Having  escaped  the  fury  of  these  men  of  blood,  Dr.  La  Roche,
with  many  of  his  acquaintances,  reached  the  friendly  shores  of  this
country  in  1793,  where  they  experienced  that  liberal  hospitality
which  distinguishes  the  American  character.  The  fatal  epidemic
which  at  that  time  desolated  this  continent,  soon  brought  into
notice  the  French  physicians,  and  the  success  that  attended  their
mode  of  treatment  justified  the  attention  of  the  inhabitants  of
Philadelphia.  And  without  detracting  from  the  high  claims  of  the
practising  physicians  of  that  period,  we  may  be  allowed  to  state,
that  their  colleagues  from  St.  Domingo  were  equally  fortunate  in


DR.    LA    ROCHE.  633

the  treatment  of  the  yellow  fever.  Let  it  not  be  urged  that  they
derived  from  a  previous  acquaintance  with  the  disease  the  experi-
ence necessary  to  counteract  its  effects,  for  we  know  from  the  most
unequivocal  and  honorable  testimony,  that  until  they  had  reached
the  American  continent,  they  were  utter  strangers  to  this  devastating
form  of  disease.  It  would,  however,  savor  of  partiality  were  we
not  to  concede  that  the  bilious  remittent  form  of  fever  which  pre-
vails so  often  in  the  West  Indies,  had  furnished  them  with  results
by  which  they  were  guided  in  the  treatment  of  our  yellow  fever ;
and  how  judiciously,  can  be  attested  by  numerous  surviving  and
grateful  individuals.
From  that  period  our  revered  friend  became  a  resident  of  this
city,  and  as  it  continued  to  be  the  place  of  refuge  of  many  of
his  countrymen,  he  soon  found  himself  fully  employed  in  his  pro-
fession. Among  the  victims  of  that  unhappy  period,  his  philan-
thropy and  his  benevolence  found  ample  scope  for  their  exertion.
