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INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
TO THE CLASS
                 OP THE

WOMAN'S  MEDICAL  COLLEGE

           OF PENNSYLVANIA.
    (jVcrth College fivenuie and SSd St., (Philadelphia.)


          Delivered at the opening of the

Nineteenth Annual Session, Oct. 1£>9 18C8,
             BY


RACHEL L. BODLEY, M. L. A.,

  PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND TOXICOLOGY.
   PHILADELPHIA:
MKRRIHEW A SON, PRINTERS,
     243 Arch Street.
        1868. 
prjn,  He £yr
a<?.
8 
CORPORATORS.
        President,
   T. MORRIS PEROT.

        Secretary,
     C.  N. PEIRCE.

        Treasurer,
REDWOOD F. WARNER.
JOSEPH JEANES,
Hon. WILLIAM S. PEIRCE,
REBECCA WHITE,
DILLWYN PARRISH,
Rev. ALBERT BARNES,
CHARLES D. CLEVELAND,
J. GIBBONS HUNT,  M. D.,
EDWARD LEWIS,
JOHN LONGSTRETH,
MARMADUKE MOORE,
WILLIAM J. MULLEN,
Gen. THOMAS L. KANE,
ELI K. PRICE, Esq.,
A. J. DERBYSHIRE,
ANN PRESTON, M. D.,
EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M. D,
ISRAEL H. JOHNSON. 
FACULTY.
ANN PKESTON, M. D.,
       Professor of Physiology and Hygiene.

EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M. D.,
       Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of  Women and Children.

MARY J. SCARLETT, M. D.,
       Professor of Anatomy and Histology.

RACHEL L. BODLEY,  M. L. A.,
       Professor of Chemistry  and Toxicology.

ISAAC COMLY, M. D.,
       Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine.

BENJ. B. WILSON, M.  D.,
       Professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery.

CHARLES H. THOMAS,  M. D.,
       Professor of Materia Medica and General Therapeutics.
      HENRY HARTSHORNE, M. D.,
Lecturer on the Hygienic and Medical Management of Children.
L. A. SANDERS, M. D.,
  Demonstrator of Anatomy.
ANN  PRESTON, M. D., Dean.      EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M. D., Sec y. 
COKKESPONDENCE.
I'aoF. Rachel L.  Bodley:                                     *
  At a meeting of the Corporators of the Woman's Medical College, held on the
20th inst., a resolution was unanimously adopted, requesting you " to furnish
a copy of your introductory address to the present course of medical lectures of
the College."
  Believing that your fitting tribute to the memory of our late esteemed friend
and coadjutor, Isaac Barton, contained in that address, should be preserved in
a durable form, and expressing to you our gratification in having listened to it,
we respectfully ask a copy for  publication.
              With great respect,
                                                   Wm. S. Peirce,
                                                   Edward Lewis,
                                                   A. Preston,
  Philadelphia, Oct. 30, 1868.                                  Committee.
Ho\. Wm. S. Pierce,  Edward Lewis, and Ann Preston, M.D.:
  Dear Friends,—The address, a copy of which you request for publication, was
prepared for the small audience which our lecture rooms can accommodate,
■•(imposed of persons thoroughly interested in our cause.
  To these I spoke of  our  departed friend with the simplicity of speech and
freedom  of reminiscence which  characterize  household bereavements.  For
this reason,  the  tribute  seems to me inappropriate for general perusal; but,
yielding to your Wish  so kindly expressed, I waive my reluctance, and place
the manuscript at your disposal.
                              Respectfully yours,
                                                Rachel L. Bodley.
  Philadelphia, Xov. 2, 1868. 
  At a regular meeting of the Corporators of the Woman's Medical  College,
held June 6th, 1868, the following resolutions were adopted :

