This mainland life I could not live,

Nor die beneath a rookery's leaves,--

But I my parting breath would give

Where chainless Ocean heaves;

In some gray turret, where my fading sight

Could see the Lighthouse flame into the night,

Emblem of guidance and of hope, to save;

Type of the Rescuer bright who walked the howling wave.

XII.

Nor, dead, amid the charnel's breath

Shall rise my tomb with lies befool'd,

But, like the Greek who faced in death

The sea in life he ruled,[13]

High on some peak, wave-girded, will I sleep,

My dirge sung ever by the choral deep;

There, sullen mourner! oft at midnight lone

Shall my familiar friend, the Thunder, come to groan.

[13] Themistocles;--his tomb was on the chore at Salamis.

XIII.

Soft Vales and sunny hills, farewell!

Long shall the friendship of your bowers

Be sweet to me as is the smell

Of their strange lovely flowers;

And each kind face, like every pleasant star

Be bright to me though ever bright afar:

True as the sea-bird's wing, I seek my home,

And its glad Life, once more, by boundless Ocean's foam!

LONDON CRIES.

BY B. SIMMONS.

I.

What trifles mere are more than treasure,

To curious, eager-hearted boys!

I yet can single out the pleasure,

From memory's store of childish joys,

That thrill'd me when some gracious guest

First spread before my dazzled eyes,

In covers, crimson as the West,

A glorious book of _London Cries_.

II.

For days that gift was not resign'd,

As stumbling on I spelt and read;

It shared my cushion while I dined,--

I took it up at night to bed;

At noon I conn'd it half-awake,

Nor thought, while poring o'er the prize,

How oft my head and heart should ache

In listening yet to London Cries.

III.

Imprinted was the precious book

By great John Harris, of St Paul's,

(The Aldus of the nursery-nook;)

I still revere the shop's gray walls,

Whose wealth of story-books had power

To wake my longing boyhood's sighs:--

But Fairy-land lost every flower

Beneath your tempests-London Cries!

IV.

I learn'd by rote each bawling word--

And with a rapture turn'd the broad,

Great staring woodcuts, dark and blurr'd,

I never since derived from Claude.

--That Cherry-seller's balanced scale,

Poised nicely o'er his wares' rich dyes,

Gave useful hints, of slight avail,

To riper years 'mid London Cries.

V.

The Newsman wound his noisy horn,

And told how slaughter'd friends and foes

Lay heap'd, five thousand men, one morn,

In thy red trenches, Badajoz.

'Twas FAME, and had its fond abettors;

Though some folk now would think it wise

To change that F for other letters,

And hear no more such London Cries.

VI.

Here chimed the tiny Sweep;--since then

I've loved to drop that trifling balm,

Prescribed, lost ELIA, by thy pen,

Within his small half-perish'd palm.[14]

And there the Milkmaid tripp'd and splash'd,

--All milks that pump or pail supplies,

(Save that with human kindness dash'd,)

'Twas mine to quaff 'mid London Cries.

[14] "If thou meetest one of those small gentry in thy early rambles,

it is good to give him a penny--it is better to give him twopence.

If it be stormy weather," adds Lamb, in that tone of tender humour

so exclusively his own--"If it be stormy weather, and to the proper

troubles of his occupation a pair of kibed heels (no unusual

accompaniment) be superadded, the demand on thy humanity will surely

rise to a tester."--ESSAYS BY ELIA--_The praise of Chimney

Sweepers._

VII.

That Dustman--how he rang his bell,

And yawn'd, and bellow'd "dust below!"

I knew the very fellow's yell

When first I heard it years ago.

What fruits of toil, and tears, and trust,

Of cunning hands, and studious eyes,

Like Death, he daily sacks to dust,

(Here goes _my_ mite) 'mid London Cries!

VIII.

The most vociferous of the prints

Was He who chaunted Savoys sweet,

The same who stunn'd, a century since,

That proud, poor room in Rider Street:

When morning now awakes his note,

Like bitter Swift, I often rise,

And wish his wares were in that throat

To stop at least _his_ London Cries.[15]

[15] "Morning"--[in bed.] "Here is a restless dog crying 'Cabbages and

Savoys,' plagues me every morning about this time. He is now at it. I

wish his largest cabbage were sticking in his throat!'--_Journal to

Stella, 13th December 1712._ Swift at this period (he was then at the

loftiest summit of his importance and expectations, the caressed and

hourly companion of Harley and Bolingbroke, and a chief stay of their

ministry) lodged "in a single room, up two pair of stairs," "over

against the house in Little Rider Street, where D.D. [Stella] had

lodged."

IX.

That Orange-girl--far different powers

Were hers from those that once could win

His worthless heart whose arid hours

Were fed with dew and light by Gwynn;

The dew of feelings fresh as day--

The light of those surpassing eyes--

The darkest raindrop has a ray,

And Nell had hers 'mid London Cries.[16]

[16] For several instances of the true untainted feeling displayed

through life by this charming woman, see the pleasing memoirs of her,

in Mrs Jamieson's _Beauties of the Court of King Charles II._, 4to

Edition, 1833.

X.

Here sued the Violet-vender bland--

It fills me now-a-days with gloom

To meet, amid the swarming Strand,

Her basket's magical perfume:

--The close street spreads to woodland dells,

Where early lost Affection's ties

Are round me gathering violet-bells,

--I'll rhyme no more of London Cries.

XI.

Yet ere I shut from Memory's sight

That cherish'd book, those pictures rare--

Be it recorded with delight

The ORGAN-fiend was wanting there.

Not till the Peace had closed our quarrels

Could slaughter that machine devise

(Made from his useless musket-barrels)

To slay us 'mid our London Cries.

XII.

Why did not Martin in his Act

Insert some punishment to suit

This crime of being hourly rack'd

To death by some melodious Brute?

From ten at morn to twelve at night

His instrument the Savage plies,

From him alone there's no respite,

Since _'tis the Victim, here, that cries_.

XIII.

Macaulay! Talfourd! Smythe! Lord John!

If ever yet your studies brown

This pest has broken in upon,

Arise and put the Monster down.

By all distracted students feel

When sense crash'd into nonsense dies

Beneath that ruthless ORGAN'S wheel,

We call! O hear our London Cries!

CLAUDIA AND PUDENS.[17]

[17] _Claudia and Pudens. An Attempt to show that Claudia, mentioned

in St Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy, was a British Princess._ By

JOHN WILLIAMS, A.M., Oxon, Archdeacon of Cardigan, F.R.S.E.,

&c. Llandovery: William Rees. London: 1848. Longman & Co.

We gladly welcome this essay from the hand of an old friend, to whom

Scotland is under great obligations. To Archdeacon Williams, so many

years the esteemed and efficient head of our Edinburgh Academy, we

are indebted for a large part of that increased energy and success

with which our countrymen have latterly prosecuted the study of the

classics; and he is more especially entitled to share with Professor

Sandford, and a few others, the high praise of having awakened, in

our native schools, an ardent love, and an accurate knowledge, of the

higher Greek literature. We do not grudge to see, as the first fruits

of Mr Williams's dignified retirement and well-earned leisure, a book

devoted to an interesting passage in the antiquities of his own land.

The students of British history, particularly in its ecclesiastical

branch, have long been familiar with the conjecture that Claudia, who

is mentioned by St Paul, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, in the

same verse with Pudens, and along with other Christian friends and

brethren, may be identified in the epigrams of Martial as a lady of

British birth or descent. The coincidences, even on the surface of the

documents, are strong enough to justify the supposition. Claudia and

Pudens are mentioned together by St Paul. Martial lived at Rome at the

same time with the apostle; and Martial mentions first the marriage

of a Pudens to Claudia, a foreigner, and next the amiable character

of a matron Claudia, whom he describes as of British blood, and as

the worthy wife of a holy husband. These obvious resemblances, with

some other scattered rays of illustration, had been early observed

by historians, and may be met with in all the common books on the

subject, such as Thackeray and Giles. But the Archdeacon has entered

deeper into the matter, and with the aid of local discoveries long ago

made, but hitherto not fully used, and his own critical comparison of

circumstances lying far apart, but mutually bearing on each other, he

has brought the case, as we think, to a satisfactory and successful

result; and has, at the same time, thrown important light on the

position and character of the British people of that early period.

It seems remarkable that neither Thackeray nor Giles has noticed the

argument derived from the singular lapidary inscription found at

Chichester in 1723, and described in Horsley's _Britannia Romana_.

According to the probable reading of that monument it was erected

by Pudens, the son of Pudentinus, under the authority of Cogidunus,

a British king, who seems, according to a known custom, to have

assumed the name of Claudius when admitted to participate in the

rights of Roman citizenship, and who may be fairly identified with

the Cogidunus of Tacitus, who received the command of some states in

Britain, as part of a province of the empire, and whom the historian

states that he remembered "as a most faithful ally of the Romans."

The inscription is to be found in Dr Giles's appendix, but he seems

ignorant of the inference which Dr Stukeley drew from it when it

was first brought to light. From Dr Giles's plan, perhaps, we were

wrong in expecting anything else than a compilation of the materials

which were readiest at hand; but, even with our experience of his

occasional love of paradox, we were not prepared for his attempt to

cushion the question as to the conversion of the early Britons, by

assuming the improbability "that the first teachers and the first

converts to Christianity adopted the preposterous conduct of our modern

missionaries, who, neglecting vice and misery of the deepest dye at

home, expend their own overflowing feelings, and exhaust the treasures

of the benevolent, in carrying their deeds of charity to the Negro and

the Hindoo." Differences of opinion may be entertained as to the mode

in which some modern missions have been conducted; and those who think

there should be no missions at all, are at liberty to say so. But, as

a matter of fact, it seems strange that any one should be found to lay

it down that either St Paul or his brethren, or their disciples, could

confine themselves merely to vice and misery _at home_, or could have

reconciled their consciences to so narrow a sphere of exertion, while

the last words of their Master were still echoing in their ears, "Go

ye, therefore, and teach ALL nations." The argument seems peculiarly

absurd in the mouth of one who has edited, and with some success,

the works of the venerable Bede--the worthy historian of those great

changes which flowed from the Roman pontiff's resolution to look beyond

vice and misery at home, and convey Christianity to the British shores;

and who has also edited, we will not say so well, the remains of the

excellent Boniface, whose undying fame rests on his self-devotion, in

leaving his native land to seek the conversion of the German pagans.

