Page:Biographical Notice Of The Late George McClellan.djvu/12

 professional disunion; and that Dr. McClellan, in common with many of his medical brethren, was hurried into controversies which, if they cannot be forgotten, should at least be remembered with charity.

That Dr. McClellan possessed some of those traits called the "infirmities of genius," we are free to admit; but we may observe, in passing, that such infirmities are not, perhaps, more common to genius than to dullness itself. The difference is simply this—that they are conspicuous by contrast in the one, while they are overlooked or despised in the other.

Dr. McClellan was remarkable for exuberance of thought; and this attribute was responded to by corresponding volubility of speech. In lecturing or in conversation, he was never at a loss for words; yet in spite of this amazing fluency, his ideas manifestly accumulated more rapidly than his tongue could give them utterance. He was communicative and confiding to the last degree, without seeming to be governed by those prudential considerations that habitually influence mere cautious minds.

He was married in the year 1820, to Elizabeth, daughter of the late John H. Brinton, Esq., and five children yet survive him. The eldest, who is one of our colleagues, already holds an enviable position in our common profession. The second son, after graduating with great distinction at West Point, fought throughout the final campaign in Mexico, from Vera Cruz to the capitol, thus sharing the glory of the "great Captain" who has won the laurels of Cortez unsullied by crime.