accuracy.

the medical world for their novelty, extent, variety, and One of his earliest publications was a collection of essays, literary, moral, and philosophical. In 1774 he delivered the annual oration before the American Philosophical Society on the "Natural History of Medicine among the Indians of North America." From memoranda which he kept during his entire life he compiled his most famous work, entitled "Medical Inquiries and Observations," which was subsequently revised and enlarged. A number of his lectures were published in a work entitled "Sixteen Introductory Lectures." Six months before his death he gave to the world his inquiries on the "Diseases of the Mind."

Very early in life Benjamin Rush became convinced of the truth and utility of religion, and his life is a beautiful picture of genuine piety and honest faith. Religion was a frequent topic of conversation with him, because of its influence upon the individual and the state, and because of the consolation it offers the mind. He admired the remark of the good Bishop Burnet that" a man living according to the rules of religion becomes the wisest, the best, the happiest creature he is capable of being." He attended church regularly, and said: "If there were no hereafter, individuals and society would be great gainers by attending public worship every Sunday. Rest from labor in the house of God winds up the machine of both mind and body better than anything else, and thereby invigorates them for the labors of the week." He believed that the Scriptures should be taught in every schoolroom, and as vice president of the Philadelphia Bible Society in 1791 he wrote a defense of the Bible as a text-book in the schools.

Dr. Rush died at Philadelphia April 19, 1813, and was buried in Christ Church graveyard. His grave is unmarked by any monument. It is written of his death that "from one end of the United States to the other the event caused sorrow, for since the death of Washington no man, perhaps, in America was better known, more sincerely beloved, or held in higher admiration and esteem." And again: “The professional reputation and the private virtues of the Father of American Medicine should always be holily cherished and dearly prized by the whole profession of the United States, but nowhere with sincerer reverence than in the city of Philadelphia."

Ο

STEPHEN GIRARD.

NE stormy night in May, 1776, a vessel was driven by a gale into the Delaware Bay. Her captain cast anchor and waited for the morning; but when daylight came the fog was so dense that he was not able to determine his location. Discharging a cannon, he was answered by the captain of a pilot boat, of whom he inquired where he was and what he should do. "You are in the Delaware Bay,

and you will have to go upstream to Philadelphia," was the reply. "You dare not venture out, for there is a swarm of British cruisers outside of the capes on the lookout for prizes." "But I have no American money," replied the stranger. "I will loan you the money," answered Captain King who was aboard the pilot boat. Whereupon he generously offered the stranger five dol

lars to pay his pilotage, which was gratefully accepted. This was the most valuable loan ever made in the inter

est of Philadelphia. The

stranger, who thus came to our city by chance rather than by design, was Stephen Girard, whose memory is cherished by every citizen of Philadelphia. Stephen Girard, the eldest son of Captain Pierre Girard, naval knight, and Anna Maria Lafargue, was born May 20, 1750, near the city of Bordeaux, France. At the age of

eight he lost his right eye by the accidental bursting of an oyster shell, and for this defect he was often ridiculed by his boyish companions. At an early age he lost his mother, and soon after was brought under the control of an unsympathetic stepmother. All this, joined with the stern treatment of his father, had an influence on his sensitive nature, and aided in forming a disposition which men called morose, sullen, and hard. Impatient of the restraints of home, he longed to follow the calling of his ancestors, who were mariners. Upon a disagreement with his father, he said: "I will leave your house. Give me a venture on any ship that sails from Bordeaux, and I will go at once where you will never see me again." At the age of fourteen he went on board the ship Pèlerin as cabin boy. For nine years he followed the sea, making six voyages to the

West Indies, and rose grade by grade until he became first mate of the vessel. During this time he had become, by careful study, a skillful navigator. At that time there was a law in France that no man should command a vessel who was not twenty-five years of age and had not sailed two cruises in a ship of the royal navy. Girard was then but twenty-three years of age, and had sailed on none but merchant vessels. His father's influence, however, was sufficient to overcome this obstacle, and permission was granted him at Bordeaux, October 4, 1773, to act as "Captain, Master, and Patron of a Merchant Vessel." Taking his "venture" of about three thousand dollars given him by his father and also its accrued profits, he sailed to Santo Domingo, where, disposing of his cargo, he reloaded with produce and set sail for the United States, arriving at the port of New York July, 1774. Here he met Thomas Randall, also a merchant, who appointed him an officer on one of his vessels, and with whom, in the following year, he entered into partnership. It was while thus employed that he came into the Delaware Bay, narrowly escaping capture by the British. Arriving in Philadelphia, he sold his vessel, dissolved the partnership, and opened a small store in Water Street, where he carried on the business of a grocer and wine bottler.

Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia Stephen Girard made the acquaintance of Mr. Lumm, a well-known shipbuilder, who had a daughter, Mary, about sixteen years of age, noted for her great personal charms. As she went one morning in her bare feet to a pump for a pail of water, Girard saw her, and was captivated by her airy and unconscious grace. He sought her acquaintance, and on

June 6, 1777, they were married at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church. They lived in Water Street until the following September, when, on the approach of the British army, Girard moved to Mount Holly and purchased a small farm. He returned to Philadelphia after the British evacuated the city.

Mr. Lumm built for him the Waterwitch, a vessel which Girard prized so highly that he believed that she would never cause him loss. In 1780 Girard entered into partnership with Joseph Baldesqui to trade with Santo Domingo, but his partner proving incompetent, the firm dissolved in two years. In 1781 he took the lease of a range of fireproof stores, and underlet them.

This venture and others were so profitable that he was soon able to build a large vessel, the Two Brothers. His prosperity continued, and in 1790 he began building those fine merchant ships that became the pride of every port and made Philadelphia the first mercantile city in the Union. The Girard fleet was known in the seas of both hemispheres. He rarely lost a vessel. Rival merchants attributed his success to good luck, but he claimed that his "good luck" was merely the result of knowing his own business. He named his vessels after the famous French philosophers, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. This last-named vessel was captured by the La Paz, a British schooner, which Girard described as "a vessel about the size of a wood shallop." Though indignant that his well-armed vessel should so tamely submit, he entered into negotiations with the British commander, ransomed the ship for $180,000 in coin, and brought her to Philadelphia, where he disposed of the cargo for $488,655. In