If the only objection to the Britannic nativity of the Christian

Claudia rested on the supposed indisposition of the apostles and

their converts to diffuse the gospel over the remoter parts of the

Roman empire, the case would be a clear one. But, even taking all

difficulties into view, the probabilities in its favour are of a

very decided character. The connexion between a Claudia and Pudens

in Britain and a Pudens and Claudia in Rome, with the improbability

that these names should be brought together in Paul's epistle in

reference to other parties, goes far to support the conclusion; and

it is aided by the collateral fact, that the name of Rufus--the

friend of Martial's married Pair--has a connexion with the suspected

Christianity of Pomponia, the wife of one of the Roman governors

of Britain. But, without ourselves entering into details, we shall

submit the summary which Mr Williams has made of the argument. The

latter part of it relates to traditions or conjectures as to other

parties, and as to ulterior consequences from the preceding theory, in

reference to the early conversion of the Britons, which are deserving

of serious attention, but in the accuracy of which we do not place

equal confidence, though we think there is a general probability that

a Christian matron of high rank and British birth would not forget the

religious interests of her countrymen.

"We know, on certain evidence, that, in the year A.D. 67,

there were at Rome two Christians named Claudia and Pudens.

That a Roman, illustrious by birth and position, married a

Claudia, a "stranger" or "foreigner," who was also a British

maiden; that an inscription was found in the year 1723, at

Chichester, testifying that the supreme ruler of that place

was a Tib. Claud. Cogidunus; that a Roman, by name "Pudens,

the son of Pudentinus, was a landholder under this ruler;"

that it is impossible to account for such facts, without

supposing a very close connexion between this British chief

and his Roman subject; that the supposition that the Claudia

of Martial, a British maiden, married to a Roman Pudens, was a

daughter of this British chief, would clear all difficulties;

that there was a British chief to whom, about the year A.D.

52, some states, either in or closely adjacent to the Roman

Province, were given to be held by him in subjection to the

Roman authority; that these states occupied, partly at least,

the ground covered by the counties of Surrey and Sussex;

that the capital of these states was "Regnum," the modern

Chichester; that it is very probable that the Emperor Claudius,

in accordance with his known practice and principles, gave

also his own name to this British chief, called by Tacitus,

Cogidunus; that, after the termination of the Claudian dynasty,

it was impossible that any British chief adopted into the

Roman community could have received the names "Tib. Claudius;"

that during the same period there, lived at Rome a Pomponia,

a matron of high family, the wife of Aulus Plautius, who was

the Roman governor of Britain, from the year A.D. 43 until

the year 52; that this lady was accused of being a votary of

a foreign superstition; that this foreign superstition was

supposed by all the commentators of Tacitus, both British and

Continental, to be the Christian religion; that a flourishing

branch of the Gens Pomponia, bore in that age the cognomen of

Rufus; that the Christianity of Pomponia being once allowed,

taken in connexion with the fact that she was the wife of A.

Plautius, renders it highly probable that the daughter of

Tib. Claudius Cogidunus, the friend of A. Plautius, if she

went to Rome, would be placed under the protection of this

Pomponia, would be educated like a Roman lady, and be thus made

an eligible match for a Roman senator; and that, when fully

adopted into the social system of Rome, she should take the

cognomen Rufina, in honour of the cognomen of her patroness;

and that, as her patroness was a Christian, she also, from the

privileges annexed to her location in such a family, would

herself become a Christian; that the British Claudia, married

to the Roman Pudens, had a family, three sons and daughters

certainly, perhaps six according to some commentators; that

there are traditions in the Roman Church, that a Timotheus, a

presbyter, a holy man and saint, was a son of Pudens the Roman

senator; that he was an important instrument in converting the

Britons to the faith in Christ; that, intimately connected

with the narrow circle of Christians then living at Rome,

was an Aristobulus, to whom the Christian Claudia and Pudens

of St Paul must have been well known; that the traditions of

the Greek Church of the very earliest period record, that

this Aristobulus was a successful preacher of Christianity in

Britain; that there are British traditions that the return

of the family of Caractacus into Britain was rendered famous

by the fact that it brought with it into our island a band

of Christian missionaries, of which an Aristobulus was a

leader; that we may suppose that, upon Christian principles,

the Christianised families of both Cogidunus and Caractacus

should have forgotten, in their common faith, their provincial

animosities, and have united in sending to their common

countrymen the word of life, the gospel of love and peace."

We believe that the Archdeacon is perfectly correct in his assertion

that the British were not then either so barbarous, or so lightly

esteemed by the Romans, as has been sometimes supposed. The undoubted

alliance between Pudens and Claudia, celebrated by Martial as a subject

of joyous congratulation, and the analogous case of the kindred Gauls,

who were cheerfully acknowledged to deserve all the privileges of

imperial naturalisation, seem to leave no room for doubt upon this

question. Britain, therefore, we may assume, was, in the first century,

both worthy and well prepared to receive any valuable boon of spiritual

illumination which her friends at Rome might be ready to communicate.

But, while we so far go along with Mr Williams in his historical

conjectures, we are not so much inclined to sympathise with him in

some of the uses to which he wishes to put them. We rejoice to think

that Christianity was largely diffused through Britain before the

Saxon invasion. But we know too little of the British Church, except

in the time of Pelagius, to have much confidence in her doctrine or

discipline, or to regret deeply that the _English_ people--for such is

undoubtedly the fact--were for the most part Christianised, not by the

British clergy, but by the missionaries of Rome. We question if the

historians of the sister isle will admit, or if impartial critics will

unhesitatingly adopt the Archdeacon's assertion, that "this British

church sent forth her missionaries into Ireland, and conveyed into that

most interesting island both the faith of Christ and the learning of

ancient Rome." With every disposition to acknowledge the services of

the Irish in the conversion of the Picts, and partially also of the

Angles, we must have more evidence before we can allow to the British

Church even the indirect merit of those exertions.

But the material point in this question is, whether it be true that

the British clergy refused or declined to exert themselves in the

conversion of their conquerors. That they did so, is indicated by the

absence of any evidence of such an attempt; and it was expressly made

a subject of reproach to them, in the conference with Augustine, that

they would not preach "the way of life to the Angles." If this be the

case,--and it is half admitted by Mr Williams, when he says, that "the

Irish Church, _the members of which were less hostile to the Saxon

invaders than were the Christian Britons_, sent back into Britain the

true faith,"--then such a course, so directly at variance with the

spirit of Christianity, however humanly excusable, was sufficient to

seal the doom of the church that practised it. It forms a remarkable

contrast to the conduct of the Saxons themselves, who, when they in

their turn were a prey to invasion, became the teachers of the very

tyrants under whom they groaned, and even sent their missionaries into

Scandinavia, to convert the countries which were the source of their

sufferings. Nor were they in this respect without their reward. Their

successful labours softened the oppression of their lot, and the sons

of heathen and ruthless pirates became the beneficent and refined

occupants of a Christian throne. If the British Church refused the

opportunity afforded her, of at once converting and civilising her

oppressors, she deserved her lot, and her advocates cannot now complain

that the glory of founding Saxon Christianity must be awarded, not at

all to her, but mainly to the Roman Gregory, who, whether from policy

or piety, or both, entertained and perfected that missionary enterprise

which influenced so beneficially the destiny of England and of Europe.

To us, and, we should think, to many men, it must be matter of little

moment through what channel the stream of Christianity has been

conveyed to us, if we possess it at our doors in purity and abundance.

We would give the Pope his due, as well as others; but no antiquity of

tradition, or dignity of authority, should restrain us from revising

the doctrines transmitted to us, by a reference to the unerring

standard of written truth. We adopt here the simple words and sound

opinions of old Fuller: "We are indebted to God for his goodness in

moving Gregory; Gregory's carefulness in sending Augustine; Augustine's

forwardness in preaching here; but, above all, let us bless God's

exceeding great favour that that doctrine which Augustine planted here

but impure, and his successors made worse with watering, is since,

by the happy Reformation, cleared and refined to the purity of the

Scriptures."

This, however, is not an essential part of our present subject, and

these feelings cannot interfere with our due appreciation of what

Mr Williams has done to throw light on a most important subject of

inquiry. If he gives us what he further promises,--a life of Julius

Cæsar,--he will add a valuable contribution to the elucidation

of British antiquities. The history and character of our Celtic

fellow-countrymen, whether in the south, the north, or the west, have

yet much need of illustration; and the task is well worthy of one who,

with national predilections to stimulate his exertions, can bring

to his aid the more refined taste and correcter reasoning which are

cherished by a long familiarity with classical pursuits.

SIR ASTLEY COOPER.[18]

[18] _Life of Sir Astley Cooper, interspersed with Sketches from his

Note-Books of Distinguished Contemporary Characters._ By BRANSBY

LAKE COOPER, Esq., F.R.S. 2 vols. London: 1843.

PART I.

Sir Astley Cooper died in his seventy-third year, on the 12th of

February 1841--that is, upwards of eight years ago--and with him was

extinguished a great light of the age. He was a thorough Englishman:

his character being pre-eminently distinguished by simplicity, courage,

good nature, and generosity. He was very straightforward, and of

wonderful determination. His name will always be mentioned with the

respect due to signal personal merit, as that of a truly illustrious

surgeon and anatomist, devoting the whole powers of his mind and

body, with a constancy and enthusiasm which never once flagged, to

the advancement of his noble and beneficent profession. His personal

exertions and sacrifices in the pursuit of science, were almost

unprecedented; but he knew that they were producing results permanently

benefiting his fellow-creatures, at the same time that he must have

felt a natural exultation at the pre-eminence which they were securing

to himself over all his rivals and contemporaries, both at home and

abroad, and the prospect of his name being transmitted with honour to

posterity. What an amount of relief from suffering he secured to others

in his lifetime! not merely by his own masterly personal exertions,

but by skilfully training many thousands of others[19] to--_go,

and do likewise_, furnished by him with the principles of sound

and enlightened surgical, anatomical, and physiological knowledge!

