THERE is not a disease which assumes a greater variety of appearances, nor has given occasion to the loquacity and de­cided opinions of practitioners of Medicine, than the complaint which has for some time past afflicted our most amiable Sove­reign. At one time it is supposed to be the Gout, at other times the Hypochon­driasis, and at others a Nervous Fever: nay, it is distinguished by almost every name which is congenial to the medical dogmas of practitioners of physic.

IT unfortunately happens to mankind, that the method of living which Physi­cians in general observe, is likely to esta­blish a good state of health; and hence arises their implicit faith in books and sys­timatical writers. They are therefore sel­dom harrassed with those complaints, which so constantly fall to the lot of social, and convivial spirits, which are commonly Fevers, the Rheumatism, flatulent Com­plaints, severe nervous Feelings in the Head, and over every part of the body, and the Gout. But while habits of con­viviality produce these effects, the opposite extreme, such as abstinence in wine and animal food, and so forth, are attended with precisely the same consequences, and this state is completely demonstrated in the pre­sent deranged condition of his Majesty's health.

I HAVE long been an enemy to Dr. Cullen's practice in general ^*; for I have seen it so often attended with the most fa­tal consequences, and more especially in Fevers ^†. The natural termination of Fe­vers is in a state of delirium, and, ulti­mately, in death, if a deranged condition of the intellectual powers do not intervene to prevent the dissolution of nature. This state is called by the name of Madness: and if human invention was absolutely ne­cessary to operate this effect, the method now in use among practitioners of medi­cine is compleatly equal to produce it.

LET me ask this question, What is it that produces the disease known by the name of a nervous, or putrid Fever? Every physician, who has a grain of common sense, will answer, that it is produced by [Page 4]debilitating causes! But in order to re­fine upon these causes, and to spin a web of their own creation, they will insist upon the addition of contagion, effluvia from putrid substances, exhalations from marshy grounds, &c. &c.

THE penetrating Rousseau wisely says, that "science which instructs, and me­dicine which cures, are both undoubt­edly very good; but science which deceives, and medicine which kills, are bad. Teach us how to discriminate them—there lies the difficulty of the question."

THERE never was an art more full of de­ception than the practice of physic: and this is completely illustrated, by the fatal termination of most of the diseases which are inflicted by Providence upon mankind. We are, in general, disposed to refer the causes of fevers, and other diseases, to the [Page 5]influence of physical causes alone, and to overlook the operation of moral causes al­together; whereas it can be proved, that moral causes are chiefly the forerunners of most diseases depending upon debility; and in this state of the body, the application of physical causes, such as cold applied to it, in a debilitated state, heat, contagion, pu­trid effluvia, and other powers, operating upon similar principles, will more effec­tually produce diseases of this nature; and the effect of these powers will be the more compleat, if to these are added excess of every kind, immoderate indulgence in the passions, fatigues of the mind, together with the afflictions and pains which are felt in every condition of mortality, from the monarch to the beggar, and which harrow up, and constantly prey upon our minds.

A MONARCH is perhaps the most ex­posed to these causes. For when we con­sider him in the capacity of the first ma­gistrate in the land, it is natural to sup­pose that he must be burdened with cares and apprehensions, and liable to extreme fatigues, both of body and mind, which are to be always considered as the forbod­ing vouchers of a bad state of health.

‘"If nature, says Rousseau, had decreed that we should be sound in body and mind, I will venture to assert, that a state of reflection is a state contrary to nature; and that a man of meditation is a depraved animal. Our misfortunes originate in ourselves, and that we should have avoided almost all of them, if we had followed the simple, uniform, retired manner prescribed to us by nature ^*."’

THESE observations, of this profound observer of nature, apply with much force and propriety to the subject I am about to treat upon. For, as I have observed before, we have, from the most exalted of situa­tions, to the most humble of human con­ditions, our cares and our calamities to sustain. Yet it is natural to suppose, that the individual who approaches the most to the path prescribed to us by na­ture, experiences the feelings of tran­quillity and pleasure, in a more elevated capacity, than the personage who, from his situation, is constantly immured within the walls of study and reflexion; which is in a continual progression to debilitate the body, and to weaken the soul ^*. Hence arise nervous complaints of all sorts; such as the hypochondriasis, epilepsy, palsy, apoplexy, gout, and other diseases of this nature.

