THE

ANALECTIC MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1819.

DR. DORSEY.

It has been to us a subject of sincere regret that this Journal has not earlier contained a tribute, of some sort, to the memory of the lamented Dr. Dorsey.

Knowing full well and intimately his extraordinary worthparticipating in the universal admiration of his talents-cherishing dearly the fond recollection of his valued friendship-and deeply lamenting, both as a public and private calamity, his untimely loss -we have been anxious to join the general voice of eulogy that echoed round his tomb. But the apprehension of giving an inadequate expression to our own sentiments, or an unworthy tribute to his character, kept us silent so long, that the delay seemed to be a reproach, and began to wear the appearance of disinclination. Still, however, knowing that Dr. Chapman, at the request of the Medical class, had consented to pronounce a public eulogium, we thought it advisable to wait still longer, until we should be able to present that eulogium to our readers, which the kindness of Dr. Chapman now enables us to do.

Commendation proceeding from a rival in fame, is the purest and the noblest of all praise; the most sincere, and, generally, the most discriminating; and honours him that gives and him that doth receive.' A compeer in the same medical school, -a competitor for emolument and reputation, in the same honourable profession,-and, for the few last years of Dorsey's life, a co-labourer in the dissemination of medical science from the same institution,—a member also of the same social circle, and bound to him by the ties of a long subsisting familiarity and friendship-Dr. Chapman possessed every opportunity to ac quire an accurate estimate of his character. He has therefore with his accustomed elegance of diction, been able to portray the virtues, the talents, and the accomplishments that adorned his departed friend, with a fidelity and truth of colouring, to which hundreds will bear witness, who, like the eulogist, kne Dorsey, and by an inevitable consequence loved him. For su

were his happy powers of conciliation and so much did the evident indications of benevolence, in all his actions, awaken a corresponding sentiment in the hearts of all who knew him—that, however opinions might vary as to the comparative estimate of his talents, or scientific attainments,-of all who were either relieved by his professional skill, or soothed by the gentleness and assiduity of his professional attentions, who approached him as their public, or loved him as their private instructor, who knew him amid the courtesies of social intercourse, or within the narrower and more sacred circle of family and friends-none can yet recall his image, nor recollect their intercourse with him, without emotions of sorrowful and affectionate remembrance.

His was not a character to be truly appreciated by rules which require a standard of cold correctness. An enumeration of the honours he won, the plaudits he received, the triumphs of his genius, the proofs of his erudition, gives, after all, but a very imperfect picture; for though his power over the minds of men was ascribable to his abilities and cultivation, the more wonderful influence he possessed over their hearts, is not so easily accounted for, nor to be described without danger of falling into that strain of seemingly extravagant panegyric, which brings posthumous eulogy into discredit, and turns cautious belief inte contemptuous incredulity.

Gifted with exquisite relish for all that adorns and blesses human existence, with a heart naturally, habitually, and to the last, filled with Christian piety, which brightens prosperity no less than it soothes adversity; and glowing with all the generous sympathies of our nature, to the exclusion of every malign or selfish feeling, with a perception of the beauties and harmonies of nature, so keen as to bring excellence in the sister arts of painting, poetry, and music, completely within his power,—and with a taste for the refinements of social intercourse, that made them a source to him of the highest pleasure-with a healthful constitution and a prepossessing exterior, he yet resisted the temptation of an inactive possession of those pleasures which he was thus formed to enjoy; and advanced by a steady and intense exercise of extraordinary abilities, to the first rank in his profession, and to a degree of usefulness and renown, scarce ever attained in a career so early closed. But whilst his surgical skill was unrivalled here, except by that of his distinguished relative; while his lectures were universally admired, his superior talents and great acquirements universally admitted, and his fortune rapidly increasing-amid this premature age of honours and success, he retained in all their native freshness, the unassuming modesty, the gayety, generosity, sincerity, and ardour of youth. He lived to reach what seems to be the summit of earthly felicity; preeminently blessed in domestic life,-surrounded by a! circle of attached and chosen friends, whose numbers he could augment at will-possessed of a widely spread and increasing reputa-}

tion; engaged in a most honourable, useful, and lucrative occupation, with improving faculties' progressive virtue and approving heaven,'-though still young, he had nothing left to wish for. But it was the will of God to take him from us, and the stroke of death, though cruel to the survivors, was but to him the messenger of mercy, that came to make his HAPPINESS ETERNAL. ART. I.-An Eulogium on the late John Syng Dorsey, M. D. Professor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, delivered by appointment, before the Medical Class, as a Valedictory Lecture, on the 1st March, 1819. By N. Chapman, M. D. Professor, &c.

GENTLEMEN,

AS previously intimated, the present session is brought to a close. Considering the series of casualties and disadvantages with which we have had to contend, the several courses of lectures have been conducted with much regularity, and, on the whole, we cannot help believing, that all your reasonable expectations are realized.

It were useless to conceal, that the school has been greatly shattered by a succession of unexampled misfortunes, and its lustre, consequently, in a degree, tarnished and obscured. But though crippled in its organization, and shorn of some of its brightest beams, it is still left with many resources, and its defects may be repaired. By pursuing a liberal and enlightened policy, we cannot fail to make it worthy of its ancient renown, and commensurate with the great and momentous objects for which it is designed. As we read in fabulous history of a production of greater worth emerging from the ashes of its predecessor, so in reality, by proper management, a school may be made to arise out of the present one, on a broader foundation, and with augmented splendour and utility.

The period has now arrived, when the interesting relations which have so long subsisted between us are to cease, and in a few minutes we separate, some of us, to meet no more. May I be permitted to declare, without incurring the imputation of hypocrisy or deceit, that the only time which I have ever met you with regret, is the present, when I am to bid you a final adieu.

Is it not natural that we should all experience some degree of distress on this occasion? The idea of the last is a painful one. It has often been remarked, that we cannot part even from inanimate objects, endeared to us by certain associations, without sorrow, and every heart of sensibility will confess the force and extent of this truly amiable sentiment.

As the ship recedes from the shore, and the landscape fades. away, never more to be seen, nature, true to herself, heaves the involuntary sigh, and there is blended with the prospect of brighter fortunes, some heavy regrets and mournful emotions. But if moved by impulses of this kind, how much more must we feel, in taking