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MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 Open Knowledge Commons 
 
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MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY: EDITED BY HIS SON 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 CLARENCE JOHN BLAKE, M.D. 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS 
 CAMBRIDGE; MDCCCCXV 
 
"ft \<t*\. GrM 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY ELLEN T. GAVIN 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 I. ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD I 
 
 II. EDUCATION. MEDICAL STUDIES II 
 
 III. FURTHER PROFESSIONAL PREPARA- 
 
 TION 21 
 
 IV. EARLY PRIVATE PRACTICE 30 
 V. LATER PRIVATE PRACTICE 40 
 
 VI. BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL 54 
 
 VII. OTHER PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 WRITINGS 63 
 
 VIII. SUMMARY OF DOCTOR GAVIN'S PRO- 
 FESSIONAL CAREER 77 
 
 IX. BUSINESS AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. 
 
 HOME. RECREATIONS. LIBRARY. 95 
 
 X. HIS CHARACTER 114 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 131 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN, M.D. Frontispiece 
 
 DR. GAVIN AS ACTING ASSISTANT SURGEON, 
 
 U.S.N. 1863 16 
 
 DR. GAVIN AS FIRST LIEUTENANT AND AS- 
 SISTANT SURGEON, U.S.V. 1865 26 
 
 DR. GAVIN AT THE TIME OF HIS MARRIAGE 
 IN 1876 42 
 
 HOUSE OFFICERS OF THE BOSTON CITY 
 HOSPITAL IN 1865 54 
 
 DR. GAVIN'S SURGICAL SERVICE AT THE 
 BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL IN 1903 60 
 
 DR. GAVIN IN MIDDLE LIFE 84 
 
 IN CAMP AT "THE BIRCHES " 104 
 
 LETTER TO MRS. GAVIN 132 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 To no man in any walk of life is there given a 
 larger opportunity for personal helpfulness than to 
 the physician : his touch with the vital concerns of 
 his fellows is the more immediate, and the more 
 directive, because the condition of the relationship 
 is distinctly personal ; barriers fall away before the 
 pressure of a need, entitled because of its individu- 
 ality, as well as because of its companionship in 
 common welfare, to the help it seeks. 
 
 As the custodian of painstakingly acquired knowl- 
 edge, at the disposal of whosoever may be bettered 
 by its application, the physician holds an enviable 
 place in the community, and finds in it ample oppor- 
 tunity for the outgiving of such qualities as are evi- 
 denced in kindliness, helpfulness, encouragement, 
 and the gentle and discriminative presentation of 
 the truth. 
 
 The ability to make just and continued application 
 of such gifts, to supplement the lack in other lives 
 by remedies other than material merely, bespeaks 
 the possession of a fund of wholesomeness, of a 
 sane appreciation of the beauty and the goodness 
 of life, and of a sympathy illuminated by the desire 
 to pass on these acquisitions. 
 
 ix 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Of such sort was the man whose name this vol- 
 ume bears, — its contents the testimony of his own 
 recorded well-lived life, and the tributes of his fam- 
 ily and friends, gathered in loving memory by his 
 son. 
 
 To have centered all of one's best possessions 
 upon a useful purpose, to have brought to bear 
 upon this all of one's best characteristics, to have 
 put aside self in order to follow duty in the light 
 of a reverent faith, is to have lived and wrought 
 as did our friend. 
 
 Clarence John Blake, M.D. 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ANCESTRY AND CHILDHOOD 
 
 Michael Freebern Gavin, the son of John 
 Gavin and Mary Freebern Gavin, was born at 
 Roscommon, Ireland, on the twelfth of May, 1844. 
 His father, John Gavin, a carriage-builder by trade, 
 came originally from County Galway, but later 
 moved to Roscommon and established his busi- 
 ness there ; and there he married Mary Freebern, 
 who was of Scotch descent and whose father, Rob- 
 ert Freebern, had been an officer in the English 
 army and had fought under Wellington at Water- 
 loo. Here, at Roscommon, a family of nine chil- 
 dren, five boys and four girls, was born to them, 
 to bless their long and happy union. Of the five 
 sons, Robert, the eldest, remained at home to 
 carry on his father's trade, while the other four — 
 Michael F., Patrick F., John H., and George F. 
 — departed, one by one, for America, where, with 
 a striking unanimity of choice, each of the four 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 in turn selected for his profession the practice of 
 medicine. 
 
 Michael Freebern Gavin was the fifth born of 
 the nine children and spent the first twelve years 
 of his life in Roscommon, where he received his 
 early schooling at the convent of the Sisters of 
 Mercy. Here the foundations of his education, in- 
 cluding- the rudiments of Latin and the classics, 
 were thoroughly laid, and here the deep underly- 
 ing religion of his nature, first of all established 
 in his home, must have been fostered and devel- 
 oped. Here also in his birthplace, in some degree, 
 perhaps, from his books, but doubtless to a far 
 greater extent from his surroundings, he acquired 
 a love for Ireland and an interest in her welfare 
 which endured throughout his life. 
 
 Nor is this to be wondered at : for the little town 
 of Roscommon, though numbering only two thou- 
 sand souls, has played a part of no small impor- 
 tance in the history of the nation. Viewed merely 
 from a modern standpoint, it is noted for its flour- 
 ishing trade in live-stock and in agricultural prod- 
 uce ; and it is moreover the county town for County 
 Roscommon, so that here are held the assizes, and, 
 alternately with Boyle and Stokestown, the quar- 
 ter sessions. 
 
 Turning from the present to the past, one strikes 
 at once deep to the roots of Irish history, and 
 
 2 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 enters a land of saints and priors, of soldiers and 
 princes, a land rich in memories of 
 
 Old, unhappy far-off things 
 And battles long ago. 
 
 For it was to this spot that Saint Coman came, as 
 early as the sixth century, to found the monastery 
 of Canons Regular; and after him the town was 
 named, since Roscommon in the Irish tongue 
 means the Wood of Saint Coman. The name of 
 the Saint, however, is not all that is left to recall 
 to the people of Roscommon the history of their 
 town. There remain also the ruins of the Domini- 
 can priory founded in the middle of the thirteenth 
 century by Felim O' Conor, Prince of Connaught, 
 son of Cahal of the Red Hand, which still reveal, 
 in spite of mutilation and decay, traces of the skill 
 of architects and builders of those early days. The 
 near-by Abbey of Boyle, a celebrated Cistercian 
 monastery founded in the twelfth century and 
 richly endowed, is another excellent example of the 
 culture of the past. It was long known through- 
 out the country as a seat of learning, and there 
 were composed the Annals of Boyle, authentic rec- 
 ords of ancient Irish history. Roscommon was al- 
 ways noted for its learning and for the fact that its 
 monasteries persisted in maintaining their Irish 
 superiors in the face of violent Norman opposition. 
 
 3 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 If the priories thus bring to the mind thoughts 
 of religion and of peace, there stands near by, on 
 the outskirts of the town, a reminder of ancient 
 strife in the ruins of the Anglo-Norman castle 
 founded in the year 1268 by John D'Ufford, Jus- 
 ticiary of Ireland. Thrice during the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries this castle was besieged by 
 invaders, and finally, after the battle of Aughrim in 
 1 69 1, it was partially destroyed and burned; yet 
 portions of its walls remain, and from its slope of 
 rising ground it still looks down upon the plain 
 below, defying time and change. 
 
 All these memories of Roscommon's former 
 greatness must have played their part in forming 
 Michael Gavin's early impressions, and in instill- 
 ing in his heart the love he always felt for his 
 birthplace and his interest in his country at large. 
 In later years he refers to " the good old town of 
 my birth. My senses are as warm to its residents 
 and its welfare as if I still paraded the main street 
 and held forth in Abbeytown." For Ireland and 
 for her people he had a lasting fondness. Miss 
 Katherine E. Conway, the authoress, says of him : 
 " Like all noble-hearted men of Irish blood, he 
 loved his native land and was well informed re' 
 garding her history." His library contained scores 
 of books on the subject of Ireland. The standard 
 Irish histories, dealing with both ancient and mod- 
 
 4 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 ern times, volumes covering all periods of spe- 
 cial interest, the old Irish sages, religious works, 
 geographies, biographies of statesmen and patriots, 
 fiction, poetry, folk-lore, — many of the volumes 
 autographed, — everything was there, in fact, of 
 interest to the student of Ireland and of Irish af- 
 fairs. Though never ostentatious in his interest, 
 Michael Gavin never forgot his native country and 
 her people, and his hopes were always, as Miss 
 Conway again expresses it, "for a practical real- 
 ization of her dreams." 
 
 Mr. James E. Cotter, a friend of later years, aptly 
 phrases his thought in saying: "He was both an 
 intense and patriotic American, but at the same 
 time always a loyal Irishman." His life in this re- 
 spect recalls to mind that consummate artist, son 
 of " the heather and the wind," who wrote in dis- 
 tant Calistoga, — 
 
 From the dim shieling on the misty island 
 Mountains divide us, and a world of seas; 
 Yet still our hearts are true, our hearts are Highland, 
 And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides. 
 
 One of Michael Gavin's strongest inherent traits 
 was his love for, or rather his devotion to, his 
 parents. This love was a very deeply rooted part 
 of his nature and endured undiminished by sepa- 
 ration or time. In a letter written by him in 1876, 
 years after he had left Roscommon, when he was 
 
 5 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 successfully established in his profession in Amer- 
 ica, he says : " I have a letter to write to my dear 
 Father before going to bed to-night, and the pleas- 
 ure it gives me to do so, is only equalled by see- 
 ing him or getting a letter from him. To me it 
 always appears that I am still young and a child, 
 while I get letters beginning with the affectionate 
 ' My dear child,' or ' My dear Boy.' To many, such 
 a feeling might appear childish, but I am willing 
 to act the child under these circumstances." And 
 on another occasion he writes : "I often think of 
 the great pleasure it always afforded me to sit 
 down and chat with my father. Those who knew 
 my father when he was young often tell me that I 
 resemble him very much. No small compliment, 
 by the way." 
 
 Although his mother died when he was young, 
 her memory was always fresh, and treasured in 
 Michael Gavin's heart. To quote once more from 
 his letters : " There are some songs which my 
 mother was in the habit of singing, that whenever 
 I hear them sung it is with the greatest difficulty 
 that I can keep back my tears. She was particu- 
 larly fond of the old Scotch ballads, some of which 
 are really beautiful. My old friend, Mr. Grant, was 
 in the habit of playing many of them for me, and 
 although they make me sad, it is a sadness that 
 brings with it all the endearing qualities of the 
 
 6 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 best of mothers." Again : " There are times when 
 I find myself reverting back to the time when my 
 mother would sit down in the evening and read 
 stories for us, riveting our attention to every word 
 she said and making us feel as if we were the actors 
 in the story and not the hearers. There are some 
 of the home scenes, which have such an attraction 
 for me, never to be effaced." 
 
 In reviewing later Michael Gavin's life, charac- 
 ter, and ideals we must not, therefore, forget the 
 effect that this feeling of love and respect for his 
 parents must have had upon him, and the unclouded, 
 deserved devotion they commanded from a nature 
 such as his should be given due credit for the great- 
 est influence on his later development. 
 
 Having thus glanced at some of the direct fac- 
 tors which tended to shape and develop Michael 
 Gavin's character, there remain to be considered 
 other influences of race and ancestry producing 
 certain racial characteristics, which he possessed 
 in a marked degree. First, he was distinguished for 
 his geniality, for that which has been termed the 
 "sunniness" of the Irish nature. It was not, how- 
 ever, that effusive, somewhat strained geniality 
 which some men assume as a distinct manner, to 
 be put on or laid aside as the occasion may de- 
 mand ; but with him it took the form of a kindli- 
 ness so quiet and restrained, that most people meet- 
 
 7 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 ing him for the first time possibly failed to ap- 
 preciate the qualities of heart and brain which lay 
 beneath his unassuming exterior. This kindliness 
 had, moreover, the great quality of being lasting. 
 In the homely but expressive phrase, he was a 
 man who was "always the same," equally to be 
 relied upon in a desperate crisis, or in the quiet 
 round of everyday life. 
 
 A second racial quality of Michael Gavin's was 
 his domesticity. While he was distinctly a broad 
 man, who read widely and had traveled much, who 
 mingled freely with all classes, and studied them 
 from varying viewpoints, yet despite his many ac- 
 tivities, when all of his outside work was over, he 
 turned instinctively and unerringly to his home. 
 He was in no sense of the word a "club-man" or 
 a man who cared for public life. The simple do- 
 mestic ties, the companionship of wife and son and 
 daughter, the pleasant familiar chat with friends, 
 the quiet of his library, — these were the things 
 Michael Gavin prized. To quote his own words, 
 "The more I stop at home the greater my love for 
 home becomes, for at home I can always find some- 
 thing to learn." 
 
 Thirdly, he possessed an Irishman's ingrained 
 veneration for religion, fostered and developed, 
 first, by an ideal Catholic home, and then by his 
 early education; and while in this respect he was 
 
 8 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 again unostentatious, yet his life was lived with a 
 firm belief in, and reliance on, a beneficent Cre- 
 ator, who ordains events for the best, and in whom 
 is to be found consolation. 
 
 Lastly, Michael Gavin possessed that typical 
 Irish trait, so hard to express in a single word, but 
 which might be called alertness, or a delight in 
 life. 
 
 It was this love of life, this unquenchable joy in 
 experiencing its daily miracles, which so strongly 
 characterized Michael Gavin. He never wearied of 
 the great pageant of the world, was never for an 
 instant bored by it. He enjoyed nature to the full : 
 flowers; the blossoming trees in the springtime; 
 the summer skies ; the woods ; the ocean. In one of 
 his letters he minutely describes the coming of two 
 swallows to his garden, and their home-building 
 there. He had his work, his family, his friends, his 
 books, — a thousand and one interests to fill his 
 busy days. "I cannot see," he writes, "how peo- 
 ple can live and be happy, without constant occu- 
 pation of mind and body." Inactivity, the wasting 
 of precious moments, was perhaps the one thing 
 he could not endure. He lived his life to the full. 
 
 Thus, from an outline of his birth and parentage, 
 a faint portrait of Michael Gavin begins to emerge ; 
 the picture of a man genial, affectionate, high- 
 minded, and sincerely religious, the picture of a 
 
 9 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 man whom many of his friends have sought to re- 
 member by terming him, " In the best and finest 
 meaning of the words a true Irish gentleman of the 
 old school." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 EDUCATION. MEDICAL STUDIES 
 
 At the age of thirteen Michael Gavin came to 
 America. Some years before, his sister Mary had 
 married Patrick Morris of Roscommon, and shortly 
 after their marriage they had left Ireland for Amer- 
 ica, where Mr. Morris established himself as a drug- 
 gist, on the corner of Federal and Purchase streets 
 in Boston. The business prospered and the Mor- 
 rises, realizing that opportunities for success were 
 greater in the new world than in the old, sent word 
 for Michael to come and live with them. Accord- 
 ingly, in 1857, he crossed the ocean alone, and for 
 the next few years made his home with his sister, 
 pursuing his studies at the school of William T. 
 Adams (the well-known " Oliver Optic" and author 
 of Oliver Optic's Annual), which was located on 
 lower Broadway, South Boston. A lasting intimacy 
 grew up between teacher and pupil, and years 
 later, after Michael Gavin was established in his 
 profession, he would take delight in driving to 
 Dorchester and chatting again with Mr. Adams, 
 for whom he always had the warmest liking and 
 regard. 
 
 11 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 At this time he had also the opportunity of being 
 tutored in special subjects, especially in Latin, 
 which helped him much in his later medical work. 
 In his spare moments he worked in Mr. Morris's 
 store and thereby obtained a knowledge of materia 
 medica, which in after years was to prove extremely 
 serviceable. A pleasant glimpse of him at this 
 period is afforded us by a lady who remembers, as 
 a child, going with other small companions to Mr. 
 Morris's shop to purchase lollipops and other dain- 
 ties dear to the heart of youth. It was young Gavin 
 who always served them, and it is interesting to 
 observe that even then he displayed the same traits 
 of character which were later to endear him so 
 deeply to his friends. 
 
 As soon as we entered [says the lady], he would put 
 down his book and come forward quickly and smiling- 
 ly to find out what it was that we desired. He was 
 always pleasant, courteous and kind, and showed a 
 regard for the children who patronized the shop, and 
 an interest in pleasing them, which made us all adore 
 him, since we felt, instinctively, that his liking for us 
 was not in the least assumed but was perfectly gen- 
 uine and sincere. 
 
 At this time two friends of Michael Gavin were 
 with him in Mr. Morris's store, and, strangely 
 enough, all three were destined to take up later 
 the study of medicine, and to follow it successfully 
 
 12 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 throughout their lives. One of these friends was 
 Dr. John G. Blake of Boston, and the other Dr. 
 Francis C. Plunkett of Lowell. 
 
 It must have been about the year i860 that 
 Michael Gavin definitely decided to follow the 
 practice of medicine, and he accordingly com- 
 pleted his schooling, studying further with a pri- 
 vate tutor, and, while still attending to his duties 
 at Mr. Morris's, read, in his leisure moments, as 
 widely as possible upon medical subjects; and so, 
 by 1861, he was ready to enter the Harvard Medical 
 School. According to the regulations of the school, 
 in those times, three years' study of medicine was 
 necessary for a degree, but two years only had to 
 be spent at the school. During the third year the 
 candidate might attend some other institution, or 
 might study under the supervision of some duly 
 qualified physician, or in some hospital. Michael 
 Gavin took the required two years' work in the 
 School, and in addition took summer courses in 
 1 86 1, 1862, and 1863. He attended clinics at the 
 Massachusetts General Hospital and performed 
 surgical dispensary work as well. His superior at 
 this time commended his work in the dispensary 
 as " faithful, zealous, prompt, and practical." 
 
 At this time the Faculty of the Medical School 
 was made up as follows : Dr. D. Humphreys 
 Storer was the Dean of the Faculty, and Professor 
 
 13 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 of Midwifery and Medical Jurisprudence ; Dr. John 
 B. S. Jackson was Professor of Pathological Anat- 
 omy ; Dr. Henry I. Bowditch was Professor of 
 Clinical Medicine ; Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes 
 was Professor of Anatomy and Physiology ; Dr. 
 George C. Shattuck and Dr. Calvin Ellis were 
 Professors of Theory and Practice; Dr. John Bacon 
 was Professor of Chemistry; Dr. Henry J. Bige- 
 low was Professor of Surgery; Dr. Edward H. 
 Clarke was Professor of Materia Medica ; and Dr. 
 Charles E. Brown-Sequard was Professor of the 
 Physiology and Pathology of the Nervous System 
 — an imposing list of learned scholars and distin- 
 guished practitioners. 
 
 Michael Gavin entered the Medical School in 
 1 86 1, took all the required work, and received the 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine in the spring of 1864. 
 Although in the light of modern requirements it 
 might appear that the student of those days pro- 
 ceeded along a simple path, the actual acquisition 
 of a degree was by no means an easy task. A final 
 oral examination in nine different subjects had to 
 be passed successfully, and the names of the faculty 
 in Michael Gavin's day, as just recounted, are of a 
 quality sufficient to convince one that this test, with 
 its interviews with each professor in turn, must 
 have been an ordeal of no small magnitude. 
 
 The period during which Michael Gavin at- 
 14 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 tended the Medical School was a memorable one 
 in the history of America, and recalls at once to 
 mind the strife which was then raging between 
 the North and the South. It is evident that while 
 still a medical student young Gavin was eager 
 to go to the front, for in July, 1862, he took the 
 examination for acting assistant surgeon in the 
 United States Navy. A friendship had developed 
 between him and his Professor, Dr. Oliver Wen- 
 dell Holmes, and the following letter is interest- 
 ing, showing as it does the regard which Dr. 
 Holmes felt for his pupil. 
 
 Boston, July 15, 1862. 
 
 Mr. JVT. F. Gavin attended Medical Lectures during 
 the last season of the school of Harvard University. 
 I formed his acquaintance and was very favorably im- 
 pressed with his intelligence and agreeable manner. 
 He was a most attentive student and bears every mark 
 of being earnest in the pursuit of the knowledge which 
 will make him useful. 
 
 As Mr. Gavin wishes to be considered as a candi- 
 date for the place as Acting Assistant Surgeon in the 
 Navy, it gives me much pleasure to commend him to 
 the kind and candid attention of the examiners. 
 
 Hoping that he will prove himself fitted for the place 
 which I believe he will fill ably and honorably, I am, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
 
 Undoubtedly his youth counted against young 
 Gavin, for he did not receive his appointment that 
 
 15 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 year, but in the following year, Dr. Holmes again 
 recommended him as follows : 
 
 21 Charles St., Sept. 8, 1863. 
 My dear Sir: — 
 
 I have much pleasure in recommending to your no- 
 tice Mr. M. F. Gavin the bearer of this note. He 
 wishes to be examined for a place as Acting Assistant 
 Surgeon in the Navy. 
 
 I have seen a great deal of Mr. Gavin and found him 
 a very amiable and intelligent young man, whom it 
 would give me real pleasure to assist in his professional 
 career, feeling confident that he means to try hard for 
 success, and not doubting, that if placed in a position 
 to show his zeal and capacity, he will do himself and 
 his instructors credit. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 O. W. Holmes. 
 
 This time he received his appointment, but there 
 was another delay and when he finally had orders 
 to report for duty at Cairo, Illinois, with Rear Ad- 
 miral Porter's Mississippi squadron, his plans had 
 been completely changed, and with prospects of a 
 useful medical career before him, it seemed best 
 to the Doctor and his friends to abandon the idea 
 of entering the Navy at this time ; and so, on Oc- 
 tober 17, 1863, his appointment was revoked. It 
 is interesting, however, to read what he writes in 
 a letter to a friend : " The poet Holmes has been 
 one of my best friends. How pleased he was to 
 
 16 
 
DR. GAVIN AS ACTING ASSISTANT SURGEON, U.S.N. 1863 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 see me, after getting a commission in the United 
 States Navy for which he had recommended me. 
 Of course I called to see him dressed in my mili- 
 tary suit with gold lace. ..." This intimacy be- 
 tween professor and pupil was destined to continue 
 for many years, and is evidenced by several other 
 interesting letters from Dr. Holmes, written to Mr. 
 Gavin years afterwards, when the younger man 
 was practising for himself. 
 
 Although his plans to enter the Navy were not 
 carried out, the war was destined to influence 
 Michael Gavin's future in another way, and even 
 before his graduation from the Medical School 
 gave him the opportunity of becoming connected 
 with the Boston City Hospital and of serving there 
 as house officer, not only during the first year of 
 its existence, but even from the day when its doors 
 were thrown open to the public. The events lead- 
 ing up to the establishment of the hospital and to 
 Dr. Gavin's appointment were briefly as follows. 
 As early as 1849, there had been some discussion 
 as to the advisability of building a hospital for the 
 worthy poor of Boston. Nothing definite, how- 
 ever, was accomplished and the project slumbered 
 for some years, only to be revived in 1856, and 
 finally to come into actual being in 1861. Ground 
 was broken for the hospital on September 9 of that 
 year, and the first board of trustees was appointed 
 
 17 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 in 1863. Numerous changes have been made since 
 then, with regard both to the number of trustees 
 and to the manner of their appointment ; but ac- 
 cording to the provisions of the original statute, 
 the Board was to consist of eight members, two 
 from the Board of Aldermen, three from the Com- 
 mon Council, and three citizens at large, to be 
 elected by the Council. In accordance, therefore, 
 with the statute, the first Board of Trustees con- 
 sisted of Thomas C. Amory, Jr., and the Honor- 
 able Otis Norcross from the Board of Aldermen, 
 and Joseph Buckley, Lucius A. Cutler, and David 
 H. Coolidge, from the Common Council, while 
 Sumner Crosby, Dr. William R. Lawrence, and 
 Andrew Carney, founder of the Carney Hospital, 
 were chosen as members at large. Mr. Carney, 
 however, being unable to serve, Theodore Metcalf 
 was chosen in his place, and the Trustees pro- 
 ceeded to organize by electing Mr. Coolidge as 
 Secretary and Mr. Amory as President. 
 
 By the following year, when Dr. Gavin was first 
 to become connected with the hospital, various 
 changes had taken place in the make-up of the 
 Board. George W. Warren, from the Board of 
 Aldermen, had taken the place of Mr. Amory ; John 
 Tisdale Bradlee, from the Council, had succeeded 
 Mr. Cutler, who had been chosen Superintendent 
 of the hospital ; and the Honorable Otis Norcross 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 had been elected President of the Board, and in 
 that capacity received the keys of the hospital at 
 its dedication on May 24, 1864. 
 
