Two Letters Cond●●●●g●●●e Cure of the PLAGUE The one to THOMAS ELYOT Esq; one of the Grooms of the Bed Chamber ●●●●s majesty, The other to the Mayor of the town of Southampton, both from Thomas O Dowd Esq; a licenced chemical P●ysician, and one of the Grooms of the Chamber to his Majesty King Charles.  
SIR,  
ON the sight of his Majesties Commands by the Lord Ashl●es Letter to the chemists, I heartily prayed, that it might fall to my lot to be the person, that should be sent to that Miserable Town of Southampton; and this I desire you to acquaint His Majesty with, not that I want employment, or money, and can make it appear, from real fact, that I every day Cure all sorts of Persons of the Plague,( and that in six hours many) and can and do daily go as far into Infected families, as any Alian or Stranger, relying on the strength of his Fumes or Ameletes, and should at this gracious offer of his Majesty been content, to have gone to Southampton, without other terms, but obedience to His pious Commands, and therefore now humbly beg, that on the next deporable, Condition, of any other his Majesties subjects; in any part of his dominions I may receive his Majesties Commands, which will be Expeditious wings to the relief of his deplorable subjects in that Condition; which without vanity, and by the blessed assistance of a gracious God is not Inferior, to any the Administrations of the sons of men, and that His Majesty may be assured in this truth, let me be Commanded into any pesthouse or other the most Infected houses of this town, Sir I adulteress this Letter to you as my very worthy friend, and that I know you to be, a person of pious principles and that you may not be surprised, by a Letter from a man of my profession, and undartakings at this time, I only indite at a distance, And give order to a second hand, to adulteress it to you which I own, as the Ast of,  
Sir, your humble servant Thomas O Dowde. July the 13th 1665.  
SIR,  
THat you may be assured of the Princely Compasion, of his Majesty to the deplorable state of your visited town, and being informed, that all your Physicians, chirurgeons,& Apothicaries, have left you, at such a time when men of their prefession, should be most solicitous of doing good, we the chemical Physicians in Habiting in this City, having received his Majesties Commands by a Letter from the Right honourable the Lord Ashley to prepare and a point a person out of our number, by Gods assistance, for your relief and stop of your present Plague and Pestilence; and hath likewise out of his pious inclination for the good of you his people, ordered 100l. for the person, asigned, with assurance of his farther Princely bounty, w● have n minated a very worthy and Learned person Doctor Edward Bolnest; and now from my own inclinations; to the good of mankind and in obedience to the Commands of the best of Kings my royal Master, I have made this humble address, a Copy whereof I have here enclosed sent you, that you and all the Nation may see, that God has raised up men Charitably designing the welfare of their neighbours; with the Hazard of their own, and in Case your necessities yet require the hand of the Physician, and declined by him appoined, obtain but his Majesties Commands to me I shall freely, and immediately give you the best assistance, put by the God of Heaven into the Hand of  
Sir, Your Compasionate friend and servant Thomas O Dowde. From my Laboratory over against St. Clements in the strand, this 15th of July 1665  
HAving this day perused the Bill of Mortality and finding it to mount to 1089 and Consulting with my daily observations; the many and indeed innumerable prescriptions, vended to the people, besides those of Ounions, garlic, mustered, figs, Rue, Treacle, Metheredate &c. old and ridiculous prescriptiones( now new upstart,) by those Learned Runaway Dutchmen of Amen Corner, that not many weeks since at plentiful Tables quaffing in merry Bowls, would not discourse of less the● out Hectoring the severest Plague, and by there terms of Art, as useless prescriptions assured you of there Cures in that kind to thousands, bu●●ow good men( two of their tribe onely excepted,) not to be heard of almost on this side Barwick or Pendenice, these are the learned me●●●●● neither dare trust God nor their Heathenish Authors, in the City, that at other times, flock about your sick beds, and like water men 〈◇〉 sir, God in Infinite mercy cease this present Plague, and grant, that that Locus of Amen Corner never return again, to be a Plague or Pernience, to this most glorious City, but that it may enjoy health as that Ancient City of Room 500 years, without a man of that profession, unless they lay aside insolency and pride; and assume like the well meaning chemist Courage and resolusion, to visit the afflicted, as there duties to see with their own Eyes, and feel with there own hands,( not trusting Examiners) and then truly and faithfuly administering, those sudorifics, that according to the intent of God and Nature heal the sick, and save the sound, and such must be, true hermetic physic, not rotten dull druges; and until such Physicians and medicines; shall be Countinanced and employed though Jacke, Will, and Dike, as a grave Colegiate( though no Conjurer) not long since to me stilled the chemists, neither this present plague, nor other Acute, nor Cronicall diseases shall ever be truly Cured, but in time of greatest Calamity, shall be left to the devouring malady, by E. F. A. and the worshipful Sir J. himself whilst they go a simpling, as a witty gentleman, one of there own late admirers by this following letter to me, merrily expresseth.  
dear Dr.  
