(Good Gravity!. forbear thy spleen, To pass unquestion'd in the crowd, Not such as those, who physic twirl, (40 45 50. 54] Joshua Ward was one of the younger sons of au ancient and respectable family, long settled at Guisborough in Yorkshire. Though possessed of strong natural sense, it had not been improved by education; his first outset in life appears to have been in trade, in partnership with his brother William, as dry-salters, in Thames Street. In this business, notwithstanding a dreadful fire which consumed their warehouses, he must have met with considerable success, as in 1717, we find him returned member for Marlborough, though by a vote of the house, dated May 13, 1718, he was declared to be not duly elected. There is reason to believe he was in some measure connected in business with his brother John Ward of Hackney, M.P. who having been convicted of forgery and of secreting the property of Sir John Blunt, a South Sea Director, was first expelled the house, and in pursuance of a sentence of the Court of King's Bench stood in the pillory. on the 17th of February, 1727, alluded to by Pope in the Dunciad, " as thick as eggs at Ward in pillory," and who Before they can obtain their ends, Must pass (or laws their rage restrain) 55 60 success. again in the Moral Essays is classed with "Waters Chartres and the Devil." Joshua Ward soon after fled from England, resided some years abroad, and was generally supposed to have embraced the Roman Catholic religion. While he remained in exile, he acquired that knowledge of medicine and chemistry, which afterwards was the means of raising him to a state of affluence. About the year 1733, he began to practise physic, and had to contend with all the efforts of wit, learning, argument, ridicule, malice, and jealousy, united in every shape that can be suggested, to oppose his At length, by some fortunate cures, he triumphed over his opponents, and was suffered to practise undisturbed. From this time his reputation was established, he was exempted by an express vote of the House of Commons, from being visited by the censors of the College of Physicians; and was called in to the assistance of King George the Second, whose hand he cured, and received as a reward, a commission for his nephew, General Gansel. The king was so highly satisfied with his conduct, that he gave him a suite of apartments at Whitehall for his residence, that he might always be near the royal person in case of need. Dr. Ward, with a degree of compassion and liberality rarely then met with among the regularly bred practitioners who still affected to despise him as an empiric, afforded advice and medicines to the poor, at his house, gratis; he was also by no means sparing of pecuniary relief, while his charitable donations were numerous and judiciously applied, for under a rough exterior, he possessed much real benevolence. After a continued series of success, and the enjoyment of as great a degree of popularity as any physician had ever attained in this Thrice happy Lane, where, uncontroll'd, Most fit to take, in this bless'd land, The reins which fell from Wyndham's hand, 65 country, he died in 1761, at a very advanced age, and left. the secret of his medicines to Mr. Page, M.P. for Chichester, who bestowed them on two charitable institutions, which have derived considerable advantage from them. Dr. Ward is known in the chemical world as the inventor of an improved process for making sulphureous acid. A masterly full length statue of him, executed by Carlini, an Italian sculptor patronised by the Doctor, is placed in the great room of the Society of Arts, to whom it was presented by the late Ralph Ward, Esq. a collateral descendant. 60] Warwick Lane, Newgate Street, was the seat of the College of Physicians, who, by virtue of their charter, are empowered to examine candidates for, and to confer the privilege of practising in the metropolis and its environs. The following descriptive lines of the building occur in Garth's poem of the Dispensary: There stands a dome majestic to the sight, It has now been converted to a more salutary purpose by becoming a part of Newgate market, and appropriated to the sale of butcher's meat. The College is removed to Pall Mall east, and comprises a very extensive medical library and various collections in anatomy and natural history. For several seasons an annual very agreeable soirée was held in, the great room, and an interesting essay delivered by the learned and accomplished President Sir H. Halford, Bart. Her right, when Reeves and Chauncy's by) One Garth, who err'd in wit and rhyme, And makes it her peculiar care 70 68] Dr. Reeves was a physician of considerable practice in the city. 68] Dr. Chauncy, descended of a good family, and pos sessed of a competent estate, fortunately for himself and perhaps for the public, did not seek practice. He was a blackletter collector, and not over scrupulous in the means of acquiring the objects of his attention; in some instances he was suspected of having secretly injured a valuable book in order that he might become the purchaser of it at an inferior price. It has been said that on being detected once in some such attempt by Mr. Patteson, the celebrated auctioneer, he prevailed upon him not to divulge the transaction, and that a Dr. legacy he left him was the price of his secresy. Chauncy resembled Socrates in but one particular, and that was an unlimited submission to his wife, which the Doctor evinced in more instances than are recorded of the Grecian philosopher. A story is told of him, that at an entertainment given to his friends, having endured the usual torrent of reprehension, he was, in the conclusion of it reproached for his professional incapacity, and total want of patients; upon which Dr. Reeves observed, that the whole company must admit the accusation to be unfounded, as it had been satisfactorily proved that with patience the doctor was abundantly supplied. 70] Sir Samuel Garth, a celebrated poet and physician who flourished in the early part of last century. His benevolent design for establishing a charitable foundation for supplying the poor sick with medicines at prime cost, being warmly opposed by the apothecaries and some of the college, gave rise to that admirable satire the Dispensary. His other original That Schomberg never shall be there. 75 80 poems, particularly Claremont, are above mediocrity, and his translations of Ovid, the classic he most admired, are spirited and faithful. By his exertions the rites of sepulture were bestowed on Dryden, to whom, in politics, he formed a compleat contrast. Dr. Garth was a staunch whig, and attached himself to the great Duke of Marlborough, whom he accompanied in his voluntary exile to Ostend, in the latter years of Queen Anne, when the Tories had obtained the compleat ascendancy. On the accession of King George he was appointed his majesty's physician, and knighted with the Duke of Marlborough's sword. His practice in his profession was very extensive, and his amiable disposition, inflexible integrity, and manly independance, obtained for him the esteem of all parties among his contemporaries. He is said to have possessed a happy talent at repartee, and as a specimen we are told that having once prescribed for the Duke of Marlborough, the Duchess, in her rough manner, observed, "she would be hanged if it did the Duke any good;" upon which the Doctor immediately replied, "then I would by all means recommend his Grace to take it as it cannot fail to be of service to him one way or another." Garth died 18th January, 1718. Being a Whig, he is very slightingly dealt with by Dr. Johnson. 74] Dr. Isaac Schomberg, an eminent and learned physician, the friend of Garrick, who in his dying moments recognized his services, and affectionately hailed him "as last not least in our dear love." Schomberg survived but a short time, dying on 4th March, 1780. |