ARTES
LIBRARY VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TCEBOR
# 1-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM-AMŒE NAN
CIRCUMSPICE
IIMH
The
George E. Wantz
(UM Medicine 1946)
Collection

A PROPER
REPLY
TO THE
SERGEANT SURGEONS
DEFENCE
OF THEIR
CONDUCT
A T
CHELSEA HOSPITAL.
By SAMUEL LEE,
Surgeon to His Majesty's ROYAL HOSPITAL
at Greenwich.
The interested Prevention of a real Remedy partakes no
lefs of Impoſture than the mercenary Impofition of a
pretended one.
See Preface to Narrative.
LONDON:
Printed for W. OWEN, at Homer's Head, near Temple-Bar.
MDCC LIV.

(3)
A PROPER
REPLY
TO THE
Serjeant Surgeons, &c.
M
R. LEE, having abundant reaſon to
complain of the Treatment he had re-
ceived at Chelfea Hofpital, and finding all
private Avenues to Redrefs clofed againſt
him, thought it might not be deemed impertinent to
fubmit a fair and candid Account of the whole Pro-
ceedings to the Judgment of the Public; and appre-
hended himſelf more peculiarly juftified in this Ap-
peal, as the extraordinary Oppofition he met with was
not merely a perfonal Concern, but, in fome meaſure,
affected the Welfare of Mankind in general.-Had the
petty Confideration of an Hofpital Allowance been
the only Point in difpute, he would have fpared his
Opponents and himfelf the Trouble of this public
Conteft, and have fpent his time much more profit-
A 2
ably

(4)
ably in the Courfe of a fuccefsful private Practice; but
when an honeft Propofal for his Majefty's Service, the
Relief of his afflicted Veterans, and the Benefit of the
Revenue is treated as a Chimera, and the Author of it
as an Impoftor, only becauſe it may interfere with the
Intereft and Vanity of fome dignified Profeffors, Silence
would be criminal; and a paffive Acquiefcence under
fuch Calumny would imply as great an Indifference in
Mr. Lee, with regard to his Reputation, as thefe Gen-
tlemen ſeem to have fhewn to theirs in their unwarrant-
able Attack of him.
THIS Motive occafioned the Publication of a Pam-
phlet intitled, A Narrative of fome Proceedings in the
Management of Chelfea Hofpital, as far as relates to the
Appointment and Difmiffion of Samuel Lee, Surgeon.
As this Piece contained a fuccinct and plain Recital of
Facts juftified by the Minutes of the Board, and cor-
roborated by the Teftimony as well as Oaths of nume-
rous living Witneffes, it had the good Fortune to ob-
tain fuch a degree of Credit, as to render the Inno-
cence of Mr. Lee's Oppofers not totally indifputable
even among their beft Friends and greateſt Supporters;
to remove which unfavourable Impreffion no Diligence
was fpared, no Art left unpractifed, every Ear of
Quality was befieged, every Toilet haunted and the
Miſtreſs of it alarmed with fome dreadful Account of
Mr. Lee, while their phyfical Emiffaries were inftruc-
ted to roar out in every Coffee-houfe Impofture, Bri-
bery, Quackery, Perjury, &c. however, this method
of exculpating themfelves not being judged fufficiently
fatisfactory, they found themſelves at length reduced
to the diſagreeable neceffity of expofing themſelves in
Print, and hoped, though unable to confute, they might
at leaft be fuccefsful enough to confound, and imagined
that a lucky Legerdemain of Names, Dates, Affertions, Mif-
reprefentations, Fibs (or to use their own more fignificant
Term

(5)
Term) falfe-Facts, would pafs with the inattentive for
an Anſwer. Accordingly by the united Affiftance of
various medical Committees, and feven months clofe
application, an elaborate Performance makes its Ap-
pearance, mifcalled-The true Account of all the Tranf
actions before the Right Honourable the Lords and other
Commiffioners for the Affairs of Chelfea Hofpital, &c.
fanctified with the authoritative Names of JOHN
RANBY and CÆSAR HAWKINS, Serjeant Surgeons to
his Majefty. It is obfervable, that in whatever low
and infignificant a Light Mr. Lee had been reprefent-
ed by his Adverfaries, that nothing now but thefe chi-
rurgical Generals taking the Field in Perfon is thought
capable of oppofing his Progrefs, and though the lat-
ter of theſe Gentlemen may plead the excufe of having
had but an inconfiderable fhare in thefe Tranfactions,
yet, as he has thought proper to become a Partner in
the Avowal of them, he muft fubmit to the Penalty
which generally attends the Indifcretion of keeping bad
Company.
BUT not to detain the Reader any longer than poffi-
ble upon a Subject which, though it may excite his In-
dignation, will afford him little matter of Entertain-
ment, we fhall proceed in the moft fummary manner,
First, to examine thefe Gentlemen's Account of a Rup-
ture. Secondly, to detect the Infufficiency of what
they would willingly have understood as an Anſwer.
And, Thirdly, recapitulate fome material Facts to
which they have been prudent enough not to attempt
giving any Anfwer at all; in the courfe of which it
will evidently appear, that, how fkilful foever our
Serjeant Surgeons may be in the Anatomy of the Parts
of the Body, they are fomewhat defective in that of
the Powers of the Mind; and that it implies no con-
tradiction to affert, That a very good Surgeon may be a
very bad Author.
THESE

(6)
وو
THESE Gentlemen fet out with informing the Reader,
that" They long befitated whether they ought, or, in-
deed, whether it was worth their while to take any public
Notice of the Charge which had been alledged against them,
hoping that their Characters would fkreen them from Suf
picion, and that Time, who generally does justice to Men,
would prove their Defender. But finding at length
that the former was rather too frail a Security for their
Innocence, and the Verdict of the latter was by no
means in their Favour, it feems they were obliged at
laft to put themſelves on their Defence at the Bar of
the Public, and endeavour, by fome other method,
to obtain that Acquittal which experience had fhewn
neither their CHARACTERS or TIME had been able
to procure them.
HOWEVER general and fuperficial our learned Ser-
jeants Definition of a Rupture may be, yet, for bre
vity's fake, we fhall agree with them,
"That it is
an external Swelling at the bottom of the Belly, eafily to
be felt and feen, occafioned by the Gut or Caul, or both,
forcing their Way, out of their proper Situation within
the Cavity of the Belly, through Openings naturally de-
figned to give Paffage to particular Veffels only, which O-
penings are fo tight and fmall in the right and natural
State of the Body as not to permit the Gut or Caul to pafs
along with thefe Veffels, and it is only from fome acciden-
tal and preternatural dilating of them that the Rupture
proceeds."- To which they ſhould have added, and
that it is only by fuch Applications as have a Power to
contract this preternatural Dilatation that the Cure can
be effected. Now the only effential Queftion in this
Controverfy is, whether Mr. Lee has difcovered any
fuch Means of producing this Effect as were either un-
known or unpractifed by his Brethren of the Profeffion;
to invalidate his Pretenfions to any merit of this fort:
while his Succefs remained doubtful, the Cure of a
Rup-

(7)
Rupture was treated as an Innovation altogether incon-
fiftent with the Tenets of chirurgical Orthodoxy; but
when Facts began to accumulate and come in public
competition with their private Opinions, a new Doc-
trine is to be inculcated, the Difficulty of Cure is to be
exploded, and the Science of the Surgeon is to be fa-
crificed to the Mechanifm of the Trufs-maker; a Ban-
dage is at once inveſted with every miraculous Power
neceffary to this End, and, if you will believe our Ser-
jeant Surgeons, "The Infant, in whom this is fcarce.
to be reckoned as a Diftemper, is easily cured by a Ban-
dage." To thofe " In a growing Age, the Bandage
well fitted and conftantly worn for a proper length of Time
proves a certain and infallible Cure."-In "
In "Grown-up
Perfons, provided the Trufs is early and well fitted, and
the Cure favoured by Reft for a length of Time, the di-
lated Opening is often compleatly strengthened again, and
the Rupture cured."-In " Old Men, the conftant wear-
ing of a good Trufs frees the ruptured Perfons from Pain
and all kind of Danger, and most commonly renders the
Diforder a flight Inconvenience only, and not an Obftacle
to any of the Offices of Life, and fometimes perfectly
Wonderful Effects of Steel and Cotton!
and for the Diſcovery of which the Public will, no
doubt, hold themfelves greatly indebted to theſe Gen-
tlemen; but as Writers, of authority in Surgery,
have generally thought it expedient to bring Argu-
ment and Fact in aid of their Doctrine, it may feem
fomewhat fingular that our dignified Profeffors have
not condefcended to produce one fingle Cafe in Illu-
ftration of their chirurgical Dogma, or given any o-
ther reaſon why a Trufs fhould have this extraordi-
nary Virtue, except that decifive feminine One-BE-
CAUSE IT HAS. But if a Trufs is fuch a Specific, it
may be enquired, why have Infants, and thofe of Qua
lity, been configned over from thefe very Gentlemen
themfelves to the Care of Mr. Lee? was it, becaufe a Rup-
cures.
دو
ture

(8)
ture at that Age was fcarcely to be reckoned a Distemper?
Why have Perfons of a growing age, though attended
by theſe Gentlemen, been kept in Irons from Infancy to
Manhood? Was it, because they had not worn them for a
proper Length of Time to prove a certain and abfolute
Cure? Why are our Armies drained, and Hofpitals
crowded with Soldiers deemed unferviceable by this
Diftemper in their Prime of Life? Is it becaufe the di-
lated Opening is often compleatly strengthened again in a
grown-up Perfon, and the Rupture cured by a Trufs?
Why do our Hofpitals echo with the continual La-
mentations of afflicted Veterans? Is it becaufe in old
Age, the wearing of a good Trufs frees the ruptured
Perfon from Pain and all kind of Danger, and renders
the Distemper no Obftacle to any of the Offices of Life, and
fometimes perfectly cures?
BUT our Serjeants fhould have forefeen, that while
they are enhancing the Efficacy of this Machine, they
are unwarily impeaching their own Integrity; for may
it not furniſh matter of Sufpicion, that the Army
fhould be fuffered to lofe fo many Men, and the Go-
vernment fo much Money on Account of a Diftemper
fo eafily and generally cured? Nay, may not thefe Gen-
tlemen's private Patients begin to think, the conftant
Annuities they are fubjected to by this Complaint ra-
ther the refult of Policy than Neceffity? efpecially
when it is confidered, that our Profeffors have by no
Means rendered their vifitorial Interpofition unneceffa-
ry, but have prudently referved to themſelves, the
well fitting this Inftrument, -the Care of Inflammations
during the wear of it, and the final Decifion of the Cure.
Upon which laft Point, in particular, we are told in
the following myftical Terms, "That Surgeons are
often confulted, but cannot be determined by any Appear-
ance or Examination of the Parts, but must be guided in
their Opinions, by their general Rules from Experience,
and

((9)
and the Circumftance and Hiftory of each particular Cafe;
and that two or three Months at least are neceffary (with
no doubt frequent Vifitations) before they can upon any
juft Foundation conclude the Cure really compleat and per-
fect."
All this! to determine whether a Man's Guts
are actually down, or the Hole big enough for them to
fall through.
THOUGH the Efficacy of the Trufs has been induftri-
oufly pleaded in Diminution of Mr. Lee's Merits with
refpect to common Cafes, yet it feems, there are fome
complicated ones which do not come within the curative
Power of this magic Circle. What then is to be done?
Why, Authority is to be oppofed to Experiment, and
the Reader is boldly affured, in Verbo Chirurgorum,
that they are incurable." It fometimes happens (fay
they) that the Gut and Caul, from a long Neglect of re-
turning them into the Belly, adhere and grow to the Parts
furrounding them: this Adhesion of Course ever afterwards
prevents the Return of the Rupture into the Belly, which
thus becomes an INCURABLE CASE."-To fuppofe
thefe Gentlemen finned againft Knowledge, in affert-
ing this Species of a Rupture to be incurable, might
be deemed an Affront to their Sincerity; to fuppofe
Want of Knowledge the Occafion of it, no great
Compliment to their Abilities: If the former is the
cafe, Mr. Lee has Charity enough to forgive their
Malice; if the latter, Generofity enough to rectify
their Miftake, by convincing them that it is not only
curable but has actually been frequently cured; and
however unneceffary our Serjeants have thought it to
produce Cafes in fupport of their Doctrine, Mr. Lee
apprehends the Sanction of the following (out of many
others) will by no means leffen the Authority of his.
MR. RUTH of Pudding-lane had been afflicted with
a Rupture forty Years, which, when Mr. Lee under-
took
B

( 10 )
took him, was about the Size of a Child's Head, with
various Adhefions of the Caul in the Scrotum-the
Gut being reduced, the Adheſion of the different Parts
of the Caul were feparated in about two months, with-
out any Incifion, and the Cure afterwards ſo perfectly
compleated that he has made no ufe of any Bandage
for theſe three Years laft paft.
MR. SOLOMON of Church-ftreet, Sobo, had been rup-
tured about thirty Years, the Caul adhered below.
He applied to Mr. Lee the 6th December 1751, the
Adhefions were all feparated without any Incifion by
the2 5th Day of the fame month, and the Caul entirely
reduced, though, from the great Diftention of the Ori-
fice, a fmall Part of it fometimes flid through, but
was perfectly cured in about eight months: He conti
nued to wear a Bandage till the 20th of February 1753,
ever fince which he has never once put it on, or ex-
perienced the leaft Symptom of the Return of his Di-
ftemper.
MR. OAKLEY of Chelfea was ruptured 26 Years,
when Mr. Lee, being called in by another Gentleman
of the Profeffion, he was of Opinion that a large Quan-
tity of the Caul was fallen into the Scrotum with a
fmall Portion of the Gut, and, as he thought, the
Adhefions of the former too ftrong to be feparated
without an Incifion, propofed an Operation, to which
the Patient fubmitted, and three Days after, the Gut
being reduced, he took twenty-three Ounces of the
Caul out of the Scrotum, the Wound was healed, and
the Patient perfectly cured in fix weeks.*
AFTER
*We fhould not have made fo free with thefe Gentlemen's Names
had they not already generously appeared to teftify their refpective
Cures, upon Oath, in open Court; and it is remarkable that while
Mr.

(11)
"That a
AFTER this, will our Serjeants infift,
Rupture attended with an Adhefion is incurable ?"
That " a Trufs well fitted is fufficient to effect every poffible
Cure?" That "all Experiments made by the Knife and
Cauftic have been unsuccessful ?". And will the Public
be induced to give an implicit Affent to their bare Affir-
mation, that "all Medicines, internal or external, are
of triffling Effect in this Disorder, and unable to pene-
trate deep enough even to affift or fhorten the Cure?"
Had thefe Gentlemen added, All Medicines known to
them, it would at leaſt have been an inftance of their
Modefty if not of their Science; but that their Know-
ledge fhould be the Boundary of all chirurgical Dif-
covery may by fome be held no very logical Conclu-
fion.
Does not every Surgeon's Apprentice
know, that there are Medicines capable of pervading
the whole Mafs of the human Body, and that almoſt
inſtantaneouſly? Why then unable to pene-
trate to the Seat of this particular Diſorder? And as
the Complaint proceeds from a preternatural dilating
of the Opening at the bottom of the Belly, may not
an Application of a contracting Quality, able to reach
this Part, bid fairer for Cure than any Bandage what-
ever, which, however ufeful it may be to keep up the
Gut or Caul till the Part fo contracted recovers its na-
tural Strength and Tone, is by no means an adequate
Caufe of that Contraction. Hence it is that although
the Patient may experience fome degree of Relief, from
the Trufs preventing the Defcent of the Rupture, yet,
without fome more effectual Application, he is feldom
B 2
ex-
Mr. Oakley, who lived in the Neighbourhood, was under Mr. Lee's
Care, fome phyfical Spies were almoft hourly diſpatched from the
College in order to get the earlieſt Notice, had the Operation proved
unfuccefsful; but being difappointed in a Subject of Clamour, they
took care to conceal the Cure as much as poffible from the Know-
ledge of the Public, by obferving ever after a profound Silence on
the Occafion.

