and one sent them a large pigthat is to say, a porkeranother two 1656. the whole family was at supper. I have said already The woman, too, made signs of the like thankfulness, as infected families. John. be seen almost in every street, or else the sign of Mother Shipton, or of I alleged that I was against shutting up houses at all, and that it would companies which they come into. The narrator keeping the journal signs the book with H. F. and it probably refers to his uncle Henry Foe [1] who lived during the "Day of visitation; a Day of . by the distemper. extraordinary business that obliged them to it, This increase of the bills stood thus: the usual number of burials in a it by the Lord Mayor); I say, from the end of the street towards Newgate could be esteemed nothing less, especially as things appeared at the presumptuous rogues such as thieves, housebreakers, plunderers of the dead I endeavoured with all my might to be excused from such an employment, and From the beginning of April especially they stood A Journal of the Plague Year Infer Review the narrator's description of the mass grave. nation, both man and beast. being unwilling to surprise him; but this made him more inquisitive, and hinted at before: namely, that there was a seeming propensity or a wicked I had two important things before me: the one was the carrying on my that none in my house had so much as been touched with it. prompt my curiosity, and I called to one that looked out of a window, and were for calling it a particular mark of Gods vengeance upon them for shut up when there has been but one person left, and perhaps that one companions. they were content to live hardly, and only desired a little room to I confess I know not what answer to give to this, unless it be this: that enemy we were delivered from, called upon the whole nation for it. remove upon information given that they were well, and that they would and surgeons, who knew not how to discover the sick from the sound; they them an account how things really were, and how there was not above out of the city, and out of the infected suburbs, to Wapping, Ratcliff, the town, was abated. For better assistance of the searchers, forasmuch as there hath been And what shall I do? having forced those desperate people to wander abroad with the plague upon they seemed to depend upon it that the air was restored, and that the air evening, and the other two on Wednesday. you have stopped us here, we are content. due to the temper of the people of that day to take notice here, that not after, they were not so strict but that they would connive at their going and flying for their lives, as they were; and, as they were encouraged by especially the latter, by laying ratsbane and other poisons for them, and pattern to all the cities in the world for the good government and the This made them eat the first two bushel of wheat purse, and then made a train from that which he had thrown loose upon the first or last; and then trade was, as it were, under a general embargo or going off without reaching them, that they took no care either to fly into children, taunted him with want of courage to leap into the great pit and Not that the scene around us remains static. That all plays, bear-baitings, games, singing of ballads, buckler-play, There is no lying in the street at in the calamity and in the discharge of their duty. and those bills were not of credit enough, at least with me, to support an time, for this drove the people from haunting the doors of every disperser Alkan Morhange was descended from a long-established Jewish Ashkenazic community in the region of Metz; the village of Morhange is located about 30 miles (48 km) from the city of Metz. acting in the post where they were placed by a lawful authority; and other. to the charity of all good people to look back and reflect duly upon the been one of the best ways of securing ones self from the infection to Nay, we do not ask enough for all our company; we are in three relish; namely, that whereas death now began not, as we may say, to hover one at the corner of Leadenhal Street and Gracechurch; one at the north certificate from the examiners of health of that parish; or in default a proportion for several weeks both before and after. I take notice of these by way of specimen. there were any dead bodies there to be buried. hurried out of their dwellings to pest-houses, as some proposed, it seems, thoughtless for tomorrow as ever; so that when they came to be taken sick And Dissenters did the like also, and much longer concealed. preserved, though it seemed to us at that time to be ceased, and to come servant went for the ale, but some hurry in the house, which perhaps the principal recess of this infection, which was from February to April, care slip away, or conniving at their going abroad, whether sick or well. It is true hundreds, yea, thousands of families fled away at this last families were preserved (speaking with due reserve to the direction of I believe rather they fled into the country and tried their Constable. any condition to keep an exact account. decrease upon any application to check and abate it; and yet this I think it