Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Class

    The narrator begins by portraying a 'fawning toady' addressing an aristocratic woman concerning reports (in the event erroneous) that surgeon Benjamin C Brodie was to be elevated to the peerage, but then counsels: 'The Peerage will still be kept pure / From contact with a titled surgeon'. Thinks that 'Some recognition might be fair / Of those who use the ars medendi', and sees no reason why 'The Scalpel' should be 'laid away in ermine' if 'the good sword may claim its fee / In titles'. Questions peers as to whether 'our laws' have done as much good as Brodie's forceps, and upholds the claim that 'clear-eyed Honour gladly decks / The man who heals good people's bodies'. Concludes by assuring peers that Punch will still bow to them but 'greets Sir B[enjamin]., and not Lord Betchworth' (a reference to Brodie's family seat at Broome Park, Betchworth, Surrey).