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SEWALL
 MEMOIR OF

DR. GODMAN 
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NO. 136.
\ MEMOIR OF  DR. GODMAN:
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE,
DELIVERED NOVEMBER 1, 1830,
       BY THOMAS SEWALL, M. D.,




Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Columbian College,

            District qf Columbia.
  'LIBRARY
sumMmMMctorricE
•»•* • *,
IN EW-YORK.
Kft-t-490*




   ■Mil i
Published for the Tract Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,

      at the Conference Office, 200 Mulberry-street.
J. Collord, Printer.


    1837. 
tf    MEMOIR  OF  DR.  GODMAN.


     There are occasions, gentlemen, when it is proper,—
   when it  is profitable, to pause in the career of life, noi
   only to mark the progress of things, but to  observe the
   character pf men, and more especially of men distinguished
   for eminent success, or signal failure, that we may imitate
   the examples of the one, and shun the misfortunes of the
   other.  The present is such an occasion; and if properly
   improved cannot fail to instruct as well as to gratify.
     There has recently appeared among us a man so remark-
   able for the character of his mind, and for the qualities  of
   his heart,—one whose life, though short, was attended with
   such  brilliant displays of genius, with such distinguished]
   success in the study of our profession,  and  the kindredjt
   sciences, that to pass him by without tracing the history 1
   pf his career, and placing before you the prominent traiti  '
   of his character as exhibited  in the important events  of /
   his life, would alike be an act of injustice to  the memorf  j
   of eminent worth, and  deprive you of one of the nobler
   examples of the age.
     I refer to Professor Godman, whose death has been an.,
   nounced since we last assembled within these  walls.     !
     This  remarkable man was born not far from us, in a
   place already renowned for having given birth to an un-
   usual proportion of eminent men ;  the city of Annapolis,
   therm^t|op#lis of |he Ancient state-of Maryland.
     BuWfftVftftf tH Mt-Jbi-Aof Dr. Godman's childhood and*
 f^*l»t8rtM|«|t#t#^ftlWedge.   I have learned, how
   ever,  that  he was early deprived of the  fostering care
   whj^f$$fe£qfc» JtfMpl solicitude and affection.   His
   mother £&i Ue£>«e*U«Vas a  year old,  and his father  did
   not survive^long.   On the deafli  of his mother he was
   placerrfrrraW the  care of an aujnt, then residing at Wil-
   mington, in the«Bt«»MB>f- Dataware;—a lady who, from  the
   superiority of her intellect and education, as well as  th
   sweetness of her disposition, and her elevated piety, wai
   eminently qualified to unfold, impress, and direct the youth.
   ful mind.  Under such culture he received the first rudi^
   ments of his education and his earliest moral impressions,
   His alphabet was taught him upon tho knee of his grand 
                MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.              3

 mother, and before  he was two years old  he was able to
 read in the Psalms.
   At the age of four his aunt removed from Delaware to
 Chestertown, upon the eastern shore of Maryland, and here
 she first placed the interesting orphan at school.  He had
 already become  the idol of the family, but now he mani-
 fested such a precocity of intellect,  such  a fondness for
 books,  and an  aptitude to learn, and  withal evinced so
 much sensibility, frankness, and  sweetness of disposition,
 that he gained the  affection  and excited  the admiration
 of all.   His  reverence for truth was such, even from his
 infancy, that he was never known to equivocate.  At the
 age of  six his aunt died, and he was left without any suit-
 able protector or guide, exposed to the adversities of fortune,
 and the snares of an unfriendly world.  It appears, how-
 ever, that the moral and religious impressions which had
 already been  made  upon his  mind, though obscured for a
. time, were never wholly obliterated.   During his last ill-
 ness he was often heard to speak in  raptures of his aunt,
 and say,  " If I have ever been led to do any good, it has
 been through the influence of her example,  instruction, and
 prayers."  His  father had lost the  greater part of his
 estate  before his death,  and  that which remained never
 came into the hands of his  children.  Young Godman,
 therefore, was early taught to rely on his own talents and
 industry.  In this situation he was indented an apprentice
 to a printer in the city of Baltimore; but the occupation
 was not congenial to his taste;  and  after  a few years he
 left the business in  disgust, and at the same time entered
 as a sailor on board the flotilla, which was then, the fall
 of 1814, stationed in the Chesapeake Bay.  At the close
 of the war, having arrived at the age of fifteen, he was per-
 mitted  to  pursue the inclination of his own mind, and he
 immediately commenced the study of medicine.   He first
 placed  himself under  the instruction of Dr. Luckey, of
 Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, but soon removed to Balti-
 more, and entered the office of Dr. Davidge, at  that time
 professor  of anatomy in the University of  Maryland.
   Here he pursued his studies with such diligence and
 zeal  as to furnish, even at that early period, strong indi-
 cations of his future eminence.  So indefatigable was he
 in the acquisition of knowledge, that he left no opportunity 
4
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
of advancement unimproved, and, notwithstanding the de-
ficiencies of his preparatory education, he pressed forward
with an energy and perseverance that enabled him not only
to rival, but to surpass all his fellows.
  As an evidence of the distinguished attainments he had
made, and of the confidence reposed in his abilities, he was
called to the chair of anatomy in the university some time
before he graduated, to supply the place of his preceptor,
who was taken from the lectures in consequence of a frac
tured extremity.   This situation  he  filled for  several
weeks with so much propriety,—he  lectured with  such
enthusiasm and eloquence,  his illustrations were so clear
and happy, as to gain universal applause; and at the time
he was examined for his degree, the superiority of his mind,
as well as the extent and accuracy of his knowledge, were
so apparent, that he was marked  by the  professors of the
university as one destined at some future period to confer
high  honour upon the profession.  Upon this occasion a
prize  medal was awarded him for the best Latin thesis.
  After he graduated he settled at New-Holland, in Penn-
sylvania, but soon left this situation, and repaired to a small
village in Anne-Arundel county, in his native state, and
established himself as a practitioner of medicine.   Here
he entered on  the active duties of the profession with the
same  energy and diligence  which had distinguished him
while a pupil, devoting all the hours he could spare to pro-
fessional and other studies.  It was at this time that he com-
menced the study of natural  history, a science in which he
became so distinguished an adept, and for which he ever after
evinced so strong a passion.  But the place was too limited
for the exercise of his powers; and not finding those advan-
tages which he wished for, the cultivation of his favourite
pursuits, he removed to Baltimore,  where he could enjoy
more  ample opportunities for the study of anatomy, which
he justly regarded as the foundation of medical science.
  About this time he formed a connection by  marriage;
an event which contributed  equally  to his domestic happi-
ness and literary advancement.   Soon after his marriage
he removed to Philadelphia, but had scarcely settled in that
city when he received a pressing invitation to  accept the
professorship of anatomy in the Medical College of Ohio ;
an institution then recently established.  During his western 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
5
   tour he encountered difficulties which would have broken
   down a spirit less energetic than his own; but he bore up
   under his accumulated labours and privations with unshaken
   firmness and steady perseverance.  He, however, remained
   but one year, and returned  to Philadelphia;—and  here
   commenced that career of research and  discovery which
   laid the foundation of his future eminence.
     More ambitious of fame, and more eager for the acqui-
   sition of knowledge, than the accumulation of wealth, Dr.
   Godman, on settling in Philadelphia, rather retired  from
   the field of practice, that he might employ all his time, and
   exert all his powers, in scientific pursuits.  He there found
   himself at once removed from the pitiful  rivalries and jea-
   lousies of the profession, and placed in a situation in which
   he could enjoy the friendship without alarming the fears of
   his brethren.
     His main object was to make himself a thorough anato-
   mist, and to qualify himself for teaching  the science.  To
   this end he opened a room, under the patronage of the uni-
   versity, for giving private demonstrations;  and the first
   winter  he  drew around him  a class of seventy students.
   He now found himself occupying a field which furnished
   ample scope for the  exertion  of all his powers, as well as
   for the gratification of his highest ambition; and it was
   while engaged in the discharge of the duties of this situa-
   tion, that the  foundation was  laid  of that fatal disease of
%  which he died ; for so eager was he to acquire knowledge
   himself, as well  as to impart  it to those  around him, that
   he would not only expose himself to the foul atmosphere of
   the dissecting  room during the whole day, but often subject
   himself to  the severest toil for a considerable  part of tho
   night; and the moments which were spared from his  ana-
   tomical labours, instead of being spent  in relaxation,  or in
   exercise in the open air for the benefit  of his health,  were
   employed in composing papers for the medical journals, in
   copying the results  of his anatomical and  physiological
   investigations, in preparing parts of his natural history, or
   in carrying on other literary and scientific studies.   It ia
   impossible that a constitution, naturally delicate, could long
   remain unimpaired under such strenuous and unremitting
   exertion.
      After Dr. Godman had prosecuted his anatomical studies 
 0              MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.

