INOCULATION. 



people againft tlie art. The plan of bringing dlfeafes upon 

 ourfelves, was reprefented as a Circafiian impiety, altogether 

 irreconcileable to a Chriftian confcience. Thofe wlio adopted 

 the praftice were branded with the appellations of poifoners 

 and murderers, and were faid to be inltigated by atheifm, 

 quaeker)-, and avarice. One anonymous writer implored 

 tlte interference of parliament. He obferves, " while this 

 licUilh principle has lb much hold upon mankind, 'tis highly 

 necefTary that there fliould be no doors left open for the 

 praftice, at lead none that can be fiuit ; that there Ihould 

 be no room for the covering of fiich horrid things from the 

 n-ach of the law. Phyficians they have already too much 

 latitude in praftice, to make havoc of mankind for the fatis- 

 fadlkjn of their judgment in phylic, and increafe of their ex- 

 perience.; but every quack now maybe a hireling to the 

 devil, and, like that banditti in Italy, be ready to do the 

 drudgexv of removing heirs, and other obftriicting incum- 

 bents of many kinds, and to do this under the mafic of a 

 cure, inoculating death inllead of a difeafe, and making ufe 

 of an art never before praciifcd, in a manner not forefeen, 

 and by -the laws not yet fufficiently guarded againft." See 

 a pamphlet entitled " The new Practice of Inoculation con- 

 lidered, and an humble Application to die approachuig Par- 

 liament for the Regulation of that dangerous Experiment, 

 1722." 



A feitnon was preaclied on Sunday, July 8th, 1722, 

 againft inoculation, at St. Andrew's church, Holborn, by 

 the Rev. Mr. MafTey. His text was " So went Satan 

 forth from the prefence of tlie Lord, and fmote Job with 

 fore boils from the fole of his foot unto his crown,'" chap. li. 

 V. 78. In this difcourfe, the Devil was depiCled as having 



— A Short and Plain Account of Inoculation, Sec. hj 

 I. Maffey. 



Dr. Maddox, bifliop of Worcefter, was an able ?!■:* 

 zealous friend to the caufe of inoculation, and preacht-d ' 

 excellent fermon in fupport of the praiice. He obfcrv 

 that it was needlefs to enter into a difquiiition, which is t 

 moll proper method of defignedly raifing the fmall-pox 1 

 the human frame, by carrying the perfon that is to recf i^ 

 it to the contagious fteams, or effluvia ; or bringing ' ~ 

 him the infefted matter. Religious difficulties (if any It I 

 remain, concerning a praftice that has preferved lo ma' / 

 lives, and prevented the heawft grief in fo many families. > 

 are exaftly the fame, in either method of voluntary commu- 

 nication. 



For it is no more invading the prerogative of heaven to 

 occafion one eafy and voluntary conveyance of the infeftioa 

 than another, by a flight and hardly fenfible rafure upon the' 

 arm, than communicating the fame diilemper, by invifible 

 particles, to that tender organ the lungs, which are fo fre- 

 quently aftedled by the venom of this difeafe, when coh- 

 tradlC* by the breath, or receiving into the body infected 

 particles in wliat is called the natural way. 



Were this preventive method (continues the learned pre- 

 late) univerfaliy fuccefsful, and never once to fail in any iu^ 

 ftance whatfoever, it is fcarcely to be prefumed that any ob- 

 jedion would be raifed againft a falutary expedient, to pre- 

 ferve from deftruclion fo great a part of the human fpecies 

 as daily fall by this mortal enemy, when it attacks men as it 

 were in the dark, ignorant of, and unprepared for the af- 

 fault. 



This method of inoculation would then be no more liable 



iirit put inoculation in praftice upon Job. Inoculation was to cenfure than the making i voluntary wound, by incifion, 



ftigmatized as a diabolical operation, and an anti-providential ^° fo']'" a neceffary drain; or adminiftering any operati 

 project, that infuks our religion, and banifhes providence ""' "^ .- 1 ^ i- 



out of the world. 



