If Fear, Despair, and all De&rehy;jection of Spirits dispose the Body to receive Contagion, and give it a great Power, where it is received, as all Physicians agree they do, I don't see how a Disease can be more enforced, than by such a Treatment.
Nothing can justify such Cruel&rehy;ty, but the Plea, that it is for the Good of the whole Community, and prevents the spreading of In&rehy;fection. But this upon due Consi&rehy;deration will be found quite other&rehy;wise: For while Contagion is kept nursed up in a House, and conti&rehy;nually encreased by the daily Con&rehy;quests it makes, it is impossible but the Air should by Degrees become tainted, which by opening Win&rehy;dows, &c. will carry the Malig&rehy;nity first from House to House; and then from one Street to ano&rehy;ther. The shutting up Houses in this Manner is only keeping so ma&rehy;ny Seminaries of Contagion, sooner or later to be dispersed abroad: For the waiting a Month, or longer, from the Death of the last Patient will avail no more, than keeping a Bale of infected Goods unpack'd; the Poyson will fly out, whenever the Pandora's Box is opened.
As these Measures were owing to the Ignorance of the true Nature of Contagion, so they did, I firmly believe, contribute very much to the long Continuance of the Plague, every time they have been practis&rehy;ed in this City: And no doubt they have had as ill Effects in o&rehy;ther Countries.
It is therefore no wonder, that great Complaints were sometimes made here against this unreasona&rehy;ble Usage; which, when they pre&rehy;vailed so far, as to procure some release for the Sick, were remark&rehy;ably followed with an Abatement of the Disease. The Plague in the Year 1636 began with great Vi&rehy;olence, but Leave being given by the King's Authority for People to quit their Houses; it was ob&rehy;served, That not one in twenty of the well Persons removed fell Sick, nor one in ten of the Sick dyed
. Discourse upon the Air, by Tho. Cock. Which single Instance alone, had there been no other, should have been of Weight ever after to deter&rehy;mine the Magistracy against too strict Confinements. But besides this, a preceding Plague, viz. in the Year 1625, affords us another In&rehy;stance of a very remarkable De&rehy;crease upon the discontinuing to shut up Houses. It was indeed so late in the Year, before this was done, that the near Approach of Winter was doubtless one Reason for the Diminution of the Disease, which followed: Yet this was so very great, that it is at least past dispute, that the Liberty then per&rehy;mitted was no Impediment to it: For this opening of the Houses was allowed of in the beginning of Sep&rehy;tember; and whereas the last Week in August, there dyed no less than 4218, the very next Week the Burials were diminished to 3344, and in no longer time than to the fourth week after, to 852. Vid. The shutting up of Houses soberly debated. Anno, 1665.
Since therefore the Management in former Times neither answers the Purpose of discovering the Be&rehy;ginning of the Infection, nor of putting a stop to it when Discovered, other Measures are certainly to be taken; which I think should be of this Nature.
Instead of ignorant old Women, who are generally appointed Search&rehy;ers in Parishes to enquire what Dis&rehy;eases People dye of, That Office should be committed to Under&rehy;standing and Diligent Men, whose Business it should be, as soon as they find any have dyed after an uncommon Manner, particularly with livid Spots, Buboes, or Car&rehy;buncles, to give notice thereof to the Magistrates; who should im&rehy;mediately send skilful Physicians to Visit the Houses in the Neighbour&rehy;hood, especially of the Poorer sort, among whom this Evil generally begins; and if upon their Report it appears, that a Pestilential Di&rehy;stemper is broke out among the Inhabitants, They should without Delay order all the Families, in which the Sickness is, to be Re&rehy;moved; The Sick to different Pla&rehy;ces from the Sound; but the Houses for both should be three or four Miles out of Town; and the Sound People should be stript of all their Cloaths, and washed and shaved, before they go into their new Lodg&rehy;ings.
No Manner of Compassion and Care should be wanting to the Dis&rehy;eased; to whom, being now in clean and airy Habitations, there would, with due Cautions, be no great Danger in giving Attendance. All Expences should be paid by the Publick, and no Charges ought to be thought great, which are coun&rehy;terbalanced with the saving a Nati&rehy;on from the greatest of Calamities. Nor does it seem to me at all unreasonable, that a Reward should be given to the Person, that makes the first Discovery of Infection in any Place; since it is undeniable, that the making known the Evil to those, who are provided with proper Methods against it, is the first and main Step towards the o&rehy;vercoming it.
