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Title: A brief Journal of what passed in the City of Marseilles, while it was afflicted with the Plague, in the Year 1720

Author: Pichatty de Croislainte

Release date: May 17, 2014 [eBook #45673]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
        http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
        generously made available by The Internet Archive)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF JOURNAL OF WHAT PASSED IN THE CITY OF MARSEILLES, WHILE IT WAS AFFLICTED WITH THE PLAGUE, IN THE YEAR 1720 ***




Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by The Internet Archive)









                                A BRIEF

                                JOURNAL

                     Of what passed in the CITY of

                             _MARSEILLES_,

                    While it was Afflicted with the

                                PLAGUE,

In the YEAR 1720.

    Extracted from the REGISTER of the _Council-Chamber_ of the
    _Town-House_, kept by Monsieur PICHATTY DE CROISSAINTE, Counsellor
    and Orator of that City, and the King's Attorney in Affairs
    relating to the good Government of it.

_Translated from the ORIGINAL, Published at_ PARIS, _with the King's
Privilege_.


                               _LONDON_:

   Printed for J. ROBERTS, near the _Oxford-Arms_ in _Warwick-Lane_.
                                 1721.

Price, One Shilling.




[Illustration]

    _ABSTRACT of the_ French _King's Privilege, for the printing and
    publishing of this Journal._


_Lewis_, by the Grace of God, King of _France_ and _Navarre_. To our
beloved and faithful Counsellors holding our Court of Parliament of
_Paris_, and to all others whom it may Concern: Greeting. Our well
beloved _Nicholas Carré_ of _Paris_, having represented to us, that a
Manuscript has been put into his Hands, intitled, _A Brief Journal of
what passed in the City of_ Marseilles _while it was afflicted with
the Plague_; and most humbly besought us to grant him our Letters of
Privilege, for the sole printing and vending thereof throughout our
Dominions.----We being willing to treat the Petitioner favourably, and
to acknowledge his Zeal for the Good and Benefit of the Publick, do
by these Presents grant to him and his Assigns, the sole Liberty of
printing and publishing the said Book, for the term of six Years from
the Date hereof:--Forbidding all other Persons to print or counterfeit
the same, on the Penalty of Confiscation of such Copies, and of a
Fine of three thousand Livres, to be paid by every Offender. Done at
_Paris_, the 17th of _July_ in the sixth Year of our Reign. By the King
in Council.

  CARPOT.




[Illustration]

    _A_ BRIEF JOURNAL _of what passed in the City of_ MARSEILLES,
    _while it was afflicted with the Plague in 1720_.


THE Coasts of the _Levant_ being always suspected of the Plague, all
Ships which come from thence for _Marseilles_ stop at the Islands of
_Chateaudif_; and the Intendants of Health regulate the Time and Manner
of their Quarantaines, and of purifying their Cargoes, by the Tenor of
their Patents (or Bills of Health), and by the State of Health of the
particular Places from whence they come.

The Beginning of _May_, 1720. we had Advice at _Marseilles_, that from
the Month of _March_ the Plague was rife in most of the Maritime Towns
or trading Ports of _Palestine_ and _Syria_.

The 25th of the said Month of _May_, the Ship commanded by Captain
_Chataud_, which came from thence, that is to say, from _Sidon_,
_Tripoli_, _Syria_, and _Cyprus_, arrives at the said Islands; but
his Patents are clean (_i.e._ his Certificates imported there was no
Contagion at those Places,) because he came away the 31st of _January_,
before the Plague was there. He declares, however, to the Intendants of
Health, that in his Voyage, or at _Leghorn_ where he touched, Six Men
of his Crew died, but he shews by the Certificate of the Physicians of
Health at _Leghorn_, that they died only of Malignant Fevers, caused by
unwholesome Provisions.

The 27th of _May_, one of his Sailors dies in his Ship.

The 28th, the Intendants cause the Corpse to be carried into the
Infirmary; _Guerard_, chief Surgeon of Health, views it; and makes
Report, that it has not any Mark of Contagion.

The 29th, the Intendants settle the purifying of the Goods of this
Cargo, to Forty Days compleat, to be reckoned from the Day the last
Bale shall be carried from it into the Infirmaries.

The last of _May_, Three other Vessels arrive at the same Islands;
_viz._ Two small Vessels of Captain _Aillaud_'s from _Sidon_, whence
they came since the Plague was there; and Captain _Fouque_'s Bark from
_Scanderoon_.

The 12th of _June_, Captain _Gabriel_'s Ship arrives there likewise
from the same Places, with a foul Patent; (_i. e._ importing, that the
Plague was there.)

The same Day the Officer, whom the Intendants had put on Board Captain
_Chataud_'s Ship to see Quarantain duly performed, dies there;
_Guerard_ chief Surgeon of Health views the Body, and makes Report that
it has not any Mark of Contagion.

The 14th of _June_, the Passengers who came in the said Ship, are
perfumed for the last Time in the Infirmaries; and are allowed to enter
the City as usual.

The 23d, being the Eve of St. _John Baptist_, the Grand Prior arrives
at _Genoa_ with the King's Gallies; the Sheriffs have the Honour to
welcome him, and I to make a Speech to him in the Name of the City.

The same Day a Cabbin-Boy of Captain _Chataud_'s Ship, a Servant
employed at the Infirmaries in purifying the Goods of that Ship, and
another who was purifying those of Captain _Gabriel_'s Ship, fall sick;
the same Surgeon makes Report that they have not any Mark of Contagion.

The 24th, another Servant employed to purify Captain _Aillaud_'s Goods,
falls sick likewise; is visited, and the same Report made.

The 24th, and 26th, all Four dye one after another; their Bodies are
viewed, and Report made that they have not any Mark of Contagion.

Notwithstanding the Reports thus made, the Intendants consult and
resolve by way of Precaution to cause all these Bodies to be buried in
Lime; to remove from the Island of _Pomegué_ the Ships of the Captains
_Chataud_, _Aillaud_, and _Gabriel_, and send them to a distant Island
called _Jarre_, there to begin again their Quarantain; and to inclose
the Yard where their Goods are purifying in the Infirmaries, without
suffering the Servants employed to air them, to come out.

The 28th of _June_, another Vessel, being Captain _Gueymart_'s Bark,
from _Sidon_, arrives at the foresaid Islands with a foul Patent.

The 1st of _July_, the Intendants pass a Resolution, to cause all the
Vessels which were come with foul Patents, to Anchor at a good Distance
off the Island of _Pomegué_.

The 7th of _July_, two more Servants shut up to purify in the
Infirmaries the Goods brought by Captain _Chataud_, fall sick; the
Surgeon finds Tumours in their Groyns, and says in his Report that he
does not believe however it is the Plague: He pays for his Incredulity,
perhaps for not right understanding the Distemper, by dying himself
soon after, with part of his Family.

The 8th, another Servant falls sick; the Surgeon finds a Swelling in
the upper Part of the Thigh, and then declares he takes it to be a Mark
of Contagion, and desires a Consultation.

Immediately the Intendants call three other Master Surgeons to visit
the said Servants; their Report is, that they have all certainly the
Plague.

The 9th those Patients dye, they are buried in Lime, and all their
Apparel is burnt.

The Intendants resolve to cause all the Goods of Captain _Chataud_'s
Cargoe, to be taken out of the Infirmaries, and sent to be purified on
the Island of _Jarre_; and they repair to the Town-House to acquaint
the Sheriffs with what has passed.

The Matter appearing to be of Consequence, they write about it to the
Council of Marine, and to the Marshal Duke _de Villars_, Governor of
_Provence_; and M. _Estelle_, one of the chief Sheriffs, with two
Intendants of Health, are deputed to go to _Aix_ to give an Account of
it to M. _Lebret_, first President of the Parliament and Intendant of
Justice and of Commerce.

The same Day, M. _Peissonel_, and his Son, Physicians, come to the
Town-House, to give Notice to the Sheriffs, that having been called
to a House in the Square of _Linche_, to visit a young Man named
_Eissalene_, he appeared to them to have the Plague.

That Instant, Guards are sent to the Door of that House, to hinder any
one from coming out of it.

The 10th of _July_ that Patient dies, and his Sister falls sick; the
Guard is doubled; and it being judged proper to carry both off; to do
it the more quietly, and without alarming the People, it is delayed
till Night; when at Eleven a Clock M. _Moustier_, another of the chief
Sheriffs, repairs thither without Noise, sends for Servants from the
Infirmaries, encourages them to go up into the House, and they having
brought down the Dead and the Sick, he orders them to carry them
in Litters without the Town to the Infirmaries, causes all Persons
belonging to the House to be conducted thither likewise, accompanies
them himself with Guards, that none might come near them, and then
returns to see the Door of the House closed up with Mortar.

The 11th Notice is given, that one _Boyal_ is fallen sick in the same
Quarter of the Town, Physicians and Surgeons are sent to visit him;
they declare he has the Plague, his House is instantly secured by
Guards, and when Night is come M. _Moustier_ goes thither, sends for
the Buriers of the Dead from the Infirmaries, and finding the Patient
was newly dead, causes them to take the Corpse, accompanies it, sees it
interred in Lime, and then returns to remove all the Persons of that
House to the Infirmaries, and the Door to be closed up.

The 12th all this is told to the Grand Prior, who still remains at
_Marseilles_; the first President is writ to; the Intendants of Health
are assembled, to cause all the Vessels come from the _Levant_, with
foul Patents, to go back to the Island of _Jarre_, and all their
Goods that remain in the Infirmaries to be removed thither likewise:
M. _Audimar_, one of the Sheriffs, presided in their Assembly, to
influence them to pass this Resolution.

This, and the following Day, the Sheriffs make very strict Enquiry in
the Town, to discover all Persons who had Communication with those Dead
or Sick of the Plague; the most suspected are sent to the Infirmaries,
and the others confined to their Houses.

The 14th, they write an Account of what has passed to the Council of
Marine; they resolve not to give any more Patents (or Certificates of
Health) to any Vessel, till they can be sure the Distemper is over.

