FOOTNOTES:
[25] In preparing this article, assistance was rendered by Moody Kent, Esq.
[BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF DECEASED PHYSICIANS IN MASSACHUSETTS.]
BY EBENEZER ALDEN, M. D.
To the Editor of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.
Dear Sir,
In accordance with your suggestion, I propose to send you occasionally for publication, as your limits may permit, brief notices and reminiscences of Physicians, who have lived in Massachusetts.
The plan of your Periodical requires that such notices should be brief; and I shall usually refer your readers to the sources of information, from which my materials have been obtained, so as to facilitate the investigations of those who may wish in any case to make still further inquiries.
Perhaps no class of public men is so little known to the community beyond the limited circle of professional pursuits, as physicians. Their life is one of incessant confinement, anxiety, and toil. A portion of their labors, as large as from one fourth to one third, is gratuitous. To them, if to no others, it is an abiding truth, The poor always ye have with you. It is exceedingly rare even in cities, still more so in the country, to find a physician of honorable standing with his fellows, who has acquired great wealth as the fruit of professional service. Having food and raiment, he must learn therewith to be content. Nevertheless, physicians find abundant sources of enjoyment in the sympathy and kindness of many attached friends; and it is believed, that, according to the measure of their ability, they are not behind the average of their fellow-citizens in works of philanthropy and benevolence. In the war of the Revolution they were fully represented in the senate-house, and on the battle-field; and the names of Prescott, Holton, Thomas, Brooks, and Warren, with many others, will go down to posterity, no less honored as statesmen and patriots, than as eminent members of the medical profession.
It is pleasant to recall the virtues of such men; to know where they lived; who were their associates; how they performed the duties of social life; what obstacles they encountered and what rewards they obtained; and to hold forth their example to the younger members of the profession and especially to those just about to enter it, as a practical illustration of the great truth, that a life perseveringly devoted to the good of others, even under the most discouraging circumstances, will ultimately secure the public confidence, and meet its reward.
Respectfully, yours.