VALEDICTORY 
ADDRESS 
TO THK 
GRADUATING GLASS 
OF THK 
|j|w 4srUan# 0! IMdltoie, 
Session 1865—65. 
J. L. ORAWCOUR, M. I).. 
Professor of Median Chemistry and Legal Medicine, 
PRINTED BY BLKLOCK A CO., BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS, 130 OANAL ST. 
NEW ORLEANS: 
1866, Gentlemen of the Graduating Class of the 
New Orleans School of Medicine: 
Five years have passed since we last met in this 
Eall—years pregnant with great events—years of 
suffering and of sorrow, of toil, of trouble, of privation, 
but at length we assemble as of yore, to greet you, and 
celebrate your emancipation from the thraldom of 
scholastic discipline. 
I will not deny, but that in common with yourselves, 
I have often sighed for the moment of release; all of us 
long for our holiday; but now when the time has come, 
and we unite but to say good bye, it is with feelings akin 
to regret that I hail it. The severance of any tie is 
painful, and the bond which unites teacher and pupil is 
so intimate and is of such peculiar strength, that one 
must be more insensible than most men, to contem- 
plate with equanimity, the separation perhaps for all 
time, from those with whom we have passed so many 
pleasant hours of mutual labor. It may be gratifying 
for you to know, that I speak as the voice of your entire 
faculty, when I say that, never since the prigin of the 
school, have we had a class so remarkable for propriety 
of conduct, so diligent, so earnest in the acquirement of 
knowledge. 
To-day, in the ordinary language of the world, you 
have finished your studies. You have received your 
Diplomas, and are free to go forth and practice the noble 
profession you have chosen. 
Many of you imagine that with the present attain- 
ment of medical honors, all your labors are to cease; 
that with your diplomas in your possession, you may 
hereafter banish all professional books and investigations 
from your thoughts, that you leave your college, not 
tyros, but proficients in your profession. 
Banish such an idea (if'you have had it) from your 
mind; regard to-day, as it is fitly termed, the commence- 
ment day, the true commencement of your studies, when 
the seed sown in the past may begin to bear fruit. To- 
day is at best, but a momentary halt, after the first and 4 
easiest stage in the journey of professional life, and your 
march onward must be one, not of diminished but of 
renewed energy and diligence. To-day, instead of laying 
aside the books and implements of labor, begin rather 
to re-arrange them for future use. Remember in an art 
like ours there is no limit to knowledge; we have but 
begun to count the sands on the shore; science is eternally 
advancing, and .unless you advance with it you will be 
left behind in the race of life. 
The medical practitioner can never cease to be the 
medical student. His whole life is and must be a course 
of continued and accumulating instruction and research. 
The vast importance, as well as the vast extent and rapid 
march of our profession demand it. We who have 
taught you, are still learning, and are only by time and 
opportunity a little more advanced than you. Students 
we must be to the end of our lives. All that we have 
done has been to lay in your mind a sure, and we heartily 
trust a solid foundation of professional knowledge. The 
rest must be finished and adorned by your own individual 
zeal, your own individual industry, your own individual 
talents. 
If, therefore, there is one single truth which you 
ought to engrave upon the tablet of your hearts more 
deeply than another, it is this; that if you aspire after 
professional distinction—if you wish to do your duty to 
those whom you will have to assist, you must assiduously 
enrich and extend your store of knowledge by continued 
and constant observation, reflection and reading. No 
branch of information will come amiss to you, there is 
no art, no science, which cannot be turned to account in 
the practice of your profession. Labor are est or are—to 
labor is to pray—and he prays best who most works tor 
his fellow man. Never forget that our profession requires 
continuous application, constant energy; for the more 
we learn, the more remains to be learned, and all that 
can be said of the most accomplished philosopher is, 
that he was less ignorant than his fellows. 
The profession you have chosen is the noblest to 
which man can devote himself; to endeavor to lessen the 
the sum of human suffering, to assuage the miseries of 
poor humanity, to lengthen life, to bid disease depart, is an 
occupation which assimilates man to his Divine Maker. In those who know best their profession there is no 
scepticism; although success does not always crown our 
efforts, yet relief most frequently attends us, and if on 
the healthy body drugs produce an effect, equal results 
must follow their use on the diseased organ. It is the 
ignorant only who denies or deludes. 
In the divine words of Cicero: “In nothing does 
man so resemble the Gods, as when he is restoring health 
to his fellow man. 
There are occupations which hold forth the promise 
of greater gain, there are trades which lead more surely 
to affluence, but there is no occupation which while it 
enables us to gain a competent living, will permit us so 
well to carry forward the great end for which we were 
created, and to further the design of universal brother- 
hood. Ours, I repeat again, gentlemen, is a noble 
profession, the following of which honestly and to the 
best of our abilities, brings its own reward with it; one 
in which however ill requited we may sometimes be in 
a pecuniary sense, however ill acknowledged and ill 
understood our services now and then may appear, is 
yet the only one which will allow us at each sunset to 
reflect that we have not “ wholly lost a day.” 
If you work well and diligently you may attain to 
the highest honors of your profession; let your motto 
ever be Excelsior, and never forget that all things may 
be achieved by will and perseverance. It is very doubt- 
ful if there be such a thing as chance or luck, and whether 
the success we sometimes designate by these terms is not 
in most instances the result of perseverance, skill and 
tact. Accidental successes are of rare occurence, and I 
believe we hold much more frequently than is usually 
supposed the keys of the future in our own hands. 
