THE GLOBE, TORONTO SATURDAY, NOVEMBER a9, (890. 
ABOUf A GOUNfRY DOCTOR. 
the dark as yet know nothing ab>ut 
the improvements suggested by the late 
Mr. Mea lam. They curve and wander 
in search of the easiest grades, and at 
tunes they end in squirrel tracks that 
run up the trees. The forest primeval 
borders the clearing on each farm lot, 
and the houses are of frame or log. 
Scattered here and there are little 
villages like the one in which he has 
located, " houses clustering like chicks 
around the motherly church roof," as 
Lowell happily puts it. He may have a 
dozen of such hamlets within what 
is to be his "ride." His college 
text books are his library, a hand- 
satchel is ample for all his in- 
struments, while a shelf or two 
contains his slender stock of drugs. The 
Tan Years Later.! 
Scene Third-ten years later. 
And. now. our doctor is an established 
and prosparous man. Long ago his 
new house was built, and if not the 
best. it is apt to be the most tasteful in 
th3 village. You see he consulted his 
wife when it was planned. Sancho 
Panza said, " Women don't know any- 
thing. but that man is a fool who don't 
take their advice." He owns a farm on 
the fourth concession, is chairman of 
the School Biard, reeve of the township 
and an elder in the church. His politi- 
cal convictions are strong, and his in- 
fluence widely felt. The Hon. Oliver 
Macdonald or Sir John Mowat-I forget 
which-has his allegiance, and the 
Eirty has no better or cleaner adherent. 
e is known and loved and trusted and 
overworked, and pitied by all. Perhaps 
he has a few enemies, just enough to 
enable him to escape the Biblical warn- 
ing. " Woe unto you when all men 
speak well of you." His reputation has 
outrun the limits of an ordinary practice, 
many have urged him to move into the 
county town and he has long thought of 
doing so. But still he stays, waiting 
till he can meet with someone into 
whose keeping he can commit the care 
of his people, those to whom he has given 
the best years and the best energies of 
his life. Before we leave him let us 
look at the manner of man he is growing 
to be. Granting that the personal 
equation is the chief factor in the result, 
it is still true that the silent forces of 
his calling, those that ride with him 
over all the roads, that sit with him at 
all bedsides, that are with him in his 
downlying and his uprising-all these 
work upon mind and heart and body, 
making him day by day a better man 
or a worse one. He is worth our study, 
for in scattered settlements over all this 
greater half of the continent you will 
And his counterpart, and to some of you 
gentlemen it will soon be given to live a 
life like his and work out a similar des- 
tiny. What of that life, its mirth and 
its misery, its hopes and its aspirations, 
its disappointments and its rewards ? 
First, before all. it is a life of uncon- 
scious bravery, of devotion to duty and 
of the sacrifice of self for the good of 
others. On what higher plane 
can any life be lived ? "It is 
only," wrote Goethe, "with self-renun- 
of lovers, makes up their quarrels and 
secures their happiness. He brings hus- 
band and wife together again, when 
differences have separated them. He is 
father confessor to half the country, and 
keeps his trust with knightly honor. 
His sympathy is deep and genuine, and 
is not worn on his coat sleeve. No one 
more than himself feels contempt for a 
"gusher. " in or out of the profession. In 
every calling you find them. After a con- 
sultation, an old Quaker lady once said: 
" Thee will do me the favor not to bring 
that man again ; thee knows I don't 
like my feelings poulticed." Legal 
persons use sympathy only to sway 
juries. Clergymen sometimes over-use 
it. An evangelist at one time got into 
the habit of calling his audiences 
" dear souls." Laboring in Ireland he 
used to say with effect-" Dear Belfast 
souls," "Dear Dublin souls." But when 
he said, " Dear Cork souls " it did not 
seem quite appropriate. The sympathy 
of the physician is expressed, not in 
weeping "with those that we,ep, but in 
devising relief for thev who suffer 
in heart, mind or body. Tar from being 
blunted by long contact with pain, his 
sympathy grows keener with each year 
of added experience. As anatomists, 
you know how close to the fountains of 
tears are to be found the ripples of 
laughter that run around the eyes. If 
the good Lord had not meant that we 
should be mirthful he would never let 
so many funny things happen. Father 
Faber has said: "There is no greater 
help to a religious life than a keen 
sense of the ludicrous." 
