Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-05-07
ADDRESS oF
ZINA PITCHER. NJ. D..

waters OF the fount ofie; coming as we have in cor
siderable numbers from distant portions of the
United States, abandoning for the time being our
private engagements and encountering on our
way hther the hazards incident to velocity in loco
motion, as if only to enjoy the social amenities and
the pleasures of professional reunion, these two
questions naturally arise in the minds of those who
are merely Witnesses Of the spectacle presented by
our assemblage. "For what purpose is this convo
cation Of physicansg What is there in the nature
of their particular pursuit. which prompts them
thus TO reinquish its rewards, to for.go the en-
dearments of home, when there is no visible mani
festation their part of design to promote those
objects which center in self interest advance the
purposes OF sectarsn ambition or political parti-
sanshipr'
In the ful6Ilment of duty incident to the posi-.
ton which have had the honor to hold for the
past year, year full Of pleasant recollectiobs to
myself, shall whilst designing u breviiy to fol-
low the example of my honored predecessors, at
tempt an explanation Of the phenomenon we may
be supposed to present to the mind of anintelgent,
but uninitiated observer
Before entering upon the task have assigned
to myself / beg YOU to indulge me one moment, in
repeating to the Association nv assurances of graft
itude for the distinction have received at its hands
and for the personal manifestations Of confidence
aud the acts of courtesy, / have received from
many of the individual members, the recoLlections
of which, will linger in my memory and lessen the
consciousness Of my weight of years, the remain
der of n V Journey, down the declivity of life.
The objects for which the Association was formed
will ever enlist my warmest sympitbies and COM
mand my active cooperation. / congratulate you
on the happy circumstances by which this aBniver
sarv meeting is attended, on the evidences of vigor
and the promises Of longevity which this Associa-
ton derives from its annual mgratiOns God grant
that its existence may be prolonged by these an
nusl renewals of its vitality, so long as there
evils for il TO reform, or works OF benefcence for
it tn accomplish.
To do what | have proposed satisfactorily to
mvseIf vouli involve the necessity Of showing the
relation which medicine has held TO the civil au-
thoritv. TO the ecclesiastical power and to the So
cal cond m of the people for ell time antecedent
10 the date of this organization. This review would
also lead Us to consider the relation which free gov
ernments bear to letters to science and the arts;
field too srrp for US to occupy the present occa-
sion. We shall endeavor without attempting all
this. 10 present to your view the condition of the
prof, sson at the time this organization sprsng out
of the antecedent chaos, the of that
con ition; whether inherent and incurabe, or
whether arising from extrinsic circumstances. which
may he remedied, and whether this remedy is to be
found in public authority, or sought for in assoca-
ted professional influence.
We remark first that great and notable law
marks and governs all the works Of creation. tits
typifed 10 the individual mind-n our corporal
functions-in the movements of the race-aud in
the revolutions of the heavenly hosts:-all are sub
iact 20 this Law Of periOdciiy and this alteration Of
condition manifests itself in the domain Of dis
ease We have seasons Of activity and repose in
the natural as in the moral world; periods of lu-
mination and Of obscurity-of activity and of resi-
in the one case, producing day and night, winter
and summer. and in the other those alterations Of
social condiOp which have been spoken Of as the
Athe n age, Oh age of darkness, literally long
and profound intellectual eclipse to which has
ceeded the active eva of mental excitement and Of
material progress ia which we live, by which we
are moved, the sun of which appears not yet to
have reached its point of elimination
In all the struggles which have marked the con-
hcts between truth and error, ignorance and knOwl-
edge, medicine has always taken conspicuous
part. having ever been faithful auxiliary, when
not leading element in every effort made to ele
vate and improve the condition of mankind, at on
time allied to lrerdotal auth Drity indweller Of
the temples and at another, Incorporated into the
body polite or rather engrafted upon the tree Of
State.
In the earlier stages of civil advancement, in all
those territories once composing the eastern and
western empires, as is the now in Europe,
where certain forms ot government exist, the SOW
ereicn authority prescribed the modes of worship,
the forms Of law and the requirements of medical
practitioners. o. the vigorous conservatism Of
these existing European governments is relaxed by
the caprice OF warm and foolish princes, at the
gestion of wicked men or misguided women, the
right to exercise the functions OF the physician, is
only conf rred on the most satisfactory proof of in
defatigable culture. Aud in the earlier pages Of
our national history, we find the footprints OF
our European ancestors in the records of those sal
utAry laws inside for similar purposes and transmit
ted to us by our political progenitors.
But in the process of time, when our form Of
government was changed, when the repository o
sovereignty beclme inverted, when the power of
the State passed from the few to the many, when
the State became nothing and the citizens ell in ALL
when this aggregation of the sovereign power was
rendered complete by the absolute freedom Of the
elective franchise in many Of the States, then our
art ceased to have party in the commonwealth,
MS the law which became the exponent Of this new
opinion, the expression Of the popular intelligence,
effaced from the public record all legal traces OF
distinction between the physician aud the bypo-
critical pretender.
When these ancient legal incentives to study
were Withdrawn, new class OF men unprepared by
mental discipline rushed into the professional arena
bearing down by their numerical force the few re-
maing barriers which society was disposed to de-
fend, notwithstanding the abrogation OF Law.
The polite 4. which separated the Ameri-
can colonies from the British crown, by loOsening
the connection between the church and the State,
iusensibly led the way 70 the more complete separ
alton of medicine from governmental control and
political dependence. These manifestations Of pop
ular soutsm, which swept away the preroga.
tives of the clerical and medical professions
threatening TO involve the law 10 the same unchaI-
tered equality, were the remote Of the pro-
fessonal abasement we bad then reached humil-
ating consciousness Of which aroused its members,
who 10 the hope Of reinstating its departed dgEity
10 form this Association.
Whatever effect this unrestricted distribution Of
political power, through all ranks Of society, may
have had upon the social body It is not our bu-i-
ness 10 enquire, as ours Is not political insttu-
lion, but OF its immediate influence in reducing
medicine TO state OF degradation, there Is no res-
eon for doubtng the fact nor the propriety of this
exposition, for With physicians, eIiOlogy is often
K, 20 diagnosis, and without true pathology
there is neither safety certainty in therapeutics
10 treating Of medicine 10 its soci.l ana political
relations. II is not my design, as have no wish
even II the power were inherent, 20 change In any
particular our organic tiOn, or TO advise an essen
tial departure from our plans Of operation. have
Or scented the ect 10 this light more for the pur-
pose Of reviving the courage Of members who NAV
have begun TO despair OF success, because TIE OBJ
cts We set out to accomplish, have not been at
once achieved.
lime must be given for results to mature, as all
socal instituions are Of slow lr0~th. Their roots
descend slowly into the social soil. Those who
eothe and feed the members OF them. must become
imbioed with sense OF their importance aud ne
cessity for their advancement, - a means Of pro
noting the public good, else their cooperation can
DOT be secure Hence our duty OF endeaEoring to
move The social body and all is dependencies, Ike
the horses OF Grecian ChsriOl all abreast striving
AZ she same time 70 sAield ourselves sgainst the
propensity inseparAble from the shsola,ism Of a
pure democrsey, 20 deapitate every 0hj-ct that
raises is bead above the surroun ing social iese.
We have stated with pbl,snphleal accuracy. but
mariana not with nfrci regard d lit. RAJ hi.inrie