AN INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS, DELIVERED BEFORE THE ■ttrhtrta atttt €xuitn NEW-YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE, OCTOBER 28, 1850. HORACE GREEN, A. M, M. D, PRESIDENT OF THE FACULTY, AND PROFESSOR OF THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE. 5 fiTfi NEW-YORK : BAKER, GODWIN & CO., PRINTERS, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. 185Q. New-York, Oct. 28th, 1850. Dear Sir : The students attending your class in " The New-York Medical College," have appointed us a Committee to procure the publication of your Lecture, delivered as an introductory to your course. We therefore take the liberty of soliciting a copy of it for publica- tion ; and are, with sentiments of regard, Your friends and pupils, GURDON H. WlLLCOX, Fessenden N. Otis, George R. Gyles, James W. Purdy, George P. Cooley, John R. Wright, Simeon Abrahams, James Ross, J. Edwards Leavitt, J. G. Denslow. Horace Green, M. D., Prof, of Theory and Practice of Medicine, N. Y. M. C. New-York, Nov. 10th, 1850. Gentlemen: When I received your complimentary request for a copy of my Introductory Address, for publication, I stated to the Chairman of your Committee, that it was my intention not to have the Address published. Since^then, I have yielded to the advice of my colleagues and friends, and shall comply with your solicitation. Be pleased, Gentlemen, to accept for yourselves, and the class whom you represent, my gratitude for the honor implied in your request. I am, Gentlemen, Respectfully your friend, HORACE GREEN. To Messrs. Gurdon H. Willcox, Fessenden N. Otis, and others. ADDRESS. Gentlemen : Events, like the acts of individuals or nations, have their interest, light or intense, according to the circum- stances or results with which they may be allied. The falling of an apple, or the lifting of a lid by the expanding steam of a boiling vessel, are occurrences unimportant in themselves ; and yet, the observance of these common and natural phenomena, by reflective minds, has led to the discovery of a principle and a power which have filled the world with astonishment, and revolutionized the affairs of its inhabitants. The laying of corner-stones and the completion of stately edifices, public and private, are the occurrences of every day in this city of cities ; events which neither receive nor deserve the especial interest or the attention of the community around them. Yet a corner-stone has recently been laid, and its superstructure has but now received its crowning turret, and a noble edifice has been completed, constituting an event which may be con- nected—aye, and which must be allied, to some extent,. with the deepest and the dearest interests of mankind 1 6 Within the halls of this institution—which henceforth is to be dedicated to instruction in Medical Science— doctrines will be taught, and principles will be inculca- ted, on which may hang the issues of health or disease, of life or death, to many ! Carried out in practice by its future graduates, these principles, if good, will be the means of conveying joy and gladness into many a family—or, if baneful, mourning and sorrow into many a bereaved circle ! Upon the governors of this institu- tion, who have been appointed to watch over its interests, rests the responsibility, through its professors, for the results on the community of the doctrines here taught. And, Gentlemen, it is no ordinary responsibility. This noble edifice—solid though it may be as the rock on which it stands—is, nevertheless, not imperishable. Time will crumble its walls, or it may be changed for other purposes, or removed by the hand of man : but ere this shall occur, principles, in the honest inquiry after truth, may here be discovered, that shall be as enduring as time ; or doctrines may here be inculcated, that, for good or evil, shall leave their impress on future genera- tions. Called through your kindness to aid my col- leagues in imparting instruction to those who may seek for medical knowledge in these halls, it would be but an act of justice, before entering upon the duties assigned me, to lay before your corporate body, and the commu- nity, who are necessarily interested in the results to which I have alluded, a brief exposition of our curricula, or of the courses of study by us deemed necessary, to insure a thorough, safe, and practical medical education. 7 It would, indeed, be an interesting, and, at this time, an appropriate task, to enter fully on this important inquiry—an inquiry involving a problem not yet solved— namely; the best and most appropriate method for educating young men for the profession of medicine. But having other subjects to bring before you, I shall leave this duty for one more competent for the task. Unsettled as the professional mind at this time is, on the subject, we can say with a late writer, that " we are not more firmly persuaded of any thing, than of the im- portance of such an inquiry, made largely, liberally, and strictly, by a man at once deep, truthful, knowing, and clear." * And we trust that ere long some strong man from our ranks will be found, who, thoroughly compre- hending his subject, will be ready to grapple with it, and put an end to the unprofitable disquisitions on this ques- tion in our journals, academies, and medical associations. With regard to the views entertained by the Faculty of the New-York Medical College on this subject, I may be permitted to say, that in this resolve they are united and determined—namely ; to teach earnestly and faithfully, whatever is necessary for the accomplishment of a com- plete medical and surgical education. In the acquirement of medical knowledge, and in the practice of our profession, there are difficulties and dis- couragements in which the student and the community are both interested ; and it has occurred to me, that I cannot better occupy the time allotted me, this evening, than in considering some of the most prominent obsta- * North British Review. 