LECTURE I. 5 



for unfortunately a man may attain a con- 

 siderable share of public reputation and prac- 

 tice without undertaking the labours I have 

 mentioned, without being a real student 

 of his profession. I place before you the 

 most animating incentive I know of to la- 

 bour truly to acquire professional know- 

 ledge. You will by such conduct possess 

 yourselves of the enviable power of being 

 extensively useful to your fellow-creatures, 

 in a way the most necessary to their wants, 

 and most interestino; to their feelings. You 

 will be enabled to confer that which sick 

 kings would fondly purchase with their dia- 

 dems ; that which wealth cannot command, 

 nor state nor rank bestow. You will be 

 able to alleviate or remove disease, the 

 most insupportable of human afflictions, and 

 thereby give health, the most invaluable of 

 human blessings. 



I shall not, however, gentlemen, waste 

 your time in expatiating on this topic, be- 

 cause you will feel much more than I can 

 utter, and because all that can be said or 

 thought of it, seems concentrated in one 



B 3 



