of flic hospital. ADDRESS 
BT 
Thomas E. Vermilye, D.D., LL.D., 
.A.T THE OPENING OF 
JhE j-fo^PITAL, 
2, 1871. 
BXJBBISBBID by thb trustees 
NEWYORK: 
Evening Post Steam Presses, 41 Nassau Street, cor. Libertt. 
1871. THE 
ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL. 
TRUSTEES. 
President, de., of “ The Society of the New York Hospital 
GEORGE T. TRIMBLE, 
President, dc., of “ The College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York." 
EDWARD DEL AFIELD, 
ROYAL PHELPS, 
President, d-c., of “ The New York Eye Infirmary.” 
FREDERICK E. MATHER, 
President, dc., of “ The Demilt Dispensary 
President, dc., of “ The New York Institution for the Blind." 
AUGUSTUS SCHELL, 
JAMES I. ROOSEVELT. 
EDWIN CLARK. 
JOHN M. KNOX. 
ADRIAN 11. MULLER. 
MEDICAL BOARD. 
CONSULTING PHYSICIANS : 
ALONZO CLARK. M. D. 
JOHN T. METCALFE, M. D. 
WILLARD PARKER. 31. D. 
GURDON BUCK, M. D. 
CONSULTING SURGEONS: 
ATTENDING PHYSICIANS : 
T. GATLLARD THOMAS, M. D. FRANCIS DELAFIELD, 31. D, 
WILLIA3I 11. DRAPER, 31. D. ROBERT WATTS, M. D. 
ATTENDING SURGEONS ; 
THO3IAS 31. MARKOE, 31. D. ERSKTNE 3IASON, 31. D. 
HENRY B. SANDS, M. D. ROBERT F. WEIR, M. D. 
PATHOLOGIST : 
FRANCIS DELAFIELD, M. D. 
SUPERINTENDENT : 
HORATIO PAINE, 31. D, 
WILLIA3I 11. SCHUYLER, 31. D. 
HOUSE PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON : 
MATRON : 
HARRIET B. HUDSON. THE EOOSEYELT HOSPITAL. 
The Eoosevelt Hospital, on Fifty-ninth street, between the 
Ninth and Tenth avenues, was formally opened for the recep- 
tion of patients on the 2d day of November, 1871, with the 
following services: 
1. Prayer by the 
Eev. John Cotton Smith, D. D. 
2. Announcement of the opening of the Hospital by 
Edward Delafield, M. D., President. 
3. Address by the 
Eev. Thomas E. Yermilye, D. D., LL. D. 
4. Benediction by the 
Rev. Wm. A. Muhlenberg, D. D. 
The addresses of the President and of Dr. Yermilye are 
published at the request of the Board of Trustees. 
New York, November, 1871. OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT. 
Few tilings have occurred in my long professional life more 
gratifying to me than to have been authorized to announce, as 
I do this day, that the Roosevelt Hospital is now open, and 
ready to receive patients. 
The Roosevelt Hospital—and the name at once suggests 
that it was founded and endowed by the large and generous 
munificence of one individual—of James H. Roosevelt, All 
honor be to his memory, and may this monument of his great 
charity endure as long as there are sick and poor in this great 
city. 
And what occasion could present more points of interest 
than that which has now called us together? We are here to 
witness the opening of a hospital, built and endowed for the 
public benefit. The patiiot, the man of science, the philan- 
thropist, all are deeply interested in it, as adding one more to 
the noble architectural monuments which adorn our city ; as 
intended for an institution which promises to illustrate the 
benefits which modern science, and especially the science of 
medicine, are conferring upon mankind; as testifying to the 
progress of philanthropy in the age and community in which 
we live; as the fruit of individual benevolence and an example 
of private charity ; and finally, as an evidence of the character of 
Christian civilization to supply what is wanting in one class of 
society by the abundance of another, and thereby to promote 
the welfare and happiness of the poor. 
On the 18th of March, 1854, James H. Roosevelt, of this 
city, made his last will and testament. After certain special 
bequests, the document reads thus : 8 
"All tlie rest and residue of my personal estate, including all 
lapsed legacies, together with all my estate not hereinbefore 
■well and effectually disposed of, I give, in trust, to the several 
and successive presidents ex officio, for the time being, of the 
respective managing boards of those five certain incorporations 
in the City of New York, known as “ The Society of the New 
York Hospital,” “ The College of Physicians and Surgeons in 
the City of New York,” “ The New York Eye Infirmary,” “ The 
Demilt Dispensary,” and “ The New York Institution for the 
Blind,” and to my friends the Honorable James I. Roosevelt, 
Edwin Clark, Esq., John M. Knox, Esq., and Adrian H. Muller, 
Esq., all of said city, and to the survivor or survivors of them, 
for the establishment in the City of New York of an Hospital 
for the reception and relief of sick and diseased persons, and 
for its permanent endowment.” 
In the month of November, 1863, the testator died, and in 
due course the large property thus bequeathed came into the 
hands of the Trustees. 
