phulous diatheræ, as Dr. Jenner has afferted; and could fo im portant an object be attained, how pleafing the profpect, how defirable the end! The author appears to attach much importance to his own Infania Amabilis (p. 22.) and from P. 33, we shall extract a fpecimen of his ftyle; to read which a long breath is neceffary. "It is now time to advert to the fubject of Vaccination, But truly the whole affair of that abforption and paffage of the Vac cine aura, through the human body, affecting that inexplicable, immaterial, and indeliable fiat or orgasm, which affures to it complete invulnerability to every poffible future attack of Small Pox, and, indeed, of every circumftance preparatory and fubfequent to it, is altogether a tranfaction so trifling in itself, so like a mere nothing, as far at leaft as it is cognizable to fenfe, and in the way. it has hitherto happened to me in every case under my own immediate obfervation, (and those have now been numerous) that I am almost at a lofs, where to begin the description of it." In P. 46, we have an ingenious letter from Mr. Little, furgeon, of Plymouth-dock, containing fome important obfervations, oppofing the erroneous idea that has prevailed, of the Cow Poc being an eruptive disease, by ftating the eruption on two children in one family, to be " the Chicken Poc, fo diftinctly marked as not to be miftaken by the most fuperficial obferver." This, we believe, has been the caufe of all those mistakes* which have been urged against the Cow Poc. Mr. L. adds his teftimony to that of many others, "that the genuine Vaccine difeafe, in as far as puftules are concerned, is confined to the place of infertion, producing fpecific fever in a given time." (This is, however, fo flight as frequently to be fcarcely diftinguishable,) And, at P. 50, where inoculated Small Poc would be hazardous, from conftitutional disease, "the Vaccine may be fubftituted with fafety, often with advantage," by producing a beneficial change in the habit. This is the more worthy of attention from the writer's having added, "should I at any future time have reason to change that opinion, I will communicate it,” &c. At p. 63, Dr. Pearfon's report is inferted, that of six THOUSAND Vaccine patients, only one died; (and that was from another difeafe.) Dr. P. alfo thinks, that the chance of life is greater under Vaccine inoculation, than under ordinary circumftances. At P. 70 and feq. fome "general reflections" are hazarded on the poffible origin of the Cow, Small, Swine, and Chicken Pox, Meafles, &c. being beftial, as their names appear to indicate; which we think not improbable. The author recommends (P. 79) an attention to the origin, &c. of the diseases of brutes. We allow him to "plead guilty to the charge of much tediousness," (P. 55.) and think Mr. L's letter the best part of the publication. We cannot omit adding our own teftimony in favour of the VACCINE inoculation, which is certainly superior to the va * Dr. J. Simms has CONTRADICTED the teftimony which he originally gave against the Cow Poc, and acknowledged he was miftaken. pioleas C riolous in a greater degree than the latter is to the natural Smallpox. And the refult of our own obfervation is, that it is not an eruptive disease; but perfectly harmless, communicable at any period, and more entitled to the appellation of a PREVENTIVE than a difeafe! * POETRY. ART. XIII. Epiftle to Peter Pindar. Third Edition, with a new Poftfcript. 4to. Wright. 1800. UNUSUAL as it is for us to review fubfequent editions of works which we have already reviewed, we shall make no apology for deviating, on this occafion, from a rule which has been, and which muft be, generally obferved; for, we fcruple not to aver, that defpicable as Peter Pindar is, in himself confidered, his fall ought to be regarded as a matter of national importance. When a petty culprit expiates his crimes, a fimple record of the fact may fuffice; but, when a Cartouche feels the fword of juftice; when, after a long feries of unheard-of atrocities, the hoary mifcreant is dragged backwards from his den, and stretched upon the rack, his fufferings should receive an ample detail; every torture that he endures fhould be defcribed, every groan that he utters fhould echo: as, in his life, he has been the terror of the good, fo, in his death, he should be the terror of the wicked. Mr. William Gifford, who, we are happy to perceive, has already been called upon for a third edition of his excellent Epistle to our literary Cartouche (a name, by the bye, which we recommend the ufe of, in preference to that of Peter Pindar), has added a new postfcript, in which, with his ufual spirit and fuccefs, he has defended himfelf against the infinuations of thofe, who