I HAVE often been astonished to hear, that his Majesty could sustain, (without being precipitated long before this time into a state of disease,) the weighty, and im­portant business, which, like a millstone, must have hung heavy upon his mind, at the same time that it was reported, that he eat chiefly of vegetable food, and drank nothing but wine and water. To carry on a train of thought with vigour and effect, or to transact business of consequence, which is often very disagreeable to the mind, requires the adventitious aid of sti­mulating food, and cordial liquors, or the diseases I have taken notice of above will eventually take place. And physicians, as well as their patients, will be woefully deceived, if they suppose that either the Cheltenham waters, or the Bath waters, or even those of Spa, will operate wonders, [Page 9]when the enemy, I mean disease, has stormed the citadel.

DISEASES, in the commencement of their attacks upon the constitution, are but faint resemblances of what are to happen. But they enliven our sensibilities, and our apprehensions, in proportion to their pro­gress; and our memories are at this time eternally presenting to us scenes in which we have acted a part. Hence philosophers, as well as moralists, are constantly declaim­ing against those gloomy ideas which hurt their solitary hours, and damp their most aspiring thoughts, by exhibiting things in the most odious colours imaginable.

THE cares and anxieties of private indi­viduals, as well as of those who are placed in more elevated capacities, insensibly bring on diseases, and those of a peculiar nature. [Page 10]And there are sometimes snares, which even wisdom and prudence will not prevent our falling into. Although a warrior is often liable to them, a statesman is infinitely more so, which the history of mankind completely proves. Domestic anxieties, popular tumults, and national disasters, must constantly aggravate his feelings; and these marks of sensibility will, sooner or later, produce nervous diseases. The con­dition of statesmen in general is by no means applicable to the situation of the first ma­gistrate of his dominions, who has the per­petual call of his people to the exercise of every thing that is wise, just, and benevo­lent. And when wisdom, virtue, benevo­lence, and prudence, are disappointed in their intentions, maladies of a most forbid­ding aspect too often take place. Therefore the only consolation we can enjoy when we are afflicted with disease, is to submit with [Page 11]patience and philosophy to the fate of men, and to the decrees of fate. Nay, if a straight waistcoat is advised by a grave physician, as a necessary appendage to our misery, we must even submit to this most infernal, and brutal usage. And this act of brutality, I am both free, and bold enough to acknowledge, is the consequence of employing of those, who are profoundly ignorant of the principles, and philosophy of the healing art. I have said before, that what is commonly termed madness, is brought on by the improper treatment of fevers: for this disease is no more here­ditary than the Gout, or the scrofula, which I have shewn, in my treatise upon the Gout, to be a disease depending upon the common causes of a relaxed habit. But I need not appeal to a greater authority, than my late learned preceptor, and worthy friend, Dr. Brown, who has had the honour to [Page 12]explain, with the forcible language of truth, the nature of this disease, as well as almost every other incident to man.

THIS idea leads me to a digression which I did not intend to make. But as I con­ceive it to be of some importance to man­kind, I intend to offer my opinions, at some length, upon the subject, as they may be of utility to mankind. I shall therefore consider the subject, both as a philosopher, as well as a physician; and I hope that a discerning public will not im­pute blame to an intention, which has the benefit of my fellow creatures before me.

WHEN I visited the Bissetre at Paris, in the year 1785, I could not forbear exhi­biting my sensibilities, and my feelings, at seeing such a number of unfortunate per­sons [Page 13]chained down to their solitary abodes, without any other cause, from what I could learn, than the peculiarity of their conduct, or excentricity of their behaviour. In the course of my walk, and observations, I came to the cell of an Englishman, who had been a captain of a trading vessel from Dover, and who had been captured by a French priva­teer in the war before last ^*. I had two English ladies, a French lady, and a French gentleman in my company; and as soon as he found that there were English in com­pany, he spoke his mind very freely to us, and told us his story with the most perfect distinctness. His mind was perfectly col­lected, and he was much disposed to ex­press the fervency of it during the time we were in conversation with him; but the police of the place rendered it necessary that [Page 14]we should saunter on to another abode of misery, and quit the mansion of this son of misfortune. The pleasures of commu­nicating his sorrowful tale to his country­women and myself being thus abruptly in­terrupted, must unquestionably have af­fected the feelings of the despairing man; and we could hear him, upon our depar­ture, break out into all the wild language of fury and despair.

