MEMOIR OF JOHN HUNTER. 
29 
which we have dcscnbed, Mr Hunter, in the very 
•midst of his career, suddenly left London. It must 
liave been some very violent cause which could thus 
tear him from his favourite pursuits, and from the 
m>dy scene in which they could be advantageously 
Pt'osecuted. The cause is by no means a secret ; and 
•a explaining it, while we are required to expose the 
•mfirmities of two distinguished men, and the dissen- 
sions of two near relations, let us not fail to observe, 
^ovv that as both were probably more or less to 
lilame, so both suffered the penalty of their unge- 
aerous conduct, in the embittered feelings which 
*liey carried with them to the grave. 
Had William and John Hunter allowed just scope 
^0 their fraternal feelings, they might have added not 
°aly to their common success, but incalculably to their 
aiutual happiness. Unfortunately, they were both 
oqually ambitious, and both equally jealous of fame. 
Their proximity, and the identity of their pursuits, 
thus became a source of dissension ; and the success 
the one was apt to he regarded as an encroach- 
*ment by the other. 
It has been remarked, that Dr William Hunter 
Was one of those fortunate men wdio are placed early 
life exactly in the situation for which Nature and 
®ducation designed them. He had a solid under- 
standing, a correct eye, and an innate love of order, 
which evinced itself in every part of his conduct, and a 
perseverance which could only have been supported 
hy a genuine love of his occupation, and the success 
which crowned his labours. His classical acquire. 
