Part 9

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.