Chapter XXIX: Appendix: N^o I (1)

_Account of the Plague at Athens, in the time of the Peloponnesian War:--From_ THUCYDIDES.--SMITH’_s Translation._

The Peloponnesians and their allies, who had made an incursion into Attica, with two thirds of their forces, had not been many days there before a sickness began first to appear among the Athenians, such as was reported to have raged before this in other parts, as about Lemnos and other places. Yet a plague so great as this, and so dreadful a mortality, in human memory could not be paralleled. The physicians at first could administer no relief, through utter ignorance; nay, they died the faster, the closer their attendance on the sick; and all human art was totally unavailing. Whatever supplications were offered in the temples, whatever recourse to oracles and religious rites, all were insignificant: at last, expedients of this nature they totally relinquished, overcome by calamity. It broke out first, as it is said, in that part of Ethiopia which borders upon Egypt; it afterwards spread into Egypt and Libya; and at length, on a sudden, fell on the city of the Athenians. The contagion shewed itself first in Piræus; which occasioned a report, that the Peloponnesians had caused poison to be thrown into the wells; for, as yet, there were no fountains there. After this it spread into the upper city, and then the mortality very much increased. Let every one, physician or not, freely declare his own sentiments about it; let him assign any credible account of its rise, or the causes strong enough, in his opinion, to introduce so terrible a scene. I shall only relate what it actually was, and as, from an information in all its symptoms, none may be quite at a loss about it if ever it should happen again, I shall give an exact detail of them; having been sick of it myself, and seen many others afflicted with it.

This very year, (430 B. C.) as is universally allowed, had been, more than any other, remarkably free from common disorders; or, whatever diseases had already seized the body, they ended at length in this. But those who enjoyed the most perfect health were suddenly, without any apparent cause, seized at first with head-achs extremely violent, with inflammations and fiery redness in the eyes. Within, the throat and tongue began instantly to be red as blood; the breath was drawn with difficulty, and had a noisome smell. The symptoms that succeeded these were, sneezing and hoarseness; and, not long after, the malady descended to the breast, with a violent cough; but, when once settled in the stomach, it excited vomitings, in which was thrown up all that matter which physicians call discharges of bile, attended with excessive torture. A great part of the infected were subject to such violent hiccups, without any discharge, as brought upon them strong convulsions, to some but of a short, to others of a very long continuance. The body, to the outward touch, was neither very hot nor of a pallid hue, but reddish, livid, marked all over with little pustules and sores; yet, inwardly, it was scorched with such excessive heat that it would not bear the slightest covering of the finest linen upon it, but must be left quite naked. They longed for nothing so much as to be plunging in cold water; and many of those who were not properly attended threw themselves into wells, hurried by a thirst not to be extinguished; and, whether they drank much or little, their torment still continued the same. The restlessness of their bodies, and an utter inability of composing themselves to sleep, never abated for a moment. And the body, so long as the distemper continued in its height, had no visible waste, but withstood its rage to a miracle; so that most of them perished within seven or nine days by the heat that scorched their vitals, though their strength was not exhausted; or, if they continued longer, the distemper fell into the belly, causing violent ulcerations of the bowels, accompanied with an incessant flux, by which many, reduced to an excessive weakness, were carried off. For the malady, beginning in the head, and settling first there, sunk afterwards gradually down through the whole body. And whoever got safe through all its most dangerous stages, yet the extremities of their bodies still retained the marks of its violence. For it shot down into their privy members, into their fingers and toes, by losing which they escaped with life. Some there were who lost their eyes, and some who, being quite recovered, had at once totally lost all memory, and quite forgot not only their most intimate friends, but even their own selves. For, as this distemper was in general virulent beyond expression, and its every part more grievous than had yet fallen to the lot of human nature; so, in one particular instance, it appeared to be none of the natural infirmities of man, since the birds and beasts that prey on human flesh either never approached the dead bodies, of which many lay about uninterred, or certainly perished if they tasted. One proof of this is then the total disappearance of such birds; for not one was to be seen, either in any other place, or about any of the carcases. But the dogs, because of their constant familiarity with man, afforded a more notorious proof of this event.

