_Of the Methods to be taken against the_ PLAGUE.
CHAP I. Of preventing Infection from other Countries, 80
CHAP II. Of stopping the Progress of the PLAGUE,
if it should enter our Country, 100
CHAP III. Of the Cure of the PLAGUE, 151
THE PREFACE.
THIS Book having at first been written only as a Plan of Directions for
preserving our Country from the =Plague=[1] was then very short and
concise. An Act of Parliament being immediately after made for
performing =Quarantaines= &c. according to the Rules here laid down, it
passed through seven Editions in one year without any Alterations. I
then thought proper to make some =Additions= to it, in order to shew the
Reasonableness of the Methods prescribed, by giving a more full
Description of this Disease, and collecting some Examples of the good
Success which had attended such Measures, when they had been put in
Practice. At the same time I annex'd a short Chapter relating to the
Cure of the Plague; being induced thereto by considering how widely most
Authors have erred in prescribing a Heap of useless and very often
hurtful Medicines, which they recommend under the specious Titles of
=Antidotes=, =Specifics= and =Alexipharmacs=: hoping that the great
Resemblance, which I had observed between this Disease and the =Small
Pox=, would justify my writing upon a Distemper which I have never
seen.
INDEED the =Small Pox= is a true =Plague=, tho' of a particular kind,
bred, as I have shewn all Pestilences are, in the same hot =Egyptian=
Climate, and brought into =Asia= and =Europe= by the way of Commerce;
but most remarkably by the War with the =Saracens=, called the =Holy
War=, at the latter end of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth
Century[2]. Ever since which time the morbific Seeds of it have been
preserved in the infected Cloaths and the Furniture of Houses: and have
broken out more or less in all Countries, according as the hot and moist
Temperature of the Air has favoured their Spreading and the Exertion of
their Force. The =Measles= is likewise a =Plague sui generis=, and owes
its Origin to the same Country.
I have now revised my little Work once more: and though I cannot find
any reason to change my Mind as to any material Points which regard
either the =Preventing= or the =Stopping= the Progress of =Infection=;
yet I have here and there added some new =Strokes= of Reasoning, and,
as the Painters say, retouch'd the =Ornaments=, and hightened the
=Colouring= of the =Piece=.
THE Substance of the long Preface to the last Edition is as follows.
I have insisted more at large upon the =Infection= of this Disease,
than I could ever have thought needful at this time, after =Europe= has
had Experience of the Distemper for so many Ages; had I not been
surprized by the late Attempts of some Physicians in =France= to prove
the contrary, even while they have the most undeniable Arguments against
them before their Eyes. In particular, I cannot but very much admire to
see Dr. =Chicoyneau=, and the other Physicians, who first gave us
=Observations= on the =Plague=, when at =Marseilles=, relate in the
=Reflections=, they afterwards published upon those Observations, the
Case of a Man, who was seized with the =Plague=, upon his burying a
young Woman dead of it, when no one else dared to approach the Body; and
yet to see them ascribe his Disease, not to his being =infected= by the
Woman, but solely to his Grief for the Loss of her, to whom he had made
Love, and to a =Diarrhoea=, which had been some time upon him[3]. No
question but these concurred to make his Disease the more violent; and
perhaps even exposed him to contract the =Infection=: but why it should
be supposed, that he was not =infected=, I cannot imagine, when there
was so plain an Appearance of it. I am as much at a Loss to find any
Colour of Reason for their denying =Infection= in another Case, they
relate, of a =young Lady= seized with the =Plague=, upon the sudden
Sight of a =PESTILENTIAL TUMOR=, just broke out upon her Maid; not
allowing any thing but the Lady's Surprize to be the Cause of her
Illness[4].
THE Truth is, these Physicians had engaged themselves in an
=Hypothesis=, that the =Plague= was bred at =Marseilles= by a long Use of
bad Aliment, and grew so fond of their Opinion, as not to be moved by
the most convincing Evidence. And thus it mostly happens, when we
indulge Conjectures instead of pursuing the true Course for making
Discoveries in Nature.