(12)
extricated from its difagreeable Bondage during his
whole Life.
WOULD not that Practitioner be deemed a Novice
in his Bufinefs, who becauſe it may be neceffary in the
Treatment of a Fracture, fhould afcribe the Cure to
the fole Virtue of the Bandage? Which of itfelf is
full as capable of fetting the Bone as of contracting
the ruptural Orifice.- Does not every Day's Prac-
tice demonftrate that external Applications are made
ufe of for violent Strains, which penetrate to the Parts
affected? And that the Bandage is only called in Aid
of the Operation of fuch Medicines as are fuited to re-
ftore the relaxed Mufcles to their natural State and
Tone; in fhort, a Trufs, and that only, in fome Cafes
may afford a temporary Relief, by keeping up in fome
meaſure the Gut and Caul; but will hardly ever be
capable of effecting a Cure, by the Contraction of the
Paffage through which they defcend: It may indeed
alleviate the Effects, but cannot remove the Caufe.
And for the truth of this we may appeal to the ex-
perience of thoſe who have only made ufe of this in-
adequate Remedy, as well as to the State of our Hof-
pitals, in ONE of which at leaft our Serjeants have not
been able to produce a fingle Inftance of Cure per-
formed by this Means; and which, could they have
done, it is prefumed the Public would not have failed
of having ample Information. This Advantage there-
fore Mr. Lee may juftly claim over his Opponents,
that, whether he has performed any Cures or no is at
leaft a matter of fome Difpute, that they have perform-
ed none admits of no Difpute at all,
That a Ban-
To eftablish this Doctrine,
dage is the only Remedy fuited to the Cure of Ruptures,
the Practice of Sir THOMAS RENTON is to be im-
peached: But altho' that Gentleman's Method might
not

( 13 )
not prove fuccefsful in every Cafe, furely it by no means
follows that it fhould be unfuccefsful in all; and
that it really was not fo is even within the Knowledge
of our Serjeant Surgeons themfelves, to whom one of
the prefent Commiffioners of Chelsea Hofpital has de-
clared, that he was actually cured by Sir Thomas, and
remains perfectly well to this Day. What Opinion
then muſt the Public entertain of thefe Gentlemen's
Sincerity, when they roundly affirm,
"That
within the Courfe of a few Months the Ruptures of all the
Perfons who had been under the Care of Sir Thomas re-
turned, and none proved to be cured?"
But were
this the cafe, How does it affect the prefent Difpute?
Would they infer, that becaufe Sir Thomas Renton,
who made ufe of one Method, did not; therefore Mr.
Lee, who makes ufe of another, cannot, fucceed?
Excellent reafoning! and however peculiar to our
learned Profeffors, may not be thought altogether fo
conclufive by their Readers.
d
OUR Serjeants being aware that the Difappearance
of the Rupture might, to vulgar Apprehenfions, in-
duce a Belief of the Cure, and well knowing that Mr.
Lee had frequently given this degree of Proof, find it
expedient to affure their Readers
"That Mr.
Lee was misleading every one to judge, from their Rup-
tures not being down at any fingle examination, that the
Men were cured."
By which they would un-
fairly infinuate, that Mr. Lee would not permit more,
than one Examination. How difingenuous muft this ap-
pear to thofe who, by the NARRATIVE, will perceive
that one of Mr. Lee's principal Complaints is, the being
refufed, not refufing, Examinations.
Do his con-
ftant Attendances on the Board to folicit Examinations
upon Examinations, His frequent applications
to Mr. Chefelden and Mr. Ranby to repeat their Infpec-
tions, or
his Agreement with the former to
ex-

( 14 )
examine his Patients three times a week for a Month
Does this Behaviour juftify the Re-
"That free and fair Examinations were
together,
flection,
denied by Mr. Lee."
feffors calculation,
But it feems, by our Pro-
66 two or three months at
leaft are neceffary for the Decifion of a Cure."
If to this it is anfwered, that Mr. Lee's Patients paffed
through a State of Probation for an equal number of
Years, with reiterated Infpections, we are then to be
told, "That even repeated Infpections at fixed
times, if the Perfon has it in his power to prepare himself
accordingly, are ftill infufficient."
What Chica-
nery is this! and who would not from hence be apt to
conclude, the Belly and Bowels of the Patient fome-
what like the Jugler's Cup and Balls, equally at the
difpofal of the Surgeon's dexterity to be hocus pocus'd
in and out, juft as a Deception becomes convenient or
profitable. But may not the Practitioner who
can thus dexterously produce an apparent Cure, be
fhrewdly fufpected of not being the moft ignorant in
effecting a real one?
their Poftulatum may be,
How true foever then
"That a fingle Ex-
it
amination is infufficient to determine a Cure,"
muſt be allowed to be very inconclufively applied on
the prefent occafion; and for any reafons thefe Gen-
tlemen have condefcended to affign, fome may ſtill be
inclined to hold, That whenever the Inteftine is found
to be reduced, and the Opening at the bottom of the
Belly contracted to its natural Dimenfions, a Cure may
juftly be pronounced without the Authority of fuch
extream cautionary and eternal Re-re-examinations and
Re-re-infpections. If a broken Leg was once fet and
reftored to its ufual Functions, would our Serjeants
themſelves heſitate to ratify the Cure only be-
caufe it might again be fubject to the like Acci-
dent?
BUT

( 15 )
BUT who can forbear fmiling to fee unfimilar Si-
miles brought in fupport of illogical Arguments:
An Ague is compared to a Rupture, and becaufe the
Abfence of the Fit on the intermittent days of a perio-
dical Diftemper is no Proof of a Cure, therefore the
Difappearance of the Symptoms in a continual Com-
plaint is equally inconclufive.
THUS much for our learned Serjeants ACCOUNT
OF THE NATURE OF A RUPTURE. And how fkil-
fully they have acquitted themſelves as to the Nature,
or how ingenuoufly as to the Account of this Diftem-
per, we fhall fubmit to the Reader's Determination;
and proceed to examine that part of the Performance
which is intended to juftify their Proceedings, in op-
pofition to Mr. Lee, at Chelfea Hofpital; in which it
will appear, that thefe Gentlemen are full as unlucky
in point of Fact as they have been in point of Opinion,
and that the one is as ill fuited to eftablish their Inno-
cence as the other to authorize their Judgment.
Ir is agreed with our Serjeants, that Mr. Lee found-
ed his application to the Chelfea Board upon a recom-
mendation from Sir William Yonge, and feveral Certi-
ficates of Cures, two of which, it feems are now only
to be found (or were perhaps thought proper for the
public Infpection:) However, Mr. Lee thinks himfelf
obliged for the communication of thefe, as they con-
tain an additional Evidence of his Abilities, which
had before been omitted as not effential in the Difputes
between him and his Oppofers. The Certificates are
as follow:
"This is to certify, that I Robert Pitt, Coachman
to Sir William Yonge, being troubled with a Rup-
ture, did, in December 1747, apply to Mr. Ran-
by, Serjeant Surgeon, for the fame; who told me I
was

( 16 )
was incurable; but that I might poffibly find fome
benefit from a Trufs, which, by his Direction, I
got: But notwithstanding that, my Rupture came
down very often, and was at last fo troublesome that
I was obliged to leave off my Trufs, and continue
without till November 1749, when the Rupture
was as large as ever; and I, by Sir William
Yonge's direction, then applied to Mr. Samuel
Lee of Arundel-ftreet, by whom I was, in three
Weeks, cured, and have continued quite well in that
refpect ever fince, though have continually drove the
Coach and had a violent Cough. In Witness where
of, and that I now find myself quite well, I have fet
my hand this 28th of January, 1749.
only told
but
دو
Robert Pitt."
دو
In order to invalidate the truth of this Certificate we are
"That poffibly this Man might ap-
ply to Mr. Ranby," "That poffibly the Trufs
be directed, not being a good one, might fail in keeping up
the Rupture," "That poffibly, had it been well
fitted, the Rupture might not have come down;
that it was abfolutely impoffible Mr. Ran-
by fhould fay, that he was incurable.
To which
the Reader may be apt to add, that all thefe Poffibilities
may poffibly be true, and yet nothing to the purpoſe,
fince the only material point is, Whether the Man was
actually cured? Which, if a Fact, our Serjeants might
at leaft have added one more POSSIBILITY, with which
they by no means feem inclinable the Public fhould be
acquainted, viz.
That Mr. Lee can cure that Rup-
The other Cer-
ture, which Mr. Ranby cannot.
tificate runs :
This is to certify, that I John Sackville, aged 60,
have been troubled with an Hernia (Rupture) for
30 Years laft paft, which for about three Years has
been

(17)
been fo bad that I could not walk five yards without
the most exquifite pain; in September last 1 was
examined by Mr. Ranby, Serjeant Surgeon, who
then told Mr. Lee if he could cure me that he should
then be convinced that he was able to relieve that
Complaint, which he thought was by all deemed in-
curable. In witnefs whereof, and that I was com-
pleatly cured by the faid Mr. Lee of Arundel-ftreet,
and afterwards examined again by the faid Mr. Ran-
by, who confeffed the faid Cure was compleated, and
that I have not fince had the leaft Symptom thereof, I
have fet my hand this 5th day of December 1749.
John Sackville.'
66
92
دو
muft not the Credibility of this Evidence in Mr. Lee's Fa-
vour vanish at once when our Serjeants come with their
convincing Suppofes? "Is it (fay they) to be fuppofed,
that Mr. Ranby fhould tell Mr. Lee that if he cured this
Man be fhould be convinced that he was able to relieve
that Complaint, which he thought was by all deemed in-
curable"
again
Is it to be fuppofed,
(that though Mr. Lee produced the Patient in three
months time with his Rupture up, and no Appearance
of a Swelling) that Mr. Ranby fhould confefs to Mr.
Lee that the Cure was compleat,
and indeed
whoever confiders the Reluctance Mr. Ranby has
fhewn throughout thefe Tranfactions, to make fuch
fort of Confeffions, muft allow there is fome weight
in the Objection, notwithſtanding this new kind of Ca-
fuiftry in confuting Facts with Suppofitions.
دو
BUT it feems Mr. Ranby was fo far
confeffing the Cure compleat"
that nothing lefs
from
upon this Evidence,
"than repeated Examinations,
and that not of one man only but of Numbers perfectly cur-
could induce him to give a Certificate in
Mr. Lee's Favour, by which it appears, that as the
ed
C
Num-

(18)
Numbers are indefinite and the Examinations perpetual,
Mr. Lee had but a very diftant profpect of receiving
any Advantage from this fcrupulous Gentleman's Te-
ftimonium.
99
THOUGH the Acutenefs of our Serjeant Surgeons
has enabled them thus fully to detect the Falfhood
and Infufficiency of thefe Certificates, yet it is appa-
rent the Commiffioners were unequal to fo nice a Dif-
covery, fince upon this Authority they were pleafed
to order
"That Mr. Lee fhould make experi-
ment upon fuch of the In-Penfioners as fhould voluntarily
fubmit themfelves to his Care.
Thus much of
the Order our Serjeants have thought fit to publifh,
but "That for his Trouble and Attendance be
Should have a reafonable compenfation"
is pru-
dently omitted, in order, it is prefumed, the better to
reconcile it with that part of the Difcharge by which
it appears Mr. Lee was difmiffed without any compen-
fation at all.
We are told by our Serjeants, they were told by
Mr. Chefelden, that after this permiffion was given
to Mr. Lee the following Terms were propofed to
him:
FIRST, "That the Men fhould be previously exa-
mined by Mr. Chefelden as to the Condition of their
Ruptures."
What an evaſive Advantage Mr. Chefelden took of this
pretended Article the Reader will foon fee.
SECONDLY, "That the Penfioners thus examined (if
they were not known to him before) fhould be brought
to him once or twice more that he might be able to
remember their Perfons, left from the Similitude of
Faces

(19)
Faces or Uniformity of Cloathing he might mistake
one Man from another."
Why the extream caution of this Article? Had Mr.
Chefelden at this time reafon to fufpect Mr. Lee would
be guilty of fuch unfair Proceedings as to palm falfe
Men upon him, or did he forefee the heinous Mal-
Practice he was afterwards charged with?
If
Mr. Lee was then upon good terms with Mr. Chefelden,
as not having yet committed the unpardonable Sin of
Cure, was it decent to imply, by the very terms of his
Agreement, that Mr. Lee was a Rafcal, or would he
have fubmitted to fuch an Implication?
But
if Mr. Chefelden's Eyes were fo very fubject to a Mi-
ftake, would not thofe of his faithful Affiftant Mr.
Thomas been able to rectify it, efpecially as the Precau-
tion of taking down the Men's Names in writing was
always ftrictly obferved?
LASTLY (fay they) it was agreed,
"That
whenever Mr. Lee fhould declare any of the Cures
compleat, and defire Mr. Chefelden's final Report
of them, he or his Affiftants might then have the li-
berty of vifiting and examining the Men as often as
be fhould think proper, in order that they themselves
might be witneſſes whether the Men had entirely left
off the Ufe of their Truffes, and that their Ruptures
did not come down."
And how confonant Mr. Lee's Behaviour was even to
this other pretended Article of Agreement, the Courfe
of thefe Tranfactions fufficiently teftifies, which fhews
That they had not only the liberty of viſiting
and examining his Patients as often, but were even
preffed by him to do it much oftner than they thought
proper
That Mr. Chefelden himfelf repeated
his Examinations till even he declared his full fatisfacti-
C 2
on

(20)
on in point of Cure; but his private opinion and pub-
lic Certificate were, it feems, two very different things:
The firft he thought he might fafely give, as it could
be of no Service to Mr. Lee; the latter he prudent-
ly refufed, as it might be of fome Differvice to himfelf.
BUT how formal and circumftantial an Account is
here drawn up, of a Treaty between two Parties who
themſelves had never a fingle Conference upon the occa-
fion, and which has no other Foundation in fact than the
following Circumftance
when Mr. Lee felected
the firft Sett of Patients, Mr. Thomas, the Affiftant
Surgeon, hinted to him
"That it might be
more fatisfactory to the Commiffioners if Mr. Chefelden
and himſelf were to examine the Men prior to any Ap-
plication of Mr. Lee's, and as he was to dine with Mr.
Chefelden that day they would, after dinner, make fuch
Examination, and if they had any Objection to the
Cafe of either it fhould be left in writing with the Man
fo objected to: But if by Monday no fuch objection
was left, Mr. Lee was to proceed"
(See Nar-
rative Page 9.) accordingly, no Objection being left,
Mr. Lee proceeded in the Cures; but fometime after,
when they were produced at the Board perfectly well,
and Mr. Chefelden and Mr. Thomas were examined to
their Cafes, the former (fay our Serjeants) alledged-
"That he had not been privy to the Condition of the faid
Men before they put themfelves under the Care of Mr. Lee,
and therefore could not be thoroughly acquainted with the
nature of their Cafes, or judge of the Performance of the
Cures."
It is to be obferved, that not a word
was at this time mentioned concerning the neceffity of
repeated Examinations, this Expedient was to be referv-
ed for future Exigencies, and the only Objection then
offered was the Want of previous Infpection: But it
may be aſked, How does it appear that Mr. Chefelden
had not actually infpected them? Did not thefe
very