 Meanwhile, the visiting physicians and surgeons 
 of the hospital had been appointed, and on Febru- 
 ary 24, 1864, they convened at the residence of Dr. 
 John Homans, the Senior Physician, at No. 11 Ar- 
 lington Street. The visiting physicians were Dr. John 
 Homans, Dr. W. W. Morland, Dr. F. E. Oliver, Dr. 
 J. B. Upham, Dr. John N. Borland, and Dr. J. G. 
 Blake ; the visiting surgeons were Dr. C. H. Sted- 
 man, Dr. C. E. Buckingham, Dr. D. McB. Thaxter, 
 Dr. C. D. Homans, Dr. A. Coolidge, Dr. D. W. 
 Cheever ; and the ophthalmic surgeon was Dr. H. 
 W. Williams. 
 
 Having organized by electing Dr. John Homans 
 as Chairman and Dr. Borland as Secretary, a spe- 
 cial meeting was held on March 10, 1864, at the 
 rooms of the Massachusetts Medical Society, to ex- 
 amine candidates for the position of house officers. 
 These candidates were supposed to be graduates 
 in medicine, but the demand for physicians and 
 surgeons at the front had been so great that most 
 of the graduates had entered the service either of 
 the Army or the Navy, and as a result no candi- 
 dates presented themselves. Accordingly, the Board 
 of Physicians and Surgeons requested the Trustees 
 to allow students in the third year of their course 
 
 19 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 at the Harvard Medical School to present them- 
 selves as candidates ; and this request being com- 
 plied with, an oral examination was held on April i, 
 1864, and as a result of it, Mr. Gavin and Mr. D. 
 F. Lincoln were appointed as house surgeons, Mr. 
 John Dole and Mr. C. J. Blake as house physicians, 
 and Mr. E. G. Loring as ophthalmic externe. 
 
 Thus, although not twenty years of age, Dr. 
 Gavin had passed successfully his first important 
 test, and stood ready to enter in earnest upon those 
 professional duties which he was to pursue so ard- 
 uously for so long a period of years. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 FURTHER PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION 
 
 The dedication of the Boston City Hospital oc- 
 curred on May 24, 1864. The exercises began with 
 a selection by the choir ; then followed the deliv- 
 ery of the keys by Alderman Davies, Chairman 
 of the Committee on Public Buildings, to Mayor 
 Lincoln, who, in turn, handed them to Otis Nor- 
 cross, President of the Board of Trustees. After a 
 response from Mr. Norcross, the Rev. William S. 
 Studley led the meeting in prayer, and Thomas 
 C . Amory, Jr., former President of the Board of 
 Trustees, delivered an address. Then followed the 
 hymn and the benediction, which brought the ex- 
 ercises to a close. 
 
 Of Dr. Gavin's activities, during these early days 
 of the hospital, we may form some idea from two 
 extracts. The first of these is historically of great 
 interest. 
 
 On the surgical side Drs. Cheever and Stedman 
 made the first visits on June 1, 1864. On the first 
 Friday in June, being the first public operating day, 
 Dr. Cheever did the first surgical operation in the 
 amphitheatre in the central dome at 11 a.m. It was 
 an adult male, with cancer of the commissure of the 
 
 21 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 lips and cheek; excision and repair constituted the 
 operation. Dr. Gavin assisted as house surgeon, and 
 Dr. C. J. Blake made a water-color drawing of the 
 diseased parts. 1 
 
 The second extract gives a faithful and spirited 
 picture of the daily routine of Dr. Gavin's life in the 
 Hospital. 
 
 The House Officer of those days had a much wider 
 range of duties than his fellow of to-day. . . . He was 
 required to look after the house patients, to attend to 
 the out-patients half of the time, to attend to acci- 
 dents and emergencies, to do what laboratory work 
 there was to do, to keep the clinical records, to attend, 
 make notes of, and occasionally make autopsies, to 
 assist his colleagues in numerous ways, as in minor 
 operations, dressing fractures. . . . 
 
 The hustling House Officer who was thoroughly 
 interested in his work generally managed to see his 
 very sickest patients before breakfast, and every few 
 hours through the day. He was supposed to see all of 
 his patients before his surgeon arrived, at ten or there- 
 abouts. The visit with him lasted from one to three 
 hours. After dinner, at one o'clock, he was usually 
 kept busy all the afternoon carrying out the directions 
 of his chief — dressing fractures, applying starch, glue 
 or dextrine (glass) bandages (plaster of Paris was little 
 used then), attending to accidents, or autopsies, etc., 
 until it was time to make the evening visit, when all of 
 the patients were again seen, diet and liquor lists made 
 out, and so far as possible, everything made ready for 
 the night. 
 
 1 A History of the Boston City Hospital, published in 1906. 
 Article by Dr. J. Bapst Blake. 
 
 22 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 The evenings were usually devoted to writing rec- 
 ords, doing laboratory work, and the numerous other 
 things for which no time could be found during the 
 day. Those were busy, happy days, full of the keenest 
 interest and the most valuable experience that a stu- 
 dent could possibly have. It was no uncommon thing 
 for a house officer to become so engrossed in his work 
 that he would not go outside the Hospital for weeks, 
 — a custom, by the way, that is not to be commended. 
 And how tired we used to get ! 1 
 
 This, then, was the kind of work which Dr. Gavin 
 was called upon to do and which he did faithfully 
 and well. Of his abilities when a student at the 
 Medical School, we may form an estimate from the 
 words of his classmate and fellow house officer, Dr. 
 Clarence J. Blake. 
 
 Dr. Gavin [says Dr. Blake] was a good student. 
 He was careful in his attendance, studious, and with a 
 natural taste for surgery, made excellent dissections. 
 He had a straightforward, kindly way of dealing with 
 everyone, and was possessed of a buoyant disposition 
 and a sense of dry humor which served to lighten his 
 labors. 
 
 Equally pleasant is the picture of Dr. Gavin as 
 House Officer in the Hospital by Dr. David F. 
 Lincoln, who had been appointed with him to the 
 surgical side of the service, and who roomed with 
 him at the Hospital, and so during a year's inti- 
 
 1 A History of the Boston City Hospital, published in 1906. 
 Article by Dr. George W. Gay. 
 
 23 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 macy, had an excellent opportunity of becoming 
 well acquainted with his fellow functionary. 
 
 Dr. Gavin [says Dr. Lincoln] impressed me, during 
 the time I knew him, in a number of ways. First of 
 all (and I do not consider that the word is out of place 
 in speaking of the character of a man) he was remark- 
 able for the real sweetness of his disposition. To his 
 superiors, to his associates, and to his patients he was 
 all that was gentle and affectionate and kind, and yet 
 I cannot make it too clear that this gentleness and 
 sweetness did not mean weakness, for when the occa- 
 sion called for it, Dr. Gavin could, and did, speak his 
 mind with such clearness and such genuine vigor, that 
 his views upon the subject could not by any possibility 
 be misunderstood. 
 
 Next, after his kindness to friends, I should speak of 
 his sincerity. Simplicity was his great characteristic, 
 — not of course in the sense in which the word is some- 
 times used, as implying a lack of intelligence, for Dr. 
 Gavin was nothing if not intelligent; but simplicity in 
 the sense of clear-cut, straight-forward directness of 
 character; he possessed not the faintest trace of hy- 
 pocrisy or double-dealing, but was always a sincere, 
 clean-minded, brave-hearted gentleman. 
 
 Again, I should speak of a side of his character of 
 which friends of later life may not have seen as much 
 as I did. At this period of Dr. Gavin's life, he had, out- 
 side of his duties at the Hospital, no great responsibili- 
 ties. He was a young man, interested in his work, in- 
 terested in his friends, interested in everything about 
 him. The future was unclouded ; much knowledge that 
 was to come to him later, in his busy career, of the sor- 
 row and suffering of mankind, was as yet hidden from 
 him, and in consequence, when his work was over for 
 
 24 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 the day, and he had a chance for relaxation, he posi- 
 tively effervesced with high spirits. Yet although his 
 sense of humor was exceedingly keen, if jest happened 
 to change to earnest, the lightheartedness of the boy 
 would drop from him in an instant, and one could per- 
 ceive behind it the seriousness, the high purpose, and 
 the dignity which were to be so characteristic of him 
 in his later years. 
 
 Lastly, I should speak of his great devotion to his 
 work. This manifested itself in various ways. He was 
 the most faithful of house officers; he never shirked, 
 nor even thought of shirking. He was faithful, also, 
 to his patients, and showed them every attention 
 which was possible for him to bestow. And he admired 
 and was intensely loyal to his superior officers — the 
 visiting surgeons who came to us, each in turn, to do 
 their part in lightening the world's burden of suffering 
 and pain. 
 
 Thus speaks Dr. Lincoln of his room-mate. An- 
 other tribute to Dr. Gavin at this period is from 
 Dr. David W. Cheever, whose long career is so 
 well-known and under whom Dr. Gavin did his 
 work. 
 
 When the Boston City Hospital was opened in 
 June, 1864, it was voted by the staff, with the concur- 
 rence of the Trustees, that all candidates for the posi- 
 tion of house officer should be subjected to a competi- 
 tive examination. Dr. Gavin successfully passed this 
 examination and was appointed as house surgeon for 
 the term of one year. As my assistant, while I was on 
 duty as visiting surgeon, Dr. Gavin was uniformly 
 obliging, conscientious, and in every way satisfactory. 
 He had, in his nature, an unusually large amount of 
 
 25 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 humaneness, and consequently took the greatest inter- 
 est in his patients, and looked out for their welfare to 
 the utmost extent of his ability. 
 
 On April i, 1865, Dr. Gavin's term of service as 
 house officer at the Hospital came to an end. On 
 the fourth of May, he took and passed the state 
 examination qualifying him to practice. On May 
 5 he received a commission in the Army from 
 Governor Andrew, with a three years' appoint- 
 ment as Assistant Surgeon of the 57th Regiment 
 of Massachusetts Volunteers, and on May 6 re- 
 ceived orders to report at once for field-hospital 
 duty with the First Division of the Ninth Army 
 Corps in Virginia. Dr. Gavin immediately joined 
 his division, and although seeing no actual fight- 
 ing, his experience of military and camp life during 
 the summer was extremely varied and interesting. 
 The war was, however, by this time nearly over, 
 peace was soon declared, and in August his regi- 
 ment, together with many others, was mustered 
 out. 
 
 Once again, therefore, the world lay before him, 
 and as thoroughness was a characteristic quality 
 of his, he determined that before beginning actual 
 practice he would seek to gain a still wider knowl- 
 edge of his profession. He also wished to revisit 
 his old home in Ireland, and so decided to return 
 to Roscommon and* then pursue his studies on the 
 
 26 
 

 mm m 
 
 jg ' ^^^^i 
 
 Bk ta «•■•--■ ■ 
 
 ;..r;" «* 
 
 - !■ 
 
 Ml ifl K^^^fe 
 
 
 DR. GAVIN AS FIRST LIEUTENANT AND ASSISTANT 
 SURGEON, U.S.V. 1865 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Continent and at the Royal College of Surgeons 
 in Dublin. 
 
 He accordingly embarked and reached Ros- 
 common in September, 1865, and after a short 
 visit there, went by way of Dublin and London to 
 Paris, where he studied from October until Janu- 
 ary, doing work in the various hospitals of the 
 city and having an opportunity to observe the 
 cholera plague which was then raging there. On 
 his return journey to Ireland he stopped again in 
 London for some further work, and after another 
 brief visit at his home, arrived in Dublin in March 
 to take up his work for an advanced degree at 
 the Royal College of Surgeons in that city. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was already acquainted with Profes- 
 sor E. W. Mapother of the Royal College, and 
 from his Harvard professors he had brought let- 
 ters of introduction to Dr. Fleetwood Churchill 
 and Dr. W. T. Stoker, of the same institution. It 
 did not take long for his usual characteristics to 
 assert themselves, and for his instructors in Dublin 
 to become enthusiastically interested in their young 
 student from America. Firm and lasting friend- 
 ships developed between Dr. Gavin and these men, 
 which both sides prized highly, and which led, 
 after the ocean had separated them, to an interest- 
 ing and instructive correspondence which was car- 
 ried on for many years. 
 
 27 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Dr. Gavin now took up his plans to " surprise 
 my Roscommon friends," as he wrote home, and 
 accordingly for the next four months he studied 
 at the Royal College of Surgeons. During this 
 period he worked under tremendous pressure, often 
 beginning his day's work as early as half-past five 
 in the morning and studying up to midnight. The 
 examinations themselves were very severe, last- 
 ing four or five days, but Dr. Gavin emerged from 
 the ordeal with high honors, and received his ad- 
 vanced surgical degree on the twenty-first of Au- 
 gust, 1866, and a supplementary medical degree 
 on the fifteenth day of November, of the same 
 year, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Surgeons. 
 
 His success was hailed with delight, not only 
 by his friends in Roscommon, who wrote to him 
 upon hearing the news, "You are a hero here 
 now," but also by his friends in America. " Dr. 
 Holmes," writes Dr. John G. Blake, "is tickled at 
 one of his boys distinguishing himself so much. 
 It is a great honor to pass so high." And another 
 classmate writes : " The Harvard Faculty are much 
 pleased at your taking a place at the Royal Col' 
 lege. You know they feel a personal pride in any 
 graduate who rises above the dead level, for in his 
 elevation the college from which he is graduated 
 is honored. There is hardly anything Storer, Shat- 
 
 28 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 tuck, or Holmes, and the others would not do for 
 you now." 
 
 In September, 1866, after his examinations were 
 over, Dr. Gavin returned to Roscommon and re- 
 mained there through the fall of that year, work- 
 ing at the County Dispensary with Dr. Reynolds 
 Peyton, a distinguished surgeon of that time. Dr. 
 Gavin had made use of his two previous visits 
 to Roscommon, short as they were, to form the 
 acquaintance of Dr. Peyton and had already done 
 some work under him ; but on this third visit he 
 was associated with him for three months, and 
 in later life referred often to this experience as 
 having proved of the very greatest benefit to him 
 in his surgical work. 
 
 In January, 1867, he returned to Boston, and 
 after a few months of private practice at No. 199 
 Harrison Avenue, moved to South Boston and 
 opened his office at 1 1 Broadway, where his pro- 
 fessional career was successfully started and estab- 
 lished. It is thus apparent that, when Dr. Gavin 
 finally considered himself ready to begin private 
 practice, he had acquired with characteristic thor- 
 oughness a fund of broad experience, which in the 
 words of a colleague of those days " was remark- 
 able for his time." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 EARLY PRIVATE PRACTICE 
 
 The beginning of Dr. Gavin's medical career 
 differed materially from that of the average phy- 
 sician. In most cases, a large practice, if it comes 
 at all, is built up slowly and by degrees, but Dr. 
 Gavin was unusually successful from the start; 
 and although characteristically modest, and not a 
 man who would stretch a point in his own favor, 
 yet in 1868, only a year after his coming to South 
 Boston, he writes abroad to a friend that he ap- 
 pears to be "firmly established," and only a little 
 later than this, refers to himself as " well, happy, 
 and very busy, with almost more patients than I 
 can attend to." 
 
 In tracing the development of Dr. Gavin's career 
 it is interesting to note how one of his most valu- 
 able and likable traits was actually considered at 
 this particular period. There were many physicians 
 in practice at that time, who, though men of skill 
 and real kindness of heart, were distinctly of that 
 "old school" made famous by Dr. Abernethy and 
 others of like nature, who believed that patients 
 should be dominated, and made to accept a po- 
 
 30 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 sition of inferiority toward their doctors. Thus, 
 Dr. Gavin's quiet courtesy, and lack of blustering 
 self-assertion, and his kindly interest in his pa- 
 tients' welfare, were at first often misunderstood. 
 " He appears to be a very nice young man," one 
 elderly gentleman remarked, after a visit from 
 Dr. Gavin, " but I fear he does n't know enough. 
 He does n't seem to shout and scold the way a 
 doctor ought to." Presently, however, as people 
 grew better acquainted with the Doctor, they came 
 to realize that kindliness and courtesy are perfectly 
 consistent with a high degree of professional skill ; 
 and when they had once learned this lessson, there 
 was never afterwards the slightest question re- 
 garding his success. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was soon forced to arrange his work 
 according to a schedule, in order to accomplish 
 what he had to do. He invariably rose early, on 
 Sundays attending six o'clock service, at which, as 
 he writes a friend, " I read the Gospel — and preach 
 to myself — instead of going to a late and fashion- 
 able Mass." On week-days he generally read until 
 half-past seven, when he had breakfast, so that he 
 might begin his round of visits by eight o'clock. 
 This, of course, compared with the hours of most 
 physicians, was an exceptionally early start, espe- 
 cially for a man who was often called out in the 
 evening and who, indeed, not infrequently lost his 
 
 3i 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 night's sleep altogether. But the Doctor clung 
 tenaciously to his schedule, and when a colleague 
 once asked him if he did not think such early hours 
 a mistake, since a doctor, with night work to do, 
 must necessarily conserve his energies, in order to 
 be at his best throughout the day, his reply was 
 interesting and thoroughly typical. 
 
 If you have ever been ill [he answered], you must 
 surely remember how much it meant to you to receive 
 an early visit from the doctor. Only those who have 
 been through the experience realize with what eager 
 anticipation an invalid looks forward to the arrival of 
 his physician. 
 
 This answer, indeed, makes clear to us Dr. 
 Gavin's whole attitude toward his patients. It was 
 their comfort, their welfare, their convenience, 
 which was to be considered above all. This was 
 the keynote of all his professional work. 
 
 The day's work, thus early begun, was busily 
 continued. Two years after commencing his private 
 practice he was obliged to purchase his first horse 
 and buggy to cover his rounds. From that time, 
 as long as he continued in practice, he always had 
 a good horse for his work. His knowledge and 
 judgment of horses were well known to his friends, 
 and while, as a good driver, he was thoughtful of 
 his horse when necessary, he nevertheless required 
 one which could hold to the standard he set. He 
 
 32 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 writes, of one which did not survive this test : " I 
 will sell him in the spring, and buy a horse of more 
 spirit, as I like one that travels freely, and without 
 urging." A fast horse soon became a positive ne- 
 cessity to the Doctor, an indispensable cog in the 
 machinery of his day's work ; and often in later 
 years, when he did not as a rule drive himself, if it 
 appeared that the minutes were slipping by and 
 he might be late at an appointment, he would take 
 the reins and the schedule would be maintained. 
 He always had a personal pride in the appearance 
 of his horse, the buggy and harness, and everything 
 that was used in connection with his driving. 
 
 When the Doctor was not on service at one of 
 the hospitals with which he was connected, his 
 morning calls would usually last until half-past 
 twelve, when he would return to his office for a 
 light lunch. The number of his daily calls fast in- 
 creased, but his manner and method, so typically 
 characteristic of him, made it possible for him to 
 look after them. His visits were always brief; spar- 
 ing of speech, waiting for no idle gossip, when satis- 
 fied as to the condition of a particular sick person, 
 the next one only was in his mind. But while at 
 the bedside, the patient received the most careful 
 observation, and the soundest advice, as well as a 
 word of sympathy or understanding that " would 
 be worth waiting all day to hear." Always cour- 
 
 33 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 teous, never appearing to be hurried or disturbed, 
 Dr. Gavin maintained a schedule calling for so 
 much work that few men could have continued to 
 live up to it. 
 
 He was punctuality itself. His drivers could tell 
 to a nicety just how far to let the horse walk down 
 the street on a cold day before it was time to turn 
 to meet the Doctor at the door ; and they can re- 
 member too the look from those clear gray eyes 
 if they had carelessly wandered too far and found 
 him waiting at the curb on a busy day. The times 
 of his consultations and other appointments were 
 scrupulously kept. His schedule of calls was ar- 
 ranged in the morning with the accuracy and pre- 
 cision of a business man whose every minute 
 counts. His ability to figure ahead how long he 
 would be at certain places, and the time of making 
 distances in between, was little short of marvelous ; 
 and no matter how crowded a morning might ap- 
 pear, and how many calls were to be made before 
 the keeping of a certain important appointment, 
 it nevertheless always happened that the plans 
 were adhered to, and the place of the appointment 
 reached just on time, or a few minutes ahead. 
 
 In his work at the hospital, where promptness 
 means so much, not only to the patients themselves, 
 but to the internes, the nurses, and in fact to the 
 entire machinery of the institution, Dr. Gavin was 
 
 34 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 always "on time"; and although the custom of 
 those early days became a habit later on, and his 
 rounds were always made as expeditiously as possi- 
 ble, yet they were made with scrupulous care, and 
 no patient was ever slighted or neglected. All were 
 shown the greatest consideration and were given 
 the highest degree of medical skill and advice. His 
 private patients as well, knew this quality and many 
 have testified, "When Dr. Gavin said he would 
 come at a certain hour, he never failed to appear." 
 
 The number of his daily calls, as related by his 
 early drivers, when he accepted all the work that 
 came to him, appears astonishing, but examina- 
 tion of his books, at these periods, has shown suc- 
 cessions of days when thirty or more calls were 
 made, and some days in which the number was over 
 forty. 
 
 Promptly at one his office-hour began, and al- 
 though he attended to his patients with the utmost 
 celerity which their cases allowed, his waiting- 
 room was generally so crowded that his duties there 
 were scarcely attended to by three o'clock, when 
 the office-hour was supposed to end. He would 
 then start upon his rounds again, and usually 
 spent the time from three to five in making further 
 calls, while at five or five-thirty it was his invari- 
 able custom, for a period of almost nine years, to 
 dine at the Parker House. His keen observation 
 
 35 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 and interest in all things about him was here put 
 to good use, and he thus describes the hotel in a 
 letter to a friend. 
 
 New York, as a city, has many advantages over 
 Boston; none will gainsay it. Yet there is one thing she 
 has not got, namely, a rendezvous for the great people 
 of our time. The word great, is probably in this case 
 wrong, the word notable being the better word. We 
 have such a place in Boston. The mixture one sees 
 there is curious. Judges forgetting for the nonce the 
 serious part they play in the fulfillment of our social 
 laws, are to be seen saying "soft words" to the French 
 flower-girl; Henry Ward Beecher brushes past Anna 
 Dickinson (most extravagant of women in the matter 
 of dress), who stands in the doorway talking with an 
 actor of the Boston stage; next, a well-known poet 
 comes in, arm in arm with a well-known writer for the 
 press. Parsons, best of speakers, dressed like a fop 
 "from top to toe," is talking across his table to a lady 
 who writes fashion reports for more than one of the 
 Boston newspapers. Ridpath, of anti-slavery fame, is 
 in company with one of the leaders of the "woman 
 question." Miss Kellogg of opera fame, sits at a small 
 table vis-a-vis her mother, who, from all accounts takes 
 the best of care of her child, seeing that she does not 
 take cold after singing; and so I might go on telling 
 of what one sees every day at "Parker's," for this is 
 the place I write about. 
 
 After dinner, the Doctor returned to his office on 
 foot, walking usually along Washington Street 
 and taking the greatest delight in his stroll. Quot- 
 ing again from one of his letters : — 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Generally after dinner I walk down our principal 
 street, looking at store windows as I go by. You will 
 say what a way to idle one's time. But it is not wast- 
 ing one's time ; after all we learn something, see a book 
 that interests us, or it may be some labor- or time- 
 saving machine, a new style of furniture, or above all, 
 those shops where prints, pictures, and articles of 
 vertu are sold. 
 
 The Doctor's evening office-hour lasted from 
 seven until nine, after which, if there were no calls 
 to be attended to, he enjoyed the rest of his even- 
 ing in reading, or at the piano, or in the company 
 of his friends. 
 
 When one considers that in addition to this rou- 
 tine, Dr. Gavin, with his large practice, necessarily 
 had many cases which broke in upon his night's 
 rest, it seems remarkable that he could do the 
 work he did. Yet he had in the first place a splen- 
 did constitution, and although never what could 
 be called an especially strong or robust man, his 
 regular habits and temperate tastes, together with 
 a disposition, a temperament, so even, so unruffled 
 or disturbed in the face of stress, or rush, or ex- 
 citement of any kind, made it possible for him to 
 perform, with apparently little fatigue, an amount 
 of labor that might well have exhausted other 
 men, of a more excitable temperament, or a less 
 abstemious life. 
 