 in Philadelphia for four or five years, his reputation as an
 anatomist became so generally known, his fame so widely
 extended, that the eyes of the profession were directed to
 him from every part of the country;  and in 1826 he was
 called to fill the chair of anatomy in Rutger's Medical
 College, established in  the  city of  New-York.  There
 could scarcely have been a stronger testimony of the high
 estimation in which he was held, or of his reputation as a
 teacher of anatomy, than his appointment to this station;
 an institution around which  several of the most eminent
 professors of the country had already rallied; and which
 was called into  existence under circumstances of rivalry
 that demanded the highest qualifications in its instructers.
 This situation, as well as every other in which he had been
 placed, he sustained with a popularity almost unparalleled.
 He never exhibited in  public but he gathered around him
 an admiring audience, who  hung  with delight  upon his
 lips.  But the duties of the chair, together with his other
 scientific pursuits, were too arduous, and the climate too
 rigorous for a constitution  already subdued by labour, and
 broken by disease; and before he had completed his second
 course of lectures he  was compelled to retire  from  the
school,  and  seek a residence in a milder climate.   He
repaired with his family to one of the West India islands,
and  remained till  the approach  of summer, when he
returned and settled in Germantown.  In this place, and
in Philadelphia, he spent the  residue of his life.
  From  the time Dr. Godman left New-York his disease
advanced with  such a steady pace as to leave but little
hope, either to himself or his friends, of his final recovery.
He,  however, continued almost to the last week of his life
to toil in his literary and  scientific employments; and this,
too, with all that ardour and enthusiasm which distinguished
 the more youthful part of his career.
  But for what purpose did he thus toil ?  Not for the ac-
 quisition of wealth, for this he could not enjoy; not for pos-
 thumous fame,  for this he did not desire.  It was, as he
 afFectingly tells us, for  the more noble purpose, the support
 of his family, and the good of his fellow creatures.
  The productions of  Dr. Godman's pen, and the fruits
 of his labour, are too  numerous to  be specified.  Among
 them will be found " Anatomical Investigations, comprising 
                MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.              7

