencement of the
Lectures. — Indeed, we have heard it whispered, that it was determined,
in the fust  instance,  that a not  should have  prevented  the Lecturer
pioceeding with  hi-  Introductory Lecture, and thus  closing  his la-
bours at their commencement.   Hut, whether it was believed that a
procce  ling of  this kind  might have  had the effect of driving the stu-
dents from the Institution, seeing  the majority of the Class had  not ta-
ken  their  tickets at so early a period of the session, certain  it is, that
if this  measure  was  ever  contemplated,  it was abandoned, aod  the
disturbances of the first  Lecture  were  confined  to  hissing,  and some
other marks of disapprobation.  .So  soon,  however,  as  the  Class was
 formed, those who pulled the wins, gave the impulse, and the rebellion
 broke out.  A  placard was pasted on the  Hoard, calling for  a meeting
 of the  Class: and  this having been convened,  speeches of a most de-
 cided  character were delivered, and  a series of  resolutions declaratory
 t f the  incompetency ( f  the Professor, and of the determination of the
 pupils  that he should be expelled from his Chair, were  proposed and
 carried by a majority of the Class.   The  majority having succeeded in
 cAirjing their resolutions, a  meeting was next summoned by the mino-
 rity, for  the pmpose  of passing a series of resolutions contradictory of
 those pass, d  by the majority, and  with the view  of  sustaining  and
 su/poiting their  Professor.  But,  when  these  gentlemen met  and  at-
 tempted to appoint a Chairman, and  proceed to business, the majority
 interfered, a riot and battle took place in one tf the theatres of the  t  m-
 veisity, and,  as the minority  were the weaker party, they were corn-
 idled  t> desist from their  generous attempt  to support a  persecuted
 in  I highly respectable gentleman.  *Dming this disturbance,  blows
  were struck,  and, as the consequence, a challenge pven.
    It i- strange,  and to us altogether unaccountable,  that the duel
  which followed this challenge, was ever permitted to take place.  That
  it wa« to be fought, was a  subject of notoriety and general  conversa-
 tion   both  in and  out of  the  School,  for several days before it took
  place  —Its arrangements, and  the place where the parties were to meet,
  J the State of  Delaware,)  were  all  freely discussed: yet no svrps  ap-
  pealed to have been  taken by  the P.olesscrs  to  prevent it.  Several
  medical  gentlemen intimately connected with the Unncrsity, were en-
  na-cd  to attend  the combatants ; and it  was indeed positively as>ert-
  ^Mhatthe Professor of Surge.y  himself attended on the  field.  VVe
  confess we cannot credit  this latter statement, although it  is general y
  believed in the City. We  cannot  believe that that gentleman would
  sofarforuet  his professorial character, as to countenance, by  his pre-
  M-ncc  a  duel between two of his  pupils. It is  true, that the Professor
  refened  to, was, on the morning when the meeting took place absent
  from  the Citv, and did not lecture; and this circumstance, which  might
  l./accid<ntal, was  probably  the cause  which  gave rise to  the report
  so  current, that he  had professionally attended the parties.   We have
  since heard that he left town to prevent the meeting taking place, but
  this i« certainly  not true: for, had that gentleman, or any other mem-
  htr of the Faculty, been at all solicitous  to prevent  the duel, they
  inieht have e.vilv  done so, by having the belligerents bound oyer to
  kefp the peace/before they  left the City for  Delaware.   That it was
  to tike  Place, was  well known to  those who were unconnected with
   he Institution;  and it  is hardly to be  supposed,  that * fact of such
  notorU ty and one so much talked of by the  students could be unknown
  ?o the Professors, who were in  daily communication with them—For-
   lunately, no  lives were lost.  On the first fire, one of  the  parties was
   wounded, and the affair terminated.                        .