And these principles he has embodied in his admirable writings, to

train succeeding generations of surgeons, so as to assuage agony,

and avert the sacrifice of life and limb. Let any one turn from this

aspect of his character, and look at him in a personal and social

point of view, and Sir Astley Cooper will be found, in all the varied

relations of life--in its most difficult positions, in the face of

every temptation--uniformly amiable, honourable, high-spirited, and

of irreproachable morals. His manners fascinated all who came in

contact with him; and his personal advantages were very great: tall,

well-proportioned, of graceful carriage, of a presence unspeakably

_assuring_[20]--with very handsome features, wearing ever a winning

expression; of manners bland and courtly--without a tinge of sycophancy

or affectation--the same to monarch, noble, peasant--in the hospital,

the hovel, the castle, the palace. He was a patient, devoted teacher,

during the time he was almost overpowered by the multiplicity of his

harassing and lucrative professional engagements! Such was Sir Astley

Cooper--a man whose memory is surely entitled to the best exertions of

the ablest of biographers. Oh that a Southey could do by Astley Cooper

as Southey did by Nelson!

[19] "Sir Astley Cooper has, on one occasion, stated, in his memoranda,

that he had educated _eight thousand surgeons_!"--_Memoirs_, vol. ii.,

p. 426.

[20] "From the period of Astley's appointment to Guy's," says Dr Roots,

in a communication to the author of this work, (vol. i., p. 315,)

"until the moment of his latest breath, he was everything and all to

the suffering and afflicted: his _name_ was a host, but his _presence_

brought confidence and comfort; and I have often observed, that on an

operating day, should anything occur of an untoward character in the

theatre, the moment Astley Cooper entered, and the instrument was in

his hand, every difficulty was overcome, and safety generally ensued."

"No one," observes Mr Cooper, the nephew of Sir Astley, and author of

the work now before us, "has hitherto attempted to render the history

of any surgeon a matter of interest or amusement to the general

public."[21] We cannot deny the assertion, even after having perused

the two volumes under consideration, which are the production of a

gentleman who, after making the remark just quoted, proceeds truly to

observe, that "no author has had so favourable an opportunity"--_i. e._

of rendering the history of a surgeon a matter of general interest--as

himself, "for few medical men in this country have ever held so

remarkable a position in the eyes of their countrymen, for so long a

period, or endeared themselves by so many acts of conduct, independent

of their profession, as Sir Astley Cooper."[22]

[21] _Introd._ p. xi.

[22] _Introd._ p. xi.

Mr Bransby Cooper became the biographer of his uncle, at that uncle's

own request,[23] who also left behind him rich materials for the

purpose. We are reluctantly compelled to own that we cannot compliment

Mr Cooper on the manner in which he has executed the task thus imposed

upon him. He is an amiable and highly honourable man, every way worthy

of the high estimation in which he was held by his distinguished

kinsman, and whose glorious devotion to his profession he shares in no

small degree. He is also an able man, and a surgeon of great reputation

and eminence. He must, however, with the manliness which distinguishes

his character, bear with us while we express our belief that he cannot

himself be satisfied with the result of his labours, or the reception

of them by the public. He evidently lacks the leading qualities of the

biographer; who, at the same time that he has a true and hearty feeling

for his subject, must not suffer it to overmaster him; who, conscious

that he is writing for the public at large, instinctively perceives,

as himself one of that public, what is likely to interest and instruct

it--to hit the happy medium between personal and professional topics,

and to make both subordinate to the development of THE MAN, so that

we may not lose him among the incidents of his life. It is, again,

extremely difficult for a man to be a good biographer of one who was

of his own profession. He is apt to take too much, or too little, for

granted; to regard that as generally interesting which is so only to a

very limited circle, and, often halting between two opinions--whether

to write for the general or the special reader--to dissatisfy both.

From one or two passages in his "Introduction," Mr Cooper seems to

have felt some such embarrassment,[24] and also to have experienced

another difficulty--whether to write for those who had personally known

Sir Astley or for strangers.[25] Mr Cooper, again, though it may seem

paradoxical to say so, knows really _too much_ of Sir Astley--that

is, has so identified himself with Sir Astley, his habits, feelings,

character, and doings--as boy and man, as the affectionate admiring

pupil, companion, and kinsman--that he has lost the power of removing

himself, as it were, to such a distance from his subject as would

enable him to view it in its true colours and just proportions. These

disadvantages should have occasioned him to reflect very gravely on the

responsibility which he was about to undertake, in committing to the

press a memoir of Sir Astley Cooper. He did so sadly too precipitately.

Within sixteen months' time he had completed his labours, and they

were printed, ready for distribution to the public. This was an

interval by no means too short for a master of his craft--a ready and

experienced biographer, but ten times too short for one who was not

such. A picture for posterity cannot be painted at a moment's notice,

and in five minutes' time: which might perhaps suffice for a gaudy

daub, which is glanced at for a moment, and forgotten for ever, or

remembered only with feelings of displeasure and regret. Mr Cooper

felt it necessary to put forward some excuses, which we must frankly

tell him are insufficient. "Professional duties, engagements, and

other circumstances of a more private nature," _cannot_ "be accepted

as an apology for the many defects to be found in these volumes."[26]

A memoir of Sir Astley Cooper, by Mr Bransby Cooper, ought never to

have stood in need of such apologies. If he had not sufficient time at

his command, he should have considerably delayed the preparation of

the Memoir, or committed his materials to other hands, or subjected

his performance to competent revision. As it is, we look in vain for

discrimination, and subordination, and method. Topics are introduced

which should have been discarded, or handled very, very differently.

Innumerable communications from friends and associates of Sir

Astley are incorporated into the work, in their writers' _ipsissima

verba_; and this is positively treated by Mr Cooper as a matter of

congratulation![27] Again, the progress of the Memoir is continually

interrupted by subsidiary memoirs of persons who had been casually

or professionally connected with Sir Astley, but of whom the public

at large knows nothing, nor cares for them one straw. We modify our

complaint, on this score, as far as concerns the sketches of his

contemporaries by Sir Astley himself, which are generally interesting

and faithful, and occasionally very striking.--It grieves us to speak

thus plainly of a gentleman so estimable and eminent as Mr Bransby

Cooper, and justly enjoying so much influence and reputation; but,

alas! _Maga_ knows not friend from foe, the moment that she has seated

herself in her critical chair. Unworthy would she be to sit there, as

she has for now four hundred moons, were it otherwise.

[23] _Ib._ p. ix.

[24] _Ib._ pp. x. xi.

[25] _Ib._

[26] _Ib._ pp. xv. xvi.

[27] _Introd._ pp. xiv. xv.

The work before us came under our notice at the time when it was

published--early in the year 1843; and the very first passage which

attracted our attention was the following, lying on the threshold--in

the first page of the Preface. It appeared to us to indicate a writer

who had formed strange notions of the objects and uses of biography.

Speaking of the "_moral benefit_" to be derived from perusing memoirs

of those whose exertions had raised them to eminence, Mr Cooper

proceeds to make these edifying and philosophical observations:--"Those

who are in the meridian of their career, _endeavour to discover a

gratifying parallel_ in themselves; whilst the aged may still be

reconciled to the result of their pilgrimage, if less successful, by

adopting the _comfortable (!) self-assurance_ that the _frowns of

fortune_, or _some unlooked-for fatality_, have alone prevented them

from enjoying a similar distinction, or becoming equally useful members

of society."[28] Indeed! if _these_ be the uses of biography,--thus

to pander to a complacent overweening vanity, or "minister" poison to

minds diseased, embittered, and darkened by disappointment and despair,

let us have no more of it. No, no, Mr Cooper, such are not the uses

of biography, which are to entertain, to interest, to instruct; and

its "moral benefit" is to be found in teaching the successful in life

humility, moderation, gratitude; and stimulating them to a more active

discharge of their duties,--to higher attainments, and more beneficial

uses of them on behalf of their fellow-creatures; and also to remind

them that their sun, then glittering at its highest, is thenceforward

to descend the horizon! And as for those who have failed to attain the

objects of their hopes and wishes, the contemplation of others' success

should teach lessons of resignation and self-knowledge; set them upon

tracing their _failure_ to their _faults_--faults which have been

avoided by him of whom they read; cause them to form a lower estimate

of their own pretensions and capabilities; and if, after all, unable

to account for failure, bow with cheerful resignation--_not_ beneath

the "frowns of fortune," or yielding to "fatality," but to the will of

God, who gives or withholds honour as He pleaseth, and orders all the

events of our lives with an infinite, an awful wisdom and equity. We

regard this use of the words "frowns of fortune," and "unlooked-for

fatality," as inconsiderate and objectionable, and capable of being

misunderstood by younger readers. Mr Cooper is a gentleman of perfectly

orthodox opinions and correct feeling, and all that we complain of,

is his hasty use of unmeaning or objectionable phraseology. In the

very next paragraph to that from which we have been quoting, he thus

laudably expresses himself upon the subject. "It will be a useful

lesson to observe that such distinction is the reward of early

assiduous application, determined self-denial, unwearied industry, and

high principle, without which, talents, however brilliant, will be of

slight avail, or prove to be only the _ignes fatui_ which betray to

danger and destruction." And let us here place conspicuously before our

readers--would that we could write in letters of gold!--the following

pregnant sentences with which Sir Astley Cooper was wont, as President

of the College of Surgeons, to address those who had successfully

passed their arduous examination, in announcing to them that happy

event:--

[28] _Preface_, pp. v. vi.

"Now, gentlemen, give me leave to tell you on what your success

in life will depend.

_Firstly_, upon a good and constantly increasing knowledge of

your profession.

_Secondly_, on an industrious discharge of its duties.

_Thirdly_, upon the preservation of your moral character.

Unless you possess the first, KNOWLEDGE, you ought not

to succeed, and no honest man can wish you success.

Without the second, INDUSTRY, no one will ever succeed.

And unless you preserve your MORAL CHARACTER, even if

it were possible that you could succeed, it would be impossible

you could be happy."[29]

[29] Vol. ii. pp. 260, 261.

Peace to your ashes, good Sir Astley! honour to your memory, who from

your high eminence addressed these words of warning and goodness to

those who stood trembling and excited before you, and in whose memory

those words were engraved for ever!