THIS, as well as many other cases which I could place before my reader, during my stay at this place, is a proof that moral causes have as great, if not a greater influence, in creating and perpetuating of nervous diseases of all kinds, than physical causes; and of that disease, called mania, in parti­cular.

THIS leads me, in a natural direction, to consider the character and important [Page 15]trust generally reposed by their patients, and the friends and relations of their pa­tients, in practitioners of physic. I have endeavoured to shew, in my Inquiry into the State of Medicine, that the education of physicians in general has a tendency to lead them to engage in disputes of words, while they imagine that they are handling controversies of the deepest importance and concern. It was in order to avoid alter­cations so frivolous and endless, that the penetrating and learned Dr. John Brown endeavoured to state, with the utmost cau­tion and simplicity, the great desiderata of medicine, and to frame a plan of his own, for the removal of all the obstacles to the improvement of this noble art. This il­lustrious man saw, almost intuitively, the cobwebs which hung in suspence the fate of mankind: and if he had not united philosophy, and profound learning, to­gether [Page 16]with much experience, the healing art might languish in its present deplorable condition for ages to come.

To return, however, to my subject. Diseases and death are the uniform fate of mortals. The infirmities of life, and the pains of disease, will naturally obtrude themselves upon those in exalted situations, as well as upon the most humble of beings; and in this condition of things it is, that re­flection takes place. In the gay and plea­sing moments of festivity and health, the fleeting moments of mirth and dissipation eraze all thoughts from our minds which are disagreeable to us ^*; and hence amuse­ments of all sorts are sought after by the more wealthy, to stifle those sentiments of [Page 18]disappointment, mortification, and chagrin, which must, in a greater or lesser degree, influence all descriptions of individuals; but when the cruel hand of disease renders man a solitary animal, it is then that he begins to think of the past.

THERE are no diseases which assume a greater variety of appearances than Agues, Fevers, and the Gout. When the gout flies to the head, it renders the feelings of the patient exquisitely painful. When the ague visits the head, the feelings are precisely the same. Nay, in what physicians call nervous fevers, there is the same intermission of disagreeable symptoms which prevails in the gout as well as in intermittent fevers. The patient is utterly at a loss to explain certain symptoms which take place in in­termittents, such as the severe and dreadful feelings which rack his head, and put him [Page 19]in momentary expectation of death. The same is precisely the case in the gout. For the same appearances of the body, such as extreme languor, melancholy apprehen­sions, a state of despair, more or less, tre­mors, a susceptibility of what is commonly called catching cold, a propensity to think in a disagreeable train of thought, and se­veral other symptoms of the same nature, are observable in this disease also. Putrid, or what are termed nervous fevers, discover a great resemblance in their progress and ter­mination to these foregoing diseases, and are also to be relieved by a similar treatment.

BUT the numerous hypothesis of physi­cians concerning these three distinct modi­fications of diseases, form insurmountable barriers to their being treated upon similar principles; and hence the diffusion of er­ror, and unaccountable torpor, which pre­vail [Page 20]so universally among practitioners of physic, in their treatment of them.

THERE is no end to the variety of books and dissertations upon medical subjects written by physicians. But the influence of the passions has been, in almost all these verbal disputes and dissertations, too un­heededly passed over. ‘"An evil, con­ceived as barely possible, sometimes pro­duces fear; especially if the evil be very great. A man cannot think on excessive pain and torture without trembling, if he runs the least risque of suffering them. The smallness of the probability is compensated by the greatness of the evil ^*."’

I HAVE often experienced the truth of this observation in my own person.

THE regulation of the passions is, there­fore, in all nervous diseases, a principal desi­deratum: and the physician who is not phi­losopher enough to know how and when to apply with success his penetration in the regulation of the passions, will very seldom relieve a nervous disease, or a disordered state of the intellect. What is the reason that there are so many receptacles for what the ignorant world call mad people? I will answer very frankly, it is because so much ignorance and want of true philosophy prevail among the generality of physicians. It is an abominable disgrace to Britain, to behold such a number of public, as well as private mad-houses, as there are in this island. When an unfortunate man or wo­man have been mismanaged in a dreadful and alarming disease, it is proposed by some ignorant or interested daemon or other, to send the miserable object of pity and [Page 22]compassion to some place of security, where he has nothing to console him but cold, hunger, and ill usage. It is impossible to speak too much at large concerning the diseases brought upon mankind by the all-powerful operation of the passion of fear, in its different modifications. Both Mr. Hume, and Rousseau, speak of this passion, as to its causes and effects; and they seem to be in some measure right, so far as it produces diseases of the nervous kind, and what are vulgarly called maniacal diseases among the rest.