      We  are  anxious to draw  a  veil over those scenes of  not anId*
   turbance which were daily  enacted at  the door  of Dr. Coxe s Class 
6
Room, with the view of disturbing the Professor, and deterring the
pupils from attending his Lectures.  These were commenced  the day
after  the meeting held for passing  resolutions  against him, and perse-
vered in until  last Thursday, when the Professor was compelled lo dis-
continue his Lectures.  The authorities who permitted these disturban-
ces to  occur daily at Dr. Coxe's Lecture, were  assuredly much  more to
blame than the young gentlemen who were engaged in them.  Had the
other  Professors  only  come forward, and with kindness remonstrated
with  the pupils on the impropriety of their conduct, we know enough
of the generous feelings of students, to  feel persuaded  that  nothing
more would have been required to induce them  to desist,  and harmony
and good order might thus have been restored to  the  University.  Hut
they did not do so, and the painful duty is imposed on us to  relate the
particulars  of  the closing act of this most  remarkable history.
  A meeting ofthe Trustees having  been  held on 6th January, and its
having been expected that the Professor would most certainly have been
dismissed from office,on that occasion, by the Governors of the Insti-
tution, such being the determination of  the pupils.  When the stu-
dents, on the following morning,  weie informed that  the Hoard could
not act on their Memorial without a violation ofthe regulations of the
University, except at a meeting  specially summoned for the occasion,
—which meeting  had been  summoned for the  following Tuesday, the
Memorialists lost all  patience, a meeting  was instantly got up,  and it
was determined that the students should themselves,the following morn-
ing, compel the Professor to discontinue  his Lectures.
  We have received from several eye-witnesses, on whom we have  per-
fect confidence, an account of this  closing  scene: and, had we not done
so, we would  not have given credit to its details.   They are of such
a character, and so subversive of every thing like  academical discipline
and propriety, that, for the honour of our City and country, we feel  al-
most  ashamed to give  currency to them.   The Press \h, however, not
only the Palladium of the liberties  of  a People, but of the rights of
an  individual:  and, when these have been so  scandalously violated,
as they have been on this occasion, it is but just that they  should  be
called on to exercise her chastening  influence.
  For the first half hour of the Lecture delivered  on  the occasion re-
ferred  to,  the  Professor was permitted  to  proceed with comparatively
little disturbance.  The passages, it is  true, were blocked  up:  and,
as the students who were desirous to be benefited by Dr. Coxe's Lec-
ture, entered, the hootings and hisses with which they were assailed,
in some measure drowned the voice of the Teacher.   Still, however,
given. The gentlemen who were creating the disturbance, finding that
no noise which  they could make without, could have the effect*of in-
terrupting the Profosor, and putting a stop to his Lecture, determined
 o proceed to extremities.   A  band of about  twenty rushed into the
theatre, and with clubs and other instruments, began  to  beat on  the
benches  in such  a manner, as to compel the Lecturer to be silent   So
soon, however, as comparative quiet was restored, Dr. Coxe, with zreal
nildness  addressed them  nearly in  the  following  wo'U« gen
tlemen-I had hoped, that,  as  your  « Memorial' in reference to me
is now before  the Trustees, and,  as its consideration cannot  whhSTt
violating the Rules which govern them, be discussed unUl^exTw
day,  that you would have had  the politeness to allow me, un* 1  their
inue
Professnr wl Vi   '    -V  .    . lemPerate "this address waB,  the
fnd  on i.r." ^.-^"'^'ito deliver it amidst hisses  and hoo in« 
 from  the  excitement  of the Class,  that pergonal violence might be
 offered  him  locked the door.  The private room was now surrounded,
 and, although the hour for  another Lecture  arrivd, the  mass of .stu-
 dents continued to keep their  position,  and so to block  up all mean,  of
  eaving  the, building,  that  the Profe^or wa* confined  lor nearly  two
 hours   At thc ena 0f th,* lime, the Prof*-sor of the Theorv  and Prac-
 tice of  Physic made hi* appearance to deliver  his Lecture;  ;,„d  as he
 occupies the same theatre  with the  Professor of Materia Medica  a
 parage was made for him by  the pupils to the  private loom aiuchcd
 to lhat  theatre, and then occupied a, a place of safety  bv the  persecu-
 ted  I rofessor.  Having male  himself known, and gained  adrn^sion
 be speedily le-appeaied.Mipporting Dr.Coxe._The seme, \n e  aie told]
 was  a most  allecting one.    Even the  most  violent  01  the  rioters'
 seemed  to  fcel it  as  such.    T.ie howls and hooting, which had a mo-
 ment before  rent the air, were hushed: and,  as the vcm-rubb- gentle-
 man,  beni down, and looking broken hearted, passed on, leaning on l,j3
 colleague, the crowd opened  a passage  for him.   Hespeci for  li.eir
 injured  Professor, seemed, lor the moment, to  have regained it* swav,
 and by  some of  the  more generous spiiits,  the tribute of a tear  was
 paid to his  wrongs.
