PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON. 193 



In our own country a parallel relationship similarly sur 

 vived. In 1456 &quot; the practice of medicine was still, to some 

 extent, in the hands of the clergy.&quot; That ecclesiastics exer 

 cised authority over medical practice in the time of Henry 

 VIII, is shown by a statute of his third year, which reads: 



&quot; It is enacted, that no person within London, or seven miles thereof, 

 shall practice as a physician or surgeon without examination and 

 licence of the Bishop of London or of the Dean of Paul s duly assisted 

 by the faculty ; or beyond these limits, without licence from the 

 bishop of the diocese, or his vicar-general, similarly assisted.&quot; 

 And even down to the year 1858 there remained with the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury a power of granting medical 

 diplomas : a power exercised in that year. So that the sepa 

 ration between &quot; soul-curer and body-curer,&quot; which goes on 

 as savage peoples develop into civilized nations, has but very 

 gradually completed itself even throughout Christian Eu 

 rope. 



668. This continuity of belief and of usage is even still 

 shown in the surviving interpretations of certain diseases 

 by the Church and its adherents; and it is even still trace 

 able in certain modes of medical treatment and certain popu 

 lar convictions connected with them. 



In the minds of multitudinous living people there exists 

 the notion that epidemics are results of divine displeasure; 

 and no less in the verdict &quot; Died by the visitation of God,&quot; 

 than in the vague idea that recovery from, or fatal issue of, 

 a disease, is in part supernaturally determined, do we see 

 that the ancient theory lingers. Moreover, there is a pre 

 determination to preserve it. When, some years ago, it was 

 proposed to divide hospital patients into two groups, for one 

 of which prayers were to be offered and for the other not, 

 the proposal was resented with indignation. There was a 

 resolution to maintain the faith in the curative effect of 

 prayer, whether it was or was not justified by the facts; to 

 which end it was felt desirable not to bring it face to face 

 with the facts. 



