of Aldermen charged the College with Arms whereupon they applied themselves to Queen Elizabeth and her Council upon which Secretary Walsingham wrote a Letter to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London that they should no more trouble the College but permit them to live quietly and free from that charge After this they met with no farther trouble or molestation till the Reign of K. James at which time the College being charged with Arms Sir William Paddy pleaded their Privilege before Sir Thomas Middleton Lord Mayor and a full Court of Aldermen and Sir Henry Mountague Recorder an account of which is at large Printed in this Book But the issue thereof was in short the following viz. That the Recorder then perusing every branch of the Statutes recited by Sir William Paddy with the reasons by him urged and opening every part thereof at large did conclude that the Act of Parliament did extend to give the College as much immunity as in any sort to the Chirurgeons Whereupon the Court desired a List of the Members of the College which was immediately given them and an Order entred for a dispensation to the College from bearing of Arms and also a Precept was then awarded by the Mayor and Court to commit all other Physicians or Surgeons refusing to bear or find Arms who were not of the College allowed or Chirurgeons licensed according to form About 3 years after this debate King James granted the College his Royal Charter wherein he confirms all former Statutes and Patents given them by his Royal Progenitors and therein granted To all and every Physician of the College to be wholly and absolutely free from providing or bearing of any Armour or other Munition c any Act or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding After this the College enjoyed this privilege without interruption during the Reign of King Charles the First of glorious memory untill the times of the late Rebellion in which Rights both Civil and Sacred were invaded and our College exposed to publick sale by mercenary Villains But upon the return of his Sacred Majesty He was pleased to take this Royal foundation into his protection and in the 15th year of his Reign gave them his Letters Patents confirming all their former Privileges and endowing them with many new ones amongst which this of being exempted from bearing and providing Arms c. is contained in the following words And we will and by these presents for Vs Our Heirs and Successors do give and grant unto the said President Fellows and Commonalty of the King's College of Physicians and their Successors that all and every Physician and Physicians that now is or are or that hereafter shall be elected and admitted and made a Member of the same College shall from time to time be wholly and absolutely fréed exempt and discharged of and from serving and appearing in any Iury or Iuries for the trial of any matter or cause or taking finding or executing of any Commission or inquisition whatsoever and of and from being or chosen to be Churchwarden Constable Scavenger or any such or the like Officer or Officers and of and from the undertaking execution or exercise of all and every the same and such like Office and Offices place and places and every of them and also of and from all Watch and Ward and of and from bearing and providing Arms within our Cities of London or Westminster or either of them or within 7 miles compass thereof And in case they or any of them shall at any time hereafter by any ways or means be designed appointed nominated or chosen into or to undergo or bear or perform any of the said Office or Offices place or places Duty or Duties or any of them within our said Cities or the Suburbs or Liberties thereof or limits aforesaid That all and every such designation appointment nomination or election shall be utterly void and of none effect Any Statute Act Ordinance Constitution Order Custome or Law to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding In the Seventeenth of his Majestie 's Reign he was pleased pursuant to his Royal Patent to send the following Letter in behalf of the College by Sir Alexander Frazier his chief Physician the Superscription of which was To our trusty and well-beloved the Lord Mayor of our City of London for the time being and to the Deputy Lieutenants and Commissioners of the Militia of London and Westminster that now are and hereafter shall be and to all other Officers and Ministers whom it may concern CHARLES R. WHereas in conformity to several Grants and Charters made by our Royal Progenitors Kings of England unto the College of Physicians in our City of London We have béen pleased of our especial Grace and Favour to confirm all their ancient Privileges and Immunities with the addition of some further Powers and Clauses for the reguiation of that faculty by our Letters Patent bearing date the 26th of March in the 15th year of our Reign Wherein amongst other things it is exprefly provided and by us granted that every Physician who is or shall be a Member of the said College be frée and exempt and discharged of and from all Watch and Ward and of and from bearing and providing Arms within our Cities of London or Westminster or either of them or within 7 miles compass thereof We have thought fit hereby to acquaint you therewith and with our pleasure thereupon Willing and Requiring you in your several Places and Stations to give effectual orders from time to time that the said exemption from Watch and Ward and from bearing and providing Arms be now and hereafter punctually observed in favour of the Members of the said College within the limits aforesaid And that you suffer them not to be any wise molested on that behalf And for so doing this shall be your Warrant Given at our Court at Whitehall the 28th day of June 1665. in the seventéenth year of our Reign By his Majestie 's Command William Morice This is a true Copy of His Majestie 's Letter Will. Morice Thus by the especial grace and favour of the Kings and Queens of England the College of Physicians have been freed from bearing and providing Arms and though some particular Member may of late have been summoned upon that account by the Lieutenancy yet upon producing his Majestie 's Patent and asserting his Sovereign's Natural right in dispensing with a Corporation of men from bearing and providing Arms which was an inherent prerogative in the Crown and therefore an Act of Parliament was made in 13 Car. 2. 6. positively declaring That the sole and Supreme Power government command and disposition of all the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land c is and by the Laws of England ever was the undoubted right of his Majesty and his Royal Predecessors They were freed from any further trouble An instance of which we lately had in the case of Dr. Novell then Candidate of the
irides per ambitum in imo malum granatum ut in ejus literis testimonialibus ad hoc conscriptis videre licet Dr. George Owen a very learned and great Man was bred in the Vniversity of Oxford and after made Physician to King Henry the Eighth and Queen Mary He was admitted into the College An. Dom. 1544. He with Dr. Wende and Dr. Huys by their care and interest in Q. Mary procured that eminent Statute for the College which passed in 1 Q. Mary Sess 2. C. 9. printed page 30 c. of this Book He was of that repute in Q. Mary 's Reign that there falling out an unhappy difference betwixt the College of Physicians and the Vniversity of Oxford concerning their giving a degree in Physick to an illiterate person rejected by the College which not being composed betwixt themselves the College made their Appeal by Letter to the Right Reverend Cardinal Pool Chancellour of Oxford and then Commissionated by Q. Mary to visit that Vniversity for the Reformation of Religion who so ordered affairs there that Oxford was obliged to consult this Learned Man and Dr. Thomas Huys the Queen's Physicians de instituendis rationibus quibus Oxon. Academia in admittendis Medicis uteretur Which being agreed betwixt them Hoc Statutum Reverendissimus approbavit authoritate suae legationis Cancellariatûs ut observent injunxit He and the learned Dr. Thomas Huys and Dr. Robert Huye with several other Physicians of note died of a Malignant Epidemical Intermittent Fever which reged so severely An. Dom. 1558. and is so admirably described by Dr. Caius in his Annals that I could not omit inserting the