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Aug. 1, 1784

The day started very hot and in the evening was nice and cool.
Many people had come to my lecture to hear me explain the theory of the humors of the body.

After a while there was panic among the people, who had suddenly noticed that Mr. Gandt had a lady in his arms and he said that this lady was very sick.

He put the lady in the tavern on a chair so that Dr. Panacek and I could examine her -- we determined that this lady should be cared for apart from other people. With Mr. Gandt's help we took a boat to carry her to .the Lazaretto in the harbor. We examined the lady further. to know for sure whether the conclusion was correct about the disease that this lady had.

After that we were back in the cafe, we talked to the professor and asked for an appointment with the magistrates of Rocca Sorrentina, to see how we could help,

August 2, 1784

The next day, having spoken with the professore, Dr. Panacek and I and the magistrates of the Island of Rocco Sorrentina decided what must be done on the island because the Disease is Yellow Fever. The professore received instructions also from the Royal Governor of Sorrento on the mainland that the island should be under Quarantine and public buildings must be closed too.

I also visited the patient visited with Dr. Panacek and the lady is being well cared for. She is in stable condition, but her time to give birth approaches. We also have been to meet with the Captain of a ship that is in quarantine to assess the condition of the sick crewmen. We did not go on board but spoke to the captain from our boat..

Around noon on Saturday we were in the cafe of Mrs. Macbain to drink coffee together and talk about the disease and the patient. After a while the Professore came in with two soldiers and proclaimed that we are in Quarantine and that we have the yellow fever on the Island of Rocca Sorrentina.

No one liked it very much that Aphrodite's goods were confiscated -- she had three large bags of coffee beans from North Africa, which the soldiers took. To the dismay of the
people, the soldiers emptied the cafe and put up large signs that the coffee house was closed because of the quarantine order.

Later I saw on the island that all public buildings were closed.

In the evening had a meeting with the local people of the Island. The Professore informed the people what to do and what to not do in this situation, and with some help from Dr. Panacek I have tried to answer all questions.

Since that day was very hot, some women suffered from the heat and were not feeling good. As a precaution, I have examined the ladies in the temporary Doctors' clinic we set up in the Accademia. So far none of them are ill of yellow fever.

3rd August 1784

We have many medical exam done that day and it was a bit too much for two doctors to give all these people a medical exam, but we had some help from nursing sisters from the mainland.

There were children and young people and older people there.

Some ladies were drunk on medication That Dr. Pancek gave them. It seems that the ladies do not drink a lot of wine or liquor, especially with a high % of alcohol so the ladies were drunk on one or two doses of medication .

This island may be small, but it is home for about 500 people. We have had around 100 people who were examined. Some were sick and we have them all isolated in the Lazaretto and try them all to provide best possible way....


4th August.

Today had a busy day looking after many patients who visit the clinc. If any will die we will give them a dignified funeral as far as it can be done. I have tried to interest people in cleaning their houses with vinegar. Barrels of gunpowder have been detonated to purify the air.

5th August 1787

Today we had a busy day examining many patients. I am tired at the end of the day -- I have not had much time to much to eat and rest.

6th August 1787.

Like the previous two days, many people are looked after, Some of the sailors are now vomiting blood and will dies soon. The thing I worry most about are the children.

In the afternoon I witnessed a church service, but unfortunately after the end of the service. I felt dizzy and fainted. I was happy that Dr. Panacek there and brought me to consciousness with smelling salts. I sat a while on the floor and soon felt better.

It showed that I would pay a price if I do not sleep well and have not eaten enough.
Yes, a doctor's life is a heavy burden. but I knew that in advance, before I got my training done.

Happily I went to a gathering hosted by a nice lady, I could eat and drink. I then went to bed and took a dose of Opium in an alcohol base, and I slept. I will take a break today. -- the nuns and other caregivers can take care of people without me not as many are coming to be examined and treated.

I hope in the next few days that not many people will die, and no more will become ill. If others are not getting sick we may be able to end the quarantine. I am hopeful that the lady who is pregnant will do better But if she dies I hope it will be a quick death.

