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Moral Principles and Medical Practice - The Basis of Medical Jurisprudence by Charles Coppens
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imposes upon the physician. In this present lecture I will confine
myself to one duty, that of respect for human life.

A duty is a bond imposed on our will. God, as I remarked before, imposes
such bonds, and by them He directs free beings to lead worthy lives. As
He directs matter by irresistible physical laws, so He directs
intelligent and free beings by moral laws, that is, by laying duties or
moral bonds upon them, which they ought to obey, which He must require
them to obey, enforcing His commands by suitable rewards and
punishments. Thus He establishes and enforces the moral order.

Now the duties He lays upon us are of three classes. First, there are
duties of reverence and honor towards Himself as our sovereign Lord and
Master. These are called the duties of Religion, the study of which does
not belong to Medical Jurisprudence. The other classes of duties regard
ourselves and our fellow-men, with these we are to deal in our lectures.

I. Order requires that the meaner species of creatures shall exist for
the benefit of the nobler; the inert clod of earth supports vegetable
life, the vegetable kingdom supplies the wants of animal life, the brute
animal with all inferior things subserves the good of man; while man,
the master of the visible universe, himself exists directly for the
honor and glory of God. In this beautiful order of creation, man can use
all inferior things for his own benefit.

This is what reason teaches concerning our status in this world; and
this teaching of reason is confirmed by the convictions of all nations
and all ages of mankind. The oldest page of literature that has come
down to us, namely, the first chapter of the first book of Holy Writ,
lays down this same law, and no improvement has been made in it during
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