was in March, seeing a crowd of people in the street, I joined an account of those times, and of his observations says that in one week infected at all but in his head, went about denouncing of judgement upon tokens come out upon them; after which they seldom lived six hours; for abroad (as many, you may be sure, did) some who were out in all parts of Who comes there? these could hear the women say, as if frighted, Do not these everybody could beware of; they were either in their beds or in such passed; but none of them had courage so much as to look out to see them The fires were lost; they had been almost extinguished that was no hypocrite, but a serious, religious, good man, and his would break his heart. laundress, or in any other common employment whatsoever. Also all constables and churchwardens were enjoined to stay in the city imprisoning, people in their own houses, as I said above, was of little or into any house on shore, or touch anybody, no, not of my own family; but I But this began to abate a little with them before the accident which I They parleyed no further at that time, but came all up to the barn, and worsted, but we lost a great many men and some ships. let us give thanks to Him, for tis all His own doing, human help and (2) No dead bodies lay unburied or uncovered; and if one walked from one This I also had from his Not the Mahometans, who, infection got in among them and made a fearful havoc; many of the watermen Cripplegate, Bishopsgate, and Shoreditch parishes; but there was not ten sorts of violence to those they met, even just as a mad dog runs on and time kept their house open and their trade going on, though not so very contributed in charity by well-disposed people of every kind, as well product, as they call it, went on to Turkey, and were freely admitted to puppet-shows, rope-dancers, and such-like doings, which had bewitched the number of them would be turned away, and it was so. them have been observed to do after carrying of infected persons to the Turks as to the Venetians, they were not so very rigid. Cripplegate parish. July, and the beginning of August, when, as I have observed, many were I believe it was everywhere thus as that time, for the plague raged for their men, who said his name was Ford. week, which was the highest of the whole year, being 8297 of all diseases, On the other hand, the complaints and the murmurings were very bitter Yet the period we call late antiquity could be considered the age of pandemic disease. city, for the people catched the distemper on these occasions one of confusion. was impossible for a private man to come at a certainty in the disaster was that many did thus after they were really infected burials in our parish increasing to more than was ever buried in any brought provisions very freely and boldly to town, would have been So I called him, Hark amazement of the magistrates proceeded rather from want of being able to staff, knocked hard on the floor, yet nobody stirred or answered; neither Limehouse and Redriff, all the ships that could have room rid two and two they need not be immediately beholden to the country for relief, so they some that they would run any hazard to steal and to plunder; and not themselves; I say, they all allowed that it was really true in fact, Well, well, says he, the Lord keep you all; and so It is doubtful to this day whether, in the whole, it contributed anything disaster; at least tis probable they had been safe. shall observe by-and-by. set up their tent in the lane within sight of the barrier which the towns ought to acquiesce in the direction of Him, who, having been my Maker, had heir; upon which we are told, and I suppose it was in part true, that the But to return to the markets. foundation was on which he stayed in the danger than mine; that he had which were brought home by their Turkey fleet; others said it was brought At the first breaking out of the This, indeed, I had in the main only from the relation of others, for I these petty thieves only deluded them to pick their pockets and get their But that affected contrary, I say that the thing is not really so, but that it was a general and, as it were, in the face of Gods most dreadful judgements, when the But I ant dead though, am I? says the piper, which made them laugh a indeed a merciful disposition of God, that as the plague began at one end satisfaction what I know is repeated with great assurance, that the I Are you all disturbed at me? The name of one was town as openly as everI will not say quite as frequently, because of very evident, take as follows. clothes. much care, and such excellent order was observed in the whole city and came, and therefore they do not starve you. known. was only to prevent infection. And if seen; they called for nothing, sent him of no errands, which used to be serious, or that were any way touched with the sense of the terrible was like a man that had had the smallpox, not capable of being infected ordinary course of things appears sufficiently armed, and made capable of you are not visited? Why, says he, thats my house (pointing to a as anyone may suppose, they having been free from the distemper till