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another note of accusation, Hall charging Benson with neglect of duty on
Sunday week and Benson calling on the Bo ard to protect him from Hall's
unjust attacks which were condemned by a majority of the Board . 19
In its "Leader" on July 26, the Mercury loudly , denounced the
meeting as disgraceful.
The gentlemen charged with the task of managing the Queen 1s
Orphan Schools are surely trying their best to bring the
system of government by boards into contempt ... Both the
institution and the pub lic have to deplore the presence of
many unruly elements, and the exciting and stormy discussions
to which they contribute are rapidly becoming one of the
scandals of the day.
In the paper1s judgment , it was ridiculous that a dozen men of commonsense
could not sit round a table to dispose of matters such as dietary,
1 ,
hospital discipline and the like without snapping each other1 s noses off.
There are some people, however , who will pick a quarrel out
of anything and who are endowed with such a gift for
quarrelling that, if they cannot find, they will invent some
cause of strife.
Altho_ugh the Mercury conceded that Hall was very honest and earnestminded
in his endeavours to improve the conditions of the crphans , it accused him
of fostering antagonism and bitterness of feeling. due to his own
comb ativeness of disposition, and declared him
too pugnacious to be eminently useful and more instrumental
in sowing the seeds of discord than in promoting a spirit
of cordial cooperation in the management of our pub lic
institutions .
Crowther , too , came in for a share of the censure and was accused of
thrusting himself with professional alacrity into the very petty quarrel
between Bedford and Hall.
'
How on earth is it that the professors of the healing art
are so everlastingly at war with each other ?
asked the Mercury in disgust, as it charged Hal l, Bedford and Crowther with
usng the Board as an arena for professional jealousy and strife .
su_ggested that it was time for the Government to reconstruct the Board,
It
or
substitute an entirely different system of administration.
Neither Crowther nor Hall allowed such strong criticism ofhis
actions to go unchal lenged. Hall \'las used to bei_ng misunderstood by this
time, but Crowther was certainly not, and considered the Mercury 's
interpretation of the whole affair untrue and unjust. Indeed , he saw
19 Mercury, July 25. 1861.
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