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JUL  27  1960 

'EST  VIRGINIA  UNIVERSITY 
4EDICAL  CENTER  LIBRARY 


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HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 


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AMERICAN 

MEDICAL  BIOGRAPHY: 

OR 

MEMOIRS   OF    EMIINENT   PHYSICIANS 

WHO   HAVK 

jploutCfiiijrlr  in  :^mciica. 

TO    WHICH    IS    PRr.KIXKU 
A 

SUCCINCT   HISTORY 

OP 

MEDICAL  SCIENCE. IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

FROM  THK 

FIRST  SKTTLEMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


BY  JAMES  TFIACHF.R,  M.D. 

Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  Honorarr  llrmbor  of"  the 
New-Vork  Historical  Society,  and  of  the  New-Vork  IIorticiilturKl  Society,  &c.  • 
Author  of  the  American  New  Dispensatory,  of  the  Modern  Prarfic*  aj'  Ph)»ic| 
and  of  tho  Military  Journal. 


TWO  VOLUMES  IN  ONE. 


vol..    I. 


"  Thou  shalt  lie  dov*n 
With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world — with  kiir**. 
The  powerful  of  the  earth — tho  wise,  the  gOvA* 
Fair  forms,  and  hoary  seers  of  agc«  past. 
All  in  one  mighty  aepiilchrr."  Rk >,«.■<  i 


BOSTON  : 

RICHARDSON  k  LORD  am.  COTTONS  &  KARNARD. 


District  of  Massachuaetti — to  wit  : 

DISTRICT  CLERK'3  OFFICE. 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  February,  A.D.  1828, 
in  the  fifty-second  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
RICHARDSON  &  LORD  and  COTTONS  &  BARNARD  of  the  said  Dis- 
trict have  deposited  in  this  Office  the  Title  of  a  Book  the  Right  whereof  they  claim 
as  Proprietors,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit  : 

"  American  Medical  Biography  :  or  Memoirs  of  Eminent  Physicians  who  have 
flourished  in  America.  To  which  is  prefixed  a  Succinct  History  of  Medical  Sci- 
ence in  the  United  States,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  Country.  By  James 
Thacher,  M.D.,  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  Honora- 
ry Member  of  the  New-York  Historical  Society,  and  of  the  New- York  Horticultu- 
ral Society,  &c.j  Author  of  the  American  New  Dispensatory,  of  the  Modern  Prac- 
tice of  Physic,  and  of  the  Military  Journal.     Two  volumes  in  one. 

'  Thou  shalt  lie  down 
With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world — with  kings. 
The  powerful  of  the  earth — the  wise,  the  good. 
Fair  forms,  and  hoary  seers  of  ages  past, 
All  in  one  mighty  sepulchre.' — Bryant." 

In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled  "  An  Act 
for  the  Encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps,  Charts  and 
Books,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  Copies,  during  the  times  therein 
mentioned  :"  and  also  to  an  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  supplementary  to  an  Act,  enti- 
tled. An  Act  for  the  Encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps, 
Charts  and  Books  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  Copies  during  the  times 
therein  mentioned ;  and  extending  the  Benefits  thereof  to  the  Arts  of  Designing, 
Engraving  and  Etching  Historical  and  other  Prints." 

JOHN  W.  DAVIS, 
Clerk  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


Printed  by  John  CottOi*. 


J 

V 


/W* 


EDWARD  AUGUSTUS  HOLYOKE,  M.D.  A.A.S.  et  LL.D. 

Venerable  Sir, 

The  following  work  solicits  the  sanction  of  the  oldest  physician  in  the  United 
States,  and  perhaps  in  the  world— the  first  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society  ;  whose  public  virtues  and  amiable  qualities  have  procured  the  respect  and 
love  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  the  applause  of  all.  In  you  we  recognise  the  singular 
phenomenon  of  a  lite  comprising  nearly  a  century,  and  yet  not  ceasing  to  be  useful 
as  a  zealous  advocate  in  the  great  cause  of  benevolence  and  philanthropy.*  It  is 
your  peculiar  felicity,  Sir,  by  favor  of  Divine  Providence,  to  have  escaped  the 
perils  both  physical  and  moral  of  a  patriarchal  life,  and  to  experience  the  happy 
fruits  of  a  sacred  devotion  to  the  purest  principles  of  Christian  morality  and  piety. 

In  this  volume  will  be  brought  to  your  recollection  some  distinguished  names 
which  you  have  held  in  estimation  as  your  predecessors,  many  who  have  been 
your  contemporaries  and  associates,  who  have  gone  before  you  to  inherit  the  pro- 
mises, and  not  a  few  whose  memory  you  cherish  for  virtues  imbibed  from  your 
lessons  of  instruction  and  who  have  gloried  in  the  opportunity  of  imitating  your 
example.  That  you  may  long  continue  the  living  chronicle  of  the  times,  an  orna« 
ment  to  the  profession,  and  honored  and  beloved  as  the  medical  Nestor  of  America, 
is  the  ardent  desire  and  prayer  of 

your  very  obedient  servant, 

THE  AUTHOR. 

Plymouth,  Mass, 
Jan.  1,  1828. 


Dr.  Holyoke  will  complete  his  hundredth  year  on  the  12th  day  of  August,  1828. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2009  witii  funding  from 

Lyrasis  IVIembers  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/americanmedicalbOOthac 


PREFACE* 


It  is  a  delightful  employment  to  portray  the  varied  shades  of 
the  human  character  as  exhibited  on  the  great  theatre  of  the 
world  ;  to  contemplate  in  what  manner  men  have  lived,  and  how 
they  have  died  ;  and  bring  into  view  those  principles  and  motives 
of  action,  and  that  combination  of  means,  by  which  some  men  ar- 
rive at  the  highest  eminence  in  honorable  attainments,  while  others 
readily  yield  to  moral  and  physical  imperfections,  and  leave  be- 
hind them  a  blemished  reputation.  Death  triumphs  over  the  frail 
nature  of  man  ;  all  must  bow  to  its  awful  summons,  and  quit  this 
earthly  tabernacle  ;  the  last  remains  of  mortality  are  consigned  to 
the  silent  tomb,  to  mingle  with  the  parent  dust.  It  is  not  our  gift 
to  trace  the  condition  of  the  spirit  ;  but  shall  the  recollection  of 
the  most  splendid  and  noble  achievements  of  a  meritorious  life  be 
consigned  to  irremediable  oblivion  1  shall  the  brightest  examples 
of  piety,  of  patriotism  and  philanthropy  be  lost  to  posterity?  No, 
— it  is  the  attribute  of  biography  to  animate  the  aspiring  youth  to 
contemplate  and  admire  the  virtues,  and  learn  to  imitate  the  noble 
actions  of  their  ancestors.  The  pen  of  the  biographer  is  a  pledge 
also  to  those  who  are  still  on  their  probationary  course,  that  the 
memory  of  such  as  are  eminently  signalized  by  extraordinary  vir- 
tues and  splendid  deeds,  shall  be  recorded  and  transmitted  for  the 
applause  and  imitation  of  the  rising  generation. 

Biography  and  history  are  closely  allied,  and  our  own  illustrious 
ancestors  afford  excellent  and  abundant  scope  for  the  pen  conse- 
crated to  this  interesting  species  of  literature.  No  profession, 
perhaps,  is  more  rich  in  this  department  than  the  medical,  and 
in  none  can  it  be  applied  with  deeper  interest  or  greater  utility. 
It  has  been  the  constant  solicitude  of  the  author  of  the  present 
work  to  collate  from    the   purest  sources   such  materials  as  would 


VI  PREFACE. 

enable  him  to  compile  a  biography,  not  of  indiscriminate  eulogy, 
but  of  the  strictest  impartiality  and  justice  ;  and  to  tliis  rule  be 
h;is  adhered  with  laborious  fidelity.  In  memoirs  regulated  by  the 
legitimate  laws  of  truth  and  justice,  simple  facts  will  ever  be  found 
the  best  eulogy  ;  nor  is  the  author  conscious  of  undue  exaggera- 
tion or  improper  concealment  in  any  instance. 

The  public  are  now  presented  with  an  assemblage  of  meritorious 
medical  and  political  characters,  which  would  reflect  honor  on 
any  country,  many  of  whom  participated,  in  the  perils  of  the  field 
or  in  the  cabinet,  in  the  achievement  of  our  national  independ- 
ence and  for  the  advancement  and  support  of  our  constitutions  of 
government.  Models  may  here  be  selected  worthy  of  imitation 
by  the  physician,  the  christian,  the  patriot  and  philanthro[)ist. 
Such  is  the  nature  of  this  undertaking  that  considerable  assistance 
has  been  found  requisite  for  its  accomplishment ;  and  it  would  be 
a  mark  of  ingratitude  not  to  acknowledge  most  respectfully  the 
kind  and  liberal  aid  received,  especially  from  Professors  Ilosack 
and  Francis  of  New- York,  Dr.  James  Mease  of  Philadelphia,  and 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.  Professor  in  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  McVickar, 
Professor  in  Columbia  College,  the  public  are  indebted  for  his 
excellent  life  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Samuel  Bard  ;  and  to  Drs. 
Thomas  Miner  and  Samuel  B.  Woodward  of  Connecticut,  for 
■their  liberal  contributions.  The  venerable  W.  N.  Boylston,  Esq. 
and  Dr.  George  C.  Shattuck  of  Boston,  have  shown  a  kind  inter- 
est in  this  undertaking,  and  afforded  a  liberal  encouragement, 
which  demands  the  author's  sincere  acknowledgments.  Other 
gentlemen  who  have  been  pleased  to  furnish  materials  and  to 
manifest  an  interest  in  the  work,  will  please  to  accept  the  grateful 
thanks  of  the  author. 

Materials  for  this  work  have  been  so  abundantly  accumulated 
that  the  author  has  been  obliged  to  suppress  some  memoirs,  and  to 
retrench  others,  lest  the  volume  should  be  augmented  to  an  un- 
wieldy size,  and  the  price  too  much  enhanced  ;  whether  the  selec- 
tion has  been  the  most  judicious,  and  the  style  of  execution  the 
most  commendable,  are  submitted  to  the  candid  decision  of  the 
public. 

Plymouth^  Mass.  Jan.  1,  1S28. 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 


Among  the  various  sciences  and  literary  pursuits  of  life,  there 
16  no  one  more  pre-eminently  important  than  that  which  is  empha- 
tically styled  the  healing  art  ;  that  which  restores  health,  and 
brings  comfort  and  joy  to  suffering  humanity.  It  is  an  inestimable 
blessing,  bestowed  in  mercy,  to  counterpoise  the  frail  condition  of 
our  nature,  and  to  meliorate  or  remedy  the  miseries  which  result 
from  the  indulgence  of  our  vicious  propensities.  It  assuages  the 
anguish  of  corporeal  disease,  and  soothes  that  keen  mental  distress 
which  overwhelms  the  faculties  of  the  soul.  When  we  contem- 
plate the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth"  in  the  primitive 
ages  of  the  world,  we  are  struck  with  the  formidable  embarrass- 
ments which  they  were  doomed  to  encounter.  Unacquainted  with 
the  means  of  fortifying  themselves  against  the  numerous  evils  of 
life,  they  were  continually  exposed  to  casualties  and  disease,  and 
at  the  same  time  destitute  of  such  assistance  as  would  afford  the 
desired  relief.  Ignorant  of  the  structure  of  the  human  frame,  and 
of  the  laws  of  the  animal  economy,  no  rational  method  of  cure 
could  be  devised,  and  their  medical  knowledge  could  consist  only 
of  an  incongruous  mixture  of  superstition  and  absurdities. 

The  primitive  inhabitants,  however,  were  blessed  with  firm  ori- 
ginal stamina,  robust  and  vigorous  consthutions,  and  were  provided 
with  plain  and  simple  food  for  their  subsistence  ;  either  the  spon- 
taneous productions  of  the  soil,  or  the  easy  acquisitions  of  agricul- 
ture. The  climates  which  they  enjoyed  were  probably  of  a  mild 
and  genial  temperature  ;  the  air,  pure  and  serene  ;  and  the  natural 
means  of  health  and  comfort,  their  peculiar  patrimony.  While, 
therefore,  they  observed  the  rules  of  sobriety  and  temperance  in 
their  living,  according  to  the  dictates  of  nature  and  reason,  and 
adhered  to  the  principles  of  morality  and  virtue,  their  diseases 
could  be  neither  so  numerous,  nor  so  complicate  and  difficult,  as  to 
require  profound  skill  for  their  removal. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  presumable  that  this  happy  condition  of  the 
human  race  was  not  of  long  continuance ;  but  that  a  corruption  of 
2 


10  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 

manners  was  gradually  introduced,  and  the  seeds  of  disease  sown 
either  by  irregularity  or  unavoidable  accidents,  and  fostered  by  the 
baneful  influence  of  effeminate  and  luxurious  gratifications.  The 
system  of  individuals  having  thus  acquired  a  disposition  to  disease, 
it  could  not  fail  of  being  disseminated  according  to  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, and  entailed,  through  their  offspring,  to  succeeding  genera- 
tions. The  novel  and  affecting  scenes  exhibited  when  diseases 
terminated  in  the  extinction  of  life,  must  have  excited  among  the 
early  inhabitants  an  uncommon  degree  of  consternation  and  alarm  ; 
and,  being  altogether  ignorant  of  the  true  causes  by  which  they 
were  generated,  they  would  probably  ascribe  such  extraordinary 
phenomena  to  some  supernatural  power.  Prompted  by  a  spark  of 
that  reason  implanted  in  the  breast  of  man  for  his  preservation,  as 
the  first  principle  in  nature,  they  endeavoured  to  objain  from  the 
most  promising  sources  a  remedy  for  their  diseases.  '|  We  are  not 
to  be  surprised  that  the  human  mind,  influenced  by  superstition, 
and  untaught  by  experience,  should  associate  the  idea  of  religion 
with  medicine,  and  resort  to  charms  and  incantations,  in  full  confi- 
dence of  accomplishing  their  desired  purpose  of  preventing  and 
curing  every  malady.     / 

Such,  in  fact,  was  the  melancholy  condition  of  our  species  in 
the  early  part  of  their  history.  Ignorant  priests,  magicians  and 
astrologers  were  their  only  physicians,  and  the  superstition  of  the 
times  animated  their  hopes,  while  it  gave  sanction  to  the  grossest 
impositions.  If,  under  infatuation  and  despair,  consolation  could 
have  been  derived  from  these  sources  of  folly,  fatal  experience 
must  soon  have  taught  the  sufferers  that  a  cure  of  their  maladies 
required  more  potent  remedies,  than  those  of  sorcery  and  enchant- 
ment. In  process  of  time,  therefore,  an  expedient  better  suited  to 
their  circumstances,  was  put  in  practice  for  the  attainment  of  med- 
ical knowledge.  The  sick  were  directed  to  be  exposed  in  public 
places  to  the  view  of  travellers  and  strangers,  who  were  required 
to  examine  and  compare  their  cases  v^^ith  such  as  might  have  fallen 
under  their  observation,  and  to  recomniend  such  remedies  as  had 
been  known  to  produce  beneficial  effects  in  similar  complaints  ; 
and,  when  discoveries  were  thus  made,  the  precious  remedies  were 
held  in  veneration,  and  the  knowledge  of  them  was  conveyed  by 
oral  tradition,  or  recorded  upon  pillars  in  the  most  public  places, 
or  on  the  walls  of  the  temples  consecrated  to  the  god  of  health  ; 
and  afterwards  registers  of  cures  were  kept  in  those  consecrated 
places  for  public  instruction.  Thus  was  the  practice  of  medicine 
commenced  under  no  other  advantages  than  the  simple  principles 
of  analogy  ;  and  many  ages  elapsed  before  this  abstruse  and  impor- 
tant science  was  placed  upon  a  more  substantial  foundation.  The 
Egyptian  medicine  appears  to  have  been  little  else  than  a 
collection  of  absurd  superstitions.  Among  the  Greeks,  iEfSculapius 
was  the  most  celebrated  of  those  to  whom  they  attributed  the  in- 
vention of  medicine.     He  was  accounted  the  most  eminent  practi- 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE.  H 

tioner  of  his  time,  and  his  name  continued  to  be  revered  after  his 
death.     He  was  even  ranked  among  the  gods,   and  the  principal 
knowledge  of  the  medical  art  remained  with    his  family   till   ihe 
days  of  Hippocrates,  who  reckoned  himself  the  seventeenth  in   a 
lineal  descent  from  ^sculapius.     We   are   not   furnished   with  a 
correct  series   of  information    relative    to    medical   history,  until 
about  450  years  prior  to  the  christian  era  ;  when,  amidst   a   cloud 
of  darkness  and  ignorance,  the  superior  wisdom   and   brilliant  tal- 
ents of  the  great  Hippocrates  were  displayed  to  the  world.    Under 
the  auspices  of  this  prince  of  physicians,  the  healing  art  first  assum- 
ed the  form  of  science,  and  was  known  and  practised  as  a  regular 
profession.     In  the  treatment  of  diseases,  he  studied   and  copied 
nature  with  the  greatest  care  and  assiduity,  as  the  only  sure  basis 
of  medical  science  ;  and  so  extensive  was  his  knowledge,  and  so 
accurate  his  observations,  that  he  has  been  constantly  held  in  ven- 
eration through  succeeding  generations.    His  numerous  writings  on 
medical  subjects  remain  a  monument  of  his  penetration  and  judg- 
ment, and  are  considered  by  the  learned  as  replete  with  lessons  of 
instruction,  even  at  the  present  day.     By  his  unparalleled  industry 
and  perseverance,  this  father  of  medicine  acquired  a  character  and 
fame,  which  united  the  applause  of  nations  around  him,  and  divine 
honours  were  instituted  to  his  memory.     This  extraordinary  man 
was  born  in  the  island  of  Cos,  and  died  in  his  99th  year,  B.  C.  361. 
A  medical  school  was  established  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  which 
was  conducted  by  the  most  learned  professors  of  (bis   early  pe- 
riod.    Dissections  and    the   study   of  anatomy  and  surgery  vvere 
practised  and    patronised,  and   the   institution,   which   flourished 
near  a  thousand  years,  has  been  renowned  in  history  as  the  ear- 
liest and  most  important  seat  of  medical  literature  and   science. 
It  was  here  that  Herophilus  and  Erasistratus  were  distinguished  for 
the  vast  number  of  human  subjects  which  they  dissected,  some  of 
which  were  the  living  bodies  of  criminals.     Galen,  a  man  of  sig- 
nal talents  and  a  disciple  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  whose   life 
was  devoted  to  the  study  and  pursuit    of  medical  science,  was 
another  celebrated  name  among  the  physicians  of  antiquity.     He 
collected  and  arranged  the  rich  treasures  of  medical  knowledge, 
which  the  labors  of  the  preceding  ages   had  acquired,  and  made 
considerable  improvement  on  the   original  stock.     He  is  said  to 
have  been  the  author  of  five  hundred  volumes  on  medical  sub- 
jects, and,  with  the  exception  of  Hippocrates,  was  esteemed  the 
greatest   physician   of  antiquity.     So  surprising  were   the    cures 
which  he  performed,  that  his  skill  was  ascribed  to  magic  ;  and  so 
high  was  the  authority  of  his  name,  that,  for  about  fourteen  cen- 
turies, his  systems  and  doctrines  were  most  sacredly  adhered  to  and 
reverenced  in    all  parts  of  the  world.     Galen  is  said  to  have  been 
converted  from  Atheism  by  the  contemplation  of  a  human  skeleton. 
In  the  early  part  of  the   l6th   century,  the    noted   Paracelsus 
flourished  as  a  physician  and  chemist.     He  laid  the  foundation  of 


12  HISTORY    OF   MEDICINE. 

a  chemical  system  directly  opposed  to  that  of  Galen,  whicMie 
resolved  to  subvert.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  laborer  in  the  cause 
of  the  alchymists,  and  boasted  of  being  in  possession  of  the  phi- 
losopher's stone.  He  travelled  through  almost  every  country  in 
Europe,  consulting  indifferently  physicians,  barbers,  old  women, 
conjurers  and  chemists.  In  the  height  of  his  prosperity  he  was 
appointed  to  deliver  lectures  in  the  town  of  Basle,  in  Switzerland, 
and  was  the  first  public  professor  of  chemistry  in  Europe  ;  but  he 
soon  quarrelled  with  the  magistrates  about  a  medical  fee,  and  de- 
parted from  the  city.  He  was  extremely  dissolute  and  eccentric 
in  his  manners  and  character.  While  seated  in  his  chair  as  professor, 
he  burned  with  great  solemnity  the  writings  of  Galen  and  Avicenna, 
and  declared  to  his  audience,  that,  if  God  would  not  impart  the 
secrets  of  medicine,  it  was  perfectly  justifiable  to  consult  the  devil. 
He  invented  a  medicine  which  he  termed  the  elixir  of  life,  for  the 
professed  purpose  of  procuring  longevity,  and  pretended  that,  by 
the  use  of  it,  his  life  would  be  protracted  to  the  age  of  Methuselah. 
Continuing  to  ramble  about  the  country,  he  sunk  into  the  deepest 
dissipation,  being  scarcely  ever  sober,  and  never  changing  his 
clothes,  nor  sleeping  in  a  bed  :  neither  the  counsel  of  the  devil, 
nor  his  universal  elixir,  conferred  on  him  his  boasted  gift  of  im- 
mortality, and  he  died  in  a  hospital  in  the  48th  year  of  his  age. 
Nearly  contemporary  with  Paracelsus  was  Michael  Servetus,  a 
Spanish  physician  distinguished  for  attainments  in  anatomical 
knowledge,  who  actually  discovered,  in  the  year  1553,  the  course 
of  the  blood  through  the  lungs,  which  is  termed  the  lesser  circula- 
tion. But,  in  consequence  of  an  unfortunate  controversy  in  which 
he  became  involved  with  John  Calvin,  the  celebrated  religious  re- 
former, a  cruel  sentence  of  death  at  the  stake  was  passed  against 
him  for  heresy ;  and  this  valuable  man,  together  with  his  writings, 
was,  at  the  age  of  about  45  years,  consigned  to  the  flames. 

It  is  an  extraordinary  circumstance  that  after  the  commencement 
of  human  dissections  by  Democritus,  the  contemporary  and  friend 
of  Hippocrates,  two  thousand  years  should  elapse  before  the  very 
important  discovery  was  made  of  the  true  circulation  of  the  blood. 
Galen  and  his  followers  attributed  to  the  liver  the  office  of  pre- 
paring the  blood  and  transmitting  it  through  the  veins  to  all  parts 
of  the  body,  conceiving  that  air  was  contained  in  the  arteries, 
and  that  the  veins  were  the  only  true  channels  of  the  blood.  It 
was  also  the  opinion  of  some,  that  the  blood  moved  forward  and 
backward,  like  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tide.  This  glorious 
discovery  was  reserved  to  crown  the  labors  of  Dr.  William  Har- 
vey, a  learned  English  physician,  who  flourished  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  In  the  year  1628,  his  new  theory  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  blood  became  the  subject  of  his  lectures,  and  by  nu- 
merous experiments  he  demonstrated  the  attendant  phenomena  in 
a  manner  the  most  convincing  and  satisfactory,  and  it  has  been 
received  as  an  invaluable  acquisition  to  the  science  of  medicine. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE.  13 

Gr^t  and  manifold  are  the  advantages  derived  to  mankind  from 
the  liigenious  research  and  labors  of  the  immortal  Harvey.  His 
noble  discovery,  which  had  eluded  the  research  of  ages,  subverted 
the  fallacious  doctrines  of  the  ancients,  and  at  once  effected  a 
total  revolution  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine.  Of  all 
the  discoveries  recorded  in  medical  history,  this  is  incomparably 
the  most  important  in  its  effects  and  consequences.  Such,  how- 
ever, is  the  ignoble  spirit  of  jealousy  and  envy,  that  it  is  not 
usually  the  fate  of  novel  doctrines,  however  important,  to  be  re- 
ceived without  opposition  ;  accordingly  we  find  that  there  were 
some,  who,  biassed  by  passion  and  interest,  had  the  boldness  to 
deny  the  facts  so  fairly  proved,  and  to  calumniate  the  name  of  the 
illustrious  discoverer.  Every  argument  against  him  was,  however, 
completely  refuted  and  silenced,  and  his  new  principles  of  circula- 
tion universally  established  before  the  termination  of  his  honor- 
able life.  It  is  observed  by  a  judicious  writer,  that  "the  books 
of  Harvey  present  us  with  many  indications  of  a  great  mind,  acute 
discernment,  unwearied  application,  original  remark,  bold  inquiry, 
and  a  clear,  forcible  and  manly  reasoning."  He  was  not  less  dis- 
tinguished for  his  piety,  than  for  his  erudition  ;  and,  at  the  close 
of  his  useful  life,  he  was  consoled  with  the  reflection,  that  the 
spirit  of  malevolence,  so  hostile  to  his  merit  and  fame,  became 
attempered  to  the  grateful  duty  of  enhancing  and  perpetuating  the 
honor  justly  due  to  his  exalted  character. 

Medical,  like  all  other  knowledge,  is  progressive,  and  the 
melancholy  triumphs  of  disease  over  its  victims,  and  the  numer- 
ous examples  of  medical  impotency,  clearly  evince  that  the  com- 
bined stock  of  both  ancient  and  modern  learning  is  greatly  insuf- 
ficient to  perfect  our  professional  knowledge.  The  science  of 
medicine  in  Europe  had  long  continued  at  a  very  low  ebb  until 
the  era  of  its  revival  which  commenced  in  1719,  when,  by  the 
splendid  talents  and  industry  of  Dr.  Munro  senr.,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  celebrated  medical  school  of  Edinburgh  was  happily 
accomplished.  This  honorable  achievement  was  succeeded  by 
similar  institutions  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  The  talents  of 
William  and  John  Hunter  in  London,  of  the  great  Boerhaave  in 
the  university  of  Leyden,  and  some  kindred  spirits  in  France, 
seemed  to  combine  their  efforts  to  elevate  medical  science  to  a 
signal  and  dignified  condition  of  improvement.  In  America  the 
cultivation  of  the  healing  art  had  not  been  commensurate  with  our 
national  progress  in  wealth  and  population  ;  but  we  were  not 
long  destitute  of  brilliant  and  philanthropic  characters  to  follow 
in  the  laudable  pursuit  for  the  benefit  and  the  honor  of  their  na- 
tive country. 


14  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

It  is  only  from  the  most  scanty  materials,  and  with  the  aid  of  tradi- 
tion, that  we  can  trace  the  origin  and  progressive  improvements  in 
the  healing  art,  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  American  colo- 
nies. It  was  not  selfish  views  of  pecuniary  interest,  nor  motives 
of  secular  ambition,  that  wrought  on  the  pure  spirits  of  our  fathers; 
but  the  noblest  principles  of  religious  liberty  and  religious  reforma- 
tion, were  awakened  in  their  souls,  and  bore  them  on  to  their  des- 
tined place  of  refuge.  Physicians  of  high  standing  in  professional 
acquirements  and  experience,  could  find  no  adequate  motive  to 
induce  them  to  quit  a  lucrative  establishment  in  their  native  land 
of  civilized  society,  to  encounter  perils  and  hardships,  and  to  be- 
come exiles  in  an  uncultivated  wilderness.  Providence,  however, 
had  provided  a  source  from  which  the  settlers  were  to  be  supplied 
with  that  medical  assistance,  which  their  peculiar  circumstances 
imperiously  demanded.  The  puritanic,  clergy  in  England  were, 
for  more  than  twenty  years  prior  to  the  emigration  of  the  first 
settlers,  subjected  to  the  sharpest  persecution.  The  prospects  of 
the  nonconformists,  of  a  peaceful  and  comfortable  subsistence, 
rested  on  the  most  precarious  tenure,  constantly  liable  to  the  frowns 
of  tyrants,  by  which  they  were  prohibited  the  liberty  of  exercising 
the  duties  of  their  sacred  calling  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  conscience.  Hence,  as  a  precautionary  measure  in  case  of 
an  ejectment,  a  considerable  number  of  clergymen  of  that  period, 
were  educated  to  the  medical  profession,  and  not  a  few  were  emi- 
nent practitioners  before  they  crossed  the  Atlantic.  Besides,  we 
find  that  it  was  not  uncommon  in  their  day  for  a  part  of  education 
to  consist  in  the  study  of  ancient  medical  authors,  as  Hippocrates, 
Galen,  Aretaeus,  Celsus,  &c.,  as  among  the  accomplishments  of  a 
finished  scholar.  New  England,  therefore,  at  its  earliest  settle- 
ment, was  provided  with  some  able  and  well  educated  physicians ; 
though  not  favoured  with  the  great  facilities  of  the  present  day, 
our  fathers  were  no  less  learned  in  the  science  of  their  time,  than 
we  in  ours.  When  these  professional  men  came  to  form  minis- 
terial connexions  in  the  colonies,  it  was  found  that  the  small  con- 
gregations were  unable  to  afford  them  a  comfortable  support ; 
hence  the  necessity  and  the  convenience  of  their  resort  to  secular 
avocations  ;  and  what  more  eligible,  or  more  consonant  with  the 
benevolent  views  and  feelings  of  puritan  clergymen,  than  to  minis- 
ter to  the  relief  of  their  suffering  brethren,  and  to  render  conso- 
lation in  the  solemn  hour  of  dissolution  1  The  practice  of  medi- 
cine, therefore,  was  in  many  instances  united  with  the  parochial 
duties  of  ministers  of  religion,  /  More  exalted,  however,  were 
their  avocations  than  those  of  Hl^  ancient  priests  of  Egypt,  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  for  they  had  made  respectable  attainments  in 
medical  science,  and  were  well  qualified  for  great  usefulness  in 
their  respective  callings,  they  were  actuated  by  the  purest  motives 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  15 

and  the  highest  considerations  of  benevolence.  By  their  amiable 
manners,  zealous  attention  and  pious  converse,  they  endeared 
themselves  to  their  people  ;  mutual  attachments  were  formed,  and 
the  fullest  confidence  was  reposed  in  their  medical  skill.  While 
in  some  instances  the  duties  of  the  physician,  of  the  teacher  of  re- 
ligion, and  of  the  instructer  of  youth,  devolved  on  the  same  indi- 
vidual, some  of  the  eminent  civilians  also  of  our  early  history  were 
found  to  participate  in  the  same  duties  of  benevolence.  The  hon- 
ourable John  Winthrop,  son  of  governor  Winthrop  of  Massachu- 
setts, was  eminent  in  medicine  as  well  as  in  philosophy,  and  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Royal  Society.  New  England  from  its 
first  settlement  has  not  been  without  able  and  learned  men  in 
every  profession.  It  is  highly  honorable  to  our  fathers  that  their 
civil  and  religious  institutions,  however  imbued  with  the  imperfec- 
tions of  their  turbulent  age,  are  incomparably  the  wisest  and  the 
best  that  any  legislative  body  ever  bequeathed  to  their  posterity  ; 
and  in  their  literary  and  scientific  foundations,  we  recognise  the 
radical  principles  which  are  cherished  at  the  present  age  as  the 
immutable  laws  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  The  independ- 
ence, liberty,  and  privileges,  which  the  whole  United  States  now 
enjoy,  are  almost  entirely  the  emanations  from  the  noble  spirit 
which  was  inherited  from  the  early  settlers  of  New  England.  It 
should  therefore  be  our  endeavor  to  preserve  their  sons  from  dis- 
honoring their  fathers'  holy  standard,  by  exhibiting  to  their  con- 
templation in  a  fair  and  impartial  light,  the  lives  of  some  of  their 
distinguished  ancestors ;  unshielded  from  the  rigors  of  a  boisterous 
season,  they  were  compelled  to  erect  citadels  of  defence  against 
the  attacks  of  cruel  savages,  while  their  hearts  were  pierced  with 
the  keenest  anguish  by  the  arrows  of  death,  depriving  them  of 
rulers,  parents,  husbands,  wives  and  children.  How  cheering 
would  have  been  the  consolation,  could  those  pious  fathers  have 
foreseen  a  period  like  the  present,  when  their  descendents,  assem- 
bling in  magnificent  temples  are  gratefully  chanting  their  praises, 
and  cultivating  those  principles  of  virtue,  patriotism  and  religion, 
which  they  assiduously  cherished  as  the  objects  of  their  fondest 
attachment.  It  was  but  shortly  after  the  landing  of  the  first  emi- 
grants at  Plymouth,  December  22,  1620,  that  they  were  visited 
with  severe  sickness.  Having  undergone  the  perils  of  a  long 
voyage  in  an  inclement  season,  subjected  to  fatigue,  privations  and 
sufferings,  their  constitutions  impaired,  their  spirits  depressed,  and 
their  hopes  in  many  respects  frustrated  ;  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise 
that  they  were  afflicted  with  uncommon  mortality,  insomuch  that 
nearly  one  half  of  their  number  perished  during  the  first  winter. 
But  it  was  their  laudable  zeal,  and  heavenly  mindedness  that  first 
inspirited  them  to  commence  the  race  of  liberty  and  glury,  and  it 
was  the  same  sublime  spirit  that  fortified  their  minds  against  scenes 
of  woe  and  despair. 


16  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

It  is  not  to  be  considered  an  extraordinary  circumstance  that 
more  tiian  a  century  and  a  half  elapsed  after  the  first  settlement  of 
the  colonies,  before  a  single  effort  was  made,  either  by  public 
authority  or  by  the  enterprise  of  individuals,  for  the  establishment 
of  institutions  for  the  education  of  physicians,  or  the  regulation  of 
the  practice  of  medicine.  Our  ancestors  were  strongly  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  general  education,  and  it  was  their  constant 
solicitude  to  provide  for  institutions  of  learning,  as  far  as  was  prac- 
ticable. But  the  welfare  of  the  church  and  their  political  economy 
were  made  paramount  to  all  other  considerations.  The  peculiar 
motives  which  prompted  their  emigration  to  this  country,  the  dif- 
ficult circumstances  which  they  were  called  to  encounter,  and  the 
depressed  state  of  medical  science  in  the  countries  whence  they 
came,  will  furnish  the  most  ample  apology  for  their  neglect  of  the 
means  of  improved  medical  education.  They  possessed  a  spirit  of 
submission  to  the  privations  incident  to  a  new  settlement,  and  they 
enjoyed  a  religious  confidence  in  the  skill  of  their  clerical  physi- 
cians ;  besides  which,  several  accomplished  European  physicians 
had  emigrated  with  the  early  settlers.  In  process  of  time  a  con- 
siderable number  of  young  graduates  from  our  colleges  repaired  to 
Europe  to  complete  their  medical  education  in  the  public  schools, 
and  to  qualify  themselves  to  practise  in  the  colonies.*  The  period 
can  be  recollected  when  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  skilful  surgeon 
to  ride  one  and  even  two  hundred  miles  to  perform  a  capital  ope- 
ration, and  so  late  as  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
a  patient  afflicted  with  stone  in  the  bladder  actually  crossed  the 
Atlantic,  to  have  the  operation  of  lithotomy  performed  by  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Cheselden  in  London.  Medical  libraries  had  no  exist- 
ence in  the  country,  and  it  was  seldom  that  students  could  have 
access  to  the  elementary  works  necessary  for  their  instruction. 
No  medical  journal  was  published  in  America  until  near  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  through  which  physicians  could  commu- 
nicate the  results  of  their  experience,  or  make  known  their  im- 
provements and  discoveries  ;  not  even  a  newspaper  was  printed 
till  the  year  1704.t  Hence  it  is  not  strange  that  we  are  so  little 
ac;quainted  with  the  character  and  practice  of  our  predecessors. 
/  The  first  physician  of  whom  we  have   any  account   among  the 


*  Harvard  college  was  founded  at  Cambridge         ....  1638 

William  and  Mary  college  of  Virginia           .....  1691 

Yale  college  in  Connecticut                ......  1700 

Princetown  college  in  New  Jersey        -..-..  1746 

Philadelphia  college          -....--.  1754 

King's,  now  Columbia  college  New  York     .....  1754 

All  these  colleges  furnished  students  for  European  medical  institutions. 

t  The  first  newspaper  printed  in  America  was  the  Boston  News-Letter,  begun 
April  24,  1704,  by  B.  Green.  The  first  in  Pennsylvania,  December  22,  1719. 
First  in  New  York,  October  16,  1725.  First  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  1730.  In 
Rhode  Island,  October,  17-32.     In  Connecticut,  1755.     In  New  Hampshire,  1756. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  17 

the  colonists,  was  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller,  (h)  He  formed  one  of  the 
company  who  came  over  in  the  first  ship,  and  was  a  deacon  in 
Rev.  John  Robinson's  church.  Whether  he  had  enjoyed  a  colle- 
giate education  is  uncertain,  but  he  is  said  to  have  been  well  quali- 
fied in  his  profession  ;  he  was  zealous  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
eminently  useful  as  a  physician  and  surgeon.  He  extended  his 
benevolent  labors  not  only  to  the  sick  among  his  immediate  friends 
at  Plymouth  and  the  aborigines  in  the  vicinity,  but  in  1628  and 
1629,  by  the  desire  of  governor  Endicot,  he  twice  visited  the  new 
settlement  at  Salem,  where  he  manifested  his  skill  and  success  in 
practice  among  the  numerous  sufi'erers  under  scurvy  and  other  dis- 
eases introduced  there  by  the  ships  on  their  arrival.^  He  received 
the  entire  approbation  of  governor  Endicot,  and  his  letters  of 
thanks  for  his  useful  services.  In  a  letter  to  governor  Bradford, 
June  28,  1630,  Dr.  Fuller  says,  "  I  have  been  to  Matapan  (now 
Dorchester),  and  let  some  twenty  of  those  people  blood."  What 
disease  prevailed  among  them  to  require  the  loss  of  blood  in  the 
warm  season  of  June,  we  are  unable  to  determine.  In  the  year 
1632,  the  settlers  at  Plymouth  were  visited  with  a  disease  which 
they  called  an  infectious  fever,  of  which  upwards  of  twenty  men, 
women  and  children  died,  among  whom  was  their  pious  and  excel- 
lent physician.  Dr.  Fuller.  Tlie  same  disease  proved  very  fatal 
also  among  the  native  Indians. 

In  the  year  1633,  Dr.  Giles  Firiner  was  a  deacon  in  the  Boston 
church,  and  was  esteemed  as  an  able  physician,  and  a  man  of  learn- 
ing. In  l637j  it  is  noticed  that  Dr.  John  Fisk  arrived  and  set- 
tled at  Salem,  where  he  sustained  a  respectable  character  as  a 
clergyman  and  physician.  WillkinijGrqge?'  accompanied  gover- 
nor Winthrop  to  Boston  in  the  character  of  surgeon,  where  he 
died  gfearty  lamented.  At  the  first_conimencement  at  Harvard 
college,  in  l642,  Samuel  Belhngham  and  Henry  Saltonstall 
were  graduated,  and  were  afterwards  honored  with  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  at  European  universities,  and  both  were  reputed  learned 
and  skilful  physicians.  Leonard  Hoar  was  graduated  at  Cambridge 
in  1650, and  repaired  to  England,  where  he  studied  medicine  and 
received  the  degree  of  M.  D. ;  he  returned  to  New  England,  and 
was  for  about  two  years  president  of  Harvard  college.  John 
Glover,  in  1650,  repaired  to  England,  and  returned  after  having 
the  degree  of  M.  D.  conferred  on  him  at  Aberdeen.  Isaac 
Channel/  was  graduated  in  1651,  and  was  honored  with  the  de- 
gree of  M.  D.  in  Europe.  Johti  Rogers  M.  D.  was  president  of 
Harvard  college  from  l6S2  to  l684,  but  whether  he  was  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  is  uncertain.  Charles  Chauncy  (b)  was 
president  of  Harvard  college  in  1652;  he  had  a  medical  education 
in  England,  and  had  six  sons  educated  at  Harvard  college,  all  of 
whom  studied  medicine,  and  were  said  by  Dr.  Mather  to   have 

(6)    This  letter  denotes  those  whose  biography  is  to  be  found  in  this  volume. 
3 


X 


18  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

been  eminent  physicians  as  their  father  was  before  them  ;  several 
of  them  removed  to  England  and  did  not  return.  Mathew  Ful- 
ler, a  relation  probably  of  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller,  first  of  Plymouth, 
about  1640,  removed  to  Barnstable  in  1652,  where  he  died,  1678. 
He  was  appointed  Surgeon  General  of  the  provincial  forces  raised 
in  Plymouth  colony  in  1673,  and  he  is  slso  styled  Captain  in  1675. 
Item  from  his  inventory.  Surgeon's  chest  and  drugs  £l6.0.0. 
Library,  £10.0.0.  Thomas  Starr,  of  Yarmouth,  as  early  as 
1640,  and  living  there  in  l670,  is  occasionally  styled  Chirurgeon 
in  the  public  records.  Comfort  Starr,  Chirurgeon,  first  of  New- 
town, alias  Cambridge,  removed  to  Duxbury,  in  Plymouth  colony, 
in  1638,  whence  after  a  short  period  he  removed  to  Boston,  where 
he  died  about  1663.  Samuel  Scabury,  styled  Chirurgeon  in  the 
records,  appears  in  Duxbury,  in  Plymouth  colony,  at  an  early  date, 
where  he  died  1680.  Items  of  his  inventory.  Nicholas  Culpep- 
per's Practice  of  Physic,  £1.4.0.  Ditto  Anatomy  3s.  Reed's 
Practice  of  Surgery,  Is,  6d.  Physician's  Practice,  Is.  Latin  Her- 
bal, £1.10.0.  Art  of  Distillation,  by  John  French,  2s.  Surgeons' 
Instruments  12s.  Antimonial  Cup,  5s.  Thomas  Little,  born  in 
Marshfield,  Plymouth  colony,  graduated  at  Harvard  college  1695, 
settled  in  Plymouth  as  a  physician  about  1700,  where  he  died, 
1712,  aged  38  years.  He  held  several  civil  offices  in  the  county 
of  Plymouth,  and  was  also  a  merchant  of  some  note  ;  one  of  his 
sons,  Thomas  Little,  was  a  physician  in  Chilmark,  1726.  Sur- 
geon's chest  of  Thomas  Little  senr.  £17.10.0. 

Thomas  Oliver,  who  was  an  elder  in  the  Boston  church,  is 
mentioned  with  high  approbation  in  Winthrop's  Journal,  as  an  ex- 
perienced and  skilful  surgeon  about  1644.  The  new  settlers,  from 
exposure  to  extreme  hardships  and  to  famine,  were  frequently 
afilicted  with  alarming  and  fatal  diseases,  which  at  some  periods 
threatened  almost  a  total  extinction  of  their  population.  At  dif- 
ferent times  from  1678  to  1702,  the  smallpox  spread  through  the 
colonies,  and,  from  the  injudicious  mode  of  treatment,  its  efiects 
were  like  a  mortal  scourge  wherever  it  appeared.  But  in  the  year 
1646  these  virtuous  people  were  much  grieved  by  the  discovery 
of  a  disease  in  Boston,  with  which  till  then  they  were  entirely  un- 
acquainted, and  which,  the  venerated  Vyinthrop  in  his  Journal 
says,  raised  a  scandal  upon  the  town' and  country  though  without 
just  cause.  This  proved  to  be  Lues  Venerea.  It  originated  with 
the  wife  of  a  seafaring  man,  who  after  child  birth  was  aflected 
with  ulcerated  breast.  Many  persons  were  employed  to  draw 
this  woman's  breast,  by  which  means  about  sixteen  persons,  men, 
women  and  children,  were  afiected  with  this  new  and  odious  dis- 
ease. The  nature  of  the  complaint  was  at  length  ascertained  ; 
but  no  physician  could  be  found  in  the  country  who  was  acquaint- 
ed with  the  method  of  cure.  But  it  fortimately  happened  that  at 
that  very  season  a  young  surgeon  arrived  from  the  West  Indies, 
who  had  been  experienced  in  the  disease,  and  he  soon  performed 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  19 

a  cure.  In  the  summer  of  1647,  an  epidemical  sickness  spread 
througli  the  country,  among  English,  French,  Dutch  and  Indians. 
It  resembled  a  cold  attended  by  slight  fever,  (probably  Influen- 
za,) Those,  says  Winthrop,  who  were  bled  or  used  cooling 
things,  died,  those  who  took  comfortable  tilings,  for  most  part  re- 
covered in  a  few  days.  Not  a  family,  and  but  a  few  persons  es- 
caped an  attack  of  this  epidemic  :  about  40  or  50  died  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  about  the  same  number  in  Connecticut,  among 
whom  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Hartford.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Williams  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
college  in  1693.  He  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  but 
was  for  many  years  a  very  useful  instructor  of  the  south  grammar 
school  in  Boston,  and  was  very  popular  as  a  practising  physician, 
to  which  he  devoted  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  was  called  the 
"  beloved  physician,"  from  his  kind  and  tender  deportment  in  the 
chan)ber  of  the  sick.  He  died  in  1739.  He  published  a  pam- 
phlet on  tlie  inoculation  of  the  smallpox  in  1721.  Thomas 
Thachcr,  (b)  who  came  over  to  New  England  in  1635,  was  edu- 
cated to  the  ministry,  and  was  the  first  minister  of  the  Old  South 
Church  in  Boston.  He  also  received  a  medical  education,  was 
considered  a  great  divine,  and  learned  physician  ;  and  preaching 
and  practising  to  general  approbation,  attained  great  eminence  in 
both  professions,  and  in  the  learned  languages.  He  published  a 
work  entitled,  "A  Brief  Guide  in  the  Smallpox  and  Measles"  in 
1677,  which  is  the  first  medical  publication  found  on  record  in 
New  England,  if  not  in  America.  In  1669,  it  appears  that  Henry 
Taylor,  Surgeon  in  Boston,  had  his  rate  omitted  in  consideration 
of  a  cure  performed  and  a  promise  to  attend  the  sick  poor,  or 
such  as  may  be  hurt;  and  in  1671,  Dr.  Daniel  Sfo?ie  undertook 
to  attend  the  town's  poor,  for  twenty  shillings  money,  and  remit- 
tance of  taxes.  Several  persons  by  the  name  of  Clark  are  found 
on  record  as  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  Drs.  2^homas  Oaks  and 
William  Hughes  were  in  some  repute  as  medical  men  in  Boston 
from  16S5  to  1695.  Dr.  Elisha  Cooke  senr.  practised  physic 
with  much  reputation  in  the  town  of  Boston  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  I7th  century.  He  was  a  great  politician,  and  for  more  than 
40  3'ears  a  popular  leader  in  the  general  court,  and  was,  a  member 
of  the  council.  He  died  in  1685,  aged  78  years.  Dr.  Elisha 
Cooke  jun.  followed  the  political  course  of  his  father,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  political  characters  in  the  town  of  Boston, 
and  a  leader  of  the  debates  in  the  house  of  representatives.  He 
was  sent  to  the  court  of  Great  Britain  as  agent  for  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  and  was  afterwards  elected  a  counsellor.  He  died 
in  the  year  1737.  The  two  Cookes,  according  to  Dr.  Eliofs  bio- 
graphy, were  the  most  zealous  republicans  who  ever  acted  their 
parts  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  Having  thus  exhibited  such  a  sketch 
of  the  state  of  medicine  in  Massachusetts  during  the  17th  century 
as  the  imperfect  documents  at  command  enable  us  to  compose,  we 


20  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

enter  upon  the  history  of  medical  science  in  the  18th  century 
under  more  auspicious  advantages,  and  shall  close  with  more 
honorable  and  important  results. 

In  the  year  1721,  after  an  absence  of  nineteen  years,  the  small- 
pox again  invaded  the  settlements  of  the  planters  with  its  usual 
cruel  ravages.  This  disease  had  ever  been  considered  as  one  of 
the  greatest  scourges  with  which  the  human  race  had  beeti  af- 
flicted. Such  was  the  dreadful  virulence  of  this  pestilence,  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  sick  became  its  victims,  and  the  most  of 
those  who  escaped  with  their  lives,  were  disfigured  with  scars  and 
pits,  which  destroyed  the  comeliness  of  the  countenance,  and  in 
some  instances  a  total  blindness  was  the  consequence.  Those 
who  have  not  been  conversant  with  this  formidable  malady,  can 
form  no  conception  of  the  hideous  spectacle  exhibited  by  one  suf- 
fering under  malignant  smallpox.  The  head  is  swollen  to  a 
monstrous  size,  the  eyes  are  entirely  closed,  the  lips  swollen  and 
of  a  livid  color,  and  the  face  and  surface  of  the  whole  body  are 
covered  with  maturated  pustules,  from  which  issue  purulent  mat- 
ter ;  the  miserable  being  has  the  appearance  of  a  putrid  mass,  and 
scarcely  the  semblance  of  the  human  form  remains.  The  visita- 
tion of  the  smallpox  at  this  period  afforded  occasion  for  an  event, 
which  in  its  consequences  may  be  ranked  among  the  most  import- 
ant to  the  welfare  of  mankind  that  have  ever  been  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  medicine.  It  is  the  introduction  o{  Inoculation  of  Small' 
pox  as  a  substitute  for  the  natural  infection  :  it  is  in  fact  a  triumph 
over  that  mortal  scourge,  disarming  it  of  its  malignity,  and  reduc- 
ing it  to  comparative  mildness  and  safety.  If  reliance  can  be 
placed  on  tradition,  the  art  of  inoculation  may  be  traced  back  to 
remote  antiquity  ;*  but  it  was  not  until  the  first  part  of  the  18th 
century  that  it  attracted  the  notice  of  the  most  intelligent  and  en- 
lightened class  of  mankind,  and  it  was  first  regularly  adopted  in  Eng- 
land in  the  year  1721.  The  celebrated  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Mon- 
tague, having  resided  sometime  in  Constantinople,  became  ac- 
quainted -with  the  method  of  inoculation  as  practised  by  some 
Turkish  women,  and  satisfied  with  its  safety  and  salutary  effects, 
subjected  her  son  to  the   operation   of  engrafting  as  it  was  then 

*  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  many  countries  in  Europe,  and  in  Africa  and 
Asia,  particularly  in  Hindoostan  and  China,  inoculation  for  the  smallpox  was 
practised  by  the  common  people,  for  many  years  before  its  introduction  by  the  phy- 
sicians of  Great  Britain ;  and,  in  some  of  them,  as  far  back  as  tradition  can  be 
traced.  It  is  also  a  still  more  remarkable  fact,  that  in  Wales,  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  among  the  ignorant  peasantry  of  Germany,  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  and 
in  several  parts  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  distant  as  they«are  from  each  other,  dif- 
ferinn  widely  as  they  do,  in  manners,  customs,  law  and  religion,  the  art  of  com- 
munfcating  this  disease  by  inoculation  was  designated  by  the  singular  phrase  of 
buying  the  smallpox  ;  because  it  was  superstitiously  imagined  that  inoculation 
would  not  produce  the  proper  effect  unless  the  person  from  whom  the  variolous  mat- 
ter was  taken  received  a  piece  of  money,  or  some  article  in  exchange  for  it.  See 
Woodville's  history  of  Inoculation,  and  Miller's  18th  Century. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  21 

termed.  On  her  return  to  England,  she  directed  that  her  daug'.iter 
should  undergo  the  operation,  which  was  performed  by  her  sur- 
geon, Mr,  Maitland,  in  April,  1721,  and  this  was  the  first  instance 
of  inoculation  in  the  English  dominions.  About  the  same  time, 
Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  a  learned  divine  in  Boston,  having  observed 
in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  printed  in  London,  an  account 
of  inoculation  by  Timoni  &  Pylarini  in  Turkey,  communicated 
the  information  to  several  physicians  in  Boston,  who  treated  the 
subject  with  contempt.  He  then  recommended  to  his  friend  Dr.  * 
Zabdicl  Boylston  (h)  to  adopt  the  practice.  Accordingly  with 
the  little  information  which  he  could  obtain  from  that  publication, 
and  in  the  face  of  the  most  violent  opposition,  on  the  27th  day 
of  June,  1721,  Dr.  Boylston  inoculated  first  his  only  son  about 
thirteen  years  of  age,  and  two  negro  servants,  in  which  he  was 
completely  successful.  This  had  the  happy  tendency,  not  only  to 
confirm  in  his  own  mind  the  safety  and  utility  of  inoculation,  but 
in  some  degree  to  quiet  the  fears  of  others.  In  the  year  1721, 
and  first  part  of  1722,  Dr.  Boylston  inoculated  247  persons,  and 
39  were  inoculated  by  other  persons  in  Boston  and  its  vicinity. 
Of  this  number  six  only  died,  and  several  of  these  were  supposed 
to  have  taken  the  infection  before  inoculation.  In  the  same 
period,  5759  took  the  disease  the  natural  way,  of  whom  844  died, 
and  many  of  those  who  recovered  were  left  with  broken  constitu- 
tions and  disfigured  countenances.  The  degree  oi  odium  and /;er- 
secution  which  Dr.  Boylston  brought  upon  himself  by  this  very 
laudable  innovation,  is  almost  incredible.  His  house  was  attacked 
with  so  much  violence  that  he  and  his  family  could  not  feel  them- 
selves safe  in  it.  He  was  assaulted  in  the  streets,  loaded  with 
every  species  of  abuse,  and  execrated  as  a  murderer.  Indeed 
many  sober  pious  people  were  deliberately  of  opinion,  when  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  inoculation,  that  if  any  of  his  patients 
should  die,  he  ought  to  be  capitally  punished.  A  bill  was  brought 
into  the  legislature  for  prohibiting  the  practice  under  severe 
penalties,  and  it  actually  passed  the  house  of  representatives ;  but 
some  doubts  existing  in  the  council,  its  progress  was  arrested,  and 
it  never  became  a  law.  (Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts, 
vol.  2d.)  But  Dr.  Boylston  was  repeatedly  sumn)oned  before  the 
selectmen  of  Boston,  and  rciceived  their  reprehension.  He  not 
only  sufil'ered  the  greatest  indignity  from  an  enraged  populace,  but 
the  resentment  and  censure  of  his  professional  brethren,  who 
formed  a  powerful  combination  against  him  ;  although  he  repeat- 
edly invited  them  to  visit  his  patients  and  examine  for  their  satis- 
faction. The  novelty  of  the  subject  and  the  stiong  prejudices 
then  subsisting,  caused  much  public  agitation,  and  involved  both 
clergymen  and  physicians  in  a  spirited  and  intemperate  controver- 
sy. The  clergymen  in  general,  however,  acted  an  honorable  part 
and  many  of  them  became  zealous  advocates  of  the  new  practice, 
while  most  of  the  medical  faculty  were  its  active  and  violent  on- 


22  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

posers.  The  newspapers  teemed  with  pieces  on  both  sides  of  the 
interesting  controversy,  and  from  the  opponents  of  inoculation  is- 
sued some  of  a  virulent  and  scurrilous  character.  The  Netv  Eng- 
land Courant  printed  by  the  Franklins,  (the  young  philosopher 
himself  being  being  one  of  the  editors)  was  under  the  influence 
of  the  physicians,  who  abused  the  clergy  for  their  interference 
in  the  matter  in  controversy.  Some  of  the  clergy  received  per- 
sonal injury,  others  were  insulted  in  the  street,  and  were  hardly 
safe  in  their  houses,  nor  were  their  services  acceptable  on  Sun- 
day, until  the  success  of  the  practice  induced  the  people  to  think 
that  it  was  the  hand  of  Providence  in  their  favor.  Dr.  WiUiam 
Douglass,  (6)  a  Scotch  physician  of  considerable  reputation  in 
Boston,  took  the  first  rank  in  the  opposition,  and  his  coadjutors 
were  Larorcnce  Dalhondc,  a  French  practitioner  of  popular  ta- 
lents, and  Joseph  Marion.  Dr.  Douglass  was  a  man  of  learning 
and  abilities,  but  conceited  and  arrogant,  and  behaved  with  great 
disingenuousness  on  this  occasion.  He  published  Essays  on  In- 
oculated Smallpox  in  1722,  and  in  1730.  During  the  malevo- 
lent persecution  of  Dr.  Boylston,  Dr.  Dalhonde  was  prevailed 
upon  to  frame  a  singular  deposition  before  two  magistrates  in  Bos- 
ton, and  the  selectmen  of  that  town  had  the  eflVontery  to  publish 
it  in  support  of  their  opposition.  Notwithstanding  the  palpable 
falsehood  of  the  deposition,  it  was  not  only  industriously  circulat- 
ed in  New  England,  but  even  in  London,  where  it  was  reprinted 
to  expose  its  absurdity.  (See  note  A.  at  the  end  of  this  sketch.) 
Dr.  Boylston,  however,  being  a  man  of  great  benevolence 
and  courage,  in  despite  of  obloquy  and  opposition,  persever- 
ed in  his  professional  duty,  and  ultimately  enjoyed  the  happy 
results  of  his  very  useful  labors.  The  practice  of  inoculation 
gradually  gained  ground  and  became  general  in  New  England,  and 
in  a  iiiw  years  it  was  extended  to  New  York,  Philadelphia  and 
Charleston.  By  the  invitation  of  Sir  Ilans  Sloane,  Dr.  Boylston 
visited  London,  where  he  was  highly  respected,  and  honored  by 
being  elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  introduceil  into 
the  presence  of  the  royal  family.  While  in  that  city  in  17-'(),  he 
published  by  desire  of  the  Royal  Society,  an  historical  account 
of  the  smallpox  inoculation  as  practised  by  him  in  Boston,  which 
he  dedicated  to  Princess  Caroline,  and  after  his  return  it  was  re- 
printed in  Boston,  a  copy  of  which  has  been  deposited  in  the 
medical  library  at  Harvard  college,  by  Ward  Nicholas  Boylston, 
Esq.     See  the  biography  of  Dr.  Boylston  in  this  volume. 

In  the  year  17J~',  the  country  was  again  scourged  by  a  visita- 
tion of  sn^llpox,  and  by  order  of  the  magistrates  an  account  was 
taken  ofall  who  were  aflecied  with  the  disease,  either  in  the  natural 
way  or  by  inocul.iiion,  in  the  town  of  Boston,  and  rendered  on 
oath  ;  by  which  it  appears  that  the  number  of  inhabitants  amount- 
ed to  15,734.  The  whole  immber  of  smallpox  patients  the  na- 
tural way  was  5544,  of  which  514  died.     'The  number  of  inocu- 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  23 

lated  was  2113  of  which  30  died.  Hitherto  mercury  iiad  not 
been  employed  as  a  preparatory  for  inoculation  in  Boston  ;  but 
according  to  Dr.  Gale,  in  the  year  1764  three  thousand  persons 
recovered  from  inoculation  in  the  new  method  b}'  the  use  of  mer- 
cury, and  eight  only  died,  and  these  were  chiefly  children  under 
five  years  of  age.  Practitioners  in  general  had  not  at  this  lime 
abandoned  the  very  injurious  method  of  treatment  in  smallpox. 
Contrary  to  the  cooling  system  of  the  great  Sydenham,  the  sick 
were  warmly  covered  in  bed,  heating  and  stimulating  medicines 
were  freely  administered  with  the  view  of  keeping  out  the  erup- 
tion and  promoting  a  profuse  perspiration  ;  and  some  there  were 
who  would  not  permit  the  linen  of  the  sick  to  be  changed  during 
the  whole  course  of  the  disease,  however  copiously  the  bodily 
filth  might  have  been  accumulated.  But  about  the  year  1766,  Dr. 
Sutton,  an  English  physician,  and  Baron  Dimsdale,  an  experienced 
and  able  practitioner,  promulgated  their  improved  mode  of  treat- 
ment by  exposing  patients  to  the  cool  air,  allowing  them  to  drink 
cold  water,  and  administering  mercurial  purgatives  and  refrigeiant 
medicines.  Ancient  prejudices  soon  vanished,  and  the  new  plan 
gradually  became  general,  and  was  adopted  in  America  as  the 
most  rational  and  successful  method  of  treatment.  The  first  pub- 
lic hospitals  for  smallpox  inoculation  of  which  we  have  any  re- 
cord in  New  England,  were  opened  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  in 
1764,  one  at  Point  Shirly,  by  Dr.  William  Barnet,  from  New 
Jersey,  and  another  at  Castle  Willian),  in  Boston  harbor,  by  Dr. 
Samuel  Gelston,  of  Nantucket.  Mercury  was  at  this  period  in 
the  highest  repute  for  its  supposed  specific  powers  as  an  antidote 
to  the  variolous  poison,  and  it  constituted  a  part  of  the  prepara- 
tory course  of  every  experienced  inoculator.  When  the  British 
army  evacuated  the  town  of  Boston,  in  JMarch  1776,  the  small- 
pox was  found  lurking  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  and  to  pre- 
vent its  general  spreading  all  the  inhabitants  and  the  American 
troops  stationed  there  were  subjected  to  inoculation,  and  with  a 
successful  result.  Hospitals  for  the  purpose  of  inoculation  were 
again  established  in  various  parts  of  Massachusetts,  particularly 
at  Cambridge  and  Brookline,  by  Drs.  Isaac  Rand,  William  As- 
pinwall,  and  Lemuel  Hayward,  by  whom  more  than  two  thousand 
persons  were  inoculated  in  one  year,  and  by  whose  successful 
mode  of  treatment  the  practice  of  inoculation  was  greatly  encour- 
aged, and  its  benefits  extensively  difi'used.  The  high  confidence 
hitherto  reposed  in  the  efficacy  of  a  mercurial  course,  was  now 
considerably  diminished,  and  practitioners  were  daily  strengthen- 
ed in  the  opinion,  that  success  depended  principally  on  the  cool- 
ing regimen,  air  and  antiphlogistic  diet  with  which  it  was  ac- 
companied. 

The  smallpox  again  visited  the  town  of  Boston  as  an  epidemic  in 
1792.  The  whole  town  was  inoculated  in  three  days  to  appease 
the  infatuation  among  the  inhabitants  with  respect  to  the  danger  of 


24  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

infection  of  the  deadly  pestilence.  The  hurry  and  confusion  in 
which  inoculation  was  resorted  to  on  this  occasion,  precluded  the 
possibility  of  affording  in  every  instance  the  requisite  attention, 
and  of  adopting  the  most  judicious  and  eligible  mode  of  proce- 
dure. The  number  inoculated  was  9152  persons  indiscriminately, 
and  l65  deaths  were  the  consequence.  These,  however,  were 
chiefly  the  people  of  poor  families,  many  of  whom  were  destitute 
of  the  comforts  of  life.  Little  reliance  was  now  placed  on  the 
specific  action  of  mercury  in  this  disease.  In  many  instances  it 
was  entirely  dispensed  with,  and  shortly  after  altogether  abandoned. 

In  the  years  1735  and  1736,  the  disease  called  angina  ulcuscu- 
losa,  (angina  maligna)  prevailed  extensively  throughout  the  country 
in  its  most^malignant  form,  and  it  was  estimated  that  in  Massachu- 
setts alone  about  one  thousand  persons  became  its  victims.  On  this 
occasion  calomel  was  for  the  first  time  administered  as  a  remedy, 
and  attended  with  the  happiest  success,  arresting  in  a  surprising 
manner  the  fatal  tendency  of  the  disease.  Dr.  William  Douglass 
published  a  valuable  practical  essay  detailing  the  characteristics 
and  the  method  of  treatment  of  this  alarming  complaint. 

Among  the  earliest  publications  on  medical  subjects  in  America, 
was  an  essay  on  fevers,  published  in  Boston  in  1732,  by  Dr.  John 
Walton.  Dr.  John  Cutler  was  long  an  eminent  physician  and  sur- 
geon in  Boston.  He  was  the  preceptor  of  several  of  the  early  physi- 
cians, among  whom  was  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston.  The  gentlemen  now 
to  be  noticed  were  those  who  chiefly  commanded  the  practice  in 
Boston  during  the  middle  and  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  most  of  whom  were  employed  to  inoculate  the  poor  of  the 
town  when  the  smallpox  was  prevalent  among  them  in  the  year 
1764.  Dr.  Sylvester  Gardinei-  sustained  a  high  reputation  as  an 
operative  surgeon  and  was  for  a  long  period  the  most  noted  druggist 
in  New  England.  He  died  at  Newport,  in  1786,  aged  80  years. 
Dr.  Benjamin  Church  (h)  was  very  popular  among  the  whigs,  and 
was  gaining  practice  before  his  unfortunate  transaction  in  1775. 
Dr.  James  Lloyd,  (h)  was  considered  as  highly  accomplished  in  all 
the  branches  of  the  profession,  but  particularly  distinguished  for 
his  skill  in  surgery  and  midwifery,  being  the  first  and  most  eminent 
practitioner  in  this  latter  branch  in  Boston,  and  probably  in  New 
England.  He  kept  a  genteel  equipage,  and  entertained  company 
with  great  liberality,  and  he  commanded  a  more  respectable  cir- 
cle of  professional  business  than  any  other  phj'sician  of  his  day. 
Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  (b)  memorable  for  patriotism  and  public  virtue, 
was  in  a  full  circle  of  medical  practice,  and  educated  a  number  of 
young  gentlemen  for  the  profession  before  the  event  of  the  battle 
in  which  he  so  gallantly  sacrificed  his  life.  Dr.  Thomas  Bulfinch, 
senr.  (6)  was  in  much  repute  in  his  profession.  Dr.  Thomas  Bid- 
jinch,  junr.  (/>)  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  very  genteel  practice,  and 
lived  in  a  handsome  style,  keeping  a  chariot,  and  was  greatly  valued 
and   respected    by  all  who   required   his   attendance.     Dr.  Miles 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  25 

Wliitivorth  was  considered  as  possessing  good  medical  abilities, 
cTiid,  residing  in  Boston  during  the  siege,  he  was  the  attending 
|)iiysici;ui  and  surgeon  of  the  American  prisoners  who  were  wound- 
ed in  the  battle  on  Bunker's  Hill  in  1775.  They  were  thrown 
into  the  common  jail  in  Boston,  and  provided  with  little  more  than 
the  ordinary  jail  provisions,  in  consequence  of  which  they  suffer- 
ed greatly,  and  many  died,  in  particular  Lieutenant  Colonel  Gardi- 
ner, or  Parker,  a  very  respectable  man  ;  but  their  sufierings  were 
greatly  alleviated  by  the  humane  attentions  of  Dr.  Wliitworth.  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Perkins  practised  in  Boston  before  the  revolutionary 
war,  and  was  very  respectable  and  popular.  Drs.  William  Lee 
Perkins,  John  Perkins,  Philip  Godfrey,  Benjamin  Curtis,  Kast, 
(h)  Roberts,  Barret,  Pecker,  and  Pyncheon,  were  contempora- 
ries and  enjoyed  a  good  share  of  professional  reputation  and  prac- 
tice, in  Boston.  Dr.  Joseph  Gardener  was  in  high  reputation  both 
as  a  physician  and  surgeon,  and  was  a  dexterous  operator.  He 
pretended  that  he  regarded  learning  as  superfluous  in  a  physician, 
that  the  bedside  was  the  only  school  for  a  practitioner  ;  but  he 
did,  nevertheless,  devote  some  time  to  study,  and  was  more  learn- 
ed than  he  chose  to  appear  to  be.  He  was  remarkable  for  wit  and 
satire,  and  retained  his  popularity  duiing  life.  Dr.  Joseph  ^Vh^p- 
ple  was  taken  under  the  patronage  of  Dr.  Gardener,  was  for  some 
time  secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  was  rising 
from  small  beginnings  into  notice  and  business,  but  died  in  1804, 
aged  48  years.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Applcton,  was  a  most  amiable  man, 
but  too  ditildent  to  display  his  real  worth  and  abilities,  which  were 
far  above  mediocrity.  Dr.  Charles  Jarris  (b)  was  held  in  much 
respect,  and  greatly  beloved  as  a  physician,  and  distinguished  in 
the  ranks  of  democracy  as  an  active  politician,  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  federal  constitution. 

Dr.  John  Sprague  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Dalhonde,  of  Boston,  whose 
daughter  he  married.  He  early  entered  into  extensive  practice  in 
Boston,  and  accumulated  large  property.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
a  man  of  a  good  deal  of  natural  acumen,  of  considerable  reading, 
and  of  nice  observation,  and  a  very  successful  practitioner  ;  he 
had  a  singular  bluntness  in  his  manners,  but  was  amiable  in  his 
temper,  a  lover  of  money,  but  indulgent  to  his  debtors.  Havin"- 
married  a  second  wife,  who  was  a  lady  of  fortune,  he  retired  and 
spent  his  last  days  in  Dedhara.  Dr.  John  Homans  wns  a  Surgeon 
in  the  army  during  the  revolutionary  war,  after  which  he  settled 
in  Boston,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society.  He  received  from  nature  a  great  share  of  good  sense, 
which  was  well  cultivated,  and  as  a  physician  he  was  much  era- 
ployed  and  highly  approved,  being  considered  inferior  to  no  one 
of  his  age.  He  discharged  the  duties  of  his  profession  with  ten- 
derness and  humanity,  and  to  the  poor  with  disinterested  benevo- 
lence. In  1800  he  undertook  a  voyage  for  the  recovery  of  his 
4 


m 


26  HISTORY    OF    MEDlCIxNE    IN    AMERICA. 

heahli,  but  died  ou  the  second  day  after  the  departure  of  the  ves- 
sel, June  3d,  in  the  47th  year  of  his  age. 

The  means  of  medical  education  in  New-England  were  more 
limited  and  deficient  than  in  the  middle  and  southern  provinces  ; 
no  medical  school  nor  public  lectures  were  known.  But  when  the 
alarm  of  war  pervaded  our  country,  and  an  army  was  formed,  a 
new  and  vigorous  impulse  was  given  to  the  investigation  of  sub- 
jects pertaining  to  medicine  and  surgery.  Military  hospitals  were 
established  under  the  auspices  of  the  most  eminent  professional 
characters,  affording  a  fund  of  practical  knowledge  ;  and  no  cir- 
cumstance in  our  history  could  have  been  more  efficient  in  accele- 
rating improvements  in  the  most  important  of  all  the  sciences.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  since  the  close  of  the  war  for  independence, 
that  any  thing  more  than  a  tardy  and  silent  progress  could  have 
been  expected,  as  our  existing  embarrassments  and  necessities  re- 
quired all  our  efforts  and  resources.  It  was,  at  the  early  part  of 
the  war,  found  extremely  difficult  to  select  medical  men  who  were 
fully  competent  to  the  arduous  duties  pertaining  to  the  higher 
stations  in  the  hospital  department ;  and  numerous  embarrassments 
and  sufferings  were  experienced,  till  at  length  the  most  important 
offices  were  occupied  by  men  no  less  distinguished  for  public  vir- 
tue and  genuine  patriotism,  than  for  medical  dignity  and  emi- 
nence.* Their  united  wisdom  and  skill  were  happily  directed  to 
the  melioration  of  the  condition  of  our  military  medical  establish- 
ments, and  ultimately  to  the  promotion  of  professional  knowledge, 
and  the  faithful  discharge  of  duty  among  the  surgeons  of  the  army. 
Since  the  termination  of  our  glorious  struggle  in  the  cause  of  liber- 
ty, the  dark  clouds  which,  in  our  infant  state,  enveloped  the  science 
of  medicine,  have  been  gradually  dissipated,  our  imprisoned  men- 
tal powers  and  faculties  liberated  and  improved,  and  our  medical 
character,  like  our  national  Independence,  has  been  honorably  and 
advantageously  established.  In  the  year  1781,  and  in  several  pre- 
ceding years,  great  difficulties  were  experienced  among  profession- 
al men,  by  the  fluctuating  state  of  the  old  continental  paper  mo- 
ney.    In  order  to  obviate  as  far  as  was   practicable  the  inconve- 

*  The  first  Director  General  of  our  military  hospitals  was  Dr,  Benjamin  Church, 
of  Boston  ;  but  being,  soon  after  his  appointment,  charged  with  a  treasonable  corres- 
pondence with  the  British,  he  was  tried  and  dismissed,  and  Dr.  John  Morgan,  of 
Philadelphia,  succeeded  to  his  office.  This  gentleman  was,  however,  superseded  by 
Dr.  William  Shippen,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  was  appointed  Physician  General  to 
the  army,  but  a  short  time  after  he  was  induced  to  resign  his  commission.  The 
following  gentlemen  are  personally  recollected  as  holding  the  stations  of  Physician 
or  Surgeon  General  or  Deputy  Director  General  of  the  different  departments  of  the 
army,  viz.: — Malachi  Treat,  John  Cochran  and  Samuel  Stringer,  of  New-York  ; 
Jetiathan  Potts,  of  Pennsylvania  ;  Robert  Johnston  and  J.  Brown,  of  Maryland  or 
Carolina  ;  James  Craik,  of  Virginia;  and  Isaac  Foster,  of  Massachusetts.  Andrew 
Craigie,  Apothecary  General.  Those  who  served  as  Hospital  or  Regimental  Sur- 
geons, belonging  to  Massachusetts,  during  the  war,  were — Isaac  Foster,  Samuel 
Adams,  John  Warren,  William  Eustis,  David  Townsend,  John  Homans,  Joh» 
Hart,  Joseph  Fisk,  John  Thoma*.  Abijah  Richardson,  Daniel  Shutc,  Jair.c«  Thacherc 


HISTORF    OF    MEDICINE    IJS    AMERICA.  27 

nience  and  loss  sustained  from  this  cause,  tlie  physicians  of  Boston 
instituted  a  club,  the  meetings  of  which  were  hold  at  the  Green 
Dragon  tavern.  Physicians'  fees  had  been  much  below  par,  and 
when  paid  in  depreciated  paper  money,  little  or  nothing  could  be 
realized  from  them.  The  fee  for  a  visit  was  one  shilling  and  six- 
pence, afterwards  increased  to  two  shillings.  Midwifery  and  capi- 
tal operations  were  at  a  guinea,  with  charges  for  after  visits.  The 
first  fees  established  by  the  medical  club,  were  fifty  cents  for  a 
visit ;  if  in  consultation,  one  dollar  :  rising  and  visit  in  the  night, 
after  11  o'clock  and  before  sunrise,  double  fee  :  obstetrical  case, 
eight  dollars:  capital  operation  in  surgery,  five  pounds:  reducing 
a  dislocation,  or  setting  a  fractured  bone,  one  guinea  :  bleeding, 
opening  abscess,  extracting  tooth,  fifty  cents,  and  the  usual  fee  for 
visit  was  added.  All  accounts  were  to  be  calculated  in  hard  mo- 
ney, and,  if  paid  in  paper,  according  to  such  agreement  as  could  be 
made  with  the  parties.  The  profession  was  much  benefited  by 
these  regulations,  having  a  happy  tendency  to  bring  physicians  ac- 
quainted with  each  other,  and  to  promote  harmony  and  good  fel- 
lowship ;  all  party  politics  were  prohibited  at  their  meetings,  and 
the  medical  fees  were  made  more  adequate  to  the  services  per- 
formed. 

In  1784  scarlatina  maligna  appeared,  and  spread  through  the 
New-England  states,  but  it  was  more  benign  in  its  eflects  than  for- 
merly. But  a  more  distressing  calamity  visited  the  town  of  Boston 
in  1798  :  the  yellow  fever  made  its  appearance,  and  exhibited 
every  mark  of  great  malignity.  Although  it  was  limited  to  a  small 
section  of  the  town,  the  deaths  were  about  one  hundred  and  fortv- 
five,  during  the  few  months  of  its  continuance.  There  were  no 
evidences  of  its  having  been  imported,  nor  any  instance  to  justify 
the  supposition  of  its  being  contagious.  Boston  was  again  visited 
by  this  fatal  malady  in  1802,  with  all  the  circumstances  of  its  for- 
mer malignant  and  destructive  nature,  and  about  fifty  persons  were 
its  victims.* 

It  should  be  noticed  in  this  sketch,  that,  from  about  the  first 
part  of  the  18th  century,  it  has  been  the  practice  of  many  physi- 
cians of  eminence  in  New-England,  to  administer  mercury  as  an  / 
efficacious  remedy  in  febrile  diseases  of  every  description.  It  was 
employed,  not  so  much  for  its  evacuating  power,  as  with  the  inten- 
tion of  introducing  it  gradually  into  the  system  as  an  alterative. 
The  fullest  confidence  was  reposed  in  a  moderate  course  of  mer- 
cury in  pleurisies  and  peripneumonies,  esteeming  it  as  the  most 
efficacious  attenuant  and  expectorant  which  the  materia  medica 
afforded.  But  the  strongest  prejudices  against  the  use  of  mercury 
subsisted  among  all  classes  of  people,  and  physicians  were  obliged 
to  observe  the  utmost  caution  in  its  administration,  as  their  popu- 

*  A  more  particular  account  of  the  yellow  fever  will  be  found  under  the  head  of 
Pennsylvania. 


28  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

larity  depended  upon  concealment.  It  was  customary  to  give  it 
the  significant  term  oi ponderous  medicine,  imagining  that  mercury 
acts  upon  the  system  by  its  ponderosity,  destroying  the  too  great 
siziness  of  the  blood,  and  rendering  pervious  such  vessels  as  might 
be  obstructed  by  the  Error  loci  of  Boerhaave.  In  various  chro- 
nic diseases,  a  deobstruent  course,  in  the  form  of  Plummer's  pills, 
was  a  favorite  remedy. 

Among  the  epidemics  which  have  visited  our  country,  the»  In- 
fluenza, or  Tussis  Epidemica  of  Sydenham,  deserves  some  notice 
in  this  place.  It  has  prevailed  in  America  at  nine  or  ten  different 
periods  since  the  year  1733  ;  but  in  the  autumns  of  1789  and  1807, 
it  was  more  universally  extensive  and  severe  in  its  effects  than  at 
any  preceding  era  of  its  visitation.  It  first  appeared  at  New-York 
and  Philadelphia,  from  whence  it  was,  in  a  short  time,  diffused 
through  every  part  of  the  continent.  It  was  estimated  at  the  time 
that  three  fourths  of  the  inhabitants  were,  in  a  few  days,  affected 
with  this  singular  epidemic,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  The 
amazing  rapidity  with  which  it  spread  through  the  country,  resem- 
bled more  a  storm  agitating  the  atmosphere,  than  the  natural  pro- 
gress of  a  disease  from  any  contagious  source.  Almost  a  whole 
city,  town,  or  neighborhood,  became  affected  with  its  influence  in 
a  few  days,  and  as  it  did  not  incapacitate  people  in  general  from 
pursuing  their  ordinary  occupations,  it  was  common  to  observe  in 
every  street  and  place  of  resort,  a  constant  coughing,  hawking,  and 
wheezing,  and  in  public  assemblies  little  else  was  to  be  heard  or 
attended  to.  Although  all  classes  of  people  experienced  the  ope- 
ration of  the  influenza,  it  is  remarkable  that  a  small  number, 
comparatively  speaking,  were  so  ill  as  to  require  medical  atlend- 
ance,  and  instances  of  its  fatal  termination  were  of  rare  occurrence. 

In  the  year  1799  the  glorious  discovery  of  the  vaccine  disease, 
which  renders  the  human  system  unsusceptible  of  the  smallpox, 
was  announced  in  our  newspapers  and  in  the  Medical  Repository 
of  New-York.  The  honor  of  this  important  discovery  belongs  to 
the  late  Dr.  Edward  Jenner,  a  celebrated  English  physician.  Dr. 
George  Pearson,  of  St.  George's  Hospital,  had  some  agency  in  as- 
certaining the  fact  familiarly  known  for  years  before,  tliat  the  dai- 
ry maids  were  proof  against  the  smallpox,  and  suggested  the  use 
that  might  probably  be  made  of  that  fact.*  Dr.  Jenner,  with  ereat 
perseverance,  matured  and  fully  established  the  prophylactic"  efli- 
cacy  of  the  vaccine  disease,  and  for  his  invaluable  enterprise  the 
British  Parliament  granted  him  an  honorable  and  liberal  reward. 
The  first  information  relative  to  this  novel  and  singular  discovery 

*  Dr.  Pearson  transmitted  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Hosack,  of  New- York,  a  thread  im- 
pregnated with  the  matter  of  the  vaccine  virus ;  and  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  H.,  towards 
the  close  of  179S,  and  which  accompanied  a  copy  of  his  "  Inquiry  concerning  the 
History  of  the  Cowpox,"  published  in  London,  November,  1797,  he  says,  "  I  now 
send  you  my  proof  sheets  of  a  new  work  on  a  subject  which  will  mucli  surprise  you, 
3nd  which  promises  to  supersede  that  most  loathsome  disease,  the  smallpox." 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  29 

although    from  unquestionable   authority,  did  not   receive  in   our 
country  universal  credence.   By  some  it  was  treated  as  chimerical, 
while  others  resolved  to  suspend  their  opinion  for  the  issue  of  fu- 
ture experiments.     Dr.  Benjamin  Waterhouse,  however,  then  Pro- 
fessor of  Medicine  in  the  University  at  Cambridge,  did  not  hesitate 
to  proclaim  his  full  confidence  in  the  statements  and  facts,  which 
he  had  received  directly  from  Dr.  Jenner.      In   July,   1800,  ho 
procured  matter  from   thence,  and  tested  the  experiment  in  the 
persons  of  four  of  his  own  children,  the  eldest  about  seven  years 
of  age,  who   thus  became  the  first  subjects   of  vaccination  in  the 
United  States  ;  and  being  afterwards  exposed  to  smallpox  infection 
in  the  hospital  of  Dr.  Aspinwall,  they  proved  to   be  unsusceptible 
of  its  influence.      This  very  laudable  example  was  soon  followed 
by  many  others,  some  of  whom  were  tested  by  variolous  infection, 
with  the  happiest  result.     These  first  successful  examples  produced 
in  a  great  degree  the  desired  effect  of  establishing  the  public  confi- 
dence in  the  prophylactic  efficacy  of  the  vaccine  disease.      In  the 
same  year  and  at  subsequent  periods.  Dr.  Waterhouse  presented 
to  the  public,  historical  and  practical  treatises  on  the  cowpox,  and 
communicated,  through  the  medium  of  newspapers,  useful  and  dis- 
criminating directions  and  precautions  relative  to  the  genuine  dis- 
ease.    In  the  following  September,  Dr.  James  Jackson,  of  Boston, 
returned  from  London,  and   having  acquired  experimental  know- 
ledge, by  attending  the  practice  of  vaccination  with  Dr.  Woodville, 
generously  contributed  to  its  propagation  in  Boston  and   the  vici- 
nity.     In  the  same  year.  Dr.  Miller,  of  New-York,  received  vac- 
cine matter  from  Dr.  Pearson,  of  London,  which  failed,  however, 
to   produce  the  genuine  disease,  nor  was  another  supply,  sent  on 
from  Boston,  attended  with  better  success.     In  fact,  spurious  mat- 
ter, in  some  instances,  and  want  of  skill  and   experience   in   the 
operator  in   others,  occasioned  numerous  failures  during  the  first 
attempts,  which  had   the  effect  of  damping  public  confidence,  and 
restricting  the  exertions  of  the  friends  of  vaccination.     The  Mas- 
sachusetts Medical  Society,  early  in  1801,  addressed  an  application 
to  the  Vaccine  Institution  in  England,  requesting  a  supply  of  mat- 
ter.    Publications  on  this  new  subject  were  now  continually  multi- 
plying,  and  the  most  gratifying  evidences  in  favor  of  vaccination 
issued  from  various  quarters.     In  the  year  1802  the  Boston  Board 
of  Health   directed   nineteen  persons  to  be  vaccinated  under  their 
inspection,  all  of  whom  were  afterwards  tested  by   the   smallpox 
infection   in   the    most  satisfactory  manner   and  with  the  happiest 
result.      In  the  following  year  the  junior  physicians  of  Boston 
formed  an  association  for  the  express  purpose  of  bestowing  gratui- 
tously the  benefits  of  vaccination  upon  the  indigent,  and  of  disse- 
minating the  matter  among  medical  practitioners. 

In  1808,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Counsellors  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  all 
the  evidence  which  had  transpired  respecting  the  efficacy  of  the 


30  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

cowpox,  as  preventive  of  smallpox,  and  to  report  the  most  eligible 
method  of  conducting  the  practice.  A  copious  and  interesting  re- 
port was  made  and  published  in  the  communications  of  the  society, 
accompanied  with  evidence  sufficiently  strong  to  remove  every 
vestige  of  prejudice  and  uncertainty  relative  to  the  prophylactic 
powers  of  vaccination.  In  the  year  1809,  the  towns  of  Milton  and 
New-Bedford  made  arrangements  for  the  vaccination  of  a  conside- 
rable proportion  of  their  inhabitants,  which  was  attended  with  a 
successful  result.  The  next  attempt  to  disseminate  the  advantages 
of  vaccination  will  be  found  in  the  transactions  of  the  legislature 
of  Massachusetts,  who,  in  1810,  authorized  the  several  towns  to 
appoint  committees,  and  raise  monies  annually  for  this  important 
purpose.  At  length  the  glorious  triumph  of  vaccination  over  that 
most  dreaded  scourge  of  the  human  race,  the  smallpox,  became  es- 
tablished by  incontestable  proofs,  and  has  received  the  sanction 
and  applause  of  the  community,  and  of  the  wise  and  learned  in  the 
remotest  regions  of  the  earth.  We  can  now  congratulate  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  who,  in  common  with  the  whole  civil- 
ized world,  are  in  possession  of  this  heavenly  blessing, — a  blessing 
which  eradicates  from  the  catalogue  of  human  miseries  the  most 
loathsome  and  fatal  disease,  and  which  happily  closes  one  of  the 
most  crowded  avenues  to  the  tomb. 

The  horrors  occasioned  by  the  ravages  of  the  yellow  fever  in 
our  cities  had  scarcely  ceased,  when  another  epidemic  equally  for- 
midable and  malignant  in  its  nature,  and  fatal  in  its  consequences, 
commenced  its  distressing  career,  and  spread  terror  and  desola- 
tion through  the  interior  of  the  country.  This  malady,  which  has 
obtained  the  name  oi  spotted  fever,  was  first  noticed  by  Drs.  Dan- 
ielson  and  Mann,  at  Medfield,  Mass.,  in  March,  1806.  Its  ravages 
were  afterwards  experienced  in  Connecticut,  and  in  1810  it  pre- 
vailed in  the  county  of  Worcester  with  unexampled  mortality, 
baffling  the  powers  of  medicine,  and  setting  at  defiance  the  best 
skill  of  physicians.  On  this  alarming  occasion,  the  Counsellors  of 
the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  appointed  a  committee,  with 
instructions  to  make  all  possible  inquiry  and  investigation  relative 
to  the  disease  in  question.  Their  report  as  to  its  causes,  history 
and  mode  of  treatment,  was  elaborate,  honorable  to  themselves, 
and  of  great  practical  utility.  The  fact  has  been  well  ascertained 
that  the  disease  is  not  contagious,  as  was  by  some  at  first  appre- 
hended. It  is  remarkable  of  this  epidemic,  that  it  is  most  rife  in 
the  cold  seasons  of  winter  and  spring,  and  that  it  is  more  prevalent 
and  genuine,  in  its  character,  in  the  interior,  than  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  sea-board.  But,  wherever  it  waves  its  standard,  the  arrows 
of  death  cross  its  paths,  and  all  classes  and  sexes  become  its  indis- 
criminate victims.  In  some  situations  and  seasons,  the  proportion 
of  deaths,  in  severe  cases,  is  supposed  to  have  been  more  than  one 
half  of  the  number  seized.  One  instance  occurred,  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  any  place  where  the  disease  was  known  to  exist,  of 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  31 

the  death  of  seven  adult  persons  out  of  eight,  belonging  to  four  or 
five  contiguous  families,  before  the  fifth  day,  and  the  eighth  sur- 
vived but  a  few  days  longer.  In  other  more  favorable  instances, 
and  under  a  more  improved  and  judicious  mode  of  treatment,  the 
number  of  deaths,  it  is  said,  has  not  exceeded  one  in  sixty  or 
eighty.  In  many  instances  of  this  formidable  disease,  Dr.  Fow- 
ler's arsenical  solution  proved  to  be  a  remedy  superior  to  any 
other  that  was  employed. 

In  the  autumn  of  1812,  a  formidable  epidemic  made  its  appear- 
ance among  the  soldiers  of  the  United  States'  Army  at  Greenbush, 
and  other  military  stations,  where  its  desolating  efiects  were  mark- 
ed with  great  severity.  During  the  winter  and  spring  of  1813,  it 
was  prevalent  and  extremely  fatal  among  the  inhabitants  of  Ver- 
mont, in  the  upper  parts  of  the  state  of  New-York,  in  several 
towns  in  the  interior  of  Massachusetts  and  the  state  of  Maine,  as- 
suming a  multitude  of  treacherous  shapes,  and  triumphing  over  its 
victims  with  inexorable  sway.  This  pestilence  has  been  termed 
bilious  peripneumony,  or  typhoid  peripneumony,  according  to  its 
various  symptoms  and  forms  ;  and  Dr.  Thomas  Miner  has  denomi- 
nated it  typhus  syncopalis.  In  some  of  its  appearances  and  forms 
it  may  be  identified  with  the  petechial  fever  above  mentioned,  and, 
if  it  be  a  distinct  disease,  there  is  an  obvious  and  close  analogy  in 
their  nature  and  character.  It  has  been  remarked  that  the  pete- 
chial fever  produces  a  peculiar  derangement  of  the  functions  of 
the  brain,  while  this  latter  epidemic  directs  its  morbid  powers  to 
the  pleura,  lungs,  heart  and  its  membranes. 

The  university  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  has  contributed  to  the  in- 
terest and  advancement  of  medical  science,  by  an  institution  found- 
ed on  the  generous  benefactions  of  several  enlightened  and  liberal  in- 
dividuals. Dr.  Ezekiel  Hersey,  of  Hingham,  who  died  in  1770,  be- 
queathed one  thousand  pounds,  and  his  widow,  at  her  decease,  a 
like  sum,  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of  a  professor  of  anatomy 
and  surgery.  His  brother,  Dr.  Abner  Hersey,  of  Barnstable,  who 
died  in  1786,  and  Dr.  John  Cuming,  of  Concord,  were  also  donors 
to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  pounds  each  for  the  same  laudable 
purpose  ;  and  William  Erving,  Esq.  of  Boston,  left  one  thousand 
pounds  towards  the  support  of  an  additional  professor.  In  conform- 
ity with  the  views  of  the  patrons  and  donors,  professors  of  talents 
and  character  were  in  1782  appointed,  by  whom  lectures  on  the 
several  branches  were  regularly  delivered,  and  students  received 
the  honors  of  the  institution.  In  1780,  Dr.  John  Warren,  while 
surgeon  of  a  military  hospital  in  Boston,  commenced  a  course  of 
anatomical  lectures,  and  in  the  following  year  they  were  attended 
by  the  students  of  the  university.  Dr.  Warren  furnished  a  plan 
for  a  medical  school  which  was  adopted  by  the  corporation  of 
Harvard  college,  and  he  was  appointed  first  professor  of  anatomy 
and  surgery,  Dr.  Benjamin  Waterhouse  professor  of  the  theory 
and  practice  of  physic,  and  Dr.  Aaron  Dexter,  professor  of  cheni- 


32  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

istry.     This  was  the  first  essay  made  in  New  England,  for  the 
establishment  of  an   institution   for  medical   education.     George 
Holmes  Hall   and  John  Fleet,  were  the   first  who  were   admitted 
in  course  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  at  the  university,  iu 
the  year  1788.     From  a  spirit  of  envy  and  jealousy  towards  the 
professors,  great  opposition  was  made  to  the  degree  being  confer- 
red upon  the  two  candidates,  and  it  was  by  the  address  and  perse- 
verance of  Dr.  Warren,  that  the  object  was  finally  acomplished. 
In  consequence  of  many   inconveniences,  both  to  professors  and 
students,  and  of  the   superior  advantages  which  might  result  from 
lectures  delivered  in  a  more  populous  situation,  the  Corporation 
and  board  of  Overseers  of  Harvard  University  deemed  it  expe- 
dient to  establish  a  medical  school  in  the  town  of  Boston.     The 
several  courses  of  lectures  were  accordingly  transferred,  and  com- 
menced in  that  metropolis  in    December,  1810.     The  immediate 
accession  to  the  number  of  students,  presents   the   most   abundant 
and  conclusive  evidence,  that  the  high  expectations  entertained  of 
the  superior  advantages,  which  would  be  realized  by   the  removal 
from    Cambridge,  were   not   imaginary.     The  annual  increase  of 
numbers  at  the  Boston  school,  and  the  favorable   attestations   that 
their  labors  are  justly  appreciated,  must  afi'ord  the  learned  teach- 
ers the  highest  gratification.     It  must  be  conceded  that  the  privi- 
leges and  the  means  of  acquiring  medical  knowledge,  in  our  me- 
tropolis, are  such   as  to  justify  the  respect  and  full  confidence  of 
the  public.     The  legislature  of  Massachusetts   have   granted  the 
sum  of  $20,000  to  Harvard  University,  for  the  liberal  purpose  of 
improvement  in  the  department  of  medicine.     The  professors  are 
furnished   with  a  very  valuable  and  extensive  chemical  apparatus, 
which,  by  recent  improvements   and  additions,  is  supposed   to   be 
most  complete  of  any  to  be  found  in  the  United   States.     The 
university  is  also  indebted  to   the  liberality  of  Elias   H.   Derby, 
Esq.  of  Salem,  for  a  fine  collection  of  curious  imitations  in  wax  of 
various  parts  of  the  human  body  from  Italy.     In  addition  to  the 
foregoing  donations,  very  important  contributions   have  been   re- 
ceived from  Ward  Nicholas  Boylston,  Esq.     In  the  year  1798, 
this  noble  spirited  gentleman  secured  to  the  college  an  annuity  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars,  one  hundred  dollars  of  the 
sum  to  be  offered  annually  in  prizes  for  three  best  dissertations  on 
medical  subjects.     The  subjects  to  be   given  out,  and  the  prizes 
adjudged  by  a  committee  of  medical  gentlemen  appointed  by  the 
corporation.     The  remainder  of  this  annuity  was   to   be   carried 
annually  to  a  fund  for  establishing  an  anatomical  museum,  and 
when  the  prizes  are  not  assigned,  that  part  of  the  annuity  was  to 
be  added  to  the  fund  for  the  museum  as  above.     For  several  years 
three  prizes  were  offered,  of  late  only  two  of  fifty  dollars  each,  or 
a  medal  of  that  value  are  proposed.     In  1817,  Mr.  Boylston  secu- 
red to  the  university  an  annuity  of  sixty  dollars  to  be  applied  in 


illSTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  S3 

five  premiums,  two  of  fifteen,  and  three  of  ten  dollars  each,  or 
medals  of  that  value  to  those  who  should  excel  in  elocution  at  a 
public  trial  in  speaking  the  day  after  commencement  ;  the  cor- 
poration to  join  with  them  five  gentlemen  as  judges  of  the  perform- 
ances. The  college  is  also  indebted  to  Mr.  Boylston,  for  his 
good  offices  in  behalf  of  the  university,  with  his  friend  John  Nich- 
olls,  L.L.  D.  of  London,  who  presented  a  valuable  part  of  the 
injected  anatomical  preparations  of  his  father,  Dr.  Frank,  Nicholls, 
and  a  manuscript  owned  by  Dr.  Mead,  an  admirable  specimen  of 
chirography.  Mr.  Boylston  is  the  founder  at  the  university  of 
the  Boylston  medical  library,  consisting  at  present  of  900  volumes 
of  select  works  in  medicine  and  surgery.  Premiums  have  been 
annually  awarded,  agreeably  to  the  design  of  the  founder,  for  in- 
genious and  approved  dissertations,  which  sufficiently  evince  that 
this  generous  establishment  is  well  calculated  to  inspire  the  desired 
laudable  emulation  among  professional  men  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion, and  to  promote  the  interest  of  medical  science  in  general.* 
Candidates  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  must  attend  two 
courses  of  the  lectures  of  each  of  the  medical  professors  in  this  i 
university,  and  also  their  clinical  practice  in  medicine  and  surgery  ^ 
during  their  lectures.  They  must  study  two  years  under  the 
direction  of  a  regular  practitioner  of  medicine,  and  allow  a  third 
to  elapse  before  they  can  be  examined.  Provided,  however,  that, 
in  extraordinary  cases,  the  medical  professors,  with  the  consent  of 
the  president,  may  dispense  with  one  course  of  lectures  on  such 
conditions  as  may  be  thought  reasonable.  Those  who  have  not 
received  a  university  education,  must  satisfy  the  president  and 
medical  professors,  of  their  knowledge  in  the  Latin  language  and 
in  experimental  philosophy.  The  examination  of  candidates 
commences  on  the  second  Wednesday  after  the  termination  of  the 
winter  course  of  lectures,  and  the  subjects  of  their  examination  are 
anatomy,  surgery  and  midwifery,  the  theory  and  practice  of  medi- 
cine, chemistry,  materia  medica  and  clinical  medicine.  Each  of 
the  candidates  approved  prepares  an  inaugural  dissertation  on 
some  medical  subject,  which  dissertation,  having  been  submitted 
to  the  faculty  of  medicine,  at  least  fourteen  days  before,  is  read 
and  defended  at  a  public  examination,  in  the  philosophy  chamber 
at  Cambridge,  on  the  Friday  preceding  the  last  Wednesday  iii 


*  The  annual  proceeds  of  the  Boylston  fund  amount  to  one  hundred  dollars, 
which  are  divided  into  two  premiums,  to  be  awarded  as  above  mentioned.  Mr. 
Boylston  has  recently  established  another  prize  fund  in  connexion  with  the  Boyls- 
ton Medical  Society,  particularly  for  the  medical  class  attending  lectures  in  the 
university,  and  designed  esjjecially  to  improve  young  men  in  the  style  of  writing 
on  medical  subjects.  This jiistitution  has  already  produced  very  beneficial  effects. 
We  rejoice  that  the  valuable  life  of  the  liberal  minded  donor  has  been  protracted  to 
witness  the  great  utility  of  his  munificence  ;  and  it  should  be  gratefully  acknow- 
ledged that  he  has  devoted  his  wealth  and  influence  to  the  promotion  of  medical 
•cience  to  a  greater  e:<tont  than  any  other  individunl  in  America. 


34  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

August,  in  presence  of  the  governors  and  instructors  of  the  univer- 
sity, and  such  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and 
other  individuals  as  may  choose  to  attend.  Each  successful  candi- 
date is  admitted  to  receive  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine,  at 
the  ensuing  commencement.  In  the  year  1809,  John  C.  Warren, 
M,  D.  was  associated  with  his  father  as  adjunct  professor  of  anat- 
omy and  surgery,  and  John  Gorham,  M.  D.  adjunct  professor  of 
chemistry  ;  and  in  1812,  James  Jackson,  M.  D.  superseded  Dr. 
B.  Waterhouse,  as  professor  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  physic. 
November  1st.  1815,  John  C.  Warren,  M.  D.  was  inaugurated  at 
the  University  Hall,  professor  of  anatomy  and  surgery,  as  succes- 
sor to  the'  late  lamented  Professor  Warren,  who  held  that  station 
for  many  years  with  great  honor  to  himself  and  advantage  to  the 
institution,  and  who  was  no  less  distinguished  for  his  talents  and 
virtues  than  zeal  and  success  in  performing  the  arduous  duties  of 
his  profession.  On  this  occasion  was  announced  the  appointment 
of  Jacob  IVigelow,  M.  D.  as  lecturer  on  materia  medica,  and  Wal- 
ter C banning,  M.  D.  as  lecturer  on  the  theory  and  practice  of 
midwifery  in  the  university.     The  present  professors  are 

John  C.  Warren,  INI.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomij  and  Surgery. 

John  W.  Webster,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chcmistri/. 

Walter  C banning,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Midwifery  and  Medical 

Jurisprudence. 
Jacob  Bigelow,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 
James  Jackson,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and   Practice  of 

Physic. 

Berkshire  Medical  Institution,  was  founded  in  1822,  and  located 
at  Pittsfield,  under  the  charter  of  Williams  College.     Professors, 

John  P.  Batchelder,  INI.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Physi- 
ology. 

John  i).  Wells,  M.  D.  Professor  of  General  Anatomy  and  Phy- 
siology. 

Henry  H.  Childs,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Physic. 

John  Delamatter,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Pharmacy,  Materia  Med- 
ica and  Obstetrics. 

Chester  Dewey,  A.  M.  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Botany,  3Iiner- 
alogy,  and  Natural  Philosophy. 

Stephen  W.  Williams,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Medical  Jurispru- 
dence. 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  having  endowed  the  university 
with  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  college  of  medicine,  a  commodious 
edifice  has  been  erected  in  Boston,*  and  the  lectures   of  Harvard 

*  The  Massachusetts  Medical  College,  erected  1815,  is  situated  in  Mason- 
street  near  the  Boston  Common  and  Mall.     The  building  is  of  brick,  88  feet   in 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  33 

University  commence  in  the  lecture  room  annually,  on  the  third 
Wednesday  in  October,  and  continue  three  months.  During 
the  lectures  the  students  are  supplied  gratuitously  with  sets  of 
osteological  specimens  for  study,  and  can  have  the  use  of  the  dis- 
secting room,  on  defraying  the  attendant  expenses.  They  are 
admitted  without  any  expense  to  the  surgical  operations  and  clinical 
practice  of  the  Hospital.  The  faculty  of  medicine  in  Harvard 
University  have  founded  by  their  private  donations  a  library  for 
the  use  of  the  students  in  medicine.  The  Boston  medical  librar}', 
consisting  of  nearly  2000  volumes,  is  now  united  with  it,  and 
deposited  in  the  Medical  College.  These  highly  valuable  collec- 
tions of  medical  books,  will  afford  a  supply  amply  sufficient  for  all 
the  purposes  of  students  in  each  of  the  principal  departments  of 
medical  science.  A  hall  in  the  new  building  is  appropriated  and 
furnished  with  every  necessary  aid  and  convenience  for  the  study 
of  anatomy.  Students  have  the  aid  of  private  demonstrations  on 
any  part  they  may  prepare  for  the  purpose,  and  every  conve- 
nience is  furnished  to  assist  them  in  making  preparations  for  their 
own  use.  The  number  of  subjects  for  demonstration  is  as  great 
as  could  be  wished.  The  Massachusetts  general  Hospital  institu- 
tion was  incorporated  February  12th,  1811,  and  the  Legislature 
endowed  the  corporation  with  the  estate  commonly  called  the  Old 
Province  House  and  land  to  be  sold  at  the  discretion  of  the  said 
corporation  and  the  proceeds  to  be  applied  as  a  foundation  of  a 
General  Hospital,  There  are  two  separate  departments  of  the 
Institution,  the  one  called  ''  The  General  Hospital,"  the  other 
"  The  Asylum  for  the  Insane."  These  are  to  be  kept  locally 
separate  from  each  other,  and  the  whole  establishment  is  commit- 
ted to  the  immediate  direction  of  twelve  trustees,  to  be  chosen 
annually  by  the  corporation,  except  four,  who  are  to  be  chosen  by 
a  board  of  visitors  appointed  by  the  government. 

The  As3'him  for  the  Insane  has  been  established  in  a  very  eli- 
gible situation  in  Charlestown,  and  was  opened  for  the  reception 
of  boarders  October  1st,  1818. 

length,  and  43  in  its  greatest  breadth.  Its  figure  is  oblong,  with  a  pediment  in 
front,  and  an  octagonal  centre  rising  above  the  roof,  and  also  forming  a  three-sided 
projection  in  the  rear  of  the  building.  This  is  surmounted  by  a  dome,  with  a  sky-, 
light  and  balustrade,  giving  an  appearance  of  elegance  to  the  neatness  ajid  fit  pro- 
portion of  the  building.  The  apartments  on  the  first  floor  are,  a  spacious  medical 
lecture  room  of  a  square  form,  with  ascending  semi-circular  seats;  a  large  chemical 
lecture  room  in  the  centre,  of  an  octagonal  form,  with  ascending  seats  ;  a  chemical 
laboratory,  fitted  up  with  furnaces  and  accommodations  for  the  costly  apparatus  ■ 
used  in  the  lectures  ;  and  a  room  to  be  occupied  by  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  which  is  filled  by  a  medical  library,  already  consisting  of  3  or  4000  vol- 
umes. In  the  second  story  is  the  anatomical  theatre,  the  most  extensive  room, 
occupying  the  whole  central  part  of  the  building,  covered  with  the  dome  and  sky- 
light ;  with  semi-circular  seats,  which  are  entered  from  above,  and  descend  regu- 
larly toward  the  centre.  In  this  theatre  are  placed  a  beautiful  statue  of  the  Venus  of 
Medici,  and  a  noble  cast  of  the  Apollo  of  Belvedere,  designed  to  illustrate  the  ex- 
ternal forms  of  the  human  body.  A  large  and  a  small  room  for  practical  anatomy, 
together  with  another  for  the  museum,  occupy  the  extremities  of  the  same  story. 


36  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  General  Hospital  was  laid  in  Boston, 
on  the  4th  of  July  1818,  in  masonic  form,  in  presence  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Lieutenant  Governor.  This  hospital  was  opened  for 
the  reception  of  patients  in  Septemher  1821.  The  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital  is  one  of  the  most  flourishing  institutions  in  the 
United  States,  having  received,  within  a  few  years,  more  than 
$300,000  in  private  donations,  in  addition  to  its  previous  liberal 
endowment  from  the  state  legislature.  Some  of  the  most  splen- 
did instances  of  public  generosity  which  the  present  age  has  wit- 
nessed, are  to  be  found  among  the  benefactions  to  the  Massachu- 
setts General  Hospital.  While  this  institution  gives  accommoda- 
tion to  the  full  extent  of  its  means  to  the  sick  poor,  it  gives  also 
admission  to  the  students  of  the  medical  class  attending  the  lec- 
tures of  the  physician  and  surgeon.  Regular  clinical  lectures  are 
now  given  during  the  winter  by  the  professor  of  the  theory  and 
practice  of  physic,  and  students  are  admitted  to  the  patients,  to 
enable  them  to  become  practically  conversant  with  the  symptoms 
of  diseases  and  the  operation  and  influence  of  medicinal  agents. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  privilege  of  gratuitous  admission  to  so  exten- 
sive a  course  of  medical  and  surgical  practice,  is  an  advantage  not 
usually  attainable  in  medical  schools,  and  one  of  the  highest  im- 
portance which  can  be  offered  during  the  period  of  preparation 
for  the  medical  profession.  The  number  of  beds  provided  for 
patients  is  at  present  one  hundred  ;  and  the  number  of  surgical 
operations  of  magnitude,  performed  in  this  hospital  during  the 
first  two  years  and  nine  months,  amounts  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  The  cleanliness,  punctuality,  and  order  observed  at  the 
hospital,  the  regular  and  daily  attendance  of  the  physician  and 
surgeon,  the  care  and  attention  in  selecting  suitable  persons  to 
serve  as  nurses  and  attendants  on  the  sick,  all  combine  to  render 
this  a  most  eligible  and  convenient  asylum  for  those  who  may  labor 
under  chronic  diseases,  requiring  the  assistance  of  the  most  skilful 
physician  and  surgeon. 

Acting  Surgeon^  John  C.  Warren,  M.  D. 

Assistant  Surgeon^  George  Hayward,  M.  D. 

Acting  Physician,  James  Jackson,  M.  D. 

Assistant  Physician^  Walter  Channing,  M.  D, 

For  obtaining  admission,  application  in  writing,  mentioning  the 
place  of  residence  of  the  patient,  must  be  left  at  the  hospital. 
The  physician  or  surgeon  visits  such  patient  if  residing  in  Boston ; 
and,  if  the  patient  is  free  from  a  contagious  disorder,  and  is  a  fit 
subject  for  the  Hospital,  a  certificate  of  admission  is  granted.  If 
such  patient  does  not  reside  in  Boston,  the  application  must  be 
accompanied  with  a  certificate  from  a  respectable  physician,  stat- 
ing that  the  patient  is  free  from  contagious  disorder,  &.c.  The 
visiting  committee  fixes  the  rate  of  board,  which  in  every  case  is 
as  low  as  the  funds  will  permit.  The  sum  fixed,  includes  medi- 
cines, medical  attendance,  nursing,  food,  and  every  other  expense. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  37 

In  case  of  accidents  or  sudden  disease,  the  patients  are  received 
without  delay,  and  strangers  are  admitted  on  the  same  conditions 
as  others.  A  bond  is  required  for  tlic  payment  of  the  patient's 
board. 

The  Asylum  for  the  Insane  at  Charlestown,  is  also  an  estab- 
lishment of  the  highest  importance,  it  enjoys  one  of  the  most 
salubrious  situations  in  that  vicinity,  and  is  provided  with  every 
accommodation  and  convenience  for  the  comfort  and  support  of 
its  unfortunate  inmates.  John  McLean,  Esq.  late  of  Boston,  at 
his  decease,  left  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  be 
added  to  its  funds.  In  consequence  of  which,  the  Asylum  has 
taken  the  name  of  the  munificent  benefactor,  and  is  hereafter  to  be 
called  the  McLean  Asylum  for  the  Insane.  It  is  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  Rufus  Wyman,  M.  D.  an  able  and  experienced 
physician,  whose  character  for  humanity  and  faithfulness  is  unques- 
tionable, and  whose  mode  of  treatment  has  been  attended  with 
remarkable  success,  a  large  proportion  of  recent  cases  having 
been  cured.  Every  application  for  admission  must  be  in  writing, 
and  accompanied  with,  1.  A  certificate  that  the  candidate  is  insane, 
and  free  from  contagious  disease  ;  2.  A  certificate  of  his  or  her 
property,  and  of  any  friends  liable  for  his  or  her  maintenance  ;  3. 
A  certificate  of  the  ability  of  the  persons  proposed  as  principal 
and  surety  in  the  obligation  for  payment  of  board  ;  4.  A  history 
of  the  case  from  its  commencement,  and  the  medical  treatment. 
No  boarders  can  be  visited  except  by  near  relatives,  or  by  others 
at  their  request  in  writing. 

The  establishment  of  a  botanic  garden  at  Cambridge,  will 
doubtless  prove,  at  a  future  period,  an  excellent  auxiliary  to  the 
study  of  botany  and  pharmacy,  and  facilitate  a  knowledge  of  the 
indigenous  plants  of  the  country,  and  their  introduction  into  our 
materia  medica.  Two  townships  of  Eastern  land  have  been  grant- 
ed by  our  legislature,  and  a  subscription  of  $30,000  was  obtained, 
for  the  purchase  of  land,  and  other  expenses  of  this  valuable  estab- 
lishment. The  situation  afl"ords  the  best  advantages  for  the  estab- 
lishment, and  the  systematic  arrangement  adopled  has  been  judi- 
cious and  useful.  It  was  for  several  years  under  the  management 
of  AVilliam  D.  Peck,*  as  professor  of  Natural  History,  and  a  board 

*  William  Dandridge  Peck,  Es(].  formerly  Professor  of  Natural  History  in  Har- 
vard University,  merits  a  grateful  recollection  for  his  indefatigable  labors  in  the  pur- 
suit of  knowledge  in  the  various  branches  pertaining  to  his  professorship.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  his  mind  was  most  assiduously  and  intently  devoted  to  the  pursuits 
to  which  the  bent  of  his  genius  and  taste  inclined  him.  Mr.  reck  under  numer- 
ous disadvantages  so  cultivated  his  mind  as  to  become  an  able  and  profound  bota- 
nist, and  his  knowledge  of  natural  history  was  more  extensive  than  that  of  any  other 
individual  in  this  part  of  the  United  States,  perhaps  in  the  nation.  He  was  elected 
the  first  Professor  of  Natural  History  at  Cambridge,  in  which  he  continued  until 
his  death,  which  took  place  in  September  1822.  He  was  a  good  classical  scholar, 
he  was  fond  of  painting,  and  sculpture,  and  architecture,  without  professing  to 
have  skill  in  them.  No  man  who  ever  saw  the  exquisite  accuracy  and  fidelity  with 
which  he  sketched  the  subjects  of  his  peculiar  pursuits,  would  doubt  the  refinement 
of  hie  taste.     In  social  life,  his  virtues  were  of  that  pure  and  simple  cast  which  a 


38  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

of  trustees,  of  which  the  president  of  the  Medical  Society  is  ez 
officio  a  member. 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  was  incorporated  by  an 
act  of  the  legislature  in  1781,  and  in  the  following  June,  was 
organized,  and  Edward  A.  Holyoke,  M.  D.,  of  Salem,  elected  the 
first  president.  By  several  subsequent  acts  the  constitution  and 
by-laws  have  been  so  altered  and  reformed,  as  more  effectually  to 
promote  the  views  and  designs  of  the  founders  of  this  excellent 
institution.  In  the  act  of  incorporation,  the  legislature  have  dis- 
closed their  views  of  the  high  importance  of  medical  regulations 
and  establishments,  formed  on  liberal  principles  and  fostered  by 
the  patronage  of  the  government.  They  premise,  that  "  It  is 
clearly  of  importance  that  a  just  discrimination  should  be  made 
between  such  as  are  duly  educated  and  properly  qualified  for  the 
duties  of  tiieir  profession,  and  those  who  may  ignorantly  and 
wickedly  administer  medicine,  whereby  the  health  and  lives  of 
many  valuable  individuals  may  be  endangered,  or  perhaps  lost  to 
the  community."  The  society  is  therefore  "  authorized  and  re- 
quired to  appoint  censors  or  examiners  of  candidates,  and  to  license 
such  as  may  be  found  qualified  for  practice  ;  to  devise  and  direct 
such  S3'stematic  mode  of  medical  instruction  as  might  be  deemed 
requisite  for  candidates  previous  to  examination,  and  to  increase 
and  dilfuse  medical  knowledge."  In  order  to  subserve  the  views 
of  the  legislature,  and  to  render  the  society  extensively  beneficial, 
it  seemed  desirable  to  unite  and  associate,  as  far  as  practicable, 
into  one  harmonious  body  of  brothers,  all  the  meritorious  part  of 
the  medical  practitioners  in  tiie  Commonwealth.  For  this  pur- 
pose, great  exertions  have  been  made  by  the  counsellors  and  fel- 
lows, since  their  organization,  to  select  those  gentlemen  whose 
education  and  respectability  as  physicians  or  surgeons  Justly  enti- 
tle them  to  the  honors  and  privileges  of  the  society.  The  object 
in  view  is  now  accomplished,  and  the  society  consists  of  three 
hundred  fellows,  exclusively  of  honorary  members  and  licentiates 
entitled  to  become  menibers.  The  stated  meeting  of  the  society 
is  on  the  first  \Vediiesday  of  June  annually,  when  a  discourse  on 
a  subject  connected  with  medical  science  is  delivered  by  one  of 
the  ielluws.  At  the  annual  meeting,  a  projier  number  of  the  fel- 
lows in  the  several  counties  of  the  state  are  elected  by  ballot  to 
officiate  as  counsellors.  This  branch  is  authorized  to  elect  fellows 
and  honorary  members,  to  appoint  the  officers  of  the  corporation, 
to  establish  district  societies,  and,  in  general,  to  watch  over  and 
promote  the  irflerest  of  tiie  Institution.  The  stated  meetings  of  the 
council  are  on  the  day  following  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society, 
and  the  fust  Wednesdays  in  October  and  February.  The  cen- 
sors meet  for  the  examination  of  candidates  for   practice,   on   the 

life  devoted  to  such  innocent  and  delightful  pursuits,  was  calculated  to  produce. 
Since  the  decease  of  Professor  Peck,  the  botanic  garden  lias  been  committed  to  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Nuttall. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  89 

Thursday  next  preceding  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society,  on  the 
days  following  the  meetings  of  the  council  in  October  and  Feb- 
ruary, and  on  special  occasions,  when  the  president  by  his  written 
order  may  direct.  The  modes  provided  for  admission  into  this 
society  afford  a  facility  which  cannot  fail  of  being  satisfactory. 
Licentiates  of  the  society  and  medical  graduates  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, who  have  been  reputably  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine three  years  from  the  reception  of  the  license  or  diploma,  and 
have  supported  an  honorable  private  character,  may  claim  a  right 
of  admission.  The  counsellors  and  fellows,  having  labored  with 
unwearied  assiduity  to  establish  this  institution  on  a  respectable 
foundation,  and  having  imbibed  a  tenacious  concern  for  its  dignity 
and  interest,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  persons  of  deficient 
education  or  undeserving  character,  would  be  admitted  to  a  parti- 
cipation of  its  honors  and  privileges  ;  accordingly  the  by-laws  pro- 
vide that  no  person  educated  within  the  commonwealth  sliall  be 
admitted  to  an  examination  by  the  censors  of  the  society,  or  by 
those  of  any  district  society,  unless  he  have  the  following  qualifi- 
cations. 1.  He  shall  have  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  Greek 
and  Latin  languages  as  is  necessary  for  a  medical  or  surgical  edu- 
cation, and  with  the  principles  of  geometry  and  experimental  phi- 
losophy. 2.  He  shall  have  attended  two  full  courses  of  Jectures, 
and  studied  three  full  years  under  the  direction,  and  attended  the 
practice  of  some  one  or  more  of  the  fellows  or  honorary  members 
of  the  society  ;  during  which  time  he  shall  have  studied  the  most 
approved  authors  in  Anatomy,  Chemistry,  Materia  Medica,  Sur- 
gery, Midwifery  and  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  ;  or, 
at  least,  all  those  which  the  counsellors  shall  from  time  to  time 
specify  as  constituting  a  proper  course  of  medical  or  surgical  edu- 
cation. No  person  educated  out  of  this  commonwealth,  shall  be 
admitted  to  an  examination  either  by  the  censors  of  the  society, 
or  of  those  of  any  district  society,  unless  he  have  the  qualifications 
specified  in  the  first  of  the  articles  above  mentioned,  and,  instead 
of  those  required  in  the  second,  shall  have  studied  three  full  years 
under  the  direction,  and  attended  the  practice  of  some  reputable 
physician  or  physicians,  surgeon  or  surgeons,  as  the  case  may  be. 
To  promote  the  laudable  design  of  the  legislature  in  incorporating 
this  society,  to  prevent,  as  far  as  may  be,  all  unqualified  persons 
from  practising  medicine  or  surgery,  and  in  order  to  discourage 
empiricism  and  quackery,  it  shall  be  deemed  disreputable,  and 
shall  be  unlawful  for  any  fellow  of  this  society,  in  the  capacity  of 
physician  or  surgeon,  to  advise  or  consult  with  any  person,  who, 
having  been  a  fellow  of  the  society,  shall  be  expelled  therefrom  ; 
or  with  any  person  whatever,  who  shall  hereafter  commence  the 
practice  of  medicine  or  surgery  within  this  commonwealth,  until 
he  shall  have  been  duly  examined  and  approbated  by  the  censors 
of  the  society,  or  by  those  of  some  district  society,  or  shall    have 


40  HISTORY    OF   MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA* 

received  a  degree  of  Bachelor  or  Doctor  of  Medicine  at  Harvard 
University;  or,  (in  case  he  shall  have  been  educated  in,  or  come 
from  some  other  state  or  foreign  country,)  shall  have  produced  to 
the  censors  of  the  society,  or  those  of  the  district  wherein  he  re- 
sides, such  evidence  or  testimonials  of  iiis  qualifications  for  the 
practice  of  medicine  or  surgery,  as  they  deem  and  certify  to  be 
sufficient  to  entitle  him  to  the  privileges  of  a  physician  or  surgeon 
regularly  introduced.  And  every  fellow  of  the  society  who  shall 
abet  or  assist  any  person  not  so  qualified,  by  affording  him  assist- 
ance in  the  capacity  of  physician  or  surgeon,  sliall,  for  such  offence, 
be  disqualified  from  giving  his  vote  at  any  meeting  of  the  society, 
or  of  the  district  society  whereof  he  is  a  member,  for  one  year: 
shall  be  liable  to  the  censure  and  reprimand  of  the  counsellors, 
and,  in  aggravated  cases,  to  expulsion.  "  If  any  fellow  of  the 
society  shdiil  publich/  advertise  for  sale  any  medicine,  the  composi- 
tion of  which  he  keeps  a  secret,  or  shall,  in  like  manner,  offer  to 
cure  any  disease  by  any  such  secret  medicine,  he  shall  be  liable  to 
expulsion,  or  such  other  penalty  as  the  society,  at  their  annual 
meeting,  may  think  proper  to  inflict." 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  counsellors,  once  in  three  years,  to  publish 
a  list  of  the  most  approved  books  which  should  be  read  by  medi- 
cal students.  The  act  of  the  legislature,  in  the  year  1813,  author- 
izes the  organization  of  district  societies  by  the  counsellors,  on  ap- 
plication of  any  two  members  of  the  society.  In  1810,  the  legis- 
lature extended  their  liberal  patronage  and  encouragement  to  this 
society,  by  a  grant  of  a  township  of  Eastern  land  for  its  support, 
and  they  have  exempted  the  fellows  from  serving  in  the  militia,  as 
a  remuneration,  in  some  degree,  for  their  expense  and  exertions  in 
promoting  an  institution  of  public  interest  and  concern.*  By  an 
act  of  the  legislature,  passed  February  19th,  1819,  it  is  provided, 
"  That  no  person  entering  upon  the  practice  of  medicine  or  surge- 
ry after  the  first  day  of  July,  1819,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefit 
of  law,  for  the  recovery  of  any  debt  or  fee  accruing  from  his  pro- 
fessional services,  unless  he  shall,  previously  to  rendering  those 
services,  have  been  licensed  by  the  censors  of  the  society,  or  those 
of  some  district  society,  or  shall  have  been  graduated  a  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  Harvard  University." 


*  The  Presidents  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  from  the  period  of  its 
first  organization  : — Edward  A.  Holyoke,  M.  D.,  1782 ;  William  Kneeland,  M.  D., 
1784;  Edward  A.  Holyoke,  M.  D.,  1786;  Cotton  Tufts,  M.  D.,  1787;  Samuel 
Danforth,  M.  D.,  1795  ;  Isaac  Rand,  M.  D.,  1798;  John  Warren,  M.  D.,  1804; 
Joshua  Fisher,  M.  D,,  1815 ;  John  Brooks,  M.  D.,  1823. 

Officers  elected  1825  and  1826. 
President,  James  Jackson,  M.  D. 
Vice  President,  Abraham  Haskell,  M.  D. 
Corresponding  Secretary,  John  Dixwell,  M.  D. 
Recording  Secretary,  John  Gorham,  M.  D. 
Treasurer,  Jacob  Bigelow,  M.  D. 
Librarian  and  Cabinet  Keeper,  George  Hay  ward,  M.  D. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  41 

The  most  salutary  and  beneficial  effects  have  already  resulted  to 
the  community  from  the  association  thus  patronised  by  the  govern- 
ment. By  fiiir  the  greater  portion  of  respectable  practitioners  of 
medicine  and  surgery  establislied  in  business  in  the  commonwealth, 
are  associated  and  cemented  into  one  learned  body,  whose  efforts 
are  continually  directed  to  the  extension  and  increase  of  medical 
knowledge.  Tlieir  united  and  individual  influence  is  exerted  in 
favor  of  a  regular  system  of  medical  education,  and  in  discounte- 
nancing those  who  undertake  the  important  business  of  the  profes- 
sion, without  being  qualified  for  the  great  and  serious  duties  it  im- 
poses. They  are,  moreover,  in  some  respects  alert  and  vigilant 
guardians  of  tlie  public  health  and  welfare,  regarding  with  peculiar 
interest  the  occurrence  of  every  epidemic,  or  other  disease,  which 
may  assail  the  inhabitants  of  our  country.  The  judicious  mea- 
sures adopted  by  the  counsellors  relative  to  the  cowpox  in  1808, 
and  the  spotted  fever  in  1810,  have  already  been  mentioned,  and 
reference  may  be  had  to  the  society's  communications  for  the  de- 
tailed particulars  of  their  valuable  reports.  At  an  early  period  of 
this  institution  (1790),  the  society  published  their  first  number  of 
medical  papers,  containing  a  selection  of  im])ortant  communica- 
tions, and  a  third  volume  has  now  been  published  and  distributed 
among  the  fellows  of  the  society.  In  the  second  volume  will  be 
found  a  brilliant  dissertation  on  the  mercurial  practice  in  febrile 
diseases,  by  John  Warren,  M.  D.,  then  president  of  the  society. 

We  should  not  omit  to  mention  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manasseh  Cut- 
ler, of  Hamilton,  Massachusetts,  presented  to  the  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  a  valuable  account  of  indigenous  vegetables,  the 
produce  of  New-England,  botanically  arranged.  His  collection  is 
very  numerous,  and  may  be  considered  an  honorable  attestation  of 
his  indefatigable  industry  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  botanical 
science,  at  a  period  when  the  subject  was  almost  entirely  neglect- 
ed. This  production  was  communicated  to  the  Academy  in  the 
year  1784,  and  was  published  in  their  first  volume.  Many  of  the 
medical  plants  which  Dr.  Cutler  first  brought  into  notice,  have 
been  since  introduced  as  valuable  articles  in  our  materia  medica. 
He  was  respected  for  his  dignified  character  as  a  divine,  distin- 
guished for  piety,  and  learned  in  the  sciences  ;  he  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  his 
fellow  citizens  elected  him  to  represent  his  district  in  Congress, 
which  station  he  filled  with  dignity  and  usefulness. 

In  the  year  1808  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  appointed 
James  Jackson,  M.  D.  and  John  C.  Warren,  M.  D.  a  committee  to 
prepare  a  Pharmacnpaia  conformable  to  the  modern  chemical  no- 
menclatiH'c,  and  designed  to  establish  uniformity  in  the  prescrip- 
tions of  physicians,  wliich  was  published  by  the  society,  and  which 
was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  IMedical  Society  of  New  Hamp- 
shire for  use  in  that  state.  This  production  was  also  adopted  by 
the  present  author  as  the  basis  of"  The  Ameriran  New  Dispnna- 
6 


42  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

tory^''  which  was  approbated  by  a  committee  chosen  by  the  so- 
ciety. This  work  has  now  gone  through  the  fourth  edition,  and 
being  an  attempt  to  introduce  many  indigenous  vegetables  as  arti- 
cles of  our  materia  medica,  it  is  hoped  may  still  be  found  useful 
among  the  practitioners  of  our  country. 

The  New  England  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  has  been 
established  in  Boston  since  the  year  1812.  It  is  now  entitled. 
The  New  England  Medical  Review  and  Journal ;  and  is  a  work  of 
superior  merit  and  utility,  which  reflects  great  honor  on  the  learn- 
ed and  indefatigable  editors,  and  on  the  medical  character  of  the 
metropolis  of  Massachusetts.  The  Medical  Intelligencer  is  pub- 
lished in  Boston,  in  the  form  of  a  weekly  paper.  The  able  editor 
is  entitled  to  great  praise  for  the  judicious  manner  in  which  this 
useful  publication  is  conducted. 


A.     See  page  22. 

Dr.  Dalhonde's  Deposition. 

"  First.  About  twenty-five  years  ago,  I  was  at  Cremona,  in  Ita- 
ly, in  the  French  army,  where  there  were  thirteen  soldiers  upon 
whom  this  operation  was  performed,  of  which  operation  four  died  ; 
six  recovered  with  abundance  of  trouble  and  care,  being  seized 
with  parotidal  tumors  and  a  large  inflammation  of  the  throat.  One 
of  them  was  opened  ;  his  diaphragm  was  found  livid,  the  glands  of 
the  pancreas  tumefied,  and  the  caul  gangrened.  On  the  other 
three  the  operation  had  no  effect.  Secondly.  In  the  year  1701, 
being  in  Flanders,  there  was  committed  to  my  care  one  Captain 
Hussart,  taken  ill  of  the  smallpox,  who  told  me  in  these  very 
words :  Ten  years  ago  I  was  inoculated  five  or  six  times  without 
that  cursed  invention  taking  eflect  upon  me  ;  must  I  then  perish  ? 
He  was  so  violently  seized  that  he  had  several  ulcers  upon  his  bo- 
dy, especially  one  upon  his  arm,  which  occasioned  a  lameness  there 
of  through  life.  Thirdly.  At  the  battle  of  Almanza,  in  Spain,  the 
smallpox  being  in  the  army,  two  Muscovite  soldiers  had  the  ope- 
ration performed  upon  them  ;  one  recovered,  the  other  received 
no  impression,  but  six  weeks  thereafter  was  seized  with  a  frenzy, 
and  swelled  all  over  his  body.  They,  not  calling  to  mind  that  the 
operation  had  been  performed  upon  him,  believed  that  he  had 
been  poisoned.  It  was  ordered  by  two  of  the  King  of  Spain's 
physicians,  that  the  body  should  be  opened.  His  lungs  were  found 
ulcerated;  from  whence  they  concluded  it  was  the  eflect  of  that 
corruption,  which  having  infected  the  lymph  did  throw  itself  upon 
that  vital  part,  which  occasioned  his  sudden  death.     By  me. 

Dr.  Lawrence  Dalhonde." 
^^ Boston,  July  22d,  1721. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA  43 

*'  The  foregoing  is  a  true  translation  from  tlie  declaration  made 
in  French  by  Dr.  Dalhonde,  done  at  the  instance  and  reqncst  of 
the  Selectmen  of  the  town  of  Boston.     By  William  Douglass. 

"  Jurat  coram  nobis.  Joseph  Marion. 

"  Tim.  Clark,      ?  j       p     „ 
"  Wm.  Welsted,  5  ''"*^-  ^"^• 

In  England  the  opposition  to  the  new  practice  of  inoculation, 
appears  to  have  been  even  more  virulent  than  in  Boston.  Dr. 
Wagstaffe,  a  man  of  high  medical  standing,  invidiously  remarked 
"  that  posterity  will  scarcely  be  brought  to  believe  that  an  experi- 
ment, practised  only  by  a  few  ignorant  women,  should  so  far  ob- 
tain in  one  of  the  politest  nations  in  the  world,  as  to  be  received 
into  the  royal  palace."  One  of  their  writers  declared  "  this  new 
practice  to  be  founded  in  atheism,  quackery  and  avarice,  which 
push  men  to  all  the  hellish  practices  imaginable  ;  men  murthcr 
fathers,  mothers,  relations  and  innocent  children,  and  any  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  their  wicked  desires."  But  this  declaration 
was  exceeded  by  a  singular  sermon  preached  by  the  Rev.  INIr. 
Massey,  on  Sunday,  July  8th,  1722,  against  "  The  Dangerous  and 
Sinful  Practice  of  Inoculation,"  in  which  he  bestows  upon  tho 
inoculators  the  most  opprobrious  epithets,  as  diabolical  sorcerers, 
hellish  vencfici,  &c.  &c.  His  text  was  very  appropriate  :  "  So 
went  Satan  forth  from  the  yreseyice  of  the  Lord,  and  smote  Job 
icith  sore  boils  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown."  Tho 
deluded  preacher  would  have  it  understood  that  the  Devil  jvas  the 
first  inoculator,  and  that  poor  Job  was  his  first  patient.*  Hence 
he  terms  inoculation  "  a  diabolical  operation,  and  an  anti-provi- 
dential project,  that  insults  our  religion,  and  banishes  Providence 
out  of  the  world."  It  was  alleged  by  the  friends  of  inoculation 
that  the  practice  may  be  justified  upon  the  principle  of  curing  na- 
tural, by  raising  artificial  diseases.  "  What  is  bleeding,  but  an 
artificial  hfemorrhagy  ?  purging,  but  raising  an  artificial  diarrhoea  ? 
Are  not  blisters,  issues  and  setons,  artificial  imposthumations  ?"  To 
this  it  was  replied,  "  Very  good,  sir  ;  but  go  on  :  what  is  correction 
at  the  cart's  tail,  but  the  noble  art  of  muscular  phlebotomy  ?  What 
is  burning  in  the  hand,  but  the  art  of  applying  a  caustic  ?  What 
is  hanging,  but  an  artificial  quinsy,  which  makes  the  patient  feci 
for  the  ground,  and  chokes  him  ?  What  is  breaking  on  the  wheel, 
but  the  art  of  dislocations  and  fractures,  and  diflers  from  the 
wounds  and  amputations  of  surgeons  only  by  the  manner  and  in- 
tention ?" 


*  This  conceit  of  the  reverend  divine  gave  rise  to  the  following  epigram,   pub- 
lislicd  in  the  Monthly  Miscellany  for  March,  1774  : 

We're  told  by  one  of  the  black  robe, 
The  Devil  inoculated  Job. 
Suppose  'tis  true,  what  he  docs  tell. 
Pray,  neighbors,  did  not  Job  do  well  ? 

I'Voodville  on  Jnoculalion. 


44  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

No  instance  of  inoculation  was  known  in  Europe,  until  the 
daughter  of  Lady  Mary  W.  Montague  was  inoculated  by  Mr.  Mait- 
land,  her  surgeon,  in  April,  1721  ;  and  the  next  was  the  son  of  Dr. 
Keith,  on  the  11th  of  May  following.  The  Princess  Caroline  of 
"Wales,  having  nearly  lost  one  of  her  daughters,  Princess  Ann,  by 
natural  smallpox,  became  extremely  solicitous  to  preserve  her 
other  children  by  means  of  inoculation  ;  but  not  satisfied  of  its 
safety  and  utility,  she  interceded  with  the  king,  her  father,  for  the 
pardon  of  six  criminals,  that  they  might  be  the  subjects  of  the  ex- 
periment ;  and  they  were  inoculated  at  Newgate  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1721.  One  of  these,  however,  had  the  address  to  con- 
ceal the  fact  that  he  had  previously  undergone  the  smallpox.  All 
of  them  recovered,  and  all  escaped  the  halter.  After  this,  a  fe- 
male convict  was  reprieved,  and,  variolous  matter  being  introduced 
into  her  nostrils,  she  also  escaped  with  a  slight  indisposition.  But 
still  more  to  confirm  the  confidence  of  the  Princess  of  Wales  in  its 
safety,  she  directed,  early  in  the  spring  of  1722,  the  experiment  to 
be  made  first  upon  six,  and  afterwards  upon  five,  charity  children, 
in  all  of  whom  it  was  attended  with  the  desired  success.  The 
princess  now  consulted  the  celebrated  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  the  court 
physician,  respecting  the  propriety  and  safety  of  inoculating  her 
children.  Sir  Hans  being  cautious  in  his  reply,  the  Princess  in- 
quired if  it  was  his  desire  to  dissuade  her  from  it,  and  being  an- 
swered in  the  negative,  she  said  "  then  I  am  resolved  it  shall  be 
done,"  and  directed  Sir  Hans  to  wait  on  the  king,  George  the 
First.  His  Majesty  readily  concurring,  the  Princesses  Amelia  and 
Caroline  were,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1722,  inoculated  by  Serjeant 
Surgeon  Amy,  and  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane.  In  the 
year  1724  inoculation  was  a  second  time  introduced  into  the  royal 
family.  His  royal  Highness,  Prince  Frederick,  aged  18  years,  was 
inoculated  by  Mr.  Maitland,  at  the  court  at  Hanover,  on  the  first 
of  May,  1724  ;  and  his  royal  Highness,  Prince  William,  was  about 
the  same  time  inoculated  in  London,  by  the  king's  Serjeant  Sur- 
geon Amy,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  court  physician,  Sir 
Hans  Sloane.  Both  of  these  princes  went  through  the  disease  in 
the  mildest  manner.  Prince  Frederick  having  not  more  than  from 
eleven  to  eighteen  pustules.  In  the  years  1721  and  1722,  one 
hundred  and  eighty-two  persons  were  inoculated  ;  and  in  1723 
two  hundred  and  ninety-two  were  the  subjects  of  the  operation  in 
England.  But  from  June,  1721,  to  the  first  part  of  the  year 
1722,  Dr.  Boylston  inoculated  two  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and 
thirty-nine  were  inoculated  by  other  persons  jn  Boston  and  its 
vicinity. 

The  foregoing  statement  is  compiled  from  Woodville's  History 
of  Inoculation,  published  1796,  and  Moore's,  published  1815. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  45 

STATE  OF  MAINE. 

This  district  of  Massachusetts,  before  the  separation,  possessed 
little  claim  to  the  merit  of  contributing  to  the  improvement  of  med- 
ical science  ;  a  scattered  settlement  over  an  extensive  country 
affords  no  facilities  of  union  and  enterprise  in  scientific  pursuits. 
There  were,  however,  some  individuals  who  sustained  the  honor 
of  the  profession,  and  were  eminently  useful  in  their  day.  Among 
these  Dr.  Nathaniel  Coffm  (h),  the  elder,  and  Nathaniel  Coffm, 
M.  D.  (b),  of  Portland,  were  for  many  years  the  leading  characters 
in  that  district.  Dr.  Kinsman,  of  Portland,  Dr.  Jones,  of  North 
Yarmouth,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Page  (b),  of  Ilallowell,  were  re- 
spectable and  popular  practitioners.  Dr.  Samuel  Adams,  of  Bath, 
was  for  some  time  a  surgeon  in  the  American  army  ;  he  was  a 
skilful  physician,  and  an  amiable  and  virtuous  man,  and  in  after 
life  religion  and  piety  were  leading  traits  in  his  character.  Dr. 
A.  R.  Mitchill  (b),  of  North  Yarmouth,  was  a  man  of  great  popu- 
larity as  a  physician,  as  well  as  for  his  useful  services  in  political 
life,  and  his  practical  religious  virtues.  Dr.  Thomas  Rice,  of  Wis- 
casset,  was  much  esteemed,  and  enjoyed  extensive  practice. 

The  epidemic  termed  spotted  fever,  made  its  appearance  in 
1810,  and  till  1816  prevailed  at  Ilallowell  and  its  vicinity  with 
great  severity.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  present  Dr.  Benjamin 
Page,  of  Ilallowell,  to  devote  a  large  portion  of  his  attention  to  the 
sick  during  the  prevalence  of  this  epidemic  ;  more  than  two  thou- 
sand cases  fell  under  his  observation,  and  he  is  entitled  to  much 
honor  and  the  gratitude  of  the  public  for  his  correct  observation, 
his  indefatigable  industry,  and  his  very  judicious  mode  of  treat- 
ment, by  which  the  disease  was  divested  in  a  great  measure  of  its 
malignity  and  fatal  tendency.*  In  1820  the  Medical  School  of 
Maine,  was  established  at  Brunswick,  under  the  charter  of  Bow- 
doin  college.     This  school  has  three  professorships. 

Parker  Cleaveland,  M.  D.   Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Materia 

Mtdica. 
Nathan  Smith,  M.  D.  Lecturer  on  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 

Physic  and  Surgery. 
John  D.  Wells,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

There  is  a  medical  society  of  respectable  standing  in  that  state, 
of  which  the  Hon.  Daniel  Coney  was  for  several  years  the  presi- 
dent. He  yet  survives,  venerable  in  years  and  steadfast  in  moral 
rectitude  and  public  virtue. 

*  See  tlie  American  Modern  Practice,  new  edition,  p.  344. 


46  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA. 

STATE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

In  this  state  many  medical  characters  rendered  their  names  con- 
spicuous for  professional  knowledge  at  a  period  when  public  med- 
ical institutions  were  unknown  in  New  England.  The  most  mer- 
itorious of  these  were  Joshua  Brackett,  M.  D.  ('ftj,  Dr.  Josiah 
Bartlett  (b),  the  two  Drs.  Cuttev  (b),  Dr.  Clement  Jackson  (b). 
Dr.  Hall  Jackson  (b)^  and  Samuel  Tenney,  M.  D.  (b).  Sinco 
the  establishment  of  the  medical  school  at  Hanover,  it  has  honora- 
bly supported  the  medical  character  of  the  state,  and  has  sent  forth 
to  public  suffrage  men-  of  eminent  attainments  and  signal  use- 
fulness. The  Medical  School  of  Dartmouth  College,  at  Hanover^ 
was  founded  by  the  enterprise  of  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  who  in  1798 
was  appointed  sole  professor  of  the  school,  and  for  twelve  years 
gave  lectures  on  the  different  branches  of  medicine,  except  two 
courses,  in  which  he  was  assisted  in  the  department  of  chemistry. 
Present  professors  : — 

Reuben  D.  Mussey,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Surgery  and 

Obstetrics. 
Daniel  Oliver,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 

Physic  and  Physiology. 
Benjamin  Hale,  A.  M.   Professor  of  Chemistry,  Pharmacy  and 

Materia  Medica. 

An  infirmary  has  been  instituted  at  Hanover,  to  which  indigent 
patients  may  resort  for  surgical  operations  and  medical  attendance 
gratis  ;  and  the  medical  class  have  the  privilege  of  being  present 
at  the  operations. 

A  medical  society  was  incorporated  by  the  legislature  of  the 
state  in  the  year  1791,  which  now  consists  of  about  160  fellows. 
They  have  adopted  a  system  of  laws  and  regulations  similar  to 
those  of  Massachusetts. 


STATE  OF  VERMONT. 

A  VERY  limited  knowledge  only  can  be  obtained  respecting  the 
medical  character  of  Vermont.  It  is  but  recently  that  attempts 
were  made  to  establish  institutions  for  medical  instruction  ;  but 
(heir  zeal  in  the  good  cause  has  produced  two  establishments  of 
that  description,  which  now  exist  in  the  state.  Vennont  Academy 
of  Medicine,  established  at  Castleton  in  1818. 

William  Tully,  M.  D.  President  and  Professor  of  the  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Physic  ayid  Medical  Jtirisprudence. 

Theodore  Woodward,  M,  D.  Professor  of  the  Principles  and. 
Practice  of  Surgery,  Obstetrics,  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINF,    IN    AMKRICA.  47 

Alden  March,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

Jonatlian  A.  Allen,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Pharmacy. 

Lewis  C.  Beck,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
History. 

Amos  Eaton,  Esq.  (of  Troy,  N.  Y.)  Professor  of  Natural  Phi- 
losophy. 

Medical  School  of  Vermont,  organized  at  Burlington  in  1822. 

Henry  S.  Waterhouse,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Ob- 
stetrics. 

George  W.  Benedict,  A.  M.  Professor  of  Mathematics,  Natural 
Philosophy  and  Chemistry. 

John  Bell,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

William  Sweetser,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Physic  and  of  Materia  Medica. 


STATE  OF  RHODE-ISLAND. 

Medical  science  has  received  considerable  patronage  in  this  state 
from  an  early  period  of  its  history.  The  family  of  Boweu  (h)  has 
enjoyed  for  more  than  a  century  a  wide  spreading  fame  for  their 
medical  character,  and  for  their  patriotic  virtues.  The  first  of  the 
name  emigrated  to  that  colony  in  1640.  John  Bret,  M.  D.  emigra- 
ted to  this  country  and  settled  at  Newport  about  1740.  He  was  a 
pupil  of  the  much  celebrated  Dr.  Boerhaave,  and  a  graduate  at  the 
university  of  Leyden.  He  acquired  great  reputation  in  consequence 
of  the  extended  fame  of  his  preceptor,  Thomas  Moffat,  M.  D.  a 
learned  Scotch  physician,  arrived  in  this  country  and  settled  in 
llhode-Island  in  1750.  He  was  often  consulted  in  diflicult  cases, 
but  was  driven  out  of  the  country  in  177-  on  account  of  his  political 
opinions.  Dr.  Thomas  Rodman  came  over  at  the  same  time  and 
settled  at  Newport.  William  Hunter,  M.  D.  (&),  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, was  educated  under  the  elder  JNlonro  at  Edinburgh,  came  to 
Rhode-Island  about  the  year  1752,  and  gave  lectures  on  anatomy 
at  Newport  in  the  years  1754,  5,  and  6,  which  have  been  consid- 
ered the  first  lectures  given  on  medical  subjects  in  New  England, 
if  not  in  America. 

The  medical  department  of  Brown  University  was  organized  at 
Providence  in  1821. 

Levi  Wheaton,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the    Theory  aud  Practice  of 

Physic  and  Obstetrics. 
John  DeWolf,  A.  M.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Pharmacy. 
Usher  Parsons,  M.  D.   Professor  of  Anatomy,  Physiology  and 

Surgery. 


48  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

Solomon    Drown,    M.  D.    Professor   of   Materia   Medica   and 
Jiotany. 

There  is  also  in  this  state  a  respectable  Medical  Society,  con- 
sisting of  nearly  all  its  regularl}'  educated  physicians. 

In  the  years  1797?  1800  and  1805,  the  town  of  Providence  was 
visited  by  the  yellow  fever,  which  was  supposed  to  have  been 
imported  from  the  West  Indies,  and  which  occasioned  very  con- 
siderable mortality.  On  these  occasions  Dr.  Pardon  Bowen  en- 
gaged with  a  laudable  zeal  and  assiduity  in  the  investigation  of  the 
subject,  and  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner  traced  the  origin  and 
progress  of  the  deadly  pestilence.  His  communications  on  the 
subject  have  been  published  in  the  4th  volume  of  the  American 
JMedical  and  Philosophical  Register,  by  Professors  Hosack  and 
Francis  of  New-York. 


STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Connecticut  colony,  was  the 
Hon.  John  Winthrop,  who  in  1662  was  made  the  first  governor 
of  the  colony  under  the  charter  which  he  procured  of  Charles  II. 
He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  first  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and 
was  an  eminent  physician,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Royal 
Society,  being  in  England  at  the  time  as  agent  for  the  colony. 
He  died  1676,  aged  71.  The  Rev.  Jared  Elliot  (6)  was  the  next 
physician  of  distinction  in  the  colony.  He  died  1763.  The  Rev. 
Phinehas  Fisk  was  his  contemporary  and  friend,  and  was  particu- 
larly distinguished  for  the  cure  of  epilepsy  and  insanit3\  Dr. 
John  Ely  was  born  at  Lyme,  1743.  He  practised  in  Saybrook, 
and  was  the  first  physician  who  regularly  practised  inoculation 
for  the  smallpox  in  the  state.  He  erected  a  hospital,  where  he 
pursued  the  business  of  inoculation  for  several  years.  The  cool 
regimen  for  the  smallpox,  was  generally  practised  there,  success- 
fully, earlier  than  in  Europe.  During  the  revolutionary  war  Dr. 
Ely  was  a  colonel  of  a  regiment,  and  was  early  made  prisoner  and 
carried  to  New-York  ;  on  account  of  his  skilful  services  and 
attention  bestowed  on  his  fellow  prisoners,  he  was  suffered  to  re- 
main in  captivity  three  years  for  their  benefit.  He  died  in  1800, 
aged  63  years.  Dr.  Josiah  Rose  was  a  native  of  Wethersfield, 
and  received  his  medical  education  under  Dr.  Dalhonde,  of  Bos- 
ton, and  for  several  years  served  as  surgeon  on  board  of  a  ship. 
He  was  considered  as  one  of  the  ablest  practitioners  both  in 
physic  and  surgery  of  his  day.  He  had  five  sons  who  were  edu- 
cated to  the  profession,  two  of  whom  were  surgeons  of  regiments 
during  the  war  of  independence.  He  died  in  1786,  aged  70 
years.     Dr.  John  Bird,  of  Litchfield,  Dr.  Perry,  senior,  of  Wood- 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  49 

bury,  Dr.  James  Potter,  of  New  Fairficltl,  Dr.  William  Jcpson,  of 
Hartford,  were  all  prominent  professional  characters  of  the  last 
century.  Hon.  John  Bulkeley  was  born  at  Colchester  in  1704. 
He  was  educated  at  Harvard  college,  and  was  afterwards  instruct- 
ed in  the  two  professions  of  divinity  and  medicine.  He  was  con- 
sidered as  a  man  of  talents,  and  well  versed  in  all  the  literature  and 
science  of  the  day  ;  and  in  law  and  politics,  he  was  no  loss  dis- 
tinguished than  in  medicine.  He  sustained  the  various  oflices  of 
colonel  of  the  militia,  member  of  the  legislature,  judge  of  the  su- 
preme court,  and  was  one  of  the  most  popular  characters  in  Con- 
necticut. He  died  about  the  year  1754.  Dr.  John  Simpson, 
Dr.  John  Noyes,  Dr.  John  Watrous  and  Dr.  John  Rose,  were  all 
respectable  surgeons  in  the  American  army,  and  in  private  life 
were  held  in  estimation  for  professional  merit  and  benevolence  of 
character.  Dr.  Benjamin  Gale  (6)  published  a  treatise  about  the 
year  1750,  in  which  he  advocated  the  utility  of  a  course  of  mer- 
cury as  a  preparative  for  smallpox  by  inoculation,  affirming 
that  before  that  practice  was  adopted  in  1745,  one  in  a  hundred 
of  the  inoculated  died,  while  under  the  new  method  of  treatment 
it  proved  fatal  to  one  only  in  eight  hundred.  This  production  of 
Dr.  Gale  has  been  ftivorably  noticed  by  European  authors.  (See 
his  biography.)  His  life  was  protracted  to  advanced  age,  and  was 
terminated  in  1790. 

In  17SS,  the  Medical  Society  of  the  county  of  New  Haven, 
published  "  Cases  and  Observations,"  a  work  which  has  been  re- 
ferred to  by  foreign  authors,  and  gives  a  very  favorable  view  of 
the  practice  in  the  state  of  Connecticut  subsequently  to  the  revolu- 
tionary war.  The  work  on  pestilence  by  Noah  Webster,  LL.D. 
affords  evidence  of  uncommon  industry  and  research,  and  contains 
a  body  of  curious  matter  illustrating  the  history  of  epidemic  and 
pestilential  diseases.  Silliman's  Journal  of  Science  is  unquestion- 
ably the  most  distinguished  work  of  the  kind  published  in  this 
country,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  surpassed  in  any  other.  Although 
the  plan  is  not  directly  medical,  it  is  an  auxiliary  containing  many 
very  valuable  papers  upon  chemistry,  botany,  and  various  articles 
of  the  materia  medica.  The  prevalent  diseases  of  Connecticut 
are  not  essentially  diflerent  from  those  of  other  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  the  yellow  fever  afllicted  the  city  of  New  Haven  in  1794,  but 
it  was  supposed  to  have  been  of  foreign  origin.  The  same  disease 
made  its  appearance  in  Middletown  in  the  year  1820.  But  the 
malady  which  has  been  the  most  extensively  formidable  and  de- 
structive, is  the  epidemic  whicli  has  received  the  exceptionable 
name  of  spotted  fever,  but  to  which  Dr.  Thomas  Miner  has  given 
the  more  appropriate  term,  "  Typhus  Syncopalis."  From  1807 
to  about  ISK),  this  epidemic  prevailed  with  its  usual  ravages;  and 
in  1822  and  1823,  it  reappeared  to  an  extent  almost  unparalleled, 
but  its  fatal  tendency  was  greatly  subdued  by  the  very  judicious 
management  of  several  accurate  observers  and  experienced  phy- 
7 


50  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

sicians.  (See  Dr.  Thomas  Miner's  pamphlet  on  Typhus  Synco- 
palis,  and  Dr.  Woodward's  communication  in  the  New  England 
Medical  Review  and  Journal,  Vol.  I.) 

With  regard  to  medical  improvement,  it  must  be  conceded  that 
in  Connecticut  the  field  of  science  has  been  cultivated  with  great 
diligence  and  the  happiest  results.  Numerous  productions  have 
emanated  from  that  state,  which  evince  talent,  industry  and  re- 
search, and  which  have  proved  of  signal  utility.  In  1810]  Dr. 
Nathan  Strong  published  a  Dissertation  on  Spotted  Fever,  and  in 
1811  Dr.  North  published  a  Treatise  on  the  same  disease,  and 
has  since  written  and  published  in  the  periodicals  a  dissertation 
on  the  vitality  of  the  blood.  Henry  Fish,  M.  D.  was  author  of  re- 
marks on  spotted  fever.  Drs.  Monson,  senior  {b)  and  junior,  wrote 
upon  the  yellow  fever  of  New  Haven  iu  1794.  Joseph  Corn- 
stock,  M.  D.  is  the  author  of  a  valuable  Essay  on  Prognosis,  and 
the  compiler  of  an  elementary  chemical  work,  and  Dr.  Sumner  is 
the  compiler  of  an  elementary  system  of  botany.  Thomas  ]Mose- 
ly,  M.  D.  was  a  respectable  practitioner  at  East  Haddam.  He 
was  for  several  years  president  of  the  Medical  Society  of  Con- 
necticut, and  died  about  1812,  aged  upwards  of  80.  Dr.  Rock- 
well wrote  on  puerperal  hemorrhage,  and  Drs.  Woodward  and 
Bestor  wrote  on  spotted  fever.  Professor  Smith,  besides  his 
treatise  upon  Typhus,  has  published  in  the  periodical  works  of 
the  day  many  interesting  surgical  and  other  cases,  and  has  also 
written  on  bloodroot  and  other  articles  of  the  materia  medica. 
The  Hon.  Sylvester  Wells,  JNl.  D.  published  a  series  of  valuable 
essays  on  the  spotted  fever  of  1809  ;  and  William  Buel,  M.  D.  is 
the  author  of  an  able  account  of  a  disease  that  appeared  in  Sheflield. 
Dr.jWilliam  Tully  is  author  of  an  Essay  on  Pneumonia  Typhoides, 
and  other  papers  in  the  New-York  Medical  Museum  ;  of  an  Essay 
upon  Sanguinaria  Canadensis,  Strictures  upon  Orfila  on  Poisons 
in  the  New  England  Journal,  and  of  an  essay  upon  Scutellaria 
Lateriflora  ;  he  also  wrote  a  paper  on  Secale  Cornutum  in  Silli- 
man's  Journal.  He  has  besides  written  upon  the  yellow  fever  as 
it  appeared  in  Middletovvn  in  1820  ;  a  work  inferior,  perhaps,  to 
no  other  on  that  subject.  In  1823  Dr.  Thomas  Miner  and  Dr. 
William  Tully  published  '''  Essays  upon  Fevers  and  other  medical 
subjects  ;"  the  first  part  by  Dr.  JMiner  and  the  second  by  Dr.  Tully. 
This  is  to  be  considered  as  a  work  of  superior  merit,  equally  hon- 
orable to  the  authors  and  interesting  to  the  profession,  giving  a 
correct  view  of  the  nature  and  treatment  of  febrile  diseases.  In 
1825  Dr.  Miner  favored  the  public  with  his  valuable  account  of 
Typhus  Syncopalis.  This  pamphlet  is  the  result  of  a  long  course 
of  experience,  and  the  most  accm'ate  observation  ;  as  proof  of  its 
acknowledged  merit,  it  may  bo  mentioned  that  it  has  passed 
through  three  editions,  and  a  fourth  will  shortly  appear.  Dr. 
Miner  is  also  a  writer  in  the  periodical  works  of  the  day,  author 
of  biographical  sketches  of  several  distinguished  physicians   of 


HISTORY   OF   MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  51 

Connecticut,  occasional  essays  upon  medical  subjects  and  transla- 
tions from  French  medical  journals. 

The  science  of  chemistry,  under  the  able  supervision  of  Profes- 
sor Siiliman,  and  indigenous  materia  medica  under  Professor 
Ives,  are,  perhaps,  at  a  higher  standing  at  Yale  College  than 
at  any  other  similar  institution  in  the  United  States.  But  the 
establishment  of  a  general  hospital  would  be  an  important  acqui- 
sition as  an  auxiUary  to  the  advancement  and  interest  of  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  medical  science  in  that  state.  The  Asylum  for 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  and  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  both  estab- 
lished at  Hartford,  redound  to  the  honor  of  the  community,  and 
are  auspicious  to  the  cause  of  humanitj'.  Under  the  able  treat- 
ment of  Dr.  Todd,  the  practice  at  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane  has 
been  attended,  it  is  said,  with  an  almost  unparalleled  success,  more 
than  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  recent  cases  having  recovered. 

The  Medical  Institution  of  Yale  College  was  incorporated  by 
the  legislature  in  the  year  1810.  Lectures  commenced  in  1813, 
and  are  continued  annually.     Professors  in  1825  : — 

Eneas  Monson,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine. 
Nathan  Smith,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 

Physic,  Surgery  and   Obstetrics. 
Benjamin  Siiliman,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Pharmacy, 

Mineralogy  and  Geology. 
Eli  Ives,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Botany,  and 

Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. 
Jonathan  Knight,  IM.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology, 

and  Lecturer  on  Obstetrics. 

There  is  also  in  Connecticut  an  incorporated  Medical  Society 
of  very  respectable  standing,  and  regulated  by  laws  adopted  by 
other  similar  societies. 

In  this  brief  sketch  it  may  be  proper  to  bring  to  recollection 
the  Metallic  Tractors  invented  by  Dr.  Elisha  Perkins,  which 
he  announced  to  the  public  in  the  year  1796,  as  a  new  remedy  for 
a  variety  of  topical  diseases.  This  singular  remedy  attained  a 
considerable  share  of  celebrity  and  ultimately  excited  a  universal 
interest  throughout  the  United  States,  and  in  various  parts  of 
Europe.  A  particular  detail  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  this 
discovery  will  be  found  in  connexion  with  the  biography  of  Dr. 
Perkins  in  this  volume. 


STATE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

This  state  has  strong  claims  to  pre-eminence  in  the  noble  pur- 
suit of  improvement  in  medical  science  and  literature.  Among 
the  earliest  physicians  we  find  the  names  of  Dr.  Du[)ey,  Dr.  Du- 


52  HISTORY    or    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

bois,  and  John  Nicoll,  M.  D.  The  latter  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
who  was  graduated  in  medicine  at  the  university  of  Edinburgh,  and 
came  to  this  country  and  settled  in  New  York  about  the  year 
1700.  He  has  been  noticed  as  a  successful  practitioner,  and  was 
beloved  for  his  private  virtues.  After  having  spent  a  life  devoted 
to  the  work  of  benevolence  and  piety,  he  died  in  1743,  aged  63 
years.  Dr.  Magraw,  a  physician  of  the  Radcliife  school,  emigrat- 
ed to  this  country  and  settled  in  New  York  about  1740.  In  1743 
Cadwallader  Colden,  F,sq.(b)  Lieut,  governor  of  the  Province  of 
New  York,  and  a  distinguished  physician,  communicated  his 
thoughts  on  the  probable  method  of  curing  a  malignant  fever, 
which  occasioned  great  mortality  in  that  city  in  1741.  He  also 
published  a  treatise  on  the  cure  of  cancer,  and  an  essay  on  the 
virtues  of  the  Great  Water  Dock,  which  introduced  the  learned 
author  to  the  notice  of  the  celebrated  Linnaeus.  The  same  author 
published  in  1753,  some  observations  on  an  epidemic  sore  throat, 
which  appeared  in  Massachusetts,  and  spread  over  great  part  of 
North  America.  Dr.  John  Bard  (b),  eminently  distinguished  as  a 
practitioner  in  New  York  for  more  than  fifty  years,  was  the  author 
of  an  interesting  account  of  the  malignant  pleurisy,  which  pre- 
vailed at  Long  Island  in  the  year  1749,  besides  some  other  medi- 
cal papers.  Dr.  Ogden,  of  Long  Island,  about  the  year  1704, 
favored  the  public  with  valuable  observations  on  the  malignant 
sore  throat,  which  then  was  prevalent  and  very  mortal.  Dr.  Peter 
Middleton  (Jb)^  a  man  of  professional  ttilents,  was  author  of  a  medi- 
cal discourse  or  historical  inquiry  into  the  ancient  and  present 
state  of  medicine,  published  in  17^9.  In  the  year  1750  the  body 
of  Hermanus  Carroll,  a  criminal  who  had  been  executed  for  mur- 
der, was  dissected  in  the  city  of  New-York,  by  Dr.  John  Bard  (b) 
and  Dr.  Peter  Middleton  (b),  two  of  the  most  eminent  physicians 
of  that  day,  and  the  blood  vessels  were  injected  for  the  instruction 
of  the  young  men  then  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine;  this  is 
the  first  essay  made  in  the  colonies  for  the  purpose  of  imparting 
medical  knowledge  by  dissection,  of  which  we  have  any  record. 

In  17S8  there  occurred  in  the  city  of  New  York  a  popular  tu- 
mult, commonly  called  the  doctors'  mob.  This  was  in  consequence 
of  a  suspicion  that  the  physicians  of  the  city  had  robbed  the  grave- 
yards to  procure  subjects  for  dissection.  The  concourse  assem- 
bled on  this  occasion  was  immense,  and  some  of  the  mob  having 
forced  their  way  into  the  dissecting  room,  several  human  bodies 
were  found  in  various  states  of  mutilation ;  enraged  at  this  dis- 
covery, they  seized  upon  the  fragments,  as  heads,  legs  and  arras, 
and  exposed  them  from  the  windows  and  doors  to  public  view, 
with  horrid  imprecations.  The  rioters  had  now  become  so  out- 
rageous, that  both  the  civil  and  military  authorities  were  summoned 
to  quell  the  tumult,  and  the  medical  students  were  confined  in  the 
common  prison  for  security  against  the  wild  passions  of  the  popu- 
lace.    The  mob    continued  for  two  days,  setting  ut  defiance  both 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  63 

the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  cit}^  but  was  at  length 
quelled  without  the  loss  of  lives. 

In  the  autumn  of  1775  a  surgical  work  entitled  "  Plain  Re- 
marks upon  Wounds  and  Fractures,"  was  published  by  Dr.  John 
Jones  (6)  of  New-York.  This  work  was  intended  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  and  inexperienced  surgeons,  who  were  about  en- 
gaging in  the  American  army.  A  work  of  this  description  was  at 
that  time  of  indispensable  importance,  and  no  one  in  America 
could  be  found  so  well  qualified  for  the  undertaking  as  Dr.  Jones, 
who  held  the  highest  standing  for  knowledge  and  experience  in  the 
art  of  surgery.  The  advantages  which  the  surgeons  of  the  army 
derived  from  this  valuable  production,  are  incalculable.  It  passed 
through  three  editions,  the  latter  of  tvhich,  with  notes  and  observa- 
tions, was  published  in  1795  ;  to  this  is  prefixed  a  biographical 
memoir,  by  a  very  respectable  pupil  of  the  author,  Dr.  James 
Mease,  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  not  till  1768,  that  a  medical  es- 
tablishment was  effected  and  organized  ;  in  which  were  united  the 
learning  and  abilities  of  Drs.  Glossy  (h),  Bard  (b),  Jones  ('6), 
Middleton  (6^,  Smith  (h)^  and  John  V.  B.  Tennent,  by  whom 
lectures  on  the  several  branches  were  delivered.  This  school  was 
connected  with  King's,  now  Columbia  college,  where  in  1769,  the 
degree  of  bachelor  in  medicine  was  conferred  upon  Samuel  Kissam 
and  Robert  Tucker.  "  In  1770  the  degree  of  doctor  in  medicine 
was  conferred  upon  the  last  mentioned  gentleman,  and  in  May  of 
the  succeeding  year,  the  same  degree  was  conferred  upon  the  for- 
mer." These  were  the  first  instances  of  medical  degrees  being  con- 
ferred in  America,  being  a  short  time  before  those  which  were  given 
at  Philadelphia  in  the  same  year.  Dr.  Kissam's  Inaugural  disserta- 
tion on  the  anthelmintic  property  of  cowhage,  was  published  in 
May  1771,  for  the  medical  doctorate  in  King's  college.  The  events 
of  the  revolutionary  war  deranged  and  frustrated  in  its  infancy 
the  immediate  design  of  this  promising  establishment.  In  1769 
Dr.  Samuel  Bard  (h)  delivered  a  public  address  at  the  first  medi- 
cal graduation,  in  which  he  inculcated  the  necessity  and  utility  of  a 
public  infirmary  ;  and  such  was  the  influence  of  his  memorable 
discourse,  that,  upon  the  same  day  on  which  it  was  delivered,  a 
subscription  was  commenced  by  Sir  Henry  Moore,  then  governor  of 
the  Province,  and  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  pounds  sterling  wa« 
collected  for  the  establishment  of  a  hospital  ;  and,  three  hundred 
pounds  being  added  by  the  corporation  of  the  city,  the  foundation 
of  the  New- York  hospital  was  laid  in  1773.  But,  unfortunately, 
before  the  edifice  was  completed,  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and, 
the  war  intervening,  it  was  not  until  January  1791,  that  it  was  re- 
built and  in  a  proper  condition  to  receive  patients. 

After  the  return  of  peace  in  1783,  various  attempts  were  pro- 
jected with  the  hope  of  reviving  the  medical  school  of  New- York, 
but,  from  feuds  and  collisions  among  professional  brethren,  all  ef- 


54  HISTORY    OF   MEDICINE    IN  AMERICA. 

forts  directed  to  that  effect  resulted  in  disappointment.  Courses 
of  lectures,  however,  were  delivered  by  many  learned  teachers, 
until  a  new  organization  of  a  medical  school  was  effected  by  the 
ti-ustees  of  Columbia  college  in  1792.  Although  the  learned  pro- 
fessors devoted  themselves  with  commendable  assiduity  and  faith- 
fulness to  their  respective  duties,  from  various  causes  the  benefits 
arising  from  this  school  were  very  limited  and  unsatisfactory.  The 
board  of  Regents,  therefore,  deemed  it  expedient  to  grant  a  charter 
establishing  the  presenj  college  of  physicians  and  surgeons  in  March 
1807.  The  incorporation  of  this  institution  was  sanctioned  by  the 
Legislature,  and  gave  very  general  satisfaction.  It  was  soon  dis- 
covered, however,  that  its  successful  progress  was  to  be  impeded 
by  feuds  and  discontents  arising  from  competition  and  rivalry  be- 
tween it  and  other  medical  schools  in  the  same  city.  In  April 
1811,  the  Regents  were  induced  to  remodel  the  college  of  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  with  a  view  to  their  union  with  the  medical 
faculty  of  Columbia  college.  In  1813  this  union  was  happily  ef- 
fected, and  the  venerable  Samuel  Bard,  M.  D.  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  college  as  president.  By  this  consolidation  of  the  two 
medical  schools  the  most  eminent  medical  talents  in  the  state  were 
combined  into  one  splendid  seminary,  under  the  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  board  of  regents,  aided  by  the  patronage  and  libe- 
ral endowments  of  the  legislature.*  In  1816  the  regents  made 
the  following  report  to  the  legislature  :  "  The  college  of  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  in  the  city  of  New- York,  is  advancing  to  that 
celebrity,  which  must  soon  place  it  at  the  head  of  similar  institu- 
tions in  the  United  States.  Perhaps  no  place  can  afford  greater 
opportunities  for  giving  medical  instruction  to  the  best  advantage, 
on  all  the  variety  of  cases  in  which  the  human  frame  is  liable  to 
disease,  and  where  more  opportunities  are  daily  offered  to  exhibit 
them  to  the  inspection,  and  for  the  instruction  of  students.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  decided  opinion  of  the  regents,  that  this  institution 
should  receive  the  undivided  support  of  the  state :  and  that  no 
other  should  be  countenanced,  which,  by  a  spirit  of  rivalship  or 
hostility,  might,  in  any  degree,  succeed  in  repressing  its  justly  de- 
served and  increasing  reputation  as  a  medical  school."  The  most 
sanguine  expectations  were  entertained  respecting  the  utility  of 
the  institution  thus  reorganised,  and  the  result  of  a  few  years  ex- 
perience, clearly  evinced  that  the  learned  professors  filled  the  im- 
portant stations  assigned  them,  with  ability  and  success.  The 
number  of  medical  pupils  in  1815,  was  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
one,  and  the  number  of  graduates  was  twenty-seven,  greatly  ex- 
ceeding the  number  attending  at  any  prior  session.  The  author 
of  a  historical  sketch  of  the  present  institution,  concludes  his  ob- 
servations in  the  following  words  :    "  When  the  advantages  which 


*  The  legislature  in  1808,  made  the  liberal  grant  of  $20,000  for  the  benefit  of  the 
medical  college. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  55 

New-York  possesses  for  a  great  medical  establisliment,  arc  consider- 
ed, advantages  arising  from  its  natural  situation,  its  extensive  popu- 
lation, now  nearly  equal  to  most  of  the  capitals  of  Europe,  its 
large  and  well  endowed  hospital,  and  other  public  charities,  its 
botanical  garden,  its  well  organized  medical  college,  and  the  exten- 
sive system  of  education  which  it  embraces  ;  and  when  it  is  further 
considered,  that  these  advantages  are  increased  by  tlie  munificent 
patronage  of  the  state,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  in  the  means 
of  instruction,  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  is  second 
to  no  similar  institution  in  the  United  States.  The  college  opens 
annually,  on  the  first  Monday  in  November,  and  the  several  courses 
begin,  successively,  that  week,  after  the  introductory  lecture  of 
the  respective  professors.  Tlie  session  closes  on  the  last  day  of 
February. 

For  a  period  of  about  seven  years  subsequent  to  the  union  of 
the  two  schools,  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  whose 
weight  of  character  was  sustained  by  the  most  able  teachers  which 
the  state  could  produce,  was  on  the  march  to  the  highest  degree 
of  eminence,  and  its  reputation  was  recognised  in  every  portion 
of  the  union.  The  class  of  students  consisted  of  two  hundred, 
and  the  number  was  increasing  with  the  opening  of  each  session. 
But  from  some  cause  those  professors,  whose  talents  and  zeal  had 
been  universally  acknowledged,  were  assailed  with  clamorous 
accusations,  and  charges  of  serious  import  were  arrayed  against 
them  :  these,  however,  on  investigation  by  the  regents  in  March, 
1S25,  were  declared  to  be  unsubstantiated,  and  were  pronounced 
by  that  honorable  body,  in  their  elaborate  Report,  to  have  arisen 
from  jealousy  and  professional  rivalry.  Broils  and  contention, 
nevertiielcss,  continued,  and  the  opposition  assisted  systemati- 
cally in  their  purpose.  In  April,  1826,  the  professors,  wearied 
with  unavailing  attempts  to  silence  the  opposition,  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  "  it  would  best  consist  with  their  own  self 
respect"  to  withdraw  altogether  from  the  institution,  and  ac- 
cordingly they  tendered  their  resignations  of  their  professorships 
and  offices.  The  board  of  regents  accepted  their  resignations, 
April  17,  1826,  and  presented  their  thanks  "  for  the  faithful  and 
able  manner  in  which  they  had  filled  their  respective  chairs  as 
instructers  and  lecturers  in  the  said  college."  The  Professors 
were, 

David  Ilosack,  M.  D.  Vice  PrcsidcJit,  and  Professor  of  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  and  Clinical  Medicine. 

William  James  Macneven,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 

Samuel  L  INlitchell,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  3Icdica  and 
Potany. 

Valentine  Mott,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery. 

John  W.  Francis,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Dis- 
eases of  Women  and  Children,  and  Registrar  of  the  College. 


56  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA. 

Wright  Post,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy.  (Had  given  in  his 
resignation  before.) 

The  places  of  the  above  professors  were  filled  as  follows.  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons : — 

John  Augustine  Smith,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Phy- 
siology. 

Alexander  H.  Stevens,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Surgery. 

James  F.  Dana,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry.     (Since  dead.) 

Joseph  M,  Smith,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Physic  and  Clinical  Medicine. 

Edward  Delafield,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Childreyi. 

John  B.  Beck,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Botany. 

The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Western  District 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  was  incorporated  by  the  Regents  of  the 
University  in  1812,  and  the  legislature  made  a  grant  of  ^15,000. 
It  is  located  in  the  town  of  Fairfield,  Herkimer  county. 

Joseph  White,  M.  D.  President^  and  Professor  of  Surgery. 

Westel  Willoughby,  M.  D.  Vice-President,  and  Professor  of 
Obstetrics. 

James  Hadley,  JM.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Materia 
Medica. 

T.  Romeyn  Beck,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Physic  and  Medical  Jurisprudence. 

James  McNaughton,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Phy- 
siology. 

Medical  School  of  Auburn,  at  Auburn  : 

James  Douglass,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 
Pliny  Hays,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 

Surgery. 
E.  D.  Tuttle,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the   Theory  and   Practice  of 

Physic. 
S.    Mosher,    M.  D.  Professor  of    Midwifery    and    Diseases  of 

Women  and  Children. 
Jedediah   Smith,    M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and   Materia 

Medica. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  practitioners  of  considerable 
merit  in  the  city  of  New- York  since  the  American  war,  and  their 
names  are  deserving  of  commemoration. 

Dr.  Malachi  Treat  was  a  surgeon  in  the  hospital  department 
during  the  whole  of  the  American  struggle  for  independence,  and 
part  of  the  time  officiated  as  deputy  director  of  the  hospital.  He 
died  in  New-York  of  the  yellow  fever.  Dr.  William  Pitt  Smith 
was  a  pupii  of  Dr.  Treat,  and  was  also  in  the  hospital  department 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  57 

during  the  war,  and  he  also  fell  a  victim  to  the  yellow  fever  in 
1797.  Ebenezer  Crosby,  M.  D.  was  a  native  of  Braintree,  Mas- 
sachusetts, was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1777,  and 
completed  his  medical  education  at  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. Dr,  Crosby  was  at  an  early  period  of  the  war  appointed  sur- 
geon to  General  Washington's  guard,  and  was  received  into  his 
military  family,  in  which  he  continued  until  near  the  close  of  the 
war.  On  the  return  of  peace  he  took  his  residence  in  New-York, 
where  he  soon  acquired  a  respectable  circle  of  practice,  and  in  the 
year  1785  was  chosen  Professor  of  Midwifery  in  Columbia  Col- 
lege, which  appointment  he  retained  until  his  death,  which  occur- 
red 16th  July,  1788.  Dr.  Amasa  Dingly  was  a  native  of  Marsh- 
field,  Massachusetts,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in 
1785.  He  settled  in  New-York,  where  he  displayed  abilities  and 
a  spirit  of  enterprise  which  would  have  raised  hira  to  eminence 
had  his  life  been  protracted.  Benjamin  DeWitt,  M.  D.  merits 
great  praise  for  the  services  which  he  rendered  to  the  college, 
more  particularly  in  obtaining  the  liberal  grant  from  the  state  of 
$30,000.  He  was  prematurely  cut  off  by  the  yellow  fever 
while  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  of  physician  of  the 
port  of  New- York,  in  1819.  He  published  on  the  Datura  Stramo- 
nium, and  a  paper  on  the  salt  works  of  Onondaga.  "  Richard 
Bayley,  M.  D.  (h)  was  among  the  most  eminent  of  the  physicians 
of  his  time,  and  equally  distinguished  in  medical  and  surgical 
practice  ;  after  a  life  of  great  activity  and  usefulness,  he  died  of 
yellow  fever,  which  he  contracted  in  the  discharge  of  his  official 
duties  as  health  officer  of  the  port  of  New- York,  in  August,  1801, 
aged  56  years.  His  medical  writings  are,  his  letter  on  Croup, 
addressed  to  his  preceptor,  Dr.  Hunter  of  London,  and  his  account 
of  the  epidemic  fever  of  New-York  in  1795.  They  are  sufficient 
ev  dence  of  his  talents  :  his  wide  and  disinterested  benevolence 
io  remembered  by  thousands."  John  V.  B.  Tennent,  M.  D.  com- 
{■leted  his  medical  education  in  Europe.  While  in  London,  in 
1765,  he  was  created  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society.  His 
course  of  instruction  in  obstetrics  was  able  and  satisfactory,  and 
laid  a  foundation  for  improvement  in  that  branch  in  the  Medical 
School  of  New- York.  He  died  at  an  early  age  of  the  yellow 
fever,  in  the  West  Indies,  whither  he  had  gone  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health. 

The  prevailing  diseases  of  the  state  of  New- York  are  of  a  simi- 
lar character  with  those  in  the  New-England  states,  but  it  has  had 
a  large  share  of  the  epidemics  of  our  country.  In  the  city  of 
New- York  consumption  has  also  been  very  prevalent  and  fatal. 
The  yellow  fever  has  been  known  to  prevail  in  that  city  at  various 
periods  during  the  last  century.  The  same  pestilence  has  revisit- 
ed that  city  and  Long-Island  in  1798,  1803,  4,  5,  9,  and  1822  ; 
at  some  seasons  its  course  has  been  marked  with  great  mortality. 
The  year  1798  was  most  fatal  to  the  faculty,  more  than  twenty 
8 


68  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

physicians  of  the  city  becoming  its  victims  within  three  months. 
The  legislature  and  citizens  have  been  liberal  in  the  establishment 
of  Hospitals,  Infirmaries,  Dispensaries,  and  other  humane  and 
charitable  institutions,  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  and  destitute,  for 
the  insane,  and  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  The  Cowpock  Institu- 
tion was  established  in  New-York  in  January,  1802,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  substituting  vaccination  for  the  smallpox,  more  particu- 
larly among  the  poor,  and  for  preserving  a  constant  supply  of 
genuine  matter.  The  first  physician  appointed  to  vaccinate  for 
the  Dispensary  was  Dr.  Valentine  Seaman.  According  to  the 
annual  report,  dated  January,  1826,  no  less  than  1223  patients 
enjoyed  the  advantage  of  the  city  Dispensary,  besides  those  who 
had  received  vaccination  gratis.  In  the  year  1808  the  number  of 
patients  who  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  the  Dispensary  was  1340  : 
in  1811  the  number  was  1446  :  the  trustees  also  stated  that  in 
addition  to  these  patients,  1016  had  been  vaccinated  at  their  office 
since  the  first  of  January,  1811,  gratis,  and  that  in  every  instance 
the  cowpock  has  proved  a  perfect  security  against  the  smallpox. 
The  state  of  New-York  has  furnished  a  full  portion  of  learned 
and  scientific  professors,  lecturers  and  teachers,  by  whose  labors 
medical  literature  and  science  have  flourished,  and  been  exten- 
sively diffused.  From  this  source,  also,  medical  and  philosophi- 
cal works  of  sterling  worth  have  emanated,  which  have  received 
approbation  and  applause  in  various  foreign  countries.  The 
periodical  journals  on  medicine  and  the  collateral  branches  of 
science,  which  have  appeared  in  New- York  at  different  times, 
have  been  the  following: — The  Medical  Repository,  first  project- 
ed in  1798,  and  the  earliest  journal  which  was  issued  in  this  coun- 
try in  this  department  of  learning ;  its  editors  were  Drs.  Mitchell, 
Miller  and  Smith.  It  has  been  extended  to  twenty-three  volumes 
by  subsequent  editors.  The  New- York  Medical  and  Philosophi- 
cal Journal,  commenced  in  1809,  and  published  anonymously — 3 
volumes.  The  Medical  Magazine,  by  Drs.  Mott  and  Underdonk  ; 
it  terminated  with  the  publication  of  one  volume.  The  American 
Medical  and  Philosophical  Register,  edited  by  Drs.  Hosack  and 
Francis  ;  it  began  in  1810,  and  was  terminated  in  1814.  The 
four  volumes  which  it  embraced  are  composed  exclusively  of 
original  materials  ;  and  these  can  safely  be  referred  to  for  many 
papers  of  great  value  on  medical  and  surgical  subjects,  as  well  as 
for  biographical  memoirs  of  American  physicians,  and  detailed 
accounts  of  most  of  the  public  and  literary  associations  for  which 
New-York  is  so  much  distinguished.  The  last  periodical,  which 
still  exists,  is  the  New-York  Medical  and  Philosophical  Journal  ; 
it  was  began  in  1822,  by  Professor  Francis  and  Drs.  Dychman, 
and  Beck  ;  a  volume  appears  annually.  The  transactions  of  the 
New-York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  contain  various 
papers  on  medical  subjects,  and  the  collections  of  the  New- York 
Historical  Society  may  be  referred  to  for  similar  topics. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  59 

V  It  may  not  be  irrelative  in  this   account,  before   we   part  with 
New-York,  to  state  that  this  city  holds  no  inconsiderable  rank,  as 
having  been  the  place  where  most  of  the  prominent  operations  of 
American  surgery  have  been    first  performed.     Dr.  McKnight's 
operation  for  extra-uterine  conception,  is  well  known.     Hydrocele, 
treated  after  the  manner  revived  by  Sir  James  Earle,  and  the  ope- 
ration for  femoral  aneurism,  though,  in  the  present  state  of  surgical 
science  they  do  not  afford  any  particular   novel  principles,  were 
carried  into  successful  results  by  Professor  Hosack,  then  of  Colum- 
bia College,  so   long  ago  as  1795,  and  in  1807.     In  1812  Profes- 
sor Post  tied  the  common  carotid  for  aneurism  successfully  ;  it  was 
the  first  operation  on  this  artery  for   aneurism  that  had  been  per- 
formed in  this  country.     In  1817  Professor  Post  tied  successfully 
the  subclavian  artery  above  the    clavicle,  external  to  the  scaleni 
muscles,  for  a  brachial  aneurism.     This   is    the    first   successful 
operation  of  this  character  ever  performed.     The   first  ligature 
upon  the  arteria  innominata  of  a    human   being  was  applied  by 
Professor  Mott,  then  of  the  University  of  New- York,  for  an  aneu- 
rism of  the  right  subclavian   artery.     It  was  performed  in  May, 
1818.     In  November,  1821,  Dr.  Molt  performed  his  first  opera- 
tion upon  the  lovver  jaw,  for  osteosarcoma  of  that  bone.     Nearlv 
half  of  the   lower  jawbone   was  successfully  removed.     He   has 
subsequently  operated  upon  three  other  cases  ;  in  one  the  jaw  was 
removed  at   the  articulation  and  sawed  through  on  the  opposite 
side,  after  extracting  the  first  bicuspid  tooth.     Three   out  of  the 
four  patients  recovered.     Professor  Mott  was  not  aware  that  the 
operation  on  the  lower  jaw  bad  ever  been  performed   before  that 
by  himself.     For  a  similar  disease  of  the  upper  jaw,  Dr.  Mott  has 
operated  seven  times.     In  October,  1824,  he  successfully  amputa- 
ted at  the  hip  joint,  for  a  necrosis  of  the  femur.     The  same  sur- 
geon has  also  tied  the  carotid  artery  six  times  ;  the  external  iliac 
three  times  ;  the  femoral  artery  fifteen  times.     But,  as  if  further 
to  add  to  the  surgical  renown  of  New- York,   the  same  eminent 
operator  has  lately  tied  the  common   iliac   near  the   aorta  for  an 
aneurism  of  the   external  iliac,  March,  1827.     This  is  the  first 
operation  ever  performed  upon  the   primitive  iliac  for  aneurism  ; 
it  was   completely  successful.     These  displays  of  surgical  science 
are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise,  and  with  those  of  Physick,  Gib- 
son, and  Dorsey  of  Philadelphia,  and  Warren  of  Boston,  present 
essays  worthy  of  the  profoundest  study  of  our  American  youth. 

In  practical  medicine,  New-York  has  also  done  her  part.  On 
the  vexed  subject  of  yellow  fever,  her  authors  have  furnished 
many  valuable  papers  ;  and  the  treatment  of  the  disorder  by  them 
seems  to  be  more  rational  and  better  defined  than  by  those  who 
have  so  vehemently  contended  for  the  lancet  and  mercury.  That 
after  ihe  disorder  has  affected  the  human  system,  the  constitution 
is  rarely  affected  a  second  time  with  the  complaint,  is  now  gene- 
rally thought  to  be  the  fact.  This  interesting  feature  in  the  nature 
of  the  disease,  was    first  promulgated  in  the  United  States  by  Pro- 


60  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

fessor  J.  W.  Francis,  in  his  letter  on  Contagion,  dated  at  London 
in  June,  18l6,  and  has  been  confirmed  by  numerous  observers  in 
various  sections  of  the  country.  Tracheotomy  has  several  times 
been  successfully  performed  for  the  removal  of  foreign  substance 
from  the  windpipe  by  Dr.  Mott  ;  and  though,  as  it  is  believed, 
not  yet  in  croup,  still  in  the  membranous  or  fatal  stage  as  it  is  gene- 
rally called,  the  vitriolic  emetics  (white  and  blue,)  have  restored 
the  little  sufferer  when  every  other  hope  has  been  abandoned.  For 
this  novel  and  felicitous  principle  in  practice  in  this  truly  alarming 
complaint,  the*public  are  also  indebted  to  Dr.  Francis,  who  has 
published  several  successful  cases.  The  monographs  of  Bayley 
and  of  Middleton,  on  Croup,  ought  not  to  be  omitted  in  this  cur- 
sory enumeration. 

The  present  section  of  our  history  of  medical  affairs  in  New- 
York,  would  hardly  be  deemed  satisfactory,  without  a  few  particu- 
lars concerning  that  extensive  charity,  the  New- York  Hospital, 
and  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  for  the  treatment  of  the  Insane. 
Both  these  extensive  institutions  have  been  most  amply  endowed 
by  legislative  munificence,  and  are  directed  by  the  governors  of 
the  New-York  Hospital. 

The  ground  on  which  the  hospital  stands,  is  an  area  of  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  in  length,  and  four  hundred  and 
forty  in  breadth,  bounded  in  front  on  Broadway,  and  near  the  City 
Hall.  The  principal  building,  denominated  the  Hospital,  is  of 
grey  stone  and  of  the  Doric  order :  in  front  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  feet ;  fifty  feet  deep  in  the  centre  and  eighty-six  feet 
deep  in  the  wings,  which  project  on  each  side.  It  consists  of 
three  stories  above  the  basement :  the  height  above  the  ground  is 
fifty-two  feet.  In  the  third  story,  looking  to  the  northwest,  is  the 
theatre  for  surgical  operations,  fitted  up  so  as  to  accommodate 
about  two  hundred  persons.  The  building  contains  sixteen  wards, 
thirty-six  feet  long  and  twenty-four  feet  broad,  in  which  about  three 
hundred  persons  may  be  accommodated.  On  the  southerly  section  of 
the  grounds  is  another  large  and  commodious  edifice,  ninety  feet  long, 
forty  feet  deep  in  the  centre  and  sixty-five  feet  deep  in  the  wings, 
which  project  twelve  and  a  half  feet  on  each  side.  The  hospital  is 
furnished  witii  a  most  valuable  and  extensive  library  on  medical 
science  and  the  collateral  branches,  particularly  on  botany.  It 
has  a  kitchen  garden,  ice  houses,  a  bathing  house,  and  convenient 
stables.  From  the  last  printed  report  of  this  Institution  for^  1826 
we  gather  the  following  facts : 

Remaining  in  the  hospital,  December  31, 1825,  pay  patients 

including  U.  S.  seamen  110 

Paupers  55 

Admitted  during  1826,  of  the  first  order  1097 

of  the  second  676 

1938 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  61 

Of  these  1284  are  reported  to  have  been  discharged  cured  ; — re- 
lieved 123  ;  discharged  by  request  72  ;  improper  objects  25  ;  dis- 
orderly and  eloped  22  ;  died  198.  Of  the  whole,  1177  were  na- 
tives of  America. 

The  Bloommgdale  Asylum  for  the  Insane. — In  the  month  of 
April,  1815,  the  late  Thomas  Eddy  submitted  to  the  governors  of 
the  Hospital  a  small  tract  entitled  "■  Hints  for  introducing  an  im- 
proved mode  of  treating  the  Insane  in  the  Asylum."  This  com- 
munication met  with  a  favorable  reception,  and  the  benevolent 
plans  of  the  distinguished  projector  were  carried  into  effect  with 
all  practicable  facility.  "  It  would  be,"  says  Mr.  E."an  undertaking 
singularly  interesting  and  instructive,  to  trace  the  different  methods 
of  cure  which  have  been  pursued  in  different  ages,  in  the  treat- 
ment of  those  laboring  under  mental  derangement ;  and  to  mark 
the  various  results  with  which  they  have  been  attended.  The 
radical  defect  in  all  the  different  modes  of  cure  that  have  been 
pursued,  appears  to  be,  that  of  considering  mania  a  physical  or 
bodily  disease,  and  adopting  for  its  removal  merely  physical  reme- 
dies. Very  lately,  however,  a  spirit  of  inquiry  has  been  excited, 
which  has  given  birth  to  a  new  system  of  treatment  of  the  insane; 
and  former  modes  of  medical  discipline  have  now  given  place  to 
that  which  is  generally  denominated  moral  management." 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  state  the  plan  of  the  Retreat  at  York, 
in  England;  the  successful  issue  of  that  benevolent  establishment, 
as  made  known  to  the  world  by  Mr.  Tuke's  publication,  fortified 
the  patrons  of  the  New-York  Asylum  in  their  enlarged  and  en- 
lightened views.  The  legislature  ofNew-York  were  not  reluctant  in 
countenancing  the  undertaking,  and  in  April  18l6,  passed  a  muni- 
ficent act  appropriating  the  yearly  sum  often  thousand  dollars  for 
forty-one  years,  to  enable  the  governors  to  erect  further  and  more 
extensive  accommodations  for  insane  patients.  Accordingly  a 
purchase  was  made  of  a  suitable  location  about  seven  miles  from 
the  city  of  New-York,  near  the  Hudson  river,  and  fronting  on  the 
Bloomingdale  road  :  the  whole  quantity  of  ground  is  stated  to  be 
somewhat  over  seventy-seven  acres.  It  is  remarkably  dry  and 
pleasant,  and  from  its  elevated  situation  affords  an  extensive  and 
delightful  view  of  the  East  and  Hudson  rivers  and  the  adjacent 
country  for  an  area  of  nearly  forty  miles.  The  plan  of  the  edifice 
adopted  was  that  of  Thomas  C.  Taylor  ;  it  comprehends  a  centre 
building  which  is  two  hundred  and  eleven  feet  in  length  and  sixty 
feet  deep,  with  two  wings,  each  placed  at  the  distance  of  fifty  feet 
from  the  principal  building  and  connected  with  it  by  a  colonnade. 
Each  wing  is  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  feet  in  length  and  fifty 
feet  deep.  The  middle  or  principal  centre  building  is  calculated 
to  accommodate  about  two  hundred  patients.  It  would  require 
many  pages  to  notice  the  various  accommodations  and  advantages 
which  this  great  institution  possesses,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  au 
ample  publication  of  such  a  nature  wdl  not  much  longer  be  with- 


62  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA. 

held  from  the  public.  The  state,  in  her  patronage  to  this  Asylum, 
has  added  to  her  renown  for  public  works,  great  as  it  has  previous- 
ly been,  and  the  names  of  Clinton,  Clarkson  and  Eddy,  will  be 
cherished  with  the  most  lively  and  lasting  gratitude  by  every  friend 
of  afflicted  humanity.  The"lbllowing  is  an  abstract  of  the  report 
of  this  Institution  for  1826.  During  the  above  period,  admitted, 
males  97 — females  45  ;  total  142 :  of  these  the  recent  cases  were 
93 — old  49.  Recovered,  including  males  and  females,  56 :  much 
improved,  6:  improved,  5  :  discharged  by  request,  9.  Died,  all  of 
them  of  the  old  cases,  6, — The  forms  of  the  diseases  were  mania, 

63  :  monomania,  28  ;  delirium  a  potu,  35  ;  dementia,  15  ;  idiotisra, 
1.     Total  142. 


STATE  OF  NEW-JERSEY. 

We  are  destitute  of  materials  for  the  medical  history  of  this 
state.  It  is,  however,  well  known  that  medical  men  of  distinguish- 
ed character  have  flourished  in  it  during  the  last  century  ;  me- 
moirs of  some  of  the  most  meritorious  have  been  procured  and 
are  inserted  in  this  volume.  A  medical  school,  connected  with 
Rutgers  College  in  New-Brunswick,  has  recently  been  instituted, 
and  is  conducted  by  professors  of  exalted  character  for  scientific 
attainments,*  a  majority  of  whom  lately  formed  the  Faculty  of  me- 
dicine in  the  University  of  New- York. 

Officers  of  the  College. 
David  Hosack,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  President  of  fitc  Medical  Faculty. 
Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  M.  D.  LL.D.   Vice  President. 
Peter  Townsend,  M.  D.  Registrar. 

Professors. 

David  Hosack,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Practice  of 
Physic  and  Clinical  Medicine. 

William  James  Macneven,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Therapeutics  and 
Materia  Mcdica. 

Valentine  Mott,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Forensic  Me- 
dicine. 

John  D.  Godnian,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 

John  Griscom,  LL.D.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 

The  several  courses  of  instruction  commence  on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  November,  and  terminate  on  the  last  day  of  February,  an- 

*  Rutgers'  College,  originally  called  Queen's  College,  was  founded  in  the  year 
1770.  In  that  year  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  New-York  and  New-Jersey, 
then  united  and  formed  the  plan  of  erecting  a  college  in  New-Brunswick,  for  the 
purpose  of  preparing  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry,  and  obtained  a  charter  from 
the  legislature  of  New-Jersey. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  63 

nually.  "  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  of  New-Jersey,  has  eslablislied 
in  perpetuitv  the  premium  of  a  gold  medal,  to  be  awarded  annual- 
ly to  the  student  of  that  institution,  who  shall  exhibit  the  most  sa- 
tisfactory testimonial  of  talent  and  attainment  in  medical  science, 
in  his  inaugural  dissertation  for  the  doctorate ;  the  same  to  be  ap- 
proved by  the  board  of  professors,  and  the  decision  to  rest  with 
them.  The  honor  to  be  delivered  to  the  successful  candidate  at 
the  public  commencement."  A  silver  medal  has  also  been  pro- 
posed by  the  liberality  of  a  distinguished  citizen  of  New-York,  to 
be  awarded  to  the  author  of  the  approved  dissertation  on  some 
subject  connected  with  the  indigenous  diseases  and  topography  of 
the  country.  These  incentives  to  exertion  cannot  but  produce 
the  most  salutary  emulation  among  the  students  of  the  newly  or- 
ganized school.  During  the  first  session  of  this  school  in  the  win- 
ter of  1S26-7,  the  total  number  of  students  attending  the  several 
classes,  was  one  hundred  and  fifty-three.  At  the  medical  gradua- 
tion, held  in  July,  1827,  twenty-nine  students  of  the  institution  re- 
ceived the  honors  of  the  doctorate. 

The   location  of  the  Rutgers  Medical  College  is  in  the  city  of 
New- York.     It  is  situated  in  Duane  Street,  near  Broadway,  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  New-York  Hospital.     It  was  erected  by 
the  medical  faculty  at  their  own  expense  expressly  for  the  accom- 
modation of  students  of  medicine.      It  is  admitted  by  all  that  this 
building  combines  with  the   necessary   spaciousness,  a   degree    of 
neatness,  convenience  and   comfort,  very  rarely   found   in   similar 
establishments.      The  lecture  rooms  are  three    in  number.      The 
chemical  room  is   on  the  lower  floor,  and  is  provided  with  neces- 
sary furnaces  and  fixtures.      Adjoining  the  laboratory  is  the  room 
for  the  raincralogical  cabinet  and  such   philosophical  apparatus  as 
is  employed  in  pneumatics,  hydrostatics,  and  other  departments  of 
science  connected  with  chemistry.      The   hall  for  the  lectures  on 
the  practice  of  physic,  materia  medica,  botany,  and  obstetrics  and 
forensic  medicine,  is  on  the  second  floor.     This  hall  is  also  design- 
ed for  the  delivering  of  introductory  lectures  and   for   public   col- 
legiate exercises.     The  library  room  is  on  the  same  floor  with  the 
hall.      The  surgical  and  anatomical  amphitheatre  is  on  the  third 
floor.     The  saloon  of  practical  anatomy  on  the  fourth  floor,  is  un- 
rivalled in  this  country  for  its  extent  and  the  entire  convenience  of 
its  arrangements.     This  apartment   is   of  the  length  and  width  of 
the  whole   building,  and   is  during  the  day  lighted  by  a  fine  sky- 
light and  four  windows.       At  night  it  is  brilliantly  illuminated  by 
ten  large  gas  burners,  which  entirely  obviate  the  necessity  of  using 
table-lamps.     The  cistern  of  water  is  supplied  by  means  of  a  forc- 
ing pump  in  the  basement.     A  furnace  of  appropriate  construction 
is  employed  for  the  daily  removal  of  fragments  usually  allowed  to 
accumulate  in  and  about  anatomical  apartments.     The  use  of  this 
furnace  and  the  regular  attention  paid  to  the  tables,  remove  from 
the  study  of  practical  anatomy  all  the  circumstances  usually   pro- 


64  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

ductive  of  disgust.  An  angle  of  the  saloon  is  screened  off  for  the 
accommodation  of  practitioners  of  medicine,  who  may  wish  to  re- 
vise their  anatomical  studies  free  from  interruption.  The  anato- 
mical cahinet  is  rich  and  valuable.  The  collection  of  the  profes- 
sor of  surgery  is  so  in  an  especial  degree,  on  account  of  its  being 
principally  composed  of  morbid  specimens,  removed  by  himself  in 
his  operations,  or  procured  from  subjects  with  whose  previous  his- 
tory he  is  acquainted.  Collections  to  a  valuable  extent  are  form- 
ing by  the  professor  of  the  materia  mcdica ;  and  tiie  illustrations, 
casts  and  preparations  for  obstetrical  knowledge,  are  constantly 
augmenting.  The  whole  of  this  college  is  furnished  with  gas 
lights,  and  warmed  by  a  single  fire  burned  in  the  basement,  from 
which  heated  air  is  conveyed  by  flues  to  all  parts  of  the  house. 
The  arrangement  is  so  effectual  that  but  a  few  minutes  are  neces- 
sary to  the  production  of  a  summer  temperature  even  in  the  cold- 
est winter.  The  heated  air  flows  from  below  the  seats  in  the  dif- 
ferent lecture  rooms,  so  that  they  are  equally  warmed  throughout. 

The  school  is  abundantly  supplied  with  the  material  necessary 
for  practical  anatomy  at  a  very  moderate  expense,  and  the  stu- 
dents enjoy  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  extensive  surgical 
and  medical  practice  of  the  New- York  Hospital.  The  qualifica- 
tions of  candidates  for  the  doctorate  are  similar  to  those  of  the 
New- York  College,  and  the  graduates  are  vested  with  the  usual 
powers  to  practise.  The  candidate  must  have  arrived  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  and  have  studied  medicine  three  years  under 
the  direction  of  a  regular  practitioner  ;  during  this  period  he  must 
have  attended  two  full  courses  of  lectures  at  the  college,  or  one 
full  course  in  another  and  one  full  course  in  Rutgers  College. 
The  examination  takes  place  immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
lectures. 

The  Medical  Society  of  the  state  of  New-Jersey  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  practice  of  physic  and  surgery,^was  incorporated  in 
1783,  and  is  governed  by  provisions  similar  to  those  of  the  society 
of  Massachusetts.     There  are  also  three  district  medical  societies. 


^  STATE  OF  DELAWARE. 

In  this  state  have  originated  men  of  professional  talents  and 
profound  erudition.  To  Dr.  James  Tilton  (6)  our  country  is 
greatly  indebted  for  important  services  in  the  line  of  his  profession 
during  both  the  former  and  the  latter  war  with  Great  Britain.  Dr. 
Sykes  (b)  was  eminently  distinguished.  Dr.  Joshua  Clayton  was 
governor  of  the  state,  and  a  member  of  the  United  States  senate  ; 
lie  died  in  1799.  During  the  war  of  Independence,  from  the 
great  scarcity  of  the  Peruvian  bark.  Dr.  Clayton  found  an  eligible 
substitute  in  the  bark  of  the  root  of  dogwood  (Cornus  florida)  and 


HISTORT    OF    MEDICIXE    IN    AMERICA.  b& 

the  inside  bark  of  the  while  oak  tree,  combined  in  eqnal  parts. 
This  proved  equally  efllcacious  in  all  those  cases  in  which  the  Pe- 
ruvian bark  is  usually  employed.  In  this  state  a  respectable  med- 
ical society  is  established,  and  the  professional  character  honora- 
bly supported  ;  but  its  vicinity  to  wealthy  and  populous  cities  ren- 
ders the  establishment  of  medical  schools  altogether  unnecessary. 


STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

It  appears  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  and  early  part  of 
the  18th  century,  many  learned  and  enterprising  medical  men 
emigrated  from  Europe,  and  established  themselves  in  Pennsylva- 
nia and  the  more  southern  provinces.  Thomas  Wynn,  an  emi- 
nent Welsh  physician,  who  practised  medicine  several  years  with 
high  reputation  in  London,  and  his  brother,  can)e  to  this  country 
in  1682  with  the  original  settlers,  located  themselves  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  were  the  earliest  physicians  of  that  city.  These  gentle- 
men were  followed  by  a  succession  of  regular  and  well  educated 
professional  men.  Dr.  Griflilh  Owen  arrived  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  is  said  to  have  done  the  principal  medical  business  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  highly  distinguished  for  his  talents, 
integrity  and  zeal.  He  died  in  1717,  about  the  age  of  70  years, 
and  left  a  son  who  practised  in  Philadelphia  some  time  after  his 
father's  death.  Dr.  Gramme  came  from  Great  Britain  with  the 
governor,  Sir  William  Keith,  in  the  year  1717-  He  was  about  30 
years  of  age  when  he  arrived,  had  an  excellent  education  and 
agreeable  manners,  and  was  therefore  much  employed  as  a  practi- 
tioner, and  greatly  confided  in  by  his  fellow  citizens.  Dr.  Lloyd 
Zachary  probably  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Phila- 
delphia between  1720  and  1730,  and  died  in  the  year  1756  in  the 
meridian  of  life,  greatly  and  most  deservedly  lamented.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of,  and  a  very  liberal  contributor  to,  both  the 
college  and  the  hospital.  Dr.  Kearsly  sen.  was  for  many  years  a 
very  industrious  practitioner  both  in  medicine  and  surgery.  He 
was  not  deficient  in  public  spirit.  The  public  are  more  indebted 
to  him  than  to  any  other  man  for  that  res|)ectable  edifice,  Christ 
Church;  and  by  will  he  founded  and  endowed  a  hospital  for  poor 
widows.  He  educated  Dr  John  Redman  and  Dr.  John  Bard,  of 
New-York.  Foibles  are  common  to  humanity,  and  we  often  find 
them  blended  with  the  most  splendid  virtues  in  the  human  charac- 
ter. Dr.  Kearsly  possessed  a  morose  and  churlish  temper,  which 
banished  all  cheerfulness  and  social  converse  from  his  pupils,  and 
rendered  him  an  unpleasant  companion.  Dr.  Cadwallader  Evans  (6) 
was  one  of  the  first  pupils  of  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  and  completed 
his  medical  education  in  England.  He  was  descended  from  a 
much  venerated  early  settler,  and  had  a  great  share  of  public  spi- 
9 


66  HISTORY   OP   MEDICINE    IN  AMERICA. 

rit,  as  well  as  of  professional  worth.  In  1769  some  observations 
appeared  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  of  London,  from  Dr.  John 
Kearslyjun,  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  angina  maligna,  which  pre* 
vailed  in  1746  and  1760.  "  It  extended,"  says  the  author, '"  through 
the  neighboring  provinces  with  mortal  rage,  in  opposition  to  the 
united  endeavors  of  the  faculty.  It  swept  off  all  before  it,  baffling 
every  attempt  to  stop  its  progress,  and  seemed  by  its  dire  effects 
to  be  more  like  the  drawn  sword  of  vengeance  to  stop  the  growth 
of  the  colonies,  than  the  natural  progress  of  disease.  Villages 
were  almost  depopulated,  and  numerous  parents  were  left  to  be- 
wail the  loss  of  their  tender  offspring."  An  essay  on  the  iliac 
passion  by  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwallader  (b),  a  respectable  physician 
in  Philadelphia,  appeared  in  the  year  1740,  in  which  the  author 
opposes  with  considerable  talent  and  learning  the  then  common 
mode  of  treating  that  disease.  This  was  one  of  the  earliest  pub- 
lications on  a  medical  subject  in  America.  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  (6), 
about  1754,  was  author  of  some  useful  medical  memoirs,  which 
were  published  in  a  periodical  work,  in  London.  Phineas  Bond, 
M.  D.  (6),  a  younger  brother  of  Thomas  Bond,  after  studying  med- 
icine some  time  in  Maryland,  visited  Europe,  and  passed  a  con- 
siderable time  at  the  medical  schools  of  Leyden,  Paris,  London 
and  Edinburgh  ;  on  his  return  he  settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
enjoyed  a  high  reputation  for  many  years.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  College,  now  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
About  the  middle  of  the  18lh  century  Dr.  Adam  Thompson,  of 
Pennsylvania,  or  Maryland,  published  a  discourse  on  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  body  for  the  reception  of  the  inoculated  sn)allpox,  and 
the  manner  of  receiving  the  infection,  as  it  was  delivered  in  the 
public  hall  of  the  academy  before  the  trustees  and  others,  in  No- 
vember, 1750.  This  production  was  highly  applauded  both  in 
America  and  Europe,  as  at  that  period  the  practice  of  inoculation 
was  on  the  decline.  The  author  states  that  inoculation  was  so  un- 
successful at  Philadelphia,  that  many  were  disposed  to  abandon 
the  practice  ;  wherefore,  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  1392d  apho- 
rism of  Boerhaave,*  he  was  led  to  prepare  his  patients  by  a  com- 
position of  antimony  and  mercury,  which  he  had  constantly  em- 
ployed for  twelve  years  with  uninterrupted  success. 

As  connected  with  medical  science,  it  might  appear  improper  to 
omit  the  distinguished  name  of  John  Bartram,  Esq.  to  whom  our 
country  is  so  greatly  indebted  for  improvements  in  natural  history 
and  botany.  He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1701.  His  grand- 
father of  the  same  name  accompanied  William  Penn  to  this  coun- 
try in  1682.  This  self-taught  genius  early  discovered  a  great  thirst 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  especially  of  botanical  know- 


*  Boerhaave's  1392d  aphorism  : — "  Some  success  from  antimony  and  mercury 
prompts  us  to  seek  for  a  specific  for  the  smallpox  in  a  combination  of  these  minerals 
reduced  by  art  to  an  active,  but  not  to  an  acrimonious  or  corrosive  state," 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  6t 

ledge.  lie  travelled  in  pursuit  of  it,  with  unwearied  diligence,  in 
various  parts  of  his  native  country  from  Canada  to  P'lorida,  and 
made  such  proficiency  in  the  study  tliat  Linnaeus  is  said  to  have 
pronounced  him  the  "greatest  natural  botanist  in  the  world." 
He  corresponded  with  many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
science,  both  in  America  and  in  Europe.  He  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  several  of  the  most  eminent  societies  and  academies  abroad, 
and  was,  at  length,  appointed  botanist  to  his  Britannic  Majesty 
George  HI.  He  died  in  1777,  in  the  76  year  of  his  age.  Mr. 
Bartram  was  the  first  native  American  wlio  conceived  and  car- 
ried into  effect  the  plan  of  a  botanical  garden  for  the  reception 
and  cultivation  of  indigenous  as  well  as  exotic  plants,  and  of  trav- 
elling for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  this  plan.  He  purchased 
a  situation  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  enriched  it  with 
every  variety  of  the  most  cinious  and  beautifid  vegetables,  col- 
lected in  his  excursions,  which  his  sons  have  since  continued  to 
cultivate. 

It  was  reserved  for  the  accomplished  Dr.  AVilliam  Shippen  (h) 
and  Dr.  John  Morgan  (6),  to  construct  a  permanent  foundation  for 
the  medical  institutions  of  our  country.  Both  these  gentlemen 
were  natives  of  Philadelphia,  and  after  receiving  the  usual  pre- 
paratory course  of  instruction,  repaired  to  Flurope  to  complete  a 
scientific  education.  Here  they  enjoyed  am|)le  means  of  qualify- 
ing themselves  for  the  great  duties  of  professors  and  teachers,  and 
while  in  Europe  they  concerted  the  plan  of  establishing  a  medical 
school  in  their  native  city.  Accordingly  in  1762  Dr.  Shippen 
commenced  a  course  of  lectures  on  anatomy  and  midwifery,  ac- 
companied by  dissections,  to  a  class  of  ten  students,  and  this  was 
the  first  systematic  course  of  lectures  on  medical  subjects  ever  de- 
livered in  America,  if  we  except  those  delivered  at  Newport  in 
1756,  by  Dr.  Himter.  In  1765  Dr.  Morgan  returned  from 
Europe  and  was  appointed  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  iMedicine, 
and  Dr.  Shippen  the  Professor  of  Anatomy  ;  and  they  were  the 
only  professors  of  this  new  institution  until  1768,  when  Dr.  Kuhn 
(6)  was  elected  Professor  of  Botany,  and  in  the  following  vear 
Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  (6)  was  chosen  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
These  learned  characters,  assisted  by  the  venerable  Thomas  Bond 
(6)  as  lecturer  on  Clinical  Medicine,  zealously  devoted  their  tal- 
ents to  the  duties  of  the  several  departments  of  medical  instruc- 
tion. This  first  Medical  School  in  the  American  colonies,  wa»j 
soon  after  confirmed  and  established  by  the  authority  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  while  Dr.  Franklin  officiated  as 
their  president.  The  science  of  medicine  was  unfortunately  de- 
prived of  the  benefits  and  improvements  expected  from  this  hon- 
orable association,  by  various  circumstances  connected  with  the 
revolutionary  war.  The  Pliiladelphia  Dispensary  fur  llie  niedical 
relief  of  the  poor,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  was  founded  in  1786.     The  College  of  Physicians  of  Phila- 


68  nisTORy  of  medicine  in  America. 

delphia,  was  established  in  1787,  and  the  labors  of  the  Professors 
commenced  under  circumstances  eminently  auspicious  to  the 
improvement  of  medical  science  ;  an  unfortunate  competition 
and  discord,  however,  between  the  medical  college  and  an 
opposition  school,  for  a  time  marred  their  prospects,  and  impeded 
that  useful  progress  which  the  friends  of  the  institution  and  the 
public  had  confidently  expected.  But  in  1791  some  important 
changes  took  place,  an  harmonious  union  of  the  contending  parties 
was  etfected,  and  Dr.  Rush  was  appointed  Professor  of  the  Insti- 
tutes and  Practice  of  Physic  and  of  Clinical  Medicine.  From  this 
period,  the  progress  and  improvement  of  the  institution  have  been 
no  less  honorable  to  the  venerable  founders,  than  beneficial  to  the 
community.  The  commanding  talents  and  profound  erudition  of 
Professors  Rush  (b),  Barton  (6),  Physick  (6),  Dorsey  (b),  Chapman 
and  others,  have  given  the  Medical  School  of  Philadelphia  a 
celebrity,  which  will  probably  long  remain  unrivalled  in  the  United 
States,  and  will  enable  it  to  vie  with  the  most  elevated  seminaries 
of  the  European  world.  It  has  become  the  resort  of  students 
from  every  section  of  our  united  confederacy.  Five  hundred  in 
some  seasons  have  attended  the  various  courses  of  lectures,  and 
the  inaugural  dissertations  of  those  who  from  time  to  time  have 
received  its  honors,  have  extended  the  fame  of  the  school  from 
which  they  emanated.  At  the  commencement  in  June,  1771? 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  was  conferred  on  seven,  and  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  on  four  candidates.  Such  has  been  the  prosperity  of  this 
medical  institution,  first  founded  in  our  country,  that  from  the 
most  accurate  calculation  that  can  be  made,  it  is  computed  that, 
between  7  and  8000  young  men  have  received  instruction  within 
its  walls  since  its  first  establishment,  and  from  this  source  the 
remotest  parts  of  our  union  have  been  furnished  with  learned  phy- 
sicians who  are  ornaments  to  their  profession.  During  the  four 
months  attendance  on  the  lectures,  the  class  expend  not  less  than 
^200,000  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.     The  present  faculty  : — 

Philip  Syng  Physick,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy. 

John  Redman  Coxe,  M.  D.   Professor  of  Materia  Medica   and 

Pharmacy. 
Nathaniel  Chapman,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Prac- 

tice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Practice. 
Thomas  C.  James,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Midwifery, 
Robert  Hare,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
William  Gibson,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery. 
William  C.  Horner,  M.  D.  Adjunct  Professor  of  Anatomy. 

It  is  ascertained  by  historical  records,  that  the  yellow  fever 
made  its  appearance  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  in  1699  and  1740, 
and  that  the  same  malady  again  visited  that  city,  JNew-York  and 
some  other  parts  of  North  America,  in  the  years  1744,   1747, 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  6A. 

1760,  and  1762  :  nt  the  last  mentioned  period  it  was  attended  with 
such  nialij^nity  as  ballled  the  skill  of  tlie  most  experienced  physi- 
cians. Tlie  medical  characters  of  those  times,  as  well  as  the  pub- 
lic generally,  considered  the  disease  to  be  contagious,  and  import- 
ed from  the  West  Indies.  l»ut  the  city  of  riiiladelphia  was  alllicted 
with  a  dreadful  visitation  of  the  yellow  fever  in  1793,  which  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  memorable  event  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States.  Such  was  the  magnitude  of  this  awful  calamity,  as  to  ex- 
cite in  the  breasts  of  all  classes  of  people  the  keenest  emotions  of 
sympathy  and  commiseration.  The  city  was  abandoned  by  a 
large  proportion  of  its  inhabitants,  and  those  who  remained  were 
not  sufficient  to  administer  comfort  to  the  sick  and  to  bury  the 
dead.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  persons  to  expire  alone  in  a 
house,  and  without  a  human  being  to  witness  the  awful  scene.  A 
negro  leading  a  horse  and  hearse  was  to  be  seen  in  every  street, 
and  at  almost  every  hour.  If  a  solitary  passenger  was  met,  his 
gloom  and  ghastly  visage  proclaimed  the  horrors  of  his  soul,  as  if 
conscious  that  with  every  breath  is  mingled  the  sting  of  death. 
No  less  than  four  thousand  and  forty-four  persons  fell  victims  to 
this  destructive  epidemic  in  that  ill  fated  city,  between  the  first  of 
August  and  ninth  of  October.* 

I'lie  same  pestilential  fever  has  at  several  subsequent  periods 
been  permitted  to  ravage  that  and  almost  all  the  cities  and  sea- 
port towns  in  the  United  Stales.  The  alarm  and  distress  which 
pervaded  our  cities  on  these  melancholy  occasions,  were  in- 
expressible. The  nature,  origin  and  propagation  of  this  for- 
midable disease,  became  the  topics  of  interesting  inquiry  and 
universal  concern.  The  investigation  was  pursued  by  many  of 
our  most  distinguished  medical  philosophers  with  commendable 
zeal  and  perseverance  ;  but  from  the  conllict  of  opinions,  a  spirit 
of  illiberality  was,  in  loo  many  instances,  allowed  to  mingle  with 
discussion,  atid  impede  the  progress  and  attainment  of  truth. 
AVhether  the  yellow  fever,  as  then  prevalent,  was  of  an  inflan)ma- 
tory  or  tyi)hoid  character,  whether  the  disease  was  actually  of  a 
contagious  nature  and  imported  from  a  foreign  country,  or  origi- 
nated iti  some  domestic  and  local  cause  existing  in  our  cities,  were 
questions  agitated  with  j)eculiar  interest  and  considerable  warmth, 
by  the  learned  laborers  in  this  ample  field  of  controversy.  The 
discordant  opinions  of  contagionists  and  nnn-con!agionists,  were 
little  calculated  to  satisfy  and  soothe  the  public  mind  while  afllict- 
ed  with  this  awful  source  of  mortality.  From  the  investigation 
and  inquiries  cjf  some  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  in  the  Unit- 
ed States,  much   light  has  been  elicited  relative  to  this  recondite 

*  For  a  particular  narrative  of  the  sufTerings  of  the  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia 
by  this  tremendous  visitation,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Rush  on  the  Yellow  Fever 
of  1793,  and  a  publication  by  Matthew  Carey,  Esq.  and  the  periodical  publications 
of  the  day. 


70  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA. 

subject.  It  would  require  volumes  to  examine  and  illustrate  the 
various  points  in  controversy,  and  those  who  may  be  desirous  of 
more  satisfactory  information,  may  consult  the  numerous  publica- 
tions of  that  period  relative  to  the  subject  in  question. 

Dr.  Rush,  after  having  experienced  the  palpable  inefficiency  of 
all  the  known  curative  remedies  in  the  yellow  fever  of  1793,  was 
induced  to  adopt  the  depleting  plan,  and  boldly  resorted  to  the 
lancet  and  to  mercurial  purges,  as  his  last  hope  ;  at  subsequent 
periods  of  its  prevalence,  however,  the  lancet  was  more  cautiously 
employed,  and  mercury  used  as  the  sovereign  remedy.  It  was 
given  with  tiie  view  of  evacuating  the  alimentary  canal,  or  in  such 
form  as  would  speedily  affect  the  salivary  glands,  in  which  event 
it  proved  eminently  efficacious.  Influenced,  probably,  by  the 
opinion  and  example  of  Dr.  Rush,  most  of  the  learned  physicians 
of  the  United  States  have  declared  themselves  advocates  for  the 
mercurial  mode  of  treatment.  Being  thus  sanctioned  by  the  high- 
est medical  authority  and  by  general  assent,  the  mercurial  prac- 
tice is  now  received  and  adopted  by  a  majority  of  our  practition- 
ers as  the  safest  and  most  successful  method  of  cure,  not  only  in 
the  yellow  fever,  but  also  in  typhus  and  other  forms  of  malignant 
febrile  affections.  This  plan  of  treatment  was  found  to  be  coinci- 
dent with  the  practice  of  some  respectable  men  of  extensive  expe- 
rience in  the  yellow  fever  of  the  West  Indies.  Dr.  Chisholm, 
indeed,  is  reputed  to  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  of  those  who 
resorted  to  mercury  as  an  agent  in  controlling  the  violence  of  that 
fatal  disease,  in  that  climate,  in  the  years  17^9  and  1790,  and  he 
is  worthy  of  being  styled  the  champion  of  the  mercurial  practice  ; 
having  in  one  instance  exhibited  by  the  mouth,  by  inunction  and 
by  clyster,  no  less  than  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  four 
grains  of  mercury  in  five  days,  and  the  result  was  the  rapid  re- 
covery of  the  patient.  It  would  seem  scarcely  credible,  a  priori, 
that  the  human  system  were  capable  of  sustaining  such  an  enor- 
mous quantity  of  this  active  metal,  and  it  is  presumed  that  the 
learned  gentleman  will  long  remain  without  a  rival  in  this  respect 
in  the  United  States. 

Works  of  great  merit  have  been  and  still  are  produced  by  the 
profoundly  learned  and  literary  professors  and  teachers  of  Phila- 
delphia, particularly  Rush,  Barton,  Wistar,  Dorsey,  Physick, 
'  Mease,  Currie,  Chapman,  Dewees  and  others.  Among  our  peri- 
odicals, those  published  in  that  city  stand  pre-eminent  in  point  of 
merit  and  utility.  The  Medical  Recorder  has  long  been  establish- 
ed and  its  fame  extensively  disseminated.  The  Philadelphia  Jour- 
■^4  nal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  was  commenced  in 
1820,  and  is  edited  by  Drs.  Chapman,  Dewees,  &c.  This  is  a 
work  of  superior  merit.  It  is  proposed  to  render  it  still  more 
valuable  by  enlarging  its  plan,  and  uniting  in  its  support  the  prin- 
cipal medical  talents  of  the  country.  It  will  hereafter  be  known 
under  the  name  of  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  '     71 

The  North  American  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  was  com- 
menced in  1S2G,  and  is  conducted  by  gentlemen  of  talent,  Tlie 
Philadelphia  Monthly  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  was  com- 
menced in  June  last,  and  is  gaining  reputation  and  respectable 
patronage. 


STATE  OF  MARYLAND. 

The  following  were  the  earliest  physicians  who  flourished  in  this 
state.  Dr.  Hamilton,  a  Scotch  physician  of  eminence,  emigrated 
to  this  country  about  1700,  and  settled  in  Maryland,  where  he 
practised  fur  many  years  with  acceptance  ;  nearly  contemporary 
with  him  were  Dr.  Sprigg,  Weisenthall,  Pue,  Scott,  Murray,  and 
Tootell  ;  and  at  a  later  period  Drs.  Thomas,  Warfield,  Stewart 
and  Gauth.  Tliese  gentlemen  were  educated  in  foreign  schools, 
and  several  of  them  were  natives  of  Europe.  They  were  all  emi- 
nent practitioners,  and  did  much  in  forming  the  medical  character 
of  Maryland  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Gustavus  R.  Brown,  M. 
D.,  an  eminent  physician  of  Charles  county,  received  liis  medical 
education  at  Edinburgh,  and  was  graduated  in  medicine  at  that 
university  in  17()8,  at  which  time  he  defended  a  thesis  on  "  Ani- 
mal Heat."  On  his  return  he  settled  in  his  native  place,  and  en- 
joyed through  life  an  extensive  practice.  Dr.  Rush,  who  was  con- 
temporary with  Dr.  Brown  at  Edinburgh,  used  to  say  of  him  that  he 
was  not  second  to  any  student  of  the  university  at  that  period.  Dr. 
Brown  was  not  only  a  well  read  physician,  and  an  able  practitioner 
of  medicine,  but  a  good  classical  scholar,  and  indulged  his  taste  for 
general  reading  during  the  whole  course  of  his  laborious  practice. 
It  is  said  that  he  used  but  few  remedies  in  his  practice,  and  those  of  a 
most  eflicient  character.  Drs.  Gustavus  Brown  and  William  Brown 
were  nephews  of  the  preceding,  and  educated  at  Edinburgh  at  near- 
ly the  same  period.  They  were  both  eminent  practitioners  of 
medicine,  the  former  of  St.  Mary's  county,  Maryland,  and  the 
latter  of  Alexandria,  It  is  not  known  that  either  of  these  gentle- 
men left  any  medical  writings  behind  them,  except  the  inaugural 
thesis  which  they  defended  at  the  time  of  their  graduation.  Dr. 
Parham,  of  Charles  county,  JNIaryland,  was  contemporary  with  the 
Drs.  Brown,  and  also  educated  at  Edinburgh.  He  was  a  distin- 
guished practitioner  of  medicine  and  surgery  in  his  native  state.* 
Dr.  John  Owen  practised  medicine  in  the  city  of  Baltimore.  He 
is  eulogised  in  the  newspapers  as  possessing  the  qualities  which 
gained  unbouuded  confidence  in  his  skill  and  in  his  probity.  Dr. 
John  Archer,   who  first  introduced  the  seneca  root  as  a  remedy  in 

*  See  Lecture  delivered  at  Columbia  College,  D.  C.  by  Thomas  Sewall,  M.  D. 
Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  and  other 
extracts. 


72  HSTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

croup,  deserves  to  be  commemorated  ;  but  no  memoir  of  his  life 
could  be  obtained. 

The  College  of  Medicine  in  Maryland,  established  at  Baltimore, 
was  regularly  organized  by  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  that  state,  in 
1807.  This  school  owes  its  origin  to  Dr.  John  B.  Davidge,  who  in 
1804  commenced  a  course  of  lectures  in  Baltimore  on  midwifery 
to  a  class  of  six  students.  In  1807  two  eminent  physicians,  Dr. 
Cocke  of  Virginia,  and  Dr.  Shaw  of  Maryland,  united  in  the 
school,  and  lectures  were  given  on  the  different  branches  of  medi- 
cine ;  in  the  same  year  a  charter  was  granted,  and  the  school  be- 
came regularly  organized  by  the  style  of  the  "  College  of  Medicine 
of  Maryland."  By  the  influence  and  zeal  of  its  distinguished 
founder,  and  the  labors  of  other  eminent  teachers,  this  institution 
has  been  rapidly  rising  into  importance,  and  at  the  present  time  is 
one  of  the  most  respectable  institutions  in  the  country.  An  in- 
firmary has  recendy  been  erected  in  connexion  with  the  school, 
for  the  purpose  of  clinical  instruction.  The  following  are  the 
Professors  : — 

John  B.  Davidge,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Surgeri/. 

Nathaniel  Potter,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine. 

Elisha  De  Butts,  INI.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Mineralogy. 

Samuel  Baker,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 
Professor  of  Anatomy. 

Richard  W.  Hall,  ]M.  D.  Professor  of  Midwifery  and  the  Diseases 
of  Women  and  Children. 

Maxwell  McDowell,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine. 

The  state  of  Maryland  has  an  excellent  pauper  establishment 
which  contains  an  infirmary,  a  lying-in  hospital,  a  workhouse  for  the 
employment  of  vagrants,  an  asylum  for  destitute  children,  a  lunatic 
hospital,  and  a  medical  and  chirurgical  school. 


STATE  OF  VIRGINIA. 

In  the  history  of  this  state  are  recognised  the  names  of  distin- 
guished medical  men  among  the  earliest  colonists.  "  In  l608, 
being  the  year  after  the  planting  of  the  colony  of  Virginia  at 
James  Town,  the  arrival  of  Walter  Russel,  doctor  of  physic,  is 
mentioned  by  the  colonists  ;  and  he  is  afterwards  spoken  of  as 
accompanying  Capt.  Smith  on  a  voyage  of  discovery,  from  James 
Town  to  the  Chesapeake,  and  up  the  Potomac  to  the  Falls  ;  and 
also,  of  having  rendered  surgical  aid  to  Capt,  Smith,  in  the  case  of 
an  accident  which  happened  to  him  on  this  occasion.  Some  is- 
lands, which  we  discovered  in  the  Chesapeake,  during  the  voyage, 


HISTORY    OP    MEDICIIfE    IN    AMERICA.  ^3 

were  called  Russel's  Islands,  says  Capt.  Smith,  in  honor  of  Dr. 
Russel,  Anthony  Bagnal,  surgeon,  is  also  mentioned  by  Capt. 
Smith,  as  accompanying  him  on  a  similar  voyage,  made  the  same 
year  from  James  Town  to  Nansamond,  the  place  where  Norfolk 
is  now  situated.  Drs.  Russel  and  Bagnall,  therefore,  wore  proba- 
bly the  first  physicians  who  came  over  to  the  colony  of  Virginia  ; 
but  whether  they  remained  in  the  country  or  soon  returned  to 
Europe,  we  have  no  account ;  but  it  is  probable  that  their  resi- 
dence in  America  was  only  temporary  ;  for,  in  l60<>,  when  Capt. 
Smith  was  badly  wounded  by  the  explosion  of  gunpowder,  he  says 
there  was  neither  chirurgeon  nor  chirurgery  at  the  fort  ;  and  he 
was  compelled  to  return  to  Europe,  for  the  recovery  of  his  health. 
In  ]6ll  Dr.  Bohun  is  mentioned,  being  about  to  leave  the  colony 
of  Virginia,  and  to  take  ship  with  Lord  Delaware  for  the  West 
Indies.  But  no  particular  account  is  given  of  either  of  these  phy- 
sicians." 

John  Mitchell,  M.  D.  (&),  a  distinguished  physician  and  botanist, 
came  from  England  and  settled  in  Virginia  about  17OO,  He  wrote 
an  interesting  and  original  essay  on  the  causes  of  the  different 
colors  of  people  of  different  climates,  which  was  published  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions.  He  was  also  the  author  of  several 
valuable  productions,  which  will  be  particularized  in  his  biography 
in  this  volume.  Dr.  John  Clayton  (6),  an  eminent  botanist  and 
physician,  came  to  Virginia  in  1705  ;  as  a  practical  botanist  he 
was  probably  not  inferior  to  any  one  of  the  age,  and  his  practical 
observations  gave  him  a  respectable  rank  among  the  learned  natu- 
ralists of  that  period,  Mark  Catesby,  F.  R.  S.  though  not  a  phy- 
sician, may  be  noticed  as  a  very  eminent  naturalist.  He  was  born 
in  England,  1679,  and  came  to  Virginia  in  1712,  and  in  1722  re- 
moved to  South  Carolina.  He  spent  nearly  his  whole  life  in  the 
cultivation  of  natural  science.  In  1748  he  published  a  natural 
history  of  Carolina,  Florida,  and  the  Bahama  Islands,  containing 
numerous  plates.  Dr.  John  Tennent,  a  respectable  physician  of 
Port  Royal,  Virginia,  who  brought  into  view  the  virtues  of  the 
Seneca  snake  root,  published  in  1736  at  Williamsburgh  an  essay 
on  pleurisy,  in  which  he  treats  of  the  Seneca  as  an  efficient  remedy 
in  the  cure  of  this  disease.  Dr.  Tennent,  it  is  believed,  was  a 
family  connexion  of  the  late  celebrated  Dr.  Richard  Mead,  of  Lon- 
don. He  held  a  medical  correspondence  with  Dr.  Mead  for 
many  years,  and  it  was  to  him  that  he  first  communicated  his  ac- 
count of  the  Seneca.  Dr.  George  Greham,  a  respectable  physi- 
cian of  Virginia,  emigrated  to  this  country  in  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century.  He  was  a  native  of  the  north  of  England,  and  was 
educated  at  Edinburgh.  When  he  came  over  to  this  country  he 
settled  at  Dumfries  in  Virginia,  where  he  enjoyed  an  extensive 
practice  for  many  years,  and  sustained  a  high  reputation.  Dr. 
Currie,  of  Richmond,  practised  through  his  life  with  great  reputa- 
10 


74  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

tion.  He  seemed  to  possess,  intuitively,  the  facult}'  of  distinguish- 
ing the  character  of  disease,  and  of  discovering  the  remedy.  He 
received  his  medical  education  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 
Dr.  Siccary,  a  practitioner  of  medicine,  was,  it  is  believed,  a  Por- 
tuguese Jew.  It  is  said  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  we  are  indebted  to 
him  for  the  introduction  of  that  admirable  vegetable,  the  tomato. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  a  person  who  should  eat  a  sufficient 
abundance  of  these  apples,  would  never  die.  Whether  he  follow- 
ed his  own  prescription,  is  not  known  ;  but  he  certainly  attained 
to  a  very  old  age,  and  particularly  for  tlie  climate  in  which  he 
lived.  The  tomato  is  raised  in  abundance  in  Virginia  and  the 
adjoining  states,  and  is  regarded  as  a  great  luxury,  and  by  some  is 
considered  a  preservative  against  bilious  diseases.  Dr.  Andrew 
Robertson  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  received  his  medical  edu- 
cation at  the  Edinburgh  University.  He  first  served  as  a  military 
surgeon  in  the  British  army  in  Flanders,  and  came  to  America 
with  Braddock's  arn)y  in  1755.  He  remained  in  the  country,  and 
settled  in  Virginia,  where  he  acquired  a  high  reputation,  and  for 
many  years  enjoyed  an  extensive  practice.  He  was  particularly 
distinguished  for  his  charity  and  attention  to  the  indigent  sick. 
He  made  several  valuable  medical  communications,  which  were 
publisiied  in  the  "  London  Medical  Inquiries  and  Observations." 
He  died  in  1795. 

Arthur  Lee,  M.  D.  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  brother  to 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  celebrated  patriot  of  the  revolution. 
Dr.  Lee  received  his  classical  education  at  Edinburgh,  and  after- 
wards studied  medicine  in  that  university.  As  soon  as  he  was 
graduated,  he  returned  to  his  native  state  and  settled  at  Williams- 
burg, where  he  practised  medicine  for  several  years  ;  but  after- 
wards abandonedjthe  profession,  went  to  England,  and  commenced 
the  study  of  the  law  in  the  Temple.  He  soon  entered  into  politi- 
cal life,  and  rendered  important  services  to  his  country  during  the 
revolutionary  war.  He  died  in  Virginia,  in  1792.  Hugh  Mercer, 
M.  D.  a  general  of  the  revolutionary  war,  was  a  distinguished 
physician,  who,  like  Warren,  fell  in  the  defence  of  the  liberties  of 
his  country.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  educated  at  Edin- 
burgh. He  early  emigrated  to  Virginia  and  settled  at  Fredericks- 
burg, where  he  practised  medicine  for  several  years  with  great 
reputation.  During  the  revolution,  he  zealously  engaged  in  the 
support  of  the  liberties  of  his  adopted  country,  and  fell  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Princeton  in  1777-  James  McLurg,  M.  D.  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  was  educated  at  Edinburgh.  He  was  graduated  in 
medicine  about  1771,  and  defended  an  experimental  thesis  on  the 
bile.  He  settled  at  Williamsburg,  and  was  by  common  consent 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  profession.  Dr.  William  Baynham  (6) 
was  long  considered  as  the  most  eminent  surgeon  in  the  southern 
states,  and  was  particularly  distinguished  for  his  accurate  know- 
ledge of  anatomy,     He  died  in    1814.     Walter  Jones,  M.  D.  (6), 


HISTORY   OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  75 

one  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  in  our  country,  was  born  in 
Virginia,  and  received  his  medical  education  at  Edinburgh,  where 
he  was  graduated  about  the  year  1770.  He  practised  in  Virginia, 
and  sustained  through  life  the  highest  standing  both  as  a  scholar 
and  physician.  Dr.  James  Craik  (b),  a  respectable  Scotch  physi- 
cian, was  educated  at  Edinburgh  and  came  over  to  this  coun- 
try with  Braddock's  army  in  1755,  and  served  as  surgeon  in  Gene- 
ral Braddock's  campaign,  after  which  he  settled  in  Virginia.  He 
sustained  an  important  office  in  the  medical  department  during  the 
whole  of  the  war  of  independence,  and  enjoyed  the  personal 
friendship  and  confidence  of  Washington,  and  attended  that  illus- 
trious chief  in  his  last  illness.  He  died  at  Alexandria  in  1814,  at 
the  age  of  84  years.  Dr.  Dick  was  also  one  of  the  attending 
physicians  of  Washington,  but  we  have  no  information  respecting 
his  life  and  character. 

Medical  School  of  the  valley  of  Virginia,  established   at  Win- 
chester in  1826.     Professors  : — 

John  G.  Cooke,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 

Phi/sic  and  Obstetrics. 
Phillip  Smith,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 
H.  H.  McGuire,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 
A.  F.  Magill,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Chemistry. 


STATE  OF  SOUTH-CAROLINA. 

For  eighty  or  ninety  years  after  the  settlement  of  this  state, 
according  to  the  late  Dr.  Ramsay,  the  practice  of  physic  was 
almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Europeans  :  among  these  were 
several  able  physicians,  who  possessed  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  diseases  of  our  country,  and,  says  the  great  man  just  mention- 
ed, at  a  period  before  Dr.  Rush  began  his  brilliant  career  as  an 
author,  there  were  more  experiments  made,  more  observations 
recorded  and  more  medical  writings  ushered  into  public  view  by 
the  physicians  of  Charleston,  than  of  any  other  part  of  the  Amer- 
ican continent.  Between  the  years  1768  and  1778,  ten  native 
Carolinians  obtained  the  honors  of  a  medical  degree  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh  ;  three  of  these  were  afterwards  presidents 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  that  state,  viz.  Drs.  Fayssoux,  Harris 
and  Chandler.  About  the  year  1748,  John  Lining,  M.  D.  (6) 
published  an  accurate  history  of  the  American  yellow  fever,  which 
was  the  first  on  this  subject  which  issued  from  an  American  press. 
Lionel  Chalmers,  M.  D.  (h)  in  1754  communicated  to  the  Medical 
Society  of  London  some  valuable  remarks  on  Opisthotonus  and 
Tetanus,  and  he   published  also  an    essay   on  fevers  in   1767. 


76  HISTORY    OP    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

Alexander  Garden,  M.  D.  [b)  presented  to  the  public  in  1764 
an  account  of  the  medical  properties  of  the  Spigelia  Marylandica, 
or  Carolina  Pinkroot,  with  a  botanical  description  of  the  plant. 
John  Moultrie,  M.  D.  (6),  a  distinguished  physician  of  Charleston, 
was  a  native  of  Europe,  and  came  to  this  country  in  1733.  For 
40  years  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in  the  city.  He 
possessed  great  talents  for  observation,  and  was  wonderfully  suc- 
cessful in  finding  out  the  hidden  causes  of  disease.  He  was  the 
idol  of  his  patients  ;  and  such  were  the  affection  and  attachment  of 
his  female  friends  that  at  his  death,  in  1773,  many  ladies  of  the 
city  went  into  mourning  on  his  account.  The  year  following  his 
death,  an  unusual  number  of  females  died  in  childbed,  and  appar- 
ently from  despondency.  Dr.  Moultrie  had  a  son  who  was  grad- 
uated at  Edinburgh  in  1749,  and  was  a  distinguished  scholar  and 
an  eminent  practitioner  of  medicine  in  Charleston.  At  his  grad- 
uation he  defended  a  thesis,  "  De  Febre  Flava."  William  Bull, 
M.  D.  (6)  was  a  physician  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  native  of  the 
state,  distinguished  for  his  literary  attainments,  as  well  as  for  an 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  science  of  medicine.  He  was  the 
pupil  of  Boerhaave,  and  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  the 
University  of  Loyden  in  1734,  at  which  time  he  defended  a  thesis 
on  "  Colica  Pictonum."  He  is  quoted  by  Van  Swieten  as  his  fel- 
low student,  with  the  title  of  the  learned  Dr.  Bull,  and  was  the 
first  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  probably  the  first  American, 
who  obtained  a  degree  in  medicine.  Drs.  Alexander  Baron, 
Tucker,  Harris  and  Samuel  Wilson,  should  be  mentioned  in  terms 
of  high  respect  ;  they  died  in  advanced  age.  But  of  all  the  medi- 
cal characters  which  have  adorned  the  southern  states,  no  one  has 
displayed  more  brilliant  talents,  or  professional  erudition,  than  the 
late  David  Ramsay,  M.  D.  (b).  An  interesting  memoir  of  this 
learned  physician  will  be  found  in  the  biographical  department  in 
this  work. 

In  1824  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina  was  established 
at  Charleston.  In  this  school  there  are  seven  professorships. 
The  students  have  the  privilege  of  attending  the  practice  of  the 
Marine  Hospital.     The  professors  are  : — 

John  Edwards  Holbrook,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy. 

S.  Henry  Dickson,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Prac- 
tice of  Physic. 

James  Ramsay,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery. 

Thomas  G.  Prioleau,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Dis- 
eases of  Wotnen  and  Children. 

Henry  Rutledge  Frost,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 

Edmund  Ravenel,  M.  D.   Professor  of  Chemistry. 

Stephen  Elliot,  LL.D.  Professor  of  Botany  and  Natural  History. 

The  yellow  fever  was  known  to  exist  in  Charleston  so  early  as 
the  year  l699,  and  again  in  1748,  when  Dr.  Lining  published  aa 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  77 

ccurate  history  of  the  disease,  and   pronounced  it  imported  iind 
ontagious.     At    several  subsequent  periods  that   city    has   been 
fflicted  with  the  same  mortal  epidemic. 
In  the  year  1738  smallpox  was  brought  from  Africa  b)'  a  cargo 
of  slaves  into  Charleston,  where  from  the  beginning  of  June   to 
the  end  of   August  it  proved  exceedingly  fatal.     Mr.  Mowbray,  a 
surgeon,  was  the  first   vvho   introduced   inoculation  into  this  Prov- 
ince, and  in  a  short   time   performed  the  operation  upon  450   per- 
sons.    He  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Kirkpatrick   and    others,  so  that 
the  number  of  the  inoculated  in  a  kw  months  amounted  to  1000, 
including  whites  and  blacks.     Six  of  the  former  and   two   of   the 
latter  died  of  the  disease  thus  communicated. 


The  Medical  College  of  Ohio  was  established  in  Cincinnati   in 
1818.     Professors  : — 

Jedediah  Cobb,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Practice 
of  Medicine. 

Elijah  Slack,  A.  M.  Professor  of  Chemistry  a7id  Pharmacy. 

John  Moorhead,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Medi- 
cal Obstetrics. 

Jesse  Smith,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery. 

Transylvania  University.      Medical  School  at  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky.    Professors  : — 

Benjamin  W.  Dudley,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery. 
Charles  Caldwell,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes   of  3Iedicine 

and  Clinical  Practice. 
Daniel  Drake,  M.  D.   Professor  of  the    Theory  and  Practice  of 

Medicine. 
William  H.  Richardson,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Diseases 

of  Women  and  Children. 

Short,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  3Iedi- 

cal  Botany. 
James  Blythe,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 

The  Medical  School  of  Jefferson  College,  located  in  Philadel- 
phia.    Professors  : — 

John  Eberle,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice,   and 

Clinical  Medicine. 
George  McClellan,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery. 
Jacob  Green,  A.  M.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
B.  Rush  Rhees,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 
F.  S.  Beattie,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine  and 

Midwifery. 
Nathan  R.  Smith,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 


78  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA. 

Columbia  College,  D.  C.  Instituted  under  a  charter  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  located  at  Washington,  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  in  1824.     Professors  : — 

Thomas  Sewall,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology. 
James  M.  Stoughton,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Surgery. 
Thomas  Henderson,  M.  D.  Professor  of  the  Theory  aiid  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine. 
N.  W.  Worthington,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 
Edward  Cutbush,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
Frederick  May,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Obstetrics. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  several  medical  institutions 
in  the  United  States,  with  the  date  of  their  respective  organization, 
and  the  number  of  students  attending  the  lectures  in  1825-6, 
as  correct  as  possible. 

No.  St.  No.  St. 

Med.  School  of  Maine  1820      60 

Med.  School  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity 1821      40 
Med.  School  of  the  University 

of  Vermont  1822     42 

Berkshire  Med.  School  1822      94 

Med.  College  of  S.  Carolina     1824      50 
Med.  School  of  Jefferson  Coll.  1824 
Columbia  College,  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  1824 
Med.  School  of  Auburn             1823 
Med.  School  of  the  Valley  of 

Virginia  1826 

Rutgers  Med.  College  1826    153 


University  of  Pennsylvania       1765  480 
Med.  School  of  New-York        1768  196* 
Med.  School  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege                                       1782  130 
Med.  School  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege                                         1798  80 
College  of  Med.  of  Maryland  1807  215 
College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons of  the  Western  Dis- 
trict of  the  state  of  N.  Y.     1812  120 
Med.  School  of  Yale  College    1813  82 
Med.  College  of  Ohio                1818  22 
Vermont  Academy  of  Med.       1818  124 
Med.  School  of  Transylvania  1819  235 


We  have  now  detailed,  in  the  order  of  time  of  their  respective 
establishments,  no  less  than  twenty  medical  schools  and  colleges 
in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  hoped  that  no  one  is  omitted  ;  there 
is  the  best  reason  to  believe  that  they  have  been  organized  with 
great  judgment,  and  are  conducted  with  commendable  zeal  and 
ability.  It  will  be  perceived  that  a  course  of  lectures  is  given  in 
all  the  institutions  on  the  various  branches  of  medical  science, 
from  three  to  five  months  annually.  The  subjects  of  anatomy  and 
surgery  are  illustrated  by  dissections  and  operations  on  the  dead 
body,  and  by  models,  drawings,  and  dried  preparations  ;  the  sub- 
ject of  chemistry,  by  the  exhibition  of  chemical  experiments.  Most 
of  the  schools  are  in  possession  of  valuable  medical  libraries,  ana- 
tomical and  mineralogical  cabinets,  museums,  &,c.,  and,  in  almost 
all  instances,  hospitals  or  infirmaries  are  established  in  connexion, 
affording  the  young  student  the  best  possible  opportunities  of  im- 
provement in  practical  medicine.      Every  school  is  invested  with 

*  In  1826-7  reduced  to  84. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  7  9 

the  power  of  conferring  medical  degrees  on  those  who,  on  exami- 
nation, are  found  to  be  entitled  to  such  honors  ;  the  manner  and 
form  are  nearly  similar  in  all  the  schools.  Such  is  the  unexam- 
pled progress  in  medical  improvement,  and  such  the  ample  means 
of  instruction  at  the  present  day,  although  <^one  hundred  and  fifty- 
eight  years  of  our  history  elapsed  after  the  first  settlement  of  Ame- 
rica, before  a  single  medical  school  existed  in  the  country"  'J  and 
though  about  sixty  years  ago  one  only  was  established,  and  but 
ten  pupils  attended  its  first  lectures,  we  may  at  the  present  time 
boast  of  twenty  schools,  occupying  the  talents  of  more  than  one 
hundred  eminent  professors,  imparting  public  instruction  to  more 
than  two  thousand  young  students  annually.  Besides  the  nume- 
rous seminaries  already  noticed,  medical  societies  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  practice  of  physic,  and  the  suppression  of  quackery  and 
empiricism,. have  been  formed  in  most  of  the  states  of  the  union. 
The  establishment  of  these  institutions  originated  with  the  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts,  who  in  the  year  1781  incorporated  the  first 
body  of  this  description,  by  the  name  of  the  Massachusetts  Medi- 
cal Society.  The  views  and  design  of  the  founders  of  this  excel- 
lent institution,  with  the  very  important  advantages  which  have  re- 
sulted to  the  community  by  its  operation,  have  already  been  de- 
tailed in  page  38.  Similar  societies  have  since  been  incorporated 
by  the  legislatures  of  most  of  the  states.  In  some  of  the  states 
where  such  societies  exist,  persons  who  are  not  licensed  are  per- 
mitted to  practise,  and  are  allowed  the  benefit  of  the  law  ;  and  in 
some  states,  a  severe  penalty  is  inflicted  for  prescribing  medicine 
without  a  licence. 

By  the  establishment  of  medical  schools  and  societies  through- 
out our  country  within  the  last  half  century,  most  important  im- 
provements have  been  made  in  almost  every  branch  of  the  science 
of  medicine,  and  it  must  be  gratifying  to  every  patriot  to  know 
that  our  citizens  have  acted  a  very  conspicuous  part  in  effecting  an 
object,  in  which  the  character  of  our  nation  and  the  interest  of 
mankind  are  so  deeply  concerned.  These  circumstances  will  be 
hailed  as  propitious  omens  of  the  prosperity  and  literary  fjime 
which  await  our  aspiring  citizens.  Important  and  auspicious  effects 
are  already  visible  in  the  character  of  our  physicians.  A  thirst  for 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  a  laudable  emulation,  a  taste  for  ob- 
servation, inquiry  and  reseaich,  have  been  excited,  and  the  talents 
and  efforts  of  medical  men  in  various  sections  of  the  union  have 
been  happily  combined.  Within  the  last  half  century  medical 
publications  have  greatly  multiplied  in  the  United  States,  and  many 
of  them  reflect  honor,  both  on  their  authors  and  on  the  national 
character.  The  numerous  and  valuable  works  of  our  late  medical 
philosopher,  Professor  Rush,  hold  the  first  rank  in  the  American 
catalogue.  These,  with  the  learned  productions  of  Professors  Bar- 
ton, Hosack,  and  Mitchell,  have  been  translated  into  various  for- 
eign languages,  and  received  the  meed  of  applause  from  some  of 


80  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

the  most  celebrated  characters  of  the  European  continent.  The 
|.  Anatomy  of  the  late  professor  Wistar  has  been  received  with  uni- 
*'''versal  approbation,  as  a  display  of  uncommon  talent,  and  will  be  a 
lasting  monument  to  his  memory.  Dr.  Dorsey's  "  Elements  of 
Surgery,"  an  original  work  in  two  volumes,  has  been  republished, 
and,  it  is  said,  made  a  text  book  in  the  celebrated  medical  school 
at  Edinburgh.*  There  are  numerous  other  writers  in  the  United 
States,  who  by  their  labors  have  honorably  contributed  to  our  do- 
mestic literature  and  science.  Many  handsome  specimens  of 
ability,  industry  and  learning,  will  be  found  among  the  inaugural 
dissertations  published  by  the  students  of  our  medical  schools  ;  and 
the  most  considerable  portion  of  our  journals  and  periodical  publi- 
cations, in  point  of  merit  and  utility,  may  vie  with  the  long  estab- 
lished vehicles  and  repositories  of  medical  intelligence  beyond  the 
Atlantic.  The  plans  and  means  of  instruction  in  our  establish- 
ments and  seminaries,  are  continually  improving.  The  road  to 
medical  knowledge  is  laid  open,  and  is  fraught  with  allurements. 
Emulation  and  fashion  are  directing  their  votaries  into  its  various 
avenues,  and  conducting  them  to  the  fountain  of  professional  hon- 
ors, distinctions  and  emoluments.  No  longer,  therefore,  need  our 
young  men  humbly  reap  the  fruits  of  European  fields,  but  assidu- 
ously cultivate  and  diffuse  the  ample  advantages  to  be  found  in 
our  own.  In  duly  appreciating  the  advantages  of  our  own  institu- 
tions we  advance  the  interest  and  reputation  of  our  native  country, 
and  prevent  the  necessity  of  an  expensive  resort  to  Europe  iu 
pursuit  of  medical  knowledge.  We  recognise  in  our  institutions 
no  uniform  theoretical  system  as  the  rule  of  practice.  Medical 
history  affords  abundant  evidence  of  the  instability  of  human  sys- 
tems. Every  age  has  teemed  with  theories  or  visionary  hypo- 
theses fleeting  as  the  wind,  scarcely  surviving  their  authors,  but 
yielding  to  others  as  transient  and  unsubstantial  as  themselves. 
The  medical  authorities  most  respected,  are  CuUen,  Rush  and 
Good.  These,  modified  and  improved  according  to  the  judge- 
ment and  views  of  the  respective  professors,  are  adopted  and  taught 
in  the  various  American  universities.  In  the  art  of  surgery  the 
leading  authorities  are  Pott,  the  Bells,  Desault,  the  Coopers, 
Abernethy,  Cline,  Home,  Latta  and  Hey,  to  whom  we  may  add 
our  own  countrymen,  Physick  and  Dorsey  of  Philadelphia,  Post 
and  Mott,  of  New-York,  and  the  late  John  Warren,  and  John 
C.  Warren  of  Boston,  and  others,  whose  names  we  may  with  pride 
associate  with  those #vho  have  adorned  the  annals  of  surgery,  in 
either  hemisphere,  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  In  the  depart- 
ments of  chemistry  and  botany,  the  most  modern  European  authors 
are  consulted,  together  whh  the  labors  and  improvements  of  our 
own  enlightened   professors.     American  botany  is  now  cultivated 

*  This  it  is  hoped  will  silence  those   invidious  writers  in  that  country,  who  for 
years  have  labored  to  detract  from  the  merit  of  American  physicians. 


HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN    AMERICA.  81 

with  that  commendable  ardor  and  solicitude,  which  the  importance 
of  the  subject  demands,  and  many  indigenous  medicinal  plants  have 
been  introduced  as  new  articles  of  our  materia  medica. 

Although  there  is  no  uniform  standard  of  attainments  establish- 
ed, in  order  to  graduation,  in  most  of  our  schools  it  is  required, 
that  before  a  student  can  be  admitted  to  an  examination  for  a  de- 
gree, he  must  have  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-one,  have  studied 
three  years  with  some  regular  physician,  attended  two  full  courses 
of  lectures  on  the  different  branches  of  medicine,  and,  if  he  has  not 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education,  he  must  furnish 
satisfactory  evidence  of  having  made  respectable  classical  attain- 
ments ;  and  particularly  that  he  has  acquired  a  competent  know- 
ledge of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  has  studied  mathematics, 
natural  and  experimental  philosophy,  geography,  and  belles  lettres. 
In  several  of  our  schools  it  is  required  that  he  shall  have  attended 
the  clinical  practice  of  some  infirmary  for  a  specified  term.  It  is 
also  required  that,  before  he  can  receive  his  degree,  he  must  pass 
a  close  examination  in  the  different  branches  of  medicine,  and  write 
and  defend  a  thesis  on  some  medical  subject, 

A  national  Pharmacopoeia,  adapted  to  the  present  state  of  medi- 
cal science  in  the  United  States,  had  long  been  a  desideratum,  as 
the  only  mode  by  which  a  uniform  system  of  practice  could  be  es- 
tablished. In  January,  1817,  Dr.  Lyman  Spalding  submitted  to 
the  New- York  County  Medical  Society  a  project  for  the  formation 
of  a  national  Pharmacopoeia,  by  the  authority  of  all  the  medical 
societies  and  medical  schools  in  the  United  States.  The  plan 
adopted  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  this  great  object,  was  to 
divide  the  United  States  and  territories  into  four  districts,  viz.  the 
northern,  middle,  southern  and  western.  In  each  of  these  dis- 
tricts a  convention  was  called,  consisting  of  delegates  from  the 
several  medical  societies,  colleges  of  physicians  and  surgeons, 
medical  schools,  faculties  of  medicine  and  voluntary  associations  of 
physicians.  It  was  proposed  that  each  district  convention  should 
form  a  Pharmacopoeia,  or  select  one  in  general  use,  and  make 
therein  such  alterations  and  additions  as  might  adapt  it  to  the 
present  state  of  medical  science.  The  district  conventions  were 
requested  to  appoint  one  or  more  delegates  to  meet  in  a  general 
convention  and  submit  to  the  same  their  Pharmacopoeia.  Circu- 
lar letters  were  transmitted  to  the  medical  schools  and  institutions 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  met  with  universal  approbation. 
The  places  designated  for  the  meeting  of  the  district  conventions 
were  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Columbia  in  South  Carolina,  and 
Lexington  in  Kentucky.  These  district  conventions  held  their 
meetings  accordingly,  and  appointed  delegates  to  meet  in  a  general 
convention  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Washington,  for  the  purpose 
of  compiling  the  American  Pharmacopoeia  from  those  which  were 
presented  by  the  district  conventions.  It  was  agreed  that  each 
medical  society,  or  medical  institution,  should  defray  the  expenses 
11 


i 


82  HISTORF    OF    JIEDICINE    IN    AMERICA. 

of  its  own  delegation  and  its  proportion  of  the  expenses  of  the  dis- 
trict convention  :  that  the  general  convention  should  adopt  a  plan 
for  revising  the  American  Pharmacopoeia  at  the  end  of  every  ten 
years  ;  and  that  no  alteration  should  be  made  therein  except  at  those 
periods,  and  then  only  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  The  general 
convention  for  the  formation  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  assembled  in 
the  capitol  at  Washington  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1820,  and 
elected  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  M.  D.  as  their  president,  and  Thomas 
T.  Hewson,  M.  D.  as  secretary.  Two  Pharmacopoeias,  being 
those  prepared  in  the  northern  and  middle  districts,  were  submitted 
to  examination.  These  works  were  duly  examined  and  compared 
in  detail,  and  their  contents,  with  such  additions  as  were  thought 
necessary,  consolidated  into  one  work,  which,  after  full  revision, 
was  adopted  by  the  general  convention  as  the  American  Phar- 
macopoeia, and  ordered  to  be  published  by  a  committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose.  It  was  a  preliminary  that  the  general  conven- 
tion should  sell,  for  ten  years,  the  copyright  of  the  American 
Pharmacopoeia,  and  that  they  should  defray  their  expenses  out  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale,  and  also  that  it  be  recommended  to  every 
medical  society,  <S6C.  to  adopt  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  encourage 
the  use  of  it  by  all  druggists  and  apothecaries.  It  was  resolved 
by  the  general  convention  that  tlieir  president  shall  on  the  first 
of  January,  1828,  issue  writs  of  election  to  the  several  incorporated 
state  medical  societies,  &c.  requiring  them  to  ballot  for  delegates 
to  a  general  convention  to  be  held  at  Washington  on  the  first  of 
January,  1830,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  Pharmacoposia,  and 
introducing  such  alterations  and  additions  as  the  progress  of  medi- 
cal and  pharmaceutical  science  may  require. 

The  following  periodical  publications  on  the  subject  of  medicine 
have  been  established  in  the  United  States. 

The  New- York  Medical  Repository  was  the  first  medical  jour- 
nal published  in  the  United  States,  and  was  commenced  in  that 
city  in  1797  by  the  joint  labors  of  Drs.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  Ed- 
ward IMiller,  and  Elihu  H.  Smith.  Since  the  commencement  of 
this  work,  a  succession  of  periodical  journals  has  been  established, 
among  which  are  : — 

The  Philadelphia  Medical    and    Physical    Journal,  com- 
menced in               -             -             _             -             .  1804 
Philadelphia  Medical  Museum,  in             -             _             _  1805 
Baltimore  Medical  and  Physical  Recorder,  in              -  1808 
New-York  Medical  and  Philosophical  Journal  and  Review, 

in         ------  -  1809 

American  Medical  and  Philosophical    Register  (at  New- 
York),  in     .-..--  1810 
The  American  Mineralogical  Journal  (at  New- York,)  in     -  1810 
Eclectic  Repertory  (at  Philadelphia),  in          -             -  1811 
Baltimore  Medical  and  Philosophical  Lyceum,  ia             -  1811 


18$>  /$ 


BISTORT    OF   MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA.  83 

New  England  Journal  of  Medicine  and   Surgery  (at  Bos- 
ton), in         -          -             -             -             -     "       -  1812 

American  Medical  Recorder  (at  Philadelphia),  in             -  1818 
Philadelphia  Journal  of  Medical  and  Physical    Sciences, 

in                -             -             -             -             -             -  1820 

American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts  (at  New-Haven), 
in------- 

New- York  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,  in     -            -  1822 

Western  Medical  Reporter  (at  Cincinnati,  Ohio),  about     -  1822 

Hartford  Analectic  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  in      -  1823 

Boston  Medical  Intelligencer,  in         -             -             _  1823 

Medical  Review  and  Analectic  Journal  (at  Philadelphia),  in  1824 

New-York  Monthly  Chronicle  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  in  1824 
Carolina  Journal   of  Medicine,  Science,  and    Agriculture 

(at  Charleston),  in     -             -             -             -             -  1825 

The  North  American  Medical   and   Surgical  Journal    (at 

Philadelphia),  in     -             -             -             -             -  1826 

Philadelphia  Monthly  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  in  1827' 

"  These  publications  have,  in  general,  been  well  sustained,  and 
while  they  have  been  useful  in  disseminating  medical  information, 
and  in  exciting  a  more  general  taste  for  reading  and  inquiry,  they 
have  called  forth  the  talents  of  physicians  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  in  exploring  the  medical  topography  of  the  coun- 
try, investigating  the  causes  of  its  epidemic  and  endemic  diseases, 
examining  its  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  productions,  and  in 
publishing  the  results  of  their  observations  and  discoveries  to  the 
world.  They  have  thus  been  among  the  most  efficient  means  of 
advancing  medical  science,  and  elevating  the  character  of  the 
profession.  Several  of  the  journals  which  have  been  established, 
are  discontinued,  and  others  have  assumed  a  different  title."*  As 
vehicles  imparting  useful  knowledge,  and  improving  the  science  of 
medicine,  they  have  been  of  the  highest  importance.  If  the 
advancement  of  science  in  the  early  periods  of  our  history  was 
marked  with  tardy  and  feeble  steps,  we  can  boast  of  honorable 
amendment  by  the  rapid  strides  observable  in  our  own  times. 
Within  the  last  sixty  years  our  progress  has  been  without  a  par- 
allel. We  have  established  no  less  than  twenty  medical  schools, 
besides  medical  societies  ;  numerous  hospitals,  infirmaries  and 
dispensaries,  devoted  to  the  cause  of  humanity  and  benevolence, 
have  been  erected  ;  a  system  of  medical  education  and  of  medical 
police  has  been  established,  and  their  benefits  extensively  diffused. 
In  the  language  of  a  late  elegant  writer,!  "  We  have  produced 
a  host  of  able  teachers,  successful  practitioners,  and  some  of  the 
best  writers  of  the  age.     If  much  has  already  been  accomplished, 

*  Professor  Sewall's  first  lecture  at  the  opening  of  Columbia  College,  D.  C 
March,  1826.  t  Ibid. 


