A PHYSICIAN'S COUNM
TO HIS
PROFESSIONAL BRETHREN.
BY A PRACTISING PHYSICIAN.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
NO. 821 CHESTNUT STREET.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by
JAMES DUNLAP, TREAS.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania.
S2'ER0T'YPED BY
JESPER HARDING & SON,
INQUIRER BUILDING, SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA.




PREFACE.
THIS little treatise has been prepared by its author, with the humble desire of drawing the attention of medical men to their religious privileges and
responsibilities on the one hand, and the temptations which assail them on the other. No one
can trace our profession, in the retrospect of past
ages, without feeling its barrenness of a general,
vital, moral power. As a body we have too often
seen it incredulous and sceptical; and even in a time
of enlightenment we find Sir Thomas Browne, in
his " Religio Medici," writing as if it were almost
necessary for a physician to apologize for having
any orthodox views. Such a state of things has
in part passed away, and the genial warmth of
(3)




4                PREFACE.
true science and revelation has melted and floated
off many of the barriers which, like arctic icebergs,
impeded moral progress. Still there is a want of
applied, earnest, concentrated, religious influence,
which we believe investigation, and a sense of our
spiritual duty and accountability, will develope.
In communicating with considerate and intelligent men, the chief point is to lead them to think
for themselves, on the subject introduced for their
consideration; and with the earnest hope that these
few pages may accomplish this, I dedicate them
TO THE
FRATERNITY OF
MEDICINE.
May 1859.




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The importance of the medical profession-what its
religious influence and tendencies-the study and
practice full of materials for religious contemplation-religious truths enforced by it in its various departments-it addresses itself to our immortal natures-suggestive of serious thought —so
far as it reaches, corroborative of reason and revelation-our need in it and as shown by it of relief
and reliance above ourselves-the source and
remedy,             -...  7
CHAPTER II,
Hindrances to a religious life, and temptations peculiar to our profession —science in its first
conceptions often tends to scepticism-effect of
French morals and doctrine-materialism-erroneous conclusions as to truth from false arguments-the hardening influence of familiarity with
trying scenes —errors of practice-secularization
1*                                  (5)




6                  CONTENTS.
PAGE
of the Sabbath-irregularity bf life-licentiousness of conduct or conversation —other temptations in common with all,.                  27
CHAPTER III.
Religious privileges of the physician-brought in
contact with all classes —opportunity of learning
human wants-his ability to elevate the physical,
intellectual, and moral condition of man-special
duties to patients-how and when to exert religious influence over them-modes to which he
may resort-responsibilities we are under,.. 59
CHAPTER IV.
Examples worthy of our imitation both in sacred
and profane history-Christ the Saviour and
Luke the evangelist in their earthly relations to
the sick and afflicted-the practicability of combining high religious principle and professional
skill and success —religious biography of Boerhaave, Hey, Good, Hope, and others as models
for us.77
CONCLUSION,......                  100




A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS.
TO HIS
PROFESSIONAL BRETHREN.
CHAPTER I.
The importance of the medical profession-what its
religious influence and tendencies —the study and practice full of materials for religious contemplation-religious truths enforced by it in its various departments
-it addresses itself to our immortal natures-suggestive
of serious thought-so far as it reaches, corroborative
of reason and revelation-our need in it and as shown
by it of relief and reliance above ourselves-the source
and remedy.
THE practitioner of the healing art has, in
all ages, attracted the attention of humanity.
Man had not long emerged from his paradisiacal home, before disease, pain, and death assailed him, and suffering nature sought for re(7)




8        A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
lief and aid from medicines administered by
those who professed to have learned their efficacy and curative powers. For a long period, like every infant science, medicine groped
amid superstition and darkness; and with tradition and imperfect experience as its unsafe
guides, became obscured by inaccurate experiments and  assumed results.  Imagination
and credulity, in the absence of real knowledge,
regarded the healing art with profound respect.  Temples were erected to the curing
gods, and panaceas and elixirs sought not only
to overcome the sufferings of earth, but to set
aside the stern decrees of death, by imparting
the charms of a perennial and unfading life
even on earth.
The healers of the sick were approached
with veneration, and multitudes acknowledged
their claims to extended influence. The disseminated light of learning, and the intelligent
appreciation of the skilful Physician, secure
to him a higher position and a more reasonable confidence. The human structure has
been studied as a wondrous organism, in itself




TO HIS BRETHREN.            9
a cabinet of created wonders; while the sciences of nature, now viewed in their relation to,
and bearing upon, our physical and moral
welfare, afford regions of research of high attraction and noble extent. The physician,
educated as he should be, assumes a high
place and rank among the learned professions.
Surrounded by such inducements to mental
culture, and with the additional incentives afforded by the calls and necessities of the afflicted, a fair proportion of our educated men
choose this as the occupation of their lives.
The Christian, as he surveys the moral condition of the world, with no little solicitude inquires on which side, in the great conflict between right and wrong, religion and vice,
truth and error, such a trained army is enlisted.  Can the moralist, the philanthropist,.
and the Christian feel assured that this important profession is friendly to revealed religion, and that they who, by their daily business,
declare the necessity for attention to the body,
recognize the wants of the soul? Have they,
who so often here behold the dire penalty of




10       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
sin, provided themselves with the antidote to
spiritual death?   There is balm  in Gilead,
and a physician there; and while we administer to others for the cure of physical ills, shall
we acquire no skill in ministering to a mind
diseased? What are the special religious tendencies of medical education and practice?
What its peculiar privileges, the special temptations to which it is exposed, and the special
encouragements to associate it with a religious
faith? Questions such as these must suggest
themselves to the Christian physician, as deserving to be carefully considered by those
who conscientiously desire to promote the
moral advancement of their profession and
their own spiritual welfare.
Will you not, my medical friend, bear with
*one of your own profession who, from the labours
of active medical life, appropriates a little time
to the consideration of these momentous questions? The very study of medicine opens up
before the mind a field glowing with a harvest
of suggestive religious contemplation. Man
himself is the theme-creation's masterpiece,




TO HIS BRETHREN.          11
moulded from a heavenly original, who in his
mere physical conformation, with which we
have to deal, is a mechanical wonder. The
phlegmatic Novalis, stirred into touching
enthusiasm by the study, remarked, " There is
but one temple in the universe, and that is the
body of man. We touch heaven, when we
lay hold on a human form." From this source
Theology has drawn some of its most convincing proofs of a superior and designing intelligence; and the student, who, in the primal
steps of his profession, has to do with its nice
anatomical arrangements, cannot but recognize the proof and power of a divine origination.
That heart with valves and countervalves, with
reservoirs and aqueducts, in principle a perpetual motion; those lungs of a million little
air cells, laboratories of God's chemistry; the
eye with its lenses and its humours, its motions and its nerves, the great optic of the
soul; the ear so nicely chiselled out, commencing with convoluted folds without, and
transmitting the sound-waves through its
labyrinth until it communicates with a world




12       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
within; the muscles moving quickly responsive
to the will, the bone and brain, globule and
atom, taste and touch, matter and mind; oh!
how, as hour after hour of research reveals to
us facts and forms, adaptations and constructions, principles and skill, unseen by all around,
do these speak to us of presiding goodness,
wisdom, and love! While Bell can find in a
human hand a fruitful subject for a Bridgewater treatise, to us the whole body is a museum of equal wonders.
If ever design proves a designer, law a lawmaker, skill an author, or the attributes of a
being are to be inferred from the greatness of his
works, then there is a forcible demonstration
in the minutiae of our daily study of a God
who " made and fashioned us."
As we pass from the examination of the instrument to its functions, no less touching and
impressive are the lessons taught. The entire
physiology of life, assimilation, nutrition, reparation, decay, —all are as wonderful as the
medium of transformation, and it requires no
irrelevant effort, no turning aside from our




TO HIS BRETHREN.           13
pathway to behold omnipotent skill ruling
over all; and although we study the laws of
growth, and trace matter to its formative corpuscles and cell-atoms, yet, with all our investigations we find no creating, vitalizing power.
The physician, in the ardent study of his
profession, with its kindred sciences, may imagine that he is on the verge of creative agency as he gets down to primitive cellules and
finds their chemical construction; but here
he must stop to acknowledge that the ability
to make that atom, and breathe the breath of
life within it is beyond all human power.
Man the great investigator, and God the great
Creator, are the twin mottoes stamped in impress deep upon the study of our art. But
the moral grandeur of our pursuit is not hemmed in even by the wide range of self. The
natural world, in connection with the human
body, opens its rocks and its floras, its structure and its laws, to our view; and nicety of
adaptation, and wisdom of design invite our
notice and admiration at every turn.
As the natural eye looks abroad upon the2




14       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
works of Deity, it is not difficult for the serious and contemplative to have the moral affections heightened and developed by the touching views of created objects that extend around
us; but just as the microscopist sees in a raindrop beauties unknown, and unadmired by the
unaided sight, so we find matter more perfect
in her ultimate divisions than in the outlines
of huge form, and thus are bound by more
exquisite and golden chains to the unseen and
immortal.
When we pass to the practice of the profes-:sion, and mingle this with our daily research,
we find ourselves observers and reasoners upon
the great facts of human existence. Ours is
not the knowledge of the cloister, the studio,
or the secluded book-room; but we are at once
thrust out in contact with the great heart of
real life, living witnesses of the illustrated
commentary which observation affords upon
the facts of revealed religion.
We behold this bodily machine in construction accurate, unique, reparative, perfect, yet
suffering, exhausting, dying, and we feel that




TO IIS BRETHREN.           15
some strange discord has marred the symmetry of this wondrous instrument; that some
after shock jarred the mechanism constructed
for perpetual endurance. So marked is this,
that some anatomists, exulting in the harmony,
have zealously asserted that there is no reason why man should not live, and live on coeval with time, if he would but accurately obey
the fundamental laws of life.  But the fact
of a temporary existence here outstrips and
contradicts the argument; and as we see the
strong man and the valiant bending before
disease, or succumbing to the stern monitor;
and as in ungoverned appetites or passions,
or in the inherited diseases of former generations, we trace the causes of decay, we join
our testimony corroborative of holy writ, that
man, though perfect in his creation, has fallen
from his high estate, and, with Milton, sorrowfully mourn that sin "brought death into the
world and all our woe."
The sick and suffering we conjure to seek
for aid from sources extrinsic to themselves,
and often, in our own experience, realize the




