age. a young nobleman, James George, Duke of Hamilton, distinguished by brilliant personal advantages, and high endowments of mind; but he died in the fifteenth year of his * This circumstance led, and recommended him to a more intimate connection with that noble family, by whom he was chosen to accompany his brother, Douglas Duke of Hamilton, in his travels, who was of a very sickly constitution. But, before we consider him as a traveller, our readers, perhaps, will be glad to know the merit of the subject of this memoir as a physician. He was not one of those important practitioners, who are positive in their prescriptions, who never doubt, who understand the nature of every disease, and who have high and enthusiastic notions of the powers of medicine, and of their infallible sagacity in the application of these powers.-He cannot also be ranked among those cunning, unprincipled, and interested practitioners, who impose upon the weakness and credulity of the persons who employ them : t-men of superficial know * *How much Dr. Moore was attached to this extraordinary young nobleman, may be collected from a note which is to be found in his Medical Sketches. After having recorded, as he had done on his tomb in the burying-place of Hamilton, the surprising endowments of his patient; and after having stated the remarkable nature of a consumption which baffled all the efforts of medicine, he adds, with much genuine feeling : "These particulars, no doubt, are foreign to the purpose of my work, " and will perhaps be criticised as improper. Let them. At the dis"tance of sixteen years, I have never yet, without some such impro66 priety, been able to mention this amiable young man ; "By me, so heaven will have it, always mourn'd, + Such kind of quackery some people seem to invite, and they cannot be fully convinced of their physician's skill and attention without it. "In a certain city of the continent," says Dr. Moore, "I happened to call upon a lady who on account of a pain and slight swelling in her ancle had consulted a well-known physician, who also is accused by his ledge, of a considerable degree of shrewdness, and such a portion of impudence, as sets them above embarrassment, even when their ignorance and fraud are made manifest:men who study the foibles of mankind-fatten on the fears, hopes, and caprices of the rich valetudinarian ; and squeeze the last lingering shilling out of the feeble hand of the poor. Such were not the principles of Dr. Moore.-Is it, then, surprising, that, with more diffident modesty on the efficacy of his profession, and more benevolent generosity than are usually to be met with, he did not amass a large fortune in an honourable calling, which has enriched so many of its votaries? But his literary pursuits, perhaps, rendered him averse from engaging in the hurry, bustle, intrigue, and subservience, which attend a London physician. Nevertheless, if he has been outstript in the career of riches by men of less sagacity and experience, and of far inferior talents and abilities, it may be proper to surmise, that, by his literary writings, he has enjoyed more rational pleasure, though less pecuniary advantage, than those sons of care and labour, the practitioners of the metropolis, obtain from an hard spring and a sickly autumn. Although he had passed much of his life in Scotland, or on the continent brethren of much charlatanical parade in his practice, and commands the admiration of his patients. He had just left her when I entered. She told me he had ordered a poultice of bread and milk to be applied to the part, and then giving her watch to her maid, she desired her to take particular care that the poultice should be boiled exactly four minutes and a half, for such were the express orders of Monsieur le Docteur.--On my expressing my surprise at the minuteness of such orders, she exclaimed, "Mon Dieu! quelle-precision! Il calcule comme un ange!" Is it by ridiculing such puerilities, that Dr. Moore is supposed to have given some offence to a few narrow-minded men? or is it by the disclosure of certain arcana, which they wish for the sake of their interest to conceal, and therefore consider it as high-treason to reveal? yet, no sooner had he returned from his travels, and settled in London with his family,* than he was consulted and esteemed by his friends, and a numerous public, as a judicious and prudent physician; as one who considers himself an assistant to nature :-leaves her, when her power seems sufficient to perform her own cure, and assists her, when too feeble, by every means in his power. Indeed, in a medical work † which he published a few years after his return from the continent, he shewed himself deserving of an extensive practice; and proved, by this masterly performance, which was very favourably received, that he had kept always in view his entrance into the chamber of his patient, even while he was surveying the beauties of nature in the most delightful parts of Europe. But, during his travels, Dr. Moore did not confine his admiration to inanimate nature alone; he conversed much with men, and minutely observed their manners, passions, and religious and political prejudices. With a mind full of penetration and sagacity, he was happily