1. That for the Reasons above specified, and for avoiding the Inconveniencies which 'tis apprehended might be fatal, the Dead shall be buried in the Pits without the Walls, and also in the Vaults of the Churches of theJacobines, theObservantines, of theGrandCarmelites, and ofLoretto; that these Churches being situate in the upper Town, where is the greatest Number of dead Bodies, and where the Carts cannot easily pass; a kind of Biers shall be made, on which the Slaves, shall carry off those Bodies from thence: that at each Church, Heaps of Lime shall be laid, and Barrels of Water placed, to be thrown into the Vaults, and when they are filled, they shall be closed up with a Cement, so that no Infection may exhale.2. That a trusty Person with some Guards on Horseback, shall march at the Head of the Carts, and with each Brigade of Slaves, to make them work diligently, and prevent their losing Time in stealing.3. Lest the Pits and the several Church-yards in which the Dead are buried, should exhale the Infection, for want of being filled up and covered with the necessary Quantity of Earth and Lime; a general and exact View shall be taken, and sufficient Heaps of both shall be laid there.4. Several Parishes and Quarters being destitute of Commissaries, who have fled, and Persons to supply their room not being to be found, each Convent shall be obliged to furnish Monks to act as Commissaries in those Quarters where they are wanted.5. For preventing Communication, the Bishop shall be desired to cause all Divine Service in the Churches to cease.6. To keep the Populace in Awe and obedient to Orders, Gibbets shall be set up in all the publick Places.
1. That for the Reasons above specified, and for avoiding the Inconveniencies which 'tis apprehended might be fatal, the Dead shall be buried in the Pits without the Walls, and also in the Vaults of the Churches of theJacobines, theObservantines, of theGrandCarmelites, and ofLoretto; that these Churches being situate in the upper Town, where is the greatest Number of dead Bodies, and where the Carts cannot easily pass; a kind of Biers shall be made, on which the Slaves, shall carry off those Bodies from thence: that at each Church, Heaps of Lime shall be laid, and Barrels of Water placed, to be thrown into the Vaults, and when they are filled, they shall be closed up with a Cement, so that no Infection may exhale.
2. That a trusty Person with some Guards on Horseback, shall march at the Head of the Carts, and with each Brigade of Slaves, to make them work diligently, and prevent their losing Time in stealing.
3. Lest the Pits and the several Church-yards in which the Dead are buried, should exhale the Infection, for want of being filled up and covered with the necessary Quantity of Earth and Lime; a general and exact View shall be taken, and sufficient Heaps of both shall be laid there.
4. Several Parishes and Quarters being destitute of Commissaries, who have fled, and Persons to supply their room not being to be found, each Convent shall be obliged to furnish Monks to act as Commissaries in those Quarters where they are wanted.
5. For preventing Communication, the Bishop shall be desired to cause all Divine Service in the Churches to cease.
6. To keep the Populace in Awe and obedient to Orders, Gibbets shall be set up in all the publick Places.
The 21st, the Sheriffs acquainting the Council of Marine with the Increase of the Contagion, desire them to allow all ordinary Business to remain suspended for the future, that they may apply themselves entirely to what regards the publick Health only.
When the Plague rages thus in a City, every one looking on himself as at the Point of Death, is no longer in a Disposition to apply himself to any thing, but what tends immediately to his own Preservation.
In the mean while every thing is grown scarce in the Town, even such things of which there is ordinarily the greatest Plenty: Linnen cannot be had for covering the Mattresses in the Hospitals, tho' Search is made for it by breaking open all the Warehouses and Shops. The Report of the Plague keeps out whatever used to be brought daily into the Port from all Parts of the World: The Sheriffs are obliged therefore to write to the first President, to desire him to send what Linnen can be had atAix, and also Shooes for the Slaves, there being no Shooemaker atMarseillesto make them.
Were it not for his Attention to the Wants of the Sheriffs, and his Care to supply them, they would be in a thousand Perplexities: Twice or thrice a Day they take the Liberty to write to him, and always with equal Goodness he exerts himself to answer their Demands, condescending to give Directions in Matters beneath the Functions of his Ministry; and as if it were not enough to employ his own Care and Pains Night and Day, for saving this unfortunate City, he extends his Concern for it yet further, by chusing to be represented here by M.Rigord, his Subdelegate, who acts with so great Application and Zeal, that tho' the Plague has ravaged his House, tho' he has seen his Lady perish by his Side, and all his Family, Clerks, and Servants swept away, these Horrors have not shaken him, nor drawn him aside one Moment from his continual Labours for the Relief of the Town.
This Day, upon Information that several Bakers to conceal their Desertion, have committed their Shops and Ovens to the Management of their Servants, who appear there only for Show, but do nothing; an Ordinance is published at my Instance, enjoyning them to return and look to their own Business, forbidding them to absent themselves again on Pain of Death. Another Ordinance is issued, to oblige likewise the Intendants ofHealth, those of the Office of Plenty, the Counsellors of the City, and all other municipal Officers, to return within 24 Hours, on the Penalty of a Fine of 1000 Livres, and of being declared incapable of all municipal Offices.
The same Day the Bishop, to whom the Marquessde Pilleshad notified the Resolutions taken in the Assembly the Day before, sets forth to him in a Letter several Reasons against burying the infected Dead in the Vaults of the Churches of the Convents chosen for that Use.
Whereupon the Marquessde Pilles, having invited the General Officers of the Gallies to meet again at the Town-House, with the Sheriffs, and some other good Citizens: After the Reasons urged in the said Letter had been well considered, and weighed against that which had determined them to pass the Resolution for burying in the Churches, which is, the absolute and indispensible Necessity of doing it; they unanimously conclude that the said Resolution shall stand, but that the Execution of it shall be forborn 24 Hours, to see whether in that Interval the Mortality shall happen to decrease, so that it may be dispensed with; but that in the mean time, without any Delay, the Vaults in the Churches shall be got ready, and all the Lime and Water necessary carried thither.
The 23d, when this Work was setting about, the Monks of those Churches shut up the Doors, and refused to open them. M.Moustierrepairs thither, causes them to be forced open, and all the Lime and Barrels of Water requisite to be brought thither by Carts. As for Biers, for want of Joyners, he puts the first Persons that come in his way upon making them as well as they can: The Publick Services in Cases of Extremity are dispatched, where Magistrates know how to direct and command, and will see themselves obeyed.
This Day, the Mortality is so far from decreasing, that near 1000 Persons dye; and it being evident there is no room to hesitate about burying in the Churches,seeing otherwise the dead Bodies would become gradually too numerous to be carried off, all Dispositions are made for setting about it to-Morrow Morning every where at once, and the Officers of the Gallies are pleased to furnish for this Purpose 20 Slaves more.
The 24th, that all Dispatch might be made, and a Work which disheartens Men by the visible Danger and Terrors of Death not slackened, M.Moustierappears in Person, animating and urging on the Slaves, as well by his Intrepidity and Courage, as by his Actions; and when the Vaults are filled, and the Lime and Water thrown in, he takes care to have them well closed up, and Cement laid over every Hole and Crevice.
The Marquessde Pilles, and the other Sheriffs are as active in the mean time to put in Execution all the other Things resolved on.
They appoint the most trusty Persons they can find, to go on Horseback with Guards at the Head of the Carts, and of each Brigade of Slaves; but those Persons do not hold out long in so perilous an Employment, and they are soon obliged to act themselves in that Station.
They have no Occasion to go to desire the Bishop to cause Divine Service to cease in the Churches, they are generally shut up already: There are hardly any Masses now said any where, no Administration of the Sacraments, not so much as the tolling of Bells, all the Ecclesiasticks are fled, and even some of the Parish-Priests.