16       A PHYSICIAN S COUNSELS
total inefficiency of human power even in
physical ailments. Shall we not then learn
to look to some higher source for deliverance
from that inward malady, which, unchecked
by mere human agency, corrodes and permeates the soul?
In the daily walks of our profession, how
many serious and truthful lessons force themselves upon our attention! Here is the palace
of the rich, surrounded by all the luxuries and
charms that earthly treasures can impart; but
in that almost regal home lies a human sufferer, whom wealth and elegance fail to soothe.
Disease, pain, and death, unbidden stalk amid
the magnificence of earth, and teach the physician more potently than others, because the
contrast is more frequently thrust upon his
notice, that we must look for true and lasting
happiness above and beyond the world around
us, to a spring perennial on high, unaffected
by the turbidness of earth. As, perchance,
you have passed from such a scene to some
lonely cottage, or falling hovel, where everything betokens want and destitution, and looked




TO HIS BRETHREN.           17
on some other sufferer, submissive, uncomplaining, happy, with eye beaming with eternal hope, and heart resting on the " Friend
that sticketh closer than a brother;" have you
never felt that there is a power in that religion which reverses the fortunes of men,-and
irradiates the darkened chamber of sickness
with the light and consolation of a spiritual
hope? In the diverse allotments too of men,
we cannot but read the proofs of a future retributive justice.  As we survey the home
field of life, we recognize that the condition
of different members of the human race is out
of all proportion to their characters and conduct, and that the penalty of sin, though visited on all, bears not here exact proportion to
the amount of demerit, while we see a finger
pointing beyond to a judgment according to
desert. Our very calling has in it a divine
philosophy teaching, by experience and by
example, as well as by the facts of revelation,
the power and necessity of faith. No one, we
may certainly say, has the same opportunity
to learn from nature, and from practical life
2*




18       A PHYSICIAN S COUNSELS
the great facts of human existence so readily
as the physician. He has to do with the inner
current of society, and that too not in its
smooth and placid hours, but when rippled and
agitated by anxiety and fear. Where others
look upon the outside circle of enchantment,
it is his to stand bending over the whirlpool
into which ere long the hopes of present life
are engulfed; and where the passing world
sees only a surface of happiness to be envied,
or of misery to be deplored, the physician has
an inner view which modifies the picture. In
the buoyancy of health, man seems strong, independent, magnanimous, and is apt to feel
himself a Hercules in self-reliant power, and
to forget his trust on superhuman aid; but on
us the prostrate form, the helpless call, the
feeble voice most powerfully impress the daily
sermon that we are weak, dependent creatures,
and can do but little to save even ourselves
from present malady. The communings of
our business are often with life's shadows, and
as the absence of the full ray on a part of the
plate of the daguerreotype makes the perfect




TO HIS BRETHREN.           19
picture; so, to our observation the mingling
of lights and shades makes up the faithful
portraiture of life.
And then there is death, to others an unfamiliar object in its details, but to us a frequent messenger summoning us to its presencechamber, and calling on us to preside over
the last muffled heart-beat of its triumph. As
you are called upon to behold the strong man
laid low, and touch the final pulse of one but
a little while before ruddy with healthful life;
or as at dead of night you leave the home
where just now the closing breath has told you
that your effort is at an end; and the silent street or lonely country road echoes to
your passage; do not serious thoughts obtrude
themselves upon your mind?  What is life?
May not the next call I receive be that of
death, a messenger to me? Am I prepared
to pass through such a scene, myself being the
subject? Have I the Rock of ages for my refuge? or must I then endure the dark forebodings with which I have known others look
down into the tomb. Is it wise to spend our




20       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
days in seeking honours-and treasures here,
forgetful of these trying hours, which are forerunners of an everlasting future? The physician, who dares to think, cannot, it would
seem, fail to ponder the questions of solemn
and eternal import which his occupation suggests; and to none does a more frequent or
more touching voice cry out, "Prepare to meet
thy God."
Procrastination too is out of all keeping
with the acquired habits of our lives. In medical experience we appreciate the often critical
danger of delay. A quick perception of the
necessities of the case, decision in judgment, and
promptness in execution, constitute no unimportant attributes of the successful practitioner.
Appreciating the value of the present now in
reference to the body, shall we forget its still
more pressing importance in its relation to the
soul? Most men, if they knew the precise day
and hour in which they would be summoned
to exchange the scenes of time for the unalterable destiny of eternity, would set apart a
certain period for preparation for this untried




TO HIS BRETHREN.           21
future; but, since we know it not, and oft repeated cases have proved to us that it may
be very near at hand; how much more reasonable that the time for preparation be the present!
None learn so forcibly as we, what an unfavourable and unseasonable opportunity sickness affords for calm and deliberate thought
upon the interests of our souls. How often,
as we review the practice of the past, do
these death-bed scenes file in array before
us; and what instruction do they impart, as
to the utter folly of hoping to make ready for
eternity in the anxious and disturbed season
which precedes departure!
The man of wealth, with will and testament
unmade, you feel it to be a duty to apprize of
his condition, and counsel him to make arrangements for the crisis. Anxious, perturbed, and
perhaps racked with pain, it is difficult to fix
his attention even on these earthly things;
prostration and returning pangs interrupt the
communication of his views, and with difficulty
the last desires are expressed. But how much
more hopeless to commence preparation for




22       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
the dying hour and the retributions of the fiuture, when nature is fast sinking into decay!
Not to procure a life boat until the flood is
overwhelming us, not to effect an insurance
until the frame work is in flames, and the
whirlwind fanning it! Oh! the utter folly
of postponing the great business of life to its
suffering terminus. No scene meets us in life
more distressing than a diseased body writhing
under the additional agonies of a terror-stricken
soul; the future darker than death, or lurid
with the flames of a guilty and exasperated
conscience.  As I heard a friend speak of
eternity to such a one, and saw him turn his
face to the wall to die, while his pallid lips
cried out, "Don't mention it; don't mention
it;" those eyes ghastly with intensity, and
that countenance haggard with foreboding,
left on my mind an impression which during
life cannot be effaced. Death-bed repentances,
when nature is "frightened into propriety,"
or when the pressure of existing trouble makes
us think, give but a quivering, hesitating hope;
and of all mankind who postpone immortal




TO HIS BRETHREN.            23
interests to the last, the physician is the most
inexcusable. His life-work, made forcible by
impressive examples, is his accusing monitor.
Let the stammering accent of each final whisper, from patients groping in the valley of
death, admonish us, " Be ye also ready, for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometh."
But not only at the closing point of life,
and in common with all mankind, does the physician need the consolations of religion, but in.
the very practice and trials of his profession he
may well desire its solace. There are periods
in the experience of the most skilled when the
feeling of personal responsibility weighs down
the spirits; when we hesitate in guiding the
life-canoe amid the rapids which threaten it;
when the patient clings to us as his main support, and we feel the need of some higher
power to impart efficacy to our effoyts. Not
many years ago I met in the crowded street
a physician who had lost'two children of a
family, by croup, in as many days, and now
the third was hopelessly struggling for life.




24       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
As he mentioned to me the circumstances, and
exhibited the sympathy of his own afflicted
heart, "Ah!" said he, "I am not in the habit
of praying, but the parents asked me to pray for
them, and if ever a person prayed in earnest,
I did." There are occasions when we need
consolation as well as the bereaved, when we
cannot stay the hand of the destroyer, or
when perchance ill deserved censure is the reward of our best efforts, or when death startles us by its suddenness, and the greatest of
all consolations is to have an omniscient, almighty, and willing Friend on whom we can
rely and to whom we can repair.
There are many considerations, addressing
themselves to the'reason and conscience, or
suggested by the word of God and such
works as those of Baxter, Doddridge, Venn,
and Alleine, which would seem sufficient to
draw all men to Christ, and of which, in common with all others, we should avail ourselves,
but our object is to direct attention particularly to the considerations which are daily
suggested by our professional pursuits.




TO HIS BRETHREN.           25
If the poet, from a contemplation of the
phenomena of nature, could justly and pointedly pronounce "the undevout astronomer
mad;" with equal point and truth it might
be affirmed of the undevout physician.
Anatomy, Physiology, Physics, rationally
studied, point with unerring finger to a great
first Cause, who claims our homage and the
expression of our gratitude and love. Each
day's experience and observation declare to
us that human nature labours under a malady
which no medicine can cure, and for the relief of which the resort must be to a higher
than mortal power. To Christ, the great Physician, we may come, with the assurance that
he will be our healer. The disease is desperate but easily recognized, the remedy is
accessible, and the principles and habits of
our profession would suggest the immediate
application of the remedy.
Truth and not fancy thus portrays our
case:' Deep are the wounds which sin has made,
Where shall the sinner find a cure?
3




26         A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
In vain, alas! is nature's aid,
The work exceeds all nature's power.
Sin, like a raging fever, reigns
With fatal strength in every part,
The dire contagion fills the veins,
And spreads its poison to the heart.
And can no sovereign balm be found?
And is no kind physician nigh,
To ease the pain and heal the wound,
Ere life and hope for ever fly?
There is a great Physician near,
Look up, 0 fainting soul, and live;
See, in his heavenly smiles appear
Such aid as nature cannot give.
See, in the Saviour's dying blood,
Life, health, and bliss abundant flow;'Tis only this pure sacred flood
Can ease thy pain and heal thy wo."