   The Professor of the Theory and  Practice  of Physic  having con-
 dui ted his  colleague  from  the eotirt of the University  into the Street,
 and having shaken him by  both his hands,  uj patently  in  the  mutt
Jricndly and affectionate  manner, entered his Clas ,   and  addressed
 the pupils  of the School.
   The speech he  delivered must be admitted,  was a most remarkable
 one to have  come from a Professor to a class  of students in open re-
 bellion  to one of  his colleagues, and whose case,  let  it be observed,
 was at the  lime, sub judice.   We cannot  vouch for the veiy  words,'
 but this  we do vouch for, that we have not exaggerated its spirit,  in so
 far as this might bear on the  Profe^o.ial  reputation of his  colleague
 and tend to support the students in their acts of insubordination.
   •' Gentlemen—I  appear before you under great  agitation.  Indeed,
 I can  scarcely  address you.   You have had ju>t cause of complaint,
 and your conduct up  to  this day has been perfectly proper and correct.
 You are free  born American citizens, ,md,  as such,  are  entitled to ex-
 press your opinions.   Hut your proceedings of this day were very impro-
 per,  and will only  tend to prejudice your own cause.  I  have my-
 self again and again  stated to the Trustees, that I  consider Dr. Coxe
 incompetent to deliver a course of lectures on Materia Medica.  His be-
 in;j unable  to do  so is  not his fault, but his misfortune ; he is a respect-
 able gentleman, a good  husband, a good father, and a good citizen; and,
 as such, he ought not to be insulted.*'
   We cannot proceed without offering a few comments on this remark-
 able Professorial address.
   Having assured the Class  that  his feelings were very much  agitated
 for his  colleague's wrongs, whom he had. but the morpent before, in
 the presence  of his audience, so affectionately  shaken by both  hands,
 he immediately  afterwards tel!> them  that  '* they had ju>t cruse of
 complaint against  him,'* and  that their " conduct up  to that  day had
 been perfectly correct."
   What, it  may be asked, had been their conduct to their professor up
to this day  ?  Why, it had been a continued serif > of insults.    His the-
atre had been  converted  into an  arena for the delivery  of speeches de-
claratory of his incompetency.   Every day, on enteiing his c!as> room,
both he, anil those gentlemen who wi>lied to derive the benefits of his
lectures,  had been insulted with hisses and hootings, and during their
delivery, every  disturbance  which  could be contrived to annoy him
and his pupils, had been perpetrated.    Yet the assembled  class are in-
formed by  his brother  Professor,  lhat up to that  day  their conduct
was perfectly correct    In  •diort, they arc  informed, that so long as
they do  not otier personal violence to their Professor, the Class was to
find an advocate in one of Dr.  Coxe's  colleagues.   Then  followt  tho
slang  about their being  born " free American citizens-"  Well might
\ 
8
 Charlotte Cordai exclaim, as she passed on to the  place of execution,
 amidst the cues of " Vive la Liberie," " Oh! Liberty, what crimes are
 perpetrated  under the  sanction ol'thy holy name."  Are we to be Old
 by a Professor of the University of Pennsylvania, that liberty consists
 in licentiousness   That  students, who in the  eye of the law and  of rea-
 son are in a state of pupilage, are to be permitted, simply because they
 are fiee  born American citizens, to insult toeir Profess rs, and to con-
 vert the Halls of Science  into theatres of liot and confusion.  Shame!
