ordinary to Queen Anne, 30 Oct. 1705; and on the illness of Dr. Hannes, fourth physician in ordinary, 11 Nov. 1709. Swift calls him the 'queen's favourite physician.' On 27 April I710, he was admitted a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, was censor in 1723, and pronounced the Harveian oration in 1727. Arbuthnot's favour at court was strengthened by his intimacy with the leading statesmen of the Harley administration. He formed a close friendship with Swift, and is frequently mentioned in the 'Journal to Stella.' He was a member of the famous 'Brothers Club,' and took an active share in the literary warfare against the whigs. He was the author, as Swift tells us (Journal to Stella, 12 Dec. 1712) of the 'Art of Political Lying,' one of the best specimens of the ironical wit of the time. A more celebrated production was the well-known pamphlet called ultimately, 'Law is a Bottomless Pit; or, the History of John Bull,' published 1712. Both Swift and Pope ascribe this to Arbuthnot (Spence's Anecdotes, p. 145; Journal to Stella, 12 Dec. 1712). It is an ingenious and lively attack upon the war policy of the whigs; and, if it wants the force of Swift's profounder satire, it is an admirably effective and still amusing party squib. It does not seem to be known whether Arbuthnot originated or only adopted the nickname, John Bull. During the last years of Queen Anne's reign Swift and Arbuthnot had become intimate with the younger wits. Pope, Gay, and Parnell. They called themselves the 'Scriblerus Club,' and projected a kind of joint-stock satire to be directed against 'the abuses of human learning in every branch.' Lord Oxford carried on an exchange of liumorous verses with them; and, according to Pope (Spence's Anecdotes, p. 10), Atterbury, Congreve, and even Addison, proposed to join in their scheme. Arbuthnot writes a letter to Swift with various suggestions for Scriblerus during his friend's retirement at Letcombe; and Swift in his reply says that Arbuthnot was the only man capable of carrying out the plan, which had been originally suggested by Pope. The scheme dropped for a time upon Anne's death and the retirement of Swift to Ireland. Fragments, however, had been executed and formed part of the 'Miscellanies' printed by Pope in 1727. The 'Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus' were first published in the quarto edition of Pope's works in 1741; they are mainly, if not exclusively, Arbuthnot's, and give the best specimen of his powers. The ridicule of metaphysical pedantry is admirable, though rather beyond popular appreciation. Other passages are directed against the antiquarians and Arbuthnot's old opponent, Woodward, and his supposed discovery of an ancient shield. The account of Scriblerus's education clearly gave some hints to Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy.'
Arbuthnot was in attendance upon Queen Anne in her last illness. Upon her death he retired for a short time to France. He went there again in 1718, his chief business being, as he told Swift (14 Oct. 1718), to leave his two girls with their uncle. Such visits might be suspicious in the eyes of good whigs. Upon the accession of George I he lost his place at court, but he appears to have retained his practice among the great people. We find him introducing Swift to the Princess of Wales — soon to become Queen Caroline — in April 1726. He was the friend and physician both of Chesterfield and of Pulteney, the last of whom tells Swift that no one but Arbuthnot understood his case. He attended Mrs. Howard, afterwards Lady Suffolk, and Congreve. He was the trusted friend and adviser of all the wits. He helped to get up a subscription for Prior when the poet was in distress. He was the constant adviser, medical and otherwise, of his friend Gay. Pope constantly expressed his gratitude to Arbuthnot, paid to him some of his finest poetical compliments, and dedicated the most perfect of his satires to this
Friend to my life, which did not you prolong,
The world had wanted many an idle song.
Though his correspondence with Swift was often interrupted, their friendship never changed. Arbuthnot, who was a musician, helped Swift to get singers for his cathedral, and sent him prescriptions and medical advice. If there were a dozen Arbuthnots in the world, said Swift (Letter to Pope, 29 Sept. 1725), he would burn his 'Travels.' 'Our doctor,' he adds, 'hath every quality in the world that can make a man amiable and useful: but, alas! he hath a sort of slouch in his walk.' Elsewhere (Letter to Gay, 10 July 1732), he calls Arbuthnot 'the king of inattention,' and Chesterfield confirms the statement that Arbuthnot was frequently absent-minded in company. 'The doctor,' said Swift on another occasion, 'has more wit than we all have, and his humanity is equal to his wit.' And this seems to have been the universal opinion.
Arbuthnot was singularly careless of his literary reputation. His witty writings were anonymous; he let his children make kites of his papers, allowed his friends to alter them as they pleased, and took no pains to