History of this Disease in his own words Tertio die Octobris An. Dom. 1558. Electio Praesidis erat quod postridie Divi Michaelis ex statuto esse nequibat distractis hinc inde omnibus Collegis in populi subsidium Qui febribus tertianis duplicibus tertianis tertianis continuis ita vexabatur populariter per omnem mensem Augusti Septembr pérque universam insulam Britanniam perinde ac peste aliquâ ut nullus locus quieti aut privatis negotiis esse potuit Ex hoc morbo periere multi non in Urbe solùm sed ruri etiam inter quos Urbanus Huys erat quod dolens refero ex immodica fatigatione per aestus graviores dum aulicos curaret morbo correptus Per eos menses vix erant sani qui aegris ministrarent vix Messores qui messem meterent aut in horreum recolligerent Hos morbos exceperunt Quartanae populariter ut non alià s aequè per hominum memoriam aliquot Quintanae Octonae etiam sed hae breves sine periculo Illae plurimos de vita sustulerunt flores videlicet gravitatis consilii aetatis maturae Ex his Georgius Owenus erat Regius Medicus Dr. Oxon. Qui obiit die 10. Octobr. sepultus est apud S. Stephanum in Walbroke Londini 24. ejusdem mensis Dr. John Caius was born in Norwich bred in Gonvile-Hall in Cambridge from whence he travelled into Italy and studied there under the learned Joannes Baptista Montanus He took his Doctor 's degree first at Bononia where for some years he was Greek Lecturer At the age of 21 years he began to translate out of Greek into Latin Nicephorus Callistus 's Treatise of Confession in Prayer and another of Chrysostome de modo orandi and out of Latin into English Erasmus 's Paraphrase on Jude and Epitomis'd his Book de vera Theologia After his return into England he took his Doctor 's degree in Cambridge and was so considerable a Benefactour to Gonvile-Hall as that he obtained Letters Patents of Philip and Mary which made him Co-founder and the Hall had then this Title given it viz. Gonvile and Caius College Founded to the Honour of the Annunciation of Blessed Mary the Virgin He built the Court called after his Name Caius-Court of free-stone and gave his Books and Plate to the College He likewise Founded 3 Fellowships and 20 Scholarships procured the College a new Coat of Arms Symbols of the faty of Physick He was admitted into the College of Physicians in the Reign of King Edward the Sixth An. Dom. 1547. He there passed through all the learned and difficult Offices thereof having for several years been chosen Censor often Register and Treasurer 〈…〉 seven years or more President of this Royal Foundâ—â—ion He was esteemed a man of a happy wit great â—â—â—ning and admirable skill in the Greek Tongue as well as in his own Profession He had the repute of one of the greatest Physicians of that Age and was Physician to King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary and for many years to Queen Elizabeth He was the first Inventor of those Ensigns of Honour by which the President of the College is distinguished from the rest of the Fellows the account of which he hath thus entred in his Register Ante hunc annum nulla à Collegio condito reddita ratio fuit acceptorum expensorum nulláve solennis ratio instituendi aut honorandi Praesidentem Pulvinari Caduceo Libro Sigillo aut excogitata aut usitata ulláve deponendi munus officium primúsque hos honores excogitavit Caius usus est Neque certè inanes sunt honores isti Nam Caduceus sive virga argentea regendum significat mitiùs clementiùs contra quà m solebant olim qui virgâ regebant ferreâ prudenter autem regendum agendúmque docent serpentes prudentiae Indices Sustineri autem istis modis Collegium indicant insignia Collegii in summo posita Jam verò cognitione Collegium fulciri indicio est Liber cujus etiam summum occupant eadem insignia Quòd autem pulvinar honoris honestamentum sit sigillum fidei signum firmamentum nemo est qui nescit Vocentur haec virtutis Insignia He hath left behind him a Book written with his own hands of the College Annals bearing date An. Dom. 1555. and ending An. Dom. 1572. which Book was the first that ever was wrote of their affairs and is managed with that excellent Method clearness of Style and fullness of Matter that all the memorable Transactions of the College are there to be sound entred in their due time and order I cannot therefore but heartily wish that he may ever continue an Exemplar to all succeeding Registers of this Royal Foundation He was so eminent a Defender of the College Rights and Privileges that there happening in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth to arise a difference betwixt the Physicians and Surgeons whether the Surgeons might give inward Remedies in the Sciatica French Pox or any kind of Vlcer or Wound c. Doctor Caius was summoned as President of the College to appear before the Lord Mayor and others of the Queen's Delegates Before whom he so learnedly defended the College Rights and the Illegality of the Surgeons practice in the forementioned cases against the
Bishop of London Master of the Rolls c. who brought many Arguments in behalf of the Surgeons that it was unanimously agreed by the Queen's Commissioners that it was unlawfull for them to practise in the forementioned cases He was so Religious in observing the Statutes of the College that though old he durst not absent from the College's Comitia without a dispensation which he hath entred after the following manner in the conclusion of his Annals Decimo quinto Novembris An. Dom. 1572. visum est Praesidenti caeteris Electoribus praesentibus omnibus in his Comitiis concedere ut Joanni Caio Doctori propter senium alia Collegii negotia perfuncta laboriosius per anteacta tempora liceat abesse à Comitiis convocationibus omnibus praeterquam ordinariis quae celebrantur in fine trimestris cuiusque spatii si in Urbe suerit per valetudinem liceat eis in quibus gravia Collegii tractantur negotia The Learned Treatises which he wrote besides his Commentaries Translations and Correction of several Authours are too many to insert in this Epistle I shall therefore give an account but of some of them which are the following De medendi methodo De Ephemera Britannica De Antiquitate Cantabrig De canibus Britannicis De rariorum Animalium atque Stirpium historia De Thermis Britannicis De libris Galeni qui non extant De antiquis Britanniae urbibus De pronunciatione Graecae Latinae linguae De Annalibus Collegii Gonvilli Caii He Translated several of Galen 's Works out of Greek into Latine of some of which the following account is given by the Learned Gesnerus Galeni libros duos de motu musculorum vetustate corruptos integritati restituit annotationibus illustravit Galenum de Anatomicis de sanitate tuenda de Comate de Pharmacis de substitutis medicamentis alia in multis locis emendavit For Cornelius Celsus there is this account given of him Cornelium Celsum valde corruptum repurgavit additis argumentis scholiis unà cum librarum ac ponderum Celsi ratione He died at Cambridge in his great Climacterick year which was An. Dom. 1573. foretelling his own death He was buried in the Chapel of his own College upon whose Monument instead of an Epitaph are inserted the two following words Fui Caius Dr. Richard Caldwall was born in Staffordshire educated in Oxford where he took his degree of Dr. in Physick He was a person so highly valued for his Learning Gravity and excellent Morals that he was examined approved and admitted into the College and made Censor thereof in one and the same day and within less than six weeks was chosen one of the Elects of the said College He was made a Member of that Society in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth 's Reign was President thereof An. Dom. 1570. His affections were such to the College that he with the Lord Lumley in the 24th year of Queen Elizabeth 's Reign procured Her Majesty's leave under the Broad-Seal to Found a Surgery-Lecture in the College and to Endow it with 40. l. per annum which is laid as a Rent-charge upon the Lands of the Lord Lumley and Dr. Caldwall and their Heirs for ever The words of the Letters patent run thus Solvend eidem Presidenti Collegio seu Communitati Successoribus suis annuatim ad usum Lectoris Artis seu scientie Chirurgie infra domum sive Collegium Medicorum London in perpetuum alend. manutenend juxta Ordinationes Statuta dicti Johannis Domini Lumley Richardi Caldwall in Medicina Doctoris fact c. This generous and noble gift of Dr. Caldwall 