The Northern star, and farmers' and mechanics' advocate. [volume] (Warren, R.I.) 1830-1834, 1830-12-04
THE DIARY OF A LATE PHYSIC.
IAN.

THE DIARY OF A LATE PHYsIC-
IAN. i
FROM BLAcKwoop's MAGAZINE FOR Sep
TENDER.
CANCER. ,11
One o0en hears of the great frmness Of
the female sex, and their powers of endur-
| ing a degree. of physical pain which would
utterly break down the stubborn strength
Of man. An interesting exemplifcction
of this remark will be found in the short
narrative Immediately following The e
vent made strong impression on my
mind at the time, and l thought it well
worthy Of an entry in my Diary.
had for several months been in con-
slant attendance on Mrs. ST., a
Young married lady, of considerable fsmi-
Iy and fortune, who was the victim Of that
terrible scourge Of the female sex-a can
Ger. To great personal attractions, she
added uncommon sweetness of fdispostion:
and the fortitude with which she submit
ted to the agonising inroads other malady,
together with her ardent expressions Of
gratitude for such temporary alleviatioHs
as her anxious medical attendants could
supply, contributed to inspire ME with a
very lively interest in her fate. can
conscientiously say, that during the whsle
| ,eriod Of nv attendance, l never heard a
word Of complaint fall from her, nor wit
messed any indications of impatiehce. or
rritability. found her, one morning,
| stretched on the crimson sofa in the draw
ing room, and though her pallid features,
md gently corrugated eyebrows, evinced
he intense s,,',ny she was suffering ,-on
ny inquiring what sort Of night she had
passed, she replied in calm but tremd-
ious tone, "Oh, doctor, ! have had a
dreadful night-bui I am glad Captain
ST. was not with me1--for it would
ave made him very wretciiedp' At that
moment fine naxen haired little boy,
ler first and only child, came running in-
. the room, his blue laughing eyes gilt
Itering with innocent merriment. took
bim on my knee, and amused him with
my watch, in order that he might not dis
'0rb his mother. The poor sufferer, affer
gazing on him with an air ofintense fond
ness for some moments, suddenly covered
her eyes with her hand (oh, how slender
how snowy-how almost transparent
was tD--and l presently saw the tears
trickling through her fingers--but she ut
tured not word There was the mother
The aggravated malignity of her disorder
rendered an operation at length inevita-
BILE. The eminent surgeon, who, jointly
with myself, was in regular attendance of
her, feeiingly communicated the intelli-
gence and asked whether she thought she
had fortitude enough to submit to an ope-
ration, She assured him.. with sweet
smile of resignation, that she had for some
time been suspecting as much, and had
made up her mind to submit to it---but on
two conditions--that her husband (who
was then at sea) should not be informed
oft till it was over; and that during the
operation she should not be in any wise
bound or blindfolded Her calm and de-
cisive manner convinced ME that remon-
STRANGE would be useless Sir - look
ed at me with doubtful air. She observ-
ed it; and said, "I see what you are
thinking, Sir; but hope to shew
yon that w-!nan has more couruge than
you seem willing to give her credit for. T"
la short after the surgeon had acquicsc-
ed in the latter condition-to which he
had esrecially demurred--a day was fix
ed for the operation subject of course,
to Mrs. St----'s state of health. When
the "Wednesday arrived, it was will, some
ugitation that ] entered Sir ----'s car
riage in company with himselS and his
senior pupil, MI could scarce avoid
certain nervous unprolessional as
il may seem---when saw the servant place
the operating case on the seat of the car
rage. /" Are you sure you have every
thing ready, MIR. r.--;" inquired sir
with q calm and business like air, which,
irrtated me. On being assur-
ID Of the affirmative, and after cautiously
casting bis eye over the case of iistru-I
nents,* t. make assurance doubly sure,
ve drove of, We arrived at Mrs. ST. :
who resided a few miles from town. a.
bout O'Clock in the afternoon, and were n
usheSed into the room inl a
'hich tho operation was TO be performed r.
IA bnck parlour,. ,he window OF which cl
,oked INTO beautiful garden. ! Ilbe 4,
nrdopAd, ! hope, ios acknowledging, that a,