I can liken Dr. Hering’s life to nothing more appropriate. I think, than by comparing it to a magnificent and grand piece of music by a Bach, a Handel, a Mendelssohn or a Hayden in which, whatever variations are introduced, the original theme is recognizable throughout and at all times, and which gives to variations their tone, their key, their character and their power.
The theme of Dr. Hering’s life music consisted in his desire and striving for the elevation of his beloved homoeopathy to a position among the sciences: to place it upon a scientific basis and to make its workings those of an exact science. Refer to this man’s life and labors. Consult his writings, as I have done, form his earliest to his latest, and you will see, as I have seen, that he had this constantly in view, and was steadfast in his wish for its accomplishment, and no matter into what no- thoroughfares or byways he may have strayed, he never lost sight of his great goal.
There was nothing meritorious about Dr. Hering. Whatever work he did was for homoeopathy and the truth, and without reference to pay or reward. He was always accessible and always willing to teach all who wished to learn what he considered to be the better way, but he never indulged in that very agreeable, but by no means useful pastime of damning those he had no mind to. He afforded the fullest respect to the opinions of others, and largely for that reason, he and his opinion always commanded respect.
The amount of work he did was simply enormous. He was an earnest ad a patient toiler, who, as we are informed, died almost with his working-harness on. In his work, whether in verbal communications, through books, or through journals, he supplied enough of wisdom, of learning and of other requisites to make first class reputations for a score or more of doctors.
His works were grandly conceived and as grandly executed, and of course there was surplusage. To him and his works are applicable the words of Schiller:
How many starvelings a rich man can nourish When monarches build-the rubbish carriers flourish.
So then out greatest has departed. That melody of life, with its cunning tones, which took captive ear and heart, has gone silent; the heavenly force that dwelt here victorious over so much, is here no longer; thus far, not farther, by speech and by act, shall the wise man utter himself forth. The end What solemn meaning lies in that sound, as it peals mournfully through the soul when a living friend has passed away. All now is closed, irrevocable; the changeful life-picture, growing daily into new coherence, under new touches and hues, has suddenly become completed and unchangeable. There as it lay, it is dipped, from this moment in the aether of the heavens, and shines transfigured, to endure even so-forever. The weekday man, who was one of us, has put on the garments of Eternity and become radiant and triumphant.
The man whom we loved lies in his grave; but glorious, worthy; and his spirit yet lives in us with an authentic life. Could each one here vow to do his little task, even as the departed did his great one, in the manner of a true man, not for a Day, but for eternity To live as he counselled and commanded, not commodiously in the Reputable, the Plausible, the Half, but resolutely in the Whole, the Good, the True: Im Ganzen, Guten, Wahren resolut zu leben Dr. Bushrod W. James made the following remarks:
We, the intimates, associates and friends of Constantine Hering, and residents of the city of his adoption, assemble together tonight, as do his friends in other cities, all over the land, and the Homoeopathic world, to say few words of need in honor and to the memory of a great and good man.
We are not here to erect a monument, for that his life has done for us, in his works, his writings and in his teachings.
His labors are known; his virtues need no further description, his good qualities of heart are impressed upon all whom he conversed with, his professional skill was undoubted, his steadfast purpose of benefitting mankind was a guiding star in his life; he was always at his post of duty, and he filled the post, allotted to him by the Great Architect of the Universe, with faithfulness and cheerfulness of disposition.
His mission was, first, that of a standard-bearer of the new system of medicine and later he was acknowledged a superior officer in the warfare between the medical opponents. He lived an eventful and useful life, and died with honors and glories surrounding him.
Every age has its progressive spirits; men that are born to leave a name inscribed upon the roll of time, deeply cut in letters of gold, and whose acts stand out in plain relief and beauty among good deeds of others. Out fallen companion was truly one of those so honored.
He was liberal in his prescribing, not bound to any excrescent ideas; he read Hahnemann’s works as he did his Bible, and he tested all that was there advanced, and held firmly to all that was valuable in the Organon of Homoeopathy as written by Samuel hahnemann and like him was not afraid to stand up boldly for its truths, at all times.