8 cles of the present day, which serve to oppose the pro- gress of medical science, and to confine to mediocrity the course of the young practitioner. And is there one of your number, students in medicine, who will be sat- isfied with bare mediocrity in his profession ? One who will "be content with merely that amount of medical knowledge that the law requires?" Could I believe that there is, among those whom I now have the honor to address, a single individual who has formed that low estimate of the value of his profession, that he is not prepared to cultivate, to the utmost extent of his ability, the science of his choice—to such an one would I say, Turn back from your fruitless pursuit! The object that you seek, with such an estimate of its value, is, to you, higher than Heaven ; you cannot attain to it. But no, Gentlemen ; in the recent progress in rational medicine, in the late discoveries unfolded through chemistry, statis- tics, and the microscope—discoveries, most of which have been made by the younger members of our pro- fession—we have an earnest of better things ; and if the Faculty of the New-York Medical College shall fail to awaken in their students a noble enthusiasm for their profession ; if they cannot, by their teachings and their example, inspire them with habits of patient, untiring investigation ; if, indeed, it shall not be found that this young institution shall have sprung into life at manhood ; better that the prediction, volunteered by one of its enemies, be fulfilled—that it, and the instruction of its professors, should " cease to be, before they exist!" But I am forgetting my original proposition, which is 9 to point out some of the most prominent causes which contribute to embarrass the course of the student, and to retard the progress of a large proportion of the medical practitioners of the present day. In the practice of every art, in the advancement of every science, there are obstacles to be met and diffi- culties to be overcome ; but the attentive observer must have remarked, that there are not only difficulties which are especially incident to medical science, but there are discouragements which are peculiar to the present times, and the present state of our profession. Never, in the history of medicine, has medical science been based on broader or more enduring principles; and never could it present a stronger claim to the confidence of mankind, than at the present moment. Yet, where is our honor ? " Admitted," says a late foreign writer,* " to the fullest confidence of the world, yet, by a strange perversion, while we are the depositaries of secrets that hold together the whole fabric of society, our influence is neither fully recognized nor our power acknow- ledged. While ministering to the body we are enabled to explore the mind, and by watching the secret work- ings of human passion can trace the progress of man- kind in virtue and vice ; and yet, scarcely is the hour of danger passed, scarcely is the shadow of fear dissipated, when we fall back to our humble posi- tion in life", bearing with us but little gratitude, and strange to say, no fear ! The world expects the phy- sician to be learned, well bred, kind and attentive, pa- * In the Dublin University Magazine. 10 tient to their querulousness, and enduring under their caprice ; and after all this, the preposterous absurdities, the charlatanisms of the day, especially if they are of foreign extract, will find more favor in their sight than the highest order of ability, accompanied by great na- tural advantages." It may be said, that these remarks are only applicable to that part of mankind who are swayed by credulity, or who only look on the surface of things ; or those who are unable to distinguish, or are too indolent to seek after truth. But observation and experience will sustain the assertion, humiliating as this truth may be, that the grossest errors and absurdities in medicine are, not unfrequently, received with favor by the learned as well as by the unlettered; by the in- tellectually endowed, as well as by those of the weak- est capacity. And even among that class of mankind, who reject empiricism in all its forms ; who rely with confidence on the skill and ability of the physician, to whose assiduous and untiring care, they, not unfrequent- ly, have owed their own health, and perhaps the lives of their friends—with such, even, there often exists a strange reluctance to award to the medical man that meed of praise, to which, through his services and skill, he is justly entitled. In regard, moreover, to the degree of estimation in which the medical profession is held at the present day, by the world, I must be permitted to speak. Here is a profession, which for antiquity yields to none ; a profes- sion whose members, in all ages, have been devoted to the best interests of their fellow-men—for their object 11 has ever been that of preserving the health, and of alleviating the physical sufferings of mankind. Not confining themselves to the limits of medical science, they have, by enlarging the whole circle of arts and sciences, contributed their full share to the elevation of the human race. " Letters and taste," says an emi- nent professor, " have found many of their brightest ornaments among the members of a profession distin- guished above the rest for activity by day and vigilance by night. The disposition of medical men to indulge in general studies, attracted the attention of Pope, and Johnson, and Knox, and they have expressed in strong terms their sense of the intelligence, learning, and dignity of sentiment exhibited by the faculty."