The 15th, left from this Refusal to give Certificates of Health,
it should be believed in foreign Countries that the plague is in
_Marseilles_; and lest this should entirely interrupt all Commerce,
they write to the Officers Conservators of Health at all the Ports of
_Europe_, the real Fact; that is to say, That there are several Persons
ill of the Contagion in the Infirmaries, but that it has not made any
Progress in the City.

The 21st of _July_, nothing of the Plague having since been discovered
in the Town, they write it with Joy to the Council of Marine, and
continue to provide whatever is necessary in the Infirmaries for the
Subsistance of suspected Persons whom they have sent thither, and of
those whom they have confined to their Houses.

Already the Publick, recovered from their Fright, begin to explode as
useless the Trouble the Sheriffs had given themselves, and all the
Precautions they had taken; 'tis pretended, the Two Persons who died
in the Square of _Linche_, were carried off by quite another Distemper
than the Plague: The Physicians and Surgeons are upbraided with having
by their Error allarmed the whole Town. Abundance of People are
observed to assume the Character of a dauntless Freedom of Mind, who
are soon after seen more struck with Terror than any others, and to fly
with more Disorder and Precipitation; their boasted Firmness quickly
forsakes them. The Truth is, the Plague is to be feared and shunned.

The 26th of _July_, Notice is given to the Sheriffs, that in the
Street of _Lescalle_, a Part of the old Town inhabited only by poor
People, Fifteen Persons are suddenly fallen sick: They dispatch thither
Physicians and Surgeons; they examine into the Distemper, and make
Report; some, that 'tis a Malignant Fever; others, a contagious or
pestilential Fever, occasioned by bad Food, which Want had long forced
those poor Creatures to live upon: Not one of them says positively it
is the Plague. A Man must indeed have been very well assured of it,
to say it; the Publick had already shewed a Disposition to resent any
false Alarm.

The Sheriffs do not rest wholly satisfied with this Report, but resolve
to proceed in the same Way of Precaution, as if those Sick were
actually touched with the Plague; to send them all without Noise to
the Infirmaries; and for the present to confine them in their Houses.

The 27th, Eight of those Sick dye; the Sheriffs themselves go to their
Houses to cause them to be searched; Buboes are found on Two of them:
The Physicians and Surgeons still hold the same Language, and impute
the Cause of the Distemper to unwholsome Food. Notwithstanding which,
as soon as Night comes, M. _Moustier_ repairs to the Place, sends
for Servants from the Infirmaries, makes them willingly or by Force,
take up the Bodies, with all due Precautions; they are carried to the
Infirmaries, where they are buried with Lime; and all the rest of the
Night he causes the remaining Sick, and all those of their Houses, to
be removed to the Infirmaries.

The 28th, very early in the Morning, Search is made every where for
those who had Communication with them, in order to confine them: Other
Persons in the same Street fall sick, and some of those who first
sicken'd dye. At Midnight M. _Estelle_ (who was come back from _Aix_)
repairs thither; causes the Buriers of the Dead at the Infirmaries to
attend; makes them carry off the dead Bodies, and bury them in Lime;
and then till Day-break sees all the Sick conducted to the Infirmaries.

The People who love to deceive themselves, and will have it absolutely
not to be the Plague, urge a Hundred false Reasons on that Side. Would
the Plague, say they, attack none but such poor People? Would it
operate so slowly?

Let them have but a few Days Patience, and they will see all attacked
without Distinction, with the swiftest Rage, and the most dreadful
Havock, that ever was heard of.

Some obstinately contend that the Distemper proceeded wholly from
Worms: But while they pretend to argue so confidently, trembling with
Fear in their Hearts, they make up their Pack to be the readier to fly:
What all others are doing, I leave to be imagined; every one has taken
the Fright, and is ready to run out of the Town, to seek Refuge any
where.

In the mean while, the Distemper continuing in the Street of
_Lescalle_, the 29th of _July_, and 10 Days after successively, the
Sheriffs are obliged to give Nightly the same Attendance, and in the
Daytime to make continual Search after all those who had Communication
with the Sick or Dead: People fall sick in several other Parts of the
Town; they are confined in Places by themselves by Guards; some of them
Dye, and every Night M. _Estelle_ and _Moustier_, go by Turns to see
them carried off, to remove the rest to the Infirmaries, and to fasten
up or perfume Houses; Labours as dangerous as toilsome, especially
when after having sat up and staid all Night in the Street, they find
themselves obliged to apply all the Day after to a thousand other
Things no less troublesome.

M. _Audimar_ and _Dieudé_, the other Sheriffs, are fatigued on their
part with continual Care and Pains, arising from the Increase of
necessary Business in a Town, where the common Course of Occurrences
takes up all the Time the Civil Magistrate can bestow. M. _Dieudé_,
however, goes two Nights together, to accompany the Officers at
removing the Dead and the Sick.

The Marquis _de Pilles_, the Governor, is perpetually co-operating with
them all; he is every Day, from Morning till Night, at the Town-House,
applying himself indefatigably to all that his Zeal and Prudence
suggest to him; and to all that the maintaining of good Order requires
on such an Occasion.

The whole Sum in _Specie_ at this time in the City-Treasury, is but
1100 Livres; and 'tis manifest, that if the City come to be thoroughly
infected, all must perish for Want of Money: This obliges the Sheriffs
to write to the First President, to press him earnestly to be pleased
to procure Money for them.

Bread-Corn being scarce, is immediately run up to an exorbitant
Price; to prevent therefore its being hoarded up to make it dearer,
an Ordinance is issued at my Instance, to forbid the hoarding it, on
severe Penalties. Two other Ordinances are published at the same time,
forbidding all Persons to have and keep in the Town, any thing that
might contribute to the spreading of the Contagion.

The 30th of _July_, a general View and Inventory is taken of all the
Provisions in the City; and the Sheriffs finding hardly any Bread-Corn,
Meat, or Wood, and little Money in the Treasury to buy Stores with;
all things excessively dear; Disorder increasing; the Populace as poor
as frighten'd; all the Persons of Condition and the Rich already fled:
They write to M. _le Pelletier des Forts_, and representing to him the
deplorable Condition of _Marseilles_, beseech him to intercede with his
Royal Highness to grant them some Supplies.

The 31st of _July_, another Ordinance is issued at my Instance, to
oblige all strange Beggars to depart the City this Day; and those
settled in the Town, to retire into the Hospital _de la Charité_, on
the Penalty of being whipped.

But this Ordinance is not put in Execution, because we learn the same
Day, that the Chamber of _Vacations_ of the Parliament of _Aix_, on the
Rumour that the Plague is in _Marseilles_, has publish'd an _Arrêt_,
forbidding the _Marseillians_ to stir out of the Bounds of their own
Territory; the Inhabitants of all the Towns and Places of _Provence_ to
communicate with them, or to harbour them; and all Muleteers, Carriers,
and all others, to go to _Marseilles_, for what Cause, or under what
Pretext soever, on Pain of Death.

In this Condition, how could 2 or 3000 Beggars, that were then in the
City, be turned out of it? Not being able to pass beyond the Limits of
the Territory, they would be constrained to stay there, and to ravage
it for Subsistance.

The 1_st_ of _August_, M. _Sicard_, Father and Son, Physicians, come
to the Town-House, to tell the Sheriffs, that it is not to be doubted
the Distemper in the City is really the Plague, but that they make sure
Account they shall put an end to it, if they will do what they shall
prescribe; which is to buy up a great Quantity of Wood, Brushes and
Faggots; to lay them in Piles, at small Distances, along the Walls of
the Town, and in all publick Walks, open Places, Squares, and Markets;
to oblige every private Person to lay a Heap of them before his House,
in all the Streets in general; and to set them all on fire at the same
time, in the Beginning of the Night; which will most certainly put an
End to the Plague.

Every body being willing to make this Experiment; and all the other
Physicians, who are called daily to the Town-House to give an Account
of the Progress of the Distemper, not disapproving it; the Sheriffs
forthwith cause all the Wood, Faggots, and Brushes that can be found,
to be bought up; and M. _Audimar_ and _Dieudé_ go with the utmost
Ardour to see them placed along the Walls, and in the publick Walks and
Places.

The 2d of _August_ they publish an Ordinance, commanding all the
Inhabitants to make each a Bonfire before his House, and to light it
at 9 a-Clock at Night, the Moment those along the Walls and in the
publick Places shall be lighted. This is executed: It is a magnificent
Sight, to behold a Circuit of Walls, of so large, so vast Extent, all
illuminated; and if this should cure the City, it would certainly be
cured in a most joyful and agreeable manner.

The Magistrates, who to satisfy the Publick, and to avoid all Reproach,
make such Experiments, cannot however sleep upon the Success promised
from them; Prudence requires they should pursue proper Measures, and
not be with-held by vain Hopes: They write to the First President, and
desire him, since the Roads are barricaded against them, to be pleased
to dispatch for them a Courier to the Court, to represent their Misery,
and the Inconveniences they have ground to fear, as being without a
Penny of Money, while they are in Dread of wanting every thing, and of
having the Calamity of Famine superadded to that of the Plague.

They write to the Council of _Marine_ likewise, acquainting them what
Number of Sick they actually have, and how many Dead they have carried
to, and buried at the Infirmaries.

The same Day, in the Assembly held daily at the Town-House with the
municipal Officers, and such of the chief Citizens as have not yet
fled, M. _de Pilles_ presiding, it was resolved:

    1. That whereas the Number of the Sick increases more and more,
    especially in the Street of _Lescalle_, a _Corps de Garde_ shall be
    posted at every Avenue of that street, to hinder any one's going
    into, or coming out of it; and that Commissaries of Victualling
    shall be appointed to go and distribute Provisions to the Families
    inhabiting that Street.

    2. That all the Captains of the City shall each raise a Company of
    50 Men of the Militia, to be paid by the City: And that however,
    the Five Brigades called the Brigades _du Privilege du Vin_, with
    their Officers, shall serve every where as a Guard to the Sheriffs
    in their Marches in the Night, to see the Dead and Sick carry'd off
    to the Infirmaries.

