The Sun. — London, England, 1802-06-03 00:00:00

. . res Pcndence for the purpose of the better explaining a this mode of Inoculation, amounted to zos. or 30S. dV• Several sums had been voted at different Periods by that House for various inventions, am . ongst others, 10,0001. had been voted for:a titne- Piece, as a part of the sum of 20,0001. voted to the Person who should discover the means of finding the '?ngitude at sea. It was computed -- that 45,000 Persons annually fell viaims to the Suiall-Pox ; and was not the man .who saved all these lives entitled tol as mu s h as' t h e discoverer of the longitude ? If e w "s to propose that every man saving the life of l aughed s h ould be rewarded with los. he should be a nghed at on account of the smallness of the sum ; but,. if D. J enner was. only to receive this small lu nt for each individual whoie life would - be pre_ served by L i? more means of this di s c over y, it would amo un t' than 2 0 , 000 1. per annum. He felt' tto be ' ll .s duty as a Member of Parliament to a6l with pro t'er economy w i t h respect to the- PublicTurse, but e felt at the same time that such a discovery was enti tled to a proper 'reward. He concluded by , ni P t ing, that the sum of 10,0001. should be grant.. Dr. Edward Jenner for his discovery of Vacs tine Inoculation. HENRY MILDMAY said, he did not think slim proposed was by any means adequate. he ,te was amp le test i mony f rom every quarter, of °enefit ari s i ng from the discovery of Dr. Jen who, as soon as h e ,ma d e i t, did not k eep i t • c l.ted up in his o wn b reast , b ut lib era ll y i mparte d ! t , to the world. Dr. Jenner might, if he had kept • iattt a secret, have made soo,oool. by it, as well as to y S n l 4ller sum ; but he had explained the whole i t he world in the clearest Manner, and given every itiii"rmation upon the subject that was in his power. e concluded by moving to insert- the sum of °moo'. instead of 10,0001. / 3 ANKES said, There was a paramount duty j s . t :d in that House,' as the Guardians of the Pub ic.rurse, w hi c h i t b e h ove d t h em to atten d to. As ' l t as lie had looked into precedents rselative to the Pte se"t case ( 4,, they resolved themselVes into two ons : the one case was, where th e di s co v ery was male Wha matter of public notoriety, and the other,. ere i t remained a secret, and became the subject fu a ba rga i n between the Public and the Inventor, trthe P u r pose of b u yi ng t h e secret . Of t h e l atter th e were many instances, and the House should s tln emberho w o f ten i t h a d b een l e d away by the 4 hionabl e rumour o f t h e d ay, or other circuit ,", flees to bestow sums in this way, whi c h t h e y ,4i flees now wish to be recalled. One of these in.. ' l4 ,nees was the-grant of 50001. to. Stevens for ;, uul vent foe the Stone, which had been found to . ! inefficacious. There were also several others, „ r ut he merely:wished to put the House into a state .flifßdence 4ith respeil to 'the subject now before iicernis though h e believed there was as little danger tth discovery being disc' - edited by subsequent r aaiee as any t h at could be named. If, however, t w as to be once contended, that every discovery public utility ought to be remunerated by the nose, the Public Purse would not be large enough e S atiSfy all th e claimants, No.persons were more I:41y: r emunerated titan those of the Medical Pro- Issio n i n proportion to their skill ; and though this ' l l i seovery was so far in the hands of the Public, yet sl e i ,e,arryi ng it into eff e a was coupled with Medical t ") accur ac y,. an d experience ; and was there not ri sen to believe that_tho;e who. wished to p arta k e vvtie th e b enefit of this 'discovery, wou ld go f or i t to rfountain head It was unfortunate that Dr. "ner had imparted the secret to, the Public, thoty, l i!leonduCt certainly displayed the greatest liber:;_ 0 , 1. The Inventors of the Inoculation for -,the ti. 4l all-Poi has made ample fortunes by it, though t he y had published it to the world, as all went to :NI to cOndua the process. If the Hon. Gentle itnineant. this as a question of justice, he did not i;ut "°w why they should ask for so restrided a sum ; he contended that Dr. Jeriner had at present the th e of remu n erat i ng hi mself. He acknowledged IV utility and generar ben e fit of thi s di scovery, and e liberality of the