BOJERHAAV E. 
oi the inflitutes of phyfic; and delivered an oration on 
tie 18th of May, the (ubjeet of which was a recommen- 
dition of the (ludy of Hippocrates ; apprehending that, 
ether through indolence or arrogance, this founder of 
phytic had been fhamefiilly neglected by thofe whole au¬ 
thority was likely to have too great weight with the (In¬ 
dents of medicine. He officiated as a profeflTor, with the 
title of lecturer only, till 1709, when the profefforfhip of 
medicine and botany was conferred on him ; his inaugural 
oration was upon the fimplicity of true medicinal fcience, 
wherein, exploding the fallacies and oflentation of alclie- 
mifical and metaphylical writers, he reinftates medicine 
on .lie ancient foundation of obfervation and experiments. 
In a few years he enriched the phyfic-garden with fuch a 
number of plants, that it was found neceffiary to enlarge 
it to twice its original extent. In 1714, he arrived to the 
higheft dignity in the univerfity, the reHorfhip ; and, at 
its expiration, delivered an oration on the method of ob¬ 
taining certainty in phylics. Here, having aliened our 
ignorance of the firft principles of things, and that all our 
knowledge of their qualities is derived from experiments, 
lie was thence led to reprehend many fyftems’ of the phi- 
lofophers, and in particular that of Des Cartes, the idol 
of the times. This drew upon him the biveCtives of Mr. 
R. Andala, an orthodox Cartefian, profeflTor of divinity 
and philofophy at Franeker, who founded the alarm, that 
the church was in danger ; and that the introduction of 
fcepticifm, and even fpinofifm, nut ft be the confequence 
of undermining the Cartefian fyllem by fuch a profeffed 
ignorance of the principles of things : his yirnlence was 
carried to fuch a degree, that the governors of the uni¬ 
verfity thought themfelves in honour obliged (notwith- 
ftanding Boerhaave’s remonftrances to the contrary) to in¬ 
fill upon his retracting his afperfions. He accordingly 
made a recantation, with offers of farther fatisfaCtion : to 
which Boerhaave generoully replied, that the molt agree¬ 
able fatisfaction he could receive was, that fo eminent a 
divine fliould have no more trouble on his account. In 
1728, he was elected of the academy of fciences at Paris j 
and, in 1730, of the royal fociety of London. In 1718, 
he fucceeded Le Mort in the profefforfhip of chemiftry ; 
and made an oration on this fubjeft, “ That chemiftry 
was capable of clearing itfelf from its own errors.” Au- 
guft, 1722, he was taken ill, and confined to his bed for 
lix months, with exquifite arthritic pains; he fu fie red 
another violent illnefs in 1727 ; and, being threatened with 
a relapfe in 1729, he found himfelf under the neccflity of 
refigning the profefforfhips of botany and chemiftry. This 
gave occafion to an elegant oration, in which he recounts 
many fortunate incidents of his life, and returns his grate¬ 
ful acknowledgments to thofe who contributed thereto. 
Yet he was not lefs affiduous in his private labours till the 
year 1737, when a difficulty of breathing firft feized him, 
and afterwards gradually inereafed. In a letter to baron 
Baffand, he writes tints of himfelf: “ An impoftlnima- 
tion of the lungs, which has daily inereafed for thefe lad 
three months, almoft fuffocates me upon the leaft mo¬ 
tion : if it fhould continue to increafe without breaking, 
I muff fink under it; if it fhould break, the event is (till 
dubious: happen what may, why fliould I be concerned ? 
fince it cannot be but according to the will of the Su¬ 
preme Beings what elfe fhould I defire? God be praffed ! 
Mean time, I am not wanting in the ufe of the mod ap¬ 
proved remedies, in order to mitigate (lie difeafe, by pro¬ 
moting maturation, no ways anxious about the fuccefs of 
them : I have lived to upwards of fix ty - eight years, and 
always cheerful.” Finding alfo unufual pulfations of the 
artery in the right fide of the neck, and intermiffions of 
the pulfe, he concluded there were polypous concretions 
between the heart and lungs, with a dilatation of the vef- 
fels. Sept. 8, 1738, lie wrote his cafe to Dr. Mortimer, 
fecrctary of the royal fociety ; and for fome days there 
were flattering hopes of his recovery ; but they foon va- 
nifhed, and he died the 23d of the fame month, aged al- 
pioft feventy. 