 _*hamel that such  a  doctrine  should have f >und any one, much less  a
 gentleman who has grown giey as a teacher of youth, to sustain and
 enforce it.  The weight  ot a veiy small  bird may  detach the mighty
 avalanche  from its  resting place  on  the summit of the '* cloud-capt
 mountain,"  but,   when  Mice in pi ogress, an army  of gia»its  cannot
 arrest its desc* nt.  It is  a ve,y easy matter to bring a class (>f Students
 into a  state of  mutiny and  rebellion, but  having done so, it is a very
 difficult one to controul them—to  say 4k thus lar shall thou go and no
 lartlu-r."  We do not claim to ourselves  the faculty of being  able to
 foretell the events of  the  fjture, but wc  can without this assumption,
 with the most pei feet confidence state, that some at least of Dr. Coxe'a
 colleagues will, before  another year  has  passed, bitterly and sincerely
 i egret  they did not stand by him in this the day of  his persecution  and
 adversity.    The  students, already  feeling strong  in the  unrestrained
 licence which  has been allowed them,  speak openly of the Professors,
 who they  intemi to expel.  And we  have little  doubt, but that we shall
 have the -arne  drama enacted  next session, with  the  difference of a
 new viciin  being substituted  for Dr. Coxe.   Hut  we return fi om this
 digression  to the  examination  of  the  Professor's  speech.   Having
 thus, in the first part of it, encouraged the students, next comes the re-
 proof;  and it will  be admitted to have been a  very gentle one   Their
 aeis of  \iolence of that day were very improper.  Why ?  Because  by
 such acts they would prejudice their own cause,  and  by  compelling
 the  government to act with energy, they  might fail  in the object in
 which  they were engaged, viz.  the expulsion  of Dr.  Coxe.  That  this
 was desirable in the  opinion of  his colleagues,the Professor  oilers  un-
 questionable  evidence.   " I  have myself,  again and again,"  says  he,
 •• stated to the Trustees lhat I consider the Professor of Mateiia Medica
 incompetent to deliver a  course of  lectures."   And  not satisfied with
 this clear  and  unsophisticated statement  of his opinion of Dr. Coxe's
 incompetency, the same sentiment is  immediately  r<  iterated, " Hut
 his bemg unfit  to deliver a course of lectures is his  misfortune, not his
 lault,"  &c   Having thus damned the professorial and scientific reputa-
 tion of his colleague, he closes with a  eulogy on   his  private  cha-
 racter.  "  He  is  a  respectable  old gentleman! a good husband!!  a
 goejd father!/! and  a  good citizen/!!!
    Such   was the  substance,  we  do not pretend  that  it was  the
 very words  of the speech  delivered  by  the  Professor  of the Theory
 and  Practice  of   Physic in the University   of Pennsylvania, after
 his  colleague  had  been grossly insulted and  confined for  nearly
 two hours  in his private  room.    Let the  public form their own opin-
 ion as to  its propriety  and decency.  Let any  man,  at all  conversant
 with collegiate discipline, answer the following question.   Could any
 Professor,  no matter what his  talents and acquirements  mi-ht be be
 sustained and supported in the discharge of  his duties, after hfs students
 had  heard  such a  speech in reference  to him, from  one of his col-
 leagues? The answer, we know, will be unhesitatingly in the nceat've
 Dr. Coxe appeared to have felt it sb, for, although he had in his address
 delivered  on the same day, declared,  that  until " the decision of the
 Trustees  was  known, he  was determined to  continue to perform his
 duties  —He,  now on hearing  of this speech, determined to discon-
 tinue them, and addressed  the  Trustees to the effect, that unless thev
 would  adopt  measures  to  guarantee him  from insult,  and secure his
 personal safety, he could not continue to lecture.   So the business at
 present stands.  The present  incumbent  has not resigned,  but he  has
discontinued his lectures.                            ° 
■tif^S" lH;C hrLefJlUlr°rj °f  U,e  P^^utiona which have been  in-
stituted  against the Professor  of Materia Medica in  the  Univer.itv of
  t  i*     i     ^-sb-'"1'""'  * »c wrucr rias inneeo Deen anxious rather
       uP (;°wn'lhan toa(,(J to theVolouringof the picture.   He can truly
  say  he  has " set down nrwg'.t in malice."    He  has  felt deeply and
  most sincerely for the wrongs and  injuries  sustained by the ven-rabV
  and highly respectable incumbent  of the Chair of •« Materia Medina."
