The Sun.
London, England, 1811-10-09 00:00:00

'iCCE ITlo N.

(Cont.;luck(' from our Paper of Yesterclay.)

TO THE Eurrott of THE SUN.
Mussel burgh; Sept: 14, Mt.
Laslly.,—.4You declare, " that from the informa•
un whicti yimar, Board continues to receive from
various quarters, you have the same unabated eon-
tidence;in_ the Jannerian discovery, and you , are sa-
tisfied that the practice continues to make a gradual
and temperale progress, and by a perseverance in the
pre,ent inepures, will in a few years become gene-
rally adopted."
After the observations which have been already
made rin this, and my preceding Leiters, it feetus
hardly necessary to pay any further attention to
these declarations. There appears to be, Sir, a sin-

Slit,

gular fatality in your,mode of considering this sub-
jed. You invariablY draw your. conclusions from
the tads winch bear upon &ie side of the question,

Thellituation you are placed in requires the most
itnortial prouedure and whatever your individual
opinion may be, the respeCtive facts ought to be-laid
open to the pitblic. The most common understand-
ing must be fullyawareohat nothing but the most.
obvious, unanimous, and progrt.:ssise pr, oi, can jos.'
tity the decisive,' recommendation of a practice, upon
wideb an inunense slake depends.
You endeaiour to sueport these declarations by
rnentioning,you have the authority of several -Vac-
cine Instuntions, and.qiiore the rep.irt. of the (01-'
loges of Surgeons,and Physicians in,,E.linburgh and
Gidsgriw, and particularly. bring
,torwaid •I to state
and effects of the Vaccine practice in the island of

Ceylon.
In my Letters to Dr. Jenner; I have alrt•udy -nit;tt.
tioned, that dig opinions of Viicc►ttr itt,tiwt,nt

must be considered as ex-park evidett:e„inct are
not entitled to the smallesi influence .11 i I r' t_t!, _ folv
this question. I cannot indeed make a y objecittin
to the reports of tlw other respect,,ble bodies,.but I
believe I may safely assert, they AN net ter be coosi-
tiered as the unanimous opinion ot. these Colleges ;
and, at all events, they!cannOt be considered as so-
perior to those of the same class. I should be glad,
Sir, to be jtiformedMow ppri come to be deprived
of the declarations of the Physicianri aid Snigeoes
of the London aod .Doblm Coliegesi As, to the
island of Ceylon, it floes not afford, in my opinion,
a lair criwion to judge may be justly con-
sidered as an hospital.upon a large scale, e the few
avenues it posseoes for the admission of Sm ill Pox
contagion Oti be at present easiiy .secured and coe-
trouled. I would,' hoWever, have no objection to
risk the triad' of my opinions, and the fate of. the
qtotiOtt, upon this very example,, were it not 'the
height of meatiness and folly, nay, indeed professi-
onal stiicide, to allow, either thin the science of me-
dicine in Great Britain does not possess characters
at leait. equal, it not superior, to those of Ceylon, or
that the country, in. which the practice originated,
does not afford superior opportunities for risceriain7
mg the efficacy of the Vaccine practice. But hi 00,

iosition to such an example, I beg leave to state as a
,act, that the practice of Vaccieation has, during
the last two or three years, rapidly ditninished all
over the European continent, and in Weeny parts of
the Westlndies and America, it is • almost become
extinct. Even in meat, eases inimical to the per-
fection olr the• Vaccine discovery have matte their
appearance; and in every sh tuition where the praCe
iice has been introduced, it has been , fullne ed. by
ciicutnstances exactly . corresponding with those
wlinh have been observed here, viz. in all those
cases where Small Pox has been introduced into a
bind), only those who had been vaccinated were
influenced by' tie. contagion,, while those who had'
ptis d through the Small Pox, whether froth natu-
ral or inoculated contagion, uniformly and complete-
ly resiwed the power elthe epid,emic a secood
Also, those individuals who have. been subjected to
Small Pox alter Vaccination; have in general exceed«
ed the period of two or three years atter the Vaccine
process; and in proportion to the distance from Vac-
cination, so haVe theinstances increased in uumber
and severity ; and these cases have in general been
' coefined to' the lower orders of society..
These peculiarities appear to inc decisive. It
would surely be unreasonable to,,eontend, that the
uniform exemption in the one case, and the 'lre!
quent and regular exertion of, t he variolous influence
in the other, can be owing to any thing but, the fee-
ble, partial, and temporary influence of Vaccination.
It certainly would be the height of telly to insist than
the giaduel and progressive increase of cases of
• Small Pox/ after ehe Cow Puck, every onccessive
year, can bermribed to any other cause than the
gradual exiinction of Vaccine influence: but it,
wonld.be madness itself to maintain, the
,profession
• have been so stuifid, base, and wicked, as .to have
vaccinated the rich perfectly, and the' poor imper-
fectly.

I have now, Sir, brought to a conclusion those
observations which the perusal of the report of the
National Vaccine Establishment naturally suggest-
ed to my apprehension, and I' beg leave distmaly
to state, that in this, and all the
,other steps which.
have thought proper to take upon this subject,
I have acted from a thorough conviction of the
truth of my opittions, and the very greatimportanets
of the sUbje6t to the dearest interests of the na-
tion i and I am also ready to allow, that the trans-
actions of your Establishment ,have been conducted
upon similar motives but you must be sensible
that such is the formation of the human mind, and
the diVersity of 'faculties which it has pleased the
Creator of 'the universe to bestow upon mankind,
full scope% afforded for calling in question even the
most positive and rbtral.acquiesceoce to the,truth
of any subjeCt. WhateVer shall be, the result
this discussion, it affords me much pleasure in re-
fleeting that, .1 proposed my seutiments upon this
subject Only as deserving attention that they seem-
ed sufficient to shake our confidence in the efficacy
of the practice, ona that the whole subj 44 required
the most serious investigation. I am also inclined,
to liope, that all the efforts I have made are strictly
coMpatible with candour and integrity, and that, all
tray opihions and reasoning
,Can be sapported tty
cx-
-I:trience.and experiment, For my pit, II here dis
tinttly pledge myself, to come forward and make
public apology for having created the sinallest alarru,
or Uneasiness, if in three years
.hence the. College
of Surgeons in London, shall consider the. Vaccine