Copies of documents in relation to the appointment of chaplains to the Belfast District Lunatic Asylum : respectfully submitted to the consideration of his excellency the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by a deputation from the counties of Antrim and Down, and County of the town of Carrickfergus April, 1855.

  • Belfast District Hospital for the Insane.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Copies of documents in relation to the appointment of chaplains to the Belfast District Lunatic Asylum : respectfully submitted to the consideration of his excellency the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by a deputation from the counties of Antrim and Down, and County of the town of Carrickfergus April, 1855. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the celebration of Divine service before such of the inmates as their re¬ spective Clergymen and the Physicians shall deem fit to attend the same.’ “ We have, agreeably with this rule, made regulations for the admis¬ sion of Clergymen—we have encouraged the visits of the parochial and other Clergymen—we have made arrangements for the celebration of Divine service before such of the inmates as their respective Clergymen and the Physician shall deem fit to attend the same; and, being con¬ vinced that our arrangements were as judicious as they have unques¬ tionably been salutary, we entreat your Excellency to sustain us in our disinterested and conscientious endeavours to carry them out as here¬ tofore. “ Rule 45 provides that:—‘The Physician is to direct the course of moral and medical treatment of the patients and assuredly no portion of moral treatment is so delicate and so important as that connected w’ith religious teaching and ordinances. “ On behalf of our Resident and Visiting Physicians, therefore, whose fidelity has been above all praise, and whose labours have been admit¬ tedly crowned with unequalled success, we implore your Excellency not to humiliate them by disregarding their matured opinions, or to paralyse their future exertions by permitting any novel interference with their professional arrangements. “ We respectfully assure your Excellency that, with the exception of the Lord Bishop of Down, the Right Rev. Dr. Denvir, the Rev. Dr. Edgar, and the Rev. Mr. Monsell, we have not conversed with any in¬ dividual of any Church, profession, or employment, who does not par¬ ticipate in our sentiments upon this question ; and the ardour with which it has been opposed by Newspapers representing, we believe, all creeds and parties, abundantly testifies the deep interest which it has awakened in the public mind. “With regard to ourselves, we venture to assure your Excellency, that, cheerfully admitting the sincerity of those who dissent from our views, we do not yield to them in our Christian anxiety to see the wounded spirit cheered and sanctified, in due time and place, by the blessed influences of religion ; and we trust that our earnest pertinacity in this matter will be ascribed, not to any morbid craving for victory or power, but to its true cause—an imperative sense of personal and public duty. At the same time, we have no desire to conceal the fact, that we shall feel deeply disappointed should gentlemen, howsoever respect¬ able, possessing less local knowledge, and assuredly much less interest than ourselves in the well-being of our unfortunate brethren, succeed in forcing what we believe to be a most injurious arrangement upon an Asylum to whose benefit and management we have cheerfully a.nd faith¬ fully devoted our best exertions. “ Under these considerations, we respectfully venture to express a