 a Description of various Fasciae of the Human Body;"—
 "An Account of some Irregularities of Structure and Mor-
 bid Anatomy;"—"Contributions to Physiological and Pa-
 thological Anatomy;"—"A System of Natural History of
 American Quadrupeds;"—"An Edition of Bell's Anatomy,
 with Notes ;"—" Rambles of a Naturalist."  Several arti-
 cles on natural history for the American Encyclopaedia,
 beside  numerous  papers which  have  appeared  in  the
 periodical journals of  the day. At one time he was the
 principal editor of the  " Philadelphia Journal of the Medi-
 cal and Physical Sciences."  Some time before his death
 he published a  volume of Addresses which he had delivered
 on different public occasions.
  Most of these admired productions have been before the
 public for a considerable time; have  been  received with
 high approbation, and several of them  been favourably
 noticed, and even republished in foreign countries.
  Those of his works which are purely medical have been
 read with great interest by the profession, and contain
 much new  and valuable information.   His investigations
 of the fasciae of the human body,  and his  description of
 the intricate part of the animal structure, while they dis,
 close some important discoveries which  he made, exhibit
 the whole subject in a manner so  plain and simple as to
divest it of its obscurity, and bring  it to the comprehension
of the youngest  student;—a subject which, till his researches
were made known, was  but little understood even by the best
anatomists.   His contributions also  to physiological and pa-
thological anatomy, though but the scattered fragments of
a great work which he had designed, contain discoveries
and observations which will  be read with  the deepest inte-
rest by  the inquirer after truth.  Of his works not imme-
diately connected with  the profession, his Natural History
of American Quadrupeds is the most elaborate, and  is
published in three  volumes.   This production will long
remain  a splendid monument of the genius and industry
of its author, and be regarded as a model of composition
for works of this description.  It should have a place upon
the table of every family, and be put into the hands of all
the youths of our country.   Among the latest productions
of his pen are his essays entitled, Rambles of a Naturalist,
which were written in the intervals of extreme pain and 
8
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
 debility.  For strong, lively, and accurate description, they
 have scarcely been  surpassed.  He always  came  to his
 subject as an investigator of facts,—one who had nothing
 to learn, but every thing to discover;  and,  like the cele-
 brated Buffbn, never  availed himself of the labour of others
 till he had exhausted his own resources.  It was this spirit
 which enabled  him to disclose so many new truths, and
 which gave to all his works the stamp of originality. The
 value which he placed on original observation,  as well as
 the zeal with which he sought information from this source,
 may be learned from a single incident, " that  in investi-
 gating the habits of the shrew mole, he walked many nun-
 dred miles."
   The volume of his Public Addresses has been greatly ad-
mired for the pure and elevated sentiment they contain, as
well as for their high-wrought eloquence, in which respect
they rank among the finest compositions in our  language.
   But his published works constitute  but a part of the
labours of his pen ;  and many things which he  sent forth
were only fragments of a great system, or the commence-
ment of future researches.  He had formed vast plans for
prosecuting  new investigations in various departments of
science, which he did not live  to accomplish.
   Though he wrote  with  great rapidity, and  sometimes
without much care, yet all his  works bear the impress of a
mind naturally vigorous, bold,  and original, and much dis-
posed to draw from  its own resources; and most of them
are written in a style of great  elegance and beauty.
   Dr.  Godman's  intellectual character was  very extraor-
dinary.  He possessed, naturally, all the characteristic fea-
tures of a mind of the  highest order. Naturally bold, ardent,
and enterprising, he never stopped to calculate conse-
quences, so  far as they regarded himself; but rushed for-
ward with impetuosity to perform whatever he undertook.
 Great  and lofty  intellectual purposes seemed  to be the
 natural element  in which he lived.  His perception was
 quick  and accurate; his memory exceedingly  retentive;
 and he possessed  an  uncommon facility of abstracting his
 attention from surrounding objects, and of concentrating
 all his powers upon the subject of his pursuit.   It was this
 latter trait of mind,  no doubt,  which gave such effect to
 all his efforts:  while he was indebted to the  power of his 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.              8
memory  for the remarkable facility he  possessed of ac-
quiring languages; for although his early education had
been exceedingly limited, he had acquired such a know-
ledge  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  French, German,  Danish,
Spanish, and Italian languages, as to read and translate
them with fluency, and  to write  several of them  with
elegance.  His  quick and discriminating powers of ob-
servation naturally inclined him to notice the habits and
economy of animals, and  gave him his taste for the study
of natural history.
   But the most striking  character of his mind was un-
doubtedly philosophical imagination.   It was this  trait
which conferred upon him such powers of description and
illustration, and  imparted freshness and splendour to every
thing he touched.  All his conceptions were strong, clear,
and original, and he possessed the power of holding before
him  whatever object engaged his attention, till all its parts
and  relations were brought to view.  By those who have
listened to his extemporaneous discussions, it is said that,
while he was speaking, a thousand images seemed to clus-