  And he knows that when the facts of his caso are known, a high minded
  and  generous public will likewise  award  him  their sympathy.   Hut,
  he has not allowed his feelings to  lead  him into any intemperance of
  expression.   He has not pretended to say with what paity the plot for
  the rum  of Dr. Coxe originated.   He has simply, and without exaggera-
  tion  detailed the facts, and has left every member ofthe communitv to
  form his own opinion on this subject. We feel that the story we hare nar-
  rated is one of deep and absorbing interest to the  citizens of the United
  States; not only in  so  far as the rights of a h'-ghly respectable individual
  are concerned, but, uiore emphatically, as  the  interests  and good  gov-
  ernment  of all the academical and  scientific institutions  of the country
  are involved in the decision ofthe trustees of the University of Penn-
  sylvania.  To them, the eyes of  every  individual connected with the
  education of youth, v. ill be  directed with the  most intense anxiety;
  f-T  their  decision,  n »t only  involves the  tranquillity  and prosperity
  of the Institution of  which  they  are  the guardians, but, it will op-
  erate cither  for go  d  or evil to every college and school in the country.
  The University  (if  Pennsylvania is one  of the oldest and most respect-
  able in the United  States.    If it  be decided  by III- government, that
  the pupils oi school* are to be created  the judges ofthe  competency of
  the  Professors,  what  a fearful and disorganizing precedent will be es-
  tablished. A precedent which will strike at  the very root of every thing
  like order: a precedent, which, if established, v\ili compel lV-fewr* in
  the peiformnnce of their duties, not to do  what they  consi Irr  righ',
  but, what they consider will be agreeable to their students—a piccedert
  which  will  completely oveituin the natural order of things, and con-
  stitute  our youth the masters  and directors of their seniors.   We can-
  not, and  will not b« heve, that men like  ll'/n'te, Jinney, S<rg<anf,
  Meredith, Chauncey, Ondcrdonk, and a ho«t of others, who  have ever
  fcailessly stood   forwaid as the champions  of  good  cider, will  allow
  their  nanus  to sanction an  act, which  may have the effect of introduc-
  ing rebellion and liot into every college in the L^nited Siates.  We call
 on them to arise  in their power: to act  manfully and with decision :
  to assert the  supremacy of  law and  good order, ami to con\ince the
 misguided students that they, the Trustees, are,  ami  shall  continue tt)
 be, the  judges of the  competency or incompetency of their Profess-
 ors.
   The question   as to Dr. Coxe's competency, is  one too ridiculous to
 be discussed.   Let  the fact only be  remembered, that he has occupied
 the chair he  now fills  foi nearly twenty years, and  that loo,  during
 ihe most  brilliant epoch  in  the  history of the Medical School of ihe
 Univeisity; and  that  up to the  year  1>31, he delivered  hi* lectures
 x\ itli advantage and  acceptance to much larger classes than those which
 now fill  the Hal's d  the University. Is he not one of the most learned
 and scientific Physicians in   the  United  States ;—Look  to h>  late
 work  on the  question of the  *4 Discovery  of  the Circulation of  the
 Hlood," and  the  question is answered ?  Is he  not a m. st zealous and
 devoted  Professor in the performance of the duties of  his Professor-
 ship? Even his  enemies cannot deny him this  merit.—Has  he  ever
 prostituted the dignity of his office  by  retailing from his Chair, with
 the view  of creating a laugh, obscene and indecent stories ? Let the
students  answer  this  question—Has he been to  blame,  because, fiom
his superior learning, he has been able  to detect and expose many of
those improvements  claimed as discoveries  in  the healing  art, by Lu 
10
contemporaries, as no discoveries: but that they had been well known,
and fully and minutely described by the ancients ?   Is  this in fact,  the
" head and front of his offending?"—Let his colleagues answer this
question.  On what  evidence,  it may  be asked,  is the truth of Dr.
