An introductory address on the future of St. Thomas's Hospital : delivered at the Hospital in the Surrey Gardens, on the occasion of the opening of the session of its Medical and Surgical College, October 1st, 1862 / by John Syer Bristowe.

  • Bristowe, John Syer, 1827-1895.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introductory address on the future of St. Thomas's Hospital : delivered at the Hospital in the Surrey Gardens, on the occasion of the opening of the session of its Medical and Surgical College, October 1st, 1862 / by John Syer Bristowe. 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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    I passed^ this morning, by our old Hospital, and saw it deserted, disniantled and in ruins. I felt a deep pang as I watched the work of demolition going on, in that place, with which so many years of my life have been intimately associated, and which has for me so many bright memories. For there, seventeen years ago this day, I commenced those studies which were to make me a physician; and there, for seventeen years continuously, I have pursued them. That was the scene of my early struggles, my defeats, my successes. There, the ambitious yearnings, of my younger days, began to take definite form; and there, too, have seen their imperfect, but not to me I hope disappointing, fulfil- ment. There, above all, I have made many true friends, have met kind hearts, pure spirits, rare intellects, whose intercourse has made my career pleasant to me, whose influence over me has, I believe, been powerful for good. There, too, four years since, I had the honour of addressing the pupils of this school, on a similar occasion to the present. I recollect, how then, for the first time, I stood an orator in that grand old Hall; in which, from the period of my pupilage, I had Kstened, year by year, to words of greeting from the lips of teachers, now my friends and colleagues; in which, I was encompassed by the memorials of the innumerable benefactors of the institution; and in which, I was mysteriously overshadowed by the mighty dead, my predecessors, whose wisdom, shadowy and vast, seemed still a living influence. I recollect, how then, I stood amidst buildings, which had been hallowed by the bounty of kings, by the charity of name- less generations, by the prayers and thanksgivings of the tens of thousands who had partaken of the benefits of the Hospital; by buildings, in which Cheselden, and Akenside and Eordyce, in which Cline, and Travers and Tyrrel had taught and laboured. And I