I KNOW they imagine this their Sentiment to be abundantly confirmed
from some Experiments made by Dr. =Deidier=[5] upon the =Bile= taken
from Persons dead of the =Plague=: which having been either poured into
a Wound made on purpose in different =Dogs=, or injected into their
Veins, never failed, in many Trials, to produce in them all the Symptoms
of the Pestilence, even the external ones of =Bubo's= and =Carbuncles=.
One Dog, upon which the Experiment succeeded, had been known, for three
Months before, to devour greedily the corrupted =Flesh= of infected
Persons, and =Pledgets= taken off from =Pestilential Ulcers=, without
receiving any Injury. From hence they conclude[6] that this Disease is
not communicated by =Contagion=, but originally bred in the Body by the
Corruption of the =Bile=. This Corruption, they say, is the Effect of
unwholsome Food; and the =Bile= thus corrupted produces a Thickness and
a Degree of Coagulation in the Blood, which is the Cause of the =Plague=:
Tho' this they allow to be inforced by a bad Season of the Year, and
the =Terrors= of Mind and Despair of the Inhabitants.
THESE Experiments are indeed curious, but fall very short of what they
are brought to prove. The most that can be gathered from them is this:
That =Dogs= do not, at least not so readily, receive =Pestilential
Infection= from Men, as Men do from one another: And also, that the
=Bile= is so highly corrupted in a Body infected with the =Plague=, that
by putting it into the Blood of a =Dog= it will immediately breed the
same Disease.
BUT it does not follow from hence, that the =Bile= is the Seat of the
Disease, or that other Humors of the Body are not corrupted as well as
=this=. I make no question but the whole Mass of Blood is, in this Case,
in a State of Putrefaction; and consequently that all the Liquors
derived from it partake of the Taint.
ACCORDINGLY it appeared afterwards from some Experiments made by Dr.
=Couzier=[7], that not only the =Blood=, but even the =Urine= from an
infected person, infused into the crural Vein of a Dog communicated the
=Plague=. I will venture to affirm, that if, instead of =Bile=, =Blood=,
or =Urine=, the =Matter= of the =Ulcers= had been put into a Wound made
in the Dog; it would have had at least an equally pernicious Effect: As
may well be concluded from the Inoculation of the Small Pox.
AS to the Dog's eating the =corrupted Flesh= and =purulent Matter= of
the Patients; it ought to have been considered that there are some
Poisons very powerful when mixed immediately with the Blood, which will
not operate in the Stomach at all: As in particular the =Saliva= of the
mad Dog and the =Venom= of the Viper[8]. And therefore Dr. =Deidier=
himself, some Months after his former Experiments, found that
=pestiferous Bile= itself was swallowed by Dogs without any Harm[9].
THE right Inference to be made from these Experiments, I think, would
have been this: That since the Blood and all the Humors are so greatly
corrupted in the Plague, as that Dogs (tho' not so liable to catch the
Distemper in the ordinary way of Infection, as Men are) may receive it
by a small Quantity of any of these from a diseased Subject being mixed
with their Blood; it may well be supposed, that the =Effluvia= from an
infected Person, drawn into the Body of one who is sound, may be
pestiferous and productive of the like Disorder.
MY Assertion, that these =French= Physicians have before them the
fullest Proofs of this =Infection=, not only appears from these
Instances of it, I have observed to be recorded by themselves; but
likewise from what Dr. =le Moine= and Dr. =Bailly=[10] have written, of
the Manner in which the =Plague= was brought to =Canourgue= in the
=Gevaudan=: as also from an amazing Instance they give us of the great
Subtilty of this =Poison=, experienced at =Marvejols=: where no less
than =sixty= Persons were at once infected in a =Church=, by one that
came thither out of an infected House. The =Plague= was carried from
=Marseilles= to =Canourgue=, as follows. A =Gally-Slave=, employed in
burying the Dead at =Marseilles=, escaped from thence to the Village of
=St. Laurent de Rivedolt=, a League distant from =Correjac=: where
finding a Kinsman, who belonged to the latter Place, he presented him
with a =Waistcoat= and a =pair of Stockings= he had brought along with
him. The =Kinsman= returns to his Village, and dies in two or three
Days; being followed soon after by =three Children= and their =Mother=.
