Authentic memoirs, biographical, critical, and literary, of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Great Britain; with a choice collection of their prescriptions, and account of the medical charities of the metropolis, &c. &c.

Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Authentic memoirs, biographical, critical, and literary, of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Great Britain; with a choice collection of their prescriptions, and account of the medical charities of the metropolis, &c. &c. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    instance of the commanding influence which may be gained by the qualities stated; and, though high in pro- fessional merit, he knows too well the value of the acces- sary accomplishments to depend on it alone. Dr. Vaughan (now Sir H. Halford, in consequence of the name and succession to his deceased relative) is de- scended from a respectable family in Leicestershire, and received his first education at Leicester. His professional acquirements were afterwards conducted at Oxford, where he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine, preparatory to his entering upon business, and was elected a Fellow of the College in 1794. His first debut in practice was in London; when he was fortunate enough to gain the hand of the Honourable Miss St. John, sister to Lord St. John: by this connexion he became immediately introduced into the first circles of rank and fashion. A man of Dr. Vaughan’s merit and address seldom needs but an intro- duction, and that once obtained, his progress meets no obstacle. A short time saw him at the pinnacle of prac- tice, filling the place a Warren had done before, with more feeling and propriety than what marked that too sordid character. He was now appointed Physician to his Majesty: and the first medical honours were within his reach. The succession to his relative, and the elevation to a baronetage by royal favour, while it rendered him more independent, did not lessen his attention to business: and the calls of patients were not unattended to, though the fees were now no object of consideration. But the last attack of his Majesty’s illness has, perhaps, shewn Sir Henry’s address and talents to more advantage than his preceding history. The medical attendance on the royal sufferer has generally been directed by the minis- terial influence of the day. The authority of Lord Thur- low, in his first illness, committed him to the charge of Dr. Willis, whose system of coercion was carried on in his
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