TO HIS BRETHREN.                27
CHAPTER II.
Hindrances to a religious life, and temptations peculiar
to our profession-science in its first conceptions often
tends to scepticism-effect of French morals and doctrine-materialism-erroneous conclusions as to truth
from false arguments-the hardening influence of famili.
arity with trying scenes-errors of practice-secularization of the Sabbath-irregularity of life-licentiousness
of conduct or conversation —other temptations in comrn
mon with all.
IN the previous chapter, we have glanced
at the peculiar illustration and enforcement
which religion receives from our profession,
in addition to the numerous and general inducements which address themselves to all
who would participate in its benefits. Men,
however, are disposed to shelter themselves
under the hindrances which may be supposed
to arise from their peculiar vocations; and




28       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
these, whether feigned or real, are worthy of
distinct consideration.
At the very outset of the inquiry, we are
met with the serious allegations that the tendency of the study of medicine is unfriendly
to personal piety. It has been affirmed, that
there is more scepticism and loose morality in
our profession than among any other single
class of literary or professional men; and the
physician cannot but feel disposed, either upon
evidence to deny the charge, or else upon
facts and principles to exhibit the cause of
this anomaly. That such has been, to a limited extent, the fact, must be admitted; but
that such is not at present the case, and that
where existing it has been owing to other than
medical causes, or to illogical deductions from
just premises, will we think be evident to all
who look for the real source of the difficulty.
To any one who, without irreligious prejudices,
has studied the symmetry and harmony of
our corporeal natures, and the laws which govern its relationship to the outer world, and
who has sought to learn and profit by the les



TO HIS BRETHREN.           29
sons of his practical experience, the presumption is at once that the reason for special
moral delinquencies in our art, if such exist,
must be sought outside the sphere of pure
medical truth.
Two facts are to be taken into consideration in reviewing the medico-religious character
of the past, with its waning influence on the
present.
The spirit of scientific inquiry, the disposition to reason out everything, and to subject
all things to this test, always has a tendency
towards scepticism, and it is only when the
ultimatum of the truth has been attained, and
the whole field of argument can be carefully
surveyed by well-trained, well-balanced logical minds, that these imagined contradictions
are found to be " oppositions of science falsely so called." More than once have even good
and great men trembled at their own conclusions,
apparently irreconcilable with revealed truth;
but on further investigation light has shone upon
their pathway and proved their reasoning fallacious. Science, proudly and rightfully exultant
3*




30       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
in its triumphs, is sometimes too prone to
bring religion to its test, rather than consider
itself as subject to be tried by its loftier superior.  We have a right to ask and expect
that these be found in beautiful and unconflicting correspondence, so far as they deal
with subjects within their mutual grasp; but
when the human mind in the glow and flush
of high reason, forgets its stopping point,
and with the analogies and scales of time, attempts to try and weigh the materials of faith
and eternity, it chases a horizon which will
illimitably recede.
In a study like that of medicine, pursued as
it too often is by those whose minds, by previous discipline, have not been thoroughly prepared for logical analysis, there is constant
danger of falling into this very error. Of all
the practical sciences it is the most varied, inquisitive, suggestive, and explorative; and enlisting almost every natural science as an accessary in its eager pathway sometimes falls
upon erroneous conclusions. Discovery after
discovery, as to the laws of existence, have fol



TO HIS BRETHREN.          38
lowed each other so rapidly as scarcely to allow opportunity for close analysis; and what
on superficial view appears to be the natural
sequence of cause and effect, overthrowing established belief, under severer scrutiny proves
itself mere analogical assumption.
Another incidental occasion of medical scepticism cannot be overlooked. The atmosphere
in which medical education formerly attained
its highest perfection, was unfriendly to simplicity of religious faith. France has long been
the centre of attraction to.the student of medicine, and Parisian morals and scepticism could
not but exert their evil power over the unprotected student. The popular philosophy of Voltaire
and Rousseau, gilded with the sophistry and
sustained by the literary fame of its authors,
lured the youthful physician within its meshes,
and many students returned to the homes of
their boyhood, tainted and corrupted from this
source, and not, as alleged, by their strictly
medical education. The ingenuous and inexperienced student, removed from home influences, was peculiarly exposed to their malign




32       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
associations, and if infected it was due to the
weakness of human nature, and not to any sinister influence of his medical pursuits.
The peculiar form of scepticism into which
the medical student is most liable to be betrayed, is known under the designation of materialism; a dogma so fascinating that many
have been deluded by it, who, on calm reflection, would be startled by the consequences to
which it inevitably leads.  While, in effect,
it excludes God from the universe, it regards
with seeming reverence the works of nature,
so called, which derive all their significancy
from the fact that they are the visible representatives of God's creating power and wisdom. The materialist sees in matter a selfpropagating, self-governing, and indeed a selforiginating power. It refers all the phenomena of existence to what are called the laws
of nature, as in themselves sufficient for their
production; and investing these material laws
with an intrinsic potency, it finds no place for
spiritual existence. The soul of man is a material soul, subject to all the vicissitudes of the




TO HIS BRETHREN.           33
material body. In ascertaining the laws of
growth and transformation, and witnessing the
wonderful reparative powers of nature, he is illogically led to what are called ultimate axioms,
and to the ascription of creative energy to material atoms. Deliberate reason is often made to
succumb to the enthusiasm of the student who
pries into the mysteries of the human organism; and while contemplating the perfect
structure, thoe divine Constructor is ignored as
an object of faith. It seems to be forgotten
that reasoning from the objects of sight may
mislead, and that testimony and consciousness
may be true sources of knowledge as well as
experiment and observation.
The materialistic theory is surrounded by
difficulties.  If the laws impressed on matter
are to be substituted in the place of God, the
question will still recur, How did those laws
originate, and how is their continuance perpetuated? Did they come by chance, and are
they continued by chance? If there be anything which may be called chance, it can possess no such regularity and seeming intelli



34       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
gence; but if chance be'" direction which we
cannot see," then we come back to the idea of
a supreme intelligence which has made and
controls all things. We may talk of material
power, law, and order, the sequence of cause
and effect, but they have no meaning unless
we place back of them an intelligent first
cause. The materialism which ignores God
as the great presiding spirit, leads to the
denial of our own spiritual existence, in defiance of our own consciousness, and the
many facts which can alone be accounted for
on the admission of spiritual existence. In
adopting the materialistic view we must not
only dethrone God from his universe; debase
our own nature by denying its higher principles and bring it down to the level of the
brute; repudiate a divine revelation, bearing
such credentials of its heavenly origin, so animating to our hopes, and so soothing to our
sorrows; but we must contradict our own practice. Where else do we recognize matter without a maker? Where, in art, is our admiration
of a structure so absorbing as to lose sight of




TO HIS BRETHREN.          35
its author and designer? How does it happen
that the greater the perfection of execution,
the more zealously we seek and admire the
designing intelligence? Shall we applaud the
sculptor of some nicely chiselled form, and never
ask for Him who made the speaking, thinking,
acting, moving model?  We have machines
in art, which, not only transform the article
committed to them in a single particular, and
pass it from one state of change to another,
but which even provide for the contingencies
of accident; yet in reviewing the wonderful
processes, we do not lose sight of the inventor, or attribute to the thing made inherent
wisdom or design.
In the human frame, we see wonderful
proofs of skill, and of reparative power, of
application and subservience to well-established laws; we admire changes the most unique,
and modifications of matter the most wonderful; but yet have you ever known an atom
from  nothing  create itself?   We dissect
and philosophize man down to what we term
his ultimate constituents, and strive to deter



86       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
mine his chemical affinities, and the exact proportions of minerals and gases that form him;
but how near have any of us come to manufacturing a single drop of the life blood that
circulates through his veins? We must not,
in the use of such terms as elementary, primitive, primary, ultimate, and the like, deceive
ourselves into the idea that in matter we have
arrived at the fundamentals of all construction.
These are but relative and conventional terms
by which we measure the limit of our knowledge. The wonderful combinations and transformations of material in the human frame,
with all the functions elaborated thereby, are
just as far from origination, creation, divinity,
as the kaleidoscope, with its changing forms
and varied colours, is from making the glass
and the light-rays on which these depend.
The state of the human system, as we find it,
gives but little encouragement to the notion
of what materialists call the natural, originating, progressive powers of matter. To say
the least, it has done nothing in this line for
man in our day. The heart beats no more




TO HIS BRETHREN.          37
synchronously, the blood circulates no more
evenly than when Harvey first beheld it coursing through the veins; the lungs perform
their part no better because we understand
the physiology of respiration, and the brain is
no more active since we have come to the fibriles of the nerves. We have seen a blood
corpuscle break down, resolve itself into its
constituents, and new ones forming from the
fresh material supplied, but have never yet
been able to recognize thought as a specific
function, or to measure the diameter of the
soul-atoms of which it is constructed; and if
matter is everything, it is strange that we have
never seen the will with the microscope,
caught an idea in the process of physical elimination, or touched a thought in its material
circulation.
Struck by the want of evidence which
materialism in its full fledged form exhibits,
and by the negations it requires, few medical
men of the present day find reason from their
study to adopt its difficult philosophy; but
some still find refuge in its more modified and
4:




38       A PHYSICIAN S COUNSELS
accommodating form, which, while less objectionable and more plausible, is yet rigid and
forbidding.
These admit an author to creation, a great
original, incomprehensible I AM, but yet deny
to him any concern in the actual affairs of
the universe. Placing him back at the final
outposts of a past infinity, they regard him as
starting all things in their motions, and instituting perfect laws to govern them, and then
retiring from control, and leaving all to move
in their ordained and everlasting courses.
This, to say the least, is all assumption. We
cannot admit a being with power to create
and originate, without also granting him the
power of an omnipresent view of, and control
over, every thing transpiring among created
objects.  Infinity once admitted, we cannot
limit it. It is probable that he who made all
things would exercise an oversight; and even
should we find for every organ and function, a
well defined law according to which its results
were attained, it would only show a non-interference, not his absence. What reason does




TO HIS BRETHREN.            39
not disprove, faith, consciousness, and revelation are fully competent to establish; and
abundant are the evidences from these of
God's active government, and his particular
providence exercised over the affairs of men.
He has chosen to make law and order the
rule in the kingdoms of nature, but now and
then he may choose to exceed, modify, or
suspend them. Even death may occur as the
result of what we call natural causes, and yet
be a providential visitation. Twelve men in
full health are exposed together, in a boat, to
precisely similar influences, and of these, eight
receive a severe cold, while four escape. Of
the eight, one has peritonitis, another rheumatism, another pneumonia, another pleurisy,
and two of the most healthy die. Now, although we may be able to discover each fatal
pathological condition, and to account scientifically for their deaths, as a result of physical laws; yet, how totally unable are we to
tell why the others did not meet the same
fate! Then again, men die when the most
skilled are totally unable to assign a cause,




40       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
even after the most rigid autopsy, and others
escape when they cannot conceive how; and
thus, although in the death of persons the laws
of nature are fulfilled, yet, while the modes,
so to speak, are incidentally legal, the result
is nevertheless designedly providential. With
many it is professional always to assign a cause,
and though it may be satisfactory to friends,
we must not by the habit mislead ourselves.
Behind each reason given there is something
hidden, which when considered will lead us to the
recognition of the present controlling power
of God. Investigate and admire the symmetry of the laws which concern ourselves as we
may, they are not adequate to the explanation
of every psychological or moral fact. Medical
reasoning and minute investigation are commendable, when they cling to what they see
and know; and matter itself, in its changing
forms and combinations, is worthy of our
highest admiration; but we have never learned
to make of it a soul, or endow it with celestial
attributes. We cannot, we ought not, to bid
adieu to the noble hopes, the lofty aspirations,




