THE DOCTOR, &c.
There is a kind of physiognomy in the titles of books no less than in
the faces of men, by which a skilful observer will as well know what
to expect from the one as the other.
BUTLER'S REMAINS.
THE DOCTOR, &c.
[Illustration: a tetrahedron]
VOL. IV.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMAN.
1837.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. NICOL, 51, PALL-MALL.
PRELUDE OF MOTTOES.
TO THE READER IN ORDINARY.
The Muses forbid that I should restrain your meddling, whom I see
already busy with the title, and tricking over the leaves: it is your
own. I departed with my right, when I let it first abroad; and now so
secure an interpreter I am of my chance, that neither praise nor
dispraise from you can affect me.—The commendation of good things may
fall within a many, the approbation but in a few; for the most commend
out of affection, self-tickling, an easiness or imitation; but men
judge only out of knowledge. That is the trying faculty; and to those
works that will bear a judge, nothing is more dangerous than a foolish
praise. You will say, I shall not have yours therefore; but rather the
contrary, all vexation of censure. If I were not above such
molestations now, I had great cause to think unworthily of my studies,
or they had so of me. But I leave you to your exercise. Begin.
BEN JONSON.
_Je n'adresse point ce Livre à un Grand, sur une vaine opinion que
j'aurois de le garantir ou de l'envie, ou de le faire vivre contre les
rudes assauts du temps, d'autant que sa principale recommendation doit
deriver de son propre fonds, et non de l'appuy de celuy à qui je le
dedierois: car rien ne l'auctorisera, s'il n'est remply de belles
conceptions, et tissu d'un langage bref, nerveux, et escrit d'une
plume franche, resoluë et hardie. La rondeur d'escrire plaist; ces
choses sont pour donner prix et pointe à nos escrits, et dépiter le
temps et la mort. Je prie Dieu que ces Tomes ressemblent à la beauté
d'un jardin, duquel l'un cueille une belle rose, l'autre une violette,
ou une giroflée; ainsi souhaitay-je qu'en ceste diversité de sujects,
dont elles sont plaines, chacun tire dequoy resveiller, resjouyr et
contenter son esprit._
NICOLAS PASQUIER.
_Non ego me methodo astringam serviliter ullâ,
Sed temeré Hyblææ more vagabor apis,
Quò me spes prædæ, et generandi gloria mellis,
Liberaque ingenii quo feret ala mei._
COWLEY.
Take not too much at once, lest thy brain turn edge; Taste it first as
a potion for physic, and by degrees thou shalt drink it as beer for
thirst.
FULLER.
_Qui l'a fait? Quiconque il soit, en ce a esté prudent, qu'il n'y a
point mis son nom._
RABELAIS.
_Io me n' andrò con la barchetta mia,
Quanto l' acqua comporta un picciol legno;
E ciò ch' io penso con la fantasia,
Di piacere ad ognuno è 'l mio disegno:
Convien che varie cose al mondo sia,
Come son varj volti e vario ingegno,
E piace a l' uno il bianco, a l' altro il perso,
O diverse materie in prosa o in verso._
_Forse coloro ancor che leggeranno,
Di questa tanto piccola favilla
La mente con poca esca accenderanno
De' monti o di Parnaso o di Sibilla:
E de' miei fior come ape piglieranno
I dotti, s' alcun dolce ne distilla;
Il resto a molti pur darà diletto,
E lo autore ancor fia benedetto._
PULCI.
Most Prefaces are effectually apologies, and neither the Book nor the
Author one jot the better for them. If the Book be good, it will not
need an apology; if bad it will not bear one: for where a man thinks
by calling himself noddy in the epistle, to atone for shewing himself
to be one in the text, he does, with respect to the dignity of an
author, but bind up two fools in one cover.
SIR ROGER D'ESTRANGE.
_Inter cuncta leges,—
Quâ ratione queas traducere leniter ævum;
Ne te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido,
Ne pavor, et rerum mediocriter utilium spes;—
Quid minuat curas; quid te tibi reddat amicum;
Quid purè tranquillet, honos, an dulce lucellum,
An secretum iter, et fallentis semita vitæ._
HORACE.