We cannot but be impressed by the wisdom of the general 
form in which the object of this Hospital is stated by its 
founder. It was to be a hospital for the reception and relief 
of sick and diseased persons. There is no limit to the charity, 
except in the extent of its funds. All sick and diseased persons 
without distinction of race, or country, or religion, may apply 
here for relief, and will certainly be received to the extent of 
the ability of the Hospital. 
In this document there is no particularity of detail in the 
conduct of the Institution. All is left to the discretion of the 
Trustees. Experience has shown that vast difficulty is likely 
to arise in the administration of trusts, where the founder has 
undertaken to provide for the exigencies of a remote and un- 
certain future. In this case, the Trustees, representing some 
of the principal charitable institutions of the city, are left free 
to administer this general trust in such manner as in their 
view is best calculated to promote the contemplated object. 
In February, 1861, an act of incorporation was granted to 
the Hospital by the Legislature of this State. The Board of 
Trustees was then duly organized, and preparations made which 
resulted in the purchase of this admirable site for a hospital: 9 
but certain legal obstacles were interposed which delayed for 
many months the commencement of the work. 
During the interval the subject of hospital construction was 
carefully studied by the Building Committee, and that they might 
act with all the lights of science and experience which have 
been developed most rapidly within the last twenty-five years, 
Dr. Stephen Smith, of this city, was employed to study and report 
to the Board the principles of hospital construction now recog- 
nized as most appropriate to the ends to be attained in a public 
hospital. Mr. Carl Pfeiffer, our accomplished architect, was in 
constant communication for many months with Dr. Smith and 
a member of the Committee, and visited and examined many 
of the principal hospitals in our country. Before the plans 
were begun the whole subject was thus carefully examined, and 
not till then did the Trustees allow arrangements to be made 
for building the Hospital. 
The intention of the Board was to erect upon this ground 
four pavilions for the patients and their immediate attendants ; 
these buildings so far separate and independent as to avoid all 
danger of the spread of disease from one to the other, and con-- 
nected only by a low corridor. 
In the centre and front of these pavilions was to be placed the 
administrative building, containing the various offices required; 
apartments for the principal officers and their families; the 
apothecary and laboratory rooms; a very complete operating 
theatre ; a number of small wards for patients requiring special 
accommodation; and in the upper story some wards for the 
general patients of the Hospital. 
And lastly, a building for the kitchen and laundry, and the 
steam apparatus for warming and ventilating all the buildings, 
and furnishing power for most of the work of the Institution, 
was to be erected. 
Two of these buildings are now finished, and two others in 
process of completion. They have been erected slowly, with 
the double purpose of careful construction and allowing the 
funds of the Hospital to accumulate, and as far as possible to 
confine the outlay to these accumulations. 
The erection of buildings so large and so complete has, how- 
ever, already required the use of a great proportion of the per- 10 
sonal property left by the Testator. The earnest desire of the 
Trustees is to retain, after the buildings are constructed, a suffi- 
cient fund to enable them to receive in absolute charity, a 
large number of their patients. But in our community, there 
always exists a very considerable class of persons requiring 
hospital care, fully as numerous as the absolutely destitute poor, 
and yet unable, when injured by the accidents so frequent in 
mechanical occupations, or when the subjects of disease from 
any cause, to obtain the skilful medical or surgical advice, or 
the careful nursing and comforts their cases require. Such 
persons as these are able and desire to pay a moderate board, 
sufficient in great part to meet the expense of their mainten- 
ance in the Hospital. A farther provision was necessary and 
has been made for persons in good circumstances meeting with 
sudden accidents, requiring, perhaps, important surgical opera- 
tions ; or for strangers in our city, not knowing where to find 
the nursing and care their maladies require, when struck down 
by disease, far away from their own homes. These last will be 
no expense to the Hospital, but somewhat aid in supporting the 
sick poor who will fill our wards. 
The Trustees expect to erect—if not immediately, then after 
some delay, to allow their funds to accumulate—another pavil- 
ion similar to that in which we are assembled. 
But to complete the entire plan, which includes a fourth 
building like that now erecting on the Ninth avenue, more 
means will be necessary than we now possess. 
In the construction of the two central buildings, it is ob- 
vious that the arrangements for warming and ventilating, and 
for kitchen and laundry purposes, are intended for a large num- 
ber of patients, a number which the Hospital will contain when 
finished ; and they will be ample for that purpose ; although, 
when the second large pavilion is erected, they will all be 
brought into use. 
To obtain means for the building of the fourth pavilion, the 
Trustees propose to offer to those who will subscribe for the 
purpose, the privilege of owning in the Hospital one or more 
free beds in perpetuity, to inure to their heirs as long as the 
Hospital endures; and to those who will pay a smaller sum, 
the right to such a free bed during the life of the donor. 11 
Patients thus received will be at not the least expense, and 
have every care and comfort the Hospital can supply and 
the skill of its medical men can furnish. 
Before I give place to the reverend gentleman who is to ad- 
dress you, let me say a few words as a representative of the 
profession who are to be the active workers in carrying out the 
intentions of the founder of this Hospital. 
As far as the preservation of their health, and the treatment 
of their diseases is concerned, the public at large, every human 
being in our land, has as much at stake as any the most desti- 
tute poor we shall receive within our walls. 
