Memoir of W.H. Harvey, M.D., F.R.S., etc., etc., : late professor of botany, Trinity College, Dublin : with selections from his journal and correspondence.

Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoir of W.H. Harvey, M.D., F.R.S., etc., etc., : late professor of botany, Trinity College, Dublin : with selections from his journal and correspondence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    63/398 (page 43)
    The year 1834 was destined to be one of the most important in Mr. Harvey's life, bringing as it did events and changes deeply affecting his futnre prospects, and which seemed to bear him at once fnrtlier beyond the threshold of manhood tlian the attainment of years was likely to have j)roduced in one of his peculiar temperament. The first of these was the marriage of his sister, the circumstances arising from which may be given in his own simple words as written to Dr. Hooker. My only sister is about to be married and settled in the metropolis, and my father wishes to live with her in preference to remaining-here at either of my brother's houses—and very naturally, for she has been his careful nurse these many years. Now 1 am a kind of addendum to my father also, seeing I am the youngest child and the ]^et, and of course I follow him. wherever he goes. As regards botany the change is a happy one for me, for I shall at last have some persons within reach to' sympathize in my pursuits. As regards other feelings it is also happy, for I should not like to separate either from my father or sister. The only drawback is, that my habits of busi- ness just now beginning to be formed are nipt in the bud, and I shall probably be again unsettled. But I trust I may not be long so. I have lived in idleness long enough, and am grow- ing fearfully old to be still without settlement. I am determine/i not to continue much longer so; for after all there is no old age so miserable and heartless as that of a drone, who is a bore wherever he intrudes. My horror at such an old age grows stronger every day. ^ The above arrangement, which proved so satisfactory on both sides, was but of short duration. On the 18th of the following October, Mr. Joseph M. Harvey was suddenly removed by one of those attacks to which he had been for some years subject. Tlie shock was instantaneous, and on William the stroke espe- cially fell. He accompanied his father's remains to Limerick ; and it was affecting to witness his speechless sorrow, from which he found it difficult for some days to rally. The following letters continue the narrative.