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ARBUTHNOT, JOHN, M. D. one
of the constellation of wits in the reign of queen Anne, and
the most learned man of the whole body, was the son of a Scottish
clergyman, who bore a near relationship to the noble family of this name
and title. He was born at Arbuthnot in Kincardineshire, soon after the
Restoration, and received his education at the University of Aberdeen,
where he took the degree of M.D. The father of Arbuthnot was one of those
members of the church of Scotland, who, not being able to comply with the
presbyterian system introduced at the Revolution, were obliged to resign
their charges. He retired to a small estate, which he possessed by
inheritance; while his sons, finding their prospects blighted in their own
country, were under the necessity of going abroad to seek their fortune.
John carried his jacobitism, his talents, and his knowledge of physic, to
London, where he at first subsisted as a teacher of mathematics. His first
literary effort bore a reference to this science: it was an
"Examination of Dr Woodward’s Account of the Deluge," a work
which had been published in 1695, and which, in Dr Arbuthnot’s
estimation, was irreconcilable with just philosophical principles. This
publication, which appeared in 1697, laid the foundation of the author’s
literary reputation, which not long after received a large and deserved
increase by his "Essay on the usefulness of Mathematical
Learning." The favour which he acquired by these publications, as
well as by his agreeable manners and learned conversation, by degrees
introduced him into practice as a physician. Being at Epsom, when Prince
George of Denmark was suddenly taken ill, he was called in, and had the
good fortune to effect a cure. The Prince immediately became his patron,
and, in 1709, he was appointed fourth physician in ordinary to the queen,
(prince George’s royal consort,) in which situation he continued till
her majesty’s death in 1714. In 1704, Dr Arbuthnot had been elected a
member of the Royal Society, in consequence of his communicating to that
body a most ingenious paper on the equality of the numbers of the sexes; a
fact which he proved by tables of births from 1629, and from which he
deduced the reasonable inference that polygamy is a violation of the laws
of nature. In 1710, he was elected a member of the Royal College of
Physicians.
This was the happy period
of Dr Arbuthnot’s life. Tory principles and tory ministers were now
triumphant; he was in enjoyment of a high reputation, of a lucrative
practice, and a most honourable preferment. He also lived in constant
intercourse with a set of literary men, almost the greatest who had ever
flourished in England, and all of whom were of his own way of thinking in
regard to politics. This circle included Pope, Swift, Gray, and Prior. In
1714, he engaged with Pope and Swift, in a design to write a satire on the
abuse of human learning in every branch, which was to have been executed
in the humorous manner of Cervantes, the original inventor of this species
of satire, under the history or feigned adventures. But the prosecution of
this design was prevented by the queen’s death, which lost Arbuthnot his
situation, and proved a death-blow to all the political friends of the
associated wits. In the dejection which befell them, they never went
farther than an essay, chiefly written by Arbuthnot, under the title of
the First Book of the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus. "Polite
letters," says Warburton in his edition of Pope’s works,
"never lost more than in the defeat of this scheme; in the execution
of which, each of this illustrious triumvirate would have found exercise
for his own particular talents; besides constant employment for those
which they all had in common. Dr Arbuthnot was skilled in every
thing which related to science; Mr Pope was a master in the fine arts; and
Dr Swift excelled in a knowledge of the world. Wit they had in equal
measure; and this so large, that no age perhaps ever produced three men to
whom Nature had more bountifully bestowed it, or Art had brought it to
higher perfection." We are told by the same writer that the Travels
of Gulliver and the Memoirs of a Parish Clerk were at first intended as a
branch of the Memoirs of Scriblerus. In opposition to what Warburton says
of the design, we may present what Johnson says of the execution.
"These memoirs," says the doctor, in his life of Pope,
"extend only to the first part of a work projected in concert by
Pope, Swift, and Arbuthnot. Their purpose was to censure the abuses of
learning by a fictitious life of an infatuated scholar. They were
dispersed; this design never was completed; and Warburton laments its
miscarriage, as an event very disastrous to polite letters. If the whole
may be estimated by this specimen which seems to be the production of
Arbuthnot, with a few touches by Pope, this want of more will not be much
lamented; for the follies which the writer ridicules are so little
practised, that they are not known; nor can the satire be understood but
by the learned. He raises phantoms of absurdity, and then drives them
away. He cures diseases that were never felt. For this reason, this joint
production of three great writers has never attained any notice from
mankind." With the opinion of Dr Johnson we entirely coincide so far
as the Scriblerus is concerned; but we think that Arbuthnot was
unfortunate in the part of the design which he selected and that in
satirising more pa1pible follies, he might have been more successful. The
success of Swift, in ridiculing mankind in general in his Gulliver is
surely a sufficient reason, if no other existed, for the lamentation of
Warburton.