It is almoft unneceftary for us to fay, that Job's being 

 afflicled with the fmall-pox was nothing more than an un- 

 vi-arrantable aflertion, and a whimfical conceit of the Rev. 



dicine, which, upon repeated trials, iiad proved an unfail- 

 ing fecurity againft any other dangerous and prevailing pef- 

 tilence or contagion. 



But, in order to excite and fecure a dependence upon his 

 divine proridence, the great Governor of the world has ap- 



T^- ■ T'l f 11 • • .1, r u- .n. J ■ pomted that no human affairs, not even our necelTary fufte- 



Divme. The following epit;ram on the fubject appeared m :„„„, n , . . ... j j lu r 1 irt / luiie 



,- ,, -,.^ „ '^ r * '^ r » ■* ^'^ nance, iiiouln he ntrenneri with \iirh nhrnlnfo /.^.-f^intir . r» 



the Monthly Mifceilany for March 1774. 



We're told, by one of the black robe, 

 The Devil inoculated Job ; 

 Suppofe 'tis true, what he does tell. 

 Pray neighbours, liiJ not Job do -well ? 



nance, flionld be attended with fuch abfolute certainty ; 

 very wile appointment, that vain man might not fancy him- 

 felf an independent being ; but, among all the changes and 

 chances of this mortal life, ftiould ftill look up unto, be- 

 caufe he can only be defended by, God's moft gracious and 

 ready help. 



Experience alone muft determine the good or bad confe- 

 Dr. WagftafFe had averted, that it never came into men's quences of this artificial infeftion, as it ought to do in all 

 heads to lake the work out of nature's hands, and raife other medical attempts, v.'hich, in many inftances, are, in 

 dillempers by art in the human body. (See " Letter ftiew- reality, little more than curing or alleviating one diftemper, 

 ing the Danger and Uncertainty of inoculating the Small- by exciting or introducing another. And, hi this view, the 

 pox.") To this Mr. Maitland replied in his Vindication, method now under confidcration, of lelTening the hazard of 

 " that the praftice of phyfjc is founded upon the principle a very mortal difeafe, (hould be confidered in the fame lin-ht 

 of curing natural by raifing artificial dijcafes. What is as every other antidote, or preventive attempt in phyfic^or 

 bleeding, but an artiilcial hemorrhagy ; purging, but raifing furgery, againft any probable, almoft certain malady, inter- 

 an artificial diarrhcea ? Are not blilters, iflues, and fetons, nal or external. 



artificial impofthumations ?" 



The virulence and farcafm by which the oppofers of inocu- 

 lation were aftuated, are well exhibited in the rejoinder, 

 made by another writer, to the foregoing very fenfible ob- 

 fervj^tion. " Very .good, fir, but go on, — what is corredlion 

 at the cart's tail, but the noble art of mufcular phlebotomy ? 

 What is burning in the hand, but the art of applying a 

 cauftic? What is hanging but an artificial quinzy, which 



The philanthropic prelate fcrebore to derive any ftrength 

 to the argument, from the great number of noble, venerable, 

 and worthy pcrfons, of every rank and profelllon, who were 

 in his time the public advocates of this conipnfTionate defign : 

 he wiihed to ftaiid upon its own proper evidence and found- 

 ation. 



He remarked, that a fafe pafiTage through this diftemper, 

 like the emancipating flaves, is a deliverance to vaft numbers 



makes the patient feel for the ground, and chokes him? of people kept, as "it were, in bondage; who, before they 



What is breaking on the wheel, but the art of making dil- have undergone this abhorred difeafe, are excluded from 



locations and fra£lures, and differs from the wounds and am- many offices in life, and prevented from purfuin r their ne- 



putations of furgeons only by the manaer and . iiitentioa .' ceiTary bufinefs; and it gives tranquillity and cheerfulnefs 



. * " ' 3 to 