(21)
very Men receive Truffes by Mr. Chefelden's Orders?
Did not Mr. Chefelden, while they were under
"That
Mr. Lee's Care, tell the Deputy Governor,
two of the Men had but very fmall Ruptures, and one,
viz. Hanna was not ruptured at all?"
Did
he once, during the time of the Cure, make this ob-
jection of not having examined them?
Is it
to be fuppofed, when Mr. Thomas dined with Mr.
Chefelden, that they neglected the promiſed Infpection,
or ought their Negligence to be pleaded in Mr. Lee's
Disfavour?
But if Mr. Chefelden did not know
thefe Men were ruptured, Mr. Thomas, by whom they
were delivered into Mr. Lee's hands, could certainly
have fatisfied the Board in this point.
How
candid therefore and equitable foever our Serjeants
may pronounce this Conduct of Mr. Chefelden's, the
Reader may be apt think it had fome fufpicious Marks
of Evafion and Infincerity.
66
HOWEVER, feven more Men were taken at two
different times under Mr. Lee's Care, and whom our
Serjeants allow
were previously examined by
Mr. Chefelden, and though declared cured by Mr. Lee,
yet no Report was made of any of them to the Board by
Mr. Chefelden till the 16th of January 1750-1."
Is not this Delay one of Mr. Lee's Complaints? And
does it not fhew what difficulty he had to drag his Op-
ponents to a public Decifion of his Pretenfions?
"At a Board held the 11th of May, Mr. Chefelden
pretends he cannot conveniently attend himſelf, but
will fend for Mr. Thomas to carry his Report, whom he
knew to be gone to London hours before."
Chefelden is then ordered to make his Report the next
Meeting, which, being held the 6th of September 1750,
وو
Mr.
Mr. Chefelden does not make his Report or
Appearance, and is therefore again ordered to examine
Mr.

(22)
Mr. Lee's Patients without delay, and make his Report
which being held the 21ft
Mr. Chefelden does not
the next Board-day
of November 1750,
make his Report, but fends a Letter to mifinform the
Commiffioners,
"that Mr. Lee had two days
before agreed that he fhould continue to examine his
Patients one month longer,"
though Mr. Lee
then affured the Board that he had not feen Mr. Che-
felden for near two months before.
This pro-
duced another Order for Mr. Chefelden's perfonal Atten-
dance the 28th, when he at laft condefcended to obey
the Commiffioners and made the following extraordi-
nary Declaration,
ed any one Man that had been under Mr. Lee's Care."
(See Narrative, Page 14.)
"That he had never examin-
"This Interval of time (fays our Serjeants) till the
16th of January 1750-1, paffed in continual Altercations
between Mr. Chefelden and Mr. Lee, in relation to the
different Methods of examining the Men; and that Mr.
Lee was perpetually teazing and labouring by all Arts and
Means to prevail with him to fix a peremptory day for the
examination of thefe Men, on which fingle Examination
Mr. Chefelden was to make a conclufive Report, whether
the Men were cured or not,
ftill harping upon
tion?
the Fallibility of a fingle Examination. But are Mr.
Lee's conftant Complaints to the Board, of Mr. Chefel-
den's refufals to examine his Patients, a Proof of Mr.
Lee's infifting upon the Validity of a fingle Examina-
Is the Confent of Mr. Lee (and which
is allowed by thefe Gentlemen) That Mr. Chefelden
fhould infpect his Patients three times a week for one
Month, a Proof that Mr. Lee depended on the Securi-
ty of a fingle Examination, or
Is Mr. Chefel-
den's Letter to the Commiffioners, informing them,
"that Mr. Lee had confented he fhould con-
tinue the Examinations of his Patients one Month lon-
gers

(23)
ger"
a Proof of Mr. Lee's refufing more than
one Examination?
However demonftrative
fuch kind of Inferences may appear to Mr. Lee's Op-
ponents, he need be under no great apprehenfion of
their prejudicing him in the opinion of the Public,
who, from what has been faid, it is prefumed, will
form a very different Conclufion:
That it was
rather the Want of fufficient Inclination, than fuffi-
cient Evidence, that protracted Mr. Chefelden's chirur-
gical Fiat, and
"that (to ufe their own words)
he ought to have published Mr. Lee's Success to the World
on fuch Authority as could not have been difputed."
"It is to be obferved (continue our Serjeants) that
there had not as yet been any Proof produced to the Board,
that Mr. Lee had performed a fingle Cure, befides his
own and the Men's Affertions."
How fhould
there, as Mr. Chelefden had conftantly refufed to do
Mr. Lee Juftice, by giving the Commiffioners any fa-
tisfaction whatever?
But does this perpetual
obftinacy and Neglect of Duty in Mr. Chefelden juftify
(as is infinuated) the Board's taking no Notice of Mr.
Lee's Petition? And was not this tacit Submiffion, in
fome degree, a confirmation of Mr. Lee's and the
Men's Affertions?
"At length, it feems, Mr. Chefelden (poor Man)
barraffed and tired out with Mr. Lee's Importunities,
and unhappy left the Commiffioners fhould give any credit
to the many Complaints Mr. Lee had made of him, re-
folved to do" What? Why, what he ought to
have done long before, make a Report of the State of
Mr. Lee's Patients.
But who would not wil-
lingly fubmit to a like Perfecution to be fo pathetically
lamented by his phyfical Brethren.
THUS

(24)
THUS Our Serjeants have affured us upon their
words
"That the only reafon why Mr. Che-
felden refufed to examine the firft Sett of Men was"
Because he had not previously infpected them:
"That the only reafon why he did not report the
State of the reft was"
fpected them fufficiently:
Because he had not in-
"That
And
Becauſe ano-
the only reaſon why he refufed to certify the, Cures af-
ter a Month's Examination was" -
ther Month was neceffary:
with this definitive Demonftration,
All which is clofed
WE WERE INFORMED OF BY MR. CHESELDEN
HIMSELF.
Indifputable Evidence.
Prince Volfcius kill Prince Volfcius!
felden impeach Mr. Chefelden!
"THIS
What!
Mr. Che-
but it fhould
feem our learned Serjeants are not Logicians enough to
diſtinguiſh, that all they have hitherto advanced a-
mounts to nothing till they have firft eftabliſhed thefe
previous Poftulata 1ft, That because Mr. Che-
felden told them fo, it muft certainly be true. - 2dly,
That it is certainly true Mr. Chefelden told them fo.
WE are now arrived at the Board held the 16th of
January 1750-1, when Mr. Chefelden made his Report,
the whole Tranfactions of which (we are warned)
require fome Attention."
66
A Memorial of Mr. Lee's (fay they) was read at
this Meeting, fetting forth, that Mr. Chefelden, long
before the Month's examinations which had been agreed
upon between them were compleated, told Mr. Lee
that he might fpare himſelf any further Trouble, fince
the Men were as well as ever they were in their Lives;
and that he found not the leaft appearance of a Rup-
ture in any of them, and promifed to make a Report
in Mr. Lee's Favour" but how can this be true, afk
our Serjeants, when Mr. Chefelden did actually report,
"That

(25)
99
"That two of the three Men brought to him by
Mr. Lee on the 3d of December had their Ruptures
down, and that two of four Men brought to
him the Friday following had their Ruptures down.
This is fomewhat like confuting a Fact by acknow-
ledging the Commiffion of it; and from thefe Gen-
tlemen's new Method of Reaſoning it fhould follow,
That it is impoffible Mr. Chefelden's Report
fhould be difingenuous, Because be made it.
The Reader will however be pleafed to obferve, that
at this time three Ruptures out of feven had diſappear-
ed from the penetrating Sight of this Argus-eyed Exa-
miner
but, in order to give fome degree of
Sanction to the truth of this Report, the folemn Tefti-
mony of Mr. Reid attefted by Mr. Thomas, both Affi-
ftants to Mr. Ranby, is fince added by our Serjeants.
Friday, December 7.
"Mr. Lee brought to the Infirmary the following
Men to be examined, John Hanna, Peter Curtis,
John Tanner and William Storey - Mr. Che-
felden, Mr. Thomas and I, examined three of them,
viz. Tanner, whofe Rupture was at that time up;
Peter Curtis and William Storey, the Ruptures of
both thefe appeared in the Groin, but Mir. Lee
would not allow the Swellings that appeared in their
Groins to be Ruptures, though Mr. Chefelden re-
duced them into the Belly with his Hand in my
Sight."
Though the Competence of thefe Witneffes might ad-
mit of fome difpute, yet, even by their folemn Teftimc-
ny, it appears, one Man was not at that time ruptur-
ed, and whether the others were fo or no was at leaft a
diſputable matter, and tho' Charity may induce us to
believe thefe Gentlemen would not fin in point of Felt,
it will be no breach of it to fuppofe they might err in
D
point

( 26 )
point of Judgment, and that too complaifant a De-
ference for the Opinion of their Mafter and Superior
in Science might in fome meaſure influence their De-
termination (which is no uncommon cafe in phyfical
Confultations)
Would it not therefore have
been fomewhat more fatisfactory, had they defcribed
the Nature and Dimenfions of the Swellings, fince all
fuch are not ruptural?
Would not a Defcent
of the Inteftines, or a Dilatation of the Opening thro
which they muft pafs, be rather a more evident Mark
of a Rupture, and, had thefe Symptoms exifted, is it
to be fuppofed thefe nice Enquirers would have con-
fined themfelves to the general and evafive Term of a
Swelling in the Groin, and that only in Appearance;
and which, it is to be obferved, Mr. Chefelden's hand
alone was permitted to reduce?
Therefore,
notwithſtanding what our Serjeants have advanced in
defence of their trufty and well beloved Brother, it
may ftill remain a matter of fome fmall doubt
Whether Mr. Chefelden did not acquiefce in the Cure
Whether he did not decline any farther Examina-
tion, and
Whether he did not promife to report
in Mr. Lee's favour, efpecially as the whole was au-
thenticated by the Oaths of the Men themfelves; which,
with thoſe who (like our Serjeants) do not hold Pover-
ty and Integrity entirely incompatible, may have fome
little weight.
66
THESE Gentlemen farther obferve, that at this
Board Mr. Lee infifted
"As Mr. Chefelden
reported theſe Men not cured whofe Ruptures were down,
be ought, in justice to him, to
Ruptures were up"
no means affent; fo that it
Bandage or no Bandage
ral
all are equally
report the others cured whofe
and to which they can by
feems, up or down
one Examination or feve-
unfatisfactory: But thefe
Gentlemen, it is apprehended, would not have made fo
free

( 27 )
free with this obfervation had they remembered that
it came from a much better Authority than Mr. Lee,
fince in reality it was the PAY-MASTER, who was
pleaſed to obferve
"That as Mr. Chefelden re-
ported only two of the Men not cured, he ought equal-
ly to report the State of the other two"
which
Mr. Chefelden evading, the Secretary was ordered to
draw
up a Minute
"That two Men were cured,
and admitted to be fo on an Examination of Mr. Chefel-
den's :"
But the Pay-mafter, ftill thinking this
not ſtrong enough, ordered it fhould ftand
"That two Men were admitted to be cured on a Re-ex-
amination of Mr. Chefelden's."
Who but muſt
here obferve the Difference between the Fact and their
Account of it! and does it not demonftrate, that when-
ever they find Mifrepreſentation convenient they are
far from holding it to be unjuftifiable
and tho'
for Mr. Chefelden's Report they carefully examined the
Minutes of the Board, yet this of the Pay-mafter's,
which muft ftand in the fame Page, was thought by no
means proper to be felected for the Notice of the Pub-
lic.
BUT after this point was decided our Serjeants in-
form us
"Mr. Lee defired that four Men who
attended without might be called in, and examined by Mr.
Chefelden in the prefence of the Commiffioners, tho' they
had been three times examined by him before; and Mr.
Chefelden being called upon to declare his Opinion Jpecially
of their Cures, faid That for ought appeared to
him two of the faid Men were cured, he not finding the
Orifices open.
May not the Reader from all
this fufpect the Candour of our Serjeans in all they have
hitherto advanced? Will it not be objected
35
that Mr. Lee's Defire of ſo public an Examination, and
that by his profeffed Enemy, was no great Sign of his
Intention to deceive?
Will his calling upon
D 2
Mr.

(28)
But our
Mr. Chefelden for a fourth Infpection of the fame Men
eftabliſh the Charge urged againft him, of refufing
repeated Examinations? Will Mr. Chefelden's
declaring that, for ought appeared to him, two of the Men
were cured, be a juft foundation for the Public's believ-
ing them not fo? And though the odd expref-
fion for ought appeared to him may denote Mr. Chefelden's
Unwillingness to pronounce the Cure, it feems no very
cogent reafon for thefe Gentlemen's Conclufion
"That he certainly did not believe it:"
Serjeants for once venture to differ with their Brother,
and though Mr. Chefelden thought the Orifice, being
clofed, was an Indication of Cure, they cannot poffibly
ſubſcribe to his Opinion; yet, however ready they are
to acknowledge Mr. Chefelden's Want of Judgment,
they are particularly careful to conceal his Want of
Ingenuity upon this occafion, by cautioufly avoiding to
acquaint the Reader that one of the Men Mr. Chefel-
den then allowed to have no Appearance of a Rupture,
was the very identical Peter Curtis who, by his Report
of the fame day, is declared to be ruptured. (See the
folemn Teftimony of Mr. Ranby's faithful Affiftants be-
fore mentioned.)
BUT fay thefe Gentlemen
(6
"The Orifice be-
ing clofed is no more than what is every day produced by a
Trufs," if fo frequent, may not their own Pa-
tients entertain fome unfavourable Scruples for not be-
ing ſuffered to experience fo falutary an Effect, and if
totally leaving off the Trufs"
is the
proper Proof of Cure, what pity the Hofpital, in
which one of our Serjeants prefides, has not been able
to produce a fingle Inftance of this Evidence in favour
of his phyfical Adminiftration, notwithſtanding the fo-
vereign Efficacy of this Machine.
THE
( 29 )

