This struggle went on for thirty years.

It is a pleasure to note some churchmen--and among them Madox, Bishop of Worcester--giving battle on the side of right reason; but as late as 1753 we have a noted rector at Canterbury denouncing inoculation from his pulpit in the primatial city, and many of his brethren following his example.
The same opposition was vigorous in Protestant Scotland.

A large body of ministers joined in denouncing the new practice as "flying in the face of Providence," and "endeavouring to baffle a Divine judgment." On our own side of the ocean, also, this question had to be fought out.
About the year 1721 Dr.Zabdiel Boylston, a physician in Boston, made an experiment in inoculation, one of his first subjects being his own son.
He at once encountered bitter hostility, so that the selectmen of the city forbade him to repeat the experiment.

Foremost among his opponents was Dr.Douglas, a Scotch physician, supported by the medical profession and the newspapers.

The violence of the opposing party knew no bounds; they insisted that inoculation was "poisoning," and they urged the authorities to try Dr.Boylston for murder.