THE LIFE OF JOHN ARMSTRONG, M.D, BY R. A. DAVENPORT, Esq. In the Scotch shire of Roxburgh, but closely bordering on England, is the pastoral vale which is watered by the Liddel, and takes its name from that river. It was in this vale, at Castleton, of which parish his father and brother were successively the clergymen, that JOHN ARMSTRONG was born, but in what year I am unable to ascertain. Of his education the early part was probably received at home; it was completed at the university of Edinburgh, He is said to have gone through his course of studies with more than common reputation, and he took the degree of M. D. on the fourth of February, 1732. The subject of his thesis was De Tabe Purulente. In conformity to the usage of the university, this dissertation was published, and Armstrong immediately sent a copy of it, with a modest and complimentary letter in Latin, to Sir Hans Sloane, who was then President of the College of Physicians. Whether by this tribute of respect he obtained the thanks or kindness of the president is not known. Armstrong seems early to have imbibed a love of elegant literature. He had likewise a taste for, and no mean judgment in, the fine arts, though it is probable that this was acquired or perfected at a later period. In poetry, the first of his efforts which have been preserved are the imitations of Shakspeare. The piece which bears the title of Winter' was, he tells us, just finished when Mr. Thomson's celebrated poem upon the same subject appeared.' As Thomson's poem was published in March, 1726, and as Armstrong's was composed to amuse 'the solitude of a winter passed in a wild romantic country,' the composition of the latter must be referred to the close of the year 1725, while, perhaps, he was residing at Castleton. The verses of Armstrong were praised by Thomson, Young, Aaron Hill, and Mallet. Mallet even intended to publish them, but did not persist in his intention. The two other fragments formed a part of an unfinished tragedy, which he confesses to have been attempted upon an irregular and extravagant plan, at an age much too early for such achievements.' As the metropolis is the spot where all young adventurers hope that fame and fortune await them, we may suppose that it was visited by Armstrong soon after he had taken his degree. He was certainly in London in 1735, in which year he published, anonymously, an octavo pamphlet, aimed at quacks, quackery, and the deficient education of practising apothecaries. Quacks and quackery still reign as triumphantly as when he wrote: but, fortunately for the sick, practising apothecaries are no longer the dangerous beings which they once were. The title of the pamphlet is An Essay for abridging the Study of Physic; to which is added, a Dialogue between Hygeia, Mercury, and Pluto, relating to the Practice of Physic, as it is managed by a certain illustrious Society; as also an Epistle from Usbeck the Persian to Joshua Ward, Esq.' This satirical effusion is dedicated to the antacademic philosophers, to the generous despisers of the schools, to the deservedly celebrated Joshua Ward, John Moor, and the rest of the numerous sect of inspired physicians, by their most devoted servant and zealous admirer.' Though it is not, as some have said, written in the very spirit of Lucian, it possesses a considerable share of drollery and humour. It has been reprinted in Dilly's Repository;' but, like all temporary productions, it is not now likely to attract many readers. The next work of Armstrong was a professional one, which appeared in 1737, inscribed, in a complimentary strain, to Dr. Alexander Stuart. It was intituled A Synopsis of the History and Cure of Venereal Diseases,' and was, in fact, an abridgment of the most eminent writers on that subject. This was followed, in the same year, by The Economy of Love,' a poem, to which cannot be denied the praise of being vigorously written. Its poetical beauty is, however, but a poor atonement for its flagrant licentiousness. In an edition, published thirty years afterwards, he expunged many offensive passages; but nothing short of destroying the work could render it innocuous. For the copyright he received fifty guineas from Miller the bookseller, who was amply repaid by a rapid sale. So trifling was the sum for which Armstrong stained his character, and doubtless injured his practice among the reputable part of mankind; for what husband or father would not hesitate to call in a physician whose chief fame arose from his having perverted his genius to rouse the passions and corrupt the morals of youth? This poem is said by his friends to have been written merely as a burlesque on some didactic writers; while others, with less charitable feelings, consider it as a degrading speculation, by which he hoped to entice his readers into libertine courses, that he might derive benefit from his medical skill, in removing the consequences of their indiscretion. |