ter around the subject, and that he had just time to select
such as imparted  beauty, or furnished the happiest  illus-
tration of the object he wished to explain. Yet, while he
possessed all this richness and fertility of mind, taste and
judgment ever controlled  its operations.
   He  was a laborious and untiring student, and possessed
in a  high degree the  requisites  of  all true intellectual
greatness,—the  habit  of  patient investigation, long con.
tinued attention, and a singular love of labour.  " How
often," says one, (to  whom he unbosomed the secrets of
his heart,) "have  I entreated him, while poring  half the
night over his books and papers,  which  were to yield him
nothing but empty honour,—how often have I begged him
to consider his  health ; but his  ambition and thirst for
knowledge were such that, having commenced an investi-
gation, or a language, no difficulty could stop him; and
what he had no time to accomplish in  the day he would
do at night, instead of enjoying that rest of which he stood
in so much need."
   It has been truly and happily said by one who knew him
intimately, that  his eagerness in  the pursuit of knowledge
seemed like the impulse  of gnawing hunger and an un-
                          1* 
10             MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
quenchable thirst;  which  neither adversity nor disease
could allay.   Variety of occupations was the only relaxa-
tion which he sought for or desired.
  He composed with  rapidity, but not without a high de-
gree of intellectual excitement,  and the most abstracted
attention.  Under  such an  influence some of his best
essays were  sent to the press as they first came  from
his  pen, without the smallest correction.
  Considering the defects of his early education, his ac-
quisitions, for his years, were astonishingly great.  Indeed,
there were but few subjects of general literature with  which
he was not, more  or less, acquainted.
  But it  was  his  accurate knowledge of anatomy and
physiology, and his uncommon  power of teaching these
branches of medicine, which gave him his strongest claims
to our regard as a man of science;  and had his life and
health been  prolonged so  as  to  have directed the  whole
energy of his mind to the  cultivation  of this department
of our profession, we have reason to believe that he would
have laid open new sources of knowledge, discovered new
laws, and  reduced  to order those  scattered  materials
already known; and that the  whole study would thus have
been simplified and enriched by his labours.
  His method of teaching anatomy was entirely analyti-
cal ; and, in this respect, peculiar,—that he  performed all
his  dissections in  the presence of the class, demonstrating
the different  parts of the animal structure in succession,
as they were  unfolded by the knife.  But this method, how-
ever well suited to a private class in the dissecting room,
causes too much confusion and delay to be practised with
success while lecturing by one less dexterous and skilful
than its author himself.
  Dr. Godman, in his manners, was plain, simple, and un-
ostentatious ; yet he possessed that warmth  and affability
which rendered him  accessible  to all, and the delight of
the social circle.   His feelings in every thing were  ardent
and decided.  He was devotedly attached to his friends;—
toward his enemies he was  impatient, and felt keenly their
revilings.  In his conversation he was fluent, and, though
unstudied, was often brilliant, and  always  full of point
and power.
   He was  particularly distinguished for simplicity and 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.             11
directness in uttering his  thoughts, which  always indi-
cated to those he addressed the absence of selfishness and
concealment.  No enigmatical expressions, no innuendoes,
were ever heard from his lips.  Dark and distant insinua-
tions were his utter abhorrence. In whatever he said, and
in whatever he did, he put forth his whole soul.  He was
always cheerful, and  apparently  happy,  even amid  the
deepest adversity and the keenest  suffering.
   When we consider the-circumstances under which Dr.
Godman made his  way to the profession, and afterward
prosecuted his studies, the multiplicity of objects which he
carried forward, and the honour he conferred on every de-
partment of science which he touched;—when we consider
the power of his intellect, the versatility of his genius, and
the intensity of his  application, we cannot but regard him
as altogether an extraordinary personage,—such a one as
has seldom been permitted to  dwell among men, to share
their sympathies, and mingle in their elevated pursuits.
   In view of his intellectual character, I cannot withhold
the just and elegant tribute which fell from the pen  of that
distinguished scholar and gentleman, Robert Walsh, Esq.,
at the time of Dr. Godman's decease; one who, above
most others, knew his worth.
   " The tributes," says he, " which have been paid in the
newspapers to the late Dr. Godman, were especially due
to the  memory of a man so variously gifted by nature, and
so nobly distinguished  by industry and zeal in the acqui-
sition  and advancement of science.   He did  not enjoy
early opportunities  of self-improvement, but he  cultivated
his talents, as he approached  manhood, with a  degree  of
ardour and success which supplied all deficiencies; and
he finally became one of the  most accomplished general
scholars and linguists, acute and erudite naturalists, ready,
pleasing, and instructive lecturers and writers of his coun-
try and era.  The principal subject of his study was ana-
tomy in its main branches, in  which he excelled in every
respect.   His attention was  much directed also to phy.
siology, pathology,  and  natural history, with an aptitude
and  efficiency  abundantly proved by  the  merits  of  his
published works, which  we need not enumerate.
   l( We do not now  recollect to have known any individual
who inspired us with more respect for his intellect and 
12             MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.