's and the Lord Lumley 's was so highly resented by the College that immediately Letters were drawn up and presented to both of them by the President Dr. Gifford wherein they did not onely acknowledge their great obligations due for this so honourable and generous a Donation most thankfully by them accepted but as a testimony thereof did immediately decree That 100 l. should be forthwith taken out of their Publick Stock to build the College Rooms more ample and spacious for the better celebration of this most solemn Lecture Cambden gives the following short account of this our great and worthy Benefactour and Collegue An. Dom. 1585. hoc anno fato functus R. Caldwallus è Collegio Aeâ—nei Nasi Oxon. Dr. qui ut de Repub. benè mereretur adscito in partem honoris Barone Lumleio lectionem Chirurgicam honesto salario in Medicorum Collegio Londini à Thom. Linacro fundato instituit Juxtáque ad S. Benedict inhumatur monumento laqueis plintheis charchesiis scamno Hippocratis glossoâ—â—miis aliis Chirurgicis ex Oribasio Galeno machinamentis exornato Dr. Robert James was created Doctour in Physick in the Vniversity of Cambridge and admitted into the College of Physicians in the 27th year of Queen Elizabeth 's Reign He was one of Her Majesty's Physicians and highly in Her favour as will appear by the two following Letters written by the Queen in his behalf the one to the Emperour of Russia the other to his Empress the Copy of which are the following Potentiss Principi ac Domino Johanni Basileo Dei gratiâ Russiae Imperatori Magno Duci Moscoviae c. Elizabetha Dei gratiâ Angliae Franciae Hiberniae Regina fidei defensatrix c. Potentiss Principi ac Domino Johanni Basileo eâdem Dei gratiâ Russiae Imperatori Fratri Consanguineo Amico nostro Salutem Potentissime Princeps Frater Consanguinee charissime TAm per literas tuas quà m per sermones nostrorum qui Ruthenâ ad nos proficiscuntur accepimus te non egere solùm sed desiderare etiam qui necessitatibus tuis serviat Medicum Quod hominum genus quoniam plurimarum rerum cognitionem morum probitatem non vulgarem postulat Noluimus vel non parum providae esse salutis tuae vel negligenter honoris nostri quin virum tam probitatis laude insignem quà m cognitionis in re medica usúsque laude commendatissimum ad te mitteremus eáque propter è domesticis è nostris ex eorum numero qui corporis salutisque nostrae secundùm Deumc ustodes sunt Robertum Jacob in Medicina Doctorem virum literatum artis suae peritissimum morum honestate probatissimum ad te mittimus non quia libenter eo careremus sed quoniam tibi tanquam nobis volumus cogitamus facere benè Eum ut pari cum gratia à nobis accipias honore merito prosequaris etiam atque etiam rogamus c. Serenissimae Potentissimae Principi ac Dominae Dominae Orinae Imperatrici totius Russiae c. Serenissima Potentissima Princeps Soror Consanguinea Amica nostra charissima SIngularis quae de insigni vestra prudentia virtutibus rarissimis moribus tantâ Principe verè dignis fama circumfertur crebro etiam sermone praestantis
and streightly commandyng the said Grocers and Apothecaries and every of them not to faile herof as thei tendre our pleasure the health and securitye of our lovyng Subjects and as thei shall answere for doyng the contrarie before yow to their such losses damages and penalties as be prescribed in our Lawes and Statutes above mentioned aswell concernyng Physicians as also Grocers and Apothecaries Yeven under our Signet at our Manor of St. James the xxiiii daye of June in the fourthe and fivethe yeres of our Reignes PROCEEDINGS Against Empiricks c. In Queen Elizabeth 's Reign IN the first year of this Queen's Reign Thomas Glamfelde was committed to prison for practising Physick and Stalworth and Gylmyn Norwich Empiricks fined upon the same account In the second year of her Reign a Commission was given by the College to Walter Hawgh a Norwich Physician and to Hugh Glynne a Chester Physician to Prosecute all Empiricks of their own and neighbour Counties Several others were summoned before the College and severely rebuked for exposing Pills to sale without their approbation Others were punished for the ill preparation of Medicines Amongst whom one Edward Stephens a sweet Grocer that he might be released from his imprisonment for obstinately refusing to appear upon the President 's summons of his own accord fell down upon his knees before the President and humbly begg'd pardon of the Queen's Majesty for his disobedience to the President of her College the Lord Cobham and several others being present In the 6th year several Empiricks were prosecuted others were imprisoned for practising Physick In the 12th year the Wife of one Bomelins an Empirick having procured the Lord Treasurer's Letter to the College petitioned that her husband might be discharged from prison he having given satisfaction to the Queen's Majesty for his violation of the Statutes in practising unlearnedly and by Magical Arts. To this Letter the College answered that her husband must first pay 20 l. for his practice and 15 l. for expences in the suit and likewise give security that he would not practise Physick for the future After this the President of the College and Dr. Caius were appointed to wait upon Sir William Cecil Secretary of State he having wrote a Letter to the College in favour of Bomelins upon whose application the Secretary was pleased to express great respect to the College and all the members of it assuring them that he should be well pleased to have Bomelins banished the Kingdom Some time after Bomelins was released from prison by consent of the College having given Bond of 100 l. that he would not for the future practise Physick in London nor in any other parts of England It was ordered by the College that the President should enter an Action against Dr. Lewes Judge of the Admiralty for suffering William Rich an Empirick committed to his care in the Marshalsea to practise Physick against the Laws of the Kingdom his own trust in contempt of the College and to the great prejudice of the Queen's Subjects A foreign Physician who had taken his Degree at Lovain in Brabant was summoned before the President and Censors and examined by what authority he practised Physick in England without licence He pleaded his ignorance of the Laws and was dismissed upon promise of not practising in London nor any other parts of England being likewise ordered to return into his own Country in a few days Dr. Walker was summoned to appear before the College to answer several things objected against him by Dr. Corimbec he having examined and admitted some Physicians in Norwich and Norfolk and extorted above 100 Marks from several Empiricks in those parts whom he had licensed to practise He was Fined for not appearing and Letters were wrote by the College to Dr. Corimbec to authorize him to cite those Empiricks to appear before the College in order to their due punishment One Sylva an Italian was charged before the President and Censors for evil practice in that he undertook to cure an old woman by suffumigation with which she died and prescribed Stibium to another person troubled with an affection of his Lungs to his great prejudice He was afterwards examined and rejected by the whole College by reason of his egregious ignorance in Philosophy and Physick and was fined 20 l. for having practised Physick for half a year to the apparent hurt of the Queen's subjects and the year following was committed to prison in that he had practised without College licence Thomas Pennye was summoned for practising Physick but pleading that he had taken his Doctours degree he was dismissed and ordered that he should bring his Letters testimonial to the Censors which accordingly he did but upon examination was found so ignorant in the first principles of Philosophy and Physick that he was thought unfit for that employment and prohibited the practice thereof and afterwards imprisoned for contemning the Judgment of the College and adventuring to practise without their licence In the 13th year of this Queen a Surgeon was Fined 20 l. for practising Physick but upon the intercession of some persons of Quality the College forgave him 20 Marks of that Fine upon condition that he bound himself in a bond of 100 l. that he would not practise for the future which refusing he was forced to pay the forementioned 20 l. Richard Reynold was examined and rejected as being very ignorant