A true account of the celebrated secret of Mr. Timothy Beaghan lately killed at the Five Bells tavern in the Strand, famous for curing the king's-evil : in a letter to Mr. William Cowper, surgeon / by Maurice Tobin ...

A LETTER TO Mr. William Cowper, Surgeon; ABOUT An Effectual Method for Curing all Scrophulous Diseases, commonly called the KING'S-EVIL.

SIR,

YOU will doubtless agree with the rest of the World, that among all the Diseases within the Sphere of Physick and Chirurgery, there is not one in which Physicians and Chirurgeons have taken more Pains, and have had less Success than in Curing the King's Evil: For this Disease hath been hitherto reckon••d by Natural Means so Uncurable, that it was thought nothing but a Supernatural Vertue granted to Kings from Heaven could entirely Cure it, by laying their Hands upon

the Scrophulous Persons; It doth not belong to me to dispute whether even the Hands of Monarchs can Cure this Stubborn Distemper, but I am convinced by several Experiences, as you your self and Hundreds of other People in this City know very well, that Mr. Timothy Beaghan, killed of late at the Five Bells Tavern in the Strand, had almost an effectual Method to Cure this Disease; which was a Diet Drink and Pills, with the Manual Operation when there was room for Surgery in the Case. This Secret I have my self now, and do intend to make the same use of it as he did, knowing al∣ready that it hath and will have the same Effect: but to convince your self and the rest of the World of the Efficacy of these Medicines, and of the Certainty that they are in my Possession, I thought it necessary to acquaint you how Mr. Beaghan himself got it, how he came into Reputation and Practice, what remarkable Cures he hath performed, and how he came to communicate his Secret to me.

Mr. Beaghan was bred a Soldier, and was for several Years heretofore a Sergeant in the Earl of Litchfeild's Regiment, wherein he lost his Leg, for which he carried a wooden Leg; His Wife had this Secret first, and she lived of it; Dr. Hor∣neck, of the Savoy, lately deceased, recommended her to se∣veral Persons Infected with the King's-Evil; she did work great Cures, and died about Nine Years ago, and left her Secret to her Husband. Mr. Beaghan being disabled, and made incapable to serve by the loss of one of his Legs, and being consequently reduced to great Extremities, he under∣took to make use of this Secret for his Livelihood; But having no Experience in the Secret, no Skill in Medicines, nor in their Preparations, and not knowing by sight the very Drugs he was to make use of, and being besides too poor

and despicable to be believed, or to be thought capable to Cure such intricate Diseases; he came to me about Seven Years ago, and acquainted me of the Misery he was in, and of the goodness of his Secret; he desired me, since he could not be Credited himself, to recommend him to any Persons, Rich or Poor, that had the King's-Evil, and he would in∣fallibly Cure them, for any Gratuity they would be pleased to give him. Suspecting the good Success he promised with such assurance, I was very backward and cautious to re∣commend him to any of my Acquaintance, for fear by any ill Management I should be blamed, and reflected upon for recommending a Man so illiterate; knowing besides that most Secrets are violent Medicines, which disturb the Hu∣mours, and disorder the whole Oeconomy of the Body: Notwithstanding, pitying the poor Man's Condition, I pro∣mised him if he shewed me his Receipt, and if I found no∣thing in it Pernicious, I would do him all the Service I could (my own Reputation being safe;) And I assured him at the same time, that I would not whilst he lived make any use of his Secret my self, nor disclose the same to any Body else. And accordingly he shewed me his Receipt of the Pills and Diet Drink, of which I took a Copy, and finding nothing in them dangerous, but rather a very exact Propor∣tion of wholesom Ingredients, I recommended him to se∣veral; I bought the Drugs for him, and put him into a Me∣thod, little expecting the wonderful Effects which those Medicines wrought afterwards; for I was surprized to see Ulcers and Fistula's healed, most obstinate Tumours dis∣solved, the Mass of Blood sweetned and rectified, corroded Bones cleansed and made sound, little Scrophulous Children, all Emaciated and at Death's door, miraculously Recovered,

and such Incredible Cures performed of the King's-Evil, that this poor Soldier got in a small time a vast Reputation, as well as a great deal of Money, and the People stiled him Doctor. And to satisfie you that he hath done unexpected things, I thought fit to let you know the Names of some of the Persons he Cured of the King's-Evil, as Mrs Lowfield on Ludgate-Hill, Mr. Bridger's Daughter and Son in Durham-Yard, Mr. Hornby's Child in Lombard street, Mr. Hunt of Worcestershire, Mr. Goulding's Child of Clare-Market, Mr. Ed∣mond's Daughter of London, My Lord Dundonnell the Earl of Arran's Nephew, Sir Michael Cole's Child in Pallmall, Mr. Dewy of Greenwich, and many others, which would be too tedious to relate. Since therefore, Sir, Mr. Beaghan is now Dead, and since I was instrumental to bring him into Busi∣ness, and did him no Prejudice while he lived, I think I have Reason enough and Right to turn this Secret commu∣nicated to me to my own Advantage, as well as to that of the Publick; yet that the College of Physicians, for which I have a great deal of Respect and Veneration, should not think that I intend to do more than becomes an Apothe∣cary of the Hall, I thought it necessary to communicate this Secret to some Discreet and Skilful Doctor of the said College, that would have Judgment enough not only to ma∣nage safely these Medicines in all the dangerous Symptoms of the King's-Evil, but likewise to improve it further for the Benefit of the Publick; Wherefore Doctor Connor, Fellow of the Royal Society, and one of the College of Physicians, being an expert Anatomist, and well versed in Medicines, and in the Practice of Physick, and having Ex∣perience my self of his Skill in Curing often Intricate Dis∣eases, I have communicated this Secret to him, and desired

him to appear in it; He liked mightily the Ingredients, the nice Proportion, and the exact Composition of the Pills and Diet-Drink; but he desired, before he would appear, to be further convinced that these were the very same, and the only Ingredients the Deceased made use of; Wherefore, to satisfie the Doctor, I went to Mr. Head, a Druggist in the Strand, near Bull-Inn-Court, who was the only Person Mr. Beaghan bought his Drugs of these several Years; and Mr. Head will justifie that the Drugs in my Receipt are the very same which Mr. Beaghan used to buy of him, and I my self have a Note under Mr. Beaghan's Hand to confirm the same: To convince the Doctor further, I made some Bottles of the Diet Drink, and sent them to some of Mr. Beaghan's Patients, namely to Mrs Lowfield, who Certifies it hath the same Taste and the same Effect with her as it used to have in the Deceased's life time. The Doctor also drank a Bottle thereof, and I drank another my self, and we found it very agreable. Seeing therefore it is undeniable and certain, both by Experience and Reason, that this was the very same Method the Deceased followed in Curing the King's-Evil, I thought fit in this Letter to acquaint the Publick as well as your self, that all Persons Infested with the King's-Evil, may repair to Doctor Connor in Bowstreet for his Advice, for I will do nothing without his Direction in those intricate Scrophulous Diseases, he being a proper Judge of the dif∣ferent Constitutions of Mankind; also when convenient to to call in a Chirurgeon for outward Applications: For my part I will make it my Business, that what relates to me, I mean the making up of the Medicines thus prescribed, shall be performed with such Care and Watchfulness as will be for the Doctor's Reputation and mine, as well as for the Benefit

of the Publick. Excuse, Sir, my Trouble and Tediousness, and believe me,

Your very Obedient Humble Servant, Maurice Tobin.

London, the 25th of August, 1697. From the Three Black Lions in the Strand, near Dutchy-lane.