The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1845-05-03
THE PLAGUE IN MILAN.

An ancient couplet, preserved for
ages by traditions, foretold that in the
year $50, the devil would poison all
Milan. Early one morning in April,
and before the pestilence had reached
its height, the passengers were surpri-
sed to see all the doors in the principal
part of the city were marked with Gu
rious daub, or spot, as if a sponge, filled
with the prurient matter of the sores,
had been pasted against them. The
whole population were speedily in
movement to mark the strange appear
ance, and the greatest alarm spread ra-
pidly. Every means was taken to dis
cover the perpetrators, but in vain. AT
last the ancient prophecy was remem-
bered: and prayers were offered up in
all the churches that the Vaccinations
of the evil one might be defeated. Ma
ny persons were of opinion that the
emissaries of foreign powers were en-
ployed tospread infectious poison over
the city; but by far the greater number
were convinced that the powers of hell
were employed against them. and that
the Infection was spread by superna-
tural agencies. In the mean time the
plague increased fearfuIly. Distrust
and alarm took possession of every
mind. Every thing was believed to
have been poisoned by the devil; the
waters of the well, the standing corn
in the fields, and the fruit upon the
trees. 1t was believed that all objects
of touch were poisoned; the walls Of
the houses, the pavements Of the streets,
and the very handles Of the doors.
The populace were raised to pitch
of ungovernable fury. A strict watch
was kept for the DEVILS emissaries ;and
any man who wanted to be rid of an
enemy, had only to say that he had
seen him besmearing a door with oint-
ment--his fate was certain death at the
hands of the mob. An old man, up
wards of eighty years of age, a daily
frequenter of the church of ST. Anto-
nio, was seen, on rising from his knees,
to wipe with the skirt of his cloak the
stool on which he was about to sit
down. The cry WAS raised immedi-
ately that he was besmearing the seat
with poison. A mob of women, by
whom the church was crowded, seized
hold of the feeble old man, and dragged
him out by the hair of the head, with
horrid oaths and imprecations. He was
trailed in this manner through the mire
to the house of the municipal judge,
that he might be put to the rack, and
forced to discover his accomplices; but
he expired on the way. .
Many other victims were sacrificed
to the popular fury. One Mora, who
appears to have been hall a chemist and
half barber, was accused of being in
eague with the devil to poison Milan.
His house was surrounded, and num-
Der of chemical preparations were
found. The poor man asserted that
they were intended as preservatives
against Infection; but some physicians,
to whom they were submitted, decided
they were poison. Mora was put to
the rack, where for long time he as
serted bis innocence. He confessed at
last, when his courage was worn down
by torture, that he was in league with
the devil and foreign powers TO poison
the whole city; that he had anointed
the doors and infected the fountains of
water. He named several persons as
his accompices, who were. apprehen-
ded and put to similar torture. They
were all found guilty and executed.
Mora's house was razed to the ground,
and column erected on the spot, with
an inscription to commemor ate his
guilt. While the public mind was filled
with these marvellous occurrences, the
plague continued to increase. The
crowds that were brought together to
witness the executions spread the in
lection among one another. But the
fury of their passions, and the extent
of their credulity, kept pace with the
violence of the plague; every wonder
(ul and preposterous story was bellev-
ed. One in particular occupied them,
to the exclusion for a long time of eve
ry other. The devil himself had been
seen; he had taken house in Milan, in
which he prepared his pois onous agents,
and furnished them to his emissaries for
distribution. One man had brooded
over such tales till he became firmly
convinced that the wild flights of his
own fancy were realities. He station
ed himself in the market place at Mi
AN, and related the following story to
the crowds that gathered round him.
He was standing, he SAID, at the door
Of thecathedral, late in the evening,and
when there was nobody nigh; he saw
a dark colored chariot, drawn by six
milk white horses, stop close beside
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