A MEMORIAL SERMON 
UPON 
THE LIKE AND CHARACTER 
OF 
SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON, 
TIIE CHRISTIAN PHYSICIAN. 
BY REV. JAMES B. DUNN. 
DELIVERED IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (BEACH ST ), AT THE RE. 
QUEST OF THE GYNECOLOGIC A U SOCIETY OF hostokt titnj' iu -m?n 
ANI> REPRIM El) FROM THE JHIIUSAI, OF THEEN 
FOR AUGUST, 1870. 
BOSTON: 
JAMES CAMPBELL, 18 TREMONT STREET. 
1 8 70. A MEMORIAL SERMON 
UPON 
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
OF 
SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON, 
TILE CHRISTIAN PHYSICIAN. 
BY REV. JAMES B. DUNN. 
DELIVERED IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (BEACH ST.), AT THE RE. 
QUEST OF THE GYNAECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON, JUNE 19, 1870, 
AND REPRINTED FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE snfjU’TV 
FOR AUGUST, 1870. GE 
BOSTON: 
JAMES CAMPBELL, 18 TREMONT STREET 
1 8 70. (of Edinburgh). 
By Rev. James B. Dunn, Boston. 
{Delivered at the request of the Gynaecological Society, 19th June, 1870.)* 
“Blessed are tho dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith tho Spirit, 
that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” 
— Revelation xiv. 13. 
Chief among the striking characters I remember to 
have often met years ago in the streets of my native 
city, were two, whose impressive forms never failed to 
arrest attention even in the most crowded thorough- 
fares. I think I see them now. That tall, broad, 
* “ Hotel Pelham, 30th May, 1870. 
“ My dear Sir, — At tho memorial meeting of the Gynecological Society of Boston, 
held on tho evening of May 17th, in honor of its beloved associate, the late Professor Sir- 
James Y. Simpson, of Edinburgh, it was unanimously voted to request you to pronounce a 
public eulogy upon the deceased, at such time and place as you may elect. 
“ To the medical profession, Dr. Simpson has long stood as the type, not merely of the 
manliness and the wisdom, the heartiness and hospitality, that so, distinguish the Scottish 
character, but of its devoted and beautiful religious spirit. He has been, not merely tho 
philosopher, tho discoverer, and the bold reformer of ancient abuses, — not merely the good 
friend of his patients and of his race, — but tho steadfast servant of the Living God. As 
such, above and beyond all else, it is that wo would honor him. 
“ Trusting that to accede to tho wish of the Society will not seriously interfere with 
any of tho manifold duties you havo already assumed, and convinced that you do indeed 
mourn with us the untimely death of your great townsman, 
“ I am yours sincerely, 
“ HOltATIO R. STORER, Secretary. 
“Rev. Dr. Dunn.” 
“187 West Canton Street, June 7, 1870. 
“ My dear Sir, — Yours of tho 30th May, informing me of the action of the Gyne- 
cological Society at its recent memorial meeting, is before me. Much as I should have 
preferred the duty required of me had dovolved upon some ono better qualified to do tho 
subject justice, still I have no desire to shirk the responsibility, and will therefore willingly 4 
Eulogy upon 
robust, commanding figure, around whose finely formed 
head the silvery hair flows in wavy locks, is Professor 
Wilson, popularly known as Christopher North. That 
other, short, thick-set figure, bearing the massive head, 
— with hair as long if not as wavy, — like Bacchus 
" crowned with head of Jove,” is, in personal appear- 
ance, as remarkable. Once seen he can never be for- 
gotten, No more can one fail to recognize the influ- 
ence of his presence, and the power of his wonderful 
eye. To see him as he was seen but a few weeks ago, 
one would have thought that the vigorous vitality of 
that frame would have carried him at least to three- 
score and ten. Alas! Sir James Young Simpson — 
for such is he — has passed away; and, to-night, we 
speak of him as one that was, but whose influence still 
lives. For "Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labors; and their works do follow 
them.” It is a solemn thing to die; solemn to think 
that go where we may, do what we may, our steps are 
constantly and inevitably tending to the tomb: — 
“ And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still like muffled drums are beating 
Euneral marches to the grave.” 
But, though solemn, there is no reason why it should 
be dreaded, and the subject loathed. Oh, no! for saith 
the Scriptures, " Blessed are the dead.” That is, those 
who die in the Lord; who die trusting in the Lord; 
bear my humble testimony to the memory and excellences of ono whom all ranks and con- 
ditions of people delighted to honor. I would therefore name the Beach Street Prcsbyto- 
rian Church in this city, as tho place, and Sabbath evening, Juno the nineteenth, as the ear- 
liest time when I can, with justice to my other engagements, preach an In Memoriam sermon 
in honor of tho late Sir James Young Simpson, my fellow-townsman. 
“ Yours very truly, 
“JAMES B. DUNN. 
“ To Dr. H. R. Storer, Secretary Gynaecological Society.” Sir James Simpson. 
5 
who die having evidence of their acceptance with him. 
They are blessed because they have been washed in 
him who took away the sting of death, and won a vic- 
tory over the grave. Because they are at rest. Their 
toils in the service of Christ, their labors in promoting 
his cause, are ended. In heaven from all such weari- 
some toil they are freed. There their works do follow 
them. That is, the rewards or fruits of their labors 
follow them. 
