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Page 1: SURGICAL REFORM-DINNER TO MR. WAKLEY

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mèa1l3 new; Mr. Bracy Clark spent- fouryeamin making and fitting them, and appear-ed tohave exhausted the principles on whichitmight be done, concluding, at last, thatthecare, difficulties, and, above all, the ex- Ipense of such shoes, would preclude theirgeneral introduction in the pieseut state ofmechanics. Still, if this slipper which Nubiahas in pelto, this unfledged thing of tenderreputation is easy, durable, and cheap, he isunpardonable in withholding it; but wedoubt this, or the possibility of any practi-cable clog or slipper. The expansion shoebeing, in fact, as cheap, as lasting, and sim-ple, as common shoes, and, withal, prevent-ing that scourge, contraction practical ob-jections against it are now never heard,and as to such blundering scribblers as INimrod and Nubia, who shun to inspect thething they write against, their real or pre_ tended ignorance shall not screen them fromthe rebuke, which wilful misrepresentationdeserves. It is singular to look back at theopposition that has been raised, step bystep, to Mr. Clark’s doctiines ; and nowwhen theveterinaiy writers in The SportingMagazine are forced to admit the necessityof an expansive defence for the preserva-tion of the foot, they invidiously attempt topersuade their readers, that his shoe is futileand inefficient. These gentlemen have at

length consented to acknowledge, that theyhave hitherto been on the wrong scent,"but they cannot allow that Mr. Clark hasbeen right. The objection is not, as I saidbefore, to the measure, but to the means,and its proposer.

Hatfield Street, Stamford Street, Jan. 15.

SURGICAL REFORM-DINNER TO

MR. WAKLEY.

Mr. Paty to Mr. Wakley.33, Bouverie-street, Fleet-street,

Jan. ’24th, 1829.DEAR SIR,—The gentlemen who undertook

the arrangements connected with the resolu-tions, adopted at a public meeting in theFreemasons’ Tavern, on Tuesday, Dec.23rd, 1828, (a copy of those resolutionshaving already been transmitted to you,)have requested me, as Chairman ot that

meeting, to inform you, that, should the

day suit your convenience, they considerthe l8th of February next, the most propertime to beg the favour of your company inthe same tavern, at a public dinner.

I beg leave to state also, that their reasonfor naming that day in preference to anyother, was, that it will be the anniversaryof the commencement of those proceedingswhich, if zealously pursued, with the con-tinued assistance of a Free Medical Press,will tend to raise your professional brethren

from their present degraded condition ;which has been attributed, with justice, tothe constitution and government of the

Royal College of Surgeons in London.An answer to this letter, at your earliest

leisure, will oblige the gentlemen at whoserequest I write ; and also,

Your most obedient Servant,JAMES PATY.

Thomas Wakley, Esq.

Mr. Wakley to llr. Paty.Bedford-square, Jan. 34,1329.

DEAR SIR,—I need scarcely say, thatI feel most sensibly the very flatteringtestimony of approbation, which my publicconduct received from the large and respect-able meeting, over which you presided onthe 23rd of December, at the Freemasons’Tavern. My exertions in the cause of aFree Medical Press, and Free Medical In-

stitutions, have, at least, been honest, andhonest exertions the public of this countrynever fail to appreciate. I am sensible also,that the late trial has contributed greatly tostrengthen the hands of public writers, bythe important decision given at the outsetof the cause, in favour of Journalists whofeel that they are in a situation to justify analleged libel, and also to open the eyes ofthe public to the corrupt system which pre-vails at our hospitals in the distribution ofpatronage, though I was not permitted toenter fully into this part of the case. But,Sir, greatly as I deprecate and detest thesystem of nepotism, to which, I believe,Mr. B. Cooper is indebted for his situ-ation, I entertain, equally with yourself,and the gentlemen whom you represent,no kind of hostility towards that gentle-man. On the contrary, I respect his pri-vate character, and I would rather not,therefore, at present attend a festival, which,though instituted entirely upon publicgrounds, malevolence might perhaps con-

strue into an act of persecution directedagainst his private interests. If the

object of the festival were to celebratethe triumph of surgical reform, I shouldbe proud and happy to attend. Butthough the victory is, I believe, in ourhands, the battle is still to be fought. Itrust, however, the day is not far distantwhen we may meet to celebrate, not thevirtual defeat of a few individuals,but the com-plete and final overthrow of a corrupt system.

In conclusion, permit me to express mydeep sense of gratitude towards yourself,and the gentlemen with whom you are

acting, for your very flattering and distin-’ guished approval of my efforts in the nobleand thriving cause of Surgical Reform.

Your obliged and obedient Servant,,

.

THOMAS WAKLEY.Tames Paty, Esq.

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