Litchfield enquirer., 1856-12-11
Sir Astley Cooper


his arc, MAS the second son of the Rev. Sum
ner Cooper, of Z arnouth, and was born in that
ncigh borhood, August Esd, 1T6ess After. re-
ceRing the usual rudimcuts Of education, he
entered on his medical career Under an opotllcS
transferred to the care Of Guys Hospital in
Londons and ultimately passed over to- MIR.
Give, the most eminent practitioner of the day
81 After serving on. apprenticeship and : walk
ing the hospitals for the usual period, he en-
tered on practice but at the FIRST with little
success, as the whole OF his fees for twelve
months did not exceed fse pounds, and several
years elapsed before his enlolnments amounted
to the salary Of q fashionable footmans In this
respect, however, he differed but little from
many eminent members OF the profession. who,S
at the outset of their career, have met With
encouragement equally small while others,
WITH less good fortune still, have never received
any rccompense for their early struggles, but
prematurely descended, unknown and neglected,
TO the. tomb. fsa&4t sss 50 "a bssssst5 g7g
i. Sir Astley no sooner emerged from obschti-.
ty than his practice rapidly became en,iuently'
great, and more lucrative than any recorded in
the annals of medicine. Fer nearly forty
years, his receipts averaged between 100000
and Rl5, 900 annually :; aud in one year, 1892
exceeded twenty thousand gnneas. The fees
he received Were very large; an instance of
which may be mentioned in the case of an &c
centric publican in London, whom he attended
some years ago During SEVERAL weeks, Sir
Ashley had daily called without reeeising the,
slightest remuneration bnt on completing the
cure, he was presented With the night-eap of
the interesting patie.t, which, onaexaminatiors
was found TO be lined with q Thousand pound
note; and many equally handsome fees Mere
paid him, as, when in the zenith Of his fame,
persons came from all parts Of the werll, as.
Though inordinatey Gerotcd to rans, Sir
Ashley was not unapproachaLle to those Of
humble birth. A dentist of some repute, md
nbw, we bclcte, attached to- the hospital with
which Sir Astlty was so long Connected is
chiefly Indebted 10 the late baronet for his for.
tune. DESTROYS of giving some demonstration
ID tooth-dra wing at Guys hospital be applied
to Sir Ashley, who was astollishcd by the SIM
rlicity ot the application, itiasnuch us the ap-
piicant had 8 neither father, mother, brother,
uncle, first consin. moi, any relation" connected
with the institution. DO you know any old
woman about the place I" asked Cooper
No" replied the otl,cr; my mother IS
dead '' ~ Poor little fellow !" said Sir. Asst
ley, touched by the raireis Of The answer, and
yet unable to suppress joke, I" hope, ycu
are able to run alone but come Tomorrow,
and Til sec what can be. done for YOU" This
little man went. and vas appointed tooth-draw-
err to the hospital though tits was the only
instance in which Sir Ashley departed fron tic
old rule Of keeping good things in the fam-
ily,' SO rigidly observed in. these institutions,
Sir Astley's FIRST marriage was odd and aeei-
dental. While rolling into the city one dny,
his carriage got locked with that of another
gentleman on Ludgate Hill. The Councilman
interchanged eisilitics iii the customary style,
but their masters conducted, themselves with
exemplary patience I" Steady steady1 John
don't swear so much said one of the gciisie-
men cooped up. / think know that voice"
continued Sir Ashley, Isn't your name Jones'"
Yes" said the other, and yours 7" Coop
err" " All! thought so,' continued the sur
geon, and what's become of our old flames, the.
Miss Cocks am E:arried toone of them,
was the reply, "and the others waiting for
YOU" "The deuce she ISL was the rcjoinder,
and Sir Ashley lost no time in driving down to
his old etere anne, whom he married in less than
month, and received with her o fortune Of
100000. The lady was the daughter Of q
wealthy apothecary in the Borough. x qsss, Is
Sir Astley obtained ali equally large dowry
with his second wife but notwithstanding
this, and his large professional emoluments, he
was always frugal, and laterly erirced no small
share Of the !. gentlenanly vice. of avarice -
In his latter days he was unwilling to give adj
vice to medical men, from whom it is not cts
tomary to exact a fee. & a @ 81, # &ssa
qa
DREAMING AND ScHEMING. - We like good
story, and the last number of Blackwood fur
nishes one as follows: ss s.mEt sss, NJ j