ship, the surgeon
had all the prisoners mustered, to inquire of them who had had the
small pox, and who the _kine_ pock; or, as they call it in England,
the _cow_ pock. He vaccinated a number. But there were several
instances of persons who said they were inoculated with the kine pock
in America, who took the small pox the natural way at this time. I do
not consider this as, in any degree diminishing the value of this
important discovery and practice. Very few practitioners understand
this business; and a great number of people in the United States have
inoculated themselves, without knowing at what period to take the
matter; and without knowing the true pustule from the spurious. Many
of our prisoners absolutely refused to be vaccinated, although they
believed in its efficacy of guarding them from small pox. I was
greatly surprised at this, until I found that they felt no disposition
to preserve their lives any longer. It seemed that their misery had
so far lessened their attachment to life, that they were indifferent
as to any method of preserving it. I was surprized to find this in
some who I had considered as among the most cheerful. I was shocked to
find among these a weight of woe I little expected. Several of them
told me that life was a burthen; that pride of character kept them
from whining, and forced a smile on their countenance, while their
being penned up, like so many dirty hogs, had chilled their souls, and
sunk them, at times, into despondency. Some said, that nothing but the
hope of revenge kept them alive.

There are two extremes of the mind producing a disregard for life. The
one is, the fever or delirium of battle, augmented and kept up by the
cannon's roar, the sight of blood, and military music; here a man,
being all soul, thinks nothing of his body. The other case is, where
his body is debilitated, his spirit half extinguished, and his soul
desponding, and his body paralized. Here existence is a burden, and
the attachment to life next to nothing. It is here that death appears
to open the gate of the prison. I found, to my surprize, that several
of our countrymen were in this desponding state.

Some refused to be vaccinated, from a persuasion that the kine pock
was no security against the small pox. When I endeavoured to convince
several of them of their error, one asked me if a weak man could drive
away a strong one; or a small evil drive away a great one? A man need
not despair in making a cert