‘"A DIBILITATED body," says Rous­seau, "weakens the soul. On this is founded the empire of medicine; an art more pernicious to man than all the ills it pretends to cure. For my own part, I know not of what disorders physicians cure us; but I know this, that they give [Page 23]some which are very fatal, such as cow­ardice, pusillanimity, and the fear of death. If they cure our body, they kill courage. What is the importance of en­abling carcasses to walk? It is man that we want, and we never see any come from under their hands ^*."’

THIS ingenious philosopher was in a great measure right in his observations. For there is not a doubt, but that the method adopted by physicians in former ages, as well as in those of our own times, is de­structive of that principle which upholds us in afflictions, as well as in disease, and that is courage. I do not at all wonder that dramatic writers, such as Moliere, and other authors of sagacity and penetration, were forward in decyphering the hypocrisy and artifice which predominate so much among [Page 24]some practitioners of medicine. It is quite enough to destroy a man's courage, in a state of disease, to see two, three, or more physicians, dressed in black, with grave countenances, and every affected art which formality itself can invent ^*.—To depressed spirits and afflicted minds, such symbols of compassion and relief hold out no allure­ments to please and to gratify a distempered mind, which requires every solacement which virtuous sensibility is ever ready to communicate to the unfortunate. The Scriptures say, ‘"Blessed is the peace­maker;"’ but how much more blessed and happy must that man be, who, by his pro­found knowledge in his profession, aided by that of deep philosophy, and a know­ledge of the passions, knows how to curb them, and when to raise them! he must surely afford the greatest of comforts to the distracted mind, and dibilitated body.

WHEN I left the university, I flattered myself with the belief, that all diseases were to be cured by medicine and diet. And I have often expressed my surprise, that my attempts in some instances were ineffectual. But when the patient was dead, some un­foreseen circumstance then made its appear­ance, which sufficiently convinced me, that corroding cares had long preyed upon the mind, and that the heart had bled with re­peated sorrows; which has often since made me think, that physic and physicians are but imperfect instruments to restore to vi­gour, constitutions worn out with cares and anxiety.

A POOR man, when reduced in intellec­tual and bodily vigour by ill usage, and the sophistry and empiricism which prevail in medicine, is sent for the remainder of his days to Bedlam, or some other mansion of [Page 26]misery. The rich man is confined to his own chambers, without one gleam of hope, either to invigorate his body, or comfort his mind. He is deprived of the society of those he loves and respects. The amusements which he had been accustomed to are never to refreshen his wasted spirits, or his decayed body; and in this solitary and dreadful condition is he to expiate, if he has any, all his errors and his sins. I would rather, if I had my choice, be car­ried about the country, as Bajazet the Em­peror of the Ottomans was, a spectacle for fools, and worse than fools, to look at, than be a prisoner in the predicament I have mentioned.

WERE I possessed of all the eloquence of Demosthenes, Cicero, and Tully, I fear I should be unequal to utter my sentiments at full length upon this important topic; [Page 27]because I am well aware, that all diseases, where the vigour of the mind is affected, are the result of the passion of fear, which is a most debilitating passion, and is the prin­cipal cause of almost all nervous diseases. There is not a doubt but that it frequently produces convulsive, as well as spasmodic diseases; and I have been a witness to its bringing on fits of the gout repeatedly. I have not a doubt in my own mind but that it brings on the hydrophobia, and melan­cholic diseases, and what physicians term mania, or madness. And I am well con­vinced, that physic, as it is generally prac­tised, is the most suitable of all professions to produce this nervous disease. If a person, in a debilitated state of the body, is bled, blistered, vomited, and purged, he will, to a certainty, experience some severe nervous disease. But if these dibilitating powers are added to the disease, it is natural [Page 28]to suppose, that death will be the conse­quence, unless what physicians call insa­nity takes place. ‘"But even impossible evils," says Mr. Hume, "cause fear; as when we tremble on the brink of a precipice, though we know ourselves to be in a state of perfect security, and have it in our choice whether we will advance a step farther. The im­mediate presence of the evil influences the imagination, and produces a species of belief; but being opposed by the re­flection on our security, the belief is im­mediately retracted, and causes the same kind of passion as when, from a contra­riety of chances, contrary passions are produced ^*."’

