USA > New York > Old New York : or, Reminiscences of the past sixty years > Part 10
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III.
IN addition to biographical sketches of many of the distinguished men of the last half-ecntury, with whom he had been in intimate relationship (among others, of Robert R. Livingston, Philip Fre- neau, Daniel Webster, J. Fenimore Cooper, Cadwallader Colden, Samuel L. Mitchill, Edward Miller, John Pintard, and the actors Cooke and Kean), and articles in different medical periodicals on obstetrics, vitriolic emetics in croup, sanguinaria Canadensis, iodine, the goître of Western New York and Canada, on medical jurisprudeuee, yellow fever, death by lightning, caries of the jaws of children, elaterium, ovarian discase, etc., he has published an essay ou the "Use of Mercury" (8vo, New York, 1811); "Cases of Morbid Anatomy" (4to, 1814); "Febrile Contagion" (Svo, 1816); a "Notice of Thomas Eddy, the Philanthropist" (12mo, 1823); "Denman's Practice of Midwifery, with Notes" (8vo, 1825); " Ad- dress before the New York Horticultural Society" (1830); "Address before the Philolexian Society" (1831); "Letter on Cholera As- phyxia of 1832" (1832); "Observations on the Mineral Waters of Avon" (1834); the "Anatomy of Drunkenness;" "Diseourse be- fore the New York Lyceum of Natural History" (1841); "Dis- courses before the New York Academy of Medieine" (1847, 1848, and 1849); Addresses heforc the Typographical Society of New York, "On Dr. Franklin" (1850 and 1859), and "On the Publish- ers, Printers, and Editors of New York;" "Old New York, or Reminiscences of the Past Sixty Years" (Svo, 1858; second edition, enlarged, 12mo, 1858). A memoir of Christopher Colles, read by him before the Historical Society in 1854, was published in the "Knickerbocker Gallery" in 1855. His discourse at the Bellevue Hospital, 1858, embraces a minute view of the progress of auatom-
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ical investigation in New York, from its early state under the Dutch dynasty, down to the present time.
IV.
As illustrations of this practical sympathy, and its effieieney, we quote the testimony of two of the most grateful recipients :-
"It seems hardly right," said Dr. J. Marion Sims, at a special meeting of the Academy of Medicine, held on the occasion of the death of their illustrious associate, "that I should be the first to break the solemn silence that hangs like a pall over this mournful assembly. For I see some here who have known our beloved Franeis for half a century, while my aequaintauee with him was confined to the last seven years of his life. But in those seven years I knew him as well and loved him as dearly as did any of you. When I first came among you, friendless as it were, com- pletely wrecked in health, and almost without a hope iu life before me, I was welcomed by all of you, aud received many aets of kind- ness from your hands, which have sunk deep into my heart, and none of which, I trust to God, will ever be cffaced. And while I make this acknowledgment of indebtedness to you, I must cau- didly confess that I owed more to Franeis than to all others. Dr. Mott encouraged me in the idea of establishing a hospital iu this great city, to be devoted to the treatment of the diseases of women. ' I will do all that I can for so noble a purpose,' said he; 'but be- sides those in the profession whom you have already consulted, you must be sure to see Dr. Francis. Tell him that I sent you; aud if he does not lend his co-operation and influence to the cause, you might just as well stop where you are.' You may well im- agine with what trembling anxiety I made my way to Dr. Francis, feeling that upon one man not only my destiny, but that of the noble enterprise to which I had dedicated my life, was pending. And you who kuew him may well imagine how he received me ; for, as soon as I explained to him the object of my visit, with the generous impulse so characteristic of the man, he grasped both my hands, and said : 'This eommeuds itself not only to my head but to my heart; I feel that I am willing to devote the balance of my days to this enterprise, and will give you every eo-operation and assistance in my power.' The Woman's Hospital had early strug-
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gles, and a few of its friends even doubted its ultimate suceess; but if ever Dr. Francis wavered, I did not know it. I felt constantly secure in the strength that surrounded him and the medical pro- fession; for, without the good-will of the representative men of this Academy, who were present at the foundation of the Woman's Hospital, it could not have succeeded. No individual effort, and no organization, however powerful in a pecuniary or social point of view, could have given it the position that it now occupies. If there was ever a time when anxiety or uneasiness was experienced by any of the profession concerning its final destinies,-and that there was, some of us remember well,-I think that day passed when, upon its first memorable anniversary, its merits and claims were placed before the world by Dr. Franeis. Our relationship was peculiarly intimate. Hc scemed to me almost like a father ; and I cannot speak of him otherwise than with a heart overflowing with love and gratitude for the past, and with sorrow and sadness for the present.