    3. That the Physicians and Surgeons already employ'd, may be
    induced to serve with the greater Diligence, and not to demand any
    fee of the Sick, they shall have Salaries from the City, and be
    allowed _Sarrots_ of oiled Cloth, and Chairs, for their more easy
    Conveyance every where.

    4. That seeing the City has no Money, and that it must
    indispensibly be had, Advertisements shall be publickly affixed,
    for taking Loans of Money at 5 _per Cent._ to try to get some by
    that means: And that the Treasurer not being able to come to reside
    at the Town-House, M. _Bouys_, First Clerk of the Records, shall be
    Cashier there.

The 3d of _August_, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs, being
reassembled with the same Citizens, appoint 150 Commissaries in the 5
Parishes of the City, to look each in the Quarter assigned him to the
Wants of the Poor; to distribute to them Bread, and other Subsistance,
at the Charge of the City; and to do whatever else they shall be
directed for the publick Good and Welfare.

In that Part of the Town called the _Rive Neuve_, which lies beyond the
Port, and extends from the Abbey of St. _Victor_ to the Arsenal, the
Chevalier _Rose_ is appointed Captain and Commissary General.

And in the Territory, (_i.e._ the Country belonging to _Marseilles_)
which is like a vast City, there being above Ten thousand Houses,
called _Bastides_, in the 44 Quarters and dependent Parishes, of which
it is composed, besides several pretty large Villages; one Captain and
some Commissaries are appointed for each, to take the like Care.

The same Day, for preventing Communication among Children, who, as it
is said, are most susceptible of the Plague, the College and all the
Publick Schools are shut up.

As for the Fires advised by the Two _Sicards_, they are forborn: Notice
is given, that those Two Physicians have deserted the City; besides,
there is no Wood, Faggots, or Brushes, to be had; but a Quantity of
Brimstone is bought up, and distributed among the Poor, in all Quarters
of the Town, and the Insides of all the Houses are order'd to be
perfumed.

In the Evening, the Marquis _de Pilles_ and the Sheriffs, being still
assembled in the Town-House, Notice is given them, that four or
five Hundred of the Populace are got together in the Quarter called
_l'Aggrandissement_, and are very disorderly, crying out they will have
Bread; the Bakers of that Quarter, by reason of the Scarcity of Corn,
not having made the usual Quantity, so that many Persons could not be
served: The Marquess _de Pilles_ and M. _Moustier_ hasten thither,
followed by some Guards; their Presence puts a Stop to the Tumult, and
they entirely appease the People, by causing some Bread to be given
them.

The 4th, the Officers of the Garison of Fort _St. John_ come to the
Town-House, acquaint the Sheriffs that they are in want of Bread-Corn,
and desire a Supply from them; declaring, that otherwise they cannot
answer that the Troops of their Garison will not come into the City,
and take Corn by Force. The Sheriffs reply, that they would willingly
furnish them if they had Stores sufficient; but the Want themselves
are in, is so great, that they cannot do it; and if Violence should be
offered to the Inhabitants, they would appear at their Head to defend
them.

The same Day it being taken into Consideration, that the Arrêt issued
by the Chamber of Vacations, having interdicted all Communication
between the Inhabitants of the Province, and those of _Marseilles_; if
Things should remain at this Pass, and no Body should bring in Corn,
and other Provisions, we should soon be reduced to the Extremity of
Famine, the Sheriffs resolve to have Recourse to the First President.
Accordingly they send to intreat him to establish, as had been done
formerly, Markets, and Barriers for Conference, at certain proper
Places, whither Strangers, without being exposed to any Risque, might
bring us Provisions: At the same time they write to the Procurators
of the Country of _Provence_, to be pleas'd to concur therein. It is
impossible, certainly, to exert more Compassion to the Miseries of an
afflicted City, than they did; and particularly the Consuls of the
several Towns: _Marseilles_ will never forget the Services done her in
this Calamity, nor the Kindness, Zeal and Readiness with which they
were done.

The same Day, the Sheriffs considering the Disorders which often happen
in a Time of Contagion, the Necessity of using speedy Means to suppress
them, and of making Examples of Malefactors and Rebels; and that as
often as this City has been visited with the Plague, as in 1580, 1630,
1649, and 1650, our Kings have constantly granted to their Predecessors
in the Magistracy, by Letters Patents, the Power of judging all Crimes
finally, and without Appeal; they write again to the First President,
desiring him to procure for them from his Majesty the like Letters
Patents.

The 5th, they repeat their Instances to him, to get them supplied
with Corn: They write likewise to the same purpose, to the Consuls
of _Toulon_, and to those of all the Maritime Towns of the Coasts of
_Languedoc_ and _Provence_; proposing to go to receive the Corn at
any Place distant from the Town which they shall chuse to land it at;
and they desire those of the Town of _Martignes_ to send Vessels to
_Arles_, to fetch Corn from thence.

The 6th, an Ordinance is publish'd at my Instance, forbidding all
Persons to remove from one House to another the Moveables and Apparel
of the Sick or Dead, or to touch them, or make any use of them, on Pain
of Death. Another Ordinance fixes the Rates of Victuals and necessary
Commodities, to restrain the excessive Price to which, because of the
Scarcity, those who would make Advantage of the Publick Misery, would
raise them.

The 7th, the Chamber of Vacations having permitted the Procurators
of the Country to come to a Conference with the Sheriffs, at a Place
on the Road to _Aix_, call'd _Notre-Dame_, two Leagues distant from
_Marseilles_; the Marquess _de Vauvenargues_, first Procurator of
the Country, comes thither, accompanied by several Gentlemen, and
the principal Officers of the Province, attended by the Marshal de
_Villars_'s Guards, and by a Brigade of Archers of the _Marshalsea_.
A Town afflicted with, or suspected of the Plague, out of which even
almost all the Inhabitants are ready to run, cannot make a Figure,
conformable to such Honour. M. _Estelle_, one of the chief Sheriffs,
goes to the Place, without Retinue, without Attendants, and without
any Guard, accompanied only by M. _Capus_, Keeper of the Records of
the City, who, by his Ability, Probity, and Application, is become the
Pilot, as it were, of this whole Community.

At this Conference, where the Precaution is used to speak to each other
at a great Distance, an Agreement is made, importing, that at that
Place a Market shall be establish'd, where a double Barrier shall be
fixed; and that another Market shall be settled at the Sheep-Inn, on
the Road to _Aubagne_, which is likewise two Leagues from _Marseilles_;
another for Vessels bringing Provisions by Sea, at a Creek called
_Lestaque_, in the Gulph of the Islands of _Marseilles_; and that at
all these Markets and Barriers, the Guards shall be placed by the
Procurators of the Country, and paid by the Sheriffs of _Marseilles_.

The 8th, this Agreement is confirm'd by an Arret of the Chamber of
Vacations: In Consequence of which, the Sheriffs write to all the
Consuls of the Towns and Places of _Provence_, pressing them to send,
with all Expedition, Corn, and other Provisions, Wood and Coal, to
these Markets and Barriers, where all shall be transacted without
Communication.

They apply themselves the same Day to the drawing up of general
Instructions, in which they specify all the Duties the Commissaries
whom they have already appointed, are to perform, for relieving the
Poor, and taking Care of the Sick.

In the mean time, it being evident that M. _Estelle_ and _Moustier_,
who hitherto have sat up by Turns every Night, to see the Dead, Sick,
and Suspected, carried to the Infirmaries, and Houses fasten'd up or
perfumed, cannot possibly undergo such Fatigues much longer; especially
the Distemper beginning to break out in divers Quarters of the Town,
far distant from each other; altho' M. _Audimar_ and _Dieudé_ offer'd
to relieve them; The Marquis _de Pilles_ judging it necessary they
should manage their Health and Life, it was resolved in the Assembly,

    1. That Carts shall be used to carry off the Dead; that all the
    sturdiest Beggars who can be found, shall be seized, and made
    Buriers of the Dead; that Four Lieutenants of Health shall direct
    them, and M. _Bonnet_, Lieutenant to the Governor, shall command
    them.

    2. Men shall forthwith be set to work, to dig large and deep Pits
    without the Walls of the Town, in which the Dead shall be buried
    with Lime.

    3. A Pest-House or Hospital shall be immediately establish'd: The
    Hospital _de la Charité_ is first thought of; but the Difficulty
    of removing out of it, and lodging elsewhere, above 800 of both
    Sexes who are in it, renders it necessary to resolve upon that _des
    Convalescens_, which is near the Walls of the Town, on the side of
    the Gate of St. _Bernard du Bois_.

The 9th of _August_, it is observ'd, that some Physicians, and almost
all the Master-Surgeons, are fled. An Ordinance is issued at my
Instance, to oblige them to return; on the Penalty to the former, of
being expell'd for ever from the College of their Faculty; and to
the latter, of being expell'd the Company of Surgeons, and of being
proceeded against extraordinarily.

Another Ordinance is publish'd at my Instance, forbidding Butchers,
when they flea and cut up Beef or Mutton at the Slaughter-House, to
blow it up with their Mouth, by which the Plague might be communicated
to the Meat; but to make use of Bellows, on Pain of Death.

Another, forbidding Bakers to convert into Biscuit, the Meal the City
gives them to make Bread of for the Poor; or to make any White Bread,
in order to prevent their bolting the Meal designed for the Poor's
Bread.

And another, forbidding all Persons to divert the publick Waters for
overflowing their Grounds; that the Conduits may not become dry, but
that Water may run the more plentifully through all the Streets of the
City to carry off the Filth.

This Day and the following, it is found not a little difficult, to get
all that had been resolved upon the Day before put in Execution: Carts,
Horses, Harness are wanted; they must be had from the Country, and no
Person will furnish them to serve to carry infected Bodies. Men are
wanted to harness the Horses, to put them to the Carts, and to drive
them; and every one abhors lending a Hand to so dangerous a Service.
Buriers of the Dead are wanted to take them out of the Houses; and
tho' excessive Pay be offered, the poorest of the Populace dread such
hazardous Work, and make all possible Efforts to shun it. Peasants are
wanted to open the Pits, and none will come to dig, such Affright and
Horror has seiz'd them: The Sheriffs are oblig'd to exert themselves to
the utmost, to get some by Management, and others by Force and Rigor.

