The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-10


task Though not written originally of him,
yet how true is all this of one of your own
Alumni; man hOnored with rare uIS,lllS-
tionS by Two Continents. yet not more n0tol-
ed than lamented: q man who combined re-
markable simplicity, modcsty and the thor-
oughgoing conScentiouSness of sincere plety
with wonderful skill as Il surgeon. ENeIS
CarOIinian, no, will not limit 1t, every man
who appreciates the high merit which COM
mandS success points with just prlde 10 the
name of Dr.. Marion Simms.
1t is possible. however, to carry this enthusi-
asIn, laudabIe as it Is, to an extreme. IL IS
pOSSble to set Il higher value upon the conSls.
tent development of some great pathological
principle than the life of patient. This
dearest earthly possession and most sacred
gift may be sacrificed in devotion to some pro.
tcSSional dictum. We have read OF monk
who pcrsistcntly practiced lithotomy: He
was remarkably successful-in killing his pa.
tentS. When demonstrated with toy one or
the fathers, he replied: 1T is my business to
get the stone, and its the Lords business to
cure the patient.
The only true enthusiasm is that which i'm
pels to n profound acquaintance with the great
principles of your profession, and which feels
Obliged in many cases to be content with q
merely tentative method. To ignore the fact
that in very many cases the data upon which
you are to base your method OF treatment are
very uncertain; to forget that i'll unspeaka'
bly, better sometimes to hasten slowly than to
prescribe blindly; this, we say, Is TO expose
Yourselves to the charge of a criminal zeal
and it is as we'll to disregard the soundest
mnXimS Of experience.
ID Your profession imposes also
AN OBLIGATION TO A LARGE CHARITY.
Suffering always appeals to our sympa-
thy and help. II is the mute petition
er, the silent pleader which s,o IN It's aaS;ns wena
begs not for gold or silver, bnt for some
healing balm, some Nepenthe. Yours is the
peculiar temptation of securing living from
the pains and sicknesses OF your feliow-meh;
You are compelled to consider the, loss and
cain even where life and death are the issues.
But it is just as true of medicine as of any 9TH
er yoca tiOn that it is II prOfeSSlcn not trade.
The community holds in just contempt the
lawyer or the minister or the teacher who re-
CARDS his calling as something merely by
which to make living, or, II you please, 10
make fortune; who follows 1T for the money
that is in it. He whose ambition is bounded irol
has parted with all the glorious privileges of a
divine kinShip. and he loses the only opportu-
nity he will ever have Of developing u nigh
and lofty character. Grant that the end de-
sired is obtaincd-that comfort and wealth
are secured-that the physical conditions are
all vastly improved, but what OF that? Every
ACQUISITION which has been made under the
sovereignty of Il principle cOnfesScdly so sub
ordinate is at a fearful sacrifice of character;
The weakness of ignorance has been trampled
upon, the plea,lin.s of Indulgence have been
denied, the cries of suffering have been un-
heard, All the 1llanllOTu clcESS VI lHtCileS',
heart, and will has been employed in an un-
worthy service. so the community judges.
One OF the noble distinctions OF the medical
profession is that it offers such opportunities
for the cultivation of Il true benevOlence ana Il
divine charity. In town and village and
country as well as in the city. there are cases
which demand the highest professional skill
and yet the patients are too poor to oficr any
this country, which knows so little of pauper-
ism. who does not constantly meet with such
caSes. The poor you have always with you. L
would be withholding the truth, the simple
truth, if failed to say that with wonderful
generosity the profession respond 20 their
calls With a patience and seltdenial that
challenge our highest admiration. the poor,
the squalid poor, the poor whom vice hath
doubly robbed of subsistence and lrtue, are
constantly visited and served by the best tai;
ent OF the profession without money ana
without price. This is to walk very closely III
the footsteps of that Divine Physician whose
touch, whose look was Sonndness ana healtn
to the diseased and the halt. and who has left
for you His royal bencdiction In every genu-
inc act of charity. when He said, "BlesSed are
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy: l
believe it was an eminent English physician
who said, "My poor patients are my best pa
tientS, for God is their paymaSter.'