The nature of this pestilential disorder was in general (for I have purposely omitted many of its varied appearances, or the circumstances particular to some of the infected in contradistinction to others) such as hath been described. None of the common maladies incident to human nature prevailed at that time; or, whatever disorder any where appeared, it ended in this. Some died merely for want of care; and some with all the care that could possibly be taken; nor was any one medicine discovered from whence could be promised any certain relief; since that which gave ease to one was prejudicial to another. Whatever difference there was in bodies in point of strength, or in point of weakness, it availed nothing; all were equally swept away before it, in spite of regular diet, and studied prescriptions. Yet the most affecting circumstances of this calamity were, that dejection of mind which constantly attended the first attack; for the mind sinking at once into despair, they soon gave themselves up without a struggle; and that mutual tenderness in taking care of one another, which communicated the infection, and made them drop like sheep. This latter case caused the mortality to be so great. For, if fear withheld them from going near one another, they died for want of help; so that many houses became desolate for want of needful attendance; and if they ventured, they were gone. This was most frequently the case of the kind and compassionate. Such persons were ashamed, out of a selfish concern for themselves, entirely to abandon their friends, when their menial servants, no longer able to endure the groans and lamentations of the dying, had been compelled to fly from such a weight of calamity. But those, especially, who had safely gone through it, took pity on the dying and the sick, because they knew by themselves what it really was, and were now secure in themselves; for it never seized one a second time so as to be mortal. Such were looked upon as quite happy by others, and were themselves at first overjoyed in their late escape, and the groundless hope that hereafter no distemper would prove fatal to them. Besides this reigning calamity, the general removal from the country into the city was a heavy grievance, more particularly to those who had been necessitated to come thither. For, as they had no houses, but dwelled all the summer time in booths, where there was scarce room to breathe, the pestilence destroyed them with the utmost disorder, so that they lay together in heaps, the dying upon the dead, and the dead upon the dying. Some were tumbling over one another in the public streets, or lay expiring about every fountain, whither they had crept to assuage their extraordinary thirst. The temples, in which they had erected tents for their reception, were full of the bodies which had expired there. For, in a calamity so outrageously violent, and universal despair, things sacred and holy had quite lost their distinction. Nay, all regulations observed before in matters of sepulture were quite confounded, since every one buried where he could find a place. Some, whose sepulchres were already filled by the numbers which had perished in their own families, were shamefully compelled to seize those of others. They surprised on a sudden the piles which others had built for their own friends, and burned their dead upon them; and some, whilst one body was burning on a pile, tossed another body they had dragged thither upon it, and went their way.

Thus did the pestilence first give rise to those iniquitous acts which prevailed more and more in Athens. For every one was now more easily induced openly to do what for decency they did only covertly before. They saw the strange mutability of outward condition; the rich entirely cut off, and their wealth pouring suddenly on the indigent and necessitous; so that they thought it prudent to catch hold of speedy enjoyments and quick gusts of pleasure; persuaded that their bodies and their wealth might be their own merely for the day. Not any one continued resolute enough to form any honest or generous design, when so uncertain whether he should live to effect it. Whatever he knew could improve the pleasure or satisfaction of the present moment, that he determined to be honour and interest. Reverence of the gods, or of the laws of society, laid no restraints upon them; either judging that piety or impiety were things indifferent, since they saw that all men perished alike; or, throwing away every apprehension of being called to account for their enormities, since justice might be prevented by death; or rather, as the heaviest judgment to which man could be doomed was already hanging over their heads, snatching this interval of pleasure before it fell.

N^o II.

_Account of the Great Plague in the time of_ JUSTINIAN:--_By_ PROCOPIUS.

This was a plague which almost consumed mankind; of which Procopius concludes there was no other cause than the immediate hand of God himself. For it neither came upon one part of the world alone, nor in one season of the year; whence subtile wits (as he saith) might make pretensions. It afflicted the whole world, and all conditions of men, though of never so contrary a nature and disposition; sparing no constitution nor age. The difference of men as to their places of dwelling, diet, complexions, inclinations, &c. did no good in this disease. Some it took in summer, some in winter, and others in other seasons. It began among the Egyptians in Pelusium, and spread to Alexandria, with the rest of Egypt, one way, and the other to those parts of Palestine which border upon Egypt. From thence it travelled to the utmost bounds of the world, as by set journies and stages, making destruction its only business, and sparing neither island, cave, nor top of mountain, where mankind inhabited; for, if it leaped over a country, returning afterwards, it left it no cause to rejoice above its fellows. It began still at the sea coast, and thence went to the inland parts. In the second year of its progress it arrived at Constantinople, about the middle of the spring, where it was the fortune of Procopius then to reside. Apparitions of spirits, in all shapes human, were seen by many, who thought the man they met struck them in some part of the body; and so soon as they saw the spirit they were seized with the disease. At first when they met them they repeated divine names, and fled into churches, to no purpose. Afterwards they were afraid to hear their friends call them, locking themselves up in their chambers, and stopping their ears. Some dreamed they saw such sights; others that they heard a voice tell them they were enrolled among the number of those appointed to die. But most, without warning, became feverish suddenly: their bodies changed not colour, nor were hot; the fever being so remiss till evening, that neither the patient nor physician, by his pulse, could apprehend any danger. Yet to some the same day, to others the next, or many days after, arose a bubo, either in the groin, the armpit, under the ear, or in other parts. These were the general symptoms which happened alike to all the visited persons.