How true this is of him who is the subject of our 
discourse, will be manifest if we consider that 
I. He was a self-made man. — The heathens had a 
goddess whom they called Fortune. She is commonly 
represented standing by a wheel. From this, which 
she turns round and round, are drawn the blanks and 
prizes in which she assigns their different destinies to 
men, without any respect to their merits or demerits. 
She could not do otherwise, indeed; for, while her 
hand is on the wheel, a bandage is on her eyes. So 
some men think it is with the world; everything is of 
chance; some are children of fortune, others of misfor- 
tune. Nothing could be more fallacious. There is no 
royal road to honor. Of true greatness it may be 
averred that none can be born to it; none can have it 
thrust upon them; that he who would possess it must 
achieve it. To the pinnacle of conventional rank and 
fame the accident of birth may raise you; and this, 
after all, is but a borrowed lustre. If, when life’s 
course is run, you can claim no more, then yours is but 
a worthless honor. If you would gain a place among 
the few who are truly honored, you must " climb the 
steep whence fame’s proud temple shines afar.” For 
example: John Bunyan was originally a tinker; Fara- 
day, the celebrated chemist, a bookbinder; the inventor 
of the steam-engine, a blacksmith; John Forster, 
whose writings will live with our language, as well as 6 
Eulogy upon 
Dr. Livingstone, the explorer, a weaver; Cook, the dis- 
tinguished navigator, a day laborer; Carey, the first of 
missionaries, a cobbler; and so with many others we 
might name, — all going to show that genius and fame 
have rarely arrived at the promised land without first 
marching through the Red Sea; lingering for a while in 
the wilderness, they have been pursued by the Egyp- 
tians, refused hospitality by Edom, and cursed by 
Balaam; and yet have triumphed in spite of all. 
How true was all this with the subject of our dis- 
course! Born at Bathgate, in 1811, of respectable, but 
by no means wealthy parents, he rose from obscurity, 
yea, from poverty (for when but a lad he went to Ed- 
inburgh, very poor and friendless), to the highest posi- 
tion of eminence in his profession, and took a place in 
the front ranks of science and literature. 
It was when a poor, friendless boy he went to Edin- 
burgh to attend some of the University courses, in 
hopes of bettering the education he had received in a 
country school, that he gave indications of that won- 
derful versatility of genius, which only required oppor- 
tunity and diligent study to develop, so as to call 
forth commendation from one of the venerable profes- 
sors, who urged him to compete for a scholarship, 
which was tenable for three years, and would help him 
to continue his studies in the University. Nothing 
daunted by his imperfect preparation, young Simpson 
gave himself to the work with characteristic energy 
and succeeded. Thus he was led to enter himself as a 
student of medicine. After obtaining his surgical 
diploma, he became a candidate for a surgeon’s post in 
a small village in the west of Scotland. In this, to his 
deep chagrin, and great disappointment, he failed. 
Though to him it was a great blow, to the profession 
at large, and the good of humanity, it was a great 
mercy; for, had he received the appointment, he would Sir James Simpson. 
7 
probably have continued a village doctor all his days. 
But he lived to recognize the hand of Providence in 
all this, and to acknowledge 
“ There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them as we will.” 
Rallying from the blow, he continued his studies at 
the University till at the age of twenty-one he obtained 
his medical degree; and so creditable was his examina- 
tion that he was at the time chosen assistant to Profes- 
sor Thompson in the chair of Pathology. Having 
occasion to lecture at times in place of his principal, he 
startled the old professor and others out of all pro- 
priety, with the new doctrines which he so ably ex- 
pounded and illustrated; thus early giving indications 
of those powers which were yet to win for him such 
celebrity, and place him at the head of his profession, 
and in the front rank of the scientific men of the age. 
Honors, fame, emoluments, came crowding upon him 
from every quarter. Colleges, and academies of medi- 
cine and science, at home and abroad, vied with each 
other in doing the great man honor. When but twen- 
ty-eight years of age, he was appointed successor to 
Professor Hamilton, in the University of Edinburgh 
(to the chair of midwifery). In 1849 he was elevated 
to the office of President of the Edinburgh Royal 
College of Physicians; in 1852, made President of the 
Medico-chirurgical Society; in 1853, Foreign Associate 
of the French Academy of Medicine; in 1856, he 
received, from the French Academy of Science, the 
Monthyon prize of two thousand francs, w in considera- 
tion of his important services to humanity, by the intro- 
duction of anaesthesia in obstetrics, and the discovery 
of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.” 
For the same causes he received the Royal Order of 
Knighthood of St. Olaf, from the late King of Sweden. 8 
Eulogy upon 
In 1866, he was created a Baronet, by her Majesty, 
Queen Victoria; and in the same year he received the 
D.C.L. of Oxford; in 1869, the freedom of the city 
of Edinburgh was conferred upon him as a special 
honor, by his fellow-citizens, — the first time that that 
honor has been conferred upon a medical practitioner 
in their own city, or a professor in his own University. 
But it is not to enumerate the honors conferred upon 
Sir James Y. Simpson that we are here; it is rather to 
single out those features in his character that marked 
him a man to be honored and imitated. 
II. As a Physician. — Sir James Young Simpson 
had no superior in his day. To award him this honor 
is no empty praise, disparaging no profession; for 
no one honors more than I do all professions, and all 
lawful callings: the weaver at the loom, the blacksmith 
at the anvil, the carpenter at the bench, the farmer at 
the plough, the laborer with the spade, the clerk behind 
the counter. Each and all are honorably engaged; 
each has his place, his appropriate and needful work 
and reward. But next to the ministry, the office of 
which we would magnify, the practice of medicine is 
the highest possible to man, devoted as it is exclusively 
to the welfare of mankind. That men have followed 
this profession from sordid and mercenary motives, we 
do not deny; but they are unworthy of the name. 
