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

. .
resPcndence 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 mush as' the discoverer of the longitude ? If
e w"s to propose that every man saving the life of
laughed
should be rewarded with los. he should be
anghed at on account of the smallness of the sum ;
but,. if D. Jenner was. only to receive this small
lunt for each individual whoie life would-be pre_
served by
Li? more means of this discovery, it would amount'
than 20,0001. per annum. He felt' tto be
'll.s duty as a Member of Parliament to a6l with pro-
t'er economy with respect to the- PublicTurse, but
e felt at the same time that such a discovery was
entitled to a proper 'reward. He concluded by
,niPting, 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 ample testimony from every quarter, of
°enefit arising from the discovery of Dr. Jen-
who, as soon as he ,made it, did not keep it
• cl.ted up in his own breast, but liberally imparted
!t, to the world. Dr. Jenner might, if he had kept
• iattt a secret, have made soo,oool. by it, as well as
toy Snl4ller sum ; but he had explained the whole
i the 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.
/3ANKES said, There was a paramount duty
js.t:d in that House,' as the Guardians of the Pub-
ic.rurse, which it behoved them to attend to. As
'lt 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 the discovery was
male
Wha matter of public notoriety, and the other,.
ere it remained a secret, and became the subject
fu a bargain between the Public and the Inventor,
trthe Purpose of buying the secret. Of the latter
the
were many instances, and the House should
stlnemberhow often it had been led away by the
4hionable rumour of the day, or other circuit-
,", flees to bestow sums in this way, which they
,4i flees
now wish to be recalled. One of these in..
'l4,nees was the-grant of 50001. to. Stevens for
;,uulvent foe the Stone, which had been found to.
! inefficacious. There were also several others,
„rut he merely:wished to put the House into a state
.flifßdence 4ith respeil to 'the subject now before
iicernis though he believed there was as little danger
tth discovery being disc'-edited by subsequent
raaiee as any that could be named. If, however,
t was to be once contended, that every discovery
public utility ought to be remunerated by the
nose, the Public Purse would not be large enough
eSatiSfy all the claimants, No.persons were more
I:41y: remunerated titan those of the Medical Pro-
Ission in proportion to their skill ; and though this
'lliseovery was so far in the hands of the Public, yet
slei,e,arrying it into effea was coupled with Medical
t") accuracy,. and experience ; and was there not
risen to believe that_tho;e who. wished to partake
vvtie the benefit of this 'discovery, would go for it 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.4lall-Poi has made ample fortunes by it, though
they 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
the
of remunerating himself. He acknowledged
IV utility and generar benefit of this discovery, and
e liberality of the conduCt of Dr. Jenner ;- but he
tkutild not dill& himself justifieeLin thus voting away
'e
Lell/r WINDHAM said, that much of what had
Coen urged by his Hon. Friend made against the
elusions.he had drawn. What his Hon. Friend
tv4d said about 'the Guardians of the Public Purse,
t':°luld not guide them on the present occasion, as it
„.Y went to this, that they should not grant a
ever where it was not deserved. Here, how-
cieet) the,
had to consider whether this discovery
atlserved reward, and if so, what was the sum that
fight to be given. It had been stated that a num-
th'e °f persons having made discoveries, rendered
secret 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 at to the world and its benefits proved
totrie reward . was solicited, if the Inven-
s 'lad kept 'the ‘secret 'to himself, he was at a
t° say, what would have been the duty of the
titi-nse to give' to buy the secret. The general
for On in cases, where a public reward was asked
a,n invention was, whether it was a useful 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
aef7 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.
atil'.ntl had concurred in the general opinion of the
ateill.l3. of this discovery. Thus then the faCt was
of thittC'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 that paid itself ; for if so, the
.ir could have no claim' for a public reward.
ire .110.4 ever this: w
, has 'not: the fad, and it was
co„iiiioti,t ,
t the pr;:taive of this discovery would be
,;• Faculty, but it was not likely, as
"" his Hon. Friend, to be confined to Dr.
as it as 'capable of being applied by every
ts,,
th hbtn, This was nut the case with theSut-
.‘ll
411(4
e •
entors of the .Small Pox Innoculation,
the secret remained -a long time.before-
,