! needy sick; none expose themselves to dangers equally numerous and great, without the remotest prospects of pecuniary remuneration. They work silently, yet not the less effectually. They make use of no ostentatious preconization of their good deeds, which are of unsolicited and spontaneous origin; and whilst others are idly preaching the duty of charity, they exemplify it in their daily converse with man. No one is better acquainted with the distresses of poverty and sickness than the physician; and no one, therefore, can more fully and deeply sympathize with the afflicted. What a bright galaxy of medical philanthropists does history exhibit to us Of men who have conferred lasting and invaluable blessings on society; who have laboured through evil and through good report, for the benefit of their fellow-creatures! And do they not still labour in the same cause? Do they not pursue the same undeviating path of benevolence; gratuitously devoting their time and talents to the indigent sick? We will say nothing of what is privately wrought in this respect; let our public hospitals, our dispensaries, and asylums be consulted: let them speak. There are very few such institutions, in which those who have the care of the soul are not adequately remunerated for their trouble; whilst, universally, those who cure the body bestow their time and ability gratuitously. And yet, time is infinitely more precious to the latter than to the former. 66 Again, no body of men in the community can boast of brighter ornaments to science than are to be found amongst the members of the profession of physic. Where shall we find more truly liberal and enlightened philosophers? Individuals, that have more effectually contributed to dissipate error and superstition, or more zealously promoted the general good of mankind? Where, in fine, shall we meet with men who have united higher cultivation of mind with a more truly virtuous nobility of character? "We repeat, then, neither in mental nor moral attributes does the profession of physic yield to that of theology. Let no one imagine we are instituting an invidious comparison, with the intention of exalting the merits of one body in the community, by depreciating those of another. We have no aim but that of evincing the general worth, industry, and acquirements of medical practitioners. We wish to show, that the study of anatomy does not exert any baneful influence on their characters; that it does not deprive them of the distinguishing sensibilities of humanity, and thus render them callous to the sufferings of their fellow-men. No! they pursue an honourable and dignified vocation, and are urged on in their career by the noble ambition of achieving the utmost possible good. It would be difficult, indeed, to point out in society, individuals of a more laborious, persevering, and indefatigable character. At all hours, at the table of repast, on the couch of repose, amid the inclemency of weather, the harass of an anxious mind, and the oppression of bodily fatigue, they must be ready to obey each capricious call! And yet how ill-treated and illrequited! Patients rigorously exact an assiduous attention; whilst with all latitude which may suit their fancies, they will follow the advice of a medical attendant, yet immediately suspect the extent of his skill, should the amelioration demanded not ensue. But this is not all; they even seek at the hands of the law to obtain compensation for any supposed deficiency of skill, to the attainment of which, nevertheless, both themselves and the law are equally opposed !"*. They cease to suit their own convenience and to attend to their private affairs, as they are always ready to wait on suffering humanity; they allow nothing whatever to prevent them from attending to the sick, they are always ready; they bear with the injustice, the caprices, and ingratitude of men; they expose their lives in the most dangerous circumstances-when pestilence devastates the earth, in all times, in all places; they possess courage, exemplary patience, and an entire abnegation of self. Such are the virtues of medical practitioners. They are, however, amply rewarded for all annoyances and ill-treatment. They have numberless opportunities of giving that relief to distress which is not to be purchased with the wealth of India. This, to a benevolent mind, is one of the * Dr. Corden Thompson's Letter on the Necessity of Anatomical Pursuits, 1830. greatest pleasures. "Is there any thing in the world more estimable," asks Voltaire, "than a physician; who, having studied nature in his youth, knows the relations of the human body; the diseases that torment it, the remedies that may assuage it, exercises his art in defiance of it, takes equal care of the rich and the poor, who does not receive remuneration but with regret, and employs it to the succour of the indigent? Men," continues he, "who are occupied in affording health to other men, exercise the only principles of beneficence, are far above all the great ones of the earth, they partake of the divinity." They are now duly appreciated by kings, nobles, poets, and literary and philosophical characters. All the virtues are displayed in the exercise of the functions of a physician-his ministry commands the respect of men, and the admiration of sages. As there is no perfect code of ethics to guide the profession in this country, a succinct detail of the rules of conduct prescribed in the different works of authority may be given, and then the leading points can be fully discussed under separate heads. The following is an imperfect epitome of the ethics of the last century, collected from various sources. To this will be appended the ethical code of the present period. CHAPTER III. MEDICAL ETHICS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. FIRST of all things, a medical man ought to exercise piety, and give due honour to the Supreme Being. Next, he ought to render to every one his due; obedience to his superiors, concord to his equals, and equity to his inferiors. He ought to preserve a clean heart, and silent tongue, and cultivate every virtue. The whole praise of virtue consists in action. He is to avoid anger, and suppress all its perturbations, intemperance and insolence, having always before his eyes the great deformity of mind produced in those who give way to them, and the amiableness and gracefulness of those who avoid them. Sensuality, intemperance, and dissipation, produce concupiscence and carnal gratification, which increase rapidly, and would eventually ruin a medical practitioner. These are to be strenuously avoided, as well as every luxury. Continence consists in moderating pleasure; gluttony, debauchery, and ignominy, in abusing it. An incontinent, or an intemperate man never rose to eminence, and is completely unfit for medical practice. Men of loose and dissolute habits, and of excursive amours, debase themselves to the rank of the brute creation, and render the mind stupid and inert, and totally unfit for the pursuits of science. Such profligate and abandoned characters cannot be found in the history of the medical profession-in truth, men so vitiated could not long pursue the practice of medicine. What man would commit the care of his wife, daughters, or female relatives to a medical practitioner, if such could be found, of so debased and brutal character-to a man burning with desire of violating the conjugal and vestal honours of his neighbour's family. Hence the necessity of practising chastely and honourably; and hence the preference which is given to those members of the profession who have entered into the sacred bonds of matrimony, especially in obstetric practice. Every one is bound to support his own and the professional dignity, with noble sentiments, probity, and humanity. Sadness and fear depress the mind and body, and unman the practitioner. Fortitude is opposed to sadness and fear, and is often necessary to enable us to bear patiently the calumny and contumely, to which no class of men are more exposed than the professors of medicine. All these passions should be expunged from the medical character, and an ardent desire of fame and glory be substituted in their place. Avarice, pride, and envy, are evils which must be carefully avoided. Avarice was considered the chief of all improbity by the ancients; and it is highly cruel in medical men, when it precludes aid from the sick. But those do not consider its cruelty whose sole object is the accumulation of riches. Well might the poet exclaim -Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames? The sick should never want aid on account of pecuniary consideration; and the practitioner ought to be satisfied according to the affluence of the patient. Above all things, pride is to be avoided. It is odious in the sight of God and man, as it excites an inordinate desire of excellence, and induces one to think, that he enjoys from himself all the gifts of nature, talent, intellect, memory, power, and science, which are bestowed on him by the Deity: he despises others, and thinks they are to submit to him, although his superiors; and hence follows his insatiable desire of praise, fame, honour, glory, and reverence, which is but vain glory. Physicians ought never to be guilty of such an error, nor of presumption, ambition, nor curiosity. On the contrary, let them display humility without sordidness. Envy at the prosperity or success of another, is an evil which ought not to be named among the profession. An envious man is pusillanimous, of a narrow mind and abject talent, for he shows by envying others, that he is inferior to them; he envies what he does not possess, but vehemently desires. Envy is a compound of hatred, dissimulation, avarice, pusillanimity, mendacity, and ambition; and is opposed to friendship, liberality, truth, mag |