USA > New York > New York City > Recollections of persons and events, chiefly in the city of New York; being selections from his journal > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
180
RECOLLECTIONS OF
man, unless it be the preacher of the Gospel, to lead me to the Saviour. Nor should even that exception be always made. The ministers of God's word are not always called in till it is too late- till the faculties are benumbed by the progress of disease, and by the approach of death. The phy- sician is there from the first-can note the earliest risings of an awakened conscience and that tender- ness of feeling which are the usual attendants of a sick-bed ; and, if he is faithful to improve his opportunity, good may be expected to follow which he alone could accomplish. I can speak from the experience of a life in the ministry of the Gospel somewhat prolonged, and I can say that if I ever saw the sick-bed sanctified to the sufferer, I have generally found that the physician had sowed the seed of divine truth, before I was of service to bring the fruit to maturity.
But while the physician may thus do good in the Churches at home, his usefulness might be still more distinctly seen in the foreign field. It was so in Apostolic days. How emphatically is the profession of Luke marked in Sacred History ! Paul calls him "the beloved physician," and it seems the endearing appellation was not given to
1
181
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
him simply because he had written that portion of Scripture called the "Gospel according to Luke," but also for other deeds of his life and attributes of character which distinguished him as a devoted disciple of Christ. " Only Luke is with me," says Paul. And when did he say it? When he was a prisoner in Rome, bound in chains, and when others had forsaken him and fled. But whoever might go, influenced by their love of the world, or their fear of man, Luke, it would seem, was still at the Apostle's side, to minister to his comfort, and help to sustain his spirit, burdened alike with his care of the Churches, and his sorrow over the faithlessness of those who had deserted him. Nor was it only while a prisoner at Rome that the Apostle witnessed the fidelity of his " beloved physician." In his various journeyings, whether by sea or land, as when he first obeyed the cry from Macedon, "Come over and help us," making his first adventure in Europe, as a preacher of the Gospel; or when he afterwards went up to Jerusalem, aware of the perils awaiting him there ; Luke seems to have been still with him, sharing his labors not only in speaking for Christ, as he found a fit season, but ministering as a physician in
..
182
RECOLLECTIONS OF
healing the sick whenever they sought his aid, thus opening the way for the message of life, whether uttered by himself, or the great Apostle whom he accompanied.
As the Church has now in hand the very work which was carried on by Paul when sent to preach to the Gentile world, we need for it the same instrumentality, if we would hope for like success. All who have the cause at heart should realize that our Missionary Stations can never be ade- · quately or scripturally equipped till we have both the physician and the preacher-a Luke with a Paul laboring in the same field, animated by the same Spirit. On this point, too, the Church should learn wisdom from her past experience. She has felt the importance of the healing art in order properly to prepare the way for the spreading of the Gospel among the heathen; but she has pursued a mistaken policy, which has sacrificed some of her choicest men to her error. She has sent her missionaries to our Medical Schools before sending them abroad, to qualify them for medical practice ; and too often, when in the field, they have fallen victims to labors which overtasked their strength in their efforts to do all that was required
183
PERSONS . AND EVENTS.
of them. What, for example, might be expected in our own country, where a man may enjoy all the advantages of his native climate and other surroundings for his health and comfort, but the sacrifice of his life to his labors, if he should be required to fulfil the duties of a faithful minister of the Gospel, and also of a faithful physician ? Much more must it be so with the devoted missionary whose strength is wasted under a tropical sun, or amidst perpetual snows, or, at least, in a climate new to him, and the more trying to his physical constitution because surrounded by other associa- tions peculiar to his calling that press heavily on his strength and spirits. It is high time that the Church should awake to new views, and a new standard of duty on this subject. She must give a new and wider range to her desires when she utters the petition that "the Lord would send forth laborers into his harvest." We need young men from our Medical Schools, as well as from our Theological Seminaries, to turn their eyes to the heathen world and to address the Church with the offer, "Here. am I, send me." We want other "Lukes, beloved physicians," in our day, as well as other "Pauls, Apostles of the Gentiles," to
i
184
RECOLLECTIONS OF
consecrate themselves to the work of turning the heathen from their idols to the living God.
