Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 2.djvu/504

 500 RUTTY. procured (in conjunction with the Rev. Mr. Carr,) from the pope, a bull, authorising the establishment of his order in the United States. He departed from Ross in the year 1794, accompanied by his friend, the Rev. Mr. Ennis. Shortly after their arrival in Philadelphia, a plague, which carried off many thousands of the inhabitants, made its appearance; it was on this trying occasion, and on ano ther similar one, which succeeded to i t , that the charity and zeal o f this extraordinary man were manifested. Lay ing aside a l l dread o f the contagion which infected the air, swept away whole families, and against which there was n o security but i n flight, h e never ceased t o administer the comforts o f religion t o the sick, and t o sweeten the cup o f their misery, b y such exhortations a s fervour and piety could suggest. I t i s worthy o f remark, that h e and his companion Mr. Ennis (who fell a martyr for his bre thren) were the only clergymen who remained i n Phila delphia during the plague; and that, a t the request o f the ministers o f different sects, they attended a l l who called o n them without religious distinction. He also established a convent o f his order, which has now become a seminary for missionaries. Here h e persevered, faithful i n the discharge o f h i s sacred duties, till a little time before his decease, when h e removed t o Baltimore, t o benefit a constitution impaired b y professional exertions. He died a t Baltimore, i n September 1812, i n the sixty-fourth year o f his age, - - JOHN RUTTY, A Medical writer o f considerable learning, was born i n Ireland, most probably a t Dublin, o n December 26, 1698. His parents were Quakers, and were, a s h e tell us, among “the more refined professors” o f that religion. I n his eleventh year, h e was sent “to a seminary o f the like,” which, h e says, was a school not only o f learning, but of religion. Two years after, h e was removed t o a school where there “was f a r less religion,” and from this t o his