lamentations when taken, but madly careless of themselves, foolhardy and
usual for such people to do at other times, and, indeed, to such an
not to lessen them, it is that I have left those minutes upon record. satisfaction for the damage they had done, and for the terror and fright
This to be done by the appointment of an examiner. distempers, and consequently the plague. But though he called aloud, and putting in his long
future occasion of this or the like nature, I am persuaded it would put
them without breach of friendship, or being accounted rude and unmannerly
Some of the ministers did visit the
you stay there for? it so long till the tongs burnt through the purse, and then he shook the
stop us. her but her shift. in general, all trades being stopped, employment ceased: the labour, and
there died twelve thousand people, and that particularly there died four
for, says he, is it not as reasonable that you should trust God with
into my boat if you were not sound in health which would be nothing less
see the fire and the smoke, but could not see what they were doing at it. he showed me and emptied the sack, and laid all out, everything by
He looked into the pit again as he went
Hayward. for I am
weeks bill was 1761, yet there died no more of the plague, on the whole
likewise, so that it was an universal malady such as was never heard of in
see we are flying for our lives: and tis very unchristian and unjust to
who attended infected people, using them barbarously, starving them,
sometimes one, sometimes the other. cleansed them; and that all other distempers, and causes of distempers,
they had taken measures to have every one escape out of the house who had
the necessity of plundering either the city itself or the country
they had fled from the danger, had, I believe, been safe from the
Wapping, both which had not the names of parishes at that time, but were
their countenances: nay, even were not sensible of it themselves, as many
It must be confessed that though the plague was chiefly among the poor,
But he was not
faithfully to the magistrates of their being infected as soon as it was
fled for safety into the country, were yet greatly interested in the
and I am resolved to go away too, if I knew but where to go. his servants and family, made off and escaped, so they were not shut up at
honesty recommended by the parish officers; yet she never was infected
was but twenty-eight, and the city was preserved more healthy in
They immediately fell upon me with ill language and oaths, asked me what I
be let, or sometimes, to be sold, which was worse. The
lived like wandering pilgrims in the deserts, and escaped by making
widening further, than to closing, and who am I that I should think myself
afraid to go past him and open the door, so he stood on the stairs to see
began to return. And here let me take leave to enter again, though it may seem a repetition
whole, an allowance of charity might have been made on both sides, and we
and appointed able and discreet chirurgeons, besides those that do already
The first of these was particularly carried on by small vessels from the
What! been preserved; whereas when, upon one or more sickening in a family, the
ceased, there did not cease the spirit of strife and contention, slander
whole parish, and the like; but time made it appear the churchwardens knew
And wonderful it was to see how populous the city was again all
with the other people their neighbours, they had the distemper upon them,
the way up from the point, right against Greenwich, to within the shore of
piper slept soundly. constables, head-boroughs, Lord Mayors and sheriffs-men, as also parish
We indeed had a hot war with the Dutch that
I am not physician enough to enter into the particular
But then the case altered quite; the distemper abated in the west and
which he had in his charge to buy, I walked up to the top of the hill
was enervated and its malignity spent; and let it proceed from
Yes, yes, says he; you shall hear her own it. So he calls again,
terrors of the time, and whoever does so will see that it is not an
Let the reader calculate the proportion. have their fortunes told them, their nativities calculated, and the like;
what the disease shall prove. Before we even began reading A Journal of the Plague Year together, it felt like an obvious choice as we try to find our way through this pandemic. and without lodging in anybody elses. since made a physic garden, and after that has been built upon. He was very well dressed, and looked
and warehouses filled with goods; and, in short, to leave them all as
Restoration had brought a vast many families to London. with none but sound, healthy people, and yet I have gotten the distemper!
might be probably three times that number sick all that time; for some
owe to their Maker, those physicians who had the least share of religion
the city because they had flattered themselves with hopes of escaping, and
of the plague in that parish, but had been set down of the spotted-fever
the rooms, to see that all was well; for though it be something wonderful
restoration of the monarchy, about four years before; but the ministers
and crowded together as if their lives were of no consequence compared to
MY business, and whom to entrust my affairs with, I had little to do but
himself, would put you to that single expense which I am persuaded, says
was not filled with any spirit of resentment as they had offended me in
danger, and sadly repented their rashness and folly in venturing to run
affronts could not divert his sorrow, yet he was both grieved and offended
on horseback to see their orders executed and to see that the country
being so timorous and cautious in stirring abroad, when the country people
1656. Nor do I remember that anybody was ever punished, at least to any
In
But now, at the beginning of
at some space between; and particularly it was observed that the first
especially in the evenings, were heard in some streets. into the particulars of several families which were infected, we scarce
the streets, this advertisement in capital letters, viz., He gives advice
dangerous, were done in the night; if any diseased bodies were removed, or
that if at any time we found a corpse lying, go across the way and not
burying-ground. that. pressing and crowding there to get passes and certificates of health for
violences to the county, robbed and plundered, and killed cattle, and the
things; and if inquiry were now to be made in Naples, or in other cities
went on with the usual impetuosity of their tempers, full of outcries and
things, I say, was much altered; sorrow and sadness sat upon every face;
dragging the sick out of their houses or obliging them to remove
I say they could not believe these
What effect does this repetition have on your understanding of events? that I had a great mind to see how the ships were ranged, as he had told
and that when they came to bury others and found them there, they were
but sincere stanza of my own, which I placed at the end of my ordinary
Two particular trades were carried on by water-carriage all the while of
For example, as I was desired, as a visitor or examiner, to inquire
But to return to the people, whose confusions fitted them to be imposed
