In Mrs. Pratt's List we read of a lad named Thomas Robinson, suffering
from the king's evil, and dismissed from St. Bartholomew's Hospital as
incurable, brought before Mr. De Loutherbourg, who 'administered to him
yesterday in the public healing-room, amidst a large concourse, among
whom were some of the first families of distinction in the kingdom,' and
wholly cured the sufferer. The two daughters born deaf and dumb of Mrs.
Hook, Stable Yard, St. James's, waited upon Mrs. De Loutherbourg, 'who
looked upon them with an eye of benignity and healed them.' 'I heard
them both speak,' avers Mrs. Pratt, by way of settling the matter. Among
other cures we find 'a man with a withered arm which was useless, cured
in a few minutes by Mr. De Loutherbourg in the public healing-room at
Hammersmith;' 'Mr. Williams, of Cranbourne Street, ill of a fever, had
kept his bed ten weeks, was cured instantly;' 'a gentleman, confined
with gout in his stomach, kept his bed, was cured instantly;' 'a
green-grocer in Weymouth Street, Marylebone, next door to the Weavers'
Arms, cured of lameness in both legs--went with crutches--is perfectly
well;' 'a Miss W----, a public vocal performer, cured,--but had not
goodness of heart enough to own the cure publicly;' 'a child cured of
blindness, at Mr. Marsden's, cheesemonger, in the borough.' Other cases
are set forth; but the reader will probably consider that specimens
enough have been culled from Mrs. Pratt's pamphlet.
That the proceedings of the De Loutherbourgs attracted extraordinary
attention is very certain. Crowds surrounded the painter's house at
Hammersmith, so that it was with difficulty he could go in or out.
Particular days were set apart and advertised in the newspapers as
'healing days,' and a portion of the house was given up as a
'healing-room.' Patients were admitted to the presence of the
artist-physician by tickets only, and to obtain possession of these, it
is said that three thousand people were to be seen waiting at one time.
Mrs. Pratt recounts 'with horror and detestation 'the wickedness of
certain speculators in the crowd, who, having procured tickets gratis,
unscrupulously sold them, at a profit ranging from two to five guineas,
to buyers who were tired of waiting. De Loutherbourg complained bitterly
that out of the thousands he professed to have cured, but few returned
to thank him for the great benefits he had conferred upon them. He
preferred to believe in the ingratitude of his patients rather than
adopt the more obvious and reasonable course of questioning the perfect
virtue of his curative powers, Mrs. Pratt, in concluding her pamphlet,
entreats the magistracy or governors of the police to wait on Mr. De
Loutherbourg and consult with him as to a proper mode of promoting his
labours, and suggests that a 'Bethesda' should be forthwith built for
the reception of the sick, and that officers should be appointed to
preserve decorum, and to facilitate the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. De
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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