Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-23 00:00:00

REASONS FOR ADOPTING THE RATIONAL

SYSTEM OF MEDICINE.

BY F. R. HORNER, M.D.

Shakespeare tells us of " sermons in stones."
Verily, when stones begin to preach the obduracy
of men's hearts should relent. The statute of
Memnon poured forth his song of welcome to the
morning sun. The beams of truth falling on men's
minds at first re-echo but dissonance and discord ;
time alone mellows the note into the sweet cadence
of harmony. Truth will not be kept down. Car-
penter tells us of a certain town iu England, whose
streets had been newly paved ; shortly thereafter,
rebellion appeared in tha causeway—the stones
rose up in utter defiance of all propriety o'

place; as humble and passive subjects. The
ranks had to be broken up, when lo ! it appeared
the paviors had reckoned without their host. Some
small cryptgomic mushrooms had taken up their
residence in that locality, and as legal inheritors
of the soil asserted their dignity against the im-
posed tyranny of the stones, and quietly turned

them out. Magna est veritas et preualebit. The

&c., &c.
The cloth having been removed, old system of medicine is evidently too much
The Chairman proposed "The Q teen," which was tinctured with dogmatism and intolerance ; every
drunk with three times three. thing new or novel in idea is peremp"orily
The Chairman said the next toast on the list was "The
Prince Consort." The Prince had always taken a great condemned ; if its notions happen to clash with
interest in everything connected with the tine arts and the usage and ancient order of things, it is forth-
with sent into " Coventry," with a pretty rattle at its
arcbre)logy. (On many occasions he had showu his
sympathy with the objects of the institute, on more than tail. "Can any good thing come out of Nazeretb.'
The
one occasion having attended their meetings; and Mercury, for some time past, has been edify
on the late occasion when they brought together ing its readers by a series of discussions, mostly one
that interesting collection, the Queen Mary and sided, of the rival systems. The old lady has little
her relics, his royal highness, accompanied by Prince
to say for herself; like the Eastern fruit seller,
Frederick William of Prussia, viilted the col_
she appears to think it enough for her good credit
lection and expressed his very great admiration of it.
—stare super vies antiques—and cry, in the name of
They were perhaps aware that some of the most interesting
portions of that collection they owed to her Majesty and the Prophet, " figs." If we are to place any confi-
Prince Albert. He concluded by proposing " Prince dente in her professions, as reported to the public
Albert, and the rest of the Royal Family." The toast was
by her petite rival, it is evident that the old lady's
drunk with loud cheers.
wits are disordered, and that her character is alto-
The CRATIMN A again rose, and said he now came to a
toast which he was sure would command their warmest gether no better than it should be.
But, revennons a nous mouton. We began with "ser
sympathies, and afford them the greatest gratification . •
mons," and have lapsed into "scandal." The writer
lie alluded to au individual who was one of
their chief patrons, the Lord Bishop of Chester. of the pamphlet under consideration, on the title-
(Cheers.) A. gentleman well known to them all, page, sets himself forth as " Late President and
and even those who were not intimately acquainted
with him were familiar with his ability and reputation in Perpetual Vice-President of the British Medical
and Surgical Association, Senior Physician to the
the university to which he belonged, as well as with the
Hull General Infirmary," Sze., &c.
liberality with which he had carried out all the pursuits
in which he had been engaged. He (the chairman) felt We presume that this gentleman, so laden with
quite inadequate to do justice to the many virtues of the honours, cannot be in the heyday of his youth
noble lord. with the names of the bishop and the patrons Now, we are told that when a man passes forty,
he also wished to couple the dean and chapter of the
cathedral, who had united in the kindest manner with his notions, like an old tree, have taken fast root—
the bishop to afford every assistance to the members of that incredulity takes the place of inquiry. We
the institute in inspecting those illustrious specimens of arc told that not a physician past forty years of
antiquity which graced that ancient city. He gave them age could be brought to credit the circulation of
"The Health of the Bishop and Patrons," in connection the blood. The discovery of vaccination was no
with the Chapter of the Cathedral, with whom he would
associate one of its most distinguished members present— better received—horns, hoofs, and hairy hides
h Ss
cheers.) were to result from the abominable practice. A
te Rev. Canon Slade. (Lou
4, The toast having baen drunk with much cordiality, learned theologian wrote a treatise, proving by
The Lord Bishop of Chester rose to respond, and was Bible quotation, that it was the veritable anti-
greeted with much applause.. He begged to thank them
as far as he was personally concerned, for the great Christ. Chambers's Journal may be profitably con-
sulted on the " Resistance to great truths:,