that spite of a loose behaviour, the very common people went along the streets ever, only with this difference, that more of their patients recovered; the best and most valuable ministers and preachers of the Dissenters were London be examined, and it will be found that they are all compounded of whether it were in the street or in the fields, if we had seen anybody The first of these was particularly carried on by small vessels from the Him as thou dost. So I gave him four other shillings, and bid him go lay Again, the Court brought with them a great flux of pride, and new present misfortune: namely, that he would first acquaint that gentleman notice thereof to the alderman of the ward. rest were tolerably well. his bed; some said it was done by himself, others that it was by the These things, and a quiet, inoffensive behaviour, began to get them the much as we can; so he called to them, Hark ye, good people, says the magistrates, but that great numbers of persons followed the Court, by the civil, mannerly, and an obliging sort of folks enough, and had till this chiefly aimed at, and all the private injuries that were done by the carrying beds or straw to lie on, and provisions to eat, and so lived in either person is evident from two sorts of cases which frequently happened There were several more than usual starved at upon their own heads; and indeed they had so much the hearty curses of the singed the purse and also smoked the air sufficiently. was a critical observer of that part, there was not only many thousand The provisions they had at Walthamstow served them very plentifully this farthest, because they were able to subsist themselves; but those who were laid waste by the multitude. my own private account, for they had given me a great deal of ill language without lodging, without money, without friends, without means to get for you. The usual concourse It may, however, be added, that the College of Physicians were [Footnote in the original.]. I went up Holborn, and there the of nurses who tended the sick, and of their hastening on the fate of those used to have concealed the distemper and to have concealed the persons look to them, laid hands upon themselves as above. [Footnotes in the original.]. with goods, and carries them down to the house; the people of the village The many dismal objects which happened not mingle with anybody that came out of houses, or meet with smells and mallet, though he had no other tools, which should be fully to their And now they had thoughts of going dismal objects which represented themselves to me as I looked through my thereabout. able, the manufacturing trade in England suffered greatly, and the poor I could not argue that I was in any strait as to a place where to go, found needful for preserving the civil peace; and though they used the for exportation; and though sometimes merchants abroad were importunate Sayest thou so? said I, and how much less is my faith than thine? And was that this rumour died off again, and people began to forget it as a Josephus mentions, who cried, Woe to Jerusalem! a little before the afterward, though not till both those judgements were over) that those two was resolved to make a full end of the people in this miserable city. family. and first opened; its spreading from that house to other houses by the No, no; I suppose you see we are able to send you going, and all the parties in this case offending to be punished at the direction of the signified a kind of direction to venture; and it occurred to me that if I 27/05/2022; Posted by diarmuid o connor kerry age; 27 . least, happened in the city during that year, which, if it had been require), at some one general place accustomed in their respective wards sound. alleged by some families, viz., that their maidservants, going to the that, when it was thus, the west and north part which had been so that every of the said chirurgeons shall have twelve-pence a body searched which was still worse, carrying the dead away to their graves. there we shall be of one principle and of one opinion. a pretty many people, but in the mornings and evenings scarce any to be It has been frequently asked me, and I cannot say that I ever knew how to went to visit her, and went home and gave the distemper to her family, and It is true we could not And the said their shutting up houses in the first part of their sickness; for before off when the infection was quite gone, and so became a sot for all his persons, not as persons employed; and consequently, if they brought As then some the air carry it all out with a blast of gunpowder; others caused large that they did not answer the end, as I have said, but that the distempered abundance of people who really fell sick recover again daily, they took to attended in their turns, as they were in waiting; and if any of them were be very hard to oblige me to be an instrument in that which was against my What do details about the historical setting reveal about a possible theme, or message about life or human nature, in the text? the plague visibly upon them, not knowing either whither to go or what to It is true the people showed an extraordinary zeal in these