Without hospitals there cannot be good physicians; and if 
you will inquire into the history of some of the most celebrated 
and most skilful medical men, you will find they have not only 
constantly frequented the wards of hospitals, but in their early 
days have lived for a time within their walls, and in the midst 
of sick and dying patients. 
To the physician, the hospital is the spring whence he draws, 
every day of his life, the knowledge whiqh guides and directs 
him in his daily work; the garner which furnishes the nutri- 
ment on which his science feeds and grows, and is sustained as 
long as he lives. He may not as he advances in life have 
leisure himself to gather up all the stores of knowledge the 
hospital furnishes, but from the succession of younger men 
'who fill the places of their elders he derives incessantly re- 
newed and improved deductions from carefully made obser- 
vations, found nowhere else so well as in such institutions ; 
and more especially, it is almost here alone that he can study 
the results of disease in the human body; it is here alone he 
can obtain that profound knowledge of pathological anatomy 
which is the foundation and only firm basis of medical practice. 
It is here alone that he can compare, side by side, the similari- 
ties and diversities of disease ; that he can become familiar, by 
constant comparative trials, with the physical diagnosis which 
in modern times has enabled him to understand the phases of 
disease which in earlier days could be only imperfectly under- 
stood and distinguished. 
And farther still, nowhere else than in the public hospital 
can the surgeon gain so well the skill which enables him to 12 
successfully perform surgical operations, or even to make the 
minor, but no less important, appliances of surgery, incessantly 
occurring, and requiring the dexterity which repetition and 
habit alone can teach. 
If then, you would have good physicians and surgeons ; if, 
when you have any of the maladies so incident to human life, 
you would be thoroughly and skilfully cared for, you must 
have hospitals. 
And to you who have been the successful builders of the 
great estates, so numerous all over our extensive country, I 
would say—follow the example of James H. Roosevelt, and of 
others still living among us—build and endow hospitals. Dr. VERMILYE’S ADDRESS. 
In my early boyhood, in this city, I was accustomed to 
meet a lad, whose bright countenance, modest bearing and 
manifest occupations, very greatly interested and attracted me. 
He was my senior by several years, and resided in Warren 
Street, near Broadway, as my father resided in the same street, 
near Greenwich, wliich was then far up town. His form was 
straight, spare and of good height; his eye was animated; the 
expression of his face, mild and intelligent; one of those faces 
that is apt to attract notice and favor ; but a slight degree of 
pallor spread over it, and seemed to indicate that he did not 
enjoy robust health. This might be supposed to arise from 
studious habits, for I generally met him with his books under 
his arm, going to or from Columbia College, as I went to or re- 
turned from school. And I very well recollect the glow of 
young ambition his appearance excited within me, that the day 
might soon come when I should carry my books to college and 
be a collegian too. 
Thus James H. Roosevelt appeared to me in early prime. 
On my settlement as one of the pastors of the Collegiate 
Church in the city, after years of absence, I found him a mem- 
ber of the Charge, and then formed a personal acquaintance, 
which ripened into a somewhat intimate friendship, and con- 
tinued for nearly a quarter of a century, until his death. And 
it is interesting to me to remember that, without any reference 
to these circumstances, I was called to officiate at his funeral; 
and now, again, after the lapse of these many years, I am in- 
vited to take this prominent part in giving form and effect to 
his grand life-work. 
Mr. Roosevelt was born in New York, on the tenth day of 
November, 1800, and died suddenly on the thirtieth day of 
November, 1863, in this city, where his whole life had been 
passed. His father was James C. Roosevelt, licensed at the 
Bar, though he never engaged in legal practice. But he was 14 
through life highly respected, and for many years was a lead- 
ing member of the Consistory of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch 
Church. His mother was Catharine Byvanck, of a family also 
prominent and greatly esteemed in the social circles of that 
day. The father died in 1840, and the mother in 1854. The 
first Roosevelt, Claus (a Dutch contraction for Nicholas), Claus 
Martinson (Martin’s son) Yan Roosevelt, came to New York 
about the year 1650, from a place, we should conclude, called 
Roosevelt. 
As the names of both parents distinctly indicate, Mr. Roose- 
velt was thus of the old Holland stock, pure and unmixed, that 
first settled New Amsterdam, and for many years retained the 
government, observing the customs and perpetuating the spirit 
of the mother country : a people, both here and there, strongly 
characterized by those qualities that give success to families 
and vigor to States ; intelligence, religiousness, industry and 
thrift; and the Roosevelt sept, which was here at so early a 
period after the settlement of the Colony, in those retaining 
the name and in collateral relations, has branched out widely 
among us. 
On his graduation from Columbia College, in 1819, James H. 
Roosevelt was one of three of his class who received the high- 
est honors for deportment and scholarship. The competitors 
were so equal in merit that the College authorities refused to 
discriminate between them, and they received co-equal distinc- 
tion. He studied law, and was admitted to the Bar; and ac- 
quired great skill in the drawing of wills (as his own will ap- 
pears to me to prove, in a very marked degree), and he was 
much consulted in such matters by many personal friends. 
