SOME A C C 0 U NT 
OF THE 
ORIGIN AND PRESENT CONDITION 
OF THE 
MEDICAL INSTITUTE OF LOUISVILLE, 
WITH REMARKS ON 
A LATE REJECTED REPORT 
LOUISVILLE, KY. 
PRENTICE AND WEISSING ER. 
1. 8 4 2. AN A C C 0 U N T 
O F 
THE MEDICAL INSTITUTE 
O F 
LOUISVILLE. 
It is known to the citizens of Louisville that there is a party in the 
city who have for some years been endeavoring to produce discontent 
with the management of the Medical Institute of Louisville. The 
Managers and Professors have borne their repeated expressions of dis- 
satisfaction, publicly and privately made, and their attempts to take 
the school out of their hands, with quite as much patience as is com- 
monly shown in similar circumstances. Some indeed have manifest- 
ed a natural and justifiable indignation at these unworthy efforts and 
schemes; but they have avoided a public expression of it, and no pub- 
lic defence has yet been made. They have felt extreme reluctance 
to a controversy with men who appeared to be proceeding from out- 
rage to outrage, in hope of provoking one, from which they hoped to 
gain notoriety at least, and in which they had little to lose. But inas- 
much as these men have at length succeeded in misleading some of 
the Council so far as to have their views presented to that body in the 
shape of a report, which has thus acquired some appearance of im- 
portance; although the report was rejected, it has been thought advis- 
able by the Faculty, to place the matter in its true light before the 
friends of the school, some of whom may be misled into believing the 
statements made in the report. There has never been any disposi- 
tion to conceal information on the subject, much less to refuse it to 
any who should civilly ask for it. But this has not been done on the 4 
present occasion. The committee, indeed, asked for an account of 
the expenditures and receipts of the officers of the Board of Mana- 
gers, who had no right to communicate the papers without the order of 
the Board, to whom they did not apply. And they no doubt would 
have been refused had they demanded them as a right, inasmuch as 
the Board are by no means bound to give a committee of the Council 
an account of the current receipts and expenditures of the Institution, 
which was in their charge independently of the Council, before any 
action of that body in relation to them. They might very properly, 
perhaps, have asked an account of the mode in which the donation of 
the Council to the Institute had been expended. But the donation 
did not authorise the Council to interfere with their corporate powers 
derived from the Legislature and possessed before the donation was 
made, of establishing the fees to be required of the students; much 
less did it authorise them to demand a share of them, as the report 
suggests should be done. The donation was made because the Coun- 
cil believed, as is stated in one of their resolutions at the time, that 
" it would redound to the honor and advantage of Louisville and that 
of medical science, to endow said institution in such a manner as to 
enable the school to enter into competition with any school in the 
United States." It was made.to " the Hon. John Rowan, E. Crow, 
James Guthrie, J. B. Bowles, B. R.. MTlvaine, W. S. Vernon, Hen- 
ry Pirtle, and Wm. Garvin," (six of whom are still in the Board) be- 
cause they had full power and authority to carry their wishes into 
effect; being, as was stated in the resolution of the Council, "the sur- 
viving trustees of the Medical Institute of Louisville, with authority 
to fill vacancies and exercise all the corporate powers vested in the 
Institute." And the management and control of the school was 
placed under their direction by the direct act of the Council, as well 
as by the original act of incorporation. 
In short, the Board of Managers had full authority to establish a 
medical school, but had not the means to do it. The Council had 
the means without the authority. Wishing it to be established they 
therefore granted the means to those who had the authority, having full 
confidence in them. These having obtained the means, exercised the 
authority before possessed, and established a school over which they 
had full management and control by the act of incorporation, as was 
acknowledged by the Mayor and Council, and given as their reason 
for making the donation. 
But although there has never been any disposition to conceal the 
amount of the receipts and expenditures, and although some of those 
who are in opposition to the school are acquainted with the subject, the 
committee complain that they could not procure authentic informa- 5 
tion, and yet have made statements of a most scandalous nature. In- 
deed the temper of the rejected report and the character of its state- 
ments are such as to lead the Faculty to the conviction that the en- 
mity which prompts these movements is not to be mitigated by time, 
nor softened by forbearance; and some extraordinary acts of those 
who can no longer be considered in any other light than that of de- 
termined enemies of the school as now constituted, as well as the in- 
quiry of a number of citizens, have led them at length to the opinion 
that it is time to check the influence which has misled some of the 
Council, and which left unnoticed might mislead others. 
It is known to this community, that five years ago the citizens of 
Louisville, with great Zealand unanimity, determined upon the endow- 
ment of a medical school, and carried their determination into effect. 
But some of the particulars which have probably escaped their recol- 
lection, or have never been adverted to by some of them, it is proper 
to mention. 
The Medical Institute of Louisville was chartered by the Legisla- 
ture on the 2d of February, 1833. 
The members were all medical men. By the charter the members 
were to choose a Board of Managers, to serve one year, except the 
President and Moderator, who were to serve two years. 
The Board of Managers when appointed, had by the charter the 
sole government and control of the institution, and the members had 
no more voice or influence, except that which they could exert at the 
periodical elections, than the people have after they have chosen the 
Governor and Legislature. 
Several meetings were held in the course of the year 1833, in order 
to organize a medical faculty, which was found to be attended with 
great difficulty. 
On the 28th of October, the Managers had a meeting, at which all 
were present, viz. six: one of the original number, nine, having de- 
clined acting, and two having resigned. After much discussion of 
the question of reorganizing the Faculty, the subject was postponed 
by resolution. It was then resolved that it was expedient to increase 
the number of the Institute to fifteen; whereupon nine gentlemen 
were nominated as suitable persons as members and Managers of the 
Institute, and unanimously elected. Of these not one was a medical 
man. It was next resolved, that thereafter no medical man be ap- 
pointed a manager of the Institute: and Drs. Gist, Rogers, Dcclary, 
Broadnax, Dashiell, and Powell severally tendered their resignation 
of lecturer and manager in the Institute. 
On the 11th of November there was a meeting of the Institute, 
present eleven members, old and new, when they proceeded to ap- 6 
point nine Managers, viz: every one of the new members, who were 
not medical men, and were evidently elected members in order to be 
made Managers. 
On the 18th of November, the Managers met and proceeded to bu- 
siness, seven present. Six of the members also attended, but had no 
voice in the proceedings by the charter. 
The Managers appointed a committee to revise the by-laws-and 
resolved that the President and Secretary correspond with Medical 
gentlemen in order to fill the several chairs in the school. 
Nov. 21st. The Managers met, present the Hon. John Rowan, 
President; and seven others. 
Letters were received from Drs. Powell, Shield and Broadnax, so- 
liciting chairs. 
Nov. 30th. The Managers met, present the Hon. John Rowan, 
President, and six others. Applications were read from Drs. Powell, 
Rodgers, Gist, Dashiel, Declary, Broadnax, and Pendergrast, solicit- 
ing appointments. 
The President nominated Dr. Fearne, of Alabama; Dr. Miller, of 
Harrodsburg, Ky.; Dr. Metcalf, of New York; and Dr. Powell and 
Dr. Rodgers, of Louisville, to chairs, who were all elected. 
Dec. 30th. The Managers met, five present. Dr. Miller's ac- 
ceptance was received; and the Board adjourned. 
March 26, 1834. The Managers met, present, the Hon. J. Row- 
an, President, and four others. 
Resolved, that those gentlemen who shall not send in their accept- 
ance of the chairs to which they have been elected, previous to the 
next meeting of the Board, be considered as declining the appoint- 
ment. 
March 31. The Managers met, five present. Dr. Powell's ac- 
ceptance was received; and the Board adjourned. 
