The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-15 00:00:00

Death of Mr, John Henry Green, F.R.S.

The medical profession and the public generally
will regret to hear of the death of this estimable
and accomp'ished surgeon, which took place at his
residence, Hadley, near Barnet, :)n Sunday evening,
the 13th inst.

To the Council of Medical Education and Regis-
tration, of which he was president, and especially
to that of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng-
land, of which he had been twice president, as
well as a most active member, the loss will be
irreparable.
Mr. Green was an only child of wealthy parents,
and having received a liberal education, and
studied for some time at Berlin, pursued his pro-
fessional studies at St. Thomas's Hospital, under
the auspices of his maternal uncle, Mr. Cline. He
was admitted a member of the Royal College of
Surgeons on the Ist of December, 1813, having
for ra o years previously acted as demonstrator,
the best proof of his proficiency as an anato-
mist, and so creditably were the duties attached
to this office performed, that in 1818 he joined Mr.
(afterwards Sir) Astley Cooper as joint lecturer in
anatomy and physiology. In 1820 he succeeded the
younger Cline as surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital,
and with Sir Astley Cooper delivered lectures on
surgery and pathology. As an operative surgeon be
was unequalled in the skill with which he performed
the operation for lithotomy, having in 1827 operated
in 40 cases, and lost only one. This unequalled
success created a great sensation at the time. In
1830 he
was appointed to the professorship of aur-
gery in King's College, of which institution ho was
at the time of his death a member of council. On
the opening of the session no man was more eloquent
in his address; his deportment was simple, chaste,
refined, dignified, and he was most successful in
impressing his principles and points of practice on
his class.

In 1831 he wrote apamphlet called, " Distinction
without Separation," addressed to the President
of the Royal College of Surgeons, to prove that the
distinction between physician and surgeon did
not really exist, and that such division was
highly injurious here it did. About this time
he was unfortunate in entering into a wordy war-
fare with the medical press about the publication of
his lectures, a contest in which he was severely
handled and totally discomfited. In 1834 he wrote
his memorable letter to the linzes, suggestions re-
specting an intended plan of medical reform, pro-
posing that the medical student should have a
sound classical and mathematical education, and
that there should be a higher and lower grade of
distinction. A 3 showing the wisdom of these sug-
gestions, it may be mentioned that the oouncil of
the Royal College of Surgeons has since adopted the
whole of them; and in the preliminary and severe
professional examinations to which the medical stu-
dent is now subjected, the general public has the I
hest assurance of obtaining skill. In 1835, on the I
death of Mr. Lynn, surgeon to the Westminster
Hospital, and a councillor of the college, Mr. Green
was unanimously elected to the chair in the councils
of that college of which he had become so bright a
member. In 1840 he was deputed to deliver the annual
oration in memory of John Hunter, which at the
earnest request of his colleagues he afterwards pub-
lished under the title of " Vita! Dynamics ;" and
again, in 1847, he became Hunterian orator, and
published the lecture under the name of "Mental
Dynamics." They were the most eloquent and
thoughtful discourses ever heard in that hall.
Partly on this account and partly because they were
based on the philosophy of his friend and master,
Coleridge, they were neither of them popular.
In 1846, on the resignation of Sir Benjamin Bro-
die, Bart., Mr. Green became a member of the Court
of Examiners, an appointment he held up to the
time of his decease, and in 1849 obtained at the
hands of his colleagues the highest appointment
they had it in their power to confer, viz., the pre-
sident's chair, an honour again conferred on him in
1858. From her Majesty's Government he received
the appointment of President of the Council of
Medical Education and Registration of the United
Kingdom. The death of Mr. Green, though at
last sudden, was not altogether unexpected ; he
had been labouring for some months under a sharp
attack of gout, complicated with disease of the
heart, from which it was hoped, by the kind and
skilful treatment of Dr. Brinton, his attached friend
and physician, he had recovered. This gentleman
had suggested the resignation of several offices held
by the deceased, in order that by affording rest so
valuable a life might be spared for some time;
and he had so far recovered as to be'able to go to
his sitting room, when on Sunday last he was sud-
denly seized with his fatal illness, which carried
him off in his 72d year. He leaves a widow and a
large circle of friends to deplore one of the greatest
losses which has occurred in the medical profession

for many years. No man was more deservedly
honoured. His very person proclaimed his dignity.
T4ll, of noble presence, the purity of his morals, the
sustained elevation of his character, the active
penetration of a strong intellect, the unruffled equity
of a superior judgment, his gentleness, at once
amiable and firm, his tranquil modesty, his un-
varying rectitude, were all pour trayed in his noble
features.

