CHAP, in HE SETS UP AS A PHYSICIAN 19 



at St. Thomas's Hospital his kindness to the patients had 

 won him their regard, and the poor now sought him out, 

 bringing him, not indeed money, but experience and 

 some repute. He was very considerate of their needs, 

 and often traversed long distances in the outskirts of 

 London to visit them, taking no fee. This kindness to 

 the poor he continued throughout his life, even when 

 overpressed with the claims of other patients. He reaped 

 a full reward more than that which has been attributed 

 to him in the saying : "I climbed on the backs of the 

 poor to the pockets of the rich." 



It was customary then for the apothecaries who 

 attended cases of sickness frequently to call in a physician, 

 and when the patient could afford the fees the physician 

 would continue to visit daily or at intervals, meeting the 

 apothecary on each occasion. Such visits formed probably 

 the main part of Dr. Fothergill's practice, besides chamber 

 work at his own house. He obtained the licence of the 

 Royal College of Physicians of London in 1744, and ten 

 years later was elected, at the instance of Dr. John 

 Rutherford, then President of the College of Physicians 

 of Edinburgh, to be an honorary Fellow of that body. 

 It may have been his preoccupations in other ways or 

 the shyness of the young Quaker which hindered him at 

 first from applying for public appointments ; later on 

 his private practice was too large to admit of it. What- 

 ever the cause he seems to have held no appointments of 

 importance. 



Fothergill's character was one that commanded the 

 confidence of his own brethren. He soon took his place 

 in the councils of the Friends in London, and had an 

 increasing share in guiding their affairs and interests, both 

 British and American. 



He had been but a few years in practice when the chief 

 medical opportunity of his life came to him. Epidemics 

 of throat disorder were then not uncommon. What 

 seems to have been a malignant form of scarlatina swept 

 over London in the autumns of 1747 and 1748, and carried 

 off large numbers of persons, especially children, including 



