Italy

Sed ut hos annos omittam caligine iam profundae vetustatis obductos, in his quoque, qui sunt recentioris memoriae et ad cursum lunae vel solis instituti, quanta sit varietas facile est cognoscere, si quis vel in unius Italiae gentibus, ne dicam peregrinis, velit inquirere. nam ut alium Ferentini alium Lavinii itemque Albani vel Romani habuerunt annum, ita et aliae gentes. omnibus tamen fuit propositum suos civiles annos varie intercalandis mensibus ad unum illum verum naturalemque corrigere.

But let me pass over these years [of the earliest peoples], already lost in the darkness of the distant past. Even among the years of more recent memory, set by the course of the moon or the sun, it is easy to see how much variety there is. One only has to look at the peoples of Italy alone, to say nothing of foreign ones. The people of Ferentinum had one year, those of Lavinium another, the Albans and the Romans others again, and so did other peoples. But all of them aimed to correct their civil years to match the one true, natural year, by inserting extra months in different ways.

ex hoc anno ita a Iulio Caesare ordinato ceteri ad nostram memoriam Iuliani appellantur, eique consurgunt ex quarto Caesaris consulatu. qui etiam si optimo , non soli tamen ad annum naturae aptati sunt: nam et priores anni, etiam si qui decemmenstres fuerunt, nec Romae modo vel per Italiam, sed et aput gentes omnes, quantum poterat, idem fuerunt correcti.

The years since then, down to our own time, are called Julian after this year that Julius Caesar set in order. They are counted from Caesar's fourth consulship. Even if these are the best [words are lost here], they are not the only years fitted to the year of nature. The earlier years too, even those of ten months, were corrected in the same way as far as possible, not only at Rome or in Italy but among all peoples.

Hoc gemit Italiae populus tot mortibus impar;
Hoc exhausta viris defectaque Gallia plorat;
Hoc aliae, quocunque iacent sub sydere, gentes.

The people of Italy groan at this, too weak for so many deaths. France, drained of men and worn out, weeps at it, and so do other nations, under whatever star they lie.

E nell’ultimo di questo tempo s’aggiunse alle nazioni del Mare maggiore, e alle ripe del Mare tirreno, nella Soria e Turchia, e in verso lo Egitto e la riviera del Mar rosso, e dalla parte settentrionale la Rossia e la Grecia, e l’Erminia e l’altre conseguenti provincie. E in quello tempo galee d’italiani si partirono del Mare maggiore, e della Soria e di Romania per fuggire la morte, e recare le loro mercatanzie in Italia: e’ non poterono cansare, che gran parte di loro non morisse in mare di quella infermità. E arrivati in Cicilia conversaro co’ paesani, e lasciarvi di loro malati, onde incontanente si cominciò quella pestilenzia ne’ Ciciliani. E venendo le dette galee a Pisa, e poi a Genova, per la conversazione di quegli uomini cominciò la mortalità ne’ detti luoghi, ma non generale. Poi conseguendo il tempo ordinato da Dio a’ paesi, la Cicilia tutta fu involta in questa mortale pestilenzia.

Toward the end of that time it reached the peoples of the Great Sea and the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Syria and Turkey, toward Egypt and the coast of the Red Sea, and to the north Russia, Greece, Armenia, and the lands beyond. At that time Italian galleys left the Great Sea, Syria, and Romania to flee death and bring their goods to Italy. They could not keep a great part of their crews from dying of the sickness at sea. When they arrived in Sicily they mixed with the people there and left some of their sick behind, and at once the pestilence began among the Sicilians. When the galleys came to Pisa and then to Genoa, the mortality began in those places through contact with those men, but it did not become general. Then, when the time God had set for each country came, all Sicily was caught up in this deadly pestilence.

