The annual address delivered to the graduates of the Atlanta Medical College at the commencement : September 2, 1858 / by Custis B. Nottingham.

  • Nottingham, Custis B. (Custis Bell), -1875.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The annual address delivered to the graduates of the Atlanta Medical College at the commencement : September 2, 1858 / by Custis B. Nottingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    sive benevolence. Entering the retinue of an honorable, generous ambition, it braves the storms of ocean; contests the heart-chill of the icy atmosphere of the Poles ; combats the fiery pestilence of the Tropics; ministers to the neces- sities of adventurer on land and sea; and consecrated in patriotic devotion, the wants of country, in defence or conquest, command its willing and priceless services for those of the chivalrous and daring of panoplied legions, who, amid the din, and smoke, and lurid glare, and car- nage, and blood of battling hosts, fall for honor's sake. Standing unmoved whilst others flee; when the bosom of desolation—the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday—stalks boldly through densely populated cities; in those seasons of dark- ness and despair, when the cheeks of brave men turn pale; when the marts of busiuess are forsaken ; when the ham- mer of the artisan lies idle ; the Courts of Justice are closed; the sounds of praise and prayer are no longer heard in the Temples of the living God; when panic, and fever, and consternation, and alarm, prevail omnipotent; when men speak in whispers, and hushed silence holds universal sway —not only standing firm, but from early noon to dewy eve, and through the live-long night, with untiring patience, self-devotion, and moral heroism, and fearless daring—pur- suing its quiet errands of mercy; seeking out the objects of its charities; ministering to the wants and sufferings of the afflicted ; smoothing the pillow of the dying; consoling the anguish of the sorrowing, and interposing its strong arm as a break-water to turn back the tide of desolation and death; it challenges the homage of reason, and lays tribute upon the warmest affections of the heart—convinc- ing by its triumphs, and charming by its celestial goodness. The Ceremonies of this day, gentlemen of the gradua- ting class of Atlanta Medical College, inaugurate a new era in your lives. Having been for many months, nay perhaps for long and wearisome years, engaged in laborious and no- ble efforts, aided by a corps of Instructors, whose learning and experience well qualify them for the responsible and arduous position which they occupy, to secure knowledge of