84  HISTORY    OF    MEDICINE    IN   AMERICA, 

much  still  remains  to  be  done.  Though  our  large  towns  and  cities 
and  the  more  populous  parts  of  our  country  are  supplied  with  well 
educated  pliysicians,  a  large  portion  of  our  territory,  remote  from 
the  schools,  is  still  without  those  who  have  enjoyed  the  benefits 
of  public  instruction.  If  we  have  ten  thousand  physicians,  as 
computed  by  a  late  writer,  we  have  more  than  fifteen  thousand 
practitioners  of  medicine,  many  of  whom  have  never  heard  a  pub- 
lic lecture,  or  seen  a  demonstration  in  anatomy."  "  If,  in  sixty 
years,  with  the  limited  means  we  have  possessed,  and  with  all  the 
difficulties  we  have  had  to  encounter,  we  have  produced  the  best 
system  of  medical  education,  the  most  perfect  code  of  medical 
police  that  has  been  exhibited  to  the  world  ;  if  we  have  pro- 
duced some  of  the  best  practical  and  elementary  books,  and  some 
of  the  most  eminent  physicians  and  surgeons  of  any  age  or 
country  ;  if  we  have  done  this  in  the  short  [)eriod  of  sixty  years 
that  are  passed,  what  will  be  our  advance  in  sixty  years  to 
come  ?"  The  foregoing  sentiments  of  Professor  Sewall,  as  it  re- 
spects the  multiplication  of  medical  schools,  and  the  increased 
facilities  of  acquiring  professional  knowledge,  cannot  but  receive 
universal  acquiescence,  as  a  happy  display  of  the  prosperity  of 
our  country,  and  auspicious  to  our  national  character.  But  it  has 
unfortunately  happened,  that  in  some  of  our  cities  instances  have 
occurred  to  prove  that  prosperity  and  successful  progress  depend 
less  on  the  number  of  schools,  than  the  harmoniously  combined 
efforts  of  a  single  institution.  Collision  and  unfair  rivalry,  ought 
to  be  reprobated  by  all  who  have  at  heart  the  true  interest  and 
honor  of  the  profession.  But  so  multiplied  and  copious  are  now 
the  fountains  of  medical  honors  that  the  streams  flow  into  every 
one's  soil,  and  the  diploma  is  prepared  to  announce  from 
numerous  sources  talent  and  acquirements  with  surprising  facility. 
Notwithstanding,  however,  we  may  pride  ourselves  on  the  number 
of  our  medical  institutions,  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  the  degree 
of  medical  knowledge  and  attainments  of  our  students  generally, 
is  inferior  to  that  which  is  required  of  graduates  at  the  European 
schools.  Experience  has  verified  the  fact,  that  in  too  many  in- 
stances degrees  are  conferred  on  candidates  who  are  not  qualified 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  profession,  or  to  reflect  honor  on 
their  instructers.  The  subject,  therefore,  is  not  unworthy  of  ma- 
ture consideration,  whether  a  more  limited  number  of  medical 
institutions  in  our  country  would  not  better  subserve  the  great 
object  in  view,  the  improvement  of  medical  science  and  literature. 
This  would  afford  an  opportunity  of  selecting  professors  from 
among  those  of  the  highest  grade  in  point  of  talent  and  weight  of 
character,  and  the  increased  number  of  students  would  yield  them 
ample  encouragement  and  support.  This  object  effected,  a  uni- 
form system  of  instruction  and  terms  of  admission  to  practice 
might  be  established,  a  longer  period  for  education  and  a  greater 
amount  of  scientific  acquirements  be  made  n  requisite  stipulatioU| 


HISTORY    OP   MEDICINE    IN  AMERICA.  85 

and  all  pretence  obviated  for  students  to  prefer  a  particular  school 
with  the  view  of  obtaining  a  diploma  on  more  favorable  conditions. 
In  consequence  of  diligent  and  learned  research,  and  of  emulatioa 
among  medical  philosophers,  new  and  important  facts  have  been 
developed,  and  the  restoring  art  has  reached  an  honorable  and 
dignified  rank  among  the  sciences.  Yet  it  is  still  fraught  with 
deficiencies  and  altogether  inadequate  to  our  desires.  To  what 
extent  the  frail  condition  of  human  nature  is  capable  of  being 
meliorated,  and  existence  protracted  by  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  medicine,  must  be  reserved  to  the  wisdom  and  in- 
dustry of  future  generations  to  determine.  It  is,  nevertheless, 
incumbent  upon  us  to  consecrate  our  talents  to  this  noble  science, 
duly  to  appreciate  and  exalt  its  merit,  to  cherish  its  dignity,  to 
study  and  improve  its  principles,  and  to  cultivate  a  religious  sense 
of  the  inestimable  blessings  which  mankind  derive  from  its  influ- 
ence. "  So  great,"  says  the  pious  Dr.  Rush,  "  are  the  blessings 
which  mankind  derive  from  the  healing  art,  that  if  every  other 
argument  failed  to  prove  the  administration  of  a  Providence  in 
human  affairs,  the  profession  of  medicine  would  be  fully  sufficient 
for  that  purpose." 


AMERICAN  MEDICAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Peace  to  their  ashes,  and  the  stamp  of  immortality  on  their  memory. 


AMERICAN    MEDICAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ADAMS,  SAMUEL,  M.M.S.S.  was  the  only  son  of  Sam- 
uel Adams,  late  governor  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  born 
at  Boston,  27th  October,  1751.  His  preparatory  education 
was  at  a  Latin  school  in  his  native  town.  He  entered  Har- 
vard University  at  tlie  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  was  gra- 
duated in  1770.  His  professional  education  was  acquired 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  and  he  prac- 
tised one  year  in  Boston. 

When  hostilities  commenced  with  Great  Britain  in  1775, 
Dr.  Adams,  imbued  Avith  the  patriotic  spirit  of  his  father, 
engaged  as  surgeon  in  the  hospital  department  of  our  ar- 
my. Commencing  his  public  services  at  Cambridge,  by 
attending  the  soldiers  who  were  wounded  at  Lexington  and 
Bunker's  Hill,  he  afterwards  removed  to  Danbury  and 
successively  to  various  stations  in  several  of  the  states,  and 
continued  in  the  service  during  the  revolutionary  war  ; 
after  which  he  returned  to  his  native  town  with  a  broken 
constitution,  and  was  unable  to  recommence  his  profession- 
al pursuits.  He  died  of  a  scrofulous  affection  of  several 
of  the  vital  organs,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1788.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  He  pos- 
sessed a  substantial  mind,  social  feelings  and  a  generous 
heart,  and  his  greatest  pleasure  was  to  do  good  to  his  fel- 
low men. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Dr.  Adams  that,  instead  of  sell- 
ing his  demands  upon  government  for  his  army  services, 
as  did  many  of  his  military  companions,  for  a  trifle,  he 
retained  possession  of  them  until  by  the  funding  system 
they  were  established  at  their  full  value  ;  and  he  was  thus 
enabled  to  leave  to  an  aged  parent  a  competency  for  his 
declining  years,  without  which  the  venerable  patriot  must 
12 


90  JAMES    ANDERSON. 

have  depended  for  subsistence  upon  the  kindness  of  his 
friends  or  the  charity  of  the  public. 

ANDERSON,  JAiMES,  M.D.  Having  successfully  ter- 
minated his  academical  pursuits  at  an  early  age,  Dr.  An- 
derson commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  father,  a  very  respectable  physician  from  Scot- 
land. He  attended  a  course  of  lectures  by  Professors  Ship- 
pen  and  Morgan  in  the  school  of  Philadelphia,  then  in  its 
infancy  ;  and  next  sailed  for  Edinburgh,  at  that  time  the 
focus  of  medical  literature.  Circumstances,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  mention,  not  permitting  him  to  remain  long 
enough  to  obtain  a  degree,  he  returned  to  this  coimtry 
with  an  ample  certificate  signed  by  his  preceptors,  Cullen, 
the  elder  Munro,  and  the  whole  board  of  professors. 

Immediately  on  his  return  he  commenced  the  practice 
of  physic  in  conjunction  with  his  father.  Deeply  versed 
in  general,  and  particularly  in  medical,  science,  and  devot- 
ed almost  beyond  example  to  the  performance  of  his  pro- 
fessional duties,  he  soon  obtained  a  reputation  unenjoyed 
by  any  of  his  competitors.  For  a  period  of  upwards  of 
thirty  years,  he  retained  a  practice  of  an  extent  certainly 
without  a  parallel  in  this  section  of  the  country.  Advanc- 
ing rapidly  towards  his  sixtieth  year,  and  feeling  the  infirm- 
ities consequent  on  a  life  so  laborious,  he  retired  to  his 
seat  near  Chestertown.  In  this  situation,  however,  he  was 
not  allowed  the  repose  which  he  anticipated.  Though  the 
native  Angor  of  his  constitution  was  broken  down  bv  the 
invasion  of  disease  and  by  those  accidents  to  which  his 
course  of  life  subjected  him,  he  attended,  almost  to  the 
close  of  it,  to  the  calls  of  his  patients. 

As  a  physician,  though  attached  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
old  school,  his  rank  was  second  to  none  in  the  state. 
Prompt  in  his  decisions,  and  drawing  from  a  rich  fund  of 
learning  and  experience,  it  may  be  truly  said,  that  in  his 
diagnostic  discriminations  and  clinical  calculations  he  sel- 
dom failed.  As  a  husband,  father,  friend,  in  every  domes- 
tic and  social  relation,  the  world  had  not  his  superior.  His 
rank  as  a  christian  was  eminently  distinguished.  Equally 
removed  from  lukewarmness  and  enthusiasm,  he  was  a  dis- 
ciple of  Wesley,  and  strenuously  contended  that  not  to  ad- 
mit the  truth  of  his  tenets,  was  to  deny  the  obvious  doc- 
trines of  the  holy  scriptures.  Communicative  and  affable 
in  his  deportment  to  all,  he  never  for  a  moment  forgot  the 
dignity  of  his  charncter,  or  what  it  exacted.     Easy  of  ac- 


WILLIAM  ABPINWALL.  91 

cess,  and  acutely  sensible  to  the  wants  of  others,  the  needy 
sufferer  rarely  made  a  fruitless  application  for  aid.  His 
home  was  an  asylum  for  the  indigent,  and  such  were  his 
liberality  and  benevolence,  that,  though  his  practice  was 
extensive  and  lucrative,  he  was  precluded  from  the  accu- 
mulation of  wealth. 

In  his  last  and  painful  illness  his  demeanor  was  instruct- 
ive and  exemplary.  Patient  to  a  degree  seldom  equalled, 
never  surpassed,  he  was  always  thankful  for  the  little  at- 
tentions and  services  of  his  friends  ;  and  in  the  final  trying 
scenes  submitted  with  meekness  to  the  will  of  his  Heavenly 
Father.  He  died  December  Stli,  1820,  at  his  seat  in  the 
vicinity  of  Chestertown,  Maryland,  in  the  69th  year  of  his 
ao-e. — Phila.  Journal  of  Med.  and  Phys.  Sciences^  Vol.  II. 

ASPINWALL,  WILLIAM,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in 
Brookline,  Mass.  on  the  23d  May  (old  style),  1743.  His 
ancestors  emigrated  from  England  about  the  year  1630 
with  the  4000  emigrants.  Peter  Aspinwall  first  settled  at 
Dorchester,  and  afterwards  at  Brookline  about  the  year 
•1650,  and  the  farm  which  he  occupied  is  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  descendants.  The  house  built  by  Peter,  being  the 
oldest  house  in  Brookline,  with  the  venerable  elm  near  it 
which  was  planted  by  liim,  also  remains.  William,  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  was  the  sole  survivor  of  three  gen- 
erations which  were  born  in  tliis  place.*  He  was  fitted 
for  college  by  the  Rev.  Amos  Adams,  minister  of  Roxbury, 
and  Avas  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1764.  Having 
determined  on  devoting  his  life  to  the  medical  profession, 
he  pursued  his  studies  with  the  celebrated  Dr.  Benjamin 
Gale  of  Connecticut,  and  completed  his  education  at  the 
hospital  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  medicine  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  about 
the  year  1768,  Dr.  Aspinwall  returned  to  his  native  vil- 
lage and  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine,  being  the 
first  physician  who  settled  in  the  place. 

At  the  commencement  of  our  revolutionary  war,  imder 
an  enthusiastic  impulse  to  espouse  the  cause  of  his  country, 
he  applied  for  a  commission  in  the  army  ;  but  his  kinsman 
and  friend  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  afterwards  Major  General 
Warren,  dissuaded  him  from  this  pursuit  and  induced  him 
to  serve  his  country  in  the  medical  department.  According- 
ly Dr.  Aspinwall  received  the  appointment  of  Surgeon  in 

*  See  History  of  New  England  (Winthrop's)  edited  by  Jamei  Savage,  Esq. 


92  WILLIAM  ASPINWALL. 

General  Heath's  brigade,  and,  soon  after,  that  of  deputy 
director  of  the  hospital  on  Jamaica  Plain,  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  General  Warren.  On  the  memorable  day  of 
Lexington  battle,  Dr.  Aspinwall  was  a  volunteer  and  com- 
batted  personally  in  the  conflict.  He  bore  from  the  field 
the  corpse  of  Isaac  Gardner,  Esq.  Avhose  eldest  daughter 
he  afterwards  married.  Mr.  Gardner  commanded  the 
Brookline  company  of  militia,  and  fell  in  Cambridge, 
having  his  body  perforated  with  twelve  bullets.  His  son, 
the  late  General  Isaac  S.  Gardner,  then  at  the  age  of  16, 
was  in  his  father's  company  the  day  above  mentioned. 
Dr.  Aspinwall  had  the  body  of  his  revered  friend  carried 
to  his  house  and  buried  at  midnight,  in  order  that  the  num- 
ber of  our  martyred  citizens  might  as  much  as  possible  be 
concealed  from  public  view. 

It  was  the  personal  interest  which  he  took  in  the  revolu- 
tionary contest,  acting  upon  a  mind  deeply  imbued  with  a 
sense  of  his  country's  wrongs,  that  gave  strength  and  tone 
to  his  sentiments  in  after  life.  Dr.  Aspinwall's  language 
on  political  subjects  was  bold  and  strong,  his  creed  being 
that  of  a  democratic  republican.  In  tlie  unhappy  scenes  of 
party  excitement  he  unwaveringly  adhered  to  what  he 
deemed  original  and  fundamental  principles,  but  he  aimed 
to  preserve  a  good  conscience,  and  to  do  justice  to  the 
honest  opinions,  the  pure  motives  and  undoubted  integrity 
of  his  opponents.  He  was  not  a  political  persecutor,  and 
when  he  Avas  in  the  councils  of  the  state,  resolutely  de- 
clined acting  with  his  coadjutors,  who  were  disposed  to 
drive  from  office  incumbents,  whose  only  fault  w'as  what 
they  deemed  political  heresy. 

After  the  death  of  the  eminent  and  distinguished  Dr. 
Zabdiel  Boylston,  the  first  inoculator  of  smallpox  in 
America,  Dr.  Aspinwall  established  himself  in  that  under- 
taking, and  erected  hospitals  for  that  purpose  in  Brookline. 
Perhaps  no  practitioner  in  the  United  States  ever  inocu- 
lated so  many  persons  or  acquired  such  skill  and  celebrity 
in  treating  this  malignant  disease  as  Dr.  A.  Besides  his 
practice  in  this  disorder  when  it  generally  spread,  he  was 
allowed  after  the  year  1788  to  keep  a  hospital  open  at  all 
times,  to  which  great  numbers  resorted,  and  from  which 
they  returned  with  warm  expressions  of  satisfaction.  He 
continued  in  the  successful  treatment  of  this  disease  till  the 
general  introduction  of  vaccine  inoculation.  He  had  made 
ample  accommodation  for  enlarged  practice,  and  establish- 


WILLIAM  ASPINWALL.  98 

ed  wliat  might  liave  been  justly  deemed  a  sure  founda- 
tion for  prosperity,  when  vaccine  inoculation  was  first  in- 
troduced. He  well  knew  that,  if  vaccination  possessed  the 
virtues  ascribed  to  it,  his  schemes  of  fortune  and  useful- 
ness arising  from  inoculation  at  his  hospital,  were  ruined, 
that  he  should  be  involved  in  loss,  and  his  anticipations  of 
fortune  would  be  blasted.  But  as  an  honest  man  and  faith- 
ful physician,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  inquire  into  the  ef- 
ficacy of  the  novel  substitute.  With  the  utmost  alacrity, 
therefore,  he  gave  the  experiment  a  fair  trial,  promptly 
acknowledged  its  efiicacy,  and  relinquished  his  own  estab- 
lishment. The  foregoing  is  corroborated  by  the  following 
statement  recently  made  by  Dr.  Waterhouse  in  the  Medical 
Intelligencer. 

"  The  late  Dr.  Aspinwall,  a  man  of  great  sagacity,  and 
uncommonly  Avell  grounded  in  the  principles  of  his  profes- 
sion, gave  evidence  of  it  on  the  first  sight  of  a  vaccine  pus- 
tule. I  had  invited  all  the  elder  physicians  of  Boston  and 
the  vicinity  of  Cambridge  to  see  the  first  vaccine  pustules 
ever  raised  in  the  new  world.  They  gave  them  the  ordi- 
nary inspection  of  an  unusual  eruption  on  the  skin  ; — all 
but  Dr.  Aspinwall,  whose  attention  was  riveted  on  the 
jDustule,  its  areola  and  efflorescence.  He  came  a  second  time, 
and  viewed  the  inoculated  part  in  every  light,  and  re- 
viewed it,  and  seemed  loath  to  leave  the  sight  of  it.  He 
seemed  wrapped  in  serious  thought,  and  said  repeatedly — 
'  this  pustule  is  so  like  smallpox,  and  yet  it  is  not  smallpox, 
that,  should  it  on  scabbing  take  out  a  portion  of  the  true 
skin,  so  as  to  leave  an  indelible  mark  or  pit  behind,  I  shall 
be  ready  to  conclude,  that  it  is  a  mild  species  of  smallpox, 
hitherto  unknown  here.'  He  had  been  in  the  habit  of  ex- 
amining the  smallpox  pimple  and  pustule,  througli  glasses, 
to  know  if  it  '  had  taken  ,•'  and  he  remarked  that  they 
were  peculiar,  unique,  and  unlilte  any  otlier  eruption  he 
ever  saw  ;  but  that  this  Kine  Pock  came  the  nearest  to  it. 
Sometime  after,  I  gave  him  a  portion  of  the  virus  to  make 
his  own  experiments,  and  observe  the  progress  of  its  ino- 
culation, and  coincidence  of  the  constitutional  symptoms, 
when  he  o1)served,  that  its  progress,  febrile  aflection,  and 
mode  of  scabbing  were  very  like  smallpox,  and  so  of  the  in- 
delible mark  left  on  the  arm  ;  yet  throughout  tlie  whole 
visible  affection,  different.  To  crown  the  whole  of  his  hon- 
orable conduct,  he  some  time  after  took  all  those  of  my 
family  whom  I  had  vaccinated,  into  his  smallpox  hospital, 


94  WILLIAM  A6PINWALL. 

the  only  licensed  one  in  the  state,  and  there  tested  them 
to  his  satisfaction,  and  one  to  the  very  verge  of  rigid  ex- 
periment ;  and  then  he  said  to  me  and  to  others — '  this 
new  Inoculation  of  yours ^  is  no  Sham.  As  a  man  of  humanity,  I 
rejoice  in  it ;  although  it  will  take  from  me  a  handsome  annual 
income.''  His  conduct  throughout  was  so  strongly  mark- 
ed with  superior  intelligence,  generosity  and  honor,  as  to 
excite  my  esteem  and  respect  ;  and  I  accordingly  dedicate 
this  effusion  of  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon. 
William  Aspinwall,  M.  D.  ;  a  gentleman  respectable  in 
public  life  as  a  counsellor,  and  an  honor  to  his  profession 
as  a  physician." 

In  the  character  of  a  physician.  Dr.  Aspinwall  was  par- 
ticularly distinguished.  His  practice  embraced  a  wide  cir- 
cle, and  he  devoted  himself  to  it  with  unremitting  ardor 
and  fidelity  for  forty-five  years.  During  the  largest  part 
of  his  time  he  rode  on  horseback,  often  upwards  of  forty 
miles  a  day,  and  it  was  not  usual  for  him  to  retire  to  rest 
until  after  midnight.  The  natural  strength  of  his  constitu- 
tion, his  constant  exposure  to  the  elements,  and  his  resolute 
devotion  to  his  profession,  enabled  him  to  endure  the  fa- 
tigues of  mind  and  body  consequent  upon  such  daily  and 
incessant  labor.  The  necessity  of  reading  and  writing  to  a 
late  hour  almost  every  night  with  but  one  eye  (having  lost 
the  other  by  accident  in  his  youth),  brought  on  at  length  a 
disease  in  that  organ,  which  terminated  in  the  formation  of 
a  cataract  and  deprived  him  of  sight.  In  his  profession  he 
was  distinguished  for  prompt  attendance,  for  soundness  of 
judgment,  just  discrimination,  caution  in  untried  experi- 
ments, and  for  fearless  confidence  in  what  stood  approved 
to  his  reason  and  resulted  from  experience.  His  patients 
reposed  unlimited  confidence  in  his  judgment,  skill  and 
fidelity.  To  them  he  was  an  angel  of  consolation,  a  phy- 
sician greatly  beloved.  In  the  aflairs  of  his  native  town, 
the  birth  place,  and  place  of  burial  of  so  many  kindred, 
Dr.  Aspinwall  ever  took  a  lively  concern.  He  devoted 
much  time  to  its  interest  in  various  offices.  He  represent- 
ed the  town  in  the  general  court  several  years,  was  thrice 
elected  a  senator  for  Norfolk  county,  and  served  one  term 
as  counsellor.  He  was  solicited  to  become  one  of  the  jus- 
tices of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  but  he  declined  and 
retired  from  public  employment.  In  all  these  trusts  he 
was  faithful  to  the  interest  of  liis  constituents  and  to  the 
public  weal,  as  well  as  unwavering  in  his  political  creed. 


WILLIAM  ASPINVVALL.  95 

Dr.  Aspinwall  made  a  public  profession  of  religion  at  an 
early  age,  and  during  a  long  life  he  maintained  a  good  pro- 
fession. He  honored  the  institutions  and  ministers  of  reli- 
gion, and  was  never  absent  from  pviblic  worshijj  when  pro- 
fessional duty  permitted  his  attendance.  He  imparted  re- 
ligious counsel,  as  well  as  medical  aid,  at  the  bed  of  sick- 
ness. Of  his  holy  faith  he  always  spoke  with  profound  re- 
spect. Under  bereavement,  infirmity  and  sickness,  his  re- 
ligious principles  yielded  him  firm  support  and  buoyed 
him  above  the  vicissitudes  of  life.  During  a  confinement 
of  several  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  when  deprived  of  his 
sight,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  was  his  support  and  con- 
solation. It  was  the  theme  of  his  discourse,  and  he  con- 
sidered his  testimony  in  its  favor  the  best  legacy  he  could 
bequeath  to  his  children.  He  died  on  the  1 6th  of  April, 
1823,  of  natural  decay,  having  nearly  completed  his  eight- 
ieth year.  Dr.  A.  was  endowed  with  a  strong  intellect,  and 
a  resoluteness  that  shrunk  from  no  labor  or  duty.  He  was 
an  example  of  perseverance  amidst  vmtoward  circumstances, 
and  of  accommodating  them  to  his  peculiar  situation.  To 
young  physicians  his  example  holds  out  encouragement, 
that  economy,  integrity,  constant  industry  and  unremitting 
study  of  his  profession,  will  finally  succeed,  and  bring 
reputation  and  competence.  Dr.  A.  was  a  fellow  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society  and  a  Justice  of  the  peace 
throughout  the  commonwealth. 

A  few  years  before  his  death  Dr.  Nathan  Smith  at- 
tempted to  remove  the  cataract  over  his  eye,  but  was  un- 
successful, and  the  glimmering  light  that  had  remained 
was  unfortunately  totally  extinguished.  He  bore  this  phy- 
sical darkness  with  resignation  and  tranquillity.  He  con- 
sidered it  a  merciful  dispensation  in  his  Maker  to  suspend 
his  labors  and  give  him  leisure  and  opportunity,  which 
during  a  very  active  life  he  had  too  seldom  enjoyed,  for 
religious  reflection  and  preparation  for  death.  By  daily 
exercise  of  mind  and  body  he  preserved  both  in  full  vigor. 
His  curiosity  about  public  events  and  daily  occurrences 
continued,  and  some  of  his  last  thoughts  were  on  his  coun- 
try, its  prosperity,  its  improvements,  its  distinguished  men, 
its  relation  with  foreign  powers.  He  was  anxious  that  wise 
and  good  men  should  bear  sway  in  our  land,  and  that  the 
intellectual,  benevolent  and  religious  institutions  received 
from  ovir  forefathers,  should  be  perpetuated. —  Tappan. 


96  ISRAEL  ATIIERTON. 

ATHERTON,  DR.  ISRAEL,  M.M.S.S.  This  gentleman 
was  a  native  of  Harvard,  Massachusetts,  and  was  graduated 
at  Cambridge  in  1762.     He  received  his  medical  education 
under  the  able  tuition  of  Dr.  Edward  A.  Holyoke,  of  Sa- 
lem, and  commenced  his  practice  at  Lancaster,  A.D.  1765, 
peculiarly  qualified  for  the  duties  of  his  profession  by  his 
constitution,  his  benevolent  and  amiable  temper,    and   his 
acquirements  in  medical  science.    He  early  became  eminent, 
and  practised  with  increasing  reputation  until  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age,  accelerated  by  the  fatigues  and  privations  of  a 
laborious  calling,  compelled  him  to  retire  from  active  em- 
ployment.    He  retained  his  mental  powers,  and  died  as  he 
had  lived,  collected  and  resigned,  in  1822,  aged  82  years. 
Commencing  his  business  with  a  vigorous  and  discrimi- 
nating mind,  Dr.  Atherton  made  his  knowledge  from  books 
subservient  to  his  practice  so  far  only  as  it  assisted  him  in 
unfolding  the  great  book  of  nature.     He  was  governed  by 
no  system  whose  theory  was  not  simple  and  defined,  and 
Avhich  did  not  obviously  lead  to  rational  and  judicious  prac- 
tice.    At  the  period  when  he  resolved  upon  his  profession, 
preparatory  knowledge  was  deemed  in  most  country  towns 
of  little  value,  except  for  the  pulpit  or  the  bar;  the  practice 
of  physic  was  only  in  name  among  the  learned  professions. 
He  was  the  first,  and  for  some   years   the   only,   physician 
in  the  county  of  Worcester,  who  had  passed  a  course  of 
collegiate  studies,  or  commenced  the  profession  of  medicine 
under  the  advantages  of  a  regular  competent  prejiaration  ; 
and  for  a  long  period  the  only  one  whose  professional  sci- 
ence seemed  to  entitle  him  to  be  made  a  fellow  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Medical  Society.     He  lived,  however,  to  witness 
what  he  ardently  strove  to  promote,  an  emulation  among 
the  faculty   to   elevate   their    profession    to   a   respectable 
standing  in  science  and  substantial  usefulness  ;   and   to   see 
the  patronage  and  preference  which  the  community  had  so 
generally  extended  to  impostors,  in  a  great  measure  with- 
drawn.— Hon.  0.  Fiske. 

BARD,  DR.  JOHN.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  of 
French  descent  ;  his  ancestors  preferring  their  faith  to  their 
country,  became  exiles  under  the  provisions  of  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  edict  of  Nantes.  His  fiither,  Peter  Bard,  on  his 
arrival  in  America,  immediately  fixed  himself  on  the  Ijanks 
of  the  Delaware,  not  far  from  Philadelphia,  where  he 
soon  became  attached  to  a  neighbor  and  fellow  exile.  This 
ladv  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Marmion,  an  English  gentle- 


>c 


•  ^ 


JOIIir  BARBoMB. 


I 


#"• 


JOHPf  BARD.  9T 

man,  who,  as  appears  from  a  manuscript  journal  kept  by 
his  wife,  a  woman  of  perha})s  stronger  sense  than  her  hus- 
band and  equal  piety,  had  ahaiulontnl  Enghuid,  liis  liome 
and  his  church,  from  the  scruples  of  a  misguided  con- 
science. The  sympathy  of  a  similar  fate  seems  here  to 
have  imited  tiiose,  whom,  under  other  circumstances,  dif- 
ference of  nation  and  language  would  probably  have  repel- 
led. From  the  marriage  which  ensued,  John  Bard  was 
the  issue,  born  in  February,  1716. 

He  received  the  rudiments  of  a  polite  and  classical  edu- 
cation at  Philadelphia,  and  at  the  age  of  14  or  15  years 
was,  according  to  the  custom  of  that  day,  bound  apprentice 
to  Mr.  Kearsly,  an  English  surgeon  of  good  talents,  but  of 
so  unhappy  a  temper,  that  his  presence  banished  cheerful- 
ness from  his  family.  He  treated  his  pupils  with  great  ri- 
gor and  subjected  tiiem  to  the  most  menial  employments  ; 
to  which,  Dr.  Bard  has  been  heard  to  say,  he  would  never 
have  submitted,  but  from  the  apprehension  of  giving  pain 
to  his  excellent  mother,  who  was  then  a  widow  with  seven 
children  and  a  very  moderate  income,  and  from  the  en- 
couragement he  received  from  the  kindness  of  her  particu- 
lar friend.  Mrs.  Kearsly,  of  whom  he  always  spoke  in  terms 
of  the  warmest  gratitude,  affection  and  respect.  Under 
such  circumstances,  he  persevered  to  the  end  of  seven  te- 
dious years,  stealing  his  hours  of  study  from  sleep  after  the 
family  had  retired  to  rest,  and  before  they  arose  in  the 
morning.  Before  he  was  released  from  tliis  thraldom  he 
became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Franklin,  of  kindred  mind, 
and  no  unequal  fortune  ;  whose  friendship  and  cheerfulness 
brightened  his  leisure  hours,  whose  example  roused,  and 
whose  indefatigable  industry  stimulated  his  exertions  and 
perseverance.  This  early  intimacy  was  refined  by  a  simi- 
larity of  dis])osition  into  a  lasting  friendship,  which  ended 
only  with  their  lives,  and  which,  Dr.  Franklin  reminded 
him  in  a  letter  not  long  before  his  death,  "  had  never  been 
obscured  by  the  slightest  shade." 

Dr.  Bard  first  settled  in  his  profession  in  Philadelphia, 
but  after  practising  in  that  city  aliout  five  or  six  years  he 
was  induced  to  remove  to  New-York,  in  the  year  1746. 
By  the  urbanity  of  his  manners,  his  professional  talents, 
and  the  charms  of  his  conversation,  which  was  enlivened 
by  an  uncommon  flow  of  cheerfulness,  enriched  by  sound 
sense,  aiul  adorned  by  a  large  fund  of  anecdote,  he  so  ef- 
fectuallv  recommended  himHclf  to  the   notice  and   friend- 


98  JOHN  BARD. 

ship  of  the  most  respectable  families,  that  he  was  almost 
immediately  introduced  into  a  valuable  scene  of  business, 
and  very  soon  arrived  at  the  first  rank  of  professional  emi- 
nence, which  he  retained  through  a  long  life  of  more  than 
fourscore  years. 

From  the  confined  circumstances  of  his  education.  Dr. 
Bard  was  neither  classically  nor  professionally  a  learned 
man  ;  but  he  possessed  a  lively  fancy,  a  sound  judgment 
and  a  correct  taste.  He  read  with  great  delight  the  best 
authors,  particularly  the  poets  of  his  own  language  ;  and 
whatever  he  read  and  admired,  he  made  so  completely  his 
own,  that  he  could  recal  it  almost  at  pleasure  to  his  memo- 
ry, and  would  frequently  surprise  and  delight  his  friends 
by  long  and  appropriate  quotations  from  authors  he  had 
not  seen  for  many  years.  In  his  profession  he  read  all  the 
best  authors  of  his  day  ;  but  his  studies  were  rather  select 
than  general.  Sydenham  and  Huxham  were  his  favorites. 
He  formed  himself  upon  their  plan,  was  so  familiar  with 
their  histories  of  diseases  and  their  rules  of  practice,  that 
he  applied  them  with  great  ease,  and  acquired  from  them 
a  correct  and  happy  talent  in  discriminating  diseases,  and 
such  sound  principles  of  practice,  as  rendered  his  own  emi- 
nently successful. 

About  the  year  1759  the  city  of  New-York  M^as  alarmed 
by  the  arrival  of  a  ship  from  Amsterdam,  freighted  for  the 
transportation  of  Palatines,  among  whom  a  malignant  fe- 
ver had  broken  out  during  the  passage,  and  destroyed  a 
great  number.  On  this  occasion  Dr.  Bard  was  employed 
by  the  corporation  to  take  proper  measures  to  prevent  the 
disease  from  spreading.  The  sick  were  quartered  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  city  ;  but  notwithstanding  every  attention, 
many  of  the  passengers  perished  ;  and,  although  the  dis- 
ease was  confined  within  the  limits  of  the  hospital,  it  was 
communicated  to  every  nurse  and  assistant,  Dr.  Bard  only 
escaping.  He  immediately  drew  up  a  memorial,  in  which 
he  represented  the  expediency  of  providing  a  pest  house 
against  similar  occasions,  which  was  immediately  eftected 
by  the  purchase  of  Bedloioh  Island  and  the  buildings  upon 
it  ;  the  care  of  which,  with  the  appointment  of  health  offi- 
cer, was  given  to  him.  He  was  likewise  appointed  sur- 
jBjeon  and  agent  for  the  sick  and  wounded  seamen  of  the 
British  navy  at  New-York. 

Captivated  by  the  pleasures  and  employments  of  a  coun- 
try life.  Dr.  Bard  in  the  year  1778  retired  to  an  estate  h© 


JOHN  BARD.  99 

possessed  in  Dutchess  county.  But  the  events  of  the  Amer- 
ican revolution  having  greatly  injured  his  fortune,  he 
again  returned  to  New-York  at  the  jDeace  of  1783,  and  was 
received  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  by  most  of  his  old 
friends  who  had  remained  in  town,  or  who  returned  with 
him  ;  and  although  now  far  advanced  in  life,  a  good  con- 
stitution and  an  active  mind  enabled  him  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  profession  with  ease  to  himself,  and  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  patients.  On  the  establishment  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  New-York  in  the  year  1788,  he  was 
unanimously  chosen  their  president  ;  and  in  the  year  1795 
gave  an  eminent  instance  of  his  discernment  and  know- 
ledge of  diseases  by  pointing  out,  in  an  address  to  that 
body,  the  existence  of  the  yellow  fever,  which  then  ap- 
peared in  that  city,  and  which  he  had  not  seen  for  forty 
years.  On  this  occasion  he  met  much  opposition  and  some 
obloquy  ;  but  he  persisted  in  his  remonstrances  with  his 
brethren  and  advice  to  his  fellow  citizens,  until  conviction, 
too  fatally  earned,  silenced  the  most  obstinate  of  his  oppo- 
nents. He  likewise  pointed  out  the  sudorific  plan  of  treat- 
ing that  fatal  disease,  Avhich  on  good  grounds  is  believed  to 
have  been  more  successful  than  any  other  Avhich  has  been 
pursued. 

At  the  bed  side  Dr.  Bard  was  distinguished  by  an  affec- 
tionate attention  to  the  situation  and  feelings  of  his  pa- 
tients, a  careful  examination  and  correct  discrimination  of 
their  diseases,  and  a  diligent  application  of  appropriate  re- 
medies ;  so  that,  even  when  unsuccessful,  he  never  had  oc- 
casion to  reproach  himself  with  neglect,  and  seldom  failed 
to  obtain  the  gratitude  and  esteem  of  their  friends.  In  his 
intercourse  with  his  fellow  practitioners,  he  was  to  all  can- 
did and  sincere  ;  but  between  him  and  his  particular 
friends,  among  whom  he  numbered  Dr.  Peter  Middleton 
and  Dr.  John  Jones,  both  men  of  distinguished  reputation, 
there  prevailed  an  unbounded  liberality  and  confidence, 
which,  whenever  it  exists  between  men  of  eminence  in  the 
profession  of  medicine,  must  redound  greatly  to  the  safety 
and  happiness  of  their  patients. 

Convinced  from  his  early  youth  of  the  great  truths  of 
natural  and  revealed  religion.  Dr.  Bard  never  spoke  on 
these  subjects  but  with  the  utmost  reverence.  He  would 
frequently  take  occasion  from  the  w  onders  of  creation  and 
the  beauties  of  nature,  of  which  he  was  an  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirer, to  expatiate  on  the  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  of 


100  JOHN  BARD. 

the  Deity  ;  and  on  these  occasions  the  feelings  of  his  heart 
would  glow  in  his  language  and  glisten  in  his  eye,  and  sel- 
dom failed  to  warm  his  hearers  into  a  kindred  enthusiasm. 
At  his  own  peculiar  lot,  which  was  very  far  from  what  the 
world  calls  prosperous,  he  was  never  heard  to  murmur  or 
despond  ;  but  resigning  himself  cheerfully  to  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence,  and  pouring  forth  praises  and  grati- 
tude for  the  blessings  he  enjoyed,  he  rose  from  every  dis- 
appointment with  renovated  hope  and  more  vigorous  ex- 
ertion. 

The  charms  of  his  conversation  were  protracted  to  the 
latest  period  of  his  life  ;  his  vivacity  and  cheerfulness  even 
then  enlivened  all  companies  into  which  he  entered,  and 
rendered  his  society  peculiarly  agreeable  to  young  persons 
of  both  sexes,  who  never  left  him  but  with  expressions  of 
admiration  and  esteem.  When  surrounded  by  his  friends 
he  literally  forgot  all  care,  and  would  frequently  beguile 
the  time  until  young  and  old  wondered  how  the  hours  had 
passed.  Thus  he  lived,  admired,  respected  and  beloved. 
About  a  year  before  his  death,  he  again  retired  into  the 
country  from  the  fatigues  of  business.  In  his  eighty-fourth 
year,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  the  first  of  which  deprived 
him  of  his  recollection,  and  saved  him  from  the  only  cir- 
cumstance he  dreaded  in  death,  the  pain  of  parting  from 
his  friends,  he  closed  his  long,  useful  and  honorable  ca- 
reer on  the-30th  of  March,  1799. 

For  the  following  very  interesting  detail  I  am  indebted 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  McVickar.*  The  afternoon  which  pre- 
ceded his  fatal  attack,  was  passed  by  the  father  at  his  son's 
house.  He  came,  as  usual,  attended  by  his  servant,  (bear- 
ing before  him  two  bottles  of  water  from  his  own  favor- 
ite spring,  with  which  he  contended,  with  an  old  man's 
partiality,  none  other  could  compare)  ;  occupied,  as  he  was 
wont,  his  high  backed  elbow-chair,  and  was  more  than 
usual  the  delight  and  admiration  of  the  family  circle.  As 
he  sat  looking  at  the  brilliancy  of  the  setting  sun,^jthe  glo- 
ries of  creation  seemed  to  remind  him  of  his  own  sources 
of  happiness,  and  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  I  think  I  am 
the  happiest  old  man  living."  Of  the  two  following  let- 
ters, the  first  contains  the  painful  reverse  of  this  picture, 
(at  least  to  mortal  eyes,)  which  the  next  morning  exhibit- 
ed :    and  the  second,   his  character,  drawn  by  a  skilful, 

*  See  Life  of  Dr.  Samuel  Bard  by  the  Rev.  John  McVickar,  Profeesor  of  Mora! 
PhiloBophy  and  Rhetorie,  Columbia  College,  New-Yorlt,  1822. 


JOHN  BARD.  Ml 

though,  perhaps,  ])artiul  j)en,  after  that   painful   scene  was 
over. 

"  I  write  to  you,  my  dear  friends,  from  the  tick  cham- 
ber of  our  revered  parent,  who  is  in  a  situation  which  fdis 
us  wdtli  the  greatest  aj)i)rehcnsions  for  his  life.  On  Friday 
morning,  (having  parted  from  us  the  night  l)cfore  in  re- 
markahly  good  health  and  spirits,)  his  servant  found  that 
on  awaking  he  spoke  incoherently  ;  he,  however,  attempt- 
ed to  rise,  but  returned  to  bed  before  he  left  the  chamber. 
On  arriving,  I  found  him  with  sym])toms  that  indicated  an 
approaching  palsy,  his  ideas  incoherent,  and  his  articidation 
very  bad  ;  so  that,  at  his  age,  I  dare  not  encourage  either 
myself  or  you  with  any  hopes  of  his  recovery.  Our  conso- 
lation is  that  he  suffers  no  pain,  lying,  for  the  most  part,  in 
a  sweet  sleep,  except  when  we  arouse  him  to  administer  a 
little  nourishment  ;  and  farther,  that  no  one  circumstance 
is  wanting  which  can  either  alleviate  uneasiness,  or  add,  in 
the  smallest  degree,  to  his  comfort  ;  and  that  his  enjoyment 
of  life,  to  the  last  moment,  was  such  as  to  be  the  continued 
theme  of  his  discourse,  and  of  gratitude  to  Almijihty  God. 

"  Hyde  Park.  Yours  affectionately,         S.  B." 

''  Mv  Df.  AR  Son, — Since  the  death  of  your  dear  and  vene- 
rable grantlfather,  sucli  a  crowd  of  business  jjas  pressed  up- 
on me,  fts  almost  to  prevent  me  from  reflecting  npon  my 
loss  ;  certainly,  to  lessen  my  sense  of  the  bereavement  we 
have  sustained.  Indeed  his  death  was  attended  by  circum- 
stances which  afford  the  most  effectual  consolation  ;  and 
such  a  life  as  his,  terminated  by  siuh  an  exit,  must  be  our 
best  wish  for  ourselves  and  our  friends.  And  when  I  re- 
flect on  his  unblemished  honor,  unbounded  jihilanthropy 
and  uncxamj)led  cheerfulness,  his  unsul)dued  fortitude 
which  never  sunk  under  the  pressure  of  the  severest  misfor- 
tunes, his  jiersevering  industry  which  never  tpiitted  him 
to  the  last,  his  steady  friendshij)s,  his  tender  attachment  to 
every  branch  of  his  family,  and  his  exalted  j)iety  which 
continually  called  forth  a  flow  of  gratitude  for  his  jiood 
fortune,  forjjetting  every  circumstance  of  ill,  I  jilory  in  him 
as  a  parent,  aiul  recommend  him  to  you  as  a  most  worthy 
example  for  vour  imitation.      Your  affectionate  father, 

^'  S.  B." 

The  writings  of  a  professional  nature,  which  Dr.  Bard 
has  left,  are  an  interesting  essav  on  the  nature  and  cause  of 
the  malignant  pleurisy,  which  proved  so  remarkably  fatal 


102  JOHN  BARD. 

to  the  inhabitants  of  Huntington  and  some  other  places  on 
Long-Island  in  the  winter  ot  1749,  drawn  up  at  the  request 
of  a  weekly  society  of  gentlemen  in  New-York,  and  address- 
ed to  them  at  one  of  their  meetings,  January,  1749  ;  a  case 
of  extra-uterine  foetus,  published  in  the  London  Medical 
Observations  and  Inquiries  ;  and  several  papers  on  the  na- 
ture and  character  of  the  yellow  fever  and  the  evidence  of 
its  importation  into  this  country,  (published  in  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  and  Philosophical  Register,  edited  by  Drs. 
Hosack  and  Francis).  In  the  year  1750  Dr.  Bard  assisted 
Dr.  Middleton  in  the  first  dissection  of  a  human  subject  in 
America  of  which  we  have  any  record.  In  all  his  Avritings 
he  evinced  a  strong  mind,  sound  judgment  and  correct  ob- 
servation, which  will  ever  reflect  honor  on  his  character. 

In  September,  1761,  the  beloved  and  most  dutiful  son 
of  Dr.  Bard  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  was  about  to  embark 
for  Europe  to  receive  his  medical  education.  The  folloAV- 
ing  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  advice,  handed  to  him 
at  parting,  which  richly  merits  being  recorded  here. 

"  With  regard,  my  dear  Sam,  to  your  moral  conduct,  I 
do  not  flatter  you,  when  I  assure  you  I  have  the  greatest 
confidence  in  your  piety,  prudence  and  honor  :  still  a  se- 
vere test  of  all  these  is  now  approaching,  since  you  are  go- 
ing to  a  part  of  the  world  where  you  will  be  surrounded 
with  allurements.  Your  greatest  security  will  lie  in  the 
first  choice  of  your  company.  If,  according  to  all  your 
former  conduct,  you  associate  with  men  of  sense  and  busi- 
ness, of  sobriety  and  honor,  and  with  ladies  of  character 
and  family,  your  time  will  be  most  agreeably  and  honora- 
bly filled  up  between  a  course  of  business  and  of  pure  and 
refined  pleasure.  Tliis  will  render  all  your  correspond- 
ence with  tlie  world  easy  and  delightful,  and  enlarge  your 
sphere  of  valuable  connexions  and  friends  On  the  contra- 
ry, should  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  captivated  with  the 
idle  or  the'gay,  so  far  as  to  give  in  to  their  schemes  of  dis- 
sipation, you  cannot  tell  how  far  the  powers  of  yovu'  mind 
may  become  enervated,  and  by  habit  lose  tliat  manly  firm- 
ness which  is  the  principal  guard  to  a  generous,  virtuous 
and  innocent  life.  Remember,  my  dear  Sam,  a  maxim  of 
Gay,  '  Plant  virtue,  and  content 's  the  fruit.'  I  do  recom- 
mend to  you,  in  a  very  particular  manner,  to  attend  upon 
the  public  worship  of  God  constantly,  at  least  every 
Sunday,  which  your  piety,  I  hope,  will  naturally  prompt 


^y.?.»<»'o(N?W>V«?;«5<t!Jtp:iV 


ff■\^:cK^>\f^•^ry!Hr■■Clp■>:^^*}s'Hl'y^v■^v^^ 


.Wl!ie.?«?;«3y«f*«*a'4A.<fAi!tK' 


M*"C1. EM-ANT)    1>1 


SAS/IIUEIL  ]BA]IlID),M.,Ii)„l[..iJ]) 


SAMUEL    BARD.  103 

you  to  ;  and  arm  yourself  against  any  arguments  you  may 
accitlentallv  be  exposed  to,  that  have  a  design  to  lessen  the 
authority  and  exceUency  of  tlie  cluisti;in  religion.  Be  as- 
sured that  it  is  not  only  more  right  in  itself,  hut  infmitely 
more  lionorahle  and  becoming  the  character  of  a  gentle- 
man, to  appear  an  advocate  on  the  side  of  religion,  tiian  to 
give  the  least  countenance  to  the  schemes  of  deism  and  infi- 
delity. The  greatest  and  the  best  of  men  have  always  i)een 
on  this  side  ;  and  these  are  the  characters  I  would  advise 
you  to  emulate.  I  do  sincerely  beg  of  God  to  bless  you  in 
all  your  undertakings,  and  am  your  atfectionate  father, 

"John  Bard." 

In  another  letter  this  pious  j)arent  says,  "  Above  all 
tlungs,  my  dear  son,  suffer  not  yourself  by  any  company  or 
example,  to  depart,  either  in  your  conversation  or  prac- 
tice, from  the  highest  reverence  to  God  and  your  religion  ; 
always  remem1)ering  that  a  rational  and  Ijecoming  view  of 
these  duties,  is  the  most  likely  means  of  influencing  your 
moral  conduct,  and  is,  in  truth,  the  briglitest  ingredient  in 
a  gentleman's  character,  naturally  producing  not  only 
that  decent,  chaste  and  polite  style  in  conunon  conversa- 
tion, so  essentially  necessary  in  one  of  yoiu-  profession  ;  l)ut 
also  laying  the  foundation  of  a  virtuous  and  honorable 
life." — Hosack  and  Francis^  Med.  and  Phil.  Register,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  McVickar^s  Life  of  Samuel  Bard. 

BARD,  SAMUEL,  M.D.  LL.D.,  son  of  the  preceding, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia  April  1st,  1742.  He  was  jdaced 
at  the  grammar  school  of  Mr.  Smitii,  a  teacher  of  con- 
siderable merit.  Of  precocity  of  talent  no  evidence  ap- 
pears ;  the  few  anecdotes,  however,  related  of  his  youth, 
show  the  peculiar  traits  of  his  character  to  have  been  rath- 
er a  felicity  of  nature,  than  the  tardy  fruits  of  discij)liiie. 
He  was  regarded  at  school  '' as  a  (|uick,  industrious  and 
amial)le  child  :"  and  of  the  opinion  entertained  of  his  ability 
at  home,  the  different  treatment  of  him  and  his  brother, 
prescribed  to  the  master  by  their  observant  luothor,  affords 
a  simj)le,  but  stronjr  proof.  "'  If  Peter,"  said  she,  "  does 
not  know  his  lesson,  excuse  him — If  Sam,  punish  him,  for 
he  can  learn  at  will."  It  would,  however,  be  doing  in- 
justice to  his  own  acknowledffment,  to  allow  nothing  to 
the  carefid  disciplino  of  a  watchful  father.  He  attributed 
no  small  portion  of  the  veneration  with  which  he  regard- 
ed that  fust  of   moral  virtues,    veracity,  to  the  severe  les- 


104  SAMUEL  BARD. 

son  which  once  attended  an  early  departure  from  it  :  To 
screen  from  punishment  a  servant  boy  of  about  his  own 
age,  who  had  broken  his  father's  cane,  he  falsely  took  the 
blame  upon  himself;  the  deceit  being  discovered,  his 
father  praised  his  generosity,  but  punished  his  falsehood. 
His  narration  of  this  circumstance  seventy  years  after  its 
occurrence,  shows  the  strength  and  value  of  such  early  im- 
pressions. The  lesson  he  then  received,  he  transmitted  to 
his  children  ;  "  any  fault,"  he  used  to  say,  "  may  be  ex- 
cused, but  want  of  truth."  Nor  was  he  less  indebted  to 
the  tender  care  and  valuable  instructions  of  his  mother, 
who  planted  early  and  deep  in  his  mind  the  seeds  of  the 
truest  wisdom.  In  a  paper  of  religious  reflections  bearing 
the  date  of  his  seventy-first  year,  he  thus  commemorates  it. 
'*  I  thank  God  for  the  tender  and  affectionate  care  of  my 
dear  mother  througli  the  hazards  of  a  sickly  infancy,  and 
for  having  impressed  upon  my  mind,  almost  from  the  first 
dawnings  of  reason,  an  early  sense  of  religion." 

When  about  the  age  of  fourteen,  his  constitution,  which 
from  infancy  had  been  feeble,  received  so  severe  a  shock 
by  a  continued  fever,  that  his  father  judged  it  prudent  to 
remove  him,  for  a  time,  both  from  the  city  and  his  studies. 
He  accordingly  passed  the  ensuing  summer  at  Coldenham, 
in  the  family  of  one  of  his  father's  most  intimate  friends, 
Cadwallader  Golden,  lieutenant  governor  of  the  Province. 
His  residence  not  only  restored  him  to  health,  but  filled 
his  memory  with  pleasing  recollections  both  of  the  society 
and  studies  to  which  it  introduced  him.  In  this  family  re- 
sided Miss  Golden,  well  known  as  the  correspondent  of 
Linnaeus,  and  in  whose  honor  the  Goldenia  bears  its  name 
in  the  Linnaean  Gatalogue.  With  this  lady,  differing  in 
years,  but  united  in  tastes,  Mr.  Bard  formed  an  intimate 
friendship  ;  under  her  instruction  he  became  skilful  in 
botanizing,  a  pursuit  which  ever  remained  to  him  a  favor- 
ite amusement,  and  which  owed,  perhaps,  a  part  of  its  at- 
tractions to  the  pleasing  associations  with  which  it  was 
originally  connected,  since  to  the  end  of  life  he  never  men- 
tioned the  name  of  his  instructress  without  some  expression 
of  admiration  or  attachment.  Nor  was  the  obligation  un- 
returned  ;  with  a  degree  of  native  taste^  whicli  through 
life  made  him  a  delicate,  if  not  a  critical  judge  of  painting, 
he  had  united  at  this  early  age  much  practical  skill,  which 
enabled  him  to  double  the  value  of  his  companion's  botani- 
cal researches  by  perpetuating^    tlieir  transient  beauties  or 


SAMUEL  BARD.  105 

peculiarities.  The  delicate  respect  paid  him  on  the  fol- 
lowing occasion,  excited  a  feeling  of  gratitude  jiroportion- 
ed  rather  to  his  own  embarrassment,  than  the  importance 
of  the  circumstance.  The  first  day  of  his  arrival,  Mr. 
Colilen  l)eing  absent,  he  was  called  upon  at  the  dinner  ta- 
ble to  ask  a  blessing  ;  through  confusion  or  forgetfulness 
he  began  the  Lord's  prayer  :  he  had  not  proceeded  far,  be- 
fore lie  was  sensible  of  his  mistake,  and  overwhelmed  with 
confusion  ;  casting,  however,  a  timid  glance  around,  he 
becanie  reassured  by  the  composed  looks  of  the  ladies,  his 
auditors,  and  so  proceeded  gravely  to  its  close.  To  this 
mistake  they  never  made,  he  said,  the  sligiitest  allusion, 
until  the  intimacy  of  friendship  justified  a  smile  at  his  long 
and  unusual  grace. 

Young  Mr.  Bard  received  his  classical  instruction  at 
King's,  now  Columbia  College.  His  father  placed  him  as 
a  private  pupil  in  the  family  of  the  classical  teacher,  re- 
garding the  studies  of  that  department  as  the  broad  basis 
of  a  refined  and  liberal  education.  Dr.  Leonard  Cutting 
then  filled  that  })rofessorship  with  conspicuous  ability. 
He  applied  in  full  force  that  great  instrument  of  learning, 
rej)etition,  "  line  upon  line,"  making  his  pupils  thorough 
in  all  they  learned,  and  by  frequent  perusal  filling  their 
memories  with  the  language,  and  imbuing  their  feelings 
with  the  spirit  of  the  great  authors  of  antiquity.  Bv  sucli 
instruction  Mr.  Bard  added  to  tlie  numlier  of  those  of  that 
school  who  were  distinguished  for  classical  ])urity,  and  he 
always  spoke  of  his  teacher,  not  only  in  terms  of  aflfection 
and  respect,  but  as  one  to  whose  refined  taste  and  critical 
acuteness,  he  owed  whatever  he  himself  possessed  of  either. 
Industrious  by  nature,  it  Avas  here  that  Dr.  Bard  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  liabit  of  early  rising  which  doubles  tlie 
powers  botli  of  body  and  mind  ;  a  practice  from  which,  in 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  he  never  swerved,  but  always 
most  earnestly  recommended  to  the  young  around  him, 
as  the  greatest  source  of  health,  of  leisure  and  enjovment. 
Daylight  in  summer,  and  an  hour  previous  to  it  in  winter, 
seldom  found  him  in  bed,  and  this  practice  traiiied  him  to 
ha1)its  of  strict  economy  of  time,  and  a  vigorous  employ- 
ment of  it. 

In  the  choice  of  a  profession,  his  father's  wishes  coincid- 
ed with  his  own  ;  while   his  opening  talents  were  viewed 
by  ft  partial  parent  in  so  strong  a  liffht.  as  to  determine   to 
11 


106  SAMUEL    BARD. 

attempt  educating  him  abroad  :   a  plan  much  more  conso- 
nant  with    his  inclinations,   than  with  his  means.       The 
school  of  Edinburgh  was  at  this  time  in  the  highest  repute, 
and  this  was  selected  as  the  great  source  from  which   the 
young  pupil  was  to  derive  his  medical  education,  and  form 
his  character  for  future  life.     After  much  anxious  prepara- 
tion, at  the  early  age   of  nineteen,  young  Mr.  Bard  bade 
adieu  to  his  native  country  with  a  mind  stored  with   such 
learning  as  the  colonies  then  afforded,  and  a  heart  not  un- 
tutored by  parental  instruction.     He  embarked  in  Septem- 
ber, 1761,  at  a  period  when  Great  Britain  was  at  war  with 
France  ;  nor  did  young  Bard  escape  the  hazards  which  at- 
tend a  sea  voyage  under  such  circumstances  ;   the  first  in- 
telligence which   his  anxious   father  received  from   him, 
was  contained  in  a  letter  dated  Bayonne  Castle,  announc- 
ing that  in  three  weeks  after  leaving  New-York  he  fell  in- 
to the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  was  in  confinement.      It 
was  fortunate  for  Mr.  B.  that  Dr.  Franklin,  a  close  friend 
of  his  father,  then  resided  in  London  as  agent  for  several 
of  the  colonies.     By  his  kind  offices  the  gloom  of  a  prison 
was  exchanged  for  the  freshness  and  freedom  of  the  coun- 
try, and  after  five  months'  residence  in  France  he  proceed- 
ed on  his  way  to  London.       In   a  letter  to  his  father  he 
says,    "  But  although  I  cannot  charge  myself  with  any  un- 
necessary extravagance,   except  it  Avas  purchasing  a  Ger- 
man flute  and  employing  a  teacher,  in   order   to   pass  my 
time  with  some  little  content  in  the  prison,  I  have,  during 
my  stay  in  France,  together   with    my  expenses  on  my 
voyage    and  journey  from   Plymoutli,  spent  near   forty 
pounds   sterling.      I  am   afraid  you  will  think  this  a  very 
extravagant  sum  ;  but   I   do  assure  you  that  there  was  not 
twenty  shillings,  (except  my  flute)    which  I  spent  unneces- 
sarily."    Upon  the  great  object  of  his  visit  he  now  entered 
with  that  diligence  and  zeal,  which  through  life   marked 
his  character.       During  the  whole  of  his  five  years'  resi- 
dence abroad,  his  correspondence  with  his  father  and  fami- 
ly was  full  and  frequent.      His  letters  bespeak  good  sense 
and  warm  feeling,  and  never  failed  to  cheer  the   heart  of 
his  fond  parentg»and  friends.       His  letters  of  introduction 
were  to  the  first  characters,  by  which  he  became  imme- 
diately introduced  to  Drs.  Fothergill,   Hunter,   Smith   of 
St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  Mackenzie  and  others.      The  gen- 
tleman under  whose  peculiar  instruction  he  placed  him- 


SAMUEL     BARD.  107 

self,  was  Dr.  Alexander  Russell,  an  able  and  amiable  man, 
well  known  l)y  his  various  communications  to  the  Royal 
Society  ami  other  Avritinas. 

He  (juittcd  Loiidon  in  September,  I7G2,  and  repaired  to 
the  jrreat  medical  school  at  t:dinburgli.      Here,  as  in  Lon- 
don, he  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  associating  with  charac- 
ters of  the  first  eminence.       "I    attend,"  says  he,  "  three 
classes,  Drs.  Cullcn,  Monro  and  Ferguson.       Cullen,  i)ro- 
fessor  of  chemistry,  lectures  in  Knglisii  in  a  clear,  nervous 
style,  and  Avitli  a  natural,  strong  tone  of  voice.       He  has  a 
new  way  of  examining  Ids  jmpils  in  his  lecture  room  ;  and, 
as  I  was  recommendeil  to   his  notice,  he  did  ine  the  honor 
this  winter  to  commence  with   me  ;    from  Avhich  1  would 
rather  have  been  excused,  for  I  was  not  a  little  confused  to 
l)e  thus  questioned  before   above  a  hundred  students,  who 
all  liad  their  eyes    fixed  ujion  me,  to    hear   my  answers  ; 
liowever,  I  came  off  with  flying  colors."     The  application 
oi  Ins  time,  as  given  l)y  himself,  affords  no  weak  proof  of 
hrmness  of  mind.       Young  and   ardent,  awav  from  home, 
and  surrounded  by  the  teini)tations   of  a  large  metropolis. 
It  alfords  an  honorable  example   of  the  conscientious  per- 
lormance  of  duty,  and  a   lesson,    not  without   its    use,    to 
those  who  may  be  similarly  circumstanced.     "  My  dav,  in 
general,"  says  he,  '^  is  thus  spent  :  from  seven  to  lialf  after 
ten  I  am  at  present  employed  in  the  mathematics,  whidi 
will   soon,    however,   l)e   changed  for  professional  readino- 
and  the  examination  of  my  notes  ;  I  then  dress,  and  am  b? 
eleven    at    college,    attending    Professor    Ferguson    until 
twelve  ;    from  that  hour  until  one,  at  the  hospital  •    from 
one  till  two,  with  Dr.  Cullen  ;  from  two  to  three,  1  allow  to 
dinner  ;  from  three  to  four,  with  Monro  in  anatomv;  from 
four  to  five,  or  half  an  hour  after,  I  generallv  sjicnd  at  mv 
flute  and  takiuir  tea,  either  at   a  friend's   room,   or  with  a 
friend  m  my  own  :    after  this    1   retire  to   my  studv,   and 
spend  from  that  time   until   eleven    o'clock   in   connectino- 
my  notes,  and  in  general  readinjT.     This  is  the  pbm  I  have 
set  down  to   myself,   and   am   resolved  to  stick  close  to  it, 
for  the  winter  at    least.       In   the   summer  I  shall  not  be  so 
busy,  but  have  a  little  time   (if  I    do  not  go  to  London)  to 
amuse  myself  with  botany,  and  seeing  the  countrv  ;    then 
you  shall  have   as   long   letters  as  vou  j>lease  from"  me,  for 
there  is  nothing   I    take   more  pleasure  in  than  writing  to 
you,  unless  it  be    in   hearing   from   you.    for    in    either  of 


108  SAMUEL    BARD. 

these,  especially  the  last,  I  cannot  help  imagining  myself 
conversing  with  you.  1  am  very  much  obliged,"  he  goes 
on  to  add,  "  by  the  good  opinion  my  New-York  friends 
entertain  of  me,  and  hope  I  shall  never,  by  any  negligence 
of  mine,  disappoint  them.  If  liking  a  profession  be  a  good 
omen  of  proliciency,  I  can  assure  you  I  begin  to  be  most 
highly  delighted  with  mine  ;  I  daily  discover  so  many 
beauties  in  it,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  which  first  to  investigate; 
and,  were  it  not  for  the  regular  plan  I  have  laid  down, 
should  be  bewildered  and  lost  in  the  labyrinth."  To  a 
zeal  thus  grounded  in  love,  no  labors  seemed  arduous,  nor 
any  aims  too  lofty  to  be  attempted.  Tiiis  is  evinced  in  an- 
other letter  to  his  father,  in  Avhich  he  suggests,  at  that 
early  day,  the  establishment  of  a  medical  school  in  the 
city  of  New-York  ;  a  plan  which,  in  his  riper  years,  he  ef- 
fected, and  to  which  his  grey  hairs  brought  reverence.  At 
this  period  the  University  of  Edinburgh  was  in  a  flourish- 
ing state  :  Robertson,  the  historian,  was  its  principal  ; 
Rutherford,  Whytt,  the  two  Monros,  father  and  son,  Cul- 
len,  Hope,  Ferguson,  Gregory,  and  Blair,  were  its  teach- 
ers and  supporters.  Under  such  men  was  Dr.  Bard  train- 
ed, and  at  this  pile  was  that  torch  lighted,  which  subse- 
quently inflamed  many  kindred  bosoms.  Of  his  teachers 
he  appears  to  have  enjoyed  (so  far  as  a  young  stranger  can 
be  supposed  to  do)  the  friendship  as  well  as  instruction  ; 
was  received  as  an  inmate  into  the  family  of  Dr.  Robert- 
son, and  kept  up  a  frequent  correspondence  with  his  Lon- 
don instructers,  especially  Dr.  Fothergill.  With  Cullen's 
lectures  he  was  peculiarly  deliglited  ;  in  matter  he  styles 
him,  "  that  accurate  professor;"  and  of  his  manner  he 
says,  "  I  own  I  think  nothing  can  exceed  it,  being  so  en- 
tertaining as  well  as  instructive,  that  I  could  listen  to  him 
with  pleasure  for  three  hours,  instead  of  one."  Of  Mon- 
ro's anatomical  lectures  he  speaks  highly,  and  comparing 
him  with  Hunter  says,  "  but  for  want  of  opportunities  of 
dissection,  I  should  have  no  occasion  to  regret  the  change 
from  London  ;  but  to  have  a  subject  in  my  possession  here, 
would  impose  the  risk  of  banishment,  if  not  of  life."  In 
his  letters  he  frequently  expresses  a  strong  sense  of  grati- 
tude for  his  father's  "  bounty  ;"  "  I  do  assure  you,  sir,  I 
never  think  of  the  great  expense  you  are  at  in  mj'^  edu- 
cation, without  sentiments  of  the  warmest  gratitude  ;  at 
the  same  time  I  feel  much   uneasiness  lest  it  should  fall 


SAMULL    BARD.  l09 

heavily  on  you."  "  I  am  laying  out  to  tiie  l)est  advanlagc 
now,  to  return  it  double  when  we  come  to  a  reckoning." 
"  Last  week  the  judges  lor  tlie  uinuuil  medal,  given  by  the 
professor  ol  botany  of  this  university,  examined  the  llor- 
tus  Siccus  of  the  candidates,  aiul  I  have  tiie  i)hasure  to  ac- 
quaint you  decided  in  my  favor  ;  in  consecjuence  of  which 
determination  tiie  medal  is  to  be  i)ublicly  given  to  me 
some  time  in  April  by  J)r.  Hope."  In  another  letter,  "  I 
caimot  omit  this  opportunity  of  sending  you  a  copy  of  the 
papers  I  read  before  the  medical  society  this  winter  ;  tliey 
may  perhaps  afford  you  half  an  hour's  entertainment,  ami 
let  you  a  little  into  the  nature  of  that  institution  of  whi(  li 
I  informed  you  some  time  ago  that  I  was  admitted  a  mem- 
ber." "  In  the  year  1737  tiiis  society  Avas  first  organized  by 
Drs.  Cullen,  Akenside,  and  some  others,  who  are  now  at  the 
head  of  their  ])r()fession  here  or  in  London  ;  and  since  that 
time  it  has  had  many  members,  wlio  have  l)ecome  orna- 
ments to  society.  As  is  natural,  it  has  undergone  many 
chanffcs,  and  now  consists  of  between  twenty  aTid  thirty 
members,  who  meet  every  vSaturday  evenmg  m  a  room  in 
the  infirmary,  when  they  dispute  upon  medical  subjec  ts  in 
the  following  manner  :  each  member  has,  about  six  months 
beforehand,  a  set  of  jiapers  given  him,  to  write  a  comment 
upon,  consisting  of  a  j)ractical  case,  a  question  on  some 
medical  point,  and  an  aphorism  of  Hippocrates.  Every 
Saturday  a  set  of  these  pajiers  is  produc  ed  and  read  before 
tlie  society  by  the  author,  having  circulated  for  a  week 
before  amongst  the  members,  who  come  prepared  with 
objections,  and  tiie  autiior  with  arguments  to  defend  tiiem. 
In  this  exercise  of  disjuitation  we  spend  al)Out  four  hours, 
and  to  very  good  purpose,  for  we  are  oliliired  to  muster 
our  wiiole  stock  of  icnowlediie,  to  defend  opinions,  wliicii 
are  never  allowed  to  |»ass  witiiout  being  tliorougldy  exam- 
ined ;  and  as  tliere  are  always  a  number  of  members,  men 
of  real  knowledge,  we  young  men  are  not  allowed  to  l)e 
carried  away  iiy  false  reasoning,  nor  led  into  erroneous 
opinions."  Tiie  followinjr  letter  contains  gratifyinij  infor- 
mation to  his  father  ;  "  I  am  at  present  enuasied  in  a  va- 
riety of  studies  ;  l)esides  my  coli(^ge  duties,  I  iiave  two 
private  tutors  who  attend  me.  AN  itii  one,  I  sjxMid  an  iiour 
every  day  in  writing  and  speakinsj  Latin  ;  witli  tiic  otlier, 
French  :  ami  also  three  liours  in  tiie  week  witii  a  most 
excellent  drawing   master.     So   many   branches,  togetlier 


110  SAMUEL    BARD. 

with  reading  practical  authors,  entirely  fill  up  my  time, 
and  are  attended  with  considerable  expense  ;  but  I  hope  I 
sliall  never  repent  it,  and  that  it  will  one  day  be  returned 
to  me  with  interest.  I  sent  you  sometime  ago,  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Hope  ;  since  that  the  medal  has  been  publicly  given  to 
me,  and  the  enclosed  paragraj)h  published  on  the  occasion. 
I  had  an  opportiniity  this  winter  of  showing  my  prepara- 
tions to  Dr.  Pulleney,  a  man  of  eminence  in  the  literary 
world,  and  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  ;  he  praised  them 
inucli,  and  assured  me  they  exceeded  any  in  the  British 
museum.  He  presented  me  on  going  away,  with  a  thesis, 
with  the  following  compliment  on  the  first  page  : — 

FROM  THE    AUTHOR,  TO  MR.  BARD, 
AS   A  SMALL  TRIBUTE   OF  RESPECT  DUE   TO   HIS  SUCCESS 

IN 
CULTIVATING  BOTANICAL  KNOWLEDGE. 

In  the  following  letter  we  find  the  father's  fond  anticipa- 
tions, and  the  arduous  toils  of  the  son  in  a  good  measure 
consummated. 

Edinhurghy  May  1 5th,  1765. 

"  My  Dear  Father, — My  work  being  now  over,  and 
my  mind  at  ease,  I  lay  hold  of  the  first  opportunity  of 
spending  an  hour  Avith  you,  and  communicating  to  you  a 
little  of  the  satisfaction  I  myself  feel.  The  day  before  yes- 
terday I  received  my  degree,  with  all  the  form  and  cere- 
mony usual  upon  such  occasions.  The  two  Monros,  with 
Dr.  Cullen,  were  in  all  my  private  examinations.  My 
good  friend  Dr.  Hope  j)ublicly  impugned  my  thesis  ;  and 
to  all  of  them  I  consider  myself  much  indebted  for  their 
behavior  on  this  occasion,  in  which,  although  they  kept 
up  the  strictness  of  professors,  they  never  lost  sight  of  the 
politeness  of  gentlemen." 

Dr.  Bard  described  his  private  instructer  as  a  man 
"  learned  and  ingenious,  but  at  the  same  time  bold  and 
dogmatic  ;"  nor  will  medical  men  be  inclined  to  dispute 
tlie  justice  of  this  description,  when  it  is  added  that  it  re- 
lates to  Dr.  John  Brown,  afterwards  so  well  known  as  the 
author  of  the  Medical  Theory  wliich  bears  his  name  ;  a 
pathology  so  simple  in  its  principles,  and  so  easy  in  its 
application,  as  to  have  been  lial)lc  to  great  practical  abuse. 
In  the  lectures  of  Dr.  Blair  Mr.  Bard  took  great  delight  ; 
they  gratified  a  naturally  delicate   and  discerning  taste, 


SAMUEL    BARD.  t  1  1 

which  fitted  him  to  excel  in  such  studies.  On  one  occa- 
sion the  ahility  he  displjiyed  in  the  criticism  of  u  jmper 
suhmittcd  to  liiui,  drew  Ironi  the  professor  Ji  marked  j>uh- 
lic  connnc  luhitioM.  In  u  mind  of  sut  h  a  tt'mpcranuiit, 
praise  stinnduted  exertion,  and  not  a  littk-  of  ids  snhse- 
quent  fondness  for  these  studies  and  ahility  in  them,  may 
])e  traced  to  the  assiduity  witli  which  he  then  cultivated 
them.  In  this  art  Dr.  iJard  was  no  mean  proficitiit.  In 
after  life  he  always  commanded  in  pnl)lic  delivery,  a  de- 
gree of  attention,  which  went  far  hryond  the  ( laims  of  his 
figure  or  voice  ;  but  which  was  the  result  of  graceful  gest- 
ure, correct  emphasis  anil,  above  all,  the  nice  discrimina- 
tion and  animated  ex})ression  of  the  sense  and  feeling  of 
that  which  he  delivered.  Dr.  Hard  was  an  orator  of  no 
common  stamp  ;  he  threw  his  heart  into  his  words,  and 
from  the  fulness  of  his  own,  poured  persuasion  into  the 
breast  of  others.  The  letter  of  recommendation  which 
Dr.  Bard  received  from  the  medical  society  on  his  depart- 
ure, has  the  sign  manual  of  each  of  its  mendiers,  aujong 
whom  may  l)e  found  the  names  of  some  whom  kiuiis  have 
since  "  »lelii,dited  to  honor,"  and  what  is  nu)re  to  their 
credit,  who  have  themselves  done  honor  to  their  profes- 
sion. Among  such  may  be  mentioned,  Saunders  of  Lon- 
don, and  Sir  Lucas  Pepys,  physician  to  the  late  king  ; 
Percival  of  .Man(  luster  ;  Professor  Duncan  of  Ediid)ur<ih  ; 
Professor  Parsons  of  Oxford  ;  Ilayuarth,  ami  AN  atson  of 
Cand)ridge,  and  Professor  Morgan  of  Philadelphia  ;  names 
widely  scattered,  yet  indebted,  perhaps,  to  this  early  union 
for  the  first  excitement  of  that  native  talent  which  subsc- 
(piently  rendered  them  conspicuou;!. 

Of  his  Thesis  "  de  viribus  Opii,"  which  he  defended 
at  his  examination,  medical  men  have  spoken  with  t;reat 
respect.  Soon  after  its  a])pearance,  it  attra<ted  the  atten- 
tion of  Haller,  and  recently  has  been  quoted  by  Crumpe  in 
lauffuase  sincularly  respectful  for  an  academical  thesis, 
but  not  perhaj)s  beyoml  its  merits,  if  we  look  to  the  phi- 
loso))hical  manner  in  which  its  materials  were  collected. 
Mavinu  sidectedas  his  subject,  the  I'ffects  of  o|)ium  on  the 
human  system,  which  in  conunon  with  his  teachers  he 
regarded  as  a  stimulant,  he  instituted  a  set  of  exi)eriments, 
first  upon  himself,  and  subse<piently  upon  a  fellow  student 
to  test,  or  rather  to  verifv,  that  o{)ininn.  His  room-mate. 
Dr.  Saunders  of  London,  submitted,  upon  the  oflTer  of  re- 


112  SAMUEL    BARD. 

ciprocal  aid,  to  be  the  subject  of  this  experimental  analysis. 
The  experiments  were  frequently  and  carefully  repeated  ; 
and  the  results  accurately  noted.     His  facts  being  thus  ob- 
tained, he  proceeded  with  his    inductions,  and  concluded, 
if  not  with  truth,   at  least    with  singular    freedom  from 
prejudice,  in  the  opposite  opinion  from  that  which  he  had 
proposed  maintaining.     Whether  tliat  opinion  ])e  right  or 
wrong,    the  mode  of  arriving  at  it  was  creditable  alike   to 
his  candor  and  his  enterprise  ;  it  evinced  an  openness  to 
conviction  and  a  fairness  of  mind,   which  form   not   only 
the  basis  of  moral  excellence,  but  the  corner  stone  of  true 
philosophy.     In  fulfilment  of  his  offer,  Mr.  Bard  became 
in  his  turn  the  subject  of  a  series  of  experiments  to  his  fel- 
low student.     Tlieir  object,  it  is  believed,  was  the  opera- 
tion of  Ammonia  ;  but,  whatever  it  was,  they  Avere  either 
less  safe   in  their  nature,  or  less  cautiously   conducted  ; 
since  a  state  of  torpor,  which  continued  several  hours,  Avas 
in  one  instance  their  result,  and  probably  checked,  for  the 
time,  the  zeal  of  these  young  experimentalists.     This  the- 
sis, thus  carefully  prepared   and  ably   defended,  admitted 
Mr.  Bard  to  his  medical  degree.     His  diploma  bears  date 
September  6th,  1765,  and  has  the  signatures  affixed  of  the 
two    Robertsons,    Rutherford,    the  two  Monros,   Whytt, 
Hope,   Young,   Hamilton,   Gumming,    Ferguson,   Russell, 
and  Blair.     With  the  botanical  professor  he   was  a    great 
favorite.     "  My  good  friend.  Dr.  Hope,"  is  his  ordinary 
designation   of  him  ;  and  he   justly  felt  it  no  small  praise 
to  be  thus  distinguished  in  botany  by   the  friend   of   Lin- 
naeus.    The  particular  intimacy  with  Dr.  Monro,  of  which 
Dr.  Bard  speaks  in  one  of  his  letters,  related  to  the  young- 
er of  that  name  ;  one  whom  he  resembled  much  in  char- 
acter, and  not   less   in  fate.     Four   years    older    tlian   his 
pupil,  Monro  died  the  same  number  of  years  before  him  ; 
both   rising  to  the   highest  eminence   in  their  profession, 
and  in  the  medical  schools  of  their   respective  countries  ; 
both  retaining,    amid  the   bodily  weaknesses   of  age,   all 
their  mental  vigor,  and  each  closing  his  academical  career 
by  tlie  delivery  of  a  valedictory  discourse   in  the  seventy- 
seventh  year  of  life  ;  Monro  to  his  medical  class,  and  Dr. 
Bard   to    the   graduates    of  the    college    over   which   he 
presided. 

Among  the  traits  of  character    which    distinguished  Dr. 
Bard  throughout  life,    was  an  insatiable   inquisitiveness  of 


SAMUEL     BARD.  llS 

mind,   wliich   led    him,    wlierevcr  he  was,  to  ransack  and 
examine  whatever  came  within   his  reacli,  whether  of  art 
or  nature.      Minerals,  j)lants,  animals,  man  and  liis  works, 
were  rapidly  and  by  turns  the  ol)je(  t  of  his  attintion.   Wliat- 
ever  was  rare  or    l)eautit"ul   or    useful,    iuiiufdiatcly  seized 
iij)on  his  imagination,  and  aliorded  matter  lor  curious  in- 
vestigation,  or  a  basis  lor   ingenious  theory.     Even  while 
eniiaiied  in  his  medical  studies,  the  various  branches  of  the 
arts  and  maiuilactures  and  of  agrictdture,  received  a  share 
of  his  iu(|uirv  and    pursuit.      Having  completed  his  course 
of  medical  e(lucation,  lie  employed  some  time  in  an  excur- 
sion through  the  most  interior  j)arts  of  Scotland,  and  vari- 
ous jiarts  of  England,    and    the  scenes  which  presented  af- 
forik'd    him    the  liiiihest    gratification,    to  which  he  often 
al'terward  alluded  with  the  fcdinjis  of  enthusiastic  admira- 
tion.     But  from  some  unknown  cavise  he  was  disap])ointed 
in  the    execution   of  his  project  of  a  continental  tour.     A 
visit  to  the  celebrated  Liniversity  at    Leyden   he  had   long 
contemplated   with    delioht.     Boerliaave    he  venerated  as 
one  of   tlic  greatest  and  l)est  of   men,    whose  character  ho 
reconnnendeil  to  the  young  as  a  model  for  their  imitation, 
and  a  high  and  encouraij;inii;  picture  of  what  virtue  and  in- 
dustry can  j)erform.      He  may  even  l)e  said  to  iiave  closed 
his  professional  career  with  his   name  ujion  his  lips,  as  the 
last  discourse    he  delivered    to  the  medical  graduates  con- 
cludes with  a  forci])ie  delineation  of   the  cijaracter  of  this 
great  man,  as  the  best  embodied  pietiu'c  he  could  <:ive  them 
of  the  perfection    at  which    th<'y  should  aim.      Of  his  last 
visit    to    Dr.  Fothergill    he    told  the  following  anecdote. 
After  nmch  salutary  advice,  suitable  to  a  ]>arting  visit.  Dr.* 
F.  con(  luded    with  what    he  t(  rined  the  secret  of  his  own 
success  ;  "  I  crept,''  said  he,    "  over  the  l^acks  of  the  poor 
into  the  j)ockets  of  the  rich."     It  would  be  doing  injustice 
to  a  character  of  more  than  common   ])hilanthroj)y,  to  in- 
terpret this  as    a  recommendation   of   coldhearted    selfish- 
ness ;  as  such    it  was  neither   intended  nor  felt  ;  but  as   a 
prudential  maxim,  which  Dr.  Bard  often  himself  repeated, 
and  enforced  uj)on  vounij    plivsicians,   viz.  :  that   the  l)asis 
of  their  practice  and  their  faiue,   to  be  permanent,    should 
l)e  laid  in  tlie  ojnnions  of  the  many,    and  thus  L^rowing  up 
by  insensible  degrees,   it  would   be  free  from  the  dangers 
that  attend    on  a  prematiire    reputation    or  a  narrow  and 
wavcrinj;  j)atronage. 
15 


114  8A.MUEL  BARD. 

After  a  five  years  absence  Dr.  Bard  was  restored  to  his 
anxious  and-  longing  parents.  The  emotions  excited  by 
their  first  interview  have  already  been  noticed  in  the  pre- 
ceding article  ;  and  it  may  here  be  added  that  his  cousin, 
Miss  Mary  Bard,  a  lady  highly  accomplished  and  of  j)er- 
sonal  beauty,  was  then  residing  in  his  father's  family,  who 
had  previously  enjoyed  his  affection,  and  was  soon  to  con- 
summate his  happiness.  The  expenses  of  Dr.  Bard's  educa- 
tion had  exceeded  one  thousand  pounds,  and  his  father  was 
involved  in  debt.  He  entered  at  once  upon  the  exercise  of 
liis  profession  in  partnership  with  his  father,  devoting  him- 
self to  it  with  his  native  enthusiasm  and  faithful  persever- 
ance. For  three  years  he  drew  nothing  from  the  profits 
of  their  joint  business,  which  amounted  to  near  fifteen  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum,  beyond  his  necessary  expenses, 
allowing  all  the  remainder  that  he  might  justly  have  claim- 
ed, to  go  towards  the  liquidation  of  debts  which,  in  honor, 
he  regarded  as  his  own.  Considering  himself,  after  that 
time,  as  exonerated  from  all  other  claim  than  that  of  grati- 
tude, he  proceeded  to  form  a  more  tender  and  more  last- 
ing union  by  fulfilling  his  engagement  with  his  cousin  ; 
and  trusting  to  Providence  and  his  own  exertions,  the  mar- 
riage took  place  upon  the  slender  stock  of  one  hundred 
pounds  ;  "  wisely  calculating,"  as  he  often  observed  with 
a  smile,  "  that  his  wife's  economy  would  double  his  earn- 
ings." Nor  in  this  loverlike  conclusion  can  it  well  be 
said  that  he  was  mistaken.  With  this  lady  he  was  destin- 
ed to  pass  a  period  equal  to  the  ordinary  duration  of  hu- 
man life  ;  and  in  its  joys  and  sorrows  to  find  her,  to  use 
his  own  expressive  language,  "  a  steady,  judicious  and  afl'ec- 
tionate  friend,  and  a  dear  and  excellent  wife." 

Dr.  Bard's  early  formed  plan  of  a  medical  school,  was 
not  abandoned  by  him  on  his  return  from  abroad  ;  but, 
instead  of  the  youthful  assistants  originally  proposed,  he 
had  the  higher  credit  of  exciting  older  and  abler  men  to 
the  task.  Within  a  year  after  his  return  it  was  organized, 
and  united  to  King's  College.  His  associates  were  Drs.  Glos- 
sy, Jones,  Middleton,  Smith,  and  Tennant  ;  while  to  him, 
then  but  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  was  given  by  common 
consent  the  most  responsible  and  influential  department  of 
the  practice  of  physic.  Thus  early  did  he  begin  to  repay 
his  debt  of  education  to  this  literary  institution,  which  for 
forty  years  he  continued  to  serve,  as  circumstances  demand- 
ed, in  almost  every  branch  of  experimental  and  medical 


SAMUEL  BARD.  1  15 

science  ;  and  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  residence  in 
the  city,  as  Trustee  and  Dean  of  the  Faonlty  of  Physic. 
Medical  decrees  were  first  conferred  by  thisschool  in  17G9, 
when  a  public  address  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Bard,  in  which 
he  displayed  that  persuasive  elocpience  with  whicli  lie  al- 
ways urged  a  <i;ood  cause.  On  the  IGth  of  May,  being  the 
day  of  its  annual  conunencenient,  he  delivered,  before  the 
officers  of  the  college  and  the  governor  and  council  of  the 
Province,  a  discourse  in  which  he  enforced  the  usefulness, 
or  rather  necessity  of  a  public  hospital,  and  the  j)ropriety 
of  its  immediate  establishment,  as  the  most  efficient  means 
of  relief  to  the  suflering  poor  of  the  city,  and  of  instruc- 
tion to  medical  students.  So  convincing  were  his  argu- 
ments, or  so  well  timed  the  appeal,  that  it  aroused  the  in- 
dividual upon  whom  it  was,  perhaps,  most  intended  to 
operate.  Sir  Henry  Moore,  governor  of  the  Province,  as 
soon  as  the  address  was  closed,  expressed  warmly  both  his 
admiration  of  the  speech,  and  his  patronage  of  the  plan  ; 
and  immediately  headed  a  subscription  paper  with  the  sum 
of  two  hundred  j)Ounds.  This  was  followed  with  propor- 
tional liberality  by  the  members  of  the  comicil,  and  other 
gentlemen  present,  and  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  pounds 
sterling  was  on  the  same  day  collected.  The  city  authori- 
ties added  to  the  number  of  its  patrons,  and  a  suitable 
structure  waserected ;  but,  when  on  the  point  of  completion, 
the  building  was  entirely  destroyed  by  an  accidental  fire, 
so  that  this  noble  design  remained  unaccomplished  imtil  the 
year  1791.  From  that  period  until  his  retirement,  Dr. 
Bard  continued  to  be  its  visiting  physician,  in  which  he 
never  omitted  a  single^day.  In  this  excellent  discourse  of 
Dr.  Bard,  he  exj)os«il  the  unreasonable  and  dangerous 
practice  which  then  prevailed  of  the  charges  of  physicians 
being  grounded  solely  on  the  medicine  given  to  their  pa- 
tients ;  thus  unjustly  deprivini;  them  of  any  remuneration 
for  that  wherein  alone  the  value  of  the  services  consisted, 
and  exposing  them  to  the  constant  temptation,  if  not  abso- 
lute necessity,  of  making  prescriptions  often  needless,  and 
sometimes  hurtfid.  Tliis  bold  expostulation  probably 
tended  to  hasten  the  change  which  soon  afterward  took 
])lace  on  this  point. 

In  the  year  1772  Dr.  John  Bard,  tlie  father,  removed  to 
Hyde  Park,  his  country  residence,  and  his  city  establish- 
ment was  purchased  by  his  son,  who  entered  at  once  into 
his  father's  circle  of  practice,  out  of  the  profits  of  which  he 


116  SAMUEL  BARD. 

continued  for  five  years  to  allow  him  a  large  proportion. 
In  1774  Dr.  Bard  added  to  his  existing  duties  the  labors 
of  a  public  course  of  chemical  lectures.  But  when,  in  the 
year  1775,  the  sword  was  about  to  be  unsheathed,  and  a 
mighty  contest  for  liberty  was  to  be  decided,  Dr.  Bard  was 
found  among  many  other  upright  and  patriotic  men  who 
could  not  at  once  shake  off  their  reverence  for  the  obliga- 
tions under  which  they  had  been  born,  and  educated,  and 
prospered  ;  and  the  native  tenderness  of  his  heart  render- 
ed him  averse  to  all  acts  of  violence.  Towards  the  end 
of  the  year  he  placed  his  wife  and  children  under  his 
father's  roof  at  Hyde  Park,  and  he  himself  remained  in 
New-York  until  the  great  question  of  peace  or  war  should 
be  decided.  Finding,  however,  all  hopes  of  reconciliation 
vain,  and  the  torch  of  discord  already  lighted,  he  aban- 
doned the  city  of  New-York  previous  to  the  British  army 
taking  possession  of  it,  joined  his  family  at  Hyde  Park,  and 
after  various  I'emovals  took  up  his  residence  in  New-Jersey. 
But  in  the  following  year,  finding  he  could  engage  in  no 
employment  which  would  enable  him  to  provide  for  his 
family,  and  learning  that  his  property  in  New-York  was 
wasting  in  his  absence,  he  came  to  the  resolution  of  return- 
ing to  the  exercise  of  his  profession  in  that  city.  He  ob- 
tained permission  to  return  thither,  and  on  his  arrival 
found  his  house  in  other  and  unfriendly  hands  ;  and  it  was 
still  more  difficult  to  resume  the  exercise  of  his  profession. 
The  government  viewed  him  with  suspicion,  and  his  for- 
mer intimates  with  a  prudent  coldness.  His  father's  resi- 
dence witliin  the  American  lines,  and  his  brother's  holding 
a  commission  in  the  continental  army,  seemed  to  justify 
this  caution  ;  while  the  moderation#nd  candor  of  his  cha- 
racter were  in  those  days  of  hostile  zeal  misconstrued,  or 
unappreciated.  He  remained  a  considerable  time  without 
a  professional  call,  and  was  reduced  literally  to  his  last 
guinea.  Walking  down  the  Broadway  in  a  melancholy 
mood,  his  mind  filled  with  painful  forebodings,  a  wife, 
two  sisters  and  five  children,  all  dependent  on  exertions 
he  had  no  opportunity  to  make,  he  was  accosted  l)y  a  for- 
mer friend  whom  he  had  not  before  met  ;  this  was  Mr.  Mat- 
thews, then  mayor  of  the  city,  whose  well  known  loyalty 
and  official  standing  setting  him  above  all  low  suspicion, 
he  not  only  addressed  Dr.  Bard  with  his  accustomed  cor- 
diality, but  immediately  on  some  slight  pretext  requested 
his  professional  attendance  at  his  house.     His  frequent  let- 


SAMUEL    BARD.  117 

ters  to  his  American  friends,  had  given  color  to  a  malicious 
accusation  preferred  against  him  of  maintaining  a  treason- 
able correspondence.  The  commandant  was  just  issuing  an 
order  for  his  arrest,  when  Mr.  Matthews  entering,  heard 
the  name  of  Dr.  Bard  ;  he  immediately  interfered,  claim- 
ed him  as  his  family  physician  and  friend,  pledged  himself 
for  the  falsehood  of  the  charge,  and  calling  on  Dr.  Bard, 
gave  him  an  opportunity  to  refute  it.  To  suspicion  now 
succeeded  confidence  ;  his  talents  and  professional  skill 
rapidly  extended  his  business,  and  wherever  he  found  a 
patient,  by  his  kindness  and  sympathy  he  made  a  friend. 
It  may  be  allowed  to  one  who  has  had  experience  of  that 
watchful  solicitude  which  characterized  him  at  the  sick 
bed,  to  say  that  in  this  he  was  a  model  to  his  profession. 
His  disregard  of  self,  and  anxious  tenderness  for  his  patient 
originated  a  debt  that  could  never  be  paid  but  in  returns 
of  gratitude  ;  and  account  for  the  fact  of  the  permanent 
and  gratefid  recollections  that  were  entertained  of  his  pro- 
fessional services  twenty  years  after  his  retirement  to  the 
country.  While  these  qualities  gained  him  business  and 
friends,  his  scientific  character  gathered  around  him  a  lite- 
rary circle,  with  whom,  after  the  labors  of  the  day,  he 
generally  passed  the  evening.  The  late  bishop  Moore  ;  his 
old  friends,  Mr.  Kempe,  attorney  general,  and  Lindley 
Murray,  the  grammarian;  and  his  new  intimates,  Dr.  Nooth, 
superintendent  of  the  hospital,  and  Dr.  Michaelis,  the  son 
of  the  learned  commentator,  were  his  most  frequent  and 
acceptable  guests. 

Dr.  Bard,  in  common  with  all  good  men,  hailed  with 
pleasure  the  return  of  peace  ;  to  him,  however,  it  was  not 
without  its  anxieties,  as  the  patriotism  and  honor  of  his 
conduct  were  again  to  undergo  a  scrutiny  from  heated,  if 
not  unfriendly,  judges.  Notwithstanding  the  advice  of 
many  who  urged  his  removal,  he  trusted  again  to  the  up- 
rightness of  his  motives,  and  was  not  mistaken.  His  coun- 
trymen knew  how  to  distinguish  between  moderation  and 
indifference  ;  and  Washington,  "  the  father  of  his  country," 
by  selecting  him  as  his  family  physician,  marked  the  opin- 
ion he  entertained  both  of  his  character  and  medical  skill. 

A  new  enemy  now  assailed  his  domestic  happiness  :  out 
of  six  children,  four  perished  by  a  rapid  and  untimely  fate  ; 
two  were  buried  in  the  same  grave  :  one,  a  child  of  so 
much  loveliness  and  promise,  as  to  have  called  forth,  in  the 
anxious  mind  of  its  mother,  the  usual  apprehensions  of  an 


lis  SAMUEL    BARD, 

early  death.  The  disease  which  thus  desolated  tliis  happy 
family,  was  the  scarlatina  in  its  most  virulent  form.  Chil- 
dren, parents,  nurses  and  servants,  were  all  seized  with  it  ; 
and  the  delirium  which  rapidly  ensued,  added  to  the  hor- 
rors of  an  infection,  which  already  restrained  or  disabled 
their  friends  from  giving  assistance.  Two  children  were 
hardly  snatched  from  the  grave,  and  recovered  hy  slow  de- 
grees. As  the  mother's  care  ceased  to  be  necessary,  her 
health  and  spirits  sunk  under  the  greatness  of  her  loss  and 
her  exertions  ;  and  Dr.  Bard  was  called  to  forget  the  feel- 
ings of  the  father  in  those  of  the  husband.  A  deep  melan- 
choly settled  upon  her  mind,  which  threatened  almost  the 
extinction  of  reason.  Alive  only  to  this  great  duty,  he  im- 
mediately gave  up  all  attention  to  business  and,  for  near  a 
twelve  iPionth,  devoted  himself  to  her  recovery  with  an  as- 
siduity and  faithfulness  which  were  fully  repaid  by  success. 
During  this  period  of  sickness  and  affliction,  a  series  of  let- 
ters passed  between  Dr.  Bard  and  his  family  connexions, 
the  perusal  of  which  could  not  fail  to  arouse  the  feelings  of 
sympathy  even  in  the  most  obdurate  heart.  The  pious  re- 
signation and  edifying  devotion  displayed,  are  among  the 
finest  traits  of  character  in  this  excellent  man.*  In  the 
summer  of  1784  Dr.  Bard  resumed  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession in  the  city  of  New-York,  leaving  his  wife  in  better 
health,  at  the  house  of  her  uncle  in  New-Jersey.  His  re- 
ligious feelings  on  the  restoration  of  his  wife's  health,  are 
expressed  with  pious  gratitude  in  a  prayer  found  among  his 
papers. 

Dr.  John  Bard,  having  suffered  some  losses  after  his  re- 
tirement, was  under  pecuniary  eml)arrassmcnt,  and  writes 
thus  to  his  son.  "  I  view  my  aifairs,  so  far  as  they  are 
encumbered  with  debt,  with  great  anxiety  and  pain  ;  and, 
old  as  I  am,  being  blessed  with  a  happy  constitution,  I  find 
myself  still  disposed  to  exert  myself  in  tlie  most  efficient 
manner  to  free  my  estate  from  this  encumbrance  ;  which 
if  I  could  do,  I  should,  I  think,  leave  the  world  with  com- 
posure and  ease."  The  appeal  was  not  in  vain  ;  his  son 
had  not  forgotten  his  early  debt  of  education,  and  inrnie- 
diately  applied  the  whole  of  his  accumulations,  amounting 
at  that  time  to  five  thousand  guineas,  to  his  father's  relief, 
preferring  this  application  of  it  to  the  most  tempting  specu- 

*  For  the  very  interesting  letters  above  mentioned  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
Life  of  Dr.  Samuel  Bard,  by  Rev.  John  McVickrir ,  New-York. 


SAMUEL    BARD.  119 

lations  then  opened  to  cajpitalists  by  the  sale  of  tonfis<  ated 
estates.  He  accordhigly  relieved  his  father  from  his  load 
of  debt,  and  by  his  persuasions  induced  him  to  return  to 
the  exercise  of  his  profession  in  rs'evv-York,  in  which  he 
continued  until  the  year  1797,  when  his  son's  j)rojccted  re- 
moval iletermined  his  own  ;  and  he  retired,  for  tlie  last 
time,  to  close  a  long  and  chequered,  but  cheerful  life,  in 
the  shades  of  his  early  retirement. 

Dr.  Bard's  character  having  been  displayed  in  the  light 
of  a  son  and  husband,  it  remains  but  to  sJiow  that  the  (hi- 
ties  of  a  parent  were  fulfilled  by  him  with  e(jual  tender- 
ness and  judgment.  Out  of  ten  children,  but  two  had  been 
spared  to  him  ;  to  these  a  third  was  afterward  added,  not 
only  the  child,  but  the  companion  and  solace  of  his  old  age  : 
and  to  tiieir  education  he  now  devoted  most  of  the  leisure 
which  l)usy  days  and  broken  nights  afl'orded  liim.  His 
numerous  letters  to  his  children  exiiibit  a  j)leasing  picture 
of  the  animated  tenderness  of  his  manner.*  Kind  and  ju- 
dicious j)raise,  as  his  letters  indicate,  was  the  medium  bv 
which  Dr.  Bard  oj)erated  on  the  minds  of  his  children  ; 
and  seldom  did  a  father  succeed  better  in  awakeninii  a 
warm  and  generous  enthusiasm  to  deserve  it.  In  all  their 
early  performances  they  were  sure  to  receive,  in  his  ani- 
mated commendation,  a  sufficient  recompense  for  their  ex- 
ertions ;  and  the  a})plause  which  at  first  arose  from  paren- 
tal fondness,  became  an  excitement  to  what  miiiht  l)e  truly 
deserving  of  it.  "The  earliest  recollection,"  says  his 
youngest  daughter,  "  which  1  have  of  my  beloved  father, 
is  associated  with  the  affectionate  caress  and  animated 
praise  he  bestowed  upon  me,  when,  jdaced  u|)on  his  knee, 
I  repeated  to  l;im  Thomson's  Lavinia,  which  I  bad  com- 
mitted to  memory  during  one  of  his  short  absences  from 
home  :  it  left  a  very  strong  impression  upon  my  mind." 
Such  was  the  parental  discipline  by  which  he  guided  tlie 
tender  minds  of  his  childrin.  As  they  grew  older,  he  be- 
came their  con\])anion  and  friend  ;  leadinj;  tbem  to  tune- 
served  comiiMinic  ation  of  their  actions  and  sentiments  ; 
coimscUinn  tlicm  in  tbe  langua<ie  ol  aflection  ;  and  resting 
all  his  influence  on  tbe  attachment,  and  almost  veneration, 
which  his  solicitude  for  their  happiness  excited.  But  with 
all  this  fondness  he  united  perfect  candor  and  plain  dealing. 
This  gained  their  confidence  and  ripened,  as  they  grew  up, 

*  See  the  production  just  referred  to. 


120  SAMUEL    BARD. 

into  the  most  reposing  friendship  :  a  bond  which  advanc- 
ing years  and  commerce  with  the  world,  instead  of  weak- 
ening, strengthened,  by  enabling  them  better  to  estimate 
the  value  of  such  a  friend  and  adviser. 

While  the  general  government  were  sitting  in  New-York, 
President  AVashington  had  recourse  to  Dr.  Bard's  profes- 
sional skill  in  his  own  case.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he 
says,  "  the  President's  complaint  continues  to  amend,  so 
that  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  of  effecting  a  perfect  and, 
I  hope,  a  speedy  cure.  It  Avill  give  you  pleasure  to  be  told 
that  nothing  can  exceed  the  kindness  and  attention  I  receive 
from  him."  It  was  a  case  of  anthrax,  so  malignant  as  for 
several  days  to  threaten  mortification.  During  this  period 
Dr.  Bard  never  quitted  him.  On  one  occasion,  being  left 
alone  with  him.  General  Washington,  looking  steadfastly  in 
his  face,  desired  his  candid  opinion  as  to  the  probable  ter- 
mination of  the  disease,  adding,  with  that  placid  firmness 
which  marked  his  address,  "Do  not  flatter  me  with  vain 
hopes  ;  I  am  not  afraid  to  die,  and,  therefore,  can  bear 
the  worst."  Dr.  Bard's  answer,  thovigh  it  expressed  hope, 
acknowledged  his  apprehensions.  The  President  replied, 
"  whether  tonight,  or  twenty  years  hence,  makes  no  dif- 
ference ;  I  know  that  I  am  in  the  hands  of  a  good  Provi- 
dence." Dr.  Bard,  senior,  was  then  called  in  consultation 
at  the  suggestion  of  General  Washington,  and  by  the  bless- 
ing of  that  "  good  Providence"  in  Avhich  he  trusted,  his 
life  was  preserved  to  his  country,  at  a  period  when  it  never 
more  needed  the  counsels  of  his  calm,  prospective  wisdom. 
The  resuH  of  this  illness  was  an  intimacy  with  his  patient, 
Avhich  Dr.  Bard  Justly  felt  proud  of.  It  continued  unbrok- 
en until  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to  Phila- 
delphia, an  event  which  he  much  lamented  for  many 
and  obvious  reasons. 

Temperance,  exercise  and  early  rising  had  strengthened 
a  weakly  constitution,  and  enabled  Dr.  Bard  to  go  through 
a  daily  course  of  extraordinary  professional  labor.  One 
of  his  early  students  thus  speaks  of  a  winter  residence  in 
his  family.  "  He  rose  at  the  earliest  hour  ;  at  five  o'clock 
he  was  superintending  the  studies  of  his  son  and  myself,  and 
engaged  in  preparing  his  public  lectures  ;  from  breakfast 
till  night  I  saw  no  more  of  him,  except  in  the  streets  on 
professional  liusiness  ;  there,  indeed,  himself,  his  phar ton 
and  servant  were  to  be  seen  at  most  hours  both  of  the  day 
and  nijrht." 


SAMUEL    BABD.  Ift 

Into  his  literary  gratifications  Dr.  Bard  carried  all  the 
ardor  of  his  cliararter  ;  he  sei/xil  upon  every  new  publica- 
tion of  merit  with  the  avidity  of  a  fainislad  appetite,  and 
durin<r  its  })erusal  was  I)oth  deaf  and  hlind  to  all  causes  of 
interruption.  Tiiis  absorption  of  mind  was  so  great  in  his 
latter  years,  as  sometimes  to  be  made  the  subject  of  good 
humored  experiment  ;  of  which  lie  seemed  to  be  unaware, 
as  of  every  thing  else  tliat  j)assed  around  liim.  On  looking 
into  a  cojiy  of  the  "  \'icar  of  AVakefieUr'  when  it  first 
came  out.  lie  reserved  it  for  evening  reading  to  his  family. 
Commencing  it  at  rather  a  late  hour,  his  high  relish  of  it 
would  not  permit  him  to  lay  it  down  until  he  finislied  it  ; 
and  his  hearers  not  choosing  to  retire,  he  closed  the  volume 
as  the  morninjj;  sun  was  rising.  In  reading  Shakspeare  he 
not  only  delighted,  but  excelled  ;  and  his  graceful  action 
was  in  just  and  harmonious  accordance  with  the  sentiment 
expressed.  On  (juestions  of  a  moral  and  religious  nature, 
where  the  arguments  flow  rather  from  the  heart  than  tlie 
heail,  he  was  l)oth  powerful  and  persuasive  ;  not,  indeed, 
in  the  nice  distinctions  of  schoolmen,  l)ut  in  the  energetic 
enforcement  of  broad  and  lcadin<i  truths.  He  had  liere 
that  peculiar  tone  of  eloquence,  which  arises  from  full- 
hearted  sincerity,  a  language  that  can  neither  be  riiisunder- 
stood  nor  counterfeited,  and  wliich  never  can  be  otherwise 
than  persuasive  and  conunandino;. 

Of  ])ersonal  courage  Dr.  Bard  liad  a  great  share,  but  it 
did  not  arise  fron\  forgetfulness  of  danger,  so  much  as  from 
disregard  to  it.  His  mind  was  intent  ujjon  the  duty  to  be 
performed,  and  weighed  not  the  risk  that  attended  it.  A 
proof  of  this  occurred  during  tlie  revolutionary  war,  in 
which  a  fire  burst  out  contiiiuous  to  a  powder  magazine  in 
his  neighborhood.  Upon  the  smhlen  alarm  liis  first 
thought  and  motion  were  to  retreat  with  his  family  to  a 
place  of  safety  ;  l)nt,  immediately  checking  himself  with 
the  recollection  tliat  the  dreaded  explosion  migiit  yet  be 
averted,  ho  committed  his  wife  ami  chihh'en  to  the  care  of 
a  friend,  forced  his  Avay  throufjh  the  retreatiuii;  crowd  to 
the  scene  of  danger,  and  was  anions  the  first  who  returned 
to  tlie  spot,  and  by  whose  exertions  the  fire  was  extinguish- 
ed without  accident.  As  another  instance  may  be  men- 
tioned his  conduct  in  the  popular  tumult,  commonly 
called  the  Doctors'  Mol),  excited  in  the  year  1788  affainst 
the  physicians  of  the  city,  from  suspicion  of  their  robl)ing 
the  grave  yards.  In  this  riot,  which  for  two  davii  set  at 
16  ' 


122  SAMUEL    BARD. 

defiance  both  tlie  civil  and  military  force  of  the  city,  Dr. 
Bard  exhibited  a  calm  and  dignified  composure,  which 
seemed  to  awe  even  the  wild  passions  of  the  populace. 
Conscious  of  his  innocence  of  the  alleged  charge,  he  re- 
sisted the  most  urgent  solicitations  to  flee  or  conceal  him- 
self ;  but,  as  the  infuriated  mob  approached  hi?  house, 
ordered  the  doors  and  windows  to  be  thrown  open,  and 
paced  his  hall  in  full  view  of  tliem  as  they  drew  near.  His 
calmness,  or  his  character  saved  him  :  they  approached 
with  horrible  imprecations  ;  gazed  awhile  in  silence,  and 
then  passed  on  with  acclamations  of  his  innocence. 

But  Dr.  Bard,  like  his  favorite  teacher  Cullen,  possessed 
a  natural  sensibility  too  keen  for  a  calm  and  scientific  sur- 
gical operator.  The  first  operation  he  performed,  he 
went  through  with  a  steady  hand  ;  but  fainted  when  he 
had  bound  up  the  wound  :  and,  in  a  second,  he  operated 
successfully,  but,  it  may  be  presumed,  tremulously,  since 
the  expectation  of  it  had  made  him  pass  the  night  in  pacing 
his  chamber.  As  a  physician,  this  acute  sensibility,  so  far 
from  an  impediment,  was,  in  no  small  measure,  the  ground 
both  of  his  popularity  and  success.  It  gave  the  warmth  of 
friendship  to  professional  formalities,  inspired  the  patient 
with  confidence  in  his  care  ;  and,  thus  giving  relief  to  the 
mind,  paved  the  way  for  that  of  the  body.  To  the  friends 
of  the  sick  his  manners,  or  rather  his  character,  was  pecu- 
liarly comforting  ;  to  the  skill  of  a  physician,  he  added 
the  interest  of  a  relative  :  they  were  satisfied  that  every 
thing  was  done  his  art  could  do  ;  that  neither  coldness, 
nor  selfishness,  nor  the  pursuits  of  pleasure  or  ambition, 
withheld  him  from  any  personal  exertion.  The  compari- 
son Dr.  Bard  once  made  use  of,  in  a  case  of  violent  dis- 
ease, will  illustrate  this  excitement.  "  I  feel,"  said  he, 
"  as  if  I  had  a  giant  by  the  throat,  I  must  fight  for  life." 
He  cautions  young  practitioners  against  a  readiness  to  re- 
ceive new  names,  new  theories  and  new  remedies.  "  New 
names  are  always  deceiving  ;  new  theories  are  mostly  false 
or  useless  ;  and  new  remedies  for  a  time  are  dangerous. 
This  rage  for  novelty  pervades  our  profession,  especially 
in  this  country.  Hence  our  extended  catalogue  of  new 
fevers,  and  hasty  adoption  of  new  remedies  ;  hence  the 
unlimited  and  unwarranted  application  of  mercury  with- 
out weiglit,  brandy  without  measure,  and  the  lancet  without 
discrimination  ;  and  hence,  I  am  afraid  I  may  say,  the 
sacrifice  of  many  lives  which  might  have  been  preserved. 


SAMUEL    BARD.  123 

had  tlicy  been  left  to  water  gruel  and  good  nursing."  Dr. 
Bard  was  far  from  undervaluing  the  iujprovenients  of 
modern  niedieal  seience  ;  whieli  in  one  of  his  medical  dis- 
courses JR-  states  as  consisting  in  its  "•  greater  knowledge  of 
the  animal  economy,  the  powers  of  a  more  cll'cctual  phar- 
macy, and  the  rules  of  a  more  enlightened  practice,  which 
prescribes  witli  u  view  to  defmite  juul  intermediate  re- 
sults." With  respect  to  his  communicating  to  liis  j)atients 
a  knowledge  of  their  danger  he  says,  "  Tliere  is  in  the 
liuman  mind  a  j)rinciple  of  acijuiescence  in  the  disj)ensa- 
tions  of  Divine  Providence,  wliicli,  wlien  treated  with 
prudence,  seldom  fails  to  reconcile  the  most  timid  to  their 
situation.  Such  information  I  have  generally  found  rather 
to  calm  perturbation  of  mind,  than  to  increase  danger  or 
liasten  the  event  of  the  disease.  Whenever,  therefore,  the 
duties  of  piety,  or  even  the  temporal  interests  of  friends, 
have  demanded  it,  I  have  never  hesitated  making,  and  sel- 
dom or  never  rei)ented  such  communication." 

Having  accunudated  by  his  own  industry  the  sum  of 
fifteen  liundred  guineas,  he  sent  it  to  Europe  to  be  invested 
in  the  British  fimds  ;  the  banker  in  whose  hands  it  was 
deposited,  failed,  and  the  loss  was  announceil  in  a  letter  ; 
his  wife  observed  him  to  change  countenance  wliile  read- 
ing it,  and  anxiously  inquired  its  contents  :  "■  We  are 
ruined,"  said  he,  "  that  is  all."  "  If  that  be  all,"  rejoined 
his  calmer  companion,  "  never  mind  the  loss,  we  will  soon 
make  it  ujj  again."  Such  a  spirit  was  contagious  ;  Dr. 
Bard  took  courage  from  tlie  example  of  his  wife,  and  re- 
turned to  the  task  with  cheerful  resolution.  The  necessi- 
ties of  his  father  three  times  absorbed  all  his  means,  and 
involved  him  in  debt  ;  but  the  same  resolute  and  prudent 
management  as  often  freeil  him,  and  eventually  secured  for 
their  declining  age,  that  hap|)y  ineiliiim  of  wealth,  which 
the  wise  have  ever  jjreferred,  as  allordin^  the  greatest 
enjovments  with  the  fewest  cares  ;  and  which  so  fully 
answered  all  their  desires,  tliat  they  retired  to  the  quiet  of 
the  country  at  a  time  when  the  extent  of  his  practice,  and 
the  rising  charges  of  the  profession,  woidd  have  doubled 
his  fortune  in  the  s\r.icv  of  a  very  few  years. 

Dr.  Bard  continued  devotedly  attached  to  the  hospital. 
He  was  one  of  the  fouiulers  and  physicians  of  the  City 
Dispensary  ;  and  an  original  and  active  member  of  the  A^- 
riculturarSociely  of  the  st.ite.  His  exertions  rontribuled 
to  the  foundation  of  the  first  public  library  ;  and.  in  ^hort, 


124  SAMUEL    BARD. 

his  heart  and  hand  were  with  every  scheme  of  benevolence 
and  public  improvement.  In  the  year  1791  the  trustees  of 
Columbia  College,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  medical 
society,  reorganized  the  department  of  medicine,  which  the 
war  of  the  revolution  had  broken  up,  at  the  head  of  which 
as  Dean  of  the  Faculty  was  placed  Dr.  Bard,  who,  anxious 
to  contribute  his  personal  exertions  to  the  advancement  of 
medical  education,  gave  to  the  students  in  the  wards  of  the 
hospital  a  course  of  clinical  lectures.  At  the  bedside  of 
the  patient  Dr.  Bard  exhibited  the  finest  model  for  imita- 
tion, as  teaching  not  merely  the  learning,  but  the  manners 
of  tJie  physician.  His  kindness,  his  patience,  his  minute 
inquiries,  and  cheering  words  of  consolation  addressed 
even  to  the  poorest  and  meanest,  had  the  value  of  moral, 
as  well  as  medical  instruction,  impressing  the  minds  of  the 
students  with  a  conscientious  sense  of  the  responsibility  of 
life  and  health,  which  rested  upon  them.  "  Avoid,"  he 
used  to  say,  "  that  affectation  of  quick  discernment  and 
hurried  practice,  which  generally  marks  the  ignorant  and 
ostentatious,  hurrying  from  patient  to  patient,  without 
once  reflecting  on  the  mischief  and  misery  they  may  occa- 
sion, and  that  life  thus  trifled  away  will  one  day  be 
required  at  their  hands."  In  one  of  his  sketches  of  the 
good  physician,  he  says  "  the  physician  who  confines  his 
attention  to  the  body,  knows  not  the  extent  of  his  art  ; 
if  he  know  not  hoAvto  soothe  the  irritation  of  an  enfeebled 
mind,  to  calm  the  fretfulness  of  impatience,  to  rouse  the 
courage  of  the  timid,  and  even  to  quiet  the  compunctions 
of  an  over  tender  conscience,  he  will  very  much  confine 
the  eflicacy  of  his  prescriptions  ;  and  these  he  cannot  do 
without  he  gain  the  confidence,  esteem  and  even  the  love, 
of  his  patients." 

The  period  was  now  approaching  in  which  Dr.  Bard 
thought  that,  consistently  with  duty  and  prudence,  he 
might  retire  to  the  bosom  of  his  family  and  the  enjoyment 
of  those  quiet  pleasures  to  which  he  had  always  been 
attached.  He  tlxought,  too,  that  some  pause  for  reflection 
should  intervene  between  the  business  of  life  and  its  close  ; 
and  he  resolved  to  carry  into  eflfect  a  plan,  which  most 
wise  men  propose,  but  few  execute, — that  of  retiring  vol- 
untarily from  the  bustle  of  life.  To  this  plan  many  ob- 
jections were  started  and  Avarmly  urged  ])y  his  friends. 
To  the  calculations  of  interest,  he  replied  that  he  had 
enough  ;  to  the  predictions  of  after  repentance,  he  was 


SAMUEL    BARD.  125 

content  to  answer  that  lie  was  not  afra'ul  to  try  ;  bnt 
against  tlic  solicitations  of  friontlshij),  he  Connd  it  (liiUcult 
to  maintain  his  resolution.  His  tathtr's  removal  and  his 
daughter's  settlement  at  Hyde  Park,  at  length  decided 
him,  and  in  the  sj)ring  of  the  year  1798  he  removed  to  his 
well  known  seat,  within  a  short  distance  of  his  father's 
residence.  J)uring  a  temporary  visit  he  made  the  year 
previous,  in  Avhich  iiis  only  son  accompanied  him,  a  suthiea 
and  violent  illness  reduced  hoth  his  son  and  grandson  to 
the  hrink  of  the  grave.  To  watch  over  the  declining  age 
of  a  fiither  who  so  tenderly  loved  him,  was  a  consolation 
not  long  sjiared  to  Dr.  Bard.  His  father  survived  their 
united  removal  to  the  country  hut  two  years,  and  tlien 
suddenly  sunk,  full  of  days,  hut  free  from  the  infirjnities  of 
age  ;  retaining  to  the  very  last  that  indescril)al)le  ciuirm 
of  manneis  and  conversation,  which  attached  to  him  hoth 
youns  and  old,  and  eidivened  every  soci(;ty  with  a  con- 
tinued How  of  cheerful  and  uiuiffected  good  humor.  These 
two  yeais,  thouiih  (juickly  passed,  were  long  and  grate- 
fully rememhered  by  his  son.  Upon  his  father's  character 
he  loved  to  expatiate  ;  wdiile  tlie  firm  health,  the  cheerful 
mind,  and  the  many  blessings  wiiich  cheered  the  close  of 
his  lil'e,  were  a  subject  to  him  of  frequent  thaidvfulness. 
For  some  time  })revious  to  Dr.  Bard's  removal  from  the 
city,  an  intimacy  luul  snlisisted  between  him  and  Dr.  Da- 
vid Hosack  ;  and  as  soon  as  his  removal  wms  decided  upon, 
he  took  him  into  paitnership,  j)artly  with  a  view  to  his 
own  relief  at  a  j)eriod  of  nmch  exertion,  but  principally 
that  he  might  introthice  to  his  large  circle  of  j)atients  one 
to  whose  medical  skill  he  was  content  to  transfer  their 
safety. 

Althougli  Dr.  Bard  bade  adieu  to  the  city  in  the  year 
KOS,  the  fearful  epidemic  (yellow  fever)  again  making  its 
appearance  the  same  vear,  he  resolved  not  to  abandon  his 
post  when  about  to  l*ecome  one  of  anxiety  and  danger. 
Amidst  that  calnmitv  lie  addressed  his  Avife  as  follows. 
"  I  begin  to  j^roM"  very  impatient,  my  d<'ai*  Mary,  to  hear 
from  you.  Drop  me  a  line  by  the  post,  to  assure  me  of 
your  health,  of  which  I  cannot  bear  the  least  uncertainty. 
As  to  myself,  dejiend  uj»on  it,  I  will  not  deceive  you  ;  and 
in  case  of  necessity  shall  call  for  my  friend,  my  nurse  and 
comforter,  without  wIioh'  aid  I  <an  neither  bear  sorrow 
nor  sickness,  and  who,  I  know,  would  not  forgive  me, 
was  I  to  rob  her  of  her  share    of  either  to  which    1    must 


126  SAMUEL    BARD. 

necessarily  be  exposed."  For  this  call  her  anxious  affec- 
tion did  not  wait  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  existence  of  the  fever 
was  ascertained,  and  his  stay  determined  upon,  she  in- 
stantly joined  him  to  share  together  a  risk  which  then 
seemed  almost  desperate.  His  fearless  exposure  of  him- 
self, wherever  benevolence  called  him  during  that  season 
of  flight  and  alarm,  was  the  means  of  rescuing  many  poor, 
deserted  wretches  from  death,  and  still  oftener,  of  bestow- 
ing upon  them  some  comfort  and  consolation  when  relief 
was  hopeless.  But  the  aid  he  so  liberally  gave  others  he 
soon  needed  himself,  being  seized  with  the  prevailing 
fever,  in  wliicli  his  long  tried  companion  was  to  him  all 
that  his  warm  j)en  had  described  her,  ''  a  friend,  a  nurse, 
and  comforter."  His  life  was  spared  to  her  affection  and 
prayers  ;  and  with  her  he  returned  to  his  longing  family, 
who,  during  his  absence  and  especially  his  sickness,  had 
been  a  prey  to  the  agonizing  fears  which  their  own  appre- 
hensions, or  the  hasty  reports  of  others,  excited. 

From  this  period  during  the  remainder  of  his  life  Dr. 
Bard  made  the  country  his  permanent  residence  ;  diversi- 
fied, however,  by  occasional  visits  to  his  friends  in  town. 
Few  men  could  bear  the  change  from  necessary  to  volun- 
tary occupation  so  easily  as  Dr.  Bard.  The  untired 
curiosity  of  his  mind  found  a  new  and  boundless 
range  in  the  o])jects  and  employments  of  the  country. 
His  poetic  enjoyment  of  the  beauties  of  nature  ;  his  taste 
in  planning,  and  fondness  for  effecting  improvements,  and 
skill  in  directing  them  ;  his  desire  of  knowledge  of  what- 
ever kind,  and  eagerness  in  acquiring  it  ;  his  early  and 
active  habits  ;  and,  above  all,  the  enthusiasm  Avhich  stimu- 
lated and  supported  him  in  all  his  undertakings  ;  set  him 
above  the  i)ower  of  indolence,  that  "  master  vice,"  as 
Burke  terms  it,  of  our  nature,  and  secured  to  him  to  the 
very  last  week  of  his  life  all  his  energy,  activity  and 
cheerfulness.  It  would  not  seem  easy  to  crowd  into  life 
more  sources  of  enjoyment  than  filled  the  twenty-three 
years  of  retirement  wJiich  adorned  and  dignified  the  close 
of  his  career.  All  the  descendants  of  his  father  were  l)y 
degrees  drawn  around  him  ;  his  own  cliildren  successively 
settled  in  life,  and  gathered  into  the  circle  ;  his  grand 
children  grew  up  upon  his  knees,  and  as  he  looked  upon  the 
health  and  prosperity  and  promise  with  whicli  he  was  sur- 
rounded, he  looked,  and  felt  and  spoke,  like  a  patriarch  of 
a  better  age.     But  this  is  anticipating  the  picture  of  a  later 


SAMUEL    BARD.  127 

period.  At  the  time  of  his  retirement  his  son  was  just 
comj)letinfr  his  lef^al  studies  in  the  city,  and  his  youngest 
daughter  was  his  pujiil  and  conij);iirH)n  at  home. 

To  ilhistrate  the  eare  with  whic  h  he  watched  over  and 
guided  the  formation  of  his  son's  character,  it  mav  not  l)e 
amiss  to  give  extracts  from  letters  addressed  to  him  about 
this  time. 

*'  My  Dear  William, — I  am  very  happy  you  express 
yourself  pleased  with  your  new  studies  ;  and  at  the  ardor 
with  which  you  enter  uj)on  them.  You  j)Ossess  very 
peculiar  advantages  in  the  atfectionate  attentions,  as  well 
as  in  the  talents  of  Mr.  P.  of  which,  I  doubt  not,  you  will 
make  the  most,  and  return  them  by  every  mark  of  respect 
and  regard  to  his  interests.  Amidst  all  your  studies,  how- 
ever, remember  to  give  a  j)roper  j)ortion  of  your  time  to 
exercise  and  polite  comj)any  ;  the  one  is  necessary  to 
health,  the  other  to  cheerfulne.«:s.  The  manner  in  which 
you  say  your  day  is  spent,  is  certainly  good  for  j)rofit,  for 
pleasure  and  instruction,  and,  I  hoj)e,  not  injurious  to 
health  ;  to  prevent  its  being  so,  I  would  advise  you  to 
walk  fre(juently,  to  stand  upright  when  you  study,  as  long 
sitting  in  a  bent  posture  is  always  injurious  to  the  digest- 
ive organs  ;  and  now  and  tlien  to  ritle  an  Jiour  before  tlin- 
iier,  which  prevents  accumulations  of  l)ile.  Nothing  grows 
upon  a  man  so  much  as  the  habits  of  a  sedentary  life  ;  at 
the  same  time  nothing  is  so  })ernicious.  I  beg,  my  dear 
boy,  that  for  all  our  sakes  you  will  pay  due  attention  to 
this  important  advice.  I  have  been  practising  the  lessons 
received  from  F.  in  reading  Shakspeare  aloud  ;  at  every 
new  perusal  I  discover  new  beauties.  Study  him  ; — to 
one  destined  to  speak  in  public,  there  must  be  oreat  ad- 
vantaiic  in  a  familiar  accpiaintance  with  his  beautiful  and 
expressive  lancuaije."  *  *  *  *  "If  vou  had  made  an 
appointment  with  Dr.  W.  to  attend  his  lecture,  1  think 
all  the  charming  Miss  C.'s  in  the  world  should  not  have 
detained  you  from  it.  Remember  through  life,  that 
every  man,  and  more  particularly  a  literary  man,  thinks 
what  he  is  engaged  in  of  great  importance,  and  although 
it  may  happen  that  you  do  not  feel  uu)ch  interest  in  it, 
it  is  both  jirudiMit  and  polite  to  apjiear  to  be  so.  Be- 
sides, it  is  a  good  rule  never  to  break  an  appointment  : 
that  is  a  sufficient  excuse  to  leave  any  company."  *  *  *  * 
"  Employ  more  of  your  time  in  private  visits  ;    you   will 


128  SAMUEL    BARD. 

learn  more  of  cliaracter  in  one  family  visit,  than  at  a  dozen 
entertainments,  where  you  see  all  under  tlie  mask  of  false 
merriment."  ****''!  very  much  commend  your  reso- 
lution to  take  the  advice  of  your  uncle  in  all  matters  of  po- 
litics, or,  indeed,  any  other  point  of  conduct  in  which  you 
entertain  the  least  doubt  of  your  own  judgment,  which, 
however,  I  do  not  doubt,  will  be  in  general  no  bad  guide, 
provided  you  have  resolution  enough  to  follow  steadily 
the  dictates  of  your  own  unbiassed  opinion.  Be  open,  my 
dear  boy,  to  conviction  ;  but  never  suffer  yourself  to  be 
led  in  opposition  to  your  own  judgment,  unless  in  the  case 
of  friends  whose  age  and  experience  qualify,  and  whose 
relationship  authorizes  them  to  give  you  advice."  *  *  *  * 
"  Never  become  the  hanger  on  of  a  party,  nor  suffer  your- 
self to  be  carried  beyond  the  bounds  of  sober  judgment, 
when  measures  are  the  subject  of  dispute  ;  nor  of  candor 
and  moderation,  when  men  are  :  but  on  all  occasions  en- 
deavor to  think  for  yourself,  and  support  a  perfect  inde- 
pendence both  in  your  conduct  and  opinions."  *  *  *  * 
"  The  late  unhappy  occurrence  between  two  of  my  friends, 
has  filled  me  with  grief  and  apprehension.  In  the  fate  of 
Mr.  J.  I  lament  the  untimely  death  of  an  inoffensive  and 
worthy  man  ;  and  1  sincerely  sympathize  with  the  survi- 
vor, whose  feelings  on  this  occasion  are  probably  such  as 
to  make  him  envy  tlie  fate  of  his  antagonist.  How  tyran- 
nical is  that  custom  which  can  impose  such  cruel  necessi- 
ties on  us  ;  and  how  unbecoming  a  wise  and  brave  man  to 
yield  to  its  dictates  !  Whatever  may  be  our  feelings  on 
such  occasions,  the  sacrifice  of  our  cool  and  unprejiuliced 
judgment  can  never  ]>e  justified,  and,  at  best,  admits  but  of 
the  Aveak  excuse,  that  our  passions  were  too  strong  for  our 
reason  and  sense  of  duty.  I  know  the  answer  to  these  ar- 
guments, and  would  acknowledge  its  force,  were  it  put  in 
our  choice  or  within  tlie  limits  of  our  duty,  to  live,  or  not, 
as  we  might  choose.  But  when  we  reflect,  on  the  contra- 
ry, that  it  is  absolutely  our  duty  to  live,  under  any  circum- 
stances and  trials  to  which  it  shall  please  God  to  subject 
us,  and  that  there  can  be  no  valid  excuse  whatever,  but 
selfdefence,  for  depriving  another  of  liis  life  ;  tliis,  and 
every  other  argument  in  defence  of  duelling  must  fidl  to 
the  groiind." 

Dr.  Bard  thus  addressed  his  son  on  his  recovery  from 
sickness  : — "  Your  letter  of  last  Sunday  gave  us  all  great 
pleasure,  as  it  confirmed  the  good  liopes  witli  wliich  I  left 


i 


SAMUEL    BARD.  119 

you  of  the  complete  re-establish mcnt  of  your  health.  Yours 
may  almost  ho   called  a  resuscitation,  and  fdls  us  all  with 
joy  and  j;ratitude  in  proportion  to  our  prccciling  despond- 
ency.     I  confess  to  you,  my  dear  boy,  that  the  near  pros- 
I)ect  of  your  death  t\n*ned  my  thoughts  very  forcibly  to   a 
self   examination  how  far  I  had   fullilled   my  duty    in    re- 
spect of  your  education  ;  and  I  felt  some  apprehension  that 
in  tlie  conduct  of  it  I  liad  not  paid  that  constant  attention 
to  the  great  object  of  religion,  that  its  imj)ortance,  my  du- 
ty,  and   your   happiness   retpiired.       It  has  ever  been  my 
wisli  to  build  my  own  and  my  cliildren's   religions   opin- 
ions on  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of  God's  creation 
and  government  of  the  world.       This  leads  to  revelation, 
in  which,  as  there   is   notliing  impossible  or  unreasonable, 
so  was  it  very  necessary,  that  God  should   instruct  us   in 
the  knowledge  of  His  laws  ;  the  practice  of  which  alone 
can  secure  our  liappiness.      And   as  the  external  evidences 
of  God's  power,  and  wisdom,  aiul  goodness,  manifested  in 
the  works  of  creation,  afford  the  most  satisfactory  and  un- 
deniable  proofs   of  His  existence  and  natural  government 
of  the  world  ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  do  the   internal   evi- 
dences of  the   christian  revelation,  manifested  in   the   wis- 
dom, purity  and  sublimity  of  its  doctrines,  prove  most  satis- 
factorily its  divine  origin,  and  His  moral  government.     If 
you  will  but  attentively  read  the  life  of  our  Savior,  as  de- 
livered in  tlie  Gospels,  and  form  your  own  opinion  of  his 
character  and  mission  from  his  conduct,  and  what  he  says 
of  himself,  you  will,  I  hope,  find  no  difficulty  in  believing 
that  he  spake  not  solely  from  his  own  authority,  but  from 
that  of  Him  who  sent  him,  the  great  God  and  Fatlier  of  us 
all.   I  advise  you  to  enter  upon  this  inquiry,  and  to  devote, 
at  least,  a  part  of  every  Sunday  to  it  :  and  I  sincerely  pray 
that   God   may  enlighten   your  mind,  and  give  you   such 
conviction  as  will  establish  your  principles,  regulate  your 
conduct,  and  secure  your  happiness." 

We  next  find  Dr.  Bard  addressing  his  only  son  on  occa- 
sion of  his  marriage.  "•  I  rejoice,  my  dear  son,  in  your 
present  liappiness  ;  auvl  I  rejoice,  too,  to  find  you  are  not 
so  much  intoxicated  with  it,  as  to  suffer  yourself  to  dream 
of  its  uninterrupted  continuance  ;  because  that  conviction 
will  induce  you  early  and  always  to  apply  to  the  only  re- 
medy against  those  evils  which  you  justly  call  unavoida- 
ble, since  virtue  itself  is  not  secure  against  them, — I  mean 
religion.  This  is  our  strong  hold,  our  castle  and  rock  of 
17 


130  SAMUEL    BARD. 

defence,  our  refuge  in  times  of  adversity,  our  comforter 
under  misfortune,  our  cheerful  companion  and  friendly 
monitor  in  the  hours  of  gladness  and  prosperity.  '  Who- 
so walketh  uprightly,  walketli  surely'  ;  and  he  is  most 
likely  to  walk  uprightly,  who  considers  himself  constantly 
under  the  eye  and  government  of  God  and  His  Providence. 
This  has  ever  been  the  joy  and  consolation  of  the  good 
and  wise  ;  and  is  the  only  philosophy  which  can  satisfy  a 
reasonable  mind,  and  reconcile  us  to  what  we  daily  see, 
and  hear,  and  feel.  But  I  am  satisfied  it  is  not  necessary 
to  press  these  reflections  upon  you  ;  some  expressions  m 
your  letter  have  led  me  into  them,  and  I  own  I  delight  to 
dwell  on  them."  *  *  *  *  "I  observe  by  your  letter  that 
some  of  your  friends  were  to  dine  with  you  on  Sunday  ; 
I  will  take  occasion  from  this  circumstance,  to  caution  you 
against  its  becoming  a  habit  ;  for,  although  I  do  not  think 
it  necessary  to  hear  '  seven  sermons  on  that  day,'  yet  it 
should  certainly  be  a  day  of  rest  both  to  yourself  and  ser- 
vants ;  and  should  be  spent  in  devotion,  rational  retirement 
from  business  and  fashion,  tranquillity,  and,  by  the  lower 
ranks,  in  cheerful  relaxation  from  labor.  Avoid  it,  there- 
fore, for  the  sake  of  your  servants,  if  not  your  own.  You 
know  there  is  nothing  I  have  more  at  heart,  than  that  you 
should  deliberately  form  opinions  for  yourself  upon  every 
important  duty  or  concern  of  life  ;  and  that,  when  you 
have  settled  your  own  opinions,  you  should  steadily  ad- 
here to  them,  nor  suffer  yourself  to  be  swayed  by  the 
breath  of  fashion,  or  the  prejudice  or  custom  of  others  : 
think  for  yourself." 

With  what  mutual  pleasure  the  studies  with  his  young 
pupil  at  home  were  pursued,  it  may  be  permitted  to  use 
her  pen  to  describe.  "  My  father's  time  after  his  settle- 
ment in  the  country,  was  passed  with  much  regularity  : 
the  principal  part  of  my  instruction  he  took  upon  himself. 
Arithmetic,  geography,  &c.  occupied  the  early  part  of  the 
morning  ;  drawing  and  botany  succeeded  ;  and  our  studies 
generally  ended  with  a  walk  in  the  woods,  or  a  scramble 
among  the  rocks,  in  which  I  delighted  to  follow  him. 
His  pockets,  on  such  occasions,  were  generally  filled  with 
such  new  plants  as  we  could  collect  ;  affording  a  botanical 
lesson  for  tlie  day,  and  specimens  for  future  illustration. 
I  had  a  little  of  his  own  fondness  for  drawing  and  plants, 
and  look  back  with  delight  on  the  pleasure  and  employ- 


SAMUEL     BARD.  ISl 

inent  I  thus  jifibrtlecl  liiiii.  An  illustration  of  the  system 
ol"  LiniKiius,  iuitl  suf)se(|uently  of  Miss  Rowden's  hotuuy, 
WJis  the  manner  in  which  he  nuuU'  nw  unite  these  sluilies  ; 
orntunentini^  every  i>a<5e  or  two  witli  a  «rioin)  or  hasket  of 
flowers,  with  some  approjjriate  sentence,  either  from  scrip- 
ture, or  our  hest  poets.  Thus  uniting  in  my  mind,  as  he 
ever  enck'avored  to  th),  tlie  cuUivation  of  taste  wiih  reli- 
gious and  moral  truth  ;  a  favorite  sentiment  of  his,  wliich 
lie  often  expresscul  in  the  woids  of  Langliorne.'' 

Soon  after  Dr.  Bard  hecamc  a  resident  in  the  country, 
his  zeal  in  agricultural  jjursuits  led  him  to  unite  in  the 
formation  of  a  county  society  of  that  nature,  over  which 
he  was  called  to  preside  ;  a  trihute  due  not  only  to  hissci- 
entihc  knowleilge,  hut  to  the  ardor  with  which  lie  applied 
to  its  useful  purposes.  To  this  society,  on  its  succeetling 
anniversaries,  he  addressed  several  discourses,  which  evince 
a  union  of  much  practical  skill  in  farming  w^ith  enlighten- 
ed tlieorv  :  and  anticipated  in  some  degree  the  course  of 
Sir  Ilumplirey  Davy,  in  ajjplying  the  powers  of  chemistry 
to  eluciilate  the  princii>les,  and  im])rovc  tjje  practice,  of 
hnshanilrv.  At  a  later  period,  when  his  fiiends  Chancel- 
lor Livingston  and  Col.  Humphreys  introducetl  into  the 
country  the  merino  hreed  of  sheep.  Dr.  Bard  entered  with 
more  zeal,  perhaps,  than  j)rudence  into  thai  s])ecuhition. 
One  danger  attending  their  introduction  Dr.  Bard  eaily 
perceived  and  lahorecl  to  ohviate.  Finding  them  liahleto 
jnany  new  and  fatal  diseases,  the  natiue  and  cure  of  these 
hecame  a  matter  of  the  first  imj)oriance,  hoth  to  save  the 
individuals,  and  to  prevent  infection.  With  this  view  he 
l)id)lished  a  work  entitled  "  The  Shei)hcr(rs  Guide," 
which,  thoimh  small,  was  the  result  of  nmcli  investigation, 
and  re|)eateil  and  carefid  experiment. 

With  all  the  scrui)ulousness  of  a  moralist.  Dr.  Bard  con- 
sidered ids  medical  skill  as  a  talent  committed  hy  Provi- 
deiue  to  his  charije,  and  one  which  he  was  hound  to  use 
diliiTcntly  and  conscientiously.  These  feelings  prevented 
coinjdete  retirement  irom  professional  <hities,  and  made 
him  alive  to  every  call  of  sickness  in  his  n(iLdd)orhood  ; 
especially  where  poverty  |)recluded  remuneration,  or 
wliere  the  case  demamled  experience  heyoud  that  of  the 
resident  physician.  On  these  occasions  he  would  hreak  off" 
from  any  occupation,  however  ensaginij,  and  run  almost 
any  personal  risk,  rather  than  fail  in  his  daily  visit  ;  audit 
was  a  moral  lesson,  which  sometimes  put  to  ehame  young- 


13t  SAMUEL     BARD. 

cr  men,  to  witness  such  sensibility  to  duty  and  such  vigor 
in  its  performance,  in  one  whose  age  and  services  might 
so  well  have  pleaded  an  apology  for  indulgence.  At  such 
calls  he  would  often  shake  ofl'  indisjiosition  that  was  con- 
fining him  to  his  chamber,  and  throwing  his  cloak  around 
him,  mount  his  horse  or  chair,  be  for  an  hour  the  active 
and  vigorous  physician,  and  then  return  to  the  quiet  and 
repose  which  his  health  required.  His  "  patients'  health," 
he  was  wont  to  say,  he  "  considered  as  committed  to  his 
keeping, — his  own  as  in  the  hands  of  Providence." 

In  compliance  with  his  age  and  character,  he  was  imme- 
diately on  his  settlement  in  the  county  of  Dutchess,  elect- 
ed president  of  its  medical  society,  in  which  station  he  la- 
bored to  advance  the  interests  and  reputation  of  the  pro- 
fession by  increased  strictness  in  examinations  for  license, 
and  by  various  schemes  for  its  improvement. 

It  is,  perhaps,  to  be  regretted  that  Dr.  Bard  did  not  turn 
his  attention  more  to  public  authorship.  The  clearness  of 
his  mental  perceptions,  the  inductive  character  of  his  rea- 
soning, and  the  manly  vigor  of  his  style,  would  have  add- 
ed much  to  his  own  celebrity,  and  somewhat,  no  doubt, 
to  the  advancement  of  science  ;  while  the  warm  tone  of 
moral  and  religious  earnestness  which  pervades  all  his 
writings,  w^ould  have  given  them  additional  value,  and 
served  to  wipe  out  from  the  character  of  his  profession 
that  base  stain  of  irreligion,  which  has  too  long,  and  too 
unjustly,  rested  upon  it.  Upon  this  subject  he  thus  ex- 
presses himself  in  one  of  his  academical  charges  : — "  Galen 
is  said  to  have  been  converted  from  atheism  by  the  con- 
templation of  a  human  skeleton  ;  how  then  is  it  possible 
that  a  modern  physician  can  be  an  infidel  ! — one  who  is 
acquainted  with  the  mechanism  of  the  eye  and  the  ear, 
witli  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  processes  of  nourish- 
ment, waste  and  repair,  and  all  the  countless  wonders  of 
the  animal  economy  !  He  must  be  blind  indeed,  if  he  do 
not  see  in  these  the  unquestionable  marks  of  infinite  wis- 
dom, power  and  goodness." 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned.  Dr.  Bard's  publi- 
cations consist  of  a  treatise  written  in  the  year  1771  upon 
"  Angina  Suffocativa,"  a  disease  which  then  appeared  in 
the  city  under  a  new  form,  or  with  new  virulence  ;  anoth- 
er upon  the  use  of  cold  in  hemorrhage  ;  many  occasional 
addresses  to  public  bodies  ;  anniversary  discourses  to  medi- 
tal  students  ;  and,  the  largest  of  his  works,  a  treatise  upon 


SAMUEL    BARD.  133 

obstetrics,  wliicli  was  |)rf|)are(l  hv  lum  after  liis  retiic- 
inent.  This  is  a  work  oi"  superior  value,  if  not  merit,  from 
the  salutary  caution  it  tea<hcs  in  the  use  of  those  instru- 
ments, which  in  rash  and  unskilful  hands  have  rendeied 
this  jxirt  of  the  art  rather  a  curst'  than  a  hlessinjj. 

Dr.  Hard's  literary  habits  were  a  moth  I  for  lit<'rarv  men. 
His  early  hours,  and  active  employment  of  them  ;  bis  jireat 
temperance,  antl  habitual  exercise,  are  habits  which  would 
go  far,  if  adopted,  in  j)reservinf>  the  race  of  authors  from 
those  mental  diseases  which  have  become  their  })roverbial 
iidicritance  ;  ami  which  arise  iuu(  h  more  from  indolence 
of  body  or  imprudent  exertion  of  mind,  tiian  from  that 
superior  delicacy  of  temperament,  to  which  they  are  will- 
in<r  to  impute  them.  Tliese  habits  saveil  him  from  the 
most  melancholy  accompaniments  of  age,  and  j)revented 
that  gloom  which  too  often  darkens  the  clos<'  of  life  ;  and 
in  his  domestic  letters  there  are  j)leasing  evidences  of  a 
cheerfid,  virtuous  and  happy  old  age.  Our  extracts  from 
them  must  of  necessity  be  limited.  Feliruary,  lfSU2  ; 
"  Our  studies,  business  and  amusements,  fill  every  moment 
of  our  time,  cxcej)t  what  is  devoted  to  food  and  sleep  ; 
and  in  these  we  waste  none.  Whatever  be  the  cold  with- 
out, we  l)anish  it  from  within  ;  and  our  bla/ing  hearth, 
around  Avhich  each  of  us  finds  a  cond"ortal)le  seat,  adds 
cheerfulness  to  comfort.  Tims  ])asses  the  even  tenor  of 
our  days  ;  whilst  you,  j)erhaps,  under  the  name  of  pleas- 
ure, are  shivering  at  a  feast,  or  rubbing  your  fingers  and 
kicking  your  heels  in  the  side  box  of  the  theatre.  Healthy 
and  at  ease,  we  feel  no  want  of  amusement  or  variety. 
Work,  conversation  and  i)ooks,  fill  up  our  duv. — Oowper 
occupies  our  evening  most  pleasantly  ;  and  in  his  letters  to 
his  friends  continually  reminds  us  of  our  own  feelings  ;  ex- 
cept that,  thaidv  (iod,  we  know  imne  of  his  depression  ;  a 
truth  which,  although  I  believe  you  need  not  be  informed 
of,  yet  it  will  bear  re])etition,  and  I  feel  a  jileasure  in  re- 
peating it.  He  exj)resscs,  however,  all  our  love  for  our 
friends,  and  all  our  impatience  to  meet  again  ;  oidy  nuich 
better  than  we  can  say  it."  Decend)er  22,  1.S05  ;  "We 
are  now  settled  in  our  plans  of  study  for  the  winter  ;  I  am 
much  pleased  with  those  I  have  adopted  for  the  im])rove- 
ment  of  your  sister.  Hetweenthis  delightful  emj.lovinent, 
the  busiru'ss  of  my  farm,  and  tin  societv  of  my  family,  my 
time  is  very  j)leasantly  and  fully  filled  up  ;  nor  do  F  see  in 
any  of  us  the  least  symptom  of  ennui.     I  am  deep  in  Asiat- 


134  SAMUEL  BARD. 

ic  researches,  and  much  interested  in  the  study  of  tliat  an- 
cient and  extraordinary  people.  As  to  myself,  I  never  was 
better,  and  do  my  best  to  preserve  the  blessing.  I  spend 
two  or  three  hours  every  day  in  the  open  air, — the  rest  of 
my  time  is  divided  between  reading  and  writing  ;  so  that 
I  hope  I  shall  not  rust  for  want  of  use."  *  *  #  *  "My 
horse  is  saddled  regularly  after  breakfast,  when  I  spend 
two  hours  abroad,  this  winter  very  often  in  the  deepest 
recesses  of  my  forest,  where  the  foot  of  man  has,  at 
least,  seldom  trod  :  and  here  I  find  my  contemplations 
particularly  agreeable  and  soothing."  November,  1807  ; 
Wednesday. — "  I  got  a  tumble  to-day  ;  but  as  both 
aunt  and  wife  say  I  deserved  it,  I  will  say  no  more 
about  it,  only  that  to  the  confusion  in  my  head  I 
attribute  having  this  evening  lost  one  point  at  back- 
gammon and  three  at  whist.  Thursday. — 1  have  not 
stirred  out  of  the  house,  owing  to  a  slight  indisposition 
which  succeeded  my  fall,  but  which,  I  thank  God,  has 
now  entirely  disappeared.  Friday. — Yesterday  I  examir- 
ed  my  desk,  and  set  my  papers  in  order  ;  read  some,  and 
played  ja  little  :  in  the  evening  we  pursued  our  studies  as 
usual  ;  which,  although  serious,  we  find  very  delightful. 
We  so  far  varied  them  as  to  read  tlie  life  of  our  author 
William  Jones,  instead  of  his  works  :  thoug-h  deliohtful 
throughout,  his  dying  moments  gave  us  the  greatest  com- 
fort. A  little  while  before  his  dissolution,  as  his  curate 
was  standing  by  his  l:»edsidei  he  desired  him  to  read  the 
seventy-first  psalm,  which  he  had  no  sooner  done,  than, 
taking  him  by  the  hand,  he  said,  '  if  this  be  dying,  I  had 
no  idea  wliat  dying  was  before  ;'  adding  in  a  stronger  voice, 
'  thank  God,  thank  God,  it  is  no  M^orse  !'  He  had  long 
very  much  dreaded  the  pains  of  death  : — you  may  be  sure 
we  read  the  psalm." 

In  the  year  1813  Dr.  Bard  was  appointed  president  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  which  honora- 
ble station  he  continued  during  life  ;  and  rendered  his  ofii- 
cial  duties  valuable  to  the  institution  by  the  warm  interest 
he  took  in  its  success,  the  judicious  plans  he  framed  for  its 
improvement,  and  the  impressive  discourses  with  which 
he  accompanied  the  delivery  of  its  degrees.  In  these  he 
drew,  with  his  accustomed  energy,  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
accomplished  physician  ;  in  his  education,  in  his  subse- 
quent improvement,  in  his  professional  conduct,  and  in  his 
private  deportment.      Over  all  these  sketches  he  threw  a 


SAMUEL  BARD.  135 

moral  and  religious  coloring,  which  gave  them  richness 
and  force  ;  showing  the  happy  influence  which  pure  morals 
and  firm  religious  principles  must  ever  exercise  over  pro- 
fessional success  ;  and  concluding  one  of  his  last,  as  already 
noticed,  with  the  character  of  Boerliaave,  as  approaching 
to  this  rare  union  of  the  physician,  the  scholar,  the  gentle- 
man and  the  christian.* 

In  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  the  garden  Dr.  B.  became  a 
learned  and  skilful  horticulturist  ;  conversed,  read  and 
wrote  upon  the  subject  ;  laid  exactions  on  all  his  friends 
who  could  aid  him  in  obtaining  what  was  rare,  beautiful  or 
excellent  in  its  kind  ;  drew  from  England  its  smaller  fruits, 
the  larger  ones  from  France,  melons  from  Italy,  and  vines 
from  Madeira,  managing  them  all  with  a  varied  yet  ex- 
perimental skill,  which  bafiled  the  comprehension  of  minds 
of  slower  perception.  These  plans,  though  novel,  were, 
in  general,  judicious  ;  being  the  result  of  much  reading  and 

*  At  the  opening  of  the  school  in  November  he  delivered  one  of  the  most  digni- 
fied and  impressive  discourses  on  the  importance  of  medical  education  which  can  be 
found  on  record.  It  affords  honorable  attestations  of  talent  and  powers  of  eloquence, 
and  is  fraught  with  the  purest  sentiments  of  moral  and  professional  rectitude.  "  In 
the  study  of  diseases,"  he  says,  "and  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  no  histories 
however  accurate,  no  reasoning  however  just,  can  convey  the  knowledge  necessary 
for  their  treatment  and  cure.  The  student  must  see,  and  hear,  and  feel  for  him- 
self; the  hue  of  the  complexion,  the  feel  of  the  skin,  the  lustre  or  the  languor  of  the 
eye,  the  throbbing  of  the  pulse,  and  the  palpitations  of  the  heart  ;  the  quickness  and 
the  ease  of  respiration,  the  tone  and  tremor  of  the  voice,  the  confidence  of  hope  or 
the  despondence  of  fear  expressed  in  the  countenance,  baffle  all  description  :  yet  all 
and  each  of  these  convey  important  and  necessary  information.  Where  can  these 
be  learnt  but  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  and  where  shall  a  number  of  young  men, 
who  cannot  be  admitted  into  the  privacies  of  families,  or  to  the  chambers  of  wo- 
men, acquire  this  necessary  and  important  information,  but  in  public  hospitals, 
which  are  not  only  intended  to  relieve  the  complicated  misery  of  poverty  and  sick-~ 
ness,  but  as  schools,  should  always  be  made  conducive  to  the  public  good,  and  as 
.such,  even  more  than  as  charitable  institutions,  merit  and  receive  the  patronage  of 
government."  "  Indolence  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  learning;  but  indolence  is  fa 
vice  bred  and  nourished  in  solitude,  and  can  hardly  exist  at  a  public  school,  except 
in  minds  of  so  heavy  a  mould  as  to  be  incapable  of  culture.  On  the  other  hand, 
to  labor  without  plan  or  design,  may  indeed  accumulate  a  confused  mass  of  mate- 
rials ;  but  use,  beauty,  order  and  proportion,  are  the  result  of  skill,  and  to  erect 
such  materials  as  we  have  collected,  into  a  convenient  and  elegant  edifice,  requires 
the  hand  of  a  master."  "  Nor  are  the  happy  copsequences  of  a  good  education  in 
medicine  confined  to  the  chambers  of  the  sick.  A  physician  must  necessarily,  in 
some  measure,  become  the  companion,  and  frequently  the  intimate  friend  of  his  pa- 
tient. His  knowledge,  therefore,  and  his  example  become  extensively  useful  or 
prejudicial.  Is  he  wise,  and  good,  and  learned  '?  his  learning  will  instruct,  his  hu- 
manity will  bless,  and  his  good  example  will  amend  many  among  those  with  whom 
he  daily  converses.  Is  he  ignorant,  and  loose,  and  debauched '?  what  mischief  may 
he  not  do  to  the  younger  members  of  those  families  who  put  their  confidence  in  him, 
and  who  generally  look  up  to  him  as  a  character  of  superior  talents,  learning  and 
worth.  And  again,  the  medical  character  is  not  only  very  influential,  it  is  the  most 
numerous  among  the  learned  professions  ;  the  example,  therefore,  of  a  physician's 
knowledge  and  virtues,  or  the  contamination  of  his  ignorance  and  his  vices,  will  as- 
sume a  wider  and  more  extended  ran^e  " — Amer.  Med.  and  Philo.  Res^isfer. 


136  SAMUEL  BARD. 

long  experience,  and,  above  all,  of  an  imagination  trained 
to  what  Bacon  terms  "  tentative  experiments." 

In  the  year  1811,  circumstances  favoring  its  establish- 
ment, the  Church  of  St.  James,  at  Hyde  Park,  was  erect- 
ed, of  which  Dr.  B.  was  in  effect  the  foinider.  Attached, 
not  only  by  habit,  but  by  rational  conviction,  to  the  Epis- 
copal branch  of  the  Protestant  Church,  he  had  long  been 
anxious  for  its  establishment  in  his  neighborhood.  So 
highly  did  he  value  the  public  exercises  of  devotion,  as 
means  botli  of  instruction  and  conviction,  that  after  the 
erection  of  the  church,  in  order  to  supply  the  occasional 
absence  of  its  rector,  he  submitted  to  the  necessity,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years,  of  receiving  from  episcopal  authority 
the  license  required  to  entitle  him  to  act  as  lay  reader  in 
the  church.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  form  of 
daily  devotion  made  use  of  by  himself  and  wife  : — 

"  O  God  !  enlighten  our  understanding  that  we  may 
comprehend  thy  will,  strengthen  our  resolution  to  obey 
thy  commands,  endow  us  with  resignation  under  thy  dis- 
pensations, and  fill  our  hearts  with  love  and  gratitude  for 
all  thy  benefits.  Give  unto  us,  0  Lord,  whose  lives  thou 
hast  continued  to  so  late  a  day,  sincere  and  true  repent- 
ance, and  grant  that,  as  age  advances  upon  iis,  our  minds 
may  be  more  and  more  enlightened  by  the  knowledge  of 
thy  will,  more  resigned  to  thy  dispensations,  and  more  in- 
vigorated with  the  resolution  to  obey  thy  commands. 
Calm  all  our  thoughts  and  fears  ;  give  peace  and  quiet  to 
our  latter  days  ;  and  so  support  us  by  thy  grace  through 
the  weakness  and  infirmities  of  age,  that  we  may  die  in 
humble  hope  and  confidence  of  thy  merciful  pardon  and 
acceptance  tlirough  the  merits  of  our  Redeemer." 

In  one  devotional  habit  he  resembled  Boerhaave  ;  and, 
perhaps,  Avas  guided  by  his  example.  He  regularly  devot- 
ed a  part  of  his  early  morning  to  religious  reading  and  re- 
flection ;  by  which,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  he  endea- 
vored to  "  set  his  mind  to  a  right  edge  for  the  business  of 
the  day." 

In  the  church  which  he  erected,  Dr.  B.  continued  to 
find,  unto  the  very  close  of  life,  a  more  than  ordinary 
comfort  and  satisfaction.  "  No  equal  expenditure  of  mo- 
ney," he  was  used  to  say,  "  had  ever  returned  to  liim  so 
large  an  interest  ;"  and  by  those  who  ever  saw  him  engag- 
ed in  its  services,  its  truth  will  not  be  doubted.  His  vene- 
rable looks,  his  devout  but  animated  manners,  his  loud 


lAMUEL    BARD.  157 

response,  and  eye  glistening  with  gratitude  and  thankful- 
ness, surrounded  I)y  cliildren  and  grundchihlren,  form  a 
picture  on  which  memory  loves  to  dwell.  From  these 
meetings,  sanctified  alike  hy  devotion  and  family  afl'ection, 
he  was  rarely  ahsent.  Sickness  could  liardiy  detain  him  ; 
and  absence  from  homo  he  always  lelt  as  a  misfortune. 

In  passing  through  Princeton  at  the  period  of  its  public 
commencement.  Dr.  B.  received  a  mark  of  the  high  re- 
spect in  which  his  character  was  held  by  being  waited  up- 
on by  a  deputation  from  the  trustees  of  that  institution, 
and  by  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  conferred  upou  iiim. 

In  Dr.  B.  we  recognise  a  remarkable  instance  illustra- 
tive of  the  position,  tiiat  the  powers  of  usefulness  are  not 
necessarily  lost  with  age  ;  tiiat  feebleness  of  mind  is  rather 
the  rust  of  indolence  than  the  decay  of  nature  ;  and  that 
old  age  may  continue  to  the  very  latest  period,  honored 
and  beloved,  teaching  the  young  by  its  experience,  in- 
structing them  with  its  learning,  and  turning  into  love  and 
veneration  tliose  natural  feelings  of  res])ect  with  which  it 
is  regarded.  He  was  alike  the  counsellor  and  the  com- 
panion, the  instructer  and  the  friend  of  all  the  young  per- 
sons who  were  so  fortimate  as  to  have  a  claim  upon  liis  at- 
tentions. His  plans  for  their  imj)rovement  were  novel 
and  varied,  his  pursuit  of  them  eatfer,  his  commendation 
warm  and  animated,  and  his  reproof,  though  tender,  "  ve- 
hement in  love."  The  correspondence  which,  under  these 
circumstances,  he  maintained  with  his  grandson  while  un- 
der the  tuition  of  his  medical  instructer,  abounds  in  les- 
sons of  practical  wisdom,  and  contains  tlie  result  of  his 
medical  experience  upon  most  of  the  subjects  which  dur- 
ing its  continuance  attracted  public  or  professional  at- 
tention. 

The  following  letter  of  religious  reflections  was  found 
m  his  desk  after  his  decease. 

Jipnl2d,  1813. 

"  Yesterday  I  entered  into  my  ?eventy-first  year;  and 
when  1  review  my  past  life,  I  find  through  the  whole 
course  of  it,  reason  only  for  gratitude  for  an  almost  unin- 
terrupted succession  of  blessings.  For  the  liberality,  al- 
most beyond  his  means,  with  which  my  kind  and  generoui 
father  conducted  my  education  ;  for  his  watchful  care 
through  tlie  dangerous  period  of  my  youth  ;  for  the  excel- 
lent example  of  his  just,  honorable,  useful  and  benevolent 
life  :  for  his  early  introduction  into  the  business  of  my 
18 


133  SilMUEL   BARD. 

profession  ;  and  for  the  invariable  and  affectionate  friend- 
ship '.vith  which  he  treated  me  unto  the  day  of  his  death. 

"  For  the  many  Ivind  friends  who  took  me  by  the  hand 
at  my  setting  out  in  life,  and  for  that  success  in  my  profes- 
sion, by  which  I  have  all  along  been  comfortably  support- 
ed, and  enabled  to  lay  by  sufficient  for  an  easy  and  inde- 
pendent old  age. 

"  For  the  many  virtues,  and  most  useful  talents  of  my 
dear  and  excellent  wife  ;  for  the  good  order,  neatness  and 
liberal  economy,  with  which  she  has  always  conducted  my 
family  ;  for  the  steady,  judicious  and  affectionate  care,  with 
which  she  has  assisted  me  in  the  education  of  our  children, 
and  to  which,  I  firndy  believe,  we  are  in  a  great  measure 
indebted  for  the  happiness  we  now  enjoy  in  their  society  ; 
for  her  courage  and  support  under  domestic  afflictions, 
professional  vexations,  pecuniary  losses,  and  other  difficult- 
ies I  have  met  with  ;  for  the  constant  love  and  fidelity 
with  which  she  has  blest  me  in  health  ;  and  for  the  patience 
with  which  she  has  endured  my  fretfulness,  and  the  ten- 
derness with  which  she  has  almost  annihilated  the  pains  of 
sickness. 

"  For  the  virtues  and  affectionate  gratitude,  the  health 
and  prosperity  of  the  children  with  which  God  has  blessed 
my  old  age  ;  for  the  kind  attention  of  the  excellent  wife 
He  has  given  my  son,  by  whom  we  are  enabled  to  enjoy 
our  present  easy  and  tranquil  life  ;  for  the  virtuous  charac- 
ter, and  kind  and  affectionate  temper  of  the  husbands  He 
has  given  to  our  daughters,  by  which  we  enjoy  the  un- 
speakable happiness  of  seeing  them  happy,  and  being  as- 
sured that  whenever  it  shall  please  God  to  take  us  from 
them,  we  shall  leave  them  under  affectionate  and  tender 
protectors. 

"  For  the  pleasing  prattle  and  promising  virtues  of  all 
our  grandchildren  ;  for  the  society  and  affectionate  friend- 
ship of  my  sisters  and  brother-in-law,  and  for  the  hopes 
and  promise  of  their  children  ;  and  lastly,  for  having,  by 
His  most  gracious  and  singular  providence,  now  in  the 
evening  of  my  days,  brightened  my  setting  sun  by  collect- 
ing all  these  blessings  around  me. 

"  Give  me  grace,  0  Heavenly  Father,  constantly  to  ac- 
knowdedge  in  all  these  blessings  thy  most  merciful  good- 
ness ;  to  feel  my  own  demerits  ;  to  repent  sincerely  of  the 
ingratitude  of  my  past  life  ;  and  to  dedicate  the  future  to 
thy  service,  in  promoting  to  the  utmost  of  my  power  the 


SAMUEL    BARD.  139 

temporal  and  eternal  happiness  of  my  family,  friends, 
neiiihl)ors,  and  all  others  within  the  icac'h  of  iny  ability 
and  inflnencc.  Continue  thy  most  irracious  j)rotc(tion  and 
blessing  to  me  and  my  dear  wife,  (hiring  tlie  residue  of  otir 
lives  ;  sustain  us  in  death,  and  linally  i)aiclon  aiul  accej)t 
us,  for  the  sake  and  merits  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Lord  and  Savior."* 

The  last  winter  of  Dr.  Bard's  life  was  passed  by  him  in 
more  tlian  usual  enjovuieut.  Preceded  by  a  long  aiul  sat- 
isfactory visit  to  liis  slaughter  in  town,  it  rolled  rapidly 
by  in  his  usual  interchange  of  study  and  amusemeni. 
Engaged  in  j)rcparing  an  enlarsred  edition  of  his  chief  med- 
ical work,  he  found  no  time  to  han<j  lieavy  on  his  liands  ; 
and  it  w^as  difTicult  to  say  from  wliich  of  his  varied  em- 
j)loyments,  whether  of  lal)or,  or  anuisement,  lie  derived 
the  greatest  pleasure.  In  a  letter  to  his  son  dated  Christ- 
mas, 1820,  he  says  "  I  walk,  ride,  and  annise  myself  out 
of  doors  with  my  green-house,  and  in  doors  with  my  lit- 
tle transparent  orrery  ;  to  Avhich  I  am  (ontemplating  some 
additions  and  familiar  illustrations.  My  gretii-house  and 
flower  stands  afford  me  considerable  amusement.  The 
j)lants  flourish  exceedingly  ;  I  spent  two  hours  among 
them  yesterday,  and  shall  do  so  occasionally  through  the 
winter.  Every  plant,  from  the  royal  orange  and  myrtle 
to  the  humble  crocus,  in  fragrance,  grace  and  beauty,  per- 
form their  jiart  to  admiration  ;  and  althouffh  tliev  excite 
no  passion  of  fear  or  mirth,  of  love  or  alarm,  yet  they  do 
better, — they  calm  all  my  j)assions,  sooth  disapj)oiiitment, 
and  even  mitigate  the  feelings  of  sorrow."  Again,  ''  I 
have  already  mentioned  my  good  health  ;  and,  thank 
God,  have  j)assed  the  winter  free  from  pain  ;  and  now  be- 

*  In  the  family  of  Dr.  Bard  was  the  venerable  Mrs.  Barton,  a  laJy  whose  warm 
attachment  to  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bard  through  a  lonp  life,  demands  some  passinp  re- 
cord,— a  tribute  now  doubly  due,  since  the  shock  of  their  united  dearh  seemed  to 
breal(  the  last  feeble  thread  which  detained  her  in  this  state  of  mortality  ;  and  with- 
in a  few  days  she  followed  them  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years,  neither  over- 
come by  <lisease,  nor  broken  down  by  infirmity.  Mrs.  Barton  was  aunt  both  to 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bard,  and  widow  to  tho  friend  and  brother-in-law  of  our  eminent 
countryman,  David  Rittcnhouse.  So  highly  was  she  esteemed  and  so  warmly  be- 
loved, that  Mrs.  Bard  made  her  aunt's  residence  with  her  a  previous  requisite  to 
consenting,'  to  remove  to  the  country.  From  the  period  of  that  event  she  continued 
to  reside  with  them  ;  not  only  aiding  by  her  counsel  and  skill,  but  enlivening  by  her 
good  sense  and  cheerfulness,  the  varied  employments  ol  a  country  life.  Indi^rien- 
dcnt  in  her  occupations,  actively  and  benevolciillv  employed,  piriicipalinj  iii  jil 
family  festivities,  and  with  a  tremulous,  thoupli  sweet,  voice,  (which  in  youth  had 
gained  her  the  title  of  the  "  American  nightingale,")  leading  at  the  supper  table  a 
united  chorus,  in  which  the  voices  of  four  nucccMive  generatiunt  cmulously  con'« 
tended. 


140  SAMUEL    BARD. 

^in  to  enjoy  the  spring  by  riding  on  horseback  and  amus- 
ing myself  in  my  garden  ;  but  I  do  both  with  caution. 
When  it  is  fair  over  head,  but  damp  under  foot,  I  ride  iny 
pony  into  the  garden  to  give  my  directions,  and  to  see  my 
plants  bursting  into  life,  in  which  I  take  very  great  de- 
light. 

"  I  have  several  beautiful  and  rare  plants  coming  for- 
ward ;  and  1  watch  their  progress  with  an  interest  which, 
by  many  people,  would  be  thought  trifling  in  a  man  of 
four  score  :  but  I  appease  my  conscience  by  the  innocency 
of  the  pursuit,  and  my  inability  for  such  as  are  more 
active." 

About  this  period  the  tranquillity  of  this  good  man  was 
tried  with  affliction  by  the  death  of  a  young,  but  favorite 
grandson,  on  which  occasion  he  observed,  "It  is  a  hard 
lesson,  and  one,  I  cannot  believe,  required  of  us,  to  receive 
pain  and  sorrow  at  our  Father's  hand  with  the  same  feel- 
ings we  do  joy  and  blessing, — submit  without  murmur- 
ing we  can,  and  even  acknowledge  the  goodness  and  mercy 
of  the  hand  which  chastises  us  :  yet  we  cannot  but  feel 
the  stripes  ;  and,  indeed,  if  we  did  not,  they  would  be  no 
chastisement.  Still  I  yield  him  up  with  the  composure  of 
christian  resignation  to  the  will  of  our  merciful  Father, 
who  not  only  knows,  but  determines  what  is  best  for  those 
who  put  their  trust  in  him."  In  another  letter  he  uses  the 
following  language — "  Misfortune  properly  improved, 
becomes  the  source  of  our  greatest  blessings.  If  it  serve  to 
moderate  our  desires,  at  the  same  time  that  it  rouses  us  to 
greater  exertion  ;  if  it  control  our  unridy  passions,  and 
strengthen  our  virtuous  inclinations  ;  above  all,  if  it  excite 
in  our  hearts  true  religion,  and  confirm  our  humble  de- 
pendence upon  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God  ;  then  we 
may  say,  with  truth,  '  it  is  good  for  us  that  Ave  have  been 
afflicted,'  Whenever  I  pursue  this  train  of  thought,  I  gain 
strength,  and  become  ashamed  and  repentant  that  I  suffer 
the  comparatively  slight  reverses  which  Ave  have  met 
with,  for  a  moment  to  damp  me.  I  buckle  on  my  armor, 
and  prepare  for  the  conflict  Avith  rencAved  vigor  and  fresh 
hopes.  Something  like  despondence,  I  confess,  will  now 
and  then  assail  me  ;  and,  in  spite  of  my  better  convictions, 
the  prospect  of  difliculties,  now  Avhen  my  strength  begins 
to  fail  me,  brings  a  load  upon  my  spirits  Avhich  I  find  it 
difllicult  to  shake  off"  ;  until  again  an  appeal  to  that  Good 
Being,  who  has  so  long  conducted  me  forward  in  a  pros-- 


SAMUEL    BARD.  Ml 

pcrous  and  happy  career,  calms  iny  troubled  mind,  and 
again  I  feel  able  to  submit  to  whatever  His  wisdom  mav 
direct." 

Having  attended  this  venerable  j)liysi(  ian  and  christian 
through  his  long  career  of  honorable  life,  we  come  to 
notice  its  conclusion  in  the  ripeness  of  its  age  and  in  the 
fulness  of  its  powers. 

In  the  montli  of  May,  1821,  while  prej)ariiig  for  their 
annual  spring  visit  to  the  city,  Mrs.  liard  was  attacked 
witii  a  pleuritic  alfection  ;  whicli  after  a  few  days  gave 
evidence  of  a  fatal  termination.  Dr.  Bard,  though  labor- 
ing under  a  similar  attack,  would  not  be  sei)arated  from 
her  ;  but  continued  to  be,  as  formerly,  her  con)j)anion, 
nurse  and  physician.  »Such  a  long  and  afit'ctionate  union 
as  their's  had  been,  had  early  excited  the  wish,  the  j)rayer, 
and  the  expectation,  that  in  death  they  were  not  to  be 
divided.  What  was  thus  both  wished  for  and  expected, 
had  become,  it  seems,  the  subject  of  their  sleeping 
thoughts  ;  and  a  remarkable  dream  of  Mrs.  Bard's  to  this 
effect,  was  now  remembered  and  repeated  by  her  husband 
with  feelings,  not  of  superstitious,  but  pleasing  antici- 
pation. 

The  last  effort  of  his  pen  was  to  give  comfort  to  those 
who  were  absent.  On  Sunday,  20th  instant,  three  days 
before  his  own  death,  he  wrot(^  with  a  treml)linq;  hand  a 
consolatory  letter  to  iiis  fii<Mids  in  New-Y  ork,  who  were 
anxiously  waitiuij  Iiis  arrival.  This  letter,  wliich  convey- 
ed to  his  daughter  the  first  intimation  ol"  danger,  brought 
her  to  lier  paternal  home  a  few  hours  too  late  to  receive  a 
mother's  l)lessing  ;  but  in  time  to  spend  a  few  short  ones 
of  affectionate  intercourse  with  lier  dyinjr  father.  It  was 
passeti  in  calmness  by  both  :  indeed,  there  was  no  room 
for  sorrow  in  such  a  trancpiil,  jx-aceful  (lej)arture.  His 
calm,  but  affectionate  inquiiies  about  absent  friends,  his 
rational  directions  as  to  future  arrangements,  and  his  free- 
dom from  all  perturbation  of  s])irit,  Avere  so  foreifin  from 
the  common  conception  of  dejiartiutr  humanity,  that  the 
feelings  could  iu)t  realize  it, — tlierc  were  in  it  ni)  imiges 
of  grief  from  whicli   imagination  nii<>ht  draw  her  ])attern. 

Under  these  circiunstances,  not  of  stoical,  l)ut  (  hristian 
composure,  he  sutdc  to  rest  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
the  2  1th  May,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  death  of  his  wife  ! — a  common  grave  re- 
ceived their   remains.     Their   affectionate  relative,  Mr?. 


142  SAMUEL    BARD. 

Barton,  sunk  under  the  bereavement,  and  within  a  few 
days  joined  them  in  the  kind  of  rest. 

As  a  summary  of  Dr.  Bard's  character,  says  his  able 
biographer,  I  close  with  the  concluding  sentence  of  a  com- 
munication made  to  me  by  one  who  best  knew  his  worth, 
and  most  deeply  felt  his  loss.  "  Of  my  father's  general 
character,"  says  he,  "  of  his  candor,  of  the  purity  of  his 
intentions,  of  his  integrity,  of  the  tenderness  of  his  feel- 
ings, of  his  polite  and  affectionate  manners,  of  his  ardor  in 
every  honorable  and  virtuous  pursuit,  of  his  calm,  but 
profound  religious  feelings,  of  his  domestic  virtues,  of  his 
cheerful  temper,  of  his  love  to  mankind,  I  dare  not  speak, 
— the  recollection  of  them  is  deeply  engraven  on  my  lieart, 
and  but  too  fresh  in  my  memory."  Numerous  testimonials 
of  individual  respect  and  condolence,  exhibiting  the  estima- 
tion in  which  Dr.  Bard  was  held,  were  called  forth  by  the 
lamented  event  of  his  death,  among  which  was  a  very 
affectionate  letter  of  condolence  from  his  Excellency  Hyde 
De  Neuville,  minister  of  France  at  Washington. 

The  following  minute  is  taken  from  a  meeting  of  the 
governors  of  the  New-York  Hospital. 

June  5,  1821. 

"  The  governors  receive  with  unfeig-ned  regret  the 
account  of  the  decease  of  their  late  fellow  member  of  this 
corporation.  Dr.  Samuel  Bard. 

"  It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  that  eminent  physician 
and  philanthropist,  to  state,  that  by  means  of  his  benevo- 
lent exertions,  in  the  year  1769,  setting  forth  in  a  public 
discourse  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  establishment 
of  an  hospital  in  the  city,  the  present  institution  was  ori- 
ginally founded.  That  for  a  number  of  years,  amidst  the 
arduous  avocations  of  an  extensive  private  practice,  he 
performed  with  imceasing  fidelity  and  punctuality,  the 
duties  of  a  physician  to  tliis  establishment,  and  was  the 
means,  under  Providence,  of  extending  its  usefulness,  and 
of  elevating  its  character,  not  only  as  an  asylum  for  the 
sick  poor,  but  as  an  important  means  of  promoting  medi- 
cal education  in  the  city.  The  signal  services  rendered  by 
Dr.  Bard  to  this  community  in  general,  and  to  this  institu- 
tion in  particular  ;  the  virtuous  and  religious  character  for 
which  he  was  uniformly  distinguished  ;  the  zealous  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  humanity  which  he  ever  manifested 
as  a  citizen,  as  well  as  in  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession ;    render   it  in  a  peculiar  manner   becoming  this 


JOSHUA    BARKER.  M.) 

board  to  express  their  high  sense  of  his  great  worth,  his: 
professional  merit  and  services,  and  the  benefits  he  has 
conferred  upon  his  native  city  and  country." 

CONCLUSION. 

Ahliough  in  the  narrative  now  conchided,  affection  may 
a})pcar  in  some  instances  to  have  dictated  the  huiguage,  the 
author  is  not  aware  that  in  any  it  has  exaggerated  the 
sentiment.  He  believes  it  will  meet  the  recollection  of 
those  who  best  knew  the  subject  of  it.  Indeed  it  was  not 
easy  to  know  Dr.  B.  intimately,  without  loving  and  reve- 
rencing him  ;  so  that  to  exclude  affection  from  giving  the 
picture,  is  to  exclude  that  knowledge  wliich  is  necessary 
to  secure  resemblance.  Of  his  public  conduct  and  profes- 
sional character,  the  author  believes  he  has  sj)oken  with 
due  deference  to  the  o})inion  of  those  who  may  be  better 
judges.  Of  that  wliich  has  been  the  great  aim  of  the  me- 
moir, the  display  of  private  character,  he  has  spoken  con- 
fidently, because  he  knew  intimately  ;  and  in  the  varied 
relations  of  social  and  domestic  life,  having  j)ro]iosed  him 
as  a  model  to  himself,  he  is  not  afraid  to  hold  him  up  to 
others  as  an  example  worthy  of  imitation. 

The  foregoing  is  an  abridged  narrative  from  the  life  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Bard  by  the  Rev.  John  McVickar,  A.  M.  Pro- 
fessor of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Rhetoric,  Columbia  Col- 
lege, New-York.  The  reader  will  require  no  apology  for 
its  length,  when  it  is  considered,  as  it  unquestionablv  will 
be,  that  the  memoir  affords  one  of  the  best  of  models  for 
imitation  for  the  physician,  the  cliristian  and  the  philan- 
thropist. 

BARKER,  JOSHUA,  M.M.S.S.  was  the  son  of  Fran- 
cis Barker,  a  respectable  shipwright  in  Hingham,  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  born  24th  of  March,  1753,  and  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1772.  Havinii  chosen 
for  his  profession  the  practice  of  medicine,  he  acquired  his 
education  under  the  instruction  of  Samuel  Danforth,  M.D. 
of  Boston,  and  established  himself  as  a  physician  in  his 
native  town,  where  his  ])ractice,  thoush  not  very  exten- 
sive, was  successful  and  satisfactory.  Had  he  been  j)laced 
in  a  situation  in  which  his  whole  powers  could  have  been 
developed,  he  would  have  taken  elevated  ground,  and  his 
reputation  been  more  extensively  diffused  ;  but  in  the  sit- 
uation he  selected,  he  had  to  contend  with  all  the  preju- 
dices incident  to  a  location  in  the  place  of  iiis  birth,  v.ith  the 


144  ALEXANDER   BAROTf. 

competition  of  old  and  experienced  physicians  who  had 
preoccupied  the  business  and  possessed  the  public  confi- 
dence, and  in  a  part  of  the  country  stationary,  or  nearly  so, 
in  its  population.  With  all  these  disadvantages  his  repu- 
tation stood  high,  and  he  acquired  and  preserved  the 
friendship  and  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

He  had  a  good  taste  and  respectable  acquirements  in 
general  literature,  and  was  an  excellent  scholar.  As  a 
physician  his  attention  to  the  sick  was  always  prompt, 
kind  and  impartial,  administering  with  the  same  readiness 
to  the  rich  and  poor.  In  the  domestic  and  social  relations 
and  as  a  member  of  civil  society,  few  men  weie  more 
justly  esteemed  and  respected  than  Dr.  Barker.  An  easy 
politeness,  refined  taste,  cheerful  hospitality  and  intelligent 
conversation,  made  his  house  a  pleasant  resort  to  his 
friends  and  acquaintances  ;  and  by  attentive  notice  of 
strangers  who  visited  Hingham,  he  was  an  honor  to  tlie 
place  in  which  he  lived.  In  friendship  he  was  warm  and 
affectionate,  yet  steady  and  faitliful.  In  his  dealings  he 
was  regular,  methodical,  punctual  and  conscientiously 
upright.  As  a  citizen,  a  firm  friend  to  liberty,  order  and 
peace,  he  was  a  friend  to  all  the  institutions  of  his  country- 
which  have  the  promotion  of  these  for  their  object, 
whether  civil,  religious  or  literary,  and  was  always  ready 
by  his  example,  influence,  exertions  and  contributions,  to 
promote  them. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society, 
and  contributed  to  its  usefulness,  until  he  was  visited  with 
an  attack  on  the  nervous  system,  which  after  a  gradual 
and  distressing  decay  of  near  eleven  months  terminated  in 
dissolution  in  April,  1800. 

BARON,  ALEXANDER,  M.  D.  was  born  of  respecta- 
ble parents  in  the  year  1745  in  the  county  of  Kincardine, 
in  Scotland,  where  he  received  the  first  rudiments  of  his 
education.  When  sufficiently  prepared,  he  was  sent  to 
Aberdeen  and  entered  upon  his  course  of  academical  study 
in  the  college  of  that  place.  Being  gifted  with  genius  and 
of  quick  apprehension,  he  made  rapid  progress  in  the 
classics  and  philosophy,  so  that  he  was  qualified  much 
earlier  than  is  usual  for  the  study  of  one  of  the  learned 
professions,  for  which  he  was  designed.  The  bent  of  his 
genius  inclining  him  to  medicine,  he  made  choice  of  it  as 
his  profession,  and  was  accordingly  placed  as  a  private 
pupil  under  the   care  of  Drs.  Livingston  and  Robertson,, 


ALEXANDER    BAROn.  145 

two  eminent  pliysiciuns  in  Aberdeen,  and  when  sufficiently 
instructed,  he  entered  the  medical  scliool  at  Edinburgh 
and  commenecil  a  nuulical  cour.-c  under  thr  patronage  of 
the  Lite  celebrated  Dr.  John  Gregory,  Professor  in  that 
university. 

Having  attended  three  courses  of  lectures  with  great 
diligence,  he  was  graduated  the  12th  Septemljer,  17G0,  on 
which  occasion  he  published  and  j)ublicly  defended  a 
"•  Tliesis  de  Tusse  Convulsiva."  During  bis  residence  at 
Etliuburgh,  bis  correct  moral  deportment,  his  extensive 
erudition,  his  habits  of  study  and  observation  deservedly 
secured  to  him  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  all  his  ac- 
quaintances ;  and  among  the  number  of  his  intimates  were 
several  medical  students  and  others,  distinguished  ])y  tbeir 
virtues  and  scientific  acquirements.  Being  now  qualified 
for  the  exercise  of  tiie  duties  of  his  important  and  ardu- 
ous profession,  he  embarked  for  Cliarleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, where  he  arrived  and  commenced  his  medical  career 
in  the  year  1769. 

Endowed  by  nature  with  almost  every  attribute  of 
genius,  he  cultivated  her  choicest  gifts  with  unabating  ar- 
dor ;  antl  possessing  a  sound  and  discriminating  judgment, 
gentleness  of  manner  and  an  affectionate  disposition,  few 
men  Avere  better  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  all  the  im- 
portant duties  of  tlie  j)rofession  ;  and  of  course  his  pros- 
pect of  an  early  establishment  in  practice,  was  highly 
flattering  to  his  friends  and  himself.  Exclusive  of  all  this, 
his  studies  had  been  so  various,  that  he  had  something 
to  say  uj)on  almost  every  topic  of  discourse,  so  that  he 
rendered  himself  the  delight  and  ornament  of  every  cir- 
cle ;  and  surely  a  physician  with  such  professional  attain- 
ments, could  not  fail  to  make  a  favorable  impression  upon 
those  of  his  own  profession,  as  well  as  others  ;  and  accord- 
ingly. Dr.  Milligan,  at  that  time  conspicuous  as  a  j)ractis- 
ing  physician  in  Charleston,  was  induced  to  offer  him  a 
share  of  his  practice,  which  was  accepted,  and  the  connex- 
ion continued  a  considerable  time.  Dr.  Baron  afterwards 
connected  himself  in  professional  copartnership  with  Drs. 
Oli|)bant,  and  Samuel  and  Robert  A\  ilson. 

With  a  rich  fund  of  miscellaneous  knowledjie  derived 
from  reading  and  an  extensive  intercour.*;c  with  the  world, 
he  rendered  himself  one  of  the  most  a<;recal)le  and  instruc- 
tive conqianions.  In  the  familiar  intercourse  of  life,  in 
the  capacity  of  physician  or  friend,  his  manners,  cheerful 
19 


146  ALEXANDER   BARON. 

and  graceful,  with  the  affability  and  dignity  of  true  polite- 
ness ;  his  sympathy  Avitli  the  distressed,  and  his  mind  well 
stored  with  anecdote,  he  seldom  visited  the  hale  or  the 
sick,  upon  whom  he  did  not  make  a  favorable  impression. 
Of  christian  charity,  the  vital  principle  of  religion,  he  was 
endowed  with  an  uncommon  share,  and  so  unbounded  was 
his  generosity,  that  his  heart  and  purse  were  always  open 
to  his  friends  ;  considering  every  one  as  his  friend,  whose 
situation  was  such  as  to  require  his  assistance.  Dr.  Baron 
was  easy  of  access  and  agreeable,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
became  so  great  a  favorite  among  the  younger  members  of 
the  profession,  whom  he  invariably  patronised,  that  they 
were  extremely  fond  of  consulting  with  him  in  all  cases  of 
difficulty  ;  for,  while  they  derived  benefit  from  his  coun- 
sels, they  never  had  reason  to  apprehend  that  they  should 
be  borne  doAvn  by  an  ostentatious  display  of  his  superior 
talents,  whicV  too  frequently  occurs  on  such  occasions. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Medical  Society  of  South 
Carolina  and  was  elected  its  vice  president  in  1790. 

Like  the  great  Sydenham,  Dr.  B.  was  an  accurate  ob- 
server of  nature.  Patient  and  minute  in  the  investigation 
of  diseases,  and  deliberate  and  cautious  in  forming  his  judg- 
ment, the  sick  had  a  well  founded  prospect  of  deriving  bene- 
fit from  the  advice  and  prescriptions  of  such  a  physician.  As 
might  be  supposed,  his  practice  was  influenced  by  his  great 
master,  the  celebrated  Cullen  ;  but  it  appeared  that  the 
theories  of  all  the  various  medical  schools,  as  well  ancient 
as  modern,  with  which  he  was  acquainted,  had  lost  much 
of  their  weight  upon  his  mature  understanding.  Dr. 
Baron  in  the  year  1770,  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Charles- 
ton, joined  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  the  oldest  charitable 
association  in  the  state  ;  and  was  elected  its  annual  presi- 
dent for  twenty-eight  successive  years.  From  his  first 
settlement  he  continued  the  exercise  of  his  profession  with 
great  reputation,  to  a  short  period  before  his  death.  His 
constitution  had  for  some  time  felt  the  effects  of  a  long  and 
laborious  practice,  and  the  progress  of  old  age  ;  but  his 
mind  had  lost  none  of  its  vigor.  In  almost  every  case  of 
difficulty  or  danger,  he  continued  to  be  consulted,  and  his 
opinions  were  always  received  with  the  greatest  respect. 
For  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  he  became  unable,  from 
his  increasing  infirmities,  to  attend  to  the  arduous  duties  of 
his  profession  ;  and  he  died  on  the  9th  day  of  January, 
1819,  universally  regretted. — [Jlbridged  from  a  Sketch  by 
Samuel  Wilson^  ,M.  7).] 


JOSIAH    BARTLETT.  147 

BARTLETT,  JOSIAH,  M.D.  Governor  of  New-Hamp- 
shire, was  born  in  Anicshury,  Massachusetts,  in  Novenilier, 
1729.  He  was  early  put  to  learn  the  rudiments  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  langua<>;es,  wliich  he  accomplished  with 
consideraMe  rapidity,  having  a  quick  perce])tion  and  tena- 
cious memory.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  i)laccd  with  a 
Dr.  Ordway  to  study  physic,  but  he  soon  exhausted  tlie 
Doctor's  scanty  library  and  resorted  to  others  for  a 
suj)j)ly. 

In  1750,  having  completed  his  medical  education  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Kingston  in  New-Hampsliire.  Two  years  after  he 
was  seized  with  a  fever  which  in  all  probability  would 
have  proved  fatal  to  him,  had  not  his  own  reason  counter- 
acted tlie  hackneyed  modes  of  his  attending  j)hysician.  At 
the  apj)roach  of  a  crisis  his  strengtli  Avas  so  much  exhaust- 
ed by  a  warm  and  stimulating  regimen  and  seclusion  from 
the  air,  that  his  physician  pronounced  his  disorder  fatal  ; 
but  the  patient  prevailed  upon  two  young  men  that  night 
to  procure  for  liim  a  (juart  of  cider,  which  he  took  by 
half  a  teacupful  at  a  time,  by  which  he  was  so  invigorat- 
ed that  in  the  morning  a  coj)ious  j)erspiration  ensued,  and 
his  fever  was  effectually  checked.  Ever  after  this  event 
Dr.  Bartlett  was  a  strict  observer  of  nature  in  all  diseases, 
and  rejecting  all  arbitrary  medical  rules,  he  founded  his 
practice  upon  the  details  of  nature  and  experience.  He 
soon  became  j)opidar  as  a  j)hysician,  and  secured  a  large 
share  of  ])ractice  both  lucrative  and  honorable  to  himself, 
and  highly  useful  to  the  peoj)le. 

In  the  year  1733,  and  again  in  1735,  a  "  distemper" 
originated  in  Kingston,  Avliich  eluded  ail  the  powers  of 
the  physicians  of  that  period.  It  was  called  the  "  throat 
distemper"  (angina  maligna.)  This  disease  was  considered 
a.s  entirely  new  in  the  country,  and  was  not  understood, 
althougli  in  some  ancient  authors  a  similar  disease  has  been 
noticed.  The  physicians  considered  it  to  be  of  an  inflam- 
jnatory  nature,  and  adopted  their  mode  of  treatment  upon 
that  princij)le.  The  disease  spread  rapidly,  and  among 
children  it  ])roved  almost  universallv  mortal,  like  the 
plague  in  warm  climates  ;  many  families  lost  nearly  all 
their  children  under  ten  years  of  age,  death  often  taking 
place  in  twelve  hours  from  the  attack,  and  some  dying 
while  sitting  with  their  playthings  in  their  liands.  The 
depleting  and  antiphlogistic  course  of  practice  wa«  pursued 


148  JOSIAH    BARTLETT. 

almost  invariably  with  death,  and  the  physicians  were 
entirely  at  a  loss  for  a  successful  method  of  cure.  In 
1754  the  angina  maligna  again  made  its  appearance,  but 
with  less  malignity  ;  Dr.  Bartlett  being  now  in  practice 
in  Kingston,  iinding  the  antiphlogistic  course  constantly 
unsuccessful,  devoted  much  attention  to  the  investigation 
of  the  disease  and  decided  in  his  own  mind  that  it  was  of 
a  highly  putrid  character,  and  that  antiseptic  remedies  were 
clearly  indicated.  In  the  case  of  one  of  his  own  children, 
therefore,  he  employed  the  Peruvian  bark  and  other  anti- 
septics with  a  happy  result,  and  he  afterward  adopted  the 
same  mode  of  }>ractice  with  such  general  success  as  to 
establish  his  fame. 

From  his  integrity  and  decision  of  character  Dr.  B.  was 
soon  designated  as  a  magistrate  and  sustained  various 
offices  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  He  was  also  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  John  Wentworth  to  the  command  of 
a  regiment  of  militia,  where  he  discharged  his  duties  Avith 
much  promptness  and  fidelity.  In  the  year  1765  Col. 
Bartlett  began  his  political  career  as  representative  for  the 
town  of  Kingston  in  the  legislature  of  the  Province.  He 
seems  to  have  been  endowed  with  the  innate  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  although  young  and  inex- 
perienced in  politics  he  was  soon  found  with  a  small 
minority  in  opposition  to  royal  policy  ;  voting  against 
what  they  supposed  to  be  unjust  violations  of  a  right,  and 
arbitrary  usurpations.  Governor  John  Wentworth,  know- 
ing Dr.  B.  to  be  an  influential  member  of  the  assembly, 
appointed  him  a  justice  of  the  peace,  but  his  independent 
spirit  was  not  to  be  allured  from  his  sense  of  duty  and  his 
principles.  In  1774  he  was  a  conspicuous  and  zealous 
advocate  for  the  cause  of  the  whigs,  and  was  among  the 
principal  leaders  in  the  house  of  assembly  against  the 
measures  pursued  by  the  governor  and  his  friends.  He  was 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  general  congress  who  were  to  meet 
at  Philadelphia,  but,  having  recently  lost  his  house  by  fire, 
he  declined  the  office.  In  February,  1775,  Dr.  B.  was  by 
Governor  Wentworth  deprived  of  his  commission  of  the 
peace  and  also  of  his  command  in  the  militia.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1 775,  he  was  appointed  to  command  a  regiment  by  the 
provincial  congress,  and  being  again  chosen  a  delegate  to 
the  Continental  congress,  he  attended  in  that  honorable 
assembly,  and  when  the  vote  for  American  independence 
was  taken  Col.  Bartlett'g  name  was  first  called,  as  repre- 


.UiblAll     BAKTLtlT.  149 

scntinff  the  most  easterly  province,  aiul  he  boldly  ans^er- 
ex\  in  the  anirmntive.  He  was  the  first,  tlierefore,  who 
voted  for,  and  the  iin^t  alter  the  ]»resident  who  sicrned  tliat 
nieniorahU'  iiistrunient.  Col.  BarthHt's  task  was  extremely 
ardnoMs  and  ialioninir,  con.jress  heinjr  oecn])ied  from  nine 
o'elo(  k,  A.  M.  to  fonr,  P.  M.  hefore  dining  ;  after  which 
he  was  on  committee  till  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  eve- 
ning. The  increasinij  j.rospect  of  nntried  events  in  which 
their  lives,  their  families  and  their  estates  were  pnt  tr)  tin; 
hazard  ;  the  deatli  of  their  late  valnahlc  jjresident  ;  the 
death  of  General  iMontiromery,  and  other  disastrous 
events  ;  the  ravaces  of  the  infnViated  enemv  ;  their  un- 
justifiahledestrnction  of  an  innocent  people  ;  "together  with 
the  thoughts  of  his  distant  family  who  were  in  arfemharrass- 
ed  situation  in  consecjuence  of  his  recent  loss  by  fire  ;  all 
conspired  to  de])ress  his  spirits.  He,  hoAvevef,  sustained 
these  cares  with  a  consciousness  of  the  justice  of  his  cause 
and  a  reliance  on  the  goodness  of  the  Supreme  Disjioser  of 
all  events,  which  confirmed  his  j)erseveran(e  in  dutv. 

In  1779  Col.  Bartlett  Avas  ajjjjointed  chief  justice  "of  the 
superior  court,  whidi  oftice  he  held  until  he  was  apj)oint- 
ed  chief  justice  in  1188.  Col.  B.  was  an  active  member 
ol  the  (  onvention  for  adopting  the  confederation  in  1788, 
and  was  chosen  a  senator  in  congress  in  1789,  but  this 
oflicc  he  declined  through  the  inhrinities  of  age.  We  next 
find  this  estimable  man  occupying  the  statioirof  President 
of  the  state  of  New-Hampshire  in  1790,  and  in  1793  he 
was  elected  the  first  governor  of  the  state  under  the  new 
form  of  government.  In  this  ofiice,  as  in  all  others,  his 
duties  were  promptly  and  faithfully  discharged.  He  was 
indeed  a  ruler  in  whom  the  wise  placed  confidence,  and  of 
whoni  even  the  captions  coidd  find  nothing  to  coin])lain. 
In  1791  Governor  B.  retired  from  the  chair  of  chief  matris- 
trate  of  the  state  and  from  all  public  emplovment.  ^ 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1795,  this  distinguished  patriot  paid 
the  debt  of  nature,  being  in  the  65th  year  of  his  age.  The 
following  just  description  of  his  character  is  e"\tracted 
from  the  sermon  |)reache(l  at  his  interment  bv  the  Bev. 
Mr.  Thayer.  ''  His  mind  was  (puck  and  penetrating,  his 
memory  tenacious,  his  judgment  souml  and  prospective  ; 
his  natural  temper  was  open,  humane  and  compassionate.' 
In  all  his  dealings  he  was  scrupulously  just,  and  faithful  in 
the  performance  of  all  hi?  engagements.  These  shining 
talents  accompanied  with   distinigiushed  probitv,  early  in 


150  JOSIAH  BIRTLETT. 

life  recommended  him  to  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his 
fellow  citizens.  But  few  persons  by  their  own  merit,  with- 
out the  influence  of  family  or  party  connexions,  have  risen 
from  one  degree  of  honor  to  another  as  he  did  ;  and  fewer 
still  have  been  the  instances  in  which  a  succession  of  hon- 
orable and  important  offices  even  to  the  highest,  have  been 
held  by  any  man  with  less  envy,  or  executed  with  more 
general  approbation." — Jfew- Hampshire  Hist,  and  Biograph. 
Collections. 

BARTLETT,  JOSIAH,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in 
Charlestown,  Mass.  in  the  year  1 759.  At  an  early  period 
he  became  a  pupil  ol  Dr.  Isaac  Foster,  a  very  respectable 
physician  of  the  same  town,  who  entered  the  medical  de- 
partment of  the  American  army  on  its  first  formation  at 
Cambridge,  on  the  20th  of  April,  1775,  the  day  following 
the  battle  of  Lexington. 

Young  Bartlett  continued  his  pupilage  under  Dr.  Foster, 
who  was  appointed  chief  surgeon  in  the  general  hospital 
at  Cambridge,  and  who  subsequently  procured  the  office 
of  surgeon's  mate  for  his  pupil,  then  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years,  in  which  station  he  continued  to  serve  until  the 
year  1780,  wJien  he  resigned  both  his  pupilage  and  his 
commission,  and  was  engaged  for  two  voyages  as  surgeon 
to  ships  of  war.  During  his  public  service  Dr.  Bartlett 
manifested  a  degree  of  activity,  attention  and  faithfulness, 
which  secured  to  him  a  high  reputation  and  the  approba- 
tion of  his  superiors  in  office.  About  the  close  of  the  war 
he  settled  in  his  native  town,  and  soon  became  distinguish- 
ed as  a  practitioner  in  medicine. 

Dr.  Bartlett  attended  a  single  course  of  lectures  on  anat- 
omy delivered  by  Dr.  John  Warren  in  1780  ;  and,  not- 
withstanding his  extensive  practice,  he  attended  a  com- 
plete course  of  medical  lectures  at  Cambridge  in  1790,  and 
in  1791  became  Bachelor  of  Medicine,  and  in  1801  the  de- 
gree of  M.  D.  was  conferred  upon  him.  In  1789  he  was 
admitted  to  l)e  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  So- 
ciety, soon  after  became  recording  secretary  of  that  high- 
ly respectable  body,  and  continued  in  office  in  various 
situations  until  his  death  ;  and  perhaps  no  man  contributed 
more  time  and  active  exertion  to  improve  tlie  state  of  tlie 
society,  and  tlirough  it  the  interests  of  medical  literature. 
He  delivered  two  public  discourses  of  a  medical  nature, 
one  before  the  Middlesex  Medical  Association,  the  other 
before  the  Massachusetts  Medical   Society,  the  latter  of 


BENJAMIN    B.    BARTON.  151 

which  is  well  known  as  aflbrdintj  a  very  interesting  his- 
torical sketch  of  medical  cliaractcis  in  this  j)art  of  the  coun- 
try, from  its  settlement.  Me  also  j)iil)lisheil  various  pajiers 
on  meilical  subjects  in  the  communications  of  the  Medical 
Societv  and  in  the  New-Enjrland  Medical  Journal. 

Althouirh  en<ra<red  in  a  most  extensive  practice,  Dr. 
Bartlctt  found  time  to  emj)loy  a  })art  of  his  activity  in  civil 
olKces,  and  was  at  varioiis  times  elected  rej)resentative, 
senator,  and  counsellor,  in  the  state  government.  Soon 
after  his  settlement  at  Charlestown,  he  became  a  mend^er 
of  the  honorable  fraternity  of  masons,  among  whom  he 
was  very  distinguished,  and  occupied  all  the  posts  of  hon- 
or to  that  of  grand  master,  and  especially  was  cons])icuous 
for  the  number  of  occasional  and  appropriate  addresses 
which  he  delivered  in  that  society. 

Dr.  Bartlett's  character  was  remarkable  for  industry, 
activity  and  intelligence.  He  never  declined  any  duty 
which  was  assigned  him,  and  always  executed  it  speedily 
and  thoroughly  ;  and  was  of  course  constantly  resorted  to 
for  difficult  services.  Perhaps  no  individual  in  this  vici- 
nity delivered  so  great  a  numl)er  of  pu])lic  orations,  medi- 
cal, political  and  literary.  He  possessed  a  physical  consti- 
tution which  promised  a  long  as  well  as  active  life  ;  but 
his  spirits  being  broken  by  unfortunate  occurrences,  his 
health  in  consequence  became  impaired.  Two  years  be- 
fore his  death  his  activity  was  paralyzed,  his  desire  of  life 
was  extinguished,  and  at  length  on  the  third  day  of  March, 
1820,  he  was  struck  with  an  apoplexy,  which  in  two  days 
after  terminated  his  existence. 

BARTON,  BENJAMIN  SMITH,  M.  D.  Professor  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Penn- 
sylvania, February  10th,  1766.  His  mother  was  the  sister 
of  the  celebrated  philosopher,  Rittcidio\ise.  The  deatli  of 
his  parents  occasioned  his  lemoval  in  1782  to  the  family 
of  a  brother  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  spent  several  years 
in  the  study  of  literature,  the  sciences  and  medicine.  In 
1786  he  went  to  Great  Britain,  and  prosecuted  his  uiediral 
studies  at  Edinl)uriih  and  London.  He  afterward  visited 
Gottingen,  and  there  obtained  the  dejjree  of  Doctor  in 
Medicine.  On  returninfj  to  Philadelphia  in  17S9,  he  es- 
ta])lished  himself  as  a  physician  in  that  city,  and  his  supe- 
rior talents  and  education  soon  ])rocured  him  competent 
employment.  He  was  that  year  appoitited  Professor  of 
Natural  History  and  Botany  in   the   (College  of  Philadel- 


^^2  BE>fJAMm    S.    EARTOX. 

phia,  and  continued  in  the  office  on  the  incorporation  of 
the  college  with  the  university  in  1791.  He  was  appoint- 
ed  Prolbifsor  of  Materia  Medica  on  tlie  resignation  of  Dr. 
Griffiths,  and  on  the  deatli  of  Dr.  Rush  succeeded  him  in 
the  department  of  the  Tlieory  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 
He  died  December  19th,  1815. 

Dr.  Barton  was  highly  distinguished  by  his  talents  and 
professional  attainments,  and  contril)uted  much  by  his  lec- 
tures and  writings  to  the  progress  of  natural  science  in  the 
United  States.  He  published  "  Elements  of  Zoology  and 
Botany,"  in  which  he  made  respectable  additions  to  the 
zoological  science  of  our  country,  and  displayed  a  degree 
of  genius,  diligence,  learning  and  zeal  in  this  pursuit, 
wliich  do  honor  to  our  repvddic,  and  which  bid  fair  to 
place  him  among  tlie  most  accomplished  and  useful  natur- 
alists of  his  time.  In  1803  Dr.  B.  pu1)lished  "  Elements 
of  Botany,  or  Outlines  of  the  Natural  History  of  Vegeta- 
bles, &c."  He  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  American 
who  gave  to  his  country  an  elementary  work  on  Botany, 
and  if  Ave  judge,  says  Dr.  Miller  in  his  Retrospect  of  the 
18th  Century,  of  the  subsequent  harvest  from  the  first 
fruits,  it  will  be  rich  indeed.  This  work  is  illustrated  by 
thirty  plates,  and  discovers  an  extent  of  learning,  an  acute- 
ness  and  vigor  of  mind,  and  an  elegance  of  taste,  highly 
honorable  to  the  author.  Of  the  thirty  plates  which  ac- 
company this  work,  twenty-eight  have  claims  to  more  or 
less  originality,  and  many  of  them  are  completely  original. 
They  are  well  executed  ;  and  most  of  the  subjects  selected 
for  delineation,  are  remarkable  for  their  rarity,  their  beau- 
ty, or  some  other  j)eculiarity  of  character.  Every  part  of 
this  work  discovers  that  the  author  has  not  been  contented 
with  compiling  the  facts  and  opinions  of  his  predecessors, 
but  that  he  has  accurately  observed  and  thought  for  him- 
self. He  will,  therefore,  no  doubt,  be  pronounced  by  the 
best  judges  to  have  presented  his  countrymen  with  the 
most  comprehensive  and  instructive  work  of  this  kind  in 
the  English  language. 

Dr.  B.  published  "  Collections  for  an  Essay  towards  a 
Materia  Medica  of  the  United  States,"  which  "^is  the  only 
work  professedly  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats  that  hai 
at  that  time  issued  from  the  American  press.  In  1810  the 
author  puljlished  a  third  edition  of  this  very  valuable  pro- 
duction. It  is  an  original  work  of  great  merit,  and  was 
peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  public,  as  it  brought  into  no- 


EDWARD   BARTO:^.  163 

tice  numerous  medicinal  remedies,  the  produce  of  our  own 
soil,  which  hud  been  entirely  ncpflected,  but  which  have 
since  luiiiuuMiled  and  enriched  the  American  materia  niedi- 
ca.  Ill  \^0b  Dr.  13.  commenced  the  pulilicatioii  of  the 
"  Medical  and  Piiysical  Journal,"  to  which  he  contributed 
many  valuable  articles. 

As  a  naturalist,  the  merits  of  Dr.  B.  arc  of  no  common 
kind  ;  and  he  has  deservedly  received  a  lar^e  share  of 
praise  in  Ids  own  and  in  foreign  countiies  for  his  many 
and  successfid  exertions  in  enlar<riiig  the  sphere  of  natural 
knowledge,  lie  j)ublished  "•  Fragments  of  the  Natural 
History  of  Pennsylvania,"  "  Essay  on  the  Fascinating 
Power  ascribed  to  Serjjents,  &,c."  and  several  memoirs  on 
particular  sj)ecimens  in  zoology  in  the  American  Piiilo- 
soplucal  Transactions.  In  his  new  "  Views  of  the  Origin 
of  the  Tribes  and  Nations  of  America,"  will  be  found  vo- 
cabularies of  a  number  of  Indian  languages  that  were  never 
before  committed  to  the  jjress  ;  comparing  these  with  lan- 
guages more  generally  known,  both  on  the  eastern  and 
western  continents  ;  and  thence  deducing  new  evidence  in 
support  of  the  opiiuon  that  the  nations  of  America  and 
those  of  Asia  have  a  common  origin,  and  that  all  mankind 
are  derived  from  a  single  pair.  But  the  public  have  been 
called  to  lament  his  premature  deatli,  which  took  place  in 
1815.  "  His  various  works  evince  a  closeness  of  observa- 
tion, an  accuracy  of  in(|uiry,  an  extent  of  learning,  and  a 
vi<Tor  and  comprehensiveness  of  mind,  which  are  equally 
honorable  to  their  j)Osses>or  and  to  his  country." 

In  conclusion,  it  is  but  justice  to  observe  that  American 
science  and  literature  are  immensely  indebted  to  the  inde- 
fatigable labors  of  him  whose  memoirs  we  have  now  re- 
corded.— J\fillcr's  Retrospect  and  sundry  Doctnnentt. 

BARTON,  EDWARD,  iM.  D.  was  a  native  of  England. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  at  an  early  period  of  life, 
under  the  immediate  care  and  superintendence  of  the  Ab- 
be Tisserant,  a  French  gentleman  of  uncommon  attain- 
ments, exemplary  piety,  and  of  peculiar  sweetness  of  man- 
ners and  disposition.  To  the  parental  care  of  this  accom- 
plished scholar  Barton  was  indebted  for  an  excellent  fomid- 
ation  in  classical  learninff,  which  was  built  upon  with  sig- 
nal success.  After  the  usual  course  of  academic  instruction, 
he  passed  some  time,  with  great  advantage  to  himsell  and 
with  usefulness  to  others,  at  the  Roman  Catholic  Collejie 
at  Bahimore,  where  hi«  classical  education  may  be  consid- 
30 


154  EDWARD  BARTON. 

ered  as  having  been  completed.  His  views  relative  to  the 
business  of  life,  were  directed  to  the  profession  of  medi- 
cine. He  s})ent  some  months  at  Hanover,  N.  H.  and  at- 
tended a  course  of  lectures  delivercil  by  Dr.  Smith.  He 
came  to  Philadel])hia  and,  as  an  immediate  pupil  of  Dr. 
Pliysick,  passed  tlirough  the  course  of  medical  studies  re- 
quired by  the  vmiversity,  and  received  his  degree  with  pe- 
culiar favor  and  approbation  from  his  instructers. 

Soon  after  he  Avas  graduated  Dr.  Barton  went  to  Europe, 
and  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  attainment  of  know- 
ledge in  his  profession,  l)y  means  of  all  the  advantages 
which  he  could  command  in  Great  Britain  and  France. 
He  returned  to  the  United  States  in  a  few  years,  and  set- 
tled in  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  practising  physic 
and  surgery.  With  the  aid  aH'orded  by  the  kind  and 
friendly  patronage  of  a  gentleman  whose  name  is  another 
name  for  benevolence,  he  was  favorably  introduced  into 
this  community  ;  and  by  means  of  the  most  diligent  study 
and  attention  he  fulfilled  every  expectation  concerning  him. 
His  progress  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  though  grad- 
ual, was  such  as  convinced  those  Avho  regarded  him  with 
kindness,  that  he  was  advancing  with  a  certain  march  to 
distinction  and  usefulness.  He  had  passed  through  the 
tedious  and  exhausting  noviciate,  which  must  be  passed  by 
every  man  of  merit  in  his  profession,  and  he  was  known 
with  higli  esteem  by  the  most  eminent  of  his  medical  breth- 
ren, and  with  favor  by  a  respectable  portion  of  this  com- 
munity. At  this  moment,  when,  it  may  Avitli  truth  be 
said,  the  hopes  of  many  were  fixed  upon  him  as  calculated 
for  signal  usefulness,  when  he  had  already  acquired  some- 
thing of  the  strength  and  confidence  of  success,  and  when 
his  ambition  was  most  ardent,  and  his  prospects  most  flat- 
tering, it  pleased  God  to  visit  him  wilh  a  pulmonary  affec- 
tion, from  which  he  and  his  friends  apj^rehended  his  speedy 
dissolution.  Under  the  advice  of  his  friend  and  preceptor, 
Dr.  Physick,  he  sailed  from  Philadelphia  on  the  fourth 
day  of  August,  1821,  for  Lisbon,  and  from  that  port  he 
went  to  Genoa,  at  which  place  his  eyes  were  closed  in 
death  by  the  hands  of  strangers. 

It  is  believed  by  the  friend  who  writes  these  lines,  that 
few  yotmg  men  have  been  removed  by  death,  who  were 
more  entitled  to  be  lamented,  and  whose  loss  could  be  re- 
garded as  more  truly  severe  upon  the  community,  than  the 
subject  of  this  notice.    We  do  not  u,ndertake  to  speak  from 


EU>VARD   BARTON. 


155 


our  own  knowledge  of  his  jjiofessional  attainments  ;  hut 
we  are  authori/.od  (Voni  the  known  sentiments  of  those 
most  conijutt'nt  to  jiulgr,  to  spc.ik  of  the  in  ;is  unc  o)nn;on 
for  his  period  of  life.  We  can  sj)eak,  and  with  the  (Uep- 
est  sincerity,  of  the  manners  and  deportment  of  our  fiiend 
in  the  chamher  of  disea-e  ;  they  were  all  that  all'ection  and 
feelinjj  couUl  recpiiri*  and  prudence  diitate.  lie  was  viiii- 
lant,  ten(U'r,  untirin<r  and  fiithful  to  the  last.  Ills  pnticnts 
will  readily  assent  to  the  truth  of  our  assertion,  that  he 
never  spared  himself,  nor  regarded  iiimselias  an  ohje^t  of 
thousfht,  when  his  presence,  his  care,  his  watchings,  could 
tend  even  to  allay  the  anxiety  of  the  sick.  lie  visited, 
Avith  ecpial  fidelity  to  the  patient,  the  ahode  of  pove;ty 
and  the  man-ion  of  the  rich  ;  and  it  may  he  allirmed  with 
justice  that  he  took  jx'cidiar  pleasure  in  his  ministrations 
to  the  lowly  ami  the  liumhle.  His  mind  was  of  too  lofty 
a  character  to  suffer  him  to  avail  himself  of  adventitious 
circumstances  to  ohtain  the  favor  of  the  community.  He 
scorned  even  the  apj)earance  of  seckinof  to  win  thivt  favor 
by  anv  other  means  than  his  merit  ;  and  though  sometimes 
inclined  to  (U'sj)on(U'n(V,  hr  confided  for  uUimate  success 
in  that  just  discrimination  of  talents,  to  which  alone  the 
professional  man  who  has  duly  qualified  himself  for  his 
business,  can  look,  as  the  sure  foundation  of  his  hopes. 
The  friends  of  Dr.  Barton  only  can  speak  of  him  in  the 
character  of  a  friend  ;  and  they,  if  tiiey  did  justice  to  his 
memory,  would  probably  incur  the  chariic  of  extrava- 
gance. We  will  venture  to  assert  tliat  the  imj)ressions 
which  he  made  uj)on  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  friendship,  will  never  be  effaced.  It  is 
most  consolintj  to  those  who  immediately  feel  the  loss  of 
this  young  man,  and  must  be  irrateful  to  all  to  whom  it 
may  be  known,  that  in  the  latter  staiics  of  life  his  impres- 
sions of  the  solemnity  of  tin'  c  haiiuc  which  he  was  about  to 
make,  were  deej)  and  affectiuii.  He  was  enabled  to  look 
back  upon  the  toil  and  trials,  through  which  he  had  jiass- 
ed  to  the  very  verge  of  eminence  and  usefulness,  without  a 
pang  of  rcLjret  :  he  was  enabled  to  contemplate  the  fading 
of  earthly  prosj.ects  and  promises  with  comi)Osnre  ;  be- 
cau-e  lie  was  enabled  to  look  forward  to  the  scenes  of  an 
immortal  existence  with  hope  and  with  joy.  His  friends 
have  suffered  a  bitter  loss  :  tliis  community  has  suffered  a 
loss  :  but  he  has,  we  humbly  trust,  mad<'  that  exchange 
which  is  infinite  gain. 


156  RlCHAnD  BATLET. 

The  above  memoir  has  been  taken  from  the  Philadel- 
phia Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Pliysical  Sciences,  edited 
by  the  learned  Professor  Chapman,  wJio  in  a  note  to  the 
above  gives  the  following  addition.  "  We  cannot  let  the 
above  obituary  notice,  Avhicli  has  been  executed  by  the 
hand  of  kindness,  be  committed  to  our  pages,  without 
bearing  testimony  to  the  truth  and  fidelity  with  which  the 
character  and  attainments  of  our  deceased  friend  have 
been  delineated.  It  was  our  good  fortune  very  early  to 
have  becojne  acquainted  with  Dr.  Barton,  and  the  relation 
of  preceptor  and  pupil  Avas  soon  ripened  into  the  more  in- 
timate connexion  of  a  cordial  friendship.  He  was  a  man 
of  no  ordinary  talents,  highly  cultivated  by  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, of  great  proficiency  in  his  profession,  and  with  that 
excpiisite  sense  of  honor  which  feels  '  a  stain  like  a 
wound.'  Deeply  conversant  with  medical  literature,  he 
lent  to  this  journal  his  ready  support,  and  contributed  to 
it  some  of  its  most  valuable  articles.  By  the  energies  of  a 
determined  spirit  he  pushed  on  in  '  sickness  and  in  sor- 
row,' and  though  retarded  by  other  trials  and  difficulties, 
had  already  won  hisAvay  to  a  very  enviable  degree  of  emi- 
nence, when  it  pleased  his  God  to  dash  the  hopes  of  his 
friends  and  his  OAvn  bright  prospects,  by  the  termination 
of  his  earthly  career." — Philadelphia  Journal  of  Medical  and 
Physical  Sciences,  Vol.  5. 

BAYLEY,  RICHARD,  of  New-York.  The  subject  of 
the  following  sketch  has  long  since  received  at  the  hands 
of  French  pathologists  the  credit  so  justly  his  due  ;  but  in 
his  own  country,  excepting  some  few  brief  and  detached 
notices  by  sucli  as  from  personal  knowledge  were  enabled 
to  speak  of  him  as  he  was,  nothing  has  been  known  of  him 
to  the  profession  in  general. 

It  is  Avith  feelings  of  regret  that  Ave  find  ourseh'es  crip- 
pled by  a  Avant  of  facts  in  a  biography,  Avhich  to  the  phi- 
lanthropiht  and  physician  must  neces-sarily  have  been  pecu- 
liarly interesting,  and  to  the  student  most  instructive.  But 
small  as  are  tlie  materials,  AA'e  cannot  consent  to  their  loss, 
nor  force  ourselves  to  believe  that  the  name  of  Bayley  is 
to  be  lost  from  the  records  of  American  physicians  and 
surgeons,  when  his  practice  and  obserA^ations  did  so  much, 
and  at  so  early  a  period,  to  bring  their  profession  honora- 
bly before  foreigners. 

Richard  Bayley  AA'as  born  at  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  in 
the  year  1745  :  his  father  Ava«  of  English  and  his  mother 


RICHARD  BAYLET.  157 

of  French  descent.  From  this  connexion  on  the  mollier's 
side  and  the  rosiihuico  of  his  pnieiits  amongst  the  French 
protcstant  emigrants  at  New  Uoc  hcile,  N.  V.  yonnji;  Hayley 
was  early  faiuiliarizcil  with  the  J'^rcnch  hm<!;uajr(',  to  wliicli 
was  adtled  an  actiuaiiitance  witii  the  Latin  chis-sics  whii  h 
the  constant  occnj)ation  of  his  after  life  j)revented  him 
from  renewing  or  continuing.  How  his  youth  Avas  pas^t'd 
is  ludvuown.  Althouuli  some  degree  of  uncertaiiitv  rests 
U])on  our  chitcs  throuuhout,  still  a  multitucU'  of  colhitcral 
events  tend  to  prove  that  the  extent  of  thai  uncertaintv  is 
comprised  within  a  very  few  months  antecedent  or  poste- 
rior to  the  time  assumed.  In  17GG,  when  ahout  twenty 
years  of  age,  we  find  him  engaged  as  a  student  of  medicine 
uniler  Dr.  Charlton,  a  nuich  respected  })hysician  of  the  day. 
Havinii  completed  his  studies  to  the  ])erfect  satisfaction  of 
his  j)reccptor,  by  his  advice  he  determined  to  avail  him>elf 
of  the  l)enefits  of  the  London  lectures  and  hosj)itals, 
whither  he  went  in  1769  or  70,  having  j)reviously  married 
Miss  Charlton,  the  sister  of  his  instructer. 

In  London  he  aj)])ears  to  have  excited  tiie  attention  of 
his  instructers  by  his  industry,  ])eiseverance  and  dexterity  : 
for  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  written  at  this  period,  he  says, 
"  The  Anatomist  Dr.  Hunter  gives  me  great  encourage- 
ment, and  thinks  that  by  applying  myself  closely  to  ana- 
tomy and  the  operative  j)art  of  surgery  this  winter  (1770), 
which  I  shall  have  entirely  at  my  power  in  his  dissecting 
rooms,  and  after  that  to  be  punctual  next  summer  in  my 
attendance  on  the  hospit.ds,  I  may  with  case  (|nalily  my- 
self for  a  practitioner  in  surgery  in  any  j)art  of  the  world;" 
adding  in  the  fullness  of  confidential  intercourse  "  I  will 
mention  to  you  that  they  tell  me  I  have  a  very  uncommon 
dexteritv  with  the  knife,  but  this  LoTidon  is  a  sad  j)lace  for 
fl.atterv."  llavinu  remained  at  Lon(U)n  a  year  oi*  two,  he 
returiu  (1  to  Psew-Vork  in  HTi,  and  commenced  jtractice 
in  coimexion  with  Dr.  Chailton. 

At  this  period  his  attention  was  first  drawn  to  the  then 
prevalent  and  fatal*  croup  ;  a  disease  of  which  so  little  was 
known  that  men  of  hiiih  character  and  good  education 
confounded  it  (])eriiaps  from  its  fret|uent  comjjlii  ation  with 
that  disorder)  with  putrid  sore  throat,  and  thus,  overlook- 
ing its  inllammatory  character,  treated  it  witli  due  regard 
to  the  still  immortal  phantom,  putrescency,    until  extinc- 

•  Michaelip  ft«te<i  that  until  H.ivIpv's  active  treatment  wat  adopted  on*  half  of 
all  »ffect»d  died.— 5i6.  Chi.  dt  Richter. 


158  RICHARD  BAYLEY. 

tion  of  life  gave  full  play  to   a  physical  demonstration  of 
its  existence.     How  such    an    error    could   have  been   in- 
dulged by  the  observant  Bard,  we  cannot  understand  ;  but 
are  willing    to  receive    his  e.vcuse    even  at   the  hands  of  a 
foreigner,  who  after  remarking  that    "  L'ouvrage  de  Bard 
n'apprend  rien  de  precis  sur  le  sief^e  du  croup,  et  que  I'opin- 
ion    de    ce   medecin   sur  la  nature   de  cette  maladie   est 
fausse,"*  thus  proceeds,   "  Mais  Ics  circonstances  dans  les- 
quelles  se  trouvait  S.  Baid  lorsqu'il  a  ccrit   sur  le  croup, 
excusent,  en  quelque  sorte,  I'opinion  erronee  qu'il  a  mani- 
festt'e  sur  la  nature  de  cette  maladie  ;   l'ouvrage  de  Home 
venait  de  paroitre  ;  Thumorisme  regnait  encore.      Home 
avait  cu  occasion  de  voir  le  croup  simple  en  Angleterre  ; 
Bard  Tobserva  en  Amerique   complique   d'angine   couen- 
neu^e  trts  intense.     C'est  pour  ces  raisons,  sans  doute,  qu'il 
attribue  cette  maladie  a  la  putridite,  et   lorsqu'il   observe 
des  phenomenes  inflammatoires,   il  en  trouve  la  cause  dans 
un  genie  malin  qu'il  combat  par  les   mercuriaux   a  haute 
dose."f     Such  indeed  were  the  prevalent  opinions  at  the 
period  when  Bayley's  attention  was  first  drawn  to  this  dis- 
ease, which  was  in  April,  1774,  when  he  saw  a  child  perish 
in  thirty-six  hours  under  the  use  of  stimulants  and  antisep- 
tics.    Another  case  soon  presented  itself  with  a  like  result; 
this  he  obtained  permission  to  examine,  and  found  an  ashy 
mucus  lying  upon  the  palate    and    tonsils,   beneath  which 
covering  the  lining  membrane  was  found  entire,    without 
abrasion,    but    highly  inflamed    and   gorged   with   blood. 
The  trachea  was  lined  with  an    adventitious  membrane  of 
extraordinary  tenacity,  which  extended  into  the  broncliial 
tubes,   where    it  gradually  changed  into  a   glairy  mucus. 
Such  is  his  own  record  of  the  case.     A  few  days  after  this 
examination  he   saw  another    child   whose  voice  was  loud 
and  Jioarse,  wiih  sore    throat,    and  ulcers  visible  upon  the 
tonsils  ;  this  case  terminated  fatally  upon  the  seventh  day. 
This  case  was    also   examined  by  Bayley,    who  found  the 
tonsils  and  the  palate   both  involved   in  a  slough,    but  no 
marks  of  inflammation,  nor  any  membranous  deposit  in  the 
trachea.     Comparing   these    two  cases   in  his    own  mind, 
and  reflecting  upon  their  morbid  ap])earances,  he  was  con- 
vinced that  tliere  were  two  distinct  diseases   prevalent,  the 
one  of  a  highly  inflammatory  character,  the  other  less  so  ; 
which    diseases  might   be  complicated  the  one  with  the 

*  DesniellBS  Traite  du  Croup,  p.  105. 
t  DssruclUs  Traitc,  p.  135. 


RICHARD  BAYLEV.  159 

other,  and  even  when  s^o  complicated  rcqniring  j[rreatrr  en- 
ergy of  troatiuent  than  Avas  then  m'licrally  recommended  ; 
for,  as  has  hcen  statetl,  tlie  j)nl)lic  mind  had  heen  mishnl  in 
a  treatise  of  the  day*  hy  the  antlior's  coidounding  the  two 
dise,is(>s  ;  and  yet  with  the  accuracy  of  the  dissections 
which  lie  appears  to  have  ma(U%  how  he  couM  have  fallen 
into  an  error  so  fital,t  is  diilicwlt  to  conceive  ;  not  inten- 
tionally, clearly,  for  when  the  treatment  of  Bay  ley,  of 
which  we  shall  speak,  hecame  so  decidedly  successful, 
Bard  with  honorable  regard  to  truth  rejected  his  own 
views  and  ad()])ted  those  of  Bayley.:}:  Bard's  dissections, 
as  Bayley  remarks,  show  croiij)  in  its  simple  state,  and  as 
complicated  with  the  putrid  sore  throat  and  sloughs  ; 
"which  slouglis,  as  they  were  termed,  were  not  in  croup 
strictly  such,  for  tlierc  was  no  membranous  abrasion 
heneath,  and  no  ulcers  ;  they  might  be  wiped  off,  and  the 
lining  membrane  woidd  appear  whole,  thou<iij  gorned  with 
blood  ;  therefore  Bayley  inferred  that  they  were  adven- 
titious or  newly  formed  parts  of  hardened  mucus  oi'  in- 
spissated lymph,  adding  the  following  passag<;  on  the 
pathology  of  croup,  which  is  the  more  remarkable  as 
ivQ^n  dates  it  is  evidently  antecedent  to  any  other  author. 
'^  When  Angina  Trachealis"  says  Bayley  "  is  theoretically 
considered,  there  Avill  j)rol)al)ly  be  formed,  as  is  generally 
the  case  when  facts  are  not  ascertained,  oj)inions  as  various 
as  the  information  and  different  faculties  of  men  may  sug- 
gest— I  am  induced  to  adopt  the  following;  : 

"  That  the  larynx,  trachea  and  bronchial  jiipeshave  one 
common  membrane,  which  we  are  informed  l)y  injection 
consists  of  little  more  than  an  infinity  of  blood  vessels, 
and  is  consecpiently  liable  to  inllammation,  as  all  vascular 
parts  are.  An  increased  action  of  these  vessels,  as  in  pleu- 
ritic and  ])uerperal  fevers,  occasions  a  preternatural  secre- 
tion of  lymph,  which  from  the  ingress  and  egress  of  air 
becomes  condensed  and  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  mem- 
brane, whose  comj)actness  will  dej)end  upon  the  use  and 
liabit  of  the  ])atient,  the  violenct  of  the  inflammation  and 
the  state  of  the  atmosphere. 

*  BarH'i  Essay  on  Angina  Siiffbcativn. 

t  Hard  on  rapport  a  la  putriilitc  dii  Croup  administrc  Ics  Antiscptiques  ct  pprd 
beaucoup  dr.  maladu. — Lettrei  de  MichatU*  a  Richler.  Journal  Gen.  de  Mtd. 
t.  35,  p.  44.5. 

X  Ccpoml.inl  ce  dernior  aiitcur  (Bard)  frappc  do  non  siicrcs  de  la  mothodc  adopla 
cello  do  B.iyloy. — DrtrMtlltt  Trait f,  p.  296  an  the  authority  of  MirhaeliM.  Al'o 
Valentin  titr  Croup. 


160  RICHARD    BAYLET. 

"  The  common  opinion  is  that  they  who  die  of  tliis  com- 
plaint, are  suffocated  by  the  mejnhraiie's  closing  the  wind- 
pipe. Another  jnoie  respectable  opinion  is  that  a  spasm 
of  tlie  muscles  of  the  larynx  closes  the  scene.  The  cir- 
cumstances which  precede  death  in  this  disease,  compared 
with  those  appearances  which  have  rei^ularly  taken  place 
in  the  cases  which  I  liave  seen  successfully  treated,  explain 
the  cau?e  of  tlie  patient's  death  from  the  laws  of  the 
blood's  circulation.  To  preserve  the  healthful  state  of  an 
animal,  it  is  necessary  that  the  whole  mass  of  blood  should 
circulate  through  the  luno;s  in  a  given  time  ;  the  free  ad- 
mission and  expulsion  of  air  contributes  to  this  regular 
process  ;  the  change,  also,  Avhich  grachially  takes  place  in 
the  lungs,  seems  more  diiectly  to  account  for  the  swelled 
face,  tumid  jugulars  and  tlie  full  staring  eyes,  M'liich  are 
the  symptoms  that  accompany  the  progress  of  this  com- 
plaint ;  and  add  to  this  that  the  larynx,  trachea,  and  bron- 
chia have  been  found  pervious  in  every  subject  I  liave 
dissected,  whilst  their  ramifications  have  been  as  regulai^ly 
filled  with  a  glairy  mucus."* 

Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  or  more  accurate  than  the 
above,  wliether  we  consider  it  as  to  its  pathology,  or  as 
giving  in  very  clear  terms  the  cause  of  death  so  long  re- 
ferred, and  even  at  no  very  distant  period,  to  suffocation 
from  membranous  obstruction  of  the  trachea. 

Such  was  the  view  of  croup  taken  by  Bayley  in  the 
years  1774  and  5,  although  not  published  by  him  until 
several  years  after,  as  he  was  always  particularly  careful 
to  have  his  facts  well  weighed  before  he  hazarded  tliem  in 
print  :  and  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  Bayley's  opinions  on 
this  disease,  and  his  successful  practice  in  coui^onance  to 
those  opinions,  were  published  in  Richter's  Surgical  Re- 
pository several  years  antecedent  to  the  appearance  of  his 
own  letter  on  croup.  These  opinions  were  conveyed  in 
the  letters  of  Michaelis,  the  distinguished  chief  of  the  Hes- 
sian Medical  Staff,  whose  celebrated  dissert ationf  on  this 
subject  had  yet  to  be  improved  by  observations  in  America 
derived  from  the  views,  practice  and  dissections  of  an  Amer- 
ican surgeon.  It  is  no  less  true  than  honorable,  that  to 
Richard  Bayley  did  his  friend,  the  celebrated  Michaelis, 
yield  up  his  own  opinions  of  the  croup  ;  and  with  a  candor 

*  Med.  Rep.  vol.  14,  p.  346,  Bayley's   paraphlst. 
t  De   Angina  polyposa  sive  membranacea. 


KICHARD    BAYLCr.  161 

and  love  of  truth  so  characteristic  of  a  scientific  man,  the 
titled  authority,  as  he  then  was,  u(k)ptr(l  the  opinions  and 
practice  of  a  young  American  j)liy.»ician,  tiic  unknown 
Day  ley. 

After  Iiavini^  thus  distinguished  himself,  Baylcy  in  the 
autunm  of  1775  revisited  En<rlan(l,  to  avail  liimstlf  ol  the 
aid  of  Hunter  and  liis  collection.  His  conversations  with 
that  dislin<]juished  man  led  to  a  request  that  Bavley's 
observations  and  dissections  mii^ht  be  placed  before  tlic 
public  :  wliich  finally,  in  1781,  nine  years  after  his  oj)in- 
ions  were  first  formed  and  after  they  had  fully  stood  the 
test  of  experience,  was  done  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Hunter,  wliich  notwithstanding  its  merits  would  long 
since  have  perished  but  for  tiie  treasury  of  the  American 
Medical  Repository.  Bayley  spent  a  winter  in  London, 
where  he  was  busied  in  studies,  dissections  and  compari- 
sons xipon  the  merits  of  different  modes  of  treatment  and 
views  of  disease  as  evinced  in  Loiulon  and  Edinburgli, 
whicii  resulted  in  a  preference  of  the  former.* 

In  the  spring  of  1776  he  returned  to  New-York  in  the 
capacity  of  surgeon  in  tlie  English  army  under  Howe. 
This  was  a  step  of  neressity  rather  than  of  inclination,  as 
the  sequel  proves.  For  like  genius  in  every  clime,  Bavley 
was  poor  ;  aiul  the  necessity  of  a  lovely  wife  and  beloved 
children,  will  often  dictate  a  course  which  sober  reason 
might  not  approve.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  he  proceeded 
with  the  fleet  and  a  detachment  of  five  or  six  thousand 
troops  wlikJi  took  possession  of  Newport,  Rhode-Island, 
and  was  there  established  as  hospital  surgeon  of  that  po^t. 
His  wife  being  then  at  New-York  and  in  delicate  health, 
his  desires  and  affections  strongly  coincided  to  induce  a 
return  to  that  city  ;  but  the  sternness  of  military  law 
yields  not  to  the  entreaties  of  private  affection,  whilst  the 
duties  of  the  station  forbade  even  a  short  furlough.  Under 
these  circumstances,  his  wife  being  in  an  exposed  citv,  ill 
and  dependant  upbn  the  charity  of  strangers,  the  very 
object  of  his  exertions  was  lost  ;  and  in  addition  he  learned 
with  mortification  that,  under  a  certain  term  of  service, 
not  even  a  half  pay  establishment,  the  object  of  his  enter- 
ing the  service,  could  be  expected.  His  ardent  mind  ex- 
cited by  anxiety  aivd  distress  saw  but  one  alternative  left, 
viz.  resignation  ;  he  accordingly  threw  up   his   commis- 

*  Vide  MS.  letter  ofEdnvd  Siovena  to  Baj'U/. 

21 


162  RICHARD    BATLEY. 

sion,  and  returned  to  New-York  in  the  spring  of  1777,  just 
in  time  to  receive  a  last  pledge  of  aflection  from  his  expir- 
ing wife. 

A  new  scene  now  opened  upon  him.  Beloved  by  his 
former  officers,  and  esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens,  he 
seemed  to  be  fast  gaining  repu*tation  and  comfort  ;  whilst 
the  influence  he  possessed  with  the  several  commanding 
officers,  was  often  exerted  in  saving  the  lives  and  rescuing 
the  property  of  his  absent  friends  and  fellow  citizens  from 
confiscation  or  destruction.  About  this  period  the  croup 
again  made  its  appearance,  and  Bayley  adopted  his  old 
method  of  treatment,  still  however  instituting  post  mor- 
tem examinations  ;  one  of  which  in  particular,  as  being 
very  decidedly  characteristic  of  Bayley's  views,  was 
shown  to  Michaelis,  and  was  one  of  the  causes  that  indue- 
ed  the  latter  to  adopt  Bayley's  opinion  of  its  highly  in- 
flammatory character.  Three  years  afterwards,  viz.  1781^ 
his  "  Letter,"  was  published  recommending  venesection  ad 
deliquium  and  from  the  jugular  vein,  blisters  to  the  throat, 
antimony  to  nauseate  and  occasionally  pushed  to  emesis, 
and  calomel  and  enemata  as  evacuants  and  alteratives  of 
secretion.  It  was  added  in  a  postcript,  "  That  as  a  recent 
publication  dissuades  from  venesection  in  the  advanced 
stage  from  a  fear  of  its  putrid  tendency,  he  would  state 
that  unless  ulcers  accompany  it,  there  is  no  fear  of  putres- 
cency,  dissections  proving  the  inflammatory  action  of  the 
trachea  and  bronchia  and  its  fatality  in  the  inflammatory 
stage." 

Appended  to  Bayley's  tract  is  a  very  interesting  and 
valuable  letter  to  him  from  that  gentleman  and  scholar^ 
Dr.  Middleton,  bearing  date  November  30th,  1780,  in 
which,  after  adverting  to  their  frequent  previous  conver- 
sations upon  the  subject,  he  fully  coincides  with  Bayley's 
view  of  the  inflammatory  nature  of  the  disease,  and  the 
efficiency  of  the  prompt  remedial  applications  by  him  re- 
commended. It  is  remarkable,  however,  in  this  letter  of 
Middleton  that  nothing  is  said  of  emetics  ;  for  it  was  not 
to  his  bold  and  extensive  venesection  alone,  that  Bayley 
was  indebted  for  success  in  croup  ;  he  constantly  and  effi- 
ciently employed  emetics,  generally  however  premising 
venesection  ;  because,  in  addition  to  the  rapidly  inflam- 
matory progress  of  the  disease,  he  had  once  observed  an 
emetic  to  produce  convulsions  from  a  want  of  such  pre- 
liminary treatmei>t. 


RICHARD    BATLET.  163 

All  things  then  considered,  it  is  to  Richard  Baylcy  that 
we  are  indebted  for  our  present  active  and  sncres^l'urniode 
of  treatment  in  cronp  ;  and  this  method  lie  adopted  con- 
trary to  popnlar  o|)ini()n  and  in  tlie  teeth  of  j)roles>ional 
disaj)prol)ation,  for  lie  knew  that  there  was  but  one  nnerr- 
injT  record  of  disease,  viz.  Pathology,  and  that  taught  him 
the  luiihly  inflannnatory  character  oVcronj). 

Indeed  such  was  Hayley's  attention  to  m()rl)id  anatomy 
and  intiM-nal  pathology,  that  it  iKHame  the  subject  of  in- 
vitlious  objeition  to  him  l)y  some  of  his  narrow  minded 
contemporaries,  who  circulated  a  report  that  during  his 
winter  residence  at  Newport  he  was  in  the  hal)it  of  cut- 
ting up  his  patients,  and  performing  cruel  experiments 
upon  the  sick  soldiery. 

But  IJayley  was  not  only  assiduous  in  cultivating  know- 
ledge ;  he^wa-s  likewise  disposed  to  impart  it  ;  and  so 
early  as  1787  he  delivered  lectures,  in  a  then  unoccupied 
edifice  since  converted  into  the  New-York  Hospital,  upon 
surgery,  whilst  his  son-in-law  Dr.  Wrijiht  Post,  so  distin- 
guished by  his  subclavian  operation,  lectured  uj)on  ana- 
tomy. In  the  year  17S8,  however,  in  consecpience  of 
imprudence  on  the  part  of  some  students,  the  populace 
became  excited  against  the  profession,  and  the  celebrated 
*'  Doctors'  Mob"  broke  into  the  building,  especially  in  its 
south  wing,  where  they  found  Bayley's  alreadv  valuable 
cabinet,  which  Avas  forthwith  hea})ed  into  carts,  carried 
forth  and  trinm])hantly  buried  ;  a  loss  which  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted,  as  in  addition  to  a  rare  collection  in  mor- 
bid anatomy,  of  which  sj)ecimens  he  had  the  particular 
histories,  there  \vere  some  extremely  delicate  preparations 
which  evinced  his  anatomical  dextc'ritv,  as  strikingly  as 
the  former  illustrated  the  accuracy  of  his  ])at]iorogical 
])rofnieiu'V. 

In  the  spring  of  1792  the  Faculty  of  CoInmI)ia  College, 
in  conformity  with  their  charter  privileges,  deeming  it 
expedient  to  erect  a  medical  faculty  elected  both  Bayley 
and  Post  as  professors,  the  former  of  Anatomv,  and  the 
latter  of  Surcery  ;  Imt  as  Dr.  Post  rej)aire(l  inunediatelv 
to  London,  Bayley  dis(  barged  the  chitiis  of  ho[]i  profess- 
orshijx  during  the  winter  of  1792  and  ;J.  Po>t,  however, 
returnin«r  in  the  fall  of  1  793  asstnne.j  the  anatomical  chair, 
whilst  Bayley  took  his  favorite  subject,  surgery,  in  which 
he  was  certainly  distiuLTuished  as  a  clear,  precise  and 
practical  lecturer  ;  for  his  surgery  was  not  theoretical  nor 


164  RICHARD    BATLET. 

founded  upon  reading  and  authorities,  but  was  the  result 
of  experience  and  observation.  In  addition  to  being  a 
most  experienced  and  successful  lithotomist,  notwithstand- 
ing his  constant  use  of  Hawkins'  gorget,  he  also  in  the 
year  1 782  successfully  removed  the  arm  from  its  glenoid 
cavity  by  the  operation  of  the  shoulder  joint  ;  an  operation 
at  which  Dr.  Post,  then  a  student,  assisted  ;  and  which, 
as  far  as  it  has  been  in  our  power  to  examine,  is  the  first 
instance  of  its  being  practised  in  the  United  States,  and 
among  the  first  of  its  proving  completely  successfnl  in 
any  country.  As  an  optician,  a  department  of  surgery 
then  as  little  known  as  it  lias  latterly  been  widely  estab- 
lished through  the  country  by  the  creditable  exertions  of 
two  gentlemen  whom  we  are  gratified  to  claim  as  fellow 
citizens,*  he  gained  deserved  celebrity  ;  whilst  his  general 
preference  of  extraction  above  depression  of  the  lens  in 
cataract,  sufficiently  indicates  his  sound  judgment  and 
ready  skill. 

Devoted  to  his  profession,  he  left  no  individual  exertion 
unemployed  to  elevate  its  character  and  give  permanence 
to  its  utility  ;  hence  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  promoters 
of  the  New-York  Dispensary,  as  is  evinced  by  his  corres- 
pondence on  that  subject  with  Dr.  Bard.  To  him,  then, 
amongst  others  are  we  to  ascribe  the  benefits  of  that  Avell 
conducted  charity,  whose  exertions  are  limited  only  by  a 
want  which  in  a  city  like  New-York  is  of  all  others  the 
most  disgraceful,  a  want  of  funds. 

Soon  after  the  war  of  the  revolution,  that  scourge  of 
unclean  places,  yellow  fever,  appeared  among  our  cities. 
Its  fatality  clothed  it  with  all  the  mysticism  implied  in  the 
often  used  though  still  little  understood  terms  of  Conta- 
gion, Infection  and  Pestilence,  until  the  populace  became 
so  excited  with  these  chimeras  of  terrific  and  mysterious 
influence,  that  an  attack  of  this  fever  became  a  death  war- 
rant to  the  patient  ;  from  whose  presence  or  proximity 
physicians,  nurses,  friends  and  relatives  fled,  leaving  the 
sufferer's  last  hope  to  be  extinguished  by  the  desertion  of 
all  whose  assiduities  and  attentions  might  have  soothed  at 
least,  if  not  prevented,  his  hour  of  doom.  But  during  this 
period  of  alarm  Bayley  stood  firm  and  undismayed  : 
busied  in  giving  personal  attentions  to  the  sick,  he  became 
practically  familiar  with  the  disease  and  its  more  success- 

*  ProfosBor  Edward  Delafield  and  Dr.  J.  K.  Rogers,  of  New-York. 


RICHARD    BAYLLf.  IG5 

ful  rem'^dial  applications.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  lie 
investigated  its  causation,  and  in  July  2(Jth,  HOG,  he 
writes  to  tiie  Rev.  R.  C.  Moore  in  reply  to  a  letter  from 
that  geiitkinan  intpiiriiig  if  lie  njight  with  safety  return  to 
the  city,  that  he  might  so  return  to  the  district  in  whith 
that  gentleman  resided,  as  the  dock  fever,  as  he  termed  it, 
was  a  murderer  of  our  own  creating,  wIiojc  origin  is  local 
and  referriMe  to  the  recent  filling  in  of  docks  with  filth, 
ofllids,  the  carcases  of  horses,  &.c.  iLc.  afilirming  "  that  when 
a  more  rigid  police  prevails  to  free  the  city  from  nui- 
sances, no  more  will  he  heard  of  particular  diseases." 

In  171)7  he  puhlished  his  Avork  "  on  Yellow  Fever," 
wherein  he  is  at  great  j)ains  to  give  distinctiveness  to  the 
terms  Contagion  and  Infection,  saying  "  By  contagion  we 
underst  md  something  peculiar  and  specific,  poss^essing 
properties  essentially  different  from  any  thing  else,  e.  g. 
measles,  small})OX,  &.c.  not  requiring  the  concurrence 
of  certain  causes  to  render  them  contagious  ;  they  are  so 
under  all  circumstances.  But  other  diseases  may  or  may 
not  be  infectious,  according  to  the  conditional  state  in 
whi(h  tliey  are  j)laced."*  In  tlie  same  essays  he  adchices 
the  strongest  te>timony  of  its  local  origin.  Indeed  so 
strong  was  his  belief  upon  this  point,  and  so  clear  and 
just  his  conce])tions  of  the  causes  pioducing  it,  that  he 
predicted  the  very  spot  where  it  afterward  appeared  in 
the  year  1799.  This  work  of  Bayley's,  now  little  known 
except  to  his  contemporaries,  is  written  in  a  concise,  plain 
and  nervous  style,  with  a  lucid  and  methodic  arrangement 
of  facts,  whence  his  deductions  leave  it  free  for  every  read- 
er to  Judge  how  fir  the  one  may  justify  the  other  :  it  is 
a  work  j)urely  practical,  the  fruit  of  a  painful  and  hazard- 
ous experience  in  the  disease,  which  he  most  uuhesitat- 
inirly  pronounces  not  contagious,  an  o])iiiion,  jjrofessorial 
dicta  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  which  he  never 
pubse(|uently  saw  reason  to  alter  or  modify,  and  which  has 
now  become  tiie  opinion  of  the  impartial  practitioners  of 
every  clime.  His  remarks  upon  the  condition  of  the 
atmosphere  and  its  remarkal)le  deficiency  of  eledricity 
combined  with  excessive  humidity,  as  illustrated  by  the 
observations  of  Mr.  Gardiner  Baker  at  the  nniseuni,  are 
highly  curious  and  valuable,  and  strongly  tend  to  corrobo- 
rate his  views  and  opinions. 


•  Em*j  on  Yellow  F»T«r,  p.  38. 


166  RICHARD    BAYLEY. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  exposition  of  his  opinion  and 
practice,  and  having  in  1795  or  6  been  appointed  Health 
Physician  to  the  port  of  New-York,  he  in  1798  published 
*'  Letters  from  the  Health  Office  submitted  to  the  New- 
York  Common  Council,"  being  a  series  of  letters  in  the 
years  '96 — 7  and  8  ;  one  letter,  dated  December  4th,  1798, 
assigns  his  reasons  wliy  the  fever  of  '98  was  more  exten- 
sively prevalent  than  in  '95 — 6  or  7,  which  refer  to  the 
excessive  rains  flooding  large  portions  of  the  city,  its  low 
levels,  neAV  made  ground  and  a  hot  sun. 

In  this  same  year,  1798,  a  correspondence  took  place  be- 
tween Governor  Mifflin,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Phila- 
delphia College  of  Physicians,  and  afterward  between  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  and  the  city  of  New-York.  In  the 
course  of  this  a  proposition  was  made  by  the  Philadelphia 
committee  to  the  committee  of  New-York,  soliciting  their 
co-operation  in  a  memorial  to  the  general  government  for 
a  Quarantine  Law,  in  which,  amongst  other  clauses,  one 
amountinor  to  the  total  exclusion  of  all  West  India  com- 
merce,  or  a  non-intercourse  act  for  the  summer  months, 
was  proposed  ;  but  it  was  objected  to  by  the  New-York 
committee.  A  modified  memorial  was,  however,  jointly 
presented  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  the  pass- 
age of  some  general  Quarantine  Regulations.  This  exact- 
ly suited  Bay  ley,  who  served  on  one  of  the  New-York 
committees,  for  he  had  been  long  and  ardently  engaged 
winter  after  winter  at  the  capitol  of  New-York,  seeking 
the  adoption  and  enactment  of  certain  regulations  proposed 
by  him  ;  and  he  in  fact  is  the  person  to  whom  we  are  chief- 
ly indebted  for  our  State  Quarantine  Laws,  although  they 
have  been  since  altered  and  amended.  Accordingly  Bay- 
ley  seized  this  opportunity  of  impressing  upon  the  general 
government  the  propriety  of  a  quarantine  establishment 
or  lazaretto  below  and  at  a  distance  from  the  city,  or  port 
of  entry,  where  suspected  vessels  might  be  brought  to  an- 
chor, examined,  suffered  to  pass  on  if  deemed  proper,  or 
imladen,  ventilated  and  purified  ;  the  sick  removed  from 
their  confined  situation  on  ship  lioard,  and  comfortably 
established  in  a  well  appointed  hospital,  &c.  &c. 

Accordingly  this  joint  petition  was  granted  by  the  pass- 
age of  the  Act  of  1799.  In  November  of  that  year  Bay- 
ley  addressed  a  letter  to  Governor  Jay  upon  the  fever  of 
1798,  in  which,  after  referring  to  his  pamphlet  on  the  fe- 
ver of  1795,  and  recapitulating  its  local  causes,  he  remarks 


RICHARD  BAYLCr.  167 

that   cool   weather,  thTindcr  and  rain  suspeiKleil   it   for  a 
time,  and  that  its  extension   from  its  sonne  was  in  the  di- 
rection of  tho  i)rov;deMt  winds  ;  addini;  tliat  moist  weather 
not  only  predisposes  to  the  causation  of  this   disease,   but 
also  predisposes  the  constitution  to   he   more  easily   acted 
upon  by  it,  whilst  in  a  hot  dry  air  there  is  less  liahility  to 
Its  spreadinjj,  as  it  then  recpiires  persons   to    be   innucnced 
af  the  i)la(e  where  the  excitinjr  cause  is   most   concent  rate, 
spreadii.ir  very  little  beyond  that  point.     He  concludes  by 
dwellinjr  on  the  importance  of  be iM<r  aware  of  its  local  ori- 
gin, in  order  to  remedy  it  by  the  adoption  of  suitable  and 
efficient  means  ;  and  he  particularly  animadverts  upon  the 
then   prevalent  mode  of   makincr   new  ground,  and  states 
that,  in  a  district  which  suH'ered  under  this   condition,  af- 
ter covering  the  surface  with  a  few  feet  of  fresh  and  good 
earth  the  fever  soon  began  to  abate,  the  weather  remiiinincr 
unchanged.      Human  contagion  he   denies,  adducing  as  a 
proof  that  there  was  no  instance  of  a  nurse  or  attendant  in 
the  hospitals  taking  the  disease  ;    but  that  it   may  be  con- 
veyed by  goods  or  foinites,  as  they  arc  technically  termed, 
he  gives  an   instance  by  statincr  that,  when  tiie  liosj)ital  at 
Bedlow's  Ishuul  was  first  opened,  for  want  of  proper  bed- 
ding, &c.  the  old  ones  which  had   that  summer  been  used 
for   fever   patients,  had   been   brought  unventilated    from 
Bellevue  to  it,  and  that  such  as   were  encjaged    in    their 
transportation,  and  the  nurses  who  received  and  arranged 
them,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  disease  ;    but  every  tliintr  w-ent 
on  well  after  their  destruction  and  purification.         * 

But  the  period  had  now  arrived  when  Bayley  Avas  to 
end  a  life  of  active  utility  upon  the  very  spot  aiid  in  the 
very  cause  where  his  labors  had  been  so 'extensively  bene- 
ficial to  his  profession  and  to  humanity.  In  the  discharcre 
of  his  duty  as  Health  Physician  in  Auir„st,  1801,  he  dirert- 
ed  the  passengers  and  crew  of  an  Irish  emicrrant  ship  with 
ship  f,.vcr  to  ffo  on  shore  to  the  rooms  and  tents  ai)j)ointed 
lor  them,  leaving  their  i)a<Tgage  behind.  This  was  in  the 
evening  ;  early  the  foUowiiifr  morning  upon  froinfr  to  the 
Hospital  he  found  that  his  orders  had  been  disolu'ved  ; 
an(  that  crew  and  passengers,  men,  women  and  children, 
well,  sick  and  dyinii,  ^vith  all  their  bag  era  rre,  were  huddled 
together  in  one  apartment,  where  thev  had  passed  the 
nicht.  Into  this  apartment,  before  it  had  been  ventilated, 
he  imprudently  entered  and  remained  but  a  moment  •  be- 
ing compelled    to   retire  l)y  the    most    dcadlv  sicknesi  at 


WILLIAM  EAYNHAM. 

stomach  and  intense  pain  in  the  head,  wliich  seized  him 
immediately  upon  entering  the  apartment.  Returning  home 
he  retired  to  bed,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  seventh  day 
following  he  expired,  leaving  behind  him  a  high  character 
as  a  clinically  instructed  physician,  an  excellent  and  bold 
operator,  a  prompt  practitioner,  of  rapid  diagnosis  and 
unhesitating  decision.  In  demeanor  a  perfect  gentleman  ; 
honest  and  chivalrously  honorable  ;  of  perfect  integrity, 
and  therefore  little  tolerant  of  obliquity  in  others  ;  ever 
ready  to  serve  the  cause  of  his  profession  ;  inflexible  in 
his  attachments  ;  invincible  in  his  dislikes,  and  unbrooking 
of  insult  :  in  temper  fiery,  yet  suddenly  cool  ;  a  fault  which 
he  knew  and  regretted  ;  thoroughly  fearless,  somewhat 
too  strongly  partial  to  certain  patients,  but  withal  chari- 
table to  a  fault. — MS.  Letter  to  the  Author. 

BAYNHAM,  WILLIAM,  ESQ.  Surgeon,  was  the  son 
of  Dr.  John  Baynham  of  Caroline  County,  Virginia,  and 
was  born  December  1749.  After  having  devoted  five  years 
of  his  early  life  to  acqviiring  the  elements  of  his  profession 
\mder  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Walker,  at  that  time  considered 
as  one  of  the  most  eminent  surgeons  in  America,  and  thus 
by  a  regular  and  laborious  apprenticeship  laid  that  founda- 
tion for  future  eminence,  which  unfortunately  by  too  many 
is  deemed  unnecessary,  he  was  sent  by  his  parents  or  guard- 
ians to  complete  his  education  in  London  in  1769,  where 
he  entered  as  a  student  at  St.  Thomas's  Hospital. 

Here  he  soon  acquired  the  notice  of  Mr.  Else,  the  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy,  which  ripened  into  a  reciprocal  attach- 
ment that  continued  through  life.  Under  his  direction  he 
became  particularly  attached  to  the  study  of  anatomy  and 
surgery,  and  by  application  and  perseverance  he  soon  ac- 
quired a  complete  knowledge  of  both  these  departments  of 
science.  He  Avas  remarkable  for  unwearied  and  minute 
attention  and  diligence  in  every  thing  he  attempted,  and 
thereby  ensured  success  if  at  all  attainable.  As  a  proof  of 
his  early  anatomical  knowledge  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
he  was  employed  in  1772  by  the  Professor  of  Anatomy  at 
Cambridge  to  dissect  and  prepare  the  subjects  for  his  lec- 
tures. Mr.  Baynham  continued  to  assist  the  Professor  in 
his  dissections,  &c.  for  several  winters,  and  in  the  remain- 
ing part  of  the  year  was  a  partner  of  Mr.  Slater,  an  emi- 
nent surgeon  of  Margate,  which  was  a  very  profitable  and 
agreeable  connexion,  as  appears  from  some  observations  in 
Mr.  Baynham's  own  hand  writing.     Whilst  he  was  in  thi« 


WILLIi^M   BAYNHAM.  169 

situation  he  received  an  invitation  from  Mr.  Else,  the  dis- 
tinguished Professor  of  Anatomy  at  St.  Thomas's,  to  re- 
turn to  London  and  become  his  assistant  demonstrator. 
A  proposition  so  flattering  and  apparently  so  advantageous, 
was  immediately  acceded  to  by  Mr.  Baynham,  Avith  the  con 
sent  of  Mr.  Slater,  who,  however,  wishing  to  retain  him, 
offered  liim  an  equal  share  in  the  partnership. 

Mr.  Baynham  engaged  with  Mr.  Else  on  the  following 
terms  :  he  was  to  superintend  the  anatomical  theatre  and 
dissecting  room,  prepare  the  bodies  for  his  public  demon- 
strations, make  preparations  for  the  museum,  and  to  instruct 
the  pupils  in  the  arts  of  dissecting,  injecting,  making  ana- 
tomical preparations,  &c.  with  a  salary  of  eighty  and  nine- 
ty pounds  the  two  first  years,  and  one  hundred  pounds  a 
year  for  five  succeeding  years  ;  at  the  expiration  of  which 
(having  qualified  himself  in  the  interim  for  the  office)  Mr. 
Else  was  to  relinquish  to  him  the  professor's  chair,  or  to 
take  him  as  joint  professor  on  equal  terms,  as  he  (Mr. 
Baynham)  might  choose.  Having  returned  to  St.  Thomas's 
he  pursued  his  occupation  with  unremitted  assiduity,  and 
thereby  acquired  that  minute  knowledge  of  anatomy  for 
which  he  was  so  justly  celebrated.  He  prepared  for  the 
museum  more  than  three  times  the  number  of  rare  and 
valuable  preparations  which  he  found  there.  Their  con- 
nexion continued  five  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  Mr. 
Else  died  suddenly  of  an  apoplexy,  without  making  any 
preparation  for  him  as  his  successor.  Mr.  Baynham  was 
even  an  entire  stranger  to  the  governors  of  the  Hospital, 
in  whom  was  vested  the  power  of  appointing  a  successor 
to  the  late  professor.  His  reputation  as  an  anatomist  and 
surgeon,  hoAvever,  was  so  Avell  established,  that  when  the 
election  was  made  his  opponent  obtained  the  appointment 
by  one  vote  only,  and  that  because  two  of  Mr.  Baynham's 
friends  Avere  absent. 

Mr.  Else  bequeathed  to  him  the  museum  by  his  Avill  at 
the  price  of  six  hundred  pounds,  Avhich  he  afterAvards  sold 
to  Mr.  Cline,  Avho  obtained  the  aj)pointment,  for  eiffht 
hundred  pounds  ;  reserving  to  himself  some  very  beautiful 
and  valuable  preparations  Avhich  Avere  on  hand  and  unfin- 
ished at  the  time,  and  which  with  others  occasionally  made 
by  himself,  were  sold  for  one  hundred  guineas  to  Mr. 
Blizard,  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  London  hospital. 
Among  these  Avas  a  very  fine  preparation  of  a  testis,  beau- 
tifully injected,  which  satisfactorily  df^rlded  the  lon§  din- 
22 


170  WILLIAM  BAYNHAM. 

puted  question  between  Else,  Pott,  Hunter,  and  others, 
whether  in  the  operation  for  hydrocele  by  caustic  as  per- 
formed by  Else  tliC  cure  was  ellectcil  by  adhesion,  or  by  a 
total  dei^trut  tion  of  the  tunica  vaginalis,  as  was  asserted  by 
Else.  In  this  case  the  caustic  was  applied  in  his  ordinary 
way  by  Mr.  Else,  and,  the  patient  having  died  of  another 
disease,  Mr.  Baynham  dissected  out  the  parts  and  injected 
them  by  the  spermatic  artery  with  a  very  fine  injection 
colored  with  vermilion.  The  tunica  vaginalis  was  much 
tliickencd,  l)ut  otherwise  perfectly  sound  in  every  part, 
except  where  the  caustic  had  acted  ;  and  every  appearance 
clearly  demonstrated  the  actual  existence  of  what  Mr. 
Hunter  termed  adhesive  inflammation  and,  conjointly  with 
the  aj)pearance  of  soundness  in  the  tunica  vaginalis,  estab- 
lished the  fact  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  cure  is  perform- 
ed by  adhesion  and  not  by  the  destruction  of  the  sack. 

Mr.  Baynham  injected  and  demonstrated  a  fine  vascular 
membrane  on  the  surface  of  the  cutis  immediately  under 
the  rete  mucosum,  separate  and  distinct  from  the  cutis  and 
capable  of  separation  from  it  throughout  its  whole  extent. 
Dr.  William  Hunter  was  satisfied  of  this  fact  from  the  pre- 
parations which  were  made  and  shown  to  him,  expressing 
his  surprise  by  saying,  "  what  have  we  been  doing  so  long, 
that  we  never  observed  this  before  .'"'  Mr.  Cruikshanks  was 
then  about  to  publish  his  observations  on  the  absorbents, 
and  proposed  to  attach  an  account  of  this  discovery  to  his 
book,  which  was  agreed  to  ;  and  in  that  book  is  the  only 
notice  of  it  which  the  writer  of  this  has  seen,  except  one 
apparently  taken  from  the  same  source  in  Wistar's  Anato- 
my. The  account  given  by  Cruikshanks  is  a  gross  mis- 
representation, and  an  attempt  to  confound  this  with  that 
part  of  the  cutis  he  had  been  operatinjsf^upon  to  discover  the 
seat  of  the  variolous  pustules.  He  presented  a  copy  of  this 
work  to  Mr.  Baynham,  which  has  on  its  margin  various 
remarks  in  his  (Mr.  Baynham's)  writing,  expressing  his 
indignation  against  the  author  for  so  doing,  and  clearly 
marking  wliat  he  ought  to  have  j)ul)lished.  This  mem- 
brane explains  the  seat  and  appearance  of  erysipelatous  in- 
flammation, the  cure  of  it  l)y  blistering,  and  the  probabili- 
ty that  scarification  throiigli  this  membrane  would  arrest 
its  progress,  and  accounts  for  the  progress  of  superficial 
gangrene  being  stojjped  by  a  blister  applied  above  it. 