Let's hope that we can survive in this terrible time, We can thank God that many people have survived so far

Signed,
Dr.WilliamH Greymoon.

7 August, 1784

My dear SignorinaAntonacci,

Although a creature of few tender emotions, I can scarce contain my anguish as I consider the peril of your situation and that of the child you carry.

I sit in the comfort of rooms made available by kind souls of Sorrentina to travelers whose journeys have been interrupted by the quarantine and think of you in your sickbed far from your home and the comfort of those who would not wish to see you face this peril alone. Yes, you are currently estranged from your family but the gravity of your illness bids that I send word to your parents in hopes you and they will be reconciled while you still have life. I have sent word to them via the revenue ship that sailed this very day and pray you will forgive my intrusion.

I pray you will also forgive my impertinence in coming forward with an offer to sponsor your child in whatever manner proves most advantageous to that child. I am an orphan, and you could be the spirit of my own mother returned to earth so I could witness the depth of a mothers love as she willingly exchanges her life for her childs in the ordeal of birth. I pray that is not your fate, but you are gravely ill and if God takes you, I offer myself as god-mother and sponsor of the child. I cannot offer your child a home, but I can provide sufficient funds and property to secure a safe and loving home for your child so he or she will never face the shame and isolation of the orphanage.

There are others in Sorrentina also willing to offer assistance. You find yourself in a strange land, yet you are no stranger in our midst. Take strength from knowing that you and your child are a blessing for many.

May God spare your life and that of your child and take comfort that whatever God wills for your life, your child will not face life alone.

Lorsagne de Sade

7 August, 1784

My dear SignorinaAntonacci,

Although a creature of few tender emotions, I can scarce contain my anguish as I consider the peril of your situation and that of the child you carry.

I sit in the comfort of rooms made available by kind souls of Sorrentina to travelers whose journeys have been interrupted by the quarantine and think of you in your sickbed far from your home and the comfort of those who would not wish to see you face this peril alone. Yes, you are currently estranged from your family but the gravity of your illness bids that I send word to your parents in hopes you and they will be reconciled while you still have life. I have sent word to them via the revenue ship that sailed this very day and pray you will forgive my intrusion.

I pray you will also forgive my impertinence in coming forward with an offer to sponsor your child in whatever manner proves most advantageous to that child. I am an orphan, and you could be the spirit of my own mother returned to earth so I could witness the depth of a mothers love as she willingly exchanges her life for her childs in the ordeal of birth. I pray that is not your fate, but you are gravely ill and if God takes you, I offer myself as god-mother and sponsor of the child. I cannot offer your child a home, but I can provide sufficient funds and property to secure a safe and loving home for your child so he or she will never face the shame and isolation of the orphanage.

There are others in Sorrentina also willing to offer assistance. You find yourself in a strange land, yet you are no stranger in our midst. Take strength from knowing that you and your child are a blessing for many.

May God spare your life and that of your child and take comfort that whatever God wills for your life, your child will not face life alone.

Lorsagne de Sade

6 August, Anno 1784

My dearest godfather and confessor,

I continue to be detained in Sorrentina as the yellow fever has come to the island, and all here are under quarantine. The authorities have taken measures to contain the sickness and physicians have tended both the sick and the well with courtesy and efficiency. I was given permission to leave after being examined, but have chosen to stay, missing our planned reunion in Venice within in the coming week.

Our visits are precious to me, yet I feel in my heart you will understand why I have chosen to remain in Sorrentina.

A young woman visiting the island has contracted the fever. I fear she will die very soon which is, of course, a sadness. That this young woman is great with child makes her death doubly painful, especially to an orphan who imagines the cries of the unborn child who will never know its mothers touch and devotion.

The young woman has no husband and no male has stepped forward and claim the child as his own. The woman confronted a gentleman here, a M. Gandt whom she believes to be her childs father, but he denies all knowledge of the woman. After writing M. Gandt in an attempt to persuade him to assume his responsibilities I am inclined to believe the young woman is mistaken. He does not appear to be deceiving when he says he cannot be the father.