There were others different; whether made so by the diversity of bodies, or by the will and pleasure of him that sent the distemper, our author cannot say. Some were seized with drowsiness and slumbering, others with a sharp distraction. The slumberers forgot all things: if they were looked to, some would eat; some, that were neglected, starved to death. Those who were distracted were vexed with apparitions; crying there were men to kill them; and running away; being so troublesome and unruly that their keepers were pitied as much as they themselves. No physician or other caught the disease by touching sick or dead bodies; many strangely continuing free, though they tended and buried infected persons, and many catching it they knew not how, and dying instantly. Many leapt into the water, though not from thirst; and some into the sea. Some, without slumbering or madness, had their bubo gangrened, and died with extreme pain; which doubtless also happened to those who had the phrensy, though, being not themselves, they understood it not. Some physicians hereupon, conceiving the venom and head of the disease to lie in those plague sores, opened the dead bodies, and, searching the sores, found an huge carbuncle growing inward. Such whose bodies were spotted with black pimples, the bigness of a lentile, lived not a day. Many died vomiting blood. Some that were given over by the most eminent physicians unexpectedly recovered; others, of whose recovery they thought themselves perfectly secure, suddenly perished. No cause of this sickness could be reached by man’s reason. Some received benefit by bathing, others it hurt. Many died for want of relief, others escaped without it. In a word, no way could there be found of preservation, either by preventing the sickness, or of mastering the disease, no cause appearing either of their falling sick or recovery. Women with child, who were visited, certainly died; some miscarrying, some fairly delivered, and perishing with their children. Three women only were safely brought to bed and recovered, their children dying; and one died whose child had the hap to live. Such as had their sores great, and running plentifully, escaped; the violence of the carbuncles being thereby assuaged; and this was the most certain sign of health. Such whose sores staid as they first arose, underwent the miserable accident formerly mentioned. Some had their thighs withered, when the sores rose upon them and did not run. Some escaped with diminished tongues, and lived stammering, or uttering sounds without distinction, all their days. In Constantinople the pestilence lasted four months; raging three months with all extremity. In the beginning few died more than usual. Then, growing hotter and hotter, it came to five, and at last to ten thousand every day. At first they buried their dead carefully; but at length all came to confusion, and many lay long unburied; servants were without masters; rich men had none to attend them. In the afflicted city little was to be seen but empty houses, no trade going, or shops open.

N^o III.

_Account of the Plague at London in 1665_:--_From Dr._ HODGES _and others._

In the beginning of September 1664 the people of London first became alarmed by a report of the plague being broke out in Holland, where it raged violently the former year. The United Provinces had received it from some place in the Levant, and, certain accounts having been received of the distemper being in Holland, several councils were held by government with a view of concerting means for preventing its introduction into Britain. These were held privately, and it does not appear that any thing was positively determined upon; but thus the knowledge that such a distemper existed in Holland was suppressed, and the public fears dissipated until the beginning of December; when two, supposed to be Frenchmen,[214] in Long-acre, or rather the upper end of Drury lane, died with such suspicious symptoms that the people of the house endeavoured to conceal the distemper of which they died. The secretaries of state, however, having got intelligence of the matter, caused their bodies to be inspected, when it became evident they had died of the plague. This produced a general alarm; Dr. Hodges says, that “hereupon some timorous neighbours, under apprehensions of a contagion, removed into the city of London; who unfortunately carried along with them the pestilential taint; whereby that disease, which was before in its infancy, in a family or two, suddenly got strength, and spread abroad its fatal poison; and, merely for want of confining the persons first seized with it, the whole city was irrecoverably infected.” The author of the Journal, however, says that the public fear again subsided, though it had been still farther raised by the death of another person in the same house about the latter end of December; but, as no more died for six weeks, no farther notice was taken of it until the 12th of February, when one died in another house, but in the same parish. Soon after this an increase was observed in the weekly list of burials at St. Giles’s parish, which augmented the general alarm so much that few cared to pass through Drury lane or the suspected streets, unless upon very urgent business. In a short time a like augmentation was perceived in the bills of the adjoining parishes, and indeed all over the town. The Journal informs us that the usual number of burials within the bill of mortality was from 240 to 300; but from the 20th of December to January 24th they had gradually arisen from 291 to 474. This seems inconsistent with what he had before said of the alarm having ceased till the 12th of February; but we shall take his own words. “This last bill (474) was really frightful; being a greater number than had been known to have been buried in one week since the preceding visitation of 1656. However, all this went off again, and the weather proving cold, and the frost, which began in December, continuing very severe, even till near the end of February, attended with sharp though moderate winds, the bills decreased again, and the city grew healthy, and every body began to look upon the danger as good as over; only that still the burials in St. Giles’s continued high. From the beginning of April especially, they stood at 25 each week, till the week from the 18th to the 25th, when there were buried in St. Giles’s parish 30; whereof were two of the plague, and eight of the spotted fever, which was looked upon as the same thing; likewise the number that died of the spotted fever on the whole increased; being eight the week before, and twelve the week above named.”