The passage which we have above first quoted from the preface of the

work before us, was, we own, not without its weight in disinclining

us to read that work with care, or notice it in Maga. Our attention,

after so long an interval, was recalled to the work quite accidentally,

and we have lately read it through, in an impartial spirit; rising

from the perusal with a strong feeling of personal respect for Mr

Cooper, and of regret that he had not given himself time to make more

of his invaluable materials--thereby doing something like justice to

the memory of his illustrious relative, and making a strong effort,

at the same time, to "render the history of a surgeon a matter of

interest and amusement to the general public." While, however, we thus

censure freely, let us do justice. Mr Cooper writes in the spirit of a

gentleman, with singular frankness and fidelity. His manly expressions

of affection and reverence for the memory of Sir Astley, are worthy of

both. When, too, Mr Cooper chooses to make the effort, he can express

himself with vigour and propriety, and comment very shrewdly and ably

on events and characters. One of the chief faults in his book is that

of showing himself to be too much immersed in his subject: he writes

as though he were colloquially addressing, in the world at large, a

party of hospital surgeons and students. For this defect, however, he

scarcely deserves to be blamed; the existence of it is simply a matter

of regret, to the discriminating and critical reader.

The two volumes before us are rich in materials for the biographer. We

can hardly imagine the life of a public man more varied, interesting,

and instructive, than that of the great surgeon who is gone; and we

have resolved, after much consideration, to endeavour to present

to our innumerable readers, (for are they not so?) as distinct and

vivid a portraiture of Sir Astley Cooper as we are able, guided by Mr

Bransby Cooper. If our readers aforesaid derive gratification from our

labour of love, let them give their thanks to that gentleman alone,

whose candour and fidelity are, we repeat it, above all praise. We

are ourselves not of his craft, albeit not wholly ignorant thereof,

knowing only so much of it as may perhaps enable us to select what will

interest general readers. Many portions of these volumes we shall pass

over altogether, as unsuitable for our purposes; and those with which

we thus deal, we may indicate as we go along. And, finally, we shall

present some of the results of our own limited personal knowledge and

observation of the admirable deceased.

Astley Paston Cooper came of a good family, long established in

Norfolk, and there is reason for believing that there ran in his veins

some of the blood of the immortal Sir Isaac Newton.[30] He was born

on the 23d August 1768, at a manor-house called Brooke Hall, near

Shottisham, in Norfolk. He was the sixth of ten children, and the

fourth son. His father was the Rev. Samuel Cooper, D.D., (formerly a

pensioner of Magdalen College, Cambridge,) then rector of Yelverton in

that county, and afterwards perpetual curate of Great Yarmouth--a large

cure of souls, numbering sixteen thousand, among whom he discharged

his pastoral duties with exemplary faithfulness and vigilance, and was

universally beloved and respected. He was also a magistrate, in which

capacity he was conspicuous in suggesting and supporting schemes of

public utility and benevolence. He was one of two sons of Mr Samuel

Cooper, a surgeon at Norwich, a person of considerable professional

reputation, and possessed of some literary pretensions. He left a

handsome fortune to each of his sons, Samuel and William, and spent

the evening of his life in the house of his elder son, at Yarmouth,

but died at Dunston, in Norfolk, in 1785. The younger son became an

eminent surgeon in London, and exercised, as will be presently seen,

considerable influence on the fortunes of his celebrated nephew. Dr

Cooper was the author of various works on the religious and political

subjects principally discussed at that eventful period.[31] In the year

1761, while yet a curate, he married a lady of large fortune, Maria

Susannah, the eldest daughter and heiress of James Bransby, Esq., of

Shottisham, who was descended from an ancient Yorkshire family, the

head of which was Geoffrey de Brandesbee. She appears to have been a

lovely woman, equally in person, mind, and character, and possessed

also of some literary reputation, as the author of several works of

fiction, of a moral and religious character. She was an exemplary and

devoted mother, and exercised a powerful and salutary influence over

all her children, especially her son Astley, the dawn of whose eminence

she lived to see, with just maternal pride and exultation; dying in the

year 1807, when he was in his thirtieth year. Several of her letters

to him are given in these volumes, and they breathe a sweet spirit of

piety and love. Thus, on both sides, he was well born, and his parents

were also in affluent circumstances, enabling them to educate and

provide satisfactorily for their large family.

[30] His great-grandfather, Samuel Cooper, married Henrietta Maria

Newton, the daughter of Thomas Newton, Esq., of Norwich, a relation--it

is believed the _nephew_--of the great philosopher.--Vol. i., p. 1.

[31] His works are highly spoken of, and a list of them given, in the

_Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxx., pp. 89, 177.

Astley took his Christian name from his godfather, Sir Edward Astley,

then M.P. for the county of Norfolk, and the grandfather of the present

Lord Hastings. His second name, Paston, was the maiden name of his

maternal grandmother, who was related to the Earl of Yarmouth. As

his mother's delicate health would not admit of her nursing him, as

she had nursed all her other children, the little Astley was sent,

for that purpose, to a Mrs Love, the wife of a respectable farmer, a

parishioner of Dr Cooper's;[32] and on returning home he received

the zealous and affectionate attentions of his exemplary mother, who

personally instructed him, as soon as he was able to profit by her

exertions, in English grammar and history, for the latter of which

he always evinced a partiality. He was initiated by his father into

Greek and Latin; but his classical acquirements never enabled him

to do more than read a little in Horace and the Greek Testament. As

soon, in fact, as his boyish attention had ceased to be occupied with

the classics, he seems to have bade them farewell, and never, at any

period of his life, did he renew or increase his acquaintance with

them. His only other preceptor, at this early period, was Mr Larke, the

village schoolmaster, who taught writing, arithmetic, and mathematics

to Dr Cooper's children, of all of whom Astley seems to have done him

the least credit. Astley was about thirteen years old when he ceased

to receive the instructions of Mr Larke, and was of a gay, volatile

disposition, full of fun and frolic, and utterly reckless of danger. He

had a charming deportment from his earliest youth; his manners were so

winning, and his disposition was so amiable, that he was a universal

favourite, even with those who were most frequently the victims of his

frolicsome pranks. Wherever danger was to be found, there was Astley

sure to be--the leader in every mischievous expedition which he and

his companions could desire. His adventurous disposition frequently

placed his limbs, and even his life, in danger. He would often, for

instance, drive out the cows from a field, himself mounted on the back

of the bull; and run along the eaves of lofty barns, from one of which

he once fell, but luckily on some hay lying beneath. He once climbed

to the roof of one of the aisles of the church, and, losing his hold,

fell down, to the manifest danger of his life--escaping, however,

with a few bruises only. Once he caught a horse grazing on a common,

mounted him, and with his whip urged the animal to leap over a cow

lying on the ground. Up jumped the cow at the moment of the startling

transit, and overthrew both horse and rider; the latter breaking his

collarbone in the fall. If vicious and high-mettled horses were within

his reach, he would fearlessly mount them, without saddle or bridle,

guiding them with a stick only. Was there a garden or orchard to be

robbed, young Astley was the chieftain to plan the expedition, and

divide the spoil. "Who can say," observes his biographer,[33] "that the

admiration and applause which young Astley obtained from his fellows

for his intrepidity in these youthful exploits, were not, in truth,

the elements of that love of superiority, and thirst for fame, which

prevented him over afterwards from being contented with any but the

highest rank in every undertaking with which he associated himself?"

There may be some truth in this remark; but let it also be borne in

mind--(that youth may not be led astray by false notions)--that this

love of adventure and defiance of danger have often been exhibited in

early years, by those who have turned out very differently from Astley

Cooper, and proved themselves to be the silliest, most mischievous, and

most degraded of mankind--the very curses of society.

[32] Sir Astley Cooper always strongly reprobated the practice of

a mother's neglecting to suckle her child, when able to do so; and

we thank his biographer for giving us the following convincing and

instructive passage from one of the illustrious surgeon's latest

publications. We commend it to the attention of every fine lady mother,

who may stand in need of the reproof:--"If a woman be healthy, and she

has milk in her breast, there can be no question of the propriety of

her giving suck. If such a question be put, the answer should be, that

all animals, even those of the most ferocious character, show affection

for their young--do not forsake them, but yield them their milk--do not

neglect, but nurse and watch over them; and shall woman, the loveliest

of Nature's creatures, possessed of reason as well as instinct, refuse

that nourishment to her offspring which no other animal withholds,

and hesitate to perform that duty which all of the mammalia class

invariably discharge? Besides, it may be truly said, that nursing

the infant is most beneficial both to the mother and the child, and

that women who have been previously delicate, often become strong and

healthy while they suckle.

* * * * *

"A female of luxury and refinement is often in this respect a worse

mother than the inhabitant of the meanest hovel, who nurses her

children, and brings them up healthy under privations and bodily

exertions to obtain subsistence, which might almost excuse her refusal.

"The frequent sight of the child, watching it at the breast, the

repeated calls for attention, the dawn of each attack of disease,

and the cause of its little cries, are constantly begetting feelings

of affection, which a mother who does not suckle seldom feels in an

equal degree, when she allows the care of her child to devolve upon

another, and suffers her maternal feelings to give place to indolence

or caprice, on the empty calls of a fashionable and luxurious life."

[33] Pp. 47-48.

One of the earliest incidents in young Astley's life, was one which

exposed him to great danger. While playing with an elder brother, who

happened to have an open knife in his hand, Astley ran heedlessly

against it; the blade entering the lower part of his cheek, passing

upwards, and being stopped only by the socket of the eye. The wound

bled profusely, and the injury sustained was so great, as to keep him

a close prisoner, and under surgical treatment, for a long time; and

Sir Astley bore with him to the grave the scar which had been made by

the wound. Two other incidents happening about the same time, when

he was in his twelfth or thirteenth year, present young Astley in an

interesting and striking point of view. Some of the scholars belonging

to a boarding-school in the village, were playing together one day

near a large pond, when the bell had summoned them to return to their

duties. As they were going, one of them snatched off the hat of one of

his companions, and flung it into the pond. The latter cried bitterly

for the loss of his hat, and from fear of being punished for not

returning with the others to school. At this moment came up a young

gentleman dressed, according to the fashion of that day, in a scarlet

coat, a three-cocked hat, a glazed black collar or stock, nankeen

small-clothes, and white silk stockings, his hair hanging in ringlets

down his back. This was no other than Astley Cooper, returning from a

dancing-school held at a neighbouring inn, by a teacher of the art,

who used to come from Norwich. Observing the trouble of the despoiled

youngster, Astley inquired the cause; and having his attention directed

to the hat in the water, he marched in with great deliberation, and

succeeded in obtaining the hat, having waded above his knees, and

presenting a somewhat droll object as he came out, his gay habiliments

bedaubed with mud and water. The other circumstance alluded to is

certainly very remarkable, when coupled with his subsequent career. One

of his foster-brothers, while conducting a horse and cart conveying

coals to some one in the village, unfortunately stumbled in front

of the cart, the wheel of which passed over his thigh, and, among

other severe injuries, lacerated the principal artery. The danger was

of course imminent. The poor boy, sinking under the loss of blood,

which the few bystanders ineffectually attempted to stop by applying

handkerchiefs to the wound, was carried into his mother's house,

whither young Astley, having heard of the accident, quickly followed.

