from neglect and disgrace, it may be fairly assumed that they were mainly
imaginary.

The bishop, as is usual in such cases, speaks of himself as indispensably
obliged, by the duty he owes to mankind, to make his experience public.
Now this was by no means evident, nor does it follow in general, that
because a man has formed a favorable opinion of a person or a thing he
has not the proper means of thoroughly understanding, he shall be bound
to print it, and thus give currency to his impressions, which may be
erroneous, and therefore injurious. He would have done much better to
have laid his impressions before some experienced physicians and
surgeons, such as Dr. Mead and Mr. Cheselden, to have asked them to try
his experiment over again, and have been guided by their answers. But
the good bishop got excited; he pleased himself with the thought that he
had discovered a great panacea; and having once tasted the bewitching cup
of self-quackery, like many before and since his time, he was so
infatuated with the draught that he would insist on pouring it down the
throats of his neighbors and all mankind.

The precious fluid was made by stirring a gallon of water with a quart of
tar, leaving it forty-eight hours, and pouring off the clear water. Such
was the specific which the great metaphysician recommended for averting
and curing all manner of diseases. It was, if he might be believed, a
preventive of the small-pox, and of great use in the course of the
disease. It was a cure for impurities of the blood, coughs, pleurisy,
peripneumony, erysipelas, asthma, indigestion, carchexia, hysterics,
dropsy, mortification, scurvy, and hypochondria. It was of great use in
gout and fevers, and was an excellent preservative of the teeth and gums;
answered all the purpose of Elixir Proprietatis, Stoughton's drops, diet
drinks, and mineral waters; was particularly to be recommended to