But the long, long past stretches forward unto this day. Homoeopathy writes beneath that noble galaxy the names of a new constallation-a group of heroes as glorious as they; few in number, but of imperishable fame. Antiquity overtakes us. Hahnemann, Gram, Jahr, Boenninghausen, Buchner, Hausmann, Grauvogl, Henderson, Quin, Jeanes, Beebe, Temple, Williamson, Dunham, Gardiner, Payne, Hempel, Hering; these have gone over to the reunion of the great. One by one has the heroic Past inscribed them upon her scroll. We, too, are acquiring a history- short, it may be in time; but long in all that makes time venerable; ages old, in the truth spoken, and in deeds performed.
Ye Homoeopaths, behold these your heroes Measure the territory; glory in the fame they have won for you; emulate their exalted worth. Mark well, too, the noble souls who yet remain with us, to pile still loftier mountains of grand doing upon the heights attained by them. Behold our fast rising Olympus, out moving Pelion, our trembling Ossa, upheaved by their giant shoulders, and say, if we live not in the heroic age of iron, of the power of law, in the history of medicine, as of universal progress Let us know what is out birthright-recognize the heavenly a flatus inspiring out own heroes-erect our own Palladium-build our own Pantheon-perceive the vision of out Olympian court-cherish worshipfully our own hastening antiquity- and condemn the threatening oncoming of an untimely age of brass; of an early and slovenly reaping; of glib and lively egotism, and, it may be, of reaction.
What care we for that-or for them? That is the meteyard of our own domain. They fought and labored to win it; their posterity enter in and possess it. Homely and trite is the proverb-and true as trite. Tis but an unclean bird who befouleth his own nest. He is but an unworthy homoeopath who would asperse his own professional ancestry. And for what? To conciliate the medically ungodly? To win opponents, never generous, never just? (I except individuals). Rather let us learn their politic wisdom. Fas est ab hoste doceri. The compulsion of history alone can win them; each full-mailed warrior, like the ancient Spartan, must fix the boundary of his estate, only with the point of his spear Each must be a hero, each hero panoplies in the armor of truth, sent down from heaven at the prayer of Samuel Hahnemann; claiming the whole continent, moving forward-forward-upward, ever-more
Constantine Hering thus fought the good fight, and has conquered. The hero has taken his Olympian seat The glory of the ancients is his. His deeds and his memory remain to us. Thus he fought, and thus he won. By that sign may all we prevail
And as we look backward upon the more than half a century of his struggle, may the lesson of his life be to each of us, at once an inspiration and a new point of departure; may each emulate the courage, the patience, the industry, the truth, the faith, of these grand fifty years of his doctorate; remembering ever, that for us, as for all, the path of true honor lies oftenest through valleys of obloquy, to hills of difficulty, mountain-high; our only sustenance, of times, the soul-power within; of times unresting, of times alone.
The heights by great men won, and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night. We have not wings, we cannot soar. But we have feet to scale and climb By slow degrees by more and more, The sunlit summits of our time.
The life of our departed friend was the realization of this song of our national poet; for Thus did out Hering toil and climb- Thus proved his life-work true, sublime- Thus wrought, thus fought, thus won; then died, Nay lived anew, and Death defied.
Sage Teacher Hero unexcelled Thy name shall be in homage held- Thy work endure, while time shall be; Thy praise befits Eternity.
Dr.Martin Deschere, of New York, was the next speaker, who said:
I too was permitted to press his hand once in my life. My longing for that moment to come was more than compensated by the happy hours which I spent in his sacred study. Those few hours were blessed. They truly belong to the happiest ones of my life.
Many of you, who knew Dr. Hering intimately, are better able to speak of his personal traits than I am.
To my mind the object of this personal meeting should be the collection of those thoughts which characterized the man for whom we mourn tonight. For within us he planted the seed of his wisdom; unto us he left the great work of his life as a sacred inheritance-the search after truth. Therefore we can honor him no more than by following in his footsteps, by marching onward from where he stopped, by fighting with his weapons for our beloved art. And here we must ask the important question: What was the mission of Constantine Hering? It was to make homoeopathy universal; to proclaim its truth to all mankind.
The history of his tells us how far he has succeeded. He has spread homoeopathy over nearly one-half of the globe.
But is homoeopathy universal? It is not. And here begins the work which he left for us to do, as far as our power permits, with all energy and force, just as he did himself. This is the inheritance which he has left us and which we must hold sacred.
If we look, today, at the number of homoeopathic physicians in the United States, with its flourishing colleges, its numerous societies, its well-conducted hospitals and dispensaries, we might be inclined to think that nothing remains to be done, that all is good, and working for itself. We might be inclined to think that homoeopathy is really becoming universal.
But look at Europe. Look, in particular, to Germany, where stood Hahnemann’s cradle, where homoeopathy itself was born, where Constantine Hering was consecrated to the cause.
I hold in my hand a letter addressed to Dr. Hering, by a man, who, from pure devotion to homoeopathy, begs a few articles to be written in defense of homoeopathy, for a German periodical. In this letter the position of homoeopathy in Germany is painted in the most pitiful colors, and Dr. Hering is requested to write a treatise on the success of our cause in America, that it may open the eyes of the public across the Atlantic.
The one who wrote the letter is not a physician. He is a man who has witnessed the great blessings of homoeopathy among his friends, and who cries for help in behalf of his fellowmen throughout country.
The letter never reached him, to whom it was addressed. It arrived in Philadaephia a few days too late and was sent to me, with a request that I should fulfil the demands, expressed in it, for it carries a plea of great significance.
Just at the moment when out great counsellor departed from us, this voice calls from abroad for help-help in out good cause.
Homoeopathy is not yet universal. The iron chains of prejudice, of scientific idolatry, of despotism hold it in their tight grip.
From this country of freedom, alone, liberty must come to homoeopathy throughout the world. In the name of Constantine Hering let me beg of those gentlemen who will visit the World’s Convention, to be held abroad next summer, to remember this meeting, to keep sacred Hering’s inheritance, and to fight for homoeopathy in Europe.
I trust to their wise counsel that by some means they may plant a nucleus containing sufficient life from which to develop a giant in aid of homoeopathy abroad. The World’s Convention held here, which Dr. Hering instituted, was a great step toward the universality of homoeopathy. And in working thus with the true spirit of progress we shall honor our immortal Hering. It is a sacred debt we owe, and we must pay it.
Dr. Constantine Lippe, of New York, followed with these remarks: Allow me to offer my tribute of respect to the memory of my namefather. As an individual loss, his departure leaves a great void.
It was my custom, on my visits to Philadelphia, to call on our friend and spend some very profitable hours with him. His uncompromising adherence to the strict principles of homoeopathy, as taught by Hahnemann helped me, in a great measure to be certain that these principles were true, for in his long and successful practice, he by adhering to those principles, could, and did, cure cases of disease, entirely unmanageable by any other course of treatment.
Dr. Hering was one of the best friends I ever had, genial, cordial; and never was a visit paid him, by me, but he was ready and willing to share his great knowledge on any subject inquired upon. He took great pleasure in imparting his information, gained by his close studies and long experience.
He completed his life, full long and useful, and dropped to sleep to wake without the wornout frame which had become enfeebled.
That bodies should be lent to us while they can afford us pleasure, to assist us in acquiring knowledge, or in doing good to our fellow-beings, is a kind and benevolent act of God. When they become unfit for their purpose, and afford us pain instead of pleasure, instead of an aid becoming an incumberance, and answer to none of the intentions for which they were given, it is equally kind and benevolent that a way is provided by which we can get rid of them. This way is death. So wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1756.
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,