But owing to circumstances and mainly, as would seem, to the 
impaired state of his health, he never devoted himself to the 
full practice of his profession. That paleness of his youth, I 
mentioned, probably indicated disease lurking in his system ; 
and in early manhood some imprudent exposure brought on a 
rheumatic affection, from which he never fully recovered. It 
caused him much distress at times, probably was the immedi- 
ate cause of his sudden death, but produced in early years a 
Permanent lameness, which made the use of a crutch necessary; 
although it so far abated after several years that he was able 15 
to walk easily with the use of a cane. But with the crutch or 
the cane, it was amusing to notice the ease and quickness of 
his motions and the rapidity with which he would glide along 
the streets. He always showed great agility in boyish sports. 
His person, in manhood, was much the same as in youth, 
somewhat tall and erect, never stout, and, with the exception of 
his lameness, well formed and graceful. His eye was open and 
sparkling, and his whole expression of countenance prepossess- 
ing, without a trace of moroseness or meanness ; his voice was 
clear, his speech prompt, and his disposition, naturally kind and 
amiable, lost none of those qualities by years and suffering ; 
but rather his liveliness freely vented itself in puns and humor 
and genuine wit and a ready laugh, and genial good nature. Ho 
never married, but kept house with his mother until her death, 
and afterward, with the occasional presence of some female 
relative or trusty servants. And there was something very 
touching and beautiful in the tenderness with which he cherish- 
ed that mother through the trials of old age, and down to the 
very grave. The domestic and social affections were strong in 
his bosom, and fidelity was a decided characteristic of his moral 
nature. 
Mr. Roosevelt never became a communicating member of the 
Church. In conversations with him I found, that while he had 
a connected understanding and full belief of the doctrines of 
the church in which he had been reared, and loved its order, and 
while he was a most punctual and constant attendant on its 
services from Sabbath to Sabbath, he was deterred from a pub- 
lic profession of religion by doubts "and scruples which too 
often prevail to the ’same unhappy result. He deferred from 
distrust of his fitness, perhaps. Perhaps he did not sufficiently 
reflect on this subject; yet there were times, to my knowledge, 
when it was present to his mind with much feeling, though 
he coidd not bring himself, at any given time, to perform the 
duty. I thought he allowed some not uncommon misconcep- 
tions as to the nature of such an act and of the preparation neces- 
sary for it to cloud and embarrass his clear mind. Yet he was 
not only carefully observant of religious services, but in several 
spheres of benevolence he took an active part. He was much 
interested in the Leake and Watts Orphan House, of which, 16 
for upwards of 23 years, he was the treasurer; and how strongly 
such objects laid hold on his sympathies the purpose of our 
meeting to-day in this place may attest. 
The want of physical strength was probably the chief reason 
why he did not pursue his profession, or engage in any regular 
line of business. But his active spirit did not allow him to lead 
a listless or aimless life. He inherited from his father a con- 
siderable, but not very large property; this was his capital, 
the management of which gave him occupation. And the 
large estate he left did not grow from bold speculation or the 
arts of the usurer, nor from any of those questionable courses 
by which great wealth is often rapidly acquired, but from the 
regular accumulation of income, and from investments in real 
estate, which proved advantageous in the same way that many 
large fortunes have been realized in this City, by those who had 
the means and skill to purchase. Moreover, he was frugal in 
expenditure as he was careful in acquisition. His style of 
living was perfectly respectable but simple, without ostentation 
or extravagance in any form. Such was his taste; and still 
more, it was, I think, from his sense of what was right. He 
gave at times, in various directions, quietly; but the frequent 
calls of promiscuous charity found no great favor in his eyes. 
And no doubt some constituting themselves his censors, and 
knowing neither his feelings nor what he really did in this re- 
spect, when their applications were not met as they wished, 
would be free to condemn him as penurious, mean, narrow and 
avaricious. Yet this frugal, unostentatious man was living with 
a purpose ; and that was, not to secure the reputation of vast 
riches, nor to revel in selfish indulgence, nor sway the power 
they might create for him, nor to found a family or buy a title; 
but to found an institution, which should be a home, and the 
source of untold blessings to his suffering fellow creatures for 
generations after he should have been laid away in his grave. 
Was it not a noble, holy purpose ? Worthy of self-denial and 
toil ? Does it not exact our reverence and praise ? lam able 
to relate an incident which proves that this purpose was long 
in his mind, and very conscientiously considered. Walking from 
his house with Dr. Knox, his revered friend and mine, years 
before Dr, Knox’s death, he said to me, “ Our friend Mr. Boose- 17 
yelt is perplexed and is anxiously considering what posthu- 
mous disposition he shall make of his estate ; whether he shall 
bestow it where it is not needed or where it will probably do 
little good, and may do harm; or give it in some direction that 
will be likely to make it a permanent benefit to the community.” 
It proves that he felt the responsibility which wealth imposed 
upon him, and, while he did not care to use it in personal grati- 
fication of any kind, that he meant to make it in some wn.y a 
source of lasting good. And his will, so thoughtful and well 
compacted into legal form, he drew so as to accomplish this 
generous and deliberate purpose. By his will he provides, first, 
what he believed would be a suitable expression of his duty 
and affection to individuals ; and then devises the residue of 
his estate, in the hands of most judiciously selected trustees, 
for the founding and endowment of a hospital. 
