r of the
College. "Before this period a great multitude of ignorant persons, of
whom the greater part had no insight into physic, nor into any other
kind of learning--some could not even read the letters on the book, so
far forth that common artificers as smiths, weavers and women--boldly
and accustomably took upon them great cures to the high displeasure of
God, great infamy to the faculty, and the grievous hurt, {100} damage,
and destruction of many of the King's liege people."

After the foundation of the College there was a definite way of
deciding formally who were, or were not, legally licensed to practise.
As a consequence, when serious malpractice came to public notice,
those without a license were occasionally treated in the most summary
manner. Stowe, in his chronicles, gives a very vivid and picturesque
description of the treatment of one of these quacks who had been
especially flagrant in his imposition upon the people. A counterfeit
doctor was set on horseback, his face to the horse's tail, the tail
being forced into his hand as a bridle, a collar of jordans about his
neck, a whetstone on his breast, and so led through the city of London
with ringing of basins, and banished. "Such deceivers," continued the
old chronicler, "no doubt are many, who being never trained up in
reading or practice of physics and Chirurgery do boast to do great
cures, especially upon women, as to make them straight that before
were crooked, corbed, or crumped in any part of their bodies and other
such things. But the contrary is true. For some have received gold
when they have better deserved the whetstone." [Footnote 9] Human
nature has not changed very much in the {101} four centuries since
Linacre's foundation, and while the model that he set in the matter of
providing a proper licensing body for physicians has done something to
lessen the evils complained of, the abuses still remain; and the old
chronicler will find in our time not a few who, in his opinion, might
deserve the whetstone. We can scarcely realize how much Linacre
accomplished by means of the Royal College of Physicians, or how great
was the organizing spirit of the man to enable him to recognize the
best way out of the chaos of medical practice in his time.

[Footnote 9: "To get the whetstone" is an old English expression,
meaning to take the prize for lying. It is derived from the old
custom of driving rogues, whose wits were too sharp, out of town
with