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ported himself under his bodily infirmities and sufferings "by the reflections of philosophy, and the consolations of religion." He finally sunk on the 29th of December, 1689, at his house in Pall Mall, and was buried in the aisle near the south door of the church of St. James, Westminster. The epitaph that indicated the spot being nearly obliterated, the College of Physicians, in the year 1809, erected a monument within that church, as nearly as possible to the place of interment, with a Latin inscription.

Sydenham's practice was very considerable. He lived in the first degree of reputation, and enjoyed the friendship and acquaintance of many of the most eminent men of the dayamongst others, that of the celebrated Locke. He was not in favour with the court, but this might probably have been owing to the part he took in the civil wars, and the political opinions of his brother, William Sydenham, who, under the protectorate, obtained many high appointments, and was governor of the Isle of Wight. But he was never an eager candidate for popularity. To fulfil the duties of his profession in a conscientious and unostentatious manner appears to have been his principal aim; and the following sentence on the vanity of posthumous fame, in the epistle prefixed to his chapter on gout, was most likely the expression of the genuine feelings of his heart: "I do not much value public applause, and, indeed, if the matter be rightly

weighed, the providing for esteem (I being now an old man) will be, in a short time, the same as to provide for that which is not; for what advantage will it be to me after I am dead, that eight alphabetical elements, reduced into that order that will compose my name, shall be pronounced by those who come after me?"

HERMANN BOERRHAAVE, M.D. THIS illustrious physician and professor was born at Voorhoot, near Leyden, December 31, 1668. His father was a clergyman, and, delighted with his son's precocity and rapid advance in every branch of literature, it was his most anxious wish that he should be dedicated to his own profession. Accordingly, in his sixteenth year he was admitted into the University, and, in 1690, took a degree in philosophy, his thesis on that occasion being an able and argumentative confutation of the systems of Epicurus, Hobbes, and Spinoza. But he was one of a very numerous family, and, in order to defray the farther expense of his theological studies, was compelled to teach mathematics. This circumstance proved of lasting benefit to him. Not only did it tend to increase his reputation, but it was the occasion of an introduction to one who proved his intimate and most valuable friend. John Vandenburg, burgomaster of Leyden, speedily

perceived the amazing progress he had made in every branch of knowledge to which he had directed his attention, recommended him to the curators to compare the Vossian manuscripts purchased in England with the catalogue of sale, and advised him, in particular, to add the study of the sciences connected with medicine to those of which he was already master. Boerrhaave thought the suggestion worth attending to, but determined merely to look into these subjects occasionally as a relaxation from his severer studies. He did so; but so captivated was he, that what he first proposed as an amusement, speedily became a fixed pursuit. The interest he took in it did but increase with the advances which he made, and at length he resolved to take a degree in physic before his ordination. Anatomy was now his first object of attention. He speedily read over the principal authors, attended the public anatomical demonstrations, and frequently himself dissected. He next applied himself to the writings of Hippocrates, to whom he considered the older authors were principally indebted, and to our own illustrious countryman, whom he was in the habit of calling the "immortal Sydenham." He afterwards made himself acquainted with the chemistry of his age, and spent whole days and nights in the experimental study of that fascinating science. In botany, he made an equal proficiency. After this, he went to the University of Harderwick, in Guelder

land, and graduated in medicine in the year 1693.

All this time, however, his intention of entering into the ministry was quite unaltered, and he returned to Leyden with the fixed purpose of commencing the sacred duties for which he had been destined, when, according to his biographer, he encountered, all at once, an invincible obstruction to the execution of it. In the passage-boat, some conversation was accidentally started about the doctrine of Spinoza, as subversive of all religion. One of the passengers-a man of a weak and illinformed mind-attempted to refute it, opposing to this pretended philosopher's demonstrations, nothing more than "the invectives of a blind and misinformed zeal." Boerrhaave was always an enemy to triflers, and, somewhat imprudently but calmly, asked him whether he had ever read the works of the author he decried. The speaker was fired with resentment, upon which another passenger whispered to the person next him to ascertain Boerrhaave's name, took it down in his pocket-book, and, as soon as he arrived at Leyden, gave it out everywhere that Boerrhaave was become a Spinosist. Finding such prejudices gaining ground, "he now thought it imprudent," we are told, "to risk the refusal of a licence for the pulpit when he had so fair a prospect of rising by physic."

How far the young student of divinity was justified in this change of procedure, instead of

boldly declaring on whose side he was, and whom he wished to serve, we have not sufficient means of knowing. Nor does it appear what at this time was the extent of his religious perceptions. The accounts given of him by his contemporaries consist, after the manner of the times, of such a tissue of fulsome panegyric— as though the subject of them were something much more than an ordinary mortal—that it is difficult to arrive at the real traits of his character. Great, however, he undoubtedly became as a man of science, a scholar, and a physician. His reputation rapidly pervaded all Europe. Princes, ambassadors, and Peter the Great himself, were compelled to wait hours in his antechamber to obtain even an interview with him. And, we believe, it may with truth be added, that he was among the few of the wise of this world, who, amidst all their intellectual attainments, have not neglected that knowledge which "maketh wise" unto everlasting salvation.

It was his constant habit to devote the first hour of every day to prayer and meditation on the word of God-a practice which he recommended to others, declaring that he derived from it a vigour which carried him through all the toils of his profession. A friend, seeing him unmoved by great provocation, asked whether it was by nature or by art that he maintained such equanimity. He attributed the conquest to the above habit alone. Baron Haller speaks of him in the following language: Fifty years are now elapsed since I was the

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