April 28. The Managers met, six present. Dr. M'Dowcll and 
Dr. Harrison appointed to chairs. 
May 3. The Managers met, five present. Some change made in 
the distribution of the chairs, and Dr. Cartwright, of Mississippi, ap- 
pointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. 
Notwithstanding all these attempts to fill the chairs in order to com- 
mence operations, in consequence of the gentlemen ata distance not 
accepting, nothing was done until 1837; when the breaking up of the 
school at Lexington placed it in the power of the Managers to obtain 
the services of several whom they deemed competent to fill chairs in 
the school. 
These circumstances were thought so favorable to the accomplish- 
ment of the object so long desired by many influential men, that the 7 
Mayor and Council, having in view the promised aid of a large sub- 
scription, passed a resolution on the 6th March, 1837, in which they 
recite the fact of the establishment of the Medical Institute of 
Louisville by the Legislature of Ky,, on the 2d February, 1833-of 
an act amending that act, in February, 1835-and declared that 
whereas the Hon. John Rowan, Edward Crow, James Guthrie, J. B. 
Bowles, B. R. MTlvaine, W. S. Vernon, Henry Pirtle, and Wm. 
Garvin, arc the surviving trustees of said Institute, with authority to 
fill vacancies and exercise all the corporate powers vested in said In- 
stitute; and whereas the Mayor and Council deem this a proper time 
to establish a Medical Institute in Louisville, under the corporate 
powers vested in said Institute, and that it would redound to the honor 
and advantage of Louisville, and that of medical science, to endow 
said Institution in such manner as to enable the school to enter into 
competition with any school in the United States-Therefore it was 
resolved, that the square bounded by 8th and 9th, and Chestnut and 
Magazine streets, and the sum of $30,000 for the erection of College 
buildings thereon, be devoted to said Institution, and that it should be 
certified to the aforesaid trustees of the Medical Institute, that the 
said donation should be made as soon as they shall raise by subscrip- 
tion or otherwise, a sufficient sum to purchase a library and appa- 
ratus. 
Subsequently to this, on the 30th March, a town meeting was held, 
in which the following resolutions were passed: 
1. That there ought to be a college in the City of Louisville, and 
that said college ought to have both Medical and Law departments. 
2. That the meeting approve the designation of the square be- 
tween 8th and 9th streets, and between Chestnut and Magazine 
streets, for the location of a college. 
3. That the square is sufficiently large for the building of a college 
proper, and also for buildings for Medical and Law departments. 
4. That the Mayor and Council will act in accordance with pub- 
lic sentiment in Louisville, in donating said square for said college 
buildings. 
5. That the establishment of a college with Medical and Lazo de. 
partments therein, will be alike beneficial and advantageous to all 
the citizens of Louisville, in proportion to their property and business, 
and ought to be a general charge on all. 
That it is highly expedient that the medical department of said Col- 
lege should be established and put in immediate operation, and in ex- 
plicit terms, that it be recommended to the Mayor and Council to 
grant said square, and erect necessary and proper buildings for a me- 
dical department, and purchase a library and apparatus at the expense 8 
of the City of Louisville, andZ/taZ said medical department be placed 
under the control and management of the Trustees of the Medical 
Institute of Louisville. 
7. That these proceedings be published in three public papers, 
and laid before the Mayor and Council. 
These resolutions of the citizens led the Mayor and Council on 
the 3d of April, 1837, to resolve that in accordance with them, the 
square already mentioned be given as a college square, and that the 
City of Louisville will undertake to build on said square the neces- 
sary buildings for a Medical Institute, at a cost not to exceed $30,- 
000-and will advance in cash for the purpose of purchasing a libra- 
ry, anatomical museum, and the requisite apparatus, &c., for the use 
of a medical school, the sum of $20,000, and the management and 
control of the school to be placed under the direction of the Presi- 
dent and Managers of the Medical Institute of Louisville. 
They further resolved to cause a proper conveyance of the aforesaid 
square to be made, and (in accordance with the views of the meeting 
of citizens as expressed in the resolution above recited, (See par- 
ticularly the third,) viz: that the square is sufficiently large for 
the building of a college proper, and also for buildings for the Medi- 
cal and Law departments-) that the Committee of Finance pro- 
vide for the right of erecting other college buildings on said square, 
and that on obtaining a charter for a college or university, that the 
square, building, library,&c., shall with the consent of the Mayor and 
Council, be conveyed to the trustees of said college; viz. that 
which they had in contemplation to build in conformity with the 
views expressed in the resolutions of the citizens. 
The ayes and noes being demanded on the passage of the resolu- 
tions, Messrs. Buckner, Field, Guthrie, Metcalf, Pendergrast, Rogers, 
Rudd, Smith and Thruston voted in the affirmative, and Mr. Cham- 
bers in the negative. 
The Board of Managers met on the 11th April and accepted the 
donation of the city. 
Dr. Miller and Dr. Powell resigned their chairs in the Institute, in 
order that the Board might be entirely unembarrassed in making their 
new arrangements. 
On the 14th of April the Managers determined that there should 
be seven chairs in the school. In the course of the summer they 
filled them, and the lectures commenced at the usual time in Novem- 
ber 1837. 
It appears, therefore, that the old Managers, acting in accordance 
with their powers derived from the act of incorporation, made a stand- 
ing regulation that no medical man should thereafter act as manager, 9 
and in order to have Managers who were not medical men, they elected 
the Hon. John Rowan, James Guthrie, W. S. Vernon, J. B. Bowles 
and five others members of the Institute, the precise number necessary 
to constitute a board of managers, according to the act of incorporation; 
and having done this they all resigned their office as managers, till then 
held by them. At the next meeting, the old resigned managers, now 
mere members, and the newly elected members who were not medical 
men, united in the appointment of the new members to be managers. 
There were no others eligible. They by the charter had the whole 
government in their hands. They only could alter the law that a 
medical man was not eligible to the office of manager, made by the 
old resigned managers themselves. They never did alter it, and the 
medical men never expressed a wish to have it altered. Elections 
in such a case would have been a meie form, in fact useless, as it 
would have been idle to pretend to elect where there was no choice; 
where the number of eligible men was just equal to the number to be 
appointed, and was a majority of the whole number of electors. 
By the charter all the first members were named Managers, to con- 
tinue in office until January 1835, when the first regular election was 
to be held. At that time there was no meeting, and in February 
the Legislature confirmed the regulation made by the old Board, 
enacting that managers might be selected from any rank or profes- 
sion except the medical; and expressly enacted that the board then 
in office should continue in office until death, resignation, or removal 
from the county; and in 1840 that they should fill vacancies in their 
body. 
To all this no objection was made by the old resigned managers. 
They even held office under the Board, and one of them, Dr. Powell, 
continued to do so until 1837, when through a very proper feeling of 
delicacy, he resigned his chair to the Board in order that they might be 
entirely unembarrassed in the new organization then contemplated. 
Thus recognised by all immediately concerned as the legitimate 
managers of the Institute, and confirmed as such by the act of the Le- 
gislature of 1835, which was acquiesced in by the old members, who 
held office under them till 1837 and then resigned to them in order 
that they might exercise their authority without embarrassment, the 
Mayor and Council treat with them, recognising them, viz. Messrs. 