True men entering upon this office take up a conse- 
crated work; they set themselves apart as the servants 
of mankind, subject to every call, at all seasons ready 
to make sacrifice. The diagnosing a case, and writing 
prescriptions, are mere adjuncts. Physicians are the 
custodians and conservators of the highest interests 
and most precious blessings conferred upon man. Theirs 
is to palliate, if they cannot prevent, and, as far as pos- 
sible, remove the evils of our world and the ills of our 
race. Sir James Simpson. 
9 
How nobly did Sir James Y. Simpson magnify his 
office and prosecute his work! When called, in 1839, to 
till the professor’s chair, many were the predictions 
made by his opponents, and the friends of his defeated 
competitor, of his inability to sustain the position, and 
the certainty that the University and the interests of the 
city would suffer from such an election. How was it? 
A new era dawned upon the University and the depart- 
ment of which he was at the head. His class-room was 
soon thronged as no other class-room had been before. 
In the chair he was the most impressive and instruct- 
ive of teachers, absolutely fascinating his audience by 
the force of his arguments, the originality of his posi- 
tions, and the fertility and appositeness of his illus- 
trations ; and medical men, long in practice, came from 
different parts deeming it a privilege to listen to his 
lectures. 
At home his consulting-rooms were alike crowded 
with patients. Probably no physician in any country 
ever attracted so many patients about him as flocked to 
Dr. Simpson. They came from America, from Aus- 
tralia, from Asia, yea, from all quarters of the world, 
so celebrated had he become. Among the other great 
chiefs of medicine and surgery, such as Brodie, Hunter, 
Harvey, Jenner, Yelpeau, Mott, and Warren, few in- 
deed were there — so disinterested and able physicians 
tell us—so quick and accurate as Simpson in diagnosis, 
or in finding out what was the matter with his patients. 
Certainly no one ever excelled him in the ingenuity, and 
simplicity, and originality, of his treatment; and no 
one surpassed him in that self-possession and quick 
decisiveness so all-important in sudden emergencies, 
when the physician or surgeon has literally the issues 
of life and death depending on his skill. Yo circum- 
stances, however complicated and pressing, ever found 
him unprepared to act. His unrivalled fertility of re- 10 
Eulogy upon 
source, his quick, inventive, and adaptive mind, enabled 
him to carry himself and his patients successfully 
through the most dangerous and appalling perils. 
His contributions to the literature of his profession, 
his discoveries of new remedies, and new modes of treat- 
ment, place him in the front rank of his profession. 
His works are among the few works that compare with 
those of Hunter and the old masters. The fidelity with 
which he applied rigid scientific methods of research in 
trying to find out improvements in medical practice, the 
simplicity with which he describes his various methods 
of treating intractable diseases, render his works inval- 
uable to the student and practitioner. 
III. As a Discoverer. — As a professional man there 
are four things that will ever be associated with the 
name of Sir J. Y. Simpson: these are the introduction 
of chloroform, the stamping out of zymotic disease, the 
introduction of acupressure, and hospital reform. 
His suggestions as to acupressure, now in daily 
practice, and which, in ten years, has spread over the 
surgical world to a greater extent than did its prede- 
cessor — the ligature — in two centuries, and the idea 
of stopping blood from cut arteries, by thrusting metal- 
lic needles under them and pressing them against sur- 
rounding tissue and bone, was a brilliant one, and ranks 
its author side by side with Ambrose Pare and the 
greatest surgeons who have ever lived. While the 
great hospital reform introduced b}7- him, one has well 
said, " entitles him to the glorious appellation of hav- 
ing been the modern father of medicine, a second Hip- 
pocrates.” 
Great as were these achievements in medical science 
and art, sufficient indeed to render his name forever 
illustrious, yet even these fade into insignificance when 
compared with his discovery of the anaesthetic proper- 
ties of chloroform. ’Tis this that has made his name Sir James Simpson. 
11 
immortal, and ranked him as equal with Harvey, 
Hunter, and Jenner. Who can compute the sum of 
mortal agony which this single discovery has been the 
means of erasing from the lot of humanity? Other dis- 
coveries have benefited certain classes of the race, but 
this is a boon extending to the whole human family. 
Many attempts have been made to deprive Sir James 
of his laurels as a discoverer. People have said this is 
no new thing. True indeed! for there is no new thing 
under the sun. The idea of the possibility of anni- 
hilating pain was held by many long before Simpson’s 
day, or even Sir Humphrey Davy’s. The Greek and 
Roman physicians, thousands of years ago, used anaes- 
thetic agents, the best of which w~as mandragora 
steeped in wine. And one of England’s old poets, 
writing in 1657, says: — 
“ I’ll imitate the pities of old surgeons 
To this lost limb, who, ere they show their art, 
Cast one asleep, then cut the diseased part.” 
]STot that we would by any means detract from those 
of our own country the honor due to them for the part 
they have played in the introduction of anaesthetics. 