Such a Divine gift has saved many a 
man from suicide, and it certainly soft- 
ens the asperities and lessens the annoy- 
ances of practice. There is a vast dif- 
ference between having people laugh 
with you.and having them laugh at 
you. Into every sick room the physician 
should carry the inspiration of a cheery, 
hopeful presenc. There is lots and lots 
of the kindliest humor, even in that 
world of pain and sickness in which a 
country doctor dwells. A messenger 
calls when you are out and says, " I got 
some medishin from the doctor, and I 
want to insult him about it." A mother 
tells you that " Bobby has never been 
sick; he had a rash on his head once, 
and I got some of that there caricature 
soap and he soon got all right." You 
ask how did Ann Jane sleep ? and are 
told " Doctor, dear, she was delirious all 
night." Is it a case of sciatica? The 
old man tells you " that a ball of hot 
wind keeps running from his hinch to 
his hock. And the Irishwoman, who 
wishes to save your feelings and cannot 
report improvement, says, " Doctor, I 
have given little Patsy all your medi- 
cine and he is no worse, thin. " 
Unpleasant Experiences. 
Night calls and bad roads, these two 
are chief factors in a country doctor's 
misery. When worn out and half sick, a 
call at bedtime or later comes with a 
sense of personal affront, and its bearer 
its looked upon as one far go'.e from 
original righteousness. We know, but 
others do not, that the really necessary 
calls which a physician receives would 
hardly suffice to keep up his horses. Be- 
sides'that, it is the dead-beats that are 
most imperativeand most untimely in 
their calls, and that take care to know 
nothing of the symptoms, lestmedicinebe 
sent and the visit be deferred until the 
morning. You are wanted "just as quick 
as you can gitthar. ''and when you do get 
there the " black dipthery " is'a follicu- 
lar tonsi Hites, or the "erysipelas" is a 
nettle rash. There was a man in the 
land of Uz who sat patient and self- 
poised as the messengers with evil 
tidings came to him thick and fast. 
Either we are not his lineal descendants, 
or this old patriarch failed to transmit 
to us the secret of his calm philosophy. 
When such calls come we don't always 
appear to good advantage before oiir 
families, and perhaps we start on the 
road resolved that the prescription shall 
be, zinci. sulphatisgrs. xx. But long 
before the patient's house is reached, 
the ruffied temper is smooth again. 
Starlight anil a good cigar are capital 
sedatives, and nothing worse than 
sweet nitre may be given. If the litany 
could be lengthened to read : 
Fr m country mini j i spring and fall, 
Good Lord deliver us all, -' 
Physicians might attend church more 
regularly, and would join with fervor 
in this part of the service, if in no other. 
Oh, the mud, the unutterable, bottom- 
less, clinging mud. the-the-but I can- 
not speak of this subject with compos- 
ure. Its memories are too pain- 
ful, and overcome me. Better far 
the drifts of winter, that can 
only be climbed on snow-shoes before be- 
ing shovelled out and broken for teams 
than the axle-deep and glue like mud 
that sticks to my memory in dreams as 
it used to stick to the feet of my horses. 
More than any other the country doctor 
is a man who does his own thinking. 
In this world, said the greatest of Ger- 
man writers. " there are few voices and 
many echoes." City-bred physicians 
lean on each other and quote precedents 
and authorities as glibly as lawyers do. 
Few men really think, many think they 
are thinking, and all have opinions. 
You had them early in life. Your first 
opinion probably was that you were 
sorry that you tiad come here', next you 
held, perhaps vaguely, the opinion that 
if dinner wasn't ready it ought to be. I 
have met city physicians who reasoned 
about as profoundly as you did then but 
who have been getting along fairly 
well in practice. In the country they 
would have failed miserably. 
Country Doctors Not Unlearned. 
