Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Percival, ... To which is added, a selection from his correspondence.

Date:
1807
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Percival, ... To which is added, a selection from his correspondence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    ADVERTISEMENT. and literary Life. Although the uniform tenor of pro- fessional avocations, diversified only by the liberal and tranquil pursuit of letters, furnish few materials for personal biography, yet happily the vicissitudes of ex- traordinary fortune are not essential to illustrate the attributes of virtue, or the labours of science. To some it may not be uninteresting to pursue the progress of a Man of Letters through the simple incidents of a career, which afforded leisure for private occupation, and scope for conduct marked by the peculiarities of his genius; nor can it be wholly uninstructive to trace in the familiar actions of a grave and refined philosopher a conformity with the precepts contained in his moral writings. The image of Dr. PercivaVs mind, which is impressed on the more durable monuments of his fame, may, it is probable, have served rather to excite than to gratify the public curiosity respecting the passages of his life, and the features of his character; and the design of the following Memoirs will be fulfilled, if they serve to exhibit a pleasing assemblage of moral and intellectual endowments, a series of unwearied efforts in the cause of learning and humanity, and a life spent in active exertions for the public and domestic good, unblemished by a single circumstance which it would be painful to recite. The simple record of such a life, it is beautifully observed by a very distinguished writer,* may derive an interest even from its uniformity; and, when contrasted with the turbulent events of the passing scene, 'may lead the thoughts to some views of human nature, on which it is not ungrateful to repose. * ProfelTor Dugald Stewart: Life of Reid.
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