 There are many pleasant memories connected 
 37 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 with this first epoch of Dr. Gavin's professional 
 career ; memories never to be effaced, of such dear 
 friends as Bishop Healy and his brothers, Father 
 Patrick and Father Sherwood Healy ; Father Blen- 
 kinsop, the "Father William " whose church stood 
 within a few doors of Dr. Gavin's office, and in 
 whose house many pleasant evenings were spent ; 
 Monsignor O'Callaghan; "Dan" Barry; John 
 Boyle O'Reilly, and the early days of the Papyrus 
 Club. 
 
 There are memories, too, of many musical even- 
 ings passed in the little room behind the Doctor's 
 office, with Mr. Grant, and John Farley and Tom 
 Karl, whose music was a true delight to their hear- 
 ers. And there were the yearly visits of the opera 
 to Boston, to which Dr. Gavin looked forward 
 with the greatest eagerness, for his love for music 
 was almost a passion with him and was equalled 
 only by his love of flowers and nature. He gave 
 to his little garden all the time that he could spare, 
 and displayed unbounded enthusiasm in its suc- 
 cess. It was in these days also that Dr. Gavin 
 indulged his fondness for horseback riding, and 
 many are the references in his letters to those 
 splendid rides in the suburbs of Boston, and the 
 ever-present beauties of nature. Whenever it was 
 possible, at this time, he would make his visits on 
 horseback, but sometimes he would have to take 
 
 38 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 the little colored boy, "the smoked Irishman," 
 who would ride with him when he drove on his 
 rounds and who " would sit all day without saying 
 a word." Thus, one after another the years rolled 
 by, until in 1876 — at the end of almost a decade 
 — Dr. Gavin found himself in possession of a large 
 practice and was looked upon as one of the suc- 
 cessful younger physicians of the day. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 LATER PRIVATE PRACTICE 
 
 So the Doctor's practice grew and flourished, 
 and when, in the spring of 1876, he transferred his 
 office to a new home at No. 99 Broadway his friends 
 doubtless supposed that the change was merely to 
 meet the demands of his work, which was con- 
 stantly increasing. Yet the acquisition of the new 
 home was in reality inspired by a motive altogether 
 different ; for in the fall of that year occurred the 
 happiest event in the Doctor's life, — his marriage 
 to Miss Ellen Theresa Doherty of New York. 
 
 This union proved to be an ideal one, and was 
 blessed by the coming of a son, Basil Gavin, and 
 of a daughter, Hilda Theresa Gavin. Of the Doc- 
 tor's home life, and of the mutual devotion of the 
 entire family, all who knew him speak with the 
 sincerest admiration. As Miss Conway expresses 
 it, " His pleasure was in the society of his family. 
 Nothing could exceed his affectionate devotion to 
 them. When his children were small, a disapprov- 
 ing glance from him was a sufficient reproof for a 
 fault, while his commendation was their happiest 
 recompense." 
 
 40 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Dr. Gavin was always busy. His days contained 
 no idle moments, and in his years there were no 
 wasted days. Yet even in a career so uniformly 
 arduous, the decade from 1876 to 1886 stands 
 prominently forth as a period during which the 
 pressure of professional duties, of many different 
 sorts, taxed his strength and endurance to the 
 utmost. 
 
 In the first place, his private practice by this 
 time was very large. His reputation as a kind and 
 skillful practitioner was already great, and when a 
 patient had once called upon him for aid there was 
 never afterward any question of " changing doc- 
 tors." As a result there are many persons in South 
 Boston to-day whom Dr. Gavin attended regularly 
 for twenty, thirty, forty, and in some instances for 
 almost fifty years. 
 
 Various reasons combined to create this con- 
 tinued demand for Dr. Gavin's services. He pos- 
 sessed great natural gifts as a diagnostician, and 
 through his wide experience as a general practi- 
 tioner, this faculty became so sharpened and devel- 
 oped that he was able to determine, with remark- 
 able accuracy, just what was wrong with a patient's 
 health. In similar fashion, in cases of serious illness, 
 he was justly celebrated for his ability to predict 
 correctly regarding the invalid's chances of recov- 
 ery. A distinguished colleague of the Doctor has 
 
 41 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 thus expressed himself : " There is a narrow bound- 
 ary line which separates the kingdom of life from 
 the kingdom of death, and Dr. Gavin was always 
 an adept in knowing on which side of that line his 
 patient stood." 
 
 Many instances could be cited to attest to this 
 great gift. In one case, which occurred only a few 
 years before Dr. Gavin's death, a fellow practitioner 
 had almost abandoned hope of a patient's recovery, 
 and had practically decided upon a critical opera- 
 tion, when the family asked that he summon Dr. 
 Gavin in consultation. The Doctor, although in poor 
 health himself, examined the invalid, and then with 
 characteristic mildness dissented from the opinion 
 of the other surgeon. " I hardly think," he observed, 
 " that we should operate. In fact, I shall be con- 
 siderably surprised if by to-night the patient is not 
 feeling appreciably better. I will call again this 
 evening." After Dr. Gavin's departure, however, 
 the younger man expressed doubts as to the cor- 
 rectness of his colleague's advice, suggesting that 
 the condition of his health at that time might in 
 some degree impair his judgment, and strongly 
 urging an operation, as being immediately neces- 
 sary that day, if the life of the patient was to be 
 considered. 
 
 But the family had called on Dr. Gavin in their 
 troubles for many years, his advice had always been 
 
 42 
 
DR. GAVIN AT THE TIME OF HIS 
 MARRIAGE IN 1876 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 scrupulously followed, and there had been no 
 regrets; and so, after most serious consideration 
 by the whole family, the attending surgeon was 
 informed that it had been decided unanimously 
 that Dr. Gavin's advice should be followed, even 
 in his old age and ill health, and that no operation 
 was to be performed. And when Dr. Gavin made his 
 second visit that evening, the patient gave his own 
 proof of the correctness of the diagnosis, and per- 
 haps surprised even Dr. Gavin himself, by open- 
 ing the door to welcome him. And the recovery 
 was as permanent as it was speedy. 
 
 Consultation took a prominent place in Dr. Gav- 
 in's professional work, especially in his later years. 
 The demand for his services in this particular branch 
 of work, can be accounted for, first, by his established 
 fame as a diagnostician, and then, by the courtesy 
 and thoughtfulness which he invariably displayed 
 toward fellow practitioners who came to him for an 
 opinion in doubtful cases. 
 
 But the Doctor's attainments were not limited to 
 an ability to interpret correctly the symptoms of his 
 patients. He was able to locate their ailments, but 
 he was able, also, to cure them. In surgical cases 
 his cool head and steady hand accomplished won- 
 ders ; while as a physician the treatments which he 
 prescribed seldom failed in accomplishing their 
 aim. His prescriptions proved especially effective 
 
 43 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 in producing beneficial results, so that the fame of 
 many of them spread far, and orders for them were 
 not infrequently received from distant points, or 
 from patients who had left the city, and felt that 
 they had not found so good a prescription else- 
 where. Even as these chapters are written a request 
 has come to the drug store to which Dr. Gavin was 
 wont to recommend his patients, for the renewal 
 of one of his prescriptions which was first written 
 twenty-five years before. His prescriptions were 
 always varied and modern, at the time they were 
 written, — in fact, they were in advance of the times, 
 for his foreign studies, and his constant correspond- 
 ence with friends abroad, as well as his subscription 
 to foreign medical journals at a time when they were 
 rarer in this country than at present, kept him not 
 only abreast but ahead of his profession, and his 
 druggist has said that invariably the first order 
 that he would receive for some new and efficacious 
 compound would be from Dr. Gavin. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was thoroughly conscientious, and to 
 a difficult problem would give unsparingly of the 
 best that was in him, spending anxious days and 
 sleepless nights in his efforts to effect a cure. More 
 than once he has remarked while driving to the 
 hospital in the morning, " I hardly slept an hour 
 last night, Patrick, thinking over an operation I 
 have to do to-day." Or again, if some unusual 
 
 44 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 complication arose in a case, he would spare no 
 pains to discover anything that he might learn re- 
 garding it. " I have looked up everything I could 
 find about such complaints," he writes to a profes- 
 sional friend. The story, indeed, is told in South 
 Boston to this day of one of his early cases, where, 
 even against his better judgment, he fought a val- 
 iant battle to save a patient's life. A young man 
 working in a provision store had given his knee a 
 severe gash with a meat-axe. Dr. Gavin was called, 
 and dressed the wound, but at the end of a week 
 the progress of the injury was far from satisfactory 
 and it appeared to Dr. Gavin that amputation 
 would be necessary. To verify his fears, he called 
 in consultation three eminent surgeons of Boston, 
 and they unhesitatingly agreed with him that if 
 the patient's life were to be saved, immediate am- 
 putation was the proper course to pursue. But now 
 arose an obstacle. This was in the early days of 
 surgery ; the family of the young man regarded the 
 idea of amputation with horror ; and after a solemn 
 conference they announced to Dr. Gavin their de- 
 cision. He was to do his utmost by medical treat- 
 ment to save the young man's life, and since the 
 family were acting directly contrary to his advice, 
 no blame in any event was to be attached to Dr. 
 Gavin. If the young man lived, so much the better; 
 but if he was to die, he was to die with his leg on. 
 
 45 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 This was their ultimatum ; no persuasion, no reason- 
 ing would change them, and accordingly the Doc- 
 tor took up the struggle to save both life and limb. 
 He spent numberless hours at the young man's 
 bedside ; on at least one occasion he was there 
 from nightfall until dawn ; and finally, after almost 
 a month of unremitting effort, during which he 
 had brought into play all the resources of his skill, 
 the turning-point was reached, and recovery be- 
 gan, to result finally, in the full realization of the 
 family's hopes. 
 
 Such, then, was Dr. Gavin's ability in the many 
 sides of his profession. Yet, great as it was, it only 
 partially accounted for his extraordinary popu- 
 larity. For, beyond his gifts as a surgeon and 
 physician, he possessed those sterling qualities, 
 so peculiarly his own ; a real kindness, a true sym- 
 pathy, and his own spirit of regarding his patients 
 not as so many medical or surgical "cases " but as 
 his personal and particular care, whose welfare was 
 almost his own. 
 
 It is impossible for any one who did not know 
 Dr. Gavin to understand the position he occupied 
 among those whom he attended. They regarded 
 him with a love and honor, and almost a veneration, 
 that is given to but few men. His word was law ; 
 but this status he won, not through any harsh 
 methods, but through his genuine, sincere interest 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 in the welfare of those whom he undertook to 
 help. 
 
 There is a story of a certain clergyman who 
 once said that he owed his very great influence 
 among his parishioners to the fact that he never 
 said, "You must do this," or " You must do that," 
 but always, "We must do this or that." This in 
 effect, was the method Dr. Gavin used in dealing 
 with his patients ; and while this desire to work in 
 harmony, this instinct for cooperation, and coordi- 
 nation, for making allies and not enemies of his 
 fellow men, was so characteristic of him that it is 
 noticeable in every department of his life, yet no- 
 where is it displayed to better advantage than in 
 this intercourse with those whose sufferings he 
 was called upon to allay. 
 
 In my family [says a patient who knew the Doctor 
 for fifty years] he was regarded by all of us, children 
 and grown-ups alike, almost as a father. When he 
 entered the house, in time of sickness, we placed our- 
 selves unreservedly in his hands. Whatever he told 
 us to do, that we did, in the full confidence that he 
 would not be mistaken; and he never was. At least one 
 of my children owes his life, to-day, to a long and des- 
 perate vigil when Dr. Gavin fought all night to rescue 
 him from the clutches of membranous croup; and at 
 last, in the gray light of the morning, he was able to 
 turn to us, haggard and weary, but triumphant, to tell 
 us that the child was out of danger, and that his life 
 was saved. 
 
 47 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Among many scenes of sorrow and suffering, in 
 those busy days, humorous occurrences were not 
 lacking. On one occasion, in the midst of a busy 
 office-hour, a distracted mother appeared, implor- 
 ing the Doctor to come at once to her home, as 
 her only boy was " awful sick." Dr. Gavin asked 
 her a question or two, pacified her, and told her 
 that he would come as soon as his office-hour was 
 ended. Arriving at the house, he found the invalid, 
 and after a brief examination turned to depart, as- 
 suring the mother that the boy would get well. 
 " But, Doctor, you 're leaving without giving any 
 prescription ! " the good woman cried. Dr. Gavin 
 paused ; then answered, with a twinkle in his eye, — 
 
 Sure enough, I was going to forget the prescription, 
 but I '11 give it to you now, since you ask for it. Here 
 it is: One stout strap, to be applied vigorously, in the 
 usual place. That, I think, should effect a much 
 needed cure, for your boy has only been smoking his 
 first pipe. 
 
 On another occasion, a patient entered Dr 
 Gavin's office displaying a curious swelling on 
 his wrist. The Doctor examined the injury a mo- 
 ment and then said, " Sit down, and rest your 
 wrist on my desk, while I see what we can find 
 about the subject." The patient obeyed, and the 
 Doctor reached for a massive volume from his 
 shelf above, the size of which alone comforted the 
 
 48 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 patient at once, for it seemed to him that in a book 
 of such proportions, the Doctor could surely find 
 a remedy for the swollen wrist. But the remedy 
 was even nearer at hand than he supposed, for 
 suddenly, and without warning, the Doctor brought 
 down the volume on the wrist, and after one in- 
 voluntary cry, the patient stared, astounded to find 
 that the swelling had disappeared, never to return. 
 There was one patient at least who took his leave 
 imbued with great respect for a doctor who could 
 cure, not only by the inside of the book, but by 
 the outside as well. 
 
 Story after story might be repeated to show the 
 love and veneration with which Dr. Gavin was re- 
 garded, but one of the prettiest of these concerns 
 a little boy of six, who had been ill, but who had 
 improved so rapidly under the Doctor's care that 
 he had come to share the admiration which his 
 whole family felt toward him. During his period 
 of convalescence, this small boy was one day play- 
 ing about the house, snapping the whip over a 
 team of imaginary horses with such vigor that his 
 mother felt called upon to caution him. " You must 
 be careful, dear," she said. " If you should put out 
 one of your eyes, nobody could ever give you an- 
 other." At which the boy stopped playing for a 
 moment and then rejoined, with conviction, " Oh 
 yes, mother ; Dr. Gavin could." 
 
 49 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Thus it is apparent that the Doctor had a prac- 
 tice in South Boston alone quite large enough to 
 satisfy a less active and energetic man. Yet this 
 practice comprised by no means the whole of his 
 activities. His reputation had spread, and he was 
 called, not only through other parts of Boston and 
 its suburbs, but also to near-by towns and occa- 
 sionally to more distant points throughout the 
 New England States. He had, moreover, made 
 many friends among the younger doctors with 
 whom he had come in contact in his work at the 
 hospitals, and many of these young men, starting 
 in practice for themselves, were glad, in difficult 
 cases, to call upon an older colleague whose friend- 
 ship they valued, and for whose professional skill 
 they had the highest regard. As one of them, look- 
 ing back on this period of his life has expressed 
 it,— 
 
 I could when beginning practice, set an arm or a leg 
 in theory, or upon an examination paper, as neatly as 
 the best surgeon in the world ; but when the actual arm 
 or leg lay bodily before me I was only too glad to sum- 
 mon Dr. Gavin, so that his practical knowledge might 
 supplement my theories as to how the work might 
 best be done. 
 
 From those who were devoting their lives to the 
 service of religion, Dr. Gavin would never accept 
 any remuneration for his attendance. Thus vari- 
 ous communities of the convents of Notre Dame 
 
 50 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 in Roxbury, and later in South Boston, and those 
 of the Sacred Heart, hold Dr. Gavin in their memo- 
 ries with a regard and an esteem beyond the power 
 of the written word. On one occasion, where a 
 Sister of Notre Dame knew that an illness in the 
 convent must have been an expensive one, she 
 tried to prevail upon the Doctor to accept some 
 compensation for all that he had done. His reply 
 was : — 
 
 You and yours are spending your lives in the service 
 of the poor, the sick, the needy, and the afflicted. If 
 any small skill of mine can ever aid you, it is yours, at 
 any hour of the day or night. Never speak of my 
 "kindness" in seeking to help you; my "privilege" is 
 the proper phrase. 
 
 In similar fashion, a member of the Convent of 
 the Sacred Heart says of Dr. Gavin : — 
 
 He was noted for his universal charity, which ex- 
 tended to all classes and creeds, and which for many 
 years was bestowed upon a great number of religious 
 institutions and charitable homes. His administra- 
 tions were accompanied by a gracious delicacy in send- 
 ing medicines, and all that could nourish his patients 
 and restore them to health. Lovingly do we recall the 
 attentions paid to our own religious order, and remem- 
 ber how, on one occasion, when the Doctor had made 
 his last call for the day at eight o'clock in the evening, 
 he later became anxious, and returned at eleven o'clock 
 to ascertain the patient's condition. Throughout all 
 New England, the suffering poor give testimony of 
 
 51 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 his charity, and of his noble devotion to the welfare 
 of mankind. 
 
 Thus were laid the foundations of the respect and 
 love which Dr. Gavin everywhere commanded. 
 His professional skill was firmly established, re- 
 garded as highly by his fellow practitioners as by 
 his patients and friends, but the esteem in which 
 he was held was not only due to his skill, but was 
 also the result of his own individual personality. 
 
 The term personal magnetism is often misapplied 
 as a quality, but it must have been a very distinct, 
 strong personal magnetism, that inspired people 
 to feel the confidence which they placed in Dr. 
 Gavin, and to give him the love that they did. 
 Few physicians, and fewer men in other walks of 
 life, gained such love and confidence. His hold 
 on people was strong and lasting, because it was 
 an absolutely natural hold, unaffected, without a 
 thought of design, and based on sincerity. People 
 who knew Dr. Gavin came to him with hope and 
 confidence as a physician and as a friend, because 
 they knew that he had that sincerity, and because 
 they were sure of his sympathy and understanding 
 if their cause was just and right. With his clear 
 perception he at once distinguished between true 
 and false, and would not even listen, should the 
 story be a lie ; but if the trouble was real, people 
 went to him, as a wise counselor and a kind friend, 
 
 52 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 and the mere fact of such a listener was an encour- 
 agement and an inspiration. Not that he had time 
 to listen to many long narratives of misfortune, or 
 that he would give undiscriminatingly of his means 
 with a politic generosity, — for his charity was only 
 on rare occasions of the easy check-book nature, 
 — but rather that his broad experience and his mag- 
 netic understanding enabled him to comprehend 
 and to sympathize, and to offer just the advice 
 and comfort which were craved and sought for. 
 He was a man to be turned to instinctively in time 
 of trouble as a wise and just adviser. 
 
 Perhaps many who thus relied on him did not 
 really understand the full breadth of Dr. Gavin's 
 character, his aims and ideals, but they were con- 
 scious of the flowing kindness of his nature, and 
 needing sympathy, they sought it out, and willingly 
 allowed themselves to be carried along in its com- 
 forting influence. Is it strange that such a charac- 
 ter turned naturally, instinctively, to the calling of 
 medicine for its life work? 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL 
 
 Dr. GAVIN'S connection with the Boston City 
 Hospital was an unusually varied one. As has been 
 noted, he served as house officer in 1864 and 1865, 
 and in 1867, after his return from abroad, he again 
 became a member of the Hospital staff. This time 
 his rise in rank was a rapid one. In February, 1867, 
 one month after he had established himself in prac- 
 tice in Boston, he received the appointment of oph- 
 thalmic externe for one year; but in the April 
 following, he was made Assistant Surgeon to Out- 
 Patients, and in March 1868 was chosen Surgeon 
 to Out-Patients, which position he held until 1872. 
 The work of this department since the opening of 
 the Hospital had greatly increased, as is evidenced 
 by the appended quotation. 1 
 
 The writer cannot remember the time when more 
 room was not desirable. At times it has been abso- 
 lutely necessary to put beds in the venter of the wards 
 and even into the corridors. Over-crowding was for- 
 merly thought to account for some of the unfavorable 
 results of treatment. It certainly was not conducive 
 to the desirable hygienic conditions. 
 
 1 Reminiscences of the Boston City Hospital: Dr. George W. 
 Gay. 
 
 54 
 
HOUSE OFFICERS OF THE BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL IN iS 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 The following extract from the Trustees' report 
 dated April 30, 1871, is typical of the state of affairs 
 at this time: — 
 
 "As the business of this branch of the Hospital is 
 rapidly increasing, we would respectfully call your 
 attention to our need of more room. We often have 
 from forty to fifty patients daily, and our present 
 quarters are much too limited for their occupation. 
 
 " M. F. Gavin, M.D. 
 
 " Geo. W. Gay, M.D. 
 
 " Surgeons to Out-Patients. " 
 
 From 1872 to 1879 Dr. Gavin was not connected 
 with the City Hospital, but in the latter year he 
 was appointed a member of the Board of Trus- 
 tees, where he served until 1885, and, in the words 
 of one of his contemporaries, "attended to his du- 
 ties in the most faithful and conscientious manner 
 imaginable, and rendered valuable aid to his fellow 
 members of the Board through his ability to regard 
 the problems put before him from the view-point 
 of an honorable, intelligent, and broad-minded 
 physician." 
 
 The following letter shows the esteem in which 
 Dr. Gavin was held by his fellow members of the 
 Board : — 
 
 City Hospital, Boston, Jan. 12, 1885. 
 M. F. Gavin, M.D. 
 
 My dear Sir: — At the last meeting of the Trus- 
 tees of the City Hospital, you were unanimously 
 elected a Surgeon of Out-Patients. 
 
 55 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Your resignation as a Trustee was announced and it 
 was voted, "That the secretary express to Dr. Gavin 
 the great regret which the Trustees personally feel in 
 losing his very kindly and valuable assistance, and 
 their high appreciation of the very faithful, assiduous, 
 and efficient service which he has for many years, ren- 
 dered the Hospital." 
 
 I need not, I am sure, further express to you the 
 pleasure which I have experienced in our relations as 
 Trustees, and my obligations for your many acts of 
 courtesy and kindness. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Henry H. Sprague. 
 
 (Sec.) 
 
 In 1886, the year after his appointment, there 
 came a change in Dr. Gavin's activities, and, while 
 his professional responsibilities were still further in- 
 creased, yet the burden of actual labor was to some 
 extent lightened. Two things caused this change ; 
 an appointment and an illness. The appointment, 
 a well-deserved tribute to the Doctor's skill, was 
 that of Visiting Surgeon to the Boston City Hos- 
 pital. This of course meant more work of an im- 
 portant and arduous nature, and if Dr. Gavin had 
 remained in good health at this time, and taken up 
 this additional burden to add to the amount he was 
 already doing, it might have been that the strain 
 would soon have proved too much for any one 
 man to carry. As it happened, however, he experi- 
 enced at this time the first severe illness of his life, 
 
 56 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 — an intimation, possibly, from Nature herself, to 
 remind him that no man, however strong, is more 
 than human, and that in his zeal for his work he 
 had already been drawing too freely upon his re- 
 serves of energy and strength. 
 
 So, after he had passed through a serious sick- 
 ness, upon his recovery he wisely decided to treat 
 himself with more consideration by establishing a 
 custom of taking a week's vacation every spring 
 and fall, and by abandoning most of the work which 
 had called him out at night. Thus he was able, in 
 some degree, to lessen the strain under which he 
 had been laboring. With this readjustment of his 
 professional schedule he entered afresh upon an- 
 other period of his career, which was destined to 
 last for twenty busy years, during which he worked 
 with unflagging vigor and undiminished skill. 
 
 A special interest attaches to the Doctor's ap- 
 pointment as Visiting Surgeon to the Boston City 
 Hospital, for his connection with that institution is 
 probably absolutely unique. Beginning with his 
 year of service as House Surgeon in 1864, at the 
 time of the opening of the Hospital, he was later, 
 as has been noted, Surgeon to Out-Patients in 1867, 
 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1 871; and after an interval 
 was chosen a member of the Board of Trustees and 
 served six years, from 1879 to 1884, inclusive. Yet 
 all these years added together comprise but a por- 
 
 57 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 tion of the time during which he was connected 
 with the Hospital, for in 1885 he was again Sur- 
 geon to Out-Patients ; from 1886 to 1896 he was 
 Visiting Surgeon; in 1897, when the distinction 
 was first made between Senior and Junior Visiting 
 Surgeons, he was rated as Junior Visiting Surgeon, 
 and again held that position in 1898; while from 
 1899 to 1906 he was Senior Visiting Surgeon, and 
 from 1907 until his death in 1915 he was a mem- 
 ber of the board of Consulting Physicians and 
 Surgeons. Altogether, a record of over fifty years 
 of service, practically continuous, in an institution 
 justly famed for the high character and ability of 
 its personnel. 
 