heart than Dr. Godman; to whom knowledge and disco-
very appeared more abstractly precious; whose eye shed
more of the lustre of generous and enlightened enthusiasm;
whose heart remained more vivid and  sympathetic amid
professional labour and responsibility, always  extremely
severe and urgent. Considering the decline of his health,
for  a long period, and  the pressure of adverse circum-
stances, which he too  frequently experienced, he  per-
formed prodigies as a student, an author, and a teacher;—
he prosecuted extensive and diversified researches ; com-
posed superior disquisitions and reviews,  and  large and
valuable  volumes ; and in the great  number  of topics
which  he handled simultaneously, or in immediate suc-
cession, he touched none without doing  himself  credit,
and producing some new developement of  light, or happy
forms of expression.
  " He lingered for years under consumption of the lungs;
understood fully the incurableness of his melancholy state;
spoke and acted with an unfeigned and beautiful resigna-
tion ; toiled at his desk to the last day of his thirty-two
years, still glowing with the love of science and the domes.
tic affections.  The reputation, the writings, and  the family
of this victim of the most exalted ambition and refined pro-
pensities  should be greatly and widely cherished."
  But there remains another view to be taken  of Dr. God-
man, to which I have made no allusion :—I  refer  to  his
moral and religious character; and though to  some it may
seem unsuited to the place  and the occasion, I shall make
no apology for exhibiting to the class a trait of his charac-
ter so admirable, so strongly drawn, and so worthy of imi-
tation,—and  one which was  his only solace  in sickness,
cheered him as he approached  the valley of death, and shed
light and immortality around  his dying couch.
  It had  been the misfortune of Dr. Godman,  as that of
many  of the eminent members of our profession  before
him, to form his philosophical and religious opinions after
the model  of  the French naturalists of the last century;
the most  distinguished of whom were deists and atheists;
and such is man in his natural, his  fallen  condition, that
even while surrounded by the most magnificent displays of
divine power  and wisdom,  and with his eyes directed to
those very objects, and his attention arrested by those very 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
13
laws which proclaim the existence and the presence of an
almighty Power, that he overlooks and passes by the evi-
dences they furnish of the existence of a Deity; and this,
often, under the specious, but delusive pretext of casting
off* the shackles of prejudice and superstition, and of giving
the reins to free, enlightened, and  philosophical inquiry.
It was the case with Dr. Godman;  for while  assisted by
such lights as these, and guided alone in his investigations
by perverted  reason, he became, as he tells us, an esta-
blished  infidel, rejecting revelation, and  casting all the
evidences of an existing God beneath his feet.
   It was not till  the winter of 1827, while engaged in his
course of lectures in New-York, that he was arrested in
his career, and brought to an experimental  knowledge of
the truth. At this time an incident occurred  which led him
to a candid perusal of the gospels, as contained  in the
New Testament.   It was a visit to a deathbed; the  death-
bed of a Christian; the deathbqfl of a student of medicine.
There he saw what reason could not explain, nor philoso-
phy fathom.  H» opened  his  Bible, and the secret was
unfolded.  From  this time he became a devoted student
of the Scriptures.  How far they were made the efficient
cause  of his  conversion to Christianity will  best appear
from his own  eloquent pen.
   The  following is an extract of a letter he addressed to a
medical friend, Dr. Judson, of this city, a surgeon in the
navy of the United States, who was at that time in the last
stage of consumption :—
                        " Germantown, Dec. 25, 1828.
   " In relation to dying, my dear friend,  you talk  like a
sick man, and just as I used to do when very despondent.
Death is a debt we all owe to nature, and must eventually
ensue from a mere wearing out of the machine, if not from
disease. The time when, makes no difference in the act of
dying to the individual; for, after all, it terminates in cor-
poreal insensibility, let  the preceding anguish be never so
severe.  Nature certainly has a strong abhorrence  to this
cessation of corporeal action, and all animals have a dread
of death who are conscious of its approach.  A part of our
dread of death is purely physical, and is avoidable only by
a philosophical conviction of its necessity; but the greater
part of our dread, and the terrors with which the avenues 
14
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
to the grave arc surrounded, are from another, and a more
potent source.  * 'Tis conscience that makes cowards of us
all,' and forces us by our terrors to confess that we dread
something  beyond physical dissolution, and that we  are
terrified, not at merely ceasing to breathe, but  that we
have not lived as we ought to have done, have not effected
the good that was within the compass of our abilities, and
neglected to exercise the talents we possessed to the great-
est advantage.   The only remedy for this fear of death is
to be sought by approaching the Author of all things in the
way prescribed by himself,  and not according to our own
foolish imaginations.  Humiliation of pride, denial of self,
subjection of evil tempers and dispositions, and an entire
submission to  his will for support and  direction, are  the
best preparatives for such an approach.  A perusal of the
gospels, in a spirit of real inquiry, after a direction how to
act, will certainly teach  the  way.  In  these gospels  the
Saviour himself has preached his own  doctrines, and he
who runs may  read.  He has prescribed the course; he
shows how the approval and  mercy of €lod may be won;
he shows how awfully corrupt is man's nature, and how
deadly his  pride and stubbornness of heart, which  cause
him to try  every subterfuge to avoid the humiliating con-
fession of his  own weakness, ignorance, and folly.  But
the same blessed hand has stripped death of all the terrors
which brooded around the grave, and converted the gloomy
receptacle of our mortal remains into the portal of life and
light.  O let me die the death of the  righteous;  let  my
last ehd and future state be like his!
   " This is all I know on the subject. I am no theologian,
and have as great an aversion to priestcraft as one can
entertain.  I was once an infidel, as  I told you in  the
West Indies.  I became a Christian from conviction, pro-
duced by the candid inquiry recommended to you.  I know
of no other way in which death can be stripped of its ter-
rors; certainly none better can be wished.  Philosophy is
a fool, and pride a madman.  Many persons die with what
is called manly firmness; that is, having acted a part all
their lives according to their prideful creed, they  must die
game. They put on as smooth a face as they can, to impose
on the spectators, and die firmly. But this is all deception;
the true state of their minds at  the very time, nine times 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
15
out of ten, is worse than the most horrible imaginings even
of hell itself. Some who have led lives adapted to sear their