Rowan, Crow, Guthrie, Bowles, Mcllvaine, Vernon, Pirtle and Gar- 
vin, six of whom are still in office, as trustees, with full power to fill 
vacancies and exercise the corporate powers of said Institute, and 
shortly afterwards, in conformity with the expressed wishes of a ma- 
jority of the citizens, conveyed to them the lot for the building, and 
the means of erecting it and furnishing it with a library, apparatus, &c. 10 
It appears, further, that in accordance with the views expressed in 
the resolutions of the citizens at their meeting, which contemplate the 
establishment of a college proper with law and medical departments 
therein, on the square designated between Sth and 9th and Chestnut 
and Magazine streets, and which speak of the medical school then in 
contemplation as the medical department of said college, which was to 
he built on said square, which they say is large enough for buildings 
for a college proper and for medical and law departments-in accord- 
ance with these views of the citizens, the Mayor and Council, when 
conveying the said square to the Managers of the Institute, provide for 
the right of erecting other college buildings on said square, and, in 
the event of their obtaining a charter, that the square, building, &c., 
shall, with the consent of the Mayor and Council, be conveyed to the 
trustees of said college, viz. that which they had in contemplation 
some day to build on said square in accordance, as they say, with the 
views expressed in the resolutions of the citizens. 
Clothed thus with ample authority, and liberally supplied with the 
means of erecting a building for the medical department of the con- 
templated college on College Square, the Managers have the high satis- 
faction of having accomplished more than was ever done in the same 
way in America. In a very short time the school was organised, and 
a class of about 80 students attended the first winter, although the 
lectures were delivered in a confined and uncomfortable room provi- 
ded for their temporary accommodation. In the following year a 
spacious building was erected, well suited to the purpose intended; 
and a class of 120 students attended the first year in which the build- 
ing was used, above 200 the second, above 200 the third, and above 
260 the fourth; making near 900 students in five years, and in the 
last season exceeding in number every school in America but one or 
two. 
This success is far beyond the expectations of any body. The 
question was asked before the first class collected, whether we seri- 
ously believed there would be 30 students attending? Will any one 
say that he believed, even in the height of the rejoicing of February 
22, 1838, that in the year 1841 there would be 263 students? There 
is not one whose expectations have not been more than realised. 
In addition to the high satisfaction of having succeeded in a noble 
undertaking, the benefit arising from the amount of money annually 
distributed through the city is very considerable. On a very moder- 
ate computation $80,000 were left by the last class, a benefit which 
reaches nearly all, and especially those who most need it; and even 
that which is received by those who are more especially benefitted, 
even that but passes through their hands to those who supply them 11 
and their families. And when it is considered what a round a bank 
note takes these hard times in passing from hand to hand, paying 
debts, the amonnt of benefit to the community from the annual supply 
of so large a sum, sure to be paid, is a matter of some moment; and 
very many, no doubt, are at this moment making preparations to se- 
cure a portion of it, and many making calculations of paying or re- 
ceiving payment in November and December, founded on it. 
Such being the result of the undertaking, well known to all, it can- 
not be doubted that the school has heen well conducted; nor that the 
Managers, who have had a great deal of trouble and anxious care, 
with no other compensation than the satisfaction arising from the suc- 
cessful accomplishment of a great undertaking, deserve well of the 
city and of the whole community. Nor can it be said that the pro- 
fessors have neglected their duty. Who are better judges on this sub- 
ject than the students who from all quarters, in increasing numbers, 
crowd the college halls? Why do they come, more and more of them 
annually, if the Professors do not do their duty by them? 
The school being therefore well conducted and highly successful, 
what more is there to hope for? A more rapid growth was never 
known. A continuance of its prosperity ought indeed to satisfy its 
friends. All that we have to fear is a decline, and to prevent this, 
the true policy is to guard with a watchful eye against every change 
which may endanger a reverse. 
But however obvious this truth, there are some who have been un- 
ceasing in their endeavors to change the organization of the school, 
purely from selfish considerations. It is well known that there is a 
party of physicians in this city who published a hand-bill two years 
ago, in which they induced some others, who have since deeply regret- 
ted the part they took in the matter, inconsiderately to join, repro- 
bating the management of the school and undervalueing the qualifica- 
tions of the professors, and made a strenuous effort to displace them, 
disinterestedly offering themselves, however unworthy, to fill the pla- 
ces if vacated. It would appear from their conduct that they have 
kept this object in view ever since, and have by no means given up 
the hope of turning out those who have built up the school, and of ta- 
king their places themselves. Late occurrences indicate that they have 
induced some members of the council to adopt their views, and to pro- 
pose to that body (what they very wisely refused), to request the Mana- 
gers of the Medical Institute to transfer the square, buildings, &c., to the 
trustees of the Louisville College,* to be by them devoted to theserviceof 
* This institution was in existence when tlie Medical Institute was endowed five 
years ago, and since that tune has obtained power to confer degrees. With full 12 
a Medical College, as a department of the said College, under the same 
general arrangement, conditions and terms that have obtained under the 
administration of the present Managers. It is to be regretted that those 
who havebeen placed in an important station, to consult for the general 
good, should have allowed themselves to be so misled as not only to 
countenance schemes originating in selfishness and envy, and hazard- 
ous to the welfare of a prosperous public institution, but to become the 
channel through which statements are made in relation to matters with 
which they have no acquaintance, and concerning which, in the very 
report they have made, they complain that they could not procure au- 
thentic information. It must be a matter of regret to themselves to 
find, as they will, that statements have been made through them of a 
most injurious character to the professors of the school, perfectly des- 
titute of truth, as they might easily have learned from any of those 
whose characters have been aspersed; statements which originated in 
the selfishness and enmity of those who made them. 
These men indeed sometimes deny that they have any intention, in 
these efforts to obtain possession of the management of the Medical 
School, to disturb the present professors. But it is not to be believed 
that, if after years of intrigue they could by any possibility get the ad- 
ministration of the school into their hands, they would cease until 
they attain their main object, openly avowed two years ago, the pos- 
session of the chairs. It is not to be believed that men who have ar- 
ranged a plan for delivering lectures, and have asked for the use of the 
Medical Institute for the purpose, would fail to take possession of it 
if they should dispossess the Managers whose sense of duty and propri- 
ety compelled them to deny them. It is evident that the object was, 
by succeeding in carrying the report, which they without foundation 
supposed would give them possession of the Institute, to do that which 
they openly proposed to do in 1840, eject the present Professors. 
Such are the motives which led to the statements in the rejected re- 
port, and to the improper use that has since been made of it. Without 
authority from the Council it has been published in the Louisville Ga- 
zette, without mention of the important fact that it had been rejected; 
knowledge of its existence, neither the citizens at their public meeting, nor the 
Mayor and Council, contemplated a connection between it and the Medical Insti 
tute, in the act of 1837 endowing the Institute. That act in accordance with the 
elevated views of the meeting of the citizens, contemplated a college proper with 
law and medical departments to be erected on the square between 8th and 9th and. 
Chestnut and Magazine streets, (called in the act of the Council University Square), 
on which they resolved that there is room to erect buildings for all three; and they 
beforehand spoke of the Medical Institute of Louisville as the medical department 
of this anticipated college or university to be erected on University Square. 13 
and thereby made the impression on the minds of some that it had been 
carried. And so completely have the members of the committee en- 
tered into the feelings of the inimical party, that, according to the 
statement of the editor of the Gazette, which has not been contra- 
dicted, they had a great number of copies of the report printed, with 
the ayes and noes attached, in a form evidently intended for distribu- 
tion; and one of the committee has stated to a gentleman, although he 
was told that the information was sought for in order to be used, that 
the publication was made in consultation with Dr. Bell, Dr. Bullitt, 
and Dr. Flint, and that from the interest they manifested in it he sup- 
posed they would be willing to pay a part of the expense if called on. 
The committee-men have moreover stated in the Gazette their full be- 
lief in the truth of the statements in the report, professing, however, 
a willingness, if they can be shown to be untrue, to acknowledge it; 
but it is threatened that the extra copies will be distributed "in the 
event of any farther attempt to discredit its statements." That is to 
say that if the Faculty do not remain silent under the infamous impu- 
tations and charges in the report, they shall be scattered far and wide; 
and such has been their impatience, that without waiting the result 
these threats have already- been carried into execution; information 
having been received that they have been sent into Tennessee. 
