Contributions to British Gynaecological Society : session 1902-3 / by J. Halliday Croom.

  • Croom J. Halliday (John Halliday), Sir, 1847-1923.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Contributions to British Gynaecological Society : session 1902-3 / by J. Halliday Croom. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    and the courteous and kindly fellowship which such a society fosters, as well as the friendly intercourse between old and young, between youthful enthusiasm and the serenity of old age, should teach us, if nothing else, at least the three reverences : reverence for that which is above us, our seniors in age, our superiors in thought, our teachers, whether divine or secular ; reverence for our equals, our contemporaries, our fellow-workers, our competitors in the race of life, being generous to them as we would like them to be generous to us, scorning to take mean advantage or speak a detracting word. Forget not, however, gentlemen, the third reverence ; reverence for that which is below us, the less gifted, those who have had fewer advantages, those, it may be, who have misspent their time, or through their own fault have come to distress, and those who of necessity are our inferiors. This reverence for what is in a sense below us is the noblest of all reverences, as it is the highest attainment in culture, whether moral or intellectual, which you can reach. Alas ! how very few of us realise or even recognise in later life the ideals of youth. Those who ever do must subordinate self, and strive for that which enobles and uplifts others. In working for others and human welfare generally, the highest energies of the soul may be employed without waste and loss of power. And after all this ought to be, as I believe it really is, our highest ambition. The ethical standpoint of a gynaecol- ogist ought to be the highest, because women unreservedly and confidingly trust themselves to his hands to undergo anything he may suggest. It therefore should be with us, as I am sure it is, our earnest endeavour to make ourselves worthy of the trust and confidence which womankind place in us. In the adoption of our various methods of work, though some in our department be somewhat conservative, and others inclined to press rapidly on and risk much, yet the end we all aim at is one, and as the end is one, so plainly it is our duty and our privilege to take the best wherever we find it, and to hand down the torch to our successors—