Address of Joseph M. Toner, M.D., President of the Association.
- Joseph Meredith Toner
- Date:
- 1874
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Address of Joseph M. Toner, M.D., President of the Association. 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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![At each recurring meeting we are painfully reminded, by the absence of some one or more gifted members, whom we have been accustomed to meet, that death has been thinning our ranks. On the 8th of Feb. 1874, Prof. Henry Miller, of Louisville, Kentucky, sank to rest, in his 74th year.^ He was president of this Associa- tion in 1859. At home and abroad, he was extensively known as a vigorous thinker and an able writer. For over half a century he enjoyed a large and responsible practice, and much of this time was a popular teacher. In conclusion, I must beg the privilege of thanking you for your patient attention, and again reiterate my confidence in the belief of a steady increase and accumulation of knowledge in the world, and the undoubted progressive and permanent elevation of the profession in the United States. My conviction is decided, that in no period in the world's history have the rights of individuals and the wants of humanity been so well secured and so invariably accorded to the mass of the people as at the present time. And, further, I affirm that the United States, by her liberal institutions, the customs and intelligence of her people, conspicuously leads the nations of the earth for comprehensive benevolence and Christian charity. The heart and mind of the American people are educated from childhood to enjoy freedom of thought and liberty of action, and to exercise all their talents as their judgment dictates; at the same time they recognize a brotherhood in the whole human race, and award an equal opportunity to all in the struggle for fame and fortune. Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you expresses the spirit and logic of the age, and renders invincible the crusade that is revolutionizing the world. With Tennyson I exclaim:— Ring out the old, ring in the new! Ring out the false, ring in the true! The inspired promises and hopes of mankind demand a kindlier ' The combined ages of llie thirteen presidents of this Association now deceased give an average of nearly 74 years; the oldest having reached tlie age of 8b, and the youngest dying at the age of 52. The average age of the twelve now living is 63 years; the oldest being 77, and the youngest 48. [Dr. George Menden- hall died .Jnne 4th, while the meeting was in session.] From records in my possession I find the average ajte at which 200'* American physicians died was 58 years. I find also the average nge wliich 1000 United Slates congressmen have died is 02 years. The average ajfe at whicli 1200 I'roshy terian clergymen of the United States died was .17 years. The latter fact has been furnished me by J. M. Wilson, of Washington, D. C.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22304150_0021.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
