166 BRITISH PHYSICIANS. more frequently the creditor than the debtor. The Kmg of Naples sent to request of him a complete collection of his treatises, and, in return, gave him the great work, which he was then encouraging, on the antiquities of Herculaneum ; a compliment not the less flattering from an accompanying invi- tation to Mead to visit him at his palace. At his table might be seen the most eminent men of the age, both natives and foreigners ; and he was often the only individual present who was acquainted with all their different languages. Pope was a ready guest, and the delicate poet was always sure to be regaled with his favourite dish of sweetbreads. ■ Politics formed no bar of separation : Mead was a zealous Whig ; but the celebrated physicians Garth, Arbuthnot, and Freind, were not the less his inti- mate associates, because they were Tories. Towards the learned Freind he displayed a remarkable in- stance of disinterestedness. Freind was a member of parliament, (a distinction which we should gladly find more frequent in the history of medical men,) and was sent to the Tower for some sup- posed political offence. While in confinement, he commenced that precious History of Medicine which has transmitted his name to posterity. Mead frequently visited him, attended his patients in his absence, employed the warmest solicitations with Sir Robert Walpole for his release, and when he had procured his liberation, presented him with a very large sum, which he had received from the clients of his brother practitioner. The good of mankind, and the honour of his country, were two of his ruling principles. Fie persuaded the wealthy