All credit we would award to Dr. Morton, of this city, 
who used ether as an anaesthetic in dentistry, in the 
year 1816, and to Dr. Charles T. Jackson, for suggesting 
sulphuric ether to Dr. Morton, as an agent capable of 
producing insensibility to pain. But while doing this, 
we must not forget to put on record that two years be- 
fore this, in 1811, Dr. Horace Wells, of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, successfully performed the same anaesthetic 
operation in dentistry, with both sulphuric ether and 
nitrous oxide gas; and that when Dr. Wells, elated 
with his discovery, came to Boston to lay it before the 
medical faculty of this city, arrangements were made 12 
Eulogy upon 
to try the anaesthetic in the case of tooth extraction. 
Bnt when, unfortunately for Dr. Wells’s discovery, the 
bag was drawn away too soon, so that there was still 
some little pain felt during the operation, the audi- 
ence, composed of several physicians and a large num- 
ber of students, pronounced it a humbug, and hooted 
Dr. Wells out of the place. All honor, then, to whom 
honor is due. And Sir James Y. Simpson was the last 
man to pluck well-won laurels from any man’s brow. 
Why, his last act in behalf of science was to dictate on 
his dying bed a statement in regard to the history of 
anaesthetics, in which Hartford and Boston are assigned 
their proper places; the honor being given to Dr. 
Wells, of Hartford, — a decision confirmed by the 
unanimous vote of the American Medical Association, 
recently in session at Washington. 
This last generous, unselfish act of Simpson’s, in the 
interests of an American discoverer, on behalf of science, 
when weak and suffering, and on a dying bed, finds a 
parallel in. George Whitefield. After preaching at 
Exeter, he started for Newbury port, reaching there 
that evening, and expecting to preach there the next 
day. While at supper the pavement and the hall of the 
house where he sat were crowded with people who had 
gathered to hear him; but he was exhausted, so he re- 
quested one of the clergy, who accompanied him, to 
speak to them, and, taking* a candle, he started for his 
room. But, before he reached it, his heart reproved 
him for even seeming to desert the people who were 
hungering for the bread of life. He paused on the 
stairway, and, with the candle still in his hand, he be- 
gan to speak. The people gazed with tearful awe and 
affection on his venerable form. Solemnly and tenderly 
he addressed them, until the candle went out in its Sir James Simpson. 
13 
socket. Before the " morning George Wlritefield was 
dead. 
But to our subject. Ether is not chloroform, and it 
is with the latter that the name of Simpson is linked. 
And then to think how it was discovered! 
1Y. His Philanthropy. — Man is never so noble as 
when he forgets himself, to bless others. There are no 
deeds that so kindle the heart to admiration and enthu- 
siastic praise as those in which we bear others’ burdens, 
or volunteer to suffer and endure in their behalf. It 
half redeems from rebuke the vices of the savage par- 
ent, when we see him risking his own life to save that 
of the child; and much as we may dislike war, yet 
when men forget themselves for their country’s sake, 
and for the love of others breast that surging tide of 
battle, and risk life and everything on earth at the call 
of patriotic duty, it is impossible for us not to admire 
and praise. And how noble do the heroism and self- 
sacrifice of Dr. Simpson stand forth as we see him, dis- 
satisfied with ether as an anaesthetic, shut himself in 
his laboratory and try the different effects of the various 
contents of its many vials! See him thus! Standing 
there, fronting unknown dangers, experimenting with 
subtle and potent essences, caring nothing for himself, 
or his safety, or his own life, if only he might save 
others’lives. Wonderful! Grandest of human discov- 
eries! When we think of its benefits and far-reaching 
results, we do not wonder at the physician, who, when 
asked how chloroform was discovered, said it must 
have been by inspiration. Soon after, it was tried in a 
most critical case, and with complete success. On that 
day the labors of two thousand years of investigation 
culminated in Simpson’s demonstrating the possibility 
of annihilating pain, and subjecting it to human control. 
A new era was inaugurated for mankind. Science — 14 
Eulogy upon 
and with due reverence do we speak it — had at last 
succeeded in absolving woman from the curse which was 
pronounced upon Eve. Blessed relief! Alas! that 
we should have to say it, — fierce was the wrath of man 
against Simpson for interfering, it was alleged, with 
the decrees of Providence. But so it has always been. 
Scripture and the fathers of the Church were quoted 
to prove that Columbus was a heretic and an infidel for 
suggesting that there was another continent; and a 
clergyman actually published a sermon to show that 
Jenner, for endeavoring to check the ravages of the 
small-pox, was the beast of the Apocalypse. The 
small-pox, it was claimed, was ” heaven-ordained,” and 
any interference with it was a daring and profane vio- 
lation of our holy religion. Winnowing machines were 
objected to, because " winds were raised by God alone, 
and it was irreligious in man to attempt to raise wind 
by efforts of his own.” But Dr. Simpson had a divine 
precedent in his attempt to master pain, — the first sur- 
gical operation on record was painless. It was per- 
formed on Adam, but not tMl the Lord had caused a 
deep sleep to fall upon him. Well did the great Chal- 
mers counsel Simpson to pay no heed to the w small theo- 
logians,” when asked what reply should be given to 
the biblical objections to chloroform. Language fails 
me as I try to give you some estimate of the inconceiv- 
able benefits the discovery of chloroform has conferred 
upon humanity. Ho discovery in ancient or modern 
times can be" compared to it. It is a priceless boon. 
To surgeons everywhere Simpson had proven himself 
the greatest of benefactors. What untold horrors has 
its use not mitigated and prevented on the battle-field 
and in the hospital! Think of its constant use in the 
Crimean and Italian campaigns, without a single fail- 
ure. Of like results attending the seven weeks’ Austro- Sir James Simpson. 
