Inaugural address delivered at the Royal Medical Society, October 26th, 1888 / by W.S. Greenfield.

  • Greenfield, W. S. (William Smith), 1846-1919.
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inaugural address delivered at the Royal Medical Society, October 26th, 1888 / by W.S. Greenfield. 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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    INAUGUML ADWESS. Mr Pkesident and G-entlembn^—w hen I was invited to deliver the Inaugural Address on this occasion, both my first and second thoughts were to decline the honourable but arduous task. For not only did I feel myself unequal to it at the best of times, but the an- ticipation of a special pressure of work during the vacation made it certain that I could not do it justice. That I consented was due to the fact that I felt that this Society had a right to command any feeble services which I could render, having conferred upon me what I esteem as one of the greatest honours of my life, that of becoming one of its Honorary Fellows—an honour which, so far as I am aware, I have never done anything either to deserve or to repay. The light in which I regard this Society probably differs from that in which it is viewed by most of you ; for in past years I dwelt in a city where this University and Medical School were but little known, and were greatly misconceived. Bat in the obscurity enshrouding the little known, and so far as known much repro- bated. Medical School of the North, there shone out one bright particular star, one redeeming feature. A graduate in medicine of this University, or a licentiate of the Colleges, whatever distiuction he might have attained, had as such no honour; but a man who had been a President of the Pioyal Medical Society, and still more a Senior President, whatever that mysterious distinction might import, was regarded as of necessity a man of mark, and as one who had a passport to fame. This, and this alone, far outweighed and superseded any other testimonial in competition for an ap- pointment. It is easy, then, to understand how deeply I felt tlie honour conferred upon me by this Society. Fate had for ever debarred me from the possibility of becoming a president, but such alleviation as was possible you afforded nie. The enormous prestige and world-wide reputation enjoyed by this Society are well grounded. When one glances at the roll of ]>ast Presidents, and others who have been prominently connected with it, one cannot but be struck with the familiarity of the majority of the names. These men liave become known to fame l)y their discoveries or their writings, and few have failed to justify in after life the opinion formed of them by their fellow-students.