Coxe's incompetency as a Teacher of Materia  Medica and Pharmacy
sustained?  We shall be told—first, that a Memorial to this effect  has
been signed  by a large number of his  Class, and  transmitted  to  the
Trustees.  Now, waiving for a  moment the  impropriety  of permitting
students to constitute  themselves the judges  of  the competency of their
Professors, let us examine the character   and  qualifications, to form a
judgment  of a majority ofthe  signers of this Memorial. The  number,
we are told, is  two hundred  and sixty:  but,  out of  this, there is one
hundred and twenty-two first  course students, who  only heard  the
Professor  deliver a few Introductory  Lectures to the course of Materia
Medica, and who, from their ignorance  of medical science,must be al-
lowed, even by  the most strenuous advocates for  allowing students to
judge of  the competency  of their Professors, as not entitled to an opin-
ion ; at all  events,  to  an  opinion  that should have the  weight of a
straw in the decision of the question.  There is then, in addition to the
one hundred and  twenty-two first course students, whose opinion will
be granted,  on all hands, to be of  no value,  between twenty and thirty
nimes to  be found on the  list,  who  are  not students of Dr. Coxe's
(lass.  By  what right, we may ask, have these gentlemen placed their
nam'-s there? They surely are  not entitled to dictate to the Trustees on
a question affecting the competency of a  Professor whose Lectures they
do  not  attend.  And lastly, there is to be found on  this list, the names
ofthe  students  who  were rejected  on  the   last graduation.   We  can
readily believe that  these gentlemen  would sign a Memorial declaratory
of the incompetency of the whole batch of their Examinatorsr  The  re-
maining names are  those  of students who  have before attended Lec-
tures;  and,  incredible as it may appear, Dr Coxe's colleagues have cer-
tified to the Trustees, that they are most competent  judges!!
  We really could not have believed this fact, unless we  had  received
our  information from  the  most unquestionable authority.  When, in
the order  of events, they  are themselves denounced  by the same autho-
rity as incompetent teachers,  will  they,  wTe would  ask, sustain  and
support the same opinion.  If the  students   are qualified to decide as
to the  fitness of a Professor of Materia Medica for the performance of
his duties, they are assuredly  qualified to settle the question as to  the
incompetency of a Professor of Chemistry, of  Anatomy, &c. &c.  and
should they see  fit when they have  succeeded in expelling Dr. Coxe,
to do  so, surely  the  gentlemen  who have  asserted the  excellency of
their judgment, will  not then be found  to have alteied their opinion.
   The second evidence en which Dr. Coxe's incompetency is support-
ed, we blush when we write  it,  is a  declaration to that  effect, signed
by his colleagues.  It  is really too painful   for us  to enlarge on  this
subject;  and we are afraid were  we to allow ourselves to  do so, we
would  be  led  to  employ  terms  of   reprobation  and  disgust,   for
which we might afterwards  feel regret.  We shall, therefore,  merely
offer one or two  observations upon it.  Admitting, for the sake of ar-
gument, the competency of Dr. Coxe's colleagues as judges of his  qua-
lifications, how, it  may be asked, did they not discover his incompeten-
cy, until  after the  attempt which was made to unite  his professorship
with that of the Institutes  of Medicine,  had  failed.   During the most
brilliant epoch in the  history of the school, when his lectures were to
be compared with the eloquent discourses  of Rush,  and the animated
and lucid demonstrations of Wistar, &cc. &fc. and  when thus submitted
to  a much  severer  comparative test of their excellence,  than they have
of late been subjected to, how was it that  he was not then suspected
either by the  Trustees,  Professors or  the  students, as  incompetent.
