branched forth. Being thus furnished with a clew to guide him among the numerous, and often apparently inconsistent significations of our most important words, he resumed his labors on the defining part of the dictionary, and was able to give order and consistency to much that had before appeared confused and contradictory. The results of his inquiries into the origin and filiation of languages, were embodied in a work about half the size of the American dictionary, entitled "A Synopsis of Words in Twenty Languages." This, owing to the expense of the undertaking; has not yet been published; though its principal results so far as our language is concerned, are briefly given in tracing the etymology of our leading terms. During the progress of these labors, Mr. WEBSTER, finding his resources inadequate to the support of his family at New Haven, removed, in 1812, to Amherst, a pleasant country town within eight miles of Northampton, Massachusetts. Here he entered, with his characteristic ardor, into the literary and social interesis of the people among whom he was placed. His extensive library, which was open to all, and his elevated tone of thought and conversation, had naturally a powerful influence on the habits and feelings of a small and secluded population. It was owing in part, probably, to his removal to this town, that an academy was there established, which is now among the most flourishing seminaries of our land. A question having soon after arisen, respecting the removal of Williams college from a remote corner of the state, to some more central position, Mr. WEBSTER entered warmly into the design of procuring its establishment at Amherst, as one of the most beautiful and appropriate locations in New England. Though the removal did not take place, so strong an interest on the subject was awakened in Amherst and the neighboring towns, that a new college was soon after founded there, in the establishment of which Mr. WEBSTER, as president of its first board of trustees, had great influence, both by his direct exertions to secure it patronage, and by the impulse which he had given to the cause of education in that part of the state. This institution now stands third in numbers among the colleges of our country. In 1822, Mr. WEBSTER returned with his family to New Haven ; and in 1823, received the degree of LL. D., from Yale college. Having nearly completed his dictionary, he resolved on a voyage to Europe, with a view to perfect the work by consulting literary men abroad, and by examining some standard authors, to which he could not gain access in this country. He accordingly sailed for France in June, 1824, and spent two months at Paris in consulting several rare works in the Bibliothèque du Roi, and then went to England, where he remained till May, 1825. He spent several months at the University of Cambridge, where he had free access to the public libraries, and there he finished "the American Dictionary." He afterwards visited London, Oxford, and some of the other principal towns of England, and in June, returned to this country. This visit to England gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with literary men and literary institutions in that country, and to learn the real state of the English language there. Soon after Dr. WEBSTER returned to this country, the necessary arrangements were made for the publication of the work. An edition of twenty-five hundred copies was printed in this country, at the close of 1828, which was followed by an edition of three thousand in England, under the superintendence of E. H. Barker Esq., editor of the Thesaurus Græcæ Linguæ of Henry Stephens. With the publication of the AMERICAN DICTIONARY, at the age of seventy, Dr. WEBSTER considered the labors of his literary life as brought to a close. He has since revised a few of his earlier works for publication; and spent a number of months in superintending a new edition of the Bible, in which some phraseology of the common version, which is offensive to delicacy, is altered; and some antiquated terms and forms of expression are changed, in accordance with present usage. His revisions have met with the approbation of many persons who have examined the work; and if there is any name in our country which will give currency to such an amendment of the common version, it is that of the author of the AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 10 CASPAR WISTAR, M. D. AMONG the individuals of our country, whose talents and example have been most serviceable in establishing the profession of medicine on its present footing, may be ranked without fear of contradiction, the late Professor WISTAR. As a disinterested and faithful physician, an ardent lover of the sciences, an indefatigable teacher, and a genuine philanthropist, his character may always be examined with pleasure and instruction. Dr. WISTAR was of German descent on the father's side, being the grandson of Caspar Wistar, who emigrated from the dominions of the Elector Palatine in 1717. On the maternal side he was of English origin, his grandfather, Bartholomew Wyatt, having reached this country shortly after William Penn had commenced the settlement of Pennsylvania. His father was a man of great firmness of character, and bestowed much pains on the moral and religious training of his children. The subject of this notice was born in Philadephia, September 13th, 1761. His parents being of the religious Society of Friends, he was educated in the principles of that sect. His classical studies were also accomplished in an academy in Philadelphia belonging to them. The first germs of fondness for the profession of medicine, were evolved in 1777, when he was only sixteen years of age, by the battle of Germantown. His religious principles withheld him from participating in the conflict itself, but