TO HIS 1 BRETIREN,.        41
the long settled beliefs, the powerful convictions, the revealed truths of our holy religion,
not disproved by any course of logical reasoning, and receive in their stead an imaginary
idea of a matter-manufactured system.
Another temptation to which'the physician
is exposed is that of drawing erroneous concrusions as to revealed truth from the imperfect proofs sometimes adduced in its support.
Theological writers, and ministers more frequently in sermons, sometimes employ illogical
arguments to establish religious doctrines
which stand in no need of such support; and
the hearer, detecting the fallacy of the reasoning, is apt therefrom to doubt the correctness
of the premises. Inferences are drawn from
the frame work and the phenomena with which
the medical man has to deal, and he therefore
is more acute to detect the fallacy, and to
draw his own unfavourable inferences.  How
frequently are pathetic accounts given of
peaceful deaths, where the physician knows
that that kind of termination was, and always
is, characteristic of that form of disease; and
4*




42       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
of disturbed deaths where these again are incident to the malady, and to which the best
men are liable. Supposed death-bed repentances have to him in cases of recovery so often proved spurious, and analogies from the
material to the immaterial so often strike him
correctly as erroneous, that it requires a
constant guard lest, while others are enlarginig
upon these, his feelings be biased in a path
prejudicial to the exercise of a saving faith.
The antidote is at once simple, reasonable,
efficacious, and complete. Never doubt a fact
of revelation because you can answer a human
argument in respect to it. Go back to that
book, and that source where no sophistry can
be detected, and with reason under- proper
control, not seeking to grasp too much, and
with faith and feeling pliable to the power of
truth, drink fresh and at first-hand from the
gushing well-spring of divine knowledge. Instead of seeking to answer the word of man,
and becoming sceptical by the success, it is
safer and better to go directly to the word of
God, and thus be refreshed and established




TO HIS BRETHREN.           43
from the pure fountain-head. It is a historical fact in the records of infidelity that few
constant readers of the Bible, seeking after
the truth, have ever swerved in their religious
belief, while multitudes, who have been led
astray by their own reasonings, or by the honest
fallacies of imperfect expounders, have found
the true way when they have studied for themselves the text-book without note or commentary. While too, in matters of observation,
our own experience may neutralize the inferences from analogy, and from modes of death
as described by others, yet where we do see
religion triumphing with calm and holy resignation, where nature is strongest in its opposite tendencies-in such instances the moral
lesson addresses itself to us more potently because of our knowledge, and furnishes an argument whose redoubled power we can well
appreciate.  Medical facts and information
may not always confirm the explanations or
illustrations of men; but so far as they reach
will corroborate the testimony of natural and




44       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
revealed religion as to the condition, the wants,
and the destiny of the human race.
A third error of inference and belief to which
medical men are exposed, is that derived from
their peculiar relation to mankind in sickness
and death, and from their constant familiarity
with critical and solemn scenes. The physician
meets the sick with a business air, in a business capacity, dealing with pain, disease, and
death professionally; and thus events which
alarm and distress some, and excite others, as
well they may, to serious contemplation, become quite familiar to him in his formal official capacity. This irresistible power of habit
exercises an influence over our thoughts which
we cannot directly set aside. Even the Christian minister is exposed to it, and is in danger
of lacking soul-piety and earnestness from his
very familiarity with the language and routine
of religious expression; or, as Dr. Holmes
rather quaintly and strongly expresses it, is
in danger of lapsing into heathenism from his
preaching, and from the want of fresh religious instruction.




TO HIS BRETHREN.            45
The philanthropist visiting prison houses,
the poor-master in formal care for the pauper,
the tract distributor for the destitute, will inevitably become hardened in their work, unless
they balance the tendency by cultivating in
turn the habit of sympathy and relief. The
physician, having constantly to deal with human nature in its least attractive forms, and
with its most solemn conditions, as one in authority,.must and will be imperceptibly,' yet
surely, seared to proper feeling and impression, unless he too seeks the natural and only
preservative, which is to cultivate a moral
sense and an emotional sympathy, and thus
neutralize one habit by another equally powerful. In reality, if we but think, we will
feel that the blighting of human hopes is none
the less real because we see it; pain and disease
no less serious because our companions; and
death to us personally no less certain, and
if unprepared for no less absolutely terrible
because we daily behold it; and reason therefore teaches us to improve these events to
our own spiritual preparation, and to use




46       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
them as we have before considered them to
be, additional warnings rather than the occasion of hardening and steeling the soul. The
power of one's occupation over his habits. of
thought, the necessity of recognizing it, and
the means of overcoming it, are so forcibly
discussed by Bishop Butler, author of the
" Analogy," as to be well worthy of the notice
of any one who does not realize the strength
of his temptation.
If there are any other errors of religious
belief which harass the mind of the physician,
our own Dr. Nelson has most ably met them,
in his " Cause and Cure of Infidelity;" and
there are many other books in our English
tongue, which, to educated men are easily accessible, and abundantly conclusive on these
points. Without, therefore, seeking to compass
the various general forms of scepticism, which
attach with no special or peculiar power to our
science and art, we pass from the beliefs to
the demoralizing practices which may be engendered by our profession, unless we are on
the watch to resist and overcome temptation.




TO HIS BRETHREN.            47
The first we notice is a secularization of the
Sabbath. Around this holy day Centre the
hopes, not only of religion, but also of morality; and even civil government needs the aid
of its hallowed and protecting influence. Once
the world witnessed the experiment of lessening its frequency, until, amid increasing tumult and wild uproar, a nation caring not for
its sacred associations sought its restoration
even as a police measure. Reared in a land
where its obligations are admitted, we can
scarcely appreciate the intimate connection
its proper observance bears to our social and
national well-being, and what a relation it
holds to our own personal and individual stability of character.  No one, even from apparent necessity, can habitually break over its
restraints without lowering his standard of religious sensibility. No temptation assails even
the more correct class of medical men more
plausibly than this. Our business even comes
under the exception of works of necessity and
mercy, and there is no cessation of our daily avocation. The wants of the sick seem to make to us




48       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
every day alike; and the routine of our life has
no seventh period as a resting point. Justified in public view by the calls of our profession, we walk, and drive, and visit, and carry
on our occupation, feeling that what we do will
not be judged as would the deeds of other
men. I know, I speak the experience of
many a physician when I express the longing
we feel for this as a day of physical and mental rest, and of many a moral and Christian
physician who laments the seeming necessity
for labour, and the tendency it has to divert
and interrupt the mind in the contemplation
of things sacred and divine. Our standard
of moral excellence must and will be lowered,
unless we recognize the power of this evil to
which we are exposed, and fortify ourselves
against it. In common with others, we need
the spiritual refreshment it affords, and the
season it provides for meditation, reflection, Christian instruction, and public and
private worship, and unless on the alert to
improve what time we have, we shall suffer in




TO HIS BRETHREN.          49
our happiness here, and our everlasting welfare hereafter.
I am convinced that many of us, satisfied
from habit of the necessity of attending to our
business, do not redeem the time of the Sabbath as we might. Any one who has not tried
the experiment will be surprised to find how
much of it, by a little management, may be
secured from mere professional labour. An
extra diligence on Saturday afternoon and
Monday morning, attendance to chronic cases
on week days, a rising earlier upon the Sabbath instead of later than on other days, a
more careful economizing of the hours will allow us much more of its rest and benefits than
we suppose. Habit or carelessness often leads
to a neglect in which we are not justified by
an analysis of the amount of labour performed.
I knew well a conscientious physician, who
seldom attended church, as he really thought
because his business would not permit of it,
but his successor attending to a practice fully
as great was as rarely absent. During the
cholera season in New York city my attention
5




50       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
was attracted, on the Sabbath, to a gentleman
who, though often a little late, was rarely absent
from his place in the sanctuary; and on inquiry
I found him to be a medical man who was said
by those of his own profession, familiar with
him, to visit as many patients per day as any
physician in the city. The time is past when
it is politic to attempt to advertize our immense
popularity and practice by staying away from
the means of grace. jExceptions must and will
6utr;, but the doctor who, as a rule, is not
able to attend once on the Sabbath upon public worship, either does not properly economize his time, is not anxious enough to attend,
or his business and moral welfare require that
he should seek a partner.
But the physician upon the Sabbath has
Christian duties and privileges outside of the
great congregation.  It is possible to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,
even in the midst of our professional avocations, nay more, it is a duty. Heavenly contemplation should be our companion; and our
sedateness of conduct on that day, while not




TO HIS BRETHREN..         51
austere, should impress those on whom we call
that we know it to be the Sabbath. Our serious demeanour and avoidance of secular conversation will impart an influence which will
affect those about us as does the gentle dew
the needy plant. The fourth commandment
is exceedingly broad, and its requirements
are more imperative on us than we are apt to
realize; and many excuses, I fear, which now
our profession induces to make, will not stand
the test of final scrutiny. If necessity compels us to go about, let us go about doing good,
ministering to the soul as well as to the body
where circumstances will admit, with our
thoughts on heaven as well as upon the earth,
sanctifying the teachings of sorrow, sickness,
and death.  We cannot afford better than
others to lose the blessings of thought, and
rest, and spiritual growth to which this day is
favourable; and by how much they are imperiled by the secular character of our duties, by
so much should we watch to overcome the tendency, and divert it into the channel of
positive good. Let the Sabbath be to us holy,




52       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
a delight, honourable, and besides securing
greater comfort to ourselves, the example will
tell for good upon those in whom neglect
seems less excusable.
Next there-is a natural disposition to irre:
gularity in the duties and habits of life, which
is apt to be fostered by the character of our
profession, and in respect to which we need
to be on our guard. The disorderly, unsystematic person will.be inefficient in his moral
duties as well as in business employments, and
order is as important to spiritual as it is to
physical, mental, or pecuniary prosperity. It
cannot be denied that perfect system and symmetry are very difficult, and sometimes impossible to be secured in the practice of the
physician. Unseasonable calls and unexpected detentions will sometimes overturn his
best arranged plans. This too often furnishes
an excuse even to the conscientious for the
neglect of some of the every day duties of life.
Here again methodical effort will often overcome apparent obstacles.- It was said of
Boerhaave that, rotwithstanding his immense




