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John Arbuthnot

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Dr. John Arbuthnot (baptised 29 April 1667 - 27 February 1735), was an English writer and physician, a friend of Swift and Pope and primary author of the Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus, and creator of "John Bull".

John Arbuthnot (1667-1735). Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), 1723. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

John Arbuthnot (1667-1735). Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), 1723. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

John Arbuthnot
Born 1667 (baptised on 29, April)
Kincardineshire, Scotland
Died 27 February 1735 (aged 67)
Nationality English
Occupation physician, satirist

Life[]

Overview[]

Arbuthnot was born in Kincardineshire, and after studying at Aberdeen and Oxford, took his degree of M.D. at St. Andrews. Settling in London, he taught mathematics. Being by a fortunate accident at Epsom, he was called in to prescribe for Prince George, who was suddenly taken ill there, and was so successful in his treatment that he was appointed his regular physician.[1] This circumstance made his professional fortune, for his ability enabled him to take full advantage of it, and in 1705 he became physician to the Queen. He became the cherished friend of Swift and Pope, and himself gained a high reputation as a wit and man of letters. His principal works are the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, partly by Pope, but to which he was the chief contributor, the History of John Bull (1712), mainly against the Duke of Marlborough, A Treatise concerning the Altercation or Scolding of the Ancients, and the Art of Political Lying. He also wrote various medical treatises, and dissertations on ancient coins, weights, and measures. After the death of Queen Anne, Arbuthnot lost his court appointments, but this, as well as more serious afflictions with which he was visited, he bore with serenity and dignity. He was an honourable and amiable man, one of the very few who seems to have retained the sincere regard of Swift, whose style he made the model of his own, with such success that writings by the one were sometimes attributed to the other: his Art of Political Lying is an example. He has, however, none of the ferocity of Swift.[2]

Youth and education[]

Arbuthnot was born at Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire, and baptized on 29 April 1667. His father, Alexander Arbuthnot, was an episcopalian minister who was deprived of his living in 1689 by his patron, Viscount Arbuthnott, for refusing to conform to the Presbyterian system.[3]

After his father's death, in 1691, John went to London, where he lived in the house of a learned linen-draper, William Pate, and supported himself by teaching mathematics. In 1692 he published Of the Laws of Chance ..., based on the Latin version, De Ratociniis in ludo aleae, of a Dutch treatise by Christiaan Huygens. In 1692 he entered University College, Oxford, as a fellow-commoner, acting as private tutor to Edward Jefferys; and in 1696 he earned an M.D. at St. Andrews university.[3]

Career[]

In An Examination of Dr Woodward’s Account of the Deluge (1697) he confuted an extraordinary theory advanced by Dr William Woodward. An Essay on the Usefulness of Mathematical Learning followed in 1701.[3]

He had the good fortune to be called in at Epsom to prescribe for Prince George of Denmark,[3] and in 1705 he was made physician extraordinary to Queen Anne. In 1709 he became royal physician in ordinary, and in 1710 he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.[4]

Arbuthnot’s ready wit and varied learning made him very valuable to the Tory party. He was a close friend of Jonathan Swift and of Alexander Pope, and Lord Chesterfield says that even the generous acknowledgment they made of his assistance fell short of their real indebtedness. He had no jealousy of his fame as an author, and his abundant imagination was always at the service of his friends.[4]

Later years[]

The death of Queen Anne put an end to Arbuthnot’s position at court, but he still had an extensive practice, and in 1727 he delivered the Harveian oration before the Royal College of Physicians. Lord Chesterfield and William Pulteney were his patients and friends; also Mrs Howard (Lady Suffolk) and William Congreve. His friendship with Swift was constant and intimate; he was friend and adviser to John Gay; and Pope wrote (2 August 1734) that in a friendship of 20 years he had found no reason of complaint from him.[4]

Arbuthnot’s youngest son, who had just completed his education, died in December 1731; the father never quite recovered his former spirits and health after this shock. On 17 July 1734 he wrote to Pope: “A recovery in my case, and at my age, is impossible; the kindest wish of my friends is Euthanasia.” In January 1735 was published the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot, which forms the prologue to Pope’s satires.[4]