"There are others here who ean tell you more than I of the pe- culiar characteristics of our deceased fellow, and I presume that it would not be beneath the dignity of tlic Academy or the solemnity of the occasion to call up some of these facts. I will relate an incident or two. Many of you remember how very peculiar and minute lie was in all the details of life, particularly in regard to the memory of facts, dates, and circumstances; how he could bring them so elcarly before you that it would seem as if they had occurred but yesterday. In August, 1857, I was journeying with him up the Hudson River, and we passed Sunnyside, the beautiful country-scat of Washington Irving. Dr. Francis was looking at the place, and descanting eloquently upon the character and qual- ities of the man, when a gentleman approached, and interrupted our conversation. 'I believe,' said he, 'this is Dr. Francis ?' ' Yes, Sir,' said he, 'this is Dr. Francis ; and I remember you very well, Mr. R. The last time I saw you was on the 14th of Novem- her, twenty-seven years ago, and we then parted in the hall of the house, No. 47 Warren street, at half-past eight o'clock in the even- ing ; and I have always thought that, had it not been for the change in the treatment of your brother's casc, brought about by that last consultation, he might be a living man to-day.'
"Among many incidents of this kind, allow me to relate anoth- er. Last summer, I received a letter from Dr. Lucas, of Alabama, who was a pupil of Drs. Franeis and Mott many years ago. Meet-
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ing Dr. Francis a few days afterwards, I asked, 'Do you remem- ber a Dr. Lucas, from Virginia, who was a student of yours thirty- eight or forty years ago ?' 'Very well, indeed,' said he; 'I remem- ber him perfectly. He was a remarkable-looking man. He was about six feet and a half inch in height; he had an aquiline nose, gray eyes, and a very peculiar voice. He wore a blue coat, with five brass buttons on the front, the one nearest the collar having been lost.' And he went on in this way to describe very minutely other peculiarities of his dress, manner, etc., and related several little characteristic anecdotes of his former pupil. It so happened that in September last, Dr. Lucas, whom I had known for twenty- five years, paid a visit to New York, when he said to me, 'I want to call on Mott and Francis. I love those good men yet, and the nearer I get to them, the more anxious I am to see them.' 'Very well,' said I, 'we will call on Dr. Francis this evening, and after- wards upon Dr. Mott, for they live near each other.' On arriving at Dr. Francis's resideuce, fortunately Dr. Mott was there. Dr. Francis remembered Dr. Lucas distinctly. Dr. Lucas compliment- ed them both upon their well-preserved appearance, and said to Dr. Francis, 'I don't think you have changed much; you seem to be a little heavier and a little more gray than you were.' 'Sir,' an- swered Dr. Francis, 'I have not varied a pound in weight for forty years, and the clothes that I wear to-day are cut by the measure taken forty years ago.' The conversation from this point turned naturally upon the close of life, and Dr. Francis said, 'It is a sad thing to die, and yet we must all dic. When I lose my friends, I am deeply grieved; but there is always one comfort left me that few others have: I cau daguerreotype them afterwards, and let others see what they once were, and how much I loved them.'"
"It was more than twenty years ago," writes Benson J. Los- sing to the New York Historical Society, "when I first heard the kind voice of Dr. Francis. It was in his office under Mr. Ward's Picture Gallery, ou Broadway, near Bond street. I was then an obscure engraver, editing and illustrating the 'Family Magazine.' I had heard much of Dr. Francis-his learning, his wisdom, his extensive knowledge of men and books, and the proverbial kind- ness of his nature; aud I ventured to call upon him one dismal
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morning in March, and ask his advice concerning the conduct of the work in my charge. I can never forget the benign expression of his countenance, that seemed like sunlight in the room on that dark moruing, and the overflowing of his gencrous heart with kindly feeling, when I explained to him the object of my visit.
" 'Sit down, my dear young man,' he said, 'and let us talk about this matter. You succeed Dr. Doane in editing this Magazine. He is a clever man, and you must work diligently to equal him. But I am sure you will, young man ; I am sure you will. It is an hon- orable position, for that Magazine is a useful work-a very useful work. Mr. Redfield (the publisher) deserves great credit for eon- tinuing it, and keeping up its character so well, in these times of great business depression. Bachelder performed a good work in starting it.'
