this origin, had communicated itself to fifteen individuals in this small tenement, consisting only of three rooms. Another lodging-house, equally crowded and dirty, within a few yards of this, remained perfectly free from fever. The proprietor of the rooms in which the fever had been, had them cleaned and whitewashed, and the furniture purified; after which, they were let to other families, who have continued perfectly free from the disease. It was not ascertained whether the contagion extended itself from this source to any other part of the town. 2. About the end of February 1817, a young woman, who had been visiting a friend lying ill of a fever, was seized, in a house containing six persons, in the garret story of a large and populous land in Skinner's Close. She was removed to the Infirmary about a week after she was taken ill, but not before she had infected her father, who died of the disease, and one of her sisters, by whom the fever was communicated to two others of the family (the mother only escaping), and to eight out of ten other individuals inhabiting the same floor. About the same time that the disease appeared in the second family in the garret story, a girl was taken ill in the next story, and seven out of sixteen inhabitants of this flat were successively attacked, of whom five were removed to the Infirmary. On the story beneath, only two were affected, and the disease did not spread further. In the garret story, the rooms were crowded and ill aired; and from the constant intercourse with each other, the inhabitants were much exposed to the contagion; and it will be observed, that of sixteen persons inhabiting this flat, only three escaped the fever. In the other flats, the fever did not spread so extensively, which may be explained, partly by the people having been persuaded, by the time it arrived at them, to send a considerable proportion of the sick to the Infirmary, and to keep up a ventilation of the rooms, and partly by the circumstance of the condition of the inhabitants of these flats being better, and their rooms larger, and more commodious than those of their neighbours in the garrets. No fewer, however, than twenty-two inhabitants of this building were infected from one individual, besides two others, residing in other parts of the town, who caught the feVOL. II. ver by communicating with those sick in this house. Twelve of the infected were carried to the Infirmary, and there can be no doubt that this had a material effect in checking the progress of the fever; but several of these were not removed till the disease had considerably advanced. The poverty and distress of the people, aggravated as these were by the illness pervading their families, and by the fatigue undergone by those who remained free from actual sickness, rendered it impossible, in this and the following instance, to accomplish the desirable cleaning and purification; and there was reason to think that the infected clothes and furniture had as much share in propagating the disease, as any effluvia from the bodies of those affected with it. 3. In May 1817, a girl, who had lately been discharged from Bridewell, fell ill of fever when living with her father in the second floor of a miserably dirty and crowded common stair in Bell's Wynd. After remaining some days, she was taken to the Infirmary. Her father was taken ill immediately after; but as he died in a few days, without having been seen by any medical man, it is impossible to say whether his disease was fever. There are three other rooms, each containing an entire family, on the same floor with that on which the disease thus began. In the course of a fortnight the fever had broken out in each of these rooms, and it successively affected three individuals in each,—in all ten, perhaps eleven, persons out of fifteen who resided on this flat. It then appeared in a family of nine persons, who inhabit the ground-floor of the house, every one of whom, except the father, went through the disease. Before the middle of June, it had also appeared in the third floor of the house, and has since that time affected four out of five persons residing in one room, and one out of these residing in another, on that floor. Besides attacking in this manner, within three months, twenty-three individuals in this one stair, the disease has now extended itself to eleven, other families in the same wynd, most of whom have certainly had intercourse with the sick, and all of whom may be supposed to have been exposed to the contagion, either by going into the houses, or by meeting the conva Ꮐ lescent patients in the narrow wynd; and in this manner it has affected twenty-three more individuals in this small district, besides two others who were fully exposed to the contagion in Bell's Wynd, but who fell sick in their own residences in distant parts of the town, whence they might have diffused the contagion in a similar manner, if they had not been prevailed on to go to the Infirmary at a very early period of the disease. In this manner it has been distinctly ascertained that fifteen cases of fever in one instance, twenty-four in another, and forty-eight in a third, have proceeded from single individuals affected with the disease. In Bell's Wynd the fever still continues to prevail in several houses; and it is consistent with our knowledge, that it at present exists in families among the poor in different parts of the town. These three instances, which we have adduced, sufficiently illustrate the certainty with which