It is not very important, perhaps, to inquire what motive or 
motives led to this particular designation of his property. 
Possibly the affliction to which he had himself been a victim 
through life may have turned his sympathies towards the con- 
dition of many fellow sufferers, whose sorrows he hoped by this 
means in some measure to alleviate. Or he might justly have 
felt this to be of various agencies of benevolence, a primary 
mode of using wealth, so as to secure from it as large an 
amount of real good as is likely to be attained by any one form 
of charitable distribution. In reflecting upon this subject, I 
have often considered that if a graduated scale of beneficent 
giving were formed, the first place should probably be assigned 
to physical want, food and shelter for the poor. It is the voice 
of humanity. Our Saviour teaches that this is a claim not only 
always at our door, but always impressive. “ The poor ye have 
always with you.” No form of society is without them, for the 
good of society itself ; and for the like cause, as well as for the 
relief of the sufferers, there is no class nor person exempt from 
the duty. Next, or even in union with this, is sympathy and 
succor to the sick and the suffering; and here comes in, as one 
of the fixed divisions of employment in civilized communities, 
the noble profession of Medicine, and then, the Hospital. 
Education for the mind and religious agencies for the soul, 
would follow; not inferior indeed, but indispensable to our 18 
highest wants, yet waiting necessarily for their success in good 
measure upon our physical well being. Practically, no such 
graduation can be made; for claims justly appealing to our 
hearts and hands for aid do not thus stay upon the order of 
their coming, and must be met when and as they arise. But 
an individual making a conscientious apportionment of what he 
can from time to time bestow, as every good man should do, 
may' act, to some degree, on such a principle ; and especially 
when one is considering the solemn matters of a testamentary 
bestowment of such portion of an estate as justice and kind- 
ness to family and relations will allow him to designate to ob- 
jects of general beneficence, some such discrimination may and 
should be exercised ; or of many objects alike intrinsically im- 
portant, that may be selected which, for any special reasons, 
appeals most directly to the donor’s personal sympathies. 
The first idea of a hospital is of a place of refuge and relief 
for the sick and suffering. That is the paramount object for 
which it exists. Its location, internal economy and services there- 
fore, should be arranged so as most conveniently and effectually 
to attain this end. The place should be healthy, both on account 
of the patients and that the Institution meant for healing may 
not diffuse disease and pestilence around. Its apartments, and 
especially its dormitories, should be airy and cheerful; its beds, 
as comfortable as skill can make them to soothe the aching 
limbs of the poor occupant to whom wearisome days and nights 
are thus appointed ; and the food should be simple and nutri- 
tious. It should be equipped with a corps of nurses, intelli- 
gent, patient and tender, and the best medical and surgical skill 
which the most thorough science can command. And let me, 
in passing, pay my humble tribute to the high benevolence, the 
self-denial and assiduity with which the Profession lay them- 
selves out to foster and serve such institutions. Largely are 
they public benefactors, although their rich stores of learning 
and their skill may mainly be displayed only in the sick chamber 
or the lecture-room. The Scriptural epithet is chosen with ex- 
quisite felicity to express the feelings of confidence and attach- 
ment the virtuous man inspires, “ The beloved Physician.” To 
a refined mind this is a gratifying recompense for much anxiety 
and toil. 19 
We should suppose that some such provision for our many 
maladies would be found in all ages, from the earliest periods 
and under all forms of regulated society. Yet we read that 
among the Babylonians, in the grandeur of their Empire, there 
were no educated physicians, and of course no institutions for 
the reception of the sick, but that they were exposed in the Fo- 
rum, that those passing by might inquire into their diseases 
and suggest whatever each thought would be beneficial: a mode 
of practice not entirely obsolete, since now, besides the de- 
plomaed practitioner, hundreds may be met, each ready with 
advice, each with a nostrum, a specific, an infallible cure for all 
“ the ills that flesh is heir to.” The practice of exposure seems 
to have remained even to New Testament times: since they 
laid the sick on beds in the streets, that the shadow of Peter 
falling on them might exert a healing power. Ancient Rome 
with the experience of all former ages and its high culture, had 
no institutions, it is said, for the treatment of the sick. “ Dis- 
“ eased persons were carried to the temple of Aesculapius for a 
“ cure, as Christian believers were taken to the churches which 
“ contained wonder-working images.” Perhaps the exact date 
when they arose cannot be fixed ; but it is affirmed that benev- 
olent institutions for the indigent, like our alms-houses, or 
for the sick, like our hospitals, were first introduced by Chris- 
tianity ; “ and the first infirmaries or hospitals were built close 
to the cathedrals or monasteries. The Knights of St. John 
opened a hospital for sick pilgrims at Jerusalem in 1048, and 
were styled Knights Hospitallers. There were hospitals for the 
sick at Constantinople, in the eleventh century. The oldest 
mention of physicians and surgeons established in infirmaries 
occurs in 1437.” They sprang then from the bosom of Chris- 
tianity and they very impressively illustrate its heaven-descend- 
ed spirit. For obvious reasons, large cities are their appropriate 
home. Among their dense populations, the greater number of 
proper subjects and the means of support, and the appliances 
for working them, are most readily found. The undomesticatod 
man or woman who find the boarding-house comfortable while 
in health, pursuing their daily business, may hail such a retreat 
in sickness. A family might be crushed by the necessary ex- 
pense and attendance on a sick member at home; but a re- 20 
spectable hospital might free their energies for necessary labor, 
and likewise afford better accommodations for the sick. The 
stranger also will here receive kind care, and very many cases 
arise which require attendance and treatment that cannot well 
be given anywhere else. 