THE passions produce infinitely greater effects upon the mind when the body is [Page 29]in a debilitated state, than when it enjoys a healthy and vigorous state, whether this condition of the body arises from a too spare diet, or from a too voluptuous one. The imagination is infinitely more lively with apprehension in relaxed habits, than in vigorous constitutions. And hence ari­ses the great necessity of caution, presence of mind, and minute circumspection in those who are commissioned to attend the sick. For an error at this time is often ir­retrievable, but more especially when gen­tlemen of the faculty attend patients in ex­alted situations. Their empiricism, instead of assuming the bold and decided practice of Van Helmont, or Paracelsus, now puts on an air of timidity, for fear of what are termed the consequences.

To contribute, by want of foresight, or a profound and discriminating knowledge [Page 30]of diseases, to the death of any department of society, is generally a prelude to their want of business as physicians; and there­fore it is natural to presume, that they will exercise more than common caution, and indulge in more than usual timi­dity, when they are to prescribe for their Sovereign. As fevers are the result of de­bilitating powers, and consist of debility over every part of the body, but more es­pecially in the head, it is to be presumed, that the King's physicians abstained from bleeding, blistering, &c. in their late treat­ment of him.

AN unusual fatality is generally the lot of kings, when they are subjected, by either accident or disease, to the fate prescribed by nature for man. In his healthy and vigorous state, both of body and mind, he is, as it were, elevated by the excessive obei­sance [Page 31]of his courtiers, to a rank infinitely superior to the rest of mankind.—But observe the reverse! When all-prying disease commits its havock upon his body, and his mind, then he is reduced to a level with the rest of mankind, if not to a greater state of mortification, and even humilia­tion. That nature, in a great measure, points to relief, is a rule of infinite impor­tance in the healing art, but never attended to as it ought, by those who have the management of the sick.

To regulate the mind in all diseases, but more especially in all nervous complaints, is an object of fundamental importance ^*.

TAKE from a man the pleasures that he has been accustomed to, you hurt his peace of mind, and destroy for ever his sweet-re­pose. Deprive him of his usual comforts, and you make him a miserable and melan­choly being. If a man is fond of the plea­sures of a country life, such as farming, gardening, the sports of the field, and amusements of this nature, which are con­ducive to his propensities as a moral agent, you deprive him of the principal comforts [Page 33]which this world is capable of affording him. If he is fond of the subject of moral philosophy, natural philosophy, or the sub­ject of mechanical knowledge, it naturally implies, that a deprivation of these plea­sures, which are the accompanyments of his solitary hours, are equivalent to the de­privation of his happiness. And without this celestial enjoyment, life, I will venture to say, is not worth enjoying.

PHILOSOPHERS have endeavoured to ex­plain the causes of suicide, but their at­tempts have been ineffectual; because no remedy has hitherto been applied to the disease. Like the laws of the Romans, which were, before the reign of the Empe­ror Justinian, an endless subject of munici­pal ordinances, so also have been the max­ims and speculations of men, to put a stop to this unfortunate failure of courage in [Page 34]man. It would be an endless subject to multiply examples of the cruelties exercised upon men in one form or the other. Mora­lists and philosophers may preach to eter­nity upon this subject, and never reach at the cause. They are as widely at variance with the origin of this unfortunate pro­pensity, as the greatest number of physici­ans are in the proper treatment of nervous diseases. Even the elegant admonitions of Rousseau make me smile when he pretends to speak upon the subject, and are to be considered as neither more nor less than Job's comforters.

EVERY good and benevolent man is of use to society during the period of his ex­istence: but deprive this virtuous charac­ter, by human ordinances, of that pre-emi­nence which his goodness, his charitable inclinations, and his universal sentiments [Page 35]of benevolence prompt him to exercise; nay, go a step further, say that he is in­sane, and then you complete, in some mea­sure, the catastrophe ^*

IN order to carry folly and ignorance still further, deny the same individual the pleasures of seeing and conversing with those that are dear to him; if he is fond of music, deprive him of that; if he is desir­ous of seeing and of conversing with any person more than another, be sure that he is deprived of this consolation; if his family, which are dear to him, and most amiable in his eyes, are requested to afford him comfort, they are by the same authority de­nied access; if the same individual should long for wine, and other cordials, to raise [Page 37]his drooping spirits, this, forsooth, is sup­posed to be pernicious; and all this for no other reason, but from the mere ipse dixit of a set of men, who presume to hang in suspence the fate of men, as well as the fate of kingdoms. This complication of evils is sufficient to destroy the mind, as well as the body, of any human being. The body may be cured by medicine and diet, but a distempered mind requires some other consolations besides those which are derived from an apothecary's shop. Boluses, and pills, and draughts, &c. will heal the wound which want of discernment and skill has opened;—it requires some additional as­sistance to cure severe nervous diseases.