_Si ne suis je toutesfois hors d'esperance, que si quelqu'un daigne
lire, et bien gouster ces miens escrits, (encores que le langage n'en
soit eslevé, ny enflé) il ne les trouvera du tout vuides de saveur; ny
tant desgarniz d'utilité, qu'ils n'en puissent tirer plaisir et
profit, pourveu que leurs esprits ne soyent auparavant saisiz de mal
vueillance, ou imbuz de quelques autres mauvaises opinions. Je prie
doncques tous Lecteurs entrer en la lecture des presents discours,
delivres de toute passion et emulation. Car quand l'amertume d'envie
ou mal vueillance, est detrempee en desir de contredire, elle ne
laisse jamais le goust que depravé et mal jugeant._
PIERRE DE ST. JULIEN.
Here are no forced expressions, no rack'd phrase,
No Babel compositions to amaze
The tortured reader, no believed defence
To strengthen the bold Atheist's insolence,
No obscene syllable that may compel
A blush from a chaste maid.
MASSINGER.
Read, and fear not thine own understanding; this book will create a
clear one in thee; and when thou hast considered thy purchase, thou
wilt call the price of it a charity to thyself.
SHIRLEY.
One caveat, good Reader, and then God speed thee!——Do not open it at
adventures, and by reading the broken pieces of two or three lines,
judge it; but read it through, and then I beg no pardon if thou
dislikest it. Farewell.
THOMAS ADAMS.
Listen while my tongue
Reveals what old Harmodius wont to teach
My early age; Harmodius, who had weigh'd
Within his learned mind whate'er the schools
Of Wisdom, or thy lonely whispering voice,
O faithful Nature, dictate of the laws
Which govern and support this mighty frame
Of universal being.
AKENSIDE.
_Δεῦρ᾽ ἒλθ᾽, ὃπως ἂν καὶ σοφώτερος γένῃ._
EURIPIDES.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER CVI.—p. 1.
THE AUTHOR APOSTROPHIZES SOME OF HIS FAIR READERS; LOOKS FARTHER THAN
THEY ARE LIKELY TO DO, AND GIVES THEM A JUST THOUGH MELANCHOLY
EXHORTATION TO BE CHEERFUL WHILE THEY MAY.
Hark how the birds do sing,
And woods do ring!
All creatures have their joy, and Man hath his:
Yet if we rightly measure,
Man's joy and pleasure
Rather hereafter, than in present is.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER CVII.—p. 7.
THE AUTHOR INTRODUCES HIS READERS TO A RETIRED DUCHESS, AND SUGGESTS A
PARALLEL BETWEEN HER GRACE AND THE RETIRED TOBACCONIST.
In midst of plenty only to embrace
Calm patience, is not worthy of your praise;
But he that can look sorrow in the face
And not be daunted, he deserves the bays.
This is prosperity, where'er we find
A heavenly solace in an earthly mind.
HUGH CROMPTON.
CHAPTER CVIII.—p. 31.
PERCY LODGE. THAXTED GRANGE. RAPIN THE JESUIT AND SIR THOMAS BROWNE.
It seems that you take pleasure in these walks Sir.
_Cleanthes_. Contemplative content I do, my Lord;
They bring into my mind oft meditations
So sweetly precious, that in the parting
I find a shower of grace upon my cheeks,
They take their leave so feelingly.
MASSINGER.
INTERCHAPTER XIV.—p. 42.
CONCERNING INTERCHAPTERS.
If we present a mingle-mangle, our fault is to be excused, because the
whole world is become a hodge-podge.
LYLY.
CHAPTER CIX.—p. 59.
INCIDENTAL MENTION OF HAMMOND, SIR EDMUND KING, JOANNA BAILLIE, SIR
WILLIAM TEMPLE, AND MR. THOMAS PEREGRINE COURTENAY. PETER COLLINSON AN
ACQUAINTANCE OF MR. ALLISON'S. HOLIDAYS AT THAXTED GRANGE.
And sure there seem of human kind
Some born to shun the solemn strife;
Some for amusive tasks design'd
To soothe the certain ills of life,
Grace its lone vales with many a budding rose,
New founts of bliss disclose,
Call forth refreshing shades and decorate repose.
