Page:Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ser 03 vol 05).djvu/87

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ISAAC HAYS, M.D.,

formerly one of the censors of the college, president of the academy of natural sciences, surgeon to wills hospital, etc.

By

ALFRED STILLK, M.D.. LL.D.,

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE.

[Read February 4, 1880.]

Every thoughtful man seeks to order his life so that it shall afford him the greatest amount of happiness. But men's ideas of happiness are as diverse as their features. To some sensual sloth is attractive, to others a feverish pursuit of pleasure, to others a lust for wealth, popularity, fame, or power. Even if they secure these objects, they are apt to find them as unsubstantial as shadows ; and, when life draws near its close, they mourn with unavailing regret over blighted joys and disappointed hopes.

If society were composed of men like t hese alone, it would be destined to a rapid dissolution ; indeed, out of such mate- rials it could never have been developed. Historically, we know that it emerged from the dark waste of barbarism, only by looking beyond the present into a future which might grow out of the elements of the past. While men have pro- bably lived in every age who moulded their conduct more or less successfully on this ideal, only very recent genera- tions have witnessed its general recognition and illustration.