An inaugural address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New York : at the Capitol in the city of Albany, on the 8th day of February, 1826 / by James R. Manley.

  • Manley, James R., 1781-1851.
Date:
1826
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inaugural address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New York : at the Capitol in the city of Albany, on the 8th day of February, 1826 / by James R. Manley. 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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    but when there is reasonable ground to fear, not only that they will cease to have these attributes, but that they actually serve, by the facilities with which they are clothed, to defeat the plain provisions of the statutes in relation to the right of license ; then it becomes as much the duty of the Legislature, as the interest of the colleges to interpose their authority to correct the abuse. Before the organization of this Society, and for a long time afterwards, the degrees of all medical colleges were simply considered as certificates of high attainment in the various branches of physic and surgery, and conveyed no right to practise those arts with a view to the emoluments of the pro- fession. The graduate, notwithstanding this then flattering tes- timonial of his merit, was obliged to conform to the law of license to as full extent as if he never possessed it, although it might have been conferred by the most celebrated institu- tion in Europe or America, or exercise the right merely by courtesy ; and so indifferent were the first schools which were established in this country on this point, which is now viewed with so much jealousy, that no attempt was made to render the degree a license in law, till the year 1814, and then only in this State, and for the avowed purpose of building up and patronising an institution which had successfully rivalled and has since destroyed an older school established as a faculty in a college of arts. I feel a confidence in recommending this measure, because I am persuaded that the regents of the university of this State, who alone grant the degrees on the presentation of the colleges, can with difficulty question its propriety, when the evidence on which it rests shall be fairly spread before them ; and unless the personal interests of professors are permitted to stifle their higher obligations of duty to the public, they too will be constrained to acquiesce in its reasonableness. The beneficial effects of such a modification of the law, as would recognise this separation, would be immediately obvi- ous from a view of the consequences which must of necessity follow. In the first place, it will restrict all colleges, not only those in this State, but, to a certain degree, those located in B