The spirit which actuated the writers of the report is shown in 
small things as 'well as great. It is shown in applying the term ben- 
eficiaries to men invited to the work, who have been laboring for 
years for the public good as well as their own, and making lavish ex- 
penditures to promote it, while some of them have not received on an 
average of five years more than one half of what they had for years 
before been receiving annually, and have not in any one year received 
as much by several hundred dollars; and some have not supported their 
families by the proceeds of the school while they have been engaged in 
building it up. 
It is shown in the remark that they learned from the Librarian 
(whose testimony upon some points he avers is misrepresented), that 
"fifteen second, hand, boohs have been added to the library the present 
year, but with what money they had been purchased he does not know." 
The Librarian does not know much about the motives of the pro- 
fessors (it may be said without any disrespect to a young man 
whom they esteem), but if the committee had thought proper to in- 
quire of them, they might have learned that the professors have no 
power over the library fund, which is under the entire control of the 
Managers, to whom application is made for money to make purcha 
ses; and that the books in question were a very valuable set, one 
work, which was out of print, which has been long desired and nevci 14 
met with before, and which Dr. Miller was urged to purchase, even if 
at our own expense, without waiting to apply to the Managers, who, 
however, on application, refunded that and other money for the pur- 
chase of other books to a small amount. 
Their enmity is shown by complaining that the professors make too 
much, stating the sum at $3,000, and proposing to call upon them to 
pay a part of it for the use of the buildings, &c.; a complaint and a 
proposition which they never would have made, had they possession 
of the chairs they desire. 
To this it may be replied, (though it is not worthy of a reply, inas- 
much as every man's services, as a general rule, are worth what he can 
get for them), that the terms were known when they entered on the 
undertaking and the fees established at the usual sum, and no rent de- 
manded or even mentioned, although the question was asked if any 
was contemplated, in which case not another step would have been 
taken by the parties; that the attempt was attended, in the opinion of 
most people, with great hazard of loss, and a certain necessity for ad- 
vances in the commencement for the support of their families, and 
soon called for large advances for the college itself, all which they 
incurred in hope of ultimate success; that this hope rested on the fact 
that most of those engaged in the undertaking had been occupied in 
teaching from ten to twenty years, and thousands of the physicians of 
the west had been their pupils and personally known to them; that 
the fee being no more than usual, the amount to be received depended 
upon the number of students who might be attracted by their reputa. 
tion as teachers; and that the sum actually received had not yet 
amounted to what several of them had been receiving for years when 
they entered on their project of establishing a medical school in Lou- 
isville. Who will say in these circumstances that there is any claim 
upon them growing out of the amount they are receiving? If they 
are receiving too much for their services, who do they derive it from? 
Do they gather it from the citizens? They bring it from abroad and 
scatter it among the citizens. If the school had, under the charge of 
teachers less known and established, struggled on from 30 to 50 and 
70 or 80, and after years remained stationary at 100 or 110, as has 
been over and over the case in similar attempts, would these men or 
the city have been better satisfied? Would not the complaint of the 
discontented then have been that these teachers are doing too little? 
Would not the disposition be to procure the services of men who 
might raise the school to 250 or 300 students? And, if this had been 
done, with what sort of face would any man call upon them to pay 
for accomplishing the desires of the city? to pay for bringing more 
money into it? And how would such a proposition be listened to? 15 
So far from agreeing to a reduction it is more and more the practice 
to demand a pledge that the receipts shall amount to a sufficient sum 
and the lowest that has been demanded for several years is 63,000, 
the very sum complained of in the rejected report. 
They have shown their enmity by exaggerated statements of the ex- 
pense of the endowment of the medical department of the intended 
university, thus endeavoring to lead the uninformed to believe that 
they are paying a heavy tax to support those that, are better off than 
themselves. The endowment was a liberal one, for which the city 
has been honored and benefitted, as they proposed to themselves and 
deserved. But liberality does not exaggerate a benefit--nor has any 
disposition been shown by the city or the city authorities to do so. 
Those who present this matter in this view, be it remembered, are 
enemies of the school; enemies who have now done their worst to 
destroy that which the city has taken a pride in establishing, under 
the belief that it would redound to their honor and advantage. The 
truth is that the city purchased twenty acres of land for 63,400, by 
advice of one of the Board of Managers. The land was laid off in lots 
for sale, audit was stated that a college or university was to be built on 
a part of it, which was called College Square. Under this impression 
biddersgave large prices forthe lots. The sales amounted to near 670,- 
000. All contracts of anymagnitude for buildingthe Institute were paid 
for by the delivery of two-thirds of the bills in bonds of the purchasers 
of real estate near the college, and what is called Mound property; 
and the balance was paid in City scrip. The building cost about 
645,000 paid in this way. The 620,000 for library and apparatus 
were paid in cash. The city therefore paid for the Medical College 
chiefly with a part of the proceeds of the twenty acres-after re- 
serving a square for a university, and has part of the land still left. 
It is to be remembered also that the present college occupies but a 
small part of the square, and that the city occupies the remainder for 
public purposes. 
Nor is this enmity confined to individuals, but extends to the Insti- 
tution itself; and the spirit of the report indicates a determination in 
some, if possible to ruin the school if they cannot get possession of it. 
This is shown by that most unfounded remark, that in consequence of 
alleged irregularities in the proceedings "there are now acting members 
of the Board of Managers who have no legal title to their seats, and 
of course all the proceedings of the Board thus informally constituted, 
the financial arrangements of the concern, the appointment of profes- 
sors, the distribution of collegiate advantages, and the conferring of 
degrees, are done without authority of law, and of consequence in- 
valid and worthless to all interested." And this injurious sug- 16 
gestion, the most ruinous that can be made against a medical 
school, without a shadow of truth, is published to the world by men 
who know the full import of it, all the time pretending to be friends 
of the school, anxious for its prosperity; publishing this report for its 
good. The whole however is a groundless fiction, proceeding from 
manifest enmity working without "authentic information"on this sub- 
ject as well as the money transactions of the Institute, as may be seen 
by referring to the history of the early days of the Institute already 
given. 
"It appears," says the report, "that there are still living three of 
the original corporators of the Medical Institute, who have neither 
participated, nor been summoned to participate in any of its transac- 
tions for the last four or five years-a portion of the associates having 
proceeded to exercise all the corporate functions, without any regard 
to the equal rights of the excluded members." 
The three surviving members here spoken of, are medical men, who 
nine yearsago excluded themselves from all participation in the man- 
agement of the Institute, by passing the regulation that no medical 
man should thereafter act as manager. This, being managers at the 
time, they had full authority to do by the act of incorporation in 1833; 
and the Legislature confirmed it by the act of 1835 as the permanent 
law of the school. 
"The portion of the associates (spoken of) who proceeded to exer- 
cise all the corporate functions," are four still surviving managers of 
that Board, which the old three abovementioned (and their then associ- 
ates) constituted nine years ago; together with those who have been 
since elected. In electing new Managers instead of those whose 
places were vacated by death, resignation or removal, they were de- 
barred from choosing any of the surviving three medical men, by the 
law of the Institute made by these three themselves; and were com- 
pelled to appoint the same men managers because there were no oth- 
ers eligible, as the three had themselves arranged the matter when they 
brought in the non-medical men expressly to be made Managers. 