[214] _Journal of the Plague Year._

Thus a new and still greater alarm was produced, which was yet farther augmented by the spreading of the distemper. The journalist says indeed that only a few were set down in the lists as having died of the plague; the remainder of the deaths being charged to other distempers; and accordingly one week, when the mortality bill was high, and only 14 charged to the plague, he says, “this was all knavery and collusion; for in St. Giles’s parish they buried 40 in all; whereof it was certain that most of them died of the plague, though they were set down of other distempers; and though the number of all the burials was not increased above 32, and the whole bill being but 385, yet there were 14 of the spotted fever, as well as 14 of the plague; and we took it for granted upon the whole that there were 50 died of the plague that week. The next bill was from the 23d of May to the 30th, when the number of the plague was 17; but the burials in St. Giles’s were 53; a frightful number, of whom they set down but nine of the plague; but, on examination more strictly by the justices of the peace, and at the lord mayor’s request, it was found there were 20 more who were really dead of the plague in that parish, but had been set down of the spotted fever, or other distempers, besides others concealed.”

The account given by Dr. Hodges is somewhat different from the above. He informs us that “a very hard frost began in December and continued three months, which seemed greatly to diminish the contagion, and very few died during that season; though even then it was not totally extinguished.” The journalist says that in this intermission of the plague there was a difficulty which he could not well get over. The first person who died of the plague he says (p. 234) was on December 20th, or thereabouts, 1664, though he had told us before (p. 2) that it was the end of November, or _beginning_ of December the same year. “But after this (continues he) we heard no more of any person dying of the plague, or the distemper being in that place, till the 9th of February, which was about seven weeks after; and then one more was buried out of the same house: then it was hushed, and we were perfectly easy as to the public for a great while, for there were no more entered in the weekly bill to be dead of the plague, till the 22d of April. Now the question seems to be thus: Where lay the seeds of the infection all this while? How came it to stop so long, and not to stop any longer? Either the distemper did not immediately come by contagion from body to body, or, if it did, then a body may continue to be infected without the disease discovering itself many days, nay, weeks together. It is true there was a very cold winter, and long frost, which continued three months; and this, the Doctors say, might check the infection; but then the learned must allow me to say that if, according to their notion, the disease was, as I may say, only frozen up, it would, like a frozen river, have returned to its usual force and current when it thawed; whereas the principal recess of the infection, which was from February to April, was after the frost was broken, and the weather mild and warm. But there is another way of solving all this difficulty, which I think my own remembrance of the thing will supply; and that is, the fact is not granted, namely, that there died none in those long intervals, viz. from the 20th of December to the 9th of February, and from thence to the 22d of April. The weekly bills are the only evidence on the other side, and those bills were not of credit enough, at least with me, to support an hypothesis, or determine a question of such importance as this: for it was our received opinion at that time, and I believe upon very good grounds, that the fraud lay in the parish officers, searchers and persons appointed to give account of the dead, and what diseases they died of; and, as people were very loth at first to have the neighbours believe their houses were infected, so they gave money to procure, or otherwise procured, the dead persons to be returned as dying of other distempers; and this, I know, was practised afterwards in many places; I believe I might say in all places where the distemper came; as might be seen by the vast increase of the numbers placed in the weekly bills under other articles of diseases, during the time of the infection. For example, in the months of July and August, when the plague was coming on to its highest pitch, it was very ordinary to have from 1000 to 1200, nay to almost 1500, a week, of other distempers: not that the numbers of those distempers were really increased to such a degree; but the great number of families and houses where really the infection was, obtained the favour to have their dead returned of other distempers, to prevent the shutting up of their houses.”

The disease continued to advance, but with such intervals and remissions as frequently gave hopes of its disappearing entirely. Nevertheless, about the beginning of May the inhabitants began to leave the city in great numbers. The journalist, for his own part, was irresolute; and sometimes would have left the city with the rest, had it not been for the impossibility of finding an horse; “for, (says he) though it is true that all the people did not go out of the city of London, yet I may venture to say that in a manner all the horses did; for there was hardly a horse to be bought or hired in the whole city for some weeks.” Many fled on foot, carrying with them soldiers’ tents, in which they slept in the fields, it being then warm weather, and no danger of taking cold. This way of living was also familiar in some degree by reason of the wars which had preceded; multitudes of those who had served in them being at that time in London. This our author greatly approves of as a method of preventing the infection from spreading, and thinks that had it been more generally practised, much less damage would have been done in the country than happened at the time from this dreadful distemper.

Early in June the court thought proper to remove to the city of Oxford, whither the infection did not reach. The people still continued to remove during the whole month of July though in smaller numbers than before; but in August the multitude of fugitives so increased that says our author, “I began to think there would be none but magistrates and servants left.” He informs us also that at the breaking out of this plague the city was unusually full of people; vast numbers who had served in the wars or who in times of trouble had been friends to royalty had flocked into it on the restoration of Charles II, in hopes of reaping some fruit of their former labours and sufferings; so that on the whole he supposes there must have been upwards of an hundred thousand people more than usual in the city. Indeed if we are to believe that, on a representation of the state of the poor to the lord mayor, it appeared that there were an hundred thousand ribband weavers in Spittle-fields, we must look upon the population of London at that time to have been incredibly great; and when the journalist computes the number of those who fled only at two hundred thousand, we must certainly suppose it to have been greatly underrated.

