DR. THOMAS BATEMAN.

MEDICAL men have been very generally reputed sceptical; and the mischief has been thought to originate in the natural tendency of some of their studies: For this conclusion, however, there seems no just foundation; since there are not wanting the most illustrious examples to prove, that this science has been adorned by practitioners of acknowledged piety, who have exemplified in their lives, those principles which have been deemed incompatible with deep inquiry into the subjects of their profession. Many who have devoted their time and their talents to a minute examination of the fabric and texture of the human body, have concluded, from the manifest appearances of benevolence and design, that it was the work of a Being transcendently wise and powerful.

These inferences struck even the anatomists of mtiquity, who knew not the uses and functions of nany parts, and were comparatively unacquainted vith the curious architecture and economy of the vhole system. Galen was converted by his own lissections; and could not but own a Supreme Beag, from the proofs of wisdom and contrivance to e found in the mechanism of the human frame. Successive improvements in the art have added resh confirmation to those sentiments, which a suerficial acquaintance had drawn forth. The cele

brated physicians Hartley, and Harvey who discovered the circulation of the blood, were led, by their researches, to entertain the same profound ve neration for the great Creator, to whose immediate agency they ascribed the most wonderful of nature's operations. So far, therefore, as anatomical knowledge is concerned, the preliminary studies of medical men appear calculated rather to impress the mind with devotional feelings, and to act as an antidote against infidelity.

There are, besides, other reasons why this nu merous and respectable body might be presumed to be favourably disposed towards religion. There is a striking analogy between the two sciences, the one administering relief to the spiritual wants of man, as the other does to his bodily infirmities Considering how intimate a sympathy there exista between the affections of mind and matter, and what influence the situation of the former has i allaying or inflaming the diseases of the body, we might naturally suppose they would regard rel gion as a valuable ally; which, by calming the troubles and agitations of the soul, contributed powerfully to assist the operations of their sale tary art. Few individuals have a better opport nity of witnessing the beneficial effects of Chris tianity under the most trying occasions, and how much a steadfast belief in its doctrines, tends support and console the exhausted sufferer; when earthly remedies have lost their power, all external means proved unavailing. It wask seem, therefore, a strange want of moral feel or even of ordinary curiosity, to remain insens to its importance, or hesitate to inquire into grounds upon which its truth is established.

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But it may seem more wonderful, that from these peculiar opportunities and advantages, inferences and principles should be drawn hostile to religion; or that the same discoveries should be accused of leading to scepticism, which have convinced atheists and infidels by the evidence of a thousand demonstrations. There are, however, some among the medical faculty, on whom anatomy has had this effect; and instead of inspiring religious sentiments, has either disinclined their thoughts to the subject, or confirmed them in infidelity. Among this number, was Dr Bateman, late physician to the Public Dispensary, and to the Fever Institution, in London; a gentleman whose scientific attainments were of a high order, and whose moral conduct appears outwardly to have been unimpeachable.

was an

THOMAS BATEMAN, M.D. was born at Whitby, in Yorkshire, on the 29th of April, 1778. He only son, and had the misfortune in early youth to be deprived of his father, a man of superior capacity, and of the medical profession, which he practised very extensively at Whitby. He was from infancy of a delicate constitution; and gave then no indications of that diligence and ability which afterwards distinguished him. At four years of age, he was placed as a day scholar, under the care of the Rev. Mr Watson, a dissenting minister, and an intimate friend of his father. At six, he began to learn Latin, for which he must have possessed considerable talents, as he was always at the head of the boys of his own age. Though unctual in the performance of his tasks at school, le evinced no particular ambition in the pursuit of

knowledge, and never opened a book for his own

amusement.

With Mr Watson he remained seven years; and being then removed to spend the summer in the country, on account of his health, he became indolent, and lost all relish for books of any kind. It was his constant practice to sit on the top of a gate near the house, for great part of the day, lost in thought, without seeking either pleasure or employment; a habit which led his father to predict that he would never be good for any thing. In winter he was again returned to school at Whitby, where the dormant energies of his mind were roused into activity; and as he found his new instruc tor deficient in classical learning, he expressed an earnest wish to be sent where he might have bet ter opportunities of improvement. Accordingly, he was removed to Thornton, a village about twenty miles distant from his native place.

Here, from the very first, he distinguished himself by an ardour quite unusual, and altogether different from his former habits; and took the lead in every branch of learning. Instead of mingling in the active sports of his school-fellows, he made music, drawing, and botany, the relaxations of his leisure hours. He ranged the whole country in search of plants-an occupation which proved beneficial to his health; and before he left school he had completed an extensive Hortus Sices Astronomy and electricity were also among his f vourite pursuits; and having a mechanical turn, be made a planetarium, and an electrical machine merely from the descriptions of them in Chan bers's Dictionary; cutting all the wheels of the for mer with his pen-knife. His most remarkable fa

culty as a school-boy, was his sound and penetrating judgment; and he was not so much distinguished by quickness, as by the unceasing energy and vigour of his mind. Among his juvenile productions, were some poetical translations from the Greek and Latin, and a few humorous stanzas of his own, addressed to one of his companions, on his want of taste and ear for music. He was remarkably silent and reserve; but amidst all his gravity, he had a quick sense of the ludicrous, which supplied him frequently with subjects for amusement, both in prose and verse; and afforded him an agreeable relaxation in his severer studies. At the age of fifteen, he lost his father; and as his profession had already been determined by his own choice, he was brought home from Thornton, and sent to attend an apothecary's shop, in order to acquire a knowledge of pharmacy. At the same time, he obtained some acquaintance with the French language, mathematics, and mineralogy; as useful preliminaries to his medical studies. At nineteen, he went to London, with a tolerable stock of knowledge, both classical and natural, as a foundation for his destined profession; and what was of more importance, trained to habits of great application and research. The chief objects of his ttention in London, were anatomy, and the practice of physic. For this purpose, he entered to the Lectures at Windmill Street; and as Physician's upil at St George's Hospital, for the winter of 1797-98, under Dr Baillie, a most distinguished eacher, and gifted with talents of the first order; nd what adds to his medical reputation, he made the science of which he was so eminent a master, a powerful declaration of his sentiments against