  •'Resolved, That in the  death of Isaac  Barton  this College  has lost a most
earnest and efficient friend.
  "Resolved, That the deep interest he took in the advancement of the cause of
the medical education of women, and the untiring  constancy with which he
watched over the welfare of the College, devoting to it time, labor and means,
sustaining it in the dark days when its friends were few, and endowing it at
last with so much of his worldly goods, have  largely contributed to its success,
n,ud have linked  his name forever with the history of the cause.
  "Resolved, That his  simplicity and  purity, his modesty and integrity of
character, his love of knowledge, and his large-hearted interest in all efforts
for  improving the condition  of  society, are  a perpetual example to  us who
remain; and in paying this small tribute to the memory of our beloved friend,
we would express  our  sense  of personal loss  in the  absence of his valued
counsel and sympathy." 
INTRODUCTORY.
  As we  assemble  to-day, corporators, faculty and  students,
to inaugurate  the work  of another  session, there is a seat
vacant, not before unfilled for a long series of years.
  So faithful,  so true, so valuable a friend to our College in
time of need was this deceased good man, whose place in the
Board of Corporators is now vacant, that I have been deputed
by the Faculty to offer upon this occasion a tribute of respect
and  affection in memoriam.   To twine the green laurel wreath
and  to place it upon the  grave of a cherished friend is a wel-
come task, especially when, as in this case, the  silent sleeper
would never in life permit praise of his works.
  Isaac  Barton, the subject of this  memoir, was the son of
Isaac and  Sarepta  Barton, and  was born at Springfield, in
Burlington County,  New Jersey, October 3d, 1795.  He had a
birthright in the Society oFEViends, in whose communion he
continued until his death.
  His parents both died when he was quite young, leaving
him  and an only sister orphans.   This sister, Bathsheba, was
the companion of his life, and for many years was his efficient
assistant  in business.  She  died fifteen years before him, and
lor her memory he always cherished the tenderest affection.
  At an early age  he  came to Philadelphia, and  entered the
store of a prominent dry goods merchant.   When the business
of his employer was to be given up, before Mr.  Barton was of 
8
 age, his guardian paid over to him the small fortune left him
 by his father,  which  he invested  in  the  same business and
 commenced on  his own account.   His guardian was  censured
 for paying the money to a minor, thereby  making himself
 responsible for  the  loss  of.it;  but the future life  of  Isaac
 Barton proved  how wisely the  guardian had judged the in-
 tegrity and business capacity of his ward.  By strict attention
 to the wants of his customers, following  out  in all its details
 the same honorable course that he had  previously pursued, he
 soon began to realize the benefit of his early mercantile educa-
 tion, building up for himself an extensive business, and gaining
 the esteem of his fellow merchants.
   After a prosperous  business career, which  extended over a
 period of fifty years, in 1867, Mr. Barton, realizing  that  time
 and disease were making inroads upon  his constitution, retired
 from commercial life, and on the twenty-fourth day of April,
 1868, after a brief but  painful illness, he rested from earthly
 labors.
   As we turn to contemplate the  character of our  friend, we
 instinctively recall the  form so familiar to the  occupants of
 these lecture rooms of late years.   Figure slight, erect, rather
 tall;  hair and beard white, countenance florid.  The face was
 the face of  a philanthropist.  It declared purest  thoughts
 within, and unselfish motives; in it love, pity and forgiveness
 were harmoniously blended.   If we would  be faithful in our
 portrayal, we cannot  pass without recalling  that  shrinking
 from observation which always  impressed one when he met
 Mr. Barton socially.   This peculiarity is mentioned because
 without a knowledge  of it we  cannot  fully  appreciate  the
 heroism of one who suffering thus acutely from sensitiveness,
yet devoted a whole life, to doing no less than to giving, for
the alleviation of misery and  the elevation of  mankind.  Mr.
Barton's  health  was delicate  for many years previous to his 
                             9
decease.  At one time he was compelled  to spend several suc-
cessive winters in the south on account  of a pulmonary affec-
tion ;  at another time he spent a year  in Europe in pursuit of
health.  His large,  well-appointed  home  on  Second  street,
neatly furnished  and  thoroughly  comfortable,  affords  his
friends many pleasant reminiscences;  for here he  always re-
ceived those whom  he truly  esteemed  with a large-hearted
welcome.
  Mr. Barton was connected with many of the benevolent and
scientific societies of Philadelphia, and was a useful and by no
means inactive  member of each.  He  was also for  some years
a member of City Councils.   In early life he was one of a little
circle of professional and mercantile young men who formed a
debating  society.  Among  these  young aspirants for  fame,
several of whom in after years  attained reputation and position
in the world of letters and science, Mr. Barton's taste received
a bent which the cares of trade were never able to remove;
and throughout his life he was to be found  attending  the
meetings  of  learned  societies and the lectures of scientific
professors  with a zest which seemed to increase rather than
diminish with his years.
  Among  the benevolent societies with which  he was con-