As the plague continued to become more and more violent, the magistrates thought proper to take some means for separating the infected from the healthy; but unhappily their mode of procedure was such as inspired both the infected and uninfected with the utmost terror. The houses were marked with a red cross, subscribed with the words “LORD, HAVE MERCY UPON US!” in large letters. They were continually guarded, day and night; and none were allowed access to the sick, to give them either food or medicines, excepting those who guarded them; nor were the sick themselves allowed to go abroad until forty days after their recovery. But, though the distemper continually advanced, it did not get to its full height until the months of August and September. Before this time it seemed to fly from place to place; so that great hopes were entertained, though always without foundation, of its total removal; but now it invaded the whole city. Four or five thousand died in a week; once eight thousand; and, in the month of September, for some time, twelve thousand a week died. The city was reduced to the extremity of distress.

The author of this journal had the courage not only to remain in the city, during the whole time of the infection, but even took many solitary walks to the house of his brother, who had removed into the country, in order to preserve his goods from being stolen. At first he went every day, but afterwards only once or twice a week. He tells us also that he took many walks out of curiosity; and, though he generally came home frighted and terrified, he could not restrain himself. “In those walks (says he) I had many dismal scenes before my eyes; as particularly of persons falling dead in the streets, terrible shrieks, and screamings of women, who, in their agonies, would throw open their chamber windows, and cry out in a dismal, surprising manner.

“It is scarce credible what dreadful cases happened in particular families every day; people in the rage of the distemper, or in the torment of their swellings, which was indeed intolerable, running about raving and distracted; and oftentimes laying violent hands upon themselves, throwing themselves out at their windows, shooting themselves, &c. mothers murdering their own children, in their lunacy; some dying of mere grief as a passion; some of fright and surprise, without any infection at all; others frighted into idiotism and foolish distractions, some into despair and lunacy; others into melancholy madness.”

The distemper was found to rage so violently among the poorer sort, that we are told by Dr. Hodges, some gave it the name of the _poor’s plague_. This is confirmed by the journalist, who informs us that “the misery of that time lay chiefly upon the poor, who, being infected, had neither food nor physic; neither physician nor apothecary to assist them, nor nurse to attend them; many of those died calling for help, and even for sustenance, out of their windows, in a most miserable and deplorable manner; but it must be added, that, whenever the cases of such persons or families were represented to the lord mayor, they were always relieved.” Indeed the charity of the more opulent, upon this occasion, almost exceeds belief. Dr. Hodges informs us, that “though the more opulent had left the town, and it was left almost uninhabited, the commonalty who remained felt little of want; for their necessities were relieved with a profusion of good things from the wealthy, and their poverty was supported with plenty.” The probable reason of such devastation among the poor, Dr. Hodges promises, p. 15, to give, and does not; at least I have not been able to find it in his book; I must therefore content myself with what the journalist (though no physician) has delivered on this subject. He says, that when people began to use proper cautions, the danger of infection was the less. “But (says he) it was impossible to beat any thing into the heads of the poor; they went on with the usual impetuosity of their tempers; full of outcries and lamentations when taken, but madly careless of themselves, fool-hardy and obstinate when well: where they could get employment, they pushed into any kind of business, the most dangerous, and the most liable to infection; and, if they were spoken to, their answer would be, I must trust to GOD for that; if I am taken, then I am provided for, and there is an end of me, or the like; or thus: Why, what must I do? I cannot starve; I had as good have the plague, as perish for want. I have no work, &c. This adventurous conduct of the poor was what brought the plague among them in a most furious manner; and this, joined to the distress of their circumstances, when taken (with the distemper) was the reason why they died so in heaps: for I cannot say that I could observe one jot of better husbandry among them, I mean the labouring poor, while they were well and getting money, than there was before; but as lavish, as extravagant, and as thoughtless of to morrow, as ever; so that, when they came to be taken sick, they were immediately in the utmost distress, as well for want as for sickness, as well for lack of food as lack of health.”

In the time of so great a calamity, the magistrates exerted themselves as far as their power and skill would permit, to lessen the sufferings of the people. It was natural also in such a dreadful emergency to call upon the physicians to exert themselves. Accordingly the king (Charles II) by his royal authority commanded the College of Physicians of London jointly to write somewhat in English, that might be a general directory in this calamitous exigence; nor was it satisfactory to this honoured society to discharge their regards for the public in that only; but some were chosen out of their number, and appointed particularly to attend the infected on all occasions; two also out of the court of aldermen were required to see this hazardous task executed.[215]

[215] _Hodges, p. 13, & seq._

Our author then proceeds to mention the names of some who were employed in this laudable undertaking; particularly Dr. Glisson, regius professor at Cambridge, Dr. Nathaniel Paget, Dr. Wharton, Dr. Berwick and Dr. Brookes; many others he says were employed; “but (he adds) eight or nine fell in the work, who were too much loaded with the spoils of the enemy; among whom was Dr. Conyers, &c. After, then, all endeavours to restrain the contagion had proved of no effect, we applied ourselves altogether to the cure of the diseased.”