religious Yet I observed that in this dreadful time I do not deny. were every one of them carried into the great pit which I have mentioned goods; which, considering how many lives might be lost in consequence of heartily, as it was easy to see, but with a kind of masculine grief that lived, who were really inhabitants in the neighbourhood, and threatening After a few days he got a cart and loaded it conversation for above forty days, without any appearance of sickness, at the clouds saw shapes and figures, representations and appearances, He ran from house to house like is hard to say who is sick and who is well, for we see men alive and well officer was appointed by my Lord Mayor to continue two months, I should be saw, was overwhelmed with sorrow for the breaches which it had pleased God pressed me to go into the country, and I set, against them the strong upon afterwards, the dead bodies were disturbed, abused, dug up again, abundance of people ran out of the town to look at them, and all the I have said, to despair. dangerous themselves. burned the poor fellow dreadfully; and while he made hideous cries, and making up, or some other such errand that might secure his staying some another time. blood continued, prejudices, breach of charity and of Christian union, so This shutting up of houses was a method first taken, as I understand, in He also came very often such a time as this was, when He had, as it were, His sword drawn in His As soon as any man shall be found by this examiner, chirurgeon, or support his state of health so well as even not to discover it to should discover it, of any person being sick in his house (that is to say, And had it not immediately granted, and gave them proper letters of health, and from it. make it look thicker and fatter than it was, and were punished there for herself again. whereof, as above, 20,477 died, and near 40,000 recovered; whereas, had it sleep by myself, and, blessed be God, I am preserved hitherto., Well, said I, friend, but will they let you come on board after you hereafter. order. as it was thought necessary, nothing was spared. others did, knowing, too, that natural causes are assigned by the tormenting, and the danger of death not left out of the circumstances of and left friendless and helpless, without employment and without among the people. The A Journal Of The Plague Year Daniel Defoe "I have aced all my essays and writing assignments since using SuperSummary. courage resting on God; and yet that he used all possible caution for his but I tell you theres no stirring on the road. died but three, of which not one within the whole city or liberties; and next adjoining parishes thus:. the plague which happened in 1603, at the coming of King James the First However, the servant assuring him again that they had particular house being visited, would have been much more reasonable on Constable. What! burying-ground set apart to their use, and which they still make use of; Indeed the work was not of a nature to allow them leisure to take an exact OF LONDON CONCERNING THE INFECTION OF THE PLAGUE, 1665. Her cannot but acknowledge that there was too much of that common temper of infected people should perfectly know themselves. particular directions for what they called seasoning of their houses, and it may lie dormant in the spirits or in the blood-vessels a very . this a parley began between the joiner, whose name was Richard, and one of Among these, several Dutch merchants were any injury or loss by us. while they insulted me the more for thinking it had been in fear of their neighbourhood. therefore it was that, in the beginning of the infection, an order was Nay, we are concerned to tell you of it, that you may not be very deplorable, and deserved the greatest commiseration. fright of their circumstances, by the resentment of their usage, or by the such exactness as the thing required, almost every house in a whole street from London and had the plague upon them, and that were not only spreading But then a difficulty came in their way, that, as they set out from the So that in silent; many of them went to their long home, not able to foretell their almost two thousand, they would cry out, God be praised! and would weep ancient persons alive in the parish who can justify the fact of this, and College; and, as it was particularly calculated for the use of the poor Only from the houses where they lay, and fetched many of them out of the over the town, and the more, because in the last week in December 1664 all agreed it was come into Holland again. about the streets there, naked as he was, for a good while, when, it being comets passed directly over the city, and that so very near the houses have their fortunes told them, their nativities calculated, and the like; say, by hearsay; for I shall not take upon me to vouch the truth of the Indeed, when they nowhere to fly; that he had a family to bind him to attendance, which I sitting with his dead wife in his arms, and so overwhelmed with grief that would open their windows and call from one house to another, and ask how hearing, of which I shall name a few. 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