ed trust, are best attested by the reformation of abuses, and the amelioration of the general state of the hospitals, which soon succeeded the commencement of his directorship. If some evils still remained in this department-if some inconvenience and distress were still experienced by the sick and wounded, they were attributable to the faults of subordinate officers, and to the insurmountable difficulties of the times, rather than to neglect, or want of abilities in the director general.

It is, indeed, true, that while Dr. Shippen was engaged in the duties of this highly responsible and important office, an attempt was made to fix the stain of reproach on his character. But on an investigation of the several charges alleged against him, before a court of inquiry appointed for the purpose, he received a public and honourable acquittal. Nor did this unlooked for and unmerited attempt to sully the purity of his well earned reputation, diminish his ardour, or weaken his exertions in the cause of freedom. Notwithstanding the embarrassments constantly thrown in his way by some of his mortified opponents, over whom he had triumphed, he continued in office till our struggle for independence had terminated in victory. On the achievement of that glorious event, he surrendered up his commission into the hands, by which it had been'conferred, receiving for his services, the thanks of congress, and the approbation of the commander in chief of the American army. As an evidence of the sincerity and continuance of this approbation, it is worthy of remark, that when general Washington afterwards resided in Philadelphia, as president of the United States, Dr. Shippen was employed as physician to his family.

The sanguinary operations of war, having at length given place to the mild and restorative influence of peace, the professor returned with promptitude and joy to his long deserted station in the university of Pennsylvania. We now behold him in the very zenith of his fame. The distinguished reputation which had been recently acquired by the director general of the military hospitals, added now a fresh lustre to the character and labours of the public teacher. Under these circumstances, his lectures could not fail to become more interesting, instructive, and popular. Aided by the talents and zeal of his professional

colleagues, he soon succeeded in rendering the medical school of Pennsylvania, an institution of high and just celebrity. The accomplishment of this event was to him a source of peculiar gratification. From motives of patriotism he rejoiced that his country had become doubly independent-Independent as a political community, and independent as a nursery of medical science. No longer forced, in pursuit of instruction, to brave the dangers of the ocean, and the still greater dangers of European luxury and vice; he now saw the youth of the United States, amply disciplined in the knowledge of the healing art, without a separation from their native soil.

Having traced the professor's footsteps through the sprightly morning and the bright meridian of life, it remains that we accompany him through its sober evening. For we have now arrived at that period, when, by a decree of Nature, the orb of genius begins to descend. Seldom, however, has this orb been shorn, in its descent, of fewer of its beams than it was in the case of the venerable deceased.

When the professor began to feel, with increasing force, the daily encroachments of that inaptitude for action which is the inevitable lot of advanced age, he became anxious that its inconveniences should be exclusively his own. In particular, he determined that these inconveniences should neither mar the fortunes, nor affect the character of the medical school, which had so long been the object of his paternal solicitude. To carry into effect this liberal purpose, he requested of the trustees of the institution, the appointment of an adjunct professor of anatomy and surgery, who might share with him in the labours and honours of the chair. The adoption of this measure afforded a grateful and welcome relief to his declining faculties. Still, however, it did not serve him as a pretext for suddenly abandoning to his colleague the duties of his professorship. For many years he not only sanctioned, by his constant presence, the lectures on anatomy and surgery, but continued to deliver a principal part of them himself. Nor did he ever entirely abandon the theatre of his usefulness and his fame. It was but a few months before his death, that, in the presence of an admiring class, he

made a most impressive display of that evergreen eloquence, which flourished in freshness amid the winter of age.

Several years previously to this period, Dr. Shippen, finding himself in easy and affluent circumstances, had determined to relinquish entirely the practice of a profession, which had now become too laborious for his growing infirmities. He had, accordingly, provided for himself a retreat in the country, where, amid the elegant leisure of the philosopher, he passed his summers in the lap of retirement. Here, abstracted from the noise and bustle of the world, he devoted much of his time to the study of the scriptures. It was while retired within the bosom of this tranquil retreat, and earnestly engaged in this holy employment, that he received the last dread summons from above. To this summons, after having long sustained the ravages of a lingering disease, he yielded, with all the calmness which resignation can bestow, a willing obedience, on the 11th of July, 1808. Thus expired, in his seventy-fifth year, one of the most distinguished medical teachers of the age, and the father of scolastic medicine in the United States.