and unlearned But voluntarily confessing that he had practised Physick for 2 years the College ordered that he should be imprisoned untill he had paid 20 l. In the 14th year One Emme Baxter an impudent and ignorant woman was committed to prison for practising Physick the 7th of February Upon the 11th she was brought before the College where her husband William Baxter and Nicholas Staples a Citizen entring into bond to the College and their Successors that she should not practise for the future in London nor any other parts of England she was dismissed paying all Fees due to the Officers of the Prison c. In the same year it was argued in the Lord Mayor's Court before Sir William Allen then Lord Mayor Whether the Surgeons might give inward medicines in the Sciatica French Pox or any kind of Ulcer or Wound Many arguments were used by the Bishop of London Master of the Rolls c. for their practice in this manner Dr. Caius the President of the College being summoned by the Lord Mayor in his own and the Queen's Delegates names did defend the illegality of their practice upon the forementioned accounts After which it was agreed by all present that they ought not to practise In the 23th year of the Queen's Reign one Baptista an Empirick was fined by the President and Censors 6 l. 13 s. 4 d. which he paid to the President He afterwards paid 5 l. to the College ob rem malè gest am in praxi gave bond to pay 5 l. more at our Lady day and at Midsummer was required to pay
Bond to the College propter malam illicitam praxin which if he refused he was to continue in prison untill his Fine was paid Iohn Not an Empirick of the County of Kent appeared before the College propter audacem suam illicitam in medicinâ praxin He was ordered to give bond with sufficient security that he would not for the future practise Physick which refusing he was committed to prison After this he procured the following Letter in his behalf from Secretary Walsingham AFter my verie hartie commendacions Whereas I understand that you have caused one Not a practisioner in physick to be committed to prison in the Coumpter in Woodstreet where he presently remaineth Forasmuch as both my self have heretofore used him and divers other Gentlemen have also receaved good by him These are hartely to praie you that you will not deteine him any longer in prison to his great hinderance and utter undooing but rather at this my request to suffer him to go at liberty without putting him to farther trooble unlesse there be some great cause to the contrary wherein I will think my self beholding unto you and so do bid you hartely farewell From Westminster the 28th of September 1586. Your very loving frende Fra. Walsingham To this Letter the College returned the following answer To the Right honorable Sir Francis Walsingham Knight Secretary to her Majesty and one of her Highness most honorable Privy Council WHereas it hath pleased your Honor to direct your Letters unto us in the behalf of one Not to the end that we woold no longer deteine him in prison unless there be some great cause to the contrary Maie it please you to be advertized that we and everie one of us being most desirous to shew our ready and dutifull good minds to your Honor immediately sent for the party to our College mynding in respect of your Honor's motion to have delt with him by all maner of curtesy And albeit we know him to be utterly ignorant in that profession and such one as hath been often heertofore convented before us and found subject to great punishments and yet released from all extreamity upon his own caution put in amongst us and earnest promisse that he woold never after that deale with the practice of Physick All which notwithstanding he now more stubbernly then heretofore upon what encouragement we know not of purpose infringeth our privileges and the holsome Lawes of this Realme which we by solemne Oth are bound to maintaine and therewithall protesteth openly and that most infamously as we think and offensively to the credit and good name of such as admit him to their persons that he dealeth with none but onely for the Pocks Yet seeing it hath pleased your Honor to deale for him so earnestly whose good opinion we are and ever wil be most willing to satisfie in what we maie we were fully resolved freely to remit all offenses and to set him at liberty onely upon his own small bond for the not abusing of himself hereafter in Phisick within this City of London according to the Statutes of the Realme provided for the same and our particuler Othes taken in that behalf Which most reasonable demand for that he so wilfully denieth to accomplish We have therefore sent the bearer hereof an officer of our College as well to make report of the truth as also seing the party himself hath refused this favour most humbly to intreat your Honor to accept of our good meaning minds and so most humbly take our leave Your Honor 's moste dutifully The President and Society of the Physitions of London London 2 Octob. 1586. After this Not entred into bond that for the future he would not practise Physick which being forfeited the College put it in suit whereby he was forced to flee into foreign parts But returning again in K. Iames's Reign He was complained of by Dr. Gulston and a Gentleman who had taken Physick of him whereby he fell into a great Vomiting and Loosness Hiccough and great pains complicated with a paralytical disposition And though this Gentleman sent for him when he was in great extremity yet he would by no means come About a month after he was summoned and brought by an officer to the College where before the President and Censors he confessed that he was no Graduate that he understood not Latine or Physick unless it were the Stone which he could so dissolve in the bladder that it might be discharged by gravell and Fevers which he could cure by external applications He denied what had been proved against him by the forementioned Gentleman and others However the whole business being examined the President and Censors fined him 14 l. and committed him to prison About 5 years after a poor woman complained that being ill of a stopping about her throat and breast she went to him who would and did see her Urine and thereon said she had an Imposthume there and would soon die if not cured before Spring her Spleen being come up into her Lungs For which he was summoned to appear at the College where he said that an Imposthume about the throat and breast might hold 3 months without growing worse that the Spleen was in the radical parts Being told of some of his professed tricks in Alchymy and examined therein his answers were all impertinent and ignorant For which and his ill practice he was fined 5 l. to be paid presently or committed to prison and he interdicted all practice for the future But his Son paying this fine and becoming Surety for him he was released In the 28th David Ward an Empirick was committed to prison propter suam in Medicina praxin illicitam and fined 20 l. He was afterwards discharged and prosecuted at Common Law In the 29th Henry Ieffry confessed his practising of Physick in London for 6 years being examined in the rudiments of that Art he was found very ignorant not onely in that but all other learning Wherefore he was prohibited practice and a small fine laid upon him to be paid to the College Godfrey Mosan was fined 20 l. at one time and 10 l. at another for his evil and illegal practice in Physick and for his egregious ignorance He gave bond to pay the forementioned sums upon several days limited therein Peter Piers was brought before the College and committed to prison for giving Pills of Antimony Turbith and Mercury Sublimate by which he had killed several persons One Bright being also summoned and not appearing a Warrant was issued out for seizing him and committing him to the Fleet Others were imprisoned for practising Physick and others had their Bonds put in suit against them upon the same account In the 30th year of the Queen being in the year 1588 a time of most publick and eminent danger the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen sent their Precept to the College of Physicians requiring them to find Arms. This being looked upon as an infringement of College
