Ol- THE SMALL POX.

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happy. The difficulties indeed are many ; yet the thing is by nomeans impracticable. The aim is great: no less than saving thelives of one fourth part of mankind. What ought not to be at-tempted in order to accomplish so desirable an end?

The first step towards rendering the practice universal, must beto remove the religious prejudices against it. This, as already observed, can only be done by the clergy. They must not only recommend it as a duty to others, but likewise practice it on their ownchildren. Example will ever have more influence than precept.

The next thing requisite is to put it in the power of all. Forthis purpose we would recommend it to the Faculty to inoculate thechildren of the poor gratis. It is hard that so useful a part of man-kind should, by their poverty, be excluded from such a benefit.

Should this fail, it is surely in the power of any State, to renderthe practice general, at least as far as their dominion extends. Wedo not mean that it ought to be enforced by a law. The best wayto promote it would be to employ a sufficient number of operatorsat the public expence to inoculate the children of the poor. Thiswould only be necessary till the practice became general; afterwardscustom, the strongest of all laws, would oblige every individual toinoculate his children to prevent reflections.

It may be objected to this scheme, that the poor would refuse toemploy the inoculators: this difficulty is easily removed. A smallpremium to enable mothers to attend their children while under thedisease, woirld be a sufficient inducement; besides, the success at-tending the operation would soon banish all objections to it. Evenconsiderations of profit would induce the poor to embrace this planThey often bring up their children to the age of ten or twelve,and when they come to be useful, they are snatched away by thismalady, to the great loss of their parents, and detriment of thepublic.

The British legislature has of late years shewn great attention tothe preservation of infant lives, by supporting the Foundling Hos-pital, &c. But we will venture to say, if one tenth part of the sumslaid out in supporting that institution had been bestowed towardspromoting the practice of inoculation of the small-pox among thepoor, that not only more useful lives had been saved, but the prac-tice, ere now, rendered quite universal in this island. It is not to beimagined what effect example and a little money will have upon thepoor; yet, if left to themselves, they would go on for ever in the oldtvay, without thinking of any improvement. We only mean this ashint to the humane and public-spirited. Should such a scheme beapproved, a proper plan might be easily laid down for the executionof it. But as public pkins are very difficult to bring about, and often,by the selfish views and misconduct of those entrusted with the exe-cution of them, fail of answering the noble purposes for which theywere designed, we shall therefore point out some other method bywhich the benefits ot inoculation may be extended to the poor.

There is no doubt but inoculators will daily become more nume-rous. We would therefore have every parish in Britain to allow one

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