conduCt of Dr. Jenner ;- but he tk ut ild not dill& himself justifieeLin thus voting away 'e L e ll /r WINDHAM said, that much of wh at h a d Co en urged b y hi s H on. F r i en d ma d e against the elusi ons .h e had drawn. What his Hon. Friend tv 4d said ab out ' t h e Guard i ans of the Public Purse, t':°luld not gu id e t h em on the p resent occas i on, as it „ . Y went to thi s , t h at they should not gra nt a e ver wher e i t was not d eserve d . H ere, how cieet) the, had to consider whether this discovery a tl ser ved reward, and if so, what was the sum th a t fight to be given. It had been stated that a num th'e °f persons having made discoveries, rendered s ecret of those discoveries the objeo of - a bar.. thin beforehand. He could only .. say that was not a:ease here, a part of the merit of the Petitioner that lie had not followed that line of con , bar ' • in thii case, the discovery had Been im- Let 9 ed a t to the world and its benefi ts p rove d to t r i e reward . was solicited, if the Inven s ' la d kept 'the ‘secret 'to himself, he was a t a t° say, what would have been the duty of th e titi - nse to give' to buy the secret. The general f or On in cases, where a public reward was asked a , n inventi on was , w h ether i t was a use f ul and syag'nalinventiOn. When his Hon. Friend said he .en the Committee, and _talked of rewards im tie"llY granted, he thought his Hon. Friend was ae f 7 tia.astale,.'that_there. was no merit in the in.. as i 3 'Of 'Of a least; that there were great doubts l'rtlts efficacy but on the contrary, his Hon. a t i l '. n tl had concurred in the general opinion of the a t e il l . l 3 . of this discovery. Thus then the faCt was of th i t t C'l• The next consideration was, the extent 14 )4 e *"tility, which was in this case beyond estima dte,Vt went to the complete eradication of that pru`i°lol disorder the Small Pox,. as it Stopped the pinPagation of it, anti in' raa, did more by,.stop d,,,l. the propagation than by:. saving indivt laas' ----- The next ' question was, whether this jh''ent,tinVention th at pa id i tse lf ; for if so, the . ir could h ave no claim' for a publi c rewar d. ire .110.4 ever this: w , h as 'not: the fad, and it was co„iiiioti,t , t the pr;:taive of t hi s di scovery would be ,;• Faculty, b ut i t was not lik ely, as "" his Hon. Friend, to be confined to Dr. a s it as 'cap a bl e of being applied by eve r y ts,, th hbtn, This was nut the case with theSut- .‘ll 411(4 e • entor s of the .Small Pox Innoculation, the secret remained - a long time.before , . - . • . it became generally keow_n, tifighi he said there was still another consideration-that might be al. leged i that theloventor havin g M a d e t h e d i ictiverVl could not conceal it, but here, though it might have been difficult to conceal it entirely, yet it might have been so far concealed that it ccitild riot have been applied by others; and therefore there was a merit in Dr. Jenner in not ConCealing it. With all these claims, he had no hesitation in saying, that the disco Very was one which was entitled to reward, and that a reward ought to be given, not only for the sake of this, but to encourage others to turn their minds towards discovery, and to encourage ethers, when they had made. any useful discovery, not to conceal it, but to impart it as speedily as possible to the Public. With respect to the sum pro_ posed, he thought it was the least that cotild be given for: such a discovery,. and, he had not the smallest hesitation in s-upportingir: • Sir JAMES SINCLAIR ERSKINE .ftillo'wed on the same side. He said, he wished 'particularly to advert to one point which had not yet been touched upon, he meant the, admit expence which Dr. Jenner had . been put to in completing this discovery. This expence, he could, state from the best authority, amounted at least to-60001. conse quently if the House voted only ro,oool. the real remuneration to Dr. Jenner would be only 4.0001. a sum neither adequate to the importance of the discovery, nor worthy of the dignity of the House . to bestow. If therefore th e l arger sum o f zo,oool. were objetied to, •he should move for 15,0001. that Dr. Jenner might at least receive 90001. free. In addition to this he could state, that Dr. Jenner, in order to render his discovery more extensively useful, had left a practice of 6001. a year; and that since his arrival in London