THE NARRATIVE takes notice
"that Mr.
Lee was furprized at the Commiffioners not permit-
ting the Affidavits made in his juftification to be
read," but our Serjeants tell us
“Mr.
Lee might have known this was the reception they would
meet with"
and indeed, had he at that time
been as well acquainted with the intentions of the
Board as they ſeem to have been, he ſhould certainly
have been of their opinion
"That no Credit
would be given to thefe Affidavits of the Penfioners (even
though the Men appeared to be well) in contradiction
to Mr. Chefelden."
BUT it feems the SECRETARY AT WAR in par-
ticular concurred with the Serjeant Surgeons, as to the
Invalidity of the Affidavits, and has given them per-
miffion in his Name to publish,
"That He had a very bad opinion of thefe old Men's
Affidavits, and thought no Credit was to be given to
them."
But how
What! before he had feen them?
great an Act of Generofity muft it appear in this Ho-
nourable Gentleman to fupply the Deficiency of our Ser-
jeants Credit with the Loan of his fterling Opinions,
which, as they are now paffed in public Payment,
we may at least be permitted to examine into their
Currency.
IN all Schemes of Fraud fome Intereft is propofed;
but, in this Affair, what was to be the mighty Reward
of thefe poor old Men's forfwearing themſelves!
Was the uncomfortable Situation of remaining
in their afflicted State a Motive for their falfly infifting
on a Cure?
Was the Inconvenience that might
attend the rendering themſelves obnoxious to their Ru-
lers

( 30 )
lers fufficient encouragement to their falfly juftifying
Mr. Lee, in oppofition to their Inclinations?- And
is it not probable, had they offended in this refpect, it
would rather have been on the fide of Power than a-
gainst it?
Yet however vendible a Commodi-
ty Oaths are reprefented to be among thefe Men, it is
apparent our Serjeants have not been able to procure a
fingle one in their Favour; and if they had Truth on
their fide (as they pretend) muft it not appear unac-
countable that fuch a Number of Perfons fhould difco-
ver fo much more Alacrity in justifying the Guilty, than
in vindicating the Innocent!
Has not this Point
of Cure been more than once eſtabliſhed in open
Court, by the Teftimony of Gentlemen, Merchants,
Tradefmen, &c. Is then Perjury peculiar to the Penfi-
oners, and only to them in this particular Hofpital?
Since the Veracity of thofe in another has never been
impeached.
tion.
BUT we are told, Bribery has been practiced, and
Poverty it muſt be allowed is fufceptible of Corrup-
Was not, fay Mr. Lee's Oppofers,
"FIFTEEN SHILLINGS given to be spent among thefe
Men ?"
Poor compenfation for the Souls of fo
many Penfioners: And from whence one must be in-
clined to think, that thefe Men had full as little regard
for their Souls, as the Surgeons feem to have had for
their Bodies. Yet when the various Attendances of
thefe forfworn Wretches on the Board, and the Ser-
jeants themfelves, on Mr. Lee's Account are confider-
ed, this Bounty may perhaps be rather deemed a nig-
gardly Gratification than an extravagant Degree of
Corruption.
FROM all which the Candour of the Reader may
induce him to think there is fomewhat lefs of Charity
than Truth in this honourable Gentleman's Reflection,
and

(31)
and that it ftill implies no contradiction to fuppofe,
that
The Oath of a poor Penfioner may Pos-
SIBLY be as true as the Word of a Serjeant Sur-
geon.
It will be perceived, that hitherto the learned La-
bours of thefe Gentlemen have principally aimed to
exculpate Mr. Chefelden, and that on the indifputable
evidence of his own relation; but as they now became
Principals themfelves in the following Tranfactions, we
fhall examine, whether they have not been full as un-
lucky in the juftification of their own Conduct, as in
that of their trufty Ally.
66
66
IN confequence of an Order made by the Board this
16th of January, "That Mr. Chefelden do
"examine the faid four Men in the prefence of Mr.
Ranby and Mr. Hawkins, Serjeant Surgeons to his
Majefty" "Mr. Lee (fays the Narrative) pro-
"duced three of thofe Men, namely, Hanna, Tanner
and Storey, together with one Benfon who had never
"been ruptured in his Life, to thefe Gentlemen at
"Mr. Chefelden's Apartment, when no objection was
"made to the Welfare of any but the laft, who they
66
66
very unluckily pitched upon as ruptured; and evad-
"ed certifying in what State they found them, becauſe
CC
they pretended, as one Man appeared uncured, their
"Certificate could only be a partial one, and therefore
"defired a fecond Examination, to which Mr. Lee
"confented; and accordingly, on the Monday fol-
lowing, attended the Serjeants by their own ap-
"pointment at St. George's Hofpital, with Hanna,
"Tanner and Benfon (Storey being taken ill of a Fever)
"where each was infpected by the Triumvirate and
"feveral others of the Profeffion, at which time no
"objection was made to the Cure of either, even of
Benfon himself; but ftill they refufed to certify that
46
66
they

(32)
66
they had ever examined them at all: Inſtead of
"which they propofed Mr. Chefelden's old Evafion,
"that Mr. Lee fhould take another Sett of Men un-
"der his Care, whom they would examine while ill,
" and when cured would certify."
LET US now fee our Serjeants account of the Tranf-
action at this Meeting, who tell us,
"That they
firft enquired, whether Mr. Chefelden knew the Men be-
fore him to be the fame be had formerly examined and found
ruptured? Who declared upon his honour that he believed
they were not all the fame, only two or three of them"
in this Mr. Chefelden was pretty right, for there were
but four in all, and Benfon he had moft certainly not
examined before ———————————- a Proof however, by the way,
that he was actually there.
وو
"They then afked Mr. Chefelden, whether he knew
thofe Men had been without their Truffes for any time
previous to that examination? Who told them, Mr. Lee
had not permitted him to make any fuch Enquiry.
But how could Mr. Lee prevent it, as they refided in
the Hofpital? And indeed the Men's Breeches were
almoſt continually unbuttoning to fatisfy the Curiofity
of the Surgeons, or their Affiftants, in this point: But
Mr. Chefelden might at leaft have informed thefe Gen-
tlemen,
"That he himself had examined
three of them five or fix times in different months,
when they had no Truffes on or Ruptures down.
"That
NEXT our Serjeants affure the Reader
they examined them all, and took notice that there was not
the leaft appearance in the parts which could induce them
to believe any Alteration whatever had been produced by
medicinal applications." Why this equivocal
Expreffion? Had it not been much more fatisfactory
to fay, whether they had any appearance of a Rupture
or no? If by this they would have it understood that
they

( 33 )
they were all ILL, how does it agree with Benfon's
Cafe? If that they were all WELL, how is it reconcili-
able with their Sincerity? But as this was the firſt time
they had inſpected them, how was it poffible for them
to know that no alteration had been produced in them
by medicinal applications, especially as by their own ac-
licinal app
"the Ruptures were not down"
nor could be brought down with all the Coughing,
Jumping, and other Exercifes impofed upon them?
Though it is obfervable that, with refpect to this laſt
circumftance, a profound Silence is obferved by our
Examiners.
Count
"One only (fay they) whofe Name was Hanna, bad
his Rupture appearing in his Groin*; the Ruptures of
the others were not down, but fome Marks upon t
the Skin
made them distrust their Truffes had been wore within a
fhort fpace of time." How artfully do they here,
in order to fave their credit, metamorphofe Benfon into
Hanna! but if Hanna was the Man, why did they
refufe to acknowledge Benfon well, who had never
been ill, as the Marks of the Trufs could not appear
round his Hips if Benfon was the Man, then
it follows, that Hanna's Rupture did not appear; a
circumftance as will be fhewn hereafter was by no
means convenient for them to allow.
And as
the only Symptoms thefe fharp-fighted Examiners were
able to difcover of a Rupture was a Rednefs they
thought they faw on the Hips, why fhould they be fo
much furprized, as they pretend, at Mr. Lee's Requeft
of their certifying
"The Men appeared to be
or why fhould they refufe a Certificate
of only in what State they found them, which in fact
well'
was all Mr. Lee defired.
E
May it not then be
* In their Narrative prefented to the Board-
Appearance.
+ Ibid.
pre-
It is a fmall
They thought they faw Marks.

( 34 )
prefumed, that this Refufal proceeded rather from
the too favourable Appearance of Cure, than any
confcientious Diffidence of it in thefe fkilful Anato-
mifts?
AGAIN they afk,
"With what propriety
could they certify thefe Men cured, when they had no one
Proof whatever of their being fo, when the Rup-
ture of one appeared in the Groin, and with respect to the
others
there was no Evidence that one part of
them had ever been ruptured?"
To which it may
be anſwered, might not they with ftill more Propriety
have faid, when they had no one reafon to object to it,
except the pretended Rednefs on the Hips (the ufual
Effect of the Waiſtband of the Breeches)
Is
the Appearance of the Rupture in the Groin of one, a
reafon for not certifying the Non-appearance of it in
the other three? And is not
The Want of Evi-
dence, that they had ever been ruptured, an invincible
Argument that they were at that time well, and if
well, does it not follow that two of them at leaft, viz.
Tanner and Storey, muft have been cured fince they
were delivered into Mr. Lee's Care by Mr. Chefelden
himfelf as very bad?
It may be proper to remark how induftrioufly they
IT
have endeavoured to puzzle the Reader in this place,
with refpect to the Number, in order to conceal the I-
dentity of the Men produced at this Meeting.
veral old Men (fay they) attended"
his Rupture down"
"Se-
"One had
"Others had no Sign of ever
"Others whom Mr.
having had a Rupture"
Chefelden bad known to be ruptured, no Evidence ap-
peared of their having laid afide their Truffes"
Would it be imagined that all theſe amounted but to
FOUR, and that thefe were Hanna, Tanner, Storey and
Benfon? But had they ſpecified the Number, or Names,
they
(35)

they were cunning enough to difcover that from their
own account it would then appear,
They muft
either have found Benfon, who had never been ruptured
in his life, to be ill; or Tanner and Curtis, who had,
been pronounced very bad by Mr. Chefelden himfelf, to
be well; neither of which was proper the Public ſhould
be acquainted with.
BUT our Serjeants themfelves feem to have had
fome Qualms of Confcience about heſitating to autho-
rize the Welfare of thefe Men, by propofing a fecond
Examination, fo foon after as the Monday following,
at St. George's Hofpital, yet this Propofal they are
willing to evade by obferving
"That Mr.
Lee, instead of new Men with Ruptures down for them
to infpect, as fresh Subjects for him to cure, brought with
him the fame Men they faw at Mr. Chefelden's Apart-
ment, to whom the fame Objections they made before were
ftill valid, this they declared to Mr. Lee, which was the
whole that paffed between them at the Hofpital that day."
Can
What! have they forgot the folemn Exami-
nation of thefe Men that day in the prefence of feveral
others of the Faculty? But confeffing this might im-
ply, that theſe were the identical Men it was agreed
Mr. Lee fhould bring for their Determination, and not
a new Sett of ruptured Ones for their Inspection.
it be fuppofed a fecond Examination fhould be meant,
of thofe Men they had never feen before? Befides, it
was thought ftill more neceffary to conceal this Cir-
cumftance, as the Reader might expect to be acquain-
ted with the Event of it, Whether they found the Men
at that time ill, or well; if they pronounced the for-
mer, it might be rather too notorious a Contradiction
to the Senfe of fo many Witneffes then prefent; if the
latter it would by no means coincide with their Report
at the enfuing Board, of
two of the Men be-
ing ruptured."
From thefe Obfervations it is
E 2
not

( 36 )
not doubted but the plain and candid relation of this
Tranfaction, in the NARRATIVE, will bid full as fair
for Belief, as our Serjeants puzzled and evafive Account
of it.
AT a Board held April 24, 1751. The Serjeant
Surgeons again attended with Mr. Chefelden, when
"Mr. Lee (they tell us) was very earnest for
an immediate Examination"
how impolitic this;
what, again expofing himſelf to the danger of a public
Detection, while thefe Gentlemen more prudently pre-
fer the Security of a private Determination; but the
Pay-mafter enquiring if there were any among the
Men whom Mr. Chefelden knew to have been ruptur-
ed, Mr. Chefelden named Peter Curtis and John Tan-
ner; upon which Mr. Ranby and Mr. Hawkins were
defired to examine them, who accordingly did, and
inform us, this was their Report" That their
Ruptures were not down (this was the third time the
Serjeants had experienced this unlucky Conviction with
refpect to Tanner) but they took notice that the Openings
of the Mufcles, through which the Ruptures used to de-
fcend, were large and unclofed, in fuch manner that they
concluded their Ruptures would come down fooner or later,
apon their ufing Exercife, and that thefe Men were not
cured."
It is pity thefe learned Anatomifts had
not told us how large and unclofed thefe Openings
were, though it is plain they were fmall and clofe enough
to keep up the Rupture without a Bandage, which,
perhaps, is all a Patient may require, or Mr. Lee pre-
tend to; but how can this be deemed a Cure ?" fince
fooner or later it may come down again" - yet, notwith-
ftanding this terrifying Prediction, fome may think it
no uncomfortable Degree of Relief, to exchange a pre-
fent and certain Calamity for fuch a future and preca-
rious Return of it, and be very far from condemning
him

(37)
him as an Impoftor in point of Cure who was able to
perform fomething fo very like it.
THE Reader is next amufed with a notable Difco-
very theſe Gentlemen at that time made, viz.
"That one of the Men buttoned bis Waistcoat into his
Breeches, which they thought an excellent Subftitute for a
Trufs."
What wretched Shifts muft Men be
drove to, when no less than three or four Pages are ta-
ken up to eſtabliſh fo very material a Fact; and does it
not appear, that as the not having an actual Trufs
might imply no abfolute Want of it, they were willing
to feize any opportunity of adopting a Substitute in the
place of it; fince the Truth is no more than this:
Curtis, who is between Seventy and Eighty years of
Age, had long accuftomed himſelf to wear two or
three Waiſtcoats, the under one of which being Flan-
nel he conſtantly tucked in his Breeches, no uncommon
practice with others, and which he had ufed many
Years before he had the Misfortune to be ruptured.-
Will not the Reader here be apt to apply the Fa-
Ridiculus Mus nafcitur
ble
THIS is all the account our Serjeants have thought
proper to give of the Proceedings at this Board, but
not a Word of the following particulars.
"THAT they then reported Tanner and Curtis's
Ruptures to be down, when they examined
"them at St. George's Hofpital."
THAT they allowed them well upon their exa-
"mination in an adjacent Room, but reported
" them ill on their Return to the Board."
"THAT upon the Commiffioners and Sir William
Yonge's examining and infpecting the Men
"them-

(38)
66
"themſelves it appeared, that the Serjeants had
never before this day feen Curtis, and that both
"he and Tanner were perfectly well."-Laftly,
"THAT though they had examined fix ruptured
"Men the 2d of February preceding, at Mr.
66
Chefelden's Apartments, in order for a farther
"tryal of Mr. Lee's Abilities, they now abfo-
"lutely denied before the Commiffioners that
they had ever dined at Mr. Chefelden's, or ex-
"amined one Man there." (See Narrative, P.
19, 20.
'
tr
WE are next informed, that three days after this
Board was held Mr. Chefelden detected Tanner with his
Trufs on, and, in revenge for which difcovery, he
made a very extraordinary Affidavit, to the following
purpoſe:-
That Mr. Thomas, the affiftant
Surgeon, dragged him by force from his Bed, on which he
was lying, to Mr. Chefelden's Apartments, at the door
of which he faw the Serjeant Surgeons; that Mr. Che-
felden offered him a Dram, which was not above a large
Spoonful in a Glafs, which he drank, but thought it did
not taste like Brandy, though Mr. Chefelden told him it
If fo, we are told (the Narrative ob-
"that it must be allowed to have pro-
"duced a very unuſual Effect; for the poor old Man
was immediately feized with a violent fhaking and
trembling, which continued many days, attended
"with a great difficulty in drawing his Breath, info-
"much that his death was hourly expected; but he
"happily recovered.
Now if it be confidered
was.
99
ferves,)
46
"how convenient bringing down this Man's Rupture
"would be to the Triumvirate, it requires no great
"Stretch of Credulity to fuppofe fome forcing Medi-
"cine adminiftred for that purpoſe, and which indeed
"feems to be the cafe; for the Serjeant Surgeon foon
after,
66