Ignorance like crime naturally hides 
in cities. Country practice offers no 
asylum ignorantium. The doctor there 
goes right to the front, to be known and 
read of all men. The people among whom 
he dwells belong to the great middle 
class, intelligent people, capable of 
forming correct judgments. Before such 
judges he stands, and he can shirk no 
responsibilities since sharp eyes follow 
him everywhere observing and discern- 
ing what manner of man he is. 
Trained by the life he leads, he gains 
presence of mind, fertility 
of resource and sagacity, and thus be- 
comes a self-contained man, capable, 
skilful and safe. To him a consultation 
is always something like a confession of 
failure and a downfall of pride. To 
this class have belonged such men as 
Jenner and Sims, McDowell and Robert 
Koch, with countless others whose good 
deeds will only be known when the 
secrets of all hearts are opened. 
He is charged with being at times " a 
routinist," and a one-idea man. If he 
has but one idea, it is his own, and he is 
that much ahead of quite a few other 
people. You do not find him,for example, 
claiming that all there is of modern 
gymecology is carried under one 
Birmingham hat. Such the work, now 
what of its rewards? In ten years of 
hard work a very large sum can be 
accumulated-on one's ledger. What 
shall it profit a man if he has accounts 
against every one in the country and 
cannot collect a cent. For your encour- 
agement let me tell you that from 75 to 
90 per cent, of money earned in the 
country is good, or will be some day. 
But there are rewards not to be ex- 
pressed with the dollar sign liefm-o 
them. It may be yours co feel the hanpj. 
ness of the patriarchs of old. "The bless- 
ing' of Him that was ready to perish cants 
upon me, and I caused the widow's heart 
to sing for joy." Better still, your ain. 
pie reward may be the benediction of 
the great Physician, " Inasmuch as y® 
have done it unto the least of these y® 
have done it unto me. " 
As to the fi nal reward, let us ask of 
those who have attained the prize. List 
while they speak:- 
tn life's uneven road" 
Our willing hands have eased *iu u.vthor'» 
load : 
One forehead smoothed, one pang of torture 
less, 
One peaceful hour a «u Terer's co wh to bless, 
The smile brought back to favor's parching 
lips. 
The light restored toroa-sw-in eclipse, 
Life's treasure rescued like a burning brand 
Snatched from the dread destroyer's wasteful 
hand - 
Such wore our simple records, day by day. 
For gVns like these we wore o ir lives 
In toilsome paths our daily braid we sought, ' 
But bread from heaven attending ang»k 
brought. 
Pain was our teacher, sneaking to the heart. 
Mother of pity, nu-se of pitying art; 
Our lesson learned, wo reached the peaceful 
shore 
Where the pale su°erer asks our aid no more- 
These gracio.is words our welcome, our re- 
ward 
Ye served your brothers, ye have served y®nr 
Lord. 
Address Before Trinity Medical 
Society. 
BY DR. POWELL <>G TORONTO- 
A Charming Chat About the 
Medical 
Hint nd Anecdotes Ajouc Young Madicos 
~ Quaint and Pleasin Pictures of 
a Doctor's D lings. , 
DR. N. A. Powell of this citv, re' 
cently delivered the following 
adlrisson "TheCountry Doc- 
tor." before ..... Trinity Medical 
Collage Literary j and Scientific 
Society . 
Ladies and Gentlemen.-Possibly it, 
was a kindly regard for my health that 
prompted the officers of your society to 
extend to me an invitation to address 
you to-night. Returned to you after 
eleven years of outpost duty, they have 
called upon me to present a report, per- 
haps thinking with the western poet, 
that 
When a person has a story that ha thinss he 
ought to tell, * 
If he doesn't get to tell it, why of course he 
don't fuel well. 
The theme upon which I am to speak 
is one that might well inspire to elo- 
quence even-a member of the silent pro 
fession. but, conscious of its greatness 
ami my own limitations, I ask in ad- 
vance your indulgent consideration, re- 
calling the words of that old professor of 
FR)M THE STANDPOINT OF THE GRJ KD 
OPERA HOUSE MANAGER. 
money saved from school teaching, was 
just enough to get him through the 
council, so from his father's farm a horse 
is spared, or one is bought on a slow 
note with paternal backing. This steed 
is not apt to be one that will get up an 
epidemic paralysis among those who 
watch him travel. At first a saddle is 
bought, then a buckboard and a cut- 
ter. have to be procured. A buggy 
only puts in its appearance, when some 
of the rocks are off the roads.and another 
kind begin to pile up in tL\ doctor's 
pocket. 
