The art of medicine, its objects and its duties : an introductory address, delivered at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, on the opening of the winter session, 1860-61 / by Edward Lund.
- Lund, Edward, 1823-1898.
- Date:
- [1860]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The art of medicine, its objects and its duties : an introductory address, delivered at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine and Surgery, on the opening of the winter session, 1860-61 / by Edward Lund. 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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![But, gentlemen, if this is to be the chief engagement of your life, if it is to be your future business to carry out these noble objects, it is only right that you should know, at the onset of the attempt, one of the first con- ditions under which you must accept the task. Recollect, then, that if the profession you have selected, may in truth be said to be of all professions the most noble, with equal propriety we may add, and of all trades the tuorst. You must not seek to enter its ranks from mercenary or pecuniary inducements, or you will soon discover, to your great discomfort, that it has no charms for you. It is difficult to say why it should be so, for it ought not to be,—that while it is a profession of universal applicability, it is one in which its members are but poorly paid, and in which the anxiety and ceaseless toil exacted from them, are but very inadequately remuner- ated. I know that some will feel inclined to dissent from what I say, but I am sm-e they will only do so from an imperfect acquaintance with the facts ; here and there are found exceptions, but if your line of conduct from the first is to be honest and consistent; if you are really prepared to act as you profess to do ;—the remuneration you may derive from your professional exertions must hold only a secondary position in any calculations you may make. Let me entreat those of yow who think otherwise, to pause here to-day;—it would be far better that we should part as friends, that you should seek some other employment more congenial to your tastes, and more in accordance with your expectations ;—than that you should go on, under the impression that you will quickly attain to influence and wealth ; and then, to secure this result, have recourse to those irregularities and cajoleries of practice, in which some indulge, and for which the common apology is,— ivell never mind, luhatever his practice is, orthodox or not, he is making ''a great deal of money I Oh! gentlemen, this will never do !—this, this is not the test that marked the pro- gress of a Sy])enham or a Hunter, a Jenner or an](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22327307_0012.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