On  the  7th  day  of  June,  1781,   Mr.  Baynham  became  a 
member  of  the  company  of  surgeons  of  London  (which  is 


W'lrHAM    DAVNHAM.  171 

to  the  surpjeon  what  the  degree  of  M.  D.  is  to  the  physician) 

and  rominrncod  the  praclico  of  sur^rry  in  London,  and 
])rol)al)ly  continued  to  do  so  while  he  remained  in  (hat  city. 
Having  resided  sixteen  years  in  England,  Mr.  Baynha  n 
returned  to  his  native  country,  and  shortly  after  settled  in 
Essex,  where  he  contiinied  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  on  theSth  of  l)e<«Mid)er,  IHl  1,  liiiviiiir  the  day  hefo  e 
conij)lete(l  tlu>  Glith  year  of  a  life  which  had  hetn  actively 
and  usefully  spejit  in  the  j)ursuit  of  a  hihorious  prole-sion 
and  in  the  service  of  his  fellow  creatures.  It  is  not  to  hv 
wondered  at  that  having  laid  such  a  solid  foundation,  and 
brouiiht  with  hitn  so  di^tinfJuished  a  reputation,  he  should 
immediately  obtain  an  extensive  practice,  and  support  and 
even  augment  his  celelirity.  To  enumerate  the  difl'erent 
operations  upon  which  his  re])utation  rested,  would  he 
suj)errtnons  ;  many  arc  already  known  to  the  public,  and 
especially  to  medical  men.  There  is  scarcely  any  tlifhcult 
operation  in  surgery  which  he  did  not  perform,  and  with 
almost  invarial)le  success.  He  particularly  sitrnalizetl  him- 
self hv  several  ojierations  for  stone,  cataract  and  extra-ute- 
rine conce])tion.  A  detailed  account  of  a  case  of  the  latter 
may  !)e  wen  hv  reference  to  the  New-Vork  Medical  an. I 
Surgical  Journal. 

It  is  no  sinall  proof  of  the  siiperior  merit  of  Mr.  Bayn- 
ham,  tliat,  nolwithstandinij  (he  obscure  and  confined  thea- 
tre of  his  practice,  his  talents  hitlden  as  (hey  were  in  some 
measure  from  (he  public  eye  by  the  seclusion  of  a  country 
life,  and  restricted  l)y  a  limited  po|)ulation,  he  acquinil  a 
reputation  tpiite  as  spleuditlaml  almost  as  extensive  as  any 
of  those  eminent  surgeons,  who  possessed  for  the  display 
of  their  abilities  the  advantage  of  the  most  populous  citif^s^ 
and  the  most  consj)icuous  oflicial  stations.  Ilewasfrtf- 
(pientlv  sent  for  to  oui-  lar<;c  cities  and  sometimes  eVi-n  ih- 
to  other  states.  He  was  applied  to  for  ad\  ice  by  pers(fVis 
living  in  remote  parts  of  the  union,  and  had  patients  at- 
tencling  him  at  his  own  residence  who  were  brought  thith- 
er by  his  fame  to  obtain  the  benefit  of  his  skill.  As  a 
surgeon,  it  is  probabl(>  that  .Mr.  Baynham  had  n(»  su]>**rior; 
as  an  anatomist,  it  i>:  certain  that  be  had  none.  The  "most 
ample  testimonies  exist  to  prove  the  resjM-ct  in  wlitcli  his 
talents  havr  alwavs  been  held  l)otli  in  Europe  and  America. 
He  is  always  mentioned  bv  the  several  Professor*:  of  Ana- 
tomy in  our  Universities  in  their  lectures  with  the  greatest 
respect,  and  we  have  heard  a  distinguished    teacher  assert 


171 


niLLIAM   BAII^UAM. 


that  he  considered  him  in  the  art  of  making  anatomical 
preparations  only  second  to  Ruysch.  One  remark  I 
will  add,  says  his  biographer,  which  is  that  Dr.  Physick 
and  Mr.  Baynham  are  the  only  persons  whom  I  know  in 
America  that  have  really  improved  the  surgical  proiession. 
It  has  been  falsely  supposed  by  some,  who  were  probably 
misled  by  his  great  surgical  reputation,  that  he  was  not 
eminent  as  a  physician.  But  if  success  can  be  assumed  as  a 
criterion  of  excellence,  he  deserved  tlie  highest  credit  in 
the  latter  character  ;  and  accordingly  it  has  been  awarded 
him  by  the  suffrages  of  those  Avho  had  the  l)est  opportu- 
nity of  judging  of  his  merit,  his  own  patients.  To  the  super- 
ficial observer,  Avho  measures  the  altitude  of  the  mind  by 
the  vibrations  of  the  tongue,  and  considers  fluency  and 
eloquence  of  discourse  as  the  only  unerring  criterion  of 
talents,  he  could  not  have  appeared  worthy  of  his  high 
reputation.  He  was  slow  ancl  not  very  distinct  in  the 
enunciation  of  his  ideas.  Entirely  unambitious  of  orna- 
ment, talking  only  to  be  understood  and  never  for  effect, 
despising  the  prismatic  glare  of  factitious  refinement  and 
exaggerating  declamation,  by  which  the  feebleness  of  the 
idea  is  so  often  concealed  beneath  the  sj)lendor  of  the  dress, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  s-eldom  made  a  favor- 
able impression  on  strangers,  and  that  he  generally  on  first 
acquaintance  disappointed  those  whose  expectations  had 
been  raied,  and  whose  opinion  of  him  hacl  been  formed 
from  the  report  of  fame. 

We  now  approach  that  part  of  his  character  which  to 
himself  and  to  his  posterity  is  of  infinitely  more  import- 
ance than  all  the  fame  andall  the  favors  which  the  world 
can  be.tow,  his  moral  worth,  his  merit  as  a  man  and  a 
mendjer  of  the  great  human  family.  In  most  of  the  rela- 
tions in  which  Mr.  Baynham  was  connected  with  society, 
he  discharged  all  his  duties  in  an  unusually  exemplary 
manner.  That  he  had  some  eccentricities  of  temper  must 
be  confessed,  but  that  they  have  been  exaggerated  by  mali- 
cious observers  is  also  true.  AVith  an  exterior  somewhat 
gloomy  and  austere  he  possessed  the  kindest  and  most 
philanthropic  feelings — indeed  few  men  had  naturally 
warmer  hearts.  In  him  the  poor  ever  fotmd  a  friend  and 
benefactor  ready  by  the  humane  offices  of  his  skill  to  as- 
suage the  pangs  of  bodily  disease,  or  by  his  beneficent 
liberality,  which  sometimes  bordered  even  on  munificence, 
to  relieve  them  from  the  equally  cruel    pangs  of  poverty. 


JOHN    BLATTT.  1*73 

He  was  one  of  those  very  few  men,  says  another  writer, 
whose  loss  will  he  a  puhlic  inisforlune,  for  I  know  not 
who  is  to  suctced  him  in  \  iiaiiiia  as  a  Mirycon.  In  his 
profession  he  was  second  to  Dr.  Fhysic^k  only,  and  nothing 
hut  the  most  narrow,  inveterate  and  mali^jiiant  jealousy 
rould  asperse  his  medical  reputation.  He  was  a  memher 
of  the  Royal  College  of  8ur<ieons,  and  con>e(|U('iillv  had 
the  same  >taiulini2,  in  the  proles>ion  as  Pott,  John  liuiiter, 
(,'o()pi'r  and  Aherneth\'.  In  the  dis>e(tin<r  room  he  was 
j)re-eminent,  heinj"  uncpiestionahly  the  hest  pra(ti(al  ana- 
tomist in  Great  Britain.  The  hest  j)rej)arations  in  the 
museum  of  Messrs.  dine  and  Cooper  were  made  hy  him  ; 
one  j)articularly  of  a  female  hreast,  it  is  supposed,  has  never 
been  e(|ualled. 

His  name  is  mentioned  in  anatomical  works  as  the  dis- 
coverer of  the  vascularity  of  tlie  rete  mucosum.  In  the  first 
volume  of  the  Medical  and  Philosojihical  Journal  and  Re- 
view printed  in  New-York,  is  a  paper  of  Mr.  Baynham 
containinij  an  account  of  an  operation  which  he  is  supposed 
to  he  the  first  to  have  performed  successfully,  and  in  the 
Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences 
are  to  i)e  ft)und  m.uiv  i)Osthumous  puMications  of  sur<[ical 
cases,  which  reflect  the  highest  honoi*  on  his  talents  and 
character. — Philadelphia  Journal  of  JMedical  and  Physical 
Sciences^  Vol.  4. 

BEATTY,  JOHN,  M.D.  This  gentleman  was  a  native 
of  Buck's  county,  Pennsylvania,  l>ut  received  his  educa- 
tion in  New-Jersey,  where  he  resided  for  more  than  forty 
years  of  his  life.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  clergyman 
of  distinguished  i)iety,  learning  and  usefulness,  and  de- 
scended from  Governor  Reading  of  New-Jersey,  who  Avas 
his  maternal  grandfather.  He  was  graduated  at  Princeton 
in  the  year  HGO,  and  was  highly  respected  for  his  dili- 
gence and  learning  ;  and  afterwards  studied  the  science  of 
medicine  imder  the  celebrated  Dr.  l{ush. 

In  the  vigor  of  youth  at  the  commencement  of  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  his  pacific  profession  was  soon  exchanged 
for  the  habiliments  of  the  warrior  ;  at  a  very  early  j.eriod 
of  that  contest,  he  enrolled  himself  among  the  defenders 
of  his  country,  and  so  ra])id  was  jiis  promotion,  that  in 
Septemiter  1170.  he  had  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant 
colonel  in  the  Pennsylvania  line.  In  this  caj)acily  he 
greatly  distinguished  himself,  until  by  the  unfortunate 
capture    of   Fort  AN'ashington  in  the  autumn  of   that  year. 


174  JOSHUA    BELDEN. 

Jie  was  consigned  to  imprisonment  by  the  enemy  at  a  cri- 
sis when  the  severity  of  their  treatment  exceeded  that  of 
any  other  period  of  the  war.  It  was  a  considerable  time 
before  he  was  exchanged,  and  the  hardships  endured  in 
his  military  career  materially  impaired  his  constitution 
and  health,  which  it  was  some  years  before  he  fully 
recovered.  Being  able  at  length  to  resume  the  active 
duties  of  life,  he  was  appointed  in  the  year  1 779  successor 
to  Elias  Boudinot,  Esq.  in  the  responsible  and  laborious 
office  of  commissary  general  of  prisoners,  which  station  it 
is  believed  he  held  till  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  and  in 
which  he  was  particularly  distinguished  for  activity  and 
fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  at  Princeton,  where 
he  pursued  his  professional  calling  as  a  physician  with 
approbation  and  success.  At  different  times  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  and  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  house  of  assembly  ;  he  also  repre- 
sented the  county  of  Middlesex  in  the  convention  which 
adopted  the  federal  constitution.  In  1793  he  was  elected 
to  congress  ;  and  served  in  that  body  with  distinction  as 
an  active  and  useful  member.  After  the  death  of  Samuel 
W.  Stockton,  Esq.  then  secretary  of  the  state,  the  office 
was  conferred  on  General  Beatty  by  the  legislature  at  the 
autumnal  session  of  1795,  the  duties  of  which  he  most 
faithfully  and  ably  discharged  for  the  space  of  ten  years. 
He  was  soon  after  selected  by  the  Delaware  Bridge  Com- 
pany to  superintend  the  erection  of  the  bridge  across  the 
Delaware  at  Bloomsbury.  After  the  decease  of  the  late 
Col.  Jonathan  Rhea,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Tren- 
ton bank,  which  appointment  he  held  with  unblemished 
integrity,  for  the  last  eleven  years  of  his  life.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  society  of  Cincinnati  of  New-Jersey,  and 
held  the  office  of  treasurer  at  the  time  of  his  decease, 
which  took  place  April  30th,  1826,  in  the  78th  year  of  his 
age.  For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  a  ruling 
elder  in  the  Presbvterian  church  in  Trenton. 

BELDEN,  DR.  JOSHUA,  was  born  in  Wethersfield, 
Connecticut,  March  29th,  1768.  He  was  the  son  of  the 
Rev.  Joshua  Belden,  long  the  pious  and  exemplary  minis- 
ter of  that  place,  under  whose  instruction  and  influence  he 
was  trained  in  correct  habits,  and  taught  the  usefulness  of 
good  principles  by  which  his  future  life  was  controlled. 
He  was  prepared  for  Yale  College  imder  the  tuition  of  the 


BETH    BIRD.  175 

Rev.  Dr.  Perkins  of  West  Hartford,  and  having  passed  his 
collegiate  course  with  reputation  both  as  a  scholar  and  a 
youth  of  correct  deportment,  he  received  his  degree  in 
1787  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  After  leaving  college 
he  commenced  the  study  of  divinity  under  the  instruction 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smalley  of  Berlin  ;  he  continued,  how- 
ever, but  a  short  time,  when  he  changed  his  plan  of  life, 
and  commenced  and  pursued  the  study  of  medicine  vmder 
the  direction  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins  of 
Hartford.  When  prepared  for  practice,  by  the  influence 
of  his  venerable  father  he  took  up  his  residence  as  the 
physician  of  his  native  village,  where  he  soon  gained  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  people.  He  was  well  furnished 
with  books,  and  made  it  his  care  to  unite  study  with  prac- 
tice, as  the  surest  mode  of  being  always  prepared  for  the 
duties  of  his  profession,  and  of  increasing  and  correcting 
his  experience,  by  comparing  the  observations  of  others 
with  his  own. 

The  native  tenderness  of  his  feelings,  cultivated  by  hab- 
its of  kindness  to  those  whom  he  visited,  rendered  him 
extremely  solicitous  for  their  safety  and  recovery,  and 
their  cases  would  dwell  upon  his  mind  with  such  intense- 
ness  as  often  to  deprive  him  of  his  sleep.  Such  was  the 
general  satisfaction  in  the  skill  and  judgment  of  Dr.  Bel- 
den,  that  the  inhabitants  considered  themselves  as  enjoying 
under  his  care  all  that  could  be  reasonably  desired  in  the 
healing  art,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  the  lover  of  excellence 
to  hear  his  old  patients  at  this  day  portray  his  merits  as  a 
physician  and  his  kindness  and  sympathy  as  a  man.  The 
traits  of  his  character  in  domestic  and  social  life  were 
honorable,  for  he  was  affable,  frank  and  sincere,  full  of 
filial  piety  and  respect  for  his  venerable  father,  who  at  the 
age  of  ninety  years  leaned  upon  him  with  satisfaction  as 
his  staff"  and  comfort  in  life.  He  was  employed  in  various 
offices  of  public  trust,  and  took  a  warm  interest  in  public 
improvements,  in  the  diff'usion  of  general  knowledge,  in 
literature  and  in  education.  He  was  an  ardent  friend  and 
supporter  of  religious  and  charitable  institutions,  and  pub- 
lic schools  ;  and  his  whole  life  was  an  exhibition  of  moral 
and  religious  virtues.  Dr.  Belden  fell  a  victim  to  the 
fatal  epidemic  called  spotted  fever,  prematurely  and  sud- 
denly, June  6th,  1818,  aged  forty  years. 

BIRD,  DR.  SETH,  was  born  in  Bethlem,  state  of  Con- 
necticut in  1733.     He  studied  his  profession  under  the  in- 


176  8ETH    BIRD. 

struction  of  the  eccentric  Dr.  Hurlbut  of  Berlin,  and  settled 
in  the  town  of  Litchfield,  society  of  South  Farms,  Avhere  ht 
soon  gained  great  and  extensive  celebrity  as  a  physician. 
Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  who  was  his  i)upil,  used  to  say  of 
him  that  lie  was  the  greatest  physician  with  whom  he  was 
ever  acquainted,  and  believed  him  not  inferior  to  Boer- 
haave  himself. 

Dr.  Bird  possessed  a  vigorous  and  investigating  mind, 
ardent  love  of  his  profession,  and  zeal  in  its  pursuit.  He 
was  more  distinguished  for  acute  sagacity,  correct  judg- 
ment, and  talent  at  discrimination,  than  for  learning  or 
science  ;  his  reading  was  principally  confined  to  his  pro- 
fession, and  he  became  early  accp.iainted  witli  the  works  of 
Boerhaave,  probably  while  yet  a  student  with  Dr.  Hurlbut, 
who  understood  them  better  perhaps  than  any  man  of  his 
time  in  the  state.  Dr.  Bird  was  enthusiastic  in  his  attach- 
ment to  the  works  of  this  great  author,  and  to  the  last  day 
of  his  medical  career,  would  vindicate  his  theory  and 
practice  from  the  aspersions  of  the  more  modern  followers 
of  CuUen  and  Brown,  with  much  warmth  of  feeling  and 
force  of  argument. 

In  his  person  Dr.  Bird  was  of  middle  size,  rather  corpu- 
lent, his  complexion  dark,  hair  black,  face  ruddy  ;  his 
speech  was  slow  and  apparently  laborious.  He  had  a>. 
peculiar  mode  of  raising  his  hand  when  al)out  to  speak, 
which  was  always  an  indication  that  something  was  to  be 
said  ;  his  remarks  were  learned  and  pithy,  often  severe 
and  sarcastical,  and  sometimes  on  medical  subjects  lie  was 
interesting  and  even  eloquent.  His  education  was  limited 
in  general  science  and  literature,  but  nature  made  him  a 
philosopher  and  a  physician  ;  he  had  a  genius  for  investi- 
gation, and  a  relish  for  inquiry  into  the  operations  of 
nature,  especially  as  regarded  man  in  a  healthy  or  diseased 
state.  His  prescriptions  were  simple,  often  inelegant,  but 
always  well  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  his  cases. 
His  powers  of  memory  were  remarkable,  which,  joined  to 
correct  judgment  and  habits  of  observation,  with  the  very 
ample  opportunities  which  his  extensive  practice  afforded, 
enabled  him  to  accumulate  a  vast  fund  of  experience.  Dr. 
Bird  was  employed  in  consultation  more  frequently  than 
any  other  in  a  Avide  extent  of  country,  and  he  was  always 
precise  in  point  of  punctuality  on  such  occasions  ;  he  once 
reproved  a  young  physician,  whom  he  met,  for  a  short 
delay,  observing  that  he  had  never  made  a  physician  wait 


TI1(»M\S     P,(iND.  n7 

a  moment  during  a  prart'uT  of  (oilv  vcais,  :illhouj;Ii  fie 
lived  in  ;i  tliinly  settled  eoimtry  and  olu  n  r()<le  from 
lliirly  to  fifty  miles. 

His  last  illness  was  linj^crin^,  he  heinfr  of  a  dropsieal 
haltit  induced  hy  liberal  j)otations  of  ardent  spirits,  to 
Avliieli  lie  was  jrreatly  addicted  in  the  last  years  of  his  life. 
His  eollin  was  niade  hy  his  directions  a  considerable  time 
before  his  death,  and  kept  (onstantly  by  the  side  of  his 
chair  ;  beinp;  asked  by  a  friend  if  it  did  not  make  him 
melancholy  to  have  that  unwelcome  tenement  so  eon>tant- 
ly  in  view,  "  No,"  said  he  with  his  sitrnificant  motion  of 
the  hand,  "  I  shall  slide  into  it  in  a  few  days."  lie  lived 
to  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  and  died  in  1805.  Dr. 
Bird  ac(|uired  a  handsome  fortum^  l)y  his  ])rofessional 
business  and  riijid  economy,  while  others  of  his  standing 
with  ecpial  advantaiics  died  without  j)roperty. 

ROND,  THOMAS,  M.  D.  This  celebrated  physician 
and  surgeon  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  sttidied  his 
profession  there  un(h>r  Dr.  Hamilton,  a  very  learned  jirac- 
titioner.  Afterward  he  travilled  in  Europe,  and  spent  a 
considerable  time  in  Paris,  where  he  attended  the  practice 
of  the  Hotel  Dieu. 

He  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Philadelphia  about 
the  year  1734,  and  soon  attracted  the  ])«d)lic  attention. 
He  was  the  founder  of  the  college  and  academy,  and  one 
of  the  most  active  managers  of  tlie  Pennsylvania  hosjiital 
at  its  commencement.  With  his  brother  Dr.  Phineas 
Bond  and  Dr.  Lloyd  Zachary,  he  made  the  first  offer  to 
attend  that  institution  as  ])hysicians  and  surjieons.  In  the 
year  1769  Dr.  Bond  was  selected  to  give  clinical  lectures 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  about  the  same  time  he 
drew  »ip  some  useful  m<'dical  memoirs,  which  were  pub- 
lished in  a])eriodical  work  in  London.  He  was  an  otlicer 
of  the  Philosophical  Society  from  its  first  establishment, 
and  appears  by  the  old  records  to  have  been  a  member  of 
a  smaller  society  instituted  in  1713,  of  which  Dr.  Benja- 
min Fraiddin,  William  Coleman,  John  Bartram,  Thomas 
Godfrey  the  inventor  of  the  fpiadrant,  and  Dr.  Phineas 
Bond  were  also  nKinbers.  This  society  in  17GS  united 
with  another  which  had  also  been  a  lon^j  time  in  existence, 
and  the  two  bodies  then  assumed  the  name  and  form 
which  are  now  employed.  The  oriLMnal  proposals  for 
this  society,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Fraiddin  himself,  mav  be 
23 


178  PHINEAS    BOND. 

seen  in  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register, 
Volume  II, 

Dr.  Bond's  publications  were,  1.  An  account  of  a  worm 
bred  in  the  liver  ;  Medical  Observations  and  Inquiries  of 
London,  Volume  I,  dated  May  1,  1754.  This  was  the  case 
of  Charles  Holt  of  Philadelphia.  Upon  dissection,  the 
liver  was  found  very  much  enlarged  and  partly  scirrhous. 
On  its  internal  part  there  was  a  large  cavity  containing 
nearly  two  quarts  filled  with  bloody  water,  and  a  few 
lumps  of  coagulated  blood.  The  worm  was  annular,  and 
discharged  by  stool  a  short  time  before  death  in  two  parts. 
The  first  was  thrown  away  before  Dr.  Bond  saw  it,  but 
from  the  description  given  to  him  by  the  sister  of  the  suf- 
ferer and  l)y  the  nurse,  and  the  resem1)lance  of  the  remain- 
der to  that  described  by  Mr.  Paisley  in  the  second  volume 
of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Essays,  this  appears  to  be 
exactly  of  the  same  kind. 

2.  A  Letter  to  Dr.  Fothergill  on  the  use  of  the  Peruvian 
Bark  in  Scrofula.  Two  cases  are  related  of  the  decided 
efficacy  of  the  bark.  The  disease  appeared  in  the  form  of 
numerous  tumors,  some  of  which  were  ulcerated.  Med- 
ical Inquiries  and  Observations,  Volume  II. 

In  1782  he  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the 
American  Philosophical  Society.  The  subject  was  "  The 
rank  and  dignity  of  man  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  the 
conveniences  and  advantages  he  derives  from  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  a  prognostic  of  the  increasing  grandeur  and 
glory  of  America,  founded  on  the  nature  of  its  climate." 
He  was  for  half  a  century  in  the  first  practice  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  remarkable  for  attention  to  the  cases  under  his 
care,  and  his  sound  judgment.  He  was  an  excellent  sur- 
geon, and  in  the  year  1768  performed  two  operations  of 
lithotomy  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  with  success. 

By  nature  Dr.  Bond  was  of  a  delicate  constitution,  and 
disposed  to  pulmonary  consumption,  for  which  he  went  a 
voyage  when  a  young  man  to  the  island  of  Barbadoes. 
By  unremitted  care  of  his  health,  the  strictest  attention  to 
diet  and  to  guard  against  the  changes  of  temperature,  and 
also  by  frequently  losing  blood,  Avhen  he  found  liis  lungs 
afiected-,-.jje  lived  to  an  age  which  the  greater  part  of  man- 
kind never  re.^©k.     He  died  in  the  year  1784,  aged  72. 

BOND,  PHINEAS,  M.  D.  This  gentleman  was  seve- 
ral years  younger  than  his  brother  Thomas  abovemention- 


PARDON    BOWEN.  179 

cd.  He  also  was  educated  in  Maryland,  the  jilace  of  liis 
nativity,  and  j^ubscfjiK'ully  stiulicd  nicdicint!  npon  a  most 
extensive  scale.  He  pJisM'd  a  consiiUrahh' time  at  Lcyilen, 
Paris,  iMlinlxiriih  and  London,  and  was  not  less  disjtoM'd 
to  j)ronu)te  tiian  well  (jnalilied  to  jndjie  of  every  nndcitak- 
ing  for  the  improvement  of  the  medical  character  of  his 
country.  In  conjuiution  with  the  nnicii  respech'd  Tliomas 
llopkinson,  he  originated  the  scheme  of  tiie  coUeffe,  now 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

lie  enjoyeci  a  liiuh  reputation  as  a  successful  practitioner 
of  medicine  in  Philadelphia.  Not  practisinfj  surgery  he 
moved  in  a  ditl'erent  line  from  his  brother  ;  but  no  medi- 
cal man  of  his  time  in  this  country  left  behind  him  a 
higher  character  for  professional  sayacity,  or  the  amiable 
qualities  of  the  heart.  He  was  lemarkable  for  convivial- 
it  v,  but  never  habituated  to  intemperance.  Hi-  died  in 
June  1773,  aged  fifty-six  years. 

BOWEN,  PARDON,  "M.  D.  This  accomplished  j.hy- 
sician  and  excellent  man  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode- 
Island,  on  the  22d  of  March,  in  the  year  1757.  His 
remote  ancestors  were  useful  and  hiiibly  resj)ectable  mem- 
bers of  the  society  in  which  they  lived  ;  and  the  irre- 
])roachable  name  they  left  behiiul  them  several  of  their 
descendants  have  sij^nalized  in  the  medical  history  of 
Rhode-Island,  by  no  ordinary  attainments  in  ])rofessional 
science,  and  by  a  diligent,  successful  and  honorable  prac- 
tice. Richard  Bowen,  the  ancestor  of  this  family,  emi- 
grated to  this  country  al)ont  the  year  1G4(). 

The  sul)jcct  of  this  notice  was  the  fifth  son  of  Dr. 
Ephraim  Bowen,  an  eminent  physician  of  Providence, 
whose  valuable  life,  protracted  to  near  a  century,  termina- 
ted in  the  year  1812.  During  the  professional  career  of 
this  venerable  patriarch,  tli(>  character  of  the  ])revailing 
diseases  iu  Providence  and  the  adjacent  reuion  underwent 
material  chaniies,  produced,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  con- 
clude, partly  by  the  gradual  melioration  of  the  climate, 
and  partly  by  those  habits  of  life  which  accompany  a  pro- 
gressive advancement  in  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
social  existence.  Of  these  changes  it  is  umiecessary  to 
produce  more  than  two  examples.  Fever  ami  aijuc,  and 
dysentery  were  formerly  extremely  prevalent  in  and 
arouiul  Providence.  A  case  of  the  former,  it  ix  b<  lieved,  has 
not  oriijinated  in  that  town  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
and  the  latter,  wiiich  is  seldom  epidemic,  has  parted  with 


180  PARDON    BOWEiX. 

much  of  its  former  malignancy,  and  yields  generally, 
except  in  the  case  of  children,  to  judicioui?  medical  treat- 
ment. 

The  incidents  of  Dr.  Pardon  Bowen's  early  life,  avc 
have  been  unable  to  collect  with  nullicient  accuracy  to 
warrant  us  in  committing  them  to  the  pages  of  an  authen- 
tic memoir.  The  com})anions  of  his  youth  unite  their 
testimony  in  praise  of  his  singular  exemption  from  the 
vices  and  the  follies  of  youth.  They  speak  with  imcheck- 
cd  complacency  of  his  amiable  conduct  and  manners  in 
the  different  relations  of  life,  of  the  disciplined  enthusiasm 
of  his  heart,  and  the  well  directed  energies  of  his  under- 
standing. His  academical  education  he  acquired  at 
Rhode-Island  College,  now  Brown  University,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manning,  receiving  in  the 
year  1775,  at  tlie  age  of  eighteen,  the  honors  of  that  institu- 
tion. After  the  usual  course  of  preparatory  study,  under 
the  direction  of  his  brother  Dr.  William  Bowen,  he  in  the 
year  1779  embarked  as  the  surgeon  of  a  private  armed 
ship,  fitted  out  for  the  destruction  of  British  commerce. 
He  was  soon  destined  to  experience  the  fortune  of  war,  the 
ship  being  captured  and  carried  to  Halifax,  where  during 
an  imprisonment  of  seven  months  he  endured  no  common 
privations  and  sufferings.  After  Ijeing  regularly  exchanged, 
he  returned  home,  and  with  ardor  undiminished  by  the 
disastrous  issue  of  his  first  cruise,  he  in  the  course  of  the 
tw^o  subsequent  years  engaged  in  several  enterprises  of  a 
similar  nature.  Capture  and  imijrisonment  were  the  result 
of  two  of  these  cruises,  and  a  third  was  signalized  by  an 
obstinate  engagement  for  more  than  two  hours  with  an 
enemy's  vessel,  which  was  finally  captured,  though  not 
without  bloodshed.  After  experiencing  a  variety  of  peril- 
ous fortune,  he  reached  home  some  time  in  the  year  1782, 
and  never  again  committed  himself  to  the  chances  of  war 
or  encountered  the  storms  of  the  ocean. 

In  all  his  domestic  connexions  Dr.  B.  w'as  blessed  and 
happy  beyond  the  common  lot  of  man.  Early  in  life  he 
was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Ward,  daughter  of  Henry 
Ward,  Esq.  for  many  years  secretary  of  the  state  of  Rhode- 
Island.  This  lady,  who  participated  with  him  largely  in 
educating  an  interesting  family,  still  survives. 

Resolved  to  establish  himself  in  his  native  town,  he  in 
the  year  1783  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of 
perfecting  himself  in  the  knowledge' of  his  profession.     In 


PARDON    BOWEN.  1^1 

tlic  distiii(ruislii.>(1  incilical  school  of  that  city  lie  was  a 
Uili^nit  student,  aiul  prolitcil  larj^cly  hy  the  instructions 
of  its  cnrment  professors.  Acconl|lli^hiIl^  the  h*iu(hihh; 
object  of  iiis  tempoiary  residence  in  IMiihuKlphia,  h«' 
returned  to  Proviih-nce  and  ininuiliately  coniineiued  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  its  diil'erent  branches,  lie 
tlitl  not  escape  the  lot  of  nearly  all  yomijr  physicians  at 
their  outset  in  professional  lile.  JLnteriiig  uj)oa  a  fieUl 
already  prt'occupied  by  more  e.\j)erienced  practitioners,  his 
early  practice  was  far  from  extensive,  ami  several  years 
elaj)sed  before  his  |);rseverinu;  endeavors  were  atUciuatelv 
rewariled.  lie  continued,  however,  to  advance  >tea(lily 
in  the  coniidence  and  favor  of  the  comnmnity  till  amjile 
success  fdled  tiic  measure  of  his  hopes.  For  a  lonfj  .series 
of  years  j)rior  to  the  lanientetl  calamity  whit  h  terminated 
his  usefulness,  he  was  almost  incessantly  eii<ia<fed  in  pro- 
fessional duty,  his  rej)utatioii  as  an  eminent  j)hysician  and 
surgeon  beinj^  extensive  and  undisputed,  and  ids  character 
as  a  man  composed  of  s\ich  pure  and  bland  elements,  that 
love  and  veneration  mingled  for  him  their  spontaneous 
tribute.  Dr.  Bowen  was  devoted  to  his  profes>i()n.  He 
perceived  its  imi)ortant  relation  to  the  cond'ort  ai.d  happi- 
ness of  society  ;  and  faithful  to  his  liijih  trust,  he  indulged 
no  complacent  toleiatiou  for  the  arroijaiit  pretensions  of 
ignorance  and  emj)iricism.  To  his  j)atients  of  every  de- 
scription he  was  invariably  faithful,  and,  though  devotedly 
fond  of  domestic  satisfactions,  and  alive  to  the  pure  rel- 
ishes of  social  converse,  he  never  post[)oned  the  wants  of 
the  sick  to  tlie  joys  of  iiis  own  fireside  or  to  tiie  attrac- 
tions of  yeneral  society. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  l*rovi- 
dencc,  when  dejection  and  dismay  sat  upon  many  a  brow, 
and  the  sense  of  j)ersonal  danjjer  threatened  to  absorb  the 
sympathies  of  our  common  nature,  and  death  mocked  at 
tlie  exjx'dients  of  human  s<ienc(^  tt)  avi-rt  hi>  blow,  ])v. 
IJowen  shnmk  not  from  the  p»'rils  in  Iiis  wav.  More  than 
once  was  his  life  endanjiered  by  an  attack  of  that  fearfid 
malady,  ])ut  God  j)re>erved  him  from  thus  becoming  a 
victim  to  his  noble  intre])idity  in  tlie  service  of  humanity. 

Dr.  Bowi'n  confined  his  attention  to  no  |)articular  <le- 
partment  of  his  profession,  but  aimed  at  excclleiu-c  in  all. 
For  bis  skill  in  operative  suryerv  lu"  was  hiuhlv  respected; 
and  duriiii;  many  years  most  of  the  sur<fical  o|»er;ition--  in 
and  aroiuul  Providence  were  jierformed  by  him.     In  medi- 


182  PARDON  BOVVEN. 

cal  surgery  he  was  thought  to  be  extremely  judicious  ; 
and  his  uncommon  science,  experience  and  success  in 
obstetrics  left  him  without  a  superior  in  that  difficult  branch 
of  his  profession.  In  the  treatment  of  fevers  and  of  chron- 
ic affections  generally,  he  was  excelled  by  no  one  within 
his  sphere  of  practice.  Wedded  to  no  system,  he  followed 
the  indications  of  nature  and  the  directions  of  true  science, 
avoiding  a  timid  caution  on  the  one  hand,  and  vmauthoriz- 
ed  experiments  on  the  other,  never  dogmatizing  in  support 
of  a  favorite  opinion,  but  seeking  to  establish  the  truth  by 
sound  analogies  and  cautious  induction.  For  much  of  his 
skill  and  success  as  a  practitioner  he  was  indebted  to  his 
nice  philosophical  discernment  of  the  moral,  intellectual 
and  physical  idiosyncrasies  of  his  patients.  He  regarded 
man  not  simply  as  a  machine,  but  as  a  being  mysteriously 
compounded  and  organized,  exposed  to  morbid  influences 
from  the  combined  operation  of  moral  and  physical 
agencies. 

Dr.  Bowen  contributed  occasionally  to  the  medical 
journals  of  the  day,  and  in  the  fourth  volume  of  Hosack 
and  Francis's  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register  may  be 
found  an  elaborate  account  from  his  pen  of  the  Yellow 
Fever,  as  it  prevailed  in  Providence  in  the  year  1805.  De- 
sirous to  keep  pace  with  the  progress  of  his  profession,  he 
was  diligent  in  reading  those  periodical  publications  which 
treat  of  new  phenomena  in  diseases  and  improved  modes 
of  medical  treatment. 

Dr.  B.  was  an  active  member  of  the  Rhode-Island  Medi- 
cal Society,  and  for  some  time  its  presiding  officer.  He 
was  also  a  fellow  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  and 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Brown  University. 

In  the  winter  of  1 820  the  professional  usefulness  of  this 
eminent  and  beloved  physician  was  terminated  by  an  at- 
tack of  hemiplegia,  which  seized  him  without  premonition, 
and  threatened  the  immediate  extinction  of  life.  The 
worst  fears  of  his  friends  were  not,  however,  thus  sudden- 
ly realized  ;  he  partially  recovered  the  use  of  his  limbs,  and 
not  long  afterward  retired  to  the  residence  of  his  son-in- 
law,  Franklin  Greene,  Esq.  at  Potowomut  (Warwick) 
about  fifteen  miles  from  Providence.  This  spot  had  been 
for  many  years  his  favorite  retreat  from  the  toils  of  pro- 
fessional life,  and  was  destined  to  receive  his  last  sigh. 
There,  in  the  bosom  of  an  affectionate  family,  he  passed 
years  of  suffering,    which,  though  sometimes  relieved  by 


PARDON  BOWEN.  183 

intermission  and  cheered  by  the  hope  of  restoration,  was 
but  too  often  exasperated  to  agony,  in  spite  of  every  alle- 
viation which  the  instinctive  promptitude  and  ingenuity 
of  affection  could  administer.  These,  however,  were  not 
years  of  melancholy  vacuity,  of  hopeless  dejection,  or  of 
monotonous  anguish.  The  exercise  of  benevolent  affec- 
tions, the  reciprocation  of  domestic  endearments,  and  the 
pleasures  of  a  cultivated  intellect,  brightened  the  path  of 
the  sufferer  with  intermittent  gleams  of  tranquil  enjoy- 
ment, while  Christianity,  with  its  train  of  gracious  in- 
fluences, purified  him  for  the  joys  and  comforted  him  with 
the  hopes  of  heaven.  In  his  hours  of  health  and  ease,  he 
had  an  eye  for  nature,  he  loved  her  sweetest  influences,  he 
observed  her  mighty  energies,  her  wonderful  operations, 
her  varied  appearances  of  sublimity  and  beauty,  and  he 
delighted  to  refer  these  glorious  things  to  the  wisdom  and 
benignity  of  the  Parent  of  the  universe.  But  it  was  in  the 
page  of  revealed  truth,  it  was  in  the  life  giving  energy  of 
the  doctrines,  precepts  and  promises  of  the  Bible,  that  he 
found  the  only  adequate  support  and  solace,  when  pain  and 
anguish  came  upon  him,  and  his  way  upon  the  earth  look- 
ed dark.  Death  at  last  approached,  kindly  commissioned 
to  relieve  him  from  protracted  suffering,  and,  sustained  by 
the  promises  of  that  Savior  in  whom  alone  he  trusted,  he 
cheerfully  resigned  his  being  on  the  25th  of  October,  1826, 
aged  69  years. 

We  cannot  close  this  imperfect  sketch  without  again  ad- 
verting to  the  personal  character  of  Dr.  B.  ;  and,  happily, 
such  were  the  gifts  and  graces  of  his  moral  being,  that  in 
dwelling  upon  these  there  is  no  hazard  of  incurring  the 
charge  of  exaggeration.  By  his  friends  he  was,  indeed,  a 
man  to  be  ardently  loved  ;  for  they  daily  witnessed  the 
benignity  of  his  nature,  the  engaging  suavity  of  his  man- 
ners, the  variety  and  richness  and  clear  intelligence  of  his 
conversation,  the  generous  expansion  of  his  sensibilities, 
and  the  inflexible  rectitude  of  his  principles.  The  pressure 
of  business  never  made  him  careless  of  the  feelings  and  in- 
terests of  others.  Indeed  he  was  remarkable  for  that  moral 
cultivation  which  respects  the  rights  of  all,  and  few  showed 
a  nicer  discernment  of  the  essential  peculiarities  which 
distinguish  one  being  from  another,  and  a  more  benevolent 
and  delicate  adjustment  of  conduct  to  all  in  every  class. 
Notwithstanding  his  elevated  reputation  as  a  physician, 
and  the  opulence  of  his  intellectual  attainments,  hewas  on 


184  WILLIAM   C.    nOWF.N. 

all  occasions  a  pattern  of  cnj^aging  modesty,  seeking  rather 
to  promote  the  happiness  of  others  than  to  win  their  ap- 
plause. Singularly  exempt  from  that  feverish  thirst  for  dis- 
tinction Avhich  is  allayed  by  the  cheap  honors  of  society,  he 
was  happy  in  his  walk  of  revered  hut  unobtrusive  usefulness, 
ministering  to  the  comfort  of  his  fellow  creatures  when 
bereaved  of  health,  or  oppressed  by  poverty,  or  sinking 
in  death.  Though  for  nearly  half  a  century  engaged  in 
the  active  discharge  of  professional  duty,  his  heart  retain- 
ed its  original  purity,  imcorruj)ted  by  an  undue  attach- 
ment either  to  wealth  or  to  fame.  His  fortune  was  never 
ample,  but  the  stream  of  his  beneficence  flow^ed  Avitli  an 
ecpial  and  imchecked  current.  Such  were  some  of  the 
prominent  characteristics  of  Dr.  Pardon  Bowen.  He  had 
high  cajiacities,  and  he  exerted  them  for  the  good  of  his 
kind.  His  life,  in  all  its  stages,  was  a  beautiful  exhibition 
of  the  virtues,  and,  at  its  close,  an  example  of  christian 
holiness.  His  pin-e  spirit,  wdiile  on  eartli,  took  a  wide  and 
lofty  range  ;  and  now  that  it  has  ascended  to  its  Maker, 
the  belief  is  not  presumptuous  that  it  is  gladdened  by  the 
joys  of  Heaven,  and  svdilimed  by  the  contemplations  of 
immortality. — William  G.  Goddard^  Professor  in  Brown 
University. 

BOWEN,  WILLIAM  C,  M.  D.  was  the  only  son  of 
Dr.  William  Bowen  of  Providence,  wdio  is  at  this  time 
actively  engaged  in  professional  business,  and  enjoying  the 
undiminished  confidence  of  the  most  respectable  part  of 
the  communitv,  thousfh  arrived  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty  years.  Tlie  subject  of  this  notice  was  born  June  2, 
1785.  He  entered  Rhode-Island  College,  but  removed  to 
Union  College  in  the  State  of  New-York  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Maxey,  at  the  time  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  that  in- 
stitution, and  was  graduated  there  in  1803.  On  his  return 
to  Providence  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with 
his  uncle  Dr.  Pardon  Bowen,  Avith  whom  lie  continued 
till  1806,  when  he  embarked  for  Europe  to  complete  his 
education.  He  studied  in  Edinburgh  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Professor  Hamilton,  and  in  1809  received  his  de- 
gree, choosing  for  the  subject  of  his  dissertation  "  De 
Sanguine  Mittendo."  Having  passed  some  months  in 
Holland  and  Paris,  he  returned  to  London  and  became 
tlie  private  pupil  of  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  with  whom  he 
continued  till  August,  1811,  wlien  he  returned  to  Provi- 
dence   and  there   commenced   the  practice  of  physic  and 


ZABDIET.    BOYLSTON.  185 

surgery.  In  1812  he  was  chosen  professor  of  chemUtry 
in  JJrown  University,  atul  sul)sc(|uenlly  delivered  two 
courses  of  lectures.  At  this  time  he  coniuicnced  ;i  course 
of  e.vperinients  to  discover  tlic  basis  of  the  hhachiii^  Tujuor, 
whicli  was  just  iliscovered  and  apjilied  in  l^nglaud,  j)rc- 
paratory  to  the  formation  of  a  hleai  hiiio  estahlishnicnt  in 
Providence  ;  and  it  was  the  exj)Osure  of  his  luuf^s  to  the 
action  of  powerful  acids  in  lids  j)ursuit,  tliat  laid  the  foun- 
ihition  of  the  disease  that  finally  destroyed  him,  April  23d, 
1-S15,  in  the  tlurticth  year  of  his  a<re.  In  tlic  death  of  Dr. 
William  C.  Bowen,  Rhode-Island  lost  its  bri<;ht('.-t  orna- 
ment of  the  medical  profession.  No  one  before  his  time 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  such  distinguished  instructers 
.so  great  a  length  of  time,  and  with  his  ardor  in  the  ])ursuit 
of  j)rofessional  knowledge,  his  discriminating  and  compre- 
hensive powers  of  mind,  he  was  uncommonly  ca])al)le  of 
being  improved  by  such  advantages.  Mis  suavity  and 
kindness  of  maimer  endeared  him  to  all  who  were  the 
subjects  of  his  professional  care,  and  no  one  could  be  more 
successful  in  gaining  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
good  and  the  wise  ;  in  proof  of  whicli  it  may  be  ol)>erved 
that  his  j)receptor,  Dr.  Hamilton  of  Edinburgh,  called  on 
him  as  a  consulting  physician  in  a  perilous  disease  of  his 
own  wife,  and  the  writer  of  this  notice  had  the  satisfaction 
of  hearing  very  honorable  mention  made  of  his  acqiiire- 
ments  by  Sir  Astlcy  Cooper.  His  labors  upon  chlorine, 
though  destructive  to  his  own  jjroperty  and  life,  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  present  very  flourishing  bleaching  estab- 
lishments of  Rhode-Islanil,  which,  in  connexion  with  the 
extensive  manufacturing  interest  of  the  state,  have  become 
of  immense  value  to  the  proprietors  and  to  the  public 
general! v. —  U.  Porsonf!. 

BOYLSTON,  DR.  ZABDIEL,  F.R.S.  This  distinguish- 
ed g(;ntleman  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Thomas  Boylston,  a  native 
of  England,  who,  after  obtaining  tiic  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  at  the  University  of  Oxford,  came  over  to  Amer- 
ica, and  settled  at  Brookline,  Massachusetts,  in  the  year 
1635. 

Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  his  eldest  son,  was  born  in  the 
year  IGSO.  He  married  Jerusha  Minot  of  Boston,  and  had 
several  children.  He  accpiired  his  professional  education 
under  the  instruction  of  his  father,  and  Dr.  John  Cutter, 
an  eminent  physician  and  surgeon  of  Boston  ;  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  phvsir  in  that  town  under  very 
24 


186  ZABDIEL    BOYLSTON. 

favorable  circumstances  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. In  a  few  years  he  arrived  at  great  distinction  in  his 
profession  and  accumulated  a  handsome  fortune.  He  was 
remarkable  for  his  skill,  his  humanity,  and  close  attention 
to  his  patients.  He  had  been  led  under  the  direction  of 
his  father  to  the  study  of  Botany  and  Natural  History, 
whicli  he  so  successfully  cultivated  as  soon  to  establish  a 
correspondence  with  several  learned  societies  and  eminent 
individuals  in  England,  particularly  with  Sir  Hans  Sloane, 
president  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated naturalists  of  his  time.  In  order  to  illustrate  the 
subjects  on  which  he  wrote,  Dr.  Boylston  spared  no  labor 
nor  expense  in  obtaining  rare  plants,  animals  and  insects, 
a  great  variety  of  which,  then  unknown  in  Europe,  he  at 
different  times  transmitted  to  England.  Indeed  such  were 
his  ardor,  industry  and  research  in  these  pursuits,  that  he 
acquired  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  distinction  as  a 
naturalist. 

In  the  year  1721  the  smallpox  appeared  in  Boston,  and 
pursued  its  usual  desolating  career,  carrying  with  it  the 
utmost  terror  and  confusion.  On  this  alarming  occasion 
Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  the  learned  and  distinguished  divine, 
communicated  to  Dr.  Boylston  a  publication  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Society,  announcing  the  discovery  of 
a  new  method  of  mitigatinff  the  virulence  of  this  fatal  dis- 
ease.  This  intelligence  was  from  Drs.  Timoni  and  Pila- 
rini,*  being  a  concise  account  of  the  process  of  inocula- 
tion, as  then  practised  in  Turkey  by  scarifying  the  skin 
and  applying  the  matter  under  a  nut  shell,  but  giving  no 
other  directions  concerning  the  practice  or  mode  of  treat- 
ment. Dr.  Boylston  was  forcibly  impressed  with  the 
benefit  of  the  discovery,  and  accordingly,  after  deliberating 
on  the  most  safe  and  expeditious  mode  of  thus  artificially 
introducing  the  disease  into  the  system,  he  communicated 
to  the  medical  gentlemen  in  Boston  the  plan  he  proposed 
to  adopt,  and  the  source  whence  he  derived  the  first  hints 
of  the  operation,  desiring  their  concurrence  in  the  under- 


*  Dr.  Emanuol  Timoni  Aljspcck,  who  was  graduated  both  at  Padua  and  at  Ox- 
ford, was  residinj,'  in  Constantinople  in  the  year  170.3,  and  was  then  struck  with 
liie  instances  which  he  witnessed  of  the  mitigated  nature  of  the  smallpox,  when  the 
virus  was  artificially  communicated  to  the  human  frame.  Ho  wrote  an  account  of 
his  observations  to  Dr.  Woodward,  by  whom  it  was  inserted  in  the  Pliilosophical 
Transactions  of  the  year  1714.  Pilarini  was  a  Venetian  physician,  and  published 
m  1715  at  Venice  a  statement  of  the  success  of  the  Turkish  practice. 


ZABDIEL    DOYLSTON.  187 

taking.  But  Dr.  William  Douglass,  a  Scotch  physician  of 
sonic  eminence,  who  Jiatl  i^ceIl  tlir  puhlication  in  Dr. 
Mather's  possession,  and  Dr.  DaihomUs  a  French  j)liysi- 
cian,  also  of  some  repute  in  liostoii,  united  in  a  violent 
opposition  to  the  plan,  and  ])ublicly  denouncctl  it  as  intro- 
ductory of  the  j)lague,  which  had  so  often  visited  and 
nearly  depopulated  many  cities  in  Europe  and  Asia  ;  and 
declared  that  the  attempt  to  put  it  into  practice  woukl  be 
no  less  criminal  than  murder.  The  other  j)liysicians  in 
Boston  not  oidy  reluseil  their  co-operation  in  so  novel  and 
hold  an  experiment,  bui  condemned  it  in  their  writings, 
and  opposed  it  in  every  shape.  Dr.  Boylslon,  however, 
was  a  man  of  benevolence  and  courage,  and  fniding  before 
him  a  promising  opportunity  for  diminishing  the  evils  of 
human  life,  he  was  not  afraid  to  struggle  with  prejudice, 
nor  uuAvilliiig  to  encounter  abuse  in  the  nol)le  cause.  The 
clergy  in  general  were  disposed  to  aid  the  j)roject,  but  a 
few  of  the  less  liberal  were  instigated  to  preach  against  it, 
and  such  was  their  influence,  added  to  that  of  Douglass 
and  Dalhonde,  that  the  inhr.bitants  became  enraffed,  and 
were  excited  to  commit  atrocious  acts  of  outrage  on  the 
person  of  Dr.  Boylston.  They  patvoled  the  town  in  par- 
ties with  halters,  threatening  to  hang  him  on  the  nearest 
tree.  The  only  place  of  refuge  left  him  at  one  time  was 
a  private  place  in  his  house,  where  he  remained  secreted 
fourteen  days,  unknown  to  any  of  his  family  ])ut  his  wife. 
During  this  time  parties  entered  his  house,  by  day  and 
by  night;  in  search  of  him.  Nor  was  this  all  ;  their  ran- 
cor extended  to  his  family  ;  for  one  evening,  while  his 
wife  and  children  were  sitting  in  the  parlor,  a  lighted  hand 
grenade  was  thrown  into  the  room,  but  the  fusee  striking 
against  some  of  the  furniture  fell  off  before  an  explosion 
could  take  place,  and  thus  providentially  their  lives  were 
saved.  Even  after  the  madness  of  the  midtituile  had  in 
some  measure  sulisided,  Dr.  Boylston  ventured  to  visit  his 
patients  only  at  midniirht  and  in  disguise. 

Undismayed,  however,  by  all  this  violence,  and  un- 
5\ipi)orted  by  the  friendship  of  any  but  Dr.  Mather, 
he  commenced  on  the  2*th  of  June  Hil,  whih'  the 
smalli)ox  was  in  its  most  destriictive  progress  through 
the  town,  this  untried  experiment  of  inocuhition  on 
his  own  son,  a  child  of  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  two 
blacks  in  his  family,  one  of  thirty-six  and  the  other  of 
two    years  of  age  ;  and  on    all    with    complete   success. 


188  ZABDIEL    nOYLSTON. 

This  rekindled  the  fury  of  the  poi)ulace5  and  induced  the 
authorities  of  the  town  to  summon  him  before  them  to 
answer  for  his  practice.  He  underwent  repeated  exami- 
nations, and  although  he  invited  all  the  practitioners  in 
Boston  to  visit  his  patients  and  judge  for  themselves,  he 
received  only  insults  and  threats  in  reply.  These  facts 
we  have  thought  worthy  of  notice,  as  remarkable  in  them- 
selves, and  as  in  some  degree  characteristic  of  the  excitable 
spirit  of  the  times.  In  thus  encountering  obloquy  and  re- 
proach, however,  Dr.  Boylston  but  experienced  the  for- 
tune of  most  of  those  who  have  attempted  to  innovate  on 
long  established  usages,  or  to  take  the  lead  in  the  career  of 
public  improvement.  The  smallpox  ceased  its  ravages  in 
May  1722,  and  during  its  prevalence  Dr.  B.  continued  the 
practice  of  inoculation  to  all  who  could  be  induced  to 
submit  to  it.  He  inoculated,  with  his  own  hand,  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  of  both  sexes,  from  nine  months  to 
sixty-seven  years  of  age,  in  Boston  and  in  the  neighboring 
towns  ;  thirty-nine  were  inoculated  by  other  physicians 
after  the  tumult  had  in  some  measure  subsided,  making  in 
the  whole  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  ;  of  whom  only  six 
died,  and  of  these,  three  were  supposed  to  have  taken  the 
disease  in  the  natural  way  some  days  previous  to  their 
being  inoculated  ;  three  of  those  who  died,  were  his  old- 
est jjatients.  It  appears  by  the  account  published  by  the 
selectmen,  that  during  the  same  period  five  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  had  taken  the  natural  smallpox, 
eight  hundred  and  forty-four  of  whom  fell  victims  to  the 
disease,  being  more  than  one  in  six.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Boston  it  had  been  still  more  malignant  and  fatal.  The 
utility  of  the  i)ractice  was  now  established  beyond  dis- 
pute ;  and  its  success  encouraged  its  more  general  practice 
in  England,  in  which  country  it  had  been  tried  upon  but 
a  few  persons,  most  of  whom  were  condemned  convicts 
and  charity  children.  The  daughter  of  Lady  Mary  W. 
Montague  was  inoculated  in  London  in  April  1721,  being 
the  first  instance  in  Europe,  arid  the  convicts  were  made 
the  subjects  of  the  experiment  in  August  of  the  same  year.* 
il  Dr.  Boylston  therefore  is  justly  entitled  to  the  honor  of 
*'  being  the  fir.-t  inoculator  in  America,  and  this  even  before 
\  the  single  instance  of  the  experiment  in  Europe  had  come 
to  his  knowledge. 

*  Sec  page  20  and  44  of  this  volume. 


ZABDIEL    BOYLSTON.  ISO 

III  tlic  prosecution  of  this  good  work,  Dr.  B.  it  h.is  been 
shown,  was  oliliged  to  meet  not  only  tlio  most  virulent, 
but  the  most  dangerous  opposition.  Dr.  William  Doug- 
lass, a  Scotchman,  violent  in  his  j)reju(lices  and  bitter  and 
ontraireous  in  his  conduct,  bent  his  whole  force  to  annihi- 
late the  practice  which  hud  been  iiitroihiced  ;  and  Dr. 
Dalhonde  was  prevailed  upon  to  make  a  sin^fidar  deposi- 
tion relative  to  the  subject,  which,  however  absurd,  the 
selectmen  had  the  etfrontery  to  j)ublish  in  support  of  their 
opposition.  (This  production  may  be  seen  in  page  42 
of  this  volume.)  The  newspaj.ers  of  the  day  teemed  with 
calumny  and  a])use  of  all  the  friends  of  inoculation,  and 
numerous  pain[)hlets  were  published  with  the  design  of 
prejudicing  the  pul)lic  mind  against  the  new  practice. 
Douglass  asserted  that  it  was  a  crime,  which  came  under 
the  description  of  poisoning  and  spreading  infection, 
which  were  made  penal  by  the  laws  of  England.  Some 
of  the  pamphlets  contained  sucli  language  as  tliis,  "  To 
spread  abroad  a  mortal  contagion,  what  is  it  but  to  cast 
abroad  arrows  and  death  .•'  If  a  man  should  wilCully  throw 
a  bomb  into  a  town,  burn  a  house,  or  kill  a  man,  ought 
he  not  to  die  .''  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  be  excused  from 
great  impiety  herein,  when  ministers  and  people,  with 
loud  and  stroncf  cries,  made  sujiplications  to  AlniiLdity  God 
to  avert  the  judgment  of  the  smalliiox,  and  at  the  same 
time  some  have  been  carrying  alioiit  instruments  of  inocu- 
lation, and  bottles  of  the  })oisonous  humor,  to  infect  all 
who  were  willing  to  submit  to  it,  whereby  we  might 
as  naturally  expect  the  infection  to  spreatl,  as  a  man 
to  break  his  bones  by  castins;  himself  headlong  from 
the  hifrhest  jiinnacle.  Can  any  man  infect  a  family  in 
town  in  the  morning,  and  pray  to  God  in  the  evening 
that  the  distemper  may  not  sjneaii  ?"  It  was  contended 
that,  as  the  small^jox  was  a  judgment  from  God  for  the 
sins  of  the  j)eoj)le,  to  endeavor  to  avert  the  stroke,  would 
but  provoke  him  the  more  ;  that  inoculation  was  an  en- 
croachment upon  the  prerogatives  of  Jehovah,  whose 
right  it  is  to  wound  and  to  smite  ;  and  that  as  there  was 
an  appointed  time  to  man  upon  earth,  it  would  be  useless 
to  attempt  to  stay  the  approach  of  death. 

Dr.  B.  durinii  his  unjust  persecution  held  a  (  orrespond- 
ence  with  Sir  Hans  Sloane  of  London,  the  court  jdiy^i- 
cian,  who  beiu:f  apprized  of  his  very  eminent  services 
in  first    introducing    inoculation  into    America,    honored 


190  ZABDIEL    BOYLSTON. 

him  Avith  an  invitation  to  visit  London.*  He  accordingly- 
embarked  for  that  city,  and  on  his  arrival  was  greeted 
with  the  most  cordial  affection  and  respect.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  first  American, 
we  believe,  ever  admitted  to  that  honor.  He  was,  more- 
over, honored  by  being  introduced  to  the  Royal  family, 
and  received  the  most  flattering  attentions  and  friendship 
of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  characters  of  the  nation. 
The  same  spirit  of  calumny  and  misrepresentation,  which 
he  had  experienced  in  his  native  land,  it  is  said  pursued 
Dr.  B.  in  England.  He  and  his  practice  were  violently 
denounced,  and  Dr.  Wagstaffe  and  others  cautioned  the 
public  against  him.  He  continued,  notAvithstanding,  dur- 
ing his  residence  of  a  year  and  a  half,  to  enjoy  the  respect 
and  friendship  of  the  wise  and  good  in  England,  and  was 
repeatedly  solicited  to  settle  there  ;  but  his  preference  of 
his  native  land  induced  him  to  forego  all  the  advantages 
wliich  might  residt  from  such  a  determination.  Before 
leaving  England,  however,  he  published  at  the  request  of 
the  Royal  Society,  an  account  of  his  practice  of  inocula- 
tion in  America,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Princess 
Caroliiie.  This  was  in  1726,  and  it  was  republished  in 
Boston  in  the  following  year.  A  copy  of  this  edition  ele- 
gantly bound,  has  been  deposited  in  the  medical  library  of 
Harvard  University  by  Ward  Nicholas  Boylston,  Esq.  Dr. 
Woodvillc  in  his  History  of  Inoculation,  observes  that 
Dr.  Boylston  had  the  discernment  to  discover  that  the 
smallj)Ox,  as  usually  received,  is  much  longer  in  taking 
effect  than  when  communicated  by  inoculation  ;  and  that 
the  latter  precedes  the  former  by  four  or  five  days  :  a 
discovery,  of  which  a  more  modern  inoculator  has  taken 
the  credit. 

*  These  memoirs  are  composed  chiefly  from  documents  furnished  by  Ward 
Nicholas  Boylston,  Esq.  a  descendant  of  Dr.  Boylston.  This  gentleman  asserts 
that  the  letter  of  invitation  was  addressed  to  Dr.  Boylston  by  order  of  the  king, 
•with  the  intention  that  he  should  inoculate  the  Royal  Family,  and  that  he  did 
actually  perform  tliat  operation  first  upon  Princess  Caroline,  and  subsequently  upon 
other  members  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  that  the  king  compensated  his  services  bjr 
a  purse  of  one  thousand  guineas.  But  this  statement  is  opposed  by  the  history  of 
inoculation  by  Drs.  Woodville  and  Moor,  two  English  physicians,  who  have  detailed 
an  account  of  inoculation  of  the  Royal  Family,  performed  by  his  majesty's  Serjeant 
surgeon  Amyand  in  1722,  and  others  in  1723.  (Sec  page  44  of  this  volume.)  It 
would  appear  by  the  family  tradition  and  documents  that  Dr.  Boylston  visited  Lon- 
don in  1723,  and  it  is  clear  that  he  published  his  book  in  London  and  dedicated  it 
to  Princess  Caroline  in  1726.  Whether  he  did  or  did  not  inoculate  the  Royal 
Family,  his  merit  and  highly  important  services  would  naturally  claim  for  him  the 
royal  bounty,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  returned  home  with  ample  funds  to  cnablo 
him  to  retire  from  professional  business. 


ZABDICL    BOYLITUN.  101 

After  his  return  to  his  native  country,  Dr.  H.  continued 
at  the  ht'ad  of  his  profrssiou,  and  <ii<iaiiril  in  literary  pur- 
suits, uiaUiiii"  nianv  in^ieiiious  and  iisrl'id  coinuninicatioiis 
to  the  Royal  Society,  and  corresponding  witii  his  numer- 
ous friend?,  nmonn;  whom  he  used  to  mention  with  ^rcat 
respect  and  atU'ction  the  Rev.  Dr.  Watts,  wlio  appears  hy 
his  h'tters  to  have  heen  a  warm  advocate  for  inoc  idation. 
After  a  lon^  peiiod  of  oininence  in  his  profession,  his  ajie 
and  infirmities  calhd  for  retirement  ;  and  h(  in<,M'SM  nlially 
aideil  in  his  pecuniary  concerns  hy  his  visit  to  I^oncU)n,  he 
was  enabled  to  reliinpusli  ids  professional  avocations  and 
retire  witli  his  family  to  his  paternal  seat  at  IJrookline, 
where  he  passed  the  residue  of  his  days  in  indei)endence 
ami  comfort.  He  had  the  })leasure  of  seeing  ino(  ulation 
universally  ])ractised,  and  his  efforts  crowned  with  the 
attainment  of  a  noble  object,  whi(  h  has  heen  received  as 
an  invalua1)le  acquisition  to  the  science  of  medicine. 
Having  retired  from  professional  labors,  Dr.  B.  devoted 
himself  to  the  cultivation  of  his  farm,  and  the  pursuit  of 
his  favorite  studies.  Amon<T  his  aiiricultural  oc(iij>ations 
was  the  im])rovement  of  the  breed  of  domestic  animals, 
particularly  of  horses,  for  which  his  farm  was  cchbrated. 
Nor  was  he  content  with  merely  breedinii  fine  animals,  but 
being  an  excellent  horseman,  he  broke  them  for  the  car- 
riage and  saddle.  This  practice  he  followed  almost  to  the 
last  days  of  his  life.  He  has  been  seen  in  Boston  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four,  ridinjj  a  colt  he  was  breakinir. 

Dr.  B.  possessed  a  stronn  aiul  rctlcctino;  mind,  and  acute 
discernment.  His  character  throu<i;h  life  was  one  of  unim- 
peached  integrity.  He  was  charitable  in  his  opinions  of 
others,  i)aticnt  under  the  severest  persecution,  and  forgiv- 
in<r  of  his  l)itt('rfst  enemies.  When  his  family  were  alarm- 
ed for  his  safctv,  he  expressed  to  them  his  resiirnation  to 
the  will  of  I  haven,  and  at  the  close  of  his  usefid  life,  he 
was  consoled  with  the  reflection,  that  the  sj)irit  of  malevo- 
lence, so  hostile  to  his  merit  and  fame,  became  attem])ered 
to  the  grateful  duty  of  enhancing  and  perpetuating  the  hon- 
or so  ju.Mlv  due  to  his  cliaracter.  He  was  not  dis])Osed  to 
doixniati/.e  on  any  subject,  but  communicated  his  extensive 
knowlediie  in  the  m<»st  free  manner.  These  (pialities.  add- 
ed to  ti>e  natural  ease  and  suavity  of  his  manners,  which  had 
been  improved  by  intercourse  with  the  xvorld,  caused  his 
society  to  be  much  sought,  and  to  his  family  and  his 
friends  rendered  him  a  most   interesting  and  instructive 


MB  JOSHUA    BRACKET?. 

companion.  His  health  was  often  interrupted  by  severe 
attacks  of  asthma,  to  which  he  was  subject  for  tlie  last  forty 
years  of  his  life.  He  met  death  with  calmness  and  perfect 
resijcf nation  in  the  eiojhty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  saying 
to  his  friends,  "  My  work  in  this  world  is  done,  and  my 
hopes  of  futurity  are  briglitening."  He  was  buried  in  the 
family  tomb  at  Brookline,  on  which  is  inscribed  the  fol- 
lowing appropriate  and  just  language.  "  Sacred  to  ihe 
memory  of  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  Esq.  physician  and 
F.R.S.  who  first  introduced  the  practice  of  inoculation 
into  America.  Through  a  life  of  extensive  benevolence, 
he  was  always  faithful  to  his  word,  just  in  his  dealings, 
affable  in  his  manners,  and  after  a  long  sickness,  in  which 
he  was  exemplary  for  his  patience  and  resignation  to  his 
Maker,  he  quitted  this  mortal  life,  in  a  just  expectation  of 
a  happy  immortality,  March  1st,  1766."  His  wife  died  a 
few  years  before  him. 

BRACKETT,  JOSHUA,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  Hon.  The 
subject  of  these  memoirs  was  born  at  Greenland,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Portsmouth,  New-Hampshire,  in  May,  1733. 
Having  gone  through  the  preparatory  studies  under  the 
tuition  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Rust,  at  Stratham,  he  became 
an  alumnus  of  Harvard  College  in  1748,  the  usual  honors 
of  which  he  received  in  1752  and  1755.  His  collegiate 
course  being  finished,  lie  attended  to  various  pidjlications 
on  the  science  of  theology.  In  contemplating  this  for  a 
profession,  he  consulted  the  pleasure  of  his  parents,  more 
than  his  own  inclination.  However,  he  proceeded  in  his 
studies,  was  licensed  and  became  a  preacher  ;  but  the  state 
of  his  health  soon  became  such,  as  obliged  him  to  deter- 
mine on  some  other  pursuit.  He  then  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  a  profession,  whicli  was  ever  more  congenial 
to  his  turn  of  mind,  and  in  which  Providence  had  design- 
ed him  for  eminence.  He  devoted  his  time  diligently  to 
the  study  of  medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Clement 
Jackson  of  Portsmouth,  where  he  continued  a  practitioner 
until  his  death. 

On  the  SOth  of  October,  1783,  lie  was  chosen  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 
He  was  one  of  the  nineteen  who  first  formed  a  similar  in- 
stitution in  the  state  of  New-Hampshire,  for  whicli  an  act 
of  incorporation  was  obtained  in  1791.  In  1792  he  was 
presented  by  his  alma  mater  with  a  medical  doctorate. 
On  the  19th  of  June,    1793,   he  succeeded  the  late   Dr. 


JOSHl'A     UriACKtTT.  1 93 

Bartlctt  in  the  presidency  of  the  New-FIami)slure  Medical 
Society,  and  by  repeated  elections  continued  in  tfiis  olVue 
till  the  15th  ot  May,  n!)9,  Avhen  in  c()n^c(^nen(•e  of  his 
declniing  state  of  health  he  resigned  it.  He  had  j)^- 
viously  presented  the  institution  with  one  hinuh-cd  and  for- 
ty-three volumes  of  valuable  hooks,  as  a  foundation  of  a 
medical  library.  On  retirinjr  from  the  j)residciicy,  he 
received  an  adih'css,  which  haiidsomelv  exj>ies>cd  the  rc- 
sj)ectful  acknowlediiinent  of  this  society  for  his  diliirent 
and  friendly  attention  to  its  interests,  and  for  his  lil)eral 
donation.  Dr.  Brackett  had  interested  himself  in  the  sub- 
ject of  a  professorship  for  Natural  History  and  IJotanv,  at 
the  University  in  Cand)rid<!;e.  He  lolil  the  write  r  of  these 
memoirs,  not  many  weeks  before  his  death,  that  it  was  a 
s»d)ject  which  hail  much  eunrossed  his  mind  for  thirty 
years.  It  aflbrded  him  no  small  satisfaction  that,  before 
his  decease,  a  plan  had  been  adoj)ted  for  carrying  so  use- 
ful an  establishment  into  etiect,  and  that  donations  for  the 
p>n-pose,  to  the  amount  of  several  thousaml  (h)llars,  had 
i)een  sul)scribed.  He  left  the  re(|uest  with  his  consort, 
that  a  certain  property  of  the  value  of  tifteen  hundred 
dollars,  when  she  should  have  done  Avith  it,  might  be  con- 
veyed to  the  corporation  of  Harvard  College  for  the  be- 
fore suggested  design.  Mrs.  Brackett,  after  his  decease, 
said  sin'  >hovdd  "  hold  his  every  wish  oj«  the  sid)ject 
sacred  as  a  word  from  Heaven."  She  accordinglv  con- 
veyed the  property,  with  a  generous  additional  sum,  a 
])e(juest  of  her  own,  to  the  coi])oration  of  the  college,  the 
benelits  of  Avhich  are  now  expeiienced  in  the  beautiful 
establishment  at  Cambridge. 

Dr.  Brackett  was  nnuh  distiiiijuished  for  his  activity 
and  zeal  in  the  cause  of  American  inde])endeiice.  He  Avas 
one  of  the  conunittee  of  safety  during  the  revobitioirirv 
war.  At  an  early  period  of  it,  he  was  appointed  judjie  of 
the  maritime  court  in  New-Hampshire,  and  sustained  that 
office  with  re])utation.  His  profe-sioji,  however,  in  which 
he  was  eminent,  was  his  peculiar  deliiiht,  as  the  natural 
bias  of  his  soul  led  him  to  the  relief  of  those  wants  and 
vlistresses,  which  it  c<nitiini;illy  presented  fo  his  view.  To 
increase  his  knoA\  l(>dirc  and  usefulness  in  it,  his  rea(]ing, 
which  was  uncommonly  extensive,  his  observations,  Avhich 
were  accurate,  and  his  reflections,  which  were  judicious, 
were  principally  directed.  He  was  pxtremily  attentive  to 
his  patien(5,  and  spared  no  pain5  \o  investigatP  the  cant« 
25 


194  JOSHUA    BRACKETT. 

and  the  nature  of  their  maladies,  and  to  afford  relief.  Ar- 
tis  obstetricae  valde  peritus  fuit,  (jiiippe  quo  curante  nun- 
quam  fjemina  part ur lens  morti  succiibuit.  While  a  happy 
general  success  attended  his  professional  ministrations,  his 
tenderness  and  sympathy  with  tlie  sons  and  daughters  of 
disease  and  distress,  were  striking  traits  in  his  character, 
and  greatly  endear  his  memory.  Dr.  Brackett  occasion- 
ally made  minutes  of  important  cases  which  came  under 
his  care,  and  of  the  measures  pursued  ;  but  as  these  were 
merely  for  his  own  use,  few  of  t'.iem  have  been  found  in 
a  finished  state.  He  also  kept  for  twenty-five  years  before 
his  death,  a  thermometrical  and  meteorological  registry, 
which  would  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  archives  of 
any  philosophical  society.  Although  his  religious  tenets 
were  different  from  those  of  the  writer  of  his  memoirs,  he 
has  no  hesitancy  in  saying,  that  his  moral  deportment  ap- 
peared to  be  founded  on  the  principle  recognized  in  the 
golden  rule.  He  was  mild  in  his  temper,  of  an  affable 
turn,  amiable  in  his  disposition,  unassuming  in  his  man- 
ners, and  was  sincerely  beloved  and  highly  respected  in  the 
social  walks  of  life.  He  was  a  man  of  warm  friendship, 
great  benevolence,  an  enemy  to  flattery,  and  no  one  was 
ever  less  ambitious  of  popular  applause.  Humanity  made 
a  prominent  appearance  in  the  group  of  his  excellences. 
It  ought  to  be  recorded  that,  in  his  professional  labors,  he 
was  pecvdiarly  kind  to  the  poor,  and  never  made  a  charge, 
where  he  had  reason  to  think  the  payment  would  occasion 
the  smallest  embarrassment.  This  was  a  conduct  which 
would  not  have  been  unworthy  of  the  man  of  Ross. 

For  a  considerable  time  before  his  death,  he  found  that 
his  constitution  was  under  a  gradual  and  general  decay 
through  a  disease  in  the  region  of  his  heart,  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  which  he  never  could  be  satisfied.  At  length  he 
determined  to  try  the  efficacy  of  the  Saratoga  waters,  for 
which  purpose  he  set  out  from  Portsmouth  on  the  23d  of 
June,  1802.  Having  arrived  at  the  springs,  he  continued 
there  but  a  few  days,  for  he  found  that  his  disorder  must 
bring  him  to  the  grave  ;  and,  feeling  a  consciousness  that 
the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand,  he  hastened  to  re- 
turn, that  he  might  be  among  his  friends  before  the  closing 
scene.  He  reached  home  on  Friday  the  9th  of  July,  vis- 
ited several  patients,  and  continued  to  walk  out  till  the 
Tuesday  following.  From  that  time  he, was  confined  till 
his  death,  which  took  place  on  Saturday  the  17th  of  July, 


WILLIAM    BllADFOUD.  195 

1802.  On  the  ensuiiif^  Monday  the  remains  of  this  philan- 
thropist and  pliysiciaii  were  inttrred  with  great  resj)e(t, 
and  tlie  tears  of  the  widow  ami  the  orj)Iian  wateied  his 
grave.  He  was,  in  jud<rinent,  sound  ;  in  friendship,  linn  ; 
in  sentiments,  liberal  ;  and  in  h«;nevolenee,  inihounded. — 
JMcdical  Ucpv'iiiory  by  Rev.   T.  Jl. 

In  early  life  Dr.  lirackett  was  married  to  Miss  Hannah 
Wliipplc  of  Kittery,  who  was  a  most  amiable,  accom- 
plislied  and  dii^nified  woman.  Her  mental  endowments 
were  inferior  to  none.  Her  education  and  ac(|uirements 
surj)assed  those  of  her  sex  in  the  vicinity  of  her  residence. 
Her  favorite  studies  were  Natural  Philosophy,  and  more 
especially  Botany.  She  had  an  excellent  gartlen  well 
stored  with  choice  and  rare  shrubs,  plants  ami  fruits.  In 
henevolence  she  was  not  exceeded  by  her  husl)and,  for  it 
was  by  her  Avill  the  New-Hampshire  Medical  Society  real- 
ized a  letjacy  of  500  dollars.  She  died  May,  1805,  aijed  70 
years.  To  perjietuate  in  the  New-Hampsiiirc  Medical  So- 
ciety's Library  the  name  of  its  founder,  it  was  resolved  by 
the  Society,  that  the  name  of  Brackett  shall  be  marked  in 
golden  letters  on  the  covers  of  all  the  books  that  were  pre- 
sented by  him  or  j)urchased  by  Mrs.  Brackett's  legacy,  in 
manner  and  form  as  under  written. 

BRACKKTT 
TO    THE    NEW    HAMPSHIRE     MEDICAL    SOCIETY. 

BRADFORD,  Hon.  WILLIAM,  was  a  son  of  Lieut. 
Samuel  Bradford,  and  a  descendant  in  the  fourth  genera- 
tion from  the  Hon.  William  Bradfoid,  the  second  gov- 
ernor of  the  Old  Colony  of  Plymoutli.  His  descent  was 
in  a  direct  line,  through  families  of  distinction  ;  many  of 
the  collateral  branches  of  which  are  removed  into  various 
parts,  and  are  respectable.  He  was  horn  at  Plympton  in 
the  County  of  Plymouth,  on  the  4th  November  (old  style) 
1729.  His  j)romisiug  talents  and  early  jjroficiencv  in  lit- 
erature, gave  his  friends  fair  hoj)es  that  he  was  destined  to 
adorn  a  professional  character  ;  advantages  were,  accord- 
ingly, afl'orded  him  for  acipiiring  a  good  education.  The 
natural  bias  of  his  mind  led  him  to  turn  bis  attention  to 
the  medical  art  ;  and  he  was  regidarly  instructed  under 
the  tuition  of  Dr.  Ezekiel  Hersey  of  Ilingbain,  a  physi- 
cian of  eminence,  and  one  of  tlie  generous  benefactors  of 
Harvard  College. 

At  the  age  of  22  he  left  his  instructcr  with  sentiments  of 
friendship  and  esteem,  which  were  cherished  to  the  end  of 


196  WILLIAM    BRADFORD. 

liis  life,  and  commenced  tlie  practice  of  physic  in  the 
town  of  Warren,  State  of  Rhode  Ishiiul.  His  affable  and 
affectionate  manner,  imited  to  his  skill  and  success,  soon 
trained  him  a  liberal  encouragement,  which  seldom  falls  to 
the  share  of  so  young  a  practitioner,  however  meritorious. 
He  was  particularly  well  qualified  in  the  art  of  surgery, 
■was  considered  as  tlie  principal  operative  surgeon  in  the 
vicinity  where  he  resided  and  in  an  extended  circle,  per- 
forming difficult  operations  with  great  dexterity,  skill  and 
judgment.  In  April,  1751,  he  married  Miss  Mary  LeBaron, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Lazarus  LeBaron  of  Plymouth.  A  union 
with  an  amiable  partner,  rendered  his  domestic  life  happy, 
as  his  public  life  w'as  honorable  and  useful.  After  a  few 
years  he  found  it  convenient  to  remove  from  Warren  to 
iBristol,  where  he  erected  an  elegant  seat  on  that  memora- 
ble and  romantic  spot.  Mount  Hope.  Some  time  after  his 
residence  in  this  town,  he  entered  upon  the  study  and  the 
practice  of  the  law,  not  only  from  motives  of  indulging 
his  own  taste  for  juridical  science,  but  to  gratify  that  pro- 
pensity to  industry  and  usefulness,  which  animated  him  in 
all  his  pursuits.  His  great  assiduity,  correctness  and  can- 
dor in  his  office  at  the  bar,  procured  him  a  rank  among 
the  first  civilians  of  Rhode  Island,  and  it  may  be  justly 
said  of  him  that  very  few^  ever  arrived  so  near  to  superior 
eminence,  in  two  professions  which  required  so  much  at- 
tention necessary  to  a  proper  discharge  of  each. 

He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  committee  of  corres- 
pondence when  our  struggle  with  England  commenced, 
and  having  taken  a  decided  part  in  favor  of  the  rights  of 
the  colonies,  he  was  considered  as  a  jiillar  in  the  cause  of 
the  revolution,  and  sustained  a  distinguished  rank  in  the 
councils  of  New  England  in  those  trying  times.  During 
the  cannonade  of  Bristol  in  the  evening  of  October  7th 
1775,  by  the  Rose,  Glasgow  and  Siren  men  of  war.  Gov- 
ernor Bradford  went  on  board  the  Rose  in  behalf  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  treated  Avith  Captain  Wallace  for  the  ces- 
sation of  the  bombardment.  His  own  house  was  among 
the  ruins  of  this  invasion,  (See  Providence  Gazette,  Octo- 
ber 14th,  1775).  In  the  year  1792  he  was  elected  by  the 
suffrages  of  his  fellow  citizens  a  Senator  to  Congress, 
wliere  he  was  chosen  President  of  that  body  pro  tempore  ; 
biit  unambitious  of  public  honors,  and,  like  liis  friend  the 
immortal  Washington,  fond  of  retirement  from  the  busy 
V^orld,  he  soon   resigned  his  seat  in  that  august  body,  for 


Sl;jM-rt  fi 


iirt:- 


s'  (())  m  H  m  iR  eO)  <:())  ik. §  i^ii  oiii) 


I'eitd/etcjis-  Li.tht;.  Hostvn,. 


JOHN  BROOKS.  197 

tlic  deliglitful  shades  of  his  fiivoritc  retreat  at  Mount 
Hope.  He  "Was  frequently  called  to  fdl  oflices  of  jjreat 
trust  in  his  own  state,  as  l)ej)wty  Ciovernor,  and  Sjx-aker  of 
the  Ilotise  of  Assemhly,  the  duties  of  which  olhce  for  many 
years  he  disch:ir<!,ed  with  honor  and  fuh-iity.  It  may  he 
said  of  him  that,  excepting  a  few  years  hefore  his  death,  lie 
Avas  continually  in  the  alternate  discharj^e  of  the  duties  of 
jnihlic  anil  private  life.  Me,  notwithstandintj,  acijuired  an 
independent  fortune,  not  more  from  his  characteristic  hah- 
its  of  industry,  than  from  the  practice  of  economy  ;  in  each 
of  which  he  was  an  e\am])le  worthy  of  imitation. 

His  conduct  through  life,  was  modelled  on  the  standard 
of  strict  morality  and  the  warmest  j)hilanthropy.  His 
heart  Avas  ever  open  to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  and  it  was 
his  practice,  for  many  years,  to  dej)Osit  with  the  clergy- 
man of  the  parish,  a  liheral  sum  to  he  distrihuted  at  the 
discretion  of  the  minister  among  the  worthy  ohjects  of 
charity.  He  was  averse  to  ostentation  and  parade  in  at- 
tendance, although  hospital)le  to  a  provcrh,  and  he  would 
often  say  that  he  wished  not  to  survive  his  ahility  to  wait 
upon  himself.  He  was  an  early  riser,  walking  over  his 
extensive  domains  hefore  the  sun  a])peared  ;  temperate  and 
moderate  in  his  enjovments,  and  uniformly  retirinir  in  the 
evening  at  an  early  hour  ;  he  thus  j)reserved  health  and 
activity  to  fourscore  jTars.  He  was  sociahle  in  his  dis])0- 
sition  ;  and  his  greatest  solicitude  was  to  make  his  family 
and  friends  happy,  from  whom  he  derived  more  than  com- 
mon satisfaction  and  enjoyment.  By  his  liheral  entertain- 
ment of  associates  and  strangers,  he  cheered  the  solitary 
hours  of  a  single  life  during  38  years  ])revious  to  his  de- 
cea.«!e,  his  wife  having  died  Octoher  2d  1775.  His  own 
departure  took  place  in  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  July  6ih 
1808.  Bisho])  Griswold,  then  Rector  of  St.  Michael's 
Church,  delivered  a  sermon  at  his  interment,  from  Gene- 
sis -lOth  chaj)ter.  ^Oth  and  3 1st  verses,  whi(  h  was  j)rinted. 
His  eldest  son,  M.ijor  Williiun  Bradforil,  was  aid  to  Gen- 
eral ("harles  Let'  of  the  revolutioiiarv  armv. 

BROOKS,  JOHN,  M.I).  M.M.S.S.  et  LI>.I).  The 
Honorahle  John  Brooks  was  horn  in  Medford,  Massachu- 
setts, in  the  year  1752.  His  father.  Captain  Calel)  Brooks, 
was  a  resjx'ctahle,  independ(>nt  farmer,  and  the  son  spent 
his  earliest  years  in  the  usual  occupations  of  a  farm.  He 
received  no  education  preparatory  to  his  professional  stud- 
ies,  but  that  of  the  town  school  ;   at  which,  however,   he 


198  JOHN  BROOKS. 

was  able  to  acquire  sufficient  of  the  learned  languages  to 
qualify  him  for  the  profession  of  medicine.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Simon 
Tufts  of  Medford,  by  a  written  indenture  as  an  apprentice 
for  seven  years  ;  this  being  the  usual  custom  of  that  day. 
No  master  was  ever  more  faithful  to  his  charge,  and  the 
pupil  by  his  amiable  deportment  and  excellent  conduct 
abundantly  repaid  his  master's  care.  At  this  school  the 
celebrated  Count  Rumford  was  his  companion  and  friend, 
and  their  intimacy  was  continued  by  correspondence  until 
the  death  of  the  Count.  The  skill  and  science  of  the  in- 
structer  and  the  indefatigable  attention  of  the  pupil,  sup- 
plied the  deficiencies  arising  from  the  want  of  a  liberal 
education.  His  progress  in  medical  science  and  in  judi- 
cious practical  observation,  was  such  as  to  secure  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  his  master  during  his  pupilage  ;  the 
amiable  traits  of  his  character  were  more  fully  developed, 
and  he  began  to  manifest  that  talent  and  fondness  for  mili- 
tary discipline  which  were  eminently  displayed  at  a  sub- 
sequent period,  and  contributed  to  establish  that  erect  and 
manly  port  for  which  lie  was  so  remarkably  distinguished. 
In  the  hours  of  relaxation  from  study  he  amused  himself 
with  the  drill  and  exercise  of  the  soldier.  His  manners 
were  so  gentle  and  attractive,  that  he  was  the  delight  of 
all  the  village  boys  :  they  collected  about  him  as  the  chief 
source  of  their  pleasures  and  amusements  ;  he  formed  them 
into  companies,  and  trained  and  exercised  them  in  all  the 
duties  of  military  discipline.  Dr.  Tufts's  yard  was  often 
converted  into  a  trainfield,  and  displayed  in  miniature  all 
"  the  pride,  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war." 

Having  finished  his  studies,  he  chose  the  neighboring 
town  of  Reading  as  his  residence,  and  commenced  his 
practice  there.  But  by  this  time  the  storm"  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war  was  gathering,  and,  as  its  distant  thunders 
rolled  towards  our  shores,  the  hearts  of  the  gallant  youth 
of  our  country  responded  to  the  sound,  and  preparations 
for  the  field  superseded  the  minor  concerns  of  life.  A 
company  of  minute  men  was  raised  in  the  town,  and  young 
Brooks  was  chosen  its  commander.  He  was  indefatigable 
in  drilling  and  disciplining  them,  having  first  gained  some 
knowledge  himself  by  observing  the  military  trainings  of 
the  British  soldiers  in  Boston.  He  was  soon  called  upon 
for  actual  service.  On  the  news  of  the  expedition  of  the 
British  to  Lexington  and  Concord,  he  instantly  marched 


JOHN  BROOKS.  199 

with  such  of  his  company  as  were  prepared,  and  ordered 
the  rest  to  follow.  Tiicy  were  delayed  on  the  road  l)y  the 
orders  of  a  higher  oHicer  ;  hut  Brook.';,  tlu']i  about  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  and  the  brave  yoiuig  men  of  his  cojnpa- 
ny,  puslied  on  towards  Concord,  and  as  they  drew  near  to 
the  town  they  met  the  whole  British  force  returning.  He 
immediately  ordered  his  corps  to  place  themselves  l)ehind 
the  barns  and  fences,  and  fire  continually  on  the  British. 
Tiiey  did  great  execution,  and  contribulcd  much  to  pro- 
duce that  panic  with  which  the  proud,  but  humbled,  troops 
retreated  to  their  (piarters  in  Boston. 

The  military  talents  and  calm  courage  which  he  dis- 
played on  this  occasion,  were  remarkable  in  a  young  man 
only  twenty-two  years  of  age,  wiio  had  never  seen  a  battle. 
They  were  noticed  by  those  who  had  the  direction  of  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  he  soon  after  received  the  commission  of 
Major  in  the  continental  army.  He  now  entered  on  the 
duties  of  a  soldier  with  ardor,  and  devoted  all  the  powers 
of  his  mind  to  the  cause  of  his  country  and  the  j)rofession 
of  arms.  He  carried  into  the  service  a  mind  pure  and  ele* 
vated,  and  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledgi-.  He  had  a 
high  sense  of  moral  rectitude,  which  governed  all  his  ac- 
tions. Licentiousness  and  debauchery  were  strangers  to 
his  breast  ;  they  fled  from  his  presence,  awed  l)y  his  supe- 
rior virtue.  His  gentlemanly  deportment  and  unassuming 
manners  securetl  the  favor  of  his  superiors  in  office,  and 
rendered  him  the  delioht  of  his  ecjuals  and  inferiors.  When 
our  troo})s  were  preparing  to  fortify  Buidier's  Hill,  Major 
Brooks  volunteered  his  services,  and  was  active  during  the 
whole  night  of  the  16th  of  June  in  throwing  up  intrench- 
ments,  in  reconnoitring  the  groimd,  and  in  watch iiifr  the 
movements  of  the  enemy.  On  the  morning  of  the  17th, 
Avhen  it  was  perceived  that  the  enemy  were  making  prepa- 
rations for  an  assault,  he  was  desjiatched  by  Colonel  Pres- 
cott  as  a  confidential  oflicer  to  inform  General  Ward,  then 
at  Cambridge,  of  the  movements,  and  to  press  him  to  send 
on  reinforcements.  Not  a  horse  could  be  jirocnreil  for  this 
service,  and  he  went  on  foot.  This  duty  jnevented  his 
beinj;  engaged  in  that  glorious  ])attle,  which  has  immortal- 
ized the  heroes  who  were  engaged  in  it,  and  consecr.ited 
the  ground  to  everlastinjx  fame. 

Major  Brooks  had  already  acquired  such  knowledge  of 
tactics  that  he  had  been  consulted  by  superior  officers  on 
a  system  of  discipline  to  be  introduced  into  ourannv.    He 


200  JOHN  BROOKS. 

now  applied  himself  with  renewed  diligence  to  this  impor- 
tant part  of  his  duty,  and  soon  acquired  a  high  reputation 
as  a  disciplinarian.  The  corps  he  commanded  were  dis- 
tinguished during  the  Avhole  war  for  the  superiority  of 
their  discipline,  evinced  by  their  gallant  conduct  in  battle 
and  by  their  regular  movements  in  retreat.  He  was  con- 
sidered second  only  to  the  celebrated  Baron  Steuben,  in 
his  knowledge  of  tactics.  After  the  Baron  joined  the  army 
and  was  appointed  Inspector  General,  Ave  ftnd  that  Brooks 
was  associated  with  him  in  the  arduous  duty  of  introduc- 
ing a  uniform  system  of  exercise  and  manoeuvres.  In  the 
battle  of  White  Plains  the  regiment  to  which  he  belonged 
was  the  last  to  quit  the  field,  and  it  retired  under  his  com- 
mand with  the  steadiness  of  veteran  soldiers,  and  received 
the  distino[uished  acknowledo:ments  of  General  Washington 
for  its  gallant  conduct.  In  the  year  1777  he  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  in  the  8th  Massachusetts 
Regiment,  the  command  of  which  devolved  on  him  in 
consequence  of  the  sickness  of  the  Colonel. 

In  August,  1777,  Colonel  Brooks  was  detached  with  a 
command  under  General  Arnold  against  Colonel  St.  Leger, 
who  with  a  body  of  Canadians,  Indians  and  tories  had  be- 
sieged our  fort  on  the  Mohawk  river.  Advancing  toward 
the  enemy  he  captured  Major  Butler,  and  found  within 
our  lines  one  Cuyler,  a  proprietor  of  a  handsome  estate  in 
the  vicinity,  who,  having  been  much  with  the  enemy,  was 
taken  up  as  a  spy.  Colonel  Brooks  proposed  that  he  should 
be  employed  as  a  messenger  to  spread  the  alarm  and  induce 
the  enemy  to  retreat  from  before  our  fort.  General  Ar- 
nold soon  after  arrived  and  approved  of  the  scheme  ;  it 
was  accordingly  agreed  that  Cuyler  should  be  liberated, 
and  his  estate  secured  to  him,  on  the  condition  that  he 
would  return  to  the  enemy  and  make  such  exaggerated 
report  of  General  Arnold's  force  as  to  alarm  and  put  them 
to  flight.  Tliis  stratagem  was  successful,  the  Indians  in- 
stantly determined  to  quit  their  ground  and  make  their 
escape,  nor  was  it  in  the  power  of  St.  Leger  and  his  offi- 
cers, with  all  their  arts  of  persuasion,  to  prevent  it.  The 
capture  of  General  Burgoyne  and  his  army  may  be  attri- 
buted in  no  small  degree  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  Colonel 
Brooks  and  liis  regiment,  on  the  7th  of  October,  in  the 
battle  of  Saratoga.  Witli  fearless  intrepidity  he  led  on  his 
regiment,  turning  the  right  of  the  enemy,  stormed  their 
entrenchments,  entering  them  at  the  head  of  hi?:  men  with 


JOHN  BROOKS. 


«0I 


sword  in  hand,  and  put  to  rout  the  veteran  German 
troops  which  defeniled  tlieni.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
he  wrote  to  a  friend: — "We  have  met  the  British  and 
Hessiims  and  have  beat  them  ;  and  not  content  with  this 
victory,  we  have  assaulted  their  intrenchments  and  carried 
them."  In  the  battle  at  Monmouth  lie  was  acting  Adju- 
tant General,  and  on  this  as  on  all  occasions  conducted 
with  great  coolness  and  l)ravery. 

The  confidence  wiiich  Washington  reposed  in  him  was 
shown  on  many  occasions,  and  particularly  in  calling  him 
to  his  councils  in  that  terrible  moment  when  at  Newburgh, 
in  March,  1783,  a  conspiracy  of  some  of  tlie  officers,  ex- 
cited by  the  ])ublication  of  inflammatory  anonymous  let- 
ters, had  well  nigh  disgraced  the  army  and  ruined  the 
country.  On  this  occasion  the  commander  in  cliief,  to 
whom  this  was  the  most  anxious  moment  of  his  life,  rode 
up  to  Brooks  with  intent  to  ascertain  how  the  officers  stood 
affected.  Finding  him,  as  he  expected,  to  be  sound,  he 
requested  him  to  keep  his  ofiicers  within  cpiarters  to  j)re- 
vent  tliem  from  attending  the  insurgent  meeting  ;  Brooks 
replied,  "  Sir,  I  have  anticipated  your  wishes,  and  my  or- 
ders are  ;^iven."  Washington,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  said,  "Colonel  Brooks,  this  is  just 
what  I  expected  from  you."  Colonel  Brooks  was  one  of 
the  committee  who  brought  in  the  resolutions  of  the  offi- 
cers expressing  their  abliorrcnce  of  this  vile  })lot.  So 
strongly  were  his  brother  officers  impressed  with  his  wis- 
dom and  j)rudcnce,  that  they  appointed  him  one  of  tlieir 
connnittee  to  make  an  adjustment  of  their  accounts  witli 
Congress.  W^ishington  did  not  forget  him  after  the  war 
was  over,  Imt  afterward  when  an  army  was  raised  in  ex- 
pectation of  a  war  with  France,  he  designated  him  for  the 
command  of  a  brigade.  Believing,  however,  that  the  dan- 
gers of  the  coimtry  were  not  so  imminent  as  to  recjuire  a 
second  sacrifice  of  domestic  comfort,  he  declined  the  ap- 
pointment. 

The  following  pages  are  copied  from  Dr.  Dixwell's  me- 
moir of  Governor  Brooks. 

"  After  the  army  was  disbanded  Colonel  Brooks  return- 
ed to  private  life,  rich  in  the  laurels  he  had  won,  in  the 
affections  of  his  fellow  soldiers  and  in  the  esteem  of  the 
wise  and  good.  He  was  not  only  free  from  the  vices  inci- 
dent to  a  military  life,  but,  what  was  remarkable,  he  had 
acquired  more  elevated  sentiments  of  moralitv  and  religion. 
«6 


202  JOHN    BROOKS. 

He  was  received  in  his  native  town  with  all  the  kindness, 
the  congratulations  and  attentions  wliich  love  and  friendship 
could  elicit;  or  respect  inspire.  He  was  rich  in  honor  and 
glory,  but  he  had  nothing  to  meet  the  claims  of  his  beloved 
family,  but  the  caresses  of  an  affectionate  heart. 

"  His  old  friend  Dr.  Tufts  being  infirm  and  advanced  in 
life,  was  desirous  of  relincpiishing  his  practice  into  the 
hands  of  his  favorite  pupil,  whom  he  thought  so  worthy  of 
confidence.  His  fellow  townsmen  responded  to  the  wishes 
of  his  patron.  He  accordingly  recommenced  the  practice 
of  physic,  under  the  most  favorable  auspices,  in  Medford 
and  the  neighboring  towns.  He  was'  soon  after  elected  a 
fellow  of  this  society,  and  was  one  of  its  most  valuable  and 
respected  members.*  On  the  extension  and  new  organiza- 
tion of  the  society,  in  the  year  1803,  he  was  elected  a 
counsellor,  and  continued  to  discliarge  the  duties  of  this 
office  with  fidelity  until  he  Avas  Governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth. He  was  then  discontinued  at  his  own  request.  In 
the  year  1808,  by  the  appointment  of  the  board  of  coun- 
sellors, he  delivered  an  anniversary  discourse  on  Pneumo- 
nia, which  has  been  published,  and  evinces  a  mind  well 
stored  with  medical  science  and  correct  practical  obser- 
vation. 

"  On  his  retiring  from  the  chair  of  state,  he  was  again 
chosen  a  counsellor,  with  the  view  of  electing  him  Presi- 
dent of  our  society.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  expatiate 
on  the  pride  and  satisfaction  we  derived  from  his  accept- 
ing this  honor.  Yovir  own  feelings  will  best  convey  to 
you  the  height  of  tlie  honor  wliich  he  reflected  on  our  so- 
ciety. That  he  felt  a  deep  interest  in  our  prosperity,  we 
have  ample  evidence  in  his  so  kindly  remembering  us  in 
his  will.f 

"  As  a  physician  he  ranked  in  the  first  class  of  prac- 
titioners. He  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  those  quali- 
ties which  were  calculated  to  render  liim  the  most  useful 
in  his  professional  labors,  and  the  delight  of  those  to  whom 
he  administered  relief.  His  manners  were  dignified,  court- 
eous and  benign.  He  was  kind,  patient  and  attentive. 
His  kind  offices  were  peculiarly  acceptable  from  the  feli- 
citous manner  in  which  he  performed  them.  His  mind 
was  well  furnished  with  scientific  and  practical  knowledge. 

*  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 

+  Governor  Brooks  benuf^athed  to  tlio  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  the  wholt 
of  iiii  medical  library,  wiiicli  contains  niamv  valuabla  works. 


JOHN   BROOKS. 


203 


He  was  accurate  in  his  invest iyat ions,  and  clear  in  his  dis- 
cerinncnt.  He,  therefore,  rarely  iaihd  in  fbrniin<r  a  true 
diatrnosis.  If  he  were  not  so  bohl  and  (hirin<r  as  some,  in 
the  administration  of  renietlies,  it  was  because  liis  jud<;nient 
and  «'ood  sense  k'd  him  to  i)refcr  erring  on  the  side  of  pru- 
dence rather  than  on  that  of  rashne^s.  He  watched  the 
0])erations  of  nature,  and  never  interfered,  unless  it  was 
obvious  he  could  aid  and  support  her.  He  was  truly,  the 
'■'■  Hierophant  of  nature,''  studying  her  mysteries  and  obey- 
ing her  oracles. 

'^  In  his  practice,  he  added  dignity  to  his  profession  by 
his  elevated  and  ui)righl  conduct.  His  lofty  spirit  could 
not  stoop  to  the  empirical  arts  which  are  too  often  adopt- 
ed to  obtain  a  temporary  ascendancy.  He  soared  above 
the  sordid  consideration  of  the  property  he  should  accu- 
mulate by  his  professional  labors.  Like  the  good  and 
great  Boerhaave,  he  considered  the  poor  his  best  patients, 
for  God  was  their  paymaster.  In  short,  he  was  the  con- 
scientious, the  skilful  and  the  benevolent  j)hysician — the 
grace  and  ornament  of  our  profession. 

''  His  mind,  however,  was  not  so  exclusively  devoted 
to  his  professional  duties,  as  to  prevent  his  taking  a  deep 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  state.  He  had  contributed  so 
lart^ely  toward*;  establishing  the  independence  of  his  coun- 
try, and  had  exhibited  such  sincere  devotion  to  its  welfare, 
that  his  countrymen,  who  have  ever  been  distinguished  for 
the  acuteness  of  their  discernment  in  judging  of  public 
men  and  measures,  were  always  ready  to  display  their  con- 
fidence in  him.  They  felt  an  assurance  that  they  might 
safely  rci)()se  on  his  conscientious  integrity,  wisdom  and 
patriotism.  He  was  consc<iuently  called  to  fill  numerous 
offices  of  hiiih  importance  in  the  state. 

"  He  was  for  m:uiv  years  major-general  of  the  militia 
of  his  county,  and  established  in  his  division  such  excel- 
lent discipline,  and  infused  into  it  such  an  admiral)le  spirit 
of  emulation,  that  it  was  a  mosi  brilliant  example  for  the 
militia  of  the  state.  In  tlie  insurrection  of  17SG,  his  divi- 
sion was  very  ellicient  in  th'eir  protection  of  the  courts  of 
justice,  and  in  their  supjiort  of  tlie  iiovernment  of  the 
state.  At  this  time  Gen.  Brooks  represented  his  town  in 
general  court,  and  he  gave  support  to  the  firm  and  judi- 
cious measures  of  Gov.  Bowdoin  for  suppressing  that 
alarming  rebellion.  He  was  a  dilerrate  in  the  state  conven- 
tion for  the  adojjtion  of   the  federal  constitution,  and  was 


204  JOHN  BROOKS. 

one  of  its  most  zealous  advocates.  After  the  establishment 
of  the  federal  government,  he  was  the  second  marshal  ap- 
pointed by  Washington  for  this  district,  and  afterwards  re- 
ceived further  evidence  of  his  confidence  and  approbation, 
by  being  appointed  inspector  of  the  revenue.*  He  was 
successively  elected  to  the  senate  and  executive  council  of 
the  state.  He  was  appointed  by  the  acute  and  discriminat- 
ing Gov.  Strong,  as  liis  adjutant-general,  in  that  perilous 
crisis  of  our  affairs,  the  late  w^ar  with  England.  Tlie  pru- 
dence and  discretion  with  which  he  discharged  this  ardu- 
ous duty,  will  be  long  remembered  by  his  grateful  coun- 
trymen. 

"  These  multifarious  and  laborious  public  services  were 
performed  with  so  much  punctuality  and  ability,  and  with 
such  dignity  and  urbanity,  that  on  the  retirement  of  Gov. 
Strong  in  the  year  1816,  wise  and  discreet  legislators  from 
all  parts  of  the  commonwealth,  selected  him  as  the  most 
suitable  candidate  for  that  high  and  responsible  office.  It 
will  be  recollected,  how  forcibly  every  judicious  mind  was 
impressed  with  tlie  excellence  of  the  selection,  and  how 
strongly  the  public  suffrages  confirmed  that  opinion.  His 
very  name  seemed  to  disarm  party  spirit  with  talismanic 
power  ;  for  many,  who  had  never  acted  Avith  his  political 
friends,  prided  themselves  in  testifying  their  unlimited 
confidence  in  him. 

"It  is  fresh  in  your  memories,  with  what  trembling  ap- 
prehensions he  shrunk  from  the  lofty  altitude  of  the  chair 
of  state,  and  yet  when  placed  there,  with  what  singular 
ease  and  dignity  he  presided,  and  with  what  signal  ability 
he  discharged  its  various  important  duties.  His  govern- 
ment was  firm  and  decided,  yet  it  was  so  mild  and  gentle, 
that  its  influence  was  chiefly  perceptible  in  his  happy  faci- 
lity of  allaying  party  spirit  and  all  the  angry  passions  of 
our  nature.  It  Avas  like  that  of  a  beloved  and  revered 
parent,  whom  all  are  disposed  to  honor  and  obey. 

"  Amidst  these  high  military  and  political  honors  which 
his  fellow  citizens  took  delight  in  bestowing  on  him,  al- 
most every  institution  of  a  literary,  religious,  patriotic,  be- 

*  When  President  Washington  visited  JNIassachusctts  in  the  year  1789,  he  ap- 
peared solicitous  to  show  Gen.  Brooks  that  he  held  his  character  in  high  estimation, 
and  cherished  a  strong;  personal  regard  for  him.  Among  other  attentions  he  review- 
ed his  division  ol  Ihc  militia,  and  expressed  the  highest  approbation  of  its  discipline, 
and  when  he  was  about  to  depart  for  Salem  he  requested  to  take  Gen.  Brooks's 
house  in  his  course,  although  a  deviation  from  his  route,  that  he  might  take  leave  of 
his  friend  and  compatriot  in  arm?. 


JOBIt  DROOKft.  205 

nevoleiit  or  j)rofessionnl  character,  seemed  to  vie  wilh  each 
other  ill  conlcrriiij;  their  hii^hest  lionors  on  liim.  Harvard 
University  a(kii()\vlrcl<;ed  the  vahie  of  his  litcrarv  a(  (juirc- 
incnts,  hy  coiih'rriiijj  on  him  the  tlejjree  of  A.  ftl.,  in  the 
year  1787,  ami  in  ISIG  lie  received  the  liighest  honors  of 
that  seminary,  the  degrees  of  M.D.  and  LL.D. 

"  The  society  of  (yincinnati  recoijiiiscd  liiiii  a<  one  of 
their  most  ilistiiimiishcd  members.  lie  was  cU'(  ted  to  dc- 
liver  the  first  oration  heCorcthem  onthelth  ol  July,  17iS7  ; 
and  on  the  deatii  of  Gen.  Lincoln,  their  first  presitlcnt, 
Gen.  Brooks  was  elected  to  succeed  him. 

"  He  was  a  member  of  tlie  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 
He  was  President  of  tlie  Washin<rton  Moiniment  Associa- 
tion, of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association,  and  of 
the  Bil)le  Society  of  Massachusetts. 

"  Having;  faithfully  and  ably  discharj^cd  the  duties  of 
chief  maiiistratc  for  seven  successive  years,  he  expressed 
his  determination  to  retire  from  the  cares  and  anxieties  of 
public  life.  How  fjreat  were  the  j)ublic  regrets,  and  how 
gladly  would  a  larije  majority  of  his  fellow  citizens  have 
retained  his  valuable  services  ;  but  tliey  forebore  urging 
liiin  to  any  further  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  his  country. 
He  retired  to  private  life  with  dignity,  ami  with  the  love 
and  blessings  of  a  grateful  jieople. 

'■'■  Having  imperfectly  traced  the  brilliant  patli  of  his  pub- 
lic career,  let  us  for  a  moment  contemplate  Gov.  Brooks 
in  his  private  character  ;  and  perhaps  we  may  discover  the 
true  source  of  all  his  greatness,  ihe  charm  which  bound 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  to  him  in  ties  so  strong.  He 
j)Osscssed  a  heart  free  from  all  guile,  and  every  inor- 
dinate fclfish  feeling — an  eveimcss  of  temjicr  and  sweetness 
of  disj)osition.  His  discordant  passions,  for  we  presume 
he  had  thi'in,  being  human,  were  kept  in  comj)lete  subjec- 
tion to  his  virtues.  He  hatl  a  peculiar  tomposureand 
complacency  of  countenance  ;  and  the  ilclicacy  and  courte- 
ousncss  of  his  manners  were  imcommonly  attractive.  But 
above  all,  his  conduct  was  regiilated  by  the  influence  of 
that  jiure  morality,  derived  from  our  holy  religion,  which 
was  impressed  deeplv  on  his  mind  at  an  earlv  period  of 
life. 

"  The  mind  of  Gov.  Brooks  was  clear  in  its  perceptions, 
and  discriminating  in  its  judgment  ;  it  was  active,  ardent 
and  industrious  in  the  pursuit  of  every  valuable  attain- 
ment, and  powerful  in  the  a]»j)lication  of  those  attainnicntt 


J206  J^OHN  BROOKS. 

for  the  benefit  of  others.  Although  his  mind  shrunk  from 
observation,  with  the  delicate  excitability  of  the  sensitive 
plant,  it  was  like  the  oak  in  sustaining  the  pressure  of  every 
duty  to  his  friends  or  his  country. 

"  In  his  relation  to  his  native  town,  he  completely  re- 
versed the  maxim,  that  a  prophet  has  no  honor  in  his  own 
country,  for  the  inhabitants  of  Medford  idolized  him. 
They  knew  liis  worth,  and  fully  appreciated  it.  He  was 
truly  their  friend  and  benefactor.  He  took  so  deep  an  in- 
terest in  all  their  concerns,  let  their  station  in  life  be  ever 
so  humble,  that  they  could  always  approach  him  with  ease 
and  confidence.  They  referred  to  him  all  their  disputes, 
and  so  judicious  were  his  decisions,  that  he  had  the  rare 
felicity  to  satisfy  all  parties,  and  to  reconcile  them  to 
bonds  of  amity.  It  was  observed  by  an  eminent  lawyer, 
who  resided  there,  that  he  had  no  professional  Inisiness  in 
Medford,  for  Gov.  Brooks  prevented  all  contentions  in  the 
law.  In  addition  to  these  intrinsic  services,  he  was  the 
grace  and  the  ornament  of  their  social  circles,  and  seemed 
to  fill  up  the  measure  of  all  their  enjoyments. 

"  But  what  avail  these  noble  talents,  these  splendid 
achievements  or  these  godlike  virtues  !  The  grim  messen- 
ger of  death  has  swept  them  from  our  reach.  Our  beloved 
and  revered  friend-  in  whom  they  were  so  eminently  dis- 
played, now  lies  a  cold  and  inanimate  clod  of  the  valley, 
'  and  the  places  which  knew  him,  shall  know  him  no  more 
for  ever.'  '  But  thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  !'  his  spirit  has  risen  to  Him  who  gave  it,  and  his 
virtues  shall   remain  engraven  on  our  hearts." 

His  death  took  place  March  1st,  1825,  in  the  73d  year  of 
his  age.  His  wife  died  early  in  life.  He  had  one  daughter, 
who  married  the  Rev.  George  Oakley  Stewai-t  of  Quebec, 
where  she  resided  until  her  decease.  His  sons  were  Alexan- 
der Scammel  and  John,  both  of  whom  devoted  themselves 
to  tlie  service  of  their  country..  The  former  is  a  major 
in  tlie  artillery  of  the  United  States  army,  and  inherits  his 
paternal  estate.  The  latter,  beautiful  and  accomplished, 
was  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  and  died  in  the  midst  of  vic- 
tory, heroically  fighting  for  his  country,  in  the  glorious 
battle  of  Lake  Erie. 

At  a  meetiu<5  of  the  counsellors  of  tlie  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  March  2d,  1825,  it  was  '■'■Resolved,  that  the 
coimsellors  regard  witli  deep  sensibility  the  loss  by  death 
of  the  late  president  of  the  society;   and  that  they  feel  as- 


ARCHIBALD  BRUCE-  207 

sured  that  they  shall  express  the  sentiments  of  the  society 
as  they  do  their  own,  in  stutinir  that  the  society  has  derived 
honor  from  l\avin«r  luid  as  tlieir  head  a  mun  lieloved  in 
private  life,  justly  respected  in  ins  profession,  and  distin- 
guished in  his  state  and  coi'.ntry,  for  the  faithful  and  hon- 
orable performance  of  hi;:h  miliiary  and  civil  duties." 
A  large  nnmbcr  of  the  members  of  the  society  attended  the 
funeral  solemnities  in  conjunction  v/ith  the  mendiers  of 
the  Cincinnati  and  several  other  societies  to  v/hicJi  the  de- 
ceased bclonircd,  a:id  a  p;reut  concourse  of  our  most  distin- 
guished citizens,  who  uiilL'-.i  with  the  afllicted  relatives  and 
connexions  in  te.Uifying  th.'ir  respect  for  his  memory 

BRUCE,  ARCHIBALD,  M.D.  was  born  in  thecity  of 
New-York,  in  February,  17'?7.  His  father,  William  Bruce, 
was  at  that  time  at  the  head  of  the  medical  department  of 
the  British  army  tlicn  statioiied  at  New-York.  He  had 
early  determined  that  his  son  Archibald  should  not  be 
bronglit  np  to  tlie  medical  profession  ;  fvnd  enjoined  such 
instruction  upon  his  wife  and  friends  to  wdiom  the  charge 
of  the  boy  was  committed  upon  the  occasion  of  his  being 
ordered  to  the  We^t  India  station.  After  his  decease  the 
same  injunction  was  repeated  by  his  uncle,  then  in  Europe. 

Young  Archibald  Avas  first  placed  ])y  his  mother  under 
the  care  of  William  Almon,  M.D.  of  Halifax,  a  particular 
friend  of  her  husband.  Here,  however,  he  remained  but 
a  sliort  time,  and  returning  to  New-York  was  taken  to  a 
school  on  Long-Island,  under  the  direction  of  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Wilson,  LL.D.  a  distinguished  teacher  of  the  dead 
languages. 

He  was  admitted  as  a  student  of  tlie  Arts  in  Colund>ia 
College  in  HOi,  and  duly  graduated  A.B.  Nidiolas  Ro- 
mayne,  M.D.  was  about  this  time  engaged  in  delivering 
lectures  on  several  branches  of  medical  learninj;,  and  the 
instruction  of  this  eminent  teacher  was  the  first  advance 
young  Bruce  made  in  a  knowledge  of  phy>i<-.  This  he 
commenced  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  his  friends, 
and  even  while  engaged  in  the  school  of  arts.  He  after- 
ward became  a  private  pu})il  of  Dr.  Hosack,  and  attended 
the  several  courses  of  instruction  delivered  l>y  the  Medical 
Facnlty  of  Colnmbia  Collece.  In  1793  he  repaired  to  Eu- 
rope, and  in  ISDO  obtained  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine from  the  I'niversity  of  KdinbMr<rh,  after  havinir  de- 
fended his  inaugural  exercise,  ••  De  \  ariola  \  accina." 


SOS  ARCHIBALD     BRUCE. 

He  was  now  amply  prepared  to  make  an  advantageous 
visit  to  the  Continent,  and  enlarge  the  stock  ol  medical 
and  physical  science  which  he  had  already  accumulated 
both  in  his  own  country  and  at  the  famous  Scotch  school 
of  medicine.  If  there  was  any  one  particular  branch  of 
natural  study  whicli  was  more  peculiarly  attractive  to  him, 
it  was  mineralogy  ;  and  his  subsequent  success  in  this  de- 
partment is  to  be  accounted  for  from  the  admirable  and 
peculiar  opportunities  he  possessed  in  New-York  while 
under  the  care  of  his  medical  preceptor.  Dr.  Hosack.  Dr. 
H.  had  but  a  short  time  previous  to  this  period  returned 
from  Europe  with  a  cabinet  of  minerals,  the  first  one  in- 
troduced into  the  American  States,  and  it  was  arranged  by 
the  conjoint  assistance  of  young  Bruce.  This  exercise  first 
awakened  his  attention  to  this  branch  of  study,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  that  reputation  which  was  afterward  so 
readily  awarded  him. 

During  a  tour  of  two  years  in  France,  Switzerland  and 
Italy,  Dr.  Bruce  collected  a  mineralogical  cabinet  of  great 
value  and  extent.  Upon  his  return  to  England  he  married 
in  London,  and  came  out  to  New-York  in  the  summer  of 
1803,  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  a  practitioner  of  medicine. 

In  1806  was  passed  the  act  establishing  the  state  and 
county  medical  societies,  one  of  the  most  important  meas- 
ures ever  adopted  by  the  legislature  of  New-York  ;  and  in 
the  following  year  was  organized  the  College  of  Physicians 
aiKl  Surgeons  of  tlie  University  of  New-York  by  the  hon- 
orable the  Board  of  Regents.  In  this  new  institution  Dr. 
Bruce  was  appointed  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Min- 
eralogy, and  continued  to  give  public  instruction  on  those 
branches  to  the  students  of  the  university  until  the  reor- 
ganization of  tlie  college  in  1811,  when  the  presidency  of 
that  establishment  was  placed  under  the  authority  of  the 
venerable  Samuel  Bard,  and  his  own  professorship  of  Mate- 
ria Medica  transferred  to  Benjamin  DeWitt,  M.D.  and  the 
office  of  Registrar  to  John  W.  Francis.  The  chair  of  min- 
eralogy was  subsecjuently  filled  by  Professor  DeWitt,  who 
upon  the  demise  of  Dr.  Bruce  became  the  proprietor  of 
his  valualde  cal)inet  of  minerals.  These  and  other  changes 
in  the  college  were  the  result  of  the  deliberations  of  the 
regents,  who  assigned  as  a  reason  for  their  adoption,  that 
intestine  feuds  had  greatly  marred  the  progress  of  the  in- 
stitution, and  that  these  as  well  as  other  measures  had  be- 


THOMAS     BULFmCH.  209 

come  necessary  in  orilor  to  cnaMc  tlie  college  to  go   on  in 
the  nuircli  of  ofl'octive  ini|)i()vt'ni(iit. 

J)r.  Hnice,  in  coinuxioM  with  his  friend  Romayue  and 
sevcivil  other  gentieuuMj,  afterward  constituted  another 
medic^  faculty,  and  lie  delivered  lectures  on  his  favorite 
studies,  mineralogy  and  materia  medica,  for  some  short 
while,  when  the  institution  was  dissolved. 

In  1810  lie  coiniuenced  the  editorshij)  of  a  Journal  of 
American  Mineralogy,  after  the  manner  of  the  well  known 
work  issued  by  the  School  of  Mines  at  Paris.  It  met  with 
becoming  success,  and  had  many  valualde  contributors  to 
its  pages  ;  but  owing  to  various  causes  was  never  carried 
beyond  the  completion  of  the  first  volume  ;  a  circumstance 
the  less  to  be  regretted  by  the  friends  of  science,  as  the 
jieriodical  work  of  Professor  Sillijnan  now  started  into  ex- 
istence. The  mineralofjical  journal  contributed  materially 
to  extend  the  fame  of  Dr.  Bruce,  as  well  as  his  discovery 
of  the  hydrate  of  magnesia,  at  Hoboken.  He  was  enrolled 
as  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  of 
the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  New-York,  be- 
sides other  institutions  in  his  own  covuitry  and  learned  asso- 
ciations in  Europe.  Among  his  distin<Tuishcd  (•orresj)ond- 
ents  abroad,  it  is  sufficient  to  mention   llauy  and  Jameson. 

After  repeated  attacks  of  severe  indisposition  Dr.  Bruce 
died  in  his  native  city,  of  an  apoplexy,  on  the  22d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1818,  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age.  About  the 
same  time  his  wife  also  died,  leaving  no  i.ssuc. — Sec  Silli- 
inan''s  Journal^  Voh.  I.  and  I  J". 

BULFINCH,  THOMAS,  M.D.  was  the  son  of  Adino 
Bulfinch,  who  came  to  this  country  from  England  about 
the  year  1C80.  He  was  actively  engaged  in  <  ommercial 
pursuits  in  Boston,  and  was  cho.«en  by  that  town  Surveyor 
of  Hifjhways  in  HOO.  His  son,  the  subject  of  this  me- 
moir, was  born  in  1G94.  He  did  not  receive  a  college  ed- 
ucation, l)ut  obtained  the  rudiments  of  medical  instruction 
under  Dr.  Zabdicl  Boylston.  Letters  from  him  still  ex- 
tant show  that  he  studied  anatomy  and  surgery  in  London 
under  the  famous  Cheselden  in  1718,  and  afterwards  com- 
pleted his  medical  studies  at  Paris  in  1721.  Dr.  Boylston 
wished  him  to  join  him  in  partnership,  which  he  dcclinrd, 
as  at  the  time  of  the  invitation  he  had  not  completed  his 
regidar  course  of  lectures.  On  his  return  to  Boston  he 
married  the  (huiffhter  of  John  Colman,  a  distinjruished 
merchant,  brother  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Colman,  first  pastor 
«7 


jjH)  THOMAS     BULFINCH. 

of  Brattle  Street  Church.  Tlie  following  obituary  notice 
is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Cooper,  who  mar- 
ried his  only  daughter. 

Boston^  December  Stk  1757.  Last  Friday  morning,  died, 
universally  lamented,  Dr.  Thomas  Bulfinch  in  the  63d 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  gentleman  whose  knowledge, 
fidelity  and  success  in  his  business  rendered  him  an  orna- 
ment to  his  profession  ;  as  the  easiness  and  composure  of 
his  behavior,  and  the  agreeableness  of  his  manners,  made 
him  amiable  in  f\imiliar  life.  He  was  a  tender  husband,  an 
affectionate  father,  a  just  and  kind  master,  and  a  constant, 
unshaken  friend.  His  piety  was  sober  and  unaffected,  his 
temper  luunane  and  benevolent,  his  heart  felt  for  the  dis- 
tresses of  others,  and  his  hands  were  ever  ready  to  relieve 
them.  He  was  a  lover  of  English  liberty,  of  good  order, 
and  good  government  ;  and  in  Itis  family  a  pattern  of  econ- 
omy and  hospitality  :  so  that  the  public  have  reason  to 
regret  his  loss,  not  only  as  an  excellent  physician,  but  as  a 
good  citizen  whose  example  was  beneficial  to  the  commu- 
nity. 

BULFINCH,  THOMAS,  M.D.  the  only  son  of  the 
preceding,  was  born  in  Boston  in  1728,  and  fitted  for  col- 
lege in  the  Latin  school  under  Mr.  Jolin  Lovell  ;  he  was 
distinguished  for  his  classical  attainments,  and  entered  col- 
lege in  1 742  ;  the  class  was  small  on  account  of  the  trou- 
bled state  of  the  times  occasioned  by  the  efforts  making  by 
the  Pretender  of  the  house  of  Stuart  for  the  recovery  of 
the  British  crown.  It  consisted  of  only  twelve  members, 
of  whom  the  venerable  Dr.  Holyoke  of  Salem  survives. 
After  leaving  college  he  entered  upon  his  studies  with  his 
father  in  1753,  and  afterward  passed  four  years  in  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  attending  the  hospitals  in  London,  and 
going  through  a  regular  course  of  instruction  at  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  took  his  degree  of  M.D.  in  1757.  Being 
called  home  by  the  deatli  of  his  father,  he  returned  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Boston.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1759,  he  married  Susan,  tha  daughter  of  Charles 
Apthorp,  Esq. 

At  the  general  spread  of  the  smallpox  in  1763,  he  was 
actively  engaged  in  introducing  the  antiplilogistic  mode  of 
treatment  in  that  disease,  which  was  attended  with  extraor- 
dinary success  ;  and  in  conjunction  with  Drs.  Joseph  War- 
ren, Gardiner  and  Perkins,  attempted  the  establishment  of 
a   smallpox   hospital  at  Point  Shirley  in  Boston  Harbor, 


THOMAS     fiULFir^CH.  211 

which  was  soon  relinquished  for  want  of  encouragement, 
the  prejudice  beiii<j  very  stronii;  aa;ain.st  ii  vohiiitary  ami,  as 
it  was  (hen  ralicil,  a  j)icsiiiii|)tu()us  cxpOKure  to  ilihease. 
Dr.  HuHiiuii  lived  in  the  sti>rniy  jieriod  which  led  to  the 
revolutionary  war  ;  he  was  in  feeliujj;  and  jjriiiciple  a 
decided  friend  to  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  but  remained 
with  his  family  in  Boston  while  the  place  was  occupied  by 
the  British  troops  in  lllo.  He  was  t-ubjccted  not  only  to 
the  j)rivatious  (  onunon  to  llie  inhal>itanls,  hut  to  tlif  loss 
of  a  lariiC  quantity  of  niedicinc  lorcihly  taken  by  order  of 
the  British  oeneral  for  tlie  use  of  ihv  troops,  without  any 
acknowleilgment  or  renuuieration.  lie  had,  however,  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  enemy  abandon  our  shores  in  March, 
177t),  and  tlie  town  immediately  occupieil  by  the  patriot 
army  of  liis  fellow  countrymen.  Aft<'r  tiiis  time  he  enjoy- 
ed an  extensive  jjractici-,  aiul  numbered  among  his  friends 
Governors  Ilancot  k  ami  Bowdoin. 

The  character  of  Dr.  Bullinch  was  of  tiie  same  mild  and 
unobtrusive  kind  as  that  of  his  father  ;  he  was  possessed  of 
the  same  cheerfulness  and  noodnt.'ss  of  heart,  ami  sincere 
and  uiq)retendin;r  pi^^'ty-  Contented  witli  the  love  and  es- 
teem of  his  munerous  accpuiintance,  and  especially  of  all 
who  came  under  his  professional  care,  he  avoided  every 
occasion  of  public  disj)lay  ;  and  when  on  tlie  formation  of 
the  Massachusetts  Meilical  Society  he  was  invited  to  take 
a  Icailintj  part  in  that  institution,  he  declinetl  it  u})on  the 
plea  that  such  undertakings  should  of  ri^ht  devolve  on  the 
younger  mendjers  of  the  profession.  He  j)ublished  only 
two  small  treatises,  one  on  the  treatment  of  scarlet  fever, 
in  the  cure  of  which  he  was  remarkably  successful  ;  and 
the  other  on  the  yellow  fever,  a  subject  tiien  but  little  un- 
derstood, and  which  seemed  to  baflle  at  the  time  all  the 
efforts  of  medical  practitioners.  Of  an  active,  healthy 
frame,  ami  distiii<ruished  for  an  imconunon  attraction  of 
j)erson  and  elegance  of  manners,  he  continued  in  jtractice 
until  two  years  previous  to  Ids  death,  which  took  plate  in 
February,  1802.  He  left  one  son,  who  is  the  ingenious 
architect  and  superintendent  of  the  public  buildings  at  the 
city  of  Washington,  and  two  daughters  ;  all  of  whom 
were  married  durin<i  the  life  of  the  father,  the  son  to  Han- 
nah, the  daughter  of  John  Apthorj),  Est).,  his  elder  dan::Ii. 
ter  to  Geoijie  Storer  and  the  younger  to  Josej)h  Coo- 
lidge,  son  of  Joseph  Coolidge,  Esq. 


t\%  WILLIAM    BULL. 

BULL,  WILLIAM,  M.D.  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Bull,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  South  Carolina  in 
1738.  He  was  the  first  white  })orson  horn  in  South  Caro- 
lina, and  is  supposed  to  he  the  first  American  who  ohtaincd 
a  degree  in  medicine.  He  was  a  pu})il  of  the  great  Boer- 
haave,  and  distinguishetl  for  his  knowledge  of  medicine 
and  literature.  In  1734  he  defended  and  published  at  the 
University  of  Leyden,  his  inaugural  thesis  ••'  de  Colica  Pic- 
tonum  ;"  and  he  is  quoted  by  Van  Swieten  as  his  fellow 
student  in  very  respectful  terms,  as  the  learned  Dr.  Bull. 
After  returning  from  Europe  to  his  native  State,  he  was 
elected  successively  a  member  of  the  Council,  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  in  1764  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor, wliit  h  office  he  held  for  many  years.  When  the 
British  troops  removed  from  South  Carolina  in  1782,  he 
accompanied  them  to  England,  and  died  in  London,  July 
4th,  1791,  in  the  82d  year  of  his  age. 

CADWALLADER,'  THOMAS,  M  D.  This  eminent 
physician  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  the  son  of 
John  Cadwallader.  After  finishing  his  studies  in  this  coun- 
try, which  were  conducted  under  the  father  of  Dr.  John 
Jones,  late  of  New-York,  he  completed  his  medical  educa- 
tion in  Europe,  and  settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
practised  medicine  many  years  with  the  most  distinguished 
reputation. 

Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Pennsylvania  hospital  in 
the  year  1752,  he  was  elected  one  of  its  physicians,  and  was 
honored  by  an  annual  re-election  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  was  more  than  thirty  years  after  the  erection 
of  that  institution.  Having  studied  anatomy  under  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Chcselden  in  London,  on  his  return  home 
he  made  dissections  and  demonstrations  for  the  elder  Ship- 
pen  and  some  others  who  had  not  been  abroad.  This 
probably  was  the  first  business  of  tlie  kind  ever  performed 
in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  greatly  useful  in  promoting  the 
interest  of  the  Hospital,  College  and  Philosophical  Society, 
and  always  had  a  great  share  of  well  merited  influence 
with  his  fellow  citizens.  Among  the  earliest  publications 
on  a  medical  subject  in  America  was  "  An  Essay  on  the 
Iliac  Passion,"  by  Dr.  Cadwallader,  printed  about  the  year 
1740,  in  whicli  he  exploded  the  practice,  which  till  that 
time  was  common  in  the  country,  of  giving  quicksilver 
and  drastic  purgatives.     He  recommended  in  their  place 


THOMAS     CADWALLADER.  213 

mild  cathartics,  and  the  use  of  opiates.  Dr.  Ruph  used  to 
quote  it  constantly  in  his  h'cturcs  \villi  praise.  In  some  of 
the  British  Journals  this  practice  is  mentioned  as  the  most 
successful  in  Enijland  in  tho.-^e  counties  Aviiere  the  di^ease 
still  prevails  ;  in  our  own  country  it  seldom  occurs  at 
present. 

As  a  j)hysician,    he   was  uncommonly  attentive  and  hu- 
mane ;  and  as  a  man,  he  was  as  remarkable  for  the  tender- 
ness and  benevolence  of  his  disj)()sition.      Constantly  l)lcst 
with  a  serene   mind,   it  was   as  rare  to  sec  him  too  much 
cast  down  l)y  bad,  as  tmusually  elated  by  good  fortune. 
So  distinguished  a  trait  was  this  cheerfjd  disj)osition  in  his 
character,   that  it  was  once  the  means  of  saving  his  lile  on 
an  occasion  so  extraordinary  as  to  deserve  mention  ;  for 
while  it  serves  lo  point  out  the  importance  of  good  humor, 
more  than  the  perusal   of  volumes  on  the  subject,  it  also 
tends  to  show  that  an  amiable  behavior,  and  politeness  of 
manner,   are  not   only  pleasing,  l)ut  useful  in  our   inter- 
course with  the  world.     A   provincial   officer   before  the 
independence   of  this   country,    soured    by   some    disirust, 
became  weary   of  life,  and  resolved  to  deprive  himself  of 
an  existence   which    was  no  longer  a  ])leasure,  ])ut  a  bur- 
then to   him  ;  with   this   view   he  walked   out  early   one 
morning  with  a  fusil  in  his  hand,  determiniuf;  to  shoot  the 
first  person  he  should  meet.     He  had  not  gone  far  before 
he  met  a  pretty  izirl,  whose   beauty  disarmed   bim.      The 
next   that   presented   was    Dr.    C:ulwallader  ;    the   Doctor 
bowed    jiolitely  to  the  officer,   who  tiiouyh  unknown  to 
him    had    the    appearance   of  a   gentleman,  and   accosted 
him  with,  '*  Good  viornins;,  Sir,  %chat  sport  V     The  officer 
answered   the   Doctor   civilly,   and,    as  he  afterward   de- 
clared, was  so  struck  bv  his  pleasing  manner  and  address, 
that  he  had  no  resolution  to  execute  his  desporat«'  intention. 
Impelled,   howrvei",  by  the  same    yloomy  disj)osition   that 
actiuated  him  when  he  set  out,   he  repaired  to  an  ac'joining 
tavern,   and   shot  a  Mr.    Scull,    and  therel>y  obtained    his 
wished   for   end  ;  bein"    afterwards  himg  in  sight    of  the 
very  housc>    where    be   conunitted    the    premeditated    act. 
The  ceh  brated  Dr.  John  Joiu's  of  New-Vork  was  a  pupil 
of   Dr.  (  adw;ill;uler,    and   when   lie  j)ublislie(l  bis  surgical 
work,   he  dedicated  it   to    his  venerable  preceptor  in  the 
following    language.      "  To  you,    whose    whole  life   has 
been  one  continued  scene  of  benevolence  and  humanity, 
the  most  feeble  ctforts  to  soften  hiiman  misery   aiul  smooth 


214  ISAAC    CATURALL. 

the  bed  of  death,  will,  I  know,  be  an  acceptable  present, 
however  short  the  well  meant  zeal  of  the  author  may  fall 
of  his  purpose.  Nor  will  you  suspect  me  of  the  vanity 
of  sup])03ing  I  shall  convey  any  thing  new  or  instruct- 
ive to  men  ot  knowledge  and  experience  in  their  prof  s- 
sion,  much  less  to  yourself  ;  to  whose  excellent  precepts, 
both  in  physic  and  morals,  I  owe  the  best  and  earliest  les- 
sons of  my  life  ;  and  if  I  have  attained  to  any  degree  of 
estimation  with  my  fellow  citizens,  it  is  with  the  most  sin- 
cere and  heartfelt  pleasure  that  I  publicly  acknowledge  the 
happy  source." 

CATHRALL,  ISAAC,  M.D.  was  a  native  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  studied  medicine  under  the  direction  of  the  late 
Dr.  John  Redman,  the  preceptor  of  Rush  and  Wistar. 
After  acquiring  all  the  instruction  in  his  profession,  which 
the  opj)ortunities  of  our  capital  offered,  aided  by  a  dili- 
gent attention  on  his  part,  he  visited  Europe,  and  attended 
the  practice  of  the  London  hospitals,  and  the  lectures  of 
the  most  distinguished  professors  in  that  city.  He  con- 
tinued his  studies  at  Edinburgh,  and  finally  visited  Paris. 
He  then  returned  home  in  the  beo;inning  of  the  year  1793, 
and  commenced  practice  in  Philadelphia.  He  obtained  a 
very  respectable  share  of  business,  and  was  uniformly  dis- 
tinguished by  regular  attention  to  his  patients,  and  the 
faithful  performance  of  the  duties  imposed  upon  him  by 
his  profession.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  he  never  lost  a 
patient  for  want  of  either.  During  the  prevalence  of  the 
widely  destroying  epidemic  fevers  of  1793,  '97,  '98,  and 
'99,  he  remained  in  the  city,  instead  of  seeking  safety  by 
flying,  and  was  a  severe  sufferer  by  the  disease  of  the  first 
of  those  years.  Previously  to  his  illness,  and  after  his 
recovery,  besides  attending  to  practice,  he  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity of  investigating  every  phenomenon  connected  with 
that  pestilential  epidemic,  which  could  in  any  way  tend  to 
illustrate  its  pathology,  or  the  peculiarities  it  exhibited  ; 
and  in  the  year  1794  he  published  his  remarks  thereon, 
and  the  mode  of  treatment  he  pursued.  In  conjunction 
with  Dr.  Physick,  he  dissected  the  bodies  of  some  subjects 
of  the  fever  of  1793,  in  order  to  discover  the  morbid  ef- 
fects produced  by  it  on  the  system,  and  in  particular  refer- 
ence to  the  nature  of  that  singvdar,  and  generally  fatal 
symptom,  the  dark  colored  ejection  from  the  stomach  in 
some  cases  of  the  disease.  The  result  of  their  joint  labors 
was  published  by  them,   with  their  individual  signatures, 


ISAAC    CATHRALL.  213 

and  he  afterwards  continued  his  dissections  alone,  with 
iinabatiiijT  zeal,  whenever  opportunity  oHered,  cluriiifr  the 
Kubsequeut  ei)ideini(s,  and  occasioual  appfaiancc  oi"  the 
disease,  \vhi<  h  more  or  less  occurred  lor  f^everal  years, 
until  he  obtained  all  the  lifrht  \viii(  h  he  tboujTht  dissec- 
tion and  experiment  could  throw  tipon  its  j)rodu(tion  and 
1  ature.  In  the  year  If^OO  lie  reacl  to  tiie  American  I'hi- 
losoj)hical  Society,  of  wITu  h  he  had  been  ele(  ted  a  mem- 
ber, an  interestinij  paper  on  that  subject.  Tliis  paper 
affords  ample  evidence  of  the  patient  and  accurate  manner 
in  whicli  he  investigated  that  hitherto  inexj)li<al)le  and 
suj)posed  pestilential  ajipearance,  and  of  his  fearless  zeal  in 
the  prosecution  of  medical  science.  It  is  inserted  in  the 
5th  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Society,  and  was  also 
piddished  in  jiamphlet  form  of  32  ])ages.  A  full  account 
of  it  may  be  found  in  the  4th  volume  of  the  New-York 
Medical  Repository.  Like  the  admirable  papers  of  God- 
win on  the  respiration  of  animals,  Stevens  on  digestion, 
and  the  writings  of  the  immortal  Rush,  it  is  pointed,  con- 
cise, and  sententious,  and  shoidd  be  read  by  every  mem- 
ber of  the  medical  profession.  It  may  well  serve  as  a 
model  for  those  who  are  engaged  in  exj)erimental  inquiries. 

In  the  year  1802  he  published  a  pamphlet  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Dr.  Wm.  Currie,  on  the  epidemic  pestilential 
fever  that  prevailed  in  that  year  in  Philadelphia. 

In  the  year  1806  he  was  elected  one  of  tiie  surgeons  of 
the  city  Alms-IIouse,  and  was  continued  by  the  successive 
managers  of  that  institution  until  the  year  1816.  The  ])en- 
sioners  of  the  Aims-House  warmly  expressed  their  regret, 
when  they  were  informed  that  their  old  friend  had  ceased 
to  attend  them. 

In  the  year  181 G  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  mcml)er  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  Phila- 
delphia, but  was  contiiuied  only  one  year,  astheboartl  was 
reorganized,  and  new  mend^ers  chosen  by  the  city  coun- 
cils, to  whom  the  power  was  by  law  then  given. 

In  that  year  he  was  suddeidv  seized,  without  any  pre- 
vious indisposition,  with  a  ])aralvtic  affection  of  the  nms- 
clcs  of  his  face,  tongue,  and  lower  extremities,  from  which 
he  ])artially  recovered  by  medical  aid  in  a  few  weeks. 
He  suffered  two  subsecpient  attacks,  and  his  speech  and 
mind  became  evidently  affected.  He  frequently  wandered 
in  conversation,  anil  exhibited  svmptoms  of  wrong  associa- 
tion of  ideas.    At  length,  on  the  night  of  the  22d  February, 


216  ISAAC  CATHRALL. 

1819,  a  stroke  of  apoplexy,  in  the  course  of  three  hours, 
deprived  him  of  life,  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Cathrall  was  not  only  a  most  judicious  physiciEui, 
but  an  excellent  anatomist  and  surgeon  ;  a  close  student, 
and  sedulously  bent  on  improvement  in  those  branches  of 
his  profession,  to  wliich  he  more  esj)ecially  devoted  him- 
self. He  paid  great  attention  to  morbid  anatomy,  and  lost 
no  opportunity  which  his  public  practice  in  the  alms- 
house, or  private  patients  afibrded  him,  of  making  collec- 
tions of  such  parts  of  the  human  structure,  as  had  been  the 
subject  of  disease.  Of  these  he  left  a  numerous  and  in- 
structive collection  of  wet  and  dry  preparations,  and  of 
bones,  which,  having  suffered  various  accidents  or  opera- 
tions, evinced  either  the  eflbcts  of  disease,  or  the  wonder- 
ful power  of  nature  in  tlie  restoration  of  parts,  or  substitu- 
tions for  those  which  had  been  destroyed.  He  also  made 
several  masterly  prej)arations  calculated  to  explain  certain 
nice  and  important  operations,  which  to  a  yovmg  surgeon 
must  be  sources  of  great  instruction.  Had  his  life  been 
spared,  it  was  his  intention  to  publish  a  volume  of  interest- 
ing surgical  cases  he  had  met  with,  the  rough  materials  for 
which  he  left  ;  but  it  is  mentioned  with  regret,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  read  this  sketch,  that  they  are  written 
in  so  hasty  a  manner,  as  to  be  decyphered  with  difficulty. 
He  is  not  the  first  medical  or  scientific  man,  whose  useful 
labors  have  failed  to  do  all  the  good  tliey  might  have  pjo- 
duced,  in  consecpience  of  this  unfortunate  careless  manner 
of  writing.  The  celebrated  Haller  deemed  an  apology 
necessary  in  the  preface  to  a  learned  Avork,*  for  the  mis- 
takes he  made  in  quotations,  arising  from  this  fault.  But 
the  evils  therefrom  have  been  so  fully  pointed  out  in  a 
volumef  which  it  is  taken  for  granted  is  in  the  office  of 
every  medical  man,  that  no  remark  on  the  subject  is  here 
necessary. 

Dr.  Cathrall  was  educated  in  the  religious  principles  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  naturally  possessed  a  grave 
turn  of  mind,  and  a  serious  deportment.  Retired  in  his 
habits,  he  was  shy  in  making  acquaintances,  but  firm  in 
his  friendships,  and  a  well  })red  gentlemcan  in  his  manners. 
In  the  important  and  endearing  relations  of  a  son,  husband, 
and  father,  he  was    truly  estimable.     As  a  member  of  so- 

*  Bibliotheca  Medicinas  Practicac,  vol.  iii. 

t  Ruih's  16  Introd.  Lectures,  Philadelphia,  1811,  p.  171- 


LIONEL  CHALMERS.  217 

riety,  he  set  an  example  of  ri^id  morality  and  infle\ibl  •. 
integrity,  attributes  which  every  medical  man  ought  to  be 
jiroud  to  have  annexed  to  his  character,  however  dibtin- 
gui^hcil  his  literarv  ac(|niicinents  may  be. — J.  J\l. 

CHALMKRS,  r.IONKL,  iM.D.  a'native  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, was  a  graduite  of  the  University  of  lidinbtirgii,  and 
came  to  this  country  and  settled  in  South  Carolina.  He 
was  an  eminent  physician,  and  distinguislied  for  his  va- 
rious and  extensive  attainments.  lie  made  and  recorded 
observations  on  the  weather  of  Soutli  Carolina  for  ten  i-uc- 
cessivc  years,  viz.  from  H-OO  to  17G0.  He  coiniMunicatcd 
to  the  Medical  Society  in  London  a  pa])cr  on  '•  Opi-thoto- 
nus  and  Tetantis"  in  1751,  which  was  published  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  society.  He  aho  wrote 
"  A  Treatise  on  tlie  Weather  and  Diseases  of  South  Caro- 
lina," which  was  public-lied  in  London  in  177G,  and  "■  An^ 
Essav  on  Fevers,"  a  valual)le  work,  published  in  Charles^ 
ton7'l767.  *'  In  this  he  unfoldeil  the  outlines  (tf  the  mod- 
em  spasmodic  theory  of  fevers.  Holfman  had  before 
glanced  at  the  same  principles  ;  but  their  complete  illus- 
tration was  reserved  for  Cullen,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  fame." 

CHAUNXY,  CHARLES,  M.D.  secoml  President  of 
Harvard  College,  xvas  born  in  England  in  L'.89.  He  had 
his  grammar  education  at  Westminster,  and  was  at  the 
school  when  the  gunpowder  plot  was  to  have  taken  effect, 
and  must  have  perisiuul  if  the  i>arliament  house  had  been 
blown  iij).  At  the  I'niversity  of  Cambridge  he  commenced 
Badielor  of  Divinity,  and  took  the  deiiree  of  M.D.  Being 
intimately  actpiainted  with  Archbishop  I'vher,  one  of  the 
finest  scholars  in  Euroj)e,  he  had  more  than  common  ad- 
vantages to  expand  his  mind  and  make  improvements  in 
literature.  A  more  learned  man'  than  Mr.  Chauncy  xvas 
not  to  be  found  ainons  the  fathers  of  New  Enoland.  He 
had  been  chosen  Hebrew  Professor  at  Cambrid<ie  by  the 
heads  of  both  houses,  and  exchanged  this  branch  of  in>truc- 
tion  to  oblige  Dr.  Williams,  Vice  Chainellor  of  the  Uni- 
versity. Ho  was  well  skilled  in  many  oriental  languages, 
but  especially  the  Hebrew,  which  he  knew  by  very  close 
study,  and  l)y  conversing  with  a  Jew  who  resided  in  the 
same  house.  He  was  also  an  a<<urate  Creek  s(  ludar,  and 
wa.<5  made  professor  of  this  lan<:uai:c  ^^  hen  he  left  the  other 
professorship.  This  uncommon  «(  holar  be(  ame  a  pr«'a(  h- 
er,  and  wa«  settled  at  Ware.  lit  displeased  Archbishop 
2S 


218  CHARLES    CIlAUNCy. 

Laud  by  opposing  the  book  of  sports  and  reflecting  upon 
the  discipline  of  the  church.  This  being  viewed  as  a  de- 
sign to  raise  a  fear  among  the  peojjle  that  some  alteration 
of  religion  would  ensue,  he  was  questioned  in  the  High 
Commission,  and  by  order  of  that  court  the  cause  was  re- 
ferred to  the  Bishop  of  London,  being  his  ordinary,  who 
ordered  him  to  make  a  submission  in  Latin. 

This  worthy  man  came  over  to  New-England  in  1G38, 
arriving  at  Plymouth  January  1st.  He  was  soon  after  or- 
dained at  Scitiiate.  In  1G54  he  was  appointed  President 
of  Harvard  College,  and  for  a  number  of  years  performed 
the  duties  of  that  office  with  honor  to  himself  and  to  the 
reputation  of  that  seminary  of  learning.  He  was  very  in- 
dustrious, and  usually  employed  his  morning  hours  in 
study  or  devotion.  He  constantly  rose  at  four  o'clock, 
winter  and  summer.  In  all  his  avocations  he  acquitted 
himself  to  universal  approbation.  At  length  on  the  Com- 
mencement of  1671  he  made  a  solemn  address,  a  kind  of 
valedictory  oration  ;  and  having  lived  to  some  good  pur- 
pose, he  prepared  to  die  in  peace,  like  a  good  servant  who 
expected  his  reward.  He  died  at  the  end  of  this  year, 
aged  eighty-two,  having  been  about  sixteen  years  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Scituate,  and  seventeen  years  president  of 
Harvard  College. 

•  •  •  •  1 

President  Chauncy  is  said  to  have  been  an  emment  phy- 
sician ;  but  we  are  not  informed  to  what  extent  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  practice.  He  left  six  sons,  all  of  whom 
were  educated  at  Harvard  C.ollege,  and  were  preachers. 
Some  of  them  were  learned'  divines.  Dr.  Mather  says 
they  were  all  eminent  physicians,  as  their  father  Avas  be- 
fore them.  "  In  a  new  country,"  says  the  author  of  the 
New-England  Biographical  Dictionary,  "  where  there  are 
no  physicians,  a  minister,  who  is  a  scientific  man,  may 
render  himself  eminently  useful  if  able  to  practise  physic  ; 
but  we  are  not  of  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Chauncy  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  distinction  between  physic  and  divinity." 
Dr.  Channcy's  character  was  singular  in  many  respects  ; 
he  allowed  himself  but  little  time  for  sleep,  he  fasted  and 
prayed  frequently  and  fervently,  and  in  his  sermons  often 
spoke  of  the  wearing  of  long  hair  with  the  utmost  detesta- 
tion, representing  it  as  a  heathenish  practice,  and  one  of 
the  crying  sins  of  the  land. 

CHILDS,  TIMOTHY,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  at 
Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  February,  1748.     He  was  enter- 


iiMOTiiv  (  iiiLni.  219 

ed  as  a  member  of  Harvard  Collecjc  in  \1Q4,  but  was  under 
the  necessity  of  taking  a  disinissioii  at  the  ( lo>e  of  his  ju- 
nior year,  hy  the  failure  of  the  funds  on  \vhicii  he  liad 
relied  to  carry  him  throu<r|i  the  regular  cours-e  of  that 
seminary.  From  Camhridt^e  he  returned  to  Deerfield, 
where  he  studied  jihysic  and  surgery  with  Dr.  AViUiams, 
aiul  from  uiunc*'  in  1771,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he 
removed  to  practise  in  Pittsfield. 

An  ardent  and  decided  friend  of  civil  liberty,  he  took  a 
deep  interest  in  those  great  political  (juestions,  which  at 
that  period  were  agitated  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
American  colonies.  No  youn<r  man,  perhaps,  was  more 
zealouslv  ojiposed  to  the  arhitrary  encroachments  of  the 
British  j)arliament  than  Dr.  Clnlds,  and  as  a  proof  of  the 
confiden(e  reposed  in  him  ])y  the  fathers  of  the  town,  it 
need  only  be  mentioned  that  in  1774,  when  the  crisis  of 
open  liostility  was  approaching,  he  was  appointed  chair- 
man of  a  committee  to  draw  a  })etition  to  his  Majesty's 
Justices  of  Common  Pleas  in  the  county  of  Berkshire,  le- 
monstratinij  against  certain  acts  of  j)arliament  which  had 
just  been  pronudgated,  and  praying  them  to  stay  all  jjro- 
ceedings  till  those  unjust  and  oppressive  acts  should  be  re- 
pealed. 

In  the  same  year,  1774,  Dr.  Childs  took  a  commission 
in  a  company  of  minute-men,  wliich,  in  compliance  with  a 
recommendation  from  the  convention  of  the  New-Enorland 
states,  Avas  organized  in  that  town.  When  the  news  of  the 
battle  at  Lexington  in  1775  was  received,  he  marched  with 
his  company  to  Boston,  where  he  was  soon  after  apjiointed 
a  surgeon  of  Colonel  Patterson's  regiment.  From  Boston 
he  went  with  the  army  to  New-York,  and  fiom  thence  ac- 
companied the  expedition  to  Montreal.  In  1777  he  left 
tlie  army  and  resumed  his  practice  in  the  town  of  Pitts- 
field,  and  continued  in  it  till  less  than  a  week  before  his 
death,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-three. 

In  1792  Dr.  Childs  was  elected  a  representative  to  the 
General  Court,  and  for  several  years  received  the  same 
pledge  of  public  confidence  .  He  also  held  a  seat  in  the 
senate  for  a  number  of  years,  by  the  sutrraces  of  the  county 
in  which  In*  lived  and  died.  But  it  was  in  his  jirofcssion 
he  was  most  hisihly  honored  and  extensively  useful.  He 
was  early  elected  a  mend)er  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  and  held  the  ofhce  of  counsellor  of  that  society  to 
the  time  of  his  death.       In  the  year  181 1  the  University  of 


220  BENJAMIN    CHURCH. 

Cambridge  conferred  on  him  tlie  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine. When  a  district  society,  comj)oscd  of  the  fellows  of 
the  state  society,  was  established  in  the  county  in  which  he 
lived,  he  was  appointed  censor  and  elected  to  the  office  of 
presiilent. 

As  a  practitioner  Dr.  Childs  stood  high  in  public  esti- 
mation, both  at  home  and  abroad.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  he  was  the  only  physician  of  note  in  the  town,  and 
this  single  fact  strongly  testifies  to  the  uncommon  estima- 
tion in  whicli  he  was  held  by  those  who  were  most  com- 
petent  to  judge  of  his  professional  skill  and  success.  He 
was  also  highly  esteemed  and  often  employed  in  the  neigh- 
boring towns.  Dr.  Childs  was  always  the  steady  advocate 
and  supporter  of  religious  institutions,  and  during  the  last 
year  of  his  life  he  manifested  an  uncommon  interest  in  ex- 
perimental religion,  and  in  his  last  sickness,  especially,  he 
spoke  often  of  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  Christ  as  the 
only  hope  of  a  sinner.  Few  men  have  continued  in  the 
practice  of  the  profession  so  long,  or  have  held  out  with 
such  vigilance  of  body  and  mind  to  the  last,  or  have  been 
more  useful  in  their  professional  and  social  circles.  He 
died  on  the  25th  of  February,  1821,  as  he  lived,  honored, 
respected  and  lamented. — J^ew-England  Journal  of  Medicine 
and  Surgery. 

CHURCH,  Dr.  BENJAMIN,  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1754.  He  established  himself  as  a  physician  in 
the  town  of  Boston,  where  he  rose  to  very  considerable 
eminence  in  his  profession.  As  a  skilful  and  dexterous 
operator  in  surgery  he  was  inferior  to  no  one  of  his  con- 
temporaries in  New-England  ;  and  as  a  physician  he  was 
in  a  career  of  distinguished  reputation.  He  possessed  a 
brilliant  genius,  a  lively  poetic  fancy,  andAvas  an  excellent 
Writer.  For  several  years  preceding  the  American  revolu- 
tion he  was  a  consjiicuous  character,  and  had  great  influ- 
ence among  the  leading  w]iig.>  and  patriots  of  the  day. 
When  the  Avar  commenced  in  1775,  his  ciiaracter  was  so 
high  that  he  was  appointed  pliysician  general  to  the  army. 

But  while  he  was  performing  the  duties  assigned  him, 
circumstances  occurred  which  led  to  a  suspicion  that  he 
held  a  treacherous  correspondence  with  the  enemy-  Cer- 
tain letters  in  cypher  were  intercepted,  which  he  had  writ- 
ten to  a  relation  in  Boston.  lie  was  immediately  arrested, 
imprisoned,  and  tried  before  a  military  tribunal  appointed 
to  investigate  his  conduct,  and  was  pronounced  guilty  of  a 


BENJAMIN    CHURCH.  221 

criminal  correspondence  with  the  enemy.  It  appears  that 
the  only  c\  idciuc  by  wliirh  he  was  (orivicteil,  rested  on 
an  inttM((  pled  Ictlor  diiettod  to  a  friend  in  Boston.  This 
letter  was  wiitten  in  cypi»<'r  ;  and  wlien  do(;yj)lierrd  and 
exanuneil,  its  contents  seemed  in  a  consideruljic  decree  to 
justify  the  plea  which  he  had  made,  that  it  was  de^i<Tned 
as  an  innocent  stratagem  to  deceive  and  draw  from  the 
enemy  some  infornjation  for  the  l>eiielit  of  the  pnMic* 
Dr.  C.  was  at  the  same  time  a  nu^mln'r  of  tlu-  Iloiiso  of 
Re])resentatives,  from  whidi  he  wouhl  have  hecn  exju  Ihd 
hu(.l  lie  not  resigned  his  seat.  He  was,  however,  arraigned 
before  the  House,  subjected  to  a  rigid  examination,  and 
his  letter  was  read  by  himself  by  parafjrajjhs,  and  com- 
mented upon  and  ex])lainod.  His  defence  before  the  House 
may  l)e  considered  as  a  specimen  of  l)riiliant  talents  and 
great  iufjenuity.  "  Confirmed,"  said  he,  *'  in  assured  in- 
nocence, I  stand  prepared  for  your  keenest  searchinjjs." 
"  The  warmest  bosom  here  does  not  flame  with  a  blighter 
zeal  for  the  security,  happiness  and  liberties  of  America, 
than  mine."  So  high  was  party  zeal,  and  such  the  jeal- 
ousy and  ])rejudice  of  the  day,  that  a  torrent  of  indi<rna- 
tion  was  ever  at  haiul  to  sweep  from  the  land  every  guilty 
or  suspected  charai  ter.  In  the  instance  of  Dr.  C.  there 
were  not  a  few  among  the  most  respectable  and  intelligent 
of  the  community,  who  expressed  strong  doubts  of  a  crimi- 
nal design  in  his  conduct.  It  was,  however,  his  hard  fate 
to  pine  in  prison  until  the  following  year,  when  he  ob- 
tained permission  to  dejiait  for  the  West  Indies.  The  ves- 
sel in  whicit  he  sailetl  was  supposed  to  have  foundered  at 
sea,  as  no  tidings  respecting  Iut  were  ever  obtained. 

The  writings  of  Dr.  C.  both  in  poetry  and  prose,  have 
been  much  celebrated.  Of  his  poetical  ])ieces  there  remain 
some  which  are  now  read  witli  ])leasure.  The  *•'  Elegy 
upon  Dr.  Mavhew,''  who  died  HOG  ;  and  the  "  Eleuy  up- 
on Mr.  U'hitetield/'  1170,  are  serious  and  pathetic.  The 
"  Kletiy  uj)on  the  Times,"  printed  in  tlie  year  1705,  is 
rather  satirical  ;  but  breathes  the  spirit  which  animated 
the  patriots  of  that  day.  The  poem  No.  XI.  in  the  col- 
lection styled  "  Pietas  et  Gratulatio,"  in  the  opinion  of 
the  monthly  reviewers,  had  the  preference  over  the  others. 

•  It  TT15  for  sometime  difficult  to  find  any  person  rapaM*  of  drcyphering  Dr. 
Church'*  Inter  ;  but  at  length  the  task  was  undcrlakerj  by  the  R*v.  Samuel  W^eii, 
D.D.  of  Dartmouth,  county  of  Rrmtol,  who  pcrfomed  it  with  arruracy  and  pr«- 
ciaion. 


222  JOHN    CLARK. 

His  prose  writings  are  mostly  essays  of  a  witty  and  philo- 
sophical kind,  which  are  scattered  in  e})hemeral  })ublica- 
tions,  though  some  of  tliem,  perhaps,  are  known  by  those 
who  were  contemporary  with  him.  The  oration  on  the 
5th  of  March,  which  he  pronomiced  before  the  town  in 
1773,  discovers  a  rich  fancy  ;  it  is  certainly  one  of  the  very 
best  of  the  "  Boston  Orations." 

CLARK,  JOHN.  The  name  of  John  Clark  has  been, 
for  a  longer  succession  of  years  than  any  other  in  our  coun- 
try, distinguished  in  the  ranks  of  medical  practitioners. 

Of  the  earliest  physician  of  that  name,  who  probably 
came  from  England  in  1631  or  1632,  and  after  living  a 
few  years  in  Boston  removed  to  Rhode-Island,  where  he 
died  April  20th,  1676,  filling  a  long  course  of  service  in 
administering  to  the  religious  as  well  as  natural  wants  of 

1    •  •  • 

his  neighl)ors,  it  cannot  be  necessary  here  to  give  any 
larger  account,  as  it  must  be  only  a  transcript  from  the 
American  Biographical  Dictionary  of  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Allen. 

CLARK,  JOHN,  a  copy  of  whose  portrait  adorns  this 
volume,  arrived  in  America  about  the  year  1650,  as  the 
first  notice  that  can  be  discovered  of  him  is  in  March, 
1651,  when  it  appears  by  the  records  of  Boston  he  obtain- 
ed liberty  to  build  a  wharf  before  his  premises.  Nothing 
is  discoverable  of  this  gentleman  in  print  ;  but  the  tradition 
in  the  family  is,  tliat  he  was  lionorcd  with  a  diploma  in 
England  for  his  success  in  cutting  for  the  stone.  An  error 
of  the  date  in  the  engraving  may  be  corrected.  It  should 
be  1664  ;  and  of  course  he  died  soon  after  the  artist  paint- 
ed him.  His  age,  being  marked  66,  makes  his  liirtli  to  be 
in  1598.  It  has  not  been  generally  known  that  portraits 
were  so  early  taken  on  tliis  side  of  the  ocean. 

By  the  family  tradition  credit  is  claimed  for  the  care 
which  he  bestowed  in  the  introduction  of  a  breed  of  horses 
into  our  country,  long  known,  it  is  said,  in  Plymouth,  as 
Clark's  breed  ;  and  some  confirmation  of  this  report  may, 
perhaps,  be  obtained  from  tlie  will,  by  which  to  his  son 
John,  besides  liis  books  and  instruments,  are  given  "  horses, 
mares  and  colts,  both  in  this  colony  of  Massachusetts  and 
in  Plymouth  colony."  The  inventory  shows,  for  those 
days,  a  respectable  estate,  amounting  to  £1295.6,  wherein 
is  found  "  the  mares  and  horses,  young  and  old,  12  at  £5 
each  =  J£60."  Other  interesting  items  are,  "  money,  gold 
and  silver,  £50  ;  hooks  and  instruments,  with  several  chi- 
rurgery  materials  in  the  closet,  £60  ;  medicines  and  drugs, 
jEIO  ;  and  a  pocket-watch,  £3." 


JOirflM   (DJI.AEK  M,D, 


•  '/•:  60'.   f&inffj  .^£?.  /&OV. 


JOHN    CLARK.  223 

CLARK,  JOHN,  the  son  of  the  last  named,  j)ursucd  his 
father's  profession.  He,  however,  partook  of  the  interest 
of  his  fellow  citizens  in  civil  iiH'uirs,  and  in  the  iii-li  lilnrty 
times  was  chosen  a  representative  for  Boston,  1G8D  and 
1690,  in  wliich  latter  year,  17th  Dei  ember,  he  died  with- 
out leavin<r  a  will.  The  inventory  ol  his  estate  returned 
by  his  eldest  son,  John,  makes  the  value  of  his  books  X2-1, 
of  the  «rraiUllather's  tl2. 

JOHN,  the  grandson  of  the  first  ancestor,  born  27th 
January  1C68,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1687, 
and  inherited  the  patriotic  feelings  of  iiis  father,  for  which 
he  was  liighly  honored.  He  was  a  representative  for  Bos- 
ton from  1708  to  17 11,  and  was  chosen  Speaker  in  1709. 
In  tlie  controversy  with  Governor  Sliuie,  he  was  a  strong 
O])poser  of  j)reroj';ative,  and  for  his  service  was  elected  to 
the  Council  in  1720,  when  the  Governor  interposed  his 
negative.  Upon  this  he  was  ajiain  ( hosen  in  the  autunm 
of  that  year  a  representative  for  Boston,  and  so  continued 
till  n24,  being  Sj)eaker  of  the  House  for  the  last  three 
years.  While  he  was  a  representative,  in  1721,  a  contro- 
versy arose  between  the  House  and  the  Council,  and  at  the 
same  time  began  to  spread  that  destructive  disease,  the 
smallpox,  against  winch  in  that  year  the  preservative  of 
inoculation  was  first  introduced.  Hutchinson,  in  his  His- 
tory, Vol.  II.  271,  says  :  "In  the  niidst  of  the  dispute, 
Mr.  Hutchinson,  one  of  the  members  for  Boston,  was 
seized  with  the  smallpox,  ami  died  in  a  few  ilavs.  The 
Speaker,  Mr.  Clark,  was  one  of  the  most  noted  physicians 
in  Boston,  and  notwithstanding  all  his  care  to  cleanse  him- 
self from  infection  after  visiting  bis  patients,  it  was  sup- 
posed, brouffht  the  distemper  to  his  brother  member," 
which  so  terrified  the  Ct)urt,  that  it  was  not  possible  to 
keej)  them  toi^i'tlier. 

From  1724  to  his  deatli,  Gth  Decendier,  1728,  in  the 
60th  year  of  his  age,  he  was  in  the  Comicil  of  the  Pro- 
vince.    His  epitaph  may  here  be  inserted. 

KPITAPII. 

He  who  amone  Physicians  shona  so  lato, 

And  by  his  wise  Proscriptions  conquered  Falc, 

Now  lies  extended  in  the  Silent  Grave, 

Nor  him  alive  would  his  vast  Merit  save. 

But  itill  his  Fame  shall  last,  his  Virtues  live, 

And  all  sepulcl\ral  Monuments  survive  : 

Still  flourish  shall  his  name  ;   nor  shall  thin  ston* 

Long  4s  his  Piety  and  Love  b«  known. 


224  JOHIt    CLATTON. 

His  first  wife,  Sarah  Shrimpton,  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried 30th  April,  1691,  died  20th  November,  1717;  his 
second,  Elizabeth  Hutchinson,  married  16th  April,  1718, 
died  2d  December  1722.  A  third  wife,  Sarah  Leverett, 
married  1 5th  July,  1 725,  survived  him,  and  became  wife  of 
the  celebrated  Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  Colman.  All  his  instru- 
ments and  utensils  of  surgery  whatsoever,  he  gave  by  his 
will  to  his  son  John.  In  the  inventory  of  his  estate  is 
mentioned  the  jjicture  of  old  Dr.  Clark,  which  is,  without 
doubt,  tjiat  of  his  grandfather,  engraved  for  this  work. 

JOHN,  son  of  the  Counsellor,  born  15th  December, 
1698,  died  of  paralysis,  6th  April,  1768,  in  his  70th  year. 
He  was  a  practitioner  of  medicine  in  Boston,  and  had  a 
son  of  the  same  name,  also  a  physician,  who  died  before 
his  father.  Two  other  children  are  remembered  by  the 
father's  Avill,  William,  to  whom  he  gives  all  his  drugs  and 
medicines,  and  Elizabeth,  who  was  wife  of  the  famous  Jon- 
athan Mayhew,  D.D.  To  the  grandson,  John,  son  of  the 
deceased  fifth  John,  were  bequeathed  all  the  books,  chests 
of  utensils,  &c.  relating  to  surgery  or  pliysic. 

This  grandson  was  educated  at  Harvard  College  ;  after 
graduation  in  1772,  he  studied  medicine  with  James 
Lloyd,  a  distinguished  pliysician,  and  after  visiting  Eu- 
rope for  enjoyment  of  experience  in  the  Hospitals,  return- 
ed to  participate  the  practice  of  his  instructer.  Being 
threatened  with  consumptive  appearances,  he  removed  to 
Waltham,  where  he  died  29th  July,  1788.  He  left  a  son, 
John,  the  seventh  in  succession  of  the  family,  who  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  1799,  and  received  his  de- 
gree of  M.B.  1802.  He  died  at  Weston  on  Sunday,  21st 
April,  1805,  aged  27,  leaving  no  male  issue. 
^  CLAYTON,  Dr.  JOHN,  an  eminent  botanist  and  phy- 
sician of  Virginia,  was  born  in  England  in  1685,  and  came 
to  Virginia  in  the  year  1705,  and  resided  near  Williams- 
burg. He  was  elected  a  member  of  several  of  the  first 
literary  societies  of  Europe,  and  corresponded  with  many 
of  the  most  learned  naturalists  of  that  period.  As  a  practi- 
cal botanist  he  was  probably  not  inferior  to  any  one  of  the 
age.  He  passed  a  long  life  in  exploring  and  describing 
the  plants  of  his  country,  and  is  supposed  to  have  enlarged 
the  botanical  catalogue  as  much  as  any  man  who  ever  lived. 
He  is  the  author  of  "  Flora  Virginica,"  a  work  published 
by  Gronovius,  at  Leyden,  8vo.  in  1739,  1743,  and  1762. 
He  published  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  several 


JOSHUA     CLAYTO.X.  225 

communications,  treating  of  the  culture  of  the  diflercnt 
species  of  tohacco,  and  an  an)})le  account  of  the  medicinal 
plants  whicli  lie  had  discovered  in  Virginia.  He  also  left 
l)eliiiul  hiiii  two  volumes  of  manuscripts  neatlv  prepared 
lor  the  i)rcss,  and  a  llortus  Siccus,  with  marginal  notes 
and  references,  for  the  engraver  who  slioidd  prepare  the 
jdates  for  his  proposed  work.  He  died  Deccn.her  15th, 
1773,  m  the  S8lh  year  of  his  age.  During  tlie  year  pre- 
ceding Iiis  decease,  such  was  the  vigor  of  his  colistitution 
even  at  this  advarued  period,  and  such  iiis  7.eal  in  hotani- 
cal  researches,  that  he  made  a  botanical  tour  through 
Orange  county  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  he  had  visited 
most  of  tlie  settled  parts  of  Virginia.  His  cliaracter  stands 
very  high  as  a  man  of  integrity,  and  as  a  good  citizen. 

He  was  a  strict,  thongli  not  ostentatious  observer  of  the 
practice  of  the  Cluircli  of  England,  and  on  all  occasions 
seemed  piously  disposed.  He  was  heard  to  say,  whilst  exam- 
ining a  tlower,  that  he  could  not  look  into  one  without  see- 
ing the  display  of  infinite  power  and  contrivance,  and  that 
he  thouirjit^  it  impossible  for  a  botanist  to  be  an  atheist. 
Clayton's  Flora  Virginica  is  frecjuently  referred  to  by  Lin^ 
n.-eus,  and  by  all  the  succeeding  botanists, who  have  had  oc- 
casion to  treat  of  the  plants  of  North  America.  His  valua- 
ble manuscripts  in  two  volumes,  with  the  Hortus  Siccus, 
were  in  possession  of  his  son  when  the  revolutionary  war 
commenced,  and  were  lodnred  in  the  olHce  of  the  clerk  of 
Ne\y-Kent,  as  a  place  of  security  from  the  invading  enemv. 
An  incendiary  i)ut  a  torch  to  the  buildinu  ;  and  thus  per- 
islied  not  only  the  records  of  the  countv,  but  the  labors 
of  Clayton.  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  Noteson  Viroinia  says 
that  Dr.  Clavton  was  a  native  of  Vircrinia.  "^ 

CLAYTON,  Dr.  JOSHUA,  was  Governor  of  the  state 
of  Delaware,  and  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  • 
he  died  in  1799.  He  was  hiirhlv  respectable  in  the  medi- 
cal profession,  in  which  lie  j)ractised  for  manv  vears. 

In  1792  he  addressed  a  friend  as  follows.  "  During  the 
late  Mar  the  Peruvian  bark  was  very  scarce  and  dear.  I 
was  at  that  time  engaged  in  considerable  practice,  and  was 
under  the  necessity  of  seeking  a  substitute  for  the  Peru- 
vian bark.  I  conceived  tliat  the  poplar,  Uiriodendron 
tulipifera,  had  more  aromatic  and  bitter  than  the  Peru- 
vian, and  less  astringency.  To  correct  and  amend  those 
qualities,  I  added  to  it  nearly  an  equal  quantitv  of  the 
bark  of  the  root  of  doffwood,  cornu*  florida,  and' half  the 


SJSS  SAMUEL    CLOSSEr. 

quantity  of  the  inside  bark  of  the  white  oak  tree.  This 
remedy  I  prescribed  for  several  years,  in  every  case  in 
which  I  conceived  the  Peruvian  bark  necessary  or  proper, 
with  at  least  equal,  if  not  superior  success.  I  used  it  in 
every  species  of  intermittent,  gangrenes,  mortifications, 
and  in  short,  in  every  case  of  debility." 

CLOSSEY,  SAMUEL,  M.D.  was  an  Irish  physician,  of 
very  respectable  attainments,  who  established  himself  in 
medical  practice  in  New-York.  He  had,  previously  to  his 
arrival  in  America,  attained  a  high  degree  of  eminence  in 
the  medical  profession,  both  as  a  practitioner,  and  an  au- 
thor of  an  interesting  volume  on  morbid  anatomy.  This 
was  entitled  "  Observations  on  some  of  the  Diseases  of  the 
Human  Body,  chiefly  taken  from  the  Dissections  of  Mor- 
bid Bodies."  It  was  published  in  London  in  1763.  He  was 
for  a  short  time  chosen  to  the  anatomical  chair,  and  the 
Professorship  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  King's  College, 
now  Columbia  College.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  first 
medical  school  in  New-York  in  1768,  Dr.  Clossey  was 
chosen  the  Professor  of  Anatomy  ;  and  directed  his  labors 
with  great  assiduity  to  the  establishment  of  that  institution. 
Political  difficulties  in  the  American  government  caused 
him  to  return  to  his  own  country,  where  he  died  a  short 
time  after  his  arrival. 

COCHRAN,  JOHN,  M.D.  This  gentleman  was  born 
on  the  1st  of  September,  1730,  in  Chester  county,  in  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  His  father,  James  Cochran,  was  a 
respectable  farmer,  who  had  come  from  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, and  the  lands  which  he  first  purchased  still  continue 
in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.  Discovering  in  his 
son  John  the  desire  of  a  learned  profession,  he  sent  him  to 
a  grammar  school  in  the  vicinity,  that  was  conducted  by 
the  late  Dr.  Francis  Allison,  who  was  confessedly  one  of 
the  most  correct  and  faithful  grammarians  that  ever  taught 
in  this  country.  Having  finished  his  preliminary  educa- 
tion, Mr.  Cochran  betook  himself  to  tlie  study  of  physic 
and  surgery  under  the  late  Dr.  Thompson,  in  Lancaster. 
Under  this  gentleman  he  improved  greatly,  by  his  dili- 
gence and  attention,  in  the  knowledge  of  his  profession. 

About  the  time  at  which  he  finished  his  medical  studies, 
the  war  of  1755  commenced  in  America  between  England 
and  France.  The  army  then  presented  to  the  mind  of  Dr. 
Cochran  a  scene  of  usefulness  and  further  improvement. 
As  there  were  not  any  great  hospitals  at  that  time  in  the 


JOHif    COCHRAN.  22* 

provinces,  he  readily  perceived  that  the  army  would  ]>«  an 
excellent  scliool  lor  his  iinjjrovenient,  especially  in  sur- 
gery, as  well  as  in  the  nu'dic  al  treatment  ol  many  diseases. 
He  soon  obtained  the  appointment  of  surpjeon's  mate  in 
the  hospital  do])artment  ;  an<l  havinjj  contiinied  with  the 
northern  arujy  dnrin;>r  the  whole  of  tiiat  war,  enjoying  the 
friendship  and  advice  of  Dr.  Munro,  and  other  eminent 
surijcons  and  physicians,  ho  quitted  the  service  with  the 
character  of  an  al)le  and  experienced  practitioner. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  lie  settled  in  Albany,  where  he 
married  Miss  Gertrude  Schuyler,  the  only  sister  of  the 
late  General  Schuyler.  From  that  city  he  removed  in  a 
short  time  to  New-Brunswick,  in  the  state  of  New-Jersey, 
where  he  continued  to  j)ractise  physic  and  surtrery  with 
great  reputation.  In  discharging  the  duties  of  his  jirofes- 
sion  he  bestowed  that  attention,  and  exercised  that  tender- 
ness and  liumanity,  which  never  fail  to  solace  the  feelings 
of  the  afilicted. 

When  the  war  became  serious  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  Dr.  Cochran  was  too  zealous  a  whig, 
and  too  much  attached  to  the  interests  of  his  native  coun- 
try, to  remain  an  idle  spectator.  Towards  the  last  of  tiie. 
year  17*0,  he  offered  his  service  as  a  volunteer  in  the  lios- 
pital  dejiartment.  General  Washington  was  too  good  a 
judge  not  to  discover  the  value  of  a  physician  who  joined 
great  experience  to  diligence,  fidelity  and  a  sound  judg- 
ment, and  accordingly,  in  the  winter  of  HTT,  he  recom- 
mended him  to  Congress  in  the  following  words:  "  I  would 
take  the  liberty  of  mentioning  a  gentleman  whom  I  think 
highly  deserving  of  notice,  not  only  on  account  of  his  abil- 
ities, but  for  the  very  great  assistance  which  he  has  afford- 
ed us  in  tlie  course  of  tliis  winter,  merely  in  the  nature  of 
a  volunteer.  This  gentleman  is  Dr.  John  Cochran,  well 
known  to  all  the  faculty.  The  j)lace  for  which  he  is  well 
fitted,  and  which  would  l)e  most  agreeable  to  him,  is  Sur- 
geon General  of  the  middle  department  ;  in  this  line  he 
served  all  the  last  war  in  the  British  service,  and  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  this  winter,  particularlv  in  his  atten- 
tion to  the  smallpox  patients  and  the  wounded.''  He  was 
accordingly  appointed  on  the  10th  of  April.  1777,  Phvsi- 
cian  and  Surgeon  General  in  the  middh'  dejiartment.  In 
the  month  of  October,  17S1,  Congress  was  pleased  to  give 
him  the  appointment  of  Director  General  of  the  hospitals 
of  the  United  States,  an  appointment   that    was  the  more 


228  NATHANIEL    COFFIN. 

honorable,  because  it  was  not  solicited  by  him.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  observe  that  the  Doctor  was  much  indebted 
to  his  observation  and  experience  wliile  he  was  in  tlie 
British  service,  for  the  great  improvement  lie  made  in  the 
hospital  department,  from  the  time  it  was  put  under  his 
care.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  observe  that  while  other  gen- 
tlemen, high  in  the  medical  stall',  were  disgusting  the  pub- 
lic with  mutual  charges  and  criminations,  Dr.  Cochran 
always  preserved  the  character  of  an  able  physician  and 
an  honest  man. 

A  sliort  time  after  the  peace,  Dr.  Cochran  removed  with 
his  family  to  New-York,  wliere  he  attended  to  the  duties 
of  his  profession  until  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion, AvJien  his  friend.  President  Washington,  retaining,  to 
use  liis  own  words,  "  a  cheerful  recollection  of  his  past 
services,"  nominated  him  to  the  office  of  Commissioner  of 
Loans  for  the  state  of  New-York.  This  office  he  held  un- 
til a  paralytic  stroke  disabled  him  in  some  measure  from 
the  discharge  of  its  duties,  upon  which  he  gave  in  his  re- 
signation, and  retired  to  Palatine,  in  the  county  of  Mont- 
gomery, where  he  terminated  a  long  and  useful  life,  on 
the  6th  of  April,  1807,  in  the  77tli  year  of  his  age. 

In  reviewing  the  character  of  this  respectable  physician, 
we  have  only  to  remark  that  without  the  flights  of  ima- 
gination which  tempt  some  gentlemen  to  theorize  and 
specidate  at  the  risk  of  their  patients,  lie  united  a  vigorous 
mind  and  correct  judgment,  with  information  derived  and 
improved  from  long  experience  and  faithful  habits  of  at- 
tention to  the  duties  of  his  profession. 

He  had  in  early  life  received  impressions,  under  the 
care  of  a  religious  father,  which  he  never  lost  ;  for  though 
he  served  long  in  tlie  army,  in  which  men  are  too  apt  to 
become  infidels  or  deists,  he  never  cherished  a  single  doubt 
concerning  the  truths  of  revelation. — Medical  and  Philoso- 
phical Res^ister. 

COFFIN,  Dr.  NATHANIEL,  M.M.S.S.*  Dr.  Nathan- 
iel Coffin  came  to  Portland  in  1738  from  Newburyport, 
his  native  place,  where  he  studied  physic  with  Dr.  Tap- 
pan.  In  1739  lie  was  married  to  Patience  Hale,  by  whom 
he  had  eight  cliildren.  Dr.  Coffin  had  an  arduous  task 
in  pursuing  his  professional  duties,  having  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  eastern  country  to  attend,  from  Welles  to  the 

♦  Written  by  Iiif  »o»>,  Dr.  NAfhaniel  Coffin,  at  the  advanced  age  of  82. 


i^ATHANIEJL     fHOlKFJlir.,   M, 


NATHANIEL    COFFIN.  229 

Kenncbcck.  He  was  frc(iuontly  called  to  perform  opera- 
tions oil  persons  who  liiul  hoeii  toiiiiiliawked  iiml  scalped 
hy  llu"  Imliaiis.  lie  was  so  inucii  re>>j)ettc(I  l>y  tliese  that 
they  always  fjirnished  him  with  a  safe  coiivevaiice  throiiijh 
their  settlements,  and  treated  him  with  tiie  greatest  kind- 
ness and  hospitality. 

From  his  stuilies  in  Newhuryport  he  coidd  not  have  ac- 
quired the  information  lu;  possessed,  ami  which  made  liim 
so  extensively  useful,  j)articulai"ly  in  surncry  ;  hut  it  may 
be  easily  accomtted  for,  l>y  the  opportunity  he  had  of  in- 
tercourse with  the  youni;  irentlemeii  who  came  out  in  the 
ships  as  surgeons.  After  having  served  their  apprentice- 
ship in  London,  they  were  admitted  for  one  year  or  more 
into  some  of  the  hospitals  there,  to  finish  their  education, 
and  were  then  employed  in  the  above  ca})acity.  Discov- 
ering their  superior  advantages,  he  always  matle  them  wel- 
come at  his  house,  ami  also  provided  them  with  tlu-  means 
of  accompanying  him  to  visit  his  patients.  In  this  manner 
be  obtained  yearly  information  of  every  new  discovery  or 
improvement  relative  to  the  science  of  medicine  or  surge- 
ry. In  May,  1703,  he  was  attacked  with  a  palsy,  notwith- 
standing which  he  persevered  in  his  intention  of  sending 
bis  son  to  London,  to  attend  the  bosj)itals  of  St.  Thomas 
and  Guy  in  the  horough. 

In  January,  176G,  he  had  anotber  attack  of  tbe  palsy,  of 
which  he  died,  ajred  fifty  years. 

COFFIN,  NATHANIEL,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  son  of  the 
j)recediiig,  was  at  the  time  of  his  decease  the  oldest  and 
one  t)f  the  most  eminent  j)hy>i(ians  in  the  State  of  Maine. 
The  first  ancestor  of  his  family  who  came  to  this  country 
was  Tristam  Cotrin,*  who  emigrated  from  Englaiul  in  IG  12. 

Dr.  Collin  was  born  in  Portland,  on  the  3d  of  May, 
1741,  in  which  j)lace  he  always  lived,  and  where  he  closed 
liis  loiuj  and  us<ful  life.  The  country  at  the  time  of  his 
birth,  for  many  miles  round  Casco  hay,  includiiiif  the  site 
of  Portland,  was  called  Falmouth  ;  afterward  the  part 
most  thickly  settled,  lying  on  the  harbor,  was  incorpo- 
ratril  into  a  separate  town  by  the  name  of  Portland. 


•  Some  few  years  linco  Sir  Isanc  Coffin,  Bart,  had  a  medal  struck  in  commemo- 
ration of  his  anoe!iif)r,  Trisitam  Coffin  ;  which  with  hin  acr\Mtomrd  hberality  he 
presented  to  all  the  male  descendants  of  the  name.  It  boro  on  one  side  a  full  lcn;;th 
figure  of  their  ancestor  in  the  Spanish  costume,  with  this  inscription,  "  Tristaoi 
Coffin,  the  first  of  the  raro  that  settled  in  America.  1642";  and  on  the  roTtrso  wore 
bar  hands  joined — '•  Do  honor  to  his  nam<»" — *'  Be  united." 


230  NATHANIEL    COFFIN. 

He  completed  his  preparatory  medical  education  under 
his  father  ;  but  the  limited  means  of  scientific  improvement 
then  existing  in  this  thinly  peopled  section  of  the  country, 
induced  the  son  with  the  advice  of  his  father  to  embark 
for  England  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  there  prosecuted 
his  studies  at  Guy's  and  St.  Thomas's  Hospitals,  under  the 
distinguished  Hunter,  Akenside,  McKenzie  and  others  ; 
and  returned  to  commence  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-one. 

The  time  which  he  passed  in  a  land,  then  as  far  excel- 
ling his  own  in  the  advancement  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
as  the  vigor  of  manhood  excels  the  weakness  of  infancy, 
was  faithfully  improved.  His  industry  and  desire  for 
knowledge  were  greatly  promoted  by  the  ready  tact  and 
practical  good  sense  which  were  distinguishing  features  of 
his  mind  ;  and  at  the  death  of  liis  father,  which  occurred 
in  1766,  he  was  qualified  in  no  ordinary  degree  to  succeed 
to  an  extensive  and  arduous  practice.  He  married  in  the 
26th  year  of  his  age  the  only  daughter  of  Isaac  Foster, 
Esq.  of  Charlestown,  by  whom  he  had  eleven  children. 

In  consequence  of  the  rapid  increase  of  population  in 
this  part  of  the  country  after  the  close  of  the  war,  his  la- 
bors, though  greatly  multiplied,  soon  became  confined 
principally  to  his  native  town.  His  father,  who  had  re- 
sided on  the  same  spot  with  himself,  had  within  the  memo- 
ry of  his  son  been  compelled  to  travel  with  his  healing  art 
over  an  extent  of  country  reaching  forty  miles  west,  and 
more  than  fifty  on  the  east,  the  only  messenger  of  health 
and  consolation  that  could  then  be  procured  within  these 
limits  ;  while  the  son  found  in  his  native  town  and  its  vi- 
cinity, a  constant  demand  for  his  time,  his  talents  and  his 
benevolence.  At  the  commencement  of  his  professional 
career,  Dr.  Coffin  might  often  be  found  travelling  tlirough 
unfrequented  and  dangerous  roads,  to  visit  patients  who 
possessed  none  of  the  comforts  and  scarcely  the  necessaries 
of  civilized  life,  while  the  cannon  of  the  enemy  was  sound- 
ing in  his  ears,  and  before  his  eyes  lay  all  the  desolation 
with  which  war  ravages  the  land.  Could  this  amiable  and 
enterprising  physician,  while  watching  in  the  abodes  of 
miserv,  have  relieved  the  tedious  hours  with  an  anticipa- 
tion of  the  peace  and  prosperity  which  were  so  soon  to 
reward  the  constancy  of  his  covmtrymen,  how  would  his 
benevolent  heart  have  been  cheered  at  the  prospect  !  He 
loved  his  country,  and  ardently  desired  her  freedom  and 


NATHANIEL    COFFIN.  231 

advjinccmcnt  ;  but  fcw  j)crsons  at  that  period  dreamed  of 
independence.  It  was  not  long,  however,  l)efore  tlie  pros- 
pect hriiihtened,  anil  America,  though  struggling  with  a 
power  incalc  ulahly  sujterior  to  liti-  own,  gave  signs  ol"  a 
resolution  not  to  he  overcome. 

'riu>  inhahitants  of  Falmouth  caught  the  jfeneral  :-:pirit 
of  patriotism  which  was  daily  gaining  grouml,  and  deter- 
mined to  reliiu|uish  their  commerce  with  England,  'i'his 
resolution  was  first  enforced  on  Mr.  Coulson,  an  Eniilish 
resident  there,  who  hait  married  a  sister  of  Dr.  Collin.  In 
consetjucnce  of  the>e  oifcni-ivc  j)roceedinus  an  order  wa^ 
oblained  from  the  admiral  on  this  station  for  tlie  destruc- 
tion of  the  town  ;  and  Captain  Mowatt  drew  uj)  his  naval 
force  in  the  port  to  execute  tlic  order. 

On  this  occasion  Dr.  Collin,  with  two  others,  was  em- 
ployed by  his  townsmen  to  repair  on  hoard  the  Canceau, 
to  expostulate  with  the  commander  upon  the  severity  of 
his  commission,  and  to  endeavor  to  avert  or  mitigate  its 
evils.  In  this  attempt  he  was  unsuccessful.  Caj)tain  Moav- 
att  was  determineil  to  burn  the  town,  and  a  short  interval 
onlv  was  ohtaiiicd  for  the  iidiahitauts  to  iemo\c  some  of 
their  effects,  §Hid  to  escaj)C  with  their  families  into  the  ad- 
jacent country.  Tliis  excellent  man  contiimcd  to  share 
the  lot  of  his  sulfcrins"  townsmen  dm  ing  that  trying  sea- 
son, and  his  faithfulness  deserves  to  be  recorded  with  that 
of  the  respectable  and  worthy  pastors  of  the  flotk,  who 
abode  by  their  charce  in  their  dispersion.  Alter  the  alarm 
had  a  little  subsided,  the  inhalitaits  ventured  to  return  to 
their  ruined  homes,  and  bejran  grachially  to  rebiiild  their 
houses.  Dr.  Coffin  was  the  first  to  er.ler  the  town,  and  to 
animate  by  his  couirifre  and  theelfull.es^  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  sunk  into  despondency  by  the  melancholy  specta- 
cle which  on  all  side^  met  their  view.  His  services  as  a 
physician  were  at  this  time  particidarly  acceptable  to  his 
fellow-citi/ens,  liar;is<ed  as  thev  were  In*  a  foreiirn  enemy, 
and  lial)le  to  all  those  diseases  and  misfortunes  incident  to 
j)erilous  times.  In  seasons  of  public  calamity  an  intelli- 
gent and  benevolent  physician  is  indeed  an  anijel  of  mercy 
wherever  he  appears.  Sickncs.s  is  one  of  the  severest  ag- 
gravations of  ])overty  and  misfortune  ;  it  unnerves  the 
strong  arm  and  the  stout  heart,  whic  h  in  the  vigor  of 
health  fmd  new  resources  and  new  enterprise  from  peril 
and  dillicully. 


233  NATHANIEL    COFFIN. 

During  the  period  of  the  revolution  sick  and  disabled 
feamcn  and  soldiers  were  frequently  brought  by  our  fhips 
into  Poiilaiul.  Dr.  Coffin  was  thus  offered  repeated  op- 
j)Oituiiitict  for  a  display  of  tliose  principles  of  j)ractice 
which  he  had  previously  acquired  in  foreign  hospitals, 
and  which  a  lare  skill  and  discriminaiing  judgment  ena- 
bled him  at  all  times  to  apply  with  the  most  successful  re- 
sults. As  a  surgeon,  Di'.  Coffin  was  in  his  native  town 
ranked  at  the  head  of  the  profession  ;  always  prompt  and 
ready,  with  a  resolution  that  never  wavered  in  the  boldest 
operations,  with  an  eye  s-teadily  fixed  on  its  object,  and  a 
hand  that  never  trembled,*  and  all  the  practical  know- 
ledge of  anatomy  essential  to«the  successful  treatment  of 
surgical  diseases,  he  was  prfi|)ared  to  accomplish  what  no 
other  practitioner  around  him  presumed  to  undertake.  If 
he  possessed  a  peculiar  facility  in  any  one  branch  of  his 
profession,  it  was  certainly  operative  surgery.  Some  of 
his  operations  were  performed  at  the  advanced  age  of  80, 
with  all  the  promptness  and  decision  of  a  youthful 
professor.  His  reputation  was  also  high  as  a  medical 
practitioner  ;  and  what  is  said  of  the  learned  and  distin- 
guished Dr.  Baillie  may  Avith  truth  be  applied  to  him  : 
"  He  had  a  most  natural,  unassuming  but  decided  manner, 
which  in  the  exercise  of  his  professional  duties  was  the 
same  to  all  persons  and  on  all  occasions.  His  mind  was 
always  quietly,  ])ut  eagerly  directed  to  the  investigation  of 
the  symptoms  of  the  disease,  and  he  had  so  distinct  and 
systematic  a  mode  of  putting  questions,  that  the  answer 
often  presented  a  corrected  view  of  the  whole,  and  could 
not  fail  to  impress  the  patient  with  his  clear  and  compre- 
hensive knowledge." 

He  was  honored  with  all  those  professional  distinctions 
which  his  merits  and  attainments  so  truly  deserved.  The 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  was  conferred  on 
him  by  the  College  of  Brunswick  ;  he  was  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  the  Medical  Society  of  Maine,  and  for  many  years 
discharged  the  duties  of  Hospital  Surgeon  for  marine  pa- 
tients in  the  district  of  Maine. 

Possessing  a  constitution  naturally  healthy  and  vigorous, 
and  a  mind  resolute  and  intelligent,  there  was  no  peril 
which  he  was  not  prepared  to  encounter,  and  no  adversity 


*  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  Dr.  Coffin  performed  operations  equally  well  with 
cither  hand. 


NATHANIEL  COFFIN.  233 

Avlilth  lie  could  not  endure,  and  he  has  well  deserved  the 
distinction  awarded  him  by  the  pithlic  for  his  constant  and 
unremitted  exertions  durin<;  a  j)eriod  of  more  tlian  i-ixty 
years. 

Dr.  Collin  was  surrounded  in  theearlv  j)art  of  his  career 
hy  sullerinii  frieiuls  and  patients,  hut  his  life  was  closed 
amid  the  hlessin<rs  of  freedom  and  indejxndence.  In  the 
peaceful  eveninj;  of  his  days,  all  tlie  enjoyments  of  pros- 
perity and  aflection  chistered  round  his  dweilin^i  ;  hut  it 
tiliould  not  he  foriiotten  that  the  resj)C(tal)ility  and  hapj)i- 
ness  he  then  exjxrienced,  were  the  well  earned  reward  of 
the  virtues,  tlie  tidents  and  the  iaithftdness  of  early    years. 

It  appears  that  Dr.  Coihn  had  no  ambition  to  figure  as 
an  author,  thouuh  he  read  the  best  medieal  publications, 
and  reflected  attentively  upon  what  he  read.  We  are  not 
aware  that  he  has  left  behind  him  any  pajurs  for  the  pid)- 
lic  eye.  This  is  to  be  re<rrette(l,  for  no  oni-  had  a  better 
opj)ortunity  of  noticinu;  the  diseases  of  our  climate  for  the 
last  half  century,  and  of  re(oriling  the  various  (hancrs 
which  they  have  assumed  and  the  consequent  chanjie  of 
practice  which  must  have  necessarily  followed  in  their 
treatment  and  cure. 

His  private  cliaracter,  thouoh  known  oidy  to  a  small 
ciri  le  of  fellow  citizens  and  friends,  will  never  be  eflaced 
from  their  memory.  The  keenness  and  ready  tact  of  his 
intellect,  increased  by  the  peculiar  and  diflicult  circum- 
stances in  which  he  commenced  practice,  his  sound  judg- 
ment, founded  on  lonji  experience  and  rational  dedu(  tion, 
the  j)erfe(t  sinipru  ity  and  sinileness  of  his  heart,  his  ])cne- 
volence  and  readiness  to  answer  the  ctdl  of  (hity  or  human- 
ity at  the  risk  of  any  personal  sacrifice,  his  fondness  for  the 
young  and  his  affectionate  solicitude  to  promote  their  hap])i- 
ness,  and  his  equaiumity  and  courage  in  cases  of  misfortune 
and  (Hffnulty,  are  qualities,  which,  althouuh  they  do  not 
make  much  fii^ure  in  a  narrative,  insure  to  their  ])osse^sor  re- 
sped  and  ]iaj)piness,  anil  slu'd  a  pure  and  sacred  li<iht  around 
the  memory  of  departed  worth. 

In  his  manners    he  was  a  polished   specimen  of  the  state 
of  American  society  existing  before  the  revolution  ;  he  was 
one  of  the  most  eraceful  eentlenien  of  the  old  school,  and 
his  deportment  was  marked  by  a  uniform  and  cajUivating  — 
urbaiiitv. 

His  long  experience,  added  to  ]\\u  varied  knowledge,  ren- 
dered his  services  valuable  to  the  last,  and  the  faculties  of 
SO 


254  CADVVALLADtR     I  OLDEN. 

his  mind  retained  a  singular  fresliness  even  in  tlic  ordin- 
ary decays  of  nature. 

He  made  an  early  profession  of  liis  religious  principles 
and  was  one  of  tiie  iirst  who  united  in  tlie  Unitarian  faith 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Freeman  of  Boston,  more  than  40  years 
ago  ;  and  for  a  number  of  years  since,  he  was  associated 
with  the  church  of  the  first  parish  in  his  native  place. 

The  manner  of  his  decease  is  briefly  told.  In  1823  lie 
had  a  slight  attack  of  asthma,  which  disappeareil  in  a  few 
days  ;  but  it  returned  in  April,  1824,  and  brought  on  ex- 
treme dc])ility  which  threatened  his  life,  and  ended  by  a 
general  l^rcaking  up  of  his  robust  and  healthy  constitution. 
From  this  period  he  began  to  decline,  while  a  gouty  affec- 
tion appearing,  produced,  according  to  its  ordinary  effects 
on  a  debilitated  system,  hydrothorax,  which  at  last  })roved 
fcital  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  unremitted  and  affection- 
ate attentions  of  an  anxious  family,  and  the  constant  ser- 
vices of  his  medical  friends,  with  as  little  bodily  suffering 
as  could  be  expected,  and  a  mind  but  slightly  impaired, 
he  expired  on  the  18th  October,  1826.  It  may  be  no- 
ticed that  he  died  on  the  anniversary  of  the  destruction  of 
Portland,  which  he  survived  51  years.* 

GOLDEN,  CADWALLADER,  Esq.  This  truly  emi- 
nent and  worthy  character,  who  united  in  himself  the 
several  qualities  we  are  accustomed  to  admire  in  the  phy- 
sician, naturalist  and  philosopher,  was  the  son  of  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Colden,  of  Dunse  in  Scotland,  and  was  born  on 
the  17th  day  of  February,  1688.  After  he  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  liberal  education  under  the  immediate  in- 
spection of  liis  father,  he  went  to  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  in  1705  he  completed  his  course  of  col- 
legiate studies.  He  now  devoted  his  attention  to  medicine 
and  mathematical  science  until  the  year  1708,  when  ])eing 
allured  by  the  fame  of  William  Penn's  colony,  he  came 
over  to  this  country  about  two  years  after.  He  practised 
physic  with  no  small  share  of  reputation  till  1715,  when  he 
returned  to  England.  Wliile  in  London  he  was  intro- 
duced to  that  eminent  pliilosopher,  Dr.  Edmund  Halley, 
who  formed  so  favorable  an  opinion  of  a  paper  on  Animal 
Secretion,  written  by  Dr.  Colden  in  early  life,  that  he 
read   it   before  the   Royal    Society,   the   notice  of  which 


*  W«  are  inriebteci  to  the  n^wsfnipRr  notices  of  the  decease  of  Dr.  Coffin  for  much 
4>f  th«  information  contiiined  in  tliii  memoir. 


CAUWALI.M)r.H     (  OLDEX.  235 

Icarnoil  hody  it  greatly  atlractod.  At  this  tiino  lie  formed 
au  :i((|uaiiitau(t'  with  some  ol"  the  most  distiiimiishcd  litiT- 
nry  and  sciriitilic,  i  haraitors,  with  whom  he  cvrr  after 
maintained  a  regular  eorresjjondenee.  From  London  he 
went  to  Scotland,  and  married  a  younir  lady  of  a  respecta- 
ble Scottli  family  by  the  name  of  C'hristie,  with  whom  he 
relurncd  to  Anu-iica  in  171G. 

In  1718  lie  settled  in  the  city  of  New-^'oik  ;  hut  soon 
after  reliiujuished  the  practice  of  j)hysic,  and  became  a 
j)ublic  charat  ter  :  he  helil  in  succession  the  office  of  Sur- 
veyor General  of  the  province,  Master  in  Chancery,  Mem- 
ber of  the  Council,  and  Lieutenant  Governor.  Previous 
to  his  acceptance  of  this  last  station,  he  obtained  a  ])atent 
for  a  tract  of  land,  designated  by  the  name  of  (^oldenham, 
near  Newburgh,  to  which  place  he  retired  with  his  i'amily 
al)out  the  year  1755,  and  spent  a  great  part  of  his  life. 
Here  he  appears  to  have  been  occupied  without  interrup- 
tion in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  particularly  in  botanical 
and  mathematical  studies,  at  the  same  time  that  he  con- 
tinued his  corresj)ondcnce  with  learned  men  in  Europe 
and  America. 

In  17GI  lie  was  aj)pointed  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New- 
York,  which  commission  he  held  until  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease, the  administration  of  the  government  repeatedly 
falling  on  him  by  the  death  or  absence  of  several  govern- 
ors in  chief.  His  political  character  was  rendereil  very 
conspicuous  by  the  firnmess  of  his  conduct  during  the  vio- 
lent commotions  which  preceded  th<'  revolution.  His  ad- 
ministration is  also  memorable  for  several  charters  of  in- 
corporation for  useful  and  benevolent  purpo.«es.  After  the 
return  of  Governor  Tryon,  in  1775,  he  was  relieved  from 
the  cares  of  govt-rnment.  He  then  retired  to  a  seat  on 
Long-Island,  where  a  recollection  of  his  former  studies, 
and  a  few  select  friends,  ever  welcomed  bv  a  social  and 
hospital)le  disposition,  cheered  him  in  his  last  days.  He 
died  in  the  S9th  year  of  his  age,  on  the  memorable  28th  of 
September,  1776,  a  few  hours  before  the  city  of  New-York 
was  in  flames,  retaining  his  senses  to  the  last  and  expiring 
without  a  groan. 

Dr.  ("olden  began  at  an  early  period  of  hi<  life  to  pay 
great  attention  to  the  vegetable  jiroductions  of  America,  in 
which  delightful  study  his  dauohter  afterwards  l>eeame 
distinguisheil.      In  honor  of  Dr.   (dlden  Linnxus  named  a 


236  CADWALLADER     COLDEN. 

plant  of  the  tetrandrous  class,  Coldenia  *  This  plant  Miss 
Golden  had  first  described.  He  was  attentive  to  the  phy- 
sical constitution  of  the  country,  and  left  a  long  course  of 
diurnal  observations  on  the  thermometer,  barometer  and 
winds.  He  also  wrote  a  history  of  the  prevalent  diseases 
of  the  climate,  and,  if  he  Avas  not  the  first  to  recommend 
the  cooling  regimen  in  the  cure  of  fevers,  he  was  certainly 
one  of  its  earliest  and  warmest  advocates,  and  opposed 
with  great  earnestness  the  prevailing  mode  of  treatment  in 
the  smallpox. 

In  the  years  1741  and  '2  a  fever  which  occasioned  great 
mortality,  prevailed  in  the  city  of  New-York,  and  created 
much  alarm.  He  communicated  Ids  thoughts  to  the  pub- 
lic on  the  most  probable  method  of  curing  the  calamity  in 
a  small  treatise,  in  which  he  enlarged  on  the  pernicious 
effects  of  marshy  exhalations,  moist  air,  damp  cellars, 
fdthy  stores,  and  dirty  streets  ;  showed  how  much  these 
nuisances  prevailed  in  many  parts  of  the  city,  and  pointed 
out  the  remedies.  The  corporation  of  the  city  presented 
him  their  thanks,  and  established  a  plan  for  draining  and 
clearing  out  the  city,  which  was  attended  with  the  most 
salutary  effects.  He  published  a  treatise  "  On  the  Cure  of 
Cancer."  Another  essay  of  his  "  On  the  Virtues  of  the 
Great  Water  Dock,"  introduced  him  to  an  acquaintance 
with  Linnaeus.  In  1753  he  pvdDlished  some  observations 
on  an  epidemical  sorethroat,  which  appeared  in  Massachu- 
setts in  1735,  and  had  spread  over  a  great  part  of  North 
America.  These  observations  are  to  be  found  in  Cary's 
American  Museum. 

When  he  became  acquainted  with  Linnasus's  system  of 
botany,  he  applied  himself  with  new  delight  to  that  study. 
His  descriptions  of  between  tliree  and  four  hxnidred  Amer- 
ican plants,  were  printed  in  the  Acta  Upsaliensia.  He  pub- 
lished the  "  History  of  the  Five  Indian  Nations,"  in  2  vols. 
12mo.  But  the  subject  which  drew  Dr.  Colden  at  one 
time  of  his  life  from  every  other  pursuit,  was  what  he  first 
published  under  the  title  of  The  Cause  of  Gravitation, 
which,  being  mucli  enlarged,  was  re]nd)lished  by  Dodsley, 
in  1751,  in  1  vol.  ^Ito.,  entitled,  The  Principles  of  Action  in 
Matter,  &c. 

Tliough  his  principal  attention,  after  the  year  1760,  was 
necessarily  directed  from  philosophical  to  political  mat- 

*  See  the  Correspcndence  of  Lirnaeus  by  Sir  James  Edward  Smith. 


CADWALLADER     COLDEN.  237 

ters,  he  maintained  with  great  pinw  tuality  his  literary  cor- 
respondonto,  particuhiily  Avith  l>imKXMis  of  U])sal,  Groin*- 
viiis  of  Luydoii,  Drs.  Poitciruhl  and  W  hyttc  of  Kdiii- 
burgh,  Dr.  Fothcrgill  and  >Ir.  Colliiison,  F.R.S.  of  Lon- 
don. TluM'c  were  also  several  eonuiuinications  on  niathe- 
inatical  and  astronomical  subjects,  between  bini  and  the 
Earl  of  Macclesfield.  With  most  of  the  eminent  men  of 
onr  own  country  he  held  an  almost  nninterrn])te(l  epistol- 
ary corresjiomlence.  Among  them  we  may  mention  the 
names  of  Dr.  Garden,  Mr.  J.  Bartram,  Dr.  Douglass,  Dr. 
John  Bard,  Dr.  Samncl  Bard,  James  Alexander,  Es(p,  and 
Dr.  Franklin.  With  Dr.  Franklin  in  particular  he  was  a 
constant  and  intimate  corresj)Ondent,  and  they  regularly 
comnnmicated  to  each  other  their  j)hilosopliical  and  phy- 
sical discoveries,  especially  on  electricity.  In  theii"  letters 
are  to  be  observed  the  first  dawnings  of  many  of  those  dis- 
coveries which  Dr.  Franklin  has  communicated  to  the 
world,  and  which  so  much  astonished  and  benefited  man- 
kind. In  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends  Dr.  Fraidvlin  gives 
an  accoimt  of  the  organization  of  the  American  Philosophi- 
cal Society,  in  which  he  mentions  that  Dr.  Golden  first 
suggested  the  idea  and  plan  of  that  institution. 

The  numerous  manuscript  paj)ers  left  by  Dr.  Golden  at 
tlie  time  of  his  death,  whicli  for  many  years  were  supposed 
to  have  been  lost,  have  been  lately  found,  ami  are  iu)w  in 
the  possession  of  his  grandson,  Gadwalladcr  D.  Golden, 
Esq.,  Attorney  General  for  the  Southern  district  of  tiie 
state  of  New-York.  They  are  chiefly  on  historical  and 
philosophical  subjects,  and  many  of  them  are  of  the  great- 
est value.  Among  these  are  Ol>servations  on  Smith's  His- 
tory of  New-York,  in  a  series  of  letters  to  his  son  Alexan- 
der Golden  :  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  rhilosojjhy : 
A  corrected  copy  of  his  Account  of  the  Fever  which  pre- 
vailed in  New-York  in  the  years  n41 — 2.  This  protluc- 
tion  may  be  found  in  Hosack  and  Francis's  Register,  vol. 
1.  An  ln(|uirv  into  the  Principles  of  Vital  Motion:  A 
Translation  of  the  Letters  of  Giccro,  with  an  Introduction 
by  G.  Golden  :  Planta?  Goldenhamia?  in  jirovincia  \ove- 
boracensi  spontanea  crescentes,  (pias  a<l  jnetJKxhun  Linnaei 
Sexualem,  anno  1712,  observavit  Gadwallader  Golden  : 
A  corrected  and  augmented  copy  of  his  Prin(  i|)lcs  of  Ac- 
tion in  Matter  :  \  Treatise  on  Electricity,  &c.  Besides 
these  there  is  a  great  ma>s  of  correspondence  on  medical, 
philosophical,  and  literary   subjects,  with   many   eminent 


238  JAMES    CRAIK. 

pliy^icians  and  philosopliers  in  Europe  and  America. 
These  letters  carry  his  correspondence  back  to  the  year 
1710,  and  bring  it  down,  almost  uninterruptedly,  till  the 
time  of  his  death.  There  are,  too,  a  great  variety  of  i)apers 
on  public  affairs,  which  must  be  considered  as  documents  of 
primary  importance,  as  they  necessarily  contain  numerous 
facts  which  throw  light  on  the  history  of  this  state.  Dr. 
Colden  was  unquestionably  a  man  of  various  and  exten- 
sive learning,  of  superior  talents,  of  the  most  indefatigable 
industry,  and,  indeed,  in  many  respects,  his  character  will 
not  sutler  by  a  comparison  with  that  of  our  illustrious 
countiyman,  Benjamin  Franklin. — -American  Medical  and 
Philosophical  Register ^  vol.  1. 

CRAIK,  JAMES,  M.D.  Dr.  Craik  was  born  in  Scotland, 
where  he  received  his  education  for  the  medical  service 
of  the  British  army.  He  came  to  the  colony  of  Virginia 
in  early  life,  and  had  the  honor  to  accompany  the  youth- 
ful Washinjrton  in  his  expedition  against  the  French  and 
Indians  in  1754,  and  returned  in  safety  after  the  battle  of 
the  Meadows  and  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity.  In  1755 
he  attended  Braddock  in  his  march  through  the  wilder- 
ness, and,  on  the  9th  of  July,  assisted  in  dressing  the 
wounds  of  that  brave,  but  unfortunate  commander.  At 
the  close  of  tJie  French  war,  the  subject  of  this  article  re- 
sumed and  continued  his  professional  labors  till  the  com- 
mencement of  the  revolution  in  1775.  By  the  aid  of  his 
early  and  fast  friend.  General  Washington,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  medical  department  in  the  Continental  army, 
and  rose  to  the  first  rank  and  distinction.  In  1777  he  liad 
an  opportunity,  which  he  gladly  embraced,  to  show  his 
fidelity  to  his  general  and  to  his  adojttcd  country,  by  tak- 
ing an  active  part  in  the  d('velo})ment  of  a  nefarious  con- 
spiracy, the  oljject  of  wliich  was  the  removal  of  the  com- 
mander in  chief.  In  1730  he  was  dc})uted  to  visit  Count 
De  Rochainbeau,  then  recently  arrived  at  Rhode  Island, 
and  to  make  arrangements  for  the  establisliment  of  hospi- 
tals to  accommodate  the  French  army.  Having  performed 
this  difficult  duty,  he  continued  in  the  army  to  tlie  end  of 
the  war,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis, 
on  the  memorable  19th  of  October,  1781.* 

*  Dr.  Craik  was  the  Director  General  of  tlie  Hospital  at  Yorktown,  and  the 
present  author  has  a  distinct  recollection  of  receiving  from  his  hands  the  necessary 
surgical  im])lemcnts  when  a  battle  was  expected  on  our  approach  to  the  British 
lines,  and  of  receiving  his  directions  to  keep  near  in  the  view  of  tho  Marquis  De 
Lafayette,  and  to  pay  the  first  attention  to  liim  in  case  he  shodd  bo  wounded. 


.IAMr.»    IKAIK. 


239 


After  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  the  Doctor  settled  as  a 

physician  in  Charh's  coinity  in  Maryland  ;  but  soon  re- 
moved to  the  nc'iiihhorhooil  of  his  illustrious  iVirnd  and 
coiupanion,  the  fanner  of  Mount  \  rrnon,  at  his  ])arti<ular, 
ropcateil  anil  urgent  request,  in  HUb,  when,  like  a  guard- 
ian angel,  the  never  to  be  forgotten  Washington  again 
stepped  forth  to  redress  the  wrongs  of  his  country,  the 
venerable  Craik  was  once  more  appointed  to  his  former 
station  in  the  medical  stalf.  VN  ith  the  disbandnicnt  of  the 
army  tlu>n  called  into  service,  ceased  the  j)uhlic  profes- 
sional labors  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  whose  life,  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  hatl  been  devoted  with  zeal  and  high 
reputation  to  the  cause  of  his  country. 

One  trying  duty  yet  remained  to  be  performed.  It  was 
to  witness  the  closing  scene,  anil  to  receive  the  la^t  sijili  of 
his  revered  commander,  the  most  distinguished  man  ol  his 
age.  Their  youthful  commissions  had  been  signed  on  the 
same  day.  They  had  served  together  in  the  ranks  of  war. 
Their  friendship  Avas  cemented  by  a  social  intercourse  of 
fifty  years  continuance,  and  they  were  greatly  endeared  to 
each  other  by  common  toils,  privations  and  honors.  At 
lenglli  the  moment  of  j)arting  arrived.  It  was  tender,  af- 
fectionate, solemn,  and  im[)ressive.  In  reference  to  that 
painful  event,  the  Doctor  is  said  to  have  expressed  himself 
in  this  manner  :  "  I,  who  was  bred  amid  scenes  of  human 
calamity,  who  had  so  often  witnessed  death  in  its  direst 
and  most  awful  forms,  believed  that  its  terrors  were  too 
familiar  to  my  eye  to  shake  my  fortitude  ;  but  when  I  saw 
this  great  man  die,  it  seemed  as  if  the  bonds  of  my  nature 
were  rent  asunder,  and  that  the  pillar  of  my  country's 
happiness  had  fallen  to  the  ground." 

As  a  ])hysi(  ian.  Dr.  Craik  was  greatly  distinguished  by 
his  skill  and  success,  and  his  professional  merits  were 
highly  and  justly  appreciated.  In  tlic  various  relations  of 
private  life,  his  character  was  truly  estimable,  and  his 
memory  is  precious  to  all  who  had  the  happiness  and  the 
honor  of  his  acquaintance.  He  was  one,  ami  what  a 
proud  eulogy  it  is,  of  whom  the  inunortal  AVashinjiton 
was  jileascil  to  write,  '^  »n/  roinpatrint  in  arws.  mij  old  and 
intimittr  fricml.'"  He  departed  this  life  at  flu*  jilace  of  his 
resilience  in  Faiifax  countv,  onthe()lh  of  February,  1811. 
in  the  8tth  year  of  his  age. — Jlldcn's  Epitaphs^  and  other 
DocumciUs. 


JOHN  CUMING- 
CUMING,  JOHN,  M.M.S.S.  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Robert 
Ciiniiiig,  who  emigrated  from  Scothmd  at  the  close  of  the 
rebellion  in  1745.  He  settled  and  died  in  the  town  of  Con- 
cor'l,  Massachusetts.  His  son  John  entered  college  at  Cam- 
bridge, but  was  not  graduated.  He  left  college,  and  en- 
tered the  army  in  the  French  war  of  1755,  in  the  capacity 
of  Lieutenant,  and  was  taken  })risoner  by  the  French  and 
Indians:  After  the  termination  of  the  war,  he  studied 
physic,  and  became  a  respectable  and  successful  practition- 
er in  his  native  town. 

Dr.  Cuming  had  a  taste  for  military  operations.  He 
held  the  commission  of  Colonel  in  the  militia,  and  had 
the  offer  of  a  General's  commission  at  the  commencement  of 
the  American  revolution.  But  the  situation  of  our  army  and 
country  appalled  his  spirit,  and  liis  courage  failed  him. 
Being  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  which  sat  at 
Watertown,  he  was  one  of  a  committee  appointed  to  view 
the  sea  coast  from  Boston  to  Plymouth,  and  to  report 
what  defence  might  and  ought  to  be  made  against  the  in- 
vading  British.  The  defenceless  state  of  the  coast,  and 
our  inability  to  erect  any  works  of  importance,  discour- 
aged the  spirits  of  the  Colonel,  and  on  being  appointed 
to  the  command  of  a  ])rigade  in  the  Northern  army,  he 
declined  the  commission,  retired  to  his  house,  and  scarcely 
visited  his  patients  till  our  affairs  brightened,  and  a  good 
prospect  of  success  opened  to  view.  Owing  to  this  cir- 
cumstance, j)robably.  Dr.  Cuming  has  not  been  publicly 
noticed  according  to  his  real  merit.  Some  years  before 
his  death,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
in  Harvard  University.  He  died  of  pneumonia,  July  3d, 
1788,  aged  60  years.  In  his  last  will  he  bequeathed  five 
hundred  pounds  sterling  to  Harvard  University  for  the 
support  of  a  medical  professor  :  several  legacies  to  indi- 
viduals, and  to  the  churcli  and  town  of  Concord  ;  one  of 
fifty  pounds  sterling  to  procure  plate  for  the  church  ;  one 
of  twenty-five,  for  the  silent  poor  of  the  church  and  town  ; 
and  one  for  schools. 

Dr.  Cuming  was  remarkably  active  and  affable  in  the 
exercise  of  his  professional  duties  ;  an  able  and  honest 
physician,  and  a  sensible,  generous   friend.     He  was  early 
disposed  to  the  profession  and  practice  of  religion,  andwas- 
considercd  to  be  a  sincere  Christian. 

CUTTER,  AMMI  R.  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  Hon.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir  was  born  in  North  Yarmouth,  in  the 


AMMI    U.    CI  TTER.  5Jl 

utatc  of  Maine,  in  the  year  1734.  His  father,  who  was 
graduated  at  Candiridj^e  in  n2;3,  was  the  first  minister  in 
North  Yarmouth,  and  at  the  time  of  his  deatli  was  chap- 
lain of  one  of  tlie  Now-Enjrhmd  regiments  at  the  siege  of 
LouisbonrjEj  in  1715.  Ilis  mother,  whose  name  was  Brad- 
bury, was  from  Newli\nyj)ort,  in  tlic  county  of  Essex,  and, 
as  a[)j)ears  from  lier  letters  now  remaininj^  in  the  posses- 
sion of  her  descendants,  was  a  j)ious  anil  well  echjcated 
woman.  Soon  after  the  decease  of  lier  husband,  she  sent 
this,  her  eldest  son,  at  the  early  aye  of  twelve  years,  to  be 
educated  under  the  care  of  a  clergyman  at  Cambridge. 
The  distance  was  then,  probably,  not  less  than  150  miles, 
and  much  of  the  road  lay  through  a  thick  wilderness. 
The  journey  was  performed  l)y  the  youth  on  horseback, 
attended  by  a  servant  ;  it  was  a  difficult  and  perilous  en- 
terprise, and  more  than  seventy  years  afterward  the 
writer  of  this  has  heard  the  venerable  old  man  recite  his 
"  hair-breadth  'scapes"  during  the  ride.  He  entered  Har- 
vard College  in  1748.  Among  his  contemporaries  were 
some  young  gentlemen  from  Portsmouth,  S\  H.,  one  of 
whom  was  John  Wcntworth,  afterwards  Governor  of  the 
Province  of  New-Hampshire.  With  these,  particulaily 
with  Mr.  Wentworth,  he  formed  habits  of  close  intimacy, 
and  was  prevailed  upon  by  them  to  select  that  town  as  the 
place  to  pursue  his  professional  studies,  after  being  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  in  1752.  There  are  now  before  us  letters 
to  Dr.  Cutter  fiom  his  yo\in<r  friends,  which  indicate  that 
the  cpialities  of  his  mind  and  heart,  which  in  after  life  ren- 
dered him  so  justly  beloved  and  esteemed,  were  then  fully 
developed. 

He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  IJie  care  of 
Dr.  Clement  Jackson,  an  eminent  ))hvsician  in  Portsmouth, 
in  1752,  and  immediately  upon  being  admitted  to  practice, 
was  appointed  surgeon  of  a  body  of  rangers  under  the 
celebrated  Robert  Rogers,  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
army  on  the  frontiers  in  the  war  with  the  Indians 
in  1755.  He  remained  with  these  troops  in  their  fa- 
tiguing and  hazardous  service,  until  tliey  were  disband- 
ed. In  the  year  1758  he  was  appointed  surgeon  of  the 
New-Hampshire  troops  which  en<:aged  in  the  successful 
expedition  against  Louisbourg.  ^^  hile  employed  in  this 
service  he  was  near  falling  a  victim  to  the  smallpox,  which 
committed  greater  ravajjes  among  the  Americans  than 
the  arms  of  the  enemv.  and  whicli  carried  off,  nmon£r-t 
31  ■ 


243  AMMI    R.    CUTTER. 

others,  the  commander  of  the  New-Hampshire  troops, 
the  friend  and  patron  of  Cutter.  We  have  often 
heard  Dr.  Cutter  speak  of  the  events  of  this  inter- 
esting expedition,  in  which  the  military  resources,  cour- 
age and  talents  of  New-England  were  a  second  time  suc- 
cessfully displayed  to  the  world.  He  delighted  to  speak 
of  General  Wolfe,  the  second  in  command,  whom  he  per- 
sonallv  knew,  and  whose  easv  and  engaging  manner? 
and  chivalrous  character,  rendered  him  no  less  the  idol  ot 
tlie  army,  than  his  subsequent  services  justly  made  him  the 
favorite  of  his  country.  Dr.  Cutter  used  to  say  that  the 
death  of  Wolfe  was  a  fortunate  event  for  the  Americans  ; 
an  opinion  which  the  remarkable  incapacity  of  the  British 
generals  during  the  war  of  our  revolution,  seems  to  justify. 
Upon  his  return  from  Louisbourg  in  1758,  he  married 
the  lady  who  now  survives  him,  and  immediately  entered 
upon  the  sober  duties  of  life.  As  he  united  great  court- 
eousness  and  suavity  of  manners  to  unwearied  diligence 
and  unwavering  integrity,  he  soon  obtained  a  very  exten- 
sive range  of  practice.  In  1759  Major  Rogers  urged  him. 
to  resume  his  station  in  the  service  in  another  expedition 
of  the  Rangers  to  the  frontiers  and  into  Canada  ;  but  his 
professional  engagements  and  the  sweets  of  domestic  life 
counterbalanced  his  inclination.  From  tliis  period  until 
the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  it  does  not  appear 
that  there  were  any  events  in  Dr.  Cutter's  life  worthy  of 
being  made  public  ;  the  cares  of  an  increasing  family,  and 
the  duties  of  a  responsible  and  laborious  profession,  were 
enough  to  fully  occupy  his  attention.  The  breaking  forth 
of  the  revolution  presented  tlie  great  question  to  his  mind 
under  circumstances  of  more  than  common  embarrassment. 
Sir  John  Wentworth,  Governor  of  the  Province,  had  been 
the  friend  of  his  youtli,  and  their  mutual  friendship  had 
ripened  with  their  years.  He  was  an  amiable  and  accom- 
plished gentleman,  and  an  efficient,  liberal  and  public- 
spirited  magistrate,  and  he  had  projected  schemes  for  ad- 
vancing the  prosperity  of  the  Province,  which  were  al- 
ready in  the  course  of  successful  completion.  In  joining 
the  whigs,  therefore,  against  the  Governor,  which  Dr. 
Cutter  did  early  and  decidedly,  he  had  to  make  a  sacrifice 
of  private  feelings  upon  the  altar  of  patriotism,  which  fell 
not  to  the  lot  of  all.  The  Governor  had  previously  pro- 
cured for  him  a  commission  as  a  mandamus  counsellor, 
•\rhich,  foreseeing  the  embarrassments  which  were  coming> 


AMMI     R.    CUTTER. 


243 


he  very  wisely  declined  accepting.  Tlicir  friendly  inter- 
course, however,  was  not  iiiterru])tc(l  l)y  ditrerenit;  of  po- 
litical opinions  ;  for  after  the  (Joveraor  had  heen  compel- 
led to  take  refuge  on  hoard  the  ship  of  war  near  the  lort, 
he  sent  a  pressing  recpiest  to  Dr.  Cutter  to  give  him  an- 
other meeting.  It  was  their  last  interview,  as  the  Govern- 
or soon  after  left  the  liarhor  never  airain  to  return,  and  Dr. 
Cutter  Avas  prohahly  the  last  New-Hampshire  gentleman 
he  had  an  ()p|)ortunity  of  seeing  within  ilw.  limits  of  the 
republic.  Forty  years  afterward,  when  a  gentleiuaii  from 
Portsmouth  hapj)ened  to  see  Sir  John  at  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  when  he  was  Governor  of  that  Province,  tiie  first 
question  he  askcul,  after  the  usual  salutation,  was  as  to  the 
welfare  of  his  early  friend. 

In  the  heuinning  of  the  year  1777  Congress  resolved  to 
reorganize  the  medic.il  department,  and  Dr.  Cutter  was 
called  upon  to  give  his  time  and  services  to  his  country  in 
her  hour  of  need.  He  had  then  a  family  of  ten  young 
children,  and  an  extensive  and  lucrative  range  of  practice  ; 
btit  in  those  days  no  man  felt  at  lil)erty  to  choose  between 
tlie  service  of  his  country  and  his  own  convenience.  The 
post  olfered  to  Dr.  C.  was  that  of  Physician  General  of 
the  eastern  department,  and  his  station  was  to  be  at  Fish- 
kill,  on  the  North  River.  The  followinj  extract  of  a  let- 
ter from  General  A\'hipj)le,  who  signed  the  declaration  of 
independence,  and  who  Avas  then  a  member  of  the  Congress, 
will  show  the  nature  of  this  appointment,  and  serves  to 
exhibit  the  hish  estimation  in  which  Dr.  Cutter  was  held. 
It  is  dated  at  Philadelphia,  April  15,  1777.  "The  army 
now  forming  will,  I  hope,  under  Heaven,  free  America 
from  the  calamities  of  a  destructive  war.  The  scenes  of 
horror  and  distress  occasioned  by  some  mismanasement  in 
\hv  medical  department  last  year,  were  reallv  shockiiiir  to 
humanity.  Congress  being  sensible  of  this,  and  determined 
to  remedy  the  evil  if  possible,  have  formed  a  plan  on  the 
most  liberal  princij>les,  with  a  design  if  po-sible  to  draw 
into  the  service  of  their  country,  {gentlemen  of  the  first  emi- 
nence from  different  parts  of  the  continent,  many  of  whom 
have  already  eiifjaijed.  Voiir  humanilv,  and  firm  attach- 
ment to  the  most  glorious  cause  that  ever  mankind  Avas 
•rniiaiieil  in,  Avill,  I  Hatter  myself,  induce  you  to  forego  the 
]>leasures  of  domestic  happiness  for  a  time,  as  you  Avill 
thereby  render  a  most  essential  service  to  your  country. 
I  hope,  tlicrefore,  soon  to  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  of 


344  A.MMI     R.    CUTTER. 

your  acceptance  of  the  trust,  and  of  your  arrival  at  the 
hospital,  which  for  the  department  in  which  you  are  placed 
will  be  at  some  convenient  place  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Hudson  River." 

Dr.  Cutter  remained  at  Fishkill  and  its  neighborhood 
during  the  greater  part  of  this  year,  and  did  not  return 
home  until  the  beginning  of  the  next,  when  the  circum- 
stances of  his  family  compelled  him  to  resign  his  office, 
and  he  returned  once  more  to  the  business  of  his  profes- 
sion and  to  the  task,  to  him  a  delightful  one,  of  educating 
his  children.  He  was,  in  the  New-England  phrase,  emi- 
nently a  domestic  man  ;  he  sought  no  higher  enjoyments 
than  he  could  find  at  his  own  parlor  fire  side  ;  that  was 
the  scene  of  his  pleasures  and  the  centre  of  his  hopes,  and 
his  absence  from  it  during  the  past  year  had  been  render- 
ed doubly  distressing  by  the  death  of  his  oldest  son,  then 
a  promising  youth  at  college. 

Dr.  Cutter  had  no  taste  and  no  time  for  political  life  ; 
and  it  is  believed  that  he  held  no  other  civil  office  than  a 
seat  in  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of 
New-Hampshire.  His  opinions,  however,  on  political 
questions  were  not  wavering  ;  he  was  a  whig  before  the 
revolution,  as  we  have  before  stated,  and  when  our  own 
governments  were  establislied,  he  attached  himself  from 
the  beginning  to  that  party  which  formed  and  carried  in- 
to operation  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  he 
adhered  to  it  so  long  as  it  remained  a  distinct  party. 

About  the  year  1794  he  admitted  his  third  son  William, 
a  scion  wortliy  of  the  parent  stock,  into  partnership  in  his 

{)ractice  ;  and  gradually  withdrawing  himself  from  the 
aborious  duties  of  his  profession,  as  the  infirmities  of  age 
came  upon  him,  he  finally  resigned  the  whole  into  his  hands. 
As  a  physician  Dr.  Cutter  was  intelligent,  kind  and  attent- 
ive ;  he  remained  in  active  practice  more  than  fifty  years, 
and  no  one  ever  possessed  in  a  greater  degree  the  afiection 
and  entire  confidence  of  his  patients.  His  scientific  attain- 
ments were  greater  than  those  of  most  physicians  of  the 
times  in  which  he  was  educated  ;  his  literary  acquisitions 
were  very  respectable,  and  his  fondness  for  literary  pur- 
suits continued  to  afford  employment  and  gratification  un- 
til the  very  close  of  his  protracted  life.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  members,  and  for  a  long  time  President  of  the 
New-Hampshire  Medical  Society,  and,  without  derogating 
from  the  merit  of  others,    it  may  be  said  that  for  many 


JAMKS     FKEIiMAN    UA.NA.  245 

years  he  was  at  the  liead  of  the  profession  in  tliis  state. 
He  received  the  honorary  degree  of  M.D.  from  Harvard 
College,  and  was  chosrn  an  honorary  mcniher  of  tlie  Ahis- 
sachuM'tts  Medical  ami  Iluinanc  Socielifs. 

He  was  ahont  the  niitUlle  height  ;  his  manners  were  dig- 
nified, yet  courteons,  and  his  conntenance  was  strongly 
marked  with  the  moral  energy,  intelligence  and  benevo- 
lence, which  formed  the  leading  traits  of  his  character. 
He  imited  to  a  naturally  (ine  trnijxT,  great  vivacity  and  a 
social  <lisj)Osition  ;  his  collociuial  powers  were  remark:i- 
ble  ;  he  had  a  tenacious  memory,  and  the  diversified 
scenes  of  his  long  life  he  used  to  relate  with  a  felicity  of 
language  and  happiness  of  allusion,  interspersed  with  fre- 
(juent  flaslies  of  native  humor,  that  made  him  an  instructive 
and  delightful  comjianion. 

Dr.  Cutter's  distinguishing  intellectual  powers,  were 
quickness  of  perception,  a  retentive  memory,  an  vmder- 
standing  which  rarelv  erred  in  its  decisions,  and  a  will 
"whose  energy  seldom  failed  of  accom])lishing  its  determin- 
ations. His  prominent  moral  qualities,  were  an  unbend- 
ing integrity,  a  lofty  sense  of  honor  and  a  benevolence 
which  came  from  the  heart,  and  which  reached  the  hearts 
of  all  around  him.  This  "■  good  man,"  as  he  was  emphat- 
ically called  by  the  reverend  clergyman  who  ])reached 
liis  funeral  sermon,  died  suddenly  on  the  eighth  of  Decem- 
ber, A.D.  1819,  aged  85  years,  in  the  midst  of  his  family, 
breathing  out  his  pure  and  kind  sjtirit  in  a  short  ejacula- 
lory  ])rayer  to  the  Being  who  created  it,  and  who  now  re- 
ceived it  willing  to  depart  ;  before  the  frosts  of  age  had 
palsied  his  intellect,  or  lessened  in  the  slightest  degree  the 
warm  affections  of  his  heart.  The  influence  of  his  charac- 
ter, and  the  remend)rance  of  his  kindness  and  his  virtues, 
yet  remain,  and  will  not  soon  jierish  amid  that  commun- 
itv,  of  which  he  was  so  long  an  active  and  valued  uuMn!»er. 

DANA,  JAMES  FREEMAN,  M.D.  was  the  oldest  son 
of  Luther  Dana,  E.«<<j.,  and  was  liorn  in  AnduM'st,  in  the 
state  of  New-Hampshire,  September  the  23d,  1793.  His 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Lucv  Giddings.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  entereil  tlie  Universitv  of  Cambridne,  after  com- 
pleting his  preparatorv  course  of  studies  at  riiiHij)<  Acad- 
emy in  Exeter,  N.  H.  He  passed  through  the  usual  course 
of  instrtiction  at  the  University,  and  received  his  first  de- 
gree in  1813. 


246  JAMES  FREEMAN  DANA. 

After  his  graduation  he  commenced  the  study  of  medi- 
cine under  Dr.  John  Gorham,  at  that  time  Professor  of 
Chemistry  in  Harvard  University.  In  the  year  1815,  be- 
fore he  had  completed  his  professional  studies,  he  had  be- 
come so  well  known  as  a  practical  chemist,  tliat  he  was 
selected  by  the  University  to  go  to  London  as  an  agent  for 
the  pur})0se  of  procuring  a  new  apparatus  for  the  chemi- 
cal department.  While  in  England,  where  he  remained 
several  months,  he  prosecutecl  the  study  of  chemistry  in 
the  laboratory  of  Accum,  a  celebrated  operative  chemist. 
In  this  situation  so  favorable  to  his  views,  he  became  fa- 
miliarized with  the  details  of  practical  chemistry,  and  laid 
the  foundation  for  a  dexterity  in  its  manipulations,  which 
has  probably  been  seldom  surpassed,  and  which  afterward 
became  one  of  his  most  striking  excellences  as  a  Lecturer. 
On  his  return  from  England  he  was  employed  in  superin- 
tending the  repairs  of  the  laboratory,  and  in  preparing  it  for 
the  reception  of  the  new  apparatus,  a  task  which  he  exe- 
cuted with  great  judgment  and  ingenuity  ;  and  soon  after 
was  appointed  assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Chemistry,  his 
former  instructer.  In  1817  he  receiv^ed  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
he  was  appointed  Lecturer  on  Chemistry  in  Dartmouth 
College,  and  soon  after  married  a  daughter  of  the  late  Pre- 
sident Webber  of  Harvard  University. 

With  Dartmouth  College  he  remained  connected  in  the 
capacity  of  Lecturer  on  Chemistry  until  the  year  1820, 
when  he  received  the  appointment  of  Professor  of  Chemist- 
ry and  Mineralogy  in  the  same  Institution.  This  office 
he  held  until  the  year  1826  ;  and  tliose  M'ho  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  liearing  his  admirable  lectures,  will  long  re- 
member witli  what  a])ility  and  success  he  discharged  its 
duties.  In  1826  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of 
Visiters  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  and  im- 
mediately after  his  return  from  the  discliarge  of  this  duty 
he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of 
New-York.  This  appointment,  which  opened  a  wide  field 
for  the  exertion  of  liis  talents,  he  readily  accepted,  and  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  the  city  in  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year. 

A  severe  calamity  awaited  him  on  his  removal  to  New- 
York,  in  the  ^untimely  death,  under  circumstances  pecu- 
liarly distressing,  of  his  only  child,  a  beautiful  female  in- 


iAMF.S    FREEMAlt    DAITA.  841 

fant  a  few  months  old.  Those  who  were  ncquaintcd  with 
the  streiiiilh  of  his  iittaclmn'iits,  and  with  thr  fxtrj me  tfn- 
derness  ol"  liis  allt'ctioii  iov  this  inti'rt'>tiii<^  ohjcct,  prctlid- 
cd  the  most  serious  fonstMjui'nccs  to  his  own  h<-altli  from 
this  uiislortune  ;  and  a  lew  niontlis  were  sulhcicnt  to  vtri- 
fy  the  predidion.  Under  the  j)ressnrc  of  a  calnniity, 
which,  with  fetliuirs  such  as  liis,  was  almost  the  greatest 
which  could  have  heCallen  him,  he  made  extraortlinary 
exertions  to  support  his  spiiits.  IJut  the  >ho(  k  in  its  ( on- 
se([uenccs  was  prohal)ly  fatal  to  him.  lie  submitted  with 
calm  resi<ination  to  a  blow,  which  destroyed  in  a  moment 
his  most  cherished  antl  tleli}rlitlul  hopes  ;  but  his  appetite 
and  health  ileclined,  and  in  Ajiril,  1827,  uhout  six  nu)nths 
after  his  removal  to  New-York,  he  sunk  under  an  attack 
of  erysipelas,  at  the  early  ai^e  of  thirty-three,  and  when 
just  entering  upon  an  extended  sphere  of  usefidness  and 
honor. 

Professor  Dana's  taste  led  him  at  an  early  period  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  natural  sciences,  jiartictdarly  chemistry, 
in  wliich  he  afterward  attained  so  hiiih  a  de<:;ree  of  excel- 
lence, mineralojiy,  entoiuolony,  and  l)otany.  To  these 
pursuits  he  tjave  much  of  his  leisjire  time  when  in  collet^e  ; 
and  to  those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  character  of 
his  mind  and  the  decided  tendency  of  his  genius,  it  must 
be  a  source  of  regret,  that  nuuh  of  his  time  when  in  col- 
lege, was  necessarily  devoteil  to  subjects  wholly  unconge- 
nial to  his  taste.  He  affords  one  instance  among  many 
others  of  di^tinguislied  tahMits,  to  the  cultivation  of  wirKJi 
the  system  of  study  estal)li>hed  in  our  colleges  is  wholly  un- 
suitable. He  had  one  characteristic  of  genius  in  an  eminent 
degree,  a  decided  and  almost  exclusive  taste  for  studies  of  a 
particular  class  ;  and  these  sul)jects  are  j)recisely  those  to 
xvhich  least  attention  has  beeu  usuallv  |)ai(l  i'l  our  higher 
seminaries  of  learning,  and  whicli,  indeed,  until  lately,  seem 
scarcely  to  have  fallen  within  the  sco|h' of  a  college  eiluta- 
tion.  To  a  mind  like  his,  remarkably  active,  incpiisitive  and 
observing,  the  subjects  of  philologv,  meta|)]ivsics  and  ab- 
stract mathematics,  whii  h  constitute  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  studies  enjoined  at  our  colh'ges,  possessed  no  attrac- 
tions ;  and  however  eri'oneoiis  an  estimate  he  may  have 
formed  of  the  general  imj)ortancc  of  these  stinlies,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  to  him  they  possessed  little  value  ;  and  a  reluct- 
ant attention  to  them  exacted  bv  the  laws  of  the  universi- 
ty, must  be  regretted  as  a  sacrifice  of  talent,  perhaps  un.i- 


248  JAMES    FREEMAN    DANA. 

voidable,  to  the  spirit  of  system.  In  the  character  of  his 
mind  one  striking  feature  was  a  disposition  to  convert  its 
acquisitions  to  practical  purposes  ;  to  estimate  the  value  of 
scientific  pursuits  chiefly  by  their  susceptibility  of  this  ap- 
plication ;  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  to  undervalue 
those  speculations  which  lead  to  no  practical  results.  His 
mind  was  fertile  in  those  analogies  which  suggest  the 
means  of  accomplishing  any  practical  effect  in  science  or 
the  arts  ;  and  hence  he  was  even  from  childhood  distin- 
guished by  his  mechanical  ingenuity.  His  perceptions 
were  remarkably  keen  and  discriminating,  and  his  talent 
for  observation  of  external  objects,  of  their  distinguishing 
qualities,  their  analogies,  and  of  the  slightest  shades  of  dif- 
ference between  them,  was  perhaps  seldom  surpassed. 
This  talent,  which  was  the  foundation  of  his  accurate  and 
extensive  knowledge  of  mineralogy,  was  frequently  illus- 
trated in  a  very  amusing  manner  by  the  facility  with  which 
he  would  seize  upon  and  exhibit,  by  an  exquisite  power  of 
imitation,  those  undefined  peculiarities  of  manner  or  ap- 
pearance which  distinguish  individuals,  and  which  are 
often  very  difficult  to  catch  and  to  analyze.  Connected 
with  the  same  talent  he  possessed  a  keen  perception  of  the 
beauties  of  the  fine  arts,  particularly  architecture  and  mu- 
sic. As  a  lecturer  on  chemistry  he  had  few  superiors.  His 
excellence  consisted  in  a  thorough  and  profound  know- 
ledge of  every  part  of  the  science  ;  great  clearness  of  me- 
thod and  of  illustration  ;  a  manner  interesting  and  impress- 
ive ;  and  extraordinary  dexterity  and  success  in  his  expe- 
riments. 

But  his  greatest  excellences  were  those  which  leave  no 
memorial  of  themselves  except  in  the  cherished  recollec- 
tions of  friendship.  In  these  his  character  was  rich.  His 
heart  was  the  abode  of  every  kind  and  generous  sentiment, 
and  of  every  social  virtue.  The  quickness  and  ardor  of 
his  feelings  sometimes  betrayed  him  into  hasty  and  incor- 
rect judgments  of  persons  and  things  ;  his  resentments 
were  sudden,  though  never  deep  nor  lasting  ;  but  the  kind- 
ness and  benevolence  of  his  disposition  were  uniform  and 
invariable,  and  exercised  alike  upon  enemies  and  friends. 
In  his  professional  practice  this  amiable  trait  was  exem- 
plified in  his  unwearied  personal  attention  to  the  comfort 
of  his  patients.  Tliis  most  estimable  part  of  his  character 
was  sustained  and  guided  by  great  rectitude  of  moral  prin- 
ciple, and  a  firm  belief  in  the  momentous  truths  of  re- 


JAMES    FREEMAN    DANA.  249 

vcaled  relisjion.  With  tliese  graver  excellences  of  charac- 
ter were  imiteJ  a  disposition  eiiiiiuntly  social,  and  a  tal- 
ent for  pleasantry  and  humor,  \n  lii(  li  rendered  his  society 
irresistibly  nltractive.  His  personal  aj)pearance  and  his 
manners  were  extremely  prepossessing,  and   perfectly  ex- 

{)ressivc  of  the  frankness  and  gentleness  of  his  disposition. 
«'ew  individuals  have  enjoyed  the  affections  of  a  wider 
circle  of  j)ersonal  friends. 

Professor  Dana  died  young  ;  hut  his  talents  and  indus- 
try enabled  hiin  to  accomplish  enough  for  science  to  jus- 
tify high  expectations  of  future  excellence,  and  to  create 
deep  regret  at  the  premature  fate  by  which  these  were 
destined  to  be  disappointed. 

His  principal  publications  were  the  following,  viz. 
"  Outlines  of  the  Mineralogy  and  Geology  of  Boston  and 
its  vicinity,"  a  work  of  considerable  merit,  the  joint  jjto- 
duction  of  himself  and  his  brother  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Dana, 
published  in  1818.  "  Epitome  of  Chemical  Philosophy," 
published  in  1825,  while  he  was  Professor  of  Chemistry 
in  Dartmouth  College.  This  is  a  work  of  no  ordinary 
merit  ;  though  designed  merely  as  a  text  book  for  the  use 
of  students  while  attendinii  lectures  on  ciiemistry.  It  ex- 
hiliits  a  condensed  view  of  the  j)hilosc>phy  of  chemistry, 
with  a  reference  to  all  the  imj)ortant  facts  of  the  science, 
and  to  the  principal  recent  sources  of  information,  well 
arranged  and  written  in  a  style  of  great  clearness  and  puri- 
ty. It  is  evidently  the  result  of  much  research,  anil  in 
one  respect  may  be  proposed  as  a  model  for  elementary 
treatises  on  scientific  subjects.  He  exhibits  the  j)rin(  ipal 
facts  and  doctrines  of  chemistry  in  a  clear  but  concise  and 
scientific  manner,  stripped  of  all  unnecessary  matter,  and 
not  diluted  by  difl'usc  and  tedious  commentary.  A  very 
interesting  "  Report  on  a  singular  Disease  of  Horned  Cat- 
tle in  the  town  of  Burton,  New-Hampshire,"  the  ca\ises  of 
which  he  was  appointed  to  investigate  by  tlie  New-Hamp- 
shire Medical  Society,  and  which  he  traced  with  greai 
probability  to  the  presence  of  muriate  of  lime  in  the  waters 
of  that  town. 

Besides  these  publications  he  contributed  several  papers 
to  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  the  New  England  Jour- 
nal of  Medicine,  and  the  Annals  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History  of  New-York,  some  of  them  of  very  considerable 
merit,  and  some  of  which  have  been  reprinted  in  Kurope. 
The  principal  of  tlie.<e  arc  the  followin<i.  '■'■  An  Accomit 
3J 


850  JaHN    SYNG    DORSET. 

of  the  Grand  Monadnock  Mountain  of  New-Hampshire"  ; 
an  elaborate  "  Account  of  Iodine"  ;  "  On  a  new  form  of 
the  Electrical  Battery"  ;  "  Chemical  Examination  of  the 
Berries  of  the  Myrica  Cerifera,  or  Wax  Myrtle"  ;  "  On 
the  Effect  of  Vapor  or  Flame"  ;  "  On  the  Existence  of 
Cantharidin  in  the  Lytta  Vittata,  or  Potatofly"  ;  "  Chemi- 
cal Examination  of  some  Animal  Products"  ;  "  Notices  on 
the  connexion  of  Electricity,  Heat  and  Magnetism,  the 
preparation  of  Euchlorine  Gas,  &c."  ;  "  Account  of  a 
Galvanic  Magnetic  Apparatus"  ;  "  On  the  Theory  of  the 
Action  of  the  Deutoxicle  of  Azote,  or  Nitrous  Gas,  in  Eudi- 
ometry"  ;  '•  On  the  Ignition  of  Platinum"  ;  "  Remarks 
on  Mr.  Patten's  Air  Pump"  ;  "  Remarks  on  the  common 
Method  of  detecting  Cobalt"  ;  "  Additional  Remarks  on 
Mr.  Patten's  Air  Pump"  ;  "  Analysis  of  the  Copper  Ore 
of  Franconia  in  New-Hampshire,"  &c.  published  after  his 
death. 

In  1815,  while  a  medical  student.  Dr.  Dana  received  the 
Boylston  medical  prize  for  a  Dissertation  on  the  Tests  of 
Arsenic,  and  on  his  passage  home  Irom  Europe  he  wrote 
a  Dissertation  on  the  Composition  of  the  Oxy muriatic 
Gas,  to  which  the  Boylston  premium  was  assigned  in 
1816. 

DORSEY,  JOHN  SYNG,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy 
in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  December  23d,  1783.  In  early  life  he  re- 
ceived an  excellent  elementary  and  classical  education  at  a 
school  in  Philadelphia  of  the  society  of  Friends,  then  in 
high  repute,  and  here  manifested  the  same  vivacity  of 
genius  and  quickness  in  learning  with  the  mild  and  gra- 
cious dispositions,  for  which  he  was  subsequently  so  con- 
spicuous. At  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  entered  the  office 
of  his  relative,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Physick.  Medicine  he 
cultivated  with  unusual  ardor,  and  so  successfully  that, 
though  by  far  the  most  juvenile  member  of  the  class,  he 
had  no  superior  in  the  estimation  either  of  his  teacher  or 
fellow  students.  Of  the  force  of  his  application  and 
its  results,  a  conception  may  be  formed  when  it  is  told 
that,  while  still  very  much  within  his  minority,  he  was 
fully  prepared  for  the  highest  medical  honors  of  the  vmi- 
versity.  In  the  spring  of  1802,  then  in  his  nineteenth 
year,  he  was  graduated  as  a  Doctor  in  medicine,  having 
previously  defended  with  ability  an  Inaugural  Dissertation 
''  On  the  Powers  of  the  Gastric  Liquor  as  a  Solvent  of  the 


JOHN    SYNr.    D0R8LY.  25l 

Urinary  Calculi."  This,  says  his  Mofrraphcr,  exhibits 
some  oriirinal  views,  illustrated  and  maintained  by  a  set  of 
pertinent  aiul  well  conduct(>d  experiments. 

Not  long  after  receiving  his  donree  the  yellow  fever  re- 
appeared in  the  city,  and  prevailed  so   widely  that  a  hos- 
pital was   opened   for   the  accommodation  exclusively   of 
the  sick  with  this  disease,  to  which  he  was  appointed  resi- 
dent physician.      So  great  was  the  value   attaclicd   to   his 
services,  that  it  is  difficult  to  sj)eak  too  hiiihly  of  tin*  man- 
ner in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this'office  of  haz- 
ardous benevolence.     Nor  did  he  neglect  the  vast   oppor- 
tunities which  his  situation   afforded   of  investigating  the 
disease,  ami  happily  by  his  extensive  dissections  elucidated 
some  of  the  more  intricate  parts  of  its  j)athology,  and  aid- 
ed in  the  establisjiment  of  u  better  system  of  j)ractice.      It 
may  be  safely  affirmed  that   no   one   was   more  correctly 
informed  on  the  subject  of  this  epidemic,  and  not  a  little 
which  has  appeared  under  the  authority  of  other  names, 
was  derived  from  his  observations  and  researches.     At  the 
close   of  the  same  season  he  proceeded  to  Europe  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  his  medical  knowledge,  and  liberal- 
izing his  views  by  a  wider  survey  of  the  world.      During 
his  absence  he   divided  his  time  between  the   English   and 
French  metroiwlis,  and  diligently  availed  himself  of  the 
immense  advantages,   which   in  these  respects  each   city 
affords.     That   his  talents   and  ac(piisitions  were  d»dy  ap- 
preciated abroad  we  have  ample  evidence  in  the  attention 
wliich  was   paid  him,  and  in  tlie  very  flattering  notices  he 
has  since  received  in  several  foreign  i)u])lications.     In  De- 
cember, 1804,  he  returned  home  and  immediately  entered 
on    the    practice    of   his    profession.     The    rej)utation   he 
brought  with  him,  his  amiable   temjier  and  po|)ular  man- 
ners, his  fidelity  and   attention,    speedily    introduced   him 
into  a  larjxe  share  of  business.      From  this  jyeriod  j)rofes- 
sional  honors  were  heaped  on   him   with    j)rofiision.     He 
was  appointed  surijeon  to  the  dispensarv,   the   alms-house 
and   hospitals,  and    in  all  our  medical  associations  he  held 
some   elevated   office.      But  there   was   reserved  for  him  a 
still  hiuher  and  more  diffuified    station.      In    1S07   he   was 
elected  adjunct   Professor   of  SurL^ry,   in  which  office  he 
continued  till  he  was  raised  to  the  chair  of  Anatomy  by  the 
lamented  death  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Wistar. 

Consiclering  himself  now  placed  for  the  first  time  in  the 
pi-oi>er  sjihere  for  the  cxerci>P  of  his  talents  and  the  grati- 


Zo2  JOHN    SYiNG    DORSEY. 

fication  of  a  generous  ambition,  the  appointment  gave  him 
much  delight,  and  with  ample  preparation  he  opened  the 
session  l)y  one  of  the  finest  exhibitions  of  eloquence  ever 
heard  in  these  walls.  But  here  his  bright  and  prosperous 
career  ended,  and  the  expectations  of  success  thus  created, 
were  not  permitted  to  be  realized.  Elevated  to  a  position 
above  which  he  could  liardly  ascend,  and  surrounded  by 
all  that  we  most  value,  Providence  seems  to  have  selected 
him  as  an  instance  to  teach  a  salutary  lesson  of  the  short- 
ness of  life,  the  insignificance  of  things  transitory,  and  the 
importance  of  that  eternity  which  absorbs  all  being  and  all 
time.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  that  he  pronounced 
his  introductory  lecture,  and  while  the  praises  of  it  still 
resounded,  he  was  attacked  with  a  fever  of  such  vehe- 
mence that  in  one  short  week  it  closed  his  existence,  leav- 
ing to  us  only  his  enviable  name  and  inestimable  example. 
He  died  November,  1818,  aged  35  years. 

Dorsey  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  powers,  and  deserv- 
edly occupied  a  large  space  in  the  public  eye.  Naturally 
acute,  vigorous  and  discriminative,  his  mind  was  highly 
improved  by  education,  and  embellished  by  taste.  Every 
department  of  medicine  he  had  cultivated  assiduously  : 
but  it  was  surgery  for  which  he  evinced  a  decided  predi- 
lection, and  in  which  he  had  the  greatest  proficiency.  As 
a  science  he  thoroughly  studied  it,  and^>y  the  unequalled 
advantages  he  enjoyed,  had  become  no  less  expert  in  the 
practice.  Excepting  one  illustrious  character,  who  has  no 
rival,  he  was  indisputably  the  most  accomplished  surgeon 
of  our  country,  and  this  higli  praise  is  conceded  to  him  on 
account  of  the  number,  the  variety,  the  difiiculty  of  his 
operations,  and  the  skill,  dexterity  and  boldness,  with 
which  they  were  performed.  So  many,  indeed,  were  his 
qualifications  that,  under  almost  any  circumstances,  he 
must  have  attained  excellence  in  this  province  of  his  pro- 
fession. Clear  in  his  views,  and  of  sound  judgment,  he 
had  also  great  mechanical  ingenuity,  delicacy  of  touch,  and 
promptness  of  decision  ;  and  hence,  in  conducting  an  ope- 
ration, however  new  or  complex,  there  was  a  tone  and 
firmness  of  manner  which  always  inspired  confidence  and 
insured  success.  As  a  teaclier  of  medicine,  his  merits  were 
great  and  universally  acknowledged.  Early  employed  in 
this  field  of  exertion,  his  mind  became  perfectly  disciplin- 
ed, and  it  developed  witliont  faltering  or  embarrassment 
the  various  subjects  to  whicli  it  was  directed.     It  was  this 


JOHN    SYN(;    DORSEY,  253 

quickness  of  apprehension,  and  fncility  of  execution,  wiiich 
caiised  him  constantly  to  he  rosorticl  to  in  seasons  of  tjnrr- 
gcncy,  to  sii|)ply  the  deficiencies  produced  by  casualties 
Ml  the  school.  We  have  seen  hiui,  on  these  occasions,  in 
the  same  day  illustrate  the  operations  of  surfrery,  and  de- 
liver the  details  of  the  materia  medica,  demonstrate  the 
minntifc  of  anatomical  structure,  and  exponntl  the  laws  of 
the  animal  economy.  Talent  so  flexible,  and  kiiowledfre 
Ihiis  diversified,  have  rarely  been  concentrated  in  one  in- 
dividual, and  still  more  rarely  exhibited  ^vith  sm  h  impos- 
ing etiect.  Never  failino;  in  whatever  he  enframed  to  teach, 
it  was,  however,  in  the  cleujon&trative  branches  of  medi- 
cine he  j)articularly  excelled.  He  was  fitted  for  the  un- 
dertakiniT  not  less  by  nature  than  study.  To  exactness  of 
knowledge,  which  lie  owed  to  a  retentive  memory,  cor- 
roborated by  the  habit  of  intense  application  in  early  life, 
he  added  a  fluent  elocution,  an  entire  self  possession,  imd  a 
methodical  and  luminous  mode  of  exposition. 

But  in  no  situation  did  lie  appear  to  j^reater  advantage 
than  in  the  discussions  of  our  Medical  Society.  Constitu- 
ted of  many  of  the  more  active,  intellif^ent  and  enterpris- 
ing of  the  practitioners  of  the  city  and  of  the  members  of 
the  medical  class,  this  institution  is  adiHiral)ly  adapted  for 
the  display  of  talent  and  the  reciprocation  of  j)rolcssional 
information.  As  a  debater  he  never  had  a  superior  among 
us.  The  style  of  his  speaking  was  peculiar  and  distinct- 
ive. De-stitute  of  rhetorical  pretensions,  it  had  the  char- 
acter of  warm  and  elevated  <  onvcrsation,  and  while  it  was 
sufliciently  strong  to  cojie  with  the  most  j)Owerful,  it  was 
intelligible  by  its  simplicity  to  the  meanest  capacity. 
E(|ualiy  adroit  in  attack  or  defence,  the  resources  he  exhi- 
bited in  these  contests,  and  esj>ecially  when  pressed  by  the 
weight  of  an  adversary,  were  surprising,  and  often  drew 
forth  strong  expressions  of  admiration  and  npj.lause.  It 
has  been  objected  to  his  s))caking,  that  though  always  in- 
genious and  forcible,  it  was  occasiouidly  loose  and  desul- 
tory. But  this  defect  was  visible  only  in  those  extempore 
effusions  which  escaped  from  him  without  ])remeditation 
or  reflection,  and  proceeded  in  a  great  measure  from  the 
fecundity  of  his  genius,  and  the  <o])iousness  of  his  matter. 
Teeming  with  ideas  and  exuberant  in  fads,  he  could  not 
always  preserve  his  arrangeuu'iit,  nor  the  chain  of  his  rea- 
soning, jHirspicuous  antl  consecutive.  As  a  medical  writer 
he  is  certainly   entitled  to    be    placed   among   the    most 


254  JOHN    SYNG    DORSEY. 

prominent  we  have  produced.  He  contributed  many 
valuable  papers  to  the  periodical  journals,  and  published 
the  "  Elements  of  Surgery"  in  two  large  octavo  volumes, 
which  is  probably  the  very  best  Avork  on  the  subject  ex- 
tant. Composed  in  a  plain  and  unornamented  style,  it 
embraces  within  a  narrow  compass  a  digest  of  surgery, 
with  all  the  recent  improvements  it  has  received  in  Eu- 
rope and  this  country.  Dedicated  as  he  was  to  his  profes- 
sion, he  still  did  not  neglect  elegant  literature  nor  the 
liberal  arts  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  cultivated  them  with  care, 
and  found  in  the  intervals  of  his  leisure,  that  they  smooth- 
ed the  ruggedness  of  his  severer  studies,  and  afforded  a 
refuge  from  the  care  and  irritation  of  business. 

Extraordinary  as  were  the  powers  of  his  mind,  they  did 
not  surpass  the  qualities  of  his  heart.  What  was  said  by 
Burke  of  Fox,  "  that  he  was  born  to  be  beloved,"  is  strik- 
ingly applicable  to  our  friend.  As  much  as  any  man  whom 
I  ever  knew,  was  he  calculated  to  win  attachments  and  dis- 
arm enmities.  Cordial,  warm,  generous,  practising  all 
the  courtesies,  and  extending  every  kindness  in  his  inter- 
course with  society,  it  Avas  impossible  to  approach  him 
without  being  conciliated,  and  further  acquaintance  served 
only  to  confirm  the  agreeable  prepossessions.  Frank  and 
unreserved,  there  was  nothing  in  his  deportment  to  inspire 
awe,  or  excite  doubt  or  suspicion  of  his  sincerity.  No 
one,  such  was  his  habitual  graciousness,  however  humble 
was  thrown  at  a  distance,  or  rendered  uncomfortable  in 
his  presence.  Easy,  cheerful  and  good  humoured,  he  dif- 
fused these  pleasant  feelings  around  him,  and  enlivened 
every  scene  into  which  he  entered.  Mixing  much  in  the 
circles  of  fashion,  his  manners,  naturally  urbane,  were 
highly  polished,  and  his  conversation,  so  various  was  his 
intelligence  and  such  the  pliancy  of  his  address,  would 
amuse  the  gay,  and  instruct  the  illiterate,  entertain  the 
learned,  and  delight  the  grave  and  pious.  Yet,  with  this 
versatility  of  genius  and  diversity  of  pursuits,  he  overlook- 
ed no  important  concern,  nor  slighted  any  material  duty. 
The  review  already  presented  sufficiently  shows  how  at- 
tentive he  was  to  his  leading  occupation,  and  its  collateral 
engagements.  Endowed  with  that  peculiar  constitution 
of  character  which  readily  accommodates  itself  to  circum- 
stances, he  could  in  the  most  remarkable  degree  intermix 
amusement  and  business  without  any  serious  encroachment, 


WILLIAM    DOUGLASS.  255 

and  preserve  to  a  great  extent   undisturbed  the  order  of 
systematized  life 

As  he  livcil,  so  lie  died  ;  never  shall  I  forget  the  truly 
imi)re>sivc  scene.  When  ]>y  his  jxTomptory  cojninand  the 
awful  toninuuiication  was  niacle  of  his  irrecovcral)h'  state, 
he  was  loniposed,  firm  and  resolute,  confiilinir  in  the  mercy, 
and  resi<fned  to  the  will  of  Heaven.  As  a  Christian,  prac- 
tising with  more  than  ordinary  punctuality  the  duties  of 
his  religion,  death  had  to  him  few  terrors.  Emphati- 
cally and  witii  fervor  did  he  reiterate  the  expression  of 
his  confidence  in  the  atonement  of  his  Savior,  and  tlic 
comfort  which  he  derived  from  this  source.  What  else 
indeed  can  sustain  us  at  such  a  crisis  .''  An  audacious  spirit, 
roused  by  the  pomp  and  pride  of  war  or  a  sense  of  duty 
or  honor,  will  in  the  field  affront  death,  and  brave  its  con- 
sequences. But  even  he,  in  the  gloomy  chamber,  and 
under  the  anguish  of  disease,  where  no  such  adventitious 
impulse  exists,  without  this  only  support,  will  shudder  at 
the  idea  of  dissolution,  and  the  destinies  of  eternity. — Pro- 
fessor Cliapman^s  Eulogium  delivered  before  the  JMedical  Class, 
1st  March,  1819  ;  See  Philadelphia  Journal  of  JMedical  and 
Physical  Scieiices,  Vol.  I. 

DOUGLASS,  WILLIAM,  M.  D.  was  a  native  of  Scot- 
land, who  came  to  America  when  a  young  man,  ai)out  the 
year  HIG.  He  fixed  himself  in  the  north  part  of  Boston, 
and  soon  became  conspicuous  for  his  abilities  as  a  physi- 
cian, and  for  his  general  intelligence  and  enterj)rise.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  learning,  but  deficient  in  judgment, 
prudence  and  correct  taste  ;  yet  he  assumed  the  task  of 
animadverting  upon  the  actions  and  characters  of  others, 
filling  the  ncwspa|)ers  with  political  essays  fraught  with 
sarcastic  remarks  uj)on  the  magistrates,  the  clergy,  the 
physicians,  and  the  people  of  New-England. 

When  Dr.  Cotton  Mather  conununicated  to  him  the 
success  of  Timoni  of  Constantinople  in  inoculatinjj  for 
the  smallpox,  he  treated  the  account  with  contempt  though 
recorded  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Lon- 
don. When  Dr.  Bo)  Iston,  in  the  vear  1721,  introduced 
the  practice  in  Boston  and  met  with  the  greatest  success, 
he  still  raved  against  Timoni,  Mather  and  Boylston.  He 
published  several  tracts  on  the  subject,  in  wJiit  h  he  at- 
tacked with  intemperate  language,  the  clergymen,  the 
physicians,  and  all  who  encourtigcd  the  practice  of  inocu- 
lation, which  he  held  to  be  a  presumptuous  exposure  to 


25C  WILLIAM    DOUGLASS. 

disease  and  death.  His  prejudices  were  very  strong,  and 
such  was  the  obstinacy  of  his  temper,  that  he  would 
never  retract  his  errors,  however  palpable  or  unjust.  His 
notions  of  religion  were  very  loose  and  unsettled. 

