JJTruyU^  [JUA  &>^\
AN
ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE
DEDICATION OF THE  CITY HOSPITAL,
MAY 24,  1864,
THOMAS C. AMORY, Jr
          BOSTON:
J. E. FAKWELL AND COMPANY, PRINTERS
87 Congress stkkbt.
1864 
 
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AN
ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT THE
DEDICATION OF  THE  CITY  HOSPITAL,
MAY 24,  1864,
\
THOMAS C. AMORY,  Jr
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             ¥7 MP
            BOSTOK:

J. E. FARWELL AND COMPANY, PRINTERS,

           37 CONGRESS STREET.

              1864. 
 
ADDRESS.
    In consecrating  this Hospital  to  the Great  Being
  who  has  given us  the  means  and  disposition  to
•  erect  it,  to  serve  its  purpose  as we  trust for cen-
  turies, we should  do injustice  to our  better nature,
  did  we   not pause  upon their  threshold, and  ex-
  press  our gratitude.   "We have  indeed  cause  to  be
  thankful  in  having  this  added  to the golden  circle
  of  charities  for  which  Boston  has been long and
  honorably distinguished.   I  congratulate you, Sir, and
  the  members of  the City Council,  that  it is  your
  privilege, as  almoners  and stewards  of your constit-
  uents, to  transmit  to  their  coming  generations,  so
  goodly an heritage.
    Rather more  than three years have  elapsed  since
  the  superintendence  of this Institution, then  only  in
  contemplation, was entrusted to a Committee, of which,
  during my connection  with  the  City Council,  I was
  the appointed Chairman;  and having  had since the 
4
 honor to  preside over the Board of Trustees, will ex-
 plain  my  being permitted, now  that  its  buildings
 are  approaching completion,  to  participate in their
 dedication.  Far be it from me  to  claim  any credit
 for their construction, or for the organization of that
 admirable  system of government which  promises  to
 prove  a model  one in its  administration.   The gen-
 tlemen with whom  I have been so long and  so inti-
 mately associated, will admit that my heart has been
 in the work, and that my best efforts have co-operated
 with their  own  in  endeavoring  to  bring  it to  perfec-
 tion.  But  theirs is  the honor of success.
   If in this consummation of a hope long cherished,
 and now happily realized, we  cannot be  unmindful
 of their zeal and public spirit, which have contributed
 so largely to  the result, it would be  idle ^ with this
 noble  edifice extending  up  into the  heavens  above
 us, and with  their  services  fresh  upon  our  minds,
 to  attempt  to  discriminate  in  praise.  This belongs
 to no exclusive few; but should be generously shared
 by all  who  have given us their  aid.  What has been
 accomplished  is  their  all-sufficient  monument;  but
 permit  me, having  had  favorable opportunities  for
 observation, to  bear  witness  to  the fidelity and untir-
 ing self-devotion of  one  and all.
   When the corner-stone was laid, no masonic rites,
no  religious exercises sanctified  our labors.  Circum-
stances  not  to  be controlled compelled  these accus- 
5
tomed  and  appropriate  ceremonials to be  deferred.
But  to-day  we  have  made  amends in invoking the
blessing  of  God upon the  future  usefulness of this
Institution.   Our people, our  whole people, all that
especially  constitutes  us an enlightened,  charitable,
religious  community,  haying  through their  consti-
tuted authorities constructed this Hospital,  now con-
secrate  it upon the altar of Christian humanity.  In
gloom and  despondency we laid its foundations ; in
uncertainty  and tribulation we  have erected its walls;
and now what  more  suitable  oblation can we offer,
with grateful  hearts, that  we are still  permitted  to
indulge  the hope  of  again possessing  our  country
undiminished, — our liberties  unimpaired.
   If comparatively few generations of men have passed
since our  puritan  fathers first planted themselves on
these then  sterile  coasts, we have  good  reason to be
proud -of the record they have left us.  When we re-
call the various vicissitudes, the  peculiar hardships of
their lot, their many perils by land and sea, we  under-
stand how  their principal  strength was  in that trust
which  they constantly exhibited in praise  and prayer.
What period of their eventful history  but brought ex-
periences to improve and  to  elevate %  When  we re-
 member their wise and virtuous magistrates, the noble
men and women whose names  come  down to us in
 every household, embalmed in  deeds of charity, the
long succession  of pure  and pious clergymen, who, if 
6
intolerant of  opinion, encouraged their people to every
good work, we recognize the seed that was sown in the
fruit ripening around us, in institutions for the supply
of every want, for the relief of suffering, for the moral
training as well as  physical comfort of their inmates.
Each successive  year  but  strengthens the  assurance
that we are  not  degenerate, that we are  still true to
our traditions, that  Boston is  pre-eminently a Chris-
tian city ; and that  the event which we this day  cele-
brate, in no  pharisaical spirit, occupies  a  most appro-
priate place  in her  annals.
   It is  worthy of note that; before the Christian era,
such foundations  as  this, or indeed  any other for chari-
table purposes, were wholly unknown.  The Jew drove
the leper into the  wilderness  to  perish.   Considera-
tion for human weakness  formed  no part of heathen
morality.   It was from our Saviour's  teachings, in-
culcated by  precept and  example, that  sprang  the
universal sense of obligation to minister to  the neces-
sities of the  poor and  feeble.  Lazarettos  and Hospi-
tals with other kindred charities, clustered under  the
shelter  of the Church, and before the Reformation
their charge  Vas the special duty  of the  Priests.   In
Protestant  countries, while private  benevolence is ever
on the  alert, it has  become  the  settled policy  and
adopted law,  that the  public  shall accord  a reason-
able measure of relief to  all that  need.
   Wherever  the cross  is  recognized  as  the emblem 
                         7
of life  and  hope  of  immortality,  spacious  edifices,
raised  at  public  expense or by  private  contribution,
throw  open their doors  to all  who  will receive their
benefits.  Whatever be the form  in which  humanity is
afflicted, whether orphan helplessness or the infirmities
of age, whether it be the mind, conscience, or appetite
that is disordered, for  all there is a refuge or a cure.
And for such as those, for whose alleviation  we have
erected these walls, how infinitely  and variously has
beneficence provided.   In the old  world and  in the
new, wherever an enlightened philanthropy  has fos-
tered a sense of  this sacred  duty, liberal  endowments,
scientific  care, and angel ministrations  have  smoothed
the pillow of disease.  In London, where the  hospitals
are almost exclusively private  foundations, monuments
of  individual munificence, and  under private  admin-
istration; in Paris, where  they derive  a  support from
the  public, and are under government  control, beds in
proportion far more numerous than in any of our own
cities, are at the disposal  of the sick.  A century ago
our own Franklin aided to found a hospital in  the home
of his adoption,  and later the great  commercial metro-
polis of the Continent established another; but a long
period was 'destined to elapse before either could com-
pare in  completeness  with those  everywhere  to  be
found in  the great  capitals of Europe.
   There  alone, sixty years ago,  could an aspirant  for
proficiency in  medical science,  acquire experience  to 
                          8

