It does not appear that the Kings of Scotland ever pretended to this Gift; but when their James VI. came to the Throne of England, the virtue appeared in him; and he exercised it, as is evident from a passage in Macbeth[206], and still more strongly from Proclamations in this Reign, still extant[207]. [206] Davies, ii. 179. [207] By a Proclamation, March 25, 1616, it appears that the Kings of England would not permit patients to approach them during the summer. Being lineally descended from Henry the Seventh's Daughter, Margaret, this King had the same title to the Gift as Henry himself, who, as has been seen, used it, though descended from a line of Usurpers. CHARLES I. So pious a King, and so jealous of every prerogatory right, divine and human, could not fail to exercise this preternatural endowment[208]; and accordingly we find him regulating the manner and time that persons shall be admitted to the Royal Touch, by divers Proclamations[209]. One is dated soon after his Accession, in 1621[210]; another in 1626; and a third in 1628[211]. He cured by his words only[212]. [208] The following interesting remarks on this subject were communicated to Mr. Nichols, in 1781, by the learned and very ingenious Dr. Aikin. "Though the superstitious notions respecting the cure of the King's Evil by the Touch of our English Kings are probably at present entirely eradicated, it is still a curious and not uninstructive object of enquiry, by what means they were so long supported, and by what kind of evidence they have been able to gain credit even in the dawning of a more enlightened period. The testimony of Richard Wiseman, Serjeant-Surgeon to King Charles I. has been alleged as one of the strongest and most unexceptionable in favour of the Touch. He was a man of the greatest eminence in his profession; and his Works (collected in a folio volume, intituled, "Several Chirurgical Treatises, by Richard Wiseman, Serjeant-Chirurgeon, 1676") bear all the marks of an honest and upright disposition in their author. On the subject of the Royal Touch he delivers himself in the following strong and unequivocal terms: 'I myself have been a frequent eye-witness of many hundreds of cures performed by his Majesty's Touch alone, without any assistance of Chirurgery; and those many of them such as had tired out the endeavours of able Chirurgeons before they came thither. It were endless to recite what I myself have seen, and what I have received acknowledgments of by letter, not only from the several parts of the Nation, but also from Ireland, Scotland, Jersey, and Guernsey.' The question which will naturally arise upon this passage is, Did Wiseman really believe what he asserted, or was he knowingly promoting an imposture? Both suppositions have their difficulties; yet both are in some degree probable. His warm attachment to the Royal Family, and early prejudices, might in some measure make his