His =Son=, who lived at =Canourgue=, went from thence, in order to bury
the Family; and, at his Return, gave to his =Brother-in-law= a =Cloak=
he had brought with him: the =Brother-in-law= laying it upon his Bed,
lost a little =Child= which lay with him, in one Day's Time; and two
Days after, his Wife; =himself= following in seven or eight. The
=Parents= of this unhappy Family, taking Possession of the =Goods= of the
Deceased, underwent the same Fate.
ALL this abundantly shews how inexcusable the foresaid Physicians in
=France= are, in their opposing the common Opinion that the =Plague= is
contagious. However, I have paid so much Regard to them, as to insist
the more largely upon the Proof of that =Contagion=; lest the Opinion of
those, who have had so much Experience of the Disease, might lead any
one into an Error, in an Affair of such Consequence, that all my
Precepts relating to =Quarantaines=, and well nigh every particular Part
of my Advice, depends upon it: For if this Opinion were a Mistake,
=Quarantaines=, and all the like =Means of Defence=, ought to be thrown
aside as of no use. But as I continue persuaded, that we have the
greatest Evidence, that the =PLAGUE= is a =contagious= Disease; so I
have left, without any Alteration, all my Directions in respect to
=Quarantaines=: in which, I hope, I have not recommended any Thing
=prejudicial to Trade=; my Advice being very little different from what
has been long practised in all the =trading= Ports of =Italy=, and in
other Places. Nay, were we to be more remiss in this than our
Neighbours, I cannot think but the =Fear= they would have of us, must
much obstruct our =Commerce=.
BUT I shall pursue this Point no farther: the rather because a very
learned Physician among themselves has since, both by strong Reasoning
and undeniable Instances, evinced the Reality of =Contagion=[11].
IN a word, the more I consider this Matter, the more I am convinced
that the Precepts I have delivered, both with regard to the Preventing
the Plague from coming into a Country, and the Treatment of it when
present, are perfectly suitable to the Nature of the Distemper, and
consequently the fittest to be complied with. But how far, in every
Situation of Affairs, it is expedient to grant the =Powers=, requisite
for putting all of them in Practice, it is not my proper Business, as a
Physician, to determine. No doubt, but at all Times, these =Powers=
ought to be so limited and restrained, that they may never endanger
the Rights and Liberties of a People. Indeed, as I have had no other
View than the Publick Good in this my Undertaking, and the Satisfaction
of doing somewhat towards the Relief of Mankind, under the greatest of
Calamities; so I should not, without the utmost Concern, see that any
Thing of mine gave the least Countenance to Cruelty and Oppression.
BUT I must confess, I find no Reason for any Apprehensions of this
kind, from any thing I have advanced. For what extraordinary Danger can
there be, in lodging =Powers= for the proper Management of People under
the Plague, with a =Council of Health=, or other Magistrates, who shall
be accountable, like all other Civil Officers, for their just Behaviour
in the Execution of them? Though this I must leave to those, who are
better skilled in the Nature of Government. But sure I am, that by the
Rules here given, both the =Sick= will be provided for with more
Humanity, and the Country more effectually defended against the Progress
of the Disease, than by any of the Methods heretofore generally put in
Practice, either in our own, or in other Nations.
THE Usage among =Us=, established by =Act of Parliament=, of
=Imprisoning= in their Houses every Family the =Plague= seizes on,
without allowing any one to pass in or out, but such as are appointed by
Authority, to perform the necessary Offices about the Sick, is certainly
the severest Treatment imaginable; as it exposes the whole Family to
suffer by the same Disease; and consequently is little less than
assigning them over to the cruellest of Deaths: As I have shewn in the
Discourse.
