man, and for teaching it will be hard to find an equal. In each appointment his
enthusiasm prevented his instruction becoming lifeless and uninteresting, and
his personal knowledge enabled him to carry out the ambition of every teacher
– to add to the stores of knowledge from which he freely drew. To die at the
post of duty is ever the brave man’s wish and certainly in this case had its
fulfilment. The disease was contracted while attending a child at the hospital at
the very end of his appointments and proved only too malignant for one in his
tired state. A brief 36 h of powerless watching was the lot of his friends, and
then the end came. Surely, if the end must come, it brings a hero’s reward and
a martyr’s crown. From his entry at Oxford onwards, there was one motto that
dominated his whole career – work. For him it made success possible, but for
others it spelt knowledge skill, confidence and recovery. His capacity for work,
too, brought him the admiration of all with whom he came into contact.
Always willing to help, his personality will be greatly missed from ‘the London’
and we must mourn the great price paid for an attempt made to save a child’s
life. One who knew him intimately writes as follows – ‘Everyone who worked
with Le Rossignol recognised that he possessed abilities of a high order. His
memory was extremely good and his facts well arranged. His most conspicuous
feature as a ‘resident’ was his power of organisation; nothing was forgotten and
nothing overlooked, no matter how great the pressure. Although never hurried,
his capacity for work was great. Notwithstanding the uniform success which
had followed his career, his modesty was notable, and only equalled by his
loyalty and amiability.’ The suspense with which his illness was watched, and
the gloom which overspread the Hospital when its fatal determination became
known, constituted an eloquent testimony to his popularity. The sacrifice of so
valuable and a promising life in an attempt to alleviate the sufferings of one of
the most miserable specimens of humanity naturally raises thought as to the
eternal fitness of things, but an influence and example such as Le Rossignol has
left behind will live in the hearts and minds of all who knew him.
Who the ‘miserable specimen of humanity’ was and whether s/he survived we
shall never know, but as a mark of respect, the ‘London’ subsequently
founded the A. C. Le Rossignol Medical Scholarship of £25 for one year,
tenable at the London Hospital Medical School, in memory of Austen
33 who
‘sacrificed his life to save that of a patient’. Austen’s death was also marked at
Victoria College. The report of the prize day in the ‘Victorian’ magazine for
November 1905 includes a passage from the external examiner from Exeter
College Oxford, offered before the school which sent Austen to them to
express the sorrow they felt at his loss. Austen was clearly a compassionate
man, but the same caring thread wove itself throughout the Le Rossignol
family, with Augustin and Robert both later leaving us tangible evidence of
devotion to those in their care and consideration of their fellow man.
24
D. Sheppard
enthusiasm prevented his instruction becoming lifeless and uninteresting, and
his personal knowledge enabled him to carry out the ambition of every teacher
– to add to the stores of knowledge from which he freely drew. To die at the
post of duty is ever the brave man’s wish and certainly in this case had its
fulfilment. The disease was contracted while attending a child at the hospital at
the very end of his appointments and proved only too malignant for one in his
tired state. A brief 36 h of powerless watching was the lot of his friends, and
then the end came. Surely, if the end must come, it brings a hero’s reward and
a martyr’s crown. From his entry at Oxford onwards, there was one motto that
dominated his whole career – work. For him it made success possible, but for
others it spelt knowledge skill, confidence and recovery. His capacity for work,
too, brought him the admiration of all with whom he came into contact.
Always willing to help, his personality will be greatly missed from ‘the London’
and we must mourn the great price paid for an attempt made to save a child’s
life. One who knew him intimately writes as follows – ‘Everyone who worked
with Le Rossignol recognised that he possessed abilities of a high order. His
memory was extremely good and his facts well arranged. His most conspicuous
feature as a ‘resident’ was his power of organisation; nothing was forgotten and
nothing overlooked, no matter how great the pressure. Although never hurried,
his capacity for work was great. Notwithstanding the uniform success which
had followed his career, his modesty was notable, and only equalled by his
loyalty and amiability.’ The suspense with which his illness was watched, and
the gloom which overspread the Hospital when its fatal determination became
known, constituted an eloquent testimony to his popularity. The sacrifice of so
valuable and a promising life in an attempt to alleviate the sufferings of one of
the most miserable specimens of humanity naturally raises thought as to the
eternal fitness of things, but an influence and example such as Le Rossignol has
left behind will live in the hearts and minds of all who knew him.
Who the ‘miserable specimen of humanity’ was and whether s/he survived we
shall never know, but as a mark of respect, the ‘London’ subsequently
founded the A. C. Le Rossignol Medical Scholarship of £25 for one year,
tenable at the London Hospital Medical School, in memory of Austen
33 who
‘sacrificed his life to save that of a patient’. Austen’s death was also marked at
Victoria College. The report of the prize day in the ‘Victorian’ magazine for
November 1905 includes a passage from the external examiner from Exeter
College Oxford, offered before the school which sent Austen to them to
express the sorrow they felt at his loss. Austen was clearly a compassionate
man, but the same caring thread wove itself throughout the Le Rossignol
family, with Augustin and Robert both later leaving us tangible evidence of
devotion to those in their care and consideration of their fellow man.
24
D. Sheppard