To put into Order as speedily as is requisite, a Pest-House, and to
furnish it with all Necessaries, which are almost numberless, is a Task
no less perplexed with Difficulties. The Hospital _des Convalescens_,
which was resolved to be made use of, is found to be too little; it is
necessary to enlarge it, by joining to it a Building called the _Fas_,
which stands very near it; a thousand Things are to be done, and yet
none could easily be made to stir about them: M. _Moustier_ is obliged
to repair thither, and to abide upon the Spot; and by keeping Hands at
Work Night and Day, he makes such Expedition, that in 48 Hours he gets
it put in Order, all Necessaries sorted and laid ready, and the whole
made fit to receive the Sick.

A very great Difficulty still remains, which is to find Stewards,
Overseers, Cooks, and other lower Officers, and especially so great a
Number of Servants as are requisite to tend the Sick: Advertisements
are affixed throughout the City, to invite those sordid Creatures
whom Avarice draws into Dangers, or those of better Minds, whom
superabundant Charity disposes to devote themselves for the Publick;
and by seeking such out, by encouraging, giving, and promising,
they are procured: Apothecaries and Surgeons are engaged; and two
Physicians, Strangers, named _Gayon_, come in voluntarily, and offer
their Service, and to be shut up in the Hospital: Unhappily, Death puts
an End too soon to their Charity and Zeal.

Three Pits of Sixty Foot long, as many broad, and Twenty four deep, are
begun at once without the Walls, between the Gate of _Aix_ and that of
_Joliette_: To compel the Peasants to work at them, M. _Moustier_ is
obliged to keep with them daily, exposed to the Heat of the Sun.

The Chevalier _Rose_, appointed Captain and Commissary-General at the
_Rive Neuve_, beyond the Port, does the same: He puts into proper Order
another vast Hospital, under the Sheds of a Rope-yard; causes large
and deep Pits to be dug near the Abbey of St. _Victor_; gets together
Carts, Buriers of the Dead, and all Persons needful to look to the
Living, the Dying, and the Dead; and what is no less remarkable than
his Activity, his Courage, and his Zeal for his unfortunate Country,
he furnishes out of his own Purse the great Expences necessary for
maintaining that Hospital, and the many Hands he employs, without
troubling himself when and how he shall be reimbursed.

No sooner are these Pest-Houses in any Readiness to receive the Sick,
but in less than Two Days they are quite filled; but are not long so by
those who are carried thither: The Distemper is so violent, that those
who are brought in at Night are carried out next Day to the Pits; and
so the Dead make Room every Day successively for the Sick.

The 12th of _August_, M. _de Chicoyneau_ and _Verny_, the chief
Physicians of _Montpellier_, arrive at the Barrier of _Notre-Dame_,
to come and examine, by Order of his Royal Highness, the true Nature
of the Distemper that afflicts this City: Lodgings are made ready for
them, and a Coach is sent to bring them hither from the Barrier.

The 13th, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs invite them to
the Town-House, whither they had summoned all the Physicians and
Master-Surgeons of the City; after they had conferred a long Time
upon the Symptoms of the Distemper, they agree among themselves, to
go together the following Days, to visit as well the sick in the
Hospitals, as those in the several Quarters of the Town, and to make
such Experiments as they should judge proper.

Hitherto the Distemper has not exerted all its Rage; it kills indeed
those it seizes, hardly one escaping; and whatever House it enters, it
carries off the whole Family; but as yet, it has fallen only on the
poorer Sort of People, which keeps many Persons in a false Notion, that
it is not really the Plague, but proceeds from bad Diet and Want of
other Necessaries: those who use the Sea, and have frequently seen the
Plague in the _Levant_, think they observe some Difference: In short,
Abundance of People still remain in doubt, and expecting with the
utmost Impatience the Decision of the Physicians of _Montpellier_, to
determine them whether to stay or fly.

The 14th, the Sheriffs write to the Council of Marine, most humbly to
thank his Royal Highness for his Care and Goodness, in sending to them
these Physicians.

The 15th they write to the Marshal _de Villars_, to acquaint him with
the Condition of the City, and the extreme Want it is in, having near
a hundred thousand Souls in it, without Bread and without Money: they
write likewise to M. _de Bernage_, Intendant in _Languedoc_, and to
the Marquess _de Caylus_ the commanding Officer in _Provence_, then at
_Montpellier_, to desire them to procure them Bread-Corn, to preserve
them from Famine, which they had no less Reason to fear than the
Plague. The Marquess _de Caylus_ has the Goodness to engage his own
Credit for procuring them a good Quantity.

The 16th being the Festival of St. _Roch_, which has at all Times
been solemnized at _Marseilles_, for imploring Deliverance from the
Plague, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs, for preventing
Communication, would have the Procession usually made every Year, in
which the Bust and Relicks of that Saint are carried, be now forborn;
but they are obliged to yield to the Outcries of the People, who become
almost raving in Matters of Devotion, when they are under so terrible
a Scourge as the Plague, whose dire Effects they already feel; they
even judge it convenient to assist at the Procession themselves, with
all their Halbardiers and Guards, to hinder its being followed by a
Crowd, and to prevent all Disorder.

The 17th the Physicians of _Montpellier_ come to the Town-House, to
acquaint the Sheriffs with what they have discover'd of the Nature of
the Distemper, and in plain Words declare it to be certainly the Plague.

But considering how many People have already left the City, and that
the Terror and Affright in it have put all into Confusion, they think
fit, lest they should increase it, to dissemble; and that, for quieting
Peoples Minds, a publick Notification should be affixed; importing,
that they find the Distemper to be only a contagious Fever, occasion'd
by unwholsome Diet, and that it will soon cease by the Supplies which
are preparing to be sent in from all Parts, and which will produce
Plenty of all Things.

This Notification is forthwith affixed, but without any Effect: The
Mortality which for some Days past has extremely increas'd, the
Malignity and Violence with which it begins to rage in all Parts
without Distinction, and the Suddenness with which it is observ'd to
communicate it self imperceptibly, has already convinced the most
obstinate, and those who were most disposed to deceive themselves, that
it is really the Plague; and without waiting to hear or reason any
longer, every one runs away so precipitately, that all the Gates of the
Town are hardly sufficient to let out the Crowds.

Were those only the useless Mouths, nothing could be more convenient
and beneficial; but the most necessary Persons, and even those whose
Functions oblige them most indispensably to tarry, are the forwardest
to desert; almost all the Intendants of Health, those of the Office of
Plenty, the Councellors of the Town, the Commissaries _de Police_, the
chief Director of the Hospitals and other Houses of publick Charity;
the very Commissaries, who but a few Days ago, were established in the
Parishes and Quarters to take care of relieving the Poor; the Tradesmen
of all Professions, and those who are the most necessary in Life, the
Bakers, the Sellers of Provisions and common Necessaries; even those
whose Duty it is to watch others, and hinder them from leaving the
Town; that is to say, the Captains and Officers of the _Militia_, do
all desert, abandon, and fly from the City: In short, the Marquis
_de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs are left by themselves, with the Care
upon them of an infinite Number of poor People, ready to attempt any
Thing in the Extremity to which they are reduced by Want, and by the
Calamities which are multiplied by the Contagion.

The Town has now an Aspect that moves Compassion; an Air of Desolation
appears throughout; all the Shops are every where shut up; the greatest
Part of the Houses, Churches and Convents, all the publick Markets and
Places of Resort are deserted; and no Person is to be found in the
Streets, but poor groaning Wretches; the Port is empty, the Gallies
have withdrawn from the Keys, and are enclosed within a Stockade on the
Side of the Arsenal, where the Bridges are drawn up, and high Barriers
erected, and all the Merchant-Ships and Vessels have left the Wharfs,
and gone out to Anchor at a Distance.

This proud _Marseilles_, but a few Days before so flourishing; this
Source of Plenty, and (if I may use the Expression) of Felicity; is
become the true Image of _Jerusalem_ in its Desolation: Happy still if
it could stop here; and if the Hand which has begun to chastise her,
did not within less than Two Weeks, render her the most dreadful Scene
of human Misery, that ever Destruction formed in any City of the World.

The 18th, a Crowd of People from the Quarter of St. _John_ come before
the Gates of the Town-House, crying out that they will have Wine; and
that there is no body left in the Town who will sell any. The Guards
make ready to drive them away, M. _Estelle_ repairs thither, and soon
after M. _Moustier_; they pacify them, promise to let them have what
they desire; and accordingly an Ordinance is immediately published,
commanding all those who have Wine by them, to expose it to Sale all
that Day, otherwise their Cellars to be broke open, and the Wine sold
by the Guards, who shall go the Rounds through all the Quarters.

At this Time the Contagion has spread into all Parts of the Town,
notwithstanding all the Care and Pains taken to hinder Communication,
and begins to make a general Ravage: It is necessary for carrying off
the Dead, to employ in the Streets a greater Number of Carts, and
especially to increase the Number of Buriers of the Dead.

But this is utterly impossible, almost all of that Sort of People of
the Town that could be sacrificed in so dangerous a Work are consumed;
they do not live in it above Two Days; they catch the Plague the first
Corpse they touch, whatever Precaution is used; they are furnished with
Hooks fastened to the End of long Staves; but the coming any thing near
the Bodies infects them: They are paid no less than Fifteen Livres a
Day; but as alluring a Bait as that is to beggarly Wretches, they will
not touch it, in the Sight of certain and inevitable Death; they must
be hunted for, and dragged to the Work by downright Force: Now whether
they are able to keep themselves hid, or whether they are all dead,
there are no longer any to be found; in the mean while, the dead Bodies
remain in the Houses, and at the Gates of the Hospitals, cast in Heaps
one upon another, there being no Means to remove them and bury them in
the Pits.