His  publications  were,  The  Inocidation  of  the  Smallpox 
as  practised  in  Boston,  1722  ;  Tiie  Abuses  and  Scandals  of 
some  late  Pamphlets  in  Favor  of  Inoculation,  1722  ;  A 
Practical  Essay  concerning  the  Smallpox,  containing  the 
History,  &c.  1730  ;  Practical  History  of  a  New  Eruptive 
Miliary  Fever,  with  Angina  Ulcusculosa,  which  prevailed 
in  Boston  in  1735  and  1736.  This  publication  may  be 
considered  a  valuable  practical  essay  on  angina  maligna, 
in  which  are  detailed  the  characteristics  of  the  disease  and 
the  method  best  adapted  to  its  treatment.  Some  physi- 
cians about  that  period  adopted  the  plan  of  bleeding  from 
the  vein  under  the  tongue,  which  proved  extremely  fatal  ; 
and  Douglass  says,  "  most  of  those  who  died  of  the  phy- 
sician, died  by  immoderate  evacuations."  He  publisiied 
a  summary,  historical  and  political,  of  the  first  planting, 
progressive  improvements,  and  present  state  of  the  British 
settlements  in  North  America  ;  the  first  volume  appeared 
in  1748,  and  the  second  in  1753.  In  this  work  he  is  said 
to  be  often  incorrect  in  point  of  fact.  It  can  only  be  con- 
sidered as  a  strange  medley  of  aflairs  relating  to  his  family, 
his  private  squabbles,  and  public  transactions,  without 
judgment  or  sound  discretion.  He  would  not  take  pains 
to  arrange  his  materials,  nor  to  inform  himself  of  particu- 
lar facts. 

He  was  so  opinionated  that  he  never  would  correct  his 
mistakes.  When  Cape  Breton  was  taken,  it  frustrated 
many  of  his  printed  declarations.  He  had  ridiculed  the 
expedition  because  it  was  a  measure  of  governor  Shirley's 
administration,  and  called  that  place  the  Dunkirk,  which 
such  forces  would  never  dare  to  assail.  But  though  the  plan 
succeeded,  it  did  not  make  any  difference  in  his  views. 
Instead  of  having  his  pride  wounded,  he,  porcupine  like, 
wrapped  himself  in  his  own  down,  and  darted  his  quills  at 
others.  He  said  he  was  right  in  his  conjectures,  but  for- 
tune would  always  wait  upon  blunderers  and  quacks  ! 
Douglass  was  a  mathematician  ;  in  1743,  44,  he  published 
an  Almanac,  which  was  useful  at  the  time,  and  is  now 
valuable  for  its  list  of  chronological  events,  and  also  the 
account  of  all  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  and  their  families. 
It  was  called  "  Mercurius  Novan^licanus,"  bv  William 


.I.\( or   DYCKMAN.  267 

NniVir,  S.  X.  Q.  A  town  in  llic  (oimty  of  Worccf^tcr, 
State  of  M:iss;i(liu<(tts,  of  wliicli  lio  was  a  |ti(>|trirt()r  and 
hcnofactor,  hear.-;  tlio  name  of  Doiijilass.  lie  ilinl  Octo- 
ber 21vf,  \'ii)2. — A'///n/\  and  .'Jllcn^s  liinu^raphy. 

•  DYCKMAN,  JACOB,  M.  P.,  was  Wn  of  highly  re- 
spcctahlc  parontaiic  at  Yonkcrs,  Wcstclicstcr  coiiiilyi  in 
tlic  state  of  New  York,  on  the  first  of  Dec  «inl)rr,  1*88. 
His  oarly  years,  spent  as  they  were  in  the  retirement  and 
of)senrity  of  the  eotnitry,  fnrnish  no  remarkable  inri<lents 
for  the  narrative  of  the  hio^rajjher.  Yet  it  can  liardly  be 
s»ipj)Osed  that  a  mind  snch  as  his  did  not  develop  some 
prominent  featnre,  even  in  the  days  of  his  childhood  ; 
and  esjx'cially  as  he  was  always  the  subject  of  j)raise 
nmon^  his  a((|naintance,  and  of  ambitious  hoj)e  amon^ 
his  friends.  AVithout  jiossessinj]^  that  vivacity  of  s])irits,  or 
that  sj)ri£,ditliness  of  remark,  which  are  fre(|ueiitly  the  indi- 
cations of  infant  jjenins,  tliere  is  said  to  have  been  somethinij 
peculiar  in  his  deportment,  and  jiointed  in  his  conversa- 
tion, Avhich,  at  a  very  early  period,  excited  in  the  bosoins 
of  his  friends  a  hope  that  he  was  d<>>tined  to  be  no  ordi- 
nary man.  Accordiniily  he  was  sent  to  the  city  to  be 
l)repared  for  his  entrance  into  college.  After  receiving  a 
very  complete  and  solid  preparation  at  a  grammar  school, 
he  Was  admitted  into  Columbia  College  in  the  year  1806. 
Althonirh  he  did  not  possess  that  flippancy  which  often 
passes  for  brillian<y  of  parts,  and  obtains  for  a  youni; 
man  a  rank  above  his  fellows  Avho  are  in  realitv  possesse<l 
of  more  capacity  and  solidity  of  mind,  he  maintained, 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  collefriate  studies,  a  highly 
respectable  station  in  his  class.  There  was  not  in  him 
any  of  that  frivolity  of  character  which  leads  young  men 
to  engage  in  the  fashionable  anuisements  of  life  ;  and  he 
was  too  stronfjly  fortified  by  prin(  iple  to  be  led  into  dis- 
sijiation.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  he  should  surpass 
many  of  his  coUeniate  associates,  who  trifled  away  the 
time  which  he  devoted  to  study,  in  tlie  pursuits  of  ])le:i- 
sure  or  the  haunts  of  dissipation.  He  was  graduated  in 
the  year  1810,  after  passing  through  all  the  classes  of  that 
excellent  institution. 

Shortly  after  his  fjraibiation  in  the  arts,  he  commenced 
the  study  of  medicine  under  the  jiupilace  of  Dr.  Hosack. 
He  w.as  a  pattern  of  dilifjence  in  his  studies,  of  proprietv 
in  his  deportment  in  the  office,  and  an  example  in  nil 
respects  worthy  of  imitation.  From  the  character  he 
33 


258  JACOB   nrCKMAN. 

then  held,  every  one  augured  his  future  usefulness  and 
distinction.  In  the  spriug  of  1813  he  received  the  honors 
of  the  doctorate,  in  one  of  the  early  classes  that  were 
graduated  in  tlie  newly  organized  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons.  On  his  public  examination  he  presented 
and  defended  an  Inaugural  Tlicsis  on  the  Pathology  of 
the  Human  Fluids  ;  a  production  which,  afterwards  revis- 
ed and  enlarged,  laid  the  foundation  of  his  professional 
fame,  and  is  destined  to  be  remembered  as  a  work  of 
standard  excellence  on  the  subject  of  whicli  it  treats. 

Immediately  after  liis  graduation  he  was  apj)ointed  one 
of  the  Physicians  of  the  City  Dispensary,  a  situation 
which,  at  that  time,  was  not  to  be  obtained  by  the  influ- 
ence of  family  connexions,  or  by  acquiescence  in  a  con- 
tracted and  mercenary  policy.  Dr.  Dyckman  was  then 
an  obscure  young  man,  without  friends  to  urge  his  claims, 
or  to  exert  their  influence  in  his  behalf.  He  continued  to 
discharge  the  arduous  duties  of  this  charity  for  several 
years  ;  and  at  last  resigned  his  situation,  partly,  as  he  told 
me,  through  disgust  at  the  conduct  which  he  witnessed  in 
the  institution,  and  partly  in  consequence  of  increased  de- 
mands upon  his  time  by  the  duties  of  a  more  important 
office. 

In  the  year  1819  Dr.  Dyckman  was  appointed  the  Sur- 
geon of  the  New-York  Alms  House.  This  charity,  al- 
though extensive  in  its  character,  presents,  in  consequence 
of  its  location  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  and  the 
peculiar  description  of  the  objects  of  its  bounty,  a  very 
limited  field  for  the  cultivation  and  display  of  surgical 
dexterity.  During  Dr.  Dyckman's  attendance,  however, 
several  great  and  important  cases  occurred  in  the  institu- 
tion, which  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  that 
versatility  of  talent,  which  can  familiarize  itself  to  the  knife 
without  an  exclusive  attention  to  operative  surgery.  From 
the  judgment  and  deliberation  with  which  he  conducted  his 
operations,  and  the  prudent  dexterity  which  he  exlxibited 
in  their  performance,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  that 
when  experience  had  given  him  a  necessary  confidence, 
and  matured  the  dexterous  talent  he  possessed,  he  would 
have  become  a  highly   respectable   and   '^kilful   surgeon. 

In  ihe  year  1819  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Board  of 
Health  of  New-York  to  })rocced  to  Philadelphia,  for  the 
purpose  of  investigating  tlie  nature  and  origin  of  a  pesti- 
lential   fever  Avhich   prevailed   in  a   section   of  that  city. 


.IA(  on   I)V(  K5IAN,  259 

Ho  (lisi  li;irjT(>(l   this   iiitporlHiit   duty  with  so  iniich  manly 
in(le[)en(UMu»»,    so   miirh    piofossioiial    (lisrrction,    and   so 
inn'h  satisfaction    to   the  niil»li(  ,  that    hr  was  si'iit  upon   a 
siujilar    mission    to    l'hihi(ltl|ihia    in   the  suocrcdiuir  year. 
In  th(Mrar  ISil  ]iv  was  chrtcd  rccordinir  socrt'tary  of  tho 
Now- York    Liti'rary  aiul   l*hilosophi<al    SocictN,  an  ollice 
uhicli    ho    licUl  to   tlie   day   of  his  ilcatli,  with  universal 
satisfaction   to   the  members   of  that  body.     Nothinjr  caii 
show  in  n   more     convincinij    manner   the   e>timation    in 
which  he  was  lu'ld  by  that  learned  society,  than    the   fact, 
that  a    special  (ommiilee  has,    by  their   nnaidinons  n  solu- 
tion, been  appointed  to  prejiare  a  biographical   nuinoir  of 
him  in  the  next  volume  of  their  tran-^actions.   The  respect- 
ability of  the    committee    charffed    with   this  duty,   is  an 
additional  honor  to  his  memory.       In   the  year   1821  J)r. 
Dyckman  was  ap|)ointed  to  the  ofhce  ol   Health   Commis- 
sioner, and  in  1<S22,  in  spite  of  the    intrijrues   whi(  h  were 
used  for  a  host  of  others,  lie  was  appointed  hy  thi*  honor- 
able rejjeuts  of  the  university,    a  trustee  of  the  CoUeire  of 
Physicians  and  Sur<^cons.      By  his  appointment  as  Health 
Commissioner,  he  became,  c.r  o/^cto,  a  memherof  the  Board 
ol    Healtli.      It  is  priiuipally  in    seasons  of  pestiieiu-e  that 
a  member  of  that  body  has  any  oj)poitunit  v   of  sirriializing 
himself  as  a   public  olHcer.      No  sooner  had  the  epidemic 
which   lately    desolated   the    fairest    portion  of  our    city, 
made  its   aj)pearance,  than   the  profession,  the  board,  and 
the   public,   looked  to  J)r.    Dyckman    as    their   princi])al 
counsellor.      His   medic  al   associate   in  the  couunission  of 
health,  hy  an    unfi)rtunate    inadvertence  whicji    the    Uiost 
experierued  mi<iht   hav«>  committed,  or,  perhaj)s,  throunh 
the  mischievous  insimiations  of  jealousN  and  malice,  lost, 
in  a  ^reat  measure,    the    confideiue   of  the  puhlic*      Or, 
J)yekman  at  this  time  was  laboring;  tinder  a  severe  indis- 
position ;  yet,  feeling  the    importance  of  his   station,    and 
animated   by   a  sense   of  duty,   he    scorned   to    evade  by 
flight   the   iesponsiI)ilities   and   the  dangers   of  his   ollice. 
Contrary  to  the  renu)nst  ranees  of  his  friends.  In*  determined 
to  remain  in  the  city,  anil  for   some  weeks  spent    his  time 
alternately  in  his  bed   and  at   the  sittings  of  the    Board  of 
Health.     His  fet>ble  constitution,  already  undermineil  by 
a  strong  predisposition   to  j)ulmonary    disease,   could   not 
support  the  anxieties  of  his  mind,  and  his  unusual  bodily 


•  Se«  TownacDd  on  Ihe  V< How  Fever  ol  New-York,  in  1822. 


;^G0  JAIJUIJ   DVtKMAN. 

exertions  at  tliis  period  of  terror  and  dismay.  He  Avas 
shortly  conHJcUcd  to  request  j)ermission  of  the  Board 
to  retire  into  the  country  to  recruit  his  health.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  the  residence  of  his  father,  at  King's  Bridge — 
never  to  return.  Alter  lingering  for  several  weeks,  ex- 
hausted l)y  the  hectic  and  the  cough  of  consumption,  he 
died  on  Thursday,  the  5th  of  December,  1822,  with  the 
comjjosure  and  the  triumpii  of  a  christian. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  the  character  of  Dr. 
Dyckman,  without  feelings  of  respect,  and  even  emotions 
of  admiration. 

As  a  physician,  he  was  versed  in  the  scientific  depart- 
ments of  his  profession,  not  contenting  himself  with  mere 
elementary  knowledge,  but  ambitious  of  becoming  famil- 
iar with  the  great  masters  of  the  art.  He  delighted  in  his 
books,  and  justly  merited  the  character  of  a  well-read 
physician.  But  he  was  not  a  mere  speculative  man,  vers- 
ed in  the  doctrines  of  the  schools,  and  unskilled  in  their 
practical  application.  It  was  in  his  admirable  practical 
sagacity  that  his  great  merit  consisted. 

The  success  of  his  practice  is  the  best  eulogy  that  can 
be  pronounced  upon  his  professional  skill.  I  have  often 
heard  him  speak  of  it  as  one  of  the  most  delightful  con- 
templations of  his  life,  (and  indeed  have  had  constant 
opportunities  of  verifying  his  assertions  by  personal 
knowledge,)  that  of  the  numerous  cases  of  disease  which 
presented  themselves  in  tlie  practice  of  the  Dispensary, 
Avhere  a  physician  necessarily  prescribes  under  many  disad- 
vantages, he  lost  so  very  few  patients.  It  is  no  inconclusive 
evidence  of  a  physician's  skill,  that  he  should  not  lose 
more  than  two  or  three  patients  out  of  the  hundreds  that 
annually  fall  under  his  care,  whose  constitutions  are  brok- 
en down  by  the  accumulated  miseries  of  poverty  and 
complicated  disease,  and  who  cannot  procure  even  those 
comforts  of  life  which  are  indispensalile  to  the  efficient 
operation  of  medicines. 

But  Dr.  Dyckman  was  not  the  mere  physician.  He 
possessed  a  noble  expansion  of  soul,  which  would  not  per- 
mit him  to  confine  himself  to  the  routine  of  practice.  He 
has  justly  attained  no  humble  character  as  an  author.  I 
claim  not  for  him,  indeed,  the  veneration  that  is  due  to 
exalted  genius,  but  the  more  enviable  praise  of  being  a 
useful  and  a  practical  writer.  His  style  was  by  no  means 
splendid  or  ambitious,  but   neat,  perspicuous  and  sim])le. 


.lAtun  urcKMAu.  2G1 

His  first  literary  cirort,  "  An  Inuiijrursil  Dit^Kcitulioii  on 
the  Putlioloiry  of  the  Iluiniui  Fluids,"  would  have  done 
licuior  to  tin-  j)on  ot"  an  oIiUm-  ;uul  luoic  rxpniciic  «(1  wiiicr. 
his  ji  jUUmko  of  the  huinoi;d  j):itliolo^y  in  the  njodificd 
form  ill  which  it  is  tinijrht,  and  has  lor  ytars  been  tau<^ht, 
by  the  distinguished  Professor  of  the  Practice  of  Physio 
in  tills  University.  J)r.  Dy«  kman,  as  I  have  before  said, 
w;is  his  \)U]n\  ;  and  fired  with  the  zeal  of  his  prec  <'j»tor,  he 
boldly  stepped  forward  in  the  vindication  of  truth,  at  a 
time  when  it  could  only  be  exjjccted  to  draw  down  uj)on 
him  the  ridicule  and  the  condemnation  of  the  facnltv. 
The  doctrine  is  defended,  however,  with  acknowledjjcil 
dexterity  ;  and  exj)laincd  with  a  readiness  and  in^reiuiity 
which  show  hiin  to  have  been  familiar  with  his  subject. 
In  the  judgment  of  the  avowed  oj)ponents  of  the  theory 
it  espouses,  it  displays  more  reci»ndite  research,  more 
dexterity  of  statement,  more  in<jenuity  of  arjiument,  more 
j)lausibility  of  style  and  manner,  than  almost  any  other 
production  of  the  kind.* 

Dr.  Dye  kman's  improved  edition  of  Duncan's  Disj)cn- 
satory,  pul)lislu(l  in  the  year  181.S,  is  by  far  the  best  and 
most  useful  work  upon  that  subject.  His  monthly  reports 
of  the  dis<\ises  occurrini:  in  the  City  Dis|iensary,  j)ul)lished 
originally  in  the  Monthly  Majiazine,  and  afterwards  in  the 
Literary  Journal,  evince  a  talent  for  close  ol)servation,  and 
a  judgment  in  recording  facts,  which  would  not  dishonor 
the  niasterly  reports  of  Dr<.  Willan  and  liaieman. 

Several  fuuitive  productions  of  his  pen  are  preserved  in 
the  periodical  journals  of  our  country  ;  the  most  remark- 
able of  which  are,  an  Essay  upon  Adipo(ire,  pii})lished  in 
the  Transiictions  of  ihe  New-York  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History  ;  and  an  anomalous  case  of  siirgery  whii  h  fell 
under  his  care.f 

He  had  lonir  had  in  contemplation  a  work  upon  the  ve- 
getable Materia  Medica  of  the  United  States,  and  had  made 
very  considerable  progress  in  the  collection  of  materials 
towards  it.  He,  however,  had  resolved  that  it  should  be, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  the  lal>or  of  years.  Man  pr(.j)OM's,  but 
Ciod  disposes.  Death  suddenly  "interrupted  his  labors,  ami 
leaves  xih  another  instance  of  the  untertainty  of  human 
plans,  and  the  vanity  of  human  hoj)es.      In  contemplatinfr 


•  Sec  Pliiladclphia  Journal  of  iho  Mclienl  and  Phytical  Scioncoi,  vol.  iv.  [..370. 
t  S<jc  Mcdic&l  and  Pliysical  Journal  of  >'cw-V'ork. 


262  JACOB   DYCKMAN. 

the  charat  ter  of  Dr.  Dyckman  as  a  literary  man,  and  as 
an  author,  it  is  i)ropcr  to  notice  his  connexion  as  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  New-York  Medical  and  Physical 
Journal.  He  zealously  entered  into  the  enlightened 
and  lofty  views  of  the  spirited  gentlemen  who  projected 
tliis  work  ;  and  was  proud  to  associate  his  name  as  an 
editor  with  the  names  of  men,  who,  though  only  com- 
mencing life,  liad  justly  accjuircd  a  character  for  talents, 
and  a  literary  reputation,  of  Avhich  veteran  cultivators  of 
science   might  have  been  ambitious. 

Respectable  as  he  was  as  a  professional  and  literary 
man,  it  is  in  his  personal  and  private  character  that  he 
appears  to  highest  advantage.  Time  would  fail  me  to 
speak  of  all  the  virtues  of  this  estimal)le  character  ;  and 
to  tell  you  of  his  filial  affection,  and  of  his  excellence 
in  tlie  relations  of  a  brother  and  a  friend.  O  !  there 
was  a  tenderness  in  his  friendship,  which  I  have  a  thou- 
sand times  experienced,  but  which  I  would  in  vain  en- 
deavor to  describe.  Hear  the  touching  language  of 
bereaved  affection  bearing  testimony  to  his  worth  :  "  All 
who  were  acquainted  with  the  deceased,  will  delight  to 
dwell  on  the  amenity  of  his  disposition,  and  the  blameless 
tenor  of  his  life.  Remarkably  free  from  the  malignant 
passions,  his  heart  was  the  seat  of  generous  feelings,  and 
was  ever  alive  to  the  sensibilities  of  humanity.  In  every 
sphere  in  which  he  moved,  his  worth  was  confessed  ;  and 
in  every  situation  to  which  private  confidence  or  public 
favor  called  him,  his  zeal  and  assiduity  were  incessant  and 
unwearied.  He  has  left  behind  him  many  connected  by 
the  endearments  of  friendship  :  none  who  can  deny  the 
benevolence  of  his  heart,  or  the  purity  of  his  character."* 

Dr.  Dyckman,  in  the  days  of  his  health,  did  not  view 
religion  as  the  great  and  important  subject  in  wliich  every 
man  has  a  personal  concern  superior  to  every  otlier  inter- 
est. So  far  as  a  becoming  respect  for  it  was  concerned, 
he  was  unexceptionable  ;  and  in  the  duties  of  morality  . 
trenerally,  I  believe  he  was  as  sincere,  as  conscientious,  and 
as  irreproacliable  as  any  man  can  be  without  tlie  saiutify- 
'm<r  influence  of  religion.  He  never  made  any  religious 
profession,  though  he  was  often  lieard  to  express  a  partial- 


*  Now- York  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  523.  To  this  editorial 
obituary  notice  of  Dr.  Dyckman,  marked  by  a  beauty^f  style,  a  loftiness  of  senti- 
ment, and  a  tenderness  of  feeling,  highly  creditable  to  The  work,  1  am  iudcLted  for 
acvcral  jidrticulars  in  the  lile  of  our  friend. 


JARF.n  F.I.IOT.  2G3 

ity  for  the  Episcopal  Cliurth.  His  faiill  on  this  great 
suhject  was,  that  he  considered  morality  as  the  sum  and 
substance  of  relioion  :  and  eonsc  ions  of  an  irreproaehahle 
eharactei-  on  that  score,  he  rested  contented  here.  But  in 
his  last  ihiys  he  obtained  a  truer  view  of  the  subject.  He 
was  enabled  to  discover  that  the  high  and  holy  law  of 
God  is  the  required  standard  of  morality,  and' not  our 
own  imperfect  and  often  erroneous  con(  ept'ions  of  duty. 

The  foregoing  is  an  al)ridged  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
Dr.  D.  by  Henry  W.  Ducachet,  M.D.,  delivered  attlie 
desire  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Society  of  New  York. 

ELIOT,  DR.  JARED,  a  clerical  j)hysician,  was  tlic  son 
of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Eliot,  of  Guilford,  "in  Connecticut,  and 
grandson  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  Mass. 
the  celebrated  Indian  apostle.  He  was  l)orn  Nov.  7th, 
1685,  and  dicil  April  22d,  17G3.  He  was  one  of  the  ear- 
liest students  of  Yale  College,  and  received  hi.?  bachelor's 
degree  in  1706.  From  1730  to  1762  he  was  one  of  the 
corporation  of  that  institution  ;  and  from  1709  to  his 
death,  was  the  minister  to  the  first  ecclesiastical  society 
of  Killingwortli,  in  Connecticut.  He  was  uiujue^tion- 
ably  the  first  ]»iiysician  of  his  day  in  Connecticut,  and  was 
the  last  clerical  physician  of  eminence,  prol)ablv,  in  New 
England.  He  was  an  excellent  botanist,  and  was  equally 
distinguished  as  a  scientific  and  practical  agriculturalist. 
He  introduced  the  white  mulberry  into  Connecticut,  and 
with  it  the  silk  worm,  and  jiublished  a  treatise  uj)on  the 
subject.  He  was  also  a  mineralogist,  and  in  HGl  received 
from  a  society  in  London  a  gold  medal,  as  a  prenuum  for 
his  discovery  of  a  process  of  extracting  iron  from  black 
sand.  He  was  the  j)ersonal  friend  and  correspondent  of 
Bishop  Berkely  and   Dr.  Franklin,  and  of  several   other 

fhilosophical  characters  both  in  Euroj)e  and  America. 
le  \yas,  liowever,  in  his  life  time,  more  known  by  tiie 
j)ublic  as  a  |»hysician,  and  was  very  eminent  for  hi>  iud;r- 
ment  and  skill  in  tlie  manajrement  of  <iironic  complaints. 
In  these  he  apj)ears  to  have  been  more  extensively  consult- 
ed, than  any  other  pliysician  in  New  Enjiland,  frr(|ncntly 
visiting  every  county  of  Connecticut,  and  bein<r  often  call- 
ed to  Ro>ton  and  Newport.  He  was  a  good  lingui-t,  and 
fromtlie  libraries  left  l)y  him  and  his  (  ontemporaries  it  is 
evident,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  and  studying 
Hippocrates,  Celsus,  Galen,  Aretaeus,  tV:c.  in  the  oriyinals^ 
Some  very   hunjorous   anecdotes   arc   still    related,  which 


264  JAUKD  ELIOT. 

serve  to  show  that  he  managed  melancholies  and  maniacs 
with  fjn  at  ingenuity  and  s^uccess.  All  of  Dr.  E.'b  s(  ience 
and  philosophy  were  of  the  practical  kind,  and  adapted 
to  the  improvement  of  his  infant  country.  He  puhli.-^hed 
"  agricultural  essays,"  and  devised  various  plans  for  drain- 
ing swamps  in  the  interior,  and  also  for  reclaiming  marsli- 
es  from  tlie  sea.  He  was  very  industrious  and  methodi- 
cal, and  was  peculiarly  careful  that  whatever  he  under- 
took, should  be  well  executed.  It  is  difficxdt  to  conceive 
how  one  could  be  successful  in  such  a  variety  of  pursuits, 
as  those  in  which  he  was  engaged  ;  for  he  seldom  if 
ever  failed  in  any  important  undertaking.  He  possessed 
a  very  large  estate  in  land,  which  consisted  of  farms  in 
different  sections  of  the  state,  or  rather  colony.  These 
were  generally  better  cultivated,  and  furnished  more  pro- 
fits, than  those  of  his  neighbors.  Amidst  all  his  avoca- 
tions, he  was  distinguished  for  his  i)iety  and  talents  as  a 
clergyman.  He  published  several  sermons,  and  so  consci- 
entious was  he  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  minister, 
that  he  always  so  contrived  his  journies,  as  to  be,  if  possi- 
ble, with  his  people  every  Sunday,  and  for  forty  success- 
ive years  in  the  course  of  his  ministry,  he  never  omitted 
preaching  either  at  home  or  abroad  on  the  Lord's  day. 
Dr.  E.  resided  on  the  main  road  from  New-York  to  Bos- 
ton, and  was  always  visited  by  Dr.  Franklin,  when  he  was 
journeying  to  his  native  town,  as  well  as  by  most  of  the 
literary  and  religious  characters  of  his  day,  who  always 
met  with  a  very  affectionate  reception  in  his  hospitable 
mansion.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  charities,  .and 
many  of  his  medical  services  were  performed  gratuitously. 
It  is  mentioned  of  him  that,  though  an  ardent 
friend  of  his  country,  and  a  great  patron  of  improve- 
ments, and  though  as  a  clergyman  and  philosopher, 
a  physician,  and  a  trustee  of  Yale  College,  his  influence 
with  the  public  was  very  great,  and  his  opinions  and  ad- 
vice much  esteemed,  yet  he  always  avoided  interfering,  or 
taking  an  active  part,  in  any  of  the  purely  political  strug- 
gles of  his  day.  Such  men  as  Eliot  are  not  only  highly 
useful  and  honorable  to  the  age  they  live  in,  but  are  a 
blessing  to  future  generations.  They  give  a  spring  to  the 
human  intellect,  and  excite  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  experiment 
and  observation,  and  thus  diffuse  a  light  among  their  con- 
temporaries, which  has  an  influence  upon  remote  posterity. 
See  Eliot's  Biographical  Dictionary. — Medical  Intelligencer. 


CADWALLADER    KVAiNS.  2G5 

EVANS,  DR.  CADWALLADER,  was  ii  dcsccncUmt 
from  Olio  of  tho  niaiiy  rcspochihle  faniilios  who  oniij^raUd 
from  Wales  to  Pennsylvania  nj)on  tlir  -cltlcmenl  of  liie 
Provinco,  ami  rosicUul  in  PliilaiUljjIiia  connty.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  j)uj)ils  of  Dr.  Thomas  Hond,  ami  sailed 
with  a  view  of  fmishinf^  his  medical  education  at  Kdin- 
burn;h.  But  as  the  war  was  then  j)revailin<r  between  Spain 
and  France  and  England,  the  vessel  was  taken  hy  a  Span- 
ish privateer  and  carried  into  Hayti,  where  he  was  attack- 
ed hy  a  severe  fever,  from  which  he  happily  rc(  overed. 
After  some  time  he  was  permitted  to  sail  for  Jamaica, 
where  he  resolved  to  enter  into  professional  practice  for  a 
short  period  ;  but  finding  the  climate  disagree  with  his 
constitution,  he  sailed  for  England  after  a  residence  of  two 
or  three  years.  After  a  year  spent  at  Edinburgh,  and  a 
short  time  at  London,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and 
commenced  practice,  in  which  he  continued  al)ont  twenty 
years,  and  died  in  1773,  aged  57.  He  was  long  one  of 
the  physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  highly 
esteemed  its  a  physician  and  a  man. 

Dr.  Evans  published,  when  a  student,  a  case  of  convul- 
sions which  occurred  in  a  girl  about  fourteen  years  of  atjo, 
and  were  repeated  forty  times  in  twenty-four  hours.  Af- 
ter an  intermission  of  a  month  or  two,  they  would  return. 
Sometimes  she  was  affected  by  violent  craiTH)s  in  different 
parts  of  her  body  :  at  others  with  the  whole  train  of  hys- 
teric symptoms.  She  continued  to  be  thus  afflicted  for 
ten  years,  when  in  1752  she  was  perfectly  cured  by  elec- 
tricity kindly  administered  by  the  scientific  hands  of  Dr. 
Franklin.  She  received  four  severe  shocks  moriiinos  and 
evenings,  and  was  cured  in  two  weeks  of  the  fits  :  hut  the 
cramp  continued  somewhat  longer.  The  lady  was  the 
sister  of  Dr.  Evans,  and  the  cure  was  perfect  and  j)erma- 
ncnt.  Her  mind  was  not  affected,  as  is  common,  l)y  tlie 
disease  ;  she  possessed  uncommon  powers  of  reasoning, 
and  was  distinjiuished  for  the  sprightliness  of  her  wit,  ami 
the  charms  of  her  conversation.  She  lived  to  the  age  of 
79  vcars. 

FLAGG,  DR.  JOHN,  M. M.S. S.  was  son  of  the  Rev. 
Eiienezer  Flagg,  the  first  mini>ter  of  Chester  in  New- 
Hampshire.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvanl  Tniversity  in 
1761,  and  studied  medi<  ine  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Osgood  of  Andover.  He  commenced  practice  at  ^^  oburn, 
but  in  1760  removed  to  Lynn,  where  he  enjovcd  the  full 
34 


JOHIt    FLAGG. 

confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  acquired  a  high 
standing  in  his  profession. 

When,  in  1775,  tlie  dark  cloud  overspead  our  political 
hemisphere,  Dr.  Flagg  was  prepared  to  unite  in  the  strong 
measures  of  resistance  against  every  encroachment  upon 
the  rights  and  freedom  of  his  country.  He  was  an  active 
and  useful  member  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  promotion  of  the  military  prepara- 
tions to  meet  the  exigences  which  soon  after  happened. 
From  a  native  modesty,  he  declined  any  appointment  in 
the  councils  of  the  state,  but  was  prevailed  upon  to  accept 
the  commission  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Militia  under  the 
venerable  Col.  Timothy  Pickering,  which,  however,  he 
soon  after  resigned,  that  he  might  devote  his  whole  atten- 
tion to  the  practice  of  medicine,  which  he  preferred  to 
military  pursuits. 

He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society  immediately  after  its  incorporation,  when  the 
number  of  fellows  was  restricted  to  seventy  in  the  whole 
Commonwealth.  He  held  a  commission  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace  before  the  revolution  and  after  the  adoption  of  our 
state  constitution,  till  his  death.  The  fatigues  of  an  exten- 
sive circle  of  practice  and  the  exposures  incident  to  a  pro- 
fessional life,  impaired  his  constitution,  and  he  fell  a  victim 
to  pulmonary  consumption.  May  27th,  1793,  in  the  50th 
year  of  his  age. 

FULLER,  DR.  SAMUEL,  one  of  the  memorable  plant- 
ers of  Plymouth,  who  came  over  with  the  first  settlers  in 
1620.  He  was  the  first  regularly  educated  physician  that 
visited  New  England.  He  was  a  deacon  of  the  Rev. 
John  Robinson's  church,  with  Mr.  Carver,  who  was  after- 
wards governor  of  the  plantation.  His  services  were  in 
very  special  request  both  for  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the 
people.  Besides  his  duties  in  the  church,  which  he  was 
active  in  performing,  he  was  eminently  useful  as  a  surgeon 
and  physician. 

Nor  did  he  confine  his  benevolent  offices  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  New  Plymouth  and  to  the  al)originals  of  the  coun- 
try, but  readily  gave  his  assistance  to  the  people  of  Naum- 
keak  (Salem)  and  Charlestown,  after  Mr.  Endicot  came 
to  that  part  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Several  of  the  people 
died  of  "  scurvy  and  other  distempers,"  and  many  were 
subjected  to  diseases  arising  from  unwholesome  diet  and 
want  of  proper   accommodations.     Having  no  physician 


•  AMUEL    FULLER.  2G7 

among  themselves,  it  was  fortunate  for  those  planters  that 
Plymouth  could  supply  them  Willi  one  so  well  qualified 
as  Dr.  Fullei-,  who  visited  them  at  the  reauest  of  Governor 
Endicot,  and  met  with  great  success  in  his  practice.  He 
visited  Salem  first  in  1628,  and  again  in  1G29,  on  account 
of  the  sickness  introduced  there  by  the  newlv  arrived 
ships.  When  he  arrived  at  Plymouth  from  .Salem.  Gov- 
ernor Endicot  wrote  to  Governor  Bradford  a  letter  of 
thanks,  speaking  liighly  in  prai>c  of  tiu'  physician,  and 
also  expressing  his  hearty  concurrence  with  their  clnirch 
at  Plymouth,  its  form  and  discij)line.  From  which  it  is 
evident  that  the  conversation  of  Dr.  Fuller  had  some 
effect  upon  his  religious  o])inions,  for  there  was  a  differ- 
ence of  sentiment  before  this  interview,  and  a  jealousy 
le>t  the  Plymouth  church  should  exercise  a  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  church  in  Salem.  lu  a  letter  to  Governor 
Bradford,  June  28th,  1630,  Dr  Fuller  says,  "  I  have  been 
to  Matapan,  (now  Dorchester),  and  let  some  twenty  of 
those  people  blood."  What  disease  j)revailed  among  those 
people  tiiat  required  tlie  loss  of  blood  in  the  warm  season 
of  June,  we  are  unable  to  determine. 

In  his  medical  character,  and  for  his  christian  virtues 
and  unfeigned  piety,  Dr.  Fuller  was  held  in  the  highest 
estimation,  and  was  resorted  to  as  a  father  and  wise  coun- 
sellor during  the  j)erils  of  his  day.  He  was  fmally  one  of 
several  heads  of  famili<s  avIio  died  of  a  fever  which  pre- 
vailed in  Plymouth  in  the  summer  of  1633,  and  was  most 
deej)ly  lamentetl  bv  all  the  colonists. 

GALE,  DR.  BENJA.MIN,  was  born  on  Long-Island  in 
1715.  When  a  child,  his  parents  removed  with  him  to 
Goshen,  in  the  State  of  New-York.  He  studied  medicine 
with  the  distinguished  Dr.  Jarcd  Eliot,  of  Killiiiixsworlh, 
Connecticut,  and  afterwards  married  his  daughter,  and 
settled  in  that  town. 

Dr.  Gale  was  author  of  a  Dissertation  on  the  Inocula- 
tion of  the  Smallpox  in  America  about  the  year  1750,  in 
which  he  advocated  the  utility  of  a  course  of  mercurv  as 
a  jtreparative  to  the  disease.  This  production  was  ([uoted 
by  Dr.  Wilson  Philip,  and  also  by  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Huxham,  who  in  a  letter  pul)lislied  in  Jamiary,  1765.  says 
"  the  use  of  mercury  and  antimony  in  jircpariniT  persoiis 
for  ino(  Illation,  will  more  Wully  aj)pear  by  what  the  inge- 
nious Dr.  IJ.  Gale,  of  Connecticut  in  New  Ennland,  has 
communicated  to  me  in  his  "  Dissertation  on  the  Inocula- 


268  BENJAMIN    GALE. 

tion  of  the  Smallpox  in  America"  :  in  which  he  says, 
"  Before  the  use  of  mercury  and  antimony  in  preparing  per- 
sons for  inoculation,  one  of  one  hundred  of  the  inoculated 
died  ;  but  since,  only  one  in  eight  hundred."  According 
to  Dr.  Gale  the  use  of  mercury  in  the  smallpox  was  first 
resorted  to  in  the  English  American  colonies  in  1745, 
when  it  was  employed  with  success  by  Dr.  Thompson  of 
Pennsylvania  or  Maryland,  and  Dr.  Morison  of  Long-Isl- 
and, in  the  Province  of  New-York. 

Dr.  Gale  published  some  Essays  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  New-Haven.  His  reputation  for 
medicine  and  other  sciences  was  little,  if  at  all,  inferior  to 
that  of  his  father-in-law  ;  and  he  kept  up  the  same  scien- 
tific correspondence  with  distinguished  foreigners,  and  the 
eminent  men  of  his  own  country.  Like  Eliot,  he  was 
both  a  scientific  and  practical  agriculturalist,  and  he  re- 
ceived a  medal  from  a  society  in  England,  for  the  inven- 
tion of  an  improved  drill  plough.  But  he  was  unlike  his 
predecessor  in  his  attention  to  the  politics  of  the  day,  as 
he  took  great  interest  in  the  events  of  the  American  revo- 
lution, and  in  those  that  passed  during  the  formation  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  and  employed  much  of  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  in  writing  political  essays  for  the  newspa- 
pers of  the  time.  It  is  believed  that  as  a  politician,  he 
was  not  inferior  to  many  of  his  contemporaries,  and  that 
his  talents  would  have  been  much  more  serviceable  to  his 
country  had  he  confined  them  to  subjects  more  immedi- 
ately connected  with  his  profession.  He  was  also  an 
ingenious  and  speculative  divine  and  a  biblical  critic,  and 
wrote  a  Dissertation  on  the  Prophecies.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  a  good  Greek  scholar.     He  died  in  1790. 

GARDEN,  ALEXANDER,  M.D.  F.R.S.  born  in  Scot- 
land about  the  year  1728,  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  A.  Gar- 
den of  Aberdeen.  He  received  his  first  medical  education 
under  the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Gregory,  and  studied  also 
twelve  months  in  Edinburgh,  having  received  his  philo- 
sophical and  clerical  education  in  the  University  of  Aber- 
deen. He  arrived  in  South  Carolina  about  the  middle  of 
the  18th  century,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  physic 
in  Prince  William  parish  in  connexion  with  Dr.  Rose. 

Here  he  began  liis  botanical  studies  ;  but  having  lost 
his  health  he  was  obliged  to  take  a  voyage  to  the  north- 
ward for  its  recovery.  In  the  year  1754  he  went  to  New- 
York  ;  where  a  professorship  in  the  college,  recently  form- 


ALEXANDER    GARDEN.  269 

ed  in  that  city  was  offered  to  him  ;  but  he  declined  the 
acceptance  of  it.  On  his  return  he  settled  in  Charleston, 
and  continued  to  practise  physic  about  thirty  years.  In 
this  period  he  amassed  a  handsome  fortune,  being  deserv- 
edly in  very  high  esteem  and  extensively  employed.  He 
brought  with  him  a  haernoptoic  constitution,  but  the  com- 
plaint was  suspended  during  his  residence  in  Carolina. 

He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Latin  and  Greek  class- 
ics, understood  the  French  and  Italian  languages,  and  was 
a  considerable  proficient  in  the  knowledge  of  the  belles 
lettres,  in  mathematics,  philosophy,  history  and  miscella- 
neous literature  ;  but  his  attention,  when  the  tkities  of  his 
profession  permitted  any  relaxation,  was  chiefly  directed 
to  the  study  of  natural  history,  and  particularly  to  that 
branch  of  it  which  is  called  botany.  Linnaeus,  with  whom 
he  corresponded  in  Latin,  gave  his  name,  Gardenia,  to  a 
most  beautiful  flowering  shrub,  and  often  mentioned  him 
with  applause.  He  was  also  highly  esteemed  by  the  lite- 
rati throughout  Europe,  with  several  of  whom  he  corres- 
ponded. About  the  year  1772  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  London.  Shortly  after  his  return  to 
Europe  in  1783  he  was  appointed  one  of  its  council,  and 
afterwards  one  of  its  vice  presidents.  To  extend  his 
knowledge  in  natural  history  Dr.  Garden  accompanied 
James  Glen,  governor  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  year  1755, 
when  he  penetrated  into  the  Indian  country  and  formed  a 
treaty  with  the  Cherokees  in  their  own  mountains.  In 
this  expedition  Dr.  Garden  discovered  an  earth,  which 
upon  a  fair  trial  by  the  manufacturers  at  Worcester  in 
Great  Britain  was  deemed  equal  to  the  finest  porcelain 
that  was  ever  imported  from  India.  Unfortunately  no 
precise  knowledge  can  now  l)e  had  of  the  spot  where  this 
valuable  earth  was  found.  Hitherto  no  advantage  has  re- 
sulted from  the  discovery,  though  no  doubt  exists  of  its 
reality  and  importance. 

On  Dr.  Garden's  return  to  Europe  his  consumptive 
diathesis,  which  had  been  long  suspended,  began  to  show 
itself.  He  endeavored  to  parry  its  attacks  by  travelling. 
This  answered  a  valuable  purpose,  but  failed  in  its  pri- 
mary object.  He  found  that  wherever  he  went,  his  lite- 
rary fame  had  preceded  him  and  induced  many  to  court 
his  acquaintance.  In  France  he  was  treated  by  men  of 
science  with  the  most  pointed  attention  and  hailed  as  a 
brother.     He  met  with  a  similar  reception  in  Switzerland, 


270  SYLVESTER    GARDINER. 

and  was  particularly  caressed  by  Lavater,  the  author  of 
the  elaborate  work  on  Physiognomy.  In  the  course  of  his 
travels  he  tried  the  effects  of  breathing  his  native  air  and 
of  revisiting  the  haunts  of  his  youth,  hoping  that  the  pleas- 
ing recollections  of  juvenile  scenes  would  have  a  salutary 
influence  in  arresting  the  progress  of  his  disease.  He  was 
received  as  a  man  who  had  done  honor  to  his  native  land 
and  extended  its  reputation  as  the  soil  of  genius.  He 
found  that  his  venerable  father,  after  reaching  his  90th 
year,  had  lately  died.  Nought  remained  but  to  do  honor 
to  his  memory.  The  son  drew  up  a  monumental  inscrip- 
tion in  elegant  classical  Latin,  commemorative  of  the  vir- 
tues of  the  father.  This  is  shown  to  strangers  as  honora- 
ble to  both,  and  is  respectfully  mentioned  in  the  statistical 
account  of  the  parish,  edited  by  Sir  John  Sinclair. 

Dr.  G.  was  highly  pleased  with  the  attentions  he  every- 
where received  in  his  travels,  but  all  this  time  his  disorder 
was  advancing.  Having  made  every  exertion  to  preserve 
his  life  he  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  his  situation,  re- 
solved to  travel  no  more  and  to  meet  his  approaching  fate 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family.  He  accordingly  settled  at 
London,  and  soon  after  expired  in  that  city  in  the  year 
1792.  The  high  reputation  for  literature  which  he  attain- 
ed, reflected  honor  both  on  his  native  and  adopted  coun- 
try. In  the  first  a  good  foundation  was  laid,  especially  in 
classical  learning  ;  in  the  latter  the  superstructure  was 
raised.  He  came  young  to  Carolina,  and  was  then  barely 
initiated  in  the  favorite  studies  in  which  he  particularly 
excelled.  He  acquired  most  of  his  botanical  knowledge  in 
the  woods  of  Carolina.  He  was  fond  of  good  company, 
and  particularly  of  refined  female  society,  and  to  it  he  de- 
voted a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  ;  but  enough  was 
reserved  for  mental  improvement.  He  introduced  into 
medical  use  the  spigelia  marilandica  or  Carolina  pinkroot, 
a  valuable  vermifuge,  and  published  in  1764  an  account  of 
its  medical  properties  and  gave  a  botanical  description  of 
the  plant. — JVeic-York  Medical  Repository,  Vol.  5th  ;  also, 
Linn(Ban  Correspondence  by  Sir  J.  E.  Smith. 

GARDINER,  DR.  SYLVESTER,  was  born  in  the  year 
1717,  in  Narragansett,  in  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  on 
an  extensive  estate  purchased  by  his  grandfather,  who 
with  a  younger  brother  emigrated  from  England  at  an 
early  period  of  the  settlement  of  the  country.  In  early 
youth  it  was  observed  that  the  bent  of  his  genius  led  him 


SYLVESTER    GARDINER.  271 

to  traverse  the  fields  and  meadows  for  the  purpose  of  bo- 
tanical discoveries,  and  the  investigation  of  the  medicinal 
properties  of  plants  ;  and  manifesting  a  predilection  for 
the  medical  profession,  he  was  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years 
put  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Gibbin,  an  English  physician 
residing  in  Boston. 

In  process  of  time,  however,  his  ardent  thirst  for 
knowledge  painted  to  his  imagination  the  more  ample 
advantages  to  be  enjoyed  in  Europe  for  tlie  accom- 
plishment of  his  education.  Being  indulged  in  his  incli- 
nation by  his  parents,  he  repaired  to  France  and  devoted 
himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the  study  of  medicine 
and  surgery  in  the  various  hospitals  at  Paris.  After 
a  residence  of  four  years  in  that  city  he  visited  England, 
where  he  continued  two  years  engaged  in  the  same  pursuit, 
when  he  returned  to  his  native  country  and  united  himself 
in  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Gibbin,  to  whom 
he  was  previously  engaged.  Still,  however,  his  insatiate 
mind  prompted  him  to  a  further  prosecution  of  know- 
ledge in  the  various  branches  of  science,  especially  that  of 
optics.  With  this  view  he  embarked  a  second  time  for 
France,  where  he  devoted  one  or  two  years  more  to  his 
favorite  studies. 

Thus  accomplished  and  abundantly  qualified  for  the 
duties  of  his  profession.  Dr.  Gardiner  commenced  his 
career  of  practice  in  the  town  of  Boston,  where  uncom- 
mon success,  wealth  and  fame  awaited  him  in  anticipation. 
For  his  skill  in  the  several  branches  of  medicine,  operative 
surgery  and  obstetrics,  he  became  eminently  distinguish- 
ed, and  on  occasions  of  capital  operations  it  was  not  un- 
common for  him  to  receive  calls  at  the  distance  of  fifty 
or  sixty  miles.  Being  amply  qualified  as  a  medical  in- 
structer,  he  took  students  under  his  direction  for  educa- 
tion, and  read  to  them  private  lectures,  which  he  illus- 
trated by  anatomical  preparations  which  he  brought  from 
Paris.  In  a  few  years  his  enterprising  spirit  led  him  to 
the  establishment  of  an  extensive  drug  store.  He  import- 
ed in  this  line  on  a  very  large  scale,  and  soon  became  the 
most  noted  druggist  in  New  England,  and  from  his  know- 
ledge in  the  art  of  pharmacy^  and  his  well  known  honor 
and  integrity,  he  commanded  the  principal  share  of 
custom. 

From  his  various  sourcjes  wealth  had  at  length  accunm- 
lated  so  abundantly  in  his  coffers  that  it  became  a  matter 


212  SYLVESTER    GARDINER. 

of  some  concern  in  what  manner  to  appropriate  his  funds. 
With  this  view  he  became  a  member  of  the  Plymouth 
land  company,  and  purchased  extensive  tracts  in  the  un- 
cultivated regions  of  Maine.  Here  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Kennebec  river  he  erected  churches  for  public  worship  in 
the  Episcopal  form,  and  at  his  own  expense  supported  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Baily  to  preach  the  gospel  for  many  years.  He 
erected  a  town  in  that  territory  which  still  bears  the  name 
of  Gardiner,  and  imported  people  from  Germany  to  culti- 
vate the  soil,  furnishing  them  annually  with  the  needed 
supplies  of  cattle,  implements  of  husbandry,  food  and 
clothing  ;  here  houses  and  mills  were  built,  and  a  church 
endowed  at  his  own  expense.  From  his  high  standing  and 
extensive  acquaintance,  Dr.  Gardiner's  select  associates 
were  those  most  distinguished  in  his  day  for  rank  and  fami- 
ly, and  his  house  in  Boston  was  the  resort  of  the  literary 
and  scientific  from  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Among  his 
select  guests  were  Sir  William  Pepperil,  Governor  Hutch- 
inson, Earl  Percy,  Admiral  Graves,  Major  Pitcairn,  Gen- 
eral Gage,  Major  Small,  &c.  &c. 

But  he  was  not  destined  to  enjoy  uninterrupted  pros- 
perity, a  revolution  in  human  affairs  awaited  him,  and  he 
was  called  to  witness  the  annihilation  of  his  earthly  en- 
joyments ;  his  fortune,  his  peace  and  happiness  appeared 
to  be  dissipated  as  the  morning  dew.  In  the  midst  of  his 
prosperous  career  he  became,  in  common  with  many  oth- 
ers, involved  in  the  political  struggle  between  the  mother 
country  and  her  oppressed  colonies  in  1775.  Having  im- 
bibed from  his  ancestors  a  great  veneration  for  a  monarch- 
ical government,  he  united  with  his  loyal  associates,  and 
justified  the  hostile  proceedings  of  the  British  parliament 
against  the  liberties  of  his  native  country.  He  was  of 
course  stigmatized  as  a  tory,  and  became  at  once  odious  to 
the  majority  of  his  countrymen  who  were  engaged  in  the 
great  cause  of  liberty  and  freedom.  He  continued  in  Bos- 
ton during  the  siege  with  part  of  his  family,  and  was  sub- 
jected to  great  privations  and  sufferings.  When  the  Brit- 
ish army  evacuated  the  town,  he  was  compelled  to  embark 
in  a  small  crowded  cabin,  badly  provided  with  provi- 
sions, and  in  this  forlorn  condition  he  bade  adieu  to  his 
native  country  to  seek  a  temporary  shelter  in  Quebec  : 
from  thence  he  repaired  with  a  heavy  heart  to  England, 
where  for  ten  or  twelve  years  he  experienced  all  the  calam- 
ities  of  exile,  having  it  in  his  power  to  take  with  him 


THOMAS    GREEN.  273 

four  hundred  pounds  only  of  his  princely  fortune.  The 
legislature  of  Massachusetts  having  enacted  that  all  pro- 
perty belonging  to  tory  refugees  should  be  confiscated  for 
the  use  of  the  public,  Dr.  Gardiner's  whole  estate  was  ad- 
vertised and  sold  at  auction.  The  estate  consisted  of  one 
undivided  twelfth  in  the  Plymouth  patent  lands  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  county  of  Lincoln,  amounting  to  98,700 
acres,  with  houses,  mills  and  wharves.  His  stock  of  drugs 
was  said  to  fill  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  wagons.  But 
in  consequence  of  some  informality  in  the  legal  process  by 
the  attorney  general,  the  heirs  of  Dr.  Gardiner  were  re- 
invested with  the  land  in  the  District  of  Maine,  on  favor- 
able terms. 

Not  long  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  independence 
Dr.  G.  returned  to  Newport  in  Rhode  Island,  where  he 
was  attacked  with  a  malignant  fever,  which  after  the  se- 
verest sufferings  terminated  his  eventful  life,  August  8th, 
1786,  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age.  In  the  life  of  Dr.  G. 
piety  and  family  devotion,  charity  and  benevolence,  and 
all  the  moral  virtues  were  united  and  conspicuous.  He 
compiled  a  formula  of  prayers,  and  distributed  many 
hundred  copies  among  the  poor  and  destitute. 

GREEN,  THOMAS.  The  family  of  Green  has  made 
itself  remarkable  in  the  medical  profession  by  its  humble 
and  singular  origin.  The  subject  of  this  notice,  the  me- 
dical ancestor  of  the  family,  was  born  in  Maiden,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Leicester,  county  of  Worcester. 
He  received  his  first  medical  impressions  and  impulse  from 
a  book  given  him  by  a  surgeon  of  a  British  ship,  who  re- 
sided a  few  months  at  his  father's,  and  took  an  interest  in 
his  vigorous  and  opening  intellect.  His  outfit  for  the  wild- 
erness consisted  of  his  gun,  his  axe,  his  book,  his  sack, 
and  his  cow.  His  first  habitation  was  built  by  nature,  its 
roof  composed  of  a  shelving  rock.  Here  he  passed  the 
night  in  sound  repose  after  the  labor  of  the  day  in  felling 
and  clearing  the  forest. 

Soon  after  he  began  his  settlement,  he  was  attacked  by 
a  fever.  Foreseeing  the  difficulties  which  must  attend  his 
situation  without  a  friendly  hand  to  administer  even  the 
scanty  necessaries  of  life,  he  had  the  precaution  to  tie  a 
young  calf  to  his  cabin  formed  under  the  rock.  By  this 
stratagem  he  was  enabled  to  obtain  sustenance  from  the 
cow,  as  often  as  she  returned  to  give  nourishment  to  her 
young.  In  this  manner  he  derived  his  support  for  some 
35 


274  JOHN    GREEN. 

weeks.  By  the  aid  of  his  book  and  the  knowledge  of 
simples,  a  proficiency  in  which  he  early  acquired  by  an 
intercourse  with  the  Indians,  he  was  soon  enabled  to  pre- 
scribe successfully  for  the  simple  maladies  of  his  fellow 
settlers.  By  practice,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  as 
well  as  from  choice,  he  acquired  theory  and  skill,  and 
soon  rose  to  great  reputation.  Thus,  from  fortuitous  cir- 
cumstances and  a  humble  beginning,  the  name  of  Green 
has  attained  its  present  eminence  in  the  medical  profession. 

GREEN,  DR.  JOHN,  Senior,  son  of  the  abovemen- 
tioned,  was  born  at  Leicester,  in  the  year  1736.  By  the 
aid  of  his  father  he  early  became  a  physician,  and  settled 
at  Worcester.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Brigadier  Rug- 
gles,  of  Hardwick,  and  became  the  father  of  a  large  fa- 
mily. Not  satisfied,  as  too  many  are,  with  the  limited 
means  of  knowledge  which  necessarily  fell  to  his  lot,  he 
afi'orded  his  children  the  best  education  in  his  power.  He 
was  extensively  employed  ;  and  distinguished  himself  for 
his  tenderness  and  fidelity.  He  inherited  a  taste  and  skill 
in  botany,  with  his  profession,  from  his  father.  In  his 
garden  were  to  be  found  the  useful  plant,  the  healing  herb 
and  the  grateful  fruit  ;  which  either  his  humanity  bestow- 
ed on  the  sick,  or  his  hospitality  on  his  friends.  He  died 
November  29th,  1799,  aged  63  years. 

GREEN,  DR.  JOHN,  JR.,  son  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  A.  D.  1763.  Descended  from  ancestors  who  made 
the  art  of  healing  their  study,  Dr.  Green  was  easily  initi- 
ated in  the  school  of  physic  ;  and  from  his  childhood  the 
natural  bias  of  his  mind  led  him  to  that  profession  which 
through  life  was  the  sole  object  of  his  ardent  pursuit.  To 
be  distinguished  as  a  physician,  was  not  his  chief  incen- 
tive. To  assuage  the  sufferings  of  humanity  by  his  skill, 
was  a  higher  motive  of  his  benevolent  mind.  Every  duty 
was  performed  with  delicacy  and  tenderness.  With  these 
propensities,  aided  by  a  strong,  inquisitive  and  discriminat- 
ing mind,  he  attained  to  a  preeminent  rank  among  the  phy- 
sicians and  surgeons  of  our  country.  To  this  sentiment 
of  his  worth,  correctly  derived  from  witnessing  his  prac- 
tice on  others,  a  more  feeling  "tribute  is  added  by  those 
who  have  experienced  his  skill  ;  for  so  mild  was  his  de- 
portment, so  soothing  were  his  manners,  and  so  indefati- 
gable was  his  attention,  that  he  gained  the  unbounded  con- 
fidence of  his  patients,  and  the  cure  was  in  a  good  meas- 
ure performed  before  medicine  was  administered.      To 


SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIPFITTS.  275 

those  who  were  acquainted  with  Dr.  Green  the  idea 
that  "  some  men  are  born  physicians"  was  not  absurd  ; 
for  he  not  only  possessed  an  innate  mental  fitness  for  the 
profession,  but  was  constitutionally  formed  to  bear  its 
fatigues  and  privations.  Few  men  of  his  age  have  had 
such  extensive  practice,  or  endured  a  greater  variety  of 
fatigue,  or  have  been  so  often  deprived  of  stated  rest 
and  refreshment.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  all  the 
variety  of  duty  incident  to  his  calling,  he  was  never  known 
to  yield  to  the  well  intended  proifer  of  that  kind  of  mo- 
mentary refreshment,  so  ready  at  command  and  so  often 
successfully  pressed  upon  the  weary,  exhausted  and  incau- 
tious physician. 

The  firmness  and  equanimity  of  his  mind,  which  were 
conspicuous  in  all  the  exigences  of  life,  forsook  him  not 
in  death.  With  christian  resignation  he  "  set  his  house 
in  order,"  knowing  he  "  must  die  and  not  live."  In  per- 
fect possession  of  his  intellectual  faculties,  with  a  mind 
calm  and  collected,  he  spent  the  last  moments  of  life,  per- 
forming its  last  duties  with  the  sublime  feelings  of  a  phi- 
losopher and  christian.  And  when  by  an  examination  of 
his  pulse  he  found  the  cold  hand  of  death  pressing  hard 
upon  him,  he  bade  a  calm  adieu  to  his  attending  physi- 
cians, who  he  wished  should  be  the  sole  witnesses  of 
nature's  last  conflict.  Placing  himself  in  the  most  favora- 
ble posture  for  an  easy  exit,  he  expressed  a  hope  that  his 
fortitude  would  save  his  afliicted  family  and  friends  from 
the  distress  of  hearing  a  dying  groan.  His  hope  was  ac- 
complished !  He  died  August  11th,  1808,  aged  forty-five 
years.  At  his  request  his  body  was  examined.  The  cause 
of  death  was  found  in  the  enlargement  and  consequent 
flaccidity  of  the  aorta. — Hon.  0.  Fisk. 

GRIFFITTS,  SAMUEL  POWEL,  M.D.  born  in 
Philadelphia,  on  the  21st  day  of  July,  1759,  was  the  third 
and  last  child  of  William  Griffitts  and  Abigail  Powel. 
His  parents  were  members  of  the  religious  society  of 
Friends  ;  the  tenets  of  which  sect  he  adopted,  and  so 
steadfastly  adhered  to,  as  to  afford  a  happy  illustration  of 
their  influence  upon  the  human  character. 

The  classical  education  by  which  he  was  so  well  quali- 
fied for  the  study  of  a  liberal  profession,  he  received  for 
the  most  part  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia  ;  an  institu- 
tion which,  from  the  changes  eflfected  by  the  revolution, 
has  been  subsequently    supplanted  by  the  University.    He 


276  SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS. 

possessed  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  and  such  a  mastery  of  the  French  as  to  enable 
him  to  speak  it  with  the  greatest  fluency  and  correctness. 

From  the  benevolence  which  predominated  in  his  cha- 
racter, it  is  highly  probable  that,  in  the  choice  of  a  profes- 
sion, he  fixed  on  the  medical  as  applying  most  immediately 
to  the  relief  of  human  suffering.  He  studied  under  the 
late  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn,  professor  of  materia  medica  and 
botany  in  the  College  of  Medicine,  then  the  only  school 
in  America  where  the  science  was  taught  by  public  lec- 
tures. The  intimate  friendship  which  commenced  at  this 
time  and  ever  afterwards  subsisted  between  him  and  his 
preceptor,  may  be  adduced  as  an  infallible  evidence  not 
only  of  his  early  merits,  but  of  his  subsequent  good  con- 
duct.* 

It  was  during  the  period  of  his  professional  studies  that 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Germantown  was  fought.  Re- 
strained by  the  strictest  precepts  of  his  religion  from  the 
performance  of  military  duties,  humanity  led  him  to  com- 
miserate the  sufferings  of  the  wounded,  and  to  apply  his 
efforts  towards  their  relief. 

Aiming  at  the  highest  honors  of  the  profession,  he  cross- 
ed the  Atlantic  in  1781,  to  visit  the  schools  of  Europe. 
He  attended  upon  the  lectures  and  the  practice  of  the  hos- 
pitals in  Paris,  and  afterwards  attended  a  course  of  lectures 
at  the  much  celebrated  school  of  Montpelier,  and  having 
taken  a  tour  through  the  south  of  France,  he  repaired  to 
London  in  June  1783.  Here  he  availed  himself  of  all 
the  opportunities  for  collecting  information  which  were 
offered,  until  the  following  autumn,  when  he  repaired  to 
Edinburgh,  which  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  chief  seat  of 
medical  science  in  Great  Britain.  The  eminent  advanta- 
ges held  out  by  this  school  may  be  estimated  from  the 
names  of  its  professors,  the  several  chairs  being  then  filled 
by  CuUen,  Monro,  Gregory,  Black,  and  Hamilton.  In 
the  spring  of  1784  he  returned  to  London,  soon  after 
which  he  embarked  at  Portsmouth  for  his  native  country, 
and  arrived  in  Philadelphia  early  in  the  fall,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  about  three  years. 

With  the  superior  qualifications  which  he  now  possess- 
ed, he  commenced  practice  in  his  native  city  ;  where  he 


*  For  an  intcrestinjr  and  faithful  biographical  notice  of  the  late  Dr.  Kuhn,  writtcii 
by  Dr.  Griffitts,  see  the  Eclectic  Repertory,  vol.  viii. 


SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS.  277 

soon  displayed  strong  proofs  of  the  maturity  of  his  talents  ; 
and  to  these  added  a  striking  evidence  of  the  natural  bene- 
volence of  his  disposition,  by  his  successful  exertions  in 
establishing  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary. 

The  chief  design  of  this  charity  vras  to  afford  medical 
relief  to  such  of  the  poor,  whose  former  circumstances 
and  habits  of  independence,  would  not  permit  them  to 
expose  themselves  as  patients  in  a  public  hospital,  when 
afflicted  by  diseases.  It  was  the  first  institution  of  its  kind 
established  in  America,  and  was  founded  early  in  the  year 
1786,  without  any  other  patronage  or  support  than  the 
voluntary  contributions  of  many  excellent  citizens,  and  the 
gratuitous  attendance  of  humane  physicians. 

It  deserves  record  as  a  remarkable  fact,  that,  during  its 
primitive  obscurity  in  Strawberry  street,  and  its  sub- 
sequent more  eligible  location  in  Fifth  street,  he  was,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  a  daily  visiter  of  the  Dispensary 
for  more  than  forty  years  ;  a  circumstance  in  itself  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  the  prosperity  of  the  institution,  and 
the  uncommon  regularity  with  which  its  affairs  have  been 
managed.  In  addition  to  his  duties  as  manager,  he  dis- 
charged the  laborious  office  of  physician  to  that  institution 
for  seven  years.  Satisfied  when  he  saw  the  establishment 
ably  fulfilling  the  objects  for  which  it  was  instituted,  he 
seemed  anxious  to  shun  notoriety  and  every  thing  like 
public  commendation.  His  great  ambition  was  to  effect  the 
most  good  with  the  least  show.  The  beautiful  sentiment 
applied  by  Sallust  to  Cato — esse,  quam  videri,  bonus  malebat 
— ^liappily  illustrates  the  christian  spirit  by  which  he  was 
always  actuated. 

In  the  year  1816,  thirty  years  after  the  institution  of  the 
first  Dispensary  in  Philadelphia,  the  extended  limits  and 
multiplied  population  of  the  city,  and  consequent  increas- 
ed number  of  the  poor,  rendered  it  necessary  to  establish 
two  others,  one  for  Southwark  and  one  for  the  Northern 
Liberties.  In  the  foundation  and  support  of  these  addi- 
tional charities,  he  took  an  interest  and  an  active  part,  not 
less  perhaps  than  he  displayed  in  the  origin  of  the  first  ;  so 
that  he  may  be  fairly  considered  as  the  father  of  the  Dis- 
pensaries of  his  native  city. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  he  was  so  actively  engaged  in 
establishing  the  Dispensary,  he  joined  the  Humane  Soci- 
ety, instituted  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  timely  assist- 
ance in  cases    of  suspended  animation,    and   encouraging 


278  SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS. 

efforts  to  restore  life.  This  institution  always  received  a 
large  portion  of  his  attention.  He  was  likewise  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  of  which  Dr. 
Franklin  was  then  president.  In  the  following  year  the 
College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia  was  founded,  he 
being  one  of  its  original  members. 

The  particular  interest  which  he  entertained  for  the 
College  of  Physicians,  was  evinced  by  a  constant  attend- 
ance of  its  meetings,  from  its  first  organization  until  his 
death  ;  during  all  which  time  he  rendered  it  the  most  effi- 
cient services,  both  as  a  zealous  member  and  faithful  officer. 
In  1817  he  was  chosen  its  Vice  President  ;  an  honor 
which  he  retained  until  his  death. 

Strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  great  advan- 
tages would  result  to  the  medical  profession  in  this  coun- 
try from  the  adoption  of  a  National  Pharmacopoeia,  he 
entered  warmly  into  the  project  when  it  was  brought  for- 
ward. For  this  object  a  convention  of  the  middle  states 
met  on  the  1st  of  June,  1819,  in  the  chamber  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia  ;  and  closed  its  session 
on  the  4th  instant,  after  having  made  what  was  deemed  a 
proper  selection  of  the  several  articles  and  preparations, 
and  appointed  delegates  to  represent  the  middle  district  of 
the  United  States  in  a  general  convention,  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Pharmacopoeia,  to  be  held  at  Washington,  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1820.  The  College  of  Physicians  having 
appointed  him  a  member  of  a  committee  to  prepare  an 
Essay  of  a  Pharmacopoeia,  to  be  laid  before  the  general 
convention,  this  arduous  task  was  chiefly  performed  by 
him. 

In  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  he  never  permitted  him- 
self to  be  borne  away  by  those  ingenious  speculations  and 
sophistical  arguments,  which  in  scientific  works  and  asso- 
ciations are  so  often  advanced  and  plausibly  supported. 
Endowed  with  a  clear  perception  and  sound  judgment,  his 
mind  was  always  directed  to  subjects  of  practical  utility. 
Upon  these,  and  especially  upon  such  as  were  connected 
with  his  profession,  he  was  always  capable  of  contributing 
important  information.  He  was  a  diligent  reader,  and 
never  allowed  himself  to  be  left  in  the  rear  of  the  march 
of  improvement.  Unlike  those  whose  learned  pursuits 
are  for  the  most  part  limited  by  mere  selfish  gratification, 
or  the  pride  of  possession,  his  main  object  was  to  attain 
that  wliich  miglit  be  applied  to  some  useful  or  humane 
intention. 


SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIPFITTS.  279 

In  the  great  pestilence  which  in  1793  desolated  Phila- 
delphia, he  remained  in  the  city,  actively  engaged  in  ex- 
tending professional  aid  to  the  sick,  except  when  laboring 
himself  under  the  disease.  Nor  was  it  alone  in  this  season 
of  calamity  that  he  remained  firmly  at  his  post,  and  per- 
formed the  most  laborious  and  hazardous  services.  In  the 
memorable  epidemics  of  1797,  '98,  '99,  1802,  and  1805, 
he  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  desolation,  and  regardless  of 
personal  danger,  was  solely  intent  upon  extending  relief  to 
his  suffering  fellow-citizens,  who,  wasted  by  pestilence  in 
darkness  and  at  noonday,  were  falling  on  every  side.  In 
1798  he  united  his  own  exertions  with  those  of  the  late  Dr. 
Rush,  in  preparing  and  publishing  accurate  directions  for 
the  prevention  and  treatment  of  the  prevailing  fever  ; 
which,  under  the  sanction  of  their  names,  they  affection- 
ately recommended  to  those  who  were  unable  to  procure 
the  regular  advice  and  attendance  of  physicians.  Surely 
nothing  can  more  strongly  recommend  a  physician  to 
grateful  remembrance  than  such  meritorious  acts  and  mag- 
nanimous devotion  ;  and  when  we  take  into  consideration 
the  nature  of  the  calamity,  and  all  its  distressing  accom- 
paniments, we  can  readily  appreciate  that  affectionate 
ardor  of  the  Athenians,  which,  for  services  rendered  by 
Hippocrates  in  one  of  their  plagues,  led  them  to  bestow 
upon  him  a  golden  crown,  and  to  honor  his  memory  with 
divine  festivals. 

The  distress  which  in  the  year  1793  fell  upon  the  for- 
mer proprietors  of  St.  Domingo,  in  consequence  of  the 
successful  insurrection  in  that  island,  furnished  an  addi- 
tional opportunity  for  the  display  of  his  benevolence. 
Most  of  the  French  who  were  driven  by  this  event  to  seek 
refuge  on  our  shores,  had  on  their  arrival  little  else  to 
boast  of  than  their  lives.  Their  strong  claims  for  assist- 
ance were  liberally  answered  in  Philadelphia,  where  in  a 
short  time  twelve  thousand  dollars  were  collected  for 
their  relief.  On  this  occasion  Dr.  Griffitts  made  himself 
very  active,  both  in  procuring  the  means  and  appropriat- 
ing them  to  the  necessities  of  the  sufferers.  He  was  parti^ 
cularly  qualified  for  this  last  office,  by  the  facility  he  pos- 
sessed of  making  himself  intimately  acquainted  with  their 
situation  and  circumstances.  Besides  the  money  collected 
by  himself,  he  was  entrusted  with  the  distribution  of  large 
sums  raised  by  public  or  individual  bounty.  The  part 
which  he  bore  in  alleviating  the  sufferings  of  the  unfortu- 


280  SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS. 

nate  French  emigrants,  both  in  1793  and  several  subse- 
quent years,  left  an  impression  which  I  have  often  heard 
them  express  with  tokens  of  the  most  heartfelt  gratitude. 
A  circumstance  which  we  may  here  introduce,  is  calculat- 
ed to  throw  a  very  strong  light  upon  his  character.  It 
might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  his  constant  intercourse 
for  several  years  with  the  French  refugees,  the  forlorn 
condition  to  which  they  were  reduced,  and  the  distressing 
and  sanguinary  details  they  had  to  relate,  would  be  direct- 
ly calculated  to  inspire  a  hatred  of  the  successful  conspira- 
tors, which  no  philanthropy  could  overcome.  Such, 
however,  was  not  the  result.  Deeply  as  he  sympathized 
with  the  vanquished,  he  continued  to  the  day  of  his  death 
to  evince  a  strong  solicitude  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
present  masters  of  Hayti  ;  forwarding  to  them  gratuitous- 
ly, by  every  favorable  opportunity,  supplies  of  fresh  vac- 
cine virus,  withojit  which  that  island  would  be  almost 
deprived,  by  the  nature  of  its  climate,  from  sharing  in  the 
advantages  of  Jenner's  discovery. 

In  the  year  1790  he  joined  the  "  Pennsylvania  Society 
for  promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  relief  of  free 
negroes  unlawfully  held  in  bondage,  and  improving  the 
condition  of  the  African  race"  ;  a  charter  for  which  had 
been  obtained  the  year  previous.  The  objects  embraced 
by  this  association,  he  always  had  very  much  at  heart. 
The  community  of  feeling  which  subsisted  on  these  sub- 
jects between  him  and  Gregoire,  bishop  of  Blois,  the 
famous  champion  for  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery  in 
France,  led  to  a  long  continued  and  intimate  correspond- 
ence between  them. 

Dr.  Griffitts  was  always  a  strenuous  advocate  for  the 
salutary  modifications,  which  for  many  years  have  been 
gradually  finding  their  way  into  the  penal  code  of  his 
native  state,  and  felt  the  most  lively  interest  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  humane  system  of  punishment,  which  is  now 
about  to  be  applied  on  a  scale  well  calculated  to  test  its 
efficacy. 

In  the  year  1792  he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  ;  and  during  the 
four  years  for  which  he  filled  this  chair,  his  lectures 
evinced  great  industry  in  the  acquisition  of  useful  mate- 
rials, method  and  perspicuity  in  their  arrangement,  and 
zeal  for  the  advancement  of  his  class  in  solid  information. 
But  the  situation  of  a  public  lecturer  was  not  altogether 


SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS.  281 

congenial  to  his  feelings  ;  which  were  most  gratified  by  an 
active  discharge  of  the  less  conspicuous  duties  of  private 
life.  Perhaps,  too,  the  disinclination  which  he  always 
manifested  to  hold  any  place  of  emolument,  may  have 
exercised  some  influence  in  producing  his  resignation  of  a 
chair,  which  was  every  year  becoming  more  profitable^ 
and  even  at  that  period  conferred  one  of  the  highest  hon- 
ors within  the  reach  of  his  profession. 

Dr.  Griffitts  was  one  of  the  first  to  appreciate  the  im- 
portance of  vaccination,  and  to  introduce  it  into  this  city  ; 
and  in  no  way  did  he  display  more  zeal  and  industry  than 
in  advocating  and  spreading,  by  every  means  in  his 
power,  the  blessings  flowing  from  this  inestimable  discov- 
ery. Besides  what  he  accomplished  in  his  individual  ca- 
pacity, he  was  an  original  member  and  active  promoter  of 
the  Vaccine  Society,  instituted  in  the  year  1809,  by  a. 
number  of  benevolent  citizens,  who  formed  themselves 
into  committees,  and  sought  out  the  objects  of  their  Asso- 
ciation among  the  poor  and  obscure  inhabitants  of  the 
city,  Southwark  and  the  Northern  Liberties,  persuading 
them  to  submit  to  vaccination,  which  was  performed  at 
their  own  dwellings,  by  physicians  appointed  by  the 
Society. 

Of  the  various  afflictions  entailed  upon  mankind,  that  of 
mental  derangement  makes  the  strongest  appeal  to  human- 
ity for  sympathy  and  assistance.  We  might  therefore  rea- 
sonably expect  to  find  Dr.  Grifiitts  actively  engaged  in 
some  plan  for  the  relief  of  individuals  and  families  suffer- 
ing from  the  eflfects  of  this  dispensation.  Accordingly, 
when,  in  the  year  1811,  proposals  were  made  to  the  Phila- 
delphia yearly  meeting  of  the  religious  society  of  Friends, 
to  make  provision  for  such  of  their  members  as  were  de- 
prived of  their  reason,  he  eagerly  embarked  in  a  subject 
which  had  already  occupied  his  mind  for  many  years. 
The  information  he  had  previously  acquired,  the  zeal  by 
which  he  was  actuated,  and  the  persevering  disposition  for 
which  he  was  so  remarkable,  qualified  him  peculiarly  for 
rendering  the  most  essential  aid  towards  an  establishment 
of  the  nature  proposed.  The  highest  expectations  of  him 
were  fully  realized.  It  was  agreed  upon  by  the  society, 
that  an  establishment  should  be  formed,  and  placed  under 
the  direction  of  such  members  of  the  Pliiladelphia  yearly 
meeting  as  might  become  contributors.  The  original  plan 
was  draAvn  up  by  him,  and  he  took  a  most  active  part  in 
36 


282  SAMUEL    POWEL    GRIFFITTS. 

all  the  arduous  duties  connected  with  the  erection  of  the 
extensive  buildings,  and  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the 
reception  of  inmates.  This  admirable  institution,  such  as 
it  was  formed  by  the  joint  labors  of  himself  and  his  val- 
uable colleagues,  amply  attests  the  judgment  and  wisdom 
which  guided  its  projectors  and  managers.* 

In  stature  Dr.  Griffitts  was  about  the  middle  size  ;  and 
although  his  constitution  was  by  no  means  robust,  it  was 
nevertheless  capable  of  supporting  considerable  fatigue. 
As  the  best  proof  of  this  we  may  mention,  that  although 
his  practice  was  very  extensive,  yet  he  always  visited  his 
patients  on  foot.  Such  indeed  was  his  predilection  for 
walking,  that  he  never  could  be  induced  either  by  the  en- 
treaties of  his  friends,  the  increased  extent  of  the  city,  or 
the  advance  of  age,  to  adopt  the  usual  method  of  riding. 

He  was  extremely  plain,  abstemious  and  regular  in  his 
mode  of  living  ;  which,  with  the  free  exercise  he  took  in 
attending  to  his  patients,  no  doubt  contributed  greatly  to 
the  preservation  of  his  health.  His  dress  was  such  as  be- 
came an  elder  of  the  religious  society  to  which  he  belong- 
ed ;  and  conformed  with  the  simplicity  and  dignity  of  his 
manners  and  character.  Free  from  even  a  shade  of  affec- 
tation or  ostentation,  his  deportment  was  distinguished  for 
its  ease  and  courtesy. 

The  situation  of  a  physician,  who,  in  the  performance 
of  his  duties,  is  liable  to  be  called  upon  at  all  hours  of  the 
day,  does  not  readily  admit  of  that  accurate  distribution 
of  time  which  is  allowed  by  many  other  avocations.  Up- 
on this  account,  the  extreme  regularity  acquired  and  main- 
tained by  Dr.  Griffitts,  in  all  his  habits  and  pursuits,  forms 
a  more  distinguished  trait  in  his  character.  He  was  an 
early  riser,  and  always  began  the  day  by  reading  a  portion 
of  the  New  Testament  in  Greek  or  Latin.  Impressed  with 
a  deep  sense  of  the  paramount  obligations  of  religion,  he 
was  seldom  known  to  be  absent  from  the  meetings  of  wor- 
ship or  business  of  his  society.  The  punctuality  with 
which  he  visited  the  Dispensary,  has  been  already  remark- 
ed, and  as  an  additional  proof  of  the  regularity  of  his 
habits,  and  a  striking  example  of  parental  solicitude,  we 
may  mention,  that  it  was  his  uniform  custom  to  visit  daily 
such  of  his   children  and  grand-children  as  resided  in  the 


*  A  detailed  and  highly  interesting  account  of  this   institution,  will  be  found  ia 
the  Philadslphia  Joiu-nal  oif  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  for  August,  182S. 


SAMUEL    POVVEL    GRIPFITTS.  283 

city.  Bat  it  was  in  his  professional  engagements  that  his 
punctuality  shone  forth  most  conspicuously.  Rarely  indeed 
did  it  occur,  that  in  keeping  the  time  set  for  consultation, 
or  other  purposes,  he  was  so  long  as  five  minutes  from  the 
hour  appointed.  This  strict  observance  of  such  engage- 
ments, he  regarded  as  one  of  the  cardinal  virtues  of  a 
medical  practitioner,  considering  all  violations  of  it  as  so 
many  deviations  from  truth,  productive  of  endless  incon- 
venience. The  example  of  his  preceptor,  whose  conduct 
in  this  respect,  during  a  practice  of  half  a  century,  has 
perhaps  never  been  surpassed,  was  well  calculated  to  con- 
firm him  in  the  same  habit. 

In  his  consultations  with  other  physicians,  his  conduct 
was  ever  open  and  ingenuous  ;  whilst  the  thorough  know- 
ledge he  possessed  of  the  rules  and  etiquette  prescribed  by 
medical  ethics,  was  strongly  demonstrated  by  his  scrupu- 
lous observance  of  them. 

The  practice  of  Dr.  Griffitts  was  distinguished  by  close- 
ness of  observation,  clearness  of  judgment,  and  when  the 
occasion  required,  prompt  decision  and  efficient  energy. 
To  the  well  established  principles  of  medicine,  he  adhered 
with  great  strictness  ;  but  was  nevertheless  always  ready 
to  adopt  useful  innovations,  when  these  were  in  accord- 
ance with  the  dictates  of  sound  reason,  and  attested  by  im- 
partial experiments.  His  attentions  to  his  patients  were 
sedulous,  evincing  a  strong  interest  in  their  welfare,  and 
inspiring  confidence  of  a  happy  result. 

As  a  writer.  Dr.  Griffitts  had  one  formidable  obstacle  to 
contend  with,  and  this  was  his  reluctance  to  appear  before 
the  public.  His  communications,  which  were  never  made 
except  when  drawn  forth  by  a  sense  of  duty,  possess  an 
easy,  plain  and  concise  style.  Fidelity  and  perspicuity 
in  narration  were  more  his  objects  than  grace  or  elegance 
of  composition.  He  was  one  of  the  editors  of  that  highly 
useful  medical  journal  the  Eclectic  Repertory  ;  a  publica- 
tion which  reflects  great  credit  upon  the  judgment  and 
talents  of  those  by  whom  it  was  conducted,  and  the  sus- 
pension of  which  is  a  loss  to  the  profession.  Among  the 
original  papers  it  contains,  are  some  valuable  contributions 
by  Dr.  Griffitts  ;  in  all  of  which  he  has  strictly  confined 
himself  to  a  relation  of  facts,  without  advancing  any  theo- 
retical remarks.  They  are  very  much  condensed,  ;ind 
strongly  impressed  with  that  candor  and  good  sense  for 
which  he  was  eminently  distinguished. 


284  SAMUEL    POWEL    GHIFriTTS. 

In  the  first  volume  he  has  evinced  the  particular  interest 
he  felt  in  the  success  of  vaccination,  by  giving  some  very 
useful  observations  on  the  best  means  of  preserving  and 
using  the  vaccine  crust.  In  the  third  volume  he  intro- 
duces the  subject  of  blistering  as  a  remedy  for  preventing 
and  arresting  mortification.  The  sixth  volume  contains  a 
paper  upon  the  subject  of  re-infection  in  the  yellow  or  ship 
fever  of  tropical  climates  ;  the  non-occurrence  of  whicli 
he  ably  maintains.  Among  other  evidences  which  he 
brings  in  support  of  his  position,  he  states,  that  during  the 
seven  years  of  its  appearance  in  Philadelphia^  he  did  not 
meet  with  one  instance  of  the  same  person's  having  the 
yellow  fever  a  second  time.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the 
contagious  nature  of  this  disease,  and  a  warm  advocate  for 
enforcing  restrictions  and  precautionary  measures,  calcu- 
lated to  prevent  its  introduction  from  abroad.  In  the 
ninth  volume  he  has  recorded  an  instructive  "  Case  of 
supposed  aneurism  of  the  right  carotid  artery  ;"  which  is 
intended  as  a  salutary  caution  to  his  medical  brethren.  It 
affords  a  fine  specimen  of  his  candor. 

In  the  year  1787  he  married  Mary  Fishbourne,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Fishbourne,  formerly  a  respectable  mer- 
chant of  Philadelphia.  From  this  marriage  six  children 
with  their  mother  yet  survive.     (1827.) 

The  private  worth  and  domestic  virtues  of  Dr.  Grifiitts 
will  forever  endear  his  memory  to  his  family,  and  to  all 
who  knew  him  intimately.  As  a  friend,  he  was  kind, 
sincere  and  obliging  ;  as  a  husband,  attentive  and  affect- 
ionate ;  as  a  father,  fond  and  indulgent.  His  piety  was 
founded  upon  unshaken  faith  in  the  doctrines  and  efficacy 
of  the  christian  dispensation,  as  inculcated  in  the  precepts, 
and  maintained  in  practice  by  the  religious  society  of 
Friends. 

Thus,  by  the  purity  of  his  life  and  the  possession  of 
religion,  was  he  happily  prepared  for  the  final  summons, 
Avhich  on  the  12th  of  May,  1826,  so  suddenly  called  him 
away.  For  several  days  previously  he  felt  rather  more 
debility  than  usual,  but  continued  to  visit  his  patients, 
although  he  was  unable  to  attend  them  all.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  his  death  he  complained  of  some  unpleasant 
feelings  about  his  chest,  which  he  thought  might  be  re- 
lieved by  bleeding.  He  arose  and  began  to  dress  himself. 
In  the  mean  time,  his  wife  became  alarmed  and  sent  for 
his  friend  Dr.  Parrish  ;  who,  although  he  attended  imme- 


TUCKER  HARRIS.  285 

diately,  found  on  his  arrival  the  lifeless  body  of  Dr.  Grif- 
fitts  resting  in  an  easy  posture  upon  the  bed.  Having  es- 
caped the  infirmities  of  age,  he  was  thus  removed  in  his 
67th  year,  and,  as  if  through  a  special  interposition  of 
divine  favor,  exempted  from  the  ordinary  penalties  of  sick- 
ness and  pain. —  G.  Emerson,  M.D. 

HARRIS,  TUCKER,  M.D.  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  the  year  1747.  While  a 
youth,  he  was  remarked  for  his  prudent  conduct  and  assi- 
duity ;  and  discovering  a  predilection  in  favor  of  medicine, 
his  parents  were  induced,  at  a  suitable  age,  to  place  him 
with  Dr.  Lionel  Chalmers,  a  physician  of  great  respecta- 
bility and  distinguished  abilities.  Under  such  a  preceptor 
he  made  a  flattering  progress  in  the  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge. The  correctness  and  acuteness  of  observation  in 
his  pupil,  were  early  appreciated  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  who 
was  himself  an  accurat^e  observer  of  nature.  The  Ameri- 
can medical  schools  being  in  their  infancy,  after  acquiring 
a  proficiency  in  pharmacy,  young  Harris  was  sent  in  1768 
to  Edinburgh  to  prosecute  his  studies.  Here  he  diligently 
attended  three  courses  of  lectures  of  the  most  illustrious 
professors  of  the  age,  among  whom  was  the  father  of  mod- 
ern medicine,  Dr.  Cullen,  as  well  as  Dr.  Gregory.  He 
there  wrote  and  defended  an  inaugural  thesis,  "  De  Chole- 
ra Spontanea,"  and  received  from  that  celebrated  Univer- 
sity the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 

On  his  return  to  his  native  country,  in  1771,  Dr.  Har- 
ris commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices  ;  his  talents  were  recommended  to  the 
people  by  his  friend  and  former  preceptor.  Dr.  Chalmers, 
who,  a  few  years  after,  departed  this  life,  leaving  Dr. 
Harris  a  successor  to  his  fame,  in  every  respect  worthy 
the  patronage  bestowed.  An  eventful  political  epoch,  the 
revolutionary  war,  had  now  arrived  ;  the  patriotic  ardor 
of  Dr.  Harris  induced  liim  to  engage  in  the  cause  of  liber- 
ty, and  during  the  great  conflict,  he  not  only  served  as 
Hospital  Surgeon  in  garrison,  but  occasionally  discharged 
his  duties  in  camp.  On  the  restoration  of  peace  he  resum- 
ed the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  city  of  Charleston, 
which  increased  rapidly,  and  soon  became  respectable  and 
extensive.  From  1783  to  '86  Dr.  Harris  was  connected 
in  business  with  the  venerable  Dr.  Oliphant  ;  but  for  ma- 
ny years  posterior  to  this,  and  during  the  greatest  part  of 
his  life,  his  professional  duties  were  conducted  by  himself. 


LEMUEL  HAYWARD. 

Dr.  Harris  was  one  among  the  first  of  the  officers  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  South  Carolina,  and  for  the  years  1796 
and  '97  Avas  chosen  president. 

As  a  physician  he  was  eminently  skilful,  and  greatly  es- 
teemed for  his  sensibility  and  affectionate  attention  to  his 
patients.  His  purity  of  manners,  circumspection,  inflexi- 
ble integrity  and  sound  judgment,  exalted  him  in  the  es- 
teem of  his  fellow  citizens,  by  whom  he  was  elected  to  fill 
important  and  responsible  municipal  offices.  His  attain- 
ments in  literature  were  respectable  ;  he  was  of  a  studious 
disposition,  and  continued  through  life  a  diligent  inquirer 
cifter  truth.  During  the  several  melancholy  seasons  of  the 
prevalence  of  epidemics  in  the  city,  he  was  faithful  and 
constant  in  the  discharge  of  his  practical  duties,  and  his 
pen  was  profitably  employed,  and  with  profoundness  of 
reasoning,  in  several  well  written  essays  which  have  ap- 
peared in  the  public  journals.  As  a  friend  Dr.  Harris  was 
ever  sincere,  kind  and  undeviating  ;  his  deportment  and 
conversation  were  unafiected,  pleasing  and  instructive  ; 
from  him  the  cause  of  religion  uniformly  received  the 
most  liberal  support  ;  he  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  every 
measure  tending  to  its  advancement  ;  his  charity  was  ever 
active  and  always  unostentatious  ;  his  sympathetic  feelings 
Were  at  all  times  alive  to  the  complaints  of  the  widow  and 
the  orphan. 

Having  arrived  to  advanced  age  he  suffered  a  lingering 
illness,  which  he  was  well  aware  would  eventuate  in  disso- 
lution ;  he  sustained  his  infirmities  with  becoming  forti- 
tude, and  with  calm  resignation  awaited  the  awful  crisis. 
So  perfectly  composed  and  prepared  was  this  excellent 
man,  that  on  the  day  of  his  decease,  with  his  fingers  upon 
his  faltering  pulse,  he  seemed  to  employ  his  last  moments 
in  contemplating  the  solemn  transition  from  time  to  eter- 
nity. The  approach  of  death  was  gradual,  and  he  expired 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1821,  in  the  74tli  year  of  his  age, 
without  a  struggle.  Always  averse  to  pomp  and  pa- 
geantry, pursuant  to  his  earnest  request  made  some  time 
previous  to  his  decease,  his  remains  were  attended  to  the 
grave  by  his  nearest  male  relatives  only,  and  privately  in- 
terred in  the  family  burial  place,  at  St.  Paul's  Church. — 
G.  Logan,  M.D. 

HAYWARD,  LEMUEL,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in 
Braintree,  Massachusetts,  and  received  his  degree  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1768.     In  about  a  year  after,  he  came  to  Boston, 


LEMUEL   HAYWARD.  287 

and  placed  liimself  as  a  medical  pupil  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  who  afterwards  fell  at  the  battle  on 
Bunker's  Hill.  He  had  for  his  fellow  students  three  gen- 
tlemen, all  distinguished  for  their  patriotism  and  public 
services,  Dr.  Samuel  Adams,  Dr.  Eustis  and  Dr.  Town- 
send. 

Having  completed  the  usual  term  of  study,  he  establish- 
ed himself,  by  the  advice   of  his  preceptor,  at   Jamaica 
Plain,  near  Boston,  and  soon  acquired  a  lucrative  and   re- 
spectable practice.  When  the  revolutionary  war  broke  out, 
he  was,  in  June,  1775,  appointed  a  surgeon  in  the  general 
hospital   in  the  continental  army,  and  served  in  that  post 
till  the  British  evacuated  Boston,  and  the  American  troops 
marched  to  the  middle  States.     In  1776  he  began  the  prac- 
tice of  inoculation  for  the  smallpox  in  connexion  with  the 
venerable  Dr.  Isaac  Rand,  of  Charlestown,  the  first  of  the 
name,  and  continued  it  for  several  years  successively,  in 
company  with  Dr.  Davies  of  Roxbury,    Dr.  Aspinwall  of 
Brookline,  and  Dr.  John  Warren  of  Boston.      In  1783  he 
removed  to   the  capital,  without  at  first  intending  to  en- 
gage in  medical  practice  ;  but  he  was  afterwards  induced 
to  resume  his  business,  and  from  this  time  his  reputation 
increased   rapidly,  and  his  professional  occupations  soon 
became  very  considerable,  and  continued  so  until  the  year 
1798.     The  appearance  of  the  yellow  fever  in  that  year, 
induced  him  to  purchase  a  retreat  for  his  family   in  the 
country;  and  his  property  being  now  ample,  and  his  health 
impaired  by  a  severe  asthmatic  complaint,  he   afterwards 
spent  several   weeks  in   the    country  during  the  summer 
season. 

Dr.  Hayward  was  admitted  to  the  Massachusetts  Medi- 
cal Society  in  the  year  1784  ;  and  was  chosen  correspond- 
ing member  of  the  London  Medical  Society  in  1791.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Bristol  Medical  Society  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  and  Humane 
Societies.  For  many  years  he  was  a  counsellor  in  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  also  for  a  long  time 
filled  the  responsible  and  delicate  otfice  of  chairman  of 
the  censors,  and  of  the  committee  of  Boylston  Prize  Quest- 
ions. In  the  early  part  of  his  life  his  professional  read- 
ing was  extensive  ;  but  in  his  latter  years  he  preferred 
reading  history,  theology  and  works  of  fancy.  Though 
he  read  and  thought  much,  and  often  committed  his  reflect- 
ions and  observations  to   writing,  he  was  wholly  unambi- 


968  EZEKIEL  flERSEy. 

tious  of  literary  and  professional  honors,  and  never  could 
be  brought  to  overcome  the  reluctance  he  felt  to  publishing. 
He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  be- 
came a  public  professor  of  it  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen.  In 
the  social  and  domestic  relations  of  life  he  appeared  to  the 
greatest  advantage  ;  for  he  was  cheerful,  kind,  hospitable, 
and  full  of  agreeable  and  instructive  conversation.  As  a 
physician,  he  was  excellent  for  his  powers  of  discriminat- 
ing diseases,  and  especially  for  his  skill  in  varying  the  re- 
medy according  to  the  stage  of  disease.  His  interest  in 
his  patients  was  very  strong,  but  his  sensibility  did  not 
brook  any  neglect  or  want  of  confidence. 

The  asthmatic  affection,  which  had  troubled  him  through 
a  considerable  part  of  his  life,  disappeared  some  years  be- 
fore his  last  illness  ;  instead  of  it,  he  exhibited  symptoms 
of  an  organic  disease  of  the  heart.  Probably  this  derange- 
ment disposed  him  to  the  complaint  of  which  he  died.  In 
the  early  part  of  March  he  was  seized  with  inflammation 
of  tlie  lungs,  which,  after  more  than  once  assuming  a  flat- 
tering aspect,  terminated  fatally  on  the  20th  of  March,  1821. 

HERSEY,  DR.  EZEKIEL,  was  a  native  of  Hingham, 
Massachusetts,  and  one  of  three  sons  of  James  Hersey,  all 
of  whom  were  respectable  practising  physicians.  He  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1728,  and  was  a  dis- 
tinguished scholar.  He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Dal- 
honde,  a  Frenchman  considerably  distinguished  as  a  phy- 
sician in  Boston,  and  not  less  so  for  his  violent  opposition 
to  Dr.  Boylston,  when  he  first  introduced  the  inoculation 
of  smallpox.  Young  Hersey  had  the  courage  to  enter  the 
class  with  those  who  were  first  inoculated,  and  his  exam- 
ple was  an  encouragement  to  others. 

Having  completed  his  professional  studies  he  established 
himself  in  his  native  town  ;  and  his  fame  soon  spread,  and 
his  practice  became  greatly  extended,  especially  in  cases  of 
surgery,  embracing  a  circuit  to  the  westward  as  far  as 
Dedham,  and  to  the  south  and  east  to  Middleborough  and 
Plymouth,  and  occasionally  through  the  whole  county  of 
Barnstable.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  powers  of  mind  and 
correct  judgment,  and  emphatically  the  agent  of  humanity 
and  kindness,  visiting  the  afflicted  under  all  circumstances 
indiscriminately,  faithfully  acquitting  himself  of  the  moral 
duties  which  his  profession  imposes,  without  consulting  his 
own  pecuniary  interest.  His  fees  were  moderate,  and  he 
never  distressed  the  poor.      He  was  heard  to  say  that  he 


ABNER  HERSEV.  289 

never  sued  but  one  person,  and  that  was  to  recover  a  dis- 
puted demand  of  £8  ($26.66),  for  two  journies  of  more 
than  sixty  miles,  and  performing  a  capital  surgical  opera- 
tion. He  educated  a  considerable  number  of  pupils,  many 
of  whom  attained  to  professional  eminence,  and  reflected 
honor  on  his  character.  His  attachment  to  literary  estab- 
lishments was  evinced  by  his  liberal  bequest  at  his  death 
of  f  1000,  and  a  like  sum  at  the  decease  of  his  widow,  to  be 
applied  to  the  support  of  a  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Sur- 
gery at  Harvard  University  ;  and  it  was  by  his  influence 
that  his  brother  Abner  added  £500  to  the  same  fund.  Dr. 
Hersey  is  said  to  have  extended  his  liberality  also  to  an- 
other important  literary  object,  the  establishment  of  an 
academy  at  Hingham.  Having  no  children,  it  is  under- 
stood that  he  entrusted  his  wife  with  funds  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  institution.  After  his  decease  she  married 
Captain  Derby  of  Salem,  and  erected  the  academy,  which 
was  incorporated  by  the  name  of  Derby  Academy.*  Dr. 
E.  Hersey  died  December  9th,  1770,  aged  62  years. 

Upon  the  character  of  Dr.  Hersey  we  ponder  with  ven- 
eration and  love  ;  it  is  that  of  intelligence,  fidelity  and 
kindness  ;  of  one  eminently  humane  and  a  benevolent 
friend  to  the  poor,  sacrificing  his  ease,  his  domestic  pleas- 
ures, his  health,  and  even  exposing  his  life,  to  aflford  relief 
to  those  in  distress.  Of  this  we  have  a  striking  example, 
which  is  to  this  day  remembered.  Dr.  Hersey  was  called 
to  a  colored  female  while  in  critical  circumstances,  another 
physician  having  failed  to  afford  relief.  It  was  in  a  winter 
night,  and  during  a  cold  snow  storm,  the  distance  eight 
miles.  The  message  was  delivered  to  him  under  some 
doubts  whether  he  ought  to  expose  himself,  but  he  replied, 
"  Whetlier  black  or  white,  she  is  of  the  human  family  and 
shall  have  my  assistance."  When  lie  arrived  at  the  log  hut 
in  the  woods,  he  found  he  had  left  some  articles  at  home, 
which  the  case  required  ;  he  returned  for  the  purpose,  rode 
a  second  time  to  the  patient,  and  administered  tiie  neces- 
sary assistance,  and  her  life  was  preserved. 

HERSEY,  DR.  ABNER,  M.M.S.S.  a  younger  brother 
of  the  jireceding,  a  native  also  of  Hingham.  His  advan- 
tages of  education  were  greatly  deficient,  having  labored 

*  The  reverend  and  venerable  Joseph  Thaxter,  from  whom  the  above  information 
was  obtained,  in  a  letter  says,  Mrs.  Derby  was,  not  long  before  her  death,  sensible 
of  the  error  in  giving  the  name  of  Derby  to  the  academy,  and  had  she  lived  a  little 
longer  would  have  had  it  altered. 

37 


290  ABNER    HERSEY. 

with  his  father  in  husbandry  during  his  early  years.  He 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  his  brother  James 
of  Barnstable,  a  physician  of  reputation  and  extensive 
practice,  enjoying  entire  confidence  and  popular  favor 
wherever  he  Avas  known.  After  a  pupilage  of  about  one 
year  the  decease  of  his  brother  proffered  him,  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  the  benefit  of  his  name,  and  the  field  of  his 
professional  labors. 

At  a  youthful  period  of  life,  perliaps  unexampled  in  the 
annals  of  medicine,  and  under  the  disadvantage  of  a  penu- 
rious education,  young  Hersey  began  his  career,  and  ever 
after  pursued  it  with  a  zeal  and  fidelity  in  the  highest  de- 
gree honorable  to  his  character.  He  at  once  embraced  the 
whole  circle  of  practice  which  his  brother  had  enjoyed, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  acquired  the  confidence  and 
respectful  regard  of  the  people.  For  many  years  he  com- 
manded without  a  rival  the  whole  practice  on  Cape  Cod, 
a  distance  of  forty  miles,  and  containing  a  population  of  se- 
ven or  eight  thousand  inhabitants, controlling  at  pleasure  his 
practice  and  his  fees.  He  possessed  a  sound  judgment,  and 
by  his  correct  observation  and  experience  he  supplied  in  a 
considerable  degree  the  deficiency  of  medical  education. 
He  was  indefatigable  in  his  pursuits,  faithful  and  punctual 
in  his  engagements,  and  successful  in  his  practical  applica- 
tions. As  a  surgeon  he  was  considered  judicious  and  skil- 
ful, though  he  performed  no  capital  operations.  He  pos- 
sessed a  rigid  sense  of  moral  rectitude  and  honesty,  no  man 
ever  suggested  that  he  had  suflfered  injustice  from  him. 
Often  has  the  writer  of  this  sketch,  while  under  his  pupil- 
age, received  his  warning  voice,  that  if  a  patient  die 
through  the  ignorance,  neglect  or  inattention  of  the  phy- 
sician, that  life  will  at  a  future  day  be  required  at  his 
hands.  He  strictly  and  religiously  regarded  the  Sabbath, 
seldom  riding  on  that  day  unless  from  imperious  necessity, 
and  as  seldom  absenting  himself  from  public  worship, 
when  his  health  would  permit.  He  was  moderate  in  his 
charges,  punctual  in  making  his  annual  demands,  and  an 
example  of  economy  in  all  his  appropriations  and  expen- 
ditures, by  which  he  accumulated  an  ample  competency. 

Dr.  Hersey  was  subject  to  hypochondriac  afiTcctions,  and 
in  his  domestic  character  he  was  eccentric  in  the  extreme, 
a  mere  compound  of  caprice  and  whim  ;  domestic  happi- 
ness and  social  intercourse  were  strangers  in  his  family. 
During  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years  I  was  oftener  chast- 


ABNER    HERSEY".  291 

eiied  by  his  frowns,  than  clieered  by  any  expressions  of 
approbation  or  regard.  He  had  never  passed  through  the 
smallpox,  and  the  idea  of  receiving  that  disease  was  dur- 
ing life  a  gieat  terror  to  him.  He  was  more  than  once 
greatly  exposed  to  the  infection  ;  on  one  occasion  he  had 
seated  himself  by  the  bedside  of  his  patient,  when  he  per- 
ceived that  her  face  was  overspread  with  pustules,  which 
could  be  no  other  than  smallpox.  Struck  with  alarm  he 
immediately  left  the  house,  and  as  soon  as  he  reached 
home,  he  changed  his  garments  and  exposed  them  to  the 
air,  and  proceeded  to  prepare  both  soul  and  body  for  the 
awful  event.  He  dispersed  his  family,  and  with  a  single 
attendant,  who  had  gone  through  the  disease,  shut  himself 
up  in  his  house  to  await  the  result.  At  the  usual  time  for 
the  attack  his  imagination  was  not  idle,  he  complained  of 
the  usual  precursory  symptoms,  these  were  allowed  to  agi- 
tate his  mind  for  a  few  days,  when  the  scene  was  happily 
changed,  and  all  apprehension  removed.  He  adopted  a  very 
abstemious  mode  of  living,  rejecting  all  animal  food,  ardent 
spirits,  and  even  wine,  and  confining  himself  chiefly  to  a 
diet  of  milk  and  vegetables.  But  in  nothincr  was  his  sin- 
gularity  more  conspicuous,  than  in  the  peculiar  fashion  of 
his  dress.  He  was  a  declared  enemy  to  the  follies  of  the 
world,  and  an  admirer  of  simplicity  in  dress  and  manners, 
detesting  every  thing  that  approached  the  prevailing  fash- 
ions of  the  day,  and  making  it  his  constant  theme  of  ani- 
madversion. His  own  garments  were  of  a  fashion  pecu- 
liar to  himself,  remarkably  large  and  loose,  and  lined 
throughout  with  baize.  In  a  warm  summer  day,  he  was 
seen  to  chase  a  flock  of  sheep  from  his  enclosure  ;  he  soon 
found  himself  drenched  in  perspiration  ;  throwing  off"  his 
wig  he  said  to  a  friend,  "This  is  not  strange,  for  I  have  more 
wool  upon  my  back,  than  the  whole  flock  of  sheep." 
Such  was  his  whimsical  fancy,  that  he  had  a  great  coat 
made  of  tanned  leather  ;  seven  calfskins  were  cut  and 
formed  into  an  outer  garment  as  a  defence  against  the  rain. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  American  revolution  Dr. 
Hersey  was  not  found  in  the  ranks  of  those  bold  spirits 
who  would  at  all  events  stand  in  defence  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  our  country  ;  he  was  among  the  doubtfid,  the 
prudent  and  the  timid.  He  was  no  political  partisan,  but 
was  a  friend  to  his  country,  and  it  was  his  sentiment  that 
those  who  are  girt  with  the  sword  of  the  law,  should  be 
found  enroI)ed  in  the  garment  of  moral  rectitude  and  re- 


292  ABNER    IIERSEY. 

ligion.  He  suffered  much  in  his  pecuniary  affairs  by  the 
instability  of  our  paper  currency,  and  he  always  deemed 
it  unjust  that  his  patients  should  avail  themselves  of  de- 
preciated money  to  pay  his  demands  at  par.  He  would 
often  relate  the  story,  that  in  the  spring  he  sold  a  cow  for 
thirty  dollars,  and  that  in  the  ensuing  autumn  he  paid  the 
whole  sum  for  a  goose.  He  was  by  nature  churlish  in  his 
temper  and  abrupt  in  manners,  and  when  in  his  peevish 
mood,  it  was  common  for  him  to  express  himself  in  such 
language  as  this,  "  I  had  rather  be  chained  to  a  galley  oar, 
than  to  suffer  such  vexation."  A  curious  instance  of  this 
kind  occurred  when  Mrs.  D.  the  widow  of  his  brother, 
contemplated  in  company  Avith  another  lady  making  him  a 
visit.  She  informed  him  by  letter  of  their  intention.  The 
doctor  knowing  they  would  appear  in  a  style  rather  dif- 
ferent from  that  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed,  was 
greatly  agitated,  and  immediately  replied  to  the  letter  as 
follows.  "  Madam,  I  can't  have  you  here>  I  am  sick,  and 
my  wife  is  sick  ;  I  have  no  hay,  nor  corn  for  your4iorses  ; 
I  have  no  servants  in  my  family,  and  I  had  rather  be  chain- 
ed to  a  galley  oar  than  to  wait  on  you  myself."  Dr. 
Hersey  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
Massachusetts.  He  died  January  9th,  1787,  in  the  66th 
year  of  his  age,  leaving  no  children. 

His  last  will  may  appear  as  a  fair  epitome  of  his  char- 
acter. It  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  strangest 
schemes  ever  devised  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  an  estate, 
and  the  event  has  proved  its  absurdity.  In  his  last  will 
he  gave  to  Harvard  University,  towards  the  establishment 
of  a  professorship  of  anatomy  and  surgery,  the  sum  of 
£500,  equal  to  $1666,66.  The  remaincler  of  his  estate, 
which  was  ample  for  the  region  in  which  he  spent  his 
days,  he  gave  to  thirteen  of  the  congregational  parishes 
in  the  county  of  Barnstable  in  different  proportions,  accord- 
ing to  the  siiare  of  professional  business  he  had  performed 
in  each,  the  net  proceeds  of  which,  after  the  demise  of  his 
widow,  were  to  be  laid  out  annually,  for  one  hundred 
years,  in  the  purchase  of  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress 
of  Religion  in  the  Soul,  and  other  works,  Evans's  Sermons, 
and  Grove  on  the  Lord's  Supper.  After  the  completion 
of  one  hundred  years,  those  who  shall  then  be  the  ministers 
of  the  thirteen  parishes,  are  to  be  at  liberty  to  select  any 
other  books,  calculated  to  promote  piety  and  religion, 
except  one  year  in   every  four,  when  the  other  prescribed 


ABNER  HERSEY.  295 

books  are  still  to  be  purchased.  The  deacons  of  the  thir- 
teen parishes  have  the  sole  care  of  the  estate,  the  particu- 
lar mode  of  managing  which  is  specified  with  great  mi- 
nuteness in  the  doctor's  will,  in  the  same  manner  as  had 
been  usual  with  him  ;  the  fences  to  be  kept  entire,  certain 
lots  of  land  to  be  ploughed  in  rotation,  but  not  oftener 
than  once  in  seven  years,  a  limited  quantity  of  wood  to  be 
cut  annually,  &.c.  &c.  The  deacons  were  to  pay  over  the 
net  income  to  the  ministers  of  those  parishes,  who  were 
to  vest  the  same  in  books  agreeably  to  the  testator's  direc- 
tions, and  distribute  them  gratuitously  among  the  members 
of  their  respective  churches.  The  scheme  of  the  doctor's 
will  was  carried  into  execution  for  a  few  years,  when  it 
appeared,  that  by  the  annual  meetings  of  the  deacons  of 
the  several  churches,  and  other  contingent  expenditures,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  income  was  exhausted  ;  very  few 
books  were  distributed  ;  the  parties  interested  became  dis- 
satisfied, and  petitioned  the  legislature  to  have  the  will 
abolished,  and  the  whole  property  sold  and  divided  in 
due  proportions  to  the  several  churches  interested.  This 
petition  the  legislature  deemed  proper  to  grant,  and  the 
property  has  been  sold  and  distributed  accordingly,  a  com- 
promise, however,  Avith  some  distant  heirs  being  first 
effected. 

Dr.  Hersey  never  wearied  his  mind  with  theoretical 
investigation,  but  contented  himself  with  simple  practical 
observations.  In  chronic  diseases  he  was,  with  his  con- 
temporaries, in  the  constant  practice  of  administering  a 
mercurial  alterative  course  accompanied  with  a  milk  diet. 
Mercury  combined  with  antimony  in  the  form  of  Plum- 
mer's  pills,  was  the  favorite  alterative  in  which  he  reposed 
the  fullest  confidence.  In  some  gastric  affections  it  was 
his  practice  to  administer  a  moderate  course  of  antimony 
in  the  form  of  Dr.  Lockyer's  pills,  beginning  with  one  or 
two,  and  increasing  to  eight  or  ten  according  to  the  effect  ; 
in  this  way  he  considered  the  medicine  as  a  sort  of  intelli- 
gent agent,  indicating  by  its  effect  either  that  the  stomach 
or  intestines  required  evacuating.  Six  or  eight  of  Lock- 
yer's pills*  when  reduced  to  powder,  he  often  administer- 
ed as  an  efficacious  emetic,  but  he  never  employed  emetic 
tartar  in  any  case.     The  Turpeth  mineral  was  a  prepara- 


*  The  panacea   of  antimony  was  the  basis  of  Lockyer's  pills,  and  they  were  for 
near  a  century  highly  celebrated. 


294  SAMUEL    HOLTEN. 

tion  in  which  he  had  great  confidence,  especially  as  an 
expectorant  in  peripnenmony  and  pleurisy  ;  and  he  fre- 
quently combined  this  with  ipecacuanha  as  an  emetic.  In 
tlie  low  nervous  fever,  the  compound  powder  of  contra- 
yerva  with  calomel  and  camphor  constituted  his  favorite 
remedy.  Opium  was  sparingly  used  by  the  physicians  of 
that  period,  the  dose  rarely  exceeded  one  grain,  and  the 
liquid  laudanum  of  Sydenham  was  always  held  in  prefer- 
ence to  opium  in  its  crude  state.  Dr.  Hersey  was  much 
attached  to  the  use  of  chalybeate  medicines  in  chronic  dis- 
eases, but  his  only  preparation  was  the  simple  rust  of  iron 
reduced  to  powder.  He  also  employed  the  oak  bark  as  a 
sulistitute  for  the  Peruvian  bark. 

HOLTEN,  SAMUEL,  M.M.S.S.  was  born  of  respecta- 
ble parents  in  that  part  of  Salem  long  knoAvn  by  the  name 
of  Salem  Village,  now  Danvers,  June  9th,  1738.  His  an- 
cestors rank  among  the  early  settlers  of  that  ancient  town. 
Nature  w^as  kind  and  liberal  in  her  endowments.  His 
form  was  majestic,  his  person  graceful,  his  countenance 
pleasing,  his  manners  easy  and  engaging,  his  address 
courtly,  his  talents  popular,  his  disposition  amiable  and 
benevolent,  and  he  possessed  good  intellectual  powers. 
It  was  the  intention  of  his  parents  that  he  should  have  a 
collegiate  education,  but  while  pursuing  the  preparatory 
course  at  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  visited  with  a  danger- 
ous indisposition,  which  so  enfeebled  his  constitution  and 
impaired  his  hearing,  that  the  favorite  object  was  relin- 
quished, and  the  medical  profession  received  his  devoted 
attention.  His  cjualifications  for  the  practice  of  medicine 
were  acquired  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Jonathan  Prince 
of  Danvers.  So  intense  was  his  application,  and  so  rapid 
the  progress  he  made  in  this  pursuit,  that  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  he  commenced  practitioner  in  the  town  of  Glou- 
cester, from  whence  in  two  years  he  removed  to  his  native 
town,  where  with  growing  reputation  he  pursued  his  pro- 
fessional course  during  sixteen  years. 

In  the  year  1768  he  was  elected  by  the  town  of  Danvers 
a  representative  in  the  general  court,  and  this  was  a  pre- 
lude to  his  constant  employment  in  offices  of  civil  govern- 
ment in  after  life.  During  the  difficulties  between  the 
parent  country  and  her  American  colonies,  and  the  politi- 
cal fermentation  in  the  public  mind  indicating  the  ap- 
proach of  revolutionary  scenes,  Dr.  Holten  took  a  noble 
and  decided  i)art  in  behalf  of  his  country,  and  soon  became 


SAMUEL    HOLTEN.  295 

a  very  active  and  influential  character,  which  he  continued 
to  be  during  the  whole  of  the  ensuing  revolution.  He 
was  at  an  early  period  elected  a  member  of  public  conven- 
tions and  committees.  Highly  electrified  by  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  few  men  were  more  zealously  engaged  in  the 
common  cause,  or  more  constantly  employed  on  important 
services  preliminary  to  the  freedom  and  sovereignty  of 
our  country.  In  1775  Dr.  Holten  relinquished  his  medi- 
cal profession  entirely  and  all  private  business,  and  as  a 
venerable  patriot  courageously  stepped  forward  at  his 
country's  call,  and  risked  his  life  and  fortune  to  save  its 
sinking  liberties.  Holding  a  seat  as  a  representative  from 
Danvers  in  the  Provincial  Congress  at  Watertown,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  a  committee  of  safety,  and  one  of  the 
medical  board  for  the  purpose  of  examining  candidates  for 
the  medical  department  in  the  continental  army  then  form- 
ing at  Cambridge.  The  present  author  has  a  perfect  re- 
collection of  undergoing  a  rigid  examination  before  Dr. 
Holten  and  Dr.  Taylor,  who  formed  the  medical  board  in 
1775.  In  1776,  when  independence  was  declared,  he  was 
appointed  judge  of  the  court  of  general  sessions  of  the 
peace,  and  also  justice  of  the  quorum,  which  office  he  held 
for  forty  years. 

In  1777  he  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Massachusetts 
who  assisted  in  framing  the  confederation  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  chosen  a  delegate 
to  the  American  congress,  and  annexed  his  ratifying  signa- 
ture to  that  constitution  of  government.  To  this  station 
he  was  repeatedly  elected,  and  so  high  did  he  stand  in  the 
esteem  of  that  august  body  that  they  elected  him  president 
of  congress,  and  thus  raised  him  to  the  first  seat  of  honor 
in  his  country.  For  more  than  a  year  Dr.  Holten  was 
the  only  medical  character  in  congress  ;  and  to  him  Avas 
committed  the  charge  of  the  medical  department  in  the 
army.  He  held  a  seat  in  congress,  when  in  the  year  1783 
a  party  of  insurgent  soldiers  surrounded  the  hall  of  their 
session,  imperiously  demanding  compensation  for  their 
services.  He  and  several  otiier  members,  with  their  lives 
in  their  hands,  ventured  to  expostulate  and  reason  with 
them  to  pacify  their  minds  and  quell  the  tumult.  But  so 
violent  and  outrageous  were  the  insurgents  that  with  bayo- 
nets pointed  at  their  breasts,  for  several  hours  they  loaded 
them  with  execrations  and  threatened  immediately  to  sac- 
rifice  tlicm    unless    they    would    grant  their    request  ;  at 


296  SAMUEL    HOLTEPr. 

length,  liowever,  they  were  prevailed  upon  to  desist  and 
await  the  issue.  When  the  first  minister  of  state  was  re- 
ceived by  congress  from  the  United  Netherlands,  Dr.  H. 
was  appointed  to  conduct  the  business  as  master  of  cere- 
monies. When  the  Federal  Constitution  was  submitted  to 
the  people,  he  was  one  of  the  delegates  in  the  convention 
of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  which  adopted  that  excellent 
plan  of  republican  government.  In  1793  he  was  again 
elected  representative  to  congress  ;  and  twice  he  was  ap- 
pointed an  elector  of  president  and  vice  president.  He 
Avas  one  whose  name  is  found  in  the  act  of  incorporation 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  a 
counsellor  and  a  vice  president  ;  and  he  was  a  member  of 
many  other  societies. 

Though  he  made  no  pretensions  to  the  liberal  arts  and 
sciences,  and  never  attempted  to  shine  in  the  republic  of 
letters,  he  was  a  steady  friend  to  civil,  religious  and  lite- 
rary institutions,  ever  consulting  and  promoting  their  best 
interest.  Dr.  H.  continued  to  sustain  his  popularity  Avith 
the  public  and  the  confidence  of  his  compatriots  to  the  last. 
Having  been  elected  eight  years  as  a  representative  in  the 
general  court,  five  in  the  senate,  twelve  in  the  council,  five 
in  congress  under  the  confederation,  and  two  under  the 
federal  constitution ;  in  1796  being  in  feeble  health,  he  de- 
clined a  reelection  to  congress,  but  accepted  a  commission 
as  judge  of  probate  for  the  county  of  Essex,  and  discharg- 
ed the  duties  of  the  office  to  general  approbation  nearly 
nineteen  years.  In  May,  1815,  he  resigned,  and  spent  the 
remaining  months  of  his  life  in  contemplative  retirement. 
In  his  native  town  he  served  in  various  offices  many  years, 
and  possessing  a  happy  talent  at  healing  breaches  and  set- 
tling private  differences,  he  was  frequently  employed  as  an 
arbitrator  in  difficult  cases,  and  occasionally  attended 
ecclesiastical  councils.  Forty-seven  years  he  served  his 
country  in  public  stations  ;  a  period  that  comprised  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  revolutions  the  world  had  ever 
witnessed.  Patriotism  warmed  his  heart,  and  his  feelings 
imiformly  sympathized  with  the  aspect  of  public  affairs  ; 
but  not  even  in  the  darkest  season  did  he  despair.  The 
righteousness  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and 
dependence  on  Heaven  for  success,  supported  him.  Integ- 
rity, fidelity  and  perseverance  were  prominent  features  in 
his  character  ;  a  noble  rectitude  of  heart  marked  his  judi- 
cial proceedings  ;  and  never  did  he  sacrifice  the  public 


ROBERT    HONYMAN.  297 

good  to  private  emolument.  Skilled  in  human  nature  and 
the  art  of  government,  he  rendered  his  country  eminent 
services.  Whatever  station  he  filled,  he  was  all  attention 
to  its  duties,  and  remarkably  punctual  to  his  engagements. 
Judge  Holten  affected  no  parade  of  living,  but  chose  a 
truly  republican  style.  He  lived  to  be  useful  ;  and  being 
ever  ready  to  counsel,  advise  and  assist,  he  was  a  favorite 
of  the  people.  The  charm  of  popularity  he  felt  in  full 
force,  nor  was  he  insensible  to  the  love  of  fame.  No  man 
possessed  more  ambition  to  please,  and  few  had  a  happier 
talent.  His  heart  was  alive  to  the  tender  sympathies  of 
humanity.  Formed  "  to  feel  another's  wo,"  objects  of 
distress,  the  widow's  sigh,  and  orphan's  tear,  contained  a 
rhetoric  he  could  not  resist.  He  was  the  poor  man's 
friend  ;  and  his  hand  was  open  to  the  relief  of  misery  and 
indigence.  Nor  was  he  a  brighter  example  of  the  public, 
than  of  the  private  and  domestic  virtues.  Never  was  there 
a  more  affectionate  husband  and  kinder  parent,  nor  one 
more  studiously  attentive  to  consult  the  convenience  and 
promote  the  happiness  of  every  branch  of  family  connex- 
ions :  and  his  affability,  urbanity  and  instructive  conver- 
sation endeared  him  to  his  numerous  friends.  But  piety 
is  the  consummation  of  human  character.  We  should 
leave  his  memory  under  a  cloud,  did  we  forget  to  notice 
the  uniform  regard  he  paid  through  life  to  God  and  divine 
things.  Blessed  with  pious  parental  instructions,  his  mind 
became  serious  at  an  early  period.  Before  he  had  attained 
twenty-one  years,  he  was  admitted  a  member  of  the 
church  ;  and  amidst  the  greatest  multiplicity  and  pressure 
of  business,  he  manifested  a  sacred  veneration  for  divine 
institutions.  The  cause  and  interest  of  religion  he  ever 
patronised  ;  the  sacred  scriptures  he  searched  for  himself  ; 
he  shone  a  pattern  of  family  devotion,  but  he  was  no  friend 
to  bigotry,  superstition  or  religious  enthusiasm.  Catholic 
in  his  sentiments,  he  embraced  in  the  arms  of  charity  the 
pious  and  good  of  every  denomination,  wherever  found. 
When  the  load  of  years  and  decay  of  nature  premonished 
him  of  approaching  dissolution,  he  declared  his  resignation 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  breathed  out  life  in  an  assured 
hope  of  a  blessed  and  glorious  immortality,  January  2d, 
1816,  in  the  78th  year  of  his  age. — Funeral  Sermon  by  B. 
Wadsworth,  A.  M.  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Danvers. 

vHONYMAN,  DR.  ROBERT,  a  native  of  Kincardine  in 
Scotland,  for  several  vears  held  tlie  rank  of  surgeon  in  the 
38 


298  LEMUEL    HOPKINS. 

British  navy.  In  1774  he  resigned  his  commission  and 
emigrated  to  America.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Virginia 
he  settled  in  the  county  of  Louisa,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,  which  he  pursued  with 
unrivalled  skill,  fidelity  and  industry  until  a  short  time 
before  his  death. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war,  unlike 
most  of  his  countrymen,  Dr.  Honyman  espoused  the 
cause  of  his  adopted  country,  and  from  the  station  of  a 
common  soldier  was  speedily  promoted  by  General  Scott 
to  the  rank  of  surgeon  in  a  regiment. 

Although  daily  employed  in  the  duties  of  a  most  labor- 
ious profession,  he  was  so  great  an  economist  of  time, 
that  he  made  extraordinary  attainments  in  literature.  Be- 
sides a  knowledge  of  almost  every  book  in  our  language, 
worth  reading,  JDr.  Honyman  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  works  of  the  most  eminent  Greek,  Latin,  French 
and  Italian  authors,  and  read  them  with  nearly  as  much 
facility  as  English.  It  would  hardly  be  saying  too  much 
to  affirm,  that  he  had  read  more  and  remembered  better 
what  he  had  read,  than  any  man  in  Virginia.  Neither  age 
nor  affliction  could  abate  his  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  his  astonishing  memory  was  vivid  and  retentive  to  his 
last  hour.  As  a  man  and  a  citizen,  the  whole  tenor  of  his 
life  was  honoral)le,  upright  and  truly  exemplary. 

Dr.  Honyman  wrote  a  journal  of  his  voyage  to  St.  He- 
lena, while  surgeon  of  the  Portland  in  1771,  together  with 
an  interesting  account  of  the  picturesque  and  romantic 
scenery  of  that  island. 

His  will,  bearing  date  June,  1821,  and  admitted  to  re- 
cord at  the  Hanover  superior  court,  April  29th,  1824, 
which  disposes  of  a  very  large  estate,  is  admirably  written. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  it  : — "  I  also  give  and 
bequeath  to  my  son,  my  thermometer,  my  diploma  of 
Doctor  of  Physic,  also  a  human  rib  which  will  be  found 
in  a  small  trunk  in  my  chest,  with  my  earnest  request  that 
he  will  carefully  keep  the  said  rib,  wliich  is  of  James  the 
Vth,  king  of  Scotland,  and  transmit  it  carefully  to  his 
descendants." 

HOPKINS,  DR.  LEMUEL,  M.M.S.S.  Hon.  From  the 
time  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Hopkins,  one  of  the  early  gov- 
ernors of  Connecticut,  the  name  has  been  frequently  dis- 
tinguished by  several  men  of  eminence.  A  branch  of  the 
family  removed  from  Hartford  to  Waterbury  in  1680,  in 


LEMUEL    HOPKINS. 


299 


which  town,  in  the  parish  now  called  Salem,  Dr.  Lemuel 
Hopkins  was  born  June  19th,  1750.  The  Rev.  Samuel 
Hopkins,  D.D.  the  distinguished  theologian,  was  a  native 
of  the  same  town,  and  a  cousin  of  his  father's.  Dr.  Lem- 
uel Hopkins  began  the  study  of  his  profession  under  Dr. 
Jared  Potter  of  Wallingford,  and  afterwards  pursued  it 
with  Dr.  Seth  Bird  of  Litchfield  ;  after  having  practised 
some  years  at  Litchfield,  he  removed  to  Hartford,  where 
he  continued  in  practice  during  life. 

He  was  the  most  distinguished  pupil  of  his  two  eminent 
instructers,  being  among  the  first  physicians  of  the  state, 
if  not  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  for  several  years  pre- 
vious to  his  death.  In  addition  to  a  full  practice  in  Hart- 
ford, he  was  extensively  employed  in  consultation,  and 
had  a  greater  reputation  in  chronic  diseases,  more  particu- 
larly in  the  early  stages  of  phthisis  pulmonalis,  than  any 
practitioner  of  his  vicinity.  He  was  possessed  of  a  great 
originality  of  genius,  and  had  a  peculiar  facility  of  investi- 
gating the  causes  and  seats  of  obscure  diseases,  the  events 
of  which  generally  proved  him  to  be  uncommonly  correct 
and  discriminating  upon  these  subjects.  It  may  with  jvist- 
ice  be  remarked  that  he  retained  the  highest  reputation 
both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine,  of  any  physi- 
cian in  his  county,  or  perhaps  in  the  state.  The  eccen- 
tricities of  his  character  were  peculiarly  striking.  He 
possessed  strong  confidence  in  himself,  and  a  talent  to  iH- 
spire  the  same  in  others  ;  he  had  a  just  sense  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  mind  upon  the  body  when  either  were  particu- 
larly diseased,  and  often  remarked  "  a  wounded  spirit  who 
can  bear."  To  obviate  this  he  uniformly  administered 
comfort  and  consolation,  and  even  hope,  as  long  as  life 
remained. 

In  his  person  Dr.  Hopkins  was  tall,  lean,  stooping,  his 
countenance  strongly  marked,  his  features  large,  eyes  light, 
limbs  uncommonly  long,  yet  in  his  youth  he  was  very 
muscular  and  strong.  He  was  for  a  short  time  in  the 
American  army  as  a  volunteer,  and  at  one  time  some  of 
the  ofHcers  were  attempting  to  fire  a  king's  arm  held  in 
one  hand,  and  extended  at  full  length  ;  all  failed  in  the 
attempt,  but  Hopkins  on  trial  was  completely  successful  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  present. 

Dr.  H.  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  Connecticut,  and  while  he  lived  was  an  active  and  use- 
ful member  of  it.     He  received  the  degree  of  Master  of 


300  LEMUEL    HOPKINS. 

Arts  from  Yale  College  in  1784.  He  was  intlefatigablc  in 
his  literary  and  scientific  labors,  his  knowledge  was  very 
extensive,  his  mind  highly  cultivated,  he  was  not  only 
thoroughly  read  in  the  best  writers  of  his  profession,  but 
in  those  of  the  arts  and  sciences  and  modern  literature 
generally.  His  memory  was  remarkably  strong  and 
retentive  ;  he  would  quote  every  writer  he  had  read, 
whether  medical  or  literary,  with  the  same  readiness  that 
a  learned  clergyman  quotes  his  bible.  So  familiar  to  him 
were  the  great  English  poets,  that  he  would  entertain  his 
friends  by  repeating  their  more  interesting  writings  ;  the 
works  of  Pope  and  Milton  were  his  particular  favorites. 
His  powers  of  abstraction  were  uncommon  ;  he  not  un- 
frequently  sat  up  the  whole  night,  when  engaged  in  any 
subject  that  greatly  interested  him  ;  his  wife  has  said  that 
she  has  frequently  found  him  sitting  in  the  same  attitude 
and  position  in  the  morning,  that  she  left  him  in  on  retir- 
ing at  night. 

On  visiting  a  patient  in  the  crisis  of  fever.  Dr.  H.  found 
that  her  friends  supposed  her  in  a  dying  state  ;  the  father 
said  to  him  "  My  daughter  is  dying,  had  I  not  better  send 
for  a  clergyman  .^"  "  No,"  replied  the  doctor,  "but  you 
may  send  for  the  undertaker,  and  have  her  measured  for 
her  coffin."  The  father,  indignant  at  the  harshness  of  the 
reply,  remonstrated  in  severe  language  for  trifling  with 
his  feelings  in  this  moment  of  anxiety  and  affliction.  The 
doctor  explained,  "  My  meaning  is,  you  may  as  well  send 
for  one  as  the  other  ;  if  your  daughter  is  left  undisturbed, 
and  allowed  to  be  quiet,  she  will  recover,  or  I  will  forfeit 
my  reputation  ;  but  if  you  disturb  her  as  you  propose,  she 
will  in  my  opinion  certainly  die."  The  doctor's  advice 
was  followed  and  she  recovered. 

In  acute  diseases  Dr.  H.'s  practice  was  efficient  and  ener- 
getic. He  used  the  lancet,  and  antimony,  and  calomel  and 
opium  with  a  liberal  hand.  Whenever  he  became  much 
interested  in  a  case,  his  attentions  were  unceasing  ;  denying 
all  other  calls  he  would  devote  his  days  and  nights  often 
for  many  days  in  succession  to  the  case,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  administer  every  dose  of  medicine  with  his  own 
hand.  In  one  case,  about  a  critical  period,  he  was  suspi- 
cious that  his  medicines  might  require  variation  ;  he  could 
not  sleep,  got  up  in  the  night,  rode  four  miles  to  his  pa- 
tient, entered  the  room  without  uttering  a  word,  felt  his 
pulse  and  skin,  made  signs  for  him  to  put  out  his  tongue, 


LEMUEL    HOPKINS.  301 

and  left  the  house  without  speaking  to  the  patient  or  nurse, 
being  satisfied  that  his  patient  was  better.  Physicians  pre- 
vious to  that  day  were  in  the  alexipliarmic  practice  in 
febrile  diseases,  but  Dr.  H.  introduced  the  antiphlogistic 
regimen  and  practice.  Being  called  to  a  child  in  scarlet 
fever,  the  little  sufferer  was  loaded  with  bed  clothes,  the 
room  heated,  and  every  crack  and  key  hole  stopped  ;  the 
day  was  pleasant  in  summer,  Dr.  H.  was  a  stranger  in  the 
family,  his  personal  appearance  was  ugly  and  uncouth  ;  he 
entered  the  room  in  his  usual  unceremonious  manner,  his 
large  eyes  staring  around,  without  uttering  a  word,  he 
took  the  child  into  his  arms,  and  proceeded  hastily  out  of 
the  house  and  sat  down  with  it  under  a  refreshing  shade. 
The  whole  household  and  neighborhood  followed,  and 
threatened  the  doctor  with  broomsticks.  He  kept  them 
off  however,  and  ordered  wine  to  be  brought,  and  soon 
recovered  the  child. 

Dr.  H.,  it  is  believed,  fell  a  victim  to  the  pursuit  of  an 
improper  remedy  in  his  own  case  ;  he  was  always  appre- 
hensive of  nulmonary  consumption.  After  exposing  him- 
self to  col^,  he  was  attacked  with  pain  in  the  side  ;  he 
was  bled  repeatedly,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  and 
remonstrance  of  his  medical  friends,  lived  upon  the  low- 
est diet,  and  took  repeated  doses  of  neutral  salts.  Unex- 
pectedly a  hydrothorax  ensued,  and  proved  fatal  to  him 
in  a  few  weeks.  He  died  April  14th,  1801,  in  the  51st 
year  of  his  age. 

The  moral  character  of  Dr.  H,  was  irreproachable,  and 
his  whole  life  was  distinguished  for  the  practice  of  moral 
virtue.  In  early  life,  it  has  been  said,  he  was  an  admirer 
of  the  writings  of  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Volney,  D'Alembert, 
and  other  infidel  philosophers,  who  flourished  about  the 
time  of  the  French  revolution.  But  a  friend  says,  that  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  made  the  bible  his  particular 
study,  and  thought  very  favorably  of  the  christian  religion 
and  its  author.  His  friend  by  particular  request  passed 
the  night  with  him  when  he  died,  and  witnessed  the  calm 
and  dignified  composure  of  a  great  mind  ;  his  last  words 
were,  "  God,  who  is  the  great  author  and  governor  of  all 
things,  regulates  and  controls  all  events  ;  even  the  smallest, 
as  well  as  the  greatest,  are  the  objects  of  his  care.  It  is  as 
necessary  for  us  to  die  as  to  be  born,  that  we  may  fill  up 
the  changes  essential  to  the  perpetuation  of  our  natures." 
He  then  paused,  and  said  "  let  my  family  be  called,"  which 


S02  LEMUEL    HOPKINS. 

was  done  ;  after  this  interview,  which  was  more  tender  and 
affectionate  than  can  be  described,  he  said  "  I  have  now 
finished  the  last  duties  of  life,  lay  me  upon  my  bed  and 
stay  by  me  till  I  die."  With  the  assistance  of  his  friend  he 
walked  to  his  bed,  composed  himself  in  his  last  attitude  and 
never  moved  again.  Such  was  Dr.  Hopkins  ;  his  life  was 
full  of  incidents,  full  of  usefulness,  full  of  honor  ;  he 
lived  the  admiration  of  his  friends,  he  died,  deeply  and 
extensively  lamented  with  the  blessings  of  thousands 
resting  upon  him. 

Dr.  Hopkins  was  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the 
constellation  of  poets  and  political  writers,  who  were  dis- 
tinguished about  the  time  of  the  revolution,  and  after  that 
event.  It  is  well  known  that  from  a  few  years  previous  to 
the  struggle,  to  about  1800,  several  branches  of  literature, 
and  more  particularly  poetry,  were  so  much  cultivated  in 
Connecticut  that  the  state  was  frequently  during  that  pe- 
riod denominated  the  Athens  of  America.  Among  the 
most  distinguished  literary  characters  were  the  Hon.  John 
Trumbull,  the  Hon.  Joel  Barlow,  General  David  Hum- 
phries, the  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.D.,  Noah  Webster, 
LL.D.  the  Rev.  Nathan  Strong,  D.D.  and  Dr.  Lemuel 
Hopkins.  Beside  works  upon  various  subjects,  which 
most  of  these  gentlemen  published  with  their  names, 
Trumbull,  Barlow  and  Hopkins,  were  the  joint  authors  of 
the  Anarchiad,  a  satirical  work  which  contributed  much 
to  draw  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  precarious  state 
of  the  union,  under  the  old  confederation.  They  were 
probably  assisted  by  Strong  and  Humphries,  and  perhaps 
by  Dwight.  Subsequently  the  doctor  was  associated  with 
Richard  Alsop,  Esq.  the  Hon.  Theodore  Dwight,  Mason 
F.  CogsAvell,  M.D.,  William  Brown,  Esq.,  and  several 
others.  The  Echo,  Political  Green  House,  many  satirical 
poems,  and  several  able  essays  in  prose,  were  produced. 
This  association,  it  is  believed,  were  occasionally  assisted 
by  the  Hon.  Zephaniah  Swift,  the  Hon.  Uriah  Tracy,  the 
Hon.  Tappan  Reeve  and  many  other  public  characters  of 
that  time.  Out  of  Connecticut,  they  were  generally 
known  by  the  appellation  of  the  Hartford  wits.  They 
were  strong  supporters  of  the  administration  of  Washing- 
ton, their  efforts  giving  a  tone  to  the  public  feeling  and 
sentiment  in  its  favor  ;  and  their  influence  was  acknowl- 
edged to  be  very  great  with  tlie  literary  and  cultivated 
])art  of  tlie  community,  not  only  in  their  state,  but  in  all 


LEMUEL    HOPKINS.  303 

parts  of  the  union.  Of  the  poetry  that  was  exclusively 
written  by  Dr.  Hopkins,  the  Hypocrite's  Hope,  and  an 
Elegy  on  the  Victim  of  a  Cancer  Quack,  arc  the  best 
known.  He  also  versified  the  88th  Psalm  in  Barlow's  col- 
lection, which  has  been  much  admired  for  its  spirit  and 
justice  to  the  original.  As  he  published  nothing  with  his 
name,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  all  the  pieces  that  were 
written  by  him.  The  associates  of  Hopkins  were  a  large 
proportion  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  state  and  of  the  day. 
Under  their  exertions  and  influence,  during  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  Connecticut  was  the  seat  of  the 
muses  in  the  United  States  ;  and  the  political  characters 
were  also  prominent  in  the  council  of  the  nation.  Previous 
to  his  death,  his  friend  and  one  of  his  literary  associates. 
Dr.  Elihu  H.  Smith,  published  in  one  of  the  London  jour- 
nals a  well  written  sketch  of  his  life  and  character,  which 
was  republished  in  some  of  the  periodical  works  of  this 
country.  Exclusive  of  this,  it  is  believed,  no  authentic 
account  of  him  has  ever  appeared.  As  a  number  of  his 
friends  and  later  associates  still  survive,  his  scattered  works 
might  yet  be  ascertained,  collected,  and  published  in  a  vol- 
ume by  themselves  ;  and  since,  after  Trumbull,  the  author 
of  McFingal,  he  was  the  most  eminent  satirist  of  his  day, 
they  ought  to  be  preserved.  Some  of  his  poems  may  be 
found  in  the  volume  of  "  American  poems  ;"  one  on 
Ethan  Allen,  the  Hypocrite's  Hope,  and  the  Cancer  Quack. 
The  four  most  distinguished,  that  are  nearly  or  quite  lost, 
were  his  Political  Green  House,  the  Anarchiad,  the  Echo 
and  the  Guillotine.  He  left  some  manuscripts  on  medical 
subjects,  and  particularly  one  on  consumption,  which  is 
too  valuable  to  be  lost  ;  it  is  now  in  the  hands  of  one  of 
his  medical  friends.  The  Echo  was  published  in  a  series 
of  newspaper  numbers  ;  the  Anarchiad  in  tAventy-four 
numbers,  and  the  Guillotine  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day. 
Dr.  H.  has  the  credit  of  devising  the  plan  of  the  Anarchi- 
ad ;  it  is  apolitical  poem  published  by  the  "  Hartford  wits." 
Anarchiad,  the  evil  spirit  of  the  poem  and  the  hero,  was 
supposed  to  he  the  author  of  all  the  confusion  and  politi- 
cal jarring  which  was  so  much  the  order  of  the  day  before 
the  states  had  a  confederate  head.  The  object  of  the  poem 
was  to  lash  certain  characters  whom  the  authors  supposed 
either  too  liberal,  or  too  strict  in  their  notions  of  govern- 
ment. The  characters  represented  were  the  very  men  who 
figured  in  tli0i<c  times,  and  especially  in  Connecticut.  The 


304  JOHN    C.    HOWARD. 

speech  of  Hesper,  the  best  specimen  of  serious  poetry  in 
the  work,  is  preserved  in  the  same  volume  of  American 
poems  with  the  Hypocrite's  Hope  and  Cancer  Quack  ;  it 
was  an  address  to  the  convention  of  1787.  These  poems 
may  be  found  in  the  periodical  publications  from  the  year 
1786  to  about  1791,  2,  S.—  Thos.  Mimr,  M.D ;  Samuel 
B.    Woodward,  M.D. 

HOWARD,  DR.  JOHN  CLARKE,  was  born  at  Bos- 
ton, A.  D.  1773.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Simeon 
Howard,  who  was  graduated  at  Harvard,  A.  D.  1753,  and 
for  a  number  of  years  was  connected  with  the  university 
as  fellow,  and  as  secretary  of  the  board  of  overseers.  He 
was  a  sound  divine,  a  classical  scholar,  and  the  worthy  suc- 
cessor of  Dr.  Mayhew.  His  mother,  a  woman  no  less  re- 
markable for  the  qualities  of  her  mind,  and  her  christian 
virtues,  than  for  her  personal  charms,  was  the  widow  of 
this  celebrated  man,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  Dr.  John 
Clarke,  one  of  the  earliest  practitioners  and  first  graduat- 
ed physicians  that  arrived  in  this  country.  Dr.  H.  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  was  graduated  at  Cambridge,  A. 
D.  1790,  in  the  class  with  Joseph  Dennie,  &c.  He  pursu- 
ed his  professional  studies  with  Dr.  Samuel  Danfortli,  and 
after  receiving  his  degree,  visited  Europe. 

Dr.  Howard  was  eminently  qualified  for  the  profession  he 
had  chosen  ;  he  had  a  sound,  discriminating  mind,  and  an 
affectionate  heart.  His  countenance,  strongly  marked  with 
good  sense  and  integrity,  and  beaming  with  benevolence, 
at  once  inspired  confidence,  and  conciliated  regard.  His 
simple  unaffected  manners  indicated  the  ingenuousness  of 
his  disposition,  and  the  uprightness  and  singleness  of  his 
purpose  ;  whilst  his  tender  sympathy  and  unwearied  at- 
tention evinced  that  he  had  not  failed  to  profit  by  his  OAvn 
experience  of  the  sufferings  incident  to  feebleness  and  dis- 
ease. No  one  of  his  profession  has  been  more  popular  as 
a  practitioner,  none  more  truly  loved,  or  more  deeply  la- 
mented. He  fulfilled  the  relations  of  social  life,  as  a  son 
and  brother,  husband,  father,  and  friend  with  a  fidelity, 
that  endeared  him  to  all  who  had  the  happiness  of  being 
connected  with  him.  He  died  August  11th,  A.  D.  1810, 
aged  37  years. 

HUNTER,  WILLIAM,  M.D.,  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
a  near  relative  of  Drs.  William  and  John  Hunter,  who 
have  done  so  much  for  the  world's  benefit  and  the  honor  of 
the  profession.    Dr.  Hunter  was  born  about  the  year  1729, 


WILLIAM   IIUiNTER.  305 

and  died  at  Newport,  1777.  He  was  educated  under  the 
elder  Monro  at  Edinburgh,  was  a  contemporary  of  Cullen, 
with  whom,  as  Avell  as  with  his  own  illustrious  kinsman, 
he  corresponded  after  his  removal  to  this  country.  He 
was  one  of  the  young  men,  who,  personally  addressed  and 
flattered  by  the  Pretender,  left  their  collegiate  studies,  and 
followed  him  to  the  fatal  field  of  Culloden  ;  a  mere  boy, 
he  held  the  place  of  surgeon's  mate,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Mid- 
dleton,  formerly  of  New-York,  being  his  jirincipal.  His 
offence,  or  treason,  was  easily  forgiven,  and  he  afterwards 
pursued  his  studies  with  great  assiduity,  both  at  Edinburgh 
and  Leyden. 

He  came  to  Rhode-Island  somewhere  about  the  year 
1752,  gave  lectures  on  anatomy,  on  the  history  of  anato- 
my, and  comparative  anatomy,  at  Newport,  in  the  years 
1754,  5  and  6,  which  were  the  first  lectures  given  on  the 
science  in  New-England,  if  not  in  America.  Advertise- 
ments of  these  lectures  may  be  seen  in  the  Boston  papers 
of  that  day.  He  was  soon  appointed  by  the  colony  of 
Rhode-Island  surgeon  to  the  troops  sent  by  them  to  Cana- 
da, where  he  rendered  important  professional  services,  and 
afterwards  returned  to  Newport,  to  reap  the  fruits  of  his 
distinguished  and  well  earned  professional  fame.  He 
married  the  daughter  of  Godfrey  Malbone,  Esq.  one  of  the 
most  opulent  merchants  and  land  proprietors  of  the 
country. 

Independent  of  his  lectures,  his  literary  contributions  in 
behalf  of  his  profession,  were  principally  letters  addressed 
to  his  London  namesakes  ;  and  his  name  and  communica- 
tions are  often  referred  to  by  them.  He  was  a  most  emi- 
nently successful  practitioner,  as  well  as  an  operator  in 
surgery  ;  he  appeared  at  that  day  to  be  bold  and  rash,  but 
the  truth  was,  he  brought  with  him  from  Europe  a  more 
exact  knowledge  of  anatomy,  and  greater  chirurgical  skill 
grounded  on  that  knowledge,  than  existed  in  the  colonies 
at  that  period.  As  to  person  Dr.  Hunter  is  reported  to 
have  been  "  somewhat  too  handsome  for  a  mem  ;"  his  man- 
ners were  courtly  and  amiable,  his  opinions  liberal,  and 
his  literary  relaxations  were  tlie  classics.  His  medical  li- 
brary was  the  largest  in  New-England  at  his  day,  and  con- 
tained most  of  the  standard  Greek  and  Latin  authors  of 
antiquity,  as  well  as  the  modern  works  of  his  own  time. 
The  latter  were  mostly  dis})ersed  by  the  accidents  of  the 
revolutionary  war  ;  what  remained  of  llie  former  have 
39 


306  JAMES    HURLBUT. 

been  distributed  to  individuals  and  medical  institutions  by 
his  only  son  the  Honorable  William  Hunter,  late  senator 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  from  the  State  of 
Rhode-Island.  According  to  the  New-York  Medical  Re- 
pository his  manuscript  lectures  are  said  still  to  be  in 
existence. 

HURLBUT,  DR.  JAMES,  was  a  native  of  Berlin  in 
Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1717.  His  advan- 
tages of  early  education  were  probably  no  other  than  such 
as  were  ordinarily  attainable  at  that  period.  It  appears, 
however,  that  in  the  course  of  his  life  he  acquired  a  know- 
ledge of  the  Latin,  Greek  and  Hel)rew  languages  ;  for  on 
hearing  it  observed  that  clergymen,  from  their  learning, 
possess  superior  understanding  of  the  true  import  of  the 
Bible,  he  remarked  that  he  had  read  it  in  as  many  differ- 
ent languages  as  any  of  the  clergy.  It  is  supposed  that  he 
was  permitted  to  make  use  of  the  library  of  the  elder  Dr. 
Osborn  of  Middletown,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  works  of  the  celebrated  Boerhaave,  which  he  greatly 
admired,  and  it  is  said  he  committed  the  greater  part  of  his 
aphorisms  to  memory. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  and  various  reading,  of  extensive 
and  accurate  observation,  and  in  consequence  of  his  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  Boerhaave,  he  pos- 
sessed advantages  over  most  of  his  contemporaries,  which, 
united  to  the  strength  and  sagacity  of  his  mind,  and  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  diseases,  gave  him 
great  celebrity  with  the  Faculty  and  the  public.  With  the 
latter  he  was  in  high  repute,  by  the  former  he  was  consid- 
ered as  an  oracle.  His  attention  was  not  exclusively  de- 
voted to  the  medical  profession  ;  he  examined  with  great 
attention  and  research  the  subjects  of  moral  and  natural 
philosophy,  was  a  thorough  scholar  in  theology,  and  an 
able  controversialist,  although  his  own  opinions  were  ex- 
tremely wavering  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Locke  on 
the  Human  Understanding,  Boerhaave  and  Sydenham  in 
medicine,  Bishop  Sherlock  and  Foster  in  divinity  and 
morals,  were  his  favorite  authors.  The  mechanical  arts 
also  received  much  of  his  attention,  particularly  architect- 
ure. One  of  the  ablest  architects  in  this  country  acknow- 
ledged the  extent  of  his  acquaintance  with  this  department 
of  the  arts,  and  is  said  to  have  derived  great  advantages 
from  intercourse  and  conversation  with  him  on  the  subjects 


JAMES    HURLBUT. 


307 


In  early  life  the  personal  appearance  and  selfrespect  of 
Dr.  Hurlbiit  comported  with  the  conspicuousness  of  his 
station  ;  he  possessed  considerable  property,  and  had  col- 
lected a  handsome  and  valuable  library.  But  he  Avas  de- 
void of  economy,  and  set  no  value  upon  money  ;  of  course 
he  became  destitute,  and  finally  dependent.  His  books 
were  taken  by  an  officer  on  attachment  to  satisfy  debts  ex- 
hibited against  him.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  be- 
came a  spectacle  of  wretchedness  and  despair,  and  his  ap- 
pearance was  like  that  of  a  vagrant.  A  respectable  patient 
of  his  once  said  that  "  he  never  knew  so  much  good  sense 
covered  by  a  bundle  of  rags."  In  his  old  age  he  was  una- 
ble to  ride  on  horseback  on  account  of  a  diseased  leg  of 
long  continuance,  and  he  walked  with  a  staff  in  visiting 
his  patients.  His  early  residence  was  in  Berlin,  but  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  Wethersfield,  where  he 
had  many  friends  and  employers  on  whom  he  was  depend- 
ent for  support.  Many  inhabitants  of  that  town,  assisted 
by  the  public  authorities,  contributed  to  his  comfort  in  the 
season  of  affliction  and  want,  in  a  manner  least  calculated 
to  wound  the  delicacy  of  his  feelings,  or  those  of  his 
friends.  They  also  afforded  a  decent  burial  of  his  remains 
in  the  churchyard  of  that  village.  He  died  at  the  house 
of  one  of  his  early  patrons,  of  a  lingering  illness,  April 
11th,  1794,  at  the  advanced  age  of  77  years. 

In  the  meridian  of  his  medical  fame  Dr.  Hurlbut  was 
the  instructer  of  many  pupils,  some  of  whom  attained  to 
eminence.  His  mind  was  eccentric,  but  powerful,  acute 
and  discriminating  ;  his  memory  was  uncommonly  active 
and  tenacious,  he  remembered  every  thing  that  ever  occur- 
red to  him,  and  being  extremely  inquisitive  he  treasured 
up  and  retained  in  his  memory  a  vast  fund  of  facts  and  an 
ecdotes.  On  hearing  others  say  that  they  had  known  liut 
had  forgotten,  he  would  lose  all  patience  and  exclaim  with 
vehemence,  "  You  never  half  knew  or  you  would  never 
forget."  It  is  said  of  him  tliat  after  reading  a  pamphlet 
or  sermon,  he  would  repeat  the  whole  or  most  of  it.  As 
a  physician  Dr.  H.  bears  the  title  of  one  of  the  fathers  of 
medicine  in  Connecticut,  although  he  has  not  favored  the 
profession  with  any  production  from  his  pen. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  professional  brethren,  he  was 
overbearing  and  dogmatical,  his  own  opinions  were  not 
to  be  questioned,  nor  op])OPed  by  any  one,  he  would  ''  go 
for  the  whole  or  not  at  all."     He  was  not  to  be  employed 


SOS  JAMES    HURLBUT. 

to  prescribe,  and  then  have  the  propriety  of  his  prescrip- 
tions questioned  on  any  ground.  If  the  attending  physi- 
cian or  the  friends  deviated  in  the  least  point  from  his 
directions,  he  would  often,  upon  the  discovery  of  it,  take  a 
sudden  departure  without  giving  a  single  reason.  His 
manner  with  the  sick  was  that  of  close  attention  and  nice 
observation  of  every  symptom  and  every  change.  He  was 
very  particular  in  examining  the  pulse,  and  wished  to  do 
it  repeatedly,  and  at  different  times  in  the  day.  He  often 
remained  a  whole  day  in  the  house  of  his  patient,  before 
he  would  give  an  opinion,  or  make  a  prescription.  He 
maintained  that  he  did  not  wish  the  patient  to  point  him 
to  the  seat  of  pain  or  disease,  but  he  would  describe  it  to 
the  patient;  and  his  knowledge  of  actual  changes  in  acute 
diseases,  and  his  predictions  of  changes  founded  on  that 
knowledge,  were  so  often  seen  and  verified,  as  to  lead 
many  to  suppose  him  endowed  with  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
or  foreknowledge.  It  was  rare  that  he  seated  himself  in 
any  house  ;  it  was  his  custom  to  walk  slowly  about  the 
room  with  his  hat  on  his  head,  but  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
uncovering  his  head  when  in  the  presence  of  a  certain  cler- 
gyman whom  he  greatly  respected.  In  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  he  was  very  attentive  to  his  patients,  and  when  he  felt 
interested  in  a  case,  no  entreaty  would  induce  him  to  re- 
linquish his  charge.  He  examined,  reflected,  i-ead,  and 
remembered  so  much  that  almost  all  changes  of  which  dis- 
ease is  susceptible,  were  entirely  familiar  to  him.  He  had 
a  high  respect  for  the  members  of  the  learned  professions, 
and  an  utter  contempt  for  the  opinion  of  the  illiterate  in 
the  medical  profession,  and  ever  detested  cpiackery  and 
imposture. 

Many  of  his  prescriptions  are  yet  to  be  found  amongst 
his  eariy  employers,  which  attest  his  knowledge  of  that 
branch  of  his  profession.  Some  of  his  recipes  still  visit 
the  apothecary  shops,  having  maintained  a  reputation  for 
half  a  century.  Dr.  Hurlbut's  knowledge  of  our  indige- 
nous materia  medica  was  probably  superior  to  that  of  any 
other  physician  of  his  time.  The  blood  root,  geranium, 
the  asclepias,  the  cornus,  the  trillium,  and  other  native 
articles,  were  in  common  use  in  his  practice.  He  often 
directed  the  potentilla  norvegica  in  strangury  and  other 
affections  of  the  urinary  organs  under  the  common  name 
of  dropwort,  and  from  repeated  trials  the  writer  is  of 
opinion  that  it  is  more  useful  than  uva  ursi 


JAMES    HUTCHINSON.  309 

All  who  have  heard  of  Dr.  Hiirlbut,  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  his  strong  attachment  to  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits  and  opium.  In  speaking  of  his  intemperance,  the 
common  expression  is,  "  a  square  bottle  of  rum  a  day  !" 
He  would  not  prescribe  or  even  look  at  a  patient  in  the 
last  years  of  his  life,  till  the  full  bottle  was  placed  in  his 
entire  control,  and  daily  replenished  ;  it  was  his  practice 
to  take  very  frequently  small  potations,  and  at  tlie  same 
time  swallow  enormous  quantities  of  opium.  For  many  of 
his  last  years  all  the  avails  of  his  medical  practice  were 
expended  in  the  purchase  of  this  one  drug  ;  his  spirits  he 
obtained  from  his  employers,  which  was  a  heavy  tax,  and 
he  probably  took  as  much  opium  as  the  most  devoted 
Turk.  He  was  rarely  intoxicated,  and  when  so  much 
under  the  influence  of  alcohol  as  not  to  be  able  to  stand, 
his  mind  would  appear  to  be  clear,  and  his  judgment  un- 
impaired. When  in  the  attire  of  a  vagrant,  he  walked 
about  supported  by  his  staff,  lame,  filthy  and  miserable  ; 
if  his  attention  was  engaged  in  any  subject  of  learning,  or 
branch  of  science,  he  would  exhibit  such  resources  of  in- 
formation, such  powers  of  logic,  such  judicious  and  sensi- 
ble remark,  as  would  astonish  all  his  auditors,  and  parti- 
cularly surprise  strangers. 

Such  was  Dr.  James  Hurlbut,  the  greatest  genius,  per- 
haps, that  could  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession in  Connecticut  during  the  last  century.  A  man, 
the  bright  side  of  whose  character  exhibited  a  lustre  in 
science,  and  original  conceptijons  of  mind,  that  would  not 
suffer  in  comparison  with  the  brightest  ornaments  of  Eu- 
ropean fame.  Tarnished  on  the  other  by  indulgence  in 
the  grossest  and  most  degrading  vice  ;  and  thereby  sunk 
down  to  the  lowest  state  of  human  wretchedness,  poverty 
and  disease,  dependant  upon  charity  for  support,  and  dy- 
ing without  the  means  to  procure  decent  interment,  and 
now  lying  without  a  stone  to  tell  us  where  ! — /S.  B.  JVood- 
icard,  M.  D. 

HUTCHINSON,  JAMES,  M.D.  was  born  in  Wake^ 
field  township,  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  tlie  29tli 
of  January,  1752.  His  education  commenced  first  under 
Paul  Preston,  then  a  distinguished  teacher,  was  continued 
at  the  Burlington,  New-Jersey,  academy,  and  at  another 
in  Virginia,  and  finished  at  the  College  of  Philadelphia, 
where  he  obtained  the  first  honor  when  he  received  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.     He  studied  medicine  under 


310  JAMES    HUTCHINSON. 

Dr.  Evans  of  Philadelphia,  and  finished  his  studies  in 
London  tinder  the  particular  patronage  and  direction  of 
the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Fothergill.  In  the  year  1774 
the  trustees  of  the  Philadelphia  College,  presented  him 
with  a  gold  medal  for  his  superior  knowledge  in  chem- 
istry.* 

While  he  was  pursuing  his  studies  in  Europe,  the  dis- 
putes between  England  and  the  American  colonies  were 
approaching  a  crisis,  which  he  saw  must  end  in  an  open 
rupture.  The  prospect  of  this  event  hastened  his  return 
to  his  native  country,  the  cause  of  which  he  warmly 
espoused.  He  returned  home  by  the  way  of  France,  and 
was  entrusted  with  important  despatches  from  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, the  American  minister  there,  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  ;  when  near  the  American  coast  the  ship  in 
which  he  was  passenger,  was  chased  by  a  British  armed 
ship,  and  being  anxious  to  save  the  despatches  he  left  the 
vessel  in  an  open  boat  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy, 
and  landed  safely.  A  short  time  after  he  escaped  from 
the  vessel,  she  was  captured  by  the  enemy  in  sight,  and  he 
lost  every  thing  he  had,  including  a  fine  medical  library 
which  he  had  collected  in  England  and  France.  He  join- 
ed the  American  army  soon  after  he  arrived,  and  served  as 
a  surgeon  and  physician  during  the  Avhole  of  the  war. 

A  change  in  the  establishment  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  effected  in  the  year  1779,  and  he  was  appoint- 
ed one  of  its  trustees  by  the  legislature,  and  continued  a 
member  of  the  board  until  his  death.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  and  served 
several  years  as  one  of  its  secretaries.  In  the  year  1789 
the  corporate  rights  of  the  old  college,  academy  and  char- 
itable school  of  Philadelphia,  which  had  been  suspended 
by  the  establishment  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
were  restored,  and  a  medical  department  being  attached  to 
each  institution.  Dr.  Hutchinson  filled  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Chemistry  in  the  University,  and  upon  the 
union  of  the  two  institutions  and  the  new  organization  of 
the  medical  faculty  in  1791,  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Chemistry.  He  held  the  office  of  physician  of  the  port  for 
many  years,  and  until  his  death.     He  was  also  for  several 


*  The  medal  presented  to  him  had  on  one  side  a  laurel  branch  with  this  inscrip- 
tion on  the  exergue,  "  Jacobus  Hutcliinson,  1774."  On  the  reverse,  a  retort  :  on 
the  cxctgue,  natuRjE  aktisquk  akcana  retexi. —  Coll.  Philad. 


CLEMENT    JACKSON.  31  i 

years  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
and  was  continued  until  his  decease.  He  possessed  emi- 
nent talents  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  ;  and  was  fitted  for 
the  exercise  of  his  profession,  by  his  natural  axniability  of 
temper,  pleasant  address  and  agreeable  manners. 

Dr.  Hutchinson  took  a  warm  part  in  the  local  politics 
of  Pennsylvania,  both  during  the  American  war  and  after 
the  peace.  He  belonged  to  the  democratic  party,  and  pos- 
sessed great  influence.  But  although  often  solicited  to  fill 
respectable  offices  at  the  choice  of  the  people,  he  always 
declined  the  compliment.  After  the  evacuation  of  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  by  the  British,  he  was  called  upon  as  one 
of  the  committee  of  safety  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  and  was  active  in  that  capacity.  He  was  the  intimate 
and  confidential  friend  of  the  leading  men  of  the  revolu- 
tion, and  was  at  all  times  received  at  head  quarters  and 
often  invited  to  give  his  advice  by  the  commander  in  chief 
relative  to  the  medical  department.  He  died  of  the  yel- 
low fever  on  the  6th  of  September,  1793. 

He  married  Miss  Sydney  Howell,  the  daughter  of  a 
respectable  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  and  left  two  sons,  one 
now  Consul  of  the  United  States  at  Lisbon,  the  other  a 
lawyer  resident  in  Philadelphia.  His  widow  survives  him. 
He  was  an  excellent  husband,  a  fond  father,  and  a  most 
generous  and  humane  man. 

JACKSON,  DR.  CLEMENT,  was  esteemed  one  of  the 
most  eminent  physicians  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  indeed 
in  the  state.  He  had  laid  the  best  foundation  for  profess- 
ional knowledge,  which  the  limited  advantages  in  tliis 
country  then  afforded  ;  and  possessing  a  discriminating 
mind  and  habituating  himself  to  accurate  observation,  he 
soon  became  acquainted  with  the  diseases  prevalent  in  this 
climate,  and  the  best  method  of  treating  them.  His  dis- 
position was  amiable,  his  benevolence  universal,  his  prac- 
tice extensive,  and  he  was  tndy  "  a  man  greatly  beloved." 
He  died  the  10th  October,  1788,  in  the  83d  year  of  his 
age. 

^JACKSON,  HALL,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  Hon.,  son  of  the 
above,  was  born  in  Portsmouth,  and  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education  in  his  native  town.  He  studied  the 
theory  of  his  profession  under  his  excellent  father  ;  after 
which  he  Avent  to  London  and  attended  the  lectures  in 
the  hospitals  for  three  years,  to  perfect  himself  in  liis  pro- 
fession. While  here  he  received  honorable  notice  from  the 


312  '       HALL    JACKSON. 

Faculty  for  an  ingenious  invention  by  which  a  ball  was  ex- 
tracted from  a  gunshot  wound,  whicJi  had  baffled  ,tlxe  sldll 
of  all  the  surgeons. 

After  his  return  to  his  native  town  he  soon  become  emi- 
nent, more  especially  as  a  surgeon.  No  operation  of  im- 
portance was  performed  for  many  miles  round,  without 
consulting  him,  and  seldom  without  his  aid.  He  had  great 
experience  in  the  smallpox,  had  the  superintendence  of 
many  hospitals  for  inoculating  with  that  disease,  and  was 
remarkably  successful  in  conducting  his  patients  safely 
through  its  stages.  In  the  year  1764  he  resided  two  or 
three  months  in  Boston,  where  he  inoculated  several  classes 
and  carried  them  safely  through,  which  added  much  to 
his  reputation  in  the  commencement  of  his  medical  career. 
His  reputation  as  an  accoucheur  was  deservedly  high,  and 
often  called  him  into  families  which  he  did  not  usually 
attend.  He  was  the  first  surgeon  who  ever  attempted,  in 
that  part  of  our  country,  if  not  in  America,  the  operation 
of  couching  the  eye  ;  this  operation  he  frequently  per- 
formed and  always  with  success.  He  was  remarkable  for 
his  friendship,  his  readiness  to  advise,  instruct  and  patron- 
ise all  young  physicians  within  the  sphere  of  his  acquaint- 
ance, whom  he  considered  worthy  to  be  countenanced. 

Harvard  University  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of 
M.D.  in  1793,  and  placed  his  name  among  her  honorary 
graduates  with  the  class  of  1757.  The  Massachusetts  Med- 
ical Society  elected  him  an  honorary  member  of  their  body. 
He  was  Grand  Master  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  at 
the  time  of  his  decease.  His  sprightly  talents,  lively  im- 
agination, social  habits  and  strong  memory,  rendered  him 
a  welcome  guest  in  every  circle  ;  facetious  and  pleasant, 
his  friends  enjoyed  in  his  company  the  "  feast  of  reason 
and  flow  of  wit  ;"  and  the  several  societies  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  found  their  entertainment  greatly  heighten- 
ed by  his  presence.  When  visiting  his  patients  he  was 
overset  in  his  gig,  and  some  of  his  ribs  were  fractured  ; 
this  resulted  in  the  termination  of  his  useful  life,  in  the 
58th  year  of  his  age.     He  died  September  28th,  1797. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  author  of  a  small  tract  containing  ob- 
servations on  the  putrid  malignant  sore  throat,  which  pre- 
vailed in  New-Hampshire  from  1784  to  1786  inclusively, 
but  it  was  published  without  his  name.  He  was  the  first 
surgeon  of  his  country,  it  is  believed,  who  introduced  the 
method  of  healing   wounds  by  the  first  intention  ;  and  if 


CHARLES  JARVIS.  313 

it  was  not  till  the  practice  had  been  tried  in  Europe,  with 
him  it  was  entirely  original  and  the  result  of  experiment 
and  observation.  Dr.  Jackson  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not 
the  earliest  physician  who  introduced  the  use  and  cultiva- 
tion of  foxglove  into  New  England.  In  a  letter  to  the 
present  author,  dated  April  29th,  1789,  he  says,  "  with 
much  pleasure  I  send  you  some  of  the  seeds  of  foxglove, 
and  some  of  the  leaves  of  the  same  for  your  trial  of  its 
efficacy  until  you  can  cultivate  it.  It  is  a  beautiful  flower 
in  a  garden,  and  has  arrived  at  full  perfection  in  my  gar- 
den from  seeds  sent  me  by  Dr.  Withering."  Dr.  Jackson 
was  then  in  correspondence  with  Dr.  Withering,  an  emi- 
nent English  physician,  from  whom  he  received  the  article 
with  directions  for  its  use  and  culture. 

JARVIS,  CHARLES,  M.M.S.S.  This  gentleman  was 
born  in  Boston  in  1748,  and  was  the  third  son  of  Colonel 
Leonard  Jarvis,  an  eminent  merchant  of  that  place.  At 
an  early  age  he  discerned  in  his  son  singular  marks  of 
genius  and  strength  of  mind,  and  in  consequence  determin- 
ed to  educate  him  for  one  of  the  learned  professions. 
Accordingly,  he  was  sent  to  the  Public  Latin  School  in 
Boston  ;  entered  Harvard  College  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
and  received  the  customary  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in 
1766.  His  diffidence  in  youth  was  so  remarkable,  that 
until  he  had  nearly  completed  his  collegiate  studies,  he 
mingled  in  conversation  in  company  reluctantly,  and  spoke 
with  embarrassment.  This  may  appear  the  more  extraor- 
dinary, since  as  he  advanced  in  years,  he  became  decided 
in  his  opinions,  and  distinguished  for  fluency,  energy  and 
copiousness  of  speech. 

Mr.  Jarvis  on  leaving  college  determined  on  the  study 
of  physic  ;  and  in  this  choice  his  parents  concurred,  enter- 
taining apprehensions  of  his  success  at  the  bar  on  account 
of  his  uncommon  diffidence.  He  commenced  his  studies 
with  Dr.  Perkins,  a  learned  and  distinguished  physician 
of  Boston  ;  who  shortly  after  going  to  England,  he  fin- 
ished them  with  Dr.  Joseph  Gardner.  After  he  had  com- 
pleted the  usual  course  of  study,  he  went  to  England, 
where  he  was  thoroughly  prepared  by  lectures  and  prac- 
tical courses  in  physic  and  surgery  for  the  duties  of  his 
profession. 

On  his  return  he  commenced  the  practice  in  his  native 
town,  and  perhaps  no  young  man  of  his  time  was  better 
fitted  for  his  vocation.  He  had  not  contented  liimself  with 
40 


314  CHARLES  JARVIS. 

the  mere  routine  of  his  collegiate  and  professional  studies  ; 
but,  possessing  a  taste  for  reading,  and  a  desire  of  know- 
ledge, he  devoted  nearly  all  his  spare  time  to  searching  the 
fields  of  science  and  literature.  Having  always  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  the  best  society,  he  Avas  affable  and  ele- 
gant in  his  manners  ;  and,  being  by  nature  frank  and  sin- 
cere, he  was  peculiarly  engaging  in  his  intercourse  with 
society.  In  conversation  he  developed  extensive  and  vari- 
ed resources,  and  was  remarkable  for  the  ease  and  bril- 
liancy of  his  wit  and  repartee. 

With  such  endowments  and  qualifications,  he  immedi- 
ately entered  into  a  highly  respectable  and  successful 
practice,  and  could  early  number  among  his  patients  some 
of  the  most  opulent  and  fashionable  families  in  the  town. 
In  his  practice  Dr.  Jarvis  was  not  an  implicit  follower  of 
systems.  He  had  studied  with  care  Hippocrates,  Aretaeus, 
and  Celsus,  and  favorably  considered  their  practice,  so  far 
as  it  related  to  the  diseases  of  his  own  time.  Indeed  he  was 
not  inclined  to  countenance  hasty  departures  from  it.  He 
did  not,  however,  oppose  the  more  modern  discoveries  and 
improvements,  but  availed  himself  of  the  advantages  they 
afforded.  He  was  particularly  attentive  to  investigate  the 
remote,  as  well  as  proximate  causes  of  the  complaints,  for 
which  he  was  to  administer  ;  and  in  discerning  the  peculiar 
habits  and  diatheses  of  the  sick  he  seemed  to  possess  intu- 
itive skill  and  perspicacity.  His  prescriptions  were  gener- 
ally simple.  He  was  opposed  to  the  use  of  a  variety  of 
medicines  and  remedies,  and  would  often  remark  that  he 
only  wanted  opium,  antimony,  mercury,  cantharides,  bark 
and  the  lancet,  in  the  general  course  of  his  practice,  aided 
by  judicious  nursing  and  regimen. 

In  the  practice  of  physic,  as  in  the  profession  of  arms, 
the  quality  called  the  coup  d'oeil,  is  sometimes  important. 
This  enables  the  physician,  as  well  as  the  general,  to  collect 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  from  this  combination 
to  draw  some  conclusion,  which  often  favorably  decides  it. 
These  sudden  conclusions  are  sometimes  called  lucky 
thoughts,  but  ordinary  minds  are  not  usually  blest  with  such 
fortunate  emanations.  The  doctor  was  somewhat  remarka- 
ble for  this  description  of  resource,  and  many  instances  might 
be  adduced  to  illustrate  its  happy  effects  upon  patients  at 
the  point  of  death.  In  surgery,  on  accoimt  of  the  many  ad- 
vantages he  derived  from  practice  and  observation  in  the 
Englisli  hospitals,   and  availing  himself  of  the  improve- 


CHARLES  JAHVIS. 


3ia 


ments  of  the  French  in  this  art,  he  performed  the  most 
difficult  operations  with  uncommon  dexterity  and  success. 
But  he  never  resorted  to  the  knife,  while  any  rational 
hope  remained  of  bettering  the  condition  of  the  patient. 
In  various  cases,  where  he  decided  against  operating  in 
opposition  to  tlxe  opinion  of  others,  he  saved  limbs  and 
effected  cures. 

On  the  accession  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  presidency  Dr. 
Jarvis  was  appointed  Physician  and  Surgeon  to  the  Marine 
Hospital  at  Charlestown. 

In  the  year  1773  Dr.  Jarvis  married  the  sister  of  Sir 
William  Pepperell,  and  granddaughter  of  Sir  William 
Pepperell  who  took  Louisburg  in  1756.  This  was  a  loyal 
family,  and  left  this  country  for  England  about  the  time 
hostilities  commenced.  But  the  doctor  was  true  to  the 
cause  of  his  country,  notwithstanding  that  flattering  in- 
ducements were  held  out  to  give  his  principles  a  different 
direction.  Dr.  Jarvis's  liberality  was  evinced  by  advocat- 
ing, in  the  legislature,  the  recall  of  those  imfortunate  men 
who  had  been  exiled  for  an  adherence  to  the  enemy  ;  by 
defending  the  toleration  of  theatrical  representations  ;  and 
by  his  friendly  aid  to  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  state  convention  that  adopted  the 
federal  constitution,  and  was  for  several  years  a  member 
of  the  state  legislature,  until  1796  when  he  declined  being  a 
candidate  on  account  of  ill  health.  It  may  be  truly  said  that 
he  had  uncommon  qualifications  for  public  life.  He  possess- 
ed quickness  of  perception  and  acute  penetration,  and  was 
a  very  powerful  and  impressive  orator.  He  had  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  fine  person,  countenance  and  voice,  and 
spoke  with  fluency,  accuracy  and  elegance.  As  his  head 
was  bald  and  finely  shaped,  his  nose  aquiline,  and  his 
countenance  remarkable  for  its  expression,  he  was  called 
by  a  gentleman  of  taste  and  learning,  in  compliment  to  his 
manner  and  appearance,  the  Bald  Eagle  of  the  Boston  seat, 
an  appellation  by  which  he  was  afterwards  familiarly 
known.  The  doctor  entered  with  great  zeal  into  the  po- 
litical events  of  his  time,  and  was  popular,  until  his  opin- 
ions in  regard  to  Jay's  treaty  and  the  French  revolution, 
left  him  in  the  minority.  He  favored  tlie  cause  of  France 
through  all  her  mutations,  and,  whether  in  democratic  dis- 
order or  under  imperial  misrule,  he  thought  her  success  was 
more  propitious  to  the  rights  of  man,  than  that  of  her  alli- 
ed enemies  ;  and  that  there  was  no  danger  of  changing  for 


316  JOHN   JEFFRIES. 

the  worse  by  breaking  the  galling  chains  of  the  old  govern- 
ments. Upon  the  last  clay  of  his  existence,  when  he  had 
given  up  all  hopes  of  life,  he  remarked,  with  composure, 
tliat  "  he  should  not  die,  like  a  certain  French  philoso- 
pher, who  boasted  that  he  died  without  hope  and  without 
fear  ;  for  though  he  should  die  without  fear,  he  should 
not  without  hope."  In  his  last  illness,  which  lasted  but 
two  or  three  days,  during  which  he  was  subjected  to  the 
most  excruciating  pain,  he  behaved  with  exemplary  pa- 
tience, fortitiule  and  resignation.  He  watched  the  progress 
of  his  own  disease  to  the  last,  and,  what  is  remarkable,  as 
he  raised  himself  up  in  his  bed,  he  remarked  "  I  am 
gone,  for  my  mind  wanders ;"  he  then  threw  himself 
out  of  his  bed,  with  much  muscular  strength,  rose  upon 
his  feet,  and  fell  dead  into  the  arms  of  an  attendant,  on  the 
15th  day  of  November,  1807. 

^>  JEFFRIES,  JOHN,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  at  Bos- 
ton on  the  5th  of  February,  1744.  He  was  the  third  son 
of  David  Jeffries,  Esq.  (who  for  more  than  thirty  years 
honorably  filled  the  office  of  town  treasurer)  and  Sarah, 
daughter  of  George  Jaffrey,  Esq.  of  Portsmouth.  At  an 
early  age  he  was  adopted  by  his  uncle,  the  Hon.  John  Jef- 
fries, who  placed  him  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Lovell,  a 
popular  and  experienced  tutor.  In  1759  he  entered  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  where  he  was  graduated  with  its 
first  honors,  and  immediately  afterwards  commenced  his 
medical  studies  under  Dr.  Lloyd. 

The  smallpox,  which  raged  at  this  period  with  uncom- 
mon violence,  afforded  him  an  ample  field  for  observation 
and  improvement.  A  close  and  careful  investigation  of 
this  disease  induced  him  to  consider  it  as  one  of  the  most 
important  that  could  afflict  mankind  ;  not  on  account  of 
its  general  fatality,  but  because  its  regular  stages  furnished 
data,  which  tended  to  elucidate  many  of  those  anomalous 
symptoms  of  other  diseases,  that  perplex  and  baffle  the 
most  experienced  practitioners  ;  and  the  principles  he  de- 
duced therefrom,  as  he  has  remarked  frequently,  "  stood 
him  in  good  stead"  at  the  bedside  of  his  patients.  While 
■under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  Mr.  Jeffries  was  sent  by 
his  instructer  to  attend  the  Smallpox  Hospital  on  Castle 
Island,  where  the  following  accidental  occurrence  afford- 
ed him  an  opportunity  of  evincing  that  peculiar  talent  of 
attributing  effects  to  their  proper  causes,  and  of  founding 
rational  theories  on  practical  observations,  which  subse* 


r    'W^:. 


>/<'A',-/r   iy    Ore-en 


eU  (0)  M^T  uD  rw  WW  RIDE  S .  M  B 


JOHN    JEFFRIES.  317 

quently  marked  the  course  of  a  long  and  successful  pro- 
fessional career.  Four  of  his  patients,  in  the  delirium  of 
the  most  active  stage  of  smallpox,  escaping  from  their 
attendants,  proceeded  across  the  flats  and  plunged  into  the 
channel  ;  they  were,  however,  rescued  from  the  water  and 
brought  back  to  their  apartments  ;  favorable  symptoms 
immediately  succeeded,  and,  although  many  of  the  other 
patients  fell  victims  to  the  malignity  of  the  disease,  these 
all  speedily  recovered.  Reflecting  deeply  on  the  manner 
in  which  this  beneficial  efiect  was  produced,  Mr.  Jeffries 
was  convinced  that  the  popular  mode  of  treating  inflam- 
matory affections  was  erroneous,  and  he  therefore  success- 
fully resorted  to  the  antiphlogistic  practice,  before  advo- 
cated and  since  adopted  by  the  most  distinguished  practi- 
tioners of  Europe. 

The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  having  been  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Mr.  Jeflfries 
arrived  at  that  important  period  when  the  principles  he 
had  imbibed  as  a  pupil^  were^to  be  submitted  to  the  test 
of  more  extensive  professional  practice  ;  on  their  correct- 
ness and  efiicacy  depended  every  hope  of  future  success  : 
the  event  exceeded  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  Un- 
aided by  friends,  and  devoid  of  private  patronage,  he 
speedily  obtained,  by  his  merit  and  exertions,  a  considera- 
ble share  of  town  and  country  practice.  The  first  entry 
in  his  professional  day  book,  of  which  the  whole  is  ex- 
tant, was  made  on  the  16th  of  March,  1766,  from  which 
time  his  emoluments  were  progressively  increasing. 

But  notwithstanding  these  flattering  prospects,  his  am- 
bition to  excel  in  his  profession  impelled  him  to  visit  the 
medical  schools  of  Europe  ;  he  accordingly  embarked  for 
England,  and  placed  himself  under  the  tuition  of  Dr. 
William  Saunders,  whose  lectures  on  chemistry  and  on  the 
theory  and  practice  of  physic,  have  been  justly  celebrated 
He  also  sedidously  attended  two  courses  of  lectures  on 
anatomy  and  surgery,  by  Mr.  Joseph  Else  ;  twelve  courses 
on  the  theory  and  practice  of  midwifery,  by  Dr.  Colin 
Macken?:ie  ;  and  ofliciated  for  twelve  months,  as  dresser  at 
Guy's  Hospital,  under  Messrs.  Way,  Smith,  Else  and 
Martin.  From  all  these  distinguished  professors  he  then 
received  testimonials  of  approbation,  and  subsequently  en- 
joyed their  friendship  and  esteem.  On  the  first  of  June, 
1769,  having  written  and  defended  a  Latin  dissertation, 
the   University  of  Aberdeen  conferred  on  him  the  degree 


318  JOHN    JEFFRIES. 

of  Doctor  of  Physic,  he  being,  as  it  is  believed,  the  first 
native  of  the  American  provinces  who  obtained  that  hon- 
orable rank. 

In  the  same  year  he  recommenced  his  professional  labors 
in  Boston,  with  very  great  success.  His  friend.  Admiral 
Montague,  commander  in  chief  of  the  naval  forces  on  the 
North  American  station,  appointed  him  in  1771  assistant 
surgeon  of  the  Captain,  ship  of  the  line,  then  lying  in  the 
harbor,  and  having  her  hospital  on  shore,  which  he  regu- 
larly attended  until  the  30th  of  June,  1774,  when  the  ves- 
sel changing  her  station.  Captain  Symonds,  her  command- 
er, sent  him  a  handsome  written  acknowledgment  of  the 
benefits  which  the  service  had  derived  from  the  exercise 
of  his  skill  in  surgery  and  medicine.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  American  revolution,  having  previously  acquired 
the  principal  share  of  military  patronage,  he  was  profess- 
ionally engaged  by  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  British 
forces  ;  and  many  of  those  who  w^ere  wounded  at  the 
dreadful  conflict  on  Bunker's  Hill,  both  Americans  and 
British,  experienced  the  advantage  of  his  skill  and  atten- 
tion. He  identified  to  General  Howe,  the  lifeless  body  of 
the  lamented  Warren. 

The  British  garrison  having  evacuated  Boston,  Dr.  Jef- 
fries accompanied  their  general  to  Halifax,  who  on  the 
24th  of  May,  1778,  conferred  on  him  the  appointment  of 
Surgeon  General  to  the  forces  in  Nova  Scotia,  to  which  on 
the  21st  of  August,  1778,  was  added  by  his  friend,  Gen- 
eral Eyre  Massey,  commander  in  chief  of  the  province, 
that  of  Purveyor  General  to  the  Hospitals  ;  and  in  De- 
cember following,  he  received  from  the  British  govern- 
ment the  rank  and  pay  of  Apothecary  General.  While  he 
filled  these  important  stations,  and  largely  benefited  by 
their  incidental  private  practice,  he  eagerly  availed  him- 
self of  every  opportunity  to  alleviate  the  afflictions  of  his 
captured  countrymen,  as  appears  from  the  numerous 
grateful  letters  and  other  documents  found  among  his  pa- 
pers. The  commander  in  chief  ordered  fifteen  hundred 
men  to  be  inoculated  for  the  smallpox  at  one  time,  which 
was  accomplished  without  any  loss,  for  which  service  he 
received  a  letter  of  thanks  and  voluntary  certificate  sent 
by  General  Massey  when  about  to  sail  for  Europe.  Hav- 
ing obtained  leave  to  return  to  Europe,  he  and  his  family 
embarked  on  board  the  Iris  frigate,  commanded  by  his 
intimate  acquaintance,   Captain  Keppel  ;  and,  after  a  dan- 


JOHN    JEFFRIES.  319 

geroiis  voyage  of  twenty -eight  days,  landed  at  Portsmouth 
on  the  28th  of  March,  1779. 

His  stay  in  England,  however,  was  but  of  short  dura- 
tion. His  friend  General  Massey  had  spoken  so  favora- 
bly of  his  abilities  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  other 
leading  members  of  the  government,  that  he  was  ordered 
to  be  examined  at  Surgeon's  Hall  on  the  first  day  of  July 
following,  preparatory  to  his  receiving  the  appointment  of 
Surgeon  Major  to  the  forces  in  America,  a  newly  created 
office.  He  accordingly  underwent  a  rigid  examination  by 
the  celebrated  John  Hunter  and  other  distinguished  pro- 
fessors, at  the  conclusion  of  which  he  was  told  by  the 
president,  Mr.  Hunter,  that  his  answers  and  observations 
did  infinite  honor,  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  his  instruct- 
ers,  and  that  he  would  be  reported  in  every  way  qualified 
for  the  important  office  for  which  he  was  destined  by 
government.  Mr.  Hunter  invited  him  to  attend  a  capi- 
tal operation  which  he  was  about  to  perform  ;  and,  during 
the  remainder  of  his  stay  in  London,  he  daily  witnessed 
the  operations  and  dissections  of  that  eminent  surgeon. 
Having  received  his  commission,  he  embarked  on  board 
the  Raleigh  frigate,  Captain  Gambier,  on  the  4th  day  of 
October,  1779,  and  sailed  in  company  with  the  Richmond 
for  Cork,  to  collect  a  fleet  of  transports  which  they  were 
to  convoy  across  the  Atlantic.  Here  he  had  the  happiness 
of  meeting  his  esteemed  friend  General  Massey,  now  com- 
mander in  chief  on  this  station,  whose  former  kindness  he 
partly  repaid  by  essential  professional  services. 

Contrary  winds  and  the  delays  incident  to  collecting  a 
fleet  of  transports,  detained  the  Raleigh  and  Richmond  at 
Cork  for  a  considerable  time,  during  which  Dr.  Jefiries 
was  actively  and  profitably  employed  by  the  military  and 
by  numerous  families  in  the  vicinity  ;  from  some  of  whom 
he  obtained  recommendatory  letters  to  the  commanding 
officers  and  other  distinguished  persons  in  America. 

At  length  he  re-embarked,  and  proceeding  to  sea  on  the 
24th  of  December,  arrived  at  Savannah  on  the  1 7th  of  the 
succeeding  February  ;  here,  however,  he  did  not  land,  but 
proceeded  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  on  the  11th 
of  March  joined  the  grand  army  under  Sir  Henry  Clinton, 
who  ordered  him  back  to  Savannah,  where  his  services 
were  urgently  required,  numerous  important  surgical  ope- 
rations waiting  his  arrival.  The  opportunity  he  here  en- 
joyed of  observing  the  progress  of  inflammation  and  dis- 


320  JOHN   JEFFRIES. 

ease  in  a  hot  climate,  materially  benefited  his  future  prac- 
tice, particularly  during  the  torrid  summers  of  his  native 
state. 

He  now  received  intelligence  of  a  severe  domestic 
affliction,  which  rendered  him  extremely  anxious  to  return 
to  England.  As  a  preparatory  step,  he  solicited  and,  with 
some  difficulty,  obtained  an  order  for  his  removal  to  New- 
York,  where,  after  having  again  visited  Charleston,  he 
arrived  in  the  Beaumont  man  of  war,  on  the  14th  of  July, 
1 780,  and  was  immediately  employed  at  the  head  of  the 
surgical  department.  His  private  practice  also  became  so 
extensive,  that  he  received  from  Dr.  Baillie,  who  has 
since  become  one  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  Eu- 
rope, very  advantageous  proposals  to  join  him  in  a  per- 
manent medical  establishment  ;  the  motives  which  urged 
him  to  visit  England  were  irresistible.  Having  resigned 
his  commission  in  favor  of  Mr.  Loring,  surgeon  of  the 
hospital,  he  obtained  a  passage  on  board  the  Yarmouth  of 
sixty-four  guns,  and,  much  to  the  regret  of  his  American 
friends,  recrossed  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  on  the  26th  of 
December,  1 780,  safely  landed  at  Falmouth.  Soon  after 
his  return  he  was  appointed  by  Lord  McCartney  as  his 
private  physician  and  head  of  the  medical  staff  then  about 
to  embark  for  India,  a  situation  which  in  a  short  period 
would  have  afforded  extensive  wealth  and  gratified  every 
wish  for  fame  ;  but  his  love  for  his  native  place  and  the 
hopes  of  returning  there,  prevailed  over  these  flattering 
prospects,  and  it  was  accordingly  declined. 

The  following  anecdote  evinced  a  laudable  state  of  feel- 
ing in  relation  to  liis  professional  obligations.  He  had 
become  particularly  acquainted  with  a  family  of  high 
rank  and  station  in  consequence  of  preserving  the  life  of  a 
son  in  his  own  country.  During  one  of  his  visits  he  wit- 
nessed much  suffering  from  the  advice  of  an  eminent  pro- 
fessional gentleman  to  one  of  the  family  ;  he  promptly 
interposed,  and  immediately  afforded  the  relief  which  he 
asserted  was  withheld  from  indolence  under  the  weight  of 
a  great  name.  On  the  following  morning  he  received  a 
note  requesting  him  to  consider  himself  as  the  physician 
of  the  family,  and  was  informed  that  a  chariot  was  at  the 
door  which  he  must  accept,  as  they  could  not  be  regularly 
attended  by  a  physician  who  walked.  This  he  promptly, 
but  courteously,  declined,  observing  that  he  wished  to 
stand  upon  his  own  merit,  and  not  to  rise  by  the  adventi- 


JOHN    JEFFRIES.  321 

tioiis  aids  to  which  some  of  the  profession  resorted.  In 
the  course  of  iiis  practice  in  America,  Dr.  Jeffries  had 
essentially  benefited  the  honorable  Captain  Fielding,  who 
gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his  relation.  Lady 
Charlotte  Finch.  This  lady  filling  an  exalted  station  in 
the  house  of  the  Queen,  her  patronage  and  influence  were 
extensive,  and  slie  gratefully  exerted  both  in  the  service  of 
her  relation's  benefactor.  She  introduced  and  strongly 
recommended  him  to  the  royal  physicians,  Drs.  Turton 
and  Warren,  from  both  of  whom  he  subsequently  receiv- 
ed much  kindness  and  attention.  They  consulted  with 
him  as  to  the  best  means  of  promoting  his  future  interests  : 
Dr.  Warren  advised  him  to  conform  to  the  usual  custom 
of  the  metropolis,  and  confine  himself  to  a  particular  de- 
partment of  the  profession.  Although  of  opinion  that  the 
several  branches,  in  as  much  as  they  tended  to  elucidate 
and  assist  each  other,  should  always  be  united,  he  thought 
it  prudent  to  follow  this  friendly  advice,  and  finally  de- 
termined to  confine  his  attention  to  midwifery  and  the 
diseases  of  children.  His  American  friends,  however,  in- 
sisted upon  his  violating  this  determination,  and  he  in 
consequence  procured  a  special  license  to  practice  also  in 
surgery  and  medicine. 

He  was  busily  engaged  at  this  time,  not  only  in  storing 
his  mind  with  useful  professional  knowledge,  but  in  phi- 
losophical enquiry  and  scientific  research.  Pursuing  such 
objects  he  was  led  to  undertake  two  aerial  voyages,  which 
originated  in  an  ardent  desire  to  ascertain  experimentally 
the  correctness  of  certain  preconceived  hypotheses  relative 
to  atmospheric  temperature  and  the  practicability  of  some 
aerostatic  improvements  which  had  suggested  themselves 
to  his  inventive  imagination.  The  first  voyage  was  on 
the  13th  of  November,  1784,  from  the  Rhedorium  near 
Grosvenor  Square,  London,  into  the  Parish  of  Stowe  in 
the  county  of  Kent.  The  second  voyage  was  on  the  7th 
of  January,  1785,  from  the  cliffs  of  Dover  across  the  Bri- 
tish channel  into  the  forest  of  Guines  in  the  Province  of 
Artois  in  France,  and  was  the  first  successful  attempt  to 
cross  the  sea  par  la  route  de  Pair.  These  engagements 
were  not  without  professional  advantages  ;  for,  besides 
procuring  him  the  notice  of  the  King  of  France,  the 
personal  civilities  of  the  unfortunate  Maria  Antoinette, 
and  the  friendship  of  the  Duke  of  Dorset,  the  Britisli 
ambassador,  they  obtained  him  an  introduction  to  all  the 
41 


322  JOHN   JEFFRIES. 

learned  and  scientific  societies  of  Paris,  of  which  he  was 
elected  an  honorary  member,  and  facilitated  his  access  to 
the  medical  and  anatomical  schools  of  that  intellectual 
metropolis.  But  his  duty  to  his  patients  in  England,  urg- 
ed his  speedy  return  to  that  country.  He  drew  up  a  pa- 
per, detailing  the  result  of  his  various  experiments,  and 
presented  it  to  the  Royal  Society,  before  whom  it  was 
read  with  much  approbation.  Dr.  Blagden,  secretary  of 
that  learned  body,  had  assisted  him  with  many  valuable 
hints  previously  to  his  first  ascension,  and  was  subsequent- 
ly most  active  in  promoting  his  professional  interests,  ob- 
serving that  a  private  individual,  who  had  voluntarily 
expended  so  large  a  sum  in  the  cause  of  useful  science,  was 
truly  worthy  of  public  patronage.  The  collateral  benefits 
that  resulted  from  his  aerial  expeditions,  were  greater  than 
he  expected  ;  they  secured  him  the  interest  of  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  Duchess  of 
Devonshire,  and  other  powerful  friends. 

His  practice  and  his  reputation  rapidly  increased  from 
this  period  until  the  summer  of  1789,  when  he  received 
letters  urging  the  necessity  of  his  immediately  repairing 
to  Boston,  to  secure  some  property  which  had  devolved 
to  him  by  the  death  of  a  near  relative  ;  in  compliance 
with  which  he  embarked  on  board  the  ship  Lucretia,  on 
the  13th  of  August,  in  that  year,  and  on  the  11th  of  No- 
vember following  arrived  in  his  native  town.  He  was 
affectionately  welcomed  by  his  earliest  medical  instructer 
and  many  others,  for  whom,  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  he 
had  formed  a  sincere  attachment.  The  entreaties  of  his 
friends,  and  the  love  of  his  native  town,  prevailed  over 
his  successful  practice  in  London,  and  on  the  11th  of  April, 
1 790,  he  resolved  to  establish  himself  once  more  as  a  med- 
ical practitioner  in  Boston.  The  political  animosities 
resulting  from  the  recent  successful  struggle  for  independ- 
ence had  not  yet  subsided  ;  and  few  individuals  who,  like 
him,  had  filled  offices  of  high  responsibility  under  the 
British  government,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  con- 
flict, would  have  ventured  to  make  an  experiment  of  such 
doubtful  success  ;  but  he  felt  that,  while  he  had  honorably 
discharged  his  duty  towards  those  in  whose  service  he  had 
been  before  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  he  had 
neglected  no  opportunity,  consistent  with  that  duty,  of 
benefiting  his  countrymen  ;  and  he  now  confidently  relied 
upon  their  justice  and   liberality.     To  the  honor  of  both 


JOHN    JEFFRIES.  S23 

parties,  this  confidence  was  amply  repaid  ;  and  he  Bi)eedily 
acquired  the  esteem  and  professional  patronage  of  a  large 
proportion  of  the  most  respectable  population  of  Boston 
and  its  vicinity. 

Dr.  Jeffries  was  eminent  as  a  surgeon,  midwife  and  phy- 
sician. He  became  early  attached  to  anatomy,  and,  it  is  be- 
lieved, delivered  the  first  public  lecture  in  this  branch  in 
Boston.  It  was,  however,  but  a  single  one  ;  for  on  the 
second  evening  a  mob  having  collected,  entered  his  anatom- 
ical room  and  carried  off  in  triumph  his  subject,  whicli  was 
the  body  of  a  convict  given  him  by  the  governor  after  ex- 
ecution. This  study  he  pursued  with  attention  up  to  the 
period  of  his  death  ;  many  of  his  most  valuable  prepara- 
tions were  made  but  a  few  years  before  his  decease.  From 
his  acquaintance  with  William  Hunter,  he  probably  adopt- 
ed the  principles  of  that  great  man.  His  surgical  records 
show  that  he  had  early  learned  that  but  little  action  was 
required  to  carry  inflammation  to  its  adhesive  stage  ;  his 
mode  of  dressing  after  operations  was  always  light  and 
cool.  He  was  opposed  to  the  knife  when  possible  to  avoid 
it,  averring  that  more  skill  was  required  to  save,  than  to 
remove  a  limb  ;  by  which  he  escaped  that  fondness  for 
operation  to  which  he  was  exposed  by  the  extent  of  his 
surgical  practice  in  the  English  hospitals.  Midwifery  he 
regarded  as  the  handmaid  of  medicine.  He  considered 
the  regular  constitutional  changes  effected  by  nature  in  the 
various  stages  of  gestation,  and  her  extraordinary  efforts 
to  afford  relief,  as  loadstars,  not  only  in  this  particular 
department  of  his  profession,  but  in  the  investigation  of 
other  constitutional  changes  under  nature's  guidance, 
which  his  intelligence  discovered  to  be  analogous.  In  the 
medical  department  he  was  much  afraid  of  visionary  spe 
culation.  He  was,  however,  an  ardent  promoter  of  phy- 
siological inquiry,  and  readily  adopted  rational  improve- 
ments. His  own  systems  in  medicine  were  what  Lord  Ba- 
con's were  in  moral  philosophy  ;  being  chiefly  founded  on 
inductive  reasoning.  The  vast  importance  which  he  at- 
tached to  the  chylopoietic  viscera,  was  a  distinguishing 
peculiarity  of  his  physiological  opinions.  To  the  digest- 
ive organs  he  referred  for  an  explanation  of  many  of  the 
phenomena  in  the  animal  economy  ;  regarding  them  as 
the  emanating  point  of  most  morbid  affections,  lie  Avas  en- 
abled to  establish  those  pathological  principles  u])onwlu(li 
was  founded  the  successful  administration  of  cathartic 
remedies. 


334  JOHN    JOIfES. 

The  sick  chamber  was  the  point  to  which  all  his  attain- 
ments were  made  to  bear,  and  for  this  he  was  particularly 
qualified,  not  only  by  the  experience  of  practice,  but  by 
the  more  solid  experience  of  reflection.  The  name  of  the 
disease  lost  much  of  its  weight  when  he  prescribed  ;  the 
actual  state  of  the  system  at  the  time  was  the  subject  of 
investigation  and  the  object  of  relief. 

He  was  never  known  to  refuse  a  professional  call,  but 
bestowed  his  attentions  indiscriminately  on  the  poor  and 
the  rich.  This  enabled  him  to  educate  a  large  number  of 
pupils,  and  gave  them  what  he  considered  most  highly 
necessary,  a  good  opportunity  for  practical  improvement. 
Had  he  been  fond  of  public  life,  his  talents,  attainments  and 
attention  would  have  added  much  more  to  his  public  use- 
fulness :  but  he  resisted  every  effort  of  his  friends  to  place 
him  before  the  public  as  a  professor  or  as  an  author.  A 
proof  of  liis  industry  is  found  in  the  fact  that  he  kept  for 
more  than  forty  years  a  surgical  diary  of  all  but  unimpor- 
tant cases  ;  a  medical  diary  of  every  serious  affection  ;  a 
history  of  nearly  two  thousand  cases  in  midwifery  ;  and 
a  meteorological  journal  noted  three  times  a  day. 

After  an  uninterrupted  and  successful  practice  of  fifty- 
three  years,  he  was  seized  with  an  inflammation  in  his 
bowels,  originating  in  a  hernia,  occasioned  by  great  exer- 
tions in  his  first  aerial  voyage  ;  which  defying  the  skill  of 
able  and  friendly  brethren,  he  died  on  the  16th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1819,  aged  76,  deeply  lamented,  but  most  by  those 
who  knew  him  best. 

.  JONES,  JOHN,  M.D.  The  family  of  Dr.  Jones  was 
of  Welsh  extraction,  and  of  the  religious  society  of 
Friends.  His  grandfather,  Edward  Jones,  who  was  a  phy- 
sician of  eminence  in  his  native  country,  married  Mary, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Thomas  Wynne,  who  was  likewise 
a  physician,  and  one  of  the  original  settlers  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Their  son  Evan,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  these  me- 
moirs, studied  medicine  with  his  father,  and  practised  it 
many  years  in  Merion  ;  for  causes  not  known  he  removed 
to  the  city  of  New-York,  and  afterwards  to  Long  Island, 
and  there  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson, by  whom  he  had  four  sons  ;  John,  Thomas, 
Evan  and  James. 

John  Jones  was  born  in  the  town  of  Jamaica,  Long 
Island,  in  tlie  year  1729  ;  and  received  his  education  partly 


JOHN   JONES.  325 

from  his  excellent  parents,  but  chiefly  at  a  private  school 
in  the  city  of  New-York.  He  was  early  led,  both  by  the 
advice  of  his  father  and  his  own  inclination,  to  the  study 
of  medicine,  and  was  placed  under  the  care  of  the  late 
Dr.  Thomas  Cadwallader,  of  Philadelphia,  with  whom  he 
continued  during  the  period  of  his  studies  in  this  country. 
Dr.  Jones  early  indicated  an  attachment  for  that  profes- 
sion, which  at  a  subsequent  period  he  cultivated  with  so 
much  ardor,  by  his  fondness  for  anatomical  researches  ; 
and  though,  as  it  may  be  readily  supposed,  these  could 
only  be  of  the  comparative  kind,  yet  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  this  love  for  pursuits  of  the  same  nature,  has 
been  noticed  in  the  youth  of  some  of  the  most  distinguish- 
ed anatomists  that  ever  lived. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  began  to  study  medi- 
cine under  the  above  mentioned  physician.  This  country 
then  afforded  no  opportunity,  by  means  of  public  institu- 
tions, of  increasing  the  knowledge  of  the  student.  The 
private  practice  of  physicians  was  almost  the  only  source 
from  whence  the  student  could  derive  any  practical  infor- 
mation ;  to  this  Dr.  Jones  paid  the  greatest  attention,  and 
I  have  heard  that  his  preceptor  bore  testimony  to  the  assi- 
duity and  marks  of  early  genius  in  his  pupil  ;  and  pre- 
dicted from  them  his  future  eminence  in  his  profession. 

After  completing  his  studies  in  this  country.  Dr.  Jones 
visited  Europe,  in  order  to  improve  himself  still  further 
in  his  profession.  He  first  went  to  London,  and  there  at- 
tended the  lectures  of  Dr.  William  Hunter,  M'Kenzie,  and 
others,  who  were  then  eminent  in  the  several  branches 
which  they  taught ;  and  the  practice  of  the  different  hos- 
pitals, particularly  that  of  St.  Bartholomew,  of  which 
Mr.  Pott  was  senior  surgeon,  and  in  the  height  of  reputa- 
tion. From  London  he  went  to  France,  where  he  arrived 
in  May  1751  ;  and  obtained  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Medi- 
cine from  the  University  of  Rheims.  He  then  proceeded 
to  Paris,  where  he  remained  until  the  month  of  April  in 
the  following  year  ;  and  attended  the  anatomical  lectures 
of  Mr.  Petit  and  the  practice  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  of  which 
well  known  institution,  Messrs.  Le  Cat  and  Le  Dran  were 
then  surgeons.  He  afterwards  spent  some  time  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Leyden,  and  finally  visited  Edinburgh,  which 
completed  his  medical  tour. 

Under  masters  like  these,  and  enjoying  such  opportu- 
nities, he  could  not  fail,  with  the  assiduity  which  he  em- 


326  JOHN   JONES. 

ployed,  of  acquiring  all  the  knowledge  at  that  time  to 
be  obtained.  In  consequence  of  the  zeal  which  he  showed 
in  the  acquisition  of  every  species  of  useful  knowledge, 
he  attracted  the  notice  of  the  above  celebrated  surgeons, 
which  was  of  essential  benefit  to  him  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  studies  :  to  Mr.  Pott  in  particular  he  considered  him- 
selfgunder  peculiar  obligations  for  the  marks  of  friendship 
he  experienced  from  him. 

During  the  prosecution  of  his  studies  in  Europe,  Dr. 
Jones  was  industrious  in  collecting  all  the  useful  informa- 
tion in  his  power,  especially  upon  those  branches  of  sci- 
ence more  immediately  connected  with  his  profession. 
To  anatomy,  as  the  handmaid  of  surgery,  and  the  basis  of 
medical  science,  he  paid  the  greatest  attention  ;  but  he  did 
not  suffer  this  to  engross  the  whole  of  his  time  ;  convinced 
of  the  intimate  connexion  between  the  different  branches 
of  the  profession,  he  considered  the  separation  of  them 
as  highly  detrimental  to  the  progress  of  the  science,  and 
therefore  believed  that  a  knowledge  of  the  one  part,  was 
indispensably  requisite  to  a  right  understanding  of  the 
other. 

Upon  the  return  of  Dr.  Jones  to  this  country,  he  settled 
in  New-York,  where  his  abilities  soon  procured  him  ex- 
tensive practice.  To  the  profession  of  surgery,  in  parti- 
cular, he  devoted  much  attention :  he  was  the  first  who 
performed  the  operation  of  lithotomy  in  that  city,  and 
succeeded  so  well  in  several  cases  that  offered  shortly  after 
his  return,  that  his  fame  as  an  operator  became  generally 
known  throughout  the  middle  and  eastern  states  of  Ame- 
rica. The  operation  had  likewise  been  frequently  attempt- 
ed in  the  other  states  ;  but  the  want  of  success  attending 
it  was  generally  so  great,  as  to  prevent  it  from  being  per- 
formed there  in  future  ;  the  fortunate  manner,  however, 
in  which  those  cases  under  his  care  succeeded,  fully  prov- 
ed that  it  was  no  longer  the  dangerous  operation  many 
had  been  made  to  apprehend,  an  opinion  which  induced 
them  rather  to  submit  to  a  miserable  life,  than  to  suffer 
the  risk  of  falling  a  sacrifice  to  the  means  instituted  for 
their  relief. 

In  the  year  1 755,  during  the  existence  of  a  war  between 
France  and  the  colonies,  as  a  part  of  the  British  domin- 
ions, a  considerable  alarm  was  occasioned  by  the  report  of 
an  intended  attack  of  the  enemy  upon  the  frontiers  of  the 
state  ;  and  Dr.  Jones,  among  others,  entered  as  a  volunteer 


JOHN   JONES.  327 

surgeon  to  the  troops  raised  upon  the  occasion.  In  that 
capacity  lie  served  with  distinguished  reputation  until  the 
close  of  the  campaign.  In  a  severe  repulse  which  the 
French  suffered  on  the  borders  of  Lake  George,  from  the 
American  and  British  troops  under  Sir  William  Johnson, 
General  Dieskau,  commander  of  the  French,  was  danger- 
ously wounded,  and  being  taken  prisoner,  immedately 
placed  himself  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Jones,  who  carefully 
attended  him  for  a  considerable  time  in  New-York.*  At 
the  close  of  the  campaign  he  again  returned  to  private 
practice  with  increased  reputation  ;  and  some  years  after, 
upon  the  establishment  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Philadelphia,  was  elected  one  of  its  first  members. 

Upon  the  institution  of  a  medical  school  in  the  College 
of  New- York,  Dr.  Jones  was  appointed  professor  of  sur- 
gery, upon  which  branch  he  gave  several  courses  of  lec- 
tures, and  thereby  diifused  a  taste  for  it  among  the  stu- 
dents, and  made  known  the  improved  modes  of  practice 
lately  adopted  in  Europe,  with  which  most  of  the  prac- 
titioners in  this  country  were  entirely  unacquainted. 
Viewing  tljie  science  in  an  enlarged  and  honorable  light, 
as  tending  to  the  alleviation  and  abridgment  of  human 
misery,  he  taught  his  pupils  to  despise  the  servile  conduct 
of  those,  who  consider  the  profession  as  worthy  of  cultiva- 
tion, only  in  proportion  to  the  emoluments  which  it 
yields  ;  and  to  rely  upon  the  solidity  of  their  own  endow- 
ments, as  the  best  security  of  general  esteem,  and  for 
acquisition  of  business.  He  could  with  propriety  recom- 
mend the  pursuit  of  this  conduct  to  others,  having  in  his 
own  person  furnished  an  instance  of  its  success,  and  on  an 
occasion  also,  which,  though  trifling  in  itself,  deserves  to 
be  recorded  as  a  proof  of  the  triumph  of  abilities  over 
ignorance  and  pride. 

At  an  early  date  of  Dr.  Jones's  settlement  in  New-York, 
some  of  the  physicians  entered  into  a  resolution  to  distin- 
guish themselves  from  the  rest  of  their  fellow  citizens  by 
a  particular  mode  of  wearing  their  hair  ;  and  among  the 
rest,  it  was  proposed  to  Dr.  Jones  ;  but  instead  of  reeeiv- 

*  Professor  Silliman  in  his  tour  to  Canada,  in  a  note  n»akes  a  query  as  to  the 
death  of  Baron  Dieskau.  It  appears  in  the  Pennsylvania  Journal,  January  14th, 
1768,  that  the  Baron  died  at  Surene,  in  France,  on  the  8tli  September,  1768.  His 
death  is  said  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  wounds  he  received  on  the  8th  Sep- 
tember, 1755,  in  the  battle  of  Lake  George.  His  name  was  John  Harmahd,aB(i 
he  had  attained  the  high  rank  of  Lieut.  General  in  the  French  army. 


328  JOHN   JONES. 

ing  his  assent,  the  principle  of  it  was  strongly  opposed  by 
him.  Persuaded  of  the  dignity  of  the  medical  chai-acter 
in  itself,  he  did  not  see  the  need  of  calling  in  artificial  aid 
to  increase  it,  and  therefore  refused  to  consent  to  the  plan, 
and  insisted  upon  the  great  impropriety  of  establishing 
any  external  mark  to  distinguish  them  from  the  rest  of 
mankind.  He  declared  at  the  same  time,  that  he  consid- 
ered that  and  every  similar  means  to  impose  upon  the 
weakness  or  credulity  of  others,  as  unworthy  the  members 
of  a  liberal  profession,  and  as  intended  to  enforce  that 
attention  and  respect,  which  their  own  conduct  and  abili- 
ties should  always  command.  While  the  rest  of  the  prac- 
titioners, therefore,  were  seen  strutting  about  in  their  new 
fashioned  bob,  Dr.  Jones  could  not  be  distinguished  from 
any  well  bred  gentleman  of  another  profession.  It  might 
be  naturally  supposed  that  the  persons  who  were  weak 
enough  to  enter  into  the  resolution,  would  likewise  be 
capable  of  the  low  passion  of  envy,  and  seek  for  a  proper 
occasion  of  revenge  upon  those  who  should  dissent.  This 
was  actually  the  case  in  the  present  instance  ;  for  the 
consequence  of  Dr.  Jones's  refusal  to  adopt  the  plan,  was 
an  agreement  among  the  rest,  not  to  consult  with  him. 
This  resolution,  however,  was  of  but  little  avail  ;  for  one 
of  the  associates,  on  expressing  this  determination  to  a 
respectable  citizen  in  whose  sick  room  they  happened  to 
meet,  was,  to  his  great  mortification,  unexpectedly  dis- 
missed, and  Dr.  Jones  was  retained.  Such  a  compliment, 
paid  to  the  abilities  of  a  young  man,  must  have  been  flat- 
tering in  the  extreme  ;  and  so  effectually  did  the  disclos- 
ure of  the  scene  operate,  and  so  general  was  the  ridicule 
which  followed,  that  the  object  of  the  association  was  en- 
tirely defeated  ;  and  the  members  were  under  the  necessity 
of  wearing  their  hair  like  the  rest  of  their  fellow  citizens. 
The  same  principle  which  actuated  Dr.  Jones  in  the 
trifling  circumstance  of  refusing  to  distinguish  himself 
from  the  rest  of  his  fellow  citizens,  by  any  peculiar  self 
created  badge,  actuated  him  in  matters  upon  a  larger 
scale.  Pure  in  his  principles  as  a  republican,  he  consid- 
ered titles  as  the  pageantry  of  coxcombs,  and  like  the 
royal  stamp  set  upon  false  coin  ;  by  covering  much  base 
metal,  instead  of  creating  respect,  they  serve  to  detract 
from  the  little  honor  to  which  their  possessors  might  oth- 
erwise be  entitled. 


JOHN    JONES.  o29 

For  a  considerable  part  of  the  previous  life  of  Dr. 
Jones,  he  had  been  afflicted  by  tlie  asthma,  and  for  a  long 
time  had  struggled  to  overcome  that  painful  disease  ;  but 
the  exertions  of  both  his  own  skill,  and  of  the  rest  of  his 
medical  brethren,  in  most  parts  of  the  continent,  had 
hitherto  proved  ineffectual  towards  even  his  relief.  He 
determined  therefore  to  take  a  voyage  to  Europe,  and 
accordingly  sailed  for  London.  Here,  in  a  thick  smoke, 
and  an  impure  atmosphere  where  so  many  asthmatics  have 
found  such  remarkable  benefit,  he  also  experienced  a  con- 
siderable alleviation  of  his  complaint  ;  and  probably  the 
permanent  alteration  in  his  health  which  he  afterwards 
enjoyed,  may  in  some  measure  be  attributed  to  the  effects 
of  his  residence  in  London.  He  also  employed  himself 
during  his  continuance  in  the  metropolis  in  collecting  sub- 
scriptions for  a  hospital  in  New-York,  which  he  had  been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  establishing. 

In  London  he  again  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  his 
friend  Mr.  Pott,  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  and  of  re- 
newing that  intercourse  which  liad  been  previously  com- 
menced between  them.  He  had  now  been  for  some  years  left 
to  the  guidance  of  his  own  judgment  ;  but,  unlike  many 
who  suppose  all  knowledge  to  become  stationary  at  the 
time  of  their  leaving  college,  he  was  still  willing  to  be 
taught  by  those  who  had  formerly  been  his  instructers, 
and  who,  from  the  greater  opportunities  they  enjoyed, 
would  be  enabled  to  afford  him  much  information.  Eager 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  whenever  and  wherever 
it  was  to  be  obtained,  he  again  attended  the  lectures  of 
his  old  master  Dr.  Hunter,  and  those  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Pott,  who  lost  no  opportunity  of  showing  the  consistency 
between  liis  professions  and  proofs  of  respect  :  during  his 
short  stay  there  he  paid  Dr.  Jones  the  most  particular 
attention,  and  presented  him  with  a  complete  copy  of  his 
lectures,  just  before  his  departure  from  London.  His 
kindness,  however,  did  not  end  here  ;  for  in  the  frequent 
applications  which  he  received  for  advice  from  all  parts 
of  this  country,  in  difficult  and  important  cases,  he  never 
failed  to  recommend  his  old  pupil,  as  capable  of  affording 
any  relief  to  be  derived  from  surgical  assistance.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  his  attendance  was  frequently  desired  in 
the  different  states  ;  and  while  he  showed  by  his  skill  ;ind 
success  that  the  opinion  which  had  been  formed  of  him 
42 


330  JOHN   JONES. 

was  just,  his  fame  became  thereby  diffused  throughout  the 
continent  of  America. 

The  following  year  he  returned  to  his  native  country, 
the  political  situation  of  which  at  that  time  called  loudly 
for  the  exertions  of  all  her  citizens.  He  again  resumed 
his  lectures,  and  delivered  several  courses,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  next  year,  1775,  published  his  "  Plain  Re- 
marks upon  Wounds  and  Fractures,"  which  he  inscribed 
to  his  old  preceptor  Dr.  Cadwallader  in  a  neat  dedica- 
tion.* A  work  of  this  kind  which  would  give  the  young 
practitioner  clear  notions  of  the  improved  mode  of  treat- 
ing diseases,  without  embarrassing  him  with  refined  specu- 
lations or  useless  disquisitions,  was  much  wanted.  He 
attempted  no  systematic  arrangement  ;  but  simply  treated 
of  those  subjects,  to  which  the  attention  of  the  surgeons  of 
the  army  and  navy  would  be  most  continually  directed. 
No  present  could  have  been  more  acceptable  to  his  country, 
and  no  gift  more  opportunely  made  ;  for,  in  the  situation 
of  American  affairs,  many  persons  were  chosen  to  act  as 
surgeons,  who  from  their  few  opportunities,  and  their 
ignorance  of  the  improvements  that  had  lately  been  made 
in  practice,  were  but  ill  qualified  for  the  office.  His  well 
meant  endeavors  were  not  lost  ;  for  the  improvements 
which  he  made  known,  though  new  to  most  practitioners 
and  surgeons,  were  readily  adopted  when  recommended 
by  such  authority.  This  was  the  only  work  ever  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Jones  ;  it  might  have  indeed  been  readily 
supposed  that  more  would  have  come  from  his  pen,  con- 
sidering how  well  qualified  he  was  to  make  observations, 
and  to  impart  to  others  some  portion  of  that  knowledge 
of  which  he  himself  possessed  so  great  a  share.  Such  was 
actually  his  intention  ;  and  he  had  prepared  another  work 
for  the  press,  but  was  prevented  by  the  most  base  treache- 
ry from  giving  it  to  the  world.  This  was  a  complete  col- 
lection of  meteorological  observations,  made  for  ten  suc- 
cessive years  in  New -York,  with  an  account  of  the  reiffning 

*  In  the  dedication  to  Dr.  Cadwallader  we  have  a  good  specimen  of  the  public 
virtue  and  benevolence  of  the  author.  "  The  present  calamitous  situation  of  this 
once  happy  country,  in  a  peculiar  manner  demands  the  aid  and  assistance  of  every 
virtuous  citizen  :  and  though  few  men  are  possessed  of  those  superior  talents, 
which  are  requisite  to  heal  such  mighty  evils,  as  now  threaten  the  whole  body  poli- 
tic with  ruin  and  desolation,  yet  every  man  has  it  in  his  power  to  contribute  some- 
thing towards  so  desirable  an  end,  and  if  he  cannot  cure  the  fatal  disease  of  his 
unfortunate  country,  it  will,  at  least,  afford  him  some  consolation,  to  have  poui-ed 
a  little  balm  into  her  bleeding  wounds." 


JOHN    JONES.  331 

diseases  during  that  period  ;  which,  as  he  has  often  in- 
formed me,  was  ready  for  the  press  at  the  time  of  his 
departure  from  New-York,  when  he  placed  it,  together 
with  all  his  valuable  manuscripts  and  the  anatomical  pre- 
parations he  had  collected  during  his  two  voyages  to  Eu- 
rope, in  a  place  of  apparent  safety  in  a  neighboring  state  : 
and  in  safety  they  might  have  remained,  had  not  a  brother 
professor,  who  became  acquainted  with  the  circumstance 
and  knew  the  value  of  the  deposit,  perfidiously  seized  on 
it,  with  a  view  of  converting  it  to  his  own  profit  ;  by 
whom  the  whole  were  lost  to  the  world  and  himself. 

The  business  of  teaching,  as  well  as  of  private  practice, 
was  soon  after  interrupted  by  the  commotions  of  his  coun- 
try, and  by  the  actual  existence  of  the  storm,  which  had 
for  some  time  before  been  collecting  in  its  political  hori- 
zon. War  was  already  declared,  and  the  blood  of  hun- 
dreds had  been  shed  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  The  British 
army  having  taken  possession  of  New-York,  and  the  adja- 
cent country  becoming  the  seat  of  war.  Dr.  Jones,  with  all 
the  friends  to  the  American  cause,  had  previously  left  the 
city,  and  retired  to  some  distance  into  the  country.  Many 
of  his  friends  who  were  attached  to  the  British  interest, 
protested  against  this  measure  with  all  the  warmth  that  a 
sincere  esteem  and  disinterested  friendship  could  inspire  ; 
and  though  he  received  the  most  positive  assurances  of  not 
being  disturbed  on  account  of  his  political  principles,  if 
he  remained  in  the  city,  but  of  having  full  liberty  to  fol- 
low the  extensive  and  very  lucrative  business  in  which  he 
was  engaged,  he  refused  to  accept  the  oifer  of  protection, 
that  he  might  not  be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  wit- 
nessinof,  much  less  countenancinop  the  devastations  commit- 
ted  by  the  enemy.  Fully  convinced  of  the  danger  with 
which  the  liberties  of  America  were  threatened,  he  con- 
ceived it  criminal  even  to  be  a  silent  spectator  of  a  contest 
carried  on  against  a  country  that  gave  him  birth,  and 
therefore  accepted  of  a  seat  in  the  senate  of  New-York,  for 
the  southern  district,  to  which  he  was  appointed  by  the 
convention  chosen  for  the  organization  of  the  state  gov- 
ernment. When  he  could  no  longer  be  useful  in  his  legis- 
lative capacity,  he  exerted  his  professional  abilities  by 
entering  the  medical  department  of  the  army,  where  he 
rendered  important  services  to  his  suffering  fellow  sol- 
diers, by  healing  the  wounds  which  they  received  in  the 
cause  of  liberty.     But  this  liigldy  satisfactory  employment 


SB%  JOHN    JONES. 

was  of  a  short  duration  ;  for  the  natural  delicacy  of  his 
constitution  not  comporting  with  the  hardships  of  a  mili- 
tary life,  and  the  manifest  injury  his  health  had  already 
received,  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  return  again  to 
private  practice  ;  accordingly  on  the  evacuation  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  by  the  British  troops,  in  1778,  he 
went  thither,  and  found  that  during  a  short  stay  there  he 
enjoyed  so  much  freedom  from  the  asthma,  that  he  deter- 
mined to  take  up  his  future  residence  in  that  city.  In  the 
latter  end,  therefore,  of  the  following  year,  or  beginning 
of  1780,  he  removed  to  Philadelphia.  This  separation 
from  his  former  friends  and  acquaintances,  was,  as  might 
be  naturally  expected,  severe  in  the  extreme.  The  great 
alteration,  however,  in  the  state  of  his  health,  which  he 
had  observed  since  his  change  of  situation,  was  sufficient 
to  overbalance  every  other  consideration,  and  determined 
him  in  his  choice.  The  citizens  of  Philadelphia  were  not 
insensible  of  his  merits  ;  for  the  same  success  in  practice 
as  a  professional  man,  and  the  same  agreeable  manners  as 
a  gentleman,  which  placed  him  so  high  in  the  esteem  of 
his  fellow  citizens  at  New-York,  could  not  fail  of  attract- 
ing those  of  his  new  place  of  residence. 

On  the  resignation  of  Dr.  John  Redman,  as  one  of  the 
physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania  hospital,  in  the  year  1780, 
Dr.  Jones  was  unanimously  elected  by  the  managers  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  and  was  continued  in  office  until  the  time  of 
his  death.  In  liis  attendance  upon  this  institution  he 
was  as  remarkable  for  his  regularity,  as  for  the  success  of 
his  practice  ;  and  the  plain,  though  honorable  mention 
made  of  him  by  the  managers  in  their  minutes,  sufficiently 
testifies  the  sense  they  entertained  of  his  services  in  the 
cause  of  suffering  humanity.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
elected  first  president  of  the  Humane  Society. 

In  the  year  1786  the  attention  of  the  citizens  of  Phila- 
delphia was  called  to  the  poor  of  the  place,  who  at  that 
time  were  in  a  peculiar  and  distressing  situation  from  the 
want  of  proper  medical  assistance  wlien  sick.  The  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  which  previously  to  the  late  revolution 
used  to  contain  a  great  number  of  patients  at  a  time,  was 
prevented  from  extending  its  charity,  in  consequence  of 
the  loss  it  sustained  by  the  removal  of  many  who  were 
indebted  to  it,  and  by  the  depreciation  of  tlie  paper  bills 
of  credit  in  which  others  paid  the  sums  due  by  them  to 
the  institution.     In  consequence  of  this,  the  managers  were 


JOHN   JONES.  33S 

under  the  necessity  of  confining  within  narrow  limits  that 
charity  which  was  formerly  so  liberally  dispensed,  and 
many  poor  people  being  thus  precluded  from  proper  medi- 
cal attendance,  often  suffered  very  materially.  A  design 
was  therefore  formed  of  establishing  a  Dispensary,  by  sub- 
scription, from  which  the  poor  might  be  furnished  with 
medicines  at  their  own  houses,  and  attended  by  eminent 
physicians.  This  humane  plan  met  with  all  the  encour- 
agement which  it  deserved,  and  the  institution  was  in  a 
short  time  duly  organized.  A  number  of  physicians  and 
surgeons  were  appointed  constantly  to  attend  the  patients, 
and  others  of  longer  standing  in  the  profession  to  consult 
occasionally  with  the  former  in  extraordinary  and  difficult 
cases.  Among  the  latter  number  Dr.  Jones  was  elected, 
and  annually  rechosen  until  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  the  succeeding  year  the  physicians  of  Philadelphia, 
influenced  by  the  many  advantages  which  have  arisen  in 
every  country  from  well  conducted  literary  institutions, 
agreed  to  establisli  a  college  among  themselves,  for  the 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  medicine  in  general,  but 
especially  in  this  country  ;  they  elected  Dr.  Jones  vice  pre- 
sident, the  chair  of  the  college  having  been  conferred  upon 
Dr.  Redman.  But  a  part  of  the  first  volume  of  this  society 
is  published,  and  to  this  he  has  communicated  one  of  the 
most  interesting  papers,  upon  anthrax. 

Dr.  Jones  was  not  only  the  intimate  friend,  but  also  phy- 
sician to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  attended  him  in  tlie  last  ill- 
ness, which  deprived  his  country  and  the  world  of  that  phi- 
losopher. As  it  may  not  be  unsatisfactory  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  manner  in  which  so  great  a  man  conducted 
himself,  when  about  to  close  his  earthly  scene  and  enter 
upon  another,  the  existence  of  which  he  was  falsely  report- 
ed to  have  disbelieved,  I  have  preserved  the  following 
short  account  of  his  last  illness,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Jones, 
and  published  at  the  time. 

••'  The  stone,  with  which  he  had  been  afflicted  for  several 
years,  had  for  the  last  twelve  months  of  his  life  confined 
him  chiefly  to  his  bed  ;  and  during  tlie  extremely  i)ainful 
paroxysms,  he  was  obliged  to  take  large  doses  of  lauda- 
num to  mitigate  his  tortures  ;  still,  in  the  intervals  of  pain, 
he  not  only  amused  himself  by  reading  and  conversing 
cheerfully  with  his  family  and  a  few  friends  who  visited 
him,  but  was  often  employed  in  doing  business  of  a  public, 
as  well  as  of  a  private  nature,  with  various  persons  who 


334  JOHN   JONES. 

waited  upon  him  for  that  purpose  ;  and  in  every  instance 
displayed  not  only  the  readiness  and  disposition  to  do 
good,  which  were  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  his 
life,  but  the  fullest  and  clearest  possession  of  his  uncom- 
mon abilities.  He  also  not  unfrequently  indulged  in  those 
jeux  d'esprit,  and  entertaining  anecdotes,  which  were  the 
delight  of  all  who  heard  him." 

"  About  sixteen  days  before  his  death,  he  was  seized  with 
a  feverish  disposition,  without  any  particular  symptoms 
attending  it  till  the  third  or  fourth  day,  when  he  com- 
plained of  a  pain  in  the  left  breast,  which  increased  till  it 
became  extremely  acute,  attended  by  a  cough  and  labori- 
ous breathing.  During  this  state,  when  the  severity  of  his 
pains  drew  forth  a  groan  of  complaint,  he  would  observe 
that  he  was  afraid  he  did  not  bear  them  as  he  ought ;  ac- 
knowledging his  grateful  sense  of  the  many  blessings  he 
had  received  from  the  Supreme  Being,  who  had  raised 
him  from  small  and  low  beginnings,  to  such  high  rank  and 
consideration  among  men  :  and  made  no  doubt  but  that 
his  present  afflictions  were  kindly  intended  to  wean  him 
from  a  world  in  which  he  was  no  longer  fit  to  act  the  part 
assigned  him.  In  this  frame  of  body  and  mind  he  con- 
tinued until  five  days  before  his  death,  when  the  pain  and 
difficulty  of  breathing  entirely  left  him,  and  his  family 
were  flattering  themselves  with  the  hopes  of  his  recovery  ; 
but  an  imposthume  which  had  formed  in  his  lungs,  sud- 
denly burst,  and  discharged  a  quantity  of  matter,  which 
he  continued  to  throw  up  while  he  had  power  ;  l)ut  as  that 
failed,  the  organs  of  respiration  became  gradually  oppress- 
ed ;  a  calm  lethargic  state  succeeded  ;  and  on  the  17th  of 
April,  1790,  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  he  quietly 
expired,  closing  a  long  and  useful  life  of  eighty-four  years 
and  three  months." 

In  tlie  summer  of  the  year  1790  the  President  of  the 
United  States  then  at  New  York,  after  having  been  for 
some  days  indisposed,  became  so  ill,  that  other  assistance 
in  addition  to  that  of  his  attending  physician  became  neces- 
sary. An  express  arrived  for  Dr.  Jones,  and  notwith- 
standing he  was  then  much  engaged  in  private  practice  at 
Philadelphia,  he  lost  no  time  in  flying  at  the  call  of  a  man, 
in  whose  welfare  so  many  millions  of  freemen  were  inter- 
ested. Upon  his  arrival  at  New  York,  he  found  that  the 
disease  from  being  of  an  inflammatory  nature,  had  termi- 
nated in  an  alarming  state  of  debility,  and  violent    spas- 


JOHN   JONES.  835 

modic  difficulty  of  breathing,  which  threatened  the  greatest 
danger.  An  unacquaintance  with  the  i)articular  circum- 
stances of  the  case  prevents  me  from  asserting  positively 
to  whose  fortunate  advice  the  happy  recovery  is  to  be  at- 
tributed ;  but  the  fact  is  that  in  a  few  hours  after  the  first 
visit,  a  manifest  alteration  for  the  better  was  perceived, 
and  in  a  few  days  the  President  was  out  of  danger.  The 
importance  of  the  service  rendered  was  not  forgotten. 
On  the  removal  of  the  federal  government  to  Philadel- 
phia, the  President  chose  him  physician  to  his  family, 
and  he  continued  in  that  honorable  station  until  the  time 
of  his  death. 

But  at  the  very  time  when  he  was  reaping  the  benefits 
of  a  long  and  steady  pursuit  of  his  profession,  and  was 
happy  in  the  possession  of  the  highest  confidence  of  his 
fellow  citizens,  death  put  a  stop  to  his  earthly  career.  In 
the  month  of  June,  1791,  Dr.  Jones  rode  out  on  horse- 
back some  miles  from  town  to  visit  his  friend  Mr.  Charles 
Thompson,  secretary  to  congress  during  the  late  war.  The 
day  was  warm,  and  he  was  so  fatigued  by  his  excursion 
that  he  did  not  entirely  recover  himself  for  several  days. 
On  the  evening  of  the  17th  he  paid  a  visit  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  previously  to  his  return  home, 
from  being  a  very  sultry  day  the  air  became  remarkably 
cool  ;  he  was  dressed  in  a  light  manner  suitable  to  the 
weather  when  he  set  out ;  but  it  was  not  sufficiently  warm 
for  the  remarkable  and  sudden  alteration  in  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  air  that  succeeded.  Having  some  patients  who 
required  his  attendance,  he  visited  them  before  his  return 
home,  where  he  had  no  sooner  arrived,  than  he  felt  him- 
self much  indisposed  ;  the  next  morning  he  awoke  with  a 
smart  fever,  attended  with  a  diarrhoea  and  great  prostra- 
tion of  strength.  He  continued  for  four  days  in  this  situ- 
ation, with  but  little  alteration,  passing  almost  sleepless 
nights.  Upon  the  fifth  day  he  became  considerably  better  ; 
was  able  to  sit  up,  and  the  most  flattering  prospects  were 
entertained  of  a  quick  recovery  ;  exhausted,  however,  by 
the  violence  of  the  disease,  the  want  of  sleep  and  the  con- 
versation of  numerous  friends,  who  had  that  day  visited 
him,  he  retired  early  to  bed  in  the  evening,  with  a  view 
by  the  help  of  an  anodyne  to  procure  some  rest.  This, 
however,  was  denied  him,  and  he  continued  in  a  very  rest- 
less and  uneasy  state  the  whole  night,  during  wliich  time 
he  had  a  violent  return  of  his  aithma.  Early  in  the  morning 


536  JOHN  JONES. 

of  the  23d  he  felt  some  inclination  to  sleep,  and  desired  to 
be  left  alone.  His  orders  were  perhaps  too  punctually  obey- 
ed ;  at  eiglit  o'clock  his  servant  entered  his  room,  and 
observed  him  in  a  calm  slumber  ;  he  again  visited  him 
two  hours  after,  when  he  found  him  in  the  same  position 
with  his  hand  under  his  head,  to  all  appearance  in  a  pro- 
found sleep,  but  on  approaching  the  bed  he  perceived  that 
he  breathed  no  more.  The  quiet  and  easy  manner  of  his 
death,  and  the  apparent  strength  of  body  exhibited  the 
preceding  day,  induced  some  of  his  brethren  to  hope  that 
a  suspension  of  animation  only  had  taken  place  ;  the  usual 
means  of  recovery  were  accordingly  tried  for  some  time, 
but  all  in  vain  ;  the  scene  was  finally  closed.  He  died  in 
the  63d  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  deposited  in 
the  Friends'  burial  ground,  Arch-street  ;  and  his  funeral 
was  conducted  agreeably  to  a  desire  he  often  expressed,  in 
a  plain  manner,  and  strictly  suitable  to  the  excellent  regu- 
lations of  that  religious  society.  It  was  attended  by  the 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  his  medical  breth- 
ren of  the  college,  and  those  numerous  citizens  who  knew 
his  worth,  and  will  long  regret  his  death. 

The  person  of  Dr.  Jones  was  about  the  middle  size  ;  his 
chest  was  moderate,  but  perfectly  well  formed  ;  his  habit 
was  thin,  owing  to  his  constant  affliction  with  the  asthma. 
His  eye  was  quick  and  penetrating,  his  countenance  cheer- 
ful but  sedate,  and  his  whole  deportment  was  easy,  though 
polite.  He  was  free  and  easy  of  access  ;  for  as  he  owed 
his  fame  and  reputation  neither  to  powerful  friends  or  con- 
nexions, nor  to  any  of  those  lucky  circumstances,  which 
exclusively  of  abilities  so  frequently  determine  the  fortune 
of  physicians,  but  rose  into  the  esteem  of  his  fellow  citi- 
zens solely  by  merit,  so  he  depended  upon  this  alone  for 
the  continuance  of  that  interest  and  support  in  the  profess- 
ion by  which  he  lived.  There  was,  notwithstanding,  such 
a  gravity  of  appearance  and  dignity  of  manners,  as  never 
failed  to  command  respect  and  esteem.  Few  persons  have 
died  more  sincerely  regretted  ;  for  few  persons  possessed 
more  of  those  engaging  qualities,  which  render  a  man 
estimable,  whether  in  liis  professional  character  or  private 
capacity,  than  Dr.  Jones.  His  conversation  was  of  the 
most  pleasing  and  interesting  kind.  While  his  language 
flowed  in  that  easy  spontaneous  manner,  which  evinced  at 
once  how  little  it  was  studied,  he  at  the  same  time  enliv- 
ened it  liy  a  sprightly  vein  of  wit  that  delighted  as  well  as 


JOHN    JONES.  337 

commanded  the  attention  of  the  hearer.  He  was,  however, 
never  known  to  make  use  of  it  to  the  injury  or  even  em- 
barrassment of  another,  as  is  frequently  done  by  tliose  who 
possess  that  power,  and  who  woukl  rather  suffer  the  risk 
of  hurting  the  feelings  of  their  friend,  than  lose  the  mirth 
that  was  raised  at  his  expense.  He  was  fond  of  the  belles 
lettres,  and  read  much  poetry  of  the  best  authors,  whose 
happy  expressions  he  had  the  utmost  readiness  in  introduc- 
ing and  applying  to  proper  and  seasonable  parts  of  a  con- 
versation. He  had  seen  much  of  life,  and  his  memory 
suffered  few  things  to  escape  which  were  worth  retaining. 
These  accomplishments  rendered  him  a  most  agreeable,  as 
well  as  entertaining  and  instructing  companion  ;  and  being 
joined  to  professional  merit,  served  to  fix  and  secure  the 
regard  of  his  friends  in  a  most  powerful  and  remarkable 
manner. 

As  a  surgeon,  Dr.  Jones  stood  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
fession in  this  country  ;  and  he  may  be  deservedly  con- 
sidered as  the  chief  instrument  in  effecting  the  remarkable 
revolution  in  that  branch  of  the  healing  art,  which  is  now 
so  apparent,  by  laying  aside  the  former  complicated  modes 
of  practice,  and  substituting  those  which  are  plain  and 
simple.  The  operation  to  which  he  principally  confined 
himself  for  many  of  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  lithoto- 
my ;  and  his  success  in  this  difficult  and  important  object 
of  a  surgeon's  duty,  was  great  indeed.  Even  in  the  month 
before  his  death,  in  a  most  capital  and  nice  operation, 
there  did  not  appear  to  be  any  diminution  of  that  dexte- 
rity and  steadiness  of  hand,  for  which  he  had  always  been 
remarkable,  and  of  which  those  not  half  his  age  might 
have  boasted.  From  long  practice  also,  and  from  that 
readiness  wliich  appeared  to  be  constitutional,  he  had 
acquired  a  facility  in  operating,  to  which  few  surgeons 
have  arrived  ;  I  have  seldom  known  him  longer  than  three 
minutes  in  lithotomy,  and  he  has  sometimes  finished  the 
whole  in  one  minute  and  a  half  !  Happy,  however,  as  he 
was  as  to  the  manner,  and  fortunate  as  to  the  event  of  the 
operation,  he  was  not  so  anxious  about  the  shortness  of 
the  time  in  which  it  was  performed  as  to  the  certainty  of 
its  success.  "  Respice  finem,"  was  the  rule  of  his  conduct, 
as  it  ought  to  be  of  every  surgeon  and  physician  ;  and  as 
much  as  he  attended  to  the  shortness  of  the  operation,  as 
connected  with  tlic  important  consideration  of  alleviating 
pain,  he  nevertheless  considered  it  of  secondary  conse- 
43 


JOHN    JONES. 

quence,  and  rather  wished  to  accomplish  that  well  in  a 
little  longer  time,  than  slight  his  work  by  a  studied  des- 
patch. 

Connected  with  this  part  of  his  professional  character, 
was  his  merit  as  an  accoucheur  ;  and  in  this  difficult  and 
important  branch  his  success  was  great.  During  the 
prosecution  of  his  studies  in  Europe  he  paid  particular 
attention  to  this  subject  ;  and  availed  himself  of  every 
opportunity,  to  become  qualified  to  practise  it,  both  by  a 
strict  attendance  upon  the  various  hospitals  founded  for 
this  particular  purpose,  and  upon  the  private  practice  of 
the  different  jirofessors.  In  the  lectures  which  he  himself 
delivered  in  the  College  of  New-York  he  dwelt  much  upon 
this  subject,  and  he  may  justly  be  considered  as  the  first, 
who  gave  the  medical  students  of  that  state  a  proper  and 
rational  notion  of  the  art.  Convinced  that  nature,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  the  exertions  of  the  system,  were 
in  the  greatest  number  of  instances  sufficient  for  its  own 
necessities,  he  seldom  had  recourse  to  those  artificial  aids, 
by  the  frequent  use  of  which  the  lives  of  the  subjects  were 
formerly  often  endangered,  and  whose  general  neglect 
now  marks  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  art.  In  cases, 
however,  of  absolute  necessity,  which  sometimes,  though 
fortunately  seldom,  occur,  he  never  failed  to  derive  from 
them  every  possible  aid  ;  and  while  on  the  one  hand  his 
becoming  modesty  and  delicacy  of  deportment  not  only 
marked  the  gentleman,  but  held  him  dear  to  the  female 
sex,  his  expertness  in  operating  sufficiently  testified  his 
knowledge  of  its  use. 

The  merit  of  Dr.  Jones  as  a  physician,  was  likewise  con- 
siderable. Though  educated  in  the  school  of  Boerhaave, 
he  never  professed  an  implicit  faith  in  that,  or  any  other 
system.  He  was  guided  by  just  general  principles,  and  he 
varied  his  practice  like  every  judicious  physician,  with 
the  varying  circumstances  of  the  case.  The  success  of 
his  practice,  was  the  best  proof  of  the  truth  of  his 
principles,  and  of  the  judgment  which  directed  their  ap- 
plication. He  lamented  the  imperfection  of  the  science, 
and  never  refused  the  adoption  of  any  rational  means  of 
increasing  its  certainty,  or  the  use  of  any  remedy  because 
it  was  new,  which  had  been  sanctioned  by  experience,  and 
had  reason  and  probability  to  recommend  it  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  caution  with  which  he  gave  way  to  many  much 


JOHN   JONES.  339 

famed  antidotes  whose  short  lived  reputation  proved  their 
merit,  marked  him  the  safe  and  prudent  practitioner. 

There  was  one  particuhir  trait  in  the  character  of  Dr. 
Jones,  which  as  aiFording  a  very  uLieful  lesson  of  instruc- 
tion, deserves  to  be  mentioned.  He  made  it  a  rule  never 
to  offer  advice,  and  seldom  to  give  it,  except  lie  liad  well 
grounded  assurance  that  it  Avas  asked  in  sincerity  ;  and  in 
this  case,  when  demanded  upon  a  subject  concerning  which 
he  thought  himself  capable  of  informing,  he  seldom  scru- 
pled to  give  it,  observing,  however,  never  to  make  use  of 
any  persuasion  to  induce  it  to  be  followed,  but  leaving  the 
party  to  decide  for  himself. 

The  same  prudential  motives,  which  influenced  Dr. 
Jones  in  the  above  particular,  likewise  showed  themselves 
in  the  caution  with  which  he  contracted  friendships.  The 
best  knowledge,  and  that  Avhich  is  of  the  greatest  advan- 
tage to  mankind,  is  derived  from  experience.  In  the  early 
part  of  his  life  he  had  suffered,  as  I  was  informed,  by  the 
villany  of  a  man,  in  whose  honor  he  had  the  greatest  rea- 
son to  confide  ;  and  dear  as  the  price  was  at  which  this 
specimen  of  human  nature  was  afforded,  it  was  not  pur- 
chased in  vain  :  it  taught  him  a  lesson  by  which  he  profit- 
ed during  the  remainder  of  his  life  ;  and  pointed  out  the 
necessity  of  not  placing  such  implicit  confidence  in  men, 
who,  though  they  sliow  a  specious  outside  garb  of  friend- 
ship, are  actuated  solely  by  selfinterest  in  their  apparently 
disinterested  conduct.  Though  thus  cautious  in  contract- 
ing friendships,  yet  when  tried  worth  had  induced  him  to 
form  an  attachment,  he  was  sincere  and  firm.  His  friend- 
ship did  not  show  itself  by  those  convulsive  acts  of  gener- 
osity, which  sometimes  are  performed  ;  but  in  a  constant 
and  uniform  disposition,  which  was  ready  to  assist  in  the 
hour  when  most  needed  :  not  like  the  bursting  of  a  scorch- 
ing sun  from  behind  a  cloud,  wliich  brings  on  disease 
while  it  flatters  with  health  ;  but  like  the  moderate  and 
gentle  sunshine,  which  imparts  health  to  thej  body  and 
serenity  to  the  mind. 

He  is  now  gone  to  that  "  country  from  whose  bourn  no 
traveller  returns  ;"  and  while  we  mourn  his  loss,  let  us  if 
possible  derive  instruction  from  the  record  of  his  life.  To 
my  fellow  members  of  the  profession,  and  especially  to 
those  who  are  about  to  commence  their  medical  career,  I 
would  set  him  as  a  pattern  every  way  worthy  of  imitation. 
He   was    their  friend  while   living,   and  he   contributed 


340  NOBLE  WIMBERLY  JONES. 

much  to  their  improvement  by  his  labors.  Like  him,  let 
them  entertain  a  just  sense  of  the  dignity  of  the  medical 
profession  ;  let  them  rely  upon  actual  merit  and  real 
worth  for  their  advancement,  and  despise  every  art  that 
Avould  tend  to  raise  them  in  the  esteem  of  mankind  upon 
any  other  than  this  solid  and  substantial  basis. — James 
Mease.  M.  D. 

JONES,  DR.  NOBLE  WIMBERLY.  This  gentleman, 
distinguished  in  the  political  as  well  as  in  the  medical  an- 
nals of  Georgia,  was  born  at  a  village  near  London,  about 
the  year  1723  or  24.  His  father,  Noble  Jones,  was  a  phy- 
sician, and  being  intimately  acquainted  with  General  Ogle- 
thorpe, was  prevailed  upon  to  accompany  him  in  his  enter- 
prise to  fovmd  a  new  colony  on  this  continent.  His  family 
then  consisted  of  a  wife  and  two  children,  a  daughter  and  a 
son,  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  General  Oglethorpe,  with 
a  military  force  and  about  forty  families,  arrived  at  what 
was  afterwards  called  the  city  of  Savannah,  on  the  first  of 
February,  1733.  The  colonists  had  to  encounter  all  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  incident  to  anew  settlement,  which 
nothing  less  than  the  diversified  talents  of  its  founder  could 
have  surmounted.  General  Oglethorpe  possessed  a  combi- 
nation of  qualities  rarely  seen  united  in  the  same  individual. 
He  was  an  able  military  leader,  a  benign  legislator  and  ma- 
gistrate, and  a  man  of  most  extensive  philanthropy.  His 
character  has  been  well  sketched  in  the  following  extract. 
"  The  life  of  General  Oglethorpe  would  require  but  little 
embellishment  to  make  it  a  tale  of  romance.  It  was  full 
of  variety,  adventure  and  achievement.  His  ruling  pas- 
sions were  the  love  of  glory,  of  his  country,  and  of  man- 
kind, and  these  were  so  blended  together  in  his  mind  that 
they  formed  but  one  principle  of  action.  He  was  a  hero, 
a  statesman,  an  orator,  the  patron  of  letters,  the  chosen 
friend  of  men  of  genius,  and  the  theme  of  praise  for  great 
poets.* 

Amid  the  scenes  of  turbulence  and  danger  to  which  the 
new  settlement  was  constantly  exposed,  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  many  facilities  for  education  could  be  afford- 
ed. Accordingly,  the  only  instruction  that  Dr.  Jones 
received,  both  in  the  common  branches  of  education  and 
in  his  profession,  was  from  his  father.  In  the  early  years 
of  his  life  he  took  an  active  part  in  the   military  expedi- 

*  Verplanck's  discourse  before  the  New- York  Historical  Society. 


NOBLE  WIMBERLY  JONES.  S4I 

tions  in  which  the  colonists  were  engaged  against  the  Span- 
iards and  Indians,  and  both  himself  and  his  father  were 
honored  by  the  particular  regard  of  General  Ogle- 
thorpe, who  sent  them  his  portrait  from  England,  which 
was  unfortunately  lost  when  the  British  troops  took  pos- 
session of  Savannah  in  1778. 

Dr.  Noble  Jones  had  continued  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession after  his  arrival  in  Georgia,  and  about  the  year 
1748  associated  his  son  in  business  with  him.  This  connex- 
ion was  maintained  to  1756  ;  and  as  the  settlement  extend- 
ed, the  professional  duties  of  Dr.  N.  W.  Jones,  upon 
whom  the  business  chiefly  devolved,  became  very  arduous, 
as  his  circle  of  practice  reached  many  miles  from  Savannah. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  dissensions  between  Great 
Britain  and  her  colonies,  Dr.  Jones  became  conspicuous  as 
a  political  leader.  He  early  joined  with  others  in  stating 
to  the  mother  country  the  grievances  of  the  colonies,  and 
held  a  correspondence  with  Dr.  Franklin,  then  the  agent 
of  Georgia  in  England,  on  the  subject.  He  was  also  among 
the  first  who  associated  for  the  purpose  of  sending  dele- 
gates to  a  general  congress  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  either 
chosen  or  was  offered  the  appointment  ;  but  his  father, 
who  was  the  treasurer  of  the  province  and  a  member  of 
the  council,  being  then  advanced  in  years,  and  becoming 
infirm,  prevailed  upon  him  to  decline  it.  The  provincial 
legislature  through  him  as  their  speaker,  had  frequent  al- 
tercations with  the  governor  and  council }  the  house  of 
commons  was  in  consequence  several  times  dissolved,  but 
in  every  new  election  he  was  returned,  and  again  chosen 
speaker.  During  his  residence  in  the  state  he  was  speaker 
of  the  first  legislature  of  Georgia,  which  during  the  revo- 
lution consisted  of  a  single  branch. 

On  the  British  taking  possession  of  Savannah,  in  De- 
cember 1778,  Dr.  Jones  left  that  city  with  his  family, 
and  went  to  Charleston,  where  he  commenced  practice 
in  January  1779,  and  continued  until  November  or  De- 
cember 1780.  He  was  then  arrested  by  order  of  the  Brit- 
ish commander,  conducted  on  board  a  ship,  and,  with  a 
number  of  other  gentlemen,  carried  to  St.  Augustine,  then 
in  possession  of  the  British  forces,  in  violation  of  the  arti- 
cles of  capitulation  entered  into  at  the  surrender  of 
Charleston  in  May  1780,  by  which  these  gentlemen  were 
to  remain  in  that  city  on  parole  until  exchanged.  Dr.  J. 
remained  in  St.  Augustine  until  the  following  July,  when 


342  NOBLE  WIMBERLY  JONES. 

he  was  released  on  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners  effected 
by  General  Greene.  He  sailed  for  Philadelphia,  and  ar- 
rived about  the  15th  of  August,  where  he  soon  after  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  having  scarcely  any  other 
means  of  supporting  his  family,  as  all  his  property  in 
Georgia  had  been  sequestered  by  th€  British,  and  sold  by 
Governor  Wright  and  Lieutenant  Governor  Graham,  for 
damages  which  they  alleged  they  had  sustained  from  him 
by  his  signing,  as  Speaker  of  the  General  Assembly,  the 
act  of  the  state  that  confiscated  their  property. 

Dr.  Jones  received  great  attention  from  the  medical  gen- 
tlemen of  Philadelphia,  particularly  from  Dr.  Rush,  and 
soon  derived  an  income  from  his  practice  sufficient  for  his 
support.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  he  was  appointed 
a  delegate  to  congress  by  the  legislature  of  Georgia,  and 
continued  in  that  capacity  until  December  1782,  Avhen 
hearing  of  the  evacuation  of  Savannah  by  the  British 
troops  in  July  preceding,  he  left  Philadelphia  and  return- 
ed to  Georgia,  having  advised  the  legislature  of  his  in- 
tention. He  had  been  previously  elected  a  member  of  the 
general  assembly,  ajid  at  their  meeting  in  January  1783, 
was  chosen  speaker.  This  was  a  session  of  considerable 
commotion  ;  several  of  the  members  on  a  question  of  im- 
portance to  the  finances  seceded  ;  a  mob  collected  at  night, 
and  was  guilty  of  many  excesses.  Mr.  Telfair,  an  active 
member  in  the  majority,  had  his  house  attacked  by  the 
mob,  and  Dr.  Jones,  who  was  in  the  house  advising  the 
leaders  to  disperse,  was  wounded  by  a  broadsword  on 
the  head.  He  called  upon  the  Governor  at  a  late  hour  of 
the  night,  demanded  his  interference,  and  the  mob  was 
quieted.  The  next  day  the  seceding  members  refused  to 
come  in,  but  were  at  length  brought  to  a  sense  of  duty. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature.  Dr.  Jones 
visited  Charleston  ;  and  by  the  solicitation  of  many  of  his 
former  patients  was  induced  to  resume  the  practice  of  med- 
icine in  that  city.  He  remained  there  in  extensive  and 
very  lucrative  business  until  December  1788,  when  he 
again  returned  to  Savannah,  where  he  continued  to  reside, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  weeks,  actively  engaged  in 
practice  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  1795  he  was 
chosen  President  of  the  Convention  at  Louisville,  which 
amended  the  constitution  of  the  state  ;  after  which  he  de- 
clined public  employment.  He  was  taken  ill  on  the  first 
of  January,  1805,  in  consequence  of  exposure  the  two  pre- 


NOBLE  WIMBERLY  JONES.  343 

ceding  nights  in  attending  several  obstetric  cases,  and  died 
on  the  ninth,  universally  regretted. 

Few  men  have  lived  to  witness  greater  vicissitudes  than 
Dr.  Jones.  The  colony,  which  he  may  be  said  to  have 
assisted  in  planting,  had  become  during  his  life  a  powerful 
and  independent  state  ;  and  the  very  spot  on  which  his 
father's  family  had  encamped,  he  bequeathed  as  a  valuable 
lot  in  a  flourishing  city  to  his  descendants.  Of  the  active 
share  which  he  had  in  bringing  about  these  changes,  it 
belongs  perhaps  to  the  political  historian  of  his  state  to 
speak.  The  foregoing  sketch,  however,  affords  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his  fellow 
citizens,  and  of  his  worth  as  a  public  character.  In  the 
various  offices  to  which  he  was  elected,  he  displayed  a 
firmness  and  decision  peculiarly  suited  to  the  troubled 
times  in  which  he  lived.  Cautious  and  deliberate  in  form- 
ing his  opinions,  when  he  had  once  taken  his  determina- 
tion he  was  not  to  be  diverted  from  his  purpose.  He  was 
always  ready  to  sacrifice  his  private  feelings  and  interest 
to  the  welfare  of  his  country,  the  object  he  had  most  at 
heart,  and  he  was  not  unfrequently  called  on  to  make 
this  sacrifice.  His  political  situation  necessarily  brought 
him  acquainted  with  Generals  Washington,  Greene, 
Wayne,  and  most  of  the  statesmen  and  military  command- 
ers who  had  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  revolution.  In 
common  with  every  American  citizen  he  esteemed  and 
revered  Washington's  character,  but  he  disapproved  of 
the  British  treaty,  and  was  chairman  of  the  meeting  of  the 
citizens  of  Savannah  who  addressed  tlie  President  on  that 
subject.  He  deprecated  all  foreign  influence  and  party 
violence,  and  believed  that  talents,  combined  with  virtue 
and  moderation,  would  most  effectually  secure  our  union 
and  independence. 

As  a  pliysician  Dr.  Jones  was  skilful,  humane,  attentive 
and  regardless  of  personal  hazard  or  danger  when  visiting 
or  contributing  to  the  relief  of  his  patients.  These  quali- 
ties gave  him  an  extensive  practice,  which  he  Avas  enabled 
to  continue,  in  every  branch  of  the  profession,  to  the 
period  of  his  last  illness. 

In  the  relations  of  private  life,  Dr.  Jones  was  most  ex- 
emplary. His  benevolence  and  charity  were  unbounded. 
He  was  a  member  and  for  several  years  president  of  the 
Union  Society,  the  oldest  charitable  institution  in  the 
state  ;  and,  although  attached  more  particularly  to  the 


344  WALTER   JONES. 

Episcopal  Church,  he  contributed  liberally  to  religious 
societies  of  every  denomination.  He  was  remarkable  for 
extreme  delicacy  and  refinement  of  manners,  and  for  the 
most  affectionate  disposition.  So  exceedingly  fearful  was 
he  of  occasioning  trouble  to  any  of  his  friends,  that  he 
would  scarcely  make  known  the  simplest  want.  In  his 
personal  habits  and  appearance,  he  retained  that  neatness 
and  love  of  order  which  he  had  acquired  from  his  mili- 
tary service.  He  was  temperate  and  abstemious  in  his 
modes  of  living,  of  the  strictest  morality,  and  a  sincere 
believer  in  Christianity,  and  he  terminated  a  long  and  val- 
uable life  the  object  of  the  veneration  and  regard  of  all 
who  knew  him. 

JONES,  WALTER,  M.D.  one  of  the  most  eminent 
physicians  of  our  country,  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  re- 
ceived his  medical  education  at  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  was  graduated  about  the  year  1770. 
While  at  this  institution  he  became  a  favorite  of  the  school, 
and  enjoyed  the  particular  friendship  and  esteem  of  CuUen, 
and  the  other  professors  of  that  time. 

On  his  return  to  his  native  country,  he  settled  in  North- 
umberland county,  Virginia,  where  he  acquired  an  exten- 
sive practice,  and  sustained  through  life  the  highest  stand- 
ing both  as  a  scholar  and  physician.  "  He  was,"  says  a 
distinguished  gentleman,  who  for  some  time  enjoyed  his 
acquaintance,  "  for  the  variety  and  extent  of  his  learning, 
the  originality  and  strength  of  his  mind,  the  sagacity  of 
his  observations,  and  the  captivating  powers  of  his  conver- 
sation, one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  I  have  ever 
known.  He  was  an  accurate  observer  of  nature  and  of 
human  character,  and  seemed  to  possess  intuitively  the 
faculty  of  discerning  the  hidden  cause  of  disease  and  of 
applying  with  a  promptness  and  decision  peculiar  to  him- 
self, the  appropriate  remedies."  For  a  few  years  he  was 
returned  a  member  of  the  national  legislature  ;  but  he 
spent  the  most  of  his  life  in  tlie  practice  of  that  profession 
of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  ornament. — Setvall. 

KAST,  THOMAS,  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in  Boston,  Au- 
gust 12th,  1750.  He  was  educated  at  Harvard  College, 
where  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1769, 
and  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1774.  He  commenced  his  medi- 
cal studies  under  the  care  of  his  father.  Dr.  Philip  God- 
frid  Kast,  in  Boston.  In  the  year  1770  he  went  on  board 
the  British  ship   Rose,  Benjamin  Caldwell  commanderj 


THOMAS    KAST.  345 

as  a  surgeon's  mate,  and  sailed  for  Halifax,  Newport  and 
New-York,  and  continued  in  that  station  until  1772,  when 
he  arrived  in  England  and  spent  two  years  in  London  at- 
tending the  several  profess^ional  lectures  at  Guy's  and  St. 
Thomas's  Hospitals,  as  dresser  to  Mr.  Warner,  and  the 
lectures  and  practical  part  of  midwifery  as  taught  by  Dr. 
Mackenzie. 

.  In  1774  he  returned  to  Boston  and  commenced  tlie  prac- 
tice of  physic,  surgery  and  midwifery,  which  he  continu- 
ed to  follow  until  December,  1804,  when  a  very  severe 
rheumatic  fever  deprived  the  public  of  his  usefulness. 
With  the  view  of  improving  his  health  he  was  induced, 
in  the  autumn  of  1810,  again  to  visit  Europe,  and  he  pass- 
ed seven  years  in  England,  Scotland,  France,  Switzerland, 
Italy  and  Holland.  The  change  of  climate  partially  re- 
stored his  health  ;  but  in  September,  1817,  his  debility  and 
weakness  increasing  to  an  alarming  extent,  hastened  his 
return  to  his  native  country,  where  in  October  he  arrived. 
He  continued  gradually  to  decline  until  June  20th,  1820, 
when  he  departed  this  life  in  Boston. 

