[Valedictory address].

  • McDowell, Joseph N. (Joseph Nash), 1805-1868.
Date:
[1856?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Valedictory address]. 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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    Young Gentlemen :— The hour has arrived when we must part—say farewell—bid adieu—and it is ever a painful one to him whose heart is warmed by one drop of the blood of sympathy, or who has one impulse of gene- rous feeling, or a soul. He who lives rightly, lives not for himself, but for the whole human race, casts from him the selfishness and the meaner things of men, and looks to the higher and more glorious fu- ture. He who feels properly, feels for his friends, his companions in life, and lends all his aid to give comfort, happiness and peace to those he loves; for true to nature, as the mirror in its reflections, will that we give be returned, and our own is our neighbor's happi- ness, or neighbor's joy. Our neighbor's or our brother's griefs should bring us pain, for even in the agony of sympathy there is a pleasure in imparting it. And though in this life we may be robbed and de- ceived, friendship is the jewel at last, and love lights the lamp that leads us to the grave, and hope points the way. The earth we tread— the air we breathe—the starry heavens that we gaze upon—all teach us that all around us is change, motion, that atom is from atom borne to meet with other atoms, to combine and be separated again, while all is being—life,—yet all is one grand design, and what seems to us a partial evil, no doubt is universal good. It has been good for us to be together ; we have toiled in the laboratory of nature for the good of our fellow man ; have gone through arduous duties in the achievment of knowledge, have mingled in harmony, in joy, and now, like all things in this world, perhaps in the world to come, we must part— change, as progression, elevation and advancement, are nature's watchwords ; we part in peace, but to renew the struggle elsewhere, that by motion, action and energy good may be achieved, knowl- edge diffused, and the human race benefited. We therefore, should not grieve, we should look at nature as God's work for goodness, his bounty and beneficence to his creatures, arid bow to his superior wisdom, look at it as it is, and live the life of the patient philosopher, the humble and submissive christian. In the great drama of life there are parts for us all to play. There are duties which devolve upon us as Physicians, as men, as citizens, and as christian, which we should well consider, and weigh well, that we may the better play our part, that life here and hereafter may be happy :