nected,  there was  perhaps  no one in  which  he was more
deeply interested than the " Philadelphia Society for Alleviat-
ing the Miseries of  Public Prisons."  The object touched the
chord of pity  in his compassionate  heart, and he  labored
assiduously in furthering its interests.
  To this society he bequeathed all his personal clothing upon
his decease, for the use of discharged prisoners from the East-
ern Penitentiary.  To the same society he also left a bequest of
$2,000, the interest of which he directed should be " expended
upon discharged prisoners, in  procuring suitable employment,
more especially in the country, for deserving persons after their 
10
discharge from prison, and in holding a kind and encouraging
correspondence with them in order to their future well being.
  Those words of the bequest, "kind  and encouraging corre-
spondence," what  insight they afford us into the donor's inner
life!  His heart comprehended  all—the  load of  shame, the
obloquy heaped upon  the convict;  he needs kind and encour-
aging words!  How often such persons have received them in
the trembling chirography of that trembling  hand, only the
pitying Lord who reads the secrets of all hearts knows.  And
now that the wearied  hand rests, it is provided that by proxy
it shall still write on  kind and encouraging words until time
shall end.
  Joseph R. Chandler,  Esq., well known in Philadelphia, offered
a tribute to Mr. Barton's memory at the meeting succeeding his
death, which is so just in its estimate of character that I make
a brief extract.
  " Mr. Barton was for many years a  member of this  society,
to which he was attached less by his love of social intercourse
than by his deep, practical sympathy in the motives of the asso-
ciation, and his hearty assent to the plans and,means by which
the society seeks to secure its ends.  His presence in our midst
was wont to be an encouragement to additional good resolves,
and his services were always examples of cheerful sacrifice and
faithful labor in the cause of pure humanity." *****<• Most
of us remember the moderate counsels of our deceased member,
and his gentle but effective advocacy  of measures that he re-
garded as right — right  notv always from his own experience,
but often because  they were recommended by those whose ser-
vices  he honored  and whose  integrity of purpose warranted
the confidence he reposed in their greater experience, even to
the relinquishment of his own  propositions; for Isaac Barton
was not only a philanthropist and an honest man, but he was,
in the fullest  sense of the word, a modest man.   Fixed and 
11
sincere in his principles, but yielding and  compliant in their
application ; gentle in the advocacy of his views, earnest and
energetic in the execution of whatever plan he resolved to aid.
Clear and prompt in the expression of his appreciation of any
measure, he never  failed of courtesy to those who might ad-
vance and defend variant propositions."
  During the year 1854  Mr.  Barton was elected a member of
the Board of Corporators of this College ;  and  with  his char-
acteristic persistency and consistency he labored in  our cause
from that date until his death.
  Whatever he may have been to the city and community at
large is of general interest to us as citizens; but it is  his
devotion to the cause of woman's elevation  and to her advance-
ment in paths of  usefulness  and  honor,  that demands this
tribute  from us to-day.
  We should be glad to set  forth the  particular incidents in
this noble life, which stamped  its possessor ever after  the friend
and champion of feminine education; but  this we are unable
to do.
  In  contemplating the munificence of Matthew Yassar, be-
stowed  upon the young women of America, we inquire curi-
ously for the circumstances which  impelled the poor boy who,
at the age of fourteen, went forth to seek his daily bread with
his wardrobe wrapped in a bandana, in  later years  to devote
his princely  fortune to the education of woman, but we  in-
quire in vain.  The secret inspiration of Barton  and Vassar
has descended to the grave with each.
  We may, however, and we do thankfully accept results, and
as we do so we rejoice that the solitary household  life of each
was gladdened in declining  years by the  consciousness that
through many generations daughters would not be wanting  to
rise up and call him blessed!
  In the absence of personal  incident we have a  glimpse into 
12
 the sanctuary of a good man's thoughts in Yassar's first address
 to the Trustees of Yassar College.  I quote because the written
 experience of the one benefactor is without doubt the unwritten
 experience of the other.   Yassar says:
   " It having pleased God that I should have no direct de-
 scendants to inherit my property, it has long been my desire,
 after  suitably providing for  those  of my kindred who have
 claims on me, to make such  a disposition of my means as
 should best honor God and benefit my fellow men.  At different
 periods I have  regarded various plans with favor; but these
 have all been dismissed, one after another, until the subject of
 erecting  and endowing  a college for  the education of young
 women was  presented for my consideration.   The novelty,
 grandeur and benignity of the idea arrested  my attention.
 The more carefully I examined it, the more strongly it com-
 mended itself to my judgment and interested my feelings.   It
 occurred to me that woman, having received from her Creator
 the same intellectual constitution as man, has the same right
 as man to intellectual culture and development.  I considered
 that the mothers of a country mould the characters of its citi-
