action of the crown and place him under the protection of the law. They were deemed to be equivalent to ‘the law of the land.’ In this country the requirement is intended to have a similar effect against legislative power, that is, to secure the citizen against any arbitrary deprivation of his rights, whether relating to his life, his liberty, or his property. Legislation must necessarily vary with the different objects upon which it is designed to operate. It is sufficient, for the purposes of this case, to say that legislation is not open to the charge of depriving one of his rights without due process of law, if it be general in its operation upon the subjects to which it relates, and is enforceable in the usual modes established in the administration of government with respect to kindred matters: that is, by process or proceedings adapted to the nature of the case.” EARLY COMMON-LAW RULE CONCERNING SUITS BY PHYSICIANS. The common-law rule was that the physician could not sue and recover for his services, though he might for the medicines he furnished. The theory of the law followed the etiquette of his profession and forbade him from making a specific contract for pay for his services, and obliged him to receive what his patient chose to give him, which was called his “_honorarium_.” _The Early Common-Law Rule No Longer in Force._—As time went on this theory vanished from the law. For many years it has lost its place among the rules of professional etiquette. In its stead statutory provisions have been adopted which forbid a recovery for services performed by persons not legally authorized to practise. The right to contract with the patient or with those who employ the medical man, and his remedies to enforce such contracts, will be treated of hereafter. _Statutory Regulations in New York State._—Most of the States of the United States have enacted statutory regulations prescribing in one form or another the necessary qualifications which entitle a physician or surgeon to practise, and prescribing penalties for practising without having complied with such statutory requirements. In the State of New York such matters were regulated for the first time by statute in 1787. This was followed by a general enactment on the subject of the organization of county medical societies, and of State medical societies having boards of censors, to whom was committed the power to examine applicants for license to practise, and of issuing licenses (Laws of 1813, p. 94). This law remained in force, with certain modifications, until 1844, when all acts regulating the practice of medicine and surgery were repealed. A history of the statutory regulations in New York State up to the act of 1844 on this subject will be found in the case of Bailey _v._ Mogg, 4 Denio, 60.[154]