The Red Cloud chief., 1878-10-24
What the Great Plague Did.

~ " - H'H' W. I'HA ~ |HNH H'
ruylgrs II Interest tO our reader.
H., most frightfll attack VA. crn,u.
RE. ago. when. under the nam. e 'h.
Black Death. il wiped away. according
10 , me estimates. one third u thr tpp-
%uln'ipn ~ the old wprli. bu' compare.
lively IN modern history u boz. appear.
cd ne less than three times. and mum.
b"rci IT, victims hs tens of thuu>ini.
The first occasion va, IN 1870. ~ Nj.
Ian, Nh"r" IA" great -, Ambrose had
once preached and ,N'ort,d mercy Tor
a doomed people from a reluctant Re-
man emperor H., nuhlrst successor.
Cardinal Carlo Bornmco. vtS then
archbishop Like ST Ambrose. he was
one of ia" greatest saint, 81 the Church,
and proved one II the mos, glorious eN-
amp IS IT human courage. rising ,upo-
nor 10 the t"rrur- Of death IN It's most
hid"ou- aspect. lie was 80 universally
beloved that his ilock, his clergy. even,
hc>Ought him tO save his life hS flight:
but the shepherd was faithful !" hi,
sheep, and would not desert them in
their hour Of extremity. He refused
4" leave, and throughout the many
weary month. during which the plague
iiNN''lt "tN ''llNNAlll ~ Il~ IAi~Is lIflll
lag down to hear f"ycrcd lips mutlcr
their last confession, and Offering the
last rites If the church in hospital, aud
pest houses rc"king with the poisoned
virus. II" seemed tp bear a charmed
life, aud when all but h" aud a few
faithful ones like himself apponrrd to
have abandoned every hope, Il, a,,rm
bleed his congregation under the mlgut,
dome Of the magnificent cathedral, and
there, after solemn high mass, knclt
down aud prayed Ia God to take TAI,
life ~ an rNpiatury Offering, and dcliy.
cr his people from the curse.
But there was work for him yet Ia do
and the Archbishop and many of the
priests who had been brought into the
closest contact with death, survived,
while many rich men who had fled per
ishcd III the last week Of the agony.
when, it, fury appearing to Ice asSuagcd
they returned, ~ they iondly hoped. in
safety. .
Its next appearance was in Amstcr.
dam, in 1868. whence later the follow
Ing year, il crossed over She channel
and visited London. From the follow
ing February until the after the tirS,
ll'~l VI NIlll'i, IL liNlE'N "'If HbIll-
bile. In one month no less than 90, 900
people died, and the city, 50 soon after
wards to bc consumed by fire, was half
~dcpopulatcd. The symptoms were the
same ~ they had been in Milan. \
raging fever Of the typhoid form, was
accompanied by malignant tuners ON
the inner side of The arms and thighs.
The pain was cNcruciating. the thirst
tormcnting, and the patients died by
hundreds IN the very dclirium of mad
ness. There was no Count Borromco
iO direct the energies at the priests and
nurses. Ihcr, were deeds of hcroism
done, but il was not Il heroic age. The
proilignto Charles II. was borne upon
the throne. and the Earl of Rochester,
Sir George Ethcrag". and their set.
wore scarcely the men Ia follow in the
footsteps of the grand old Archbishop.
When the pcstilcncc was in it, height
tn" condition Of London was fearful.
Whole streets bore upon the door a
cross. roughly painted in red. with the
inscription. ''Ihc Lord have mercy up
on us" "a a sign that one or more of
the inmates were dead or diving from
the plague. The grass grew in thor
oughfarcs that used to he crowded, and
where brilliant carriages had travelled
To and fro ut every hour OF the day. the
tracks of thu dcad.cart only were seen.
There were nunc To bury the dead with
appropriate, or even decent ceremonies.
Huge pits were dug in the outskirts.
and the bodies Of men. women and chill
dren, uncoifined, almost naked. were
hurled in by the hundreds. CorpScs
were ven left tn tester and rot in the
lanes and alleys, and for some days it
appeared that enough would not be left
alive to bury the dead. 1t was II carni-
val of crime. Thieves and houscbreak-
ers roamed the city AT will. and hired
nurses. impatient ut the slow approach
of death, murdered their charges by
the hundred. and enriched themselves
with the ~ oil. Quack doctors, fortune
t~ellers, sellers of amulsts and charms,
and even Of poison, reaped huge profits,
In one way fanatical street approach
crs added to the confusion, and in an.
other the reckless orgies of men des-
pcratc with drink and fear. prepared
the way for almost universal anarchy.
and unbridled w~ickedness of every form
reigned supreme.
Dut Vic Us WIS tut state VI tnt capl-
tai then, England was not without her
heroes of the plague, and the simple
but lofty heroism Of II few hundred
simple villagers lent II lus,re to the
whole century.
Among the hills of perbyshirc there
was u beautiful little village called
Eyam. The houses were clustered to-
gether half way up II gentle slope.
fronting II lofty hill upon the other side
Of the valley. Tidings of the great
plague had reached the hamlet, but in
its ~seclusion no one feared the fate of
the capital. Unfortunately II tailor re-
Gel ed n bundle of cloth from town. |,
was opened, and in a few hours the tail
or siekencd and died, with plain symp-
toms of the plague. The wife of the
pastor, Mrs. Momfesson, begged him
to fly. but like the Italian, he would
not desert his people, and then, wife
like, Mrs. Momfessom also resolved Ia
remain. He caused the bells of the
church to be tollcd, and the people to
assemble within its walls. There the
noble .dan told his hearers the true
state of the case, and added that if they