15 
Prussian war, and listen to the testimony of one of the 
first of U. S. army surgeons, who says that during our 
own bloody struggle chloroform was administered in 
more than one hundred and twenty thousand cases, and 
not more than eight cases can be found in which a fatal 
result can be fairly traceable to its use. Marvellous! 
Just think how that, in the hospitals of London and 
Edinburgh alone, fourteen hundred serious operations 
are annually performed, and what must be the vast ag- 
gregate of operations performed in all the hospitals of 
this and other lands! Oh, what a weight of suffering! 
What untold agony! What a mass of accumulated 
misery! What lamentation and mourning, what 
sighs, what groans! The heart grows sick, the spirit 
sinks, and the brain reels at the thought. Now let the 
pen of the ministering angel cancel all, and what a 
relief! Thus see what an amount of anguish has 
disappeared under the silent, soothing influence of 
chloroform. Twelve hundred millions of human 
beings that people the earth have each on their entrance 
into the world caused hours of maternal anguish. What 
mind can realize the magnitude and extent of such suf- 
fering? Now all this the general use of chloroform is 
destined to prevent; and how rapidly is its use being 
introduced! Think of the numberless manufactories 
of chloroform established in different countries. In 
Edinburgh there is one which makes from two to three 
million doses a year; evidence, as Simpson said, of the 
" great extent to which the practice is now carried of 
wrapping men, women, and children in a painless sleep 
during some of the most trying moments of human 
existence.” 
Y. Ills Intellectual Greatness. — Some writer has said 
"there is little difference in men’s bodily stature; a 
fathom or thereabouts, a little more or less, is the ordi- 16 
Eulogy ujpon 
nary elevation of the human family.” Not so is it with 
mental statures. Of pigmy intellects, fragile under- 
standings to which the grasshopper is a burden, and 
dwarfish capacities, unable to grapple with the easiest 
problems, we have an abundance; but of colossal 
minds, tall, culminating minds, which command the en- 
tire tract of existing knowledge, minds whose horizon 
is their coeval hemisphere, we have but few. 
Such a mind was Dr. Simpson’s. His information 
was vast. The versatility of his genius was one of the 
most remarkable things about him. Not only did he 
enrich medical literature, in every department, by 
some of the most important contributions of modern 
times, but he was reputed to be one of the best anti- 
quarians and archaeologists of his age. His public ad- 
dresses and works on these subjects are the richest in 
erudition and antiquarian lore ever given to the press. 
Take that splendid work on the. sculptured stones of 
Scotland, written during a severe illness, or his " Notes 
on Magical Charmstones and Cave Sculpturings in 
Fife,” and there is exhibited the profoundest acquaint- 
ance with this fascinating subject, and a depth of schol- 
arship and research, for which few would have given him 
credit. By the kindness of a medical friend, we have 
been permitted to examine somewhat the former of these 
works, and at every page we have had to exclaim, Mar- 
vellous ! Marvellous! 
Those of you who have met Sir James must have 
been impressed with the diversity of his attainments 
and his almost universal knowledge. He seemed to 
know everything, and could talk about everything. 
Then there was an originality and lucidity about his 
treatment of subjects, perfectly wonderful. The most 
abstruse became simple, and the most ordinary topics 
of medical discussion shone out in a new light when il- Sir James Simpson. 
17 
lumined by his touch. No wonder that he attracted to 
his rooms, and around his table, — for he was much given 
to hospitality, — the most distinguished men of letters 
and representatives of every department of science and 
art. Here were daily to be met, physicians, naturalists, 
antiquarians, and literati of all sorts, and from all parts 
of the world. 
I need not tell you that the industry of such a man 
was prodigious. How could it be otherwise? How he 
carried on liis gigantic practice, his splendid and innu- 
merable scientific investigations, his antiquarian and 
literary studies and labors; how he kept up his pro- 
fessional, scientific, literary, and political reading; 
how he worked, wrote, and spoke, and took part in 
every philanthropic and Christian movement that tended 
to advance and elevate humanity, and extend Christ’s 
kingdom; and yet could find time for the social en- 
joyment and amenities of life, in which he shone, has 
been a mystery to everybody. We have heard of a 
man who wrote a book in the intervals of time spent in 
waiting upon people. With Simpson, this was literally 
the case. "Many of my most brilliant papers,” he once 
said to his students, " were composed at the bedside of 
my patients.” Yet he never neglected them. 
That Sir James Y. Simpson had his faults, like other 
mortals, we well know. But these were mainly called 
out by the meanness, hypocrisy, and time-serving of 
others; conduct which he with his whole soul detested, 
and was not loth so to express himself concerning, thus 
making to himself enemies. 
Other men have passed away, men eminent as physi- 
cians and surgeons, — some of them but recently. Their 
loss the profession mourns. The loss of Brodie and 
Velpeau, and Mott and Warren, and such illustrious 
men of the profession, who can estimate? But the loss 18 
Eulogy upon 
of Sir James Y. Simpson is second to no other loss. 