If the three had been present at elections they could have carried 
no candidate, as they were from the beginning in the minority, six 
members, medical men, having chosen nine men not medical, and 
made them managers. If they had even had a majority it would have 
made no difference; because there were no others to choose than the 
non-medical men who constituted the old Board. Neither would a 
majority have enabled them to bring in others to make managers of; 
because the Board had the right by the original act of 1833 to deter 
mine the mode and manner of admitting new members, and how they 
shall cease to be such; and no one could be admitted unless nomina- 17 
ted by the President or Moderator. By the operation therefore of the 
original act of incorporation in 1833, and the regulation made by the 
three medical men, the result was the same whether there was an elec- 
tion or not; viz. the perpetuation of the office in the hands of the 
Board. 
Six weeks only after the time appointed in the original act of 1833 
for the first regular election of a Board of Managers, the Legislature 
made this inevitable result legal, by enacting that the Board, which was 
a large majority of the members of the Institute, and the only members 
capable of serving as Managers, should be perpetual. And if it 
be alleged (as in the report) that the Legislature had no right to pass 
this regulation except at the instance of the corporation, when it has re- 
served no right to alter, itmay bereplied; that if the Legislature are thus 
debarred from all interference, the Institute must be left to the opera- 
tion of the regulations mentioned, which unavoidably result in the 
perpetuation of the office of the Board. 
But even granting (for the sake of argument) that there have been 
irregularities in the proceedings though certainly none such as to affect 
the result, they do not make void the law and the authority growing 
out of it. They at most render it voidable by the Legislature if they 
see fit to interfere against the Board; but so far from doing so, they 
have already declared in favor of the Board, who are exercising pow- 
ers granted by them, and resulting also from the regulation of the me- 
dical men when managers, who have for ever debarred themselves 
from exercising authority over the Institute. 
And even supposing that the Legislature were inclined to consider 
as irregularities the very proceedings under the authority conferred by 
themselves, they would assuredly go no further than to rectify them- 
and even this is completely in the power of the Board itself without the 
action of the Legislature. They have only to call ameeting of the Insti- 
tute, and of the surviving members of those who constituted it in Novem- 
ber, 1833, the present Board contains a majority. Iftherefore the sur- 
viving original members alluded to in the report, who are all medical 
men, were to attend with the view of favoring the plans of an inimical 
party, they would be outvoted: and what is more, if they vote at all, 
they must vote for the members now in the Board and such as they 
may bring in as members; all the rest, viz: themselves being medical 
men, excluded for ever by their own law. 
The same enmity which led to such unreasonable insinuations and 
objections, and charges striking at the very life of the Institution, has 
led to the assertion in the rejected report that the Faculty have used 
but a small portion of the fund consisting of the matriculation fees, 
for the purposes of the school, and that "the residue has gone with 18 
all the other revenue of the establishment into the Professors' pockets." 
This is nothing short of a base calumny without the smallest found- 
ation to rest upon. 
The following statement shows the whole amount of the matricula- 
tion fees received from the commencement of the lectures in Novem- 
ber, 1837, with the expenditures to the first of September, 1842. 
The amount of matriculation fees received in the winters 
of 1837,1838, and 1839, after deducting discount on un- 
current notes, as reported to the Managers in 1840, $1,834 37 
The amount of do. received in the winter of 1840, 1,005 00 
The amount of do. received in the winter of 1841, 1,317 00 
Total amount of matriculation fees rec'd in 5 years, $4,156 37 
The expenditures from November, 1837, to November, 1840, when 
the report was made to the Managers were as follows: 
For permanent fixtures and work done in the building, $300 92 
For necessary furniture for rooms, paid - - 177 94 
For books, binding, and apparatus, - $422 45 
From which deduct this amount returned by 
the Managers out of the fund provided for 
that purpose - - - 392 62 
29 83 
For expenses of library, including salary, - - 427 47 
For publication of pamphlets, &c., and advertising, 998 07 
For coal and wood, .... 295 50 
For candles and oil, - - - - 45 87 
For chemical substances, including repairs, - 98 96 
For anatomical department, - - - 44 87 
For Janitors and assistants, for three years including at- 
tendance in summer, painting, &c., - - 1,019 50 
For a plan of building at Hospital, - - - 20 00 
For a vignette for Catalogues, - - - 20 00 
For sextons at the Introductory lectures and Commence- 
ments, ..... 27 00 
For repairs after the hail-storm in May, 1840, - 67 31 
For sundry small charges in three years, - - 37 15 
For interest on a loan from the Bank of Kentucky, 125 93 
1840-From Nov. 1, to March 2d, 1841:- 
For fuel and light, .... 125 62 
For chemical substances, - . - - 17 13 
For carpenter's work, $59-Plastering, $20, . 79 00 19 
For insurance and interest on note in 1840, - - 306 00 
For grates, &c., and portrait frame, - - 21 50 
For printing and advertising, - - - 225 75 
For Librarian, - - - - - 156 36 
For interest to Bank of Kentucky, - - . 12 40 
For amount paid Morton and Griswold, - - 28 05 
For Janitor, summer and winter, and attendant, - 362 50 
For sundry small charges, ... 11 68 
1841-From March 3d to Sept. 1st, 1842- 
For repairs to lecture room at Hospital, - - 12 50 
For coal at do. paid Mr. Martin, - - 14 75 
For coal and wood at Institute, - - . 123 85 
For Librarian, ..... 150 00 
For stationery to Morton and Griswold, - - 33 62 
For carpenters' bills at different times, and lumber, 179 12 
For printing pamphlets, &c., and advertising, . 375 33 
For anatomical and surgical department, - - 170 75 
For chemical substances, &c., - . - 68 97 
For insurance and interest on note in 1841, - - 303 00 
For McGrain's bill for stove, pipe, &c., for lecture room 
at Hospital, - - - - - 32 59 
For McGrain's bill for sundries for Institute, - 133 12 
For Taylor's bill for furnace, &c., - - - 64 62 
For Janitor and assistants, - - - 310 88 
For copper-pipe, &c., to Prentice and Birkhead, - 22 30 
For J. Rust's bill for sundries, - - - 13 00 
For plasterer, locksmith, cooper, and glazier, - - 13 37 
For sundry small bills, $15 21-candles $15 - 30 21 
For interest to the Bank of Ky. and Northern Bank, 62 59 
For Gas works'bill, .... 594 07 
For four street lights, .... 180 00 
For bill for gas consumed, - - - - 74 46 
For interest on private loan, ,. . . 42 00 
For insurance paid in June, 1842, - . . 300 00 
For repairs to cupola, &c., 1842, . . . 117 00 
For quarter's salary to Librarian, . . 37 50 
For servants in April, . . . . 6 50 
For coppersmith's bill, - . . - 6 37 
For building a lecture room at the Hospital and the 
communication with it, by an arrangement with the 
Council, for which the matriculation fees are made 
eventually liable by understanding with the Managers, 3,032 00 
Amount of expenditures from Nov. 1837, to Sept., 1842, $11,586 78 20 
Thus it appears that the expenses of the school have exceeded by 
several thousand dollars the amount of matriculation fees received. 
Some excess of expenditure might have been anticipated in the be- 
ginning, when the provision for a small class, was nearly as great as 
would have sufficed for a large one. But there were many heavy calls 
in the commencement not anticipated, for other than ordinary pur- 
poses. 
There was a number of expensive fixtures, and some alterations ne- 
cessary, and furniture of various kinds wanted; all of which the Faculty 
were obliged to provide, as they were necessary to enable them to get 
along. These expenses exceeded five hundred dollars. 
It was absolutely necessary to publish extensively for several years 
in the commencement, in order to make the existence of the school 
known throughout the country, which cost above a thousand dollars 
in the first three years. There was no one to look to for this expendi- 
ture, and this constitutes a large item of the amount. 
