Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen:.
I have not the oratorical ability of an Ingersoll, neither have I the talent of an Arthur H. Grimmer, or a Benjamin C. Woodbury to present you a finished thesis, therefore I am simply going to ask all of you here to-.
Drink with me today in the usual way,
To the memory of our patron saint,
Who came on earth, in the regular way,
And left it an impress-quaint.
To the memory of the student, the scholar, and teacher,
To the memory of the author, the researcher, and thinker,
To the memory of him who, through persecution, was driven form home,
Hounded, and threatened, yet never yielding,
Though the ignorant, and the prejudiced, forced him to roam.
To the memory of him who gave to the medical world its richest blessing,
Though only apparent to but merely a few;
The majority trying, yet ever digressing,
Yet that gift will remain-forever true.
To the memory of him to whom the world owes a debt.
Of gratitude it can never repay,
And the only way we here can possibly attempt it,
It to follow and practise his way.
And now, dear friends, while we are gathered here to revere the memory of that greatest physician the world has ever known, whose soul might rise above that of the average man, let us all rise- and drink-to the memory of SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
TOLEDO, OHIO.