He alone, amidst the terror and confusion which prevailed, had his wits

about him, and after a few moments' reflection took out his pocket

handkerchief, encircled with it the thigh _above the wound_, and bound

it round as tightly as possible, so as to form a ligature upon the

wounded vessel. This stopped the bleeding, and kept the little sufferer

alive till the arrival of a surgeon. The self-possession, decision, and

sagacity displayed by little Astley Cooper on this occasion, are above

all praise, and must have produced a deep impression on the minds of

his parents, and indeed upon any one who had heard of the occurrence.

It is barely possible that he might have originally caught the hint

through overhearing such subjects mentioned by his grandfather or his

uncle, the surgeons. This is hardly likely; but, even were it so, it

leaves the self-possessed and courageous youth entitled to our highest

admiration. In after years, Sir Astley Cooper frequently spoke of this

circumstance as a very remarkable event in his life, and that which had

first bent his thoughts towards the profession of surgery.[34] This is

very probable. The inward delight which he must have experienced at

having saved the life of his foster-brother, and receiving the grateful

thanks and praises of his foster-mother and her family, must have

contributed to fix the occurrence in his mind, and to surround it with

pleasing associations.

[34] Vol. i., p. 57.

In the year 1781, Dr Cooper and his family quitted Brooke for

Yarmouth, on his being appointed to the perpetual curacy of the latter

place. Astley was then in his thirteenth year. Sixty years afterwards,

the great surgeon, who had a strong attachment to particular places,

made a pilgrimage to the scene of his gay and happy boyhood at Brooke,

at that time a pretty and retired village, and hallowed by every early

and tender association. He found it, however, strangely altered, as

he gazed at it, doubtless with a moistened eye and a throbbing heart.

Let him speak for himself; for he has left on record his impressions.

Having dined at the village inn, he says,--

"I walked down the village, along an enclosed road, dull and

shadowed by plantations on either side; instead of those

commons and open spaces, ornamented here and there by clean

cottages. The little _mere_[35] was so much smaller than in my

imagination, that I could hardly believe my eyes; the great

mere was half empty, and dwindled also to a paltry pond. On my

right were the plantations of Mr Ketts, overshading the road,

and for which numerous cottages had been sacrificed; on my

left, cottages enclosed in gardens. Still proceeding to the

scenes of my early years, on the right was a lodge leading to

Mr Holmes's new house, and water with a boat on it--a fine

mansion, but overlooking the lands of Mr Ketts. I then walked

on to the vicar's, Mr Castell, but he was out. I looked for

the church mere, and it was filled up, planted, and converted

into a garden. I looked for the old Brooke Hall, the place

of my nativity, and the seat of the happiness of my early

years; for the road which led to it and its forecourt--its

flower-gardens and kitchen-gardens, its stable-yard and

coach-houses--and all were gone. The very place where they

once were is forgotten. Here we had our boat, our swimming,

our shooting--excellent partridge-shooting--in Brooke wood

tolerable pheasant-shooting--woodcocks; in Seething Fen

abundance of snipes--a good neighbourhood, seven miles from

Norwich, almost another London, where my grandfather lived; we

knew everybody, kept a carriage and chaise, saw much company,

and were almost allowed to do as we liked; but the blank of all

these gratifications now only remains.

[35] A common term in Norfolk for an isolated piece of water.

"The once beautiful village is swallowed up by two

parks--cottages cut down to make land for them--commons

enclosed," &c.[36]

[36] Vol., i., pp. 61, 62.

On the page opposite to that on which these remarks are written,

Sir Astley has roughly sketched the village as it had stood in his

childhood, and as he found it on the occasion of his revisiting it.

On reaching his new residence at Yarmouth, this apparently incorrigible

Pickle betook himself with renewed energy to mischief and fun;

"indulging more easily," says Mr Cooper, "and on a larger scale, in

those levities, the offspring of a buoyant heart and thoughtless youth,

which had already distinguished him in the more limited sphere which he

had just quitted.... These irregularities, however, were never strictly

opposed to the interests of virtue and honesty--nor, indeed, ever

exhibited anything but repugnance to those mean, though less serious

faults, which often intrude into schoolboy sports and occupations.

They were, on the contrary, characterised by cheerfulness of temper,

openness of character, sensibility of disposition, and every quality of

an ingenuous mind."[37] Very soon after his arrival, his temerity led

him into a most perilous adventure--one which might have been expected

to cure his propensity to court danger.

[37] _Ibid._, pp. 69, 70.

"Soon after Dr Cooper's arrival in Yarmouth, the church

underwent certain repairs, and Astley having constant access

to the building from his influence with the sexton, used

frequently to amuse himself by watching the progress of the

improvements. Upon one occasion he ascended by a ladder to the

ceiling of the chancel, (a, height of seventy feet,) and with

foolish temerity walked along one of the joists--a position

of danger to which few but the workmen, who were accustomed

to walk at such an elevation, would have dared voluntarily

to expose themselves. While thus employed, his foot suddenly

slipped, and he fell between the rafters of the ceiling. One of

his legs, however, fortunately remained bent over the joist on

which he had been walking, while the foot was caught beneath

the next adjoining rafter, and by this entanglement alone

he was preserved from instant destruction. He remained for

some time suspended with his head downwards, and it was not

until after repeated and violent efforts, that he succeeded in

jerking his body upwards, when, by catching hold of the rafter,

he was enabled to recover his footing. I believe, from the

manner in which Sir Astley used to refer to this adventure,

that he always re-experienced to a great degree the horror

which filled his mind at seeing the distance between him and

the floor of the chancel, when he was thus suspended from its

ceiling."--(Pp. 70-1.)

Very soon afterwards he nearly lost his life in an adventure on the

sea, characterised by his usual semi-insane recklessness.[38] By-and-by

he betook himself to pranks seriously annoying to his neighbours and

towns-folk--breaking lamps and windows, ringing the church bells at all

hours, slyly altering the town clock, and so forth--whereby "Master

Astley Cooper" became, as lawyers would style it, the "common vouchee"

whenever any mischief had been perpetrated. Mr Cooper gives an account

of several whimsical exploits of young Astley at this period, one of

which we shall quote; but all display an amusing sense of the humorous

on the part of their perpetrator.

[38] Vol. i. pp. 71, 72.

"Having taken two pillows from his mother's bed, he carried

them up to the spire of Yarmouth church, at a time when the

wind was blowing from the north-east, and as soon as he had

ascended as high as he could, he ripped them open, and, shaking

out their contents, dispersed them in the air. The feathers

were carried away by the wind, and fell far and wide over the

surface of the marketplace, to the great astonishment of a

large number of persons assembled there. The timid looked upon

it as a phenomenon predictive of some calamity--the inquisitive

formed a thousand conjectures--while some, curious in natural

history, actually accounted for it by a gale of wind in the

north blowing wild-fowl feathers from the island of St Paul's!

It was not long, however, before the difficulty was cleared up

in the doctor's house, where it at first gave rise to anything

but those expressions of amusement which the explanation, when

circulated through the town, is reported to have excited. I

think my uncle used to say that some extraordinary account of

the affair, before the secret was discovered, found its way

into the Norwich papers!"--(Pp. 73-4.)

On one occasion he was imprisoned in his own room by his father,

as a punishment for a very thoughtless joke which had occasioned

serious alarm to his mother. Shortly after locking the door upon

the young scapegrace, his father, walking with a friend in his

favourite walk near the house, was astonished at hearing, from above,

a cry of "Sweep--sweep!" in the well-known voice of a neighbouring

chimney-sweeper. On looking up, he beheld his hopeful _son_ in the

position of a sweep, who had reached the summit of the chimney! and

was calling out to attract the attention of the passers-by in the

street below. "Ah," quoth the good doctor to his friend, "there is my

boy Astley, again! He is a sad rogue,--but, in spite of his roguery, I

_have no doubt that he will yet be a shining character_!"[39]

[39] _Ibid._ p. 81.

Though thus partial to rough sports and adventures, he was, even at

this early age, very susceptible of the effect of female beauty,

and the charms of female society. A lad so handsome as he, and of

such elegant and winning manners and address, could not fail to be

a great favourite with the softer sex. So, indeed, he was. And as a

proof of his attachment to _them_,--shortly after he had left Brooke

for Yarmouth, being then only thirteen years old, he borrowed his

father's horse, and rode a distance of forty-eight miles in one day,

to pay, unknown to his parents, a visit to a girl of his own age, a

Miss Wordsworth, the daughter of a clergyman residing in a village

near that which the Coopers had quitted for Yarmouth. In after life,

he never mentioned this little circumstance without lively emotion;

and Mr Cooper expresses himself as at a loss to explain how this early

intimacy had failed of leading to the future union of the youthful

couple. Such was young Astley Cooper in his early years: blessed with

an exemplary mother, who sedulously instilled into his mind, as into

those of all her children, the precepts of virtue and religion; equally

blessed with an amiable and pious father, and happy in the society

of his brothers and sisters; with cheerful, buoyant animal spirits,

whose exuberance led him into the pursuit of comparatively innocent

adventure, untinged by mean or vicious characteristics; and exhibiting,

under all his wild love of fun, an under-current of intellectual

energy, warranting that prediction of future distinction which, as we

have seen, was uttered by his father about the period of which we are

speaking. It was not likely that a boy of this character should always

remain satisfied with the position which he then occupied. He must

have felt inward promptings to something worthy of the capabilities of

which he was secretly conscious; and it is interesting and satisfactory

to be able to point out the circumstances which determined him to

enter that particular walk of life, and department in science, which

he afterwards occupied with such transcendent distinction. The very

interesting incident which first bent his thoughts in that direction

has been already mentioned. It has been already stated that he had

an uncle, Mr Samuel Cooper, an eminent surgeon in London, the senior

surgeon of Guy's Hospital. This gentleman was in the habit of visiting

his brother, Dr Cooper, at Yarmouth; and with his varied and animated

conversation young Astley became more and more delighted, as he

recounted the exciting incidents of London social and professional

life. The uncle seems, in turn, to have been pleased with the vivacity

and spirit of his nephew; and thus it was that Astley conceived an

intense desire to repair to the great metropolitan scene of action, of

which he was hearing so much, and could so easily imagine much more. It

does not seem to have been any particular enthusiasm for surgery and

anatomy that actuated him at this early period, but probably nothing

more than a taste for pleasure and excitement,[40] which he felt could

be gratified to an indefinite extent in London life. He had even

committed himself to the adoption of his uncle's profession, without

having indicated any desire to achieve excellence or eminence in it.