* " I have long been in the habit," said the learned Dr. Parr, " of reading on medical subjects, and the great advantage I have derived from this circumstance is, that I have found opportunities for conversation and friendship with a class of men, whom, after a long and attentive survey of literary characters, I hold to be the most enlightened professional persons in the whole circle of human arts and sciences." Now, does this degree of esteem for the medical profession obtain among men of letters and mind in our times ? In regard to the popular opinion, too, observe, with candor, the degree of confidence and esteem reposed in the profession, generally, in our own city and country. Is the amount such as to exalt our self-esteem, or gratify our professional pride ? But I * Professor Haddock. 12 would not confine this inquiry to our own country. " Who has not seen," says the same writer before quo- ted, " over and over again, physicians of the first emi- nence put aside, that the nostrum of some ignorant pre- tender, or the suggestive twaddling old woman should be, as it is termed, tried ? No one is too stupid, no one too old, no one too ignorant, too obstinate, or too silly, not to be superior to Brodie and Chambers, Crampton and Marsh ; and where Science with anxious eye, and cautious hand, would scarcely venture to interfere, he- roic Ignorance would dash boldly forward and cut the gordian difficulty, by snapping the thread of life." It is not, however, so much against the interference of ignorant pretenders that the profession in this country has to contend, or, indeed, the officious intermeddling of old women (much of the latter as we have, Heaven knows! from old ladies of both sexes), as against that in- fluence which comes from the encouragement and pat- ronage given to quackery; and from an intermeddling disposition, manifested by the members of the other branches of the liberal professions, many of whom have discarded legitimate medicine, and have given their countenance, and have lent their influence, to sustain empirical theories, which, for their unfounded claims, and the absurdity of their principles, have no parallel in the history of medicine! And here, when we contemplate the enlightened state of the public mind; when we consider the gratifying progress which has been made, within a few years, in almost all the arts and sciences ; it becomes an interest- 13 ing inquiry, to what influences, at such]a time, are we to attribute this unparalleled extent of empiricism on the one hand, and, on the other, this prejudice in the public mind against rational medicine ? After an attentive and a careful observation, for se- veral years, of the progress of medical heresies and delusions in connection with the state of medical sci- ence, and the condition of the medical profession, I am fully prepared to say, that, in a very great degree, the cause may be laid, not, after all I have said, to the public, but, as a profession, at our own door. Had rational medicine, as a science, progressed, dur- ing the last half century, pari passu, with the other arts and sciences ; or, had medical men, generally, kept pace with the improvements which have been made in this period, the profession would never have fallen from the high estimation in which it was once held, nor would medical apostates ever have attained their present influ- ence over the public mind. If we trace back the history of medicine, we shall find this to have been true ; that, when the profession as a body have been thoroughly educated, in all known improvements, and ready to con- tribute their efforts to elevate the scale of medical lite- rature ; and, especially, when they have been united in demanding of their associates a high standard o medi- cal information ; empiricism, at no period, has been able to advance, or in any degree to embarrass the progress of medical science. During that period which occupied the close of the eighteenth century and the commencement of the pres- 14 ent; when false theories and speculations had given place to inductive reasoning, and to the observance and the collection of facts ; when the Hunters and the Bailies of England, and Pinel and Bichat, and their associates, in France, were engaged in making their brilliant dis- coveries in physiology and pathological anatomy—dis- coveries which have contributed to establish the science of medicine on a basis as immutable as that of any other branch of natural philosophy—during this time, I say, and for a period long subsequent to it, when the professional mind in Europe, and in this country, was occupied in confirming and in admiring these discov- eries, empiricism and absurd speculations in medicine found no favor with the profession or the world ! And this will ever be the case whenever and wherever medical men are united in the determination to " assist in every practicable way 4:o improve the medical art, and to uphold the dignity of the