SHENSTONE.
CHAPTER CX.—p. 74.
A TRANSITIONAL CHAPTER, WHEREIN THE AUTHOR COMPARES HIS BOOK TO AN
OMNIBUS AND A SHIP, QUOTES SHAKESPEARE, MARCO ANTONIO DE CAMOS,
QUARLES, SPENSER, AND SOMEBODY ELSE, AND INTRODUCES HIS READERS TO
SOME OF THE HEATHEN GODS, WITH WHOM PERHAPS THEY WERE NOT ACQUAINTED
BEFORE.
We are not to grudge such interstitial and transitional matter as may
promote an easy connection of parts and an elastic separation of them,
and keep the reader's mind upon springs as it were.
HENRY TAYLOR'S Statesman.
CHAPTER CXI.—p. 81.
CONCERNING MAGAZINES, AND THE FORMER AND PRESENT RACE OF ALPHABET-MEN.
_Altri gli han messo nome Santa Croce,
Altri lo chiaman l' A. B. C. guastando
La misura, gl' accenti, et la sua voce._
SANSOVINO.
CHAPTER CXII.—p. 86.
HUNTING IN AN EASY CHAIR. THE DOCTOR'S BOOKS.
That place that does contain
My books, the best companions, is to me
A glorious court, where hourly I converse
With the old sages and philosophers;
And sometimes for variety I confer
With Kings and Emperors, and weigh their counsels,
Calling their victories, if unjustly got,
Unto a strict account, and in my fancy
Deface their ill placed statues.
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER.
CHAPTER CXIII.—p. 92.
THOMAS GENT AND ALICE GUY, A TRUE TALE, SHOWING THAT A WOMAN'S
CONSTANCY WILL NOT ALWAYS HOLD OUT LONGER THAN TROY TOWN, AND YET THE
WOMAN MAY NOT BE THE PARTY WHO IS MOST IN FAULT.
_Io dico, non dimando
Quel che tu vuoi udir, perch' io l'ho visto
Ove s' appunta ogni ubi, e ogni quando._
DANTE.
CHAPTER CXIV.—p. 112.
THE AUTHOR HINTS AT CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE LIFE OF THOMAS GENT
ON WHICH HE DOES NOT THINK IT NECESSARY TO DWELL.
Round white stones will serve they say,
As well as eggs, to make hens lay.
BUTLER.
CHAPTER CXV.—p. 123.
THE READER IS REMINDED OF PRINCE ABINO JASSIMA AND THE FOX-LADY. GENT
NOT LIKE JOB, NOR MRS. GENT LIKE JOB'S WIFE.
_A me parrebbe a la storia far torto,
S' io non aggiungo qualche codicillo;
Acciò che ognun chi legge, benedica
L' ultimo effetto de la mia fatica._
PULCI.
CHAPTER CXVI.—p. 132.
DR. SOUTHEY. JOHN BUNYAN. BARTHOLOMÆUS SCHERÆUS. TERTULLIAN. DOMENICO
BERNINO. PETRARCH. JEREMY TAYLOR. HARTLEY COLERIDGE. DIEGO DE SAN
PEDRO, AND ADAM LITTLETON.
Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray;
Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may.
Titty, Tiffin, keep it stiff in!
Firedrake, Puckey, make it lucky!
Liard, Robin, you must bob in!
Round, around, around, about, about!
All _good_ come running in, all _ill_ keep out.
MIDDLETON.
CHAPTER CXVII.—p. 145.
CONCERNING JOB'S WIFE.
This insertion is somewhat long, and utterly impertinent to the
principal matter, and makes a great gap in the tale; nevertheless is
no disgrace, but rather a beauty and to very good purpose.
PUTTENHAM.
CHAPTER CXVIII.—p. 159.
POINTS OF SIMILITUDE AND DISSIMILITUDE BETWEEN SIR THOMAS BROWN AND
DOCTOR DOVE.
But in these serious works designed
To mend the morals of mankind,
We must for ever be disgraced
With all the nicer sons of taste,
If once the shadow to pursue
We let the substance out of view.
