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94 Complexion it was a dangerous Thing to meddle with him? But what if after all, this be no more than a mere Pretence and Subterfuge never thought on or spoken of till after the unhappy Event? And to say that the Patient had indeed the Small-Pox, but died of Convulsions, is only a Contrivance of the same Nature, to save the Credit of the Undertaker; it might as well be alledged, that he died by loss of Strength and vital Heat, or for want of Breath, of which great Numbers miscarry in all Diseases; for is there any Thing more common, than for mortal Distempers after the Spirits are exhausted to end in Convulsions? And since those Convulsions are the Effect of the Distemper, that has ruin’d the Patient’s Vigour and laid all Nature waste; must not the Distemper be charged with the fatal Event? To say that the Small-Pox, which the Convulsions attended, was not the Cause of the Patient’s Death, but the Convulsions, is the same Thing as to affirm that the Axe that cuts off a Traytor’s Head, is by no means the Cause of his Death, but the Effusion of Blood and trembling Motions of the Body, that followed the Separation.

To sum up what has been laid concerning the Inoculator’s Performance of his Promises; it is very evident that he is guilty of the Breach of his Word and Honour, which he plighted in the most solemn Manner, and with consummate Assurance: For if he does not always bring forth the Small-Pox, but