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43 reach the standard of superior excellence. The law is sup- posed to be the arbiter of character and of property.

The medical man is, under Providence, the arbiter of human life, more precious im a ten-fold degree, in the esteem of that very world, whose favourable verdict is awarded to us with a niggard generosity, than the highest stake which calls forth in a court of law, the exercise of the most brilliant forensic talent of the advocate. “Ars corporis curandi tuendique, atque utilitas, Deorum immortalium, inventioni est con- secrata.”* A pursuit which, although in its infancy, and incomplete in its development, was yet so great as to claim a descent from the Gods, which is so interwoven with the phy- sical and moral welfare of every individual member of society, and on the cultivation of which, even something of our national character depends, and no less our scientific rank in the world, demands for its perfect condition of utility, first, the most vigilant observance and exposition of its defects, and secondly, the active co-operation of all who profess to study our national happiness, or desire to promote the welfare of this great nation throughout the globe.

We justly boast in this glorious country, our noble hospi- tals and infirmaries, erected and endowed by private benevo- lence, and dedicated to the relief of the diseased, and the necessitous. To what region of this globe can you point, and say, “ Here are equal examples of private munificence to those of Britain?” Is not the practice of charity stamped upon the national character? In the various hospitals of this metropolis alone, about 300,000 persons obtain annual relief from suffering. What are the endowments of a hos-


 * Cicero, Tuse. Dise.