"We owe it to ourselves to make ours a liberal profession. Without enumerating all that such a profession comprises, we may safely say that it requires those of its members who have through their own efforts, or the teachings of those who have preceded them, made improvements in dental science, to perpetuate these improvements for the benefit of succeeding generations, and under no circumstances whatever to desire or even to consent that their discoveries shall live and die with themselves."

In this address he also refers, in characteristic terms, to the purpose of the Dental Society, which he had done much to found, and of which he was chosen the first president. He remarks:

"The liberal charter which has been granted us by the Commonwealth, and which we have this day accepted, gives us a legal existence as an institution for raising the standard of professional education, and enables us to cultivate harmony and good fellowship among ourselves, and, if we are faithful to our trust, will secure to us a position among the educational and beneficent institutions of America."

In the same spirit he also strongly urged the establishment of a "Dental Museum," in which rare and curious specimens of "preparations, casts, models, records of cases, and other material, gathered in private cabinets and liable in a few years to be scattered and lost, shall be preserved and made accessible to all who wish to study them, and thus become a substantial contribution to public science, and lend important aid to the advancement of dentistry."

His ideal standard of excellence appears in the following extract from the same address:

"We need the knowledge of every science and of every art. How often have we been obliged to extemporize an invention when an instrument was wanted that could not be purchased! The early education of the hand to execute that which the mind conceives, has prepared the way for the eminent usefulness and honorable position of many, very many members of the profession. With increased facilities for education, how bright a future would open before the thoroughly capable dentist! But he must be a true man. He must possess more knowledge than he expects to use in the discharge of his immediate duties."

On the same occasion he gave utterance to the long cherished desire of his heart, the establishment of a "College for Training Dentists." He says:

"My own predilections would favor a thorough and united dental and medical education. I should hope in such a case that the degree of M.D. would be the lawful and merited appendage to the names of those young men who enter our specialty. If this, however, is not yet attainable, it may not be entirely out of place to inquire whether Harvard University might not appoint professors of dentistry, and confer upon proper candidates the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. We are admonished, also, that the time has come for a chair of dentistry in our hospitals."

It is conceded that it was largely through Dr. Keep's efforts that these hopes were at length realized.

In 1868, three years after the delivery of the above address, there appeared "The first annual announcement of the Dental School of Harvard University, established to meet a want long felt by the dental profession of New England." "Its aim" was declared to be "to raise the standard of dental education, by giving thorough instruction in all branches of science and art required by the dental practitioner." "The connection of this school with the University furnished the profession a guarantee that its standard would be high, as it must necessarily be to keep pace with the other departments." A large force of distinguished professors was announced, with Dr. Keep as the dean of the faculty. An Infirmary was established in connection with the Massachusetts General Hospital, to remain open throughout the year, offering the students great facilities for acquiring practical knowledge and dexterity. During the first year over one thousand patients were there treated.

The Infirmary has been increasingly useful, and the Dental School has become an assured success, though endowments are needed to enlarge its usefulness. Its establishment must be regarded as marking an important era in the history of dental science. In 1870 Dr. Keep received from Harvard College the honorary degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine.

The following interesting estimate of the professional career and general character of Dr. Keep is furnished by his valued friend, Dr. Augustus A. Hayes, long and widely known as State Assayer.

"I have known Dr. Keep very intimately. I first knew him in Boston about 1830. He was then an enthusiast in his profession, seeking from all sides information, which he digested and brought into the form of scientific aid in his pursuits. He was the first man, in this part of the country certainly, who, after acquiring a medical education, made dentistry a distinct branch. It was considered a very doubtful and hazardous thing. I think his instructor advised against it. It was supposed it would be a failure. Singularly enough he became eminent very soon, and his eminence and success tended very largely to build up dentistry as a profession, and I should say as an American profession, for at this moment American dentists are not only eminent in skill, but take precedence of all others. Few men could have succeeded as he did. There really were no sources of information. Dr. Keep was very quick in perceiving any advantage likely to result from an improvement, and his practical applications denoted great ability and acuteness. He was enabled to keep in advance of the science of his profession. He ventured on original applications of science, and became an inventor. He was one of the first of the original manufacturers of porcelain teeth in this country, and carried the art of the manufacture to a high degree of precision. In a competitive exposition he received the first premium for the excellence of his imitation of the natural teeth, and was considered unequalled in all that pertained to the niceties of the manufacture. His signal ability in this direction made him a master in his art. He was also an inventor of many of the tools in daily use, and many of his special adaptations were for a time of high value. He fully appreciated the possibilities of his profession, and the

value of personal character, and was foremost in advocating the formation of the Harvard Dental School as the best means of permanently securing a high professional standard.

" In the daily practice of his profession, which is eminently that of alleviating pain and distress, Dr. Keep carried a sensitive and extremely kind disposition, which won the love of his patients, while his skill compelled their admiration and respect. His tender interest in children made him a favorite with them, and often enabled him to dispel their natural timidity and fear. His kindness of disposition was manifested in so many directions that no one could approach him without being impressed by his manner. He never became hardened to the infliction of pain. In some cases he was unable to operate after a time, so intense was his sympathy with his patients. In every way he sought to alleviate pain. He was always ready as a counsellor in giving cautious advice, and in helping to render rough places smooth. His gratuitous operations were very numerous. He was a true philanthropist."

Dr. Keep was the recipient of a large number of unsolicited testimonials which came to him from the grateful subjects of his skill, from governors and senators, learned professors and preachers, and from the humble and the poor as well, and they were all accepted by him as they were sent, in hearty good faith, and with unaffected delight.

