Charge to the graduates of Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia : delivered March 1, 1857 / by Professor John K. Mitchell ; with a list of the graduates ; published by the graduating class.

  • Mitchell, John Kearsley, 1798-1858.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Charge to the graduates of Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia : delivered March 1, 1857 / by Professor John K. Mitchell ; with a list of the graduates ; published by the graduating class. 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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    is among the honored of the land; one, whose literary labors enlighten and improve society, whose wisdom guides the coun- cils, or whose courage and conduct lead the armies of the republic to repel invasion, or to maintain independence. Unlike the juryman, you may stand alone, in this solemn and responsible trust; your decisions unaided by friendly council; your skill embarrassed by malignant or officious intrusion; your sense of responsibility made doubly burdensome, because you are called to the case by the confidence of friendship, the flatter- ing estimate of ability, and the natural belief, that you, who have earned the first honors of your professional education, have neg- lected none of the means and appliances essential to the success- ful pursuit of your multifarious art. The very confidence re- posed, first in you, next in your education, should weigh heavily on your sense of the importance and solemnity of your vocation. Solemnly, therefore, have the Trustees of the Institution from which you derive your professional rights, called together this great assembly, to witness, and give dignity to the occasion. Im- pressively has the President of the Jefferson Medical Col- lege pronounced you, before them and the whole world, honor- able in character, and skilful in profession. In a moment of time, you have been lifted over that mighty barrier which separates the contemplative from the active life; which places you in novel and most responsible relations, and whilst it presents in the vast vista of time, the forbidding images of care and toil, offers also to your view honor, usefulness, and the sweet regard of many a charmed circle. So far, you have done well. The great barrier has been suc- cessfully and honorably surmounted. So far, by the meritorious issue of your scholastic labors, you have, I am proud to say, con- clusively demonstrated the possession of untiring industry, and competent knowledge. The great assemblage before which you now stand, unites with us in hailing your induction into the honorable faculty of accredited medicine, and your more distant friends will, I trust, meet you with a no less nattering acclaim. But neither in this presence, nor elsewhere, is the satisfaction founded on the mere act of transition by which you pass from the quiet studies of the learner to the active duties of the physi- cian. It is compounded of approbation for your meritorious and arduous novitiate, of reasonable hopes for the continuance of