The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-30 00:00:00

meneed later) in one unfortunate village,
called ,casal Curmi,? than in the other parts
of the Island. It was imagined that the dis-
ease did not yield, because the precautions
adopted were not sufficiently vigorous and they
were redoubled. The immediate results of this

increased activity and vigour were exceedingly
curious. It. was discovered that 46 disease was

,
festered and kepi alive from the homely inter-
course with infected goods, on the part of many
of the misguided inhabitants l"—Tully, (p. 58, 9.)
We are not informed by what experiments or
processes, besides the usual- process of assump-
tion, this discovery of the concealment of goods,
and of the' concealed goods being contaminated,
was made. Such, however, was the foundation
of the measures which I am going to relate.
" The, knowledge of the above circumstance
" (surmise) compelled his Excellency to have re-
it course to the novel and extraordinary plan of

" converting a populous country town into a species
16 of lazaretto, shutting the inhabitants within their
" oton precincts, by the erection of double walls,
" and by the establishment, without these walls, of
66 cordonover cordon !"—(Tully p. 29.) As might
reasonably have been expected by persons not
wholly blinded by the absurd superstition of pes-
tilential contagion, the effect of this vigorous
blockade, which, in correctness of circumvalla-
lion, Mr. 'fully seems to think surpasses the feats
of any of the greatest captains of ancient Greece,
was, that, the epidemic, being duly provisioned
by the season, and laughing at cordons, held out
in full vigour until the month of December, and
did not wholly capitulate until March, provisions
and the, garrison being both almost expended.
On the 4th of December, a proclamation was

issued against the Curmians, who would thus ob.
stinately maintain themselves in an infected state,
declaring that the law, as it stood, had been
found inadequate to prevent the stealing of in.
feeler/ goods, and the secreting of infected articles ;

and enacting,
" 1. That all that part of Casa! Curmi, with.

in the cordon of troops, in as far as relates to the
plague, be put out of the King': peace, and be
henceforth declared to be under martial law.

2. That a military commission be appointed to
carry into effect the said martial law, us fur us
relates to any case of the plague within the said
district."—(p. 287, Appendix.)—By a third ar-
ticle these Commissioners are named.
c• It does not appear that this measure had any
better success in putting an end to the disease
fully : for In January (Tully, p. 64), and even
MI the beginning of March (Tully, p. 70), it

had not finally ceased at Casal Curmi. There
could not have been a more striking proof than
this case affords of the pernicious consequences
of Sanitary Laws. Compelling the inhabitants of
Curmi to remain exposed to the cause of the
disease, not only prevented its cessation, whilst
the atmosphere remained in any degree pestilen-
tial, and absolutely consigned then► to certain

death. (It is not stated how many perished, or
how many survived.) When the qualities of the
atMosphere. ameliorated to a certain degree, the
sanitary restrictions could not render the pesti-
lence permanent,' and therefore the disea4e ceased.
But; to say that it ceased in consequence of these
restriction., in. March, when they could produce
i'no•diertlntitttsts'of NeVereber, October, or No-
t vonsbor, en WWl.' upon -the meanest under-

standing. Sanitary Laws do not even seem to pro-
duce any effect in limiting au epidemic, at the
commencement, the middle, Or any period of its
progress. It is only at its natural termination,
or when, in the course of the usual epidemic
season, the atmosphere ceases to be pestilesitial,
that the effect of this change is compounded with
the supposed effect of the operation of the Said-
wry Laws. Hence the labours of Lieutenant-
General Oakes, at the commencement, anti during
the progress of the malady, although praised ha
meritorious, are stated to have been unavailing :
Sanitary Laws could do nothing in an atmosphere
really pestilential, but to augment its injurious
effects. But, on the arrival of General Maitland,

at the termination of the pestilential.season, Su-
nitary Laws did woodersland the fever ceased—
in all places, where the qualities of the- atoms-
phere had already ceased to be noxious ; but,
at Curmi, where it happened that these
fIOXIOUS qualities (lid not cease so early, the sick-
ness and mortality were aggravated and prolong-
ed by the increased rigour of the Sanitary Laws.
A t the however, as Sanitary Laws were sure
toout "liti
ast the pestilent stnte of the atmosphere,
they were ready, whenever the disease did cease,
to lay claim to the merit of subduing it. " The
" annihilation of 'disease was reserved, under
66 Providence, for his Excellency ; and, under
" similar eircumitances, the like suentoccurred at
" Corfu."—(Tully, p. ta); and, under similar
circumstances, I. presume to affirm that no differ- •
ent event would ever happen. Here we have
assumption upon assumption, and delusion on
delusion, without end. in the whole circle of
human error, can any system be found at once
SO absurd and pernicious?
" The inhabitants of Casal Curmi being cor-
doned round, 6' willed in,' and • even le'cked
within their respective dwellings,'—(p. 1164)
what Mr. Tully culls 'hermetically sealing the
113),—the island was deemed safe
from that source of contamination. Doubtless
the inhabitanti of the island nt large were per-
fectly sale ; and they would have been equally
safe had those of Casal Curmi beyond' the pre-
cincts of their own town shook hands with or
embraced them ; but ouch person that died in
consequence, of being imprisoned in that village,
was murdered according to law ; whilst, if they
had only been allowed to full .back to the walls,
or to the stations occupied by the troops of the
cordon, in proper time, they might all have
escaped death, and the greatest number of them
sickness.
66 It cannot be necessary to inform the intelli-
gent reader that, in these strictures, I am not
censuring the conduct of Sir Thomas Maitland,
' but illustrating the pernicious operation of a
system wholly founded in delusion. Sir Thomas,
am persuaded, was, on the day of issuing his
.proclamation against • the poor Curmians, as
'miserable in his mind as anyof the inhabitants of
,that infected town."*'

* Maclean's " Evils of Quarantine Laws," p. 364.