Any sketch of Dr. Keep would be incomplete without some allusion to the celebrated trial of Prof. John W. Webster for the murder of Dr. Parkman in 1850, in which trial he was a leading witness. On his single testimony the fate of the unhappy man was seen by all to depend. One of the eminent counsel remarked, in reference to Dr. Keep, "Not for the world would I stand in his place and take the responsibility resting on him."

No one knew the importance of his testimony better than Dr. Keep himself, or could feel it more deeply. His knowledge of the case was positive and definite, and his duty was plain. With all the clearness characteristic of his accurate mind, he gave in his testimony with orderly precision, coming at length to the culminating point, when, under an awful sense of his responsibility, he pronounced the words which, he well knew, must consign to an ignominious death an eminent member of a kindred profession, who happened, moreover, to be among the first to speak a cordial word to him when he came a stranger to Boston, and with whom he had always been on friendly terms. It is not surprising that overcome by his emotions he burst into tears, unable to proceed, while the court and all present were visibly moved. It was a memorable scene. If the eminent Justice who presided at the trial was scarcely able to command his feelings when pronouncing the sentence of death upon the wretched culprit, how sorely must the sensitive heart of Dr. Keep have been wrung, when at the stern call of justice he was thus compelled to utter the testimony which constituted the warrant and ground for that drea sentence of the law!

VOL. XXXII. 12*

Dr. Keep's domestic life was most happy, and he did not neglect it. His wife (Susan Haskell) died in 1868, after a wedded life most true and tender, of thirty-eight years duration. This irreparable loss had been preceded by another great grief, the death of his elder son, Samuel Hamilton, who had chosen his father's profession, and was in active and successful practice as his partner. Notwithstanding these great afflictions, his home was always a sunny and a happy place. As a father he was wise and loving, ever watchful of his children and thoughtful of their welfare. Many carefully treasured letters attest the tender counsels with which he continually followed them whenever they left home for a longer or shorter stay.

He manifested throughout life an almost paternal interest in his brothers and sisters. He was the oldest of six children, and up to the time of his leaving home shared with his mother in the care of the younger members of the family. As long as he was able to write he corresponded regularly with them, and in many ways was constantly imparting sympathy and aid. His tender devotion to his surviving sister was especially noteworthy.

Dr. Keep came from a religious family, several of whose members have been clergymen. In early life he united with the Congregational church in Newark, N. J. In Boston he was for many years an esteemed member of the Bowdoin Street Church; afterwards of the Essex Street Church, and at the time of his death he was connected with the Central Congregational Church.

His religious experience was calm and equable, subject to no remarkable alternations, but finding its fit expression in the regular ordering of his life in obedience to the precepts of the divine word, in the quiet and faithful discharge of his religious duties, and in the cheerful hope of a blissful immortality.

Having lived to relieve human suffering and to promote man's physical health; having largely aided in building up a liberal profession and securing it to the world; having gained the confidence and enjoyed the society of large numbers of the cultivated and the good; at peace with God and his fellow men, he closed his long and useful life on the 11th of March, 1875, attended by the affectionate ministrations of his sister and his two daughters, and followed by the tender recollections of numerous personal friends.

LETTER OF THE REV. EXPERIENCE MAYHEW, 1758. Communicated by JEREMIAH COLBURN, A.M., of Boston.

THE writer of the following letter, the Rev. Experience Mayhew, was a missionary to the Indians on Martha's Vineyard. He was born January 27, 1673, and at the age of twenty-one, in March, 1694, commenced preaching. He was a son of the Rev. John and a grandson of Gov. Thomas Mayhew. "The language of the Indians was familiar to him from a child; and in consequence he was employed by the commissioners of the Society in London for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, to make a new version of the Psalms and the Gospel of John." He died Nov. 29, 1758, aged 85 years, 10 mos., 2 days. A list of his publications is given in the notice of him in Allibone's Dictionary of Authors. Other notices of him will be found in Drake's Dictionary of American Biography, Allen's American Biographical Dictionary, and the American Quarterly Register, vol. xv. p. 497. The "Corporation" mentioned in the letter is the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, whose "commissioners" are also mentioned.

Honorable Sir,

Chilmark Jan 10, 1758.

I think my self obliged to inform you of an Affair which I think very much concerns the honorable Corporation, as well as my Self, and this is not the first Time of my writing to you about it.

There is a tract of land lying within the Bounds of Tisbury Mannour alias Chilmark on the north side of this Island two or three Miles westward of the Gay head Neck, and does contain in it, as I Supose, 7 or 8 hundred Acres; which Land has generally been suposed to belong to the honorable company, but has of Late years has, I supose near half of it, been claimed by the Heirs of mr Mather Mayhew many [years] since deceased, and they have sold and taken Possession of a considerable part of it And have setled some Families on it, and divided the whole among them of that claimed by them. The whole Tract above discribed is the same which Many years agoe I laid cl[a]ime to one half of, but by an Agrement with the honorable commissioners, and with consent of the honorable Corporation had about an eighth part of it confirmed to me, by an Instrument bearing Date Nou. 7, 1723, and having as I thought a good Title to it, have Sold it, but now the Persons I Sold it to are Thretened to be ejected out of it, or part of it a least. But now, stil suposing the corporations Title and so mine to be Good, I do earnestly desire the honorable commissioners to take care to defend the companies Right in doing which they will also defend mine and I am willing to bear my part in doing this. One Shubal Chayham who would formerly have obtained a long Lease of these Lands of the honorable commissioners has since chose to buy some of others and seemes to think he can hold them. The Ground of the claim of these Men, I think to be such that if they can hold what they now contend for, the Gay head neck it self will be in danger of going next, so that, as may nay be easily made evident, but writing is now difficult to me by reason of the Infirmities