Hamlet. Ay, marry, is't:
But, to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honoured in the breach1 than the observance.
Hamlet, Act I, Sc. IV.
If a moralist were to divide his catalogue of immoralities into such as were of general commission, and such as occurred in the conduct of the various trades and professions, we fear the latter division would suggest no flattering position to humanity. An elevation2 somewhat above gifted creatures it might be; but still we fear it would be at so low a level as to afford Man but a humiliating indication of the height from which he had fallen. He would, in too many instances, perhaps, find his real claims to his high destiny about equal to the shadowy difference between a creature who fulfils some only of his responsibilities, and one who has no responsibilities to fulfil. We should like to hear some grave philosopher discourse3 on Fashion: it is surely a curious thing, for there is a fashion in everything. It is very like habit; but it is not habit neither. Habit is a garment, which takes some time to fit easily, and is then not abandoned without difficulty. Fashion is a good fit instanter, but is thrown aside at once without the smallest trouble. The most grotesque4 or absurd custom which slowly-paced habit bores us with examining, is at once adopted by fashion with a characteristic assentation.
241
Morals are by no means free from this kind of conventionalism: so much the contrary, that few things evince more strongly the power of fashion. It might be imagined that the multiplication5 of examples would tend to teach the true nature of the thing exemplified; but it would not seem so with error; "tout6 au contraire." Arts or acts, which are tabooed as vicious in the singular number, become, in the plasticity of our moral grammars, very tolerable in the plural7. Things that the most hardy8 shrink from perpetrating single-handed, are regarded as easy "compliances with custom" when "joint-stock" vices10; practices which, when partial, men are penetrating11 enough to discover to be unchristian, or sufficiently12 sensitive to regard as ungentlemanly, pass muster13 with marvellous lubricity when they become universal. We can anathemize, with self-complacent indignation, vices in which we have no share; but we are abundantly charitable when we discuss those in which we have a common property; and, finally, moral accounts are settled very much to our own satisfaction, as Butler says, by compounding
"For sins we are inclined to,
By damning those we have no mind to."
After all, society keeps a pretty good "look-out" after offences distributed in common. The law is tolerably comprehensive of things which are of general commission; and mankind, sooner or later, contrive14 to catch, or successfully oppose, the numerous little enormities which slip through the finest of our legal meshes15.
"Raro antecedentem scelestum,
Deseruit pede p?na claudo."
From all this it results that moral obliquities, which fall within the observation of society, make but an up-hill game; that which is felt to be prejudicial to the interests of all men, is easily determined16 to be vicious. But here again there is much in fashion. Society has often determined that the immorality17 of a thing is not to be measured by the nature of the act, nor the motive18 even on which it has been founded, so much as by the more refined test afforded by the position of the actor. One242 man may, like a sort of commercial megatherium, gorge19, with railway velocity20, provisions which a once-breathing, fond affection and a cold world had alike determined to be the life-blood of widows and orphans21, and yet have noblemen and others for his associate! he may perhaps be a legislator in a great nation; whilst the poor starveling, who steals for the vulgar purpose of satisfying hunger, may be sent to the treadmill22, where he may solve at leisure the problem thus set him, by "the most enlightened nation on earth."
Again, vices which have a known influence in disturbing the relations of society are in various ways opposed by the more public influence of religion. So that in the end a man finds—although he may arrive at the conclusion, only by exhausting all other views before he hits on those which lead to it—that honesty is as good a way of getting on as any other; or he may advance perhaps even on this utilitarian23 creed24 so far as to agree with Tillotson: that people take more trouble to get to Hell, than would suffice to carry them to Heaven. The immoralities of trades and professions lie in a very different position, and involve peculiarities25 which favour their growth and perpetuity.
They are committed in secret;—people are proverbially cautious of attacking the weak positions of others, who feel that their own are ill-defended. This, and the established man?uvres of each calling, enable an individual to do a good deal "off his own bat," without, as one of our bishops26 happily expressed it, "being caught out." In trade we are sometimes informed that a thing cannot be sold cheaper; that the price asked is already less than the cost; and people are appropriately addressed as idiots, who every day appear to believe that which common sense shows to be impossible.
Your purveyors will sometimes tell you that they are not living by the prices they charge; although you have just ascertained27 that the same article may be bought at infinitely28 less cost in the next market. The other day, a watchmaker told us that our watch wanted a good deal of looking to, and, amongst other things, "no doubt cleaning;" but this he discovered, we suppose, by some recondite29 mesmeric process in a book, which recorded243 when it had been cleaned last, without looking at the watch at all.
As regards professions, lawyers are said to defend right and wrong with indiscriminate avidity, with the encouraging prospect30 of obtaining more fruit in maintaining one wrong cause, than establishing twenty right.