TO HIS BRETHREN.           53
daily labour, he almost always found time for
his hour of private worship, saying that "for
the interests of his patients as well as himself
he could not afford to intermit so important
an  exercise."  In  our family and  more
public weekly religious observances, we need
a constant supervision lest our business be
made an apology for neglect, when really, if
some high enjoyment were in question, we
would so arrange our duties as to avail ourselves of it. Where there is a will, even in
our profession, there is more likely to be a
way; and. with a desire to do and to get good
we will be oftener found in our appropriate
places than many who have less to detain
them..No one has a better opportunity than
-the consistent practitioner, to leave the impress of his character upon the community in
which he dwells, and he should be careful that
this stamp shall be one which he will not be
ashamed to recognize when the great seal
shall be set upon his works.
Licentiousness, either of conduct or conversation, is a temptation to which the unguarded
5*




54       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
physician may be exposed; but when we take
a view of his position in society, of the sacred
trusts committed to his keeping, and the.high
obligations imposed upon him, we cannot but
recognize the marked incongruity between his
profession and such principles or actions, and
look with mingled pity and disgust upon those
who have not the moral courage and self-respect to maintain, in the practice of their art,
purity of language and of life. Though we
may have to deal with subjects and investigations unallowed to others, yet it is with the
high moral, ennobling aim of soothing or relieving humanity in its sufferings and pains, a
design grand enough to submerge all passion
ten times ten fathoms deep, and inspire our
souls with the purest and holiest emotions.
Science properly pursued is never grovelling
or sensual, but soaring, elevating, religious,
and the truly great or good are never demeaned
thereby.
Agassiz. commuces his great work with a
tortoise; but instead of being belittled by the
seeming commonness of the theme, like a very




TO HIS BRETHREN.          55
Atlas, he constructs a world of knowledge on
that not unworthy pedestal. Science and religion elevate what else might be degrading,
impart virtue to what else might be demoralizing, and in their blended lustre enable us
to read touching lessons of piety and virtue,
where ignorance finds occasion only for ribald
jest.  The physician, who prostitutes the
glory of the knowledge of his profession to the
nutrition of the basest passions, must of all others
rank lowest and meanest of mankind, and we
are glad to believe that in action the purity
of our brethren will favourably compare with
that of other classes of the community. Perhaps as much cannot be said of expression
and conversation, and yet these are so intimately connected with thought, and feeling, and
action, that they claim our most watchful regard. Words not only come from the mind,
but they have a reflex power. Though they
may be casual, thoughtless, momentary, they
leave their imprint on the soul. No one can
habitually or frequently indulge in foolish talk
and obscene anecdote without an impression




56       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
being made upon the inner man; and the fountain turbid only at its mouth, will ere long
have its purer waters tainted by the influence.'There is no one, it seems to me, in whom indecent remark is less excusable or more disgusting than in the physician. His business
is to heal and hide, rather than proclaim the
foibles or maladies of nature, and he lowers
himself and his calling, if instead of supporting its dignity he degrades it to the nourishment of those evil communications which never;fail to corrupt good manners. Low associa.
tion and conversation make their mark on no
one sooner than on us. They give a secret tone
to character and feeling which are recognized
by the chaste and sensitive; and, if we may so
express it, the pigmentum nigrum of obscenity
is often traceable in tinges and shadings imperceptible to one's self. There is something
noble and exalting in the physician into whose
uncontaminated heart suffering can breathe
its secret accents with the history of its causes,
and feel confident that medical skill combines
with high minded purity in seeking to allevi



TO HIS BRETHREN.           57
ate and soothe; but how different if it has
reason to fear that its complaints may become
the play and the sport of the next idle hour!
We have been initiated into the mysteries of
human life only for scientific and philanthropic
purposes; and does it not become us, not only
with our patients, but in each other's society,
to avoid that laxity of remark with which true
science and correct taste have no affinity? In
the experience of the members of many medical clubs and associations, I fear there is proof
of the need of reform in this last particular. It
is our privilege together to enjoy the merry laugh
and the proper joke; but never let us, as the
manner of some is, have ever ready on our lips
that jesting which is not convenient. "Let no
corrupt communication proceed out of your
mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying."
There are other minor temptations which
might be here noticed, but we believe those
already specified the chief to which our profession renders us particularly liable.  The
more general and manifold evil tendencies of




58       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
our natures, which we mourn in common with
all mankind, are considered with sufficient
fulness in religious books addressed to every
accountable being; and we shall now therefore more pleasantly turn from the shadows
to the lights of our professional life.




TO HIS BRETHREN.               59
CHAPTER III.
Religious privileges of the physician —brought in contact with all classes-opportunity of learning human
wants-his ability to elevate the physical, intellectual,
and moral condition of man-special duties to patients
-how and when to exert religious influence over them
-modes to which he may resort-responsibilities we
are under.
IT is with satisfaction we pass to the contemplation of the privileges which our profession furnishes, and the moral duties it requires
of us. Education in itself confers power and
imposes responsibilities which, as accountable
beings, it behoves us most seriously to-consider.
Introduced into the inner sanctuary of nature's grand cathedral, the upgoings and outgoings of our souls should be those of holy
aspiration and intense desire for good, finding
vent and exercise in noble acts and loving




60       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
deeds. The talent committed to our care is
one for which at his coming the Lord will call
us to account, and in the ledger of the present there is a debit as well as a credit side.
It is a great thing to know, but greater still
to apply our attainments just when and where
and how they will tell most powerfully on the
present and future destiny of man. It is a
difficulty with much abstract learning and scientific study, that they have no ready medium
through which to touch and penetrate the beating heart of the great world of practical
life. Cold, ascetic, problematic, the scholar
sometimes seems to wander in a region of his
own, and the vast common throng of the people do not feel the thrill of any grand sympathetic nerve binding them in union real and
intimate. In turn the student feels the reflex
power, and, wrapping his mantle of seclusion
around him, seems bound in the same leather
with his books. In individual life it is easy
to show the supremacy of mind over matter,
but it is a problem far more intricate to demonstrate how the great intellectual and moral




TO HIS BRETHREN.          61
power of the educated shall best be brought
in contact with the multitude, the masses of
human kind, and make learning of practical
utility to the every-day life of a moving world.
Medical life, more naturally than any other
business, thus utilizes education, and confers
on us unusual facilities for promoting true socialism.  The physician is the visitor of the
world's every-day homes, has to do with the
social compact, the centre of all human associations, and the radical starting point of all
lasting reforms; and he sees it, not in the
array or concealment of expected company,
but in the plain unhidden reality of life. To
him, too, are most frequently unbosomed secret sorrows, and what the eye may not discover of hidden griefs.
The only way to appreciate human degradation is to see it, and true Howards are not
kept in marble palaces, nor can they even originate the best theories of human elevation
surrounded by tomes of book learning. We
must go into the world to learn the wants of
the world. We do not, I think, feel the great
6




62       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
opportunities we as physicians enjoy for the
advancement and elevation of our race. Others
are philanthropists by occasion, we have a
right to consider ourselves such by profession.
Thrust in amidst the different conditions of
society, having to do with what in our worldly distinctions are called the highest and
lowest classes; we have opportunities of comparison and reflection which will generally
point out to us the chief causes of human degradation, and enable us with the best prospects of success to seek a remedy. Should
the physicians of any of our large cities, for
instance, collate all the facts under their own
personal observation, and within the sphere
of their knowledge as to the physical welfare
of the people, and from actual survey propose
and argue the most efficient plans of reaching
and abating existing evils; what a change
would it make in the sanitary and moral conition of the community! We owe it as a duty
o mankind to be a self-constituted board of
ealth, and to feel that the public are entitled
o the facts with which we are familiar.  Hy



TO HIS BRETHREN.          63
giene has more to do with the moral elevation of
humanity than we are apt to consider. Industry, cleanliness, comfort, and health are Christian virtues; they have to do with religion as
well as matter; and though true worth may
exist where all these are absent, such is not
the rule. Even in promoting these, in the
line of our business, we contribute our proportion to the purification of social existence.
In the more direct sphere of the intellectual
and moral, still greater privileges are associated with our profession. How many, by an
encouraging word, a listening sympathy, a
suggestive counselling, may you be the means
of inducing to shake off paralyzing misanthropy, and make giant efforts to succeed!
How many may you lead to forsake pernicious
habits and vile associations, not by stern reproof, but by a portraiture of consequences,
by the'kind admonition and friendly interest of the family physician!  How many
may you induce to listen to the preached gospel, how many children to attend the Sabbath
or day-school, how many to seek something




64       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
nigher than their present position!  Noble
institutions of charity, asylums for the aged,
the widow, the orphan, the blind, the dumb,
the outcast, now flourishing in this and other
lands, are, in no small degree, monuments to
the Christian zeal of medical men; who, in
the walks of their daily practice beholding
the suffering necessities of particular classes,
have urged or developed the means of amelioration. We have a personal interest as members of the great brotherhood of man in every
family we visit, and the question readily suggests itself in respect to many of them, How
can we quietly and unobtrusively do them
good? He who is on the watch for imparting
priceless benefits will often, in a very easy and
natural way, accomplish his object.
" The greatest discovery I ever made," said
Sir Humphrey Davy, "was that of Michael
Faraday in a workshop;" and many a son of
poverty, yet of genius and worth, we may assist to elevate. Oh! there is something higihi4c.
nobler, more glorious, in medicine,thaw -
efficacious pill and powder; and important




TO 11IS BRETHREN.          65
as these may be, a broader land is thrown open
to us, and the command is to go up and possess it; and though misery and discouragements may be in our pathway, like threaten-,
ing Amalekites, they will vanish before the
faithful effort. Depend upon it, we are scarce.
ly yet commencing to know what avenues of
good are incidental to our calling, and it is nose
vain boasting to feel the advantages we enjoy.
over other members of the community. -In
their great and praiseworthy schemes for ameliorating the condition of society, mistakes are
often made by others which medical knowledge or observation would correct.   The
Royal Humane Society has been for years attending to the recovery of the drowned; but
Marshall Hall, bringing his analysis of the reflex nervous system to bear upon the subject,
has proposed a far better code of laws, and
shown, that efficacious as former efforts have
been, they would have accomplished still
more with a different management. So acquaintance with the physical will often give
us an insight into causes and sources which
6*




