A long letter from Guillotin, president of the Academy of Medicine, proposing meetings at the Oratory of the Louvre

A lengthy plea from Guillotin, then President of the Academy of Medicine, addressed to Paul-Henri Marron, President of the Reformed Consistory of Paris:

"Mr. President. I am instructed by my company to present to the Venerable Consistory the homage of its sentiments of gratitude, to express its thanks for the courtesy it has shown in allowing it to hold its meetings temporarily in the Oratory, which was its usual meeting place, and to request the continuation of its kindness. Happy to be at this moment the voice of the Academy of Medicine, I am pleased, Sir, to be able to convey the sentiments of esteem and veneration that have always inspired me, for the respectable Consistory and for its worthy President."

The Academy of Medicine, Mr. President, is composed of all that remains of the old Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and of a number of Doctors admitted to other Faculties of Medicine in France, whom it has selected and brought together to work collectively, for the greater public good, toward the advancement of the art of healing and the preservation of the dignity of this honorable profession, so degraded in our time by anarchy. This body meets in general assembly twice a month, on the second and fourth Thursdays, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Furthermore, once a week, at the same time, a committee of six of its members provides free consultations to all patients who present themselves. This meeting, Sir, which causes no inconvenience to anyone, seems to us to be easily reconciled with the services of the Consistory and its church, which do not meet on the same days as the Academy. Moreover, if there were a conflict, as happened unexpectedly last Thursday due to the Feast of the Ascension, which this year fell on the fourth Thursday of May, the Academy would not hold its meeting that day and would postpone it to another. Experience has shown us that all of this is easily accomplished.

To familiarize you, Mr. President, with the Academy of Medicine, its structure, its spirit, and its potential usefulness, and thus enable you to determine whether it merits the favor it seeks, I enclose here a list of its members, a copy of its statutes and regulations, and a copy of the honorable approval given to its laws by the Government. Reading these documents will inform you more than I could here and will better equip you to make a judgment.

Undoubtedly, Mr. President, the Pastors' perspective, their methods, and their goals are of a higher order. But, sir, the same sentiment animates us, you and us; the same spirit guides us. It is essentially the love of the public good, the love of one's neighbor, and a zeal as pure and selfless as it is ardent leads us to the relief of our brothers, especially when they are in need. The principle, therefore, is the same. Only the application varies. Could not the different applications of this same principle be brought together in the same place? And would not humankind be happier if it could draw, as it were, from the same source, both relief from the ills of this life and powerful assistance in procuring the goods of the next? In light of all these considerations, Mr. President, we respectfully request that the venerable Consistory be so kind as to allow the Academy of Medicine of Paris, approved by the Government, to continue meeting at the Oratory, on the days and at the times it deems appropriate. Please, I beseech you, Mr. President, support our request, and accept the expression of my respectful esteem. Guillotin.

Paul Henri Marron was Pastor of Paris and had just been appointed President of the new Consistory (1811).

An engraved portrait is included.