Meanwhile Jenner had expended a large amount of money out of his fortune, in visiting London, distributing information, giving up to a very large extent his practice at Berkeley, and being by no means recouped by profits of practice in London. His friends at length, seeing that he was now debarred from obtaining from practice an adequate reward for his great discovery, urged him to apply to Parliament for some reward. This was at last done in 1802, and the petition was recommended very strongly by the king, and considered by a committee of the House of Commons. This committee received evidence which unanimously affirmed the importance and practical value of the discovery, and almost as unanimously agreed in Jenner’s originality. Admiral Berkeley, chairman of the committee, said that Jenner’s was unquestionably the greatest discovery ever made for the preservation of the human species. A grant of £10,000 was proposed on June 2, 1802, and after a considerable discussion was carried, as against an amendment proposing to grant £20,000.
It soon appeared, however, that the House of Commons had failed to satisfy the sense of justice of the mass of people as well as of the more eminent members of the medical profession in its grant to Jenner. Sir Gilbert Blane, in an address he drew up on the subject, said: “It is the universal voice of this as well as other nations that the remuneration given to Dr. Jenner is greatly inadequate to his deserts, and to the magnitude of the benefit his discovery has conferred on mankind.”
In January 1803 was founded the Royal Jennerian Institution, under royal patronage, and with Jenner as president, to propagate vaccination in London and elsewhere. This continued its operations for some years with distinguished success; but Dr. Walker, who had been appointed resident inoculator, soon began to deviate from Jenner’s instructions, and to adopt methods calculated in Jenner’s view to bring the practice into disrepute. Consequently the dismissal of Walker was called for, but was negatived in one division, to which Walker had brought in as voters twenty persons who only paid their subscription on the day of voting. By such absurd possibilities are the steps of benefactors to their race frequently beset. The resignation of Dr. Walker took place soon afterwards, but the Jennerian Institution did not fully recover from the effects of the dissension, and on the establishment of the National Vaccine Institution in 1808 it became practically extinct.
Will it be credited that, after the decisive parliamentary vote, for more than two years the Treasury delayed to pay the money, on one pretence and another; and when at last it was paid, nearly £1000 was deducted on account of fees. Akin to this, though the amount was trifling, was a demand made upon Jenner for five pounds admission fees, when the corporation of Dublin conferred upon him the freedom of that city.
Among the multitude of testimonies of appreciation which Jenner received, not the least interesting is one which proceeded from the chiefs of the “Five Nations” of Canadian Indians, the Mohawks, the Onondagas, the Senecas, the Oneidas, and the Coyongas. Their address to him ran as follows: “Brother! our Father has delivered to us the book you sent to instruct us how to use the discovery which the Great Spirit made to you, whereby the smallpox, that fatal enemy of our tribes, may be driven from the earth. We have deposited your book in the hands of the man of skill whom our Great Father employs to attend us when sick or wounded. We shall not fail to teach our children to speak the name of Jenner; and to thank the Great Spirit for bestowing upon him so much wisdom and so much benevolence. We send with this a belt and string of wampum, in token of our acceptance of your precious gift; and we beseech the Great Spirit to take care of you in this world, and in the land of spirits.”
In 1804 one of the most beautiful of the Napoleon series of medals was struck in commemoration of the Emperor’s estimate of the value of vaccination. He was so sensible of Jenner’s claims, that he allowed his petitions for the liberation of British subjects to prevail. Napoleon was about to reject one petition, but when Josephine uttered the name of Jenner, he paused and exclaimed, “Jenner! ah, we can refuse nothing to that man.” Perhaps no more striking example of the extent to which Jenner’s influence extended outside England could be given, than the fact that numbers of persons travelled abroad or on shipboard bearing with them, in preference to a passport, a simple certificate signed “Edward Jenner,” testifying that the persons were known to him and were travelling in pursuit of health, or science, or other affairs unconnected with war. When the great war was over, and the allied sovereigns visited London, Jenner was introduced, among others, to the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, by their special request.
But in Great Britain there were many things calculated to detract from Jenner’s perfect enjoyment. On various occasions the British government were by no means eager to show him a respect and honour equal to that paid to him abroad. When various government officials combined to launch a national vaccine establishment, it was at first stated that Jenner was to be director, with the stipulation that no one was to take any part in the vaccinating department who was not either nominated or approved by him. Yet soon afterwards, out of eight persons nominated by Jenner, six were rejected. Jenner himself was not admitted a member of the Board, which was composed exclusively of the four censors of the College of Physicians and the master, and two senior wardens of the College of Surgeons. In consequence of this treatment, occurring in 1808, when vaccination was so universally recognised, Dr. Jenner resigned the post of director, but was succeeded by his friend, Mr. Moore, who was thoroughly in his confidence.
A picture of Jenner’s inward life at this period, when the subject of a second parliamentary grant was being considered, may here be given from a letter of his:—“As for myself, I bear the fatigues and worries of a public character better by far than those who know the acuteness of my feelings could have anticipated. Happy should I be to give up my laurels for the repose of retirement, did I not feel it to be my duty to be in the world. I certainly derive the most soothing consolation from my labours, the benefits of which are felt the world over; but less appreciated, perhaps, in this island than in any other part of the civilised world.... Cheltenham is much improved since you saw it. It is too gay for me. I still like my rustic haunt, old Berkeley, best; where we are all going in about a fortnight. Edward is growing tall, and has long looked over my head. Catherine, now eleven years old, is a promising girl; and Robert, eight years old, is just a chip of the old block.”
In July 1806 Lord Henry Petty, who had succeeded Mr. Pitt as Chancellor of the Exchequer, carried a motion in the Commons, that the Royal College of Physicians should be requested to inquire into the progress of vaccine inoculation. The College made an inquiry, giving the fullest scope to the opponents of vaccination, and finally reported that, considering the number, respectability, disinterestedness, and extensive experience of its advocates, compared with the feeble and imperfect testimonies of its few opposers, the value of the practice seemed established as firmly as possible. In July 1807 the subject was again debated in Parliament, and a proposal to grant £10,000 was rejected in favour of one moved by Mr. Edward Morris that £20,000 be granted to Dr. Jenner.
The European inhabitants of India were from the first among the most earnest in recognising Jenner’s merits, and afforded him in many ways practical testimonies of their gratitude. About £4000 were transmitted to him from Calcutta in 1806 and following years; from Bombay £2000, and from Madras nearly £1400.