New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-15
lDEPEW TO THE GRADUATES.
BRILLIANT SPEECH AT SYRACUSE.


THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE rHs STORY OF CIVIL
zArroN-souSD ADVICE STRONGLY PUT.
Svracusc. June l4-Chauncey NJ Depew TO-
night delivered an address before the graduating
class of the Syracuse Medical College. Beginning
his speech ME- Depew said:
Ladies' and Gentiemcn-It Is an anomalous situation
sor a man who is rushing by express trains to the
o,t,cal convention which IS to name tho next Pres
dent Of the United States to be diverted from his
,ourse into a quiet by-way Of study and literature
But having IN mind the dangers and accaents OF
eoltics Il may be wise for him to mako friends with
he medical profession. Certainly. there could be no
,afer retreat to start from return to than college
commencement Graduating day is the most interest
Ing period I'm ufe 1t crysalllzes in deafness memory
the pleasures OF the past and the aspirations OF the
future. Behind is the dream; before the awakening
Student years form romance which grows In interest
and beauty you recede from them, ana all OK
perences afterward the harsh reaites OF career
Whether you succeed or fall the associations winch
end tonight VIII be the one asset upon which the
sheriff cannot levy and which fortune could tempt
you to part with
Tho vocation chosen by a young man Is governed
oftener by accident than inclination But the manner
in which II pursued is controlled neither by luck nor
chance The liberal professions are crowded with In
compctents know ministers who should be palace
car conductors, poor lawyers who would have been
good drummers or CLERKS, and medical men who are
moro dangerous to their patients than tho disease they
treat. who were destined BY nature Tor the iarm OF
the factory. The world Is workshop full OF msn's'
and mAfts are always cheap 1t requires both faculty
and courage when you have discovered your MISTAKE
to drop your tools and start again. But II all the
hooters lawyers and ministers who never can get on
In their professions would get out and find other heds
Of labor 1T would DO infinitely better for themselves
and the country. living Stream Of new applicants
for public favor and support pouIs through the portals
10 dfcfpa lavV
estimated that doctors thus manufactured In such
large numbers that they form one to eveiy three
hundred inhabitants. At first view this seems very
uiscoufaging but tho situation has many compensa
ions. SO many are wholly unfit or badly prepared
that while they increase the miseries Of mankind they
add to the business and profits Of those who are
sapable The competitions Of modern life have De-
rome so keen that there no opportunities for inc
lame and the lazy. The first must hnd thelr proper
pursuits and the second must work or go TO the wall
have no faith In mottos or maxms or rules Tor
success and though often asked. never have any TO
give. A young man who has coed health and governs
his conduct by a conscientious answer to the ever
present question. Would my mother approves ana
gives tirccss attention to his business, Is certain 10
succeed 1t is impossible for every one 10 win lame
oy fortune or BOTH but the man WHO earns living,
oven In very modest way, feels tho inspiration OF
Independence and has safely passed the precplce OF
failure Repinngs for riches and angry envy OF pros
perty weaken the moral tone and mental fibre. They
paralyzc effort and end in empty vaporlngs In the
bar-room and empty larders al home. The opportun-
ties for accommodating large fortunes rarely come to the
members Of the liberal professions Their compensar
tons are in the position and influence accorded 20 their
culture and training With them, self support IS
success and when the surplus surely comes and with
Il home, larger comforts and fair competence for de-
clnng years, they enjoy measure Of happiness and
content rarely found with the and care of great
wealth.
HONOR AND HAPPINESS IN WORK.
have learned both by experience and observation
that the only real and lasting enjoyment in life Is TO
be found in work Everything which man creates
decays when neglected but nothing in nature or art
goes 20 pieces fast man in idleness The con-
dltIoDs of health, happiness development, mental,
moral and physical vigor and unmpared faculties for
old age found only in the full exercise OF all our
powers TO the limit OF their capacity. know men
who were completed when they graduated Their
thought and talk have gotten beyond college
politics aud the valres of the secret societies. They
are human Photographs, and the echo Of their under
graduate voices Of bygone generation touches no
sympathetic chord in the activities Of to-day. Such mon
have always been nervelcss dlers and in middle life
are hopeless failures Sir Henry Holland when past
eighty, returning fom his annual vacation to find his
carriage awaiting him at the depot, and completing
his round Of calls upon his patients before reaching
bis house. Mr. Gladstone, al seventy-ctght, more
oigent in public duty than any member Of his party,
ana finding time FOR excursions In the classics,
modern languages and the sciences, and to maintain
controversy in defence of the Bible and Christianity,
furnish unansworabe testimony to the sustaining and
reeenerating power Of work When young man is
that he has found the calling best suited his
abilities and training, whether the professions or the
farm. business mechanical industry, three rules Will
Invariably carry him through, stick, dig and
in republic work Is honorable, and a man has no
place ia the community and yeves lItle of It's
saoraon unless lie contributes )methng 10 tho rrve
ment of the complicated machinery of society. The
effect of American example is all over Europe.
1t has given to labor recognition and dignity in
tries whero formerly and within recent recollection
It was a badge OF Servitude.
MEDICINE AND CIVILIZATION.
But while every pursuit has IFS claim upon the
General welfare, the profession you have chosen is
entitled TO more than ordinary consideration. Nee
essarily experimental furnishes boundess opportunity
for cranks and frauds. Human suffering is easy
fold for Quacks who live upon the creduous and the
weak The strongest natures, when overtaken by
disease are easily imposed upon by the confident prom
ise of health II Is only in curing the sick that profit
and prosperity soonest to the most brazen pre-
tender. But the profession, with rare courage and
Sacrifice, has always been true to its Ideals and TO
progress. 1t has wagcd unceasng warfare against the
mysterious which fools the ignorant and degrades the
standard % practice. It's history IS one perpetual
trial of suggestions and discoveries and has subjected
them all to severest tests rejecting the false and adopt
ing the true. 1t refuses gain which comes with deceit
and rnerciessy dlscplines the offenders against its
code. The marvellous advances In the healing art, by
which suffering has been alleviatcd, life prolonged
and human happiness immeasurably increased, have
been due to the conscientious devotion Of physicians
10 that Dober side of their work by which their
brethren and the world receive at and without
hndrance cost the benefit Of their discoveries.
The history of medicine is the story Of civilization
The standard Of the profession the barometer Of the
cultured intelligence OF the country. AS the Greeks
were the most refined and best educated Of all the
nations OF antiquity, as they excelled in art and
literature that their works remain the models for all
generations they alone of the ancents questioned all
things and dismissed what could not be proved, so
their doctors became the founders OF medical system