Discourses on medical education, and on the medical profession / By John Ware.

  • Ware, John, 1795-1864.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Discourses on medical education, and on the medical profession / By John Ware. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/120 (page 13)
    i OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, 13 profession in future upon an honorable and endur¬ ing foundation. And we may remark, in the first place, that, whatever may have been the merits or demerits of the members of our calling, it has not, in point of fact, been from a knowledge of the former, that the confidence of mankind has been given them,— nor from a discovery of the latter, that it has been taken away. Those who once bestowed their confi¬ dence were no competent judges whether it were de¬ served ; those who have now withdrawn it or diminished it, are as little capable of appreciating the qualifications of those upon whom they sit in judgment. It proceed¬ ed from that blind reliance upon prescription and au¬ thority, which led men to accept upon trust many opin¬ ions, and suffer the existence of many institutions, which had no other foundation. This is a species of confi¬ dence, which, among the progressive portion of man¬ kind, is not now reposed in any thing. Neither in law, in government, in morals, nor in religion, is such author¬ ity recognized. Every thing is made subject to care¬ ful scrutiny,—its foundations are examined,—its truth is tested. Every thing is presumed to be capable of im¬ provement. And if on any subject there exists, or is fancied to exist, in those connected with it, a disposi¬ tion to oppose the operation of the principle of pro¬ gress,—a disposition to cling too closely to the past,— there will result, as a natural consequence, distrust and want of confidence. Such a disposition does exist, with regard to all subjects ; and, although in many persons, on the one hand, the spirit of improvement degenerates into an indiscriminate zeal for novelty and change,—