Part 5

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.