 accomplish himself for his honored career.   There the
 present head, by universal suffrage, of our faculty * laid
 the  deep and  broad foundations of that professional
 knowledge which have made him so pre-eminently use-
 ful to our community, of which, in a ripe old age, with
 a  mind  in pristine  vigor,  he still remains one of the
 most distinguished  ornaments.   In returning to his na-
 tive land, his earnest desire was to secure for  his own
 countrymen similar advantages for instruction, and for
 the relief of unnecessary suffering. He estimated aright
 the  cost, but  still had faith in  the  generosity of the
 affluent.  His professional  associates, and prominently
 among them Dr. Warren, a name in three generations
 distinguished for surgical skill and for private worth,
 lent their cordial co-operation.   The Embargo, and the
 war, compelled delay, but,  when returning peace again
 encouraged effort,  the needed  means  were  supplied
 with  the utmost  promptitude.   The State gave the
 Province House, and established the  Life Office ■;  near
 eighty thousand dollars were contributed in three days
through  ward organizations ; and it is said  that,  at  a
meeting of wealthy citizens round a convivial board in
 Bowdoin Square, more than twenty  thousand dollars
were subscribed.
   It was not alone the cure of the sick, but the care of
the insane for which they were providing; and in  little
more than  ten years from  the date of the charter in
                  * Dr. James Jackson. 
                          9
                                            •
1811, both institutions, that in Boston and that in Som-
erville,  were in  successful  operation.*   Ever  since,
these foundations have  been  cherished  objects  for
the bounty of the opulent, more  than a million  and  a
half of dollars having  been given  or bequeathed  for
their support.   Many  an interesting  anecdote  might
be  gleaned in connection with  their  early history, did
our time permit.  In one  instance where a favorite
servant fell ill  of  a fatal  disease,  Dr. Jackson,  tjie
family physician, advised  her removal to the Hospital,
where she could  receive  attentions which her situation
demanded more effectively and economically than in a
private house.  Here she was frequently visited by her
employer, who was so well satisfied with the manage-
ment, and convinced of the good it was effecting, that,
soon after, he  left  one hundred and twenty thousand
dollars  to the  institution, one  branch of  which  still
bears his  name.
   If physicians, familiar with the want of proper med-
ical care in  the dwellings of  the  poor, can best ap-
preciate the  value  of ample hospital accommodation,
if  all of us have had occasion  to  provide for  persons
having such#claims  upon our compassion, individuals
relieved often feel an especial  sense of obligation for

  * It is recorded, and may serve for encouragement, if our beds are not
immediately in requisition, that the  first patient was received at the Hospital
on the third day of September, 1821, and that there was no other application
before the twentieth.
                 2 
                          10

 the benefits conferred.  This  was conspicuously illus-
 trated in a memorable incident in  our annals, forming
 a golden link between us and the parent institution,
 the augury, as we hope, of continued good fellowship
 in the promotion of their common objects.  Our earliest
 benefactor, after wandering over many seas, and endur-
 ing, beyond  the  reach of professional aid,  the  most
 cruel  sufferings, was the first  to  be operated upon in
 the Massachusetts General Hospital.   Grateful for the
 tender assiduities  of the eminent  surgeon in charge,
 and for  his subsequent immunity from pain,  a quarter
 of a century later  he gave  the  larger part of his estate
 towards  the foundation  of this City  Hospital.
   When the  Massachusetts Hospital was  established,
 our  population  consisted  of about forty-five  thousand
 souls; when  it had  doubled,  the  dimensions of the
 building  were  enlarged in  the same  proportion, and
 now that we numbered  as many again, it was  reasona-
 ble that as much additional space should be provided.
  Our extended limits, as well as a  growing impression
 that small hospitals,  if of sufficient capacity for classi-
 fication and efficient control, are  more  convenient  to
 the  public,  probably'induced  Mr. Gooctyow, instead
 of adding to  the  funds of the  elder  foundation,  to
 provide for  another; and his bequest was conditional
 on its  location  in the Eleventh  Ward or  at South
Boston, where, when  he made his will, he was  residing.
This instrument bears date the twelfth of July, 1849, a 
                         11

few weeks  after the opening of the temporary wooden
building  on the Fort Hill Mall  for the reception of
cholera patients.  At the time, this king of terrors, with
besom of destruction, was again sweeping through the
cities of our  land, and of the six thousand that were
here  prostrated at his approach, more  than six hun-
dred perished.  This fearful visitation, and the obvious
necessity of more adequate preparation against its pos-
sible  recurrence, no  doubt influenced in some measure
the testator in this disposition of  his property.
  The physicians, under whose efficient direction and
care the Fort Hill Hospital had been erected and con-
ducted, and  among them with  paramount claim to
grateful acknowledgment  Dr. Clark and Dr. Bucking-
ham,'made an appeal, in the autumn of that year, to
the City Council for the  erection of a more permanent
structure.  The views of Dr. Clark, submitted later, as
city physician, to the government,  for its information,
were many of them substantially incorporated in the
plan eventually adopted.   In 1856,  a memorial forcibly
representing the urgent want of  more ample provision
for the sick poor, prepared by one of  our  trustees, Dr.
William  R.  Lawrence, was presented  to  the Mayor,
Hon. Alexander H. Rice, who  recommended the  sub-
ject to public  attention in his annual address in 1857.
Other medical gentlemen of  the  highest rank in their
profession, petitioned in aid.  The Committee appointed
for its consideration, of which Hon. Joseph M. Wight- 
                          u

