same, with the losse of cxlii more. Then ceasing it wente from thence throughe al the east partes of England into the Northe vntill the ende of Auguste at whiche tyme it diminished, & in the ende of Septembre fully ceassed." Local tradition, as mentioned by Owen and Blakeway, states that the Sweating Sickness broke out first in the White Horse Shut, Frankwell, and, if so, it must have been on this occasion. In whatever part of Shrewsbury it originated, the disease was a most malignant one, and the time that elapsed from the moment of seizure to the almost certain arrival of death, extremely short. It was so rapidly fatal that Dr. Caius, who published his book "against the Disease commonly called the Sweate, or Sweatyng Sicknesse" in 1552, the year following the Shrewsbury outbreak, states that it "immediately killed some in opening theire windowes, some in plaieng with children in their strete dores, some in one hour, many in two it destroyed, and at the longest to them that merilye dined, it gaue a sorrowful supper."2 Indeed it appears, frequently, to have been as rapidly fatal as the London Plague of a century later, so graphically described by Defoe. Many people that had the Plague upon them knew nothing of it till the inward gangrene had affected their vitals, and they died in a few moments; this caused that many died frequently in that manner in the streets suddenly, without any warning; others, perhaps, had time to go to the next bulk or stall, or to any door or porch, and just sit down and die." Although Owen and Blakeway deny that there is any proof that Dr. Caius (Kaye or Keys), ever practised 1 See "Early Chronicles of Shrewsbury" in Shropshire Archeological Society's Transactions, Vol. III., p. 260, and the authors there quoted in the note. 2 As in the description by Josephus of the Pestilence in the reign of David, "Some there were, who, as they were burying a relation, fell down dead without finishing the rites of the funeral." Antiquities of the Jews, Book VII., Chap. XIII. in Shrewsbury itself, Professor Hecker asserts most positively that "after being admitted as a doctor of medicine at Cambridge, he practised with great distinction at Shrewsbury and Norwich" He appears to have made the epidemic a subject of special study, and to him we are indebted for the principal knowledge we can obtain of the peculiarities of this singular and dreadful scourge. The winter of 1550-51 appears to have been dry and warm in England, the spring dry and cold, when on the 15th of April broke out the disease that was to spread dismay and death through Shrewsbury. The " Early Chronicles of Shrewsbury" give the 22nd of March as the day on which the "Swetinge sycknes" appeared in thys towne of Shrowsbery," but most writers agree in giving the April date. In spite of the recorded dryness of the atmosphere in the spring, there arose dense and malodorous fogs from the banks of the Severn, to which the old physician partly attributes the outbreak; though, with a touch of quaint superstition at which we may now smile, he also speaks of the "evel disposition by constellation, which hath a great power and dominion in al erthly thinges." The very suddenness of the outbreak struck all with consternation, for three and twenty years had elapsed since its appearance in any part of England. The visitation swept like a blight through Shrewsbury and the neighbourhood, no precautions availed, no closed doors and windows kept out the angel of death, every house, says Stow, was a hospital, the aged and the young alone escaping with comparative immunity from the pestilence.2 2 The townspeople fled to the country the peasants seemed to feel safer in companionship and sought the towns, while many who could afford it fled from their fever-stricken country and flocked to Ireland, Scotland, France, and the Netherlands. All business 1 Epidemics of the Middle Ages. according to the observant eyewitness of these terrible times, was at a stand; no one thought of his daily occupations, and the funeral bells tolled day and night, as if all the living ought to be reminded of their near and inevitable end. That the gross living and intemperate habits of the English nation made them peculiarly susceptible of this disease there can be no doubt, and the singular immunity which, in many instances, foreigners seemed to possess, gave rise to the name by which it was known, "the English Sweat." Caius states "neither the auoidyng of this countrie nor fleyng into others wyll preserve vs Englishe men, as in this laste sweate is by experience well proued in Cales, Antuuerpe, and other places of Brabant, wher only our countrymen ware sicke & none others," and also points to this significant fact, "yt they which had thys sweat sore with perille or death were either men of welthe, ease, & welfare, or of the poorer sorte such as wer idle persones, good ale drinkers & Tavern haunters: the laborouse & thinne dieted people either had it not, because they did eate but litle to make the matter, or with no greater griefe & danger, because they laboured out moche thereof." The quaint old physician gives a list of what he considers healthful meats, in which we find minnows and millers' thumbs, but the list is too long to be transcribed here, even if it were of sufficient local interest. Although imbued with many of the absurd notions of the medicos of that time, Caius seems to have been a keen observer, and to have had much natural common sense. While ignoring the filthy nostrums of the numerous Quacks which a Plague immediately brought to the front, and separating himself from the violent remedies prescribed by 1 Caius says that "if the haulfe in every Towne escaped, it was thoughte great fauvour." "* "The 2 See Early Chronicles of Shrewsbury" before quoted. sayd Swatt fell uppon non but Englyshmen and followyd Englyshe men not onely wth in the realme but in forayne countreys beyond the sease weh was a greate example to England of God's gentyll correction." W ch many reckless practitioners, he gave few of the favorite fantastic medicines of the time and endeavoured to assist nature to throw off the poison by inducing, instead of attempting to check, the profuse perspiration, even giving mulled wine and greater warmth. When once induced he did not urge it to extremes, as seems to have been the case with others of his fraternity. The mist previously mentioned is stated to have been carried by the wind from place to place, and wherever it appeared the infection broke out. Its evil smell was always perceptible, and was worse in the mornings and evenings. It may be remarked that, in the preceding outbreak of the pestilence, more people sickened at sunrise than at any other time. The symptoms of the disease, as described by various writers of the time, may be briefly noted. Premonitory symptoms chiefly wanting or (according to Bayer) commencing with rheumatic pains or a feeling of general debility. A short shivering fit heralded the attack, and this was rapidly followed by delirium and great pain in the head, succeeded by lethargy. A profuse and fetid perspiration bathed the unfortunate victim from head to foot. It is curious that among the many foreign writers on the pestilence, such as Schiller, Damian, &c., no mention is made of the state of the pulse; Caius alone stating "pulsus concitatior, frequentior." This writer also describes those affected as having a "sighing, whining, voice." The symptoms notably resemble, in many points, the Cardiac disease (Morbus cardiacus) which existed from 300 B.C. to 200 A.D., and of which Aurelian gives a full description, chapters 30 to 40. The slowness with which the plague of 1551 travelled is remarkable as it did not reach London until the 9th of July, three months after its first appearance in Shrewsbury. It finally passed away from England in the end of September, and has never rince re-appeared. Of the exact losses in Shrewsbury it is impossible to form an estimate. Caius gives 960 as the loss of one city in a few days, but, though this has often been taken to refer to Shrewsbury, it cannot be accepted with certainty. That the town was desolated, however, there can be no doubt, and never, before or since, was there such a time of mourning, "ubique lugubris erat lamentatio, fletus morens, acerbus luctus." |