Jenner’s victory over Walker was utterly disastrous: it destroyed the Royal Jennerian Society. The substantial supporters of the Society were the adherents of Walker, and with him they seceded, secured another house in Salisbury Square, and established THE LONDON VACCINE INSTITUTION with Walker for manager. The remnant of the Jennerian Society appointed James Sheridan Knowles, a young Irish surgeon, as Walker’s successor, and for distinction purchased him the degree of M.D. from St. Andrews. He had the suavity that Walker disdained, and little else beside. He neglected his duties, and soon the traffic in the “benign fluid” was transferred to the new establishment. Ultimately the lease, fixtures, and furniture of the Jennerian house were disposed of, and a retreat effected to humbler offices, until in 1813 what remained of the Society was incorporated in Walker’s concern. Walker obtained much assistance from members of the Society of Friends, and the fact affords Moore (Jenner’s apologist) occasion for certain sneers. He describes the meetings in Salisbury Square as-- Shaded with the Quakers’ broad-brimmed hats; for their schismatic assiduity was most conspicuous, though their primitive meekness was indiscernible. In support of their friend, they argued slyly, wrangled tumultuously, and voted almost unanimously. Yet, in spite of this contentious pertinacity, the turbulent Quaker, on the motion of Dr. Jenner, was dismissed from his office, and peace was restored. Dismissed he was not, and the peace that ensued on his resignation was destruction. The success of Walker’s Institution (necessarily dependent on subscriptions) he accounts for by an anecdote like this-- A noble Duke informed me that on a sultry day a steaming, squab, broad-faced man, in a Quaker’s garb, with his hat on his head, entered his room, saying, “Friend, I am come on a charitable mission to request thy mite.” The Duke, amused with the oddness of the salutation, desired him to be seated, and to explain his business. The Quaker wilily suppressed all mention of disputes in the Jennerian Society, and of the dismissal of Dr. Walker, which were the real causes for soliciting this subscription; and enlarged tediously on the utility of vaccination, and by awkward encomiums on Dr. Jenner, led the Duke to believe that the subscription was solicited for a Society approved by him. This cunning harangue drew forth the Duke’s purse, which the Quaker spying, unrolled his list, and added his Grace’s name as a decoy for others; and saying, “Friend, fare thee well,” strutted out with an uncouth gait and an air of uprightness. By such artifices a large subscription was raised from those who prefer paying to inquiry; and in the meantime the Jennerian Society diminished in numbers, and, undermined by calumnies, declined to its downfall.[134]