At the death of the Queen,
when it pleased the new government to change all the attendants of the
court, the immortal suffered with the mortal. Arbuthnot, displaced from
his apartments at St James’s, took a house in Dover-street remarking
philosophically to Swift, that he "hoped still to be able to keep a
little habitation warm in town." His circumstances were never so
prosperous or agreeable after this period. With the world at large success
makes merit—and the want of it the reverse—and it is perhaps
impossible for human nature to think so highly of a man who has been
improperly deprived of some external mark of distinction and honour, as of
him who wears it without so much desert. The wit, left to his own
resources and with a rising family to support, seems to have now lived in
some little embarrassment.
In 1717, Arbuthnot, along
with Pope, gave assistance to Gay, in a farce entitled, "Three Hours
after Marriage," which, strange to say, was condemned the first
night. A rival wit wrote upon this subject:-
"Such were the wags who
boldly did adventure
To club a farce by tripartite adventure;
But let them share their dividend of praise,
And wear their own fool’s cap instead of bays."
The failure is easily
explained, and the explanation partly involves Arbuthnot’s character as
a literary wit. The satire of the principal character was too confined,
too extravagant, and too unintelligible to a general auditory to meet with
success on the stage. It would thus appear that Arbuthnot, like many other
similar men, had too refined a style of wit in his writings—not that
broad, open, palpable humour which flashes at once upon the conceptions of
all men, but something too rich and rare to be generally appreciated. His
learning led his mind to objects not generally understood or known; and,
therefore, when he wrote, he was apt to excite the sympathies of only a
very limited class.
In 1722, Dr Arbuthnot found
it necessary for his health to indulge in a visit to Bath. He was
accompanied on this occasion by a brother, who was a banker at Paris, and
whose extraordinary character called forth the following striking
description from Pope: "The spirit of philanthropy, so long dead to
our world, seems revived in him: he is a philosopher all fire; so warmly,
nay so wildly, in the right, that he forces all others about him to be so
too, and draws them into his own vortex. He is a star that looks as if it
were all on fire, but is all benignity, all gentle and beneficial
influence. If there be other men in the world that would serve a friend,
yet he is the only one I believe that could make even an enemy serve a
friend." About this time, the Doctor thus described himself in a
letter to Swift: "As for your humble servant, with a great stone in
his right kidney, and a family of men and women to provide for, he is as
cheerful in public affairs as ever."
Arbuthnot, in 1723, was
chosen second censor of the Royal College of Physicians; in 1727, he was
made an Elect, and had the honour to pronounce the Harveian oration for
the year. In 1727, also appeared his great and learned work entitled,
"Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights, and Measures, explained and
exemplified in several Dissertations." He continued to practice
physic with good reputation, and diverted his leisure hours by writing
papers of wit and humour. Among these may be mentioned one, which appeared
in 1731, in the shape of an epitaph upon the infamous colonel Charteris,
and which we shall present in this place as perhaps the most favourable
specimen of Dr Arbuthnot’s peculiar vein of talent:—
"Here continueth to
rot the body of Francis Charteris, who, with an inflexible constancy, and
inimitable uniformity of life, persisted, in spite of age and infirmities,
in the practice of every human vice; excepting prodigality and hypocrisy;
his insatiable avarice exempted him from the first, his matchless
impudence from the second. Nor was he more singular in the undeviating
pravity of his manners, than successful in accumulating wealth; for,
without trade or profession, without trust of public money, and without
bribe-worthy service, he acquired, or more properly created, a ministerial
estate. He was the only person of his time, who could cheat with the mask
of honesty, retain his primeval meanness when possessed of ten thousand a
year, and, having daily deserved the gibbet for what he did, was at last
condemned to it for what he could not do.—Oh! indignant reader! Think
not his life useless to mankind! Providence connived at his execrable
designs, to give to after ages a conspicuous proof and example of how
small estimation is exorbitant wealth in the sight of God, by his
bestowing it on the most unworthy of all mortals." [This paragon of
wickedness, who was a native of Scotland, is thus described by Pope, but,
we believe, as in the epitaph itself, with much exaggeration.
