Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute
SOME OF THE CAUSES THAT LED TO ITS ERECTION, AND THE ADVANTAGES WHICH IT AFFORDS.
The destinies of institutions, like those of men, are often determined by pre-existing causes. The destinies of some men are like those of way-side plants, springing up without other apparent cause than the caprice of nature, developing without any apparent aim, yielding no perfected fruit, and finally, dying, leaving scarcely a trace of their existence. Thus it is with institutions which have their origin only in man's caprice. To be enduring, they must be founded upon the needs and necessities of humanity. Many of the great men of the world owe their greatness more to surrounding circumstances than to the genius within them. The highest genius can be dwarfed or deformed by the force of adverse circumstances; hence the poetic truth of Gray in those exquisite lines:
"Some mute inglorious Milton here may lie,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."
Opportunity is the guiding star of genius. Without it, genius would drift hither and thither upon the restless, ever-changing waves of circumstance, never casting anchor in a secure haven. Upon opportunity, too, depends the success of institutions. By opportunity we mean a real and acknowledged public want. Whoever undertakes to supply this want finds himself upon the crest-wave of prosperity. It was to supply such a want that this institution was erected.