The insurance alone for the last three years with the interest on 
the sums advanced, amounts to near a thousand dollars. 
The subject of insurance for the building had frequently engaged 
the attention of the Faculty; but the difficulty was to provide the 
means. The Managers had no fund for the purpose. The matricu- 
lation fees were exhausted. The professors had advanced money to 
the utmost of their ability and had borrowed largely to supply the 
pressing wants of the school, at a time when they wTere not receiving 
any thing like a support from it. In the first year, 1837, they receiv- 
ed no more than about $800 each; and about $1,400 in 1838. In 
March, 1839, they were nevertheless obliged to borrow $1,500 of the 
Bank of Kentucky, in order to meet various demands on the Institute. 
It was not in their power at that time to insure. In 1840 they bor- 
rowed $300 for the purpose, and have insured ever since, in fact at 
their own private expense. For although the matriculation fund is 
liable for the amount, there is no probability of its ever being re- 
turned. 
For these various purposes; for expensive publications in the com- 
mencement, for necessary fixtures, and furniture of all kinds of a per- 
manent character, for alterations to suit the purposes of the Institution, 
for large current expenses in proportion to the size of the first classes, 
for the introduction of gas lights, and for street lights to the building, 
and for the erection of the lecture room at the Hospital, which has been 
deemed an important advantage of a permanent character to the Insti- 
tute, the Faculty have made advances, including interest, of more than 
$8,000 above the matriculation fees received. They have indeed laid 
out money with a lavish hand, when their circumstances are consid- 21 
ered. While the school was not yielding them a support; while they 
had private engagements which called for all their means, they bor- 
rowed large sums to supply the expenditure deemed by them neces- 
sary for the prosperity of the Institution, the very interest on which is 
still a heavy drain. 
What then is to be thought of the recklessness of such charges 
as are contained in the rejected report against those who have 
made advances so far beyond their receipts from the matriculation 
fees, of having pocketed the greater part of them? What of the en- 
mity that instigated them? What of the conduct of one who, accord- 
ing to the statement of one of the committee, manifested so much inter- 
est in the publication of these charges? He was well acquainted with 
the fact that the expenses overran the receipts more than two thousand 
dollars in the first three years, was privy to the frequent consultations 
of the Faculty on the subject in 1838 and 1839, at one of which it 
was determined to borrow 81,500 of the Bank of Kentucky in order 
to meet the most pressing demands on the Institute, and joined in ob- 
taining a loan to that amount, putting his signature to the notes. 
Did he not know the falsity of the charge against the Faculty of hav- 
ing pocketed the chief part of the matriculation fees? 
The Faculty were induced to make these advances, (as well as oth- 
ers not brought into the account some of which were deemed neces- 
sary and all expedient) however inconvenient and burthensome, by 
two considerations. 
One was the deep interest they had been led, by all the circumstan- 
ces of its origin, to take in the success of the school. It is the last 
great object of some of them, and all of them look upon it with the 
natural feelings of those who are confident of succeeding beyond the 
utmost expectations of its numerous friends, in establishing a school 
which will reflect honor on the city of Louisville, and upon all who 
have taken an interest in it, long after they shall have left it to the 
coming generation. 
The other consideration was of a different character; but it was one 
which they were bound to keep in view. Though the circumstances 
in which the school was placed called for heavy expenditures, the Fac- 
ulty were encouraged by the hope of better times. They were assid- 
uously laboring at great cost for small returns, in order to secure a 
permanent establishment, which would afford a return for their ad- 
vances, and a suitable and permanent support. 
Resting such hopes on the success of their undertaking, and aware 
that they had no one to look to for assistance, but that they would 
themselves be the sufferers in case of loss or damage of the building 
or its contents, they felt all the anxiety for its careful preservation that 22 
men in such circumstances would naturally feel. For several years 
a man was kept in the building during the summer. The necessity 
and propriety of this was fully discussed in March last, and it was 
determined to dismiss the attendant. This was not from a considera- 
tion of economy as suggested in the rejected report, for the janitor was 
not paid for remaining there except the first two years, when he 
was regularly employed, in painting, &c. He would willingly have 
continued in the building, for the sake of a good home. The reason 
for discontinuing the practice was, that the Faculty believed it better 
that the janitor should not continue in the house. Having no em- 
ployment, it had been observed that he staid there very little; and when 
there, he often had company which it was believed did not lessen the 
danger. 
But the rejected report charges gross neglect in those who have the 
charge of the college. It alleges, that "soon after the appointment 
of the committee, the chairman was informed by a citizen, that he had 
recently visited the Medical College, and found it in a very exposed 
and neglected condition. The chairman immediately went to the 
premises himself. He found the outer door of the building open, and 
unobstructed access to several of the apartments, while no person was 
in or about it to prevent depredations. One of the apartments which 
was then exposed was the chemical laboratory, where is stowed a 
large quantity of costly and fragile apparatus, any quantity of which 
might have been destroyed or removed by evil disposed persons with- 
out detection. The passages and interior of the building were in a 
filthy, offensive and ruinous condition-apparently abandoned to rats 
and other vermin." 
It is not unreasonable to believe that the same spirit which led to 
such groundless charges of an infamous character in relation to money 
matters, was at work here also. This passage is so worded as to con- 
vey the idea that the chairman entered the open front door of the 
building, its main entrance, and that he found its interior in a filthy, 
offensive and ruinous condition. This he certainly did not do, if no 
one was in or about the building, as the report states. The key of 
the front door is in charge of the Professor of Anatomy, because he is 
frequently employed in the building; and the door is never opened un- 
less by him or some one authorised by him. The keys of the several 
rooms are kept by those who have charge of them, in their several 
departments. The keys of the laboratory, in the absence of the Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry, were committed to his brother-in-law the Libra- 
rian by the Dean. All these rooms are kept carefully locked; and 
although the entrance to the building may be obtained through the 
front door, when the Professor of Anatomy or the Librarian is occu- 23 
pied up stairs, as they frequently are, which is then nocessarily left 
open, as there are others who have occasion to go in and out, it does 
not follow that the house is exposed, and that an intruder can find en- 
trance into the several rooms. On many occasions when visitors have 
wished to examine them, we have not, although present, been able to 
show them, because the doors were locked. And even though the 
laboratory door, opening into the hall, had been found unlocked, be- 
ing an interior door of the building, the laboratory could by no means 
be considered as exposed to depredations in the open day, at which 
time only the front door is left unlocked by those who are employed 
within. To the passages one may certainly obtain access at such 
times; but they are not to be found in a filthy, offensive, and ruinous 
condition. 
It is evident to those who are acquainted wiih the premises, that 
the door which was found open was the door in the basement to the 
right of the projection of the steps of the porch; and that the passages 
and interior of the building which are spoken of as being in such a 
condition, are the unoccupied portions of the basement to which it 
leads. This door had gotten out of order in consequence of its being 
too near the ground, which in that part of the building is so low as to 
allow the water to settle there, and requires to be raised so as to close 
that door entirely. The hinge had rusted and had been broken partly 
off in efforts to close it. It was left in this situation, to be rectified 
when other work that was necessary should be done, without appre- 
hension, because it was not considered of any importance. This door 
opens into the large space necessarily inclosed by the foundation walls 
of so large a building, and subdivided into smaller spaces correspond- 
ing in size and shape to the passages and apartments above. These 
spaces are unoccupied, dark, and with no floor but the earth, for the 
most part. Access to them does not give access to the interior of the 
building except through the laboratory, which has a strong door open- 
ing into one of them in the centre of the basement, which is kept 
locked. The reliance for the security of the laboratory is on this 
door, and not on the outer one, which is distant, and was much less se- 
cure from the beginning. The idea of danger to the laboratory or to 
any thing else, on this account, never entered the minds of those most 
concerned in its safety. 
