Author Description

Excerpt from Lecture, Introductory to a Course on the Principles and Practice of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College: Delivered November 1st, 1847 In accordance with the established custom, I appear before you this evening for the purpose of bidding you, in the name of the Faculty of this Institution, a hearty wel come to Our Halls, and at the same time of addressing a few words of counsel and advice to those among you, who for the first time visit this great city. And although my theme may prove trite, there is yet no subject more fraught with interest and importance to you. Who are you, my young friends The sons for the most part, of country gentlemen, now thrown for the first time into the vortex of a densely populated metro polis - are you aware Of vour position? Does the desolate feeling of the stranger induce you to think that you are truly alone in the world, with no one to counsel, no one to observe your course of conduct here? Does a feeling ef sadness pass over your spirit, when you reect that a father's warning voice can no longer be heard; that a dear mother's anxious prayer for her beloved son must be offered up in a spot made sorrowful by your absence; that a sister's fond embrace, and endearing look of love and sympathy, are no longer yours Or do you, rather, rejoicing in what may seem a manly freedom, rudely thrust aside all tender emotions, and rashly determine, in the vulgar phrase, to enjoy life 3 I trust there are but few among you weak and foolish enough to entertain this latter view of your position here. For let me assure you, that when you imagine no one heeds your steps, many anxious eyes are directed upon them. Yes, that venerable parent who hopes to behold in you the staff that Shall support his feeble frame in the days when evening's lengthened shadows and nature's waning powers make manifest, that, for him at least, a new city, and a new world, must soon be sought, watches over you with fear and trembling, and prays that his son