I would come and see them
immediately; and no atonement for neglect or even delay--if such neglect
or delay was ventured--would suffice. And yet, despite of their fears of
"monarchy and aristocracy," they were my most truly aristocratic
patients. They expected me to come and go at their request, whether
anybody else was attended to or not. And, to add to the vexation of the
case, though they boasted of having paid most enormous bills to my
predecessor, they never, if they could avoid it, paid any thing to me.

Now, I do not suppose that every medical man has as large a share of
these standing patients as fell to my unhappy lot; but from the
knowledge I have acquired of mankind, and from the acquaintance I have
necessarily formed with medical men, I do not think I err when I affirm
that they are everywhere numerous, and that they are everywhere not only
a pest to society at large, but particularly so to the physician.

But the worst feature of the case is, that after all our efforts, we can
seldom, if ever, cure them. They are always hanging upon us like an
incubus; and yet like Solomon's daughters of the horseleech, are never
satisfied. They take the medicine, and follow the advice, if they _like_
it; or they take such parts of it as they choose, and reject the rest.
Or they take the advice and follow us to-day, but get discouraged and
abandon us, at least practically, to-morrow; especially if some smart
young physician happens to come along, who has more than an average
share of empiricism and pretension, and more than he has of real merit.

I must here confess, among other confessions, that at first I was not a
little deceived by their open countenances and concealed thoughts, and
unintelligent and hence unconfiding professions. It was a long time
before I relinquished the hope of doing them good; or at least a portion
of them. But I was at length compelled. There was nothing on which to
build. If a foundation seemed to be laid one day, it would disappear the
next.

One fundamental difficulty lay in the way of these persons to health, as
it has to thousands of others. They were all the while talking or
thinking about themselves, their ailments and woes and abuses and
neglects. They were particularly inclined to turn their attention to
their own diseased feelings. Now it may be pretty safe to say that no
individual can fully recover from chronic disease,--nervous, stomachic,
or glandular--who is always turning his