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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
The projectors of a medical school in the south have committed the task of getting it up to a very eminent practitioner of an adjoining county, and myself.- We have made some little effort towards it; and find an encouraging state of sentiment & feeling in relation thereto:- but such is the embarrassed condition of the country---0f this state especially, at this time, & which it will take some time to recover from, that,. altho' there may ultimately be a school, it cannot succeed for a few years. Reflecting upon this condition of things, .it occurred to me, that, possibly, with a proper inception and the genial influence & patronage of the government, a medical school might soon flou[r]ish in the Republic- be the means of stopping many of the casual outlets to life,-of strengthening its cords,-augmenting its days,-extracting its thorns,-& multiplying & enlarging its pleasures With this view of the subject,-without consulting any other person, I have thought proper to intrude this brief & hasty epistle upon your excellency's attention, request your consideration of its subject; & that you will be kind enough to oblige me with a communication of your views in relation thereto, as early as it may be convenient for you to do so. Should a medical school be established in the Republic, would it, or not, be best to be located at or near the seat of government?- or in a more private place?- In the event of its establishment it will, as you are aware, require legislative authority, & some endowment, legis- lative or otherwise, for the erection of a suitable edifice, unless there be one of some description that will answer- & for the purchase of books & chemical apparatus. A school may be constituted an independent establishment in the hands of trustees for its perpetuity & government; or as a limb of the national or other university, college, or other incorporated literary in-· stitution. It may even be located at a distance from an institution of which it may be a limb; as in the case of Jefferson l\Ied. School of Phila. which was at one time a limb of Canonsburg College in a dis- tant County.- The number of professors might be left optional with the trustees, whose right it would be to appoint them. There cannot be less than three or four;, & a good & full course of lectures in all the departments cannot be given with fewer than five.- Should it be determined to have a school at any time within a few years, it would be well to have an act of incorporation ·at an early period as it is a subject tardy in its approach to maturity. A school might commence with from ten to twenty students, provided there be a gradual increase for a few years. I believe that a sufficient number of scientific & ex- perienced physicians might be obtained in the south, should the pros- pects be such as to justify a school, or promise them a genteel support. Should the Republic determine for a medical institution, would it not This is going on the fifth Yfar that I have practiced in the south, wi01 a tolerably good practice all the time, & it-has been n·ear three years since I loat a case of fever of any kind. I had a similar .;uccess in the latter part of my practice in the west,-even in cholera, as I have bot~1 11-1. S. and printed testi- monials to shew. [Note in document.]
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