THE truly generous, noble, and indefatigable Spirit you have exerted on the Behalf of the Com­monwealth, during your sitting in Parliament, has drawn upon you the Trouble of this Application. You have shewn, not only Inclination, but Ability to do real Service to your Country, by promoting and car­rying on several Bills, which will greatly contribute to the publick Good, [Page 4]and transmit your Name with Ho­nour to Posterity. You are a true Patriot, in the purest Sense of the Word; and, as such, I don't doubt, but you will think the following Pages highly worthy of your serious Con­sideration; and if you find any Hint in them fair, reasonable, and cal­culated for the Interest of your Fel­low-subjects, you will gladly improve it, and readily concur in building upon it such an wholsome Law as may redress the Grievance complained of. I think it will be easily granted, that the Health of the Body is full as valuable as the Property of Estates. How difficult would it be for any Per­son to believe, that our Legislature is of that Opinion, who should observe, that there are so many good Laws en­acted by every Parliament for the De­fence [Page 5]of the one, and scarce ever any Care taken of the Preservation of the other? Indeed, within a long Series of Years, the Parliament has been most graciously pleased to cast an Eye towards the Health of the People, by an Act impowering Physicians to in­spect Apothecaries Shops; by an Act for preventing the Retailing spirituous Liquors; and by an Act for the Encouragement of the Publication of Mrs. Stephens's Remedies. However, these Instances, few as they are, prove, that the Honourable House does not think the Health of the Nation intirely below their Care and Consi­deration; and therefore we ought to suppose, that the Reason why Acts of Parliament for the like good Purposes are not more frequent, is, that the House is not applied to on such Sub­jects [Page 6]in a proper manner; that the Grievances the People labour under are not fairly and plainly laid before the Members, or practical Methods of Redress are not pointed out.

The Health of a People can only be preserved by all the wholsome Laws the Wisdom of a Legislature can contrive, to prevent Luxury, De­bauchery, and every kind of Immora­lity, which infallibly produce Diseases, or by frequent Inspections into the State of Physick in their Country, be­cause Abuses will daily creep into every Society, or Set of Men, who find themselves under no Restraint, from any Apprehensions of being called to an Account for their Method of treat­ing Mankind, in their most moment­ous Concernments. Tho' the first [Page 7]Part of this general Plan is highly worth your Consideration, yet I shall beg Leave to say a few Words to you in regard to the latter only.

The Reformation of the State of Physick in general is greatly wanting in this Nation, and, I believe, most warmly wished by every honest Man, even of the Faculty itself. But tho' general Reformations may be as dif­ficult as they are desireable, yet some crying Enormities may themselves point out the Method of their own Redress.

If we consider the publick Hu­mour of the good People of England for these last Twenty Years, one should be apt to conclude, that certain odd Conjunctions of the heavenly Bodies [Page 8]brought on epidemical Follies, as well as Diseases. How have Shakespeare, Johnson, Otway, and all the Plays capable of delighting the Mind, in­structing the Head, or mending the Heart, been totally neglected, or cold­ly received, while dear Harlequin! charming Devil! has filled all our Affections, triumphed over our Judg­ments, and emptied our Pockets! During an Aera like this, when such crowded Audiences, composed of the great Vulgar and the small, gave such plain Demonstrations of their polite Taste, and profound Wisdom, is it to be wonder'd, that there should appear, from the malign Influences of the same Stars, Marks of an epi­demical Madness in other Parts of the Town, as well as in the Theatre? No; Dr. Faustus will have the Ho­nour [Page 9]to be handed down to Posterity as the illustrious Contemporary of a Mapp, a Taylor, and a Ward. The Historian of our Days will be able to inform his Readers, that the Infatu­ation was so general, that Freind, Mead, and Pellet, were as much eclipsed by this bright Constellation, as Shake­speare then was by a more happy Genius; a Gentleman, who, with surprizing Activity, could turn him­self into all Shapes, and appear to be any Animal but what he really was. Such are the irresistible Charms of Delusion! Such the Happiness of be­ing deceived, that all our Applauses rise in Proportion to the Artfulness of the Imposition, and the Difficulty of discovering the Cheat!

Let Mrs. Mapp's Bones rest in Peace, tho' she tortur'd so many in the Days of her Fame.

Let the dexterous Dr. Taylor be able to purge the visual Ray of our neighbour Nations, that they may see their true Interest to consist in treat­ing Great-Britain with Honour and Respect.