His profession mourns this loss; his own country, ours, 
every country, the whole human race mourn his loss; 
for to benefit the entire race of mankind was his life 
spent. Well did the members of the American Medical 
Association, at the close of its session at Washington, 
when the cable dispatch brought news of his death, 
convene in mass to do honor to his memory. Well did 
the President of that meeting, Dr. Thomas Miller, de- 
clare that, in the death of Sir James Y. Simpson, every 
medical man had met a personal loss, seeing how he 
had done more for medical science and humanity, and 
shed more lustre on the profession, than any one of his 
age, and over his grave the people of all nations 
must mingle tears of deepest sympathy for the loss they 
have sustained. Well did Dr. Storer, of this city, say 
at that meeting, " The nations will rise up indeed to call 
him blessed,” and move the adoption of the following 
among other appropriate resolutions : "That in Dr. 
Simpson, American physicians recognized not merely 
an eminent and learned Scotch practitioner, but a phi- 
lanthropist, whose love encircled the world.” Well did 
other speakers at that meeting say, " In him science has 
lost one of her most earnest, original, and gifted stu- 
dents, society one of her brightest ornaments, and hu- 
manity one of her greatest and most useful benefactors.” 
Well did the Gynecological Society of this city meet 
in memoriam, a few days after, to do like honors to his 
memory, — seeing how that modern gynecology, as well 
as modern surgery, is indebted to Simpson for several 
of its most important advances, and that Dr. Simpson 
was this Society’s first Honorary Member. In thus hon- 
oring him, these societies have honored themselves, for 
he was worthy of such honor. In view of his services 
to humanity, well might he have said of his life," When Sir James Simpson. 
19 
the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye 
saw me, it gave witness to me; the blessing of him that 
was ready to perish came upon me, and I made the 
mother’s heart to leap for joy.” 
VI. Dr. Simpson as a Christian. — But though 
much has been said, to use the words of another 
“ the measure of his greatness is not yet full.” Did we 
pause here, our work would be only half done, the por- 
trait imperfect; for, with all his greatness, there would 
still be something lacking. Happy am I, that void can 
be filled, and now I bid you look upon him as a Chris- 
tian. As a Christian physician, does Sir James Y. 
Simpson base his highest claim for respect and admira- 
tion. As a Christian, an earnest, sincere, devout, 
humble Christian, do I now ask you to think of him. 
We have already discovered in him a mind of exalted 
order, cultured and developed,— a heart full of noble 
and generous affections. We have now to see a spirit- 
ual nature, which grasped with tenacity the sublimest 
truths, exemplified them in his daily walk, and sought 
in every possible way to promote and propagate them. 
There are scientific men who dislike Christianity; not 
so was it with Sir James Y. Simpson. There are phy- 
sicians, sorry am I to say it, that dislike Christianity, 
and scoff at evangelical religion; so many of them, that 
we love to honor the man of science who is a Christian, 
and not afraid to proclaim it, and the Christian 'physi- 
cian. Such was Christ, whose minister we are. “ Co 
and show John again, those things which ye do hear 
and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame 
walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, 
and the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel 
preached to them.” These were the evidences of the 
Saviour’s Messiahship. Christ went about “ healing all 
manner of diseases, and all manner of sickness among 20 
Eulogy upon 
the people.” And while engaged in this work, what 
glorious opportunities are presented to the Christian 
physician, — to point suffering ones to the Healer of 
souls, — to Him, who bindeth up the broken-hearted, 
and breaks the captive’s chain! 
Such physicians the profession has had, and mighty 
are the works they have done for Christianity. “Parker, 
it may be said, opened the gates of China with a lancet, 
when European cannon could not break a single bar. 
Dr. Halley entered the island of Madeira with a 
single companion, a sick wife, leaning on his arm; he 
left it with eight hundred men, won for the truth and 
God. Thomas was an early medical missionary in 
India. A Hindoo came to him with a dislocated shoul- 
der. He reduced the luxation, and then told him of 
Christ who came into the world to save sinners. He 
was touched, subdued, soon broke caste, became a 
changed man,— became a Christian. He was the first 
Hindoo convert, and the leader of a mighty host who 
have since entered into the kingdom. It was Gabriel 
Broughton, a physician, that gave India to England. 
It was a physician who forced his way to the north 
magnetic pole, and brought to the doors of Christianity 
those unknown and wandering tribes of the icy north; 
and a physician who won Africa to civilization, and pre- 
pared a highway and a home for the African race. 
Physicians led in the van of that army which lifted the 
South Sea Islands from cannibalism, and lighted on 
those distant groups a civilization which is never to 
go out.” And many are the physicians I have known, 
who,— 
“ When pain and sickness rend the brow, 
Are ministering angels found.” 
For there are moments of extreme suffering, which 
forbid the presence of clergymen. In such moments Sir James Simpson. 
21 
physicians are specially required. Then in the brief 
intervals of rest, the}7", if Christians, can breathe words 
of comfort, of counsel, and of warning, of a world to 
come. Such a physician was Sir James Y. Simpson, 
in his latter years. I say, latter years, for it was only 
then that he publicly identified himself with the gospel 
of Christ, and felt free to speak his own Christian experi- 
ences,—though he evidently had been at heart a true 
disciple of Christ for some time previous. But when 
he came out and publicly acknowledged Christ, he then 
put on the whole armor of God, and gave evidence 
that his religion was a thing of the heart, an inward 
principle, directing and controlling his whole life, — a 
religion not limited to the closet, or the family, or the 
sanctuary, but which was manifest in his daily walk. 
