MEDICAL MEN. 



tad originally intended, it appears, 

 to have announced them to the 

 world, in the Transactions of the 

 Royal Society. In Moore's "His- 

 tory of Vaccination," we find the 

 true cause of their not appearing in 

 that form. He had been seriously 

 admonished, not to present his 

 paper, lest it should injure the cha- 

 racter he had acquired amongst 

 scientific men by a paper he had 

 already published in those " Trans- 

 actions" on the " Cuckoo !" Before 

 the publication of this work, Jenner 

 went up to London for the purpose 

 of exhibiting the cow-pox, and of 

 demonstrating to his professional 

 friends, the accuracy of his delinea- 

 tions and the truth of his assertions. 

 All were received with the greatest 

 distrust. During a residence of 

 three months, he could not obtain 

 permission to exhibit the vaccine 

 disease upon one individual. 



Mr. Cline was the only profes- 

 sional man who perceived the im- 

 portance of Jenner's discovery, and 

 predicted his success. He advised 

 Jenner to come to London and 

 settle as a practitioner ; but nothing- 

 could induce him to leave Glouces- 

 tershire. The nobility of his nature 

 is shown in the reply he made to 

 the tempting prospect set before 

 him by his adviser. "Shall I," he 

 writes, " who, even in the morning 

 of my days, sought the lowly and 

 sequestered paths of life, the valley 

 and not the mountain, shall I, now 

 my evening is fast approaching, 

 hold myself up as an object for for- 

 tune and for fame ? Admitting it 

 is a certainty that I obtain both, 

 what stock shall I add to my little 

 fund of happiness ] And as for fame 

 what is it ? A gilded bait for ever 

 pierced with the arrows of malig- 

 nancy." 



But nothing could arrest the pro- 

 gress of Jenner's brilliant and bene- 

 ficent discovery, \vhich at last bore 

 down incredulity, indifference, hos- 

 tility, and ridicule. In 1799, thirty- 



| three of the leading physicians, and 

 forty eminent surgeons of London, 

 signed an expression of their confi- 

 dence in the efficacy of vaccination. 

 The confidence of the public was 

 speedily won for it by the remark- 

 able diminution of mortality which 

 followed its introduction. Jenner 

 bore his success with the same equa- 

 nimity which he evinced under the 

 neglect and ridicule of the profes- 

 sion, and always manifested a for- 

 giving spirit towards those who 

 had been his calumniators. He 

 died in 1823, full of years and 

 honours. 



VACCINATION. 



The Empress Dowager Mary of 

 Eussia, and several foreign poten- 

 tates, sent gratulatory addresses to 

 Dr. Jenner on his discovery of vac- 

 cination, which has rapidly gained 

 ground in every quarter of the 



flobe. A few instances of this. 

 ind are worthy of being recordeil. 

 "When Dr. Wickham was made 

 prisoner in France, Dr. Jenner 

 applied to as the fittest person for 

 addressing to Bonaparte a petition 

 soliciting that physician's liberation. 

 This was at the time of Napoleon's, 

 greatest animosity to this country. 

 It happened thus : the emperor wa 

 in his carriage, and the horses wer 

 being changed. The petition wa 

 then presented to him. He ex- 

 claimed, " Away ! away !" 

 Empress Josephine, who accompa 

 nied him, said, "But, emperor, do 

 you see who this comes froml 

 Jenner !" He changed his tone 

 voice that instant, and said, " Whs 

 that man asks is not to be refused f 

 and the petition was immediately 

 granted. The emperor also liber 

 ated many others, even whole fami- 

 lies, from time to time, at the re- 

 quest of Dr. Jenner. Indeed, he 

 never refused any request made bj 

 Dr. Jenner, who, of course, ol 

 served proper delicacy in not apply- 

 ing too often. 