So, dearest godfather, after prayers to St. Anne and to your beloved Ignatius of Loyola, I have discerned that God is directing me to give to this child the gift you gave to me at the time of my birth. When my dying mother laid me as an infant in your arms and asked you to oversee my immortal soul as godfather, you did not turn away. I will not turn away from this infant child should it live to be born. I will not leave Sorrentina until I see the baby has a name and a future beyond that of bastard orphan in a convent. I do not wish my own past on this child.

I pray you are safe and that you will forgive my absence. I remain your affectionate and grateful

Lorsagne

6 August, Anno 1784

My dearest godfather and confessor,

I continue to be detained in Sorrentina as the yellow fever has come to the island, and all here are under quarantine. The authorities have taken measures to contain the sickness and physicians have tended both the sick and the well with courtesy and efficiency. I was given permission to leave after being examined, but have chosen to stay, missing our planned reunion in Venice within in the coming week.

Our visits are precious to me, yet I feel in my heart you will understand why I have chosen to remain in Sorrentina.

A young woman visiting the island has contracted the fever. I fear she will die very soon which is, of course, a sadness. That this young woman is great with child makes her death doubly painful, especially to an orphan who imagines the cries of the unborn child who will never know its mothers touch and devotion.

The young woman has no husband and no male has stepped forward and claim the child as his own. The woman confronted a gentleman here, a M. Gandt whom she believes to be her childs father, but he denies all knowledge of the woman. After writing M. Gandt in an attempt to persuade him to assume his responsibilities I am inclined to believe the young woman is mistaken. He does not appear to be deceiving when he says he cannot be the father.

So, dearest godfather, after prayers to St. Anne and to your beloved Ignatius of Loyola, I have discerned that God is directing me to give to this child the gift you gave to me at the time of my birth. When my dying mother laid me as an infant in your arms and asked you to oversee my immortal soul as godfather, you did not turn away. I will not turn away from this infant child should it live to be born. I will not leave Sorrentina until I see the baby has a name and a future beyond that of bastard orphan in a convent. I do not wish my own past on this child.

I pray you are safe and that you will forgive my absence. I remain your affectionate and grateful

Lorsagne

5 ^th day of August 1784

My dear Monsieur Gandt,

As one who finds herself inconvenienced and possibly imperiled by the fever that has come to this fair island and whose close proximity with others who also are subject to the quarantine of the Magistrate, I have been made privy to matters normally unobserved and unrecorded. Specifically, I have had occasion to observe your actions and your demeanor these past days and am writing to address matters of grave importance based on what I have observed.

There is no time for either pretty words or gentle remonstrance. Sir, you are behaving very much like a man who would evade his responsibilities to the unborn consequence of past indiscretions. You are soon to have a child. I have no doubt of its paternity as I, too, witnessed your meeting with the childs mother. She is no conniving strumpet. She is undone. Her sole purpose in humbling herself at your feet, subjecting her soul to your scorn, is the love of a mother for the child she carries and her fear for that childs future.

The fever will claim the mother; of this I have no doubt. Will you also see your child die? Perhaps not of the fever, but what future will such a child face? To be grudgingly allowed sustenance and space in an orphanage run by Sisters for whom Charity is most often lacking? To be a bastard, forever denied a place in decent society?

Sir, I know whereof I speak. I am the natural child of two members of the French nobility. But my parents were not allowed to wed. My mother died giving me life. My father was told I had perished as well, and the grief perhaps contributed to a life of infamy that now keeps him a prisoner in the Bastille under the seal of a letter de cachet.

A bastard orphan I was given to the nuns. Save for the intervention of the Jesuit priest who attended my birth and has watched over me as god-father and protector, I would have suffered a fate that you, sir, cannot even imagine at the hands of women whose piety does not see God in the face of every child, no matter the circumstances surrounding its birth.

Is this the fate you wish for your child? A bold and impertinent question from a mere woman, but I will press you in this matter and make you an offer you would do well to consider.

If you acknowledge the child as your own and give it your name, I am prepared to accept all financial responsibility for the child until it is fully-grown and successfully launched in whatever capacity the child chooses according to his or her natural inclinations and talents. I have sufficient wealth and connections with men of position in France to ensure good beginnings for a child of either sex. For your part in this arrangement, you will have the responsibility to provide a home and the security of parental affection and guidance for the child, knowing that I have agents who will report to me should you fail in any aspect of your duty.

