The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1856-12-03

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Man has body, soul, and sometimes Q
linls property; and being oyermuch inclined
to do wrong, he needs doctors, clergymen,.
and lawyers A physician 70 have the cure
/ Of hia body. . priest for the cure OF his
soul, and lawyer TO cure his estate.
Thus sin gives US doctors Of medicine, doc
tors of divinity, and doctors of law, These
are the learned professions. Which is the
most learned, ! cannot tell-but for some
reason or oiher, medical men are all called
/ doctor as soon as graduated, while D. DIS
and L. L. DIS come only with grey hairs and
many years, or many friends.
But if sin has made the professions learn
ed, It 100 has made them old. They came
out Of the ark with shem, Ham, and Japhet,
and Il they did not exist In Eden, Il was
because
sstlie fruit -
OF that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought athintoth world and ailour wee,o
brought also 'loss Of Eden.' They have their
origin in mans necessities, and as man is
always, and everywhere, q needy creature,
the types of the three professions are found
among all nations, and in all ages. Wepu
in this claim for physicians in a&epecial
sense, for though the clergyman 1xas as
soon needed as the doctor, he was not,
Judging from modern history, as soon want.
cd. Medicine, too, is older than law, for
suppose men took sick before they went to
law, If not, il was very soon afier.
Medicine dates back TO the morning oflife,
the shadows Of hoary antiquity gather about
its cradle. The annals of history do not
reach back of il, but only open the portals
Of fable, in whose shadowy domain il is
supposed to dwell. Escuiapius was grand
son Of Jupiter, whose father was Time him
self. This is but putting the chronology Of
medicine into poetry, to show how venera-
bic in years, and how honorable in descent,
it is. II is as old as pain. Pain was the
first instructor in medicine, and the instinct
Of se!f-preservation the first physician.--
The first man that tied up sore finger, or
hung his wounded arm in sling, praciised
medicine. The first mother whose mater
nal love made her assidnons to relieve her
child, laid the foundation Of Therapeutics.
From these small beginnings which instinct,
selflove, or benevolence made, it has grown
into the splendid science Of modren Medi-
cine, science which has rendered tributary
to itself, the virtue which lies concealed in
every other science. II has but one ques.
s;a..yy - srsr;fl this-rasanse rain1 VIII fhis
kind interrogatory, it accompanies the chem
ist into his laboratory, and watches patient
ly his retorts and crucibles, TO see whether
specific will not distil from his alembic.-
With this inquiry, it goes a-simpling with
the botanist, over every hill, by every run
ming stream, and through all dewy fields
If, perchanee, in some curiously carved
chalice, it may find ia drop of comfort for
the invalid lying at home. With these
words, it inquires of the springs, which are
attempered of God, in the bowels of the
earth, for draughtto drink to its patients
health. With the same benevolent words,
1t interrogaies the heavens for Stellar or 9TH
or virtues, and knowing that even brutes
may be the deposiioriesgof healing powers,
the physician does not hesitate to ask coun-
sci OF the broad-faced lowing kline. Medi-
cine shavisg to do with all sthe thousand
natufal shocks tllat flesh is heir 10, y its yo-
taries have been IN accredited fraternity in
all communities. While Plato considered
Il . disgrace that city should have physi-
clans and rulers, he was compelled to admit
both into his model republic. The ssNew
Atlantis, p Of Bacon, had its dispensatories,
and doubtless its doctors too; and even
More's Utopia was not considered perfect
without hospitals. AS long as men have
souls, they will want ministers; as long as
they love money, they must have lawyers;
and 60 long as they have bodies, they will
need doctors. Men could do without the
former two, if they would, but not without
the latter. Those are useful--but this is
necessary. II may be that the physician is
a necessary .evil--but he is necessity, and
as such, ! propose to examine his mission.
What | have TO cay on this subject will be
contained in the answer to this question:
What is the true idea of physician or,
what is the physician 10 do, and what is he
to be?
The first duty of the physician is to heal.
All suffering presents crisis for action, the
physician is appointed to meet il, and what
ever sacrifice Of time, knowledge, or skill is
demanded, belongs to the minister Of health
to make. As q member Of the sanitary
police, he must be always on duty. This
vigilance, as viii readily be inferred from
the constant presence Of pain, may suffer
no intsmission. Our world is at best but a
poor one,---a sickly patient, much afflicted,
with many ills; solns acute, some exceed
ingly chronic. There are ravages Of plague
and psstilence devastating some quarter Of
the globe every year; now falling on Lon
don, now smiling Marssilies. When the
pestilence thus walks abroad in darkness,
and the destruction wastes Of MONDAY;
whena thonsand fall by our side, and ten
thousand at onr right hand--in this high
revelry Of disease and death, what we want
Of the physician l. that he should cure. In
this Carnival Of the grave we feel that the
world is indeed sick. But even in health