I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death That is but scratch'd withal.
So long as the body is affectedthrough the mind, no audacious device, even of the most manifestlydishonest character, can fail of producing occasional good to those who yield it an implicit or even a partial faith. The argument founded on this occasional good would be as applicable in justifying the counterfeiter and giving circulation to his base coin, on the ground that a spurious dollar had often relieved a poor man's necessities.
But however mysterious isnature, however ignorant the doctor, however imperfect the present state of physicalscience, the patronage and the success of quacks and quackeries are infinitely more wonderful than those of honest and laborious men of science and their careful experiments.
Void of all honor, avaricious, rash, The daring tribe compound their boasted trash— Tincture of syrup, lotion, drop, or pill; All tempt the sick to trust the lying bill.
From powerful causes spring the empiric's gains, Man's love of life, his weakness, and his pains; These first induce him the vile trash to try, Then lend his name, that other men may buy.