 In addition to these permanent appointments, he 
 also served the hospital in many other ways — as 
 member, or chairman, of various committees from 
 time to time ; and for many years as one of the 
 Examining Board. 
 
 Although Dr. Gavin's private practice gave him 
 many opportunities for surgical work, it was, nec- 
 essarily, at the hospitals that his skill as a sur- 
 geon was brought most into evidence. Here, there 
 were larger opportunities than in private practice, 
 and in every branch of surgery, with resources at 
 hand for individual endeavor. Although surgery 
 was always subordinate in Dr. Gavin's mind to the 
 matter of getting the patient better, as will be seen 
 
 58 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 later, nevertheless as chief of his surgical staff in 
 the Boston City Hospital, many operations were 
 necessary almost daily, and here unquestionably 
 was presented the best test of Dr. Gavin's surgical 
 skill. Always cool, quiet, apparently unhurried, 
 but still completing his work with the greatest pos- 
 sible celerity, and affecting no unnecessary effort, 
 he performed his operations with a knowledge, a 
 precision, and a thoroughness that made it a pro- 
 fessional pleasure to watch him. He knew abso- 
 lutely clearly in his own mind just exactly what 
 was to be done, and his experience told him just 
 how to do it ; and should the unexpected happen, 
 he never for a moment lost the calm poise of his 
 manner, and did precisely the right thing that was 
 necessary. 
 
 Many and great were the changes which the 
 Doctor witnessed during his long period of con- 
 nection with the Hospital. He saw the number of 
 hospital buildings increase from four to forty-six ; 
 the number of hospital beds from 208 to 1061. He 
 saw 800 patients treated in 1864, and saw that 
 number increased in 19 14 to 116,729. He saw the 
 original medical and surgical staff of 21 members 
 gradually expand until it numbered 103. 
 
 Nor was this all ; for he was privileged to live 
 through that great period in the medical world 
 when discoveries of the most sweeping character 
 
 59 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 magnificently enlarged the boundaries of our 
 knowledge, and completely revolutionized the 
 treatment of disease. What some of these discov- 
 eries were, we may learn from the address deliv- 
 ered by the Honorable A. Shuman, President of 
 the Board of Trustees, at the Fiftieth Anniversary 
 of the Boston City Hospital, on June 20, 1914. 
 
 Let us glance [said President Shuman] at some of 
 the achievements of the Hospital during this half cen- 
 tury. Chief among them, it seems to me, has been the 
 triumph over the dread scourge of pyaemia and sepsis. 
 The present generation has little knowledge of the hor- 
 rors and dangers that attended the surgery of those 
 early days. Our hearts should be filled with gratitude 
 to those who by their labors and researches have made 
 possible the present happy conditions. 
 
 In later years the discovery of the X-ray and the 
 use of radium have opened up unlimited possibilities 
 for good. Wonderful results in the treatment of sur- 
 face cancer, in the early diagnosis of pulmonary tuber- 
 culosis, the more exact knowledge of fractures and 
 diseases of the bones, and in the location of foreign 
 bodies, have been attained by these agencies. . . . 
 
 The great good accomplished by the South De- 
 partment must not be overlooked. Opened in 1895, 
 it was the first separate hospital in this country for the 
 care and treatment of infectious diseases. A volume 
 could be written and still not do justice to the noble 
 work that has been done by this department in the 
 saving of human life and the relief of suffering, as well 
 as the prevention and control of epidemics of scarlet 
 fever, diphtheria, and measles in our city and com- 
 munity. . . . 
 
 60 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Fifty years ago, there was no ambulance station. 
 Patients came to the hospital in hacks or carriages. 
 The Hospital now has four auto-ambulances for the 
 main Hospital and three horse-ambulances for the use 
 of the relief stations. 
 
 The two relief stations are of great benefit to the 
 citizens of Boston in the rendering of prompt and 
 efficient aid in emergency cases ; while the Convalescent 
 Home is a boon for the women who are considered 
 well enough to be discharged from the hospital, and 
 yet who, through lack of proper home surroundings, 
 need care and comfort in their convalescence. 
 
 Such were the changes of fifty years, and it 
 seems most appropriate that Dr. Gavin should 
 have been able to witness them, since his keenest 
 professional delight was in watching the steady 
 progress of medical knowledge, and the develop- 
 ment of new appliances which were to aid his col- 
 leagues and himself in their steadfast fight against 
 suffering, disease, and death. 
 
 Dr. Gavin's long connection with the City Hos- 
 pital, and the effort and time which he gave so 
 unsparingly and loyally to it, formed a large part 
 of his life's work. His heart and soul were always 
 with his work for the institution. He loved his 
 work there ; it meant more to him than he ever 
 said, and his loyalty to it and enthusiasm for it 
 continued throughout his life. On many occasions 
 in later years, his friends and even his family made 
 the suggestion that, chiefly to conserve his own 
 
 61 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 strength and energy, he should give up his work 
 at the Hospital ; but it can truthfully be said that 
 he loved the connection so well, that at no time 
 would he even consider so doing. 
 
 The success of the Boston City Hospital has been 
 due, in a great measure, to the loyalty and enthu- 
 siasm of its staff and associates. And it is doubt- 
 ful if it has ever had any man on its staff who gave 
 for its good purposes more loyally and more en- 
 thusiastically of his best energy and skill, and who 
 was more happy in doing so, than Dr. Gavin. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 OTHER PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. WRITINGS 
 
 ALTHOUGH Dr. Gavin carried upon his shoul- 
 ders a heavy burden of professional cares in his 
 own large practice, and with his work for the Bos- 
 ton City Hospital, he nevertheless found time for 
 still other professional activities. Chief among 
 these, perhaps, was his connection with the Car- 
 ney Hospital. 
 
 Dr. Gavin accepted an appointment as surgeon 
 to the Carney Hospital in 1880, and served for 
 twenty-three years, until 1903, when the system of 
 continuous service went into effect ; in that year he 
 became a member of the Board of Consultation, 
 and retained that position until the time of his 
 death, twelve years later. As thirty-five years is a 
 long time to remain connected with one institution, 
 and as his work at the Carney played such a large 
 part in Dr. Gavin's life, it may be of interest to 
 give, briefly, the history of the institution. 
 
 The Carney Hospital was founded by Andrew 
 Carney, who, as a young man, came from Ireland 
 to America and was successful in business. Mr. 
 Carney was a man of kindly and charitable nature, 
 
 63 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 and perceiving- the need of a hospital in South 
 Boston, he purchased in 1863 the Howe residence, 
 situated on Old Harbor Street on Dorchester 
 Heights, and gave the property, together with its 
 surrounding lawns and orchards, to the Sisters of 
 Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. The building, 
 under the supervision of Sister Ann Alexis, was 
 made ready for occupancy, and the first patient was 
 received on the ninth of June, 1863. Physicians of 
 eminence were glad to help in this new work, and 
 upon the rolls of the Hospital are to be found the 
 names of many doctors and surgeons widely cele- 
 brated for their professional skill. 
 
 In 1865, the Hospital was incorporated under 
 the laws of Massachusetts, and its property was 
 placed in the hands of a corporation composed of 
 Sisters of Charity stationed at the Hospital. This 
 body, which is known as the Carney Hospital Cor- 
 poration, directs the work of the Hospital, and 
 controls its business affairs. 
 
 At this time, also, plans were drawn for the 
 present building, and one wing and a part of the 
 chapel were erected in 1868. The general public, 
 however, probably does not appreciate the financial 
 odds against which the Hospital has struggled, 
 for it is not endowed, and has never had the bene- 
 fit of a regular fixed income. Accordingly, the 
 work it has accomplished must under the circum- 
 
 64 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 stances be regarded as truly extraordinary. Al- 
 though the plans were drawn in 1865, it was not 
 until 1 89 1 that the addition to the Hospital was 
 finally completed. Still later improvements have 
 been the new out-patient building, on the corner 
 of Old Harbor and Dorchester Streets, completed 
 in 1 901, of the committee in charge of which Dr. 
 Gavin was chairman ; while other activities in- 
 clude the establishment of a dental clinic for 
 school children in 191 2 ; the Training School for 
 Nurses ; the Carney Hospital Social Service ; the 
 Carney Hospital Sewing Guild ; the Ladies' Aid 
 Association, and the Columbus Day Nursery. 
 
 In the first fifty years of its existence, over 70,000 
 people have been treated in the Hospital itself, 
 and over 300,000 in the out-patient department. 
 In 1863, 53 patients received treatment; in 1912, 
 nearly 4000 ; while the corps of physicians, sur- 
 geons, sisters, and nurses has, of necessity been in- 
 creased in proportion, as the work of the Hospital 
 has grown. In 1903, the Carney Hospital took a 
 great step forward, and was the first hospital in 
 New England to establish the system of contin- 
 uous service of its staff members, with a perma- 
 nent physician-in-chief and surgeon-in-chief. 
 
 Such in brief is the history of this institution, to 
 which Dr. Gavin for so many years gave so un- 
 sparingly of his skill and of his time. The same 
 
 65 
 
MICHAEL ; FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 professional traits and traits of character which 
 distinguished him, were always in evidence dur- 
 ing that long period at the Carney, and the Sisters, 
 his fellow physicians, and his patients there speak 
 of him and his work with the greatest love and 
 appreciation. 
 
 The Carney Hospital always meant much to 
 Dr. Gavin. Not more than did the City Hospital it 
 is true, but it was always dear to him. Because it 
 is not so large an institution as the City Hospital, 
 perhaps Dr. Gavin felt more intimately connected 
 with it ; and it is possible that his service meant 
 more to the Hospital, and that, realizing this, he 
 gave of the very best he had. While on the visit- 
 ing staff, he was frequently called into the coun- 
 sels of the Hospital by the Superiors, and his ad- 
 vice was requested and taken on many matters of 
 its policy and operation. 
 
 Dr. John T. Bottomley, at present surgeon-in- 
 chief of the Carney, says in connection with his 
 work there as Dr. Gavin's colleague : — 
 
 I knew Dr. Gavin very well, both professionally and 
 socially. I remember him chiefly for his gentle kind- 
 ness of manner. This was never assumed, but was 
 only a natural, genuine expression of the man's true 
 self. I saw him most in contact with his hospital 
 patients. In them he had a real, live, human interest 
 and he was not only efficient in his professional atten- 
 tions to them, but, what is even more lasting and more 
 
 66 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 comforting, he had, and showed, consideration for 
 their feelings, and sympathy for their sufferings, — 
 qualities which we cannot witness too often. Although 
 he was a shrewd judge of men and things, he was very 
 charitable in judging and speaking of others. I cannot 
 recollect that I ever heard him say an unkind word to 
 any one. He was a fine type of an Irish gentleman, 
 clean, kindly, considerate, and charitable. 
 
 In addition to this long and fruitful connection 
 with the Carney Hospital, Dr. Gavin was asso- 
 ciated for many years with the St. Elizabeth's 
 Hospital, where he was appointed attending phy- 
 sician in 1 87 1. Soon afterwards he received the 
 appointment of surgeon, and in 1880 became con- 
 sulting surgeon, and later served as one of the 
 trustees of the Hospital until his resignation in 
 1910. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was a member of the American Medi- 
 cal Association and of the British Medical Associa- 
 tion, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons 
 in Ireland, a member of the Massachusetts Medical 
 Society, of the Boston Society of Medical Im- 
 provement, and of the Boston Medical Society. 
 For some years he was visiting surgeon at the 
 Marcella Street Home, and he attended the Con- 
 vent of the Good Shepherd, the Convents of Notre 
 Dame in Roxbury and South Boston, and the Con- 
 vent of the Sacred Heart, for many years. For a 
 short time, with Dr. Edward N. Whittier, he was 
 
 67 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 United States Pension Examiner in the Boston 
 District, and for three years, from 1888 to 1891, 
 he held the position of Professor of Clinical Sur- 
 gery at the Boston Polyclinic. 
 
 Although he undertook so many professional 
 responsibilities, he most emphatically did not be- 
 long to that class of men who " spread themselves 
 too thin," for he had one trait in his character 
 which, of itself, made it wholly impossible for him 
 to neglect, or even to slight anything which he had 
 once begun. This trait was a desire for thorough- 
 ness which was almost a passion with him. He 
 went to the bottom of the available professional 
 knowledge on any point about which he had any 
 doubt. The systematic training which he went 
 through before commencing actual practice, was 
 in itself characteristic of this trait of his character. 
 Even as late as 1874, more than half a dozen 
 years after he was successfully established, he 
 took up research work at Harvard College, to 
 broaden his knowledge on special subjects. He 
 often had instruments constructed to suit his own 
 ideas accurately, and early in his practice he pur- 
 chased an elaborate microscope, and has referred 
 in letters to the great fields of interest it opened 
 for him. Thus, whatever he undertook, he carried 
 through to the end, and so, in spite of innumerable 
 demands upon him, he was always able to pre- 
 
 68 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 serve a mental schedule of his engagements and 
 to devote to each of them in turn the amount of 
 time necessary for the satisfactory performance of 
 the duties which it imposed on him. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was frequently called upon to testify 
 in court in cases involving the question of dam- 
 ages for personal injuries, and Mr. James E. 
 Cotter states that both the Doctor's long experi- 
 ence and his skill as a surgeon rendered him a 
 valuable expert witness, and that whatever testi- 
 mony he gave in a case was listened to with re- 
 spect, alike by the court, by the jurors, and by the 
 opposing counsel. 
 
 What he said carried conviction with it, for no one 
 could hear him without realizing that he was testifying 
 without the slightest prejudice, either for one side or 
 the other, and that what he said was the expression of 
 an honest, sincere and intelligent opinion upon mat- 
 ters concerning which he was particularly well quali- 
 fied to express his views. 
 
 It is interesting to note that upon those occa- 
 sions when opposing counsel sought to entangle 
 him, Dr. Gavin's keen mind and ready wit were 
 displayed perhaps to their best advantage, and he 
 either would avoid his questioner's trap altogether, 
 or else would make it apparent to all that his know- 
 ledge of the subject was much more superficial 
 than real. 
 
 69 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 With all these interests it is not surprising that 
 Dr. Gavin found little time for writing of a pro- 
 fessional nature. Yet he did, at various periods of 
 his career, contribute occasional articles to medical 
 and surgical publications. A list of these is as 
 follows : — 
 
 In the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for 
 February 9, 1865 (vol. 72, page 47), may be found 
 a note on "A Useful Disinfectant," dated Boston, 
 February 1, 1865, and signed "M. F. Gavin, M. D., 
 House Surgeon, City Hospital." This was fol- 
 lowed by an article on " Comparative Statistics of 
 Suicide" in the Boston Medical and Surgical Jour- 
 nal for December 24, 1868 (vol. 79, page 326), and 
 by a paper on "Ganglion" in the same journal 
 for December 2, 1869 (vol. 81, page 306), signed 
 " M. F. Gavin, Surgeon to Out-Patients, City Hos- 
 pital." This latter article shows a wide range of 
 reading and contains references to French medi- 
 cal works, as well as to those of England and 
 America. 
 
 For the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of 
 August 25, 1870 (vol. 83, page 119), Dr. Gavin 
 wrote an article entitled " Case of Impacted Cal- 
 culus in the Urethra. External Urethrotomy. Re- 
 covery." This article is interesting, not only for its 
 subject matter, but also because one is reminded 
 of Dr. Gavin's foreign degrees by the signature, 
 
 70. 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 "M. F. Gavin, M. D., F. R. C. S. I., etc., Surgeon 
 to Out-Patients, City Hospital, Boston." 
 
 His next paper is to be found in the Journal for 
 June 16, 1874 (vol. 91, page 52). This paper, on 
 "Three cases of Spina Bifida," was read, origin- 
 ally, before the South Boston Medical Club, and 
 its signature is again interesting, as showing the 
 varied character of Dr. Gavin's professional career, 
 for this time he signs himself, " M. F. Gavin, M. D., 
 Surgeon to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital." 
 
 From this time on, he was apparently too busy 
 to do much writing, and it is not until November 
 11, 1886, that another article appears under his 
 signature. This paper, "A Case of Supra-Pubic 
 Lithotomy," is to be found in the Boston Medical 
 and Surgical Journal (vol. 115, page 446), although 
 prior to publication it was read, on October 4, 1886, 
 before the Boston Society for Medical Observation. 
 
 On January 1, 1894, Dr. Gavin read another 
 paper before the Boston Society for Medical Ob- 
 servation. This time, the subject was "The Medi- 
 cal Cure of Hydrocele," and the paper was fol- 
 lowed by a general discussion, in which Dr. Gavin, 
 Dr. George W. Gay, Dr. H. L. Burrell, and Dr. 
 Maurice H. Richardson participated. The paper 
 was subsequently published in the Boston Medical 
 and Surgical Journal, March 1, 1894 (vol. 130, 
 page 210). 
 
 7i 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 The last of Dr. Gavin's articles in the Boston 
 Medical and Surgical Journal is to be found in 
 the number for May 2, 1895 (vol. 132, page 437). 
 It is entitled "A Case of Castration for Hypertro- 
 phied Prostate," and is also to be found in the 
 Medical and Surgical Reports of the Boston City 
 Hospital (6th Series, page 10), while another arti- 
 cle by him is later to be found in these reports 
 for 1900 (nth Series, page 158), entitled "The 
 Work in Surgical Pathology of the Pathological 
 and Surgical Departments, by M. F. Gavin, M. D., 
 with the assistance of L. G. R. Crandon, M. D., 
 W. C. Howe, M. D., and D. D. Scannell, M. D." 
 
 Besides the articles already enumerated, Dr. 
 Gavin wrote an article in September, 1869, for 
 Appietorfs Journal, of New York, on " Compara- 
 tive Statistics of Suicide," and contributed more 
 than once to foreign publications, writing a num- 
 ber of articles when abroad for the London Lancet, 
 and publishing in the Dublin Medical Press, in 
 1886, an article on "The Treatment of Burns." 
 
 In addition to his strictly professional writings, 
 he made use of his ability in this line early in his 
 professional career by writing a series of articles 
 for the daily press treating of simple medical sub- 
 jects in a popular style. During his service in the 
 army, while stationed at the field hospital, he also 
 contributed letters from time to time on subjects 
 
 72 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 of current interest, and wrote a series of articles 
 on "Life at the Front" under the signature, "Ab- 
 beytown," the name of that part of the town of 
 Roscommon in which he was born. He also con- 
 tributed a number of interesting articles on " Life 
 and Happenings in America " to the home papers 
 of his native town and to some of the Dublin 
 dailies, before professional work encroached too 
 much on his leisure. 
 
 Dr. Gavin frequently assisted his friend, John 
 Boyle O'Reilly, by writing for The Pilot in the 
 early days, after Mr. O'Reilly had taken over the 
 management of the paper. This is shown by the 
 following interesting letters from Mr. O'Reilly. 
 
 The Pilot, 
 Boston, Aug. 17, 1874. 
 Dear Gavin: — 
 
 I am going to Baltimore on vacation to-morrow. 
 Can you write an article for the Pilot. If you can, 
 will you give it to Mr. Donahue on or before Saturday 
 afternoon? I shall be heartily obliged to you. 
 Always yours, 
 
 John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 M. F. Gavin, M.D. 
 
 M. F. Gavin, Esq., M.D. 
 
 My dear Gavin: — 
 
 I returned from New York yesterday with a bad 
 cold and a swelled throat. I am better this morning, 
 all but the throat. I can't go out to-day and I cannot 
 do much for the paper. Will you write that article on 
 
 73 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Harper's Magazine for me? If you possibly can, you 
 will render me still more your debtor. If you do it, 
 take it over to Donahue this evening or in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
 Three other letters from O'Reilly may be of 
 interest, as showing the warm friendship which 
 existed between himself and Dr. Gavin. 
 
 Friday morning. 
 
 My dear Gavin: — 
 
 Get the March number of The Dark Blue; my "Dog 
 Guard" is in it. Are n't you pleased? That is the top 
 of the tree, old man. Twenty pounds for it, and they 
 want more. I feel pretty much like Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes to-day; and should you call to see me, please 
 don't be too familiar at first; I feel dignified — "con- 
 siderable." 
 
 If the Dark Blue were in Boston, I'd send you a 
 copy, but they have not come yet. 
 Yours ever, 
 
 J. Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
 The Pilot Editorial Room. 
 Boston, May 21, 1887. 
 Dear Gavin: — 
 
 Dr. X is a friend of mine, and a good fellow, 
 
 and a good doctor, and the best heavy-weight gentle- 
 man-boxer in Boston. 
 
 If you will assist him, I shall vote for you when you 
 want me to get you into Paradise. 
 
 Faithfully, 
 John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
 74 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Love to you, dear old man. I wish I could see you 
 often as of old. 
 
 The Pilot. 
 Boston, April 7, 1890. 
 Dear Gavin: — 
 
 Your kind letter has waited here for me nearly a 
 month. Your words are kind and deeply gratifying and 
 you are a dear old man. 
 
 Faithfully yrs, 
 
 John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
 Dr. Gavin had little love for public speaking, 
 and except for the above-mentioned papers which 
 he read before medical clubs and societies, he 
 made almost no public addresses, In the early 
 days of the Catholic Union, when he was on the 
 Council, he gave a lecture on "Food" before that 
 organization, which showed a great amount of 
 study and preparation, and was presented in an 
 interesting and popular manner. Whenever pos- 
 sible, however, he preferred not to be called upon, 
 and the accompanying letter from Dr. Dwight is 
 an evidence of Dr. Gavin's traditional modesty 
 and reticence in this regard. 
 
 Dear Doctor: — 
 
 I suppose that I may take it on myself to reply to 
 your note without referring it to the committee. I am 
 sorry that you are not inclined to read your paper 
 yourself, because I think it must suffer by being read 
 by any one else, and I have no doubt your fears are 
 
 75 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 quite groundless. So please think it over. Still, if you 
 insist, we shall be glad to have your paper on any terms 
 and will find a reader. Please get it ready as soon as 
 you can, and let me know when that will be. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Thomas Dwight. 
 70 Beacon St., December 7th. 
 Dr. Gavin. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SUMMARY OF DR. GAVIN'S PROFESSIONAL 
 CAREER 
 
 DURING the last fifty years in the medical world, 
 there has been a steady trend toward specializa- 
 tion ; for a man to be, as Dr. Gavin was, both a 
 general practitioner and a surgeon, is to-day prac- 
 tically unknown. 
 
 In his day, however, the standard was a very 
 different one. Then a physician could almost, after 
 the manner of Bacon, take the whole field of medi- 
 cine for his province, and this, with regard to Dr. 
 Gavin's career, is the first point to remember. He 
 was eminent, not as a specialist in any single 
 branch of his profession, but as a very excellent 
 general practitioner, equally proficient in cases 
 which called for medical treatment and in those 
 which required surgical skill. 
 
 At the same time, it is necessary to guard against 
 a possible misconception ; for while it is true that 
 the best medical opinion of to-day favors special- 
 ization, Dr. Gavin's reputation and achievements 
 must not be undervalued on that account, for the 
 real test, as a rule, is whether or not a man attains 
 eminence according to the views and standards of 
 
 77 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 his day ; and that test his fame is well able to with- 
 stand. 
 
 No doubt, if he had been born thirty years later, 
 he would have attained the same distinction as a 
 specialist which he achieved as a general practi- 
 tioner. Yet it is not so easy to imagine him in the 
 later and more modern role, since he was, by na- 
 ture, ideally fitted for the work which he elected 
 to perform. The whole world interested him ; he 
 was never wearied, never indifferent, never at a 
 loss for occupation. To live was to him a wonder- 
 ful and priceless privilege, to be regarded both 
 seriously and reverently, and at the same time 
 with an unquenchable and abiding joy. It was 
 only natural that a man who took such an interest 
 in life should find in the history of medical knowl- 
 edge a most congenial field, and Dr. Gavin, with 
 his keen and inquiring mind, loved to survey the 
 entire domain of medical science, and to consider 
 each isolated fact, and each separate theory, in 
 relation to the subject as a whole. 
 
