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though not caused solely by suffocation, as was proved by the post-mortem
examination made on the body by Hall, was at least hastened by his,
helpless state as he was of infirm body, and that handcuffing and leaving
him so restricted in bed was an inhuman and unj ustifiable act.
Referring
to Hallts statement concerning the jury at the inquest, that 'e is among
a set of men ready to conspire for anything against him", 'the Board
accused Hall of making broad assertions without sufficient grounds to
prove them.
In view of Hall's previous contacts with Shanks , both personally
and by letter, the Principal Medical Officer 's letter to the Comptroller­
General on February 22, 1853, which accompanied the Board' s report , was
surprisingly harsh and damaging towards the subordinate officer, and
sufficiently so to substantially alter his career in the Medical
Department :
• . . . but in reading Mr Hall's letter I look in vain for any
outburst of indignation against the attendants for their
brutality. Mr Hall only blames the men for having used the
mode of restraint so long. He sees , apparentlY; no impropriety
in the torture, and by admitting their worthless excuse that
'from experience they knew it would not do to release Hickman ',
he identifies himself with a system of treatment which might
have passed current some twenty to thirty years ago , but which
would now be considered a dsgrace to humanity.
Further, he accused Hall of adopting a strange course to protect himself
from those conspiring against him, by supporting instead of prosecuting
the attendants;
and, by not calling in another f.'.edical Officer at the
inquest, of lessening the value of his evidence and giving his enemies
cause to accuse him of a desire to frustrate the ends of justice.
concluded
. : .. From the result of this investigation, I am of the op1n1on
' that Mr Hal l is unfitted for the charge of the insane and
I beg to recommend his removal from the Lunatic Depot
according ly.
Shanks
When he forwarded all the Hickman papers to the Governor for his perusal ,
the Comptroller-General added his own opinion that Hall was not fitted
to be retained in the Government Service as he had delegated his authority
to others in such a way as to cause the death of a harmless imbecile under
circumstances of great brutality and had identified himself with a
treatment disgraceful to humanity.
His words were harsher than Shank 's:
The brutal conduct of the two convict attendants , altho' highly
reprehensible, and calling for punishment, appears to me to be
in a great degree attributable to the manner in which Dr Hall