"Francis Charteris, a man infamous for all vices. When he was an
ensign in the army, he was drummed out of the regiment for a cheat; he was
banished Brussels, and turned out of Ghent on the same account. After a
hundred tricks at the gaming-tables, he took to lending of money, at
exorbitant interest, and on great penalties, accumulating premium,
interest and capital into a new capital, and seizing to a minute when the
payment became due; in a word, by a constant attention to the vices,
wants, and follies of mankind, he acquired an immense fortune. * * * He
was twice condemned for rapes and pardoned, but the last time not without
imprisonment in Newgate, and large confiscations. He died in Scotland, in
1731, aged 62. The populace, at his funeral, raised a great riot, almost
tore the body out of the coffin, and cast dead dogs, &c. into the
grave along with it." We may add, that the mourners had to defend
themselves from the mob with their swords. See Traditions of Edinburgh.
One remarkable feature of Charteris’ character is not generally known:
though a bully and a coward, he had his fighting days; he would suffer
himself to be kicked for refusing a challenge one day, and the next would
accept another and kill his man.]
Arbuthnot, about this time,
wrote a very entertaining paper on the "Altercations or Scolding of
the Ancients." In 1732, he contributed towards detecting and
punishing the scandalous frauds and abuses that had been carried on under
the specious name of "The Charitable Corporation." In the same
year, he published his "Treatise on the Nature and Choice of
Ailments," which was followed, in 1733, by his "Essay on the
Effects of Air on Human Bodies." He is thought to have been led to
these subjects by the consideration of his own case; an asthma, which,
gradually increasing with his years, became at length desperate and
incurable. A little before his last publication, he had met with a severe
domestic affliction in the loss of his son, Charles, "whose
life," he says in a letter to Swift, "if it had so pleased God,
he would willingly have redeemed with his own." He now retired, in a
state of great debility to Hampstead; from whence, in a letter to Pope,
July 17th, 1734, he gives the following philosophic, and we may add,
touching, account of his condition:
"I have little doubt
of your concern for me, nor of that of the lady you mention. I have
nothing to repay my friends with at present, but prayers and good wishes.
I have the satisfaction to find that I am as officiously served by my
friends, as he that has thousands to leave in legacies; besides the
assurance of their sincerity. God Almighty had made my distress as easy as
a thing of that nature can be. I have found some relief, at least
sometimes, from the air of this place. My nights are bad, but many poor
creatures have worse.
"As for you my good
friend I think since our first acquaintance, there have not been any of
those little suspicions or jealousies that often affect the sincerest
friendships; I am sure not on my side. I must be so sincere as to own
that, though I could not help valuing you for those talents which the
world prizes, yet they were not the foundation of my friendship, they were
quite of another sort; nor shall I at present offend you by enumerating
them; and I make it my last request, that you will continue that noble
disdain and abhorrence of vice, which you seem naturally endowed with, but
still with a due regard to your own safety; and study more to reform than
to chastise, though the one cannot be effected without the other.
"Lord Bathurst I have
always honoured, for every good quality that a person of his rank ought to
have: pray, give my respects and kindest wishes to the family. My venison
stomach is gone, but I have those about me, and often with me, who will be
very glad of his present. If it is left at any house, it will be
transmitted safe to me.
"A recovery in my
case, and at my age, is impossible; the kindest wish of my friends is euthanasia.
Living or dying, I shall always be,—Yours, &c."
In a letter about the same
time to Swift, he says he came to Hampstead, not for life, but for ease.
That he had gained in a slight degree from riding; but he was "not in
circumstances to live an idle country life;" and he expected a
return of the disorder in full force on his return in winter to
London. He adds, "I am at present in the case of a man that was
almost in harbour, but was again blown back to sea; who has a reasonable
hope of going to a good place, and an absolute certainty of leaving a very
bad one. Not that I have any particular disgust at the world, for I have
as great comfort in my own family, and from the kindness of my friends, as
any man; but the world in the main displeaseth me; and I have too true a
presentiment of calamities that are like to befall my country. However, if
I should have the happiness to see you before I die, you will find that I
enjoy the comforts of life with my usual cheerfulness. * * * My
family give you their love and service. The great loss I sustained in one
of them gave me my first shock; and the trouble I have with the rest, to
bring them to a good temper, to bear the loss of a father who loves them,
and whom they love, is really a most sensible affliction to me. I am
afraid, my dear friend, we shall never see one another more in this world.