medical profession." But coeval with, or, rather, preceding the introduction of transcendental quackery into our own country, there existed here a different condition of things, in connec- tion with the medical profession—a condition, the legiti- mate tendency of which ever has been, to encourage and foster empiricism, and to lower the standard of medical science, in the estimation of the intelligent, non-professional public. One condition has been, a disposition, existing among a large proportion of medical men, to neglect that farther acquirement of knowledge which would enable them to keep pace with the improvements that have been made 15 in medical science; and to be satisfied with mediocrity of attainments in their profession. Such is the nature of our science, that the world finds it difficult to judge, correctly, of the professional acquire- ments of medical men; and hence many of this class have attained high places in medicine, where, not actuated by the noble desire to elevate their art, they, have set their faces against improvements, because these would expose their own deficiencies; and they are more ready to join hands with acknowledged empiricism, than to lend a friendly countenance to admitted improvements in practical medicine, or to give an encouraging word to those generous minds in their midst who would seek for honorable distinction only by advancing the digni- ty and elevating the standard of their profession. It is, however, a gratifying reflection, for those of our numbers who believe that medical science is pro- gressive, and who are honestly laboring in the onward and upward cause,—it is with such a pleasing thought, that the numbers of that class of practitioners to which I have just alluded—men who are wedded to the dogmas of the profession, who are too lazy to read, too obstinate to learn—are rapidly decreasing; and we trust the day is not distant when truer and better in- formed men will rise like Banquo's ghost before the Usurper, and " push them from their stools !" Another condition of the profession, which has ope- rated to hinder the progress of medical science, and consequently to favor empiricism, is briefly and elo- quently alluded to by a late enlightened medical 16 writer. "Though we occupy," says Dr. Watson, "a more favorable position, and enjoy more extensive views, than our professional forefathers, we are never- theless bound to look with admiration on their labors, and to acknowledge with gratitude the share they have had in our advancement. But the fire of their enthu- siasm is extinguished, and the gratitude and fame that should have been awarded them, are smouldering in its ashes. Ever since their day the bands of fellowship which should have held us in unity to the support of one another, and to noble emulation in the promotion of common interest, have been continually slacking. The spirit of discord has been awake, and the poison of its breath has hung upon us until it has withered our insti- tutions almost to extermination. There has been no commanding, conciliating voice amongst us, to emulate our youth, to urge on our middle aged to labor, to call upon our advanced in life for the result of their expe- rience, to unite the whole in unison, and to direct the current of popular feeling as well as of popular interest towards the advancement of the profession."* And never, surely never, has any class of men mistaken more their own interests, than have the members of the medical profession, by manifesting this spirit of discord and disunion. Whenever such a spirit prevails, it prevents, most effectually, all improvements in medical science. It impairs the confidence of mankind in our art; for how can we expect the public to esteem any * A summary view of the progress of Medicine in America. By John Watson, M.D. N. Y. Jour. Med. and Surg., July, 1839. 17 profession whose members do not respect each other ? " Oh! that I were able," says a distinguished and venerable medical writer,* " to impress the minds of my brethren with the truism, as forcibly as I am pene- trated by it: He who degrades a colleague, degrades himself and his art." Yet another condition of things, connected with our profession—of tendencies still worse, if possible, than those I have named—has consisted in the very great facility which has been afforded to indifferently edu- cated men to enter the profession. Many individuals whose education has been too limited, and whose mental powers were too circumscribed to enable them to cope successfully with any other branch of the sciences, have, nevertheless, been induced to adopt the profession of medicine; and, from the ease of access to this profession, with a prospect of success as good as those possessed who were giants in intellect and edu- cation ! True, this condition of things, which for the reputation of our science ought not to exist, still con- tinues, and the twofold effect has been, already, to diminish public respect, on the one hand, for our pro- fession ; and, on the other, to fill our ranks with profes- sional drones,—with routine practitioners; men who, from their limited knowledge of pathology and morbid anatomy, are unable to understand the language of disease, and who, consequently, blindly trudge on, like the ass in the mill, in the same unvarying and beaten road ; content to draw from the common fund of medi- 2 * Hufeland. 