THE Methods practised in =France= are likewise obnoxious to great
Objections. =Crowding= the Sick together in =Hospitals= can serve to no
good Purpose; but instead thereof will =promote= and =spread= the
=Contagion=, and besides will expose the Sick to the greatest Hardships.
It is no small Part of the Misery, that attends this terrible Enemy of
Mankind, that whereas moderate Calamities open the Hearts of Men to
=Compassion= and =Tenderness=, this greatest of Evils is found to have
the contrary Effect. Whether Men of wicked Minds, through Hopes of
Impunity, at these Times of Disorder and Confusion, give their evil
Disposition full Scope, which ordinarily is restrained by the Fear of
Punishment; or whether it be, that a constant View of Calamities and
Distress does so pervert the Minds of Men, as to blot out all Sentiments
of Humanity; or whatever else be the Cause: certain it is, that at such
Times, when it should be expected to see all Men unite in one common
Endeavour, to moderate the publick Misery; quite otherwise, they grow
regardless of each other, and Barbarities are often practised, unknown
at other Times. Accordingly =Diemerbroek= informs us, that he himself
had often seen these =Hospitals= committed to the Charge of Villains,
whose Inhumanity has suffered great Numbers to perish by Neglect, and
that sometimes they have even smothered such as have been very weak, or
have had nauseous Ulcers difficult to cure. Insomuch, that in many
Places the Sick have chose to lay themselves in Fields, in the open
Air, under the slightest Coverings, rather than to fall into the
barbarous Hands of those who have had the Management of these
Hospitals[12].
THE rigorous Restraints observed at their =Lines=, are attended also
with the like Inconveniences. For by absolutely denying a Passage to
People from =infected= Places, they subject to the same common Ruin,
both from the Disease, and from the Disorders committed in such Places,
those, whom their Fortunes would otherwise furnish with Means of
escaping: and this, no doubt, in every free Country, must be looked upon
as an unjust =Infringement of Liberty=, and a Diminution of Mens natural
Rights, not to be allowed.
NOW, under all these Difficulties, I cannot but with the greatest
Satisfaction observe, that my =Precepts= are well nigh, nay altogether
free from them; and yet a proper Regard is had to the Disease. As soon
as ever the =Sick= are grown numerous, I advise, that they be left in
their Houses, without any of those unmerciful Restraints heretofore put
upon them and the Families they belonged to. I might, perhaps, have
justly directed, that whenever those, who frequent or dwell in an
=infected= House, go abroad, they should be obliged to carry about them
=a long Stick= of some remarkable Colour, or other =visible Token=, by
which People may be warned from holding too free Converse with them:
this being the Practice on these Occasions, as I have heard, in some
Places. The =Removal of the Sick= from their Houses, I advise only at
the beginning, when it will be attended with none of the forementioned
Inconveniences: but is what, for the most Part, those Sick should
themselves desire. It has hardly ever been known, when the Disease did
not first begin among the =Poor=. Such therefore only will be subject to
this Regulation, whose Habitations by the Closeness of them are in all
Respects very incommodious for diseased Persons. So that my Advice
chiefly amounts to the giving Relief to the =Poor=, who shall first be
=infected=, by removing them into more convenient Lodgings than their
own, where they shall be better provided for than at home. And the
=Removal= of them will not be attended with that Danger, it is natural
for the Unskilful to apprehend in so dreadful a Disease; because it is
every Day practised in the =Small-Pox=, with great Safety. And whereas I
have before observed, that People have often suffered in the publick
=Hospitals= by the Inhumanity of their Attendants; in this Case, little
or nothing of that kind is to be feared: for I have proposed this
=Removal= of the =Sick= only, at a Time, when a long =Series= of
=Calamities= has not yet bred Disorders and Hardness of Heart. Nay, it
may be reasonably expected that they should rather be used with the
tenderest Care, when every one shall believe the Stopping of the
Distemper, and consequently their own Safety to depend upon it. And as
this Treatment will be both safe and beneficial to the =Sick=, so it
will be much more evidently for the Advantage of the sound Part of the
Family, and of those who live near them. For as the =poorer= Sort of
People subsist by their daily Labour, no sooner shall the =Plague= have
broke out among them, but the sick Families, and all their Neighbours
likewise, if not relieved by the Publick, shall be abandoned to perish
by =Want=, unless the Progress of the Distemper put a shorter Period to
their Lives.