As for Monks, they cannot possibly find any to act as Commissaries in the Quarters where they are wanted; some have deserted, others are dead, and not a sufficient Number of them are left, to confess the Sick; FatherMilay, a Jesuit, is the only Man of them all, who to satisfy that Holy Zeal, and fervent Charity, by which he has been always actuated, comes voluntarily and offers to be Commissary in the Street ofLescale, and thereabouts; an Employment which none else durst take, because it is the Part of the Town where the Plague makes the greatest Havock, and which is barricaded withCorps de Gardeat the Avenues, that no Person may enter, or stir out of it; the Sheriffs make him Commissary there, where from the Beginning of the Contagion he has confessed the infected. He performs Acts of Piety surpassing any thing called Heroick; but the Plague does not spare him long, it snatches from the Faithful this new Apostle.
They go to take a View of the Pits and Churchyards; a horrid Spectacle, dangerous to approach, the vast Number of infected Bodies but lately thrown into them, lying all uncovered, heaped by Thousands on one another.
Formerly Governors and Consuls during all the Time of Contagion, used to keep shut up in the Town-House with very great Precaution; all who have formed Rules for Towns visited with the Plague, have prescribed that Conduct, judging that the Magistrates ought to be more careful than all others, to preserve their Life and Health.
Here, the Marquessde Pilles, and the Sheriffs, think only of preserving the Life and Health of others, exposing their own without any Concern; and are Night and Day in the open Street, wherever they see Danger deter others.
The Marquessde Pilleshas so little Regard for himself, that at the first he lets the principal Pest-House (which is thatdes Convalescens) be settled within 4 Paces of his own House. M.Estellegoes all Night long, so void of fear, to see the dead Bodies carried off the StreetLescale, that slipping on the Pavement he was within a Finger's Breadth of falling full upon a dead Body that lay on the Ground before him: M.Moustiersets so light by Dangers that make others tremble, that a Plaister reeking with the Corruption of the Bubo of an infected Person thrown out of the Window, lighting on his Cheek, and sticking there, he takes it off perfectly unconcerned, and only wiping hisCheek clean with his Spunge dipped in Vinegar, proceeds on the Business he is about. The others behaved much in the same manner.
The 25th, the Plague has spread into the four Corners of the City, and exercises its Rage on all Sides: From this time to the End ofSeptemberit rages with the same Violence, it strikes like Lightning every where, sweeps all before it, and carries off above a Thousand Souls a Day.
Its Violence now attacks by Crowds only, and its Fury gives a Thousand Deaths at once. In Consequence, the Pest-Houses established are insufficient to receive all the poor Sick; it is resolved to make a new one, large enough to take in any Number; and there not being without the Town, nor in it, a Building capacious enough for that Purpose, it is resolved to erect one (as the Physicians ofMontpellierhad advised) in the Allies of that spacious Piece of Ground used for playing at Mall, which is without the Gatedes faineants, contiguous to the Convent of the ReformedAugustines, with Timber-Work to be covered with Sail-Cloath made of Cotton: This is a new Difficulty for the Sheriffs, to have such an Hospital to build, without being able to reckon upon the Assistance of any Person, and even without any Workmen, for they are generally fled.
The 26th, the Chamber of Vacations being informed that almost all the Bakers ofMarseilleshave deserted, and being desirous to prevent the Extremity to which the City will be reduced, if at such a Conjuncture sufficient Quantities of Bread should not be made; they publish an Arrêt, commanding allBakersand their Foremen who have withdrawn, to return on Pain of Death; and enjoining the Consuls of the Places where they may have taken Refuge, to deliver them up, on the Penalty of a Fine and other Punishment.
All the Shops of Retailers being shut up, so that People have no whither to go to buy common Necessaries, an Ordinance is published at my Instance, to oblige the Retailers to open their Shops within Twenty Four Hours, otherwise they shall be broken open.
The 27th, the Chamber of Vacations commiserating the Condition ofMarseilles, and the Sufferings of its Inhabitants, publish an Arrêt, enjoining all Artificers, Tradesmen and Wholesale Dealers, to open their Shops and Warehouses within Twentyfour Hours, on Pain of Death.
This Day the Marquessde Pilles, who from the Beginning of the Contagion has been continually at the Town-House, or wherever his Zeal called him, that is to say, where was most Danger and Difficulty, without any Care of his own Safety, sinks at length under the Weight of his Fatigues, and falling sick is unable to stir out of his House; The Fear of losing a Governor, whose Merit and Person are held in Veneration atMarseilles, gives a general Alarm.
The 28th, the Plague redoubles its Ravages, and the whole City is become a vast Church-yard, presenting to the View the sad Spectacle of dead Bodies cast in Heaps one upon another.
In this deplorable State, a thousand Things are to be done, a Thousand Wants to be supplied, and yet there is no Person to have Recourse to for Relief; the People of the Territory are deaf to all Demands, they cannot by any Order issued be wrought upon, to bring in so much as Straw for the Mattresses in the Hospitals, and Hay for the Horses belonging to the Carts: The Sheriffs seeing nothing is to be done but by Force, desire the first President to procure them the Assistance of some Hundred Men of regular Troops.
They apply next to the Officers of the Gallies, remonstrating to them, that the common Safety is at Stake; that almost all the Slaves they have already granted them are dead, and that the Number of dead Bodies the City is fill'd with is so exceeding great,that they cannot be carried off, unless they will be pleas'd to let them have a sufficient Number to make a strong Effort.
M.de Rancé, Lieutenant-General, commanding the Gallies, M.de Vaucresson, Intendant, and all the General Officers, are moved with the miserable Condition they seeMarseillesin; they make too noble and eminent a Part or it, not to be thoroughly concern'd to see it wholly perish; they have shewn, on all Occasions, their good Intentions; and in this, there is not one of them, who, to help to save the City, would not hazard his own Life: But not having received Order to the present Purpose from the Council of Marine, they make a Difficulty to grant so great a Number of Slaves as is requisite, and will part with but 80; and this with a Protestation, that they shall be the last.
This Protestation obliges the Sheriffs to exert themselves more than ever, to make these Slaves do all the Service that is possible: M.Moustier, not satisfying himself with the toilsome Care of providing them Lodging and Subsistance, and of going every Morning to see them harness the Horses, and get to work with the Carts, puts himself at the Head of the largest Brigade, leads them to the Places that are least accessible, where lye the greatest Heaps of putrified Bodies, and encourages them to carry them off, either whole, or by Pieces.
In the mean while a Letter is written to the Council of Marine, most humbly to intreat his Royal Highness to be pleased to give Orders for supplying the Town: Which wanting all Things, there being no Meat to make Broth with for the poor Sick, and Famine destroying those whom the Plague might spare, his Royal Highness is earnestly besought to order the neighbouring Provinces to send in the necessary Provisions for subsisting the People.
The 29th, several Ordinances are issued, at my Instance.
1. All the Rakers, and others employed under the Scavengers to clean the Streets, having deserted since the Beginning of the Contagion, for fear of being made use of as Buriers of the Dead: the whole Town since the Second of this Month, is full of Dunghils and Poisonous Filth, which stagnates on the Pavement: They are by an Ordinance commanded to return on Pain of Death.2. From out of the Houses, the Quilts, Straw-Beds, Bed-Cloaths, Apparel, and Rags used about the Infected, are thrown into the Streets; so that there is no passing them. An Ordinance forbids it, and enjoins that all such Things be drawn to the publick Squares, and immediately burnt, on Pain of Imprisonment.3. For want of Porters, the very Corn, which the Boats bring up from the Barrier ofLestaque, cannot be carried into the Store-Houses; those Porters are all engaged in the Service of private Persons in the Territory: An Ordinance commands them to come and work as usual in the City, on Pain of Death; and private Persons are forbidden to detain them, on the Penalty of a Fine of 3000 Livres, and of Imprisonment.4. For want of those who used to ply with Asses, the Bakers cannot get the Wood carried with which the Town furnishes them; and all private Persons are under the like Inconvenience: An Ordinance charges those Ass-Keepers to return with their Beasts, on Pain of Death.
