Diseases are the arms whereby
We naturally do fall and die.
What furie is't to take a death part,
And rather than by nature, die by art.
Men, for me, again shall chime
To Jared's or Mathuselah's time.
That thread of life the Fates do twine
Their gentle hands shall clip, not mine.
O let me never know the cruel
And heedless villany of duel;
Or if I must that fate sustain,
Let me be Abel, and not Cain.
From the same biographer, I learn that Sir Thomas died May 16th, 1634; so that Browne's mother was probably left a widow the second time.
His continental travels in France, Italy, and Holland, immediately followed his Irish tour, and the whole may be supposed to have occupied about two years, terminating in his return to England, after having obtained his degree of M. D. in the university of Leyden, in 1633. He then settled as a physician at Shipden Hall, near Halifax. None of his biographers, indeed, have mentioned this fact; but I cannot see the slightest reason for refusing the testimony of Bently, who published the following account of him, during the life of his son, Dr. Edward Browne. After enumerating Dr. Power and other physicians who resided at Halifax, he proceeds thus:—"And unto whom I cannot forbear adding the learned Dr. Browne, (who, for his worth and fame, was thought worthy of knighthood by his prince,) because, in his juvenile years, he fixed himself in this populous and rich trading place, wherein to shew his skill and gain respect in the world: and that during his residence amongst us, and in his vacant hours, he writ his admired piece, called by him Religio Medici."[B 1] This account is confirmed by the Rev. Thomas Wright; who wrote for the express purpose of revising Bently's work and correcting its errors, and, therefore, had he not believed the account of Browne to be correct, he would have omitted it: whereas he has adopted and amplified it; informing us that "about the year 1630 he lived at Shipden Hall, nigh Halifax; at which time he composed that excellent piece, &c."[B 2]