In view of these considerations we should give the Medical profession, and especially our Medical Schools, a higher place in our prayers, our sym- pathies, and our efforts for their moral welfare. Few of us, perhaps, have rightly contemplated the perils which beset the Medical Student while pur- suing his education. The place to which he must generally repair, because furnishing the best advan- tages for his studies, is the crowded city, where temptation to vice in every form waylays the young man at every step, and where, perhaps, ignorant of his danger, he is entangled, if not ruined, before he is aware. His acquaintance with his instructors is brief and temporary, perhaps never extending beyond the Lecture-room, with little or no opportunity for them, however anxious for it, to acquire any moral influence over his con- duct. The nature of his studies has a tendency to fix his thoughts on the body and bodily welfare of man, to the exclusion of the immortal soul, so as ' perhaps to beguile him, imperceptibly to himself, . into materialism or some other form of partial infidelity ; a danger all the greater to a young man,
185
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
when he sees many of those who have been renowned in his future profession, classed among open infidels and scoffers. Nor are these perils which meet the young Medical student, such as he may easily avoid. They are inseparable in a great degree from his situation when seeking the advan- tages which may best qualify him for future useful- ness and eminence. I could give example after example, chronicled in the tears of broken-hearted parents and friends, showing how wide the ruin thus spread among our young men of brilliant tal- ents, high ambition, ay, known and noted for every thing good but the "one thing needful;" and for the want of that " one thing needful," they fell.
My former public relations having led me to see how wide-spread are these evils, I am the more anxious to see any and every measure heartily countenanced which may serve to guard or to rescue our young physicians from these dangers, often so fatal to themselves, and so fatal also to our hopes of good from their future lives. We are accustomed to make "the schools of the prophets" the subject of our earnest supplications before Heaven ; and well that it should be so. The character and spirit of the Gospel ministry are
-
186
RECOLLECTIONS OF
.
always greatly affected by the influences brought to bear upon their minds, while in early life they are being trained for their high office. It is in no small degree the same with those who are candi- dates for the profession I am now surveying. Let our future physicians feel that they are the objects of especial solicitude to the Christian community, and as a consequence which may be hoped to flow from this, let them feel the influence of enlightened piety themselves while preparing for their high responsibilities as the guardians of public health ; and they will carry it with them to the sick-bed, to the chambers of death, carry it with them wherever they go; and, wherever it is carried, it will be "as the dew of Hermon, as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."
Let me picture such a physician; such as I would desire to see going abroad to shed blessings on the minds and bodies of men. He should be a man well qualified for his work by study and observation, keeping up with the advancement constantly made both in the theory and practice of medical skill. He should be endued with a courage
-
187
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
that can look danger in the face calmly and coolly when he is called to encounter the malignant "pestilence that walketh in darkness," and should be so self-possessed as never to lose the best use of his faculties in those emergencies when life depends on his action at the moment. With all this firmness of character and purpose, he should combine the suavity and gentleness of spirit and manner that soothes the pain which he cannot remove, the serene and cheerful face as he enters the sick room, which will tend to inspire that hope in the patient which often gives increased efficacy to the wisest prescriptions.' He should also be so devoted to his duties that no weariness or aversion to exposure can keep him away from a sick bed where his presence and skill are required for the safety, perhaps the life of the sufferer. And then to all this I would add what can best finish the whole picture; an intelligent and sincere piety that will look to Heaven for a blessing on the means he is using to accomplish a cure; that will remember his suffering patient has a soul as well as a body calling for his sympathies; and far from yielding to the strange delusion that there is any thing in the Gospel when fitly and rightly spoken
-
1
188
RECOLLECTIONS OF
which can either augment or prolong disease, he will welcome the Gospel minister as a great aux. iliary in the work he has himself undertaken, well knowing that the balm of Gilead, which gives rest to the anxious spirit, always does much to allay the fever which is wasting away the fountains of life. And once more, he should be a man who, having done all that can be done, and yet sees his patient sinking and dying, will feel that every death he witnesses is a new argument to prompt him to increased diligence in all his duties, as he knows not how soon he himself may be called to follow those whom he has seen passing into that eternity which awaits us all.
