The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-03-26
THE THREE PROFESSIONS.
BY REV. ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK, D. D.

to one another. sometimes near, or over.
hear, dispsraging comparisons between them.
But such comparisons seldom proceed from
the higher levels. There are not very many
great men in any profession; it were simply
childish to inquire which of the three is
greatest-a great divine, great lawyer, or
great physician. In each of the profess
sions, what athletic mastery costs only the
masters know; and knowing that, they know
one another. Learned men instinctively con-
fess their ignorance in branches with which
they are most familiar. Each of the profess
sons opens ont into immeasurable realms
One has quite enough to do if he simply
minds his own business. And yet the pro.
fessions constantly touch one another; they
have absolutely the same constituency. The
ology gives attention to personal character,
building for eternity; law protects the citi-
zen; medicine the outward man. We want
no more saints of the desert Character is
dependent largely upon condition: economic,
civil and social. We must have good SER
mons; but We must also have good laws,
we'll executed good industries, we'll directed;
and good homes, well aired and lighted.
This leads me to speak of your profession
as service. You 60 forth, not merely to
get living or name, but to benefit and
bless mankind. "The end of medicine"
says Aristotle, els health" Consider what
that means: not merely healing the sick, but
teaching men how not to be sick. "During
the middle ages" says Coleridge, "the Pa
pacy was nothing in fact but confederation
of the learned men in the West Of Europe
against the barbarism and ignorance of the
times" Such confederation is needed in
every American village from Passsmsquoddy
to the Golden Gate. Only it should not be
exclusively clerical, legal or medical. But
the three professions, each respecting itself
and each respecting the others, should coun-
sci and work together with will. Good
men under good laws, we'll executed; sound
minds in sound bodies; the life that now is
training men for the life to come; this is the
chief end of science and of man.
One word more. The professions are to
society what the brain is to the body. But
the brain may be too big for the body or
may get too much of the blood. This is what
is the matter with Greece to-day. A uni
versity with more than fifty professors and
more than twelve hundred students for
people numbering only million and q half
is something to be looked at all around be-
fore we applaud it. If these young men,
when they quit the university, would also
quit Athens, return to their sunburnt homes,
plant trees, SOW crops, ply trades, build roads,
launch vessels, Greece might hope to be
Greece again the Greece of Pericles as well
as of Plato. may be blamed for saying it;
but / am honestly of the opinion that our
American civilization also is overriding itself
professionally, not in quality, but in quan-
tity. Political economy is now in rapid de-
velopment, and will be able to tell Us, by
and by, with great deal of precision and
certainty, the proper normal proportion be-
tween the four great classes which We call
agricultural, mechanical, commercial and
professional. Meanwhile, I think it safe to
say that we are just now making too many
doctors, such as they are; too many lawyers,
such as they are; too many ministers, such
as they are. I do not forget that the Chris
4 tian ministry claims to be and is pre.eminsnt-
| ly service not wholly of this world. But
it is likewise profession, and, as such, amen
able to economic Law, know, too, very
we'll that no profession is crowded near tho
4 top. But too much crowding at the bottom
hurts the top. Too m;.eh- competition for
the lower places cheapens the sompstitosa,
80 that candidates fo- the higher places are
fewer if not inferior. In regard to your
own profession. tell me whether it is yield
ing to-day it's proper proportion of great
practitioners and authors. l may be mis-.
taken about the other professions, although
! know them better; but my impression is
that the law is not yielding to-day its proper
proportion of jurists and statesmen, nor is
divinity yielding its proper proportion of
great preachers and theologisns. Extract
from address before the College of Physicians
and Surgeons.