 One might, indeed, suppose that a man so busy 
 with actual practice would have little leisure for 
 study ; yet Dr. Gavin was widely known as a genu- 
 ine student of medicine, and his extensive reading 
 and his power of keeping abreast of the times went 
 far to prove that for the man who is really filled 
 with enthusiasm for his profession there is no such 
 
 78 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 thing as " not having the time." He contrived to 
 make the time, and not only managed to be thor- 
 oughly well-informed as to the present, but delved 
 among the records of old times as few physicians 
 ever do, partly from a genuine love of research, 
 partly because he realized that it is only by com- 
 pletely understanding the past that we are enabled 
 to appraise the present and to forecast the future. 
 His medical library was a very fine one, and from 
 the time of his studies abroad he was always a sub- 
 scriber to the leading foreign medical papers and, as 
 has been said, he kept in touch for years afterwards, 
 through correspondence, with professors of the 
 Royal College in Ireland. In the words of Dr. 
 George W. Gay, a life-long friend of Dr. Gavin, 
 " He had a great deal of professional enthusiasm, 
 and was keenly interested in the progress of medi- 
 cal and surgical methods. His very wide range of 
 reading, both in the past and in the present, made 
 him a most interesting companion." 
 
 Thus, Dr. Gavin stood as a thoroughly able and 
 successful all-around practitioner, — possessed of 
 wide experience and great ability, and able to meet 
 and to deal coolly and confidently with those unex- 
 pected emergencies which are continually arising 
 in every doctor's professional life. Moreover he 
 possessed his own individual personality, which 
 won for him respect and confidence everywhere. 
 
 79 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 He never could make an unfavorable impression. 
 At the first instant, perhaps, his quiet, retiring 
 manner and unassuming bearing might not 
 strongly impress a stranger, but it did not take 
 long for this to be changed. Even his personal ap- 
 pearance would bring this about. Never concerned 
 about mere recent styles, he dressed in a simple, 
 unaffected manner, neither strikingly professional, 
 nor yet calculated to conceal his calling. His move- 
 ments were never quick or boisterous, but had the 
 quiet unconscious ease of the true gentleman. His 
 clear, steady, straightforward gray eye, the fresh, 
 almost boyish color in his cheeks, and the winning- 
 ness of his smile, impressed one almost at once, 
 and when he spoke, his quiet, undemonstrative, 
 but frank manner of speaking quickly convinced 
 his hearers of his knowledge. So, ably fitted by 
 nature, one might say, for his calling, he filled to 
 perfection the r61e of the all-around doctor, the 
 general practitioner. 
 
 To consider Dr. Gavin's professional attainments 
 more in detail, it is probably true that while he was 
 eminently successful as a physician, it is as a sur- 
 geon that he will be best remembered. He had a 
 natural aptitude for surgery, and in addition to be- 
 ing an able operator, he was celebrated for the re- 
 markable excellence of his judgment. One of his 
 chief characteristics was his caution in advising an 
 
 80 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 operation. In the words of Sister Gonzoga, for 
 many years Superior of the Carney Hospital, " Dr. 
 Gavin was kind, conscientious, and when it came 
 to a question of a serious operation, very conser- 
 vative. When he said that an operation was neces- 
 sary, the patient might rest assured that all other 
 means had proved unsuccessful." 
 
 This conservatism with regard to operating was 
 a natural trait of Dr. Gavin, yet it was doubtless 
 intensified by the conditions prevailing when the 
 Doctor first began practice. Dr. David W. Cheever 
 has termed this period " the dark days of my youth,'* 
 and an extract from his address at the Fiftieth An- 
 niversary of the Boston City Hospital, in 1914, shows 
 what the conditions were at that time, and in what 
 manner they were remedied. 
 
 So [said Dr. Cheever] we stand to-day, honorable 
 and honored, one of the best municipal hospitals in our 
 country. This is no boastful record. It is strictly true. 
 
 But to me personally has everything always been so 
 agreeable? Let me recall the dark days of my youth, 
 when blood-poisoning cursed surgery, and death fol- 
 lowed our hardest efforts. Let me give an example. 
 During one winter I was called up here sixteen winter 
 nights to relieve suffocation by opening the windpipes 
 of children suffering from membranous croup, as 
 diphtheria was then called. Heavenly relief and calm 
 sleep followed. But how many cures? Within three 
 days, twelve of the sixteen would die, and four recover. 
 He who saved one in four did well ; he who saved one in 
 three was a hero. 
 
 81 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Now, for 1913, the statistics of laryngeal diphtheria 
 in our hospital show a mortality of 27.73 per cent, and 
 of recovery 72.26 per cent. Formerly three out of four 
 died. Now three out of four recover. . . . 
 
 The undiscovered appendix was causing fatal peri- 
 tonitis without recognition and without redress. Acute 
 peritonitis was almost always fatal. Compound frac- 
 tures lay for months unhealed, and if they finally re- 
 quired amputation, amputation was often fatal; the 
 mortality of thigh amputations at the middle third 
 rising to 50 per cent. Wounds suppurated before they 
 healed, and suppuration not infrequently ended in 
 pyemia. . . . 
 
 Surgery was external or surface surgery. Tumors 
 were removed, plastic operations begun, amputations 
 practised, but I have seen a poor victim of a large burn 
 on the back die of exhaustion because we knew not the 
 possible relief of healing by transplanted skin. 
 
 A sombre picture, not overdrawn; and yet surgery 
 was the only resort open; and the anxious and care- 
 taking surgeon toiled and toiled, maintaining the 
 cheerfulness of hope, which alone held death aloof. 
 
 Such were the conditions, when, half-way down 
 my surgical journey, twenty-five years ago, asepsis 
 dawned, and slowly, like a summer morning, brought 
 on the perfect day, — gradually, little by little, step 
 by step: first, carbolic antisepsis and carbolic spray, 
 then corrosive sublimate, then heat, then alcohol, 
 then dryness and sterilized gauze and gloves; then 
 suppuration vanished, surgery became a joy, recovery 
 was the rule, and death was often not unjustly ascribed 
 to a failure of technic. 
 
 In consideration of these conditions, it was but 
 natural for Dr. Gavin to be a prudent and con- 
 
 82 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 servative surgeon, and this fact was of inestimable 
 benefit to the younger men who served under him. 
 After the discovery of asepsis, and the resulting 
 wonderful improvements in surgical methods, it 
 was inevitable that a great wave of enthusiasm 
 should result, and for a time it seemed that this 
 wave had rolled too far, and that some of the junior 
 surgeons, though with a perfectly sincere and 
 righteous professional zeal, were rather inclined to 
 make operations, not the exception, but the rule. 
 This was where the wise counsel of Dr. Gavin and 
 others of the older school was of the greatest ben- 
 efit; and this story is told of the Doctor and a bril- 
 liant young colleague, who were discussing a case 
 together. "So you think," said Dr. Gavin, "that 
 an operation is necessary?" "Yes," his junior re- 
 plied, " I have given the matter my best considera- 
 tion and I believe that I should surely operate." 
 Whereupon Dr. Gavin looked at him earnestly 
 for a moment and then quietly queried, "What 
 for ? " The younger surgeon said afterward to a 
 friend : — 
 
 The question took me completely aback and it was 
 some time before I realized the depth of meaning 
 which those two words contained. There was the 
 whole matter put straight up to me. Was I going 
 ahead because I saw a chance to perform a brilliant 
 operation, because I was looking upon the matter 
 simply from its surgical side, or was I, as I should have 
 
 83 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 done, and as Dr. Gavin always did, putting the welfare 
 of the patient before anything else, as the one para- 
 mount consideration. It was a lesson that I have 
 never forgotten, and never shall forget. 
 
 Another fact should be remembered in connec- 
 tion with these new surgical discoveries, — namely, 
 that, while their importance can scarcely be exag- 
 gerated, it does not therefore follow that all the 
 surgical wisdom of bygone days was rendered 
 valueless by them. Dr. John T. Bottomley has well 
 expressed this in speaking of Dr. Gavin who, he 
 says, "Trained in an era preceding that which 
 saw the introduction and wonderful spread of 
 asepsis in surgery, adapted himself successfully 
 to new principles and new surroundings, bringing 
 with him, however, from the old, much that was 
 useful, interesting, and sound. Thus he was valu- 
 able in advice and suggestion to us of a later 
 generation. Not all that is novel is good." 
 
 However, though Dr. Gavin's first thought in 
 surgery was caution, it did not follow that he was 
 not an excellent surgeon, or that, in those cases 
 which required an operation, he did not show a 
 high degree of skill in that most delicate, but dan- 
 gerous art. For he was, as has been said, a very ex- 
 cellent surgeon. Many, almost unnumbered, were 
 the operations that he performed in his life-time ; 
 for many years, at the commencement of his career, 
 
 84 
 
DR. GAVIN IN MIDDLE LIFE 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 without any of the present-day aids of surgery to 
 assist him ; and the results he obtained are shown 
 in the proportions which his practice attained. 
 Then, when the change came, his skill was able 
 to follow the change, and he stepped into the new 
 fields with the same sureness as before, the same 
 clear perception of what was to be done, and the 
 same steadiness of hand and delicacy of touch 
 with which to do it. Some of his operations, then, 
 were bold steps into the unknown, which pointed 
 out the way for still later methods. But the intense 
 interest of such work could never shake his funda- 
 mental principle, that the patient came first ; and 
 so it always stood with him. 
 
 It is interesting to observe another strong ten- 
 dency of Dr. Gavin's professional work — the tend- 
 ency to conservatism. In surgery he operated only 
 when necessary for the patient's good. In medi- 
 cine, he firmly believed that Nature herself was the 
 greatest physician of all, and his practice always 
 was merely to assist her. With him medicines were 
 never the rule ; as in surgery, they were given, and 
 given with wide knowledge and rare skill, when 
 really needed, but they were never prescribed when 
 Nature herself could do the work. 
 
 As a consultant, especially in later years, he was 
 widely known, and in reviewing his career, this 
 particular branch of his profession should be em- 
 
 85 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 phasized. Time and again he would be called upon 
 as a recognized authority to render the deciding 
 opinion in a difficult case, where there was doubt 
 on the part of the attending physicians. Summoned 
 often as a last resort, his decision was regarded as 
 final. In considering Dr. Gavin's professional work, 
 it seems that the responsibility that such consulta- 
 tions entailed should be dwelt upon. 
 
 These visits in consultation required intense con- 
 centration, in an effort to penetrate ordinary symp- 
 toms which had proved deceiving or misleading 
 to their observers ; and the decision when made, 
 naturally had more bearing on professional reputa- 
 tion than more private work ; and all of this, in ad- 
 dition to the responsibility for the patient's recovery, 
 which appealed most strongly to a nature like 
 Dr. Gavin's. It might seem likely, that the nervous 
 strain of a large amount of such work would de- 
 velop qualities of irritability or sharpness, or per- 
 haps, arrogance and conceit; but this was not true 
 of Dr. Gavin. He never accepted such calls as a 
 personal tribute. He went to them with the modest 
 assurance of a broad experience, and he rendered 
 his decisions simply, with no affectation and no 
 hesitation. The compliment of the work apparently 
 never struck him, and in spite of his deep consider- 
 ation for the patient, his even temperament could 
 not be shaken by any worry after he had given his 
 
 86 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 decision, as carefully considered "in the light of his 
 own best judgment." 
 
 Perhaps a summary of the character of his pro- 
 fessional work, his methods, and the motives be- 
 hind them, can best be given in the precise words 
 of men who knew him personally, men of the same 
 profession who worked with, and under him. I 
 quote, then, first from Dr. Frederick J. Cotton, 
 who served under him at the Boston City Hospital. 
 Says Dr. Cotton : — 
 
 Dr. Gavin was, so to speak, my god-father in sur- 
 gery, and to no one is my debt greater. Many years 
 ago now, I came to the Boston City Hospital a stran- 
 ger, trained elsewhere, in other hospitals here and in 
 Vienna. It was my good fortune to be assigned to Dr. 
 Gavin's service. He cared little for what I had learned 
 of surgical technic and less for my pathological train- 
 ing, though he was very nice about it. His efforts were 
 directed to teach me the common sense of surgery; not 
 largely represented in my equipment, but his real 
 profession. 
 
 Dr. Gavin was never primarily a technician, and 
 when I came under his hand, he was doing but little 
 operating; the purely operative side of surgery never 
 struck him, apparently, as worth much notice; that he 
 regarded as simple professional equipment. He read 
 omnivorously and discriminatingly; it was impossible 
 to "stump" him on the newer developments, but he 
 really cared for them only as they contributed to the 
 things he cared for; the art of getting sick folks well by 
 surgery. 
 
 It is most interesting to note the next portion of 
 
 87 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Dr. Cotton's tribute, because it reiterates almost in 
 the same words a point already emphasized from 
 an entirely different source. 
 
 In the early days X and I were together under 
 
 him. It was, "Dr. X — • — ," or, "Dr. Cotton, will you 
 kindly see to this patient; take full charge of him." 
 This was all very well, but about four days later (may- 
 hap no more than two) X or I would have the 
 
 patient down on the operating floor, when there the 
 chief would appear (from nowhere, which was an inno- 
 cent trick of his) with an expression of child-like inter- 
 est: "Dr. Cotton, I understand you are thinking of 
 operating on that patient, C 24! Very interesting, 
 Doctor! What for?" All of which meant that he had 
 been watching quietly as always, and as closely as we 
 had, and, with his broader vision, was doubtful what 
 was wise. Nearly always the patient went back to the 
 ward, and we had learned something: learned caution, 
 even if we had not gotten at his clear notions of rea- 
 sons for and against. 
 
 With his three decades and more of funded experi- 
 ence, added to native insight, he had developed, not 
 only that judgment which is wisdom, but an almost 
 uncanny perception. Again and again, on the ward 
 visits have I heard, "Doctor, what's wrong with that 
 patient?" in regard to some one about whom we had 
 been academically complacent. And always something 
 was wrong. 
 
 Never have I known a surgeon (and, one place with 
 another, I have known not a few) with his curious gift 
 of prognosis. He knew, as one of a previous generation 
 put it, not only "what disease the patient had, but 
 also what kind of a patient the disease had," with a 
 disconcerting exactness that we, his juniors, never 
 
 88 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 quite understood. Always it was the patient, the 
 human side, that interested him; that called forth his 
 best thought; the result of his ripe experience and ob- 
 servation. It was Dr. Gavin's humanity, in the broad- 
 est and best sense, that was his most characteristic 
 and, to my mind, his finest trait. He did not lack 
 firmness in the least; he could and did fight and fight 
 hard, on rare occasions, and he had that natural dig- 
 nity that needs no safeguard and that got no care from 
 him; but he never quarrelled; never was unapprecia- 
 tive; never unkindly. Even his instant Irish wit, his 
 incomparable mastery of the drollery of phrase, never 
 bit in. 
 
 Because of his deliberate effacement of himself in 
 the service of which he was so vital a part, his value 
 was not fully appreciated, I think, in an era in which 
 the purely technical side of surgery loomed much too 
 large. Just now we are swinging back with the pendu- 
 lum to another period, when surgery is for the patient, 
 not the patient for surgery, and it is a regret with me 
 that the chief is not here to smile his quizzical, lovable 
 smile at the change. 
 
 Dr. L. G. R. Crandon and Dr. D. D. Scannell 
 both worked under, and afterwards with, Dr. Gavin 
 at the City Hospital, in the later period of his life, 
 and their statements are of interest. 
 
 Dr. Gavin [says Dr. Crandon] was of the old type 
 surgeon and gentleman, always efficient, always prac- 
 tical, yet always formal and courteous. The memory 
 of his ward visits is a joy. Accompanied by all his 
 house officers he would speak to the first patient, say- 
 ing to him as no one else could say it, "How are you 
 this morning?" Then he would turn to the old house 
 
 89 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 surgeon, fix him with those pale blue eyes, and ask 
 "How is this man?" This would be repeated, in sub- 
 stance, at every bedside. 
 
 Every other case would suggest some story, which 
 he would tell us to carry the point which he wished to 
 make. Rarely something ordered by Dr. Gavin would 
 not be carried out. A very direct "Why was this not 
 done?" to the house surgeon, accompanied by the 
 blaze of those eyes, was usually enough for one term 
 of service. 
 
 His lines of reasoning in diagnosis he would not run 
 over aloud, after the manner of the present day. He 
 was a man of few words and would pronounce his 
 judgment after a few minutes' thought, tersely and 
 with conviction. He would ask three questions, touch 
 the patient's tongue with his finger, and then give an 
 opinion which, in the light of subsequent development, 
 constantly surprised us by its accuracy. 
 
 Two great lessons I have as a heritage from Dr. 
 Gavin. The first of these he had to give us, in our 
 youth and ignorance, many times. As a matter of 
 tradition, or routine, or, worse still, mere ape-like imi- 
 tation, we would carry out some procedure of examin- 
 ation, or operation, or other treatment; whereupon our 
 chief would turn upon us with a twinkle in his eye, and 
 in a very mild voice would say, "Why did you do 
 that?" Then, if the house officer was of the quality 
 which was worth teaching, the Doctor would say to 
 him with an earnestness not to be forgotten, " Doctor, 
 when I am about to do anything in surgery, I always 
 ask myself, 'Why are you going to do this?' And if I 
 cannot answer that question satisfactorily, I don't do 
 what I was about to do." 
 
 The second lesson came from an episode in the am- 
 phitheatre. A junior surgeon was operating; a grave 
 
 90 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 matter for decision and action with relation to the 
 case in hand suddenly arose. The junior surgeon put 
 the question to many of his seniors seated in the ex- 
 edra. 
 
 Many opinions were expressed, so various in fact, 
 that one surgeon suggested that we should take a vote 
 on the matter, to ascertain what mode of procedure 
 the majority advised, whereupon Dr. Gavin broke in, 
 
 "No, this is not a matter for a vote; Doctor X is 
 
 operating, and he is solely and wholly responsible. He 
 may listen to us, but he must decide for himself." 
 
 This point Dr. Gavin was repeatedly making in 
 some form or other, saying that no one could carry out 
 well a surgical procedure in which he did not himself 
 wholly believe; and he repeatedly told his junior sur- 
 geons never to operate upon the orders of a superior 
 unless the treatment so ordered was in accordance with 
 the judgment of the one about to operate. 
 
 It is a constant profit and satisfaction to have been 
 educated, in part, by this man. He taught and lived in 
 loyalty to the principle which the Celtic race has con- 
 tributed to civilization: "He is a friend of mine and 
 that's enough." 
 
 Dr. Scannell says : — 
 
 It was my privilege to serve as house officer under 
 Dr. Gavin, at the Boston City Hospital, for something 
 over two years; and later, as a subordinate colleague, 
 it was my further privilege to be associated with him 
 for some six or seven years more. Dr. Gavin furnished 
 a lasting and splendid example of what should consti- 
 tute the ideal relationship between doctor and patient. 
 Never impatient, never discourteous, never in too 
 much of a hurry to listen to a proper history, he was a 
 constant and impressive example of kindness. In a 
 
 91 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 hospital organization where the stress and pressure and 
 amount of work tended to transform the resident 
 medical staff into mere automatic machines, forgetful 
 of the humanitarian side of medicine, he served, for 
 those who were prone to forget, as a reminder that 
 medicine, practised only as a science, must fall far 
 short of its highest and truest ideals. 
 
 It was also characteristic of Dr. Gavin that he ab- 
 horred anything that savored of the slightest de- 
 parture from the truth. Merciful and considerate to 
 all, he had no place in his regard for the man who 
 would deliberately lie. I cannot remember that I ever 
 saw Dr. Gavin lose his equanimity and poise except 
 on those occasions, happily few, when he found that 
 some one had told him a downright lie; and then his 
 few words were disturbingly cutting. In his dealings 
 with his patients, he cared not what their religious be- 
 liefs might be, so long as the sick individuals were not 
 disrespectful toward God, nor in the slightest degree 
 sacrilegious. 
 
 He was the constant friend of the house officer, and 
 was never too busy to offer him his best judgment and 
 counsel as to his future. In a similar way he was of 
 great assistance to his colleagues, because of his 
 sound judgment and conservative methods. During 
 the latter years of his life, the actual performance of 
 surgery interested him but little, and he was quite 
 content to allow the work to be done by the younger 
 men. During these years, he seemed to take a greater 
 interest than ever in the care of patients in the wards, 
 after operations had been performed. I am certain 
 that no house officer on Dr. Gavin's service will ever for- 
 get him for his splendid example of courtesy, patience, 
 and all those qualities which go to make up a true 
 "gentleman of the old school." 
 
 92 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 So, to summarize Dr. Gavin's professional career, 
 there is the testimony of his colleagues and asso- 
 ciates as to his skill and ability in all branches of 
 his profession ; as a surgeon, a physician, a diag- 
 nostician ; as to his broadness and many-sidedness 
 in his work, as to his experience and knowledge, 
 and his preparation and thoroughness. All those 
 who were brought in contact with him profes- 
 sionally acknowledge his right to be called eminent 
 in his calling. Honored alike by his profession and 
 the public, he earned the place that he made and 
 continued to hold. 
 
 But there was much more than his skill and repu- 
 tation. Dr. Gavin's career really began only when 
 he had mastered the equipment, so to speak, and 
 the experience of his calling. When he was able 
 to use this knowledge, without hesitation or effort, 
 merely as a means, not as an end, then he reached 
 his true work, the life he was so wonderfully fitted 
 for, — the art, as Dr. Cotton says, of "getting sick 
 folk well." Here was the true fulfillment of his 
 life's work. Not medicine first, but true feeling, 
 and encouragement and sympathy for the patient; 
 and then medicine, and the skill of the physician. 
 He had no wish for professional fame as a brilliant 
 surgeon or as a renowned consultant. He never 
 considered himself at all in this regard, for all his 
 efforts were directed — and his skill revealed itself 
 
 93 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 only in those efforts — to doing what good he 
 could for those who suffered. Surely such is the 
 life of an ideal physician, a true realization of that 
 wonderful calling, "to heal the sick." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 
 HOME, RECREATIONS, LIBRARY 
 
 Dr. GAVIN was so busily engaged in the prac- 
 tice of his profession that he had, of necessity, lit- 
 tle time to spare for other interests. Yet in his 
 position it was inevitable that he should be urged 
 from time to time to serve upon this or that direc- 
 torate, or board of trustees ; and occasionally, when 
 he felt that his acceptance might be of some real 
 benefit, he drew still further upon his already 
 diminished leisure, and cheerfully added another 
 care to those which he already had shouldered. 
 Thus, as has been previously noted, he not only 
 served as a trustee of the Boston City Hospital 
 from 1879 to 1885, but in addition, when the Mat- 
 tapan Deposit and Trust Company was organized 
 in 1892, he was chosen as one of its directors, and 
 for over twenty years remained upon the board, 
 always displaying an active and intelligent in- 
 terest in the transaction of the company's affairs. 
 In the words of Ezra H. Baker, the president of 
 the company : — 
 
 " His constant attendance at the meetings, his ad- 
 95 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 vice always kindly given, his unfailing courtesy and 
 his devoted loyalty to the company and its officers 
 made him a most valuable director. His long years 
 of service have left us only the happiest and the 
 sweetest memories, and our companionship with him 
 must have influenced us all for the better. It is of no 
 little benefit to have sat for over twenty years by the 
 side of one who, while showing every consideration 
 for the opinions of others, was conspicuous for his 
 loyalty to his profession, his country, his friends and 
 his faith." 
 
 Dr. Gavin was also elected, in May, 1872, a trus- 
 tee of the Union Institution for Savings in Boston, 
 and held this office for forty-three years, until his 
 death, displaying again his ability and earnestness 
 in looking after the duties he had undertaken to 
 perform. 
 
 A point of interest with regard to Dr. Gavin 
 was his non-participation in public life. He ab- 
 horred notoriety. He lived for his profession and 
 for his family, and he had no desire to strive for 
 honors, either in the business or in the political 
 world. Yet this very reticence and the knowledge 
 on the part of the Doctor's fellow citizens that he 
 did not desire anything, made his influence all the 
 greater. His opinion was looked for and valued 
 in his city, and his name was sought on many 
 committees. His suggestions and recommenda- 
 tions on the few occasions when he made them, 
 were listened to with a respect and an attention 
 
 96 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 never vouchsafed to those who were known to be 
 working merely for their own selfish ends. 
 
 In regard to social life, Dr. Gavin, as has been 
 said, could not be regarded in the light of what is 
 termed "a club man." This, however, was not 
 because of anything misanthropic in his make-up, 
 for he was the most friendly and sociable of men ; 
 but was due solely to the fact that as a busy phy- 
 sician in his profession, and as a man who spent 
 what leisure he possessed in the enjoyment of an 
 ideally happy family life, he had little time for other 
 interests. With the Doctor's wide circle of ac- 
 quaintance, however, it was inevitable that he 
 should be asked to join various clubs, even if he 
 had time to visit them but seldom; and so for many 
 years he was a member of the Boston Athletic 
 Association, and a member of the Papyrus Club, 
 from those golden days when upon its rolls were 
 the names of John Boyle O'Reilly, James Jeffrey 
 Roche, Robert Grant, George Parsons Lathrop, 
 Thomas Russell Sullivan, Francis A. Harris, George 
 F. Babbitt, Robert Dwyer Joyce, Thomas Went- 
 worth Higginson, John T. Trowbridge, Martin 
 Millmore, and many others well known to all lov- 
 ers of literature and art. These men were friends 
 — most of them intimate friends — of Dr. Gavin, 
 and many were the brilliant evenings spent at 
 club dinners in those early days, after Francis H. 
 
