An introductory address delivered in the theatre of the Middlesex Hospital Medical College, October 3, 1870, at the opening of the winter session / by Wm. Cayley.

  • Cayley, W. (William), 1836-1916.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introductory address delivered in the theatre of the Middlesex Hospital Medical College, October 3, 1870, at the opening of the winter session / by Wm. Cayley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Gentlejien, It having devolved upon me to deliver this year the customary introductory address, I should, indeed, feel myself embarrassed and at a loss if it were expected of me that I should say anything new to the majority of my hearers, or even to put before them what is old in a new foim; but fortunately on these occasions there is always one part of the audience, those who are seated here for the fh-st time, to whom that which may appear tedious and common-place to the rest, may not be mthout a certain degree of interest and instruction; those who to-day entering upon a new course of life may fitly be asked to pause for a moment, and, as from some vantage point, to take a brief survey of that yet untrodden coun- try they are now about to travel; not, indeed, as fr’om Pisgah, to look down upon a promised land fiowing with milk and honey, which they have only to descend upon to take possession of, but to look upwards rather, with courage mdeed, and a good hope, but yet, perhaps, not quite without anxiety, at that lofty mountain of science whose steep and difficult sides they are now preparing to climb,—with comrage indeed, and a good hope, for success is in the powjer of all who earnestly strive for it, but not quite without anxiety, for we know by experience how many fail. It would be but natm’al that thus at the outset of an arduous undertaking you should wish to foi-m some estimate of your chances of success or failure. As these, with each one, depend mainly on his own exertions, it would of course be impossible to predict the probable B