It is painful to observe how little the regulations that should 
govern such institutions have been understood or regarded in 
times past. They have been held apparently as pest-houses, 
and their bad location or bad management has, no doubt, made 
them so, quite as much as the character of diseases treated in 
them. The Centenary Address of James W. Beekman, Esq., 
before the Society of the New York Hospital in July last has 
some very judicious remarks on this point, and the appendix 
contains an interesting historical paper in relation to hospital 
management, published in this city in 1775, just before the 
Be volutionary War, and just after the establishment of that in- 
stitution. The writer declares that at that time there was not 
in the “ Capital of the Kingdom, London,’’ “ a single hospital 
“ conducted upon proper medical principles.” * * * “In the 
“ two great hospitals of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew, in 
“ London, about six hundred patients die annually,” or about 
one in thirteen. “In Paris it is supposed that one-third of all 
“ who die there, die in hospitals. The Hotel Dieu receives 
“ about 22,000 persons annually, one-fifth of which number die 
“ every year.” This of course implies a dreadful condition of 
society, and a very improper use of hospitals. But to the over- 
crowding, the vitiated air and necessary negligence or unskil- 
fulness of treatment, the results are mainly ascribed. If the 
case were so, however, at that time, what before ? And if so, in 
enlightened London and Paris, what must it have been in the 
Lazarettos on the Continent. It is consoling to know that, 
with the great advancement of scientific and medical knowledge, 
more correct hygienic principles prevail, and vast improve- 
ments have been made in the economy of such establishments. 
To be conveyed to a well regulated hospital is by no means 
now to be conveyed to the grave, but to the best medical skill and 
assiduous care, and the best prospect of recovery. And that 
prejudice, and even horror, which once accompanied the mention 
of the hospital, may give place to gratitude for so kind a har- 21 
bor in sickness and liberality in tlieir support. Kor will the 
rivalry, which the multiplication of such retreats may create 
diminish the efforts of science or endeavors after improvement, 
until they reach the most perfect conditions possible. 
The Hospital is, again, to be viewed as a School of Science. 
I own the common neat phrase, “ the Healing Art," does not 
strike me favorably as a proper designation of the Medical 
Profession. True, an art it is in some respects : more so perhaps 
than the other liberal professions, in that its utility must be 
largely the result of experience and observation respecting the 
functions of the human system, and the nature and power of 
remedies. But it is greatly derogatory and aside from the 
truth to suppose that a thoroughbred physician is, after all, 
nothing better than an empiric, a quack, a pretender, who is 
working in the dark, by guesses, and trying experiments with 
each case he undertakes. 
The profession has all the dignity of a science : more strictly 
Baconian in its method than some of the others; it builds up 
a system of principles of procedure from knowledge carefully 
collected by extensive experiments and observations. If the 
sciences and liberal callings are a sisterhood, and no one of 
them can be studied to the best advantage without diverging, 
in some degree at least, into the other provinces of learning, 
Medicine is pre-eminent in this respect; or rather we may say 
it brings within its legitimate domain the largest number of in- 
tellectual pursuits, and levies tribute upon them all—Psychol- 
ogy, since mind is subject to disease as well as the body, and 
exerts often a strange control over the patient and applied 
remedies; the Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Sys- 
tem ; the Influence of Climates ; Chemical Properties ; the 
Nature and Effect of Medicines ; and, in fact, almost the en- 
tire field of the natural sciences, is the sphere, and should be 
the study, of the accomplished physician. And the hospital is 
just the place where the most varied subjects are brought under 
his inspection, and the largest material afforded for observa- 
tion and the establishment of principles, and the application 
of remedies. 
The advantages for practical ends to the student, and equally 
to the practitioner, are so many and obvious as hardly to need 22 
remark. Theoretical knowledge of Medicine, Anatomy and 
Surgery may be best acquired, probably, at the College. Yet 
many important surgical cases appear in the hospital, which 
cannot be conveyed to the anatomical theatre, but must be 
treated on the spot. And a long life-time of active practice 
would scarcely furnish the private practitioner with such op- 
portunities for the diagnosis of diseases, their causes, progress, 
and best treatment, as an inspection of the cases gathered 
within the wards of a hospital, the consultations of the faculty 
there held, and the effects of curatives exhibited, not in one or 
two, but in many cases, and under various conditions of the 
subjects. Within the smallest compass and in the shortest 
time, large stores of practical knowledge will in this way be ac- 
cumulated. And the knowledge thus obtained has this special 
advantage : that it arises in connection with cases such as most 
frequently occur in the daily practice of the private physician. 
