Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/469

 12 s.x. MAT 20, 1922.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 383 1769 he was still in London, for he tells us that certain patients, after unsuccessful treatment abroad, had been cured by him of venereal ailments, one in particular being under his care for three months at the end of that year (' Essay on Gleets,' pp. 9-20). The next record of his movements is supplied by Dr. Henry Lonsdale, M.D., of Carlisle, who writes that : Jean Paul Marat studied physic in Edinburgh and probably graduated there as M.D. He practised human and veterinary medicine in Newcastle-on-Tyne about the years 1770 to 1773. His knowledge of horse-flesh gave him an entree to the higher circles, while his politics pleased the ear of the populace ; and it has been generally believed that his philanthropic services during the prevalence of an epidemic gained him the honorary freedom of the town. It was difficult for me to conceive the sallow man with pock- pitted countenance, black flat hair, blood-shotten, blinking eyes, and spasmodically twitching mouth the incarnation of the repulsive so highly regarded ; and this difficulty was increased by another statement, admitted to be valid, that Mr. Croker of The Quarterly, on a visit to Paris in 1847, called on a sister of Marat, who felt the compliment as part of the respect shown by the English to her brother, and then showed what purported to be the diploma of the freedom of the town of Newcastle. Mr. Croker probably took her statement for granted, and did not examine the document. Thinking it well that this matter should be cleared up, I applied to Mr. Gail, the present Mayor of Newcastle, who kindly caused a full search of all the books of the Corporation, but found no such name as Marat's in the list of freemen. Further inquiries, aided by my friends Mr. James Clephan and Mr. Joseph Cowen, proprietor of The Newcastle tarried for a time in Newcastle, frequenting the circulating library of Robert Sands in the Bigg Market, and leaving behind him the reputation of a man familiar with horses and their ailments. He had studied medicine in Paris and plumed himself on his veterinary skill. There is a legend of his having had a hand in instituting the Literary and Philosophical Society, and even a tradition of his presence at the laying of the foundation- stone of the Society's building at the West Gate : but as the Society was only founded in 1793, and the building not commenced until 1822, the tradition is incorrect. There was, however, established somewhere in the West Gate, in 1775, a Philosophical Society, and it is not improbable Marat may Jjave attended one or two of the fort- nightly discussions of the club ( Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, April, 1887). Mr. John G. Alger next tells us, without, however, giving the source of his informa- tion, that Marat taught French in New- castle in 1772 (' Englishmen in the French Revolution,' 1889, p. 189 n.). More specific evidence of his activities in this country is, however, supplied by the appearance in London of ' An Essay on the Human Soul,' issued anonymously and in English at the end of 1772, which appears to be the earliest of his published works. He had, he tells us, submitted the MS. to Lord Lyttelton and one or two French professors holding positions here, and in return received from them complimentary acknowledgments. In 1773 this work, expanded from a modest- sized tract to two substantial volumes, was re-issued, again anonymously and in English, but under the amended title of ' A Philo- sophical Essay on Man.' Many years later Chronicle, revealed the existence of several he f dec i are d that " its appearance created atriotic clubs in the north of England, in part, if not wholly, organized by Marat, to which, and to several trade guilds, he sent his ' Chains of Slavery ' in 1774. . . . Now the probability is that the document in the possession of Marat's sister in 1847 emanated from one of the New- castle patriotic clubs the parchment and big seal and other flourishes misleading Mr. Croker ( Worthies of Cumberland,' 1873, pp. 187-8). With regard to this account, it should be noticed that the facts as to Marat's M.D. are not quite correctly given, as will be a sensation in scientific circles," and in confirmation refers to The Westminster Magazine for 1773, the May number of which, however, merely gives a short account of the book, with a few lines of entirely neutral comment. The Gentleman's Magazine for April of the same year also briefly summarizes its contents, but without expressing any opinion thereon. One of his biographers, who is wholly favourable seen below. Croker's visit to Albertine to Jean Paul, tells us that, in fact, the book was a failure, and that, though it was again Marat, also, could not have occurred in 1847, as she died in 1841. M. Pilotelle gives the date as 1837, and says he was accompanied by his friend M. Moore (' Ca- banes,' p. 46). Croker is also known to have been in Paris in 1840. His visit, therefore, was probably paid on one of these earlier dates. Some years after the appearance of Dr. Lonsdale' s article, Mr. James Clephan, to whom he referred, writes, in a short notice of Marat, that the latter had re-issued in 1775, this time in French and by Rey of Amsterdam, Voltaire's criticism had practically demolished it (De Witt, ' Jeunesse de Marat,' pp. 35-9). In 1774 rather more is heard of Jean Paul. In the collection of M. Benjamin Fillon there exists a document purporting to be a certificate of membership of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of London, delivered i to Marat on July 15, 1774, the day of his