appear to us to poffefs more tenderness for " poor fuffering guilt," than zeal in the caufe of calumniated virtue. "Though," fays our author, "this information" (alluding to the contents of a letter, addreffed to him on the subject of Peter Pindar) "was new to me, who from my habits and connections, knew lefs of Peter Pindar than most people; yet was I not altogether so great a ftranger to his general character, as to be furprifed at any additional inftances of his depravity. For that day, however, I faid nothing; but on the next, Peter's evil genius prompted him to fend a moft fcurrilous advertisement to the Morning Poft,' when, that I might not bely my affeveration in the Epistle to him, I inftantly put the letter into the hands of my publisher, and, at the fame time, commiffioned him to advertise for the papers in question. 66 Peter, and his numerous friends,' who were in the secret, took the alarm, and foolishly endeavoured to intimidate me from my pur * We do, however, recommend inoculating with the wet mat ter, to prevent the failures attendant on dry inoculation, pofe pose by a threatening letter, of which I immediately determined to publish a fac-fimile, for two reafons: firft, that no doubt might remain as to the writer of it; and fecondly, to fhew thofe who may be haunted by fuch bug-bears in future, that they are the most harmless of all harmless things, and only frightful to thofe who fend them. "The advertisement foon produced fomething better than the contemptible scrawl I have noticed: it brought me the papers I wanted. The following extracts (fufficient for every purpose) are from the three firft which I took up: "Times, March 19th.-There is no palace into which foul things fometimes intrude not; witnefs the Pages. And there is actually now a Kitchen Rat at Buckingham-house, that was caught, about twelve months fince, in a trap with Peter Pindar, in the BirdCage-Walk, but let loofe again on condition of amendment. If this fame rat and Peter Pindar continue their difloyal and ******** intercourse, let them beware, &c. "Times, March 26th.-We advise Peter Pindar, alias, the Cornish Apothecary, alias the Plantation Parfon, alias the low-doer of a fallen print, to reftrain his goofe's quill against the loyalty of other prints, and recollect that though his doggrel is too contemptible for notice-plain profe, his itch for treafon, and the Bird Cage Walk, may endanger his ears. "Times, March 28th.-The impudence of the Bird-Cage Walk hero, Peter Pindar, in the fallen print, the damnation of which his ftupidity has completed, is very much in the ftyle of this motley renegade-half apothecary, half parfon," &c. "Here then, I meet the infidious infinuations of Peter'snumerous friends. In the fecond edition of the Epiftle, I contented myfelf with referring to my authorities, and I was calumniated. I have now gone farther, and printed them. And till I fearlessly affront their artifices! and fill I throw myfelf, with manly confi dence, on the unfophifticated fenfe of my country! "I muft here observe, that the enemies of the established order of things in Church and State, find Peter Pindar too useful an Ally, to be lightly given up. He will continue, therefore, in fpite of his depravity, to receive as much support as fhame will allow, from all fuch publications as are either fecretly, or avowedly, hoftile to the duration of either. Not, indeed, that the conductors of those works, as might be fufpected from the character of their protégé, aim at abfolute anarchy and atheism-No; `lefs would, probably, fatisfy them; but to effect even this, whatever it may be, much previous confufion is neceffary; much abuse of the Monarchy; much open contempt of the priesthood; and much indecent ridicule of every facred and focial tie. For all this, none fo fit as the man before us, who, like the blind and bloody villain of antiquity, fecus ac tela, quæ et ipfa cæca et QUEMQUE Contorquebatur.' ( -et-et-non "All of this defcription, then; all, in fhort, who have either profited, or who expect to profit, from Peter's crimes, and who cannot, Sæpius abimprovida feruntur, in OPTIMUM s in found policy, abandon him, I utterly reject as my judges; but I demand of every impartial perfon, whether I can be faid, with any appearance of juftice, to have forged or "made" (for that, I fee, is the favourite word) a charge against Peter Pindar?' If I am anfwered in the affirmative, then is every one who mentions a report which he has cafually heard, giving at the fame time, his authority for it, a fabricator of that report. But this is too abfurd to be dwelt on, After all, what have I done? I have, as the Morning Chronicle (no zealous advocate' of mine,) juftly observes, made an allu. fion,' &c. that