I Was infinitely pleased with your present, and am now as thankful, I guess by what I red there in Print, your noble fraternity is become a Corporation, if so, I owe you a bonfire, and a peal in the Belfry, and cannot I speak it without flattery, or compliment but exceedingly Commend, the noble Chymistes who so Christianly and nobly stick to miserable afflicted London; an action which gains honour here, but a better Garland hereafter; whilst the Gallinest fly the diseased City, and run a simpling into the Cuntery; which suits well enough, with their deceived and deceiving, method, and therein they show themselves as very Heathens, as there Grandsire galen; they formerly stuck Closs to a Dispensatory, but now want of honor and Conscience; furnishes them with another Dispensatory; not of practise, but of the duty of their profession, in running away in this time of Mortality, these Dutchmen of Amen Corner; these enemies to England, no satirist can pinch them hard enough, yet in all my anger, were I as knowing in their rotten drugs, as I am of their putrefied actions, I would make them immortal in a Ballet, To the tune of Robin Hood, if this be the way to bring Phlebotomy to honor, may I never see Horse-Leech more, our Brother of— lately wished the turk into Christendom, and were it not for Dr. H. and Dr. B. I myself, would invite the Ottoman Family to make war upon them, if they scaped his Semiter, his Bow string would prove as good as any of Hipocrates aphorisms, dear Dr. I was glad to see that under Rawlinsons hand, to take off that base unworthy scandal, of Johnson; though to me it signified nothing for I myself did heer Rawlinson Confess, himself Cured by you, with a civill and humble acknowledgement; of your Care and Cure of him, before many witnesses in his own house; pray Jog Mr. G. that I may have an occasion to come to London, I long to be in your Laboratory, to tell you, dear Dr. that I am your very humble servant.  
W. R. July the 7th  
ANd thus the world may see that these men of Art and Method, who not many moneths since, sported themselves, in ridiculous follies in the face of this glorious City, by scurrilous Ballets, against the true healing chemists, and by it asigned us to be destroyed by their fellow Dutchmen, as the greatest Enemies to his Majesty and people; and now themselves, fled and leave their reputation to be trampled like Dun in the mire, &c. by perpetual infamy never to be obliterated, shall ever by my hourly endeavours, and to advance that noblest, best, truest, and most safest Art of Pyrotechnie as a duty incombant on my Conscience, if in the prosecution I perish, be it to Gods glory, and I have my ends, and that the true honour of God and the good of the people in this present Calamity may be advanced, I do freely and faithfully with my utmost endeavours, and best of Art and Medicine,( and think it not be low the honour of a Physician) offer my service to all sorts and degrees of people during this present distemper of the plague, without the least expectation of fees or gratuities, if not well able to spare it, provided I have admition of egress and regrses, into every infected family, and will be Content, with barely the value of my medicines, and those at so reasonable Rates, as not to the abuse of either rich or poor, and this not designed out of vain glory; or other end but Christian bowels of Compasion, as it is the Cause of God, the King and the Nation, with hope that all those of our number of chemical Physicians will do the like, that so we may have the blessing of God on our just undertakings, and the prayers and countenance of good men, to support us in our intentions against the worst of men, that only boast of Learned ignorance, and are truly ignorant in the art of healing, as by my next Book A whip for Gallianism &c. Now preparing for the Press will appear, to the detecting that greatest of cheats the method of physic Galennicall let them support it by juggling detraction and the spiriting of poor Mr. Johnson their Laboratoring druge to vend their Bilingsgate frip, as a broken Champion, to their reeling worships; that can in all his discourse for them, boast of nothing, but there gravity and learning,( not healing) yet I think not so good an Antiquery, as to know that this formal Seminary, was in its first institution, but seven in number, two only Physicians and five students, as I am Credibly informed, but now so numerous a spawn, as fitted to run a way in whole showles, blessed be God for all his mercies, Amen.