We shall not doubt of the good intentions of the physicians: of their success we may judge from what Dr. Hodges himself says, that many died while prescribing cures for others. To the same purpose the journalist, p. 43: “I shall not be supposed to lessen the authority or capacity of the physicians, when I say that the violence of the distemper, when it came to its extremity, was like the fire the next year (1666). The fire which consumed what the plague could not touch, defied all the application of remedies; the fire-engines were broken, the buckets thrown away, and the power of man was baffled and brought to an end; so the plague defied all medicine; the very physicians were seized with it, with their preservatives in their mouths; and men went about prescribing to others, and telling them what to do, till the tokens were upon them, and they dropped down dead, destroyed by that very enemy they directed others to oppose. This was the case of several physicians, even some of the most eminent, and of several of the most skilful surgeons; abundance of quacks too died, who had the folly to trust to their own medicines,” &c.

Thus, in defiance of every effort of human skill, the calamity continued. “The contagion (says Dr. Hodges) spread its cruelties into the neighbouring countries; for the citizens, who crowded in multitudes into the adjacent towns, carried the infection along with them, where it raged with equal fury; so that the plague, which at first crept from one street to another, now reigned over whole counties, leaving hardly any place free from its insult, and the towns upon the Thames were more severely handled; not, perhaps, from a greater moisture in the air from thence, but from the tainted goods rather, that were carried upon it: moreover some cities and towns, of the most advantageous situation for a wholesome air, did, notwithstanding, feel the common ruin. Such was the rise, and such the progress, of this cruel destroyer, which first began at London.”[216]

[216] _Hodges, p. 25._

But it is now time to turn from those scenes of horror. The power of the pestilential contagion was not absolutely _immeasurable_. It had its rise, its progress, its state and declension. Dr Hodges tells us that, _when_ “_the worst part of the year was over, and the height of the disease_, the plague by leisurely degrees declined, and before the number infected decreased, its malignity began to relax, insomuch that few died, and those chiefly such as were ill managed; hereupon that dread which had been upon the minds of the people wore off; and the sick cheerfully _used all the means directed for their recovery_; and even the nurses grew either more cautious, or more faithful; insomuch that after some time a dawn of health appeared, as sudden, and as unexpected, as the cessation of the following conflagration; wherein, after blowing up of houses, and using all means for its extinction to little purpose, the flames stopped as it were of themselves for want of fuel, or, _out of shame_, for having done so much mischief. The pestilence, however, did not stop for want of subjects to act upon, (as then commonly rumoured) but from the nature of the distemper. Its decrease was, like its beginnings, moderate, &c. About the close of the year, that is, on the beginning of November, people grew more healthful,” &c.

The numbers who perished in this violent plague are so variously reported that nothing certain can be said concerning it. Dr. Morton says that upwards of forty thousand died; but from the foregoing accounts it is evident that this calculation must be prodigiously underrated. The journalist indeed gives strong reasons for believing that all the accounts of the numbers who perished were much below the truth. He thinks that an hundred thousand at least must have fallen victims to it; and if his own assertion be true, that thirty thousand died in the last three weeks, we cannot suppose but that three times that number died in the course of the twelvemonth that the disease lasted; which would fix the calculation at 120,000. This great mortality however was soon forgot; as soon as the danger was over, the ravages it had committed were no longer an object of terror. The disease had its usual effect, viz. increasing the desire of the sexes for each other. “They had the courage (says Dr. Hodges) now to marry again, and betake to the means of repairing the past mortality; and even women before deemed barren were said to prove prolific; so that, although the contagion had carried off, as some computed, about one hundred thousand, after a few months their loss was hardly discernible.”

N^o IV.

_Account of the Plague at Marseilles in 1720:--From the Periodical Publications of the time._

So much hath been said concerning this plague, in the first part of this treatise, that no particular detail is requisite here. In its symptoms it differed little if any thing from the plague of London, described in the former number. Many died without any previous sickness, and, while the distemper continued severe, few outlived the third day; and so infectious was its nature, that one person in a family was seldom attacked without its successively attacking all the rest. The bodies were said to putrefy in 24 hours. Very considerable sums of money were collected here, as well as in London. The conduct of the bishop on this melancholy occasion has been greatly celebrated by many; among others by Dr. Darwin, in his Botanic Garden, in the following lines:

“So when Contagion, with mephitic breath,
And wither’d Famine, urg’d the work of death;
[217]Marseilles’ good Bishop, London’s gen’rous Mayor,
With food and faith, with med’cine and with prayer,
Rais’d the weak head, and stay’d the parting sigh,
Or with new life relum’d the swimming eye.