We are at a loss to conceive what can be meant in the report by 
the ruinous condition of these dark, unoccupied places, unless the 
committee refer to the fact that they are not paved; and as to their be- 
ing apparently abandoned to the rats, &c., we do not use them because 
we have no use for them; and if rats have found their way into them 
it is not a matter to be prevented. 24 
As to their being offensive, it should not excite surprise that in the 
basement of an establishment devoted to such purposes as this, some- 
thing of the kind occasionally happens. 
As to the filth, the JDean had had the basement thoroughly cleaned 
out at the close of the session. It is in the same condition in which 
it was then left, and is now in as clean a state at least as any similar 
place in the city. The assertion in the report is without foundation. 
The report says that "one of the apartments which was then exposed, 
was the chemical laboratory." Therecanbe no question about the im- 
propriety of this; although the access to the laboratory was through a 
door opening from it into a dark unoccupied room in the centre of the 
basement of the building, shut out from the light by rooms and pas- 
sages all round it; in consequence of which secluded situation it might 
have been open for months without any one observing it. But still it 
ought certainly to be kept closed, and no one would have been more 
disposed to find fault with the librarian than the Faculty, had they 
made the discovery, and believed that he left the door open. They 
are too deeply concerned to be indifferent to the matter, and would cer- 
tainly not have allowed it to remain open long. But even if it were 
admitted that it was left open by the person whose business it was to 
look to it, how does it follow that the whole Faculty are to be charg- 
ed with culpable neglect? How often does it happen even in private 
dwellings, that doors much more exposed to observation and liable to 
attempts upon them, and much more in view of the heads of the fa- 
mily to attract their attention and care, are yet left unlocked notwith- 
standing the utmost vigilance and the often repeated injunctions of 
those who are deeply concerned? 
It is remarkable that the committee while they were so severely 
censuring the neglect of the Faculty in allowing this exposure, which 
they could not put an end to because they were not acquainted with 
it, did not reflect on their own neglect in the matter. The chairman 
who has manifested so deep an interest in it did not take a single 
step to secure the valuable property he seems to think was exposed to 
great danger; nor did he even inform those who would have been 
ready enough to attend to it. He left it as he found it, and sent other 
members of the committee to "observe the deserted and unsafe con- 
dition of the building and its contents." They also Avent and return- 
ed, leaving it to take care of itself, not even then informing those who 
had the charge and would have seen to its security. Thus it continu- 
ed, and might have continued to this time unobserved, on account of 
the situation of the door through which the committee found access to 
the laboratory, remote from observation, in the very interior of the 
basement. One of the committee however happened to mention it to 25 
one who had somewhat more consideration for tire property; and some 
days afterwards walking by, he went in to look at it and found the 
door open, but nothing spparently disturbed, locked the door and some 
day or two after handed the key to the librarian. When this strange 
inattention of the chairman and others whom he sent there, in not 
closing the door nor informing those who were interested, so that they 
might have it done, is considered in connexion with their subsequent 
conduct, it would seem that the object was less to secure the property 
than to cast censure on those who have charge of it. 
But although it has, for the sake of argument, been admitted that 
the librarian left the door open, it is not at all believed. 
When the basement was cleaned out in the spring, the Dean desir- 
ed the librarian to see that all was in order in the laboratory, and to 
take charge of the keys of that and all the other rooms on the first 
floor. The rest of the keys were in possession of the Professorsiand 
Dr. Bayless, to whom they belonged. The librarian is the brother- 
in-law of the Professor of Chemistry, and was for that reason, as well 
as his being under an obligation to be in the building at least twice a 
week, a proper person to keep the keys of the laboratory and other 
rooms. He told the Dean that he had seen to every thing and locked 
the doors; and it is known to the Dean and others that after that time 
the doors were found locked when visitors several times wished 
to see the building and could not get into the laboratory'bec'ause the 
librarian was not there. The keys were kept by the librarian in the 
library where they were repeatedly seen by several of the Faculty 
and others. There is therefore no ground for the supposition of ne- 
glect in the librarian. 
Moreover this supposition is attended by several difficulties. Be- 
sides the improbability that a young man who has paid a great deal of 
attention, more than was required by his office, to every thing about 
the building, having spent a large portion of his time there in the fore 
part of the summer, should neglect to do what he was particularly re- 
quested to do, and promised to do, in relation to the care of the appa- 
ratus so highly valued by his brother-in-law, the Professor of Chemis- 
try; it is not to be believed that he had not dqne it when he assured 
the Dean that he had. 
The upper door of the laboratory opening into the hall above^in 
the front of the building, was also found open: but it is improbable 
that when the librarian took the key out, for it was not left in the door, 
he did not turn it first, when he was at the very moment engaged in 
locking up the laboratory. Moreover this door was known to have 
been locked after the time when the librarian stated that he had lock- 
ed up all the doors of the laboratory. Its being found open must there- 26 
fore be attributed to something else than his supposed negligence at 
the time. 
This supposition of neglect in the librarian does not account for his 
not being able to find the keys where he put them, and not knowing 
where to look for them when he wanted to lock the door when it was 
discovered to be unlocked. 
It is a remarkable circumstance that the laboratory, which was 
never before known to be left open, should have been found open 
above and below, "soon after the appointment of this committee," 
certainly not at the suggestion or by request of the friends of the 
school. 
There is another way of accounting for the doors being found open 
which agrees with all the circumstances and explains all the difficul- 
ties attending the other supposition. It is, that the-doors were secretly 
opened for the purpose of casting censure on the Faculty for the ap- 
parent neglect. This might easily have been accomplished by one 
acquainted with the building. 
The Professor of Anatomy is often engaged in his room, and while 
there the front door is left unlocked in order to admit others who may 
wish to enter. This being the case any one acquainted with the build- 
ing and the habits of those engaged in it, could without difficulty pass 
up to the library where the keys were kept by the librarian, without 
the least hazard of being heard by those who were engaged at the 
other end of the ^.building. The lock is of a simple structure and 
might easily have been picked, or a key may have been used. A pass- 
key to the library was made for each of the Professors some years ago, 
but one of them has not been under their control for above two years; 
and although the retention of this key has been a singular and offen- 
sive proceeding in the person who keeps possession of it, there is no 
intention to charge him with a knowledge of improper use of it; but it 
is certainly possible that some one inimical to the Faculty may have 
found access to it, and it is manifest that any one who could do so 
might easily have accomplished what has been supposed. 
The library entered and the keys of the several apartments once ob- 
tained from the place where they were known to have been kept, the 
agent in the business had nothing more to do than to unlock the door 
of the laboratory immediately at the foot of the staircase; and (after 
having put the keys in the closet which was close at hand, and where 
they were afterwards found, and where it was safer to put them than 
to return with them up stairs into the library) to pass down through the 
laboratory, unlock the door opening from it into the basement, and 
pass out of the building; when the whole was ready for the exposure. 27 
This supposition accounts for the upper door being found unlocked 
as well as the lower. 
It accounts for the keys not heing found where they were put by the 
librarian, and the difficulty in finding them when he wanted them in 
order to lock the door discovered to be unlocked.* 
It accounts for the singular circumstance that the doors were found 
unlocked (never known to have occurred before) and the keys missing 
"soon after the appointment of this committee" to look into the con- 
dition of the school. 
It accounts for every thing without attributing gross neglect to a 
trusted officer of the Institute where there is no room to believe it ex- 
ists, and strong ground for believing the reverse; viz. that the upper 
door was known to have been locked. 
