THE NEW SCIENCE AND COMEDY 99 



and his parasite, Runabout, are alone, he confesses, "But I did my 

 Endeavor to soothe her up with the usual jargon contrived for the 

 Amusement of her sex". 119 



Mody and Runabout, with all their pretense to learning have 

 never taken a course at the College. Their knowledge has been 

 gained in London, "The great English University". They have as 

 associates rogues of other professions of as deep a dye as themselves. 

 Mody has arranged for a dinner to which he has invited Orator 

 Puff, Counsellor Certiorari, Alderman Commerce, and Dr. Gim- 

 crack. And these rascals with their brazen affrontery are success 

 ful in deceiving their patients until Dr. Easy appears. He is, in 

 fact, a thoroughgoing sentimental hero in his relationship with Miss 

 Worthy ; as a physician, he represents the first comic character who 

 is deserving of respect. He makes no unfounded claims to knowl 

 edge ; he charges no exhorbitant fees ; he relies more upon common- 

 sense than upon the nostrums from the apothecaries' shops. This 

 quiet, modest man rescues Lady Humane from the clutches of Mody 

 and Runabout, exposes them as rogues, and wins the heart of Miss 

 Worthy. It is a matter for astonishment to one who has followed 

 the comic type of physicians through this period to hear him speak 

 as follows ; 



"Lord Humane, Who tells you, Nature is so potent as you 



make her ? 



Dr. Easy, The great Hyppocrates, together with that modern 



Ape of his, good Sydenham. Men, my Lord, 



Who by discarding Hypothetic Rules, 



With all the heavy Jargon of the Schools; 



Observing Nature, Patriots in her Cause! 



And being upright gain 'd themselves applause ! ' ' 12 



This comedy, with all its dullness, is noteworthy for two reasons. 

 It gives, in the first place, a clear, satiric exposition of the collusion 

 between dishonest physicians and apothecaries. The very same 

 knavery that aroused the ire of Samuel Garth in the Dispensary 

 (1699) was still extant. This was proper material for satire and 

 thoroughly deserved the lashing it received. In the second place, 

 there is shown the first worthy doctor, who represents the earliest 



119 Ibid. 



120 The State of Physick, Act IV, sc. 4. 



