Eloge upon Baron G. Dupuytren ... / by E. Pariset ; translated, with notes, by J.I. Ikin.

  • Pariset Etienne, 1770-1847.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Eloge upon Baron G. Dupuytren ... / by E. Pariset ; translated, with notes, by J.I. Ikin. 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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    whom he shared every thing, that is to say, a small apart- ment, three chairs and a table, the meagre diet of bread and water, together with a few volumes of the classics, which the friends turned to with delight as a sort of relaxation, and a miserable bed upon which they forgot for awhile the fatigues of the day. Now in summer these fatigues commenced as early as four a. m. : an example, amongst many others, which may teach youth at how great a price success is purchased, and which exemplifies the words of the poet, “ Que la fortune vend ee qu’on croit qu’elle donne.” “ That fortune sells what we believe she gives.” From this time, ever studious when amongst his fellow- pupils, whom he seemed to provoke by his zeal, but whose raillery only served to increase his exertions, Dupuytren knowing how to regard things in their true light. He would gravely discuss upon the relative subordination existing between man and man, and was wont to repeat the axiom of Caesar, viz. “ That it was better to be first in a village than second in Rome.” They would tauntingly ask of him, Where is your Rome to be ? Where is your village ? Would you be a Caesar? Thus he was teazed: but he good-naturedly smiled at their jests, still insisting as strongly as ever on the advantages of pre-eminence, a fact of little importance in itself, had it not been characteristic of the man.* In the commencement of the month of December, in the year three, corresponding to the end of 1794, Fourcroy had just established three Schools of Medicine, the one in * “ Above all things avoid being an insignificant man,” (ce qu* il faut craindre avant toute, c’ est d’ etre un homme mediocre,) was one of his favourite maxims; and to escape the chance of a humiliating mediocrity he devoted every energy of his mind.—Tr,