Extensive Robbery of the Duke of Bruns-

wick's Jewels.

A robbery of diamonds to the value of from 8,000,000 F.
to 9,000,000 f. (between, £300.000 and .£100,000), was com-
mitted on Tuesday night last, at the hotel of the Duke of
Brunswick, in Paris. On the Ist of July last the Duke
hired a young man, named Shaw, of English descent,
who speaks several languages, as second valet de chambre.
Hs appeared to be above his humble condition, and, in a
short time, he gained the confidence of his master by his
close attention to his duties. The Duke possesses a col-
lection of diamonds said to be the riche:t in Europe. A
portion of them are deposited in an iron chest; placed in
his bedchamber, and supplied with two doors, one of
which is opened by a spring ingeniously concealed in the
wainscoating, and the other by a key. Three or four
persons only, among whom was Shaw, were acquainted_
with this fact, but the key was never entrusted to any of
them. On Tuesday the Duke, on leaving home for the
afternoon, informed Shaw that he expected a jewelhieer
come the following morning to mount some
of_ havet to
dia-
monds in the iron chest, and that, in order not too
door of
leave his bed in the morning, he had left the secondtteuchieg
the chest open, and he could open the other
je
the jeweller
the spring. He further desired Shaw ton
enter his bedroom without delay. the morning,
did not return until between one and: a .
is
_oat. The
when he was surprised not to find Sash
lop t n I'
went up to his
He then went went out, and
Duke supposing that his valet wriest
it
t his diamonds.
ere, he observed
bedroom and found that he was not
beerke
on the bed a number of bagsdia-
monds
abstractedin
pw from the iron chest.
ehyadallbetteppeared
They had evidently been
On a further examination
if
they had been abandoned in
scattered about as e
diamonds were worth at least
These
to his bedroom on the
a moment of flight.
1,000,0001. The puked
and ah:kscsderthvaenmts.whTaht
The
tuom at the same time that hi, diamondsoli'of
firstbu t floor
Shaw.
the latter, telling
Duke next exa-
replied that Sb.aw had left
ssulbi;udnkneot returned.. The
had been stolen.. the hotel
t night and a
at 10 a
ined his
iron chest, and ascertained that diamonds to the
value of 00f•
9,000,0 had been abstracted, together with
2ld pieces of 100 f T
0001. in g° • There was a pocket-book in
.0
r 13.0,
iron chest containing bank notes to the amount of
100,0001'. and various valuable securities which the thief had
Ica. Information of the robbery was immediately given to
the Prefect of Police, and a telegram was received within a
few hours from Boulogne-sar-Mer, announcing the capture
of Shaw and all the stolen property. Ninety-six parcels of
diamonds and Other precious stones were found in his
pockets and a leather belt round his person, together with
a number of gold pieces of 1001. In reply to the ques-
lions andressed to him by the law officer, Shaw said that
all the diamonds he had abstracted were there, and he was
certain he had neither lost nor given any away. The
jeweller valued the diamonds at about 8,000,0001. Several
of these arc of extraordinary beauty and great value, ono
button being worth 450,000 (C 18,000). The gold was like
, which the
wise all found, with the exception of 1,4001., _
was tneu
prisoner admitted he had spent in Paris. Sire
__e
_, eiiy
lodged in the town prison, where he refused :(1 u''raris
food until the chief of the secret police adrertrivta from
do so, being
the following day. He was then persuaded
all the valuables,
in a very weak state. The prisoner, witha .
serts that he nevec
arrived in Paris on Thursday. Shaw his own country or
before committed any clime, eithuorrini 0
, the four months he
elsewhere. He maintains that dke
of 13runswick ho never
passed in the Eclvice of thebtury
until the idea was sod
thought of committing
a robbery
the Duke informed that he
deuly suggested to htittaew
inn' chest open.
had left the dof2t:
TIIE EXPSNS ---
vs OF COLONEL CRAIVUY at
Aldershot have -
been reckoned at £6O a day.