his income had not paid his house-rent. Any profits that he might have derived from his discovery, had he kept the nattire of it concealed, were taken away, by his making it so plain that any one, even ladies, had been enabled to put it in pradke with success. He 'therefore should certainly hope, that if the larger sum appeared too much, at least 15,0°01 would be granted. Mr. M. A. TAYLOR thought that as Dr. Jenner's expences had not been stated as a ground of the re solutions of the Committee, they did not at present come regularly before the House. He therefore thought, that if theSe were to be inquired into, the Chairman ought to be instruded to report progress. Mr. HOBHOUSE observed, that .the expellees of Dr. Jenner might justly be stated : as. an' argument, as the loSs he had sustained had• been stated to the. Committee, as appeared from the Appendix (of which he then read some extradsl, and the Com mittee in forming their Resolutions, had taken these also into consideration. • Mr. FULLER' observed, that as the 'discoverer could exped no reward from the method of Patents, which were not applicable in the present case, he thought him entitled to the .larger sum. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that whare'ver sum of money the Committee might vote to Dr. Jenner, as a future rew a rd f or hi s M er i t, there was one thing clear, and that was, that .Dr. Jenner had already received the .greatest reward that any individual could receive, the apprObation, unanimous approbation, of the House of Commons; an . approbation most richly deserved, since it was the result of the greatest, or one of the most im portant discoveries to human society that was made since the creation of man;. and he doubted whether the House of Cnninoos would ever be again called on to decide on a paint of greater importance or utility than that which was now before the Com mittee, Two Reports were- now upon the Table of the House, and they were founded on two Pe titions from two individuals, who had each been Most laudably and successfully employed in maki ng discoveries for the preservation of human life. One saved human beings • from the perils _of shipwreck, the other from perils still greater. With regard to the merit of Dr. Jenner, it was needless to say much, there was no difference of opinion in the Committee on that su.bjed. That he had Made_ the important discovery for which the reward•was-asked, that the value of the discovery was• without ex ample, and beyond all calculation, were points not to be contested, for they were made out by con.. vincing evidence, and that he had precluded himself from great emoluments by ihe generosity of his own conduCt, was also most manifest; Wishing as he 'did to see such a person rewarded, yet knowing as he did that he had also a duty to discharge to wards the Public in voting away the public money, lie must intreat the Committee to pause a lit tle 'before it adopted the Amendment now pro posed. One died of the discussion would be, to confirm the general use of the pradice of this species of inoculation; another effe& would be, to esta blish, for ever, the merit of Dr. Jenner ; at the same time it could not be denied, that while •both the pradice. and the fame of its author, became as extensive . as possible, the vote of io,oool. by Par liament as a remuneration to Dr. Jenner, would have the effect of enlarging the general pradice of that learned physician in the way of his profession; so that both the subjed itself, and the individual who discovered it, would be still better known to the world at large by this vote. He would ask whether any Member of the Committee doubted that Dr. Jenner's practice As a physician would not be extended by a vote of io,oool. to hiM.by this Committee ? Most undoubtedly that pradice would be greatly extended by that vote, as well as by this discuSsion. It he were called to say what remune:. ration was to be given to Dr. Jenner, and that-he was to be governed in the amount by the value of the discovery, he really did not know the sum, be cause the value- of the discovery was above all calcu_ lotion ; but that was not the principle on which the Committee professed to proceed, or on which it was pradicable to proceed, the advantages bei ng, b oun d. less; whe reas th e remuneration must of necessity have its limits ; and then the question would be, what,, under all