(39)
"after, waiting on Sir William Yonge, told him, that
"Mr. Lee had fufficient reafon to be angry with Mr.
Chefelden, but none with him."
66
LET us now fee in what decifive a manner, and
with what Energy of Reafon and Argument, the
Credibility of this whole Story is at once deſtroy-
ed.
The Serjeant Sur-
There is no
"This Story (fay our Serjeants) is all of a-piece, Mr.
Ranby never faid this to Sir William Yonge.- -There
is no fuch Medicine known as a forcing Medicine to bring
down a Rupture His Illness, after he left Mr.
Chefelden, is all a Fiction
geons were not at Mr. Chefelden's
one circumftance true but Mr. Chefelden's giving him a
Nevertheless, thefe Gentlemen, ap-
prehending that their concife method of confuting
Facts by mere Denials might not be thought altoge-
ther fatisfactory, produce the following account given
by Mr. Thomas, to the beft of his memory (almoſt
three years after) in aid of their Credit.
Dram.
April 27, 1751.
Mr. Chefelden directed him to go to their Wards, after
dinner-time, and bring Tanner and Curtis to him at
his Apartment, which he did accordingly: Mr. Che-
felden examined them, found their Truffes on, and
on their Removal their Ruptures came down: Mr.
Chefelden then expoftulated kindly with them, afking
Tanner in particular, how fo old a Man, between
80 and 90 years of Age, with one Foot in the Grave,
ot could go to deceive the Board and give falfe teftimo-
ny, that he had left off his Trufs, and even make an
Affidavit of fuch a Falfhood? The Men feem-
ed concerned at Mr. Chefelden's difcourfe, upon
20
which

(40)
dad which he gave them a Dram and bid them go and
M have a better way of thinking for the future.
How unhappy is it that this corroborating Account
of their faithful Friend and Servant, Mr. Thomas, was
not better calculated to answer the purpofe intended.
Does it in any fingle Point authenticate our
Does it not rather leave the
Serjeants Denials?
Reader at full liberty ftill to conclude, that for aught
appears to the contrary
this to Sir William Yonge
Mr. Ranby might fay
That there may be a
That
forcing Medicine to bring down a Rupture
Tanner's Illness might not be a Fiction —
That
the Serjeant Surgeons might be at Mr. Chefelden's Door
and that there may be more circumſtances true
than Mr. Chefelden's giving him a Dram.
BUT though this account of Mr. Thomas's unluckily
proves no way advantageous to our Serjeants, it cer-
tainly was meant to be difadvantageous to Mr. Lee,
by mifinforming the Reader
time the Ruptures did come down
"That at this
That Mr. Che-
felden expoftulated with them for giving falfe Teftimony to
the Board, that they had left off their Truffes, and even
making Affidavits of fuch a Falfhood"——————— yet per-
haps it may feem fomewhat odd that the Ruptures
fhould come down at this very private examination,
which had never done fo at the many previous public
ones; and that Mr. Chefelden fhould cenfure thefe Men
for a Teftimony they had never given, and Affidavits
they had never made; all which happens to be the cafe.
Is it then to be fuppofed, that Mr. Chefelden's kind
Expoftulations fhould fo deeply affect thefe Men as to
render his reviving Dram neceffary to alleviate their
Concern.
THO

( 41 )
THO' enough has been faid to evince, that an im-
plicit Belief ought by no means to be the Refult of this
Deputy Surgeon's Relations, yet our Serjeants feem
very defirous to eftablifh thofe of his Mafter, as Arti-
cles of the Reader's Faith; and after fome exalted En-
comiums on his chirurgical Character
"Is it
Was
to be fuppofed (fay they) that fuch a Man, retired as be
was then from private Bufinefs in fo honourable a public
Employment, would not have rejoiced at an opportunity of
introducing, under his own Patronage, fo general a Bene-
fit to Mankind as a Speedy, certain and radical Cure of
Ruptures ?"
Aye; but as this Attempt was
made in open Contempt of his own Patronage, and
even to become a Sharer with him in his fo honourable
and public Employment, might it not fomewhat abate
his Zeal in a proper Encouragement of it?
Mr. Chefelden fo totally unfufceptible of the Impreffi-
ons of Pride, Vanity and Intereft, as to be in no de-
gree actuated by them whenever the Public Service
came in competition? And though Mr. Lee's
Succefs might not injure him in a private Bufinefs from
which he was retired, our Serjeants at leaft have no
fuch prefumptive Plea to countenance their Oppofiti-
on, as one of them in particular has not yet approved
himfelf fuch a phyfical Patriot as to refign the Emolu-
ments arifing from a private, the better to attend the
Duties of his public, Practice
AGAIN (Continue they) Is it to be fuppofed that fuck
a Man could be capable of ufing the lowest and bafeft Arts
to ftifle a Difcovery which, if real and efficacious, he must
be very fenfible would very foon be proved fo to the Pub-
lic ?"
Not altogether fo foon perhaps, fince
thefe Gentlemen prudently referve to themſelves the
fole Right of determining the Merits of it.
Might it not therefore with equal propriety be afk-
ed,
Why all this unexampled Induftry to ftifle
F
a

( 42 )
a Diſcovery which, if NOT real and efficacious, would ve-
ry foon be proved fo to the Public.
66
"Mr. Ranby and Mr. Hawkins, we are informed,
now thought (and it is prefumed hoped) this Affair en-
tirely at an end, as from this time till the Board held 2d
of April 1752, they heard but once from Mr. Lee, which
was to defire their Infpection of the Men they had examin-
ed at St. George's Hofpital when ruptured, and who he
then faid were cured."
But thefe Gentlemen are
willing to forget no less than three meetings within that
Interval, the firft when Mr. Lee waited on Mr. Ranby
to thank him for fome obliging things he had been
pleafed to fay of him to Sir William Yonge, to which
he anſwered,
"that he thought they were no
more than what he juftly deferved, and promifed,
that, when either of the two Men he had laft under-
"taken, viz. Harvey and Hamilton, appeared to be
cured by a Bandage or any other means, he would
gladly do any thing to ferve him."
Yet,
however courtly he was in his Promifes, he was full as
courtly in the Performance of them; for on the Thurf-
day following, when they again met Mr. Lee at Sir
William Yonge's, thefe two Men being produced (and
though no objection was made to the Cures,) they re-
fufed to certify, Because Mr. Lee thought it prudent to
continue the Ufe of their Bandages fome time longer. Be-
ing then defired by Sir William to examine one Hanna,
who attended at their own requeft, this they declined
66
66
66
Because they had never feen him when ruptured.
Sir William once more requefting their Infpection of one
Morgan, who they had examined when ruptured at Mr.
Chefelden's Apartments, this likewife they refufed, de-
nying
They had ever examined him at all, and
then took their leave.
THE

( 43 )
THE third Meeting was on the 3d of September,
when Mr. Lee again waited on Mr. Ranby to defire his
farther Infpection of Harvey and Hamilton, above men-
tioned, examined by him at Sir William Yonge's, when
he roundly denied having ever examined any Men at Sir
William's, adding
"That as the Commiffi-
oners had left it to him and the other two Surgeons,
be would take care that Mr. Lee fhould never be pre-
fent at any future Examination, &c. (in which point
he has punctually kept his word.) Mr. Lee then ob-
ferved, any farther application to him would be unnef-
fary, fince one of the Men, viz. Benfon, he had de-
clared ill had never been ruptured in his Life. To
which our Serjeant replied,
"That he would
take care no more fuch Tricks fhould be played him
for the future." And thus they parted. (See
Narrative, P. 22, 23, 24.)
IT is a little furprizing that all thefe Tranfactions.
fhould be deemed unworthy the leaft Notice in our
Serjeants Defence; but as the Honourable Gentlemen a-
bove mentioned was privy to fo great a part of them,
it fhould feem they feared their ufual Method of Con-
futation, by round Denials, might here be dange-
FOUS.
Ar a Board held the 2d of April 1752, the Ser-
jeant Surgeons again attended; but, inftead of abiding
a full and fair Examination of Mr. Lee's Patients before
the Commiffioners, only delivered their Opinions con-
cerning the Cure of Ruptures in writing, by which
they reprefented.
"That the Method of feeing and examining Men, who
for ought they knew might have worn their Truffes
till the time they were prefented to them for Exami-
nation, could not give them any real and fatisfactory
F 2
Proof

(44)
Proof of their being cured, becaufe thofe Ruptures
which have been kept up by Bandage any time, fel-
dom appear and drop down at once without Exer-
cife, or fome ftrong Motion of the Body, &c."
THE Progrefs of thefe Gentlemen's Infidelity is very
obfervable. The only Criterion of Cure at firft re-
quired of Mr. Lee is, the Ruptures keeping up: No
fooner is this effected but the Suppofed Marks of a Trufs
upon the Skin is held an Indication of the Continuance
of the Distemper: Thefe Symptoms being no longer
pretended, now the bare Poffibility of having wore a
Trufs is objected againſt the Ratification of the Men's
Welfare: But why had they not procured even this de-
gree of Evidence? Were not the Men refident in. the
College, were they not feen publickly every day, was
Mr. Lee their Keeper? And after he had pronounced
their Cure, had he any thing more to do with them?
Were they not as much fubject to the Command of the
Surgeons, or other Officers of the Houfe, as if they
had never been under Mr. Lee's Care? Nay, do not
our Serjeants allow that, with refpect to two of them at
leaft, Mr. Chefelden had obtained a fpecial Order twelve
months before, to infpect them as often as he thought
proper, and can it be fuppofed that he was negligent
in fatisfying either his own, or their Curiofity to the
full in this Point? Can then their Refufal to enter into
an Examination at this time be thought to proceed
from
“Mr. Lee's not having given them an
opportunity of knowing whether the Men bad left off their
Truffes for any time?"
And if Exerciſe or a
ftrong Motion of the Body will bring down thofe Rup-
tures which have been kept up by Bandages, had they
not full conviction, that the fevere Difcipline of Cough-
ing, Jumping, Sneezing, with fome other more unwar-
rantable Methods had not been able to produce this Ef-
fect in Mr. Lee's Patients?. Muft not the Rea-
der

( 45 )
der therefore imagine our Serjeants Flight proceeded
rather from a Confcioufnefs, that the Men's Welfare
would now be eftabliſhed beyond all contradiction,
fince two Gentlement then attended to examine them,
whofe Capacity to diftinguifh a Cure admitted of no
conteft, and whofe Ingenuity in allowing it could not
be fufpected. However we are informed, that after
their Departure two Certificates of Dr. Thompson's and
Mr. Mitchel's were produced, the firft fetting forth,
"That they had examined fix of the Men in
"the November preceding, when they found them
"all cured, having no Appearance of their Ruptures
66 at that time."
The other informing the
Board, "That they had at that prefent re-examined
"the fame Men, and found not the leaft Sign, Symp-
66
66
tom, or Appearance of a Rupture, and all the Men
"declared they had not wore a Bandage for fome
"months of any kind whatfoever.”
But in our
Serjeants opinion this was not fufficient to authorize
their Determination of a Cure, fince they ought to
have known whether thefe Men continued from Novem-
ber to April,
"without ever once wearing their
Truffes;
and therefore conclude theſe Gen-
tlemen certified a great deal more than they themfelves
poffibly could (or rather willingly would) yet the Doctor
and Mr. Mitchel finding the Rupture reduced, and
the Openings cloſed to the natural Dimenfions at both
thefe diftant Infpections, might think it little to the
purpoſe whether the Men had wore their Truffes once,
or a hundred times, during this Interval; fince they
knew the Trufs could never produce fuch a Contraction
of the ruptural Orifice in which alone the Cure con-
fifts.
But when Mr. Lee's Opponents are able
to demonftrate that a Precaution to prevent the Return
is a Proof of the Continuance of a Diftemper, he will
have Candour enough to confefs the once wearing of a
Trufs in fix Months, an evidence of the exiſtence of a
Rup-

(46)
Rupture, and even refign all future pretenfions to the
Cure of it.
But it is not thought fufficient to difpute the Judg-
ment of Mr. Lee's phyfical Friends on this occafion :
The Veracity of another Gentleman, who attended at
this Meeting to teftify his Cure, muft likewife be im-
peached, by telling us,
"That when Mr.
Roebuck gave his Evidence in Weftminfter-hall, in the
Caufe between Mr. Ranby and Mr. Lee, he fwore he
wore the Trufs but a Day or two; yet when cross exa-
mined, be faid he kept it on not more than a Fort-
night."
66
'Till by a new kind of Arithmetic a
day or two can be made more than a Fortnight, the
Reader may not perhaps think this fuch a glaring Con-
tradiction as to merit the following invidious reflection,
Surely, from a Gentleman, at least a confiftent
"Evidence might have been expected." Altho' this
Gentleman's Character is as much above our Serjeants
Malice, as they are below his Refentment, we fhall fa-
tisfy the Reader whence this feeming difference arofe.
The Exhibition of the Fire works happening
about a fortnight after Mr. Roebuck had left off his
Trufs, and he, apprehending that the Crowd and Tu-
mult might affect fo recent a Cure, thought it prudent
to put it on again for that day; which Circumftance
he recollected upon his crofs examination, and includ-
ed that time in his calculation: Thus, notwithſtanding
thefe Gentlemen's Triumph, it was rather a fcrupulous
Adherence to Truth, than a Defign of violating it,
that occafioned this boafted Inconfiftency.
AN
EXAMPLE WORTHY THE IMITATION OF OUR CON-
SCIENTIOUS SERJEANTS.
THE following Minutes, fay thefe Gentlemen, were
entered upon the Proceedings of this Day.
John

( 47 )
John Ranby and Cæfar Hawkins, Efqs; Serjeant
Surgeons, attended the Board, and declared their
Opinion in writing concerning the Cure of a Rup-
ture.
Mr. Lee, Surgeon, attended with Dr. Thomfon
and others, who gave their opinion on the fame Sub-
ject.
And after confidering what was offered on both fides,
the Board came to the following Refolution:
That Mr. Lee may undertake the Cure of fuch In-
Penfioners, afflicted with Ruptures, as fhould volun-
tarily put themfelves under his Care, &c.
Does not this manifeft whofe Opinions appeared moft
fatisfactory to the Commiffioners? And if they had
thought Mr. Lee's Pretenfions unjuftified, would they
have agreed that "He fhould receive 100 l. for his
next Year's Attendance ?"
Which Agreement,
though made in the Prefence of Dr. Thomson and Mr.
Roebuck, was afterwards entered in their Books, with
this material Alteration,
"That in twelve months
σε
after, the operations of his Cures will be confidered by
"the Board, and he will be rewarded accordingly.".
At whofe inftigation this was done, we muft leave the
Reader to fuggeft.
66
MR. Chefelden dying foon after, Mr. Ranby no foon-
er fucceeded this Primier in the Hofpital but (we are
told) He obtained an Order
" for him or his
Deputy to examine, as often as they thought ne-
ceffary, fuch Men as Mr. Lee had affirmed to be
"cured, which fay they, implies having left off their
Bandages entirely." How fo? If a Cure confifts
in a Reduction of the Rupture, and Contraction of the
C6
66
29
Ori-