The spark of ambition seems to have fallen into his ardent temperament,

on witnessing the terrible operation for stone, performed by a Dr

Donnee, of Norwich. This fact we have on his own authority.[41] In the

year 1836, he payed a visit to Norwich, and on quitting it, wrote the

following letter, enclosing £30 for the hospital, to Dr Yelloly.

[40] Vol. i. p. 85.

[41] Vol. ii. p. 421.

"My dear Sir.--It was at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital

that I first saw Dr Donnee operate, in a, masterly manner;

and it was this which inspired me with a strong impression

of the utility of surgery, and led me to embark in it as my

profession."

How mysterious the impulse which thus determines men to the adoption of

particular pursuits!--some to music, others to poetry, to painting, to

sculpture: some to the moral, others to the physical sciences: some to

the art of war, others to divinity, law or physic; some to criticism

and belles lettres, others to simple money-making. It is rarely that a

man achieves real distinction in a pursuit which is forced upon him.

He may follow it creditably, but eminence is generally out of the

question: it is only where a man voluntarily adopts a walk in life, in

accordance with inward promptings, that a likelihood of success and

distinction is begotten. Dr Johnson observed that genius was great

natural powers accidentally directed; but this can hardly be accepted

as a true or sufficient definition. A man of wonderful musical or

mathematical capabilities, may have his attention accidentally directed

to a sphere of action where those capabilities will never have the

opportunity of developing themselves. It would seem, in truth, as if

Providence had implanted in many men great aptitudes and inclinations

for particular pursuits, and given them special opportunities for

gratifying such inclinations. Look, for instance, at a lad witnessing

the operation to which we have alluded; nine out of ten would look on

with dismay or disgust, and fly terrified from a scene which excites

profound interest, and awakens all the mental powers of a youth

standing beside him. And this was the case with Astley Cooper, whose

enthusiasm for the profession of surgery was kindled on witnessing one

of its most formidable and appalling exhibitions.

Doubtless the two brothers--the parson and the surgeon--themselves

sons of a surgeon of provincial celebrity, made short work of it as

soon as they had ascertained young Astley's strong inclination for the

profession of which his uncle was so eminent a member, and in which he

possessed such facilities for advancing the interests of that nephew.

It was therefore agreed that Astley, then in his sixteenth year, should

become his uncle's articled pupil. As, however, it was inconvenient

for Mr Cooper to receive pupils into his own house, he effected an

arrangement with a very eminent brother surgeon, Mr Cline, one of

the surgeons of the neighbouring hospital, (St Thomas',) by means of

which young Astley became an inmate with the latter gentleman. This

matter proved to have been, in one respect, managed very prudently.

Mr Cooper intimates[42] that young Astley would have found his own

mercurial disposition, and flighty habits, incompatible with those

of his rough and imperious uncle, who was, moreover, a very severe

disciplinarian. Mr Cline, on the other hand, was a man of easy and

engaging manners, of amiable disposition, and perhaps the finest

operating surgeon of the day. To these advantages, however, there

were very dismal drawbacks, for he was both a Deist and a democrat of

the wildest kind--associating, as might be expected, with those who

entertained his own objectionable and dangerous opinions--with, amongst

others, such notorious demagogues as Horne Tooke and Thelwall. It is

probable[43] that Astley's worthy father and mother were ignorant of

these unfavourable characteristics of Mr Cline, or they never would

have consented to their son entering into such contaminating society.

We shall here present our readers with a striking sketch, from the

pencil of Sir Astley himself in after life, of the gentleman to whom

his uncle, Mr Cooper--who could not have been ignorant of Mr Cline's

disfiguring peculiarities--had thought proper to intrust his nephew:--

[42] Vol. i. p. 88.

[43] _Ibid._, p. 100.

"Mr Cline was a man of excellent judgment, of great caution,

of accurate knowledge; particularly taciturn abroad, yet open,

friendly, and very conversationable at home.

In surgery, cool, safe, judicious, and cautious; in anatomy,

sufficiently informed for teaching and practice. He wanted

industry and professional zeal, liking other things better than

the study and practice of his profession.

In politics a democrat, living in friendship with Horne Tooke.

In morals, thoroughly honest; in religion, a Deist.

A good husband, son, and father.

As a friend, sincere, but not active; as an enemy, most

inveterate.

He was mild in his manners, gentle in his conduct, humane in

his disposition, but withal brave as a lion.

His temper was scarcely ever ruffled.

Towards the close of life he caught an ague, which lessened his

powers of mind and body."--(P. 98-99.)

The poisonous atmosphere which he breathed at Mr Cline's, produced

effects upon young Astley's character which we shall witness by-and-by.

They proved, happily, but temporary, owing to the strength of the

wholesome principles which had been instilled into him by his revered

parents. Mr Cooper gives us reason to believe that a mother's eye

had been almost the earliest to detect traces of the deleterious

influences to which her son had become subject in London; and perhaps

the following little extract, from a letter of this good lady to her

gay son, may bring tender recollections of similar warnings received by

himself, into the mind of many a reader:--

"'Remember, my dear child,' says Mrs Cooper to him, after one

of his visits to Yarmouth, 'wherever you go, and whatever

you do, that the happiness of your parents depends on the

principles and conduct of their children. Remember, also,

I entreat, and may your conversation be influenced by the

remembrance, that there are subjects which ought always to be

considered as sacred, and on no account to be treated with

levity.'"--(P. 96.)

Astley took his departure from Yarmouth for London in the latter part

of August 1784, being then in his sixteenth year. He experienced

all the emotion to be expected in a warm-hearted boy leaving an

affectionate home, for his first encounter with the cold rough world.

His own grief gave way, however, before the novelty and excitement of

the scenes in which he found himself, much sooner than the intense

solicitude and apprehension on his account, which were felt by the

parents whom he had quitted! Mr Cooper shall sketch the personal

appearance of Astley at this period; no one who ever saw Sir Astley

Cooper will think what follows overstrained:--

"His manners and appearance at this period were winning and

agreeable. Although only sixteen years of age, his figure,

which had advanced to nearly its full stature, was no less

distinguished for the elegance of its proportions, than its

healthy manliness of character; his handsome and expressive

countenance was illumined by the generous disposition and

active mind, equally characteristic of him then as in after

life; his conversation was brisk and animated, his voice and

manner of address were in the highest degree pleasing and

gentlemanly; while a soft and graceful ease, attendant on

every action, rendered his society no less agreeable than his

appearance prepossessing."--(P. 90.)

The period of his arrival in London had been of course fixed with

reference to the opening of the professional season--viz. in the

month of October, when the lectures on medicine, surgery, anatomy,

physiology, and their kindred sciences, commence at the hospitals, and,

in some few instances, elsewhere. Mr Cline's house was in Jefferies'

Square, St Mary Axe, in the eastern part of the metropolis; and in

that house Mr Astley Cooper afterwards began himself to practise.

His propensities for fun and frivolity burst out afresh the moment

that he was established in his new quarters; and for some time he

seemed on the point of being sucked into the vortex of dissipation,

to perish in it. He quickly found himself in the midst of a host of

young companions similarly disposed with himself, and began to indulge

in those extravagances which had earned him notoriety in the country.

One of his earliest adventures was the habiting himself in the uniform

of an officer, and swaggering in it about town. One day, while thus

masquerading, he lit upon his uncle in Bond Street; and, finding it

too late to escape, resolved to brazen the matter out. Mr Cooper

at once addressed him very sternly on his foolish conduct, but was

thunderstruck at the reception which he met with.

"Astley, regarding him with feigned astonishment, and changing

his voice, replied, that he must be making some mistake, for he

did not understand to whom or what he was alluding. 'Why,' said

Mr Cooper, 'you don't mean to say that you are not my nephew,

Astley Cooper?' 'Really, sir, I have not the pleasure of

knowing any such person. My name is ---- of the --th,' replied

the young scapegrace, naming, with unflinching boldness, the

regiment of which he wore the uniform. Mr William Cooper

apologised, although still unable to feel assured he was not

being duped, and, bowing, passed on."--(P. 401.)

As soon as the lecture-rooms were opened, young Cooper made a show

of attention, but without feeling any real interest in them. His

uncle, at the same time, (2d Oct., 1784,) proposed him as a member of

the Physical Society, into which, on the 16th of the same month, he

was admitted. This was the oldest and most distinguished society of

the kind in London, numbering among its supporters and frequenters

nearly all the leading members of the profession, who communicated and

discussed topics on professional subjects at its meetings. The rules

were very strict: and we find our newly admitted friend infringing

them on the very first meeting ensuing that on which he had been

introduced, as appears by the following entry in the journal of the

society,--"October 23d, 1784. Mr &c., in the chair. Messrs Astley

Cooper, &c., &c., fined sixpence each, for leaving the room without

permission of the president."[44]

[44] Vol. i., p. 106.

It is hardly to be wondered at that so young and inexperienced a

person should have found attendance at the meetings of the society

very irksome; them matters discussed being necessarily beyond his

comprehension. We find, therefore, that during the first session he

was continually fined for nonattendance. The first paper which he

communicated was, singularly enough, on cancer in the breast--a subject

to which, throughout his life, he paid great attention, and on which he

was earnestly engaged when death terminated his labours.[45] Whether

he had selected this subject himself, or any one else had suggested

it, does not appear; but the coincidence is curious and interesting.

