Introductory address, delivered at the opening of the session of the Medical College of Georgia : on the second Monday of November, 1838 / by Joseph A. Eve.
- Eve, Joseph A. (Joseph Adams), 1805-1886
- Date:
- 1838
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Introductory address, delivered at the opening of the session of the Medical College of Georgia : on the second Monday of November, 1838 / by Joseph A. Eve. 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.)
22/24
![[22] frivolous pursuits ! Should you find hereafter, when the duties of this profession devolve upon you, that time misspent, nnd op. portaniti.es unimproved, have left you unprepared to discharge them aright, how condemned would you fee] before the tribunal of your own conscience,—how guilty in the sight of Heaven ! The present is the time to prevent the future upbraidings of your conscience, to deliver yourselves from the lacerating thoughts that must ever torture those who have neglected to lay up stoics of knowledge, in proper season, against the days of need. When called on as the sick man's only hope, when wife and children, with streaming eyes and groans of anguish, look to you to rescue the husband and the father from the grasp of death ; and when convulsively struggling with the grim monster, in his agony, he cries to you for help, how bitter would he your remorse, should your inability to afford relief be chargeable to your indolence or neglect—should it be the consequence of your having failed to qualify yourselves, for the high and solemn responsibilities you have assumed. In an hour so'awful, so fraught with grief, how terrible then to be constrained to mourn over murdered time, and opportunities forever lost! Could I do justice to my feelings and in force of expression equal the intensity of my in- terest for you. I would so forcibly impress upon your minds the importance of improving every moment of time, that your collegiate life, the period of your pupilage, would always afford you pleasure in retrospection—you should ever be enabled to look back with delight on time well spent and opportunities improved:—in the discharge of your responsible duties,—in every trial and difficulty, you would be sustained and cheered, by the invigorating confidence that you are prepared to do all that man can do. Whilst I would most heartily congratulate you upon entering](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21118358_0022.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