18 cal reputation and medical knowledge, without con- tributing one iota to the general stock. These are the men of our profession who were prepared to receive, and many of whom have adopted, those false systems of medicine which do not recognize " a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, or pathology, as at all necessary to the cure of diseases." Encouraged by the success of the earliest advocates of these forms of foreign empi- ricism, and tempted by the rewards which a credulous public are ever ready to bestow on mysticism in me- dicine, they have renounced those medical principles to establish the truth of which the learning and the experience of ages have been contributed, and have em- braced doctrines which can only be sustained by the practice of sophistry and delusion; and by encouraging those degrading characteristics of the human mind,— credulity and superstition ! But more, perhaps, than all other causes, whose ten- dencies are to obstruct the progress of the young prac- titioner, is that want of discrimination which obtains amongst so large a class of the members of the medical profession. By a want of discrimination, I mean an inability, so to understand and classify the symptoms of disease, as to be able to determine its true nature, its just degree of intensity, and its precise location ; and I hesitate not to declare, after an attentive and an extended observation of the causes which obstruct or accelerate the progress of the medical practitioner, that there is not a more fruitful source of failure amongst physicians, of all ages and of every degree of experience, than this deficiency in discrimination with regard to the nature of 19 disease. With acute disorders, those especially that are peculiar to the different organs or tissues, there is, we admit, not much difficulty, generally, in ascertaining their nature and seat. In inflammations of the brain, the lungs, the pleura, et cetera, the symptoms are so well marked and apparent, as to render their identifica- tion comparatively easy and certain. But nineteen- twentieths of the diseases or disorders which present themselves to the medical practitioner, in the existing state of civilization, are of a chronic character, and their true nature and complications difficult to ascertain; and if, under these constantly occurring circumstances, the physician be not well skilled in diagnosis—" if he pos- sess no just views as to the different and varying states of vital action, and as to their influence in producing organic lesion—if he be not enlightened as to physiologi- cal pathology as well as to pathological anatomy—if his knowledge of the instruments of his art be not adequately varied and comprehensive—if, indeed, his resources be not great and based on science—he administers to his patient with an equal chance of doing mischief, or of doing benefit; and he may as well adopt his plan of treatment from the ' hazard of the die,' as to attempt to reason on the matter! Better that the patient be left to the spontaneous efforts of nature, than that he should fall into the hands of such a practitioner." (Copland.) The present has been denominated an " intensely scientific age ;" and wisely has it been said, that, amidst the wealth of knowledge that is pouring in upon us from without, we need some experienced heads to tell us what not to learn, fully as much as we do to point out to us 20 what is necessary to be acquired. Without claiming infallibility for themselves, the instructors in this school are pledged to avail themselves of all the " unmatched advantages of science, and of the discoveries which every day is multiplying with a rapidity that confounds," to convey into the minds and hearts of their students, in addition to past and established truths, all the new and useful knowledge which pathology, chemistry, statistics, the stethoscope, and the microscope have unfolded. But without this power, on the part of the student, to dis- criminate and investigate, to which I have alluded, these advantages will avail but little. He must be able to concentrate his senses and his faculties on his im- mediate work ; he must look with his own eyes and apprehend with his own understanding. This consti- tutes the great secret of success with both pupil and practitioner. This is what that eminent teacher, Dr. Latham, meant when, in leading his students into the wards of St. Bartholomew's, he uttered these words : " In entering this place, even this vast hospital where there is many a significant, many a wonderful thing, you shall take me along with you, and 1 will be your guide ; but it is by your own eyes, and your own ears, and your own minds, and (I may add) by your own hearts, that you must observe, and learn, and profit." Some years ago, a young physician, when in Eng- land, had an opportunity of meeting the late celebrated Dr. Abercrombie, at a consultation in the case of a gentleman, who was laboring under what was con- sidered malignant disease of the stomach. He was present when Abercrombie first saw the patient along 21 with his regular attendant. The doctor sauntered into the room in that odd, indifferent way which was pecu- liar to himself; scrutinized all the curiosities on the mantel-piece ; and then, as if by chance, found himself at his patient's bedside. But when there, his eye settled upon him intensely ; his whole mind was busily at work. He asked a few plain questions, spoke with great kindness, but very briefly ; and, coming back to consult, he said, to the astonishment of the attending surgeon and young physician, " The mischief is all in the brain ; the stomach is affected through it. The case will do