The whole is but a supposition indeed; but it is rendered highly 
probable by its fitness to explain the circumstances; by its practica- 
bility; by the existence of a disposition to do worse, and of the power 
to do it possibly within the reach of the inimical party; and by the 
remarkable circumstance of its having occurred "soon after the ap- 
pointment of the committee" had been procured to inquire into the 
state of the school, some of whom have shown a disposition to make un- 
friendly use of it; as appears from the temper of the report, the charac- 
ter of its assertions in relation to the Professors, the nature of its de- 
clarations in relation to the authority of the school, and their conduct 
since in publishing that which was declared to be false; which instead 
of putting them on their guard and leading them though late to inquire 
more fully than they had done, led them to the most unjustifiable 
course of threatening those who were injured if they attempted to prove 
the charges false. 
But whether this or the other supposition be deemed more corres- 
pondent to the circumstances of the case, it cannot be denied that in 
such an establishment the charge of keys must be committed to other 
* The report states that the librarian testified before the committee that the keys 
were kept in the key closet. The librarian complained to those setting near him, at 
the time of the reading of the report in the C ouncil that his statements had been mis- 
represented. The keys had been kept in the closet by the janitor in the winter; but 
he himself had kept them where he was himself employed, in the library where they 
were seen by those who went there. This he stated to the committee. If the 
keys had been kept in the closet by the librarian, he would have had no difficulty 
in finding them when he wanted them. He would have gone at once to the closet 
where they actually then were. But he did not go there to look for them, because 
he had himself taken them out of the closet when he took charge of them. He 
finally went there indeed, (after inquiring at the houses of some of the Faculty 
for them, and after looking every where else,) upon the principle of looking in 
everyplace in the house however unlikely to contain them. 28 
than the Professors. Sometimes they are committed to the janitor, 
sometimes to servants who are engaged in cleaning out the rooms, 
sometimes to workmen and their apprentices who are engaged for 
days together, as occurred this summer in repairing the cupola. In 
case of neglect by those who are necessarily trusted, where would be 
the propriety of severely censuring the Professors who are compelled 
to trust them, and who are to suffer whatever inconvenience may arise 
from their neglect, inasmuch as they have to repair all damages? 
Certainly the committee did not consider well what they were doing 
when they agreed to sign and present to the Council such a paper 
as this report, a paper altogether of a partizan character, with noth- 
ing of the sober regard for correct statements which a proper respect 
for the Council required. 
How could they seriously tell the Council that insurance on the 
building was never effected "until the City Council ordered that the 
Faculty should*be made to do it; and under the fear of this transfer it 
was done, after being exposed nearly three years?" 
It is not true that the Faculty insured under such a fear and such a 
threat. They never heard of the order and do not believe the Coun- 
cil could have passed such a one. 
It is not true that the house was exposed nearly three years before it 
was insured. It was not finished until the end of 1838, and it was in- 
sured in June, 1840-and remained after the workmen left it a year 
and a half uninsured. The true reason that determined the Faculty 
to insure in 1840, was the fear of incendiaries. 
With what propriety could they admit to the Council that the agi- 
tation of this question is altogether prejudical to the school, and yet 
intimate plainly that if the recommendations of the committee are not 
sustained by the Council, "it will be an annually recurring topic of 
agitation until the transfer is effected;" thus speaking the sentiments 
of the inimical party, who are said to declare that they will never 
give over until they succeed in their designs? And how will they jus- 
tify themselves to the Council for publishing the report without leave, 
and without the acknowledgement, due to the credit of the Council, 
that they had rejected the resolutions notwithstanding all their urgent 
representations? 
It has thus been shown that there is in the city a party of medical 
men who have been endeavoring for some years to obtain possession 
of the chairs of the Professors of the Medical Institute of Louisville; 
which object was openly avowed two years ago in a handbill publish- 
ed by them, and others who inconsiderately joined with them. 
It has been shown that, despairing of countenance from the present 
Board of Managers, they have lately according to the statement of 29 
one of the committee been engaged in the publication of a calumnious 
report, which had been presented to the Council, but by them reject- 
ed, in order to obtain a transfer of the management of the school to a 
new board to be appointed by the Council and removable at their 
pleasure. 
To say nothing more of the calumnies by which they have endea 
vored in vain to prevail on the Council to make the request of a trans- 
fer, we shall conclude with a few observations. 
The proposition to request a transfer of the management of the 
school from the present Board, rests on the ground of an asserted right 
arising from the donation of the Council. 
The right of management was in the Board of Managers of the 
Medical Institute of Louisville years before the donation was made. 
It was the knowledge of the powers they possessed which led the 
Council to make the donation, and was the avowed ground on which it 
was made. The donation therefore gives no right of management to 
the Council. 
What then are the legitimate claims of the Council upon the school? 
They are those only which arise out of the terms of the donation when 
accepted: for it is the acceptance of a donation which subjects the re- 
ceiver to the restrictions contained in the terms of the gift. Beyond 
these the claim of the donor does not extend. 
In the present case the terms of the donation which was accepted 
by the Managers were these, beyond which the Council have no claim. 
1. That the property should be used by the Managers for the purpose 
of carrying into effect their previously possessed powers of establish- 
a medical school: and, 2dly, that in the event of the Council's carry- 
ing the views of the citizens fully into effect, by erecting other college 
buildings on University Square, and obtaining a charter for a univer- 
sity, the Managers are to transfer, if the Council request it, the square, 
buildings, &c., to the trustees of the university. 
The first authorises them in case the property is used for any other 
purpose than that of a medical school, to reclaim possession of it. 
But as long as it is used for the purpose for which it was given, they 
cannot move in the matter. How far a great failure notwithstanding 
the efforts of the Managers to raise up a school sufficient to satisfy 
the expectations of the donors, might authorise the latter to interfere, 
need not be considered; seeing that in the present case the utmost ex- 
pectations of the whole city have been far exceeded. 
The second authorises the Council to build other college build- 
ings on University Square, and having obtained a charter, to re- 
quire the Managers of the Medical Institute to transfer the square. 30 
&c., to the trustees named in it. Before this is done there is no 
ground for the request. 
In case however that the wishes of the citizens expressed in their 
meeting in 1837 should be carried into effect and buildings be erected 
for the other departments, and the managers of the Medical Institute 
should be called on to reconvey the square, &c., it is the property 
only that is to be reconveyed, by right of the reservation in the deed 
of donation; which can go no farther than to call back what was 
granted; viz. the property, not the right of management, which was 
in the Board of Managers before the donation was made. 
When that time shall arrive it will be a matter of consideration on 
what terms the Medical Institute of Louisville, called by anticipa- 
tion the medical department of the intended university, shall really 
become so. These will no doubt be such as shall be agreed to by 
those under whose charge it has increased beyond all expectation and 
beyond all precedent, and in all probability will continue to increase. 
Meantime it can be of no importance to the city who conducts the 
school, provided only that it be done lawfully and successfully. The 
present managers, it has been shown, were appointed according to 
the law of the State, and the charter and regulations made in con- 
formity with it, by the first Board of Managers. That it is success- 
fully conducted every man is a witness. Every good citizen who de- 
sires the honor and advantage of the city in the prosperity of the Me- 
dical Institute of Louisville, should therefore discourage these agita- 
tors, who manifestly desire their own, not the public good; who agi- 
tate although they acknowledge that agitation is injurious to it, and 
plainly say that it will be kept up until they succeed, using at the 
same time disreputable means to keep it up; who having in the be- 
ginning avowed their object, to turn out those who were successfully 
conducting the school, and shown by the offer of their own services 
in place of them, that their own interest was their real motive, are 
not now to be believed when they try to cover over their real designs 
with the old pretence of public good, the thread-bare mantle in all 
time of selfish and designing men.