placed in such a situation as to become one of the most instructive, and entertaining writers of travels; for it must be acknowledged, that if the noble * In the year 1778. + Medical Sketches, published in 1785, and dedicated with much delicacy to the respectable W. Lock, Esq. They were written for a near relation of him who had the health of a considerable detachment en. trusted to his care at a very early period of life. As to the matter, this work is to be regarded as a compilation, yet it frequently states and contrasts the different notions of various writers on the same subject, with much force. The Doctor's physic is also interspersed with pleasantries and anecdotes which cannot fail to render it palatable to the generality of readers; for whom it appears to have been written, as much study seems to have been used to divest it of all technical terms and to render it intelligible to every capacity. pupil,* being of a very delicate constitution, was happy in the choice of such a tutor, who had an extensive, and experimental knowledge of medicine, and was also much acquainted with the continent, the medical professor was fortunate in accompanying a handsome youth, deeply versed in antiquity, with a taste for classical learning, and of the most amiable and engaging manners. Unlike those upstarts of fortune, whose pride is equal to their ignorance, who think themselves degraded by intimacy, and whose repulsive airs, perpetually remind their travelling companions of the distance which chance has put between them: unlike such characters, the youth in question, though of the first rank, lived with his Doctor and friend, in a state of the most familiar intimacy. Being greatly distinguished, and kindly countenanced by his pupil, Dr. Moore accompanied the duke in the highest circles, and mixed with the best society of all the capitals of Europe. Let it be, nevertheless, recorded to his praise, that his mind, naturally active and inquisitive, did not disdain to observe the most obscure classes of society; and he often visited the middle ranks of life, amongst whom, in most countries, is the surest abode of real education, true philosophy, and heart-felt enjoyment. His two works of travels, † contain, not like * Douglas Hamilton, born July 25, 1756. He married Miss Burrell now Lady Exeter, in 1788. Her Grace obtained a divorce from him in 1794; and he himself died in 1800. He spent, accompanied by Dr, Moore, a period of no less than five years abroad, during which period they visited France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. + The first is entitled, A View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, and Germany, in two vols. octavo. It was published in 1779, and has passed through nine editions. He afterwards published a continuation of the same work in two additional volumes, entitled, A View of Society and Manners in Italy. the productions of many modern travellers, mere descriptions of places, or common and tedious historical dissertations on the various governments, but more rare and difficult observations on the arts, commerce, and antiquities, of the various countries which he visited; and (which is a merit almost peculiar to himself) faithful pictures of most of the eminent personages of the last century, on the continent; they also contain discriminating sketches of the national character of most of the inhabitants of Europe; interspersed with amusing and lively narratives, written in a charming and easy stile, and with an happy vein of pleasantry and irony. The last journal of his travels through France, at the critical and eventful period of the revolution, which, in ordinary writers, would have exhibited little more than the occurrences detailed in old newspapers, gives us the reflections of his own enlightened mind. It is a * Entitled, A Journal during a Residence in France, from the beginning of August to the middle of December, 1792; to which is added, an Account of the most remarkable events that happened at Paris, from that time to the death of the late king of France; published in 1794, with this appropriate epigraph: Opus opimum casibus, atrox prætus, discors seditionibus, ipsa etiam pace sævum.---Tacit. The Doctor accompanied Lord Lauderdale, whose health did not permit him to press forward with rapidity. They reached Dover in the beginning of August 1792, and sailed on the 4th for Calais. After his arrival in Paris, the Doctor frequently visited the assembly, He was awoke about two o'clock of the morning of the 10th of August, by the ringing of the tocsin, and alarmed at ten by the firing of the cannon: events that led to the overthrow of the monarchy. It was his fate also to witness the murders, the crimes, and the barbarities of September 1792, when the atrocious machinations of ruffians, led by designing enthusiasts, deluged Paris with innocent blood. The times being very critical, and rendering a residence in that capital highly disagreeable, the Doctor and his friends thought proper to leave it. The most commendable trait of Dr. Moore's journal is that spirit of discrimination, which, while it arraigns and abominates the atrocities of wicked demagogues, and their execrable instruments, still compassionates the nation at large. |