circumstances ; was a reasonable remuneration to the Author of this discovery ? The difference between io,oool. and zo,oool. was not the standard by which the Committee judged of the. merit of Dr. Jenner ; but the question upon the sum was one which had a reference to the duty which the Committee had to perform to the Public. He admitted; indeed, with the Right Hon. Gentle_ man opposite to him (Mr. WiNDHAZA) that the Hem se. ;:if Conimbits • were hot Guardians riieeely: -of' the Public Purse, btit they were Guardi,ins alsd of - the IntereitS of the Public; and ,certainly AS Sikh, would do well to encourage in ventiOiis for - the pie- ServatiOn of the Public Health, whieli,formed a very material part of the Public Interest, arid by that consideration alone, he should be led to vote the larger stint proposed ; hitt he eoriressed, that, under all circumstances; lie did not think hirnsell justified iii recommending.. it to the Cbnitnittee, a s a fit thing to vote this l a rge suni. When he recol kited that the value of the invention wag- beyond all calculation, and when he considered the extent of the merit of Dr. jentiee, he confessed it was pain. ful to him to oppose any Sum of money, however laige it might: be but When he considered that the Doctor must have other adVanutes besides this vote,. that the praftice of the .Doctor' would necessarily be very much extended, then he-thought the lesser sum was that to which the CoMmittee ought to assent. What had been said On the sub. jed of the loSsei of Dr. Danner; in the pursuit of this discOveryi, he conceived to he inaccu. rate, with referente to the RepOrt of the Committee. He belieVed that losses had bee n con f oun ded w i th expences; it appeared that the Doctor - had been at considerable expencesin this pursuit, biit there was no evidence of his having sustained any 'losses: In a word, if he did not think that Dr. Jenner would gain other great advantages from this vote, beside the vote itself, he should think himself called upon to Vote for the larger sum; but being entirely con.. vinced that he would have Many other advantages, and to a great extent s he found him Self bound to declare his opinion in favour of the lesser sum. • In saying this, he was rather pursuing the sense he had of his public duty, than his own feelings :.--Were he to give way to his feelings, he might assent to any sum, but that was not the course to be followed by men in the discharge of their public duty. He had, however, the satisfaction to reflect, that this dis cussion had given to Dr.' Jenner a reward that would last for ever, and also that the comfort of his family would be amply provided for, in his extend. ed prattice, by means of the sanction of that House. Mr. GREY said, that from the tenor of the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech, from his owning that this discovery conferred so many benefits on Mankind, he hoped he would have concluded by con curring with the Amendment. The importance , of the discovery no one could doubt : some difficul ty might indeed be made with regard to the extent of the remuneration. We should not in this be too much guided by a view to the expences incurred, lest we should run the risk of rather giving an in demnification than a reward. He had heard no good reason given for limiting the sum to I°,oool. He conceived there was no fear of its becoming a dan gerous precedent, as such discoveries were not made every day. The Right Honorable Gentleman had said, that Dr. Jenner would find a reward in .his own conscious benevolence. - This,• indeed, might afford much gratification to - him, but it ill became the House to diminish their reward because his merit was of such a pa t*re as to yield gratification to benevolent feelings. As to the Vote of . the 'House increasing his praftiee, he saw no reason to expect such a consequence, when every thing attending the . Vaccine Inoculation had been rendered so easy by-Dr. Jenner's ,generous Commu nications. All these circumstances considered, he hOped the House would vote for ao,oooi. or at least 15,0001. Admiral BERKELEY said that he had fixed Upon the sum of r 0,0001., not from any idea of its being adequate, ; 'and; therefore, as a larger sum had been moved for, he should considet himself as quite at liberty to vote for it. Mr. WILBERFORCE stated that Dr, Jenner had been engaged in completing this discovery