 man was chairman, reported in favor of vigorous meas-
 ures.   The building originally constructed and used for
 a Lying-in-Hospital on  Springfield  Street,  afterwards
 occupied by the Female Medical College,  and now as a
 Discharged Soldiers Home, was purchased;  and an act
 1858, ch. 115, authorizing the City to establish a hos-
 pital procured from the General Court.   A clause, in-
 serted at the instance of neighbors  needlessly alarmed,
 that the institution should not be within three hundred
 feet of any church or schoolhouse then built, prevented
 the  use of  the  estate purchased for the purpose  in-
 tended.  Not discouraged by this disappointment  the
 project was  continued in charge of able committees,
 and although prior to 1861  nothing had  been accom-
 plished but  the  selection of the  present location, it
 ceased not to form in some of its relations a  prominent
 topic for deliberation and discussion.
   When  the charge devolved  upon our Committee,
 we had every reason to believe,  from the  prevailing
 sentiments of the  City Council,  that  we  were  ex-
 pected  to proceed,  without delay, to the erection of
 the buildings.  Still, prudence  as well as  propriety,
 suggested that our Board of legally constituted medical
 advisers  should  be  consulted  as to the  actual need.
Assembled together, each in turn, without hesitation,
and with a full and unreserved  expression of opinion,
encouraged immediate action.   Later, when the  dark
clouds of civil discord, which had so long lowered over 
13
our  political  horizon,  had  broken,  and  the fall of
Sumter, the disaster  of Bull Run, filled with dismay
every breast for the future of our country, one at least
of their number thought we should  reserve  our  re-
sources for  the  more  pressing  exigences  of  the war.
These considerations were respectfully weighed by the
Committee,  who concluded that if the war were pro-
tracted, the proposed institution  would be useful, if
not for the reception of the wounded, for the numerous
cases of chronic disease produced by exposure in  the
field.  Steps, moreover, had  already been  taken, from
which it was  not easy to recede.
   The  responsibility  of selecting a location had been
assumed by our predecessors, but doubts had  arisen if
this  were of all others the one to be preferred.  A site
on solid ground, more central, more elevated, and nearer
to the sea,  seemed more eligible,  if  to be obtained.
But  to each  and every  spot were  found  objections,
outweighing any advantage it possessed.  Finally dis-
couraged, we  returned to our  earlier choice.  Here,
we had ample space.  The public domain of seventy
acres could well spare one tenth  of its area for  so sacred
a purpose.   Indeed, this  consecration  of a part to be
covered  with  handsome  edifices,  and  adorned with
flowers and shrubs, would  enhance the value  of  the
rest.   Representations were  made to  the  Land  Com-
mission, that  the  size  of the lot might not meet  the
future requirements of the Hospital, and the location 
14
was enlarged to double the extent originally appropri-
ated.*
   Meanwhile,  many  of our  most eminent  architects,
after devoting several weeks to the  elaboration of dc-
signs for the building, submitted  them in competition
for the premium and  for  adoption.   With so much for
encomium, in their  elegance of form, graceful  decora-
tion, and  convenience of arrangement, selection was
difficult.   Others than that finally adopted, had strong
claims  upon our preference.   After  long  study and
reflection, and  successively rejecting  those least suited
to our purpose, the  Committee  and their advisers coin-
cided  with  remarkable  uhanimity  upon  the  plan of
Mr. Bryant.   In its  preparation, he  had  extensively
availed himself of the suggestions of  Dr. Clark as to
the  elevation and general disposition of the pavilions
and several apartments.   What especially recommend-
ed  this to  our choice, was, that all  parts of the wards
were abundantly  exposed to sun  and  air.
                              t
  * Should the South Bay be used to any extent as a receptacle for sewage,
like the Back Bay it will soon become a nuisance, and  find its waj»into the
State coffers for the advantage of every part of  the Commonwealth but Bos-
ton.  But if enlarged and excavated throughout, as it has been in part, six feet
below low-tide level, and retained as a tidal reservoir for the preservation of
Fort Point Channel and its  wharves, this ornamental basin will add to the at-
tractiveness  and salubrity of the whole neighborhood; its margin  devoted to
the useful arts, and kept free from all that are offensive, will be of value for
trade and industry;  and its breezes freshened by the tides, bring  health and
cure to  our patients.  Let neither State  nor  City Government permit  its
destruction. 
15
   Upon our  representation, the City Council gave the
requisite authority in concurrence to the committees on
the Hospital and Public Buildings.   After the settlement
of conflicting opinions, the accepted plan was carefully
rearranged, so that  the group of buildings should front
towards Harrison Avenue ; and, before the close of the
year, the  piles were  driven  and the contracts signed.
The low  price  of  labor and materials, and high pre-
miums on City Stock when sold, both told  in  favor of
the City.
   In  the original  estimates, no allowance  had been
 made  for that massive stone-work  beneath the surface,
 indispensable in raising the  basement to a safe  grade
 above the  tide, or  for that  system of heating and
 ventilation, now becoming  more and  more generally
 adopted, wherever  large numbers  of persons are con-
 gregated under the  same roof.  Nor  did  we include
 our beautiful dome, one  of the noblest architectural
 ornaments of the city, which, while  suited to the dig-
 nity  of a public  edifice  of this nature, is  a  constant
 source of delight  to every  beholder.   Large  as  has
 been  the cost, there  has  been little  profit  to any, and
 loss to a few; and the annual expenditure of one hun-
 dred  thousand  dollars has imposed no heavy burden
 on the public treasury.
   Were we  permitted, with  our present experience, to
 recommence our  task, the control would be left with
. a single  committee,  and  to  fewer minds.  Frequently 
16
 differences  of opinion  and  misapprehension  of  our
 respective rights and powers, threatened  serious inter-
 ruption.  This was an unavoidable consequence of the
 adopted plan, which  still had  the important  recom-
 mendation of securing for its successful accomplishment
 a great variety of  information and ability, and  of en-
 listing the vigilant supervision  of a large  number of
 the City Council.  With so many to be considered and
 consulted, it is remarkable that so great a degree of
 harmony  prevailed.   But one generous spirit seemed
 to animate all in perfecting  the plans, expediting  the
 construction, and securing the best material and work-
 manship at  a moderate  cost.   Time  and  toil were
 cheerfully yielded, at  the sacrifice of private  interests
 and  personal  ease, by  members of the committees,
 whose counsels were valuable beyond price.
  If the progress  made  has ever disappointed  expec-
 tation, it must be borne  in mind that with the excep-
 tion  of the  piles under  the walls, driven  about thirty
 feet in depth,  and placing in position some  portion  of
 the rough stone foundation, no part of the  building
 was  commenced before the spring of 1862.   Conse-
 quently but  little more than two years have been con-
 sumed in construction.   The  rally of the  North  to
 sustain the Government  in its efforts to suppress the
Rebellion, only more  general  and  enthusiastic with
every discouragement, the increasing demand for skilled
workmen to provide our navy and army with vessels 
17
,   and munitions of war, enhanced wages and diminished
  ' the  supply of  mechanical  labor.   Notwithstanding
   these embarrassments, the  despatch has  rarely been
   equalled in any structure, of the like magnitude; and
   delays, which- at the moment provoked  impatience,
   proved of .advantage  in hardening and maturing the
   work as  it advanced, and  affording  opportunity for
   many  improvements.
      Much  remains to  be  accomplished.   Years must
    elapse  before all parts of the design will .be brought
    to the degree  of perfection originally contemplated.
    Whatever is  absolutely  indispensable to efficient dis-
    cipline, or exacted  by  good  taste or  decorum, will
    not be delayed.   Preliminary measures have already
    been taken for a substantial enclosure, for isolated apart-
    ments for offensive diseases, for grading'and decorating
    the grounds.   Gardens  in  due season will be laid out
    and planted for the recreation  of convalescents.  ' Rises
    and lilachs, the plash of fountains and the warble of
    birds, will make  that exercise agreeable -which is es-
    sential to speedy cure, and  for which our ample space
    will admit of walks of  sufficient length.   Should the
    open corridors connecting the  buildings be closed with
    glass,  and made comfortable in  the  cooler weather
    with steam, patients whose  frames are  not sufficiently
    reinvigorated to  brave  the open  air,  surrounded  by
    plants  and objects of artvand for a while removed from
                   3 
 the confinement and monotony of their ward life, would
 be cheered and  amused.
   Since our municipal  organization,  the  construction
 of buildings for educational, charitable, and economical
 purposes, has kept pace with our growth, the govern-
 ment having  been exceedingly liberal for  every need,
 except  for its own accommodation.   Even  this excep-
 tion will soon be removed by the magnificent structure
 now  in process  of  erection.   These buildings'  are
 adapted to our wants, and their cost should  not  be
 regretted.   Our debt, independent of the  expenditure
 for water works,  on   which  the  revenue  more  than
 pays  the interest, but little exceeds three  millions of
 dollars, about equal to one year's City expenditure,, not
 far from one per cent upon our valuation.   Indeed, had
 provision been seasonably made in central positions, for
 military, market, and  other similar  uses, more  respect
 wc#ld have been paid to this wise policy. We trust that
 a liberal proportion of our  municipal outlay will  ever
 be for permanent works of utility, for public buildings,
 not only substantial but ornamental; that our  modern
 Athens  may have its  apples of  gold  in  pictures  of
 silver, and  be  as distinguished^ for its  material  beauty
 as for its achievements in art, literature, and sdience,
for its religious  culture . and  charitable contributions.
Be it ever remembered, in connection with our  history,
that there has  not been a single vote in opposition or 
                        19
                            •
objection made to any appropriation for the Hospital.
But it has been  from the  beginning,  and  no doubt
will  continue,  an object  of affectionate  regard with
the City ^Council.
  If not yet complete, our buildings and arrangements
conform very generally to the  hygienic  and sanitary
rules  laid down  by the highest  authorities in Europe
upon Hospital construction; they have been pronounced
by some of our own most competent judges to be the best
upon this continent;  and  we may well flatter ourselves
that  we possess an Institution  of no  ordinary excel-
lence.   Under  our  experienced  Board  of Control,
with  our well-selected  medical  attendants,  our  admi-
rably qualified Superintendent, with a system of  Rules
and  Regulations,'elaborated  after long  deliberation
with  the utmost care, I  congratulate  you, gentlemen,
upon the favorable auspices under  which, by the bless-
ing  of Providence, we  open these halls.
   Let  us  hope that by  a generous  use of  them we
shall  continue to  deserve that  blessing.   The  Stat-
ute  authorizes  the  establishment of  a  hospital for
the  reception of " persons who, by misfortune or pov-
 erty, mav require relief  during temporary sickness."
The  bequest of Mr.  Goodnow is limited to  an Institu-
tion  similar to the  Massachusetts, to  be suitably en-
 dowed, but not for the relief of paupers supported by
 the  City.   These  provisions  are  sufficiently  explicit,
 and,  by a reasonable construction, should embrace all 
                         20