 zens, determine its institutions and shape its destiny." *****
 " It also seemed to me that, if woman were properly educated,
 some  new avenues  to useful and  honorable employment, in
 entire harmony with the gentleness and  modesty of her sex,
 might be opened to her."
  It was this latter thought that Mr. Barton grasped in 1854.
 He accepted  as feasible the idea of useful and honorable em-
 ployment in entire harmony with the gentleness and  modesty
 of the  true woman.   In the  study and practice of medicine
 he believed women had found the noblest avenue to usefulness
possible for them.
  He scanned the whole subject carefully, considered woman's
 needs objectively and subjectively, her great want of thoroughly 
                           13
skilled medical advisers of her own sex, and on the other hand
her need of employment in a field where more remunerative
harvests might be reaped than were possible in the over-crowded
school room or workshop.
  The cause of medical education for women was, at the time of
his identification with it, exceedingly unpopular.  The clouds
are not yet wholly dispelled, but there are rifts through which
the clear light shines : but popularity does not seem to have
entered his  thought — the  cause was  right — it deserved the
sympathy and watch-care of good men — it should have his!
And thus he went  forth, strong in a righteous  resolve to sow
beside all waters.
  I may be pardoned for introducing  a personal reminiscence
in illustration of  this quiet,  effective labor.  It  was in the
summer  of  1856, when making  a tour of the northern lakes
with  a brother, that  I  first  met Mr. Barton.   It  was the
second  week  of our voyage, and  we sat,  a little  party of
four, on  the forward deck, enjoying the  fresh breeze as our
steamer ploughed  the  crystal  waters of Lake Superior.   The
subject of conversation, changing frequently, chanced at length
to be education for young women.  The words of  our reticent
friend were few,  but to the purpose, revealing careful thought
upon the subject.  After a time, rising, he excused himself
from the party and went below. In a few moments  he  returned
with a pamphlet in his hand,  which he quietly handed to me,
requesting  the favor of a perusal.   This pamphlet  was the
Seventh Annual Announcement  of this Medical College, and
conveyed to me, a Western woman, my first definite knowledge
of the institution.   Its perusal brought  me here, some  years
after, as a student,  and I have  ever felt that whatever of  bless-
ing the  institution may have  conferred upon me,  in whatever
capacity, was  the upspringing of that seed  silently dropped
upon the steamer's deck years  before its germination. 
                            14
  Like the "kind and encouraging correspondence" with the
convict, of which no human eye took cognizance, the dissemina-
tion of information respecting the medical education of women
in the way just indicated, was  doubtless wide-spread, and we
who remain may expect to reap after many days!
  But why should I linger in my attempt to portray the influ-
ence of a good man in a good but unpopular movement ? Be-
cause, I reply, the influence  was of that  character which it is
possible for every true  friend to exert, and which  our cause
has so sorely needed and still  needs.  I am reminded, as I
attempt to sum up what  Mr. Barton living did for us, of an
estimate of his business character by one of his intimate friends.
" Mr.  Barton," he said, " was industrious, economical, upright
and punctual, with remarkable habits of order and neatness."
  There  was, then, in our  behalf no  lavish expenditure  of
money, but a silent, unobtrusive contribution of means  when-
ever and wherever it was  necessary and wise to give.   There
was industry in our behalf, a sleepless  vigilance which never
tired,  a carefulness  in little  things, so  often  more  important
than the performance of great deeds, a watchful care  which en-
circled and enveloped us, and bestowed the sure consciousness
of a  protector  and friend.   Shall I be  pardoned  if in this
presence I particularize a few of the great little things to which
I have referred ?
  In  addressing  medical  women by the written or spoken
word, or in speaking of them, he never  omitted  to do them
honor by giving each her title.   In his reading of the current
literature of our own and other countries, when he met with a
passage bearing in any way upon the movement, he took pains
(and  ofttimes it was done in feebleness  and pain,) to transcribe
the passage and send it or send the printed column itself, when
practicable, to some member of the faculty.   Our Dean has in
her possession many such tokens of interest in the cause. 
                            15
  These influences, which seem so simple in the recital, proved
as the dew and sunshine;  they refreshed and they strengthened
— how much we cannot  know until we have worked a while
without them, as we begin to-day to do.
  At our last Commencement  in March  Mr. Barton was un-
able, through increasing  infirmity, to be with us.  One month
later he was  called from  labor to reward, his work well done,
and the path of his going illumined by the  sure light which
leads  to Eternal Day!
  It was on the twenty-eighth  day of April  that a large con-
course of relatives and  friends followed his remains to South
Laurel Hill Cemetery.  We committed his sleeping dust to the
earth when Nature was   awakening  at the voice of beautiful
Spring.  The violets everywhere dotted the sod that day, and
as we laid to rest the brother beside the sister, and  the violets
covered both, it did not seem so fearful a thing to rest  after
toil — to live seemed more solemn than to die!

