A short account of the ravages of the Yellow Fever, at Newburyport in the year 1796.

ALTHOUGH the execution done by this disorder in that town is, through the kindness of God, ex­tremely small compared to its baneful effects in some of our southern cities. it yet seems by no means improper to publish a brief and impartial account of the matter— Every circumstance relating to this disease ought to be recorded and remembered on account of its being very likely that all the experience [...] in it, will be want­ing to enable us to withstand future attacks from this mortal foe.

Many of our country brethren, who have heard a­larming news of 30, 40 or 50 persons dying of the yellow fever in a night in Newburyport, will be sur­prized, when they read here that less than 40 h [...]e died there with it in the whole; but they must rest assured that 'tis a fact; and one I hope that will make them more cautions for the future about believing falshoods. They ought to remember that people in the neighbour­ing seaports were interested in deceiving them about this matter, and that some of them have actually much misrepresented the affair. We must however acknow­ledge that many others have done us the justice to pro­pagate true accounts from time to time of the sickness, and our thanks are due to most or all the editors of newspapers in the States for publishing the authentic reports of our committee of health.

Whenever a malignant disorder has established itself in a populous place, the people will find it to their ad­vantage immediately to organize a committee of health, and to make it the duty of the committee to publish au­thentic accounts of the distemper. By this mode of conduct, men of sense in the country, who read the public news learn the truth, deal in out to their neigh­bors, and are enabled to contradict the extravagant and exaggerated stories of their more ignorant and super­stitious townsmen—'Tis ten times as well to have the truth told in such cases, by Tom Wiseman, Esq. or Doctor Knowall, as it is to have the alarming reports of Deacon Longface or Dick Kickstraw spread abroad. The Papers in Newburyport were too long silent about the fever, and the town was too long without a Com­mittee of Health.

This Fever in Newburyport was attended by symp­toms nearly similar to those which attended it in Phila­delphia: it was however more acute here than there in general. There the sick commonly lived from 5 to 8 days, but here their career was often finished sooner.

The disease was new to all our Physicians, and at first their endeavours were crowned with small success; nor were they at any time very able to beat the enemy es­pecially when not sent for at the beginning of the battle.

Dr. Swett who fell a victim, was seized with vomit­ing, and immediately pronounced his fa [...]e. "I (said he to his amiable consort) am seized now with a disorder that I have been trying to check in others—I can do nothing for it: nobody in this place can, and I must fall by it!" The Doctor's mind at this time must have been awfully agitated! An hour before perhaps in per­fect health, with a shining prospect of thirty happy, un­commonly happy years, and now as certain of dying in a few days, as if his neck had been under a French guilo [...]ne! No language could express his feelings! No pen is adequate to the task of doing justice to the af­fecting, the melancholy subject! Drop, courteous read­er, drop with me a tear to his memory, and let us en­deavour to be ready to travel after him, through the dark and awful valley, and to hail him triumphantly in the realms of light, by the assistance of him who is able to save. Oh! may his first address to us, when we quit this transitory world, be as follows, viz,

It is uncertain whether the fever was imported or took its origin in the town; but 'tis certain that it was seldom or never caught any where only in a small part of a street that I shall presently speak of, and it seems likely that it originated there.

By the best accounts I can get of the matter it ap­pears that one Miss Flood, a servant girl who lived with Mrs. Sally Woodhouse, in Water street, was the first victim among us to this disorder. She was seized towards the last of June, and repairing to her father's house in Newbury, died there soon after.

On the 3d of July Mr. Davis Lambert, who lived in the same house that Miss Flood was seized in, died of the same disorder and on the 5th Miss Silley in the same house also died. The disorder now began to be considered as a little alarming, and Miss Silley was prudently buried without the customary ceremonies, the same morning she died.