A very few months after Astley's introduction to the profession, he

found the yoke of his stern and rigid uncle too heavy for him; and, in

compliance with his own request, he was transferred as a pupil to Mr

Cline, at the ensuing Christmas, (1784.) From that moment his character

and conduct underwent a signal change for the better. This was partly

to be traced to the stimulus which he derived from the superior fame

of his new teacher, and the engaging character of his instructions and

professional example. Certain, however, it is, that Astley Cooper had

become quite a new man. "After six months," says he himself,[46] "I was

articled to Mr Cline; and now I began to go into the dissecting-room,

and to acquire knowledge, though still in a desultory way." His

biographer states that "Astley Cooper seems at once to have thrown

away his idleness, and all those trifling pursuits which had seduced

him from his studies; and at the same time to have devoted himself to

the acquisition of professional knowledge, as well by diligent labour

in the dissecting-room, as by serious attention to the lectures on

anatomy, and other subjects of study in the hospitals."[47] He had,

at this time, barely entered his seventeenth year; and such was the

rapidity of his progress that, by the ensuing spring, (1785,) he had

become as distinguished for industry as formerly he had been notorious

for idleness, and had obtained a knowledge of anatomy far surpassing

that of any fellow-student of his own standing.[48] His biographer

institutes an interesting comparison between Astley Cooper and the

great John Hunter, at the period of their respectively commencing

their professional studies. Both of them threatened, by their idle and

dissipated conduct, to ruin their prospects, and blight the hopes of

their friends; both, however, quickly reformed, and became pre-eminent

for their devotion to the acquisition of professional knowledge,

exhibiting many points of similarity in their noble pursuit of science.

Astley Cooper, however, never disgraced his superior birth and station,

by the coarser species of dissipation in which it would seem that the

illustrious Hunter had once indulged--for illustrious indeed, as a

physiologist and anatomist, was John Hunter; a powerful and original

thinker, and an indefatigable searcher after physical truth. Mr

Cline had the merit of being one of the earliest to appreciate the

views of this distinguished philosopher, whose doctrines were long

in making their way;[49] and Mr Cline's sagacious opinion on this

subject, exercised a marked and beneficial influence on the mind of

his gifted pupil, Astley Cooper. During Astley Cooper's second year

of professional study, (1785-6,) he continued to make extraordinarily

rapid progress in the study of anatomy, to which he had devoted himself

with increasing energy; and his efforts, and his progress, attracted

the attention of all who came within his sphere of action. From a very

early period he saw, either by his own sagacity, or through that of his

skilful and experienced tutor, Mr Cline, that an exact and familiar

knowledge of anatomy was the only solid foundation on which to rest the

superstructure of surgical skill.

[45] Vol. i., p. 107.

[46] _Ib._, p. 112.

[47] _Ib._, p. 113.

[48] _Ib._, p. 114.

[49] _Ib._, p. 94.

"We now find him," says his biographer, "devoting himself with

the most earnest activity to the acquisition of a knowledge

of anatomy,--one of the most valuable departments of study to

which the younger student can devote himself, and without a

thorough knowledge of which, professional practice, whether

in the hands of the surgeon or physician, can be little

better than mere empiricism. The intense application which

Astley Cooper devoted to this pursuit, in the early years of

his pupilage, was not only useful, inasmuch as it furnished

him with a correct knowledge of the structure of the human

frame,--the form and situation of its various parts, and

the varieties in position to which they are occasionally

liable,--but it paved the way for those numerous discoveries

made by him in 'pathological anatomy,' which have already been,

and must continue to be, the sources of so many advantages in

the practice of our profession."--(Pp. 117-118.)

He was chiefly stimulated to exertion in this department by

the ambition to become a "demonstrator" of anatomy in the

dissecting-room--an office greatly coveted, being "the first public

professional capacity in which anatomical teachers of this country

are engaged."[50] Mr Cooper thus clearly indicates the duties of this

important functionary:--

[50] Vol. i. p. 119.

"There is scarcely any science, in the early study of which

constant advice is so much required as in the study of anatomy.

The textures which it is the business of the young anatomist

to unravel are so delicate and complicated,--the filaments

composing them so fine, and yet so important, that in following

them from their sources to their places of destination, and

tracing their various connexions, he is constantly in danger

of overlooking or destroying some, and becoming bewildered

in the investigation and pursuit of others. To direct and

render assistance to the inexperienced student under these

difficulties, it is the custom for one or more accomplished

anatomists, _Demonstrators_ as they are styled, to be

constantly at hand."--(Pp. 119-120.)

At the time of which we are speaking, a Mr Haighton, afterwards better

known in the profession as Dr Haighton, was the demonstrator in the

school presided over by Mr Cline; but he was extremely unpopular among

the students, on account of his coarse repulsive manner and violent

temper. Young Cooper's great affability and good nature, added to

his known connexion with Mr Cline, his constant attendance in the

dissecting-room, and his evident superiority in anatomical knowledge,

caused him to be gradually more and more consulted by the students,

instead of Mr Haighton, who was greatly his superior in years. Astley

Cooper perfectly appreciated his position. "I was a great favourite,"

says he,[51] "with the students, because I was affable, and showed

that I was desirous of communicating what information I could, while

Mr Haighton was the reverse of this." Astley Cooper knew that, in

the event of Mr Haighton's surrendering his post, he himself was

already in a position to aspire to be his successor, from his personal

qualifications, his popularity, his growing reputation, and the

influence which he derived through his uncle Mr Cooper and Mr Cline.

Yet was the ambitious young anatomist barely in his eighteenth year!

[51] P. 134.

Feeling the ground pretty firm beneath him--that he had already "become

an efficient anatomist," he began to attend Mr Cline in his visits to

the patients in the hospital; exhibiting a watchful scrutiny on every

such occasion, making notes of the cases, and seizing every opportunity

which presented itself of testing the accuracy of Mr Cline's and

his own conclusions, by means of _post-mortem_ examinations. At the

Physical Society, also, he had turned over quite a new leaf, being

absent at only one meeting during the session, and taking so active

a part in the business of the Society, that he was chosen one of the

managing committee. At the close of his second session,--viz. in the

summer of 1786--he went home as usual to Yarmouth, and was received

by his exulting parents and friends with all the admiration which the

rising young surgeon could have desired. His mother thus expresses

herself in one of her letters to him at this time, in terms which the

affectionate son must have cherished as precious indeed:--

"I cannot express the delight you gave your father and me,

my dearest Astley, by the tenderness of your attentions, and

the variety of your attainments. You seem to have improved

every moment of your time, and to have soared not only beyond

our expectations, but to the utmost height of our wishes. How

much did it gratify me to observe the very great resemblance

in person and mind you bear to your angelic sister!--the same

sweet smile of complacency and affection, the same ever wakeful

attention to alleviate pain and to communicate pleasure! Heaven

grant that you may as much resemble her in every Christian

grace as you do in every moral virtue."--(P. 134.)

During his sojourn in the country, he seems to have devoted himself

zealously to the acquisition of professional knowledge, and to have

formed an acquaintance with an able fellow-student, Mr Holland, who in

the ensuing year became his companion at Mr Cline's, at whose residence

they prosecuted their anatomical studies with the utmost zeal and

system. During this session, Astley Cooper found time, amidst all his

harassing engagements, to attend a course of lectures delivered by John

Hunter, near Leicester Square. It required no slight amount of previous

training, and scientific acquisition, to follow the illustrious

lecturer through his deep, novel, and comprehensive disquisitions,

enhanced as the difficulty was by his imperfect and unsatisfactory

mode of expression and delivery. Nothing, however, could withstand

the determination of Astley Cooper, who devoted all the powers of his

mind to mastering the doctrines enunciated by Hunter, and confirming

their truth by his own dissections. The results were such as to afford

satisfaction to the high-spirited student for the remainder of his

life; but of these matters we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

During this session, he caught the gaol-fever from a capital convict

whom he visited in Newgate, and, but for the affectionate attentions of

Mr Cline and his family, would, in all probability, have sunk under the

attack. As soon as he could be safely removed, he was carried to his

native county, and in a month or two's time was restored to health.

It was during this session that he seems to have commenced his

experiments on living animals, for the purpose of advancing anatomical

and physiological knowledge. The following incident we shall give in

the language of Mr Holland, the companion above alluded to, of Astley

Cooper:--

"I recollect one day being out with him, when a dog followed

us, and accompanied us home, little foreseeing the fate

that awaited him. He was confined for a few days, till we

had ascertained that no owner would come to claim him, and

then brought up to be the subject of various operations. The

first of these was the tying one of the femoral arteries.

When poor Chance, for so we appropriately named the dog, was

sufficiently recovered from this, one of the humeral arteries

was subjected to a similar process. After the lapse of a few

weeks, the ill-fated animal was killed, the vessels injected,

and preparations were made from each of the limbs."--(P. 142.)

It is impossible to peruse this paragraph without feelings of pain,

akin to disgust, and even horror. The poor animal, which had trusted

to the mercy, as it were to the honour and humanity, of man--was dealt

with as though it had been a mere mass of inanimate matter! One's

feelings revolt from the whole procedure: but the question after

all is, whether reason, and the necessity of the case, afford any

justification for such an act. If not, then it will be difficult, as

the reader will hereafter see, to vindicate the memory of Sir Astley

Cooper from the charge of systematic barbarity. On this subject,

however, we shall content ourselves, for the present, with giving

two passages from the work under consideration--one expressing very

forcibly and closely the opinions of Mr Bransby Cooper, the other those

of an eminent physician and friend of Mr Cooper, Dr Blundell.

"By this means only," says Mr Cooper, speaking of experiments

on living animals, "are theories proved erroneous or correct,

new facts brought to light, important discoveries made in

physiology, and sounder doctrines and more scientific modes

of treatment arrived at. Nor is this all; for the surgeon's

hand becomes tutored to act with steadiness, while he is under

the influence of the natural abhorrence of giving pain to the

subject of experiment, and he himself is thus schooled for the

severer ordeal of operating on the human frame. I may mention

another peculiar advantage in proof of the necessity of such

apparent cruelty--that no practising on the dead body can

accustom the mind of the surgeon to the physical phenomena

presented to his notice in operations on the living. The

detail of the various differences which exist under the two

circumstances need hardly be explained, as there are few minds

to which they will not readily present themselves."--(P. 144.)

"They who object," says Dr Blundell, "to the putting of animals

to death for a scientific purpose, do not reflect that the

death of an animal is a very different thing from that of

man. To an animal, death is an eternal sleep; to man, it is

the commencement of a new and untried state of existence....

