366 LETTER TO 



except his private fortune be large, for man}' 

 years in Chambers, and goes to Westminster 

 Hall in a hackney-coach ; whereas a physician, 

 sometimes immediately upon coming to town, 

 very commonly only a year or two after, occu- 

 pies a whole house, and visits patients in his 

 own chariot. But this expence, though its 

 object should be ultimately attained, reacts in 

 the mean time upon the cause which gave rise 

 to it, and augments in him the necessity for 

 professional gains. 



The female sex, it is well known, have great 

 influence on the extent of practice which phy- 

 sicians possess. But, for many reasons, they 

 are averse to communicate their own complaints 

 to any one who is unmarried, and they naturally 

 recommend to others the person whom they 

 consult themselves. Physicians, therefore, very 

 generally marry soon after they commence 

 practice. As they are then far from being 

 wealthy, if they marry women in other respects 

 equal to themselves, they seldom receive for- 

 tunes with them. In this case, the calls for 

 money increase, for some time at least, more 

 rapidly than the beneficial effects of their new 

 situation ; and hence, actions, which were 

 formerly regarded as contemptible, will now 

 perhaps seem even praiseworthy, from afford- 

 ing subsistence to the objects of their most 



