[From _Simple Settings, in Verse, for Six Portraits and Pictures, from Mr. Dickens's Gallery_ (Boston, 1854)]
'Twas worth a crown, John Browdie, to hear you ringing out, O'er hedge and hill and roadside, that loud, hilarious shout; And how the echoes caught it up and flung it all about.
'Twas worth another, John, to see that broad and glorious grin, That stretched your wide mouth wider still, and wrinkled round your chin.
And showed how true the heart was that glowed and beat within.
Yes! Nick has beaten the _measther_,--'twas a sight beneath the sun!
And I only wish, John Browdie, when that good deed was done, That you and I had both been there to help along the fun.
Be sure he let him have it well;--his trusty arm was nerved With hoarded wrongs and righteous hate,--so it slackened not nor swerved, Until the old curmudgeon got the thrashing he deserved.
The guinea, John, you gave the lad, is charmed forevermore; It shall fill your home with blessings; it shall add unto your store; Be light upon your pathway, and sunshine on your floor.
These are the treasures, too, laid up forever in the sky, Kind words to solace aching hearts, and make wet eyelids dry, And kindly deeds in silence done with no one standing by.
And when you tell the story, John, to her, your joy and pride-- The miller's bonny daughter, so soon to be your bride-- She shall love you more than ever, and cling closer to your side.
Content and health be in your house! and may you live to see Full many a little Browdie, John, climb up your sturdy knee; The mother's hope, the father's stay and comfort long to be.
These are thy crown, O England; thy glory, grace, and might!-- Who work the work of honest hands, from early morn till night, And worship God by serving man, and doing what is right.
All honor, then, to them! let dukes and duchesses give room!
The men who by the anvil strike, and ply the busy loom; And scatter plenty through the land, and make the desert bloom.
SAMUEL D. GROSS
Dr. Samuel David Gross, the distinguished American surgeon and author, was born near Easton, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1805. He was graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in the class of 1828, and he at once entered upon the active practice of his profession in Philadelphia. In 1833 Dr. Gross accepted a professorship in the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, which position he held until 1840, when he became professor of surgery in the University of Louisville. The subsequent sixteen years of Dr. Gross's life were spent upon Kentucky soil. His _Report on Kentucky Surgery_ (Louisville, 1851) contained the first biography of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, the Kentucky surgeon, who performed the first operation for the removal of the ovaries done in the world. That Dr. McDowell had actually accomplished this wonderful feat at Danville, in 1809, was Dr. Gross's contention, and that he was able to prove it beyond all doubt, and place the Danville doctor before the world as the father of ovariotomy, proves the power of his paper. Dr. Gross was the founder of the Louisville _Medical Review_, but he had conducted it but a short time when he accepted the chair of surgery in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. This position he occupied until about two years prior to his death. Dr. Gross enjoyed an international reputation as a surgeon. Oxford and Cambridge conferred degrees upon him in recognition of his distinguished contributions to medical science. As an original demonstrator he was well known. He was among the first to urge the claims of preventive medicine; and his demonstrations upon rabbits, with a view to throwing additional light on manual strangulation, are familiar to students of medicine and medical history. His works include: _Elements of Pathological Anatomy_ (1839); _Foreign Bodies in the Air-Passages_ (1854); _Report on the Causes which Retard the Progress of American Medical Literature_ (1856); _System of Surgery_ (1859); _Manual of Military Surgery_ (1861), Japanese translation (Tokio, 1874); and his best known work of a literary value, _John Hunter and His Pupils_ (1881). In 1875 he published two lectures, entitled _The History of American Medical Literature_; and, in the following year, with several other writers, he issued _A Century of American Medicine_. Dr. Gross was always greatly interested in the history of medicine and surgery. He died at Philadelphia, May 6, 1884.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. His _Autobiography_ (Philadelphia, 1887, two vols.), was edited by his sons, one of whom, A. Haller Gross, was born in Kentucky; Appletons' _Cyclopaedia of American Biography_ (New York, 1887, v. iii).
KENTUCKY
[From _Autobiography of Samuel D. Gross, M. D._ (Philadelphia, 1887, v. i.)]
It was pleasant to dwell in the land of Boone, of Clay, and of Crittenden; to behold its fertile fields, its majestic forests, and its beautiful streams; and to associate with its refined, cultivated, generous-hearted, and chivalric people. It was there that I had hoped to spend the remainder of my days upon objects calculated to promote the honor and welfare of its noble profession, and finally to mingle my dust with the dust and ashes of the sons and daughters of Kentucky.
But destiny has decreed otherwise. A change has come over my life. I stand this evening in the presence of a new people, a stranger in a strange place, and a candidate for new favors.
