164 BAILLY. 



All the trepanned die in that hospital ; whilst this opera- 

 tion is tolerably successful in Paris, and still more so at 

 Versailles." 



The maladies continue double the time ! The mortal- 

 ity there is double ! All those who are trepanned die ! 

 The lying-in women die in a frightful proportion, &c. 

 These are the sinister words that strike the eye periodi- 

 cally in the statements of the Hotel Dieu ; and yet, let 

 us repeat it, years passed away, and nothing was altered 

 in the organization of the great hospital ! Why persist 

 in remaining in a condition that so openly wounds hu- 

 manity? Must we, together with Cabanis, who also 

 abused the old Hotel Dieu severely, " must we exclaim, 

 that abuses known by all the world, against which every 

 voice is raised, have secret supporters who know how to 

 defend them, in a manner to tire out well-meaning peo- 

 ple ? Must we speak of false characters, perverse hearts, 

 that seemed to regard errors and abuses as their patri- 

 mony ? " L/et us dare to acknowledge it, Gentlemen, 

 evil is generally perpetrated in a less wicked manner : 

 it is done without the intervention of any strong passion ; 

 by vulgar, yet all-powerful routine, and ignorance. I 

 observe the same thought, though couched in the calm 

 and cleverly circumspect language of Bailly : " The 

 Hotel Dieu has existed perhaps since the seventh cen- 

 tury, and if this hospital is the most imperfect of all, it 

 is because it is the oldest. From the earliest date of 

 this establishment, good has been sought, the desire has 

 been to adhere to it, and constancy has appeared a duty. 

 From this cause, all useful novelties have with difficulty 

 found admission ; any reform is difficult ; there is a nu- 

 merous administration to convince ; there is an immense 

 mass to move." 