[217] “The bishop of Marseilles, during the time of this miserable
calamity, was indefatigable in the execution of his pastoral
office, visiting, relieving, encouraging and absolving the sick
with extreme tenderness; and though perpetually exposed to the
infection, like Sir John Lawrence, the lord mayor of London in
1665, was never seized with the disease--This last gentleman, with
undaunted resolution, continued in the city during the whole time
of the calamity, executing the duties of his office with the utmost
punctuality. The day after the disease was certainly known to be the
plague, above 40,000 servants were dismissed, and turned into the
streets to perish, for no one would receive them into their houses:
and the villages near London drove them away with pitchforks and
fire-arms. Sir John Lawrence supported _them all_, as well the needy
as those who were sick; at first by expending his own fortune, till
subscriptions could be solicited and received from all parts of the
nation.” (_Darwin’s Botanic Garden. Loves of the Plants, canto_ ii,
_p._ 61.)

N^o V.

_Account of the Plague in Syria, Cyprus &c.--From Dr._ PATRICK RUSSEL’_s Treatise_.

This plague was preceded by violent cold, famine, and earthquakes. In 1759 it began in Egypt, having been imported in a vessel from Constantinople. from Alexandria in Egypt it was brought by some Jews to Saffat, a village in Syria, near Aleppo, which had suffered much by the earthquake; which last was for some time thought to have been the cause of the distemper; but, when its nature was really discovered, they comforted themselves with the thoughts that an _Egyptian_ plague was less to be dreaded than one which came from the northward.

The distemper had been introduced into Cyprus as early as April 1759, by a vessel from Constantinople, wrecked on the coast; and, having thus got a footing in Egypt, Syria and Cyprus, its progress was marked with the usual mortality. In Egypt the Europeans in Cairo remained in confinement till the middle of July; a space considerably longer than usual. Next year they shut up on the 9th of March, but were released on the 24th of June. The distemper raged in the city with such fury during 1759 and 1760, that in the two years four hundred and fifty thousand were computed to have perished; a number, however, which Dr. Russel thinks must have been exaggerated. Cairo had been free from plague during the whole of this century before, except in the year 1736, when the distemper raged with such violence that ten thousand were said to have perished in one day. It was supposed to have been brought from Upper Egypt. In Cyprus it broke out at the village of Limsol, where it destroyed four hundred people. During the hot months of July, August and September the infection showed itself so little that it was thought to have been extinguished; but in October it not only reappeared in the places where it had before showed itself, but invaded Nicosia, the capital of the island. Endeavours were used, by burying the dead bodies in the night, to conceal the existence of the distemper; but this soon became impracticable. Towards the end of January, 1760, it raged so dreadfully in this city that the Mahometans were enjoined to use prayers and processions to avert the wrath of Heaven. The crowds brought together on this occasion spread the distemper still more wide, and in the following month its ravages began at Larnica, a small town considerable for its trade, and which, though alarmed, had hitherto kept free, even though infected persons had been freely admitted. Here it raged with uncommon malignity, insomuch that few of those recovered that were infected during the month of March. It continued to prevail till the month of April, when it spread to the very eastern extremity of the island, into the province of Carpass; a thing hitherto unknown.

Two examples of apparent insusceptibility are related; one was a young Greek, whose constant employment was, to nurse the sick, and assist at the burials; the other, a Greek woman, who, having with great affection nursed her husband and two daughters who died of the plague, continued with admirable courage to expose herself in assisting the sick in the neighbourhood.

Towards the end of May the infection was rapidly decreasing; the Europeans came out of their confinement in the month of July, and the plague at last ceased, after having destroyed 70,000 persons; nearly one half of the whole population.

In Syria the plague appeared first in October, 1759, in the village of Saffat. From thence it proceeded to Tripoli, where it began about the middle of January, and did not decline till July; neither were the Europeans thoroughly released from their confinement till towards the end of August. One half of those infected are said to have recovered; but five thousand perished. The city remained free from any attack during the whole of 1761; but early in 1762 the distemper again made its appearance in the neighbouring villages, and again began its devouring ravages; but, though a free access was granted to infected persons in the city, it does not appear that any general infection took place.

In Latarkea the distemper appeared in March, 1760, made considerable progress during the month of April, increased from the 17th of that month to the 13th of May, raged with great violence from that time to the 27th of June, when it suddenly decreased, the funerals falling from 20 to 9. On the 4th and 5th of July they again rose to more than 20 but presently fell below six. Four thousand were supposed to have died, though it was thought that as many recovered as perished. At Jerusalem the contagion discovered itself in January or February, 1760, and about the middle of March reached Damascus. In both places it made great havock; but no accurate accounts were kept of those who died.

N^o VI.