privileges they deputed some of their Members to wait upon the Right Honourable Sir Francis Walsingham Secretary of State humbly to beg the favour of him to write his Letter to the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen to require them that they should give the College no farther trouble but suffer them to live free and undisturbed they being freed from finding Arms by virtue of Royal Charters given to them by the Royal bounty of their Princes and Acts of Parliament made in their favour Which the Honourable Secretary was pleased to doe and the College thereupon discharged from farther charge or trouble Paul Fairfax a foreign Empirick gave out Bills stuffed with arrogance and ostentation of the admirable virtues of a Water which he called his Aqua Coelestis with which he cheated the People He confessed that he had practised Physick in London for 4 months and pretended that he had done several Cures with his water and other remedies for which he was fined 5 l. and required to give bond that he should not practise for the future which if he refused he was to be committed to prison Upon this he procured a Letter from the Lord Chamberlain directed to the President and College which he delivered with Letters testimonial of having taken his Degree at Frankfort which seeming to be fictitious they were kept by the College and he forbidden to practise Physick However the following Letter was presented by the President and College in answer to the Lord Chamberlain's To the Right Honorable our very good Lord the Lord Hunsdon Lord Chamberlaine one of the Lords of her Majesties most honorable Privy Councill RIght Honorable and our very good Lord Having received a Letter from your Lordship in the behalf of one Paul Fairfax for the liberty of his practice in Physick here in London and understanding by the Contents of the same that your Honor hath been misinformed as well of the quality of the man as also of our dealings towards him We most humbly beseech your good Lordship to accept of our answer which we here present in most dutifull wise Touching the Man albeit by some travell he seemeth to have gotten some kind of Language and therewithall hath boldly put himself into some Empirical practice more daungerous in trueth to the Patient then any-wise commendable to the Practitioner Yet upon just examination we find the man very weak in the substance of all kind of good learning and rather to be pitied for his fantasticall conceits and well weening of his owne ignorance then any wise to deserve toleration in so daungerous a function A man never trained up in any good Schoole of Learning ignorant in the very principles of the Art and for lack of other good matter furnished with certain ridiculous termes and childish phrases invented onelie to entertain the simple hearer and to delude the unlearned multitude withall And whereas he laieth some challenge to a Doctorship He hath in deed shewed unto us the Letters Testimoniall for the same Yet we being better acquainted with the coorse of Universities then he have a better opinion of Frankfort then to think that wittinglie and willinglie they would commit so foul an errour as to admit either him or the like And having made good survey of the Letters find by evident proofs that they are vehemently to be suspected to have been rather by some sinister means devised than by any ordinary course obtained Touching us and our hard using of him as he termeth it to your Lordship as well by imprisoning his body as by exacting the paiment of money to his great impoverishing Maie it please your good Lordship to understand that as yet he hath paied no one penny but standeth bound indeede and that for a very small summe considering the quality of the offence and the straightness of our Lawes in that behalf and yet for the paiment thereof hath as long a day as himself requested And as for his imprisonment it was rather procured by his owne undiscreet frowardness then ment by us at all if he had shewed any conformitie in time For being a Gentleman as himself saieth and having so good acquaintance as he protested being offered to be set at liberty if he would have put in but any one sufficient surety a matter of great ease for him to do if the rest of his talk had been to be credited He as one rather contemning us and our friendly dealing then not able to satisfie our reasonable request more upon stomach then discretion made choice of imprisonment Thus have we delivered unto your good Lordship a truth beseeching your Honor so to interpret of our dealing toward him and all other in the like degree as of men altogether abhorring from all extremity but enforced to do that little which we do even by the very duetie that we owe to our Lawes and good orders and by the consideration of our strict solemne Oth and conscience in that behalf And so praying for your Lordships most prosperous estate we most humbly take our leave At our College this last of Ianuary 1588. Your Lordship 's most humble The President and Society of the College of Physitions in London Iohn Halsey appearing before the College confessed that he had practised Physick in London for several years wherefore the College ordered that he should pay 20 l. for his former practice and take a licence for the future if found fit or else give bond of 100 l. that he should not practise hereafter in London which if refused then to be committed to prison He desired time to consider and then promised forthwith to enter into bond as required by the College Tomazine Scarlet a Woman so egregiously ignorant that she confessed she understood nothing in Physick neither could reade or write yet had hundreds under her cure to whom she gave purging Medicines Stibium c. For which she was required to give a bond with good security that she would not practise for the future which accordingly she did But after some years practising again and refusing to give bond as before she was committed to prison but then procured Letters from Court to the President of the College that she might be released but by Order of the College she was continued And after some short time being sent for she refused to desist from practice or to give bond for her due observance of the Laws as before demanded wherefore she was for this contumacy of hers remanded back to prison About 3 years after she was again committed to prison and fined 10 l. for practising Physick and using dangerous Medicines as Stibium Antimony Mercurial Unguents c. all which she confessed Five years after she was a third time sent to prison and fined 5 l. upon the same account In the 31 th of the Queen Paul Buck a very impudent and ignorant Empirick appeared before the President and Censors and then confessed he never had any liberal education yet had practised Physick
prison and fined 20 l. But out of respect to the Earl of Derby to whom he had some relation they were willing he should be released from prison upon condition that he gave bond to the College with sufficient security that he never after would practise Physick in London or within 7 miles Some years after there were several fresh informations and complaints exhibited against him upon which he was condemned by the Censors for his ignorance in Physick fined 4 l. and committed to prison untill he could give better satisfaction of his skill in that Art or at least untill he entred bond that he would never practise for the future After this he was again accused for undertaking the cure of a woman ill of a Tympany who died under his hands He confessed that he had been punished 20 years past for practising Physick but having paid his fine he thought he might lawfully practise He confessed that he had given medicines and used external applications for an Anasarca But being asked what a Tympany or an Anasarca was he could not tell Wherefore he was fined 5 l. pro mala praxi to be paid the next Censors day and ordered to restore the money received in the forementioned case In the 34th Robert Walmesly was punished by the Censors 4 l. for illegal practice Afterwards being examined by them he was found unable to give the definition of a disease or any tolerable account of any question proposed to him in Physick wherefore he was required to give bond of 40 l. that he would not practise for the future William Forrester Master of Arts and Clergy-man was summoned before the President and Censors where he confessed that he had practised Physick in London for three years being examined he answered ridiculè ineptè He said that he was ignorant of the Laws and Customes of the College