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# Willem de Clercq's 1827 diary entry on vaccinating his child against smallpox
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/v-ocherednoi-raz-nakhozhu-zapisi-o-vaktsinatsii-v-dnevnikakh-xix-veka/
- Published: 2021-05-20T09:07:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:00:27.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Faith, Science, Mores, Society

Once again I find entries on vaccination in nineteenth-century diaries. Our old acquaintance [Willem de Clercq](https://theparnassian.com/vozmozhno-ne-samoe-intriguiushchee-izvestie-no-vse-taki-na-zlobu-dnia-otchasti/?ref=theparnassian.com), poet, thinker and memoirist from the Netherlands, was in May 1827 extremely troubled by the subject of the smallpox vaccine.

Today we know that the discovery of this vaccine changed the world and spared humanity the dreadful, unpleasant, painful and inescapable symptoms and consequences of the disease. In its day, however, the vaccine was not received with acclaim, and an immense number of people, intellectuals among them, quite seriously spoke out against vaccination.

De Clercq, in particular, a prominent figure and ideologue of Protestantism, reports that he is trying to acquaint himself with all the arguments for and against the vaccine, citing authoritative scholars and speakers on the subject. In the end he confesses that he cannot find sufficient objections to allow himself to deprive his child of the chance of being protected against smallpox, as many others have done.

In fact, he writes, I am convinced that after so many years the invention of the vaccine may be regarded as a blessing given by the Lord, although (attention, please) the undoubtedly unchristian and despotic compulsion on the part of the government will raise doubts as to whether such grace comes from God.

It was just then that people began to speak of universal vaccination of children, which troubled de Clercq and provoked waves of indignation and heated disputes. On the one hand, the chance of obtaining a vaccine against so grievous an affliction was a great gift; on the other, the form in which it was offered to parents, already frightened and disoriented by rumours and fears, gave cause for unease. De Clercq remarks that in this context the supporters of the vaccine had said a great deal that was unreasonable and anti-Christian, but surely that cannot detract from the value of the vaccine itself? God will decide.

The entry ends on a blissful note: I have asked for my child to be vaccinated against smallpox.