As another example of the advocacy with which this bill was commended to the House of Commons, I take the following from the close of the speech of Lord Robert Montagu, when introducing it to committee, 14th June, 1867. He said—
Smallpox differs from other epidemics in this, that it is one of the worst, but is absolutely preventible. In other diseases all that can be done by the removal of predisposing conditions is to mitigate their virulence; but Smallpox may be altogether prevented. If, then, one who raises his hand against another and kills him is guilty of murder, of what shall he be guilty who, by voice or vote in this House, endeavours to prevent the passing of a measure which will make it absolutely certain that Smallpox shall no longer kill 7,000 a-year in this country!
This absurd adjuration was too much for Mr. Henley, who observed—
The somewhat formidable close of the noble Lord’s speech made it difficult to know whether I ought not to walk out of the House and leave the responsibility of the measure to others. He said those who objected to the bill would be guilty of the deaths of those who died of Smallpox.
Lord Robert Montagu—I said that Smallpox was so far preventible that those who stopped the adoption of Vaccination would be guilty of the deaths of 7,000 children a-year.
Mr. Henley—I understood the noble Lord to say that they would incur that guilt if they objected to the machinery of the bill.
Lord Robert Montagu—No; not to its machinery.
Mr. Henley—Then I do not know precisely what the noble Lord does mean.
In short, the bill was neither honestly advocated or seriously considered. On the one hand, members of Parliament were prejudiced, ignorant and credulous, and careless as to legislation that did not affect their families or those of their influential constituents. On the other hand there was a knot of medical officials eager for power and the aggrandisement of their profession, who did not disdain to practise upon the prejudice, the ignorance, and the credulity of Parliament. The result was an insufferable outrage upon the rights of every nonconformist—an outrage which, if perpetrated on the theological instead of the scientific conscience, would have roused Englishmen to fever heat.