  When  Mr. Barton's will  was published, the friends of the
College were rather gratified than  surprised at his liberal be-
quest to the institution  of his love.  His  immediate purpose
had been  kept secret, but  his  interest, obviously increasing
with the years, could not be kept from us.  As I approach, in
conclusion, that portion   of my tribute which refers to  what
Mr. Barton dying  has  done for our College, I am seriously
embarrassed.   On the one hand I  wish to escape the imputa-
tion of seeking to glorify with  indiscriminate praise an indi-
vidual simply because he saw fit to make the College a legatee
of his will; while, on the other hand, I desire to rid our insti-
tution  of the charge of  undignified  rejoicing over an  event
which is not of unusual  occurrence with older  and wealthier
corporations devoted to the instruction of young men.
  It is natural that he who has  known the sore  inconvenience 
16
of poverty should rejoice at the appearance of a benefactor,
who exclaims, with illustrated  emphasis, " Be ye warmed and
be ye filled!"  The wan toiler is the symbol, to-day, of nearly
every institution designed for the instruction of women through-
out our land.  Until the noble benefactor  of Poughkeepsie
took the initiative step, there was not a single endowed wo-
man's college in the  United States.  But  the  forward move-
ment, in  which he was a  leader, promises glorious  results.
Already Yassar College does not stand alone in the matter  of
erdowment.  The old Wesleyan College of Cincinnati, recently
established in  her palatial home, the  princely gift of large-
hearted munificence,  sends  greeting across  the mountains  to
her sister upon the Hudson.  The ample fund  left by George
Howland, of  New Bedford, Mass., for the " thorough, moral,
intellectual and religious training of young women," which has
been applied to the endowment of "Howland School for Young
Women," on Cayuga Lake, N.  Y.; the sum of eighty thousand
dollars bestowed upon Elmira College, N. Y., by the late
Simeon Benjamin ;  and our  own bequest of  perhaps sixty
thousand dollars; all these assure  us that the better day is
dawning, and that women are henceforth to exchange for secure-
ly-founded, amply-equipped institutions of learning, the crip-
pled, poverty-stricken colleges, falsely  so  called, which have
been  and  are a  disgrace  to the  system of American educa-
tion.
  We shall not, then, be misunderstood as in this little compa-
ny of friends  we speak of the good gift which has enriched us,
and which encourages us to hope that others will in  like man-
ner remember us, until the Woman's Medical College of Penn-
sylvania shall stand upon a firm footing, and every facility  be
afforded our students which abounding wealth can  command,
and which, added to the prestige already ours from the earnest
toiling of self-sacrificing toilers in years past, may attract stu- 
                             17
dents from north, south, east and west, until halls more ample
than these shall overflow !
   Another has  appropriately  remarked, "that Mr. Barton's
will is a model, in that it displays such  just and due propor-
tion in the distribution of an estate to objects of morals, reli-
gion, education, charity,  literature and science, and  in the
manner in which the testator has selected, as the recipients of
his generous gifts, those institutions whose important  claims
are most generally neglected."
   Fifteen out of twenty legatees of the will, relatives and  near
friends, are women,  and six out of fifteen public institutions re-
membered are  in the  exclusive interests of women, and all
located in Philadelphia.
   The range is comprehensive—from  the Eosine Institution,
to which the pitying  heart of the philanthropist bequeaths
$3,000, to that ornament of our city, the "Philadelphia School
of Design  for  Women," and  our own  College, of noble  aim
and loftiest purposes.
   The will,  which we have reason to believe is the testator's
own composition, contains  many little touches of beauty and
kindness which are  not without interest to us.  For example,
a sum is left to a  lady relative " as  a token of my remem-
brance of her  kindness during my sister's last  illness."   To
the contributors of  one of our public hospitals  the sum  of
$4,000 is bequeathed,  to  insure the maintenance, including
clothing, during  his  life, of an inmate  who is not a relative,
but the son of an early  friend.
  In bequeathing his valuable  library to the  Woman's Hos-
pital of Philadelphia, he adds,  "provided that the  students
of the Woman's  Medical College shall have the privilege of
using the books, under proper regulations, to be agreed upon
between the two institutions."
  It may afford gratification to our students, especially to those 
18
who, to-day, for the first time, share  our  family joys, to hear
the bequest to our College  and  Hospital.   I quote  from  the
will:
  1! To the  Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania I bequeath  $25,000,
which I direct to be kept invested  in  bond3 and  mortgages, adequately se-
cured on real estate, and the interest  only is to be used for the purposes of
the College, unless, with the aid of others, an  adequate fund shall be raised
to purchase or construct a  college building, in  which case $10,000 of said
legacy may be used for such purposes.