no good ; he will get blind, and convulsed, and die." He was right. The man died, as he said, and on examination, the brain was found softened, the stomach sound. At a subsequent interview with Dr. Abercrom- bie, the young physician ventured to ask him what it was in the look of the man that made him know his case at once. " I can't tell you," said the doctor, " I can hardly tell myself; but I rest with confidence upon the exactness and honesty of my past observations. I re- member the result, and act upon it; but I can't put you, or, without infinite trouble, myself, in possession of all the steps." " But, would it not be a great saving if you could tell others?" said the young doctor. " It would be no such thing," replied Abercrombie ; " it would be the worst thing that could happen to you; you would not know how to use it. You must follow in the same road, and you will get as far, and much farther. You must miss often before you hit. You can't tell a man how to hit; you may tell him what to aim at." " Was it something in the eye ?" said his inveterate querist. 22 u Perhaps it was," he said, good naturedly; " but don't you go and blister every man's occiput, whose eyes are, as you think, like this poor patient's." Now, it was this same discipline of the mind, this power of exact and honest observation, which con- tributed to make Abercrombie, and Harvey, and Syden- ham, and Jenner, and Rush, what they were ; and it will be the exercise of the same powers, coupled with a spirit of untiring investigation, and a will to do, that may yet enable each and all of you, Gentlemen, " to hold the torch, and light the path to the sublimest discoveries in our science." Be resolved, then, with whatever institution you may be connected, be resolved to be candidates for distinc- tion in your profession. With strong hearts gird your- selves for the contest. Toil must be endured ; ob- stacles are to be overcome ; but the reward, even in this life, is certain ; and of this be assured, that man cannot more acceptably serve Him, whose requirement is "mercy and not sacrifice," than in laboring for the good of his fellow-man. " Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase !) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold; And to the presence, in the room, he said, ' What writest thou V The vision raised its head, And with a look, made all of sweet accord, Answered,' The names of those who love the Lord.' • And is mine one V said Abou; ' Nay, not so,' Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 23 But cheerly still, and said,' I pray thee, then, Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.— The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again, with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed ; And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!" Surrounded, then, as we truly are, with all the advan- tages which are required for a successful cultivation of our art, who will show himself supine or inactive, or sa- tisfied with anything short of high attainments in the science of his choice ? With the members of our pro- fession, upon whose labors depend the dearest interests of humanity, inaction is a crime; and he who is not pre- pared to cultivate his talent, and to improve his advan- tages to the utmost extent of his ability; he who is not ready, if called upon, to sacrifice present interests to the established principles of our science, in the permanency of which the present and future welfare of mankind are involved, is unworthy of his profession ! If, then, as students and instructors, the friends of the New-York Medical College are resolved to aid and encourage each other in this course of honest, perse- vering inquiry after truth, they cannot fail of raising the standard of medical science in our land, of elevating the character of its individual professors, and of making this institution, what its founders originally determined it yet should be—the model medical institution of our country. And for our own encouragement let us look to the records of the past. If we trace the history of the distinguished individuals who, at different periods, have adorned the science of medicine, we shall find that many of them have risen, by these means, to the 24 highest dignities of their profession. True, many of them were for years toiling on in the rugged path of learning and honorable competition, before success attended their exertions. But this is necessarily the case with all the severer sciences. Their votaries spend the best years of their lives in arduous, and often obscure efforts for advancement; but then, perhaps it may be in the close'of life, comes the harvest of respect and renown, and, what is far better, when that shall terminate, a never-dying fame. Let us, then, be diligent, for whilst art is long, brief is life's period, and distant is the goal " Where Fame's proud temple shines afar!" " Our lives are rivers gliding free To that unfathomed, boundless sea, The silent grave. Thither all earthly pomp and boast Roll, to be swallowed up and lost In one dark wave! Thither the mighty torrents stray, Thither the brook pursues its way, And tinkling rill • There all are equal: side by side, The poor man and the son of pride Lie calm and still!" But there is that within us that never dies! The mind, immortal, cultivated whilst here, and its powers employed in doing good, shall rise, at last, to high and yet higher attainments in knowledge, until it " Rivals the rapt seraph who adores and burns." > 'V.>\