1. All the Rakers, and others employed under the Scavengers to clean the Streets, having deserted since the Beginning of the Contagion, for fear of being made use of as Buriers of the Dead: the whole Town since the Second of this Month, is full of Dunghils and Poisonous Filth, which stagnates on the Pavement: They are by an Ordinance commanded to return on Pain of Death.
2. From out of the Houses, the Quilts, Straw-Beds, Bed-Cloaths, Apparel, and Rags used about the Infected, are thrown into the Streets; so that there is no passing them. An Ordinance forbids it, and enjoins that all such Things be drawn to the publick Squares, and immediately burnt, on Pain of Imprisonment.
3. For want of Porters, the very Corn, which the Boats bring up from the Barrier ofLestaque, cannot be carried into the Store-Houses; those Porters are all engaged in the Service of private Persons in the Territory: An Ordinance commands them to come and work as usual in the City, on Pain of Death; and private Persons are forbidden to detain them, on the Penalty of a Fine of 3000 Livres, and of Imprisonment.
4. For want of those who used to ply with Asses, the Bakers cannot get the Wood carried with which the Town furnishes them; and all private Persons are under the like Inconvenience: An Ordinance charges those Ass-Keepers to return with their Beasts, on Pain of Death.
The Chamber of Vacations being informed, that the Intendants of Health, and the Commissariesappointed in the Parishes and Quarters, who have deserted, do not obey the Ordinance of the Sheriffs and return; that Chamber issues an Arrêt this Day, commanding them all to return forthwith to their Duties, on Pain of Death.
All these Arrêts and Ordinances are duly proclaimed by Sound of Trumpet, and affixed at all the Corners of the Streets, and in all the Quarters of the Territories, but to no manner of Purpose; the Dread of the Plague is so strong and terrible, that nothing can overcome it. It is indeed impossible for the Heart of Man to bear up against all the frightful Spectacles that present themselves every where to the Eye in this unhappy City; the dire Effects of a raging Pestilence, which seems to threaten not to be asswaged by the Death only and general Extinction of all the Inhabitants, but by rendring the Place it self a vast Sink of Corruption and Poison, for ever uninhabitable by human Race.
Which Way soever one turns, the Streets appear strowed on both Sides with dead Bodies close by each other, most of which being putrified, are unsupportably hideous to behold.
As the Number of Slaves employed to take them out of the Houses, is very insufficient to be able to carry all off daily, some frequently remain there whole Weeks; and there would remain longer, if the Stench they emit, which poisons the Neighbours, did not compel them for their own Preservation, to overcome all Aversion to such horrid Work, and go into the Apartments where they lye, to drag them down into the Streets: They pull them out with Hooks, and hawl them by Ropes fastened to the Staves of those Hooks into the Streets: This they do in the Night, that they may draw them to some Distance from their own Houses; theyleave them extended before another's Door, who at opening it the next Morning is frighted at the Sight of such an Object, which generally infects him, and gives him Death.
The Ring, and all publick Walks, Squares, and Market-Places, the Key of the Port, are spread with dead Bodies, some lying in Heaps: The Square before the Building called theLoge, and the Pallisades of the Port, are filled with the continual Number of dead Bodies that are brought ashore from the Ships and Vessels, which are crowded with Families, whom Fear induced to take Refuge there, in a false Persuasion, that the Plague would not reach them upon the Water.
Under every Tree in the Ring and the Walks, under every Pent-House of the Shops in the Streets and on the Port, one sees among the Dead a prodigious Number of poor Sick, and even whole Families, lying on a little Straw, or on ragged Mattresses; some are in a languishing Condition, to be relieved only by Death; others are light-headed by the Force of the Venom which rages in them: They implore the Assistance of those who pass by; some in pitiful Complaints, some in Groans and Out-cries which Pain or Frenzy draw from them. An intolerable Stink exhales from among them: They not only endure the Effects of the Distemper, but suffer equally by the publick Want of Food and common Necessaries: They dye under the Rags that cover them, and every Moment adds to the Number of the Dead that lye about them. It rends the Heart, to behold on the Pavement so many wretched Mothers, who have lying by their Sides the dead Bodies of their Children, whom they have seen expire, without being able to give them any Relief; and so many poor Infants still hanging at the Breasts of their Mothers, who died holding them intheir Arms, sucking in the rest of that Venom which will soon put them into the same Condition.
If any Space be yet left in the Streets, it is filled with infected Houshold-Goods and Cloaths, which are thrown out of the Windows every where; so that one cannot find a void Place to set one's Foot in.
All the Dogs and Cats that are killed, lye putrifying every where among the dead Bodies, the Sick, and the infected Cloaths; all the Port is filled with those thrown into them; and while they float, they add their Stench to the general Infection, which has spread all over the Town, and preys upon the Vitals, the Senses, and the Mind.
Those one meets in the Street, are generally livid and drooping, as if their Souls had begun to part from their Bodies; or whom the Violence of the Distemper has made delirious, who, wandring about they know not whither, as long as they can keep on their Legs, soon drop, through Weakness; and, unable to get up again, expire on the Spot; some writhed into strange Postures, denoting the torturing Venom which struck them to the Heart; others are agitated by such Disorders of Mind, that they cut their own Throats, or leap into the Sea, or throw themselves out of the Windows, to put an End to their Misery, and prevent the Death which was not far off. Nothing is to be heard or seen on all Sides but Distress, Lamentation, Tears, Sighs, Groans, Affright, Despair.
To conceive so many Horrors, one must figure to one's self, in one View, all the Miseries and Calamities that Human Nature is subject to; and one cannot venture to draw near such a Scene, without being struck dead, or seiz'd with unutterable Horrors of Mind.
The 30th, those Heaps of dead Bodies which are in every Quarter of the City, are increas'd by new ones; every Night adds a thousand Dead; and now none of the Slaves are left to work, they are all dead, or sick of the Distemper; nor can more be demanded, after the Protestation made by the Officers of the Gallies.
What can be done in Circumstances so full of Desolation? The Sheriffs have Recourse, as usual, to the First President, and intreat him to dispatch a Courier for them to the Court, to sollicit his Royal Highness to send Orders for their being supplied with as many Galley-Slaves as they shall have occasion for: They desire him also to write to M.de Rancéandde Vaucresson, to persuade them to grant, in the mean while, at least a Hundred.
The 31st, it is impossible for the Hospitals to receive the Number of Sick who crowd thither: As soon as one Person in a House is seized with the Distemper, that Person becomes an Object of Horror and Affright to the nearest Relations; Nature instantly forgets all ordinary Duties; and the Bands of Flesh and Blood being less strong than the Fear of certain Death, shamefully dissolve in an Instant.
As the Distemper which has seized that Person, threatens to attack them; as the Contagion communicates it self with extreme Quickness; as the Danger is almost equal to him that suffers, and to those who approach him; and as those who tend and help him have no other Prospect than that of following him in a few Days; they take at first the barbarous Resolution, either to drive him out of the House, or to fly and desert it themselves, and to leave him alone without Assistance or Relief, abandoned to Hunger, Thirst, and all that can render Death the more tormenting.