THE examination of Dr. Adington be­fore the Privy Council, concerning the state of our most worthy and amiable mo­narch's health, is now before the public, [Page 38]and I shall not therefore hesitate to speak my sentiments upon the occasion. As I have not a doubt but that his Majesty has been treated injudiciously, from the begin­ning of his complaint to the present time; and it will be a duty incumbent upon his physicians to state at full length the condi­tion they found him in when they were consulted first of all, and to publish a jour­nal of their proceedings. It is full time that the whole of this dismal story should be held out to public notice. The public have a right to be acquainted with the whole mystery of their proceedings. Their reputations as physicians ought either to stand or fall by their method of treating the King in his late and present state of health. It is to be presumed that they can write, and defend, by their learning and ingenuity, their practice.

DR. ADINGTON, it appears, makes a distinction in what the vulgar call insanity. He confidently asserts, that it is an heredi­tary disease. I beg leave to enter the list as an advocate for the contrary doctrine. And I contend, that this disease is no more hereditary than a common fever, or the small-pox, but that it is brought on by the common causes of all other diseases. In my Inquiry into the State of Medicine, I have endeavoured to shew, that physici­ans are too often the unthinking copyists of each other. No man is allowed to think for himself; and if he does, he is hooted at as a common disturber. Therefore, what­ever Dr. Boerhaave, or Dr. Cullen say, is a law with their disciples.

THESE aphorisms of this illustrious phi­losopher apply to my subject. For I am ready to prove, to the satisfaction of man­kind, that the disease under which our most excellent Sovereign labours, is, from all accounts upon record, nothing else than a common nervovs fever. At the same time, I am forward enough to assert, and my as­sertion shall not be destitute of proof, if [Page 41]called upon, that it is more uncommon in its appearance than difficult to cure. And I hesitate not to say, that I would, at the risque of my life, and every thing that is dear and valuable to man, undertake to re­store him soon to the full exercise of every bodily and mental enjoyment, upon a plan of diet alone, with proper exercise, together with the management of the passions of the mind. And there is nothing more easy than to uphold his Majesty in a state of good health, when once it is established.

IT is impossible that a private individual like myself can alter, remove, improve, or redress the prejudices, opinions, and errors of men, who have the sanction of mankind to tread in the paths of delusion and error, and have the inveterate and general preju­dices of ages to uphold them in their ca­reer of desolation. It may be said of them as it was said of Caesar, ‘"Caesar gladium cito condidit, nunquam posuit."’ Ci­cero also, when he speaks of this great man, says, ‘"Caesar, si ab eo quaereretur, quid egissit in toga, leges respondisset multas et praeclaras tulisse."’

WHEN a practice of physic destructive to our natures is pointed out by a man [Page 43]of discernment and science, it is natural to presume, that when the system of a popu­lar assailant of these pernicious doctrines becomes general, that the opponents of a rational system of medical knowledge will, like Caesar, soon sheath their swords, but never lay them aside. Death, one would sup­pose they consider, as some moralists do, is a cure for all the evils we bring upon our­selves; and that nature is tired of suffering us to be for ever miserable.

FASHION, it must be granted, flourishes too much in human affairs; and fashion prevails to an extreme in the healing art. If a duke, a lord, or any man of fashion em­ploys a physician, his tradesmen must ape their manners, and do the same. If a phy­sician, let his ignorance of his profession be ever so great, can afford to keep up the formality of an equipage, and suitable de­corations, [Page 44]he is sought after, and feed, while men of the greatest abilities and learning are suffered to walk the streets un­heededly. And if a title is conferred upon them, they arrive at the summit of the hill, from whence they can survey the folly and vanity of mankind. They are then in a too elevated situation to be opposed or questioned by itinerant physicians. They arrive at the ne plus ultra, and must be obeyed; and can, with the language of a dictator, say, like Caesar, ‘"Leges respon­desset, multas et praeclaras tulesse."’

