spoken of with the highest commendation: "Honor the physician," writes
the inspired penman, "for the need thou hast of him; for the Most High
hath created him. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head, and
in the sight of great men he shall be praised. The Most High has created
medicines out of the earth, and a wise man shall not abhor them. The
virtue of these things is come to the knowledge of men, and the Most
High has given knowledge to men, that He may be honored in His wonders.
By these He shall cure and shall allay their pains, and of these the
apothecary shall make sweet confections, and shall make up ointments of
health, and of His works there shall be no end." (Ecclus. xxxiii. 1-7).

2. It is well to remind you thus, gentlemen, at the opening of this new
year of studies, of the excellence of your intended profession; for you
cannot help seeing that a science so noble should be studied for a noble
purpose. In this age of utilitarianism, it is, alas! too common an evil
that the most excellent objects are coveted exclusively for lower
purposes. True, no one can find fault with a physician for making his
profession, no matter how exalted, a means of earning an honest
livelihood and a decent competency; but to ambition this career solely
for its pecuniary remuneration would be to degrade one of the most
sublime vocations to which man may aspire. There is unfortunately too
much of this spirit abroad in our day. There are too many who talk and
act as if the one highest and worthiest ambition of life were to make as
large a fortune in as short a time and in as easy a way as possible. If
this spirit of utilitarianism should become universal, the sad
consequence of it to our civilization would be incalculable. Fancy what
would become of the virtue of patriotism if officers and men had no
higher ambition than to make money! As a patriotic army is the strongest
defence of a nation's rights, so a mercenary army is a dreadful danger
to a people's liberty, a ready tool in the hand of a tyrant; as heroism
with consequent glory is the noble attribute of a patriot, so a
mercenary spirit is a stigma on the career of any public officer. We
find no fault with an artisan, a merchant, or a common laborer if he
estimate the value of his toil by the pecuniary advantages attached to
it; for that is the nature of such ordinary occupations, since for man
labor is the ordinary and providential condition of existence. But in
the hi