 97 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Underwood and Dr. Joyce proposed Dr. Gavin's 
 name for membership. 
 
 In 1888, Dr. Gavin purchased the house at 546 
 Broadway, South Boston, which he occupied for 
 the remainder of his life. Here, perhaps, the hap- 
 piest years of all his life were spent, for here his 
 family grew up around him. Assured of a large 
 practice, he was here fully able to gratify his tastes 
 and inclinations for the beautiful and the refined 
 in his surroundings. 
 
 Home always meant much to Dr. Gavin. The 
 broadness of his interests entered here as well, 
 and the objects with which he surrounded himself 
 were the results of his personal tastes and selec- 
 tion. The ornaments, pictures, clocks, bronzes, 
 had all been purchased by him with thoughtful 
 care; and to return in the evening after a long 
 day's work and find himself surrounded by all 
 these things, his own selections, meant much more 
 to him than it could possibly have meant to other 
 men, whose interests were elsewhere, and whose 
 tastes were not capable of such an appreciation. 
 But the inmates of his home, his family, meant 
 most of all to him, for he truly loved his family, 
 and loved to be with them. 
 
 So it was, that 546 Broadway came to mean all 
 that it did to Dr. Gavin. Here his already large 
 library was still further increased, and received a 
 
 98 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 place worthy of its value. His taste in art could 
 here be satisfied, and the paintings and engrav- 
 ings which he had collected with so much care 
 and thought, could here hang as he wished to see 
 them. There was room for his collection of furni- 
 ture and souvenirs, none of any great intrinsic 
 value in themselves, but all a reflection of his own 
 distinctive, unique, but perfect taste, which charac- 
 terized everything he bought. It was here that he 
 enjoyed so many happy hours in his library. With 
 his cigar, so characteristic of him in his home life, 
 surrounded by his books and his collections, he 
 could at last enjoy some of the material comforts 
 that had come to him with all the good that he had 
 done for others. 
 
 But also Dr. Gavin loved his home because it 
 gave him a fitting place in which to receive and 
 entertain his friends, and the friends of his family. 
 It was always a pleasure to him to have guests 
 beneath his roof, and he received them with the 
 courtly and hospitable bearing of the true gentle- 
 man. Persons without number who were fortunate 
 enough in the past to have broken bread with Dr. 
 Gavin speak with the utmost enthusiasm of the 
 delightfully hospitable tone of those occasions. "It 
 was a most hospitable home, and Dr. Gavin was 
 an ideal host," says Miss Conway. 
 
 It was here at his own board that Dr. Gavin 
 99 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 displayed more freely than anywhere else his really 
 unusual powers as a conversationalist. The sub- 
 ject, to be sure, had to be to his liking ; he had 
 small relish for the trivialities of gossip ; but let 
 the talk turn upon books, or music, or history, or 
 upon the world's great wars, or upon any genuine 
 movement of interest, and the doctor would dis- 
 course with knowledge and wisdom and charm, 
 drawing upon the storehouse of a well-stocked and 
 retentive memory to furnish an illustration, or to 
 prove an argument. His manner of conversation 
 was always frank and unaffected, and few subjects 
 of importance could be discussed with which he 
 did not show a close acquaintance. Possessed of a 
 deep fund of humor, and a keen but kindly wit, he 
 was able to derive much enjoyment from the hu- 
 morous side of existence, and when he chose, he 
 could enliven his conversation with a story or an- 
 ecdote, in which the humor would be suggested 
 with incomparable delicacy. 
 
 The broad scope of Dr. Gavin's conversation is 
 illustrated by Mrs. P. A. Collins, widow of the late 
 Mayor of Boston, Patrick A. Collins, with whom, 
 and with whose family Dr. Gavin was for many 
 years on terms of friendly intimacy. She says : — 
 
 Honored by his associates, in a profession to which 
 he himself gave honor, few outside it can add to his 
 high record of achievement as a doctor of medicine. 
 
 ioo 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 It is the man, the friend, who claims us most of all, 
 as we knew him since the early seventies; the kindly, 
 cheerful, cultured gentleman whose broad and catholic 
 mind embraced an intimate and comprehensive knowl- 
 edge of the fine arts. Indeed it was always a source of 
 wonder to us, how he could, in a life so crowded with 
 professional achievements, find time to keep pace with 
 all that was best in literature, music, and art. Dr. 
 Gavin at home and abroad was the center of a circle 
 of congenial friends who will forever hold his memory 
 in affectionate regard. 
 
 Both Doctor and Mrs. Gavin were widely known 
 for their hospitality, and for the pleasure which 
 they felt in entertaining friends. Visiting at their 
 house was sure to be a pleasure, and here might be 
 met most interesting people, for Dr. Gavin's inter- 
 ests were wide, and his friends and acquaintances 
 were scattered over the globe. Professional men, 
 men of business, musicians, artists, writers, all 
 were to be found there at times, and, as Miss 
 Conway adds, " He had many friends among the 
 bishops and priests throughout the country. One 
 might meet at his house a missionary bishop from 
 the far East or the Philippines, or the Metropolitan 
 of an American see." 
 
 Among some of Dr. Gavin's more intimate 
 friends were John Boyle O'Reilly, Monsignor Wm. 
 Byrne, D. D., Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan, Rev. 
 J. J. McNulty, Hon. P. A. Collins, Thomas J. Gar- 
 gan, "Tom" Riley, Michael Anagnos, of the Per- 
 
 101 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 kins Institution for the Blind, who for years was a 
 near neighbor, and many others ; true friends, all 
 of them, whose companionship Dr. Gavin loved. 
 
 The doctor greatly enjoyed his several trips to 
 Europe. After he commenced practice in 1867, he 
 made one short and hurried visit to his old home 
 in 1870; and after that it was not until 1883 that 
 he was able to take the time to visit the Continent. 
 In that year he enjoyed a hurried but comprehen- 
 sive trip with Mrs. Gavin, through most of the im- 
 portant countries of Europe, and great indeed was 
 his delight to see actually, for the first time, many 
 of the battlefields of history, and the treasures of 
 art with which he was already so familiar through 
 his library. Not until 1902 could he again steal three 
 months from the incessant demands of his work ; 
 and this time, he was able to show all of his family 
 some of the same sights he had seen almost twenty 
 years before. 
 
 With regard to recreation, the Doctor's views 
 were again characteristic. He worked hard him- 
 self, yet he realized that both body and mind, to 
 be at their best, must be constantly relaxed, re- 
 plenished, and refreshed. He himself gained relax- 
 ation chiefly from his books, to be soon mentioned, 
 but he was, at the same time, a lover of out-of- 
 doors, of nature, and of wholesome sport. In his 
 youth he liked to sail and row, to swim and dive. 
 
 102 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 He was extremely fond of riding during - his early 
 practice, and through all his active life, enjoyed 
 driving himself, and his horse was always a pleas- 
 ure to him. Handball was a favorite pastime with 
 him ; he played it in his youth, and in later life 
 with his children and his friends, and was always 
 a dangerous competitor, since he was equally skill- 
 ful with his right hand and with his left. He was, 
 in fact, naturally adapted to sports or games, where 
 the same qualities necessary for success in surgery 
 are required, namely, a cool head, a steady hand, 
 and ability to study a subject and learn the proper 
 mode in which to master it as well as the great 
 faculty of never becoming disheartened or con- 
 fused, but of keeping one's self in constant readi- 
 ness to meet a difficult situation with courage and 
 confidence. He was also a good bowler and played 
 a fair game of billiards. Yet he took none of these 
 amusements seriously ; his higher enthusiasms he 
 reserved for Nature. Here, the wonder and the 
 beauty of the world called forth all the reverence 
 of the capacity for admiration in the Doctor's heart. 
 He loved the glory of the sunset, the mystery of 
 the dawn, the great clouds in the heavens, the im- 
 mensity of the constellations, the delicate verdure 
 of field and forest, the magnificent pageant of the 
 changing year. Tree and flower, bird and beast, 
 he knew them all by name, and delighted to wit- 
 
 103 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 ness God's handiwork, and to see each separate 
 portion of the universe uniting to complete the 
 vast and well-ordered whole. 
 
 So it was, that, after his illness in 1886, Dr. 
 Gavin gladly welcomed his friend Dr. Whittier's 
 suggestion of a vacation, and began those fishing 
 and hunting trips in which he took so much de- 
 light and enjoyment and which brought him so 
 many pleasant companionships and happy memo- 
 ries. 
 
 The first trip was made in the spring of 1887, 
 when Father McNulty, Father Wilson, "Dan" 
 Barry, and Dr. Gavin went to Lake Mooselookma- 
 guntic. At that time the interior of Maine was 
 sparsely settled and everything was more primi- 
 tive than it is at the present day. The party left 
 Boston on a Monday morning, arriving at the 
 Elmwood Hotel at Phillips in the evening ; and 
 after spending the night there, went on the next 
 morning by stage, and reached Rangeley about 
 eleven o'clock in the forenoon. After lunch they 
 crossed the lake by steamer, walked in through the 
 woods, a rough road in those days, and about four 
 o'clock in the afternoon reached Lake Mooselook- 
 maguntic, their final destination. Here they estab- 
 lished headquarters and they made daily fishing 
 trips in various directions. A favorite route of Dr. 
 Gavin's from this camp was to start in the morn- 
 
 104 
 
IN CAMP AT "THE BIRCHES' 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 ing, equipped with luncheon, and fish leisurely- 
 down to Bemis, where he would spend the night 
 and on the following day fish back over the same 
 ground, arriving at the camp in the evening. 
 
 The initial trip, in 1887, was so successful and 
 enjoyable that it was supplemented, that fall, by a 
 hunting trip to Phillips, Maine, and from then on, 
 for nearly twenty years, these outings became a 
 regular semi-annual event in Dr. Gavin's life and 
 proved of the utmost benefit to him. Many were 
 the camps the travelers visited ; even if the fishing 
 or hunting had proved excellent the year before, 
 their spirit of exploration led them continually to 
 try new fields, and few were the out-of-the-way 
 corners of Maine where hunting or fishing was 
 good, that they did not know. Some of the mem- 
 bers of the party were not able to go every year, 
 but the nucleus comprised Dr. Gavin, Father Mc- 
 Nulty, and " Dan " Barry, none of whom missed a 
 semi-annual trip until the sickness and death of 
 Father McNulty ended them for all time. 
 
 Once embarked upon the train, from the North 
 Station, Dr. Gavin seemed absolutely to leave all 
 care and responsibility behind him and enjoyed 
 himself as though a boy again. Indeed, the pre- 
 vailing atmosphere of those trips was one of mirth 
 and genial jollity. Occasionally, however, an event 
 of a more serious nature would intervene ; as when, 
 
 105 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 on a camping expedition, Dr. Gavin was once 
 aroused at midnight to cross the lake, and go with 
 such remedies as he had at hand to the assist- 
 ance of a fellow sportsman who had been seized 
 with a sudden and dangerous illness. The vigil 
 lasted all night, and it was not until after sunrise 
 that Dr. Gavin returned, thoroughly wearied but 
 happy in the knowledge that he had saved his fel- 
 low camper's life. Another incident is told of the 
 Doctor's being hurriedly summoned to cross the 
 lake again upon a surgical case. No surgeon's 
 knife was available but the operation, performed 
 with an ordinary camp knife, proved entirely suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The letters from Dr. Gavin written on these trips 
 showed an active interest in sport, and here again 
 his natural aptitude stood by him, for his keen eye 
 and cool hand made him an excellent, almost a 
 "dead sure" shot; but they revealed even more 
 his love for Nature, and his delight to be out in 
 her wilds. Here it was that everything interested 
 him: the growing things of every description, the 
 names of almost all of which he knew, the birds, 
 the smaller animals that might appear near the 
 camp, even the habits of the fish themselves ; so 
 that, although started at first by chance upon these 
 trips, he found them, once undertaken, eminently 
 suited to his nature and tastes. 
 
 106 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Throughout the whole of Dr. Gavin's life he had 
 an intensely strong love for music. In his bachelor 
 days he played much upon the piano, and even 
 for a while tried the violin, although these accom- 
 plishments slipped away from him under the pres- 
 sure of later work. The intense eagerness to hear 
 opera which he displayed in those early days con- 
 tinued through his later life, and many were the 
 enjoyable evenings at his house when music was 
 played for music's sake alone. 
 
 Together with Dr. Gavin's love of music should 
 be noted his fondness for flowers. As early as his 
 twentieth year there is evidence of an established 
 bent in this direction, which continued throughout 
 his life ; and when he first moved to his new house 
 at 99 Broadway, he commenced to improve his 
 garden in the rear of the house. His letters on the 
 growth and success of his enterprise are both in- 
 teresting and illuminating in the light which they 
 throw upon his tastes and inclinations ; and when 
 he moved to 546 Broadway, his garden there was 
 again a pleasure to him. A love of flowers such as 
 his was surely in perfect harmony with his life. 
 
 There remains finally to be considered, under 
 the head of recreation, what was undoubtedly, out- 
 side of his family and his profession, the strongest 
 interest in Dr. Gavin's life, namely, his library. It 
 was a large one, but was not ordered by the foot 
 
 107 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 or yard to harmonize with the color-scheme of the 
 room, like the libraries of which Mr. MacGregor 
 Jenkins tells; every book in it was the Doctor's 
 personal selection, and had been read, or partially 
 read at least, by him. He knew his books as he 
 knew his intimate friends ; he knew the place each 
 occupied on his shelves ; he could turn to chapter 
 or page to verify a quotation, or to find a favorite 
 passage. Great was his contentment, when in the 
 evenings he could sit in his library, always with 
 his companionable cigar, and read for several 
 hours. It was invariably his custom to have sev- 
 eral books to finish at the same time. He never 
 read through one until it was finished, but would 
 begin a new one while several others were yet un- 
 read, and so carry them along together, perhaps 
 reading from one during a few minutes snatched 
 at the end of a busy morning, from another for 
 half an hour in the late afternoon, and probably 
 finishing a third in the evening. The result was, 
 that the space around his favorite chair was al- 
 ways piled high with books : those in process of 
 being read, those about to be read, and those just 
 finished; while on the chair itself would generally 
 lie some of the many magazines to which the Doc- 
 tor was a subscriber, and which helped to keep up 
 his knowledge of the march of the world's events. 
 His range of reading was, of course, extremely 
 108 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 wide. To him reading was the greatest of pleas- 
 ures. He read though, not only for his enjoyment, 
 but to broaden his mind, to increase his knowl- 
 edge of events, places, and things, to render his 
 mind even more active, to be better able to cope 
 with the vexing problems of daily life, to further 
 his knowledge of all that was enjoyable, good, and 
 useful in life. 
 
 His fondness for literature pertaining to Ireland 
 has already been mentioned, and his collection of 
 books on Ireland was one of the most complete 
 that could be found ; but it was not alone the story 
 of his native land that attracted him ; and he was 
 an eager student of all history, both ancient and 
 modern. Upon his shelves were Gibbon and Mot- 
 ley, Green and Guizot, Prescott and Parkman, 
 Fiske and Carlyle. With regard to American his- 
 tory he centralized his attention upon the conflict 
 between the North and the South, in which he him- 
 self had borne a part. Nor was there anything 
 partisan in his attitude ; he appreciated the sin- 
 cerity and the ability of the Confederate leaders, 
 and read and studied the careers, not only of Grant 
 and Sherman and Sheridan, but also of Longstreet 
 and Jackson, of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. 
 Thus he was thoroughly well informed with regard 
 to the history of those times. In the words of Mr. 
 James E. Cotter, " I know of no man who could de- 
 
 109 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 scribe more vividly and more interestingly events 
 which transpired during the Civil War. He was 
 apparently familiar with every standard work writ- 
 ten on that subject, and had a remarkable faculty 
 of portraying the principal characteristics of nearly 
 all of the Union commanders." 
 
 Biography and autobiography were also most 
 interesting to Dr. Gavin. He collected the works 
 of soldiers, statesmen, artists, scientists, saints, and 
 travelers ; Plutarch's Lives, the diaries of Pepys 
 and Evelyn, Bos well's Johnson, Chesterfield's Let- 
 ters, — all of these he enjoyed; while for Napo- 
 leon's genius in particular, he had the greatest 
 admiration. He possessed many volumes dealing 
 with the famous Corsican's career, and it was char- 
 acteristic of his thoroughness and openminded- 
 ness, that on one of his trips to Europe he took 
 pains to visit the field of Waterloo twice, the first 
 time with an English guide, the second with a 
 French one. 
 
 Dr. Gavin read his books to remember. He 
 pondered over the information he gained, and he 
 appreciated it. It was stored away in his retentive 
 memory, to be used in earning his reputation as a 
 conversationalist, or for the broadening and deep- 
 ening of the powers of his judgment. It is almost 
 impossible to choose and select, in an attempt to 
 give an idea of his taste in reading. He was truly 
 
 no 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 omnivorous, to use the term for his general read- 
 ing which Dr. Cotton has applied to his profes- 
 sional reading, with the single qualification that 
 he cared not at all for literary "trash" and had no 
 curiosity to read so-called "popular" books. His 
 taste was always for works worth while, either in 
 subject-matter or in style, and his paramount de- 
 sire was to acquaint himself, in Arnold's phrase, 
 with " the best that is known and thought in the 
 world." 
 
 Practically every department of human art and 
 knowledge was represented in his library : Religion, 
 Science, Travel, Music, Architecture, Art, History, 
 Fiction, Poetry, Literary History, and Criticism. 
 The Doctor had an interest in all these subjects. 
 Addison, Bacon, De Quincey, Hunt, Ruskin, Haz- 
 litt, Macaulay, Lamb, and Holmes, were among his 
 essayists : Lytton, George Eliot, Balzac, Hugo, De 
 Maupassant, Thackeray, Irving, Dickens, Cooper, 
 Goldsmith, Poe, Lever, Dumas, and Hawthorne 
 among the novelists. Shakespeare stood supreme 
 in his regard among the poets, but there were as 
 well, the works of Milton, Pope, Byron, Burns, 
 Coleridge, Chaucer, Moore, Wordsworth, Tenny- 
 son, Whittier, Dryden, Holmes, Goethe, Dante, 
 Lowell, Scott, Virgil, and Longfellow. 
 
 In addition, however, to the works of the great 
 authors, which every booklover admires, and en- 
 
 iii 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 deavors to include in his collection, there were 
 hundreds of other books, which, gathered into Dr. 
 Gavin's library, were a visual evidence of the 
 broadness of his tastes and interests. Books by 
 friends like Richard Malcolm Johnson, or Jane 
 Barlow, or Mary Elizabeth Blake, or John Boyle 
 O'Reilly, or by the children of the friends in whom 
 he took a great interest, as Myra Kelly or Hal 
 Godfrey. Books on modern inventions and sciences 
 in which it might hardly be supposed the Doctor 
 would have been interested, but all of which he had 
 read. Joel Chandler Harris's " Uncle Remus" stor- 
 ies, the Jungle Books of Kipling, and the books of 
 Ernest Thompson Seton, which the Doctor loved 
 to read to his children; and he himself loved 
 stories of animals, even simple stories, when well- 
 written, of dogs, or birds, or bears, and hunting; 
 and very many were his books on exploration and 
 adventure. Tales of the Maine woods, and the 
 wilds of the Canadian Northwest; Dr. Fridtjof 
 Nansen's Farthest North, and Du Chaillu's Wild 
 Life under the Equator ; Two Years Before the Mast, 
 Stanley's and Livingston's works, and books of 
 cruises and travel to all parts of the world, — all 
 these representing Dr. Gavin's love of this par- 
 ticular branch of reading. There were books of 
 travel in civilized lands, on the scenery of Switzer- 
 land and Norway, Scenes in Holland, The Great 
 
 112 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Cathedrals of Europe, and The West from a Car 
 Window. Books for his children were there in pro- 
 fusion : the fairy stories of Hans Christian Andersen, 
 and Grimm, and Andrew Lang ; the books of Louisa 
 M. Alcott and Bret Harte, Peter Parley's and Oliver 
 Optic's Annuals; and then the books of G. A. 
 Henty and Thomas W. Knox, for them to read a 
 little later on. There were books on art and music ; 
 The Music of the Modern World, besides bound 
 copies of Le Monde Illustre', to which Paris journal 
 he had been a subscriber for years, the French 
 poets, books on military tactics, The North Ameri- 
 can Indian, The Wealth of Nations, The American 
 Electoral System, The Confessions of St. Augustine, 
 mythology, memoirs, archaeology, and books on 
 special periods of history. Famous Sayings, the 
 Arabian Nights, and books of special interest on 
 historical places. A select few of the more modern 
 novels, as Quo Vadis, and David Harum, which 
 latter the Doctor really enjoyed; Kipling's Plain 
 Tales and some of Winston Churchill's books. Very 
 old copies of Horace and Cicero and Caesar, picked 
 up by Dr. Gavin during the time of his study in Paris, 
 stood beside modern editions of Homer, and the 
 Greek dramatists. Marion Crawford's works, and 
 the books of Mrs. Hugh Frazer, both of which 
 writers Dr. Gavin liked ; the biography of Cardinal 
 Vaughan, and the life of Disraeli; the works of 
 
 113 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Canon Sheehan, and some of the more recent books 
 of Robert Hugh Benson and Asycough. A won- 
 derful collection, covering a vast variety of sub- 
 jects, and ranging from the earliest literature to 
 the good works of the present day. 
 
 The Doctor's collection of medical works was 
 quite as complete and as thorough as his general 
 library. All the standard works were there, but 
 they again only formed a small part of the whole. 
 With the same discriminating taste, he added to 
 his medical library a variety of books covering the 
 greatest possible field, and of the greatest possible 
 interest. 
 
 And thus Dr. Gavin's library was formed, — a 
 tribute to the depth and bigness of his life. He 
 could well indeed have borrowed Lowell's phrase, 
 and have said of himself, "I am a bookman." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 HIS CHARACTER 
 
 Dr. Gavin possessed a wonderful personality. 
 It revealed primarily his sincerity and his love of 
 truth. He was sincere with his Creator, sincere 
 with himself, and sincere with every one with whom 
 he was brought in contact. This sincerity was ex- 
 traordinary in its absolute freedom from any ulte- 
 rior motives. 
 
 A crystal mind, a shining soul, an integral being, a 
 clear-cut personality [writes a friend]. He was always 
 what he seemed to be. If we had a peerage, that ought 
 to be the test, and how few peers we should have ! He 
 had a clear perception of the existence and the omni- 
 presence of God, and from this resulted his sincerity, 
 his love of reality, and of truth. He had a clear native 
 insight into existence, and was conscious that he was 
 a part of it; this explains his self-poise, his dignity, his 
 balanced judgment and also the persistence of those 
 traits during the last stern years, when as a profound 
 physician he must have realized the finger of God, but 
 beyond, saw God himself. 
 
 This fundamental sincerity of Dr. Gavin's nature 
 led to his love of God, and so of all God's works ; 
 his fellow man, nature, the beautiful. This love of 
 his Creator was ever present throughout his life, 
 
 ii5 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 though never thrusting itself forward, sometimes 
 hardly to be detected, but always there, underlying 
 his nature, his life, his work. Clearly and logically 
 the conclusion followed — his love for all God's 
 creation, of which examples and evidences have 
 been given ; his enjoyment of true friends, his efforts 
 to aid his patients, to which medicine and all its 
 branches were merely an end, his love of the open, 
 the woods, flowers, music, art ; all these things were 
 good, were essentially sincere, and Dr. Gavin loved 
 them. 
 
 In a nature so sincere, and filled with apprecia- 
 tion of the true, the beautiful, and the good, there 
 are necessarily most estimable qualities. The first of 
 these was devotion. Dr. Gavin was fundamentally 
 religious, but his religion was never narrow. His 
 life itself was a religion, the religion of a man sin- 
 cere in his convictions, energetic, persevering in 
 the good that he did, genuinely inspiring in the 
 example he furnished to others. On rare occasions, 
 when the need was apparent and the spirit willing, 
 Dr. Gavin, it was said, could put such real relig- 
 ious fervor into a few words at the bedside of a 
 dying patient, that no such call could go unheeded. 
 His daily life exemplified his Church's teachings 
 in love, charity, faith, and hope, and kindness to 
 all. His pastor for twenty-five years, Reverend 
 Robert J. Johnson, sums up his opinion of Dr. 
 