compliment they had paid him. Their noble president
had spoken of him in terms of kindness prompted by the It appears that the society of which this
gentleman was whilom president fulmin.
feelings of his own heart, but far beyond anything that
he deserved; as to the Chapter, he would not presume to ated an abjurgation and anathema against
tha e3ting on their behalf, because his reverend homceepaths and homceopatby. And now the
friend (Canon Slade) was well able to undertake that very " head-stone of the corner" cries out, " Peccavi."
duty himself. He would, however, join with the noble Surely the race so famous in nursery times has
president in paying a compliment to the Dean and Chapter. sadly degenerated—the heir is unsatisfied with his
He understood that the members of the institute were to
visit the Cathedral on Friday next, and he had no doubt old plum-pie—it is found to be very indevstible—
that the Chapter would take care that some one was pre" cruda indigestaque moles. Here is his own humble
sent to direct their attention to the very many objects of confession
to this very time—and it is with humility I
:
interest which the cathedral contained, and not only so, Yet, up
make the confession—that, blinded by prejudice and
but he hoped that their attention would also be drawn to
the manner in which a very considerable portion of the ignorance, like the rest of the profession in Hull and
building had recently been renovated and embellished. elsewhere, I deemed Homoeopathy a vain and impossible
For these embellishments they were mainly indebted to thing; and even when I began to read, to investigate,
Mr. Anson, the Dean, and to his kind friend Canon Slade, and to put it to the proof, I had far more expectation of
by whom the Dean had been most actively seconded and unmasking and exposing it as a fallacy, than I had of ~
assisted. (Cheers.) On the part of the inhabitants of discovering in it that good, by which, the evils of the old
Chester he begged to say that they saw with pleasure practice of medicine might be obviated ; and a more
the improvements that had been made, and the means
gentle, but far more e
which had been provided for efficiently performing the efficient method of cure, be sub.
stituted.
religious ordinances within its walls. Day by day, in
addition As an additional motive for investigation, I felt that,
to the other portion of the services, they saw
how beautifully the choral service was performed. Above the time had arrived when something must really be done, l
all, he knew that the inhabitants of the city were proud both by the individual and the collective efforts of the
of the ministry of his friend, Mr. Slade, which was profession,--the onward spread of Homceopathy must be I
marked for soundness of doctrine, and not less for the stayed. Notwithstanding the oft repeated declaration of
Christian charity which he uniformly inculcated. (Hear, my professional brethren to the contrary, it was too ate-
hear, and cheers.) For the :members of the institute, parent, that it was not " dying out," but was steadily
now assembled in Chester, he would express his beliet progressing, nay, rapidly extending itself. Not amongst
that many of them who were now taking part in it would the credulous and uneducated, but the enlightened and
feel a pleasure on reflection, for a long period in the higher classes of society, were daily becoming its firmeet
future. He would go further, and express his opinion
adherents and determined sur rters. Nor was this
that, in all probability, there would be some lasting ,oee
onward progress restric
memorial of their visit to the city. Some time ago baths ;-.ed to any town or district ; bat
throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland ; and yet fey
were constructed near the Water Tower, and new there
was a proposal to form a garden of more than au acre in more, throughout America, Germany, and France, and
extent, for the amusement and recreation of the inhabit- Dr. Guest. of Cahn College, fe-A.nabridge, responded, throughout all the &atm of Europe, was it adopted
ants. He did not say that this project had risen into life remarking that he felt a ditfieulty in doing so, when he
=
through the visit of the Archseelegloal Society, but this saw before him one of the most distinguished members Id
was
sricsoaheivdinced
rested by the r.:,
much he would say, that the proposal some time since that ever resided within the walls of the university (the
abuse and misrepresentation of the
made had become more active by the meeting of the Bishop of Chester). He claimed credit for a love of leryth, at this progress was not to be ar
institute here, and lie hoped it would now be carried into archaeology[ and although not a profound friend of it, he medical FP;fession; amidst it all, Homceopathy had but
effect, and be what he should indeed be proud of, a memo- was a csincere one To all persons who zealously studied
He tthie'emsselfees.anldincreased,—people would think for
rial of tne visit of the society to this city. (Cheers.) it. it would afford equal pleasure and instruction.
The Rev. Canon Slade ales) returned thanks for the nowrfeelt assured, that the only rational and
icould have wished that on the present occasier! mere ttiaP il, effective, as well as manly and honourable way, of di".