Consider my offer proposal carefully, Sir. I am patient, but I will not stand by and see yet another child left at the door of strangers.

I await your decision,

Lorsagne de Sade

5 ^th day of August 1784

My dear Monsieur Gandt,

As one who finds herself inconvenienced and possibly imperiled by the fever that has come to this fair island and whose close proximity with others who also are subject to the quarantine of the Magistrate, I have been made privy to matters normally unobserved and unrecorded. Specifically, I have had occasion to observe your actions and your demeanor these past days and am writing to address matters of grave importance based on what I have observed.

There is no time for either pretty words or gentle remonstrance. Sir, you are behaving very much like a man who would evade his responsibilities to the unborn consequence of past indiscretions. You are soon to have a child. I have no doubt of its paternity as I, too, witnessed your meeting with the childs mother. She is no conniving strumpet. She is undone. Her sole purpose in humbling herself at your feet, subjecting her soul to your scorn, is the love of a mother for the child she carries and her fear for that childs future.

The fever will claim the mother; of this I have no doubt. Will you also see your child die? Perhaps not of the fever, but what future will such a child face? To be grudgingly allowed sustenance and space in an orphanage run by Sisters for whom Charity is most often lacking? To be a bastard, forever denied a place in decent society?

Sir, I know whereof I speak. I am the natural child of two members of the French nobility. But my parents were not allowed to wed. My mother died giving me life. My father was told I had perished as well, and the grief perhaps contributed to a life of infamy that now keeps him a prisoner in the Bastille under the seal of a letter de cachet.

A bastard orphan I was given to the nuns. Save for the intervention of the Jesuit priest who attended my birth and has watched over me as god-father and protector, I would have suffered a fate that you, sir, cannot even imagine at the hands of women whose piety does not see God in the face of every child, no matter the circumstances surrounding its birth.

Is this the fate you wish for your child? A bold and impertinent question from a mere woman, but I will press you in this matter and make you an offer you would do well to consider.

If you acknowledge the child as your own and give it your name, I am prepared to accept all financial responsibility for the child until it is fully-grown and successfully launched in whatever capacity the child chooses according to his or her natural inclinations and talents. I have sufficient wealth and connections with men of position in France to ensure good beginnings for a child of either sex. For your part in this arrangement, you will have the responsibility to provide a home and the security of parental affection and guidance for the child, knowing that I have agents who will report to me should you fail in any aspect of your duty.

Consider my offer proposal carefully, Sir. I am patient, but I will not stand by and see yet another child left at the door of strangers.

I await your decision,

Lorsagne de Sade

August 2, 1784.

Yes, it is confirmed that what we are dealing with is the so-called Yellow Fever, or as the Spaniards call it, the "vomito negro."

We have talked to the Capitano of the Genoese ship, la Sirena, and he says that three of their sailors and one passenger have the fever. These men are isolated in the forecastle of the ship, and the rest of the crew are being watched to see if they develop the symptoms. The Capitano seems a good fellow and he and his officers understand very well why we cannot let them come ashore. The ship did in fact sail from Sicilia six days ago with a cargo of olive oil and dried fish.

The royal Neapolitan revenue service ship Allegra reached the mainland very quickly and returned by morning with orders from the Governor of the Sorrento District. So now we are under quarantine -- a temporary board of health has been established for the district, headed by some english gentleman who I assume must be a friend or relation of Sir John Acton.

We are to keep all ships in the harbor -- if anyone leaves the island by small boat, they must have a "clean bill of health" from the doctors, and they can bring nothing with them, particularly bedding or any clothing other than what they are wearing. We are to close all public gathering places and confiscate bulk products that may carry the contagion, such as coffee and wheat if it comes from North Africa or Sicilia. The Governor's staff evidently were pleased to hear we had already set up a lazaretto, and they will be sending nursing sisters -- one or two anyway -- when another revenue cutter returns tomorrow early in the morning.

