Page:Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, volume 1.djvu/463

 himself in a private letter to the writer of this brief and imperfect sketch " he was the idol of his friends, and at every house he was received with open arms." It could not be otherwise, for the elements of love and charity, so admirably blended in his dispositions, could produce no other results.

The esteem and regard entertained for Dr. Thackeray, throughout the county of Bedford, were no sudden impulse, no transient feeling. Three years before his death, they were manifested by a request conveyed to him, that he would sit for his picture. A subscription was opened to defray the expense, and, in order to afford opportunity for the numbers who pressed forward to give this testimony of affectionate attachment, the individual contribution was limited to a guinea. In a very short period 370 subscriptions were received; the portrait was painted by the late Mr. Jackson, and it now forms an appropriate ornament of the infirmary which he so signally benefited by his unwearied labours.

From his earliest years, the excellence of his disposition manifested itself in all the intercourses of life. It was signally marked by that disregard of self, that abandon de soi meme, which is the truest charm and surest attraction of human character. His venerable father, in his latter hours, bore testimony to his estimate of his son's worth, by saying, " when you are dying, my dear boy, may you have a son with a portion of your good qualities, and you will be happy."

Though engaged in extensive and lucrative practice. Dr. Thackeray freely rendered his gratuitous services to those who could make no pecuniary recompense;