_Remarkable case of a Remitting Fever at Bassorah in 1780._

In the first part of this treatise we have given an account of the fever which prevailed at Bassorah during the year we speak of, and likewise of the journey of the gentleman from Bassorah to Zebire, where he was taken ill on the 4th of June; but as the first attack went off for that day, we shall only begin the narrative from the day following, as he himself does in these words:

5th June. From this day I date the actual commencement of my fever. About 2 o’clock after dinner I was suddenly attacked with a violent glowing heat all over my body, uneasiness, anxiety and oppression, but in a very inconsiderable degree to what I afterwards experienced; also a swelling in my tongue, which had been coming on some days, and is one of the first symptoms of the fever that prevailed. The fit continued about two hours; a slight perspiration succeeded, which removed the fever, but left a head-ach, thirst, and pains in my back and limbs. In the evening with assistance I got upon the terrace, when the moon and stars appeared of a bright yellow, and all objects had that colour through the whole of my disease; also the pain in making water, and across my loins, became intolerable, like that felt in complaints of the stone in the bladder. I took some tartar emetic, which brought up a great deal of bile, and the next morning a purgative of Rochelle salts, manna, tamarinds and anniseeds.

6th June. In the forenoon a free, copious perspiration, and a perfect intermission of the fever; at night became very restless and uneasy, could not sleep, which I partly imputed to a draught of strong mustard whey, with some antimonial wine, which, instead of causing perspiration, produced the opposite effect.

7th. By the advice of a physician I took some weak decoction of bark, 1 oz. to two pints boiled to one, in the quantity of three tea-cupfuls before dinner. At three in the afternoon I had another hot fit, but not very severe. In the evening grew worse--heat and thirst excessive--drank mustard whey on going to bed, but had a very bad night--no sleep. much oppressed, severe head-ach, and pain over my loins.

8th. Took a gentle purge of cream of tartar and manna, which operated, and gave me some ease. Left off the bark, as it seemed to increase the febrile symptoms, and drank sage and apple tea, decoction of prunes, tamarinds, &c. At 10 o’clock in the forenoon a very severe hot fit; heat intense, oppression in my stomach and breast almost insufferable. Mr. -----, surgeon of the Eagle cruiser, gave me a most nauseous saline mixture, which vomited and purged me severely. The quantity of bile which came off my stomach was incredible, yet, I felt no relief, and the agony of the hot fit continued till 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when it went off by a most profuse perspiration. During this fit my thirst was constant and intense. In the evening my skin became dry, the thirst returned, and I had a very bad, sleepless night.

I now began to experience some of the dreadful symptoms which are, I believe, peculiar to fevers in Turky and Arabia; a sensation of dread and horror, totally unconnected with the fear of death; for, while the patient is most afflicted with this symptom, it is for the most part accompanied with a strong desire to put an end to his existence. The agony from the heat of the body is beyond conception. I have heard some of my fellow sufferers roar hideously under the violence of the pain.

9th Till noon tolerably well. About 1 o’clock the hot fit attacked me, and was full as severe as yesterday; heat and thirst rather greater, and but little relief for more than an hour after the perspiration commenced. This attack left me very weak, much exhausted, with cold, weakening sweats, quick unequal pulse, severe head-ach, confusion, anxiety and incessant thirst; a sleepless night, startings, anxieties, and a constant wish to terminate my sufferings by death.

10th. Forenoon, pretty free from fever. Attacked at the same hour as yesterday. The fit more violent--delirium. The agony of the heat not to be expressed; the whole body as if on fire; unremitting thirst, profuse perspiration, yet no relief till late in the evening; no sleep, a dreadful night, &c. Pulse about 120, unequal and fluttering.

A mere relation of facts can give but a faint idea of the wretched situation to which the factory was now reduced: by this time eleven twelfths of the inhabitants of Bussorah were taken ill, numbers were daily dying, and the reports from Bagdad and Diarbekir, of the increasing ravages of the plague, left the survivors not a ray of hope that they could escape the calamity. On every countenance pain, sickness and horror were strongly painted; nor were we even left the comforts of sympathy, as every mind was too much engrossed with its own sufferings to think of administering consolation to others. Four of us lay under the portico of one of the squares of the factory, calling out for water in a frenzy of thirst. We used to snatch it from each other, and to supplicate for a mouthful with as much fervour as a dying criminal for an hour of further life.

About this period of the fever my eyes became very weak, and every object I saw was quite yellow. This effect was most perceptible at night, in looking at the moon and stars. In the evenings we were sometimes carried in our cots upon the terrace of the factory for air; but the wind was so heated by the burning sands of the desert, that we felt it more intolerable than even the lower apartments. We all remarked that the _shemaal_, or north winds, which blew without intermission at that time, greatly increased our heat and thirst.

The daily very evident increase of my fever, and its effects upon others becoming more fatal and alarming, determined me, while any strength remained, to embrace the consul’s offer of flying from the seat of infection to Bushire, in the Ranger cruiser.

11th. After an exceeding bad night I was carried early in the morning on board the Ranger, and was not very ill until about 9 o’clock, when l felt the fever coming on, with new and more alarming symptoms--violent head-ach, giddiness, dimness of sight, approaching delirium, horror, and a most painful oppression and burning heat in my stomach.