eatures be
affected with an infinite variety of disorders, which elude the power of
medicine, and are often found to be incurable, yet their minds are also
overrun with an equal variety, which no skill, no power, no medicine,
can alter or amend. And I think, that, out of regard to the public peace
and emolument, as well as the repose of many pious and valuable
families, this latter species of incurables ought principally to engage
our attention and beneficence.

I believe an Hospital for such Incurables will be universally allowed
necessary, if we only consider what numbers of absolute incurables every
profession, rank, and degree, would perpetually produce, which, at
present, are only national grievances, and of which we can have no other
effectual method to purge the kingdom.

For instance; let any man seriously consider what numbers there are of
incurable fools, incurable knaves, incurable scolds, incurable
scribblers, (besides myself,) incurable coxcombs, incurable infidels,
incurable liars, incurable whores, in all places of public resort:--not
to mention the incurably vain, incurably envious, incurably proud,
incurably affected, incurably impertinent, and ten thousand other
incurables, which I must of necessity pass over in silence, lest I
should swell this essay into a volume. And without doubt, every
unprejudiced person will agree, that, out of mere Christian charity, the
public ought to be eased as much as possible of this troublesome and
intolerable variety of incurables.

And first, Under the denomination of incurable fools, we may reasonably
expect, that such an hospital would be furnished with considerable
numbers of the growth of our own universities; who, at present, appear
in various professions in the world, under the venerable titles of
physicians, barristers, and ecclesiastics.

And as those ancient seminaries have been, for some years past,
accounted little better than nurseries of such sort of incurables, it
should seem highly commendable to make some kind of provision for them;
because it is more than probable, that, if they are to be supported by
their own particular merit in their several callings, they must
necessarily acquire but a very indifferent maintenance.

I would not, willingly, be here suspected to cast reflections on any
order of men, as if I thought that small gains from the profession of
any art or science, were always an undoubted sign of an equally small
degree of understandi