Litchfield enquirer., 1878-12-26
A MEDIEvAL MISTAKE.
BY JAMES PAIN.

A MEDIEvAL MISTAKE.
 BY JAMES PAYN
 But few of my readers can, I conclude, re- member the Young England days, when there was an attempt made to revive in this country some fine old medieval customs. Certain high -souled Individuals who shall be nameless though some of them have made great names for themselves in the interim under very un- expected and different circumstances -con-
 ceived that they had actually put their fingers
 upon that illusory date 'the good old times, and would fain have galvanized them back to life
 The souls of them tuned forth the hearts of them torn out"
 and even got up tournament A few old fel-
 lows still remember it, with poor Theodore Heok's joke upon Sir Campbell of Saddel, who,
 more by good luck than good guidance of his
 adversary's lance, was somehow ''thrown out
 of his family seat" It was the renaissance
 period, of yule logs and happy tenantries-
 whose bread, however, was not cheap-and it
 was hoped by certain noble enthusiasts that
 condescension and patronage would lose all un
 pleasantness, and indeed fail to be recognized,
 under the guise of a paternal feudalism. It was failure, of course; no one can Ire
 viye the mastodon"-aci acircumstanee for which those who, like myself, find mere bulls sufR
 ciently alarming, have reason to be grateful.
 But though the scheme fairly glittered with tinsel and gewgaws, and was much too gor- geOusly advertised, it was not all pinchbeck; or at all events some of those who believed in it had about them the ring of the true metal albeit little cracked.
 Among the nobility, and in certain great houses in the county, hospitality was revived upon the most extensive scale, and in some cases so splendiaai- that it made almost as great a hole in the estates of the family as though it had taken to mining Oxen were roasted whole where formerly the guest only got his mutton cutlet and instead of kitchen range there was bonfire.
 Frank Seiwyn, young medical friend of mine at that time, used to speak in high terms of this Medieval Revival because he foresaw that one of it's consequences, if generally car ried out, would be universal indigestion.
 With plenty, however, it was held necessary for historical consistency to mix discomfort
 It was said that the Marquis of Millefieurs (who had the best Norman blood in Yorkshire) had discarded gas and even colza, and had his dining-room lit by men in steel with fam beaux and that Lord De Beuf slept on an ivory couch between tine blankets, and with out night gear, because that was the mode in the Middle Ages.
 Frank Selwyn, however, knew nothing of the doings of these great people, except by re- port. He was of good family, but they were not good enough to indugle in these excentric- ities without the risk of being shut up as lu- natice and even if he had had taste that way himseH. he wanted his money for very modern use lnoesd-namely, to buy practice with Tn London. At six-and-twenty he pur- chased partnership with old Dr. Dalrymple, nf po~E some of the first folks in the land. and never took fee from an untitled person without be- ing fully persuaded that he could afford it. His notions were of the old school, he dosed and bled his noble patients till they Were like the ruined shells of hollow towers, and then he built them up again and filled them out with beefsteaks and port wine. He had, in- deed, no fancy for this new fashion of old fashions-no doctor is fanatic, it may be ob- served, in anything but medicine or surgery but as some of his clients were addicted to it, he looked upon the weakness with very charitable eye.
 ''1t is not enough nowadays to take things as we find them, my dear Selwyn," he would say good hunloredly, Dus we used to i. find them. If a patient thinks fumigation of boiled holly-hock and fennel will do him good, because his ancestor in King Johns time used it, let him be fumigated. Never
 
 sour thinks there is nothing like gold for his system, because Galen speaks of it as a fine old remedy. In & general way-that is, to the general practitioner-th might be dangerous, because, once in the system, gold remains there, and one must wait for the post mortem to get it out again but with our patients we always see our money back. Therefore, glve them gold." Whatever Selwyn may Lave thought of Dr. Dalrymple professionally, he had no doubt of his wisdom as a man of the world, and was quite willing to profit by it: Moreover his own conscience was not burned by adopting these abnormal modes of treatment, since his l practice lay among the middle class of patients l who weae rarely bitten by this mania-while l his principal kept the bigwigs for himself. l But on one occasion Dr. Dalrymple fell a vic tim to the very malady which it was his chief l office to cure in others-the gout. It was his l own impression that he caught it of some of l his patients. He felt certain, living 80 moder- l ately as he did. with only glass or two of l Madeira at luncheon, and one bottle of whole. 1 some port-"without headache in hogs | head of it"-after dinner, that he couldn't have 1 got it in any other way, Claret, indeed, he | took with his meals in considerable quantities, l and his feeding was rather extensive consider ] ing that he never set foot on the ground save | from his brougham to his clients door; but l then he never touched beer (because he didn't | like it), and what business has man to get | the gout who does not touch beer?
 His reasoning was soHnd enough no doubt | but still he got the gout, and in both feet. | And while in that abject condition an express | arrived from Lord De Bracy, of Donjon Tow | CTS, to request his immediate attendance. It | was, of course, impossible that he could move, l 90 he sent for Selwyn.
 tsMy dear friend he said tsvo,, rnr,sf hn | off into Kent at once; his lordship has the 1 rheum"
 ''The what ?" inquired Selwyn.
 'Oh, forget; you don't know his peculiar | ities Lord De Bracy is about twenty-fo | generations behind his time. He ought to l have been born-I mean, to have saourished' | (that's the word d)-in the thirteenth century It is generally the young people who take up l with these notions. but there is no fool like an old fool, and De Bracy has been bitten by | them. You will find everything about him 1 but his daughters-for they're young and l charming medieval. And whatever you do, l take care that you keep grave face. You're 1 3 capital fellow, you know, but httle-shall | say skittish At Donjon Towers skittishnes, would be. fatal. If you make joke down 1 there, it must be in Latin; and not in good Latin either; it must be monkish."
 'sAnd will Lord De Bracy really talk about 1 his rheum. Sir'" inquired Selwyn-
 Good heavens! of course he will. You will surely be serious when prescribing for him. l take it for granted that professional feeling will enable you to withstand any temptation l of that sort. He is the proudest man in Eng iand-gne very proudest" ]"
 My dear Dr. Dalrymple, not a smile shall pass my lips. " said Selwyn, confidently
 Pass them? hope not, nor ever reach them. I am afraid you are too young, my dear Sir: tremble for what may happen. Upon my life, if you were to laugh at him, I don't know to what lengths he might not go. He believes he has feudal rights, and may hang you. At all events, we should lose our best patient.
 Indeed. Sir" pleaded Selwyn, ssyou may rely on me. will be as cautious as though I l were brushing flies of sleeping Venus
 Heavens. what a similei" murmured the Doctor; 'she is certainly very young. Howev- CT, we must take our chance"
 ssI had better start at once, suppose ?n said the junior partner