One of the professors OF the famous Jelicr-
son Medical College, of Phi ladclpha, IN his
address at the beginning of II college term,
used this language: ~ invite you to this vo-
cation as one presenting the means OF doing
great good to your fellow creatures. l invite
Won TO come in and work along with the be
nevolent and learned physicians, ana lhe eu.l-
Gated, brave surgeons of America; to go out
with them into the hauntS of misery and pain
and where the fear of death and its eXpecia-
ton are ruling and bear messages OF conSola-
ton and hope, and through Il knowledge near
ly akin to the miraculous burst the bonds that
lead men down to death, giving strength Tor
weakness, JOY for horror and dismay, ana the
sweetest cOmplacency for pain lncXoranle.
far % "a
cance of the Greek when he said, The wise
physician is in q manner a god There are
thousands of them who do good by stealth
NII.) This suggests another important pro.
fessional obligatlon-one when grows OUT ol
THE NATURAL RELATION OF MEDICINE TO
MORAL REFORM.
If therc be such relation, then you
have definite position 10 take you have a
public responsibility 70 meet which does not
attach to the nOn-prOfeSSiOnal citizen. The
physical lite, the bodily health of man, occu-
nv y large and prominent place in these moral
reforms. Let me say that these moral reforms
constitute one OF the features OF our times,
and they are asserting their claims TO public
attention with an intense aggressiveneSs. In
deed so deep and widespread is the agitation
of some of them that there are those who
think the battle has already begun. But all
that we have seen and heard is only the play
of Il skirmish line.
Back of this visible movement the great
forces arc gathering. They are marshaing
themselves for q protracted and desperate
struggle. Plans are maturing, melhods are
canVasScd, differences are in process of adj
justment, organization is perfecting itself, all
this under the concentrated energy of IL battle
fcrvor Take, as an illustration. the temper
ance question Il do not propose to discuss any
of the special methods which are so earnestly
advocated in this great movement0 but 1t Is q
living question:; it is one in which physicians
have Especial interest. You cannot go into a
tt,i., Sfnfn nlnh hnk
some way taken hold of this question. With
your professional training, familiar as you
are presumed to be with the laws of health
and the condition Of longevity, your opinion
will be asked and your influence sought upon
one side or the other, very probably by both
sides. Living in the midst of such tulnullu-
Gus agitation, you cannot afford to sit still IN
icy, relentless indifference. With every great
interest OF society in peril, with tile destroy
ing angel shadowing our very homes. these
sacred germs of our social, national any relSl-
Gus life, will it be an unreasonable cXpccla-
ton. nay is it not q Just, imperative demand
that you lend the full weight of your profess.
iOnal influence to the good cause OF sO5rlCty.
Ii some divine hand would touch our scared
eyeballS that we might see how deep down
this question goes and how far it projects IT.
self into the coming centuries, We might un'
derstand the fiery utterance of Thomas Ar
mold, when he says, There is nothing SO revr
lutionary. because there is nothing SO unnatn'
raj and convulSive to society," as the strain to
keep things liked when al the world is, by tho
very law of its creation, in eternal progress;
ana the cause OF the evils Of the world may
be traced 10 that natural but NEST deadly cr
ror of human Incidence and corruption, that
our business is to preserve and not to I'M
prove" "Hcnce it is" hcaddS, "that reform
when long scorncd ami repulSed, must needs
change her viSagr to rcvOiutiOn.'
1t is Il recognized maxim OF your profession
that prevention is better than cure This is 4
plain definite distinct proposition. 1t rests
upon no abstract theory. but upon Il wide IN
duction OF facts. II pledges you to steady
unyicldiny opposition to everything which Is
the enemy OF Il mans health and tends to pro
.ducc disease. You may not be Il preacher o