in HIS BUSY PRACTICE 21 



aim in practice was never that of money-getting. Beyond 

 the duty of earning his living, soon in his case fulfilled, 

 his motive was to give help to others. He declined many 

 fees, and, where need seemed to exist, would often offer 

 a gift of his own to meet the cost of medicines or on 

 some other plea which his delicacy suggested. Such 

 secret benevolence became a habit with him, and no 

 one ever knew its extent. Always on the watch for 

 those who needed a helping hand, he gave and he lent 

 largely, and though sometimes deceived, he was not dis- 

 couraged. 



Fothergill never married. He had some drawings to 

 one and another of the young Friends of his circle, but 

 his own standard was so high that he was apt to be 

 disappointed in them ; his habitual caution and self- 

 restraint hindered, too, the expression of his feelings. 

 And so it came to pass that the home was a solitary one, 

 save for social intercourse, until his sister, Ann Fothergill, 

 came in 1754 to live with him. She was a plain Friend 

 from the Yorkshire dales, brought up in a narrow circle, 

 and aware of her own deficiencies, but she adapted herself 

 to the place she had to fill in FothergiU's house. Her 

 native shrewdness, good sense, and kindly spirit enabled 

 her to dispense the large hospitalities which her brother 

 loved with wisdom if not with grace, and she won his 

 confidence and gratitude. Most often they had visitors 

 to breakfast, and frequent callers in the day, whose 

 entertainment fell chiefly to her lot. Young men, and 

 those who needed notice and help were especially 

 welcomed, and FothergiU's counsel was sought by many, 

 and on many topics, for he had the faculty of judgment 

 in an eminent degree disinterested, cool, and often 

 swift. His popularity as a physician, even among the 

 upper ranks of society, was won and kept without any 

 abatement of the ways of the Quaker, for the strict garb, 

 singular language, and unlifted hat were made acceptable 

 by a gentle and tactful manner. He had many friends, 

 and the bond of friendship was to him deep and real. 

 He kept up a correspondence with the comrades of his 