Then the real nature of these things is, like too many in other sciences, obscured by a cloudy nomenclature. We hear of "customs of the trade," "secrets of the trade," or "profession," applied31 to things which the moralist only recognizes under very different designations. Sophisms thus secured, and which appear to minister to a man's interests, have their true colours developed with difficulty; to say nothing of it not being easy to discover that which there is no desire to examine.
If any man should be so "peculiar," or "crotchety," as to consider that names are of little import, and that "Vice9 is vice, for a' that," and venture to anathematize any custom, or even refuse to be an accessory, in declining to wink33 at it, he may encounter charges of violating professional confidence, of being deficient34 in a proper esprit de corps35, and be outvoted, for no better reason than that he cannot concur36 in the dogma, that a vicious sophism32 is more valuable than a simple truth; nor agree with the currier, "that leather is the best material for fortification." He may possibly be let off by conceding his connivance37; which is little better than declining to be thief, as too shocking; but having no objection to the more lubricated position of the receiver.
But does any one for one moment believe that all this can be hung on any trade, or profession, with no effect? Or that it will not have a baneful38 influence on every calling, and that in proportion as its real and proper duties are beneficent and exalted39? Now, whilst we claim for the medical profession a character which, in its single-mindedness and benevolence40, yields to no other whatever, we fear it is not entirely41 free from these technical besettings.
In the medical profession, we trust, that which we, for want of a better term, designate as technical immoralities are exceptions.244 Exceptional they may be, and we sincerely hope they are; but, in a crowded island, exceptions, even if relatively42 few, may be absolutely numerous; and whenever they occur, especially if men hold any position, one case of compromise of duty does more harm than a hundred of the most inflexible43 adhesions to it can remedy. Suppose a patient apply to a surgeon with a complaint requiring one operation, and his fears incline him to another; he is informed it is improper44 for his case: that so far from relieving him, it will indefinitely increase his sufferings. The patient reiterates45 his wishes; the surgeon declines doing that which he would not have done in his own person. On lamenting46 what he believes to be the consequences of the patient's determination, to a brother surgeon, he is met by: "What a fool you must be to throw away —— guineas; if you don't do it, somebody else will."
He is too right in his prediction, and so is the surgeon who refused to operate, and he has lost a large fee; he receives the verification of his prediction subsequently from the patient, who exclaims, "Sir, I never have a moment's ease!" and when, after weeks of suffering, the patient dies, the surgeon consoles himself with the melancholy47 satisfaction of not having contributed to sufferings which he was called in too late to remedy.
The more plastic practitioner48 has, it is true, taken fifty or a hundred guineas, it may be, out of the one pocket, and put it into his own; but in what way are mankind benefited? or does any one really think that the apparent gainer can ultimately be so? The fault in this, as in many other cases, is the ignorance of the public. There is nothing in the foregoing sketch49 that was not as easily intelligible50 to the commonest understanding, as that two and two are equal to four! And is it no evil that one man should pay so large a sum for so plain a piece of honesty? or that another should be rewarded, as the case may be, for ignorance, or a compromise of his duty?
Let us take another case. A gentleman was called on to give a certificate; he examined the case, and found that the wording of the certificate called on him to certify51 to that which was diametrically opposite to the fact. He naturally declined,245 and, as the point was of some importance, went to the parties to explain. He was then informed that two professional men had, the previous day, given the certificate without hesitation52. He is complimented on his conscientiousness53, but never employed again by that family; and he has the further satisfaction of hearing that his place is supplied by one of his more accommodating brethren! We fear that in such a case there is a balance to be adjusted between the several persons, and an appropriate appellation54 to be discovered besides. We respectfully leave it to the reader's judgment55 to adjust the one, and to draw on his aptitude56 for nomenclature to supply the other.
Again, a man is called in to a consultation57; he disapproves58 of the treatment, but declares to the friends of the patient that every thing has been very properly done. In another case of consultation, finding that every thing has been really conducted properly, he commences an apparently59 different treatment, but essentially60 the same, without giving his confiding61 brother the benefit which his acquiescence62 in his views would necessarily imply.
In an operation, where the course is doubtful and the opinion various, the choice is left to the patient—that is, the decision of how the surgeon is to act is to be determined by him who is confessedly really least capable of judging. Can it be right to perform a doubtful operation under such circumstances? Should not the patient reflect that the temptations are all on one side? The attempt to dispense63 with the operation is laborious64, time-consuming, anxious, encouraged perhaps only by small, minute accessions of improvement, interspersed65 with complaints of tedium66 and delay, and the result admitted to be doubtful; the operation, on the other hand, is a work of a few minutes, the remuneration munificent67, the éclat productive, and the labour nothing. All this and much more no man can entirely prevent; the real cause is the ignorance of the public, which a very little of the labour they bestow68 on many far less important subjects would easily and quickly dispel69.