( 48 )
Orifice through which it defcends, may not a Man
who wears a Bandage be as effectually cured as one
who does not? Should a Perfon who had never been
afflicted with this Diftemper in his Life put on a Trufs,
would our learned Anatomifts, for that reafon, pro-
nounce him ruptured? Is the Precaution of an infirm
old Man, in occafionally putting on, or even conftant-
ly wearing his Bandage, to be deemed a Continuance
of the Symptoms? Is the Rupture down, becauſe he
wears a Bandage? Is the Orifice open, becauſe he wears
a Bandage? And if thefe Appearances ceaſe to exiſt
when it is off, who but our Serjeants would heſitate to
acknowledge him to be well, though he had not left it
off entirely? Thefe Gentlemen feem to miftake the
Bandage for the Rupture itself, fince the mere Wear
of it is to conftitute the Diftemper.
We muft
here beg the Reader to obferve, how careful thefe Gen-
tlemen have been to inculcate, throughout the whole
difpute, this notorious Fallacy, that "Becauſe
"Mr. Lee's Patients fometimes wore their Bandages,
"therefore they could not be cured:"
Tho'
Mr. Lee's Pretenfion to cure, they well knew, were
not founded on the intire leaving off the Bandage, but
on the Rupture's not falling down when it was left off,
and which was frequently experienced for Weeks,
Months, and even Years,
an Effect at leaft
they have not been able to produce during their whole
phyfical Adminiftration in this Hofpital.
BUT nothing lefs will ferve our Serjeants purpofe,
than at once deftroying the Credit both of Mr. Lee
and his Patients; to which end they tell us,
"Mr. Ranby was always very confident the Men were
not cured; He had reafon to fufpect they fill continued the
Wear of their Bandages; and if he proved this, it would
be a Matter of Fact, point blank, the contrary to what
Mr. Lee had affirmed to the Board, and to what the Men
bad

(49)
دو
bad fworn. But was it not incumbent firft to prove,
that Mr. Lee did really affirm, and the Men fwear,
what our Serjeants would infinuate; and as neither was
the cafe, what then becomes of their Point-blank Con-
trariety?
"Is the Men's fwearing that they
were well, and, confidering their Age, could walk as
well as ever in their Lives, without feeling the leaft
Pain, Preffure or Symptom of their late Complaint,"
is this fwearing they had left off their Bandages
entirely?
"Is Mr. Lee's affirming his Patients
had left off their Bandages for a Month, or Months,
in order to fatisfy the Surgeons and the Commiffion-
ers, a proof of his Denial that they ever put them on
afterwards?" And can the Perjury of the former,
or Falfhood of the latter, be inferred from theſe Pre-
mifes?
BUT the Reader by this time will perceive that
Falfe Facts (to ufe their own Phrafe) and Falfe Reafon-
ing are the only Pillars on which they have refted their
Defence, and that the Charge they have exhibited a-
gainft Mr. Lee is comprized in the following Accufa-
tions:
First, His Refufal to admit of more than one Exa-
mination.
Second, That the Men did fometimes wear their Ban-
dages. And,
Thirdly, That both Mr. Lee and his Patients deny
this Fact.
Now if it appears, from what has been offered, that
the firft is abfurd; the fecond nothing to the purpofe;
and the laſt a downright Fib; What is left for the
Friends of theſe Gentlemen (if any fuch remain) but
to wish they had either had a better Caufe, or abler Ad-
vocates to defend it.
G
"Mr.

( 50 )
"Mr. Chefelden (continue our Serjeants) found bis
Sufpicions well grounded with regard to Tanner and Cur-
tis, and had his Life been fpared, would in all probability
have made the full difcovery of the Wickedness of all the
other old Men, which afterwards fell to Mr. Ranby's
Lot."
What Wickedness? What, the having
never fworn, or denied fometimes ufing their Banda-
ges! and if this was the cafe, to what end was Mr.
Ranby's first Enquiry, "to find out whether the old Men
had really left them off?" Why all this extreme Cau-
tion uſed by himself, his Affiftants, and the Servants of
the Houfe (whom it feems he thought the moft pro-
per Evidence) to catch the Men off their Guard, in
order to detect what they were ready to admit? Aye,
"but had they been fent for in Form they might have left
"their Truffes at home;" a fhrewd Sign this however
of their not being fo abfolutely neceffary: And fhould
a lame Man do the fame by his Crutches, fome might,
be apt to conclude he had no great occafion for them.
But upon thefe Gentlemen's Principles, muft not Mr.
Lee's Patients have even left their Skins at home like-
wife, fince, by the Marks of the Trufs remaining there-
on, our Surgeons would have had all the Evidence they
required of the Deficiency of their Cures.
Up-
on the whole
though we fhall readily agree
with our Serjeant Surgeons that fome of the Men did
-"fometimes wear their Bandages,"
66
We
they
"The
can by no means admit the Conclufion, that
were therefore ruptured." But it feems.
Ruptures now came down immediately on the Removal of
thefe Bandages." Strange that this Effect fhould
only be diſcoverable at their private examinations, fince
at a public one before the Board, April 24, 1751, it
appears, on their Infpection of Tanner and Curtis,
"That their Ruptures were not down;"
and is
not this immediate and general Defcent of the Rup-
tures, at this time, a juftification of their Doctrine de-
livered

(51)
livered in writing to the Commiffioners,
"That
thofe Ruptures which have been kept up by Bandage any
time, feldom appear or drop down at once.
99
AT a Board held the 14th of March 1753, and of
which particular care was taken Mr. Lee fhould have
no notice, Six Men were produced and examined by
the Commiffioners, affifted by Mr. Thomas,
"and
furely (fay our Serjeants) the Commiffioners were compe-
pent Judges whether the Men wore their Bandages ftill;
and as to the Point of Cure,"
who was to deter-
mine? Why, Mr. Ranby and Mr. Thomas. But let
us fee what notable Evidence this examination pro-
duced.
66
وو
JOHN TANNER got a Fall about fix months ago,
and then his Rupture came down ;' to which they
might have added, but not of the fame fide he had
been cured: "His Trufs was on at the Trial"
and his Rupture came down now.
Poffibly true too, as Mr. Lee had been no farther con-
cerned for him fince his laft Accident, but giving him
a Bandage.
True
وو
WILLIAM STOREY has now his Rupture down
If you believe Mr. Thomas,-Had his Trufs on before he
came into the Room.
What then?
without a Bandage for four Months.
Probation.
Went
Tolerable
Mr. Thomas Jays, his Rupture is
now in the ftate it was when Mr. Lee firft undertook his
Cure.
the State?
walks,
Bad Authority! and why not afcertain
Wears bis Trufs fometimes when he
deplorable Condition.
-The Rup-
ture grown larger while he was under Examination.
How much?
Has made two Affidavits before
Manley, and fays be made but one
a third to the contrary.
G 2
ready to make
PE-

( 52 )
PETER CURTIS, another Trial Man,
ther tried Man they fhould have faid,
ture as fmall at firft as it is now.
ano-
bis Rup-
How ſmall
was that, and who fays fo? Why, Mr. Thomas again.
Wore his Trufs till last week.
likely.
Very
Wore it for Security and Warmth by the
Good Advice.
Advice of Mr. Lee.
Made an Affidavit of his Cure before Manley, by the re-
commendation of Mr. Lee
own Confcience.
and Impulfe of his
STEPHEN COWEL, A LARGE RUPTURE
When? At his coming under Mr. Lee's Care.
Had his Bandage on before the Board.
ed.
Could not fwear that he was cured,
Never left off his Trufs.
but thought fo.
Prudence.
davit
Allow-
JOHN COULSON cannot tell what he figned in his Affi
becaufe the Juftice read it to him.
Leaves off his Bandage by Night, but not by Day.
May be true.
fays Mr. Thomas.
His Rupture now down,
Is well with a Bandage on.
Impoffible, fay our Serjeants.
To wear
the Bandage by Mr. Lee's Order as long as he lives.-
Prudent Precaution.
be made Affidavit.
The Contents of it were writ.
generally are.
knew.
fay as much.
Had his Bandage on when
Never denied it.
As moft Affidavits
That he was well, for ought he
Well for their Patients, if they could
THOMAS MERRIMAN fays he is not cured, and
found no Benefit from Mr. Lee.
Becauſe taken
out of his hands into the Infirmary within a fortnight.
But a Trufs from Mr. Chefelden did keep up his
Rupture. Unufual Effect, yet plain it did not
cure

( 53 )
cure it.
Mr. Lee reported he was cured.-
And would have remained fo, had he not come into
their hands.
It is very remarkable, that thefe Examinations now
taken, viva voce, fhould be almoft literally the fame
as thofe in writing cooked up 8 months before by Mr.
Ranby, Mr. Thomas, and other menial Servants of the
Houfe; but as this was to determine Mr. Lee's Me-
rits, furely his Prefence was at leaft neceffary to pre-
ferve the Air of Impartiality: Yet this it feems was a
Circumftance to be particularly guarded againft, for
though our Serjeants could by no means be prevailed
on to enter into a public Examination of Mr. Lee's Pa-
tients before the Board, when Doctor Thomfon, Mr.
Mitchel, and himſelf were prefent to confront them;
yet now they are very ready to fubmit to it, when left
in fole Poffeffion of their chirurgical Authority. But
what were the Commiffioners to determine? Why,
whether the Men had entirely left off their Bandages:
A Point which has before been fully proved to be no-
thing to the purpoſe, the phyfical Determination was
prudently referved to Mr. Thomas, and his general
Terms of the Ruptures being down in the fame
State it was when Mr. Lee first undertook the Cure
as fmall at first as it is now; however fatisfactory to
the Board, may not be deemed altogether particular
enough to eſtabliſh an univerfal Belief of the Deficiency
of Cure; efpecially when it is known, that all the Men
then publickly infifted on their Welfare, in oppofition
to his Opinion. If this Examination was defired for a
full and fair Satisfaction of the Commiffioners, Why
were thofe Men, to whom even the Continuance of
the Trufs could not be objected, thought improper
Subjects of their Enquiry, more particularly Harvey;
as the Event of his Cure, it had been exprefsly agreed,
ſhould determine our Serjeants Judgment in Mr. Lee's
Fa-

(54)
03
66
Favour?
May not then the fame Scruples ftill
remain in the mind of the Reader concerning this
Tranfaction, as are mentioned in the NARRATIVE,
ift, "Becauſe Mr. Lee was not permitted at this Ex-
"amination to be prefent. 2d, Becaufe it was made
by Mr. Lee's Adverfaries. 3d, Becaufe a Swelling
is rather too precarious a Term to afcertain a Rup-
ture, and which, inftead of the Size of a Child's
"head (once the cafe) may imply little more than a
Pimple. 4th, Becauſe the Men then affirmed their
"Welfare. 5th, Becauſe Mr. Ranby had himfelf be-
"fore allowed Tanner and Curtis to be cured. 6th,
"Becauſe thefe two laft had, in open Court, proved
"the fame. 7th, Becaufe Mr. Ranby had publickly de-
66
66
66
clared, that he would never certify any thing in Mr.
"Lee's Favour. And, laftly, Becaufe Mr. Lee, (not-
withstanding our Serjeants obfervation) ftill pub-
lifhes in Capitals,
"THAT HE IS READY
TO SUBMIT THE WELFARE OF THESE VERY MEN
TO THE CANDID JUDGMENT OF ANY IMPARTIAL
TRIBUNAL."
CAN it be conceived the Commiffioners would have
paid any Regard to this Farce of an Enquiry, had not
the fame Fallacy been impofed upon them which thefe
Gentlemen have all along endeavoured to pafs upon
their Readers, viz. "That the Continuance of
the Bandage was a demonftrative Evidence of the Conti-
nuance of the Distemper.
And might not the
Mifinformation given the Board, that the Men had
affirmed, and even fworn, they had entirely left off their
Bandages, create a Sufpicion of Mr. Lee's Ingenuity,
and be a Motive of his Difmiffion.
59
ABOUT this time we are told, Mr. Ranby delivered
in a dreadful Mufter-Roll of Examinations, Certificates,
and Declarations, in Proof of Mr. Lee's Infufficiency
in

( 55 )
in the Cure of Ruptures, &c. but as moſt of theſe are
almoft in the fame Words, and founded upon the fame
Principles with the Examination of the fix Men before
mentioned, we fhall not tire the Reader with a parti-
cular Detection of them, efpecially as they have no bet-
ter Sanction than the difputable Authority of Mr. Ranby
himfelf, his trufty Affiftants and their Apprentices,
Apothecaries and their Journeymen, with fome other
inferior Officers of the Houfe; the few who have been
prevail'd on to fign their Declarations it is notorious no
Arts were left unattempted to gain, Threats were to
intimidate the obftinate, Promifes to encourage the
willing; but it is pleafant enough to obferve how our
Serjeants would avail themfelves of the bare Declara-
tion of the very fame Men whofe Oaths they have all
along endeavour'd to invalidate! Thus their Intereft is
to be the Criterion of Truth, and juft as Cure or no Cure
is the Word, they become either perjur'd Rafcals, or
creditable Witnejjes: However, it may not be amifs to
beſtow a few curfory Remarks on this Bundle of Evi-
dence, as far as it relates to the Men who have them-
felves figned their Declarations.
66
Two of thefe Certificates are taken up to prove, that
Serjeant James Morgan refufed to be examined;" By
whom? by Mr. Ranby's Deputies; who were conti-
nually teazing him and the reft of Mr. Lee's Patients,
by pulling down their Breeches, and feizing them
wherever they found them, either in their Wards or in
the Street. Morgan therefore infifted they fhould ex-
amine him no more, without Mr. Lee or fome of his
Friends were prefent; and for this High Crime and
Miſdemeanour was fent Prifoner to the Guard-houfe,
where he fhew'd the whole Guard that he was cured,
and had no Bandage; after which he was diſcharg'd
the Hofpital without any Examination.
BROCAS'S

( 56 )
BROCAS'S Declaration is introduc'd to prove,-
that he was cured by Mr. Lee, and had left off his
Bandage three Weeks; but, by a Fall when he was
drunk, got ruptur'd again.
An Accident Mr.
Lee will undertake to prevent, when thefe Gentle-
men will allow that a fecond Fracture is a Proof that
the firft was never reduc'd; but the Man's prefent
Complaint, that he has never been able to obtain the
leaft degree of Relief from Mr. Ranby ever fince, is
deem'd an Article of no Importance to the Public.
JOHN WELCH fays, that he paid Mr. Lee 2 Gui-
neas in part, but was not cured. The reafon of Mr.
Lee's taking the Money was, that he was not a Penfi-
oner in the Hofpital, and kept a Houfe in Jews-Row.
The reafon why he apprehends he was not cured at this
time is,
Becauſe Mr. Ranby had, unknown to
him, taken off his Bandage and put him on a Steel
Trufs.
HOWEVER atrocious an offence it may be in Mr. Lee
to expect a confideration for his Affiftance, yet it is a
Species of Mal-Practice which perhaps thefe Gentle-
men's Patients may not totally acquit them of; but the
Charge on which the next Certificate is founded is of a
very different nature, that of Giving, not Receiving.
WILLIAM FIELDING (it feems) was worfe for Mr.
Lee's Attendance, this, at leaft, muft be allow'd
a fingular inftance, and "be received fo much.
pain from Mr. Lee's burning Medicine that it took the
Skin off bis Groin." Certainly this Man's Skin
muft be of a more delicate Texture than that of all Mr.
Lee's other Patients, who it is not even pretended ever
experienc'd any ſimilar Effect; but burning Medicine
was thought a proper chirurgical Scare-crow, to be fet
up in Terrorem to the Public. Laft of all, this Man
66 once