But if Shippen was distinguished in his professional and public character, he was no less amiable and accomplished in private life. Nor can it be either unpleasing or uninstructive to pause for a moment, and take a last view of him in that less splendid but more endearing relation. To personal honour and unspotted integrity, he added the softer virtues of benevolence and humanity. Possessed of a warm and susceptible heart, connected with sincerity, and stability of character, his attachments were strong, his friendships were durable. As a companion, the warmth of his heart, the frankness of his disposition, the mildness of his temper, and the polished and conciliating style of his manners, secured the affections of all who approached him. Nor is it unworthy of the present occasion to remark, that when seated at the festive board, the sprightliness of his wit, and the graces of his conversation, gave a zest to the enjoyments of the convivial circle.

Such were the talents, and such the acquirements, such the life, and such the death of him, whose character I have endeavoured to commemorate. A character how varied, how rich, and elevated! an attempt to portray it how feeble and ineffectual! Could I have

availed myself of the descriptive eloquence of the deceasedcould I have caught but a remnant of his mantle, as he ascended the heavens, then would I have delineated him in the colours of truth; then would I have presented you with a living likeness of my great original.

But however unsuccessful has been the present humble effort, the case is still within the limits of hope. Some future attempt, commenced under happier auspices, and conducted by abilities more competent to the undertaking, will yet do justice to the memory of our medical father.

CRITICISM-FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

CUM TABULIS ANIMUM CENSORIS SUMET HONESTI.-Hor. Travels in the United States of America, in the years 1806, and 1807, and 1809, 1810, and 1811; including an account of passages betwixt America and Britain, and travels through various parts of Great Britain, Ireland, and Upper Canada. Illustrated by eight maps. By John Melish. In two Volumes, octavo. Philadelphia, 1812.

HERE is a kind of phenomenon. Two whole volumes of travels in America; without any material errors; with no palpable falsehoods; no malignant abuse of individuals; no paltry calumnies on the institutions of the U. S. Mr. Melish has indeed sinned beyond forgiveness against the common law of American travelling. He has had the good sense to visit a large portion of our country, without quarrelling with tavern keepers, or servants, but has taken things as he found them-made proper allowances for the natural inconveniences of a young country-and been treated with civility-because he knew how to behave himself on the road. He has therefore been neither disappointed nor insulted, and his book may be considered so far as it goes as a much fairer representation of the true state of things among us, than can be found in most of the very contemptible productions which have appeared in relation to this country. These qualities which gave Mr. Melish a very decided advantage over the great mass

of his predecessors, may be ascribed perhaps to his own good sense, and in part, to the circumstance of his having visited America without any pretensions either to learning or distinction.

Mr. Melish came to Savannah (as we find from the preface) in the year 1806, and having formed a commercial establishment there, returned in the following year to Great Britain in order to prosecute his business; but the commercial embarrassments between England and America induced him to revisit the United States in 1809, for the purpose of putting an end to an establishment which promised to be so unproductive. After residing in Newyork in 1810 with the vain hope of re-establishing himself in trade, he determined on seeking for other employment, and therefore travelled in 1811 through the western and northern parts of the United States, to seek for good lands and a convenient settlement. The volumes before us are the result of all his inquiries. From this sketch it will be readily anticipated that the author is a plain practical man, whose observations are valuable chiefly on account of the stamp of truth and simplicity which they bear, and who has examined the United States as so many others are interested in regarding it, as a safe asylum for those who are about to form either commercial or agricultural establishments. This consideration, which gives to the work its principal attraction, induces us, in offering our opinion on its merits, to divide it into two parts of very unequal value. The author has endeavoured to make his work not merely an account of his journey, but a complete geography of the United States, which he observes is the first attempt " to incorporate a geographical description of a country in a journal of travels." If the project be entirely new, we confess its novelty is its only recommendation; for it seems to us, to be by no means a natural or desirable association.-A volume of travels is an account of what a traveller has seen and heard, and observed-a volume of geography is a compilation from the labours of all former travellers, naturalists, historians, and men of science: the first has an individual and personal character to which it owes much of its interest; the latter is in its nature more didactic and formal; nor can we well imagine any thing so awkward (besides its swelling unnecessarily the size and expense of his work) than that a tra