On all fitting occasions he was ready to give a reason 
for the hope that was in him, and to commend to 
others, in public and in private, the salvation which was 
his own solace for life and for death. His labors in 
this cause were most abundant, notwithstanding his ex- 
tensive practice, and the large drafts made upon his time 
from the numberless literary, scientific, and benevolent 
associations with which he was connected. He was 
most faithful in his attendance upon the sanctuary, the 
social prayer-meeting, and other means of grace. Fre- 
quently have we met men of his profession who never 
spoke disrespectfully of religion, and who would have 
felt themselves insulted had they been ranked among 
its enemies, or at least not numbered among its friends; 
yet who seldom attended church, and rarely, if ever, 
went to a prayer-meeting. Why? Oh, they had no 
time! their practice so extensive, and their calls so 
numerous, — yet, we venture to say, not one of 
them had anything like the demands made upon their 
time, as had Sir James Y. Simpson. His public efforts 22 
Eulogy upon 
for the advancement of religion were many and con- 
tinuous. As a lay preacher and exhorter, he was most 
successful. Many of his addresses have been published 
by the Religious Tract Society of London, and have 
met with a large circulation. One of these addresses, 
republished in this country, and a copy of which I have, 
is alike as remarkable for its freshness, directness, and 
fervor, as for the scriptural soundness of the truths so 
clearly set forth and illustrated. When his last illness 
prostrated him, he seemed to have a premonition that 
this illness was unto death, and sending for his pastor 
he held with him much sweet and familiar converse 
relating to religion and death. He did not fear death; 
on the other hand, he was prepared to welcome it, and 
if he desired life, it was, as he expressed it, with a hope, 
if it were God’s will, that he might do a little more 
service in the way of Hospital Reform. But. all his 
plans he held subject to the Divine will. On one occa- 
sion, in reply to a friend, he said, ” If God takes me 
to-night, I feel I am resting on Christ, with the simple 
faith of a child.” And during all his acute pains — 
and these were neither few nor light — he was not 
only resigned, but cheerful. He knew in Whom he 
believed, and into Whose care he had given the keep- 
ing of his soul. He loved his profession; he loved his 
studies, but, oh, he loved his Bible and his Saviour 
more! Hence, this abiding confidence and repose in 
dying. 
Are there men of literature and science now listening 
to me? Oh, let me warn you to seek something better 
than these! Put not your trust in them, otherwise you 
will find them to be but Job’s comforters. 
You have read, it may be, the " Last Days of a Phi- 
losopher; ” if not, then read it, and learn what a manual 
of mournful " consolations ” Sir Humphrey Davy be- Sir James Simpson. 
23 
queathed to the world, and why it was that great phi- 
losopher took leave of life so gloomily. Of the sons of 
science few have been so favored. In his grand discov- 
ery of the metallic bases, and in his more popular 
invention of the safety-lamp; in the command of a 
laboratory which opened a royal road to chemistry, and 
in the splendid crowds who thronged to his lectures, 
from the moment that he found a generous patron till 
he became a baronet of England, and President of the 
Poyal Society, his whole career was a series of rare 
felicities. Yet with all his versatile powers, orator, 
philosopher, poet, and with all his distinctions glittering 
around him, his heart still felt hollow, and in his later 
journals the expressive entry was, "Very miserable.” 
What was it that he wanted? He himself has told us, 
"I envy no quality of mind or intellect in others,—not 
genius, power, wit, or fancy; but if I could choose 
what would be most delightful, and I believe most use- 
ful to me, I should prefer a firm, religious belief to 
every other blessing; for it makes life a discipline of 
goodness, creates new hopes when all earthly hopes 
vanish, and throws over the decay, the destruction of 
existence, the most gorgeous of all lights, calling up 
the most delightful visions, where the sensualist and 
sceptic view only gloom, decay, and annihilation.” 
This religious belief Sir James had; hence his depart- 
ure was so peaceful. Among his last utterances he 
said to a minister, who had expressed the hope that he 
held a firm hold of Christ, " I am afraid that I cannot 
say that; but I think I can touch the hem of his gar- 
ment.” In a letter, written to his intimate friend and 
former pupil, Dr. Horatio Storer, of this city, a few 
days before his death, while speaking of his extreme 
debility and approaching dissolution, he very beauti- 
fully says, "But you and I will, I hope, meet in another 24 
Eulogy upon 
world; for I look, as I hope yon do, for salvation to 
Jesns, and to Jesus only.” In view of his religious 
character and peaceful end, how apposite are the verses 
written by himself at Geneva some three years ago: — 
“ Oft mid this world’s ceaseless strife, 
When flesh and spirit fail me, 
I stop and think of another life, 
Where ills can ne’er assail me, — 
Where my wearied arm shall cease its flglit, 
My heart shall cease its sorrow, 
And this dark night change for the light 
Of an everlasting morrow. . 
“ On earth below, there’s nought but woe, 
E’en mirth is gilded sadness; 
But in heaven above there is nought but love, 
With all its raptured gladness; 
There — till I come — waits me a home, 
All human dreams excelling, 
In which at last, when life is past, 
I’ll find a regal dwelling. 
“ Then shall be mine, through grace divine, 
A rest that knows no ending, 
Which my soul’s eye would fain descry, 
Though still with clay ’tis blending. 
And, Saviour dear, while I tarry here, 
Where a Father’s love has found me, 
Oh, let me feel, through woe and weal, 
Thy guardian arm around me.” 
And Sir James is dead. But his death is not, as 
some have said, untimely! Untimely? No! All this 
learning and experience, all this acuteness and skill, all 
this benevolence and piety, are not lost, not squandered. 
