A Psychiatric Milestone | Page 3

the Assembly
Hall.
Mr. Edward W. Sheldon, the President of the Society, acted as
Chairman.
MORNING SESSION
The exercises opened with an invocation by the Reverend Frank H.
Simmonds, rector of Grace Episcopal Church at White Plains:
Oh, most mighty and all-merciful God, whose power is over all Thy
works, who willest that all men shall glorify Thee in the constant
bringing to perfection those powers of Thine which shall more and
more make perfect the beings of Thy creation, we glorify Thee in the
gift of Thy Divine Son Jesus Christ, the Great Physician of our souls,
the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in His wings, who

disposeth every great and little incident to the glory of God the Father,
and to the comfort of them that love and serve him, we render thanks to
Thee and glorify Thy Name, this day, which brings to completion the
hundredth anniversary of this noble institution's birthday. Oh, Thou,
who didst put it into the hearts and minds of men to dedicate their lives
and fortunes to the advancement of science and medicine for the sick
and afflicted, we render Thee most high praise and hearty thanks for the
grace and virtue of the founders of this institution--men whose names
are written in the Golden Book of life as those who loved their fellow
men.
We praise Thee for such men as Thomas Eddy, James Macdonald,
Pliny Earle, and these endless others, who from age to age have held
high the torch of knowledge and have kept before them the golden rule
of service. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Be pleased, oh merciful Father, to bless this day and gathering. Lift up
and enlighten our hearts and minds to a higher perception of all that is
noble, all that is true, all that is merciful. Awaken our dull senses to the
full knowledge of light in Thee, and may all that is said and done be
with the guiding of Thy Holy Spirit.
We pray for the continued blessing of this institution and hospital, and
on all those who are striving to bring out of darkness those unhappy
souls, into the pure light of understanding.
Bless the Governors, physicians, and nurses, direct their judgments,
prosper their undertakings, and dispose their ministry that the world
may feel the blessing and comfort of life in the prevention of disease
and the preservation of health. And may we all be gathered in this
nation to a more perfect unity of life and purpose in the desire to spend
and be spent in the service of our fellow men.
We ask it all in the name and through the mediation of Thy Son Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Amen.

ADDRESS BY MR. EDWARD W. SHELDON
MR. SHELDON
It is with profound gratification that the Governors welcome your
generous presence to-day on an occasion which means so much to us
and which has perhaps some general significance. For we are met in

honor of what is almost a unique event in our national history, the
centennial anniversary celebration of an exclusively psychopathic
hospital. A summary of its origin and development may be appropriate.
A hundred and fifty years ago the only institutions on this side of the
Atlantic which cared for mental diseases were the Pennsylvania
Hospital, chartered in 1751, a private general hospital which had
accommodations for a few mental cases, and the Eastern State Hospital
for the insane, at Williamsburg, Virginia, a public institution
incorporated in 1768. No other one of the thirteen Colonies had a
hospital of any kind, general or special. With a view of remedying this
deplorable lack in New York, steps were taken in 1769 to establish an
adequate general hospital in the City of New York. This resulted in the
grant, on June 11, 1771, of the Royal Charter of The Society of the
New York Hospital. Soon afterward the construction of the Hospital
buildings began on a spacious tract on lower Broadway opposite Pearl
Street, in which provision was also to be made for mental cases; but
before any patients could be admitted, an accidental fire, in February,
1775, consumed the interior of the buildings. Reconstruction was
immediately undertaken and completed early in the spring of 1776. But
by that time the Revolutionary War was in full course, and the
buildings were taken over by the Continental authorities as barracks for
troops, and were surrounded by fortifications. When the British
captured the city in September, 1776, they made the same use of the
buildings for their own troops, who remained there until 1783. A long
period of readjustment then ensued, and it was not until January, 1791,
that the Hospital was at last opened