Such physicians there have been, and such there are now; and when all physicians shall be such, a bright day will dawn on the Church and on the world, and a new brightness will also enter into the chamber of pain and disease.
189
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK .- CONSIDERATIONS WHICH LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF IT .- LITERARY CONVEN- TION .- ADDRESS AT ITS OPENING .-- INAUGURATION OF PROFES- SORS .- ADDRESSES ON THE OCCASION .- ERECTION OF THE UNIVERSITY BUILDING .- GRANT FROM THE LEGISLATURE .- RESIGNATION OF THE CHANCELLORSHIP .- ACTION OF THE COUNCIL ON THE OCCASION .- REVIEW OF LEADING AND DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE UNIVERSITY .- ADVANTAGES OF NEW YORK AS THE SITE OF SUCH AN INSTITUTION .- DANGERS TO PUBLIC MEN FROM EXCESSIVE LABORS.
THE establishment of a University in the City of New York was the subject of deliberation some time before definite action was taken or an applica- tion made to the public on its behalf. The measure had been urged on our citizens by gentlemen in various parts of our country, as an achievement befitting our position as the commercial metropolis of the nation and the central point of much of its wealth and intelligence. There were at the same time various considerations arising among ourselves which tended to awaken general interest in the subject. Our Public Schools were constantly developing fine intellect among the youth of our
190
RECOLLECTIONS OF
people, but who from the want of opportunity or means, could not pursue their studies beyond the limits of Common School education; and it was deemed advisable to create an Institution embra- cing numerous Foundations or Scholarships on which such young men might be placed for the prosecution of a more finished education. Many also who were the sons of our able. and wealthy citizens wished to prosecute their studies in the higher branches of Learning not usually taught in our Colleges, and for this purpose were obliged to resort to foreign countries. A University deserv- ing the name, if established in our own City, would furnish them with all the advantages they required in this respect without the necessity of going abroad. The Philosophy of Education, whether in our Common Schools or higher Sem- inaries of Learning, was thought to have more importance than had been usually attached to it, and we felt that a Chair devoted to it might be advantageously established. Our Artists also, as our Sculptors and Painters, had not yet received the patronage befitting the importance of the Fine Arts, and many of their friends desired to furnish them with increased facilities for concentrating their
191
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
efforts, and exhibiting their skill to the public. Our City, consisting of so large a resident and transient population, presenting disease in every form; and its immense commercial transactions constantly carrying important questions of Law into our Courts, was thought to furnish advantages for Professional education in Law and Medicine which might be rendered more available. The Profession of the merchant was considered as having been too much overlooked in systems of liberal education. Commerce has, in our day, created an empire of its own. It has a sway in the councils of Cabinets, and in the movements of armies that no empire or nation can disregard ; and it ought to have men trained for its leaders, that have enjoyed every advantage for acquiring enlarged and just ideas of the history, the laws, the morals, and the ends of Commerce. The commercial character of our City, as well as the intrinsic importance of the thing itself, it was said, made it fitting and right that in a scheme of extended education in . New York, provision should be made for instruction in all these varied aspects and relations of a pursuit so interwoven with the best interests of our land. It was also
192
RECOLLECTIONS OF
said that, especially in a country like ours, where practical utility is so much valued, courses of instruction should be opened in which the applica- tions of Science to all the great pursuits of life, should receive a larger share of attention than was then usual in our Colleges. It had likewise been observed that there was a growing taste in the community .for Public Lectures ; and it was deemed important to meet this demand by estab- lishing Lectureships to be filled by men, who had devoted their particular attention to such branches of instruction as might be assigned to them. And though last, not least, when arrangements had been made for all these various departments of knowledge, it was believed that a complete system of education should embody careful provision to sanctify knowledge as well as to enlarge its boundaries; and to show that the discoveries of Science, so far from conflicting with Religion, can be arrayed around her altars, both to illustrate their glory, and to insure their safety against the assaults of Infidelity.