THE DEATH OF HENRY CLAY
[From the same]
The admirers of Mr. Clay cannot but regret the motives which induced him to spend his last days at Washington. It was a pitiful ambition which prompted him to forsake his family and his old friends to die at the capital of the country in order that he might have the _eclat_ of a public funeral. Broken down in health and spirits when he left his old home, unable to travel except by slow stages, he knew perfectly well that his days were numbered, and that he could never again see Kentucky. How much more dignified would it have been if he had breathed out his once precious life in the bosom of his family and in the arms of the woman who for upwards of half a century had watched over his interests, reared his children with a fond mother's care, loved him with a true woman's love, and followed him, wherever he was, with her prayers and her blessings!
THOMAS H. CHIVERS
Dr. Thomas Holley Chivers, the eccentric Southern poet, and maker of most unusual verse forms, was born near Washington, Georgia, December 12, 1807. He was instructed in the classics by his mother, and, choosing medicine as his vocation, he went to Lexington, Kentucky--most probably making the long journey on horse-back--and entered the medical school of Transylvania University. Chivers matriculated in November, 1828, and took up his abode at the old Phoenix Hotel, as his father was wealthy and liberal with him. He took one ticket and made it during his first year. The college records show that he returned for the fall session of 1829, and that, during his second year, he took two tickets, graduating on March 17, 1830. The thesis he submitted for his degree of Doctor of Medicine was _Remittent and Intermittent Bilious Fever_. Kentucky was the birthplace of the first poems Chivers wrote, and, very probably, the birthplace of his first book, _Conrad and Eudora, or The Death of Alonzo_ (Philadelphia, 1834). This little drama, intended for the study, was set in Kentucky, and founded upon the Beauchamp-Sharp murder of 1825, which was still the chief topic of conversation in the State when the poet reached Lexington in 1828. Chivers's second book of poems, called _Nacoochee_ (New York, 1837), contained two poems written while a student of Transylvania, entitled _To a China Tree_, and _Georgia Waters_. A short time after the publication of this book Chivers and Edgar Allan Poe became acquainted; and the remainder of their lives they were denouncing and fighting each other. It all came about by Chivers claiming his _Allegra Florence in Heaven_, published in _The Lost Pleiad_ (New York, 1845), as the original of _The Raven_. Of course, the world and the critics have smiled at this claim and let it pass. After Poe's death Chivers claimed practically everything the Virginian did to be a plagiarism of some of his own poems. His most famous work was _Eonchs of Ruby_ (New York, 1851). This was followed by _Virginalia_ (Philadelphia, 1853); _Memoralia_ (Philadelphia, 1853); _Atlanta_ (Macon, Ga., 1853); _Birth-Day Song of Liberty_ (Atlanta, Ga., 1856); and _The Sons of Usna_ (Philadelphia, 1858). Bayard Taylor, in his famous _Echo Club_, mentioned _Facets of Diamond_ as one of the poet's publications, but a copy of it has not yet been unearthed. Dr. Chivers died at Decatur, Georgia, December 19, 1858. No more pathetic figure has appeared in American letters than Chivers. Had he been content to write his poetry independently of Poe or any one else, he would have left his name clearer. He was a wonderful manipulator of verse-forms, but he was not what Poe was--a world-genius.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _In the Poe Circle_, by Joel Benton (New York, 1899); _The Poe-Chivers Papers_, by G. E. Woodberry (_Century Magazine_, Jan., Feb., 1903); _Representative Southern Poets_, by C. W. Hubner (New York, 1906); _Library of Southern Literature_ (Atlanta, Georgia, 1909, v. ii).
THE DEATH OF ALONZO
[From _Conrad and Eudora_ (Philadelphia, 1834)]
_Act III. Scene IV. Frankfort. Time, midnight._ Conrad _enters from the tavern, walks the street, dressed in dark clothes, with a masque on his face, and, with difficulty, finds_ Alonzo's _house_.
_Conrad._ This is the place,--and I must change my name.
(_Goes to the door and knocks. Puts his hand in his bosom.
A female voice is heard within--the wife of_ Alonzo.)
_Angeline._ I would not venture out this time o' night.
(_Conrad knocks_.)
_Alonzo._ Who's there?
_Conrad._ A friend.
_Angeline_ (_within_). I would not venture out, my love!
_Alonzo._ Why, Angeline!--thy fears are woman's, love.
(_Knocks again._)
_Alonzo._ Who is that?--speak out!
_Conrad._ Darby--'tis thy friend!
He has some business with thee--'tis of weight!
Has sign'd a bond, and thou must seal the deed!
_Alonzo._ What does he say?
_Angeline._ Indeed I do not know--you'd better see.
(_Knocks again and looks round._)
_Alonzo._ Who can this be--so late at night?