is, I have fimply adverted to a report, not privately circulated, not communicated in confidence, but openly, and fear. lessly inserted, and repeated ufque ad naufeam, in a public paper, where it has remained (uncontradicted, and unqueftioned, as far as I know) for the space of twelve years, during which it has probably paffed through twelve times twelve thousand mouths! I added nothing of my own; I hinted at no ulterior information on the subject; but honeftly referred for what I knew to the fources voluntarily pointed out to me, "O! but, fay the 'friends,' not of Peter Pindar, for he, poor wretch, has none, but of the cause he is yet supposed capable of ferving, the allufion is indelicate.' Indelicate!!! Hath the man who has blafphemed his Maker, reviled his Sovereign; who, in the admirable language of the Anti-Jacobin Review (Vol. VI. P. 467,) has grown grey in calumny, and made it the employment and delight of his life to ridicule the wife, to degrade the dignified, and to torment the inoffenfive and virtuous;' has that man, I afk, any claim on the world to be treated with delicacy? Has he any on ME? ME, whom he has wantonly, and unjustly attacked; against whom he has fpared no brutality of infult, no charge, however foul, no falfehood however grofs, no crime however hateful; if he has, I do not feel it, and will not acknowledge it. On the contrary, I will perfift, as I happen to be called forward by new provocations, in laying before the public, a feries of enormities, at which, indeed, they may ficken, but which fhall not the lefs for that be displayed in all their hideousness. "I ought, perhaps, to apologize for the terms I ufe in fpeaking of this reverend vice,' this grey iniquity, this father ruffian,' this Peter Pindar, in fhort. Our nice mouths, as Milton calls them, can only accommodate themselves to filken words; (6 - tenero latet alcus in ore Putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta!" "But I leave them to their fate. At all events, I have gained my point. I have reduced Peter Pindar to his proper level, and wrung from the mouths of his most strenuous fupporters, a reluctant confeffion of his imbecility! Thus, at the trifling expence of being mifreprefented, reviled, infulted, threatened, and way-laid, I have given fecurity to the timid, and confidence to the modeft, I have refcued Dignity, Dignity, and Worth, and Talents, and Virtue, and Religion, from the malignant attacks of their bittereft foe; who, from this FATAL moment, will preserve a lowering filence, or, if goaded on by want and infamy, or the inftigations of his daftardly affociates, to rave once more, will either find no hearers, or excite in those who may accidentally liften, a flight hectic of contempt, a momentary shivering of difguft, AND ALL WILL PASS AWAY!" While we acknowledge the obligation, which we, in common with the public, are under to this fpirited and perfevering writer, we cannot help commending the difcernment and the virtue, which that pub-, Fic has evinced, in calling for repeated editions of his Epiftle. It is, tó us, a favourable fymptom; a proof of returning tafte, an indica tion of that general abhorrence, which the obfcene and impious trafh of Peter Pindar ought, long ago, to have excited. We cannot contemplate the exertions of Mr. Gifford without calling to mind a paffage, which was certainly addreffed to him, in that elegant poem, New Morality. Bethink thee, G-ff-rd, when fome future age The hand that brufh'd a fwarm of fools away, No paufe-no reft-till weltering on the ground To this remonstrance, probably, are we indebted for the Epiftle to Peter Pindar: the Bard has been rouzed from his "indolence," he has grafped his prey, and (fpeaking almoft without a figure) we fee "the poifonous hydra weltering on the ground." How highly gra tified, then, must be the Poetical Trio, to whom the public owe that admirable difplay of wit, genius, and talent, at finding their forci ble and well-timed remonftrance, productive of fuch happy effects. We have made ufe of the term Poetical Trio, becaufe we do not think ourselves juftified (notwithstanding the provocation which we have received) in following the unprecedented conduct of a contem porary critic in publifhing the names of gentlemen who are only the reputed authors of a work; Much, however, as we applaud and admire the efforts of Mr. Gifford, well pleafed as we are to witnefs their fuccefs, and happy as we shall always be to fee our literary Cartouche ftretched upon the rack of infamy, either in poetry or in profe, we ftill retain our opinion, and we will again and again repeat, that the fuitable punishment for his crimes is NO. XXVII, VOL, VII, F |
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