As chief magistrate I have carried out the Governor's instructions. Accompanied by Moschetierri Hansen and Peschi, I have gone around and closed down spaces such as the taverna, the bakery, the cabinet of curiosities and the coffee house. The coffee house was full when we arrived. I do not think people expected this, for the most part. It took a while for the Guardia to clear them all out.

I have been confiscating the products that someone thinks may be a source of contagion. Poor Signora Macbain was not happy when the boys took her three big sacks of coffee beans. If they have to be destroyed I will see to it she is reimbursed, even if it has to come out of my pocket instead of King Ferdinando's.

We later held a town meeting at the old fortezza to answer people's questions and to tell them what to expect. I thought it better to have people inside, in the cool shade of the thick stone walls, rather than out in the hot afternoon sun, but we still had some of ladies fall ill and have to be examined by the doctors. They found that Donna Candace and a Signorina Emily were simply overcome by the heat, but the woman Devi, who works on behalf of the Conte Foscari appears to have actually contracted the fever.

Achille, I know, is fond of this young woman, Devi. I wish he were here.

Don Lucerius and Don Merucurio volunteered to detonate barrels of gunpowder around the village and harbor in order to purify the air somewhat and fight the contagion. They did so with the aid of our stalwart Moschetierre Peschi who carried musket with fixed bayonet to keep the feckless and foolish at bay for their own good. Do such measures actually help? I cannot say. But much of the powder was donated by the captains of ships in the harbor for the public good, so at least it is not costing the Rocca Sorrentina council of magistrates too dearly.

Tomorrow at 10 AM, Dottore Greymoon and Dottore Panacek, and the nursing sisters (if they have arrived) shall preform examinations in a temporary medical facility that the good Dottore Greymoon has set up in the lecture hall of the academia. Any person who can get a clean bill of health from them may then travel in small boats to the mainland if they absolutely need to, but those who stay -- and are healthy -- will be invited to some private social events. I intend to organize one such event at my rooms in the villa on Tuesday evening, if all goes well. Don Mercurio has likewise offered to host something at his house later in the week.

I think doing this will help keep people's spirits up, cheering them with good company and distracting them from the melancholy thoughts that come with such situations. The orders from the Governor only said we must close public gathering places. They said nothing about private socializing. But the key will be the examinations tomorrow. If no one else seems infected, and we can go another five or six days without having anyone else fall ill, that will indicate that we may relax the restrictions and that things will be well...

except, of course, for those mariners on the Sirena and the poor lady from Roma in the lazarettoand Devi. I shall have to see if Padre Cuthbert can be permitted to join usI think he is at Pompeii again. We may have need of his services.

Don Merucurio has certainly been helpful.

I wonder why?

August 2, 1784.

Yes, it is confirmed that what we are dealing with is the so-called Yellow Fever, or as the Spaniards call it, the "vomito negro."

We have talked to the Capitano of the Genoese ship, la Sirena, and he says that three of their sailors and one passenger have the fever. These men are isolated in the forecastle of the ship, and the rest of the crew are being watched to see if they develop the symptoms. The Capitano seems a good fellow and he and his officers understand very well why we cannot let them come ashore. The ship did in fact sail from Sicilia six days ago with a cargo of olive oil and dried fish.

The royal Neapolitan revenue service ship Allegra reached the mainland very quickly and returned by morning with orders from the Governor of the Sorrento District. So now we are under quarantine -- a temporary board of health has been established for the district, headed by some english gentleman who I assume must be a friend or relation of Sir John Acton.

We are to keep all ships in the harbor -- if anyone leaves the island by small boat, they must have a "clean bill of health" from the doctors, and they can bring nothing with them, particularly bedding or any clothing other than what they are wearing. We are to close all public gathering places and confiscate bulk products that may carry the contagion, such as coffee and wheat if it comes from North Africa or Sicilia. The Governor's staff evidently were pleased to hear we had already set up a lazaretto, and they will be sending nursing sisters -- one or two anyway -- when another revenue cutter returns tomorrow early in the morning.

As chief magistrate I have carried out the Governor's instructions. Accompanied by Moschetierri Hansen and Peschi, I have gone around and closed down spaces such as the taverna, the bakery, the cabinet of curiosities and the coffee house. The coffee house was full when we arrived. I do not think people expected this, for the most part. It took a while for the Guardia to clear them all out.