conscience, and petrify all the moral sensibilities, die with
a kind of indifference similar to that with which a hardened
convict submits to a new infliction of disgraceful  punish-
ment. But  the man  who dies  as a man ought to die is the
humble minded, believing Christian; one who has tasted
and enjoyed all the blessings of creation; who has had an
enlightened view of the wisdom and glory of his Creator;
who  has felt the vanity of merely worldly  pursuits  and
motives, and been permitted to know the mercies of a
blessed  Redeemer as  he approaches the narrow house
appointed for all  the living.
   " Physical death may cause his senses to shrink and fail
at the trial; but his mind, sustained by the Rock of ages, is
serene and unwavering.   He relies not on his own right-
eousness, for that would be vain; but the arms  of mercy
are beneath him—the ministering spirits of the Omnipotent
are around  him.   He  does  not die manfully, but he rests
in Jesus; he blesses his friends, he casts his  hope on One
all powerful to sustain,and mighty to save;  then sleeps in
peace.  He is dead—but liveth ;  for He who is the resur-
rection  and the life has declared, 'Whoso believeth on me,
though  he were dead,  yet shall  he live.  And whosoever
liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die.'" *  *  *
  This  letter, which so truly contrasts the deathbed scene
of the infidel with that of the Christian, so beautifully por-
trays the history of the change which had been effected in
Dr. Godman's own sentiments and affections, and so clearly
points the benighted  wanderer to the true source of life and
light, was not lost upon his friend to whom it was addressed.
It described his condition, and it reached his heart.
  Dr. Judson, though  religiously instructed when young,
having a pious clergyman for his father, and another for his
elder  brother, [Dr.  Judson, the distinguished missionary,
now in lndia,~\ .yet he  had long since freed himself from
what he called the prejudices of education,  the shackles
of priestcraft, and was  ranging the fields of infidelity.  He
had acquired wealth and reputation; was an estimable man
in all the domestic relations of life, and a highly respected
member of our profession; but the self-denying  doctrines
of the Saviour were  too humbling to his proud spirit, and 
16
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.
   he could not submit to their influence.   At the time he
   received Dr. Godman's letter,  however, he was gloomy
   and despondent; looking forward with fearful forebodings
   to the period of his dissolution,  which seemed not far  dis-
   tant.  He had no confidence but that of the skeptic,—no
   hope but that of ceasing to be.  Aware of the fatal nature
   of the disease under which he had lingered for  years,  he
   had long been arming himself to meet the  king  of terrors
   with composure, that he might die like a philosopher—
   "with manly firmness:" but, as he drew nearer to the grave,
   the clouds and darkness thickened around him, and he be-
   gan to fear that there might be something beyond this nar-
   row prison. He had hitherto refused all religious intercourse,
   but now his infidelity began  to give way, and he inquired
   with solicitude, " Is there such a thing as the new  birth, and
   if so, in what does  it consist ?"  He was  directed to  the
   gospels for the answer.  He at  length consented to make
   the investigation recommended by Dr. Godman.   He took
   up the New Testament, and read it in the spirit of candid
   inquiry.   A conviction of the truth of its doctrines fast-
   ened upon him.  He now solicited the advice and prayers
   of a pious clergyman. Yet he could not consent to.relinquish
   the sentiments which he had so long cherished without the
   clearest  proof; and he disputed every inch  of ground with
   great acuteness and ability : but the truth was exhibited by
   this venerable divine [the Rev. William Ryland] with such
   force and simplicity, that it overcame every argument he
   could produce, and he saw clearly the folly of his skeptical
   opinions.  The clouds were dissipated, light broke in upon
   his mind, and he was enabled to take hold of the promises.
   The remaining  days of his  life were devoted to fervent
   prayer,  and  the constant study of the Scriptures, which
   filled his soul with divine composure, and  enabled him to
   rely with undoubting confidence  on the infinite merits of
   his Redeemer, and with  his last breath to cry  "Peace,
   peace."   If he  did  not die  with " manly firmness,"  he
   " rested in Jesus."
     The exercises of such a mind as Dr. Godman's, during
   a long period of affliction, cannot fail to  be interesting,
   as well to the philosopher as to  the Christian, and more
   especially as expressed by himself.  I shall, therefore, pre-
   sent a few brief extracts from some of his correspondence
__aJLthat neriod^__________________________________________ 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.             17
                       " Philadelphia, Feb. 17, 1829.
    My Dear Friend:—Since my last to you, my health
has suffered various and most afflicting changes.  The un-
usual severity of the weather, and other scarcely percep-
tible  causes, induced  an  attack of inflammation  in the
diseased lung, which in my enfeebled condition required
more of depletion and  reduction of diet than could be rea-
dily borne:  hemorrhage ensued on the third or fourth day,
which relieved the local affection considerably, and by the
aid of blistering  frequently, and perfect rest, I gradually
amended.  Still the great suffering caused by the mental
and corporeal debility was beyond any thing ever before
experienced by me, even after the active condition of dis-
ease was checked.  But thanks to the  mercies of Him who
is alone able to save, the valley and shadow of death were
stripped of their terrors, and the descent to the grave was
smoothed before me.  Relying on the  mercies and infinite
merits of the Saviour, had it pleased God to call me then,
I believe  I should have died in a  peaceful,  humble con-
fidence.  But I have been restored to a state of compara-
tive health,  perhaps nearly to the condition in which I was
when I wrote to Dr. Judson;  and I am again allowed to
think of the education of my children, and the support of
my family.      *****
                   " Believe me truly your friend,
   " Professor Sewall.             J. D. Godman."
   In  answer to the suggestion which I made to him of the
propriety  of leaving behind him a memoir of his life,  he
says: " It has long been my intention, as my life has been
a curious  one, to put a short account of it together for the
benefit of my children and others."   *   *    *   *
   It appears, however, from some lines which he wrote at
a later  period of his life, that he never accomplished this
object; for  in a manuscript volume  which  he s°n«  i.o a
friend, and which he intended to fill with original pieces
of his own composition, he writes as follows :—
  " Did I not in all things feel most thoroughly convinced
that the overruling of our plans by an all-wise Providence
is always for good, I might regret that a part of my plan
cannot  be executed.   This was to relate a few curious
incidents  from among the  events of  my most singularly
guided life, which, in addition to mere novelty or peculiarity 
18             MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.