In this Extremity the Sheriffs have recourse to the Officers commanding
the Gallies, most earnestly beseeching them to let them have some of
their Slaves to serve for Buriers of the Dead, offering them Security
for supplying their Room at the Cost of the City, or to make the
Loss good to his Majesty. They condescend, considering the absolute
Necessity, to give them Twenty Six of their Invalids, to whom they
promise Liberty to excite them to the Work.

It cannot be denied that the City was in some Measure saved by the
Help of these Slaves, and of those afterwards granted, but it must be
allowed too, that to Sheriffs who are oppress'd with the Weight of
Business, and deserted by all Persons on whom they could repose any
Part of their Care, such Buriers of the Dead are very burdensome.

They are destitute of all Necessaries; they must be provided with
Shooes when there are neither Shooes nor a Shooemaker left in the City:
They must have Lodgings and Victuals, and no body will harbour, or come
near, or have any Communication with Gally-Slaves, Buriers of infected
Bodies: A watchful Eye must be kept over them Night and Day; they rob
all Houses from whence they fetch the dead Bodies; and not knowing
how to harness the Horses, or drive the Carts, they often overturn
them, breaking the Carts or the Harness, which cannot be mended, not
only because there is neither Wheelwright nor Collarmaker left, but
because no body will touch Things infected; so that the Sheriffs must
be continually begging or borrowing of Carts from the Country, where
every Body contrives to hide them; and must often be at a Stand in a
Work requiring the most Haste of all others, which those Slaves affect
to perform so slowly and lazily, that it is very provoking.

In what City of the World was it ever seen, that the Consuls were
harrassed with so many Cares, and reduced to the Necessity of going
through all the dismal and dangerous Offices, to which the Sheriffs
of _Marseilles_ are forced to sacrifice themselves? Seeing that very
quickly, to oblige those Slaves to make more Dispatch, and carry off
putrified Bodies which they cannot endure to touch, nor even so much
as to approach, without being excited and urged on, the Sheriffs are
forced to put themselves at their Head, and go the foremost where the
Infection rages most, to make them carry them off: M. _Moustier_ for
near Two Months together was forced to rise constantly at Day-break,
to see them put the Horses to the Carts, and prevent their breaking
them; to follow them to the Pits, lest they should leave the Bodies on
the Sides of the Pits without burying them; and at Night to see the
Horses unharnessed; put into the Stables, and the Harness hung where
they may be found next Morning, and thereby prevent the Inconveniences
which might interrupt the Continuance of a Work, the Delay of which
is dangerous. Even the _Roman_ Consuls, so full of the Love of their
Country, did certainly never carry their Zeal to so high a Pitch.

The 19th, Persons are chosen in all the Parishes to make Broth for the
sick Poor, and to distribute it among them; and a particular Hospital
is established, which the most moving Accidents such a Calamity can
produce, render absolutely necessary.

Many Women who suckled Children, dye of the Contagion; and the Infants
are found crying in their Cradles, when the Bodies of the Mothers
or Nurses are taken away; no Body will receive these Children, much
less suckle, or feed them: There is no Pity stirring in the Time of
a Plague, the Fear of catching the Contagion stifles all Sentiments
of Charity, and even those of Humanity: To save as many as possible
of these little Innocents, and of so many other unhappy Children of
tender Age, whom the Pestilence has made Orphans, the Sheriffs take the
Hospital of St. _James_ of _Galicia_, and the Convent of the Fathers
of _Loretto_, which were become empty by the Death or Flight of all
those Monks; and there Care is taken to feed them, with Spoon-Meat,
or by holding them to Goats to suck. The Number of them is so great,
that tho' 30 or 40 die in a Day, there are always 12 or 1300, by the
Addition of those who are brought in successively every Day.

The 20th, Part of the Slaves, which had been received into the Town but
Two Days before, are struck with the Plague, and disabled from Working;
more are asked of the Officers of the Gallies, who grant Thirty Three.

This Day all the Millers and Bakers ceasing to work, because almost
all their Servants have left them and fled, an Ordinance is issued at
my Instance, requiring the Deserters to return, and to forbid those
who remain to leave their Masters, on Pain of Death. Not one Mason
is left in the Town, and divers Works are wanting to be done in the
Church-Yards, and the Hospitals. A like Ordinance is published, to
compel them to return; and another forbidding the carrying out of the
Town, Meal or Brown Bread, designed for subsisting the Poor, on the
Penalty of a Fine and Confiscation.

The 21st, the Pestilence begins to rage with so much Fury, and
the Number of the dead is multiplied so suddenly, that it appears
impossible to carry them off in Carts to the Pits without the Town;
because the Carts cannot well go to the upper Quarter of St. _John_,
nor to several others of the old Town, the Streets of which are narrow
and steep, and yet the greatest Number of dead Bodies lies in those
Streets, which are inhabited by Multitudes of the meanest People; and
besides, it is so far from thence to the Pits without the Walls, that
there is no doing so much Work without falling into the Inconvenience
of leaving many Bodies behind, which would poison the Air, and breed a
general Infection.

Upon this and other perplexing Difficulties, which require the Advice
of a Number of judicious Persons, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the
Sheriffs desire the General Officers of the Gallies, to assemble
with them at the Town-House, and give them their Advice: It is there
resolved,

    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 the _Jacobines_, the _Observantines_,
    of the Grand _Carmelites_, and of _Loretto_; 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 at _Aix_, and also Shooes for the Slaves, there being no Shooemaker
at _Marseilles_ to 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 of Health, 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 Marquess _de Pilles_ had 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 Marquess _de 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. _Moustier_ repairs
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.
_Moustier_ appears 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 Marquess _de 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; Father _Milay_, 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 of _Lescale_, 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 with _Corps de Garde_ at
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 Marquess _de 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 Marquess _de Pilles_ has so little Regard for himself, that
at the first he lets the principal Pest-House (which is that _des
Convalescens_) be settled within 4 Paces of his own House. M. _Estelle_
goes all Night long, so void of fear, to see the dead Bodies carried
off the Street _Lescale_, 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. _Moustier_ sets 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 his Cheek 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 of
_September_ it 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 of _Montpellier_ had
advised) in the Allies of that spacious Piece of Ground used for
playing at Mall, which is without the Gate _des faineants_, contiguous
to the Convent of the Reformed _Augustines_, 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 of _Marseilles_ have 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 all _Bakers_ and 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 of
_Marseilles_, 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 Marquess _de 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 at _Marseilles_, 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 see _Marseilles_ in; 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 of _Lestaque_, 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 Commissaries appointed 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; they leave
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 the _Loge_, 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 in their 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 Rancé_ and _de 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 the _Mall_
finished: In the mean time, they cause large Tents to be pitched upon
that _Esplanade_ without the Town, which is between the Gate _des
Faineants_, and the Monastery of the _Capuchins_, 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 one Mattress: 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 of _September_, the first President having been pleased to
write to M. _de Rancé_, and _de 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 the _Hôtel 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 at _Marseilles_;
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 Guards _de 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 Brigades _du 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 of St. _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 of _Alexandria_, 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 Barefooted _Carmelites_,
Twenty two Reformed _Augustines_, all the Grand _Carmelites_, the Grand
Trinitarians, the Reformed Trinitarians, the Monks of _Loretto_, of
Mercy, the _Dominicans_ and Grand _Augustins_ who 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 Fire of 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 new _Charles 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
at _Marseilles_; 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, Father _de la Fare_ a Jesuit, and M. _Bourgeret_ Canon of
_la 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 of _Acoules_, 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 Marshal _de Villars_, most earnestly beseeching
him to second their Instances: That Illustrious Governor, who among
all the Towns of his Government of _Provence_, has constantly honoured
_Marseilles_ with 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. _Moustier_ had 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. _Rose_
the 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 Rancé_ to
intreat him with all Earnestness, to grant them the Assistance they
want for the Preservation of the City.

M. _de Rancé_ calls together M. _de Vaucresson_ the 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 of_ Marseilles, _the King's
Counsellors, Lieutenants-General_ de Police, _being assembled in
the Town-House, with some of the municipal Officers, the Counsellor
Orator of the City and the King's Procurator_ de 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 Chevalier_ de 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 Slaves more, 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
Chevalier_ Rose; _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 Chevalier_ de
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 furnish to 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 at _Marseilles_, the 6th of
_September_, 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 of _Our 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 (whose _Corps de Garde_ is settled
in the great Hall of the _Loge_,) and M. _Moustier_ having 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 very Soldiers,
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 Chevalier _Rose_ on 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 of _Marine_ a Copy of the Act,
specifying the Conditions on which the Officers of the Gallies granted
those Soldiers, and the Slaves; another to the Marshal _de 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 from _Aix_, 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. _Pons_ and _Boutellier_,
Physicians of the Faculty of _Montpellier_; and M. _Montet_ and
_Rabaton_, 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
of _Marseilles_ and 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 the People 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
of _Marseilles_ is 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 Marquess _de 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 Langeron_ mounts 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 Chevalier _de Soissans_, an Officer of the Gallies, whom he has
taken to his Assistance; 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 Marquess _de Pilles_ comes to the Town-House; his
Presence, after the Grief and Alarm his Sickness had caused, gives
every one unspeakable Pleasure. M. _de Langeron_ repairs 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 called _la Tourette_, which lies towards the
Sea, between the Houses and the Rampart, from Fort St. _John_ to the
Church of _Major_: 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 so hideous 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 Chevalier _Rose_, 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 of _Julius Cæsar_'s Army, and are near the _Esplanade_
where 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 Langeron_ and the Sheriffs, that he will take upon him
to remove all the dead Bodies from _la 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 newly received 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 Langeron_
accompanied by M. _Moustier_, and the Chevalier _de 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 of _Aix_, of sixty Foot long and thirty broad: At the same time
the Question being where to get at least a hundred _Peasants_ to dig
them; M. _de Langeron_ sends 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 Marquess _de Pilles_ and 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 Chevalier _Rose_, who the Day before had caused the Vaults
of the two Bastions of the Rampart _de la Tourette_ to 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, he makes
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. _Estelle_ has Notice that the
Pits which had been filled on the Side of _la 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 of _Aix_:
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. _Audimar_ causes a Heap of Bodies, which were piled up
in the Street of _Ferrat_, and were no less putrid than those of _la
Tourette_, to be carried off.

