26 OUTLINE OF FOTHERGILL'S LIFE CHAP. 



Doctor Fothergill ; I therefore desire you will find 

 whether the thing is practicable." 1 Probably the oath 

 stood in the way, or it may be that Fothergill's modesty 

 declined the honour. When the Societe Royale de 

 Medecine was formed at Paris in ^776, Fothergill was 

 elected a Foreign Associate, a distinction conveyed in a 

 cordial letter from Vicq d'Azyr. 2 



In 1768, at the request of the Russian Embassy in 

 London, Fothergill recommended his friend Dr. Thomas 

 Dimsdale to go to St. Petersburg to inoculate the 

 Empress Catherine and her son for the small-pox. Dims- 

 dale carried out this mission with conspicuous success, 

 and came home a baron of the Empire, loaded with riches 

 and other rewards. A narrative of his visit, published 

 for the first time from private letters, is given in another 

 chapter. 



His jealousy for the honour of his profession was the 

 means of leading Fothergill into a dispute with a fellow- 

 quaker, Dr. Leeds, which brought much trouble to his 

 sensitive mind during the years 1771 and 1772. This 

 will be noticed later. 



The influence and repute of Fothergill enabled him 

 to pursue his philanthropic aims with ever fuller effect. 

 He aided John Howard in the reform of prisons. With 

 his friend John Hustler he promoted the making of 

 canals ; and he thought and wrote much on measures 

 to ensure the cheapness of food. Many papers from his ' 

 pen were published in the journals on the better govern- 

 ment of the metropolis, advocating reforms, some of 

 which he lived to see adopted. 



One of the chief motives of Fothergill's life was the 

 increase of knowledge. Truth was dear to him in every 

 form, and he had much confidence in the spread of know- 

 ledge as a factor in human progress. He set a high value 

 upon literature as a means to this end, and made many 

 presents of books to libraries. Although in his busy life 

 he wrote no considerable works, he had a silent part in 



1 Corresp. of Geo. III. with Lord North, i. 202. 

 3 The original is in the possession of the family. Works, iii. p. cxxxviii. 



