BROCKLESBY (Ricn Aso ), a Physician of considerable reputation, was born in Somerset shire, on the 11th of August 1722; and was de scended from a respectable and opulent Irish fa mily, belonging to the sect of Quakers. He re ceived his grammatical education at the Academy of 13allytore, in the north of Ireland, and afterwards pursued his medical studies at Edinburgh, and at Leyden ; at which latter University he graduated, in choosing for the subject of his thesis, De Sa 1 live sena d morbosa. In the following year, he fixed his residence in London, with a view to prac tice ; and in 1751 was admitted a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, of which he afterwards became a fellow ; after having received honorary de r grees of Doctor in Medicine from the Universities of Dublin and of Cambridge. The first publication by which he became known to the world, was his Essay on the Mortality of the Horned Cattle, which appeared in 1746, and gained him considerable re putation ; and his practice extended itself with that gradual and steady progress, which affords" the surest prospect of permanent and distinguished success. His benevolent attention to his poorer patients, and the Feneral suavity of his manners, soon brought - him into notice, and procured him the esteem of wide circle of friends, espe'cially among his profes sional brethren. In consequence of their recom mendation of him to Lord Barrington, he was ap pointed, in 1758, Physician to the Army ; in which capacity he served in Germany during the greeter part of the seven years' war ; and in the course of it was chosen Physician to the Hospitals for British Forces. The results of his observations during this period were published in 1764, under the title of Economical and Medical Observations, from 1788 to 1763, tending to the improvement of Medical Hospi tals, in one volume Svo. He had already, however, given to the public many proofs of the activity of his mind, and the variety of his attainments. The Transactions of the Royal Society for 1747 (Vol. XLIV.) contain a letter of his On the Indian Poi son sent over by Don Antonio de Ma ; and the succeeding volume for 1747.8, a paper On the Poi sonous Root lately found mixed with Me Gen tian. In the Transactions for 1755 (Vol. XLIX.) are inserted his Esperiments on the Sensibility and Irritability of the several parts of Animals. He also published, in 'different volumes of the Medical Observations, the following papers, viz. The Case of a Lady ,labouring under Diabetes, in Vol. III.— Experiments relative to the Analysis of Seltzer Wa ter; and Case of an Encysted Tumour in the Orbit of the Eye; in Vol. IV. His Dissertation on the Music of the Ancients appeared in 1749; and his Oratio Haroeiana in 1760.
Dr Brocklesby was appointed, by his patron and friend the Duke of Richmond, Physician-General to the Royal Regiment of Artillery and Corps of En gineers ; an appointment that connected him much with the laboratory of Woolwich, which he always visited with pleasure. It was by his advice, indeed, that a Professorship of Chemistry was added to the establishment of the College ; and it was also by his recommendation that the celebrated Dr Adair Craw ford was nominated the first Professor in this new chair.
The life of a medical practitioner, absorbed in the laborious duties of his profession, is seldom diversified with much incident ; and Dr Brocklesby was now arrived at that period when the approaching infirmities of age demand some relaxation from la bour, and an exchange of the anxieties and fatigue of practice, for the tranquil amusements of liters tare, and the solace of cheerful society. The frugal use which he had made of means-originally slender, but progressively augmenting by the increase of professional emoluments, by the addition of a pen sion from the Duke of Richmond, his half pay from the army, and an estate which devolved to him on the death of his father, had placed him in circum stances not only independent, but affluent, and en abled him to derive from retirement all the advan tages he had contemplated. His society was court ed on all sides ; and the circle of his friends compre hends some of the most distinguished literary men of the age. He was, during the whole of his life, in timate with Burke. His acquaintance with this ex traordinary man, began at the school where they both were educated, and soon ri. .ed into the most warm and most durable frien• •. He was also in terms of close intimacy with Dr Johnson, and attended him in his last illness with the assidui ty and kindness of a friend. Dr Brocklesby is cha racterized in Boswells Life of Dr Johnson, as a man whose reading, knowledge of life, and good spirits, supplied him with a never-failing source of conver. cation ; and several letters, addressed to him from Dr Johnson, are preserved in that entertaining work. One trait, however, is omitted, which does him great honour. Understanding that Dr Johnson wished, in the latter part of his life, to remove to the continent for the recovery of his health, Dr Brocklesby im mediately made him an offer of an annuity of L. 100 during the remainder of his life ; and when this offer was declined, pressed him to reside in his house, as more suited to his health than the one in which he then lived. The same generous disposition was ma nifested in his conduct to Burke, to whom be trans mitted L.1000, as a legacy he had intended leaving him, but which he thought would be of more use to him at the present time. Dr Brocklesby was, in deed, the survivor of Burke, though only for a few months ; for on his return from a visit which he paid to his widow at Beaconsfield, after dining with hit two nephews Dr Thomas Young and Mr Booby, of whose education he had taken the principal charge, he ex , pired suddenly a few minutes after retiring to bed, without the least pain or previous illness. He left his fortune, which , was considerable, between his two nephews, with the exception of a few legacies to friends and distant relations. (w.)