As these views were constantly acquiring new weight among us, at the request of several gentlemen, in December, 1829, I invited a meeting
-----
PERSONS AND EVENTS. 193
of a few friends at my house, when the outline of a plan embracing these various objects was laid before them. The result was a resolution to call a more public meeting, and to submit the whole matter to their deliberation, and to learn how far our citizens would give their support to such an Institution. The meeting em- braced many of our most prominent citizens, and the response was very prompt and cordial. Committees were appointed on various subjects connected with our design, and an appeal was made through the Press to the Public for their aid and co-operation. It was also resolved to
raise one hundred thousand dollars, as an incipient endowment, and when this sum should be secured, the contributors to elect a Council or Corporators to whom the management of the Institution should be entrusted. Measures were at the same time taken to unite such existing Institu- tions as the Lyceum of Natural History and the Historical Society with the University, so as to furnish it with the advantages of a valuable Cabi- net and Library at the outset.
In the mean time, we all felt that the magni- tude of the undertaking required caution and
13
194
RECOLLECTIONS OF
very careful deliberation. There were some who doubted the possibility of so adjusting the different, Departments contemplated as to make them work harmoniously in one Institution. We had no existing model in this respect from which we could copy, and in which our plan had been fairly and successfully tested; and in order to obtain all the light within our reach, the Council, soon after their election, determined to call a Literary Convention for the purpose of obtaining such views from well informed scholars as might be of use to us. Invitations were accordingly addressed to literary institutions and to individuals throughout the country distinguished for their learning, and especially for their full acquaintance with the systems of liberal education pursued both in our own and foreign countries. The Convention met in October, 1830. There was a very general attendance of all who had been invited, and several of those who were unable to be present sent written communications on ques- tions which they wished to bring before the Convention. As a proof of the interest felt in our object, the City Authorities gave us the use of the Common Council Chamber; and it is due to
195
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
the gentlemen composing the Convention to say that I have never seen an assembly of equal numbers which comprised more intelligence and character. The Council of the University had
appointed a Committee consisting of Hon. A. Gallatin, Dr. Wainwright, and myself, to prepare an address to the Convention at the commencement of their deliberations; and as Chairman of the Committee, I presented to them the following statement of our views and of subjects to be submitted to their consideration.
"MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION :
" It has been highly gratifying to learn how generally the late movements in this City, on the subject of Education and Letters have met with the approbation of wise and good men through- out the nation. Much as our country owes to her excellent Colleges, the sentiment seems to be general, that the time has arrived when she calls for something more; when she requires Institu- tions which shall give increased maturity to her Literature, and also an enlarged diffusion to the blessings of Education; and which she may
1 1
196
RECOLLECTIONS OF
present to the world as maintaining an honorable competition with the Universities of Europe. By general consent, too, it has been considered that it is both the duty and the privilege of New York to be, at least, one of the places which should lead the way in this noble work; and for reasons that are equally obvious and urgent.
