'Nor is the plan proposed to be regarded in the light of a mere experiment. It has been already tried in most parts of the continent of Europe, in Protestant countries as well as Catholic, and it has succeeded perfectly. And surely there is no such peculiarity in the English nation as ought to lead us to believe that that which has succeeded in nations so different as the French and Prussians, the Dutch and the Italians, would not succeed in England also.
'Of course these observations are founded on the supposition that dissection is carried on in a discreet and decent manner; and if it should be recognized by law, and a more abundant supply of subjects should be procured under the sanction of the state, some precautions may be necessary to prevent the evil which would arise from its being too openly practised, or being brought under the notice of the public in a disgusting or offensive shape. It will not be unreasonable to require of the teachers of anatomy that they should preserve a register of all the bodies which they receive for dissection, naming the source from whence they are obtained. It may be proper, on all accounts, to insist that those who undertake to be teachers of anatomy should prove their fitness for the office, by passing a rigid examination before the College of Surgeons of London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, or some other competent tribunal. This will, at any rate, limit the number of anatomical teachers in the best possible manner, namely, by the exclusion of uneducated and ignorant pretenders, and by confining this department of medical instruction to men of industry and science. It may be admitted as a question also, whether, in addition to these measures, it will not be advisable to insist that no one should be permitted to open dissecting-rooms for the admission of students, without a license to do so from the Secretary of State, or from some person specially appointed for the purpose, to whom a satisfactory security must be given for the proper regulation and conduct of the establishment.
'Of the foregoing observations, there are, probably, very few which have a claim to the merit of originality; the subject having been so frequently discussed, especially among medical practitioners, with whom the present obstacles to anatomical instruction have long been a subject of serious anxiety.
'This last circumstance has led to a misapprehension on the part of the public. It is very generally believed that the members of the medical profession are a party concerned, and that they have an interest beyond that which others have in obtaining greater facilities of dissection. This is true, as far as it relates to the teachers of anatomy and the students; but the former are very few in number, and the latter are not of sufficient importance, and are too limited in their acquaintance and connexion for their sentiments to be much regarded, or even to be known. It is not true as to medical practitioners generally: they have laid in their store of knowledge; they rarely find it necessary to return to the labours of the dissecting-room; or if they wish to inspect the dead body for the purpose of satisfying themselves as to a particular point, they have ample opportunities of doing so in the post mortem examinations made for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of a patient's death.
'If the existing race of medical practitioners were so narrow-minded as to consult only their own private interests, they would be pleased to see the rising generation brought up in comparative ignorance, inasmuch as it would make it more difficult for themselves to be superseded in their practice as they advance in years. If they have been more active than others in calling the attention of the legislature to the subject, it has been on purely public grounds; not because they expect or can expect any benefit to themselves, but because their peculiar situation makes them more competent than other individuals can be to form a judgment of the mischiefs which may ultimately arise to the community, if nothing be done to remove the existing evil.'
It must be admitted that the foregoing remarks, emanating from so eminent a man as Mr. Brodie, cannot but possess, at the present juncture, considerable value, as the subject has been again brought before the legislature by Mr. Warburton, and no doubt now exists that, from recent circumstances, some enactments will be passed to legalize dissection, and to facilitate the procuring of bodies for the supply of the anatomical schools. As we shall have occasion to recur to the subject in a future part of our work, we shall now refrain from making any further comments on it, and proceed to the trial of the resurrectionists, for the murder for which they were committed.
The 2nd of December was the day fixed for the trial of the prisoners charged with the murder of the Italian boy; and as early as eight o'clock in the morning the court was crowded to excess.
We cannot but here speak in terms of reprobation of the vexatious conduct pursued by some of the city officers in regard to the admission of persons to the body of the court and the galleries, who, in some respects, had a title to be admitted. Personally speaking, when we presented ourselves at the gate, demanding entrance, as having the key of the box appropriated to the Committee of the City Lands, we were told, in the first place, that the box was full; this was at half-past eight in the morning. On remonstrating with the officer, and expressing our opinion that he was acting reprehensibly in refusing admittance to a person having the key of one of the committee to whom the box belonged, we were met by the objection, that it was by no means improbable but that the common-councilman would come himself. This we declared to be almost an impossible case; for, as we were in possession of his key, it amounted to the proof that he had for that day relinquished his right, and that we were to be regarded, in every respect, as his substitute. Mr. Cope was then sent for, and he declared also that the box was full; that nine persons had obtained admission with one key, and that were he to admit us, we should not be able to find room. We then asked Mr. Cope, how he would act if the common-councilman appeared himself, demanding admittance, and whether he was invested with any power to refuse such an admission to an accredited member of the Corporation, who, as such, possessed a positive right to a seat in that box, of which it was not in the power of Mr. Cope to divest him. Still the plea of the fulness of the box was urged; and finding all remonstrance to be vain, we despatched a friend for the common-councilman himself to come and insist upon his right. In the interval, however, the gate was opened, as if by some talismanic power, and on our entering the box, we found the statement of its being full completely false—two out of the five benches were not occupied at all, nor during the whole of the day was the box ever full.
We have merely adverted to this circumstance, as it may operate as a warning to those who so unjustifiably took upon themselves the power of refusing admittance to a court of justice to individuals invested with an authority to exact admission, and by which act they were, in reality, setting themselves up in opposition, and in actual defiance of the very persons by whom they had been appointed to the offices which they hold.
At nine o'clock the deputy recorder, Mr. Sergeant Arabin, came into the court, when the prisoners, John Bishop, Thomas Williams, and James May, were placed at the bar; and the indictment having been read over, charging them, in one count, with the Wilful Murder of Carlo Ferrari, otherwise Charles Ferrier; and in another with the Wilful Murder of a male person, whose name was unknown. They severally pleaded Not Guilty.