Republican Herald

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE DR. NATHAN SMITH.—We remember to have heard an anecdote of Dr. Smith, which illustrates his shrewdness and determination. Not long after he established himself at Cornish, and while he was patiently waiting for some requisition upon his professional services, a company of young men, standing about the tavern door on the evening of the fourth of July, and rather more than commonly excited, saw a poor lame goose in a flock, feeding upon the green,—(when was a flock of geese ever seen in which there was not one lame one?)-and immediately determined to have some sport with the doctor. Accordingly they despatched a messenger with all haste to inform Dr. Smith, that a patient who had unfortunately broken his leg, was waiting for him at the tavern. Not a moment was to be lost, and taking with him all the necessary apparatus, he hastened to obey the summons. As he drew near the house, and saw the preparation for his reception, his quick mind began to suspect a trick; but he proceeded without hesitation to the door, where, amid the ill-concealed tittering of the crowd, he met the innkeeper, who, entering fully with his customers into the joke, informed him that the patient was within. Accordingly, preceded by the tavern-keeper and followed by the crowd, ready to burst with delight at the anticipated surprise and chagrin of the doctor, he entered the great hall of the house, where sure enough the goose was extended in full honor upon a bed. The doctor, without hesitation or the least show of surprise, advanced to the bed, and having with scrupulous care examined the broken limb, prepared his splints, reduced the fracture, and bound it up in the most scientific manner. He then, with extreme gravity, directed the tavern-keeper to pay particular attention to the patient, on no account to suffer him to be moved from the bed for at least a week, but to feed him plentifully with Indian meal and water. Thus far all was pretty well, although matters were a little sober to be sure. The next day, however, the joke became really quite serious when a liberal bill for professional services was sent to the inn-keeper, and to his mortification he found he was obliged to pay it. The affair was soon known, and the doctor found himself suddenly in possession of that reputation which in Yankee land always attaches to one who evidently knows how to take care of himself. Men began to respect him, and the foundation of a good practice was quite unexpectedly laid.—Biography of Self-Taught Men.