If in your career you should be harassed by seeing 
the apparent and occasional success of quackery, which is 
however but another name for dishonesty, do not be dis- 
heartened. Console yourselves that in every department 
of social life the supply of rogues is exactly proportioned 
to that of the fools, and that for the most part medical 
dishonesty is but the complement of non-medical folly. 
And now permit me to say a few words to you as to 
your conduct to your patients. There is one golden rule 
to guide you: “Do unto others as you would be done 6 
by.” Put yourself in the place of those who are under 
your care. Think that is your own wife, your own child, 
your own parent, or brother, or sister you are treating. 
Daily remind yourselves that in your hands rest the lives 
and welfare of your fellow creatures; daily, nay hourly, 
think what this involves, and you will constantly decide, 
that not even your own lives could be more dear to you 
than the duties of your profession. Ponder well on 
the fearful responsibility you have undertaken; the 
life of a fellow creature is in your hands; the ignorance 
of a moment, the vacillation of a second, may make the 
difference between life and death. I verily believe, that 
did any of us realize beforehand the terrible weight we 
assume, not one of us would ever enter our profession. 
In your intercourse with your patients let every word 
and action breathe a spirit of courtesy and kindness; 
remember that when the body is sick, the mind suffers 
also, and you have to soothe the spirit as well as the 
frame which encloses it. You will frequently be the 
confidants of your patients; you will hear secrets which 
must not be breathed into the ear of the nearest and 
dearest friend. Your counsel will be sought not only as 
a physician but as an adviser. You will be consulted in 
many of the intricate difficulties of private life. Reve- 
lations will be made to you of the frailties, the follies of 
humanity. Trusts will be confided to you, either by 
accident or necessity, dearer than life itself. The honour 
of families will be in your hands, and I am proud to say 
that the faith placed in our noble profession has never 
once been betrayed. Remember that the eye and the 
ear of the Physician must be as silent as the confessional 
«' -0 
of the Priest. 
Your duties may sometimes call you to scenes where 
life itself may be imperiled. He who guards the portals 
of the grave must not fear Death. 
Wb en the pestilence stalks at noon-day, when the 
cheek of the warrior who has stood the brunt of a hun- 
dred battles pales with a nameless fear, when the dread 
plague is abroad, then does all that is noble and heroic 
in our profession show itself. No soldier must desert the 
ranks, but like the stern sentinel of Pompeii the physi- 
cian must brave the fearful ordeal, and die if necessary 
at his post. The records of our profession are full of 7 
names who have thus perished in the battle against the 
common enemy of mankind. From the heroism of 
Desgenettes, who under the shadow of the eternal pyra- 
mids slept with the plague-stricken soldier, to prove the 
plague was not contagious, and to re-assure the panic- 
stricken army of the great conqueror, to that of Sidney 
Barnard, who gave up his life in tending the fevered 
sufferers on the Eclair, the roll of honor is not a small 
one. 
The latest whose name is inscribed in the Golden 
Book should be familiar to you all, and should shine 
forth a bright example of what a physician ought to be. 
On that eventful Sunday morning, when the quiet 
of the Atlantic was broken by the roar of answering 
guns, when the noble Alabama sank beneath its waves. 
virgin and unde filed by hostile tread, there sank with her 
one whose name will live when those of its combatants 
have passed away. Honor to the memory of Herbert 
Llewellyn, the surgeon of the Alabama, who when pressed 
to leave the foundering vessel, nobly refused to quit the 
sick and wounded entrusted to his charge, and perished 
with them rather than desert those to whose service he 
was vowed. 
I am proud to say, that in his own land, there have 
been found men who, (irrespective of political creeds), 
have been generous enough to erect a monument to the 
memory of him who sacrificed his life to duty, and sanc- 
tified the profession which counts him among her noblest 
sons. 
Before we part, let me warn you against one frequent 
error. Young Physicians often dream that by extending 
the circle of their private acquaintances they thus afford 
themselves the best chance of extending the circle of 
their private patients. No view could be more chimeri- 
cal, no error more fatal. No man will in any case of 
doubt or danger entrust to your professional care the 
guardianship of his own life, or the lives of those dear 
to him, merely because he is on terms of intimacy with 
you. Make yourselves known, but let it be for your 
professional acquirements. You must be respected not 
merely in your character of a social friend, but in your 
calling as a physician. The accomplishments which may 
render you acceptable in the parlor are not always those 8 
which would make your visits longed for and valued in 
the chamber of sickness. 
And now. gentlemen, let me say a few words to you 
as to your professional relations. The practitioners of 
legitimate medicine form one vast fraternity; with us we 
know no creed, no country, no difference of condition: 
one bond of universal brotherhood unites us. Do not 
forget this, and let nothing ever induce you to utter 
aught that may reflect upon your fellow practitioner. 
Remember that the misconduct of one. reflects disgrace 
upon the entire profession. Think of this, and I am 
sure you will never act in any way that may lower the 
high standard which it should ever be your aim to attain. 
Gentlemen, I will not detain you longer, your bark is 
launched upon the waters of life., which we trust will 
always be calm for you. We bid you farewell. We 
shall watch with care your future career, your triumphs 
will be our triumphs, your1 successes our victories, your 
failures our reproach. You take with you the fervent 
prayers of my colleagues and myself for your future 
welfare. May God speed you and guard you in the 
noble mission you have undertaken. Farewell.