Page images
PDF
EPUB

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

TO THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.

you

GENTLEMEN:-The task which have imposed upon me, and which I come before you this evening to fulfill, is one for which I am ill prepared. Habits of retirement long indulged, are not easily laid aside. The occupations of the sick-room favor a close, sententious manner, rather than fluency of speech.

It may, indeed, be said, that in this respect I am only on a par with my associates. Few of us, it is true, are known as public speakers. Eloquence gives spirit to the pulpit, gives spirit to the bar; but the Genius of Medicine sits pensive and alone, her finger on her lips, as if admonishing her votaries by the example of her own silence, to bury deep within the recesses of their bosoms the disclosures of the sick." Ours is the quiet profession. The prudent physician is the keeper of his own counsel; thinking much, and speaking little.

But, Gentlemen, though not given to elocution, I have not felt at liberty to refuse this opportunity of addressing you. I cannot plead the diffidence of a stranger. I am not here among you for the first

« PreviousContinue »