(57)
CC
once receiv'd a Treat, and feveral times Money from
Mr. Lee" but the confideration of this Bounty is
prudently conceal'd: the firft was an Acknowledgment,
as has been before hinted, for the various Journies he
had made on Mr. Lee's Account; the latter, an Act
of Charity, when, in a high Fever, all Medicines were
refus'd him at the Hofpital, only becaufe He was Mr.
Lee's Patient.
RANDAL COLEMAN fays he was fome time under Mr.
Lee's Care, but was not cured. A very common
phyfical cafe, and not at all extraordinary in this, as
Mr. Lee never drefs'd him but three times, and the
Rupture being fmall the Man defir'd nothing farther
than a Bandage.
JOHN WARDEN's Declaration is calculated for the
Benefit of the Trufs-maker to the Hofpital (an Inftance
at leaſt of Mr. Ranby's Regard for his Brother Place-
man and Fellow Practitioner) "the Steel Trufs was
more effectual in keeping up his Rupture than Mr. Lee's
Bandage," but certainly not in curing it, fince, after
having been kept twelve Months in Irons, he is pro-
nounc'd as bad as ever. But how could the Conti-
nuance of this Man's Illneſs be plac'd to Mr. Lee's Ac-
count? and tho' Mr. Lee's Bandage would not keep up
this Man's Rupture, it feems it was all-fufficient for
that purpoſe with the next.
JOHN HENRY, who declares, "that during the two
Months he wore Mr. Lee's Bandage it kept up his Rup-
ture, and that he would have continued longer under bis
Care but that a Misunderstanding arofe between Mr.
Chefelden and Mr. Lee." An excellent Article of In-
dictment against Mr. Lee, for not having cured him
but more Bribery again: this Man was likewife invited
to partake of the Fifteen Shillings fpent at Hanna's.
H
JOHN

( 58 )
Precaution.
JOHN HAMILTON Confeffes," that at times, when
be has a Cough, which is generally from the time the cold.
Weather begins, he always wears his Bandage by way of
Demonftrative Proof of the Defi-
ciency of Cure. — But left this fhould be thought
too favourable a Symptom, they make fhift to perfuade
him that fomething comes down now and then, but not
fo low as it did before; and Mr. Thomas once made
the lucky Difcovery of fomething like a Pin-cufhion
in the Waiſtband of his Breeches, which, like the
Waiſtcoat before mention'd, is immediately vefted
with the Virtue of a Trufs.
RICHARD BURBRIDGE, we are inform'd, "bad
been two whole Months under Mr. Lee's Care, when a
Fall brought down his Rupture again. A Proof, by
the way, that Mr. Lee in fo fhort a time had produced
the falutary Effect of keeping it up, and which, for
aught theſe Gentlemen know, might have remain'd fo
had not this Accident happen'd: but it is certain
the Benefit this Man receiv'd was by no means adequate
to the Pain occafioned by Mr. Lee's Medicines,
which oblig'd him to keep his Bed Nine Days.
Another chirurgical Scare-crow.
HOWEVER our Serjeants may plume themſelves upon
the above Declarations, yet their Triumph is fomewhat
clouded by being obliged to confefs that there was one,
viz. Harvey, who had pafs'd thro' their phyfical In-
quifition without being convicted of having any Traces
either of Rupture or Bandage remaining; and how un-
lucky is it that this fhould be the very Man on whofe
Cure our Serjeants themfelves had agreed to reft the
determination of Mr. Lee's Pretenfions. It can hardly
be fuppos'd thefe Gentlemen would have felected the
moft favourable Subject on this occafion, and if it was
as they then pronounc'd it, a very bad one, we have
this

(59)
this Inftance, at leaft, that Mr. Lee can cure a very
bad Rupture, which is all we have aim'd to prove,
and they have fo induftriouſly endeavour'd to conceal
from the Public. -
Suppofe Mr. Lee to have
fail'd in the particular Cafes they have mention'd, Has
he not fucceeded in others? and ought not this to be
rather a Foundation for Encouragement than fuch an
unexampled Oppofition, efpecially as his firft Propofal
was only to be of more Service in this Distemper than
bad bitherto been experienced in our Hofpitals?
But it ſeems the Teftimony of living Witneffes was
not deemed fufficient to Mr. Lee's Conviction, the Bodies
of the Dead are likewife to be ranfack'd in fearch of
Evidence against him; and the following awful Certi-
ficate is ufher'd in, in no lefs than two or three Places :
Whereas it hath been reported, that John Hanna,
whofe dead Body we have this day infpected, was perfect-
ly cured of a Rupture, under which be fome time labour'd,
We do bereby certify, that the Perforation of a Rupture
on the right fide was fo large as easily to admit of three
Fingers: a moft certain Proof that the faid Hanna bad
not been cured of his Rupture.
24 July.
Signed in my Prefence,
H. Fielding.
Benjamin Hoadly,
Meffenger Monfey,
C. Hawkins,
T. Hawkins,
W. Hunter,
D. Middleton.
If the Extenfion of this Perforation is now to be held
a certain Symptom of the Difeafe, ought not the pro-
per Contraction of it to be allow'd a Proof of the Cure?
yet this we have feen our Serjeants could no way be in-
duc'd to admit. But is it not fomewhat ftrange that,
in fuch a relaxed State of the Body, the Rupture fhould
H 2
not

(60)
not have been actually down, efpecially as there was
nothing to prevent its Defcent, and which muft have
been confiderably forced by the Agonies of Death? yet,
whatever magnifying Spectacles fome of thefe Gentle-
men might make ufe of for the Difcovery of this borrid
Chafm, it is certain one of them, and the very Perfon
who opened the Body, was oblig'd to apply to Mr.
Lee for Information to know on which Side the Man
had formerly been ruptur'd. Another Gentleman of
the Profeffion then prefent, but not of their Sett, feeing
the violence with which they bored their Fingers into
the Part, obferv'd, "That it certainly was poffible by
a proper degree of Force to open a Paffage for the
whole Hand down into the Scrotum :" Nor could this
Gentleman agree with them in another material point,
which indeed was the principal one this Confultation
was fummoned to fanctify, viz. That the Man died a
natural Death. Surely there is fomething very fingu-
lar in Hanna's Cafe; no fooner had Mr. Lee felected
him for Cure, but Mr. Chefelden affures the Deputy-
Governor, he was not ruptur'd: no fooner is he cur'd,
but the utmoft Efforts are made by the Triumvirate to
prove him ruptur'd. And if this pretended Perfora-
tion was fo large when dead, is it not even miraculous
that when Mr. Ranby met him, juft before he died, in
the King's Road, and made him unbutton his Breeches
to fhew he had no Bandage on; is it not, I fay, mira-
culous that the Rupture fhould not then drop thro' fo
capacious a Paffage, particularly as he was walking,
and that fo luftily, as made our Serjeant tell him,
"He was fure he must have a Bandage on, or he could
not walk fo well."
THE Reader's Surprize, that fo great Solicitude
fhould be fhewn by our Serjeants to prove this Man in
particular ruptur'd, will ceafe when he is inform❜d,
that this was one of the 4 Men who were produc'd at
the

(61)
the Duke's Apartments to teftify his Cure, and, when
Mr. Ranby afterwards told His Highness that he had de-
tected two of thofe very Men wearing their Bandages,
join'd in an Affidavit that they had never feen Mr.
Ranby, or wore a Bandage, from the time of their be-
ing fo produced.
AFTER our Serjeants had been fuccefsful enough to
procure Mr. Lee's Difmiflion from Chelfea, they were
ftill apprehenfive that his Appointment in another Hof-
pital might induce a Diftruft that fomething more than
mere Demerit was the Occafion of it, and therefore
thought it convenient to fanctify their Proceedings by
the Verdict of fome of their Brother Practitioners; nor
was this the first time they had fought Refuge in the
Sanctuary of a phyfical Inquifition, which was always
too complaifant to refufe Protection to Brethren in fo
elevated a Station: accordingly we are told, "Mr.
Ranby invited feveral of the principal Perfons of the
Profeffion to dine with him, in order to obtain the follow-
ing Certificate.
July 13, 1753.
The following In-Penfioners of Chelfea Hofpital, viz.
*
Stephen Cowel,
* John Colfon,
*John Brocas,
*John Hamilton,
*William Storey,
* John Tanner,
*Peter Curtis,
Thomas Merriman,
Thomas Clark,
William Fielding,
Randal Colman,
were

(62)
were feverally examin'd by us whofe Names are under-
written; they had every one of them Truffes on, upon the
Removal of which Truffes all the Ruptures, except Peter
Curtis's, came down.
Minu
John Ranby,
Cafar Hawkins,
D. Middleton,
Peter Sainthill,
Edward Nourfe,
Robert Adair,
Samuel Sharp,
Jofeph Paul,
William Hunter,
John Thomas,
Alexander Reid,
As here appears to be a Surgeon to every Man, it
may be expected they fhould have been a little more
particular in the defcription of their feveral Cafes, and
not by fuch a lumping Certificate exact an implicit Be-
lief, in what was intended (if intended for any thing)
to furnish Matter of Conviction; but as the Mystery of
this Examination may, by our Serjeants, be thought
of too folemn a Nature to be communicated to vulgar
Ears, we fhall be prophane enough to expofe fuch part
of it as has come to our Knowledge.
THUS then ſay the Men themſelves; and, as they are
not upon Oath, perhaps they may bid fairer for our
Serjeants Allowance of their Credibility.
STEPHEN COWEL. Mr. Ranby order'd me to take
off my Bandage, and then faid
"See, this
Man is not cured, and he has taken an Oath that he is
cured."
One Gentleman then touched me, and
Mr.

(63)
Mr. Ranby again faid,
"He is not cured."
But the Gentlemen never ſpoke a word. I was
then fent out.
JOHN COLSON. I was ordered to loofe my Ban-
dage; Mr. Ranby then faid,
"He is not cured,
and this Fellow has been with Lee fince."
The
Surgeons never touched me, and I was turned out.
geons,
WILLIAM STOREY. Mr. Ranby firft told the Sur-
"That I had fwore before Mr. Manley
that I never was to wear a Bandage, and that he took it
off the next day." After this they bid me take off
my Bandage, and then made me Cough and Jump for
about a Quarter of an Hour, and without touching me
bid me withdraw.
JOHN TANNER. Mr. Ranby firft faid,
CC
If
I can do it, your Ears fhall be cut off and nailed to the
Pillory, and you turned out of your Bread for ever:
then faid, It is pity fuch an ancient Man as you fhould be
ferved fo." I then took my Bandage off, and
one of the Gentlemen touched me; then Mr. Ranby
faid,
"You may fee he is not cured:"
the Gentleman anfwered,
thing ails him.
وو
And
"I cannot fee that any
I was then ordered to put up my
Breeches and go out.
PETER CURTIS. Mr. Ranby afked
66
If I
wore a Bandage?"
I anfwered, Yes.
The Gen-
tlemen then afked,
"if I was cured?"
I
faid Yes; and only wore my Bandage by way of Pre-
caution. I then took it off, and the Gentlemen exa-
mined me, when, I declared, -I was as well as any
Man in the World: Mr. Ranby faid that
an impudent Fellow.
دو
"I was
Then fome more of the
Gentlemen examined me: I was then ordered to walk
round

(64)
round the College feveral times, and up and down three
pair of Stairs, 'till I was quite tired.
Then I re-
turned to the Surgeons, who again examined me, and
faid, I was just the fame as I was before."
ever I was:
وو
Mr. Ranby then infifted" that I was as bad as
Several of the Gentlemen then ex-
amined me again; and I faid, Take a Knife and
open me, and I will ftand it, for I am as well as any Man
in England. Then I was turned out.*
N. B. POTTS, one of the Men Mr. Lee had laft un-
dertaken by Order of the Board, then offered himfelf
for Infpection, but was not admitted.
AFTER fo nice, fo critical, and fo truly Surgeon-
like an Examination, is it not amazing that thefe poor
deluded old. Men fhould ftill perfift in their Welfare,
and be infatuated enough not to think themſelves obli-
ged to make a Surrender of only two of their Senfes to
the Authority of fuch an infallible Judicature, a Judi-
cature which, from all appearance, muft even be en-
dowed with fupernatural Talents, fince nothing lefs
than the Gift of a Second Sight could certainly enable
them to difcern what neither the Patients themſelves,
or any other Perfon who had not the Microfcope of a
Diploma, could poffibly difcover. It is plain theſe
Gentlemen were far from having the incredulous Cu-
riofity of the APOSTLE, and thought thrufting their
Fingers into the Man's Side by no means a neceffary
Article of Conviction; but perhaps the Profeffors of
the Old Baily may have the fame prudent BY-LAW
with thofe of Warwick-lane, " That no junior Gradu-
ate fhall, on any occafion, prefume to call in Question
the Judgment of his Senior :" If fo, we may rather
wonder
* Hamilton was not afked a Queftion. Some of the other Men
are dead, others can't be found, and Brocas told them as in his De-
claration.

