6 MEMOIR OF DR WRIGHT. 



foreign to the firm and equal temper of his mind. On 

 his recovery from a fever with which he had been seiz- 

 ed immediately on his arrival, he writes to his father 

 and mother ; 



" Dear Parents, 



" Do not cast yourselves down at my present state of 

 health. I hope and trust in God Almighty I shall soon be 

 better. My brother, his wife and child, are well. They are 

 very kind to me, and let me want for nothing. When I write 

 next, I hope it shall be with more courage.'''' 



A few days afterwards, the result of his examination 

 is communicated in the following terms : 



" Dear Parents, London, February 8. 1758. 



" I wrote you about a fortnight ago that I had fallen 

 sick. I lay for ten days in a high fever, and every one thought 

 I should not live. The surgeon of the Princess of Wales' 

 armed ship at Leith attended me ; he is come hither for a 

 larger ship. I am now, thank God, perfectly recovered. 



" I went to Surgeons' 1 Hall with other three who came up in 

 the same tender, to be examined. We waited all in a large 

 outer hall, about thirty in number ; some for mateships in the 

 army, some for the navy. About nine at night, I was called 

 in before eight severe looking judges, who sat at a long table 

 in large white wigs. They asked me sternly where I was born 

 and brought up, — how long I had been a 'prentice, — whether 

 I had been at college, — and how I had spent my time since. 

 Having answered these inquiries, ' Well' says the president, 

 4 What are the contents of the thorax P 1 I gave him every 

 particular but one, and that was the bag or covering of the 

 heart. ' Has not the heart a cover ?' said one. I imme- 

 diately recollected, and told him the name I was then strict- 