The treatment found best in the hospital is the same, there- 
fore, that will promise the best results in the family. 
May I be allowed, in this connection, to refer to a subject 
interesting in every view, and in regard to which physicians 
everywhere, in hospitals, in alms-houses and in private prac- 
tice, have great influence, and also great responsibilities ? I 
mean the use of ardent spirits, a stimulating plan of medical 
treatment. No doubt it is necessary and wise at times, and 
the wise and temperate physician is the proper judge of such 
necessity. And no doubt there is much less use of such agents 
now than formerly. But I think I have observed something 
like fashion in such matters ; that use and disuse are apt to 
alternate; and hence the propriety of thoughtful and uniform 
care in medical prescriptions, as much as in social intercourse. 
And a kind and well-meant word on so grave a topic from one 
who so profoundly respects the medical class will certainly 
not be taken amiss, nor be regarded as ignorant dictation by 
the thoughtful men of the profession. When we see the in- 
sidious nature of intoxicating substances—how gradually and 
easily a habit is formed, what a slavery it becomes, and what 
ruin it entails; when we notice the daily mid-day drinks by 
which many business men and young men are forming the in- 
exorable habit; and when we are informed that in Great 23 
Britain, and it may be among ourselves, the use, under the 
guise of medical necessity, is gaining ground and making sad 
ravages even among ladies in the higher circles, it is surely 
appropriate to call the subject to mind, and utter a word of 
caution. With peculiar effect, arising from their position, may 
our doctors counteract the idea that strong stimulants are at all 
necessary to persons in ordinary health ; and even poor victims 
of indulgences in our alms-houses may possibly be reclaimed, 
and all be safer and better by their resolute anti-stimulating 
advice. 
But the hospital is likewise a school of most impressive moral, 
and even religious, inculcations. Its very presence is a memen- 
to of mortal frailty, as a church spire suggests immortal hope. 
We enter its doors, and the very stillness within its corridors, 
the long line of couches, and the elaborate arrangements, all 
intended for sickness and suffering, take us at once away from 
associations of thought or feeling with the outward bustling 
world, and make us realize our relations to sorrow and death, 
as well as to life and joy, and impress and awe our spirits. 
Here we receive lessons of God’s infinite sovereignty in the dis- 
tribution of disease and pain ; the weakness and utter helpless- 
ness of man, and his absolute dependence on an unseen power for 
support at every moment of his pilgrimage; the inestimable value 
of health, and the duty of humble gratitude for its possession— 
impressive lessons of submission and patience. Or at times the 
reverse, perhaps, shocks us with exhibitions of hardness of 
hearts, of heaven-daring impiety and defiance under the Di- 
vine hand. The flush of health amidst the marts of the busy 
world, where every thought is fired by ambition or intent on 
gain ; the halls of festivity, where pleasure holds its court 
and beauty smiles, and a succession of gay delights entrance 
the soul ; or even the great mansion which wealth has fur- 
nished forth with every appliance for refined and elegant en- 
joyment, where luxury appears in all the accompaniments; 
where no want is denied, and no taste is nngratified—these are 
not the scenes in which frail man most correctly realizes his 
present condition, or prepares most earnestly for his future final 
audit. The fafse glare is apt to bewilder our senses. But, in 
the sick chamber, in a hospital, all is reversed, and the most unthinking prodigal comes to himself. Reality succeeds to the 
gorgeous vision; the sinews of iron relax; the athletic frame 
bows; the strong man trembles ; his vigor departs, and he be- 
comes weak and helpless as a child ; pain darts through the sys- 
tem, or paralysis benumbs the limbs; paleness spreads over 
the countenance ; the beauty that fascinated all eyes is “ con- 
sumed away like a moth,” and voices all around seem to echo 
the lessons of holy truth, “Every manwalketh in a vain show,” 
“ Surely every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” 
And again, at times our hearts are cheered and profited by the 
sublime energy of religious consolations. We sit down at 
the bedside of some poor sufferer to minister comfort, and 
find ourselves interested by the sweet words and the sweeter 
spirit of one of Christ’s little flock ; and we learn, even in a hos- 
pital, and because of the discipline there experienced, how sus- 
taining, how glorious is the power of Christian truth and faith, 
and the hope that makes not ashamed. Anthems alternate with 
groans ; songs with sighing. The eyes, dim with pain, kindle 
into rapture as faith descries the better land—the rest that 
remaineth; where a kind Saviour waits to receive the tried 
and purified saint ; where is no more sorrow, and where tears 
are wiped forever from all faces. These are the teachings 
most beneficial to man on his sojourn below. They alone are 
essential. And I know no school more appropriate in which 
they may be conned and learned than in a hospital. 
The Roosevelt Hospital now begins its benevolent work, and 
we both pray and prophesy for it a career of great usefulness. 