  "If the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia and  the  said Woman's College-
shall concur in the opinion, that it will be best for their mutual interests so
to locate a building of the latter for a museum, lectures  and other purposes
of the College, then I direct my executors to pay to said Woman's Hospital
$5,000 in purchase of a lot for said Woman's College, part of the premises of
the Woman's Hospital on College Avenue and  Twenty-second Street, Phila-
delphia, about sixty by one hundred feet, as the said institutions may agree;
but should the said institutions not concur in said location, then my execu-
tors will pay the said sum of five thousand  dollars  to the  said Woman's
Medical College, to be held and invested as directed in respect to said twenty-
five thousand dollars.
  "To the Woman's Hospital  I bequeath  one thousand dollars, to be added
to the endowment fund of that institution."
      *********
  " If there should be a residue of my estate, it is  my will that my foregoing
legacies shall be paid without deduction of tax to the state or United States,.
which will then be paid out  of such residue. But if my estate from  any
cause shall prove  deficient to pay  all the legacies, then it is my will that all
my  legacies to persons shall be paid in full,  and that no greater deduction be
made from the bequests to the Woman's Medical College and the Woman's-
Hospital than the collateral and succession  taxes: and that any further de-
ficiency be deducted pro rati from the remaining legacies to institutions.
  " If my estate should prove more than sufficient to pay all the legacies with
the  taxes thereon, and leave a surplus, then  all the rest, residue and remain-
der of my estate I give, bequeath and devise  unto,  the Woman's Medical Col-
lege of Pennsylvania and the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia, in the pro-
portion  of three-fourths thereof unto the former and one-fourth thereof unto
the  latter."
  This liberal bequest is not lightly given;  it  is made by the- 
19
donor a sacred trust, solemnly bestowed and solemnly to be re-
ceived.   He continues:
  " The sums of  money above bequeathed to the Woman's Medical College
of Pennsylvania,  as well as such as  may accrue from the residue of my es-
tate, I devise to said corporation, as a sacred trust, to be used with great care
and prudence, so that no part thereof shall be wasted, lost or injudiciously
applied, but the whole be made as conducive as practicable to the great pur-
poses for which  the College was organized, namely, the physical, intellectu-
al and moral elevation of woman."
   The profound earnestness and entire confidence embodied in
these farewell words of our  departed  friend, thrill all hearts
to-day as we begin anew the work of accomplishing "the great
purposes for which  the College was organized."  As a loving
benediction they descend upon us, imparting strength  against
future days of toil, and cheer against hours of despondency.
   Our simple wreath, twined from  leaves only, without the
perfume or  the splendor of flowers, we lay upon Isaac Barton's
grave, and with sorrowing but thankful hearts  turn to assume
the sacred trust imposed upon us.
   Thus doing, I congratulate  the members of the Faculty that
we enter upon our duties with each chair filled, and forming a
complete and harmonious  corps for  the  work  of instruction
during the  incoming session; and further, that in addition to
the complete  Faculty, we are to have associated with us as
Lecturer  one  whose name is  known  and honored throughout
our own country and in foreign lands.
   I congratulate  you, ladies of the class of 1868-69, that you
assemble with us at a time so  auspicious in the history of our
College.   Lady students of medicine are no  longer a  wonder
or a by-word  in  the community.  The standard of feminine
education, which for the last thirty years has  been  steadily
rising in the  United States, has  culminated naturally  and tri-
umphantly  in an acknowledged  necessity for  a professional
education which  shall enable the student to make her studies 
20
 a life-work and the garnering of their fruits a life-reward.  In
 the  most natural way  possible you  seek to supplement  the
 course of a literary and scientific institution with a course of
 medical  instruction.  But you  are likewise impelled, we trust,
 by a higher motive than a mere desire for knowledge.  May
 that motive  fill  each soul and inspire to the last degree  the
 mental and moral faculties of each!
   We believe you will find in connection with this institution
 facilities for study and observation  in your  chosen profession
 superior to those afforded women elsewhere — facilities which
 will  satisfy your need and even  gratify your laudable ambition.
 The  way is  arduous, but  you  will be assisted by those  com-
petent to guide you, and during the present session will  be
 afforded  helps which have not heretofore been available;  for
the rest, a determined soul within will conquer every difficulty  !
   We bid you  welcome, therefore, thrice welcome  to these
halls!  There lingers here the memory of your predecessors,
the alumnae of this  college, to  inspire you by the enthusiasm
which carried them triumphant over  every obstacle;  there
come back at this hour from  the world without, where they
are successfully laboring, words of cheer to impel you onward
to take your place side by side with them.

