Page:Lives of British Physicians.djvu/317

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PARRY. 295 medical brethren and liis patients with candour and deference, he would submit to no improper dictation; nor, for the purpose of retaining a friend, or of conciliating a foe, submit to any measure which was inconsistent with the strictest integrity. In his opinion, the qualities of the gentleman and really honest man were neces- sarily associated in the character of the perfect physician. Though the subject of our memoir was widely known and estimated in this his principal ca- pacity, it is perhaps true, that he was no less celebrated as one of the most scientific agricul- turists of his day. " As a lover of agricultural objects, he was rewarded by the distinctions of many societies, and cultivated as a friend or as a correspondent by men of all ranks, the most emi- nent for their practical or theoretical acquaintance with the diversified subjects of natural and moral economy." In the years 1786-7 he became pos- sessor of a farm in the neighbourhood of Bath, and within a walk of his town residence. It was impossible for a mind, constituted as his, to pur- sue the routine, and to witness the effects, of agri- cultural operations, without attending, at the same time, to the principles which regulate the science, and which should direct the practice. Hence every walk to his farm, intended as a means of occasional relaxation from severe professional pursuits, gave occasion to some interesting investigation; and every crop became the source of inquiry into the means of additional increase, or of economical improvement. Among other subjects which at an early period came under Dr. Parry's consideration,