The malady was malignant and unsparing.
The usual occupations and amusements of life were at an end.

Terror had exterminated all the sentiments of nature.

Wives were deserted by husbands, and children by parents.

Some had shut themselves in their houses, and debarred themselves from all communication with the rest of mankind.

The consternation of others had destroyed their understanding, and their misguided steps hurried them into the midst of the danger which they had previously laboured to shun.