WE need not wonder that diseases as­sume a variety of appearances in different persons, no more than we wonder at seeing different conformations of the body and the face in men and women. We might as well wonder, that in habits of severe ex­ercise, that the sweat appears first of all [Page 45]on the forehead. If two young men, who live precisely alike, either in abstinence, or in hard drinking, or in debauchery of all kinds, entail upon themselves diseases, one would suppose that their respective com­plaints might resemble, in appearance, each other; but it is a hundred to one if they do; for the more athletic may expe­rience severe nervous feelings, while the more feeble is hurried off in a putrid fever. The same is the case with the fair sex; and the parallel holds good. The one is pre­cipitated into convulsions, when the other is labouring under a disease diametrically opposite in appearance. Appearances of diseases are nothing, the causes of diseases are the only requisites in the hands of a skilful and discerning physician; and when the causes are before him, if he unites phi­losophy with experience, the cure is near at hand in all human diseases.

THE method of restoring the King to his accustomed mental and bodily vigour, is, in my humble opinion, obvious. He ought to be indulged in every rational propensity which is agreeable to his mind. His illus­trious consort and family ought to have ac­cess to him at all times. He should never be contradicted, nor thwarted in any thing that he can request, either in food or drink, unless he calls for vegetable food, and what are called diluting liquors. He should now indulge in animal food, and a proper quan­tity of wine. Music, provided it is not too loud, will be of great service in the re-establishment of his health. He should refrain from all kind of study and busi­ness, unless it is of an agreeable nature. He should avoid going out into the air, until the complaint leaves him entirely, otherwise the smallest chilliness in the air [Page 47]will convey it into the head. ^* His body ought therefore to be kept very warm with flannel cloaths. Soups are very pro­per. The soups he takes ought to be made very rich of animal food, but much condi­ment [Page 48]is not necessary in these preparations. His requests ought to be implicitly ob­served. ‘"FOR the requests of kings," says Grotius, "have the same power as commands; and a denial, how just so­ever, shall be by them as ill digested as an injury."’ It was therefore a most cruel act in those who attended his Majesty, when he saw through his window some of the princesses walk in the garden, to de­prive him of the pleasure and satisfaction of speaking to his beloved children. I have often, in this work, endeavoured to impress upon the minds of my readers, the extreme cruelty of depriving of mankind of their usual comforts and consolations in some [Page 49]nervous complaints. And what pleasure in nature is there equal to the seeing, even in a state of health, much more in a state of disease, of those we are by nature, as well as by habits of mutual love and in­tercourse, to cherish and to admire.

ANOTHER solacement to the mind of the King, is to be derived from reading to him, at proper seasons, those books which used to afford him pleasure when he was in a state of health.

DR. WILLIS appears, from his exami­nation before the House of Commons, to be a very sensible and discerning physician, and speaks of the causes which produce his Majesty's illness with perfect distinctness; such as weighty business, severe exercise, extreme abstemiousness, little rest, &c. These causes, of themselves, are sufficient [Page 50]to produce a nervous fever, without the co-operation of other powers, tending to produce the same effect; such as bleeding, blistering, the debilitating operation of James's powders, and other medical pre­scriptions of the same nature. It appears, however, that the medicines given to his Majesty since Dr. Willis has been called in, have been attended with beneficial conse­quences: And I am naturally led to sup­pose, from the advantages which have hitherto resulted from them, that they must have partaken of opium, which, if administered with judgment and caution, and supported in their efficacy by invigo­rating food, and proper vinous cordials, are qualified to produce the most happy consequences. The very reverse is the case with this medicine when injudiciously made use of, which very often happens.

I BEG leave to submit one more thought upon this subject. It appears that his Majesty had experienced considerable relief, during the progress of his illness, in using the warm bath; and I can venture to speak with certainty, that the effects of the warm bath are prodigiously increased, by being impregnated with the Peruvian bark, and aromatic herbs of all sorts. The only in­dication of cure is therefore to invigorate, by all possible means, the body, and to af­ford every consolation to the mind. This plan ought to be studied with much assi­duity by those who attend his Majesty. For whatever produces an encrease of bo­dily relaxation, will, to a certainty, bring on a renewal of his disease.