If these and multitudes of similar things are evils; if they contribute to debase a profession and to charge the conscientious246 with unthankful office and unrequited labour, and to confer fame and profit on a triumphant70 chicanery71; we surely must feel indebted—not only as professional men, not merely as patients, but in a far higher and wider sense—to a man who, availing himself of a commanding position for the highest purposes, endeavoured, by precept72 and example, to oppose all such proceedings73, and to cultivate a high morale74 in the conduct of the profession. Now no one more sedulously75 aimed at this than John Abernethy. Although we shall not, we trust, be accused of underrating the obligations we owe him in a professional or scientific sense, we think that, great as they are, they are at least equalled by those arising out of that duty-to-your-neighbour spirit which was so universally diffused76 through every thing he taught, and which, in his intercourse77 with his pupils, he never on any occasion failed to inculcate. We will endeavour to render what we mean intelligible, and perhaps we cannot do this better than by selecting a few illustrations from observation of "Abernethy in Consultation."
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1 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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2 elevation | |
n.高度;海拔;高地;上升;提高 | |
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3 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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4 grotesque | |
adj.怪诞的,丑陋的;n.怪诞的图案,怪人(物) | |
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5 multiplication | |
n.增加,增多,倍增;增殖,繁殖;乘法 | |
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6 tout | |
v.推销,招徕;兜售;吹捧,劝诱 | |
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7 plural | |
n.复数;复数形式;adj.复数的 | |
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8 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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9 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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10 vices | |
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
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11 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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12 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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13 muster | |
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
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14 contrive | |
vt.谋划,策划;设法做到;设计,想出 | |
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15 meshes | |
网孔( mesh的名词复数 ); 网状物; 陷阱; 困境 | |
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16 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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17 immorality | |
n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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18 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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19 gorge | |
n.咽喉,胃,暴食,山峡;v.塞饱,狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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20 velocity | |
n.速度,速率 | |
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21 orphans | |
孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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22 treadmill | |
n.踏车;单调的工作 | |
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23 utilitarian | |
adj.实用的,功利的 | |
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24 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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25 peculiarities | |
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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26 bishops | |
(基督教某些教派管辖大教区的)主教( bishop的名词复数 ); (国际象棋的)象 | |
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27 ascertained | |
v.弄清,确定,查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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29 recondite | |
adj.深奥的,难解的 | |
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30 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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31 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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32 sophism | |
n.诡辩 | |
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33 wink | |
n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;v.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁 | |
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34 deficient | |
adj.不足的,不充份的,有缺陷的 | |
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35 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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36 concur | |
v.同意,意见一致,互助,同时发生 | |
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37 connivance | |
n.纵容;默许 | |
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38 baneful | |
adj.有害的 | |
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39 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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40 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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41 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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42 relatively | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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43 inflexible | |
adj.不可改变的,不受影响的,不屈服的 | |
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44 improper | |
adj.不适当的,不合适的,不正确的,不合礼仪的 | |
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45 reiterates | |
反复地说,重申( reiterate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46 lamenting | |
adj.悲伤的,悲哀的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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47 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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48 practitioner | |
n.实践者,从事者;(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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49 sketch | |
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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50 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
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51 certify | |
vt.证明,证实;发证书(或执照)给 | |
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52 hesitation | |
n.犹豫,踌躇 | |
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53 conscientiousness | |
责任心 | |
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54 appellation | |
n.名称,称呼 | |
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55 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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56 aptitude | |
n.(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资 | |
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57 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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58 disapproves | |
v.不赞成( disapprove的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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60 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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61 confiding | |
adj.相信人的,易于相信的v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的现在分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等) | |
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62 acquiescence | |
n.默许;顺从 | |
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63 dispense | |
vt.分配,分发;配(药),发(药);实施 | |
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64 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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65 interspersed | |
adj.[医]散开的;点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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66 tedium | |
n.单调;烦闷 | |
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67 munificent | |
adj.慷慨的,大方的 | |
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68 bestow | |
v.把…赠与,把…授予;花费 | |
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69 dispel | |
vt.驱走,驱散,消除 | |
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70 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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71 chicanery | |
n.欺诈,欺骗 | |
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72 precept | |
n.戒律;格言 | |
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73 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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74 morale | |
n.道德准则,士气,斗志 | |
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75 sedulously | |
ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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76 diffused | |
散布的,普及的,扩散的 | |
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77 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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