up. wards of twenty yeari; that to the prosecution of it, he had devoted that time, and those talents which he might haVe turned to greater emolument by ge neral practice.. He was not to be considered as an ad.; venturer who might hope by this discovery to push himself into praelice. He ha attained celebrity in his profession, and an extensive pradice, which he had sacrificed to completing this discovery: There was riot a likelihood of his regaining wbat iiti this way he had lost, as many others had from his corn munications acquired such a complete knowledge of the vaccine inoculation as to be employed with equal Confidence. Nor was it likely that ha would ac quire a general prattice, a§ many would-be led to suppose that by his exclusive attention to vaccine inoculation he had become less . skilful in other parts of medicine. In every view he thought the larger .sum ought to be voted Mr. COU RTEN 4Y. said; it appeared 40,000 men were annually preServed to the State by Dr: Jen. ner's discovery ; now, in former tune's every indi vidual was reckoned worth 4:os: a-year to the Re venue; if therefote we suppose the value of human beings to keep pace with othei articles, we must now suppose the value of each to be at least el. a, year: By. this computation Dr. Jenner brought into the Exchequer zoo,000l: alnnually, and it was hard if out of that sum we did not allow him 20,0001. it • The Question was then put, that the words ' zo,000l." do stand pait of the Resolution, when the Committee divided, Ayes 59=—Noes 0- 1 -Majority 3. • ()rewing- re-admitted- to the Gallery, we found Mr.' Btrathisr on his legs, explaining to the committee the importance of Mr. Greathead's .dis covery of the Life-Boats. He said, that the re wards presented to him by Lloyd's and other- public Institutions were not so great, as to preclude the necessity, of the House also coming forward with their bounty. The,sum which he intended to move . for was zoocl. It mighty indeed, be thought too little by many ; but he hoped, no one would consi der it as too much: Sir M. W. RID,LEY said, that 'soo• valuable Seamen had already betn saved by this discovery ; So that, if ioool. was voted, it would be members 4os. a head for so me o f t h e most valuable embers of , the Community, which he could not but•lthink a- very inadequate reward. He should therefore-move; that instead of tooci. the wor& 70(:)0i. be inset-t•. ed in the Resolution:, - • Mr. GRIT and Mr. WILIERFO. f . o eterTet l who were alto forc: larger Mr. ELLISON4kj:.:OI2. ;3 ;t, a g h a w as a1,;41,..4t. public moneyrespecially fbr' 'What iic considered as local purprisei. Dr. I /11R.EA'G',A sari, ,that this disciver; been greatly approved by the :trinity FlonSe, was- Most .- capable df,appreciaring its The oust in whicli.he Was accustomed to pradice; Was often called upon to give rewards for saving fives. arid goods ; arid_ : he had often seen larger sums than the largest It:present prof osect ; given for savi. g a sin le T Ship arid li ve or six, of its treW„ lie shout be ashamed not to vote for the larger eeward. Mr. MARTIN and Mr. liiiwra:is BRCIW N R Were of the same opinioit. FRERE thoUght that itillilitt rewards; tie rank of the person' to whotri they were to be gi ought to be considered; and lie could nor but thing the sum of toool. a proper remuneration to one in Mr. Greathead's cireunistancesi, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he was sorry that he fou n d himself ag a i n o bli ge d ; froth a sen se of duty. to oppose the opinions' of thoSe whom We highly - valued. did trot look .upon objed as local its utility Was of, the most live kind and a national benefh. At the same time he thought some regard a ug h t to b e pa i d to the rank and citcUtristances of ,the Petitioner, to the ability; the attention, and elperience requisite CO bring it to petfedion. In all these particulars; the present question bore no proportion to the last. He conceived that Mr. Greathead was a man In such circumstances; that iOciol.' to set him tip as a bolit. builder, would lie a great Matter to him Consider_ ing all these circumstarree, lie could only,give his. assent to the lesser suit,: it M. W. RIDLAY saict9 that the Petitionei. was 'not in low circumstances, -bite a respedable tradesthan ; that he; as well as Dr. Jenner ; h a d made communications of hiS diScotery to all who requested it of him, Mr. GREY' observed, that whatever talents niight ' be requisite to petfed this disco Very; it required least time ; and he bad - never heard the simplicity of any mathematical Work argtied against its ing,e. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER dis claimed the idea of wishing to under -rate the dis covery on account of its Simplicity. Mr. 1 17 1117 - B RE AD observed, that the expences which Mr: Greathead had inctirred in His stay in., London while prosecuting his Petition.; joined tp Fees of Office; which alone atholinted was; as he was credibly it - donned, to i. 601. Would be a Considera blededation froin ioool. He hoped then, t!4h: the .. House would at le a st_ v d t e t he S Ori i c le ar; i f they adhered to it. . The CHANCELLOR of.the EXCHEQUER said lat . the Hon; Gentlemati had beenmmisinformed9 hi the 'amount of the Pees.. They tnight in ,all amount to tool. Mr. Greathead'S stay in London . might, in some de j gree';' be attribtited to him se lf (Mr. ADDINGTUN), ih putting off the question so long. However; the delay .liad not been al. together unprofitable to the PeiitiOnet, - as it had been: the means of introducing hicii to several bo. dieS who Might forward hini in the way of his pro; fession. He had no objeelion; however; to the sum being made rzoot Which Would cover the ex pences and fees; After a 'few words from Mr. V r ll:ttEßtoßCE and Mr. GREY; who wished to have . 'poi. sub. stituted; question The was put; that " 12ocii." stand part of the Resohitibn,' Which Was unanithously agfeed to and the Report drdeted to be teceived to,rnotroW:. .. rt . Oil the Motion of the CEtAc.g.tidit of the Ex. CHEQUER, the Clergy Non-residence Bill; and the consideration of the Sinking .Fund; Oeie piit off till to-morrow. Mr. ALEXANDER brought up the .reports of the British Fishers' Bill, of the Alien fill, and of the Police Bill, which were agreed to. The repoit of the Committee respelling the ;n; crease., of iJackney Coaches was brought up and agreed to, and a Bill ordered to be brought in: Mr: Oimssy moved, that the Ads.of the .oth and 4oth of Geo. III: in the'lrish Parlialnent, speting the importation of Coffee be read—Ordered: He then moved that the House should resolve itself into a Committee to take the said Atts into' consideration to-mortovn.Ordered. Mr: ORMSBY moved to withdraw sane aceotinis respeaing Irish Finance, which were inaccurate,' fot the purpose of - presenting other accoonrs.—The ac counts were . withdrawn, and Mr. Ciorrotst from the TreaSuiy of Ireland, presented other accounts. VAI4SITTART moved, that the' Rouse should resolve itself into a Cominittee, to" take into . consi_ deration certain charges relative to . the. Postage of Letters between . this Count ry, gra rice artaHolland. : The House huiring reSolied itself lift° a Com_ mittee, Mr. V ANS in' /MT said; he' wished to propose certain ResolUtions •to the Cotnmittee relative to the Postage 'of Letters' between this Country and France and Holland. At present Letters going from this Country to France paidonly sod, postage, and Letter's coming-here paid sod.--It was now ' agreed that the Post'age in eitheY case should be the same, viz, sod. In consequence of a very beneficial arrangement between the two Countries, our Letters to foreign Countries were to pass through France at the same r.tte of ' Postage as before the Wai, though . the rate' of Nitage had comiderably in- ereased'in France since' that period. With resped to thetarrangement between this Country and 401.: land, , -Letters going from this Country paid ,rod. and Letters coining to this Country paid r 4 d; It wasfproposed. to equalize the. Postage by undkin& it .ss. , in both. cases.--He should also propose th a t in.' stead of two 'post days in the week, that a Mail should go 0 thoSe Countries four dayi each week. The last resolution he had to propose was to take pff the :duty _upon . the tonnaq of the Packets imploy,.ed between Dover . and Valais. The French Government had consented, in consequence of their Pilckets being, exempted fro m t h e tonnage dutyi' to exem p t our Packets from a.inuch larger tonnage duty in France. He then proceeded to move .; several Resolutions, Which were agreed to, and the House being resumed, the Report was ordered to be received to-morrow. Theother Orders of the Day were then postponed, and at'a qu.irter past _Eleven, the House adjoura4 trill To-poi-row,