The scourge thus got footing in a place rendered by several circumstances very capable of supporting it. That part of Water-street of which I am speaking is situated low, by the Merrimack, while a very consider­able part of the town is built on higher ground, all a­long at the S. W. of it, which is the point from which the Summer breezes generally come. Thus situated, it must be expected that the air in that part of the town will sometimes in the hottest part of the year, stagnate, and become extremely unwholesome; the effluvia from all the filth in the city, S. W. of this spot is naturally wasted over and hovers there. But besides these na­tural disadvantages, the people in Water-street labour­ed under a very formidable one, hatched by an inhabi­tant who paid his life for his inattention. A very con­siderable quantity of the heads and entrails of a kind of fish were suffered to lie and putrify on a wharf. So insupportable was the stench arising from this nuisance that when an officer of Police was appointed, he was not able for love nor money to hire any man to remove it, and was actually obliged to cover it over with earth where ever he found it.

It was yet early in July; full four months longer the fever might naturally be expected to rage with encreas­ing fury! Considering this that 30 or 40 persons have died with it is not the wonder; but that at least four times as many have not died.

About a week after the death of Miss Silley, master Arnold died in the same house.

On the 16th of July Mr. Jonathan Gage was seized —he recovered; but his wife and a daughter died soon after, and his parents from Bradford having visited him during his illness were infected and died at home, one on the 28th and the other on the 29th of July. On the 19th Mr. Z. Atwood died.

The town now began to be a little more alarmed, and appointed an officer of Police. Many groundless fears were entertained by many, while others did not take the necessary precautions.

A girl at Mrs. Atwoods and another at Mr. Gages were the next victims. It seemed now to be time for the surviving part of these bereaved families to fly from their infected abodes; but they had the hardiness to stay: and what is more surprizing, the lovely Miss Long now or a little before, flew right to the jaws of death, by going to keep Mr. Gages house. On the 15th of August Mrs. Hill died, and on the 16th Dr. Swett took his departure.

On the 20th of August four persons died of the fev­er, one of which was Miss Long and another Mr. P. Atwood, who had been only two or three days out of his deceased brother's house. I was surprised at the hardiness of those people who still continued at the in­fected houses in Water street, and thought it high time to try to alarm them; fearing among the rest that the lovely Mrs. Atwood would lose her life 40 or 50 years too soon, and hoping that what I said to her might have some effect on others who were in danger, I immediate­ly hove the following note into her house, viz.

This lady having took conderable pains to cleanse her house, thought herself pretty secure; but about a week after another of her family, Mr. Stone, was seiz­ed by the iron hands of the fever, and she wisely fled from his fatal dart. Nothing however could give Mrs. Woodhouse a proper idea of her danger, till it was too late for her to retreat.

Many before the death of Mrs. Woodhouse and many afterwards fled, some from danger & others from where there was none—'Tis good however to be careful.

The fever continued with unabating fury through the first week of September, it then began to decrease. Five persons, of whom we had but little hopes, recov­ered. There were few new cases, and on the 5th of October not one person in the town remained sick with it.

The narrow circle in which the adversary moved, and its very seasonable end are pretty evident marks of the friendly interposition of him who lives forever. During nearly the whole season he sent us very healthy favourable weather. In July he sent us two showers, in which the rain fell very plentifully, and twice as fast perhaps as the oldest person living ever saw it [...]orne before. These were probably the same rains which entirely stopped the course of the Yellow-Fever in New-York. On the 25th of Aug. he sent us a great shower attended with a very uncommon quantity of lightning; and on the 29th it being so amazing warm that the thermometer stood at 96, he caused such an al­teration in the weather that the thermometer soon al­tered to 64. In the course of four days it grew so much colder that it actually froze, and no further north than Portsmouth, ice of a considerable thickness was seen.

From this we ought to take encouragement still to strive, by leading virtuous lives, to secure the kindly aid of indulgent heaven: or if we believe we cannot do this by any of our own works, let us take care not to draw the vindictive vengeance of an Almighty arm down on our guilty heads, by vicious practices.