insult the intelligence of the present enlightened generation. Men, nay whole communities, are found, who either ignorant of, or forgetful of, or blind to the great principles which have been conceived by philosophy, substantiated by fact, and established by experience, are willing to be led astray by novel systems, and trust their lives to designing and artful men, whose intelligence on all other subjects they have no respect for, whose standing they do not acknowledge, and whose society in social life they absolutely refuse. In the whole history of those individuals who reject the established theories of medicine, is there a single man to be found who has a philosophic mind, an enlightened conscience, and an honest heart? Not While hundreds and thousands of the regular faculty, with all these great traits of human character combined, have graced every century, and adorned particularly the last two hundred years, not one single enlightened and conscientious philosopher has practiced or promulgated the false systems that have occasionally taken possession of the public mind, and carried their thousands to an untimely grave. one. If But, gentlemen, we must not grieve or despond over this. It is founded in human nature, and is part and parcel of that general imperfection which belongs to the mental structure of our race. men are found who are willing to sacrifice their physical existence to a new system of medicine, they, also, are found, and in large numbers, too, who embrace with enthusiasm some false and mysterious religious doctrine of the day, at the risk even of losing their immortal souls. We should not then complain, but pursue with steady purpose the study of our science, and leave no stone unturned to develop its truths, and to perfect its practice. We know what is right, and it is our duty manfully to do it Let us not be depressed because impostors reap the reward that we are honestly entitled to. It is but gold that they acquire; gold, sordid and perishable as themselves. Let them have it and enjoy it--but what is that enjoyment compared with the one which flows from rectitude of character and honesty of purpose? They have no green spots to dwell upon in the memory of the past. They have no nobleness of character which makes an honest man proud of being born in the semblance of his Maker. They have no reputation to enjoy while they live-no honorable fame to leave to their posterity when they die. He who would sacrifice the dignity of his nature for the creature comforts that can be purchased with money, is rather to be pitied than to be despised. Let us leave them to their idols, to share the mingled feelings of pleasure and remorse that flow from its worship. For us there is a higher task left to accomplish. Deeply impressed with the value or interchanging our opinions, and of pursuing a methodical plan for the advancement of our science, we have associated ourselves in order that we may have concert of action. By united efforts we have already done much, and there is before us a beautiful field in which to labor; but labor must be our watchword. This splendid fabric which we have received from our ancestors must not be neglected by us. It has now reached so far beyond anything that it has hitherto attained, that it may be almost considered complete; but the beautiful fret-work with which modern science has ornamented and adorned it, is of perishable material, and it will rust and decay unless it be kept bright and polished by our efforts. Nor is there anything that will avail us but continued action. Many of you are young and capable, and you must discard your apathy, and take an interest in your pursuits. One or two individuals among us can do but little. True, they may be glowing with ardor, energy, and enthusiasm, and may be bright by nature and education, yet their labors will be but a drop in the bucket. The combined energy in full of the association will be requisite. And, gentlemen, we have encouragement from many and from high quarters. Our volume of "Transactions," published last year, has been hailed with pleasure and satisfaction in every direction. Medical journals have made various extracts from its pages, and we have been much complimented for the interest we take in the elevation of our profession. This interest must be continued, and we must yearly be more industrious and more vigilant. Our profession in the South is liable to attack from so many quarters that unless it has some stronghold-some citadel like the present association, it must suffer and languish. The spirit of the age is onward, and the tocsin of reform is now sounding throughout all human society. As you have seen, no class of men is making more strenuous efforts for advancement than the medical philosophers, and we, here in Alabama, should not be behind the times; but while we are in the field let us be energetic and active. It requires no very prophetic eye to see that a bright destiny awaits our State. Her legal men already stand high before the country as eminent jurists; her planters are yearly developing her agricultural resources; her merchants are opening new avenues to wealth, and pushing her commerce in every direction; her miners are daily raising from her bosom the rich stores that have been hidden there for centuries. Shall we alone be behind the times, and suffer our profession to languish, and thus deny ourselves the position that we deserve? Shall we still let the syren voice of indolence woo us into her haunts of idleness, pleasure, and amusement, where the whole experience of the past has taught us that we can find nothing except that which will cloy the senses, clog the understanding, and poison the heart. Is there not enough of interest in the profession to arrest a large share of our time and attention, and to induce us to devote it to the development of our science and the perfection of its literature. Who can tell the influence which this association may possess when its present membership shall reach to four or five hundred; and who is there that can prophesy the immense amount of benefit to society at large which that noble institution, the National Medical Association, will be productive of if it is properly managed, when its present eight or nine hundred members shall swell to as many thousands, gathered together in scientific conclave from every portion of our land—from Maine to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific shore. I would be doing violence to my own feelings and injustice to her were I not before I close to pay a passing tribute to woman. Amid the toils, the troubles, the anxieties of our laborious profession, we would often become heart-sickened and discouraged, were it not for the fact that our services are keenly appreciated by woman. Whatever is lofty in sentiment, or touching in emotion, or tender in sympathy, finds a welcome reception in her responsive bosom. She does not mingle with the world to become cold with its icy touch, but is ever warm, and gentle, and affectionate. Man may forget the hand that administered to his relief; the daily visit that guarded him in his infirmity; he may think the debt is discharged and the obligation cancelled by the remuneration from his purse. But woman deals not thus. Her heart will never permit her to forget the being who endeavored to smooth the couch of her affliction by relieving her from pain. It will never allow her to forget him who watched her infant child, sympathized with her in its suffering, rejoiced with her in its relief, or if the fatal stroke must come, and the angel spirit too pure for earth must return to the bosom of its God, ever present in her memory, and not forgotten in her prayers, is the kind friend who was present to do all that he could, and who would have saved, had not the mandate gone forth which rendered him as helpless as the dying babe itself. Even the youngest among us would dislike to forego the pleasure that lights up his bosom by the remembrance of the gratitude of woman. The anticipation of that which is still to come is sweet-the memory of that gone by is among the brightest spots of his professional career-the green oases in the desert of the past. Members of the association, by the diplomas which we have received from our Alma Mater, a small portion of the temple of mediIcal science has been entrusted to our care. Let our association be faithful to its trust, and keep its share of the beautiful fabric bright and polished. Beneath its domes and spires, within its sacred walls, is taught one of the noblest of all the professious; one of labors and fatigues, but of heartfelt sympathies and extended charities. One that relates to MAN himself; man, who is so fearfully and wonderfully made; who from the cradle to the grave, in all his functious, moral, physical and intellectual, is so strange and so mysterious; man, whom God did not hesitate to mould after His own form, and whose spirit He has thought worthy of an immortal habitation. |