<•! JTwo Years Lat r. ; 
(Scen's Second-two years late-. S' 
The f rst novelty of caring tor"" cic 
folk has worn off, and our doctor is 
winning his way to the confidence of the 
community, but of late into his life a 
new and strange unrest has come. 
His first diagnosis of his own disease is, 
"A subacute nostalgia." Very soon 
the symptoms point in quite another 
direction. It is not his old home he is 
longing for. but the new one he is to 
bail '. The lights that gleam across the 
snow, from happy firesides, make him 
DR. POWELL. 1 
rhetoric, who to a student before .or 
trial said: "Sir. your time is five min- 
utes, your subject the immortality of 
the soul." 
It is not my own story that I shall tell, 
but that of my brothers and comrades ; 
men whose lives I have been watching, 
lo! these many years. History is of 
value.only for the lessons it can teach 
us. My experience might teach you 
less than that of others. I had the good 
fortune to succeed to an established 
practice, and so missed the uphill fight 
that many have to wage. 
A country doctor is a sublimed and 
glorified medical student. Now you know 
just what a medical student is-at least 
you think you do. from vour your stand- 
point perhaps you do. From the point of 
view of your teachers he is a big, rough, 
warm hearted, generous, brainy fellow, 
with energies to be directed, and with 
boundless possibilities for future useful- 
ness. Fro n the standpoint of a Grand 
Opera House manager, he is a Nihilist. 
While from that of the " little girl out 
'IS IT A CASH OF SCIATICA ? " 
clarion that we begin to live." de may 
not preach the truth, but he lives it, and 
that is a thousand times better. Dying 
for a truth or a principle is far, less 
difficult than living up to one. 
Two-O'cloc'x-in the Morning Co irage. 
The bravery his calling develops is 
that rare quality which Napoleon called 
" Two-o'clock-in-the-morningcourage." 
It is an easy thing to be brave before a 
cloud of witnesses, but not so easy when 
the fight is a losing one and God alone is 
watching the struggle. Fire broke out 
one night in a city tenement, and in an 
upper window a child was seen. Quickly 
the ladders were run up and a fireman 
mounted to save her. but before he 
reached the top the flames and smoke 
were upon him. He hesitated and be- 
gan to drop back. Then one in 
the crowd cried, "Cheer him," and 
from the multitude went up a shout 
that told of sympathy with him and the 
life to ba saved or lost. Once more he 
dashed at the flame, went through it 
and came back with tha little one srfe in 
his arms. No such encouragement 
comes to tha physician, when in some 
lonely tenement at night ha receives his 
baptism of fire ; but from that trial he 
comes forth in stronger, purer manhood, 
and never after doubts but that he is 
divinely ordained to be a minister of 
help, of comfort and of consolation unto 
those who are appointed to suffer. It 
will ba his to " scatter the charities that 
soothe and bless and save." The devo- 
tion to duty that guides him now is the 
self sama principle that moved the ten 
thousand at Marathon, and the three 
hundred at Thermopylae, that inspired 
" I WILL FOLLOW YOU MY HUSBAND." 
feel more and'more his 'own isolation. 
His boarding house loses its attractive- 
ness, and about this time he begins to 
make certain calls that do not go down 
in his visiting lisit. At first he seeks 
excuse for these, but later he is some- 
how expected, and he is too thoroughly 
a gentleman to disappoint a lady. Be- 
fore very long so neone goes driving 
with him. and sits tucke I up in the cut- 
ter, while he makes his visits. The 
-most widely spread! of all maladies is 
upon him. \ ou gentlemen, who study 
vital statistics, are well aware that 
more fall in love than in war. But the 
doctor does not fall in love. He walks 
right in with his eyes open, guided by 
that instrument of precision, his heart. 
