Lecture on the responsibilities of the medical profession / by John P. Harrison.

  • Harrison, John P. (John Pollard), 1796-1849.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lecture on the responsibilities of the medical profession / by John P. Harrison. 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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    i'eeling in the minds of medical men? Let each young man who beholds such a disgraceful exhibition, as is sometimes seen, of suc- cessful charlatanry, rest assured that the reign of error and impos- ture is brief—that the foundation of the empiric is laid on perish- able materials, and that though he may amass wealth, that no sure and abiding honor attends his career. Veracity is violated by such a man every time he administers his nostrum, for he is practically setting his seal to a delusion which his own false statements have engendered? Is truth, the tutelary genius of science, the best friend of erring man, and the only sure guide and safeguard of our happiness? Then, the man who wilfully propagates a lie and prac- tically affirms it, is, most assuredly, the enemy of his race. The nostrum vender is, therefore, an enemy of man; he is a blot and an anamoly on the beauteous face of God's moral creation, and should be shunned as the upas tree—for he lives in an atmosphere of de- ception, delusion, imposture, and sordid self-interest. The responsibilities of the medical man are of a momentous kind He is to understand his profession well before he attempts to prac- tise it; and he is bound, by every just consideration of his responsi- veness, to improve himself every day, in order to meet the daily de- mands made on his skill with augmented usefulness to society. Gathering, from every available quarter the elements of knowledge, be must, by intellectual analysis, convert them into the sound de- ductions of a well balanced judgment. But he is called upon likewise to be a man of strict veracity, of exemplary sobriety, and cf faithfulness to his professional obligations. Truth should be per- sonified, as it were, and put into unceasing exercise by the physi- cian. He should reject all. ostentation and paradeful exhibition of his business, and manifest a dignified simplicity in his intercourse with society. A man, filled with a desire to fulfil his duty, lives for reality, and not for display. The ways of duty to such a man are direct, and the means of accomplishing them simple. Such a one has intellectual and moral improvewent always before him, and, regulated by this unity of view, he preserves habits of candor and honesty with himself and with those around. Cultivate, therefore, this true dignity of character, and, let others debase themselves as they may, ever preserve this moral excellence. Animated by these views and considerations, your course will be onward and upward; step by step, you will ascend into a freer atmosphere, and reach a more expanded prospect. Thus all your energies will be borne along unconditionally and unreservedly towards the objects to