Mr. Ward is the only medicinal Meteor which yet continues to shine amongst us, whose Fame has raised him to the highest Degree of Esteem and Admiration with the Gay and the Polite, on whose Authority and Judgment Thousands, and Tens of Thousands, of the lower Part of Man­kind, swallow his Medicines with im­plicit Faith, and are said thereby to [Page 11]receive most wonderful Cures, in al­most incurable Distempers. The In­fluence of this Gentleman's Reputa­tion being now become so very exten­sive, his Manner of practising Physick cannot be thought a Subject unwor­thy the Notice and Consideration of the Legislature. I am sure, Sir, you will afford it your Attention, for a few Minutes, as it is of Importance to the Service of the Publick, to which I well know how much every Mo­ment of your Time is dedicated.

I shall by no means take upon me to determine, whether the numberless Deaths laid to this Gentleman's Charge by his Opposers, or the unparallel'd Cures he is said to have performed by his Admirers, come nearest the Truth. What he owns himself, and what all [Page 12]his Friends allow, may, I hope, be taken for granted. He confesses, with great Candour, that he is wholly ig­norant of the History and Nature of Diseases; that he understands nothing of Anatomy, or the animal Oecono­my; and that he only pretends to some Knowledge in Chymistry, by which Art he has discovered a few Medicines, of greater Efficacy in parti­cular Cases, than those in common Use among regular Physicians. Suppose then, that what this Gentleman asserts is true, and that he has such powerful chymical Secrets in his Possession; must they not be capable of doing as much Harm, when ignorantly and promiscuously administered, as they would be of doing Good in the Hands of a Person duly qualified to know in what Cases, how, and when, properly [Page 13]to apply them? Will that noble chri­stian Charity, which from this Gentle­man's known moral Character cannot but be believed to be the sole Motive of his great Bounty to the Crowds of poor People who daily attend him, make amends for his dealing out these powerful Medicines so indiscriminate­ly to all who shall pay him the Com­pliment of being willing to swallow them? Do the Multitude of Patients whom he never saw before, or will see afterwards, want no Attendance during the violent Operation of their Physick? No Person acquainted with the Nature of their Medicines, to re­lieve or correct any Accidents, which so often attend the most common and gentle Remedies? Surely it must ap­pear, to every unprejudiced Person, that the most useful Drugs, under [Page 14]such Management, must be a sore Evil, and therefore that nothing can be more uncharitable, than thus to de­ceive and hurt a Multitude under the specious Pretence of Charity? But however faulty this Gentleman's Me­thod of Practice may be, yet his Me­dicines may in themselves, and under proper Direction, be extremely valuable. Let us grant, that they are so; Is it not then incumbent on those who have the Good of the People at Heart, to endeavour to render these valuable Secrets a publick Benefit, which, un­der their present Circumstances, are so great a Calamity? Every Man ought to be rewarded for his Discovery of any thing that may be beneficial to Society. Mr. Ward should not be desired to part with his Property (and his Nostrums are undoubtedly [Page 15]such) without a reasonable Equivalent. The Parliament of Great-Britain is able to grant him this Equivalent, and they have a Right to demand the Knowledge of his Secrets on just and equitable Terms. An Englishman, who possesses a Piece of Ground which interrupts the making a River navi­gable, is obliged to part with his Pro­perty for the Good of the Commu­nity: Surely Mr. Ward's Property in his Secrets is not more inviolable, than what every Man has in his own Land; and therefore it cannot be looked upon as any Hardship, if he should be forced to part with them on like Conditions. Should such a Demand be made upon him by Parliament; should the Reward appointed be ob­ [...]ainable only by the Proof, before competent Judges, of his Medicines, [Page 16]when divulged, performing the same Cures on fair Subjects, which they are now said to do on his private Pa­tients; and should he refuse to stand that only Test, what could be con­cluded from such a Refusal, but that he did not believe in his own Con­science, that they would perform what he and his Friends do now per­suade the World to believe that they will do? Would not such a Refusal be a just and equitable Ground for the Parliament to forbid his farther dealing out these Medicines, (of which they would have Reason to believe that he had himself no Opinion) and by a wholsome Law, to prevent hi [...] Majesty's Subjects from being any longer cheated of their Money, if no [...] robb'd of their Lives. But as thi [...] Gentleman's great Cures are so wel [...] [Page 17]attested by many Persons of Fashion, whose Knowledge in such Matters cannot be disputed, I have no Reason to fear, that he would at all suspect the Efficacy of his Medicines, in all the desperate Cases, which he now so confidently undertakes. He will there­fore undoubtedly submit them to an impartial Trial with the greatest Chearfulness, especially as he will, over and above the Reward appointed by Parliament, be sure of gratifying his most charitable Disposition in the Satisfaction of knowing, that, whereas before only some Thousands of his Countrymen enjoyed the Fruits of his Labours, then he will become a ge­neral Good to Mankind. The ho­nourable Gentlemen who now talk of his Medicines as divine, and of his Cures as little less than miraculous, [Page 18]will all most heartily join in promoting this Publication; they will congratu­late their Country on the inestimable Possession of these Secrets, which, but for the Care of our Legislature, might have slept in the single Breast of their Author, and have been buried with him in Oblivion, to the irreparable Loss of all future Ages!