 116 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Gavin by saying, " He was an ideal parishioner, 
 an ideal Catholic, and an ideal. man." 
 
 Here and there throughout these pages atten- 
 tion has been drawn to the different ways in which 
 his natural kindness was manifested. It was shown 
 not only in Dr. Gavin's private life but in his pro- 
 fessional work as well. Dr. E. S. Boland says of 
 him: — 
 
 He was singularly helpful to the younger men and 
 they were quick to appreciate his kindliness and gladly 
 availed themselves of his counsel. He had himself been 
 through the experiences of the general practitioner, 
 from the humble beginnings to the final establishment 
 of a large and successful practice, so that he knew just 
 what problems the younger men were facing ; and as an 
 older brother might aid a younger he was always ready 
 with wise and sound advice to assist those who were 
 just beginning their professional careers. 
 
 This quality is testified to by many others of the 
 older colleagues of Dr. Gavin ; and, of course, most 
 gratefully by the younger men who directly bene- 
 fited through it in their professional lives. To his 
 patients and their welfare Dr. Gavin showed the 
 most intense loyalty. The question of recompense 
 was the last to be thought of by him, and the poor 
 man and the rich man ranked alike in his eyes. If 
 anything, the poor man received even more prompt 
 attention, for he might not have had the temporary 
 relief that his more fortunate brother could pay 
 
 117 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 for. Countless examples of deeds done by him in 
 this direction might be given, — of medicines fur- 
 nished, of nurses who sometimes mysteriously ap- 
 peared, of bills forgotten; but such things may 
 better be left to the imagination, or to the memory 
 of those who knew Dr. Gavin, rather than spoken 
 of here. He would rather have it so. " He joyfully 
 served the poor," is the way Miss Katherine E. 
 Conway fittingly expresses her thought of this 
 phase of his character ; and this phrase is a sum- 
 mary, an epitome of innumerable kindly words and 
 deeds extending from first to last, over the whole 
 half-century of Dr. Gavin's professional career. 
 
 His thoughtfulness might well be classed with 
 his kindliness. " Thoughtful of those about him," 
 is a phrase that might be used to designate the 
 true gentleman the world over, and it might well 
 be applied to Dr. Gavin. He was thoughtful al- 
 ways of the little things, the finer points of deli- 
 cacy, forgotten or overlooked by most men. For in- 
 stance, after his return from his European studies, 
 he arranged an interchange of correspondence 
 and photographs between the Royal College of 
 Surgeons and the Surgeon-General of the United 
 States Army, which, from letters on both sides, 
 proved to be most interesting and profitable to both 
 participants. In like manner he introduced a cor- 
 respondence between his American and European 
 
 118 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 professors, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and his 
 friends at Dublin, which, according to their letters, 
 was mutually most welcome. These thoughts of 
 the pleasure of others, of their welfare, were most 
 characteristic of him. 
 
 Courtesy was a part of Dr. Gavin's nature, cour- 
 tesy such as is rarely shown to-day, — a true, nat- 
 ural, instinctive, old-world courtesy. " His 'You're 
 welcome, sir,' will stay in my heart, forever, sweet 
 as the odor of old rose," writes a friend of his later 
 years. " His ' Good morning, and how are you to- 
 day?' was justly famous; the most dolorous and 
 discouraged patient felt its magnetic sympathy, 
 and was aroused to cheerfulness under its kindly 
 influence," writes Miss Fairbanks, Matron of the 
 Convalescent Home, and for many years associated 
 with Dr. Gavin at the City Hospital. In his home, 
 and in his profession, his genial courtesy was an 
 inborn part of his nature. 
 
 It is necessary to mention also Dr. Gavin's mod- 
 esty, his utter intolerance of any self-promotion 
 purely for personal ends. There was, however, no 
 false modesty, no deprecating praise that was 
 justly due, but no suggestion of any attempt to 
 seek mere fame or notoriety. Together with this 
 characteristic of modesty may be mentioned the 
 purity and probity of his life, an example and an 
 inspiration to those about him. 
 
 119 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 And then there was the keen insight and clear 
 perception which he displayed both in private and 
 professional life. His absolute sincerity with him- 
 self and all things, together with his alertness, 
 gave him an unclouded vision, undimmed by any 
 deflecting influence. So from this character of 
 pure sincerity, there follows the devotion, the 
 kindliness and courtesy, the modesty and purity, 
 and the clearness of vision that produced the man 
 who won and kept the affection of all who knew 
 him. 
 
 It is needless to speak of his friendships, except 
 to say that they were such as a man of his nature 
 would naturally make, and make to hold. They 
 were made with natures which felt and acted as 
 his did, and made with that clear insight which 
 was not mistaken, so that they lasted until death. 
 Yet though his acquaintances were legion, as is 
 often true of the rarest natures, his intimates were 
 few. 
 
 The qualities of Dr. Gavin's character so far 
 enumerated were those which won for him the 
 affection of all who knew him; but balancing 
 these qualities were still others which explained 
 the esteem and respect in which he was held by 
 all. 
 
 One of these was his fairness, — to be expected 
 from a man of his sincerity, — which gave him his 
 
 120 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 true sense of justice and the charitableness of his 
 judgment. Dr. W. A. Dunn says : — 
 
 He was so humane and charitable that he was always 
 willing to make allowances for the faults or mistakes of 
 others when these were accidental, and was always 
 ready to "give a man the benefit of the doubt." Yet 
 he was also so just a man that the intentional wrong- 
 doer could not hope for toleration at his hands. He 
 was essentially just and possessed in a marked degree 
 the true judicial temperament. His judgment on men 
 and things was never hasty, never prejudiced and 
 tempered with the great quality of common sense 
 and ability to survey a subject from all sides in turn, 
 and so to render an intelligent opinion. 
 
 In administering the affairs of the City Hospital 
 [said a colleague] it was inevitable that there should be 
 at times important questions of policy to be debated 
 and decided upon. Sometimes there were marked differ- 
 ences of opinion among those responsible for the action 
 taken ; but Dr. Gavin was one man who was always to 
 be depended upon and who was always to be found 
 instinctively, as it were, both speaking and acting in 
 favor of what was just and sensible and right. 
 
 Another friend writes : " I recall so well his calm, 
 searching eye and his unfailing judgment on any 
 topic, his sharp criticism of all that was wrong." 
 
 This quality of justice brought out his intense 
 hatred and repugnance to all lies, to all things false 
 and mean, and revealed his courage, strength and 
 independence, in support of all that he thought 
 right, — qualities which he displayed in early 
 childhood and which always remained a vital part 
 
 121 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 of his nature. By one casually meeting him, it 
 might not be thought that his kindly, courteous 
 exterior concealed the strength he possessed, the 
 inflexible will and purpose concerning an aim or 
 an ideal. Dr. D. F. Lincoln, an acute observer of 
 human nature, however, struck the keynote of the 
 Doctor's character when he perceived, as he says, 
 fifty years ago, that in Dr. Gavin's case " gentle- 
 ness and sweetness did not mean weakness." 
 
 This same idea couched in different terms has 
 been expressed by another colleague : 
 
 Occasionally men of a somewhat domineering nature 
 who chanced to be brought in contact with Dr. Gavin 
 would be misled by his apparent mildness and amia- 
 bility, and would attempt, in the vernacular, rather to 
 tread upon the Doctor's toes. Yet it is of great interest 
 to observe that no man, even the very ablest and most 
 enterprising, was ever known to try this experiment a 
 second time. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to observe that Dr. Ga- 
 vin's strength of character should in no way be con- 
 founded with stubbornness. It sprang, rather, from 
 the fact that the Doctor firmly believed in certain 
 broad standards of speech and conduct, to which 
 he conformed and to which he expected others to 
 conform as well. Not that these standards had 
 about them anything which savored of his own in- 
 dividual ideas. They were simply the standards 
 recognized, at least in theory, throughout the length 
 
 122 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 and breadth of the civilized world ; standards of 
 purity and decency, of honesty and energy, of char- 
 acter and kindliness ; standards in which most pro- 
 fess to believe, but which many, either through weak- 
 ness or carelessness or downright wickedness, fail 
 utterly to attain. The following quotation from one 
 of Dr. Gavin's letters to an intimate friend outside 
 of Boston, is an example of his strength of char- 
 acter. 
 
 I told you in my last letter of the meeting to take 
 place at City Hall to-day regarding a change in the 
 laws concerning certain matters of the City Hospital. 
 I was present and the newspapers have report of the 
 proceedings. ... I was sorry to be opposed to all the 
 doctors there, but I felt my convictions were strong 
 and acted according to my best judgment. . . . When 
 principle is at stake, I believe in doing one's duty even 
 if the odds are against you. There is satisfaction in 
 doing what we feel and think to be right, even if social 
 ties are snapped. 
 
 His loyalty and perseverance have been pre- 
 viously touched upon, but these qualities were so 
 strong - , so forceful a part of him that they de- 
 serve to be mentioned independently. 
 
 His self-poise was truly characteristic of him ; 
 always equable, apparently never hurried, sparing 
 of speech, quiet, dignified, gentle, the word " gen- 
 tleman" leaps instinctively to the lips of those 
 who knew him. With him, the outward courtliness 
 was the true manifestation of the spirit within. One 
 
 123 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 might well say that if he had tried he could 
 scarcely have been anything else. 
 
 Such were the major qualities forming Dr. Ga- 
 vin's individual personality ; a personality unified, 
 balanced, and consistent, as rare as it was true 
 and real. It won for him success and honor as the 
 world views them. 
 
 Different people have their own views of success, 
 however. Some set fame as a goal, others wealth, 
 others, of a higher mind, the good which a man 
 may do. By all of these standards, Dr. Gavin was 
 successful. But is there not another test of true 
 success ? What matters it to a man, though wealth 
 or fame or respect be his, if he himself remains un- 
 satisfied, realizing that the true criterion is not the 
 judgment of the world, but whether or not he him- 
 self has made the most of the ability which has 
 been given him ? Might it not be said that no man 
 should be called entirely successful, who, being 
 honest, straightforward, and sincere with himself 
 and with those about him, cannot truthfully say 
 that he is satisfied and contented? It might be 
 argued that events over which a man has no con- 
 trol bring happiness or unhappiness; but is not 
 he the true philosopher of life, whose judgment 
 enables him to avoid the mistakes of the majority 
 of men, and whose philosophy makes him content 
 with the outcome of his choice when he has made 
 
 124 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 a decision, and whose aims and ambitions are per- 
 fectly attuned to his own capabilities and limita- 
 tions ? Has not such a man, successful in just what 
 he has striven to do, striving for no more, happy in 
 his own life, in what his own best judgment tells 
 him he is fitted for, with the philosophy to regret 
 no other choice, with will and insight to have 
 made few unhappy mistakes, delighting in what is 
 around him, the beauty of the world, the comfort 
 of true friends, the joy of work, — has not such a 
 man truly attained success so far as this life can 
 give it? 
 
 Surely such a life was Dr. Gavin's. He was be- 
 yond question fitted for the work he did, for the 
 time in which he lived. He fully realized this, and 
 was happy in his work, was content with his life, 
 his friends, his home. He strove for no new worlds 
 to conquer, he lived his life as it was given him, to 
 the full. Undoubtedly he had his full share of dis- 
 appointments and discouragements ; he fully real- 
 ized the frailty of human nature, but, with an op- 
 timism that overpowered all vexations, he was 
 happy in the good that there is in life. His aims 
 and ideals were the highest and he lived up to 
 them; he never wavered, never compromised, never 
 shirked. With the fundamental sincerity of his na- 
 ture, he was just what he appeared to be ; he en- 
 joyed all about him that was worth enjoying ; he 
 
 125 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 made the most of all that was given him, and was 
 satisfied. 
 
 Dr. Gavin passed peacefully to his eternal re- 
 ward on May 20, 19 15. Three score and ten years, 
 the allotted period, had passed. For him the whole 
 wonderful adventure, with its joys and its griefs, 
 its successes and its disappointments, its work and 
 its play, was ended. 
 
 In his case there was no untimely fate at life's 
 fair beginning, no tragedy of youth cut short, or of 
 a life snatched away in manhood's prime. He had 
 lived a full life with honor. He had " fought the 
 good fight" and " had kept the faith," and for him 
 were realized the words of the poet, — 
 
 Death is a path that must be trod, 
 If ever we would pass to God. 
 
 Why then much grief when a life has been lived 
 which leaves so little to regret, so much to remem- 
 ber of goodness and kindness accomplished ? Dr. 
 Gavin faced his sickness and his death as he faced 
 all life's troubles, manfully, readily, and unafraid. 
 Surely the end of such a life has little of sorrow, 
 but is filled to overflowing with joy and triumph ; 
 and some such thoughts as these must have been 
 in the minds of those who filled the Church of the 
 Gate of Heaven on May 24, 19 15, to bid their last 
 
 126 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 farewell to all that was mortal of Michael Freebern 
 Gavin. 
 
 There were physicians there to do him honor, 
 renowned for their professional standing and for 
 their lives spent in doing good. A body of men 
 they were, than whom few more eminent in their 
 calling could be assembled. They were there to pay 
 the last tribute in their power to their colleague, 
 whom they had known and honored for so many 
 years. 
 
 There were the younger men in the profession, 
 men who were then pressing forward to take the 
 places of their elders. They too were there to give 
 testimony to their regard for the man who had 
 guided many of them in the first beginnings of 
 their work, and who had been always patient and 
 considerate and helpful and kind. As sons who 
 reverence a father, these young men came to 
 honor him who had been their teacher and beloved 
 guide. 
 
 There were friends there also ; men who had 
 known Dr. Gavin for years; who knew his ideals, 
 his likes, his work, who knew the places that he 
 loved, and the people and the things he cared for; 
 who knew some of the good that he had done, 
 quietly and unobtrusively. 
 
 Yet representative as all these men were, they 
 formed but a small portion of those who filled the 
 
 127 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 church. There were men and women and children 
 of all walks of life, from the highest to the lowest ; 
 people of diverse races and of different creeds; 
 people who remembered that kind physician who 
 had obeyed the mandate of the Master, and who 
 had performed his daily tasks earnestly and rever- 
 ently and yet joyfully, and who had truly "gone 
 about doing good." A glance hither and thither 
 throughout that throng, seeing here and there a 
 trembling hand brushing away a tear from age- 
 dimmed eyes, or the moisture on even a strong 
 man's cheek, surely revealed something of what 
 Dr. Gavin's life had been. 
 
 While there have been men whose lives have 
 been far more adventurous, who have had careers 
 more spectacular and more dramatic, who have 
 been swayed for evil and for good by more worldly 
 passions, yet it would be no easy task to name any 
 who have led lives of greater beauty and more in 
 keeping with God's commandments, who have 
 won in so great measure the love and respect of 
 their fellow men. 
 
 Dr. Gavin's life is ended. At Holyhood he sleeps 
 " his last long quiet sleep." Yet the influence of 
 such a life will long endure, and the memory of the 
 good he did in his quiet, dignified, sincere way 
 will stand as an indestructible monument to his 
 memory. No one who knew Dr. Gavin can help 
 
 128 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 striving to lead a life more like his, — a life so kindly, 
 so earnest, so charitable, and furnishing such a 
 true and splendid example to those left upon life's 
 battlefield — that field where fought so staunchly 
 for the right, Michael Freebern Gavin, wise phy- 
 sician, Christian gentleman, and faithful friend. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 
 
 I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity 
 to read a number of letters this last summer, which 
 my father had written, and from them, I have taken 
 the quotations that follow. He was a man of few 
 words, especially on thoughts or principles of his 
 own, and I cannot recall his ever expressing his 
 views, in conversation, on his profession or on any 
 general principles or conclusions of life. So it is 
 with the greatest pleasure that I have found, and 
 can publish, these free expressions of his ideas on 
 so many subjects, and in his own distinctive, clear 
 style. 
 
 It must be remembered that these extracts were 
 merely written in, almost between the lines, so to 
 speak, in letters dealing with other general matters, 
 to my mother, to myself, or to intimate friends, and 
 with no thought on my father's part of " giving ad- 
 vice," or of expressing his ideas, other than to those 
 who were in harmony with them. To find even as 
 many of these thoughts of his as are given here, 
 required a reading of all his letters that could be 
 found ; and the choice was made with a view to 
 show his ideas and thoughts on all the subjects on 
 which he had given expression to them. 
 
 I would ask the reader to bear this in mind in 
 131 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 reading the second and third of the quotations, for 
 in letter after letter I find phrases like, " I must 
 have been interrupted a half a dozen times since 
 starting this letter" ; or "There, I must stop now, 
 for I have to go out to see a very sick patient." 
 
 It has not proved an easy task to group these 
 various excerpts under different headings, and I 
 have made only a semblance of so doing — but still 
 I think the order will make but little difference in 
 the pleasure of reading them. 
 
 I would say again that I consider it most fortu- 
 nate and a great privilege to have found these 
 quotations and to have been able to publish them. 
 
 Basil Gavin. 
 
 South Boston, Mass. 
 October 31, 1915. 
 
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MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 On Writing Letters 
 
 I suppose writing is next to talking. 
 
 It is seldom that I find opportunity to write a letter 
 of any length without being interrupted by callers, 
 and this must account for the disjointed appearance 
 of my letters to you. 
 
 I always write hurriedly, and seldom re-read my 
 letters or anything else I write. 
 
 Long, long ago, I found out how hard it is to write 
 an interesting letter, a letter of any kind except one of 
 dry facts regarding business, unless we are in the 
 mood, in sympathy with what we are engaged in doing. 
 And, after all, we ask, what is this thing called mood, 
 sympathy, or any other name you may please, but 
 really liking the work for the work's sake? There are 
 times when one can chat to the very paper one is writ- 
 ing upon, knowing that it will be carried safely to the 
 party it is intended for. 
 
 Please write as you think and feel. 
 
 We generally write about that which is uppermost 
 in our minds — in fact we talk almost the same way 
 too, — so I shall begin by telling you, . . . 
 
 Nature 
 
 Just now we are having delightful weather. Oh, 
 such weather makes us enjoy everything in Nature. 
 In no country that I know of is there such charming 
 weather as we have between the seasons of autumn 
 and winter. 
 
 133 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Everything is green and suggests spring and youth. 
 
 There is something very nice in a bouquet of hand- 
 some flowers — more particularly in midwinter, when 
 all else in nature is so dreary. 
 
 Of course March is not a very pleasant month, but 
 it brings us nearer, even in name, to spring. 
 
 I love the autumn season, as we see it in New Eng- 
 land, — ■ a love tinged with a sadness that such changes 
 should accompany decay. 
 
 The weather has been very cold for three days, and 
 you know how much I enjoy cold, and consequently 
 how happy I must be under existing circumstances. 
 'T is no use in finding fault though, — we will enjoy 
 the fine weather when we get it. 
 
 I told him of my project of trying to induce the 
 birds (not tame ones) to make their home in this par- 
 ticular garden, with a promise of protection on my 
 part, and on theirs a promise to sing. 
 
 To bed at 1 1 — up at 2, and home at 6. I must con- 
 fess I enjoyed the morning, though I did not enjoy 
 going out. The rapidity with which light followed 
 dawn was really surprising, while the view in the East 
 was really charming, — so suggestive of mystery. 
 
 We had a terrible northeast snowstorm to-day. I 
 had to walk a long way this evening to see a patient, 
 and while doing so, I was so strongly reminded of all 
 beauties in this world by the mere absence of them. 
 
 The redeeming feature of long winters is, that the 
 nights are long, affording excellent opportunity for 
 reading. 
 
 134 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Of late we have had beautiful clear blue skies, with 
 handsome clouds for a foreground — ■ things I enjoy 
 so much, and never to be looked at without our 
 thoughts wandering far beyond the limits of this 
 earth. Of all sciences astronomy affords the greatest 
 field for the imagination, in fact it is boundless. One 
 thought suggests another till the whole becomes at 
 last so intricate, that we must try and forget all about 
 them. 
 
 We have so little spring in New England, that one 
 has to take the opportunity when it offers and not 
 wait, otherwise we fail to see the fruit-blossoms. Na- 
 ture itself seems to live a short and "fast life" giving 
 a fbad example to 'too-willing human nature. This 
 might serve as a philosophical explanation of our 
 American tendency to live life at high pressure and 
 die soon. 
 
 The woods I enjoy best — where I can tramp free 
 and use my gun. 
 
 One loves to get away at times from the work of 
 man, and revel in the work of nature, so wonderful 
 and full of beauty that we become lost for the time 
 being. When I drive in the country I am always struck 
 with amazement at the greatness of God, the har- 
 mony in all things that surround us, the provision 
 made for preserving plants, as well as animals. In 
 fact, we know so little of the wonderful secrets of na- 
 ture, that we are the veriest children. - 
 
 Habits — Tastes 
 
 Yesterday was a very busy day with me, from 5 A.M f 
 until 9 p.m. — was just as busy as a bee. 
 
 135 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 For years back, I have had more than my share of 
 the good things of the world; plenty to do, more 
 money than I wanted, and all the patients I wished to 
 care for. (1874.) 
 
 I have been busy all week, so much so that, even 
 with my love of music, I did not go to hear the opera 
 at the Boston Theatre. 
 
 What can be more charming than that little Garden 
 Song in Faust, or the many beautiful songs in the 
 operas of Don Giovanni or Trovatore? 
 
 I think of going to the Club dinner to-morrow 
 night, as the election of officers takes place. There are 
 so many nice gentlemen to meet, and, as a rule, the 
 conversation is sparkling and rich with information, 
 so that it does one good occasionally, and brightens 
 one's ideas and gives one food for thought. 
 
 There is a great pleasure in sitting down in a com- 
 fortable room amongst books, when we have done the 
 work for the day satisfactorily. As an old smoker, I 
 would add a cigar also, and some person to talk or read 
 at, to the picture. 
 
 My fire in the grate takes the place of a companion. 
 
 I have not read much outside my profession this 
 summer, but I hope to do so soon. What real pleasure 
 there is in a good book ! be it a novel of the good class, 
 or something more substantial. The long winter 
 nights, cosy, well-heated and lighted rooms, a good 
 book and cigar, go far towards making us like the world 
 as it is. 
 
 136 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 I generally spend my evenings reading, go to bed 
 early and get up early; in this respect, following 
 natural laws. 
 
 We reached Providence a few minutes before 6 
 o'clock, when it was as bright and clear as noon-day. 
 I could not avoid thinking just then how much of the 
 day we let pass, without using it. I use the plural 
 number to represent myself — a great habit, by the 
 way, of those who write for newspapers, not intending 
 to include others. 
 
 Quiet colors look well, don't attract attention, and 
 remain in fashion longer. 
 
 "99" is convenient, comfortable, modest, and large 
 enough for a home. 
 
 I regret so much the want of time to prepare for our 
 trip — I should be so much pleased to derive all that 
 such a trip can afford to a person of education. 
 
 A poorish dinner with good company, is almost all 
 we want. 
 
 I must say that I have no great love for parties 
 where nothing but mere conventional rules are ob- 
 served. 
 
 There is great pleasure in giving presents to young 
 children. So much so, that it far offsets the cost of the 
 presents. I know of no greater pleasure than watching 
 the delight of young children when they get a pleasant 
 toy. 
 
 137 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 To have adults take part in such games, adds to the 
 enjoyment of the children. Indeed, I am child-like 
 enough to enjoy such fun about as much as the little 
 ones. 
 
 I always had a great dread of being in debt, as it 
 makes me feel that I ought to have no rest until I see 
 the end of it. 
 
 What a bad investment that was, but no use now to 
 regret it. 
 
 Of course there is quarreling about tastes. Some 
 base their taste upon well-recognized laws of the 
 blending of colors, harmony, etc. Others please the 
 eye (their own eye), and so on; but there are so many 
 things that ought to be considered: size of the room, 
 light, height of ceiling, color of the floor, shape of the 
 room, etc. I believe my taste differs from many, and 
 to tell the truth, I am not sorry. I do not like to copy 
 Tom, Dick, and Harry, in anything. 
 
 Good taste is a variable article, and that which 
 would be considered good taste in a grand and elegant 
 mansion, would be totally unfit and the worst of taste 
 in a small modest house. 
 