Our means must uniformly tend
In due proportion to their end,
And every passage aptly join
To bring about the one design.
CHURCHILL.
INTERCHAPTER XV.—p. 168.
THE AUTHOR RECOMMENDS A CERTAIN WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER AS A CANDIDATE
FOR HONOURS, BOTH ON THE SCORE OF HIS FAMILY AND HIS DESERTS. HE
NOTICES ALSO OTHER PERSONS WHO HAVE SIMILAR CLAIMS.
_Thoricht, auf Bessrung der Thoren zu harren!
Kinder der klugheit, o habet die Narren
Eben zum Narren auch, wie sich's gehort._
GOETHE.
CHAPTER CXIX.—p. 176.
THE DOCTOR IN HIS CURE. IRRELIGION THE REPROACH OF HIS PROFESSION.
Virtue, and that part of philosophy
Will I apply, that treats of happiness
By virtue specially to be achieved.
TAMING OF THE SHREW.
CHAPTER CXX.—p. 184.
EFFECT OF MEDICAL STUDIES ON DIFFERENT DISPOSITIONS. JEW PHYSICIANS,
ESTIMATION AND ODIUM IN WHICH THEY WERE HELD.
_Confiesso la digression; mas es facil al que no quisiere leerla,
passar al capitulo siguiente, y esta advertencia sirva de disculpa._
LUIS MUNOZ.
CHAPTER CXXI.—p. 197.
WHEREIN IT APPEARS THAT SANCHO'S PHYSICIAN AT BARATARIA ACTED
ACCORDING TO PRECEDENTS AND PRESCRIBED LAWS.
_Lettor, tu vedi ben com' io innalzo
La mia materia, e però con piu arte
Non ti maravigliar s' i' la rincalzo._
DANTE.
CHAPTER CXXII.—p. 208.
A CHAPTER WHEREIN STUDENTS IN SURGERY MAY FIND SOME FACTS WHICH WERE
NEW TO THEM IN THE HISTORY OF THEIR OWN PROFESSION.
If I have more to spin
The wheel shall go.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER CXXIII.—p. 220.
SOME ALLUSION TO, AND SOME USE OF THE FIGURE OF SPEECH CALLED
PARENTHESIS.
_J'ecrirai ici mes pensées sans ordre, et non pas peut-étre dans une
confusion sans dessein; c'est le veritable ordre, et qui marquera
toujours mon objet par le desordre même._
PASCAL.
CHAPTER CXXIV.—p. 232.
THE AUTHOR MORALIZES UPON THE VANITY OF FAME; AND WISHES THAT HE HAD
BOSWELLIZED WHILE IT WAS IN HIS POWER TO HAVE DONE SO.
_Mucho tengo que llorar,
Mucho tengo que reir._
GONGORA.
CHAPTER CXXV.—p. 245.
FAME IN THE BOROUGH ROAD. THE AUTHOR DANIELIZES.
_Duc, Fama,—
Duc me insolenti tramite; devius
Tentabo inaccessos profanis
Invidiæ pedibus recessus._
VINCENT BOURNE.
CHAPTER CXXVI.—p. 258.
MR. BAXTER'S OFFICES. MILLER'S CHARACTER OF MASON; WITH A FEW REMARKS
IN VINDICATION OF GRAY'S FRIEND AND THE DOCTOR'S ACQUAINTANCE.
_——Te sonare quis mihi
Genîque vim dabit tui?
Stylo quis æquor hocce arare charteum,
Et arva per papyrina
Satu loquace seminare literas?_
JANUS DOUSA.
CHAPTER CXXVII.—p. 278.
THE DOCTOR'S THEORY OF PROGRESSIVE EXISTENCE.
_Quam multæ pecudes humano in corpore vivunt!_
PALINGENIUS.
CHAPTER CXXVIII.—p. 286.
ELUCIDATIONS OF THE COLUMBIAN THEORY.
Thou almost makest me waver in my faith
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men.
MERCHANT OF VENICE.
CHAPTER CXXIX.—p. 312.