66      A PHYSICIAN'   COUNSELS
bear upon the moral, and teach us how best to
help in saving those submerged amid the still
more destructive waves of misery and sin.
Ours is a humanitarian art, and morality, philanthropy, and Christianity have a right to
ask at our hands more than we have as yet
accomplished. Contemplate the true philosophy of life, and take time to think upon the
means you enjoy of doing good, and plans and
opportunities will come trooping by, eloquent
in their practicability and results.  In our
visits to the world's homes, and in our more
public influence, by promoting sound learning
and religious truth, we provide at once the prophylactic and specific to human degradation,
and do our part in working out the problem
of human civilization and salvation.
There is a speciality in respect to the moral
duties of our calling that deserves a separate
consideration, and that is, how far we are
called upon to pay attention to the religious
interests of our immediate patients. It is a
solemn thing to have a sick man die un-'
der our hands, and go to judgment unpre



TO HIS BRETHREN.            67
ared. There is sometimes need of ministerg to the soul as well as to the body; and
ickness, when not the most severe, often
erves as a milestone in the pilgrimage of life,to remind us whither we are journeying, and
affords a propitious occasion for drawing the
attention from  the business of the present
to that of the future, from life to death, from
time to eternity.
Man's religious nature has a claim upon us,
and our peculiar position in reference to those
under our immediate care, at thoughtful and
critical moments, should and does lead the
Christian physician to inquire into his duty
as an accountable being-accountable not only
for himself, but for the influence he exercises
or fails to exercise upon others. Even the conscientious are frequently in doubt as to the
course they should now pursue. The mind and
the body act and react on each other.  If the
one is disturbed by allusions to the future, i
may seriously affect the other an
recovery is an element which we feel like husbanding..onvb~sttsi6n upon religious subjects




68       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
may alarm the patient, and cause fearful foreboding and misapprehension. Such difficulties
and objections deserve to be weighed, and are
points worthy of our thought and judgment.
These excuses often seem more plausible than
they are in fact. There are few who on sick
beds have no solemn thoughts; our silence does
not keep eternity out of view; and oftener than
we think it is a relief for those morally disturbed to whisper into the ear of sympathy
the feelings which agitate them. It is a comfort sometimes to unburden the mind by sharing its turbulence with a friend, and words,
like tears, often afford inward peace.  Religion is even better to live by.tjhan.to
anc- there is      of a rtoa  ch, ac qfafkl
ness of expression less likely to alarm than
an apparent studied reserve.  It is right for
the physician to exercise his judgment in critical cases, and perhaps to prohibit serious conversation; but he should be careful to know
that the perils of the case require it. It sometimes happens, when we least suspect it, that
the body is already sufferin'g from mental an



TO HIS BRETHREN.          69
guish, and thus neglect in ministering to the
soul complicates the physical malady. An
illustration occurring under his own observavation was related to me but recently by a
friend. A patient was very ill, and her phy-.
sicians, although discovering her fear of death,
and anxiety about her spiritual condition, for
bade any communication on the subject. Sh
gradually sank, and without any hope for th
body she was encouraged to seek the welfar
of her soul. Her mind grasped that medicin
which is found in the balm of Gilead, th
mists cleared away, and the released spiri
was at rest. The physical prostration wa
invigorated by that godliness with conten
ment which is great gain; and it soon becam
evident that mental and moral distress ha
for weeks been aggravating that of the body.
There are circumstances in which the physician might not safely introduce religious
themes for fear of exciting misapprehension,
or from not feeling freedom to do so, in which
nevertheless by a suggestion to some member
of the family, or by the visit of the minister,




70        A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
good might be accomplished. By merely acquainting the pastor or pious friends in the
community with the existing sickness, without
hinting any opinion as to the result, the desired object may be attained. Where recovery
is out of all question, and where we hesitate
not to warn the patient to arrange his temporal concerns, in such cases, though the hope
of salvation be well nigh hopeless, we need not,
we ought not to omit to point to the cross, to
our Saviour with arms extended for deliverance, to the necessity of preparation for that
life beyond the grave.
But happily our official duties are not con'
fined to acute death-bed sickness. It is ours
oftener, and more pleasurably to see the
iruddy glow of returning health, and to witiness the reviving of drooping energy and rejanimated strength.  Now no fears of doing
our patient harm by an untimely word need
distress us. God's lesson of the helplessness
of man, and the need of reliance upon a higher
power, is fresh in illustration; diminished pain
gives better opportunity for calm and reason



TO HIS BRETHREN.           7i
able thought; the cares of the world are necessarily set aside, and the_ sin in his
more cheerful, and less anxious visits owes to
his friend, himself, anfl his Maker some suggestions as to the claims of O3.ristianit,.
Many a one, who has feared to say a word lest
it should give offence, has been surprised to
find how ready and feeling a response it has
met from the hearer. How easy, how proper,
to casually drop a serious thought, the more
touching from its informality, and thus perchance say a word in season which may give
rise to a train of thought ending in celestial
hopes! It has been said that the convalescent
person looks upon the phsiciann as an angel,
and sure. it is as.a.rule that no..other at.that
time, and he at no other time, is more likely
to exert a beneficial influence on his charge.
It is one of the most convenient seasons we
have for doing good, and a passing remark, a
serious conversation, a single tract, a little
book, may be the means of effecting an everlasting cure which heaven itself will celebrate,
and the record of which will be found in the




72       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
[Lamb's book of life.   "Let the [physician]
know  that he which converteth the sinner
from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins.''
There is another class of disease in which,
if any difference, our moral obligations are still
more serious and pressing, and yet in which
we have little reason to fear ill results from
well-timed, judicious, spiritual effort.  Such
are those in which the malady lingers in its
ccurse, in chronic form protracting its destructive work, but with no less certainty of
irremediable fatal issue. These make up no
small proportion of the modes of death, and
allow extended time for suggestion and reflection. Here there is absent the alarm of the
sudden and acute disease, and in the most potent of all these there is a disposition just the
other way, to cling to hope, to call the hectic
flush the blush of health, and the occasional
feeling of strength the insignia of recovery.
In all these maladies, again, we have no exCuse for silence, while the consciousness of ex



TO HIS BRETHREN.          73
perience tells us we must not delay, or death
will be away with his trophy.  We should
not then omit or postpone to surround the patient with such influences, and impart such
counsels, as, with a blessing from above, shall
lead to serious contemplation. But does some
physician say, that it is ours to attend to the
body, not to the soul, that it is better to mind
one's own business?  Such was the reply not
long since made to one who spoke to a friend
of his immortal interests; but, as he kindly
demonstrated to him how much it was his concern, he induced him to follow on until he accepted the great salvation. They who ask,
Am I my brother's keeper? are often the very
ones most accountable for their condition; and
to us, with a patient as the subject, and approaching death as the monitor, the chiming
voices of revelation and sense, of time and
eternity, answer, Yes. My professional brother, let not such an one go down to the grave
without your having at least asked yourself,
and answered the question, whether you ought
not, by conversation, by conduct, the lent.
7




74       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
book, or persuasive sympathy, to strive to lead
the thoughts on high.  Says the excellent
Baxter, " Physicians that are much about dying men should, in a special manner, make
conscience of this duty. It is their peculiar
advantage that they are at hand —that they
are with men in sickness and danger, when
the ear is more open and the heart less stubborn than in time of health; and that men
look upon their physician as a person in whose
hand is their life, or, at least, who may do much
to save them; and therefore they will the
more regard his advice. You that are of
this honourable profession, do not think this
a work beside your calling, as if it belonged
to none but ministers; except you think it
beside your calling to be compassionate, or
to be Christians. Oh help therefore, to fit
your patients for heaven; and whether you
see they are for life or death, teach them both
how to live' and die, and point them to a
remedy for their souls as you do for their bodies."  Even where no good results to the
immediate person concerned, upon ourselves




TO HIS BRETHREN.           75
the effort brings its own reward. It reaches
the ear of Him in whose hand is the book of
remembrance, and it moves and refreshes the
fountains of our own hearts. And when it is
our privilege to converse with those upon
whose souls light has dawned amid the darkness, or with others who are calmly resting on
long cherished hopes; how is the valley of
Baca made to us a well from which we
draw spiritual draughts to fit us anew for our
Christian journeying! How often too may
we assist in making a religious impression,
powerful and lasting, upon inmates of the same
family or cherished friends!  The sickness
or death of those near and dear has frequently been the occasion of leading the survivors
to seek for more lasting trust, and words now
uttered are still more likely to foster the impression.
Afflictions are sometimes "celestial benedictions," blessings in disguise, especially if, by
reading or remark, the thought be directed to
that source of everlasting peace whose placid
waters not a single wave of adversity shall




76       A pHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
ever ripple. Oh! it becomes us to watch for
souls as those who must give an account of
their stewardship, and if we rely as much upon
prayer for blessing on our efforts as upon the efforts themselves, we shall not be disappointed.
New elements of power for good will be developed, habit will simplify what seems difficult,
and desire, tact, and experience, prevent obtrusiveness on the one hand, and neglect on
the other. Let us not then be recreant to our
lofty trusts, or to the noble opportunities we
enjoy of assisting, under God, in delivering
our fellow-men from the thraldom of ignorance
and sin, and securing that eternal emancipation of the soul which owns no other kingship
but the one Supreme, and no other chain but
that welcome one of love, imperishable, infinite, divine.




