The two ways : an address to the graduating class of Castleton Medical College, delivered November 24, 1858 / by William P. Seymour.

  • Seymour, William P. (William Pierce), 1825-1893.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The two ways : an address to the graduating class of Castleton Medical College, delivered November 24, 1858 / by William P. Seymour. 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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    tells you the ground whereon you stand is holy; it could not be otherwise while you are the objects of so much unselfish affection, the centers around which are clustered so many high and heartfelt hopes. To the eye of a superior intelligence you are standing upon the threshold of a life, hitherto passed in the seclusion of home, and as yet comparatively unburthened by the responsibilities of inde- pendent thought or action, while a lengthened vista of years is opening before you, full of events and issues depending to an incal- culable extent upon the resolutions which may be formed under the influence of your present feelings. It is a time for self-com- munion, a time to carefully review the steps which have hitherto marked your progress, to conscientiously estimate your power9 and capabilities for the duties before you, and definitely settle the principles which shall control your future course. It becomes not me to dwell upon those higher interests which concern you as immortal beings, and which are involved in the decisions you may form. Such thoughts are left to the promptings of conscience, the associations which are suggested by this conse- crated place, and the awakened sense of accountability which is ever present at each important era of our lives. As the representative of those who have hitherto directed your studies, and as a member of the profession you are this day author- ized to practice, I stand here to point out two diverging ways before you, and present, with what judgment I may, a few considerations which may determine your choice. The degree of Doctor of Medicine with which you have just been invested has long ceased to have a definite value. It is tra- ditional that it once stamped its recipient as the possessor of a notable amount of knowledge concerning the ordinary operations of nature — as learned in the sciences on which the practice of medicine is based, and as well skilled in the treatment of all the forms of disease to which the human body is liable. It argued the existence of thorough culture, scholarly tastes, a high sense of honor, a love of the profession, a courteous regard for the rights and interests of others, and that generous elevation of sentiment which characterizes the gentleman. In that day the title Medici- nae Doctor was popularly interpreted by the terms doctor and