 of our inhabitants whose complaints are not of a per-
 manent character.   We have no paupers supported  by
 the City  outside of the Institutions.  All who prefer
 toil to dependence, or, when well, subsist upon their
 own  resources, should be suffered, under .proper limi-
 tations, to use these wards.
   But  the respectable  poor, virtuous, neat,  and well-
 conducted, should not  be subjected to daily intercourse
 with  the  profligate, who, by intemperance and vicious
 indulgence, have degraded themselves to the level  of
 the brute ; whose unseemly • habits, profane and 'rude
 conversation, would  soon drive  all others  away.  For
 their  convenience these apartments were never intended,
 but both  City and  State have  made other provision.
 The government  should  be firm in declining to receive
 them, in compelling their removal'when inadvertently
 admitted.   Its duty to the public, from whose treasury
 these  buildings have been erected,  imposes  the obli-
 gation that they shall be used for their legal purpose,
 and that the  children's bread shall not be misapplied.
 Its decrees may often involve considerations not to be
 explained or  communicated, and  should be final with-
 out question  or appeal.
   Should  the benefits of the Institution be confined to
 such alone as have acquired or inherited a  legal settle-
ment, it would remain much of the time untenanted.
Whoever  are  familiar  with  Boston  and  its people,
know  well that there are but few of this class who do 
21
not prefer the privacy of their own  dwellings, and the
attendance of their own kindred, to any advantage to
be  gained from the best scientific  care in a hospital.
This feeling is deeply seated, and prevailed extensively
in Massachusetts in the early days of hospital experi-
ence.   One  of our former governors," who  had held
the highest federal  offices at home and  abroad, who
gave  to the University its  largest bequest, meeting
with  an accident in the street from which he narrowly
escaped with his life, insisted, in order to  remove
this prejudice, upon being  carried  to  the  Hospital.
His example may have had its effect.   But we doubt
if many of  our own people, born in Boston, when
tolerably  comfortable  at  home,  will go,  when  ill,
among  strangers to be cured.
   This  great  emporium of  commercial and social
activity to the  Commonwealth and surrounding States,
has expanded with the national life far beyond any
natural laws of development.  Its wealth and  position
have attracted from  sea and  shore, as from distant
lands, not the  magnates of  our  exchange alone, or our
professional  celebrities, but the great mass of our in-
dustry,  enterprise, and thrift.  Our own youth, as they
reach maturity,  seek more encouraging theatres  of
action abroad, or where the  days- lengthen in the West;
and strangers in lineament and  language swarm to our
busy hive,  where  there is work  for all.  Whoever
dwells  within  our  limits should share our privileges, 
22
 as  well  as  bear our burdens, and  this noble  charity
 will fail  of its  intent should  it  not,  while  consid-
 erate of  every prejudice, treat with the  same impartial
 tenderness all sects, colors, and  nationalities.
   It was the often  expressed opinion of the early ad-
 vocates for  the establishment of this Institution, that
 young  men  and  women from  other towns or  States,
 engaged  here  in earning their livelihood, would  de-
 rive from it the  principal  advantage.  Their meagre
 recompense  furnishes no supplies for illness.   They
 reside  in crowded  dwellings,  whose proprietors, by
 rigid economy,  just  meeting their own  obligations,
 cannot  afford  to be generous.   In  cold rooms, with
 unsuitable nourishment, they  are  often  driven to  dis-
 tant homes to perish.  Their toil contributes  to our pros-
 perity ;  they  form an important part of our population ;
 many among them,  in  the future, will  be the most
 useful members of our society.   They would seem, of
 all others, entitled,  by a liberal interpretation  of the
 statute, to enjoy  its  benefits, — care of course  being
 taken to secure a just reimbursement when authorized
 by law.   Travellers  at public houses, when overtaken
 by disease, away from family  and friends, are also ob-
jects of compassion ; and for them are arranged, in the
 central  building, commodious  apartments, where every
 comfort and  luxury, within  their  means to purchase,
 will  be  supplied.
   Were the roofs of a great  city once removed, and we 
•
23
were permitted to witness all the aches and agonies that
rack our fellow-mortals ;  could we realize, as we walk
the crowded  thoroughfares, how few of those we meet
are free from corporal infirmities, life would lose half
its  charm,  Jifet how much of this suffering might be
prevented  or relieved.  If no  good  caliph wanders
under  our stars, with succor or bezanjts for those who
need, Christian charity should never rest, so long as it
may at  least  alleviate the ill it cannot cure.   How
many are  condemned to bear, through long and pain-
ful years, bodily afflictions, without hope  this side  the
tomb.   Could such as thesejbe welcomed, for a while,
within  these walls,  and  learn how,  when again  at
home, to  mitigate  their  pains, much useless  sorrow
might  be saved.
   For years over all our land will be left the footprints
of this insane Rebellion, its desolating mark throughout
our habitations. The poignancy of recent bereavement,
the wail of.woe  refusing to  be  comforted may give
place to chastened, hallowed pride in the heroic dead.
The veteran  will glory in  his scars, in the national em-
blem retrieved from dishonor, by his  valor  and  his
blood.  Yet  if since Eden, strife has been the penalty
of man, if a great people  must have a great and  event-
ful history, if warfare be the appointed discipline of
nations,  its  consequences are  still  to  be  deplored.
Already more than a million  cases have  thronged  our
army wards.  The  maimed  and  crippled  haunt  pur 
24
 daily paths.   Shattered constitutions will long  plead
 and not  in vain  for  our softest couch, our choicest
 ointments, and even now, should no place be elsewhere
 left for that vast host that forms war's  latest harvest,
 many may find it here and not exclude these for whose
 especial use these buildings were erected.
   To the  wan mother, who has wasted what  remained
 to  her  of strength in tears for the lost  objects of her
 love ; for  once vigorous manhood, now prostrate in its
 prime,  to whose impoverishment, perhaps embittered
 by  exile, death would be but a too welcome guest; for
 thefhoble  boy, doubly endeared by parental  solicitude,
 who may  yet,  perhaps, be  snatched from an untimely
 doom,  when they lie  down  here on their sick-beds,
 to  live  or die,  as Heaven in  its mercy may decree,
 there  should  be  kindly  yielded every  solace  of  a
 home.   For those fearful  casualties,  to which we are
 all  of  us  at any time  exposed,  these  wards  should
 open their doors both day and night.  The workman
 fearlessly  exposing himself to the perils  of his  craft,
 any individual sustaining  bodily harm amidst the tur-
 moil and  confusion of  our busy life, is entitled to the
 kindest care.  Homeless wanderers about our streets,
 whose  misfortunes are aggravated by disease, should
 be  provided with temporary shelter.   Indeed, we trust
 wherever  removal to the  islands or the almshouses
 would  be  a hardship, our sterner policy will bow to
the gentler instincts of humanity. 
                         25
  Dread of contagion, demoralizing all  sense of con-
sanguinity or obligation, has yielded to the advance of
science.   Still, it is  generally  admitted  that miasmata
or exhalations from infected  bodies  taint the atmos-
phere, and where there exists  susceptibility, communi-
cate disease.  Measles, mumps, and similar affections,
universal heirlooms of our  nature, hid in its bud and
thrown off with its expansion, and working it free from
liability  to  their recurrence, will rarely have occasion
to cross our threshold.  But the great scourges of our
race, variola, scarlatina, typhus, and various cutaneous
afflictions, treated  abroad  promiscuously  in  public
wards, should neither be  left in crowded dwellings to
fester and corrupt, or permitted to strike consternation
here, or in families near  by.  Gathered  into separate
buildings, every where and at all times permeated by
fresh  currents of air, to  be drawn off and divested of
impurities by passing through burning flames, they will
be rendered harmless, and  every reasonable apprehen-
sion of their spreading be removed.
  Consumption, paralysis, spinal maladies, and others
usually pronounced  incurable, may be  rapid in  their
work or painfully protracted.   Professional experience
may conjecture probabilities,  but not determine.  If
there is possibility of substantial relief from temporary
care, they fall within  the  statute, but  the  Board  must
decide each case upon its  merits.   The general average
of hospital treatment is  about  thirty days, and  pro-
               4. 
26
 longed and helpless suffering  would  occupy space in-
 tended for a different purpose.   We undoubtedly need,
 and eventually may hope, to possess  distinct  establish-
 ments for paralysis and chest diseases, for  those  who
 are bedridden or decrcpid from other bodily infirmities.
 Let us hope, that that wisdom, which presides over our
 numerous  public and private institutions, will soon see
 the importance of acting in unison, and of apportioning
 their respective fields of usefulness, so as to  secure to
 every grief its suitable asylum.
   There ^ire others to whom  it is to be  wished  that
 these gates may not be forever closed.  One objection
 to many against recourse to hospital treatment  is  that
 they must be deprived  of the  attendance of their  own
 physicians.   If this indulgence could be permitted at
 the discretion of the Board,  and at  once  withdrawn
 when  tending to evil, the  usefulness  of the Institu-
 tion might be enlarged.
   A numerous  and intelligent portion of our  people
 believe in the  views  of Hahnneman, that  what pro-
 duces disease will cure it, and  that there are specifics,
 of which infinitesimal doses will  restore  the  health,
however much disturbed.   They have requested part
 of our buildings for their patients and practice, under
 charge of  their  own physicians.   The petitioners are
men of character, tax-payers, entitled to consideration;
but such radical differences of professional opinion exist
between  their practitioners and  the  regular faculty, 
27
that any  attempt to  combine  both methods of  cure
under  the  same  roof, must inevitably lead to  conten-
tion.   Far better for the city  treasury to contribute
at some future day in aid of a separate  establishment.
   Electricity, hydropathy, hot and  cold, mild and he-
roic, Thompsonianism, Indian herbs and  simples, all
have their advocates  as sovereign remedies, as univer-
sal panaceas.   Some even  have  faith,  as modes of
cure,  in  clairvoyance, mesmerism, spiritualism,  and#
manifold  other popular fallacies.  The proposed prac-
tice here, while sanctioned by the Government, will be
that taught in our University, followed by the larger
number of our faculty, and  by the leaders of profes-
sional  science in all  civilized countries.  Our medical
board  are. competent to determine  the  efficacy of new
methods,  and  sufficiently independent to put them to
practical use when approved.   If in a popular institu-
tion all  opinions are to be treated with  respect, the
authorities as  constituted are responsible and  must de-
cide what can be safely adopted.  When, in their judg-
ment,  baths, electric currents, or patent medicines, will
soothe pain, or drive away  peccant  humors  from the
blood, no bias or preconceived notion will be permitted
to stand in the way of their application.   Patients re-
quiring other treatment than that provided here, must
seek it somewhere else.
   We need feel but  little apprehension that our wards
will remain idle.  We  trust  that  no  calamity will 
2S
ever crowd  them as were those of the Hotel Dieu, of
Paris, the oldest hospital of Europe, now being demol-
ished, which a  century ago contained, with  its twelve
hundred  beds,  sometimes more  than four  thousand
patients,  four to each, with  relays like Box and Cox
in the play.  But should we be spared  the scourge
of war near home,  cholera  or other  epidemics may
again revisit us.  If, in our  temperate zone, and with
our present sanitary precautions,  the smallpox, and the
plague, or pestilence in shapes as malignant and ap-
palling, which in other climes and ages have depopu-
lated  cities,  are no  longer to be dreaded. Pandora's
box is not yet exhausted.   Disorders  numberless will
still defy  prevention,  and harass our poor  bodies  from
the cradle to the' grave.  Within a few years, six hos-
pitals have been established  here, or greatly enlarged,
and all their beds are in request.  A city so  affluent as
Boston may  well be provided in advance of present
wants, and  prepared for exigencies  that may  come
when least expected.
   These  buildings now at •the  extreme limits  of our
population,  will soon be  in  the  midst of a crowded
neighborhood.   Ascend  our cupola when the sun is
bright and the tide full, the pleasant scene around and
beneath,  wings the  imagination into a future, not far
remote.  Easy communication with Dorchester Bay for
drainage   and perhaps  for navigation, long  blocks of
houses approaching  completion,  numerous  works de- 
29
voted to the useful arts, remind us of our rapid growth.
All this territory converging to one centre, and bound
by common interests,*must  become  compact, homoge-
neous, one muncipality.   No  natural barrier prevents
consolidation, and as  our commercial consequence in
the view of distant merchants, when they seek a market
for their  merchandise, depends  in  some measure on
our  Reputed  wealth  and numbers,  the liberal use of
these halls may  become  another argument with our
sister city, as well as with ourselves, in favor of annex-
ation.   But whether united or separated, it would be
churlish to refuse to  neighboring places, or  to  other
parts of  the Commonwealth, space within our  •walls
not  needed for our own inhabitants.
   Should  their reception involve the  construction of
additional buildings, with due equivalents, this will be
no disadvantage.   Pavilions corresponding to our pres-
ent wings would  give  opportunity for  better classifica-
tion, for separating sexes, ages, and conditions, maladies
that may  annoy  or be  offensive.   Persons  who  are
sensitive should be spared from  the ravings of  deliri-
um, the susceptible  and timid saved from the terrors
of  contagion, the innocence  of childhood from con-
tamination even more to be dreaded.  Humanity casts
a veil  round  life  trembling  at  its  fountain, lulls
to  the  repose  which  renews  its vigor,  shrouds with
solemn stillness, the couch  on which it is ebbing away
forever.  The  quiet pervading  these  chambers  of the 
30
  sick is ever impressive, but the restlessness of fever, the
  moan of pain, even the gliding form and muffled  tread
  may at times disturb.   Rooms* sufficiently numerous
  for all forms and stages of disease, afford facilities for
  cure, desirable when prudence justifies  the cost.
   Any  considerable increase of  numbers,  rendering
  imperative such an extension, will warrant the  contin-
  ued residence on the premises of  a physician, familiar
  with practice, who without interfering with the treat-
  ment prescribed  by  the  regular medical attendants
 can decide questions of detail, constantly occurring in
 critical  cases, to the great comfort and  safety  of the
 patients.   Recovery  often  depends upon the instant
 application of powerful remedies, a responsibility not
 to be assumed without experience, and for three fourths
 of  each day no other physician will be within call  but
 the  resident graduates.  In the night season in a large
 city, the victims of violence from vice or intemperance,
 are  more numerous  than by day, and frequently must
 be operated upon forthwith for the preservation of life.
 Moreover, in ascertaining the  propriety  of admitting
 applicants,  a duty is to  be  performed  demanding a
 thorough knowledge  of the symptoms of numberless
 complaints, and  which  does not properly fall within
 the  province either  of the  graduates  or attending
 physicians.
  The disorder  of  the applicant may be contagious,
chronic,  or incurable,  better cared  for  at home  or 
31
in some  other hospital;  perhaps  with some  simple
remedy,  some slight  operation, employments may be
resumed, on which the family bread is dependent.  Dis-
pensary may serve as well as hospital  treatment, and
will  be extended  here, at stated times, to the needy.
Provision is made for  this in other sections of the city,
but to be very useful to busy toil, should  be close at
hand.  When we reflect how often  the  households of
the poor are  thrown into confusion  by pain or other
bodily disability, what  sacrifices  of  personal comfort
and  usefulness,  what heavy  burdens  on society  from
pauperism  and mendicancy are prevented by the timely
check of  disease, we know how to  value our  good
Samaritans.   But shame to him who  has  abundant
means and does not pay his physician.  The  supply
of science  and skill  are proportionate to their reward,
and  he wrongs the public who withholds  the  recom-
pense in his power to pay, either for medical counsel
or hospital care.  Practical  wisdom, professional ex-
perience, incessant vigilance, must be the three-headed
Cerberus at our gates to protect us  from  imposition,
and to keep  out of our beds those who ought not to
be here.
  Established precedent, immemorial usage cannot be
easily, should  not  be  lightly disturbed, and yet if relig-
ious  exercises are appropriate  in halls of instruction
or legislation, they surely cannot be out of place among
the sick and the dying.   The wards of St. Luke's com- 
32
 municate with the  chapel, and the sacred language of
 praise and supplication, mingled with choral  harmo-
 nics, are daily wafted to the bedside of those  inclined
 to devotion.   Catholic rites, where  requested,  have
 been  always  administered in our  othe*r hospitals, and
 will be here ; but the institution  recently endowed by
 the pious benevolence  of  the  late  Mr.  Carney, was
 founded for the express purpose of securing to his own
 persuasion  the  consolations of  religion.   With our
 entire liberty and toleration, and numerous  differences
 of conviction and faith, no  form would escape cavil;
 but as we all worship the  same  Supreme Being, and
 believe in the Divine mission  and  revelation of the
 Saviour as our  guide and comforter, passages can un-
 doubtedly be  selected from the  Scriptures, and modes
 of expression devised, not justly  objectionable  to any
 reasonable Christian.  May we not hope that in  some
 future extension  of  our buildings, a  chapel  will be
 constructed,  connected with wards for such as  take
 pleasure in stated and social  devotional observances.
   Attached  to some  of the  more recent English  and
 French hospitals are retreats  for  convalescence in
 the country or by the sea.   Neither  our  climate  nor
 circumstances render  necessary for us any such  ap-
 pendage.  But removal  from ward routine when no
longer  required,  would in many  cases lead to  more
rapid restoration.   In the event of enlargement, apart-
ments  should  be  arranged for this use, and suitable 
33
regulations established.   Possibly, when  the  march ef
improvement reaches  our public institutions, separat-
ing poverty and vice, within the precincts appropriated
to the worthy poor, may be found change of air, diet,
and exercise for convalescents, when recommended by
their physicians.
   Pathological  cabinets, wax preparations of the dif-
ferent parts  of the human organization, a library of
medical  works  for reference are of daily use  for the
treatment  of the  sick, and should  be  collected as ex-
peditiously as may be found practicable.   These wants
can only be in part supplied by purchase ; but  we may
safely rely upon  the freewill offerings  of individuals
and kindred charities possessed of duplicates for much
valuable aid.
   But we must not  be impatient.   Defects, as discov-
ered, will be   remedied,  and improvements, not  now
within our foresight to anticipate, will  be suggested as
time develops  their need.  Our six large wards, with
the smaller apartments attached, will, in  all probability,
answer every purpose for years.   While they are made
useful to  their utmost capacity, for the reception of
 every case that can  with propriety be admitted, we
 may feel assured that the Institution is administered in
 that spirit of  charity on which it should  rest  as  a
 foundation.
   With the best of intentions, this spirit of charity may-
 be often at fault.  Patients, at times, should be diverted 
34
from  their bodily ailments.  Occupation in preventing
fever  or ensuring sleep, is of more avail than drugs.
Books and work and means for recreation should be
liberally supplied, and the  visits of their friends  and
relatives,  of the  clergy, where they  are  religiously
disposed, should be  encouraged.
  All  the  hours of hospital  life are  not  necessarily
tedious or without their enjoyments.   The beams of
the morning bring to it their cheer, the gathering dusks
of twilight, a serene repose.  Periodical seasons of re-
freshment, daily news  and correspondence,  the  pro-
fessional round, the  official inspection vary its  monot-
ony.  Friends drop in to gossip, some good soul lends
vocal  charm to  lyric or  romance.   Sympathy with
others dulls  the  consciousness of  pain, dispels  de-
spondency.   Companionship,  mutual  interchange  of
courtesy and  kindness,  incidents of arrival  and  de-
parture, events which in that little world rise almost to
historical  importance, occupy  attention,  and the day
flits by on wings of gossamer.   When the night shuts
in, and light subdued'flings phantom shadows round
these  murky halls, sleep  comes  with dreams,  or to the
vigil reveries of home, of past experience, or  of future
hope.
  The tempers of men are as various  as the  leaves' of
the forest.   In health, and under social restraints, they
betray many a  trait  that  is  displeasing.  In  serious
illness, the well-regulated, sustained by an  unfaltering 
35
trust, are but the more gentle and tractable, and submit
with resignation to what is not to be avoided.  Others,
when fretted by twinges of pain, or excited  by fever,
become querulous, unreasonable, exacting.  Tact and
firmness, united with an imperturbable amiability, are
requisite to  tolerate  their caprices  when  harmless, to
quiet and  control ebullitions  of  feeling  prejudicial
to  themselves and   disagreeable  to their neighbors.
Nurses,  as  accomplished as Mary  and Rebecca  Tay-
lor, at the Massachusetts, as the excellent women who
for years have devoted their gratuitous services at St.
Luke's, — " who possess the  essential qualifications of
obedience,  presence  of mind,  cheerfulness, sobriety,
patience, forbearance, judgment, kindness of heart,  a
light delicate hand, a gentle voice and  quick eye," and
others that might be* indefinitely added, — may not be
easily procured ; but  where there is  sense and religious
principle there will soon be little to  learn.
   Deviations from usual modes of management, where
experience elsewhere  warrants, may well  be tested.
If  there be  no immediate hope  of our wards  being
under other charge than that of paid nurses, time will
determine what can  be achieved  by our medical staff
and enlightened Board.   One principal duty of woman
is  tending the sick,  the wounded soldier  has especial
claim  upon her sympathy,  and  she  is  ever  prompt to
meet these sacred obligations.  When the three  great
powers of Europe settled down in the  trenches of Se-' 
                         36

