The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-04-07

DTeted the dunes OF NCur CalllnRS 70
REQUIRE it at your hands. Others
worked with you-all honor h them
from noble motives, but il was for
YOU two 10 remain IN professional
duty. Therefore | repeal, above most
cities Memphis should most revtrpnt.
ly, most royalty, welcome You. We
rejoice, too, in gather ngs like this be-
cause we know that in the friction
which comes from interchange OF
thought and comparison Of expert
ment there is inevitably an advance
ment in human knowledge. The
Eastern idea that in lonely meditation
the philosopher is evolved may be
true. The poet and the inventor may,
like the giants, be dwellers apart, but
he who is to soothe his suffering fellow,
to bind up his wounds and sometimes
make him whole, must be by bis side.
Out Of these meetings too should come
sn elevation Of profef sional standard.
Belonging as / do 10 the law, this has
naturally been a source of keen inter
EFT to me. Nothing human, OF coulss,
can ever be perfect, and so long as
civilization lasts we will have the
qusck doctor and the shyster lawyer.
But it lies within the power of any
earnest body OF men, who will act in
concert, to reduce the number aad the
evil done by these scrss on the body
public. Every man his own doctor
and lawyer" are cheap cries which
flatter the vanity Of many and mislead
the credulous. We meet the gentle
man very constantly who has listened
to them. He is always prepared to
tell you how your patient ought to be
physicked and to tell me OF how my
case should be conducted He will
never be suppressed, and, indeed, / am
not prepared TO say that he ought to
be. We occasionally get valuable sug-
gestions from him, and when we don't
we can afford to laugh rather than
frown over his overweening self
confidence. l won't say, therefore,
that we should tsnish the learned
doctor who never got his diploma or
hang the able lawyer who was never
licensed, but what | do say is that it is
a great wrong to permit the doors OF
either profession to be thrown open to
any applicant, whether qualified or not.
True, in the majority of instances the
man WHO has not the capacity to be
either doctor or lawyer soon falls out
of the race and does but little harm.
But that httle should be prevented, and
inevitably tn ere will remain after the
stupid, but honest man has fallen out,
the shrewd and, generally uuscrupu-
lous, charlatan who ia dos enough TO
get himself trusted with human life
and honor and base enough to he in.
different OF false to that trust The
remedy is, in large measure, in our
own hands. Legislatures are willing
to listen to US when we ask that the
law prohibit the incompetent prsci-
toner. The courts stand ready--or il
the exposed charlataI il we will only
have the courage to make the demand.
OF course, in mere address Of welcome
must content myself with the sug-
&c ton and leave the argument and
details untouched. Your profession
is too great o1e TO be burdened with
this evil, and it ought to be righted.
You seldom enter public life, it is
true, but all citizens are interested in
public needs. 1t has been
wisely said that he who causes two
blades of grass to grow where former
ly there was but one, is public bene-
factor. 1t may be said, with greater
wisdom, that he who has made one
pain less for his fellow-msn is a greater
benefactor. This constant sight aud
contact with suffering, this cease ess
war with misery, this pushing away
yet a little while the dreadful coming
OF death, the conqueror, is strain 80
terrible that 1t is wonderful how your
serenity and peace is retained, To be
without keen sympathy for the agony
you are Gale 4 on to relieve, would be
to make you inhumau. To allow that
sympathy to 30 master you that in
sorrowful tears you stop to grieve,
would be 10 destroy the physi-
clan. Meeting 30 much OF weak
ness, knowing 30 much OF secret sin,
which your professional honor keeps
concealed, II you did not also know
so much OF the heroic side of man and
learn 80 much OF the self.sacrifice OF
won an you must needs all be cynics.
Humanity puts on little of playful
ness or ioyfulness in your presence,
but almost always appears in ex-
tremps. lis the naked mantle man
as God made him-with whom you
deal This Consciousness OF human
misery, which surrounds us like some
great wall over which there is no
climbing, must appsll you because.you
know it bettsr than most OF your fel
lows. No matter how happy may be
your individual lives, this leaden az
M here OF brothers. pain weighs
down upon you. To come day by day
out of Gods glad sunshine, away from
your own CHEEKY home circle, into
yoDder daIkened, sitting sick-room,
coming, too, at times with the thought
that you can bring none OF that sun
shine, none of tina. cheeriness here
must be terrible To stand by thai
bedside, where the breath is coming
in such heavy, labored effort; tC
take up the poor, feeble hand, which {
few yesterdays ago was so strong t
work out coed deeds; to feel that ebb
ing pulse, and know that the rec
tide which lie now coming in 50 slowly
must soon-so go >n-Ro out forever il
to wear out a part OF yourselves
You know, &c you stand by that bed
side and feel the despairing, longinl
looks turned upoa you, tnat voul
work here has been in vain. You
the man OF mortality, must now give
nlace to the man of Immortality, Tis
not for you to fold the tired hand
which, whether they gathered .rosei
or only horns along LIES highway
have forever finished working now
IT'S not for you to console the broken
hearted living. The preacher mus
now take your place and point ever
as Agnes Wickfield-upwsrd. Car
you 90 back into the bright day with
out some OF that darkness following
you? Can you return to the cheerl
home without something Of that swfu
hush and frozen silence falling abou