INTRODUCTION. 



FOR the little that is known of the private life of William 

 Hewson, we are indebted to the affectionate care of his widow, 

 who left a manuscript memoir of him, which was sent by her 

 son, Dr. Thomas Tickell Hewson, with a letter from Phila- 

 delphia, dated October 28, 1804, to Dr. Lettsom, and afterwards 

 published in the life of this amiable physician by Mr. Pettigrew. 1 

 There is also a short account of Mr. Hewson by Dr. Lettsom, 2 

 compiled from Mrs. Hewson's papers. The following letter 

 was written by her to Dr. Samuel Foart Simmons, who pub- 

 lished it in his Life of Dr. Hunter. 3 The letter was also partly 

 inserted in Dr. Hahn's Preface to the Latin edition of Hewson's 

 Works, by Dr. J. van de Wynpresse. 4 



SIR, I should think myself bound to grant any request 

 introduced with Mr. Watson's name ; but that which you make 

 in the letter I received yesterday needed no such introduction. 

 A tribute paid to the memory of Mr. Hewson is highly grati- 

 fying to me, and I can have no employment that will give me 

 more satisfaction than that of assisting in any degree to the 

 spreading of his fame. 



You say you are not unacquainted with the general history 

 of Mr. Hewson' s life, and you speak of him in terms which 

 show that you are not unacquainted with his character. Had 

 you been among the number of his friends, you would bear 



1 Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late John Coakley Lettsom, M.D., 

 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1817. 



2 Transactions of the Medical Society of London, vol. i, art. 2, 8vo, Lond. 1810. 



3 An Account of the Life and Writings of the late William Hunter, M.D., p. 39, 

 8vo, London, 1783. 



4 Guil. Hewsoni Opera Omnia, 8vo, Ludg. Batav. 1795. 