Dr.  Kast  was  one  of  the  original  members  named  in  the 
act  of  incorporation  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society, 
and  for  several  years  was  their  treasurer.     He   enjoyed  a 
very  respectable  and  extensive   circle   of  practice,  was  a 
neat  and   successful  operator  in  surgery,  and  performed 
with  success  the  first  operation  for  aneurism  in   the  thigh 
in  the  town  of  Boston.     (Vide  medical  papers  of  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society.)  His  obstetric  practice  was  more 
extensive  than  that  of  any  of  his   contemporaries,  and  in 
this  branch  he  obtained  a  deserved  popularity. 
^  KISSAM,  RICHARD  S.,  M.D.    The  father  of  this  dis- 
tinguished surgeon  was  Benjamin  Kissam,  an  eminent  prac- 
tising lawyer  in  the  city  of  New-York,  where  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  born  in  1763.      Richard  was  the  third 
of  five  brothers,  two  of  whom  engaged  in  medical  studies 
and  followed  the  practice  of  the  profession.     At  an  early 
age  he  was  sent  to  the  grammar  school  under  the  super- 
intendence of  the  late  eminent    scholar,  William  Cutting, 
at  Hempstead,  on  Long  Island.     Here  he  became   imbued 
with  a   fondness    for  the  classics,  which  he   continued  to 
cherish   throughout    life.     On    the  completion  of  his  ele- 
mentary education  he  became  a  pupil  of  the  late  Dr.  Mc- 
Knight,  a  gentleman    of  great  professional    merit  ;   with 
him  he  continued  for  some  time  ;  but  subsequently  rei>air- 
44 


$4G  RICHARD    S.    KISSAM. 

ed  to  Europe  and  became  a  resident  of  Edinburgh,  at  the 
famous  university  of  which  he  was  matriculated  as  a  stu- 
dent, and  continued  for  the  long  period  of  five  years. 

Among  his  contemporaries  at  this  great  seat  of  medical 
education,  were  Sir  James  Macintosh,  the  late  Professor 
Wistar,  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  and  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  the  late  profound  jurist  and  eloquent  advocate 
of  New-York.  Upon  receiving  the  Doctorate  in  1789, 
he  published  an  inaugural  dissertation  "  De  Rheuma- 
tismo."  From  Edinburgh  he  repaired  to  the  continent, 
whence  he  retuj'ned  to  his  native  city.  In  1791  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  that  profession  of  which  for  thirty 
years  he  was  a  most  distinguished  ornament,  and  his  re- 
nown as  a  surgeon  was  founded  upon  the  promptitude  and 
success  of  his  operations.  As  a  lithotomist  he  was  particu- 
larly celebrated.  It  is  stated  that  of  sixty-five  operations 
in  his  hands  for  the  stone,  three  only  proved  fatal.  He 
at  an  early  period  in  his  practice  had  recourse  to  tapping 
for  dropsy  of  the  ovarium  with  success.  In  one  case  nearly 
six  quarts  of  water  were  drawn  off ;  the  patient  afterwards 
proved  pregnant,  and  became  the  mother  of  five  children. 
Upon  the  formation  of  the  medical  faculty  of  Columbia 
College  in  1792,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Botany, 
but  declined  the  honor.  For  the  period  of  thirty  years 
he  was  one  of  the  surgeons  of  that  extensive  charity,  the 
New-York  Hospital. 

Dr.  Kissam  died  in  October,  1822,  in  the  59th  year  of 
his  age. 

Notwithstanding  some  untoward  events  in  his  early  life, 
Dr.  Kissam  arose  to  the  height  of  celebrity  and  reputation. 
To  a  mind  admirably  adapted  by  nature  for  the  practice  of 
the  profession,  clear,  acute  and  sagacious,  he  united  a  firm- 
ness of  nerve  which  was  equal  to  the  urgency  and  magni- 
tude of  any  undertaking.  It  is  not  known  that  he  left  be- 
hind him  any  writings,  by  which  posterity  may  be  enabled 
to  judge  of  his  merits  ;  but  his  career  was  too  long  and  too 
triumphant  amidst  powerful  and  vigorous  competitors  to 
leave  the  possibility  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  solidity  of  his 
pretensions.  His  fame  as  a  successful  operator  must  rest 
upon  the  verbal  and  vanishing  testimony  of  his  contem- 
poraries. It  may  be  proper  to  add  that  his  integrity  was 
beyond  the  reach  of  calumny  or  cavil. 
»  KITTREDGE,  THOMAS,  M.D.,  M.M.S.S.  was  dis- 
tinguished  as   a   practitioner    of    surgery   and  medicine 


THOMAS    KITTREDGE.  347 

throughout  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  born  at 
Andover  in  July,  1746,  received  his  academic  education 
at  Dummer  Academy  in  Byfield,  and  studied  his  profession 
with  Dr.  Sawyer,  a  distinguished  physician  in  Newbury- 
port. 

In  1768  he  returned  to  Andover,  and  began  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  and  surgery.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  revolution  he  was  appointed  a  surgeon  in  the  army, 
and  being  stationed  at  Cambridge,  had  an  opportunity  of 
being  present  at  the  action  of  the  seventeenth  of  June, 
1775.  Dr.  Kittredge  sustained  many  municipal  and 
political  offices  ;  he  was  often  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lature of  the  commonwealth,  and  was  there  useful  to 
the  Medical  Society  by  exerting  his  extensive  influence 
in  its  favor.  His  practice  as  a  physician  was  very  large  ; 
but  he  was  most  distinguished  as  an  operating  surgeon  for 
a  great  number  of  years.  In  the  practice  of  medicine  he 
was  thought  remarkable  for  his  readiness  in  discrim- 
inating diseases.  He  begun  to  be  affected  by  angina  pecto- 
ris in  the  year  1810,  and  died  of  this  disease  in  October, 
1818,  after  an  illness  of  three  hours. 

The  family  of  which  he  was  a  member,  has  become  so 
distinguished  for  surgical  skill  in  New  England,  that  in 
many  places  the  name  alone  is  a  passport  to  practice  ;  and 
the  number  of  practitioners  of  this  name  is  very  consider- 
able. This  is  to  be  attributed,  not  only  to  the  well  earned 
reputation  of  Dr.  Kittredge,  but  to  that  of  his  father,  who 
had  also  a  high  reputation  in  surgery  ;  and  it  is  not  impro- 
bable that  his  grandfather  and  greatgrandfather,  the  latter 
of  whom  came  to  this  country  from  Germany  at  an  early 
period  and  settled  at  Tewksbury,  were  eminent  in  the 
same  line. 

In  political  sentiment  Dr.  K.  was  of  the  party  denomi- 
nated republican,  and  on  all  occasions  a  strenuous  advo- 
cate for  their  measures  ;  but  his  patriotism  and  public  vir- 
tue were  nnimpeached. 

KNEELAND,  WILLIAM,  M.M.S.S.  was  a  native  of 
Boston,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1741.  While 
a  child  he  discovered  a  capacity  above  the  common  level. 
Under  the  care  of  worthy  and  pious  parents,  he  received 
those  impressions,  which  were  never  obliterated,  and  which 
he  ever  acknowledged  with  filial  gratitude.  At  school 
he  outstripped  most  of  his  fellows,  and  was  exceeded  by 
none.     While  a  student  in  the  university,  the  expansion  of 


$4S  WILLIAM    KNEELAND. 

his  intellectual  powers  was  equal  to  the  sphere  in  which 
they  were  to  be  displayed.  He  received  from  the  govern- 
ment of  that  institution  an  ample  testimony  of  his  attention, 
industry,  and  progress  in  literature  and  science,  by  the 
assignment  of  a  distinguished  part  in  the  exercises  previ- 
ous to  his  receiving  the  first  honors  of  the  University. 
Soon  after  he  went  through  a  regular  course  of  medical 
studies  with  an  eminent  physician,  whose  approbation  and 
patronage  he  justly  merited. 

While  he  was  qualifying  himself  for  his  profession,  he 
ardently  pursvied  various  branches  of  science,  acquired  the 
character  of  a  scholar,  and  became  particularly  eminent 
in  logic  and  metaphysics.  Before  he  entered  on  the  prac- 
tice of  physic  a  tutorship  in  the  college  became  vacant, 
and  his  qualifications  pointed  him  out  to  the  government 
of  that  institution  as  the  most  suitable  person  to  fill  the 
office.  In  this  a  field  was  open  for  the  full  display  of  his 
talents.  He  did  not  disappoint  the  fondest  hopes  of  his 
friends,  nor  the  expectation  of  his  electors.  He  showed 
himself  well  skilled  in  each  department  of  his  office.  He 
communicated  his  instructions  with  perspicuity,  and 
governed  with  impartiality  ;  and  he  hereby  commanded 
the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  pupils.  Having  with  dig- 
nity and  approbation  discharged  the  duties  of  his  ofiice 
about  nine  years,  he  quitted  it  for  the  pleasures  of  domes- 
tic life. 

His  eminence  in  his  profession  was  honorably  recognis- 
ed by  the  Medical  Society  of  Massachusetts,  who  repeat- 
edly elected  him  their  president.  While  Register  of  Pro- 
bate, the  widow  and  orphan  had  frequent  experience  of  his 
aid  and  friendship.  His  accuracy,  fidelity  and  inflexible 
integrity  as  a  civil  magistrate  and  in  every  other  depart- 
ment of  life,  were  acknowledged  by  all  who  were  conver- 
sant with  him.  The  social  virtues  formed  a  distinguished 
trait  in  his  character.  Facetious,  ingenuous,  hospitable 
and  agreeable  in  his  deportment,  his  acquaintance  was 
sedulously  cultivated  by  those  of  a  similar  disposition.  He 
wished  the  happiness  of  mankind  ;  and  the  religious  soci- 
ety and  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  experienced 
in  an  especial  manner  the  beneficial  effects  of  his  benevo- 
lent exertions  in  their  behalf.  Truly  catholic  and  unaffect- 
ed in  piety  and  devotion,  he  exemplified  the  religion  of 
which  he  was  a  professor,  by  the  morality  of  his  conduct. 


ADAM    KUHN.  349 

Dr.  Kneeland  departed  this  life  in  November,  1788,  aged 
56  years.  Sagacious  in  many  things,  lie  gave  counsel  to 
many  who  consulted  him,  and  performed  punctually  and 
faithfully  his  private  and  public  duties.  He  was  a  sincere 
friend  and  pleasant  companion,  an  honorable  man,  and  a 
guardian  of  the  poor. 

KUHN,  ADAM,  M.D.,  M.M.S.S.  Hon.  was  born  at  Ger- 
mantown,  near  Philadelphia,  Nov.  17th,  1741,  old  style. 
His  grandfather,  John  Christopher  Kuhn,  and  his  father, 
Adam  Smith  Kuhn,  were  natives  of  Farfeld,  a  small  town 
near  Heilbronn,  on  the  Neckar,  in  the  circle  of  Swabia. 
They  both  came  to  Philadelphia  in  September,  1733.  His 
father  was  a  man  of  bright  natural  parts,  improved  by  the 
benefits  of  a  liberal  education,  and  was  considered  as  a 
very  skilful,  attentive  and  successful  practitioner  of  med- 
icine. He  was  a  magistrate  of  the  borough  of  Lancaster, 
and  an  elder  of  the  Lutheran  church  ;  and  was  the  princi- 
pal, and  almost  the  only  person,  who  was  actively  con- 
cerned for  the  promotion  of  classical  learning  amongst 
the  youth  of  that  place.  For  this  end  he  procured 
the  erection  of  a  school  house,  in  which  tlie  Greek 
and  Latin  languages  were  taught  by  the  best  qualified 
masters.  There  was  no  one  amongst  his  contempo- 
raries, who  had  more  at  heart  the  spreading  of  religion  ; 
and  there  was  no  place  of  worship  built  throughout  the 
country,  to  which  he  did  not  liberally  contribute.  The 
utmost  pains  were  bestowed  by  him  on  the  education  of 
his  numerous  offspring,  to  enable  them  to  become  useful 
members  of  the  community. 

Dr.  Adam  Kuhn's  first  studies  in  medicine  were  directed 
by  his  father,  until  the  autumn  of  1761,  when  he  sailed 
for  Europe,  and  arrived  at  Upsal,  by  tlie  way  of  London, 
in  the  beginning  of  January,  1762,  having  traversed  Nor- 
way and  part  of  Sweden.  He  studied  medicine  and  bota- 
ny under  Linnasus,  and  the  other  professors  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Upsal,  until  July  or  August,  1764,  when  he  leturn- 
ed  to  London,  where,  it  is  believed,  he  remained  a  twelve- 
month. The  particular  estimation  in  Avhich  he  was  held 
by  Linnasus,  will  be  sufficiently  manifested  by  the  letters 
of  that  eminent  man  addressed  to  Dr.  Kuhn,  and  publish- 
ed in  the  8th  volume  of  the  Eclectic  Repository.  They 
will  also  serve  to  show  the  correctness  of  his  pupil's  con- 
duct, and  his  unremitted  attention  to  his  studies. 


^50  ADAM  EUHI7. 

At  what  time  Dr.  Kuhn  went  to  Edinburgh  cannot  be 
precisely  ascertained.  He  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  that  university  on  the  twelfth  day  of  June, 
1767.  The  Thesis  published  by  hina  on  the  occasion,  "  De 
Lavatione  Frigida,"  was  dedicated  to  his  friend  and  in- 
structer  Linnjeus. 

He  visited  France,  Holland  and  Germany  ;  but  whether 
before,  or  after  his  residence  at  Edinburgh,  is  not  known. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1768,  he  returned  from  Lon- 
don to  his  native  country,  and  settled  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  quickly  rose  to  a  high  degree  of  estimation 
amongst  his  elder  medical  brethren,  and  soon  succeeded  to 
the  most  respectable  practice.  He  was  appointed  profess- 
or of  materia  medica  and  botany,  in  the  College  of  Phi- 
ladelphia, in  January,  1768;  and  commenced  his  first 
course  of  botany  in  May  following 

A  society  for  inoculating  the  poor  with  the  smallpox,  was 
instituted  at  Philadelphia  in  January,  1774,  and  Dr.  Kuhn 
was  chosen  one  of  the  physicians.  It  appears  from  the 
bills  of  mortality  for  1773,  that  of  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  forty-four  persons,  who  died  in  the  City  and 
Liberties  during  that  time,  above  three  hundred  perished 
with  the  natural  smallpox.  The  labors  of  the  society  ter- 
minated in  the  April  following,  on  account  of  the  unset- 
tled state  of  public  affairs.  What  a  happy  contrast  does 
the  important  discovery  of  vaccination  offer  to  this  afflict- 
ing report  ! 

In  May,  1775,  Dr.  Kuhn  was  elected  one  of  the  physi- 
cians to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  ;  which  he  attended 
until  his  resignation  in  January,  1798,  having  served  the 
institution,  with  his  usual  diligence  and  faithfulness,  up- 
wards of  twenty-two  years.  It  may  not  be  improper  to 
add  that  his  medical  prescriptions  bore  the  stamp  of  ener- 
gy and  simplicity. 

The  Philadelphia  Dispensary  for  the  medical  relief  of 
the  poor,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  was  founded  in  1786.  Dr.  Kuhn  was  appointed 
one  of  the  consulting  physicians,  and  ever  proved  himself 
to  be  amongst  the  foremost  of  its  steady  friends  and 
patrons. 

The  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia  was  estab- 
lished in  1787  ;  of  v/hich  Dr.  Kuhn  was  always  an  active 
member.  On  the  decease  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  in  July, 


ADAM  KUHN.  351 

1808,  he   succeeded   him  as  president,  and  was  continued 
during  his  life  in  this  distinguished  station. 

In  November,  1789,  he  was  appointed  professor  of  tiie 
theory  and  practice  of  medicine  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  and  on  the  junction  of  the  two  medical  schools 
of  the  College  and  University,  was  chosen  professor  of  the 
practice  of  physic,  in  January,  1792.  In  1797  he  resigned 
his  medical  chair.  As  a  teacher,  he  was  faithful  and  clear 
in  the  description  of  diseases,  and  in  the  mode  of  apj)lying 
tlieir  appropriate  remedies  ;  mostly  avoiding  theoretical 
discussions.  His  lectures  were  eminently  calculated  to 
form  useful  practitioners  in  the  healing  art,  to  the  pro- 
motion of  which  his  whole  life  was  devoted.  Dr.  Kuhn 
was  also  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
and  an  honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society. 

Of  his  writings  nothing  can  be  recollected  but  his  Thesis, 
and  a  short  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  John  Coakley  Lettsom, 
on  the  diseases  succeeding  the  transplantation  of  teeth, 
which  was  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  memoirs 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  London.  This  is  not  the  only 
instance,  in  which  a  dislike  to  appear  before  the  public  has 
deprived  us  of  the  experience  of  those,  who  were  best 
qualified  by  their  talents  and  observation  to  communicate 
instruction. 

The  account  of  men  who  have  been  uncommonly  use- 
ful, although  they  may  have  passed  through  life  without 
much  eclat,  is  of  great  importance,  when  they  can  be  held 
up  as  profitable  examples  to  survivers.  Of  the  subject  of 
the  present  notice  it  may  truly  be  said,  that  in  him  were 
united  the  characters  of  the  able  and  of  the  conscientious 
practitioner.  His  contemporary  medical  brethren  will 
unanimously  adjudge  him  the  palm  of  excellence  as  a  phy- 
sician ;  and  his  uTimerous  patients  will  unite  in  deploring 
the  loss  of  a  friend,  whose  judgment  and  attention  have 
not  been  surpassed. 

In  his  common  intercourse  with  mankind  Dr.  Kuhn  ap- 
peared to  be  reserved  ;  but  this  was  not  his  natural  dispo- 
sition. He  placed  a  high  value  on  a  real  friend,  and  in 
the  company  of  his  friends  no  man  was  more  affable  and 
communicative.  His  kind  and  unassuming  behavior  to 
younger  physicians,  his  manners  void  of  ostentation,  and 
his  firmness  and  decision  of  conduct,  will  long  be  remem- 
bered. 


3S2  JASON    V.   0.    LAWRENCE. 

But  a  most  prominent  feature  in  his  character  was  a 
strict  punctuality,  and  observance  of  all  his  engagements. 
This  inestimable  virtue  can  never  be  too  highly  inculcated 
on  a  physician.  The  want  of  it  is  a  deviation  from  truth, 
and  the  cons^equence  of  such  deficiency  is  replete  with 
endless  inconvenience.  It  would  be  difficult  justly  to 
charge  him  v/ith  a  voluntary  departure  from  this  correct 
course,  in  the  long  period  of  nearly  fifty  years  practice. 
And  whilst  we  admire  and  applaud  the  propriety  of  his 
conduct,  an  occasion  like  the  present  should  not  be  lost, 
of  holding  up  to  public  view  the  practice  of  an  estimable 
fellow  citizen,  who  always  acted  like  one  that  regarded 
punctuality  as  a  sacred  duty. 

Dr.  Kuhn  was  not  remarkable  for  the  powers  of  imagin- 
ation ;  but  in  sound  judgment  he  greatly  excelled.  His 
talent  for  observation  was  profound.  He  was  through  life 
a  studious  reader,  a  lover  of  music  from  his  youth,  re- 
markably abstemious  and  regular  in  his  diet,  and  neat  in 
his  person.  During  a  long  and  active  attention  to  the 
duties  of  his  profession,  he  enjoyed  so  much  health,  as  to 
use  his  carriage  only  in  inclement  weather.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  May,  1780,  in  the  island  of  St.  Croix,  to  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Isaac  Hartman,  Esq.  by  whom  he  had  two 
sons,  respectable  characters,  now  living  in  Philadelphia. 
For  some  time  before  his  death  his  bodily  strength  began  to 
fail  ;  which  induced  him,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  to  relin- 
quish his  practice,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  families  whom 
he  had  attended.  It  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  compiler 
of  the  present  notice,  very  frequently  to  be  gratified  with 
hearing  the  expressions  of  regard  for  his  medical  abilities, 
from  those  who  had  long  known  him  as  a  physician,  and 
who  continue  to  lament  his  loss. 

After  a  confinement  to  the  house  of  about  three  weeks, 
he  expired  July  5th,  1817,  aged  75  years,  without  pain, 
and  fully  sensible  of  his  approaching  dissolution. — Eclectic 
Repository^  volume  Sth. 

«  LAWRENCE,  JASON  VALENTINE  O^BRIEN,  M.D. 
was  born  in  the  city  of  New-Orleans,  in  the  year  1791,  to 
which  place  his  father  had  emigrated  from  the  state  of 
New-Jersey,  and  where  he  had  married  a  lady  of  Irish 
descent.  He  was  early  deprived  of  his  paternal  protector, 
and  the  guidance  of  his  youth  devolved  on  his  maternal 
grandmother,  who  resided  near  Baton  Rouge,  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi.    His  early  education  was  at  the  s<hools  then  af- 


JASON  V.   0.    LAWRANCE.  oOJ 

forded  by  his  native  city,  after  attending  which  till  his 
fifteenth  year,  he  entered  at  Lower  Dublin  Academy,  near 
Pliiladeli)hia.  When  his  stay  in  this  seminary,  which  was 
extended  to  upwards  of  three  years,  was  expired,  he  re- 
turned to  New-Orleans,  to  commence  the  study  of  medi- 
cine under  his  stepfather.  Dr.  Flood.  Here  he  possessed 
practical  opportunities  not  always  enjoyed  by  the  pupils 
of  physicians  in  large  cities  ;  having  frequently  the  charge, 
in  the  violent  and  acute  diseases  of  that  climate,  of  a  part 
of  his  father's  patients. 

In  December,  1812,  Dr.  Lawrance  quitted  New-Orleans 
and  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  that  he  might  avail  himself 
of  the  advantages  it  presents  to  the  medical  student,  and 
terminate  his  studies  by  crowning  them  with  the  honors 
of  her  widely  and  justly  celebrated  school.  He  became 
one  of  the  pupils  of  Dr.  Physick,  then  professor  of  sur- 
gery, whose  private  friendship  he  had  the  honor  of  enjoy- 
ing during;  the  remainder  of  his  life.  After  distinguish- 
ing  himself  among  the  class  for  talents  in  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge,  and  a  remarkable  degree  of  assiduity  in 
any  employment,  however  laborious  or  disgusting,  w^hich 
belonged  to  his  profession,  he  entered  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  in  1814,  to  fill  a  temporary  vacancy  as  house 
physician  and  surgeon.  In  this  establishment  he  remained 
till  the  ensuing  spring,  when  he  was  graduated,  and  soon 
after  returned  to  New-Orleans  to  commence  the  practice 
of  physic  under  the  paternal  auspices  of  Dr.  Flood.  Here 
he  immediately  obtained  a  large  and  lucrative  business, 
and  continued,  till  he  left  that  city,  the  acting  physician 
and  surgeon  of  the  New-Orleans  Hospital,  of  which  his 
stepfather  was  principal.  Dr.  Lawrance  could  not,  how- 
ever, remain  long  satisfied  in  this  situation.  The  recollect- 
ion of  the  advantages  which  Philadelphia  possessed  in 
every  scientific  point  of  view,  an  early  attachment,  the 
friendships  which  he  had  formed  there,  and  particularly 
its  great  facilities  for  the  prosecution  of  his  favorite  pur- 
suit, the  study  of  anatomy,  worked  upon  his  mind,  until 
he  finally  resolved  to  sacrifice  the  present  possession  of  a 
large,  profitable  and  increasing  practice,  w^ith  the  best 
grounds  for  confidently  expecting,  at  an  early  period,  to 
reach  the  summit  of  professional  eminence  in  the  place  of 
his  birth,  for  the  object  of  living  where  he  could  to  more 
advantage  pursue  his  inquiries  into  nature.  The  increase 
of  knowledge  was  a  tonic  to  his  mind,  with  which  he 
45 


354  JASOIf  V.   0.  LAWRANCE. 

could  not  dispense  ;  and  every  consideration  of  ambition 
or  pecuniary  advantage  was  small  in  the  comparison. 

From  the  period  of  his  settling  in  Philadelphia,  Dr. 
Lawrance  was  obliged  to  buffet  all  the  difficulties  to  which 
those  physicians  are  subjected  who  settle  in  large  cities. 
His  talents  were  universally,  and  with  pleasure  acknow- 
ledged by  his  numerous  acquaintance  ;  his  industry,  which 
was  of  a  kind  beyond  that  usually  termed  indefatigable, 
was  obvious  to  all  ;  his  experience  and  acquirements  were 
great,  and  generally  known  ;  his  conversation  was  courted 
with  pleasure  and  pride  by  the  first  names  in  science,  and 
with  some  of  them  he  was  intimately  bound  in  the  relat- 
ions of  private  friendship  :  yet  neither  talents,  nor  indus- 
try, nor  learning,  nor  experience,  nor  influential  friend- 
ship could  supply  the  place  of  the  opportunities  which  he 
had  so  magnanimously  relinquished  ;  and  it  is  believed 
that,  though  his  prospects  were  fast  brightening  at  the 
close,  he  continued  to  struggle  with  difficulty,  till  the  ter- 
mination of  his  useful  life.  An  attack  of  the  epidemic 
fever,  which  has  in  such  a  distressing  manner  visited  the 
neighborhood  of  our  city,  augmented  by  a  continuance  of 
the  unparalleled  exertions  which  he  was  in  the  constant 
habit  of  making,  rapidly  hurried  him  to  his  end.  He 
was  taken  ill  on  the  9th  of  August,  1823,  while  visiting 
in  the  infected  neighborhood  of  the  Ridge-road,  and  im- 
prudently continued  to  labor  in  the  day  and  curtail  his  rest 
at  night,  till  the  eleventh,  when  he  was  obliged  to  be  con- 
veyed home  in  the  carriage  of  a  friend,  from  an  operation 
at  the  almshouse.  He  immediately  took  his  bed,  soon 
became  delirious,  rapidly  sunk,  and  in  defiance  of  the  best 
medical  attendance,  on  the  19th  he  expired. 

Thus  was  society  deprived  of  a  man,  of  whom,  although 
it  had  already  began  to  award  him  fame,  it  had  never 
known  the  value.  Assiduous  and  noiseless  in  his  pursuits, 
he  was,  perhaps,  the  individual  whose  real  merit  bore  the 
largest  proportion  to  his  pretensions.  Always  actuated  by 
the  love  ofscienceandof  his  species,  he  was  uniformly  more 
ready  to  labor  for  the  advantage  of  otliers  than  for  his 
own.  His  assistance  is  gratefully  acknoAvledged  by  many 
whom  he  has  obliged  in  this  way.  This  temper  gained 
him  many  friends  among  tlie  medical  students,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  whom  he  commenced,  in  the  spring  of  1822,  to 
give  a  six  months  course  of  lectures  on  anatomy  and 
surgery,  perhaps  one  of  the  fullest  courses  of  lectures  ever 


JASON    V.    0.  LAWRANCE.  355 

given  in  this  city,  Philadelphia.     In  this  novel  and  labor- 
ious   undertaking,   which   began   immediately   after   the 
spring  commencement,  and  lasted,  with  the  exception  of 
the  month  of  August,  till  the  ensuing  November,  six  lec- 
tures being  delivered  every  week,  he  was  encouraged  by  a 
considerable  class.     In  the  progress  of  this  year  he  gradu- 
ally acquired  the  habit  of  lecturing  witli  ease  and  perspi- 
cuity ;  his   enunciation,  which  originally  was  rapid  and 
somewhat  difficult  to  be  understood,   gained  a  more  even 
flow.     He  at  all  times  possessed  the  warm  personal  attach- 
ment of  his  pupils,  and  their  high  estimation  of  his  talents, 
to  which   he  was  rapidly  adding  the  elegance  and  facility 
of  an  eloquent   lecturer.     He  was   engaged  in  a  second 
course  of  lectures  of  the  same  kind,  at  the  period  of  his 
lamented  decease.  Dr.  Lawrance's  principal  medical  merit 
was  the  prosecution  of  morbid  anatomy.     The  opportuni- 
ties for  this  pursuit   in  Philadelphia,  are  very  great,  and 
he  embraced  them  to  the  fullest  extent.     He   was   in  the 
constant  habit  of  recording  facts  and  observations  of  every 
kind,  relating  to  medical  science,  which  occurred  in  his 
daily  pursuits,  and    particularly    accounts   of    dissections. 
His  accumulations  of  this  natui-e  rose  to  the  vast  amount 
of  above  three  thousand  pages  ;  and  an  index  was  carefully 
kept,  referring  to  every  case.     This  was  the  common  em- 
ployment of  those  hours  which   he  uniformly  stole   from 
sleep.    By  these  means  lie  became,  probably,  the  best  qual- 
ified among  our  American  physicians  to  publish  one  of  those 
useful  works  on  morbid  anatomy,  which  do  honor  to  the 
names  of  their  authors,  and  form,  in  fact,  the  greatest  and 
surest  support  of  medical  knowledge.     His  inaugural  thesis 
was  upon  fracture  of  the  thigh,  a  subject  which  he  treated 
from  observation  in  the  hospital  and  elsewhere,  with  a  can- 
dor and  caution  in  stating  the  results  of  different  modes  of 
practice,  highly  creditable  to  his  feelings  and  principles. 

He  was  bred  a  Roman  catholic,  though  upon  the  subject  of 
religion  he  maintained,  in  his  conversation,  a  reverent  silence. 
He  did  not  deem  it  a  fit  theme  for  discussion  in  mixed  com- 
panies. His  friends,  however,  knew  that  he  had  a  toler- 
ance for  all,  nor  thought  that  belief  in  any  particular  was 
a  part  of  the  necessary  duties  of  man  in  tliis  world,  or  of 
the  commands  of  theCreator.  In  all  the  duties  of  social 
life  he  was  truly  exemplary.  Dr.  Lawrance  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  and  of  the  me- 
dical associations  existing  at  the   time  among  his  equals  in 


356  FRANCIS    LE  BARON. 

age.  Beside  the  two  copious  courses  of  lectures  mention- 
ed above,  lie  delivered  the  greater  part  of  another  on  ana- 
tomy, during  one  winter,  at  the  university.  He  had  been 
for  aliout  a  year  surgeon  to  the  Philadelphia  almshouse. 

Such  was  the  unostentatious  life  of  one,  who  would 
probably,  in  a  few  years,  have  become  a  light  of  the  age. 
In  merit  solid,  as  in  disposition  benevolent  and  kind, 
though  his  worth  may  not  be  known  to  future  times,  it 
will  be  deeply  felt  and  remembered  during  a  period  co- 
equal with  the  life  of  his  friends,  his  fellow  laborers,  and 
his  pupils. 

^  LE  BARON,  DR.  FRANCIS,  a  native  of  France,  in 
the  year  1696  was  surgeon  to  a  privateer  fitted  out  of  Bor- 
deaux, cruising  on  the  American  coast,  which  was  wrecked 
in  Buzzard's  bay.  The  crew  were  carried  prisoners  to 
Boston.  The  surgeon,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  came  to 
Plymouth,  and  having  performed  a  surgical  operation,  and 
the  town  being  at  that  time  destitute  of  a  physician,  the 
selectmen  petitioned  the  executive,  Lieutenant  Governor 
Stoughton,  for  his  liberation,  that  he  might  settle  in  the 
town.  This  was  granted,  and  he  married  and  practised 
physic  during  life  in  Plymouth,  where  he  died  in  1704, 
aged  36  years.  Items  of  his  goods,  surgeon's  instruments, 
medicines  and  books,  £10.7.0.  Dr.  Le  Baron  did  not  re- 
linquish the  Roman  catholic  religion,  and  was  so  strongly 
attached  to  the  cross  that  he  never  retired  to  rest  without 
placing  it  on  his  breast  ;  this  constantly  reminded  the  peo- 
ple of  a  religion  which  they  abhorred,  and  which  they 
were  scarcely  willing  to  tolerate  even  in  a  single  instance. 
His  son  Lazarus  Le  Baron  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Mac- 
kay,*  a  Scotch  physician  of  Southampton,  Long  Island, 
about  1718.  He  enjoyed  a  long  and  extensive  course  of 
practice  in  Plymouth  and  the  vicinity,  and  died  1 773,  aged 
75  years.  Two  of  his  sons,  Joseph  and  Lazarus,  were  also 
physicians,  both  of  whom  after  residing  a  short  period  in 
the  West  Indies  died  in  Plymouth,  as  did  three  other  sons  ; 
and  the  only  surviver  is  Rev.  Mr.  Lemuel  Le  Baron,  min- 
ister of  a  church  and  congregation  in  Rochester,  county 
of  Plymouth. 

LEE,  ARTHUR,  M.D.,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
brother  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  celebrated  patriot  of 
.^-. — .^ „ ■ i 

♦Father  of  the  late  Dr.  Andrew  Mackay  of  Wareha  m,  who  died  April,  1817 
aged  70  years. 


ARTHUR   LEE.  367 

the  revolution.  Di*.  Lee  received  his  classical  education 
at  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  studied  medicine  in  that 
university.  As  soon  as  he  was  graduated,  he  returned  to 
his  native  state,  and  settled  at  Williamsburg,  where  he 
practised  medicine  for  several  years  ;  but  afterwards  aban- 
doned the  profession,  went  to  England  and  commenced 
the  study  of  the  law  in  the  Temple. 

He  soon  entered  into  political  life,  and  rendered  impor- 
tant services  to  his  country  during  the  revolutionary  war. 
To  the  abilities  of  the  statesman,  he  is  said  to  have  united 
the  acquisitions  of  the  scholar.  In  the  year  1775  Dr.  Lee 
was  in  London  as  the  agent  of  Virginia,  and  he  presented 
in  August  the  second  petition  to  the  king.  All  his  exer- 
tions were  now  directed  to  the  good  of  his  country.  He 
was  appointed  minister  to  France  in  1776  ;  and  he  was  for 
many  subsequent  years  engaged  in  the  afi'airs  of  the  public 
until  the  close  of  life,  which,  after  a  short  illness,  took 
place  December  14th,  1792,  at  Urbanna,  in  Middlesex 
county,  Virginia. 

He  was  a  man  of  uniform  patriotism,  of  a  sound  under- 
standing, of  great  probity,  of  plain  manners  and  strong 
passions.  During  his  residence  in  England  for  a  number 
of  years  he  was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions  to  promote 
the  interests  of  his  country.  He  was  a  member  of  tlie 
American  Philosophical  Society.  He  published  the  Mon- 
itor's Letters  in  vindication  of  the  colonial  rights  in  1769  ; 
Extracts  from  a  Letter  to  the  President  of  Congress  in  an- 
swer to  a  libel  by  Silas  Deane,  1780  ;  and  observations  on 
certain  commercial  transactions  in  France  laid  before  con- 
gress, 1780. — Jlllen^s  Biographical  Dictionary^  and  other  publi- 
cations. 

LINING,  JOHN,  M.D.,  an  eminent  physician  and  phi- 
losopher of  South  Carolina,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
received  an  excellent  education.  He  came  to  America  about 
the  year  1730.  He  corresponded  with  Dr.  Franklin  on 
the  subject  of  electricity,  and  was  the  first  person  who  in- 
troduced an  electrical  apparatus  into  Charleston.  He 
made  and  published  a  series  of  judicious  statistical  experi- 
ments, which  were  conducted  through  the  whole  of  the 
year  1740.  lu  1753  he  published  a  history  of  the  yellow 
fever,  which  was  the  first  account  of  that  disease  that  was 
given  to  the  world  from  the  American  continent.  He 
seems  to  have  been  satisfied  that  this  disorder  aflfected  the 


358  JOHN   LINING. 

system  but  once  in  life,  an  opinion  which  has  been  recent- 
ly maintained  by  several  physicians. — Miller  and  Ramsay. 
"  LITTLE,  MOSES,  M.M.S.S.,  was  born  at  Newbury- 
port,  Massachusetts,  in  the  year  17G6  ;  graduated  at  Har- 
vard University  in  1787,  and  was  a  very  distinguished 
scholar.  He  studied  his  profession  with  Dr.  Jonathan 
Swett  of  Newbiiryport,  and  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
funds  to  enable  him  to  commence  the  duties  of  his  profess- 
ion, engaged  in  instructing  some  pupils  in  Virginia  for 
one  year. 

Soon  after  commencing  business  in  Salem,  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  town  to  inoculate  with  the  smallpox,  and 
carried  great  numbers  through  tlie  disease  with  remarkable 
success.  About  this  time  he  performed  some  difficult  op- 
erations in  surgery,  which  gave  him  such  reputation  that 
he  rapidly  rose  into  extensive  practice.  One  of  the  oper- 
ations referred  to,  was  puncturing  the  liver  through  the 
external  integuments  ;  a  vast  quantity  of  matter  was  dis- 
charged and  the  patient  recovered.  He  was  particularly 
celebrated  in  Salem  and  its  vicinity  as  a  surgeon  and  accou- 
cheur, though  his  practice  in  all  the  branches  of  his  profes- 
sion was  continually  increasing.  In  1808  he  was  present  at 
the  births  of  precisely  one  half  of  all  the  children  born  in 
Salem  during  that  year.  Notwithstanding  his  numerous 
professional  engagements  he  found  time  for  very  respecta- 
ble acquirements  in  literature,  and  his  gentle  and  amiable 
manners  and  benevolent  disposition  rendered  him  univer- 
sally beloved.  Soon  after  his  return  from  Virginia  he  was 
afflicted  with  an  obstinate  attack  of  jaundice,  but  under  the 
direction  of  his  preceptor  Dr.  Swett,  who  recommended 
his  living  on  raw  eggs  and  milk,  and  using  exercise  on 
horseback,  he  entirely  recovered. 

The  manners  of  Dr.  Little  were  very  gentle,  but  his 
purpose  was  on  all  occasions  firmly  fixed,  and  he  was  as 
remarkable  for  his  great  prudence  in  his  words  and  con- 
duct as  for  his  perseverance.  He  was  able  to  judge  of  the 
characters  of  men,  as  well  as  of  their  diseases,  with  great 
quickness  and  discrimination.  Although  much  engaged 
in  his  profession,  his  services  were  bestowed  upon  the  poor 
and  wretched,  as  readily  as  upon  the  affluent,  by  night  as 
well  as  by  day,  and  without  regarding  the  inclemencies  of 
the  weather.  His  mind  was  intelligent  and  discriminat- 
ing, rather  than  brilliant,  practical  rather  than  speculative. 
He  was  not  governed  by  prejudice  either  in  regard  to  his 


MOSES    LITTLE. 


359 


theory  or  practice  ;  but  having  investigated  as  well  as  he 
could,  he  then  resolved,  and  pursued  his  course  in  the 
mildest  manner. 

He  married  the  daughter  of  George  Williams,  Esq.  an 
eminent  mercliant  of  Salem,  who  was  a  most  excellent  and 
accomplished  lady.  She  fell  a  sacrifice  to  a  consumption 
of  the  lungs,  and  from  her  in  consequence  of  his  unceasing 
attentions,  it  is  believed,  he  inhaled  the  fatal  disease.  In 
the  year  1809,  being  sensible  that  he  was  threatened  with 
some  hectical  complaints,  he  determined  to  spend  the  en- 
suino-  winter  in  a  southern  climate,  but  on  accoimt  of  the 
multiplicity  of  his  professional  avocations  that  measure 
was  neglected.  He  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  rapid  ap- 
proach of  the  insidious  disease,  and  marked  all  its  differ- 
ent stages  with  peculiar  accuracy.  He  wrote  for  himself 
the  following  epitaph  : 

Here  lies  the  body  of  Doctor  Moses  Little  who  died  aged  45. 
Phthisis  insatiabilis  ! 
Patrem  matremque  devorasti — 
Parce  !  O  parce  !  liberis. 

Which  his  executor  placed  upon  his  grave  stone,  filling 
up  the  blank  of  the  time  of  his  death  with  13th  October, 
1811. 

He  left  three  children,  two  of  whom  have  already  fallen 
victims  to  the  same  all  destroying  disease. 
-  LLOYD,  JAMES,  DR.,  for  nearly  sixty  years  a  dis- 
tinguished physician  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  was  the 
son  of  Henry  Lloyd,  Esq.,  of  the  Manor  of  Queen's  Vil- 
lage, in  Queen's  County,  on  Long  Island,  in  the  state  of 
New-York. 

His  grandfather,  James  Lloyd,  was  the  first  of  the  fami- 
ly who  emigrated  from  Somersetshire  in  England  to  Amer- 
ica, about  the  year  1670,  and  having  married  a  lady  at 
Shelter  Island  resided  there  for  a  short  time,  and  then  at 
Rhode  Island,  but  finally  settled  in  Boston,  where  he  de- 
ceased in  1693  ;  having  become  possessed  by  purchase, 
and  from  marriage  of  a  valuable  estate  in  New-York,  sub- 
sequently the  property  of  his  son  Henry  Lloyd,  the  father 
of  the  doctor,  who  removed  to,  and  resided  on  it  greatly 
respected  during  a  long  life  ;  having  prior  to  his  removal 
from  Boston  married  the  daughter  of  a  respectable  gentle- 
man, a  relative  of  the  families  of  Temple  and  Grenville, 
who  came  to  America  in  1675,  as  the  executor  of  his  uncle 


360  JAMES    LLOYD. 

Sir  Thomas  Temple,  a  former  governor  of  Nova  Scotia, 
and  the  proprietor  of  large  landed  estates  in  that  province, 
in  Maine,  and  in  New-Hampshire. 

This  gentleman  is  referred  to,  by  Hutchinson  in  his  His- 
tory of  Massachusetts,  as  "John  Nelson,  a  revolutioner." 
Probably  the  first  person  to  whom  that  appellative  was 
ever  applied  in  New-England  ;  and  which  designation  was 
given  him,  in  consequence  of  being  one  of  the  signers  of  a 
message  to  Sir  Edmond  Andros  in  1689,  then  governor  of 
the  colony,  requiring  him  "  forthwith  to  deliver  up  the 
government  and  the  fortifications  ;"  to  the  latter  of  which 
he  had  retired  for  safety,  and  heading  the  Bostonians  for 
the  enforcement  of  the  demand  ;  and  to  whom  the  gov- 
ernor eventually  surrendered  both  himself  and  the  fort  ; 
and  whose  subsequent  disinterested  public  services,  and 
severe  and  long  continued  suiferings  and  privations  in  con- 
sequence of  them,  entitle  his  memory  to  be  embalmed  in 
the  annals  of  Massachusetts  and  New-Hampshire  ;  from 
having  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  and  at  the  price  of  being 
transported  to  France,  and  for  several  years  imprisoned  in 
the  Bastile,  a  considerable  part  of  which  time  he  was  im- 
mured in  a  dungeon,  saved  those  provinces  from  a  bloody 
and  merciless  invasion,  which  was  then  meditated  by  the 
French  and  the  Indians  against  them. 

The  books  and  papers  of  James  Lloyd  the  elder,  which 
still  remain,  indicate  that  he  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and 
education  ;  of  uncommon  regularity  in  the  management 
of  his  concerns,  and  that  great  confidence  was  reposed  in 
him  ;  while  the  executors  of  his  will,  and  the  guardians 
of  his  children  show,  that  his  intimates  were  to  be  found 
among  those  of  the  most  note  and  standing  at  that  date  in 
the  colony.  The  traditions  of  the  family  also  show  that 
it  had  been  both  ancient  and  respectable  ;  while  one  of  his 
nearer  ancestors,  having  been  "  Doctor  in  Physic  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,"  probably  gave  a  professional  destiny  to  the 
subject  of  the  present  memoir,  who  was  born  on  Long 
Island  in  April,  1728,  the  youngest  of  a  numerous  family 
of  ten  children. 

At  an  early  age  he  was  sent  for  his  education  to  Strat- 
ford in  Connecticut  ;  where,  and  at  New-Haven,  but  with- 
out entering  Yale  College,  he  remained  for  this  object 
several  years  ;  at  school  he  became  associated  with  the 
late  justly  celebrated  Dr.  Samuel  William  Johnson,  exten- 
sively and  honorably  known,  by  his  talents  and  services 


/E.  ^0. 


S62  JAMES    LLOYEf. 

this  gentleman  Dr.  Lloyd  had  in  his  pupilage  been  more 
intimately  connected,  than  with  the  other  professors  ;  as  for 
twelve  months  he  had  constantly  attended  him  as  an  assist- 
ant in  the  duties  of  the  hospital,  or  as  technically  denomi- 
nated, his  first  dresser. 

It  was  a  custom  at  that  time  which  probably  may  yet 
be  continued,  after  the  students  had  gone  through  the  usual 
routine  of  lectures,  and  conducted  unexceptionably,  to 
give  them  at  tlie  end  of  their  terms,  a  certificate  in  a  print- 
ed form,  stating  only  in  writing  the  single  characteristic  of 
their  conduct  ;  the  blank  left  for  which,  was  generally 
filled,  if  deserved,  with  the  words  "  diligently,"  or 
"  carefully"  as  applied  to  their  attendance  ;  this  Mr. 
Warner  considered  as  a  too  feeble,  and  common-place  tes- 
timonial, to  do  justice  to  the  merits  and  acquirements  of 
Dr.  Lloyd  ;  to  whom  on  taking  leave  of  him  he  volunteer- 
ed, in  presenting  the  following  autograph  certificate. 

Guy^s  Hospital^  London,  March,  1752. 
These  are  to  certify,  that  Mr.  James  Lloyd,  hath  diligent- 
ly attended  the  Hospital  under  me  as  a  dresser,  and  the  lec- 
tures of  anatomy  and  surgery  for  one  year  ;  during  which 
time,  he  hath  behaved  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  care. 
And  as  I  know  him  to  be  perfectly  well  qualified  in  his 
profession,  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  recommend  him 
in  the  strongest  manner  I  am  capable  of ;  and  should  think 
myself  happy,  was  it  in  my  power  to  serve  him  further. 
Witness  my  hand, 

JOSEPH  WARNER. 

During  his  attendance  on  the  hospitals.  Dr.  Lloyd  was 
the  contemporary  of  John  Hunter,  afterwards  distinguish- 
ed as  the  first  surgeon,  physiologist  and  anatomist  of  his 
age,  and  made  not  only  the  acquaintance  of  this  gentle- 
man, but  of  most  of  the  prominent  medical  men  in  Lon- 
don at  that  time,  with  many  of  whom  he  subsequently 
long  continued  in  friendly  and  professional  correspond- 
ence. 

In  1752,  Dr.  Lloyd  returned  to  America,  with  a  high 
degree  of  reputation  from  his  deportment,  while  previously 
resident  at  Boston,  and  the  character  he  had  acquired  in 
his  attendance  on  the  hospitals  in  London,  and  shortly  at- 
tained to  extensive  professional  employment  ;  in  the  pro- 
secution of  which,  he  adopted  t!ie  modern  practice  then 
existing  in  England,  and  especially  in  surgery  and  midwife- 


JA.MES    LLOYD.  363 

ry  ;  in  the  former  introducing  the  much  improved  meth- 
od of  amputation  of  Chesselden,  by  the  double,  instead  of 
the  single  incision  ;  and  it  is  believed  Avas  the  first  prac- 
titioner of  surgery  in  Boston,  if  not  in  New-England, 
w^ho  performed  the  hazardous  operation  of  lithotomy  ; 
and  also  the  first  v^dio  substituted  ligatures,  in  lieu  of  sear- 
ing the  mouths  of  the  arteries  by  actual  cautery,  as  had 
been  previously  in  use  ;  the  latter  a  mode  of  practice  at 
all  times  dangerous,  and  not  unfrcquently  fatal  in  its  con- 
sequences to  the  patient,  from  the  sloughing  of  the  surface 
of  the  wound,  and  the  exfoliation  of  the  bone. 

Not  long  after  his  return,  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  of 
Castle  William  in  the  harbor  of  Boston,  now  Fort  Inde- 
pendence ;  at  that  time  a  garrison  station,  and  depot  for 
the  king's  troops,  on  the  various  changes  of  the  British 
forces,  as  it  was  needful  to  transfer  them,  from  one  post 
to  another  in  the  colonies  ;  during  his  holding  this  station 
Sir  William  Howe,  then  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Genera! 
Amherst,  part  of  which,  after  the  reduction  of  Louisbourg, 
had  been  ordered  to  the  Lakes,  in  a  severe  and  dangerous 
illness  fell  under  the  immediate  care  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  his  re- 
covery from  which,  he  always  gratefully  and  publicly  at- 
tributed to  the  skill  and  unceasing  attention  of  his  young 
]>hysician. 

The  increasing  professional  calls  on  Dr.  Lloyd,  soon 
obliged  him  to  retire  from  the  Castle  ;  and  when  the  pro- 
posal was  agitated  of  a  general  inoculation  for  the  small- 
pox in  Boston  in  1764,  and  was  again  the  subject  of  much 
apprehension,  opposition,  and  superstitious  excitement.  Dr. 
Lloyd  became  a  strenuous  advocate  for  its  adoption  ;  and 
on  its  being  permitted  by  the  municipal  authority,  the 
applications  to  him  for  inoculation,  in  which  he  was  greatly 
successful,  were  so  numerous  as  to  deprive  him  of  the  [phy- 
sical ability  to  comply  with  them,  as  promptly  as  was  desir- 
ed, although  aided  by  the  able  and  intelligent  students  tlien 
with  him,  Drs.  Rand  senior,  and  Jeffries  ;  he  inoculated 
five  hundred  persons  in  one  day,  as  stated  by  the  former 
of  those  respectable  gentlemen. 

At  this  period  his  profession  employed  all  his  time,  and 
his  practice  became  more  extended,  than  had  been  known 
to  have  been  before  possessed  by  any  physician  in  Boston  ;  it 
being  said,  that  in  the  course  of  the  year,  he  scarcely  enjoy- 
ed an  undisturbed  night's  rest  ;  and  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  street  in  which  he   resided,  as  regularly  expected  to 


364  JAMES    LLOYD. 

hear  during  the  stillness  of  the  night,  the  well-known 
clatter  of  his  horse's  feet,  as  the  cry  of  the  watchman. 
To  this  animal  the  doctor  was  always  much  attached,  and 
was  not  only  a  good  master  to  it,  but  an  excellent  judge  of 
its  properties,  as  well  as  an  able  and  graceful  horseman  to 
a  late  period  of  his  life  ;  and  even  until  his  decease,  when 
something  more  than  an  octogenarian,  he  continued  to  be 
remarked  for  the  beauty  and  goodness  of  his  horses. 

From  the  date  just  referred  to,  or  from  about  1758  to 
1775,  the  medical  engagements  of  Dr.  Lloyd  were  as  ac- 
ceptable as  could  have  been  desired,  while  many  pupils 
were  attracted  to  him  for  the  benefit  of  his  instruction, 
and  the  advantage  of  witnessing  his  practice  ;  the  exact 
number  of  these  cannot  now  be  ascertained,  as  neither  a 
list  of  them  has  been  kept,  nor  his  professional  books  pre- 
served ;  they  are  known  however  to  have  been  numerous, 
several  of  them  to  have  possessed  great  merit,  and  some  of 
them  to  have  attained  to  great  distinction.  Among  those 
justly  entitled  to  be  thus  characterized,  may  be  named, 
Major  General  Joseph  Warren,  who  immortalized  his  fame, 
by  his  patriotic  death  at  Bunker's  Hill  ;  Dr.  Isaac  Rand, 
senior,  Dr.  John  Jeffries,  Dr.  John  Clarke,  and  Theodore 
Parsons. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  British  troops  in  Boston,  in  1775, 
under  the  command  of  General  Howe,  he  immediately 
sought  out,  and  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  his  former 
physician  ;  and  together  with  Lord  Percy,  subsequently 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  had  become  the  tenant 
of  Dr.  Lloyd,  from  occupying  an  estate  adjoining  his  own, 
now  the  property  of  Gardiner  Greene,  Esq.,  and  then  un- 
der his  care  from  belonging  to  his  relation  William  Vas- 
sal, afforded  to  him  every  accommodation,  the  circum- 
stances of  a  beleagured  and  garrisoned  town  under  martial 
law  would  admit  ;  and  from  his  having  remained  in  Bos- 
ton during  the  siege,  into  which  the  smallpox  was  intro- 
duced by  the  soldiery,  he  was  happily  enabled  from  his 
influence  with  those  officers,  to  aid  in  procuring  permiss- 
ion for  a  general  inoculation,  which  after  being  some  time 
refused,  from  an  apprehension  of  its  effects  on  the  troops 
then  exposed  to  an  attack  at  any  moment,  was  eventually 
granted  ;  when  he  renewedly  devoted  himself,  to  relieving 
and  guarding  his  fellow  citizens  from  this  pestilential 
distemper. 


JAMES    LLOYD.  3G5 

On,  or  before  tlie  evacuation  of  the  town,  many  of  tlie 
connexions  and  friends  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  from  being  in  the 
employment  of  the  government  ;  the  possession  of  estates 
in  the  British  West  Indies  ;  or  from  other  causes  left  the 
country  ;  the  Doctor  was  urged  to  pursue  the  same 
course,  and  to  take  up  his  future  residence  in  London, 
where  he  was  assured  of  professional  patronage  and  sup- 
port ;  this  he  declined  to  do,  having  determined  to  remain 
at  Boston. 

Lnmersed  in  the  labors  of  his  profession,  and  interfering 
no  further  in  political  discussions,  than  to  express  his  sen- 
timents as  an  individual  when  called  for  ;  not  theorizing  as 
to  the  future,  and  seeing  the  country  at  large  generally 
happy,  and  rapidly  increasing,  and  enjoying  himself  great 
prosperity,  it  could  not  be  a  matter  of  surprise,  that  with 
many  others,  and  some  of  them  among  the  prominent  and 
patriotic  actors  in  the  early  scenes  of  that  day,  he  should 
have  thought  that  the  most  suitable  hour  for  final  separa- 
tion had  not  arrived  ;  that  the  fruit  was  not  sufficiently 
matured  to  be  plucked  from  the  j:)arent  tree  ;  and  that  a 
course  less  decisive  might  have  procured  a  redress  of 
grievances,^with  a  repeal  of  the  oppressive  measures  of  the 
British  government,  and  have  ensured  for  a  still  further 
time,  the  tranquillity  and  happiness  of  the  country,  with- 
out passing  for  their  attainment  through  the  hazards  of  a 
revolution. 

The  error  of  tliese  opinions,  the  event  has  amply  proved  ; 
but  as  the  results  of  an  honest  independence  of  judgment 
they  were  never  disguised  by  Dr.  Lloyd  ;  without,  how- 
ever, his  seeking  to  find  for  them  either  advocates  or  pro- 
selytes, and  accompanied  also  with  the  avowal,  that  if  lie 
did  not  wholly  coincide  with  a  majority  of  his  country- 
men, in  the  expediency  of  the  measures  they  pursued,  his 
fortunes  were  embarked  in  the  same  venture  with  theirs, 
and  would  not  be  counteracted  by  him.  Exempted  by  his 
profession  from  military  duty,  and  taking  no  active  part 
in  political  life,  this  disposition  could  alone  be  evinced  in 
an  obedience  to  the  laws,  tlie  countenance  of  some  of  his 
younger  friends  in  the  American  service,  and  in  meeting, 
when  required,  his  proportionate  contributions  to  the 
public  necessities  ;  which  he  always  did,  promptly  and 
without  a  murmur. 

But  although  ever  exulting  in  the  growing  greatness  of 
the  land  of  his  nativity  and  his  residence,  it  was  scarcely 


566  JAMES    LLOYD. 

to  be  expected,  that  in  the  vivid  periods  of  revolutionary 
excitement,  sentiments  qualified  even  as  these  were,  should 
not  have  been  to  a  certain  extent  unpopular,  if  not  obnox- 
ious to  suspicion.  If  this  were  the  case  for  a  short  time, 
the  integrity  of  his  character,  and  the  manly  unreserved 
consistency  of  his  conduct,  speedily  dissipated  all  unfa- 
vorable imputations,  and  secured  for  him  the  continued 
regard  and  confidence  of  his  friends,  and  the  respect  of  the 
public  ;  and  of  so  little  weight  was  any  such  impression 
when  it  would  have  most  strongly  existed,  that  the  first 
house  entered  by  the  veteran  and  intrepid  American 
Orion,*  when  in  1776  with  the  army  from  Cambridge,  he 
marched  into  Boston,  to  take  possession  of  the  toAvn,  on 
its  evacuation  by  the  British,  was  that  of  his  friend  the 
Doctor,  to  inquire  of  his  welfare,  and  that  of  his  family, 
during  their  protracted  confinement,  and  to  take  up  his 
abode  with  them  for  a  short  period. 

And  of  the  estimation  entertained,  not  only  of  himself, 
but  of  his  more  immediate  connexions,  by  those  who  had 
known  both  him  and  them,  long  and  well,  not  only  prior 
to,  but  at  the  commencement,  the  progress,  and  issue  of 
the  revolutionary  contest,  some  opinion  may  be  formed 
from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  late  Presi- 
dent Adams  to  the  son  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  under  date  of  January 
28,  1815,  in  which  he  writes  : 

"  Although  I  have  no  recollection  that  I  ever  met  you 
in  society  more  than  once,  and  that  I  presume  was  the  in- 
stance you  have  recorded,  yet  I  feel  as  if  I  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  you  ;  the  want  of  familiarity  betAveen  us  I 
regret,  not  only  because  I  have  known,  esteemed,  and  I 
may  say  loved,  your  family  from  an  early  age  ;  but  espe- 
cially— "  for  other  reasons,  which  this  venerated  statesman 
then  assigned,  but  which  having  only  a  personal  reference 
to  the  gentleman  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  are  irrele- 
vant to  the  present  occasion. 

Of  tlie  patriotic  and  successful  leader  of  the  armies  of 
the  revolution,  and  the  earliest  President  of  the  United 
States,  under  that  benign,  and  equal,  yet  efficient  form  of 
government  which  he  assisted  to  prepare,  and  give  to  the 
American  people,  under  the  influence  and  impress  of  his 
mighty  name  ;  of  the  man,  equally  without  compeer  or 
rival,  and  standing  first  on  the  lists   of  fame,    Dr.  Lloyd 

*  General  Israel  Putnam. 


JAMES    LLOYD.  367 

was  a  warm  admirer,  and  to  the  period  of  his  deatli,  a 
constant  supporter  of  the  system  and  policy  he  introduced. 

Until  the  commencement  of  the  American  war,  the 
course  of  Dr.  Lloyd  had  been  eminently  gilded  with  sun- 
shine ;  he  had  married  at  Boston  a  lady  of  Scotch  parent- 
age, of  refinement,  and  considerable  intellectual  j)owers, 
to  whom  he  was  strongly  attached  ;  his  connexions  were 
numerous,  and  of  the  first  standing,  embracing  a  large 
proportion  of  those  most  conspicuous  for  wealth,  or  sta- 
tion in  the  Province  ;  his  engagements  occupied  all  his 
time,  his  medical  reputation  ranking  high  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  with  his  professional  brethren,  as  well  as 
with  the  public  ;  and  to  complete  this  circle  of  felicities, 
he  was  personally  beloved  by  his  friends,  and  respected 
and  esteemed  by  his  associates.  p 

But  this  summer  sea  of  prosperity  was  destined  like  all 
other  human  possessions,  to  feel  its  ebb,  as  well  as  flood  ; 
and  although  not  a  political  partizan,  nor  probably  having 
ever  attended  a  political  meeting  in  his  life,  the  tempera- 
ment of  Dr.  Lloyd  was  one  of  too  great  sensibility  not  to 
be  affected  by  the  collisions  and  contentions  of  the  times, 
pregnant  as  they  were  with  momentous  results  ;  the  sharp 
divisions  of  sentiment  between  friends  of  long  standing  ; 
the  emigration  of  his  family  connexions  ;  and  perhaps 
even  more  than  these,  the  loss  at  nearly  the  same  time,  of 
two  of  his  children,  sons  who  were  just  reaching  their 
adolescence,  with  the  prospect,  as  he  thought,  of  affording 
him  much  future  gratification,  threw  a  pall  over  his  hith- 
erto unclouded  course,  greatly  prostrated  his  spirits,  and 
although  constitutionally  and  habitually  of  a  cheerful  and 
social  disposition,  caused  a  depression  from  which  he  did 
not  entirely  recover  for  many  years,  and  induced  in  him  a 
strong  desire  to  withdraw  from  active  life,  and  to  give  up 
or  very  much  abridge  his  professional  business. 

This  inclination  never  wholly  forsook  him,  recurring  at 
intervals  with  great  force  ;  but  continuing  in  the  same 
residence,  amid  families  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  rely- 
ing on  his  friendly  and  professional  aid  in  the  hours  of 
adversity  and  disease,  and  who  were  personally  attached 
to  him,  it  was  not  easily  to  be  effected,  without  a  decision 
of  purpose,  alike  foreign  to  his  feelings  and  his  habits  ; 
the  consequence  therefoie  was,  that  he  retained  in  the  cir- 
cle of  his  more  immediate  friends,  a  respectable  but  com- 


368  JAMES    LLOYD. 

paratively  limited  practice  so  long  as  he  was  enabled  to  be 
abroad,  and  until  witliin  a  few  months  of  his  decease. 

That  this  change  in  the  flattering  adventitious  circum- 
stances with  whicli  he  had  been  before  surrounded,  created 
in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  no  alienation  of  feeling  towards 
his  country,  may  be  demonstrated  by  sometliing  more 
than  by  professions.  From  inheritance  he  had  become 
possessed  of  between  six  and  seven  hundred  acres  of  the 
eastern  part  of  his  father's  estate  on  Long-Island  in 
New-York,  called  Queen's-Viilage  or  Lloyd's  Neck,  then 
remarked  for  the  old  and  fine  growth  of  timber  with 
which  it  was  covered.  This  estate,  situated  about  forty 
miles,  by  land  or  by  water  from  the  city,  and  bounded, 
east  and  north  by  the  sound,  with  a  navigable  bay  on  the 
south,  (j^asily  accessible  to  shipping,  presented  too  invit- 
ing and  important  an  object,  either  to  be  overlooked  or 
neglected  by  the  British  commander,  with  his  army  coop- 
ed up  in  New-York,  hemmed  in  by  the  American  forces  on 
every  side  on  the  land,  and  in  extreme  want  of  fuel,  both 
for  the  use  of  the  garrison  and  the  inhabitants. 

A  strong  detachment  of  troops  was  therefore  sent  on  to 
the  estate,  who  took  and  retained  military  possession  of  it, 
as  long  as  the  British  army  remained  in  that  vicinity  ;  and 
stripping  the  neck,  about  three  thousand  acres  in  extent, 
of  its  wood,  forming  its  greatest  value,  of  a  growth  coeval 
with  the  first  settlement  of  tlie  country,  yielding  from 
thirty-five  to  forty  cords  the  acre,  and  which  had  been 
preserved  with  great  care,  it  furnished  so  abundant  a  sup- 
ply of  fuel,  as  not  only  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  troops, 
but  as  was  said,  to  give  handsome  fortunes  to  some  of 
those,  who  iiaving  a  commodity  thus  indispensable  under 
their  exclusive  control,  were  enabled  to  dole  out  the  sur- 
plus beyond  the  wants  of  the  army,  to  the  destitute  and 
distressed  inhabitants  of  the  city,  at  prices  far  beyond  its 
accustomed  value. 

A  few  years  after  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  when  compensation  was  made  by  the  British  govern- 
ment to  those  who  had  suffiered  in  their  property  under 
it,  Dr.  Lloyd  was  strongly  advised  by  his  friends  in  Eng- 
land to  visit  that  country,  and  prefer  a  claim  for  the  wood 
that  had  been  taken  from  his  estate  on  Long-Island.  After 
consulting  the  late  Judge  Lowell,  a  friend  of  many  years, 
and  on  whose  good  judgment  the  doctor  placed  great  re- 
liance, as  to  the  propriety  and  expediency  of  doing  this  ; 


JAMES    LLOYB.  269 

and  preparing  the  needful  documents  under  the  direction 
of  this  distinguished  jurist,  Dr.  Lloyd  visited  England  for 
that  purpose  in  1789. 

On  his  arrival  he  was  received  with  great  kindness  and 
cordiality  by  his  former  friends,  who  also  manifested 
every  disposition  to  aid  him  in  the  recovery  of  his  claim  ; 
after  an  examination  of  Avhich,  a  single,  but  apparently 
an  insuperable  objection  was  stated  to  exist  against  its 
allowance  ;  this  was,  that  as  the  remuneration  was  grant- 
ed to  British  subjects,  he  must  avow  himself  to  be  one, 
before  he  could  receive  a  proportion  of  it.  As  the  declara- 
tion of  independence  had  conclusively  settled  that  ques- 
tion in  his  mind,  he  at  once  declined  doing  this  ;  after  a 
time  it  was  however  suggested  from  a  source  whicli,  though 
not  official,  was  entitled  to  respect,  that  if  he  would  state 
an  intention  of  becoming  a  British  subject  at  some  future 
period,  the  difficulty  might  probably  be  gotten  over,  and 
compensation  be  awarded  him. 

To  this  he  also  replied  that  having  no  such  design  in 
contemplation,  he  could  neither  affirm  nor  intimate  it  ; 
the  object  of  his  voyage  in  consequence  wholly  failed,  and 
in  about  twelve  months  after  his  departure  he  returned 
home,  sustained  for  the  inconvenience  and  expense  of  his 
absence  by  a  consolation,  not  without  its  value,  which 
was  derived  from  the  gratification  of  his  having  met 
the  wishes  of  his  friends  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the 
interests  of  his  family  ;  and  from  the  preservation  of  a 
conscious  integrity,  of  greater  wortii  to  him,  than  the 
treasures  of  the  exchequer. 

In  1800  the  invaluable  discovery  of  the  preventive 
power  of  vaccination  was  made  known  to  the  civilized 
world  by  Dr.  Edward  Jenner  of  Gloucestershire  in  Eng- 
land ;  who  by  so  doing,  and  by  his  able,  and  unremitting 
endeavors  to  extend  a  participation  in  this  blessing  to  every 
region  of  the  habitable  globe,  has  entitled  himself  to  the 
noble  characteristic  of  a  benefactor  of  the  human  race. 

Dr.  Jenner's  first  correspondent  in  America  was  Dr. 
Benjamin  Waterhouse,  at  that  time  Professor  of  the  Theo- 
ry and  Practice  of  Physic  at  the  University  in  Cambridge  ; 
to  whom  he  made  early,  detailed  and  precise  communica- 
tions of  the  nature,  the  symptoms,  and  the  effects  of  the 
cowpox  in  its  original  state,  as  wftll  as  in  its  progress. 
and  operation  on  the  human  system. 
47 


JAMES    LLOYD. 

These  communications,  together  with  the  admirably 
colored  engravings  which  accompanied  them,  giving  the 
most  minute  and  striking  representations  of  the  disease  in 
all  its  tints  and  phases,  Dr.  Waterhouse  immediately  on 
their  receipt,  submitted  to  the  inspection  and  examination 
of  Dr.  Lloyd,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  in  habits  of 
intimate  acquaintance,  and  on  whose  experience,  frankness 
and  good  judgment  he  had  an  entire  reliance. 

Fully  persuaded  of  the  magnitude  of  the  discovery.  Dr. 
Lloyd  promoted  the  exertions  to  introduce  the  practice  of 
vaccination  into  general  use  in  the  United  States,  by  his 
private  consultations  ;  by  his  attention  to  the  progress  and 
effects  of  the  disease  in  the  first  experiments  that  were 
made  of  it  ;  and  by  the  public  professional  certificates  he 
gave  of  his  belief  in  its  importance,  its  mildness,  and  its 
efficacy. 

To  literary  occupations  Dr.  Lloyd  did  not  give  an  atten- 
tion, further  than  was  needful  to  become  possessed  of  the 
current,  and  more  popular  topics  of  the  day,  and  of  the 
improvements  and  discoveries  in  his  profession  ;  of  the 
latter  of  which  he  kept  himself  well  informed,  and  ever 
gave  to  them  an  earnest  observance. 

In  physic,  surgery,  and  obstetrics,  which  at  the  period 
of  his  practice  were  required  to  be  united,  he  was  distin- 
guished for  his  skill  and  ability  ;  having  carried  to  them 
a  mind  more  than  commonly  retentive,  and  well  ground- 
ed in  his  profession,  and  prepared  by  a  seven  years  prev- 
ious, and  assiduous  application  under  the  best  instruction, 
and  advantages  the  time  afforded,  both  in  England  and 
America  ;  to  which  were  added  in  after  life,  an  experience 
which  had  not  been  exceeded  in  the  sphere  of  his  residence  ; 
and  at  all  times  an  interest,  tenderness,  and  humanity 
rarely  equalled. 

Except  in  cases  of  emergency,  he  was  a  cautious  rather 
than  bold  practitioner,  preferring  to  mark  the  indices  of 
nature  in  her  efforts  to  obtain  relief,  and  by  judiciously 
following  out,  to  aid  all  the  minute  indications,  which  the 
*'  vis  medicatrix"  could  afford  him,  rather  than  by  hastily 
prejudging,  perhaps  rashly  to  mistake  them. 

As  remarked  in  a  "  notice"  published  in  the  New  Eng- 
land Medical  Journal  of  1813,*  "  Dr.  Llovd  owed  much 


*  By  Dr.  James  Jackson,  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  and 
Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  in  Cambridee  UnivoraitV. 


JAxMEB    LLOTD.  $ti 

to  his  education  ;  but  he  owed  much  also  to  the  kind- 
ness of  nature  ;  to  an  excellent  disposition,  and  to  a  cor- 
rect deportment.  He  was  endued  with  senses,  which 
were  remarkably  accurate  and  acute  ;  with  a  faculty  of 
perception  unusually  prompt  ;  and  as  he  thought  not  of 
words  but  of  things,  his  combinations  were  rapid.  He 
read  the  language  of  nature  with  the  eye  of  watchful 
intelligence,  and  ministered  to  her  aid  with  the  hand  of  s^ 
master." 

Keenly  sensitive  in  his  feelings,  he  at  times  sympathized 
perhaps  too  deeply  in  the  sufferings  of  his  patients,  espe- 
cially when  the  harrowing  siroc  of  our  climate,  swept 
from  the  scene  of  earthly  action,  the  opening  buds  of 
beauty  and  of  promise,  he  has  occasionally  appeared  to 
experience  a  degree  of  distress  and  of  sorrow,  little  less 
poignant  than  that  of  the  nearest  relatives  of  the  sufferer  ; 
but  if  this  propensity,  from  the  hazard  it  might  sometimes 
create,  of  the  effect  of  intense  anxiety  operating  on  the 
judgment,  should  in  the  estimation  of  cooler  professional 
men  be  considered  as  a  defect  ;  it  would  at  least  in  a 
measure  be  counteracted,  by  the  sustaining  influence,  which 
a  knowledge  of  such  dispositions  and  interest  on  the  part 
of  a  physician  could  scarcely  fail  to  excite  in  the  mind  of 
the  patient. 

From  pretension,  jealousy,  or  sinister  projects  of  every 
description,  no  one  could  be  more  entirely  exempt  than 
Dr.  Lloyd  ;  with  his  professional  brethren  he  constantly 
harmonized,  his  treatment  of  them  being  ever  courteous, 
open  and  respectful  ;  with  them  he  could  have  no  conten- 
tions, for  he  envied  no  man's  fame,  nor  feared  his  competi- 
tion. To  the  younger  members  of  the  profession,  more 
particularly  when  he  discerned  the  germs  of  future  useful-, 
ness  and  respectability,  he  was  at  all  times  accessible,  and 
his  counsel  and  patronage  to  them  were  as  freely  afforded, 
as  they  were  constantly  solicited. 

Few  individuals  have  been  more  exempt  from  a  selfish 
ambition  of  fame,  or  avarice  of  money  ;  official  honors 
he  not  only  omitted  to  seek,  but  was  desirous  to  avoid,  and 
at  an  early  period  after  the  institution  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  his  friends, 
he  declined  the  office  of  its  President. 

One  of  the  first  diplomas  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  from 
the  University  at  Cambridge  was  granted  to  Dr.  Lloyd, 
without   his  previous  solicitation  or   knowledge  ;  and  in 


372  JAMES    LLOTD. 

1771,  under  the  like  circumstance?,  he  was  elected  an  hon- 
orary member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  at 
Philadelphia,  probably  on  the  nomination  of  his  friend 
Dr.  Morgan  of  that  city,  afterwards  Surgeon  General  of 
the  American  forces,  who  had  been  long  known,  and  much 
esteemed  by  Dr.  Lloyd,  and  who  with  his  family  were 
domesticated  w^ith  him  when  attached  to  the  medical  statf 
of  the  army  at  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  in  1776.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  numerous  benevolent  and  charitable  in- 
stitutions, to  wliich,  although  he  declined  to  partake  their 
honors,  he  always  readily  afforded  his  counsels,  and  his 
contributions. 

The  very  extended  practice  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  in  the  early 
and  middle  parts  of  his  professional  career,  undoubtedly 
afforded  him  the  means  of  accumulating  a  large  estate,  but 
he  was  moderate  in  his  fees,  and  for  some  years  negligent 
of  their  collection  :  to  the  poor  his  services  were  at  all 
times  most  humanely  rendered,  and  ever  free  from  charge  ; 
not  content  with  this,  lie  frequently  became  not  only  their 
medical  adviser,  but  the  almoner  to  their  necessities,  and 
one  of  the  provisions  of  his  last  will  was,  that  the  debts  to 
him,  from  those  who  could  ill  afford  to  pay  them,  should 
be  cancelled  ;  an  injunction  that  was  scrupulously  compli- 
ed with  by  his  executor. 

While  in  the  fulness  of  his  business,  it  is  believed  he  in- 
cluded in  the  list  of  his  patients,  every  gentleman  of  the 
clerical  profession  in  Boston  ;  and  notwithstanding  he  had 
for  many  years  previously  been  desirous  of  narrowing  his 
practice,  many  of  these  revered  and  respected  pastors 
aslced  a  continiiance  of  his  services,  and  remained  greatly 
attached  to  him  to  the  latest  period  of  their  lives. 

In  his  person  Dr.  Lloyd  was  about  the  middle  stature  as 
to  height,  not  broad,  but  erect,  compactly  formed,  and  re- 
markable for  agility,  muscular  strength,  and  a  resolution 
which  never  faltered.  He  received  from  his  parents,  a 
sound  constitution,  which  was  confirmed  in  youth,  by 
rural  habits,  simple  diet,  and  the  healthful  occupations  of 
the  country  ;  and  among  them,  the  pursuit  of  the  deer, 
which  then  abounded  at  the  place  of  his  birth,  during 
the  moonlight  nights  of  the  winter,  when  the  hoofs  of  the 
stag  breaking  through  the  crust  of  the  snows,  left  him  after 
short  chaces  at  the  mercy  of  his  pedestrian  pursuers  : 
these  gave  to  him  a  vigor  of  health,  which  never  trespass- 
ed on  by  irregularity,  and   fortified   in   after  life,  by  tem- 


JAMES    LLOYD.  373 

perance,  and  by  constant  exercise  in  the  open  air,  which 
his  profession  required,  remained  nearly  unimpaired,  and 
secured  to  him  the  enjoyment  of  this  inestimable  blessing 
with  some  slight  exceptions,  for  the  long  period  of  more 
than  eighty  years. 

In  his  intercourse  with  the  world,  he  was  decorous, 
spirited,  and  gentlemanly,  avoiding  at  all  times  to 
give  offence  ;  but  easily  excited  thougli  plac.ible  in  his 
dispositions,  promptly  repelling  it  when  considered  as 
so  intended  against  himself  ;  sympathetic  and  generous 
in  his  own  dispositions,  and  readily  participating  in  the 
feelings  and  misfortunes  of  others,  not  a  small  number  of 
those  who  commenced  as  his  patients,  became  his  personal 
friends,  and  made  him,  not  only  their  physician,  but  the 
depository  of  their  sorrows,  and  their  counsellor  in  afflic- 
tion. 

Fond  of  society,  and  of  employment  ;  a  familiar  inter- 
course with  his  family  and  friends,  and  an  attention  to  his 
garden,  which  from  a  rude  hill  of  gravel,  he  fashioned 
into  a  picturesque,  terraced  panorama,  ornamental  of  the 
city  ;  they  afforded  to  him  his  chief  sources  of  amusement, 
and  relaxation,  when  in  middle  life,  he  escaped  from  the 
toils  of  his  profession  ;  and  at  a  later  period  when  in  its 
decline,  he  sought  in  tranquil  and  innocent  occupation,  to 
smooth  the  onward  progress  of  his  course  from  time  to 
eternity. 

In  the  cultivation  of  this  garden,  he  was  a  scientific  and 
practical  horticulturist,  and  which  although  circumscrib- 
ed as  to  its  area,  from  its  position  in  a  densely  populated 
seaport,  he  stocked  with  the  choicest  fruits  the  climate 
would  mature  ;  for  many  years,  trimming  for  the  greater 
part,  his  trees,  his  vines,  and  his  bushes,  Avith  his  own 
hands,  and  the  grapes,  the  pears,  and  the  English  mul- 
berries, the  latter  a  very  line  fruit  when  fully  ripe,  and 
scarcely  even  yet  cultivated  among  us,  wliich  it  produced, 
were  much  prized,  and  in   the  vicinity  nowhere  surpassed. 

In  making  this  appropriation  of  part  of  his  time,  he  de- 
rived a  sensible  gratification  in  addition  to  the  pleasing 
resource  it  afforded,  from  its  ena1)ling  him,  not  only  to 
contiibute  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  immediate  circle  of  his 
friends,  but  from  the  means  it  gave  him,  of  occasionally 
assuaging  the  feverish  anguish  even  of  hopeless  disease,  by 
an  offering  of  this  balsam  of  nature,  to  the  parched  and 
burning  lips  of  a  dying  sufferer  ;  as  well  as  from  a  wide 


374  JAMES    LLOYD. 

distribution  of  the  scions  of  liis  trees  and  vines,  to  extend 
their  propagation,  and  a  participation  in  them  by  others 
as  far  as  they  could  be  supplied  ;  and  many  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  gardens  in  the  capital,  and  its  neighborhood, 
are  indebted  to  the  care  and  selection  of  Dr.  Lloyd  for 
some  of  the  best  fruits  they  now  possess. 

Believing  that  an  overgrown  estate,  contributed  neither 
to  the  felicity  of  its  possessor,  nor  the  benefit  of  his  poster- 
ity, and  that  wealth  was  valuable,  not  as  the  end,  but  the 
means  of  enjoyment,  he  had  no  avarice  of  money,  and 
was  at  all  times  free  in  his  expenditures,  and  regardless  of 
them,  provided  they  did  not  exceed  his  income  ;  on  this 
point  he  was  rigidly  tenacious,  and  without  urgent  cause 
would  not  have  departed  from  it ;  averse  through  life 
from  incurring  debts,  and  entering  into  no  speculations, 
he  was  enabled,  from  keeping  an  aggregate  account  of  his 
annual  expenses  to  regulate  his  disbursements  in  this  re- 
spect according  to  his  wishes  ;  but  while  doing  this,  his 
hospitality,  although  wholly  exempted  from  parade  or  os- 
tentation, was  liberal  and  expanded  ;  his  house  being  open 
to  his  friends,  especially  for  those  of  them  who  had  seen 
better  days,  and  whose  fortunes  were  on  the  wane,  from 
the  interruption  of  their  pursuits,  the  emigration  of  their 
connexions,  the  event  of  revolutions,  and  the  unavoidable 
casualties,  and  vicissitudes  of  life  ;  for  several  aged  and 
respectable  persons  of  this  description  of  either  sex,  his 
mansion  was  long  an  Oasis,  and  probably  for  the  space  of 
thirty  years,  a  week  never  passed,  without  the  civilities 
and  accommodations  of  his  table,  being  participated  by 
some  one,  or  more,  of  these  ancient  acquaintances. 

In  domestic  life,  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Lloyd  was  exem- 
plary ;  his  attention  to  his  lady  whom  he  married  shortly 
after  his  establishment  at  Boston,  and  who  soon  became 
subject  to  frequent  illness  from  pulmonary  affections, 
which  confined  her  to  her  chamber,  exhibited  an  instance 
of  the  utmost  conjugal  affection  and  devotion,  as  well  as 
of  professional  skill,  and  probably  by  them,  her  life  was 
preserved  for  many  years  ;  to  do  this,  was  to  him  an  ob- 
ject of  his  unceasing  care,  of  his  morning  thoughts  and 
nightly  vigils  ;  and  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he 
literally  would  not  suffer  the  winds  of  Heaven  to  visit  her 
too  rudely.  To  his  children  he  allowed  an  indulgence  so 
unlimited,  as  could  alone  find  its  source,  and  perhaps  its 
excuse,  in  the  tenderness   of  his  affection,  the  warmth  of 


JAMES    LLOYD.  S75 

his  feelings,  and  the  external  occupations  by  which,  at  the 
earlier  period  of  their  lives  he  was  engrossed.  Of  his 
domestics,  he  was  at  all  times  considerate  ;  especially  in 
sickness,  when  they  were  sure  to  receive  all  tlie  care  and 
comfort  he  could  afford  them  ;  and  who  in  return  fre- 
quently becoming  duly  sensible  of  his  kindness,  remained 
long  in  his  family,  in  which  several  of  them  deceased, 
after  a  service  of  from  thirty  to  forty  years. 

The  religion  of  Dr.  Lloyd  Avas  of  the  heart  ;  educated 
in  the  Episcopal  form  of  worsliip,  he  adhered  to  it  during 
life,  and  attended  divine  service  at  Trinity  Church  in 
Boston,  whenever  his  professional  engagements  would  ^id- 
mit.  He  was  not,  however,  the  slave  of  forms,  or  of  dog- 
mas, but  was  ever  in  charity  with  all  sects  of  Christians  ; 
believing  that  those  who  improved  the  talents  committed 
to  their  charge,  according  to  the  best  lights  of  their  un- 
derstanding, in  purity  of  purpose,  and  in  imitation  of  the 
blessed  example  of  Him  who  went  about  doing  good, 
would,  as  he  trusted,  hereafter  receive,  from  an  all-merci- 
ful and  bountiful  God,  the  reward  of  good  and  faithful 
servants. 

Tiie  health  of  Dr.  Lloyd,  which  had  remained  unbrok- 
en for  so  long  a  period,  a  fe  v  years  before  his  death  met 
a  severe  shock  from  two  falls  he  received,  one  with  his 
horse,  and  the  other  on  the  icy  steps  of  his  garden  ;  of 
these  he  said  little,  for  he  rarely  permitted  himself  to 
complain,  but  they  evidently  shook  his  frame  ;  from  the 
time  of  the  occurrence  of  these  accidents,  which  were  not 
distant  from  each  other,  his  strength  obviously  declined 
until  the  autumn  of  1809,  v/hen  his  debility  so  much  in- 
creased, as  to  induce  him  to  confine  himself  to  the  house, 
and  shortly  after  to  his  chamber  ;  occasional  slight  hae- 
morrhages from  the  .chest  supervened,  but  without  any 
great  suffering  ;  his  prostration  of  strength  gradually  be- 
coming more  marked,  until  March,  1810,  when  after  a  full 
knoAvledge  of  the  approaching  termination  of  his  course, 
and  within  a  few  days  of  his  attaining  to  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  years,  he  deceased,  leaving  two  children  ;  a  son,  be- 
fore mentioned,  bearing  his  name,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Borland, 
relict  of  Leonard  Vassal  Borland. 

Dr.  Lloyd  bequeathed  to  his  descendants  a  moderate, 
but  wholly  unincumbered  estate  ;  leaving  to  them  also  a 
remembrance  greatly  endeared  to  those  who  knew  him 
best,  from  an  experience  of  his  probity,  Ids  skill,  Ids  sym- 


S76  JAMES    LOW. 

pathies  and  his  tenderness  ;  and  still  after  a  lapse  of  nearly 
twenty  years  from  his  death,  it  not  unfrequently  happens, 
that  on  viewing  an  almost  speaking  likeness  of  him,  from 
the  pencil  of  the  most  eminent  portrait  painter  of  his 
time,*  by  persons  of  this  description,  it  is  apostrophized 
by  them  in  terms  of  mingled  respect,  affection  and  regret. 

The  concluding  remarks  in  the  discourse  delivered 
March  25th,  1810,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  "this 
excellent  physician,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner,  will  close 
the  present  biographical  sketch,  in  which  the  eloquent 
divine,  after  describing  the  character,  and  many  of  the 
occurrences  in  the  life  of  the  deceased,  observes,  "  for 
most  of  these,  relative  to  his  profession,  I  am  indebted  to 
one  who  knew  him  well,f  who  loved  and  revered  him 
while  living,  and  will  never  cease  to  cherish  his  memory 
with  the  fondest  recollection." 

"  Such,  my  bi'ethren,  was  Dr.  James  Lloyd  ;  and  if  the 
value  of  a  citizen  is  to  be  estimated  by  his  public  and  pri- 
vate utility,  this  town  has  never,  perhaps,  sustained  a 
greater  loss  :  for  nearly  fifty-eight  ^^ears  he  was  in  exten- 
sive practice,  and  there  is  perhaps  no  physician  now  liv- 
ing, to  whom  so  many  individuals  have  been  under  pro- 
fessional obligations. 

"  The  public  have  lost  in  him  a  practitioner  of  first  rate 
skill  and  respectability  ;  polished  society,  a  gentleman  of 
consummate  good  breeding  ;  his  country,  a  firm  friend  ; 
the  poor,  a  most  benevolent  benefactor  ;  his  own  family, 
the  fondest  parent  and  grandfather  ;  and  his  domestics,  the 
kindest  master  and  patron. 

"  He  has  descended  to  the  grave  full  of  years  and  honor, 
an  ornament  to  his  profession,  and  an  example  to  his  sur- 
vivers,  with  the  esteem  and  veneration  of  all  who  knew 
him,  and  with  the  blessing  of  those  ready  to  perish." — 
Hon.  James  Lloyd. 

LOW,  JAMES,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Albany,  December 
9th,  1781.  His  early  education  was  completed  at  the  acad- 
emy and  college  in  Schenectady.  He  then  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  with  the  late  Dr.  William  McClelland, 
of  Albany,  and  after  remaining  with  him  for  three  years, 
proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  spent  four  years  in  at- 
tending the  lectures  at  the  celebrated  university  in  that 
place.     During  a  part   of  the  above  time  he  was  a  private 

*  Gilbert  Stewart.  t  Dr.  Rand,  senior. 


JAMES    LOW.  377 

pupil  of  the  late  eminent  lecturer  on  chemistry,  John  Mur- 
ray, M.D.  Dr.  Low  was  graduated  at  Edinburgh  in 
1807.  The  subject  of  Iiis  inaugural  dissertation  was  Teta- 
nus, but  the  writer  of  this  sketch  lias  often  heard  him  men- 
tion that  he  had  prepared  one  on  the  non  contagious  na- 
ture of  yellow  fever  ;  objections  were,  however,  made  to 
it  from  a  quarter  which  could  not  be  resisted,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  select  another  subject.  The  standing  of  Dr. 
Low  among  his  fellow  students,  may  be  estimated  from 
the  fact  that  he  was  elected  one  of  the  presidents  of  the 
Royal  Physical  Society  of  Edinburgh. 

After  travelling  over  many  parts  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, Dr.  Low  returned  to  his  native  country  in  1808,  and 
shortly  after  commenced  the  j^ractice  of  medicine  in  con- 
nexion with  his  former  preceptor  Dr.  McClelland.  His 
reputation  as  a  skilful  and  learned  physician,  and  an  able 
and  expert  surgeon,  soon  became  widely  diffused  and  in- 
troduced him  into  extensive  business.  He  was  also  distin- 
guished as  a  man  of  science,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
useful  and  active  members  of  the  society  for  the  promotion 
of  useful  arts.  Among  his  successful  labors,  besides  those 
mentioned  below,  was  the  publication,  in  1809,  of  Hoop- 
er's Physician's  Vade  Mecum,  with  translations  of  all  the 
formula?,  and  the  addition  of  many  valuable  notes.  In 
1814,  in  conjunction  with  another,  he  edited  Benjamin 
Bell's  Treatise  on  the  Venereal  Disease,  adding  copious 
notes  adapted  to  the  improved  state  of  practice  in  these 
diseases. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  his  health  was  much 
impaired,  and  after  much  suffering  he  died  at  Albany,  Feb- 
ruary 3d,  1822.  His  loss  to  society  was  great,  as  he  bade 
fair  at  one  period  of  his  life,  not  only  to  be  one  of  the  first 
physicians  in  the  state,  but  also  to  become  a  leading  agent 
in  promoting  the  interests  of  learning.  During  sev^eral 
years  he  delivered  lectures  on  chemistry  with  great  accept- 
ance, and  displayed  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  that  im- 
portant and  popular  branch  of  study.  He  was  a  scholar 
well  versed  in  the  languages,  an  entliusiast  in  poetrv,  and 
a  man  of  extensive  and  varied  information.  The  follow- 
ing is  believed  to  be  a  complete  list  of  the  publications  of 
Dr.  Low. 

1.  Dissertatio  Inauguralis  De  Tetano.  Edinburgh,  1807. 
Dedicated  to  John  Murrav  and  Alexander  Macdonald,  Esq, 
48 


378  JOHN    MANNING. 

2.  Account  of  the  Epidemic  Pneumonia,  which  lately 
prevailed  at  Albany  ancl  other  parts  of  the  state  of  New- 
York.     Published  in  the  Medical  Register,  Volume  IV  . 

3.  Researches  on  the  Light  manifested  in  the  Combustion 
of  inflammable  Substances.  Translated  from  the  French 
of  Count  Rumford.  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Use- 
ful Arts,  Volume  III. 

4.  Observations  on  the  Moth  which  proved  destructive 
to  Bees.    Ibid.  Volume  IV. 

5.  Notes  to  Hooper's  Vade  Mecum. 

6.  Notes  to  Bell  on  the  Venereal.— T.  R.  Beck. 

*  MANNING,  DR.  JOHN,  was  the  oldest  son  of  Dr. 
Joseph  Manning  of  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  a  respectable 
practitioner  of  medicine  in  that  place  for  nearly  sixty 
years,  who  died  in  the  80th  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  John  Man- 
ning was  born  in  November,  1737,  was  fitted  for  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  under  his  father's  instruction,  and  com- 
menced practice  at  Newmarket,  New-Hampshire,  in  1759. 

He  returned  to  Ipswich  in  1760,  where  he  continued  to 
practise  in  his  profession  until  1771,  when  with  the  laud- 
able view  of  a  more  finished  education  he  repaired  to 
England,  and  visited,  as  a  medical  student,  several  hos- 
pitals in  London,  particulaily  Westminster  Lying-in  Hos- 
pital ;  attended  Professor  John  Leake's  lectures,  and  re- 
ceived his  certificate  under  the  hospital  seal,  declaring 
that  Dr.  John  Manning  had  frequent  and  uncommon  op- 
portunities of  extensive  practice  ;  also  of  seeing  the  method 
of  treating,  and  the  manner  of  prescribing  for  the  various 
disorders  incident  to  childbearing  women,  and  infants  ; 
and  that  he  was  in  all  respects  regularly  qualified  for  the 
practice  of  midwifery.  Dr.  Leake  has,  at  the  close  of  his 
second  volume  on  chronic  diseases,  seventh  London  edit- 
ion, printed  1793,  included  Dr.  Manning's  name  in  his  list 
of  medical  students.  While  in  London,  he  made  himself 
particularly  acquainted  with  Dr.  Sutton's  improved  mcth- 
odof  treating  smallpox,  and  was  himself  inoculated  in 
London. 

He  returned  to  America  in  1772,  and  resumed  practice 
in  his  native  town  ;  and  having  erected  insulated  tempora- 
ry hospitals  he  carried  several  classes  through  the  smallpox 
successfully  by  inoculation.  After  the  battle  on  Bunker's 
Hill  he  volunteered  his  assistance  in  dressing  tlie  wound- 
ed, was  at  Cambridge  with  the  American  troops,  and  serv- 
ed as  surgeon  one    campaign    on   Long  Island  and  Rhode 


JAMES    MC  CLURG.  379 

Island.  Dr.  Manning  was  frequently  employed  in  Boston 
as  an  inoculator  of  the  smallpox,  and  by  his  address  and 
successful  mode  of  practice  he  overcame  tlie  prejudice  and 
opposition  which  he  was  called  to  encounter.  As  a  prac- 
tising accoucheur  he  attained  to  considerable  celebrity,  and 
was  highly  valued  not  only  in  his  native  town,  but  in  an 
extensive  surrounding  country,  where  he  was  frequent- 
ly called  in  consultation,  and  he  enjoyed  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  the  people. 

He  was  for  several  years  a  member  of  the  house  of  re- 
presentatives, and  constantly  adhered  to  the  party  denom- 
inated democratic  republicans.  He  was  a  regular  attend- 
ant on  })ublic  worship,  and  always  opposed  to  sectarian 
controversies.  lii  his  habits  he  was  undeviatingly  temper- 
ate and  regular.  His  life  was  long  protracted,  and  after 
about  a  week's  illness  he  quietly  departed  in  November, 
1824,  having  nearly  completed  his  87th  year.  Among  the 
children  of  Dr.  Manning,  three  sons  have  been  initiated 
into  the  medical  profession,  and  are  respectably  estab- 
lished. 

McCLURG,  JAMES,  M.D.  was  born  in  the  county  of 
Elizabeth  City  in  Virginia,  and  was  educated  at  the  Col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary  in  Williamsburg.  He  was 
highly  distinguished  for  his  attainments  in  classical  learn- 
ing at  a  place  where  at  that  period  this  department  of  lite- 
rature was  taught  by  able  professors  from  the  English  uni- 
versities, and  cultivated  Avith  as  much  ardor  and  success 
as  in  any  other  part  of  this  country. 

The  state  of  his  healtji  induced  his  father,  Dr.  Walter 
McClurg,  to  send  him  to  Europe  before  he  had  attained 
the  age  of  manhood,  and  he  devoted  a  much  longer  time 
than  is  usual  to  the  study  of  his  profession.  He  was  en- 
gaged several  years  as  a  student  of  medicine  in  Edin])urgh, 
where  his  genius  and  acquirements  were  held  in  the  higli- 
est  estimation  by  the  professors  of  tliat  university,  ;md 
obtained  for  him  the  friendship  of  the  celebrated  Drs 
Cullen  and  Black,  and  other  eminent  men  at  that  seat  of 
literature. 

In  June,  1770,  he  took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Modi- 
cine.  His  inaugural  essay  "•  De  Calore,"  was  highly 
thought  of  at  the  time,  as  containing  profound  and  oriia- 
nal  tlioughts  on  the  subject  to  wliich  it  relates,  and  has 
been  since  said  to  have  the   credit  of  first  advancinir  sonu- 


380  JAMES    MC  CLURG. 

of  the  opinions  which  have  been  confirmed  by  the  found- 
ers of  the  French  school  of  chemistry. 

From  Edinburgh  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  attended 
several  courses  of  medical  lectures,  and  he  afterward 
spent  some  time  in  the  study  of  his  profession  in  London. 
While  in  that  city  he  published  his  "  Essay  on  the  Bile," 
a  work  which  at  once  established  his  character  as  a  man 
of  talents  and  a  learned  physician,  and  still  maintains  a 
high  reputation,  as  well  for  acuteness  and  accuracy  of  in- 
vestigation, as  for  a  purity  and  classical  elegance  of  style, 
seldom  attained  by  writers  on  professional  or  scientific 
subjects. 

Though  strongly  advised  by  some  of  those  who  occu- 
pied the  highest  standing  among  the  Faculty  in  London  to 
fix  in  that  capital,  he  returned  to  his  native  country  about 
the  year  1772  or  1773,  and  established  himself  in  Wil- 
liamsburg, then  the  seat  of  government  ;  and  though  in 
that  part  of  Virginia  there  was  a  number  of  able  physi- 
cians, educated  in  the  first  schools  in  Europe,  he  was  in  a 
short  time  universally  admitted  to  be  at  the  head  of  his 
profession,  and  that  station,  without  effort  or  pretension 
on  his  part,  was  by  common  consent  assigned  to  him  until 
at  an  advanced  age  he  retired  wholly  from  practice.  The 
seat  of  government  being  removed  to  Richmond,  he 
changed  his  residence  to  that  city  about  the  year  1783,  and 
continued  to  reside  thereuntil  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  July,  1823,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 

In  the  exercise  of  his  profession  Dr.  McClurg  enjoyed 
the  advantages  derived  from  the  study  of  the  works,  in 
the  languages  in  which  they  were  wri'tcn,  of  the  most 
distinguished  authors  on  the  science  of  medicine,  ancient 
and  foreign,  as  well  as  English,  from  an  assiduous  attend- 
ance on  the  first  schools  abroad,  and  a  personal  acquaint- 
ance Avith  many  of  the  most  learned  physicians  in  Europe  ; 
and  his  profound  views  of  the  philosophy  of  the  art,  his 
intuit!  re  sagacity,  his  minute  attention  to  the  varying 
symptoiiis  of  diseases  in  different  constitutions  and  under 
different  circumstances,  the  eminent  success  with  which 
his  methods  of  treatment  were  attended,  and  his  humanity 
and  tenderness  towards  his  patients,  while  they  inspired 
confidence,  secured  respect  and  affection.  Those  diseases 
of  climate  most  freqiient  in  the  country  where  he  practis- 
ed, were  necessarily  the  constant  subjects  of  his  observa- 
tion, and  in  the  course  of  a  long  and  successful  treatment 


JAMES    MC  CLURG.  381 

of  them  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  much  public  benefit 
would  have  accrued  from  his  publishing  the  result  of  his 
experience  ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  never  wrote 
for  the  public  on  professional  subjects  after  his  return 
from  Europe.  This  might  in  some  degree  be  owing  to 
his  pecuniary  circumstances,  which  rendered  it  unnecessary 
for  him  to  engage  actively  in  general  practice,  but  more 
to  his  modesty  and  aversion  to  every  appearance  of  dis- 
play, which  perhaps  he  carried  too  far.  Had  he  remain- 
ed in  Europe,  or  established  himself  in  one  of  our  large 
cities,  it  is  not  improbable  that  his  zeal  for  the  advance- 
ment of  medical  science  might  have  led  him  to  a  different 
course.  For  many  years  before  his  decease  he  was  most 
generally  employed  as  a  consulting  physician,  and  although 
well  acquainted  with  the  science  of  anatomy,  and  in  his 
earlier  years  with  the  art  of  surgery,  from  the  beginning 
of  his  practice  in  Virginia  the  great  delicacy  of  his  nerves 
rendered  him  averse  to  the  performance  of  any  surgical 
operation,  and  in  his  own  opinion  unfit  for  it  ;  and  he 
rarely,  if  ever,  performed  one. 

In  private  life  his  habits  were  studious  and  sedentary. 
Though  well  acquainted  with  the  modern  history  of  medi- 
cal science,  his  attention,  after  lie  had  passed  the  meridian 
of  life,  was  more  generally  directed  to  the  study  of  polite 
literature.  Averse  to  mixing  in  crowds,  his  conversation 
and  acquaintance  were  sought  after  and  cultivated  by  most 
of  the  eminent  men  who  in  his  time  have  done  honor  to 
Virginia  ;  and  he  took  pleasure  in  improved  and  intelli- 
gent society,  where  he  Avas  always  distinguished  by  the 
simple  dignity  and  amenity  of  his  manners,  the  extent  of 
his  knowledge,  the  solidity  of  his  understanding,  and  the 
brilliancy  of  his  wit  ;  never  obtrusive  and  always  control- 
led by  taste  and  good  breeding. 

Though  never  a  candidate  for  public  favor,  he  was  for 
a  long  time  one  of  the  council  of  state  in  Virginia.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  convention  that  formed  tlie  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  lal  his  private  affairs  called 
him  from  Philadelphia  before  a  final  vote  was  taken  on 
that  instrument. 

Having  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  first  his  only  son,  and 
afterwards  his  wife,  a  number  of  years  before  his  decease, 
he  passed  the  latter  period  of  his  life  in  the  family  of  his 
daughter  and  only  remaining  child. 


382  JAMES    MC  CLURG. 

In  old  age  his  constitution,  always  delicate,  became 
more  infirm  ;  but  the  faculties  of  his  mind  remained  unim- 
paired, and  the  serenity  of  his  temper  undisturbed  to  the 
last.  He  died  as  he  had  lived,  universally  esteemed  and 
respected,  and  most  beloved  and  venerated  by  those  who 
best  knew  him. 

Such  was  Dr.  McClurg,  and  none  will  deny  the  fidelity 
of  the  delineation.  It  has  been  already  stated  that  his 
work  on  the  Bile  may  be  considered  as  a  most  favorable 
exhibition  of  his  powers,  and  the  curious  will  revert  to  it 
as  one  of  the  early  efforts  made  for  the  purpose  of  unfold- 
ing animal  chemistry,  a  science  since  so  elaborately  and 
successfully  cultivated.  In  his  introductioii  on  reasoning 
in  medicine  he  fully  shows  that  his  views  of  the  study  of 
physic  were  of  the  most  extensive  sort.  He  considered 
every  branch  of  science  as  kindred  and  capable  of  mutual 
illustration.  "  The  sciences,"  says  he,  "  like  the  graces, 
march  hand  in  hand,  and  nothing  would  be  more  vain 
than  an  attempt  to  pursue  any  one  of  them  separately." 
He  warmly  opposed  the  separation  of  physic  and  surgery 
as  unnatural,  and  insisted  that  it  would  be  for  the  advan- 
tage of  both  to  unite  them  :  yet  he  does  admit,  as  far  as 
simple  dexterity  is  concerned,  the  chirurgical  art  has  been 
improved  by  the  separation.  "  We  expect,"  says  he, 
"  that  the  surgeon  should  be  acquainted  with  the  powers 
of  the  machine,  and  be  able  to  tell,  quid  ferat,  atque  faciat 
natura.  And  thus,  his  art  is  so  strictly  connected  with 
medicine  as  to  justify  the  remark  of  Petit  ;  and  though  it 
may  be  useful  to  practise  them  separately,  they  should 
certainly  be  studied  together."  The  interesting  paper  of 
Dr.  McClurg  from  which  the  preceding  is  taken,  will  be 
found  in  the  Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and 
Physical  Sciences,  edited  by  Professor  Chapman,  Vol.  I. 

The  local  situation  of  Dr.  McClurg  prevented  him  from 
witnessing  the  operation  of  that  malignant  pestilence 
which  has  so  frequently  desolated  our  large  cities.  Yet 
his  active  mind  appears  to  have  reflected  much  on  tlie 
subject,  and  with  his  usual  force  and  discrimination.  In 
a  letter  to  his  friend  Dr.  Hosack,  from  whom  many  of 
the  particulars  of  the  present  article  are  derived,  written 
some  time  previous  to  his  death,  in  speaking  of  the  nature 
of  the  yellow  fever,  he  puts  this  query  ;  "  May  not  tlie 
Philadelphia  fever,  which  seems  to  depend  upon  lieat  for 
its  exiilcnce,  have  been  ratlier  suspendcHl,  in  some  inj^tances. 


CHARLES    MC  KNIGHT,  383 

than  extinguished  by  the  winter's  cold,  and  have  revived 
again  in  a  favorable  season  without  a  fresh  importation  ?" 
This  is  a  suggestion  which  has  had  some  little  influence, 
but  its  support  on  the  solid  basis  of  facts  cannot  be 
admitted. 

i  Mcknight,  charles,  m.d.  m.m.s.s.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  present  memoir  was  born  on  the  10th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1750,  at  Cranbury,  Monmouth  county,  New-Jersey. 
His  father  was  Charles  McKnight,  a  native  of  Ireland  aiid 
son  of  the  Rev.  John  McKnight,  a  dissenting  minister  of 
respectability  in  that  country.  At  an  early  age  he  gave 
evidence  of  superior  talents,  and  after  having  passed 
through  his  preparatory  studies  with  much  credit,  was 
admitted  a  student  in  the  college  at  Princeton,  and  receiv- 
ed the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1771. 

He  now  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  the 
direction  of  the  late  Dr.  Shippen  of  Philadelphia.  Before, 
"however,  he  had  qualified  himself  for  the  exercise  of  his 
profession,  the  revolutionary  war  in  America  took  place, 
and  young  McKnight,  with  a  num1)er  of  medical  gentle- 
men, entered  the  army,  considering  that  the  place  best 
calculated  to  enlarge  his  practical  knowledge.  Here  his 
abilities  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the  commander  in 
chief,  and  lie  was  in  a  short  time  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
senior  surgeon  of  the  flying  hospital  in  the  middle  depart- 
ment. In  the  discharge  of  the  important  and  arduous  du- 
ties of  his  station,  his  talents  and  indefatigable  zeal  were 
equally  conspicuous.  Although  surrounded  by  the  most 
discouraging  circumstances,  and  exposed  to  all  the  hard- 
ships necessarily  connected  "^v/ith  that  department  of  the 
American  army,  he  was  preeminently  conspicuous  for  the 
performance  of  all  those  duties,  which  the  peculiar  situa- 
tion of  his  country  required,  and  his  humane  disposition 
led  liim  to  undertake. 

At  the  conclusion  of  tlie  war  lie  removed  to  New-York, 
and  married  Mrs.  Litchfield,  only  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
John  M.  Scott.  Our  city  could  not,  at  that  time,  boast 
of  the  medic  al  school  it  now  has,  or  his  talents  Avould  un- 
doubtedly have  procured  for  him  the  Professorship  of 
Anatomy  and  Surgery.  He,  however,  delivered  lectures 
on  these  two  ])ranclies  of  Uiediral  science  to  a  numerous 
and  attentive  class  of  schokirs,  while  the  profundity  of  his 
researcli,  and  the  acutcness  of  liis  genius,  gained  for  liim 
the  approl)ation  even  of  the  most  fastidious.     In  a  life  of 


584  PETER    MIDDLETON. 

constant  activity,  both  as  a  practitioner  and  a  teacher,  he 
continued  until  he  arrived  at  his  forty-first  year,  when  a 
pulmonic  affection  put  a  period  to  his  labors  and  use- 
fulness. 

Dr.  McKnight,  though  eminent  as  a  physician,  was  par- 
ticularly distinguished  as  a  practical  surgeon,  and,  except 
ing  the  late  Dr.  Richard  Bayley  of  New-York,  was  with' 
out  a  rival  in  this  branch  of  his  profession.  Gifted  by 
nature  with  talents  peculiarly  calculated  for  the  exercise 
of  the  important  duties  of  a  surgeon,  his  education,  in  an 
especial  manner,  enabled  him  to  attain  the  highest  reputa- 
tion. The  only  production  of  Dr.  McKnight  which  is 
published,  is  an  interesting  account  of  a  case  of  extra-ute- 
rine foetus,  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Medical  Society  of  Lon- 
don, Volume  IV.  This  case  is  often  referred  to  by  med- 
ical writers,  and  its  interest  has  lately  increased  by  the 
discovery  of  the  preparation  itself,  preserved  in  a  glass 
jar  and  found  in  the  ground  of  a  cellar  in  New-York.  It* 
confirms  tlie  views  of  those  who  believe  in  the  entire  pro- 
duction and  perfection  of  the  human  foetus  extra  uterum. 
— Hosack  and  Francises  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register^ 

1^0  IV/'ilX  B  IT* 

MIDDLETON,  PETER,  M.D.  This  gentleman,  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland,  flourished  in  the  profession  of  medicine 
in  the  city  of  New- York  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  was  one  of  the  very  few  medical  men  of  this 
country  who  at  that  early  period  were  distinguished 
equally  for  various  and  profound  learning  and  great  pro- 
fessional talents.  He  with  Dr.  J.  Bard,  in  1750,  dissected 
a  human  body  and  injected  the  blood  vessels,  which  was 
the  first  attempt  of  the  kind  to  be  found  on  medical  re- 
cord in  America,  and  in  1767  he  proffered  his  services  for 
carrying  into  effect  the  establishment  of  a  new  medical 
school  in  the  city  of  New-York,  of  which  he  was  appoint- 
ed the  first  professor  of  Physiology  and  Pathology,  and 
afterwards  was  the  instructer  in  Materia  Medica. 

In  his  profession  he  was  learned  and  liberal,  and  his 
whole  life  was  a  practical  illustration  of  his  doctrines. 
He  wrote  an  able  letter  on  the  Croup,  addressed  to  Dr. 
Richard  Bayley,  which  was  published  in  the  Medical  Re- 
pository, Volume  IX.  He  was  also  author  of  a  Medical 
Discourse  or  Historical  Inquiries  into  the  ancient  and 
present  state  of  medicine,  the  substance  of  wliich  Avas  de- 
livered at  the  o]ion!ng   of  tlie  Medical   School   of  New* 


CbWARD    MILLER.  385 

York  ;  it  was  published  in  17G9,  and  is  an  honorable  spe- 
cimen of  his  talents  and  attainments. 

This  liighly  respectable  man  for  a  considerable  period 
struggled  with  an  impaired  state  of  health,  induced  by  the 
toils  of  a  laborious  practice,  and  after  enduring  the  se- 
verest bodily  suffering  for  more  than  ten  months  from  a 
stricture  and  scirrhous  state  of  the  pylorus,  died  in  the 
city  of  New-York  in  i7M.-   /  j   </  / '  " 

MILLER,  EDWARD,  M.D.,  was  a  native  of  Dover, 
in  the  state  of  Delaware.  He  was  born  on  the  9th  of  May, 
1760.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  John  Miller,  A.M.,  origin- 
ally of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  who,  for  more  than  forty- 
three  years,  sustained  the  office  of  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Dover,  and  who  died  in  the  year  1791. 
His  mother  was  Margaret  Millington,  daughter  of  AUum- 
by  Millington,  Esq.  of  Talbot  County,  Maryland,  a  wo- 
man of  extraordinary  prudence,  piety  and  benevolence, 
who  was  removed  by  death  about  eighteen  months  before 
her  husband.  Edward  was  their  third  son,  and  received 
the  early  part  of  his  education  under  the  paternal  roof. 
His  father  who  was  an  excellent  Greek,  Latin  and  Hebrew 
scholar,  commenced  his  instruction  in  classical  literature. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  sent  to  the  Academy  of 
Newark,  in  his  native  state,  which  then  enjoyed  a  very 
high  reputation.  There,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev. 
Drs.  Francis  Allison  and  Alexander  McDowell,  he  devoted 
four  years  to  the  diligent  study  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,  and  went  through  the  usual  course  of  arts  and 
sciences  pursued  in  colleges.  Indeed  the  academy  of  New- 
ark was  at  that  time  a  college  in  every  thing  excepting 
the  name.  Having  completed  his  academic  course  in  1778, 
he  entered  on  the  study  of  medicine  soon  afterwards  under 
tlie  direction  of  Dr.  Charles  Ridgely,  an  eminent  physi- 
cian of  Dover,  who  regarded  him  as  a  favorite  pupil,  and 
always  treated  him  with  peculiar  and  affectionate  con- 
fidence. 

He  had  been  a  little  more  than  two  years  with  Dr. 
Ridgely,  when,  in  the  autunm  of  1780,  fired  with  that  pa- 
triotic ardor  which  he  manifested  till  his  latest  breath, 
not  at  all  discouraged  by  the  loss  of  a  beloved  brother, 
also  a  physician,  who  a  little  more  than  three  years  before, 
had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the  liardships  of  the  revolutionary 
contest  ;  and  desirous  also  of  enjoying  the  advantages  for 
medical  improvement,  which  a  large  militarv  hospital  cm- 
49 


38<J  EDWARD    MILLER. 

inently  affords  ;  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  surgeon's 
mate  in  the  army  of  his  country.  In  this  capacity  he  serv- 
ed a  little  more  than  a  year.  In  tlie  latter  part  of  the  year 
1781,  at  the  solicitation  of  some  friends,  he  accepted  the 
place  of  sur.oeon  on  board  of  an  armed  ship  bound  to  France. 
In  this  voyage,  and  in  that  country,  he  spent  the  greater 
part  of  a  year.  In  the  course  of  this  time  he  acquired  the 
French  language,  which  he  ever  afterwards  read  and  spoke 
with  fluency.  Towards  the  close  of  ViS2  he  returned  to 
his  native  country.  In  each  of  the  two  following  winters 
he  attended  regular  courses  of  medical  lectures  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  ;  and  in  that  institution  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  after  WTiting, 
defending,  and  afterwards  printing,  as  was  then  required, 
a  medical  dissertation  De  Physconia  Splenica. 

Dr.  Miller  in  the  year  1784  commenced  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  the  village  of  Frederica,  a  short  distance  from 
his  native  town  in  Delaware  ;  but  soon  afterwards  removed 
to  Somerset  County,  in  Maryland.  Here  also  his  stay  was 
short.  In  1786  he  returned  to  Dover,  and  entered  on  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  his  native  place.  Here  he 
remained  ten  years,  enjoying  a  large  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice, and  rapidly  growing  in  knowledge  and  reputation. 
During  this  time  he  was  not  only  a  devoted  and  successful 
student  himself  ;  but  he  was  unwearied  in  his  exertions  to 
promote  medical  science  throughout  his  native  state.  In 
company  with  his  venerable  friend,  Dr.  Tilton,  and 
others,  he  assisted  in  forming  the  first  "  Medical  Society 
of  Delaware  ;"  delivered  its  first  annual  Oration  ;  and  as 
long  as  he  remained  in  the  state,  took  an  active  part  in  all 
the  important  proceedings  of  that  association. 

In  the  year  1793,  when  the  yellow  fever  first  prevailed 
to  an  alarming  extent  in  Philadelphia,  the  medical  contro- 
versy respecting  its  origin  began  to  attract  general  atten- 
tion in  this  country.  Dr.  Miller,  though  then  residing  in 
Dover,  and  of  course  considerably  removed  from  the  cen- 
tre and  heat  of  the  battle,  was  by  no  means  inattentive 
to  its  nature  or  its  progress.  He  at  that  time,  from  the 
best  comparison  of  testimony  on  the  subject  which  he  was 
able  to  make,  decided  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  domes- 
tic origin,  and  wrote  a  long  and  interesting  letter  to  Dr. 
Rush,  stating  his  views,  and  the  grounds  of  his  opinion. 
This  letter  was  afterwards  published  in  most  of  the  Ameri- 
can newspapers,  and  drew  from  the    illustrious   man   to 


ED'.VARU    MILLCR.  S8T 

whom  it  was  addressed,  the  public  declaration,  that  he 
considered  its  author  as  "  second  to  no  physician  in  the 
United  States."  It  is  believed  that  tho  letter  in  question 
was  one  of  the  earliest  publications  made  in  support  of  the 
opinion  which  it  espoused. 

In  1796  Dr.  Miller  removed  from  Dover  to  the  city  of 
New-York.  Here  he  soon  conciliated  the  esteem  and  con- 
fidence of  Ids  medical  brcthien  ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
many  disadvantages  vuuler  which  a  stranger  engages  in  the 
competition  for  medical  practice  in  a  great  city,  he  suc- 
ceeded beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  His  busi- 
ness, in  a  few  months,  became  such  as  to  afford  him  an  am« 
pie  support,  and  continued  to  become  more  and  more  ex- 
tensive until  his  death. 

In  a  few  weeks  after  liis  removal  to  New-York,  Dr. 
Miller,  in  connexion  with  his  friends,  Dr.  Mitchell  and 
the  late  Dr.  Elihu  H.  Smith,  formed  the  plan  of  a  period- 
ical publication  to  be  devoted  to  medical  science.  Their 
prospectus  was  issued  in  November  of  that  year,  1796  ; 
and  in  the  month  of  August,  1797,  the  first  num1)er  of  the 
work  a])peared,  under  the  title  of  the  "  Medical  Reposit- 
ory." The  commencement  of  this  publication  undoubt- 
edly forms  an  era  in  tlie  literary  and  medical  history  of 
our  country.  No  work  of  a  similar  kind  had  ever  ap- 
peared in  the  United  States.  Its  influence  in  exciting  and 
recording  medical  incpiiries,  and  in  improving  medical 
science,  soon  became  apparent.  It  led  to  the  establishment 
of  other  and  similar  works  in  different  parts  of  our  own 
country,  as  well  as  of  Europe  ;  and  may  thus,  with  great 
truth,  be  said  to  have  contributed  more  largely  than  any 
other  single  publication  to  tliat  taste  for  medical  investi- 
gation and  improvement,  which  has  been,  for  a  number  of 
years,  so  conspicuouslj'  and  rapidly  advancing  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  Dr.  Miller  lived  to  see  tiie  fifteenth  vol- 
ume of  this  work  nearly  brought  to  a  close,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  generous  competition  which  it  had  been  so  evi- 
dently the  means  of  exciting. 

Dr.  Miller  had  not  been  many  years  established  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  New-York,  before  he  received 
testimonies  of  public  confidence  of  the  most  decisive  and 
honorable  kind.  In  1803,  under  the  act  of  the  legislature 
of  the  state  for  preventing  tb.e  introchution  of  pcstilenti.il 
diseases,  lie  was  appointed  "  Resident  Physician"  for  the 
city  of  New-York.     This  office  lie  continued  to  hold  from 


388 


EDWARD    MILLER. 


tliat  time,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  year,  until  his 
death  ;  and  through  the  several  pestilential  seasons  which 
succeeded  this  appointment,  he  fulfilled  its  duties,  as  all 
acknowledged,  with  skill,  intrepidity,  and  universal  ac- 
ceptance. The  summer  and  autumn  of  1805  was  the  last 
season  in  which  Dr.  Miller  was  called  to  witness,  to  any 
considerable  extent,  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever.  At  the 
close  of  the  season,  in  his  official  character  as  Resident 
Physician,  he  addressed  to  His  Excellency  Governor  Lewis, 
a  report  of  the  rise,  progress  and  termination  of  that  dis- 
ease. To  this  detail  he  added  an  exhibition  and  defence 
of  the  doctrine  concerning  the  origin  of  yellow  fever, 
which,  after  much  inquiry  and  long  experience,  he  had 
adopted.  This  report  was  shortly  afterwards  laid  before 
the  public  ;  and  has  been  pronounced  by  good  judges  to 
be  one  of  the  most  luminous,  forcible,  comprehensive  and 
satisfactory  defences  of  the  doctrine  which  it  supports, 
that  ever  appeared,  within  the  same  compass,  in  any  lan- 
guage. 

In  1807  Dr.  Miller  was  elected  Professor  of  the  Practice 
of  Physic  in  the  University  of.  New-York.  This  appoint- 
ment was  made  in  the  month  of  March,  he  entered  on  the 
duties  of  the  office  in  November  following  ;  and  continued 
to  fulfil  tliem,  with  increasing  popularity  and  usefulness, 
until  near  the  period  of  his  death.  In  1809  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  New-York  Hos- 
pital ;  and  soon  afterwards  received  the  appointment  of 
clinical  lecturer  in  that  institution.  To  the  arduous  duties 
of  these  several  stations  he  devoted  himself  with  indefat- 
igable zeal  and  fidelity,  and,  at  the  same  time,  with  an  nr- 
banity  of  manner,  which  conciliated  the  respect  and  ad- 
miration of  all  who  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing 
them. 

While  Dr.  Miller  was  assiduously  and  ably  fulfilling 
these  duties,  and  attending  also  to  the  multiplied  calls  of 
a  large  professional  practice,  he  carried  on  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  distinguished  physicians,  and  other 
literary  gentlemen  of  eminence,  in  almost  every  part  of 
Europe  and  America.  From  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  France, 
Germany,  and  the  West  India  Islands,  he  habitually  re- 
ceived communications,  which  rendered  him,  in  a  degree 
which  could  be  ascribed  to  very  few  medical  gentlemen 
in  the  United  States,  a  centre  of  intelligence  for  every 
thing   pertaining   to  the   improvement    of  the   science  to 


EDWARD    MILLER.  389 

which  he  had  devoted  Iiis  life.  For  this  (:orresi)ondciw;e 
he  was  peculiarly  qualified.  He  had  a  facility  and  ele- 
gance in  letter  writing,  wliich  have  been  rarely  equalled, 
and  perhaps  never  surpassed. 

In  1805  he  was  elected  a  juember  of  the  "  Philosophical 
Society  held  at  Philadeli)hia,  for  promoting  useful  know- 
ledge.^' The  principal  medical  societies  of  almost  all  the 
states  in  the  Union  also  enrolled  his  name  among  their  cor- 
responding or  honorary  members.  And  tlie  letters  which 
every  week  flowed  in  upon  him  from  all  quarters,  com- 
municating medical  intelligence,  or  soliciting  professional 
advice,  furnished  the  most  decisive  evidence  of  the  large 
share  of  public  confidence  which  he  enjoyed,  and  of  his 
growing  reputation. 

Thus  occupied  in  public  and  private  business,  accumu- 
lated to  such  an  amount  as  scarcely  to  leave  him  an  hour 
of  repose,  either  by  day  or  by  night,  he  was  arrested  by 
that  iron  grasp  of  Disease,  from  which  he  had  so  often 
been  the  means  of  disengaging  others  ;  and  to  the  grief  of 
all  who  knew  him,  sunk  under  its  power.  He  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  an  inflammatory  attack  upon  the  lungs,  which,  after 
symptoms  of  convalescence,  degenerated  into  a  tyj)hus 
fever,  which  put  an  end  to  his  valuable  life  on  the  17th 
day  of  Marcli,  1812,  in  the  52d  year  of  his  age. 

From  the  foregoing  details  it  will  be  manifest  that  Dr. 
Edward  Miller  was  a  physician  of  very  uncommon  en- 
dowments, and  that  he  filled  an  uncommonly  large  and 
important  space  in  the  republics  of  medicine  and  literature 
in  his  day.  His  native  talents  were,  undoubtedly,  of  the 
first  order.  Nor  was  his  intellectual  culture  less  eminent. 
His  acquaintance  with  the  best  writers  in  his  own  language 
was  unusually  intimate  and  extensive,  and  hence  his  own 
style  of  writing  had  an  ease,  elegance  and  spirit  very  rare- 
ly attained.  He  was  also  a  radical  and  accurate  Latin, 
Greek,  and  French  scholar,  and  took  pleasure  in  maintain- 
ing to  the  end  of  life  a  familiarity  with  many  of  the  best 
works  in  tho^e  languages.  But  in  medical  science,  and  as 
a  practitioner  of  the  healing  art,  he  shone  with  peculiar 
lustre.  Dr.  Rush,  as  we  have  seen,  pronounced  him  "  in- 
ferior to  no  physician  in  the  United  States." 

Dr.  Miller's  published  writings  were  not  numerous.  A 
few  of  them  were  originally  printed  in  detached  pamph- 
lets ;  but  the  greater  part    first  appeared  in   the   Metlical 


390  EDWARD    MILLER. 

Repository.  Since  his  decease  they  have  been  collected 
and  reprinted  in  one  large  octavo  volume. 

The  moral  and  social  qualities  of  Dr.  Miller  were 
worthy  of  no  less  praise  than  his  talents,  learning  and  pro- 
fessional skill.  His  probity  and  honor  were  of  the  most 
scrupulous  and  delicate  character.  From  his  earliest 
youth  he  appeared  not  only  to  abhor  every  thing  directly 
and  openly  dishonest  ;  but  even  to  recoil  with  the  most 
delicate  sense  of  moral  obligation  from  every  species  of 
intrigue  and  questionable  dealing.  This  characteristic 
became  more  strongly  marked  as  he  advanced  in  life.  If 
any  measure  approaching  to  obliquity  were  proposed  in 
any  association  of  which  he  was  a  member,  he  never  fail- 
ed to  express  his  entire  disapprobation  of  it,  and  utterly  to 
decline  taking  any  part  in  its  execution.  Nor  could  any 
thing  more  decisively  induce  him  to  take  a  final  leave  of 
such  an  association  than  the  discovery,  that  it  was  begin- 
ning to  be  the  theatre  of  cabal,  or  of  any  kind  of  crooked 
policy.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  man  ever  left 
behind  him  a  reputation  for  integrity  and  honor  more  per- 
fectly unsullied. 

His  humanity  and  practical  beneficence  were  no  less 
conspicuous.  These  were  manifested  througliout  his  pro- 
fessional life,  and  especially  in  his  attendance  on  the  poor 
and  friendless,  to  an  extent  truly  rare.  The  amount  of  his 
gratuitous  services  to  this  class  of  his  patients,  has  been 
seldom  equalled  in  a  medical  life  of  eqiial  length.  But  to- 
ward all  classes  of  his  patients,  kindness,  gentleness,  lib- 
erality of  feeling  and  generosity  shone  with  unrivalled 
Ivi.  tre. 

His  delicacy  in  conversation  has  been  seldom  equalled  ; 
perhaps  never  exceeded.  Nothing  ever  escaped  from  his 
lips,  even  in  his  most  unreserved  moments,  to  which  the 
most  refined  and  scrupulous  might  not  listen  Avithout 
offence.  This  was  remarkably  the  case  even  in  those 
periods  of  his  life  when  he  was  less  under  the  influence  of 
religious  principle,  than  during  the  latter  stages.  To  say 
any  thing  which  might  tinge  the  cheek  of  modesty,  or 
wound  the  ear  of  piety,^  he  considered  to  be  as  unworthy 
of  a  gentleman,  as  it  was  criminal. 

Nor  was  hi>  temperance  less  conspicuous  than  his  deli- 
cacy. He  not  only  avoided  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  with 
a  scrupulousness  which  to  some  might  appear  excessive  ; 
but  he  was  unusually  sparing,  and  even   abstemious  in  the 


EDWARD    MILLER.  391 

use  of  every  kind  of  drink  stronger  tlian  water.  He  re- 
jected the  use  of  tobacco  in  every  form,  not  only  as  an 
odious  and  unhealthful  practice,  but  also  as  a  most  insidious 
provocative  to  the  love  of  drinking.  Nor  was  his  temper- 
ance confined  to  a  sin^-le  class  of  stimuli.  It  was  no  less 
exemplary,  and  even  rigid  witli  regard  to  all  the  indul- 
gences of  the  palate.  Perhaps  no  man,  who,  from  early 
life,  mingled  so  much  with  all  classes  of  society,  was  ever 
more  uniformly  abstemious  both  in  eating  and  drinking 
than  Dr.  Miller. 

His  superiority  to  the  love  of  money,  was  anotlier  dis- 
tinguishing feature  in  his  character.  Had  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  been  his  supreme,  or  even  among  his  principal  objects, 
he  might  have  died  rich.  But  he  was  too  much  engaged 
in  the  studies  and  duties  of  his  profession,  to  think  much  of 
its  emoluments.  It  was  seldom  that  he  could  be  prevailed 
upon  to  present  an  account,  and  even  when  it  was  pro- 
duced, his  debtors  themselves  being  judges,  it  was  seldom 
to  such  an  amount  as  justice  to  himself  required.  From 
the  great  extent  of  his  practice,  some  of  his  less  intimate 
acquaintances  imagined  that  its  profits  were  propoitionally 
great.  But  besides  medical  services,  to  tlie  amount  of 
many  thousand  dollars,  which  his  benevolence  prevented 
him  from  charging  at  all,  many  thousands  more  were 
either  voluntarily  surrendered  at  the  solicitation  of  real 
or  fancied  poverty,  or  totally  lost  from  having  never  been 
sought  after. 

Dr.  Miller  never  married.  But  although  he  left  no  im- 
mediate family  to  mourn  over  his  premature  death,  it  may 
be  truly  said,  that  such  was  his  social  amiableness,  as  well 
as  his  profe>:sional  eminence,  that  thousands,  Avhen  his 
death  was  announced,  considered  themselves  as  having  lost 
a  beloved  relative. 

Although  Dr.  Miller  never  united  himself  to  the  chris- 
tian church,  in  what  is  commonly  called  full  communion, 
he  was  always  a  firm  believer  in  Revelation  ;  often  declar- 
ed his  persuasion  that  the  system  usually  deemed  correct 
by  the  denomination  of  christians  in  connexion  with 
which  he  was  educated,  is  the  sys'tem  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ;  uniformly  treated  religion  as  an  object  of  in- 
finite importance,  and  worthy  of  the  deepest  veneration  ; 
and  toward  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  employed  as 
much  as  his  numerous  engagements  permitted,  in  the  de- 
vout perusal  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.     There  was  scarcely 


392  JOHN    MITCHELL. 

uny  thing  which  he  more  disapproved,  or  which  was  more 
apt  to  excite  his  indignation,  than  sneers  or  scoffing  direct- 
ed against  religion  or  its  professors. 

Perhaps  this  imperfect  record  of  a  distinguished  man 
cannot  be  more  properly  closed  than  by  the  following  sen- 
tences, from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Rush,  who,  after  having  spoken 
in  the  most  exalted  terms  of  his  professional  learning  and 
skill,  concludes  thus.  "  But  his  principal  merit  was  of  a 
moral  nature.  The  charm  that  was  constantly  diffused 
over  his  countenance  and  manners,  was  the  effect  of  the 
habitual  benevolence  of  his  temper.  The  silence  of  pain, 
and  the  eye  of  hope,  which  took  place  in  his  patients  the 
moment  he  sat  down  by  their  bedsides,  were  produced, 
not  more  by  their  conviction  of  his  skill,  than  by  their 
unlimited  confidence  in  his  sympathy  and  integrity  ;  and 
the  affectionate  attachment  and  esteem  of  his  friends  were 
founded  in  a  belief  that  his  deeds  of  kindness  to  them  were 
not  simply  the  effects  of  spontaneous  feeling,  but  the  result 
of  a  heartfelt  sense  of  moral  obligation  !  Let  the  profess- 
ors and  students  of  the  healing  art,  and  the  lovers  of  sci- 
ence every  where,  deplore  the  death  of  this  eminent  phy- 
sician and  excellent  man.  Let  the  friends  of  humanity 
drop  a  tear  over  his  untimely  grave.  In  the  records  of 
illustrious  men  who  have  promoted  and  adorned  the  sci- 
ence of  our  country.  Dr.  Miller  will  always  maintain  a 
distinguished  rank." — S.  Miller. 

MITCHELL,  JOHN,  M.D.  F.R.S.  a  distinguished 
physician  and  botanist,  came  from  England  to  this  coun- 
try about  the  year  1700,  and  settled  in  Virginia  at  the 
small  town  of  Urbanna,  situated  on  the  Rappahannock. 
While  he  was  occupied  in  an  extensive  practice,  he  spent 
considerable  time  in  the  cultivation  of  botany,  and  wrote 
a  useful  work  on  the  general  principles  of  the  science,  con- 
taining descriptions  of  several  new  genera  of  plants,  which 
was  published  in  1769.  In  1743  he  wrote  au  interesting 
and  original  Essay  on  the  Causes  of  the  Different  Colors 
of  People  of  Different  Climates,  which  was  published  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions.  He  attributes  the  differ- 
ence of  complexion  in  the  human  species  to  the  influence 
of  climate  and  the  modes  of  life  ;  and  thinks  that  the 
whites  have  degenerated  more  from  the  original  complex- 
ion of  Noah  and  his  family,  than  tlie  Indians,  or  even  Ne- 
groes. The  color  of  the  descendants  of  Ham,  he  considers 
a  blessing  rather  than  a  curse,  as  without  it  they  could  not 


AMMI   R.  MITCHKLL.       . 

well  inhabit  Afri<a.  His  principles  were  afterwards  adopt- 
ed by  President  Smith,  of  Princeton  College,  New-Jersev* 
who  wrote  a  more  extended  essay  on  the  subject. 

lie  wrote  various  other  essays,  which  were  pulilished  in 
the  PhilosoplH(al  Transactions,  and  which  did  him  great 
credit  as  a  man  of  genius  and  observation  ;  but  liis  most 
valuable  production,  perhaps,  is  a  paper  which  lie  drew 
up  on  the  yellow  fever  as  it  appeared  in  Virginia  in  1737, 
1741  and  1742.  This  paper,  left  by  him  in  manuscript, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Franklin,  who  communicated  it 
to  Dr.  Rush.  Dr.  Rush  not  only  read  tlie  essav  with  in- 
terest, but  acknowledges  that  he  derived  from  it  hints 
which  assisted  him  in  detecting  the  true  nature  and  method 
of  treating  the  yellow  fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Piiiladelphia 
in  1793.  Few  physicians  who  have  lived  in  our  country, 
have  been  more  justly  celebrated  for  originality  of  genius 
and  accuracy  of  observation,  than  Dr.  Mitchell.  He  lived 
to  practise  his  profession  nearly  fifty  years  in  Virginia. 
TJie  series  of  highly  interesting  papers  above  mentioned, 
including  the  account  of  yellow  fever  written  in  1744  by 
Dr.  Mitchell,  with  a  reply  of  Dr.  Coldcn  of  New-York  to 
Dr.  M.,  and  a  subsequent  letter  of  Dr.  Mitchell  on  the  same 
subject,  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Hosack  by  the 
late  Professor  Rush,  a  short  time  previous  to  his  death, 
with  the  intention  of  their  being  published  in  the  American 
Medical  and  Philosophical  Register.  These,  with  addi- 
tional observations  on  the  yellow  fever  of  Virginia,  ad- 
dressed to  Dr.  Franklin  by  Dr.  Mitchell  in  1745,  may  be 
found  in  the  fourth  volume  of  that  work.  Few  papers,  it 
is  believed,  v/ill  be  read  with  more  interest,  particularly 
when  it  is  considered  how  extremely  important  Dr.  Rush 
viewed  them  as  affording  him  new  facts  respecting  the 
nature  of  the  same  epidemic  at  the  time  it  prevailed  in 
Philadelphia  in  1793. 

MITCHELL,  DR.  AMMI  RUHAMMl,  M.M.S.S.  was 
born  at  North  Yarmouth,  District  of  Maine,  May  8th, 
1762.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Honorable  David 
Mitchell,  who  was  for  nineteen  years  a  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Cumberland,  and  was 
repeatedly  chosen  into  both  branches  of  the  legislature  of 
Massachusetts.  The  subject  of  this  notice  was  in  infancy 
dedicated  to  God,  and  enjoyed  the  faithful  religious  in- 
structions and  examples  of  pious  parents  during  the  period 
of  his  childhood  and  vouth.  He  early  discovered  a  rijjor- 
50 


394  AMMI    R.  MITCHELL. 

ous  and  active  mind,  and  particularly  a  ready  and  retentive 
memory,  He  had  an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge,  and 
made  more  than  ordinary  attainments  in  classical  learning 
in  the  grammar  school  of  his  native  town.  Tiic  ''  trou- 
blous times"  of  the  revolutionary  war  jorevented  his  enter- 
ing college  agreeably  to  his  own  desire  and  his  father's 
intention. 

Before  he  had  completed  his  nineteenth  year,  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  Avith  the  late  Dr.  Cutter,  of 
Portsmouth.  While  there,  a  favorable  opportunity  pre- 
sented for  going  abroad  to  finish  his  professional  stu- 
dies. The  America,  a  74  gunship  built  at  Portsmouth 
by  the  United  States,  was  presented  to  the  French  na- 
tion by  our  Congress  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  the 
services  rendered  in  the  struggle  for  Independence,  and  to 
replace  a  French  ship  which  had  been  lost  on  our  coast. 
Dr.  Meaubec,  an  amiable  French  gentleman  of  professional 
eminence,  had  come  to  this  country  to  return  as  surgeon 
in  the  America.  During  his  short  stay  in  Portsmouth 
he  had  formed  a  strong  attachment  for  young  Mitchell, 
and  invited  him  to  accompany  him  on  his  return  to  France, 
offering  him  the  place  of  surgeon's  mate.  The  kind  offer 
was  accepted  ;  and  in  a  short  time  they  landed  at  Brest, 
where  he  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  which  the  large  ma- 
rine hospital  in  that  city  could  supply.  Here  he  had  con- 
stant opportunities  of  witnessing  or  assisting  at  almost 
every  variety  of  chirurgical  operations  which  were  known 
at  that  time.  He  received  while  in  France  every  proof  of 
affection  and  kindness,  not  only  from  Dr.  Meaubec,  wliose 
friendship  was  abiding  and  whose  conduct  truly  paternal, 
but  also  from  others,  and  his  voyage  abroad,  with  all  its  at- 
tending advantages,  was  without  expense  to  himself,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  his  passage  home. 

Soon  after  his  retiirn  to  the  land  of  his  nativity,  he  com- 
menced practitioner  of  physic  and  surgery  at  North  Yar- 
mouth, where  he  continued  during  life.  As  a  physician 
and  surgeon,  his  abilities  were  undisputed  ;  and  in  the 
early  part  of  his  life  his  practice  extended  into  the  sur- 
rounding region,  affording  him  constant  employment,  and 
acquiring  for  him  professional  fame.  His  practice  was  at- 
tended with  success,  and  the  confidence  of  his  patients  in 
him  was  unlimited.  If  they  could  procure  Dr.  Mitchell, 
they  were  satisfied  that  all  would  be  done  for  them  which 
human  skill  could  effect.     There  seemed  to  be  two  causes^ 


AMMl    R.    JlITCllKLL.  395 

independently  of  his  medical  skill,  which  contributed  ma- 
terially to  his  success  ;  one,  his  habitual  practice  of  asking 
the  blessing  of  God  on  the  means  he  employed  ;  the  other, 
the  power  which  his  winning  and  affectionate  manner  gave 
him  of  quelling  the  groundless  and  unreasonable  apprehen- 
sions of  his  patients.  Yet  when  he  believed  them  to  be  in 
real  danger,  it  was  his  uniform  practice  to  urge  them  in 
the  tenderest  manner  to  prepare  for  the  worst. 

His  memory  was  uncommonly  retentive,  his  mind  well 
disciplined,  and  so  versatile,  that  he  could  apply  it  to  a 
new  task  every  half  hour  in  the  twenty-four,  if  there  was 
a  call  for  it  ;  and  appear  as  much  at  home  in  each,  and 
with  as  entire  a  command  of  his  faculties,  as  if  that  had 
been  his  only  and  constant  study.  With  all  his  weight 
and  influence  he  had  a  vein  of  humor,  which  sometimes 
flowed  to  excess,  and  an  exhaustless  fund  of  anecdote,  the 
effect  of  Avhich  was  not  easily  resisted,  but  would  spread 
like  contagion  through  the  company,  even  when  sobriety 
would  have  been  more  suitable.  His  flashes  of  wit  und 
facetious  remarks  rendered  him  an  entertaining  associate  in 
all  companies.  With  his  affectionate  manner,  his  winning 
address,  his  obliging  disposition,  his  noble  generosity,  his 
fascinating  conversation,  and  the  readiness  with  which  he 
could  make  his  way  to  the  heart,  he  might  have  allured 
thousands  to  destruction.  But  he  perverted  not  his  gifts 
and  faculties,  but  employed  his  influence  in  resisting  the 
tide  of  human  depravity,  and  in  promoting  moral  rectitude 
and  the  eternal  welfare  of  the  human  species. 

Religion  was  indeed  the  most  prominent  trait  in  his 
character.  For  thirty-five  years  he  was  a  preeminently 
active  member  of  the  church,  nor  did  his  exertions  in  her 
cause  cease  but  with  life.  Dr.  Mitchell  was  a  deacon  in 
the  first  church  in  North  Yarmouth  tweiity-one  years,  his 
father  twenty-six  years,  and  the  same  office  was  sustained 
by  his  grandfather  and  great  grandfather.  His  engaged- 
ness  in  the  cause  of  religion  and  the  welfare  of  the  church, 
was  indeed  extraordinary,  and  appeared  to  be  the  ruling 
affection  of  his  soul.  He  was  zealously  attached  to  all  the 
ordinances  and  institutions  of  religion,  and  was  remarka1)lc 
for  his  liberal  and  benevolent  contributions,  and  for  his 
love  and  hos])itality  to  the  ministers  of  tlie  gospel.  Tho 
manner  of  Dr.  IJitchcirs  death  was  somewhat  singular. 
He  was  returning  home  from  professional  visits,  and  within 
oneiinilc  of  iiis  dwelling  was  seen  descciiding  a  small  hill. 


396  JlMMI    R.    MITCHELL. 

and  a  minute  after  his  horse  was  seen  ascending  another 
with  an  empty  carriage.  The  spot  was  immediately  visited, 
and  he  was  found  a  corpse,  but  without  any  visible  marks 
of  injury,  or  of  any  struggle  or  convvdsion.  This  happen- 
ed on  the  14th  of  May,  1824,  in  the  63d  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Mitchell  knew  too  well  the  connexion  of  religion 
with  sound  learning,  to  be  indifferent  to  the  interests  of 
literature  and  science.  As  a  guardian  and  patron  of  learn- 
ing, he  for  several  years  held  a  seat  in  the  board  of  over- 
seers of  Bowdoin  College.  He  was  one  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  Maine  Charity  School.  He  was  among  the  most  lib- 
eral contributors  for  founding  an  academy  in  his  native 
place.  There  are  few  situations  of  importance  in  which 
he  has  not  served  the  town.  Before  the  part  he  took  in 
its  municipal  regulations,  he  was  its  representative  ten 
years  in  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts.  His  knowledge, 
accuracy  and  despatch  eminently  qualified  him  to  preside 
in  public  assemblies  ;  and  his  townsmen  availed  themselves 
of  these  talents  by  electing  him  moderator  of  all  their  an- 
nual meetings  in  April  and  May,  excepting  one,  and  of 
many  special  meetings,  from  1801  to  1823.  He  presided, 
also,  with  great  dignity  and  propriety  at  the  meeting  of 
clergymen  and  delegates,  when  the  Cumberland  Confer- 
ence of  Churches  was  organized,  and  the  constitution 
adopted.  The  poor  and  necessitous  always  found  in  Dr. 
Mitchell  a  liberal  benefactor.  His  affectionate  attachment 
and  solicitude  in  conjugal  life  can  scarcely  be  described. 
As  a  parent,  he  was  unceasingly  affectionate  and  faithful 
to  his  charge,  and,  happily  for  his  children,  many  tokens 
of  his  regard  survive  him.  His  private  correspondence 
was  extensive,  and  his  letters  were  full  of  piety  and  feel- 
ing. There  are  some  specimens  of  his  composition  before 
the  public,  particularly  an  Eulogy  on  General  Washington, 
pronounced  February  22d,  1800,  and  "an  Address  on  Sa- 
cred Music,  delivered  before  the  Beneficent  Musical  So- 
ciety in  the  County  of  Cumberland,"  in  1812  ;  which  dis- 
play the  eloquence  of  feeling,  some  beautiful  imagery,  and 
the  same  savor  of  piety  which  characterized  most  that 
he  did. 

Happy  would  it  have  been  were  there  no  blighting 
traits  in  the  active  life  of  Dr.  Mitchell  ;  but  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  he  was  not  faultless,  there  was  a  want  of  uni- 
formity and  consistency  of  conduct,  which  bespeaks  the 
imperfection  of  human  character.   Blemishes  in  those  who 


GEORGE    MONRO.  397 

havo  rendered  themselves  conspicuous,  always  attract  pub- 
lic observation,  and  their  example  is  more  injurious  in  its 
effects  than  that  of  ordinary  persons.  From  some  cause, 
either  an  excess  of  good  nature,  or  too  strong  a  desire  to 
accommodate,  he  would  give  a  reluctant  assent  to  many 
solicitations,  which  he  ought  to  have  met  l)y  a  prompt  de- 
nial. There  was  a  culpable  negligence  in  tlie  managenu.nt 
of  his  worldly  concerns,  and  a  want  of  punctuality  to  mi- 
nor engagements,  by  which  all  concerned  sufl'ered  much 
perplexity,  and  which  greatly  embarrassed  his  own  affairs, 
and  occasioned  an  incalculable  loss  of  property.  A  settle- 
ment of  pecuniary  accounts,  whether  the  balance  was  in 
his  favor  or  against  him,  was  equally  his  aversion.  These 
frequent  disappointments  occasioned  irritation  to  the  feel- 
ings of  those  concerned  with  him,  and  afforded  a  pretext 
for  remarks  discreditable  to  his  veracity.  But  we  woidd 
not  too  severely  censure  those  foibles  in  Dr.  Mitchell, 
which  had  not  their  origin  in  vmworthy  motives  or  vicious 
propensities  ;  and  which  in  their  aggregate  bear  no  propor- 
tion to  his  numerous  excellences.  It  appears  that  during 
the  last  months  of  his  life  he  was  deeply  conscious  of  the 
errors  upon  which  we  have  animadverted,  and  most  feel- 
ingly lamented  them.  That  his  repentance  was  genuine 
is  evident,  for  he  had  resolved  upon  reformation,  and 
commenced  the  work  with  alacrity. 

The  principal  part  of  the  foregoing  sketch  was  taken 
from  the  funeral  sermon  by  Rev.  Asa  Cummings. 

'MONRO,  GEORGE,  M.D.  was  a  native  of  the  state  of 
Delaware.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Newcastle,  Feb- 
ruary 22d,  1760.  His  father,  of  the  same  name,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland,  who  had  emigrated  to  this  country  a  few 
years  before.  His  mother  was  Lydia  Hall,  of  Delaware, 
a  niece  of  Governor  Hall,  of  that  state. 

His  education  in  English  and  in  the  learned  languages 
was  begun  at  Newcastle,  and  continued  at  the  academy  at 
Newark,  in  his  native  county,  a  seminary  of  great  excel- 
lence and  celebrity.  He  studied  medicine  witli  Dr.  John 
Archer,  of  Hartford  county,  Maryland,  a  gentleman  of 
much  professional  respectability,  though  of  eccentric  me- 
mory. After  completing  his  studies  with  Dr.  Ai  cher,  lie 
attended  the  regular  medical  lectures  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  antl  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine from  that  institution. 


398  GEORGE  MONRO. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war,  Dr.  Monro 
served  a  number  of  months  as  surgeon  in  the  army  of  his 
country.  He  was  connected  with  that  part  of  it  termed 
the  "  Virginia  Line  ;"  and  during  his  military  career  was 
tent-companion  with  the  venerable  General  Finley,  of 
Chilicothe,  Ohio. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  Eu- 
rope, to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  to  be  enjoyed  in 
the  mature  medical  schools  of  the  old  world.  After  spend- 
ing about  a  year  in  London,  attending  the  lectures  and 
hospitals  of  that  great  metropolis,  he  went,  in  October, 
1784,  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  remained  nearly  two  years, 
diligently  employed  in  gaining  every  species  of  profession- 
al and  liberal  knowledge,  for  which  the  capital  of  Scotland 
has  been  long  so  eminently  distinguished.  The  well- 
informed  reader  does  not  need  to  be  reminded  that  the 
professors  who  adorned  that  far-famed  medical  school  at 
the  time  of  which  we  speak,  were  Drs.  Cullen,  Gregory, 
Black,  Home,  Brown  and  Monro.  On  the  lectures  of  all 
these  gentlemen  he  had  the  privilege  of  attending  ;  and  to 
any  one  that  knew  him  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  add, 
that  he  availed  himself  of  the  privilege  with  industry, 
with  intelligence,  and  with  great  success. 

Before  leaving  Edinburgh  Dr.  Monro  received  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  that  University.  On  tliis 
occasion  he  composed,  and,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  the 
institution,  defended  and  printed  a  Latin  dissertation  on 
the  disease  called  "  Cynanche  Trachealis."  It  is  believed 
that  in  that  dissertation  Dr.  Monro  first  recommended 
calomel  as  an  efficient  medicine  in  this  disease  ;  a  remedy 
which  has  been  since  extensively,  if  not  universally,  adopt- 
ed. Dr.  Cullen,  in  some  of  the  medical  reviews  of  that 
day,  spoke  of  this  dissertation  in  terms  of  the  most  mark- 
ed respect,  and  more  particularly  of  the  remedy  just  men- 
tioned. 

Dr.  Monro  left  Edinburgh  in  the  month  of  July,  1786  ; 
and  after  spending  a  few  months  in  Paris,  he  returned  to 
the  United  States  in  the  autumn  of  that  year.  He  first 
estai»lished  himself  on  a  valuable  farm  which  he  possessed 
near  the  town  of  St.  George's,  in  NeAvcastle  county, 
where  for  some  years  he  combined  the  practice  of  iiis  pro- 
fession, with  the  amusement  of  farming,  of  wliich  he  ap- 
pears to  have  been  extremely  fond. 


GEORGE    MONRO.  399 

In  1793  Dr.  Monro  formed  a  matrimonial  connexion 
with  Miss  Jemima  Haslet,  youngest  daughter  of  Colonel 
Jolin  Haslet,  whose  patriotism  and  bravery  during  the 
revolutionary  war  were  greatly  distinguitlied,  and  whose 
fall,  at  the  battle  of  Princeton,  has  been  so  often  commem- 
orated and  deplored  among  the  honored  martyrs  to  tlie 
cause  of  freedom  in  that  great  national  conflict. 

In  1797  Dr.  Monro  removed  to  Wilmington,  in  his  na- 
tive state,  and  established  himself  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  that  borough.  Here,  as  might  have  been 
expected  from  his  talents  and  advantages,  he  soon  attained 
a  high  standing.  Both  as  a  pliysician  and  surgeon  he  was 
eminently  popular,  skilful  and  successful.  No  man  in  the 
state,  it  is  believed,  had  a  higher  reputation.  In  this  place 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  daily  growing  in  public 
Iionor,  confidence  and  usefulness. 

Up  to  the  time  when  Dr.  Monro  settled  in  Wilmington, 
he  had  been  an  infidel.  But  about  the  year  1799  or  1800, 
his  views  on  this  subject  underwent  an  entire  change.  He 
publicly  renounced  his  deistical  sentiments,  professed  his 
cordial  belief  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  united 
him  elf  to  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Wilmington  in  fidl 
comiunnion.  Not  long  afterwards  he  was  elected  a  ruling 
elder  of  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  meml)er,  and  to 
the  end  of  life  discharged  and  adorned  the  duties  of  the 
office,  in  the  most  exemplary  and  edifying  manner. 

Dr.  Monro  published  but  little.  His  inaugural  disser- 
tation printed  at  Edinburgh,  and  a  few  medical  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  Medical  Repository  at  New-York,  were 
all  that  can  now  be  recollected.  They  all  did  him  honor, 
and  evinced  a  sound,  cultivated  and  rich  mind. 

The  character  of  Dr.  Monro  was  very  strongly  marked 
in  a  variety  of  respects.  He  had  peculiar  sensibility  of 
tem.perament.  In  his  friendships  he  was  warm,  constant 
and  active  ;  and  although  naturallj'^  irritable,  he  was,  at 
the  same  time,  easily  appeased,  and  ever  ready  to  do  good 
to  those  wlio  liad  offended  him.  The  same  warmth  was 
carried  into  all  his  social  relations.  The  attachments  of 
few  men  have  been  more  fervent  ;  the  benevolence  of  feiv 
more  unwearied. 

Dr.  Monro  was  also  remarkable  for  his  great  simplicity. 
It  extetulcd  to  every  thing  ;  his  diet,  liis  dress,  his  man- 
ners, all  were  as  simple  as  possible.  He  drank  nothing  but 
water  ;  and  appeared  reluctant  to  spend  the  smallest  por- 


400  GEORGE    MONRO. 

tion  of  property  to  gratify  appetite,  or  tlie  love  of  show, 
while  he  gave  liberally  and  cheerfully  to  every  benevolent 
object.  Indeed  so  uncommonly  large  and  frequent  were 
his  donations  to  pious  and  charitable  objects,  that  he  was 
generally  supposed  by  his  friends  to  be  in  the  receipt  of 
a  large  income  ;  whereas  it  was  barely  sufficient,  after 
these  charities  were  deducted,  to  support  his  family  with 
the  most  rigid  economy. 

Another  remarkable  trait  in  his  cliaracter  was  perfect 
punctuality  to  all  his  appointments.  He  always  made  his 
arrangements  to  be  on  the  spot  where  he  had  promised  to 
be,  a  few  minutes  before  the  specified  time,  and  would 
wait  but  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  if  others  failed  to  at- 
tend. And  on  tjie  Sabbath,  he  never  failed  to  have  all  his 
regular  visits  despatched,  and  to  be  in  his  seat  in  church 
some  minutes  before  the  commencement  of  public  worship. 

But  by  nothing  was  this  excellent  man  more  distinguish- 
ed than  by  the  uniformity  and  fervor  of  his  piety.  He 
was  not  only  punctual  in  his  attendance  in  the  house  of 
God,  and  on  every  public  religious  ordinance  ;  but  in 
all  of  them  he  manifested  a  spirit  of  sincere  and  elevated 
devotion  truly  luiusual.  He  appeared  to  drink  in  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  from  the  preacher's  lips  with  the  most 
marked  avidity.  Every  pious,  orthodox  sermon,  however 
plain,  was  to  him  a  feast.  Every  one  was  good  ;  but  the 
last  always  seemed  the  best.  Every  thing  approaching  to 
levity  or  unseasonable  criticism  in  speaking  of  sermons  or 
preachers,  appeared  to  give  him  pain,  and  to  be  an  object 
of  his  abhorrence.  He  uniformly  carried  his  religion  with 
him,  too,  into  the  chambers  of  the  sick  and  dying.  He 
never  failed  to  seek  the  eternal  as  well  as  the  temporal 
salvation  of  his  patients.  For  this  purpose  he  took  every 
opportunity  to  converse  with  them  on  spiritual  subjects,  to 
pray  with  them,  and  to  distribute  among  tliem  appropriate 
religious  tracts.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  by  far 
the  largest  portion  of  his  time  was  spent  in  devotional  ex- 
ercises. In  fact,  all  his  time  not  necessarily  expended  on 
domestic  and  professional  calls,  was  employed  in  preparing 
for  eternity.  His  Bible  was  always  open  before  him  ;  and 
he  seemed  to  relish  no  company,  book,  or  employment, 
but  that  which  was  spiritual  and  heavenly.  He  often 
prayed  in  social  meetings  ;  and  the  prayers  of  few  men 
were  ever  more  remarkable  for  their  humility,  compre- 
hensiveness, variety,  and  spirituality. 


,<p/fy<C/?.€yi^j^(^Af^"  (U.^n^Tzeci^r/// 


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of 


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I 


402  ^NEAS    MONSON. 

upon  the  stage  before  many  of  the  great  modern  discove- 
ries and  improvements  had  been  made,  he  maintained  an 
extensive  acquaintance  at  home,  and  a  correspondence  with 
eminent  men  abroad  ;  he  procured  and  studied  the  most 
recent  and  celebrated  works  ;  obtained  specimens  of  new 
and  important  substances  ;  made  many  experiments  in 
pharmacy  and  in  the  kindred  branches  of  physical  science, 
and  allowed  no  valuable  improvement  to  escape  his  ob- 
servation. He  first  introduced  many  indigenous  articles 
of  the  materia  medica  into  regular  practice,  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  study  of  that  important  branch,  which 
has  since  been  so  successfully  pursued  at  Yale  College. 
Had  he  entered  on  professional  life  thirty  years  later,  he 
would  probably  have  been  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
distinguished  cultivators  of  science,  which  lie  always  lov- 
ed for  its  own  sake  ;  but  his  great  object  was  practical 
utility,  and  he  hastened  to  carry  to  the  bedside  of  his 
patients  every  remedy  and  every  alleviation,  the  efficacy 
and  safety  of  which  had  been  fully  ascertained. 

His  devotion  to  his  patients  was  unwearied,  and  the 
spirit  which  prompted  his  efforts  was  highly  benevolent. 
He  was  the  active  friend  of  the  poor,  the  distressed  and 
the  forsaken,  and  his  deportment  was  happily  adapted  to 
the  varying  character  and  situation  of  his  patients.  When 
immediate  danger  was  not  apprehended,  and  especially 
where  the  spirits  of  the  invalid  needed  the  cordial  of 
cheerfulness,  no  man  knew  better  than  he,  how  to  dissipate 
the  gloom  which  grows  out  of  the  habitual  contemplation 
of  corporal  infirmities.  This  he  effected  by  kind  and  en- 
couraging remarks,  by  sallies  of  humor  and  pleasantry, 
and  by  the  historical,  biographical  and  characteristic  anec- 
dotes and  recollections,  which  a  life  eventually  covering 
nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  existence  of  English  America, 
and  rendered  the  more  interesting  by  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  many  distinguished  men  of  the  very  momentous 
epochs  in  which  he  lived,  had  enabled  him  to  collect  and 
preserve  in  his  capacious  and  retentive  memory.  But 
Dr.  Monson  knew  also  when  to  be  grave,  and  no  unsea- 
sonable sprightliness  was  permitted  to  appear  when  serious 
danger  filled  the  sick  room  with  anxiety.  On  such  occa- 
sions, he  was  able  and  willing  to  proffer  the  comfort  and 
consolations  of  religion  ;  and  in  that  awful  hour,  when  all 
the  aids  of  science  and  skill  avail  no  more,  he  could  act 
.the  part  of  a  christian  friend  and  instructer,  and  in  solemn 


WILLIAM    MOORE.  403 

prayer  at  the  bedside  of  his  patient  could  commend  the 
departing  soul  to  tlie  mercy  of  God  through  the  Savior 
of  men. 

During  the  war  of  the  revolution  he  was  repeatedly  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  and  for  many  years  in  the  com- 
mission of  the  jieace.  While  in  public  life  he  actively 
cooperated  with  those  who  now  sleep  with  him  in  the 
dust,  in  securing  the  rights  of  the  people  of  his  native 
state.  His  profession,  however,  was  his  theatre  of  action, 
and  for  the  long  period  of  seventy  years  he  was  here  emi- 
nently respected.  Such  Avas  the  habitual  and  even  filial 
confidence,  reposed  by  the  community  in  his  superior  tal- 
ents, knowledge,  skill  and  professional  zeal,  that  in  the 
risinor  and  risen  g;enerations  this  feeling  had  become  almo-t 
traditionary  ;  and  it  was  with  extreme  reluctance  that  bis 
numerous  friends  and  patients  could  be  induced  to  relin- 
quish his  services,  even  when  old  age  had  rendered  this 
indulgence  indispensable.  After  he  became  confined  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  to  his  own  house,  he  was  still, 
in  difficult  cases,  the  oracle  for  advice  and  cons»dt;Uion  ; 
and  his  capacity  and  his  disposition  to  be  in  this  manner 
useful,  continued  to  the  last. 

Through  his  long  career  of  almost  a  century,  when  he 
had  lived  until  no  one  remaining  in  his  native  city  had 
survived  so  long,  he  found  religion  the  staff  of  his  age,  as 
it  had  been  the  guide  of  his  youth.  His  habitual  trust  in 
God  tlxrough  Christ,  brightened  as  he  advanced  into  tlie 
full  glow  of  assured  hope,  and,  although  his  last  days 
were  distressed  by  bodily  suffering,  his  sun  set  with  un- 
clouded splendor,  tlie  cheering  harbinger  of  a  glorious 
morning.     He  died  June  16th,  1826. 

vMOORE,  WILLIAM,  M.D.  This  ornament  of  the 
profession  and  of  Christianity,  was  born  at  Newton  on 
Long-Island,  in  1754.  His  father  Samuel,  and  his  grand- 
father Benjamin  Moore,  were  agriculturalists.  He  receiv- 
ed Ihe  rudiments  of  a  classical  education  under  the  tuition 
of  his  elder  brother,  afterwards  Bishop  Moore,  and  Presi- 
dent for  many  years  of  Columbia  College.  He  attended 
the  lectures  on  medicine  delivered  by  Drs.  Clossey  and 
Samuel  Bard. 

In  1778  he  went  to  London  and  thence  to  Edinburgh. 
In  1780  he  was  graduated  Doctor  of  Medicine,  on  which 
occasion  he  pu])li<hcd  his  dissertation  De  Bile.  For  more 
than  forty  years  he  continued  unremittingly  engaged  in 


404  WILLIAM    MOORE. 

the  arduous  duties  of  an  extensive  practice,  particularly  in 
midwifery,  estimating  his  number  of  cases  at  about  three 
thousand.  He  died  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  in 
April,  1824. 

The  medical  papers  of  Dr.  Moore  may  be  found  in  the 
American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register,  the  New- 
York  Medical  Repository,  and  tlie  New-York  Medical  and 
Physical  Journal.  For  many  years  Dr.  Moore  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  county  of  New-York, 
and  an  upright  and  vigilant  Trustee  of  the  College  of  Phy- 
sicians and  Surgeons.  On  his  death  the  college  recorded 
their  testimony  to  his  preeminent  worth. 

With  the  consent  of  Dr.  Francis,  at  that  time  Professor 
of  Obstetrics  in  the  College,  I  insert  a  part  of  his  notice  of 
this  estimable  man  as  delivered  to  the  class.  "  Before  I 
conclude,  permit  me  to  pay  my  feeble  tribute  of  homage 
and  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Dr.  William 
Moore,  recently  called  from  among  us  by  the  fiat  of 
Providence  ;  a  bright  exemplar  of  the  various  and  im- 
portant qualifications  demanded  of  the  practitioner  in  that 
department  of  the  profession,  the  duties  of  which  I  have 
attempted  to  exhibit.  I  am  persuaded  that  I  do  not  allow 
feelings  of  personal  friendship  to  prevail  over  the  decis- 
ions of  the  severest  scrutiny,  when  I  assert  that  no  member 
of  our  profession  has  exhibited  in  his  life  and  conduct  a 
more  beautiful  example  of  the  dignity  and  benignant  lustre 
of  the  medical  character.  Honored  for  many  years  with 
his  friendship,  and  admitted  to  the  privilege  of  his  con- 
versation, I  was  early  taught  to  look  upon  Dr.  Moore 
with  a  respect  and  veneration,  which  all  my  subsequent 
acquaintance  with  him  served  only  to  strengthen  and  con- 
firm. Thousands  among  us  can  testify  to  the  mildness 
and  urbanity  of  his  manners  ;  to  his  tender  and  watchful 
regard  to  the  suffering  patient  and  sympathizing  attend- 
ants ;  to  his  warm  hearted  benevolence  of  feeling,  and  de- 
votedness  to  the  good  of  all  whom  his  eminent  attainments 
or  the  lesson  of  a  pure  and  vmspotted  life  could  profit  ;  to 
his  strictness  of  moral  principle,  and  uniform  devotion  to 
the  sacred  obligations  of  religion.  It  was  but  a  few 
months  ago,  that  the  governors  of  this  institution  were 
honored  with  his  cooperation  and  enlightened  by  his  coun- 
sels. How  great  their  loss  has  been  can  be  known  to 
those  only  who  were  acquainted  with  the  liberality  of  his 
views,  and  his  freedom  from  every  mean  and  selfish  bias. 


JOHN   MORGAN.  405 

Dr.  Moore  rose  to  liis  great  eminence  by  tlic  force  of  per- 
sonal and  professional  merit.  A  liberal  education  had  pre- 
pared him  to  commence  with  advantage  his  medical  pur- 
suits, and  amid  the  toil  and  cares  of  his  lal)orious  career 
he  ever  continued  to  recur  with  ardor  and  delight  to  those 
classical  studies  in  which  he  had  been  imbued  in  his 
youth.  Seldom,  indeed,  has  it  hapj.ened  that  the  two 
professions  were  adorned  with  such  attainments  and  sucli 
private  excellence,  as  were  exhibited  in  the  instances  of  Dr. 
William  Moore,  and  his  brother  the  late  pious  and  venera- 
ble bishop  of  the  church.  While  we  cherish  their  worth, 
let  the  regret  at  our  bereavement  give  place  to  a  noble 
emulation  of  their  pure  virtue  and  active  benevolence." 

.MORGAN,  JOHN,  M.D.  F.R.S.  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia.  He  discovered  in  early  life  a  strong  i)ro- 
pensity  for  learning,  and  an  uncommon  application  to 
books.  He  acquired  the  rudiments  of  his  classical  learning 
at  the  Rev.  Dr.  Finley's  Academy  in  Nottingham,  and 
finished  his  studies  in  the  College  of  Philadelj)hia  under 
the  present  provost  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Allison.  In 
both  of  these  seminaries  he  acquired  the  esteem  and  affec- 
tion of  his  preceptors,  by  his  singular  diligence  and  profi- 
ciency in  his  studies.  In  the  year  1757  he  was  admitted  to 
the  first  literary  honors  that  were  conferred  by  the  Col- 
lege of  Philadeli)hia.  During  the  last  years  of  his  attend- 
ance upon  the  college  he  be2;an  the  study  of  physic  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  John  Redman  of  Philadelphia.  His 
conduct  as  an  apprentice  was  such  as  gained  him  the  es- 
teem and  confidence  of  his  master,  and  the  affections  of  all 
his  patients. 

After  he  had  finished  his  studies  under  Dr.  Redman,  he 
entered  into  the  service  of  his  country,  as  a  surgeon  and 
lieutenant  in  the  provincial  troops  of  Pennsylvania,  in  tlie 
last  war  which  Britain  and  America  carried  on  against  tlie 
French  nation.  As  a  surgeon,  in  wliich  capacity  only  he 
acted  in  the  army,  he  acquired  both  knowledge  and  repu- 
tation. He  was  respected  by  tlie  officers,  and  beloved  ])y 
the  soldiers  of  the  army  ;  and  so  ffreat  were  his  diligence 
and  humanity  in  attending  the  sick  and  wounded,  who 
were  the  subjects  of  his  care,  tliat  I  well  remember, 
says  Dr.  Rush  his  biographer,  to  have  heard  it  said, 
*'  that  if  it  were  possible  for  any  man  to  merit  Heaven  by 
his  good  works.  Dr.  Morgan  would  deserve  it  for  his 
faithful  attendance  upon  his  patients." 


406  JOHN    MORGAN. 

In  the  year  1760  he  left  the  army,  and  sailed  for  Europe 
with  a  view  of  prosecuting  his  studies  in  medicine.  He  at- 
tended the  lectures  and  dissections  of  the  late  celebrated  Dr. 
William  Hunter,  and  afterwards  spent  two  years  in  attend- 
ing the  lectures  of  the  professors  in  Edinburgh.  Here 
both  of  the  Monros,  Culien,  Rutherford,  Whytt  and  Hope, 
were  his  masters,  with  each  of  whom  he  lived  in  the  most 
familiar  intercourse,  and  all  of  whom  spoke  of  him  with 
affection  and  respect.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he  publish- 
ed an  elaborate  Thesis  upon  the  Formation  of  Pus,  and 
after  publicly  defending  it,  was  admitted  to  the  honor  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  University.  From  Edinburgh 
he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  spent  a  winter  in  attending  the 
anatomical  lectures  and  dissections  of  Mr.  Sue.  In  this 
city  he  injected  a  kidney  in  so  curious  and  elegant  a  man- 
ner, that  it  procvired  his  admission  into  the  Academy  of 
Surgery  in  Paris.  While  on  the  continent  of  Europe  he 
visited  Holland  and  Italy.  In  both  these  countries  he  was 
introduced  to  the  first  medical  and  literary  characters. 
He  spent  several  hours  in  company  with  Voltaire  at 
Geneva,  and  had  the  honor  of  a  long  conference  with  the 
celebrated  Morgagni  at  Padua,  when  he  was  in  the  eight- 
ieth year  of  his  age.  This  venerable  physician,  who  was 
the  light  and  ornament  of  two  or  three  successive  genera- 
tions of  physicians,  was  so  pleased  with  the  doctor,  that 
he  claimed  kindred  with  him  from  the  resemblance  of 
their  names,  and  on  the  blank  leaf  of  a  copy  of  his  works, 
which  he  presented  to  him,  he  inscribed  with  his  own 
hand  the  following  words  :  "  Affini  suo,  medico  prrecla- 
rissimo,  Johanni  Morgan,  donat  auctor."  Upon  the  doc- 
tor's return  to  London  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society.  He  was  likewise  admitted  as  a  licentiate 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  London,  and  a  member  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  in  Edinburgh. 

It  was  during  his  absence  from  home  that  he  concerted 
vvith  Dr.  Shii)pen  the  plan  of  estaldishing  a  medical 
school  in  the  city  of  Philadelpliia.  He  returned  in  the 
year  1765  loaded  with  literary  honors,  and  was  received 
with  open  arms  by  his  fellow  citizens.  They  felt^an  in- 
terest in  him  for  having  advanced  in  every  part  of  Europe 
the  honor  of  the  American  name.  Immecliately  after  his 
arrival  he  was  elected  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine,  and  delivered  soon  afterwards  at  a  public 
commencement,  his  plan  for  connecting  a  medical  school 


JOHN    MORGAN.  407 

with  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  This  discourse  was 
composed  with  taste  and  jud<i,incnt,  and  roiilained  many 
of  the  true  principles  of  liberal  medical  science.  In 
the  year  17G9  he  had  the  pleasure  of  hecinf^  the  first  fruits  i 
of  his  labors  for  tlie  advancement  of  uiediciii".  Five 
young  gentlemen  received  in  that  year  from  the  hands  of 
the  present  provost  the  first  honors  in  medicine  tliat  ever 
were  conferred  in  America.  The  historian  who  shall  here- 
after relate  the  progress  of  medical  science  in  America, 
will  be  deficient  in  candor  and  justice,  if  he  does  not  con- 
nect the  name  of  Dr.  Morgan  with  that  auspicious  era,  in 
which  medicine  was  first  taught  and  studied  as  a  science 
in  this  country. 

But  the  zeal  of  Dr.  Morgan  was  not  confined  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  medical  science  alone.  He  had  an  active 
hand  in  the  establishment  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  and  he  undertook  in  the  year  1773  a  voyage 
to  Jamaica,  on  purpose  to  solicit  benefactions  for  tlie 
advance;  ent  of  general  literature  in  the  college.  He  pos- 
sessed an  uncommon  capacity  for  acquiring  knowledge. 
His  memc  y  was  extensive  and  accurate  ;  he  was  intimate- 
ly acquainted  with  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics  ;  had 
read  much  in  medicine,  and  in  all  his  pursuits  he  was 
persevering  and  indefatigable.  He  was  capable  of  friend- 
ship, and  in  his  intercourse  with  his  patients  discovered 
the  most  amiable  and  exemplary  tenderness.  I  never  knew 
a  person  who  had  been  attended  by  him,  that  did  not 
speak  of  his  sympathy  and  attention  with  gratitude  and 
respect.  Such  was  the  man  who  once  filled  the  chair  of 
the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  our  College.  He 
is  now  no  more.  His  remains  now  sleep  in  the  silent 
grave  ;  but  not  so  his  virtuous  actions.  Every  act  of 
benevolence  which  he  performed,  every  public  spirited 
enterprise  which  he  planned  or  executed,  and  every  tear 
of  sympathy  which  he  shed,  are  faithfully  recorded,  and 
shall  be  preserved  for  ever. — Rush''s  Jiccountof  Dr.  Morgan. 

In  October,  1775,  Dr.  Morgan  was  ap]iointed  by  con- 
gress Director  General  and  Physician  in  Chief  to  the  Gen- 
eral Hospital  of  tlie  American  army.  He  immediately  re- 
paired to  Cambridge,  where  by  direction  of  Washington 
he  commenced  a  new  arrangement  of  the  hospital  depart- 
ment, and  instituted  examinations  of  the  surgeons  and 
mates  of  the  hospital  and  army.  The  rompiler  of  this 
work  passed  a  strict  examination  by  him.     From  Cam- 


408  ABNER  MOSELEF. 

bridge  he  removed  to  New-York  with  the  army.  The 
duties  of  his  office  were  extremely  hiborious  and  em- 
barrassing. He  attempted  to  establish  a  systematic 
method  of  conducting  the  medical  department,  and  labor- 
ed with  indefatigable  industry  to  effect  the  object ;  but  his 
utmost  exertions  proved  ineffectual  ;  the  sick  and  wounded 
suffered  for  want  of  medicine  and  stores  which  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  provide  ;  unjust  clamors  were  raised 
against  him,  and  in  1777  congress  removed  him  from  of- 
fice without  an  opportunity  to  vindicate  himself.  After 
his  removal  a  committee  of  congress,  appointed  by  his  re- 
quest, investigated  his  whole  conduct,  which  resulted  in  an 
honorable  acquittal  of  all  the  charges  exhibited  against 
him.  He  died  at  Philadelphia,  October  15th,  1789,  in  the 
54th  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Morgan  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  He  published  "  Tentamen 
Medicum  de  Puris  Confectione,"*  Edinburgh,  1763  ;  "  A 
Discourse  upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in 
America,"  1765  ;  "A  Recommendation  of  Inoculation 
according  to  Baron  Dimsdale's  Method,"  1776.  In  the 
year  1766  John  Sergeant,  Esq.  a  merchant  of  London  and 
a  member  of  parliament,  presented  to  the  College  of  Phi- 
ladelphia a  fund  for  a  prize  of  a  gold  medal  for  the  best 
essay  on  the  reciprocal  advantages  of  a  perpetual  union 
between  Great  Britain  and  her  American  colonies.  For 
this  prize  there  were  nine  competitors.  Dr.  Morgan  pro- 
duced four  dissertations  on  the  subject  and  was  the  success- 
ful candidate  for  the  gold  medal.  In  1777  he  published 
a  vindication  of  his  public  character  in  the  station  of  Di- 
rector General  of  the  military  hospitals. 

MOSELEY,  ABNER,  M.D.,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Glastenbury,  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1765.  His  parents 
w^ere  respectable,  especially  his  mother  who  was  distin- 
guished for  strength  of  mind  and  energy  of  character. 
He  received  a  good  early  education,  took  his  first  degree 
at  Yale  College  in  1786,  and  studied  his  profession  under 
his  venerable  uncle,  the  highly  respected  Dr.  Thomas 
Moseley,  of  East  Haddam,  who  was  afterwards  President 
of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society.  The  subject  of  this 
notice,  after  spending  some  time  with  his  instructer,  attend- 

*  Dr.  Morgan  is  said  to  be  the  first  who  proposed  the  theory   of  the  formation  of 
pus  by  the  secretory  action  of  the  vessels  of  the  part. 


JOHN    MOULTRIE.  409 

eel  one  of  the  early  courses  of  lectures  in  Philadelphia,  un- 
der Rush,  Shippcn,  Morgan,  &c. 

After  completing  his  education  lie  settled  in  his  native 
town,  from  which  he  removed  to  Wcathersfield  in  1795. 
Here  he  soon  found  himself  established  in  an  extensive 
and  profitable  course  of  practice,  which  he  continued  with 
increasing  reputation  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Scp- 
tem])er,  1811,  in  the  4Gth  year  of  his  age.  Di-.  Moseley's 
education  gave  him  advantages  over  most  of  liis  contem- 
poraries as  a  physician,  and  particularly  as  an  accouclieur, 
in  which  department  of  his  profession  his  reputation  was 
deservedly  great  and  extensive.  As  a  man  and  a  member 
of  society  he  was  useful,  active  and  public  s})irited,  and 
greatly  respected.  As  a  husband  and  father  he  was  kind 
and  affectionate,  assiduous  in  his  attentions,  and  much  de- 
voted to  his  family.  In  his  person  he  was  tall,  strait,  of  a 
commanding  figure  and  noble  countenance  ;  he  possessed 
great  bodily  strength  and  activity. 

In  Dr.  Moseley  the  sick  ever  found  a  real  friend  ;  his 
kindness,  his  assiduity,  his  frankness,  his  sympathy,  and 
his  efforts  to  relieve  their  distress  and  increase  tlieir  com- 
forts, secured  the  affection  of  his  employers,  and  each  in- 
dividual considered  him  as  his  personal  friend.  lie  marri- 
ed Miss  Wells  of  Glastenbury,  by  whom  he  had  a  numer- 
ous family.  She  died  a  few  months  before  him.  At  his 
death  the  whole  town  in  which  he  lived  was  in  mourning, 
and  manifested  a  scene  of  gloom  and  sorrow.  Such  an 
expression  of  public  opinion  is  the  best  eulogy  a  man  can 
possess,  and  speaks  a  language  of  applause  more  to  be  de- 
sired than  any  other  tribute  however  splendid  or  mag- 
nificent. 

MOULTRIE,  JOHN,  M.D.,  was  a  native  of  Europe, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1733.  He  established  himself 
in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  for  forty  years  stood 
at  the  head  of  his  profession  in  that  city.  He  possessed 
great  talents  for  observation,  and  was  wonderfully  success- 
ful in  discovering  tlie  hidden  causes  of  diseases  and  adopt- 
ing remedies  for  their  removal. 

His  death  was  regretted  as  a  great  public  calamity.  Sev- 
eral of  the  ladies  of  Charleston  bedewed  his  grave  with 
tears,  and  went  into  mourning  on  the  occasion.  The  year 
after  his  decease  was  distinsruished  by  the  deaths  of  several 
women  in  childbirth.  While  he  lived,  they  tliought  them- 
selves secure  of  the  best  assistance  in  the  power  of  man  or 
52 


410  JACOB    OGDErf. 

of  art,  in  case  of  extremity.  In  losing  him,  they  lost  their 
hopes.  Depressing  fears  sank  their  spirits,  and  in  an  un- 
usual number  of  cases  produced  fatal  consequences.  He 
died  about  the  year  1773.  He  was  the  idol  of  his  patients. 
They  who  had  him  once,  could  not  be  satisfied,  in  case  of 
need,  without  having  him  again.  So  great  was  the  confi- 
dence reposed  in  his  judgment,  that  they  who  were  usuallj^ 
attended  by  him,  preferred  jiis  advice  and  assistance,  even 
on  the  festive  evening  of  St.  Andrew's  day,  to  that  of  any 
other  professional  man  in  his  most  collected  moments. 

Dr.  Moultrie  left'a  son,  John,  who  was  eminent  in  litera- 
ture and  medical  science  ;  he  was  the  first  Carolinian  who 
obtained  a  medical  degree  from  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  in  1749  he  defended  a  thesis  "  De  Febre 
Fiava."  He  was  afterwards  lieutenant  governor  of  East 
Florida. 

OGDEN,  DR.  JACOB,  was  the  descendant  of  an  English 
family,  and  was  born  at  Newark,  New-Jersey,  in  the  year 
1721 .  He  received  the  elements  of  a  good  classical  education 
in  Yale  College  ;  and  after  having  prosecuted  his  medical 
studies  under  such  circumstances  as  the  colonies  then  afi'ord- 
ed,  entered  upon  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Jamaica,  on 
Loner  Island.  He  soon  obtained  a  large  share  of  public  pat- 
ronage, and  was  distinguished  as  an  excellent  practitioner 
for  nearly  forty  years.  The  sphere  of  his  professional  em- 
ployment was  not  limited  to  his  place  of  residence, 
but  embraced  a  large  district  of  the  country  ;  he  enjoy- 
ed the  confidence  of  many  of  the  eminent  men  of  his 
day,  particularly  of  Dr.  Colden,  and  Dr.  John  Bard,  of 
the  city  of  New-York.  He  was  an  able  supporter  of  the 
practice  of  inoculation  for  the  smallpox,  and  made  free 
use  of  mercury  as  a  precautionary  means  in  the  manage- 
ment of  that  disease,  according  to  the  popular  tlieory  of 
the  time.  He  placed  much  reliance  upon  the  free  use  of 
the  same  medicine  in  the  treatment  of  pneumonic  affect- 
ions. A  manuscript  account  by  him,  detailing  his  opin- 
ions of  hydrophobia,  is  said  to  be  in  existence  :  he  main- 
tained the  utility  of  mercury  in  this  disorder. 

But  Dr.  Ogden  is  best  known  by  his  letters  addressed 
to  Mr.  Hugh  Gaine,  on  the  "  Malignant  Sore  Throat  Dis- 
temper," which  is  the  only  printed  production  of  his  pen, 
so  far  as  can  be  ascertained.  These  letters  were  reprinted 
several  years  after  their  first  appearance,  in  the  New-York 
Medical  Repository,  Volume   V.      The  date  of  them  h 


JOSEPH    ORNK.  411 

Jamaica,  October  2Sth,  1769,  and  September  14th,  1774. 
In  these  letters  he  has  been  sufficiently  careful  to  con- 
fine himself  more  er^pccially  to  a  consideration  of  the 
sore  throat  distemper,  without  involving  the  disorder 
with  croup  cr  cynanche  trachealis,  a  circumstance 
which  has  unfortunately  taken  place  with  some  later 
and  more  eminent  authors.  It  is  coritested  whether  the 
honor  belongs  exclusively  to  him  of  having  first  introduc- 
ed the  mercurial  practice  in  the  treatment  of  inflammatory 
disorders  in  the  United  States.  The  venerable  Dr.  Ho- 
lyoke  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  informs  us  that  so  early  as 
in  the  years  1751  or  1752  he  was  in  the  habit  of  prescrib- 
ing this  3iiineral.  "  About  that  time,  says  lie,  pleurisies  and 
peripneumonies  were  remarkably  prevalent  and  might  be 
called  epidemical."  About  twenty  years  before  the  date 
of  Dr.  Ogden's  first  letter,  he  assures  us,  he  adminit-tered 
the  "  mercurius  dulcis"  freely  in  the  sore  throat  disease 
both  in  children  and  in  adults.  It  would  further  appear 
that  the  eccentric  Dr.  Douglass  of  Boston  had  recourse  to 
mercurials  in  the  sore  throat  distemper  of  1736.  Perhaps 
it  is  most  safe  to  divide  the  merit  of  this  bold  and  adven- 
turous innovation  in  practice  between  Drs.  Douglass  and 
Ogden.  The  authority  of  the  latter,  however,  had  great 
weight  in  extending  the  mercurial  treatment  in  the  sore 
throat  affection,  and  in  other  diseases  of  an  acute  nature. 

"  While  other  physicians,  says  Dr.  Francis,  were  timid- 
ly and  capriciously  prescribing  small  doses  of  mercury, 
in  combination  with  other  articles,  for  the  cure  of  the 
malignant  sore  throat  distemper,  Dr.  Ogden  of  Lono-  Is- 
land with  higher  and  more  correct  pathological  views, 
introduced  mercurial  remedies  in  this  disorder,  with  a 
confidence  which  his  success  amply  warranted.  The  hon- 
or therefore  must  justly  be  conceded  to  him  of  having 
been  the  first  who  in  the  United  States  availed  him- 
self of  the  free  use  of  mercurials  in  the  treatment  of  inflam- 
matory diseases.  His  letters  on  this  occasion  prove  him 
to  have  been  a  bold  and  vigorous  practitioner,  and  de- 
serve to  be  referred  to  as  creditable  evidence  of  his  attain- 
ments in  medical  literature."  After  an  active  and  useful 
life  Dr.  Ogden  suffered  an  accident  by  the  fright  of  his 
horse  wdiich  induced  a  fatal  illness.  He  died  in  the  69th 
year  of  liis  age. 

ORNE,  JOSEPH,  M.M.S.S.  was  a  native  of  Salem, 
born  in  1749.    In  his  childliood  he  was  remarkable  for  the 


412  JOSEPH    ORNE. 

precocity  of  his  understanding  ;  tit  the  age  of  twelve 
years  he  entered  Harvard  College,  and  received  his  first 
degree  in  1765.  He  then  began  his  medical  studies  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Edvv^ard  A.  Holyoke  of  Salem.  In 
1770  he  removed  to  Beverly,  and  established  himself  in 
medical  practice  with  a  fair  reputation  and  increasing 
fame.  In  1777  he  returned  to  .Salem  under  auspicious  cir- 
cumstances, where  he  continued  in  his  professional  pur- 
suits until  his  death. 

Application  being  made  to  the  venerable  Dr.  Holyoke 
for  information  relative  to  Dr.  Orne,  he,  now  in  tlie  99th 
year  of  his  age,  replied  with  his  own  pen  as  follows  : 
"  In  answer  to  your's  respecting  the  character  of  the  late 
Dr.  Orne  as  a  physician.  He  lived  with  me  upwards  of 
four  years,  and  appeared  to  me  well  informed  in  the  line 
of  his  profession,  to  which  he  was  diligently  attentive. 
He  resided,  after  leaving  me,  several  years  in  Beverly, 
where,  I  believe,  he  was  esteemed  as  a  successful  prac- 
titioner. Upon  his  return  to  Salem,  though  I  had  not 
many  opportunities  of  seeing  his  practice,  I  know  he  was 
in  good  repute  in  those  families  in  which  he  was  employ- 
ed :  but  I  cannot  say  that  I  ever  heard  that  he  was  noted 
as  a  bold  practitioner  ;  if  I  did  it  has  slipped  my  memory. 
If  his  life  had  been  protracted,  I  have  no  doubt  but  he 
would  have  been  eminent.  That  he  had  genius,  wit  and 
learning  is  certain  ;  he  was,  in  my  opinion,  one  of  the 
best  poets  our  country  has  produced  ;  though  I  believe 
he  never  gave  any  thing  to  the  public." 

As  a  practising  physician  Dr.  Orne  is  recollected  as  pos- 
sessing a  sound  and  discriminating  judgment,  and  was 
often  consulted  by  his  brethren  in  difficult  cases.  His 
sagacity  and  medical  knowledge  were  happily  manifested 
in  a  case  which  he  pronounced  Hydrocephalus  internus  at 
a  time  when  that  malady  had  not  been  discriminated  by 
other  physicians,  and  on  examination  after  death  his  prog- 
nostic was  found  to  prove  the  correctness  of  his  judgment. 
His  ardor  for  the  improvement  of  medicine  and  in  enrich- 
ing his  own  mind  with  scientific  knowledge  was  evinced 
by  his  exertions  in  importing  from  Europe  the  most  recent 
valuable  publications,  and  dedicating  all  his  leisure  to  the 
investigation  of  new  subjects.  That  he  was  not  inattent- 
ive to  the  medical  remedies  of  our  own  soil  appears  by 
an  ingenious  communication  to  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society.    His  object  was  to  bring  into  notice  a  new  article, 


JOHN   OsBORN.  413 

the  Heracleum  Lanatiim,  Cowparsnip,  as  a  remedy  in  epi- 
lepsy. He  gave  an  accurate  botanical  description  of  tlie 
plant,  and  detailed  five  cases  in  which  he  had  employed 
it,  iu  three  of  which  radical  cures  were  ciiicted. 

Dr.  Orne  possessed  not  only  a  taste  for  poetry,  paint- 
ing and  the  belles  lettres,  but  also  for  natural  philo- 
sophy ;  and  had  his  short  sojourn  in  life  been  protract- 
ed, his  talents  would  probably  have  been  devoted  to 
the  most  useful  purposes.  But  insatiate  consumption  seiz- 
ed him  as  its  victim,  and  terminated  his  earthly  career, 
January  28th,  1786,  in  the  37th  year  of  liis  age.  That 
the  public  voice  duly  appreciated  his  talents  and  acquire- 
ments, will  appear  from  the  circumstance,  that  his  name  is 
found  among  the  first  associates  in  the  charter  of  the  Aca- 
demy of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  this  state,  and  that  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  he  was  abo  a  member 
of  the  Philosophical  Library  Companvin  Salem. 

OSBORN,  JOHN,  M.M.S.S.  Hon.\vas  born  at  Sand- 
wich, Massachusetts,  in  1713,  and  was  i^:r;;duated  at  Har- 
vard College  in  1737,  wheie  he  displayed  great  talents  for 
mathematical  investigations.  After  leaving  college  he  re- 
paired to  his  father's  house  at  Eastham,  and  spent  some 
time  in  a  state  of  irresolution.  To  while  away  this  inter- 
val, and  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  his  father,  he  paid  some 
attention  to  divinity.  At  an  association  of  the  neighbor 
ing  clergy  in  Chatliam,  he  delivered  a  sermon  of  his  own 
composition.  TJie  ingenuity  of  this  discourse,  though  not 
perfectly  orthodox,  commanded  the  approbation  of  his. 
reverend  hearers. 

He  next  turned  his  attention  to  medicine,  and  being  duly 
qualified  settled  as  a  physician  at  Middletown,  Connecti- 
cut. He  married  about  this  time  ;  and  in  1753  wrote  to  a 
sister,  then  living  at  Plymouth,  the  following  account  of 
himself  and  family.  "  We  are  all  in  usual  plight  except 
myself.  I  am  confined  chiefly  to  tlie  house  ;  am  weak, 
lame  and  uneasy  ;  and  never  expect  to  be  hearty  and  strong 
again.  I  have  lingered  along  almost  two  years  a  life  not 
worth  having,  and  how  much  longer  it  will  last  I  cannot 
tell.  We  have  six  children,  the  oldest  fourteen  years  old 
the  last  November,  the  youngest  two  years  last  January  ; 
the  eldest  a  daughter,  the  next  a  son,  and  so  on  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter."  The  illness  he  mentions  was  the  effect 
of  a  fever  from  which  he  never  recovered.  The  life, 
which  he  thought  "  not  worth  having,"  lasted  but  a  short 


414 


JOHN    OSBORX. 


time  after  he  wrote  the  abovementioned  letter.     He  died 
May  31st,  1753,  at  the  age  of  40. 

He  was  a  very  respectable  physician,  but  was  more  cele- 
brated as  a  scholar  and  a  poet  than  most  of  the  literary 
men  of  his  day.  When  at  college  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  Latin  verses,  and  one  of  the  professors  pronounced 
his  hexameters  truly  Virgilian.  His  Whaling  Song  has 
continued  to  be  celebrated  to  this  time,  and  no  whaleman 
ever  sings  or  speaks  of  it  but  with  rapture.  He  also  wrote 
a  very  beautiful  elegiac  epistle  addressed  to  one  sister  on 
the  death  of  another.  Dr.  Osborn's  Whaling  Song  deserves 
to  be  pieserved,  and  is  given  below. 

WHALING  SONG. 


When  spring  returns  with  western  gales, 

And  gentle  breezes  sweep 
The  ruffling  seas,  we  spread  our  sails 

To  plough  the  watery  deep. 

For  killing  northern  whales  prepar'd. 

Our  nimble  boats  on  board, 
With  craft  and  rum  (our  chief  regard) 

And  good  provision  stor'd. 
.:i 
Cape  Cod,  our  dearest,  native  land 

We  leave  astern,  and  lose 
Its  sinking  cliffs  and  lessening  sands, 

While  zephyr  gently  blows. 

Bnld,  hardy  men,  with  blooming  age, 

Our  snndy  shores  produce  ; 
With  monstrous  fish  they  dare  engage. 

And  dangerous  callings  choose. 

Now  towards  the  early  dawning  east 

We  speed  our  course  away. 
With  eager  minds,  and  joyful  hearts, 

To  meet  the  rising  day. 

Then  as  we  turn  our  wondering  eyes, 
We  view  one  constant  show  ; 

Above,  around,  the  circling  skies  ; 
The  rolling  seas  below. 

When  eastward,  clear  of  Newfoundland, 

We  stem  the  frozen  pole. 
We  see  the   icy  islands  stand. 

The  northern  billows  roll. 

As  to  the  north  we  make  our  way, 

Surprising  scenes  we  find  ; 
We  lengthen  out  the  tciious  day. 

And  leave  the  night  beliind. 

Now  S3e  the  northern  regions,  where 
Eternal  winter  reigns; 


One  day  and  night  fills  up  the  year, 
And  endless  cold  maintains. 

We  view  the  monsters  of  the  deep. 
Great  whales  in  numerous  swarms  ; 

And  creatures  there,  that  play  and  leap, 
Of  strange  unusual  forms. 

When  we  our  wonted  station  gain 
And  whales  around  us  play  ; 

We  launch  our  boats  into  the  main. 
And  swiftly  chase  our  prey. 

In  haste  we  ply  our  nimble  oars. 

For  an  assault  designed  : 
The  sea  beneath  us  foams  and  roars, 

And  leaves  a  wake  behind. 

A  mighty  whale  we  rush  upon. 

And  in  our  irons  throw  : 
She  darts  her  monstrous  body  down 

Among  the  waves  below. 

And  when  she  rises  out  again. 

We  soon  renew  the  fight ; 
Thrust  our  sharp  lancets  in  amain. 

And  all  her  rage  excite. 

Enrag'd  she  makes  a  mighty  bound  : 
Thick  foams  the  whiten'd  sea  : 

The  waves  in  circles  rise  around. 
And  widening  roll  away. 

She  thrashes  with  her  tail  around. 
And  blows  her  reddening  breath  ; 

She  breaks  the  air,  a  deafening  sound. 
While  ocean  groans  beneath. 

From  num'rous  wounds, with  crimson  flood 

She  stains  the  frothy  seas. 
And  gasps  and  blows  her  latest  blood. 

While  quivering  life  decays. 


JOHN    OSBORN.  ^jg 

With  joyful  hearts  we  see  her  die,  Whpn  in  tK»  u  u 

And  on  the  surface  lay  :  '  ^^    i    y    ^  ^"^'^  ""^  ^^'  «e<^"'"«' 

While  all  with  eager  haste  apply,  I„1:"n.''lr  """"i  ^""^  ^'"^  °''' 

To  save  our  breathless  prey.  ^  wZ      P""?  ''  °"'-  sovereign  cure, 

^    ■'  "C  «iowii  all  care  and  toil. 

M?rT'^^^',nI^-  ^^^^'  ^o"  <"■"'«  preceding,  was  born 

reading,  and  for  nlany  >-earno.™ssed  U.rZ  f '"""!" 
medical  library  in  the  state.  H'^^kTowledt  be.t  private 
teria  medica  was  very  accurate  »nd^v.-^  f  *'"'  '"*- 
to  the  return  of  Profesor  SiUil     fr''"'^''"''  P?^'""^ 

:«^rt:d''ir''^,f'';''''^^'^''-^'^"^ 

o  ai,d  :r  L  fir'^r  cV'^  rj"'''T  ■>«"- ""<^^^^^^^^ 

,  duu  wdb  ine  nrst  in  Connecticut  who  intrnrlnn^ri  +1,^ 
ant.phog.st.c  regimen  in  the  smallpox  Pre™  "sjo  the 
upon  IhaTP'  ^'"■'  "I^K  P"'^'/*''^''  I-^  Conda™  nl's  Tre"  tt 

trCt  d^i/'^rkTraur  u^'^r'"'^ "'  \t  o'^"'  -<'^^" 

exertions  that  "nocllla^^n  under'' ce"rS "Li,";"''  '"  ""^ 
mtroduced  into  Connecticut.  He  was  one  ^^7"'  T' 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  that  "ate  ^"^  ^'"""^"' 

ly  after  introduced  to  a  lar  Jscene   nf       '    r^  ^^t^^^ort- 
created    Professor    of  ^I.!  f  r^.     of  practice.     He  was 


416  JOHN    C.    OSBORN. 

nary  disorder  in  the  island  of  St.  Croix,  upon  the  day  of 
his 'landing,  March  5th,  1819. 

With  liis  professional  erudition  Dr.  Osborn  united  great 
literary  acquirements,  and  his  knowledge  of  books  was 
varied  and  extensive.  These  acquisitions  he  often  dis- 
played in  his  courses  of  public  instruction.  His  view  of 
^the  materia  medica  as  a  science  was  equalled  by  few,  and 
hi?  knowledge  of  the  actual  medical  qualities  of  the  native 
productions  of  our  soil  was  a  subject  which  he  delighted 
to  investigate,  and  in  his  practice  and  by  his  instructions 
he  earnestly  enjoined  an  acquaintance  with  these  impor- 
tant remedial  agents. 

Dr.  Osborn  v/as  a  man  of  much  more  science  and  emi- 
nence in  his  profession  than  either  his  father  or  grand- 
father, and  possessed  a  very  fine  taste  for  poetry,  belles 
lettres  and  painting.  While  he  was  quite  a  young  man 
Mr.  Barlow  submitted  to  him  and  his  friend,  the  late 
Richard  Alsop,  Esq.  the  manuscript  of  the  Vision  of 
Columbus  for  their  correction  and  revision,  previous  to  its 
publication.  His  taste  in  painting  was  highly  cultivated, 
and  he  mio-ht  have  attained  to  great  eminence  as  an  artist. 
5.  PEABODY,  DR.  NATHANIEL,  was  born  at  Topsfield 
in  the  county  of  Essex,  Massachusetts,  March  1st,  1741. 
His  father  Jacob  Peabody,  who  was  an  eminent  physician 
and  a  man  of  literature  and  science,  removed  in  April, 
1745,  from  Topsfield  to  Leominster  in  the  coimty  of  Wor- 
cester, and  resided  there  till  his  death  in  1758.  His 
mother  was  Susanna,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Rogers 
who  was  for  fifty  years  minister  of  B oxford,  Massachu- 
setts. She  was  of  the  tenth  generation  in  the  direct  line 
of  descent  from  John  Rogers,  the  martyr  burned  at  Smith- 
field,  and  she  possessed  a  strong  and  cultivated  mind. 
Nathaniel,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  derived  his  early 
education  entirely  from  his  father,  never  having  attended 
school  a  day  in  his  life.  He  also  studied  and  practised 
physic  with  him  from  twelve  till  eighteen  years  of  age, 
when  his  father  died. 

At  about  the  age  of  twenty  he  settled  in  the  town  of 
Plaistow,  New-Hampshire,  and  soon  acquired  extensive 
practice.  Early  in  life  Dr.  Peabody  was  a  favorite  with 
the  government  of  the  Province,  and  held  several  offices 
under  it.  In  1771,  when  only  thirty  years  old,  he  was 
commissioned   by  Governor  Wentworth  as   a  justice    of 


NATHANIEL    PEABODY.  417 

the  peace  and  of  the  quorum  was  then  and  for  many  years 
afterwards  much  more  responsible  and  important  than  at 
the  present  day. 

In  1774  Dr.  Peahody  was  appointed  lieutenant  colonel 
in  the  militia.  At  this  time  the  controversy  between  the 
colonies  and  the  parent  country  had  approached  its  crisis  ; 
the  revolution  was  rapidly  dawning,  and  the  battle  of 
Lexington  was  fought  in  the  succeeding  April.  Dr.  P. 
espoused  with  ardor  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  was  the 
first  man  in  New-Hampshire  who  resigned  a  king's  com- 
mission on  account  of  political  opinions.  In  December  of 
this  year  he  with  a  few  others  boldly  assaulted  Fort  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  at  Newcastle,  confined  the  captain  of  the 
fort  and  his  five  men,  and  carried  off  one  hundred  barrels 
of  powder.  This  important  enterprise  was  accomplished 
at  the  most  fortunate  point  of  time,  just  before  the  arrival 
of  several  companies  of  the  king's  troops,  who  took  pos- 
session of  the  fort. 

During  the  first  three  or  four  years  of  the  revolutionary 
war.  Dr.  P.  was  constantly  employed  in  various  stations 
in  the  legislature,  in  committees  and  in  conventions  ;  in 
all  whicli  he  appears  to  have  been  conspicuous  as  a  leading 
character  in  the  affairs  which  so  greatly  agitated  the  pub- 
lic mind.  His  shrewdness,  vigilance  and  activity  qualified 
him  in  a  peculiar  manner  for  his  station  ;  and  it  is  said  he 
was  eminently  successful  in  detecting  and  exposing  the 
treasonable  practices  of  the  tories.  He  was  for  some  time 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  other  commit- 
tees, to  whom  were  referred  subjects  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance to  the  liberty  and  welfare  of  the  state.  The  com- 
mittee of  safety  in  those  days  was  vested  with  the  highest 
trust  in  the  gift  of  the  General  Court,  and  was  composed 
of  men  of  tried  patriotism  and  integrity.  They  were  con- 
sidered as  the  Supreme  Executive,  and  during  the  recess 
of  the  convention  their  orders  and  recommendations  had 
the  same  effect  as  the  acts  and  resolves  of  that  whole  body. 

In  1778  he  was  appointed  Adjutant  General  of  the  Militia 
of  the  state  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  in  the  following 
year  served  in  that  capacity  witli  our  troops  at  Rhode- 
Island  under  General  Whipple.  In  the  same  year,  in  the 
month  of  January,  commissioners  from  all  the  New-Eng- 
land states,  together  with  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  New- 
York  and  New- Jersey,  convened  at  New-Haven  by  the 
recommendation  of  Congress,  for  the  purpose  of  regulating 
53 


418  NATHANIEL    PEAEODY. 

and  ascertaining  the  price  of  labor,  manufactures,  internal 
produce  and  commodities,  and  for  other  purposes.  In 
this  convention  Colonel  P.  was  one  of  the  delegates  from 
New-Hampshire.  In  March,  1779,  he  was  elected  a  dele- 
gate to  tlie  Continental  congress.  He  took  his  seat  in 
that  body  in  June,  and  immediately  became  an  active  and 
useful  member.  In  September  following  he  was  added  to 
the  medical  committee,  and  soon  after  was  made  its  chair- 
man. The  functions  of  this  committee  were  highly  im- 
portant and  arduous,  the  whole  management  of  the  hospi- 
tal and  medical  department  of  the  army  having  devolved 
upon  it.  At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1780,  the 
country  was  apparently  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  The  public 
Treasury  was  empty  ;  the  paper  currency  had  almost  en- 
tirely lost  its  value  ;  the  public  faith  had  failed  ;  the  army 
greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  destitute  of  pay,  clothing,  and 
sometimes  of  food,  was  on  the  point  of  mutiny  ;  and 
peculation  and  disorder  had  crept  into  the  public  offices. 
In  this  state  of  affairs  congress  resolved  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee to  proceed  to  Head  Quarters,  to  consult  with  the 
Commander  in  Chief  and  the  Commissary  and  Quarter 
Master  General  about  the  defects  of  the  present  system  ; 
to  carry  into  execution  any  plan  for  conducting  the  Quar- 
ter Master's  and  Commissariat  departments  ;  to  consolidate 
regiments,  abolish  unnecessary  posts,  erect  others,  dis- 
charge unnecessary  officers,  retrench  expenses,  and  gene- 
rally to  exercise  every  power  requisite  to  effect  a  reforma- 
tion of  abuses  and  to  correct  the  general  arrangements  of 
the  departments  in  any  way  connected  with  the  matters 
committed  to  them.  Of  this  committee  General  P.  was 
an  active  and  very  useful  member,  and  his  conduct  was 
approved  and  applauded  by  many  of  the  most  illustrious 
patriots  of  that  time. 

In  1780,  having  been  afflicted  with  ill  health,  he  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  be  relieved  from  his  laborious  services 
ill  Congress,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  that  year  his  place  was 
supplied  by  Woodbury  Langdon,  Esq.  and  he  returned  to 
New-Hampshire.  But  we  still  find  him  actively  engaged 
for  the  public  interest,  sustaining  various  offices  under  the 
government  of  his  own  state,  as  representative  in  the  leg- 
idature  for  several  successive  years.  Counsellor,  Senator, 
Brigadier  General  of  the  light  horse,  chairman  of  various 
committees,  &c.  &c.  In  1793  he  was  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  Major  General  of  Militia> 


NATHANIEL    PEABODY.  419 

which  offices  he  resigned  in  1798,  and  soon  after  announc- 
ed in  the  public  papers  tliat  he  should  in  future  decline  all 
public  trusts.  This,  however,  was  at  a  period  of  party 
asperity,  when  from  his  rigid  republican  principles  his 
popularity  was  much  on  the  decline.  It  would,  however, 
appear  unjust  not  to  confess,  that  in  the  numerous  public 
stations  which  he  sustained  during  our  revolutionary  strug- 
gle. General  P.  never  failed  to  manifest  unimpeachable 
patriotism  and  indefatigable  perseverance.  On  occasions 
of  the  greatest  trials,  when  our  public  affairs  were  almost 
in  a  state  of  desperation,  he  displayed  a  firmness  of  mind, 
a  soundness  of  judgment,  and  efficiency  of  conduct,  calcu- 
lated to  dissipate  the  darkest  clouds,  and  encourage  new 
hopes  and  more  vigorous  exertions.  By  his  enterprizing 
and  active  public  services  he  gained  the  confidence  and 
entire  approbation  of  the  Commander  in  Chief. 

General  P.  was  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Medical  Society,  which  was  incorporated  by 
the  legislature  of  that  state  in  1790.  In  the  following 
year  he  received  from  Dartmouth  College  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  The  state  of  his  property  and 
finances  became  greatly  deranged  and  embarrassed,  which 
he  attributed  chiefly  to  great  losses  by  means  of  suretyship, 
and  the  plunder  and  sale  of  his  property  through  the  neg- 
ligence, misconduct  and  turpitude  of  his  agents  and  sup- 
posed friends.  These  misfortunes  resulted  in  his  confine- 
ment for  delit  to  the  limits  of  the  prison  at  Exeter  for 
several  of  the  last  years  of  his  life. 

General  Peabody,  says  his  biographer,  was  not  without 
foibles  and  faults.  He  was  always  rather  vain  and  opin- 
ionative.  At  middle  age  he  was  almost  passionately  fond 
of  dress  and  ostentatious  parade,  and  expended  large  sums 
for  such  purposes.  He  was  a  fine  horseman,  and  in  his 
golden  days  usually  travelled  with  the  most  elegant  horses, 
of  which  he  was  a  good  judge  and  great  admirer,  attend- 
ed by  his  servant  ;  and  the  people  regarded  him  as  a  per- 
sonage of  high  rank  and  conse(|uence.  But  as  imperfec- 
tion is  the  lot  of  humanity,  let  his  errors  and  faults  rest  in 
oblivion  ;  let  him  receive  the  general  amnesty  which  the 
living,  conscious  of  their  own  frailties,  do  in  charity  freely 
grant  to  the  dead.  His  natural  abilities,  though  by  some 
called  "  airy  and  lofty,"  were  of  a  high  order,  and,  had 
he  not  devoted  them  so  early  to  his  country,  might  have 
raised  him  to   a  proud  eminence  in   his  profession.     His 


420  NATHANIEL    PEABODY. 

perceptions  were  quick,  his  invention  powerful,  his  reason- 
ing tolera])ly  prompt,  just  and  perspicuous,  and  his  mem- 
ory remarkably  tenacious  ;  hut  he  was  most  distinguished 
for  his  caustic  wit  and  resistless  ridicule.  These  pow- 
ers made  him  more  formidable  as  an  opponent,  than  desi- 
rable as  an  ally,  and  it  is  said  of  him  by  his  contempora- 
ries in  the  legislature,  that  though  not  always  successful  in 
carrying  his  own  measures,  he  seldom  failed  in  an  attempt 
to  defeat  the  projects  of  others.  At  the  time  when  he  was 
Speaker  of  the  House,  his  influence  Avas  so  great  that  by 
means  of  three  or  four  of  his  associates  he  ruled  the  state  ; 
and  letters  from  some  of  the  first  men  who  flourished  at 
that  period,  show  the  high  value  which  was  placed  on  his 
friendship.  His  disposition  was  rather  hasty,  yet  he  could 
bend  his  will  to  his  purposes,  and  regulate  his  passions  to 
his  views.  His  stock  of  general  knowledge  was  respecta- 
ble. Of  national  politics  his  views  were  liberal,  accurate 
and  often  original.  From  his  knowledge  of  human  nature 
and  the  selfish  policy  of  nations,  he  foresaw  approaching 
danger  and  raised  his  warning  voice.  His  leaning  was 
always  decidedly  in  favor  of  popular  rights.  In  his  po- 
litics he  was  a  democratic  republican,  and  he  firmly 
adhered  to  that  party. 

In  early  life  Dr.  Peabody  was  a  good  physician,  and 
practised  Avith  success  and  general  applause.  He  contin- 
ued to  administer  to  the  health  of  others,  till  he  could  no 
longer  help  himself.  Patients  came  to  him  from  distant 
parts,  and  he  cured  or  alleviated  many  difficult  chronic 
cases  which  were  beyond  the  skill  of  his  younger  contem- 
poraries. His  manner,  as  well  as  his  application,  was 
always  pleasing,  and  his  Avit  and  humor  made  him  popu- 
lar. In  his  habits  he  was  regular  and  correct  ;  he  ate  and 
drank  but  little,  and  that  of  the  best  ;  seldom  slept  more 
than  four  or  five  hours,  often  not  over  two,  and  those  the 
latter  part  of  the  night.  He  was  considered  by  his  friends 
as  a  cheerful,  sociable,  witty  and  friendly  man  ;  generous, 
noble  spirited  and  honorable,  never  deserting  his  friends 
in  the  hour  of  need.  He  Avas  also  a  patron  of  enterprise 
and  merit,  and  several  young  men  Avere  indebted  to  him 
for  liberal  education,  and  their  subsequent  prosperity.  A 
mind  like  his  was  calculated  for  great  changes  in  popular- 
ity and  fortune.  These  changes  in  early  life  served  to 
steel  his  mind  against  vicissitudes,  and  made  him  a  more  able 
general  in  avoiding  or  rccoverins  from  them.     They  did 


JOSEPH    PERKINS. 


421 


not,  however,  sour  his  temper,  and  cloud  his  intellect. 
He  endeavored  to  enjoy  life  himself,  and  by  his  pleasantry 
make  his  friends  happy. 

His  mental  powers  were  but  little  impaired  by  age. 
The  anguish  of  sickness  and  disease  he  bore  with  fortitude, 
and  was  rarely  heard  to  complain,  till  attacked  with  that 
complication  of  most  exci'uciating  disorders,  which,  after 
two  or  three  weeks,  terminated  his  earthly  career  on 
Saturday,  June  27th,  1823.  The  able  writer  from  whom 
this  sketch  is  an  abstract,  makes  no  mention  of  Dr.  Peabo- 
dy's  belief  in  the  sacred  truths  of  revealed  religion,  but 
there  appears  too  much  reason  to  supjjose  that  he  was  a 
favorer  of  infidelity.  He  was  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
subjected  to  the  annoyance  of  prejudice  and  enmities,  and 
by  many  of  the  virtuous  viewed  in  the  light  of  a  degraded 
character.  But  observes  his  biographer  in  conclusion, 
"  On  a  candid  review  of  all  the  transactions  and  peculiar 
circumstances  of  General  Peabody's  long  life,  from  his 
cradle  to  his  grave,  we  are  impelled  to  the  conclusion, 
that  he  was  a  useful  citizen,  an  enlightened  politician,  and 
in  times  of  trial  and  danger,  as  well  as  in  the  halcyon 
days  of  peace  and  prosperity,  a  firm  and  ardent  friend  to 
his  country. — JWio- Hampshire  Historical  Collections. 

N PERKINS,  DR.  JOSEPH,  was  graduated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1727  ;  commenced  practice  in  Norwich,  his  native 
town,  and  became  very  eminent  in  both  medicine  and 
surgery,  performing  all  the  capital  operations  in  that  part 
of  the  colony.  He  possessed  brilliant  talents,  and  was  distin- 
guished for  scientific  pursuits,  and  for  undissembled  piety, 
patriotism  and  benevolence.  He  continued  to  practise 
extensively  till  near  the  close  of  life,  and  died  in  1794, 
aged  90  years. 

The  following  authenticated  case  is  noticed  by  his  biogra- 
pher as  being  deemed  at  the  time  extraordinary  in  its  na- 
ture, and  peculiar  in  its  circumstances.  In  1761  Abiel 
Stark,  of  Lebanon,  was  afflicted  with  umbilical  hernia, 
from  which  he  suffered  extremely,  and  incarceration 
had  actually  taken  place  before  Dr.  Perkins  could  visit 
him.  Immediate  recourse  to  the  operation  for  strangulat- 
ed hernia  was  deemed  indispensable  ;  on  exposing  the  in- 
testine it  was  found  sphacelated,  and  the  case  apparently 
hopeless.  Under  this  impression  Dr.  P.  resolved  on  the 
expedient  of  attempting  to  effect  an  artificial  introsuscep- 
tion.     This  he  accomplished  by  introducing  the  diseased 


422  ELISHA    PERKINS. 

part  of  the  intestine  into  the  sound,  and  finished  the  oper- 
ation in  the  usual  way.  About  the  seventh  day  after  the 
operation  the  patient  evacuated  the  diseased  part  of  the 
intestine,  measuring  eight  inches,  having  small  pieces  of 
the  mesentery  attached  to  it  perfectly  sound.  Mr.  Stark 
enjoyed  tolerable  health  for  nine  years  after  the  operation, 
and  died  of  a  palsy.  Drs.  Clarke  and  Metcalf,  respectable 
physicians  of  Lebanon,  assisted  in  examining  the  body, 
and  found  the  intestine  at  its  union  had  formed  a  stricture 
a  little  larger  than  a  goose  quill. 

^PERKINS,  DR.  ELISHA,  son  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  Norwich,  state  of  Connecticut,  in  January,  1740, 
and  was  educated  for  the  profession  by  his  father.  He 
possessed  by  nature  uncommon  endowments,  both  bodily 
and  mental.  In  his  person  he  was  six  feet  high  and  of  re- 
markable symmetry. 

His  ability  to  perform  active  professional  business  was 
extraordinary  ;  he  frequently  rode  sixty  miles  a  day,  and 
generally  on  horseback,  and  this  without  the  aid  of  artifi- 
cial stimulants,  never  making  use  of  ardent  spirits.  He 
had  contracted  a  habit  altogether  peculiar  to  himself. 
When  making  his  professional  visits  and  inclined  to  sleep, 
he  would  hand  his  watch  to  a  person  and  throwing  him- 
self on  a  bed  or  couch,  give  orders  to  be  waked  in  five 
minutes  precisely  ;  if  suffered  to  sleep  six  minutes,  he 
would  know  by  his  feelings  that  the  time  had  been  exceed- 
ed, and  whenever  the  time  of  sleep  exceeded  by  one  min- 
ute his  rule,  he  invariably  would  say  that  he  felt  the  worse 
for  it.  By  this  practice  he  was  enabled  to  ])erform  his 
duties  with  three  or  four  hours  sleep  in  the  night  for  many 
weeks  in  succession,  though  subjected  to  great  fatigue. 

Having  descended  from  respectable  ancestry,  who 
long  possessed  a  distinguished  influence  in  the  medical 
profession  in  that  vicinity,  he  attained  a  considerable 
reputation  and  popularity.  His  acquaintance  was  very 
extensive,  and  his  great  liberality  and  social  habits  allured 
to  his  house  gentlemen  from  different  parts  of  the  country, 
and  his  inquiring  mind  seemed  ever  to  search  for  some- 
thing new  in  every  sphere  which  could  better  the  condi- 
tion of  the  human  family.  He  had  a  happy  facility  in 
communicating  his  views,  and  turning  to  some  valuable 
purpose  such  information  as  he  could  derive  from  others. 
He  made  great  sacrifices  in  establishing  and  supporting  an 
academy  in  Plainfield,  and  other  useful  improvements  in 


ELISHA    PERKINS.  4S3 

that  town.  He  was  esteemed  as  a  man  of  strict  honor  and 
integrity  of  character. 

Dr.  Perkins  entered  with  peculiar  zeal  into  a  new  pro- 
ject for  the  cure  of  diseases,  which  gained  no  inconsider- 
able celebrity  at  the  time  of  its  promulgation  in  1796. 
Conceiving  an  idea  that  metallic  substances  might  have  an 
influence  on  the  nerves  and  muscles  of  animals,  and  be 
capable  of  being  converted  to  useful  purposes  as  external 
agents  in  medicine,  he  was  induced  to  institute  numerous 
experiments  with  various  kinds  of  metals,  till  at  length, 
after  several  years  pursuit  of  the  object,  he  discovered  a 
composition  which  would  serve  his  purpose,  and  from 
which  he  formed  his  Metallic  Tractors.  These  consisted 
of  two  instruments,  one  having  the  appearance  of  steel, 
the  other  of  brass.  They  were  about  three  inches  in 
length,  and  pointed  at  one  end  ;  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  applied  was,  by  drawing  the  points  over  the 
affected  parts  in  a  downward  direction  for  about  twenty 
minutes  each  time.  The  complaints  in  which  this  opera- 
tion has  been  found  most  useful,  according  to  Dr.  Perkins, 
are  local  inflammations  in  general,  pains  in  the  head,  face, 
teeth,  breast,  side,  stomach,  back,  rheumatism,  &c.  Dr. 
P.  obtained  a  patent  for  his  discovery,  and  traveled 
through  the  country  to  disseminate  his  new  practice,  and 
his  career  was  attended  with  great  success.  Numerous 
cures  were  eflfected  by  the  employment  of  the  Tractors  in 
his  hands  and  in  those  of  others.  His  enthusiasm  pervaded 
all  ranks,  and  received  the  countenance  of  many  enlight- 
ened physicians  and  philosophers.  Pamphlets  were  pub- 
lished to  explain  the  modus  operandi  of  the  new  remedy, 
and  the  Professors  of  three  universities  in  America  gave 
attestations  in  favor  of  its  efficacy.  The  operation  was 
alleged  to  be  similar  in  its  principles  to  Animal  Magnet- 
ism, or,  according  to  some,  animal  electricity  or  Galvanism. 

The  fame  of  the  Metallic  Tractors  soon  reached  Europe. 
They  were  introduced  at  Copenhagen  in  1798,  where 
twelve  physicians  and  surgeons,  chiefly  professors  and  lec- 
turers in  the  Royal  Frederick's  Hospital,  commenced  a 
course  of  experiments,  and  reported  the  result  to  Profess- 
ors Herholdt  and  Rafn.  The  experiments,  fifty  in  num- 
ber, were  deemed  sufficiently  important  to  demand  publi- 
cation in  an  octavo  volume.  The  professors  introduced 
the  term  Perkinism  in  honor  of  the  discoverer,  and  assert- 


424  ELISHA    PERKINS. 

ed  that  it  was  of  great  importance  to  the  physician.  "  We 
do  not  find  it  possible,"  say  the  professors,  "  to  apply  with 
any  justice  against  Perkinism,  the  arguments  and  doubts 
which  have  been  raised  against  animal  magnetism.  Our 
experiments  have  demonstrated  to  our  satisfaction  that 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  reality  at  bottom."  This  book  was 
translated  into  German  by  Professor  Tode,  Physician  to 
the  King  of  Denmark,  and  thence  into  English  by  C. 
KampfiiTuller.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  P.  Mr.  Benjamin 
D.  Perkins,  his  son,  repaired  to  London,  and  securing  a 
patent  innnediately  published  a  tract  on  the  discovery. 
Soon  after  this.  Dr.  Langworthy  of  Bath,  having  recently 
returned  from  America,  commenced  a  course  of  experi- 
ments at  Bath  and  Bristol  hot  wells,  with  a  view  of  ascer- 
taining the  merits  of  the  Tractors.  The  result  was  pub- 
lished in  a  pamphlet,  containing  a  collection  of  cases, 
highly  creditable,  as  he  judged,  to  the  metallic  practice, 
with  ingenious  observations  on  the  theory  of  their  oper- 
ation. 

In  1804  the  Perkinean  Institution,  as  it  was  called,  was 
established  in  London,  chiefly  with  the  view  of  benefiting 
the  poor  by  the  use  of  the  Tractors.  The  Right  Hon. 
Lord  Rivers  was  President,  and  Sir  William  Barker,  Vice 
President  of  this  Institution,  and  funds  to  a  large  amount 
were  obtained  by  donations  and  subscription.  In  a  pamph- 
let entitled  an  account  of  the  Perkinean  Institution,  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1804,  it  is  stated  that  the  communica- 
tions of  cases  are  from  disinterested  and  intelligent  char- 
acters from  almost  every  quarter  of  Great  Britain,  and 
that  amongst  others  whose  names  are  attached  to  these 
communications,  are  eight  professors  in  four  different  uni- 
versities, twenty-one  regular  physicians,  nineteen  surgeons, 
and  thirty  clergymen,  twelve  of  whom  are  Doctors  of 
Divinity.  Tlie  cases  published  amounted  in  March  1802 
to  about  five  thousand.  Supposing,  says  the  writer,  that 
not  more  than  one  cure  in  three  hundred,  which  the  Trac- 
tors have  performed,  has  been  published,  and  the  propor- 
tion is  probably  much  smaller,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
number  to  this  time  has  exceeded  one  million  five  hundred 
thousand  !  In  answer  to  the  objection  that  the  cure  was 
effected  merely  through  the  influence  of  the  patient's  im- 
agination, the  promoters  of  the  Perkinean  Institution  as- 
serted that   mvdtitudes  of  cures   were  performed   on   in- 


ELISHA    PERKINS,  425 

fants,  and  even  on  horses,*  where  of  course  such  influence 
could  not  be  presumed  to  exist. 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  Metallic  Tractors.  It  is  to 
be  considered  a  singular  and  unaccountable  circumstance 
that  the  remedy  should  have  been  consigned  to  oblivion. 
Is  it  within  the  bounds  of  probability  that  the  vast  amount 
of  authenticated  evidence  that  has  been  produced,  should 
be  resolved  into  a  delusion,  a  mere  phantom  of  the  imagi- 
nation ?  However  enthusiastic  the  promoters  of  the  novel 
discovery  may  have  been,  it  is  most  clear  that  autoptical 
evidence  was  in  every  instance  at  command,  and  miglit 
have  precluded  the  possibility  of  deception.  If,  there- 
fore, Perkinism  has  shared  the  fate  of  Animal  Magnetism, 
there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  supposing  that  its  discov- 
erer should  be  placed  in  the  same  class  with  Mesmer,  as 
he  undoubtedly  was  a  man  of  honorable  principles  and 
character. 

Dr.  P.  directed  his  benevolence  to  another  object  of 
considerable  importance  in  medicine.  He  introduced  into 
practice  a  remedy  consisting  of  a  combination  of  the  veg- 
etable with  the  muriatic  acid  in  the  form  of  common  vin- 
egar saturated  with  muriate  of  soda.f  This  diluted  with 
three  parts  of  hot  water  in  the  dose  of  a  table  spoonful,  he 
administered  with  great  success  as  a  powerful  antiseptic  in 
the  low  state  of  dysentery  and  ulcerated  sore  throat. 
During  the  prevalence  of  yellow  fever  in  New- York,  in 
1799,  he  visited  that  city,  to  avail  himself  of  opportunities 
of  testing  by  experiment  the  efficacy  of  the  abovemention- 
ed  highly  antiseptic  remedy,  believing  that  antiseptics 
had  been  too  much  neglected  in  that  formidable  disease. 
After  about  four  weeks  unremitted  assiduity  in  attending 
the  sick,  he  took  the  disease  himself,  of  which  he  died  at 
the  age  of  59  years. 

His  son  Benjamin  D.  Perkins,  who  visited  England  with 
the  Tractors,  died  in  New- York,  in  the  year  1810.  He 
was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1794.  He  sustained  a 
character^f  inestimable  worth  ;  was  frank,  honorable  and 
discreet  ;  in  morals  exemplary,  in  religion  undissembling 
and  devout. 


*  In  many  parts  of  the  country  the  use  of  the  Tractors  upon  Iiorses  had  berome 
»3  general  as  on  the  human  body,  and  numerous  extraordinary  cun^s  were  certified. 

f  This  remedy  is  the  same  as  is  recommended  by  Dr.  Wright  of  Jamaica,  ex- 
cept that  the  acetic  is  substituted  for  the  citric  aoi'd. 

54 


455  THOMAS    PICKMAN. 

PICKMAN,  THOMAS,  M.M.S.S.  second  son  of  the 
late  Benjamin  Piekman,  Esq.  of  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
was  born  in  that  town  May  10th,  1773.  He  was  gradua- 
ted at  Harvard  College,  where  he  held  a  high  rank,  in 
1791.  His  medical  education  was  acquired  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  venerable  Dr.  Holyoke  of  Salem,  who  has 
survived  many  pupils  who  had  themselves  attained  emi- 
nence in  their  profession. 

Dr.  Pickman  established  himself  in  Salem.  As  a  phy- 
sician he  was  distinguished  for  an  acute  and  discriminating 
mind,  sound  judgment  and  decision.  No  man  enjoyed 
more  entirely  the  confidence  of  his  patients.  Social, 
cheerful  and  amiable,  he  was  tenderly  beloved  by  those 
most  nearly  connected  with  him.  His  literary  taste  and 
attainments,  his  various  and  accurate  information  imited 
with  uncommon  colloquial  powers,  had  endeared  him  to 
a  circle  of  friends,  who  delighted  in  his  society.  By  them 
his  death  was  deeply  lamented,  and  they  will  ever  cherish 
his  memory  with  affectionate  respect.  Dr.  Pickman  died 
January  2d,  1817. 

POTTER,  JARED,  M.D.  was  born  at  East  Haven, 
Connecticut,  September  25th,  1742.  His  classical  studies 
were  commenced  under  the  Rev.  Philemon  Robbins  of 
Branford.  He  entered  Yale  College  in  1756,  and  was 
graduated  in  1760.  His  medical  studies  were  begun  under 
Dr.  Harpin  of  Milford,  and  afterwards  pursued  under  the 
Rev.  Jared  El'u  t  of  Killingworth.  He  commenced  prac- 
tice at  East  Haven  in  1763,  and  removed  to  Wallingford 
in  1772,  where  he  died  July  30th,  1810. 

Too  many  physicians  throw  by  their  books,  or  pay  lit- 
tle attention  to  them,  after  they  are  engaged  in  extensive 
practice.  This  was  not  the  fact  with  Dr.  Potter,  who 
was  an  uncommonly  diligent  and  industrious  student,  not 
merely  while  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  his  profession, 
but  to  the  end  of  his  life.  For  many  years  he  kept  a 
medical  school,  in  which  several  of  the  most  eminent  phy- 
sicians of  Connecticut  were  educated  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  late  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins  of  Hartford, 
who  was  considered  as  the  most  able  practitioner  of  his 
county,  if  not  in  the  state,  was  his  first  pupil.  Dr.  Pot- 
ter imbibed  much  of  the  spirit  of  Eliot  for  philosophical 
investigation,  and  took  pains  to  become  well  acquainted 
with  the  pi'actice  and  opinions  of  all  the  most  celebrated 
writers,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  upon  nearly  every 


JARED    POTTER.  427 

disease.  His  reading  was  consequently  very  extensive,  and 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  annually  all  the  new 
medical  works,  that  were  considered  as  valuable.  Besides, 
for  the  last  forty  years  of  liis  life  he  constantly  read  the 
most  distinguished  reviews,  and  other  periodical  literature 
of  the  day.  As  a  physician,  he  was  a  superior  judge  of 
symptoms,  and  was  a  very  successful  and  energetic  practi- 
tioner in  puerperal  fever,  pleurisy,  dy>:entery,  and  other 
severe  and  rapid  acute  diseases.  In  cases  of  this  kind  he 
was  esteemed,  and  apparently  with  justice,  to  be  superior 
to  any  physician  of  his  time  in  Connecticut.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  very  sceptical  of  the  powers  of  medicine  in 
most  chronic  complaints,  and  for  that  reason  Ids  practice 
in  such  cases  was  rather  inefficient,  and  sometimes  almost 
inert. 

The  doctor  is  well  known  as  having  had  a  peculiar 
fondness  for  discussing  questions  of  speculative  theology, 
and  of  the  politics  of  the  day  ;  and  when  conversing  upon 
these  subjects,  Jiis  strict  command  of  his  temper,  and  an 
uncommon  urbanity  of  manner,  joined  to  a  large  share  of 
wit  and  humor,  usually  gave  him  a  decided  advantage 
over  most  of  his  opponents.  Like  his  preceptor  Eliot, 
his  practice  in  consultation  was  \^ery  extensive  ;  and  like 
him  too,  for  many  years,  he  was  probably  the  most  distin- 
guished and  influential  physician  in  the  state.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders,  and  a  vice  president,  of  the  Medical  So- 
ciety of  Connecticut. 

Besides  his  professional  eminence  Dr.  Potter  was  pos- 
sessed of  many  peculiar  talents,  which  contributed  much 
to  his  popularity.  It  is  said  that  he  was  always  able  to  re- 
collect the  name  and  face  of  any  person  who  had  once  been 
introduced  to  him,  and  the  circumstances  of  their  meeting, 
whatever  had  been  the  time  that  had  elapsed.  His  great 
colloquial  powers,  and  the  frankness  and  candor  with 
which  he  uniformly  treated  his  medical  brethren,  made 
his  presence  and  advice,  as  a  counselling  physician,  always 
acceptable  and  interesting  to  the  attending  practitioner. 

Dr.  James  Potter,  a  kinsman,  friend  and  contemporary 
of  the  preceding,  was  a  physician  of  eminence,  and  resided 
at  New  Fairfield.  He  was  frequently  a  member  of  the 
legislature  of  Connecticut,  and  from  the  similarity  of  his 
name,  by  people  residing  out  of  the  state,  was  often  con- 
founded with  Dr.  Jared  Potter.  No  accurate  sketch  of 
his  life  has  been  obtained. — Medical  Intelligencer. 


428  OLIVER    PRESCOTT. 

*  PRESCOTT,  Hon.  OLIVER,  M.D.,  M.M.S.S.  and 
A. A. S., was  born  at  Groton,  Massachusetts,  April  27th,  1731. 
He  was  of  the  fourth  generation  from  John  Prescott,  Esq. 
who  came  from  England  about  the  year  1640.  His  father, 
the  late  Hon.  Benjamin  Prescott,  of  the  same  Groton,  was 
a  distinguished  statesman  and  a  leading  member  of  the 
General  Court  for  many  years  ;  and  was  once  chosen 
Agent  for  the  Province  in  England  ;  but  having  never  had 
the  smallpox,  and  there  being  much  danger  apprehended 
from  it  at  that  time,  he  declined  the  appointment.  He 
died  the  3d  of  August,  1738,  in  the  43d  year  of  his  age. 
The  subject  of  this  article  was  then  a  little  more  than 
seven  years  old.  His  mother  was  Abigail,  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Oliver,  of  Cambridge,  one  of  his  majesty's 
council,  and  a  near  relation  of  the  first  provincial  govern- 
or of  that  name. 

Dr.  Prescott  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  in  Cam- 
bridge, and  received  his  first  degree  in  1750.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished at  college  for  his  literary  attainments  and  cor- 
rect deportment.  Soon  after  his  graduation  he  commenc- 
ed the  study  of  physic  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Roby  of 
Sudbury,  who  had  been  educated  in  Europe,  was  a  disciple 
of  the  celebrated  Boerhaave,  and  an  eminent  physician. 
After  having  completed  his  preparatory  studies  in  medicine, 
he  settled  in  Groton,  his  native  town,  and  supported  for 
many  years  a  very  extensive  practice.  As  the  number  of 
physicians  who  were  regularly  or  suitably  educated,  was 
at  that  day  small,  and  those  were  settled  far  apart,  the  lim- 
its of  his  practice  were  extended  to  a  great  distance  on 
every  side  ;  so  that  no  person  in  this  country,  probably, 
underwent  more  laborious  and  continued  exercise  in  the 
profession  than  Dr.  Prescott,  to  the  time  when  his  services 
were  pressed  into  civil  and  political  employment. 

Dr.  Prescott  was  enabled  to  employ  a  greater  portion  of 
time  in  the  extensive  circuit  of  his  professional  duty,  by 
having  acquired  in  early  life,  what  to  many  persons  may 
appear  scarcely  credible,  a  practice  of  readily  sleeping  on 
horseback,  when  deprived  of  his  necessary  rest  in  bed. 
On  a  horse  of  easy  carriage,  to  which  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed, and  found  trustworthy  ;  and  when  returning  home- 
ward, where  no  danger  was  to  be  apprehended  lest  the 
steed  should  take  a  wrong  direction,  he  would,  when 
drowsiness  came  upon  him,  brace  himself  in  the  stirrup, 
rest  a  hand  on  the  pommel  of  the  saddle,  and  resign   hini- 


OLIVER    PRESCOTT.  439 

self  without  fear,  for  miles  together,  to  quiet  rej)ose. 
This  was  more  particularly  the  case  when  on  a  favorite 
horse,  of  easy  amble,  which  he  owned  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  which  he  usually  selected  for  those  excursions 
which  must  necessarily  extend  into  late  hours  of  the  night. 
The  writer  of  this  sketch  has  frequently  travelled  with 
him,  and  witnessed  his  sleeping  in  the  manner  before  de- 
scribed, his  horse  continuing  the  whole  time  at  the  usual 
travelling  pace.  The  animal,  accustomed  to  his  mas- 
ter's manner  of  sitting,  would  seem  to  be  conscious  of  be- 
ing left  to  his  own  guidance,  and  therefore  to  step  with 
more  caution. 

After  Dr.  Prescott  was  called  into  public  life,  until  a 
short  time  previous  to  his  death,  every  moment  which 
could  be  spared  from  public  affairs,  was  devoted  to  the 
duties  of  his  profession.  It  was  well  and  truly  observed 
in  a  discourse  delivered  on  the  Sabbath  succeeding  his  in- 
terment by  an  eminent  divine  who  had  known  him  inti- 
mately for  many  years,  that  "  his  distinguished  profession- 
al acquirements,  his  prompt  and  unremitted  attention  to 
his  patients,  his  peculiarly  tender  and  pleasant  manner  of 
treating  them  in  their  distress,  his  moderate  charges  and 
forbearance  towards  the  poor,  and  the  general  success 
which  attended  his  practice,  operated  to  render  him  for 
nearly  half  a  centurj!  one  of  the  most  popular,  while  he 
was,  unquestionably,  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  useful 
physicians  in  the  commonwealth."  His  high  standing  in 
the  profession  gave  him  a  place  in  the  Massachusetts  Medi- 
cal Society  at  the  time  of  its  incorporation  in  1781.  He 
was  also  an  honorary  member  of  several  medical  societies 
out  of  the  commonwealth.  He  was  likewise  President  of  the 
Middlesex  Medical  Society  during  the  whole  period  of  its 
existence  ;  and  many  years  before  his  death  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  conferred  on  him  by 
Harvard  University. 

Dr.  Prescott  took  an  early  and  decided  part  in  the 
American  revolution,  by  entering  Avarmly  into  those 
measures  which  were  considered  necessary  to  vindicate 
our  national  rights,  and  by  assisting  cheerfully  and  largely 
in  their  defence.  He  exerted  his  influence  in  moulding  the 
government  into  its  present  shape,  and  remained  to  the 
close  of  his  life  its  invariable  defender.  He  was  very  influ- 
ential in  suppressing  the  dangerous   insurrection  of  1786. 

He  received  fronn  government  many  appointments  and 
commissions.     In  the  militia  he  was  commissioned  under 


430  OLIVER    PRESCOTT. 

the  king  a  major,  then  lieutenant  colonel,  and  colonel, 
and  in  1775,  or  beginning  of  1776,  he  was  elected  and 
commissioned  by  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  brigadier  general  of  the  militia  for  the 
county  of  Middlesex.  To  this  office  appertained  at  that 
time  the  diiection  and  superintendence  of  the  numerous 
guards  which  were  raised  and  stationed  at  the  bridges  of 
rivers  and  various  other  places,  to  prevent  the  tories  and 
enemies  of  the  revolution  from  all  intercourse  with  the 
British  troops,  who  were  tlien  confined  to  the  capital  and 
its  vicinity,  or  any  improper  correspondence  with  each 
otiier  ;  as  well  as  to  answer  the  repeated  calls  for  drafts 
on  the  militia.  These  duties,  his  command  including  the 
whole  county,  joined  to  his  care  in  aiding  to  organize  the 
town  committees  of  correspondence  in  that  part  of  the 
country  in  which  he  lived,  made  his  office  and  station  not 
only  very  responsible,  but  very  laborious. 

In  1776  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Board  of  War. 
In  1777,  "  during  tiie  five  years  interregnum,"  when 
there  was  neither  governor  nor  lieutenant  governor,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council 
of  the  state,  and  served  in  that  capacity  three  years  :  in 
the  fourth  year  he  was  unanimously  reelected  to  the  same 
office,  but  declined  serving. 

In  1778  he  was  appointed  the  third  Major  General  of  the 
militia  throughout  the  commonwealth. 

In  1779,  on  the  death  of  the  celebrated  John  Winthrop, 
LL.D.  F.R.S.,  he  was  appointed  his  successor  in  the  office 
of  Judge  of  Probate  of  Wills,  &c.  for  the  County  of  Mid- 
dlesex. This  office  he  retained  until  his  death,  giving 
universal  satisfaction  by  his  remarkable  urbanity,  as  well 
as  by  his  able  and  correct  manner  of  discharging  the  du- 
ties of  that  important  station.  In  this  department  he 
always  appeared  desirous  of  despatching  the  business  be- 
fore him,  and  of  preventing,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with 
correct  procedure,  an  accumulation  of  costs.  His  manners 
were  peculiarly  adapted  to  soothing  the  feelings  of  that 
large  class,  who,  in  a  state  of  bereavement  and  affliction, 
were  called  to  do  business  in  his  court. 

In  1781  he  was  appointed  the  second  Major  General  of 
the  militia  ;  but  he  considered  there  was  not,  at  that  time, 
that  urgent  call  upon  his  patriotism,  which  in  the  earlier 
state  of  the  war  had  induced  him  to  accept  a  military  com- 
mand, and  he  poon  tendered  his  resignation. 


OLIVER    PRE9C0TT. 


431 


In  the  month  of  February  of  this  year,  1781,  Dr.  Pres- 
cott  received  from  government  a  commission  to  "  cause 
to  be  apprehended  and  committed  to  gaol,  any  person, 
whom  you  shall  deem  the  safety  of  the  Commonwealth 
requires  to  be  restrained  of  his  personal  liberty,  or  whose 
enlargement  Avithin  the  Commonwealth  is  dangerous 
thereto."  The  delegation  of  such  authority  and  power 
shows  that  government  held  hini  in  hio;h  estimation  for 
true  patriotism  and  sound  discretion.  He  was  in  early 
life  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  of  the  quorum  for 
his  county,  and  was  for  many  years  a  justice  throughout 
the  commonwealth  ;  and  he  received  several  commissions 
to  negociate  business  of  importance  for  the  state. 

Dr.  Prescott  was  incorporated  a  Fellow  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  in  1780.  He  regarded 
schools  and  the  education  of  the  rising  generation  as  highly 
interesting  and  important  to  the  community.  Incorporat- 
ed as  one  of  the  Trustees  of  Groton  Academy,  and  first 
president  thereof,  he  was  its  patron  and  benefactor,  em- 
ploying his  extensive  influence  to  promote  its  reputation  and 
usefulness.  He  was  employed  in  all  important  town  busi- 
ness ;  served  as  town  clerk  for  thirteen  years  in  succession, 
and  was  one  of  the  selectmen  for  more  than  thirty  years. 

Dr.  Prescott  married  in  1756  Lydia,  daughter  of  the 
late  David  Baldwin,  Esq.  of  Sudbury,  by  whom  he  had 
ten  children  ;  only  four  of  whom,  two  sons  and  two 
daughters,  survived  him.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the 
christian  religion,  and,  together  with  his  contort,  on  en- 
tering the  connubial  state,  made  a  public  profession,  con- 
tinuing to  the  end  of  his  life  a  conspicuous,  influential  and 
useful  member  of  the  church  in  Groton,  contributing  much 
to  its  peace,  regularity  and  reputation. 

Dr.  Prescott  was  in  stature  full  six  feet,  and  rather  cor- 
pulent. The  versatility  of  his  powers  was  remarkable. 
To  the  transaction  of  all  matters  of  difficulty  and  moment, 
he  showed  himself  at  once  competent.  Hence  the  won- 
derful diversity  of  his  attainments,  and  the  surprising 
rapidity  with  which  he  rendered  himself  master  of  what- 
ever came  before  him.  He  possessed  and  ever  practiced 
a  peculiar  suavity  and  politenesjs  of  manner,  a  pleasant 
facetiousness  of  address,  joined  to  that  firm,  gentlemanly 
deportment,  which  was  well  calculated  to  command  both 
esteem  and  respect.  His  colloquial  talents,  ready  wit, 
and  fondness  for  anecdote,  joined  to  a  great  fund  of  in- 
formation and  learning,  made  him  a  plea-sing  companion. 


432  OLIVER    PRESCOTT. 

notwithstanding  his  hearing  was  imperfect  for  many  of  the 
last  years  of  his  life.  He  died  at  Groton  of  a  pectoral 
dropsy,  November  17th,  1804,  aged  73  years  and  about  7 
months. 

It  is  not  known  that  he  wrote  any  thing  for  the  public, 
in  the  department  of  his  profession.  Indeed,  his  employ- 
ments were  too  numerous,  and  his  time  was  too  much  en- 
grossed by  public  concerns  and  professional  duties,  to 
afford  leisure  for  composing  a  book  or  treatise  on  medicine. 

Dr.  Prescott  had  but  two  brothers,  viz.  the  late  Hon. 
James  Prescott,  who  died  February  15th,  1800,  aged  about 
79  years,  and  who  was  for  many  years  a  Senator,  Coun- 
sellor, High  Sheriff,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of 
Middlesex  ;  and  the  late  Col.  William  Prescott,  who  so 
greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill 
and  elsewhere,  and  who  died  October  13th,  1795,  aged  70 
years.  He  had  also  four  sisters,  one  of  whom  only  lived 
to  be  married,  viz.  Elizabeth,  wife  of  the  late  Hon.  Abijah 
Willard  of  Lancaster,  who  was,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  revolution,  one  of  his  majesty's  Mandamus  Counsellors 
for  the  Province. 

This  article  contains  but  little  more  than  a  chronologi- 
cal sketch  very  hastily  prepared.  So  various  were  the 
employments  and  the  offices,  which  had  been  held  by  the 
accomplished  physician  and  eminent  man,  who  is  the  sub- 
ject of  it  ;  and  so  numerous  were  the  incidents  of  his 
eventful  life,  that  much  more  time  would  have  been 
necessary  to  have  filled  up  the  sketch  properly,  than  the 
writer  could  command  ;  and  therefore  it  is  presented  in 
this  imperfect  state. —  0.  Prescott,  M.  D. 

•PRESCOTT,  OLIVER,  M.D  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in 
Groton,  Massachusetts,  April  4th,  A.  D.  1762.  He  was 
placed  at  Dummer  School  in  Newbury,  Byfield  Parish, 
and  was  there  prepared  for  admission  to  Harvard  Col- 
lege, by  the  celebrated  Samuel  Moody.  This  was  at  that 
time  the  only  free  school  in  New-England,  if  not  in 
North  America.  He  was  matriculated  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity in  1779,  and  was  graduated  in,  course,  in  1783. 
Very  soon,  if  not  immediately  afterwards,  he  began  the  stu- 
dy of  physic  with  his  father,  the  subject  of  the  preceding 
article,  and  finished  his  professional  education  under  the 
celebrated  Dr.  James  Lloyd  of  Boston.  He  passed  the 
Board  of  Censors  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  as 
licentiate,  in  June,  1786. 


OLIVER    PRESCOTT.  433 

In  noticing  the  professional  progress  of  Dr.  Prescott  it 
is  indispensable  that  some  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
times   and    circumstances   of  his  early   life,   which    con- 
tinued to  exert  a  very  marked  influence  on  the  best  period 
of  his  succeeding  history.     It  will  be  seen  by  dates  that  he 
was  but  a  youth  in  the  earlier  periods  of  the  revolution  ; 
but  he  was  old  enough  to  understand  some  of  its   distin- 
guishing features,  the  moral  and  intellectual  power  it  was 
exerting,  and  especially  would  he  after  no  long  time  learn 
that  whatever  the  individual  might  be  in  profession  or  tal- 
ent, he  would  not  fulfil  his  whole  duty  by  a  private  occupa- 
tion.   The  medical  profession  had  given  a  noble  illustration 
of  this  in  the  instances  of  its  ablest  men,  who  had  left  its 
duties  for  those  of  the  field,  or  made  the  field  the  scene  of 
their  professional  labors.     Educated  men   of  all  the  pro- 
fessions continued  for  many  years  after  the  close  of  the 
war  to  take  a  part  in  municipal  or  state  affairs,   which  is 
quite  unknown  to  those  of  the  present  day  ;  and  he  who 
was   faithful   in     these  relations,   was    not  thought  neg- 
lectful of  his  peculiar  labors,  however  far  his  new  duties 
might  take  him  from  the  place  of  his   more  appropriate 
ones.     These  remarks  are  neither  offered  as  an  explana- 
tion, nor  as  an  apology  for  the  course  pursued  by   Dr. 
Prescott  in  his  early  career.     They  are  made,  because  they 
present  a  view,  an  imperfect  one  it  is  acknowledged,  of  a 
very  peculiar  and  interesting  time  of  our  history,   and 
serve  to   show  how  deep  was  the  whole  influence  of  the 
age  upon  the  well  educated  and  able  men  of  that  period. 
In  one  year  after  his  admission  to  the  profession.  Dr.  Pres- 
cott became  himself  an  instance  of  what  has  now  been 
briefly  adverted  to. 

In  January.  1 787,  a  regiment  was  detached  from  the 
third  division  of  the  militia  of  the  commonwealth,  under 
the  command  of  Col.  Henry  Woods,  and  together  with 
other  regiments  from  the  several  counties,  was  placed  un- 
der the  command  of  Gen.  Lincoln.  Dr.  Prescott  was 
commissioned  as  surgeon  to  these  forces,  and  with  his  com- 
mission he  received  a  blank  warrant  and  a  request  that  he 
would  insert  the  name  of  such  person  as  he  might  wish  to 
select  for  his  mate.  The  purpose  for  collecting  these 
troops  was  the  suppression  of  Shay's  rebellion,  and  al- 
though this  was  accomplished  in  a  few  weeks,  the  army 
was  obliged  to  traverse  the  western  counties  during  the 
inclement  season  of  that  severe  winter.  Dr.  Prescott  after- 
55 


434  OLIVER    PRESCOTT. 

wards  was  made  surgeon  of  the  sixth  regiment  of  the  third 
division  of  the  militia,  and  retained  his  office  till  he  re- 
signed in  1800. 

The  municipal  and  state  offices  iilled  by  Dr.  Prescott, 
show  the  public  estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  and  the 
willingness  with  which  he  met  the  professional  sacrifices 
required  by  the  performance  of  his  public  duties.  In 
1789  he  was  commissioned  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the 
county  of  Middlesex,  and  v/as  continued  in  it  by  septennial 
appointments  without  application  and  without  interrup- 
tion during  his  residence  in  that  county.  He  was  repeat- 
edly chosen  member  of  the  General  Court  of  the  state  as 
a  representative  from  Groton,  and  declined  repeated  soli- 
citations to  serve  in  the  senate  for  the  county  of  Middlesex. 
In  his  own  town  Dr.  Prescott  sustained  for  many  years 
the  useful  offices  of  clerk  to  the  corporation,  chairman  of 
the  board  of  selectmen,  and  of  overseers  of  the  poor,  &c. 
&,c.  In  this  variety  of  municipal  functions  which  he 
faithfully  discharged,  there  is  discovered  the  deep  interest 
which  he  took  in  the  prosperity  of  his  native  town,  for 
they  were  alike  uncongenial  with  his  taste  and  his  profes- 
sion. Dr.  Prescott  is  remembered  for  the  zeal  with  which 
he  labored  to  procure  for  his  town  and  county,  the  bene- 
fits of  a  more  liberal  instruction  than  that  to  which  they 
had  been  accustomed.  He  was  one  of  the  original  found- 
ers of  the  Academy  of  Groton,  and  was  a  trustee,  and  the 
treasurer  of  that  institution.  When  he  removed  to  New- 
buryport,  he  resigned  these  trusts,  and  was  soon  after 
elected  a  Trustee  of  Dummer's  Academy.  He  devoted  a 
portion  of  his  leisure  to  agriculture,  and  was  rewarded  for 
his  zeal  in  this  pursuit  by  the  consideration  in  which  he 
was  held  by  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society,  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  and  by  the  Western  Society  of 
Middlesex  Husbandmen,  of  which  he  was  President. 

It  is,  however,  in  his  attainments,  in  his  reputation,  and 
in  his  usefulness  as  a  physician,  that  Dr.  Prescott's  best 
claims  are  laid  for  a  memory  among  his  living  brethren, 
and  for  this  record  among  the  dead.  In  1800  he  was  elect- 
ed a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  He 
was  afterwards  chosen  a  counsellor  of  the  society  for  the 
district  in  which  he  lived.  He  pronounced  the  annual 
discourse  in  1813  ;  in  1814  he  received  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Doctor  in  Medicine  from  Harvard  University  ;  in 
1825  he  was  unanimously  elected  a  member  of  the  Cor- 
poration of  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital  ;  and  was 


OLIVER    PRESCOTT.  436 

elected  Vice  President  of  the  Medical  Society  in  1827. 
This  is  the  public  testimony  which  has  been  offered  by  his 
professional  brethren  to  his  talents,  to  his  zeal,  and  to  his 
success.  Dr.  Prescott  had  a  very  extensive  practice  in  his 
native  town,  and  in  the  towns  in  its  vicinity  ;  but,  thinking 
that  an  asthmatic  habit  and  a  commencing  dropsy  of  the 
chest  might  be  diminished  or  removed  by  living  near  the 
sea,  and  by  the  greater  regularity  of  life  in  a  large  town  than 
could  be  adopted  or  pursued  in  a  country  practice,  he  re- 
moved with  his  family  from  Groton  to  Newburyport  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1811.  In  the  latter  place  his  practice  soon  became  ex- 
tensive, and  continued  so  until  the  time  of  his  death.  Dur 
ing  his  extensive  professional  and  other  engagements.  Dr. 
Prescott  still  found  time  to  study  and  inform  himself  of 
the  various  discoveries  and  improvements  daily  making  in 
medical  science  both  at  home  and  abroad.  He  had  early 
been  remarkable  for  his  quick  apprehension  and  retentive 
memory.  At  college  he  was  distinguished  among  his  class 
for  his  acquaintance  with  the  classics  and  with  natural 
history.  Through  life  he  maintained  a  fondness  for  these 
studies,  and  amidst  the  engrossing  duties  of  his  profession 
he  secured  to  himself  leisure  for  the  cultivation  of  general 
and  more  elegant  literature.  Habits  of  mind  were  thus 
produced  and  preserved,  highly  favorable  for  the  best 
uses  of  medical  study.  He  not  only  studied,  but  labored 
to  add  to  the  stock  of  useful  knowledge  in  medicine  by 
publishing  the  results  of  his  own  observations.  Some 
valuable  articles  were  contributed  by  him  to  the  New- 
England  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  ;  but  his  most 
important  publication  was  the  discourse  before  mentioned, 
which  he  delivered  before  the  Medical  Society.  This  dis- 
course is  entitled,  "  Dissertation  on  the  Natural  History 
and  Medicinal  EiSects  of  the  Secale  Cornutum  or  Ergot." 
Dr.  Prescott  was  led  to  the  use  of  this  article,  and  to  the 
study  of  its  effects,  by  a  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Akerly  by 
Dr.  J.  Stearns  of  Albany,  and  published  in  the  second 
volume  of  the  New-York  Medical  Repository.  Many  of 
the  statements  of  Dr.  S.  are  confirmed  by  Dr.  Prescott,  and 
any  difference  of  opinion  between  them,  or  diversity  of 
result,  very  candidly  stated.  Tiiis  dissertation  was  very 
favorably  received  by  the  profession.  It  was  reprinted  in 
Philadelphia  and  London,  and  was  translated  into  the 
French  and  German  languages,  and  was  published  in  full, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  medicinal  properties  of  Ergot,  in  the 
article  Erffot,  in  the  13th  volume  of  the  French  '•'  Diction- 


436  OLIVER   PRESCOTT. 

naire  des  Sciences  Medicales."  The  interest  Dr.  P.  took  in 
the  investigation  of  the  properties  of  this  substance,  arose, 
very  probably,  from  his  zeal  in  the  study  and  practice  of 
midwifery,  in  which  department  of  the  art  he  w^as  very  suc- 
cessful. The  attention  of  physicians  has  been  strongly  di- 
rected to  the  use  of  Ergot  since  the  publication  of  this 
discourse  ;  and  to  this  day  scarcely  a  number  of  a  medical 
journal  arrives  from  abroad,  w^hich  does  not  contain  some 
notice  of  the  extended  employment  of  this  active  medicine. 

Dr.  Prescott  was  highly  respected  and  beloved  by  his 
patients.  He  had,  perhaps,  the  most  extensive  practice  of 
any  physician  in  the  county  in  w^hich  he  lived.  He  ac- 
quired this  confidence,  the  most  valuable  possession  which 
a  physician  can  acquire,  by  ardent  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the 
sick,  diligent  study,  and  acute  observation.  His  manners 
were  frank,  manly  and  en^ao^inff,  and  thouo;h  long;  afflicted 
with  deafness,  he  had  none  of  the  irritability  so  common 
to  that  infirmity.  His  manners  indeed  were  founded  on  a 
natural  benevolence  of  heart,  which  led  him  to  connect 
his  own  happiness  with  the  welfare  of  those  who  were 
about  him.  In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  distinguished 
by  equanimity  of  temper,  kindness  of  manners  and  great 
warmth  of  affection.  He  sought  in  the  bosom  of  his  fami- 
ly the  sources  of  his  own  happiness,  which  he  was  ever 
ready  to  sacrifice  to  the  permanent  advancement  of  theirs. 
In  his  political  sentiments  he  was  undisguised  and  consist- 
ent through  life.  The  zeal  with  which  he  cooperated  in 
the  suppression  of  Shay's  rebellion,  showed  his  early  at- 
tachment to  good  order  and  constitutional  principles,  and 
these  he  never  thought  proper  to  desert  when  desertion  of 
them  became  fashionable.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in 
Christianity,  and  at  an  early  age  made  a  public  profession 
of  his  faith. 

Dr.  P.  was  twice  married,  first  to  Ann  Whiting,  daugh- 
ter of  Leonard  Whiting,  Esq.  of  HoUis,  by  whom  he  had 
nine  children,  six  of  whom  survived  him  ;  and  afterwards 
to  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Thomas  Oliver,  Esq.  who  is  still 
living. 

He  died  in  Newburyport,  September  26th,  1827,  after  a 
short  illness,  of  typhus  fever,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 

END    OP   VOLUME    I. 


AMERICAN 

MEDICAL  BIOGRAPHY: 

OR 

MEMOIRS  OF   EMIJ^EJ^TT  PHYSICIANS 

WHO  HAVE 

iFlottvtsJfietr  in  ^mtvitu. 

TO    WHICH    IS    PREFIXED 
A 

SUCCINCT  HISTORY' 

OP 

MEDICAL  SCIENCE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

FROM  THE 

FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


BY  JAMES  THACHER,  M.D. 
Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  Honorary  Member  of  the 
New-York  Historical  Society,  and  of  the  New-York  Horticultural  Society,  &c.  ; 
Author  of  the  American  New  Dispensatory,  of  the  Modern  Practice  of  Physic, 
and  of  the  Military  Journal. 


TWO  VOLUMES  IN  ONE. 


VOL.   IL 


"  Thou  shalt  lie  down 
With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world — with  kings. 
The  powerful  of  the  earth — the  wise,  the  good. 
Fair  forms,  and  hoary  seers  of  ages  past. 
All  in  one  mighty  sepulchre."  Bryant. 


BOSTON: 
RICHARDSON  &  LORD  and  COTTONS  &  BARNARD. 


AMERICAN    MEDICAL    BIOGRAPHY. 


RAMSAY,  DAVID,  M.D.,   an  eminent  physician,  dis- 
tinguished patriot  and  popular  historian,  was  born  in  Lan- 
caster county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1749.    He 
was  the  youngest  son  of  James  Ramsay,  an  Irish  emigrant, 
and  a  respectable,  intelligent  and  enterprising  agricultural- 
ist. Mr.  Ramsay,  as  was  his  custom  with  all  his  sons,  gave 
to  his  son   David  the    advantages    of  a  liberal  education. 
He  was  first  sent  to  a  common  English  school  ;  afterwards 
transferred  to  a  classical  academy  ;  and  thence  to  the  Col- 
lege of  New- Jersey,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1765.  Be- 
tween the  age   of  twelve  and  the  period  when  he  was 
crowned  with  the  honors  of  one  of  the  most  respectable 
seminaries  in  the  United  States,  he  exhibited  many  evi- 
dences of  a  vigorous  and  docile   intellect,  and  evinced  a 
degree  of  industry  rarely  to  be  found  in  youths  of  genius. 
The  peculiar  bent  of  his  mind  was  early  manifested.     In 
reading  the   Bible  at  school,  or  in  his  father's  house  while 
yet  in  his  almost  infantile  years,  he  discovered  a  singular 
attachment  to  its   historical   parts  ;  and   was  particularly 
distinguished  in  extempore  recitations  of  the  military  and 
political  events  recorded  in  the  sacred  volume.     This  trait 
he  cultivated  until  his  death,  and  his  name  and  his  memo- 
ry are  not  a  little  indebted  to  it  for  the  celebrity  they  now 
bear.     At  the  age  of  twelve  he  had  completed  the  academ- 
ical studies  preparatory  to  an  introduction  to  college  ;  but 
by  his  judicious  father  and  other  friends,  was  deemed  too 
young  to   commence   a   collegiate   course.     In  the  mean- 
while he  was  apppointed  assistant  tutor  in  a  respectable 
academy  at  Carlisle  ;  and  acquitted  himself  in  that  station 
so  as  to  acquire  the  esteem,  and  command  the  admiration 

VOL.  11.  1 


b  DAVID    RAMSAY. 

of  those  who  directed  the  interests  of  the  institution.  He 
remained  at  Carlisle  one  year  and  thence  proceeded  to 
Princeton,  where,  notwithstanding  his  youthfulness,  he 
was  found  competent  to  vie  with  the  sturdiest  genius  in  his 
classes. 

From  Princeton  he  went  into  Maryland,  and  for  two 
years,  in  the  capacity  of  private  tutor,  superintended  the 
education  of  the  children  of  a  respectable  and  wealthy  gen- 
tleman. His  leisure  was  profitably  employed  in  general 
reading,  and  the  cultivation  of  useful  knowledge.  Some- 
what more  matured  in  person,  and  conversant  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  world,  he  thought  of  the  selection  of  one  of 
the  public  professions  ;  all  of  which  were  so  respectable, 
and  so  inviting  to  a  young  gentleman  whose  genius  had 
passed  favorably  the  ordeal  of  competition,  and  whose 
reputation  as  a  scholar  was  already  extending  over  his 
country,  as  to  render  an  election  of  the  greatest  concern. 
He  finally  resolved  on  the  study  of  medicine.  He 
pursued  his  object  with  unremitting  assiduity,  and  closed 
his  preparatory  course  in  the  College  of  Pennsylvania,  early 
in  the  year  1772. 

While  a  student  of  medicine  Dr.  Ramsay  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  late  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Philadel- 
phia, then  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Medical  College. 
Their  acquaintance  grew  into  a  strict  alliance  of  friend- 
ship and  affection,  which  terminated  only  in  the  grave. 

Dr.  Ramsay  commenced  the  active  duties  of  his  profess- 
ion in  Maryland,  where  he  continued  to  practise  for  the 
space  of  one  year.  Thence  he  emigrated  to  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  At  this  time  he  carried  with  him  a  letter 
of  recommendation  from  his  friend  Dr.  Rush,  which  an- 
nounced him  in  very  flattering  terms.  "  Dr.  Ramsay," 
said  Dr.  Rush,  "  studied  physic  regularly  with  Dr.  Bond, 
attended  the  hospital  and  public  lectures  of  medicine,  and 
afterwards  was  graduated  Bachelor  of  Physic  with  great 
eclat.  It  is  saying  but  little  of  him  to  tell  you,  that  he  is  far 
superior  to  any  person  we  ever  graduated  at  our  college. 
His  abilities  are  not  only  good,  but  great.  His  talents  and 
knowledge  are  universal.  I  never  saw  so  much  strength 
of  memory  and  imagination  united  to  so  fine  a  judgment. 
His  manners  are  polished  and  agreeable,  his  conversation 
lively,  and  his  behavior  to  all  men  always  without  offence. 
Joined  to  all  these  he  is  sound  in  his  principles,  strict, 
nay  more,  severe  in  his  morals,  and  attached,  not  by  edu- 


DAV44)    RAMSAT. 


cation  only,  but  by  principle  to  the  dissenting  interest. 
He  will  be  an  acquisition  to  your  society.  He  writes, 
talks,  and  what  is  more,  lives  well.  I  can  promise  more 
for  him,  in  every  thing,  than  I  could  for  myself."  Enthu- 
siastic as  this  drawing  may  seem,  Dr.  Ramsay  proved  by 
his  future  life  that  it  was  faithful.  A  probation  of  forty 
years  confirmed  the  opinions  of  his  friend. 

