Report of the directors of the Dundee Lunatic Asylum, for the year ending May 31, 1837.

  • Dundee Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the directors of the Dundee Lunatic Asylum, for the year ending May 31, 1837. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/22 (page 4)
    it with greater patience and assiduity. Such was the in¬ fluence of his authority with the public, arising from the respectability of his character, and such was the earnest¬ ness of his importunity with his personal friends, that his success in obtaining subscriptions often exceeded his most sanguine expectations, and yielded a pure satisfaction to his mind, amid the many difficulties it was necessary to surmount. The erection of the Asylum has been a work of time—different parts of an extensive plan, not yet; nearly completed, have been executed, as the funds increas¬ ed and the public need required; and, consequently, there was a continued demand on the time, talents, and influence of those who administered the affairs of the Institution. The supporters of the charity willingly rallied around Mr Blair, encouraged his efforts, and cheerfully lent their aid in carrying his views into execution. In the year 1830, the Directors requested him to sit for his likeness; and a full-length portrait of him, by Colvin Smith, is suspended in the Committee Room, as a mark of respect to his me¬ mory, and a lasting memorial of the valuable benefits which have, through his influence and activity, been con¬ ferred on his fellow-men. The name of Mr Blair will descend to posterity associated with this excellent Institu¬ tion, and hold a place in the list of our public benefactors —one of the ingredients which had much influence in sweetening the cup that was presented to him during his long journey through life, was the consciousness of having contributed to the welfare of the most hapless of our race; and the Directors having enjoyed much pleasant inter¬ course with him for many years, while engaged in the same labour, feel that they cannot let slip this, perhaps the last, opportunity of holding out to public approbation the character of one whose memory they revere in death —whom, in life, they venerated as a father and esteemed as a friend. There has been a gradual addition to the number of patients ever since the House was opened: The number at present is 132; and the average of this year is greater