THIS Observation, that the_ Plague _usually begins among the =Poor=,
was the Reason, why I did not make any Difference in my Directions for
=removing the Sick=, in regard to their different Fortunes, when I first
gave my Thoughts upon this Subject: which however, to prevent Cavils, I
have at present done; and have shewn what Method ought to be taken, if
by some unusual Chance, the =Plague= should at the beginning enter a
wealthy Family. And, in this Case, I have advised nothing, which I would
not most readily submit to my self: For I should much rather chuse to be
thus removed from my Dwelling, with the Distemper upon me, to save my
Family, than they, by being shut up with me, should be all exposed to
perish. And as this Way of treating diseased Families is the most
compassionate, that can be devised with any regard to the restraining
the Progress of the Distemper; so it is still much preferable to what
was formerly practised amongst us, on other Accounts. For, according to
what I have advised, it is only required, to =remove some few= Families
at the beginning of the Disease: whereas the Method of =shutting up=
Houses was continued through the whole Course of the Sickness. Perhaps
the Plague, under this Management, may not reach half a Score Families:
I have given Instances, where it has thus been stopt in =One=.
WHAT relates to the inclosing =Infected= Places with =Lines=, I have so
regulated, that no body can be subjected to any Degree of Hardship
thereby: for I have provided, that free Liberty be given to every one,
that pleases, to depart from the =Infected= Place, without being put to
any other Difficulty, than the Performance of a short =Quarantaine= of
about three Weeks, in some Place of Safety. So that no one shall be
compelled to continue in the infected Town, whom his own Circumstances
will not confine.
THIS part of my Directions is not so =general= as the rest, because
some Places are too great to admit of it: which occasioned my proposing
it with a Restriction[13]. But as this is a great Inconvenience to the
rest of the =Country=, so it is far from being any Advantage to the
=Place= thus left unguarded. For when all, who leave an =infected= Place,
carry with them =Certificates= of their having submitted to such
=Quarantaine=, as may remove all Cause of Suspicion, =Travelling= will be
much more safe and commodious, than otherwise it can be. For want of
this, when the =Plague= was last at =London=, it was difficult to
withdraw from it, while the =Country= was every where afraid of
=Strangers=, and the =Inns= on the =Roads= were unsafe to lodge in for
those, who travelled from the =City=; when it could not be known, but
=Infection= might be received in them by others come from the same
Place.
AND from hence it happened that the =Plague=, when last in =England=,
though much more moderate, and though it continued not above one Year
in the City of =London=, did yet spread it self over a great Part of
=England=, getting into =Kent=, even as far as =Dover=; into =Sussex=,
=Hampshire=, =Dorsetshire=, =Essex=, =Suffolk=, =Norfolk=,
=Cambridgeshire=, =Northamptonshire=, =Warwickshire=, =Derbyshire=, and,
to mention no more, as far as =Newcastle=[14].
THUS, as I have examined through the Course of the following =Treatise=,
with all possible Care, into the Agreement of my =Precepts= with the
Nature of the =Plague=; so I have now considered how far they can
conveniently be put in Practice.
BUT it is time to have done with a Subject by no means agreeable.
I shall therefore conclude all I have to say upon this Matter, with a
=Paper= well deserving Perusal, which is come to my Hands, since the
following Sheets were finished; and therefore too late to be made use
of in its proper Place: for which Reason, I shall give it here entire.
