Popular Science Monthly, Feb. 1915.
Sir William Osler
On the occasion of the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Johns Hopkins Hospital last October a crayon portrait of Sir William Osler by Mr. Sargent, here reproduced, was presented to the hospital through Professor William S. Thayer, who spoke as follows:
The precious gift it is my privilege now to offer to the hospital is but another reminder of him who, though absent in person, has been with us and in us and around us in spirit from the beginning of this gathering. What have been his contributions to medical science, what his inspiration and efforts and example have been to this institution, are so familiar to us all that it would be impudent to mention them. Would that we could put into words the influence that the man has had upon our lives! How much of which is best in us is due to him and to his example! In all the fifteen years of my close and constant association with him I never knew him to do a hasty or an inconsiderate act, and I never heard him speak an unkind word of any man. Of how many can one say this? He is like Maeterlinck's true sage, in whose presence discord and strife and misunderstanding are impossible. In losing him we felt that we had lost our best friend and adviser, but he left us a legacy of tolerance and forbearance and charity that is among the richest of our possessions. This whole institution is replete with memories of the man; and no statue, no tablet, no portrait can bring him more vividly to our minds. But there will be others who at a dinner to be given by the society to whom our poor convey but a faint picture of that which is a part of us. And so his old disciples welcome with heartfelt gratitude every new image which may help better to fix for posterity the presence of our dear chief. The value of this new possession is greatly enhanced in that it comes to us through the thoughtful generosity of her who shares with him our lasting love and affection. Lady Osler, of her own initiative, has induced Mr. Sargent to make replica of the portrait drawn by him for the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, and has sent it to us to-day. And so after all he is with us! We shall gain new inspiration from his counterfeit presence. Let us wait patiently in the hope that, four years hence when the heavy cloud of the hour shall have rolled away, we may give him that welcome which our hearts hold for him today.
Sir William Osler, Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 86, February 1915, page 207-8.