Arbuthnot died on 27 February 1735 at his house in Cork Street, London.[4]

Writing[]

In 1712 appeared Law is a Bottomless Pit, Exemplify’d in the case of the Lord Strutt, John Bull, Nicholas Frog and Lewis Baboon, who spent all they had in a law-suit. Printed from a Manuscript found in the Cabinet of the famous Sir Humphrey Polesworth.” This was the beginning of a series of 5 pamphlets advocating the conclusion of peace. Arbuthnot describes the confusion after the death of the Lord Strutt (Charles II of Spain), and the quarrels between the greedy tradespeople (the allies). These put their cause into the hands of the attorney, Humphrey Hocus (the duke of Marlborough), who does all he can to prolong the struggle.

The 5 tracts are printed in 2 parts as the “History of John Bull” in the Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (1727, preface signed by Pope and Swift). Arbuthnot fixed the popular conception of John Bull, though it is not certain that he originated the character, and the lively satire is still amusing reading. It was often asserted at the time that Swift wrote these pamphlets, but both he and Pope refer to Arbuthnot as the sole author.[4]

In the autumn of the same year he published a 2nd satire, Proposals for printing a very Curious Discourse in Two Volumes in Quarto, entitled, Ψευδολογία Πολιτική; or, A Treatise of the Art of Political Lying, best known by its sub-title. This ironical piece of work was not so popular as “John Bull.” “’Tis very pretty,” says Swift, “but not so obvious to be understood.” Arbuthnot advises that a lie should not be contradicted by the truth, but by another judicious lie. “So there was not long ago a gentleman, who affirmed that the treaty with France for bringing popery and slavery into England was signed the 15th of September, to which another answered very judiciously, not by opposing truth to his lie, that there was no such treaty; but that, to his certain knowledge, there were many things in that treaty not yet adjusted.”[4]

Arbuthnot was a leading spirit in the Scriblerus Club, the members of which were to collaborate in a universal satire on the abuses of learning. The Memoirs of the extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus, of which only a single book was finished (printed in Pope’s Works, 1741), was chiefly the work of Arbuthnot, who is at his best in the whimsical account of the birth and education of Martin. Swift, writing on the 3rd of July 1714 to Arbuthnot, says:— “To talk of Martin in any hands but yours, is a folly. You every day give better hints than all of us together could do in a twelvemonth: and to say the truth, Pope who first thought of the hint has no genius at all to it, to my mind; Gay is too young: Parnell has some ideas of it, but is idle; I could put together, and lard, and strike out well enough, but all that relates to the sciences must be from you.”[4]

Among Arbuthnot’s other works are: An Argument for Divine Providence, taken from the constant regularity observed in the Births of both sexes (Phil. Trans. of the Royal Soc., 1710); “Virgilius Restauratus,” printed in the 2nd edition of Pope’s Dunciad (1729); An Essay concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies (1733); An Essay concerning the Nature of Ailments ... (1731); and a valuable Table of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures (1727), which is an enlargement of an earlier treatise (1705). He had a share in the unsuccessful farce of Three Hours after Marriage, printed with Gay’s name on the title-page (1717). Some pieces printed in A Supplement to Dr Swift’s and Mr Pope’s Works ... (1739) are there asserted to be Arbuthnot’s. The Miscellaneous Works of the late Dr Arbuthnot were published at Glasgow in an unauthorized edition in 1751; this includes many spurious pieces.[4]

Recognition[]

In 1704 Arbuthnot became a fellow of the Royal Society.[3]

Publications[]

See also[]

References[]

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Arbuthnot, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 339-340. . Wikisource, Web, Mar. 30, 2020.

  • See The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot (1892), by George A. Aitken.[4]
  • Anderson, William, John Arbuthnot, M.D., in The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol.1, pps:146-151.
  • Ross, Angus, John Arbuthnot in Matthew, H.C.G., and Brian Harrison (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 2, 325–329. London: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ John William Cousin, "Arbuthnot, John," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 11.
  2. ↑ John William Cousin, "Arbuthnot, John," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Britannica 2, 339.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 Britannica 2, 340.

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 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.. Original article is at Arbuthnot, John

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