_Lord Say._ Why, Heaven ne'er made the universe a level.
Some trees are loftier than the rest, some mountains
O'erpeak their fellows, and some planets shine
With brighter ray above the skyey route
Than others. Nay, even at our feet, the rose
Outscents the lily; and the humblest flower
Is noble still o'er meaner plants. And thus
Some men are nobler than the mass, and should,
By nature's order, shine above their brethren.
_Lord Clifford._ 'Tis true the noble should; but who is noble?
Heaven, and not heraldry, makes noble men.
THEIR ORIGIN, BOYHOOD, EARLY STRUGGLES, ETC.--DOCTORS ARE PUBLIC
PROPERTY.--DR. MOTT, OF OYSTER BAY.--DR. PARKER.--A "PLOUGH-BOY."--THE
FARMER'S BOY AND THE OLD DOCTOR.--SCENE IN BELLEVUE HOSPITAL.--"LEAVES
FROM THE LIFE OF AN UNFLEDGED ÆSCULAPIAN."--FIRST
PATIENT.--"NONPLUSSED!"--ALL RIGHT AT LAST.--PROFESSORS EBERLE AND
DEWEES.--A HARD START.--"FOOTING IT."--ABERNETHY'S BOYHOOD.--"OLD
SQUEERS."--SPARE THE BOY AND SPOIL THE ROD.--A DIGRESSION.--SKIRTING A
BOG.--AN AGREEABLE TURN.--PROFESSOR HOLMES.--A HOMELESS STUDENT.
It is amusing, as well as instructive, to compare notes on the various
circumstances which have led different young men to adopt the science of
medicine as their profession.
The advantages of birth and "noble blood" weigh lightly, when thrown into
the balance, against circumstances of after life, and its necessities, in
ourselves or fellow-creatures. In searching through biographies of famous
people, of all ages and countries (to collect a chapter on "Origin of
Great Men"), I am peculiarly convinced of the correctness of this
conclusion.
The earlier histories and traits of character--no matter which way they
point--of all great men are interesting to review; and yet it is a
lamentable fact that the accounts of boyhood days, aspirations, hopes, and
struggles, with the many little interesting items and episodes of the
youth of most great men are very meagre, and, in many cases, entirely lost
to the world.
In the published biographies of physicians this is particularly the case.
You read the biography of one, and it will suffice for the whole. It
begins something like this:--
"Dr. A. was born in Blanktown, about the year 18--; entered the office of
Dr. Bolus, where he studied physic; attended college at Spoon Haven, where
he graduated with honors; arrived at eminence in his profession;" and, if
defunct, ends, "he died at Mortgrass, and sleeps with his fathers.
_Requiescat in pace._"
In presenting to the public the following little sketches of physicians, I
may only say that doctors, of all men, are considered public property, and
have suffered more of the public's kicks and cuffs than any other class of
men, from the time when Hercules amused himself by setting up old Dr.
Chiron, and shooting poisoned arrows at his vulnerable heel, to the little
divertisement of the lovely St. Calvin and his consistory in cooking
Michael Servetus, the Spanish physician; to the imprisonment of our army
surgeons by their "brethren" of the South, that they might not be
instrumental in restoring Union soldiers to the ranks; or the more recent
imprisonment of a physician without cause, and the wholesale slaughter of
students, in the Isle of Cuba.
"THE QUAKER SURGEON."
Dr. Valentine Mott gave no intimation, in his boyhood days, of the great
ability that for a time seemed to lie dormant within the after-developed,
massive, and well-balanced brain of the celebrated surgeon. Except from
the fact of his being the son of a country doctor, his schoolmates would
as soon have expected to see him turn out a second-rate
oyster-man,--suggested by the ominous name of the Bay, at Glen Cove, where
Valentine was born,--as to believe that a boy of no more promise would
develop into the greatest physician and surgeon of the age! He was reared
amongst doctors,--his father, and Dr. Valentine Searnen, and others.
A "plough-boy" is as likely to become an eminent surgeon as is the son of
a practising physician. Dr. Willard Parker, one of the most prominent
physicians and surgeons of New York city, was born in New Hampshire, in
1802, of humble though most respectable parents. When Willard was but a
few years old, his family removed to Middlesex County, Mass., evidently
with a hope of bettering their circumstances. Here Mr. Parker entered more
fully upon the practical duties of an agricultural life, instructing his
son Willard, when not attending the village school, in the mysteries of
"Haw, Buck, and gee up, Dobbin."
Until he was sixteen years old, young Parker was brought up a "plough-boy"
and a tiller of the soil. From a "plough-boy" he became the "master" of a
village school, "teaching the young idea how to shoot," which honest
pursuit he continued for several years, until he had accumulated
sufficient means to enter Harvard. He was a hard-working student, and his
books were not thrown aside when he had obtained a diploma, in 1830.... As
a lecturer and operator, Dr. Parker has been most successful.... Since the
death of Dr. Valentine Mott, in April, 1865, Professor Parker has been
elected president of the New York Inebriate Asylum (Binghamton).