(65)
wonder that one of thefe Gentlemen fhould be found
to differ with our Serjeants in point of opinion, than
that all fhould fign fo plump a Certificate in fupport
of it.
"The Ruptures came down,"
ſay they, but not a Symptom is to be explained, whe-
ther of the Caul or the Inteftine
Whether in
the Groin or in the Scrotum, nor are the Dimenfions
thought a Matter of any neceffary Information; yet,
as we find they were not large enough to convince the
Men themſelves that they were really ruptured, they
may perhaps be thought too fmall to convince any one
elfe (befides thefe Gentlemen) of it. Thefe learned
Practitioners well knew that even a Swelling in the Parts
is far from being any certain Mark of the Diftemper,
and if any fuch had appeared, would not a Reduction of
the Rupture have afforded them the moft unerring E-
vidence of its Reality; but it appears, feveral were dif
miffed untouched, and almoft all unquestioned, by thefe
Examiners; they were too polite to be inquifitive, and
too regularly bred to difpute our Serjeants concife de-
termination,
"He is not cured,"
which definitive Sentence feems folely to have direct-
ed the Opinions of the whole Board on this chirurgical
Inqueft.
and
MAY it not excite fome unfavourable Sufpicions
that, among fo many Surgeons, Mr. Lee fhould be the
only one that was thought improper to be fummoned
on this occafion : Or was it confiftent with the Candour
of thefe Gentlemen, to proceed in an Affair which fo
materially concerned the Intereft as well as Reputation
of a Brother Practitioner, in his Abfence? Might
not Mr. Lee have informed them of fome particulars
which our Serjeants would by no means be inclinable
fhould come to their Knowledge? And if the former
was to be excluded, why were the latter not only to be
admitted, but even fuffered to prefide at the Head of
I
that

( 66 )
that very Jury whofe Verdict was to determine the Rec-
titude of their own Conduct? Has not Mr. Lee then
ample reafon to enter his Proteft againſt a Sentence
obtained under fuch partial Circumftances, efpecially
as former occafions have evinced that his Brethren in
general are far from being the most forward Advocates,
or Witneffes, in his Favour?
Has not Mr.
Lee annihilated fome of their ruptural Annuities? And
though we ſhould not prefume fuch a confideration
could poffibly pervert their Integrity, it may be fup-
pofed to give fome little inclining Biafs to their Judg
Quod volumus facile credimus.
ment.
How
facred foever thefe Gentlemen's Characters are repre-
fented to be, if they are not totally unfufceptible of
the Frailty of Human Nature, they may probably ex-
perience fome fmall Emotions of Spleen at Mr. Lee's
Pretenfion to excel them in any one particular Branch
of their Profeffion; for, as Mr. Locke obferves,
"Would it not be an infufferable thing for a learned
"Profeffor, and that which his Scarlet would blufh
66
66
at, to have his Authority of Forty years ftanding
"over-turned in an Inftant by an upftart Novelift,
"and he made to confefs, that what he taught his
Pupil thirty years ago was all Error and Miftake."
In fhort, the only material Points this Certificate feems
to eſtabliſh are,
That theſe Gentlemen certainly
dined with Mr. Ranby, and were very grateful for their
Entertainment.
YET however full this Certificate may be thought,
"That on the Removal of the Truffes all the Ruptures
came down," it is not ftill compleat enough for our
Serjeants Wishes, as being qualified with the exception
of Peter Curtis's, and therefore they warn the Reader
"there is fomething worth notice in his
that
par-

(67)
particular Cafe, whofe Rupture did not come down
and inform us,
this day,"
His Rupture was down,
December 7, 1750.
Was not down,
Was down,
Was down,
April 24, 1752.
June 27, 1752.
March 14, 1752.
And this Day was not down,
July 15, 1753.
All which, fay they, is fufficient to convince any one,
"that a fingle examination can give no Proof
Or how, up-
on theſe Gentlemen's Principles, would it be at all
more fatisfactory, if thefe Examinations fhould be re-
peated to Eternity? But however this may convince, it
will certainly furprize the Reader,
That this
that a Perfon is perfectly cured."
Man's Rupture fhould only luckily be down, when the
Triumvirate or their Affiftants were in fole poffeffion
of the Enquiry; and unluckily up, when any other
Perfons were concerned in the determination of this
Point.
66
worn
THUS have we examined every material Part of
theſe learned Gentlemen's Performance, thro' which,
if the Reader has had patience to follow us, he will at
leaſt think it ftrange that Mr. Lee fhould have been fo
peculiarly unfortunate as not to have effected one fingle
Cure, even though he made ufe of that all-fufficient
Remedy, a Trufs; and which, upon our Serjeants
own Authority, in growing Perfons
for a proper Length of time proves a certain and infallible
Cure,"
In grown up Perfons,
compleatly cures,
and, in Old Men, "fome-
times perfectly cures." So that it feems this chirurgical
Machine is only ineffectual when applied by Mr. Lee.
But will not the Public think it ftill ftranger,
that this fatal Spell upon Mr. Lee's Practice fhould be
دو
I 2
66
often
con-

(68)
confined to the Walls of this Hofpital only, fince his
Success in another has received the Sanction of indif-
putable Authority; and where fingle Examinations could
not be pleaded in juftification of Doubt, but every
Means were as fully, tho' fomewhat more fairly, made
ufe of to detect an Impofture, as thofe practifed by
our Triumvirate themfelves, tho', it muſt be confef-
fed, the poor Men were left in poffeffion of their See-
ing and Feeling, without incurring the imputation of
Perjury for adhering to the Evidence of two fuch de-
ceitful Senfes.
UPON the whole then, Why this Distemper fhould
be fo manifeftly curable at GREENWICH, and fo ob-
ftinately incurable at CHELSEA, is a phyſical Pheno-
nom, we ſhall leave the Faculty to explain, and will
only fuppofe, that there muft certainly be fome effen-
tial difference between a Marine and a Land Rupture;
or that the Air of the two Places is not equally fuited
to the fuccefs of this Operation, fince upon thefe prin-
ciples it is only poffible to justify our Serjeant Surgeons
Conduct, and account for the following odd kind of
Contraft in the fame Character.
At CHELSEA.
Mr. Lee is an Impoftor.
Mr. Lee has been guilty of Mal-
Practice.
Mr. Lee never cured one Penfio-
ner.
At GREENWICH.
Mr. Lee is an able Surgeon.
Mr. Lee's Conduct is unanimouf-
ly approv'd.
Mr. Lee cured upwards of Forty
Penfioners.
Mr. Lee's Cures are denied by Mr. Lee's Cures are acknowledg-
Serjeant Surgeons.
Mr. Lee's Patients are not to be
credited on Oath.
ed by Surgeons of his Majefty's
Yards.
Mr. Lee's Patients are credited
without an Oath.
Mr.

(69)
Mr. Lee's Patients' Ruptures are
always down when inspected
by his Oppofers, but always
up when inspected by indiffe-
rent Perfons.
Mr. Lee's Patients never leave off
their Bandages
Mr. Lee is deem'd unworthy his
ftipulated Salary.
Mr. Lee's Merits are determin'd
by the Repreſentations of his
chirurgical Adverfaries.
Mr. Lee is condemn'd by a Board
Commiffioners.
of
5
Mr. Lee's Patients' Ruptures are
always up when infpected either
by Friends or Foes.
Mr. Lee's Patients frequently leave
off their Bandages.
Mr. Lee is thought worthy more
Advantages than his Salary.
Mr. Lee's Merits are confirm'd by
the Sanction of the Surgeons of
his Majefty's Yards, and the
whole Board.
Mr. Lee is juftified by a Board of
Forty Governors.
Mr. Lee is difcharg'd with Igno- Mr. Lee is continued with Ho-
miny.
nour.
As our Serjeants NARRATIVE (every Part of
which is more fully fet forth in the preceding part of
their Defence) feems only to be inferted in hopes a
Repetition of Facts fhould be mistaken for a Multipli-
cation of them, we fhall forbear taking any notice of
it; and after having expofed the Infufficiency of their
pretended Anfwer, only by way of Appendix, recapi-
tulate fome material Facts, to which they have been
too prudent to give any Anfwer at all.
APPEN

( 70 )
APPENDIX.
As
S the Serjeant Surgeons have prudently paffed
over the following Facts, it may be prefumed
the Reader will be induced to place them among the
Credenda of the NARRATIVE.
Page 8, It is faid
"That upon Mr. Lee's
firft going to the Hofpital, Mr. Thomas produced only
three miferable Objects, almoft expiring with other
Complaints, as Subjects for the Experiment:"
to which Mr. Lee objecting, He was told,
66
Thofe were all afflicted with Ruptures in that Hofpital;"
but applying to the Deputy Governor, the
next day he found no lefs that Thirty-fix impatiently
waiting for relief.
Mr. Thomas being reproached
with this Difingenuity, anfwer'd, "That Mr.
Chefelden and be did not trouble themfelves about fuch
old infirm Fellows as were afflicted with Ruptures, for it
was not worth their while to have any thing to do with
them."
Page 9. Mr. Chefelden is charged with telling the
Deputy Governor,
That two of the Men Mr.
Lee felected for Cure bad but very fmall Ruptures, and
that one, viz. Hanna, was not ruptured at all;"
tho' Sir Robert Rich confirmed his being difcharged
his own Regiment for that Diftemper, and on his
admiffion into the Hofpital being reported by Mr.
Chefelden himfelf to be ruptur'd very bad.
Page

(71)
Page 13. Mr. Chefelden is accufed of fending a Let-
ter to the Board, informing them,
"That
having met Mr. Lee two days before, it had been agreed
between them that he fhould continue his Examinations of
the Men one Month longer,'
tho' Mr. Lee had
never ſeen him for near two months before.
"That Mr. Lee,
Page 13, 14. It is obferved,
being directed to produce the Men he had cured, at
the Board the 28th November, for a final determina-
tion of the Affair, found, upon his going to the Hof-
pital the day before, Orders had been given that None
of the Penfioners fhould ftir from the Hofpital the
Board-Day; upon which he procured the Affidavits of
the Men to their Cure, and that Mr. Chefelden had ex-
amined them, which, on Mr. Chefelden's Denial at the
Board,
"That he had ever examined one Man
who had been under Mr. Lee's Care
he pro-
duced, fomewhat to this Gentleman's Confufion."
Page 14, fets forth,
"That an Agreement
being made that Mr. Chefelden fhould examine the
Men for one whole month, he, after three Examina-
tions, declared
"That Mr. Lee might Spare
bimfelf any farther trouble, fince the Men were as well
as ever they were in their Lives, and that he found not
the leaft Appearance of a Rupture in any of them, pro-
mifing to make a Report the next Board-day in his Fa-
vour:"
Yet on the 16th January, 1750, re-
ported,
"That two of the faid Men had their
Ruptures down at the time he examined them, and that
the Examination was given up at Mr. Lee's Requeft."
Page 17 alledges,
"That our Serjeant Sur-
geons and Mr. Chefelden, upon an examination, de-
clared

(72)
clared a Man, viz. BENSON, to be ruptur'd, who had
never been ill of that Diftemper in his Life."*
Page 19 charges our Serjeants with reporting to the
Board held April 24, 1751,
"That they had
examined Peter Curtis, in particular, at St. George's
Hofpital, and found his Rupture down,"
when
it appeared they had never feen that Man in their
Lives,
and, who, being then called in before
the Commiffioners, was found to be perfectly well.
Page 20 informs us,
"That tho' the Ser-
jeants had examined fix ruptured Men at Mr. Chefel-
den's Apartments, in order to be put under Mr. Lee's
Care, yet at this Board they denied
ever examined one Man there."
Having
Page 20. The Serjeants are accuſed of publickly
declaring
66
thing in Mr. Lee's Favour.
دو
That they would never certify any
"That our Serjeants
Because they had not en-
to examine Hanna,
Page 22 acquaints us
refufed to examine, at Sir William Yonge's Houfe,
Harvey and Hamilton,
tirely left off their Bandages:
Because they had not feen him when ruptured
to examine Morgan, who they had before acknowledged
to have infpected at Mr. Chefelden's,
they now faid they had never examined him at all.
Becaufe
Page 24 fays,
"That four of the Pen-
fioners were examined by feveral Noblemen and Ge-
neral Officers at the Duke's Apartments, all of whom
feemed fatisfied of their Welfare; but Mr. Ranby foon
after affured his Royal Highnefs
"That be
bad
*N. B. Our Serjeants, in order to acquit themfelves of this un-
lucky millake, think it fufficient to change the Name of Benfon into
Hanna; but this Evafion has been fully expofed in our Reply.

(73)
bad, fince the Examination, been at Chelfea, where be
found two of the aforefaid Penfioners wearing their
Bandages, and ruptured as bad as ever.
In
contradiction to which an Affidavit of the four Men
was prefented to his Hoyal Righnefs, fetting forth
"That Mr. Ranby had never fpoke to them, or had
they wore any Bandage from the time they were pro-
duced to the time Mr. Ranby had fo mif-informed his
Royal Highness."
***
"unfair,
Page 46, 77 Expofes our Serjeants
tho' unfuccefsful, Endeavours to defeat Mr. Lee's Ap-
pointment at the Greenwich Board."
Page 48 to 75, fhews
"how inconteftibly
Mr. Lee's Cures were eftabliſhed, in open Court, by
Gentlemen, Merchants and Tradefmen, as well as the
Penfioners of both Hofpitals,"
on all which
our Serjeants have not bestowed a fingle Remark, ex-
cept that frivolous one relating to Mr. Roebuck.
Page 83, complains
"That none of the
Men who were put under Mr. Lee's Care, after his
Agreement with the Commiffioners, were examined
either by them or the Surgeons,
55
fo that the
very fervices that were to entitle him to the Reward
were the only ones left uninquired into at the Determi-
nation concerning it.
SOME fcrupulous Readers may be apt to think all
thefe particulars required at leaft fome alleviating Juf-
tification; but our Serjeants, finding Facts too ftub-
born for their Cafuiftry, deemed Silence their beſt Sex
curity,
K
N. B. Our Serjeants are weak enough to imagine that their now
faying, it was two other Men they detected with Bandages on, viz.
Tanner and Curtis, is fufficient to clear them of this intentional Im-
pofition.

( 74 )
curity, and had they obferved the like prudential
Caution with refpect to the rest of thefe Tranfactions,
they might have been lefs expofed, if not lefs criminal.
SHOULD any one be of opinion that too great a Free-
dom has been taken with thefe dignified Profeffors, in
the courſe of this Reply, let the Provocation prove
our Apology; and furely fome little fpirited Sallies
may be excuſed when it is confidered, that not only
the Livelihood of Mr. Lee was to be the Victim of his
Opponents Malice, but every Page of their Perform-
ance is pointed at his Reputation, and calculated to
ftigmatize him with the odious Crimes of SUBORNA-
TION and IMPOSTURE; yet, however deficient Mr.
be thought in point of Decency, he is deter-
mined not to offend in point of Gratitude, but make
this public Acknowledgement of his Obligations to
thefe Gentlemen, for the additional Emoluments he
has experienced in Practice from their Oppofition, tho'
perhaps an accidental Advantage they by no means
intended him.
Lee may
adadagdagada da
POSTSCRIPT.
S, by way of Poftfcript, a Letter is added in
proof of the new diſcovered Virtue of the
Trufs, to render Men ferviceable, we fhall produce a
recent Inftance to prove that neither this miraculous
Machine, or even
or even our Serjeants Judgment itſelf, is
fufficient to prevent ferviceable Men from being deem-
ed, and paid, as unferviceable.
A Letter is
JOSEPH

(75)
JOSEPH PHILLIPS, late of the Hon. Colonel How-
ard's Regiment, aged 48, was difcharged at Inverness
in October 1752, and admitted on the Chelfea Penfion
in the December following, for a Rupture; he was
fent by his Colonel (with two others who were dif
charged the fame Regiment for the fame Complaint)
to Mr. Lee about two months fince, who infpected
them and informed the Colonel that Phillips was not
ruptured: the Colonel told him he muft certainly be
miſtaken, for not only the Surgeon of the Regiment
had certified it, but he had been reported fo on the
Examination of the Surgeons at Chelfea. Mr. Lee ftill
perfifted in his opinion, and propofed fatisfying the
Colonel, with any other Gentlemen he fhould think
proper, in this point: accordingly, fome time after,
he attended at the Colonel's Houfe, where, in the
Prefence of feveral Perfons of Quality and Diftinction,
he tapped the Scrotum and brought away above a
Quart of Water.
What opinion muſt the
Public then entertain of our Serjeant's learned Ac-
COUNT OF THE NATURE OF THIS DISTEMPER,
who, it appears, was at leaft capable of miftaking
a Hydrocele for a Rupture.
N. B. There is reafon to think that many of theſe
miftaken Cafes may be found among the Pen-
fioners, and thofe on the Bounty Lift, who very
unneceffarily remain ufelefs to their King and
Country, and burthenfome to the Revenue.
FINI S.
ERRATA.
P. 35. Line 4. for Curtis read Storey
P. 37. Line 14. for Curtis read Ter.