Shall it be said that the objects of physiological science are

not worth the sacrifice of a few animals? Men are constantly

forming the most erroneous estimates of the comparative

importance of objects in this world. Of what importance is it

now to mankind whether Antony or Augustus filled the Imperial

chair? And what will it matter, a few centuries hence, whether

England or France swept the ocean with her fleets? But mankind

will always be equally interested in the great truths deducible

from science, and in the inferences derived from physiological

experiments. I will ask, then, whether the infliction of pain

on the lower animals in experiments is not justified by the

object for which those experiments are instituted,--namely, the

advancement of physiological knowledge? Is not the infliction

of pain, or even of death, on man, often justified by the end

for which it is inflicted? Does not the general lead his troops

to slaughter, to preserve the liberties of his country? It is

not the infliction of pain or death for justifiable objects,

but it is the taking a savage pleasure in the infliction of

pain or death, which is reprehensible.... Here, then, we take

our stand; we defend the sacrifice of animals in so far as it

is calculated to contribute to the improvement of science; and,

in those parts of physiological science immediately applicable

to medical practice, we maintain that such a sacrifice is not

only justifiable, but a sacred duty."--(Pp. 145-6.)

We have ourselves thought much upon this painful and difficult subject,

and are bound to say that we feel unable to answer the reasonings of

these gentlemen. The animals have been placed within our power, by

our common Maker, to take their labour, and their very lives, for our

benefit--abstaining from the infliction of needless pain on those whom

God has made susceptible of pain. _A righteous man regardeth the life

of his beast_, (Proverbs, xii. 10,) that is to say, does not wantonly

inflict pain upon it, or destroy it; but if a surgeon honestly believed

that he could successfully perform an operation on a human being, so as

to save life, if he first tried the operation upon a living animal, but

could not without it, we apprehend, all sentimentality and prejudice

apart, that he would be justified in making that experiment. _Are not

five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten

before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear

not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows._--(Luke, xii.

6, 7.) The reader need not be reminded whose awful words these are;

nor shall we dilate upon the inferences to be drawn from them, with

reference to the point under consideration.

Availing himself of a clause in his articles of pupilage, entitling him

to spend one session in Edinburgh, he resolved to do so in the winter

of 1787,--taking his departure for the north in the month of October.

Seldom has a young English medical student gone to the Scottish

metropolis under better auspices than those under which Astley Cooper

found himself established there at the commencement of the medical

year. He had letters of introduction to the most eminent men, not only

in his own profession, but in the sister sciences. He was little more

than nineteen years of age, and even then an admirable anatomist, and

bent upon extracting, during his brief sojourn, every possible addition

to his professional knowledge. He instantly set about his work in

earnest, hiring a room for six shillings a week at No. 5 Bristo Street,

close to the principal scene of his studies, and dining for a shilling

a-day at a neighbouring eating-house. This he did, not from compulsory

economy, for he was amply supplied with money, and free in spending it,

but from a determination to put himself out of the way of temptation of

any kind, and to pursue his studies without the chance of disturbance.

His untiring zeal and assiduity, with his frequent manifestation of

superior capacity and acquirements, very soon attracted the notice

of his professors, and secured him their marked approbation. During

the seven months which he spent there, he acquired a great addition

to his knowledge and reputation. His acute and observant mind found

peculiar pleasure in comparing English and Scottish methods of

scientific procedure, and deriving thence new views and suggestions for

future use. The chief professors whom he attended were, Dr Gregory,

Dr Black, Dr Hamilton, and Dr Rutherford; and he always spoke of the

advantages which their teaching and practice had conferred upon him

with the highest respect. Of Dr Gregory, Mr Cooper tells us several

interesting anecdotes, illustrative of a rough but generous and noble

character.[52] On the 1st December 1787, Astley Cooper was elected a

member of the Royal Medical Society, the meetings of which he attended

regularly; and so greatly distinguished himself in discussion, by

his knowledge and ability, that on his departure he was offered the

presidency if he would return. He always based his success, on these

occasions, upon the novel and accurate doctrines and views which he

had obtained from John Hunter and Mr Cline. His engaging manners made

him a universal favourite at the college, as was evidenced by his

fellow-students electing him the president of a society established

to protect their rights against certain supposed usurpations of the

professors. He was also elected a member of the Speculative Society,

where he read a paper in support of Dr Berkeley's theory of the

non-existence of matter. From the character of Sir Astley Cooper's mind

and studies, we are not disposed to give him credit for being able to

deal satisfactorily with such a subject, or, indeed, with anything

metaphysical. Though a letter from Professor Alison[53] represents

Astley Cooper as having "taken an interest in the metaphysical

questions which then occupied much of the attention of the Edinburgh

students," we suspect that for "metaphysical" should be substituted

"political." He himself speaks thus frankly on the subject,--"Dugald

Stewart was beyond my power of appreciation. _Metaphysics were foreign

to my mind, which was never captivated by speculation._"[54] Throughout

his career he proved himself to have here taken a proper view of his

capacity and tendency. He was pre-eminently a _practical_ man, taught

in that spirit, and enjoined the cultivation of it. "That is the way,

sir," he would say, "to learn your profession--look for yourself; never

mind what other people may say--no opinion or theories can interfere

with information acquired from dissection."[55] Again, in his great

work on _Dislocations and Fractures_, he speaks in the same strain:--

[52] Vol. i. pp. 161, 164.

[53] _Ib._ p. 213.

[54] _Ib._ p. 172.

[55] Vol. ii. p. 53.

"Young medical men find it so much easier a task to speculate

than to observe, that they are too apt to be pleased with some

sweeping theory, which saves them the trouble of observing

the processes of nature; and they have afterwards, when they

embark in their professional practice, not only everything

still to learn, but also to abandon those false impressions

which hypothesis is sure to create. Nothing is known in our

profession by guess; and I do not believe that, from the

first dawn of medical science to the present moment, a single

correct idea has ever emanated from conjecture alone. It is

right, therefore, that those who are studying their profession,

should be aware that there is no short road to knowledge; that

observations on the diseased living, examinations of the dead,

and experiments upon living animals, are the only sources of

true knowledge; and that deductions from these are the solid

basis of legitimate theory."--(P. 53.)

In one respect, he excelled all his Scottish companions--in the

quickness and accuracy with which he judged of the nature of cases

brought into the Infirmary--a power which he gratefully referred

to the teaching and example of his gifted tutor Mr Cline.[56]

The young English student became, indeed, so conspicuous for his

professional acquirements and capabilities, that he was constantly

consulted, in difficult cases, by his fellow-students, and even by the

house-surgeons. This circumstance had a natural tendency to sharpen his

observation of all the cases coming under his notice, and to develop

his power of ready discrimination. This, however, was by no means his

only obligation to the Scottish medical school; he was indebted to the

peculiar _method_ of its scholastic arrangements, for the correction

of a great fault, of which he had become conscious--viz., the want of

any systematic disposition of his multifarious acquirements. "This

order," says Mr Cooper, "was of the greatest importance to Sir Astley

Cooper, and gave him not only a facility for acquiring fresh knowledge,

but also stamped a value on the information he already possessed, but

which, from its previous want of arrangement, was scarcely ever in a

state to be applied to its full and appropriate use. The correction of

this fault, which gave him afterwards his well-known facility of using

for each particular case that came before him, all his knowledge and

experience that in any way could be brought to bear upon it, Sir Astley

always attributed to the school of Edinburgh. If this advantage only

had been gained, the seven months spent in that city were, indeed, well

bestowed."[57]

[56] Vol. i. p. 173.

[57] Vol. i. pp. 174-175.

At the close of the session, Astley Cooper determined, before quitting

the country, to make the tour of the Highlands. He purchased,

therefore, two horses, and hired a servant, and set off on his

exhilarating and invigorating expedition without any companion. "I

have heard him," says his biographer,[58] "describe the unalloyed

delight with which he left the confinement of the capital to enter

into the wild beauties of the mountain scenery. It seemed as if the

whole world was before him, and that there were no limits to the

extent of his range." He has left no record of the impressions which

his tour had produced on his mind. On his return, while in the north

of England, he suddenly found himself in a sad scrape: he had spent

all his money, and was forced to dismiss his servant, sell one of

his horses, and even to pawn his watch, to enable himself to return

home![59] This dire dilemma had been occasioned, it seems, by a grand

entertainment, inconsiderately expensive, which he had given to his

friends and acquaintance on quitting Edinburgh. He himself said, that

this entertainment made a deep impression on his mind, and prevented

him from ever falling into a similar difficulty.[60] To this little

incident may doubtless be referred a considerable change in his

disposition with regard to pecuniary matters. When young, he was

liberal, even to extravagance, and utterly careless about preserving

any ratio between his expenditure and his means. Many traits of his

generosity are given in these volumes.

[58] _Ib._ p. 175.

[59] _Ib._ p. 178.

Astley Cooper always spoke of his sojourn in Scotland with satisfaction

and gratitude: not only on account of the solid acquisition of

professional knowledge which he had made there, and the generous

cordiality and confidence with which he had been treated by both

professors and students; but also of the social pleasures which he

had enjoyed, in such few intervals of relaxation as his ravenous love

of study permitted. He was, we repeat, formed for society. We have

ourselves frequently seen him, and regard him as having been one of

the handsomest and most fascinating men of our time. Not a trace was

there in his symmetrical features, and their gay, frank expression, of

the exhausting, repulsive labour of the dissecting-room and hospital.

You would, in looking at him, have thought him a mere man of pleasure

and fashion; so courtly and cheerful were his unaffected carriage,

countenance, and manners. The instant that you were with him, you felt

at your ease. How such a man must have enjoyed the social circles of

Edinburgh! How many of its fair maidens' hearts must have fluttered

when in proximity to their enchanting English visitor! Thus their views

must have been darkened by regret at his departure. And let us place on

record the impressions which the fair Athenians produced upon Astley

Cooper. "He always spoke of the Edinburgh ladies with the highest

encomiums; and used to maintain that they possessed an affability

and simplicity of manners which he had not often found elsewhere, in

conjunction with the superior intellectual attainments which at the

same time generally distinguished them."[60] But, in justice to their

southern sisters, we must hint, though in anticipation, that he twice

selected a wife from among them.

[60] _Ib._ p. 172-3.

_Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh._

[Transcriber's Note:

Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]