M. _de Langeron_ studying 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 of _Montpellier_ who had come in the Month
of _August_, to examine by Order of his Royal Highness, the Nature and
Symptoms of the Distemper, come again, accompanied by M. _Soulliers_
Master Surgeon to the King, who was also with them the first time;
after their Departure from hence, they had resided at a Country-house
near _Aix_ which had been appointed for them to perform Quarantain in,
which done they were to have been admitted into _Montpellier_; but his
Royal Highness being desirous to succour _Marseilles_, 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.
_Deidier_ another famous Physician and Professor of _Montpellier_, 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 of _Montpellier_, 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
of _Aix_ and the Tower of St. _Paule_, sixty Foot long and thirty
broad: M. _de Langeron_ wrote the Day before to the Captains of the
Territory, to send in Peasants: The Chevalier _de Soissans_ goes 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.
_Ferriol_ was 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 19th the 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 of _Lestaque_, M. _de Langeron_ appoints
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 afflicted
_Marseilles_ was stopt: Whereupon an Ordinance is issued, in the Names
of M. _de Langeron_, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs,
importing that the Vintage shall be got in as usual.

This Day arrive three other Physicians of the Faculty of _Montpellier_,
who came Post from _Paris_ by Order of his Royal Highness, _viz._
M. _Mailhes_ Professor of the University of _Cahors_, M. _Boyer
de Paradis_ of _Marseilles_, and M. _de Læbadie_, accompanied by
two Master-Surgeons of _Paris_: They are provided with excellent
Instructions, which they received from M. _Chirac_ first Physician to
his Royal Highness, and Sur-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 Marquess _de 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
being _Michaelmas-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. _Estelle_ is 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. _Audimar_ with the Shambles; M. _Moustier_ with 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. _Dieudé_ with what relates to Bread-Corn,
Meal, Wood for firing, and the Bakers.

The 22d, new Pits are to be made, M. _de Langeron_ sends his Guards
into the Territory, to bring in one hundred and fifty Men to dig them;
and the 23d one 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 Langeron_ sets 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 the _Grand
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 Langeron_ goes 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
Chevalier _de Soissans_ keeps upon the Spot, to encourage the Men, and
give Orders, accompanied by M. _Marin_ and _Beaussier_, 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 General _de 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 the _Hôtel-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 the _Penitents_,
which is hard by; and M. _Estelle_ performs the Disinfection with all
requisite Exactness.

From the 28th of _September_ to the 3d of _October_, nothing but Action
and Labour Night and Day. At the _Mall_ no 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 Reformed _Augustines_,
which is contiguous to it, and in the neighbouring _Bastides_; and in
digging near it large and deep Pits: At _la Charité_, those already
opened in the Garden of the _Observantines_ are 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 the
_Hôtel-Dieu_, remove from thence the infected Patients, and bring into
it all the Poor from _la Charité_, are inconceivable: M. _de Langeron_
is 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 of _Marseilles_; besides Lodging and Diet all the
time they are employed.

The 3d of _October_, Part of the Troops which M. _de Langeron_ expected
for the Service of the City, and to execute his Orders, arrive; _viz._
Three Companies of the Regiment of _Flandres_, whom he causes to encamp
at the _Chartreuse_ without the Walls.

The 4th, the two new Hospitals at the _Mall_ and _la Charité_, are, at
length, in a Condition to receive the Sick; and immediately they creep
thither from all Quarters. A Number of Gally-Slaves is employed to
fetch those who cannot help themselves, and are lying in the publick
Places and Streets, and in the Houses.

The 5th, all the Physicians, as well Strangers, as of Faculty in
this City, are convened at the Town-House, in the Presence of M. _de
Langeron_, the Marquess de _Pilles_, and the Sheriffs; and M. _de
Chicoyneau_ and _Verny_, as Principals, and those others to whom the
general Inspection is committed, appoint the Stations where each
shall serve, and the Surgeons to be employed under them. If all the
Strangers have signalized themselves by their Skill and Zeal, those of
the City have equall'd them in both; they have served with so little
Care of their own Persons, that three of them have lost their Lives, M.
_Peissonel_, _Montagnier_, and _Audan_, and a fourth, Mr. _Bertrand_,
was very near Death's Door.

The 6th, three of the Captains of the City dying, the Sheriffs nominate
in their Room M. _Desperier_, _Bonnaneau_, and _Icard_, who from the
Beginning of the Contagion have voluntarily gone upon any Service,
however toilsome and hazardous, for the City.

The 7th, the Plague being more violent in the Territory than in the
City, and it being of Importance to hinder the Sick to come from thence
into it; M. _de Langeron_ posts at each Gate a _Corps de Garde_ of
Soldiers of the King's Troops, under the Command of the Captains and
Officers of the Town; and publishes an Ordinance, which prescribes the
Rules to be observed at any Person's coming into, or going out of the
Gates.

The 8th, whereas since the two new Hospitals have been opened, the Sick
are no longer lying about the Streets, and the dead Bodies are carried
off daily, by the great Number of Carts which are continually passing;
Dispositions are made for cleaning the Streets throughout the City, as
well for making Room to pass, as to take away the horrible Infection
caused by the prodigious Quantity of Filth and Nastiness, with which
they are all covered. For this Purpose large Boats, used for cleansing
the Port, by taking up the Soil, are placed all along the Key at each
Pallisade; and while the Sheriffs go each through a Quarter with a
Brigade of Gally Slaves, to cause all the Heaps of infected Cloaths and
Houshold-Goods, which have been thrown out of the Windows, to be burnt;
other Brigades of Slaves go with Carts, to take up the Dunghills and
Filth, which they shoot into those Boats, and these carry it out, and
throw it into the Sea, as far as they can from the Mouth of the Port:
This is so tedious a Work, that be it followed never so close, it will
take up a Month at least to finish it.

The 9th, the Sheriffs receive News that fills them with Joy and
Consolation; they find by a Letter which the Consuls of _Avignon_
are so kind to write to them, that the common Father of the Faithful
_Roman_ Catholicks, moved at hearing of the Calamities of a City, which
was the first of all _Gaul_ that received the Catholick Faith, by St.
_Lazarus_ its first Bishop; which in all Times has preserved it in its
Purity, no Heresy having ever been able to get footing in it; and which
has always had a singular Attachment, with a profound and inviolable
Respect, for the Holy See; has not thought it enough to order publick
Prayers in all the Churches of _Rome_, and Processions, at which his
Holiness assists on Foot, to beseech the Sovereign Father of Mercies
to appease his Wrath against _Marseilles_, and cast away the dreadful
Scourge which lays it desolate; but being desirous to succour so many
miserable Poor as are in it, and supply them with Bread in their Need,
has caused to be bought up in the District of _Ancona_ two thousand
Measures (called _Roubies_) of Bread-Corn, which will be forthwith
brought hither by Vessels that are to take it in at _Civita-Vecchia_,
to be distributed to the Poor in such Proportions as the Bishop shall
allot.

The 10th, the Canons of the Collegiate Church of St. _Martin_, having
Benefices with Cure of Souls, persisting to absent themselves from
their Duty, notwithstanding the several Admonitions signified to them,
the Bishop pronounces Sentence, and, conformably to the Petition of
the Sheriffs of the 4th of _September_ last, declares their Benefices
vacant, and that they shall be filled with others duly qualified; and
he nominates to them accordingly.

The 11th, there are in the Hospitals several Patients who have the
Happiness to recover of the Plague: A Place is necessary for these to
be removed to, where they may stay forty Days after their Buboes and
Sores are entirely cured and healed up; it is resolv'd to make use of
the grand Infirmaries for this Purpose; they must be made ready, and
provided with all Things necessary: M. _de Langeron_ goes thither, with
M. _Estelle_, and Orders are given for doing it out of hand.

The 12th, more Troops arrive for the Service of the City; _viz._ Three
Companies of the Regiment of _Brie_, which M. _de Langeron_ causes to
encamp at the _Chartreuse_, with the three others already there.

The 13th, 14th, and 15th, while the Infirmaries are getting ready for
those who are recover'd from the Plague, he sends Orders into the
Territory, to compel those Intendants of Health, who have absented
themselves, and several other Municipal Officers, whose Service is
absolutely requisite in the City, to return.

The 16th, he posts a _Corps de Garde_ of thirty Soldiers by the
Town-House, to guard the Sheriffs, and execute Orders.

The 17th, it is resolved to send into the Infirmaries, not only those
who have recovered in the several Hospitals, but likewise all those
who wander about the City with their Buboes broke and running, and
communicate the Contagion generally to those who, not knowing their
Condition, have the Misfortune to touch or approach them.

The 18th, the Difficulties which obstruct the putting the Infirmaries
intirely into Order; or closing up the Sides of the Market-House, which
are open; Timber, Boards, and Sail-Cloth being not to be had; make it
necessary to seek some other Place, which is already in proper Order;
such appears to be the College of the Fathers _de l'Oratoire_, the
Halls of which are capable of harbouring a great Number of Persons; and
Lodgings for the Officers, Surgeons, and Servants, are ready in the
rest of the House, which is quite empty by the Flight of those Priests.

