Page:Memoir of George McClellan MD.djvu/8

, resolved that his memoir be made, by the President of the Faculty, the subject of the opening introductory of the present course.

I may properly understand this resolution to mean a tribute of the heart from, not only the present Faculty of this school, but also from its former and primary one of which Doctor McClellan was a distinguished member; and from her alumni and pupils; and from the parent institution.

We all lament the death of McClellan!—At evening: we come together, with slow and silent steps, to plant the yew, the cypress, and the weeping willow, sacred to the memory of departed worth; and also, most gladly, to wreathe the amaranth and the laurel for his brow. I feel that, in truth, I may most safely venture to be, on this occasion, a mouth of condolence and praise for such as you. I have long known McClellan;—longer, indeed, than any member of the profession outside of his family, except our mutual friend Doctor Beesley. We have ever loved him; and have always appreciated and admired his genius, his acquirements, and his numerous, extraordinary, bold and successful operations in surgery.

My task is limited to a tribute to the memory of McClellan. More than this, I leave to those who are gifted with the rare talent of constructing human character from moral actions; and, with reverence be it spoken, to the Wise and Gracious Master who, in respect to all his servants, keeps the full record of their deeds, and alone is able to discover the main-spring of human conduct.

In that record, doubtless, there is full proof that McClellan was, at least, not a slothful servant. Inaction, with its consequent vice of procrastination, was not his characteristic. His acts in relief of suffering