they, together with his native humanity, prompted him to succor the wounded with such kind offices and attention, as the horrors of a fight render doubly estimable. The benignant and useful character of the profession of medicine on this occasion, made such an impression upon him, that he determined thenceforth to devote himself to its interests. He accordingly entered as a student into the office of Dr. John Redman of Philadelphia, and continued upwards of three years; the conclud ing year of his attendance was improved by his following the practice of Dr. John Jones, an eminent surgeon, who had left New York in consequence of its occupation by the British. In 1782, he graduated as a Bachelor of Medicine in the college of Philadelphia, an institution to whose reputation he was destined to contribute so largely at a subsequent period of life. As a student, he was distinguished by his zeal, his assiduity, and the promptitude and extent of his information, qualities which were well exhibited on the day of his examination. At that period the profession of medicine was divided into two sects of theorists, one advocating the doctrine of Lentor, invented by Boerhaave, and the other that of Spasm, originating with the no less celebrated Professor of Edinburgh, Dr. Cullen. A schism on this subject existed in the faculty of the college of Philadelphia, and as each professor required explanations conformably to the theory he was attached to, our candidate had to vary his answers so as to suit the predilection of the interrogator. This delicate task he executed with so much address and good sense, as to excite the highest admiration of the audience. From his own country, Dr. WISTAR repaired to Great Britain, where he remained three years. In Edinburgh, then the chief resort of Americans, he became highly distinguished for the same qualities which he had exhibited at home. He was there the friend and associate of Sir James M'Intosh, afterwards one of the leading members of the British Parliament of Mr. Emmett, subsequently one of the most powerful and eminent members of the New York bar, and of Dr. Jeffray, now professor of Anatomy in the University of Glasgow. In the collision of such talent, Dr. WISTAR wielded with great effect the weapons of debate, and obtained in the midst of these competitors the high honor of being made, for two successive years, president of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. In 1786, he graduated there as doctor of medicine, having written a thesis, entitled De Animo Demisso. The chief objects of his studies were anatomy, surgery, and chemistry. In January, 1787, he returned home, having left in Edinburgh a name which was most affectionately and respectfully remembered for a long time afterwards. In the year 1792, Dr. WISTAR became the associate of Dr. Shippen, after the latter had stood alone for thirty years, in his efforts to create a permanent school. This union grew out of the existence, from 1789 to 1792, of two medical institutions; the most recent of which had its origin from feelings generated by the revolutionary One of these schools and the eldest belonged to the college of war. Philadelphia, and the other to the university of the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shippen was professor of anatomy in both. In the year 1789, Dr. WISTAR had been appointed professor of chemistry in the college; but before accepting, he hesitated much, lest by his acquiescence the consolidation of the two institutions, which he had much at heart, should be delayed or prevented. During his deliberations it occurred to him, that he could be much more efficient as a professor in procuring this union, than as a private individual; he therefore accepted the place of chemist, and in three years afterwards, had the satisfaction of seeing his wishes realized, and of reflecting that he himself had contributed largely, by his moderation and good management, to an arrangement which has since been so successful in developing the character and usefulness of the present institution, under the title of University of Pennsylvania. Nature did not grant to Dr. WISTAR that graceful and commanding exterior which she had lavished on Dr. Shippen, but even strangers were struck with the benignity of his countenance. Extreme suavity of deportment on every occasion of life, was his predominant mode of conduct. Many of his students remember the courteous and sprightly smile, with which he entered and departed from his lecture room. As a teacher, he allured them, by gentleness and affability, to flock round him on every occasion, and to ask him such questions as their want of information or misapprehension suggested. He was always on the alert to serve them in sickness, and to procure for them such places of profit and trust as his personal influence could control, but invariably, on such occasions, with a conscientious regard to his knowledge of their characters and to their qualifications. This principle of impartial, but merciful justice, always guided him in his decisions on the claims of candidates for medical degrees. Willing to attribute every deficiency to embarrassment, he only became convinced that it was ignorance, when every proper mode of inquiry repeatedly and leisurely tried, proved the incapacity of the candidate. In such cases his decisions were inflexible; as a conscientious man having a public trust of first rate importance, he never consented for any one to take a recognised appointment in the profession, with a smaller share of knowledge than what he conceived necessary to the practice of medicine. From the goodness of his heart, he felt more on many such occasions, for the candidate than the candidate felt for himself. His justice was evidently so impartial, and his goodness so conspicuous, that the slightest breath |