In other and grander spheres the Lord hath need of 
him. There is no waste of power when an able and 
gifted man is called from some obscure sphere to a posi- 
tion of dignity and responsibility. So, surely, there is 
no waste, no annihilation, of what is most precious, no 
frustration of the long education of life, when, in the 
very midst of their years and usefulness, God calls 
away the best and wisest of the sons of men, to play Sir James Simpson. 
25 
their part on a wider, grander stage. Let us not mourn, 
then, the death of Simpson as untimely. In that very 
hour when he seemed to fall, he was rising to greater 
exaltation. Talk not, then, of his sun as having gone 
down while it was yet day, seeing how already he has 
begun to shine as the stars forever and ever. He has 
served his day. His end was peace; and the blessing 
of those that were ready to perish will crown his mem- 
ory. 
Never did that ancient city of Edinburgh witness 
such a heartfelt tribute of respect paid to the memory 
of any man as was paid to the memory of Sir James Y. 
Simpson on the day of his funeral. Cheerfully and 
promptly was a place otfered in Westminster Abbey, 
where his remains might be laid, and had not his family 
declined the proposition, the plan would have been car- 
ried out. As it is, beautiful is the sunny slope in War- 
riston Cemetery where he now lies. Such a demon- 
stration of sympathy as was exhibited on that day by 
the inhabitants of Edinburgh and the surrounding 
country, that city never witnessed. Whole columns of 
the daily press were taken up with a mere enumeration 
of the different societies which took part in the public 
procession. Every street on the line of march was one 
great mass of sympathizing humanity. Standing on the 
brow of the hill on which the New Town is built, one 
writer describes the spectacle, so very solemn and im- 
pressive : — 
" The long line of mourners was seen winding its ser- 
pentine way through the dense crowd of variously 
dressed spectators, as the dark waters of the Rhone are 
said to flow unmingled through the limpid Lake of Ge- 
neva. Now and again the rays of the declining sun, 
striking on the gilt plates of the coffin, threw it into re- 
lief against the dark covering of the bier, while the sable 
plumes overshadowing the canopy kept nodding time 26 
Ttlulogy upon 
to the solemn movement of the car. But the grave 
reached, dust is committed to dust, the solemn silence 
alone broken by the chirping notes of a little bird that 
had perched on the topmost branch of a tree at the foot 
of the grave. And when the last turf had been laid, 
and the crowd, many of whose manly cheeks were wet 
with honest tears, had turned away — as if nature herself 
could not refrain from shedding a tear over so great 
and good a man, the sky, which up to that moment had 
been unclouded, became overcast, and a gentle rain 
began to fall.” 
From this touching scene, as well as interesting sub- 
ject, time reminds us we must turn away. And what 
shall we say in parting? In his profession, a vacant 
place has been made. AYho shall fill it? Oh! that I 
could persuade you, members of the medical profession, 
to lift up the banner he has dropped, and step into the 
place which he has left empty, and, as Christian physi- 
cians, live as he lived, for the good of your race, and the 
glory of God! "Another man to take the colors! ” was 
the cry in one of the regiments on a recent battle-field; 
they lay on the ground, and the gallant young stand- 
ard-bearer bleeding beside them. It was answered, 
bravely answered. Through the smoke of battle the 
sun glanced again on the levelled line of muskets, and 
another volley rang. Again that cry, " Another man to 
take the colors! ” Stepping forth, one bent him over 
the dead, loosed the staff from the dead man’s fingers, 
and flung the flag on high in the face of the foe; yet 
another volley rang; he, too, goes down, and a third time 
the cry arose, terrible above the roar of the battle, "An- 
other man to take the colors! ” The earth is still a bat- 
tle-field, and Christ’s banner is still to be borne upon the 
arms of faith, and on through the very fire of the con- 
flict. Over all the field, Christ’s cause stands in need 
of men of might, men of prayer, men that can wield the Sir James Simpson. 
27 
sword of the Spirit, and carry the banner of the cross. 
And to-night, with that fallen standard-bearer at our 
feet, we would raise the old battle-cry, " Another man 
to take the colors! ” 
My friends, from this night begin life aright. A 
Christian life is the only one worth living on earth; any 
other soon fades away to dregs; and such dregs! The 
memory of the saints is blessed; the righteous shall be 
had in everlasting remembrance. Oh, remember the 
world is evanescent, and think, oh, think of that life 
that never ends! Put yourself in thought far away be- 
yond these shifting, cheating scenes; soar above this 
fire-doomed earth, and its shows and pomps. See the 
great globe with all its cities and palaces shrinking to 
an atom; leave time behind you, take your place among 
the angel choir that sweep their golden harps before 
the throne, where our Christian physician has gone, and 
ask yourselves then what this life should be, fitting for 
such a sphere. And remember that preparation for 
that sphere must be begun here, and now. If hitherto 
you have held aloof, come, oh, come now. " Mark thou 
the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the latter 
end of that man is peace.” Will you not come? Time 
presses. How fast this sand-glass runs! The hand on 
that clock moves steadily on, rapidly round to the final 
hour. It may now strike. Leap for your life! Alas! for 
your souls. Quick, lest the door be shut, and your 
doom is sealed. Enter now. And oh, the joy, the 
peace, peace even here, — for this to the believer Christ 
bequeathed, — and the dying that peace will raise into 
triumph, the triumph that smiles at death, and sings of 
victory, and sees the heaven opened and longs to enter 
in. Then on the tombstone, write, "Blessed are the 
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, 
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from theirjaferft 
and their works do follow them.”