Henry Hartshorne

“ No wonder that the Republic of Great Britain and Ireland should differ chiefly from ours, in the greater share of power allotted to the Upper House. If men of rank will (as some of them have already done) wisely accept the inevitable change, and, with full loyalty to the Republic, seek, or allow themselves, to be elected to places in the new Parliament, they may, as Senators, exercise a power and skill in legislation, which will be beneficial not only to their own order, but to their country. They have the advantage of us, in England, in the presidential term being ten years ”

“ In his own words, also, addressed, in 1853, to a class of medical students, we may set forth the noble motives which animated his life:
"Do not live solely for yourself. Do not seek wealth, station, influence, merely for your own personal gratification; but consider them as means for doing good, for spreading benefits around you, and for making an impression on the world, which, when you are gone to your rewards, will cause grateful recollections to cluster about your memory, and your example to be held up to the young for imitation in all future time." ”

“ Not an island in the Pacific is without its Christian church; not a spoken dialect in the world without its Bible. Yet the world has not, by any means, become altogether Christian, even in Christendom itself. ”

“ The greatest triumphs of the first part of the 20th century have been the abandonment of all tariffs for protection in the United States, as well as in Europe, establishing perfectly free trade throughout the world ”

“ Wood's retired position in his later life may have debarred him from a close acquaintance with that pressure of facts in regard to the effects of intemperance in our own and other countries, which, with the evidence that the limitation which he urged cannot be anywhere extensively carried out, has brought many cautious minds in our time to conclude, that, to control what seems, next to war, the chief destroyer of modern nations, no prohibition, no personal or general sacrifice can be too great. ”

“ The distribution of heat,—by pipes conveying hydrogen gas for burning in gas-stoves, ranges, or furnaces, by steam, or by hot water,—is provided for on the pipe system, extending under and through houses from large street mains, in most of our cities. I am much pleased also with the method of floor and wall-warming now common; although, for the wealthy, an open wood fire is still one of the greatest of all costly luxuries. The uses of coal, moreover, are yet so numerous, that all coal-carrying railroads are earning and paying large dividends. ”

“ Wood's embarkation upon his last journey abroad, in 1860, a farewell public dinner was given him by the members of the medical profession in Philadelphia, in testimony of their high respect, esteem and affection. The venerable and distinguished Dr. La Roche presided. The occasion was one of unusual interest. No physician in Philadelphia was ever more, if ever one so much, looked up to by those of all ranks and ages, as truly the head, the patriarch [2] of the medical profession in America. ”

“ It is one evidence of the old conservatism of the British nation, so terribly shattered now, that the rank, titles, and estates of the nobility are still left to them; with the qualification, that the eldest son is entitled by law to only twice the share of each of the other heirs of the estate; and the whole of any property may be sequestered, by legal process, for debt.
Probably, now, the exodus of British nobles to this country, as well as to the continent of Europe, so active already during the last decade or two, will increase considerably. ”

“ George B. Wood may be named as one who, in the main features, and, indeed, in almost every particular of his career, has left an example worthy of admiration and emulation. It will be acknowledged by the least enthusiastic of his friends and associates, that he was one of the most useful men of his generation.
He was born at Greenwich, in New Jersey, in the year 1797. His own memoranda of his ancestry are not devoid of historical interest in connection with the early settlement of this city, as well as that of our neighboring State. ”

“ We believe that He exists, and we hate Him. We regard the Satan of Milton as the noblest character in all literature and history. All honor from us to those who, in history like Strauss, in philosophy like Schopenhauer, in science like Hœckel, and in literature like Heine, have tried, directly or indirectly, to make the Christian's God seem unknowable or hateful to men. But the time has [Pg 56] come to pass beyond their moderation. We unite ourselves in a league, not as atheists, but as misotheists, against all that is called God ”

“ Both of these appointments may be regarded as not only altogether appropriate on account of the high individual merits of those who received them, but, also, as evincing a recognition of the relation of the medical profession to the general advancement of science, to which medical men here, as elsewhere, have rendered such large and numerous contributions; besides exemplifying, in their own vocation, the principle that science lives and works most fitly, not for its own intellectual aims alone, but also for the common benefit of humanity. ”

“ Capital punishment has been abolished in all our States, and in all European countries except Spain, Portugal, and Russia. Life-imprisonment has taken its place; without pardoning power anywhere, even when the plea of insanity has been sustained. A great gain in our jurisprudence latterly is, making the proved intent and effort to kill identical before the law with successful murder. ”

“ Others might easily obtain more admiration for their eloquence; no lecturer in the University was ever more effective, in conveying instruction and information to his classes. Especially in the abundance and excellence of the illustrations accompanying his lectures, he was in advance of almost all his contemporaries. [6]
In Dr. Wood's style as a writer, the same qualities of clearness and correctness were constantly manifested. If to any author, in science, philosophy, forensic or general literature, the term faultless may be applied, it may be to him. ”

“ It has been abundantly shown that the anticipation of some speculative persons, that the course of the Gulf Stream, and consequently the climate of Western Europe, might be altered by cutting through the isthmus, and thus connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was altogether erroneous. No change whatever in the direction, rate of motion, or temperature of the great current has been observed. It is too majestic a movement to be so affected. ”