Vol. HI. No. 122. 
*45 
No profefi'or was ever attended in public as well as pri¬ 
vate leftures by fo great a number of (indents, from fuch 
different and diftant parts, for fo many years fucceffively : 
none heard him without conceiving a veneration for his 
perfon, at the fame time they expreffed their furprize at 
his prodigious attainments ; and it may be jufily affirmed, 
that none in fo private a ftation ever attracted a more uni- 
verf'ii eft'eeni. He united to an uncommon genius, and 
extraordinary talents, the qualities of the heart which 
gave them fo great a value to fociety. He amaffed greater 
wealth than ever any phyfician in that country had done 
from the practice of phyfic, which was owing as much at 
leaft to his economy as the largenefs of his fees; he was 
falfely accufed of penurioufnefs, for he was liberal to the 
diftrefTed, but without oflentation : his manner of obliging 
his friends was fuch, that they oftenknew not, unlefs by 
accident, to whom they were indebted. In friendfliip he 
was (incere, conftanf, and affectionate ; he was communi¬ 
cative without conceitednefs, and zealous, though dif- 
paffionate, in contending for truth ; fo unmoved was he 
by detraction, as to fay, “ The fparks of calumny will 
be prefently extinCt of themfelves, unlefs you blow them.” 
From the time of the learned Hippocrates, no phyfician 
has more juflly'merited the efteem of his cotemporaries, 
and the thanks of poflerity, than Boerhaave. He made 
a decent, finiple, and venerable, appearance, particularly 
w hen age had changed the colour of his hair. He was an 
eloquent orator, and declaimed with dignity and grace. 
He taught very methodically, and with great precifion ; 
he never tired his auditors, but they always regretted that 
his difeourfes were finiflied. He would foinetimes give 
them a lively turn with raillery ; but his raillery was re¬ 
fined and ingenious, and it enlivened the fubjeCt he treated 
of, without carrying with it any thing fevere or fatirieal. 
A declared foe to all excefs, he confidered decent mirth 
as the fait of life. It was the daily practice of this emi¬ 
nent perfon, as foon as he rofe in the morning, which was 
generally very early, to retire for an hour to private me¬ 
ditation. He often told his friends, when they afked him 
how it was poffible for him to go through fo much fa¬ 
tigue ? that it was this which gave him fpirit and vigour 
in the bufinefs of the day. This he therefore recommended 
as the beji yule he could give : for nothing, he faid, could 
tend more to the health of the body than the tranquillity 
of the mind ; and that he knew nothing which could 
fo well fupport the various diftreffes of life, as a well- 
grounded confidence in the Supreme Being. Of his fa- 
gacity, and the wonderful penetration with which he often 
dilcovered and deferibed, at the firft fight of a patient, 
fuch diftempers as betray themfelves by no fymptoms to 
common eyes, fuch aftoniffiing accounts havp been given, 
as fcarcely can be credited, though attefled beyond all 
doubt. Yet this great matter of medical knowledge was 
fo far from a prefumptuous confidence in his abilities, or 
from being puffed up by bis riches, that he was condefcend- 
ing to all, and remarkably diligent in his profeffion : and he 
often ufed to fay, that the life of a patient (if trifled with 
or negleCted) would one day be required at the hand of 
the phyfician. He always called the poor his bcjl patients j 
for God (laid he) is their paymafter. 
This great man, on all occafions, declared Sir Ifaac 
Newton to have been a mod accurate oblerver in che¬ 
miftry, as well as in the other branches of natural philo- 
lofphy. in his lectures he conflantly called the immortal 
Sydenham, the Britith Hippocrates. Muiicar.d gardening 
were his conflant amuCements. In the latter part of his 
life, his great pleafure was to retire to his country feat, 
near Leyden, where he had a garden of eight acres, en¬ 
riched with all the exotic fhrubs and plants which he 
could procure, that would live in that foil. “ Thus,” 
fays Dr. Lobb, “ the amufement of the youth and of the 
age of this eminent phyfician, was of the fame kind—the 
cultivation and Hudy of plants; an employment coeval 
with mankind, the firft to which neceffity compelled them, 
and the Lift to which, wearied with the tirelbme round of 
P p Vanities 
