The National Register.
London, England, 1812-08-30 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

with iwpropriiite tunes, to which they danced with great spirit, aim "I
the most fantastic groupestivit can be tweiyAl, till long ate, dy,
...I unwelcome viitor, had intruded WI their h, when lot the lust
time they .s.eeined dis..os, d to repine, rind to exclaim—
" What have we with day to d ?
S us of care. 'twas tuade fur you "

MR. BURNETT; OR, S VALI, PDX INOCULATORS.

TO 'IIIE E1)1.1.011.

Sta—l rejoice to see that the slumber of the Press is
broken, and that its powers ate once more exerted is the
great cause of humanity. • Imposture has had its time.
Truth must at last be known, and when known, mivt
triumph. The beneficent intentions of providence shall no
longer be defeated in this island. It has been made a spring
of health, as well as of freedom to mankind: and whilst the
first boon has Icon received beyond our shores with uni-
versal gratitude, shall we reject it ourselves, and re-
main contented with the enjoyment of the latter, because,
notsvithstanding our effigts, that has not yet become s,;e-
rieral.? To go through the regular process of proving what
has now been established by the experience of !hit teen years
practice, the efficacy of Vaccination, is not my intent. I
leave its defence to your other able Correspondents, as I
think that the ground on which its advocates now stand is
sufficiently strong to admit of a change in the natio e of the
contest. I shall therefore quit the defen lye for the Offen-
sive. Among the enlightened classes- of society, Vaccina-
tion has no honest opponent. It is serf-interest that main-
tains the struggle, and the credulity of the ignorant that
feeds it. The latter form by far the most numerous part of
the population of this Empire, and are as easily led by a set
of intriguers, as a flock of sheep by the conning of the shep-
herd's dog 3. It is clear, therefore, that although the propa-
gators of the mischief arc few, the mischief itself is of
an alarming magnitude, and extends widely throughout
the land. To repress it effectually, arguments have been
found insufficient. Popular prejudices, encouraged by the
example and strengthened by the misrepresentations of those
practitioners, wl:o still deem it their intei est to oppose Vass-
dilation, have hitherto proved unconquerahle, and through
the blindness of the lower classes, " the spri!,g of universal
contamination," as one of your rorre:poudetus light!! ex-
presses it, remains open in this island." But whence
arises their blindness ? From the min:l.4'o.lllg confidence
which they place on men with whose prufcs-ions they are
indeed familiar, but of whose character or abilities they have
not the least knowledge. To give them an insight into the
merits of their oracles maist go a great way to\lsod, shakin.;
their misjudged c;iiii.knee and opening their eyes. !Os
what 1 propose to do occasionally through the medium of
your pages. I shall bring out to the broad glare of day those
few practitioners, who obstinately continue to sin ead the
variolous infection through the land, and by inisrepresenta-
tion and falsehood, to prevail over the ignorant to cherish a
plague in the community; and I shall leave it to the en-
lightened judgment of their at present blin:led followers to
decide, whether it is safe to trust their lives :lid those of
their children to the care c.f such haiids.
Among the most prominent Small-Pox propagators, who
invite the people by the pompous display of the word
CRAWS on their windows, is a Mr. BuartETT, Surgeon arid
Apothecary, who, in Great Nlary-le-Bone-street, puts out, in
good sized letters, " Inoculation for the Small-Pox, and that
only, (gratis) every day from nine till eleven o'oclock ; and
advice given for the diseases occasioned by the Cow-Pox."
Now, it is really difficult to know which to admire most,
the humanity of this practitioner, which leads him to give