 How much I long to see Venice, that most wonder- 
 ful of cities, with its curious history, its wonderful 
 people and their greatness, the buildings and fine arts; 
 lastly, to see that sky and water of which we all have 
 heard so much. 
 
 About the dog question : I will sell him, first, because 
 he kept rooting up the garden, second, not pure breed, 
 and you know that I don't like imitations or mongrels 
 of any sort. 
 
 138 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 I like aphorisms because they express so much in so 
 few words. 
 
 My friend, Mr. O'Reilly, called to see me the other 
 night. I always enjoy his visits, — so full of interest- 
 ing talk and so bright and genial. 
 
 I have been acting scribe for my friend, Mr. O'Reilly, 
 now away on vacation. He is editor of the Boston 
 Pilot. 
 
 Reading 
 
 Reading is to me the greatest of pleasures, even 
 when I do not derive benefit from it. 
 
 Seldom have I read a book, without getting a hint 
 from it for some other book. 
 
 I have been reading Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales; 
 a very pretty name expressing about the truth. ... I 
 like Hawthorne's writing, and it was some years since 
 I had read any of his writings, not since I was in the 
 Army (if I except the Scarlet Letter), but I like him 
 even more now. There is something weird, super- 
 natural, in most of his writings, and the style is simple 
 and pure. I have heard the man was just like his writ- 
 ing, strange, not like other men, a riddle to his neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 I have read Charles Lamb's writings, but the Essays 
 of Elia are the best written by him; indeed, I doubt if 
 there is anything to surpass them in English. 
 
 I have just commenced to read Eugene Aram by 
 Lytton, and like all of his books I enjoy it. 
 
 139 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 I am getting along very well with the Conquest of 
 Mexico — the style is charming, and to me it has 
 opened up a mine of information regarding the Spanish 
 in America. 
 
 I have been reading Adam Bede by George Eliot. 
 Such a thoughtful woman and one who writes so wisely 
 that we wonder where she got all her wisdom. It re- 
 quires considerable time to read her stories with profit. 
 
 Some of Bret Harte's prose stories are so pleasing 
 that I often read them over to find myself dropping a 
 tear over the page. 
 
 As I write I am struck with the beautiful sentiment 
 expressed so well by Shakespeare from the calendar for 
 to-day: "God shall be my help — my stay — my 
 guide and lantern to my feet." What could be more 
 tersely and beautifully expressed. 
 
 [Stevenson.] He writes well and has a style unlike 
 any other writer that I am acquainted with, and I 
 rather enjoyed some of his stories. 
 
 In such an excellent book as Middlemarch there is a 
 great deal of sound information, good common sense, 
 and a spirit of making us look on the bright side of 
 things. 
 
 I like Thackeray, Scott, Lever, and some others, but 
 this is about all [novels]. I like Lord Lytton very 
 much, never grow tired of reading his stories. 
 
 Of the poets I must say I like Scott the best, and I 
 suppose it is because there is so much ring and rhyme 
 to his poems. 
 
 140 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Read "W's" poem in the paper I sent you to-day. 
 It is a beautiful little thing, and the man who wrote it 
 is a true-born poet. 
 
 When I get through writing, I will take up some 
 book. When I become interested in a book I am satis- 
 fied. 
 
 I have been reading and smoking; agreeable occupa- 
 tions to me. 
 
 The men or women who write really good books 
 will, at all times, deserve the thanks of the many. 
 
 Medicine 
 
 Ever since I began to practise medicine, I have held 
 a position in some hospital, and now I find it almost a 
 necessity. It is so pleasant to go in and chat with the 
 sick, make them laugh when we can, say a kind word, 
 and when it is necessary to give bad news, do so in the 
 easiest way possible. 
 
 A blinding snowstorm without. If we do sacrifice 
 personal feelings at times, we are rewarded by kindly 
 feelings on the part of those we visit. This was par- 
 ticularly the case to-night with me, and I feel so happy 
 now that I have done my duty. 
 
 To be busy is to be happy after all, and I like nothing 
 better than having a great deal to do. I do not like 
 outside business, that is, business not belonging to my 
 profession. 
 
 Indeed, with me, I suppose, work will become, if it 
 has not already done so, part of my existence. 
 
 141 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Was out late last night, from twelve to half-past 
 three a.m. Of course the going out was not very plea- 
 sant, but once over, I enjoyed my work all the more. 
 
 To look forward to one who will always encourage 
 my efforts in trying to be a little above the common- 
 place in my profession, to make my work not a mere 
 work of gain, but a means of doing good, a something 
 worthy of all our best efforts. 
 
 If there are unpleasant things in a physician's life, — 
 and what life is free from such, — there are countless 
 balancing things. 
 
 I am just called off to South Boston Point. There is 
 no doubt about such calls being disagreeable when one 
 gets in a very comfortable office, with books to read, 
 and cigars to smoke. Why, a saint would be provoked 
 at such an uncalled-for visit; but I suppose it is no use 
 to find fault ; — do our duty and we shall be better 
 pleased. 
 
 The medical profession has one great feature that 
 its twin fellow, the law, has not; viz: a doctor's educa- 
 tion is not for any one race or clime, but is universal. 
 People have the same sort of sickness in Italy that we 
 have here, or in England, with only some trivial com- 
 plaints that have some local peculiarity. 
 
 Yesterday I was kept so busy all day that I only 
 got through an operation (cutting a leg off) in time to 
 dine at 7 and to find, when I reached home, calls enough 
 to keep me engaged till after 1 1 . Again to-day I was 
 out at 4 this morning, but managed to hear 6 o'clock 
 Mass, and dined with Father O'Callaghan at one. 
 
 142 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 Common sense is the greatest attribute for a phy- 
 sician to be possessed of — or, in fact, for a man in 
 any line of work, whatever it may be. 
 
 There are times when I grow so tired and weary of 
 seeing, and hearing the stories, of sick people, that I 
 could wish to be in some place where sickness was an 
 undiscovered thing. I suppose, though, I would not 
 stop very long in such a land, allowing that such ex- 
 isted. Everything about my life is so bound up in my 
 profession, that to live outside it would scarcely be 
 possible. 
 
 There is great pleasure in doing work because the 
 work in itself is good or because we can relieve suffer- 
 ing and pain, or because we gain the good-will and es- 
 teem of the people, — the more so when such work is 
 done at great personal sacrifice or because of the love 
 or ambition of doing an act which implies a more than 
 ordinary knowledge. But to be obliged to do such 
 work for the mere gain and because such gain was 
 necessary, is anything but agreeable. 
 
 Religion 
 
 In hearing the Gospel of to-day I was greatly im- 
 pressed with the man-like action of Christ when he 
 came to Gethsemane : — he told those with him to 
 remain with him — that he felt sad. Knowing what 
 was coming, the separation from his followers made 
 him sad. How human — just like what any one might 
 wish. 
 
 I was once a witness of an outbreak of that terrible 
 disease (cholera) when I saw people in the full vigor 
 of life stricken with death in a few hours, and buried 
 
 143 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 without an hour's delay. There was proof of the insig- 
 nificance of man, and the greatness of the incompre- 
 hensible God. 
 
 To carry out the rules of the Church is not hard ; but 
 I do believe in doing more, that is by trying to carry 
 out the spirit of the rule, as well as the exact rule. 
 
 Yesterday evening was quiet, and I spent a couple 
 of hours in reading Parables in the Bible. I felt, as I 
 read them, that men are now as they were thousands 
 of years ago when this part of the Bible was written, 
 and require very much the same sort of government to 
 make them do right. Indeed, one is apt to think that 
 in those days when men were under a simpler form of 
 government than now, they would not require a sys- 
 tem of laws like ours; but after all, it is surprising how 
 much the human race resemble one another no matter 
 what the clime may be, or where they live. 
 
 I sometimes ask myself — will those who suffer in 
 this world, and that suffering not from their own act, 
 be treated in the hereafter as we who suffer not at all? 
 or will that all-seeing God bring into play some law 
 of compensation? 
 
 As I look at the world, each of us has a particular 
 role to play in helping the poor, comforting the widow 
 or orphan, relieving the sufferings of the sick or desti- 
 tute. This means always offers of doing good and de- 
 serving a reward from God. 
 
 It is too bad that X should worry or fret over 
 
 the will of God. Of course, it is very easy to see that 
 such trouble so early in life is a great deal — but it 
 might be worse, a great deal worse, and God has seen 
 
 144 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 fit to send it. At best, life is but the smallest atom of 
 time, and the difference between two lives cannot be 
 much. 'T is a way we all must go, sooner or later, and 
 that being the case we ought to try and look at death 
 calmly. 
 
 If the worst comes, you must simply bear it as the 
 divine will of a good Providence, who does all things 
 for the best, even when we think the decree hard, un- 
 bearable. 
 
 The religious life (be it followed by man or woman) 
 is so far above any other life in this world, that to my 
 mind no comparison can be made between it and any 
 other. To completely fill such a life, we must have en- 
 thusiasm and the noblest of ambitions, to work for 
 God in every way, at every hour of life. I suppose you 
 would call it vocation. To become a religious or a 
 priest, etc., from any other motive, robs such a life of 
 all its happiness. Perhaps my views are too radical, 
 but if such a standard was adhered to, I think it would 
 be — for the best. 
 
 Advice 
 
 Take the world easily; don't rush at everything, and 
 more enjoyment and contentment will be your lot. 
 
 The quotation " Sufficient for the day is the evil 
 thereof" ought to be written in letters of gold and 
 always be before us. If we always practised that rule, 
 what an amount of unnecessary fret and anxiety 
 many in the world would be saved ! 
 
 Do not expect too much from a child of his age. 
 First try and get him to understand what is right and 
 wrong. Don't bribe him to do things by giving him 
 
 145 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 what he may want. You must try arid make him wish 
 to come and see you, by telling him stories or whatever 
 innocent things you know he likes. This is different 
 from having him obey you; don't even bribe him to 
 carry out your order; this he must do. You have got 
 to learn how to govern and bring up a child. Try, 
 above all things, to have the child do what you want 
 him to do, not from fear, but because you tell him to 
 doit. 
 
 It is much the best way, if things or people do not 
 suit us, to avoid them as much as possible. 
 
 Don't talk too much — think before you speak, and 
 allow for a difference of opinions in all matters. You 
 will find this the best way to get along and in many 
 cases, have your own way in the end — So much for 
 advice. 
 
 The less said on the subject, the better. 'T is well 
 not to talk over disagreeable things, unless good can 
 come from it. 
 
 Observe things and persons as you pass along, and 
 you will soon find your store of information increase 
 in size. 
 
 — and let me add, enjoy your visit with "abandon," 
 as the French say, and don't be thinking of the morrow, 
 for, figuratively speaking, God only knows where we 
 will be on the morrow. 
 
 One learns, by not speaking at all times, to hear 
 other people's ideas. 
 
 146 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 I would not anticipate trouble, but be happy when 
 you can. Take things as they come, and don't make 
 yourself unhappy without good reason. Don't look 
 too much to the future. 
 
 No matter what any one else does, that is no excuse 
 for your not doing what is right. 
 
 Give the world credit for having good as well as bad, 
 sincere as well as false; and, with Holy Writ, "sufficient 
 for the day, is the evil thereof." 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 A short letter again — want of time must be my 
 excuse. 
 
 Habit has more to do with our everyday life than we 
 are willing to acknowledge. 
 
 I never think of being sick, catching a disease, or 
 being afraid of disease; but to others, nearest and dear- 
 est, the idea of their being sick is something not to be 
 thought of. 
 
 The hardest trials of this world come when we have 
 to part with father or mother. 
 
 Poor human nature is always looking for changes. 
 
 Trouble comes to all of us early enough, and often 
 enough without anticipating or making it. 
 
 My pen is new and stiff; like a recent acquaintance. 
 147 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 A woman, with her finer insight, when she thinks, 
 reads human nature more correctly than a man. 
 
 How different the world looks when we are not feel- 
 ing well ; the allotted three-score and ten is quite all one 
 wants. 
 
 When we are forewarned of things disagreeable, the 
 mind accommodates itself and does not feel the shock 
 so much as when unexpected. 
 
 I think that I would make a very bad patient, so I 
 often thank God that he has blessed me with so little 
 bodily suffering. 
 
 Then it will lose its novelty, and go unheeded, like 
 all things in this world. 
 
 You must tell your father that I wish him many 
 happy returns, and the continual blessings of a benefi- 
 cent God. 
 
 I hope you will have a pleasant trip over. It is so 
 pleasant for those who have friends to meet them, to 
 look forward to the time they will reach land, and even 
 those who have not friends, make friends of the strange 
 land and customs. 
 
 A good old coat has many attractions for me, like an 
 old friend, to be held on to, until there is nothing left. 
 I don't know that the comparison is a good one, but 
 if an old coat could talk, what tales might be told, 
 what secrets unfolded, gala-days recalled, etc.! 
 
 It has always seemed to me that a present bore a 
 resemblance to the giver; but it is not the present so 
 
 148 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 much as the spirit that goes with it. To the giver, there 
 is as much enjoyment as to those who get presents. 
 
 No thoughtful person can look at the present con- 
 dition of public morals in this country without a feel- 
 ing of anxiety for the future. Where money can buy 
 men's votes, you must expect cheating, and the man 
 with the biggest purse to win. 
 
 There are few habits that cannot be overcome by 
 patience. 
 
 I consider it a great source of care and anxiety of 
 mind to have much wealth to look after. 
 
 My great bete-noir has been a feeling that at some 
 time in my life, I might, through sickness, become 
 disabled to practise my profession, and be thrown 
 upon my family for support. 
 
 There are two well-marked classes of people in the 
 world : those who never can see anything but sunshine 
 and pleasure, and those who in the brightest day are 
 looking for clouds and storm. No doubt the world is 
 to each of us, as we make it, pleasant or dreary. 
 
 When one is sick, the world becomes almost unbear- 
 able, and it is then easy to see the wisdom of Provi- 
 dence in so ordaining it, that we should live so long 
 and no longer. 
 
 The more one observes and puts down what his 
 observations are, the better they become. 
 
 I think it is hardly possible for a person of culture 
 to see things done, without making some inquiry, so 
 
 149 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 that it is not till they are called upon to fill a position, 
 that they find out how much information they can 
 justly lay claim to. 
 
 One thing I try to avoid is, to confound novelty 
 with good taste as so many persons do. 
 
 I was not at all curious to know what had been said 
 about me, believing there are many things that do us 
 no good by hearing. 
 
 I tried to-day to select some little present for you — 
 but after spending over an hour in a fruitless effort, 
 I gave it up. J. thought I was very particular, and 
 perhaps I am, for all I know — but I must feel that an 
 article is just the thing before I can buy it. 
 
 We can get over anything but sickness and death. 
 
 But what a difference in the conversation of different 
 men. Some talk with a feeling that it is their duty to 
 say something, altho' it may mean nothing, others are 
 only willing to talk when conversant with the subject- 
 matter. I am bound to confess that the latter are the 
 sort of persons I like best, for to hear a man talk upon 
 a subject he knows nothing of — I won't say it. 
 
 It seems natural for us to look for death when our 
 relatives have reached or nearly reached the allotted 
 age; but when death comes long before the prime of 
 life is reached, it is hard to bear up against it, when the 
 victim is some person we have dearly loved. 
 
 I am glad that you are enjoying your trip. Change 
 does good to most people and to none more than those 
 
 150 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 who, while at home, see little company. It must be 
 so pleasant to meet one's own relations. After a sepa- 
 ration — to talk on the past and present and even look 
 into the future, meet acquaintances, and see familiar 
 things. I have experienced all these feelings and much 
 more. How quickly time is wiped away and forgotten 
 under such circumstances. 
 
 I am very much inclined to look on the morrow, 
 but I always try and find out the brightest side of the 
 morrow. 
 
 By the way, I have no hesitation in saying that most 
 of us think of time too much and not enough of enjoy- 
 ments. It seems tome that we ought to work with all 
 our powers while engaged in work, and after it is done 
 forget all about it, and time too. I don't know though 
 that I practice all I preach, neither do I do all I tell my 
 patients to do. 
 
 How short the entire Christian era appears when 
 we look at it as representing 18 lives. You know many 
 persons live to reach the age of ioo years. Taking 18 
 such persons, number one would have lived in the time 
 of our Lord, and when Imperial Rome ruled the world. 
 
 I have long since learned that those who leave home 
 to visit are so engaged with their friends, that writing 
 home is something of an afterthought. How pleased 
 you must be to visit home again ! ! I can well imagine 
 your feelings, judged by my own, in the times gone by. 
 The very thought of being home again, the nearing 
 home when I could hardly contain myself, and the sight 
 of my own family and the things of the past, things of 
 memory, which time can never efface. 
 
 151 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 You know there are very few things in this life, a 
 knowledge of which does not imply the loss of time or 
 money. 
 
 What a strange compound this human nature is, 
 always ready to shirk our duty] 
 
 Your letter and book reached me to-day — I thank 
 you for both — the latter shows how thoughtful you 
 are. Indeed, it is not as a rule the cost of a present 
 that makes us think the less or more of it, but the mere 
 fact of one's friends recollecting such things, is, in 
 itself, a present worth getting. 
 
 Sooner or later every one of us must meet with rain, 
 clouds, and thunder-storms, for on our planet all these 
 things occur to all; but because we anticipate such, is 
 no reason for carrying a long face, a gingham umbrella, 
 water-proof, and overshoes all the time. 
 
 Nothing makes up for the loss of health. 
 
 The last month — the last week — the last day of 
 the year — after to-day, 1882 will be of the past — 
 a something that was — 1 like all things in the world. 
 How strange to think of such things — never, never 
 again to see this year! 
 
 When I think of those I am called to see, the suffer- 
 ing from pain and death, I sometimes wonder at my- 
 self for being so cheerful and thinking so much about 
 this world. 
 
 With all my efforts to train myself in that stern 
 school of philosophy which allows us to look at misfor- 
 tune, defeat, disaster, and disappointment as things 
 
 152 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 beyond our own control, and not to be regretted, I 
 am as unable to bear up against sad news as a child 
 of 10 years. 
 
 I suppose it is all for the best, so I don't mean to 
 think of it again. 
 
 I have often thought that one of the secrets of secur- 
 ing happiness in this world is that of trying to find out 
 what others would like to do ; such acts being a two- 
 fold pleasure, that in the act itself, and that of the 
 person for whom we do it. Don't you think I am a 
 philosopher on a small scale? 
 
 Yes, it is very hard that people should suffer so, but 
 God has so ordained it. 
 
 I have educated myself in the way of not thinking 
 of bad news while any doubt exists. 
 
 It does seem to me that the key to happiness in this 
 world is to engage in some good work, earnestly, follow 
 it up, and do what Americans call "our level best," 
 when rest of mind at the good we have done is sure to 
 follow. 
 
 I think there are very few persons in this world who 
 fully recognize the great boon of good health, until 
 they have an attack of illness. It is like one's liberty, 
 — we know nothing of it until we are deprived of it. 
 
 I am quite willing to agree with what you say of 
 being good and doing good to our fellow-man or 
 woman, but I do not believe that this bright world, 
 with its countless objects of beauty, was made other 
 than for the enjoyment of those sent to inhabit it. 
 
 153 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 It does seem to me, as if all of us ought to do our 
 duty pleasantly and willingly; for without responsi- 
 bilities, cares, and duty, our lives would not be worth 
 the effort to prolong our existence twenty-four hours. 
 
 Some of the wise men of old have said that time 
 passes by quickly with those who are happy. 
 
 Indeed, there are more ways in this world of making 
 happiness than most people dream of. 
 
 Everybody must expect crosses, but we ought to 
 thank God for his kindness and goodness to us. 
 
 There is a great deal of happiness in knowing and 
 feeling that we have done a good work, without at all 
 taking into account the fact of giving so much pleasure 
 to those who are sadly in need of such kindness. 
 
 I have not much to say, in answer to your long letter 
 of yesterday. In many things I agree with you. In 
 some few I differ. Of course, I am conscious of the 
 fact that certain acts are, to my way of looking at 
 things, not honorable, nay, anything but honorable. 
 But what is the use of saying anything about it and 
 letting people know that you feel so, when there is no 
 remedy. I don't know that any person knows my feel- 
 ings about certain things. I have supreme contempt 
 for meanness in any shape. To my idea of right and 
 just, I have always adhered when to do differently 
 would mean additional coppers, etc. I am glad 't is so. 
 I would not have it otherwise if I could. I feel now, 
 and I thank God for it, that as long as my health con- 
 tinues good, I can always make more than enough to 
 support my household. 
 
 154 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 By and by, when I have reached the millennium, 
 the dolce far niente, I shall be glad. — Who knows? 
 
 There is so much pleasure in putting one's self out a 
 little bit for the personal sake, and also in doing so be- 
 cause it is good in itself. 
 
 As I write, we are having one of the fiercest snow- 
 storms of the winter. The fire-alarm bells are ringing, 
 the sky is red; the streets are crowded with men and 
 women running towards a great fire in South Boston. 
 How little the world and all it contains becomes in the 
 time of adversity or calamity. The insignificance of 
 man and all his work becomes as no thing at such times. 
 
 I could not help thinking this evening of the terrible 
 night when all Boston was out and it seemed as if the 
 entire city was to be burned. Never before was I so 
 fully impressed with the frailty of man. His insig- 
 nificance and that of his work were so apparent, that 
 I really trembled. 
 
 I have often thought of the great blessing God gives 
 so many in good health, and how few there are who 
 appreciate it, even stop to think that good health in 
 itself is the greatest of all happiness. 
 
 Responsibility brings pleasure as well as duty to 
 fulfill; and were it not for such things, all of us would 
 at some time or other suffer from that worst of enemies 
 to happiness, ennui. 
 
 What is more miserable in this life than not to have 
 work to do? 
 
 155 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 All of us, both men and women, have a duty to do; 
 and he or she who does his duty willingly and with 
 pleasure, taking it as the gift of God, enjoys the great- 
 est amount of happiness in this world. 
 
 To know that one's friends think well of one, is a 
 great deal. 
 
 Everything in the world has a grain of good in it. 
 
 If the death of those we love dearly causes us pain, 
 it likewise has its counterpart in reconciling our mind 
 when death approaches by making us anxious to meet 
 those gone before us to the unknown world beyond 
 the grave. 
 
 I suppose there are few of us who are not more or 
 less ideal in our notions of life, and I do not see any 
 fault in this, for it is well known that the ideal is the 
 brightest picture we can make, while to try to attain 
 that, in practice, must be good and bring happiness. 
 
 Yes, we have only to look around and see the posi- 
 tions of others, to make us enjoy those blessings which 
 God has given us. 
 
 Every person has experienced the pleasure it gives 
 to do an act of kindness; in itself, full repayment for 
 the work done. 
 
 I cannot see how people can live and be happy with- 
 out constant occupation of mind and body. 
 
 I have always looked on the excuse — want of time 
 — as rather a lame one, believing that all of us can 
 find time to do what duty calls us to do. 
 
 156 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 To stop at the half-way-house without making an 
 effort to go beyond it, to be satisfied with the common 
 everyday average of success, is the lot of most men 
 unless they have a good and brave wife, who encour- 
 ages them to keep up the good fight. 
 
 Work, as long as it is good and to our liking, does 
 more to make one happy than anything else in the 
 world. 
 
 I have always had more or less of the ideal in my 
 views of life, and I always mean to try and reach that 
 point, although it is possible I shall often fall short 
 of it. 
 
 There is a great deal of what is good and kind in 
 human nature and it takes only a little to call it forth. 
 I would much rather be imposed upon by giving the 
 good side to human nature, than always to look doubt- 
 ful, and call in question the motives of others. If there is 
 doubt at all, throw it on the charitable side; for after- 
 wards, if things are contrary to what we wish, we have 
 the satisfaction of knowing that our motives were good. 
 
 The world would be very bad, if we only did for our- 
 selves. Selfishness is a pretty bad feeling for any one 
 to be possessed with ; nay, it is one of the worst faults 
 we could possess. 
 
 I have always tried my best to be what other people 
 took me for, feeling that a nature like mine required 
 straightforwardness and friendship. With such a pur- 
 pose constantly before me, I feel so much better in 
 doing all within my power to show myself worthy of 
 the esteem of my friends; for to be all that our friends 
 take us for is a great deal. 
 
 157 
 
MICHAEL FREEBERN GAVIN 
 
 The infinite number of ways in which we may do 
 good is to me another evidence of the goodness of God. 
 
 What an untold pleasure it must be to those people 
 who have done so much for the poor, when their end 
 is near, to look back at the good they have done! 
 
 THE END 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 
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 provided by the library rules or by special arrangement with 
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