The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-12-25

country town, Wnefe ne m1gnb nave
achieved q prosperous mediocrity, to try
for greatness in London, and has been
worsted in the trialP Even the great ply
stefan Is not always to be envied. Every
guinea has been hardly earned by expen-
diture of brain and nerve; and we must
think of the guineas which he constantly
refuses as we'll as the guineas which he
takes. No rich man should grudge pay
ing his doctor with most liberal hand,
for in the medical profession. is very
large amount of unremunerative work,
and only most rarely is any tax on benevo-
lence declined. The successful physician
has often fallen a victim to his own sue
cess. The work Is enormous and inces-
SAINT. Early in the morning he has to
transacta laborious correspondence, where
every word must be diligently weighed.
Then the tide Of visitors sets in, and it is
calculated that, with all the rapidity a
man has right to use, the physician can
hardly see more than four patients an
hour. Then he goes abroad, and can never
be quite sure when he can return home.
When at home he can never be sure that
| he will not be called out. He can only most
rarely reckon upon q birthday, and the no.
liday is always liable to be abruptly cut
short. Some men break down under the
excessive strain, especially as if they are
men of delicate organization and very
! sensitive. There are several cases IN
which the distinguished physician has been
found dead in his carriage. A medical
man who met DR.. Todd in one Of the last
years of bis overworked life seemed to
| think that he was dying visibly before his
eyes. Some men who are endowed Win
| iron constitution, firm nerves, strong Will,
and excellent tact in the management OF
themselves and others, breast the full tide
! of adverse circumstances, masters OF
themselves and their position. But such
cases are rare, and even these afford Illus
d trations of the hard rule that the rewards
of this world are in inverse proportion to
/ the deserving.
There is much more illness in the world
than the world often thinks of. In the
constant roar and animation of the London
streets, we lose sight of this, and are apt
to obtain false impression Of human life.
Here in Cheapsde, the other day, I mar
yelled at all this buoyant life and eXhuber-
ance Of health and energy, and was tempted
to think of those who are ailing in hushed
! and darkened rooms as an infinitesimal
minority Of miserables but this is not the
! true view of the facts. OF this surglng
crowd there are not few who are carry
rying about with them malady IN the
germ of full-blown existence /; not few
/ who tomorrow will be on sick bed; not
few who in q few days or weeks will be IN
I their graves. / have seen it calculated
that ON an average every man has ten days
illness in the year. 1t is as well that the
healthy man should keep before him these
dreary possibilities that are always fitting
about. Such thought will teach him to
prize the priceless boon Of health, and not
disregard and waste it. This may give
him a practical sympathy with the vast
multitude Of the mourners, sympathy
also with the whole army Of those whose
lot is cast almost exclusively among the
suferings and shadows of life. This may
also give him an intelligent interest in
those great departments Of human know
ledge which are concerned with medicine,
whose mere romance has been touched
upon in these random noteS.-LondOn So
Cicty.