Thus Wives treat their Husbands, and Husbands their Wives, Children their Parents, and Parents their Children: Vain Precaution, inspired by Love of Life, and Horror of Death! By that time they take their Resolution, they have already catch'd the subtle Effluvia of the fatal Poison they would secure themselves from; they are soon sensible of its Malignity, a speedy Death is the Punishment of their Cruelty and Baseness: Others have the same Hardness of Heart towards them; they are forced into the open Street in their Turn, or are left alone in their Houses to perish without Help.
Hence proceeds that infinite Number of Sick, of each Sex, and of every Age, State, and Condition, who are found lying in the Streets and publick Places. If all are not cruelly driven out of their own Houses by their Relations or Friends, they prevent that Cruelty; and lest they should run the Hazard of being left alone at home, by the Flight of those Relations or Friends, when they are become quite helpless, they repair to the Hospitals; where not getting Entrance, nay, not being able to get near the Gates, by reason of the Multitudes of Sick, which have got thither before; and who finding them already full, lye down on the Pavement, and stop up all the Avenues; they are obliged to seek room for themselves farther off, among the putrified dead Bodies; the Sight and Stench of which serve to hasten their Death, the only End of this Distemper. These Extremities put the Sheriffs upon double Diligence, to get the New Hospital in the Alleys of theMallfinished: In the mean time, they cause large Tents to be pitched upon thatEsplanadewithout the Town, which is between the Gatedes Faineants, and the Monastery of theCapuchins, where they order as many Mattresses to be put, as the Tents will hold. No sooner are those Tents up, and the Mattresses placed, but they are filled with so many poor Infected, that several throw themselves upon oneMattress: A greater Number is requisite to supply them all; and the Misfortune is, that there is neither Straw nor Linnen to be had to make them with.
The 1st ofSeptember, the first President having been pleased to write to M.de Rancé, andde Vaucresson, desiring them to let the Sheriffs have a hundred Galley-Slaves more; they are presently sent to them, and a more vigorous Use of them was never made: For M.Moustier, incited by the Extremity to which things are reduced, immediately puts himself at the Head of these Slaves, with 11 Carts, and while they are able, makes them carry off above 1200 dead Bodies a Day.
The 2d, for making this Labour the more easy, as the Bodies in the Houses occasion the most Loss of Time to the Slaves to fetch them away; and besides, being putrified by being left there long, they cannot draw them out with Hooks, but by Pieces; as also for preventing Robberies by the Slaves, who finding no Person in the Houses, steal all they can lay their Hands on; an Ordinance is published at my Instance, importting, that as soon as any one dies in a House, those belonging to that House shall be obliged to convey the Body down into the Street, using all proper and necessary Precautions.
The same Day an Arrêt is issued by the Chamber of Vacations, injoyning all the Rectors of theHôtel Dieu,de la Charité, of Foundlings, of the Houses of the Penitent, and of Refuge, the Captains of the City, the Physicians appointed for the Hospitals, and all Sorts of Intendants and municipal Officers, to return to their Duty atMarseilles; otherwise declaring them incapable of Publick Offices, and fining them 1000 Livres.
The 3d, the Sheriffs repair to the Town-House almost by themselves, with M.Capus, Keeper of the Records, his eldest Son, so distinguish'd by his Merit and his Virtues, who, from the Beginning of the Contagion, has assisted him to go through the Multiplicity of Business in his Offices; M.Bouis, Cashier; and my self; having no longer any Guards, Domestick Servants, or other Person under Command. The Ravages the Plague has already made in this great City, may be judged by the Number belonging to the Town-House only, that have been carried off, which, is above 500 Persons,viz.30 Guards wearing the Shoulder-Belt, all the Guardsde la Police, all the Captains of the City one excepted, all the Lieutenants except two, almost all the Captains Lieutenants, and Guards of the Five Brigadesdu Privilege du Vin, all the Sergeants of the Nightly Watch or Patroll, 350 Men of the Companies of the Guard, and all the City-Yeomen appointed to attend the Magistrates, who are now become destitute of all Servants.
Men are become only Shadows; those who are seen well one Day, are in the Carts the next; and, what is unaccountable, those who have shut themselves up most securely in their own Houses, and are the most careful to take in nothing without the most exact Precautions, are attacked there by the Plague, which creeps in no Body knows how.
The 4th, nothing is more deplorable, than to see the vast Number of Sick and Dying which are spread over the whole City, deprived of all spiritual as well as temporal Comforts, and reduced to the lamentable Condition of dying almost all of them without Confession.
There wanted not, indeed, Servants of the Lord, as well of the Secular as Regular Clergy, who devoted their Lives to the saving of Souls, and assisting and confessing the infected; there wanted not even holy Heroes, (for by that Name we ought to call all the Capuchins and Jesuits of the Two Houses ofSt.Jeaume; and of the holy Cross, and likewise all the Observantins, and the Recollets, and some others) who, with more than heroick Courage, and indefatigable Charity and Zeal, ran about every where, and rushed precipitately into the most deserted and most infected Houses, into the Streets and Places that were thickest strow'd with putrify'd Bodies, and into the Hospitals that reeked most with the Contagion, to confess the infected, assist them in the Article of Death, and receive their last contagious and envenom'd Breath, as if it were but Dew.
But these sacred Labourers, who may well be look'd upon as true Martyrs, (seeing those ofAlexandria, under the Prelacy of St.Denis, who had the Charity to assist the infected, were honour'd with the Glory of Martyrdom) are almost all taken away by Death, in the Time of so great a Mortality, when their Help is most wanted: Forty two Capuchins have already perished, Twenty one Jesuits, Thirty two Observantins, Twenty nine Recollets, Ten BarefootedCarmelites, Twenty two ReformedAugustines, all the GrandCarmelites, the Grand Trinitarians, the Reformed Trinitarians, the Monks ofLoretto, of Mercy, theDominicansand GrandAugustinswho had kept in their Convent: besides several Secular Priests, and the greatest Part of the Vicars of Chapters and Parishes.
In so great an Extremity, the Bishop recalls those, who, by their peculiar Character, and by the Nature of their Benefice, are under the indispensible Obligation of confessing and administring the spiritual Remedies to the Dying; but who being struck with shameful Terror, have basely sought their own Safety by Flight, without troubling themselves about the Salvation of others.
Had their Concern to discharge their proper Duty been too cold to light up in their Hearts that Fireof Charity with which they ought to glow, the Example of their holy Prelate should have excited them: In vain, from the Beginning of the Contagion was he pressed to leave the City, to endeavour to preserve himself, for the rest of his Diocese; he rejects all such Counsels, and hearkens only to those which the Love the Sovereign Pastor has inspired him with for his Flock, suggest to him; he tarries with unshaken Fortitude, determined to lay down his Life for the Good of his Sheep, if God is pleas'd to require it.
He is not satisfied with prostrating himself at the Feet of Altars, and lifting up his Hands to Heaven to beseech God to mitigate his Wrath; his Charity is active; he is every Day in the open Streets, through all Quarters of the Town; he goes up to the highest and worst Apartments of the Houses to visit the Sick; crosses the Streets among the dead Bodies; appears in the publick Places, at the Port, at the Ring; the poorest, the most destitute of Friends, those afflicted the most grievously and hideously, are the Persons to whom he goes with most Earnestness; and without dreading those mortal Blasts which carry Poison to the Heart, he approaches them, confesses them, exhorts them to Patience, disposes them to die, pours celestial Consolations into their Souls, representing to them the Felicity of Suffering and of Poverty; and drops every where abundant Fruits of his generous Charity, distributing Money where-ever he goes, and especially in secret to indigent Families, whom holy Curiosity prompts him to seek out and to relieve; he has already given away Twenty five thousand Crowns, and takes up what Money he can upon Pledges, to enable him to distribute more. But I should not blaze abroad what his Humility is careful to conceal, it ought to be left under the Veil which that Virtue throws over it.