Right here his professional advantages 
show to good account. Lawyers see the 
worst si«le of humanity,ministers the best 
side, while physicians sec it just as it is. 
With his special, knowledge of all the 
THE POINT OF VIEW OF YOUR TEACHER. 
home " ho is-well, you gentlemen Know 
what he is to her. On two points re- 
garding him all will agree. He quickly 
sees through sham and pretence, and 
(outside the class room) he is never at a 
'oss for a timely answer. •** ~ 
:Let me illustrate this point. In t,ne 
earlier history of our college there were 
students here who, being the sons of 
ministers, felt it their duty to be a little 
wild, in order to restore the balance. 
It is told of one of these gentlemen that 
once when his " jag was heavy upon 
he dropped to sleep in a barber's 
Jchair. When the knight of the razor 
said to him, " If you don't hold up your 
head I can't shave you," the replv came 
quickly, "Then cut my hair.1' And 
you remember when that church down 
"street took fire and the students all 
turned out to see it. one of them stated 
the whole case in the two words, " Holy 
smoke!" From such raw material as 
this the country doctor in our day and 
generation is evolved. Like the millers, 
we manufacture some for home consump- 
tion and "grind" the rest in bond for 
export. Probably the first physician, 
surgeon and accoucheur who ever en- 
gaged in country practice was the 
father of our race. Adam Primus. A 
photograph, the negative of which has 
unfortunately been lost, represents him 
giving catnip tea to little Able, while 
his wife Eve. suffering from a sick 
headache, binds up her throbbing 
temples with a fig leaf handkerchief. 
Ever since the fall the three most con- 
stant and universal demands of human- 
ity have heen water, bread, a doctor. 
Now. all who are graduated from our 
colleges cannot be surgeons and live in 
cities. It takes 10,000, people to sup- 
port a surgeon, while with 1.000 a 
physician can live and save money. 
Besides, to get a living practice in a 
city takes about eight years, in a town 
four and in a village one or two only. 
And so it comes about that the curtain 
rises on our graduate as he hangs out 
his shingle at the cross-roads and hires 
a front and a bedroom for himself and a 
stall for his horse. While he is waiting 
for calls we will consider his environ- 
ment and his preparation for the 
life he is to lead. Around him 
stretches the country, as God made 
it and as man is trying to improve it. 
The roads he will soon learn to know in 
t Illustrating a Point.' 
FROM COUNTRY MUD IN SPRING AND FALL, " GOOD LORD DELIVER US ALL." 
the thin red line at Inkerman, that roti? 
with the light brigade into the Valley, 
that knelt with Richmond on the field of 
Bosworth, that fought with hooker above 
the clouds at Lookout Mountain, that 
swayed in the cross-trees with Farragut, 
ami that gave to us Canadians the 
heroic memories of Wolfe, of Brock 
and of the Jesuit martyrs at the north 
shore Huron missions. Why is it that 
the universal world has taken to its heart 
Robert Burns from the poets and Bob 
Burdette from the humorists ? We stand 
off and admire others, but these men we 
know and love, because they have 
genuine affection for every created 
thing: the human feeling shows itself in 
every line, and lyetween the lines of all 
they have written. What they are in 
the world of letters, the country doctor is 
in the circle of the so-called learned pro- 
fessions. He is the best friend a com- 
munity can have. He is the confidant 
girls in the country, and his common 
sense, it would require positive genius 
to make a blunder. He makes no mis- 
take, and the very best of them all is the 
one who has by this ti ne agree I to call 
him "George" instead of "doctor." 
With womanly intuition she reads him 
through and through, and knowing full 
well that it is a terrible endorsation op a 
man to marry him. when he speaks she 
answers as Minnehaha did, " I will fol- 
low you, my husband." To the phy- 
sician. overtasked in mind and body, 
struggling for his daily bread and 
weighed down very often with the awful 
responsibilities of his calling, a gentle, 
loving wife is the greatest of all good 
gifts. Besides this, to all fair things 
he len Is a fairer charm, and from the 
home she will help him to create will 
come the purity, hope and courage with ! 
which from this t: " • on ha fi-urs the! 
battle >l,v r " T ",r-'