of character, could not have failed practically to illustrate
the importance of inculcating correct religious and moral
principles, and imbuing the mind therewith from the very
earliest dawn of intellect, from the very moment that the
utter imbecility of infancy begins to disappear.  May His
holy will be done, who can raise up abler advocates to sup-
port the truth!  This is my first  attempt  to write  in my
Token;—why may it not be the last ?   O !  should it be,
believe me that  the will of God will be most acceptable.
Notwithstanding  the life of neglect, sinfulness, and per-
version of heart, which I so long led before it pleased him
to dash all my idols in the dust, I feel an humble hope in
the boundless mercy of our blessed Lord and Saviour, who
alone  can save the soul from merited condemnation.   May
it be in the power of those who chance  to read these lines
to say, Into thy hands I commend my spirit,  for thou hast
redeemed me, O Lord !  thou God  of truth."
  On communicating to Dr. Godman an  account of the
last moments of his friend, Dr. Judson, he responds  in the
following feeling and beautiful manner :—
                       " Germantown, May 21, 1829.
  " My Dear Friend:—I feel very grateful for your atten-
tion in sending me an account of our dear Judson's last
moments.   After all his doubts,  difficulties, and mental
conflicts, to know that the Father of mercies was pleased
to open his eyes to the truth, and shed abroad in his heart
the love and salvation offered through the Redeemer, is to
me  a source of the purest gratification, and a cause of the
most sincere rejoicing.  The bare  possibility of my having
been  even slightly instrumental in effecting the blessed
change of mind he experienced,  excites in  me emotions
of gratitude to the Source of all  good which words can-
not express.
  " I am afraid you did not examine his lungs after death.
It is much to be regretted that the body of any physician
should be interred without examination.  They owe the
example  to  their surviving  friends; and  I should  be far
more  grieved to think that my body should be buried with-
out examination, than to know that it would be left in the
open  air without the rites of sepulture."
   That love  of science, that professional  ardour which
dictated the foregoing sentiment, and which still continued 
MEMOIR OF DR. GODMAN.             19
to burn with a vivid flame, it would seem neither lessened
the sensibilities of his heart, nor diminished his dependence
upon his Saviour.  Indeed there was nothing of that monk-
ish  austerity, nothing of that gross materialism,  in his
belief which caused him to  hover over  the gloom of the
grave, and to cling to the crumbling and lifeless tenement
of the  soul after the spirit has fled. His religion was too
spiritual and elevated, his communion with his Saviour too
intimate,  and his assurance of a  blessed immortality too
strong, to permit him to indulge such degraded and nar-
row views.  In the same letter he adds:—
  " My health has been in a very poor condition since
my last to you.  My cough and expectoration have been
generally bad, and my body is emaciated to a very great
degree.  The warm weather now appears to have set in,
and possibly I  may improve a little; otherwise it will not
be long before  I follow our lately departed friend.   Let me
participate in the prayers you offer for the sick and afflicted,
and may God.grant me strength to die  to his  honour and
glory, in the hopes and constancy derived from the merits
and atonement of the blessed Saviour. With my best wishes
for your health and prosperity, I remain sincerely  yours,
   " Professor Sewall.             J. D. Godman."
                         " Philadelphia, Oct. 6, 1829.
   " My Dear Friend:—My health is, as for a considerable
time past, in a very tolerable condition; that  is, I can sit
up  a  great part  of the day writing or reading without
much  injury.  My emaciation is great, and,  though not
very  rapid, is steady; so that the change in my strength
takes  place almost imperceptibly.  On the whole, though
I suffer greatly,  compared with persons in health, yet so
gently have the chastenings of  the Lord  fallen upon me,
that I am hourly called upon for thankfulness and grati-
tude  for  his unfailing mercies.    Equal cause have I had
for rejoicing that I have learned to put  my whole  trust in
him ;  as he has raised  me up help and friends in circura-
stances which seemed to render even hope impossible; and
has blessed me and mine with  peace and content in the
midst of all afflictions,  trials, and adversity.
   " Knowing experimentally the value of implicit  submis-
sion of all thoughts and desires  to his most holy will, it  is
no small  source of distress to me  to see how many of my 
 20             MEMOIR OF DR.*GODMAN.