"He then gave me some sound and long-remembered advice ; referred to my profession of engraver as being honored by so good and skilful a practitioner of the art as Dr. Alexander Anderson (who is yet engaged in the pursuit at the age of eighty-six years); and concluded by saying, 'Come as often as you please ; I shall always be glad to assist you when I can. God bless yon, my dear !'
"Never have I felt more genuine delight from words of eneour- agement, than I experienced at that time; and as often as I think of my early efforts in New York, the genial, benevolent, earnest face of the good Dr. Francis appears vividly in the memory.
"Such was my first interview with our departed friend; and such, as I learned from long years of cordial though not frequent personal intercourse, and the testimony of others, was an almost daily occurrence of his busy life. He delighted to lift the obscure into places of recoguition; to encourage the modest and doubting; to strengthen the resolutions of the young and the aspiring in pursuing the paths of honor aud usefulness; and in speaking a kind and frequently potential word for the deserving who sought his counsel and influence, or whose efforts commanded his ready sympathy.
"No class of persons attracted and received his warmest sympa- thy more readily than neglected men of genius. In him they always found an ardent and faithful friend. He was quick to dis- cern the merits of men, and as quick to present their claims to recognition by others. I have often heard him speak indignantly of the neglect iu life, and forgetfulness after death, of Christopher Colles, one of the brightest and most far-seeing men in our coun-
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try two generations back, and whose portrait is in the possession of the New York Historical Society. He lectured on Canal Naviga- tion and the Steam-Engine as early as 1773; and he was unques- tionably the first who suggested and called public attention to the importance of a navigable water communication between the Hud- son River and Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain. His name is but little known to this generation, while the influence of his genius is everywhere felt in the great pulsating arterics of our national enterprise, for it was in the highest degrce suggestive. Dr. Francis revered such men, and never let an opportunity pass without bestowing an encomium. In his contribution to the 'Knickerbocker Gallery' in 1854, Dr. Francis gave an exceedingly interesting sketeh of Colles; and at our last interview, just before his fatal illness, the Doctor spoke of the neglected grave of Colles as a cause of shame to the citizens of New York, among whom he so long lived. 'He was the pupil and friend of Poevelle, the Ori- ental traveller,' he said, 'before he left Ireland, and was the cher- ished personal friend of De Witt Clinton, Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill, Thomas Addis Emmet, and others of that stamp. Jarvis thought it an honor to paint his portrait, now in the Art Gallery of the Historical Society ; Dr. Hosack commemorated him in his life of De Witt Clinton; and in the great celebration which took place in New York in November, 1825, when the waters of Lake Erie were united with those of the Atlantic, the effigy of Colles was borne with appropriate dignity among the emblems of that vast proces- sion. He had then been in the grave four years, having gone to his rest in 1821. Of all the people of this great city,' continued Dr. Francis, with much emotion, 'where the inanimate effigy of Colles was soon to be honored, only two,-yes, Sir, only two !- be- sides the officiating clergyman (Dr. Creighton, now of Tarrytown), followed his body to the grave! These two werc John Pintard and myself. He was laid in the earth in the Episcopal burying- ground on Hudson street. No memorial marks the spot, and the place is probably forgotten. I believe that no man, but myself, can now point out the grave of that eccentric genius, Christopher Colles.'
"The conversation resulted in an agreement that, on my return from the South, we would visit the cemetery together, find the neg- lected grave, and ask the Historical Society to place some simple memorial-stone there. Alas! on my return the good man was dying. I never saw his face again until the day of his burial."
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V.
"SOME years since, Dr. Marshall Hall, one of Great Britain's most distinguished physicians, paid a short visit to this country. I had the honor of his company to dinner; among my guests were Drs. Francis, Mott, Paine, Draper, Post, Van Buren, the late Dr. Swett, Isaac Wood, John Watson, and Markoe. It was on this occasion that our lamented friend charmed us with his own inimi- table daguerreotypes of men and things present and past; and my good friend Dr. Mott will not forget the graphic description Dr. Francis gave of the 'well-dressed and handsome young surgeon,' when he commenced professional life in this city-of the numer- ous hearts he broke, and the fractured limbs he set. While Dr. Francis was thus entertaining us with his rich fund of anecdote, and instructing us by recounting some of the interesting traditions of the profession, Dr. Hall's attention was riveted, and he became, as it were, lost in admiration. When the gifted speaker resumed his seat, Dr. Hall, in an undertone, observed to me, 'Why, Sir, he is a most remarkable man, full of genius and sparkling wit; in personal appearance he is my very beau-idcal of the early fathers of medieine; have you many such men in America ?' 'But very few, Sir,' I replied."*
VI.