The 16th, the Grand Claustral Prior (_i. e._ he that resides, and
keeps the Monks to their Duty) of the Abbey of St. _Victor_, and two
Monks deputed from that Chapter, come to the Town-House to justify
themselves upon their Refusal to carry in Procession the Shrines and
Reliques of their Church, to the Square of the _Loge_. The Continuance
of the Contagion, notwithstanding all the Efforts hitherto made to
stop it, leaving no Hope, but in the Mercy of the Almighty through the
Intercession of the Saints, the Sheriffs resolved to desire the Bishop
to cause all the Shrines of Saints, and all the Reliques of the Church
of _Major_ to be brought forth, and to accompany them to the Square
of the _Loge_, where they design'd to erect a great Altar, on which
to place them in open View, and likewise to desire the Monks of the
Abbey of St. _Victor_, to bring out at the same Time all the Shrines
and Reliques of their Church, and to accompany them to the same Place,
where being all ranged together on the same Altar, the Bishop was to
celebrate Mass, and all the Prayers prescribed against the Plague were
to be said. The Bishop instantly agreed to it, with all the Joy and
Satisfaction which the Piety that animates him could raise: M. _de
Langeron_ had given the most proper Orders, for preventing any Crowd,
or even any Communication, at this Holy Procession; nothing remained,
but to dispose the Monks of the Abbey of St. _Victor_ to perform their
Part: M. _Estelle_ went, and moved it to them; they consent, but on
Conditions utterly impracticable: They demand, either that two Altars
should be erected, or that the Bishop should not celebrate Mass, lest
their Privileges should receive some Diminution by it. And their Grand
Prior Claustral, with two Monks of the Abbey, come to Day to the
Town-house, to have it understood that their Reasons were solid, and
not Pretexts.

The 20th, no Bell having been rung in the Town since the Contagion,
not even that which warns the Soldiers and Townsmen to retire to their
Houses and Quarters at Night, M. _de Langeron_ orders it to be rung as
formerly.

The 21st, he orders the Officers of the City to go the Rounds
punctually in all the Quarters, with the Number of Soldiers appointed
by him.

The 22d and 23d, the Prisons being filled with Malefactors, and the
Effects of a vast Number of Houses being exposed to Robbery, by the
Death of all the Persons who inhabited them; he sends Orders into the
Territory, to oblige the Commissaries _de Police_ to return, to bring
to Tryal those Malefactors, and to secure those Effects for the lawful
Claimants.

The 24th M. _de Langeron_, the Marquess _de Pilles_ and the Sheriffs,
publish an Ordinance at my Instance, commanding all those who have
taken into their Possession the Keys of Houses, or the Effects of
Persons deceased, or who have had them put into their Hands in Trust,
of what Nature soever they are, to appear within twenty four Hours at
the Town-House, and make Declaration thereof before the Commissaries
_de Police_, that the same may be properly secured.

The 25th another Ordinance is issued for the Publick Safety and Health,
importing, that for preventing Robberies in the Night, and the Increase
of the Contagion by removing from one Place to another infected
Apparel, those who after ringing the warning Bell at Night shall be
taken robbing Houses, or removing Apparel, or Houshold Goods, shall be
punish'd with Death; and that those who shall have forbidden Arms found
upon them, shall be condemned to the Gallies.

The 26th, tho' the Plague seems to have decreased, want of Provisions
increases; the Distemper having got into the neighbouring Places,
and even into the Capital of the Province, hardly any Corn or other
Necessaries are brought any longer to the Markets at the Barriers; even
all the Barriers are chang'd and remov'd so far off, that they are out
of reach, and _Marseilles_ is in the greatest Extremities that it ever
felt. M. _de Langeron_ and the Sheriffs see the Necessity there is,
for avoiding a speedy Famine, to send Vessels to divers Parts to fetch
Bread-Corn, and other Provisions; but having neither Money nor Means to
procure any, they are obliged to send Dispatches to Court for Supplies.

The 27th the Hospitals of the _Mall_, of _La Charité_, and of the _Rive
Neuve_, being by the Decrease of the Distemper more than sufficient to
hold all the Sick; and that _des Convalescens_ being become altogether
superfluous, it is resolv'd to make Use of it for those who have
recovered, and not of the College _de l'Oratoire_, as was design'd.

The 28th and 29th are spent in putting it in Order and Furnishing it
with new Beds, after all the Sick who were in it had been remov'd to
the Hospital at the _Mall_.

The 30th the great Number of Surgeons, as well Masters as others, who
are come from all Parts, allur'd by the Advertisements of the 30th
of _September_, that had been sent out to be publickly affix'd every
where, which promised great Rewards to those that would come and serve;
makes it necessary to publish contrary Advertisements, signifying, that
the Distemper having happily decreased very much, there is no further
Occasion for them.

The 31th, to get together, in Order to confine and put under
Quarantain, those who have recovered from the Plague, who with their
Buboes broke and running wander about the Streets and infect all whom
they approach, the Chevalier _de Soissans_ finds out a very easy
Expedient; they are all necessitous People who beg about, and do not
fail to go wherever Alms are distributed daily to all Comers; he orders
Soldiers to hide themselves near the House whither the Bishop has
retir'd; in less than half an Hour above five hundred of these Beggars
flock thither, whom the Soldiers surround and carry to the Hospital
_des Convalescens_, where the Surgeons search them, and detain all who
ought to be kept there.

The First of _November_, being the Feast of all Saints, the Bishop
comes out of his Palace in Procession, accompany'd by the Canons of the
Church _des Acoulles_, by those whom he has newly nominated Canons of
the Church of St. _Martin_, and by the Parson and Priests of the Parish
of St. _Ferriol_; and chusing to appear like the Scape Goat, loaded
with the Sins of all the People, and like a Victim destin'd to expiate
them, he walks with a Halter about his Neck, the Cross in his Arms,
and bare-Foot; thus he proceeds by the Ring towards the Gate of _Aix_,
where he celebrates Mass publickly, at an Altar which he had caused to
be erected; and after a pathetick Exhortation to the People to move
them to Repentance, for appeasing the Wrath of God, and obtaining
Deliverance from the raging Pestilence; he pronounces a solemn
Consecration of the City to the sacred Heart of Jesus, in Honour of
which he had instituted a Festival to be kept yearly by a Mandate which
he caus'd to be read: The Tears which are seen running down his Cheeks
during this devout Ceremony, join'd to his very moving Expressions,
excite Compunction in the most obdurate Hearts, and every one pierc'd
with unfeigned Sorrow cries to the Lord for Mercy: St. _Charles_ did
the like formerly at _Milan_ on the same Festival of all Saints, when
that City was under the Calamity of the Plague; and nothing is wanting
to this Imitator of the Zeal, Piety, Charity, and all the Virtues of
so great a Saint, but the _Roman_ Purple which he deserves, and which
a whole People on whom he heaps spiritual and temporal Blessings, wish
him from the bottom of their Hearts.

From the second to the fifth, M. _de Langeron_ with the Sheriffs divide
all the Quarters of the Town into new Districts, and appoint at every
District, containing a certain number of Houses, a Commissary to see to
the Execution of the several Orders issued, and to prevent whatever may
contribute to the Continuance of the Plague, or to its Return.

The 5th, for restraining the excessive Price of all Provisions,
which is raised every Day by those who take Advantage of the general
Scarcity, they hold in the Town-house an Assembly of Merchants and
Tradesmen to settle a general Rate; they continue drawing it up
the next Day, and the 8th they publish an Ordinance forbidding all
Shopkeepers, Retailers, and Regraters, to sell at a higher Price than
what is specified in that general Rate, on the Penalty of the Pillory,
of Refunding the Money taken, and Confiscation of the Goods sold.

From the 6th to the 13th M. _de Langeron_ sends out Orders on all Sides
for regulating and relieving all the Quarters of the Territory, where
the Plague continues to rage; and the 14th he publishes an Ordinance
with the Marquess _de Pilles_ and the Sheriffs, which prescribes such
exact and judicious Precautions to be observ'd at the Gates, that
the indispensible Commerce between the City and the Territory is
maintain'd, and yet the Distemper which is there cannot any way be
brought into the City, to make that which still continues here rage the
more.

The 15th, the Bakers having almost spent all the Fuel for their Ovens,
so that they must leave off Baking, Vessels are sent towards _Toulon_
to fetch Wood.

The 16th the Bishop takes a holy Resolution to exorcise the Plague,
which he has the Grief to see continue: In order to this, having called
together the Remains of his Clergy in the Church _des Acoulles_, he
begins by causing all the Prayers to be read which his Holiness had
sent to him, and which are daily repeated in all the Churches of
_Rome_, to incline the Almighty to deliver _Marseilles_ from this
Scourge; and after a very eloquent and very moving Exhortation, he
carries up the Holy Sacrament to the Leads over the Roof of the Church,
from whence all the City and its Territory lye open to the View, gives
his Benediction, and performs the Exorcism against the Plague, with all
the Prayers and Ceremonies which the Church has prescribed.

The 17th, M. _de Langeron_ receives an Answer from Court, to the
Dispatches he had sent thither: M. _le Blanc_, and M. _le Pelletier
des Forts_ write to him, that his Royal Highness being extremely
concerned at the Calamity of _Marseilles_, had given Orders to the
_India_ Company to remit hither twenty five thousand Pieces of Eight,
and one thousand nine hundred Marks of Silver, with which he is pleased
to assist this City, till he can provide for its further Relief: The
Marquess _de la Vrilliere_ writes the same thing to the Sheriffs,
and that his Royal Highness will do all that lies in his Power to
succour them: That August Prince has had all possible Regard for
this unfortunate City; from the Time he knew of its Distress, he has
not neglected sending Orders every where, for supplying it with all
necessary Help, as well to cure the Distemper, as to provide against
Scarcity and Want: All his Ministers have seconded his Intentions with
so much Earnestness and Application, that they seem to have had no
other Business upon their Hands, than to hasten its Supplies, and to
render them effectual. What Gratitude for this will not Subjects so
obedient and so faithful ever cherish in their Hearts? This Gratitude
for their Preservation, joined to the Ardour and Zeal which have always
distinguished them in the Submission and Obedience due to his Majesty;
will inflame them with a Desire to sacrifice their Lives and Fortunes,
for the Honour and Glory of his Service.

