with consequent glory is the noble attribute of a patriot, so a
mercenary spirit is a stigma on the career of any public officer. We
find no fault with an artisan, a merchant, or a common laborer if he
estimate the value of his toil by the pecuniary advantages attached to
it; for that is the nature of such ordinary occupations, since for man
labor is the ordinary and providential condition of existence. But in
the higher professions we always look for loftier aspirations. This
distinction of rewards for different avocations is so evident that it
has passed into the very terms of our language: we speak of "wages" as
due to common laborers, of a "salary" as paid to those who render more
regular and more intellectual services; of a "fee" as appointed for
official and professional actions; and the money paid to a physician or
a lawyer is distinguished from ordinary fees by the especial name of
"honorary" or "honorarium." This term evidently implies, not only that
special honor is due to the recipients of such fees, but besides that
the services they render are too noble to be measured in money values,
and therefore the money offered is rather in the form of a tribute to a
benefactor than of pecuniary compensation for a definite amount of
service rendered.

Wages may be measured by the time bestowed, or by the effect produced,
or by the wants of the laborer to lead a life of reasonable comfort; a
salary is measured by the period of service; but an honorary is not
dependent on time employed, or on needs of support, or on effect
produced, but it is a tribute of gratitude due to a special benefactor.
Whatever practical arrangements may be necessary or excusable in special
circumstances, this is the ideal which makes the medical profession so
honorable in society.

3. From these and many other considerations that might be added, it is