When the Sick Families are gone, all the Goods of the Houses, in which they were, should be burnt; nay the Houses themselves, if that can conveniently be done. And after this all possible Care ought still to be taken to remove whatever Causes are found to breed and pro&rehy;mote Contagion. In order to this, the Overseers of the Poor (who might be assisted herein by other Officers) should visit the Dwellings of all the meaner sort of the Inha&rehy;bitants, and where they find them stifled up too close and nasty, should lessen their Number by send&rehy;ing some into better Lodgings, and should take Care, by all Man&rehy;ner of Provision and Encourage&rehy;ment, to make them more cleanly and sweet.
No good Work carries its own Reward with it so much as this kind of Charity; and therefore be the Expence what it will, it must never be thought unreasonable. For nothing approaches so near to the first Original of Contagion, as Air pent up, loaded with Damps, and corrupted with the Filthiness, that proceeds from Animal Bodies.
Our common Prisons afford us an Instance of this, in which very few escape, what they call the Goal Fever, which is always at&rehy;tended with a Degree of Malignity in proportion to the Closeness and Stench of the Place: And it would certainly very well become the Wis&rehy;dom of the Government, as well with Regard to the Health of the Town, as in Compassion to the Pri&rehy;soners, to take Care, that all Houses of Confinement should be kept as Airy and Clean, as is consistent with the Use, to which they are designed.
The Black Assize at Oxford, held in the Castle there in the Year 1577, will never be forgot Camden. Annal. Regin. Elizab.; at which the Judges, Gentry, and almost all that were present, to the Number of 300, were killed by a poysonous Steam, thought by some to have broke forth from the Earth; but by a noble and great Philosopher Lord Verulam, Natural History, Cent. 10. Num. 914. more justly supposed to have been brought by the Prisoners out of the Goal into Court; it being observed, that they alone were not injured by it.
At the same time, that this Care is taken of Houses, the pro&rehy;per Officers should be strictly charg&rehy;ed to see that the Streets be washed and kept clean from Filth, Carrion, and all Manner of Nusances; which should be carried away in the Night Time; nor should the Laystalls be suffered to be too near the City. Beggars and Idle Persons should be taken up, and such miserable Ob&rehy;jects, as are neither fit for the common Hospitals, nor Work-houses, should be provided for in an Hos&rehy;pital of Incurables.
Orders indeed of this kind are necessary to be observed at all times, especially in populous Cities; and therefore I am sorry to take No&rehy;tice, that in these of London and Westminster there is no good Po&rehy;lice established in these Respects; for want of which the Citizens and Gentry are every Day annoyed more ways than one.
If these early Precautions, we have mentioned, take Effect, there will be no need of any Methods for Correcting the Air, Purifying Houses, or of Rules for preserving particular Persons from Infection: To all which if the Plague get head, so that the Sick are too many to be removed, Regard must be had.
As to the first; Fire has been almost universally recommended for this Purpose, both by the Anci&rehy;ents and Moderns; who have ad&rehy;vised to make frequent and numerous Fires in the Towns infected: By which Means, it is said, Hip&rehy;pocrates preserved Greece from a Plague, which was entring into it from Æthiopia. Galen. de Theriac. cap. 16. And it is cer&rehy;tain, that some evil Dispositions of the Air, particularly such as pro&rehy;ceed from Damps, Exhalations, &c. may be corrected by Fire, and the Predisposition of it to receive Infection from these Causes sometimes removed. But when the Distemper is actually begun, and rages, since it is known to be spread and increased by the Heat of the Summer, and on the con&rehy;trary checked by the cold in Win&rehy;ter; undoubtedly, whatever increases the Heat will so far add Force to the Disease. Whether the Service Fires may do by correcting any other ill Qualities of the Air will counterbalance the Inconvenience upon this Account, Experience on&rehy;ly can determine; and the Fatal sucess of the Tryals made here in the last Plague, is more than sufficient to discourage any further Attempts of this Nature; for Fires being ordered in all the Streets for three Days together, there dyed in one Night following no less than 4000; whereas in any single Week before or after, not much above three times that Number were car&rehy;ryed off. Hodges de Peste, pag. 24.
