WASHINGTON SQUARE

by Henry James




CHAPTER I



During a portion of the first half of the present century, and more
particularly during the latter part of it, there flourished and
practised in the city of New York a physician who enjoyed perhaps an
exceptional share of the consideration which, in the United States,
has always been bestowed upon distinguished members of the medical
profession. This profession in America has constantly been held in
honour, and more successfully than elsewhere has put forward a claim
to the epithet of "liberal." In a country in which, to play a social
part, you must either earn your income or make believe that you earn
it, the healing art has appeared in a high degree to combine two
recognised sources of credit. It belongs to the realm of the
practical, which in the United States is a great recommendation; and
it is touched by the light of science--a merit appreciated in a
community in which the love of knowledge has not always been
accompanied by leisure and opportunity. It was an element in Dr.
Sloper's reputation that his learning and his skill were very evenly
balanced; he was what you might call a scholarly doctor, and yet
there was nothing abstract in his remedies--he always ordered you to
take something. Though he was felt to be extremely thorough, he was