The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-25

paralleiIed devotion of each in the cause of stricken humanity Is an example that in these days we can Ill afford to lose for this is the era of the "strenuous life" 1" whose prophets declare that only the animal strong have the right to live. The aged, the infirm. those smitten with grevious malsdy we are told should be put out of the way as unfit to survive. There Is not much honor nowadays in l washing the feet of the poor It Is far more practible to rough-ride valiant | ly to the top of San Juan hill It is an arduous task in these times to build ! 'hosteiries for stricken pilgrims It Is much easier and far more glorious to shoot down benighted Spanlards in the swamps of Las Guasimas.
 we need an hour like this which in- spires the strong to hallow their strength in putting 1t to the esrvice of the weak. which reminds us that mercy ever biesses him that gives. The maxim inscribed above these doors Is not Live and let live.' but that far noble motto Tive and help live.' This place teaches us that all | life is holy, that Its prolongation is our duty and should ever be our joy. | Scripture tells us. you remember, how all the camp of Israel tarried seven days | until Miriam the leper was cured. The shallow in the camp imatiently chafed that the advance of the nation should thus be delayed. And yet Israeis tar rying until the sick one was cured was after all an advance in terms of humanity even as their unseemly haste to move on
 would have been retrogression. | "Nobiy have you tarried, Sisters of St.
 Margaret's by the bedside of the suf- fering: nobiy have you tarried to rear these tents of mercy; and now that your work Is established no heart in this vast throng but what joins with me in the | fervent prayer-May God bless you as you go forth on your errands of love. | May your visits be looked upon as angel vists. May the tread of your footsteps l sound sweeter than the sweetest music | and may your presence command that | homage which the soul spontaneously | renders those. in the depths of whose hearts are hidden the profoundest prin. ciples of character.
 Nor shall we forget in these prayers and good wishes the physicians who with in these sacred walls have never failed to answer the tender appeal to those healing charities which they alone know how to bestow. Doctors like ministers are oftfmes made the butt and merri- ment of cheap wits who cannot compre- bend much less appreciate the multiplied labors, the thankless tasks they are CdhCo tU Tcul6uUef hearing the story about Dr. Cunningham the celebrated Alabamian who was called upon to address a gathering of fellow members of the medical profession. The genial doctor. in his inimatable way, be- gan lauding the art of medicine in words of burning eloquence. Comrades said he. your profession Is the noblest among the avocations of men. You usher the new born babe into the world and you preside at the death bed of the old man and close his eyes In the last sleep Yes the speaker and you charge both times"
 T wish to say here that I agree with Dr. Cunningham. The medical profess sion is the highest. the most difficult. the most important, the most ancient. the most honorable among the merely human avocation of men. It was honored by Jesus himself, who selected a physician as one of the twelve and robed him with the same splendors of dignity and power with which he enveloped the others.
 "All honor to the physicians of Mont- gomery. I pay no Idle compliment. I pronounce no fulsome eulogy when I say the city Is justly proud of them. Not one of them but stands ready and will ing at all times to answer the penniiess appeal of the poor. And there Is no higher gift to humanity than this-the unpurchased service of the medical priest hood.
 "To the holy men and women who have brought this enterprise to such a suc- cessful issue the Jewish people of Mont gomery in this suspicious hour extend their heartfelt and sincere congratula- tions. Tn pursuing your task you have been singularly free from all degrading
  fair art which promised to raise you at know by experience to be the simple truth when say that your doors have ever been open to all classes of our people irrespective of creed or class This Chari- ty Hospital at least stands upon the broad platform of toleration and freedom and as such it is true to the inspiration of Its patron St. Margaret. ever pro- claiming the gracious message of Scot lands sweetest bard
 " Then let us pray. that come it may,
 As come 1t vii for a that
 When man to man the whole world OCT
 Shall brothers be for a that
 May this institution therefore continue to be what 1t Is today-the pride of Mont gomery County-standing here the per- sopihcation of later day St. Margaret A majestic figure. robed with the royalty of knowledge. shod with the golden can- dals of progress, belted with the brilliant girdle of charity; her mantle of public spirit held by the jeweled clasp of un- selfishness. holding in her skilled right hand the Damacus blade of surgery; in her strong right arm the enamelled shield of medicine; on her brow the large clear brilliant diamond of science, her eye keen and watchfuI, her handsome face bene- volent itself her large heart throbbing strongly with sympathy for the afflicted wishing for and striving for the better- ment of mankind.
 Address of Dr. Baker.
 Dr. J. N. Baker. as representative of the active physicians, spoke in part as follows:
 "To my mind there Is conveyed a mean ing in this ceremony far more pervasive, far more inclusive than the mere open ing of a public institution; it does more than this; 1t makes an era in the life not only of the organized medical pro. fession. but also of the city of Mont gomery. A moment when our city unuues- tionably leaves the realms of village hood and dons the raiment of fuil-fiedged cityhood. for such a structure could but be the ear mark of modern and pro- gressive city.
 Yet however great may be the good done our city as such, this Is not the only. nor even the greatest good One of the dominating features of the Cath olic creed-and to my mind. one of the most beautiful-ls its untIring zeal in the efforts to alleviate the pangs of pain and to relieve suffering humanity, and, after all, 1t is hard to conceive of a more noble mission in this life.