As the Number of Inhabitants is the Riches of a Nation, while so many brave Men are losing their Lives abroad in the Service of their Coun­try, let us not suffer those who remain at home to be daily thinned, either by the improper Application of Mr. Ward's Medicines, under his present Administration of them, or for want of their being made more universally useful by a speedy Publication.

The Gin Act is a glorious Instance of the tender Care of our Parliament for the Lives and Healths of our Peo­ple, to whom that pernicious Liquor was promiscuously, and sometimes charitably, retailed, by such who pre­ferred their own wicked Gains to the Welfare of all human Creatures.

Mrs. Stephens's Act is a plain Proof of the true Sense your honourable House has of the great Benefit of making any useful Discoveries in Phy­sick; and it is likewise a proper Pre­cedent of the Manner in which such Publications should be made, and of [...]he Tests and Trials such discovered Medicines must undergo in order to [...]ntitle their Authors to their due Re­ward. What may be a reasonable Sa­ [...]sfaction for Mr. Ward's doing this [Page 20]signal Service to his Country, I cannot guess at. If his Medicines will per­form the Cures openly and fairly, which are now attributed to them, I think the Parliament cannot pay too much for the Knowledge of them, or Mr. Ward receive too great Honours from a grateful People. But should this Gen­tleman be so blind to his own Interest as to refuse to become this publick Blessing, on any Terms, can he expect to enjoy the warm Affections of hi [...] Countrymen, to whom he will appea [...] so charitable, and so hard-hearted, a [...] the same time? Should he refuse t [...] comply with the generous Desire [...] the Parliament, could he complain [...] they should exert their just Authorit [...] ▪ If he refuses to save Millions, he ca [...] not surely think himself ill-treated [...] the Guardians of the Publick, if [...] [Page 21]should be forbid to destroy even his Thousands!

But to You, Sir, I humbly submit the Consideration of this important Point; I call it important; and what concerns the Lives of so many of the Innocent, and the Ignorant, deserves to be so called. I speak as a Friend to Mr. Ward, as well as to my Country. I propose a Method, by which, instead of being the Idol of a Few, he shall become the Darling of a whole People! by which he shall remove that huge Load of Scandal, which now lies upon him, to the great Chagrin of his Enemies, who shall pine with Envy at the Brightness of his Glory. The black List of his private Murders, which is now maliciously handed about by Physicians, and their Emissaries, [Page 22]shall whiten into a pompous Register of publick Cures, performed by his Medicines, on the miserable Objects, who had been delivered over to the iron Jaws of Death, by the Ignorance or Indolence of those Doctors, falsely so called, who have had no Oppor­tunity of understanding Physick, but their having been bred to the Profes­sion. By this means this worthy Gen­tleman shall be freed from that La­bour and Toil with which he now serves his Country in his private Ca­pacity. He shall do even more Good, and yet, as is most meet and fit, he shall be able to retire from the World, full of Days and Honours; he shall spend the few last Years he has to come in Dignity and Ease, enjoying the calm Evening of a well-spent Life, conversing with Nature in the most endearing Inti­macy, [Page 23]to which he has arrived by tor­turing her ten thousand Ways, till he made her confess those very Secrets, which he has now communicated for the publick Good, and which shall draw down Blessings on him, and his Posterity, through all future Ages.

I beg therefore, Sir, for my Sake, as your Fellow-Citizen; for Mr. Ward's Sake, who can do us all so much Service; and for your Country's Sake, whose Interest you have so sin­cerely and warmly at Heart, that you will think seriously on this Matter. What you see to be right, I know you will vigorously pursue; and to your good Conduct the Whole is submitted, by, Sir,