Moreover, we are so far from any Necessity of these periodical Returns of the Plague, that, on the contrary, though we have had several Strokes of this kind, yet there are Instances of bad Contagions from abroad being brought over to us, which have proved less malignant here, when our Northern Air has not been disposed to receive such Impressions.
The Sweating Sickness, before hinted at, called Sudor Anglicus and Febris Ephemera Britannica, because it was commonly thought to have taken its Rise here, was most probably of a foreign Original: and though not the common Plague with Glandular Tumors, and Carbuncles, yet a real Pestilence from the same Cause, only altered in its Appearance, and abated in its Violence, by the salutary Influence of our Climate. For it preserved an Agreement with the common Plague in many of its Symptoms, as excessive Faintness and Inquietudes, inward Burnings, &c. these Symptoms being no where observed in so intense a Degree as here they are described to have been, except in the true Plague: And, what is much more, it was likewise a contagious Disease.
The first time this was felt here, which was in the Year 1485, it began in the Army, with which King Henry VII. came from France and landed in Wales[61]: and it has been supposed by some to have been brought from the famous Siege of Rhodes by the Turks three or four Years before, as may be collected from what Dr. Keyes says in one Place of his Treatise on this Disease[62]. Besides, of the several returns which this has made since that time, viz. in the Years 1506, 1517, 1528, and 1551, that in the Year 1528 may very justly be suspected to have been owing to the common Pestilence, which at those times raged in Italy[63] as I find one of our Historians has long ago conjectured[64]: and the others were very probably from a Turkish Infection. If at least some of these Returns were not owing to the Remains of former Attacks, a suitable Constitution of Air returning to put the latent Seeds in Action before they were quite destroyed. It is the more probable that this Disease was owing to imported Contagion; because we are assured, that this Form of the Sickness was not peculiar to our Island, but that it made great Destruction with the same Symptoms in Germany, and other Countries[65].
I call this Distemper a Plague with lessened Force: because though its carrying off thousands for want of right Management was a Proof of its Malignity, which indeed in one respect exceeded that of the common Plague itself (for few, who were destroyed with it, survived the Seizure above one Natural Day) yet its going off safely with profuse Sweats in twenty four Hours, when due care was taken to promote that Evacuation, shewed it to be what a learned and wise Historian calls it, rather a Surprize to Nature, than obstinate to Remedies; who assigns this Reason for expressing himself thus, that if the Patient was kept warm with temperate Cordials, he commonly recovered[66]. And, what I think yet more remarkable, Sweating, which was the natural Crisis of this Distemper, has been found by great Physicians the best Remedy against the common Plague: by which means, when timely used, that Distemper may sometimes be carried off without any external Tumors. Nay besides, a judicious Observer informs us, that in many of his Patients, when he had broken the Violence of the Distemper by such an artificial Sweat, a natural Sweat not excited by Medicines would break forth exceedingly refreshing[67].
And I cannot but take notice, as a Confirmation of what I have been advancing, that we had here the same kind of Fever in the Year 1713, about the Month of September, which was called the Dunkirk Fever, as being brought by our Soldiers from that Place. This probably had its Original from the Plague, which a few Years before broke out at Dantzick, and continued some time among the Cities of the North. With us this Fever began only with a Pain in the Head, and went off in large Sweats usually after a Day’s Confinement: but at Dunkirk it was attended with the additional Symptoms of Vomiting, Diarrhœa, &c.
To return from this Digression: From all that has been said, it appears, I think, very plainly, that the Plague is a real Poison, which being bred in the Southern Parts of the World, is carried by Commerce into other Countries, particularly into Turky, where it maintains itself by a kind of Circulation from Persons to Goods: which is chiefly owing to the Negligence of the People there, who are stupidly careless in this affair. That when the Constitution of the Air happens to favour Infection, it rages there with great Violence: that at that time more especially diseased Persons give it to one another, and from them contagious Matter is lodged in Goods of a loose and soft Texture, which being pack’d up and carried into other Countries, let out, when opened, the imprisoned Seeds of Contagion, and produce the Disease whenever the Air is disposed to give them force; otherwise they may be dissipated without any considerable ill Effects. And lastly, that the Air does not usually diffuse and spread these to any great Distance, if Intercourse and Commerce with the Place infected be strictly prevented.