Death has spared this newCharles Borromeo, but has continually surrounded him, and almost mowed under his Feet: The Plague gets into his Palace, the greatest Part of his Officers and Domesticks are struck with it; he is obliged to retreat into the House of the first President atMarseilles; the Plague pursues him thither, and not only attacks the rest of his Domesticks, but Two Persons who are very dear to him for their distinguished Merit, and are his Assistants in his holy Labours, Fatherde la Farea Jesuit, and M.BourgeretCanon ofla Major; the first escapes, but he has the Grief to see the other expire: All this however does not terrify him, nor with-hold him one Moment from any of the Duties of his fervent Charity; he goes every where still to visit the Infected.
But the Plague destroys too fast for the surviving Remnant of Confessors to perform all the Service necessarily required: A greater Number of Workmen should be had; wherefore the Canons of the Collegiate Church of St.Martin, and some of that ofAcoules, who have Benefices with Cure of Souls, and who have fled, are those the Bishop recals, to come and confess, each within the Bounds of his parish.
The Sheriffs, who observe all those Parish-Priests are deaf to the Voice of their Bishop, and unconcerned for the Loss of the Souls of their Parishioners, present a Petition to the Bishop, to order them by an Injunction to return forthwith to their Duty; in default of which their Benefices to be declared vacant, and other Persons qualified to fill them, to be nominated.
The 5th, the Regulators of the Fishermen being capable of some Service, and Three of them having fled; an Ordinance is published at my Instance, to oblige them to return, on the Penalty of a Fine of Three Thousand Livres, and of losing their Offices.
This Day the Sheriffs being astonish'd at the Increase of the Mortality, and the deplorable State the City is in, and longing for an Answer to the Dispatches they have sent to Court for necessary Supplies, write to the Marshalde Villars, most earnestly beseeching him to second their Instances: That Illustrious Governor, who among all the Towns of his Government ofProvence, has constantly honouredMarseilleswith his particular Affection, is so concerned to hear of the extreme Desolation it is in, that he returns Answer, He is resolved to come himself to its Relief, if his Royal Highness will give him Leave.
The 6th, the Sheriffs find themselves reduced to the most terrible of all Extremities; the last Slaves which the Officers of the Gallies had granted, at the Request of the first President, being all either dead, or fallen ill of the Distemper; and notwithstanding all the Efforts M.Moustierhad made the preceeding Days, to get all the dead Bodies possible carried off, above Two Thousand still remaining in the Streets, besides what are in the Houses; they see plainly, that if the Officers of the Gallies will not give them more Slaves, at the rate the Mortality goes on, there must be in less than Eight Days above Fifteen Thousand Bodies in the Streets all putrified; from which will ensue a Necessity of quitting the Town, and abandoning it perhaps for ever, to the Putrefaction, Poison, and Infection which will settle in it.
Hereupon they assemble, with the few Citizens still left, among whom are two Intendants of Health who have not stirred a Foot, M.Rosethe Elder, and M.Rollaud. Divers Expedients are debated; some propose, that for disposing of the present dead Bodies, and those to be expected daily, a large Pit should be opened in every Street to throw them into: But two things are objected; one is, that such Pits cannot be dug in the Streets, without cutting off, at the same time, all the Conduit-Pipes which are laid through them; the other is, that it would require above Ten Thousand Men to dig speedily so many Pits in so vast a City, while there is none to be found in a Condition to work; besides, no body would dig in Streets actually strewed with infected Bodies, for fear of catching the Infection by touching them. Others propose, to let all the Bodies lie where they are, in the Streets, the publick Places, and the Houses, and there to cover them with Lime to consume them; and that such a Quantity of Lime be carried in Carts, and laid in Heaps in every Street, as may serve to consume all the dead Bodies that shall be there. But to this likewise there are several Objections; Where is Lime enough to be had for consuming so many Bodies? Where are Men to help to cart it? And who could stay in the City amidst the horrible Infection which those Bodies would exhale, as they are consuming?
The Course the Sheriffs think best to take, is, without passing any Resolution, to desire the Citizens assembled with them, to accompany them, in their Hoods, and in a Body, to the House of M.de Rancéto intreat him with all Earnestness, to grant them the Assistance they want for the Preservation of the City.
M.de Rancécalls together M.de Vaucressonthe Intendant, and the General Officers of the Gallies; they appear to be touched as much with the Zeal of these Magistrates, and with the burthensome and hazardous Conditions upon which they ask this Assistance, as with the great Extremity the City is in; accordingly they grant them all they demand on those Conditions; and being desirous to have the Agreement put into Writing, I drew up before them the following Act to be entred in the Register of the Town-House, and a Copy of it to be given to them.
This Day, the Sheriffs, Protectors, and Defenders of the Privileges, Liberties, and Immunities, of this City ofMarseilles,the King's Counsellors, Lieutenants-Generalde Police,being assembled in the Town-House, with some of the municipal Officers, the Counsellor Orator of the City and the King's Procuratorde la Police,and other eminent Citizens; and taking into Consideration, that though the 260 Slaves, which the Officers of the Gallies have been pleased to grant them at different Times, to bury the Dead since the City was afflicted with the Plague; have been extremely helpful to them hitherto, yet that Assistance is insufficient, above 2000 dead Bodies having actually lain in the Streets several Days; and causing a general Infection; it was therefore resolved, for preserving the City, to desire greater Assistance: And immediately the Sheriffs going out in their Hoods, accompanied by all the said municipal Officers and eminent Citizens, went in a Body to the House of the Chevalierde Rancé,Lieutenant-General, commanding his Majesty's Gallies, and represented to him, that the City has infinite Obligations to him for the signal Services which he has been pleased to do them in this Calamity; but that it is not possible to preserve the City, unless he does them the favour to grant them a Hundred Slavesmore, and 4 Officers of the Whistle (or Boatswains) (almost all those who have formerly been granted, being dead or sick;) in which Case they will make the best Use of them; that to engage them to work with the greater Diligence in carrying off the dead Bodies, they will expose themselves as they have already done; will march on Horseback in their Hoods, before the Carts, and go with them all over the City: That moreover, it being of Importance, that their Authority should be supported by Force, at a time when there remains in the City only a numerous Populace, who must be kept under, for preventing all Tumult, and for maintaining good Order every where; they further intreat him most earnestly to grant them at least Forty stout Soldiers of the Gallies, to obey their Orders, to attend them, and at the same time hinder the Slaves from getting away; that they shall be commanded by themselves only; that they will divide them into 4 Parties, of which each Sheriff will head One; and it being necessary that one of the Sheriffs, at least, should be continually at the Town-House, for the Dispatch of such Affairs as may occur, one of the said Parties shall be commanded by the ChevalierRose;and in Case they should be hindred by any Accident, they will propose in their Room, Commissaries of the best Distinction they can find, to head and command them. Whereupon the Chevalierde Rancé,being assembled with the Intendant and General Officers of the Gallies, all sensible of the miserable Condition of this great and important City, and willing to grant all that is necessary for saving it, have been pleased to grant to the Sheriffs, and to the Community, a Hundred Slaves more, and 40 Soldiers, among them 4 Corporals, with 4 Officers of the Whistle; and it being necessary to take those who are voluntarily disposed, and to engage them by Rewards, to this dangerous Service; It is resolved and agreed, that besides Subsistance which the Community shall furnishto them all, ten Livres a Day shall be given to each Officer of the Whistle, and to each Soldier fifty Sols: And after it shall please God to deliver the City from this Visitation, a Gratification of a hundred Livres, to be paid at once, shall be made to each of them who shall then be living. The Corporals shall have each a hundred Sols a Day, and also an annual Pension for Life of a hundred Livres to each of them who shall survive; it being judged they cannot be sufficiently rewarded for so important and perillous a Service, This is agreed by the Assembly, in consideration of the present Exigence, and the Necessity of the Time.Concluded atMarseilles, the 6thofSeptember, 1720. Signed,Estelle,Audimar,Moustier,Dieudé, Sheriffs;Pichatty de Croissainté, Orator, and the King's Procurator;Capus, Keeper of the Records.
