Genre:

Essay, Drollery; Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Class, Status, Patronage

    Wonders why people are so surprised at aristocratic patronage of quackery. Notes that Mason G Statford (5th Earl of Aldborough) spends most of his time 'taking pills, and writing puffs about them for the newspapers'. Suggests an advertisement from a 'Proprietor of a New Pill' wanting to improve his business. The advertisement requests the participation of several types of aristocrat including 'an Earl who is willing to be cured of every disease', 'a Gouty Marquis', and a 'consumptive Countess'. Adds that Irish earls will not be treated and invites barristers to try his 'new Voice Lozenges'.