What has been said of Fires, is likewise to be understood of firing of Guns, which some have too rash&rehy;ly advised. The proper Correcti&rehy;on of the Air would be to make it fresh and cool. Accordingly the Arabians Rhazes de re Medica, lib. 10. c. 16., who were best acquaint&rehy;ed with the Nature of Pestilences, advise People to keep themselves as airy as possible, and to chuse Dwellings expose to the Wind.
For keeping Houses cool, they took to be the best Method of purifying them; and therefore to answer this End more fully, they directed to strew them with cooling Herbs, as Roses, Violets, Water&rehy;Lillies, &c. and to be washed with Water and Vinegar; than all which, especially the last, nothing more proper can be proposed: Though it be directly contrary to what Mo&rehy;dern Authors mostly advise, which is to make Fumes with hot Things, as Benzoin, Frankincense, Asa Fœ&rehy;tida, Storax, &c. from which I see no reason to expect any Virtue to destroy the Matter of Infection, or to keep particular Places from a Disposition to receive it; which are the only things here to be aimed at. It is of more Consequence to be observed, that as Nastiness is a great Source of Infection, so Clean&rehy;liness is the greatest Preservative: Which is the true Reason, why the Poor are most obnoxious to Dis&rehy;asters of this Kind.
The next thing after the purifying of Houses, is to consider by what Means particular Persons may best defend themselves against Contagi&rehy;on; for the effectual doing of which it would be necessary to put the Humours of the Body into such a State, as not to be alterable by the Matter of Infection. But since this is no more to be hoped for, than a Specific Preservative from the Small-Pox; the most that can be done, will be to keep the Body in such Order, that it may suffer as little as possible. The first Step to&rehy;wards which, is to maintain a good State of Health, in which we are always least liable to suffer by any external Injuries; and not to weaken the Body by Evacuations. The next is, to guard against all Dejecti&rehy;on of Spirits, and immoderate Pas&rehy;sions; for these we daily observe do expose Persons to the more com&rehy;mon Contagion of the Small-Pox. These Ends will be best answered by living with Temperance upon a good generous Diet, and avoiding Fastings, Watchings, extreme Weari&rehy;ness, &c. Another Defence is, to use whatever Means are proper to keep the Blood from Inflaming. This, if it does not secure from contracting Infection, will at least make the Effects of it less violent. The most proper Means for this, according to the Advice of the Arabian Physicians, is the repeat&rehy;ed Use of acid Fruits, as Pomegra&rehy;nates, Sevil Oranges, Lemons, tart Apples, &c. But above all of Wine&rehy;Vinegar in small Quantities, ren&rehy;dered grateful to the Stomach by the Infusion of some such Ingre&rehy;dients as Gentian Root, Galangal, Zedoary, Juniper Berries, &c. Which Medicines by correcting the Vine&rehy;gar, and taking off some ill Effects it might otherwise have upon the Stomach, will be of good Use: But these, and all other hot Aro&rehy;matic Drugs, though much recom&rehy;mended by Authors, if used alone, are most likely to do hurt by over heating the Blood.
But since non of these Methods promise any certain Protection; as leaving the Place infected is the surest Preservative, so the next to it, is to avoid, as much as may be, the near Approach to the Sick, or to such as have but lately Recover&rehy;ed. For the greater Security here&rehy;in, it will be advisable to avoid all Crouds of People. Nay it should be the Care of the Magistrate to prohibit all unnecessary Assemblies; and likewise to oblige all, who get over the Disease, to Confine them&rehy;selves for for some time, before they appear abroad.
The Advice to keep at a Di&rehy;stance from the Sick, is also to be understood of the Dead Bodies: which should be burried at as great a Distance from Dwelling Houses, as may be; put deep in the Earth; and covered with the exactest Care. They should likewise be carried out in the Night, while they are yet fresh and free from Putrefaction: Because a Carcass not yet begin&rehy;ning to Corrupt, if kept from the Heat of the Day, hardly emits any kind of Steam or Vapour.
As for those, who must of ne&rehy;cessity attend the Sick; some fur&rehy;ther Directions should be added for their Use. These may be com&rehy;prehended in two short Precepts. One is, not to swallow their Spittle while they are about the Sick, but rather to spit it out: The other, not so much as to draw in their Breath, when they are very near them. The reason for both these appears from what has been said above con&rehy;cerning the Manner, in which a sound Person receives the Infection.