The 7th, the Magistrates taking into Consideration, that the Plague being the Instrument of God's Wrath, all the Help of Men, and all the Efforts they resolve to make, will be vain and useless, unless they have Recourse to his Mercy, and seek to appease him; they determine to make a Vow in the Name of the City, to incline him to vouchsafe to deliver it from this cruel Pestilence (as their Predecessors did during the last Plague,) that the Community shall give every Year, for ever, the Sum of 2000 Livres to a House of Charity, to be established by the Title and under the Protection ofOur Lady of Good Help, for the Reception of poor Girls, Orphans of this City and its Territory.
The 8th, they make this Vow solemnly in the Presence of the Bishop, in the Chapel of the Town-House, where he celebrates Mass.
The same Day having received the Slaves, and the Officers of the Whistle, together with the Soldiers (whoseCorps de Gardeis settled in the great Hall of theLoge,) and M.Moustierhaving got in Readiness the Carts, and divided the Slaves into several Brigades, the Sheriffs in their Hoods put themselves each at the Head of one of those Brigades, with a Division or Guard of Soldiers, and go to the Places that are thickest spread with dead Bodies, and where they are most putrefied, with an Intrepidity that astonishes the verySoldiers, and makes the Slaves work with all their Strength, without fearing the Dangers which they see them so much contemn: They continue this Work daily, from Morning till Night, and the ChevalierRoseon Horseback, constantly supplies the Room of that Sheriff who is obliged in his Turn to sit in the Town-House for the ordinary Dispatch of Business: 'Tis a Miracle that they have not all perished, by exposing themselves to Dangers so great, that the forty Soldiers of the Gallies, who accompanied them, have all perished, except four, by their Sides.
The 9th, they send to the Council ofMarinea Copy of the Act, specifying the Conditions on which the Officers of the Gallies granted those Soldiers, and the Slaves; another to the Marshalde Villars, and a third to the Grand Prior.
The 10th, the first President, who is always vigilant to supply their Wants, and who knows that besides Carts, they more need Carters to drive them, sends a Number of both fromAix, which are very helpful: The Officers of the Gallies furnish them with twenty five Slaves more, to replace those of the hundred already granted who are become unable to work; and add to them six, who are Butchers by Profession, to serve in the Slaughter-houses of the Town, where all the Butchers being dead, or having deserted, no body is left to kill Oxen and Sheep.
The 11th, there being hardly any Physicians remaining, and fewer Surgeons, the rest having deserted, or perished, their Art not availing them; the first President sends hither M.PonsandBoutellier, Physicians of the Faculty ofMontpellier; and M.MontetandRabaton, very skilful Master-Surgeons.
The 12th, the Sheriff's are informed that the Commandeur M.de Langeron, Commadore of a Squadron of Gallies, and Major-General of the King's Armies, has been nominated by his Majesty Governour ofMarseillesand its Territory, and that he has received his Commission. Such agreeable and salutary News revives them immediately from all the Sorrow, Dejection, and Consternation they were in; and inspires, not only into them, but into all the other Citizens, and into thePeople in general, both Sick and Well, no less Joy, Pleasure and Content, than Confidence, new Spirit, and Courage: They think it impossible to perish under so worthy a Governour, and the Preservation ofMarseillesis looked upon as certain under his Auspices and Conduct: The Affection he has always been observed to bear to this City, and which he has demonstrated since it became afflicted with the Plague; his having been pleased, not only to come and assist in the Assemblies at the Town-House, but to promote very much the giving Assistance to the City by the Officers of the Gallies (in which naval Body of Forces he is distinguished by his Rank, as well as by his Merit and Valour:) His Character so long established, his illustrious Name, his Presence, which by a happy Mixture of Sweetness and Gravity makes him at once respected, loved, and feared; his Wisdom and Foresight, his Courage, his Firmness; Virtues, which qualify and dispose him to chuse the best Expedients in pressing Occasions, and execute with Rigour what he has judiciously resolved; all this, I say, gives every body, and particularly the Sheriffs, the most promising Hopes, which in the Event were soon answered: They go in their Hoods, and in a Body, to his House, to have the Honour to make him a Tender of their Duties.
They learn at the same time, that the Marquessde Pilles(who has newly begun to recover his Health) has also received a Commission to command in the City and Territory; they go in the same manner to his House, to make him the like Compliments: And both their Commissions being sent to be entred in the Register of the Town-House, it appears that M.de Langeron, in the Quality of Major-General of the King's Forces, is to take place, and command in Chief.
The same Day, M.de Langeronmounts on Horseback, and comes to the Town-House, to inform himself of the State of Affairs, that he might thereupon make the proper Dispositions, and take the necessary Measures for applying speedy Remedies to pressing Evils: He is accompanied by the Chevalierde Soissans, an Officer of the Gallies, whom he has taken to hisAssistance; and who is so ardent for relieving the Town, that he is every Day on Horseback from Morning till Night, running wherever any thing is to be done, and to provide against, or redress, those Inconveniences which appear most insuperable; contemning Danger, and compelling others, by his Example, not to relax or stop; putting in Execution Things seeming the most impossible, with that Activity, Prudence, and indefatigable Zeal, that every thing is done by his Care, and by his Assistance.
The 13th, the Marquessde Pillescomes to the Town-House; his Presence, after the Grief and Alarm his Sickness had caused, gives every one unspeakable Pleasure. M.de Langeronrepairs thither likewise; he never fails to come thither every Day on Horseback, in the Morning and Afternoon, be what Weather it will, and sits generally till eight a Clock at Night; 'tis most frequently after he has taken his Rounds to the Hospitals, the Pits, the Church-yards, and other Places very dangerous to approach, which he will view with his own Eyes, and where he exposes himself without Regard to his Health or Life.
The 14th, the Sheriffs continue to appear constantly, each at the Head of one of the Brigades of Slaves, with the Carts, to set them to work in different Quarters, to take up and carry to the Pits that prodigious Number of dead Bodies, with which the City is filled; and though they take away so many, they find more still, by the Continuance of the Mortality.
But there is one Part, where they have not been able to set foot yet; it is at an Esplanade calledla Tourette, which lies towards the Sea, between the Houses and the Rampart, from Fort St.Johnto the Church ofMajor: There lie extended about a thousand dead Bodies close to each other, the freshest of which have lain there above three Weeks; so that had they not been infected, the lying so long in a Place exposed to the hot Sun all the Day, might have sufficed to render them contagious: All one's Senses are affected at approaching a Place, whence one smells afar off the contagious Vapours which Exhale from it: Nature shrinks, and the firmest Eyes cannot bear sohideous a Sight; those Bodies have no longer any human Form, they are Monsters that give Horror, and one would think all their Limbs stir, the Worms are in such Motion about them.
Nothing however is of more urgent Necessity than to remove these Bodies from that Place; every Moment they are let lye there, furnishes Exhalations which must poison the Air; but how shall they be taken up and carried to the Pits without the Town, which are at a very great Distance? Bodies so putrefied will not hold in the Carts; the Entrails, the Limbs which are loosened at the Joints by the Worms, would run out, or drop off, which would scatter the Plague and Venom quite through the City.