" WHO does not know the venerable Doctor ?" wrote the New York correspondent of a New Orleans journal, in 1850; " the Men- tor of the profession, the kindly assistant of the young aspirant in any pursuit, particularly in that most difficult of all in which to get a start, the medical ! The Doctor is the centre of New York, and his presence is necessary to every public meeting. The anti- quarians, the printers, the politicians, the literati, the artists, the ' Knickerbocker,' gentlewomen, the men in rule, his own pro- fession, all look to him as an essential to their counsels, their circles, and their well-being. As an antiquarian, his long life, his acquaintance, friendly and professional, with all the men of note
* Dr. Gunning S. Bedford's address before the New York County Medical Society.
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who have ever visited New York, and his extraordinary memory of dates, persons, and events, combine to plaee him, independently of his being the second oldest member of the Historical Society, at the very head of the antiquarians of New York. As a printer, he has himself ' composed' his own eomposition, and has handled the composing-stick as deftly as subsequently the laneet. A politician, an uncompromising and straightforward Clay and Webster Whig, he is respected by all parties, and is consulted professionally by all grades. His house is the general meeting-place for the literati, who in him have always found a ready friend, a liberal patron, and a judicious critic. While revolving in various orbs, here the Doc- tor is the eentre. Perhaps a literary life, if it were necessary to eschew all but one, would be the most to the Doctor's taste. He is an able writer ; while strength of thoughit most characterizes his literary productions, few would pass them by without particularly notieing the Johnsonian eleganee of his language. Somewhat polysyllabic in his words, there is an aptitude of expression and an affluenee of language which never wearies by its tautology, or tires by its sameness. His literary productions are as diversified as science, and almost as numerous as the days of his life. In almost all branches of human inquiry he has roved with wandering foot, plucking here a flower to adorn his own mental cabinet, and there dropping a fruitful seed to be observed blossoming and fruetifying by the next traveller in that region. To him might be applied, with more than usual pertinence, the old line :-
"' Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit.'
"He is therefore an appropriate eentre for the intelleetnal gal- axy of this metropolis. Oceasionally this position is held in publie, when the distinguished are gathered together in solemn eonclave, and daily at his hospitable board may be scen some visitor in New York. But of an evening one may drop in, and find a genial gathering, surrounded by the smoke of their own cigars. One is at home here-and so is the Doctor, if not professionally engaged. T. keeps his elassieality for his Addisonian books, and is full of anecdote and humor; G., fiery, sareastie, and eaptious; D. critical; M. (when in town) taeiturn, bnt genial, and, when warmed-up, capitally raey and pungent; painters and sculptors, men of deeds, not words, and among them, rarely seen abroad, the friend of Shelley and Byron. The Doetor himself is glorious, when
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no lumbago or fresh bronchial attack dispirits. We want to learn something respecting some person now dead and gone. We have but to start the hare, and he is soon run down : 'Born in 17-, died in 18-, married to Miss -, third daughter of -,' says the sta- tistical and ever-prompt Mr. R. ; the Doctor professionally attend- ed the family through several generations, and thus a stream of valuable information is poured out upon the desired subject."
ANOTHER facetious impromptu picture of the scene and the man, written by one of his rhyming friends, we quote from the album of one of his kindred :-
" THE DOCTOR.
"WHO roams the town from morn till night, Dispensing health from left to right, And doing good with all his might ? The Doctor.
"Who, with facetious word and smile, The heart of patients doth beguile, More than the flute of Mr. Kyle ? The Doctor,
" Who bears the living features strong, That to our country's sage belong, Whose praises are his constant song ? The Doctor.
" Who by the hour can facts relate, Of men who ruled the schools or state, A votary of the truly great ? The Doctor.
" Who old physicians by the score, With Clay and Kane, or Hannah More, In fond remembrance will explore ? The Doctor.
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" Who on the sick-bed oft hath secn, Trumbull and Garcia, Cookc and Kcan, And other geniuses, I ween ? The Doctor.
