“To talk of ‘Martin’ in any hands but Yours is a Folly.  You every day give better hints than all of us together could do in a twelvemonth.  And to say the truth, Pope, who first thought of the Hint, has no Genius at all to it, in my mind; Gay is too young; Parnell has some ideas of it, but is idle; I could put together, and lard, and strike out well enough, but all that relates to the Sciences must be from you.”

Swift’s opinion that Arbuthnot “has more wit than we all have, and his humanity is equal to his wit,” seems to have been the universal dictum; and Pope honored him by publishing a dialogue in the ’Prologue to the Satires,’ known first as ‘The Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot,’ which contains many affectionate personal allusions.  Aitken says, in his biography:—­

“Arbuthnot’s attachment to Swift and Pope was of the most intimate nature, and those who knew them best maintained that he was their equal at least in gifts.  He understood Swift’s cynicism, and their correspondence shows the unequaled sympathy that existed between the two.  Gay, Congreve, Berkeley, Parnell, were among Arbuthnot’s constant friends, and all of them were indebted to him for kindnesses freely rendered.  He was on terms of intimacy with Bolingbroke and Oxford, Chesterfield, Peterborough, and Pulteney; and among the ladies with whom he mixed were Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Lady Betty Germain, Mrs. Howard, Lady Masham, and Mrs. Martha Blount.  He was, too, the trusted friend and physician of Queen Anne.  Most of the eminent men of science of the time, including some who were opposed to him in politics, were in frequent intercourse with him; and it is pleasant to know that at least one of the greatest of the wits who were most closely allied to the Whig party—­Addison—­had friendly relations with him.”

From the letters of Lord Chesterfield we learn that

“His imagination was almost inexhaustible, and whatever subject he treated, or was consulted upon, he immediately overflowed with all that it could possibly produce.  It was at anybody’s service, for as soon as he was exonerated he did not care what became of it; insomuch that his sons, when young, have frequently made kites of his scattered papers of hints, which would have furnished good matter for folios.  Not being in the least jealous of his fame as an author, he would neither take the time nor the trouble of separating the best from the worst; he worked out the whole mine, which afterward, in the hands of skillful refiners, produced a rich vein of ore.  As his imagination was always at work, he was frequently absent and inattentive in company, which made him both say and do a thousand inoffensive absurdities; but which, far from being provoking, as they commonly are, supplied new matter for conversation, and occasioned wit both in himself and others.”

Speaking to Boswell of the writers of Queen Anne’s time, Dr. Johnson said, “I think Dr. Arbuthnot