bastopol, for a sanguinary and exhausting  strife, the
spirit of holiness in Florence Nightingale and her com-
panions hovered about the pillows of the victims, antic-
ipating every want, assuaging  the  anguish from the
battle-field by the  shadow on the Avail.
  In  this,  our vital  struggle for national  existence,
from  the abodes of affluence as from the  humble  cot,
hundreds  of generous-hearted women have  cheerfully
braved perils and privations, proving by perseverance,
notwithstanding discouragement,  that  principle,  as
well as inclination, were in  their work.   Should the
Supreme Disposer of events restore  peace to the land,
with our Union  and Constitutional liberties preserved,
there will be many a one who has gone from amongst
us willing to lend  an institution like this the benefit of
her experience.   She will have* learnt that there is
something  in life  better worth than  ease.   Without
sacrificing  the  social refinements and  recreations, she
will have  earned a double right to enjoy, or losing that
cheerfulness which is the grace of womanhood,  she
will gladly pursue  a course of usefulness, in which she
has found   her truest  happiness.   When  we  dwell
upon  some lovely being who  has deserted  the  halls of
gayety to  moisten the parched lip, or soothe to rest
the aching  head,  we are irresistibly reminded of the
familiar lines in Marmion: —
             Oh, woman, in our hours of ease,
             So fickle, coy, and hard to please ;
        i 
                         37
             And variable as the shade
             By the light quivering aspen made ;
             When pain and anguish wring the brow,
             A ministering angel thou !
  In   Italy,  as  one  of  our  former  mayors,   the
founder of the  school at Westboro' informs  us, in his
interesting  work  upon  that  country, persons of  the
highest rank and condition  employ themselves in these
pious  offices.  From  the early  dawn of Christianity,
women under its inspiration  have associated  for  the
care of the sick.   In the fourth century the commu-
nity at Bethlehem, of Paula daughter of the Gracchi;
in the seventh, the Hospitallers  of Paris and Bcguines
of Flanders; in the  thirteenth, the  Grey sisters,  en-
rolling royalty on  its  throne  with the lowliest of  the
lowly ; in  the fifteenth, the societies  of  Martha, sister
of Lazarus, and  of Elizabeth,  the  saintly  Queen of
Hungary;  in the seventeenth,  the sisters  of charity, re-
organized  by Vincent de Paul  and Louise Legras, now
twelve thousand in number, either with or without relig-
ious vows or profession, have made  this their vocation.
Nor Catholics alone, but many a Protestant Evangeline
in sober garb, with aspect holy, recalls from death or
cheers the -passing spirit at its gates.   In our own day,
a bright light from Kaiserswerth sheds  far  and wide
the wisdom of its teachings, and even here across the
broad  Atlantic is felt its mild effulgence.   I care not to
profane with  praise our heavenly minded women, who 
                         38