Soon  after  his  settlement  in  Charleston,  Dr.  Ramsay 
acquired  great  celebrity  as  a  physician,  and  rose  to  very 
high  eminence  among  his  fellow  citizens.  His  activity 
and  usefulness  were  not  confined  to  his  profession.  He 
took  a  leading  part  in  public  affairs,  and  was  well  qualifi- 
ed by  his  talents  and  general  knowledge  to  counsel  and 
direct  in  tiie  very  interesting  crisis  that  shortly  fol- 
lowed his  domiciliation  in  Carolina.  In  the  revolutionary 
struggle  he  was  an  enthusiastic  whig,  and  exerted  all  his 
powers  to  promote  the  independence  of  his  country.  No 
reverses,  no  misfortunes  ever  caused  his  patriotism  to 
waver.  He  was  constant  in  his  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
republicanism,  and  boldly  deprecated  the  surrender  of  the 
cause  of  liberty,  even  in  the  most  gloomy  and  inauspicious 
seasons.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  he  delivered  an  oration 
to  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  in  which  he  explicitly  assert- 
ed that  "  our  present  form  of  government  is  every  way 
preferable  to  the  royal  one  we  have  lately  renounced." 
It  ably  illustrated  the  advantages  of  a  newly  established 
republican  government,  which  he  contended  was  best  cal- 
culated to  bring;  into  action  the  energies  of  the  human 
mind,  to  entice  from  obscurity  modest  and  retiring  merit, 
to  obviate  the  baneful  effects  of  luxury,  to  preserve  inno- 
cence and  morality  among  the  people,  to  diffuse  know- 
ledge, to  equalize  property,  and  to  promote  public  virtue 
and  true  religion.  His  oration  had  the  most  salutary  effects 
upon  the  dispositions  and  resolutions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Charleston.  His  pen  was  constantly  employed  in  defence 
of  the  revolution,  and  in  the  reprobation  of  those  sordid 
affections,  which  led  too  many  to  prefer  a  little  property 
and  self  accommodation,  to  the  independence  of  their 
country  and  the  ultimate  liberty  of  the  people.  Among 
the  many  fugitive  essays,  which  he  wrote  on  various  occa- 
sions during  the  revolution,  one  entitled  "  a  Sermon  on 
Tea,"  was  deservedly  very  popular.  The  text  was  taken 
from  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  2d  chapter,  21st 
verse  :  "  Touch  not,  taste  not,  liaudle  not."     The  sermon 


8  DAVID  RAMSAY. 

was  a  happy  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  who 
considerecf  the  use  pf  tea  the  source  of  the  greatest  evils. 
It  humorously  caricatured  the  British  premier  with  chains 
and  halters  in  one  hand,  and  a  cup  of  tea  in  the  other, 
while  the  Genius  of  America  exclaimed,  "  touch  not,  taste 
not,  handle  not ;  for  in  the  day  thou  drinkest  thereof,  thou 
shalt  surely  die." 

Dr.  Ramsay  in  his  early  years  was  greatly  distinguished 
for  wit  and  humor.  He  carefully  watched  over  these 
traits  ;  and  in  his  riper  years  prudently  refrained  from 
their  indulgence.  It  was  only  in  moments  of  relaxation, 
they  could  be  detected  in  his  conversation. 

For  some  time  he  attended  the  army  in  the  capacity  of 
surgeon  ;  and  was  with  the  Charleston  Ancient  Battalion 
of  Artillery  at  the  siege  of  Savannah.     His  political  career 
commenced  with  the  revolution,  and  during  its  continuance 
he  was  ever   actively   and  usefully  engaged.     He  was  an 
active  and  leading   member   of  the  legislature  of   South 
Carolina  from  1776  to  the  conclusion  of  the  war.     He  was 
a  member  of  the  privy  council  part  of  the  time,  and,  with 
many  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Charleston,  suffer- 
ed banishment  by  the  enemy  to  St.  Augustine.     In  an  ex- 
change  of  prisoners  Dr.    Ramsay  was  released,  and  per- 
mitted to  return  to  the  United  States,  after  an  absence  of 
eleven  months.     On  his  return  he  resumed  his  seat  in  the 
legislature  of  the  state,   then  sitting  at  Jacksonborough. 
It  was  here  he  was  distinguished  by  a  conciliatory  human- 
ity, in  his  opposition  to  the  acts  confiscating  the  estates  of 
those  who  adhered  to  Great  Britain.     Though   convinced 
that  the  conduct  of  some  of  those  who  came  under  the 
operation  of  those  acts,  merited  the  severest  punishment, 
he  tenderly  commiserated  many  who  he  was  persuaded 
acted  from  the  dictates  of  their  consciences.     The  latter 
he  would  have  exempted  from  the  penalties  of  confiscation. 
In  1782  Dr.  Ramsay  was  elected  a  member  of  the  conti- 
nental Congress.     In  that  body  he  was  distinguished  for 
his   industry   and   intelligence.     He  greatly  commended 
himself  to  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his  constituents 
by  his  exertions  to  procure  them  relief  from  the  ravages 
of  the  enemy,   who  then  overran  their  country.     At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Charleston,  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  physic.     In  1 785  he  was  elected  to  repre- 
sent the  Charleston   district  in  Congress.     In  consequence 
of  the  absence  of  the  president  of  that  board,  the  celebrated 


DAVID    RAMSAY.  9 

John  Hancock,  Dr.  Ramsay  was  chosen  the  president  pro 
tempore,  and  presided  for  a  whole  year  with  ability,  in- 
dustry and  impartiality.  During  the  following  year  he 
again  returned  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  which  he 
pursued  with  increased  reputation.  Dr.  Ramsay  was  a 
fluent,  rapid  and  ready  speaker.  His  style  was  simple, 
his  reasoning  logical  and  persuasive,  and  his  illustrations 
pertinent  and  original. 

In  his  political  life  Dr.  Ramsay  was  an  example  of  pure 
disinterestedness.  The  good  of  his  country  preponderated 
all  other  considerations.  He  was  an  unsophisticated  re- 
publican, and  never  changed  his  principles.  He  never  in- 
termeddled with  mere  party  politics,  was  charitable  towards 
all  who  differed  with  him  in  opinions  ;  and  in  his  conver- 
sation and  writing  endeavored  to  allay  invidious  passions, 
and  inculcate  unanimity  among  the  American  people. 

As  an  author  Dr.  Ramsay  became  extensively  celebrat- 
ed. In  this  regard  his  reputation  is  well  established,  not 
only  throughout  the  United  States,  but  in  Europe.  He 
excelled  in  the  department  of  history.  His  talents,  educa- 
tion, habits  of  observation,  industry,  memory  and  impar- 
tiality, eminently  fitted  him  for  an  historian.  His  History 
of  the  Revolution  in  South  Carolina  was  pu])lished  in  1785. 
This  work  obtained  great  celebrity  in  the  United  States  ; 
was  shortly  after  its  appearance  translated  and  published 
in  France  ;  and  was  read  with  avidity  in  every  part  of 
Europe.  While  he  was  a  member  of  Congress  in  1785, 
he  prepared  his  History  of  the  American  Revolution.  In 
the  prosecution  of  this  enterprise,  he  carefully  inspected 
all  the  public  records,  which  related  to  the  revolution, 
conferred  freely  and  frequently  with  his  venerable  friends, 
Dr.  Franklin  and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  visited  General 
Washington  at  Mount  Vernon,  who  gladly  communicated 
every  information  in  his  power,  to  enable  the  historian  to 
furnish  to  the  world  a  true  record  of  the  events  that  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  American  independence. 
He  published  the  History  of  the  American  Revolution  in 
1790.  This  work  passed  the  ordeal  of  criticism,  and  is 
esteemed  of  high  rank  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States.  It  passed  through  two  large  editions,  and  is  now 
entirely  out  of  the  market.  In  1801  Dr.  Ramsay  publish- 
ed the  Life  of  Washington.  In  this  biography  the  char- 
acter of  the  illustrious  founder  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  is  well  sustained.     In  180S  he  published  the 

VOL.    II.  2 


10  DAVID    RAMSAr. 

History  of  South  Carolina,  being  an  extension  of  an  inter- 
esting work  entitled  "  A  Sketch  of  the  Soil,  Climate, 
Weather  and  Diseases  of  South  Carolina,"  published  in 
1796. 

In  1811  Dr.  Ramsay  compiled  and  caused  to  be  publish- 
ed the  memoirs  of  his  estimable  wife,  recently  deceased. 
Besides  the  works  mentioned,  he  published  at  different 
periods,  "  An  Oration  on  the  Acquisition  of  Louisiana  ;" 
"  A  Review  of  the  Improvements,  Progress  and  State  of 
Medicine  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  ;"  "A  Medical  Reg- 
ister for  the  Year  1802  ;"  "  A  Dissertation  on  the  Means 
of  Preserving  Health  in  Charleston  ;"  "A  Biographical 
Chart,  on  a  new  plan,  to  facilitate  the  Study  of  History  ;" 
and  an  "  Eulogium  on  Dr.  Rush." 

Among  the  manuscripts  left  by  Dr.  Ramsay  on  his  de- 
cease, were  "  A  History  of  the  United  States,  from  their 
first  settlement  as  English  Colonies  to  the  end  of  the  year 
1808  ;"  and  a  series  of  historical  volumes  to  be  entitled 
"  Universal  History  Americanized,  or  an  Historical  View  of 
the  World,  from  the  earliest  records  to  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  with  a  particular  reference  to  the  state  of  Society, 
Literature,  Religion,  and  Form  of  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  America."  The  first  was  published  early  in 
the  year  1817,  with  a  continuation  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent 
by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.D.  and  LL.D. 
and  other  literary  gentlemen,  in  three  volumes  8vo.  The 
latter  had  occupied  the  leisure  of  the  historian  more  than 
forty  years.     It  yet  remains  to  be  published. 

Of  Dr.  Ramsay  it  has  been  truly  said  that  no  miser  was 
ever  so  frugal  of  his  gold,  as  he  was  of  his  time.  He 
was  not  merely  economical,  but  parsimonious  of  it  to  the 
highest  degree.  He  never  allowed  for  the  table,  recrea- 
tion or  repose,  a  single  moment  that  was  not  demanded 
for  the  preservation  of  health.  In  his  habits  he  was 
strictly  temperate.  He  usually  slept  four  hours,  rose  be- 
fore the  light  of  day,  and  meditated  with  a  book  in  his 
hand  until  he  could  see  to  read.  His  evenings  only  were 
allotted  to  recreation.  He  never  read  by  the  light  of  a 
candle.  With  the  approach  of  twilight  he  laid  aside  his 
book  and  his  pen,  and  surrounded  by  his  family  and  his 
friends,  indulged  those  paternal  and  social  feelings  which 
are  ever  cherished  by  a  good  man. 

The  predominate  trait  in  the  character  of  Dr.  Ramsay 
was  philanthropy.    It  was  the  motive  of  all  his  actions.    In 


DAVID    RAMSAV.  11 

the  constant  exercise   of  his  disposition  he  frequently  em- 
barked in  enterprises  too  mighty  to  be  accomplished  by  an 
individual.     In  this  way  his  private  fortune  was  wrecked. 
His  genius  and  enterprise  carried  him  in  his  anticipations 
far  before  tlie  multitude,  who  generally  tread  on  the  heels 
of  experience.     Thus  he  was  frequently  tempted  to  vest 
private  revenue  in  projects  and  speculations,  that   had  for 
their  object  ultimately  the  public  benefit,  and  immediately 
a  demonstration  of  their  practicability  to  enlist  auxiliaries 
both  of  character  and  means.     Running  before  his  contem- 
poraries,   who    were    generally    more    attached    to    their 
money,  than  to  enterprises  for  the  improvement  of  the 
country,  he  was  sometimes  considered  visionary.     And 
indeed  the  result  of  his  life  proved  that  he  was  better 
qualified   to   direct   the   afi^iirs   of  a   nation,   than   man- 
age  a   private   fortune.      The    great  concerns  to  which 
he  constantly  directed  his  reflections,  were  the  improve- 
ment of  the  moral,  social,  intellectual  and  physical  state  of 
his  country.     To  disseminate  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible, 
to  promote  public  schools  and  colleges,  and  to  carry  com- 
merce to  every  man's  door  by  means  of  artificial  roads, 
canals,  and  the  channels  which  nature  formed,  were  ob- 
jects that  lay  near  to  his  heart.     In  most  of  them  he  was 
considered  enthusiastic.     Impelled  by  his  devotion  to  these 
subjects,  he  labored  incessantly  to  inspire  the  public  mind 
with  feelings  and  dispositions  favoral)le  to  his  views.     For 
forty  years,  the  press  teemed  with  the  productions  of  his 
pen  designed  exclusively  to  elevate  the  spirit,   taste  and 
virtues  of  his  fellow  citizens,   and  to  improve,  beautify 
and  felicitate  their  common  country.     It  is  believed  that 
the  literary  labors  of  Dr.  Ramsay  have  contributed  very 
much  to  impress  upon  the  American  character  those  traits 
which,  without  vanity  we  may  assert,  have  raised   the 
United  States  to  a  level  with  any  nation  on  the  globe. 
Such  services  can  never  be  recompensed.     Money  could 
not  compensate  them.     Fame,  the  gratitude  of  the  people, 
and  the  happiness  of  his  own  posterity  in  a  country  made 
happy  by  his  labors,  can  alone  requite  them.     The  first 
he  has  secured,  the  second  begins  to  be  lavished  on  his 
memory,  and  the  third,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  realized.     His 
children  are  now  objects   of  endearment  to   many  noble 
spirited  gentlemen  and  ladies,  whose  sympathies,  we  trust 
for  the  honor  of  the  American  people,  will  communicate 
through  the  whole  nation.     Thev  have  a  double  claim  ou 


12  DAVID    RAMSAT. 

the  liberality  of  their  cotjntry.  To  them  the  people  are 
debtors  for  the  services  of  their  father,  and  for  the  ^^er- 
vices  and  sufferings  of  their  grandfather,  the  patriotic 
Henry  Laiirens. 

In  his  private  character,  Dr.  Ramsay  was  a  kind  and 
indulgent  husband,  an  affectionate  and  anxious  parent,  an 
instructive  and  entertaining  companion.  He  was  a  pattern 
of  modesty,  simplicity  and  meekness  in  his  intercourse 
with  mankind.  He  never  arrogated  any  superiority  over 
his  associates,  whether  surrounded  by  his  family  at  his 
own  fireside,  or  classed  with  senators  and  sages  ;  and  he 
has  often  remarked  that  he  was  greatly  debtor  to  this  hap- 
py temperament  for  much  of  the  most  useful  information 
he  gathered  in  his  pilgrimage  through  life.  TJie  distance 
which  most  men  of  eminence  observe  towards  what  are 
called  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of  society,  deprives 
them  of  many  opportunities  of  knowledge.  Dr.  Ramsay 
sought  information  from  all  sources  ;  and  by  the  bland- 
ness  of  his  manners  would  encourage  even  his  own  servant 
to  impart  the  results  of  his  humble  experience  and  obser- 
vation. 

The  most  charming  trait  in  the  character  of  Dr.  Ram- 
say was  piety.  He  was  a  member  of,  and  in  full  commun- 
ion with  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church  in 
Charleston.  It  would  be  expected  from  the  philanthropy 
and  benevolence  of  his  disposition  that  he  cherished  little 
prejudice  against  other  sects.  This  was  the  fact.  The  lead- 
ing affections  of  his  heart,  when  touched  by  the  influence 
of  the  gospel,  grew  into  a  charity  as  extensive  as  the  hu- 
man family,  and  he  counted  every  one,  who  did  the  will 
of  his  Heavenly  Father,  a  brother  in  Christ. 

The  last  scene  of  his  life  proved  the  reality  of  his  faith 
in  Jesus  the  Savior  of  sinners,  and  the  solidity  of  his  pre- 
tensions to  the  character  of  a  great  man.  His  expiring 
moments  heightened  the  lustre  of  his  life.  He  was  assassi- 
nated in  the  street  a  few  paces  from  his  own  dwelling,  in 
the  open  day,  by  a  wretched  maniac,  whose  intellectual 
malady  had  not  been  such  as  to  require  his  confinement. 
He  was  shot  by  a  pistol  loaded  with  three  balls  :  one  pass- 
ed through  the  coat  without  injury,  another  entered  the 
hip  and  passed  out  at  the  groin,  and  the  third  entered  the 
back  near  the  kidneys  and  lodged  in  the  intestines.  The 
last  wound  proved  mortal,  the  second  day  after  it  was  re- 
ceived.    He  died  on  the  8th  of  May,  1815.     On  his  death 


ISAAC    RAND.  IS 

bed  he  evinced  not  tlie  slightest  resentment  towards  the 
unhappy  man  by  whose  hand  he  fell.  He  bore  testimony 
of  Jiis  innocence,  in  the  following  emphatic  terms  :  "I 
know  not  if  these  wounds  be  mortal.  I  am  not  afraid  to 
die  ;  but  should  that  be  my  fate,  I  call  on  all  present  to 
bear  witness  that  I  consider  the  unfortimate  perpetrator  of 
this  deed  a  lunatic,  and  free  from  guilt."  He  died  with- 
out one  perturbed  emotion.  He  met  death  with  a  stiene, 
composed  and  confident  reliance  in  the  mercy  of  God 
through  the  blood  of  the  Redeemer. — Rees''  Cyclopedia. 

RAND,  ISAAC,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  an  eminent  physician 
of  Boston,  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Isaac  Rand  of  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  and  was  born  on  the  27th  of  Aj)ril,  1743. 
After  going  through  the  preparatory  studies,  he  entered 
Harvard  College  in  1757,  and  was  graduated  in  1761. 
While  a  member  of  this  institution,  he  applied  himself 
diligently  to  the  subjects  which  were  then  taught,  and  ac- 
quired the  reputation  of  a  sound  classical  scholar,  and  of 
high  attainments  in  the  mathematics.  During  his  senior 
year  an  event  occurred,  which  furnished  the  most  honor- 
able testimony  of  his  proficiency  in  the  exact  sciences. 
The  transit  of  Venus  over  the  disk  of  the  sun,  which  had 
been  looked  forward  to  with  great  interest  by  the  astrono- 
mers of  Europe,  and  to  which  their  attention  had  been 
strongly  directed  by  the  circulars  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Halley,  took  place  in  the  year  1761.  One  of  tlie  stations 
selected  for  this  observation  was  Newfoundland,  and  Pro- 
fessor Winthrop  was  deputed  by  the  government  of  the 
college  on  this  important  service.  The  professor  took 
with  him  two  young  gentlemen  from  the  senior  class,  one 
of  whom  was  Isaac  Rand,  and  the  other  Samuel  Williams, 
who  was  afterward  professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  at 
Cambridge.  The  observations  at  St.  John's,  and  the  sub- 
sequent labors  of  Mr.  Winthrop  were  lightened  by  being 
shared  with  those  of  his  pupils. 

After  leaving  Harvard  College  Mr.  Rand  entered  on 
the  study  of  medicine,  at  first  with  his  father,  and  after- 
wards with  the  late  Dr.  Lloyd  of  Boston.  Carrying  with 
him  into  the  profession  the  habits  of  application  and  of 
economising  time,  which  had  now  become  confirmed,  he 
entered  with  zeal  into  the  study  of  the  science,  to  the  prac- 
tice of  which  he  intended  to  devote  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  In  the  course  of  three  years,  having  qualified  him- 
self for  the  active  duties  of  the  profession,  he  settled  as 


14  ISAAG    RAND. 

physician  in  Boston  in  1764.  Here  his  sagacity  and  ncute- 
ness  of  observation,  aided  by  extensive  research,  and  devo- 
tion to  business,  and  the  urbanity  of  hi*  manners,  soon 
caused  him  to  be  distinguished  ;  he  rose  rapidly  in  repu- 
tation, and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  shared  largely  in 
the  best  practice  of  the  town. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  Dr.  Rand  was 
a  royalist.  He  was  one  of  those  persons,  of  whom  there 
were  not  a  few,  who  believed  that  the  efforts  of  the  colo- 
nists were  premature,  and  that  we  were  not  at  that  time 
sufficiently  strong  to  contend  successfully  against  a  nation 
so  much  superior  to  us  in  wealth,  in  population,  and  in 
power  as  Great  Britain.  He,  however,  took  no  active  part 
on  her  side,  and  was  subjected  to  no  personal  danger,  nor 
even  inconvenience.  But  as  his  friends  were  principally 
among  those  of  the  royalists,  who  were  the  wealthiest  and 
most  powerful,  he  felt  the  consequence  of  his  political 
opinions  in  a  temporary  diminution  of  his  practice.  Dur- 
ing the  siege,  when  the  greater  part  of  his  professional 
brethren  had  joined  the  American  army,  he  remained  in 
Boston.  His  duties  at  this  time  were  both  excessive  and 
arduous,  and  he  acquired  among  the  inhabitants  a  high 
character  for  charity  as  a  man,  as  well  as  for  skill  as  a 
physician.  Dr.  Rand  sympathized  in  the  joy  of  his  coun- 
trymen on  the  result  of  the  war,  and  rejoiced  in  the  adop- 
tion of  the  federal  constitution. 

In  the  year  1781  we  find  his  name  among  tlie  petitioners 
to  the  General  Court  for  the  incorporation  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society.  In  the  welfare  of  this  import- 
ant institution  he  took  great  interest,  he  contributed  for 
publication  several  valuable  papers,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  every  thing  which  could  promote  its  usefulness, 
and  through  it,  the  profession  to  which  he  belonged.  He 
successively  filled  its  minor  offices,  until  in  the  year  1798 
he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  its  President ;  the  highest 
honor  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  profession  to  bestow. 
He  resigned  the  office  in  1804. 

Previous  to  this  period  strong  efforts  had  been  made  by 
the  physicians  of  Boston,  and  more  particularly  by  the 
late  Dr.  James  Lloyd,  to  rescue  from  the  hands  of  unqual- 
ified females,  the  important  branch  of  obstetrics,  and  to 
raise  it  to  an  honorable  rank  in  the  profession.  So  great 
was  considered  the  necessity  of  changing  the  practice  in 
this  respect,  that  Dr.  L.,  even  while  engaged  in  the  most 


ISAAC    RAND.  15 

extensive  and  lucrative  business  in  the  town,  made  a  visit 
to  Europe  partly  for  the  purpose  of  qualifying  himself 
for  the  exigences  which  the  practice  of  this  highly  respon- 
sible and  important  branch  of  obstetrics  continually  fur- 
nishes. His  efforts  succeeded  ;  that  business  gradually  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  physicians,  and  Dr.  Rand  and  his 
contemporaries  completed  what  had  been  begun  by  Dr. 
Lloyd.  In  this  branch  Dr.  R.  acquired  a  high  and  deserv- 
ed reputation. 

In  every  thing  which  related  to  his  profession,  he  took 
great  interest.  The  habits  of  study  which  he  formed  in 
his  youth,  never  forsook  him  even  in  old  age.  By  his  pro- 
ficiency in  the  learned  languages,  he  was  enabled  to  avail 
himself  of  the  stores  of  medical  facts  accumulated  in  the 
works  of  the  great  men  of  the  profession  ;  and  such  was 
his  zeal  in  the  pursuit  of  the  science  to  which  he  had  de- 
voted himself,  that  he  eagerly  sought  out  every  new  work 
of  reputation,  and  made  himself  master  of  its  facts  and 
principles.  Hence  it  happened  that,  even  while  engaged 
in  the  fatigues  and  anxieties  of  extensive  practice,  he  was 
enabled  to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  medical  science, 
and  to  avail  himself  of  what  was  novel  and  useful.  Hence 
also  it  naturally  happened  that  he  was  an  enemy  to  all 
quackery,  and  could  not  be  brought  to  tolerate  even  those, 
who,  although  they  entered  the  profession  in  a  regular 
manner,  were  found  by  him  to  be  unqualified  to  fulfil  the 
important  and  responsible  duties  of  the  physician. 

To  the  close  of  his  life  the  only  amusement  of  Dr.  Rand 
was  that  of  reading.  He  translated  the  Greek  and  Latin  Ian- 
guages  with  great  facility,  and  the  classics  always  had  a 
place  on  his  table.  As  he  advanced  in  years,  he  devoted  a 
large  portion  of  his  leisure  hours  to  the  subject  of  theolo- 
gy, and  he  entered  with  sincerity  into  the  practical  duties 
of  religion.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the 
church.  He  was  through  life  distinguished  for  his  honesty 
and  integrity,  and  he  exhibited  the  influence  of  religious 
principles,  in  practising  the  greatest  of  its  virtues,  charity. 
To  the  poor  he  gave  not  only  his  time  and  his  experience, 
but  also  his  money,  and  for  several  years  several  families 
were  supported  by  his  bounty. 

Dr.  Rand  was  a  man  of  dignified  and  courtly  manners. 
In  his  practice  he  was  decisive,  and  from  liis  patients  and 
their  attendants  required,  and  obtained  without  violence, 
that  obedience,  v/hich  is  equally  necessary  to  the   welfare 


16  JOUN    REDMAN 

of  the  sick,  and  the  reputation  of  the  physician.  Few 
physicians  in  fact  possessed  in  a  greater  clegree  tne  power 
of  acc^uiring  and  maintaining  the  confidence  of  their  pa- 
tients. The  attachments  of  the  friends  whom  he  obtained 
in  his  professional  career,  were  equally  strong  and  ckirable. 
Dr.  Rand  died  the  11th  of  September,  1822,  in  the  80th 
year  of  his  age. 

The  writings  left  by  Dr.  Rand  are  not  numerous.  He 
contributed  to  the  Transactions  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  and  among  the  papers  is  one,  which  is  highly  hon- 
orable to  him  as  a  man  of  observation  and  research,  viz.  on 
Hydrocephalus  Internus.  From  the  symptoms  exhibited  in 
these  cases,  and  from  subsequent  dissections,  he  convinced 
himself  that  it  was  in  most  cases  an  acute  disease,  and  re- 
quired depletion.  He  therefore  not  only  recommended,  but 
practised  copious  venesection  in  the  first  stage.  This  paper 
was  written  in  1785,  and,  although  the  observation  had 
been  made  and  practised  upon  in  Europe,  yet  it  was 
new  even  there,  and  was  known  to  have  been  original  in 
him.  During  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Bos- 
ton, in  1798,  the  fears  of  the  inliabitants  and  of  those  of  the 
neighboring  towns  were  highly  excited.  To  allay  these 
apprehensions  Dv.  Rand  wrote  a  series  of  essays  upon  the 
subject,  which  were  published  in  the  newspapers  ;  and  by 
pointing  out  the  probable  causes  and  the  means  of  avoiding 
them,  succeeded  in  a  very  considerable  degree  in  removing 
the  groundless  prejudices  which  existed. 

Dr.  Rand  by  appointment  delivered  a  discourse  to  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  which  was  subsequently 
printed.  The  subject  was  the  Use  of  the  Warm  Bath  and 
Foxglove  in  Phthisis  Pulmonalis.  It  is  an  honorable  tes- 
timony of  the  learned  research  and  practical  knowledge 
of  the  author. — J.  G. 

REDMAN,  JOHN,  M.D.,  first  President  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  in  Philadelphia,  was  born  in  that  city,  Feb- 
ruary 27th,  1722.  After  finishing  his  preparatory  educa- 
tion in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tennent's  academy,  he  entered  upon 
the  study  of  physic  with  Mr.  John  Kearsely,  then  one  of 
the  most  respectable  physicians  of  Philadelphia. 

When  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  he 
went  to  Bermuda,  where  he  continued  for  several  years. 
Thence  he  proceeded  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
fecting his  acquaintance  with  medicine.  He  spent  a  year 
in  Edinburgh,  while  the  medical  school  in  that  city  was  in 


JOHN    REDMAN.  17 

the  hands   of  the  first  Monroes,    Sindair,   Alston,  Plum- 
mer  and  Riitherford.     He  likewise  passed  a  year  in  attend- 
ing  briiy  s  Hospital,   and  some  time  in  attending  lectures, 
dissections  and  hospitals  in  Paris.     Copies  of  the  lectures 
ot  the  above  professors,  and  notes  of  the  cases  which  oc- 
curred in  the  hospitals  while  he  attended  them,  are  now  in 
the  possession   of  his  grandson,  Dr.  John  Redman  Coxe, 
written  with  singular  correctness  and  perspicuity.     He  was 
graduated  m  the  University  of  Ley  den  on  the    15th  July, 
1748,  under  the  celebrated  Albinus  Gaubius,  and  at  a  time 
When  that  seminary  retained  a  large  portion  of  the  repu- 
tation It  had  derived   from   the  illustrious    name    of  Dr. 
l^oerhaave.     The  subject  of  his  inaugural  dissertation  was 
^   Abortion,"  which  he  handled  with   great  learnino-  and 
mgenui  y.     Few  better  essays  upon  that  subject  are  to  be 
met  with  in  any  language.     The  conclusion  of  this  disser- 
tation strongly  indicates  the  piety  which  distinguished  the 
early  part  of  his  life.     -  God  grant  that    my  Sudies  and 
labors  may  be  directed  to  the  glory  of  his  name   and   to 
the  welfare  of  my  neiglibors,"  was  his  prayer. 

After  receiving  the  highest  medical  honors  in  his  pro- 
pf T"?  ^/^^"'t?'^  *^  his   native  country  and   settled  in 
fJuladelphia.     He  soon  succeeded  in  business,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  ranked  among  tlie  oldest  physicians 
in  the  city  in  point  of  celebrity  in  medicine.     For  a  while 
he  practised  surgery  and  midwifery,  but  finding  the  labors 
ot  those  branches  of  medicine  incompatible  with  the  del- 
icacy of  us  health,  he  declined  them  and  confined  himself 
exc  usively  to   the    practice  of  physic.     His  principles  in 
medicine  were   derived  from  the  writings    of  Dr.   Boer- 
haave   but  his  practice  was   formed   by  fhe  rules   of  Dr. 
Sydenham.     He   early   saw  that   the   modes   of  practice 
which  were  recommended   by  that  enlightened  physician 
in  the  seventeenth  century  in  England,  were  equally  prop- 
er m  the  eighteenth  century  in  America,  from  the  sameness 
tL!l    iT'"^/''    ''^-  ^^.^  "^habitants  of  botJi  countries  in 

tn?th  nf  n'"  «  rT^\  ^^  ^^'"^-  ^^  ^^^  distinctly  the 
truth  ot  Dr.  Sydenham's  remarks  upon  the  laws  of  epi- 
demics, and  regulated  his  practice  by  them.  He  consider, 
eel  a  greater   force  of  medicine  necessary  to  cure  modern 

tTr^T'\\-^'',T'^r''.  ^''^''^'  ^^^^^^^^'  '^"^1  hence  he  was 
nnr  r.     .  ^^'^^^^^^  ^^P^etion  in  all  the  violent  diseases  of 
our  country      He  bled  freely  in  the  yellow  fever  of  1 762 
and  threw  tlie  weight  of  his  venerable  name  into  the  scale 


VOL.    II. 


18  JOHN    REDMAN. 

of  the  same  remedy  in  the  year  1793.  In  the  diseases  of 
old  age  he  considered  small  and  frequent  bleedings  as  the 
first  of  remedies.  He  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  mer- 
cury in  all  chronic  diseases,  and  he  gave  it  in  the  natural 
smallpox  with  a  view  of  touching  the  salivary  glands 
ahout  the  turn  of  the  pock.  He  introduced  the  use  of 
turpeth  mineral  as  an  emetic  in  the  gangrenous  sore  throat 
of  1764,  and  such  was  its  efficacy,  that  he  did  not  lose  a 
patient  who  took  it  in  the  early  stage  of  that  epidemic. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  read  the  latest  medical 
writers,  and  embraced  with  avidity  some  of  the  modern 
opinions  and  modes  of  practice.  He  published  about  the 
year  1759  a  defence  of  inoculation,  and  advised  the  use  of 
mercury  to  prepare  the  body  for  the  reception  of  the  small- 
pox. 

About  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age  Dr.  Redman  was  af- 
flicted with  an  abscess  in  his  liver,  the  contents  of  which 
were  discharged  by  expectoration  through  his  lungs.  He 
was  frequently  confined  by  acute  diseases,  and  suflfered 
much  from  the  rheumatism  as  he  advanced  in  years.  His 
fellow  citizens  and  his  medical  brethren  were  not  insensible 
of  his  merit.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  physicians  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  immediately  after  its  establish- 
ment, and  afterwards  the  first  President  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  of  Philadelphia.  He  discharged  the  duties  of 
these  stations  faithfully,  and  reluctantly  retired  from  them 
in  consequence  of  the  weakness  and  infirmities  of  age. 
He  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  and 
New-Jersey  for  many  years,  and  more  than  once  refused 
to  stand  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania, before  the  American  revolution.  He  was  faithful 
and  punctual  in  his  attendance  upon  his  patients.  In  a  sick 
room  he  possessed  virtues  and  talents  of  a  peculiar  kind. 
He  suspended  pain  by  his  soothing  manner,  or  chased  it 
away  by  his  conversation,  which  was  occasionally  facetious 
and  full  of  anecdotes,  or  serious  and  interesting,  according 
to  the  nature  of  his  patients'  diseases,  or  the  state  of  their 
minds. 

The  respectability  of  his  character  as  a  physician  will 
derive  a  lustre  from  the  history  of  his  domestic  and  reli- 
gious character.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Sobers,  a  lady 
of  uncommon  talents  and  accomplishments  of  mind  and 
body,  soon  after  he  settled  in  Philadelphia,  by  whom  he 
had  two  sons  and  two  daughters.     His  sons   died  in  their 


JOHN    REDMAN.  10 

infancy.  In  the  year  1770  his  elder  daughter  married 
Daniel  Coxe,  Esq.,  one  of  the  King's  counsel  of  New- 
York.  This  gentleman  adhered  to  the  royal  party  during 
the  American  war,  in  consequence  of  which  he  went  to  Eng- 
land, whither  he  was  followed  by  his  wife  and  children  in 
the  year  1785.  The  separation  of  his  daughter  was  to  her 
father  a  most  poignant  affliction.  He  accompanied  her 
with  tears  to  the  vessel  that  conveyed  her  from  his  sight  ; 
but  his  distress  was  soon  alleviated  by  the  suggestions  of 
religion.  These  he  expressed  the  next  day  to  a  friend, 
whom  he  informed  that  his  mind  had  been  composed  by 
reflecting  upon  the  following  words  of  our  Savior,  "  He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy 
of  me  ;  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  me, 
is  not  worthy  of  me."  He  was  remarkably  attached  to 
all  the  branches  of  his  family.  At  the  funeral  of  his  broth- 
er, Joseph  Redman,  in  1779,  after  the  friends  were  assem- 
bled, he  rose  from  his  seat,  and  grasping  the  lifeless  hand 
of  his  brother,  lie  turned  round  to  his  children  and  other 
relations  in  the  room,  and  addressed  them  in  the  follow- 
ing words  ;  "  I  declare  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  this 
company,  that  in  the  whole  course  of  our  lives  no  angry 
word  nor  look  has  ever  passed  between  this  dear  brother 
and  me."  He  then  kneeled  down  by  the  side  of  his  cof- 
fin, and  in  the  most  fervent  manner  implored  the  protect- 
ion and  favor  of  God  to   his  widow  and  children. 

Dr.  Redman  was  an  eminent  christian.  In  the  early  and 
middle  stages  of  life  he  was  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  and  liberally  contributed  to  its  support  ;  but  the 
evening  of  his  life  was  the  meridian  of  his  piety.  Being 
easy  in  his  circumstances,  and  feeling  the  labors  of  his 
profession  incompatible  with  his  health,  he  early  declined 
business.  He  was  elected  an  elder  of  tlie  second  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  year  1784.  The  duties  of  this  office 
gave  him  both  employment  and  delio;ht.  He  gave  secretly 
and  liberally  to  the  poor,  and  when  confined  bv  sickness 
he  conveyed  his  bounty  to  them  by  the  hands  of  a  friend. 
He  visited  his  old  patients  regularly  two  or  three  times  a 
year,  and  always  left  behind  him  some  pious  remarks  or 
anecdotes,  that  were  not  soon  forgotten.  His  conversation 
was  facetious,  animated,  free  from  the  querulousness  of 
old  age,  and  always  seasoned  with  the  grace  of  the  gos- 
pel. In  his  own  house  he  passed  his  time  chiefly  in  read- 
ing books   of  devotion,    and   in    other  religious  exercises. 


ZU  JOHN    REDMAJf. 

He  thought  humbly  of  himself,  and  often  lamented  his 
slender  attainments  in  religion.  For  some  years  before  his 
death  he  heard  and  read  with  difficulty,  from  the  decay  of 
his  hearing  and  eyesight,  but  under  the  pressure  of  these 
evils  he  was  so  far  from  complaining  that  he  was  constant- 
ly finding  out  reasons  why  he  should  be  contented  and 
thankful.  Such  was  the  natural  cheerfulness  of  his  tem- 
per that  upon  serious  subjects  he  was  never  grave.  He 
spoke  often  of  death,  and  of  the  scenes  which  await  the 
soul  after  its  separation  from  the  body,  with  the  same 
composure  that  some  men  speak  of  going  to  bed,  or  visit- 
ing a  new  and  pleasant  country.  He  was  a  stranger  to 
bigotry,  and  he  often  worshipped  with  sects  of  christians 
that  differed  in  principles  and  forms  from  the  one  with 
which  he  was  vmited.  With  all  the  virtues  and  piety 
which  have  been  ascribed  to  him,  it  would  be  unjust  to 
conceal  that  he  possessed  in  the  early  and  middle  stages  of 
life  a  quick  and  irritable  temper.  But  the  sun  never  went 
down  upon  his  anger,  and  to  his  pupils  and  servants  he  has 
been  known  to  make  acknowledgments  for  even  a  hasty 
expression. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1806,  his  younger  daughter 
died.  She  had  lived  with  her  parents  for  fifty  years,  and 
secluded  herself  from  society  in  order  to  soothe  their  de- 
clining years.  Her  death  left  them  in  a  state  of  the  most 
distressing  solicitude,  and  at  a  time  when  they  were  least 
able  to  bear  it.  His  elder  daughter,  who  had  been  sepa- 
rated from  him  nearly  four  and  twenty  years,  upon  hear- 
ing of  the  death  of  her  sister  immediately  tore  herself  from 
her  husband  and  children,  and  crossed  the  Atlantic  to 
alleviate  by  her  presence  the  grief  of  her  bereaved  parents. 
Her  arrival  exhibited  a  scene  of  joy,  such  as  seldom  occurs 
in  domestic  history.  The  good  old  man  said  to  a  friend 
upon  this  occasion,  "  that  he  had  formerly  owed  ten 
thousand  talents  to  his  Maker,  but  that  his  debt  had  now 
increased  so  much  by  the  arrival  of  his  daughter  that  he 
was  determined  to  become  bankrupt,  and  throw  himself 
entirely  upon  the  mercy  of  his  Divine  creditor."  The 
lamp  of  life,  which  was  nearly  extinguished  in  him  and 
his  wife,  suddenly  blazed  forth  upon  this  occasion,  but  it 
was  only  to  consume  the  oil  which  fed  it  with  the  more 
rapidity.  Mrs.  Redman  died  on  the  24th  of  November, 
two  months  after  the  sight  of  her  daughter,  in  the  84th 
year  of  her  age.     The  distress  occasioned  by  this  event 


CHARLES    RIDGELT.  21 

was  severely  felt  by  her  husband.  They  had  passed  near- 
ly sixty  years  together  in  the  most  uninterrupted  harmo- 
ny. She  was  the  best  friend  and  wisest  counsellor  in  all 
the  trials  and  difficulties  of  his  life.  His  affections  now 
centred  themselves  wholly  in  his  surviving  daughter  :  but 
time  and  nature  forbade  the  long  duration  of  his  last  i)or- 
tion  of  social  happiness. 

On  Friday  the  18th  of  March  he  took  a  walk  to  his  grand- 
son's. In  the  afternoon  he  discovered  an  unusual  degree  of 
sprightliness  in  his  conversation.  After  drinking  tea  he 
rose  to  light  a  candle  in  order  to  go  into  an  adjoining 
room.  In  attempting  to  walk,  he  staggered  and  was  led 
to  a  chair  by  his  daughter.  He  squeezed  her  hand  and 
gave  her  a  look  which  indicated  a  belief  that  the  time  of 
his  departure  had  arrived.  His  disease  immediately  as- 
sumed all  the  symptoms  of  apoplexy,  of  which  lie  died 
without  pain  and  apparently  without  the  least  conscious- 
ness of  his  situation,  about  five  o'clock  the  next  day,  aged 
86  years  and  20  days.  It  would  seem  from  the  easy  man- 
ner in  which  he  expired,  that  the  messenger  of  death  had 
been  instructed  to  blindfold  him  in  order  to  conceal  from 
his  view  the  dreary  objects  which  sometimes  surround  the 
passage  out  of  life. 

He  was  buried  at  his  request  in  the  Presbyterian  church- 
yard exactly  in  the  same  spot  in  which  his  mother  had 
been  interred  fifty  years  before.  This  attachment  to  the 
dust  of  our  ancestors,  though  a  deep  seated  principle  in 
human  nature,  is  seldom  felt  except  in  old  age,  or  in  the 
hour  of  death.  Its  extent  is  universal,  and  its  final  cause 
is  no  doubt  a  wise  one.  Dr.  Redman  was  somewhat  be- 
low the  middle  stature  ;  his  complexion  was  dark,  his 
eyes  black  and  uncommonly  animated  ;  and  his  manner 
both  in  gesture  and  speech  such  as  indicated  a  mind  always 
busy  and  teeming  with  new  and  original  conceptions  of 
human  and  Divine  things. — Medical  Museum^  Vol.  V. 

RIDGELY,  DR.  CHARLES,  an  eminent  physician  of 
Dover,  Delaware,  was  descended  from  an  opulent  and  re- 
spectable family  of  Devonshire  in  England,  a  younger 
branch  of  which  came  to  America  toward  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  settled  on  the  western 
shore  of  Maryland.  His  immediate  parents  were  Nicholas 
Ridgely,  an  inhabitant  of  Dover,  and  Mary  Vining,  widow 
of  Benjamin  Vining,  who  resided  near  the  town  of  Salem, 
in  West  Jersey,  and  whose  maiden  name  was  Middleton. 


22  CHARLES    RIDGELY. 

Their  eldest  son,  who  is  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was 
born  near  Salem,  January  26th,  1738.  His  parents  being 
in  affluent  circumstances,  and  occupying  a  respectable  sta- 
tion in  society,  directed  particular  attention  to  the  educa- 
tion of  this  son,  as  well  as  of  their  other  children.  One 
of  his  first  teachers  was  Dr.  Samuel  McCall,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  residing  in  Dover,  a  self-taught  scholar,  and  much 
distinguished  in  his  day  for  his  mathematical  knowledge. 
From  the  care  of  Dr.  McCall  he  Avas  transferred  to  that  of 
David  James  Dove  of  Philadelphia  ;  and  afterwards  com- 
pleted his  literary  course  in  the  "  Academy  of  Philadel- 
phia," which  had  been  recently  founded  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  which  in  1755,  by  an  additional 
charter,  M^as  constituted  a  college.  Of  this  institution  it 
is  believed  that  young  Ridgely  was  one  of  the  earliest 
pupils. 

In  the  year  1754  he  entered  on  the  study  of  medicine  in 
Philadelphia,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Phineas  Bond. 
His  studies  were  conducted  under  all  those  advantages 
which  the  talents  and  learning  of  his  preceptor,  and  the 
institutions  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  then  afforded  ;  and 
with  all  that  diligence  and  success  which  might  have  been 
expected  from  his  ardent  and  enlightened  mind.  In  1758 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Dover  ; 
and  there  he  continued  to  reside  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life,  in  very  extensive  medical  business,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  professional  reputation  of  the  highest  grade,  and 
rich  in  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

Dr.  Ridgely  was  not  only  distinguished  as  a  learned, 
skilful  and  popular  physician  ;  but  his  powerful  and  ac- 
tive mind,  his  liberal  reading  on  other  subjects  besides 
those  of  his  profession,  his  strict  integrity  and  honor,  and 
his  remarkable  urbanity  of  manners,  recommended  him  to 
his  fellow  citizens  as  a  suitable  candidate  for  a  variety  of 
public  stations.  Accordingly,  from  a  short  time  after  his 
settlement  in  Dover  until  his  death,  he  scarcely  passed  a 
year  in  which  he  did  not  fill  some  important  office,  and 
frequently  several  of  them.  He  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  legislature  of  Delaware  in  1765,  and  continued  to  be 
annually  reelected  to  the  same  trust,  with  very  few  inter- 
vals, until  near  the  close  of  his  life.  Several  years  before 
the  revolution  he  was  the  presiding  judge  in  Kent  county, 
in  tlie  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  in  the  Court  of  Quar- 
ter Sessions,  which  two  courts  were  then  held  by  the  same 


CHARLES    RIDGELT.  23 

judges.  He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  form- 
ed the  constitution  of  Delaware  in  1776  ;  and  when  the 
new  government  was  set  in  operation,  he  was  again  called 
to  the  bench  in  one  of  the  courts  just  mentioned,  and  con- 
tinued, it  is  believed,  to  occupy  that  honorable  station  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

In  tlie  midst  of  this  career  of  usefulness  and  honor,  Dr. 
Ridgely  was  removed  by  death.  In  the  month  of  August 
1785,  by  great  exposure  and  exertion  in  the  discharge  of 
his  professional  duties,  he  brought  on  a  severe  attack  of 
bilious  fever,  which  confined  him  to  his  bed  and  room  for 
nearly  three  months.  In  the  beginning  of  the  following 
November,  when  his  weakness  was  yet  so  great  that  he 
could  only  ride  a  mile  or  two  in  a  carriage,  he  unwarily 
exposed  himself  by  descending  from  his  carriage  and 
standing  for  a  short  time  on  ground  more  damp  than  he 
supposed.  In  a  few  hours  he  was  seized  with  a  peripneu- 
monia notha,  which  terminated  his  important  life  on  the 
25th  of  that  month,  in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

As  Dr.  Ridgely  was  respectably  descended,  so  he  was  no 
less  respectably  allied.  He  had  tAvo  wives.  By  his  first 
marriage  he  had  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  now  de- 
ceased, excepting  Nicholas  Ridgely,  Esq.  the  present  chan- 
cellor of  the  state  of  Delaware.  By  his  second  wife,  also, 
he  had  five  children,  of  whom  two  only  survive,  viz.  Hen- 
ry Moore  Ridgely,  Esq.  at  present  a  senator  from  Dela- 
ware, in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  ;  and  Mary,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  William  Winder  Morris,  an  eminent  physician 
of  Dover. 

Dr.  Ridgely  was  eminently  amiable  and  exemplary  in 
all  the  relations  of  domestic  life.  His  intercourse  with  his 
professional  brethren  was  always  marked  with  the  most 
delicate  honor  and  magnanimity.  He  feared  no  man  as  a 
rival.  He  honored  merit  wherever  he  found  it  :  and  he 
was  ready  to  bestow  praise  and  patronage  wherever  they 
were  due.  His  brotlier  physicians,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  reciprocated  his  honorable  treatment,  and  gave 
him  an  unusual  share  of  their  esteem  and  confidence. 
Perhaps  no  physician  in  Delaware  ever  had  so  large  a 
number  of  respectable  medical  practitioners  trained  up  un- 
der his  direction  as  Dr.  Ridgely. 

Profound  as  his  medical  learning  was,  he  by  no  means 
confined  himself  to  that  department  of  reading.  With  an- 
cient and  modern  history  ;  with   tlie  principal  works  of 


24  CHARLES    RIDGELY. 

imagination  and  taste  in  his  own  language  ;  and  with 
the  leading  elementary  works  on  law  and  government,  he 
was  familiar.  It  was,  indeed,  often  a  matter  of  wonder  to 
his  friends,  how  a  physician,  in  such  extensive  practice  as 
he  was,  could  find  time  to  read  so  much  out  of  the  imme- 
diate line  of  his  profession  :  how  he  could  manifest  so  in- 
timate an  acquaintance  with  the  principles  of  law  on  the 
hench,  of  government  in  the  legislative  body,  and  of  an- 
cient and  modern  literature  in  the  social  circle.  The  true 
secret  of  the  whole  was,  that  few  men  have  been  more 
rigid  economists  of  time  than  he  was,  and  few  more  me- 
thodical in  their  daily  pursuits.  When  not  employed  in 
business,  or  occupied  by  company,  he  was  seldom  without 
a  book  in  his  hand.  This  habit  he  carried  more  particu- 
larly into  the  studies  of  his  profession.  He  by  no  means 
ceased,  as  is  the  case  with  too  many  physicians,  to  study 
medicine,  when  he  entered  on  the  practice  of  it.  He 
never  gave  up  his  medical  books.  He  regularly  procured 
and  read  every  new  publication  within  his  reach  on  this 
subject  ;  and  he  continued  to  do  this  up  to  the  time  at 
which  he  was  arrested  by  the  disease,  in  the  summer  of 
1785,  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered. 

Dr.  Ridgely  had  a  force  and  versatility  of  talent,  which 
rendered  him  eminent  in  every  business  in  which  he  en- 
gaged. It  is  true  that  by  the  bedside  of  his  patients,  and 
in  medical  consultation,  he  appeared  to  peculiar  advan- 
tage ;  but  it  is  no  less  true,  that,  as  a  judge,  a  legislator, 
or  a  literary  companion,  he  was  scarcely  less  distinguished. 
Almost  every  one  who  had  occasion  to  transact  business 
with  him  remarked,  with  how  much  intelligence,  facility 
and  despatch  he  went  through  it  ;  that  nothing  ever  ap- 
peared further  from  his  mind  than  a  disposition  to  raise  un- 
necessary disputes  or  obstacles  in  any  concern  of  whicli  he 
had  the  control  ;  that  the  most  perfect  candor  and  honesty 
marked  all  his  proceedings  ;  and  that  his  politeness  and 
benevolence  were  no  less  conspicuous  than  the  other  quali- 
ties which  have  been  mentioned. 

Dr.  Ridgely  was  a  firm  believer  in  revelation,  and  a 
decided  friend  to  religion,  as  a  precious  gift  of  God,  and  as 
essential  to  human  happiness  both  here  and  hereafter. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  much  at- 
tached to  that  form  of  worship  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
he  was  free  from  that  bigotry,  which  is  so  apt  to  reign 
in  the  minds  of  men  who  have  small  information,  and 
narrow  views. 


NICHOLAS    ROMAYNE.  26 

He  was  very  attentive  to  the  moral  and  religious  educa- 
tion of  his  children  ;  and  often  remarked  that  he  consid- 
ered mere  intellectual  culture,  and  the  knowledge  of 
books,  without  the  discipline  of  the  passions  and  of  the 
heart,  without  sedulous  endeavors  to  bring  the  youthful 
mind  under  the  habitual  influence  of  virtue  and  piety,  as 
rather  fitted  to  "  finish  off  a  villain,"  than  to  make  a  good 
member  of  society.  Upon  the  principle  implied  in  this 
maxim,  it  was  his  constant  aim  to  train  up  his  own  family. 
He  had  a  profound  respect  for  the  sacred  scriptures,  read 
them  much  himself,  and  recommended  them  to  his  chil- 
dren and  all  around  him,  as  worthy  of  their  diligent  study. 

Such  was  Dr.  Ridgely.  As  a  professional  man,  a  pa- 
triot, a  father  of  a  family,  and  a  member  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious society,  he  filled  an  important  and  honorable  space 
while  he  lived  ;  and  at  his  premature  removal  left  behind 
him  memorials  of  various  excellence  and  usefulness,  which 
will  long,  very  long  be  cherished  ;  and  which  render  him 
well  worthy  of  being  commemorated  among  the  distin- 
guished men  of  our  country. — S.  M. 

ROMAYNE,  NICHOLAS,  M.D.  was  born  in  the  city 
of  New-York  in  September,  1756,  and  obtained  his  ele- 
mentary education  at  Hackinsack  in  New-Jersey,  under 
the  instruction  of  Dr.  Peter  Wilson,  the  late  Professor  of 
Languages  in  Columbia  College.  About  the  commence- 
ment of  the  revolutionary  war  he  went  abroad,  and  com- 
pleted his  medical  studies  at  Edinburgh.  He  also  visited 
the  continent,  and  spent  two  years  in  Paris.  Upon  his 
return  to  New-York,  he  commenced  his  professional  ca- 
reer. He  was  advantageously  known  as  an  able  private 
lecturer  on  many  branches  of  medical  science,  and  it  is 
with  pleasure  I  bear  witness  to  his  efficient  instrumentality 
in  the  foundation  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. He  was  its  first  president,  and  gave  instruction  in 
that  institution  on  Anatomy  and  the  Institutes  of  Medicine. 
His  address  as  President,  delivered  at  the  first  opening  of 
the  college  in  November,  1807,  is  an  honorable  specimen 
of  his  diversified  attainments  and  talent.  He  died  in  New- 
York  in  1817. 

"  Dr.  Romayne,"  says  Dr.  M'Leod,  "  was  a  man  of 
strong  mind,  well  cultivated  and  much  improved  by  read- 
ing, by  the  society  of  learned  men,  and  by  travelling.  I 
knew  him  in  health  and  in  the  midst  of  disease  ;  in  afflu- 
ence and  in  adversity.  He  had  much  self  command, 
VOL.  n.  4 


26  NICHOLAS    ROMAYNE. 

though  naturally  of  powerful  passions,  and  very  tender 
sensibilities.  Bereaved  of  all  his  children  in  their  infancy, 
he  could  not  endure  the  recollection  of  their  endearment. 
On  the  last  evening  of  his  life  he  gave  testimony  to  a  near 
friend  of  his  respect  for  the  scriptures.  He  departed  too 
suddenly  for  me  to  see  him  on  his  death  bed." 

The  following  interesting  notices  concerning  the  profes- 
sional services  of  Dr.  Romayne,  are  extracted  from  a  com- 
munication made  by  Dr.  Mitchell. 

He  returned  from  Europe  when  I  was  a  young  student, 
before  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  war  ;  probably 
during  the  year  1782.  His  arrival  excited  considerable 
conversation  both  here  and  in  Philadelphia  ;  insomuch 
that  my  curiosity  was  awakened  to  see  him.  He  was  re- 
ported to  have  improved  his  opportunities  with  singular 
diligence.  This  was,  I  supposed,  the  fact,  for  he  had 
visited  Paris,  Leyden,  London  and  Edinburgh  ;  at  the 
latter  of  which  places  he  went  through  the  course  of  study 
required  by  the  statutes  of  the  university,  and  published  £, 
dissertation  in  Latin,  according  to  the  usage,  on  the  form- 
ation of  purulent  matter,  "  De  Generatione  Puris."  ^It  was 
said  of  him,  that  he  composed  it  himself,  without  the  aid 
of  a  "  grinder,"  or  hireling  writer  or  translator.  Besides 
the  knowledge  of  his  own  or  the  English  tongue,  he  had 
attained  more  classical  learning  than  the  greater  part  of 
the  members  of  the  profession  acquire.  He  could  speak 
Low  Dutch  and  French  fluently.  The  circle  of  his  ac- 
quaintance embraced  most  of  the  respectable  citizens.  He 
was  endowed  with  a  goodly  and  healthy  frame,  and  was 
exceedingly  industrious  ;  wherefore  he  manifested  a  strong 
desire  to  rise  and  become  conspicuous  in  the  world. 

He  accordingly  very  soon  displayed  his  knowledge  of 
the  human  body  by  giving  private  lectures  on  its  anatomy, 
which  were  then  very  instructive  to  those  who  attended. 
For,  though  the  course  was  by  no  means  complete,  it  was 
valuable  as  far  as  it  extended. 

Very  soon  after  the  enemy  had  withdrawn  from  this 
city  in  1783,  the  exiled  inhabitants  returned,  and  the  con- 
stituted authorities  made  it  the  seat  of  the  state  govern- 
ment. One  of  their  early  acts  was  the  revision  of  the 
charter  that  had  been  granted  during  the  provincial  ad- 
ministration to  Kincr's  College.  Amono;  other  alterations 
rendered  necessary  by  the   change  of  circumstances,  was 


NICHOLAS    ROMAFPfE.  27 

the  appointment  of  a  new  board  of  trustees.     Of  these  Dr. 
Romayne  was  one  of  the  persons  nominated  in  the  law. 

He  had,  no  doubt,  imbibed  high  expectations  from  this 
new  situation.  But  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  real- 
ized to  any  considerable  degree.  It  pleased  the  trustees 
to  constitute  a  Faculty  of  Physic,  by  the  appointment  of 
professors.  The  place  of  trustee  held  by  Dr.  Romayne 
was  incompatible  with  that  of  professor.  This  restricted 
his  activity,  and  he  soon  became  impatient  of  the  restraint. 
He  had  quahfied  himself  for  a  teacher,  but  was  now  un- 
eniployed  to  lecture  upon  any  branch  of  his  profession. 
His  situation  became  irksome  on  another  account  His 
superior  attainments  in  literature  and  medicine  elevated 
him  with  high  notions,  and  filled  him  with  contemptuous 
notions  of  some  who  had  been  less  fortunate  in  education 
than  himself.  He  could  not  carry  points  as  he  wished, 
and  the  adoption  of  some  measures  to  which  he  was  op- 
posed, induced  displeasure  and  coolness,  and  finally  led 
lum,  after  some  years,  to  resitvn. 

The  first  Faculty  of  Professors  having  performed  but 
small  service.  Dr.  Romayne  exercised  his  talents  as  a  pri 
vate  teacher,  and  so  assiduous  and  laborious  was  he  that 
he  gave  instruction  on  almost  all  the  branches  of  profess- 
lona  knowledge.  Anatomy,  practice  of  physic,  chemistry 
and  botany,  were  taught  by  this  extraordinary  man  •  and 
with  such  success  that  he  drew  hearers  from  distant 
places,  even  from  Canada.  After  his  separation  from  Col- 
umbia  College,  he  found  it  expedient  to  procure  academic 
honors,  and  more  especially  diplomas  from  some  other 
seminary. 

Dr.  Romayne,  from  a  variety  of  circumstances,  beino- 
now,  as  it  were,  under  the  bar  of  the  profession,  discoi?- 
tinued  teaching,  and  some  time  after  made  another  visit  to 
Europe  ;  during  which  he  posted  up  the  arrears  of  infor- 
mation and  modernized  himself  by  the  men  he  saw,  and 
the  institutions  he  examined. 

There  was  not,  however,  much  for  him  to  do  for  several 
years  after  his  return  At  length  opportunities  offered  of 
making  him  by  rapid  steps,  a  most  active  and  conspicuous 
member  of  the  pi^fession.  In  1806  an  act  was  passed  for 
incorporating  medical  societies  for  tlie  commouAvealth  and 
Its  respective  counties.  By  a  sudden  and  singular  change 
of  sentiment,  Dr.  Romayne  was  called  from  his  retirement 


28  NICHOLAS    IIOMAYNE. 

and  elected  tlie  first  president  of  the  society  for  the  city 
and  county  of  New-York,  on  the  1st  of  July  in  that  year. 

During  the  succeeding  winter,  on  the  resignation  of  the 
place  of  state  delegate  by  the  gentleman  who  held  it,  Dr. 
Romayne  was  chosen  the  delegate  to  the  State  Medical 
Society,  in  Albany.  After  taking  his  seat  in  the  central 
body,  he  was  promoted  to  the  presidency  of  that  associa- 
tion also  ;  and  by  such  advances  did  he  rise  to  honor. 

The  sway  he  had  attained  did  not  terminate  here.  The 
act  herein  before  mentioned,  for  providing  a  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  had  been  torpid  or  dormant  ever 
since  its  passage  in  1791.  The  day  was  approaching  when 
the  regents  of  the  University  were  to  act  under  its  provis- 
ions. Dr.  Romayne  fovmd  a  great  deal  of  business  in 
medical  matters  and  otherwise  to  occupy  him  at  the  seat 
of  government.  Among  other  things,  the  solicitation  of  a 
charter  for  the  aforesaid  purposes,  employed  him  in  the 
most  satisfactory  manner.  Though  he  was  assisted  by 
numerous  and  powerful  supporters,  he  may  be  considered 
as  the  leading  agent  on  the  occasion  ;  and  the  person, 
probably,  without  whose  urgent  and  pressing  instances  the 
work  would  not  have  been  completed.  He  was  rewarded 
for  his  services  by  being  selected  as  the  first  president  of 
the  new  institution  in  1807. — Ilosack^s  Discourse  at  the  open- 
ing of  Rutger^s  Medical  College,  J^ew-York. 

When  Dr.  Romayne  first  returned  from  Europe  after 
finishing  his  studies,  the  British  army  was  still  in  possession 
of  the  city  of  New-York  ;  and  being  a  firm  friend  to  the 
cause  and  liberties  of  his  country,  he  declined  going  into 
that  city,  although  he  might  have  done  so  without  any 
suspicion  of  his  patriotism,  as  peace  was  approaching,  and 
it  v/as  known  that  the  army  would  of  course  soon  depart. 
He  therefore  remained  about  two  years  at  the  house  of  a 
friend  in  Philadelphia,  where  by  the  charms  of  his  con- 
versation, agreeable  manners,  and  regular  conduct,  he  was 
esteemed  as  an  excellent  companion.  Here  he  entered  into 
a  respectable  share  of  practice,  and  had  he  resolved  to 
make  that  city  his  permanent  residence,  there  was  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  of  his  complete  and  successful  establishment  ; 
for  to  an  uncommonly  fine  person  he  added  the  more  weigh- 
ty considerations  of  fine  talents  and  great  attention  to  his 
patients.  But  a  matrimonial  engagement,  which  he  had 
contracted  before  leaving  New-York  for  Europe,  determin- 
ed him  to  take  up  his  residence  in  that  city,  which  he  did 


PA  NTtL  BY 


ii^AMJ;  ill  ijs.wiii. 


MMW^AMIN'  MTLT^M  JM.IDo 


BENJAMIN    RUSH. 


29 


immediately  after  it  was  abandoned  by  tbe  British.  He 
would  liave  been,  says  one  who  knew  him  well,  the  most 
eminent  medical  man  in  New-York,  had  he  confined  him- 
self to  his  profession  ;  but  unfortunately  he  engaged  in 
trade  and  other  speculations,  which  drew  him  off  from 
his  profession  and  involved  him  in  embarrassments  Avhich 
were  highly  detrimental  to  him.  On  his  last  visit  to  Eu- 
rope, he  was  admitted  as  a  licentiate  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Physicians  of  Edinburgh,  a  compliment  which,  it  is  be- 
lieved, had  never  before  been  paid  to  any  American. 

RUSH,  BENJAMIN,  M.D.  was  born  December  24th, 
1745,  old  style,  on  his  father's  plantation,  about  fourteen 
miles  to  the  northeast  of  Philadelphia.  His  ancestors 
migrated  from  England  to  Pennsylvania  soon  after  its  first 
settlement  in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the  eighth  or 
ninth  year  of  his  age,  he  was  sent  for  education  to  Not- 
tingham, Maryland,  about  sixty  miles  southwest  from 
Philadelphia,  where  an  academy  had  been  long  conducted 
with  great  reputation  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  D.D. 
afterwards  president  of  the  college  in  Princeton,  New-Jer- 
sey. The  inhabitants  of  this  retired  spot  were  plain  coun- 
try farmers,  who  cultivated  so  indifferent  a  soil  that  they 
could  not  derive  a  living  from  it  without  strict  economy 
and  the  daily  labor  of  their  own  hands.  In  their  com- 
paratively depressed  situation,  as  to  worldly  matters,  their 
morals  Avere  a  virtual  reproach  to  the  inhabitants  of  many 
districts  who  enjoyed  a  much  greater  proportion  of  the 
good  things  of  this  life.  Almost  every  dwelling  house 
was  so  far  a  church  that  the  reading  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  offering  up  of  family  prayers,  generally  recurred 
every  day  ;  there  were  few,  or  rather  no  examples  of,  or 
temptations  to  immorality  of  any  kind.  Among  these  peo- 
ple, remarkable  for  their  simplicity,  industry,  morality 
and  religion,  young  Rush  spent  five  years  of  his  early 
youth  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages.  He  there  also  learned  mucli  of  human  nature, 
and  began  to  class  mankind  according  to  their  state  ot 
society  ;  a  distinction  of  which  he  profited  very  much  in 
his  future  speculations  in  political  philosophy.  The  tran- 
sition from  the  variegated  scenes  of  Philadelphia  to  this 
sequestered  seat  of  learning,  industry  and  religious  habits, 
could  not  fail  of  making  a  strong  impression  on  his  ob- 
serving mind.  He  there  acquired  a  reverence  for  (religion, 
its   consistent   professors   and  teachers  :  a  prepossession  in 


30  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

favor  of  regular  orderly  conduct,  of  diligence,  industry, 
punctual  attention  to  business,  and  in  general  of  such 
steady  habits  as  stamped  a  value  on  his  character  through 
life.  In  laying  a  solid  foundation  for  correct  principles 
and  conduct  he  was  essentially  aided  by  the  faultless  ex- 
ample, judicious  advice,  and  fatherly  care  of  the  learned 
and  pious  Dr.  Finley.  This  accomplished  instructer  of 
youth  was  not  only  diligent  and  successful  in  communicat- 
ing useful  knowledge,  but  extended  his  views  far  beyond 
the  ordinary  routine  of  a  common  education.  He  trained 
his  pupils  for  both  worlds,  and  in  his  intercourse  with 
them,  had  respect  to  their  future  as  well  as  present  state  of 
existence.  To  young  Rush  he  was  devoted  by  peculiar 
ties  :  for  he  was  fatherless  and  the  son  of  the  sister  of  his 
beloved  wife.  A  reciprocation  of  affection  took  place  be- 
tween the  parties,  much  to  the  credit  and  advantage  of 
both. 

Benjamin  Rush,  after  finishing  his  preparatory  course 
of  classical  studies  at  Nottingham,  was,  in  1759,  entered  a 
student  in  the  college  of  Princeton,  then  under  the  super- 
intendence of  President  Davies.  This  eloquent  preacher 
was  pronounced  by  his  pupil,  Rush,  not  only  in  early 
youth,  but  in  his  adult  age,  to  have  been  the  greatest  pul- 
pit orator  this  country  had  produced.  Under  the  tuition 
of  this  distinguished  preacher  and  able  instructer,  he, 
whose  life  we  are  reviewing,  obtained  the  degree  of  A.B. 
in  1760,  and  before  he  had  completed  his  fifteenth  year. 
The  next  six  years  of  his  life  were  devoted  to  the  study  of 
medicine,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Redman,  who  in  his 
day  ranked  among  the  most  eminent  of  the  Faculty  in 
Philadelphia.  The  writings  of  Hippocrates  were  among 
the  first  books  Benjamin  Rush  read  in  medicine,  and 
while  he  was  an  apprentice  he  translated  his  aphorisms 
from  Greek  into  English.  He  also  began  to  keep  a  note- 
book of  remarkable  occurrences,  the  plan  of  which  he 
afterwards  improved,  and  continued  through  life.  From  a 
part  of  this  record,  written  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  the  age 
of  its  author,  we  derive  the  only  account  of  the  yellow  fever 
of  1762  in  Philadelphia,  which  has  descended  to  posterity. 
In  the  same  year  he  was  one  of  Dr.  Shippen's  ten  pupils, 
who  attended  the  first  course  of  anatomical  lectures  given 
in  this  country.  Two  years  after,  and  while  he  was  a 
daily  attendant  in  the  shop  of  Dr.  Redman,  he  commenced 
his  brilliant  career  as  an  author.     On  the  expiration  of  his 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  SI 

apprenticeship,  Benjamin  Rush  went,  in  1766,  to  Edin- 
burgh, to  prosecute  his  studies  at  the  university  in  tliat 
city,  then  in  the  zenith  of  its  reputation,  and  there  was 
graduated  M.D.  in  1768.  His  Thesis  "  De  Coctione  Cibo- 
rum  in  Ventriculo,"  was  written  in  classical  Latin,  and  I 
have  reason  to  believe,  without  the  help  of  a  grinder  of 
theses,  for  it  bears  the  characteristic  marks  of  the  peculiar 
style  of  its  author.  Its  elegant  latinity  was  the  least  part 
of  its  merits. 

While  Dr.  Rush  was  a  student  of  Edinburgh,  he  had  an 
opportunity  of  distinguishing  himself,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  rendering  an  acceptable  service  to  his  alma  mater, 
Nassau  Hall.  On  the  death  of  President  Finley,  in  1766, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  of  Paisley  in  Scotland,  was 
chosen  liis  successor.  He  at  first  declined  the  acceptance 
of  the  office,  and  it  remained  vacant  more  than  a  year. 
The  trustees  of  that  institution  entertaining  a  high  opinion 
of  their  alumnus  Rush,  appointed  him  their  commissioner 
to  solicit  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  accept  the  presidency  of 
Princeton  College,  and  the  presbytery,  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  to  consent  to  his  dismission.  These  commissions 
were  ably  and  successfully  executed.  The  address  and 
talents  of  the  young  commissioner  inspired  the  parties 
with  a  belief  that  a  college  which  had  already  produced 
such  fruit  was  worthy  of  their  attention.  I  leave  it  to 
others  to  appreciate  the  consequences  of  this  successful 
negociation,  to  the  interests  of  religion  and  learning  in 
America,  and  only  refer  you  to  the  observations  of  Dr. 
Miller,  the  learned  historian  of  the  eighteenth  century,  on 
this  event.  Dr.  Rush  spent  in  London  the  next  winter 
after  his  graduation  in  Edinburgh.  In  the  following 
spring  he  went  over  to  France,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  commenced  the  prac- 
tice of  physic.  In  1769  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry in  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  This  addition  to 
Drs.  Shippen,  Morgan,  Kuhn  and  Bond,  who  had  begim 
to  lecture  a  few  years  before,  made  a  complete  set  of  in- 
structers,  and  fully  organized  this  first  medical  school  in 
America.  By  a  subsequent  arrangement  in  1791,  the  col- 
lege was  merged  in  a  university,  and  Dr.  Rush  was  ap- 
pointed Piofessor  of  the  Institutes  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine, and  of  Clinical  Practice  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 


32  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

In  this  and  his  preceding  capacity,  as  lecturer  in  chem- 
istry, Dr.  Rush  has  been  a  public  teaclier  of  medicine  for 
forty-four  years,  and  has  in  several  instances,  and  particu- 
larly in  that  of  him  who  now  addresses  you,  taught  two 
successive  generations,  for  the  father  and  son  have  both  been 
his  pupils.  From  his  first  commencing  practice  Dr.  Rush  al- 
ways had  a  considreble  number  of  private  pupils.  Their 
whole  number  cannot  now  be  exactly  ascertained,  but  it  is 
recollected  that  they  amounted  to  fifty  in  the  last  nine  years 
of  his  life.  His  class  pupils,  for  several  of  the  first  years  in 
which  he  gave  lectures,  varied  from  sixteen  to  thirty,  but 
since  1789  have  been  from  year  to  year  rapidly  increas- 
ing. In  1812  they  amounted  to  four  hundred  and  thirty. 
His  pupils  were  generally  changed  every  second  or  third 
year.  From  these  data,  it  is  not  an  improbable  conjecture 
that,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  Dr.  Rush  has  given  public  in- 
structions to  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 
Tliese  have  extended  the  blessings  of  his  instructions  and 
improvement  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine,  over 
the  United  States,  and  in  a  few  instances  to  South  Ameri- 
ca, the  West  Indies,  and  the  eastern  continent.  On  his  re- 
turn to  Philadelphia,  he  found  the  Boerhaavian  system  of 
medicine,  which  locates  diseases  in  the  fluids  of  theliuman 
body,  to  be  generally  accredited.  Having  acquired  at 
Edinburgh  a  partiality  for  the  spasmodic  system  of  Cullen, 
he  publicly  taught  it  as  preferable  to  that  of  Boerhaave  ; 
but  his  active  mind  daily  brooding  over  the  medical  sys- 
tems of  others,  correcting  them  by  his  own  observations 
and  reasonings,  and  bringing  the  whole  to  the  test  of  ex- 
perience, in  its  progressive  course  began  to  receive  new 
light.  He  was  convinced  that  medicine  was  in  its  infancy  ; 
that  there  was  great  room  for  improvement.  Instead  of 
being  proud  of  his  attainments,  he  was  disposed  to  ex- 
claim "  Heu  quantum  nescimus."  Of  how  much  are  we 
ignorant  ?  It  would  require  a  much  longer  time  than  is 
allotted  to  the  exercises  of  this  day,  to  give  a  complete 
view  of  the  improvements  Dr.  Rush  has  introduced  in  our 
profession.  A  slight  sketch  of  the  most  prominent  is  all 
that  your  time  will  permit  to  be  brought  into  view  on  this 
occasion. 

When  Dr.  Rush  began  to  lecture,  diseases  were  reduced 
in  the  manner  of  the  botanists,  to  orders,  classes,  genera, 
and  species.  In  Cullen's  Genera  Morborum,  the  names  of 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  vliseases  are 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  33 

enumerated,  each  supposed  to  have  something  appropriate, 
and  requiring  in  some  respects  different  treatment.  This 
embarrassing,  perplexing  mode  of  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  diseases,  has  been  simplified  by  our  American  professor, 
who  has  substituted  in  its  place  the  state  of  tlie  system. 
In  his  public  instructions,  the  name  of  the  disease  is  com- 
paratively nothing,  but  the  nature  of  it  every  thing.  His 
system  rejects  the  nosological  arrangement  of  diseases,  and 
places  all  their  numerous  forms  in  morbid  excitement,  in- 
duced by  irritants,  acting  upon  previous  debility.  It  re- 
jects, likewise,  all  prescriptions  for  the  names  of  diseases, 
and  by  directing  their  apj)lication  wholly  to  the  forming 
and  fluctuating  state  of  diseases,  and  of  the  system,  derives 
from  a  few  active  medicines,  all  the  advantages  whicli 
have  been  in  vain  expected  from  the  numerous  articles 
wliich  compose  European  treatises  upon  the  materia  medica. 
Tliis  simple  arrangement  was  further  simplified  by  consid- 
ering every  morbid  state  of  the  system  to  be  such  as  either 
required  depletion  or  stimulation.  The  art  of  healing 
diseases,  is  therefore  acquired  by  the  student,  who  from 
the  pulse  and  other  auxiliary  sources  of  information, 
knows  the  state  of  the  system  of  his  patient,  so  far  as  to 
be  a  competent  judge  whether  depletion  or  stimulation  is 
indicated,  and  when  this  is  ascertained,  is  farther  instruct- 
ed so  as  to  be  able  to  select  the  remedies  which  are  best 
suited  either  to  deplete  or  stimulate,  according  to  tlie 
strength,  habits,  and  other  peculiar  circumstances  of  his 
patient.  The  younger  members  of  our  profession  cannot 
appreciate  the  value  of  this  arrangement  as  well  as  those 
who  are  seniors.  The  latter  have  had  to  undergo  the  up- 
hill work  of  coming  to  the  names  of  diseases  by  a  circuit- 
ous rout,  the  former  have  been  led  by  one  or  two  plain 
paths,  which  speedily  brought  them  to  the  same  goal,  or 
what  is  equivalent  thereto,  or  rather  far  superior  to  it.  The 
old  system  requires  reading  and  memory  ;  the  new,  judg- 
ment and  observation.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  a 
student  of  an  investigating  mind,  on  the  present  simple 
plan  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  healing  art,  can  be 
better  prepared  for  entering  on  his  profession  in  three 
years,  than  he  could  on  the  former  system  in  five.  Con- 
templating diseases  through  this  new  light,  our  professor 
found  that  a  great  majority  of  them,  in  tliis  new  and  plen- 
tiful agricultural  country,  required  depletion,  and  that,  of 
all  modes  of  depletion,  bleeding  was  the  easiest,  safest    and 

VOL.    If.  5 


Si  BBI^JAMIN    RUSH. 

shortest,  and  next  to  it  cathartics  ;  that  these  two  remedies, 
judiciously  applied,  with  a  suitable  regimen,  carried  to  a 
proper  extent,  and  discontinued  at  the  proper  period, 
would  often  extinguish  an  otherwise  formidable  disease 
when  in  the  forming  state,  or  lay  a  foundation  for  its  cure 
after  it  was  actually  formed.  Practice,  foimded  on  these 
simple  principles,  removed  mvich  present  evil,  and  pre- 
vented more.  It  was  about  the  year  1790,  and  twenty- 
one  years  after  Dr.  Rush  had  been  a  practitioner  and  pro- 
fessor of  medicine,  when  he  began  to  publish  his  new 
principles  in  medicine.  These  were  more  or  less  develop- 
ed by  him  in  his  successive  annual  course  of  lectures,  for 
the  subsequent  twenty-three  years  of  his  life.  They  were 
also  discussed  in  inaugural  dissertations  by  many  of  the 
candidates  for  medical  degrees  in  the  same  period.  These 
young  gentlemen  were  at  full  liberty  to  sift  their  merits  or 
expose  their  fallacy.  Freedom  of  inquiry  was  inculcated 
on  them,  not  only  as  a  privilege,  but  as  a  duty. 

It  is  believed  that  no  man  understood  the  human  pulse 
better  than  Dr.  Rush.  In  his  lectures  he  used  to  call  it  the 
"  nosometer  of  the  system."  From  long  and  accurate 
acquaintance  with  all  its  varieties  and  the  circumstances 
by  which  it  was  affected,  he  made  himself  acquaint- 
ed with  the  state  of  his  patient's  system,  and  by  suitable 
remedies  reduced  it  to  its  proper  standard,  and  generally 
removed  tlie  disease.  Pursuing  the  train  of  reasoning  and 
observation  just  stated,  and  applying  it  to  practice,  our 
professor  adopted  modes  of  treating  several  diseases, 
which  had  not  been  usual  in  this  country,  and  which  by 
many  practitioners  have  been  deemed  improvements  in  the 
practice  of  physic.  Dr.  Rush  carried  bleeding  and  the 
depleting  system  farther  than  ever  had  been  done  before  by 
any  of  his  contemporary  physicians.  He  in  like  manner 
urged  the  use  of  calomel,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
the  Sampson  of  the  materia  medica,  farther  than  was  com- 
mon among  the  physicians  who  had  preceded  him.  In- 
stead of  making  a  profitable  secret  of  his  innovations  in 
practice,  he  came  forward  boldly  ;  taught  them  to  his  nu- 
merous pupils  ;  published  them  to  the  world,  and  defend- 
ed them  with  his  pen.  The  witlings  of  the  day  concurred 
in  the  propriety  of  the  name  of  Sampson,  which  he  had 
given  to  this  favorite  remedy,  calomel  ;  but  for  a  very 
different  reason,  because,  say  they,  "  it  has  slain  its  thous- 
ands," Unmoved  by  the  sneers  of  some,  the  misrepresent- 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  M 

ations  of  others,  and  the  general  partiality  for  old  opin- 
ions and  aversion  to  innovations,  Dr.  Rush  steadily  pursu- 
ed liis  course  through  evil  report  and  good  report.  The 
same  hand  which  subscribed  the  declaration  of  the  political 
independence  of  these  states,  accomplished  their  emanci- 
pation from  medical  systems  formed  in  foreign  countries, 
and  w^holly  unsuitable  to  the  state  of  diseases  in  America. 
These  Dr.  Rush  pronounced  to  be  of  a  higher  grade,  and 
to  require  more  potent  remedies  than  were  usually  pre- 
scribed for  similar  diseases  in  the  old  world.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  depleting  mercurial  plan  of  treating  diseases 
so  strongly  recommended  l)y  our  professor,  has  done  mis- 
chief in  the  hands  of  persons  who  did  not  understand  it, 
or  were  ignorant  of  the  limitation  and  cautions  necessary 
in  its  application,  or  who  were  not  sufficiently  attentive  to 
the  varying  symptoms  of  their  patients.  But  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  the  system,  compared  with  those  which 
preceded  it,  is  a  good  one,  and  that  the  objections  to  it 
apply  to  every  efficient,  energetic  plan  of  treating  diseases. 
He  is  unworthy  of  the  name  of  a  physician,  who  does  not 
occasionally  risk  his  reputation  by  bold  but  judicious  ef- 
forts to  save  the  lives  of  his  patients.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  great  reformer  who  introduced  the  innovations, 
commonly  called  the  American  system  of  medicine,  did 
not  live  a  few  years  longer  to  discover  more  of  the  laws 
of  the  animal  economy,  more  principles  in  medicine,  and 
at  the  same  time,  to  perfect  those  he  had  already  discover- 
ed and  promulgated.  Than  Dr.  Rush,  no  man  more  read- 
ily retracted  his  opinions,  when  new  light  from  any  quarter 
whatever  pointed  out  their  defects.  Such  candor  is  a  char- 
acteristic of  a  great  mind.  He  knew  only  one  being,  the 
great  Eternal,  "  who  changeth  not,"  and  also  knew  that 
when  a  fallible  imperfect  mortal  gave  up  his  opinion,  on  be- 
ing convinced  that  it  was  erroneous,  he  became  wiser  than 
he  was  before.  Much  did  he  lament  the  injury  sustained 
by  the  medical  world,  from  the  obstinate  adherence  of  the 
celebrated  John  Hunter,  to  opinions  he  had  once  promul- 
gated, and  characterised  him  in  his  lectures,  as  one  "  who 
never  gave  up  any  thing  he  had  once  asserted  till  he  gave 
up  the  ghost."  It  was  not  so  with  Dr.  Rush  ;  his  latter 
works  and  lectures  frequently  announce  his  reasons  for  re- 
linquishing doctrines  he  believed  and  taught  in  younger 
life.  A  friend  to  free  inquiry,  he  invited  his  numerous 
pupils  to  think  and  judge  for  themselves,  and  would  free- 


36  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

ly,  and  in  a  friendly  manner,  explain  liis  principle?,  re- 
solve their  doubts,  listen  to  their  o]>jections,  and  either 
yield  to  their  force,   or   show  their  fallacy. 

Dr.  Rush's  principles  of  medicine  were  by  him  success- 
fully applied  to  the  cvire  of  consumptions,  dropsies,  hydro- 
cephalus internus,  apoplexy,  gout,  and  other  diseases  of  the 
body,  and  also  to  madness  and  other  diseases  of  the  mind. 
A  free  use  of  the  lancet,  in  almost  every  case,  and  particu- 
larly in  some  in  which  it  had  rarely  or  never  before  been 
used,  was  one  of  his  first  and  most  common  prescriptions. 
His  ingenious  and  able  defence  of  bleeding  is  founded  on 
his  tjieory  of  fever,  in  which  he  premises,  "  that  fevers 
of  all  kinds  are  preceded  by  general  debility,  natural  or 
accidental.  From  this  a  sudden  accumulation  of  excita- 
bility takes  place,  whereby  a  predisposition  to  fever  is 
created.  Depression  of  the  whole  system  follows,  and 
where  the  stimuli,  whether  morbid  or  natural,  are  continu- 
ed, reaction  is  induced,  and  in  this  reaction,  according  to 
its  greater  or  less  force  and  extent,  consist  the  different  de- 
grees of  fever.  It  is  of  an  irregular  or  a  convulsive  na- 
ture.  In  common  cases  it  is  seated  primarily  in  the  blood 
vessels,  and  particularly  in  the  arteries,  which  pervade 
every  part  of  the  body.  "  All  diseases  are  preceded  by 
debility.  Theye  is  but  one  exciting  cause  of  fever,  and 
that  is  stimulus  ;  and  that  consists  in  a  preternatural  and 
convulsive  action  of  the  blood  vessels.  All  the  supposed 
variety  of  fevers  have  but  one  proximate  cause,  and  that 
is  morbid  excitement.  All  ordinary  fevers  being  seated 
in  the  blood  vessels,  it  follows,  of  course,  that  all  those 
local  affections,  we  call  pleurisy,  angina,  phrenitis,  inter- 
nal dropsy  of  the  brain,  pulmonary  consumption,  and  in- 
flammation of  the  liver,  stomach,  bowels  and  limbs,  are 
symptoms  only  of  an  original  and  primary  disease  in  the 
sanguiferous  system."  The  artificial  division  of  fever 
into  genera  and  species  is  rejected  by  our  professor  for 
the  following  reasons  :  "  Much  mischief  has  been  done  by 
nosological  arrangements  of  diseases  ;  they  erect  imagin- 
ary boundaries  between  things  which  are  of  a  homogene- 
ous nature  ;  they  degrade  the  human  understanding,  by 
substituting  simple  perceptions  to  its  more  dignified  oper- 
ations in  judgment  and  reasoning  ;  they  gratify  indolence 
in  a  physician,  by  fixing  liis  attention  upon  the  name  of  a 
disease,  and  thereby  leading  him  to  neglect  the  varying 
state  of  the  system  ;   they  moreover  lay  a  foundation  for 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  37 

disputes  among  physicians  ;  the  whole  materia  medica  is 
infected  with  tiie  baneful  cons^equences  of  the  nomencla- 
ture of  diseases  ;  for  every  article  in  it  is  pointed  only 
against  tliese  names,  and  hence  the  origin  of  the  nuinerous 
contradictions  among  authors  wlio  describe  the  virtues  and 
doses  of  the  same  medicines.  By  the  rejection  of  the  arti- 
ficial arrangement  of  diseases,  a  revolution  must  follow  in 
medicine.  Observation  and  judgment  will  take  the  place 
of  [reading  and  memory,  and  prescriptions  will  be  con- 
formed to  existing  circumstances." 

At  the  end  of  a  long  dissertation  of  sixty-six  pages,  ex- 
plaining and  defending  his  principles.  Dr.  Rush  "  com- 
mits the  whole  to  his  pupils,  to  be  corrected  and  improv- 
ed," and  concludes  with  observing, 

"  We  think  our  fathers  fools,  so  wise  we  grow, 
Our  wiser  sons,  I  hope,  will  think  us  so." 

His  "  Defence  of  Bloodletting  as  a  Remedy  for  Certain 
Diseases,"  grounded  on  the  preceding  theory  of  fever,  oc- 
cupies eighty-six  pages  in  his  fourth  volume.  He  therein 
states,  that  bloodletting  in  violent  fevers,  wlien  used  at  a 
proper  time,  and  in  quantity  suited  to  the  force  of  the 
disease,  frequently  strangles  a  fever,  when  used  in  its  form- 
ing state,  and  thereby  saves  much  pain,  time  and  expense 
to  a  patient  ;  and  that  it  imparts  strength  to  the  body,  by 
removing  the  depression  which  is  induced  by  tlie  remote 
cause  of  the  fever.  Dr.  Rush  after  enumeratino;  the  other 
advantages  of  blood  letting  in  fevers,  then  proceeds  to  re- 
fute the  objections  to  it,  and  to  state  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  is  forbidden.  For  these  we  refer  to  his 
works. 

Dr.  Rush's  fondness  for  the  lancet  was  objected  to  by 
many.  But  his  friends  consider  it  as  a  great  improvement 
in  the  treatment  of  the  serious  diseases  most  generally 
prevalent  in  the  United  States.  On  the  correctness  of  this 
opinion,  his  fame  as  an  improver  of  medicine,  in  a  great 
degree,  must  eventually  rest.  We  have  therefore  for  the 
most  part  used  his  own  words  in  the  defence  of  this  prac- 
tice, though  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  liave  omitted  tlic 
many  pleasant  anecdotes  and  striking  cases  by  which  he 
illustrates  his  principles  ;  and  for  the  same  reason  we 
have  often  omitted  or  shortened  the  arguments  he  adduces 
in  support  of  them. 

The  year  1793  brought  the  theories  and  the  native 
strength   of   Dr.   Rush's  genius  to  the  test.     Philadelphia 


38  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

was  in  that  year  desolated  by  the  yellow  fever,  after  it 
had  disappeared  for  thirty-one  years.  This  baffled  the 
skill  of  the  oldest  and  most  judicious  physicians.  They 
differed  about  the  nature  and  treatment  of  it  ;  but,  in  a;en- 
eral,  free  evacuations  were  supposed  to  be  improper  from 
the  depressed  state  of  the  pulse,  which  was  a  common 
symptom.  The  prevailing  fever  was  considered  by  some 
as  a  modification  of  the  influenza,  and  by  others  as  the 
jail  fever.  Its  various  grades  and  symptoms  were  consid- 
ered as  so  many  different  diseases,  all  originating  from  dif- 
ferent causes.  There  was  the  same  contrariety  in  the 
practice  of  the  physicians  tiiat  there  was  in  their  princi- 
ples. This  general  calamity  lasted  for  about  one  hundred 
days,  extending  from  July  till  November.  The  deaths  in 
the  whole  of  this  distressing  period  were  four  thousand 
and  forty-four,  or  something  more  than  thirty-eight  each 
day,  on  an  average.  Whole  families  were  confined  by  it. 
There  was  a  deficiency  of  nurses  for  the  sick.  There  was 
likewise  a  great  deficiency  of  physicians,  from  the  deser- 
tion of  some  and  the  sickness  and  death  of  others.  At  one 
time  there  were  but  three  physicians  who  were  able  to  do 
business  out  of  their  houses,  and  at  this  time  there  were 
probably  not  less  than  six  thousand  persons  ill  with  the 
fever. 

A  cheerful  countenance  was  scarcely  to  be  seen  for  six 
weeks.  The  streets  every  where  discovered  marks  of  the 
distress  that  pervaded  the  city.  In  walking,  for  many 
hundred  yards,  few  persons  were  met,  except  such  as  were 
in  quest  of  a  physician,  a  nurse,  a  bleeder,  or  the  men  who 
buried  the  dead.  The  hearse  alone  kept  up  the  remem- 
brance of  the  noise  of  carriages  or  carts  in  the  streets.  A 
black  man  leading  or  driving  a  horse  with  a  corpse  on  a 
pair  of  chair  wheels,  met  the  eye  in  most  of  the  streets  of 
the  city  at  every  hour  of  the  day,  while  the  noise  of  the 
same  wheels,  passing  slowly  over  the  pavement,  kept  alive 
anguish  and  fear  in  the  sick  and  well,  every  hour  of  the 
night. 

All  the  physicians,  for  some  time  after  the  commence- 
ment of  this  disease,  were  unsuccessful  in  its  treatment. 
Dr.  Rush  tried,  in  the  first  instance,  the  gentle  jmrges 
used  in  the  yellow  fever  of  1762  ;  but  finding  them  unsuc- 
cessful, and  observing  the  disease  to  assume  uncommon 
symptoms  of  great  prostration  of  strength,  he  laid  them 
aside  about  the  20th  of  August,  and  had  recourse  to  ipecac- 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  39 

iianha  on  the  first  day  of  the  fever,  and  to  the  usual 
remedies  for  exciting  the  action  of  the  sanguiferous  system, 
and  gave  bark  in  all  its  usual  forms,  and  joined  wine, 
brandy  and  aromatics  with  it.  He  applied  blisters  to  the 
limbs,  neck  and  head.  Finding  them  all  ineffectual,  he 
attempted  to  rouse  the  system  by  wrapping  the  whole 
body  in  blankets  dipped  in  warm  vinegar.  He  rubbed 
the  right  side  with  mercurial  ointment,  with  a  view  of 
exciting  the  action  of  the  vessels  in  the  whole  system 
through  the  medium  of  the  liver.  None  of  these  remedies 
appeared  to  be  of  any  service.  Perplexed  and  distressed 
by  his  want  of  success-,  he  waited  upon  Dr.  Stevens,  an 
eminent  and  worthy  physician  from  St.  Croix,  who  hap- 
pened then  to  be  in  Philadelphia,  and  asked  for  such  ad- 
vice and  information  upon  the  subject  of  the  disease  as  his 
extensive  practice  in  the  West  Indies  would  naturally  sug- 
gest. He  replied,  that  "  he  had  long  ago  laid  aside 
evacuations  of  all  kinds  in  the  yellow  fever  ;  that  they 
had  been  found  to  be  hurtful,  and  that  the  disease  yielded 
more  readily  to  bark,  wine,  and,  above  all,  to  the  use  of 
the  cold  bath.  He  advised  the  bark  to  be  given  in  large 
quantities  and  in  every  possible  way,  and  pointed  out  the 
manner  in  which  the  cold  bath  should  be  used  so  as  to 
derive  the  greatest  benefit  from  it."  These  remedies  were 
faithfully  applied  by  Dr.  Rush.  Bark  was  prescribed  by 
him  in  large  quantities  and  in  various  ways.  Buckets  full 
of  cold  water  were  frequently  thrown  upon  patients.  The 
bark  was  offensive  to  the  stomach,  or  rejected  by  it  in 
every  case.  The  cold  bath  was  grateful,  and  procured 
relief  in  several  cases  by  inducing  a  moisture  on  the  skin. 
But  three  out  of  four  of  the  patients  died  to  whom  the 
cold  bath  was  administered  in  addition  to  the  tonic  reme- 
dies before  mentioned. 

The  disease  had  a  malignity  and  an  obstinacy  never  be- 
fore observed,  and  it  spread  Avith  a  rapidity  and  mortality 
far  exceeding  its  ravages  in  the  year  1762,  wlien  the  yel- 
low fever  had  last  visited  Philadelphia.  From  thirty  to 
seventy  died  every  day,  though  one  third  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  city  had  fled  into  the  country.  In  this  dread- 
ful state  of  things,  what  reward  woulJ  be  reckoned  too 
great  to  the  man  who  should  find  out  and  publish  a  remedy 
which  would  generally  cure  this  wasting  pestilence  .'' 
Heaven,  in  mercy  to  the  afflicted  inhabitants,  raised  up 
such  a  man   in   Dr.  Rush.     Well   knowing  the  numerous 


40  BENJAMIN    RUSH, 

and  complicated  distresses  which  pestilential  diseases  had 
often  produced  in  other  countries,  the  anguish  of  his  soul 
was  inexpressible.  But  he  did  not  despair  :  he  believed 
that  good  was  commensurate  with  evil,  and  that  there  did 
not  exist  a  disease  for  which  the  goodness  of  Providence 
had  not  provided  a  remedy.  Under  this  impression  he 
applied  himself  with  fresh  ardor  to  investigate  this  novel 
disease.  He  ransacked  his  library  and  pored  over  every 
book  that  treated  of  the  yellow  fever.  The  result  of  his 
researches,  for  a  while,  was  fruitless.  The  accounts  of  the 
symptoms  and  cure  of  the  disease,  by  the  authors  he  con- 
sulted, were  contradictory,  and  none  of  them  appeared 
altogether  applicable  to  the  prevailing  epidemic.  He  had 
among  some  old  papers  a  manuscript  account  of  the  yel- 
low fever  as  it  prevailed  in  Virginia  in  the  year  1741, 
which  was  given  to  liim  by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  had  been 
written  by  Dr.  Mitchell  of  Virginia.  This  was  read  with 
attention.  In  it  a  remark  was  made,  "  that  evacuation  by 
purges  was  moie  necessary  in  tliis  than  most  otlier  fevers, 
and  that  an  ill-timed  scrupulousness  about  the  weakness  of 
the  body  was  of  bad  consequence  in  these  urging  circum- 
stances." Solid  reasons  were  given  in  support  of  this 
opinion,  and  it  was  added,  "  I  can  affirm  that  I  have 
given  a  purge  in  this  case,  when  the  pulse  has  been  so  Ioav 
that  it  could  hardly  be  felt,  and  the  debility  extreme  ;  yet 
both  one  and  the  other  have  been  restored  by  it."  This 
single  sentence  was  the  groundwork  of  Dr.  Rush's  subse- 
quent successful  practice. 

From  these  words  a  new  train  of  ideas  suddenly  broke 
in  upon  his  mind.  He  was  led  to  believe  that  the  weak 
and  low  pulse  generally  observed  in  this  fever,  which  had 
Ijitherto  deterred  him  from  the  use  of  strong  evacuating 
remedies,  was  the  effect  of  debility  from  an  oppressed  state 
of  the  system.  His  reasoning  powers  taught  him  to  dis- 
tinguish between  this  and  an  exhausted  state.  His  fears 
from  large  evacuations  were  in  a  moment  dissipated.  He 
adopted  Dr.  Mitchell's  theory  and  practice,  and  resolved 
to  follow  them.  It  remained  now  only  to  fix  upon  a  suit- 
able purge  to  answer  the  purpose  of  freely  discharging 
the  contents  of  the  bowels.  Calomel,  in  doses  of  ten 
grains,  quickened  by  ten  or  fifteen  grains  of  jalap,  was 
preferred.  The  effects  of  this  powder,  especially  when  re- 
peated according  to  circumstances,  not  only  answered  but 
far  exceeded  his  expectations.     It  perfectly  cured  four  out 


BEXJAMIN    RUSH.  41 

of  the  first  five  patients  to  whom  lie  gave  it,  notwithstand- 
ing some  of  them  were  advanced  several  days  in  the 
disease. 

After  such  a  j)iedge  of  the  safety  and  success  of  this 
new  medicine,  he  communicated  the  prescription  to  such 
of  the  practitioners  as  he  met  in  the  streets.  Some  of 
them  he  found  had  heen  in  the  use  of  calomel  for  several 
days,  but  as  they  had  given  it  in  small  and  single  doses 
only,  and  had  followed  it  by  large  doses  of  bark,  wine 
and  laudanum,  they  had  done  little  or  no  good  with  it. 
He  imparted  the  prescription  to  the  College  of  Physicians 
on  the  third  of  September,  and  endeavored  to  remove  the 
fears  of  his  fellow  citizens,  by  assuring  them  that  the  dis- 
ease was  no  longer  incurable.  The  credit  it  acquired 
brought  him  an  immense  accession  of  business.  It  con- 
tinued to  be  almost  uniformly  effectual  in  nearly  all  those 
cases  which  he  was  able  to  attend,  either  in  person  or  by 
his  pupils.  But  he  did  not  rely  upon  purges  alone  to  cure 
the  disease.  The  theory  of  it  which  he  had  adopted,  led 
him  to  vise  other  remedies  to  abstract  excess  of  stimulus 
from  the  system.  These  were  blood  letting,  cool  air,  cold 
drinks,  low  diet,  and  application  of  cold  water  to  the 
body.  He  began  by  drawing  a  small  quantity  of  blood  at 
a  time.  The  appearance  of  it  when  drawn,  and  its  effects 
upon  the  system,  satisfied  him  of  its  safety  and  efficacy, 
and  encouraged  him  to  proceed.  Never  did  he  experience 
such  sublime  joy  as  he  now  felt  in  contemplating  the  suc- 
cess of  his  remedies.  It  repaid  him  for  all  the  toils  and 
studies  of  his  life.  The  conquest  of  this  formidable  dis- 
ease was  not  the  effect  of  accident,  nor  of  the  application 
of  a  single  remedy,  but  it  was  the  triumph  of  a  principle 
in  medicine.  In  this  joyful  state  of  mind  he  entered  in 
his  note  book,  dated  the  lOtli  of  September,  "  Thank 
God  !  out  of  one  hundred  patients  whom  I  have  visited 
or  prescribed  for  this  day,  I  have  lost  none.'' 

Being  unable  to  comply  with  the  numerous  demands 
which  Avere  made  upon  him  for  the  purging  powders,  not- 
withstanding he  had  employed  three  persons  to  assist  his 
pi.ipils  in  putting  them  up,  and  finding  himself  unable  to 
attend  all  the  persons  who  sent  for  him,  he  furnished  the 
apothecaries  with  the  receipt  for  the  mercurial  purges, 
together  with  printed  directions  for  giving  them,  and  for 
the  treatment  of  the  disease.  Had  he  consulted  his  own 
interest  he  would  silently  have  pursued  his  own  plans  of 
VOL.    II.  6 


43  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

cure  with  his  old  patients,  who  still  confided  in  him  and 
his  new  remedies  ;  but  he  felt  at  this  season  of  universal 
distress,  his  professional  obligations  to  all  the  citizens  of 
Philadelphia,  to  be  superior  to  private  and  personal  con- 
siderations, and  therefore  determined,  at  every  hazard,  to 
do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  save  their  lives.  Under 
the  influence  of  this  disposition  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  College  of  Physicians,  in  which  he  stated  his  objections 
to  Dr.  Stevens's  remedies,  and  defended  those  he  had  re- 
commended. He  likewise  defended  them  in  the  public 
papers,  against  the  attacks  that  were  made  upon  them  by 
several  of  the  physicians  of  the  city,  and  occasionally  ad- 
dressed such  advice  to  the  citizens  as  experience  had  sug- 
gested to  be  useful,  to  prevent  the  disease.  In  none  of  the 
recommendations  of  his  remedies  did  he  claim  the  credit 
of  their  discovery.  On  the  contrary,  he  constantly  en- 
deavored to  enforce  their  adoption  by  mentioning  prece- 
dents in  favor  of  their  efficacy  from  the  highest  authorities 
in  medicine.  This  controversy  was  encouraged  merely  to 
prevent  the  greater  evil  of  the  depopulation  of  Philadel- 
phia, by  the  use  of  remedies  wliich  had  been  prescribed 
by  himself  as  well  as  others,  not  only  without  effect,  but 
witli  evident  injury  to  the  sick.  The  repeated  and  numer- 
ous instances  of  their  inefiicacy,  and  the  almost  uniform 
success  of  the  depleting  remedies,  after  awhile  procured 
submission  to  the  latter  from  nearly  all  the  persons  who 
were  affected  by  the  fever. 

Many  whole  families,  consisting  of  five,  six,  and  in  three 
instances,  of  nine  members,  were  recovered  by  plentiful 
purging  and  bleeding.  These  remedies  were  prescribed, 
Avith  great  advantage,  by  several  of  the  pliysicians  of  the 
city.  But  the  use  of  them  was  not  restricted  to  the  phy- 
sicians alone  ;  the  clergy,  the  apothecaries,  many  private 
citizens,  several  intelligent  women,  and  two  black  men 
prescribed  them  with  great  success.  Nay  more,  many 
persons  prescribed  tliem  to  themselves.  It  was  owing  to 
the  almost  universal  use  of  these  remedies  that  the  mortal- 
ity of  the  disease  diminished  in  proportion  as  the  number 
of  persons  who  were  affected  by  it  increased.  It  is  [)roba- 
ble  that  not  less  than  six  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Philadelphia  were  saved  from  death,  by  purging  and 
bleeding,  during  the  autumn  of  1793. 

The  credit  which  this  new  mode  of  treating  the  disease 
acquired  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  produced  an  immense  in- 


BENJAMIN    RUSH. 


4S 


flux  of  patients  to  Dr.  Rush.  His  pupils  were  constantly 
employed  ;  at  first  in  putting  up  purging  powders,  but 
after  awhile  only  in  bleeding  and  visiting  the  sick. 

Between  the  8th  and  15th  of  September  Dr.  Rush  visit- 
ed and  prescribed  for  between  a  hundred  and  a  hundred 
and  twenty  patients  a  day.  In  the  short  intervals  of  busi- 
ness, which  he  spent  at  his  meals,  his  house  was  filled  with 
patients,  chiefly  the  poor,  waiting  for  advice.  For  many 
weeks  he  seldom  ate  without  prescribing  for  numbers  as 
he  sat  at  table.  To  assist  him,  three  of  his  pupils,  Mr. 
Stall,  Mr.  Fisher  and  Mr.  Cox,  accepted  of  rooms  in  his 
house,  and  became  members  of  his  family.  Their  labors 
now  had  no  remission.  He  employed  every  moment  in 
the  interval  of  his  visits  to  the  sick,  in  prescribing  in  his 
house  for  the  poor,  or  in  sending  answers  to  messages  from 
his  patients.  Unable  to  comply  with  the  numerous  appli- 
cations that  were  made  to  him,  he  was  obliged  to  refuse 
many  every  day.  His  sister  counted  forty-seven  appli- 
cants for  medical  aid  turned  off'in  one  forenoon  before  eleven 
o'clock.  In  ridingr  through  the  streets  he  was  often  forced 
to  resist  the  entreaties  of  parents  imploring  a  visit  to  their 
children,  or  of  children  to  their  parents.  He  v/as  sometimes 
obliged  to  tear  himself  from  persons  who  attejnpted  to  slop 
him,  and  to  urge  his  way  by  driving  his  chair  as  speedily 
as  possible  beyond  the  reach  of  their  cries.  While  he  was 
thus  overwhelmed  with  business,  and  his  own  life  endan- 
gered without  being  able  to  answer  the  numerous  calls 
made  on  him,  he  received  letters  from  his  friends  in  the 
country  pressing  him  in  the  strongest  terms  to  leave  the 
city.  To  one  of  these  letters  he  replied,  "  that  he  had 
resolved  to  stick  to  his  principles,  his  practice  and  his 
patients  to  the  last  extremity." 

Dr.  Rush's  incessant  labors  of  mind  and  body,  by  night 
and  by  day,  nearly  cost  him  his  life  ;  but  by  bleeding  and 
purging,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Fisher,  then  one  of  his 
pupils,  but  now  an  eminent  physician  of  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  his  valuable  life  was  preserved  for  twenty-three 
years'  further  usefulness. 

We  have  been  particular  in  describing  tlie  yellow  fev^er 
as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  1793.  Tliis  was  the 
most  eventful  year  in  the  life  of  Dr.  Rush.  It  laid  a  solid 
foundation  for  his  fame,  which  will  last  till  sin  and  sick- 
ness are  no  more.  Had  tlie  same  events  taken  place  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  Pagan  world,  he  would  have  been  deified  ; 


44  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

if  in  the  dark  ages  of  the  Christian  era,  he  would  have 
been  canonized,  and  worshipped  as  a  saint.  His  friends  in 
the  nineteenth  century  prefer  no  farther  claim  on  their 
countrymen,  than  that  his  meritorious  and  beneficial  ser- 
A'ices  be  properly  appreciated  and  kept  in  grateful  remem- 
brance. 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  Dr.  Rush  as  an  author. 
His  printed  works  consist  of  seven  volumes,  six  of  which 
treat  of  medical  subjects,  inclusive  of  the  volume  of  Intro- 
ductory Lectures.  One  is  a  collection  of  essays,  literary, 
moral  and  philosophical.  Your  time  will  not  permit  our 
review  of  these  invaluable  writings,  or  even  to  recapitulate 
the  subjects   therein  discussed.*     I   shall    therefore   pass 


*  Dr.  Rush's  works,  printed  in  his  lifetime,  treat  on  the  following  subjects  : 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  natural  history  of  medicine  among  the  Indians  of  North 
America,  and  a  comparative  view  of  their  diseases  and  remedies,  with  those  of  civ- 
ilized nations. 

"  An  account  of  the  climate  of  Pennsylvania,  and  its  influence  upon  the  human 
body. 

"  An  account  of  the  bilious  remitting  fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  the  year  17S0. 

"  An  account  of  the  scarlatina  anginosa,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
years  1783  and  1784. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  cholera  infantum. 

"  Observations  on  the  cynanche  trachealis. 

"  An  account  of  the  efficacy  of  blisters  and  bleeding  in  the  cure  of  obstinate  in- 
termitting fevers. 

"  An  account  of  the  disease  occasioned  by  drinking  cold  water  in  warm  weather, 
and  the  method  of  curing  it. 

"  An  account  of  the  efficacy  of  common  salt  in  the  cure  of  hasmoptysis. 

"  Thoughts  on  the  cause  and  cure  of  pulmonary  consumption. 

"  Observations  upon  worms  in  the  alimentary  canal,  and  upon  anthelmintic  medi- 
cines. 

"  An  account  of  the  external  use  of  arsenic  in  the  cure  of  cancers. 

"  Observations  on  the  tetanus. 

"  The  result  of  observations  made  upon  the  diseases  which  occurred  in  the  mili- 
tary hospitals  of  the  United  States,  during  the  revolutionary  war^ 

"  An  account  of  tlie  influence  of  the  military  and  political  events  of  the  Ameri- 
can revolution  upon  the  human  body. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  relations  of  tastes  and  aliments  to  each  other,  and  upon 
the  influence  of  this  relation  upon  health  and  pleasure. 

"  The  new  method  of  inoculating  for  the  smallpox. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  efi^ects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  the  human  body  and  mmd, 
with  an  account  of  the  means  of  preventing,  and  the  remedies  for  curing  them. 

"  Observations  on  the  duties  of  a  physician,  and  the  methods  of  improving  medi- 
cines ;  accommodated  to  the  present  state  of  society  and  manners  in  the  United 
States. 

'•  An  inquiry  into  the  causes  and  cure  of  sore  legs. 

"  An  account  of  the  state  of  the  body  and  mind  in  old  age,  with  observations  on 
its  diseases  and  their  remedies.  /l/k 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon  the  moral  faculty. 

"  Observations  upon  the  cause  and  cure  of  pulmonary  consumption. 

"  Observations  upon  the  symptoms  and  cure  of  dropsies. 

"  Inquiry  into  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  gout. 

"  Obseirations  on  the  nat'ire  and  cure  of  ihe  hydrophobia. 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  4^ 

over  this  part  of  my  subject,  only  remarking  that  his 
medical  works  are  so  original,  and  so  well  adapted  to  our 
local  situation,  that  they  should  be  carefully  perused  by 
every  medical  student ;  for   they  unfold  true  principles, 


"  An  account  of  the  measles  as  they  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the  spring  of 
1789. 

"  An  account  of  the  influenza,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  the  years  1790 
and  1791. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  cause  of  animal  life. 
"  Outlines  of  a  theory  of  fever. 

"  An  account  of  the  bilious  yellow  fever,  as  it  appeared  in  Philadelphia  in  1793, 
and  of  each  successive  year  till  1805. 

"  An  inquiry   into  the  various    sources    of  the    usual  forms  of  the    summer  and 
autumnal  diseases  in  the  United  States,  and  the  means  of  preventing  them. 
"  Facts,  intended  to  prove  the  yellow  fever  not  to  be  contagious. 
"  Defence  of  bloodletting,  as  a  remedy  in  certain  diseases. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  comparative  states  of  medicine  in  Philadelphia,  between 
the  years  1760  and  1766,  and  1805. 

"  A  volume  of  essays,  literary,  moral  and  philosophical,  in  which  the  following 
subjects  are  discussed  : 

"  A  plan  for  establishing  public  schools  in  Pennsylvania,  and  for  conducting  edu- 
cation agreeably  to  a  republican  form  of  government.     Addressed  to  the  legislature, 
and  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  1786. 
"  Of  the  mode  of  education  proper  in  a  republic. 

"  Observations  upon  the  study  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  as  a  branch  of 
liberal  education  ;  with  hints  of  a  plan  of  liberal  instruction  without  them,  accom- 
modated to  the  present  state  of  society,  Tnanners  and  government,  in  the  United 
States. 

"  Thoughts  upon  the  amusements  and  punishments  which  are   proper  for  schools. 
"  Thoughts  upon  female  education,  accommodated  to  the  present  state  of  society, 
manners  and  government,  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
"  A  defence  of  the  Bible  as  a  school  book. 

"  An  address  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  every  denomination  in  the  United 
States,  upon  subjects  interesting  to  morals. 

"  An  inquiry  into  the  consistency  of  the  punishment  of  murder  by  death,  with 
reason  and  revelation. 
"  A  plan  of  a  peace-office  for  the  United  States. 

"  Information  to  Europeans  who  are  disposed  to  migrate  to  the  United  States  of 
America. 

"  An  account  of  the  progress  of  population,  agriculture,  manners  and  govern- 
ment in  Pennsylvania. 

"  An  account  of  the  manners  of  the  German  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania. 
"  Thoughts  on  common  sense. 

•'  An  account  of  the  vices  peculiar  to  the  Indians  of  North  America. 
"  Observations  upon  the  influence    of  the  habitual  use   of  tobacco,  upon  health, 
morals  and  property. 

"  An  account  of  the  sugar  maple  tree  of  the  United  States. 

"  An  account  of  the  life  and  death  of  Edward  Drinker,  who  died  on  the  17lh  of 
November,  1782,  in  the  one  hundred  and  third  year  of  his  age. 

"  Remarkable  circumstances  in  the  constitution  and  life  of  Ann  Woods,  an  old 
woman  of  ninety-six  years  of  age. 

"  Biographical  anecdotes  of  Benjamin  Lay. 
"  Biographical  anecdotes  of  Anthony  Benezet. 
"  Paradise  of  negro  slaves — a  dream.       ,,- 
"  Eulogium  upon  Dr.  William  Cullen. 
"  Eulogium  upon  David  Rittenhouse. 

"  A  volume  of  lectures,  most  of  which  were  introductory  to  his  annual  courses  of 
lectures  on  the  institutes  and  practice  of  medicine. 

"  Medical  inquiries  and  observations  on  the  diseases  ol  the  mind. 


46  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

which  will  lead  the  physician  of  genius  to  correct,  effi- 
cient, and  energetic  practice.  To  the  American  student 
theyiare  of  incalculaljle  value  ;  for  they  convey  that  practi- 
cal knowledge  of  our  climate,  and  peculiar  diseases,  which 
will  contribute  more  to  his  success  than  any  books  he  can 
import  from  foreign  countries.  His  miscellaneous  essays 
deserve  the  serious  attention  of  every  member  of  our  nu- 
merous legislative  bodies.  His  lecture  on  medical  juris- 
prudence should  be  read,  not  only  by  physicians,  but  by 
judges,  jurymen  and  lawyers.  This  subject  has  never 
before  been  discussed  in  this  country,  and  very  little  can 
be  gleaned  from  all  who  have  written  on  it  in  Europe. 

Dr.  Rush's  volume  of  Medical  Inquiries  and  Observa- 
tions on  the  Diseases  of  the  Mind,  is  the  fruit  of  accurate 
observation  and  long  experience,  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital. It  was  his  last  contribution  to  the  literature  of  his 
country.  Though  for  many  years  digested  in  his  own 
mind,  it  was  published  only  six  months  before  his  death. 
Dr.  Rush  was  a  public  writer  for  forty-nine  years,  and 
from  the  nineteenth  to  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 
It  was  a  singular  opinion  of  his  own,  but  in  unison  with 
his  medical  system,  "  that  ideas,  whether  acquired  from 
books  or  by  reflection,  produced  a  plethora  in  the  mind, 
which  can  only  be  relieved  by  depletion  from  the  pen  or 
tongue."  It  is  matter  of  wonder  how  a  physician  who 
had  so  many  patients  to  attend  ;  a  professor  who  had  so 
many  pupils  to  instruct,  could  find  leisure  to  write  so 
much,  and  at  the  same  time  so  well.  Our  wonder  will  cease 
when  it  is  known  that  he  suffered  no  fragments  of  time 
to  be  wasted,  and  that  he  improved  every  opportunity  of 
acquiring  knowledge,  and  used  all  practicable  means  for 
retaining  and  digesting  what  he  had  acquired.  In  his 
early  youth  he  had  the  best  instructers,  and  in  every  period 
of  his  life  great  opportunities  for  mental  improvement. 
He  was  gifted  from  Heaven  with  a  lively  imagination,  a 
retentive  memory,  a  discriminating  judgment,  and  he  made 
the  most  of  all  these  advantages.  From  boyhood  till  his 
last  sickness,    he  was  a  constant  and  an  indefatigable  stu- 


"  An  account  of  the  effects  of  stramonium  or  thorn  apple,  published  in  1770. 

"  A  letter  on  the  usefulness  of  wort  in  ill  conditioned  ulcers,  to  his  friend  Dr. 
Huck  of  London,  which  was  published  in  the  Medical  Observations  and  Inquiries  of 
London,  vol.  iv. 

"  A  letter  to  Dr.  Hosack,  on  the  Hydrophobia,  published  in  Hosack  and  Francis' 
Medical  Register,  1814." 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  47 

dent.     He  read  much,  but  thought  more.     His  mind  was 
constantly  engrossed  with  at  least  one  literary  inquiry,  to 
which,  for   the  time,  he  devoted  his  undivided   attention. 
To  make  himself  master   of  that  subject,  he  read,  he  me- 
ditated, he  conversed.      It  was  less  his  custom   to  read  a 
book  through,    than  to  read   as   much  of  all  the  authors 
within  his  reach,  as  bore  on  the  subject  of  his  present  in- 
quiry.    His  active  mind  brooded  over  the   materials   thus 
collected,  compared  his  ideas,  and   traced   their  relations 
to   each  other,  and  from  the  whole  drew  his  own  conclu- 
sions.    In  these,  and  similar  mental  exercises,  he  was  ha- 
bitually and  almost  constantly  employed,  and  daily  aggre- 
gated and  multiplied  his  intellectual  stores.     In  this  man- 
ner his  sound  judgment  was  led  to  form  those  new   com- 
binations which  constitute  principles  in  science.     He  form- 
ed acquaintances  with  his   literary  fellow  citizens  and   all 
well  informed  strangers  who   visited   Philadelphia,    and 
drew  from  them  every  atom  of  information  he  could  ob- 
tain, by  conversing  on  the  subjects  with  which  they  were 
best  acquainted.     He  extracted  so  largely  from  the  maga- 
zine of  knowledge  deposited  in  the  expanded  mind  of  Dr. 
Franklin,    that  he  mentioned  to  me  many  years   ago,  his 
intention  to  write  a  book  with  the  title  of  Frankliniana,  in 
which  he   proposed    to  collect  the   fragments  of  wisdom 
which  he  had  treasured  in  his  memory,  as  they  fell  in  con- 
versation from  the  lips  of  this  great  original  genius.     To 
Dr.  Rash  every  place  was  a  school,  every  one  with  whom 
he  conversed  was  a  tutor.     He  was  never  without  a  book, 
for,  when  he  had  no  other,  the  book  of  nature  was  before 
him,  and  engaged  his  attention.     In  his  lectures  to  his  pu- 
pils, he  advised  them  to  "  lay  every  person  they  met  with, 
whether  in  a  packet  boat,  a  stage  wagon,  or  a  public  road, 
under  contribution,  for  facts  on  physical  subjects."     What 
the  professor  recommended  to  them,  he  practised  himself. 
His  eyes  and  e?frs  weie  open  to  see,  hear,  and  profit  by 
every  occurrence.     The  facts  he  received  from  persons  in 
all  capacities  are  improved  to  some  valuable  purpose.     He 
illustrates  one  of  his  medical  theories  by  a  fact  communi- 
cated by  a  butcher  ;  another  from  an  observation  made  by 
a  madman,  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.     In  his  scientific 
work  on  the  diseases  of  the  mind,    he  refers  frequently  to 
poets,  and  particularly  to  Shakspearc,  to  illustrate  the  his- 
tory of  madness,  and  apologizes   for  it  in    the    following 
words.     "  They,  poets,  view  the  human  mind   in    all  its 


48  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

operations,  whether  natural  or  morbid,  with  a  microscop- 
ic eye,  and  hence  many  things  arrest  their  attention  which 
escape  the  notice  of  physicians."  It  may  be  useful  to  stu- 
dents to  be  informed  that  Dr.  Rush  constantly  kept  by 
him  a  note  book,  consisting  of  two  parts,  in  one  of  which 
he  entered  facts  as  they  occurred  ;  in  the  other,  ideas  and 
observations  as  they  arose  in  his  own  mind,  or  were  sug- 
gested by  others  in  conversation.  His  mind  was  under 
such  complete  discipline,  that  he  could  read  or  write  witli 
perfect  composure,  in  the  midst  of  the  noise  of  his  child- 
ren, the  conversation  of  his  family,  and  the  common  inter- 
rogatories of  his  visiting  patients.  A  very  moderate  pro- 
portion of  his  time  was  devoted  to  sleep,  and  much  less  to 
the  pleasures  of  the  table.  In  the  latter  case,  sittings  were 
never  prolonged  but  in  conversation  on  useful  subjects, 
and  for  purposes  totally  distinct  from  the  gratifications  of 
appetite.  In  the  course  of  nearly  seventy  years  spent  in 
this  manner,  he  acquired  a  sum  of  useful  practical  know- 
ledge that  has  rarely  been  attained  by  one  man  in  any  age 
or  country.  It  may  be  useful  to  survivers,  to  be  informed 
that  his  incessant  labors,  both  of  mind  and  body,  neither 
shortened  his  life,  nor  impaired  his  health.  In  a  letter  I 
received  from  him  in  1803,  he  observes,  "  I  continue, 
through  divine  goodness,  to  enjoy,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year 
of  my  age,  uncommon  good  health."  In  a  letter  to  his 
kinsman  Dr.  Finley  in  1809,  he  observes  :  "  in  my  sixty- 
fifth  year  I  continue  to  enjoy  uncommon  health,  and  the 
same  facility  in  studying  and  doing  business  that  I  possess- 
ed five  and  twenty  years  ago."  And  again,  in  another, 
dated  March  4th,  1813,  about  six  weeks  before  his  death, 
he  observes  :  "  through  divine  goodness,  I  continue  to  en- 
joy uncommon  health  for  a  man  in  his  sixty-ninth  year. 
Now  and  then  I  am  reminded  of  my  age  by  light  attacks 
of  the  tussis  senilis,  but  tliey  do  not  impair  my  strength 
nor  lessen  my  facility  in  doing  business." 

Medical  inquiries  were  the  primary  objects  of  Dr. 
Rush's  attention  ;  but  he  took  such  a  comprehensive  view 
of  his  profession,  that  he  'iftade  all  branches  of  knowledge 
tributary  to  it.  From  the  philosophy  of  mind  as  connect- 
ed with  the  body,  he  drew  many  useful  hints  respecting 
the  functions  and  diseases  of  the  latter.  Theology  ;  meta- 
physics ;  natural  and  civil  history  ;  philosophy,  natural, 
moral  and  political ;  the  principles  and  practices  of  agri- 
culture ;  the  liberal,  mechanical,  and   chemical  arts  ;   his- 


BENJAMIN    RUSH. 


49 


tories  of  voyages,  travels,  and  the  lives  of  illustrious  char- 
acters, and  the  nature  of  man  under  all  its  varieties  of  age, 
country,  religion,  climate,  and  form  of  government,  were 
so  far  known  to  him  as  to  furnish  facts,  illustrations,  and 
analogies,  casting  light  on  medical  subjects.  To  politics, 
in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  he  paid  great  attention  ;  but 
not  to  the  unimportant  controversies  stirred  up  by  those 
who  were  contending  for  the  loaves  and  fishes  of  govern- 
ment. Three  great  political  subjects,  for  the  time  being, 
engrossed  his  whole  soul  ;  the  independence  of  his  coun- 
try ;  the  establishment  of  good  constitutions  for  the  United 
States,  and  for  his  own  particular  state  ;  to  enlighten  the 
public  mind  and  to  diffuse  correct  ideas.  On  these  impor- 
tant disquisitions  he  labored  night  and  day.  Many  were 
the  productions  of  his  pen,  which,  under  a  variety  of 
names,  issued  through  the  medium  of  the  press  to  dispel 
prejudices,  obviate  objections,  correct  erroneous  impress- 
ions, and,  in  general,  to  dispose  his  fellow  citizens  to  dis- 
cern the  true,  extended,  permanent  interest  of  their  coun- 
try, and  to  sacrifice  to  it  all  minor  considerations. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  the  bustle  of  politics  his  coun- 
try, sensible  of  his  merit,  conferred  sundry  ofiices  on  him. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  congress  which,  in  1776,  declared 
these  states  free  and  independent.  In  this  event  he  glori- 
ed, and  from  it  he  expected  much  good,  and  that  of  no 
common  kind.  While  others  counted  on  the  increase  of 
commerce,  the  influx  of  riches,  the  high  rank  among  na- 
tions, which  awaited  the  new  formed  states.  Dr.  Rush's 
attention  was  preferably  fixed  on  the  expansion  of  the  hu- 
man mind  likely  to  grow  out  of  independence.  From 
the  happy  state  of  things  which  left  every  man  at  liberty 
to  thinlc  what  he  pleased,  and  to  speak  what  he  thought  ; 
to  pursue  his  own  interest  and  the  impulse  of  his  mind  in 
any  way  he  thought  best,  without  any  control  from  privi- 
leged orders,  or  the  restraints  of  arbitrary  government, 
he  anticipated  a  great  increase  of  talents  and  knowledge. 
The  progress  of  eloquence,  of  science,  and  of  mind  in  all 
its  various  pursuits,  was  considered  by  him  as  the  neces- 
sary effect  of  republican  constitutions,  and  in  the  prospect 
of  them  he  rejoiced.  Nor  M^as  he  disappointed,  for  in  a 
lecture,  delivered  in  November  1799,  he  observes  :  "  From 
a  strict  attention  to  the  state  of  mind  in  this  country,  be- 
fore the  year  1774  and  at  the  present  time,  I  am  satisfied 
the  ratio  of  intellect  is  as  twenty  are  to  one,  and  of  know- 

VOL.    11.  7 


50  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

ledge  as  a  hundred  are  to  one,  in  these  states,  compared 
with  what  they  were  before  the  American  revolution." 

Dr.  Rush  served  his  country  in  the  capacity  of  Physi- 
cian General,  in  the  middle  department,  in  the  revolution- 
ary army.  The  observations  he  there  made  on  our  hos- 
pitals, army  diseases,  and  the  effects  of  the  revolution  on 
the  army  and  people,  are  before  the  public.  They  consti- 
tute a  valuable  part  of  his  works,  and  afford  an  ample 
testimony  of  his  talent  for  accurate  observation. 

For  the  last  fourteen  years  of  his  life,  he  was  tlie  treas- 
urer of  the  national  mint,  by  appointment  of  President 
Adams.  This  office  was  conferred  as  a  homage  to  talents 
and  learning,  and  did  equal  honor  to  him  who  gave  and 
to  him  who  received  it. 

In  the  establishment  and  support  of  the  many  private 
associations  for  the  advancement  of  human  happiness 
which  abound  in  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Rush  was  uncommonly 
active.  Of  Dickinson  College,  in  Carlisle,  he  may  be  said 
to  be  the  father.  He  saw  the  tide  of  population  spread- 
ing westward,  and  the  necessity  of  its  being  accompanied 
with  the  means  of  acquiring  an  education  competent  to  the 
purposes  of  civil  society.  His  influence  was  not  only  in- 
strumental in  establishing  this  western  college,  but  particu- 
larly so  in  bringing  from  Scotland  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nisbet,  of 
Montrose,  to  preside  over  it.  Very  few  liave  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  settle  in  these  states,  whose  literary  attainments 
were  equal  to  this  gentleman's.  Dr.  Rush's  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  literature  was  not  confined  to  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, he  eloquently  advocated  the  establishment  of  free 
schools,  and  for  conducting  the  education  of  the  youth  of 
the  country  agreeably  to  its  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment. "  Let  there  be,"  he  said,  "  free  schools  established 
in  every  township,  or  in  districts  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred families.  In  these  schools  let  children  be  taught  to 
read  and  write,  and  the  use  of  figures.  By  this  plan  the 
Avhole  state  will  be  tied  together  by  one  system  of  educa- 
tion, and  become  one  great  and  enlightened  family."  He 
further  adds  :  "  The  independence  of  our  country  has 
created  a  new  class  of  duties  to  every  American.  It  be- 
comes us,  therefore,  to  adapt  our  modes  of  teaching  to 
the  peculiar  form  of  our  government."  He  observes, 
"  that  an  education  in  our  own,  is  to  be  preferred  to  an 
education  in  a  foreign  country.  That  the  only  foundation 
for  a  useful  education,  in  a  republic,  is  to  be  laid  in  reli- 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  51 

gion.  Without  this  there  can  be  no  virtue,  and  without 
virtue  there  can  be  no  liberty  ;  and  liberty  is  the  object 
and  life  of  all  republican  governments."  He  declares, 
"  that  he  would  rather  see  the  oj)inions  of  Confucius  or 
Mahomed  inculcated  upon  our  youth,  than  see  them  grow 
up  wholly  devoid  of  a  system  of  religious  principles.  But 
the  religion  he  recommends  is  that  of  the  New  Testament." 
He  o])serves,  "  all  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  Christ- 
ian religion  are  calculated  to  promote  the  happiness  of 
society,  and  the  safety  and  well  being  of  civil  government. 
A  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  a  republican.  The  history 
of  the  creation  of  man,  and  of  the  relation  of  our  species  to 
each  other  by  birth,  which  is  recorded  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, is  tlie  best  refutation  that  can  be  given  to  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  and  the  strongest  argument  that  can  be  used 
in  favor  of  the  original  and  natural  equality  of  all  man- 
kind. A  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  a  republican,  for 
every  precept  of  the  Gospel  inculcates  those  degrees  of 
humility,  self-denial,  and  brotherly  kindness,  which  are 
directly  opposed  to  the  pride  of  monarchy  and  the  page- 
antry of  a  court.  A  Christian  cannot  fail  of  being  useful 
to  the  republic,  for  his  religion  teacheth  him  that  no  man 
'  liveth  to  himself.'  And,  lastly,  a  Christian  cannot  fail  of 
being  wholly  inoffensive,  for  his  religion  teacheth  him,  in 
all  things,  to  do  to  others  what  lie  could  wish,  in  like  cir- 
cumstances, they  should  do  to  him." 

The  Philadelphia  Dispensary,  the  first  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  United  States,  owes  its  origin  to  the  illustrious 
philanthropist  whose  death  we  lament.  His  pen  demon- 
strated the  advantages  of  such  an  institution  ;  and  when 
the  public  mind  was  favorably  impressed  towards  it,  he 
preconcerted  with  Dr.  Moyes,  the  blind  philosopher,  to 
give  a  public  lecture,  the  proceeds  of  Avhich  were  to  be 
appropriated  as  the  beginning  of  a  fund  to  support  this 
novel  institution.  Curiosity,  prompted  by  benevolence, 
drew  forth  a  very  large  audience.  A  handsome  sum  was 
collected.  This  formed  a  nucleus  for  private  contributions. 
These  flowed  in  so  ])rofusely,  that  the  institution  was 
speedily  organized,  and  from  the  year  1786  to  this  day,  it 
has  been  a  great  public  blessing,  extending  annually  medi- 
cal relief  to  several  htmdreds  of  the  sick  poor  in  their  own 
houses.  The  good  example  was  speedily  followed  by 
Boston,  New-York,  Baltimore,  Charleston,  and  some  other 
cities. 


52  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

The  enlarged  ideas  that  grew  out  of  the  American  revo- 
lution, were  in  unison  with  the  comprehensive  views  ot" 
Dr.  Rash.  He  reflected  witli  horror  on  the  sanguinary 
punishments  annexed  to  crimes  by  European,  and  conse- 
quently American  legislators,  which  had  no  tendency  to 
reform  offenders.  To  eradicate  prejudices,  and  to  substi- 
tute in  their  place  correct  ideas  of  tlie  legitimate  objects 
of  penal  laws,  was  an  arduous  labor,  but  essentially  pre- 
requisite to  any  reform.  To  accomplish  a  revolution  in 
the  public  mind  favorable  to  these  views,  and  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  new  republican  system  of  government,  a  so- 
ciety was  instituted  in  Philadelphia,  for  promoting  politi- 
cal inquiries.  This  usually  met  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin. I  have  no  precise  information  wlio  was  the  first 
mover  of  these  investigations  ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
Dr.  Rush  was  an  active  member  of  the  society  ;  and  that 
in  1787,  he  read  before  it  his  elaborate  dissertation  enti- 
tled, "  An  Inquiry  into  the  effects  of  public  punishments  on 
criminals  and  upon  society."  In  this  paper  he  proposed 
that  all  punishments  should  be  private,  and  that  they 
should  consist  of  confinement,  different  kinds  of  labor, 
low  diet,  and  solitude,  accompanied  by  religious  in- 
struction. The  principles  contained  in  this  pamphlet, 
were  opposed  with  acrimony  and  ridicule  in  the  newspa- 
pers. They  were  considered  as  the  schemes  of  a  humane 
heart,  but  wild  and  visionary  imagination,  which  it  was 
impossible  ever  to  realize. 

In  1788  Dr.  Rush  published  a  second  pamphlet,  entitled, 
"  An  Inquiry  into  the  justice  and  policj^  of  punishing  mur- 
der by  death,"  in  which  he  denied  the  right  of  govern- 
ment to  punish  even  the  crime  of  deliberate  murder  by 
death.  To  this  pamphlet  a  reply  was  written  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Annan,  who  chiefly  derived  his  arguments  from  Script- 
ure. Upon  those  texts  Dr.  Rush  published  a  number  of 
remarks,  intended  to  prove  that  they  all  referred  to  the 
dispensations  of  Noah  and  Moses,  and  that  they  were  com- 
pletely abrogated  by  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the 
Gospel.  In  the  year  1793,  Mr.  Bradford,  the  Attorney 
General  of  Pennsylvania,  published  an  "  Inc^uiry  how  far 
the  punishment  of  death  is  necessary  in  Pennsylva- 
nia," calculated  to  enforce  and  establish  the  principles  and 
arguments  previously  laid  down  by  Dr.  Rush.  At  the 
following  session  of  the  legislature,  the  punidiment  of  death 
was  abolished    for   all   crimes   except  murder  of  the  fir&t 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  0<i 

degree.  In  all  other  cases,  solitary  confinement  and  labor 
were  substituted  in  lieu  of  corporal  punishment  and  com- 
mon imprisonment.  The  result  has  been  highly  gratify- 
ing to  tixe  friends  of  humanity.  Crimes  have  dimin- 
ished in  number.  Few  reconvictions  have  taken  place, 
though  many  otFenders  have  been  restored  to  society,  and 
in  several  cases  before  the  expiration  of  their  sentence. 
Criminals  have  been  restrained  from  a  re})etition  of  their 
offences,  while  they  were  vuider  a  discipline  which  often 
issued  in  their  permanent  reformation.  At  the  same  time, 
the  public  burdens  have  been  lessened,  for  the  labor  of  the 
confined  culprits  overpaid  all  expenses,  both  of  their  main- 
tenance and  of  the  establishment."  This  good  example, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  dispensary,  was  successfully  followed 
by  several  of  the  states,  and  bids  fair  to  become  general 
throughout  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Rush's  philanthropy  was  manifested  in  his  ^reat 
zeal  to  repress  the  immoderate  uge  of  ardent  spirits  and 
of  tobacco.  His  "  Inquiry  into  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits 
upon  the  human  body  and  mind,"  has  been  more  read 
than  any  of  his  works.  All  the  medical  philosophy  that 
was  pertinent  to  the  subject,  was  incorporated  with  it. 
Brilliant  descriptions  of  the  personal  and  family  distress 
occasioned  by  that  vice,  and  of  its  havoc  on  the  minds, 
bodies  and  estates  of  its  unhappy  votaries,  wxre  given, 
and  the  means  of  prevention  and  cure  pointed  out.  The 
whole  was  illustrated  by  a  scale,  graduated  like  a  ther- 
mometer, showing  at  one  view  the  effects  of  certain  enu- 
merated liquors  on  the  body,  the  mind  and  the  condition 
in  society  of  those  who  are  addicted  to  them.  In  the  last 
year  of  Dr.  Rtish's  life,  he  presented  to  the  general  assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  one 
thousand  copies  of  this  popvilar  pamphlet,  to  be  given 
away  among  the  people  of  their  respective  congregations.* 
About  the  same  time  tliat  numerous  and  respectable  body 
passed  a  resolution,  enjoining  on  their  members  to  exert 
themselves  in  counteracting  this  ruinous  vice. 

In  his  "  Observations  upon  the  influence  of  the  habitual 
use  of  tobacco  upon  health,  morals  and  property,"  our 
professor  employed  his  eloquent  pen  in  dissuading  from 
practices  which,  though  to  a  certain  extent    harmless,   in- 


*  Many  hundred  thousand  copies  of  this  valuable  tract  have  been  distributed  in 
the  United  States. 


54  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

sensibly  grow  into  habits  productive  of  many  unforeseen 
evils. 

Dr.  Rush  was  a  great  practical  physician.  In  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases  he  was  eminently  successful,  and  in  de- 
scribing their  symptoms  and  explaining  their  causes,  he 
was  uncommonly  accurate.  Nor  is  this  matter  of  wonder, 
for  he  was  minutely  acquainted  with  the  histories  of  dis- 
eases of  all  ages,  countries  and  occupations.  The  annals 
of  medicine  cannot  produce  an  account  of  any  great  epi- 
demic disease,  that  has  visited  our  earth  in  any  age  or 
country,  which  is  more  minute,  accurate  and  completely 
satisfactory,  than  Dr.  Rush's  description  of  the  yellow 
fever  of  1793,  in  Philadelphia.  Had  he  never  wrote 
another  line,  this  alone  woulcl  have  immortalized  his  name. 
He  was  a  physician  of  no  common  cast.  His  prescriptions 
were  not  confined  to  doses  of  medicine,  but  to  the  regula- 
tion of  the  diet,  air,  dress,  exercise  and  mental  actions  of 
his  patients,  so  as  to  prevent  disease,  and  to  make  healthy 
men  and  women  from  invalids.  His  preeminence  as  a 
physician,  over  so  many  of  his  contemporaries,  arose  from 
the  following  circumstances  : 

He  carefully  studied  the  climate  in  which  he  lived,*  and 
the  symptoms  of  acute  and  chronic  diseases  therein  preva- 
lent, the  different  habits  and  constitutions  of  his  patients, 
and  varied  his  prescriptions  with  their  strength,  age  and 
sex.  He  marked  the  influence  of  different  seasons  upon 
the  same  disease,  and  varied  his  practice  accordingly.  He 
observed  and  recorded  the  influence  of  successive  epidemic 
diseases  upon  eacli  other,  and  the  hurtful  as  well  as  salu- 
tary effects  of  his  remedies,  and  thereby  acquired  a  know- 
ledge of  the  character  of  the  reigning  disease,  in  every 
successive  season.  His  notes  and  records  of  the  diseases 
which  have  taken  place  in  Philadelphia  for  the  last  forty- 
four  years,  must  be  ofiAi calculable  value  to  his  son  and 
successor.  In  atten^rfncHipon  patients.  Dr.  Rush's  man- 
ner was  so  gentle  aH  sympathizing,  that  pain  and  distress 
v/ere  less  poignantBn  his  presence.  On  all  occasions  he 
exhibited  the  mann^  of  a  gentleman,  and  his  conversation 
was  sprightly,  pleasant  and  instructive.!     His  letters  were 

*  Dr.  Rush's  account  of  the  climate  of  Penns3'lvania,  is  a  masterpiece  of  its 
kind.  Every  physician  should  write  such  a  one  of  the  country  in  which  he  prac- 
tises, at  least  for  his  own  use. 

t  The  talent  for  conversation  possessed  by  Dr.  Rush  was  very  impressive.  Few 
men  ever  expressed  themselves  with  more  fluency  or  in  a  more  agreeable  manner. 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  55 

peculiarly  excellent  ;  for  they  were  dictated  by  a  feeling 
heart,  and  adorned  with  the  effusions  of  a  brilliant  imagi- 
nation. His  correspondence  was  extensive  and  his  letters 
numerous  ;  but  every  one  of  them,  as  far  as  can  be  known 
to  an  individual,  contained  something  original,  pleasant 
and  sprightly.  I  can  truly  say  that,  in  the  course  of  thir- 
ty-five years'  correspondence  and  friendly  intercourse,  I 
never  received  a  letter  from  him  without  being  delighted 
and  improved,  nor  left  his  company  without  learning 
something.  His  observations  were  often  original,  and 
when  otherwise,  far  from  insipid  :  for  he  had  an  uncom- 
mon way  of  expressing  common  thoughts.  He  possessed 
in  a  high  degree  those  talents  which  eng-ao-e  the  heart.  He 
took  so  lively  an  interest  in  every  thing  that  concerned 
his  pupils,  that  each  of  them  believed  himself  to  be  a 
favorite,  while  his  kind  offices  to  all  proved  that  he  was 
the  common  friend  and  father  of  them  all. 

In  lecturing  to  his  class,  Dr.  Rush  mingled  the  most 
abstruse  investigation  with  the  most  agreeable  eloquence  ; 
the  sprightliest  sallies  of  imagination  with  the  most  pro- 
found disquisitions  ;  and  the  whole  was  enlivened  with 
anecdotes,  both  pleasant  and  instructive.  His  language 
was  simple  and  always  intelligible,  and  his  method  so  judi- 
cious, that  a  consistent  view  of  the  suljject  was  communi- 
cated, and  the  recollection  of  the  whole  rendered  easy. 
His  lectures  were  originally  written  on  leaves  alternately 
blank.  On  the  blank  side  he  entered,  from  time  to  time, 
every  new  fact,  idea,  anecdote,  or  illustration,  that  he  be- 
came possessed  of,  from  any  source  whatever.  In  the 
course  of  about  four  years,  the  blank  was  generally  so 
far  filled  up,  that  he  found  it  expedient  to  make  a  new  set 
of  lectures.  In  this  way  he  not  only  lightened  the  various 
subjects  on  which  it  was  his  province  to  instruct  his  class, 
but  the  light  which  he  cast  on  them,  for  forty-four  suc- 
cessive years,  was  continually  brightening.  The  instruc- 
tions he  gave  to  his  pupils  by  lectures^,  though  highly  val- 
uable, were  less  so  than  the  habits  of  thinking  and  ob- 
servation he,  in  some  degree,  forctd  upon  them.  His 
constant  aim  was  to  rouse  their  minds  from  a  passive  to  an 

It  was  in  fact  "  a  stream  of  mind,"  and  his  general  knowledge  enabled  him  to  take 
part  in  the  discussion  of  most  subjects.  The  late  Governor  Brooks  of  Massachu- 
setts, frequently  mentioned  with  delight  an  interview  which  he  enjoyed  with  him 
during  the  war  of  the  revolution. 


^  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

active  state,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  instruct  themselves. 
Since  the  first  institution  of  the  medical  school  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, its  capital,  Philadelphia,  has  been  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  medicine,  and  that  atmosphere  has  been  constant- 
ly clearing  from  the  fogs  of  error,  and  becoming  more 
luminous  from  the  successive  and  increasing  diffusion  of 
the  light  of  truth.  A  portion  of  knowledge  floated  about 
that  hallowed  spot,  which  was  imbibed  by  every  student 
without  his  being  conscious  of  it,  and  had  an  influence  in 
giving  to  his  mind  a  medical  texture.  To  this  happy  state 
of  things  all  the  professors  contributed.  Drs.  Wistar, 
Barton,  Physick,  Dorsey,  Coxe  and  James,  the  survivers 
of  that  illustrious  and  meritorious  body,  will  acknowledge 
that  their  colleague,  Professor  Rush,  was  not  deficient  in 
his  quota. 

We  have  hitherto  viewed  Dr.  Rush  as  an  author,  a 
physician,  a  professor,  and  a  philosopher  ;  let  us  now 
view  him  as  a  man.  From  him  we  may  learn  to  be  good 
as  well  as  great.  Such  was  the  force  of  pious  example 
and  religious  education  in  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  life, 
that  though  he  spent  the  ensuing  nine  in  Philadelphia, 
Edinburgh,  London  and  Paris,  exposed  to  the  manifold 
temptations  which  are  inseparable  from  great  cities,  yet  he 
returned,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  to  his  native  country 
with  the  same  purity  of  morals  he  brought  with  him  from 
Nottingham,  the  country  scene  of  his  boyish  years.  The 
sneers  of  infidels  ;  the  syren  allurements  of  pleasure  ;  the 
fascinations  of  diversions,  had  no  power  to  divert  him  from 
the  correct  principles  and  sober  orderly  habits  which  had 
been  ingrafted  on  his  mind  in  early  youth.  He  came 
home  from  his  travels  with  no  excessive  attachment  but  to 
his  books  ;  no  oilier  ambition  than  that  of  being  a  great 
scholar  ;  and  without  any  desire  of  making  a  stepping- 
stone  of  his  talents  and  education,  to  procure  for  him  the 
means  of  settling  down  in  inglorious  ease,  without  the  far- 
ther cultivation  and  exertion  of  his  talents.  In  a  conver- 
sation which  he  held  with  the  person  who  now  addresses 
this  audience,  thirty-five  years  ago.  Dr.  Rush  observed, 
that  as  he  stepped  from  the  ship  that  brought  him  home 
from  Europe,  he  resolved  that  "  no  circumstance  of  per- 
sonal charms,  fortune  or  connexions  should  tempt  him  to 
perpetrate  matrimony,  his  own  phrase,  till  he  had  extend- 
ed his  studies  so  far  that  a  family  would  be  no  impediment 


BENJAMIIt    RUSH.  UK 

to  his  farther  progress.*  To  this  resolution  of  sacrificing 
every  gratification  to  his  love  for  learning,  and  his  desire 
of  making  a  distinguished  figure  in  the  republic  of  letters, 
he  steadily  adhered.  For  this  he  trimmed  the  midnight 
lamp  :  for  this,  though  young,  gay,  elegant  in  person  and 
manners,  and  possessed  of  the  most  insinuating  address, 
he  kept  aloof  from  all  scenes  of  dissipation,  enervating 
pleasures  and  unprofitable  company,  however  fashion- 
able, and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  cultivation 
of  those  powers  which  God  had  given  him.  In  a  letter 
which  I  received  from  him  at  an  early  period  of  my  life, 
he  describes  his  situation  in  the  followinor  forcible  lan- 
guage :  "  Medicine  is  my  wife  ;  science  is  my  mistress  ; 
books  are  my  companions  ;  my  study  is  my  grave  :  there 
I  lie  buried,  the  world  '  forgetting,  by  the  world  forgot.'  " 
From  his  early  youth  he  thus  resolved  to  be  a  great  man, 
and  a  great  man  he  became.  Diligence  conquers  the  hard- 
est things.  Intense  desire  of  knowledge  rarely  fails  of 
gaining  its  object.  This  laudable  ambition  was  a  security 
against  vice  and  folly.  It  was  also  a  fence  placed  round 
his  virtues  :  but  there  was  a  stronger  one  ;  an  exalted 
sense  of  moral  obligations,  founded  on  tJie  svstem  of  divine 
truth  as  revealed  in  the  holy  scriptures.  Of  this  he  gave 
a  strong  proof  in  the  conformity  of  his  life  to  the  precepts 
of  the  gospel.  For  the  scriptures  he  had  the  highest  rev- 
erence, and  often  referred  to  tiiern  in  his  conversation  and 
letters,  and  also  in  his  lectures,  and  from  them  drew  sev- 
eral ingenious  illustrations  of  his  medical  opinions.  Of 
the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society  he  was  vice  president,  and 
very  active  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  In  the  year  1791 
he  wrote  an  able  defence  of  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  school 
book.  From  these  oracles  of  divine  truth,  he  was  taught 
that  the  individuals  of  the  human  race  were  all  related  to 
each  other,  as  having  a  common  Father  and  Redeemer, 
and,  therefore,  that  the  whole  family  of  mankind  should 
be  embraced  in  the  arms  of  an  active  benevolence.  He 
was  there  also  taught  to  reduce  this  divine  principle  to 
practice,  by  doing  ail  in  his  power  for  the  advancement  of 
the  happiness   of  his   fellow   men.     To  this,  as  we  have 


*  Dr.  Rush  did  not  marry  till  he  was  thirty-two  years  of  age.  The  rule  he  gen- 
erally laid  down  was,  that  no  female  should  marry  before  she  was  sixteen,  nor  male 
before  he  was  twenty-one  ;  and  the  lon^r  they  both  delayed  matrimony  after  these 
periods  the  better  ;  provided  the  delay  in  a  female  did  not  exceed  twentv-four,  or 
in  a  male  thirty. 

vol..     11.  S 


dS  BENJAMIN    RUSH, 

seen,  his  whole  life  was  devoted.  His  charities  were  great. 
In  addition  to  ordinary  contributions  for  the  relief  of  dis- 
tress, clergymen,  widows  and  helpless  women  could  al- 
ways command  his  gratuitous  professional  services.  It  is 
not  less  true  than  strange,  that  he  added  to  the  list  of  his 
pensioners,  the  officers  of  our  late  revolutionary  army. 
Here  patriotism  combined  with  benevolence  !  He  consid- 
ered that  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  was  due  from  their  fel- 
low citizens  to  these  meritorious  men.  They  had  spent 
the  most  valuable  part  of  their  lives  in  securing  the  inde- 
pendence of  their  country,  for  which  it  had  not  made 
them  adequate  compensation.  From  these  liberal  views, 
he  rarely  charged  any  of  them  with  the  usual  fees  for  his 
professional  services. 

Piety  to  God  was  an  eminent  trait  in  the  character  of 
Dr.  Rush.  In  all  his  printed  works,  and  in  all  his  private 
transactions,  he  expressed  the  most  profound  respect  and 
veneration  for  the  great  Eternal.*  At  the  close  of  his  ex- 
cellent observations  on  the  pulmonary  consumption,  he 
observes,  "  I  cannot  conclude  this  inquiry  without  adding, 
that  the  author  of  it  derived  from  his  paternal  ancestors  a 
predisposition  to  the  pulmonary  consumption  ;  and  that, 
between  the  eighteenth  and  forty-third  year  of  his  age,  he 
has  occasionally  been  afflicted  with  many  of  the  symptoms 
of  that  disease,  which  he  has  described.  By  the  constant 
and  faithful  use  of  many  of  the  remedies  which  he  has  re- 
commended, he  now,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age,  en- 
joys nearly  an  uninterrupted  exemption  from  pulmonary 
complaints.  In  humble  gratitude,  therefore,  to  that  Be- 
ing, who  condescends  to  be  called  the  '  preserver  of 
men,'  he  thus  publicly  devotes  this  result  of  his  experi- 
ence and  inquiries,  to  the  benefit  of  such  of  his  fellow 
creatures  as  may  be  afflicted  with  the  same  disease,  sin- 
cerely wishing  that  they  may  be  as  useful  to  them  as  they 
have  been  to  the  author." 

*  His  writings,  in  numerous  places,  bear  testimony  to  his  Christian  virtues  ;  and 
in  a  manuscript  letter,  written  a  short  time  previous  to  his  fatal  illness,  he  candidly- 
declared  that  he  had  "  acquired  and  received  nothing  from  the  world  which  he  so 
highly  prized  as  the  religious  principles  he  received  from  his  parents."  It  is  pecu- 
liarly gratifying  to  observe  a  man  so  distinguished  in  a  profession  in  which,  by  the 
illiberal,  religious  scepticism  is  supposed  to  abound,  directing  his  talents  to  the 
maintenance  of  genuine  piety,  and  the  enforcing  of  Christian  virtue.  To  inculcate 
those  principles  which  flow  from  the  source  of  all  truth  and  purity,  and  to  impart 
them  as  a  legacy  to  his  children^  was  an  object  dear  to  his  heart  and  which  he 
never  failed  to  promote  by  constant  exhortation  and  the  powerful  influence  of  his 
own  axample. — Di\  D.  Hosack. 


BENJAiMIW    RUSH. 


69 


It  was  not  only  by  words,  but  in  deeds,  that  he  express- 
ed his  reverence  for  the  Deity.  It  was  his  usual  practice 
to  close  the  day  by  reading  to  his  collected  family  a  chap- 
ter in  the  Bible,  and  afterwards  by  addressing  his  Maker 
in  prayer,  devoutly  acknowledging  his  goodness  for  fa- 
vors received,  and  humbly  imploring  his  continued  pro- 
tection and  blessing.  His  respect  for  the  Deity  led  him  to 
respect  his  ministers,  who  acted  consistently  with  their 
high  calling.  He  considered  their  office  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  society,  both  in  this  world  and  that  which 
is  to  come.  He  strengthened  their  hands,  and  was  always 
ready  and  willing  to  promote  and  encourage  arrangements 
for  their  comfortable  support,  and  for  building  churches, 
and  for  propagating  the  gospel.  In  an  address  to  minis- 
ters of  every  denomination,  on  subjects  interesting  to  mo- 
rals, he  remarks  :  "  If  there  were  no  hereafter,  individuals 
and  societies  would  be  great  gainers  by  attending  public 
worship  every  Sunday.  Rest  from  labor  in  the  house  of 
God  winds  up  the  machine  of  both  soul  and  body  better 
than  any  thing  else,  and  thereby  invigorates  it  for  the  la- 
bors and  duties  of  the  ensuing  week."  Dr.  Rush  made 
his  first  essay  as  an  author,  when  an  apprentice  to  Dr. 
Redman,  by  writing  an  eulogy  on  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent,  who  had  been  the  friend  and  fellow  laborer  of  the 
celebrated  George  Whitfield,  and  an  active,  useful,  ani- 
mated preacher  of  the  gospel,  from  1725  till  1764.  On 
the  27th  of  May,  1809,  he  Avrote  to  his  cousin.  Dr.  Finley, 
of  this  city  :  "  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  is  now  in  session  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  composed 
of  many  excellent  men,  some  of  whom  are  highly  distin- 
guished by  talents  and  learning  as  well  as  piety.  I  have 
had  some  pleasant  visits  from  a  number  of  them,  and  have 
been  amply  rewarded  for  my  civilities  to  them,  by  their 
agreeable  and  edifying  conversation.  They  remind  me  of 
the  happy  times,  when  their  places  in  the  church  were 
filled  by  your  venerable  father,  and  his  illustrious  contem- 
poraries and  friends,  Messrs.  Tennent,  Blair,  Davies  and 
Rodgers." 

In  these  and  several  other  ways,  particularly  by  his  pen 
and  his  practice.  Dr.  Rush  supported  the  cause  of  morality 
and  religion  in  our  country,  and  superadded  the  character 
of  a  Christian  to  that  of  a  scholar.  Such  was  the  tenor  of 
the  life  of  our  illustrious  countryman,  who  is  now  no 
more  !    No  more  the  ornament  of  the  first  medical  school 


60 


BEIfJAMm    RUSH. 


in  America  !  No  more  the  instructer,  the  delight,  and  the 
admiration  of  that  portion  of  our  youth  which  is  destined 
to  take  care  of  the  healths  and  lives  of  their  fellow  citi- 
zens !  No  more  the  medical  luminary  of  our  western 
world  !  But  he  has  not  ceased  to  exist.  His  soul  at  this 
moment  lives  in  some  part  of  the  universe  ;  and  his  body, 
though  now  mouldering  in  dust,  Revelation  assures  us,  at 
some  future  time  will  rise  from  the  grave,  and  commence 
a  new  and  immortal  life.  Let  us  therefore  be  comforted. 
Death  is  not  an  eternal  sleep.  Its  effects  are  only  tempo- 
rary. In  due  time  they  will  all  be  done  away,  as  though 
they  never  had  been.  A  reunion  of  his  soul  and  body  will 
constitute  the  same  person,  and  the  identical  Dr.  Rush, 
whom  we  this  day  lament  as  dead,  will  assuredly  live 
affain,  and  live  forever  and  ever.  In  this  woi'ld  he  soug-ht 
for  knowledge,  as  the  thirsty  traveller  in  a  sandy  desert 
seeks  for  water  ;  and  in  his  course  of  nearly  seventy  years, 
he  acquired  an  uncommon  stock  of  it,  and  rejoiced  in  his 
success  :  but  who  can  tell  what  will  be  the  amount  of  his 
acquisitions  and  consequent  pleasure  in  the  ensuing  seven 
hundred  years,  seven  tliousand,  or  if  you  please,  seven 
millions  of  years,  blest  with  the  beatific  vision  of  the  om- 
niscient God  .''  But  I  forbear,  the  mind  sinks  beneath  the 
weight  of  the  sublime  and  happy  destinies  of  those  who 
are  the  reconciled  friends  of  "  the  God  of  Knowledge."  — 
Extracted  from  an  Eulogium  delivered  before  the  JMcdical  So- 
ciety of  South  Carolina  at  Charleston.^  June  IQth,  1813,  hy 
David  Ramsay,  J\'LD. 

An  erroneous  report  respecting  the  last  sickness  of  Dr. 
Rush  having  been  propagated.  Dr.  James  Mease  with  a 
view  of  correcting  that  report  addressed  the  following  let- 
ter to  the  late  Dr.  Lettsom,  which  was  published  in  the 
London  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,  Volume  37. 

Dear  Sir,  Philadelphia,  December  21,  1815. 

I  had  lately  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  "  Notices  of 
the  late  Dr.  Rush,"  for  which  I  thank  you.  I  was  much 
concerned,  however,  to  find  that  you  had  given  currency 
to  the  incorrect  statement  propagated  after  his  death, 
"  that  he  had  mistaken  his  disease  for  the  pleurisy,  and 
was  bled  freely,  which  was  thought  to  have  occasioned  his 
death."  Your  correspondent  was  unfortunately  misled  by 
common  report,  which  is  too  often  incorrect,  and  in  the 
present    instance    this    incorrectness  is    to   be  particularly 


SENJAMIN    RUSH.  61 

regretted,  because  it  favors  the  diffusion  of  error,  and  im- 
plicates the  medical  judgment  of  a  man,  who  was  more 
extensively  consulted  by  his  coiuitrymen  than  any  other 
physician  that  ever  lived  in  the  United  States  ;  and  it  gra- 
tifies the  little  and  mean  spirits  among  us,  who  exulted  in 
the  report  of  his  having  fallen  a  victim  to  his  attachment 
to  the  depleting  system,  and  who  will  be  glad  to  find  that 
the  report  has  been  circulated  in  Euro])e.  Dr.  Rush  was 
not  affected  with  "  typiius  or  spotted  fever,"  but  a  true 
pleurisy;  and  the  blood,  so  far  from  being  "  freely"  taken, 
amounted  only  to  ten  ounces  in  quantity.  More  was  not 
taken  away,  except  locally,  although  the  pain  in  his  side, 
after  having  been  relieved  by  the  operation,  returned  with 
severity  :  and  the  disease  ended  as  inflammatory  affect- 
ions of  the  lungs  often  do,  in  sucli  habits  as  that  of  Dr. 
Rush.  The  case  was  strictly  as  follows.  Dr.  Rush  in  the 
early  part  of  his  life  had  been  subject  to  a  cough,  which 
he  kept  under  by  occasional  small  bleedings,  great  temper-, 
ance  in  diet,  and  by  a  careful  accommodation  of  his  dress 
to  our  inconstant  climate.  He  had  been  attacked  by  a 
cough  several  months  previously  to  his  last  illness,  and  in 
consequence  of  it  lie  liad  abridged  his  customary  propor- 
tion of  animal  food,  in  the  use  of  which  he  was  at  all 
times  very  moderate,  and  left  off  entirely  the  use  of  wiric. 
The  effects  of  those  retrenchments  alone,  are  felt  by 
frames  more  vigorous  than  that  of  Dr.  Rush  ;  l)ut  in  his 
case,  and  at  his  time  of  life,  they  could  not  fail  greatly  to 
diminish  his  muscular  power,  and  increase  the  excitability 
of  his  system  by  the  causes  that  })roduced  the  fatal  disease. 
Other  causes  cooperated.  During  the  time  alluded  to  he 
was  engaged  in  extensive  practice  ;  had  performed  his 
four  montiis  tour  of  duty  at  tlie  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  session  in  March  had  given  two 
lectures  daily,  of  an  hour  each  ;  he  had  also  assisted  in  the 
examination  of  a  large  class  of  candidates  for  medical  de- 
grees in  tlie  University  of  Pennsylvania,  twice  a  day  ;  and 
at  night  he  either  was  engaged  in  study,  or  in  answering 
the  numerous  letters  of  applicants  for  medical  advice  from 
every  part  of  the  continent.  Thus,  by  such  unremitted 
corporal  and  mental  exertion  he  wasted  the  powers  of  life, 
and  predisposed  his  system  to  the  operation  of  the  variable 
atmosphere  that  caused  the  affection  of  his  lungs.  He  was 
attacked  by  his  last  illness  on  the  night  of  the  14th  of 
April,  1813.     I  had  been  absent  from  the  city  ;  and  on  my 


62  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

return  called  to  see  him  in  the  evening.  I  found  him  alone, 
with  a  lecture  before  him,  and  a  pen  in  his  hand.  Having 
before  hinted  to  him  that  he  ought  to  relax  in  his  studies, 
I  said  "  what.  Doctor,  always  at  your  studies  ?"  He  repli- 
ed, "  Yes,  Doctor,  I  am  revising  a  lecture,  for  I  feel  every 
day  more  and  more  like  a  dying  man."  Alas,  how  pro- 
phetic his  words  !  Upon  my  observing  that  I  hoped  he 
did  not  feel  indisposed,  he  replied,  "  No,  but  at  my  age  I 
deem  life  particularly  precarious,  and  I  am  moreover  anx- 
ious to  leave  my  manuscripts  as  perfect  as  possible  for  the 
benefit  of  my  son."  We  conversed  for  an  hour  or  more 
upon  various  medical  subjects,  and  he  read  to  me  an  affect- 
ionate letter  addressed  to  a  relation  in  a  distant  state,  who 
had  asked  his  advice  upon  an  important  occasion.  A  per- 
son having  called  for  a  letter  of  advice,  I  retired  to  an- 
other room,  where  1  remained  near  an  hour  with  his  fam- 
ily. Upon  my  returning  to  him,  I  found  him  sitting  with 
his  feet  close  to  the  fire,  and,  after  a  moment's  stay,  I  wish- 
ed him  good  night.  Mrs.  Rush  came  in,  as  I  went  out, 
and  1  subjoin  her  own  statement  of  the  progress  of  the 
attack,  and  the  remedies  used.  This  statement  was  drawn 
up  at  my  request,  that  there  might  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
accuracy  of  every  particular  on  the  distressing  subject. 

"  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  Wednesday  the  14th 
of  Apijil,  1813,  Dr.  Rush,  after  having  been  as  well  as  usual 
through  the  day,  complained  of  chilliness  and  general 
indisposition,  and  said  he  would  go  to  bed.  While  his 
room  was  preparing  and  a  fire  making,  he  became  so  cold, 
that  he  called  for  some  brandy  and  drank  it  ;  he  then 
went  to  his  room,  bathed  his  feet  in  warm  water,  got  into 
a  warm  bed,  and  took  some  hot  drink  :  a  fever  soon  came 
on,  attended  with  great  pain  in  his  limbs,  and  in  his  side  : 
he  passed  a  restless  night,  but  after  day-light  a  perspira- 
tion came  on,  and  all  the  pains  were  relieved  except  that 
in  his  side,  which  became  more  acute.  He  sent  for  a 
bleeder,  and  liad  ten  ounces  of  blood  taken  from  his  arm, 
with  evident  relief.  At  ten  o'clock  Dr.  Dorsey  called  and  saw 
him,  heard  what  had  been  done,  and  approved  of  the  treat- 
ment ;  observed  that  his  pulse  was  calm,  but  rather  weak, 
and  advised  him  to  drink  plentifully  of  wine  whey,  which 
was  immediately  given  to  him.  He  remained  the  rest  of 
the  day  and  on  Friday  with  but  little  apparent  disease, 
though  never  quite  free  from  fever,  and  always  complain- 
ing when  he  tried  to  take  a  long  breath.     On  the  morning 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  63 

of  Saturday  he  awoke  with  an  acute  pain  in  his  side,  and 
desired  that  the  bleeder  might  be  sent  for  :  to  this  I  ob- 
jected on  account  of  tlie  weak  state  of  his  pulse.  I  pro- 
posed sending  for  Dr.  Dorsey,  but  Dr.  Rush  would  not 
consent  to  his  being  disturbed  :  he  reminded  me  of  his 
having  had  a  cough  all  the  winter,  and  said  '  this  disease 
is  taking  hold  of  my  lungs,  and  I  shall  go  off  in  a  con- 
sumption.' At  eight  o'clock  Dr.  Dorsey  saw  him  and, 
upon  feeling  his  pulse,  objected  to  his  losing  any  more 
blood,  and  called  in  Dr.  Physick,  who  agreed  in  the  opin- 
ion that  bleeding  was  improper.  The  pain  in  his  side, 
however,  continuing,  and  his  breathing  becoming  more 
difficult,  Dr.  P.  consented  to  his  losing  three  ounces  of 
blood  from  his  side  by  cupping  :  this  operation  relieved 
him  so  that  he  fell  into  a  refreshing  sleep,  and  towards  the 
evening  of  Saturday  his  fever  went  off,  and  he  passed  a 
comfortable  night,  and  on  Sunday  morning  seemed  free 
from  disease.  When  Dr.  P.  saw  him,  he  told  me  that 
Dr.  Rush  was  doing  well,  that  nothing  now  appeared  ne- 
cessary, but  to  give  him  as  much  nourishment,  as  he  could 
take :  he  drank  porter  and  water,  and  conversed  with 
strength  and  sprightliness,  believing  that  he  was  getting 
well,  until  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  his 
fever  returned,  but  in  a  moderate  degree.  At  five  o'clock 
Dr.  P.  and  Dr.  D.  visited  him,  and  found  him  not  so  well  as 
in  the  morning,  but  did  not  appear  to  apprehend  what  so 
soon  followed,  for  at  that  time  nothing  was  ordered  differ- 
ent from  the  morning.  At  nine  o'clock  they  again  visited 
him,  when  they  found  him  so  low,  as  to  apprehend  a  fatal 
termination  of  his  disease.  Stimulants  of  the  strongest 
kind  were  then  administered  :  you,  my  friend,  know  with 
how  little  effect  !" 

I  was  constantly  with  Dr.  Rush  all  the  next  day,  and 
witnessed  the  progress  of  that  debility  which  deprived  me 
of  my  friend,  the  medical  republic  of  its  ornament,  and 
our  country  of  one  of  its  best  men,  and  the  early,  steady 
and  zealous  supporter  of  American  independence. 

JAMES  MEASE. 
John  Coakley  Lettsom,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  &c.  London. 

Dr.  Rush,  says  Dr.  James  Mease,  was  an  early  and  pow- 
erful enemy  to  the  slavery  of  the  blacks,  and  so  early  as 
the  year  1774  published  a  pamphlet  against  it,  and  he  had 
the  satisfaction  to  see  a  law  passed  in  the  year  1 780  by  the 


64  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

legislature  of  Pennsylvania  abolishing  the  privilege  of 
holding  any  blacks  in  slavery  after  a  residence  of  a  certain 
number  of  months  ;  and  he  lived  to  see  the  slaves  in  Phila- 
delphia diminished  from  3144.  the  number  of  them  when 
Dr.  R.  wrote,  to  tAvo  aged  individuals,  who  were  supported 
by  the  families  in  wliich  they  Avere  born.  The  effect  of 
his  writings  was  visible  on  the  public  at  large,  by  the  great 
number  of  slaves  who  were  set  free  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years.  His  friendship  for  the  colored  part  of  the  com- 
munity, and  his  endeavor  to  improve  their  moral  condition 
induced  him  to  ])ropose  the  establishment  of  the  first  place 
of  public  worship  exclusively  for  themselves.  This  was 
in  the  year  1792.  He  headed  the  subscription,  and  through 
his  interest  and  persuasion  a  sufficient  fund  Avas  obtained 
to  erect  the  building,  noAV  called  St.  Tliomas's  Church. 
He  left  the  choice  of  the  mode  of  Avorship  Avith  them- 
seh^es.  They  choj^e  the  Episcopal  form.  This  church 
has  been  attended  Avith  the  most  evident  good  effect  upon 
the  colored  population.  The  ministers  are  colored  men, 
but  are  relieved  by  the  ministers  of  the  other  Episcopal 
churches. 

In  the  year  1808  Dr.  R.  zealously  engaged  with  Mr. 
Robert  Ralston  in  the  formation  of  the  first  Bible  Society 
which  was  formed  in  Philadelphia,  and  Avrote  a  constitu- 
tion for  its  use.  Dr.  R.  had  much  of  the  milk  of  human 
kindness  in  the  composition  of  his  mind  ;  hence  he  readily 
foi-gave  injuries,  and  the  ingratitude  of  those  on  Avhom  he 
had  conferred  faA^ors. 

A  striking  proof  of  his  benevolence  Avas  exhibited  in  the 
decided  part  he  took  in  the  years  1784  and  1785,  in  pro- 
curing tJie  rej)eal  of  the  Test  Act  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. This  laAV  Avas  passed  in  the  year  1778,  and  requir- 
ed every  citizen  to  declare  the  right  of  the  state  to  be  in- 
dependent, and  that  he  had  not  since  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence aided  the  British  arms  in  their  claims  upon 
the  United  States.  It  also  required  him  to  renounce  alle- 
giance to  the  king  of  England.  The  penalty  for  refusing 
to  take  this  oath  or  affirmation  Avas  disfranchisement  ;  and 
as  the  continuance  of  the  laAV  was  deemed  impolitic  from 
the  return  of  peace  and  from  its  depriving  the  country  of 
the  public  services  of  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow  citi- 
zens Avho  from  conscientious  motives  had  declined  to  take 
the  oath,  he  urged  its  repeal,  Avhich  soon  after  took  place, 
hut  not  Avithout  great  o])position.     The  pamphlet  passed 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  65 

through  two  large  editions,  a  circumstance  vvhicli  had  not 
for  a  long  time  happened  to  any  other  American  pro- 
duction. 

He  had  commenced  the  undertaking  of  selecting  some 
of  the  best  practical  works  on  medicine  for  republication 
in  America,  and  in   order  to  render  them  more  useful,  he 
formed  the  idea  of  adding  to  them  such  notes  as  might  the 
better  adapt  them  to  the  diseases  of  his  own  country'.     His 
editions  of  Sydenham  and  of  Cleghorn  were  published  in 
1809,  and  in  the  same  year  appeared  those  of  Pringle  and 
Hillary.     The  last  effort  of  his  pen  was   a  letter  on    Hy- 
drophobia containing  additional  reasons  in  support  of  the 
theory  he  had  formerly  advanced,  as  to  the  seat  of  the  dis- 
ease being  chiefly  in  the  blood  vessels.     It  was  addressed 
to  Dr.  Hosack  and  written  not  many  days  before  Iiis  fatal 
illness.     Such  was  the  attachment  of  Dr.  R.  to  his  pro- 
fession, that  speaking  of  his  approaching   dissolution   he 
remarks,  "  when  that  time  shall  come,  I  shall   relinquish 
many  attractions  to  life,  and  among  them  a  pleasure  which 
to  me  has  no  equal  in  human  pursuits  ;  I  mean  that  which  I 
derive  from  studying,  teaching,  and  practising  medicine.*" 
In   January,    1776,    he  married   Miss  Julia    Stockton, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  Judge  Stockton,  of  New-Jersey,   a 
lady  of  an  excellent  understanding,   and  wliose  amiable 
disposition  and  cultivated   mind  eminently  qualified   her 
as  the  companion  of  Dr.  Rush.     Tliirteen  cliildren  were 
the  fruits  of  their  marriage,  nine  of  whom  still  survive 
One  of  these   sustains   the  high  office  of  secretary  of  tlie 
treasury  of  the  United  States. 

The  writings  of  Dr.  R.  claim  our  attention,  both  on  ac- 
count of  their  extent  and  their  variety  ;  from  the  results  of 
Ills  own  individual  experience  and  observation,  he  added 
more  facts  to  the  science  of  medicine,  than  all  who  had 
preceded  him  in  his  native  country.  His  description  of 
diseases,  for  minuteness  and  accuracy  of  detail,  cannot  be 
exceeded  and  may  safely  be  regarded  as  models  of  their 
kind.  His  volume  on  Diseases  of  the  Mind,  in  as  far  as  it 
exhibits  the  infinitely  varied  forms  whicli  those  diseases 
assume,  is  a  store  house  of  instruction.  Had  his  labors 
been  limited  to  these  subjects  alone,  his  character  would 
deservedly  have  been  cherished  by  future  acres.  The  re 
spect  and  consideration  which  his  i)ublications  procured 

*  Dr.  Ilosack. 
VOL.    II.  9 


66  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

for  him  among  his  contemporaries,  was  such,  that  the  high- 
est honors  were  acciunulated  upon  him  in  diffei*ent  parts  of 
Europe,  as  well  as  in  his  own  country,  and  he  was  admit- 
ted a  member  of  many  of  the  most  distinguished  literary 
and  philosophical  associations. 

To  the  preceding  account  of  Dr.  Rush,  cliiefly  from  the 
excellent  Dr.  Ramsay,  the  following  additions  made 
touching  hi*;  character  and  attainmeiits,  are  extracted  from 
the  opening  discourse  delivered  by  Professor  Francis,  be- 
fore the  class  of  students  attending  the  instruction  of  the 
Rutger's  Medical  Faculty  of  Geneva  College,  in  the  city 
of  New-York,  November  8th,  1827. 

"  It  were  no  easy  task,"  says  Professor  Francis,  "  to 
do  justice  to  the  great  talents,  the  vast  labors,  and  the  ex- 
emplary character  of  Dr.  Rush.  From  the  imperfect 
sketch  which  I  have  thus  rapidly  given,  it  is  presumed 
you  may  be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  his  incessant  de- 
votedness  to  the  improvement  of  tliat  profession  of  which 
he  was  so  bright  an  ornament.  His  merits  as  a  practi- 
tioner are  too  well  known  to  require  particular  enumera- 
tion. He  was  fully  aware  of  the  great  responsibility  at- 
tached to  the  medical  character,  and  uniformly  evinced 
the  deepest  solicitude  for  the  recovery  of  his  patient. 
His  kindness  and  liberality  in  imparting  aid  to  those  from 
whom  no  remuneration  was  ever  to  be  expected  was  un- 
bounded, and  arose  from  the  generous  impulse  of  his  na- 
ture, the  cordial  concern  he  felt  in  whatever  aiTected  the 
interests  of  his  fellow  creatures.  '  Let  the  poor  of  every 
description.' says  he, '  be  the  objects  of  your  peculiar  care.' 
*  There  is  an  inseparable  connexion  between  a  man's  duty 
and  his  interest.  Whenever  you  are  called,  tlierefore,  to 
visit  a  poor  patient,  imagine  you  Iiear  the  voice  of  the 
good  Samaritan  sounding  in  your  ears,  "  Take  care  of  him 
and  I  M'ill  repay  thee.'  " 

"  His  mind  was  of  a  superior  order  :  to  a  perception  na- 
turally ready  and  acute,  he  united  a  discriminating  judg- 
ment, a  retentive  memory,  which  was  greatly  improved 
by  habits  of  close  attention,  a  brilliant  imagination  and  a 
hio^hly  cultivated  taste.  He  possessed  a  comprehensive 
imderstanding  :  his  knowledge  was  varied  and  in  many 
branches  profound,  and  he  eminently  excelled  in  the  several 
departments  of  his  profession.  In  his  assiduity  and  perse- 
verance in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  he  had  no  superior 
and  few  eqjuals.  Accustomed  to  constant  and  regular  exercise 


EEAJAMKI     RUSH.  Q7 

his  intellectual  powers  acquired  additional  vigor  from  em- 
ployment. Notwitlistanding  the  great  fatigue  he  Iiad  to 
undergo  in  tiie  discharge  of  the  practical  duties  of  a  la- 
borious profession,  and  the  constant  interruptions  to  Avhich 
he  was  exposed,  when  engaged  in  his  pursuits  as  an  autiior, 
he  never  for  a  moment  abated  of  his  ardor  in  the  cause  of 
science.  He  was  the  incessant  and  unwearied  student  ;  he 
was  familiar  with  all  the  standard  authors,  and  his  read- 
ing kept  pace  with  the  discoveries  and  improvements  of 
the  age.  That  the  same  individual  should  be  at  the  same 
time  at  the  head  of  medical  practice  in  a  large  and  popu- 
lous city,  that  lie  should  have  been  the  first  of  medical 
teachers  in  a  great  University,  and  the  most  assiduous  pre- 
scril^er  for  its  extensive  hospitals  ;  that  lie  should  possess  a 
leading  influence  among  its  numerous  literary  institutions 
and  public  charities,  and  be  moreover  among  the  most 
voluminous  and  able  writers  of  the  time,  and  all,  amidst 
the  active  competition  of  numerous  rivals  of  high  and  va- 
ried pretensions,  is  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  his  habits 
of  vigorous  and  unremitted  application.  What  the  biogra- 
pher of  the  illustrious  Roman  orator  has  asserted  of  his 
hero,  may  be  said  with  equal  justice  of  our  countryman  : 
'  His  industry,' says  Middleton,  'was  incredible  beyond  the 
example  or  even  conception  of  our  days  :  this  was  the 
secret  by  which  he  performed  such  wonders,  and  reconcil- 
ed perpetual  study  with  perpetual  affairs  :  he  suffered  no 
j)art  of  his  leisure  to  be  idle,  or  tlie  lea^it  interval  of  it  to 
be  unimproved  ;  but  w!iat  otlier  people  gave  to  the  public 
shows,  to  pleasure,  to  feasts,  nay  even  to  sleep  and  the 
ordinary  lefrcfhinents  of  r.ature,  he  generally  gave  to  his 
books,  and  the  enlargement  of  his  knowledge.'  And 
what  Cicero  himself  lias  declared  of  tlie  excellence  of  study 
seems  to  have  early  directed  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Rush  him- 
self. '  Study  employs  us  in  youth,  amuses  us  in  old  age, 
graces  and  embellishes  prosperity,  shelters  and  supports 
adversity,  makes  us  delightetl  at  home  and  easy  abroad, 
softens  slumber,  shortens  fatigue,  and  enlivens  retirement.' 
"  His  habits  of  })unctuality  to  every  kind  of  busiiiess  in 
wd)ich  he  was  employed  were  the  subject  of  general  enco- 
mium. Thus,  while  under  the  puj)ilage  of  Dr.  Redman, 
during  the  whole  six  years  he  could  not  enumerate  more 
than  two  days  interruption  from  business,  and  we  are  told 
that  as  a  physician  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  he  was 
never   known    to  vary  ten  minutes  jn    his  professional  sj)- 


68  BKNJAMm    RUSH. 

pointments  from  the  hour  of  attendance,  for  the  long 
period  of  thirty  years.  This  punctuality,  added  to  a  judi- 
cious arrangement  of  time  for  his  multifarious  occupations, 
secured  to  him  sufficient  leisure  for  the  publication  of 
those  woz'ks  which  have  given  such  celebrity  to  his  name. 
"  His  writings,"  continues  Dr.  Francis,  "  claim  our  atten- 
tion both  on  account  of  their  extent  and  their  variety. 
It  was  for  the  purpose  of  setting  this  fact  clearly  before 
you  that  I  was  the  more  particular  in  my  enumeration  of 
them.  These  products  of  his  intellect  show  much  reading, 
deep  investigation  and  tried  experience.  He  seems  to  have 
combined  with  peculiar  felicity  the  most  useful  in  physic- 
al science  with  the  most  elegant  in  literature.  Instead  of 
being  a  mere  collator  of  the  opinions  of  others,  he  was 
constantly  making  discoveries  and  improvements  of  his 
own,  and  from  the  results  of  his  individual  experience  and 
observation,  established  more  principles  and  added  more 
facts  to  the  science  of  medicine  than  all  who  had  preceded 
him  in  his  native  country.  His  description  of  diseases  for 
minuteness  and  accuracy  of  detail  cannot  be  exceeded,  and 
may  safely  be  regarded  as  models  of  tlieir  kind.  In  the 
treatment  of  gout,  dropsy,  consumption  of  the  lungs,  and 
the  diseases  of  old  age,  he  has  enlarged  our  views  of  the 
animal  economy  and  thrown  more  light  upon  the  pecviliar 
character  of  these  afflicting  disorders  than  is  to  be  derived 
from  the  investigations  of  any  other  writers.  What  vast 
and  widely  applicable  principles  has  he  given  in  that  small 
but  pregnant  essay,  entitled  A  Defence  of  Bloodletting  .'' 
His  volume  on  tlie  Diseases  of  the  Mind,  in  as  far  as  it  ex- 
hibits the  infinitely  varied  forms  which  those  disorders 
present,  is  a  storehouse  of  instruction.  The  great  demand 
for  this  work  caused  its  early  reprint.  By  metaphysicians 
it  has  been  recognised  as  furnishing  many  valuable  facts 
and  principles  on  the  pathology  and  functions  of  the  brain  ; 
and  as  presenting  an  able  classification  of  the  phenomena 
of  its  disease.  During  my  casual  attendance  upon  the 
lectures  of  the  late  Professor  Brown,  of  Edinburgh,  the 
distinguished  physiologist  of  the  intellectual  powers,  and 
the  successor  of  Dugald  Stewart  in  the  metaphysical  chair, 
my  national  feelings  were  largely  gratified,  by  hearing 
from  sucli  high  authority  this  treatise  of  Dr.  Rush  pro- 
nounced a  work  full  of  instruction  and  of  great  original- 
ity. Had  his  laljors  been  limited  to  these  subjects  alone, 
Jjis   character  would   deservedly  have  been   cherished  by 


BENJAMIN    RUSH.  69 

future  ages.  His  reputation,  however,  will  permanently 
clej)end  upon  his  several  histories  of  the  epidemics  of  the 
United  States,  which  have  rendered  these  productions  fa- 
miliar wherever  medical  science  is  cultivated,  and  will 
hereafter  cause  to  be  inscribed  upon  the  same  imperishable 
column  that  bears  testimony  to  the  merits  of  Sydenham 
and  Boerhaave,  the  illustrious  name  of  Benjamin  Rush. 
The  respect  and  consideration  which  his  publications  pro- 
cured for  him  among  his  contemporaries,  were  sucli  that 
the  highest  honors  were  accumulated  upon  him  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Europe,  as  well  as  in  his  own  country,  and  he 
was  admitted  a  member  of  many  of  the  most  distinguish- 
ed literary  and  philosophical  associations  of  both  worlds." 

After  noticing  some  of  the  peculiarities  in  tlie  character 
and  writings  of  the  American  Sydenham,  as  Dr.  Rush  has 
been  often  called  by  sound  authority.  Professor  Francis 
proceeds  : 

"  Exalted  as  was  the  character  of  Dr.  Rush,  immense  as 
were  the  services  he  rendered  his  countrymen,  few  pro- 
fessional men  of  any  age  or  country  have  been  the  subject 
of  more  violent  and  unrelenting  persecution.  His  great 
eminence  rendered  him  the  object  at  which  envy,  jealousy 
and  disappointed  ambition  directed  their  malign  efforts. 
So  great  was  the  persecution  against  him  at  one  time,  even 
after  he  had  arrived  at  the  maturity  of  his  renown,  that 
he  contemplated  removing  himself  and  family  from  Phi- 
ladelphia, the  scene  of  his  meritorious  exertions.  The 
notorious  Cobbett  assailed  him  with  all  the  spirit  and  all 
the  force  of  his  vituperative  genius.  Against  this  libeller 
he  was  induced  by  the  urgency  of  friends  to  institute 
a  prosecution  ;  a  jury  of  his  countrymen  awarded  to  him 
a  large  sum  for  damages.  This  award,  with  his  character- 
istic magnanimity,  he  distributed  to  the  poor.  Though 
moderate  in  his  pecuniary  circumstances,  and  looked  up  to 
by  a  large  famdy,  he  never  yielded  to  the  sordid  impulses 
of  our  nature. 

"  There  are  other  qualities  which  entitle  Dr.  Rush  to 
our  respect  and  esteem.  In  private  life  his  disposition  and 
deportment  were  in  the  highest  degree  exemplary.  Ad- 
mired and  courted  for  his  intellectual  endowments,  he 
riveted  the  affections  of  all  those  who  enjoyed  the  pleasure 
of  an  intimate  acquaintance.  The  affability  of  liis  man- 
ners, the  amiableness  of  his  temper,  and  the  benevolence  of 
liis  character  were  ever  conspicuous.     He  was  ardent  in 


70  BEI^JAMIN    RUSH. 

his  friendships,  and  forgiving  in  his  resentments  ;  and  yet 
entertaining  a  due  regard  for  himself  and  a  nice  sense  of 
honor,  he  possessed  a  manly  independence  of  s^pirit,  which 
disdained  every  thing  mean  and  servile.  He  had  an  ex- 
traordinary command  of  language  and  always  imparted  his 
thoughts  in  a  peculiarly  impressive  and  eloquent  manner. 
His  eloquence  as  a  public  teacher  surpassed  that  of  all  his 
contemporaries.  The  youth  who  repaired  to  his  lectures 
for  wisdom,  insensible  of  the  lapse  of  time,  lingered  with 
rapture  on  his  lessons. 

"  Tiiose  who  had  the  happiness  to  experience  the  de- 
lights of  his  conversation  will  long  recollect  with  pleasure, 
his  unassuming  modesty,  and  the  rich  stores  of  knowledge 
he  poured  forth  on  the  most  instructive  topics.  Even  when 
his  opinions  were  solicited,  they  were  given  not  as  the  dic- 
tates or  admonitions  of  a  superior,  but  as  the  kind  advice 
of  a  friend  and  equal.  He  never  evinced  any  of  that 
hauglitiness  and  affectation  of  importance  which  sometimes 
attach  to  men  of  eminence,  and  which  so  materially 
lessen  the  pleasures  and  comforts  of  social  life. 

"  He  was  a  believer  in  Christianity,"  continues  Dr.  F., 
"  from  an  examination  of  its  principles  and  the  deepest  con- 
viction. ■  The  purity  of  its  doctrines  and  the  excellence  of 
its  precepts  were  a  frequent  topic  of  his  conversation  :  its 
practical  influence  upon  his  conduct  through  life  he  often 
acknoAvledged,  and  cherished  with  a  fervent  hope,  the  ani- 
mating prospects  it  affords.  With  the  good  old  Bishop 
Burnet  he  fully  coincided,  '  that  a  man  living  according 
to  the  rules  of  religion,  becomes  the  wisest,  the  best,  the 
happiest  creature  he  is  capable  of  being.'*  His  writings 
iu  numerous  places  bear  testimony  to  his  christian  virtues  ; 
he  designed  to  conclude  his  literary  and  professional  labors 
with  a  distinct  work  on  the  medicine  of  the  Bible  ;  and 
in  a  letter  written  a  short  time  before  his  fatal  illness  he 
candidly  declares,  tliat  he  had  acquired  and  received  no- 
thins  from  the  world  which  he  so  iii<ihly  prized  as  the 
relij'ious  principles  he  received  from  his  parents.  It  is 
peculiarly  gratifying  to  observe  a  man  so  distinguished  in 
a  profession  in  which  by  the  illi1)eral  religious  scepticism 
is  supposed  to  abound,  directing  his  talents  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  genuine  piety  and  the  enforcing  of  christian  vir- 
tue.    To  inculcate  those   principles  which   flow  from  the 

*  History  of  My  Own  Ti.^les. 


NATHANIEL    S.VI.TON'STALI..  71 

source  of  all  truth  and  purity,  and  to  impart  them  as  a 
legacy  to  his  children,  was  an  object  dear  to  his  heart,  and 
which  he  never  failed  to  promote  by  constant  exhortation 
and  the  {)Owerful  influence  of  his  own  example. 

"  Let  our  youth  then  be  excited  by  tlie  powerful  exam- 
ple of  Dr.  Rush  to  form  an  exalted  opinion  of  the  dignity 
and  usefulness  of  the  profession,  and  let  them  support  tliat 
dignity  and  exemplify  that  usefulness  by  the  same  activ^e 
exertions  in  the  cause  of  science  and  humanity,  that  liave 
characterized  this  able  and  learned  physician. 

"  Such,  gentlemen,  was  the  man  whose  character  I  have 
feebly  attempted  to  delineate.  But  he  has  a  still  further 
claim  upon  your  gratitude.  His  name  is  enrolled  on  the 
charter  of  your  independence  among  the  heroes  of  that 
revolutionary  contest  in  whirh  our  ancestors  pledged  their 
lives  and  fortunes  in  behalf  of  their  bleeding  country. 
While  a  youth  he  caught  the  ennobling  spirit  of  patriotism 
and  through  life  cherished  those  feelings  which  are  conse- 
crated to  its  interests  and  glory." 

For  further  particulars  of  the  life  and  character  of  this 
eminent  philanthropist  and  physician,  consult  Chalmers' 
Biograpliy,  Life  in  Rees'  Cyclopedia,  Hosack's  Introduc- 
tory Discourse,  New-England  Medical  Journal,  Life  in 
American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register. 

SALTONSTALL,  NATHANIEL,  M.M.S.S.  This 
name  was  held  in  high  re?pect  both  in  England  and  the 
American  colonies  for  many  years  prior  to  the  separation. 
They  who  bore  it,  sustained  honorable  offices  both  in 
church  and  state  under  the  crown,  and  were  greatly  dis- 
tinguished for  their  loyalty,  their  patriotism  and  their 
piety  ;  the  noblest  qualities  of  the  human  charaf  ter  seem- 
ed to  be  inherent  in  the  family  for  several  generations. 
The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  Haverhill,  Massa- 
chusetts, February  10th,  1746,  and  was  graduated  at  Har- 
vard College  in  1766,  and  died  in  May,  1815.  He  was  a 
son  of  Richard  Saltonstall,  formerly  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  a  descendant  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  one  of' 
the  original  patentees  and  first  settlers  of  Massachusetts 
colony.  Among  his  maternal  ancestors  Avere  Governor 
Leverett,  and  the  two  Elisha  Cooks,  father  and  son,  both 
respectable  as  physicians,  but  most  distinguished  as  politi- 
cal leaders. 

Dr.  Saltonstall  was  a  very  skilful  and  intelligent  physi- 
cian, remarkable  for  his  humane  attention  to  the  poor,  and 


7S  MICAJAII    SAWYER. 

universally  respected  in  Haverhill,  where  he  resided,  and 
in  the  vicinity  which  was  embraced  in  the  circle  of  his 
professional  business.  He  was  named  in  the  charter  in- 
corporating the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  and  was  a 
friend  to  its  improvement  and  usefulness.  The  objects  of 
his  exertions  were  usefulness  in  his  profession,  and  the 
happiness  and  improvement  of  those  around  him,  unalloy^ 
ed  by  motives  of  pecuniary  advantage.  He  was  a  sincere, 
liberal  and  humble  christian.  He  felt  an  ardent  attach- 
ment to  those  venerable  religious  and  literary  institutions 
in  the  establishment  of  which  his  ancestors  had  an  import- 
ant influence,  particularly  to  Harvard  College,  in  whose 
growing  prosperity  he  rejoiced  ;  and  he  was  ever  ready  to 
promote  all  objects  which  in  his  opinion  Avould  have  a 
beneficial  influence  on  society. 

At  a  time  when  his  brothers  remained  true  to  those 
principles  of  royalty  in  wliich  they  had  been  educated,  he 
was  firm,  but  moderate,  in  his  opposition  to  the  measures 
of  Great  Britain.  It  was  to  him  a  severe  trial,  and  he 
gave  the  strongest  proof  of  sincerity  and  independence  ; 
his  principles  separated  him  forever  from  those  he  most 
loved.  In  later  party  contentions  he  was  unwavering,  and 
no  man  in  the  country  felt  a  more  lively  interest  in  its 
honor  and  welfare.  Exemplary  in  all  the  relations  of 
private  life,  of  irreproachable  morals,  social,  benevolent, 
cheerful  and  hospitable,  he  was  tenderly  beloved  by  his 
family  and  friends,  and  was  honored  by  the  affectionate 
esteem  and  respect  of  all  who  knew  him.  Of  the  purity 
of  Dr.  S.'s  principles  and  the  honorable  independence  of 
his  character,  of  his  elevated  integrity,  his  love  of  truth, 
his  generous,  noble  and  afiectionate  spirit,  more  might  be 
said  with  propriety.  As  a  mark  of  respect  to  his  virtues 
and  character,  all  the  citizens  of  Haverhill,  without  pre- 
vious concert,  closed  their  stores  and  suspended  business 
to  attend  the  funeral  obsequies.  Dr.  S.  left  three  sons 
and  four  daughters,  the  only  family  of  the  name  in  Mas- 

SAWYER,  MICAJAH,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  at 
Newbury,  in  the  county  of  Essex  and  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts," on  the  15th  day  of  July,  1737.  His  father  was  a 
respectable  physician  in  the  same  place  ;  and  indeed  he 
may  be  said  to  have  been  of  a  medical  family,  for  of  his 
only  two  brothers  one  was  a  physician,  and  the  other  a 
druggist  and  apothecary. 


MICAJAH    SAWYER.  73 

He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1756,  and, 
after  pursuing  his  professional  studies  under  his  father, 
commenced  the  practice  in  that  part  of  Newbury  which 
was  soon  afterwards  made  a  distinct  town  with  the  name 
of  Newburyport.  He  had  contemplated  with  much  plea- 
sure a  visit  to  Europe  to  complete  his  education  in  the 
medical  schools  most  celebrated  there,  but  he  was  compel- 
led by  circumstances  to  relinquish  that  project.  It  was 
then  his  constant  aim  to  compensate  as  much  as  was  in  his 
power  this  disappointment,  by  laborious  research,  unwea- 
ried assiduity  and  diligent  application  to  the  most  approv- 
ed European  medical  publications.  When  he  commenced 
practice,  his  qualifications  were  not  surpassed  ?jy  any 
young  man  of  his  time.  About  this  period  he  made  a 
journey  on  horseback  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in 
company  with  his  friend,  the  late  Hon.  Jonathan  Jackson, 
afterwards  distinguished  in  several  stations,  all  of  which 
he  honored,  and  the  last  of  which  was  that  of  treasurer  of 
Harvard  College,  which  he  held  at  his  death  in  1810.  In 
this  tour  he  made  many  respectable  acquaintances,  and  its 
incidents  furnished  him  topics  for  the  entertainment  of  his 
friends  in  after  life.  Such  a  journey  at  that  time  was  con- 
sidered as  an  affair  of  no  small  importance.  Perhaps  a 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  and  years  of  travel  in  Europe 
would  not  at  this  time  seem  a  greater  enterprise. 

Soon,  after  entering  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession 
Dr.  Sawyer  connected  himself  in  marriage  with  Miss  S. 
Farnham,  daughter  of  Daniel  Farnham,  Esq.  a  lawyer  of 
eminence  in  Newburyport,  by  whom  he  had  nine  children, 
four  of  whom  survive,  and  the  respected  relict  at  the  age 
of  fourscore  years  still  enjoys  mucli  of  life. 

It  was  not  long  after  his  settlement  in  Newburyport 
when  Dr.  S.  found  himself  eng-acred  in  a  full  career  of 
professional  business,  embracing  a  large  district  of  coun- 
try ;  and  being  blessed  with  an  excellent  constitvition,  and 
warmly  attached  to  his  profession,  he  shrunk  not  from  the 
unremitted  duties  required  of  him  for  a  period  of  fifty 
years.  Clinical  medicine  being  his  choice,  he  was  more 
distinguished  as  a  physician  than  as  a  surgeon,  though  on 
certain  occasions  he  performed  surgical  operations  with 
firmness,  neatness  and  skill.  He  wrote  but  little  for  pub- 
lication ;  which  is  to  be  regretted,  as  he  possessed  strong- 
powers  of  thought  and  expression,  and  was  a  lover  of 
literature  and  science.  He  was  not,  however,  an  inactive 
VOL.  II.  10 


74  MICAJAH    SAWYER. 

member  of  the  many  benevolent  and  literary  societies  to 
which  he  belonged.  He  always  declined  being  introduced 
to  public  life,  but  no  man's  opinions  and  judgment  were 
more  decisive  and  influential  in  the  sphere  in  which  he 
moved.  He  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  great  principles 
that  led  to  the  revolutionary  struggle. 

Dr.  S.  was  strictly  a  religious  man  in  life  and  practice, 
but  wdthout  a  shade  of  bigotry.  His  own  standard  of  re- 
ligion and  morals  was  a  high  one  ;  severe,  however,  only 
to  himself,  he  was  liberal  and  candid  in  his  construction 
of  the  motives  and  opinions  of  others.  His  health  was 
almost  uninterrupted  to  the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  to 
within  about  three  months  of  his  decease.  He  had  the 
happiness  to  carry  the  fine  sensibilities  of  his  affectionate 
nature  and  the  vigor  of  his  intellect,  to  the  closing  days  of 
his  life,  which  terminated  on  the  29th  of  September,  1815, 
in  his  78th  year. 

Dr.  S.  was  much  beloved  by  his  friends,  and  he  had  no 
enemies.  Inheriting  a  considerable  patrimony,  and  deriv- 
ing a  good  income  from  his  extensive  practice,  he  lived  in 
the  exercise  of  a  judicious  economy,  and  in  the  enjoyment 
of  a  competency  of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  leaving  at 
his  decease  to  his  family  an  estate  much  larger  than  gen- 
erally falls  to  the  lot  of  physicians  in  this  country.  Dr. 
S.  received  the  honorary  degree  of  M.D.  from  the  Univer- 
sity in  Cambridge  ;  and  he  was  named  an  original  mem- 
ber in  the  charters  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  and  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 

The  obituary  notice  of  tlie  day  speaks  of  Dr.  S.  in  the 
following  language.  He  was  an  eminent,  learned,  most 
faithful  and  tender  physician  ;  a  devout  and  exemplary 
christian,  a  benevolent  and  upright  man,  and  valuable 
member  of  society.  With  superior  natural  powers  im- 
proved by  the  advantages  of  education,  and  adorned  by  an 
habitual  dignity  and  politeness  of  manners,  he  pursued  his 
arduous  profession  for  more  than  half  a  century  in  full 
practice  and  with  such  skill,  fidelity  and  affectionate  kind- 
ness, that  his  ordinary  discharge  of  professional  duty  was 
a  constant  benefaction  to  those  who  were  the  objects  of 
his  care.  The  same  exalted  sense  of  integrity  and  faith- 
fulness which  dignified  his  professional  conduct,  accom- 
panied him  in  all  the  relations  which  he  sustained  in  social 
and  civil  life,  and  rendered  him  a  blessing  and  ornament 


ISAAC    6E1NTER.  75 

to   the  various  literary  and  benevolent  institutions  with 
which  he  was  connected. 

The  funeral  solemnities  were  performed  with  every 
mark  of  public  regard  and  sympathy.  The  masters  of 
Durnmer  Academy,  whose  interest  the  deceased  had  many 
years  essentially  promoted  as  a  trustee  and  treasurer, 
the  trustees  of  the  Merrimac  Humane  Society,  over 
which  he  had  presided  from  its  establishment,  with  a  con- 
course of  respectable  citizens,  united  in  paying  their  best 
tribute  of  respect  on  the  solemn  occasion. 

SENTER,  ISAAC,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  Hon.,  was  descend- 
ed from  a  respectable  family  in  New-Hampshire,  and  be- 
came an  inhabitant  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  early  in 
life,  where  he  read  medicine  with  Dr.  Thomas  Moflat,  a 
Scotch  physician  of  eminence.  He  was  surgeon  for  some 
time  in  the  revolutionary  war,  and  accompanied  General 
Arnold  in  liis  expedition  through  the  wilderness  to  Quebec 
in  1775,  a  very  interesting  account  of  which  was  prepared 
by  him  for  the  press  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his 
family.  After  the  war  he  settled  in  Newport,  and  married 
Miss  Arnold  of  Pawtuxet  ;  and  being  successor  to  Dr. 
Hunter  in  high  professional  reputation,  as  well  as  to 
place  of  residence,  he  became  the  most  distinguished  prac- 
titioner both  of  physic  and  surgery  that  the  state  could  in 
his  day  boast  of. 

Ardently  attached  to  his  profession,  his  energetic  mind 
was  directed  exchtsively  to  its  intei'ests,  in  relieving  the 
sick  and  in  enriching  the  medical  journals  of  his  day  with 
the  results  of  his  observations.  One  communication  among 
others,  which  will  serve  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  was 
the  history  of  a  case  of  erratic  urine,  which  has  been  often 
referred  to  in  other  publications  both  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe.  Dr.  Senter  published  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Colleq;e  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  remarks  on 
Phthisis  Pulmonalis,  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  a 
remedy  which  was  a  favorite  with  him,  though  it  originat- 
ed with  English  pliysicians  ;  it  consists  in  the  exhibition 
of  what  is  termed  the  dry  vomit,  composed  of  the  sul- 
phate of  copper  and  ipecacuanha.  He  affirmed  that  he 
had  restored  more  persons  laboring  under  hectic  fever  by 
this  remedy,  conjoined  with  Dr.  Griffith's  myrrh  and  steel 
mixture,  than  by  all  other  medicines  he  ever  read  of  or 
tried. 


76  BENJAMIN    SHATTUCK. 

He  was  eminently  qualified  for  his  profession,  not  only 
by  the  acuteness  of  his  discernment,  the  accuracy  of  his 
opinions,  his  decision  and  judgment  ;  but  by  a  choice  of 
the  most  instructive  books,  an  extensive  correspondence 
and  great  experience.  He  gratuitously  afforded  his  prompt, 
vigilant  and  patient  attention  to  the  clergymen  of  his  tow^n, 
when  affliction  and  disease  visited  them  or  their  families  ; 
and  such  was  the  general  confidence  in  his  skill,  and  sucli 
his  generous  and  humane  spirit,  that  hundreds  are  indebt- 
ed to  him  for  acts  of  kindness  and  liberality. 

He  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Medical 
and  Chirurgical  Societies  of  Edinburgh  and  London,  and 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Socie- 
ty ;  and  he  was  for  many  years  President  of  the  Society 
of  Cincinnati  of  Rhode  Island. 

Thougli  singular  in  his  opinions  on  religious  subjects, 
he  was  behind  no  one  in  the  practice  of  the  christian  vir- 
tues, of  philanthropy  and  beneficence,  and  especially  in 
the  walks  of  his  profession.  His  person  was  tall  and  well 
proportioned,  and  his  manners  dignified  and  popular.  He 
died  in  December,  1799,  in  the  45th  year  of  his  age. 

SHATTUCK,  DR.  BENJAMIN,  was  born  at  Littleton, 
in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  on  the  1 1th  day  of  November, 
1742.  He  was  the  son  of  Stephen  Shattuck,  a  man  of  no 
ordinary  powers  of  body  and  mind  ;  a  warm  patriot,  who, 
after  he  was  turned  of  sixty  years  of  age,  shouldered  his 
gun,  and  marched  to  Concord,  on  the  19tli  of  April, 
1775,  to  share  in  the  danger  of  that  eventful  day. 

His  grandfather  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Shattuck,  the 
first  settled  minister  of  the  town  of  Littleton,  who  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  with  the  class  of  1709,  and 
was  held  in  high  estimation  as  a  good  sound  divine  of  the 
old  New-England  school.  He  married  a  granddaughter 
of  the  celebrated  John  Sherman,  who,  on  coming  from 
England,  was  for  some  time  an  assistant  to  George  Phil- 
lips, the  first  minister  at  Watertown. 

From  Massacliusetts  he  went  to  Connecticut,  and  there 
acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  magistrate  ;  but,  when  Mr.  Phil- 
lips died,  the  flock  at  Watertown  earnestly  requested  him 
to  return  to  his  first  love,  and  he  obeyed  the  call.  Sher- 
man was  not  only  a  divine  of  the  first  "  gifts  and  graces," 
but  also  a  profound  metaphysician,  and  was  exceeded  by 
few  in  the  country  as  a  mathematician.  He  published  an 
almanack  for  several  vears  in  succession,  the  first  work  of 


BENJAMIN    SHATTUCK.  77 

the  kind  in  New-England,  and  often  went  to  Cambridge 
to  deliver  lectures  upon  philosophical  subjects.  He  was  not 
only  in  advance  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived  in  tiie  sci- 
ences, but  his  literary  acquirements  were  equal  to  his  other 
attainments.  He  calculated  eclipses,  fixed  the  latitude  and 
longitude  of  places,  drew  up  codes  of  laws,  all  with  equal 
facility,  and  at  the  same  time  preached  to  admiration. 

His  name  may  be  mentioned  as  a  proof  that  a  family 
does  not  much  retard  the  progress  of  the  learned,  for  he 
had  six  children  by  one  wife,  and  twenty  by  another,  and 
they  were  among  the  best  educated  of  the  land,  and  their 
descendants  have,  in  a  great  measure,  inherited  their  taste 
and  talents.  Roger  Sherman,  a  Judge  of  the  highest  courts 
in  Connecticut,  and  one  of  the  signers  of  the  declaration 
of  independence,  was  a  great  grandson  of  the  minister  at 
Watertown.  The  clergy,  Avho  are  always  respected  in  an 
enlightened  community,  were  in  the  early  days  of  our 
history  the  great  men  in  every  concern  ;  and  to  them  we 
are  much  indebted  for  the  institutions  of  piety  and  learn- 
ing which  aliound  in  our  country.  They  gave  their  child- 
ren a  good  education,  and  considered  it  the  best  patrimony 
they  could  bestow.  This  fixed  the  permanent  principles 
of  a  free  government,  which  is  for  ages  to  hold  its  empire 
over  a  mighty  people. 

Dr.  Shattuck  was  prepared  to  enter  college  in  his  native 
place,  by  Dummer  Rogers,  son  of  the  clergyman  at  Lit- 
tleton. While  at  Cambridge,  Shattuck  was  consider- 
ed a  young  man  of  a  good  capacity,  a  hard  student, 
with  an  original  cast  of  thought,  which  sometimes,  to 
common  observers,  appeared  like  eccentricity.  It  was 
then  a  period  remarkable  for  boldness  of  thinking,  and 
freedom  in  the  expression  of  liberal  opinions  on  great  na- 
tional questions.  The  spirit  of  liberty  has  often  been  first 
invoked  in  the  groves  of  learning;.  The  sacred  flame 
which  was  soon  to  burn  through  the  land  and  warm  every 
breast,  was  frequently  seen  at  that  time  to  flash  and  bright- 
en in  the  halls  of  Harvard.  Among  those  whose  observa- 
tions are  remembered  by  the  few  surviving  students  of 
that  time,  Dr.  Shattuck  holds  a  distinguished  rank.  In 
questions  of  philosophy  as  well  as  of  government,  he  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  in  liberal  discussion.  On  leaving 
college  in  1765  he  went  to  reside  at  Groton,  to  pursue 
the  study  of  surgery  and  medicine  with  Dr.  Prescott,  an 
eminent  physician,  a  man  of  great  urbanity,  and  popular. 


78  BENJAMIN    8HATTUCK. 

not  only  in  his  profession,  but  as  a  judge  of  probate  for 
the  county  of  Middlesex.  From  Groton  he  went  to  Tem- 
pleton,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  to  commence  practice. 
The  practitioner  of  the  present  day,  with  all  the  lights 
of  the  last  half  century  about  him,  can  hardly  understand 
how  much  his  predecessors  suffered  for  want  of  books, 
instruments,  and  all  the  facilities  which  are  at  the  com- 
mand of  the  modern  physician  and  surgeon  ;  but  their 
sagacity,  careful  watchings,  perseverance  and  tact,  often 
more  than  supplied  the  place  of  books  and  systems.  Na- 
ture is  generally  communicative  and  kind  to  those  devot- 
ed to  her  laws  and  suggestions,  and  not  unfrequently  her 
simple  inspirations  are  more  efficacious  that  abstruse  theo- 
ries however  ingenious.  Disease  has  often  yielded  to  the 
anxious  watcher  and  cai'eful  nurse,  when  science,  proud  of 
her  knowledge,  might  have  prescribed  in  vain. 

The  place  which  Dr.  Shattuck  chose  for  the  field  of  his 
exertions,  was  a  new  settlement,  with  but  few  inhabitants. 
The  population  increased  but  slowly  in  the  new  corpora- 
tions until  after  the  peace  of  1763.  Then  Indian  warfare 
was  no  longer  to  be  dreaded,  and  the  hardy  sons  of  the 
colonies  made  rapid  strides  in  cultivating  the  soil,  to 
which  the  children  of  the  forest  had  given  up  all  claim, 
and  had  abandoned  in  their  peaceful  wanderings.  Dr. 
Shattuck  thought,  and  his  visions  were  more  than  realiz- 
ed, that  by  the  time  his  children  had  grown  up,  there 
would  be  a  comparatively  dense  population  around  him. 
With  these  hopes  his  professional  duties  began.  The  life 
of  a  pliysician  who  has  business,  and  with  it  entertains  a 
high  sense  of  his  responsibility,  is  always  an  arduous  one  ; 
but  few  can  imagine  the  severity  of  his  labors,  who  main- 
tains a  considerable  celebrity  in  a  new  and  thinly  settled 
country. 

For  twenty-fom'  years  Dr.  Shattuck  continued  his  labors 
in  the  county  of  Worcester  and  the  neighboring  counties, 
until  his  strength  sunk  under  his  efforts.  It  is  seldom 
that  any  constitution  is  proof  against  such  severe  duties, 
continued  for  any  length  of  time.  He  died  of  a  pulmon- 
ary cojnplaint  in  the  year  1794.  His  mind  continued 
bright  and  active  until  the  last  moments  of  his  life.  He 
reasoned  and  judged  upon  his  own  case  with  the  calmness 
of  one  not  interested  in  the  event,  and  named  to  his  medi- 
cal friends  with  prescient  accuracy  the  number  of  hours 
tlie  mortal  machine  would  bv  the  common    course  of  na- 


BENJAMIN  SHATTUCK.  79 

ture  continue  its  functions.  Dr.  Shattuck  died  at  tliat  time 
of  life  when  the  faculties  of  men  reach  their  highest  point, 
when  opinions  have  been  tested  by  experiment,  ar.d  origin- 
al thoughts  are  arranged  and  incorporated  with  settled 
axioms. 

Those  who  lived  with  him  and  were  the  best  judges  of 
his  talents  and  acquirements,  uniformly  agree  that  no  phy- 
sician at  that  time  was  more  acute  in  discovering  tlie  seat 
and  causes  of  a  disease  than  Dr.  Shattuck.  To  (|uick  dis- 
cernment was  added  a  patience  in  investigating  all  the  cir- 
cumstances relating  to  the  subject  under  consideration, 
which  naturally  led  to  correct  vicM^s  and  happy  results. 

His  knowledge  was  considerable,  but  his  wisdom  was 
superior  to  his  knowledge.  He  knew  much  of  the  thoughts 
of  other  men,  but  was  governed  by  a  system  formed  from 
his  own.  He  hailed  with  delight  the  works  of  Cullen 
and  other  distinguished  lights  in  his  profession,  but  receiv- 
ed their  opinions  as  intellectual  food  for  digestion,  rather 
than  as  absolute  guides  of  his  own  practice.  While  he 
was  systematic  in  Jiis  course  of  examining,  reasoning,  judg- 
ing and  acting,  he  was  not,  like  many,  wedded  to  systems 
and  theories  ;  but  subjected  them  to  an  enliglitened  super- 
vision and  examination.  With  his  reputation  it  is  not  sin- 
gular that  he  was  often  consulted  by  his  professional 
brethren  in  stubborn  cases,  and  his  judgment  was  consid- 
ered as  the  "  ultima  ratio  medici"  for  their  patients. 
There  were  several  physicians  about  him  highly  respecta- 
ble in  their  day  and  generation,  who  were  on  most  friend- 
ly terms  with  him,  and  who,  years  after  he  was  gone,  bore 
testimony  to  the  soundness  of  his  judgment  and  the  suc- 
cess of  his  practice.  Drs.  Foxcroft,  Atherton  and  Frink 
were  among  the  number  ;  all  men  of  distinction  in  their 
profession. 

His  death  was  deeply  lamented  by  the  whole  communi- 
ty to  which  he  was  known  ;  but  this  loss  was  more  poig- 
nantly felt  by  his  townsmen,  the  people  of  Templeton. 
He  had  settled  with  them  by  invitation,  had  lived  in  their 
affection  and  confidence  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  had  identified  himself  with  their  joys  and  sorrows. 
At  his  funeral  all  classes  crowded  around  his  bier  to  pay 
the  last  sad  and  mournful  tribute  of  respect  to  their  phy- 
sician and  friend.  The  pious  pastor  of  the  flock  poured 
out  his  heart  in  an  honest  eulogy,  in  commemoration  of 
his   virtues,   and   spoke  of  the    "  sense,  skill  and  philan- 


80  WILLIAM    SHIPPEN. 

thropy"  of  their  departed  physician  and  friend.  Tliis 
was  said  in  the  presence  of  those  who  knew  the  deceased, 
and  knew  too  that  the  words  flowed  in  truth  and  sincerity  : 
such  praises  from  the  mouth  of  discriminating  affection, 
have  a  lasting  unction  in  them,  and  are  sweet  in  the  re- 
membrance of  ages,  when  the  cold  stone  and  the  proud  en- 
tablature are  defaced  or  forgotten. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Shattuck  settled  in  Templeton  he  marri- 
ed Lucy  Barron,  the  daughter  of  a  brave  Provincial  offi- 
cer, who  fell  in  Johnson's  Fight,  as  the  memorable  battle 
of  the  eighth  of  September,  1755,  was  called.  She  was  a 
woman  precisely  fitted  for  her  situation,  endowed  with 
hereditary  and  constitutional  firmness.  She  was  an  honor 
to  her  liusband,  and  a  blessing  to  her  children  through  her 
life,  which  was,  happily  for  the  latter,  protracted  till  with- 
in a  few  years  past.  She  was  left  with  six  children  at  the  de- 
cease of  her  husband,  two  of  whom  soon  followed  him, 
and  the  youngest  is  now  a  distinguished  physician  in  full 
practice  in  the  city  of  Boston. 

*  SHIPPEN,  DR.  WILLIAM,  Sen.  This  worthy  and 
excellent  man  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  respect- 
able English  family,  which  emigrated  to  this  country  on 
account  of  religious  persecution,  first  to  Massachusetts, 
and  then  for  the  same  cause  to  Pennsylvania,  soon  after  its 
settlement  by  William  Penn.  He  was  born  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  1st  of  October,  1712.  He  applied  himself  early  in 
life  to  the  study  of  medicine,  for  which  he  had  a  remark- 
able genius,  possessing  that  kind  of  intuitive  knowledge  of 
diseases  which  cannot  be  acquired  from  books.  In  his 
practice  he  was  uncommonly  successful,  by  which  means 
he  soon  rose  to  very  high  reputation  and  extensive  busi- 
ness, which  he  retained  to  an  advanced  age. 

But,  in  his  long  journey  through  life.  Dr.  Shippen  did 
not  confine  his  useful  labors  to  the  duties  of  his  profession. 
The  institutions  of  learning  and  benevolence  were  the 
objects  of  liis  care  and  liberal  patronage.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders,  and  during  the  greatest  part  of  his  life  a 
trustee  of  the  College  of  New-Jersey,  towards  the  estab- 
lishment and  support  of  which  he  contributed  largely  by 
liberal  donations  and  by  bequeathing  it  a  considerable 
perpetual  annuity.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  a  vice-president  of  the  Philosophical  Soci- 
ety of  that  city,  and  the  fi.rst  Physician  to  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Hospital,  which  charity  owes  mudi  of  its  usefulness  to 


WILLIAM    SHIPPEN.  81 

his  long  continued  medical  services  and  frequent  bene- 
factions. 

Dr.  S.  was  a  friend  of  liberty  and  his  country.  At 
an  advanced  age  he  Avas  chosen  a  member  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  where  he  proved  himself  to  be  an  ex- 
cellent and  well-informed  patriot,  and  in  the  evening  of 
life  he  continued  to  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  his  coun- 
try and  the  stability  of  her  republican  institutions. 

To  the  poor  of  every  denomination  his  professional  aid 
was  at  all  times  freely  rendered  ;  and  so  well  known  were 
his  ability  and  integrity  that  he  was  appointed  guardian 
of  the  estates  of  many  widows  and  orphans,  to  the  poor 
of  which  class  he  left  a  considerable  legacy. 

But  what  is  still  more  to  the  honor  of  Dr.  Shippen,  he 
was  the  friend  of  religion.  His  hospitable  doors  were  al- 
Avays  open  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  he  enjoyed  a 
large  share  of  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  the  cele- 
brated Mr.  Whitefield.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  all 
the  different  systems  of  divinity,  but  was  most  strongly 
attached  to  that  which  was  so  ably  defended  by  Mr.  Ed- 
wards, one  of  the  presidents  of  the  College  of  New-Jer- 
sey. He  was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  first  Presby- 
terian church  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  mem- 
ber for  near  seventy  years.  As  a  proof  of  the  influence  of 
the  religion  he  loved,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  long  life  he  never  was  once  heard  to 
swear  profanely,  nor  to  take  his  Maker's  name  in  vain. 

Dr.  Shippen  departed  this  life,  November  4th,  1801, 
aged  89.  In  private  life  he  was  a  tender  husband,  an  af- 
fectionate parent  and  kind  master.  To  his  family  in  all 
its  extensive  branches  he  was  kind  and  attentive,  and  to 
all  he  was  strictly  just.  But  amidst  the  bright  cluster  of 
his  virtues  conspicuously  shone  his  humility,  modesty,  in- 
tegrity and  truth.  His  temperance  was  so  great  that,  till 
within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death,  he  never  drank  wine,  nor 
any  other  spirituous  liquor.  He  owed  his  health  very 
much  not  only  to  his  temperance,  but  to  constant  daily 
exercise.  He  superintended  the  business  of  his  farm,  and 
had  always  the  entire  management  of  his  large  estate,  un- 
til a  few  months  before  he  died.  In  his  family  he  exhibit- 
ed that  simplicity  in  living  which  is  alike  consonant  to 
the  principles  of  Christianity  and  republicanism  ;  even  his 
dress  conveyed  his  ideas  of  simplicity,  for  he  was  opposed 
to  ostentation  in  every  thing.  His  temper  was  another 
rOL.    II.  11 


82  WILLIAM    SHIPPEi^. 

remarkable  trait  in  his  character  ;  it  was  uniformly  sweet, 
as  well  as  forbearing,  forgiving,  cheerful  and  serene.     He 
had  so  much  of  the  vivacity  of  youth,  that,  when  between 
eighty  and  ninety  years  of  age,  he  often  witnessed  their 
pleasures  when  innocent,  and  even  sometimes   partook  of 
them.     His  benevolence  was  so  universal,  that  it  may  very 
justly  be  said  of  him  that  he  wished  well  to  the  whole  hu- 
man race.   He  lived  beloved,  and  at  the  great  age  of  ninety 
years  he  bowed  his  reverend  head  to  the  will  of  his  merci- 
ful Creator,  amidst    his  numerous  descendants,   regretted 
and  lamented,  and  was  buried  in  the  graveyard   of   the 
church  to  which  he  had  been  so  useful,  by  the  side  of  six 
of  his  grandchildren,  followed   by  a  large   train  of  his 
mourning  relatives  and  friends. — Jlled.  Repository. 
^  SHIPJPEN,  WILLIAM,  M.D.,  M.M.S.S.  Hon.     This 
very  eminent  physician  was  the  son  of  the  preceding,  who 
descended   from  one   of  the  associates   of  the   illustrious 
founder  of  Pennsylvania.     He  Was  born  in  the  year  1733, 
and  passed  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  Philadelphia.     At 
the  usual  age  he  was  j)laced  in  a  highly  respectable  gram- 
mar school,  which  was   kept   at  Nottingham,  in    Chester 
county,  by  Mr.  Finlay,  afterwards  principal  of  the  College 
of  New-Jersey.     At  that  period  no  college  or  large  chart- 
ered school  existed  between   New-Haven  in  Connecticut, 
and   Williamsburgh  in  Virginia  ;  but  there   were  several 
valuable  private  seminaries  in  Pennsylvania,  and  among 
them  Mr.  Finlay 's  was  much  distinguished,  particularly  for 
the  attainments  of  his  pupils  in  the  learned  languages.     He 
appears  to  have  availed  himself  of  these  early  advantages  ; 
for,   when    removed    to    tlie    College     of    New-Jersey, 
which  was  soon  after  established  at  Newark,   he  evinced  a 
very  critical  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language.     Among 
other  exercises  public  speaking  was  much  practised,  and 
at  this  time  he  began  to  display  that   fine  elocution  which 
was  so  conspicuous  during  his    life.     He  passed  through 
the   usual    studies,  and   was    graduated  under   President 
Burr.     His  great  reputation  as  a  speaker  procured  for  him 
the  appointment  of  Valedictory  Orator  at  the  Commence- 
ment, and  he  acquitted  himself  so  well  that  the  celebrated 
preacher  Whitefield,  who  happened  to  be  present,  address- 
ed him  publicly,  and,  declaring  that  he   had  never  heard 
better  speaking,  urged  him  to  devote  himself  to  the  pulpit. 
This  was  in  1754.     The  three  following  years  he  spent  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  under  the  care  of  his  father,  as  a 


WltLIAM     BHlPPKjr.  |)f 

(Student  of  medicine  ;  and  embarked  for  Europe  soon  after, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

His  first  residence  was  in  London,  and  in  ihe  family  of 
Mr.  John  Hunter,  who  at  that  time  assisted  his  brother  in 
anatomical  lectures,  and  appears  to  have  devoted  all 
his  leisure  to  the  study  of  comparative  anatomy.  At  this 
place  and  at  Dr.  William  Hunter's  theatre  young  Shippen 
spent  a  great  part  of  his  time.  As  Hunter  was  considered 
one  of  the  first  demonstrators  of  anatomy,  his  pupil,  be- 
ing sensible  of  his  excellence,  most  probably  imitated  his 
manner.  During  his  connexion  with  the  Hunters,  he 
often  associated  with  the  well  known  Mr.  William  Hew- 
«on,  and  appears  also  to  have  enjoyed  the  particular  favor 
of  the  very  eminent  Sir  John  Pringle.  Having  attended, 
with  Pringle,  the  examination  of  several  patients  who  had 
died  under  liis  care,  he  used  often  to  mention  the  candor 
of  that  great  physician  in  urging  these  anatomists  to  de- 
clare freely  their  sentiments  of  the  diseased  appearances, 
without  regard  to  his  previous  opinion.  At  this  time  also 
commenced  his  acquaintance  with  Dr.  John  Fothergill. 
The  people  of  Pennsylvania  seem  always  to  have  been  re- 
garded with  affection  by  this  benevolent  individual,  but 
at  the  present  time  he  was  more  interested  for  them  than 
usual.  The  Pennsylvania  Hospital  had  lately  been  erect- 
ed. He  took  it  for  granted  that  students  would  resort  to 
it,  and  supposed  that  they  might  experience  great  difficul- 
ty in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  anatomy.  To  remedy  this 
defecl  in  their  medical  education,  he  employed  Rimsdyck, 
one  of  the  first  artists  of  Gi-eat  Britain,  to  execute  tlie 
crayon  paintings  now  in  that  institution,  which  exhibit  the 
whole  structure  of  the  body,  of  the  full  size,  and  the  gravid 
uterus,  with  many  of  the  varied  circumstances  of  natural 
and  preternatural  parturition.  These  paintings  are  re- 
ported to  have  cost  two  hundred  guineas,  and  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  guineas  in  addition,  which  he  contribut- 
ed to  the  hospital,  constitute  a  most  substantial  proof  of 
his  regard  as  well  as  of  his  liberality. 

Shippen  while  cultivating  anatomy  in  London  was 
equally  intent  upon  the  su1)ject  of  midwifery  ;  he  attended 
the  lectures  of  Hunter  upon  this  subject  with  great  care, 
and  seems  to  have  become  a  convert  to  most  of  the  pecu- 
liar doctrines  of  his  preceptor.  In  the  summer  season  he 
also  attended  the  lectures  of  a  celebrated  accoucheur.  Dr. 
McKenzie.     During  his  residence  in  Great  Britain  he  stu- 


84  WILLIAM    SHIPPEN. 

died  and  was  graduated  at  Edinburgh.  His  thesis  was  on 
a  very  important  subject,  De  Placentae  cum  Utero  Nexu. 
He  left  Edinburgh  with  sentiments  of  the  greatest  venera- 
tion for  CuUenand  the  elder  Monro.  After  finishing  his  stu- 
dies in  Great  Britain  he  wished  to  visit  France.  But  this  was 
rendered  difficult  by  the  war  which  then  existed  between 
those  countries.  On  this  occasion  his  friend.  Sir  John 
Pringle,  introduced  him  to  a  lady  affected  with  pulmonary 
consumption,  who  interested  George  II.  to  obtain  from 
the  court  of  France  permission  to  travel  for  the  benefit  of 
her  health  in  the  southern  parts  of  that  country.  He  ac- 
companied her  in  a  medical  capacity,  and  in  consequence 
formed  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  celebrated 
Senac,  and  some  other  physicians  of  Paris,  than  he  could 
otherwise  have  done. 

He  resided  a  short  time  in  France,  and  returned  to  his 
native  country  in  the  year  1762,  fully  determined  to  teach 
anatomy  by  dissection,  and  to  practise  midwifery.  As 
both  these  schemes  were  new  to  a  large  majority  of  the 
community  in  which  they  were  to  be  executed,  the  under- 
taking must  have  been  considered  as  very  delicate.  An 
acquaintance  with  the  two  subjects  was  not  all  that  was 
necessary  to  insure  success  :  few  things  require  more 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  greater  powers  of  accom- 
modation to  the  feelings  of  the  human  heart.  Nature  had 
been  uncommonly  bountiful  in  the  form  and  endowments 
of  Dr.  Shippen.  His  person  was  graceful,  his  manners 
polished,  his  conversation  various,  and  the  tones  of  his 
voice  singularly  sweet  and  conciliatory.  In  his  inter- 
course with  society  he  was  gay  without  levity,  and  digni- 
fied without  haughtiness  or  austerity.  He  belonged  to  a 
family  which  was  proverbial  for  good  temper.  His  fa- 
ther, whom  he  strongly  resembled  in  this  respect,  during 
the  long  life  of  ninety  years  had  scarcely  ever  been  seen 
out  of  humor.  He  was  also  particularly  agreeable  to 
young  people.  Known  as  he  was  to  almost  every  citizen 
of  Philadelphia,  it  is  probable  that  there  was  no  one  who 
did  not  wish  him  well. 

Dr.  Shippen  arrived  from  Europe  in  May,  1762,  and 
the  anatomical  paintings,  formerly  alluded  to,  came  soon 
after.  These  very  valuable  paintings  presented  by  the 
benevolent  Dr.  Fothergill,  who  expected  Shippen  would 
explain  them,  being  committed  to  his  care,  were  soon  put 
up,  and  may  be  considered  as  the  precursors  of  Shippen's 


\ 


WILLIAM    SHIPPEN.  CJO 

dissections,  since  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  as  soon 
as  the  season  permitted,  his  first  course  of  anatomy  began. 
The  introductory  lecture  was  delivered  in  one  of  the  large 
apartments  of  the  State  House,  and  many  of  the  gentlemen 
of  Philadelphia  heard  it  with  pleasure.  The  number  of 
students  who  attended  his  course,  amounted  only  to 
twelve  ;  such  was  the  origin  of  our  medical  school.  He 
gave  three  courses  of  lectures  unconnected  with  any  insti- 
tution, when.  May  3d,  1765,  Dr.  John  Morgan  laid  before 
the  trustees  of  the  college,  a  plan  for  establishing  a  medi- 
cal school  under  their  auspices,  accompanied  by  a  letter 
from  the  honorable  Thomas  Penn  recommending  the  plan 
to  their  patronage.  In  September  Dr.  Shippen  addressed 
a  letter  to  the  trustees,  stating  that  the  institution  of  a 
medical  school  had  been  his  favorite  object  for  seven 
years,  and  that  he  had  proposed  it  three  years  before  in 
his  first  introductory  lecture  ;  upon  which  he  was  imme- 
diately and  unanimously  chosen  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery.  The  anatomical  lectures  were  regularly  deliv- 
ered from  year  to  year  until  the  fourteenth  course,  which 
was  in  the  winter  of  1775,  when  they  were  suspended  by 
the  war  of  the  revolution.  The  annual  number  of  students 
by  this  time  had  increased  to  between  thirty  and  forty. 
The  school,  of  course,  was  completely  established,  and 
Shippen's  character  as  a  lecturer  decided  by  the  number 
of  his  students,  for  he  had  now  taught  nearly  three  hun- 
dred. Many  of  them  afterwards  went  abroad  to  perfect 
their  education,  and  returned  to  practise  in  their  native 
country.  All  these  travellers,  I  believe,  without  a  single 
exception,  and  without  conferring  together,  declared  that 
they  had  met  with  no  man  who  Avas  superior  to  Shippen 
as  a  demonstrator  of  anatomy,  and  very  few  indeed  that 
were  equal  to  him.  In  explaining  the  success  of  Dr.  Ship- 
pen  in  teaching  anatomy,  we  may  take  into  view  another 
faculty  which  he  also  exerted  with  great  effect.  He  went 
through  the  substance  of  each  preceding  lecture  by  inter- 
rogation instead  of  recapitulation,  thus  fixing  the  attention 
of  the  students  ;  and  his  manner  was  so  happy,  that  this 
grave  process  proceeded  like  a  piece  of  amusement.  His 
irony  was  of  a  delicate  kind,  and  so  blended  with  humor, 
that  he  could  repress  forwardness,  and  take  notice  of  neg- 
ligence, so  as  to  admonish  his  class  without  too  much  ex- 
posing the  defaulter. 


56  WILLIAM    SHIPPED. 

In  this  manner  was  he  proceeding  with  his  favorite 
scheme,  when  his  career  was  suspended  by  his  entering 
into  the  medical  department  of  the  army  in  the  year  1776. 
Though  he  continued  in  this  station  till  1780,  his  anatom- 
ical lectures  were  interrupted  only  during  the  winters  of 
1776  and  1777.  He  afterwards  came  to  the  city  for  the 
purpose  of  delivering  the  accustomed  courses,  which  were 
necessarily  shorter  than  before.  In  January,  1781,  he  re- 
signed the  post  of  Director  General  of  the  medical  departs 
ment  of  the  army,  three  months  after  he  had  been  a  second 
time  elected  to  it,  determined  to  resume  all  his  former 
pursuits.  He  had  apartments  of  his  own  construction, 
every  way  adequate  to  the  accommodation  of  his  class, 
with  proper  arrangements  also  for  teaching  practical 
anatomy. 

During  many  years  he  devoted  himself  very  much  to 
the  practice  of  midwifery,  effecting  by  these  means  a  great 
change  in  the  habits  of  the  city.  But  there  was  an  inher- 
ent difficulty  in  this  undertaking,  there  being  at  this  time 
very  fcAv  occasions  where  medical  men  were  employed  for 
this  purpose  in  the  first  instance.  It  was  only  when  some- 
thing very  important  was  to  be  done  that  they  were  re^ 
sorted  to  ;  and  very  often  when  too  late.  This  was  alto- 
gether the  effect  of  prejudice,  and  not  of  necessity,  for 
several  of  the  medical  gentlemen  were  accoucheurs.  By 
Shippen  this  prejudice  was  so  far  removed  that  in  the 
course  of  ten  years  he  became  very  fully  employed.  He 
also  taught  midwifery.  Prior  to  the  revolution,  he  seems 
to  have  had  a  distinct  class  of  students  in  this  branch  ; 
after  that  period  he  delivered  a  short  course  to  his  general 
class  ;  and,  brilliant  as  he  generally  was,  I  believe  there 
was  no  lecture  in  which  he  shone  so  much,  as  in  his  intro- 
ductory one  to  midwifery,  upon  the  subject  of  address  and 
deportment. 

After  lecturing  and  practising  as  accoucheur,  surgeon 
and  physician  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  subsequently  to 
leaving  the  American  army,  his  habits  suffered  an  immense 
alteration  by  an  occurrence  which,  as  far  as  respected  him- 
self, was  one  of  the  most  important  and  afflicting  that  he 
had  ever  experienced.  His  only  son  had  every  advantage 
in  education  that  good  sense  and  knowledge  of  human  na- 
ture, that  respectable  connexions,  and  finally  that  money, 
could  procure  for  him  ;  and  such  were  his  talents  and  ap- 
plication, that  his  proficiency  was  equal  to  his  opportuni- 


WILLIAM   SHIPPEN.  &t 

ties.  He  had  often  been  caressed  by  Washington  ;  he  went 
abroad  and  visited  France  under  the  auspices  of  Jefferson; 
whilst  in  England  he  enjoyed  the  countenance  of  the  late 
President  Adams,  and  was  on  intimate  terms  with  Lord 
Shelburne.  His  letters  from  those  countries  were  so  re- 
plete with  information  and  ability,  that  they  gave  great 
pleasure  to  many  persons,  to  whom  his  delighted  father 
used  to  read  them.  After  four  years  of  absence  he  return- 
ed, and  proved  to  be  exactly  what  parental  affection  wish- 
ed. He  was  not  only  a  man  of  talents  and  information, 
but  of  great  virtue  and  strong  filial  attachment.  Shippen 
would  have  loved  him  as  a  friend,  had  there  been  no 
other  connexion  between  them.  The  feelings  excited  by 
these  qualities,  produced  a  degree  of  fondness  for  his  son 
which  has  seldom  been  equalled.  He  seemed  to  lose  sight 
of  himself,  and  forget  that  he  also  had  a  part  to  act,  so 
fully  was  his  attention  absorbed  by  this  endeared  object. 
His  strongest  wish  was  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  as 
his  son's  guest.  He  therefore  gave  him  the  fairest  portion 
of  his  estate,  and,  to  obtain  leisure  and  exemption  from 
care,  procured  the  establishment  of  an  adjunct  professor  of 
anatomy.  But,  alas  !  instead  of  realizing  any  of  these 
fond  hopes,  he  had  to  endure  a  disappointment  the  most 
painful  which  suffering  humanity  can  experience.  In  1792 
his  son  began  to  complain  of  ill  health.  The  father  in 
vain  devoted  to  him  almost  the  whole  of  his  time,  and 
consulted,  occasionally,  all  his  medical  friends.  After  a 
great  variety  of  efforts  for  his  relief,  and  much  suffering 
on  his  part,  he  died  in  1798.  Thus  the  object  upon  which 
he  founded  hopes  of  comfort  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
and  which  he  had  contemplated  with  increasing  tenderness 
for  thirty  years,  was  for  ever  removed. 

Though  this  heavy  stroke  did  not  entirely  prostrate 
him,  it  did  him  a  greater  injury  by  destroying  the  interest 
he  felt  in  every  remaining  object.  It  cut  the  sinews  of  his 
exertions,  and  left  him  gradually  to  wither,  the  amiable 
N'ictim  of  paternal  affection.  From  this  time  his  business 
as  a  practitioner  declined.  He  seldom  lectured  on  anato- 
my, and  generally  with  reluctance  ;  though,  when  he  did 
lecture,  he  always  £jave  the  greatest  pleasure  to  his  class. 
The  only  studies  to  which  he  applied  himself,  after  this 
period,  were  of  a  religious  nature.  He  was  educated  in 
the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  but  he  now 
read  and  thought  much  on  the  subject  of  uni^'e^sal  restora^ 


88  ELIHU  H.   SMITH. 

tion,  and  finally  adopted  that  belief  with  great  confidence. 
Three  years  ago  his  spirits  appeared  again  to  return.  He 
was  attacked,  however,  with  vertigo,  which  greatly  de- 
pressed him,  and  which  was  soon  followed  by  symptoms 
of  hydrothorax. 

Last  winter  he  delivered  the  introductory  lecture,  though 
very  infirm  and  unlike  what  he  had  formerly  been.  Yet 
he  was  much  roused  by  the  appearance  of  the  class  in  the 
new  theatre,  and  feelingly  described  his  emotions  upon 
comparing  these  with  his  original  set  of  students  forty 
years  before,*  and  on  reflecting  that  every  medical  pro- 
fessor in  the  institution  had  been  taught  anatomy  by  him- 
self. It  was  indeed  impossible  that  he  could  survey  the 
result  of  his  labors  without  sincere  satisfaction.  Of  his 
elder  students,  there  were  some  to  be  found  in  almost  eve- 
ry state,  who  were  amongst  the  most  distinguished  of  their 
profession,  and  in  latter  times  he  had  seen  the  pupils  of 
his  school  extend  in  various  directions,  from  the  Hudson 
far  beyond  the  Ohio,  and  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  to 
the  borders  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  During  this  course  he 
lectured,  as  usvial,  on  midwifery.  But  in  the  succeeding 
spring  his  debility  increased,  and  he  removed  early  in  the 
summer  to  Germantown.  Here  he  was  attacked  by  an 
anthrax,  which  so  much  increased  his  weakness  that  he 
sunk  under  it,  on  the  11  th  day  of  July,  1808. 

From  this  review  of  the  professional  career  of  our  de- 
ceased friend,  it  appears  that  he  had  the  peculiar  talent  of 
successfully  promoting  an  object  of  immense  utility  to  his 
country  ;  and  that  his  steadiness  in  pursuit  thereof  entitles 
him  to  be  ranked  amongst  the  benefactors  of  mankind. 
To  this  it  ought  to  be  added,  that  after  an  eventful  life  he 
left  the  world  without  an  enemy,  whilst  many  indeed  sin- 
cerely regret  that  the  amiable  Shippen  is  no  more. —  Wis- 
tar^s  Eulogium  on  William  Shippen^  J\I.D.,  delivered  before  the 
College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  Jlfarc/i,  1809. — See  Phila- 
delphia Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  Vol.  V. 

SMITH,  ELIHU  HUBBARD,  M.D.,  Avas  a  native  of 
Litchfield  in  Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1771. 
Having  received  the  rudiments  of  knowledge  at  a  school 
in  Litchfield,  he  entered  the  college  of  New-Haven,  at  the 
early  age  of  eleven.  At  this  distinguished  seat  of  learning 
he  gave  many  proofs  of  intellectual  energy,  far   beyond 

*  The  class  was  now  probably  near  four  hundred. 


ELIHU  I!.   SMITH. 


89 


those  we  are  accustomed  to  observe  in  one  of  so  unripe  an 
age.  He  completed  his  education  under  the  particular 
care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  who  then  presided 
over  an  academy  of  distinguished  reputation  at  Greenfield, 
and  who,  upon  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stiles,  succeed- 
ed to  the  presidency  of  Yale  College.  In  1786  Mr  Smith 
received  the  degree  of  A.B.  from  the  college  of  New- 
Haven. 

He  now  returned  to  Litchfield,  and  under  the  direction 
of  his  father,  a  practitioner  of  physic,  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine.  In  the  year  1791  he  resorted  to  Phila- 
delphia for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  several  courses  of 
medical  instruction  delivered  in  tliat  city.  After  this  pe- 
riod, in  1792,  he  chose  as  his  residence,  Wethersfield,  in 
Connecticut,  where  he  entered  upon  the  practical  duties 
of  his  profession.  In  this  place,  however,  much  as  he  was 
respected  and  esteemed  for  his  social  and  moral  virtues, 
he  found  but  little  employment  as  physician,  and  conse- 
quently, in  the  autumn  of  1793,  removed  to  the  city  of 
New-York,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1798. 

In  New- York  he  devoted  himself  v/ith  great  ardor  to 
his  medical  pursuits,  and  by  his  perseverance  and  atten- 
tion gradually  surmounted  those  obstacles  to  professional 
success  which  naturally  arose  from  his  youth  and  the  lim- 
ited number  of  his  acquaintance.  But  beside  those  branch- 
es of  science  more  immediately  connected  with  the  medical 
profession,  he  cultivated  v/ith  great  industry  almost  every 
department  of  literature.  His  genius  as  a  poet  unfolded 
itself  at  an  early  age,  and  among  the  poetical  productions 
of  his  juvenile  pen  are  not  a  few  which  manifest  consider- 
able vigor  of  imagination,  and  ea«y  flow  of  numbers.  In 
the  year  1796  the  governors  of  the  New-York  Hospital 
elected  him  one  of  the  physicians  of  that  extensive  char- 
ity, the  duties  of  which  station  he  discharged  much  to  the 
benefit  of  that  institution,  and  to  the  increase  of  his  own 
reputation. 

In  this  year  appeared  his  first  production  on  a  subject 
strictly  medical,  viz.  "  Letters  to  William  Buel,  Physi- 
cian, Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  on  the  Fever  which  pre- 
vailed in  New-York  in  1795,"  These  letters  were  written 
at  the  request  and  for  the  information  of  Dr.  Buel,  and 
though  not  originally  intended  for  the  press,  were,  at  the 
suggestion  of  some  friends  of  the  author,  published  in  the 
"  Collection  of  Papers  on  the  Subject  of  Bilious  Fevers 

YOL.    II.  12 


90  ELIHU  H.  SMITH. 

prevalent  in  the  United  States,"  edited  by  N.  Webster, 
Esq.  Shortly  after  this  period  Dr.  Smith,  in  conjunction 
with  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell  and  the  late  Dr.  Edward 
Miller,  projected  the  publication  of  the  New-York  Medi- 
cal Repository.  From  the  establishment  of  a  periodical 
journal  of  this  kind,  in  the  infant  state  of  medical  and 
physical  science  in  this  country,  he  anticipated  numerous 
important  advantages  to  the  profession  of  medicine  and 
the  collateral  branches  of  knowledge  ;  and,  as  he  was  one 
of  the  most  active  promoters  of  the  design,  he  zealously 
devoted  the  chief  part  of  his  attention  to  its  successful  ac- 
complishment. The  chief  of  his  writings  in  the  Medical 
Repository  are,  his  History  of  the  Plague  of  Athens,  Vol. 
I.  page  1  to  33  ;  Case  of  Mania  successfully  treated  by 
Mercury,  do.,  p.  174 — 178  ;  Observations  on  the  Origin 
of  the  Pestilential  Fever  which  prevailed  in  the  Island  of 
Grenada  in  the  years  1793  and  1794,  do.,  p.  459—486  ; 
On  a  Singular  Disease  with  which  Infants  are  sometimes 
affected,  do.,  p.  501—504;  The  Natural  History  of  the 
Elk,  Vol.  II.  p.  168 — 174  ;  On  the  Pestilential  Diseases 
which  appeared  in  the  Athenian,  Carthaginian  and  Ro- 
man armies,  in  the  Neighborhood  of  Syracuse,  do.,  p. 
367—384. 

Beside  the  medical  productions  in  the  Repository,  he 
published  Edwin  and  Angelina,  or  the  Banditti,  an  Opera 
in  three  Acts,  8vo.  1797  ;  and  in  1798,  a  Discourse  deliv- 
ered before  the  New-York  Manumission  Society,  8vo. 
The  same  year  he  undertook  the  office  of  editor  of  an 
American  Edition  of  Darwin's  Botanic  Garden  ;  and,  to 
evince  his  respect  for  the  author  of  this  celebrated  poem, 
he  prefixed  to  the  volume  a  poetic  address,  happily  de- 
scribing the  rise,  progress  and  use  of  the  art  of  printing  as 
connected  with  science,  and  particularly  its  effects  in 
spreading  this  botanic  song  from  Britain  to  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  new  hemisphere.  This  beautiful  address  is 
retained  in  the  second  American  edition  of  the  Botanic 
Garden,  published  in  1807.  Beside  these  miscellaneous 
productions,  he  is  supposed  to  be  the  author  of  "  Andre,  a 
Tragedy  in  five  Acts,  performed  in  New-York,  March, 
1798." 

VThile  thus  actively  employed  in  the  discharge  of  the 
important  duties  of  his  profession,  and  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  various  branches  of  knowledge  which  elevate  and 
adorn  the  human  character,  he,  in  the  month   of  Septem- 


ELIHU  n.  SMITH.  91 

ber,  1798,  when  only  in  the  27th  year  of  his  age,  was  at- 
tacked with  the  yellow  fever  then  prevailing  with  great 
mortality  in  the  city  of  New-York,  to  which  disease  he 
soon  fell  a  victim.  In  a  communication  to  Dr.  David 
Hosack,  Dr.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  surviving  friends  and 
colleagues  of  Dr.  Smith,  thus  describes  his  last  illness  : 
"  During  the  warm  season  of  that  pestilential  year,  Elihu 
H.  Smith  and  myself  had  been  associated  in  performing 
our  respective  duties  as  physicians  of  the  Ne"\v-York  Hos- 
pital. We  had  frequent  conferences  on  the  periodical 
work  in  Avhich  he,  Edward  Miller  and  myself,  with  the 
cooperation  of  Messrs.  T.  and  J.  Swords,  had  become  en- 
gaged. We  had  both  been  favored  with  fine  health,  and 
had  been  sustained  in  full  enjoyment  of  our  powers,  while 
the  prevailing  distemper  was  destroying  lives  at  an  unu- 
sual rate  around  us.  We  had  more  than  once  observed 
how  remarkably  well  we  felt  ;  and,  wlien  strangers  and 
visiters  called  upon  us,  how  entirely  we  were  capacitated 
to  receive  them  and  enjoy  their  society.  Among  these 
was  the  accomplished  and  elegant  Scandella.*  In  the  dif- 
ficulty which  had  arisen  about  procuring  a  lodging,  this 
amiable   gentleman   apprehended  some   serious   inconve- 

*  The  following  tribute  to  the  memory  of  this  amiable  and  excellent  man,  ex- 
tracted from  the  Medical  Repository,  mav  with  propriety  be  introduced  in  this 
place.  "  Died,  September  16th,  1798,  J.  B.  Scandella,  M.D.  aged  28.  The  fate 
of  this  gentleman  was  in  a  remarkable  degree  to  be  lamented.  He  was  a  native  of 
the  Venetian  State.  His  family  vvas  opulent  and  high  in  rank.  He  had  received 
the  best  medical  education,  but  had  consecrated  his  faculties  to  the  general  im- 
provement of  science,  and  the  benefit  of  mankind.  Having  resided  for  some  time 
at  London  in  ifie  capacity  of  secretary  to  the  Venetian  Embassy,  he  conceived  the 
design  of  visiting  America.  His  country's  service  no  longer  demanding  his  atten- 
tion, he  proposed  to  gratify  a  liberal  curiosity  in  surveying  the  principles  and  struct- 
ure of  a  rising  empire.  He  first  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  thence  took  various  jour- 
neys through  the  southern  and  western  districts.  His  personal  merits  secured  him 
the  esteem  of  the  persons  among  us  most  eminent  for  their  knowledge  and  talents 
His  candor  and  blameless  deportment  made  him  be  regarded  with  peculiar  tender- 
ness by  all  who  knew  him.  His  chief  attention  was  directed  to  agricultural  im- 
provements and  projects,  justly  conceiving  that  mankind  would  derive  most  benefit 
from  the  perfection  of  this  art. 

"  Having  spent  two  years  in  this  country,  and  accomplished  the  purposes  which 
brought  him  hither,  he  embarked  for  Europe  in  June,  1798.  The  vessel  proving 
unfit  for  the  voyage,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  the  port  from  which  he  had  set 
out.  Shortly  after  he  came  to  New -York,  and  engaged  a  passage  in  a  packet 
which  was  speedily  to  sail  from  this  harbor.  The  detention  of  his  baggage,  which 
was  daily  expected  from  Philadelphia,  occasioned  hnn  the  loss  of  this  opportunity. 
An  epidemical  disease  had  meanwhile  made  its  appearance  in  both  cities.  Not- 
withstanding its  greater  progress  and  malignity  in  the  latter  city,  his  concern  in  the 
welfare  of  a  helpless  family,  whom  his  departure  had  deprived  of  their  only  useful 
friend,  induced  him  to  return  thither.  After  enduring  the  continual  loss  of  rest, 
and  exposing  himself  to  the  influence  of  an  infected  atmosphere  lor  ten  days,  he  set 
out  on  his  return  to  New-York.  He  had  scarcely  arrived  before  syminoms  of  dis- 
ease appeared,  which,  on  the  sixth  day,  terminated  in  death." 


92  ELIHU  H.  SMITH. 

nience.  In  the  ardor  of  his  friendship  Smith  asked  him 
to  his  own  house  ;  his  distemper  proved  to  be  the  reign- 
ing epidemic.  It  was  one  of  the  most  obstinate,  rapid  and 
indomitable  cases.  It  advanced  with  such  speed  that  there 
was  time  but  for  a  few  visits.  On  tlie  day  that  I  called 
last  to  see  Scandella,  I  found  him  overpowered  by  the 
disease,  and  lying  a  corpse  upon  the  bed.  This  was  af- 
fecting enough  ;  but  my  solicitude  was  exceedingly  in- 
creased by  learning  that  Smith  had  been  sick  since  the 
preceding  afternoon.  He  was  confined  to  his  bed  in  an 
adjoining  chamber,  and  was  wholly  ignorant  of  the  fate  of 
Scandella.  On  entering  the  room  I  roused  him  from  the 
drowsy  state  in  which  he  lay.  I  opened  the  inner  shut- 
ters of  tlie  window  for  the  purpose  of  admitting  a  little 
more  light.  It  was  earl)'^  on  Sunday  morning.  I  inquired 
how  he  was,  and  received  for  answer,  a  frequent  one  in 
those  days,  that  he  was  not  very  unwell,  and  would  be 
better  by  and  by.  I  saw,  however,  in  a  glance,  enough  to 
satisfy  me  that  the  disorder  had  already  made  alarming 
progress.  The  suffusion  of  his  face,  and  the  inflamed  and 
glassy  eye,  were  unequivocal  symptoms  of  danger.  But 
when  he  inquired  of  me  if  it  was  not  almost  sundown,  and 
thereby  showed  that  he  had  lost  the  reckoning  of  time,  I 
perceived  that  the  coherence  of  his  mind  was  broken.  I 
soon  withdrew,  and  pronounced  my  apprehensions  for  his 
safety.  His  friend,  Mr.  Johnson,  caused  him  to  be  imme- 
diately removed  from  Pine  street  to  his  house  in  Green- 
wich street,  and  every  possible  comfort  to  be  administer- 
ed. There  Miller  joined  me  in  devising  the  course  of  treat- 
ment for  our  invaluable  friend.  There  was  but  a  remnant 
of  time  left.  Smith  expressed  to  us  a  desire  to  have  the 
mercurial  practice  tried  upon  himself.  We  instantly 
agreed  to  it.  Some  of  the  strongest  ointment  was  pro- 
cured, and  a  nurse  from  the  hospital  was  permitted  to 
gratify  her  feelings  by  applying  it  with  her  own  hands. 
This  task  the  faithful  woman  performed  so  well  that  she 
salivated  herself.  But  so  implacable  and  inveterate  was 
the  disease,  that  the  quicksilver  produced  no  sensible  ope- 
ration whatever  upon  the  patient.  Black  vomiting  with 
universal  yellowness  came  on,  and  he  sunk  under  a  mala- 
dy which  nothing  could  even  mitigate  or  retard.  He  was 
interred  in  the  ground  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Wall 
street,  very  near  the  spot  in  which  another  of  my  valuable 
friends,  William  Pitt  Smith,  had  been   buried.     Miller, 


ELIHU    H.    SMITH.  23 

Johnson  and  myself,  with  a  very  few  others,  were  all  that 
could  be  found,  on  that  day  of  mortality  and  dismay,  to 
follow  his  hearse." 

We  shall  not  in  this  place  discuss  the  particular  merits 
or  defects  of  Dr.  Smith's  writings.  The  most  esteemed 
of  his  miscellaneous  productions  is  his  Epistle  to  Dr.  Dar- 
win, written  in  the  style  of  that  poetical  philosopher  and 
physician.  Of  his  writings,  strictly  medical,  his  Lectures 
on  the  yellow  fever  which  prevailed  in  New-York,  afford 
a  favorable  specimen.  He  was  an  advocate  for  the  domes- 
tic origin  and  noncontagious  nature  of  this  disease,  and, 
from  a  full  persuasion  of  the  correctness  of  his  opinions, 
was  zealous  in  the  support  of  them.  An  examination  of 
the  facts  and  reasonings  upon  which  this  opinion  was 
maintained,  we  at  this  time  purposely  forbear.  It  was 
natural  to  expect  that  the  limited  experience  which  at  that 
day  the  practitioners  of  the  United  States  possessed  rela- 
tive to  that  epidemic,  would  lead  many,  and  particularly 
one  of  the  ardent  mind  of  Dr.  Smith,  into  erroneous  opin- 
ions concerning  its  peculiar  character,  which  time  and  re- 
peated observation  would  correct.  His  histories  of  the 
Athenian  plague,  and  of  the  pestilential  diseases  which  ap-- 
peared  in  the  Athenian,  Carthaginian  and  Roman  armies, 
we  have  already  mentioned.  Though  the  author's  parti- 
cular views  as  to  the  nature  of  these  diseases  are  always 
before  us,  we  need  no  other  evidence  than  these  histories 
to  convince  us  that  his  diligence,  activity  and  persever- 
ance knew  no  common  bounds,  and  that  at  his  early  age 
he  had  explored  a  great  extent  of  medical  learning.  His 
history  of  the  native  American  Elk  is  a  specimen  of  the 
accuracy  with  whicli  he  described  natural  objects,  of  the 
promptness  with  which  he  seized  opportunities,  and  of  the 
learning  which  he  diffused  around  the  subject  of  his 
inquiry. 

In  announcing  the  deatli  of  Dr.  Smith,  the  surviving 
editors  of  the  Medical  Repository  thus  speak  :  "  As  a 
physician  his  loss  is  irreparable.  He  had  explored  at  his 
early  age  an  extent  of  medical  learning,  for  which  the 
longest  lives  are  seldom  found  sufficient."  "  The  love  of 
science  and  the  impulse  of  philanthropy  directed  his 
whole  professional  career,  and  left  little  room  for  the  cal- 
culations of  emolument.  He  had  formed  vast  designs  of 
medical  improvement,  which  embraced  the  whole  family 
of  mankind  ;  was  animated  by  the  soul   of  benevolence, 


94  ELIHU    II.    SMITH. 

and  aspired  after  every  object  of  a  liberal  and  a  dignified 
ambition.  He  was  ripe  for  the  highest  honors  of  his  pro- 
fession ;  his  merits  were  every  day  becoming  more  con- 
spicuous, and  nothing  but  his  premature  fate  deprived  him 
of  that  extraordinary  degree  of  public  confidence  which 
awaited  a  longer  continuance  of  his  life." 

In  the  Eulogy  on  the  late  Dr.  Rush,  delivered  by  Pro- 
fessor Mitchell,  on  the  Sth  of  May,  1813,  before  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  University  of  New- 
York,  the  epistolary  intercourse  of  Dr.  Rush  with  Dr. 
Smith  and  Dr.  Miller,  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  happy 
incidents  of  his  life.  The  orator  then  proceeded  to  say, 
"  Of  these  two  persons  thus  brought  to  my  recollection, 
permit  me,  learned  associates,  to  make  the  mention  which 
friendship  inspires.  With  them  both  I  enjoyed  that  vir- 
tuous and  intellectual  intercourse  which  renders  an  ac- 
quaintance delightful.  The  former  possessed  a  mind  of 
such  rare  and  exquisite  finish,  a  temper  so  adapted  to  the 
social  condition,  and  a  manner  so  delicate  and  refined,  that 
few  of  his  contemporaries  could  rival  him.  With  a  dili- 
gence that  left  him  few  lost  moments  to  regret,  a  method 
which  placed  everything  he  knew  exactly  where  it  ought 
to  be,  and  an  application  of  his  talents  to  do  all  the  good 
in  his  power,  he  was  an  ornament  to  the  time  in  which  he 
lived.  Difiicult,  indeed,  would  it  be  to  find  such  another  ! 
The  latter,  also  my  companion  and  fellow  laborer  in 
undertakings  which  to  ourselves  at  least  seemed  useful 
and  advantageous,  was  endowed  with  uncommon  qualities. 
His  head  was  a  treasury  of  information  ;  his  heart  a  mine 
of  beneficence.  With  a  rich  fund  of  learning,  and  a  capa- 
city to  turn  that  acquirement  to  the  best  account,  he  shone 
to  great  advantage  in  the  most  polished  circles.  His  pro- 
fessional career,  both  in  his  public  capacity  and  in  his  pri- 
vate walks,  was  the  subject  of  such  commendation,  that 
the  calls  to  service  were  almost  incessant.  When  such 
excellence,  with  all  the  mildness  and  benignity  which 
adorned  it,  was  summoned  away,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
city  felt  a  disposition  to  mourn  !" 

Another  writer  speaks  of  the  death  of  this  excellent  man 
in  the  following  language.  He  died  a  victim  to  the  de- 
structive epidemic,  the  yellow  fever,  September  19th, 
1798,  aged  27  years.  There  were  few  who  perished  dur- 
ing that  calamitous  season  whose  fate  excited  more  uni- 
versal regret,  and  whose  memory  will  be  more  fondly  and 


JAMES    SMITH.  95 

permanently  cherished.  In  his  domestic  relations  the 
knowledge  of  his  excellence  is  necessarily  confined  to  few  ; 
but  by  those  few  his  conduct  as  a  son  and  a  ])rother  will 
ever  be  regarded  as  a  model  of  unblemished  rectitude. 
Indefatigable  in  the  promotion  of  the  true  interest  of  those 
allied  to  him,  a  casual  observer  would  be  disposed  to 
imagine  his  whole  attention  to  be  absorbed  by  this  object, 
and  that  he  whose  affections  were  so  ardent,  and  whose 
mind  so  active  for  their  good,  had  no  leisure  for  the  of- 
fices of  friendship  and  for  the  pursuit  of  general  happiness. 
To  these  valuable  purposes,  however,  no  one  attended  with 
more  zeal  and  assiduity.  To  those  who  were  blessed  with 
his  friendship,  and  the  number  was  by  no  means  small,  his 
attachment  was  unwavering,  and  his  efforts  for  their  bene- 
fit without  remission.  To  the  cause  of  general  happiness 
he  devoted  his  abilities  with  no  less  zeal. 

SMITH,  JAMES,  M.D.  He  was  brother  to  the  distin- 
guished historian  of  New-York.  Dr.  Smith  received  his 
medical  education  chiefly  in  Europe,  and  was  graduated 
Doctor  of  Medicine  at  Leyden,  on  which  occasion  he  de- 
fended an  inaugural  dissertation,  de  Febre  Intermittente. 
He  is  admitted  by  all  to  have  been  eminently  learned, 
though  too  theoretical  and  fanciful,  both  as  a  practitioner 
of  the  healing  art,  and  in  his  course  of  public  instruction. 
He  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  the  city  of  New-York  in 
1812. 

i  SPALDING,  LYMAN,  M.D.,  was  a  native  of  Cornish, 
New-Hampshire,  and  was  born  June  5th,  1775.  After 
passing  the  usual  academic  term  at  Charleston,  he  entered  /tn 
Harvard  University,  where  he  was  graduated  with  honor 
in  the  year  1 797.  Immediately  on  leaving  the  university  he 
commenced  his  medical  studies  under  the  auspices  of  that 
distinguished  practitioner,  Nathan  Smith,  M.D.  where  he 
imbibed  that  thirst  for  knowledge  and  formed  those  habits 
of  industry,  which  distinguished  him  so  greatly  in  after 
life.  So  early  as  1798,  even  before  he  luid  completed  his 
medical  education,  he  displayed  a  creditable  degree  of  en- 
terprise in  assisting  Professor  Smith  in  the  work  of  insti- 
tuting the  medical  school  at  Dartmoutli  College  ;  a  chem- 
ical apparatus  was  to  be  created,  and  Dr.  Spalding  possess- 
ed the  ingenuity  and  enthusiasm  fitted  for  the  occasion, 
and  he  commenced  the  first  course  of  lectures  on  clicmist- 
ry  at  the  opening  of  that  institution. 