"Whose head, by waving hoar-locks crowned, With varied knowledge doth abound, And thoughts vivacious and profound ? The Doctor.
"Who, on some memorable night, Gives mental epicures delight, And fills all envious rogues with spite ? The Doctor.
" Who, with a never-failing zest, In pleasant intervals of rest, Gives hearty welcome to each guest ? The Doctor.
" Who on the sofa loves to sit, And see his wife beside him knit, While scintillatcs her ready wit? The Doctor.
" And when the cruel bell doth ring, Who frowning from the couch doth spring, Doff his gray jacket and take wing ? The Doctor.
" Who comfort often doth forego, And meet the rage of sun or snow, Because he never can say ' No ?' The Doctor.
"Who wears the academic bay, For honor more than gold doth pray, And likes a chat with Rapelye ?" The Doctor.
* George B. Rapelye, Esq., a venerable Knickerbocker friend, of Huguenot descent and antiquarian knowledge.
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" Who thinks that Pleasure comprehends Books where great Truth with Reason blends, Green tea, cigars, and genial friends ? The Doctor."
VII.
No description of his personal appearance can give an idea of his expression ; but he has been often well delincated as to feature and form.
There are in existence two busts in plaster of Dr. Francis, by Coffee and Weimer; the latter, full size, is in the possession of the New York Historical Society. He was painted by Leslie, in Eng- land, in 1816, and by Rembrandt Peale about thirty years ago; also by C. L. Elliott for the Historical Society about ten years since, and by Wenzler in 1858 for the Bellevue Hospital, and by the same artist in miniature several years previous. There is also a portrait of him by D. Huntington, of life size, and a cabinet one by C. G. Thompson. A fine imperial photograph by Brady was executed within a few months of his death. The portrait annexed to this volume was engraved by Burt from a cabinet likeness in pastel by Julius Gollmann, in the possession of the author. There are ex- tant three different steel engravings, taken at different periods of his life; the last, from a photograph by Brady, executed by Jaek- man, and just published, is the largest single head ever engraved on stecl in this country. Among the proposed honors to the memory of Dr. Franeis, are the painting of a grand portrait, to be placed in the Woman's Hospital; also the organization of a ward to bear his name, and a statue in marble or bronze for the same institution, which was the " Benjamin" of his old age, and which he had hoped to have lived long enough to have scen completed.
VIII.
THE following letter is au apt illustration of the Doctor's state of mind at the period-his prevailing sadness, his recourse to
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memory and reading for solace, and his unaffected interest in his friends :-
TO EVERT A. AND GEORGE L. DUYCKINCK.
NEWPORT, August 14, 1855.
" MY MOST WORTHY FRIENDS : I can no longer tarry at Newport, without writing a few lines to you. This place, where, some six- teen years ago, I passed a day or two, is most wonderfully enlarged and improved, beautified with elegant mansions, and enriched with the luxuries of refinement and wealth. So far, to me, it has de- parted from its original simplicity and attraction. It possesses at present a larger number of cultivated intellects, and I am enabled to wile away an hour or so with gratifying results in conversation with Longfellow and Boker, and with the doctors of medieine and divinity brought hither at this season; yet I enter little into the relaxations and amusements of the place, preferring repose, the luxury of the wholesome atmosphere, the sequestration which all may have, and the indulgeuee of those saddening thoughts which pretty much banish sleep and abstraet me from all the lighter associations of society.
" My dear friends, the vast bereavement, the irreparable loss of my precious John, at times overwhelms me, and I am compelled · to admit that nothing ean exereise a power sufficient to displace his memory from my thoughts for a single moment. I have sought solaee in the reading of many sober works. Old George Herbert has occasionally given me some relief; Johnson's Lives have mitigated, in some sense, my anguish, because liis biographies teach in a remarkable way the trials and vicissitudes of life; and Irving's Washington has given me additional demonstration of the almost matehless beauty of his style, his refined taste, his light humor, and his patriotic impulse. His vindication of Old Put reached my heart. Cummings's writings, too, have tended to give a momentary respite to affliction; but that quaiut author wlio wrote, during the reign of the first Charles in England, ' The Mute Christian,' has proved the greatest and the most cordial solaee. It is in books, then, my good friends, that affliction ean find its most soothing relief. The opinion is an old one, but it ean never become obsolete while the physiology of man remains the same.
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