The ChevalierRose, who is good at Expedients, and as industrious as intrepid, goes to the Place, and viewing the Rampart, perceives that two antient Bastions, which about two thousand Years ago stood the Attacks ofJulius Cæsar's Army, and are near theEsplanadewhere lye the dead Bodies, tho' they seem to be filled with Earth, are vaulted within, which he discovers at the Foot of one of them through a Hole, which Time has made in a Stone; he presently imagines that no more needs be done, than to take away some Foot of Earth which cover the Vault of each Bastion, to break into that Vault, and finding them quite hollow within down to the Foundation which is level with the Surface of the Sea, nothing is more easy than to cast all those Bodies into them, and then to cover them with as much Earth and Lime as is necessary, to hinder the exhaling of any Infection from them.
This being so judiciously projected, he returns to the Town-house, and tells M.de Langeronand the Sheriffs, that he will take upon him to remove all the dead Bodies fromla Tourette, explains to them his Project, they find it admirable; but to be able to execute it, a greater Number of Slaves must be employed, that it may be done suddenly and at once; it being evident, that no Soul that breathes can hold out above a few Minutes in so noisome a Place, when those Bodies are moved, to be drawn off the Ground and thrown into the Bastions. M.de Langeron, who has newlyreceived Orders from Court, to take as many Slaves out of the Gallies as he shall judge necessary for the Service of the City, promises him a hundred for this Enterprize.
The same Day the Mortality continues without Decrease, and all the several Pits which had been opened being filled, M.de Langeronaccompanied by M.Moustier, and the Chevalierde Soissans, take a Turn without the City, to see what Place will be most convenient for opening new ones speedily; and some are marked out on the Side of the Gate ofAix, of sixty Foot long and thirty broad: At the same time the Question being where to get at least a hundredPeasantsto dig them; M.de Langeronsends all his Guards into the Territory, with Orders to the Captains of the principal Quarters to make them come, either willingly, or by Force.
The 15th, he issues an Ordinance, commanding all the Intendants of Health, Counsellors of the City, Captains of Quarters, and Commissaries of Parishes, who have deserted, to return within twenty four Hours to their Functions, on Pain of Disobedience.
He sets forth another, jointly with the Marquessde Pillesand the Sheriffs, prescribing all that ought to be done, observed, and executed in the Territory, where the Plague makes likewise very great Ravages, and has got into all the Quarters.
The 16th, to remove that horrible Infection which is in the Port, by above ten thousand dead Dogs floating in it, he sends for the Regulators of the Fishermen to the Town-house, and Orders them to work with Boats to inclose them in Nets, and draw them so far without the Chain, that the Current of the Water may not bring them in again.
This Day the ChevalierRose, who the Day before had caused the Vaults of the two Bastions of the Rampartde la Touretteto be broken into, and found them hollow to the Foundation as he had foreseen, having received the hundred Slaves appointed to remove the dead Bodies from that Part, causes each of them to tye a Handkerchief dipped in Vinegar about his Head to stop his Nose, and having disposed them in such a manner, as to be able to put all Hands to the Work at once, hemakes them in half an Hour take away all those Bodies, Limbs of which dropped off in carrying, and throw them into the Caverns of those Bastions, which he immediately causes to be filled with Lime and Earth, up to the Level of the Esplanade.
The 17th, the Sheriffs continuing with yet greater Ardour and Zeal, to go each at the Head of a Number of Carts, to see the dead Bodies taken up and carried off, from the several Streets of the Town, which are more and more filled with them; M.Estellehas Notice that the Pits which had been filled on the Side ofla Major, had cleft in the Night; he hastens thither to see them repaired, and takes with him the Peasants who were working at the new Pits without the Gate ofAix: But there's no governing the Peasants at approaching infected Places, the Soldiers of the Gallies who accompany them drive them on, but they give back; he takes a Pick-ax himself and falls to work to encourage them; they are not to be stimulated by his Example, the Soldiers are, they instantly lay down their Arms, wrest the Pick-ax out of his Hands, take each of them one from those dastardly Peasants, and repair the Pits, notwithstanding the Infection, with inexpressible Ardour: It is Pity all those Soldiers perished, they served the City with a Zeal which will make them always lamented.
This Day M.Audimarcauses a Heap of Bodies, which were piled up in the Street ofFerrat, and were no less putrid than those ofla Tourette, to be carried off.
M.de Langeronstudying to relieve the Necessities of the People, who are in want of all Things, and who suffer and even perish by the Desertion of almost all the Surgeons, Apothecaries, Retailers of common Necessaries, as Cooks and others, whose Shops and Stalls are generally shut up every where; he publishes an Ordinance to compel them to return within twenty four Hours precisely, on Pain of Death.
The same Day the Physicians ofMontpellierwho had come in the Month ofAugust, to examine by Order of his Royal Highness, the Nature and Symptoms of the Distemper, come again, accompanied by M.SoulliersMaster Surgeon to the King, who was also with them the first time; after their Departure from hence, they had resided at a Country-house nearAixwhich had been appointed for them to perform Quarantain in, which done they were to have been admitted intoMontpellier; but his Royal Highness being desirous to succourMarseilles, and judging that such a Distemper required the most eminent and skilful Physicians, was pleased to send them new Orders to return hither, and join with them M.Deidieranother famous Physician and Professor ofMontpellier, who arrived with them.
The Plague had till then been treated as the Plague, the Sick presently judged of the Danger of their Sickness by the Behaviour of the Physicians who visited them: M.de Chicoyneau, Chancellor of the University ofMontpellier, M.Verny, and M.Deidier, give them Reason to believe, on the contrary, that 'tis of all Distempers the least dangerous and the most common; they approach them without the least Concern or Mark of Emotion, without Repugnance, without Precaution; they even sit down upon their Beds, touch their Buboes and Sores, and stay by them calmly as long as is necessary to inform themselves of the State of their Case, the Symptoms of their Distemper, and to see the Surgeons perform the Operations they order: They go every where, and pass through all the Quarters, they examine the Sick, in the Streets, in the publick Places, in the Houses, and in the Hospitals; one would think them invulnerable, or tutelar Angels sent by God to save every poor Creature's Life; they refuse the Money the Rich offer them; nor receive any thing from any body, but a thousand Blessings from all; their Manner of proceeding, with the Reputation of their Names, recover the Sick by the Hope and Confidence they raise in them.
The 18th, another Pit is opened, below the Ramparts between the Gate ofAixand the Tower of St.Paule, sixty Foot long and thirty broad: M.de Langeronwrote the Day before to the Captains of the Territory, to send in Peasants: The Chevalierde Soissansgoes at Day break to the Entrance of the Suburbs, to conduct them to this Work, which they were extremely averse to, because of the Nearness of other Pits already filled thereabouts.New ones are also opened on the Side of that Ground, by which the Church-yard of the Parish of St.Ferriolwas formerly enlarged; this Quarter is the finest and best Inhabited of the City, where M.Serre, no less a good Citizen than a famous and excellent Painter, one of the Commissaries appointed there, zealous even to the Sacrificing of his own Life for the Relief of his Country, has taken upon himself alone the laborious and perillous Care to see carried off and buried, the dead Bodies from thence, with some Carts which the Sheriffs have given him, and a Brigade of Slaves put under his Direction by the Officers of the Gallies, whom he carefully subsists and lodges at his own Expence. A Citizen that so loves his Country, deserves to be beloved by it.