86  LYMAN    SPALDING. 

Having  received  an  honorary  degree  at  Dartmouth,  he 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Portsmouth  in 
1799.  Being  naturally  endowed  with  a  mind  ardent,  vigor- 
ous and  discriminating,  he  possessed  also  a  patience  of 
investigation  and  a  steadiness  of  purpose,  which  peculiarly 
fitted  him  for  the  profession  he  had  chosen.  To  its  ad- 
vancement he  directed  all  the  energies  of  his  soul  ;  and  in 
all  its  duties  he  was  vigilant,  indefatigable  and  faithful  to 
the  last.  It  was  not,  however,  from  motives  grovelling 
and  mercenary  that  he  labored  so  assiduously  ;  he  had  far 
nobler  views  ;  he  loved  his  profession  as  a  science,  and  he 
neglected  no  opportunities  of  unfolding  its  mysteries,  and, 
as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  of  himself  contributing  to  its 
treasures.  He  was  through  life  a  laborious  and  a  system- 
atic student  ;  suffering  no  moments  to  escape  without  use- 
ful employment,  or  adding  something  to  his  fund  of  ac- 
quirements. Aware  of  the  importance  of  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  human  structure  to  success  in  the 
practice  of  both  medicine  and  surgery,  he  made  this  his 
first  gi'and  object  of  pursuit.  How  far  he  succeeded  in 
attaining  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  anatomy,  those  who 
have  witnessed  his  skill  in  dissection,  and  his  beautiful 
preparations,  particularly  of  the  Lymphatics,  some  of 
which  we  believe  enrich  the  cabinets  of  our  first  institu- 
tions, will  bear  ample  testimony.  His  success  in  this 
branch  of  knowledge  gave  him  considerable  celebrity  as  a 
surgeon,  for  which  he  was  qualified  by  his  skill,  as  well  as 
by  a  remarkable  boldness  and  decision  of  character. 

In  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  he  was  also  a 
proficient.  In  this,  as  in  every  thing  he  undertook,  truth 
and  the  advancement  of  knowledge,  were  his  leading  pur- 
suits. Despising  the  popular  belief  that  a  little  practice 
and  experience  are  alone  the  grand  requisites  to  success, 
he  labored  for  principles,  and  by  uncommon  industry 
availed  himself  of  all  that  was  useful  in  the  theory  and 
practice  of  others,  and  also  of  a  general  acquaintance  with 
the  collateral  branches  of  his  favorite  science.  If  he  some- 
times erred,  (as  who  does  not  ?)  in  this  wide  field  of  specu- 
lative enquiry,  his  errors  had  at  least  the  merit  of  system, 
to  ensure  for  them  a  degree  of  respect.  But  he  was  by  no 
means  tenacious  of  opinions,  however  deliberately  formed  ; 
if  proved  to  be  false,  they  were  openly  abandoned,  as  they 
had  before  been  honestly  avowed.  Dr.  S.  was  distinguish- 
ed for  his  kindness  and  activitv  in  his  attendance  on  the 


LYMAIT    SPALDING.  97 

sick,  and  for  his  liberal  and  gentlemanly  deportment  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  brethren  of  the  Faculty. 

In  the  year  1812  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
of  the  western  district  of  the  ?tate  of  New-York  was  in- 
corporated, and  Dr.  Spalding  elected  President,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  and  lecturer  on  the  Insti- 
tutes of  Medicine.  His  duties  as  professor  required  him 
to  make  annual  visits  to  that  place,  where  the  flourishing 
state  of  the  school,  and  the  yearly  increase  of  its  pupils 
gave  sufficient  evidence  of  his  poptdarity  and  ability  as 
a  teacher.  In  1813  the  city  of  New-York  presenting  a 
wider  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents,  and  greater  fa- 
cilities for  improvement,  he  took  up  his  residence  there  ; 
and  finding,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  his  aca- 
demical labors  to  be  incompatible  with  the  active  duties 
of  his  profession,  and  the  interest  of  his  family,  he  resign- 
ed his  offices  at  the  institution. 

The  same  assiduity  and  zeal  that  characterized  his  early 
days,  marked  his  course  in  maturer  life  ;  and  the  contribu- 
tions of  his  pen  to  the  medical  and  philosophical  journals 
of  the  day  are  replete  Avith  deep  investigation  and  sound 
learning.  With  him  originated  the  plan  for  the  formation 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States,  and  it  was  from 
his  pen  that  the  circular  letters  to  the  different  medical 
schools  and  societies  for  their  cooperation  proceeded. 
He  early  submitted  the  project  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  city  of 
New-York,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  That  body  ap- 
proved the  measure  and  appointed  a  committee  on  their 
part  to  carry  it  into  full  elTect.  In  short.  Dr.  Spalding's 
eff'orts  are  traced  in  the  whole  progress  of  the  undertak- 
ing ;  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  convention  for  the 
middle  district,  and  was  delegated  to  the  general  conven- 
tion at  AYashington  to  complete  the  work,  and  was  one  of 
the  committee  for  its  publication.  In  fact  the  public  are 
greatly  indebted  to  the  ardency  and  professional  zeal 
which  characterized  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Spalding  on  this 
very  important  occasion. 

Smoe  idea  of  the  estimation  in  which  the  character  of 
Dr.  S.  was  held,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  may  be  form- 
ed, when  it  is  stated  that  he  was  a  member  of  most  of  the 
learned  societies  in  our  own  country,  and  of  several  in 
Europe. 

VOL.  II.  IS 


98  MARSHALL    SPRING. 

Each  succeeding  year  was  enlarging  his  sphere  of  use- 
fulness, and  adding  to  his  respectability  ;  but  the  Being 
who  controlleth  the  destinies  of  man,  in  his  infinite  wis- 
dom saw  fit  to  remove  from  his  earthly  toils  this  distin- 
guished laborer  in  the  cause  of  science  and  humanity  ;  in 
the  midst  of  life,  when  his  hopes  were  strongest,  and  his 
prospects  most  flattering,  he  was  summoned  hence.  His 
death  was  occasioned  by  an  accidental  wound  on  the  head, 
which  produced  chronic  inflammation  of  the  brain,  admit- 
lrnm4tin(f  of  no  alleviation.     He  died  in  the  year  1821,  aged  46 

^*- ".  ^^SPRING,  MARSHALL,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  was  born  in 
Watertown,  Massachusetts,  of  respectable  parents.  His 
maternal  uncle,  Dr.  Josiah  Converse,  one  of  the  most  es- 
teemed physicians  of  that  day,  patronised  and  assisted  in 
givino-  him  a  public  education.  At  that  time  the  number 
of  the  sons  of  Harvard  who  were  conspicuous  for  general 
literature  was  very  small.  He  was  graduated  in  1762,  and 
promptly  decided  to  devote  himself  to  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  physic  and  surgery.  Being  prepared  for  his  pro- 
fessional duties,  he  resided  a  short  time  at  St.  Eustatia, 
then  returned  and  settled  in  Watertown,  where  he  speedily 
entered  into  large  practice,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  people.  And  such  was  his  success,  that  comparatively 
verv  few  elder  physicians  were  called  in  to  advise  him, 
and  he  once  observed  to  a  friend  that  he  was  astonished  at 
the  unbounded  confidence  placed  in  his  judgment.  In  all 
the  pleasant  parts  of  the  year  his  house  in  the  morning, 
especially  on  Sundays,  was  thronged  with  persons  seeking 
professional  advice  ;  and  such  was  the  confidence  in  the 
soundness  of  his  judgment  and  skill,  that  his  practice  con- 
tinued unabated  to  the  close  of  his  life.  The  ancient 
practice  of  the  multitude  resorting  to  an  oracle,  seemed  to 
be  revived  and  realized  there. 

His  mind  was  not  filled  by  the  fashionable  theories  of 
the  day  any  further  than  they  accorded  with  his  own 
views  of  practice.  A  strong  natural  sagacity,  or  force  of 
judgment,  was  the  peculiar  and  distinguishing  feature  of 
his  mind.  This  led  him  to  deep  and  critical  observations 
into  the  causes  and  nature  of  diseases,  and  their  remedies. 
He  appeared  to  learn  more  of  the  nature  of  the  diseases  of 
'  his  patients  by  the  eye  than  by  the  ear.  He  asked  few  ques- 
tions ;  hence  his  knowledge  of  their  cases  appeared  like 
intuition.     He  often  effected  cures  by  directing  changes  of 


MARSHALL    SPRING.  fi9 

habits,  of  diet  and  regimen.  He  used  little  medicine, 
always  giving  nature  fair  play.  This,  together  Avith  a  bold 
and  often  successful  application  of  simples,  induced  some 
among  the  more  elaborate  and  artificial  of  the  profession  to 
call  him  a  quack  ;  but  if  this  means  a  man  professing  skill  in 
the  nature  and  cure  of  diseases,  without  possessing  the  re- 
quisite ability  and  knowledge,  the  epithet  was  never  more 
misapplied  :  if,  on  the  other  hand,  a  bold  and  fearless  re- 
sort to  first  principles  "  when  the  file  affords  no  prece- 
dent," or  even  in  disregard  of  a  servile  adherence  to  pre- 
cedent ;  if  assuming  the  responsibility  of  acting  on  one's 
own  judgment,  and  regarding  the  opinions  of  others  as 
auxiliaries  merely,  be  quackery,  then  indeed  Dr.  Spring 
might  be  said  to  be  a  quack.  He  was  no  book  man,  no 
friend  to  the  profuse  use  of  medicines,  abhorred  the  tricks 
and  mummery  of  the  profession,  used  no  learned  terms,  to 
make  the  vulgar  either  in  or  out  of  the  profession  stare. 
He  thought,  decided  and  acted  for  himself.  He  was  dis- 
gusted at  the  vnimeaning  and  unscientific  use  of  epithets 
by  the  profession,  as  descriptive  of  the  various  kinds  of 
diseases.  Being  in  company  with  some  physicians  at  Phi- 
ladelphia, and  hearing  grave  and  learned  discussions  about 
scarlet,  spotted  and  yellow  fevers,  he  undertook  to  de- 
scribe a  certain  disease,  prevalent  in  his  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  being  asked  what  kind  of  fever  it  was  considered, 
he  replied,  that  the  learned  among  the  profession  had  not 
yet  fixed  upon  its  denomination,  but  it  was  at  present  best 
known  by  the  name  of  the  "  bottle  green  fever." 

Dr.  Spring  was  in  his  person  rather  short,  but  compact 
and  well  proportioned  ;  always  a  fine  looking  man  ;  after 
the  age  of  fifty,  till  the  time  of  his  death  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years,  he  was  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  hand- 
somest men  of  his  time.  His  hair  in  snowy  whiteness  re- 
mained upon  his  head  in  sufiicient  quantity  to  set  off  the 
great  advantage  of  an  exceedingly  fair  and  florid  conqolex- 
ion.  His  utterance  was  calm,  rather  slow,  but  regular. 
Naturally  resolute  and  firm,  with  much  sensibility  of  feel- 
ing and  quick  and  strong  passions,  he  liad  disciplined  him- 
self into  a  full  command  of  his  feelings,  and  held  his  pas- 
sions in  entire  subjection.  He  served  his  friends  with 
great  disinterestedness  and  zeal,  and  held  the  virtue  of 
gratitude  in  higher  estimation  than  most  men  do  ;  whoever 
showed  him  a  grateful  disposition  had  a  sure  passport  to 
his  confidence  and  favor.     His  habits  of  living,  sanctioned 


100  MARSHALL    SPRING. 

by  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  human  frame  and  consti- 
tution, exhibited  a  fine  model  for  the  profession  and  others 
to  copy.  He  used  food  and  drink  for  the  nourishment  and 
support  of  the  body,  not  for  the  gratification  of  its  grosser 
appetites  and  passions.  His  meals  were  frugal  ;  his  board, 
though  hospitable,  was  never  spread  with  luxuries.  His 
favorite  beverage  was  black  tea.  He  was  temperate  even 
unto  the  end.  A  most  indulgent  parent  to  his  own  child,  he 
discharged  his  duties  as  such  to  the  children  of  his  wife, 
who  was  the  widow  of  the  late  Dr.  Binney  of  Philadel- 
phia and  a  woman  of  singular  merit,  with  much  feeling 
and  principle. 

Among  the  circumstances  which  contributed  to  the  great 
reputation  of  Dr.  Spring,  was  his  successful  mode  of  treat- 
ment of  tetanus  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  Observing  a 
total  relaxation  of  the  muscles  of  a  man  in  a  fit  of  intoxica- 
tion, the  idea  occurred  to  him  that  ardent  spirits  by  induc- 
ing drunkenness  might  prove  a  remedy  in  tetanus,  and  his 
first  trial  was  attended  with  complete  success  ;  and  during 
the  rest  of  his  life  he  continued  to  repose  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  its  efficacy.  The  same  confidence  prevails 
among  the  people  within  the  circle  of  his  practice,  and 
whenever  symptoms  of  locked  jaw  are  discovered,  imme- 
diate recourse  is  had  to  this  supposed  powerful  remedy. 

In  his  pecuniary  circumstances  Dr.  Spring  was  pecul- 
iarly fortunate.  Receiving  the  whole  of  the  estate  of  his 
relative  and  early  patron,  the  late  Dr.  Converse,  he  was 
ever  after  a  man  of  large  property.  Moderate  in  his 
charges,  he  never  managed  property  in  the  spirit  of  gain. 
He  used  to  say,  that  of  his  personal  property  he  was  pretty 
sure  to  lose  both  principal  and  interest  ;  if  he  vested  it  in 
real  estate,  he  lost  the  interest  only.  He  accordingly  be- 
came possessed  of  a  large  real  estate,  and  was  a  most  in- 
dulgent landlord.  He  nevertheless  left  one  of  the  largest 
estates  of  any  professional  man,  who  had  died  in  the  state. 
Had  he  charged  as  physicians  of  his  skill  and  eminence 
usually  do,  especially  those  who  practise  in  the  metropo- 
lis, and  managed  his  property  with  a  view  to  accumula- 
tion, he  would  probably  have  left  one  of  the  largest  for- 
tunes in  New-England. 

The  political  life  of  Dr.  Spring  must  not  be  overlooked. 
The  American  revolution  found  him  in  full,  extensive  and 
popular  practice  as  a  physician  ;  at  a  time  of  life,  too, 
when  the  practice  was  of  most  consequence  to  him,  both 


MARSHALL  BPRINO. 


101 


as  it  regarded  his  property  and  his  fame.      The  scene  of 
his  business  lay  among  a  population   remarkable  for  their 
unanimity  and  order  in  all  the   measures   of  resistance  to 
the  mother  country.       The  approaches   of  that  event  had 
been  watched  and  estimated  by  him  with  all  that  interest, 
which  the  men  of  those  times  took  in  what  they  consider- 
ed as  involving  every  thing  dear  in  this  life.       And  when 
the  crisis  came,  and  the  first  scene  of  the  drama  opened, 
on   the    ever    memoral)le    19th    of  April,    it   found    Dr. 
Spring's  mind  settled   in   the   full  and  firm  conviction   of 
the  entire  inexpediency  of  resistance  ;  yet  he  early  appear- 
ed on  the  plains  of  Lexington,  and  continued  during  the 
day  in  the  application  of  his  skill  and  care  to  the  wound- 
ed of  his  fellow  citizens.    His  political  opinions  he  neither 
concealed  nor  disguised,  but  so  essential  were  his  services 
in   the  healing  art,  and  such  was  the   known   benevolence 
of  his  temper,  that  notwithstanding  the  high  exasperation 
against  the    "  tories,"  the  people,  who  then  held  in  their 
respective  towns   all   executive,    judicial  and  legislative 
power,  gave  him  little  molestation.*  He  was  several  times 
summoned  before  the  town's   "  committee  of  safety,"  to 
whose  commands  he  always  gave  prompt  obedience,  and 
treated  them  with  great  apparent  respect.       "  For,"  as  he 
ironically  said,  "  tliey  now  stood  in  the  place  of  his  king, 
and  it  was  a  fundamental  principle   that   '  the  king  could 
do  no  wrong.'  "      Towards  the  persons  composing  these 
committees,   he  probably  felt   little  respect  on  account  of 
their  political  sagacity  and  discernment,   and  not   a  little 
contempt  for  their  blind  zeal;  yet  he  submitted  himself  with 
great  cheerfulness  to  their  examinations,  giving  such  replies 
to  their  interrogatories,  as  either  from  their  wit  and  good 
humor  were  calculated  to  disarm  prejudice,  or  from  being 
equivocal  and  oracular  left  the  committee  wholly  in  doubt 
as  to  what  were  his  intentions  ;   so  that  no  measures  of  se- 
verity were  ever  adopted  against  him.     His  popularity  as 
a  man  and  a  physician  sustained  him  in  the  enjoyment  of 
his  opinions,  and  in  the  preservation  of  the  confidence  of 
his  fellow  citizens  throughout  the  revolution. 


*  A  gentleman  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  that  day  asserts  that, 
in  1776,  such  was  his  notorious  toryism,  that  he  would  unquestionably  have  been 
sent  out  of  the  country,  under  the  law  then  made  for  that  purpose,  if  the  exigences 
of  the  ladies  had  not  prevented.  And  from  that  cause  he  spake  his  mind  mors 
freely  than  any  other  man  dared  to  do. 


102  MARSHALL    SPRING. 

In  1789  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  convention  in 
Massachusetts  which  adopted  the  constitution  of  the  Unit- 
ed States.  He  associated  intimately  during  its  session  with 
the  leading  politicians  of  that  body,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  warmly  in  favor  of  its  adoptions.  Dr.  Spring  was 
opposed,  alleging  that,  as  a  frame  of  government,  it  want- 
ed strength  to  ensure  its  duraLility,  for  he  never  was  a 
full  believer  in  the  capacity  of  the  people  to  be  their  self 
governors.  He  continued  in  the  minority  till  the  change 
of  administration  in  1801,  always,  however,  mild,  tem- 
perate and  tolerant  in  his  opinions.  After  this  period, 
when  called  on  in  political  conversation  to  account  for  his 
being  a  tory  in  1775  and  a  democrat  in  1801,  he  main- 
tained his  political  consistency  by  alleging  that  his  majesty 
reigned  "  by  the  grace  of  God,"  and  the  Avhigs  had  taught 
him  that  "  vox  populi"  was  "  vox  Dei."  On  being  at- 
tacked by  a  gentleman  high  in  office,  an  influential  whig 
in  1 775  and  a  Avarm  supporter  of  the  Washington  adminis- 
tration, he  defended  himself  and  retorted  the  charge  of 
inconsistency,  by  reminding  him  that  the  voice  of  the 
people  was  as  much  the  voice  of  God  now  as  it  was 
in  1776. 

Chief  Justice  Parsons  took  much  pleasure  in  his  compa- 
ny, and  Dr.  Spring  was,  perhaps,  the  only  man  in  the 
commonwealth  who  was  willing  to  measure  weapons  with 
him  "  in  the  keen  encounter  of  wits."  The  Chief  Justice 
justly  prided  himself  on  his  acknowledged  talent  and  su- 
periority in  this  department,  and  therefore  seldom  failed, 
when  they  met  under  proper  circumstances,  to  invite  the 
Doctor  into  the  field,  who  never  declined  the  combat. 
The  onsets  of  the  Chief  Justice  were  rapid,  keen  and  ov^er- 
whelming.  The  replies  of  the  Doctor  moderate,  pungent 
and  successful.  The  one  redoubled  the  attack  of  a  well 
disciplined  militia  ;  the  other  the  defence  of  a  well  served 
artillery.  These  meetings,  however,  sometimes  happened 
in  the  presence  of  a  large  company  of  professional  gentle- 
men, who  remained  silent  and  delighted  to  "  see  these 
giants  play." 

Dr.  Spring  was  several  years  a  member  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council  of  Massachusetts.  His  party  had  prevailed 
in  the  election  by  a  very  small  majority,  but  the  next  year 
the  majority  was  very  greatly  increased.  The  Doctor, 
who  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  was  troubled  with  short- 
ness of  breath,  while  ascending  on  election  morning  the 


SAMUEL  STRINGER.  103 

steps  to  the  State  House,  was  accosted  by  a  political  ad- 
versary with  "  Good  morning,  Doctor,  you  find  it  diffi- 
cult getting  up  here."  He  dryly  replied,  "  Yes,  sir  ;  but 
not  so  difficult,  you  perceive,  as  it  was  last  year." 

Dr.  Spring  made  no  ostentatious  displays  of  charity, 
yet  he  contributed  large  amounts  yearly  to  the  more  ne- 
cessitous by  not  exacting  his  dues.  This  was  habitual  ; 
for  he  seldom  resorted  to  compvdsory  means  against  any 
who  were  indebted  to  him.  There  was  a  tone  of  benevo- 
lence pervading  his  heart,  which  always  led  him  to  the 
mild,  forgiving  side.  A  petition  was  presented  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council  for  the  pardon  of  a  convict  for  life  in  the 
state  prison,  who  had  already  been  there  seven  years.  A 
member  opposed  the  pardon  on  the  ground  of  the  convict's 
being  an  old  and  incorrigible  offender.  Dr.  Spring  re- 
plied that  upori  principles  of  the  animal  economy  the  par- 
don ought  to  be  granted  ;  that  every  animal,  by  the  pro- 
gress of  growth  and  decay,  becomes  entirely  changed  in  a 
given  space  of  time  ;  so  that  no  particle  of  what  composed 
the  animal  at  a  certain  time,  made  a  part  of  the  same  ani- 
mal five  or  seven  years  after.  Upon  this  principle  he  con- 
tended that  the  petitioner  had  lost  his  personal  identity, 
and  was  not  the  same  person  who  was  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced seven  years  ago  ;  and  thus  in  a  strain  of  remark 
and  argument,  made  up  of  wit  and  irony,  put  the  govern- 
or and  council  in  good  humor,  and  obtained  the  man's 
release. 

Dr.  Spring  ended  his  useful  life  in  January,  1818,  in 
the  76th  year  of  his  age,  leaving  one  son,  who  inherited 
his  father's  fortune,  amounting,  it  is  supposed,  to  between 
two  and  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  gentleman 
jnarried  a  lady  in  Philadelphia  ;  both  died  a  few  years 
after,  leaving  four  young  children.  It  is  to  be  lamented 
that  no  part  of  Dr.  Spring's  ample  fortune  was  devoted  to 
the  laudable  purpose  of  supporting  religious  and  charita- 
ble institutions. 

STRINGER,  DR.  SAMUEL,  an  eminent  physician, 
was  born  in  the  state  of  Maryland.  He  studied  medicine 
in  Philadelphia  under  the  late  Dr.  Bond,  and  as  early  as 
1755  was  appointed  by  Governor  Shirley  an  officer  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  British  army  then  in  this  coun- 
try. In  1758  he  accompanied  the  army  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Abercrombie,  and  was  present  when  Lord 
Howe  fell  in  advancing  to  the  siege  of  Ticonderoga.       At 


104  JAME3    S.     STRINGHAM. 

the  conclusion  of  the  French  war  he  settled  and  married 
in  Albany.  When  the  American  revolution  commenced 
the  provincial  congress  appointed  him  Director  General  of 
the  Hospitals^  in  the  northern  department,  and  in  this  ca- 
pacity lie  accompanied  the  troops  engaged  in  the  invasion 
of  Canada. 

On  leaving  the  army  in  1777  he  again  returned  to  Al- 
bany, and  mitil  his  death  was  among  the  first  physicians 
and  surgeons  in  that  place  and  vicinity.  He  was  always 
ready,  even  in  advanced  life,  to  introduce  what  were 
deemed  improvements  in  practice  ;  and  at  one  period  he 
made  extensive  use  of  oxygen  as  a  medicinal  agent.  In- 
deed he  continued  partial  to  it,  and  believed  that  he  had 
often  seen  good  effects  from  its  use.  He  was  frugal  in  his 
habits  and  of  the  utmost  temperance  in  his  mode  of  living. 
Nor  could  he  at  the  latter  part  of  his  life  hold  in  any  esti- 
mation the  inebriated,  whatever  their  talents  might  be. 
He  died  at  Albany,  July  11th,  1817,  in  t*lie  83d  year  of 
his  age. 

STRINGHAM,  JAMES  S.  M.D.  was  born  in  the  city 
of  New-York,  of  respectable  parents,  whose  circumstances 
in  life  happily  enabled  them  to  furnish  to  their  son  the 
opportunities  of  a  liberal  education.  He  prosecuted  his 
classical  studies  in  Columbia  College,  and  was  graduated 
there  in  1793.  His  habits  and  disposition  inclined  him  to 
the  theological  profession  ;  and,  for  some  time  after  he  had 
received  his  collegiate  honor  in  the  arts,  he  pursued  a 
course  of  learning  for  the  ministry.  His  health  becoming 
delicate  from  an  attack  of  hemoptysis,  he  relinquished 
with  reluctance  this  intention.  He  now  entered  upon  a 
course  of  medical  education  under  the  care  of  the  late  Dr. 
S.  Bard  and  Dr.  David  Hosack,  and  attended  with  exem- 
plary diligence,  for  several  years,  to  all  the  branches  of 
medicine  then  taught  by  the  Faculty  of  Physic  in  New- 
York.  He  subsequently  proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  became 
a  student  in  the  university  of  that  renowned  capital,  and 
in  1799  received  there  the  degree  of  M.D. 

Within  a  very  short  time  after  his  return  to  his  native 
city  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Columbia 
College,  in  the  place  of  the  learned  and  distinguished  Dr. 
Mitchell,  who  had  for  many  years  filled  that  chair,  and  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  first  introduction  of  the 
French  nomenclature  of  chemistry  in  this  country.  Dr. 
Stringham,  however,  not  satisfied  with  these  exertions. 


JAMES  S.   STRINGHAM.  105 

and  anxious  for  a  more  extended  sphere  of  usefulness,  now 
voluntarily  prepared  a  cour^-e  on  legal  medicine.  His  va« 
ried  and  classical  erudition  rendered  this  undertaking  one 
peculiarly  agreeable  to  hiin  ;  and  to  the  students  who  at- 
tended his  lectures,  it  proved  a  source  of  gratification 
equally  novel  and  instructive.  The  utility  of  the  science 
was  cheerfully  acknowledged  l^y  all. 

Having  long  labored  under  an  alarming  organic  disease 
of  the  In^art,  and  finding  his  constitution  materially  im- 
paired, Dr.  Stringliam  resigned  his  office  as  professor  of 
chemistry  in  Columlna  College  ;  but,  upon  the  union  of 
the  Medical  Faculty  of  that  institution  with  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  1803,  he  was  induced  to  ac- 
cept the  professorship  of  medical  jurisprudence.  Yet  this 
office  became  too  oppressive  from  the  tenderness  of  his 
health  ;  hopes  which  he  had  cherished,  were  sliortly  to  be 
blasted  ;  and  he  was  doomed  to  irremediable  suffering  and 
premature  death.  For  years  he  had  borne  with  manly 
patience  and  christian  expectation  the  trials  of  a  distress- 
ing complaint.  The  cheering  counsel  of  his  fiiends  urged 
him  to  repair  to  the  island  of  St.  Croix,  with  the  vain 
hope  of  a  renewal  of  his  health.  Thither  he  went,  and 
died  on  the  29th  of  June,  1817. 

Besides  his  inaugural  dissertation,  "  De  Absorbentium 
Systemate,"  Dr.  Stringham  was  the  author  of  several  es- 
says and  papers  in  the  medical  journals  of  the  day.  He 
published  in  the  New-York  Medical  Repository  an  ac- 
count of  the  efficacy  of  Digitalis  Purpurea  in  allaying  ex- 
cessive action  of  the  sanguiferous  system,  a  description  of 
a  remarkable  species  of  intestinal  vermes,  an  account  of 
the  violent  effects  of  corrosive  sublimate,  and  a  case  of 
hydrocephalus  ;  in  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Museum,  a 
paper  on  the  effects  of  mercury  in  a  case  of  syphilis  ;  and 
in  the  Edinburgh  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  a  paper 
on  the  yellow  fever  of  America,  in  which  he  maintained, 
the  specific  character  and  contagious  nature  of  that 
disorder. 

To  the  foregoing  memoir  of  Dr.  Stringham,  derived 
from  the  Inaugural  discourse  of  his  friend  Professor  Fran- 
cis of  Nev/-York,  I  add  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
addressed  to  me  by  the  same  gentleman. 

"  I  trust  you  will   incorporate    in   your    contemplated 
Medical  Biography  some  account   of  my  late  friend  and 
predecessor  in  the  chair  of  Juridical  Medicine  in  the  Uni- 
VOL.    II.  14 


106  JOHN    B.    SWETT. 

versity  of  New-York,  Dr.  James  S.  Stringham.  He  de- 
serves honorable  mention.  He  was  one  of  the  most  effi- 
cient of  that  class  of  men  who  have  successfully  and  disin- 
terestedly exerted  themselves  for  the  promotion  of  science 
in  this  country,  at  a  period  when  comparatively  few  could 
be  found  engaged  in  so  good  a  cause.  He  was  the  first 
teacher  among  his  countrymen  who  gave  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  forensic  medicine.  His  taste  for  this  study  he 
had  originally  imbibed  from  his  able  preceptor.  Dr.  Dun- 
can, senior,  of  Edinburgh.  From  this  excellent  man  he 
derived  many  of  the  views  he  imparted  in  his  lectures, 
which,  however,  were  enriched  with  materials  drawn 
from  extensive  reading  and  reflection,  from  the  elaborate 
investigations  and  details  of  Zacchius  down  to  the  recent 
productions  of  Fodere  and  Mahon.  To  Dr.  Stringham 
are  we  indebted  for  the  popularity  which  this  intricate 
department  of  science  now  enjoys,  and  the  importance 
with  which  it  is  cultivated  in  our  medical  schools.  As  a 
teacher  his  manner  M^as  admirably  calculated  to  enlist 
the  attention  of  his  auditory  and  enforce  respect  ;  his  style 
of  composition  was  felicitous,  and  his  delivery  clear  and 
forcible.  Much  might  be  said  of  his  medical  erudition  in 
general.  He  was  for  some  time  one  of  the  physicians  of 
that  extensive  charity,  the  New-York  Hospital.  Here  the 
freshness  of  his  reading  and  his  therapeutical  talents  were 
often  conspicuous,  and  the  clinical  class  were  made  wiser 
by  the  perthience  of  his  remarks.  Notwithstanding  he 
suffered  long  and  greatly  from  an  organic  affection  of  the 
heart,  and  was  often  brought  to  the  Ijorders  of  the  grave, 
he  was  seldom  found  without  his  book.  He  on  several 
occasions  evinced  great  independence  and  decision  of  char- 
acter, particularly  in  the  malignant  yellow  fever  which 
prevailed  in  the  city  of  New-York  in  1803.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Royal  Medical  and  Physical  Society  of 
Edinburgh,  and  fellow  of  the  New-York  Literary,  and 
Philosophical,  and  Historical  Societies.  It  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted  that  his  MS.  lectures  on  forensic  medicine  are 
still  withheld  from  the  public.  One  more  honorable  in 
his  intercourse  with  his  fellow  men  could  not  be  found." 

A  syllabus  of  the  lectures  of  Professor  Stringham  on 
medical  jurisprudence,  is  contained  in  the  American  Medi- 
cal and  Philosophical  Register. 

-  SWETT,  JOHN  BARNARD,  M.M.S.S.,  was  born  at 
Marblehead,   in  the  county   of  Essex,  on  the  first  day  of 


JOU."(    B.    8WKTT. 


107 


June,  1752.  He  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Swett,  Esq.,  a 
worthy  and  respectable  merchant,  and  grandson  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Swett,  who,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
first  introduced  foreign  commerce  into  the  toAvn  ;  by 
means  of  which  it  so  increased  in  wealth  and  numbers, 
that  in  the  year  1770  its  proportion  of  the  province  tax 
was  next  to  that  of  Boston.*  His  mother  was  the  niece 
and  adopted  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Barnard,  congre- 
gational minister  of  Marblehead,  and  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished scholars  and  divines  of  his  age  and  country, 
for  whom  he  was  named  and  by  whom  he  was  adopted. 

Under  the  fostering  care  of  this  eminent  man  the  subject 
of  this  article  was  educated,  and  derived  from  him  a  taste 
for  classical  learning,  which  he  ever  after  retained.  In 
his  childhood  and  youth  he  had  a  buoyancy  of  spirits, 
which  interfered  with  a  close  and  undivided  atten- 
tion to  his  studies.  His  aged  patron  would  often  in- 
quire of  his  instructer  how  his  boy  got  on  in  his  studies, 
and  was  as  often  answered  "  tolerably,  sir."  Provoked 
at  length  with  the  repetition  of  this  reply,  the  old  gentle- 
man testily  said,  "  tolerably,  sir  ?  Why  do  you  not  say 
intolerably  at  once  ?"  This  caustic  rebuke  frorn  such  a 
person  had  a  good  effect  on  the  preceptor  and  his  pupil, 
stimulating  both  to  increased  exertion. 

Dr.  Swett  was  matriculated  at  Harvard  College  in  1767. 
His  amiable  temper  and  pleasing  manners  made  him  a 
general  favorite  of  his  contemporaries,  while  his  high 
sense  of  character  rendered  his  progress  in  learning  pro- 
portionate to  his  fine  natural  talents.  About  the  time  of 
his  receiving  his  first  degree  in  the  arts,  he  was  accidental- 
ly present  at  the  opening  and  examination  of  the  bodies  of 
some  persons  who  had  come  to  a  violent  death.  This  cir- 
cumstance determined  his  choice  of  the  medical  profession, 
to  which  his  patron  yielded  with  great  reluctance,  having 
a  very  strong  desire  that  he  should  go  into  the  ministry. 
Indeed  so  fixed  was  the  old  gentleman  upon  this  object, 
that,  although  by  his  will  he  devised  his  estate  to  this 
child  of  his  affections,  a  considerable  portion  was  given 
upon  the  express  condition  that  he  should  follow  the  cler- 
ical profession  ;  a  condition,  with  which  habit  and  power- 
ful inclination  prohibited  a  compliance. 

*  CollectioM  of  the  Maw.  Hist.  Soc.  viii.  67. 


108  JOHN    B.     SWETT. 

Soon  after  he  was  graduated  he  repaired  to  Edinburgh, 
where  lie  passed  three  years  in  the  j)rosecution  of  his  med- 
ical studies  under  the  patronage  and  instruction  of  that 
eminent  pliysician,  Dr.  William  CuUen.  Here  he  formed 
an  acquaintance  with,  and  enjoyed  the  society  of  Dr. 
Robertson,  Mr.  Hume,  and  other  celebrated  scholars  of 
that  day  and  place  ;  and  made  great  advances  in  general 
literature,  as  well  as  in  his  professional  pursuits. 

The  commercial  embarrassments  which  ])receded  our 
revolution,  interrupted  his  remittances  ;  and  his  adventur- 
ous spirit  led  him  to  close  with  a  proposal  made  to  him 
to  go  in  the  capacity  of  surgeon  to  a  fleet  of  merchant  ves- 
sels, which  was  then  fitting  in  the  port  of  London  for  the 
Falkland  Islands  under  the  superintendence  of  his  covm- 
tryman  INIr.  Rotch,  and  was  commanded  by  Captain  James 
Scott,  for  many  years  master  of  a  ship  in  the  trade  between 
Boston  and  London.  The  object  of  the  expedition  was  to 
make  an  establishment  at  the  islands,  with  a  view  to  the 
business  of  whaling  and  sealing.  The  undertaking  was 
attended  with  great  success  at  first  ;  but  the  revolutionary 
war  soon  brought  it  to  a  premature  close.  With  the  funds 
acquired  in  this  enterprise  he  was  enabled  to  complete  his 
medical  education  by  attending  the  hospitals  in  France 
and  England  ;  and  he  returned  to  America  in  1778. 

Immediately  on  his  return  he  joined  the  American  army 
as  a  surgeon,  and  was  in  tlie  expedition  to  Rhode-Island 
under  Gen.  Sullivan.  Here  he  was  in  the  same  tent  with 
John  S.  Sherburne,  Esq.,  one  of  the  general's  aids,  when 
a  cannon  ball  from  the  enemy's  battery  took  off  the  leg  of 
the  latter.  He  was  in  the  disastrous  expedition  to  Penob- 
scot, which  issued  in  the  destruction  of  the  whole  fleet, 
and  in  the  sacrifice  of  every  thing  l)eyond  what  each  man 
could  carry  on  his  back.  With  his  surgical  instruments 
in  his  knapsack  Dr.  Swett  was  obliged  to  travel  more  than 
fifty  miles  through  a  trackless  desert,  from  the  Penobscot 
river  to  the  nearest  settlements  on  the  Kennebec.  His 
misfortune  was  felt  the  more  severely,  as  he  had  just  before 
met  with  the  irreparable  loss,  by  capture,  of  his  profess- 
ional manuscripts  prepared  by  him  with  great  care  when 
in  Europe,  and  his  valuable  library  and  surgical  apparatus 
collected  at  great  expense  and  trouble. 

In  the  year  1780  he  commenced  practice  as  a  physician 
and  surgeon  in  Nevvburyport,  induced  by  the  urgent  soli- 
citations of  several  of  the  first  characters  in  that  place,  to 


JOHN    B.     SWETT.  109 

Mhom  liis  character  was  not  unknown,  and  to  some  of 
whom  he  was  allied  by  birth.  Here  his  progress  was 
rapid  and  successful.  Almost  every  surgical  case  through 
a  large  circuit  devolved  upon  him,  and  his  medical  prac- 
tice soon  became  very  extensive.  Being  naturally  very 
social  in  his  disposition,  and  an  attractive,  intelligent  and 
entertaining  companion,  of  polished  manners,  and  ingenu- 
ous frankness  and  good  humor,  he  was  a  general  favorite, 
and,  as  may  naturally  ])e  supposed,  largely  participated  in 
social  enjoyments.  As  a  means  of  tlies-e  he  was  much 
attached  to  the  fraternity  of  freemasons,  and  particularly 
to  those  of  the  higher  degrees,  as  affording  at  that  period 
a  more  select  society  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  ]jy  his  means 
the  first  encampment  of  Knights  Templars  in  the  United 
States  was  formed.* 

In  the  summer  of  1796  the  town  of  Newbury  port  was 
visited  witli  that  most  deadly  scourge  of  our  seaport  towns, 
the  yellow  fever.  It  was  with  Dr.  Svvett  not  less  a  point 
of  honor  than  a  commanding  sense  of  duty,  Avhich  led  him 
on  this  trying  occasion  to  devote  himself,  through  life  or 
death,  to  his  sntlering  patients,  who  looked  up  to  him  with 
their  habitual  confidence  as  to  their  only  earthly  hope  in 
this  appalling  moment  of  mortal  disease.  Disdaining  to 
desert  them  in  their  extreme  need,  he  was  constantly  at 
his  post  in  the  most  infected  district  of  the  town,  adminis- 
tering all  the  relief  in  his  power,  and  exhavisting  all  the 
resources  of  his  professional  skill,  until  the  inevitable  con- 
sequence ensued.  He  became  himself  infected  with  the 
incurable  disease,  and  fell  a  martyr  to  his  high  sense  of 
professional  obligation.  His  death  threw  a  gloom  over  the 
town,  not  to  be  described  in  words. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Swett  fixed  himself  in  Newbnryport,  he 
married  Miss  Charlotte  Bourne,  second  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  William  Bourne  of  Marblehead,  who  siu'vived  him, 
and  is  now  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  John  T.  Oilman,  many 
years  governor  of  the  state  of  New-Hampshire.  Four 
sons  of  this  marriage  are  now,  1827,  living,  and  in  respect- 
able standing. 


*  In  a  historical  account  of  Newbnryport  lately  published,  it  is  sugtjested  that 
Dr.  S.  was,  during  his  travels  in  Germany,  initiated  into  the  order  of  the  Illunii- 
nati.  He  was  never  in  Germany,  nor  was  he  ever  a  member  of  that  order,  which 
originated  many  years  after  his  return  from  Europe.  In  the  same  work  it  is  erro- 
neously stated  that  he  was  a  native  of  Newburyport. 


110 


JAMES     Sl'KES. 


Dr.    Swett  was  an  original  member  of  the  American 

Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  and  for  several  years  after  the  incorpo- 
ration of  the  latter  was  its  Corresnondin<j  Secretary. — 
D.  A.  T.  1  o  J 

»  SYKES,  JAMES,  M.D.,  was  born  of  very  respectable 
parents  in  the  vicinity  of  Dover,  county  of  Kent  and  state 
of  Delaware,  on  the  27th  of  March,  1761.  His  father, 
wliose  name  lie  received,  held  several  important  and  hon- 
orable offices  in  the  state,  which  evinces  the  standing  he 
possessed  in  society  ;  and  the  general  satisfaction  given  by 
him  in  the  performance  of  tlieir  duties,  is  a  fair  criterion 
by  which  to  judge  of  his  merit.  He  was  repeatedly  cho- 
sen as  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council  ;  and,  when  the 
change  was  about  to  be  effected  in  the  administration  of 
the  government  of  the  state,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
members  pf  the  convention  which  framed  the  present  con- 
stitution. He  attended  the  first  meeting,  at  which  the 
work  was  commenced  ;  but  previously  to  the  second, 
wlien  it  was  finished  and  adopted,  it  pleased  Providence  to 
remove  him  from  this  and  all  other  earthly  cares  and  hon- 
ors, and  therefore  his  name  does  not  appear  as  one  of  the 
signers  of  that  instrument,  in  the  formation  of  which  he 
had  assisted. 

Mr.  Sykes,  being  desirous  of  giving  his  son  a  good  edu- 
cation, and  the  best  to  be  had  at  that  time,  sent  him  to  the 
college  at  Wilmington,  then  deservedly  in  high  repute. 
Here  he  continued  for  some  time,  diligently  engaged  in 
the  study  of  ancient  and  modern  literature  ;  but  this  pleas- 
ing occupation  was  suddenly  interrupted.  This  was  dur- 
ing the  dark  and  troubled  period  of  the  revolution,  Avhen 
many  parts  of  our  country  were  in  subjection  to,  and  at 
the  mercy  of  a  cruel  and  relentless  enemy.  The  dreaded 
approach  of  such  a  foe  to  Wilmington,  induced  parents  to 
take  tlieir  children  home,  and  the  school  was  consequently 
broken  up. 

Doctor  Sykes  tlien  returned  to  Dover,  where  he  finish- 
ed his  education  under  the  j)articular  care  of  a  gentleman 
distinguished  for  his  literary  and  classical  attainments,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Magaw,  late  pastor  of  St.  Paul's  church,  Phila- 
delphia, who  resided  at  that  time  in  Dover. 

Having  completed  his  classical  studies  he  wisely  selected 
that  profession  for  which  he  was  by  nature  eminently 
qualified,  and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  the 


JAMES    8TKES.  Ill 

direction  of  Dr.  Clayton,  an  eminent  physician  who  prac- 
tised on  Bohemia  Manor.  Medical  science  in  this  country 
was  at  this  period  only  in  its  infancy  ;  and  consequently 
the  disciple  of  Hippocrates,  having  no  written  sources  of 
information  except  a  few  foreign  text  hooks,  was  compel- 
led, like  his  venerable  father,  to  accjuire  knowledge  prin- 
cipally from  the  lessons  taught  in  the  great  book  of  nature. 
Although  fully  aware  of  the  importance  and  value  of  ex- 
perience, Dr.  Sykes  was  equally  sensible  of  the  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  able  and  skilful  instructers  ;  and  there- 
fore early  availed  himself  of  the  additional  opportunities 
for  the  acquisition  of  medical  learning,  afforded  by  an  at- 
tendance on  the  lectures  which  were  then  delivered  in 
Philadelphia,  by  those  illustrious  worthies,  Shippen,  Mor- 
gan, Kuhn  and  Rush.  These  gentlemen  had,  but  a  short 
time  previous,  laid  the  foundation  of  that  superstructure, 
which  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  by  the  combined  exer- 
tions of  such  talents,  science  and  learning,  became  the  great 
luminary  of  the  western  world. 

After  having  regularly  and  diligently  attended  two 
courses  of  lectures  delivered  with  such  eloquence  and 
truth  as  were  calculated  to  make  a  deep  and  permanent 
impression  on  the  mind  of  an  ardent  votary  of  science,  and 
to  furnish  him  with  a  fund  of  medical  knowledge  on 
which  he  could  rely,  as  it  had  been  derived  from  the  best 
and  least  fallible  sources.  Dr.  Sykes  left  Philadelphia  for 
the  purpose  of  reducing  these  lessons  to  practice  in  the 
exercise  of  his  highly  honorable  and  useful  profession. 
He  located  himself  in  Cambridge,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Maryland,  where  his  gentlemanly  manners  and  correct  de- 
portment soon  acquired  him  respect  and  esteem,  and  his 
talents  and  skill  being  properly  appreciated  he  was  speed- 
ily introduced  into  a  respectable  practice. 

During  liis  residence  there  he  became  acquainted  with 
and  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Goldsborough,  daughter  of 
Robert  Goldsborough,  Esq.  who  still  lives  to  lament  that 
dispensation  of  Providence,  which  deprived  her  of  one  of 
the  best  of  husbands,  and  society  of  one  of  its  brightest 
ornaments. 

After  a  residence  in  Cambridge  of  nearly  four  years  he 
returned  to  Dover,  to  which,  being  the  place  of  his  nativ- 
ity, he  naturally  felt  strong  ties  and  attachments.  Here, 
in  obtaining  practice,  he  had  to  contend  with  a  distinguish- 
ed, though   noble  and  generous  rival,  the  late  celebrated 


112 


JAMES    SYKES. 


and  lamented  Dr.  Miller.  To  an  enlightened  and  liberal 
mind  the  success  and  advancement  of  a  professional  broth- 
er are  productive  of  pleasure  rather  than  envy  or  ill  v/ill, 
and  therefore  these  two  gentlemen  enjoyed  an  intimacy 
and  fidelity  of  friendship,  unfortunately  too  seldom  expe- 
rienced by  rivals  for  eminence  and  fame,  which  continued 
firm  and  sincere  until  it  was  severed  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Miller. 

Dr.  Sykes  had  not  resided  long  in  Dover  before  he  ren- 
dered himself  conspicuous  by  the  exercise  of  his  surgical 
talents.  For  this  branch  of  medicine  he  was  by  nature 
particularly  qualified.  To  the  decision  of  mind  and  steadi- 
ness of  hand  so  indispensably  necessary  to  a  surgeon,  he 
added  such  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the 
human  structure  as  to  prevent  his  ever  feeling  at  a  loss 
relative  to  the  nature  and  position  of  the  parts  concerned 
in  any  operation.  By  the  happy  union  of  these  qualities 
he  was  naturally  inspired  with  that  confidence,  which  alone 
can  render  the  operator  firm  and  collected  in  cases  of 
emergency  and  hours  of  trial. 

By  the  successful  performance  of  several  difficult  opera- 
tions, assisted  by  his  close  attention  to  his  practice,  and  his 
pleasing  adch'ess  and  kindness  to  those  under  his  care,  his 
reputation  was  speedily  established,  and  consequently  the 
sphere  of  his  labors  and  usefulness  rapidly  extended  ;  and 
it  may  be  safely  said  that  no  physician  in  the  state,  per- 
haps ever,  possessed  a  more  extensive  practice,  or  enjoyed 
in  a  more  unlimited  degree  the  confidence  of  his  patients 
anfl  the  public. 

Of  Dr.  Sykes's  talents  and  success  as  a  surgeon  so  many 
proofs  have  been  given,  with  which  you  are  all  familiar, 
as  to  preclude  the  necessity  of  my  enlarging  much  on  the 
subject.  Suffice  it,  therefore,  to  say  that  there  were  few 
operations  in  surgery  which  he  had  not  repeatedly  per- 
formed, and  none  for  the  performance  of  which  he  had 
reason  to  think  he  was  not  fully  competent.  In  the  ope- 
ration of  lithotomy,  confessedly  one  of  the  most  difficult 
and  important  in  surgery,  he  particularly  excelled.  Of 
this  we  have  the  strongest  evidence  in  the  declaration  of 
his  intimate  friend,  the  late  Surgeon  General  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States,  Dr.  Tilton,  who  averred  that  in  this 
operation  he  liad  no  superior  ;  and  another  gentleman,  a 
graduate  of  tlie  school  of  Edinburgh,  who  once  assisted 
him  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  gave  a  similar  testimony,  de- 


JAMES     SYKES.  113 

daring  that  "  by  no  surgeon,  either  in  Esirope  or  America, 
had  he  ever  seen  lithotomy  more  skili'ully  performed." 

Although  he  Avas  so  well  qualified  for  surgery,  and  paid 
particular  attention  to  it,  he  was  equally  well  calculated 
for  and  successful  in  tlie  practice  of  medicine.  He  pos- 
sessed emphatically  that  talent,  by  the  want  of  which 
knowledge  is  rendered  cold  and  genius  inert  ;  the  faculty 
of  judgment,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  prescribe  proper 
remedies  in  proper  places,  and  constantly  to  alter  and 
adapt  his  remedial  measures  to  the  ever  varying  and  fluc- 
tuating condition  of  the  system.  Being  a  disciple  of  the 
school  of  Rush,  and  a  follower  and  admirer  of  that  great 
and  distinguished  physician,  the  pride  and  honor  of  his 
country,  he  always  in  his  practice  paid  particular  attention 
to  the  pulse,  and  placed  great  reliance  on  the  information 
to  be  derived  from  it  ;  rejecting  with  merited  contempt 
the  observation  of  him  who  tells  us,  "  it  is  never  to  be 
depended  on  and  is  only  a  fallacious  guide."  As  a  practi- 
tioner, he  was  bold  and  decided,  never  temporizing  with 
diseases,  nor  waiting  to  cure  them  "  by  expectation  ;"  a 
practice  forcibly  and  with  no  little  projiriety  called  "  a 
meditation  on  cleath."  But  however  fond  he  may  have 
been  of  the  heroic  remedies,  he  knew  their  i)0wers  too 
well  to  use  them  without  due  discrimination  and  delibera- 
tive caution.  And,  if  bold  and  decided  in  cases  lequiring 
it,  he  took  care  not  to  subject  himself  to  the  charge  of 
violence  or  temerity. 

There  was  one  trait  in  his  character  as  a  practitioner 
particularly  deserving  of  notice  and  imitation,  which  was, 
never  in  any  case,  no  matter  how  desperate,  to  give  up  a 
patient  whilst  there  remained  even  a  possibility  of  effect- 
ing a  cure.  He  would  always  resolutely  contend  with  the 
ravages  of  disease  until  the  last  moment  of  a  patient's  ex- 
istence, and  frequently  was  rewarded  by  the  renovation  of 
the  almost  exhausted  system,  and  the  rescue  of  a  fellow 
mortal  who  had  been  apparently  in  the  arms  of  death. 

In  addition  to  his  other  good  c[ualities  Dr.  Sykes  pos- 
sessed a  humane  and  (diaritable  disposition.  Those  whose 
poverty  precluded  all  prospect  of  his  receiving  any  com- 
pensation for  his  services,  were  not  neglected,  nor  suffered 
to  pine  in  misery  and  sigh  for  that  relief  which  they  were 
unable  to  purchase.  He  attended  tliem  faithfully,  pre- 
scribed and  furnished  medicines  for  their  diseases,  and 
VOL.    II.  15 


114  JAMES    SYKES. 

often  alleviated  their  wants  by  benevolent  donations  and 
kind  assistance. 

During  his  residence  in  Dover  a  circumstance  occurred, 
which,  on  account  of  the  attention  excited  by  it  at  the  time 
and  the  active  part  he  took  in  it,  is  deserving  of  notice. 
I  allude  to  the  use  and  effects  of  the  adulterated  Peruvian 
bark.  Bilious  diseases,  during  the  fall  of  which  I  speak, 
Avere  unusually  prevalent,  and  the  Peruvian  medicine  con- 
sequently very  freely  and  generally  employed.  Many  se- 
vere and  dreadful  cases  of  colic,  resembling  colica  picto- 
num,  were  met  with  about  this  time,  some  of  which  ter- 
minated in  paralytic  affections,  blindness,  and  death.  The 
appearance  of  such  a  terrible  anomaly  in  medicine  excited 
great  and  general  consternation,  and  gave  rise  to  a  variety 
of  theories  and  conjectures  for  its  explanation.  It  was 
considered  by  some  as  yellow  fever  ;  and,  from  the  vio- 
lence of  its  symptoms  and  rapidity  of  its  course,  of  an  un- 
commonly malignant  nature.  By  a  close  and  attentive 
observation  of  its  course,  symptoms  and  causes,  Dr.  Sykes 
was  happily  led  to  a  discovery,  which,  as  he  gave  it  im- 
mediate publicity,  no  doubt  saved  many  lives.  He  ob- 
served that  no  persons  were  attacked  with  the  disease  who 
had  not  been  using  bark,  and  that  an  attack  came  on  gen- 
erally soon  after  the  taking  of  a  dose  of  that  medicine. 
He  therefore  naturally  inferred  that  the  bark  was  produc- 
tive of  these  serious  and  fatal  effects,  and,  if  so,  that  it 
must  be  adulterated  with  some  deadly  drug.  By  a  cau- 
tious inspection  of  several  samples  of  the  article,  he  was 
enabled  to  detect  the  hidden  cause  of  all  the  evil,  discov- 
ering that  semivitrified  oxide  of  lead,  litharge,  had  been 
mixed  with  the  bark.  On  tracing  the  matter  to  its  origin, 
it  was  found  that  a  workman  in  one  of  the  laboratories  in 
Philadelphia,  who  had  been  employed  in  pulverizing  the 
medicine,  for  which  service  lie  was  paid  so  much  per 
pound,  had,  in  order  to  make  it  weigh  heavier,  thrown  in 
occasionally  the  semivitrified  oxide  of  lead,  as  above-men- 
tioned. In  extenuation  of  this  dreadful  fraud  the  laborer 
urged  his  ignorance  of  the  noxious  powers  of  the  drug, 
which  he  had  added  merely  to  beitefit  himself,  certainly 
deceiving  and  imposing  on  his  emploj'er,  but  without  any 
idea  of  its  proving  prejudicial  to  any  other  person. 

Although  so  eminent  in,  and  attentive  to,  his  profession 
and  its  duties,  Dr.  Sykes  was  also  endowed  with  the  re- 
fjuisites  for  a  politician  and  statesman.     These  qualifica- 


JAMES    STKKS.  115 

tions  and  the  reputation  which  he  had  ever  possessed  for 
political  integrity,  sincere  love  of  country  and  veneration 
for  its  laws  and  institutions,  being  duly  estimated  by  the 
people,  rendered  him  very  popular,  and  he  was  conse- 
quently chosen  to  fill  several  important  and  distinguished 
stations.  He  was  repeatedly  elected  a  member  of  the 
Senate,  in  which  body  he  presided  for  a  period  of  near  fif- 
teen years  ;  and  during  this  time,  by  that  office  being  va- 
cated, ho  was  elevated  to  the  highest  station  in  the  gift  of 
the  peoj)le,  being  made  Governor  of  the  State.  Whilst  he 
held  this  situation  he  evinced,  by  his  anxiety  and  care  to 
fulfil  ail  the  duties  attendant  on  it,  his  higli  opinion  of  the 
honor  conferred  upon  him. 

Feeling  sensibly  that  the  labor  necessarily  attendant  on 
such^political  stations  and  an  extensive  practice,  was  too 
heavy  and  severe  for  one  advancing  in  life  ;  knowing  the 
impracticability  of  concentrating  his  practice,  and  t!ius 
diminishing  his  arduous  toil,  whilst  he  continued  in  Do- 
ver ;  and  being  desirous  of  passing  his  declining  years  in 
more  calmness  and  tranquillity  than  is  possible  for  any 
physician  who  enjoys  an  extensive  practice  in  the  country, 
he  determined  on  removing  to  a  city.  Considering  New- 
York  as  presenting  the  best  field  for  the  exercise  of  his 
talents,  and  believing  that  merit  would  there  receive  its 
just  reward,  he  in  tlie  year  1814,  having  made  his  ar- 
rangements for  that  purpose,  removed  there  with  his 
family. 

Here  he  continued  for  several  years,  and,  though  so 
eminently  qualified  to  figure  in  a  metropolis,  did  not,  it 
must  be  confessed,  meet  with  that  advancement  and  dis- 
tinction to  which  his  talents  and  attainments  entitled  him. 
The  following  observations  of  the  great  "  Colossus  of  lite- 
rature  and  Prince  of  biographers,"  in  his  life  of  the  cele- 
brated poet  and  physician,  Akenside,  apply  with  equal 
force  and  propriety  in  the  present  case,  and  may  explain  a 
circumstance  which  might  be  considered  singular  and  un- 
accountable :  speaking  of  Dr.  Akent^ide's  want  of  success 
in  obtaining  practice  in  London,  the  biographer  adds,  "A 
physician  in  a  great  city  seems  to  be  the  mere  plaything 
of  fortune  ;  his  degree  of  reputation  is  for  the  most  ]»art 
totally  casual  :  they  that  employ  him  know  not  his  excel- 
lence ;  they  that  reject  him  know  not  his  deficiencies." 

After  residing  in  New-York  for  a  period  of  near  six 
years,  and  feeling  his  ties  and  attachments  to  his  native  plac« 


116  JAMES     srKEJ. 

and  former  pursuits  increased,  rather  than  diminished,  by 
this  absence,  he  determined  on  returning  to  Dover.  This 
he  effected  in  the  year  1820,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  his 
friends,  by  wliom  he  was  received  with  sincere  pleasure 
and  unabated  esteem  and  atiection.  Here  he  was  again 
speedily  introduced  into  practice  ;  but,  in  consequence  of 
the  impaired  state  of  his  health,  he  was  under  the  neces- 
sity of  resigning  its  principal  duties  and  labor  to  his  son, 
with  whom  he  was  associated. 

Not  long  after  his  return  to  Dover  the  Medical  Society 
lost  its  president  by  tlie  death  of  Dr.  James  Tilton.  The 
members  of  this  institution,  feeling  the  obligations  they 
were  under  to  Dr.  Sykes,  who  was  principally  instru- 
mental in  the  passage  of  that  law  by  which  they  were 
enabled  to  prevent  empiricism,  and  thus  render  their  pro- 
fession more  useful  and  respectable,  elected  him  to  fill  the 
chair  of  his  lamented  predecessor.*  This  honor,  hovv- 
ever,  he  had  not  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  long,  as  he  was 
called  from  all  terrestrial  duties  within  the  short  period  of 
seven  months  after  his  appointment. 

The  following  handsome  tribute  to  the  memory  of  our 
president  is  paid  by  an  anonymous  writer,  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Pvledical  Journal:  "As  a  social  character.  Dr. 
Sykes  was  almost  unrivalled,  and  will  be  always  remem- 
bered with  the  highest  esteem  by  those  who  had  the  hap- 
piness to  know  him.  The  dignity  of  his  deportment  and 
the  urbanity  of  his  manners  qualified  him  preeminently 
for  shining  in  society  ;  whilst  the  generosity  of  his  senti- 
ments, hospitality  and  many  other  estimable  virtues,  made 
him  universally  beloved.  One  of  his  distinguishing  traits 
evinces  so  much  good  feeling  that  it  deserves  to  be  com- 
memorated. He  was  the  friend  and  patron  of  youth  ;  and 
it  always  gave  him  pleasure  when  he  could  avail  himself 
of  his  influence  in  promoting  their  prosperity.  The  value 
of  such  friendly  services  will  be  best  appreciated  by  those 
who  can  revert,  with  grateful  feelings,  to  the  time  when 
they  stood  in  need  of  them.  But  if  his  many  amiable  and 
benevolent  qualities  endeared  him  so  much  to  his  friends, 
how  shall  we  describe  the  full  strength  of  his  domestic 
ties  ?  The  force  of  these  will  perhaps  be  best  displayed  by 
the  simple  recital  of  a  distressing  event.  His  only  daugh- 
ter, an  amiable  and  accomplished  young  lady,  who  had  just 

♦  Medical  Social  v  of  Delaware. 


SAMUEL    TENNET.  117 

entered  the  gay  and  pleasing  season  of  womanhood,  was 
absent  fVoai  home  when  her  father  died  ;  and  only  return- 
ed in  time  to  behold  his  remains,  before  they  received 
their  la4  solemn  rites.  At  tlie  siglit  of  the  cold  and  life- 
]e>^s  clay  she  sunk  to  the  earth,  overpowered  by  a  sense  of 
desolation,  and  was  carried  to  her  bed  from  which  rlie  rose 
no  more  ;  for  a  mortal  blight  had  Adlen  on  her  spirits  and 
\vithered  the  vital  tlower.  Refusin":  lioth  consolation  tind 
sustenance,  she  pined  away,  and  in  a  few  days  followed 
her  l)eloved  parent  to  that  grave  whicli  was  at  once  the 
source  and  termination  of  her  sorrow — a  melancholy  in- 
stance of  the  force  of  iilial  affection  and  the  exquisite  sen- 
sibility of  the  human  heart." 

Dr.  Sykes  was  from  early  life  sidjject  to  occasional  fits 
of  wandering  gout,  to  which  disease  there  was  an  jiered- 
itarv  predisposition.  He  died  on  the  18th  of  October, 
1822. 

In  concluding  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the  life  of  one 
who  was  an  ornament  to  his  profession  and  to  society,  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  being  enal)led  to  add  that  he  was  a 
full  and  firm  believer  in  revelation  and  all  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  christian  religion  ;  and  that  in  his  last  ill- 
ness, not  long  previous  to  his  dissolution,  he  exj)ressed,  to 
his  weeping  relatives  who  surrounded  his  bed,  his  full 
conviction  that  his  peace  was  made  ;  adding  that  he  felt 
perfectly  resigned  and  ready  to  die,  if  such  was  the  will 
of  Providence.  How  consoling  should  be  the  reflection, 
to  those  lamenting  the  death  of  the  dearest  relative  or 
friend,  that  "  though  his  body  may  lie  covered  by  the  sod 
of  the  valley,  his  soul  has  taken  its  flight  to  celestial  re- 
gions arid  dwells  immortal,  with  its  God." — Eulogiimi  by 
J.  Franklin  Vanghxm^  J\T.D. 

TENNEY,  SAMUEL,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  Hon.,  was  the 
son  of  a  respectable  farm.cr  of  Rowley,  Byfield  parish, 
Massachusetts.  At  about  eighteen  years  of  age  he  com- 
menced his  studies  preparatory  for  college  under  the  cele- 
brated Master  Moody  of  Dummer  scliool.  He  entered 
Harvard  College  in  July,  1708  ;  and,  while  an  under  grad- 
uate, gave  honoral)le  evidence  of  possessing  a  sovind  and 
discriminating  mind.  After  leaving  college  he  taught  a 
school  one  year  at  Andover,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
physic  with  Dr.  Kittredge  of  that  town. 

About  the  l)eoinning  of  the  year  1775  he  went  to  Exe- 
ter with  the  design  of  establishing  himself  as  a  physician  ; 


118  SAMUEL    TEi^r<EY. 

but,  the  war  of  the  revolution  soon  after  breaking  out,  he 
determined  on  joinisig  the  army.  He  reached  the  Ameri- 
can camp  on  the  day  of  the  Jmttle  of  Bunker's  Hill  ;  and, 
though  greatly  fatigued  with  riding  on  horseback,  was 
employed  till  a  late  hour  of  the  night  in  attentions  to  the 
wounded.  He  was  one  year  attached  to  the  Massachusetts 
Line  as  mate  to  Dr.  Eustis,  late  Governor  of  the  common- 
wealth ;  but  afterward  entered  the  Rhode-Island  Line,  in 
which  he  served  as  surgeon  during  the  war.  He  of  course 
moved  with  the  army,  was  present  at  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne  and  Cornwaliis,  and  was  prompt  to  every  duty 
becoming  his  station.  He  volunteered  his  assistance  in 
repelling  the  attack  on  the  fort  at  Red  Bank  in  the  Dela- 
ware ;  and  in  circumstances  of  imminent  danger  fought  in 
the  ranks.  The  assailants  were  driven  back,  and  Count 
Donop,  their  commander,  was  mortally  wounded  and  car- 
ried into  the  fort.  When  the  Doctor  approached  to  dress 
his  wounds,  the  Count  looked  at  him  attentively  in  the 
face,  and  said  "  You  look  like  an  honest  man,  to  you 
therefore  I  commit  the  care  of  my  pocketbook." 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Dr.  Tenney  returned  to  Exeter, 
where  he  married  and  settled  ;  but  lie  did  not  resume  the 
practice  of  medicine.  In  1788  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  convention  for  forming  the  constitution  of  the  state  of 
New-Hampshire.  In  1793  he  was  appointed  Judge  of 
Probate  for  the  County  of  Rockingham  ;  and  continued  in 
this  office  until,  in  1800,  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
congress.  To  this  station  he  was  afterwards  twice  reelect- 
ed.    In  1816  he  closed  his  valuable  life. 

Dr.  Tenney  was  of  a  literary  and  philosophical  turn, 
and  was  a  member  of  several  scientific  societies  ;  he  re- 
ceived from  the  University  at  Cambridge  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Doctor  in  Medicine,  and  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  During 
the  war  he  was  stationed  for  several  months  at  Saratoga, 
and  paid  considerable  attention  to  the  celebrated  mineral 
waters  of  that  place.  In  1793  he  communicated  an  ac- 
count of  them  to  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences, of  which  he  was  a  member.  This  account  was  pub- 
lished in  a  volume  of  the  society's  Memoirs,  and  did  much 
toward  bringing  the  waters  of  Saratoga  into  general  notice. 
In  the  same  volume  was  also  published  the  Doctor's  "  The- 
ory of  Prismatic  Colors,"  which  reduces  the  number  of 
original  colors  to  five.       This  theory,   or  one  similar,  is 


SAMUEL    TENNET.  119 

beginning  to  be  favorably  noticed,  or  is  already  adopted, 
in  France.  For  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  he 
furnished  an  historical  and  topograpliical  account  of  Exe- 
ter, and  a  notice  of  the  dark  day  of  May  19th,  1780  ;  and 
for  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society  he  wrote  a 
much  approved  treatise  on  Orcharding.  Of  both  there 
societies  he  was  a  member.  At  various  times  he  puldished 
valuable  political  essays  in  the  newspapers,  and  particu- 
larly in  1788,  in  favor  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  the 
adoption  of  which  he  strongly  advocated.  Among  his  un- 
published writings  is  a  very  ingenious  theory  of  tlie  tides. 

Dr.  Tenney  was  an  early  and  steadfast  friend  to  his 
country  ;  and  his  name  deserves  an  honorable  place  among 
the  worthies  wlio  assisted  in  achieving  its  independence, 
and  in  establishing  forms  of  state  and  national  government 
adapted  to  promote  its  highest  welfare.  In  all  the  public 
stations  he  held,  he  was  distinguished  for  openness  and 
integrity  ;  was  never  ashamed  of  his  principles,  nor  afraid 
to  avow  them  ;  and  always  so  cool  and  dispassionate  as  to 
conciliate  the  respect  even  of  his  adversaries.  At  one  pe- 
riod of  the  war  the  regiment  to  which  he  belonged  was  unu- 
sually given  to  intoxication,  and  several  deaths  were  caused 
by  it.  At  the  funeral  of  one  of  the  victims,  and  with  the 
approbation  of  the  colonel,  he  delivered  before  the  regi- 
ment a  plain  and  serious  discourse,  which  for  a  time  had  a 
very  sensible  effect. 

In  private  life  the  doctor's  character  was  eminently 
good.  His  personal  dignity  was  great,  while  his  manners 
were  exceedingly  plain.  There  was  something  very  strik- 
ing and  noble  in  his  countenance.  His  eyes  were  full  and 
intelligent  ;  and  his  other  features  large  and  open  :  no 
man  in  Congress  at  the  time  had  a  better  head.  He  made 
no  professions  of  regard  where  he  felt  no  regard  :  but  at 
the  same  time  was  uncommonly  free  from  resentments. 
He  was  an  affectionate  husband,  a  sensible  and  entertain- 
ing companion,  a  kind  and  peaceable  neighbor,  a  sober 
and  exemplary  member  of  society.  He  took  a  deep  and 
active  interest  in  the  education  of  the  young  ;  and,  though 
he  had  no  children  of  his  own,  he  laid  more  than  one  un- 
der obligations  of  gratitude  for  his  paternal  care. 

Dr.  Tenney  was  remarkably  free  from  ostentation  and 
pride,  and  could  easily  accommodate  himself  to  the  views, 
and  wants,  and  interests  of  the  humblest  persons.  He  was 
the  friend  of  the  poor,  and  the  orphan's  disinterested  and 


1.20  SAMUEL    TENNEY". 

fditiifal  guardian.  He  loved,  as  well  as  patronised,  the 
religious  institutions  of  the  Fathers  ;  was  most  punctual 
in  attendance  at  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  ior 
several  of  the  last  years  of  liis  life  was  a  member  and  au 
officer  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  in  Exeter. 
He  honored  the  religion  he  professed,  felt  its  sustaining 
influence  in  his  last  hours,  and  met  death  with  a  serenity 
and  composure  becoming  a  christian.  One  of  his  ancient 
and  worthy  neighbors  observed  to  the  writer  at  the  time, 
"  We  have  lost  a  fellow  citizen  who  was  without  guile." 
Seldom  has  it  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  to  sketch  the  life 
and  character  of  a  man,  to  whom  the  observation  could 
be  more  justly  applied. 

It  will  be  recollected  by  many  that  a  singular  phenome- 
non occurred  in  our  New-England  horizon.  May  19th, 
1780,  emphatically  called  the  dark  day.  This  was  by 
some  among  the  ignorant  and'  superstitious  ascribed  to  a 
supernatural  cause.  From  the  pen  of  Dr.  Tenney  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  received  a  veiy  ingenious 
and  philosophical  examination  of  the  subject,  which  does 
much  honor  to  the  author.  Dr.  Tenney  was  decidedly  of 
opinion  that  the  phenomenon  would  admit  of  a  rational 
and  philosophical  explanation,  as  follows.  Previously  to 
the  commencement  of  the  darkness,  the  sky  was  overcast 
with  the  common  kind  of  clouds,  from  which  there  was 
in  some  places  a  light  sprinkling  of  rain.  Between  these 
and  the  earth  there  intervened  another  stratum,  apparently 
of  very  great  thickness.  As  this  stratum  advanced  the 
darkness  commenced,  and  increased  with  its  progress  till 
it  came  to  its  height  ;  which  did  not  take  place  till  the 
hemisphere  was  a  second  time  overspread.  The  uncom- 
mon thickness  of  this  second  stratum  was  probably  occa- 
sioned by  two  strong  currents  of  wind  from  the  southward 
and  westward,  condensing  the  vapors  and  drawing  them 
in  a  northeasterly  direction.  The  lower  stratum  had  an 
uncommon  brassy  hue,  while  the  earth  and  trees  were 
adorned  with  so  enchanting  a  verdure  as  could  not  escape 
notice,  even  amidst  the  unusual  gloom  that  suriounded  the 
spectator.  This  gradual  increase  of  the  darkness  from 
southwest  to  northeast,  which  was  nearly  the  course  of 
the  cloiuls,  affords  a  pretty  good  argument  in  favor  of  the 
supposition  that  they  were  condensed  by  two  strong  cur- 
rents of  wind  blowing  in  different  directions.  To  these 
two  strata  of  clouds  we  may  without  hesitation  iiripute  the 


THOMAS    THACHER.  121 

extraordinary  darkness  of  the  day.  Di-.  T.  proceeds  with 
a  philosophical  eye  to  examine  more  minutely  into  the 
manner  in  which  these  clouds  effected  the  extraordinary 
darkness  ;  but  this  must  be  omitted  here.  "  The  darkness 
of  the  following  evening,"  says  Dr.  T.,  "  was  probably  as 
gross  as  ever  has  been  observed  since  the  almighty  fiat 
gave  birth  to  light.  It  wanted  only  palpability  to  render 
it  as  extraordinary  as  that  which  overspread  the  land  of 
Egypt  in  the  days  of  Moses.  And  as  darkness  is  not  sub- 
stantial, but  a  mere  privation,  the  palpability  ascribed  to 
that  by  the  sacred  historian  must  have  arisen  from  some 
peculiar  affection  of  the  atmosphere,  perhaps  an  exceeding 
thick  vapor,  that  accompanied  it.  I  could  not  help  con- 
ceiving at  the  time  that,  if  every  luminous  body  in  the 
universe  had  been  shrouded  in  impenetrable  shades,  or 
struck  out  of  existence,  the  darkness  could  not  have  been 
more  complete.  A  sheet  of  white  paper,  held  within  a  few 
inches  of  the  eyes,  was  equally  invisible  with  the  blackest 
velvet.  Considering  the  small  quantity  of  light  that  was 
transmitted  by  the  clouds  by  day,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
by  night  a  sufficient  quantity  of  rays  should  not  be  able  to 
penetrate  the  same  strata,  brought  back  by  the  shifting  of 
the  winds,  to  afford  the  most  obscure  prospect  even  of  the 
best  reflecting  bodies." 

In  the  year  1811  Dr.  Tenney  addressed  to  Dr.  Mitchell 
of  New-York,  for  publication  in  the  Medical  Repository, 
•'  An  Explanation  of  certain  curious  Phenomena  in  the 
Heating  of  Water."  The  celebrated  Count  Rumford  in 
an  "  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  of  Heat,  and  the  Manner  of 
its  Communication"  relates  two  experiments  of  which  the 
authors  of  the  British  Review  observe  that  "  though  they 
have  sought  for  an  adequate  explanation  of  them,  they  are 
not  a  little  eml)arrassing."  However  embarrassing  to  the 
British  reviewers,  the  enlightened  and  sagacious  mind  of 
Dr.  Tenney  furnished  a  solution  of  the  phenomena  both 
philosophical  and  satisfactory,  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
Medical  Repository  for  November,  December  and  Jan- 
uary, 1811  and  1812. 

f  HACHER,  DR.  THOMAS,  first  minister  of  the  Old 
South  Church  in  Boston,  was  born  in  England,  May  1st, 
1620.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  minister 
at  Sarum,  who  intended  to  come  over  to  these  new  re- 
gions, but  was  prevented  by  the  state  of  his  family. 
Thomas  had  a  good  school  education,  and  it  was  his  fa- 
voi,.   n.  16 


Ids  THOMAS    THACH£R. 

ther's  desire  to  send  him  to  the  University  of  Oxford  or 
Cambridge  ;  but  he  declined,  and  came  over  to  New  Eng- 
land in  1G35. 

In  a  letter  published  by  his  uncle,  Anthony  Thacher, 
we  learn  how  remarkably  he  was  preserved  from  ship- 
Avreck.  His  friends  sailed  from  Ipswich  in  the  month  of 
August  for  Marblehead,  where  Mr.  John  Avery,  a  worthy 
divine,  was  to  settle.  A  terrible  storm  threw  the  vessel 
upon  the  rocks,  most  of  the  people  perished,  and  Mr. 
Thacher  was  cast  ashore  on  a  desolate  island.  It  bears  his 
name  to  this  day,  as  also  a  place  is  called  Avery's  Fall, 
where  this  good  man  perished.  Thomas  Thacher  prefer- 
red to  go  by  land,  and  escaped  these  dangers.  He  receiv- 
ed his  education  from  Mr.  Chauncy,  who  was  afterwards 
President  of  Harvard  College.  He  studied  not  only  what 
is  common  for  youth  to  acquire,  but  also  the  oriental  lan- 
guages. He  afterwards  composed  a  Hebrew  lexicon,  and 
we  learn  from  Dr.  Stiles  that  he  was  a  scholar  in  Arabic, 
the  best  the  country  afforded.  Dr.  Mather  tells  us  that 
he  Avas  a  great  logician,  that  he  understood  mechanics  in 
theory  and  practice,  and  that  he  would  make  all  kinds  of 
clock  work  to  admiration.  He  was  eminent  in  two  pro- 
fessions. He  was  pastor  of  a  church,  and  was  ordained  at 
Weymouth,  June  2d,  1644.  After  some  years,  having 
married  a  second  wife,  who  belonged  to  Boston,  he  left  his 
parish  at  Weymouth,  where  he  practised  physic  as  well  as 
preached,  and  was  an  eminent  physician  in  Boston.  He 
was  considered  as  a  great  divine,  and  when  a  third  church 
was  founded  in  the  town  he  Avas  chosen  their  minister. 
Over  this  church  he  was  installed  February  16th,  1669, 
and  in  this  station  he  continued  till  he  died.  The  last 
sermon  he  preached,  was  for  Dr.  I.  Mather,  1st  Peter  iv, 
18.  He  afterwards  visited  a  sick  person,  and  was  himself 
seized  with  a  fever,  and  expired  October  15th,  1678,  aged 
68  years. 

As  a  preacher  he  was  very  popular,  being  remarkably 
fervent  and  copious  in  prayer.  He  was  zealous  against  the 
Quakers,  for  he  believed  that  their  doctrines  subverted  the 
gospel,  and  led  men  into  the  pit  of  darkness  under  the  pre- 
tence of  giving  them  light. 

He  left  two  sons,  who  were  by  his  first  wife,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Rev.  Ralph  Partridge  of  Duxbury.  The  eldest^ 
Peter,  was  a  famous  minister  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bos- 
ion.     R-ilph  was  settled  at  Martha's  Vineyard.     He  print- 


JORIt    THOMAS^  12^ 

ed  very  few  of  his  productions,  except  his  Hebrew  lexicon 
and  his  catechism,  each  of  which  was  on  a  sheet  of  paper, 
and  his  Guide  in  the  Smallpox  and  Measles  published  in 
1677,  which  was  the  first  publication  on  a  medical  subject 
in  America. 

THOMAS,  DR.  JOHN,  was  born  in  the  ancient  town 
of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  April  1st,  1758.  His  father, 
a  respectable  physician,  having  sustained  the  office  of  Sur- 
geon in  the  French  war  in  the  expedition  against  Louis- 
burgh,  was  at  the  dawn  of  the  American  revolution  ap- 
pointed Regimental  Surgeon  ;  and  his  son,  then  seventeen 
years  of  age,  accompanied  his  father  as  Surgeon's  Mate. 
They  joined  the  army  at  Cambridge  in  the  spring  of  1775. 
The  infirmities  of  age  and  the  claims  of  a  large  family  in- 
duced the  father  to  resign  in  1776,  when  the  son  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  regimental  surgeon,  in  which  station 
he  served  his  country  with  reputation  until  the  army  was 
disbanded  at  the  close  of  the  war.  It  is  honorable  to  this 
family  that  another  son  served  as  captain  of  a  company  of 
artillery  during  the  whole  war,  and  two  others  served  a 
part  of  the  time  in  the  army.  Soon  after  peace  took  place 
Dr.  Thomas  settled  in  the  town  of  Poughkeepsie,  in  the 
state  of  New-York,  where  he  continued  in  reputable 
and  successful  practice  in  his  profession  until  his  deatli 
in  1818. 

Endowed  with  considerable  powers  of  mind,  and  devot- 
ing himself  to  his  official  duties.  Dr.  Thomas  overcame 
the  difficulties  of  his  youtli  and  inexperience,  and  main- 
tained high  professional  respectability  ;  in  all  his  conduct 
he  was  honorable,  just  and  benevolent.  But  for  Avit  and 
humor  he  was  unrivalled.  Such  were  the  fecundity  and 
disposition  of  his  mind,  that  on  all  occasions  he  was  fur- 
nished witli  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote  and  song, 
which  made  him  a  welcome  guest  in  every  place.  There 
was  considerable  originality  in  the  display  of  his  talents  ; 
which,  with  the  courteousness  of  his  manners  and  his  con- 
viviality, won  the  esteem  of  gentlemen  of  high  rank,  and 
on  one  occasion,  at  the  tabic  of  Wasliington,  he  excited  an 
unusual  degree  of  merriment  and  pleasantry. 

THORNTON,  DR.  MATTHEW,  was  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, Avhere  he  was  born  about  the  year  1714.  He  emi- 
grated to  this  country  with  his  father,  and  settled  in  the 
state  of  Connecticut,  where  he  received  an  academical 
and  medical  education.      He  e?tablished    himself  in   tli« 


* 


124  MATTHEW    THORNTON. 

profession  of  medicine  in  Londonderry,  in  New-Hamp- 
shire, where  he  became  conspicuous  for  professional 
skill,  and  the  sphere  of  his  usefulness  was  continually 
extending;. 

He  was  invested  with  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
and  commissioned  as  Colonel  of  the  militia  under  the 
royal  government.  But,  when  the  political  crisis  arrived 
when  that  government  in  America  was  dissolved.  Colonel 
Thornton  abjured  the  British  interest,  and  with  a  patriotic 
spirit  adhered  to  the  glorious  cause  of  liberty.  When  in 
1775  a  provincial  convention  was  formed  for  temporary 
purposes,  he  was  elected  their  president.  In  this  capacity 
we  find  him  "  in  Provincial  Congress,  June  2d,  1775,  ad- 
dressing the  inhabitants  of  the  colony  of  New-Hampshire 
on  the  affairs  of  America,  and  in  the  affecting  style  of  a 
true  patriot  painting  the  '  horrors  and  distresses  of  a  civil 
war,  which  till  of  late  we  only  had  in  contemplation,  but 
now  feel  ourselves  obliged  to  realize.  Painful  beyond  ex- 
pression have  been  those  scenes  of  blood  and  devastation 
which  the  barbarous  cruelty  of  British  troops  has  placed 
before  our  eyes.  Duty  to  God,  to  ourselves,  to  posterity, 
enforced  by  the  cries  of  slaughtered  innocents,  have  urged 
us  to  take  up  arms  in  our  OAvn  defence.'  He  proceeded  to 
advise  and  recommend  such  measures  as  the  exigency  of 
the  times  appeared  to  require,  and  closed  by  enjoining 
'  the  practice  of  that  pure  and  undefiled  religion  which 
embalmed  the  memory  of  our  pious  ancestors,  as  that 
alone  upon  which  we  can  build  a  solid  hope  and  confi- 
dence in  the  Divine  protection  and  favor,  and  without 
whose  blessing  all  the  measures  of  safety  we  have  or  can 
propose,  will  end  in  our  shame  and  disappointment.'  " 

The  next  year,  on  the  13th  of  September,  Col.  Thornton 
was  chosen  a  delegate  to  tlie  Continental  Congress,  and 
took  his  seat  on  the  4th  of  November  following.  Thouffh 
not  present  when  the  declaration  of  independence  passed 
that  illustrious  body,  he  acceded  to  it  on  his  becoming  a 
member,  and  his  signature  stands  among  the  fifty-six  wor- 
thies, who  have  immortalized  their  names  by  that  memo- 
rable act.  About  the  year  1776  he  was  appointed  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  not  long  after 
he  was  raised  to  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court 
of  New-Hampshire,  in  which  office  he  remained  till  1782. 
In  the  year  1780  he  purchased  a  farm  pleasantly  situated 
on  the  banks  of  the  5lcrrimac,  near  Exeter,  and  entered  on 


MATTHEW    THORNTON.  125 

the  business  of  agriculture  in  connexion  with  his  other 
diversified  occupations.  Although  advanced  in  life,  when- 
ever his  professional  services  were  required  he  cheerfully 
granted  them,  and  they  were  at  all  times  higlily  appre- 
ciated. He  took  an  interest  in  the  municipal  affairs  of  the 
town,  and  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  general  court 
one  or  two  years,  and  a  Senator  in  the  state  legis^lature, 
and  served  as  a  member  of  the  Council  in  1785  under 
President  Langdon. 

We  are  informed  upon  good  authority  that  Dr.  Thorn- 
ton was  a  man  of  strong  powers  of  mind,  that  he  was  ca- 
pable of  abstruse  speculation,  and  that  on  any  subject  to 
Avhich  he  directed  his  attention,  he  would  elicit  light  and 
information.  In  private  life  he  was  one  of  the  most  com- 
panionable of  men.  The  young  and  the  old  were  alike 
sharers  in  the  agreeable  versatility  of  his  powers,  and  in  the 
inexhaustible  stock  of  information  which  a  long  and  indus- 
trious life  had  accumulated.  His  memory  was  well  stored 
with  a  large  fund  of  entertaining  and  instructive  anecdotes, 
which  he  could  apply  upon  any  incident  or  subject  of 
conversation.  Judge  Thornton  wrote  political  essays  for 
the  newspapers  after  he  was  eighty  years  of  age,  and  about 
this  period  of  life  prepared  for  the  press  a  metaphysical 
work  entitled  Paradise  Lost,  or  the  Origin  of  tlie  Evil 
called  Sin  examined,  &c.  This  work  was  never  publish- 
ed ;  but  those  who  have  had  access  to  the  manuscript,  pro- 
nounce it  a  very  singular  production. 

He  died  while  on  a  visit  at  Newburyport,  Massachu- 
setts, on  the  24th  of  June,  1803,  in  the  89th  year  of  his 
age.  In  the  funeral  sermon  by  Rev.  Dr.  Burnap  we  are 
furnished  with  the  following  sketch.  "  He  was  venerable 
for  his  age  and  skill  in  his  profession,  and  for  tlie  several 
very  important  and  honorable  offices  he  had  sustained  ; 
noted  for  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired,  and  his  quick 
penetration  into  matters  of  abstruse  speculation  ;  exempla- 
ry for  his  regard  for  the  public  institutions  of  religion  and 
for  his  constancy  in  attending  the  public  worship,  where 
he  trod  the  courts  of  the  house  of  God  with  steps  tottering 
with  age  and  infirmity.  Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  one 
who  Avas  honored  in  his  day  and  generation  ;  whose  vir- 
tues were  a  model  for  imitation,  and  while  memory  does 
her  office  will  be  had  in  grateful  recollection.'' — JN'fit- 
Hampshire  Historical  Collections' 


136  JAMES    TILLARr. 

TILLARY,  JAMES,  M.D.  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
and  his  contemporaries  and  associates  at  school  testify  that 
he  was  even  then  regarded  as  a  yonth  of  promise,  and  at 
that  early  period  of  his  life  was  characterised  by  that  in- 
tegrity and  virtue  which  marked  the  remainder  of  his 
days.  Having  laid  the  usual  foundation  of  classical  learn- 
ing, in  which  his  attainments  were  very  respectable,  and 
having  received  some  preliminary  medical  knowledge  in 
the  north  of  Scotland,  he  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a  course 
of  instruction  at  the  great  medical  school  of  Edinburgh. 
Although  he  did  not  remain  at  the  university  the  time 
prescribed  to  obtain  its  honors,  he  assiduously  attended  the 
various  lectures,  which  qualified  him  for  the  station  he 
soon  afterwards  obtained,  that  of  a  surgeon  in  the  army  of 
Great  Britain.  In  that  capacity,  at  an  early  period  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  he  first  came  to  this  country,  M'hich  he 
made  the  permanent  place  of  his  residence. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  the  city  of  New-York  he 
assumed  the  character  of  a  practitioner  of  medicine  and 
surgery.  To  the  former  branch,  hoAvever,  he  principally 
confined  his  attention,  and  for  more  tlian  forty  years  exer- 
cised its  responsible  and  important  duties,  and  displayed 
abundant  evidence  of  his  professional  merit  and  skill. 
The  various  qualifications  which  adorned  his  professional 
character,  were  duly  appreciated  by  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  County  of  New-York,  of  which  he  was  a  conspicu- 
ous member,  and  where  he  also  for  many  years  occupied 
the  most  elevated  station  in  their  power  to  bestow,  being 
their  president.  But  says  his  biographer.  Dr.  Hosack, 
"  I  must  nevertheless  be  permitted  to  bear  my  testimony 
to  his  merit  as  a  practitioner  of  the  healing  art.  He  seem- 
ed by  nature  to  be  peculiarly  capacitated  for  the  exercise 
of  the  medical  profession  ;  and  the  education  which  he 
had  received  was  sufficient  to  elicit  the  native  energies  of 
his  mind  for  that  purpose.  He  was  a  substantial  classical 
scholar  ;  his  reading  of  medical  authors  was  limited,  but 
judicious  ;  among  these,  Sydenham  and  Huxham  were  his 
favorites.  He  was  a  patient  and  close  observer  at  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick  ;  he  reflected  ;  and  his  decisions  evinced 
the  solidity  of  his  understanding.  Few  men  surpassed 
him  in  strength  of  judgment  ;  and  this  qualification  of 
the  head  gave  him  that  elevated  station  among  many  of 
his  fellow  practitioners,  which  he  so  long  and  deservedly 
enjoyed.     He  was  sceptical  of  novelty  in  medical  prescrip- 


JAMES    TILLAR7. 


12T 


tions,  and  slow  in  adopting  new  methods  of  cure.  He 
carefully  observed  the  progress  of  disease,  he  discovered 
its  nature,  and  was  bold  and  energetic  in  his  principles  of 
treatment.  He  was  confident  of  his  own  practical  know- 
ledge, and  inspired  a  corresponding  confidence  in  those  for 
whom  he  prescribed.  Few  men  performed  their  duty  to 
their  patients  with  more  fidelity.  He  spared  no  pains  in 
collecting  all  the  symptoms  from  which  the  disease  might 
be  ascertained,  and  the  corresponding  remedies  directed 
for  its  removal. 

"  During  those  memorable  visitations  of  God's  providence 
in  1795  and  1798,  when  pestilence  spread  its  devastation 
in  our  cities,  though  fully  conscious  of  impending  danger, 
he  abode  in  the  city  of  New-York,  and  no  consideration 
whatever  could  induce  him  to  swerve  from  his  duty  ;  a 
faithful  sentinel,  he  remained  at  his  post.  Amidst  the  dis- 
tressing and  fatal  ravages  of  yellow  fever  Dr.  Tillary 
spared  no  exertions  that  could  contribute  to  the  comfort 
of  his  suffering  fellow  citizens.  He  visited  and  attended 
with  unceasing  assiduity  all  who  called  for  his  professional 
services,  without  reserve  ;  and  it  may  be  added  that  to  the 
poor  and  forsaken,  from  whom  no  recompense  could  be 
expected,  his  labors  were  for  the  most  part  devoted  ;  the 
more  wealthy,  who  were  able  to  remunerate  him,  having 
chiefly  abandoned  the  city,  then  the  scene  of  desolation. 
His  perseverance  and  his  fortitude  during  those  anxious 
and  melancholy  seasons  were  not  forgotten  by  his  fellow 
citizens  ;  for  the  important  services  he  thus  performed  to 
the  community,  he  was  afterwards  rewarded  by  the  hon- 
orable office  of  resident  physician,  the  duties  of  which, 
though  full  of  hazard  and  responsibility,  were  performed 
with  that  fidelity  which  correct  principles  of  conduct  must 
ever  secure.  In  relation  to  medical  decorum  he  was  a 
pattern  of  excellence  to  his  professional  brethren  ;  with 
reference  to  the  rights  and  feelings  of  the  junior  members 
in  particular,  his  conduct  was  peculiarly  delicate  and  hon- 
orable. 

"  As  a  citizen  of  this  republic  it  is  observed  that,  while 
he  remembered  with  becoming  feelings  the  land  of  his  fore- 
fathers, he  possessed  an  ardent  attachment  to  his  adopted 
country.  He  admired  the  genius  and  nature  of  our  social, 
political  and  religious  institutions.  He  was  not  an  indif- 
ferent spectator  of  passing  events,  and  in  that  species  of 


125  JAMES    TILLARY. 

knowledge    which   is  acquired   by  intercourse  with   the 
world,  he  was  excelled  by  few." 

Dr.  Tillary  was  the  President  of  the  St.  Andrew's  So- 
ciety in  the  city  of  New-York,  and  discharged  its  duties 
with  distinguished  ability  and  universal  satisfaction.  As 
the  physician  of  that  charitable  institution,  an  office  which 
he  filled  for  many  years,  he  manifested  disinterested  gene- 
rosity in  his  medical  attention  to  the  indigent  poor  who 
were  the  objects  of  its  charity. 

"  It  may  be  asked,  had  the  deceased  no  failings  ?  He  had 
his  failings,  but  they  were  of  that  minor  character,  that 
are  inseparable  from  our  nature  :  he  was  human,  and  he 
erred.  Let  those  who  delight  to  dwell  upon  the  shade  of 
human  character,  search  out  the  frailties  of  our  deceased 
brother  ;  for  ourselves,  we  can  shed  the  tear  for  his  weak- 
ness, and  abundantly  rejoice  at  his  numerous  excellences. 
It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  the  writer  speaks  of  his 
christian  virtues  ;  they  are  a  proper  topic,  for  they  made 
up  a  large  portion  of  his  character  and  ought  not  to  be 
omitted.  On  this  momentous  subject  he  has  not  left  tlie 
world  to  doubt  of  his  religious  creed.  He  has  long,  both 
in  public  and  private,  evinced  his  faith  and  his  hope,  and 
has  declared  his  firm  belief  in  the  great  truths  of  the  chris- 
tian  religion  ;  a  belief  arising  not  merely  from  those  im- 
pressions which  an  early  pious  education  leaves  upon  the 
mind,  but  from  a  careful  examination  of  the  evidences 
upon  which  it  has  been  embraced  by  most  of  the  distin- 
guished men  who  have  adorned  the  world.  His  course  of 
reading  on  religious  subjects  was  extensive  ;  the  volume 
of  nature,  too,  he  consulted  with  additional  strength  to 
those  opinions  which  he  had  derived  from  revelation,  and 
he  adds  another  happy  example  to  the  many  already  on 
record,  of  the  possession  of  sound  christian  principles  by 
a  member  of  a  profession  in  which  religious  scepticism  is 
too  generally  and  most  erroneously  supposed  to  abound. 
To  the  christian  philanthropist,  moreover,  it  is  consoling 
to  reflect  that  at  a  time  when,  to  use  the  language  of  an 
eloquent  American  divine,  '  scepticism  is  breathing  forth 
its  pestilential  vapor  and^  polluting  by  unhallowed  touch 
things  divine  and  sacred,  so  many  of  the  great  and  the  wise, 
as  if  touched  with  an  impulse  from  heaven,  appear  as  the 
advocates  of  Christianity,'  and  present,  with  one  accord, 
their  learning,  their  talents,  and  their  virtues,  as  an  offer- 
ing on  the  altar  of  religion.     Religious  consolation,  while 


(V" 


'lAMiSg     T;lil7T'r[i)l^-  M. 


I). 


JAMES  TILTON. 


129 


it  supported  him  in  life,  shed  a  ray  of  glory  around  the 
dying  bed  of  our  deceased  brother,  and  in  his  latter  mo- 
ments, to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  concern,  claimed  all 
his  thoughts.  In  the  records  of  those  eminent  men  who 
have  supported  the  medical  character  of  our  country.  Dr. 
Tillary  will  maintain  a  highly  respectable  rank  ;  and, 
while  talents,  inflexible  integrity  and  distinguished  virtue 
are  held  in  remembrance,  his  memory  will  be  cherished 
by  his  fellow  men,  especially  by  that  society  of  his  native 
and  adopted  country,  with  whom  he  was  so  long  and  so 
intimately  connected." — Funeral  Address,  by  David  Ho- 
sack,  M.D. 

TILTON,  JAMES,  M.D.,  was  born  of  respectable  pa- 
rents in  the  County  of  Kent,  State  of  Delaware,  on  the 
first  day  of  June,  in  the  year  1745.  His  father  died  when 
he  was  but  three  years  of  age,  and  left  him.  with  but  a 
very  slender  provision,  to  the  care  of  his  mother.  To  the 
precepts  and  example  of  his  surviving  parent  he  always 
attributed  his  religious  impressions,  and  his  success  and 
rapid  advancement  in  life.  In  this  respect  our  deceased 
friend  was  by  no  means  singular.  In  every  age  and  in 
every  christian  country,  the  powerful  influence  which  an 
early  pious  education  exerts  through  life,  is  strongly  and 
incontestably  evinced.  To  a  mother's  province  this  duty 
peculiarly  belongs  ;  and  I  may  aflirm  with  confidence  that 
there  are  few  amongst  us,  who  can  look  back  upon  the 
days  of  their  childhood  without  acknowledging  their  obli- 
gations to  a  mother,  for  having  implanted  in  their  minds 
some  great  moral  principle. 

His  classical  studies  were  pursued  at  Nottingham,  Ches- 
ter County,  Pennsylvania,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  Finley,  who  was  afterwards  President  of 
Princeton  College.  Dr.  Tilton  appears  to  have  pursued 
the  study  of  the  languages  with  great  success.  He  was 
particularly  fond  of  the  Latin  poets  ;  and  to  his  early  at- 
tachments may  be  attributed,  in  some  measure,  his  fond- 
ness, at  a  much  more  recent  period,  for  a  rural  life.  Who 
amongst  his  friends  can  forget  the  satisfaction  he  derived 
from  repeating  the  fascinating  descriptions  of  its  scenes 
and  pleasures  as  portrayed  by  the  Mantuan  bard  .'' 

After  leaving  Nottingham   he  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  under    Dr.  Ridgely   of  Dover   in  this  state,  and 
finished  his  education  in  the  Medical  School  at   Philadel- 
phia, which  was  established  in  the  year  1765,   principally 
VOL.    II.  17 


130  JAMES    TILTOX. 

by  tlie  combined  exertions  of  Drs.  William  Shippen  and 
John  Morgan,  two  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  that 
day. 

From  the  best  information  which  I  can  obtain,  Dr.  Til- 
ton  was  graduated  with  the  first  class  in  this  school  upon 
which  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  conferred. 
Dr.  Wistar,  the  late  celebrated  Professor  of  Anatomy  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  his  Eulogium  on  Dr. 
Shippen,  makes  the  following  remarks  :  "  Dr.  Adam 
Kuhn  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  who  had  been  appointed 
professors,  lectured  several  years  very  successfully  on  Ma- 
teria Medica  and  Chemistry  ;  several  graduations  of  Bach- 
elors of  Medicine  had  taken  place.  James  Tilton  of  Del- 
aware,* J.  EUmer  of  N.  J.,  the  late  J.  Potts,  and  the  late 
N.  Way,  had  taken  the  degree  of  M.D."  The  high  stand- 
ing which  he  acquired  whilst  pursuing  his  studies  in  Phil- 
adelphia, is  strongly  evinced  by  the  intimacies  which  he 
formed  there,  and  which  in  after  life  ripened  into  friend- 
ship. The  late  Dr.  Rush  always  spoke  of  him  with  re- 
spect and  esteem,  and  the  fact  is  incontestable  that  he  was 
offered  a  professorship  in  this  University,  which  is  now 
unrivalled  in  our  country,  if  not  equal  to  any  in  the  old 
world.  This  high  and  deserved  honor  he  declined,  fear- 
ing that  it  might  interfere  with  his  duties  to  his  country, 
whose  cause  he  had  then  ardently  espoused,  and  whose 
liberties  he  had  determined  to  assist  in  effecting,  or  perish 
in  the  struggle. 

After  completing  his  studies  at  Philadelphia  he  returned 
to  his  native  state,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  the  town  of  Dover.  He  was  enabled  to  do  this 
under  more  auspicious  circumstances,  in  consequence  of 
the  pecuniary  help  and  countenance  which  were  afforded 
him  by  Thomas  Collins,  his  friend  and  relative,  who  was 
afterwards  Governor  of  Delaware,  and  distinguished  for 
his  talents,  urbanity  of  manners,  and  great  respectability 
of  character.  Of  this  strong  proof  of  confidence  Dr.  Til- 
ton  frequently  spoke  in  his  usual  forcible  terms,  such  as 
were  peculiarly  adapted  to  express  his  gratitude,  which 
was  one  of  the  virtues  that  combined  to  distinguish  his 
character  from,  and  exalt  it  above  that  of  other  men.     He 

*  The  Thesis  which  he  defended  on  being  graduated  as  Bachelor  of  Medicine, 
was  on  Respiration.     In  1771  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.     His 
dissertation  was  in  Latin,  and,  aa  required  by  the  laws  of  the  college,  was  piiblish- 
k  «d  :  the  subjset  was  Dropsy. 


JAMES    TILTON.  131 

soon  obtained  a  high  standing  and  deserved  eminence  in 
his  profession,  and  pursued  the  practice  of  it  with  success 
and  reputation.  In  this,  as  in  every  other  pursuit,  his 
soul,  as  towering  as  his  stature,  never  stooped  to  unfair 
means  to  further  his  views.  He  was  a  generous  rival  ;  dis- 
daining low  artifice,  he  invariably  treated  his  medical 
brethren  with  respect  and  generosity  ;  honor  and  a  con- 
scious rectitude  of  intention,  by  which  he  invariably  re- 
gulated his  conduct,  forbade  him  to  descend  to  those 
means  which  always  mark  the  base  and  illiberal.  He  con- 
tinued in  practice  until  the  year  177G,  the  year  in  which 
America  was  declared  free  and  independent,  a  year  sacred 
to  freedom.  He  now  combined  the  characters  of  patriot 
and  physician.  Being  strongly  impressed  with  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  times,  he  relinquished  a  lucrative  profession, 
his  friends  and  his  home.  He  entered  as  a  surgeon  the 
Delaware  regiment,  with  $  25  a  month,  and  connected  his 
own  with  the  doubtful  fortunes  of  his  country.  He  con- 
tinued witli  the  regiment  during  the  campaign  ;  was  with 
it  at  the  battles  of  Long  Island  and  White  Plains  ;  and  had 
the  mortification  to  accompany  the  American  army  in  the 
celebrated  retreat,  when  driven  by  a  superior  and  relent- 
less enemy  from  the  North  river  to  the  Delaware.  He 
was  then  ordered  to  Wilmington  with  such  of  the  soldiers 
as  had  escaped  with  their  lives  from  the  inclemency  of  the 
season,  their  hardships  and  exposures,  and  the  swords  of 
the  foe,  but  who  were  unable  to  do  duty.  He  was  quar- 
tered in  this  town  during  the  winter,  and  was  fidly  em- 
ployed in  rendering  those  kindnesses  to  his  wretched 
wounded  countrymen,  for  which  he  was  so  eminently 
qualified  by  his  disposition  and  profession. 

Before  the  next  campaign  opened,  without  any  solicita- 
tion on  his  part,  he  was  called  to  the  hospital  department 
in  the  army.  The  greatest  disorder  existed  here,  and  the 
mortality  of  the  soldiers  was  almost  unprecedented.  The 
system  which  had  been  adopted,  rather  invited  and  pro- 
duced diseases,  than  cured  them.  The  purveyorship  of 
the  hospital  and  the  medical  department,  properly  so  call- 
ed, were  invested  in  the  same  persons.  In  speaking  of  the 
monstrous  absurdity  of  this  arrangement.  Dr.  Tilton  says, 
"  I  mention  it,  without  a  design  to  reflect  on  any  man, 
that  in  the  fatal  year  1777,  when  the  Director  General  had 
the  entire  direction  of  the  practice  in  our  hospitals,  as  well 
as  the  whole  disposal  of  the  stores,  he  was  interested  in  the 


132  JAMES    TILTON. 

increase  of  sickness  and  the  consequent  increase  of  expense, 
as  far  at  least  as  he  would  be  profited  by  a  greater  quanti- 
ty of  money  passing  through  his  hands."  And  again,  "  It 
would  be  shocking  to  humanity  to  relate  the  liistory  of 
our  General  Hospital  in  the  years  "77  and  '78  ;  when 
it  swallowed  up  at  least  one  half  of  our  army,  owing  to  a 
fatal  tendency  in  the  system  to  throw  all  the  sick  of  the 
army  into  the  general  hospital  ;  whence  crowds,  infection 
and  consequent  mortality,  too  affecting  to  mention." 

In  the  year  1777  the  Britisli  advanced  to  Philadelphia  ; 
and  he  directed  the  hospitals  at  Princeton,  New-Jersey, 
where  he  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  from  an  attack  of 
hospital  fever.  His  sufferings  from  this  disease  must  have 
been  of  a  most  distressing  kind  ;  and  his  recovery  was  al- 
most a  miracle.  At  one  period  of  his  disease  eleven  sur- 
geons and  mates,  belonging  to  the  hospital,  gave  him  over, 
and  only  disputed  how  many  days  he  should  live.  Pro- 
vidence ordered  otherwise.  To  his  friend  the  late  Dr. 
Rush,  and  the  attention  of  a  benevolent  lady  in  the  neigh- 
borhood he  chiefly  attributed  his  recovery,  which  was 
slow  and  painful.  The  cuticle  scaled  off  from  his  skin, 
his  hair  gradually  combed  from  his  head,  and,  to  use  his 
own  forcible  language,  he  was  reduced  to  ''  skin  and 
bone."  It  wag  nine  months  before  he  was  again  fit  for 
active  duty.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  travel  he  returned 
to  Delaware,  and  visited  on  his  way  the  different  hospitals 
at  Bethlehem,  Reading,  Manheim,  Lancaster  and  New- 
port, which  he  found  generallyfin  a  state  of  great  disorder. 
His  experience  enabled  him  to  remedy  many  of  the  defects, 
and  to  arrest  in  some  measure  the  mortality  which  existed. 
In  the  campaigns  of  '78  and  '79  he  directed  the  hospitals 
in  Trenton  and  New  Windsor.  All  his  contemporaries 
bore  ample  testimony  to  the  able  and  indefatigable  man- 
ner in  which  he  performed  the  duties  of  hospital  surgeon. 
In  the  hard  winter  of  '70  and  '80  he  made  the  experiment 
of  "  the  hospital  huts"  ;  the  hint  he  took  from  Marshal 
Saxe.  His  improvements  exceeded  his  most  sanguine  cal- 
culations ;  they  consisted  in  having  an  earthern  floor,  in- 
stead of  wood,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  of  the  roof  for  the 
purpose  of  allowing  the  smoke  to  escape  from  the  fire, 
which  was  made  in  the  middle  of  the  hut. 

So  deep  was  his  conviction  of  the  absurdity  and  inhu- 
manity of  the  existing  hospital  arrangements,  that  in  the 
year  '81  he  determined  to  resign  his  situation  in  the  army, 


JAMES    TILTON.  133 

unless  they  were  radically  changed.  He  visited  Philadel- 
phia for  the  purpose,  and  delivered  to  the  Medical  Com- 
mittee of  Congress  his  observations  in  writing,  pointing 
out  the  leading  principles  to  be  observed  in  forming  a  plan 
for  conducting  military  hospitals.  Although  they  were 
acknowledged  to  be  correct,  Congress  was  so  much  en- 
gaged with  other  business,  that  this  was  not  immediately 
attended  to. 

About  this  period  a  financier  was  appointed  to  examine 
into  and  report  a  plan  for  the  general  reform  of  the  army, 
and  was  also  instructed  to  direct  his  attention  to  the  medi- 
cal department.  To  this  gentleman  Dr.  Tilton  applied  in 
person,  and  submitted  to  him  his  views  and  observations, 
by  whom  they  were  approved,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction 
to  obtain  his  assurance  that  he  would  immediately  report 
u})on  the  subject.  The  observations  submitted  in  writing 
by  Dr.  Tilton,  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Drs.  John 
Jones,  Hutchinson  and  Clarkson,  and  they  perfectly  coin- 
cided in  opinion  with  him.  He  was  called  into  their  con- 
sultations, and  his  principles  Avere  so  far  established  as  to 
constitute  the  great  outlines  of  hospital  arrangement  and 
practice  from  that  time  to  the  present  day.  The  comjdete 
success  of  his  exertions  tended  greatly  to  increase  the  high 
and  deserved  standing  which  he  had  acquired  with  the 
army  and  the  public. 

About  this  time  he  was  elected  a  Professor  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  to  which  I  have  already  referred  ; 
which  office  he  declined  from  motives  of  the  purest  and 
most  high  minded  patriotism.  He  accompanied  the  Ame- 
rican army  to  Virginia,  where  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
being  present  at  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  at 
Yorktown,  which  was  soon  followed  by  a  full  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  liberty  and  independence  of  his  country. 

When  the  army  was  disbanded  he  returned  to  his  native 
state,  and  recommenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Dover, 
in  1782.  He  had  exhausted  his  pecuniary  resources  dur- 
ing the  war,  and,  like  many  others,  Avas  paid  for  his  faith- 
ful services  in  the  depreciated  certificates  of  the  United 
States,  which  were  of  little  more  use  than  to  remind  him 
of  the  honorable  part  he  had  taken  in  the  struggle  which 
had  terminated  so  propitiously.  His  patriotism  still  sup- 
ported him,  and  he  applied  himself  with  increased  assi- 
duity to  his  profession.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Old 
Congress  in   '82,  and  was  elected  repeatedly  as  a  member 


134  JAMES    TILTON. 

of  the  State  Legislature,  which  assured  him  that  his  fellow 
citizens  delighted  to  honor  the  man  who  had  devoted  his 
time  and  talents  to  their  service. 

He  had  just  retstablished  himself  in  practice,  and  was 
about  acquiring  that  independence  and  easy  competence 
which  was  his  only  ambition,  as  related  to  matters  of  a 
pecuniary  kind,  when  the  unhealthy  climate  of  Kent  began 
to  make  such  inroads  upon  his  constitution,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  "  fly  for  his  life"  to  the  hills  of  New  Castle 
county.  He  established  himself  in  this  place,  where  he 
soon  obtained  his  full  share  of  practice,  and  secured  to  an 
unusual  degree  the  confidence  of  the  people.  The  profits 
of  his  profession,  together  with  the  emoluments  of  the 
office  of  Commissioner  of  Loans,  made  him  easy  in  his 
circumstances,  and  enabled  him  to  enjoy  the  society  of  his 
friends,  which  was  always  peculiarly  agreeable  to  him. 
Soon  after  this  period  a  change  took  place  in  the  general 
government,  to  whose  measures  Dr.  Tilton  was  at  that 
time  conscientiously  opposed  ;  and,  acting  fully  up  to 
those  high  principles  which  always  regulated  his  conduct, 
he  resigned  his  office,  and  devoted  himself  with  more  ar- 
dor to  the  practice  of  medicine  and  to  the  pleasures  of  hor- 
ticulture, of  which  he  was  p  u'ticularly  fond. 

His  medical  fame  was  established  on  so  broad  and  sub- 
stantial a  basis,  as  to  defy  the  ravages  of  time  or  the  ma- 
chinations of  the  envious  and  malicious.  As  he  advanced 
in  his  jirofession,  he  was  peculiarly  fond  of  assisting  merit 
and  genius  wlienever  an  opportunity  offered.  To  young 
practitioners  he  was  vmcommonly  kind  and  indulgent  ; 
instead  of  opposing,  he  assisted  their  exertions  ;  when  he 
could  with  propriety,  he  took  them  by  the  hand,  and  re- 
commended them  to  the  support  and  patronage  of  the 
public  ;  if  their  promise  did  not  entitle  them  to  this  signal 
display  of  generosity,  he  most  studiously  refrained  from 
saying  any  thing  which  might,  in  the  most  remote  manner, 
militate  against  their  advancement.  He  doubtless  met 
with  some  who  returned  his  kindness  with  ingratitude  ; 
but  there  were  others,  who  ever  remembered  this  friend 
of  their  youth  with  feelings  of  respect  and  esteem.  I 
would  here  mention  a  strong  instance  of  the  display  of  the 
noble  qualities  Avhich  adoin  our  nature,  as  occurred  in  the 
case  of  the  late  celebrated  Dr.  Edward  Miller  of  New- 
York.  By  the  assistance  and  patronage  of  Dr.  Tilton  he 
was  enabled  to  overcome  the  difficulties  which  surround- 


JAMES    TILTON.  135 

ed  him  in  early  life.  He  was  not  only  advised  as  a  friend, 
but  he  was  invited  to  commence  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  the  same  town  with  himself.  He  there  began  that  pro- 
fessional career  which  terminated  with  so  much  honor  to 
himself,  to  his  native  state,  and  was  so  highly  gratifying  to 
his  benefactor,  of  wliose  numerous  acts  of  liberality  and 
friendship  he  always  spoke  in  the  strongest  terms  of  regard 
and  veneration. 

As  a  piiysician,  Dr.  Tilton  was  bold  and  decided  ;  he 
never  temporized  with  disease.  His  remedies  were  few  in 
number,  but  generally  of  an  active  kind.  He  considered 
the  functions  of  the  skin  of  the  very  first  importance,  and 
his  remedies  were  generally  directed  to  restore  them  to  a 
healthy  state,  when  deranged.  There  were  few  physi- 
cians who  possessed  more  candor  or  exercised  it  to  a  great- 
er extent  towards  their  patients  than  Dr.  Tilton.  Wlien 
interrogated,  he  would  freely  express  his  opinion  as  to  the 
nature  and  probable  issue  of  a  disease,  whether  favorable 
or  otherwise,  however  unpalatable  it  might  be.  He  never 
visited  or  dosed  the  sick  unnecessarily,  thereby  picking 
their  pockets,  as  he  justly  termed  it,  and  from  this  cause 
he  was  more  frequently  dismissed  from  families  than  from 
any  other.  He  had  no  secrets  in  medicine,  he  was  supe- 
rior to  any  and  every  species  of  quackery.  He  certainly 
stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession  in  this  state  ;  his  natu- 
rally strong  and  discriminating  mind  peculiarly  fitted  him 
for  consultations,  and  for  many  years  before  his  death 
scarcely  a  case  of  any  consequence  occurred  within  the 
circle  of  his  practice,  in  which  more  than  one  physician 
was  necessary,  but  his  advice  was  requested. 

After  practising  medicine  with  uncommon  success  and 
reputation  for  several  years  in  Wilmington,  he  pur- 
chased and  improved  a  small  farm  in  its  vicinity,  to  which 
he  removed,  and  indulged  his  taste  for  horticulture.  In 
this  situation,  noted  for  his  hospitality  to  all  who  visited 
his  friendly  roof  either  for  the  benefit  of  his  advice  and 
experience  or  the  pleasures  of  social  intercourse,  he  was 
found  at  the  commencement  of  the  late  war,  in  1812. 

Although  for  several  years  preceding  tliis  period  he  had 
retired  in  a  great  measure  from  the  busy  pursuits  of  the 
world  and  the  active  duties  of  his  profession,  he  had  the 
high  honor  conferred  upon  him,  of  being  appointed  Phy- 
sician and  Surgeon  General  of  the  army  of  the  United 
States.     He  was  fullv  sensible   of  the  distinguished  confi- 


136  JAMES    TILTON. 

dence  thus  reposed  in  him  by  his  government  ;  yet  it  was 
not  without  deep  reflection  and  no  little  hesitation,  that  he 
eventually  determined  to  accept  the  appointment,  which 
he  did,  after  receiving  assurances  that  his  office  should  be 
chiefly  ministerial,  and  his  residence  principally  at  Wash- 
ington. 

In  July,  1813,  he  commenced  a  journey  to  the  northern 
frontier,  and  examined  all  the  Hospitals  in  his  route  ;  he 
arrived  at  Sackett's  Harbor  in  August  of  the  same  year. 
He  found  here,  as  he  often  said,  the  filthiest  encampment 
that  he  had  ever  seen,  and  the  mortality  was  as  great  as  he 
had  ever  known  it  during  the  war  of  the  revolution.  He 
immediately  requested  a  Medical  Board,  with  a  field  ofiicer 
to  preside  ;  this  was  granted,  and  the  salutary  change, 
made  in  the  main  army  according  to  the  principles  laid 
down  in  his  printed  work  upon  Military  Hospitals,  soon 
extended  itself  along  the  whole  lines  from  Lake  Erie  to 
Lake  Champlain.  The  wholesome  provisions  which  he 
introduced,  soon  arrested  the  mortality  and  destroyed  the 
infection  of  the  "  Lake  Fever,"  as  it  was  called,  which  had 
become  so  alarming  as  to  threaten  the  destruction  of  the 
whole  army,  and  put  an  entire  stop  to  enlistments. 

In  the  spring  of  1814  he  again  contemplated  a  visit  to 
the  Northern  frontier,  passing  the  range  of  hospitals  on 
the  sea  coast,  to  go  by  Plattsburgh  to  the  Lakes.  In  this 
he  was  disappointed  in  consequence  of  an  obstinate  tumor 
which  made  its  appearance  in  his  neck  ;  and  in  July  a 
more  formidable  disease  aflfected  his  knee,  which  rendered 
locomotion  extremely  difficult,  and  from  which  he  suffer- 
ed the  most  acute  and  agonizing  pain.  This  disease  rapidly 
increased,  and  in  1815,  to  preserve  his  life,  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  amputate  the  limb  above  the  knee  joint ;  the 
operation  was  performed  on  the  7th  of  December  in  that 
year.  To  an  intimate  friend  who  was  present,  whilst  the 
surgeon  was  taking  off  the  limb,  he  spoke  of  it  as  the 
greatest  trial  to  which  he  had  ever  been  exposed.  But  his 
religion  and  fortitude  did  not  desert  him  on  this  trying 
occasion  ;  when  he  had  once  made  up  his  mind  to  submit 
to  it,  he  remained  as  firm  as  the  pyramid  in  the  tempest, 
and,  whilst  his  friends  sympathized  around  him,  he  calmly 
gave  directions  to  the  surgeon  and  medical  assistants. 
This  fact  alone,  when  we  consider  his  age  which  was  then 
upwards  of  seventy,  and  his  previous  sufferings,  incontest- 
ably  proves  his  mind  to  have  been  one  of  no  common 


JAMES    TILTOIt.  137 

texture.  An  intimate  friend  of  his  who  was  present  on 
this  painful  occasion,  after  speaking  of  the  extraordinary 
firmness  with  which  he  bore  the  operation,  says  "  for  sev- 
eral days  and  nights  after  the  amputation,  I  had  the  grati- 
fication of  watching  Avith  and  comforting  him  in  his  lonely, 
dreary,  bachelor's  abode,  where  the  balm  of  female  ten- 
derness and  sympathy  never  mitigated  a  pang,  nor  com- 
pensated for  a  woe,  but  where  masculine  aids,  rough  as 
they  are,  were  alone  employed  to  sooth  and  cheer  the 
scene." 

Although  Dr.  Tilton  never  married,  he  was  always  a 
strong  advocate  for  tiiis  happy  condition  of  man.  He  was 
an  ardent  admirer  of  the  fairest  and  best  part  of  creation, 
and,  wliatever  might  have  l)een  his  disappointments  in 
early  life,  he  never  allowed  them  to  warp  his  judgment 
or  vitiate  his  taste.  The  hig;h  reg;ard  and  esteem  which 
this  class  of  his  patients  always  entertained  for  him,  wlulst 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  spealv  volumes  in  his 
favor.  And  I  would  fain  believe  that  there  arc  some  wlio 
have  not  forgotten  the  good  "  old  bachelor,"  and  recol- 
lect with  mournful  pleasure  the  satisfaction  they  enjoyed 
whilst  partaking  of  his  virgilian  suppers. 

Dr.  Tilton  was  fond  of  young  company,  and  took  a 
deej)  interest  in  the  success  in  life  of  the  rising  generation. 
He  was  as  mindful  of  posterity  as  if  he  had  been  sur- 
roimded  by  a  family  of  his  own.  From  most  old  persons 
he  differed  materially  as  it  regarded  his  opinion  of  tiie  times 
and  generation  in  which  he  lived.  Instead  of  inveighing 
against  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  age,  he  rose  supe- 
rior to  such  illiberality,  and  bore  ample  testimony  to  the 
improvements  which  are  making  in  the  arts  and  sciences, 
the  advancements  of  religion,  and  tiie  rapid  march  of  lib- 
eral pi-inciples  in  politics.  Indeed  he  was  so  well  pleased 
with  his  own  times  that  he  often  declared,  wlien  <iuite  ad- 
vanced in  life,  that,  could  lie  have  had  his  choice  of  the 
different  periods  of  the  world,  he  would  have  selected  the 
present  in  wliich  to  live. 

Our  deceased  friend  was  a  real  christian.  He  was  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  tlie  scriptures  ;  and,  although  he 
had  frequently  perused  tiiem,  and  regulated  his  conduct 
according  to  their  principles  as  far  as  his  imperfect  nature 
would  permit,  yet  during  the  latter  period  of  his  life  they 
became  his  principal  study,  and  from  them  he  derived 
those  consolations  which  enabled  him  to  bear  disease  with- 

VOL.     II.  IS 


138  JAMES    TILTON. 

out  a  murmur  and  to  meet  death  without  being  conscious 
of  his  sting.  The  vicarious  righteousness  of  Christ,  his 
favorite  doctrine,  he  was  fond  of  introducing  in  conversa- 
tion upon  proper  occasions,  as  well  for  the  ])enef!t  of  his 
fellow  beings,  as  for  the  glory  of  the  author  of  this  system 
of  faith.  His  religion  was  of  that  ennobling  sort  which 
testifies  to  its  own  worth.  His  feelings  ran  naturally  in 
the  channel  of  devotion  ;  and  he  reposed  upon  the  scheme 
of  salvation  as  the  resting  place  ordained  by  the  Deity  for 
the  soul  of  man. 

Dr.  Tilton  departed  this  life  on  the  14th  of  May,  1822, 
having  lived  seventy-seven  years,  wanting  seventeen  days  ; 
on  the  very  day  of  the  last  annual  meeting  of  this  Society, 
whose  President  he  had  been  for  many  years,  and  at  the 
reorganization  of  which  no  man  could  have  been  better 
pleased.  He  considered  its  resuscitation,  with  its  enlarged 
powers,  as  constituting  a  new  era  in  the  medical  history  of 
his  native  state.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of 
our  Society,  and  soon  became  one  of  its  highest  orna- 
ments. 

His  friend  Mr.  J.  Bellach,  in  whose  arms  he  died,  in 
giving  me  an  account  of  his  death,  writes  thus  :  "  I  arriv- 
ed at  Dr.  Tilton's  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  at  4, 
the  good  old  gentleman  bade  adieu  to  this  world.  His 
mental  faculties  were  not  perceptibly  impaired  by  his  last 
illness,  nor  did  he  appear  to  suffer  much,  if  any  pain.  I 
felt  a  peculiar,  though  certainly  a  melancholy  satisfaction, 
in  witnessing  the  peaceful  exit,  and  in  closing  the  eyes  of 
this  long  tried  and  faithful  friend  of  my  father,  and  of  my 
father's  house  ;  the  man  of  v/hom  I  have  the  earliest  recol- 
lection ;  whom  i  was  taught  from  my  cradle  to  love  and 
to  honor,  as  I  have  done  at  all  times  and  upon  all  occa- 
sions, most  cordially. 

"  In  whatever  view  we  may  consider  the  character  of  Dr. 
Tilton,  we  shall  find  many  traits  to  distinguish  him  from 
other  men.  He  was  in  many  respects  an  original ;  wholly 
unlike  most  other  men  in  person,  countenance,  manners, 
speech,  gesture  and  habits.  His  height  was  about  six  feet 
and  a  half,  and  his  structure  slender.  His  face  is  admira- 
bly portrayed  in  a  painting  taken  by  Otis,  and  now  in  the 
possession  of  his  nephew.  Dr.  James  Tilton.  Whether  he 
walked  or  sat  still  ;  whether  in  conversation  or  mute  ; 
whether  he  ate,  drank  or  smoked  ;  whether  in  a  grave 
mood,  or  indulging  in  his  loud  laugh,   all  was  in  a  style 


JAMES    TILTOIf. 


189 


peculiar  to  himself  and  most  remarkable."  For  honesty 
and  frankness  he  v/as  proverbial  ;  in  these  important  points 
he  had  few  ecpials,  certainly  no  superiors.  His  whole  life 
afforded  a  luminous  example  of  the  effects  of  deep  rooted 
principles  and  moral  rectitude  upon  the  conduct  of  men  ; 
and  we  have  the  fullest  assurance  to  believe  that  he  has 
reached  those  realms  of  peace  andpiappiness,  from  which 
he  can  never  be  separated  ;  and  has  become  the  "  just 
man,  made  jierfect." — Eulogy  to  the  memory  of  Br.  Tilton 
delivered  before  the  Medical  Society  of  DeJcncare,  by  A. 
McLane,  M.D. 

The  following /rom  Dr.  James  Mease  may  be  added  to 
the  foregoing. 

Dr.  Tilton  suffered  severely  by  the  hospital  fever, 
which,  for  some  months  after  the  cessation  of  the  morbid 
action  in  his  corporal  system,  affected  his  mental  faculties, 
and  produced  a  mild  derangement,  but  from  which  he  en- 
tirely recovered.  He  built  a  neat  stone  mansion  on  a  high 
hill  in  the  rear  of  Wilmington,  and  amused  himself  by 
attending  to  the  cultivation  of  his  farm  and  a  large  garden. 
In  1776  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society.  Dr.  Tilton  was  a  sincerely  pious  man, 
and  lived  and  died  a  bachelor.  But  he  revered  the  mar- 
riage life,  and  once  told  me  that  he  thought  tlie  most  pleas- 
ing sight  in  the  world  was  a  man  quietly  sitting  by  his  fire 
side  with  his  wife  and  children.  He  was  of  a  tall  thin 
habit,  dark  hair,  dark  complexion  and  of  a  very  cheerful 
disposition  ;  enjoyed  a  merry  story  and  hearty  laugh. 

Dr.  Tilton's  publications  were  1.  Economical  Observa- 
tions on  Military  Hospitals  ;  a  very  judicious  perform- 
ance, highly  approved  by  Dr.  Rush  :*  2.  A  paper  on  the 
Curculio  Insect  which  for  several  years  past  has  proved  so 
destructive  to  the  Fruit  in  the  United  States  :  3.  a  paper 
on  Peach  Trees  and  the  Diseases  and  Insects  to  which 
they  are  subject  :  4.  On  the  Propriety  of  a  Farmer  living 
on  the  Produce  of  his  own  Land.  This  last  is  a  very  in- 
teresting paper,  and  should  be  read  by  every  farmer.  He 
contended  strenuously  for  the  affirmative  of  the  proposi- 
tion, and  that  farmers  should  reject  the  use  of  all  foreign 
articles,  particularly  tea  and  coffee.     His  own  practice  was 


*  1.  A  pamphlet.  2.  See  Dr.  Mease's  edition  of  Willich's  Domestic  Encyclo- 
pedia. 3.  Memoirs  of  Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,  VqI.  I 
4,  Do.  Vol.  III. 


140  *AME8    TILTON. 

in  strict  conformity  to  the  views  lie  promulgated,  for  he 

assures  us  "  he  does  not  own  either  tea  cups  or  saucers, 
and  yet  is  at  no  loss  to  entertain  his  friends  agreeably." 
As  a  bachelor  Br.  T.  could  easily  indulge  in  his  rejection 
of  all  foreign  commodities  ;  but  it  would  be  somewhat 
difficult  to  copy  his  practice  where  a  lady  is  to  be  consult- 
ed ;  neither  would  it  be  desirable  to  do  so,  even  if  she 
agreed  to  the  disuse  of  articles  which  have  become  of  the 
first  necessity,  and  could  be  no  more  dispensed  witJi  than 
beef  or  mutton.  5.  Answer;?  to  Queries  on  tlie  State  of 
Husbandry  in  the  Delaware  state.*  The  queries  had  been 
proposed  by  the  Abbe  Tepier,  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
of  Paris,  and  were  published  by  them  ;  they  were  intended 
to  obtain  information  on  the  mode  of  farming,  and  general 
state  of  agriculture  by  the  Consul  General  of  France, 
Mons.  de  Marbois.  The  number  of  queries  was  forty- 
four  ;  Dr.  Tilton  was  the  only  person  who  complied  with 
the  request  of  the  society  to  answer  them. 

The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  Dr.  T.  to  a 
friend,  dated  Williamsburgli,  16th  December,  1781. 

After  the  departure  of  General  Washington  the  French 
quartered  themselves  upon  the  people  of  this  and  some 
other  towns,  a  la  mode  militaire,  and  gave  no  small 
offence  ;  but  they  are  now  dancing  them  into  a  good  hu- 
mor again  by  a  ball  every  week.  I  had  myself  a  petite 
guerre  with  a  French  officer,  by  which  I  was  turned  out 
of  my  quarters,  and  consequently  came  off  but  second  best. 
Being  summoned  before  Count  Rochambeau  to  answer  for 
my  rebellious  conduct,  I  received  a  long  lecture  on  the 
subject  of  {)oliteness  to  friends  and  allies,  with  intimations 
of  his  power  to  punish  obstinacy.  Although  I  was  put 
into  quarters  equally  good  with  those  I  was  compelled  to 
leave,  I  must  confess  I  did  not  perfectly  understand  the 
French  politeness  in  the  mode  of  exchange.  The  old 
count,  I  believe,  has  either  forgot  or  forgiven  me,  as  a  day 
or  two  ago  he  gave  me  an  invitation  to  dine  with  him. 
It  must  be  mortifying  to  our  poor  fellows  to  observe  the 
comfortable  and  happy  life  of  French  soldiers.  They  ap- 
pear on  parade  every  day  like  fine  gentlemen,  as  neat  as 
their  officers,  and  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  them. 
They  are  paid  once  a  week,  and  by  their  happy  counte- 
nance appear  to  want  nothing.     A  sentinel  is  not  allowed 

•  Columbian  Magazine.  Vol.  V. 


SAMUEL    TREVETT.  141 

to  stand  upon  duty  without  a  warm  watch  coat  in  addition 
to  his  other  clothing.  The  ofllcers  treat  the  sokliers  with 
attention,  humanity  and  respect,  and  a})pear  to  employ  all 
trie  means  necessary  to  inspire  them  with  sentiments  of 
honor.  Except  some  horse  jockeying  and  plundering,  at 
the  reduction  of  York,  I  have  heard  of  no  stealing  amono- 
them.  Theft  is  said  to  be  a  crime  held  in  universal  abiior- 
rence  by  them.  I  have  not  seen  or  lieard  of  any  instance 
yet  of  a  French  soldier  being  whipped.  Their  desertions, 
I  believe,  have  been  rare,  and  their  sickness  but  little. 

sTREVETT,  SAMUEL  R.,  M.  D.  M.M.S.S.,  Surgeon 
in  the  navy  of  the  United  States.  He  was  born  at  Mar- 
blehead,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  Stale  of  Massachusetts,  in 
tlie  year  1783.  He  was  the  son  of  Captain  S.  R.  Trevett, 
who  commanded  a  company  of  artillery,  and  was  distin- 
guished for  his  coolness  ancl  gallantry  on  the  memorable 
17th  of  June,  1775,  at  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill;  and 
who  is  still  living  in  the  service  of  his  country,  an  active- 
intelligent  and  honorable  gentleman. 

Dr.  Trevett  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education  at 
Exeter,  under  the  care  of  that  excellent  instructer,  Benja- 
min Abbott,  Esq.,  to  whom  New-England  owes  much  for 
his  assiduity  and  talent  in  forming  tlie  minds  and  fixino-  the 
morals  of  her  youth.  This  pupil  of  his  entered  Harvard 
University  in  the  year  1800,  and  v/as  graduated  in  1804. 
Among  his  classmates  Trevett  was  noticed  for  his  mod- 
esty, intelligence  and  affectionate  disposition.  Most  of 
his  college  acquaintance  were  his  fast  friends,  and  not 
one  of  them  his  enemy.  The  best  judges  of  the  head  and 
heart  of  a  young  man  are  found  among  his  contempora- 
ries and  competitors,  for  they  form  their  opinions  of  char- 
acter before  the  distinctions  of  the  world  have  influenced 
or  corrupted  their  judgments. 

On  leaving  college  Trevett  pursued  his  professional 
studies  with  Dr.  Holyoke  of  Salem,  and  completed  his 
medical  education  with  the  late  Dr.  John  Warren  ;  with 
both  of  these  great  men  he  Avas  a  favorite  pupil,  which 
alone  was  sufficient  to  introduce  him  to  notice  and  atten- 
tion. He  commenced  his  professional  course  in  Boston  ; 
but,  being  naturally  of  a  chivalrous  cast  of  character,  he 
sought  and  readily  obtained  an  appointment  in  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  navy.  He  preferred  this  situation, 
which  promised  variety  and  incident,  to  the  most  flatter- 
ing prospects  of  city  practice.     At  this  time  his  imagina- 


143  SAMUEL    TREVETT. 

tion  was  prolific  in  calling  up  the  brightest  visions  of  the 
future  glories  of  the  American  Navy,  and,  although  retir- 
ing and  cautious  on  other  topics,  he  was  enthusiastic  and 
eloquent  on  this.  With  these  sentiments,  he  with  all  his 
soul  united  his  fortunes  and  his  fame  to  the  navy.  All 
who  have  been  under  his  professional  care,  from  the 
proudest  officer  to  the  humblest  sailor,  have  borne  testi- 
mony to  his  fidelity,  zeal  and  ability  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty  at  home,  on  shipboard  and  abroad  ;  every 
wliere,   and  in  all  situations  in  which   he  could  do  ffood, 

1      •  •  .  XT  •  O  ' 

his  exertions  were  not  wanting.  He  was  in  the  Constitu- 
tion during  her  cruise  just  before  the  last  war,  and  then 
had  an  opportunity  to  show  his  skill,  humanity  and  assi- 
duity in  attending  the  sick,  while  a  distressing  and  malig- 
nant disease  was  racing  among  her  officers  and  crew.  He 
was  on  board  the  PVigate  United  States  when  she  captured 
the  Macedonian  ;  and  also  in  the  President  when  she  was 
captured  by  a  British  Fleet,  and  after  this  event  he  fol- 
lowed the  sick  and  wounded  until  they  were  healed  or  re- 
turned to  our  shores.  Wherever  he  acted  he  conquered 
the  hearts  of  those  around  him,  above  or  below  him. 
Hull  has  certified  his  distinguished  merits  ;  Lawrence  and 
Perry  loved  him  ;  and  Decatur  requested  his  professional 
attention  when  he  was  about  to  finish  with  a  sad  catastro- 
phe the  last  scene  in  the  eventful  drama  of  a  gallant  life. 
Trevett  arrived  when  it  was  too  late  to  remonstrate  or 
advise. 

As  a  politician  he  never  suffered  his  opinion  to  inter- 
fere with  his  duty  ;  as  a  moralist  he  never  yielded  to  sit- 
uation or  accident  ;  and  even  pecuniary  temptations,  which 
often  assail  men  with  much  violence,  were  powerless  when 
opposed  to  his  invincible  integrity.  He  shrunk  from  no 
danger,  however  appalling,  when  he  could  do  good  to  his 
fellow  men.  One  instance  of  this  exalted  cast  of  mind, 
among  many  which  might  be  named,  should  never  be  for- 
gotten. He  Avas  a  passenger  in  the  steam  boat  Phenix, 
which  was  burned  on  lake  Champlain,  on  the  night  of  the 
5th  of  September,  1819.  He  was  among  the  first  alarmed 
by  the  cry  of  fire  ;  coming  on  deck  he  saw  the  general 
danger,  and  calmly  took  the  lead  in  preparing  the  small- 
er boat  for  the  safety  of  the  passengers,  and  assisted  the 
ladies  to  get  into  it,  which  was  no  easy  task,  for  they 
were  wild  and  frantic  with  fear,  and  rushed  together  in 
confusion  to  leave  the  scene  of  horror.     He  decided  when 


SAMUEL    TREVETT.  143 

she  was  full  and  could  take  no  more  of  them  with 
their  husbands  and  friends.  He  then  cut  tlie  rope  which 
held  her  to  the  side  of  the  burning  vessel,  and  cast  her  off 
without  making  any  effort  for  his  own  personal  safety, 
and  until  all  the  passengers  had  left  the  deck  he  never 
took  heed  for  himself.  At  this  moment  he  saw  a  woman 
who  Jiad  returned  from  the  small  boat  to  get  some  valuables 
she  had  left  in  the  cabin,  but  she  had  gathered  them  too 
late,  for  when  she  came  on  deck  the  boat  had  gone.  She 
gazed  on  the  scene  with  an  inexpressible  look  of  despair, 
and  in  silence  precipitated  herself  back  into  the  cabin  to 
perish.  Dr.  Trevett,  at  this  crisis  alone  on  the  deck,  cast 
his  eye  on  the  water  and  saw  another  small  boat  partly 
full  of  men.  The  crew  and  a  few  others  had  taken  this 
boat,  and  kept  still  that  it  might  not  be  overloaded  ;  she 
had  met  with  some  difficulty  in  getting  clear  of  the  ves- 
sel. He  threw  himself  among  them.  He  then  examined 
the  boat  ;  and,  finding  she  had  the  capacity  of  carrying 
several  more  people  than  she  had  taken,  he  used  every  ar^ 
gument  and  persuasion  to  induce  his  companions  to  stop 
and  look  for  some  of  the  unfortunate  persons  who  were  in 
the  water,  and  that  there  were  many  in  this  situation  he 
had  no  doubt,  but  selfishness  and  fear  were  opposed  to  his 
benevolent  entreaties,  and  they  Avould  not  stay  an  instant  ; 
but  when  they  had  reached  the  land  he  found  men  to  go 
back  with  him  in  the  same  boat,  and  they  had  the  good 
fortune  to  rescue  several  from  destruction,  who  had  been 
struggling  for  a  long  time  in  the  water.  In  the  first  ac- 
count which  reached  us  of  this  sad  disaster,  it  was  stated 
that  Dr.  Trevett  had  perished  in  the  flood  or  the  flames, 
but  Providence  had  not  so  destined  him  to  die.  Such  ex- 
ertions of  disinterested  benevolence,  and  such  bravery, 
have  no  parallel  in  the  hero's  life.  When  foe  meets  foe, 
glory  attends  the  mastery  ;  the  patriot  who  dies  for  his 
country,  pours  out  his  blood  before  a  nation's  eyes  ;  and 
the  martyr  soothes  his  agonies  at  the  stake  by  visions  of 
immortality  ;  but  this  magnanimity,  this  disinterested  con- 
duct in  such  an  emergency,  this  thoughtlessness  of  self  in 
the  welfare  of  others,  should  be  honored  beyond  the 
praise  due  to  skill  or  bravery.  The  passengers  who  first 
landed,  snpposed  he  must  have  perished  ;  several  of  them, 
after  arriving  at  their  distant  homes,  persevered  in  their 
inquiries  till  they  learned  his  escape,  his  name  and  resi- 
dence, and  addressed  to  him  their  heartfelt  thanks. 


144  SAMUEL    TRKVETT. 

Dr.  T.  served  in  the  Frigate  Constitution,  under  Cap- 
tains Bainbridge  and  Hull,  till  her  return  from  France  in 
the  Avinter  of  1812  ;  this  ship  was  then  paid  otFand  taken 
into  dock.  Averse  to  an  indolent  life  on  furlough  ashore, 
he  determined  to  resign  his  commission  and  renew  his 
professional  practice  ;  but  Secretary  Smith  assured  him 
that  war  would  soon  be  proclaimed,  and  solicited  him 
to  take  back  his  commission  ;  this  he  readily  did  and 
joined  tlie  Frigate  United  States,  Captain  Decatur.  In 
this  ship  he  sailed  with  the  squadron  of  Commodore  Rog- 
ers on  the  long  cruise  in  pursuit  of  the  Jamaica  fleet  ;  and, 
as  our  ships,  by  the  improvidence  of  Government,  had 
not  been  properly  equipped  for  sea  before  the  declaration 
of  Avar,  the  United  States  on  her  arrival  in  Boston  har- 
bor had  140  of  her  crew  sick  Avith  the  scurvy,  and  many 
of  them  slung  in  their  hammocks  Avith  that  distress- 
ing  disorder.  When  Captain  Decatur  took  command  of 
the  President,  Dr.  T.  was  transferred  to  that  frigate,  and 
was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  Bermuda  at  the  cap- 
ture of  tlie  President  by  the  British  squadron.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  for  his  faithful  services  he  Avas  appointed  Sur- 
geon of  the  Navy  Yard  at  CharlestoAvn,  and  in  addition  to 
tlie  scanty  pay  of  Surgeon  he  then  was  entitled  to  receive 
such  emoluments  and  perquisites  as  rendered  his  situation 
easy.     But  here  his  greatest  misfortune  awaited  him. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  deplored  that  a  man  of  so  pure  and 
amiable  a  spirit  as  Dr.  T.,  should  by  any  unfortunate  inci- 
dent incur  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors.  In  this  in- 
stance, hoAvever,  instead  of  impeachment  of  his  character, 
ihe  result  has  evinced  the  purest  integrity  and  moral  A'ir- 
tue.  Being  summoned  to  give  evidence  against  an  officer 
of  rank  charged  with  defrauding  the  public,  his  evidence 
gave  offence  to  some  in  authority,  though  he  Avas  uncon- 
scious of  any  improper  bias,  but  aimed  to  be  impartial 
and  honoral)le,  that  he  might  subserve  the  cans^e  of  just- 
ice and  the  public  interest.  In  consequence  of  this  Dr. 
T.  was  deprived  of  the  station  to  Avhich  he  Avas,  by  usage, 
justly  entitled  by  his  services  and  merits,  and  Avas  ordered 
on  a  crui:-e  in  a  vessel  of  an  inferior  class.  It  is  alleged 
by  one  of  the  Avriters  of  the  obituary  notices  that  by  the 
base  arts  of  intrigue  and  malice  the  secretary  of  tlie  naA^y 
Avas  deceived  respecting  his  character,  and  Avas  prevailed 
on  to  deprive  Dr.  T.  of  his  station.  He  was  noAv  ordered 
to  take  his  station  as  Surgeon  on  board  the  sloop  of  Avar 


SAMUEL    TREVETT.  t45 

Peacock,  Captain  Cassin,  bound  on  a  cruise  to  the  West 
Indies  in  the  warm  season  of  summer.  The  order  was 
promptly  obeyed,  though  Dr.  T.  was  well  aware  of  his 
personal  hazard  under  existing  circumstances.  In  a  letter 
to  a  friend  written  on  board  the  Peacock,  then  dropping 
down  the  Potomac,  dated  July  18th,  1822,  he  observes, 
"Every  care  will  be  taken,  I  dare  say,  by  the  captain  and 
officers  to  preserve  the  health  of  the  crew  ;  but  at  this 
particular  season,  to  remain  any  while  in  or  near  the  Ha- 
vana with  a  healthy  ship's  company,  is  entirely  out  of  the 
question.  My  situation  will  expose  me  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree to  the  sickness  of  this  climate.  I  have  never  called 
on  any  person  in  authority  since  my  arrival  here.  At  the 
present  time  I  prefer  the  chance  of  a  West  India  cruise  to 
the  arduous,  and  perhaps  odious,  task  of  attempting  to  re- 
move the  prejudices  which  Jhave  been  so  studiously  excited 
against  me  in  the  minds  of  those  in  power.  I  am  no  cour- 
tier. If  influential  men  are  against  me,  I  have  the  pleas- 
ure to  know  that  all  others,  officers  and  citizens,  army 
and  navy,  are  in  my  favor." 

Dr.  T.  was  seized  with  yellow  fever,  and  fell  a  sacri- 
fice at  Norfolk  on  board  the  Peacock,  November  4th, 
1822.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  there  was  a  soft  and, 
as  it  were,  a  religious  melancholy  diffused  through  all  his 
actions.  He  seemed  to  take  delight  in  contemplating  the 
character  of  the  aged,  and  in  holding  communion  with 
those  on  the  confines  of  another  world.  His  character 
combined  those  qualities  that  command  respect,  and  win 
entire  confidence  and  the  warmest  attachment.  Unsus- 
pected integrity,  the  highest  sense  of  honor,  delicacy  of 
manners,  dignity  of  deportment,  and  elegance  of  person, 
were  united  with  powerful  intellect,  and  with  extensive 
and  various  attainments  in  polite  literature  and  profes- 
sional science.  A  few  years  before  his  death,  he  married 
a  lady  of  New-York,  but  she  died  soon  after  the  birth  of  a 
son.  The  child  is  living,  but  too  young  to  fully  under- 
stand  his  loss  ;  at  a  future  day  he  will  enjoy  the  rich  in- 
heritance of  an  unsullied  name  and  unspotted  reputation 
from  his  father.  For  some  time  before  Dr.  T.  sailed  on 
his  last  cruise,  he  had  employed  his  leisure  hours  in  col- 
lecting materials  for  the  biography  of  American  physi- 
cians ;  from  his  diligence,  taste,  and  habits  of  research,  a 
valuable  and  interesting  work  might  have  been  expected, 
if  his  life  had  been  prolonged. 
VOL,   n.  19 


146  ttLIHCr    TUDOR. 

TUDOR,  ELIHU,  M.D.  was  the  second  son  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Tudor,  minister  of  the  third  Society  of  Windsor 
in  Connecticut.  He  was  descended  from  Owen  Tudor, 
who  came  from  Wales  to  this  country  with  the  Puritans, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  planters  in  the  town  of  Windsor. 
The  family  is  descended  from  an  ancient  family  of  Wales, 
one  branch  of  which  for  a  considerable  time  sat  on  the 
English  Throne. 

Dr.  Tudor  was  born  in  February,  1733,  and  was  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College  in  1750.  For  about  four  years  before 
his  death  he  was  the  first  among  the  living  on  the  cata- 
logue of  that  seminary,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  two  oth- 
er physicians,  with  Dr.  Tudor,  were  of  the  four  oldest 
graduates  for  some  years  ;  Dr.  Porter  of  Salsbury,  and 
Dr.  Monson  of  New-Haven  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whitney  was 
the  fourth. 

After  leaving  college  Dr.  Tudor  was  employed  in  the 
business  of  instruction  in  New-Haven,  Newport,  and  other 
places.  Having  a  predilection  for  the  study  of  medicine 
he  commenced  and  pursued  it  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Gale  of  Willingworth,  who  stood  high  as  a  general  schol- 
ar, a  politician  and  physician.  At  an  early  period  of  the 
war  of  1755  he  joined  the  army,  was  attached  to  the 
medical  department  and  continued  to  serve  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  expedition  that  reduced  Cana- 
da under  General  Wolf  in  1759,  and  in  the  Army  that  be- 
sieged and  took  the  supposed  impregnable  fortress  of  Ha- 
vana in  1762.  At  the  peace  in  1763  he  was  in  England, 
and  continued  his  connexion  with  the  army.  In  this  con- 
nexion he  was  employed  in  the  public  hospitals,  and  glad- 
ly improved  the  opportunities  there  presented  to  perfect 
his  skill  in  his  profession.  About  the  year  1767  he  was 
discharged  from  the  army  at  his  own  request,  and  retired 
on  half  pay,  which  was  regularly  continued  to  him  dur- 
ing life.  He  returned  to  his  native  country  after  ten 
years  absence,  settled  in  East  Windsor  in  Connecticut 
on  his  paternal  inheritance,  and  continued  there  till  his 
death.  He  soon  embraced  an  extensive  course  of  prac- 
tice as  a  physician  and  surgeon,  and  was  at  that  time  almost 
the  only  well  educated  surgeon  in  the  state.  His  surgi- 
cal practice  was  eminently  successful,  and  he  continued  to 
follow  it  with  general  approbation  even  when  the  infirmi- 
ties of  80  years  seemed  to  require  repose. 


SIMON    TUFTS.  147 

Dr.  Tudor  was  married  soon  after  his  return  from  Eu- 
rope to  Miss  Brewster,  descendant  of  Elder  Brewster  of 
Plymouth,  who  came  over  in  the  fust  ship  in  1620,  by 
whom  he  had  a  number  of  children.  In  his  moral  charac- 
ter Dr.  Tudor  was  always  without  reproach  ;  his  manners 
were  highly  polished  and  gentlemanly,  resulting  partly 
from  his  early  intercourse  with  polished  society,  but  more 
from  the  native  warmth  of  a  benevolent  heart.  In  fami- 
lies which  enjoyed  his  stated  practice  he  was  greatly  be- 
loved, and  he  enjoyed  tlie  strong  attachment  of  his  pro- 
fessional brethren.  Dr.  Tudor  took  an  active  part  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  state,  and  was 
always  a  zealous  advocate  for  the  honor  and  improvement 
of  the  profession.  In  1790  he  received  the  degres  o  '  M. 
D.  from  Dartmouth  college.  He  was  truly  a  religions 
man,  and  although  he  became  an  Episcopalian  in  England 
and  was  ever  after  much  attached  to  that  mode  of  wor- 
ship, he  was  a  regular  communicant  in  the  congregational 
church  in  his  society  for  many  years.  He  was  a  true 
friend  to  his  country  and  cherished  with  becoming 
ardor  the  growing  institutions  and  forms  of  government 
of  his  native  land,  while  at  the  same  time  he  was  a  friend 
and  admirer  of  the  British  government,  under  which  he 
had  so  long  lived. 

His  family  were  distinguished  for  longevity,  two  sisters 
survive  him,  one  aged  93,  the  younger  76.  In  his  latter 
years  he  was  distinguished  for  an  extraordinary  benevo- 
lence and  good  will  to  all  mankind  ;  he  was  never  insen- 
sible to  the  smallest  favor  received,  and  was  always  anx- 
ious to  do  good  to  others.  His  decline  was  very  gradual, 
and  he  sunk  by  old  age  without  disease  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1826,  aged  93.  He  contemplated  his  dissolution 
with  calmness,  often  mentioning  that  he  had  outlived  all 
his  early  contemporaries. — Samuel  B.  Woodicard  M.  D. 

TUFTS,  DR.  SIMON,  was  born  in  Medford,  Massachu- 
setts, in  January,  1700,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1724.  He  early  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  phy- 
sic, and  soon  became  eminent  in  that  profession,  bemg  the 
first  regularly  bred  physician  in  Medford.  His  circle  of 
practice  embraced  ten  or  twelve  neighboring  towns,  and  it 
is  recollected  that  his  character  and  conduct  were  held  in 
high  estimation  by  the  people,  no  man  being  more  indus- 
trious or  faithful  in  his  profession,  or  more  universally 
beloved.     He  was  often  called  to  visit  the  sick  at  Harvard 


148  SIMON    TUFTS. 

College,  and,  though  not  affluent  himself,  his  regard  for 
that  institution  induced  him  to  decline  receiving  fees  from 
the  students  who  found  it  difficult  to  support  themselves. 

It  is  indicative  of  the  economy,  industry  and  good  hab- 
its of  that  age,  that,  while  his  eldest  son  Simon  was  at 
college  and  boarded  with  Mr.  Foxcraft,  the  county  Regis- 
ter of  Deeds,  he  was  required  to  write  in  the  office  as  a 
partial  compensation.  Among  his  medical  pupils  was 
General  John  Thomas,  who  at  the  commencement  of  the 
American  war  commanded  at  Dorchester  Heights,  and 
afterwards  died  with  the  smallpox  while  commander  of 
our  army  in  Canada.  Dr.  Tufts  was  appointed  to  various 
civil  offices  both  in  the  town  and  county,  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  Special  Justice  and  Justice  of  the  Quorum.  He 
died  of  a  convulsive  asthma,  January,  1746,  having  just 
completed  his  47th  year. 

Such  was  the  respect  for  his  cliaracter  that  the  public 
mourned  his  loss,  and  funeral  sermons  were  preached  on 
the  occasion,  at  Medford,  Boston,  Charlestown  and  Cam- 
bridge. The  house  in  which  he  lived  and  which  he  de- 
rived from  his  father,  is  yet  standing  and  has  never  been 
out  of  the  familv,  and  is  perhaps  150  years  old. 

TUFTS,  SIMON,  M.M.S.S.,  son  of  the  preceding, 
born  at  Medford,  January  16th,  1726,  and  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1744,  was  considered  an  excellent 
Latin  and  Greek  scholar.  He  devoted  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  medicine  under  the  care  of  his  father  ;  but  at  his 
death  two  years  only  had  been  occupied  in  that  pursuit, 
and  he,  being  but  twenty  years  of  age,  hesitated  what 
course  to  pursue  ;  but  by  the  encouragement  of  friends  he 
resolved  to  attempt  to  supply  the  vacancy  which  his  father's 
death  had  occasioned.  His  mild  and  excellent  character, 
and  the  great  affection  and  respect  the  people  had  for  his 
father,  acquired  for  him  the  general  confidence  ;  and  he 
happily  succeeded  to  the  circle  of  practice,  most  of  which 
he  retained  for  forty  years. 

In  the  year  1765  a  medical  society  was  contemplated, 
and  Dr.  Tufts  received  a  letter  of  invitation  to  assist  in 
forming  the  institution  ;  but  the  reason  why  the  project 
was  not  then  accomplished  is  not  known.  In  1782  a  fall 
from  his  horse  caused  a  bleeding  from  his  lungs,  and  laid 
a  foundation  for  the  disease  which  terminated  his  valuable 
life  after  a  long  confinement  in  July,  1786. 


COTTON    TUFTS.  149 

Dr.  Tufts  is  remembered  as  a  man  of  uncommon  skill 
and  sound  judgment ;  his  habits  of  research  were  unceas- 
ing, and  his  conversation  remarkably  attractive  and  en- 
gaging. One  of  the  most  noticed  features  of  his  deport- 
ment was  perfect  Chesterlieldian  manners,  in  which  respect 
few  men  were  equal  to  him.  He  was  revered  by  a  large 
community,  and  his  death  was  considered  as  a  public  loss. 
Such  was  his  well  known  probity  and  honor  that,  on  the 
settlement  of  his  accounts  after  his  death,  the  executor 
found  the  fullest  confidence  was  placed  in  his  correctness, 
and  his  own  books  were  all  that  were  required  for  a  satis- 
factory adjustment.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Turrell  appointed  him 
executor  to  his  will,  and  Colonel  Isaac  Royall,  on  leaving 
the  country  at  the  revolution  as  a  refugee,  appointed  him 
his  agent,  in  which  trust  he  was  confirmed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture. He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society  in  1782.  He  was  commissioned  as  Justice 
of  the  Peace  in  1770,  and  was  twice  a  member  of  the  Legis- 
lature. As  a  practitioner  he  was  considered  as  having 
adopted  a  mode  of  treatment  in  putrid  sore  throat  and 
slow  fever,  which  was  uncommonly  successful. 

In  the  year  1766  Dr.  Tufts  received  into  his  family 
John  Brooks,  our  late  excellent  Governor,  who  was  then 
about  14  years  old  ;  young  Brooks  was  placed  under  his 
tuition  by  written  indentures,  as  an  apprentice  for  seven 
years.  No  master  was  ever  more  faithful  to  his  trust  ;  and 
the  pupil  by  his  own  excellent  conduct  through  a  long  life 
abundantly  repaid  his  master's  care.  It  is  a  little  remark- 
able that  the  father  and  son,  who  were  noted  for  their 
mild  domestic  virtues,  should  educate  two  men  who  be- 
came generals  in  our  revolutionary  war.  Both  father  and 
son  were  excellent  examples  of  life  and  manners. 

On  the  family  tombstone  in  Medford  is  this  inscription  : 
"  Both  eminent  in  their  profession. 
Just  also  towards  men,  and  devout  towards  God  !" 

TUFTS,  COTTON,  M.D.  M.M.S.S.  A.A.S.,  younger 
brother  of  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Medford,  in  May, 
1731.  Early  in  life  he  evinced  a  propensity  to  literature, 
and  distinguished  himself  by  regular  habits,  diligent  ap- 
plication, and  respectable  attainments  in  knowledge.  In 
the  14th  year  of  his  age  he  was  admitted  a  student  of  Har- 
vard College,  and  was  graduated  in  1749.  During  his 
residence  in  that  seminary  he  sustained  a  fair,  an  estima- 
ble  and   respected   character   both    moral    and   literary. 


150  COTTON    TUFTS. 

Having  imbibed  a  taste  for  the  same  profession  as  his  fa- 
ther and  brother,  he  went  through  a  regular  course  of 
medical  education,  and  fixed  his  residence  in  Weymouth, 
in  which  town  and  neighborhood  his  reputation  and  use- 
fulness were  advantageously  established  and  will  be  long 
remembered. 

He  married  Lucy  Quincy,  daughter  of  Colonel  John 
Quincy  of  Braintree,  and  sister  of  Madam  Sm-ith  who 
was  mother  of  the  consort  of  John  Adams  late  President 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  this  connexion  was  a  source  of 
mutual  friendly  intercourse  during  life.  President  Adams 
ever  entertained  an  exalted  opinion  of  the  merit  and  char- 
acter of  Dr.  Tufts. 

On  his  first  arrival  at  Weymouth  the  putrid  sore  throat 
was  very  prevalent  and  extremely  mortal.  Dr.  Tufts  in- 
troduced a  mode  of  treatment  altogether  different  from 
that  of  the  established  physicians  of  that  vicinity,  which 
ivas  attended  with  peculiar  success,  and  this  confirmed  his 
popularity  and  widely  extended  his  fame.  To  his  prac- 
tice he  united  courtesy,  condescension,  sympathy  and 
kindness.  While  his  exactions  for  his  professional  ser- 
vices from  those  who  had  the  ability  to  make  prompt  and 
easy  payment,  were  always  moderate,  he  had  a  heart  to 
favor  and  gratuitously  to  relieve  the  necessitous.  His  pro- 
fessional labors  in  the  early  part  and  in  the  meridian  of 
his  life,  were  extended  to  places  considerably  remote  ; 
nor  in  advanced  age  did  lie  withhold  his  advice  and  aid, 
in  difficult  cases,  from  those  who  were  beyond  the  sphere 
of  his  usual  practice. 

Eminent  and  highly  estimable  not  only  as  a  physician, 
but  a  man,  he  could  not  fail  to  rise  high  in  the  public  esti- 
mation, particularly  in  the  view  of  those  who  were  the 
best  judo-es  of  the  worth  and  excellence  of  character.  Ac- 
cordingly we  find  his  name  enrolled  among  the  original 
members  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  He  was 
soon  elected  Vice  President,  and  from  the  year  1787  to 
1795  he  sustained  the  oflice  of  President  of  that  learned 
body  ;  at  which  period  increasing  age,  and  the  pressure 
of  his  other  various  duties,  induced  him  to  resign.  The 
able  manner  in  which  he  acquitted  himself  of  the  duties  of 
the  office,  met  the  approbation  and  procured  the  thanks 
of  the  society.  As  a  man  of  general  erudition,  he  attained 
to  no  inconsiderable  eminence.  His  researches  Avere  va- 
rious and  extensive,  judicious  and  accurate.     We  find  the 


COTTON    TUFTS.  \§l 

name  of  Dr.  Tufts  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  those  illus- 
trious men  who  in  the  year  1780,  in  the  midst  of  war  and 
tumult,  were  incorporated  as  the  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences  ;  here  he  sustained  a  character  both 
honorable  and  influential.  In  tlie  higher  branch  of  the 
state  legislature  he  was  for  many  years  distinguishingly 
active,  patriotic,  firm  and  of  great  influence.  And,  when 
appointed  a  member  of  the  convention  for  adopting  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  expressed  his  attach- 
ment and  devotedness  to  the  best  interests  of  his  country, 
by  giving  his  suffrage  for  that  invaluable  instrument. 

In  the  year  1765  Dr.  T.  wrote  the  spirited  and  patriotic 
instructions  to  the  representatives  of  the  town  of  Wey- 
mouth against  the  memorable  stamp  act.  In  the  time  of 
the  war  of  our  revolution  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
convention  who  undertook  to  regulate  the  prices  of  mer- 
chandize and  country  produce,  and  he  was  the  only  man 
who  voted  against  that  measure,  which  eventually  proved 
to  be  altogether  futile  and  ridiculous.  His  conduct 
through  life  was  marked  with  the  most  rigid  adherence  to 
the  principles  of  integrity,  and  the  most  ardent  attachment 
tD  the  liberties  of  his  country.  He  was  for  several  years 
Preddent  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Derby  Academy,  and  his 
unremitting  and  able  services  highly  contributed  to  pro- 
mote the  objects  of  that  literary  institution.  As  the  pre- 
siding member  of  the  board,  he  acquitted  himself  to  the 
highest  satisfaction  of  the  associate  members,  who  on  his 
resignation  of  his  office,  a  short  time  before  his  death, 
gratefully  tendered  him  their  sincere  and  unqualified  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  able  and  faithful  services.  As  a 
member  and  as  the  president  of  the  Society  for  the  Re- 
formation of  Morals,  his  exertions  to  check  and  suppress 
the  shameful  and  destructive  practice  of  intemperance,  and 
its  kindred  vices,  were  judicious,  spirited  and,  it  is  hoped, 
in  some  degree  effective.  To  reclaim  the  unhappy  and 
wretched  wanderers,  was  the  ardent  desire  of  his  heart  ; 
a  desire  which  efficiently  prompted  him  to  laudable  and 
meritorious  actions.  Dr.  Tufts  closed  his  valuable  life 
December  8th,  1815,  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age 

We  must  not  omit  to  notice  the  remaining  prominent 
traits  of  his  character,  and  particularly  his  christian  vir- 
tues. He  was  always  a  rational  and  firm  believer  in  the 
christian  religion  ;  he  early  in  life,  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
made  a  public  profession  of  it  ;  and  uniformly  exemplified 


152  PHILIP    TURNER. 

its  divine  precepts  and  institutions.  Few  men  have  pass- 
ed through  life  with  a  more  steady  and  conscientious  ad- 
herence to  the  various  duties  of  the  christian  life.  During 
the  space  of  more  than  forty  years,  he  filled  the  office  of 
deacon  in  the  church,  and  discharged  its  duties  with  con- 
stancy, fidelity  and  good  acceptance.  Few  men,  says  his 
biographer,  sustained  this  office  with  more  reputation  and 
dignity,  or  discharged  its  duties  with  greater  punctuality 
and  unaffected,  but  not  severe  and  repulsive,  gravity.  In 
regard  to  politics  he  was  a  federalist  of  that  stamp,  from 
whose  sentiments  considerate  and  judicious  men  of  each 
party  could  not  widely  differ  ;  his  patriotic  zeal,  temper- 
ed with  moderation,  was  well  worthy  of  imitation.  In 
social  life  he  highly  distinguished  himself  by  urbanity  of 
manners,  and  a  courteous  address.  In  conversation  he 
was  pleasant,  interesting  and  instructive.  In  every  domes- 
tic circle  he  was  as  well  the  pleasant  and  desirable  com- 
panion and  the  beloved  and  instructive  friend,  as  the  fond 
husband,  the  kind  father,  the  venerable  patriarch.  Al- 
though in  doing  good  and  communicating,  he  gave  no 
encouragement  or  countenance  to  the  idle,  to  vagrants,  to 
tipplers  and  the  worthless,  he  was  far  from  neglecting  the 
proper  objects  of  charity.  For  these  he  felt  a  generous 
sympathy,  and  imparted  to  them  its  genuine  effects,  as 
they  needed. — Funeral  Sermon  by  Rev.  Mr.  J^orton. 
\  TURNER,  DR.  PHILIP,  a  very  celebrated  operative 
surgeon,  was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  1740.  At 
the  age  of  twelve,  being  left  an  orphan  destitute  of  pro- 
perty, he  was  taken  into  the  family  and  under  the  patron- 
age of  Dr.  Elisha  Tracy  of  that  tOAvn,  who  deservedly 
stood  high  in  the  public  opinion  as  a  classical  scholar,  a 
practical  physician,  and  a  man  distinguished  for  his  moral 
and  social  virtues.  Here  young  Turner  was  treated  with 
parental  kindness,  and  at  a  suitable  age  commenced  his 
medical  studies  under  the  eye  of  his  patron.  In  the  year 
1759  he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  to  a  provincial 
reo^iment,  under  General  Amherst,  at  Ticonderoga.  His 
handsome  person  and  pleasing  address  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  English  surgeons,  by  whom  he  was  treated 
with  much  courtesy,  and  invited  to  witness  many  of  their 
capital  operations.  It  was  from  the  information  and  prac- 
tice he  obtained  in  this  school,  that  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  future  eminence  as  an  operator.  He  continued  with 
the  armv  till  after  the  peace  of  1763,  when  he  returned  to 


PHILIP    TURNER.  16S 

the  house  of  his  benefactor,  whose  eldest  daughter  he  soon 
after  married,  and  settled  in  Norwich  as  a  practitioner  of 
surgery. 

His  practice  and  reputation  were  such  that,  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  revolutionary  war,  he  was  unrivalled  as  a 
surgeon  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  country.  During  the 
first  campaign  he  was  the  first  surgeon  of  the  Connecticut 
troops  before  Boston.  He  went  with  the  army  to  New- 
York  in  1776,  and,  in  consequence  of  the  battles  of  Long- 
Island  and  White  Plains,  a  favorable  opportunity  was 
afforded  him  of  displaying  his  professional  talents  as  an 
operator,  which  gained  him  the  highest  character  with  the 
army.  In  1 777  Dr.  Turner  was  nominated  and  appointed 
by  Congress  Director  General,  to  superintend  the  General 
Hospital  ;  but,  on  a  motion  for  reconsideration,  the  ap- 
pointment was  given  to  Dr.  Shippen  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Dr.  Turner  was  appointed  Surgeon  General  of  the  eastern 
department,  which  station  he  filled  with  great  ability  till 
near  the  close  of  the  war.  He  then  returned  to  his  family, 
and  resumed  his  private  practice.  In  this  he  continued 
with  undiminished  reputation  till  1800,  when  finding  him- 
self advancing  in  years,  and  feeling  the  fatigues  of  exten- 
sive country  practice,  he  removed  to  New-York,  consider- 
ing a  city  better  adapted  to  his  period  of  life.  His  busi- 
ness here  was  soon  respectable,  and  he  was  shortly  after 
appointed  a  surgeon  to  the  staff  of  the  United  States  army, 
and  was  permanently  stationed  on  York  Island  with  the 
medical  and  surgical  care  of  the  troops  in  that  quarter. 
This  station  he  held  at  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the 
spring  of  1815,  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  inter- 
red with  military  honors. 

Dr.  Turner,  though  not  an  academical  scholar,  received 
a  good  early  education,  and  was  naturally  of  a  ready 
mind,  with  much  sprightliness  and  suavity  of  manners. 
To  these  were  united  a  handsome  person  and  pleasing  ad- 
dress, with  a  kind  of  intuitive  capacity,  peculiarly  qualify- 
ing him  for  the  profession  of  surgery.  On  this  subject 
his  judgment  was  uncommonly  accurate,  and  with  a  firm 
mind,  and  a  steady  dexterity  of  hand,  his  operations  were 
ably  performed,  and  attended  with  an  almost  unparalleled 
success.  Dr.  Shippen  did  him  the  honor  to  say  that  nei- 
ther in  Europe  nor  in  America  had  he  ever  seen  an  opera- 
tor that  excelled  him.  In  about  twenty  operations  of  litho- 
tomy, it  is  said  that  all  but  two  cases  were  perfectly  sue- 

VOL.   H.  20 


164  JOHN    VAUGHAN. 

cessful.  Dr.-  Turner  is  an  instance  of  one  rising  to  the 
highest  professional  eminence,  who  never  studied  or  trav- 
elled out  of  his  own  country. — Medical  Intelligencer, 

VAUGHAN,  JOHN,  M.D.  was  born  in  Uchland  Town- 
ship, Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  25th  day  of 
June,  1775.  His  father,  John  Vaughan,  was  a  highly  re- 
spectable minister  in  the  Baptist  society.  Dr.  V.  was 
educated  at  Old  Chester  ;  at  which  place  he  obtained  an 
acquaintance  with  the  classics,  which,  however,  was  ren- 
dered more  perfect  by  his  diligent  and  close  attention  to 
them  in  after  life.  He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  William 
Currie  of  Philadelphia,  and  attended  the  medical  lectures 
in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1793  and  '94. 

In  March,  1795,  he  located  himself  in  Christiana  Bridge, 
a  small  village  in  the  state  of  Delaware,  where  he  contin- 
ued until  April,  1799,  when  he  removed  to  Wilmington. 
In  March,  1797,  he  married  Eliza,  daughter  of  Joel  Lewis, 
Esq.,  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Delaware.  Dr.  V.'s. 
scientific  attainments  and  success  speedily  introduced  him 
into  extensive  practice  in  Wilmington,  and  acquired  him  a 
reputation  wdiich  few  men  of  his  early  age  have  ever  had 
the  good  fortune  to  enjoy.  Among  liis  intimate  friends  and 
familiar  correspondents,  as  early  as  1801,  we  find  the  illus- 
trious Jefferson,  Aaron  Burr,  John  Dickerson,  James  A. 
Bayard,  C.  A.  Rodney,  &c.  ;  and,  in  his  own  profession, 
characters  of  equal  eminence  and  celebrity,  as  Drs.  Rush, 
Miller,  Mitchell,  Logan,  the  late  Dr.  Tilton,  Caldwell, 
Davidge,  &c. 

Dr.  Vaughan  w^as  a  Corresponding  Member  of  the 
Philadelphia  Academy  of  Medicine,  Honorary  Member  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  Member  of  the  Ame- 
rican Medical  Society,  Fellow  of  the  Medical  and  Member 
of  the  Philosophical  Societies  of  Delaware.  Before  the 
latter  society  he  delivered  by  appointment,  in  the  town 
hall  of  Wilmington  in  the  winter  of  1799  and  1800,  a  full 
and  complete  course  of  lectures  on  Chemistry  and  Natural 
Philosophy.  This  was  the  first  and  only  course  which  he 
ever  was  able  to  deliver  ;  his  professional  duties  and  en- 
gagements shortly  afterwards  requiring  his  constant  and 
imremitted  attention,  and  thereby  rendering  it  utterly  im- 
practicable for  him  to  devote  the  requisite  time  to  those 
subjects. 

From  early  life  he  was  of  a  pious  disposition,  and  ap- 
peared always  fully  aware  of  the  necessity  of,  and  the  con- 


JOHN    VAUGHAN.  155 

solations  to  be  derived  from  religion,  in  passing  through 
this  transitory  stage  of  existence.  These  feelings  grew 
with  his  growth  and  strengthened  with  his  strength,  and  in 
1806,  from  a  deep  sense  and  full  conviction  of  its  being  his 
duty,  he  commenced  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  Baptist 
church  in  this  Borough  ;  which  he  continued  occasionally, 
when  his  professional  engagements  would  permit,  until  the 
time  of  his  death.  Believing  that  what  is  "  freely  receiv- 
ed, should  be  freely  given,"  he  never  did,  and  never  in- 
tended to  receive  any  compensation  for  dispensing  to  his 
auditors  the  doctrines  of  the  "  meek  and  lowly  Jesus." 

The  talents  of  Dr.  Vauglian  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
qualify  him  in  an  eminent  degree  for  the  successful  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  The  faculties  of  perception  and  judg- 
ment, so  essentially  requisite  in  the  diagnosis  and  cure  of 
morbid  actions,  he  evidently  possessed  in  a  remarkable 
degree  ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  as  to  be  generally  able  to 
ascertain  the  nature  and  seat  of  the  disease,  and  indicate 
the  remedy,  with  as  much  promptness  and  facility  as  if  he 
had  seized  upon  the  knowledge,  as  it  were  by  intuition. 
His  mind  was  active,  his  memory  tenacious,  and,  being  a 
most  diligent  student,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  he  had  ac- 
quired such  a  mass  of  medical  knowledge  and  experience 
as  is  rarely  gained  by  a  person  of  his  years.  His  manners, 
talents  and  success  entitled  him  to  the  character  of  a  great 
physician.  As  a  physician  and  chemist,  he  was  justly  emi- 
nent ;  for,  though  snatched  off  in  the  summer  of  life,  he 
had  travelled  far  in  the  walks  of  science. 

In  his  manners  and  appearance  he  was  usually  sedate  and 
thoughtful.  But  in  his  intercourse  with  the  afflicted  he 
was  always  affable  and  peculiarly  kind  and  feeling.  No 
man  possessed  more  of  the  "  milk  of  human  kindness" 
than  he  ;  for  he  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  adminis- 
ter not  only  medical  aid,  but,  what  is  often  of  equal,  if  not 
superior  importance,  mental  and  spiritual  comfort  and 
consolation.  By  this  peculiar  talent  for  "  administering 
to  a  mind  diseased,"  and  healing  the  wounds  of  a  broken 
and  desponding  spirit,  he  was  endeared  to  his  patients  by 
such  strong  and  lasting  ties  as  to  be  most  deeply  and  sin- 
cerely regretted,  and  never  to  be  forgotten  by  them  as 
long  as  memory  retains  her  throne  :  as  has  been  truly  said 
of  him,  the  tears  of  the  poor  and  friendless  bedew  his 
memory  ;  for  his  bosom  was  the  seat  of  humanity  and 


166  ALBIGERKU    WALDO. 

feeling  :  kindness  beamed  in  his  countenance  ;  and  active 
benevolence  warmed  his  heart. 

He  was  truly  and  emphatically  a  hard  student  and  an 
industrious  man  ;  and  has  left  such  a  large  number  of 
note  books,  unfinished  essays,  &c.,  that  we  may  fairly 
infer  that,  if  he  had  lived  a  few  years  longer,  he  would 
have  contributed  largely  to  the  fund  of  medical  litera- 
ture and  information. 

During  the  winter  of  1806, '7  his  health  and  strength  ap- 
peared to  be  becoming  gradually  impaired  ;  his  constitu- 
tion, naturally  a  delicate  one,  was  evidently  yielding  to 
the  fatigue  and-  exposure  necessarily  incident  to  a  very  ex- 
tensive and  laborious  practice.  In  obstetrics  particularly, 
confessedly  a  very  laborious  brancli  of  the  profession,  he 
was  almost  constantly  more  or  less  employed,  being  so 
successful  and  popular  as  to  be  compelled  to  attend  to  a 
great  deal  more  of  it  than  even  a  robust  constitution  could 
readily  have  endured.  In  March,  1807,  having  taken 
cold,  he  was  attacked  with  a  violent  and  distressing 
cough,  slight  soreness  of  the  throat,  with  some  indications 
of  congestion  in  the  pulmonary  organs,  and  a  high  fever, 
which,  after  continuing  for  a  very  few  days,  put  on  the 
typhoid  form,  Jind  in  the  course  of  one  short  week  depriv- 
ed science  of  a  bright  ornament,  and  society  of  a  highly 
esteemed  and  extensively  useful  member.  "  From  all  I  can 
learn  of  his  case,"  says  his  biographer,  "  I  am  strongly  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that  his  disease  was  the  Pneumonia 
typhoides,  which  had  about  that  time  given  a  few  pre- 
monitory signs  of  the  wide  spread  desolation  it  was  after- 
wards to  commit." 

Dr.  V.  died  March  25th,  1807.  His  publications  were 
an  Edition  of  Dr.  Smith's  Letters  ;  a  Chemical  Syllabus  ; 
and  numerous  communications,  on  a  variety  of  subjects, 
to  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Museum,  and  the  New-York 
Medical  Repository.  Dr.  Vaughan  published  Observa- 
tions on  Animal  Electricity  in  Explanation  of  the  Metal- 
lic Operation  of  Dr.  Perkins.  This  was  a  pamphlet  of  32 
pages,  dedicated  to  James  Tilton,  M.  D.,  President  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  Delaware,  1797;  the  object  of  which 
was  to  explain  the  operation  of  the  metallic  Tractors,  for 
which  he  was  a  zealous  advocate. 

WALDO:  DK,-  ALBIGEREU,  was  born  about  the  year 
1750  in  the  town  of  Pomfret,  State  of  Connecticut.  His 
education  was  such  as  was  common  in  the  district  schools 


ALBISEREU    WALDO.  157 

of  the  state  at  that  time,  with  the  addition  of  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  Latin  language,  which  he  obtained  from  the  in- 
struction of  Rev.  Aaron  Putnam,  a  respectable  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  the  same  town.  At  an  early  age  he  w^as  ap- 
prenticed to  a  Surgeon,  Dr.  John  Spalding  of  Canterb^^- 
ry,  under  whose  tuition  he  exhibited  proofs  of  genius,  and 
made  good  use  of  the  scanty  means  of  instruction  to  which 
he  had  access. 

He  was  rapidly  rising  in  professional  reputation  when, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary  war,  he  was  called 
out  as  a  Surgeon  to  a  Regiment  of  militia,  and  served  in 
the  campaign  of  1776  in  New-Jersey  ;  lie  was  afterwards 
appointed  to  the  same  station  in  the  Continental  Army,  in 
which  he  continued  two  years  or  more.  In  the  battle  of 
Monmouth,  and  in  winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge,  where 
the  American  army  underwent  a  general  inocnlation  for 
smallpox,  the  services  of  Dr.  W.  gained  him  great  repu- 
tation and  contributed  much  to  his  professional  knowl- 
edge- After  leaving  the  army  he  practised  as  a  surgeon 
in  Windham  county  with  great  reputation.  At  one  peri- 
od of  his  life  he  went  to  Maryland  with  the  view  of  estab- 
lishing himself  in  the  practice  of  surgery,  but  did  not  con- 
tinue there  more  than  one  year.  Surgery  was  his  favor- 
ite branch,  though  his  knowledge  was  not  confined  to 
this,  but  embraced  all  branches  of  the  healing  art. 

Dr.  Waldo  discovered  an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  read  with  much  interest  all  the  medical  publications  to 
which  he  could  have  access  ;  he  was  fond  of  music,  paint- 
ing and  drawing,  and  has  left  in  manuscript  some  hand- 
some specimens  of  his  poetical  talent.  He  composed  and 
delivered  several  orations  on  public  occasions,  and  pro- 
nounced an  elegant  eulogy  at  the  grave  of  the  late  Major 
General  Putnam. 

The  influence  of  Dr.  Waldo  was  very  great  in  forming 
a  medical  society  in  the  county  where  he  resided,  whicli 
was  the  first  that  was  formed  in  the  state,  and  from  this 
beginning,  and  one  other  society  in  New-Haven,  arose  the 
present  Medical  Society  of  the  state  of  Connecticut. 

The  benevolence  and  humanity  of  Dr.  Waldo  were  un- 
bounded. He  felt  for  others  more  than  for  himself.  He 
cared  little  for  money,  and  has  been  known  to  give  his 
last  dollar  in  charity.  It  will  not  be  surprising  that  a 
man  of  this  character,  who  practised  the  medical  profes- 
sion in  the  impoverished  state  of  the  country,  should  leave 


158  JOSIA.H    MEIGS    WARD. 

nothing  for  his  family.  He  died  in  the  year  1794,  greatly 
lamented.  A  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in 
tJie  church  yard  of  his  native  place,  by  Moriah  Lodge  of 
which  he  had  been  an  officer. 

WARD,  DR.  JOSIAH  MEIGS,  was  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Guilford  in  the  state  of  Connecticut.  His  father 
moved  into  the  state  of  New-York  while  he  was  yet 
young,  and  there  he  received  his  primary  education.  He 
pursued  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  instruction  of 
Dr.  Percival  of  Berlin  in  that  state,  a  gentleman  of  science 
and  extensive  practice,  and  father  of  Dr.  Percival  the 
poet. 

Dr.  Ward  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  the 
state  of  New-York  ;  but  upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Percival, 
which  happened  soon  after,  he  removed  to  Berlin  and 
took  the  practice  of  his  former  instructor.  In  the  early 
part  of  his  medical  career  he  was  distinguished  as  a  young 
man  of  sound  judgment,  diligent  application  to  business, 
and  considerable  reading.  To  his  cases  he  devoted  an  un- 
common share  of  attention,  and  investigated  their  nature 
and  discriminating  symptoms  with  an  ability  that  would 
have  done  honor  to  great  experience  and  riper  years. 
Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Hand  of  Worthington,  whose 
friend  and  companion  he  was,  he  exchanged  his  residence 
to  that  flourishing  and  pleasant  village.  With  a  constitu- 
tion naturally  firm  and  vigorous,  an  ambition  highly  laud- 
able to  excel  in  his  profession,  and  a  deep  and  settled 
conviction  of  the  responsibility  of  his  station,  he  was  in- 
defatigable in  his  exertions,  regardless  of  fatigue,  irregu- 
larity and  bodily  eff'ort  ;  he  made  exertions  and  endured 
privations  which  would  have  broken  down  the  constitu- 
tion of  most  men.  Such  a  course  with  the  ability  which 
he  possessed,  united  to  an  unblemished  life  and  great  mod- 
esty and  propriety  of  deportment,  could  not  fail  to  extend 
his  popularity  and  usefulness.  The  testimony  which  all 
who  knew  him  bore  to  his  merit,  gave  a  spring  to  the  nat- 
ural elasticity  of  his  mind  and  body. 

Few  men  in  the  country  were  more  enviably  situated 
than  Dr.  Ward,  when  the  fatal  Epidemic  of  1823  first  ap- 
peared in  Beilin.  This  was  the  disease  improperly  called 
spotted  fever,  more  justly  denominated  by  Dr.  Miner  Ty- 
phus Syncopalis.  Contrary  to  the  common  law  of  epi- 
demics, it  wa:?  mild  at  the  first,  and,  although  it  greatly 
increased  the  business  of  Dr.  Ward,  he  was  able  bv  unex- 


JOSIAH    MEIGS    WARD.  159 

ampled  diligence  to  attend  to  all  his  calls  ;  and  such  were 
the  modesty  and  j3rndence  of  his  conduct  that  no  unusual 
excitement  was  apparent  in  the  town  till  the  disease  had 
existed  a  number  of  weeks.  At  lengtli,  however,  the  char- 
acter of  the  disease  became  more  deadly,  and  the  sudden 
illness  and  death  of  two  or  three  respectable  citizens  ex- 
cited the  greatest  alarm  and  wide  spread  consternation  ; 
and  the  disease  made  a  rapid  and  extensive  progress.  Dr. 
Ward's  activity  was  redoubled,  day  and  night  he  was  on 
the  alert.  He  attended  to  all  his  calls,  and  that  faithfully. 
For  three  months  his  labors  were  incessant  and  almost  un- 
exampled. During  this  period  he  allowed  himself  but 
four  or  five  hours  for  sleep,  and  scarcely  a  night  passed 
without  this  short  repose  being  interrupted.  All  this  fa- 
tigue, and  anxiety,  and  responsibility  were  borne  with  a 
manly  spirit  and  commendable  patience.  But  the  sever- 
est trial  was  in  reserve  for  him.  The  severity  of  the 
disease  and  its  rapid  march  to  death,  in  several  in- 
stances, rendered  the  use  of  energetic  practice  indispensable. 
The  sudden  fatality  with  which  the  malady  was  sometimes 
attended,  and  which  no  practice  in  the  power  of  art  could 
prevent,  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  envious  to  assail 
his  character,  and  they  basely  attempted  to  destroy  the 
confidence  and  fair  reputation  he  possessed.  In  the  midst 
of  all  this  trial  he  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  calm, 
selfpossessed,  with  full  confidence  in  the  correctness  of 
his  course  ;  he  persevered  with  an  undeviating  hand,  he 
discriminated  with  his  usual  sagacity,  and  prescribed  with 
his  usual  judgment.  It  was  on  this  trying  occasion  that 
the  strong  powers  of  his  mind  were  displayed  ;  he  was  as 
unshaken  as  the  rocks  that  surrounded  him.  The  shafts 
of  his  enemies  fell  harmlessly  before  him,  and  he  neither 
retorted  nor  censured.  In  the  autumn  the  epidemic  abat- 
ed ;  the  success  of  his  practice  proved  the  correctness  of 
his  judgment  and  principles  ;  upwards  of  five  hundred 
cases  of  the  epidemic  had  been  treated  by  Dr.  Ward  and 
his  friends,  of  which  forty-four  proved  fatal. 

As  his  business  began  to  decline,  he  found  his  health 
had  received  its  first  shock.  The  uncommon  efforts  of 
his  mind  and  body,  and  the  irregularity  of  his  life,  affect- 
ed his  nervous  system,  impaired  the  tone  of  his  stomach, 
and  he  was  an  invalid  ever  after.  At  the  approach  of  the 
succeeding  sea?on  the  formidable  disease  reappeared  ;  fa- 
tigue and  anxiety  aggravated  his  complaints,  and  made  a 


160  JOSIAH    MEIGS    WARD. 

second  inroad  upon  his  constitution  ;  and  in  the  winter 
following  his  health  was  much  impaired,  though  he  con- 
tinued his  professional  duties  with  unabated  ardor.  In 
the  summer  of  1825  his  wife  was  severely  seized  with  the 
epidemic.  To  her  Dr.  W.  devoted  himself  ;  his  attentions 
were  unremitted,  his  anxiety  was  great,  he  watched  for  a 
long  time  and  trembled  for  her  safety  ;  at  length,  how- 
ever, she  recovered.  But  his  children  sickened,  and  two 
of  them  died.  The  disease  still  prevailed  in  the  town, 
and  he  was  pressed  with  urgent  calls.  He  visited  a  pa- 
tient in  the  night,  unfit  as  he  was,  worn  down  by  fatigue, 
anxiety  and  suffering.  Feeling  indisposed  the  next  day, 
he  walked  abroad  in  the  open  air,  took  a  seat  on  the  steps 
of  the  church,  and  fell  asleep  ;  he  awoke  with  a  chill  upon 
him,  and  went  home  sick,  took  some  light  medicine,  and 
continued  to  ride  and  visit  his  patients.  His  medical 
friends  advised  him  to  cease  from  his  labors,  and  to  con- 
fine himself,  but  his  resolution  overcame  his  judgment, 
and  he  persisted  in  his  efi"orts  till  nature  was  exhausted  ; 
a  delirium  ensued,  and  he  sunk  suddenly  into  the  arms  of 
death  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  in  the  midst  of  his  useful- 
ness, at  the  age  of  43  years.  Thus  was  a  valuable  life  sac- 
rificed to  the  labors  and  toils  of  professional  duties. 

In  stature  Dr.  Ward  was  of  the  middle  size,  and  well 
proportioned  ;  the  features  of  his  face  were  expressive,  his 
nose  aquiline,  his  eyes  hazel,  intelligent  and  penetrating. 
His  ample  forehead  would  have  aflforded  a  fine  sample  for 
the  Phrenologist. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society, 
and  frequently  a  fellow  of  the  same  in  the  general  conven- 
tion of  the  state.  In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  a  kind 
and  affectionate  husband,  an  excellent  parent,  and  firm  and 
ardent  friend,  and  his  heart  was  full  of  benevolence.  In 
his  professional  avocations  his  excellent  qualities  were  pe- 
culiarly conspicuous.  When  disease  and  death  were  con- 
stantly before  him  the  temper  of  his  mind  was  never  ruf- 
fled, although  his  feelings  were  alive  to  the  welfare  of 
others.  His  faculty  of  discrimination  was  of  a  superior 
cast,  and  he  always  took  a  comprehensive  view  of  his 
patient's  case,  and  reflected  well  before  he  decided.  In 
consultation  he  was  modest  and  unassuming,  regarding  the 
opinions  of  others  with  deference  and  respect.  Should  it 
be  inquired  upon  what  grounds  Dr.  W.  should  be  subject- 
ed to  the  annoyance  of  enemies,  the  spirit  of  envy  will 


JOSEPH    WARREN.  ICl 

probably  explain  the  cause.  When  the  formidable  epi- 
demic above  mentioned  was  making  its  ravages  in  tiie 
sphere  of  his  practice,  of  which  he  engrossed  a  large  share, 
some  of  his  opposers  ridiculed  the  idea  of  its  existence, 
and  declared  it  to  be  altogether  factitious.  In  this  dilem- 
ma Dr.  W.  requested  a  medical  council  of  three  of  his 
professional  brethren,  to  examine  into  the  nature  of  the 
disease  by  inspecting  the  cases  then  under  his  care.  This 
council,  consisting  of  respectable  men,  was  assembled  at 
the  expense  of  some  public  spirited  citizens,  and  the  result 
was  a  full  confirmation  of  the  opinion  of  Dr.  W.,  and  ap- 
probation of  his  mode  of  treatment  in  the  disease.  By 
this  expedient  the  excitement  of  the  inhabitants  was  ap- 
peased and  their  confidence  in  his  character  established. 

WARREN,  JOSEPH,  was  born  inRoxbury,  near  Bos- 
ton, in  the  year  1741.  His  father  was  a  respectable  farmer 
in  that  place,  who  had  held  several  municipal  offices  to  the 
acceptance  of  his  fellow  citizens.  Joseph,  with  several 
of  his  brothers,  was  instructed  in  the  elementary  branches 
of  knowledge  at  the  public  grammar  school  of  the  town, 
which  was  distinguished  for  its  successive  instructers  of 
superior  attainments.  In  1755  he  entered  college,  where 
he  sustained  the  character  of  a  youth  of  talents,  fine  man- 
ners, and  of  a  generous,  independent  deportment,  united  to 
great  personal  courage  and  perseverance.  An  anecdote 
will  illustrate  his  fearlessness  and  determination  at  that 
age,  when  character  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  formed. 
Several  students  of  Warren's  class  shut  themselves  in  a 
room  to  arrange  some  college  affairs  in  a  way  which  they 
knew  was  contrary  to  his  wishes,  and  barred  the  door  so 
effectually  that  he  could  not,  without  great  violence,  force 
it;  but  he  did  not  give  over  the  attempt  of  getting  amongst 
them,  for,  perceiving  that  the  window  of  the  room  in 
which  they  were  assembled  was  open  and  near  a  spout 
which  extended  from  the  roof  of  the  building  to  the  ground, 
he  went  to  the  top  of  the  house,  slid  down  to  the  eaves, 
seized  the  spout,  and,  when  he  had  descended  as  far  as  the 
window,  threw  himself  into  the  chamber  amongst  them. 
At  that  instant  the  spout,  which  was  decayed  and  weak, 
gave  way  and  fell  to  the  ground.  He  looked  at  it  with- 
out emotion,  said  that  it  had  served  his  purpose,  and  be- 
gan to  take  his  part  in  the  business.  A  spectator  of  this 
feat  and  narrow  escape  related  this  fact  to  me  in  the  col- 
lege yard,  nearly  half  a  century  afterwards,  and  the  im- 
VOL.   u.  21 


162  JOSEPH    WARREN. 

pression  it  made  on  his  mind  was  so  strong,  that  he  seemed 
to  feel  the  same  emotion  as  though  it  happened  but  an 
hour  before. 

On  leaving  college  in  1759,  Warren  turned  his  attention 
to  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Lloyd, 
an  eminent  physician  of  that  day,  whose  valuable  life  has 
been  protracted  almost  to  the  present  time.  Warren  was 
distinguished  very  soon  after  he  commenced  practice  ;  for, 
when  in  1764  the  smallpox  spread  in  Boston,  he  was 
amongst  the  most  successful  in  his  method  of  treating  that 
disease,  which  was  then  considered  the  most  dreadful 
scourge  of  the  human  race,  and  the  violence  of  which  had 
baffled  the  efforts  of  the  learned  Faculty  of  Medicine  from 
the  time  of  its  first  appearance.  From  this  moment  he 
stood  high  amongst  his  brethren,  and  was  the  favorite  of 
the  people,  and  what  he  gained  in  their  good  will,  he  nev- 
er lost.  His  personal  appearance,  his  address,  his  courte- 
sy and  his  humanity,  won  the  way  to  the  hearts  of  all,  and 
his  knowledge  and  superiority  of  talents  secured  the  con- 
quest. A  bright  and  lasting  fame  in  his  profession,  with 
the  attendant  consequences,  wealth  and  influence,  were 
within  his  reach,  and  near  at  hand  ;  but  the  calls  of  a  dis- 
tracted country  were  paramount  to  every  consideration  of 
his  own  interests,  and  he  entered  the  vortex  of  politics, 
never  to  return  to  the  peaceful  course  of  professional  la- 
bor. 

The  change  in  pviblic  opinion  had  been  gradually  pre- 
paring the  minds  of  most  men  for  a  revolution.  This  Avas 
not  openly  avowed  ;  amelioration  of  treatment  for  the 
present,  and  assurance  of  kindness  in  future,  were  all  that 
the  colonies  asked  from  Great  Britain — but  these  they  did 
not  receive.  The  mother  country  mistook  the  spirit  of 
her  children,  and  used  threats  when  kindness  would  have 
been  the  best  policy.  When  Britain  declared  her  right  to 
direct,  govern  and  tax  us  in  any  form  and  at  all  times,  the 
colonies  reasoned,  remonstrated  and  entreated  for  a  while; 
and,  when  these  means  did  not  answer,  they  defied  and 
resisted.  The  political  writers  of  the  province  had  been 
active  and  busy,  and  they  were  generally  screened  by  fic- 
titious names,  or  sent  their  productions  anonymously  into 
the  world  ;  but  the  time  had  arrived  when  speakers  of 
nerve  and  boldness  were  wanted  to  raise  their  voices 
against  oppression  in  every  shape.  Warren  possessed  first 
rate  qualities  for  an  orator,  and  had  early  declared,  in  the 


JOSEPH    WARRKX.  163 

strongest  terms,  his  political  sentiments,  which  were  sorae- 
wliat  in  advance  of  public  opinion,  for  he  held  as  tyranny- 
all  taxation  Avhich  could  be  imposed  by  the  British  parlia- 
ment upon  the  colonies.  In  times  of  danger  tlie  people 
are  sagacious,  and  cling  to  those  who  best  can  serve  them, 
and  every  eye  was  on  him  in  every  emergency,  for  he  had 
not  only  the  firmness  and  decision  they  wished  for  in  a 
leader,  but  was  prudent  and  wary  in  all  his  plans.  His  first 
object  was  to  enlighten  the  people,  and  then  he  felt  sure 
of  engaging  their  feelings  in  the  general  cause.  He  knew 
when  once  they  began,  it  would  be  impossible  to  tread 
back — independence  only  would  satisfy  the  country. 
With  an  intention  of  directing  public  sentiment,  without 
appearing  to  be  too  active,  he  met  frequently  with  a  con- 
siderable number  of  substantial  mechanics,  and  others  in 
the  middling  classes  of  society,  who  were  busy  in  politics. 
This  crisis  required  such  a  man  as  tliey  found  him  to  be, 
one  who  could  discern  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  mould 
the  ductile  materials  to  his  will,  and  at  the  same  time  seem 
only  to  follow  in  the  path  of  others.  His  letter  to  Barn- 
ard,  which  attracted  the  notice  of  government,  had  been 
written  several  years  before,  in  1768;  but  in  some  form  or 
other  he  was  constantly  enlightening  the  people  by  his 
pen  ;  but  it  is  now  difficult,  and  of  no  great  importance, 
to  trace  him  in  the  papers  of  that  period.  Tlie  public 
was  not  then  always  right  in  designating  the  authors  of  po- 
litical essays.  In  the  different  situations  in  which  he  was 
called  to  act,  he  assumed  as  many  characters  as  fable  has 
ever  given  to  the  tutelar  god  of  his  profession,  and,  like 
him,  in  every  one  of  them  he  retained  the  wisdom  to 
guide,  and  the  power  to  charm.  At  one  time  he  might  be 
found  restraining  the  impetuosity,  and  bridling  the  fury 
of  those  hotheaded  politicians,  who  felt  more  than  they 
reasoned,  and  dared  to  do  more  than  became  men.  Such 
was  his  versatility,  that  he  turned  from  these  lectures  of 
caution  and  prudence,  to  asserting  and  defending  the  most 
bold  and  undisguised  principles  of  liberty,  and  defying  in 
their  very  teeth  the  agents  of  the  crown. 

Twice  he  was  elected  to  deliver  the  oration  on  the  fifth 
of  March,  in  commemoration  of  the  "massacre,"  and  his 
orations  are  amongst  the  most  distinguished  produced  by 
that  splendid  list  of  speakers  who  addressed  their  fellow 
citizens  on  this  subject,  so  interesting  to  them  all.  In 
these  productions  generally  the  immediate  causes  of  this 


164  JOSEPH    WARREX. 

event  were  overlooked,  and  the  remote  ones  alone  were 
discussed.  Here  they  Avere  on  safe  ground,  for  tyranny 
in  its  incipient  stages  has  no  excuse  from  opposition  ;  but 
in  its  march  it  generally  finds  some  plausible  arguments 
for  its  proceedings,  drawn  from  the  very  resistance  it  nat- 
urally produces.  These  occasions  gave  the  orators  a  fine 
field  for  remark,  and  a  fair  opportunity  for  effect.  The 
great  orators  of  antiquity  in  their  speeches  attempted  only 
to  rouse  the  people  to  retain  what  they  possessed.  Invec- 
tive, entreaty,  and  pride  had  their  effect  in  assisting  these 
mighty  masters  to  influence  the  people.  They  were 
ashamed  to  lose  what  their  fathers  left  them,  won  by  their 
blood  and  so  long  preserved  by  their  wisdom,  their  vir- 
tues and  their  courage.  Our  statesmen  had  a  harder  task 
to  perform,  for  they  were  compelled  to  call  on  the  people 
to  gain  what  they  had  never  enjoyed — an  independent  rank 
and  standing  amongst  the  nations  of  the  world. 

His  next  oration  was  delivered  March  6th,  1775.  It 
was  at  his  own  solicitation  that  he  was  appointed  to  this  du- 
ty a  second  time.  The  fact  is  illustrative  of  his  character, 
and  worthy  of  remembrance.  Some  British  officers  of  the 
army  then  in  Boston  had  publicly  declared  that  it  should 
be  at  the  price  of  the  life  of  any  man  to  speak  of  the  event 
of  the  fifth  of  March,  1770,  on  that  anniversary.  War- 
ren's soul  took  fire  at  such  a  threat  so  openly  made,  and 
he  wished  for  the  honor  of  braving  it.  This  was  readily 
granted,  for  at  such  a  time  a  man  would  probably  find  but 
few  rivals.  Many  who  would  spurn  the  thought  of  per- 
sonal fear,  might  be  apprehensive  that  they  would  be  so 
far  disconcerted  as  to  forget  their  discourse.  It  is  easier 
to  fight  bravely,  than  to  think  clearly  or  correctly  in  dan- 
ger. Passion  sometimes  nerves  the  arm  to  fight,  but  dis- 
turbs the  regular  current  of  thought.  The  day  came,  and 
the  weather  was  remarkably  fine.  The  Old  South  Meet- 
ing House  was  crowded  at  an  early  hour.  The  British 
officers  occupied  the  aisles,  the  flight  of  steps  to  the  pul- 
pit, and  several  of  them  were  within  it.  It  was  not  pre- 
cisely known  whether  this  was  accident  or  design.  The 
orator,  with  the  assistance  of  his  friends,  made  his  en- 
trance at  the  pulpit  window  by  a  ladder.  The  officers 
seeing  his  coolness  and  intrepidity,  made  way  for  him  to 
advance  and  address  the  audience.  An  awful  stillness  pre- 
ceded his  exordium.  Each  man  felt  the  palpitations  of 
his  own  heart,   and  saw  the  pale  but  determined  face  of 


JOSEPH    WARRKPT.  165 

his  neighbor.  The  speaker  began  his  oration  in  a  firm 
tone  of  voice,  and  proceeded  with  great  energy  and  pa- 
thos. Warren  and  his  friends  were  prepared  to  chastise 
contumely,  prevent  disgrace,  and  avenge  an  attempt  at  as- 
sassination. 

The  scene  was  sublime  ;  a  jiatriot  in  whom  the  flush  of 
youth,  and  the  grace  and  dignity  of  manhood  were  com- 
bined, stood  armed  in  the  sanctuary  of  God,  to  animate 
and  encourage  the  sons  of  liberty,  and  to  hurl  defiance  at 
their  oppressors.  The  orator  commenced  with  the  early 
history  of  the  country,  described  the  tenure  by  which  we 
held  our  liberties  and  joroperty,  the  affection  we  had  con- 
stantly shown  the  parent  country,  and  boldly  told  them 
how,  and  by  whom  these  blessings  of  life  had  been  viola- 
ted. There  was  in  this  appeal  to  Britain,  in  this  descrip- 
tion of  suffering,  agony  and  horror,  a  calm  and  high-soul- 
ed  defiance,  which  must  have  chilled  the  blood  of  every 
sensible  foe.  Such  another  hour  has  seldom  happened  in 
the  history  of  man,  and  is  not  surpassed  in  the  records 
of  nations.  The  thunders  of  Demosthenes  rolled  at  a 
distance  from  Philip  and  his  host,  and  Tully  poured  the 
fiercest  torrent  of  his  invective  when  Catiline  was  at  a  dis- 
tance and  his  dagger  no  longer  to  be  feared  ;  but  Warren's 
speech  was  made  to  proud  oppressors  resting  on  their 
arms,  whose  errand  it  was  to  overawe,  and  whose  business 
it  was  to  fight. 

If  the  deed  of  Brutus  deserved  to  be  commemorated  by 
history,  poetry,  painting  and  sculpture,  should  not  this 
instance  of  patriotism  and  bravery  be  held  in  lasting  re- 
membrance ?  If  he  "That  struck  the  foremost  man  of  all 
this  world,"  was  hailed  as  the  first  of  freemen,  what  hon- 
ors are  not  due  to  him,  who  undismayed  bearded  the 
British  lion,  to  show  the  world  what  his  countrymen  dar- 
ed to  do  in  the  cause  of  liberty  ?  If  the  statue  of  Brutus 
M^as  placed  amongst  those  of  the  gods,  who  were  the  pre- 
servers of  Roman  freedom,  should  not  that  of  Warren  fill 
a  lofty  niche  in  the  temple  reared  to  perpetuate  the  re- 
membrance of  our  birth  as  a  nation  ? 

If  independence  was  not  at  first  openly  avowed  by  our 
leading  men  at  that  time,  the  hope  of  attaining  it  was 
fondly  cherished,  and  the  exertions  of  the  patriots  pointed 
to  this  end.  The  wise  knew  that  the  storm,  which  the 
political  Prosperos  were  raising,  would  pass  away  in 
blood.     With  these  impressions  on  his  mind,  Warren  for 


166 


JOSEPH    WARREN. 


several  years  was  preparing  himself  by  study  and  obser- 
vation to  take  a  conspicuous  rank  in  the  military  arrange- 
ments which  he  knew  must  ensue. 

On  the  18th  of  April,  1775,  by  his  agents  in  Boston,  he 
discovered  the  design  of  the  British  commander  to  seize 
or  destroy  our  few  stores  at   Concord.     He  instantly  des- 
patched  several    confidential    messengers    to    Lexington. 
The  late  venerable  patriot,  Paul  Revere,  was  one  of  them. 
This  gentleman  has  given  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
difficulties  he   encountered  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty. 
The  alarm  was  given,  and  the  militia,   burning  with  re- 
sentment, were  at  day  break,  on  the   19th,  on  the  road  to 
repel  insult  and  aggression.     The  drama  was  opened  about 
sunrise,   within  a  few  yards  of  the  house  of  God,  in  Lex- 
ington.     Warren  hastened  to   the  field  of  action,   in  the 
full  ardor  of  his  soul,  and  shared  the  dangers   of  the  day. 
While    pressing   on  the  enemy,  a  musket  ball  took   off  a 
lock  of  his  hair  close  to  his  ear.     The  lock  was  rolled 
and  pinned  after  the  fashion  of  that  day,  and  considerable 
force  must  have  been  necessary  to  have  cut  it  away.     The 
people  were  delighted  with  his  cool,  collected  bravery,  and 
already  considered  him  as  a  leader,  whose   gallantry  they 
were  to  admire,  and  in  whose  talents  they  were  to  confide. 
On  the  14th  of  June,  1775,  the  Provincial   Congress  of 
Massachusetts  made  him  a  Major  General  of  their  forces  ; 
but,    previous  to  the  date  ©f  his  commission,  he  had  been 
unceasing  in  his   exertions  to  maintain  order  and  enforce 
discipline   amongst  the  troops,   which  had  hastily  assem- 
bled at  Cambridge  after  the  battle  of  Lexington,     He  min- 
gled in  the  ranks,   and  by   every  method  and    argument 
strove  to  inspire  them  with  confidence,  and  succeeded  in  a 
most  wonderful  manner  in  imparting  to  them  a  portion  of 
the  flame  which  glowed  in  his  own  breast.     At  such  a  crisis 
genius  receives    its  birth   right,   the   homage  of  inferior 
minds,  who  for  self-preservation  are  willing  to  be  direct- 
ed.    Previous  to  receiving  the  appointment  of  major  gen- 
eral, he   had  been  requested  to  take  the  office  of  physician 
general  to  the  army,  but  he  chose  to  be  where  wounds 
were  to  be  made,  rather  than  where  they  were  to  be  heal- 
ed.    Yet  he  lent  his  aid  and  advice  to  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  army,  and  was  of  great  service  to  them  in  their 
organization  and  arrangements. 

He  was  at  this  time    President  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress,  having  been  elected  the  preceding  year  a  member 


JOSEPH    WARRE??.  167 

from  the  town  of  Boston.  In  this  body  he  discovered  his 
extraordinary  powers  of  mind,  and  his  peculiar  fitness  for 
responsible  offices  at  such  a  juncture.  Cautious  in  pro- 
posing measures,  he  was  assiduous  in  pursuing  what  he 
thought,  after  mature  deliberation,  to  be  riglit,  and  never 
counted  the  probable  cost  of  a  measure,  when  he  had  de- 
cided that  it  was  necessary  to  be  taken.  When  this  con- 
gress, which  was  sitting  at  Watertown,  adjourned  for  the 
day,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  hastened  to  the  camp.  Ev- 
ery day  "  he  bought  golden  opinions  of  all  sorts  of  men  ;" 
and  when  the  troops  were  called  to  act  on  Breed's  Hill, 
he  had  so  often  been  amongst  them,  that  his  person  was 
known  to  most  of  the  soldiers. 

Several  respectable  historians  have  fallen  in  to  some  er- 
rors in  describing  the  battle  in  which  he  fell,  by  giving  the 
command  of  the  troops  on  that  day  to  Warren,  when  he 
was  only  a  volunteer  in  the  fight.  He  did  not  arrive  on 
the  battle  ground  until  the  enemy  had  commenced  their 
movements  for  the  attack.  As  soon  as  he  made  his  ap- 
pearance on  the  field,  the  veteran  commander  of  the  day, 
Colonel  Prescott,  desired  to  act  under  his  directions  ;  but 
Warren  declined  taking  any  other  part  than  that  of  a  vol- 
unteer, and  added  that  he  came  to  learn  the  art  of  war 
from  an  experienced  soldier,  whose  orders  he  should  be 
happy  to  obey.  In  the  battle  he  was  armed  with  a  mus- 
ket, and  stood  in  the  ranks,  now  and  then  changing  his 
place  to  encourage  his  fellow  soldiers  by  words  and  exam- 
ple. He  undoubtedly,  from  the  state  of  hostilities,  ex- 
pected soon  to  act  in  his  high  military  capacity,  and  it 
was  indispensable,  according  to  his  views,  that  he  should 
share  the  dangers  of  the  field  as  a  common  soldier  with 
his  fellow  citizens,  that  his  reputation  for  bravery  might 
be  put  beyond  the  possibility  of  suspicion.  The  wisdom 
of  such  a  course  would  never  have  been  doubted,  if  he 
had  returned  in  safety  from  the  fight.  In  such  a  struggle 
for  independence,  the  ordinary  rules  of  prudence  and  cau- 
tion could  not  govern  those  who  were  building  up  their 
names  for  future  usefulness  by  present  exertion.  Some 
maxims  drawn  from  the  republican  writers  of  antiqui- 
ty, were  worn  as  their  mottos.  Some  precepts  de- 
scriptive of  the  charms  of  liberty,  were  ever  on  their 
tongues,  and  some  classical  model  of  Greek  or  Roman 
patriotism  was  constantly  in  their  minds.  Instances  of 
great  men  mixing  in  the  ranks  of  common  soldiers,  were 


168  JOSEPH    WARREN. 

to  be  found  in  ancient  times,  when  men  fought  for  their 
altars  and  their  homes.  Tlie  cases  were  parallel,  and  the 
examples  were  imposing.  When  the  battle  was  decided, 
and  our  people  fled,  Warren  was  one  of  the  last  who  left 
the  breast-work,  and  was  slain  within  a  few  yards  of  it  as 
he  was  slowly  retiring.  He  probably  felt  mortified  at  the 
event  of  the  day  ;  but,  had  he  known  how  dearly  the  vic- 
tory was  purchased,  and  how  little  honor  was  gained  by 
those  who  won  it,  his  heart  might  have  been  at  rest.  Like 
the  band  of  Leonidas,  the  vanquished  have  received  by 
the  judgment  of  nations,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal, 
the  imperishable  laurels  of  victors.  His  death  brought  a 
sickness  to  the  heart  of  the  community,  and  the  people 
mourned  his  fall,  not  with  the  convulsive  agony  of  a 
betrothed  virgin  over  the  bleeding  corse  of  her  lover,  but 
with  the  pride  of  the  Spartan  mother,  who  in  the  intensity 
of  her  grief  smiled  to  see  that  the  wounds  whence  life  had 
flown,  were  on  the  breast  of  her  son,  and  was  satisfied  that 
he  had  died  in  defence  of  his  country.  The  worth  of  ths 
victim,  and  the  horror  of  the  sacrifice,  gave  a  higher  val- 
ue to  our  liberties,  and  produced  a  more  fixed  determina- 
tion to  preserve  them. 

This  eminence  has  become  sacred  jrround.  It  contains 
in  its  bosom  the  ashes  of  the  brave  who  died  fighting  to 
defend  their  altars  and  their  homes.  Strangers  from  all 
countries  visit  this  spot,  for  it  is  associated  in  their  mem- 
ories with  Marathon  and  Plataeae,  and  all  the  mighty 
struggles  of  determined  freemen.  Our  citizens  love  to 
wander  over  this  field — the  aged  to  awake  recollections, 
and  the  youthful  to  excite  heroic  emotions.  The  battle 
ground  is  now  all  plainly  to  be  seen — the  spirit  of  modern 
improvement,  which  would  stop  the  streams  of  Helicon  to 
turn  a  mill,  and  cause  to  be  felled  the  trees  of  Paradise  to 
make  a  rafter,  has  yet  spared  this  hallowed  height. 

If  "  the  days  of  chivalry  be  gone  forever,"  and  the  high 
and  enthusiastic  feelings  of  generosity  and  magnanimity 
be  not  so  widely  diff"used  as  in  more  heroic  ages,  yet  it 
cannot  be  denied  but  that  there  have  been,  and  still  are,  in- 
dividuals whose  bosoms  are  warmed  with  a  spirit  as  glowing 
and  etherial,  as  ever  swelled  the  heart  of"  mailed  knight," 
who  in  the  ecstasies  of  love,  religion  and  martial  glory, 
joined  the  war-cry  on  the  plains  of  Palestine,  or  proved 
his  steel  on  the  infidel  foe.  The  history  of  every  revolu- 
tion is  interspersed  with  brilliant  episodes  of  individual 


JOSEPH    WARREIt.  169 

prowess.  The  pages  of  our  own  history,  when  fully  Written 
6ut,  will  sparkle  profusely  with  these  gems  of  romantic 
Valor. 

The  calmness  and  indifference  of  the  veteran  "  in  clouds 
of  dust  and  seas  of  blood,"  can  only  be  acquired  by  long 
acquaintance  with  the  trade  of  death  ;  but  the  heights  of 
Charlestown  will  bear  eternal  testimony  how  suddenly  in 
the  cause  of  freedom  the  peaceful  citizen  can  become  the 
invincible  warrior  ;  stung  by  oppression,  he  springs  for- 
wrard  from  his  tranquil  pursuits,  undaunted  by  opposition 
and  undismayed  by  danger,  to  fight  even  to  death  for  the 
defence  of  his  rights.  Parents,  wives,  children,  and  coun- 
try, all  the  liallowed  properties  of  existence,  are  to  him 
the  talisman  that  takes  fear  from  his  heart,  and  nerves  his 
arm  to  victory.  In  the  requiem  over  those  who  have 
fallen  in  the  cause  of  their  country,  which  "Time  with 
his  own  eternal  lips  shall  sing,"  the  praises  of  Warren 
shall  be  distinctly  heard. 

The  blood  of  those  patriots  who  have  fallen  in  the  de- 
fence of  republics  has  often  "  cried  from  the  ground" 
against  the  ingratitude  of  the  country  for  which  it  was 
shed.  No  monument  was  reared  to  their  fame  ;  no  record 
of  their  virtues  written  ;  no  fostering  hand  extended  to 
their  offspring  ;  but  they  and  their  deeds  were  neglected 
and  forgotten.  Towards  Warren  there  was  no  ingrati- 
tude— our  country  is  free  from  this  stain.  Congress  were 
the  guardians  of  his  honor,  and  remembered  that  his  chil- 
dren were  unprotected  orphans.  Within  a  year  after  his 
death,  congress  passed  the  following  resolution. 

"  That  a  monument  be  erected  to  the  memory  of  Gen- 
eral Warren,  in  the  town  of  Boston,  with  the  following 
inscription: — 

IN  HONOR  OF 

JOSEPH  WARREN, 

MAJOR    GENERAL    OF   MASSACHUSETTS    BAY. 

HE  DEVOTED  HIS  LIFE  TO  THE  LIBERTIES  OF  HIS  COUNTRY, 
AND  IN  BRAVELY  DEFENDING  THEM,  FELL  AN  EARLY  VICTIM  IN  THE 

Battle  of  nnnUtv  Wlh 

JUNE  17,  1775. 

Th«  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  hi»  services  Arti 
distinguished  merit,  have  erected  this  monument  to  his  memo»y." 

VOL.  II.  23 


170  KICHOLAS    BAKER    WATER*. 

It  was  resolved,  likewise,  "  that  the  eldest  son  of  Gen- 
eral Warren  should  be  educated  from  that  time  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  United  States."  On  the  first  of  July,  1780, 
congress  recognising  these  former  resolutions,  further  re- 
solved, "that  it  should  be  recommended  to  the  Executive 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  make  provision  for  the  mainte- 
nance and  eckication  of  his  three  younger  children,  and 
that  congress  would  defray  the  expense  to  the  amount  of 
the  half  pay  of  a  major  general,  to  commence  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  and  continue  till  the  youngest  of  the  children 
should  be  of  age."  The  part  of  the  resolutions  relating  to 
the  education  of  the  children,  Avas  carried  into  effect  ac- 
cordingly. The  monument  is  not  yet  erected,  but  it  is  not 
too  late.  The  shade  of  Warren  will  not  repine  at  this 
neglect,  while  the  ashes  of  Washington  repose  without 
grave  stone  or  epitaph. 

The  preceding  memoir  is  taken  from  the  Monthly  Mag- 
azine published  in  Boston,  June,  1823,  and  is  the  produc- 
tion of  Samuel  L.  Knapp,  Esq. 

WATERS,  NICHOLAS  BAKER,  M.D.  He  was  born 
in  Maryland  in  the  year  1764.  His  father  was  a  respecta- 
ble planter,  and  possessed  a  fine  farm  which  furnished  iiira 
with  every  comfort  and  luxury  which  he  desired.  This 
he  unfortunately  sold  during  the  American  war,  for  paper 
money  which  depreciated  almost  to  nothing  before  he 
could  invest  it  in  other  property.  He  afterwards  remov- 
ed to  Philadelphia,  where  he  died. 

The  place  of  Dr.  Waters's  early  education  cannot  now 
be  ascertained  ;  but  it  did  credit  to  his  preceptor,  whoever 
lie  may  have  been.  He  was  an  excellent  classical  and 
English  scholar.  He  studied  medicine  first  under  his  un- 
cle Dr.  William  Baker,  a  distinguished  practitioner  in  Ma- 
ryland, and  finished  it  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  the  instruction  derived  from  a  residence  of 
several  years  in  the  Pennsylvania  hospital  and  attending 
the  meilical  lectures  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  In  the 
year  1783  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
Ths  subject  of  liis  inaugural  dissertation  was  the  Scarlatina 
Cynanchica  ;  and  according  to  the  rules  of  the  college  it 
was  written  in  the  Latin  language.  He  settled  in  Phila- 
dalphi.i,  and  in  the  year  1791  performed  a  very  acceptable 
task  to  the  Facvdty  by  abridging  the  expensive  voluminous 
and  verbose  system  of  Surgery  by  Benjamin  Bell  of  Edin- 
burgh, to  which  the  late  Dr.  John  Jones  added  a  number 


HU&a  wittiAMsoir.  171 

of  useful  practical  notes.  It  was  published  in  one  large 
0(  tavo  volume. 

The  frame  of  Dr.  Waters's  body  was  slight,  and  has  con- 
stitution delicate  ;  and  shortly  after  his  graduation  syinp- 
toms  of  a  pulmonary  disease  made  their  appearance.  Wiih 
the  view  of  obtaining  relief  he  went  to  the  We:t  Indies, 
and  received  temporary  benefit.  In  the  year  1790  hs  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Hester  Rittenhouse.  the  daugh- 
ter  of  the  eminent  and  amiable  astronomer,  David  Ritten- 
house of  Philadelphia,  with  whom  he  enjoyed  great  happi- 
ness during  the  remainder  of  his  short  life.  The  pulmonary 
affection,  however,  with  which  he  had  long  been  threat- 
ened, made  slow,  but  steady  progress,  and  in  the  year 
1796  he  finished  his  earthly  career  to  the  great  regret  of 
the  Medical  Faculty,  and  all  his  acquaintance. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  modesty  and  delicacy  of  senti- 
ment, and  of  polished  manners  ;  a  hard  student  and  of  ex- 
cellent talents  in  his  profession.  Had  it  pleased  Providence 
to  spare  his  life,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  would  have 
risen  to  eminence  as  a  physician.  He  was  appointed  phy- 
sician to  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary,  and  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia. — 
Dr.  Mease. 

WILLIAMSON,  HUGH,  M.D.  LL.D.,  was  a  native  of 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania  ;  he  was  born  on  the  5th  day  of 
December,  1735,  in  West  Nottingham  township,  near  Oc- 
tarara  river,  which  divides  Chester  from  Lancaster  coun- 
ty. His  parents  were  natives  of  Irel md,  but  their  earlier 
ancestors,  it  is  believed,  came  originally  from  Scotland. 

His  father,  John  Williamson,  was  an  industrious  trades- 
man, who  had  pursued  his  business,  that  of  a  clothier,  in 
the  city  of  Dublin.  He  came  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Chester  county,  al)ont  the  year  1730. 

The  mother  of  Dr.  Williamson,  Mary  Davison,  was  a 
native  of  Derry  ;  with  her  father,  George  Davison,  she 
came  to  this  country  when  a  child  about  tliree  years  of 
age  ;  on  their  way  to  America  they  were  captured  and 
plundered  on  the  coast  by  Theach,  the  noted  pirate  Black- 
beard  ;  upon  beintj  released  they  ariived  in  Philadelphia. 
She  died  about  fifteen  years  since,  having  attainecl  her 
90th  year.  The  parents  of  Dr.  Williamson  were  married 
in  the  year  1731,  shortly  after  his  father's  arrival  in  this 
country  ;  and  ten  children,  viz.  six    sons  and  four  daugh- 


172  HUGH    VVILHAMSON. 

ters,  were  the  fruits  of  that  connexion.  Hugh  was  their 
eldest  son. 

His  parents  were  both  distinguished  for  their  undeviat- 
ing  integrity — their  habits  of  industry  and  frugality — their 
great  moral  worth,  and  attention  to  the  duties  of  religion. 
Of  this  parentage,  Dr.  Williamson  was  justly  proud. 

His  father,  observing  that  Hugh  was  of  a  slender,  deli- 
cate constitution,  and  that  he  was  not  likely  to  attain  to 
that  vigor  that  would  enable  him  to  support  himself  by 
manual  labor,  resolved  to  give  him  a  liberal  education. 
After  having  received  the  common  preparatory  instruction 
of  a  country  school,  near  his  father's  house,  he  was  sent  at 
an  early  age  to  learn  the  languages  at  an  academy  estab- 
lished at  New-London  Cross  Roads,  under  the  direction 
of  that  very  eminent  scholar,  the  Rev.  Francis  Alison. 

In  the  prosecution  of  his  studies,  while  at  school,  he 
distinguished  himself  by  his  diligence,  his  love  of  order, 
and  his  correct,  moral  and  religious  deportment  ;  for  even 
at  that  early  age  he  had  imbibed  from  his  parents  and  in- 
structers,  a  due  sense  of  that  "  intimate  connexion  which 
subsists  between  letters  and  morality,  between  sensibility 
and  taste,  between  an  improved  mind  and  a  virtuous 
heart."*  Accordingly,  under  the  impulse  of  these  first 
impressions,  through  life  he 

"  all  his  study  bent 


To  worship  God  aright,  and  know  his  works." 

Thus  prepared  under  the  care  of  his  eminent  teachers, 
he  retired  from  the  seminary  of  Dr.  Alison,  and  at  his 
father's  house  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  Euclid's  El- 
ements, of  which  in  a  short  time  he  became  master.  I 
may  here  observe  that  he  discovered  very  early  in  life,  a 
strong  attachment  to  mathematical  reasoning,  and  to  that 
order  and  precision  which  the  science  of  mathematics  im- 
presses upon  the  mind  ;  but  his  absolute  want  of  a  poeti- 
cal talent  was  not  less  perceptible. 

The  father  now  proposed  to  send  his  son  to  Europe  to 
finish  his  education  that  had  been  so  successfully  begun  ; 
but,  as  a  charter  had  been  obtained  for  the  academy  in 
Philadelphia  about  the  time  he  was  to  have  sailed,  it  was 
concluded  that  he  should  immdiately  proceed  to  that  city. 
Accordingly,  he  entered  in  the  first  class  in  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  four  years  ;  and  at  the 

*  Johnson. 


HUGH    U'lLLlAMSON. 


173 


first  commencement  held  in  that  college,  on  the  Hth  day 
of  May,  1 757,  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
A  little  anterior  to  this  period,  his  father  and  family  had 
removed  to  Shippensburgh,  Cumberland  County.  His 
father  died  in  the  same  year  that  his  son  received  his  first 
degree. 

Hugh  was  appointed  his  sole  executor,  and,  upon  the 
event  of  his  father's  death,  took  up  his  residence  with  his 
mother  at  Shippensburgh,  where  he  remained  about  two 
years,  during  which  period  he  in  a  great  degree  devoted 
himself  to  the  settlement  of  his  father's  estate,  personally 
collecting  the  debts  that  were  due  to  it,  and  which  were 
very  much  scattered.  By  the  fatigue  of  body,  in  connex- 
ion with  the  distress  of  mind  he  experienced  upon  the 
death  of  his  father,  his  constitution  received  a  shock  which 
induced  an  alarming  hypochondriasis,  that  was  only  reliev- 
ed by  travelling,  and  a  release  from  the  anxiety  and  care 
which  his  attention  to  business  had  imposed. 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  Mr.  Williamson's  mind 
was  early  impressed  with  a  sense  of  religion.  It  is  a  re- 
mark of  an  excellent  writer,  who  duly  appreciates  this  un- 
ion of  the  intellectual  faculties  with  purity  of  moral  char- 
acter and  conduct  in  life,  "  That  knowledge  only  is  of 
value  which  exalts  the  virtue,  multiplies  the  comforts, 
soothes  the  sorrow,  and  improves  the  general  felicity  of 
human  intercourse."*  With  Mr.  Williamson  this  sentiment 
was  not  a  mere  speculative  opinion  ;  it  entered  into  the 
daily  practice  and  pursuits  of  his  life,  and  that  love  of 
truth  and  virtue  which  philosophy  had  taught  him  as  a 
dignified  sentiment,  Christianity  consecrated  as  a  religious 
duty.  With  this  frame  of  mind,  itAvas  his  original  inten- 
tion, and  he  considered  it  his  duty,  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  ministry,  at  the  same  time  believing  that  occupation 
to  be  the  most  honorable  and  useful  in  which  he  could  be 
engaged,  and  for  which  his  piety  and  education  had  pecu- 
liarly qualified  him.  "  It  was  remarkable,"  says  a  com- 
munication which  I  have  received  from  his  family,  "  that 
before  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  divinity,  while  yet 
quite  a  young.man,  he  visited  and  prayed  with  the  sick  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  it  was  pleasing  to  the  pious  of 
those  days  to  remark  the  fervency  and  devotion  with 
which  this  young  layman  approached  the  throne  of  grace." 


•  Wakefield. 


174  HUSH    WILLIAMSOrr. 

During  the  period  of  his  residence  with  his  mother, 
then  a  widow,  he  devoted  all  his  time  not  occupied  by  the 
business  of  his  father's  estate,  to  the  study  of  divinity,  fre- 
quently visiting  Dr.  Samuel  Finley,  an  eminent  divine. 
In  1759  Mr.  Williamson  went  to  Connecticut,  where 
he  still  pursued  his  theological  studies,  and  was  licensed 
to  preach  the  gospel.  After  his  return  from  Connecti- 
cut, he  was  also  admitted  a  member  of  the  presbytery  of 
Philadelphia.  He  preached  but  a  short  time,  not  exceed- 
ing two  years,  and  then  his  preaching  must  have  been 
only  occasional  ;  he  never  was  ordained,  or  took  charge 
of  a  congregation,  for  his  health  did  not  permit  him 
to  perform  the  stated  duties  of  a  pastor.  The  infirm 
state  of  his  health  in  early  life  made  it  very  questionable 
whether,  his  lungs  would  bear  the  exertions  of  public 
speaking ;  these  apprehensions  were  now  verified,  for  he 
became  much  troubled  witli  pains  and  strictures  of  his 
chest,  which  led  him  to  abandon  the  profession  tliat  was  the 
first  object  of  his  choice,  and  to  which  he  was  from  a  sense 
of  duty  attached.  The  memorable  controversy,  too,  which 
took  place  about  that  period  in  the  Presbyterian  church 
between  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Whitefield,  and  those  who 
considered  themselves  as  the  old  and  more  orthodox  party, 
also  proved  to  him  a  source  of  great  disgust,  and,  I  am  in- 
formed, had  great  influence  in  withdrawing  him  from  his 
theological  pursuits  ;  he  accordingly  left  the  pulpit,  and 
entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine.  To  this  science,  it 
appears,  he  also  had  already  manifested  some  predilection  ; 
his  nephew  remarks  upon  this  subject  "my  mother  can 
give  but  little  information  respecting  tlie  doctor's  study  of 
medicine  ;  she,  however,  believes  tliat  this  science  must 
have  been  a  favorite  study  w^ith  him  long  before  he  had 
determined  to  attend  to  it  regularly,  as  she  found  him, 
when  studying  divinity,  giving  directions  respecting  inoc- 
ulation for  the  smallpox." 

In  the  year  1760  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  immediately 
after  appointed  the  professor  of  mathematics  in  that  insti- 
tution. He  accepted  the  professorship,  regarding  it  a 
most  honorable  appointment,  but  without  any  intention  of 
neglecting  his  medical  studies.     It  had  been  observed  of 

*  Dr.  Williamson  in  1759  preached  a  discourse  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  previoui  to  the  arrival  and  settlement  of  the 
Kev.  Dr.  Chandler  Robbing. —T. 


HUGH    WILLIAMSOJ*.  175 

him  very  early  in  life,  that  he  had  a  strong  natural  fond- 
nes^s  for  mathematical  investigation,  and  it  was  remarked 
that,  while  he  was  a  student  in  college,  all  his  public  ex- 
ercises and  disputations  partook  so  much  of  the  mathe- 
matical form  of  reasoning,  that  he  was  considered  by  his  fel- 
low students  as  an  adroit  and  obstinate  antagonist. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1763,  as  I  am  informed  by  my 
venerable  friend,  Bishop  White,  Mr.  Williamson  gave  no- 
tice of  his  intended  resignation  of  his  profe:«sorship  ;  and 
in  1764  he  left  his  native  country  for  Europe,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  prosecuting  his  medical  studies  at  the  University 
of  Edinburgh. 

He  remained  in  that  city,  enjoying  the  advantages  of 
instruction  aiforded  by  the  lectures  of  the  elder  Monro, 
WJiytte,  Cullen,  Home,  Alston,  and  Dr.  John  Gregory, 
the  author  of  the  Legacy.  During  his  stay  in  Edinburgh, 
Mr.  Williamson  was  occasionally  confined  to  his  chamber 
or  bed  by  intermitting  fevers  and  pains  in  the  breast,  'so 
much  so  that  he  had  nearly  resolved  to  make  a  visit  to 
Lisbon,  or  some  other  warm  climate  ;  but,  recovering 
from  these  complaints  at  the  close  of  the  lectures,  he  left 
Edinburgh,  made  a  tour  through  the  northern  parts  of 
Scotland,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  London,  where  he 
remained  twelve  months,  diligently  pursuing  his  studies, 
and,  as  at  Edinburgh,  by  his  zeal  attracting  the  notice  and 
kind  attentions  of  his  instructers.  From  London  he 
crossed  over  to  Holland,  and  proceeded  to  Utrecht,  where 
he  completed  his  medical  education.  Having  passed  the 
usual  examination,  in  which  he  displayed  his  classical  and 
medical  attainments,  and  having  submitted  to  the  profes- 
sors of  that  University  a  Latin  tliesis,  he  obtained  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  afterwards  amused  him- 
self with  a  tour  on  the  continent,  from  which  he  returned 
to  his  native  country  in  a  state  of  health  considerably 
improved. 

After  his  return  Dr.  Williamson  practised  medicine  in 
Philadelphia  for  some  years  with  great  success,  as  it  re- 
spected the  health  of  his  patients,  but  Avith  painful  effects 
as  it  regarded  his  own.  By  the  occasional  loss  of  sleep, 
to  which  he  was  necessarily  exposed,  his  constitution  soon 
became  considerably  impaired  ;  and  so  acute  Avas  his  sen- 
sibility to  the  sufferings  of  the  sick,  that  he  seldom  had  a 
patient,  in  imminent  danger,  without  experiencing  a  febrile 
excitement  of  the  system.     He  therefore  resolved  to  aban- 


17G  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

don  medicine,  and  to  attempt  the  relief  of  his  constitution 
by  mercantile  pursuits.  Fortunately  for  the  interests  of  sci- 
ence and,  I  may  add,  for  our  country,  this  resolution  was 
not  carried  into  effect  until  some  years  after  this  period. 
In  the  mean  while  Dr.  Williamson  remained  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia. 

Shortly  after  this  time  the  attention  of  the  philosophers 
both  of  Europe  and  America,  was  directed  to  an  event 
which  was  about  to  take  place,  of  great  importance  to  as- 
tronomical science  and  to  navigation  :  I  refer  to  the  transit 
of  Venus  over  the  sun's  disk,  which  occurred  on  the  third 
day  of  June,  1769.  This  phenomenon,  which  presented 
to  the  American  mathematicians  and  astronomers  an  ample 
occasion  for  the  display  of  their  abilities  in  these  depart- 
ments of  science,  as  might  be  expected,  attracted  great 
attention  in  the  colonies.  At  a  meeting  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  held  on  the  7th  day  of  January, 
1769,  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson  was  appointed  a  member  of  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  David  Rittenhouse,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Ewing,  Dr.  Smith,  provost  of  the  college,  Mr.  Charles 
Thompson,  and  others. 

The  contacts  of  the  limbs  of  Venus  and  the  sun,  as  ob- 
served and  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Williamson,  together  with 
the  determination  of  the  sun's  parallax  and  distance,  as 
derived  from  those  observations,  are  communicated  to  the 
world  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Philadelphia. 

The  observations  published  on  that  memorable  occasion, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,  Mr.  David  Rittenhouse,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Smith,  by  Professor  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  as 
well  as  those  by  Dr.  Williamson,  and  other  American 
astronomers,  were  considered  by  the  philosophers  of  Eu- 
rope as  highly  creditable  to  their  authors,  and  of  great 
importance  to  the  cause  of  science.  By  the  astronomer 
royal,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nevil  Maskelyne,  they  were  referred 
to  with  peculiar  notice  and  approbation. 

Soon  after  this  event,  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Philadelphia,  sensible  of  the  correctness  and  ability  with 
which  the  labors  referred  to  had  been  conducted,  appoint- 
ed the  same  committee,  of  which  Dr.  Williamson  had 
been  an  active  member,  to  observe  the  transit  of  Mercury, 
which  was  to  take  place  on  the  9th  day  of  November  of 
the  same  year.  The  observations  of  Dr.  Williamson,  with 
the  elements  of  his  calculation  of  that  transit,  are  also  con- 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  Hi 

tained  in  the  same  important  volume  of  the  American 
Transactions. 

In  the  month  of  Septemher,  of  the  same  momentous 
year,  a  considerable  degree  of  public  alarm  was  excited  by 
the  appearance  of  a  remarkable  comet.  Its  tail  was  of 
vast  extent,  subtending  an  arch  of  ten  or  fifteen  degrees. 
Dr.  Williamson,  who  had  reflected  much  upon  subjects  of 
this  nature,  could  not  allow  himself  to  believe  that  com- 
ets, more  than  other  heavenly  bodies,  were  destructive 
masses  of  fire.  Having  considered  the  subject  with  great 
attention,  he  presented  to  the  American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety a  theory  which  seems  to  have  been  perfectly  new, 
and  which  he  ever  claimed  as  his  own.  The  paper  he  at 
that  time  published,  has  been  lately  rewritten,  and  in  an 
improved  form  has  been  again  communicated  to  the  pub- 
lic in  the  first  volume  of  tlie  Transactions  of  the  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society  of  New-York. 

In  the  following  year,  1770,  Dr.  Williamson  prepared 
and  published,  through  the  same  channel  of  communica- 
tion, some  observations  upon  the  change  of  climate  that 
had  been  remarked  to  take  place  more  particularly  in  the 
middle  colonies  of  North  America.  The  doctor  had  as- 
certained that,  within  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years,  the 
winters  had  not  been  so  intensely  cold,  nor  the  summers 
so  disagreeably  warm,  as  they  had  been  in  the  earlier  set- 
tlement of  the  country  ;  and  tliat  during  the  same  period 
a  very  observable  change  had  also  taken  place  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  prevailing  diseases  ;  tiiat  tlie  fevers  which  had 
for  many  years  maintained  a  fatal  reign  through  many 
parts  of  this  country,  were  then  evidently  on  the  decline  ; 
and  that  inflammatory  fevers,  wdth  the  several  diseases  of 
cold  seasons,  had  been  observed  to  remit  their  violence  as 
the  winters  had  become  more  temperate.  To  account  for 
these  facts  was  the  object  of  that  communication.  The 
view  taken  of  this  subject  gave  an  interest  to  that  paper 
which  caused  it  to  be  extensively  read  and  circulated.  In 
Europe  it  received  the  most  respectful  notice,  and  greatly 
extended  the  name  and  fame  of  its  author.  The  publica- 
tion of  this  interesting  paper,  with  those  which  had  pre- 
ceded it,  not  only  procured  for  Dr.  Williamson  the  notice 
of  the  various  literary  institutions  of  his  native  country, 
but  they  obtained  for  him  abroad  the  most  flattering  dis- 
tinctions. The  Holland  Society  of  Sciences,  the  Society 
of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  Utrecht,  conferred  upon  him,  in 
VOL.  II.  23 


178  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

the  most  honorable  manner,  a  membership  in  those  distin- 
guished institutions  ;  and  about  the  same  period  he  received 
from  a  foreign  university  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

New  scenes  now  opened  upon  his  view.  From  some 
letters  addressed  by  Dr.  Williamson  to  his  friend,  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,  it  appears  that  in  1 772  the  doctor  made 
a  voyage  to  the  West  India  islands,  for  the  purpose  of  col- 
lecting subscriptions  for  the  academy  of  Newark,  in  the 
state  of  Delaware,  of  which  institution  he  and  Dr.  Ewing 
were  trustees.  Exceedingly  anxious  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  academy,  while  he  was  yet  in  the  islands,  he  planned 
a  tour  through  Great  Britain  for  the  benefit  of  that  institu- 
tion  ;  his  project  was  communicated  to  the  trustees,  and 
received  their  approbation  ;  accordingly,  in  the  autumn 
of  1773,  Dr.  Williamson,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Ewing, 
afterwards  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
appointed  to  make  a  tour  through  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  to  solicit  further  benefactions  for  the  same  acade- 
my of  Newark. 

Thus  honorably  associated,  they  were  received  with 
great  attention  by  the  literati  and  other  men  of  influence 
in  Great  Britain  ;  a  circumstance  in  itself  highly  favorable 
to  the  object  of  their  mission.  Their  success,  however, 
w^as  but  indifferent. 

The  constant  hope  of  accommodation  with  the  colonies, 
and  the  example  of  the  King,  from  whom  they  received  a 
liberal  donation,  notwithstanding  his  great  displeasure  to- 
wards his  American  subjects,  encouraged  them  to  pei'se- 
vere  in  the  business  of  their  mission  until  the  autumn  of 
1775.  Hostilities  having  then  commenced.  Dr.  Ewing 
returned  to  America,  leaving  Dr.  Williamson  in  London, 
who  determined  to  remain  and  to  make  some  further 
efforts  for  the  establishment  of  his  favorite  academy.  But 
I  must  return  to  some  circumstances  of  importance  which 
here  claim  our  notice. 

The  vessel  in  which  Dr.  Williamson  had  engaged  pass- 
age for  Europe,  lay  in  the  harbor  of  Boston,  to  which 
place  he  had  proceeded,  and  was  waiting  for  her  sailing  at 
the  very  time  at  which  that  remarkable  circumstance  took 
place,  the  destruction  of  the  tea  of  the  East  India  Compa- 
ny. Upon  Dr.  Williamson's  arrival  in  England,  he  was 
the  first  to  report  to  the  British  Government  that  occur- 
rence ;  and,  after  a  private  interview  with  Lord  Dart- 
mouth, was  examined  on  the  subject  before  his  Majesty's 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  179 

Privy  Council  :  that  examination  took  place  on  the   lOtli 
of  February,   1774.     On    that   occasion   Dr.    Williamson 
ventured  to  declare  that,  if  the  coercive  measures  of  Par-  \ 
liament  wei-e  persisted  in,  nothing  less   than  a  civil   war  / 
would  be  the  result.     Time  soon  verified   his  prediction  ; 
but  the  want  of  correct  information   on   the   part   of  the 
British  ministry  as  to  the  state  of  public  feeling  in   this 
country,   seems  almost   incredible.     Lord  North   himself  ) 
has  been  heard  to  declare  that  Dr.  Williamson  was  the  first  7 
person  who,  in  his  hearing,  had  even  intimated  the  proba-  \ 
bility  of  such  an  event.*  ^ 


*  While  Dr.  Williamson  was  at  Boston,  he  became  acquainted  with  Messrs. 
Adams,  Warren,  Otis,  and  other  selectmen.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1773,  a 
few  days  after  the  tea  was  destroyed,  he  sailed  from  Boston  for  London  in  a  sliip 
that  belonged  to  Mr.  Hancock.  Governor  Hutchinson  had  sent  his  despatches  by 
a  brig  that  sailed  some  days  before  the  ship.  She  belonged  to  a  man  of  other  poli- 
tics. In  that  bng  sailed  three  gentlemen  passengers.  The  ship  arrived  six  days 
before  the  brig.  In  the  mean  time.  Dr.  W^illiamson,  in  conversation  with  Lord 
Dartmouth,  had  detailed  the  events  at  Boston.  The  three  gentlemen  who  arrived 
in  the  brig,  were  immediately  examined,  and  their  evidence,  signed  and  sworn  to 
before  the  Privy  Council,  was  afterwards  communicated  to  Parliament.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson being  sent  for,  was  at  first  examined  before  two  or  three  public  officers, 
about  the  1st  of  February,  1774,  preparatory  to  his  being  examined  before  the 
Privy  Council.  From  the  several  questions  that  had  been  put  to  him,  and  the 
direct  answers,  he  concluded  that  no  satisfactory  knowledge  could  hare  been  ac- 
quired of  the  late  incidents  in  Boston  :  therefore,  when  he  returned  to  his  lodging, 
he  wrote  a  regular  detail  of  the  several  material  incidents  he  had  observed  in  Bos- 
ton, which  included  an  answer  to  the  several  questions  that  had  been  put  to  him, 
and  a  statement  of  sundry  facts.  When  he  attended  the  next  day  at  the  Horse- 
Guards,  where  the  Privy  Council  sat,  an  officer  read  to  him  what  had  been  written 
as  his  answer  to  the  questions  that  had  been  propounded.  He  objected  to  the 
whole  as  incorrect,  and  handed  him  the  narrative  he  had  wiilten.  After  that  officer 
had  informed  the  council  of  the  Doctor's  objections  to  the  answers  as  written,  the 
Doctor  was  called  in,  and  the  Lord  President  informed  him  that  they  would  receive 
his  narrative,  but  wished  to  ask  him  a  few  more  questions.  The  clerk  wrote  his 
answer  to  one  of  the  questions  so  very  incorrectly,  as  to  convey  an  idea  very  dif- 
ferent from  what  was  intended  ;  of  this  the  Doctor  complained,  and  the  clerk  was 
properly  reprimanded.  When  the  examination  was  finished,  an  officer,  the  Attor- 
ney General,  handed  the  Doctor  a  book,  and  a  pen,  that  he  might  swear  and  sign 
his  name.  He  laid  down  the  pen,  requesting  their  lordships  to  believe  that  he  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  saying  things  that  he  was  not  willing  to  swear  ;  but,  although  he 
had  studied  medicine  and  not  law,  he  knew  so  much  of  the  law  as  that  a  witness 
should  not  be  examined  concerning  any  fact  that  might  endanger  a  man's  life,  un- 
less the  party  was  present  by  whom  he  might  be  interrogated.  This,  he  said,  was 
counted  to  be  the  law  in  England  ;  he  could  not  tell  whether  it  would  pass  for  law 
in  America  :  "  But  if  Ihe  measures  toere  about  to  be  pursued  by  Parliament 
against  America,  lohich  out  of  doors  were  said  to  be  intended,  ihe  time  urns  not 
far  distant,  when  his  native  country  would  be  deluged  iviih  blood."  "  This 
hand,"  said  he,  "  shall  be  guiltless  of  that  blood"  The  Lord  Chancellor  assured 
him,  that  the  examination  and  oath  now  taken  could  not  be  used  against  any  man 
who  might  be  prosecuted,  and  tried  for  life  ;  and  the  president  declared  upon  his 
honor  that  it  had  been  the  custom,  time  out  of  mind,  to  examine  witnesses  upon 
oath  before  the  Privy  Council,  consequently  this  could  not  be  considered  as  setting 
a  novel  precedent.  Dr.  Williamson  then  subscribed  the  narrative.  The  examina- 
tions of  the  other  three  gentlemen  were  communicated  to  Parliament,  but  Dr. 
W.  understood  that  his  examination  had  not  been  communicated,  nor  could  ho  think 


180  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

We  now  come  to  an  event  memorable  by  the  commo- 
tion it  excited  at  the  time,  and  by  the  magnitude  of  the 
consec[nences  which  have  since  arisen  from  it  ;  I  refer  to 
the  discovery  of  the  celebrated  Letters  of  Hutcliinson  and 
Oliver  :  and  here  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  notice  to  a  few 
of  the  earlier  circumstances  of  the  late  revolutionary  war, 
in  order  to  communicate  a  fact  hitherto  unrevealed. 

Althouo;h  the  disturbances  which  originated  in  the  fam- 
ous  stamp  act,  had  nearly  subsided  with  the  repeal  of  that 
noxious  measure,  and  returning  sentiments  of  friendship 
were  every  day  becoming  more  manifest,  yet  new  obsta- 
cles to  a  permanent  reconciliation  appeared  in  the  attempts 
of  the  British  administration  to  render  certain  officers  of 
the  provincial  governments  dependent  on  the  crown  alone. 
This  measure  of  the  court  gave  particular  offence  to  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts,  from  the  peculiarly  obnoxious 
character  of  their  governor,  who,  impelled  by  avarice  and 
by  the  love  of  dominion,  had,  in  furtherance  of  his 
schemes  of  self-aggrandizement,  uniformly  manifested  the 
most  determined  support  to  the  views  and  measures  of  the 
mother  country.  However  discreditable  to  his  reputation 
it  may  be,  certain  it  is  that  Governor  Hutchinson  was  se- 
cretly laboring  to  subvert  the  chartered  rights  of  the  colo- 
ny, whose  interests  he  had  sworn  to  protect.  His  agency 
in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act  was  more  than 
suspected,  and  apparently  upon  reasonable  grounds. 
'  The  illustrious  Franklin,  who  had  recently  rendered 
himself  conspicuous  by  his  examination  before   a  commit- 

of  any  reason  why  it  should  have  been  suppressed,  unless  that  he  had  observed  in 
the  course  of  his  narrative,  that  the  selectmen  in  Boston  caused  a  guard  to  be  plac- 
ed over  the  tea  ships,  for  the  double  purpose,  as  they  alleged,  of  preventing  the  tea 
from  being  smuggled  on  shore,  and  of  preventing  evil-minded  persons  from  destroy- 
ing the  ships  or  tea  ;  for  they  had  determined  that  both  should  return  to  London. 
As  that  fact  seemed  to  invalidate  the  charge  of  the  premeditated  intention  of  the 
selectmen  to  destroy  the  tea,  which  charge,  however,  was  of  great  use  to  the 
administration  in  their  desire  to  cripple  the  town  of  Boston,  it  may  have  caused  the 
suppression  of  his  evidence.  [The  author  of  this  memoir  is  in  possession  of  the 
original  draft  of  Dr.  Williamson's  narrative  communicated  to  the  Privy  Council.] 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  neither  Governor  Hutchinson,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, nor  any  other  man  in  the  service  of  the  governor,  should  have  had  the 
candor  to  intimate  to  the  Prime  Minister  that  resistance  might  be  the  effect  of 
severe  measures. 

In  October,  1776,  Lord  North,  having  sent  for  Mr.  Ralph  Izard,  then  in  Lon- 
don, and  Dr.  Williamson,  to  ask  their  opinion  concerning  the  operation  of  a  parti- 
cular law,  told  the  Doctor  that  he,  in  presence  of  the  Privy  Council,  was  the  first 
person  that  ever  had  intimated,  in  his  hearing,  the  probability  of  a  civil  war  in 
America. 

The  particular  facts  contained  in  this  note,  were  communicated  to  the  writer  by 
Dr.  Williamion,  a  ihort  time  before  his  decease. 


HUGH  WILLIAMSON.  181 

tee  of  the  British  Privy  Council,  and  who  at  tliis  period 
resided  in,  London  as  agent  for  the  colonies  of  Pennsylva- 
nia and  Massachusetts,  obtained  possession,  through  the 
agency  of  a  third  person,  of  certain  letters  written  by 
Governor  Hutchinson  ;  Secretary  Oliver,  afterwards 
Lieutenant  Governor  ;  Charles  Paxton,  Esquire,  and  other 
servants  of  the  crown  ;  and  sent  by  them  from  Boston  to 
Thomas  Whately,  Esquire,  Member  of  Parliament,  and  a 
private  Secretary  of  Lord  Grenville. 

In  these  letters  the  character  of  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts was  painted  in  the  most  odious  colors,  and  their  griev- 
ances and  proceedings  misrepresented  by  falsehoods  tlie 
most  glaring  and  unfounded.  It  would  seem  to  have  been 
equally  the  object  of  Governor  Hutchinson  and  his  coad- 
jutors, to  furnish  excuses  for  the  ministry,  already  suffi- 
ciently disposed  to  adopt  every  measure  of  severity  to- 
wards the  colonists  through  the  pi'ejudiced  representations 
of  Bernard  and  his  commissioners  ;  and  to  jioison  the  minds 
of  the  opposition,  who  had  on  most  occasions  proved 
themselves  their  warm  advocates. 

Dr.  Franklin  lost  no  time  in  transmitting  these  letters 
to  his  constituents  at  Boston.  "  The  indignation  and  ani- 
mosity which  were  excited,  on  their  perusal,  knew  no 
bounds.  The  House  of  Representatives  agreed  on  a  peti- 
tion and  remonstrance  to  his  Majesty,  in  which  they 
charged  their  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor  with  be- 
ing betrayers  of  their  trust,  and  of  the  people  they  govern- 
ed ;  and  of  giving  private,  partial  and  false  information. 
They  also  declared  them  enemies  to  the  colonies,  and 
prayed  for  justice  against  them,  and  for  their  speedy  re- 
moval from  their  places."* 

Their  petition  and  the  remonstrance  of  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  were  communicated  to  his  Majesty's  Privy 
Council  by  Dr.  Franklin  in  person,  and,  after  hearing  by 
that  board,  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor  were 
acquitted.  It  was  on  this  occasion  tliat  Mr.  Wedderburn, 
afterwards  Lord  Loughborough,  who  was  emploved  as 
coimsel  on  the  part  of  the  Governor,  pronounced  liis  fa- 
mous philippic  against  Dr.  Franklin  ;  Avhich  has  always 
been  considered  among  the  most  finished  specimens  of  ora- 
tory in  the  English  language  In  this  speech  he  charged 
that  venerable  character  with  having  procured  the  letters 

*  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Franklin^  4to.  p.  183.   Lond.  ed.  I81S. 


182  HUGH  WILLIAMSO:^. 

Ijy  unfair  means.  "  The  letters  could  not  have  come  to 
Dr.  Franklin,"  says  Mr.  Wedderburn,  "  by  fair  means  ; 
the  writers  did  not  give  them  to  him,  nor  yet  did  the  de- 
ceased correspondent,  Mr.  Whately,  who,  from  our  inti- 
macy, would  have  told  me  of  it  :  nothing  then  will  acquit 
Dr.  Franklin  of  the  charge  of  obtaining  them  by  fraudu- 
lent or  corrupt  means,  for  the  most  malignant  of  purposes: 
unless  he  stole  them  from  the  person  who  stole  them. 
This  argument  is  irrefragable. 

"  I  hope,  my  lords,  you  will  mark  and  brand  the  man, 
for  the  honor  of  this  country,  of  Europe,  and  of  mankind. 
Private  correspondence  has  hitherto  been  held  sacred  at 
times  of  the  greatest  party  rage  ;  not  only  in  politics,  but 
religion."  "  He  has  forfeited  all  the  respect  of  societies 
and  of  men.  Into  what  companies  will  he  hereafter  go 
with  an  unembarrassed  face,  or  the  honest  intrepidity  of 
virtue  ?  Men  will  watch  him  with  a  jealous  eye  ;  they 
will  hide  their  papers  from  him,  and  lock  up  their  escru- 
toires.  He  will  henceforth  esteem  it  a  libel  to  be  called  a 
man  of  letters^  homo  triujvi  literarum."* 

A  controversy  having  taken  place  in  the  public  prints 
between  Mr.  William  Whately,  the  brother  of  tlie  secretary 
to  whom  the  letters  had  been  addressed  and  who  was  now 
dead,  and  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  John  Temple,  arising  out  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  letters  of  Governor  Hutchinson 
had  been  procured  and  transmitted  to  Boston,  and  which 
dispute  was  followed  by  a  duel  between  those  two  gentle- 
men, Dr.  Franklin,  in  order  to  prevent  any  further  mis- 
chief, published  a  letter  in  the  newspapers,  in  which  he 
assumed  the  entire  responsibility  of  sending  the  papers  to 
America.  Alluding  to  this  letter  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr. 
Wedderburn  continued  : 

"  But  he  not  only  took  away  the  letters  from  one  broth- 
er, but  kept  himself  concealed  till  he  had  nearly  occasion- 
ed the  murder  of  tlie  other.  It  is  impossible  to  read  his 
account,  expressive  of  the  coolest  and  most  deliberate  mal- 
ice, without  horror.  Amid  these  tragical  events,  of  one 
person  nearly  murdered,  of  another  answerable  for  the 
issue  ;  of  a  worthy  governor  hurt  in  his  dearest  interest  ; 
the  fate  of  America  is  in  suspense.  Here  is  a  man,  who 
with  the  utmost  insensibility  of  remorse   stands   up  and 

*  Memoirs  of  Franklin,  4to.  Vol.  I.  Appendix.  See  also  the  letters  of  Governor 
Hutchinson,  and  Lieutenant  Governor  Oliver,  &c.  and  remarks  thereon,  by  Israel 
JSIaudit,  with  the  assembly's  address,  &c.   2d  edition.    London,  1774. 


HUGH  WILLIAMSON.  183 

avows  himself  the  author  of  all  :  I  can  compare  it  only  to 
Zanga,  in  Dr.  Young's  Revenge  : — 

'  Know  then  'twas  I — 
I  forged  the  letter — I  disposed  the  picture — 
I  hated — I  despised — and  I  destroy.' 

"  I  ask,  my  lords,  whether  the  revengeful  temper,  attri- 
buted by  poetic  fiction  only  to  the  bloody  African,  is  not 
surpassed  by  the  coolness  and  apathy  of  the  wily  Ameri- 
can ?" 

The  speeches  of  Mr.  Dunning,  afterwards  Lord  Ashbur- 
ton,  and  Mr.  Lee,  who  appeared  as  counsel  in  behalf  of 
the  assembly  of  Massachusetts,  were  never  reported  at 
length  ;  but  they  chiefly  insisted  upon  the  noxious  parts  of 
the  letters  of  Hutchinson  and  Oliver. 

By  the  preceding  extracts  from  the  speech  of  Mr.  Wed- 
derburn,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  chief  subject  of  his  vehe- 
ment invective  Was  the  disclosure,  by  Dr.  Franklin,  of 
what  was  termed  by  the  Parliamentary  orator  a  private 
correspondence.*  But  the  truth  is,  these  letters  could  not 
be  considered  in  any  wise  as  private  ;  but  were  as  public 
as  letters  could  be.  To  use  the  emphatic  language  of  Dr. 
Franklin  himself,  "  They  were  not  of  the  nature  of  pri- 
vate letters  between  friencls  ;  they  were  written  by  public 
officers  to  persons  in  public  stations,  on  public  affairs,  and 
intended  to  procure  public  measures  :  they  were  therefore 
handed  to  other  pid^lic  persons,  who  might  be  influenced  by 
them  to  produce  those  measures.  Their  tendency  was  to  in- 
cense the  mother  country  against  her  colonies,  and  by  the 
steps  recommended  to  widen  the  breach,  whicli  they  effect- 
ed. The  chief  caution  expressed  with  regard  to  privacy 
was,  to  keep  their  contents  from  the  colony  agents,  who^ 
the  writers  apprehended,  might  return  them,  or  copies  of 
them,  to  America.  That  apprehension  was,  it  seems,  well 
founded  ;  for  the  first  agent  who  laid  his  hands  on  them, 
thought  it  his  duty  to  transmit  them  to  his  constituents." 

Thus  Dr.  Franklin  performed  a  service  which  his  situ- 
ation as  a  public  agent  required  of  him.  But,  notwith- 
standing the  secrecy  with  which  it  had  been  conducted, 
the  letters  were  soon  after  published  by  the  Assembly  of 
Massachusetts  ;  not,  however,  until  after  the  appearance  of 

*  Dr.  Priestley,  who  was  present  when  Lord  Loughborough  pronounced  his  vio- 
lent invective  against  Dr.  Franklin,  before  the  Privy  Council,  has  published  an  in- 
teresting letter  respecting  Dr.  Franklin's  behavior  on  that  occasion. 


134  HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

other  copies  in  Boston,   produced   by  a  member  who,  it 
was  reported,  had  just  received  them  from  England. 

But  it  is  time  tliat  I  should  declare  to  you  that  this  third 
person,  from  whom  Dr.  Franklin  received  these  famous 
letters,  (and  permit  me  to  add,  that  this  is  the  first  time 
the  fact  has  been  publicly  disclosed,)  was  Dr.  Hugh  Wil- 
liamson. 

I  have  before  stated  his  mission  in  behalf  of  the  acade- 
my. Dr.  Williamson  had  now  arrived  in  London.  Feel- 
ing a  lively  interest  in  the  momentous  questions  then  agi- 
tated, and  suspecting  that  a  clandestine  correspondence 
hostile  to  the  interest  of  the  colonies,  was  carried  on  be- 
tween Hutchinson  and  certain  leading  members  of  the 
British  Cabinet,  he  determined  to  ascertain  the  truth  by  a 
bold  experiment. 

He  had  learned  that  Governor  Hutchinson's  letters  were 
deposited  in  an  office  different  from  that  in  which  they 
ought  regularly  to  have  been  placed  ;  and,  having  under- 
stood that  there  was  little  exactness  in  the  transaction  of 
the  business  of  that  office,  (it  is  believed  it  was  the  office 
of  a  particular  department  of  the  treasury,)  he  immediate- 
ly repaired  to  it,  and  addressed  himself  to  the  chief  clerk, 
not  finding  the  principal  within.  Assuming  the  demeanor 
of  official  importance,  he  peremptorily  stated  that  he  had 
come  for  the  last  letters  that  had  been  received  from  Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Oliver,  noticing  the  office  in 
which  they  ought  regularly  to  have  been  placed.  Without 
any  question  being  asked,  the  letters  were  delivered.  The 
clerk,  doubtless,  supposed  him  to  be  an  authorized  person 
from  some  otlier  public  office.  Dr.  Williamson  imme- 
diately carried  them  to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  the  next  day 
left  London  for  Holland. 

I  received  this  important  fact  from  a  gentleman  of  high 
respectability,  now  living  ;  with  whom,  as  the  companion 
and  friend  of  his  early  days,  Dr.  Williamson  had  entrusted 
the  secret.* 

By  this  daring  measure,  were  detected  and  put  beyond 
question,  the  misrepresentations  and  design  of  Hutchinson 
and  his  associates  ;  and,  perhaps,  no  event  in  the  previ- 
ous history  of  the  provinces  excited  more  bitter  indigna- 
tion, or  was  more  calculated  to  call  for  opposition  to  the 

*  See  Additional  Documents. 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  185 

measures  of  Great  Britain,  to  which  these  misrepresenta- 
tions had  given  rise.    (See  Notes  at  the  end  of  this  vohime.) 

The  lively  interest  and  the  conspicuous  part  wliich  Dr. 
Williamson  took  in  public  affairs,  did  not  prevent  him, 
while  in  England,  from  bestowing  a  portion  of  his  atten- 
tion upon  scientilic  pursuits.  Electricity,  whose  laws  had 
been  recently  determined  by  the  discoveries  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, and  by  his  genius  introduced  among  the  sciences,  was 
then  a  study  which  largely  engrossed  the  minds  of  j)hilos- 
ophers.  In  conjunction  with  Dr.  Ingcnliouz,  Mr.  Walsh, 
Mr.  John  Hunter,  and  Dr.  Franklin,  he  frequently  institut- 
ed electrical  experiments.  The  only  paper  which  bears  tes- 
timony to  his  investigations  on  this  subject,  is  that  entitled, 
"Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gymnotus  Elec- 
tricus,  or  Electrical  Eel,"  which  was  first  published  in  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Lon- 
don, for  the  year  1775.  Like  the  experiments  of  Mr. 
Walsh,  those  of  Dr.  Williamson  led  to  a  belief  that  the 
shock  given  by  the  gymnotus  electricus,  was  truly  an  elec- 
trical phenomenon. 

Dr.  Williamson   had  scarcely  made  his  tour  through   , 
Holland  and  the  Low  Countries,   when  the  nev.^s  of  the     ■ 
declaration  of  American  Independence  reached  him.     He 
now  concluded  to  return  to  his  native  land.     He  proceed-    ' 
ed  to  France,   and  after  a  short  time  spent  in  that   king- 
dom, during  a  great  part  of  which  he  was  confined  by 
sickness,  he  sailed  from  Nantz  in  December,  for  Philadel- 
phia, at  which  place  he  did  not  arrive  before  the  15th  of 
March.     The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  was  captured  off  the 
Capes  of  Delaware,  but  he,  with  another  passenger,  escap- 
ed in  an  open  boat  with  some  very  important  public  des- 
patches, of  which  Dr.  Williamson  was  the  bearer. 