fever spreads among those who are exposed to its contagion, in circumstances favourable to its communication, and shew the probability there is of its extending itself, from the sources of infection which at present exist, unless some means be taken to check its progress. From these instances, also, the case with which a contagious fever may be prevented and checked in its progress, may be readily understood. For, according to the principles that regulate the communication of infection, which we have shortly stated in our former Report, if the three patients with whom the disease, in these three instances, originated, had been removed into the Infirmary by the fourth day of their respective illnesses, the fever would probably have extended no farther. Even if they had remained at home so long as to infect the persons in attendance on them, and the clothes, &c. in which they had lain,-yet if the former had been removed inmediately on their seizure, and the latter had been cleansed and purified, the progress of the disease would equally have been stopped. As these principles have been deduced from numerous and accurate observations made on the same disease, generally in a much more malignant form than that in which it has lately prevailed in Edinburgh, it may fairly be said that this truth is experimentally known. And there is likewise ample experience in the history of other large towns, of the application of these principles to the prevention of fever.-We shall select the following examples : The first well-regulated feverwards, accompanied with regulations to prevent the diffusion of contagion among the poor, were established in Chester in the year 1784; and, in 1796, Dr Haygarth, to whom we are indebted for much accurate and original information with regard to contagion, wrote concerning them as follows:-" During the war, Chester has been unusually exposed to the danger of putrid infectious fevers. Many new-raised regiments coming from Ireland, with numerous recruits taken out of jails, remained in Chester a few weeks after their voyage. Great numbers of these soldiers, and their women, were ill of putrid fevers, and were immediately received into the fever-wards of our Infirmary. If such contagious patients had been distributed in the small public houses and poor lodging-houses through the city, the consequences to many ofour inhabitants must have been dreadful. By taking out of a house the first person who sickens of a fever, we preserve the rest of the family from infection, together with an indefinite number of their neighbours, who would otherwise catch the infection. At this very time, when the inhabitants of Manchester and many other places are afflicted with a fatal contagious epidemic, only two patients are in our fever-wards, both convalescent; and the apothecary to the Infirmary, who attends the outpoor of the whole city, informs me that he has not now a single fever-patient under his care.' The success of the Manchester House of Recovery, which was established in imitation of the Chester fever-wards, may be judged of from the following documents: The number of patients ill of fever in the streets in the neighbourhood of the House of Recovery in Manchester, to which the benefits of that institution were in the first instance confined, from September 1793 to May 1796, was 1256, giving more than Haygarth's letter to Dr Percival. an average of 400 in the year; those in the same district, from July 1796 till July 1797, a period commencing two months after the establishment of the House of Recovery, were only twenty-six; and of these, in the last four months, from March to July 1797, there was only one. The limits of the Manchester House of Recovery were afterwards "extended, without distinction, not only to all Manchester, but also to all its neighbourhood for three miles round; and yet, with all this enlarged scope of benevolence, and with the admission of every feverpatient to be found in these extensive limits, the number of patients in the House of Recovery was, in August 1798, nineteen, and in October 1799, eleven."* The change which has taken place in London, in regard to the prevalence of contagious fever, since the commencement of the Institution for the Cure and Prevention of Contagious Fever in 1801, is still more striking. It was then estimated, that the number of persons affected with fever in London exceed 40,000 annually, the yearly average of deaths, from infectious fevers, having been 3188. At present contagious fever is hardly known in the practice of any of the London Hospitals or Dispensaries; and the number of patients affected with it in the House of Recovery, which takes in from the whole town, is seldom more than five or six.† We have been induced to enter again thus fully into this subject, because we are convinced, that if measures for preventing the spreading of contagion in Edinburgh were judiciously and promptly employed, they would not only have the effect of checking the farther progress of fever, but in all probability of removing it entirely from the town. In order to effect this, it seems necessary that, 1st, Means should be used to obtain, either through the medical profession, or through the neighbours, early intelligence of the existence of Reports of Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, vol. 1st, p. 98, and vol. 2d, p. 224. + See Remarks on the Necessity and Means of suppressing Contagious Fever, &c. by Dr Stanger. Also Bateman's Reports of the Carey-street Dispensary.-Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. contagious fever in any part of the town. 2d, That, on the existence of contagious fever among the poor being ascertained, every inducement should be held out to those affected with it to remove to the Infirmary at an early period of the disease. 3d, That funds be provided to clean the infected bed-clothes, and to purify and white-wash the houses, or to reward those among the poor who may do this satisfactorily themselves. 4th, That bedding and clothes be provided to supply the place of those which it becomes necessary to clean or to destroy; or in the case of children being affected with the disease, or it being otherwise impossible to remove the patients to the Infirmary, to lend for the use of the sick, in order to prevent one very frequent source of the contagion-the healthy lying with the diseased. And 5th, That provision be made for proper visitation of the infected houses, in order to see that the diseased are promptly separated from the healthy, and that the purifying of the houses and bed-clothes is sufficiently accomplished,-a part of the system in which the aid of the medical gentlemen of the town, which there is every reason to believe might be readily obtained, would be of essential use. We are happy to be able to state, that some of the members of the Society for the Relief of the Destitute Sick have taken this subject into their consideration; with the active benevolence for which they are distinguished, they have zealously entered into a plan for preventing the spreading of contagious fever in Edinburgh. The organized system which this society has long possessed for the regular visitation of the sick poor,-the accurate and minute knowledge of their state which this must afford,-and the influence, over the minds of the poor, which this constant intercourse, and the beneficent occupation in the relief of their distresses must necessarily give them,-in a peculiar manner qualify those connected with this society for conducting this undertaking; and it is to be hoped, that the liberality of the public will not fail to enable them to render effective their exertions to accomplish it. The expense necessary to fulfil the different parts of the plan must necessarily be considerable, particularly at the outset, but there seems every reason to believe, that the more wealthy inhabitants of Edinburgh will be fully disposed to contribute a sum sufficient to carry it into effect, when it is considered, that it will not only relieve and prevent much misery among the poor, but that it will do much to secure the families of the rich themselves from the risk of the contagion of fever, and probably, by diminishing the prevalence of the fever, will ultimately tend to relieve the funds of the other charities established in Edinburgh for the relief of the poor when afflicted with disease. A.-T. Edinburgh, October 1st, 1817. ACCOUNT OF A MANUSCRIPT OF BISHOP You know also that copies of this are preserved in the Libraries of England. I am satisfied that Lord Leven's MS. is a copy of the same work. There is just that agreement between it and the printed History, as to facts-the selection of these-the order in which they are arrangedand the opinion given on them, and on the characters introduced, which one would expect to find on the supposition of their being the work of one author. While at the same time last books of his History, dated," Romæ ix. Kl. Januarii 1577."-" Res gestas posteriorum nostrorum Regum, &c."-" Seven years ago, when I was ambassador at the court of England, I presented to your Majesty the history of our later kings (not be fore treated) written in our own language. That the leisure which I have since enjoy. ed might not be altogether unprofitable to the commonwealth, I have employed it, not only in turning into Latin what I had hasti LESLEY'S HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, ly composed in the Scottish language, but al IN THE POSSESSION OF THE EARL By THOMAS M'CRIE, D. D. so in compendizing the whole of our preceding history in one volume, for the greater convenience of my countrymen."-To the same purpose he says, in his Parænesis, “Qua omnia ut Maria Serenissima Scotorum Re gina, &c."- "Both by word and writing I had often exhorted Mary, queen of Scots, carefully to peruse the history of her ancestors. And to assist her in prosecuting this Edinburgh, Sept. 22, 1817. study, I presented to her Majesty, while I DEAR SIR, I RETURN you the MS. belonging to the Earl of Leven and Melville, which you were so obliging as to communicate to me. On the first inspection, I was disposed to think that it might be a compilation made up from Bishop Lesley's History of Scotland, with additions and alterations, similar to some works which I had seen, composed during that barren period of Scottish literature, the latter part of the 17th century. But on examining it narrowly, I was soon convinced that it was the composition of the bishop himself. I need not remind you that, besides his History in Latin, Lesley wrote, in his vernacular language, a History of Scotland, from the accession of James II. to the return of Queen Mary from France; as he informs us in the dedication of the second part of his printed History, and in his Parænesis ad Nobilitatem Populumque Scoticum. "It was finished in 1570, as we learn from his dedication to Queen Mary of the three acted as her ambassador in England, that portion of our history which had not been treated by any of our writers, extending from James II. to our times, composed in the Scottish language, and not yet printed. Many, both foreigners and countrymen of my own, knowing this, urged me to translate what I had written into Latin, and to prefix to it an abridgement of the preceding part of our history, which had been executed by John Major faithfully indeed, but harshly; and by Hector Boece with great elegance, but, as they complained, in too diffuse a style. In compliance with their request, I have greatly abridged our early annals; and for the use of foreigners Í have translated into Latin what was formerly intelligible only by the queen and the natives of Scotland." "John Lesly Bishop of Ross his History of Scotland from the year 1436 to the year 1561." Catal. Libr. MSS. Oxon. Tom. I. Num. 1498.