to bury
the Family; and, at his Return, gave to his =Brother-in-law= a =Cloak=
he had brought with him: the =Brother-in-law= laying it upon his Bed,
lost a little =Child= which lay with him, in one Day's Time; and two
Days after, his Wife; =himself= following in seven or eight. The
=Parents= of this unhappy Family, taking Possession of the =Goods= of the
Deceased, underwent the same Fate.

ALL this abundantly shews how inexcusable the foresaid Physicians in
=France= are, in their opposing the common Opinion that the =Plague= is
contagious. However, I have paid so much Regard to them, as to insist
the more largely upon the Proof of that =Contagion=; lest the Opinion of
those, who have had so much Experience of the Disease, might lead any
one into an Error, in an Affair of such Consequence, that all my
Precepts relating to =Quarantaines=, and well nigh every particular Part
of my Advice, depends upon it: For if this Opinion were a Mistake,
=Quarantaines=, and all the like =Means of Defence=, ought to be thrown
aside as of no use. But as I continue persuaded, that we have the
greatest Evidence, that the =PLAGUE= is a =contagious= Disease; so I
have left, without any Alteration, all my Directions in respect to
=Quarantaines=: in which, I hope, I have not recommended any Thing
=prejudicial to Trade=; my Advice being very little different from what
has been long practised in all the =trading= Ports of =Italy=, and in
other Places. Nay, were we to be more remiss in this than our
Neighbours, I cannot think but the =Fear= they would have of us, must
much obstruct our =Commerce=.

BUT I shall pursue this Point no farther: the rather because a very
learned Physician among themselves has since, both by strong Reasoning
and undeniable Instances, evinced the Reality of =Contagion=[11].

IN a word, the more I consider this Matter, the more I am convinced
that the Precepts I have delivered, both with regard to the Preventing
the Plague from coming into a Country, and the Treatment of it when
present, are perfectly suitable to the Nature of the Distemper, and
consequently the fittest to be complied with. But how far, in every
Situation of Affairs, it is expedient to grant the =Powers=, requisite
for putting all of them in Practice, it is not my proper Business, as a
Physician, to determine. No doubt, but at all Times, these =Powers=
ought to be so limited and restrained, that they may never endanger
the Rights and Liberties of a Peo