and therefore requested that he might be pardoned for what was past He was interdicted practice for the future and told that if he were found guilty he should be punished for what was past After this Forrester was complained of by some Patients of whom he had received considerable sums of money without any advantage By others in that he had bargain'd with them for their Cures taking part in hand and reserving the other part till the Cure was performed Wherefore he was admonished to appear before the Censors which he promised but neglecting a Warrant was issued out for his imprisonment and a Fine of 10 l. inflicted for his illegal and ill practice and not giving obedience to College summons About 3 years after fresh complaints were brought against him for prescribing a Vomit and Purge upon the same day to a woman with child and one who not long before was troubled with spitting of bloud by the violence of which she miscarried and died within 3 days One Margaret Peacock likewise made complaint of Forrester's killing her husband by a Vomit prescribed him at 5 in the afternoon one day which gave him an hundred stools and wrought so violently by Vomit that he died next evening at 9 a clock wallowing in his own bloud and humours discharged by the violent operation of the forementioned medicine Others charged him with agreeing for 20 l. for a cure of which he had received 10 l. yet by his negligence or ignorance the Patient was dead Of others he had received 5 l. upon the same account without any advantage to the Patient Upon these and the like complaints he was again summoned to appear at the College but having obtained a Licence for practice from the University he sent that to the College and refused to come Wherefore Orders were given for a speedy prosecution of him according to Law for his evil and illegal practice Upon which he makes friends to the Attorney General who requested the College to be favourable to him Forrester being willing to pay 10 l. that the Suit depending might fall or he be admitted of the College which was denied upon his impudent and insolent behaviour In the 35th of the Queen the following letter was wrote by the Lord Treasurer Burleigh to the President of the College in the behalf of Dr. Butler of Cambridge that he might be allowed liberty of practising Physick in London when he came thither upon private business or was sent for by any Patient To my very loving freind Mr. Dr. Baronsdale AFter my heartie commendations I understand by Mr. Butler a Professor of Physick in the University of Cambridge and a man as I doubt not but you know for his experience and learning very well reputed of having occasion sometimes to repair to London either about his private business or at the request of such as are desirous to have his advice And understanding that he may not practise without breach of a Statute of the Realm and order of the College except he have allowance and licence so to doe from you And being very loth to give offence any manner of way is very desirous to have your good favour towards him in that behalf Whose request for the good opinion I have of his learning and honesty I cannot but recommend to your good furtherance that at some one of your Assemblies you will propound his request and procure allowance thereof For the which I will think my self beholden unto you and be readie to requite with any favour I may both toward your self and the College And so I bid you heartily farewell From my house at Westminster the 14th of February 1592. Your loving freind W. Burghley To this Letter the College returned this answer That a free liberty of practice should be allowed Dr. Butler when he came to London provided that if he came to live in Town he would submit to the customary examinations of the College and pay the usual Fees due upon that account Dr. Raphael Thorey who had taken his degree at Leyden was summoned to appear at the College for practising of Physick He confessed that he had practised for 3 years but onely amongst the French and Foreigners He was complained of by one Mr. Edwards for prescribing a Vomit to his Wife being a Phthisical woman with which she died suffocated in a few hours The College proposed 3 things to his choice either to pay 5 l. to the College for his illegal practice or be obliged in a Bond that he would not practise Physick for the future in London or within 7 miles or else to be imprisoned and prosecuted according to Law He readily accepted of the first condition of paying a sum of money to the College and promised for the future to submit himself to their pleasure He afterwards was examined and had a Licence given him Simon Forman a pretended Astrologer and great Impostor appearing before the President and Censors confessed that he had practised Physick in England 16 years and 2 years in London He pretended that he had cured many Hectical and tabid people by the use of Elect. è Suc.
confessed that she had given him Physick but said it was innocent but the matter of fact was so notorious and the event so fatal that she was forthwith committed to Prison and fined 5 l. Dr. Saul being made one of the Queen's Physicians and yet an illiterate and ignorant person in his profession the College ordered the following Letter to be presented to the Right Honourable the Lord Sidney RIght Honorable and our very good Lord The great care that your good Lordship hath for the preservation of her Majestie 's health as it is right well knowen to others so hath it been fully signified unto us by the speech of Dr. Browne Physition to his most excellent Majesty In regard whereof we perceive by him it is your pleasure that your Lordship might be rightly and thoroughly enfourmed of the true sufficiency of one Saul who is entertained into her Majestie 's service a matter of noe small moment touching her Majestie 's health and safety Wherein we are thus much to say in respect of our bounden duty and upon our credits That this said Saul in the year 1591. made his appearance at our College upon one of our solemne meeting daies there to be examined for his skill and sufficiency in Physick and there being orderly opposed in the Latine tongue according to our custome and as we are bound to do stood mute and answered not one woord ether for that he woold not or coold not understand us Then being demanded in English what part of Galen or other good Authors he had read He answered that he had read Galen all over Then being required to name some one book or other of the said Author that he said he had read to the end he might have been examined with all favour in that book which he was best acquainted with He coold not so much as name any one book of his And for that he then shewed us certain Letters testimonial of his Doctorship at the University of Leyden gotten by what corrupt and indirect means we know not we requested him to impart those questions unto us wherein he answered when he proceeded Doctor But herein also he refused to name any one of them unto us Whereupon his ignoraunce so manifestly appeared unto us as we coold do no lesse upon our Oathes then to forbid him from practice at that time and thereupon immediately wrote our Letters to one Heurnius Doctor of the Chair there sharply reprehending him for committing such an error and for suffering such grosse abuses to the great discredit of themselves and their University who promised the like fault should never be committed again And from that time till now of late we never heard more of this Saul and doe not a little marveile how he cometh by this credit in Physick unlesse either by infusion learning hath been powered into him or els by some extraordinary means he hath of late obtained a special gift of healing And thus having most faithfully discharged our dutie to your good Lordship not with any malitious mind to the party but in regard of our loyall fidelitie to her Majestie we most humbly take our leave About the Second year of King Iames his Reign a Copy of the Surgeons Letters Patents which they had procured from the King's Majesty for enlarging their Privileges was read to the College which being found long and full of Law subtilties It was ordered that some of the Fellows should examine and compare their Old Charter with their New which being done and reported to the College the President with two of the Elects waited upon the Lord Cranbourne to acquaint him what great inconveniences