 have consecrated their  youth and  all earthly joys to
 this sacred calling.  We have no  calendar,  but the
 beauty  of  their  lives,  the  daily  incense  of  grateful
 hearts below, their inscription in the book of life above,
 will be their  guerdon.   Let us  hope that their ex-
 ample will  be emulated for  our  benefit,  that  the art
 of  nursing  may  be made a  study,  and its  blessings
 carried home to  every  household.   If  the strict dis-
 cipline, indispensable in a public institution like this,
 prohibits so  great  an innovation, unless  by  degrees
 and at  a distant  day, if there exist  present  obstacles
 and prejudices in the way  of its adoption, we doubt
 not that in time these will all be surmounted.
  Disinterested zeal for the relief of human misery in-
 spires a sentiment for which  admiration is but a cold
 expression.   How  can  we sufficiently  commend the
 generous devotion of our medical board, who, prompted
 by humanity, offer us their gratuitous attendance.  We
 must mourn  over one of their number, the lamented
 Dalton, for us unseasonably summoned to the reward of
his  well-spent life.  May the survivors be long  spared
to a community that knows how to value their  services
and  their example.   The distinction which they have
honorably earned  in their several spheres of professional
employment, will  reflect  lustre upon the Hospital, be
auspicious  of its  continuing hold on popular regard.
But  their labors here  or  in  accustomed  paths  will not
win  them  their only laurels.   Various public interests, 
39
which they have promoted, must long pay  tribute to
their  indefatigable  exertions.
  In  this unnatural warfare, the patriotic ardor and
active usefulness  of the  medical faculty  have been
conspicuous, wherever they could be made availing.
Their alacrity  in hastening,  regardless of  personal
safety,  to  the  fields reeking with slaughter, to suc-
cor the  wounded  and  the dying, the  practical. wis-
dom  with  which  they have  brought order  out of
confusion in the hospitals  of the army, their  persever-
ing efforts to comfort  and to  save vast multitudes of
the victims of battle and  disease, holocausts to Free-
dom,  the  Isaacs  of a loyal  people, demand  more
fitting eulogy  than mine.  Their country  will keep
them ever in remembrance ; they will have their part
in that  imperishable renown, in that wreath streaming
with  fraternal  blood,  but  resplendent with  heroic ac-
tion,  that will crown this great historic epoch.  Happy
should we be, that we  have secured for the administra-
tion of this charity a share in the skill and experience
gained  in our  sacred  crusade for National existence.
   Let  me  also  briefly allude,  with  respect,  to  the
younger followers of  science, who,  influenced by a
laudable ambition, or  a sense  of duty, are willing to
watch, day and night,  by  the bedside of the suffering.
 Their reward will be the experience gained of disease,
 in its symptoms, progress,  and cure.  But the eagerness
 with which  such  appointments are solicited, although 
                          40
                            •
 the daily round is  both wearisome and repulsive, is
 highly creditable to  the motives  which actuate the
 profession.
   One most valuable return to society for  the  liberal
 endowment of charities like this, is the  improvement
 of medical science, — the efficient training of its pro-
 fessors.   This is an advantage reaped  by all of  us, for
 it is only where the numerous  complaints, which  are
 our inheritance  in  the  flesh,  are  presented in their
 various forms, and  in  cases frequently recurring, that
 they can  be understood.  Nor,  indeed, could we have
 the  benefit of that  surgical  skill,  by which many a
 precious  life  is  prolonged,  were it not  for hospital
 practice.   The surgeons permitted  to operate  are se-
 lected" for their  ability; in Paris, we  are  told, the
 most distinguished compete for this honor, through the
 most searching ordeal;  and operations upon the poorest
 hospital  patients are performed with  as much  skill,
 with as  much thoughtful tenderness,  as  can be pro-
 cured  by wealth or  the  highest  social position.
  In the  apartment appropriated for  surgical  opera-
 tions, accommodation is provided for students.   Their
 most important knowledge  is not obtained  from  the
 study of books, thorough as  that should be, but  from
 actual  observation.   The proximity  of the Massachu-
 setts to the College, will attract there, as  heretofore,
the greater number  of  pupils.   Should any  prefer to
walk our wards, this  will be allowed under reasonable 
                         41