This =Paper= contains the Methods taken by his late =Majesty=, when the
=Plague= in the Year 1712. had entered his =Dominions= in =Germany=. It
was delivered to me from Mr. =Backmeister=, the Secretary at =Hanover=
to his =Majesty= for the =German= Affairs, who was the Person, that
issued out the =Orders= that were given. This =Relation= I requested
from the Secretary, being desirous to know how far the =Measures= then
taken, agreed with my =Directions=: because I had been informed, that
they were very successful. And I have the Satisfaction to find them very
conformable to my =Precepts=; and that they had so much the desired
Effect, as to stop the =Plague= from spreading beyond the small Number
of =Towns= and =Villages= recited at the beginning of the =Paper=.
=HANOVER=, Feb. 10. N. S. 1722.
IN 1712 and 1713, the Plague raged in these Parts, at the following
Places.
=TOWNS.=
=Lunenbourg=,
=Zell=,
=Haarbourg=, twice.
=VILLAGES.=
=Nienfeldt=,
=Holdenstedt=,
=Melle=,
=Bienenbuttel=,
=Achem=,
=Trebel=,
=Brinckem=,
=Goldenstedt=,
=Fallingbostel=.
IN the last =Place=, three labouring Men, who had made their Escape
from =Hamburgh=, got into a Barn in the Night, and were found dead there
the next Morning, with Marks of the Plague upon them: but the Progress
of the Infection was stopt by burning the Barn.
AS soon as any Village was infected, the first Thing done was to make
a =Line= round it, thereby to hinder the Inhabitants from communicating
with others. Those who were thus shut up, were immediately furnished
with Provisions: a Physician was sent to them; and especially some
Surgeons; a Minister to officiate particularly to Persons infected; a
Nurse; Buriers; =&c.=
THE principal Management of this whole Affair consisted in two Things:
1. In =separating= the Sick from the Sound; and 2. In =cleaning= well
the Houses which had been infected.
WHEN any Person was taken ill, he was obliged to leave his Lodging,
and retire into a =Lazaretto= or =Hospital=, built for that Purpose. The
other Persons, who appeared to be well in the same House, were obliged,
when it was practicable, to strip themselves in the Night quite naked,
to put on other Clothes, which were provided for them, and to go to
perform =Quarantaine= in a House appointed for it, after having burnt
the Clothes, they had put off. Persons were made to change their
Clothes, and those they put off were burnt, as often as was judged
necessary: For Example, this was done when those who had recovered their
Health, came out of the =Lazaretto= and went into =Quarantaine=; and
likewise, when (after the Disease was ceased) the Women who attended the
Sick, the Buriers, and Surgeons, went into =Quarantaine=.
IN Summer, ordinary =Barracks= (or Huts) were made for those of the
common People, who were obliged to quit infected Houses: which Barracks
were afterwards burnt, when they had been made Use of.
AS soon as the People were come out of an infected House, it was nailed
up, and Centinels were posted there, that nothing might be stolen out of
it. In the Country, when such a House was not of very great Value, and
it might be done without Danger, it was =burnt=, and the Loss was made
good to the Owner, at the Expence of the Publick. But in Towns, where
this could not be done, without the Hazard of burning the Town, Men were
hired to go into the Houses, and bring into the Court-Yard, or before
the House, whatever Goods they found in it susceptible of Contagion, and
there =burn= them: but to prevent the Fright which this might raise
among the Neighbours, such Goods were sometimes put into the Cart, used
to carry off dead Bodies, and so conveyed out of the Town and burnt. At
first, the Method taken, was only to =bury= such Goods deep in the
Ground: but it was found by several Examples, that they were dug up
again, and that the Infection was thereby renewed. Before People were
paid for their Houses and Effects, that were burnt, it was discovered,
that they often laid some of their Goods out of the Way, and that the
Contagion was spread by them: but after they came to be paid what was
reasonable, by the Publick, they willingly let all be burnt, without
concealing any thing.