I have been confiscating the products that someone thinks may be a source of contagion. Poor Signora Macbain was not happy when the boys took her three big sacks of coffee beans. If they have to be destroyed I will see to it she is reimbursed, even if it has to come out of my pocket instead of King Ferdinando's.

We later held a town meeting at the old fortezza to answer people's questions and to tell them what to expect. I thought it better to have people inside, in the cool shade of the thick stone walls, rather than out in the hot afternoon sun, but we still had some of ladies fall ill and have to be examined by the doctors. They found that Donna Candace and a Signorina Emily were simply overcome by the heat, but the woman Devi, who works on behalf of the Conte Foscari appears to have actually contracted the fever.

Achille, I know, is fond of this young woman, Devi. I wish he were here.

Don Lucerius and Don Merucurio volunteered to detonate barrels of gunpowder around the village and harbor in order to purify the air somewhat and fight the contagion. They did so with the aid of our stalwart Moschetierre Peschi who carried musket with fixed bayonet to keep the feckless and foolish at bay for their own good. Do such measures actually help? I cannot say. But much of the powder was donated by the captains of ships in the harbor for the public good, so at least it is not costing the Rocca Sorrentina council of magistrates too dearly.

Tomorrow at 10 AM, Dottore Greymoon and Dottore Panacek, and the nursing sisters (if they have arrived) shall preform examinations in a temporary medical facility that the good Dottore Greymoon has set up in the lecture hall of the academia. Any person who can get a clean bill of health from them may then travel in small boats to the mainland if they absolutely need to, but those who stay -- and are healthy -- will be invited to some private social events. I intend to organize one such event at my rooms in the villa on Tuesday evening, if all goes well. Don Mercurio has likewise offered to host something at his house later in the week.

I think doing this will help keep people's spirits up, cheering them with good company and distracting them from the melancholy thoughts that come with such situations. The orders from the Governor only said we must close public gathering places. They said nothing about private socializing. But the key will be the examinations tomorrow. If no one else seems infected, and we can go another five or six days without having anyone else fall ill, that will indicate that we may relax the restrictions and that things will be well...

except, of course, for those mariners on the Sirena and the poor lady from Roma in the lazarettoand Devi. I shall have to see if Padre Cuthbert can be permitted to join usI think he is at Pompeii again. We may have need of his services.

Don Merucurio has certainly been helpful.

I wonder why?

This time of year with its warmer weather and the presence of miasmatic airs is one in which it is good to be observant about certain thingsThe following are notes I assembled regarding what has transpired today, August 1, 1784:

At present there is a Genoese merchantman in the harbor of Rocca Sorrentina, and she is flying the yellow and black flag indicating illness among its passengers or crew. She is called "La Sirena" -- I wonder if she recently sailed out of Sicilia, from whence we have had reports of fever spreading through some of the cities and towns.

The commandante of the Guardia has assigned men to make sure no one comes ashore without permission from this vessel -- tomorrow we shall have to investigate further.

Signor Gandt appeared at Dottore Greymoon's lecture today, carrying a woman who was very ill, seeking assistance for her.

Both Dr. Greymoon and Dr. Pancek being at the lecture, she was quickly examined and found to have a fever. She is a younger lady, who I believe to be recently arrived from Roma, and the matter is further complicated in that she is with child. No one seems to have come to the island with her. It is fortunate that Don Mercurio happened upon her and had the grace and presence of mind to bring her to a place where she could so readily obtain assistance.

Dr. Panacek and Dr. Greymoon determined to take her to isolation in the lazaretto which we have established in the old guard room of the Castello di San Pietro out in the harbor (partly in response to the reports we received from Sicilia). They borrowed my small sloop to carry her there, which Don Mercurio very kindly volunteered to pilot.

One of the King's Revenue Service ships, the brig "Allegra," was leaving this evening to return to its station in Castellammare di Stabia. I have asked the Capitano to request some nursing sisters from the mainland be sent.

I can think of nothing else to do at this moment, but I have many questions.