WHEREIN THE AUTHOR SPEAKS OF A TRAGEDY FOR THE LADIES, AND INTRODUCES
ONE OF WILLIAM DOVE'S STORIES FOR CHILDREN.
_Y donde sobre todo de su dueño
El gran tesoro y el caudal se infiere,
Es que al grande, al mediano, y al pequeño,
Todo se da de balde á quien lo quiere._
BALBUENA.
THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS.
A tale which may content the minds
Of learned men and grave philosophers.
GASCOYNE.
CHAPTER CXXX.—p. 327.
CHILDREN AND KITTENS. APHORISMS ASCRIBED TO THE LAUREATE, DR. SOUTHEY.
MORE COLUMBIAN PHILOSOPHY.
Oh! if in after life we could but gather
The very refuse of our youthful hours!
CHARLES LLOYD.
CHAPTER CXXXI.—p. 334.
THE DOCTOR ABSTAINS FROM SPECULATING ON PERILOUS SUBJECTS. A STORY OF
ST. ANSELM.
This field is so spacious, that it were easy for a man to lose himself
in it; and if I should spend all my pilgrimage in this walk, my time
would sooner end than my way.
BISHOP HALL.
CHAPTER CXXXII.—p. 340.
DR. CADOGAN. A REMARKABLE CASE OF HEREDITARY LONGEVITY. REMARKS ON THE
ORDINARY TERM OF HUMAN LIFE.
Live well, and then how soon so e'er thou die,
Thou art of age to claim eternity.
RANDOLPH.
CHAPTER CXXXIII.—p. 348.
MORE THOUGHTS CONCERNING LIFE, DEATH AND IMMORTALITY.
_Clericus es? legito hæc. Laicus? legito ista libenter.
Crede mihi, invenies hic quod uterque voles._
D. DU.-TR. MED.
CHAPTER CXXXIV.—p. 360.
A TRANSITION, AN ANECDOTE, AN APOSTROPHE, AND A PUN, PUNNET, OR
PUNDIGRION.
_Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia, neu se
Impediat verbis lassas onerantibus aures;
Et sermone opus est, modo tristi, sæpe jocoso._
HORACE.
CHAPTER CXXXV.—p. 362.
REGINALD HEBER. A MISTAKE OBVIATED, WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE EASILY BE
MADE.
Perhaps some Gull, as witty as a Goose,
Says with a coy skew look, “it's pretty, pretty!
But yet that so much wit he should dispose
For so small purpose, faith” saith he, “'tis pity!”
DAVIES OF HEREFORD.
CHAPTER CXXXVI.—p. 367.
THE PEDIGREE AND BIRTH OF NOBS, GIVEN IN REPLY TO THE FIRST QUERY IN
THE SECOND CHAPTER P. I.
_Theo._ Look to my Horse, I pray you, well.
_Diego._ He shall Sir.
_Inc._ Oh! how beneath his rank and call was that now!
Your Horse shall be entreated as becomes
A Horse of fashion, and his inches.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
INTERCHAPTER XVI.—p. 373.
THE AUTHOR RELATES SOME ANECDOTES, REFERS TO AN OPINION EXPRESSED BY A
CRITIC ON THE PRESENT OPUS, AND DESCANTS THEREON.
Every man can say B to a battledore, and write in praise of virtue and
the seven liberal sciences; thresh corn out of full sheaves, and fetch
water out of the Thames. But out of dry stubble to make an
after-harvest, and a plentiful crop without sowing, and wring juice
out of a flint, that is Pierce a God's name, and the right trick of a
workman.
NASH.
THE DOCTOR, &c.
CHAPTER CVI.
THE AUTHOR APOSTROPHIZES SOME OF HIS FAIR READERS; LOOKS FARTHER THAN
THEY ARE LIKELY TO DO, AND GIVES THEM A JUST THOUGH MELANCHOLY
EXHORTATION TO BE CHEERFUL WHILE THEY MAY.
Hark how the birds do sing,
And woods do ring!
All creatures have their joy, and Man hath his:
Yet, if we rightly measure,
Man's joy and pleasure
Rather hereafter, than in present is.
HERBERT.