The  American  army,  at  tlie  period  of  Dr.  Williamson's 
return  from  Europe,  was  in  some  measure  organized,  and 
every  office  in  the  Medical  Staff,  or  in  the  line,  that  he 
could  with  any  propriety  accept,  was  filled  up.  True  it  was, 
that  he  had  strong  claims  to  public  employment,  and  the 
proofs  were  in  his  possession  ;  but  those  claims  he  could  not 
at  that  time  urge  without  endanffering  individuals  who 
were  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  nor  could  he  do  it 
without  a  breach  of  confidence,  a  species  of  crime  that  he 
cordially  abhorred.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  remain  in 
private  life,  waiting  for  opi)ortunities  which  he  trusted 
would  present  themselves  in  the  course  of  a  dangerous 
VOL.  n.  '  2i 


186  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

struggle.  In  the  mean  time  he  undertook  a  journey  to 
Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  with  a  younger  brother,  on 
a  mercantile  speculation.  His  In-other  sailed  from  Charles- 
ton for  a  neutral  port  in  the  West  Indies.  The  Doctor,  in 
company  with  another  gentleman,  purchased  a  sloop  in 
Charleston,  and,  having  loaded  her  with  a  suitable  cargo 
intended  for  Baltimore,  ordered  her  for  Edenton,  in  North 
Carolina  ;  but  before  his  arrival  at  Edenton  General  Howe, 
with  the  British  army,  on  his  way  to  Philadelpliia,  had 
entered  Chesapeak  Bay.  That  circumstance  determined  ' 
the  Docter  to  continue  in  Edenton,  from  which  he  after- 
wards traded  to  neutral  islands  in  the  West  Indies  ;  but 
while  he  thus  cmitinued  his  mercantile  connexion  with  his 
brother,  then  also  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade,  he  de- 
termined to  resume  the  practice  of  medicine. 

Daring  the  period  of  his  residence  there,  he  was  invited 
to  Newbern,  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  the  small- 
pox to  such  as  had  not  experienced  the  benefits  of  inocu- 
lation. These  circumstances  in  part  contributed  to  spread 
the  name  of  Dr.  Williamson,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
that  fame  and  confidence  which  he  afterwards  obtained  in 
the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

The  Doctor  had  taken  an  early  opportunity  of  inform- 
ing the  governor  of  that  province,  that  if  any  circumstance 
should  occur  in  the  course  of  the  war,  in  which  he  could 
be  of  use  to  the  state,  he  might  immediately  command  his 
services.  It  is  known  that  tlie  British  troops  took  posses- 
sion of  Charleston  in  the  winter  of  1779 — 1780,  and  that 
the  assembly  of  North  Carolina  ordered  a  large  draft  to  be 
made  from  their  militia,  of  from  four  to  six  thousand  men, 
who  should  join  the  regular  troops  then  ordered  for  the 
relief  of  South  Carolina.  The  command  of  the  North 
Carolina  militia  was  given  to  their  late  Governor  Caswell, 
with  the  rank  of  Major  General.  The  General,  putting 
Dr.  Williamson  in  mind  of  a  former  }nomise,  handed  him 
a  commission,  by  which  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  medical  department,  as  physician  and  surgeon. 

An  occasion  now  presented  itself,  in  which  the  Doctor 
had  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his  firmness  of  charac- 
ter, his  humanity,  his  professional  skill,  and  his  incor- 
ruptible adherence  to  the  cause  in  wliich  he  had  embark- 
ed. On  the  morning  after  the  battle  near  Camden,  on  the 
18th  of  August,  1780,  which  the  Doctor  witnessed,  he  fell 
in  with  General  Caswell,  and  requested  of  him  to  give  him  a 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  187 

fag,  observing  that,  although  a  great  part  of  the  militia  had 
behaved  ill,  yet  many  of  tliem,  as  he  must  have  observed, 
fought  with  distinguished  bravery,  and  that  a  considera- 
ble number,  in  consequence,  were  wounded  and  made 
prisoners.  They  claimed  our  attention.  The  General 
advised  him  to  send  in  some  of  the  regimental  surgeons, 
observing  that  his  duty  did  not  require  that  service  from 
him.  The  Doctor  replied  that  the  regimental  surgeons, 
such  of  them  as  he  had  seen,  refused  to  go  ;  being,  as  he 
suspected,  afraid  of  the  consequences.  But,  said  he,  if  I 
have  lived  until  a  flag  will  not  protect  me,  I  have  outlived 
my  country  ;  and,  in  that  case,  have  lived  one  day  too 
long.  To  this  observation,  no  reply  was  made  ;  he  ob- 
tained a  pass,  and  the  necessary  instructions.  He  remain- 
ed two  months  with  the  enemy  in  Camden,  during  which 
time  he  rendered  very  essential  services  to  the  prisoners 
committed  to  his  care. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1782  Dr.  Williamson  took  his 
seat  as  a  representative  of  Edenton,  in  tlie  House  of  Com- 
mons of  North  Carolina.  In  that  assembly  he  fortunately 
met  with  several  members  whose  brothers,  sons,  or  other 
connexions,  he  had  served  in  the  army,  or  Avhile  tliey  were 
prisoners.  Those  services  were  not  forgotten.  It  was  to 
be  expected  that  a  gentleman  who  had  seen  inucli  of  tlie 
world,  and  whose  education  had  been  so  extensive,  could 
hardly  fail,  with  the  aid  of  moderate  oratorical  abilities,  to 
become  an  influential  member  in  a  deliberative  body. 
Such  in  fact  he  proved.  Among  other  bills  which  he  in- 
troduced with  success,  we  find  one  for  erecting  a  court  of 
chancery,  which  had  often  been  attempted,  in  vain,  in 
that  state.  It  may  be  presumed  that  old  members,  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  conduct  the  l)usiness  of  that  house, 
were  not  gratified  with  being  left  in  the  minority  by  a 
gentleman  who  was,  at  that  time,  comparatively  a  stranger 
in  their  state.  Yet,  when  the  election  came  on  for  mem- 
bers of  congress,  those  very  gentlemen  added  their  influ- 
ence to  that  of  the  friends  he  had  acquired  in  the  army, 
and  he  immediately  was  sent  to  the  general  congress  with-  \ 
out  opposition.  He  continr.ed  at  the  head  of  the  delega-  ' 
tion  for  three  years,  the  longest  time  that  any  member  was 
then  permitted  to  serve. 

During  the  three  years  in  which  he  was  not  eligible  (o 
hold  a  seat  in  that  body,  he  served  the  state  occasionally 
in  its  legislature,  or  in  some  other  capacity. 


18S  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

In  the  year  1786  he  was  one  of  the  few  members  wlio 
were  sent  to  Annapolis,  to  revise  and  amend  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  In  tliat  year  Dr.  Williamson 
published  a  series  of  Essays,  deprecating  paper  currency, 
and  recommending  an  excise  to  be  imposed.  In  the  year 
1787  he  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  North  Carolina,  in 
the  general  convention  at  Philadelphia,  who  formed  and 
signed  the  present  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

As  the  State  of  North  Carolina  had  at  that  time  in  cir- 
culation two  large  emissions  of  paper  money,  which  were  a 
legal  tender,  and  which  had  depreciated  to  less  than  half  of 
its  nominal  value,  we  are  not  surprised  that  a  majority  of 
its  citizens  should  have  looked  on  the  federal  constitution 
with  an  evil  eye  ;  for  debtors,  as  we  presume,  in  most 
countries  form  the  majority.  It  followed  that  the  Doc- 
tor, who  advocated  the  new  constitution  with  great  zeal 
as  well  as  ability,  lost  a  portion  of  his  popularity  in  the 
state  he  had  represented  ;  he  was,  nevertheless,  again 
chosen  in  December,  1787,  by  the  general  assembly,  to 
take  his  seat  in  congress  the  succeeding  spring,  when  he 
would  be  again  eligible,  having  been  three  years  absent 
from  that  body.  The  assembly  at  the  same  time  passed  a 
law  for  a  general  state  convention,  to  be  held  at  Hillsbor- 
ough in  July,  1788,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  upon 
the  constitution  that  had  been  proposed.  The  conven- 
tion, after  much  debate,  adjourned  on  the  2d  of  August, 
having  refused  to  adopt  the  proposed  constitution  by  a 
majority  of  more  than  two  to  one,  viz.  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four  to  eighty-four. 

The  next  general  assembly,  in  December,  1788,  passed 
a  law  calling  another  convention,  to  meet  in  the  following 
year.  It  may  be  recollected  that,  eleven  of  the  states  hav- 
ing adopted  the  new  constitution,  it  was  immediately  af- 
ter carried  into  operation,  and  the  first  congress  met  in 
New-York,  in  the  year  1789.  It  happened  a  short  time 
after  that  congress  met,  of  which  Dr.  Williamson  was  a 
member,  several  small  vessels  laden  with  naval  stores  ar- 
rived from  North  Carolina  at  the  port  of  New-York. 
The  Collector  of  the  customs  refused  them  entrance,  un- 
less they  should  pay  the  alien  duty,  which  was  six  to  one 
of  the  domestic.  Dr.  Williamson,  who  continued  in  New- 
York  after  the  dissolution  of  the  old  congress,  as  a  com- 
missioner to  settle  the  accounts  of  North  Carolina  with 
the  United    States,   drew  up  and  presented  to  congress  a 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  189 

spirited  protest  against  the  decision  of  the  Collector  ;  at 
the  same  time  urffing  the  fact,  that  North  Carolina  had 
not  by  any  act  forfeited  her  claim  to  be  considered  as  one 
of  the  United  States.  This  protest,  in  twenty-four  hours, 
produced  a  law,  by  which  the  Carolina  vessels  were  al- 
lowed to  enter  upon  paying  the  domestic  tonnage.  By  that 
interposition  and  attention  to  the  interests  of  North  Caro- 
lina, the  Doctor  more  than  regained  his  former  popular- 
ity. When  the  first  convention  sat,  he  was  attending  in 
congress  ;  but  he  was  chosen,  and  attended  as  a  member 
of  the  second  convention  in  1789,  by  Avhich  the  constitu- 
tion was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  two  to  one.  The  Doc- 
tor's congressional  career  was  now  to  terminate.  He  had 
been  chosen  a  representative  from  North  Carolina  in  the 
first  and  second  congress  ;  but,  desirous  of  retiring  from 
political  life,  he,  at  a  new  election,  declined  being  a  can- 
didate. 

Before  I  pass  on  to  other  circumstances  connected  with 
the  career  of  Dr.  Williamson,  I  beg  to  be  indulged  in  one 
or  two  remarks  on  the  character  and  influence  of  his  polit- 
ical life.  We  have  seen,  that  as  a  representative  of  the 
people  in  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina,  and  in  the  su- 
preme council  of  the  nation,  he  was  occupied  many  years. 
No  man,  I  believe,  ever  enjoyed  in  a  larger  degree  the 
confidence  of  his  constituents  for  integrity  of  conduct  ;  and 
the  influence  of  his  character  will  be  readily  appreciated, 
when  we  advert  to  the  many  important  services  he  eflect- 
ed  during  the  most  eventful  period  of  our  political  his- 
tory. 

He  was  anxious  to  prove  himself  worthy  of  the  high 
trust  reposed  in  him,  nor  did  he  ever  permit  any  private 
or  selfish  views  to  interfere  with  considerations  of  public 
interest.  As  chairman  of  numerous  committees,  as  the 
mover  of  important  resolutions,  as  the  framer  of  new 
propositions  and  new  laws,  he  devoted  the  best  energies  of 
an  active  mind,  and  was  evei*  prominent  in  tlie  ])usiness  of 
the  house.  In  debate  his  elocution  was  striking,  but  some- 
what peculiar.  The  graces  of  oratory  did  not  belong  to 
Dr.  Williamson  ;  yet  the  known  purity  of  his  intentions, 
his  inflexible  devotedness  to  the  interests  of  his  country, 
and  the  unblemished  tenor  of  his  private  life,  awakened  an 
attention  which  was  well  supported  by  the  pertinency  of 
his  observations,  the  soundness  of  Ids  reasoning,  and  the 
information  he  possessed  upon  every  subject  to  whitli  he 


190  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

directed  his  attention.  While  in  congress,  his  duties  as  a 
legislator  were  his  exclusive  study  ;  and  this  advantage 
seldom  failed  of  a  success  which  was  denied  to  the  length- 
ened debate  and  declamation  of  his  opponents. 

In  January,  1789,  Doctor  Williamson  was  married  to 
Miss  Maria  Apthorpe,  daughter  of  the  late  Honorable 
Charles  Ward  Apthorpe,  formerly  a  member  of  his  Majes' 
ty's  Council  for  the  province  of  New-York  ;  by  that  lady 
he  had  two  sons  ;  she  died  when  the  youngest  was  but  a 
few  days  old. 

After  the  loss  he  had  sustained  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Wil- 
liamson, he  resolved  to  retire  from  public  employment  ; 
to  settle  his  private  affairs  ;  to  prepare  for  publication  his 
work  on  Climate,  and  his  more  elaborate  performance,  his 
History  of  North  Carolina  :  but  the  object  of  attention 
whicli  lay  still  nearer  his  heart,  and  which  especially  in- 
duced him  to  withdraw  from  the  very  honorable  station 
he  had  held,  was  the  education  of  his  children  ;  to  them 
he  devoted,  with  great  solicitude,  a  large  portion  of  his 
time  and  attention.  His  eldest  son,  who  died  in  1811, 
in  the  22d  year  of  his  age,  gave  evidence  of  the  parental 
care  that  had  been  exercised  in  the  superintendence  of  his 
education,  and  of  the  success  with  which  it  had  been  con- 
ducted. 

In  1811  his  "  Observations  on  the  climate  in  different 
parts  of  America,  compared  with  the  climate  in  corres- 
ponding parts  of  the  other  Continent,"  were  ])ublished,  in 
one  volume,  8vo.  In  the  following  year,  1812,  appeared 
his  History  of  North  Carolina,  in  two  volumes,  8vo.  The 
author  commences  his  undertaking  with  a  short  account 
of  the  discoveries  made  in  America  by  adventurers  from 
the  different  parts  of  Europe.  He  next  relates  the  attempts 
of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  settle  a  colony  in  North  Caroli- 
na, and  from  that  time  the  history  of  that  colony  is  con- 
tinued down  to  the  beginning  of  the  American  revolution  : 
the  work  closes  with  a  view  of  the  soil,  produce,  and 
general  state  of  health  in  different  parts  of  that  country. 
In  the  proofs  and  explanations  annexed  to  each  volume, 
are  inserted  many  valuable  documents,  selected  with  care, 
illustrative  of  matters  contained  in  the  body  of  the  text. 

Tliere  are  other  writings  by  the  same  author,  of  a  minor 
nature,  wliicli  merit  notice.-  He  was  at  no  time  an  indif- 
ferent spectator  of  passing  events  ;  and,  even  after  he  had 
actually  withdrawn  from  public  life,   was  repeatedly  en- 


HUGH  WILLIAMSON.  191 

gaged,  exclusively  of  his  works  on  climate  and  on  North 
Carolina,  in  various  publications  relating  to  natural  his- 
tory, medicine,  and  other  branches  of  a  pliilosophical 
character.  In  1797  Dr.  Williamson  wrote  a  short  but  im- 
portant paper  on  the  fevers  of  North  Carolina,  as  they  had 
prevailed  in  1792,  in  Martin  county,  near  the  river  Roan- 
ake,  and  as  they  had  appeared  in  1794,  upon  the  river 
Neus,  pointing  out  the  treatment  tliat  had  been  found  most 
successful,  and  the  fatal  effects  of  bloodletting  in  fevers  of 
that  type  :  these  remarks  were  afterwards  extended,  and 
composed  a  chapter  in  his  History  of  North  Carolina, 
highly  interesting  both  to  the  pupil  and  practitioner  of 
medicine.  In  the  American  Museum,  by  Mathew  Carey, 
lie  published  several  fugitive  pieces  on  languages  and  poli- 
tics. In  his  communication  on  the  Fascination  of  Ser- 
pents, published  in  the  Medical  Repository,  he  offers  some 
new  and  ingenious  opinions  on  that  still  inexplicable  phe- 
nomenon in  natural  history. 

Upon  the  appearance  of  the  yellow  fever  in  New- York, 
in  1805,  Dr.  Williamson  was  appointed  by  the  corporation 
of  the  city,  one  of  a  Medical  Committee  to  investigate  ther 
particular  character  and  origin  of  the  cases  that  occurred 
at  the  commencement  of  the  pestilence  of  that  season. 
From  all  that  the  Doctor  had  previously  seen,  as  well  as 
the  facts  that  now  fell  under  his  view,  he  was  led  to  the 
belief,  with  the  other  members  of  that  committee,  that  the 
yellow  fever  is  a  disease  sui  generis,  and  consequently  of  a 
nature  altogether  different  from  the  bilious  remittent  fever 
of  this  country. 

He  enriched  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical 
Register  Avith  several  valuable  papers.  The  first,  entitled 
"  Remarks  upon  the  incorrect  manner  in  which  Iron  Rods 
are  sometimes  set  up  for  defending  Houses  from  Light- 
ning," &c.  conveys  some  important  practical  instruction 
upon  that  subject.*  His  other  papers  were,  "  Conjectures 
respecting  the  Native  Climate  of  Pestilence  ;"  "  Observa- 
tions on  Navigable  Canals  ;"  Observations  on  the  means  of 
preserving  the  Commerce  of  New-York,"  and  "  Addition- 
al Observations  on  Navigable  Canals  ;"  all  printed  in  the 
same  periodical  journal,  under  the  signatures  of  Observer^ 
or  Mercator.  Dr.  Williamson  was  among  the  first  of  our 
citizens  who  entertained  correct  views  as  to   the  j)ractica- 

*  Vol.  1. 


J92  HUGH    WILLIAMSON. 

bility  of  forming  a  canal  to   connect  the  waters  of  Lake 
Erie  with  the  Hudson  River. 

In  the  year  1810  Dr.  Williamson  was  appointed  by  the 
New-York  Historical  Society  to  deliver  the  anniversary 
discourse,  illustrative  of  the  objects  of  that  institution  ;  he 
readily  complied  with  their  request,  and  upon  that  occa- 
sion selected  for  his  subject,  "  the  benefits  of  Civil  His- 
tory." 

In  1814,  associated  with  the  present  governor*  of  this 
state,  and  some  other  gentlemen  friendly  to  the  interests 
of  science,  and  desirous  to  promote  the  literary  reputation 
of  the  state  of  New-York,  Dr.  Williamson  took  an  active 
part  in  the  formation  and  establishment  of  the  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society  of  this  city  ;  and  contributed  to 
its  advancement  by  the  publication  of  a  valuable  paper  in 
the  first  volume  of  its  transactions.  As  a  Trustee  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New-York,  he  not  only  performed  its  duties 
with  vigilance  and  impartiality,  but  contributed  to  its  in- 
terests by  a  liberal  pecuniary  appropriation.  Some  other 
institutions  of  this  city  were  also  aided  by  similar  acts  of 
his  beneficence,  especially  the  Orphan  Asylum,  and  the 
Society  for  the  Relief  of  Poor  Widows  with  small  child- 
ren. To  these  his  donations  were  sucli  as  his  moderate 
fortune  enabled  him  to  bestow,  consistently  with  his  obli- 
gations to  his  family  connexions  ;  to  whom,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  inconsiderable  legacies,  he  left  the  residue 
of  his  estate.  Tlie  Humane  Society,  the  City  Dispensary, 
and  the  New-York  Hospital,  received  a  large  portion  of 
his  time  and  attention  during  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life.  In  the  last  mentioned  establishment,  the  punctuality 
and  ability  with  which  he  performed  the  numerous  duties 
assigned  him,  were  subjects  of  great  surprise  to  his  asso- 
ciate junior  members. 

His  quickness  of  perception,  his  memory,  his  judgment 
and  his  external  senses,  all  manifested  an  uncommon  activi- 
ty to  the  very  last  days  of  his  life.  This  exemption  from 
the  ordinary  defects  and  privations  attendant  upon  old 
age,  is  doubtless  ascribable  to  his  temperate  and  regular 
habits  of  living  ;  the  order  and  method  with  which  he  per- 
formed all  his  various  duties  ;  and  especially  to  that  rigid 
abstinence  from  all  vinous  and  spirituous  drinks,  to  which 

*  His  Excellency  De  Witt  Clinton. 


HUGH    \TILL1AMS0N.  193 

system   of  living  he  had  so  peculiarly  adhered  from  his 
earliest  days. 

The  life  of  this  excellent  man  was  now  drawing  to  its 
close.  Hitherto,  by  means  of  the  uniform  temperance  and 
regularity  of  his  habits,  he  had,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
been  protected  from  any  return  of  those  pvdmonary  com- 
plaints with  which  he  had  been  affected  in  his  youth.  His 
intellectual  faculties  remained  to  the  last  period  of  his  life 
unbroken,  and  in  their  full  vigor. 

It  is  somewhere  said,  that  to  an  active  and  well  disci- 
plined mind,  a  chair  in  a  library  is  the  throne  of  human 
felicity.  No  man  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  literary  pursuits 
more  than  Dr.  Williamson.  These,  with  the  society  of 
his  particular  friends,  added  to  the  consolations  afforded 
by  religion,  and  the  recollection  of  a  life  passed  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty,  and  devoted  to  the  benefit  of  his  fellow 
men,  gilded  the  evening  of  his  days,  and  rendered  them  no 
less  cheerful  and  serene  than  had  been  the  morning  and 
meridian  of  his  long  and  useful  career. 

For  some  time,  however,  after  the  death  of  his  favorite 
son,  his  strength  and  spirits  were  observed  to  decline.  In 
two  or  three  years  his  ankles  began  to  swell,  attended  with 
other  symptoms  denoting  the  approach  of  general  dropsy. 
Although  he  had  recourse  to  the  Ballston  chalybeate,  by 
the  middle  of  April,  1816,  the  swelling  of  the  limbs  and 
symptoms  of  a  dropsical  affection  of  the  chest  had  so  far 
increased,  that  for  several  weeks  he  could  not  lie  in  a 
horizontal  posture,  but  was  compelled  to  sleep  sitting  in 
his  chair  ;  by  the  use,  however,  of  powerful  diuretics, 
succeeded  by  tonic  medicines  and  daily  exercise,  his  com- 
plaints in  a  few  months  were  chiefly  removed,  and  he  was 
restored  to  his  usvial  pursuits  and  his  wonted  cheerfulness, 
which  were  continued  to  the  day  of  his  decease. 

This  event  took  place  on  the  22d  day  of  May,  1819,  in 
the  85th  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  sudden  manner  he 
himself  had  anticipated.  While  taking  his  accustomed 
ride  a  short  distance  from  the  city,  accompanied  by  his 
favorite  niece,  the  heat  of  the  day  being  unusually  great, 
he  suddenly  sunk  into  a  deliquium.  Medical  assistance 
was  immediately  called,  but  too  late  ;  his  spirit  had  fled 
to  Him  who  gave  it. 

It  remains  for  me  to  detain  you,  while  I  offer  a  few  ob- 
servations illustrative  of  such  parts   of  Dr.  Williamson's 
VOL.  II.  25 


194  HUGH    WILLIAMSOX. 

character  as  are  not  embraced  in  the  details  that  have 
already  occupied  our  attention. 

To  those  who  have  not  enjoyed  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  him,  I  may  remark  that  he  was  no  less  distinguished 
for  the  manliness  of  his  form,  than  for  the  energy  and 
firmness  of  his  mind.  Dr.  Williamson  in  his  person  was 
tall,  considerably  above  the  general  standard,  of  a  large 
frame,  well  proportioned,  but  of  a  thin  habit  of  body.  He 
was  remarkable  for  his  erect,  dignified  carriage,  which  he 
retained  even  in  the  decline  of  life. 

In  his  conversation  Dr.  Williamson  was  pleasant,  face- 
tious and  animated  ;  occasionally  indulging  in  wit  and 
satire  ;  always  remarkable  for  the  strength-  of  his  expres- 
sions, and  an  emphatic  manner  of  utterance,  accompanied 
with  a  peculiarity  of  gesticulation,  originally  in  part  as- 
cribable  to  the  impulse  of  an  active  mind,  but  which  early 
in  life  had  become  an  e.4ablished  habit. 

As  was  to  be  expected  from  the  education  of  Dr. 
Williamson,  and  from  his  long  and  extensive  inter- 
course with  the  world,  his  manners,  though  in  some 
respects  eccentric,  were  generally  those  of  a  polite,  well 
bred  gentleman.  Occasionally,  however,  w^hen  he  met 
with  persons  who  either  displayed  great  ignorance,  want 
of  moral  character,  or  a  disregard  to  religious  truth,  he 
expressed  his  feelings  and  opinions  in  such  manner  as  dis- 
tinctly to  show  them  they  possessed  no  claim  to  his  re- 
spect. To  such,  both  his  language  and  manner  might  be 
considered  as  abrupt,  if  not  possessing  a  degree  of  what 
miffht  be  denominated  Johnsonian  rudeness. 

His  style,  both  in  conversation  and  in  writing,  was  sim- 
ple, concise,  perspicuous  and  remarkable  for  its  strength  ; 
always  displaying  correctness  of  thought  and  logical  pre- 
cision. In  the  order,  too,  and  disposal  of  his  discovirse, 
whether  oral  or  written,  such  was  the  close  connexion  of 
its  parts,  and  the  dependence  of  one  proposition  upon  that 
which  preceded  it,  that  it  became  easy  to  discern  the  influ- 
ence of  his  early  predilection  for  mathematical  investi- 
gation. 

Under  the  impressions  and  precepts  he  had  very  early 
received,  no  circumstances  could  ever  induce  him  to  de- 
part from  that  line  of  conduct  which  his  understanding 
had  informed  him  was  correct.  His  constancy  of  charac- 
ter, the  obstinacy  I  may  say  of  his  integrity,  whether  in 
the  minor  concerns  of  private  life  or  in  the  performance 


HUGH    WILLIAMSON.  195 

of  his  public  duties,  becanie  proverbial  with  all  who  knew 
him.     Nothing  could  ever  induce  him 

"  To  swerve  from  truth,  or  change  his  constant  mind." 

The  following  anecdotes  are  illustrative  of  his  charac- 
teristic integrity.  A  few  years  since  a  gentleman  of  this 
city,  desirous  of  borrowing  a  sum  of  money,  made  an 
application  to  Dr.  Williamson  for  that  purpose  :  the  Doc- 
tor promised  to  supply  him  ;  but,  upon  the  day  when  the 
transaction  was  to  he  completed,  the  gentleman  not  know- 
ing that  the  Doctor's  verbal  promise  and  his  written  bond 
were  of  the  same  validity,  and  apprehending  that  some- 
thing might  occur  to  prevent  the  Doctor  from  complying 
with  his  engagement,  offered  him  a  larger  interest  than 
that  recognised  by  law.  The  Doctor,  offended  by  this 
insult  to  his  integrity,  at  once  declined  further  communi- 
cation with  the  party  concerned,  and  refused  the  loan  he 
otherwise  had  been  prepared  to  make. 

Upon  another  more  important  occasion,  he  manifested 
somewhat  similar  feelings  in  rejecting  a  poweiful  appeal 
to  his  pride  and,  I  may  add,  to  his  reputation. 

Joseph  Ceracchi,  an  Italian  statuary  of  great  celebrity 
in  his  profession,  finding  the  turbulent  state  of  Europe 
unfavorable  to  the  exercise  of  his  art,  had  come  to  this 
country.  This  gentleman  exercised  his  talents  in  erecting 
honorary  memorials  of  some  of  our  most  distinguished  pub- 
lic men.  The  busts  of  AVashington,  President  Adams, 
Governor  Jay,  General  Hamilton,  Governor  George  Clin- 
ton, and  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  are  eminent  examples  of 
his  art. 

He  at  that  time  also  applied  to  Dr.  Williamson,  then  a 
member  of  congress,  for  permission  to  perpetuate  in  mar- 
ble, tlie  bust  of  the  American  Cato,  as  Mr.  Ceracchi  was 
plear^ed  to  denominate  him.  I  beg  leave  to  read  the 
originals  : 

"  Mr.  Ceracchi  requests  the  favor  of  Mr.  Williamson  to 
sit  for  his  bust,  not  on  account  of  gettins:  Mr.  Williamson's 
influence  in  favor  of  the  National  Monument  ;  this  is  a 
subject  too  worthy  to  be  recommended  ;  but  merely  on 
account  of  his  distinguished  character,  that  will  produce 
honor  to  the  artist,  and  may  give  to  posterity  the  expres- 
sive features  of  tlie  American  Cato." 

To  this  note  Dr.  Williamson  replied  in  his  appropriate 
caustic  style  :  "  Mr.  Hugh  Williamson  is  much  obliged  to 


196  HUGH    TTILLIAMSON. 

Mr.  Ceracchi  for  the  polite  offer  of  taking  his  bust.  Mr. 
Williamson  could  not  possibly  suppo:je  that  Mr.  Ceracchi 
had  offered  such  a  compliment  by  way  of  a  bribe  ;  for  tlie 
man  in  his  public  station  who  could  accept  of  a  bribe,  or 
betray  his  trust,  ought  never  to  have  his  likeness  made, 
except  from  a  block  of  icood. 

"  Mr.  Williamson,  in  the  mean  time,  cannot  avail  him- 
self of  Mr.  Ceracchi's  services,  as  he  believes  that  posterity 
will  not  be  solicitous  to  know  what  were  the  features  of 
his  face.  He  hopes,  nevertheless,  for  the  sake  of  his  child- 
ren, that  posterity  will  do  him  the  justice  to  believe  that 
his  conduct  was  upright,  and  that  he  was  uniformly  influ- 
enced by  a  regard  to  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  those  who  shall  come  after  them." 
"  Philadelphia,  Uth  April,  1792." 

To  those  who  knew  his  unbending  resolution  when 
once  formed,  it  need  not  be  added  that  Dr.  Williamson, 
offended  by  this  flattery,  persisted  in  his  determination  not 
to  sit  to  Mr.  Ceracchi. 

The  steadiness  of  his  private  attachments  ought  not  to 
be  passed  over  in  silence.  Dr.  AVilliamson  was  slow  in 
forming  his  friendship  ;  but  when  formed,  as  the  writer 
of  this  memorial  of  his  worth  can  testify,  it  was  immove- 
able, and  not  to  be  changed  by  time  or  distance. 

Whatever  may  be  the  merits  of  Dr.  Williamson  as  a 
scholar,  a  physician,  a  statesman,  or  philosopher  ;  how- 
ever he  may  be  distinguished  for  his  integrity,  his  benevo- 
lence, and  those  virtues  which  enter  into  the  moral  char- 
acter of  man  ;  he  presents  to  the  world  claims  of  a  still 
higher  order.  The  lovers  of  truth  and  virtue  will  admire 
much  more  than  his  literary  endowments,  that  regard  for 
religious  duty,  of  which,  under  all  circumstances  and  in 
all  situations,  he  exhibited  so  eminent  an  example. 

There  are  some  philosophers,  and  of  great  attainments 
too  in  their  particular  departments  of  knowledge,  whose 
views  are  so  riveted  to,  I  had  almost  said  identified  with, 
the  objects  of  their  research,  that  they  cannot  extend  their 
vision  beyond  the  little  spot  of  earth  which  they  inhabit . 
Dr.  Williamson  was  not  an  associate  of  this  class  ;  with 
all  his  inquiries  into  the  physical  constitution  of  this  globe, 
like  Newton  and  Rittenhouse  he  could  elevate  his  views  to 
the  Great  Agent  that  gave  existence  to  our  world,  and  sus- 
tains it  in  its  connexions  with  the  other  parts  of  the  uni- 
verse 


MATTHEW    WILSON.  197 

To  those  who  delight  to  dwell  on  themes  like  tliese,  it 
will  be  gratifying  to  receive  the  expression  of  his  own 
sentiments  and  feelings  on  this  momentous  subject.  In  a 
letter  I  possess,  written  during  his  last  illness,  while  it  dis- 
plays the  full  possession  of  his  mental  faculties,  and  mani- 
fests the  consciousness  of  his  approaching  dissolution,  and 
his  patient  resignation  to  that  event,  he  observes,  "  I  have 
not  any  apprehension  of  a  long  confinement  by  sickness  ; 
men  of  my  habits  usually  drop  off  quickly  ;  therefore  I 
count  it  my  duty  to  be  constantly  in  a  state  of  preparation, 
whether  I  may  be  called  off  in  the  morning,  at  noon,  or  at 
midnight." 

Upon  another  occasion,  a  short  time  before  his  decease, 
he  thus  concludes  a  letter  to  his  nephew,  which,  I  believe, 
proved  one  of  his  last  communications. 

"  I  have,  as  I  believe,  given  you  notice  of  every  thing 
to  which  it  is  proper  that  you  should  attend  ;  and  having 
now,  as  I  think,  nearly  finished  my  course  through  the 
wilderness  of  life,  grant,  0  Lord  !  that  when  my  feet  shall 
touch  the  cold  stream  of  the  waters  of  Jordan,  my  eyes 
may  be  steadily  fixed  on  the  heavenly  Canaan,  so  that  I 
may  say  to  death,  '  where  is  thy  sting  ?'  " 

Such  was  the  man  whose  character  and  services  we  have 
this  day  endeavored  to  commemorate. — Abridged  from  a 
Biographical  Memoir  delivered  on  the  \st  of  JVovember,  1819, 
at  the  request  of  the  JS^ew-York  Historical  Society ^  by  David 
Hosack,  M.D.  LL.D.  ^c. 

WILSON,  MATTHEW,  D.D.,wasa  native  of  Ches- 
ter county,  state  of  Pennsylvania.  His  education  was  di- 
rected by  Dr.  Francis  Alison,  one  of  the  first,  both  in 
time  and  estimation,  who  introduced  and  patronised  learn- 
ing in  the  American  world.  With  this  great  man  Dr.  Wil- 
son's progress,  both  in  the  languages  and  the  sciences,  mark- 
ed an  extensive  genius  and  a  studious  mind.  It  justified 
the  most  flattering  expectations  of  his  friends,  and  caused 
him  tq  be  respected  and  distinguished,  even  when  he  had 
persons  to  rival  him  in  claims  to  literary  advancement 
and  honors, who  have  been  long  estimated  as  the  most  cele- 
brated philosophers  of  America. 

His  own  inclination,  in  concurrence  with  the  advice  of 
his  friends,  gave  his  studies  a  particular  direction  to  the 
profession  of  divinity  ;  and  in  this  he  was  as  eminently 
successful,  as  in  his  classical  and  philosophical  studies. 
The  Synod  of  New-York  and  Philadelphia,  of  which  he 


198  MATTHEW    WILSON. 

was  a  member  for  more  than  thirty-five  years,  and  to 
which  he  was  always  an  ornament  and  an  honor,  will  bear 
a  full  and  affectionate  attestation  to  the  virtues,  the  abili- 
ties and  the  usefulness  of  their  deceased  brother.  Accu- 
rate in  his  inquiries,  profound  in  his  learning,  and  yet  po- 
litely diffident  of  impressing  his  own  sentiments  on  others, 
the  liberality  of  his  mind,  and  the  utility  of  his  assistance, 
were  peculiarly  manifested  in  that  assembly,  in  difficult 
investigations  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  polemic  divin- 
ity. We  need  no  further  testimony  of  his  usefulness  and 
uncommon  estimation  in  important  Synodical  transactions, 
than  his  being  a  principal  member  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  the  "  new  constitution  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  the  United  States."  As  a  Christian,  his 
piety  was  fervent,  uniform,  enlightened,  and  full  of  good 
works.  As  a  preacher  he  was  learned,  orthodox,  solemn 
and  instructive. 

But  his  mind  was  too  large  in  the  objects  it  comprehend- 
ed, and  his  benevolence  too  extensive  in  the  modes  of  ex- 
ercise it  solicited,  to  be  contented  with  the  services  he 
could  render  society  in  the  objects  embraced  by  only  one 
])rofession.  He  studied  medicine  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mc 
Dowell,  who  like  his  pupil  was  eminent  at  once  as  a  di- 
vine, a  physician  and  linguist.  On  settling  as  a  clergyman 
he  entered  immediately  on  the  practice  of  medicine,  and 
derived  the  temporal  support  of  his  family  almost  entirely 
from  the  emoluments  of  that  practice.  Such  were  his  ac- 
tivity and  decision  of  character,  however,  that  his  medi- 
cal practice  did  not  prevent  his  discharging  the  duties  of 
pastor  in  a  manner  highly  acceptable  and  edifying  to  the 
people  of  his  charge.  For  nearly  four  and  twenty  years 
the  joint  functions  of  minister  of  the  Gospel  and  physician, 
Avere  sustained  and  discharged  by  him  with  an  ability  and 
popularity  which  evinced  that  he  was  a  man  of  extraordi- 
nary talents,  attainments  and  energy.  His  ardent  indus- 
try and  the  comprehensiveness  of  his  mind  reduce^  every 
obstacle,  and  embraced  every  object  of  knowledge.  He 
wrote  an  able  compend  of  medicine,  which  he  called  a 
"  Therapeutic  Alphabet."  Commencing  with  the  classifi- 
cation of  Sauvages,  it  contained  the  diseases  in  alphabeti- 
cal order,  with  definitions,  symptoms,  and  method  of 
cure.  It  was  prepared  for  the  press,  used  by  himself,  and 
transcribed  by  his  students,  but  never  published. 


MATTHEW    WILSOX.  199 

For  a  number  of  years  previous  to  his  death,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  his  other  employments,  he  engaged  in  the  di- 
rection and  care  of  an  academy.  Here  his  communica- 
tive and  amiable  disposition  was  of  infinite  advantage.  It 
attracted  the  love,  secured  the  obedience,  and  allured  the 
attentive  application  of  his  pupils.  In  connexion  with  im- 
common  learning  we  too  often  observe  a  conscious  self-im- 
portance and  a  rigorous  austerity,  which  discourage  and 
depress  the  timid  mind  of  the  diffident  pupil.  Nothing 
but  the  entire  reverse  of  this  could  adequately  represent 
Dr.  W's.  character.  He  was  invariably  mild  and  affa- 
ble, courteous  and  amiable. 

In  those  three  important  employments  Dr.  W.  labored 
with  a  constancy  and  an  ardor,  unequalled  even  by  those 
who  have  ambition  to  excite  them.  His  indeed  was  an 
ambition  of  the  noblest  kind.  Its  enlarged  embrace  in- 
cluded the  whole  family  of  mankind,  its  means  were  tlie 
unwearied  efforts  of  active  benevolence,  its  objects  tlie 
happiness  of  his  fellow  creatures.  Every  day  awakened 
him  to  the  discharge  of  some  additional  interesting  duties. 
He  lived  and  labored  for  the  public,  not  for  himself.  In 
his  friendships  he  was  sincere,  cordial  and  constant.  In  his 
domestic  connexions  he  was  yet  more  amiable.  As  a  hus- 
band, he  was  endeared  by  all  the  tender  sensibilities  and 
kind  attentions,  which  can  improve  and  complete  matri- 
monial happiness.  As  a  father,  he  was  remarked  by  oth- 
ers, and  loved  by  his  children,  for  the  constant  and  en- 
gaging discharge  of  all  tliose  paternal  offices,  which  are 
generally  seen  to  attract  love  and  command  respect  ;  and 
as  a  master,  he  was  exemplarily  humane  and  indulgent, 
considering  and  treating  those  in  his  service  as  equals  by 
nature,  and  only  inferiors  by  fortune.  He  departed  this 
life,  March  31st,  1790,  in  Lewis,  Delaware,  aged  61  years. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  an  ardent  republican  and  of  course  a 
friend  to  the  liberties  of  his  country.  He  entered  warmly 
into  the  measures  adopted  by  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia 
previous  to  the  Revolution,  to  show  their  disapprobation 
of  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the  British  government  to- 
wards the  colonies.  He  wrote  and  spoke  against  the 
stamp  act,  and  encouraged  his  parishioners  to  manufacture 
for  themselv-es  when  the  nonimportation  agreement  went 
into  operation.  When  the  vessels  brought  out  tlie  tea  to 
Delaware   river,   upon    which    three    pence    per    pound 


200  MATTHEW    WILSON. 

"Was  to  be  paid  for  the  benefit  of  the  East  India  company,* 
he  resolved  to  drink  no  more  of  that  agreeable  infusion  ; 
and  obliged  his  wife  and  family  to  follow  his  example. 
In  order,  if  possible,  to  reconcile  the  ladies  of  the  coun- 
try to  the  loss  of  the  foreign  article,  he  published  a  paper 
on  the  injurious  enervating  effects  of  China  tea  upon  the 
human  frame,  and  gave  the  names  of  seventeen  vegetables 
which  he  proposed  to  substitute  for  it.  This  paper  ap- 
peared first  in  the  newspapers  of  Philadelphia,  and  after- 
wards in  Atkin's  American  Magazine,  No.  2,  for  February, 
1 775,  of  which  work  Thomas  Paine  was  the  editor.  Dr. 
W.  was  severely  mortified  when  he  was  obliged  to  suspend 
his  resolve  not  to  admit  foreign  tea  into  his  house,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  visit  of  his  wife's  sister  from  Philadelphia, 
who  hearing  of  the  prohibition,  and  not  relishing  the  idea 
of  depriving  herself  of  her  usual  evening's  repast,  brought 
down  to  the  city  some  of  the  prohibited  article,  and  in- 
sisted upon  being  permitted  to  use  it.  She  asserted  her 
claim  to  the  character  of  a  patriot,  as  she  in  fact  was,  but 
said  she  saw  no  reason  for  not  drinking  some  of  the  old 
stock  of  tea  which  had  paid  no  duty,  and  "  tea  she  would 
drink."  The  good  Doctor  tried  to  persuade  her  to  use 
some  of  the  numerous  substitutes  which  he  named,  but 
all  to  no  purpose. 

Dr.  Wilson  published  several  useful  papers  on  medical 
and  other  subjects.  Among  these  are  the  History  of  a  Ma- 
lignant Fever,  which  prevailed  in  Sussex  county,  Dela- 
ware, in  the  year  1774  :f  Observations  on  the  Severity  of 
the  Cold  during  the  Winter  of  1779,'80  :|  Essay  on  the 
Diseases  arising  from  the  Air,  attempting  to  show  that 
most  diseases  are  caused  by  miasmata  in  the  air  ,wdth  an  en- 
umeration of  some  of  them,  1786. ||  Dr.  W.  was  a  profound 
theologian,  and  an  excellent  Hebrew  and  classical  schol- 
ar, and  many  of  the  pupils  educated  by  him  were  distin- 
guished for  their  attainments.  The  mere  circumstance  of 
its  being  known  that  a  young  man  had  been  educated  by 
him,  served  as  a  recommendation  when  he  offered  himself 
as  a  teacher.  Several  young  men  pursued  their  theological 
studies   under  his  direction  ;  and  whether  they  could  or 

*  It  was  not  permitted  to  come  up  to  Philadelphia.     From  the  newspapers  of  the 
day  it  appears  that  the  whole  quantity  of  tea  sent  to  America  was  2,200  chests, 
t  Atkin's  American  Magazine,  April,  1775. 
i  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  vol.  3. 
II  Carey's  American  Museum,  vol.  4. 


SAMUEZ.  WILSOW. 


i6\ 


could  not  pay  for  their  board  was  never  a  consideration 
with  him.  An  application  was  never  rejected,  provided 
the  pupil  could  be  stowed  away  in  the  hou?e. 

He  was  "  in  wit  a  man,  simplicity  a  child."  He  knew 
nothing  of  the  tricks  of  traffic,  and  therefore  often  suffer- 
ed when  making  a  bargain  or  contract  Avith  a  knowing 
one  for  a  job.  He  believed  every  man  to  be  as  honest  as 
himself,  nor  did  the  shameful  impositions  to  which  he  was 
sometimes  subjected  teach  him  caution.  The  following 
instance  of  his  refined,  sublimated  honesty  actually  occur- 
red and  occasioned  much  amusement  among  his  friends. 
At  the  close  of  the  American  war  a  vessel  was  cast  away 
near  Lewes,  and  the  parts  of  the  cargo  saved,  as  required 
by  law,  were  sold  by  auction  for  the  benefit  of  the  concern- 
ed. The  good  Doctor  attended  and  purchased  a  cask  of 
aniseed.  Upon  opening  it  he  found  a  large  bottle  marked 
"  Oil  of  Rhodium."  Alarmed  at  the  discovery  he  ran  to 
the  auctioneer,  and  announced  the  fact,  requesting  him  to 
send  for  the  bottle  and  to  sell  it  next  day.  The  man  of 
business  told  the  Doctor  that  he  would  neither  send  for 
the  bottle  nor  take  it  if  sent  to  him,  for,  if  instead  of  Oil 
of  Rhodium  he  had  found  brick  bats  or  stones,  he  shoydd 
pay  the  price  at  which  the  cask  was  knocked  oflfto  him. 
The  Doctor  was  greatly  concerned  at  this  explanation  of 
the  tricks  of  commerce,  and  was  obliged  to  content  him- 
self with  it.  The  cask  and  Oil  of  Rhodium  were  sent  to 
Philadelphia,  and  sold  for  ten  times  the  first  cost. — Dr. 
Miller. — Dr.  Mease. 

WILSON,  SAMUEL,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  January  26th,  1763.  His  parents  were 
among  the  most  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  city  ;  and 
his  father,  the  elder  Robert  Wilson,  Avas  a  man  of  emi- 
nence in  his  profession,  and  justly  acquired  the  benefits  of 
successful  practice.  He  was  highly  distinguished  for  his 
many  virtues,  and  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age,  respected 
and  beloved.  As  is  common  with  youth  trained  in  the 
paths  of  rectitude  and  guided  by  the  best  moral  precepts, 
Dr.  Samuel  Wilson  in  his  puerile  days  gave  the  best  pro- 
mise of  realizing  all  that  characterized  him  at  mature  age. 
He  was  early  placed  at  the  ordinary  schools  of  the  day, 
where  he  acquired  the  rudiments  of  learning  ;  and  it  was 
in  his  native  place  that  he  subsequently  received  a  classical 
education.  He  ranked  as  a  respectable  scholar.  What 
talents  he  possessed  were  but  partially  unfolding,  and  he 
VOL.  II.  26 


202  »AMUEL    WILSOTC. 

is  only  spoken  of  as  a  youth  of  amiable  and  prepossessing 
manners. 

Having  arrived  at  that  era  of  the  political  struggle  of 
this  country,  when  the  oppression  of  the  mother  country 
had  struck  even  from  tlie  hardest  and  coldest  bosoms  the 
fire  of  patriotism,  young  Wilson  was  among  the  first  to 
feel  the  animating  influence  which  love  for  his  own  soil 
had  enkindled.  He,  in  common  with  his  fellow  citizens, 
entered  the  ranks  as  a  soldier,  determined  to  support  the 
dearest  rights  of  an  American.  He  marched  under  the 
banners  of  Marion,  when  scarcely  he  had  numbered  seven- 
teen years,  and  manifested  his  determination  to  sacrifice 
his  life  in  achieving  the  independence  of  his  country. 

His  campaign  was  of  short  duration.  The  conflicts  of 
war  ended,  and  he  returned  to  his  books,  to  his  friends, 
and  to  the  enjoyment  of  political  freedom.  Under  the  di- 
rection of  his  father  he  now  commenced  his  medical  stu- 
dies. The  advantages  of  paternal  instruction  were  not  of 
an  ordinary  nature.  The  foundation  was  laid  for  perma- 
nent elevation  in  his  profession,  and  for  maintaining  a  re- 
spectable stand  in  the  medical  community.  In  1784  he  de- 
parted from  home  to  complete  his  studies  at  the  University 
of  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  assiduous  in  his  inquiries 
after  medical  knowledge.  While  prosecuting  his  favorite 
object,  he  gained  the  countenance,  regard  and  counsel  of 
such  conspicuously  eminent  men  as  Cullen,  Black,  Dun- 
can, Monro,  Home,  Hamilton  and  others  ;  men  who  have 
left  splendid  memorials  of  genius  and  profound  learning, 
which  will  long  adorn  the  annals  of  medical  literature. 
At  Glasgow,  after  the  usual  term  allotted  for  instruction, 
young  Wilson  obtained  the  honor  of  graduation  in 
that  college,  and  received  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine. His  love  of  science,  his  calm  yet  inquiring  mind 
had  produced  already  a  discriminating  judgment,  and  es- 
tablished his  claims  to  preferment  in  his  profession.  His 
correct  deportment  and  attractive  manners  won  the  esteem 
and  love  of  his  associates,  and  the  approbation  of  those 
distinguished  professors  under  whose  auspices  he  was 
placed. 

Immediately  on  Dr.  Wilson's  return  to  Charleston,  he 
commenced  his  professional  career,  gaining  confidence  as 
he  advanced.  It  was  by  his  assiduity  and  attention  to 
business,  that  he  established  himself  firmly  in  the  estima- 
tion  of  that   enlightened    physician,    that    accomplished 


SAMUEL    WILSON. 


205 


scholar,  that  close  observer  of  nature's  operations,  Dr. 
Alexander  Baron,  senior,  late  of  Charleston.  A  copart- 
nership was  formed  between  Drs.  Baron  and  Wilson  in 
1791,  which  continued  nineteen  years,  during  which  there 
was  a  reciprocity  of  sentiments  and  affection,  not  to  be 
surpassed  even  among  those  allied  by  the  strongest  ties  of 
consanguinity.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Baron  the  lamented 
subject  of  the  present  notice  delivered  an  Eulogy  to  his 
memory.  On  the  dissolution  of  this  connexion  Dr.  Wil- 
son united  with  him  his  brother  Dr.  Robert  Wilson,  until 
his  two  sons,  the  present  Drs.  Isaac  and  Samuel  W.,  pre- 
sented their  credentials  as  graduates.  The  latter  associa- 
tion continued  to  the  hour  of  his  death.  His  declining 
health  compelled  him  reluctantly  to  retire  from  business 
for  some  time  before  his  decease. 

He  never  seemed  more  happy  and  more  himself,  than 
when  in  the  exercise  of  relief  to  his  suffering  fellow  crea- 
tures. Here  he  was  truly  in  his  element.  His  medical 
attainments  commanded  confidence,  and  his  affectionate 
manners  inspired  hope,  even  on  the  bed  of  death.  Assail- 
ed at  length  by  those  bodily  ills  inseparable  from  this  life, 
he  saw  the  unerring  approach  of  his  own  dissolution,  and 
was  prepared  to  meet  the  summons  with  composure.  He 
died  in  April,  1827,  as  he  lived,  an  exemplary  religionist  ; 
pious,  yet  not  bigoted  ;  ardent,  yet  no  enthusiast. 

To  his  last  hour  he  maintained  the  doctrines  of  Christ- 
ianity. He  received  them  from  his  forefathers,  he  nursed 
them  in  his  bosom,  and  he  was  a  firm  and  steady  support- 
er of  his  faith,  an  ornament  and  pillar  of  his  church.  His 
charity  was  in  his  mind  and  in  his  heart,  condemning  no 
one  whose  sectarian  principles  may  have  differed  from  his 
own.  His  soul  soared  above  the  grovelling  influence  of 
religious  prejudice,  and  denounced  all  efforts  made  to 
control  religious  freedom.  All  men  who  acknowledged 
the  power  of  a  Supreme  Being,  and  obeyed  the  divine  com- 
mandments, were  alike  partakers  of  his  love  and  friend- 
ship. He  spurned  the  individual  wlio  could  engender 
intolerant  doctrines,  believing  tliat  matters  of  conscience 
were  between  man  and  his  Maker. 

In  his  walks  in  private  life  Dr.  Wilson  was  conspicuous 
among  his  associates  for  refined  conversation  and  agree- 
able manners.  He  was  proverbial  for  suavity  and  a  pleas- 
ing expression,  which  won  attention  even  on  the  most 
trivial  occasions.     As  a  practising  physician  his  mind  was 


204  SAMUKL    WILSON. 

replete  with  useful  information,  skill  and  learning,  and  his 
eminent  success  is  attributed  to  a  sound  understanding,  an 
inquiring,  calm  and  laborious  investigation,  and  correct 
observation  as  to  the  seat  and  progress  of  diseases.  He 
believed  that  improper  and  vmcalled  for  medicines  inva- 
riably hazarded  the  lives  of  his  patients,  and  that  it  requir- 
ed as  much  judgment  to  know  when  not  to  give,  as  when 
to  give  medicine.  His  knowledge  of  the  female  constitu- 
tion, and  his  accuracy  in  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of 
infants,  were  perhaps  unrivalled.  In  distributing  his 
medical  services  he  knew  no  distinction  between  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  and  he  generously  relieved  by  his  purse  no 
less  than  by  medical  aid,  and  religious  consolation,  the 
afflictions  of  humanity. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  the  instructer  of  a  very  considerable 
number  of  young  physicians,  many  of  whom  became  emi- 
nently distinguished.  One  of  this  number  was  peculiarly 
indebted  to  him  for  benevolent  assistance.  From  the  re- 
verse of  fortune  the  young  candidate  was  destitute  of  the 
means  to  complete  his  education  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Dr.  W.  generously  proffered  his  aid,  and 
promptly  furnished  the  adequate  funds  by  which  he  ob- 
tainecl  a  medical  degree,  and  on  his  return  he  was  received 
by  his  patron  as  a  father  would  have  received  a  deserving 
child.  His  intercourse  with  his  professional  brethren  was 
always  disinterested,  and  his  wonted  liberality  kept  him 
on  the  best  terms  of  friendship.  He  had  no  petty  or  sor- 
did feelings  of  envy  or  jealousy  ;  he  rejoiced  at  the  suc- 
cess of  others,  and  promoted  rather  than  retarded  the 
growing  prosperity  of  his  competitors.  His  own  good 
conduct  was  the  best  support  to  his  reputation,  and,  as  he 
bore  the  rude  assaults  of  others  with  contempt,  the  weap- 
ons raised  against  him  fell  harmless  at  his  feet.  His  con- 
sultations were  regulated  by  the  utmost  courtesy,  and  the 
deference  which  he  paid  to  the  opinions  of  others,  inspired 
them  with  the  most  profound  respect. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  a  member  of  the  most  respectable  socie- 
ties in  the  city  of  Charleston.  In  some  he  held  the  first 
offices.  The  Medical  Society,  the  South  Carolina  Society, 
and  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  have  long  enrolled  his 
name  ;  of  the  latter  he  died  one  of  the  oldest  members. 
As  one  of  the  fraternity  of  Free  Masons  he  held  a  con- 
spicuous rank,  and  filled  high  stations  in  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  the  state.     The  place  of  his  interment  is  within  the  pre- 


^■^i 


€i^SFAm   "WiLS^!l\\\il^  M.J]]): 


'■U.TIetiMIS     (,il';j,.o- 


'  CASPAR    WISTAR.  205 

cincts  of  the  wall  which  he  was  instrumental  in  erecting, 
and  in  the  consecrated  edifice  in  which  he  was  for  thirty 
years  an  elder  and  communicant. — Eulogium  by  J.  De  La 
Motta,  M.D.  abridged. 

,WISTAR,  CASPAR,  M.D.  had  the  good  fortmie  to 
descend  from  ancestors  in  whom  he  beheld  examples  wor- 
thy of  imitation.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Caspar  Wis- 
tar,  emigrated  from  the  dominions  of  the  Elector  Palatine 
of  Germany,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1717. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  intellect,  and  applied  his  life  to 
useful  purposes.  By  his  exertions  was  established  in  New 
Jersey,  about  thirty  miles  from  Philadelphia,  a  manufac- 
tory of  glass,  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  in  North 
America.  His  maternal  grandfather,  Bartholomew  Wyatt, 
emigrated  from  England  with  his  wife,  not  long  after  Wil- 
liam Penn  commenced  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  lived  not  far  from  Salem  in  New-Jersey,  and  was  act- 
ive and  distinguished  in  the  affairs  of  his  day,  both  civil 
and  religious.  His  father  was  remarked  for  firmness  of 
character,  and  paid  particular  attention  to  the  morals  and 
religion  of  his  children. 

Wistar  himself  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  the  13th  of 
September,  1761.  As  his  parents  and  ancestors,  on  both 
sides,  were  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends,  he  was 
brought  up  in  their  principles,  ancl  received  his  classical 
education  at  a  school  established  by  them  in  this  city.  I 
have  been  able  to  discover  nothing  very  uncommon  in  his 
juvenile  character.  In  quickness  of  apprehension  he  was 
surpassed  by  several  of  his  companions  ;  but  what  he  un- 
dertook he  never  failed  to  accomplish  by  perseverance. 
That  he  was  a  good  scholar,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  which  he 
was  afterwards  known  to  possess.  Until  the  age  of  six- 
teen his  foculties  were  expanding  ;  but  the  peculiar  cast  of 
his  genius  had  not  been  developed.  About  that  period 
occurred  an  event  which  called  forth  the  ruling  passion, 
and  decided  his  fate.  This  event  was  the  battle  of  Ger- 
mantown,  in  the  year  1777.  His  religious  principles  kept 
him  out  of  battle,  but  his  humanity  led  him  to  seek  the 
wounded  soldier,  and  he  was  active  in  assisting  those  who 
were  administering  relief.  His  benevolent  iieart  was 
affected  by  their  sufferings  ;  and  so  deeply  was  he  struck 
with  the  happy  effects  of  the  medical  art.  that  he  deter- 


206  CASPAR    WISTAR. 

mined  to  devote  his  life  to  a  profession  formed  to  alleviate 
the  miseries  of  mankind. 

Firm  in  his  purpose,  Wistar  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  medicine  under  Dr.  John  Redman,  a  very  respectable 
physician  of  this  city,  formerly  President  of  the  College 
of  Physicians,  with  whom  he  remained  upwards  of  three 
years.  During  the  last  year  he  attended  also  the  practice 
of  Dr.  John  Jones,  an  eminent  surgeon,  who  had  left  New- 
York  in  consequence  of  its  occupation  by  the  British  army. 
It  was  the  fortune  of  Wistar  to  gain  the  esteem  of  all  his 
preceptors  ;  an  infallible  mark  of  his  own  good  conduct. 
The  friendship  of  two  such  men  as  Redman  and  Jones, 
was  a  valuable  acquisition  ;  and  from  that  of  Jones,  in 
particular,  very  important  consequences  resulted.  Having 
gone  through  the  usual  course  of  study,  and  attended  the 
medical  lectures,  Wistar  offered  himself  in  the  year  1782 
as  a  candidate  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Previous  to  the  obtain- 
ing of  this  honor,  he  underwent  an  examination  in  the 
presence  of  the  trustees  of  the  university.  It  is  said  that 
he  acquitted  himself  on  that  occasion  in  an  extraordinary 
manner  ;  answering  the  questions  proposed  to  him,  with 
such  uncommon  promptness  and  precision,  as  excited  the 
surprise,  and  commanded  the  admiration  of  all  who  heard 
him.  There  was  a  singularity  in  this  examination  of 
which  I  have  been  informed  by  a  gentleman  who  was 
present.  The  Faculty  of  Medicine  were  not  all  of  one 
theory,*  and  each  professor  examined  with  an  eye  to  his 
own  system  ;  of  this  Wistar  was  aware,  and  had  the  ad- 
dress to  answer  each  to  his  complete  satisfaction,  in  his 
own  way.     Of  course  the  degree  was  conferred  on  him. 

Instead  of  entering  immediately  into  the  practice  of 
medicine,  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages 
to  be  found  in  the  schools  of  London  and  Edinburgh,  at 
that  time  tlie  first  in  the  world.  In  this  he  displayed  his 
usual  judgment.  It  has  been  remarked  that,  with  few 
exceptions,  those  who  have  been  great  in  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, have  abstained  from  practice  at  an  early  age. 
The  cause  is  obvious.  The  elements  of  science  lie  too 
deep  to  be  attained  without  long  and  patient  thought. 
The  mind  requires  retirement  and  tranquillity,  to  exert  its 
powers  of  reflection  to  their  full  extent.     But  these  are 

*  They  were  divided  into  Boerhaavian  and  CuUenian. 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  207 

incompatible  with  the  bustle,  the  anxiety,  the  agitation  of 
active  life.  There  was  another  reason  too,  formerly  of 
great  weight,  though  not  so  now,  for  finishing  a  medical 
education  in  Europe.  Our  own  schools  were  in  their  in- 
fancy, and  he  who  had  been  initiated  in  others  of  so  much 
greater  celebrity,  carried  with  him  a  splendor  reflected 
from  the  masters  under  whom  he  had  studied.  This  had 
appeared  in  Morgan,  Shippen,  Kuhn,  and  Rush,  too  plainly 
to  be  overlooked  by  the  searching  eyes  of  Wistar.  Ac- 
cordingly he  went  to  England,  in  October,  1783. 

The  air  of  London  was  unfavorable  to  his  health,  which 
compelled  him  to  make  frequent  excursions  into  the 
country.  But  no  time  was  lost  by  these  excursions.  His 
investigating  mind  was  busily  employed  in  acquiring 
knowledge  of  various  kinds  ;  and  his  familiar  letters,  dur- 
ing his  abode  in  England,  to  his  friends  in  America,  gave 
promise  of  that  devoted  attachment  to  science,  for  which 
his  character  was  afterwards  distinguished. 

Having  remained  a  year  in  England,  he  repaired  to 
Edinburgh,  where  he  passed  his  time,  not  like  many  young 
men  in  frivolous  or  vicious  amusements,  but  in  study,  in 
attending  lectures,  in  cultivating  the  friendship  of  distin- 
guished persons.  To  act  a  part  like  this,  requires  no 
small  share  of  good  sense  and  resolution.  But  to  under- 
stand the  merit  of  Wistar,  it  should  be  known  that  in  con- 
sequence of  his  father's  death,  he  was  easy  in  his  fortune, 
and  uncontrolled  master  of  his  actions.  Great  is  the  dan- 
ger to  wliich  youth  is  exposed  in  populous  cities.  To  each 
is  offered  the  choice  of  Hercviles.  The  paths  of  pleasure 
and  of  virtue  lie  open  before  them.  False  steps  are  not 
easily  retraced  ;  for  the  diverging  paths  grow  wider  and 
wider  asunder,  until  they  terminate  in  the  opposite  ex- 
tremes of  infamy  and  honor. 

Always  intent  on  improving  his  opportunities,  he  made 
a  journey  on  foot,  in  October,  1785,  in  company  with 
Charles  Throgmorton,  Esq.  and  Mr.  Ellcock,  of  Dublin, 
through  part  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  visited 
Glasgow,  Inverary  and  Inverness.  His  character  was  now 
rising  rapidly  at  Edinburgh.  That  he  enjoyed  the  esteem 
of  the  great  Cullen,  appears  by  a  letter  dated  January, 
1786.  For  two  successive  years  he  was  elected  one  of  the 
Presidents  of  the  Royal  Medical  Society  of  Edinburgh.  He 
was  elected  also  President  of  tlie  society  "  for  the  further 
investigation  of  natural  history."    These  honors,  conferred 


208  CASPAR    WISTAR. 

by  a  great,  a  learned,  and  a  proud  nation,  on  a  ymitli,  a 
stranger,  one  whose  country  had  but  just  risen  into  exist- 
ence, are  the  surest  testimonies  of  uncommon  merit.  We 
contemplate  them  not  only  with  pleasure,  but  with  pride. 
Their  lustre  is  reflected  from  the  man  to  the  country 
which  gave  him  birth. 

About  the  year  1785  he  was  received  intathe  house  of 
Doctor  Charles  Stewart,  a  most  respectable  physician  of 
Edinburgh,  with  whom  he  lived  during  the  remainder  of 
the  time  that  he  spent  in  that  city.  Of  this  favor  he  was 
highly  sensible.  He  always  remembered  it  with  grati- 
tude, and  spoke  of  it  with  pleasure. 

In  June,  1785,  he  took  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine in  the  University  of  Edinburgh  ;  his  Inaugural  Dis- 
sertation, "  de  Animo  Demisso,"  is  dedicated  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin and  Dr.  C alien  ;  the  one  at  the  head  of  philosophy 
in  his  own  country,  the  other  flourishing  in  Scotland  in 
medical  fame.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1786  he  took 
leave  of  Edinburgh,  leaving  behind  him  a  name  long  re- 
membered. This  is  testified  by  his  countrymen  who  vis- 
ited that  city  many  years  after.  His  fame  flew  before 
him  to  his  native  city,  where  he  arrived  in  January  1787, 
after  an  absence  of  more  than  three  years. 

He  was  soon  appointed  Physician  to  the  Philadelphia 
Dispensary,  a  useful  and  charitable  institution  then  re- 
cently established.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected  a 
memlDer  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society.  In  1788  to  his  other  good  fortune 
was  added  domestic  happiness,  by  his  marriage  with  his 
first  wife,  Isabella  Marshall,  daughter  of  Christopher  Mar- 
shall of  this  city.  In  1789  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Chemistry  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  This  appoint- 
ment he  did  not  accept  without  great  hesitation.  Phila- 
delphia had  then  the  misfortune  to  be  divided  between 
two  rival  schools  ;  the  Faculty  of  Medicine  of  the  College 
and  that  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  saw  and 
lamented  the  consequences  of  this  division.  It  was  his 
wish  to  unite,  in  one  great  institution,  the  talents  of  the 
city.  But,  finding  that  the  period  of  union  had  not  yet 
arrived,  he  accepted  the  professorship  offered  him  by  the 
College,  in  order  to  preserve  an  influence,  to  be  exerted  at 
the  proper  season,  and  in  this  purpose  he  was  not  disap- 
pointed ;  for  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  contributing  largely 
to  the  much  desired  union,  which  was  afterwards  efiected. 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  209 

In  the  memorable  summer  of  1793,  when  the  Physi- 
cians were  the  forlorn  hope  which  stood  between  the  pest- 
ilence and  the  people,  he  had  nearly  lost  his  life  :  he  did 
not  escape  the  awful  visitation,  but  was  fortunate  enough 
to  recover  from  it.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he 
was  chosen  Physician  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 

The  rival  Faculties  of  Medicine  being  united  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  Wistar  was  elected,  in  January 
1792,  adjunct  Professor  of  anatomy,  midwifery,  and  sur- 
gery, with  the  late  Dr.  Wm.  Shippen,  one  of  the  fa- 
thers of  the  medical  school.  Surgery  and  midwifery- 
were  afterwards  erected  into  several  professorships  ;  Ship- 
pen  and  Wistar  retained  anatomy,  and  on  the  death  of 
Shippen,  in  1808,  Wistar  was  placed,  as  sole  Professor,  in 
the  anatomical  chair. 

It  was  here  that  the  scene  of  his  greatest  excellence  was 
exhibited.  In  many  departments  of  science  he  was  con- 
spicuous, but  here  preeminent.  Here  he  exerted  all  his 
genius  and  strained  every  faculty  of  his  mind.  His  heart 
and  soul  were  in  the  object.  No  pains,  no  money  were 
spared  to  render  the  lecturfe  complete  ;  and  lie  succeeded  ; 
for,  in  the  opinion  of  able  judges,  he  might  well  bear  a 
comparison  with  the  most  celebrated  Professors  in  exist- 
ence. In  language  he  was  sufficiently  fluent,  and,  when  a 
little  excited,  even  eloquent,  and  by  happy  allusions  to 
agreeable  objects  he  contrived  to  scatter  flowers  over  a 
field,  not  naturally  of  an  inviting  aspect.  But  his  great 
aim  was  to  render  his  demonstrations  perfectly  intelligi- 
ble, and  this  he  always  accomplished  by  dwelling  upon 
his  subject,  mitil  he  perceived  that  it  was  clearly  under- 
stood by  his  pupils.  In  the  communication  of  his  ideas 
he  had  a  facility  never  attained  but  by  great  masters.  Too 
much  praise  cannot  l)e  given  him  for  the  liberality  with 
which  he  provided  the  necessary  apparatus.  His  expenses 
in  procuring  every  kind  of  drawing  or  model  which  could 
represent  the  various  parts  of  the  human  body,  were  great- 
er than  can  be  conceived  by  those  who  have  not  been  in- 
formed. The  increase  of  his  class  keeping  pace  with  the 
fame  of  the  Professor,  it  was  found  impossible  to  demon- 
strate to  several  hundred  students  at  once,  the  structure 
of  all  the  minute  organs.  He  had  recourse,  therefore,  to 
models,  which  gave  an  exact  representation  of  the  small 
parts  of  the  human  structure  on  a  magnified  scale.  This 
was  not  an  original  idea  of  Wi?tar  ;  but  he  extended  this 
VOL.   n.  27 


210  CASPAR    WI3TAR. 

mode  of  instruction  so  far  beyond  any  thing  which  had 
been  before  practised,  and  its  effects,  under  his  lessons, 
were  so  luminous  and  happy,  that  we  can  scarce  withhold 
from  him  the  merit  of  invention. 

He  pul)lished  a  few  years  ago,  a  System  of  Anatomy 
adapted  to  the  use  of  students,  the  character  of  which  I 
shall  give  in  words  better  than  my  own,  obligingly  com- 
municated by  a  Professor  of  our  Medical  Faculty.*  "  It 
is  a  model  for  an  elementary  work.  The  style  is  simple, 
plain,  intelligible — the  descriptions  brief  and  accurate 
— the  arrangement  lucid,  and  the  whole  work  altogeth- 
er worthy  of  his  talents.  However  numerous  the  writ- 
ings of  anatomists,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  this 
by  far  the  most  easily  understood,  and  by  far  the  best 
fitted  for  the  purposes  intended." 

Anatomy  has  been  so  much  studied  both  by  the  ancients 
and  moderns,  and  so  many  excellent  works  have  been 
published  on  the  subject,  that  any  discovery,  at  this  time 
of  day,  was  scarcely  to  be  expected.  Yet  it  is  supposed  to 
be  without  doubt,  that  Wistar  was  the  first  who  observed 
and  described  the  posterior  portion  of  the  ethmoid  bone  in 
its  most  perfect  state,  viz.  with  the  triangular  bones  at- 
tached to  it.  Of  this  he  has  given  an  accurate  description 
in  the  volume  of  our  Transactions  now  in  the  press.  On 
the  subject  of  that  discovery  he  received,  a  few  days  be- 
fore his  death,  a  letter  from  Professor  Soemmering,  of  the 
kingdom  of  Bavaria,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  anato- 
mists in  Europe,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract  : 
"  The  neat  specimen  of  tlie  sphenoid  and  ethmoid  bones, 
is  an  invaluable  addition  to  my  anatomical  collection, 
having  never  seen  them  myself  in  such  a  perfect  state. 
I  shall  now  be  very  attentive  to  examine  these  processes 
of  the  ethmoid  bone  in  children  of  two  years  of  age,  be- 
ing fully  persuaded  Mr.  Bertin  had  never  met  with  them 
of  such  a  considerable  size,  nor  of  such  peculiar  struc- 
ture." 

In  December,  1798,  Wistar  married  the  amiable  lady 
who  now  laments  his  loss,  Elizabeth  Mifflin,  niece  of  the 
late  Governor  Mifflin.  Of  his  first  marriage  there  is  no 
issue.  In  his  last  he  was  blessed  with  many  children,  only 
three  of  whom  remain. 


*  Dr.  Dorsev.  Professor  of  Materia  Medica. 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  211 

In  the  year  1809,  knowing  the  prejudices  that  obstruct- 
ed the  progress  of  vaccination,  he  suggested  the  plan  of  a 
society  for  circulating  the  benefit  of  that  noble  discovery 
which  has  immortalized  Jenner.  And  in  this  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  finding  himself  seconded  by  a  number  of  public 
spirited  gentlemen,  who  associated  themselves  for  that  use- 
ful purpose.  So  great  has  been  their  success,  that  by  their 
means  upwards  of  eleven  thousand  persons  had  been  vac- 
cinated in  this  city  and  liberties,  and  the  district  of  South- 
wark,  previous  to  their  annual  report  in  January  last  :  nor 
is  that  all  ;  for,  encouraged  by  tlieir  examples,  the  cor- 
poration have  generously  provided  by  law  for  the  gratuit- 
ous vaccination  of  the  poor  in  the  city. 

In  May,  1810,  he  resigned  his  office  of  pliysician  to  the 
Hospital.  In  what  estimation  he  was  held  by  the  mana- 
gers, will  best  appear  by  their  own  resolution,  entered  on 
their  minutes.  "  The  conclusion  of  Dr.  Wistar,  to  with- 
draw at  the  present  time,  was  unexpected  and  very  much 
regretted  by  the  managers,  who  would  have  gladly  em- 
braced the  opportunity  of  giving  to  a  long-tried,  expe- 
rienced and  faithful  practitioner,  a  further  proof  of  their 
confidence  in  his  skill  and  abilities,  by  reelecting  him 
to  the  office  he  has  filled  more  than  sixteen  years  suc- 
cessively with  great  reputation,  if  he  had  not  prevented 
them  by  declining  to  serve  any  longer.  Under  these 
impressions,  the  managers  reluctantly  part  with  Dr. 
Wistar,  l)eing  thankful  for  his  past  exertions  to  serve  the 
institution,  and  for  his  kind  otfers  to  advise  and  assist, 
if  there  shall  be  any  particular  reason  to  require  it,  on 
any  future  occasion." 

In  July,  1794,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  censors  of 
the  College  of  Physicians,  a  very  learned  incorporated  so- 
ciety, which  office  he  retained  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Dr.  Wistar's  mind  was  eminently  formed  for  a  profes- 
sion, in  which  precipitancy  is  danger,  and  mistake  is 
death.  No  man  ever  performed  his  duty  to  his  patients 
with  more  scrupulous  integrity.  He  spared  no  pains  in 
collecting  all  the  symptoms  from  which  the  disease  might 
be  ascertained.  His  visits  were  long,  his  questions  numer- 
ous and  minute.  He  paused  before  he  decided,  but  was 
seldom  wrong  ;  and,  his  mind  once  satisfied,  he  was  not 
easily  moved  from  his  purpose.  In  consultation  with  his 
brethren  he  was  courteous  and  attentive  ;  never  overbear- 
ing, but  always  stating  with   modest  firmness  the  result  of 


212  GAB  PAR    niSTAR. 

his  own  reflections.  His  patients  he  never  failed  to  at- 
tach to  him.  How  indeed  could  it  be  otherwise,  when 
to  the  sedulous  attentions  of  a  Physician  were  added  the 
sym})athy  and  anxiety  of  a  friend  ?  Though  much  given 
to  hospitality,  he  never  neglected  the  duties  of  his  pro- 
fession. Being  eminent  both  in  medicine  and  surgery,  his 
practice  soon  became  so  extensive,  that  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  walking  ten  miles  daily.  He  would  often  rise  from 
the  convivial  table  to  visit  his  patients,  and  request  his 
friends  to  remain  with  his  family  until  his  return.  Yet 
the  pleasure  of  pleasing  others  seemed  an  antidote  to  fa- 
tigue, and  enabled  him,  generally,  to  be  the  most  animated 
of  the  company. 

Having  taken  a  view  of  his  public  and  private  services 
as  a  physician,  let  us  now  consider  him  as  a  man  of  gener- 
al science  and  literature.  His  classical  learning,  gained  at 
school,  was  much  enlarged  by  subsequent  reading.  He 
became  an  excellent  scholar.  The  Latin  he  understood  so 
well,  as  occasionally  to  hold  conversations  in  it.  He  ac- 
quired enough  of  the  French  language  to  converse  with- 
out difficulty,  and  Avas  well  acquainted  with  the  German. 
In  the  character  of  an  accomplished  physician  is  combin- 
ed a  variety  of  sciences.  Anatomy  was  Wistar's  fort,  but 
he  was  well  versed  in  Chemistry,  Botany,  Mineralogy,  and 
History,  in  all  its  branches.  As  appertinent  to  his  profes- 
sion, he  had  reflected  deeply  on  the  human  mind.  Its 
connexion  with  the  body,  tlie  manner  of  its  being  acted 
on  by  matter,  and  the  cure  of  its  maladies,  he  considered 
as  desiderata  in  medicine.  That  these  objects  had  engag- 
ed much  of  liis  thought,  is  evident.  For,  when  a  student 
at  Edinburgh,  I  find  that  he  proposed  questions  concern- 
ing them  to  Dr.  Cullen  ;  his  Thesis,  "  de  Animo  Demisso," 
shows  the  same  train  of  thinking,  and  in  the  last  valedic- 
tory address  to  his  pupils,  he  exhorts  them  to  investigate 
the  subject,  and  to  make  themselves  familiar  with  the 
writings  of  Locke,  Hartley,  Priestley,  and  Reid. 

As  an  author,  he  has  not  left  much  behind  him.  He 
sometimes  wrote  anonymous  essays,  which  were  published 
in  the  papers  of  the  day  ;  and  others,  which  had  his  sig- 
nature, appeared  in  the  Transactions  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,  and  in  the  printed  volumes  of  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  American  Philosophical  Society.  Among  the 
latter  is  a  paper  in  which  are  detailed  some  very  curious 
experiments  on  the  evaporation  of  ice.     This  subject  has 


CASPAR    IVISTAR. 


.  213 


been  since  ably  developed  by  others,  but  it  is  believed  that 
Wistar  was  among  the  first  who  attracted  to  that  cb;ect 
the  attention  of  the  public.  His  most  considerable  w  rk 
is  his  system  of  Anatomy.  He  had  completed  the  Bio- 
graphy of  his  friend  and  colleague,  Dr.  Shippen,  and  ha  I 
it  in  contemplation  to  write  a  Memoir  on  the  life  of  the 
late  Professor  Barton.  He  was  industriously  inquiring  in- 
to the  natural  history  of  our  western  country,  and  had 
commenced  a  collection  of  subjects  for  the  inve^^tigation  of 
Comparative  Anatomy,  to  which  he  was  incited  by  his 
friend  Correa  da  Serra,  Avhose  name  is  identified  with 
science  both  in  Europe  and  America.  He  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  correspond  with  men  of  distinguished  talents, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  Amon^  these  are  found  the 
names  of  Humboldt  and  Soemmering,  in  Germany  ;  Camper, 
in  Holland  ;  Michaux,  in  France  ;  Sylvester,  in  Geneva  ; 
Dr.  Pole  and  Dr.  Thomas  C.  Hope,  in  Great  Britain  ;  and 
in  the  United  States,  of  the  late  President  Jefferson,  Correa 
da  Serra,  Warren,  and  most  others  conspicuous  in  litera- 
ture. In  1815  he  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  New-York,  and  the 
same  honor  was  conferred  on  him  by  other  literary  insti- 
tutions. 

In  the  year  1795  he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the 
American  Philosopliical  Society,  and  in  1815,  on  the  resig- 
nation of  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  his 
illustrious  friend.  I  need  not  call  to  your  recollection 
with  what  propriety,  what  decorum,  what  suavity  of  man- 
ners, he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  honorable  station. 
Such  Avas  his  courtesy,  that  he  seemed  anxious  even  to  di- 
vest himself  of  that  superiority,  which  the  order  of  busi- 
ness rendered  necessary.  He  was  assiduous  in  attending 
committees.  He  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  strenuous 
supporters  of  the  Historical  and  Literary  Committee,  in- 
stituted by  the  society  about  two  years  ago.  With  what 
ardor  did  he  excite  them  to  industry  in  collecting,  ere  too 
late,  the  fleeting  materials  of  American  history  .''  The 
meetings  of  this  committee  he  regularly  attended.  It  was 
their  custom,  after  the  business  of  the  evening  was  con- 
cluded, to  enter  into  an  unrestrained  conversation  on  lit- 
erary subjects.  There,  whhout  intending  it,  our  lament- 
ed friend  would  insensibly  take  the  lead  ;  and  so  interest- 
ing were  his  anecdotes,  and  so  just  his  remarks,  that  draw- 
ing close  to  the  dying  embers,  we  often  forgot  the   lapse 


214  CASPAR    WISTAR. 

of  time,  until  warned  by  the  unwelcome  clock  that  we 
had  entered  on  another  day.  To  the  business  of  the  soci- 
ety in  general  he  was  always  attentive,  and  his  zeal  for  its 
interest  could  not  be  surpassed.  Considering  his  conduct 
in  every  point  of  view,  I  may  truly  say  that  he  gave  uni- 
versal satisfaction. 

The  understanding  of  Wistar  was  rather  strong  than 
brilliant.  Truth  was  its  object.  His  mind  was  patient  of 
labor,  curious  in  research,  clear,  although  not  rapid  in 
perception,  and  sure  in  judgment.  What  is  gained  with 
toil  is  not  easily  lost.  His  information  was  remarkably 
accurate,  and  his  tenacious  memory  held  fast  what  it  had 
once  embraced.  In  youtli  he  had  given  some  time  to  poe- 
try, and  in  maturer  age  he  had  not  lost  his  taste  for  it. 
His  favorite  poets  were  Pope  and  Milton.  Among  those 
of  more  modern  date,  he  preferred  Cowper  and  Burns. 
But  the  inclination  of  his  genius  was  decidedly  for  graver 
studies.  Of  time,  and  nothing  else,  he  was  avaricious. 
As  he  rode  in  a  carriage  he  often  read,  and  when  confined 
by  sickness  he  was  fond  of  being  read  to  by  his  family. 

It  remains  to  consider  our  deceased  associate  as  a  private 
citizen  and  a  man.  Public  office  he  neither  held  nor 
sought,  although  enjoying  the  affection  of  him  whose  fa- 
vor was  fortune.  This  disinterested fiiendship  does  honor 
to  both.  To  the  liberty  of  his  country  he  was  firmly  and 
warmly  attached.  The  harmony  in  which  he  lived  with 
friends  of  both  parties,  and  the  respect  and  affection  which 
friends  of  both  parties  entertained  for  him,  afford  a  memo- 
rable example,  well  worthy  the  serious  reflection  of  those 
who  suppose  that  political  intolerance  is  essential  to  politi- 
cal integrity. 

I  turn  with  pleasure  from  the  field  of  politics  to  objects 
of  a  more  delightful  nature  ;  the  piety,  the  goodness,  the 
philanthropy  of  our  lamented  friend. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  physician  to  be  punctual  in  attend- 
ance on  public  worship.  But  if  Wistar  was  not  punctual, 
it  was  not  because  he  was  insensible  of  the  duty,  but  be- 
cause he  was  called  by  other  duties  to  the  assistance  of  his 
fellow  mortals  in  another  place.  He  therefore  desired 
that  his  family  should  be  regular  in  attendance  at  meeting, 
and  he  himself  went  when  the  situation  of  his  patients 
permitted.  In  his  devotion,  as  in  every  thing  else,  he  was 
void  of  ostentation.  But  that  his  mind  dwelt  much  on 
that   ini})ortant   object,  I   can  have  no  manner  of  doubt. 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  215 

When  a  youth,  at  Edinburgh,  his  friend,  Dr.  Charles 
Stewart,  made  him  a  present  of  a  neat  edition  of  the  Bible, 
in  two  small  volumes.  These  he  carefully  preserved  to 
the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  it  was  his  custom,  when  he 
travelled,  always  to  take  one  of  them  with  him.  This 
circumstance  was  well  known  to  his  children,  the  eldest 
of  whom  frequently  accompanied  him  in  his  excursions, 
and  could  not  fail  to  impress  on  their  tender  minds  a 
veneration  for  the  book  which  their  father  so  highly 
prized. 

To  Wistar,  philosophy  was  the  handmaid  of  religion — 
she  elevated  his  soul  and  warmed  his  affections. 

After  loving  God  with  all  our  heart,  the  next  great  com- 
mandment is  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself.  Were  I 
asked  to  point  out  the  most  prominent  feature  in  Wistar's 
character,  I  should  answer,  without  hesitation,  benevo- 
lence. It  was  a  feeling  which  seems  never  to  have  for- 
saken him,  beginning,  as  it  ought,  with  his  own  family, 
and  extending  to  the  whole  human  race.  Nor  was  it  that 
useless  sympathy  which  contents  itself  with  its  own  sensa- 
tions. His  charity  was  active,  his  hand  ever  seconding 
the  feelinjjs  of  his  heart. 

On  the  death  of  Dr  Rush,  Wistar  succeeded  him  as 
President  of  the  Society  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery, 
The  object  of  this  society  was  congenial  to  his  mind. 
Considering  the  situation  of  the  southern  states,  the  sub- 
ject is  delicate.  But,  certainly,  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  our  country  is  an  event  deeply  to  be  lamented,  and 
every  wise  man  must  wish  for  its  gradual  abolition. 

For  the  Indians  of  America  he  seems  to  have  felt  a  par- 
ticular kindness.  He  admired  their  eloquence,  lamented 
their  desolating  wars,  and  earnestly  sought  for  the  means 
of  meliorating  their  condition.  Having  once  inoculated 
an  Indian  woman  for  the  smallpox,  her  husband  had  fears 
for  the  event.  Indeed  there  was  some  cause  for  fear,  as 
the  woman  refused  to  submit  to  the  proper  regimen.  The 
anxiety  of  the  Doctor  was  extreme.  She  recovered  ;  but 
until  the  danger  was  over,  he  declared,  that  on  no  occasion 
had  he  been  more  oppressed  with  the  lesponsibility  of  his 
profession. 

The  gratitude  of  Wistar  was  remarkable.  Services 
done,  or  even  intended,  he  always  remembered  ;  but  inju- 
ries he  was  ready  to  forget.  In  a  letter  written  at  Edin- 
burgh he  declared,  that   he  had  determined   to    for<>ive 


S16  CASPAR    WISTAR. 

every  tiling  to  a  friend  or  near  relation,  and  expressed  his 
belief,  that  it  would  contribute  greatly  to  happiness  to  ex- 
tend forgiveness  to  every  one.  TJiis  sentiment  gained 
strength  with  time,  and  at  length  ripened  into  a  governing 
principle. 

His  health,  during  the  few  last  years,  was  interrupted  by 
several  alarming  attacks.  He  was  subject  to  great  irregu- 
larities of  pulse,  and  there  were  strong  symptoms  of  disor- 
der in  the  chest.  A  collection  of  water  was  apprehended. 
But  the  fact  was,  that  a  small  ossification  had  taken  place 
between  two  of  the  semi-lunar  valves  of  the  aorta.  About 
the  14th  of  January  last,  he  was  seized  with  a  malignant 
fever  attended  with  symptoms  of  typhus.  Art  proved 
unavailing,  and  he  sunk  under  the  disease,  after  an  illness 
of  eight  days,  on  the  22d  of  January,  1818. — From  a  Eulo- 
gy delivered  before  the  American  Philosophical  Society  at  Phila- 
delphia, by  the  Hon.  William  Tilghman. 

Tiie  preceding  facts,  which  are  collected  from  a  source, 
tlie  authenticity  of  which  cannot  for  a  moment  be  ques- 
tioned, display  in  a  strong  and  simple  manner  the  estima- 
tion in  which  Dr.  Wistar  was  held  by  those  who  possessed 
the  best  means  of  knowing  his  whole  character.  There 
was  a  remarkable  simplicity  and  openness  in  this  distin- 
guished individual.  There  was  a  directness  in  his  actions, 
which  left  no  one  to  hesitate  as  to  the  nature  of  his  mo- 
tives. There  was  too  much  of  good,  public  and  private, 
in  what  he  did,  to  permit  any  man  to  seek  for  improper 
motives  for  his  conduct.  His  country,  his  profession,  the 
poor  and  the  rich,  his  public  station,  the  promotion  of 
science,  his  religion,  every  relation  which  he  felt  to  things 
around  him,  found  a  deep  place  in  his  heart  ;  and  he 
seemed  to  live  to  cherish  and  strengthen  principles,  the 
constant  operation  of  which  was  to  make  him  happy,  use- 
ful and  good. 

The  great  and  leading  trait  in  Dr.  Wistar's  character 
was  benevolence.  He  continued  to  practise  a  laborious 
profession,  and  among  all  classes,  when  its  emoluments 
had  lost  their  attraction.  Wlien  bodily  infirmity  imperi- 
ously called  on  him  to  narrow  the  sphere  of  his  labors,  he 
lamented  that  his  opportunities  of  active  usefulness  were 
diminished.  He  had  ample  resources  in  his  own  mind, 
but  there  was  a  joy  in  doing  good  which  no  retired  or  ab- 
stract occupation  could  supply.  This  benevolence  was  not 
only  discoverable  in  his  devotedness  to  his  patients  ;  it  was 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  SIT 

the  same  spirit,  that  made  Iiis  house  the  welcome  resort 
of  the  stranger  and  the  friend  ;  and  it  was  to  give  this 
spirit  wider  exercise,  that  he  never  ceased  from  study. 
Works  of  mere  taste,  however,  and  esjiecially  works  of 
fiction,  he  rarely  read.  Life  seemed  to  him  too  short  to 
be  wasted  ;  and  knowledge  which  could  not  be  applied  to 
some  useful  purpose,  seemed  hardly  worth  acquiring. 

Dr.  Wistar  was  remarkable  for  the  high  veneration  with 
which  he  regarded  his  profession.  In  the  discharge  of  its 
practical  duties,  his  ruling  principle  shone  preeminently 
bright.  Men  lost  to  him  tlien  the  artificial  distinctions  of 
society.  Sufferers  constituted  but  one  class,  one  species. 
Individual  misery  was  a  claim  which  he  never  failed  to 
recognise.  It  was  not,  however,  in  a  conscientious  dis- 
charge of  its  duties  merely,  that  his  jn'ofound  respect  for 
his  profession  was  discoverable.  He  possessed  an  abstract 
sentiment  of  veneration  for  his  favorite  science.  He  loved 
it  for  its  own  sake.  It  M^as  to  him  a  dignified  and  noble 
science,  with  high  purposes  for  its  objects.  A  moral  and 
intellectual  character  was  thus  diffused  through  its  practical 
details  ;  and  what  with  many  men  is  mere  routine,  had 
with  him  an  intimate  union  with  mind.  This  led  to  a 
strong  and  habitual  application  of  his  powers  to  every 
collateral  study,  which  might  tend  to  enligiiten  the  obscure 
parts  of  his  profession,  strengthen  his  regard  for  it,  and 
render  both  it  and  himself  more  extensively  useful. 

We  turn  from  these  more  general  views,  to  consider 
some  relations  in  which  Dr.  Wistar  excelled.  There  are 
three  for  which  he  especially  deserves  to  be  mentioned  ;  as 
a  companion,  as  a  hospital  surgeon,  and  as  a  public  teach- 
er. When  we  speak  of  Dr.  Wistar  as  a  companion,  we 
speak  of  his  colloquial  powers  and  dispositions  as  they 
were  manifested  to  his  visiters.  These  can  be  perfectly 
understood  only  by  those  who  have  been  acquainted  with 
him.  They  owed  much  of  their  power  to  simple  express- 
ion of  countenance.  When  he  spoke,  his  face  became  at 
once  animated  and  open.  His  features  received  impress- 
ions readily  from  his  mind  ;  and  when  he  listened,  one 
might  perceive  in  his  varying  countenance  the  effect  of  the 
remark  that  was  made,  and  gather  the  tone  of  his  reply. 
There  was,  in  short,  something  colloquial  in  the  simple 
expressions  of  his  countenance.  His  address  was  not  ele- 
gant, and  we  are  not  disposed  to  call  it  awkward.  It  was 
the  manner  of  a  man  whose  mind  was  habitually  absorbed, 
VOL.   u.  28 


J818  CASPAR    WISTAR. 

and  the  occasional  relaxations  of  which  had  not  allowed 
him  time  for  acquiring  elegance.  In  him  the  purjooses  of 
conversation  were  answered.  Something  interesting  might 
always  be  learned.  He  became  early  acquainted  with  use- 
ful discoveries  in  the  sciences  and  the  arts,  and  took  a 
pleasure  in  communicating  them.  Yet  he  never  engrossed 
conversation.  He  looked  to  his  visiters  for  information 
and  pleasure,  and  understood  admirably  well  the  art  of 
eliciting  from  every  mind,  with  which  he  came  in  contact, 
what  might  interest  himself  or  others. 

As  a  surgeon  of  the  Hospital  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Wis- 
tar  aimed  to  accomplish  two  highly  important  objects, 
to  cure  disease,  and  convey  instruction.  What  has  been 
already  considered  as  the  leading  trait  in  his  character, 
was  in  this  relation  peculiarly  conspicuous.  It  was  a  field 
in  which  a  benevolent  spirit  might  exert  its  widest  and 
purest  influences.  Here  were  strangers,  who  might  die, 
and  be  at  once  forgotten  ;  or  recover,  and  hardly  know 
the  being  whose  deep  interest  and  successful  exertions  had 
been  among  the  means  of  their  recovery.  These  unknown 
men,  however,  became  at  once  intimately  allied  to  Dr. 
Wistar.  Their  claims  were  laid  in  their  distresses.  The 
union  became  closer  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  suf- 
fering ;  and  no  one,  who  has  seen  him  at  the  bedside  of 
one  of  these  patients  in  whom  signs  of  recovery  at  last  be- 
gan to  appear,  but  could  read  in  his  animated,  happy 
countenance,  from  how  heavy  a  weight  of  anxiety  and  op- 
pression his  heart  was  recovering.  This  would  not  have 
been  particularly  noticed,  for  v/e  know  that  sympathy 
under  these  circumstances  is  not  uncommon.  In  Dr.  Wis- 
tar, however,  the  degree  in  which  it  existed  was  un- 
usual. It  is,  we  think,  but  rarely  found  that  habit 
does  not  enable  men  to  resist  the  expression  of  feeling, 
whether  of  sorrow  or  joy.  It  certainly  did  not  in  him, 
and  thus  a  medical  student  and  hospital  patient  were  the 
witnesses  of  feeling,  as  well  as  of  skill,  and  felt  a  relation 
to  him,  on  that  account,  which  few  men  in  similar  situa- 
tions are  anxious  to  have  established. 

Dr.  Wistar  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  imparting  use- 
ful instruction  to  the  hospital  pupils.  This  was  done  by 
minute  examinations  of  the  patients,  while  the  class  was 
present,  and  by  interesting  remarks  on  individual  cases. 
He  insensibly  led  the  student  to  habits  of  deliberate  inqui- 
ry and  reflection,  by  the  happy   illustration  he  offered  of 


CASPAR    WISTAR.  219 

the  practice  in  himself.  In  his  manner  towards  the  patients 
of  this  admirable  charity,  he  gave  a  most  valuable  lesson 
of  conduct  to  the  young.  If  a  student  saw  any  thing  but 
misery  in  corporal  distress,  or  acknowledged  any  other 
sentiment  than  a  desire  to  relieve  it,  especially  if  he  viewed 
it  as  ludicrous,  or  treated  it  as  such.  Dr.  Wistar  never 
failed  to  notice  and  correct,  at  the  moment,  so  gross  a  mis- 
conception. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  Dr.  Wistar  as  a  public  teacher. 
In  this  relation  he  appeared  in  all  the  fulness  of  his  intel- 
lectual powers.  He  brought  to  the  anatomical  theatre  his 
deep  and  various  learning,  his  habitual  feelings,  and  even 
something  of  his  colloquial  vivacity.  Although  he  was 
strikingly  fluent,  and  truly  learned,  still  there  was  some- 
thing in  his  eloquence  peculiarly  his  own.  Not  that  he 
was  lofty  in  his  manner  and  imposing  by  his  voice,  for  lie 
Was  neither.  His  was  the  eloquence  of  sentiment,  rather 
than  of  manner  ;  and  his  persuasiveness  owed  almost  as 
much  to  his  disposition,  as  to  the  great  importance  of  the 
truths  which  he  unfolded.  The  dignity  which  attached 
to  him,  had  a  common  origin  with  his  eloquence.  It  was 
not  perceived  at  once.  It  was  necessary  to  know  some- 
thing of  his  character  and  heart,  as  vvell  as  of  the  richness 
of  his  mind,  in  order  to  understand  the  elevation  to  which 
he  had  attained.  In  his  public  instructions  Dr.  Wistar 
surrendered  himself  entirely  to  his  hearers,  and  freely, 
thoup^h  unconsciously,  displayed  to  them  his  intellectual 
peculiarities  and  his  whole  character.  He  commenced  his 
lecture  with  a  recapitulation  of  the  preceding  one.  This 
was  done  by  questions  to  the  class.  The  effect  of  this  on 
the  student's  mind,  was  to  connect  intimately  the  instruct- 
ion already  given,  with  that  which  he  was  about  to  re- 
ceive. The  lecturer  then  turned  with  unembarrassed  read- 
iness to  the  subject  before  him.  An  imrivalled  fluen-^y 
and  simplicity  attended  him  through  every  step  of  the  de- 
monstration, however  complicated  ;  and  he  knew,  of  all 
men  we  have  ever  heard,  the  best  how  to  be  interesting, 
and  at  the  same  time  rigorously  minute.  A  broad  and 
clear  light  shone  steadily  around  him.  He  seemed  to  have 
identified  anatomy  with  his  common  thoughts  ;  and  the 
language  in  which  he  expressed  himself  on  this  subject, 
seemed  like  the  appropriate  expressions  of  his  familiar 
conversation.  Towards  the  close  of  the  lecture,  when  the 
business  of  demonstration  was  done,  he  deserted  for  a  while 


220  JAMES   VVOODHOUSE. 

the  office  of  teaching  forms,  structures  and  arrangements, 
and  entered  the  more  intellectual  department  of  his  sci- 
ence, which  teaches  the  uses  or  finictions  of  organs.  He 
entered  tliis  path  as  if  it  had  not  been  a  new  one.  The  di- 
gression was  so  easy,  so  natural,  that  his  hearers  unreluc- 
lantly  followed  him.  They  felt  that  they  were  to  be  de- 
lighted and  instructed  by  all  that  he  would  discover  to 
them.  In  this  part  of  his  lecture  his  mind  had  its  full 
play.  Its  great  business  was  to  collect  and  arrange  what 
others  had  taught,  and  to  interweave  among  his  luminous 
generalizations  the  results  of  his  own  inquiries.  In  doing 
tliis,  he  gave  a  brilliancy  to  the  experimental  truths  of 
physiology  which  made  them  apparent  to  every  one.  His 
felicities  of  expression  made  tliem  attractive  and  even 
beautiful.  It  Avas  a  brilliancy,  however,  that  did  not  daz- 
zle, for  it  was  a  quality  which  owed  its  existence  as  much 
to  the  consciousness  of  the  hearer,  as  to  the  clear  concep- 
tions and  peculiar  language  of  the  professor. 

We  have  thus  attempted  a  delineation  of  the  character 
of  Dr.  Wistar.  There  is  something  salutary  in  the  con- 
templation of  such  a  man,  and  such  a  mind.  It  is  true, 
there  is  a  height  in  so  much  excellence,  to  which  we  may 
never  attain.  But  it  is  not  too  elevated  to  be  seen.  It  is 
not  a  sudden  steep,  ev^ery  step  of  which  m>ist  be  gained  by 
labor,  and  which  few  only  have  surmounted.  We  rise  by 
an  ascent  so  gentle,  and  so  much  to  love  is  on  every  side, 
that  our  strength  is  increased  rather  than  exhausted.  We 
are  invited  by  such  a  mind  to  be  its  companion  and  friend  ; 
and  are  taught  by  it,  that  we  may  be  both,  if  we  have 
found  our  highest  pleasure  in  honorable  and  important  la- 
bors for  the  public,  and  in  a  beneficence  which  has  its  lim- 
its only  in  our  power  of  doing  good. —  W.  C. — J\\  A.  Rev. 
— jRees'  Cyclopedia. — 'Hosacli's  Eulogium. — Essays.,  Vol.  I. 

WOODHOUSE,  JAMES,  M.D.  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia November  17th,  1770.  His  father  was  a  bookseller 
and  stationer,  and  an  industrious,  worthy  citizen.  His 
mother  was  an  excellent  woman,  who  discharged  her  du- 
ties in  society  with  zeal  and  fidelity.  Dr.  Woodhouse's 
education  was  commenced  at  a  private  school  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  continued  at  the  grammar  school  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania.  In  due  course  of  time  he  entered 
the  university,  and  in  1787  received  the  honor  of  Bachel- 
or of  Arts.  He  soon  after  entered  as  a  pupil  with  Dr. 
Rush,  and  in    1793   was  graduated  Doctor  of  Medicine. 


JAMES    WOODHOUSE.  221 

The  inaugural  dissertation  which  he  supported  and  de- 
fended was  on  the  Dyosperos  Virginiana,  or  Persimmon  ; 
of  this  valuable  native  tree  he  gave  the  botanical  and  nat- 
ural history  ;  and  also  detailed  a  variety  of  experiments 
Avhich  he  made  upon  the  expressed  juice  of  the  unripe 
fruit,  the  extreme  astringency  of  which  cannot  be  conceiv- 
ed of  but  by  those  who  have  bitten  the  plum.  He  treats 
of  the  various  purposes  to  which  it  may  be  applied  in  the 
arts,  and  in  diseases  ;  and  of  the  modes  of  obtaining  a 
spirit  and  beers,  and  of  making  bread  from  the  fruit,  after 
it  is  converted  into  a  sweet  nutritious  and  grateful  sub- 
stance by  exposure  to  the  frost  when  fully  ripe. 

In  1791  he  determined  to  apply  for  the  situation  of  Sur- 
geon in  the  Army,  then  assembling  under  the  command  of 
the  late  General  St.  Clair,  and  destined  to  chastise  the  In- 
dians on  our  frontiers,  who  had  committed  repeated  mur- 
ders upon  the  citizens  of  the  United  states  ;  and,  upon  the 
resignation  of  his  fellow  student.  Dr.  James  Mease,  who 
had  been  appointed  Surgeon,  but  who  changed  his  mind, 
he  received  the  commission.  The  horrors  of  that  cam- 
paign have  been  often  given  to  the  public.  Luckily  Dr. 
Woodhouse  escaped  the  dangers  of  the  dreadful  defeat 
which  the  United  States  troops  suffered  on  the  4th  of  Nov- 
ember, 1791,  having  been  ordered  to  accompany  the  first 
regiment  which  was  sent  after  sixty  militia  deserters,  four 
days  before  the  battle,  and  to  meet  a  convoy  of  provisions 
which  was  daily  expected.  He  returned  to  Philadel])hia 
after  an  absence  of  four  months,  and  reneAved  his  studies. 

He  early  evinced  a  predilection  for  chemical  studies,  and 
to  these  he  confined  almost  the  wliole  of  his  attention  af- 
ter his  graduation.  He  never  attempted  to  practise  med- 
icine. A  vacancy  in  the  chemical  chair  having  occurred 
by  the  death  of  Dr.  Hutchinson  in  1793,  Dr.  Woodhouse 
offered  himself  as  a  candidate.  Dr.  Priestley  was  chosen, 
but  declined.  Dr.  Carson  was  then  appointed,  but  died 
without  giving  a  lecture  ;  and  in  the  year  1 795  Dr.  Wood- 
house  was  elected  to  the  office.  He  went  to  work  with 
zeal,  and  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  the  following  win- 
ter with  great  applause  ;  and,  as  almost  the  whole  of  his 
time  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  his  favorite  science,  he 
added  to  the  number,  variety  and  brilliancy  of  his  experi- 
ments. 

His  publications  on  chemical  subjects  were  numerous, 
and  may  be  foimd  in  those  useful  journals,  the   Medical 


JAMES    WOODUOUSE. 

Repository  of  New-York,  Coxe's  Medical  Museum  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  the  American  Philosophical  Society's  Trans- 
actions, vol.  4th.  The  first  evinces  by  several  compara- 
tive experiments,  the  superiority  of  the  anthracite  coal 
from  the  river  Lehigh  in  Northampton  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, over  the  bituminous  coal  of  Virginia,  for  intensity 
and  regularity  of  hegit.  In  the  spring  of  1802  he  made  a 
visit  to  England  and  France  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
himself  in  the  branch  he  taught,  and  while  in  London 
published  in  Nicholson's  Philosophical  Journal,  vol.  2d, 
"  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Vegetation  of 
Plants,"  Avhich  show  the  common  opinion  of  the  amelior- 
ation of  the  atmosphere  by  vegetation  in  solar  light,  to  be 
ill  founded.  This  paper  was  the  result  of  a  series  of  labor- 
ious and  ingenious  experiments  on  the  leaves  of  numerous 
plants  and  trees.  He  returned  in  time  to  commence  his 
lectures  the  following  season  with  his  brethren  of  the  Med- 
ical Faculty.  In  the  year  1796  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 

Besides  his  papers  in  the  medical  Journals  above  men- 
tioned, he  published  the  following  :  Observations  on  the 
Combination  of  Acids,  Bitters,  and  Astringents,  a  pam- 
phlet, 1793  :  The  young  Chemist's  Pocket  Companion, 
connected  with  a  portable  laboratory,  for  enabling  any 
one  to  perform  a  variety  of  experiments,  12mo.  1797  : 
Parkinson's  Chemical  Pocketbook,  Avith  an  appendix  con- 
taining the  principal  objections  to  the  antiphlogistic  theo- 
ry of  chemistry,  and  a  plate  of  his  economical  laboratory, 
12mo.  1802  :  Chaptal's  Elements  of  Chemistry,  4th  edi- 
tion, with  many  notes  and  additions,  2  vols.  1807. 

Dr.  Woodhou^e  died  of  palsy,  which  terminated  in  ap- 
oplexy, June  4th,  1809.  He  left  a  choice  collection  of 
books  on  medicine  and  other  subjects  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital,  and  a  collection  of  minerals  to  the  American 
Philosophical  Society. 


JVOTES. 

{See  Page  185,  Vol.11.) 

No.  I. 

Extract  from   a  Letter  of  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop  White^ 
Pennsylvania^  to  Dr.  Hosack,  New-York. 

Dear  Sir,  Philadelphia,  October  14th,  1819. 

On  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  12th,  I  called  on  my  neigh- 
bor, Mr.  Read,  whose  inforniaiion  on  the  subject  of  your  inquiry 
is  as  follows  : 

Dr.  Williamson  had  learned  that  the  letters  of  Governor  Hutch- 
inson were  deposited  in  an  office,  different  from  that  in  which  they 
ought  regularly  to  have  been.  There  had  been  some  business 
which  had  convinced  him  (Dr.  W.)  that,  in  the  transactions  of  the 
former  office,  there  was  no  great  exactness.  He  repaired  to  it, 
and,  not  finding  the  principal  within,  he  addressed  himself  to  the 
chief  clerk  ;  assuming  the  demeanor  of  official  importance,  he  de- 
manded the  late  letters  of  Governor  Hutchinson  ;  noticing  the  of- 
fice in  which  they  ought  properly  to  be  placed.  Mr.  Read  thinks 
it  was  that  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  but  is  not  sure.  The  letters 
were  delivered.  Mr.  Williamson  carried  them  to  a  gentleman 
who  would  deliver  them  to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  the  next  day  set  ofT 
for  Holland.  Mr.  Read  remarked  that  his  statement  should  be 
taken  in  connexion  with  the  narrative  to  be  found  in  the  Life  of 
Dr.  Franklin. 

I  have  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  the  communication  of  Mr, 
Read.     Independently   of  the   character  he  has  sustained  through 
life,  and  to  a  great  age,  Dr.  W.  and  he  were  born  within  twelve 
miles  of  each  other,  and  were  companions  from  their  boyhood. 
Very  respectfully,  your  very  humble  servant, 

William  White. 

To  Dr.  D.  Hosack. 

P.  S.  The  Mr.  Read  mentioned  in  this  letter,  is  brother  to  the 
late  George  Read,  Esq.  of  New-Castle,  Member  of  the  First  Con- 
gress, and  since  Senator  for  Delaware,  under  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. W.  W. 


224 


NOTES. 


No  11. 
Extract  from  a  Letter  of  James  Read,  Esq.  to  Dr.  Hosack. 

Sir,  Philadelphia,  October  26th,  1819. 

The  enclosed  contains  all  the  additional  information  I  have 
been  able  to  collect,  relative  to  the  subject  of  your  letter  dated  on 
the  20th  instant. 

As  to  the  Hutchinson  letters  which  I  mentioned  to  Bishop  White, 
I  well  remember  Dr.  Williamson  telling  me,  some  time  after  his 
return  from  Europe,  that  he  was  the  person  who  had  procured 
them;  having  gotten  information  as  to  the  office  in  which  they 
were,  (I  think  he  said  it  was  a  particular  part  of  the  Treasury,)  he 
went  there,  and  without  hesitation  said  to  a  clerk,  the  only  person 
then  in  the  office,  that  he  came  for  the  last  letters  that  had  been 
received  from  Hutchinson  and  Oliver,  from  Boston ;  that  the 
clerk,  without  asking  a  question,  gave  him  the  letters,  which  he 
put  into  his  pocket  and  walked  out.  He  was  convinced  the  clerk 
supposed  him  to  be  an  authorized  person  from  some  other  public 
office  ;  that  he  placed  the  letters  in  a  proper  situation  to  be  con- 
veyed to  Dr.  Franklin,  then  in  London,  and  he  departed  imme- 
diately for  Holland.  This  is,  if  not  exactly,  at  least  the  substance 
of  what  the  Doctor  told  me  in  a  conversation  we  had  on  the  then 
situation  of  our  public  affairs.  The  effects  resulting  from  that 
transaction  are  generally  known. 

It  will  afford  me  much  gratification,  if  any  thing  contained  here- 
in should  be  deemed  useful  to  you  in  portraying  the  character   of 
the  estimable  and  truly  respectable  Dr.  Williamson. 
I  am,  with  respect.  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

James  Kead. 
Dr.  D.  Hosaek. 


No.  III. 

Extract  from  a  Letter  from  the  Honorable  John  Adams,  LL.D. 
late  President  of  the  United  States,  to  Dr.  Hosack. 

Sir,  Quincy,  January  2Sth,  1820. 

Your  Biographical  Memoir  of  Dr.  Williamson,  which  I  have 
read  with  great  interest  and  satisfaction,  has  excited  so  many  remi- 
niscences, as  the  French  call  them,  that  I  know  not  where  to  be- 
gin, or  where  to  end. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Williamson  was  in  Boston,  in 
1773,  when  he  made  a  strong  impression  upon  me,  and  gave  me  a 
high  opinion  of  the  intelligence,  as  well  as  energy  of  his  character. 
He  gave  us  great  comfort,  at  that  time,  by  the  representation  he 


NOTES.  *  225 


gave  us  of  the  ardor  of  the  people  in  the  American  cause,  in  the 
middle  and  southern  states,  especially  in  New- York  and  Philadel- 
phia. I  was  afterwards  more  particularly, acquainted  with  him, 
when  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  Con- 
gress ;  when  he  communicated  many  things  to  me,  particularly  that 
he  was  descended  from  Sir  William  Wallace,  the  great  Scottish 
hero,  patriot  and  martyr.  He  informed  me  also  that  he  was  em- 
ployed in  writing  the  History  of  North  Carolina,  a  work  that  I 
have  long  wished  to  see,  but  have  never  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
obtain. 

I  was  one  of  the  first  persons  to  whom  Mr.  Cushing  communi- 
cated the  great  bundle  of  letters  of  Hutchinson  and  Oliver,  which 
had  been  transmitted  to  him,  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, by  Dr.  Franklin,  their  agent  in  London.  I  was  permit- 
ted to  carry  them  with  me  upon  a  circuit  of  our  Judicial  Court, 
and  to  communicate  them  to  the  chosen  few.  They  excited  no 
surprise,  excepting  at  the  miracle  of  their  acquisition.  How  that 
could  have  been  performed  nobody  could  conjecture  ;  none  doubt- 
ed their  authenticity,  for  the  hand-writing  was  full  proof:  and,  be- 
sides, all  the  leading  men  in  opposition  to  the  ministry,  had  long 
been  fully  convinced  that  the  writers  were  guilty  of  such  malignant 
representation,  and  that  those  representations  had  suggested  to  the 
ministry  their  nefarious  projects.  I  doubt  not  the  veracity  of  Dr. 
Williamson's  account  of  the  agency  in  procuring  those  letters,  but 
1  believe  he  has  omitted  one  circumstance,  to  wit,  that  he  was  em- 
ployed upon  that  occasion  by  Mr.  Temple,  afterwards  Sir  John 
Temple,  who  told  me,  in  Holland,  that  he  had  communicated  those 
letters  to  Dr.  Franklin.  Though  I  swear  to  you,  said  he,  that  I 
did  not  procure  them  in  the  manner  represented.  This  I  believe, 
and  I  believe  further,  that  he  did  not  deliver  them  with  his  own 
hand,  into  Dr.  Franklin's,  but  employed  a  member  of  Parliament, 
very  possibly  Mr.  Hartley,  for  that  purpose  ;  for  Dr.  Franklin  de- 
clared publicly  that  he  received  them  from  a  member  of  Parlia- 
ment. I  am 

Your  obliged  friend,  and  most 

Humble  servant, 
'  John  Adams.. 

To  D.  Hosack,  M.D.  LL.D. 


To  the  foregoing  statement  it  may  be  proper  to  add  that  Captam 
John  Williamson,  a  surviving  brother  of  the  deceased,,  in  a  conver- 
sation which  I  held  with  him  shortly  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson, fully  confirmed  the  above  account  of  his  brothers  agency 
in  procuring  the  letters  of  Hutchinson.  He  moreover  declared 
that  his  information  had  been  derived  immediately  from  his  bro- 
ther. D.  H. 
VOL.  li.                         29 


226  "^  NOTES. 


LETTERS    OF    LINNiEtJS. 
{See  Page  349,  Vol.  1.) 

No.  I. 

Mr.  Adam  S.  Kuhn,  Upsalf  2d  February,  1762. 

Sir, 
About  three  weeks  ago  your  son,  of  great  promise,  and  en- 
dowed with  most  engaging  manners,  arrived  here  ;  who  after  so 
long  a  voyage  has  reached  this  academy  in  safety  and  good  health. 
He  will  receive  from  me  the  most  disinterested  advice  ;  I  will  cher- 
ish him  with  paternal  affection,  and  will  at  no  time  omit  any  thing 
that  can  contribute  to  his  assistance  or  advancement,  as  long  as  he 
may  choose  to  avail  himself  of  my  counsels. 

At  this  academy  he  can  learn  the  History  and  Diagnosis  of  Dis- 
eases, Materia  Medica  and  Natural  History,  better  and  more  thor- 
oughly than  perhaps  in  any  other  place.  And  if  I  should  live  for 
three  years  more,  he  will  be  a  Doctor  of  Medicine,  not  only  in 
name,  but  also  in  knowledge. 

If  he  is  to  expend  yearly  in  this  place  the  same  sum  which  Mr. 
Wrangel  is  to  bring  back  from  his  country,  he  ought  to  obtain  from 
him  a  written  order,  under  his  own  hand,  for  taking  up  money  ; 
in  this  manner  both  will  be  benefited. 

If  you  should  meet  Mr.  Bartram,  who  wrote  to  me  and  sent  me 
some  plants,  I  beg  you  to  make  my  respects  to  him,  and  tell  him 
that  amongst  the  plants,  there  was  only  one  that  was  really  new  ; 
which,  with  a  high  single  stalk,  with  numerous  setaceous  leaves  on 
the  stalk,  resembled  in  appearance  the  daffodil,  and  should  be 
classed  with  the  genus  Helonias. 

Remember  me  affectionately  to  Mr.  Wrangel,  to  whom  I  am 
under  great  obligations  for  his  letter  and  his  undissembled  friend- 
ship. And  now  you  may  live  at  ease  as  it  respects  your  son  ;  and 
remain  assured  that,  as  long  as  he  is  disposed  to  take  my  advice, 
he  will  be  as  safe  with  me  as  with  his  own  father.  Farewell,  and 
paa^.  you  live  long  and  prosperously. 


No.  II. 

Mr.  Adam  S.  Kuhn,  Upsal,  Z4th  February,  1765, 

Sir, 

You  recommended  your  soa  to  my  care,  concerning  whom  I 
am  now  able  to  speak  with  more  certainty.  He  lives  in  a  house 
next  door  to  me,  so  that  I  can  daily  enjoy  his  conversation,  and 
inspect  his  morals  and  studies.     His   mind  is  always  aspiring,  and 


NOTES. 


227 


his  very  amiable  disposition  gives  general  satisfaction  ;  so  that  he 
is  beloved  and  esteemed  by  us  all.  He  is  unwearied  in  his  stu- 
dies in  every  branch  of  medicine,  nor  does  he  suffer  a  single  hour 
to  pass  by  unimproved.  He  long  since  began  to  taste  the  sweets 
of  science.  He  daily  and  faithfully  studies  Materia  Medica  with 
me.  He  has  learnt  the  symptomatic  history  of  diseases  in  an  ac- 
curate and  solid  manner.  In  Natural  History  and  Botany  he  has 
made  remarkable  progress,  such  indeed  as  he  will  never  repent ; 
so  that,  God  willing,  he  will  hereafter  see  his  country  with  differ- 
ent eyes  than  when  he  left  it.  He  has  studied  Anatomy  and  Phy- 
siology with  other  professors.  Next  summer,  during  the  vacation, 
he  can  go  to  the  country,  to  a  farm  of  mine  very  near  the  city, 
where  he  may  make  daily  progress  in  the  studies  he  has  commenc- 
ed. I  have  been  surprised  that  he  has  never  been  afflicted  with 
homesickness  ;  the  only  thing  that  has  caused  him  uneasiness,  was 
not  receiving  any  letters  from  the  best  of  fathers. 

You  have  ventured  to  send  your  beloved  son  to  a  foreign  country ; 
should  it  be  his  fate  to  return  to  you,  I  will  engage  that  you  will 
never  repent  what  you  have  done.  In  a  word,  he  lives  in  the  most 
temperate  and  correct  manner.  He  observes  good  order  in  the 
management  of  his  affairs  ;  nor  have  any  of  the  allurements  of 
youth,  which  are  apt  to  ensnare  young  men,  made  any  impression 
on  him.  Therefore  I  congratulate  both  you  and  myself  on  this 
your  son  ;  and  I  declare  most  sacredly  that  I  have  never  known 
any  one  more  correct  in  deportment  or  superior  in  application. 
For  the  truth  of  this  I  pledge  my  honor. 


No.  IH. 

Mr.  KuHN,  Upsal,  October  Sth,  1764. 

My  dear  friend, 

I  this  d.iy  received  your  letter,  and  rejoice  exceedingly  that 
the  AH  Gracious  God  has  conducted  you  in  safety  to  England  ; 
and  I  hope  that  He  also  will  grant  you  a  safe  return  to  your 
friends.  My  whule  family  was  extremely  glad  to  learn  that  you 
were  well,  and  desire  to  be  affectionately  remembered  to  you. 

Wallerius,  the  Professor  of  Theology,  Professor  Dahlman,  r.nd 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Amnel,  have  died  this  summer. 

I  have  heard  a  great  deal  of  the  excellent  Mrs.  Monson,  whom 
I  esteem  and  honor  more  than  any  other  woman  in  the  world  ;  I 
pray  and  beseech  you  to  make  my  most  devoted  respects  to  her. 

I  lately  received  from  Siberia  a  live  Cimicifuga,  a  species  of 
actea,  which  gave  me  infinite  pleasure,  I  have  many  new  genera 
from  the  East  Indius,  not  yet  described  ;  I  could,  and  willingly 
would,  consecrate  one  of  them  to  the  perpetual  memory  of  the  en- 
gaging Mrs.  Monsou  ;    but  for  that  purpose   I   would  wish  to  pro- 


228  NOTES. 

cure  the  most  beautiful  plant  in  her  garden.  If  she  has  any  of  a 
new  genus,  and  you  will  send  it  to  nie,  dried,  you  will  quickly  find 
that  I  have  fulfilled  my  intention. 

A  new  edition  of  the  genera  has  appeared,  in  which  your  genus 
is  described  ;  the  Museum  of  the  Queen's  Society  has  also  been 
published.  I  could  wish  to  send  you  these  two  small  works,  if  I 
knew  to  whom  to  entrust  them. 

I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  Dr.  Solander  has  admirably 
described  his  scarce  plants,  as  he  was  one  of  the  most  solid  bota- 
nists amongst  my  pupils  :  I  beg  you  to  give  my  best  respects  to  him. 

I  lament,  beyond  measure,  the  untimely  end  of  Mr.  Forscallens, 
and  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  refrain  from  tears.  In  his  death 
the  best  interests  of  science  have  sustained  a  greater  loss  than  I 
can  bear  to  think  of. 

Continue  to  inform  me  of  your  movements;  let  me  know  what 
countries  "you  visit,  and  what  you  meet  with  worthy  of  observa- 
tion ;  and  remain  my  steadfast  friend,  as  I  shall  ever  remain  yours. 

Farewell,  continue  to  remember  me. 


No.  IV, 

Mr.  Adam  Kuhn,  Upsal,  February  20th,  1767. 

My  dear  friend, 

I  have  learnt  from  your  letter,  that  you  are  about  to  pro- 
duce the  first  proof  of  your  acquirements,  in  an  essay  on  the 
Power  and  Efficacy  of  the  Cold  Bath  on  the  Human  Body  ;  I 
therefore  cannot  refrain  from  heartily  congratulating  you  on  this 
little  work,  since  I  shall  ever  regard  what  occurs  favorable  and 
fortunately  for  you,  in  the  same  light  as  if  it  had  happened  to  my- 
self; for,  from  the  period  in  which,  having  set  sail  from  the  shores 
of  your  favored  Pennsylvania,  you  reached  our  city  of  Upsal,  I 
have  ever  cherished  you  as  a  beloved  son,  for  your  correct  and  en- 
gaging deportment,  in  which  none  of  the  foreigners  excelled  you  ; 
for  your  unwearied  ardor  and  application  in  cultivating  the  sci- 
ences, in  which  you  were  surpassed  by  no  one  ;  for  your  undis- 
guised friendship,  in  which  none  could  have  equalled  you.  No- 
tliing  will  bo  more  ardently  desired  by  me  than  that,  being  speedi- 
ly restored  to  N'our  friends,  you  may  long  prosperously  flourish  and 
collect  the  wonderful  treasures  of  your  country  ;  where  I  may 
hope  to  see,  with  your  eyes,  a  most  beautiful  region,  abounding 
with  as  many  rare  mammalia,  birds,  amphibia,  fishes,  insects,  &c., 
as  perhaps  any  other  countr}'  in  the  world.  For  I  seem  to  my- 
self to  behold  you  wandering  in  your  native  woods,  amongst  lirio- 
dendrons,  Soc,  interspersed  witii  liquidambars,  amongst  which  the 
ground  is  strewed  and  covered  with  helianthuses,  &c.,  while  the 
huiuaiing  birds,  sliaking  their  golden  wings,  sip  the  nectar  of  the 
cbelono,  and  the  different  kinds  of  mocking  birds  join   in   a   thou« 


NOTES.  229 

sand  melodious  notes,  amongst  hosts  of  winged  songsters,  from  the 
tops  of  ihe  trees.  But  a  year  would  scarcely  suffice  to  enume- 
rate, much  less  to  describe  the  enjoyments  of  your  paradise.  Fi- 
nally, I  beg  that,  when  on  your  return  your  eyes  are  feasting  on 
the  delights  of  your  flowers,  you  may  still  remember  me. 


No.    V. 

Mr.  Adam  Kuhn,  Upsal^  26th  February,  IJ&T. 

My  dear  friend, 

I  this  day  received  your  letter  dated  12th  of  January,  and 
observed  with  the  greatest  pleasure  that  you  have  been  appointed 
Professor  of  Botany  and  Materia  Medica  in  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia ;  on  which  I  most  cordially  congratulate  you.*  I  men- 
tioned this  circumstance  to  my  wife  and  children,  and  they  all  par- 
ticipate the  great  joy  which  your  good  fortune  has  occasioned  me. 

I  shall  attend  to  your  request  respecting  the  societies  as  soon  as 
you  write  to  me  from  your  own  country. 

Within  these  few  days  I  have  brought  to  a  conclusion  the  first 
volume  of  the  Systema  Naturae,  which  contains  about  ninety 
sheets  ;  a  second  volume  is  now  in  the  press,  in  which  Mr.  Hope 
will  see  his  ^'  Hopea,"  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Garden. 

My  Clavis  Medicinse,  which  was  published  upwards  of  a  year 
ago,  might  possibly  be  of  service  to  you  in  the  Materia  Medica  ;  I 
wish  I  knew  how  it  could  reach  you  ;  it  consists  of  two  sheets 
only,  containing  thirty-two  pages. 

I  am  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Walker  from  his  writings, 
and  have  frequently  quoted  him  when  treating  on  the  zoophytes. 
He  is  a  most  ingenious  man,  and  I  beg  you  to  make  my  respects 
to  him. 

I  have  indeed  seen  the  eyes  of  the  cuttle-fish,  and  you  will  find 
that  I  have  not  denied  their  existence  ;  but  still  I  am  not  convinced 
that  they  are  really  eyes  ;  perhaps  some  organ  of  sense,  to  us 
unknown. 

I  wrote,  if  I  mistake  not,  that  we  last  year  celebrated  the  nup- 
tials of  Miss  Gran  Caissa.  She  now  resides  at  Haggby  ;  not  in 
your  house,  but  in  the  adjoining  one.  She  married  Andrew  Er- 
sen,  the  son  of  a  farmer,  at  that  place.  At  her  wedding  we  drank 
to  your  health. 

My  whole  family  desires  to  be  most  affectionately  remembered 
to  you. 

If  you  should  meet  the  celebrated  Hope,  beg  from  him  some 
American  seeds  for  me  ;  many  of  those  formerly  sent,  through  his 
kindness,  germinated  and  sprouted. 

*  There  must  b«  some  mistake  here  ;  Dr,  Kuhn  was  appointed  Professor  of  Ma- 
teria Medica  and  Botany  in  January,  1768. 


230  NOTES. 

..  ^^ 

Mr.  Bceckman,  who  succeeded  to  your  place  and  chamber,  and 
remained  with  me  a  year  and  a  half,  has  already  been  appointed 
Professor  of  Natural  History  at  Gottingen. 

Mr.  Kouig,  a  former  pupil  of  mine,  returned  last  year  from  Ice- 
land, with  many  new  things  in  natural  science. 

When  you  next  write,  address  your  letter  to  the  Royal  Society 
of  Sciences,  Upsal ;  for  I  open  all  the  letters  myself,  therefore 
there  is  no  occasion  for  a  cover. 


No.  VI. 

Mr.  Adam  Kuhn,  Upsal,  20th  Noveinber,  1772. 

My  dear  friend, 

As  a  good  opportunity  offers  of  sending  a  letter  to  you  by 
a  young  clergyman*  of  ours  who  is  going  to  your  favored  Pennsyl- 
vania, I  cannot  let  it  pass  without  writing,  to  pay  my  respects  to 
you,  and  to  recommend  him  to  you  as  a  truly  learned  man. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  Transactions  of  your 
Society ,t  and  for  having  admitted  me  into  the  number  of  your 
members.  This  is  evidently  owing  to  your  warm  attachment  to 
me,  which  I  shall  ever  highly  value. 

Your  brother  now  resides  at  Upsal.  He  has  been  with  me  but 
three  times.  He  resembles  you  extremely,  both  in  his  appear- 
ance and  engaging  manners. | 

J  send  with  this  vny  second  Mantissa,  which  perhaps  you  have 
not  yet  seen. 

I  wish  you  would  give  to  the  world  a  dissertation  on  the  "  As- 
teres"  of  your  country,  which  are  very  numerous ;  and  that  you 
would  mark  accurately  their  specific  characters,  as  this  genus  is 
extremely  difficult  to  us  Europeans. 

On  the  arrival  of  this  clergyman  of  ours,  another  may  possibly 
come  to  us  from  you  ;  in  that  case  I  pray  and  entreat  you  to  send 
me  some  dried  plants  and  some  seeds  ;  amongst  which  I  most  ar- 
dently wish  for  the  seeds  of  the  Kuhnia,  which  perished  in  our 
garden. 

I  have  at  present  two  pupils  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Messrs. 
Tunberg  and  Sparmann,  who  are  assiduously  engaged  in  collect- 
ing plants.  Next  year  Tunberg  will  go  to  Japan,  with  the  Dutch 
Legation. 

My  whole  family  unites  in  wishes  for  your  welfare. 

J  am  yours,   whilst  I   live.       Farewell. 

Eclectic  Repository,  Vol.  VIII. 

*  Dr.  Nicholas  Collin,  the  present  pastor  of  the  Swedish  Church  at  Philadelphia. 

t  The  American  Philosophical  Society. 

%  Daniel  Kuhn,  appointed  pastor  of  the  Swedish  Church  at  Christiana,  near 
Wilmington,  Delaware  j  who  died  at  London,  without  returning  to  his  native 
country. 


APPENDIX. 


i 


The  following  Memoirs  were  not  received  in  season  to 
be  inserted  in  their  proper  place  in  the  body  of  the 
Avork. 


\ 


SAM?  IDAWlPcDiaTIHI  M.Ii). 


t  fnifilpi  on's   Lii  lio  j;^raph.v. 


APPEiVDIX. 


DANFORTH,  SAMUEL,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Cam- 
bridge, near  Boston,  in  the  year  1740.  He  was  the  son  of 
Samuel  Danforth,  Probate  Judge  of  the  comity  of  Middle- 
sex, and  was  descended  from  a  line  of  venerable  ancestors, 
distinguished  from  the  settlement  of  this  country.  For  he 
of  his  forefathers  who  first  came  to  New  England,  is  said 
to  have  been  "  a  gentleman  of  such  estate  and  repute  in 
the  world,  that  it  cost  him  a  considerable  sum  to  escape 
the  knighthood  which  Charles  I.  imposed  on  all,  of  so 
much  per  annum."  This  distinguished  person  came  to 
Boston  with  his  son  Samuel  in  1634.  The  latter,  being  re- 
mariiable  for  his  piety  and  learning  at  an  early  period, 
was  educated  to  the  ministry  and  settletl  in  Roxbury, 
where  he  died  in  1674.  He  stands  second  on  the  list  of 
"  Socii,"  the  fellows,  or  governors  of  Harvard  College. 
From  the  year  1643  to  1758,  there  appear  before  Dr.  Dan- 
forth on  the  college  catalogue,  seven  of  his  ancestors  and 
relations  ;  three  of  whom  were  clergymen,  and  some  of  the 
others  held  distinguished  political  stations.  The  name  of 
the  family  of  his  mother  was  Symmes.  He  had  one  bro- 
ther and  one  sister,  both  of  whom  died  before  him. 

His  early  years  were  passed  in  Cambridge.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  the  college,  where  he  evinced  that  independence 
and  decision  of  character,  for  which  he  was  remarkable  in 
after  life.  He  was  graduated  in  1758,  and  studied  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Rand,  the  elder,  either  in  Boston  or  Charles- 
town.  At  that  period  he  became  acquainted  with  a  Ger- 
man physician,  who  exerted  some  influence  on  his  opin- 
ions, and  of  whose  skill  he  often  spoke  with  admiration. 
This  was  probably  the  elder  Dr.  Kast. 

He  commenced  practice  in  Newport,  Rhode-Island,  a 
place  at  that  time  distinguished  for  its  prosperity  and  its- 
VOL.  ir.  30 


234  APPENDIX, 

literary  character.  Here  he  treated  some  difficult  cases  with 
a  success  that  established  his  reputation,  and  formed  him 
friendships  which  lasted  during  life.  After  a  year  or  two, 
however,  he  resolved  to  return  to  Boston  ;  and,  having 
married  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Watts  of  Chelsea,  established 
himself  at  the  north  part  of  the  town. 

The  revolutionary  troubles  disturbed  his  professional 
pursuits,  and  he,  like  many  of  those  descended  froin  ancient 
families,  became  an  active  politician  on  the  loyal  side.  In 
consequence  of  liis  taking  this  part,  he  was  compelled  by 
the  war  to  break  up  his  family.  His  wife  and  three  child- 
ren took  refuge  at  her  father's  ;  his  brother  went  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  remained  till  his  death  :  while  he  himself 
continued  in  Boston,  then  in  possession  of  the  British  army. 
After  the  evacuation  of  the  town,  he,  with  some  other 
medical  gentlemen,  was  treated  with  harshness.  But  the 
inhabitants,  considering  that  they  could  not  conveniently 
dispense  with  the  services  of  their  accustomed  physicians, 
thought  it  wise  to  forget  the  difference  of  political  opin- 
ions ;  the  physicians  were  set  at  liberty  ;  and  a  few  years 
were  sufficient  to  obliterate  the  recollection  of  the  fact. 

His  family  being  reunited  in  Boston,  he  pursued  the 
practice  of  his  profession  with  success.  His  promptness, 
decision,  but  above  all  his  reflecting  habit  of  mind,  gave 
him  character  and  consequence.  He  increased  his  reputa- 
tion by  an  ardent  attention  to  the  study  of  chemistry, 
which  was  then  so  little  known  in  this  country  as  to  be 
considered  an  occult  and  somewhat  mysterious  science. 
In  this  favorite  pursuit  he  was  aided  by  a  French  gentle- 
man, whom  the  war  had  brought  to  this  country,  and  whoy 
like  himself  being  devotedly  attaclied  to  chemistry  and  med- 
icine, became  his  intimate  friend.  In  company  with  this 
gentleman  he  pursued  the  study  far  enough  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  some  of  the  important  facts  which  soon  after  broke  out 
with  such  lustre  in  the  discoveries  of  Lavoisier  and  his 
coadjutors.  At  a  subsequent  period,  through  his  son, 
whom  he  had  sent  to  Europe  for  improvement  in  the  medi- 
cal profession,  he  obtained  tlie  most  complete  chemical 
apparatus  which  had  been  seen  in  Boston.  But,  the  calls 
of  an  imperious  and  engrossing  profession  preventing  his 
pursuing  this  science  with  that  exclusive  ardor  which 
belonged  to  him,  he  abandoned  It  wholly,  and  never 
resumed  it. 


SAMUEL    DANFORTH.  235 

After  the  death  of  his  wife  he  was  again  twice  married  ; 
first  to  Margaret  Billings,  by  whom  he  liad  one  daughter, 
and  afterwards  to  Martha  Gray. 

Having  been  an  original  member  of  tlie  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  he  was  chosen  President  of  that  body  in 
1795,  and  continued  to  be  so  till  1798,  He  had  long  be- 
fore this  attained  the  highest  reputation.  In  all  difficult 
cases  of  a  medical  nature,  his  opinion  was  relied  on  as  the 
utmost  effort  of  human  skill.  To  a  knowledge  of  surgery 
he  made  no  claim,  and  avoided  its  practice  ;  considering 
the  medical  art  to  afford  sufficient  scope  for  his  capacious 
mind.  The  extent  of  his  practice  was  limited  only  by  his 
ability  and  disposition  to  attend  to  it,  and  he  continued  in 
full  and  constant  occupation  till  he  was  nearly  eighty  years 
old,  exhibiting  none  of  the  signs  of  a  diminution  of  mental 
power,  except  a  slight  imperfection  of  memory,  the  effects 
of  which  his  intellectual  vigor  enabled  liim  to  surmount. 

After  having  seen  his  colleagues  in  business  successively 
fall  around  him,  and  the  disappearance  of  a  great  part  even 
of  the  generation  which  came  into  practice  after  him,  he 
was  compelled  by  infirmity,  about  four  years  before  his 
death,  to  resign  his  business  and  confine  himself  to  his 
family.  His  latter  days  were  not,  however,  without  en- 
joyment ;  for  his  physical  functions  continued  in  many 
^respects  active  ;  and  his  happiness  in  doniestic  society 
seemed  to  increase  with  the  loss  of  that  external  pleasure 
he  had  so  keenly  experienced  in  his  profession.  Some- 
times this  retirement  was  agreeably  interrupted  by  the  visit 
of  an  old  friend,  and  sometimes  a  former  patient  came  to 
catch  the  last  rays  of  that  wisdom  and  experience  which 
was  gradually  sinking  into  night. 

Dr.  Danforth  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  this 
country  has  seen.  He  was  tall  in  stature,  thin,  yet  well 
formed  and  perfectly  erect.  His  eye  was  penetrating,  nose 
aquiline,  chin  very  prominent,  and  his  whole  countenance 
exhibited  a  sagacity,  which  a  stranger  could  not  fail  to 
notice.  Educated  in  the  old  school,  his  manners  were 
polished,  but  not  formal,  and  his  carriage  attractive  yet 
commanding.  He  was  such  a  figure  as  the  imagination 
would  paint  of  a  sagacious,  powerful  physician.  When 
engaged  in  the  consideration  of  a  difficult  case  in  practice, 
he  seemed  to  shrink  within  liimself,  and  his  appearance, 
to  an  unacquainted  observer,  indicated  doubt ;  but,  when 
the  results  of  his  reflections  were  expressed,  his  counte- 


236  APPENDIX. 

nance  and  person  were  most  animated  ;  and  lie  speedily 
cleared  away  the  difficulties  before  him.  Other  practi- 
tioners, having  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  healing  art, 
have  often  been  surprised  to  see  the  fertility  of  his  mind  in 
the  production  of  new  plans  of  treatment. 

His  theory  of  disease  he  had  formed  for  himself.  It  was 
simple,  and  his  practice  corresponded  with  it.  He  used 
few  remedies,  and  those  only  whose  effects  were  obvious 
and  j)Owerful.  Calomel,  opium,  ipecacuanha  and  Peru- 
vian bark  were  his  favorite  medicines  ;  and  his  external 
remedies  were  friction,  vesication  and  the  warm  bath. 
Though  considered  one  of  the  most  successful  practition- 
ers, he  rarely  caused  a  patient  to  be  bled.  Probably  for 
the  last  twenty  years  of  his  practice  he  did  not  propose 
the  use  of  this  remedy  in  a  single  instance  :  and  he  main- 
tained that  the  abstraction  of  the  vital  fluid  diminished 
the  power  of  overcoming  disease.  Whatever  difference  of 
opinion  there  may  be  as  to  his  theory  or  to  some  points 
of  his  practice,  it  may  with  justice  be  said  that  the  medical 
art  is  indebted  to  him  for  essential  improvements  ;  espe- 
cially for  dissipating  the  popular  notion,  whicli  saw 
nothing  but  bilious  complaints  in  all  diseases  of  the  digest- 
ive organs  ;  and  substituting,  in  place  of  this  error,  a  cor- 
rect view  of  the  nature  and  the  treatment  of  the  derange- 
ments of  the  part  he  considered  most  important  in  the 
animal  economy,  the  stomach.  The  simplicity  of  his 
views,  the  boldness  of  his  treatment,  and  his  aversion  to 
nostrums  and  specifics,  had  a  jDowerful  influence  on  the 
practitioners  with  wliom  he  consulted. 

The  confidence  of  his  patients  was  unlimited,  and  their 
attachment  without  bounds.  These  sentiments  were  in- 
spired not  only  by  iiis  superior  talents,  but  by  his  manners, 
which  to  those  he  liked  Avere  most  captivating  and  affec- 
tionate. Some  persons  accused  him  of  severity.  This 
disposition,  however,  presented  itself  only  when  he  was  ex- 
cited to  it  by  opposition  to  his  opinions  or  disobedience  to 
his  orders.  His  conviction  of  the  truth  of  his  doctrines 
was  so  strong,  and  his  confidence  in  his  own  practice  so 
entire,  that  he  was  unable  to  bear  opposition  to  the  one, 
or  disobedience  to  the  otiter.  When  he  found  his  advice 
slighted  or  his  injunctions  disobeyed,  he  was  indeed  un- 
sparing of  the  offender  ;  for  he  truly  said  that  such  acts 
were  as  great  an  injury  to  the  patient,  as  an  injustice  to  the 
physician. 


SAMUEL    DANFORTII.  23T 

Having  '  lied  much  and  thought  profoundly  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  life,  and  having  formed  his  opinions  on 
grounds  satisfactory  to  himself,  in  his  later  years  he 
read  but  little.  When  he  found  a  hook  that  pleased  him, 
it  became  a  study.  Every  opinion  was  made  the  subject 
of  reflection  and  conversation.  His  aversion  to  writing 
was  very  decided  and  uniform  through  his  life.  Had  he 
committed  to  paper  the  observations  he  had  made,  and  the 
reflections  revolved  in  his  powerful  mind,  his  fame  would 
have  been  as  widely  extended  abroad  as  it  was  deeply 
rooted  in  his  native  place.  The  writer  of  this  article  has 
been  informed  that  his  friends  frequently  solicited  him  to 
allow  some  parts  of  his  opinions  and  practice  to  be  taken 
in  writing.  He  at  last  assented  ;  and,  after  progress  had 
been  made  in  the  work,  he  took  occasion  to  read  what  had 
been  written  :  having  done  this,  approaching  the  Are,  he 
exclaimed,  "  Absurd  !  of  what  use  is  all  this,  without  the 
mind  to  apply  it  ;"  and  deposited  the  paper  in  the  flames. 
Decision  and  the  love  of  truth  seem  to  have  been  the 
distinguishing  traits  of  his  character,  not  only  as  a  medical 
practitioner,  but  in  domestic  life.  He  was  simple  in  his 
taste,  and  averse  to  parade  and  pretension.  In  his  friend- 
ships he  was  singularly  firm  and  confiding  ;  and,  after  a 
severe  domestic  calamity  had  weakened  his  mind,  his 
affections  seemed,  if  possible,  to  gain  new  strength  and 
deeper  tenderness.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  religion  were  such  as  to  aff'ord  great 
consolation  to  those  who  felt  the  deepest  interest  in  his 
welfare. 

His  final  illness  was  short.  On  the  13th  of  November  he 
had  a  slight  paralytic  aff'ection  while  in  his  parlor  ;  but 
was  able  fo  sit  up,  and  recognised  and  conversed  pleasant- 
ly with  a  medical  gentleman  whom  he  had  not  seen  for 
some  vears.  On  the  evening  of  that  day  he  entered  his 
chamber  to  leave  it  no  more.  Three  days  after  the  para- 
lytic affection,  finding  himself  faint  he  for  the  first  time 
told  his  daughter,  his  only  surviving  child,  that  this  ill- 
ness would  be  a  fatal  one.  A  few  hours  after  he  sunk  into 
a  state  of  insensibility,  and  expired  in  a  tranquil  and  almost 
imperceptible  manner. 

He  died  at  the  age  of  88,  on  the  16th  day  of  November, 
1827.  On  the  Sunday  following  the  funeral  solemnities 
of  the  Episcopal  church  were  performed  in  his  house  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  ;  and  his  family  tomb  in  the  west- 


238  APPENDIX. 

ern  angle  of  the  cemetery  in  Common  street,  received  the 
inanimate  remains  of  him  who  had  so  often  been  the  in- 
strument of  repelling  the  arrows  of  death  from  his  fellow 
men. — Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 
.EUSTIS,  WILLIAM,  M.D.  M.MS.S.  et  LL.D.,  was 
the  second  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  Eustis,  both  of 
whom  were  respectable  characters  and  who  resided  in 
Boston.  He  was  born  on  the  10th  of  June,  1753.  His 
mother  superintended  his  early  years,  and  the  excellence 
of  her  disposition  and  pious  instructions  left  upon  his  mind 
impressions  of  her  worth,  that  never  were  effaced  nor  im- 
paiied  tlirough  life.  His  early  education  was  obtained  at 
the  grammar  school  in  Boston  under  the  celebrated  Mr. 
John  Lovell,  and  he  became  a  favorite  both  of  him  and 
his  usher.  At  the  age  of  14  he  entered  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, where  he  was  distinguished  as  a  good  classical  schol- 
ar. He  took  his  Bachelor's  degree  with  reputation  at  the 
annual  commencement  in  1772,  on  which  occasion  an  hon- 
orable part  was  assigned  him. 

After  his  graduation  at  college,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  medicine  in  Boston  under  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  the  revo- 
lutionary patriot  and  martyr.  His  j)ersonal  appearance, 
his  polished  manners  and  gentlemanly  address,  added  to 
his  many  amiable  feelings,  and  an  intellect  well  cultivated, 
rendered  him  a  favorite  of  his  youthful  friends  and  fellow 
students,  and  secured  to  him  the  strong  and  growing  at- 
tachment of  his  instructer.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
glorious  struggle  between  the  mother  country  and  her  col- 
onies Mr.  Eustis  was  a  student  with  General  Warren.  On 
the  19th  of  April,  1775,  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
an  express  arrived  in  Boston  communicating  the  intelli- 
gence ;  on  which  occasion  the  General  mounted  his  horse, 
called  Mr.  Eustis  and  directed  him  to  take  care  of  the  pa- 
tient?; in  his  absence,  and  departed  for  the  scene  of  action. 
About  one  o'clock  on  the  same  day  Dr.  Eustis  rode  to 
Lexington  and  Concord,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
dressing  the  wounds  received  bv  some  of  our  militia  from 
the  fire  of  the  British.  When  the  American  troops  were 
collecting,  and  an  army  was  forming,  General  Warren  pro- 
posed to  Dr.  Eustis  to  receive  the  appointment  of  Surgeon 
to  one  of  the  Regiments,  observing  that  lie  had  seen  more 
practice  than  most  of  the  gentlemen  from  the  country. 
He  was  accordingly  appointed  Surgeon  of  the  Regiment 
of  Artillery  then  at  Cambridge.     From  tJience  he  remov- 


WILLIAM  EUSTIS.  239 

ed  with  the  army  to  New-York,  and  soon  after  received 
the  appointment  of  Hospital  Surgeon.  He  was  subse- 
quently offered  a  commission  in  the  line  of  the  army  as 
Lieutenant  Colonel  of  Artillery,  by  General  Knox,  but  he 
preferred  the  medical  department,  wliere  he  might  im- 
prove his  mind  in  the  knowledge  of  his  profession. 

In  1777,  and  during  most  of  the  war.  Dr.  Evistis  occu- 
pied as  a  hospital  a  spacious  house  and  out  buildings  be- 
longing to  Colonel  Robinson,  a  royalist  who  had  joined 
the  British,  situated  on  the  Hudson  river  opposite  to  West 
Point.  In  this  hospital  the  writer  of  this  sketch  officiated 
for  some  time  as  surgeon's  mate  ;  the  sick  and  wounded 
from  different  quarters  were  sent  here  as  to  a  place  of  safe- 
ty and  convenience.  It  was  a  part  of  this  house  that  was 
made  the  head  quarters  of  the  traitor  Arnold  ;  here  and  in 
the  vicinity,  the  infamous  act  of  treason  was  planned,  and 
was  about  to  be  consummated  had  it  not  been  provident- 
ially arrested  in  its  progress.  When  Arnold  suddenly  ab" 
sconded,  his  wife  instantly  retired  to  her  chamber,  and  was 
seized  with  violent  hysterical  paroxysms.  Dr.  Eustis,  on 
entering  her  chamber,  found  her  frantic  in  the  arms  of  one 
of  Arnold's  aids  de  camp  and  a  female  domestic,  with  dis- 
hevelled hair,  wild  countenance  and  deranged  mind. 
General  Washington  arrived  during  this  scene  ;  at  a  lucid 
interval  she  inquired  if  he  was  in  the  house,  expressing  a 
desire  to  see  him  ;  Dr.  Eustis,  supposing  she  wished  ta 
disburthen  her  mind  by  revealing  to  him  the  secret  of  Ar- 
nold's absence,  gave  the  information  ;  but,  on  the  Gener- 
al's entering  her  chamber,  her  nerves  appeared  to  be  une- 
qual  to  the  struggle.  She  was  instantly  seized  with 
another  paroxysm,  and  his  Excellency,  on  hearing  her  say 
it  was  not  General  Washington,  retired  from  the  unpleas- 
ant scene. 

In  all  the  duties  pertaining  to  his  office  Dr.  Eustis  was 
found  faithful,  humane  and  indefatigable.  His  urbanity 
and  social  qualities  led  him  to  an  acquaintance  and  friend- 
ly intercourse  with  those  who  sustained  rank  and  respect- 
ability of  character.  When  the  number  of  the  medical 
staff  was  considerably  reduced  by  a  new  arrangement  by 
order  of  congress,  he  was  among  those  who  were  selected 
to  remain  in  service  ;  and  in  March,  1783,  he  was  present 
at  the  meeting  of  the  officers  at  Newburgh,  called  by 
Washington  in  consequence  of  the  excitement  occasioned 
by  the  inflammatory  anonymous  letters. 


240  APPENDIX, 

At  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  war  Dr.  Eustis 
commenced  his  professional  avocations  in  the  town  of 
Boston.  When,  in  1787,  troops  were  raised  by  our  gov- 
ernment for  the  purpose  of  defending  our  frontier  territo- 
ries from  the  invasion  of  the  Indians,  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  Surgeon  to  the  regiment  raised  in  this  state, 
calculating,  it  is  believed,  on  the  office  of  Surgeon  Gene- 
ral ;  but  as  tlie  object  of  the  expedition  was  abandoned, 
and  the  regiment  disbanded  by  government,  he  resumed 
his  professional  pursuits  in  Boston.  In  1786  and  1787, 
when  our  Commonwealth  was  menaced  with  a  formida- 
ble rebellion  which  produced  great  public  embarrassment 
and  alarm.  Dr.  Eustis  manifested  a  patriotic  spirit,  volun- 
teering his  services  in  the  expedition  for  the  capture  of 
Shattuck,  one  of  the  insurgent  leaders,  and  rendering  his 
assistance  in  the  character  of  surgeon  with  the  army  com- 
manded by  General  Lincoln,  which  quelled  the  rebellion. 

In  the  year  1788  the  subject  of  this  article  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  General  Court  for  Boston,  where  he  was 
on  many  committees,  and  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
debates  during  six  or  seven  years  in  succession,  pursuing 
still  his  professional  calls  and  duties  in  town.  He  served 
also  for  two  years  at  the  Board  of  Council  in  this  Com- 
monwealth, during  the  administration  of  Governor  Sulli- 
van. In  1800  he  was  elected  member  of  Congress  for 
Suffolk  district  ;  this  afforded  him  opportunity  of  forming 
an  intimacy  with  the  ruling  powers.  He  was  soon  desig- 
nated as  a  zealous  advocate  for  President  Madison  and  his 
administration,  applauding  his  political  sentiments  and 
measures.  It  was  under  this  administration  tliat,  in  1809, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  highly  responsible  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  War,  which  he  sustained  until  the  surrender  of 
General  Hull's  army,  when  he  was  induced  to  retire  from 
the  war  department.  But  a  new  employment  was  in  re- 
serve for  him.  In  1815  he  was  appointed  Ambassador  to 
Holland,  and  on  his  return  his  legation  met  the  approba- 
tion of  the  government.  In  1821  Dr.  Eustis  was  elected 
member  of  Congress  for  Norfolk  district,  which  he  contin- 
ued to  represent  with  ability  for  four  successive  sessions. 

We  next  find  him  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and,  after  the  re- 
signation of  Governor  Brooks,  he  succeeded  to  the  chair 
of  state.  Such  had  been  the  magnanimity  of  his  prede- 
cessor in  office,  such  the  dignitv,  wisdom  and  moderation 


/,.;.■.■   /./'/«' 


/WHO    (VJ    JVl^-.  IS'^iO 


Nathaniel  frEemax.  241 

with  wiiicli  the  affairs  of  state  had  been  conducted,  that 
the  asperity  of  party  excitement  was  in  a  degree  appeased, 
and  its  extinction  almost  sealed  by  the  noble  spirit  of  pat- 
riotism and  public  virtue.  Governor  Eustis,  therefore, 
entered  on  the  duties  of  chief  magistrate  under  circum- 
stances peculiarly  auspicious  to  a  happy  administration. 

He  was  for  several  years  Vicepresident  of  this  state's 
Society  of  Cincinnati,  and  a  member,  and  for  some  time 
counsellor,  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society.  The 
honor  of  LL.D.  was  conferred  on  him  by  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, and  he  received  literary  honors  from  other  col- 
leges. • 

He  died  after  a  short  illness  in  Boston,  during  his  at- 
tendance on  the  General  Court  in  their  session  in  Februa- 
ry, 1825,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Eustis  possessed  a  heart  replete  with  humane  and 
social  feelings,  and  his  hospitable  and  graceful  manners 
rendered  his  house  a  happy  resort  to  his  friends  and  to 
strangers.  Of  his  views  on  the  important  subject  of  relig- 
ion we  have  no  means  of  information,  save  the  following 
paragraph  found  in  the  sermon  preached  on  the  occasion 
of  his  funeral  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Gray  of  Roxbury, 
from  which  a  part  of  this  sketch  has  been  taken.  "  His 
mind  was  serious,  and  in  repeated  conversations  with  him 
upon  the  subject  of  religion  generally  within  the  last  six 
years,  he  always  treated  it  with  the  utmost  solemnity." 
"  I  am  a  minute  man,"  said  he  to  me  once,  "  I  am  a  mi- 
nute man,  and  feel  this  subject  to  be  deeply  important  ;" 
alluding  to  a  supposed  affection  of  the  heart.  Dr.  Eustis 
married  the  daughter  of  Woodbury  Langdon,  Esq.  of 
New-Hampshire,  who  survives  him  without  i?sue. 

FREEMAN,  NATHANIEL,  M.M.S.  et  S.H.S.  was  a  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  country.  His 
ancestor  Edmund  Freeman,  from  whom  he  was  the  fifth  in 
lineal  descent,  came  from  England  ;  it  is  believed,  first  to 
Saugus.  He  was  admitted,  with  ten  associates,  freeman, 
at  a  General  Court  at  Plymouth,  January  2d,  1G37,  and 
on  the  3d  of  April  following  leave  was  granted  to  "  these 
ten  men  of  Saugus,  on  certain  conditions,  to  choose  a 
place  sufficient  for  three  score  families  to  sit  down  upon." 
They  chose  and  settled  the  town  of  Sandwich,  and  in  1651 , 
the  conditions  having  been  performed,  a  deed  of  the  town 
was  executed  by  Governor  Bradford  to  Edmund  Freeman, 
who  at  the  same  time  conveyed  to  his  associates,  the  oth»r 
VOL.  fi.  31 


24S  APPENDIX. 

original  proprietors.  He  brought  with  him  to  Sandwich 
two  sons,  John  and  Edmund,  and  a  daughter  Alice.  He 
was  one  of  the  assistants  of  Governor  Bradford  from  1640 
to  1646  inclusively.  It  is  probable  he  died  about  the  year 
1668,  as  he  is  named  that  year  on  the  records  as  Edmund 
Freeman  Senior,  and  the  next  year  there  is  a  division  of 
lands  purchased  of  Edmund  and  John  his  sons.  On  the 
death  of  his  wife  he  placed  a  very  large  stone  on  her  grave, 
which  he  whimsically  called,  as  in  shape  and  appearance 
it  resembled,  a  pillion  ;  and  brought  another,  which  he 
called  a  saddle,  and  placed  by  its  side,  telling  his  sons, 
when  he  died,  to  bring  him  by  hifer  side,  and  place  the  sad- 
dle upon  his  grave  ;  "  and  there,"  he  added,  "  let  us  re- 
main to  the  resurrection  day."  There  sprang  up  between 
the  graves,  at  the  head  and  foot,  two  oaks,  which  grew  in 
exact  resemblance.  The  land  passed  into  other  hands, 
and  one  of  the  trees  was  long  since  cut  down,  but  the  oth- 
er is  still  to  be  seen,  with  the  saddle  and  pillion,  about 
one  mile  west  of  the  meeting  house  of  the  first  Parish  in 
Sandwich.  Both  his  sons  married  the  daughters  of  Gov- 
ernor Prince.  Edmund  married  Rebecca  in  1646,  and 
remained  in  Sandwich  ;  and  from  him  all  of  the  name  in 
that  town  are  descended.     John  removed  to  Eastham. 

Edmund  Freeman,  son  of  the  last  named  Edmund  and 
great  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  1655,  and  died  May  18th,  1720.  He  had  nine  child- 
ren, most  of  whom  attained  a  good  old  age.  His  eld- 
est son  Edmund,  the  grandfather  of  Nathaniel,  was  born 
August  30th,  1683.  He  removed  from  Sandwich  to  Mans- 
field in  Connecticut,  where  he  died  June  1st,  1766.  Ed- 
mund, his  son,  was  born  in  Sandwich,  September  30th, 
1711,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1753,  and 
married  Martha  Otis,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Otis,  whose 
wife  was  Abigail  Russell,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Russell,  a  pious  and  distinguished  minister  of  his  time  in 
Barnstable.  He  taught  a  school  in  that  part  of  Yarmouth 
then  called  Nobskusset,  which  now  constitutes  the  North 
Parish  in  Dennis,  where  his  son  Nathaniel  was  born,  being 
his  third  child,  March  2Sth,  1741,  0.  S.  Soon  after  this 
he  removed  to  Mansfield,  where  he  brought  up  a  family 
of  seven  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  died  on  his  paternal 
estate  February  15th,  1800.  He  was  through  life  a  prac- 
tical farmer,  and  a  pious  man.  Many  of  his  sons  have 
been  distinguished  in  public  life. 


NATHANIEL    FREF.MAN.  243 

Nathaniel  received  a  very  limited  education  from  a  pri- 
vate instructer,  and  studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Cobb  in 
Thompson,  Connecticut,  and  afterwards  resided  a  short 
time  in  Tolland.  He  married  an  orphan  in  Killingley, 
and  removed  to  Sandwich,  "  the  place  of  his  fathers'  sep- 
ulchres," when  his  oldest  child  was  ten  montlis  old,  which 
must  be  about  the  year  1765.  There  he  recommenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  and  there  he  passed  the  remain- 
der of  his  eventful  life.  He  settled  in  Sandwich  with 
the  advice,  and  under  the  patronage  of  his  maternal 
great  uncle,  the  late  distinguished  Colonel  James  Otis, 
from  whom  he  lived  about  eight  miles  distant.  Under 
his  auspices  and  direction,  also,  he  went  through  a  regular 
course  of  legal  reading  before  the  revolution. 

On  the  disruption  from  the  mother  country  he  zealous- 
ly espoused  the  patriotic  cause,  and  in  1773  was  on  a 
committee  of  the  town  to  consider  the  spirited  resolutions 
of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  their  report,  drawn  up  by  him, 
breathed  a  corresponding  spirit.  In  this  year  he  was  also 
chosen  a  member,  and  thenceforward  acted  as  chairman 
of  the  Committees  of  Correspondence  and  Safety,  and 
throughout  most  of  that  stormy  period  was  moderator  of 
the  town  meetings.  In  September,  1774,  a  body  of  peo- 
ple assembled  from  the  adjacent  county  of  Plymouth  and 
perhaps  other  counties,  it  is  believed  from  a  preconcerted 
plan  of  those  "  who  rode  in  the  whirlwind  and  directed 
the  storm,"  and  proceeded  with  reinforcements  from  the 
towns  in  the  county,  to  stop  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
which  was  about  to  be  holden  in  Barnstable.  It  was  de- 
sirable that  this  should  be  done  without  tumult  or  disor- 
der. Dr.  Freeman  was  selected  as  their  president,  and 
they  quietly  took  possession  of  the  court  house.  The 
multitude  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  twelve  hundred. 
The  minutes  of  their  proceedings  from  day  to  day  show 
that  it  was  no  common  rabble  who  had  assembled,  but 
high  minded  men  about  to  resume  abused  delegated 
power.  A  communication  passed  between  the  presiding 
Justice,  Colonel  Otis,  and  the  president  of  the  assemblage, 
when  the  former  with  his  associates  and  the  Sheriff  retir- 
ed ;  and  the  courts  sat  no  more  in  that  county  under  the 
authority  of  George  III.  An  action,  like  this  in  the  on- 
set, was  a  manifestation  of  moral  courage  seldom  equalled, 
and  may  be  said  not  to  have  been  surpassed  by  any  thing 
which  transpired  during  the  war. 


244  APPENDIX. 

Dr.  Freeman  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives which  convened  on  the  19th  July,  1775,  and  "  took 
up  government"  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Continent- 
al and  Provincial  Congresses.  He  Avas  on  several  very  im- 
portant committees  ;  one  of  wiiich  was  to  provide  suita- 
ble accommodations  for  General  Washington,  then  at  the 
head  of  the  army  at  Cambridge.  He  was  elected  by  this 
body  in  August  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  in  the  succeeding 
February  Colonel  of  the  militia.  He  was  also  appointed 
in  August  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Quorum  and  Register 
of  Probate,  and  in  October  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  whose  progress  he  had  arrested  a  year  before. 
These  commissions,  civil  and  military,  were  signed  by 
James  Otis  and  the  other  members  of  the  Council,  acting 
as  Governor,  and  were  under  the  great  seal  of  the  Prov- 
ince, and  in  the  name  of  the'  Government  and  People  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England.  He  was  also  su- 
perintendent for  the  county  of  Barnstable  during  the  war  ; 
and  several  hundred  recruits  for  the  continental  army 
were  forwarded  by  him  to  Justin  Ely,  Esq.,  the  commis- 
sioner at  Springfield.  In  1778,  79  and  '80  he  was  again  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ;  and  in  1779  went 
with  Major  Samuel  Osgood  to  West-Point,  to  persuade  the 
ofiicers  and  men  of  the  Massacliusetts  line,  whose  term  was 
expiring,  to  continue  in  the  service.  He  publicly  address- 
ed the  officers,  and  prophetically  assured  them  that,  upon 
the  successful  termination  of  the  war,  a  grateful  country 
would  appreciate  their  services,  and  call  them  to  posts  of 
honor  in  the  civil  administration  of  the  government.  He 
also  marched  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  on  the  expedi- 
tion to  Rhode-Island. 

On  the  adoption  of  the  state  constitution  in  1780,  he 
was  recommissioned  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  Regis- 
ter of  Probate  and  .Tustice  of  the  Peace  and  Quorum.  He 
was  also  in  the  first  "  dedimus  potestatem"  to  qualify 
civil  officers,  and  Avas  commissioned  to  take  up  and  re- 
strain persons  dangerous  to  the  state.  In  August,  1781,  he 
was  appointed  Brigadier  General  in  the  militia,  and  after- 
wards offered  his  services  to  Governor  Bowdoin  to  sup- 
press the  insurrection  in  1786.  He  was  honorably  dis- 
charged from  this  office,  October  31st,  1793.  Governor 
Hancock  consented  to  his  discharge  ;  but,  before  it  was 
perfected,  died,  and  it  was  granted  by  Samuel  Adams,  Lieu- 
tenant Governor.     Har.cock  ?peaks  of  him  as  "  an  officer 


NATHANIEL    FREEMAN.  245 

whose  patriotic  services  shone  so  conspicuously  during  a 
lonjy  and  arduous  revohition,  which  tried  the  souls  of  men 
in  whatever  station  they  were  called  to  act  by  the  voice  of 
their  country."  Adams  says  "  The  spirit  of  lil)erty,  un- 
der wliose  benevolent  guide  your  conduct  has  been  so  emi- 
nently distinguished  during  our  late  conflict  with  despot- 
ism, is  equally  recognised  in  you  by  the  present  as  by  our 
lately  de|)arted  Commander  in  Chief,  and  he  expresses  his 
confraternity  with  you  in  friendship  and  in  the  united  love 
of  our  common  country,  whose  government  is  establish- 
ed on  the  solid  foundation  of  equal  liberty  and  the  rights 
of  man." 

The  office  of  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  he  held  until 
tliat  court  was  superseded  by  the  Circuit  Court  in  1811,  a 
period  of  thirty-six  years  ;  within  which  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Sullivan  Chief  Justice,  and  also  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Sessions.  He  held  the  office  of  Reg- 
ister of  Probate  until  1822,  upwards  of  forty-seven  years  ; 
when  lie  voluntarily  resigned  it  into  the  hands  of  his  friend 
and  compatriot,  the  late  Governor  Brooks.  He  was  early 
elected,  on  the  nomination  of  Governor  Brooks,  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  ;  in  1792  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society;  and  in  1797  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Humane  Society.  He  was  also  elected  a  member 
of  the  Abolition  Society  at  Providence,  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can Antiquarian  Society  instituted  at  Worcester  in  1812. 

It  appears  by  a  memorandum  and  catalogue  in  his  own 
hand  writing,  Ihat  he  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine 
anew  in  1789,  with  a  determination  to  devote  himself  to 
it,  and  read  all  the  appi'oved  works  in  the  science  then 
extant.  He  was  distinguished  in  his  very  extensive  prac- 
tice both  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  ;  and  successfully 
performed  many  capital  operations  with  no  other  guide 
than  the  knowledge  he  derived  from  liis  extensive  read- 
ing. At  the  age  of  63  he  retired  from  the  practice, 
though  he  was  occasionally  called  to  visit  the  sick,  and 
took  charge  of  patients  to  the  last  year  of  his  life. 

He  was  an  advocate  for  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, and  an  unsuccessfnl  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the 
Massachusetts  Conv^ention  wiiich  adopted  it.  The  town  sent 
delegates  to  oppose  it.  He  supported,  the  administrations 
of  Washington  and  Adams,  and  was  in  favor  of  the  reelec- 
tion of  the  latter  ;  but  he  did  not  join  in  the  opposition  to 
Jefferson  after  he  was  elected.     In  March,   1802,  he  deliv- 


246  APPENDIX. 

ered  a  charge  to  the  grand  jury  which  was  published  by 
their  request,  and  is  a  repository  of  sound  principles. 

Dr.  Freeman  accumulated  a  very  large  library  in  medical 
and  legal  science,  and  theology.  He  gave  much  of  his 
time  to  abstract  speculations  in  theology  and  controversial 
divinity.  He  was  one  of  the  best  extempore  speakers  of 
his  day.  Throughout  the  active  and  trying  scenes  of  the 
revolution  he  used  his  influence  for  the  preservation  of 
order,  and  was  ever  on  the  side  of  humanity.  His  influ- 
ence also  was  always  strongly  exerted  in  favor  of  religion 
and  its  institutions.  Early  in  life  he  professedly  espoused 
its  cause,  and  connected  himself  with  a  Calvinistic 
Church  ;  but  in  his  meridian  became  warmly  interested  in 
the  views  and  sentiments  of  Dr.  Priestly,  and  published 
for  the  use  of  the  first  Parish  in  Sandwich  an  edition  of 
Dr.  Enfield's  forms  of  prayer  with  some  others  svdijoined, 
a  copy  of  which  he  sent  to  Dr.  Enfield,  who  replied 
in  a  letter  expressive  of  his  gratification  and  respect.  Af- 
terwards he  returned  to  the  Calvinistic  faith,  in  which  be- 
lief he  lived  many  years,  and  in  which  he  died  ;  and  he 
has  left  a  large  manuscript  volume  giving  his  views  of  its 
jDeculiar  doctrines. 

By  two  marriages  he  had  twenty  children,  eighteen  of 
-whom  lived  to  adult  age.  He  lived  sixty  years  in  the 
house  in  which  he  died  ;  and  in  most  of  that  time  culti- 
vated his  garden  with  his  own  hands.  He  Avas  a  man  of 
uncommon  industry,  application  and  perseverance.  In 
his  personal  presence  he  was  commanding  ;  his  height  was 
nearly  six  feet  ;  his  eyes  piercing,  and  his  countenance 
strongly  marked  and  interesting.  He  outlived  most  of 
his  contemporaries,  and  was  the  oldest  person,  with  one  ex- 
ception, within  the  limits  of  the  town.  He  lived  gener- 
ously and  independently.  His  hospitality  was  of  the  old 
school.  He  left  little  property,  but  died  unembarrassed 
with  debt,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years  and  six 
months,  on  the  20th  day  of  September,  1827,  retaining  a 
good  degree  of  mental  vigor  and  physical  activity  to  with- 
in a  few  days  of  his  death. 

"  Of  no  distemper,  of  no  blast  he  died; 

But  fell  like  autumn  fruit  that  mellow'd  long  : 

Ev'n  wonclcr'd  at,  because  it  falls  no  sooner. 

Fate  seem'd  to  wind  him  up  for  four  score  years ; 

Yet  freshly  ran  he  on  six  winters  more, 

Till  like  a  clock  worn  out  with  eating  time. 

The  wheels  of  weary  lifs  at  last  s^ood  still." 


JAMES  GILBERT.  247 

GILBERT,  DR.  JAMES,  was  born  in  New-Haven,  Con- 
necticut, Oct.  25th,  1779.  He  was  educated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege, wliere  he  was  graduated  in  1800.  His  merits  as  a 
student  while  at  college  were  attested  by  the  honors  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  the  Faculty,  and  by  his  being  elected 
a  member  of  the  society  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  During  the 
last  year  of  his  college  life  he  commenced  the  study  of  the 
medical  profession,  confining  his  attention  chiefly  to  Che- 
mistry and  Botany.  The  former  was  more  especially  his 
favorite  science,  and  was  pursued  by  him  with  so  much 
zeal,  that  most  of  his  leisure  hours  this  year  were  devoted 
to  chemical  experiments.  Had  the  result  of  his  investiga- 
tions at  this  time  been  published,  they  would  have  given 
him  a  name  among  the  improvers  of  modern  chemistry. 

The  winter  of  1801-2  he  spent  in  Philadelphia,  attend- 
ing the  lectures  of  Rush,  Wistar,  Physick  and  Woodhouse. 
By  too  intense  application  during  the  course  of  lectui'es, 
his  health  became  so  much  impaired  as  to  render  it  neces- 
sary for  him  to  relinquish  his  plan  of  pursuing  his  studies 
at  Philadelphia.  Soon  after  this,  by  request  of  Dr.  Conk- 
lin,  he  established  himself  in  practice  at  Southold,  Long 
Island,  where  he  continued  more  than  two  years.  At  the 
end  of  this  period,  1805,  his  zeal  for  improvement  induced 
him  to  leave  an  extensive  practice,  to  attend  a  course  of 
lectures  in  New-York.  Here,  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
lectures,  he  was  urgently  solicited  to  settle,  but  declined 
on  the  grounds  of  his  preferring  a  country  life,  with  less 
prospect  of  honor  and  emolument.  He  returned  to  New- 
Haven,  his  native  city,  which  thenceforward  became  the 
theatre  of  his  professional  life.  In  this  and  the  adjacent 
towns  he  soon  found  an  ample  field  for  the  exercise  of  his 
talents  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  surgery  and  obstetrics, 
which  he  cultivated  with  an  ardor  and  industry  rarely  ex- 
celled. 

At  the  end  of  eight  years  from  his  establishing  himself 
in  New-Haven,  having  accumulated  a  decent  property,  he 
was  enabled  to  gratify  a  long  cherished  desire  of  visiting 
some  of  the  celebrated  colleges  and  hospitals  of  Europe. 
Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1814  he  sailed  for  France, 
spent  some  time  at  the  hospitals  of  Paris,  and  proceeded 
to  London,  where  he  spent  the  winter  following  in  attend- 
ing hospitals  and  lectures  and  in  reading.  Having  now 
nothing  to  divert  his  attention  from  his  favorite  pursuit, 
the  acquisition  of  science,  he  applied  himself  to   it  with 


248  APPENDIX. 

unwearied  diligence.  But,  having  been  for  years  accus- 
tomed to  the  arduous  labors  of  an  extensive  practice,  he 
soon  found  that  an  entire  change  from  the  active  life  of 
the  physician  to  that  of  the  assiduous  student,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  his  abstemious  mode  of  living,  was  by  no  means 
favorable  to  his  health.  Unwilling,  however,  to  relinquish 
the  object  before  him,  he  persevered  until  spring,  when  a 
severe  pulmonic  disease  appeared  to  be  rapidly  undermin- 
ing his  naturally  rugged  constitution.  By  the  advice  of  Sir 
Astley  Cooper  he  now  left  London,  and  sailed  for  Ameri- 
ca, and,  what  was  hardly  expected  even  by  himself,  found 
his  disease  entirely  removed  by  the  voyage. 

He  reached  home  in  the  spring  of  1815,  and  felt  himself 
abundantly  paid  for  all  the  suffering  and  expense  of  his 
transatlantic  tour.  After  iiis  return  his  practice  constant- 
ly increased,  especially  his  surgical  practice,  for  which  he 
always  had  a  predilection.  His  health  appeared  perfectly 
restored,  and  for  nearly  three  years  after  his  return  he  was 
able  to  endure  the  fatigues  and  irregularities  inseparable 
from  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  professional  duties. 

But  his  work  was  now  drawing  to  a  close.  Early  in 
October,  1817,  he  was  confined  several  weeks  with  Ca- 
tarrhal Fevxr,  by  which  lie  was  reduced  very  low.  After 
recovering  from  this  in  some  measure,  he  remained  sta- 
tionary for  several  weeks,  when  symptoms  of  phthisis 
again  made  their  appearance.  After  declining  some  time 
and  finding  no  relief  from  medication,  as  a  last  resort  he 
resolved  to  attempt  a  voyage  to  a  milder  climate.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  sailed  from  New-Haven  in  December,  and 
arrived  at  Charleston,  S.  C.  on  the  8th  of  January,  1818. 
After  a  residence  of  about  four  weeks  at  the  latter  place, 
the  season  being  unusually  cold  and  rainy,  and  his  health 
still  failing,  he  concluded  to  sail  for  Havana.  On  the 
morning  previous  to  his  departure  an  abscess  burst  in  his 
lungs,  which  circumstance  almost  dissuaded  him  from  his 
purpose  :  but,  the  vessel  being  ready  and  the  wind  fair, 
he  was  induced  to  proceed.  So  flattering  and  deceptive  is 
consumption,  that  even  the  skilful  physician,  who  had 
seen  and  treated  hundreds  of  cases  of  it  in  his  day,  sinks 
under  its  ravages,  still  cherishing  hopes  of  recovery  to  the 
last.  Dr.  Gilbert  died  Feb.  Uth,  1818,  five  days  out  from 
Charleston,  aged  39. 

The  death  of  Dr.  G.  was  justly  considered  as  a  public 
loss.     Of  him  it  may  be  rmphatically  said,  he  was  cut  off 


EBENE2ER    HUNT.  249 

in  the  midst  of  his  usefuhiess.  Possessing  a  vigorous  and 
penetrating  mind,  he  had  acquired  a  fund  of  professional 
knowledge  rarely  equalled  by  one  of  his  years.  As  a  prac- 
titioner of  medicine,  he  was  indefatigable  in  investigating 
the  causes  and  treatment  of  diseases  ;  as  a  scientific  sur- 
geon, he  had  few  superiors  in  the  United  States  ;  as  an 
operator  he  was  neat,  possessing  a  discerning  eye  and  a 
steady  hand.  He  was  strongly  attached  to  his  profession, 
and  probably  no  practitioner  ever  engaged  more  fully  the 
confidence  and  the  affections  of  his  patients.  During  his 
professional  life  he  was  the  private  preceptor  of  a  consider- 
able number  of  pupils,  who  will  long  cherish  his  memory 
with  filial  gratitude. 

Aside  from  his  profession,  he  was  an  accomplished 
scholar,  possessing  a  mind  formed  for  philosophical  re- 
search, and  which  allowed  but  few  subjects  to  escape  its 
investigation.  His  mind  exhibited  bold  traits  of  an  origi- 
nality of  genius,  which  does  not  hesitate  at  times  to  depart 
from  the  beaten  track,  or  to  throw  off  the  trammels  of 
long  established  usage,  thougli  at  the  risk  of  incurring  cen- 
sure, and  of  being  thought  eccentric.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, and  had  three  children  by  his  former  wife. 

The  religious  views  of  Dr.  G.  were  those  of  a  sincere 
believer  in  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  considering  religion 
as  a  thing  of  the  heart,  and  as  consisting  not  merely  in  ex- 
ternal forms  and  professions.  He  aimed  to  govern  his 
conduct  by  the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  and  was  extremely 
fond  of  reading  and  hearing  it  read  during  his  confinement. 
Resting  his  hopes  on  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer,  he  re- 
garded the  termination  of  his  earthly  career  with  calmness 
and  composure. 

HUNT,  EBENEZER,  M.D.  A.A.S.  et  M.M.S.S.  was  a 
native  of  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  being  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  families 
that  established  themselves  on  Connecticut  River.  Of  the 
earliest  period  of  his  life  little  has  been  preserved.  He 
was  born  in  1 744,  and  in  1 760  became  a  member  of  the 
college  at  Cambridge.  He  made  himself  remarkable  at 
this  age  by  a  modesty  of  deportment,  great  vivacity,  and 
at  the  same  time  that  consciousness  of  talent  which  leads 
to  determined  exertions.  Havina;  finished  his  course  at 
college  witli  great  credit  to  himself  in  1764,  he  went  to 
Springfield  to  pursue  the  study  of  medicine  Avith  Dr.  Pyn- 
voL.  n.  si 


250  APPENDIX. 

cheon,  who  enjoyeJ  at  that  time  a  very  high  and  well 
merited  reputation. 

la  1768  Dr.  Hunt  began  his  professional  career  in  North- 
ampton. From  this  time  he  belonged  entirely  to  the  pub- 
lic. In  the  present  county  of  Hampshire  there  is  hardly 
an  aged  person  to  be  found,  who  does  not  well  remember 
the  services  which  he  rendered.  For  at  that  time  there 
were  few  physicians  in  the  section  of  the  country  where 
Dr.  Hunt  resided.  His  practice  soon  embraced  a  circle  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  miles  round  Northampton.  His  man- 
ners were  singularly  agreeable.  He  knew  how  to  adapt 
himself  to  every  class  of  society  ;  and,  while  his  feelings 
were  so  elevated  and  gentlemanly  that  he  was  fit  to  asso- 
ciate on  equal  terms  with  men  of  the  greatest  considera- 
tion, he  could  condescend  to  the  lowest.  In  administering 
remedies  lie  was  cautious,  but  decided.  His  general  prin- 
ciple was  to  abstain  from  using  medicines  if  possible,  and, 
especially  in  the  case  of  children,  to  fortify  the  constitu- 
tion. But  if  a  case  of  difficulty  presented.  Dr.  Hunt, 
though  he  proceeded  with  a  circumspection  which  would 
lead  a  superficial  observer  to  call  him  timid,  was  very  bold 
and  decided  in  his  treatment,  when  his  mind  was  once 
clear  on  the  case. 

He  had  a  rare  sagacity  in  discerning  the  nature  of  a  dis- 
ease, and  its  degree  of  severity.  In  all  cases,  whether  of 
distress  and  anxiety,  or  of  depression,  he  was  well  skilled 
in  the  most  valuable  art  of  inspiring  a  cheerful  confidence. 
Hypochondria  vanished  before  his  good  humor  ;  and,  in 
doubtful  cases,  desponding  friends  were  animated  to  new 
efforts,  and  a  hope  was  encouraged,  when  life  was  almost 
expiring  from  the  despair  of  relief.  In  this  way  he  not 
only  was  beneficent  in  healing  diseases,  but  assuaged  the 
sorrows  of  a  sick  room  by  a  manner  that  administered 
comfort.  When  a  family  suffered  bereavement,  he  was  al- 
ways present  to  solace  grief,  to  relieve  want,  and  to  alle- 
viate the  pains  of  regret.  And  this  his  science  and  his 
knowledge  of  man  enabled  him  to  do,  for  he  would 
calmly  seek  out  the  latent  sources  of  affliction,  and  stop 
them,  even  without  allowing  his  object  to  be  perceived. 
For  he  was  no  proser  ;  and  never  troubled  a  mourner  with 
lectures  on  resignation.  Thus  it  was,  that  his  virtues  as  a 
man  assisted  him  in  his  profession  ;  and  his  genuine  excel- 
lence, and  pure  and  kind  feelings,  made  him  a  more  useful 
and  successful  physician. 


EBENEZER    HUNT.  251 

In  this  way  he  came  at  last  to  enjoy  unlimited  confi- 
dence and  general  love.  What  Dr.  Hunt  said,  no  one 
called  in  question.  What  Dr.  Hunt  did,  no  man  would 
consider  wrong.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  his  ca- 
reer, so  full  of  happiness  from  the  good  which  he  dis- 
pensed, resembled  the  practice  of  an  affluent  physician  in 
a  city.  The  district  in  which  he  practised  was  a  wide 
one  ;  and  in  those  days  the  roads  were  so  bad  as  to  admit 
of  no  rapid  travelling  except  on  horseback.  Yet  he  was 
fearless  and  indefatigable.  A  horse  always  stood  ready  for 
him  ;  and  summer  or  winter,  day  or  night,  near  or  far,  on 
the  mountains  or  across  the  river,  it  was  the  same  to  him, 
if  a  case  of  sickness  required  his  presence.  From  these 
habits  of  active  and  selfdenying  industry  he  derived  a 
strong  frame,  perfect  health,  unclouded  cheerfulness,  and 
a  constitution  which  enabled  him  to  continue  his  labor- 
ious practice  till  his  70th  year,  and  ordinary  practice  still 
longer. 

In  his  own  person  he  also  at  one  period  suffered  most 
severely  ;  and  one  fact  we  must  mention,  in  proof  of  his 
physical  fortitude,  and  his  unfailing  serenity.  A  cancer 
was  forming  in  his  head,  where  he  himself  could  not  ob- 
serve it.  He  considered  it  dangerous,  and  even  appre- 
hended that  his  end  was  near.  In  1789  he  went  to  Boston, 
thinking  it  might  be  for  the  last  time.  The  Counsellors 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  were  then  in  session. 
At  the  request  of  his  brother-in-law  General  Cobb,  Dr. 
Hunt  went  to  them  that  they  might  examine  the  cancer. 
They  decided  that  it  might  be  eradicated.  It  was  agreed 
that  on  the  next  day  the  operation  should  be  performed. 
Accordingly  in  a  full  meeting  Dr.  Warren  was  selected  as 
the  operator.  "  We  must  bind  his  hands,"  said  Dr.  War- 
ren. "  No  cable  in  Boston  could  hold  them  fast,"  rejoined 
Dr.  Hunt;  and  with  an  effort,  that  astonished  the  physi- 
cians themselves,  he  quietly  laid  his  head  on  a  pillow,  and 
bade  them  begin.  The  ear  was  first  nearly  cut  off,  though 
afterwards  successfully  replaced  ;  then  for  thirteen  min- 
utes the  operation  continued,  and  every  stroke  of  the 
knife,  so  near  the  auditory  nerve,  was  like  the  report  of  a 
pistol.  Dr.  Hunt  did  not  flinch  in  the  least,  though  the 
sweat  poured  down  his  cheeks  profusely.  At  length  all 
was  done  ;  and  as  he  raised  his  stately  form,  his  first  words 
were,  "  Now,  sir,  give  me  a  certificate."  Dr.  Warren  did 
not  understand  him,  and  asked  for  what  reason.    *'  Why," 


253  APPENDIX. 

continued  Dr.  Hunt,  "that  I  was  not  cropped  for  making 
money."  Dr.  Warren  laughed,  and  pleasantly  rejoined, 
"  I  will  give  you  none,  for  I  hear  that  no  physician  in  the 
west  has  made  more  money  than  you."  The  meeting  was 
then  adjourned,  all  agreeing  that  they  had  never  seen  a 
man  of  more  firmness  or  of  better  humor. 

We  sliould  like  to  dwell  further  on  his  professional  char- 
acter, which  united  so  many  rare  and  valuable  qualities  ; 
but  we  must  pass  to  his  merits  as  a  man  and  a  citizen.  He 
was  of  nice  feelings  of  honor  and  of  warm  affections  ;  be- 
nign and  open  hearted.  His  home  was  the  abode  of  a 
liberal  and  unsparing  hospitality.  His  morals  were  un- 
blemished. He  was  a  firm  believer  in  Christianity,  and  a 
professor.  His  religious  views  were  orthodox  ;  his  reli- 
gious feelings  tolerant  and  liberal.  In  intercourse  with 
men  he  was  frank  and  fearless.  He  oppressed  no  one,  and 
he  opened  his  mouth  boldly  against  all  intolerance  and  in- 
justice. No  honest  man  could  be  his  enemy,  and  no  man 
ever  had  cause  to  be  hostile  towards  him.  Whatever  he 
engaged  in,  he  undertook  with  all  liis  heart. 

He  possessed  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  human  na- 
ture, and  had  a  singular  talent  in  discerning  the  characters 
of  men,  and  understanding  the  principles  of  conduct  and 
passions  by  which  they  were  governed.  This  again  in- 
creased his  success  as  a  physician,  for  he  knew  admirably 
Avell  how  to  adapt  his  medicines  to  every  constitution  and 
habit.  And  in  his  general  intercourse,  if  he  wished  to  ad- 
vance an  important  object,  which  required  cooperation,  ho 
knew  as  well  as  any  man  what  motives  were  to  be  touch- 
ed. This  talent,  so  often  the  foundation  of  great  political 
power,  he  never  perverted  to  an  unworthy  purpose.  He 
united  with  it  the  most  unsuspected  sincerity  and  the  strict- 
est love  of  justice.  He  was  habitually  benevolent.  To 
the  poor  and  the  fatherless  he  gave  freely  and  silently.  In 
all  matters  of  public  munificence  he  was  usually  the  first 
invited  to  contribute,  and  always  did  so  liberally  and 
cheerfully.  He  kept  no  man  waiting.  He  was  prompt 
and  punctual.  We  have  spoken  of  his  cheerful  manners  ; 
his  cheerfulness  was  not  artificial,  though  he  was  gay,  and 
at  times  even  playful.  His  character  was  marked  by  the 
deep  lines  of  christian  resignation.  He  was  severely  tried 
in  the  relations  nearest  and  dearest  to  him  ;  but  he  never 
murmured  against  Providence  ;  and  his  present  content- 
anent  was  aissured  by  his  religious  hopes. 


EBENEZER    HUNT.  25S> 

Such  an  example  made  him  necessarily  a  most  useful 
citizen.  But  this  was  not  all.  He  encouraged  merit.  In 
his  own  profession  he  was  superior  to  jealousy.  Having 
himself  a  large  dispensary,  he  would  furnish  young  physi- 
cians with  all  the  medicines  they  needed,  requiring  no  se- 
curity, and  favoring  them,  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  in 
their  efforts  to  establish  themselves  in  respectable  practice. 
One  species  of  judicious  liberality  he  particularly  exercised. 
If  yovmg  men  needed  small  fimds  to  establish  themselves 
in  ijusiness.  Dr.  Hunt  was  always  ready  to  encoiu-age  them 
by  lending.  But  he  would  at  the  same  time  fix  precisely 
the  day  of  payment,  and  give  a  few  words  of  advice  on 
the  importance  of  punctuality.  When  the  appointed  day 
came,  he  always  expected  the  discharge  of  the  debt  ;  by 
which  means  he  made  those  who  borrowed  more  industri- 
ous and  frugal,  and  prevented  the  distress  that  would  have 
resulted  from  an  accumulation  of  interest.  The  founda- 
tion of  many  a  young  man's  prosperity  was  laid  in  this 
way,  and  as  much  good  was  done  by  teaching  the  lesson 
of  punctuality,  as  by  assisting  with  the  loan  of  money. 

The  business  habits  of  Dr.  Hunt  were  very  correct. 
Once  a  year  he  would  have  a  settlement  with  every  credit- 
or ;  but  in  collecting  his  dues  he  never  made  any  man  suf- 
fer. He  practised  medicine  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and 
never  sued  any  person  in  the  whole  time  for  any  debt  in- 
curred for  medical  attendance.  Nor  was  he  himself  ever 
sued,  nor  did  any  cause  in  which  he  was  concerned  ever 
go  to  a  jury. 

His  townsmen  from  time  to  time  conferred  on  him  those 
honors,  which,  though  in  themselves  not  very  important, 
are  yet  valuable  marks  of  confidence  and  respect  on  the 
part  of  immediate  neighbors.  He  was  often  moderator  in 
the  townmeetings,  after  Major  Hawley  had  retired  from 
public  concerns  ;  and  his  influence  in  the  town  was  great 
and  of  the  right  kind.  He  spoke  in  public  fluently  and  to 
the  purpose,  but  always  concisely.  His  presence  was  so 
important  as  a  physician,  that  for  many  years  the  town 
was  unwilling  to  spare  him  even  for  a  season.  Yet  after- 
wards he  was  in  the  Legislature  of  the  state,  was  a  member 
of  the  Senate  five  years  in  succession,  and  during  that  time 
was  chosen  Elector  of  President.  He  was  long  a  member 
and  counsellor  of  the  Massacliu setts  Medical  Society,  and 
in  1798  was  chosen  its  Vice  President.  At  an  early  period 
he  determined  to  hold  no  public  trust  after  lie  should  be 


254  APPENDIX. 

sixty  years  of  age  ;  and  he  sacredly  kept  his  resolution. 
Retaining  his  general  health  and  cheerfulness  to  the  last, 
he  (lied  on  the  26th  of  December,  1820,  aged  76. 

AVARREN,  JOHN,  M.D.  A.A.S.  et  M.M.S.S.  a  distin- 
guished physician  in  Boston,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  a  town 
adjoining  Boston,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1753,  and  descend- 
ed from  ancestors  who  settled  in  Boston  in  the  year  1720. 
After  a  preliminary  school  education  in  the  town  of  his 
nativity  he  entered  Harvard  College,  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen. Maintained  there  by  his  own  efforts,  he  labored 
assiduously  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  of  the  semi- 
nary. At  this  early  period  he  displayed  a  taste  for  the 
study  of  anatomy,  and  took  the  lead  in  the  formation  of 
an  association  of  students  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  it. 
Haviug  received  the  Bachelor's  Degree  in  1771,  he  entered 
as  a  medical  pupil  with  his  brother  Dr.  Joseph  Warren, 
afterwards  General  Warren,  and  continued  his  studies,  as 
was  the  custom  of  th^  time,  for  two  years. 

Boston  being  at  that  time  abundantly  supplied  with  able 
physicians,  he  settled  in  Salem,  where,  having  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  excellent  Dr.  Holyoke,  he  was  favored 
by  him  in  the  acquisition  of  business,  and  soon  obtained  a 
most  extensive  practice.  The  troubles  of  the  time  inter- 
rupted this  course.  On  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  the  coun- 
try being  roused  by  the  attack  on  the  militia  at  Lexington, 
the  Salein  regiment  was  marched  to  the  scene  of  action  ; 
he  accompanied  it  in  the  capacity  of  surgeon,  and  returned 
afier  the  conclusion  of  the  fig-ht.  Two  of  his  brothers 
were  present  in  this  action.  On  the  17th  of  June,  1775,  he 
was  a«;ain  called  from  Salem  bv  the  cannon  of  Bunker 
Hill  and  the  flames  of  Charlestown.  Knowing  the  intre- 
pidity of  his  brother  and  the  anxiety  he  felt  that  his  coun- 
trymen should  meet  the  first  onset  of  a  British  force  with 
spirit,  he  was  perfectly  aware  that  he  Avould  expose  his 
life  on  every  occasion.  Travelling  on  foot,  with  arms  in 
his  hands,  and  lighted  on  his  way  by  the  continued  confla- 
gration of  Charlestown,  he  inquired  anxiously  as  he  went 
Avhether  his  brother  and  instructer  had  been  engaged  in 
tlie  action.  Falling  in  with  a  f^entry  posted  on  some  line, 
in  his  anxiety  he  attempted  to  pass  him,  and  received  a 
bayonet  woimd,  of  which  he  carried  the  scar  through  life. 
But  this  did  not  deter  him  from  proceeding.  His  uneasi- 
ness was  increased  to  an  intense  degree  on  ascertaining  that 
his  brother  had   been  actually  engaged  ;    but  whether  he 


«•<•/, 


pen'^ 


'.il'^ 


le"--*' 


JJODIHIW  \WA]R1RM^  M.B, 


JOHN   WARREN. 


255 


had  escaped  with  life  or  not  no  one  could  say  ;  and  such 
was  the  confusion  of  the  period  and  the  interruption  of 
communication,  that  three  days  elapsed  before  he  could 
be  sure  of  the  truth  of  the  melancholy  report  that  his 
brother  had  shed  his  life  blood  for  the  honor  and  defence 
of  his  country.  Filled  with  distress  and  indignation,  and 
excited  by  that  ardent  zeal  which  marked  his  character 
through  life,  he  immediately  offered  his  services  as  a  pri- 
vate soldier  in  the  ranks  of  the  defenders  of  his  country. 
His  services  were,  however,  to  be  employed  in  a  more  use- 
ful way.  He  received  the  charge  of  administering  to  those 
who  had  been  wounded  in  the  action  of  the  17th  of  June  ; 
and  a  few  days  after,  under  the  direction  of  General  Wash- 
ington, who  had  jiist  joined  the  army,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  post  of  Hospital  Surgeon  ;*  an  office  doubly  im- 
portant at  that  time,  when  the  ranks  were  filled  with  vol- 
unteers from  the  most  spirited  and  respectable  families  in 
the  country.  In  this  situation  he  continued  during  the 
siege  of  Boston. 

This  siege,  important  and  honorable  as  it  was  to  Ameri- 
ca, since  the  regular  army  of  Great  Britain  was  shut  up  by 
an  undisciplined  militia  for  nearly  a  year,  was  not  fertile 
in  military  events.  From  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  to  the 
17th  of  March,  1776,  the  invading  army  made  no  attempt 
on  the  country,  excepting  on  the  17th  of  June,  1775  ;  when 
they  were  so  steadily  opposed  and  suffered  so  great  a  loss, 
as  to  disable  and  discourage  them  from  further  efforts. 
The  year  was  passed  in  erecting  fortifications  and  in  can- 
nonading. In  March,  1776,  there  was  a  prospect  of  a 
bloody  and  desperate  operation.  The  Americans  had  taken 
possession  of  Dorchester  Heights  ;  the  British  commander 
found  it  necessary  to  dislodge  them,  or  quit  Boston.  He 
resolved  on  the  former  ;  and  a  strong  force  was  sent  to  the 
Castle  for  the  purpose  of  storming  the  neighboring  Heights 

*  His  colleagues  in  this  office  were  Samuel  Adams,  William  Aspinwall,  Isaac 
Foster  and  Lemuel  Hayward. 

It  is  stated  in  the  historical  sketch  of  Dr.  Bartlett  that  "  the  inhabitants  of  this 
commonwealth  who  continued  as  surgeons  in  the  hospitals  and  army  during  the  war, 
were  Isaac  Foster,  William  Eustis,  Samuel  Adams,  John  Warren,  David  Town- 
send,  John  Hart,  Joseph  Fiske  and  Josiah  Kartlett." 

Of  the  eight  last  mentioned  four  were  at  the  same  time  fellow  pupils  under  Jo- 
seph Warren  :  Drs.  Eustis,  Adams,  Townsend  and  John  Warren. 

The  venerable  Drs.  Townsend  of  Boston,  Fiske  of  Lexington,  and  Hart  of  Read- 
ing, survive  at  the  time  this  is  written,  rejoicing  in  the  prosperity  of  their  country, 
and  delighting  in  the  recollection  of  the  dark  and  doubtful  time  of  their  service  ia 
th«  army. 


§56  Appendix. 

of  Dorchester.  At  the  same  time,  as  is  stated  in  a  journal 
kept  by  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  a  sortie  was  to  have 
been  made  over  the  Neck  on  the  American  force  in  Rox- 
bury.  General  Washington,  having  discovered  the  inten- 
tion of  his  antagonist,  determined  not  to  be  found  acting 
merely  on  the  defensive  ;  and  ordered  a  select  body  of  four 
thousand  men  to  be  ready  to  pass  Charles  River  in  boats 
and  land  in  Boston,  as  soon  as  the  contemplated  attacks  had 
been  begun  by  the  Britisli.  In  this  party  was  placed  Dr. 
Warren  ;  and  we  have  heard  liir^  speak  with  animation  of 
the  hopes  which  filled  the  breasts  of  those  who  were  des- 
tined for  this  attack.  The  Americans  had  been  long  in 
sight  of  their  enemies  without  an  opportunity  of  coming 
in  contact  with  them.  They  were  now  tolerably  well  dis- 
ciplined ;  not  discouraged  by  any  defeat  ;  and  overflowing 
witli  patriotic  ^eal.  Had  the  British  General  pursued  his 
plan,  a  triple  action  would  have  ensued,  and  a  contest  the 
most  bloody  which  occurred  during  the  war.  The  town 
of  Boston  would  probably  have  been  taken  by  the  Ameri- 
can force  while  the  British  were  desperately  storming  the 
steep  hills  of  Dorchester.  The  plan  of  the  British  General 
was  disconcerted  by  a  violent  storm  ;  lie  afterwards  aban- 
doned it,  and  adopted  the  alternative  of  quitting  the  town. 
On  the  evacuation  of  Boston  Dr.  Warren  was  one  of  the 
detachment  ordered  to  take  possession,  and  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  the  place  as  it  appeared  after  a  year's 
occupation  by  the  British  army.  Of  its  aspect  and  its  for- 
tifications he  gives  an  interesting  account  in  the  journal 
alluded  to. 

After  a  short  stay  in  Boston  the  American  army  moving 
to  New-York,  he  accompanied  it,  and  was  in  the  disastrous 
action  on  Long  Island.  His  professional  talents  were  now 
called  into  full  operation.  He  continued  in  constant  ser- 
vice during  the  deplorable  year  of  1776,  and  saw  the 
American  army  dwindle  away  to  a  few  half  naked,  starv- 
ing, discouraged  soldiers,  without  losing  any  of  his  ardor 
for  the  cause  of  freedom,  or  his  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
success  and  independence  of  the  country.  The  gloom  of 
that  time  was  suddenly,  as  by  a  flash  of  lightning,  bright- 
ened by  the  brilliant  and  courageous  attacks  of  Trenton 
and  Princeton.  At  that  time  he  narrowly  escaped  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Between  the  actions  of  Tren- 
ton and  Princeton,  on  the  night  before  the  last  of  these, 
Washington  having  crossed  tlic  Dehnvarc  was  encountered 


JOHN    WARREX.  257 

l)y  Lord  Cornwallis  with  a  superior  force.  A  rivulet  sepa- 
rated the  two  armies.  His  lordship  delayed  for  the  night 
the  attack,  which  he  expected  would  enable  him  to  de- 
stroy the  American  army,  in  the  full  confidence  that  they 
could  not  escape  him.  During  a  long  midwinter  night 
Washington  withdrew  his  aiMuy  from  the  front,  and  march- 
ing to  Princeton,  in  the  rear  of  his  enemy,  attacked  them 
and  gained  a  second  victory.  His  movement  was  so  unex- 
pected and  sudden,  that  the  surgeons  of  the  army,  be- 
ing lodged  a  little  apart,  received  no  notice  of  the  event, 
till  on  rising  the  next  morning  they  found  that  their  army 
had  disappeared,  and  th.it  of  the  enemy  remained  in  front 
of  them.  Mounting  their  horses,  they  galloped  off  with- 
out any  distinct  notion  of  the  course  they  should  pursue  : 
but  after  a  while,  happily  got  information  which  enabled 
tliem  to  reach  Princeton  in  time  to  attend  to  the  wounded 
in  the  action  which  took  place  there.  After  two  years' 
service  in  the  army,  during  the  most  dangerous  and  dis- 
couraging part  of  the  revolution,  he  was  in  the  year  1777 
removed  to  another  department,  and  appointed  superin- 
tending surgeon  of  the  military  hospitals  in  Boston.  This 
post  he  occupied  during  the  remainder  of  the  war. 

This  honorable  and  important  station  presented  him  to 
the  public  as  a  proper  candidate  for  the  practice  of  surgery 
in  Boston  and  its  vicinity.  He  improved  the  advantage 
he  thus  possessed  by  a  steady  cultivation  of  anatomy,  and, 
rising  rapidly  in  public  estimation,  soon  attained  the 
rank  of  the  most  eminent  surgical  practitioner  in  Boston, 
and,  it  may  be  said,  in  New-England  ;  a  rank  he  main- 
tained nearly  forty  years.  Soon  after  his  establishment  in 
Boston  he  married  the  daughter  of  Governor  Collins,  of 
Rhode-Island. 

His  anatomical  pursuits  becoming  known  to  his  friends 
in  the  medical  profession,  he  was  solicited  by  them  to  ex- 
tetid  the  benefit  of  his  dissections,  and  to  give  a  private 
course  of  demonstrations  or  lectures.  Neither  he  nor  his 
contemporaries  had  ever  experienced  the  advantage  of 
public  instruction.  In  this  respect  tlie  distinguished  phy- 
sicians who  then  held  tlie  practice  of  Boston,  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  them.  The  former  had  been  in  Europe  and 
enjoyed  the  instructions  of  the  most  al)le  lecturers  on 
medical  science  ;  but  Dr.  Warren  and  those  who  studied 
the  medical  profession  at  the  sanse  time  with  him,  were 
prevented  from  quitting  houiP  by  the  dnnp^ers  which  then 
vfti,.  n.  o3 


258  .     APPENDIX. 

threatened  their  country.  All  the  deficiencies  were  sup- 
plied by  his  talent  and  resolution.  In  the  year  1780  he 
gave  a  course  of  dissections  to  his  colleagues  with  great 
success.  To  them  the  opportunity  was  so  novel  and  so 
desirable,  that  they  attended  his  lectures  with  zeal  ;  and 
none  of  thein  forgot  the  impressions  they  received.  These 
lectures  were  given  in  the  Military  Hospital,  which  was 
situated  in  a  pasture  in  the  rear  of  the  present  Massachu- 
setts General  Hospital,  at  the  corner  of  Milton  and  Spring 
streets.  They  were  conducted  with  the  greatest  secrecy, 
on  account  of  the  popular  prejudice  against  dissections. 
In  the  following  year  the  lectures,  given  at  the  same  place, 
were  quite  public,  and  many  literary  and  scientific  gentle- 
men of  the  town,  and  the  students  of  Harvard  College, 
were  permitted  to  attend.  In  this  season  and  at  this  place, 
Dr.  Warren  performed  the  amputation  at  the  shoulder 
joint,  with  complete  success.  The  third  course  of  lectures 
was  given  in  the  year  1782  in  the  "  Molineux  house,"  situ- 
ated on  Beacon  street,  between  Sumner  and  Bowdoin 
streets.  The  attendance  of  the  senior  class  of  Cambridge 
College  upon  these  lectures  led  to  the  design  of  forming  a 
medical  school  in  connexion  with  the  university.  A  pro- 
fessorship of  anatomy  was  established  for  him,  and  he  was 
requested  by  President  Willard  to  furnish  a  sketch  of  a 
medical  institution.  In  the  year  1 783  this  seminary  was 
organized,  and  the  professors  inducted  into  office  with 
great  ceremony.*  Its  formation  at  this  period  was  the 
more  remarkable,  from  the  country  being  scarcely  disen- 
gaged from  an  oppressive  war,  which  had  reduced  its 
wealth  and  its  industry  to  a  deplorable  state. 

Always  retaining  his  sensibility  to  the  interest  of  his 
country,  he  was  deeply  affected  by  the  troubles  which 
broke  out  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  soon  after  the  peace. 
An  expedition  being  set  on  foot  among  the  gentlemen  of 
Boston  to  attack  a  body  of  the  insurgents  at  Groton  in  the 
county  of  Middlesex,  he  joined  the  party  as  a  volunteer 
private.  When  the  new  federal  constitution  was  proposed 
he  examined  its  principles  carefully,  and  afterwards  took 
an  active  part  in  gaining  it  supporters.  The  citizens  of 
his  native  state  were  about  equally  divided  in  opinion  in 
regard  to  this  important  subject  ;  and  it  was  necessary  that 

*  The  professors  were  nripinally  three  in  niiniber;  Dr.  Warren  was  Professor  of 
Anatomy  and  Sur^'ery,  Dr.  Benjamin  Waterhousc  of  the  Tii^ory  ami  Piacticc  of 
Physic,  and  Dr.  Aaron  Dexter  ofChemi.strv  and  .Materia  .Mcdica. 


JOHN    WARREN.  259 

all  its  friends  should  use  their  influence  in  its  favor.  He 
had  a  brother  in  the  convention,  who  was  decidedly  op- 
posed to  the  new  constitution  at  first  ;  but  by  persevering 
and  earnest  argument  he  satisfied  him  and  some  other 
members  of  the  convention,  of  the  vast  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  the  federative  system,  and  obtained  their 
votes  in  its  favor.  He  was  equally  successful  with  his 
father  in  law,  the  Governor  of  the  state  of  Rhode-Island, 
who  came  to  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  himself 
on  the  subject,  but  with  sentiments  decidedly  hostile  to 
the  proposed  constitution.  He  returned  home  with  oppo- 
site opinions,  and  exerted  a  most  useful  influence  in  his 
own  state.  At  this  time,  as  well  as  during  the  revolution 
and  afterwards,  his  deep  interest  in  the  public  good  urged 
him  to  support  the  cause  of  truth  by  publications  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  day. 

In  concert  with  some  other  medical  gentlemen  he  estab- 
lished a  smallpox  hospital  at  Point  Shirley,  near  Boston, 
in  1784  ;  and  when  the  smallpox  spread  in  1792,  he  inocu- 
lated more  than  fifteen  hundred  persons. 

The  yellow  fever,  after  invading  a  number  of  tlie  Amer- 
ican cities,  extended  itself  in  Boston  for  the  first  time  in 
1798,  though  there  were  some  suspicious  cases  two  years 
before.  Although  the  disease  was  formidable  by  its  nov- 
elty, and  still  more  so  from  the  opinion,  then  universal,  of 
its  contagious  quality,  after  sending  his  family  into  the 
country,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  attend  all  calls  to  this  dis- 
ease ;  and,  considering  it  most  desirable  that  the  morbid 
ap|>earances  should  be  ascertained  by  dissection,  in  com- 
pany with  Dr.  Rand  the  second  he  examined  the  bodies  of 
those  who  had  died  of  it,  with  great  accuracy,  and  pub- 
lished the  results  immediately.  At  a  subsequent  period  he 
became  fully  satisfied  from  repeated  opportunities  of  ob- 
serving the  epidemic,  tliat  it  was  not  contagious.  At  the 
time  when  the  doctrine  of  contagion  was  generally  re- 
ceived, he  showed  his  perfect  devotion  to  the  cause  of  his 
patients  by  inhaling  their  breath,  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  the  mercurial  action  had  begun. 

As  biography  is  not  intended  to  gratify  the  feelings  of 
friends,  nor  the  curiosity  of  the  public,  but  to  afford  in- 
structive lessons,  it  is  proper  to  mention  an  occurrence 
which  took  place  about  this  period  and  had  a  great  influ- 
ence on  his  future  life.  By  constant  labor  he  had  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  moderate  estate,  when,  in  the  year  1796,  a 


260  APPENDIX. 

medical  gentleman,  formerly  a  private  student  of  his,  beg- 
ged him  to  become  responsible  for  the  payment  for  certain 
lands  he  had  purchased  in  the  District  of  Maine.  The 
lands  were  of  great  extent,  and  the  purchaser  offered  to 
deposite  deeds  of  the  whole  property  in  his  hands,  to- 
gether with  those  of  other  extensive  estates,  as  security 
for  the  use  of  his  name.  He  was  induced  to  comply. 
The  original  purchaser  failed  to  pay  ;  he  was  himself, 
therefore,  compelled  to  take  the  lands  and  pay  the  debts. 
The  management  of  this  property  afterwards  occupied  a 
large  share  of  his  time,  gave  him  infinite  vexation,  and 
terminated  in  absorbing  a  considerable  part  of  his  estate. 

His  early  life  had  given  him  a  love  for  the  country  and 
a  strong  taste  for  agriculture.  The  moment  he  acquired 
sufficient  property  he  purchased  a  small  farm,  a  mile  from 
Boston,  wiihin  view  of  his  paternal  house  in  Roxbury, 
and  began  to  employ  himself  in  the  cultivation  of  fruit 
trees.  His  wishes  on  this  subject  enlarging  with  his  means, 
he  some  time  after  obtained  an  estate  at  Jamaica  Plains, 
large  enough  to  give  free  scope  for  his  plans  of  improve- 
ment. The  laying  out  and  planting  of  the  land,  and  the 
glowing  and  grafting  of  fruit  trees,  became  his  principal 
relaxation  ami  delight.  Almost  every  day  in  the  warm 
season,  after  having  gone  through  the  routine  of  profession- 
al business,  he  drove  a  distance  of  four  miles  to  this  favor- 
ite spot,  and  passed  the  afternoon  in  planting  and  other 
labors,  with  liis  own  hands  ;  and  then  sitting  a  short 
time  to  consider  the  effect  of  tlie  changes  he  was  mak- 
ing, enjoy  the  anticipation  of  tlieir  benefit  to  society, 
and  for  a  moment  to  contemplate  the  delightful  scenery 
around,  he  resvmied  his  vehicle  and  in  a  few  minutes  was 
enveloped  in  the  hurry  of  professional  business. 

Having  been  a  petitioner  for  tJie  incorporation  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society  in  the  year  1781,  and  an 
active  member  and  most  of  tlie  time  an  officer  of  that  soci- 
ety till  1804,  he  was  then  elected  president  and  continued 
to  be  so  till  his  death.  This  situation  gave  him  great  op- 
portunity to  advance  the  condition  of  medical  science,  and 
bring  forward  those  improvements  for  which  this  society 
has  been  eminently  distinguished.  TJie  society  and  the 
medical  school  had  been  hitherto  opposed  to  each  other, 
and  some  severe  collisions  had  taken  j)lace,  much  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  profession.  Exercising  a  predominant 
influence  on  both  of  the^e  institution?,   he  employed  this 


JOII>-    WAUREN.  2G\ 

influence  to  make  them  harmonize  and  cooperate  in  a  sys- 
tem for  the  better  instruction  and  grackial  elevation  of  tlie 
profession.  The  fruits  of  this  exertion  arc  enjoyed  by 
those  now  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  About  the  same 
time  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Humane 
Society  and  of  the  Agricultural  Society,  ofiices  which  he 
held  a  few  years  and  resigned  to  others. 

The  period  allotted  him  for  the  enjoyment  of  ])ublic 
estimation  was  short.  The  severity  of  liis  labors  had  made 
deep  inroads  on  a  constitution  naturally  weak,  and  shaken 
by  repeated  diseases  before  he  reached  the  middle  age. 
When  a  young  man  he  thought  himself  a  su]>ject  for  pul- 
monary disease.  During  his  revolutionary  campaigns  he 
had  a  violent  fever,  and  another  in  tiie  year  1783,  after  he 
was  established  in  Boston.  The  latter  was  so  severe  that 
the  medical  gentlemen  who  attended  him  did  not  expect 
hiin  to  survive  it  ;  excepting  one  of  them,  Dr.  Joseph  Gar- 
diner, an  eminent  practitioner  of  the  time,  who  for  want  of 
written  memorials  is  now  known  to  few  of  our  inhabitants  : 
he  said  of  him,  "  that  young  man  is  so  determined  to  leco- 
ver,  that  he  will  succeed  in  spite  of  his  disease."  During 
the  earlier  period  of  his  lectures  at  Cambridge,  he  was 
more  than  once  on  the  point  of  succumbing  to  tJie  excessive 
efforts  he  made  to  carry  them  on.  In  the  fulness  of  pro- 
fessional business  he  daily  passed  over  Charlcstown  ferry 
to  Cambridge,  there  not  being  a  bridge  at  that  time  ;  and 
sometimes,  when  impeded  by  ice,  was  compelled  to  take 
the  route  through  Roxbury  and  Brookline  to  Cambridge, 
and  to  return  on  the  same  morning,  after  himself  perform- 
ing the  dissections  and  giving  a  lecture  sometimes  three 
hours  long.  Twice  he  offered  to  resign  his  professorship, 
but  was  prevailed  on  to  retain  it. 

In  the  yellow  fever  of  1798,  though  indisposed  great 
part  of  the  time,  he  attended  an  incredible  number  of  pa- 
tients through  the  continuance  of  the  epidemic.  Besides 
some  permanent  complaints,  he  was  frequently  afflicted 
with  tlie  sick  head-ache,  accompanied  in  its  incij)ient  stage 
with  great  depression  of  spirits.  This  continued  to  affect 
him  till  wilhin  three  years  of  his  death,  when  it  entirely  left 
him  ;  but  soon  after  its  disappearance  he  Avas  suddenly 
seized  with  a  more  alarming  affection.  While  demonstrat- 
ing a  brain  which  had  been  immersed  in  alcohol  and  mnri- 
atic  acid,  and  which  he  held  and  hamlled  for  a  lonfjr  time  in 
a  very  cold  state,  he  had  a  paralytic  affection  of  tlie  arm  ; 


2G2  APPENDIX. 

and  was  for  some  time  unable  to  use  it.  From  this  he  reco- 
vered in  a  great  measure,  but  not  wholly.  He  was  also 
constantly  harassed  by  a  pain  in  the  chest  and  side,  which 
often  attacked  him  suddenly  in  the  night,  so  severely  that, 
after  taking  considerable  doses  of  opium  without  relief,  he 
rose  in  bed,  bled  himself  and  became  easier.  This  affection 
proceeded  from  an  organic  disease  of  the  heart,  of  long 
standing.  It  was  subsequently  found  to  arise  from  ossifi- 
cation of  the  aorta  exactly  at  that  part  which  receives  the 
impetus  of  the  blood  as  it  gushes  from  the  left  ventricle  ; 
and  it  is  presumable  that  this  was  brought  on  by  that  state 
of  hurry  and  anxiety  in  which  he  constantly  lived,  and 
which  would  necessarily  excite  the  action  of  the  heart  in 
an  inordinate  degree.  Yet  he  had  the  opinion  that  it  was 
the  perj)etual  movement  of  body  and  mind  that  preserved 
his  life  longer  than  could  have  been  expected. 

The  personal  appearance  of  Dr.  Warren  was  most  pre- 
possessing. He  was  of  about  middling  stature  and  well 
formed  :  his  deportment  was  agreeable  and  his  manners, 
formed  in  a  military  school  and  polished  by  intercourse 
Avith  the  officers  of  the  French  army,  were  those  of  an  ac- 
complislied  gentleman.  An  elevated  forehead,  black  eyes, 
acjuiline  nose,  and  hair  turned  up  from  the  forehead,  gave 
an  air  of  reflection  and  dignity  which  becazne  a  person  of 
his  profession  and  character. 

Temperance  was  as  agreeable  to  his  wishes  as  it  was 
necessary  to  his  health.  He  rose  and  breakfasted  early  ; 
afterwards  did  business  at  home,  either  professional  or 
promiscuous,  for  about  two  hours,  rarely  leaving  home 
till  nine  in  the  morning  in  summer,  and  ten  in  the  win- 
ter. He  dined  at  two  ;  ate  heartily,  but  drank  no  wine 
and  usually  nothing  but  water,  for  wine  and  the  strong- 
er stimulant  drinks  were  poisonous  to  him  thi'ough  life. 
Tlie  afternoon  and  part  of  the  evening  were  passed  like 
the  morning,  in  visiting  patients  ;  and  the  termination 
of  the  evening  in  writing,  or  in  consultation  of  such  works 
as  were  necessary  to  the  labors  of  the  time,  or  in  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  the  many  societies  with  which  he  had  be- 
come connected  by  his  active  and  beneficent  disposition. 

His  visits  to  patients,  through  the  greater  part  of  his 
life,  were  made  on  horseback  ;  a  mode  of  conveyance 
which  he  adopted  as  the  most  expeditious.  In  visits  to  the 
country  he  took  a  chair  or  chaise  ;  but  never  a  carriage  of 
four  wheels,  unless  indisposed  or   on  a  journey  :    the  con- 


JOHN   "IVARREN.  2G3 

finement  of  this  kind  of  vehicle  was  irksome.  He  wislicd 
always  to  move  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity,  be- 
cause the  time  passed  in  transportation  was  in  a  great 
measure  lost.  This  habit  subjected  him  to  accidents  innu- 
merable and  sometimes  extraordinary  ;  yet  not  attended  in 
any  instance  with  serious  consequences. 

The  minuteness  of  some  of  the  details  here  introduced 
may  appear  trivial.  It  is,  however,  in  such  details  that 
men  differ  from  each  other,  and  one  generation  from  the 
succeeding.  For  these  reasons  it  may  not  be  superfluous 
to  speak  of  the  method  of  practising  at  that  time.  Dr. 
Warren  made  his  visits  very  short.  He  wasted  no  time  in 
conversation,  but  immediately  applied  his  mind  to  the 
case,  and  succeeded  in  possessing  himself  of  it  in  a  few 
minutes  in  such  a  manner  as  perfectly  to  satisfy  the  patient 
and  his  friends  ;  so  tliat,  though  they  often  complained 
that  his  visits  were  short  and  wished  they  could  have 
more  of  his  company,  they  were  generally  and  strongly 
attached  to  him.  This  is  not,  however,  to  be  attributed 
solely  to  their  confidence  in  his  skill,  but  to  the  warm  and 
affectionate  manner  which  was  with  him  constitutional. 
During  the  greater  part  of  his  professional  career  it  was 
not  the  custom  to  write  prescriptions.  The  physician 
carried  in  his  pocket  a  number  of  the  most  important  arti- 
ticles,  and  distributed  them  on  the  spot.  Such  as  were 
not  at  hand  were  sent  for  afterwards  to  his  house,  and 
prepared  and  issued  by  pupils.  About  the  year  1806  the 
Association  of  Boston  Physicians  reformed  their  fee  table, 
and  agreed  to  abandon  the  distribution  of  medicines,  the 
business  of  the  dentist,  and  some  minor  professional  duties. 

In  surgery  his  preeminence  was  unrivalled,  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  career.  The  soundness  of  his  judgment 
saved  him  from  erroneous  conclusions,  in  a  practice  more 
within  the  cognizance  of  the  public  than  that  of  medicine. 
It  is  known  of  a  great  foreign  surgeon  of  the  present  age, 
that,  after  a  life  of  activity,  usefulness  and  skill,  he  commit- 
ted a  capital  error  in  advising  an  operation  of  lithotomy  ; 
on  the  performance  of  which  no  calculus  was  discovered. 
In  consequence  of  his  mistake  he  became  insane,  and  after  a 
life  employed  in  the  public  service  came  to  a  most  misera- 
ble death.  From  such  a  misfortune  Providence  in  His  good- 
ness preserved  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Although  com- 
pelled to  trust  to  his  own  resources,  and  for  the  most  part 
destitute  of  anv  aid  from  consultation  in  this  division  of 


201  APPENDIX. 

Ills  dutie?,  his  success  was  uuiforin,  as  far  as  the  nature  of 
the  diseases  he  treated  would  allow.  Hence  he  was  re- 
sorted to  from  all  parts  of  New-England,  for  surgical  ad- 
vice and  oi;eration. 

His  manner  of  operating  was  perfectly  cool,  composed 
and  decided.  Though  sympathizing  in  the  sufferings  he 
was  called  on  to  inflict,  he  did  not  allow  that  sympathy  to 
influence  him,  to  huny  one  step  of  his  operation,  or  to 
omit  any  detail  wiiich  could  contribute  to  it?  success.  Be- 
fore its  conclusion  he  always  satisfied  himself  and  those 
about  him  that  every  thing  had  been  done  which  ought  to 
be  done,  aiul  that  no  relic  of  disease  had  been  suffered 
to  escape  his  vigilance.  At  a  very  early  period,  and 
long  before  it  was  practised  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
he  introduced  the  healing  of  wounds  by  the  first  in- 
tention ;  thus  shortening  prodigiously  the  cure  and  the 
sufferings  connected  with  it.  Among  other  difiiculties  he 
had  to  surmount,  was  the  want  of  an  individual  to  whom 
he  could  resort  for  making,  improving  and  repairing  sur- 
gical instruments.  No  such  person  existed  in  Boston,  dur- 
ing the  principal  part  of  his  time  ;  and  he  was  compelled 
to  find  a  su1)stitute  in  some  itinerant  razorgrinder,  or  in 
the  labors  of  his  pupils  or  of  his  own  hands. 

The  preparation  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  anatomy, 
without  books,  without  an  instructer  and  without  a  model, 
is  another  instance  of  the  energy  of  his  character.  As  was 
before  stated,  he  began  to  dissect  at  an  early  period  ;  pur- 
sued his  labors  in  the  army  ;  advanced  them  in  his  hos- 
j)ital  ;  and  thus,  without  any  guide  but  his  knife,  and 
without  any  teacher  but  the  body  before  him,  made  up 
his  first  course  of  lectures.  Afterwards,  the  confluence  of 
French  surgeons  to  tliis  country  opened  to  him  anew  field 
of  improvement.  He  determined  to  acquire  the  French 
language  in  order  to  study  anatomy.  TJie  Latin  and 
Greek  languages  he  had  well  learned  at  Cambridge,  to- 
gether Vv^ith  something  of  the  Hebrew  ;  but  of  French 
he  was  wholly  ignorant.  By  dint  of  study  he  became 
acquainted  with  it,  and  thus  got  access  to  the  libraries 
of  his  friends  in  tiie  French  army.  The  interest  which 
the  Frencii  took  in  promoting  improvement  among  the 
Americans,  ought  never  to  be  forgotten.  Without  any 
assumption  of  tlie  air  of  superior  knoAvledge,  they  con- 
trived to  introduce  many  important  improvements  in 
the  science  of  our   yoimg  and   ignorant  country.       The 


JOHN    WARREN.  265 

books  they  brought  with  them  were  disposed  of  most  lib- 
erally. Among  those  acquired  by  Dr.  Warren  on  his 
favorite  subject,  was  the  Anatomy  of  Sabatier  ;  at  that 
time  and  long  after,  the  best  system  in  print.  He  studied 
this  book  till  he  was  thoroughly  possessed  of  all  it  con- 
tained. His  lectures  now  assumed  a  more  regular  and  ele- 
gant form.  He  introduced  various  modes  of  demonstra- 
tion, which  were  original  and  strongly  impressive  ;  and 
contrived  to  make  his  short  course  so  instructive,  that  few 
persons  could  avoid  getting  a  knowledge  of  all  the 
important  organs  :  for  he  was  not  satisfied  to  quit  a 
subject  till  he  had  shown  it  in  all  possible  lights.  He 
never  wrote  out  a  course  of  lectures  ;  though  he  seems 
to  have  made  a  beginning,  but  afterwards  abandoned 
this  plan,  from  its  being  found  unnecessary.  For  the 
most  part  he  used  no  notes  in  lecturing,  and  often  lec- 
tured without  preparation  ;  a  practice  which  sometimes  in- 
volved repetition,  though  not  in  a  tiresome  degree.  As  a 
speaker,  his  eloquence  was  preeminent,  and  its  features 
were  in  conformity  witli  his  general  character.  There 
was  nothing  about  it  artificial  or  contrived  for  display. 
He  was  wrapt  up  in  his  subject  and  labored  effectually  to 
convey  the  vivid  impressions  on  his  own  mind  to  those  of 
his  hearers.  "  His  voice  was  most  harmoniously  sonorous, 
his  utterance  distinct  and  full,  his  language  perspicuous 
and  well  chosen.  But  its  more  peculiar  charms  were  de- 
rived from  the  animation  of  delivery,  from  the  interest  he 
displayed  in  the  subject  of  his  discourse,  and  from  his  so- 
licitude that  every  auditor  should  be  satisfied  both  of  his 
demonstrations  and  explanations." 

Situated  as  he  was,  it  seems  surprising  that  he  could 
find  time  for  cultivating  any  branch  of  literature.  In  the 
year  1783  he  was  called  to  deliver  the  first  oration  on  the 
4th  of  July,  the  anniversary  of  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence ;  an  anniversary  which  has  been  annually  cele- 
brated in  Boston  in  the  same  manner,  from  that  day  to 
this.  In  the  oration  he  gave  abundant  proof  of  extensive 
historical  reading,  and  a  degree  of  thought  on  political 
aflfairs,  which  did  great  credit  to  his  sagacity,  as  well  as 
knowledge.  At  different  periods  he  delivered  other  pub- 
lic orations  and  addresses  :  one  before  the  Humane  Society 
of  Massachusetts,  an  Eulogium  on  the  Hon.  Thomas  Rus- 
sell, President  of  that  society,  a  Public  Address  to  the  Ma. 
sonic  Lodges,  of  which  he  was  Grand  Master,  and  a  Dis- 

TOL.    II.  34 


266 


APPENDIX, 


sertation  before  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  on 
the  use  of  Mercury  in  Febrile  Diseases.  He  produced 
some  valuable  articles  for  the  Communications  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Medical  Society,  the  New-England  Journal  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery,  and  the  Memoirs  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

In  the  character  of  Dr.  Warren  the  most  distinguishing 
feature  was  disinterestedness,  or  the  predominance  of  the 
benevolent  principles  over  the  selfish.      Many  of  the  most 
active  members  of  society  are  occupied  exclusively  with 
their  own  interests.      All  their  views  and  exertions  begin 
and  terminate  in  self.      Such    men   often   attain   to  the 
highest  distinctions.     But  the  world  has  little  reason  to 
rejoice  in  their  elevation.       They  bestow  on  it  no  bene- 
fits,  but  such  as  are  essential  to  promote  their  own  pro- 
gress.     There  is  another  class,  whose  feelings  are  more 
alive  to  the  sufferings  of  their  fellow  beings  ;   upon  whose 
generous  dispositions  the  afflictions  of  others  make  a  deep- 
er impression  than  their  own  cares.     They  are  readily  ex- 
cited to  exertions,  the  object  of  which  is  to  improve  man- 
kind.   They  may  be  called  enthusiastic,  perhaps,  but  their 
enthusiasm,  being  controlled   by  a  sound  judgment  and 
accurate  observation,   produces  effects  the  most  beneficial. 
It  is  by  such  men  that  those  changes  in  the  affairs  of  men 
have  been  brought  about,  which  are  felt  as  beneficial  to 
humanity,  and  the  influence  of  which  remains  when  tliose 
who  produced  them  are  forgotten.    They  enter  not  hastily 
on  their  plans.     But,  having  satisfied  themselves  that  an 
object  is  good,  and  worthy  of  their  exertions,  they  are  not 
deterred  by  an  apparent  impossibility  of  effecting  it.  They 
venture  deliberately  to  encounter  those  difiiculties   they 
know  they  must  contend  with.      The  same  susceptibility 
indeed  that  incites  them  to  action,  usually  renders  the  op- 
position they  meet  with  more  harassing.      They  feel  with 
acuteness  shocks  tiiat  would  make  little  impression  on  men 
of  colder  blood,  or  more  selfish  dispositions.      But  they 
persevere  in  their  purposes,  for  they  know  that  no  pain 
can  be  greater  than  the  fear  of  being  wanting  to  what  their 
sense  of  duty  requires.      We  have  a  brilliant  example  of 
this  class  of  minds  in  those  who  effected  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade  ;  and  many  of  the  actors  in  our  revolution 
were  of  a  similar  character. 

Among  such  minds  is  to  be  placed  that   of  Dr.  Warren. 
The  most  powerful  motives  of  his  actions  through  life  ap^ 


JOHN    WARREN.  267 

peared  to  arise  from  the  benevolence  of  his  disposition, 
and  the  warmth  of  his  feelings.  Selfish  considerations 
had  no  power  to  bend  him  from  the  course  which  the  fer- 
vor of  his  spirit  prompted.  An  instance  has  been  given 
in  the  earnestness  with  which,  on  learning  the  agitating 
events  of  June  17th,  1775,  he  deserted  his  fair  prospects  of 
professional  eminence  in  Salem,  and  offered  to  serve  the 
cause  of  his  country  by  enlisting  as  a  private  soldier  in  the 
army.  The  same  fervor  was  exhibited  in  all  his  pursuits. 
He  entered  upon  them  zealously,  and  devoted  his  whole 
soul  to  their  accomplishment.  He  allowed  himself  no 
rest  day  or  night,  till  he  was  satisfied  that  nothing  in  his 
power  to  perform,  remained  undone.  It  was  probably 
from  the  strong  interest  his  pursuits  excited,  that  he  ac- 
quired in  so  eminent  a  degree  the  power  of  concentrating 
his  faculties.  To  this  power,  joined  to  his  extensive  know- 
ledge and  observation,  may  be  attributed  the  rapidity  of 
his  mental  processes,  the  facility  with  which  he  arrived  at 
his  conclusions.  Hence  it  was  that  he  was  able  to  perform 
so  much  in  a  given  time  as  to  astonish  other  men  of  even 
industrious  habits. 

The  same  susceptibility  was  conspicuous  in  his  inter- 
course with  his  patients,  and  was  the  means  of  his  acquir- 
ing their  affection.  He  entered  readily  and  warmly  into 
their  feelings.  He  affected  no  interest  in  their  troubles 
that  was  not  sincere.  If  they  were  in  pain  he  knew  what 
their  sufferings  were,  and  it  would  have  been  abhorrent  to 
his  nature  to  have  treated  them  with  indifference.  In  all 
the  anxieties  of  those  who  were  connected  to  the  sufferers 
by  the  relations  of  domestic  life,  he  warmly  sympathized, 
for  no  one  had  felt  them  more  deeply  than  he. 

This  sensibility  was  not  unattended  by  its  too  usual  ac- 
companiment. He  was  liable,  particularly  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  to  a  great  depression  of  spirits.  He  al- 
lowed those  sources  of  affliction,  from  which  none  are  ex- 
empt, to  make  too  deep  an  impression.  Yet  his  disposition 
was  naturally  cheerful  ;  he  was  always  fond  of  social  in- 
tercourse, and  always  ready  to  join  in  social  amusements. 
And  it  was  seldom  that  the  presence  of  a  friend  could  not 
for  a  time  dispel  the  clouds  that  hung  over  his  spirits. 
Still  he  suffered  enough  to  make  him  at  times  almost  out  of 
love  with  life,  and  he  more  than  once  declared  that  he  had 
no  wish  that  his  life  should  be  long.  But  it  was  always 
in  the  full  confidence  of  a  better  to  succeed.     The  warmth 


268  APPENDIX. 

of  his  affections  was  shown  in  his  notions  of  a  future  state, 
for  he  could  not  imagine  a  state  of  happiness  in  which  he 
should  be  separated  from  those  he  loved  here. 

He  was  a  christian  from  conviction,  as  well  as  feeling. 
He  had  examined  for  himself  the  evidences  of  our  religion, 
and  was  satisfied  of  their  conclusiveniess.  And  the  fruits 
of  his  belief  were  shown  in  a  life  spent  in  doing  good,  and 
in  diffusinff  religious  sentiments  where  he  had  influence. 
Although  he  visited  many  patients  ©n  Sunday  morning,  he 
devoted  tiie  rest  of  the  day  to  religious  duties  :  to  attend- 
ance on  public  worship  ;  to  reading  on  religious  subjects  ; 
and  instructing  his  family  in  the  great  principles  of  christ- 
ian doctrine.  The  foundation  of  this  practice  was  laid 
by  the  instructions  of  an  excellent  and  pious  mother, 
whom  he  most  zealously  cherished  while  she  lived,  and 
deeply  mourned  on  her  death. 

His  eminence  in  society  never  elevated  him  in  his  own 
mind  above  the  lowest  about  him  :  for  he  considered  all 
as  members  of  one  family  ;  was  at  all  times  as  ready  to  at- 
tend to  the  calls  of  the  poor  as  of  the  rich,  and  his  atten- 
tions to  them  were  equally  kind  and  soothing.  To  all,  his 
heart  felt  sympathy,  and  he  administered  those  consola- 
tions that  contribute  almost  as  much  to  the  ease  of  the  pa- 
tient, as  does  the  skill  of  the  physician.  His  liberality 
was  not  confined  to  professional  services  :  he  cheerfully 
gave  pecuniary  aid  to  those  whom  he  found  in  want  ;  and 
all  enterprises  of  a  public  or  charitable  nature  found  in 
him  a  ready  contributor  both  of  money  and  time. 

His  profession  as  an  anatomist  gave  him  opportunities  of 
enlarging  and  strengthening  his  views  of  the  existence  and 
character  of  a  Supreme  Being  ;  and  he  always  took  plea- 
sure in  pointing  out  in  his  lectures  those  fine  contrivances 
which  show  that  the  human  frame  was  formed  on  a  delib- 
erate plan  by  an  intelligent,  Omnipotent  Being,  and  that 
that  Being  desired  the  happiness  of  his  creatures. 

His  virtues  were  heightened  by  an  unaffected  modesty, 
which  the  place  he  held  in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  never  diminished.  With  the  qualities  we  have 
described,  he  could  not  fail  to  possess  that  true  politeness 
which  has  its  foundation  in  a  benevolent  heart. 

The  interest  he  early  felt  in  the  welfare  of  his  country, 
continued  through  life  ;  and  in  times  of  political  difficulty 
and  excitement,  when  important  measures  were  to  be  pro- 
posed, and  it  was  desirable  that  they  should  be  brought 


40HN    WARREN.  2G9 

forward   with   the   countenance    of  those   who    had   the 
strongest  hold  on  the  esteem  and  affections  of  their  fellow 
citizens,  he  was  often  requested  to  preside  in  the  public 
assemblies  of  the  people,   and  he  never  shrunk  from  the. 
responsibility. 

In  the  winter  of  1814-15  he  was  called  upon  to  attend, 
in  conjunction  with  the  family  physician,  on  Governor 
Brooks,  then  dangerously  ill,  at  his  residence  in  Medford. 
Notwithstanding  the  pressure  of  his  business  and  the  state 
of  his  health,  which  was  then  quite  feeble,  urged  on  by 
friendship  for  Governor  Brooks  and  his  sense  of  the  value 
of  his  life  to  the  community,  he  contrived  to  visit  him 
once  and  sometimes  twice  every  day,  while  his  severe  ill- 
ness lasted.  Governor  Brooks's  situation  was  such  as  to 
make  it  necessary  to  adopt  some  decisive  remedy,  and  an 
application  of  tobacco  was  made,  of  which,  as  the  success 
was  uncertain,  and  it  was  the  last  resort,  the  operation  was 
awaited  by  Dr.  W.  with  intense  anxiety.  His  delight  was 
proportionable  in  finding  it  take  a  favorable  turn.  Gov- 
ernor Brooks  recovered.  About  this  time,  on  returning 
home  one  day  towards  evening,  he  found  a  letter  from 
Foxborough,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  Boston,  stating 
that  his  brother,  who  resided  there,  had  dislocated  his 
shoulder  three  days  before,  and  that  the  neighboring  prac- 
titioners had  not  been  able  to  reduce  it.  He  immediately 
ordered  a  carriage  to  carry  him  there.  On  his  family  urg- 
ing him,  on  account  of  his  own  ill  health,  to  wait  till 
morning  and  take  some  rest,  he  replied,  "  it  would  belike 
resting  on  a  bed  of  coals,"  and  set  out  without  delay.  As 
soon  as  he  arrived  there  he  commenced  his  operations.  He 
made  several  unsuccessful  attempts  with  the  pullies.  After 
trying  an  hour  or  two  he  desisted,  and  said  he  would  try 
again  in  the  morning.  On  retiring  he  expressed  to  his 
student  who  was  with  him,  his  great  anxiety  about  his  bro- 
ther. He  neither  undressed  nor  slept  that  night,  but  spent 
it  principally  in  walking  about  the  room  in  great  agitation. 
Before  morning  he  caused  the  family  to  be  roused  to  make 
another  attempt.  In  this,  after  an  hour  or  more,  he  suc- 
ceeded. For  a  short  time  afterwards  he  was  in  great  spir- 
its ;  but,  soon  after  getting  into  his  sleigh  to  return  home, 
seemed  to  sink  from  exhaustion.  He  however  proceeded 
to  Boston,  and  without  resting  resumed  his  visits  to  his 
patients.  These  exertions  brought  on  an  illness  which 
hung  about  him,  till  in  conjunction  with  his  organic  dis- 


210  APPENDIX. 

ease  it  produced  an  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  of  which 
he  died  April  4th,  1815,  at  his  house  in  School  street, 
where  he  had  resided  about  thirty  years. 

His  death  was  universally  and  deeply  lamented.  The 
University  of  Cambridge  and  the  Medical  Society  united 
in  appointing  his  colleague,  Dr.  Jackson,  to  prepare  a 
eulogy  at  the  interment  of  his  remains,  and  it  was  deliver- 
ed in  the  Stone  Chapel,  the  same  place  where,  precisely 
thirty-nine  years  before  that  day,  the  eulogy  had  been 
delivered  over  those  of  his  brother.  A  funeral  sermon 
was  preached  at  the  church  where  the  deceased  had  attend- 
ed public  worship,  by  the  eloquent  Dr.  McKean  ;  and  the 
Hon.  Josiah  Bartlett  delivered  a  funeral  oration  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts. 

Although  he  died  at  an  age  not  advanced,  he  may  be 
said  to  have  lived  long  for  society  ;  for  the  lives  of  few 
men  have  contained  so  much  useful  labor. 

His  remains  are  deposited  in  a  tomb  erected  for  the  pur* 
pose  by  his  family,  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
in  Boston.  In  the  same  sepulchre  rest  the  relics  of  his 
friend  and  brother,  who  was  killed  on  Bunker  Hill. 

On  this  tomb  is  placed  the  following  inscription,  framed 
by  a  gentleman*  who  was  acquainted  with  his  private  as 
well  as  professional  character. 

H.J. 
JOHAI^riVES  WARREJV, 

Bostoniensis, 

Temporibus  suis  illustris. 

Nee  posteritati  obliviscendus. 

Bello  civili  semper  rei  publicae  deditus, 
Juventutem  patriaa  sacravit. 

Medicus  inter  primos, 

Chirurgus  facile  princeps, 

Novangliae 

Primam  medicinje  scholam, 

Ipsius  laboribus  fundatam, 

Per  XXX.  annos 

Doctrina  sustulit, 

Eloquentia  illuminavit. 


I 


•  Georg9  Ticknor,  Esq. 


JOHN    WARREX. 

Quid  verum,  quid  honestum, 

Quid  scientiae,  quid  bono  publico  profuturum 

Exemplo  docuit, 

Vit^  studio  promovit. 

Erga  deum  pietate, 

Erga  homines  benevolentia  sincere  imbutus, 

Summam  severitatem 

Summae  humanitati  junxit. 

Universitatis  Harvardianae  Professor, 

Societatis  Philanthropicae  Prgeses, 

Societatis  Medicae  Massachusettensis  Prseses, 

Nullus  illi  defuit  honos. 

Vita  peracta  non  deest  omnium  luctus. 

Natus  die  xxvii.  Julii,  A.  D.  MDCCLIII. 
Obiit  die  iv.  Aprilis,  A.  D.  MDCCCXV. 


271 


END    OF    VOLUME    II. 


I 


Errata. — On  page  44,  Vol.  I.  line  18  from  bottom,  for  Amy,  and,  read  Amyand. 
Page  242,  Vol.  II.  line  12  from  top,  for  bring,  read  bury. 

To  the  list  of  surviving  surgeons  in  the  revolutionary  array,  in  the  note,  page 
255,  Vol.  II.  the  name  of  James  Thacher  should  be  added. 

In  the  article  Benjamin  Rush  some  repetitions  have  occurred.  They  were 
occasioned  by  the  circumstance  that  we  had  availed  ourselves  of  an  anony- 
mous memoir  of  Dr.  Rush,  published  in  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical 
Register,  and  also  of  the  Discourse  by  Dr.  Hosack.  Our  memoir  was  also  enlarged 
by  an  extract  from  the  Introductory  Lecture  lately  delivered  in  Rutgers  Medical 
College  by  Professor  Francis.  Wo  were  not  aware  at  the  time  that  the  anonymous 
Life  was  from  the  pen  of  that  Professor,  which  fact  sufficiently  accounts  for  the  frea 
use  that  Dr.  F,  has  made  of  his  first  production. 


INDEX 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE. 


History  ofmedicineamon^  the  primitive  inhabitants  -        -        •        •  ^ 

Medical  school  at  Alexandria       "         -         ' it 

iEsculapius,  Hippocrates,  Galen  and  Paracelsus  -         -         -         "         "  J^ 

Circulation  ofthe  blood  discovered  by  Dr.  William  Harvey  -         -  i- 

History  of  Medicine  in  Massachusetts.  ,.  ,  ,    .        .     ■   •,  -ia 

The  practice  of  medicine  united  with  the  parochial  duties  of  ministers  14 

Civil  and  rehgious  institutions  of  our  forefathers ^ 

Sickness  and  mortality  among  the  first  settlers      -         -         -         *         '  ^^ 

First  physicians  in  Massachusetts "         *  ^g 

LuesvenereafirstappearsinBoston     -         -         -         "         '         "         '  oq 

Smallpox  inoculation  first  introduced  by  Dr.  Z.  Boylston      -        -  ^^ 

Smallpox  appears,  and  hospitals  opened       "         '    .     '         '         "         '  04 

Physicians  who  practised  in  Boston  m  the  eighteenth  century       -        -  ^ 

Military  hospitals  established        -         -         -         '    ,.  ',  ^    "         '         "  97 

Physicians  in  Boston  institute  a  club  to  regulate  medical  fees        -        -  ^ 

Yellow  fever  in  Boston ^J 

Mercurial  practice  in  New-England      "        '        '        ^        ^        ^        '  28 

Influenza  noticed 1-28 

Vaccination  introduced gQ 

Spotted  fever  first  appears   - I         I  31 

Typhoid  peripneumony  noticed  -         - -^ 

Medical  Institution  at  Harvard  University    -         -         -         -         -         " 

Liberal  donations  by  E.  H.  Derby,  Esq.  and  by  W.  N.  Boylston,  Esq.   -  i^ 

Candidates  for  M.  D.,  and  their  qualifications ^ 

Berkshire  Medical  Institution       -        ;     ,   '        '      t"  ,„  "        "        '  35 

Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  and  Asylum  for  the  Insane  ■  g 

Munificence  of  John  McLean,  Esq. !         !  37 

Botanic  garden  at  Cambridge gg 

Massachusetts  Medical  Society .42 

Dr.  Dalhonde's  deposition    -         "      .  '  ^     i      , 43 

Introduction  ofsmallpox  inoculation  in  England  -  ,      .        .        .        -  iu 

State  of  Maine.  ^ 

Medical  School  of  Maine '        '        "  45 

Medical  Society  of  Maine 

State  of  New-Hampshire.  ^g 

Medical  School  of  Dartmouth  Collega 

State  of  Vermont.  _         ^g 

Vermont  Academy  of  Medicine .47 

Medical  School  of  Vermont ^        ' 

VOL.  II.  35 


274  .  INDEX. 

State  of  Rhode-Island. 
First  physicians  -------...-47 

Dr.  Hunter  lectures  on  anatomy --47 

Medical  School  of  Brown  University    -..-.--47 

Yellow  fever  in  Providence 48 

State  of  Connecticut. 

First  physicians  and  medical  authors 48 

Asylum  for  ilie  JJ^af  and  Dumb,  and  Retreat  for  the  Insane           -         -  51 

Medical  InstituUun  of  Yale  College,  and  Medical  Society      -        -        .  51 

State  of  New-York. 

First  physicians  and  medical  authors    ----..-  52 

First  dissection  in  America 52 

Doctors'  mob 52 

Medical  institution 53 

College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons     -- 54 

Medical  professors 55 

College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  Western  District          -        -  56 

Medical  School  of  Auburn 56 

Eminent  physicians  noticed          -- 56 

Yellow  fever  in  New- York 57 

Hospitals,  infirmaries,  dispensaries  and  cowpox  establishment       -         -  58 
Medical  publications  and  editors            --.....58 

Important  surgical  operations  performed  in  New- York           -         -         -  59 

New- York  Hospital,  and  Blooniingdale  Asylum  for  the  Insane      -        -  60 

State  of  New- Jersey. 

Rutgers  College,  officers  and  professors 62 

Colonel  Rutger's  gold  medal 63 

Location  and  description  of  Rutgers  College 63 

State  of  Delaware. 

First  physicians 64 

State  of  Pennsylvania. 

First  phj'sicians  -.- 65 

First  medical  institution  in  America     ...                                   -  67 

College  of  Physicians  in  Philadelphia 68 

Yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia 69 

Works  of  great  merit  produced  in  Philadelphia 70 

State  of  ftlaryland. 

First  physicians 71 

College  of  Medicine  at  Baltimore 72 

State  of  Virginia. 

First  physicians 72 

Medical  School  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia 75 

State  of  South  Carolina. 

First  physicians 75 

Medical  College  of  South  Carolina 76 

Yellow  fever  in  South  CaroUna 76 

Smallpox  in  South  Carolina 77 

,.  Medical  College  of  Ohio 77 

Transylvania  University -         -  77 

Medical  School  of  Jefferson  College 77 

Medical  School  of  Columbia  College 78 

Medical  Institutions  of  the  United  States,  with  the  number  of  students  78 

Observations  on  the  establishment  of  our  medical  schools  -         -         -  78 

Medical  authorities  adopted  in  our  schools 80 

National  pharmacopoeia  established 81 

Periodical  publications  on  the  subject  of  medicine  in  the  United  States  82 

Closing  remarks 83 


SUBSCRIBERS'  I?CAMES. 


John  Adams,  Esq. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Z.  B.  Adams,  M.D. 

Boston. 

U.  Anderson,  M.D. 

Troy. 

Dr.  Luther  Allen 

Stirling,  Mass. 

E.  Arnoult,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

Thomas  F.  Ash,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Amos  Bancroft,  M.D. 

Groton,  Mass. 

Hon.  Gideon  Barstow 

Salem,  Mass. 

William  P.  F.  Barton,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

A.  Bournonville,  M.D. 

do. 

George  Bates,  M.D. 

Charlestowrif  Mass. 

John  W.  Bay,  M.D. 

Albany. 

T.  Romeyn  Beck,  M.D. 

do. 

Joseph  Bayley,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

Hersey  Baylies 

do. 

John  B.  Beck,  M.D. 

do. 

James  D.  Bliss,  M.D. 

do. 

Stephen  Brown,  M.D. 

do. 

Timothy  P.  Beers,  M.D. 

New-Haven. 

Jacob  Bigelow,  M.D. 

Boston. 

John  B.  Brown,  M.D. 

do. 

John  B.  Blake,  M.D. 

Washington,  D.  C 

Charles  Bulfinch,  Esq. 

do. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bowen 

Potowomut,  R.  1. 

"William  Bowen,  M.D. 

Providence. 

Ward  Nicholas  Boylston,  Esq. 

Jamaica  Plains. 

Le  Baron  Bradford 

Plymouth,  Mass. 

James  S.  Bulloch,  Esq. 

Savannah,  Geo. 

His  Excellency,  DeWitt  Clinton 

Albany. 

Thomas  Cocke,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

G.  P.  Cannon 

do. 

John  S.  Conger 

do. 

Felix  Ghampy 

do. 

James  Cameron 

do. 

John  G.  Coffin,  M.D. 

Boston. 

Walter  Channing,  M.D. 

do. 

Hon.  Daniel  Coney 

Augusta,  Me. 

276 


subscribers'  names. 


Charles  W.  Cutler,  Esq. 

Timothy  Cone 

Parker  Cleaveland,  Prof. 

College 
Charles  Cotton,  M.D. 
N.  Chapman,  M.D. 
Nathaniel  W.  Cole 
Rev.  John  Codman,  D.D. 
Ezekiel  D.  Cushing,  M.D. 
Thpmas.Coit,  Esq. 
Chamberlain  and  Purinton 

Hon.  John  Davis 
George  B.  Doane,  M.D. 
R.  C.  Derby,  Esq. 
John  Gorhara,  M.D. 
Samuel  Davis,  Esq, 
Thomas  D^vis 
Allen  Danforth 
J.  M.  Dow,  M.D. 
John  B.  Dodd  &  Co. 
NicoU  H.  Dering 
J.  Van  Duren 
Theophilus  Dunn,  M.D, 
John  Dunwody,  Esq. 
Thomas  Davies,  Esq. 

Thomas  Eddy 
John  P.  Eaton 
John  Eights,  M.D. 
John  Eberle,  M.D. 
Dr.  M.  Eldridge 
Charles  Eldridge,  M.D. 

John  W.  Francis,  M.D. 
Henry  M.  Francis,  M.D. 
Peter  Forrester 
John  Forrester,  Esq. 
J.  F.  Flagg,  M.D. 
Dr.  Joseplr  Fiske 
R.  G.  Frary 
Russell  Freeman,  Esq. 

John  Gorhaiti,  M.D. 
Thacher  Goddard,  Esq. 
Jacob  T.  Gilpin 
Joseph  T.  Gilbert 
Jacob  T.  Gilford 
John  F.  Gray,  M.D. 
Dr.  Peter  McGurney 
W.  Gibson,  M.D. 


Bowd. 


Portsmouth. 
Lansinhurgh, 

Brunswick. 

Newport,  R.  I. 

Philadelphia. 

Burlington,  N.  J. 

Dorchester. 

Hanover,  Mass. 

New-London. 

Bath. 

Boston, 
do. 
do. 
do.  ^ 
Plymouth, 
do. 
do. 
New-Haven. 
New-  York. 
do. 
do. 
Newport,  R.  I. 
Savannah,  Geo. 
Wai/jiesborough,  Geo. 

New-  York. 

do. 
Albany. 
Philadelphia. 
Groton,  Mass. 
East  Greenwich. 

New-  York. 

do. 

do. 
Salem. 
Boston,    _ 
JLexington. 
Hudson. 
New-Bedford. 

Boston. 
Brookline. 
New-  York. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
Philadelphia. 


subscribers' 

NAMES. 

Hersey  Goodwin 

Cambridge. 

Horatio  Gridley,  M.D. 

Berlin,  Con. 

Joshua  Green,  M.D. 

Groton. 

Charles  W.  Green,  Esq. 

Jamaica  Plains. 

Janaes  Gardiner,  M.D. 

Lynn. 

John  F.  Gardiner,  M.D. 

Ipswich. 

Dr.  William  Gordon 

Hingham. 

Benjamin  F.  Green,  M.D, 

Waynesboroiighj  Geo 

Edward  A.  Holyoke,  M.D. 

Salem. 

Oliver  Hubbard,  M.D. 

do.    . 

David  Hosack,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

S.  T.  Hearsey 

do. 

Amos  G.  Hall 

do. 

J.  Hanson 

do. 

John  W.  Hinkley  . 

do. 

E.  H.  S.  Holden 

do. 

Jos.  D.  Harris,  M.D. 

do. 

Richard  K.  Hoffman 

do. 

.Dr.  Nathan  Hayward 

Plymouth. 

Barnabas  Hedge,  Esq^ 

do. 

George  Hayward,  M.D. 

Boston. 

George  Hale 

do. 

Zadok  Howe,  M.D. 

Billerica. 

Amos  Holbrook,  M.D. 

Milton. 

Henry  Hunt,  M.D. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Southworth  Harlow,  M.D. 

Waynesboroughf  Geo 

Dr.  Holman 

Harvard,  Mass. 

W.  E.  Horner,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Roland  P.  Heylin 

do. 

George  W.  Hosmer 

Cambridge. 

William  Hatch,  M.D. 

Bath. 

Eli  Ives,  M.D. 

New-Haven. 

William  Ingalls,  M.D. 

Boston. 

Matthew  Mcllvaine 

New-York. 

John  Jeffries,  M.D. 

Boston. 

James  Jackson,- M.D. 

do. 

Hon.  William  C.  Jarvis 

Charlestown. 

John  James 

Albany. 

N.  S.  Jarvis 

New-York. 

John  Jackson,  M.D. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Thomas  C.  James,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Anson  Jones,  M.D. 

do. 

Gideon  Jacques 

Wilmington,  Del. 

John  Johnson 

do. 

J.  M.  S.  McKnight 

New-  York. 

J.  R.  Knapp 

do. 

David  King,  M.D. 

Newport,  R.  I. 

277 


278 


SUBSCRIBERS'    NAME3. 


Robert  Kinsell 

Boston. 

•  James  A.  Kendall 

Cambridge. 

Dr.  Piers.on  T.  Kendall 

Stirling,  Mass. 

Hon.  James  Lloyd 

Boston. 

Abraham  T.  Lowe 

do. 

Dr.  Josiah  Lanison 

Ipstvich. 

William  P.  Lunt 

Cambridge. 

Frederick  B,  Leonard 

Troy. 

J.  F.  Daniel  Lobslein,  M.D. 

Neio-  York. 

Medical  School  of  Maine 

Brunswick. 

Valentine  Mott,  M.D. 

New-York. 

Hamilton  Morton 

do. 

Amos  G.  Mull 

do. 

Thomas  Miner,  M.D. 

Middletown,  Con. 

Nathaniel  Miller,  M.D. 

Franklin,  Mass. 

James  Mease,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Charles  D.  Meigs,  M.D. 

do. 

John  Mountz,  M.D. 

Washi7igton,  D.  C. 

Frederick  May,  M.D. 

do. 

Hollis  Munroe,  M.D. 

Belfast,  Me. 

E.  Munson,  M.D. 

New-Haven. 

John  Mackie,  M.D. 

Providence. 

Joseph  Mauson,  M.D. 

do. 

R.  D.  Mussey,  M.D. 

Dartmouth  College. 

Benjamin  Merrill,  Esq. 

Salem. 

Dr.  Thomas  Manning 

Ipswich. 

Alden  March,  M.D. 

Albany. 

G.  Mower 

Greenwich}  N.  Y. 

J.  Moore 

Cambridge. 

Dr.  P.  L.  Nichols 

Kingston,  Mass. 

Edward  Nobly 

New-York. 

Charles  Newton 

do. 

Daniel  OUiver,  M.D. 

Salem. 

Benjamin  L.  Olliver,  I^LD. 

do. 

Horatio  W.  Orcutt,  M.D. 

Catskill,  N.  Y. 

Orrswel  &  Brace. 

do. 

Hon.  Isaac  Parker 

Boston. 

Isaac  Porter,  1\LD. 

do. 

W.  &  J.  Pendleton 

do. 

Hon.  Benjamin  Pickman 

Salem. 

Hon.  Samuel  Putnam 

do. 

William  Pickman,  Esq. 

do. 

Joseph  Peabodv,  Esq. 

do. 

Wright  Post,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

Cyrus  Perkins,  M.D. 

do. 

Walter  C.  Palmer 

do. 

James  M.  Pendleton 

do. 

subscribers'  names. 


279 


James  C.  Paul 

Netv-  York. 

A.  L.  Plough 

do. 

Daniel  L.  M.  Peixotte,  M.D. 

do. 

Eleazer  Palraley 

.  do. 

Elijah  Porter 

TVaterford. 

Oliver  Prescott,  M.D. 

Ncivhuryport. 

John  Phillips,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Usher  Parsons,  M.D. 

Providence. 

William  Prince,  Esq. 

Long-Island. 

N.  S.  Perkins 

Neiv-London. 

J.  M.  Purinton 

Bath. 

David  Quackenboss 

New-  York. 

James  M.  Quin 

do.. 

George  Rogers 

New-  York. 

David  Rogers 

do. 

Edward  Ribley 

do. 

J.  R.  Rhinelander 

do. 

Kingsbury  Redington 

do. 

Hudson  Rinsley 

do. 

Edward  Reynolds,  M.D. 

Boston. 

John  Randall,  M.D. 

do. 

Rev.  George  Ripley 

do. 

J.  C.  Rousseau,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

Nathaniel  Russell,  Esq. 

Plymouth. 

Nathaniel  Russell,  jun. 

do. 

George  Russell 

Lincobi. 

A.  W.  Rockwell 

Gihhonsville. 

Edmund  Ravenal 

Charleston,  S.  C. 

George  C.  Shattuck,  M.D. 

Boston. 

Samuel  Swett,  Esq. 

do. 

Frederick  A.  Sumner,  jun.  M.D. 

do. 

C.  P.  Sumner,  Esq. 

do. 

Benjamin  C.  Severidge,  M.D. 

New-  York. 

Joseph  M.  Smith,  M.D. 

do. 

Talaiadge  Sutherland 

do. 

John  Stearns,  M.D. 

do. 

Archibald  B.  Simpson 

do. 

John  Slocum 

do. 

Z.  Seaman 

do. 

John  Stevens,  M.D. 

Charlestown. 

Foster  Swift,  Surgeon  U.  S,  A. 

Neio-London. 

Nathan  Smith,  M.D. 

New-Haven. 

Thomas  Sewall,  M.D. 

Washington,  D.  C 

Samuel  Savage,  M.D. 

Barnstable. 

Hon.  Leverelt  Salstonstall 

Salem. 

George  Sumner,  M.D. 

Hartford. 

Nathan  R.  Smith,  M.D. 

Philadelphia. 

280 


subscribers'  names. 


Elisha  Sheldon,  M.D. 
Dr.  Moses  D.  Spofford 
John  Sever,  Esq. 
Charles  Sever 
David  B.  Slack,  M.D. 
Salem  Athenaeum 
Barent  P.  Staats 
Peter  P.  Staats 
J.  B.  Stuart,  M.D. 

George  Talcott 

William  Tully,  M.D. 

Samuel  F.  Treat,  M.D. 

J.  G.  Tyler 

James  Tilton,  M.D. 

Dr.  W.  Turner 

Eli  Todd,  M.D. 

William  Thomas,  M.D. 

John  Thomas,  Esq. 

William  Thomas,  Esq. 

Daniel  Thurber,  M.D. 

J.  F.  Vaughan,  M.D. 

Ira  Vail 

William  Urquhart,  Esq. 

John  C.  Warren,  M.D. 

John  Ware,  M.D. 

John  D.  Wells,  M.D. 

Hon.  Daniel  A.  White 

A.  Wright 

Clarke  Wright 

A.  D.  Wilson 

John  AValter,  Jun. 

John  Watts,  jr. 

Piatt  Williams 

Joel  A.  Wing 

N.  M.  Worthington,  M.D. 

Rnfus  Wyman,  M.D. 

Danforth  P.  Wight,  M.D. 

Dr.  George  Willard 

Samuel  B.  Woodward,  M.D. 

Dr.  Charles  Wilder 

James  Whitehead,  M.D. 

Amos  P.  Whitehead 

Isaac  R.  Walker 

James  R.  Walker 

J.  Wilson 

Alfred  Wotkyns 

Some  names  in  the  subscription  lists  are  almost  illegible,  and  many  hare  not  anr 
titles  annexed  ;  which  must  apologize  for  errors  and  omissions. 


Troy. 

Rowley,  Mass. 

Kingston,  Mass. 

Plymouth. 

Providence. 

Salem. 

Albany. 

do. 

do. 

United  States  Arsenal. 
Albany. 

do. 

do. 
Wilmington,  Del. 
Newport,  R.  I. 
Hartford. 
Pouglilceepsie. 
Plymouth. 

do. 
Mendon,  Mass. 

Wilmington,  Del. 
Troy. 

Waynesborough,  Geo. 
Bosto7i. 
do. 
do. 
Salem. 
New-  York, 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
Albany. 

do. 
Washington. 
Charlcstoum. 
Barnstable. 
Uxbridge. 
Wethersficld,  Con. 
Templeton. 

Waynesborough,  Geo. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
Ncw.3Hllford. 
Troy. 


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