  Resolute, cheerful, hopeful, then, we reverently enter  the
portals introducing us to our great work.  Let us not  forget,
as at this moment the  solemn realization possesses us of our
individual weakness, to  invoke upon our labor the blessing of
Him without whose aid  they labor in vain who build! 
WOMAN'S HOSPITAL OF  PHILADELPHIA.
           Noi-th College Avenue and. ^'Jd. Street.
  MANAGERS.

         PRESIDENT.
  MARY A. STOTESBURY.

       VICE-PRESIDENTS,
ELIZABETH W. LIPPINCOTT,
ELIZA C. GRIFFITH.

  CORRESPONDING SECRETARY,
    ANN PRESTON, M.D.

    RECORDING SECRETARY,
 EMELINE F.  HALLOWAY.

         TREASURER,
 HANNAH W.  RICHARDSON.
Mrs.
Miss
Mrs.
Ann
A BBV
Mrs.

Miss

Mis.
Elizabeth W. Lippincott,
Martha G. Richardson,
Caroline R  Yarnall,
Anna G. Gilpin,
J. P. Crozer,
Mary A.  Tyler,
Richard G. Stotesbury,
Anna J.  Steel,
Martha Ann Warner,
Charlotte L. Peirce,  .
■K II. Cleveland, M.D.,
Maria W. Horton,
Hannah W. Richardson,
Sarah T. Price,  .
Benjamin Griffith,  .
Sarah T. Rogers, .
Preston, M.D.,  .
  Kimber,
T. Morris Perot,
E. F. Halloway,  .
Anna E. Massey,
Mary Jeanes,
Lydia E. Turnpenny,
Edwin Greble,
538 North Sixth street.
1015 Cherry street.
120 South Twelfth street.
312 South Broad street.
Upland
426 Marshall street.
314 South Tenth street.
2034 Green street.
Germantown.
501 North Seventh street.
1800 Mt. Vernon street.
320 South Fourth street.
522 Arch street.
Chestnut Hill.
1904 Arch street.
323 North Eleventh street.
1015 Cherry street.
1022 Arch street.
1810 Pine street.
315 Marshall street.
1537 Filbert street.
1023 Arch street.
410 South Broad street
128 South Nineteenth strevt.
                   RESIDENT PHYSICIAN,
               MARY J. SCARLETT, M.D.

                  ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN,
               ELIZABETH GRISELL, M.D.

                  CONSULTING  PHYSICIANS,
ANN PRESTON, M.D.,            ISAAC COMLY, M.D.,
EMELINE H. CLEVELAND, M.D.,  ALBERT  II. SMITH, M.D.
J.  (MBBONS HUNT, M.D.,        BEXJ.  B. WILSON, M.D,
             ('HAS. H.  THOMAS, M.D.

                        MATRON,
                   ELIZABETH  RICE.

           COMM1TTKE ON ADMISSION  OK PATIENTS,
        ANN  FRESTON,  M.D.. 1015 Cherry street,
        II.  W. RICHARDSON,  522 Arch street.
        B.  H. CLEVELAND, M.D., 1800 Mt. Vernon street. 
/