TO HIS BRETHREN.              77
CHAPTER IV.
Examples worthy of our imitation both in sacred and
profane history-Christ the Saviour and Luke the evangelist in their earthly relations to the sick and afflictedthe practicability of combining high religious principle and
professional skill and success-religious biography of
Boerhaave, Hey, Good, Hope, and others as models for
us.
IT has been said that history is philosophy
teaching by example.   The remark applies
with equal force to biography, and when we
view the records of Christian men, the proverb
is still more important and applicable. Religious experience has to do in part with the
unseen and eternal. Its eye of faith penetrates a veil about which others cannot so fully
reason, and the earnest, heartfelt exposition
of what others have felt and known is of no
little value in directing us. The testimony
7 *




78       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
derived from the inward consciousness and
practical life of the Christian is the best proof
of the faith and principles he professes, and
we may with propriety turn to the illustration
and enforcement which examples afford. The
religious biography of medicine is not as familiar to our profession as it should be. Divinity has its Doddridges, and Martyns, and
a great host of holy exemplars; Law, its Hales
and Ellsworths; the Camp, its Gardiners and
Havelocks; and in our calling we are not without some guides to direct us by example as
well as by precept in the way to heaven, and
to exhibit to our senses how it is possible for
the physician to be good as well as great. It
may not be unprofitable for us to notice the
religious history of a few, that we may be led
to that admiration of which the highest expression is imitation. Even in the records of
sacred writ, we find ourselves within the pale
of medical sympathy. Among the most devoted and faithful followers of the truth as it
is in Jesus, was Luke the beloved physician.
He is represented even in profane history




TO HIS BRETHREN.           79
as a noble model of an educated Christian phy.
sician, a supposed graduate of a then noted school
of medical science, in practice combining his religion with his every-day duties in beautiful and
attractive symmetry. The accuracy and minuteness of his descriptions and details show
that he was entirely familiar with the great
events connected with Christ's advent and life;
his doings and sayings; his mission and death.
As he had ever with him the lineaments of
his divine Master, and the cherished memory
of his practice and precepts, so should we ever
carry with us this pattern, and strive to be like
Him that we may at last see him as he is. As
Luke was a companion and ever constant
friend of Paul, that model of Christian ministers, so the physician of the present day
should be the supporter and aid of God's faithful messengers, encouraging them by sympathy, effort, and co-operation, instead of, as
has too often been the case, making'them the
aim of critical remark, and open opposition
The Gospel of Luke, and the Acts of the




80       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
apostles of which he was also the recorder,
have sometimes seemed to me like the first
good tidings, announced by the first Christian
physician, to his profession and the world.
In style admitted to be the most finished and
attractive of the evangelists, with the marks
of a chaste and educated mind directed by the
pen of inspiration, his narratives and illustrations would, were all the rest of the Bible
lost, introduce us to a complete system of religious belief and worship; and the mark of a
discerning medical witness is not unfrequently
manifest.  He alone refers minutely to the
birth of John the Baptist, and to the circumstances attending that of the babe of Bethlehem; to the miraculous cure of the woman
bowed eighteen years with infirmity; to the
cleansing of the ten lepers, the raising to life
of the son of the widow of Nain, and to the miracles wrought by Paul. In the description of
other cures referred to by other evangelists he
is more specific; and the entire particulars of
the death and resurrection of Christ are related
by him with more extended minuteness than




TO HIS BRETHREN.          81
anywhere else. Births, diseases, cures, and
deaths, form no small part of his narrative,
and who better fitted than he to speak and
judge of these? Thus, added to inspired authority, we have the testimony of a discriminating medical man, as if God had chosen him
as a perfect and convincing medium through
which to declare the history and miracles
which are the abundant attestation of our
holy religion. Thus a part of the divine message is conveyed to us by a competent witness
from our own number, and oh that we may receive the inspired and gracious words of eternal
life which he has made known unto us!
The medical man cannot, indeed, read any
part of the scripture history of Christ on
earth, without his thoughts being turned to
contemplate him as the great Physician. By
this title he refers to himself. As should we,
he went about doing good; his fondest moments were often spent in the relief of suffering and want; to cure the sick, raise the dead,
give sight to the blind, and bid the lame leap
for joy, were the tokens of his human sympa



82       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
thy, and more than human power; and though
clothed with that heavenly skill which forbids
us to speak of him as a mere earthly healer,
yet the terms applied to him as the restorer
of diseased bodies, and the everlasting relief
of sin-sick and burdened souls, cannot but
make deep impression upon the careful medical reader; and not unfrequently do we find
modes of expression, and trains of thought
and action suited especially to address themselves to us. From the sacred record let us take
Christ the Saviour as our heavenly, and Luke,
the beloved physician, as our earthly model,
and strive to walk in their most holy footsteps.
As we turn from sacred to secular biography, we are not left to trace the paths of
medical life without human exemplars, in the
practical exercise of their profession illustrating the symmetrical union of sound religious
faith and fruitful Christian experience with
high professional ability and success.
Referring back to a period long since past,
foremost among those worthy of our remem



TO HIS BRETHREN.          83
brance, we find the name of the distinguished
Boerhaave. With a discerning intellect, his
quick perception singled out the choicest avenues of knowledge, and in the science and practice of the medical art, the fine powers of his
mind found scope for healthy and vivacious
expansion.  Rapidly did he travel onward
and upward in the royal road of fame. Successive multitudes sought relief at his hands,
princes waited for his audience, and even Peter the Great is said to have tarried hours for
an interview. One after another, the professorships of the University called for his services, until he arrived at the highest post of
its honour. Students of Botany, Chemistry,
and Medicine hastened to his presence; wealth
and fame poured out their treasures before
him; and as a scholar, a scientific man, and
a physician, he stood aloft the wonder of his
age.
But let not his medical and literary standing obscure the religious character which
adorned it.  Born at Leyden, in 1668, both
his country and his times were such as put to




84       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
the test the moral principles of men; but
amid all his acquirements and reputation he
sought and exemplified that "wisdom which
maketh wise."
The Bible was his book of daily meditation,
and to it he attributed that power of control
which enabled him to preserve an equable
temper amid great provocation; which made
him childlike and humble amid his highest
honours; and which led him to dispense with
a liberal hand to the wants of the less'favoured
of his race. It and prayer were the sources
from which he derived mental and moral vigour for the toils of his calling, and in daily
life he seems to have recognized the need of
divine guidance and aid. Subject at various
periods to extreme suffering from imperfect
respiration, cheerfulness and submission graced
his social intercourse, and he practised the
maxim by which as he said, living or dying, he
wished to abide: " That is only best which is
perfectly agreeable to the divine goodness and
majesty."  " God be praised," was his triumphant utterance over the pangs of disease, and




TO HIS BRETHREN.           85
having nearly reached his three score years
and ten, he readily exchanged the honours of
this life for the immortal crown and the eternal residence.
Ah! where the incongruity of high intellectual power and practical Christianity!
What in a human existence more sublime than
the mind of intelligent manhood made radiant,
S.wyth athe light of heaven, a halo of glory encircling' -"thi i'hassive brow, and the business,
the_ duties, the hopes, the entire life, of, the.
physician -sanctified by the reflected effulgence
of that truth whose origination and culminating point is God!
Near the close of the earthly career of Herman Boerhaave was born, on British soil, another distinguished practitioner of the healing
art, to whose noble character united with the
highest medical attainment, the surgeon and
the Christian may pleasurably refer. William
Hey early gave promise both of that intellectual and moral power, which were so forcibly
and successfully developed, during the period
of a life reaching to the age of eighty three.
8




86       A PHYSICIAN S COUNSELS
He early became impressed with the truths
of revelation, and the necessity of a personal
acceptance of the plan of salvation opened up
in the gospel, and after careful examination
embraced it as the only guaranty of present
and everlasting bliss.  While pursuing his
medical studies in London, we find him lamenting that he could not meet with any religious student in the same pursuit; but by
his industry and correct conduct gaining an
influence over those whom the same principles
did not restrain.  He resolved "to spare no
pains to qualify himself for that state to which
the providence of God had called him, and
then trust him with the success of his endeayours." His experience both in his profession
and in his varied relations was made up of
such checkered scenes, as called into exercise
all the traits of his religious nature.  For
long years he struggled on before his practice
provided him an adequate support, until success crowned his efforts, and he became acknowledged one of the ablest surgeons of his
day.




TO HIS BRETHREN.           87
As senior surgeon of the Leeds hospital,
as an honorary member of the Royal Society,
and as the chief magistrate of his native city,
he received his share of worldly consideration,
and yet, in the faithful discharge of his duties,
encountered such opposition and reproach as
put to the test both his principles and faith.
But severer trials marked his personal and
social history. At the age of thirty-seven he
received an injury which for some time incapacitated him for exertion, and, a few years
after, a fall upon the thigh which threatened
entirely to lay him aside from his chosen occupation, and which left him ever after seriously crippled. During the sickness to which
he was subjected, and the interference which
they caused to his professional labours, no
words of repining or complaint issued from
his lips.  "If it be," said he, "the will of
God that I should be confined to a sofa, and
he command me to pick straws for the rest of
my life, I hope I should feel no repugnance
to his good pleasure."
In his family circle still- more afflictive dis



88       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
pensations befell him. Four of his children
were taken from him in early youth, and five
others in succession soon after their entrance
upon labours of usefulness and promising success. If any thing would seem pre-eminently
capable of arousing the rebellion of nature, it 
is the oft repeated strokes of affliction; but
the religion of this mourning father was equal
to the test. On the bended knee we find him
pouring out his emotions before God, blessing
him that he had good reason to believe that
the nine had but departed to a better world,
and making his sore bereavements the occasion of rousing himself to greater zeal and devotion in the service of his Master.
Few men have ever lived, who so habitually
exemplified the peace and happiness which the
gospel is able to impart. With the experience
of a long life, "Oh," said he, "there is no
support, no comfort, but in a reliance on the
atonement and intercession of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh what a blessed thing it is to be
looking unto Jesus, and resting upon the promises of God in him!' Behold what manner




TO HIS BRETHREN.          89
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that
we should be called the sons of God.''If
any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, but for the sins of the whole world.'"
Such were some of his fondest quotations
and contemplations; and who that does not
desire such sublime reliance?  Where the
physician, who, with the skill and success of
William Hey, would not love to add the sparkling glory of his piety? He not only, if we
may so speak, died Christianity, but he lived
it.
His very presence and intercourse made his
patients feel that he was anxious for their
spiritual as well as their temporal restoration;
and his influence, though dispersed like the
dew in a thousand minute and humble drops,
reflected the rays of the Sun of righteousness
on many a languishing soul. He departed,
as he had lived, with faith, and peace, and
praise, and glory, furnished by the preparation of the past; but by the night of
8*




90       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
death brought out more vividly, as the morning stars which ushered in his immortal day.
With his example brought pointedly home
to us as that of an eminent brother practitioner, who will not utter the prayer, "Let
me live the life of the righteous, and let me
die with a refuge and a hope like his?"
Another distinguished example which may
properly be commended to the physician of
the present day is that of John Mason Good.
It is recorded of him by his biographer that
" amid all the occupations of his professional
life, and all his application to literary pursuits, as a student and author, he still found
time and inclination to investigate the claims
of Christianity; and having become convinced
of its truth and importance, he practised upon
its precepts, was eventually led to embrace
its doctrines, and its spirit as the great
ultimatum of human attainments, and seeking
for intelligence at the fountain of intellect, to
find Him whom to know is life eternal." His
experience is especially instructive to the
sceptical. His "Book of Nature," so varied




TO HIS BRETHREN.          9t
in its scope and illustration, exhibits his fondness for the wonders of earth, and from his intense enthusiasm in the search, he was temptingly exposed to the deluding charms of materialistic belief. In his primal efforts, we accordingly find him a materialist in respect to man's
origin, and a universalist as to his destiny,
amusing himself with finely wrought theories
of creation and happiness; but the careful
and candid examination of fifteen years enabled him, above and beyond, to see a light
beaming through the tinted cloud which had
so long beguiled his vision.
* In'1815, at the meridian age of life, with
his accumulated knowledge, and research into
the anatomy and phenomena of animate and
inanimate existence, he declared that " there
was no intermediate ground upon which a
sound reasoner could make a firm stand, between pure deism and modern orthodoxy as
held by evangelical churches," and with zeal
he embraced the latter.