He was not one to fetter the dose or to limit the size or repetition of the same: he allowed every physician his own judgment in such matters, but unswervingly exercised his own. While thus liberal he adhered strictly to the law of Similia and to the selection of the remedy according to the totality of the symptoms. He was most careful in the proper and thorough examination of all of the symptoms of his patients regardless of the time and trouble involved in the questioning, knowing that success depended upon obtaining a true picture of the disease. He believed in a general knowledge of all branches of medicine of both schools, for he says: No one can be a successful disciple of Hahnemann who is not well versed, as Hahnemann himself was, in the learning of the medical schools, and it would be just as impossible for him to act judiciously without having a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology, surgery and materia media, together with chemistry and botany, as for a man ignorant of navigation and seamanship to carry a vessel safely into port.
He was free in giving advice to learners, and would sit by the hour and converse with any member of the profession who desired to have the benefit of his wide experience with out homoeopathic remedies, and his mature judgment in the proper selection of the remedy, in complicated and obscure cases, was often thus sought. Even I, when a student, with a number of others, pain frequent visits to his house, at his request, to hear from his lips (without desire of recompense) the unfolding of materia medica and clinical experiences of this large-hearted, generous disciple of Hahnemann.
No toil was too arduous, no time thus spent was considered lost, no research on his part was thought burdensome, no careful study was left undone that would enable him to present to students of homoeopathy, in or out of the profession, clearly the doctrines of the homoeopathic practice.
He was a constant student and arduous laborer in the cause. He fought for a higher medical education all his medical life; he directed many a battle; he passed through the lifework campaign; he was on the upper outlook of the mountain peak of knowledge himself, and he saw the desire of his heart realized, the victory won, the world acknowledging the truths of homoeopathy and its educating influence upon the profession and the people; and today we place the laurels upon the brow of one of Hahnemann’s most trusty and worthy generals.
Dr. John C. Morgan pronounced the following eulogy:
Ripe, full of days, and rich in worthy doing, so departed our friend, our teacher, our patriarch, Dr. Constantine Hering: and so we would speak of the loved and lost. Deep in the human soul, today as ever, survives that earliest idea of worship-the homage of the Past-overlaid and encrusted indeed, with the glory of the Present, but warm and vital, ever awaiting the artistic touch, the seer’s interpretation, or the tension of public or private grief, or triumph: for occasion to glow, bright and beautiful in the sunlight of the human affections.
Are the Fathers in honor? Then do the children rejoice, with front erect, bold, forceful. Are they in contempt? Then do the children cringe, falter and fail.
Time was when ancestor’s names were household gods: time was, when citizens, blameless, devoted, venerable, invincible departed life for the land of shades, only to be deified-we know better now, de we not? But in the grand old days, the heroes lived evermore, caring for the commonwealth, guiding counsel, directing war, upbuilding the state; as demigods adored, with sacrificial honors. Insult offered, even to the statues of heroes, was insult inflicted upon the state; nay more-who so refused homage, was the enemy of the state, and of his people. In the Christian ages, the church has ever done likewise by her saints; revered, even when unadored.
Hero-worship Is it commendable? Ancestral glory? Is it nothing worth? Antiquity Is it venerable? Let the potent conservation of the medical profession answer. Let the large and respectable clientele of that old guild, reply; that army of devotees who bend the ear to hear, and the knee in devotion, as medical antiquity is exalted and its heroes named; justly exalted-truly named. The heroes and their deeds-their thoughts, their words-these are indeed immortal were but a bootless venture, were we their legatees, to turn the ungrateful back upon those mighty dead.
In 1878 and 1879 he published 2 editions of his book, Sunstroke and Its Homeopathic Treatment.
Upon Hering's death in 1880 Knerr became responsible for the completion of the 10-volume Guiding Symptoms.
Dr. Knerr wrote 2-volume Repertory to the Guiding Symptoms,