observation than that of other professions. The lawyer may have many
temptations to act unjustly; but other lawyers are watching him, and the
courts of justice are at hand to check his evil practices. As to the
judge, he is to pronounce his decisions in public and give reasons for
his ruling. The politician is jealously watched by his political
opponents. The public functionary, if he is unjust in his dealings, is
likely sooner or later to be brought to an account. But the physician,
on very many occasions, can be morally sure that his conduct will never
be publicly scrutinized. Such is the nature of his ministrations, and
such too is the confidence habitually reposed in his integrity, that he
is and must be implicitly trusted in matters in which, if he happens to
be unworthy of his vocation, he may be guilty of the most outrageous
wrongs.

The highest interests of earth are in his hands. If he is not
conscientious, or if he lets himself be carried about by every wind of
modern speculations, he can readily persuade himself that a measure is
lawful because it is presently expedient, that acts can justly be
performed because the courts do not punish them; and thus he will often
violate the most sacred rights of his patients or of their relatives.
Who has more frequent opportunities than a licentious Doctor to seduce
the innocent, to pander to the passions of the guilty, to play into the
hands of greedy heirs, who may be most willing to pay him for his
services? No one can do it more safely, as far as human tribunals are
concerned. As a matter of fact, many, all over this land and other
lands, are often guilty of prostituting their noble profession to the
vilest uses. The evil becomes all the more serious when false doctrines
are insinuated, or publicly advocated, which throw doubt upon the most
sacred principles of morality. True, the sounder and by far the larger
portion of medical men protest against these false teachings by their