Dicta autem mortalitas, ut dicitur, inter incredulos inchoavit, deinde ad Italiam venit; postea montes pertransiens ad Avinionem accessit, ubi etiam aliquos dominos cardinales invasit; totam familiam abstulit tunc ab eis. Deinde per Vasconiam et Hispaniam paulative de villa ad villam, de vico ad vicum, et ultimo de domo ad domum, imo de persona ad personam inopinate ad has partes gallicanas accedens, usque ad Alemanniam transivit, minus tamen ad ipsos quam ad nos.

This mortality began, people say, among the unbelievers, and then came to Italy. Next it crossed the mountains and reached Avignon, where it struck some of the lord cardinals and carried off their whole households. Then it moved little by little through Gascony and Spain, from town to town, from village to village, then from house to house, and even from person to person. It came unexpectedly to these parts of France and passed on into Germany, though it hit them less hard than us.

Those dreadful stories you have heard of the Plague, have very little foundation in truth. I own, I have much ado to reconcile myself to the sound of a word, which has always given me such terrible ideas; though I am convinced there is little more in it, than in a fever. As a proof of this, let me tell you, that we passed through two or three towns most violently infected. In the very next house where we lay, (in one of those places) two persons died of it. Luckily for me, I was so well received, that I knew nothing of the matter; and I was made believe, that our second cook, had only a great cold. However we left our doctor to take care of him, and yesterday they both arrived here in good health; and I am now let into the secret, that he has had the Plague. There are many that escape it, neither is the air ever infected. I am persuaded that it would be as easy a matter to root it out here, as out of Italy and France; but it does so little mischief, they are not very solicitous about it, and are content to suffer this distemper, instead of our variety, which they are utterly unacquainted with.

Those dreadful stories you have heard of the plague have very little foundation in truth. I own I have much ado to reconcile myself to the sound of a word which has always given me such terrible ideas, though I am convinced there is little more in it than in a fever. As a proof of this, let me tell you that we passed through two or three towns most violently infected. In the very next house where we lay (in one of those places) two persons died of it. Luckily for me, I was so well received that I knew nothing of the matter, and I was made believe that our second cook had only a great cold. However, we left our doctor to take care of him, and yesterday they both arrived here in good health. And I am now let into the secret that he has had the plague. There are many that escape it; neither is the air ever infected. I am persuaded that it would be as easy a matter to root it out here as out of Italy and France. But it does so little mischief, they are not very solicitous about it, and are content to suffer this distemper instead of our variety, which they are utterly unacquainted with.

What was there lacking about that programme, to make it perfectly irresistible? Nothing, that any finite mind could discover. Paris, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy — Garibaldi! The Grecian archipelago! Vesuvius! Constantinople! Smyrna! The Holy Land! Egypt and “our friends the Bermudians!” People in Europe desiring to join the Excursion — contagious sickness to be avoided — boating at the expense of the ship — physician on board — the circuit of the globe to be made if the passengers unanimously desired it — the company to be rigidly selected by a pitiless “Committee on Applications” — the vessel to be as rigidly selected by as pitiless a “Committee on Selecting Steamer.” Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations. I hurried to the Treasurer's office and deposited my ten per cent. I rejoiced to know that a few vacant state-rooms were still left. I did avoid a critical personal examination into my character, by that bowelless committee, but I referred to all the people of high standing I could think of in the community who would be least likely to know any thing about me.

What was there lacking about that program, to make it perfectly irresistible? Nothing that any finite mind could discover. Paris, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy—Garibaldi! The Grecian archipelago! Vesuvius! Constantinople! Smyrna! The Holy Land! Egypt and “our friends the Bermudians!” People in Europe wanting to join the excursion. Contagious sickness to be avoided. Boating at the expense of the ship. Physician on board. The circuit of the globe to be made if the passengers unanimously desired it. The company to be rigidly selected by a pitiless “Committee on Applications.” The vessel to be as rigidly selected by as pitiless a “Committee on Selecting Steamer.” Human nature could not withstand these bewildering temptations. I hurried to the treasurer's office and deposited my 10 percent. I rejoiced to know that a few vacant staterooms were still left. I did avoid a critical personal examination into my character by that heartless committee. But I named as references all the people of high standing I could think of in the community who would be least likely to know anything about me.