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| £>£. BA&THQLOlfEW FOSSELL. 697 the heroism of bis friend, Elisba Tyson, seemed to recall for a moment, the vigor of youth to render the decrepitude of age almost majestic. But it was not Slavery alone, which occupied the thoughts and attention of this large-hearted man. He was well known as an advocate of common school education, of temperance, and of every other interest, which, in his view, pertained to the welfare of man. Unfortunately, he was addicted to the use of tobacco from his youth. Having become convinced that it was a.o evil, he, for the sake of consistency and as an example to others, resolutely abandoned the habit, at the age of seventy. He was fond of accrediting his resolve to a very aged relative, who, in remonstrating with him upon the subject, replied to his remark, that a sadden cessation from a practice so long iudulged in, might result in his death : " Well, die, then, and go to heaven decently." As a practitioner of medicine, he was eminently successful, his intense sympathy with suffering, seeming to elevate his faculties and give them unwonted vigor in tracing the hidden causes of disease, and in suggesting to his miud alleviating agencies. His patients felt an unspeakable comfort in his presence, well knowing that the best possible remedy which bis knowledge, his judgment or his experience suggested, would be selected, let the difficulty and inconvenience to himself be what it would. In cases where life hung trembling in the balance, he would watch night after night, feeding the flickering flame until he j>erceived it brighten, and this in the abode of misery just as freely as in the home of wealth. The life-long affectiou of those whom he recalled, was his reward where often none was sought or expected. He -believed in woman as only a thoroughly good man can, and from early youth, he had been impressed with her peculiar fitness for the practice of medicine. The experience of a physician confirmed him in his sentiments, and it became one of his most earnest aspirations to open to her all the avenues to the study of medicine. lu the year 1840, lie gave regular instruction to a class of ladies, and it was through one of these pupils, that the first female graduate in America was interested in the study of medicine. In 184G he eoramuDicated to a few liberal-minded professional meu, a plan for the establishment of a college of the highest grade for the medical education of women. This long-cherished plan, hallowed to him by the approbation of a beloved wife, was well received. Others, with indomitable zeal, took up the work, and finally, after a succession of disappointments and discouragements from causes within and without, the Woman's College, on North College avenue, Philadelphia, starting from the germ of his thought, entered on the career of prosperity it is so well entitled to receive. Though never at any time connected with the college, he regarded its success with the most affectionate- interest, considering its proposition as one of the most important results of his life. |