Never was there greater Scarcity, nor ever was such Scarcity so
plentifully supplied; so that having been continually just falling
into Want, or in fear of wanting every thing, by the Interdiction of
Communication and Commerce, we have hardly ever wanted any thing, by
Means of the continual Succours which came in successively from all
Parts, by the Orders of his Royal Highness, and the particular Care of
M. _le Pelletier des Forts_, and M. _le Blanc_, to cause them to be
executed: Corn and other Provisions, and especially large Cattle, and
Sheep, have been brought in such Quantity and Numbers, notwithstanding
all Difficulties, that for a long time we have had a kind of Plenty of
them; from the Mint at _Aix_, the first President has remitted very
considerable Sums of Money, he has procured all Necessaries to be
sent in from divers Parts; he has caused almost whole Forests to be
cut down, that we might not want Wood for firing; and not contenting
himself with procuring Credit for us to a great Sum, he has had the
Goodness to find Means to discharge a considerable Part of that Debt;
from _Languedoc_ the Intendant, M. _de Bernage_, has taken infinite
Pains to get sent hither all the Succours that fertile Province could
furnish.

Several eminent Citizens have contributed very largely; M. _Constans_
and _Remusat_, have by their Credit and Money procured twenty thousand
Measures (called _Charges_) of Bread-Corn; M. _Martins_, _Grimaud_,
and _Beoland_, have voluntarily taken inconceivable Pains so keep the
Shambles supplied, and with very great Success; several others have
contributed Money for buying up Corn in the _Levant_; even some of the
Magistrates of the Soveraign Courts of the Province, as soon as the
Plague had broke out, moved by their Generosity of Heart, and Grandeur
of Soul, offered and even sent in all the Corn that was reaped on their
own Lands; such are M. _de Lubieres_ and _de Ricardi_, Counsellors
of the Parliament, and M. _de Rauville_ President of the Court of
Accompts, Aids and Finances: We could not perish with so great and
various Supplies; but _Marseilles_ and its Territory are an Abyss; it
cannot otherwise be filled, than by that prodigious Abundance, which
Liberty, and the Concourse of the Commerce of Nations, bring into it.

The 18th M. _Taxil_, Agent of the _India_ Company at _Marseilles_,
remits to the Sheriffs one thousand six hundred Marks of _Bullion_,
and twenty thousand and forty nine Marks in Pieces of Eight, which
they cause to be conveyed to the Mint at _Montpellier_, there to be
converted into new Specie.

The 19th the Distemper which had extremely decreased, having
increased again a little, and there being Ground to believe that the
Communication in some Churches which were opened, had occasioned it,
the Bishop is desired to be pleased to order them to be shut up again.

The 20th, 21st, and 22d Vessels are fitted out to fetch Corn from the
_Levant_, that we might not be wholly in want of it this Winter, and
after the Plague and Scarcity fall into Famine.

The 23d Advice comes that one of the Vessels in which his Holiness's
Ministers had caused to be laden at _Civita-Vecchia_, the Bread-Corn
designed for the Poor of _Marseilles_, is unhappily wrecked on the
Island of _Porcherolles_, and that of one thousand Measures it carried,
not three hundred could be saved.

The 24th and 25th, the Contagion still continuing in the Territory,
and the Persons who live there, or have retired thither, especially
those who are struck with it, or suspect they are, using all manner
of Artifice to steal into the City, where the Distemper has almost
intirely ceased, M. _de Langeron_ establishes such proper and exact
Precautions, that no Endeavours of that kind can succeed.

The 26th he publishes an Ordinance, to serve for Rules at the Gates,
prescribing the several Certificates which must be brought to obtain
Permission to enter, and describing the Condition of Health and other
Circumstances a Person must be in to be qualified for a Certificate
from the Parish-Priests, Captains, and Commissaries.

The 27th he sends this Ordinance to be published in the Territory,
and with it a circular Letter to all the Parish-Priests, Captains and
Commissaries of the Quarters, for their more ample Instruction.

The 28th two other Vessels laden with the rest of the Bread-Corn
given by his Holiness, arrive at _Toulon_: The Bishop comes to the
Town-house, to concert with M. _de Langeron_ and the Sheriffs, the
Means of getting it brought to this City, whither those Vessels will
not come because of the Contagion.

The 29th, the Difficulty made by the Masters of Vessels of _Languedoc_,
to come laden with Provisions to the Port of _Frioul_ in the Island
of _Roteneau_, one of the Isles of _Marseilles_, whither the Barrier
is removed from _Lestaque_, because after they have unladen at that
Island, no Ballast is to be had there, without which they cannot sail
empty, and return to their own Ports; this Difficulty, I say, obliges
M. _de Langeron_ and the Sheriffs to send for the Regulators of the
Fishermen to the Town-house, and order them to see that no Boat goes
out to fish, till it has first carried a lading of Ballast to that Isle
of _Roteneau_.

The 30th the Chevalier _Rose_ undertakes for the Execution of this
Order; and he succeeds so well in it, that all the Ballast necessary
for all the Vessels which may come to that Island, is presently carried
thither.

The First of _December_ the Hospital of the _Rive-Neuve_, governed and
directed by the Chevalier _Rose_, being become useless, the few Sick
remaining in it are removed to that of _la Charité_, and the other is
entirely shut up: M. _Boyer de Paradis_, one of the Physicians who came
from _Paris_ by Order of his Royal Highness, served in it with all the
Ardour and Zeal, that the Love of his native Country could inspire.

From the second to the fifth, Assemblies are held, to settle all
the Dispositions and all the Measures necessary for purifying and
dis-infecting all the Houses of the City in which the Contagion has
been: A tedious Work, which to be very minutely performed, must be as
laborious as it is nice and important.

The 6th, the grand Infirmaries having been for some time purified, M.
_Michel_, a Physician of the Faculty of _Marseilles_, who had been shut
up in them from the beginning of the Contagion, comes out with the
Surgeons he had with him; he served with a Zeal, Firmness, and Success,
which make him admired by all.

The 7th, the Intendants of Health assemble at the Town-house, in the
Presence of M. _de Langeron_ and the Sheriffs, to deliberate about
purifying all the Vessels that are in the Port, who had taken in their
Cargoes before the Plague broke out; these Intendants (those of them
who had absented being come back long since) do their Duty so well,
that tho' they are obliged to serve only by Turns, they generally all
act together, hardly any one excusing himself.

The Directors of the Hospital-general of _la Charité_ and those of
the _Hôtel Dieu_, acquit themselves also of their Duty with the same
Ardour: The latter even took upon them the Direction of this Hospital
when it was turned into a Pest-House, tho' the coming near such a
Place gives Disgust and makes one tremble: The Zeal among them was so
extraordinary, that at the beginning of the Contagion, when every Body
was running away, M. _Bruno Grainier_ was seen to quit his own House,
and take up his Lodgings in the _Hôtel Dieu_, there to devote himself
intirely to the Service of the Poor, and endeavour to prevent the
Plague's getting into it; accordingly it never could get in, before it
had overthrown this pious _Argus_, and deprived of Life this Example of
the most fervent and active Charity.

Almost all the Municipal Officers, and other Principal Citizens have
been come back also some time; most of the Shops of Tradesmen and
Artificers are opened; the People, who in their Fright had lost all
Hope of Health, and all Measure of Prudence, are brought to themselves,
and put into Heart again by the Presence and good Orders of M. _de
Langeron_; and every one is at present assisting each other by mutual
Offices, and by an exact and admirable Administration of Government;
which cutting off all destructive Communication, allows only what
is salutary. As this is but a brief Journal, drawn up in haste in
some Moments stolen from Business, the Publick may expect an ample
Supplement to it, which shall take in several Things here omitted, and
the Services worthy of Notice and Acknowledgment, which several Persons
have rendred to the City, as well within it, as Abroad; and the Wonders
performed by the Surgeons, whom the Court was pleased to send, and
others, shall not be forgotten.

The 8th, the Danger of Communication hindring still the Opening of the
Churches, the Bishop orders Altars to be set up in the Streets, and
Mass to be said at them in Publick.

This Day M. _de Langeron_, the Marquess _de Pilles_, and the Sheriffs,
publish an Ordinance, directing the Commissaries of the Quarters
and Parishes, all they are to do generally, as well for hindring
whatever might contribute to the keeping of the Contagion in the Town,
or increasing it by introducing the Distemper from Abroad, as for
concurring to the great Work still remaining, of disinfecting all the
Houses.

The 9th, upon Notice that several Taverns, Victualing-Houses,
Coffee-Houses, and other like Houses of Publick Resort are opened,
where People meeting in Crowds, a mortal Communication is to be feared;
an Ordinance is published, at my Instance, for their being all shut up
again, on the Penalty of Imprisonment, and of a Fine of thirty Livres.

This present Day (the 10th of _December_) the Distemper has so abated
throughout the City, that no new Patient has been carried into any
Hospital: There is Ground to hope, that the Wrath of God will be
intirely appeased; that this miserable unfortunate City will be wholly
delivered from this cruel Visitation, which has laid it desolate; and
that we shall be secured from all Returns of it, by the wise, exact,
and judicious Precautions which M. _de Langeron_ takes, in Concert with
the Sheriffs, with such indefatigable Zeal, such laborious Assiduity,
such prudent Vigilance, and such singular Application, that the
Preservation of _Marseilles_ cannot but be looked upon as his Work; and
its surviving Inhabitants will be ever obliged to bless his glorious
Name, and those of the Sheriffs, who second him so well, and do so
justly merit, by the Ardour with which they have exposed their Lives,
the Title of FATHERS OF THEIR COUNTRY.

  _Done at_ Marseilles, _in the Town-House, the_ 10th _of_
  December, 1720.

_The_ END.

[Illustration]




Transcriber's Note.

In the original page numbering is not continuous. The following
corrections were made:

p. 9:

  _le Pellletier des Forts_ was changed to _le Pelletier des Forts_

p. 47:

  King's Puocurator was changed to King's Procurator







*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF JOURNAL OF WHAT PASSED IN THE CITY OF MARSEILLES, WHILE IT WAS AFFLICTED WITH THE PLAGUE, IN THE YEAR 1720 ***


    

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