and mischiefs would ensue not onely as to the privileges of the College of Physicians but likewise as to the publick good of the whole kingdom in case their Letters Patents were passed Notwithstanding the Surgeons presented a Petition in Parliament to procure an authority for prescribing inward as well as outward medicines in Wounds Ulcers and French Pox a Copy of which is the following To the Honourable Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in his Majestie 's high Court of Parliament assembled The humble Petition of the Masters or Governors of the Mystery and Commonalty of Barbers and Surgeons of London Most humbly shewing THat whereas it hath pleased his Majestie to grant unto the College of Physicians of London a Patent under his Majestie 's great Seal of England and thereby hath given them not onely many large privileges and other grants but also power to call and convent before them in London and 7 miles compasse and to examine upon Oath the servant or attendant upon any person or persons that shall either give or take Physick and in fine to imprison at their pleasure all such persons as doe or shall administer any internall remedy whatsoever By reason whereof they doe not onely take unto themselves the Arts of the Physician Chirurgion and Apothecary but doe likewise goe about to restraine your Petitioners from using unto their grieved and wounded Patients such wound-drinks Potions and other inward remedies as they by their long practice study and tried experience have found most necessary for the recovery of their diseased Patients as well in the City of London as in all his Majestie 's services both by Sea and Land in preserving both their lives and limbs and without which many times they cannot performe their Cures nor give such speedy ease and remedy to the grieved Patients as otherwise they may and can doe which Patent is very prejudicial not onely to your Petitioners but to all his Majestie 's subjects who shall have occasion to use their help and will prove a great and heavy burthen to the Common-wealth in general when for every hurt apperteyning to the Chirurgions cure the Patient must be forced to entertain a Surgeon a Physician and an Apothecary The humble Suite of your Petitioners is that this honourable House will be pleased to take the same Patent into your grave considerations and the unlawfull privileges and hurtfull power to them given to set Fines to take Recognizances inflict Imprisonments and other authorities grievous to his Majestie 's subjects and to them given by the same Patent being by your wisdomes weighed and examined and the Petitioners with their Councell heard that this honourable House upon hearing thereof being truly informed of the said generall wrong such course may be therein taken through your Justice and grave Wisdomes as may tend to the relief of your Petitioners and the good of the Common-wealth And they as in duty bound shall daily pray to God for your ever during prosperities c. Your Petitioners preferring their Petition to his Highnesse touching the Premises his Majesty was thereby graciously pleased to leave the Petitioners free to seek any lawfull remedy for their grievances either in Parliament or otherwise Rich. Cooper Tho. Allen. Rich. Mapes E. Ingolsbye Will. Clowes Iohn Woodall Tho. Bonham Christoph Frederick C.
both by Physicians and Patients upon which account he procured the following Letter from the Earl of Exeter To my very loving friends the President and Censors of the College of Physicians Good Mr. President I Have had almost 20 years experience of the civil carriage honesty and sufficiency of my servant John Reeve Apothecary and am confident that in all affairs of his vocation he hath as skilfully carefully and legally demeaned himself as any of his Profession whatsoever Neverthelesse I understand that at sundry times since May last he hath been molested with Messengers from you and the Censors to make his appearance personally before you when by reason of his great sicknesse my self was deprived of his desired attendance in my service and well might you in such case have spared him also But I conceive that the false information of malitious persons against him and the Messengers fond hopes to enforce unnecessary fees from him was the cause of his molestation His service is of such consequence and esteeme with me that he is daily and hourly upon every notice to attend me and I may not want him being well assured of his honest and fair demeanour as well in the affairs of his profession as in all his actions And therefore I desire you to forbeare sending Messengers for him or interrupting him any further wherein you will oblige me who in no wise would see him suffer to acknowledge your respects towards him and rest always Your very loving friend J. Exeter To this Letter the President and Censors returned the following answer Right Honourable WE have in our dutifullest manner received your Honour's Letter written to us the President and Censors of this College in the behalf of John Reeve Apothecary your Honour's servant of whom we are very glad to heare how honest and usefull he hath been to your Honour for the desire we have that your Honour should be well served and should be as glad to have had the like testimony from others of his behaviour towards them wherein how little he hath answered the good opinion that your Honour hath of him your Honour may please to understand by this ensuing report Which is That upon the 19th of January 1637. one Sibyll Butler came before us in our College and declared how John Reeve Apothecary finding her husband inclined to a Consumption and for a moneth before and at that time being afflicted with a continuall scowring did let him bloud and gave him a sleeping pill every other night for 3 weeks together whereupon he dyed and thereupon the said Reeve being convented before us the 26th of the same moneth the accusation was verifyed by witnesses and made soe plaine that he was brought to confesse how he had let the said Butler bloud twice and given him certain pills and other things all of his own head and as he said out of his own Judgment alledging for his so doing that there were Physicians that would not give poore folks Counsell if they wanted money This practice found soe soul and contrary to Art by the Censors in a person that hath no calling or ability to give Physick was the cause of our sending for him which whether it be a molestation or no as he informes your Honour we remit to your Honour's Judgment now that your Honour is truely informed of the truth wherein we humbly desire your Honour to believe us without counterpoising his report with ours and the rather for that we forbeare to aggravate his fault with such circumstances as he knoweth we are able to bring against him if it were not for putting him out of your Honour's favour And for satisfying your Honour and to shew how absolute a power your Honour hath over us and every of us we doe remit to your Honour how farre the same shall be pleased to command us to proceed in the matter of the complaint Onely we are humble Suiters to your Honour to excuse us in the point of calling him before us upon the like occasions except it be at such times as we shall know he is in actual service with your Honour for that this being the due way granted us for the execution of our duty unlesse we shall leave it as a precedent for all other Offenders to decline us we may not remit it being bound by the trust that the State putteth upon us and charged by the continuall commandments of the Kings and Queens of the Realme and other admonitions of the Lords of his Majestie 's honourable Privy Council and lastly tyed by Oath at our entring into these places to look diligently to the abuses committed by bad practisers upon the lives of his Majestie 's Subjects and in which we as yet were never interrupted by any solicitation and soe with our heartiest prayers for your Honour 's long and prosperous estate we humbly take our leaves From our College-house the 28. Decemb. 