92        A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
0 word I O wisdom! boundless theme
Of rapture and of grief;
Lord, I believe thy truth supreme;
Oh help my unbelief.
Such was the poetic utterance of his unreserved submission to the power of truth, and
in the intense duties of his active profession,
and the varied literary labours which devolved
upon him, he exhibited the purity of a Christian life, and the propriety of a godly conversation. The private duties of his holy religion
were not neglected, and in the following daily
prayer he has left a form of petition worthy
of the notice of us all. " 0 thou great Bestower of health, strength, and comfort! grant
thy blessing upon the professional duties in
which this day I may engage. Give me judgment to discern disease, and skill to treat it;
and crown with thy favour the means that
may be devised for recovery; for with thine
assistance, the humblest instrument may succeed, as, without it, the ablest must prove
unavailing. Save me from all sordid motives;
and endow me with a spirit of pity and lib



TO HIS BRETHREN.          93
erality towards the poor, and of tenderness
and sympathy towards all; that I may enter
into the various feelings by which they are
respectively tried; may weep with those that
weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice.
And sanctify thou their souls, as well as heal
their bodies. Let faith, and patience, and
every Christian virtue they are called upon
to exercise, have their perfect work; so that
in the gracious dealings of thy Spirit and of
thy providence, they may find in the end,
whatever that end may be, that it has been
good for them that they have been afflicted.
Grant this, 0 heavenly Father, for the love
of that adorable Redeemer, who, while on
earth, went about doing good, and now ever
liveth to make intercession for us in heaven.
Amen."
As he drew nigh the borders of the grave,
humility and faith were the befitting emblems
of his greatness in the past, and his hopes for
the future.' I have taken," said he, "what
unfortunately the generality of Christians too
much take-the middle walk of Christianity.




9 i      A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
I have endeavoured to live up to its duties
and doctrines; but I have lived below its privileges. I have been led astray by the vanity
of human learning, and by the love of human
applause."
His last expressions were those of trusting
and overflowing love to that Saviour, whose
religion had adorned his declining years; and
his memory is to us a symmetrical monument
of consistent piety, great ability, and high
professional success. Learn from him, how
these characteristics, like brethren, may dwell
together in unity.
Passing on to a still more recent period,
the Christian and medical standing of the distinguished stethoscopist, James Hope, commends itself to our notice.  The peculiar
characteristics of his mind were such, as give
additional importance to his belief, with those
who are not affected by the expressions of intense and excited feeling, so much as by the
calm conclusions of thinking, plodding, reasoning men.
"It was a remarkable circumstance," says




TO HIS BRETHREN.           95
one of his biographers, "in the moral historyl
of Dr. Hope, that it was very much through
the instrumentality of his reasoning powers
that his heart became affected by religious
subjects. He was slow in forming a conclusion on any subject, nor was ever disposed to
do so, till he had fathomed depths, and probably unravelled many intricacies which to a
more superficial mind would have been scarcely apparent." The same calm and deliberate
investigation, which he applied to an analysis
of the diseases of the heart, and to the general subject of pathological anatomy, and which
enabled him to open up a new and delightful
field of professional knowledge, was exercised
in his examination of the claims of Christianity; and the Spirit of God blessing his search,
it resulted not only in a tacit recognition, but
in a decisive and unwavering acceptance of
the gospel salvation.
His was the life of a devoted and consistent
Christian physician; and the honours and success which attended him did not dim the
bright power of his religious example. At




96       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
the meridian period of life, and with a reputation constantly extending, he was attacked
with those symptoms of pulmonary disease,
which, while they deceive many, could in no
wise mislead him.  With thankfulness to God
that he had not postponed his preparation to
the months of sickness and decay, in a calm
and steady faith he expressed his willing acquiescence in the substitution of the near prospect of heaven, for the arduous toils of his
profession. " Joyfully did he resign the blessings of this world, because he found within his
grasp, richer treasures, surpassing honours,
purer joys, which shall never fade or cloy, but
endure for ever and ever."
On the evening before his death, with an
undisturbed mind, he recognized the signs of
hastening dissolution. "I have," said he, "no
set speeches to make, but two things to say. The
first is farewell to my wife; the second is soon
said,'Christ is all and in all to me. I have no
hope except in him; he is indeed all, and in all.'"
Quietly, but sensibly, his powers of respiration
failed; now and then some sweet passage of




To HIS BRETHREN.            97
his blessed guide book escaping from his lips,
and with thanks to God, as his last connected
utterance,
" He passed through glory's morning gate,
And entered Paradise."
With such a model, who can feel it to be
unintellectual, and unprofessional to be a
Christian  Oh! does not the crown of righteousness sit gracefully and gloriously on such
a brow, and does it not behove us all to
choose the better part, and lay hold upon
eternal life?
We have thus noticed a few of those of our
own calling who, at various periods of time, and
under diverse circumstances, have illustrated the
noble combination of medical and moral greatness. Did space permit, it would be pleasant
to portray the character of the excellent Baron
Haller, with the double argument of science
and revelation enforcing the reasonableness
of inspired truth; Bateman, abhorring the
materialism and scepticism of his early belief,
and declaring that the blessing of his conver9




98       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
sion was a "theme for his perpetual thanksgiving by day and by night;" Sir William
Knighton, living religion within the walls
of royalty; Parr claiming " the most desirable profession to be that of physic, because
equally favourable to a man's moral sentiments and intellectual faculties;" Burder
writing dutiful letters to a junior practitioner;
and Bell, and Rush, and Bliss, and a host of
others whose influence was on the side of truth
and righteousness. More than all, there are
in our own profession, in our own land, living
epistles known and read of all men, whose
holy lives and godly conversation furnish the
vital exemplification of what the Christian
physician is and ought to be.  But why
need we multiply examples? Those already
referred to are sufficient to exhibit the practicability of combining temporal and eternal
wisdom; and to present before us men of like
occupation and temptations with ourselves, who
are worthy models for our imitation.
Christianity, not only in theory, in reason,
in nature, in revelation, commends itself to




TO HIS BRETHREN,            G9
our acceptance; but human experiencet'h-g
it directly home to our hearts as a practical
system, and adapted to elevate intellectual
talent and professional worth, and to secure
that happiness which surrounds the very business of life with a sheen of satisfaction, hides
the grimness of death beneath the smiles of
hope, and inspires the soul with the sustaining
prospect of an ever radiant immortality.




100      A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
CONCLUSION.
IN the preceding pages we have briefly
noticed the tendency of the study and practice of medicine, the temptations to which it
exposes us, the privileges it confers, and a few
of the examples which exhibit its practical
combination with Christianity.  It has not
been our aim to compass the whole field of
argument and illustration; but rather to open
up a fountain of thought, flowing out by natural contemplation into a thousand rivulets,
conferring power, health, and elevation both
upon the thinker himself, and those with whom
he is associated. Be assured we stand upon a'pinnacle of that everlasting temple, whose inner court is the holy of holies; and education,
opportunity, and duty, like three veritable
graces, with joined hands and melodious voices,
bid us do something which shall contribute to




TO HIS BRETHREN.          101
the civilization, reformation, and eternal salvation of a sinful world.
Every medical reader, whom I address, has
already arranged himself in one or the other
of the only two classes of candidates for immortal existence; those by the Christian faith
prepared for everlasting happiness, or those
with dreadful alternative, without hope, and
without God in the world; unmoved as they
see others gliding into the tomb, and themselves at last without a gleam of light, groping on until they fall into the immeasurable
abyss. Consider, I beseech you, your imperiled destiny. It will not answer, to content
ourselves with earthly perfection in an art
which the happy spirit will have no need of
preserving in another world; and it only adds
interest, and light, and science to our pleasing
pursuit, if we study it in its religious bearing.
With the word of God as your guide, the book
of nature and your professional knowledge as
your prompters, and an earnest and prayerful desire after truth, you will not fail to
9*




102       A PHYSICIAN'S COUNSELS
find the doctor's great Physician with whom
is ever to be found the elixir of life.
If we have already united the profession
of the Christian with the profession of medicine, on us the claims of our united professions press with a serious responsibility.
Our own spiritual vigour, and the wants of a
perishing world require us to gird ourselves
afresh, and awake in the strength of our Re.
deemer. To be good, to do good, to get good,
should be our motto. The measure of oppor.
tunity is the measure of duty, and let us weigh
well the accountability to which our medical
profession subjects us. Trace its avenues of
benefit, its motives for philanthropy, its relationship to reform, its humanitarian and social
elements, its moral philosophy, its religious
aspects, the inherent practicability of its power
for good; and devote yourself to the improvement of its loftiest and holiest privileges by
expanding them into an actual practice. Thus
your days will be the witness of greater
achievements than intellect can boast, and




TO HIS BRETHREN.         103
crown everlasting ages with the trophies of
unfading, imperishable glory.
These pages, designedly few, I commend to
your thoughtful perusal and expansive application; and though they be but as the mustard
seed which is the least of all the seeds, God
grant that they may be blessed to the benefit
of the medical reader, and be made an humble
instrumentality in preparing us for toil and
duty here, and for that world where sickness
and pain shall never come; where physician
and patient in joyful triumph together may
sing, "0 death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?" "Thanks be to God
which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ."  "Let us hear the conclusion
of the whole matter: Fear God and keep
his commandments; for this is the whole of
man. For God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it
be good or whether it be evil."