 most valued friends live in the habitual neglect of a happi-
 ness so pure, so attainable, and admirable."   *   *   *
   Dr. Godman's religious feelings, though ardent, were
 not bigoted.  In him religion was not that cold, selfish,
 and narrow principle which shuts out from his confidence
 all not of his own faith; nor did it consist in a loud profes-
 sion of a particular doctrine or creed.  It was the  religion
 of the heart, deep,  sincere, and as comprehensive as the
 charity of Heaven; embracing all the humble,  faithful, and
 really good  of every sect and denomination of Christians.
   In the concluding part of the above letter, after speaking
 of the different religious denominations in terms of great
 liberality and candour, he says :—
   " However, I find all really religious persons to be of one
 mind.   Those who have drunk at the undefiled spring of
 truth, as set forth in the New Testament, without obscura-
 tion of human creeds or tradition, I have never found to
 differ  in any respect that was of the slightest importance;
 and, therefore, with such  persons,  however called, I  can
 always communicate advantageously.
                         " Sincerely your friend,
   "Professor Sewall.              J. D. Godman."
   His  strong and  practical views of the authenticity of
 Christianity are clearly exhibited in the following extract
 which he wrote not long before his death:—
   " Is  proof wanting that these gospels are true ?  It is
 only necessary for an honest mind to read  them candidly
 to be convinced.   Every  occurrence  is stated  clearly,
simply,  and unostentatiously.   The narrations are  not
supported  by asseverations of their truth,  nor by  parade
of witnesses:  the circumstances described took place in
presence of vast multitudes,  and are told  in  that down-
right,  unpretending manner,  which would  have called
forth innumerable  positive contradictions  had they been
untrue.   Mysteries are stated without attempt at expla-
nation, because  explanation is not necessary  to establish
the existence of facts, however mysterious.  Miracles, also,
attested by the presence of vast numbers, are stated in the
plainest language of narration,  in which the slightest work.
ing of imagination cannot be traced.  This very simplicity,
this unaffected sincerity, and quiet affirmation, have more
force  than  a thousand witnesses,—more  efficacy than 
MEMOIR OF DH. SegtfAN.             21
  volumes of ambitious effort to support truth  by dint of
  argumentation.
     " What motive could the evangelists have to falsify ?
  The Christian kingdom is not of this world, nor in it.
  Christianity teaches disregard of its vanities ;  depreciates
  its honours and enjoyments, and sternly declares that none
  can be Christians but those who escape from its vices and
  allurements.   There is  no  call directed to ambition,—no
  gratification proposed to vanity:—the sacrifice of self,—
  the denial of all the propensities which relate to the gratifi-
  cation of passion  or pride,  with the most humble depend-
  ence upon God, are invariably taught, and most solemnly
  enjoined, under  penalty of the  most*awful consequences!
  Is it then wonderful that such a system should find revilers?
  Is it  surprising that skeptics  should abound, when the
  slightest allowance of belief would force them  to condemn
  all their actions ?  Or is it to be wondered  at that a purity
  of life and conversation so  repugnant to human passions,
  and a humility so offensive  to human pride, should be op-
  posed, rejected, and contemned ?   Such is the true secret
  of the opposition to religion,—such the cause inducing men
  who lead unchristian lives to  array the  frailties, errors,
  weakness, and vices of individuals, or sects, against Chris.
  tianity,  hoping to weaken  or destroy the system by ren-
  dering ridiculous or contemptible those who profess to be
  governed by its influence, though their conduct  shows them
  to be acting under an opposite spirit.
     "What is the  mode  in which  this most extraordinary
* doctrine of Christianity is to be diffused ?  By force—tern-
  poral power—temporal rewards—earthly triumphs ?  None
  of these.  By earnest persuasion—gentle entreaty—bro-
  therly love—paternal remonstrance.   The dread resort of
  threatened punishment  comes last—exhibited in  sorrow,
  not in  anger; told as a fearful truth, not denounced with
  vindictive exultation; while, to the last moment, the beamy
  shield of mercy is  ready to be interposed for the saving of
  the endangered.
     " Human doctrines are wavering and mutable : the doc-
  trines of the blessed  and adorable Jesus, our Saviour, are
  fixed and immutable.  The traditions of men are dissimilar
  and inconsistent^ the declarations of the  gospel are har-
  monious, not only with  each other, but with the acknow- 
22             MEMOIRJW DR. GODMAN.
ledged attributes of the Deity, and the well known condition
of human nature.
  " What do skeptics propose to  give us in exchange for
this system  of Christianity, with its ' hidden mysteries,'
'miracles,'  'signs and wonders?'   Doubt, confusion, ob-
scurity, annihilation !  Life—without higher motive than
selfishness :—death—without hope !   Is  it  for this that
their zeal is so warmly displayed in proselyting ?  Is such
the gain to  accrue  for  the relinquishment of our souls?
In very deed this is the utmost they have to propose,
and we can only account for their rancorous efforts to
render others like themselves, by reflecting that misery
loves company."
  In  the last  letter which I ever received from him he
observes: " I have just  concluded the publication of the
translation of Levasseur's account of Lafayette's progress
through the  United  States, which will appear next week.
  " My health  has for the last week or two been very good,
for me; since, notwithstanding my rather excessive appli-
cation during this time, I continue to do  well.  My cough
and expectoration are sufficiently troublesome; but, by light
diet, and avoiding all irritation, I have but very little trou-
ble from night sweats, and generally sleep tolerably well.
My emaciation does not appear to  advance very rapidly,
though there is no reason to believe it will cease.
  " My time is so exceedingly occupied by the literary
business I am engaged  in, that  it is with great difficulty
that I can attend to any other affairs.   However, I have
always intended to leave behind me  the sort of memoranda
you wish for, which my friends may use at their discretion.
I have to-day,  as above mentioned, concluded one  book,
which leaves me at liberty to write some long deferred
letters.  To-morrow I must  resume my  pen to complete
some articles of zoology for the Encyclopaedia Americana,
now preparing in Boston.  It shall  be my constant endea-
vour  to husband my strength to  the last; and by doing as
much as is consistent with safety for the  good of my fellow
creatures, endeavour to discharge a mite of the immense
debt  I owe  for the never failing bounties of Providence."
   He did husband his strength, and he toiled with his pen
almost to the last hours of his life;  and by thus doing has
furnished us with a singular evidence of the possibility of 
MEMOIR of dr. godman.
23
 uniting the highest attainments in science, and the most
 ardent devotion to letters, with the firmest belief and the
 purest practice of the Christian.  But the period of his dis-
 solution was not distant: the summons arrived; and con-
 scious that the messenger who had been  long in waiting *
 could not be bribed to tarry, he commended his little family
 in a fervent  prayer to Him who has promised  to be the
 " Father of the fatherless, and the widow's God;" and then
 with uplifted eyes and hands, and a face beaming with joy
 and confidence, resigned his spirit into the arms of his Re-
 deemer,  on the morning of the 17th of April, 1830, aged
 thirty-two years.
   A friend who was his constant companion during his
 sickness, and witnessed  his  last moments, writes  me
 thus :—
   "You  ask  me to give you an account of his last  mo-
 ments : .they were such as have robbed me of all terror of
 death, and will  afford me lasting comfort through life.
 The same  self-composure  and entire resignation which
 were so remarkable througlThis whole sickness, supported
 him  to the end.  O it was not death—it was  a release
 from mortal misery to everlasting happiness !  Such calm-
 ness when he prayed for us all,—such a heavenly compo-
 sure, even till the breath left him, you would have thought
 he was going only a short  journey.  During the day his
 sufferings had been almost beyond enduring.   Frequently
 did he pray that the Lord would give him patience to en-
 dure all  till the  end, knowing  that it could not  be  many
 hours ; and truly his  prayers were heard.  ' Lord Jesus,
-receive my soul,' were the last words he uttered; and his
 countenance appeared as if he had a foretaste of heaven
 even before his spirit left this world."
   I might enlarge, but I forbear.  Allow me only to add,
 that  there are those who feel that in the death of  Dr.
 Godman  the  strongest ties of  nature are torn  asunder.
 While we mingle our  sighs with theirs, let us delight to
 dwell upon those  traits,  and emulate those virtues, which
 we admired while he  lived,  and which death can never
 efface from the memory.
   I cannot place before you, young gentlemen, in this, the
 commencement  of your professional  career,  an example
 more worthy  than the one we have been contemplating; 
   24             Ml MOIii OF DR. GODMAN.

   but I admonish you, while you aspire to  theiwnours he
   achieved, not  to forget to mark the steps  by which, he
   reached the lofty  eminence  on which he stood.'  Keep
   constantly  before  you that  thirst  for knowledge,  that
   ardent  zeal, that  stability and flN&y of purpose,  that
   untiring industry, thg,t ceaseless "s'fJrrit of  exertion which
   animated his bosom, and  to the last urged him onward ;
   and while you regret that a mind so active',', ardent, and
   elevated, is no longer to impart its conceptions to others,—
   that the spirit-stirring  voice which  cheered the student,
   and guided  his steps in the pathsef science,—which  de.
   lighted the social,  and shed joy and gladness around  the
   domestic circle, is-silent in the grave,—cease not to emu-
   late the noble  love of truth, the simplicity of character,
 .the honesty  of intention,  the piety and benevolence of
.   heart which lighted up his pathway,  and  stripped  the
 #  avenue  to the grave of its terrors. 
 

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