The 19ththe Desertion from the City continuing, so that none can be found to carry into the Store-houses of the Community the Corn brought up by Boats from the Barrier ofLestaque, M.de Langeronappoints for that Service twenty six Gally-Slaves, with four of their Companions to dress Victuals for them; no Persons being found fit to be put to do so much as that.
The time of Vintage approaching, it is considered that the Vapours of the new Wine, in a Town where so prodigious a Quantity is made, might contribute very much towards dis-infecting the Houses; and it is called to mind that it was by this Means the last Plague which afflictedMarseilleswas stopt: Whereupon an Ordinance is issued, in the Names of M.de Langeron, the Marquessde Pilles, and the Sheriffs, importing that the Vintage shall be got in as usual.
This Day arrive three other Physicians of the Faculty ofMontpellier, who came Post fromParisby Order of his Royal Highness,viz.M.MailhesProfessor of the University ofCahors, M.Boyer de ParadisofMarseilles, and M.de Læbadie, accompanied by two Master-Surgeons ofParis: They are provided with excellent Instructions, which they received from M.Chiracfirst Physician to his Royal Highness, andSur-Intendant of the Royal Physick-Garden, who has not neglected any thing that might be for the Relief of this unfortunate City: Physicians so well chosen, and so well instructed, cannot fail of doing good Service; the Event will soon shew it.
The 20th, there are no Medicines nor Drugs to be found in the City, by Reason of the Flight and Desertion of all the Apothecaries, Druggists, and Grocers; the Sick dye without being able to use the Liberty of making their Wills, the Royal Notaries having all fled; Women with Child are delivered without any Assistance, the Midwives being all fled likewise: An Ordinance at my Instance is issued by M.de Langeron, the Marquessde Pilles, and the Sheriffs, to oblige them all to return within twenty four Hours on Pain of Death: The Royal Notaries only obey readily. The ordinary Term of letting or quitting Houses beingMichaelmas-Day, and almost all the Houses being infected, it would be dangerous to suffer such removing with Houshold-Goods mostly infected; another Ordinance forbids it, till it be otherwise ordered.
The 21st, the Sheriffs have an Increase of Care and Trouble; the Persons who for a long time had the Direction and Management of the Office of Plenty of Corn, and of the Shambles, dye of the Plague; this obliges the Sheriffs to take that Business upon themselves, while they have so much already upon their Hands: M.de Langeron, to facilitate their going through with it all, persuades them to take each a certain part of the Work: Accordingly, M.Estelleis charged with the Dispatch of all the current Affairs at the Town-House, with the Correspondences, and with the Orders for the good Government of the City; M.Audimarwith the Shambles; M.Moustierwith all that relates to the carrying off and burying of the Dead, the Pits, and the Church-yards, the cleaning of the Streets, the Carts, the Gally Slaves and their Subsistance; and M.Dieudéwith what relates to Bread-Corn, Meal, Wood for firing, and the Bakers.
The 22d, new Pits are to be made, M.de Langeronsends his Guards into the Territory, to bring in one hundred and fifty Men to dig them; and the 23done is opened of one hundred thirty two Foot long, forty eight wide, and fourteen deep, in the Garden of the Observantines near the Ramparts.
The 24th, at the Time when Misery and Calamity are at the Heighth; when all is groaning, lamenting, dying, as well in the Country, as in the Town; when those whom the Fury of the Distemper has spared, are overtaken by Famine, and fall into Despair, more cruel and terrible than the Plague it self; when the Fountains of Charity, which had run till now, are dried up; when, as the Scripture expresses it,the Heavens seem to be of Brass, and the Earth of Iron; and when no Hope at all remain'd, but of Dying; 'tis then a charitable Hand extends it self from afar to this unhappy City.
The 25th, the Heaps of infected Cloaths and Houshold-Goods, with which all the Streets are incumbered, being a greater hindrance to the passing through them, than the dead Bodies and Sick that lye in them; Mons.de Langeronsets twenty five Gally-Slaves to work, to carry all off in Carts, and twenty others to cleave Wood for Firing, for the Use of the Bakers; no other Hands being to be had.
The Refractoriness of the Apothecaries, Druggists, and Grocers, in absenting themselves from the City, and the Necessity of compelling them to return, that the Sick may be supplied with Medicines and Drugs, oblige him to send Guards into the Territory, to seize and bring away the chief of them.
The 26th, the Hospital of Timber-work in the Alleys of theGrand Mall, and which so many Poor infected, who lie in the Streets and publick Places, have been wishing for several Days, is upon the Point of being finished, after incredible Labour; when a North Wind, the most violent that ever was, blows so hard,that it breaks and throws down almost all the Timber-work, with the Sail-cloth that covered it: For repairing speedily this Damage, M.de Langerongoes thither, sends for robust and serviceable Fellows from the Gallies, with Officers to keep them diligently employed; the Sheriffs bestir themselves to provide more Timber and Sail-cloth; all Hands are at Work; the Chevalierde Soissanskeeps upon the Spot, to encourage the Men, and give Orders, accompanied by M.MarinandBeaussier, Commissaries appointed to act as Directors General of this Hospital, who sacrificed their Time and private Concerns to see it built, were always active in any thing that was most toilsome; and the principal Assistants of the Sheriffs, from the Time the Fear of the Contagion made every body abandon them.
The 27th, it is considered, that as large as this Hospital is, it cannot serve for such a Multitude of Sick, as are lying in all the Streets, and encreased daily by the Continuance of the Distemper; and therefore another must be timely thought of: After looking about every where, it is resolved to make use of the Hospital Generalde la Charité, which is in perfect Readiness, actually furnished with near 800 Beds, and all necessary Utensils.
The Difficulty is, whither to remove the Poor maintained in it: No Place seems so proper as theHôtel-Dieu, where there is Room enough; but there have been infected Patients in it, and above fifty are so now; they must be first removed, and the House disinfected (or perfumed;) those Patients are carried to a Chapel of thePenitents, which is hard by; and M.Estelleperforms the Disinfection with all requisite Exactness.
From the 28thofSeptemberto the 3dofOctober, nothing but Action and Labour Night and Day. At theMallno Time is lost to repair the Damage done by the Wind, and to provide for such an Hospital the infinite Number of Things necessary in it; in fitting up Apartments and Laboratories for the Physicians, Apothecaries, Surgeons, Officers, and Servants of the Hospital, in the Convent of the ReformedAugustines, which is contiguous to it, and in the neighbouringBastides; and in digging near it large and deep Pits: Atla Charité, those already opened in the Garden of theObservantinesare just behind it; but for that Hospital, it was found to require more Trouble than the other to provide it with all Necessaries. The Pains taken to disinfect theHôtel-Dieu, remove from thence the infected Patients, and bring into it all the Poor fromla Charité, are inconceivable: M.de Langeronis obliged to be on Horseback from Morning to Night, moving from Place to Place; the Sheriffs give themselves no Respite, but shorten the common Time of Meals, that they may not lose a Moment. Every thing is hard to be got, even Straw to stuff the Mattresses, which no body will bring in from the Territory, without being compelled to it by Force. Officers and Servants must be sought for all these Hospitals; especially a great Number of Surgeons must be had, both Masters and Men; they cannot be drawn hither from other Provinces, but by exorbitant Rewards; Advertisements are affixed every where, promising to all Surgeons who will come,viz.to Master-Surgeons of Principal Towns 2000 Livres a Month; to the licensed Surgeons of those Towns, and the Master-Surgeons of small Places 1000 Livres a Month; and to their Apprentices, or Journeymen, 300 Livres a Month, with the Freedom of the Company of Surgeons ofMarseilles; besides Lodging and Diet all the time they are employed.