1638. Bartholomew Vanderlash was accused for practising Physick which he denied but yet confessed that he had given healing draughts Upon which order was given for prosecuting him in the Court of Exchequer After this he was complained of by Dr. Crooke for giving purging pills to a woman in a Fever and Physick to another person for a year and half Dr. Spicer likewise exhibited several informations against him to the President and Censors As likewise one Mrs. Fitten to whom for a small pain and redness in her leg and arme he had given a powder in white Wine which purged her vehemently upward and downward above 25 times and 12 times the next day After which he gave her 4 fluxing pills of which she took onely 2 which caused a salivation for above 20 days for which she was forced to seek ease from Dr. Argent Vanderlash denied not this fact but avouched that he gave her the physick by directions from Dr. Read But because he confessed that he had no bill from the said Doctour the Censors took it for his own practice which they declared to be very bad and sent him to Newgate thereupon with a fine of 20 li. Russel Hutton Surgeon was complained of for giving pills of Turbith Mineral to one afflicted with a Dysury upon which he fell into pissing of bloud ulceration of the mouth and other ill symptomes He was punished 40 s. which if not discharged by the next Censors day he was to be committed to prison for mala praxis Du Pont was accused for prescribing Mercurial powder to several persons who had received great mischief by them One of them having lost 14 teeth Another by a Mercurial fumigation prescribed by him fell into swooning fits lost her teeth and was so dangerously ill that 2 Physicians were called in for her relief Du Pont being taken by the Beadle and brought before the President was released upon his brother's engagement for his appearance before the Censors but he broke his word his brother excusing him that he durst not come lest he should be imprisoned
of the College Resp They all agréed That they are subject to the government and correction of the College by an express clause of the said Charter enacted which giveth to the President and College Supervisionem Scrutinium Correctionem Gubernationem as well of all persons using the practice of Medicine within the City c. Quest 4. If they may not practise without admission of the College as their Letters Patents plainly import Then whether such Graduates are not subject to the examination without which there were never any admitted and without which the admission cannot be approved because every Graduate is not absolutely good ipso facto Resp It was resolved by all That all that practised or should practise Physick either in London or within the compass of 7 miles of the same must submit themselves to the examination of the President and College if they be required thereunto by their authority notwithstanding any licence allowance or privilege given them in Oxford or Cambridge either by their degrée or otherwise Concerning Punishment and Correction against Offenders Quest 1. Whether the President and four Censors together or the Censors alone may not commit to Prison without bail or mainprize all Offenders in the practice of Physick according to the Statute of primo Mariae and how long whether till he have paid such Fine as shall be assessed upon him or have submitted himself to their Order and in what manner Resp They all resolved That for not well doing using or practising the faculty or Art of Physick or for disobedience or contempts done and committed against any Ordinance made by the College by virtue and according to the power and authority to them granted they may commit the Offenders without bail or mainprize as the words of the Statute are Which they all resolved could not be altered or interpreted otherwise than the express words of the Statute are Quest 2. Whether they may not commit to prison for disobedience and contempt of the private Statutes and Ordinances of the College made for the better government thereof and for not payment of such reasonable Fines as shall be imposed by the President and Censors for maintenance of the said College among the Members of the same College Resp They all resolved That the President and College might commit to prison for offences and disobedience done or committed against any lawfull ordinance made by the said College and might impose reasonable Fines for the breach thereof and detain the parties committed till these Fines were satisfied Quest 3. Whether they may not justly take upon every admission a reasonable sum of money for the better maintenance and defraying of necessary expences as in other Corporations Resp They all held That they might take such reasonable sums Quest 4. Whether those onely are to be committed that are offenders in Non bene exequendo faciendo utendo facultate Medicinae as in the Letters Patents and such as are sufficient and not admitted are to be sued for 5 li. a month and not be committed Resp They all held That by the Charter and Acts of Parliament they might commit Offenders and Practisers that offended in Non bene exequendo faciendo utendo facultate But for the committing to prison of such as practise not being admitted by the College they held it doubtfull for that the Charter and Statute do in that case inflict a punishment of 5 li. a month against such practiser without admittance by the College But they all resolved That if the President and College made an Ordinance to prohibit the practising of all without admittance under the Common Seal of the said College That for breach and contempt of this Ordinance the President and College might both impose a reasonable Fine upon the Offender and commit him without bail or mainprise Quest 5. Whether refusal to come to be examined upon warning given be not a sufficient cause of Commitment Resp They all resolved That if the College do make an Ordinance That if any practiser of Physick in London or within 7 miles of the same shall obstinately or wilfully refuse to be examined by the Censors of the College in non bene exequendo faciendo utendo the art of Physick or his Medicines or Receipts that the said President and Censors may commit him to prison there to remain without bail or mainprise untill he be delivered by the President and Censors and to forfeit and pay to the said College some reasonable sum of money That the same Ordinance will be good and lawfull And if any after shall offend contrary to the said Ordinance the President and Censors may lawfully commit such Offender to prison there to remain without bail or mainprise untill he shall be delivered by the said President and Censors It pleased the Lord Chancellor to move these questions to the Judges as material for the execution of the Statutes 1. Quest Whether the party committed for unskilfull or temerarious practice may have an Action of false imprisonment against them and thereby draw in question or issue the goodness or badness of the Physick Resp All resolved That the party so committed was concluded by the sentence and Iudgment of the 4 Censors of the College of Physicians 2. Quest Whether if any not admitted do practise Physick within London or 7 Miles of the same but once twice or thrice in one month be an offender against the Charter and Statutes of the College Resp All resolved he was if he be a professed Physician These I conceive to be the resolutions of their Lordships and the Judges upon the Questions which I humbly refer to themselves to affirm or disaffirm John Crook Tho. Foster Tho. Harries A brief account of the College of Physicians Case drawn up in relation to their finding of Arms keeping of Watch and Ward or bearing any Parish offices IN the roth year of King H. 8. the Physicians of London and within 7 miles of the same upon many important reasons mentioned in their Royal Patent were made a Body Corporate and endowed with many privileges which in the 14th and 15th of his Reign were confirmed by Act of Parliament In the 32th of the same King's Reign several additional privileges were granted them by a second Act of Parliament by which they were discharged from keeping any Watch and Ward or being chosen to any Office in London or the Suburbs thereof and were thereby enabled to practise Surgery as well as Physick in the said City c. By which clause they were entituled to the privilege granted the Surgeons of being discharged from bearing Arms c. by the 5 H. 8. 6. In the 1 Q. M. 9. their Charter was a second time confirmed by Act of Parliament and additional Privileges granted to them Which privileges with a freedom from finding Arms were continued to them without interruption till 1588 and it being then a time of most imminent and publick danger the Lord Mayor of London and Court