Massachusetts spy and Worcester advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1823-1825, 1824-12-29
@tscella,rp.
DR.. RUSH.

ne atm volume of the 6 Biopranhv of Tho
Sisners OF the Declaration of independence.
by Robert Walsh, Jr." contains an interest.
ing sketch ofthe life of the celebrated Dr.
hush, who, as Representative from Penn.
syIvanla, subscribed his name TO that mo-
moraole Instrument. From this sketch we
select the following passages, as afFording
s'ehal Illustration of DR.. Rush's philanthro-
Py' at period 1881 when PhIadelpbia
was suffering under all the horrors of the
| Yellow Fever. r.. ,an,s,.;oa,, -'o
This disease had appeared in Phila-
delphia in 1862, and now returned after
a lapse OF twenty-three years. with up-
examPIed mallgnity. War and famine
nave seldom presented scene of more
complicated horror. 1t endured abopt
one hundred days, commencing in Julv.
and subsldlng towards the beginning Of
september, during which time nearly
inc whole city was exhausted of its in
habIiants, who had either fallen victims
to the disease or had fed from their in
ieclious dwellings; the rich to the ada.
cent country, and a promiscuous multi
tade OF the poor to tents prcpeed for
them IN the vicinage of the citv. The
number who died in this short neriod
was about four thousand five hundred,
and the condition OF the disc ased was Of.
Ten attended by circumstances of distress
the most deplorable. Indeed, whatev-
er has been ever recorded of human
misery, or even what poetic fancy has
ever imagined, appears to have been ex.
hlbited, on this occasion, in its most hor-
rid reality.
The city itself presented every where
the image of desolation. For nearly
two months scarcely an individual was
seen upon the streets, unless engaged
10 some melancholy office seeking aid
Tor the sick, or conducting the dead to
their place OF interment; and no other
sound but that of the hearse or the We
hlcle OF the physician interrupted the
irIghttul solitude. Even the inters,,ces
OF the pavements are said 10 have been
occupied by grass and weeds. In a
poPuious city, where men are accustom-
ed to witness the hustle of multitudes
and activities of business, the absence
OF such objects necessarily fills the mind
with the most painful or melancholy
sensations.
The magnanimous conduct of DR.,
Rush in this emergency, his devotion 10
his profession, and total disregard of per-
sonal safety, have entitled him to the
uhceaslng gratitude and admiration of
his countrymeD. To use the words of
the celebrated Zimmerman, "Sa condz-
ate mer1te que non sediment Ia vile Phil
adelph'e, nn's que fhumGnite entisre lui
eEeOe une statue"
During the fercest rage of the dis
ease, nearly all the physicians disap-
peared from the city: either having
sought safety by flight into the country
or having persisted in the indiscriminate
mortality. AT one time, when not less
than six thousand persons were PROSTATE
in the disease, three practitioners only
remained 10 supply their necessities.
The labors of DR.. Rush, in this emer-
gency, we're without remission, and he
certainly accomplished difficulties, and
sustained fatigues, to which the powers
of life, under ordinary excitement, or
with ordinary courage, had proved who'll
y inadequate. From the eighth to the
fifteenth of September, he visited and
prescribed for about one hundred and
twenty patients per day. For several
weeks his house was filed, and some
times surrounded by multitudes iuplor-
ing his assistance. To these he prescrib-
ed during the intervals of bis visits, using
the help Of three Of his pupils, who re-
sided for this purpose in his family; en-
ploying them either in putting up med
icine, in bleeding. or in visiting the sick.
But although he devoted even the hur-
ried periods of his meals to such Offices,
he was unable TO supply the numerous
applications that were made to him, and
great numbers were obliged every day
to retire without the benefit of his adj
vice or prescription; a circumstance