At the beginning of the century the New York Hospital was 
the single refuge of the kind in the city, and was adequate to 
the wants of the community. But then New York lay almost 
entirely below the Park, and the hospital was quite out of 
town. Now the city is rapidly covering the Island, our popu- 
lation has grown from tens to thousands, and of course greatly 
extended accommodations are required. I have not thought to 
obtain an enumeration of the new hospitals which have recently 
arisen from private munificence or public aid; but they are 
many and of various kinds, and the fact indicates that this 
form of benevolence has been recognized as of eminent import- 
ance, and will be fostered by the affluent and the good among 25 
us. Is it paradoxical to say of hospitals that they are an orna- 
ment and a glory of our city ? and this must hold a distinguished 
place, both from its location and completeness, and as the gift 
of one man—one of New York’s own sons—from property all 
acquired within the city, and constituting one of the most mu- 
nificent endowments ever, or anywhere, created by a single per- 
son. Several in London are “of ancient date and richly en- 
dowed.” Guy’s Hospital, Southwark, one of the noblest in 
London, was the gift of a book-seller of that name, who built 
it at a cost of nearly £19,000, and endowed it, in 1724, by a 
bequest of <£219,500. This, turned into our currency, would 
nearly equal the gross sum of the Roosevelt bequest, which, as 
I understand, is expected to reach a million and a quarter of 
dollars. 
The Trustees of the fund have been untiring in their part of 
the work, scrupulously aiming to fulfill the trust devolved on 
them in such a manner that the Institution shall be, in all respects, 
worthy of the city and of the present state of knowledge on the 
subject. It is likewise but just to mention that, in the spirit 
which prompted the original gift, their services have hitherto 
been, as by a by-law they have resolved they shall hereafter 
be, gratuitous. In their plans, they provide for and expect to 
receive transient pay-patients, which is a thing well considered 
in a city like this, filled with strangers, who often need medical 
attendance and nursing such as they cannot obtain at a hotel or 
in a boarding house. It is proper also to say, that to complete 
the buildings and endowments according to the plans adopted 
will require funds beyond those provided in the will, and they 
therefore solicit contributions for this purpose, and for the en- 
dowment of free beds. A donation of $5,000 entitles the donor 
to nominate to a free bed in perpetuity, and $3,000 to nominate 
during the donor’s lifetime. 
It has been common, at all times, by various erections, or by 
inscriptions, to endeavor to immortalize great events and to give 
perpetuity to the deeds and names of notable men ; to write their 
record so that it shall live after them. Often has this been the 
dictate of mere vanity, that like the builders of Babel, they 
might “ make them a name.” “ Great Princes have great playthings ; some have played 
“At hewing mountains into men, and some at building human wonders 
“ mountain high, 
“ Some have amused the dull sad years of life 
“ With schemes ot monumental fame, and sought 
“ By pyramids and mausoleum pomp, 
“ fchort lived themselves, to immortalize their bones.” 
But often with higher thoughts they have intended to commem- 
orate great deeds or the examples of the wise and cood for the 
instruction of after times. Such records abound. Thermopylae 
had its memorial, rehearsing its patriotism to all Greece The 
Shaft at Banker Hill, seen far off at sea, shall tell to children’s 
children the victories of our fathers, and the struggles of this 
nation’s birth. Scott’s monument in Edinburgh elaborately 
stories to Scottish hearts the genius of one of Scotland’s greatest 
sons. Who also can walk through Pere la Chaise, or St. Paul’s 
Cathedral, or Westminster Abbey, and pause to behold the 
“ storied urn and animated bust” and read the epitaphs of the 
great of many generations, without profound emotion and lasting 
profit ? The honor thus paid to departed men is not alone to he 
considered, hut the force of example upon ihe succeeding gene- 
rations of the living. The rising column, the sculptured marble, 
appeals from the eye to the inmost spirit of the beholder, and if 
the subjects were truly worthy of such honors, these “ sermons 
in stories” refine and exalt the sentiments of a people and make 
them wiser and better. But if to the memorial structure, utility 
is adde d ; if some use of benefit to the living be combined with 
the testimonial to the departed, then it becomes even more im- 
pressive as it is more fitting. This idea has frequently, of late, 
been brought into practice and seems to he in harmony with the 
spirit of our times. Such is this noble endowment. 
Mr. Roosevelt left no funds to garnish his sepulchre or rear a 
magnificent mausoleum to his name. That thought, I sincerely 
believe, was neither in his mind, nor to his taste. But in the 
language of him of old, we may say for him, Si monumentum 
quaeris, circuinspice. I am glad of tlio opportunity now afforded 
to pay what I have felt to be a merited tribute to his memory— 
a tribute somewhat late perhaps, but now most appropriate to 
the'time and place—and to consecrate this hospital to its ap- 
pointed uses for future times, and as his most appropriate 27 
monument. Here science shall learn and teach its lessons ; 
“ pure religion and undefiled” shall bless chastened spirits, and 
many will speak his name with gratitude for the comforts his 
munificence has provided. Here then, on some suitable place, 
let a tablet be inscribed, “To the memory of James Henry 
“ lioosevelt, a true Son of New York, the generous founder of 
a this Hospital; a man upright in his aims, simple in his life, 
“ sublime in his benefaction.”