Address to the graduates of the Medical Institution of Geneva College : delivered January 25th, 1842 / by C.B. Coventry.

  • C. B. Coventry
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address to the graduates of the Medical Institution of Geneva College : delivered January 25th, 1842 / by C.B. Coventry. 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.)

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    head ol his form, to the hero who on the ensanguined plain lays down his liiV to ol.tiim the metd of glory. Implanted in man by his Creatoi for useful ends, when prompted by the principle of benevolence and guided by reason, it becomes one of tho noblest of our desires; but to secure the approbation of the wise and good (whose approbation is alone worth possessing), we must so conduct as to secure their confi- dence and esteem. In no profession docs this feeling operate with more force than in that of medicine. It is indeed given to but few to live in the memory of after ages, but if we trace the historic page, we shall find that onr profession has contributed its full quota to tho illustrious names not doomed to die. It is, however, in their own particular cir- cles that it is most operative. It has been said, and perhaps with truth, that no man is so apt to become vain as the country practitioner of medicine who has acquired some reputation in his profession ; cutoff by the pressure of business from an extended intercource with the world, every wdiere received with a cordial welcome, almost a dictator in his little circle, his mind must be strong indeed if it is not sometimes thrown from its balance and betray that egotism which is often a weak- ness of truly great minds. We find that man in a state of cultivation has an inherent love of the sublime and beautiful, and that all nature is adapted to its gratification. No feeling is more improved by cultiva- tion ; and none is calculated to furnish more pure and unalloyed en- joyment, or contribute more to individual happiness ; this is almost the only instinctive feeling which seems to have been created purely to contribute to intellectual enjoyment. Nearly all the others—whilst their gratification contributes to the happiness of the individual—are made subservient to the preservation of life, the well being of commu- nity, or the happiness or comfort of our fellow beings. In all this we cannot but admire the wisdom and goodness of the divine author of our being, who has so constituted man that the fulfilment of his duties to his Creator and-to his fellow man should at the same time constitute his highest enjoyment. Aside from the evidence of revelation, one of the strongest evidences of a superior and superintending power, is, that there is implanted in the constitution of man a disposition to venerate and worship such a power, and that in the absence of all knowledge
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