This is the Sum of what I think most likely to stop the Progress of the Disease in any Place, where it shall have got Admittance. If some few of these Rules refer more par&rehy;ticularly to the City of London, with small Alteration they may be applied to any other Place. It remains therefore only to lay down some Directions to hin&rehy;der the Distemper's spreading from Town to Town. The best Method for which, where it can be done, is to cast up a Line about the Town infected, at a convenient Distance; and by placing a Guard, to hinder People's passing from it with&rehy;out due Regulation, to other Towns: But not absolutely to for&rehy;bid any to withdraw themselves, as they have now done in France, ac&rehy;cording to the usual Practice abroad; which is an unnecessary Severity, not to call it a Cruelty. I think it will be enough, if all, who desire to pass the Line, be permitted to do it upon Condition they first per&rehy;form Quarentine for about 20 Days in Tents, or other more conveni&rehy;ent Habitations. But the greatest Care must be taken, that none pass without conforming themselves to this Order, both by keeping di&rehy;ligent Watch, and by punishing with the utmost Severity, any that shall either have done so, or at&rehy;tempt it. And better to disco&rehy;ver such, it will be requisite to o&rehy;blige all, who travel in any Part of the Country, under the same Penalties, to carry with them Cer&rehy;tificates either of their coming from Places not Infected, or of their pas&rehy;sing the Line by permission.
This I take to be a more effectu&rehy;al Method to keep the Infection from spreading, than the absolute refusing a Passage to People upon any Terms. For when Men are in such imminent Danger of their Lives, where they are; many, no doubt, if not otherwise allowed to escape, will use Endeavours to do it secretly, let the Hazard be ever so great. And it can hardly be, but some will succeed in their At&rehy;tempts; as we see fell out in France notwithstanding all their Care. But one that gets off thus clandestine&rehy;ly, will be more likely to carry the Distemper with him, than twenty, nay a hundred, that go away un&rehy;der the preceding Restrictions: E&rehy;specially because the Infection of the Place, he flies from, will by this Management be rendered much more intense. For confining Peo&rehy;ple, and shutting them up together in great Numbers, will make the Distemper rage with augmented Force, even to the increasing it be&rehy;yond what can be easily imagin&rehy;ed; As appears from the Account, which the learned Gassendus Notitia Ecclesiæ Diniensis has given us of a memorable Plague which happened at Digne in Pro&rehy;vence, where he lived, in the Year 1619. This was so terrible, that in one Summer out of ten thousand Inhabitants, it left but fifteen hun&rehy;dred, and of them all but five or six had gone through the Disease. And he assigns this, as the princi&rehy;pal Cause of the great Destruction, That the Citizens were too closely confined, and not suffered so much as to go to their Country Houses. whereas in another Pestilence, which broke out in the same Place a year and half after, more Liberty being allowed, there did not dye above one hundred Persons.
For these Reasons, I think, to allow People with proper Cautions to remove from an infected Place, is the best Means to suppress the Contagion, as well as the most humane Treatment of the present Sufferers: But though Liberty ought to be given to the People, yet no sort of Goods must by any means be suffered to be carried over the Line, which are made of Mate&rehy;rials retentive of In&rehy;fection. For in the present Case, when Infection has seized any Part of a Country, much greater Care ought to be taken, that no Seeds of the Contagion be conveyed about, than when the Distemper is at a great Distance; because a Bale of Goods, which shall have imbibed the Con&rehy;tagious Aura when packt up in Turkey, or any remote Parts; yet, when unpackt here, may chance to meet with so healthful a Tempe&rehy;rament of our Air, that it shall not do much hurt. But when the Air of any one of our Towns shall be so corrupted, as to spread and maintain the Pestilence in it, there will be little reason to believe, that the Air of the rest of the Country is in a much better State.
For the same Reason Quaren&rehy;tines should more strictly be en&rehy;joined, when the Plague is in a bordering Kingdom, than when it is more remote.
I have gone through the chief Branches of Preservation against the Plague. And shall only add, that if the Burning of Goods, which has been proposed, be thought a&rehy;ny Way offensive or inconvenient, The Burying of them six Feet, or more under Ground may answer the Purpose as well.
What has been said of the Na&rehy;ture of Contagion, upon which the foregoing Directions are grounded, may also be of Use towards e&rehy;stablishing a better Method of Cure, than Authors have common&rehy;ly taught: But to engage in this is beyond the present Design.
FINIS.