Bertha, Arabella, Sarah, Mary, Caroline, Dorothea, Elizabeth, Kate,
Susan,—how many answer to these names, each thinking that peradventure
she may be the individual especially addressed—
_Alcun' è che risponde a chi nol chiama;_[1]
you are looking with impatience for Deborah's wedding day, and are
ready to inveigh against me for not immediately proceeding to that
part of my story. Well has Sir William Davenant said,
Slow seems their speed whose thoughts before them run;
but it is true in one sense as applied to you, and in another as
applied to myself. To you my progress appears slow because you are
eager to arrive at what, rightly considering it the most important
point upon the whole journey of life, you may perhaps expect to prove
the most interesting in this volume. Your thoughts have sped forward
to that point and no farther. Mine travel beyond it, and this, were
there no other motive, would retard me now. You are thinking of the
bride and bridegroom, and the bridesmaid, and the breakfast at the
vicarage, and the wedding dinner at the Grange, and the Doncaster
bells which rung that day to the Doctor's ears the happiest peal that
ever saluted them, from St. George's tower. My thoughts are of a
different complexion; for where now are the joys and the sorrows of
that day, and where are all those by whom they were partaken! The
elder Allisons have long since been gathered to their fathers. Betsey
and her husband (whom at that day she had never seen) are inhabitants
of a distant church-yard. Mr. Bacon's mortal part has mouldered in the
same grave with Margaret's. The Doctor has been laid beside them; and
thither his aged widow Deborah was long ago brought home, earth to
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
[Footnote 1: PETRARCH.]
“The deaths of some, and the marriages of others,” says Cowper, “make
a new world of it every thirty years. Within that space of time the
majority are displaced, and a new generation has succeeded. Here and
there one is permitted to stay longer, that there may not be wanting a
few grave Dons like myself to make the observation.”
Man is a self-survivor every year;
Man like a stream is in perpetual flow.
Death's a destroyer of quotidian prey:
My youth, my noontide his, my yesterday;
The bold invader shares the present hour,
Each moment on the former shuts the grave.
While man is growing, life is in decrease,
And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb.
Our birth is nothing but our death begun,
As tapers waste that instant they take fire.[2]
Yet infinitely short as the term of human life is when compared with
time to come, it is not so in relation to time past. An hundred and
forty of our own generations carry us back to the Deluge, and nine
more of ante-diluvian measure to the Creation,—which to us is the
beginning of time; for “time itself is but a novelty, a late and
upstart thing in respect of the Ancient of Days.”[3] They who remember
their grandfather and see their grandchildren, have seen persons
belonging to five out of that number; and he who attains the age of
threescore has seen two generations pass away. “The created world,”
says Sir Thomas Browne, “is but a small parenthesis in eternity, and a
short interposition for a time, between such a state of duration as
was before it, and may be after it.” There is no time of life after we
become capable of reflection, in which the world to come must not to
any considerate mind appear of more importance to us than this;—no
time in which we have not a greater stake there. When we reach the
threshold of old age all objects of our early affections have gone
before us, and in the common course of mortality a great proportion of
the later. Not without reason did the wise compilers of our admirable
liturgy place next in order after the form of matrimony, the services
for the visitation and communion of the sick, and for the burial of
the dead.
[Footnote 2: YOUNG.]
[Footnote 3: SAMUEL JOHNSON the elder.]
I would not impress such considerations too deeply upon the young and
happy. Far be it from me to infuse bitters into the cup of hope!
_Dum fata sinunt
Vivite læti: properat cursu
Vita citato, volucrique die
Rota præcipitis vertitur anni.
Duræ peragunt pensa sorores,
Nec sua retro fila revolvunt._[4]
What the Spaniards call _desengaño_ (which our dictionaries render
“discovery of deceit, the act of undeceiving, or freeing from
error,”—and for which if our language has an equivalent word, it is
not in my vocabulary,)—that state of mind in which we understand
feelingly the vanity of human wishes, and the instability of earthly
joys,—that sad wisdom comes to all in time; but if it came too soon it
would unfit us for this world's business and the common intercourse of
life. When it comes in due season it fits us for a higher intercourse
and for a happier state of existence.
[Footnote 4: SENECA.]