Buying the Smallpox

Peter McCandless

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511977428.018

11 - Buying the Smallpox

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011

Peter McCandless

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Peter McCandless: Affiliation:
College of Charleston, South Carolina

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Summary

Spoiler of Beauty! For this once forbear,

To print thy Vengeance on this blooming Fair,

O spare these brilliant Eyes, that Angel's Face,

Nor Heaven's fair Portrait with thy Spots disgrace.

Wisely determin'd to prevent the Foe,

Nor wait unguarded to sustain the Blow,

*Bravely resolved the doubtful war to wage,

She mocks thy Fury, and eludes thy Rage;

In perfect Lustre soon again she'll shine,

+With H—— and A—— in the Train divine:

They too, escaped the Danger of thy Harms,

In pristine Beauty glow, and wonted charms.

Thus a slight Hurt upon the Trojan Plain,

Venus received from Diomede – in vain!

The Wound soon clos'd again, no Scar remain'd,

And Queen of Beauty still the Goddess reign'd.

*Inoculated

+ Two Ladies recently inoculated, now in perfect Health

“Address to the Small-Pox,” South Carolina Gazette, April 19, 1760

“FEW OF THEM HAVE HAD IT”

Dr. Thomas Morritt, master of the Charleston free school, found himself with little to do. An outbreak of smallpox in 1723 had stripped his school of all but a few pupils. Rural people were afraid to send their children into town. Their fear was understandable, given the deaths and disfigurements smallpox caused. Moreover, no effective treatment existed – then or now. In 1772, the family of Alexander Chesney landed in Charleston on their way to the backcountry. On the voyage from Ireland, some passengers had come down with smallpox.

Type: Chapter
Information: Slavery, Disease, and Suffering in the Southern Lowcountry , pp. 204 - 225

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511977428.018 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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