Have Dr. Coxe's colleagues attended themselves  his lectures?  We be-
 lieve we  may  with confidence assert  that they have not, and  conse-
 quently their evidence being  derived  from hearsay,  not from personal
 observation, is of little value; and if they had only felt as they ought to 
11
have done to a colleague, it would never have been given. Dr. Coxe,we
have been told, has proposed  to the Tiuslees, that  a  public trial of the
qualifications  of all  the Medical  Professors  of the Sche.ol should take
place; and  has testified his  willingness  to  submit to an examination
by  his colleagues on  the department he teaches,  provided  only that
they will afterwards  individually consent to be examined in public  by
him on  the  several subjects on which they lecture.  The examination
would truly be a most edifying and interesting one.
   We have heard it pled as  an apology  for  Dr.  Coxe's  colleagues,
that the reputation of the University of Pennsylvania is rapidly sink-
ing in the estimation of the public.   That the Jefferson .Medical Col-
lege^ young, and, until lately, a despised rival, has  so increased her stu-
dents (we believe in two years from  sixty to above  two hundred and
foity) and so extended her reputation by the zeal  and energy  of  her
Professors,  that she  begins now to be held  in  higher  repute than  her
elder sister; and that something must be,done to save the  University
from  ruin.  We grant that the reputation  of Jefferson Medical  Col-
lege  stands deservedly very high with the profession:  but, let the  Uni-
versity only follow  her  example,  let the Professors only consider  no
labour or exertion too much to  benefit and  instruct their students,  let
them not be satisfied with reading  Lectures  twenty years old,  but  let
them keep pace with the progress  of their Profession ; let them live in
harmonyr and brotherly kindness  with each other,  and we  can assure
them, although they could  not hope to put down  their rival,they will
sustain a respectable reputation and  attract  a good  Class.   Will  the
Medical Faculty  of the University admit,  that, allowing Dr Coxe is
incompetent, they are so weak and  impotent that the talents of the five
other gentlemen cannot  sustain the Institution.  We believe not.—Yet,
assuredly, to argue that the School is sinking from the incompetency of
the Professor of  Materia Medica, is tacitly to admit  that the five oth-
er Professors cannot support its reputation.
   If  this is really the fact, the MedicaldSchool ofthe University  must
be in a most deplorable state, and will  require  a much more effective
remedy  than the one proposed, to restore  it to a vigorous and  healthy
condition.
   In conclusion, we have only to observe, that in  furnishing the public
with a history of  the disturbances which have occurred in the  Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, and  which have terminated in compelling  the
Professor of Materia Medica  to discontinue his lectures; it has been our
most anxious desire  to write with calmness, and to  avoid any thing like
harshness of  expression.   We have, as far as possible in detailing facts,
endeavoured  to avoid fixing the blame on any party.   It is true,that the
recital ofthe circumstances of the  case, place Dr.  Coxe's colleagues in
a suspicious  and very  disagreeable position; but  the candid  reader,
will, we  trust, admit, that they have themselves, not the historian of
the transaction, to blame.  Their  conduct,  to use  the mildest terms
which can  be employed, has  been exceedingly indelicate towards their
colleague.   They, it were, who first attacked his  interest, by  attempt-
ing to convince the Trustees, that the department  of "Materia  Medica
and  Pharmacy" was so unimportant, that half a Course on  these sub-
jects would be sufficient to satisfy the wants of Medical Students; and
that  it would be for the interest of the University to associate with him
another Professor,  and  take  from him one-half of his fees.   They, it
were,  who,  in two several instances, although they did not  attend*
Dr. Coxe's Lectures, certified to  the Trustees, in writing,  that they
were of opinion that he  was incompetent  to discharge the duties of
his Chair.  They must themselves admit, that they have taken no steps
to check the disturbances which have occurred in his Class Room,
and that  their supineness, if they have done  nothing else, which we  do
not assert that they have, has had the effect of making the Students  be-
lieve, that their attempt to drive the Professor of Materia Medica from
his Chair,  has had  their countenance  and support.  Most certainly
their conduct has had this effect.   Those opposed to Dr. Coxe, have
been constantly in the habit of saying—" We cannot fail in putting out 
12
  Coxe, for we have the support of the five other Professors." And those
  in favour of supporting him, have in their  despondency  declared,  •• Ii
  is useless .o stand by Dr. Coxe,  we  cannot hope  to succeed, and  to
  coniinue to attempt it, is merely prejudicing our interests with those
  who are to be our examinalors."   We, therefore,  insist, that the con-
  duct  pursued  by Dr. Coxe's colleagues,  if they have  taken no  ac-
  tive part in getting up the disturbances,  has  been most unguarded as
  subjecting  thcui  to so disagreeable a suspicion.
