It is
that of a day no further off than last Saturday--four days ago. He then
proceeds with the diary of that day: his first case was that of Mrs.
Hegarty, who applied to him for a subscription towards burying her
husband and child; the doctor had not prescribed for them, and he asked
why he had not been applied to; the answer was as in other cases--they
had no disease, and he could be of no use to them. His second case was
that of a boy named Sullivan, who came to him for some ointment for his
father. This application was somewhat out of the usual course, ointment
being a peculiarly useless thing as a remedy against famine. There was,
however, need of it. The boy's grandmother had died of fever some days
before, and his father and mother, with whom she had resided, took it
from her. The neighbours were afraid to go into the fever-house, but
some of them, kindly and charitably, left food outside the door, and
candles to wake the corpse. The mother struggled out of bed to get the
candles in order to light them. She succeeded in doing so, but from
weakness she was unable to stand steadily, so she reeled and staggered
towards where the corpse was laid out, and with the lighted candles set
the winding sheet on fire: the thatch caught the flame; the cabin was
burned down, and the parents of this miserable boy were rescued with the
utmost difficulty.
Pages:
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459