-"History of Scotland from 1436 to 1561, by John Leslie Bishop of Ross." Ib. tom. II. Num. 4217.-The following article is so generally described, that it is impossible to form a judgment of it from the catalogue. "John Lesley Bishop of Ross's History of Scotland and Scotiae Chronicon per Joannem Forden." Ib. tom. II. Numb. 5291. those diversities are found in them which were to be looked for in works, which, though the production of the same individual, and on the same subject, were yet composed by him in different languages, and at different periods. In compiling the Latin History, the author has sometimes abridged, and at other times enlarged, the narrative which he had given in the Scottish. Facts which he had introduced into the latter he has omitted in the former; and the contrary. Nor has he in both uniformly presented the same facts in exactly the same light, and accompanied with the same reflections. It is evident to me (although it would take time to state the reasons of my opinion) that the MS. has not been translated or taken from the History in Latin. And this agrees with the statement of the bishop, who says, that he composed the latter part of his work first in his native tongue. Phrases which might at first view appear to favour a different conclusion, are easily accounted for upon another principle. For example, the expression, appearing in proper person," would naturally occur to one who, like Lesley, was conversant with the technical language of ecclesiastical courts; and upon examination I found, that wherever it occurs, the author, in the corresponding places of his Latin work, has not used the words, "in propria persona," but a more classical phrase. 6. The MS. answers to the account which the bishop has given of his Scottish work, as to the period of our national history which it embraces. Only, from the loose state in which it has been allowed to remain, some parts of it have fallen aside or been lost. It wants, apparently, two leaves at the beginning, including nearly all the account of transactions from the year 1436 to 1440. Here and there also a leaf is a-missing in the body of the MS. And it goes no farther than the death of the Queen Regent. It is probable, however, that it wants very few leaves at the end; for I am inclined to think, that the account of the disputes between the Roman Catholic and Protestant Divines, and of the designs of the Earl of Murray against the Queen, his sister, with which the Latin work closes, was not contained in the Scottish. This may be ascertained by an inspection of the other existing copies of the work. I will not say that you must be struck with the inferiority of the MS. to the Latin History of Lesley, in the qualities of style. For you are well acquainted with the fact, that the learned of that age wrote with greater correctness and elegance in Latin than in their native language. At the same time, I do not think that the bishop's Scottish style is more uncultivated or more incorrect than that of many of his contemporaries. You are a better judge than I of the age of the MS. It is evidently a transcript of an older one; for blanks occur in it, owing, there is every reason for thinking, to the transcriber's not being able to decipher particular words. The latter part of it has been copied by a different hand from the former, and is less correctly executed. I should suppose that the first part was written towards the close of the sixteenth century. Upon the whole, I consider this as a curious literary relic, and of considerable value. It was originally written as a continuation of Bellenden's Translation of Boethius, and would form an appropriate accompaniment to that work, should it be reprinted. If such a design should be carried into execution, it might not perhaps be difficult to complete a series of chronicles of Scotland, in the vernacular language, from the earliest period of our history, down to, at least, the union of the crowns. Even although nothing of this kind should be attempted, it would be desirable to have the copies of this work which are in England inspected and collated. Indeed it is rather a matter of surprise that this has not been already done, and that a work which the author thought worthy of being presented to a princess whom he served so zealously, and which he seems to have bequeathed as a legacy to his countrymen (Scotis solum nostris loquebatur Scotice), should have been so little attended to as to be almost unknown. Along with this I send you a few notes and references, which I took in going through the MS. They may be of some use in abridging your labour, if you shall think it proper to compare it with the printed history, to satisfy yourself how far they agree, and wherein they differ. |