The causes of the discontents in relation to the plague, and the provisions against it, fairly stated and consider'd / [Anon].

  • Edmund Gibson
Date:
1721
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The causes of the discontents in relation to the plague, and the provisions against it, fairly stated and consider'd / [Anon]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/16 page 7
    2. Among the Mifreprefentations of Fadt, is alfo to be mention’d The for¬ cible removing of whole Families out of their Houfes to perform Quarentine, in cafe any Member of it has been infe&ed with the Plague ; which we have heard af¬ firm’d and propagated with the greateft Confidence; and yet it appears not to me to have any Foundation in the A£h That no Perfons;iv/^/»the Lines, or belonging to any infedled Houfe, or entring fuch Houfe, fhould be permitted to crofs the Lines, or come abroad among their Neigh¬ bours, till they have fubmitted to proper Proofs that themfelves are clear of the Plague ; all this is certainly no more than a juft and prudent Care of the found Part, and a neceffary Expedient to hinder the fpreading of the Infedtion. But that any Perfon uninfedted, who fhould chufe to keep within the Lines, or within his own Houfe, was to be forcibly remov’d to a place of Quarentine, appears not upon the Face of the Adt. And if it were poffi- ble for the Art of a Lawyer to ftrain fuch an Inference from the Ad, as I ve¬ rily believe it is not; I would then appeal from that Art, to the common Senfe and Reafonof Mankind, whether any Words can be found in the Act, that will fairly fup- portfuch an Inference. It has been charg’d upon theLegiflatureas a Crime ; and cer¬ tainly (like all other Crimes) it ought to be clearly proved, before it is imputed. Before I fhut up this Head, I muft take Notice of one Reprefentation more, which tho’ notdiredtly falfe, is very partial; and that Partiality employed on purpofe to give frightful and odious Colours to a thing, which, when the whole Truth is known, appears not only innocent, but wife. To make the drawing of Lines more terrible to the People, by Ideas of Abfolute Con¬ finement, and Famine, and the like; it has been reprefented to them, that no Perfon, how clear foever of the Plague, was al¬ low’d on any terms to pafs the Lines, nor Provifions to be convey’d to them with¬ out the greateft Difficulty. Whereas, by the exprefs Words of the Ad, the Direc¬ tion againft crofting the Lines is temper’d by this prudent Exception, Unlefs in fuch Cafes, and by fuch proper Licence, and fab- jedl to fuch Regulations and Reflriflions for performance of Quarentine, as Jhall be di¬ rected or permitted by any Order or Orders, made or to be made, and notified by the King's Proclamation. The plain meaning of which is, that if any Perfon who fhould be confin’d within Lines drawn crofs the Country or round a City or Town, fhould firftgive proper Proof of his being unin- feded, he fhould be furnifii’d with Certifi¬ cates of his having given fuch Proof, and might then be allow’d to crofs the Lines, and go where he pleas’d. And as to the point of Provifions, and the probability that any City or Town infeded, would be well or ill fupply’d by their Neighbours;. can any thing be more clear and evident, than that every degree of Care in the Gov¬ ernment to keep thePerfons infeded within certain Bounds , muft be a proportionable degree of Encouragement to the Country round, to approach nearer to fuch City or Town, and to furnifh it more freely and conftantly with Provifions of all kinds? 3. Another Art to make this Scheme terrible, has been the giving it an odious Name ; that it is a French Scheme, and taken, Step by Step, from French Mea- fures, and is calculated only for a Country under Arbitrary Government. When, in truth, it is not a Scheme which the. French chofe from any relation it has, in the na¬ ture of it,to the Government they are under; but the Scheme which they finally fell in¬ to upon evident Experience that others did not fucceed : and if they had not fallen into it, in all human Probability the Plague, before this time, had overlpread at leaf! one half of that Kingdom, and perhaps this too. If we fuffer fo much by French Fol¬ ly, may we not be allow’d to gain a little by French Experience ? When the Plague rages in any Nation, and the Neighbours are under Apprehenfion of it, and are making the belt Provifions they can in cafe of its coming among them ; wou’d any Country upon Earth, but ours, think that they could take a wifer Courfe, than to make the moft exadl and diligent Enqui¬ ry, what Methods had been us’d, and which
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3