    What are we to say of the  conduct of  the students?   We answer,
  unhesitatingly, that they are comparatively very little to blame.    Wc
  believe that a more amiable,  high-minded class of  young  gentlemen,
  have   never assembled  within the walls of this or any ether Univer-
  sity.—They, of  themselves,  most  assuredly,  would  never have set
  about the ungracious  task of blasting the  reputation, and luining llie
  fortunes of a venerable old gentleman, whose intercourse with them had
  ever  been  marked  by  urbanity and kindness.  -Youth is the season of
  impuhe, for good or for evil.—The spirit then Irt its freshness, hurries
  the individual forward in any course into which He  may be led, heed-
 less of  consequences.  Tell  a student  that, by  expelling  a Professor,
 he will perform a meritorious act, and benefit the interests of a great
 Public  Institution.—Unrestrained by  a matured judgment,  the very
 better feelings of  his  nature hurries him on to peipetrate acts, which,
 on reflection, he will  look back on with the most painful iegret.  We
 know  that even the most prominent amongst those who have  opposed
 Dr. Coxe, and  the number is very small, will, when they have had
 time to think coolly on their conduct;  when the excitement of  public
 meetings shall  have  died  away, sincerely  deplore their  conduct of
 this session in reference to their Professor.  We  feel  most sincerely for
 them,  from the very awkward position into which they have  unwarily
 been led.  We  are told, that as the charter of the University requires
 the candidates for  graduation to have attended two full Courses of Lec-
 tures, that those who have not attended Dr Coxe's Lectures, cannot be
 admitted as  candidates.   We  do hope the  Trustees  will, if possible,
 obviate  this difficulty, and,  by  postponing the graduation, and  conti-
 nuing  the Lectures during the months of March and  April, enable the
 Proftssor to  complete  his  Course, and the Students to fulfil the  terms
 required by the regulations for graduation.
   In  this article, we  have spoker. much of the  necessity of support-
 ing and sustaining the discipline of Academical and Scientific  Institu-
 tions.—Let our sentiments on this  head  not  be misconstrued and mis-
 represented.  We  are  the  last persons living who would plead in fav-
 our of a severe or rigorous discipline for the government of students.
 This,  we are  persuaded, would have a most injurious tendency.  We
 would  have Medical  Professors  consider their  pupils merely  as the
 younger members of  the same family.—To  lead them in the  path  of
 duty, by their  love and esteem; and to win this by the most unceasing
 and zealous efforts in their service.—To be on terms of Litimacy and
 friendship with them: and both in and out of their Class Rooms, to treat
 them as the  members  of  a  common profession.   This intimacy and
kindly feeling may exist, without the Professor's forfeiting the  respect
and esteem of his students.  All  the  discipline  for which  we argue,
is, that wholesome discipline which will iprevcnt pupils from  step-
ping from their proper place, and usurping'the government  of the In-
stitution, where they are pursuing  their studies.   If the Trustees ofthe
University of Pennsylvania have so far forpot the sacred trust  com-
mitted to them, as to remove the * Professor of Materia Medica and
Pharmacy," on a Memorial  to that effect coming from the students,
we tremble for the consequences.—But we will not, cannot  believe  it
A more respectable body of  gentlemen than  those  who form the
Board  of Trustee* of the University of Pennsylvania, were never asso-
ciated in the government of any scientific Institution;  and we feel con-
fident th*t they will not, in the hour of trial,  be found   wanting in the
performance of their duty.—But, by firmness, moderation, and kindness,
sustain the government of the University,  and  restore contentment,
order,  and harmony to the  distracted  and  much agitated Class.
  Philadelphia, Jan. 12, 1835.