THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATES. 



By Nicholas Murray Butler, 

 Ph. D., L.L.D. 



It is my pleasant duty to offer this 

 evening to the members of the graduat- 

 ing class, a few observations and reflec- 

 tions on behalf of their elders. I am 

 to speak for a few moments from the 

 standpoint of those who are already en- 

 gaged in the active practical work of 

 life to this company of ardent and ambi- 

 tious youth who are about to enter 

 upon it. 



There is something in the Commence- 

 ment of the College of Pharmacy that 

 always touches me very much indeed 

 and that makes: a strong appeal to my 

 sentiment and my imagination. There 

 is something which seems to mark off 

 the work of this College from that of 

 any other educational institution with 

 which I am familiar. Here you see rep- 

 resented what I think must be said to 

 be the most satisfactory and the most 

 helpful relationship between master- 

 workman and apprentice that exists in 

 any of our callings or professions. This 

 College is maintained, governed and sup- 

 ported by pharmacists, by men of science, 

 who day by day are associated with the 

 work of this particular calling. They 

 have not delegated to others the task of 

 preparing their apprentices and students, 

 but have claimed it for themselves, and 

 after the fashion of the old trade guilds 

 of the Middle Ages, they offer the best 

 they have, the most they know , to the 

 service of the younger generation ; and 



to-night these elders extend to their 

 juniors the right hand of fellowship and 

 invite them by the terms of this degree — 

 Graduate in Pharmacy — to cross the line 



which divides the apprentice from the 

 master- workman. 



It would be fortunate indeed, my 

 friends, if every other profession and 

 every other calling were so organized. It 

 would be fortunate indeed and would go 

 far toward solving very many of the per- 

 plexing problems that confront us to-day 

 if the relationship between those who 

 work at a profession, a calhng, a trade, 

 and those who are preparing to enter 

 upon it were as close, as intimate and as 

 satisfactory as the relations between the 

 trustees and members of this College of 

 Pharmacy and those who study under 

 their zealous and protecting care. 



These young men and young women 

 have chosen a calling which rests upon 

 a scientific foundation. They have 

 chosen a calling which is not a mere 

 matter of rule of thumb or indication of 

 some other's technique, but a calling 

 which rests upon principles definitely as- 

 certained facts, laws and a knowledge 

 of which gives to these young students 

 an insight into the way in which nature 

 and its work is organized and carried on. 

 That is why it is that these young men 

 and young women, while preparing for 

 a calling, a career, a profession have also 

 been acquiring most valuable training 

 and discipline. They have been taking 

 apart delicate substances in the labora- 

 tory to see of what elements they are 

 composed. In many cases they have 

 been putting elements together to see 

 what the result will be. They have been 

 studying laws of cause and effect, they 

 have been making minute and accurate 

 measurements and tests. They have been 

 sounding nature at a hundred points and 

 at every touch they have been gaining 

 not only knowledge, but discipline. And 



