Lecture, introductory to a course on the principles and practice of surgery in the Jefferson Medical College : delivered November 1st, 1847 / by Thomas D. Mütter.

  • Mütter, Thomas D. (Thomas Dent), 1811-1859.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lecture, introductory to a course on the principles and practice of surgery in the Jefferson Medical College : delivered November 1st, 1847 / by Thomas D. Mütter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    with that hypothesis. Well may we exclaim: Poor learn- ing, poor philosophy, that would destroy belief in an intelli- gent Providence, who directs, rules, and provides for the uni- verse. It may conceal its withering influences under tenets evoked from the misty depths of speculation, or clothed by poetry in hues of summer light, but it is after all a noxious principle. It shatters at once the basis of true religion, quenches the fires of living faith, interrupts the soul's com- munion with its God, and leaves it desolate, and tossed from doubt to doubt. How marked is the contrast between these authors, and those who, like the sacred scribes of old, were deeply imbued with the spirit of him, who touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire, and like him consecrate every place of their sojourn. To such will ever be erected,— Shrines, Such as time's keen tooth may never touch ; Cenotaphs, Which have no dread of the fierce flame, That wreck the solid world. In your literary studies, then, keep a steady course in the pathway of morality and virtue. I need not dwell upon the character of the studies strictly professional, to which your future time and attention will be chiefly directed here,—these will, on the proper occasion, be fully elucidated by those to whom the task has been allotted, and I shall therefore pass on to the consideration of some other requisites of the student of medicine. While a good physical conformation, and a fair preliminary education, are essential to every one who aims at the attain- ment of a high position in our science ; there are other agents of great consequence, and often even more efficient in securing professional success. 4th. A love for the profession itself, an ardent passion for its objects, a keen relish for its studies, and a high esti- mation of its elevated character, should be cultivated by all its votaries. It has been well observed by Edmund Burke, in his celebrated Reflections upon the revolution in France, that the degree of estimation in which any profession is held,