IN Summer, the Cattle were left abroad, and the Inhabitants, who had
not the Plague in their Houses were obliged to look after them: In
Winter, the Sound Persons were obliged, before they left an infected
House, to kill the Cattle belonging to it, and to bury them ten Foot
deep in the Ground near the House.
So far the former Preface.
I think it now proper to take Notice, that an =Act of Parliament= (as
above mentioned in this Preface) formed upon the Precepts here
delivered, having been passed on =December 8, 1720.= the two last
=Clauses= in the said Act, relating to the =removing= of Sick Persons
from their Habitations, and the making of =Lines= about Places infected,
were on =October 19= of the following Year, repealed.
THIS looks as if the Rules prescribed were not right and just: I must
therefore observe, in Justification of myself, that this was not the
Case. Nothing was urged in that Repeal against the Reasonableness of
the Directions in themselves, more than in these Words: =That the
Execution of them might be very grievous to the Subjects of this
Kingdom=. But this I have proved to be quite otherwise.
THE Truth of the Matter is this: Some great Men, both of the Lords and
Commons, who were in the =Opposition to the Court=, objected that the
=Ministry= were not to be intrusted with such =Powers=, lest they should
abuse them; since they might, upon Occasion, by their Officers, either
remove or confine Persons not favoured by the Government, on Pretence
that their Houses were infected.
VAIN and groundless as these Fears were, yet the Clamours industriously
raised from them were so strong, that a great Officer in the State
thought fit to oblige his Enemies by giving way to them: and tho' a
=Motion= made in the House of Commons for repealing these two Clauses had
just been rejected; yet upon making the same in the House of Lords, with
his Consent, the thing was done.
WHETHER private or public Considerations had the greater Share in
bringing about this Compliance, I will not determine. Such
=Counter-Steps= will happen in a Government, where there is too much of
=Faction=, and too little of a =Public Spirit=. This I very well
remember, that a learned Prelate, now dead, who had more of =Political=
than of =Christian= Zeal, and was one who made the loudest Noise about
the =Quarantaine= Bill, frankly owned to me in Conversation, that tho'
the Directions were good, yet he and his Friends had resolved to take
that Opportunity of shewing their Disaffection to the =Ministry=.
BUT after all, it contributed not a little to the carrying this Point,
that the Plague was now ceased at =Marseilles=, and a Stop put to its
Progress in the =Provinces=. And I cannot but take notice that this last
good Service was done by the same Method, which, tho' in a more moderate
way, I have here proposed. For it is well known that the Regent of
=France= did at last set Bounds to the Contagion by =Lines= and =Barriers=
guarded by Soldiers: which wise Resolution saved not only his own but
other Countries from the spreading of a Disease, which seems to have
been of as violent a kind as ever was brought into =Europe=.
HOWEVER, if there were any Severity in Orders of this kind, every Man
ought to consider himself as a Member of the Society; by the Laws of
which as he receives many Advantages, so he gives up somewhat of his
own private Rights to the Public: and must therefore be perfectly
satisfied with whatever is found necessary for the common Good; altho'
it may, on particular Occasions, bring upon him some Inconveniences and
Sufferings.
Salus Populi suprema Lex est.
Does any body complain of ill usage upon his House being ordered to be
blown up, to stop the Progress of a Fire which endangers the whole
Street: when he reflects that his Neighbour, who by this means escapes,
must have suffered the same Loss for his sake, had it so happened that
each had been in the other's Habitation?
BUT in truth, there is no Cruelty, but on the contrary real Compassion
in these Regulations, with the Limitations I have made: and I am fully
persuaded that whoever with Judgment considers the nature of this
Disease, will easily see that the Rules here laid down are not only the
best, but indeed the only ones that can effectually answer the purpose.
And therefore I should not doubt but that, if this Calamity (which God
avert!) should be brought into our Country, even the Voice of the People
would cry out for Help in this way: notwithstanding wrong Notions of
their =Liberties= may sometimes over-possess their Minds, and make them,
even under the best of Governments, impatient of any =Restraints=.