“ So patriotic a man could not fail to be much moved by these events; and his Journal has many pages filled with reflections upon them, and the expression of his anxious solicitude for his country during its perils. There is interest in these expressions, as those of a sagacious man, looking forward as well as backward, at the career of this great Republic, then passing through its ordeal of fire. In 1861, he was, with others, much exercised about the possibility, at one time threatening, of Great Britain interfering to the advantage of the Secessionists. ”

“ We learn that the United States of South America are at present holding their eighth biennial Congress at Lima, Peru. Brazil continues friendly; but the people of that nation still treasure the traditions and usages of their Empire. The constitutional limitations of Brazil, nevertheless, make it imperial only in name and form; it is as liberal as was the government of Great Britain in the latter days of its monarchy.
We thought it a great deal for the English people, twenty-five years ago, to abolish the place of the House of Lords in their government ”

“ George B. Wood was the eldest son of Richard and Elizabeth Bacon Wood. At twelve years of age, his earnest desire for a liberal education was gratified by his father sending him to school in New York. When sufficiently prepared, he was transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated, with honors, in 1815.
Of his early life I have obtained but little particular account, beyond what is preserved in his own manuscripts. These show a very active mind, more alive with imagination and sentiment than would have been supposed by those acquainted only with his later labors. ”

“ The 19th century was proud of itself; and we of the 20th have hardly gained all that we should in true humility. Both centuries have had their great events and great advances; and both, their weaknesses, errors, and absurdities. I will venture a comparison of some of these.
The most absurd things of the 19th century, I think, were these: the decree at Rome of the infallibility of the Pope; England's bolstering up the Turkish Empire for fear of Russia attacking India; Lord Beaconsfield's administration altogether; the financial policy of the American green-back party ”

“ They look forward to the time, when, through the agency of causes brought to bear upon the people of India by their present political relations, they will have become enlightened, refined, elevated in sentiment and conduct; when the adoption of a pure religion will have cleansed away the moral foulness which now corrupts every spring of action ”

“ The international coinage arrangement, on the decimal system, so long in use between England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States, will be extended next year, by agreement, to Spain, Russia, Denmark, and Greece. It is wonderful how our fathers, even almost down to the present generation, were satisfied with any scheme of weights and measures other than the metrical, now so universally in use. ”

“ Should a public servant dare to propose a dishonorable application of it to your own wants or necessities, frown him into that contempt which every pander merits. If injury has accrued from former neglect, do all that you can to remedy the past and to guard the future. ”

“ If, then, God is, and is good, it is impossible that He should not make Himself known to man, both visibly and invisibly: once, at least, in history, and always spiritually. If man, being free, errs, he must, by the necessity of the laws of the universe, in deranging its harmony, suffer and cause suffering. ”

“ There is added, also, as a supplement, an Address on the British East India Empire, which was delivered by Professor Wood before the Athenian Institute of Philadelphia, January 23d, 1839. From the latter, we may take, as bearing upon a topic whose interest to the world at large is increasing every year, the following concluding reflections:
"But," it is there written, "the fortunes of India and Great Britain are not to be forever united. The English themselves, even those who have labored most assiduously in the consolidation of the Indian Empire, look forward to an ultimate separation. ”

“ It is painful to know that in Africa, and in Mongolian Asia, the arts of destruction have been more rapidly borrowed from Europe than those of peace and progress. It is said that Gatling guns, as well as Minié rifles and dynamite shells, and the newly reinvented projectile Greek fire, are now in use with terrible effect between hostile tribes in Central Africa, officered in great part by European and American adventurers. ”

“ Wood kept in his possession a deed, signed by the agent of William Penn, who acted as executor of John Fenwick, conveying a lot of ground forming a part of his Greenwich farm.
In each generation, the heads of this family in New Jersey have been men of consideration and local distinction. Richard Wood, the father of the subject of this memoir, was a man of superior mind and strong character, much respected by all who knew him. He was described by an acquaintance, speaking of him to Dr. Wood, as "a prince of a man." He married twice. ”

“ Wines of the finest quality, equal to the best of Europe, are made every year in California, New York, and Missouri; and they are occasionally placed upon the table at entertainments. But it is regarded as an intolerable indecorum for a gentleman to drink more than a single glass, or a lady half a glass, at a time. ”

“ Wood's vigor, which slowly, and almost insensibly, proceeded, until his decease in the Spring of 1879.
In 1847, before his transfer to the Professorship of Practice of Medicine in the University, he published his great treatise, in two volumes, on the Practice of Medicine. This was at once recognized, at home and abroad, as an authoritative work. It became a favorite text-book for students, not only in this country, but also in Great Britain. The time-honored University of Edinburgh was one of several foreign medical schools in which it was officially approved and adopted. ”

“ Jerusalem is now lit by gas, except an electric light in one of the central streets. Horse-cars are running in every direction; and a steam-train passes daily to and from Jaffa on the Mediterranean. The Mosque of Omar has been purchased by the Young Men's Christian Association, which has within its walk a Bible-School of nearly 1000 pupils of all ages. A college for both sexes is in full operation at Jericho. An English weekly and an American daily newspaper are issued in Jerusalem, and an English daily paper also in Smyrna. ”