" This City is the commercial metropolis of the land; and we owe it to the nation which is enriching us with its commerce, to be foremost in creating and sustaining those institutions which are indispensable to make knowledge and science keep pace with our wealth. We owe it also to ourselves. According to the Mythology of the ancients, it was the same Divinity who presided over wisdom and the liberal arts, who, in her zeal for commerce, presented to the Argonauts, the prophetic tree from the forest of Dodona, which should guide and protect them in their pursuit of the Golden Fleece; and there is a wisdom in the fable, which shows that the sages who invented it, well understood how the various pursuits of men should be combined. Commerce should ever be considered as inseparably allied to science and the arts, and when they have been
PERSONS AND EVENTS. 197
divorced from each other, the consequence has always been disastrous to both ;- commerce, and the wealth that follows it, rendering a community selfish and contracted, while science languishes for the want of that support and countenance which liberal wealth alone can. bestow. But when this alliance is sustained, we have only to look at the commercial cities of Italy, to see the happy result. It was Venice and other marts on the shores of the Adriatic, that first rescued the arts from the graves in which they had long been entombed by the rude Goth; and drew back the fabled Minerva to resume her abode in a land, once her favorite home, but where her monuments and temples had long been shattered or crumbled into dust.
" It may be added, as another reason for commen- cing this enterprise in our City, that the legitimate object of a University is not only the education of youth, but the fuller development of the minds of men; and for this object, the dense and nu- merous population of a city creates advantages that are incalculably important. Intellectual commun- ion is so much desired by all men, and especially by the learned, that it is only when the dis-
.
----
198
RECOLLECTIONS OF
tinguished proficients in any department of knowl- edge can so cluster together as to form a world of their own, and thus stimulate each other in their common pursuits, that conspicuous excellence can be most successfully developed. The greatest scholars and artists who now adorn the Halls of Science in London and Paris, would never have grown to their giant stature, had they been scat- tered among the villages or hamlets of France and England. Feeling themselves alone in their views, the sense of solitude of itself would, in some degree, have palsied their powers, and have induced them either to abandon their aim, or relax in their high pursuits. But in the variety of intellectual worlds which a populous City furnishes the means of creating, they have found, that as 'iron sharpen- eth iron, so doth the countenance of a man his friend.' It is in this contact of mind with mind, that these men of renown have become their country's ornaments, and blessings to the world.
" Besides these advantages and responsibilities common to all great commercial cities, there are other circumstances belonging to the state of letters in New York, that strongly invited us to the establishment of a University in this city
-
199
PERSONS AND EVENTS.
without delay. To quote a fact from a valuable communication hereafter to be laid before this assembly,-' A very few years ago, the govern- ment of Bavaria opened a University in Munich, a city not much more than one third as large as New York; but as former ages had already collec- ted there, hospitals, a very valuable museum, a magnificent library and other fixtures, the establish- ment, within a year after its formation, went into successful operation. So, too, at Berlin, a city by far the largest in Northern Germany, yet inferior to New York in wealth, business and population ; a royal library, hospitals, a most admirable cabinet of Natural History, were at once given to lend a lustre to the rising University, and its growth into celebrity was sure and rapid. But it took nearly a century to bring Göttingen to its present high distinction-inasmuch as the matériel of knowledge was not furnished to its hand.'
"It is in the power of a University in this city, to avail itself of the advantages which have operated so propitiously at Munich and Berlin. There are here various literary associations that have either languished or failed to reach the distinction they both deserved and desired, for the
200
RECOLLECTIONS OF
want of close alliance and mutual support. 'Union is strength'-and on the broad foundation, now laid, these various institutions have already become so far united, as to acquire strength themselves; while at the same time, they furnish a great amount of means to the University which unites them, by which it can enlarge and hasten its usefulness to the community. The Lyceum of Natural History, with a promptness and unanimity which have always characterized its proceedings, led the way in this important movement ; and has thus furnished a liberal endowment for improve- ment in that interesting department of knowledge. The Historical Society next followed, and has thus brought to the University a Library, which is invaluable to the Civil Historian. The Directors of the New York Athenaeum have also unanimously resolved to accept of the proffer made to them by the University ; and wait only for a vote of the Patrons, as to the amount of their capital which should be invested in books to enlarge their present collection, in order to conclude the contem- plated union. It is believed too, that other Societies, actuated by an enlightened regard to their own usefulness, and the public good, will
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.