In his letter on inoculation (1733), Voltaire noted that the “Christian countries of Europe” considered the English “Fools and Madmen. Fools, because they give their Children the small-pox to prevent their catching it; and Mad-men, because they wantonly communicate a certain and dreadful Distemper to their Children, merely to prevent an uncertain Evil.” The English, on the other hand, he continued, “call the rest of the Europeans cowardly and unnatural. Cowardly, because they are afraid of putting their Children to a little Pain; unnatural, because they expose them to die one Time or other of the Small-pox.” This wide gulf separating English and French views of inoculation was not bridged until late in the eighteenth century, when the death of Louis XV from smallpox in 1774 silenced most opponents. This is not to say that there were no individuals who promoted inoculation in France – many of the philosophes were outspoken advocates. Voltaire's letter on inoculation, wedged between his letters on English government and the English philosophers Bacon, Newton, and Locke, literally placed inoculation on the agenda of enlightened subjects and, at the same time, cemented its association with the English.