regulations, and the privilege, perhaps, also  extended
for clinical instruction.  It  should never be  forgotten
that  the chief object is the cure  and comfort of the
patients.  Their  situation ought not to expose them to
a  painful  scrutiny, or  a  publicity from which they
shrink.
   This is not the place, nor is it my purpose to indulge
in panegyric on either thonght or deed which  have
made  this  hospital what it is ; but the practical  sense
and mechanical ingenuity of the Superintendent,  in its
arrangement for use, have  proved  invaluable, and can-
not be too highly extolled.   The  career on which he
is entering will afford  scope for the exercise of all his
faculties and powers, and earn for him additional claims
to public esteem.   But these earlier services should not
be permitted to  pass  into oblivion;   they  should be
treasured up with  all the  other  precious instrumen-
talities which form  an important part of our  early
history.
   The supreme  control, in  due subordination  always
of course to  the City Government, is  in the Board of
Trustees, consisting of  two Aldermen  and three mem-
bers of the Council, to be  annually elected, and  three
citizens, to   be  chosen, one each  year, for  triennial
periods.  Theirs will  be the  enviable prerogative of
watching over the welfare  of the unfortunate, of  mak-
ing provision for  their wants,  of tranquillizing their
anxieties, of cheering  their distress.   On their  judg-
              6 
42
ment will be  devolved the.responsibility of determin-
ing who shall be admitted, of deciding questions, when
epidemics are prevailing, having an important  bearing
upon the health  of the city.   It will  be their incum-
bent duty to keep  themselves  informed  of the char-
acter and conduct  of all  persons employed,  to cor-
rect abuses, to  establish  reasonable rules  of  govern-
ment, to enforce  their observance and the  most rigid
economy in every  department.
   So long  as  the novelty  lasts,  these  duties  will be
attractive, and with  our present  Superintendent, their
discharge will be of less importance.  Should the mem-
bers of the City Council on the Board, find  in  process
of time their  attention too much engrossed by  other
claims, the remedy will be to increase  the  number of
Trustees chosen at large.   This will insure  greater
permanence of policy, and in the  tenure  of hospital of-
fices, and also  preserve the  management from disar-
rangement with  fluctuations  of party,  or changes in
the  City Council.    It will be  more in accordance
with the organization  of our other Boards of Control,
which has been found to  work well.
   Throughout our  Institutions, pauper, penal,  and re-
formatory, reigns  the strictest frugality.   The  treat-
ment of disease demands a more  varied and  expensive
nourishment.  This  is  true  economy, inasmuch as it
accelerates cure, and by restoring the  industrious to
their employments, relieves the  public of their support. 
43
Yet, without constant watchfulness, waste and  extrava-
gance, if no  greater evil, will  creep  in.   Such abuses
will not escape the attention of the Board, but method
and accountability, firmly established from the outset,
and rigidly observed, will  justify the government in
ample appropriations, inspire  our fellow-citizens with
confidence  in their judicious* expenditure,  and en-
courage liberal endowments.
   The name of Elisha  Goodnow is the first engraved
upon our commemorative tablet.  The son of  a i;evolu-
tionary pensioner, lately living in Sudbury, of a family
 who have  given bountifully  of their means to pub-
 lic objects, his memory will be gratefully perpetuated
 while this edifice  endures.   What is known  of  his
 life vouches for  the philanthropy which actuated  his
 donation,  and his example, as well as that of Lawrence /
 Nichols, also  on our roll  of  benefactors, will stir  the
 hearts of  other  men to like generosity.   All who  are
 familiar with the history of charities here, or in other
 parts of the Christian  world, cannot  fail to  have ob-
 served  in their progress and prosperity an especial
 blessing.  Vast sums, in all countries,  for nearly twenty
 centuries, have  been poured  out like water  for their
 foundation and support.  There is yet balm in Gilead ;
 the angel of pity will still hover over us, with  healing
 in  its wings.   We should   do injustice  to  our com-
 munity did  we  doubt their  readiness to respond,  as
 heretofore, to every claim.  Whoever is rich, with no 
44
family dependent on his means, whoever would secure
for his children a blessing on their inheritance, will
remember  the  poor in  disposing of  his substance.
Whoever would lay up treasure  in  Heaven will give
freely here to the sick and feeble.   Let them remember
that famous epitaph  of Old  England, on the tomb in
the ancient church at Xiverton.

