IT was little expected by the Colledge of Physicians , that after ( 〈…〉 ) they had openly declared in their Publick Assembly , that none of them would oppose the Apothecaries Bill , and some perhaps beyond their Duty had actually assisted them therein , they should for all that find themselves frequently reflected upon both in their Publick Papers and Pleadings to the Two Houses of Parliament , which occasions this Short but Necessary Vindication of the Colledge and Faculty .

The chief thing the Apothecaries would insinuate , is their great Charity , especially to the meaner Sort of People and Servants , which they pretend to be under their immediate Care , intimating thereby that the Physicians will do nothing for Charity to the Poor ; but this is so far from being true , that frequent Complaints have been made to the President , and Censors of the Colledge , of their Extortions and Unreasonableness in their Bills to the poorer People ; and whereas the Physicians are always ready to give Advice gratis to the Poor in their Several Wards , both in the City and Suburbs , and are obliged so to do by a standing Order of the Colledge ( which was formerly by them presented to the Lord Mayor , and the Court of Aldermen , to be publisht in the several Wards ) yet the Poor can have no benefit thereby , because of the excessive Rates the Apothecaries demand for the Physick ; whereas would they sell their Medicines to the Poor either for their intrinsick Value , or at moderate Prices , the Physicians having obliged themselves to take care of the Poor gratis , this Order might be effectual , and for the Publick Good .

The second thing they recommend themselves for , is their diligent Attendance upon Sick Persons of all sorts , Day and Night , and we acknowledge they are very busy to make themselves necessary in all Families ; but this is plainly for their own Profit , to promote their Private Practice , which under the notion of giving Physick to the Poor , they would subtilly introduce and establish , being in the mean time well paid for the Physick they give to the meanest . And for the Rich , they find an opportunity by their pretended Care and Sedulity to ingratiate themselves with the Patients , whilst in the mean time their true intent is to spy what Bottles are empty , to find fault with the Juleps and Cordials , that they are grown sour and want renewing ; and so take occasion by frequent repeating of the Medicines on their own Heads , without the Physicians knowledge , to increase their Bills to an incredible Rate , whereby they fill their own Purses , to the great Oppression of the Patient , whom they often also charge for their officious Visits , and sometimes demand Fees for their Advice .

't is true , the Apothecaries attendance abroad may in some extraordinary Cases be necessary , but generally their Duty is at home , where they would do the Patient the best Service , in faithfully and carefully making up the Physician's Prescriptions , and preventing their frequent and many fatal Mistakes committed by their Ignorant Boys . But as for administring the Medicines prescribed to the Patient , there is little need of the Apothecaries attendance , which may be very well done without , by the Servants and Nurses , according to the plain Directions in English of the Physician . And the Colledge was so sensible of this , and the many Mistakes made by the Apothecaries in Englishing their Latin Directions , that they made a Statute obliging all their Members to write in their Bills to them , only Instructions for the compounding the Medicine , but to leave Directions in English at the Patient's House for the use of them . This must needs have much pleas'd the Apothecaries if they had found their frequent Attendance burdensom , and had not had some farther End therein : But they were so far from taking this kindly from the Colledge , though manifestly for their Ease as well as the Publick Good , that they brought down the Lord Chancellor Jeffreys in great Fury to visit the Colledge , though he was at last satisfi'd with the great Reasons the Colledge had for making that Statute .

The third good thing these Men say of themselves , is , That the Publick has as great Benefit by the Exercise of their Profession , ( as they call it ) as by the Physicians ; This is a direct setting themselves upon the same Level with the Physicians : But is the compounding of Med'cines of as great Benefit to the Publick , as the inventing them ? Is any of our Apothecaries of as great use to the World , as Harvey , Willis , Bates , nay , old Galen and Hippocrates too . They call their Trade a Profession , and themselves Professors ; as well may Cooks and Bakers . They say they are a part of Physick ; of the Mechanical part of it they are , but not of the Science of Physick , of which they are no more a part , than those that can make Sage Posset-Drink , and Mace Ale .

The fourth thing they pretend to , is , That 133000 Families receive advantage by their undisturb'd Attendance , as if no Body had to do in these Families but themselves ; whereas they most lamentably complain that the Quacks take most of their Business from them ; and 't is true in Fact , that the Face of the Poor being grinded by their Extortion in their Bills , which they are not able to pay , generally apply themselves to the Quacks .

A fifth thing by them openly pleaded , was , That they must needs have as great Skill as any Physician ; for the Physician has only his own Prescriptions , whereas they see those of most of the best and learned'st Physicians , and so get great Experience . Indeed had they any true Foundation in the grounds of Physick , did they understand the true natural Philosophy Anatomy , the Seat of Diseases , with their Symptoms , and the Reasons of them , this might be of Advantage to them , as it is to the Young Physicians , who improve themselves in the Universities , in their Travels , and here in Town , by visiting Hospitals , consulting the Files , and frequenting the company of the most eminent Practisers : But they wanting this Foundation , the Argument is just as true , as if the Clerk of the Temple Church should declare , that he must needs be a better Divine than the Learned Master , Dr Sherlock ; for Dr. Sherlock only knows what himself knows , and hears himself preach ; but he the Clerk hears both him and all the Eminent Divines that usually preach to those Ingenious Societies , and that upon most Subjects and Cases in Divinity , and therefore he must needs be the greater Theologue of the two . It is tedious to pursue these Gentlemen in the rest of their very presumptuous Allegations . In short , what they pretend , is Charity , unwearied diligence to the Sick , and Publick Good , like generous and disinterested Men ; whereas pull off the Mask , and you 'll find a Liberty of Practice is all they aim at ; the rest is Sham and Banter : And indeed the only way to make that plausible Pretence of theirs real Charity , was to find out some means to regulate their unreasonable Bills , which are both burthensom to the Rich , and ruinous to the Poor ; which may easily be done , by giving the President and Censors of the Colledge of Physicians power to tax them , or by some other methods the Parliament shall think more fitting , according to the custom of other Foreign Countries . It is hoped , for the encouragement of the Science of Physick , and for the sake of their Younger Sons , ( many of which may have a Subsistence from this Faculty ) the Parliament will not think fit to give them this their dear Liberty of Practice , the very Diana of all their Hopes .