South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1859-04-01
ANECDOTES OF ABERNETHY
EY WALTER TIIORSprnr.

OCCASION, at nrSt interview. girlnga young
usprant u free ticket to all his lectures -
His much-atuscd roughness was the re-
suit of III irritable, settled hatred Of snecr-
! ing, ilattcring people. fools, and hypocritcs
! He became neither sour nor cynical. but
! chronically in arms against aflcc'atiom and
! deception. He hal no time fer such fool
! erirs. and so set his foot on them as mere
vcrnin of the mind. Smooth. foolish rco-
! pie. who had never roughcd it, dill net like
, this rude plucking of Of the ,inscllcd Sa"i-
! cty-mask. But bis rorShncss was cou$id-
crate, wise, and Oxen studied for sar;tary
! purposes.
! For instance. 20 .Abcrne.hy. always in Il
! grumhling fret at u parcel of pconlc who
come to me with nothing the matter enters
! one days rihandcd. simpcrin". silly. gen
! tewoman wit'i Il red nosed. silly, tight lac
cd daughter. John looks. with n putting
mouth, just glance Of contempt. and SAYS,
/ why. madam, do you know there ale mere
! than thirty yards Of bowel, squeezed under
meath that belt Of your daughters :--eo
! home and cut H. Out b"unccs cnraccd,
silly mother anil popping. foolish daughter,
! almost too much offended to remcmh,r the
well earned fec. Give Natarc fair play.
! oh, yc daughters and there Will he less cor
! sumption and fever red noscs from tiyht
! lacing.
At the hospital Abcrnetiy was often
stormy or vcxed. but never really unkinl
to a suffering or deserving paticnt on the
contrary. tender often AS 4 woman. lie
! 'rowcd' drcsscrs for carc!cssness or neglect,
but generally from motives OF humanity or
! discipline. He was as grateful as rprgiv-
ing. and even gave his casting vote to Sc
cure his old opponent, Lawrcncc's clcctinn
to the College council. In society Abcr-
! nethy was sociabir. but not merely grrga-
r;ous naturally shy, though, rough, he li,-
cd few friends with whom he could un.
bend and speak unmatched. lie was the
sun of his sphere, gay rs boy, dclightinc
: to romr. and then lie down aud chat or
sleep on the hcartl.-rug till his carriage
| came for him. Shakespeare and the thea
tire were his delight With much love of
appreciation, he had the courage to boldly
stand up and defend John Hunters ibco-
rics, even at the expense of his own i'm
provemcnts upon them his love "f arpro-
baton leh him no. to shallow work, but
! excited him TO cxcrti"n.
An old pupil Of honest AS Describes
his rough but kindly hunor as. in a sub
! Aucd way, something between the gcnia!i-
y Of Dowton and the Inictcr moods of Mum
den. Even his vou.hness was erowlch out
with a Sense Of humorous and conscious
enjoyment.
a miserable pccvish invalid. alinc and
qucrulons says to him, oh. Mr.. Abcrne-
| thy. | have something dreadful the mat
ter with This arm. There. ugh" Uwist
ing his own elbcw) shat gives me intense
pain (making n facc.)
bah " says Bear Doctor, what q fool
you must be to do it them
Of all sham, pulling patients he had n
! special horror One hypochondriac he told
to eat oysters. shells and all another a.
nything in the house but the bellows and
poker.
oh. Mrs. Grnndy, that dreadful man =
At lecture he never used notes and new
cr hcsitatcd. IF he wanted attention he
paused for n second or two. He was very
! impatient Of interruption, and a chance
knock at the door Of the theatre often put
him out. On one occasion the great Prince
Esterhazy, who scattered diamonds where
he walked, came TO see him. Abcrne,hy
was at lecture and not visible The Prince
waited, fuming. lie rang and called
! Three times the Prince was announced by
the servants, who were more afraid of Alb
| erncthy than even the great Hungarian
Prince. 1t was just Sylia and Charybdis
over again. At the third announcement
black cloud gathered on Abcrncthy's brows,
he slammed his book 10 and said,
4 will come to the Prince"
Mr.. Abcrncthy,' said the Prince, do YOU
know who | am you have been keeping
! here? am the Prince Esterhazv.'
| And l. said the doctor, 'am John Alb
crncthy, and this is my man Jamcs.-
James, show the Prince the door'-a fine.
! sturdy rebukc for fools assuming upon the
vulgar accident Of rank. When student
was laughing, CT chipping the desk. or 9th
erw:sc inattcntivc. Abcrncthy would fix bis
dreadful eye on hi N and say,
IF the lecture, sir, is not interesting to
you. shall beg of you to walk out
Nothing could make him miss lecture. -
He went TO it the day his daughter mar
ricd. On another occasion he was being
led with great reluctance across the hospi-
tai square, just at two o'clock, to all i'm
portant consultation. Suddenly the staunch
mau-lct us mt. as enemies, call him pig
bcadcd-stoppcd. drew out his arm from
that Of his bland snarcr's and growing.
| No, sir; I'll be d If do = strobe off
to the lecture theatre. That rough blunt
ness makes sad enemies a colonel comes
to Abcructby:
Show inc your tongue. All that's bad
enough
You're right there said the colonel,
wishing to be familiar and faShonatly gay.
We'll, man said Abcrncthy, 4 don't re-
quire to be told that
Sometimes, our rough. honest man got
as good as lie gave, and was rather pleas
ed with the notwithstanding his foil. il VIC
may use metaphor takeu from the schools,
TO acknowledge palpablc hit. a gentle
man came to him with cxcruciating ncu-
ralgic pains in his shoulder. Abcructby
was unusually rough and impatient:
| tWcl1 I know pot1,ino about - Io ;,,,l