            Hoe ! Hoe ! who lies here ?
            'T is I, the good earl of Devonshire,
            With Kate my wife to me full deer :
            Wc lyved together fyfty fyve yeere.
            That wee spent wee had.
            That wee lefte wee loste.
            That wee gave wee have.

   Instructive  and entertaining  works  for the  library,
pictures, engravings, and  statuary, will be  acceptable
offerings ;  the  purple  clusters that load  the vine  or
adorn the banquet, will lose no flavor by being shared
with our less favored inmates; funds at largest interest
and made safe by public obligation, will prove for ages
a perennial source of thankfulness to the wretched, and
for descendants, be a  more enduring  monument than
bronze or marble.  Such pious gifts will soon furnish
a  sufficient resource for  the  daily needs  of the Hos-
pital, and  the  comfort  it  dispenses will flow directly,
in  copious  and  refreshing  streams from  the  cup  of
charity. 
45
  In health  and  strength,  in  the midst of a  useful
career, with all our faculties in active vigor, it  is dif-
ficult to  realize the  fevered  brow, the sleepless  night,
and the aching limb ; but  to these, for all future time,
we  dedicate  these halls.  To you, gentlemen of the
City Council, to you, honored members of the medical
profession, will be confided  the charge of our afflicted
fellow-beings.  Yours is a solemn responsibility ;  yours
the blessed privilege of working out, with the  aid  of
science, with  nature,  and  with  an overruling  Provi-
dence, their restoration.  We need not fear this  sacred
duty will be neglected.  That  Great  Being  who per-
mits no suffering in His creation but in mercy, will be
tender of his own ; and Boston, throughout  her num-
berless  generations, will rejoice  in the pride and the
blessing of  the Institution  which we have  this day
consecrated.
•