I shall, to the last moment, preserve my love and esteem for you, being
well assured that you will never leave the paths of virtue and honour for
all that is in the world. This world is not worth the least deviation from
that way," &c. In such a strain did this truly good man discourse
of his own certain and immediate death, which accordingly took place,
February, 1735, in his house, Cork-street, Burlington Gardens, to which he
had returned from Hampstead at the approach of winter.
Arbuthnot’s character was
given by his friend Swift in one dash: "he has more wit than we all
have, and more humanity than wit." "Arbuthnot," says Dr
Johnson in his life of Pope, "was a man of great comprehension,
skilful in his profession, versed in the sciences, acquainted with ancient
literature, and able to animate his mass of knowledge by a bright and
active imagination; a scholar with great brilliancy of wit; a wit, who, in
the crowd of life, retained and discovered a noble ardour of religious
zeal." Lord Orrery has thus entered more minutely into his character.
"Although he was justly celebrated for wit and learning, there was an
excellence in his character more amiable than all his other
qualifications, I mean the excellence of his heart. He has shown himself
equal to any of his contemporaries in wit and vivacity, and he was
superior to most men in acts of humanity and benevolence. His very
sarcasms are the satirical strokes of good nature: they are like slaps in
the face, given in jest, the effects of which may raise blushes, but no
blackness will appear after the blow. He laughs as jovially as an
attendant upon Bacchus, but continues as sober and considerate as a
disciple of Socrates. He is seldom serious except in his attacks upon
vice; and then his spirit rises with a manly strength, and a
noble indignation. His epitaph upon Charteris (allowing one small
alteration, the word permitted, instead of connived at,) is
a complete and a masterly composition in its kind. No man exceeded him in
the moral duties of life; a merit still more to his honour, as the
ambitious powers of wit and genius are seldom submissive enough to confine
themselves within the limitations of morality. In his letter to Mr Pope,
written as it were upon his death-bed, he discovers such a noble fortitude
of mind at the approach of his dissolution, as could be inspired only by a
clear conscience, and the calm retrospect of an uninterrupted series of
virtue. The Dean (Swift) laments the loss of him with a pathetic
sincerity. ‘‘The deaths of Mr Gay and Doctor," says he to Mr
Pope, "have been terrible wounds near my heart. Their living would
have been a great comfort to me, although I should never have seen them:
like a sum of money in a bank, from which I should receive at least annual
interest, as I do from you, and have done from Lord Bolingbroke."
The wit, to which Swift’s
was only allowed the second place, was accompanied by a guileless heart,
and the most perfect simplicity of character. It is related of its
possessor, that he used to write a humourous account of almost every
remarkable event which fell under his observation, in a folio book, which
lay in his parlour; but so careless was he about his writings after he was
done with them, that, while he was writing towards one end of this work,
he would permit his children to tear out the leaves from the other, for
their paper kites. This carelessness has prevented many of the works of Dr
Arbuthnot from being preserved, and no correct list has ever been given. A
publication in two volumes, 8vo, at Glasgow, in 1751, professing to be his
"Miscellaneous Works," was said by his son to consist chiefly of
the compositions of other people. He was so much in the habit of writing
occasional pieces anonymously, that many fugitive articles were
erroneously attributed to him: he was at first supposed to be the author
of Robinson Crusoe. He scarcely ever spoke of his writings, or seemed to
take the least interest in them. He was also somewhat indolent. Swift said
of him, that he seemed at first sight to have no fault, but that he could
not walk. In addition to this, he had too much simplicity and worth to
profit by the expedients of life: in Swift’s words,
"He knew his art, but
not his trade."
Swift also must be considered as
insinuating a certain levity of feeling, with all his goodness, when he
says, in anticipation of his own death,
"Poor Pope will grieve
a month, and Gay
A week, and Arbuthnot a day!"
Though the habitual cheerfulness of his
disposition may have been all that the poet had in his eye. The only other
work ascertained as Arbuthnot’s, besides those mentioned, is the
celebrated History of John Bull, a political allegory, which has had many
imitations, but no equal. He also attempted poetry, though without any
particular effort. A philosophical poem of his composition, entitled
"Know Yourself" is printed in Dodsley’s Miscellanies. He left
a son, George, who was an executor in Pope’s will, and who died in the
enjoyment of a lucrative situation in the Exchequer office towards the end
of the last century; and a daughter, Anne, who was honoured with a legacy
by Pope. His second son, Charles, who died before himself, had been
educated in Christ church college, Oxford, and entered into holy orders.
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