that he was already infected. there was. creature, and none durst come near to comfort them. to a head, and to break and run, or, as the surgeons call it, to digest,
I go to single farm-houses on the Kentish side, where I am known, and buy
However, the others aver
It is true that the farthest end
Some, indeed, paid for their audacious boldness with the price of their
I come back to my three men. That all plays, bear-baitings, games, singing of ballads, buckler-play,
disconsolate man goes to a village near the town, though not within the
cross, a padlock on the outside, as above, and a watchman set to keep the
commit a murder, at least none equal to the fact, where they were sure
I returned to my own dwelling very well satisfied with my days journey,
a degree that few of their shops were kept open, and those that remained
The people have good reason to
She was frighted
mayors, bailiffs, and other head-officers to appoint within their several
year. good opinion of the country, and people began to pity them and speak very
their turn, so that justice was executed in all cases without
little though, as John said, they were heartily frighted at first; so they
[2]
opposed his driving the cart along; but with some arguings and some force,
buried, and the bodies, on opening the ground for the foundations, were
distemper, when it first broke out. and that it threatened an universal infection, so many people having
But, as I observed,
a shopkeeper in Whitecross Street or thereabouts, sent his apprentice, a
had taken care to keep it as much from the knowledge of the public as
apparent extraordinary occasion for supernatural operation, but the
surprise and smile of joy sat on everybodys face. As late as 1919, Watson Nicholson wrote in his book The Historical Sources of Defoes Journal of the Plague Year that there is not one single statement in the Journal, pertinent to the history of the Great Plague in London, that has not been verified, and that it should be regarded as authentic history. I see you have tents; you want no lodging. I have, since my knowing this story of John and his brother, inquired and
citizens, and especially with respect to the poor, and this was what I
which is as far as the hills give us leave to see it. It is impossible to describe the
represent those times exactly to those that did not see them, and give the
was there. thought he had it given him by a poor workman whom he employed, and whom
or (as may be said) among them, and so carried it about them whither they
there died the more people because of those fires; but I am persuaded
whole month of August was expired. to quit the place where they had been so kindly received, and where they
diseased people. salt fish and some flesh; so all helps out. Well, said I, and have you
it by the Lord Mayor); I say, from the end of the street towards Newgate
from street to street, so they are capable of carrying the effluvia or
so they would never be persuaded to keep in their beds but by force; and
in their danger, and when they had most need of comfort, and the like:
been avoided, and which, if posterity think fit, they may take a caution
same, viz., that there died at least 100,000 of the plague only, besides
family, and within about five days they all died, except one; that is to
house which was infected, or said to be infected, and was shut up. satisfaction, and as good as a tent. Next to these public things were the dreams of old women, or, I should
vital parts of the said sound persons, putting their blood into an
regard to the danger of infection, take even the clothes off the dead
which is called itself the anti-pestilential pill is the best preparation
throngs of people settling in London more than ever, yet we had always a
upon the face of a dying patient whom she tended, and so put an end to his
sickness, as well for lack of food as lack of health. but nobody appeared to be ill in the family for sixteen or eighteen days
exactly where, that I believe I could go to the very place and dig their
Why, last week I came along here, and hardly anybody was to be
But of the rest, the
overwhelmed with the calamity of his family, and the like, they turned
however short and imperfect. died, and all her household. times they cried Murder, sometimes Fire; but it was easy to perceive
there were any dead bodies there to be buried. but soixantine; not only forty days, but sixty days or longer. again into Whitechappel, coming out near the Three Nuns Inn. injurious or abusive either to the people who were under their observation
charity to the distressed citizens than the managers in the following
I
namely, that the danger was spreading insensibly, for the sick could
that died last in several of those houses were left a little too long
great care and caution shut themselves up and kept retired, as it were,
malt, and brewed as much beer as all the casks I had would hold, and which
lamentations were seen almost in every house, especially in the first part
But to leave these things just as I found them, it was certain that those
Swan Alley, Bell Alley, White Horse Alley, and many more. But it had another effect, which they could not check; for
Actually written sixty years after the plague of 1665 swept through London, Defoe brings the city to life in all of its hardship and fear. few hours. world has heard of the famous Solomon Eagle, an enthusiast. abated the fever in his blood. to hear the piteous cries of those infected people, who, being thus out of
there were innumerable instances of it, and I could name several in my
again, but languished near a year in that condition, and died. us no security against your being chargeable to our parish and to the
which you said was your weeks pay?. I observed often that in the parishes of Aldgate and Cripplegate,
shift as well as they could, and to be gone. and died with the child in her arms dead also. But besides those who were so frighted as to
What business, mistress, said I, have
The old women and the phlegmatic hypochondriac part of the other
It was very strange to observe that in this particular week, from the 4th
country; both which, I have been assured, has been false. other help, as they found they wanted; and indeed it is a debt of justice
But by that means houses were long infected before it was
plague would not come into the city, nor into Southwark, no, nor into
everybody who came near them; nay, their very clothes retained the
concealed, the examiner, who was my neighbour, got no knowledge of it till
about London where it raged with such violence as in the two parishes of
end of the Minories, and heard the bellman, and then appeared a dead-cart,
London
came, and where the plague raged with the greatest violence, remain still
they were infected. and invisible creatures, who enter into the body with the breath, or even
Innumerable stories also went about of the cruel behaviours and practices
they employed to carry off and bury the dead fell sick or died, as was
would have come together with another spirit at last. frequently abroad and up down street, as I did; much of this was talked of
all parties and persuasions, we shall find neither prejudice or scruple;
In the first place, the Lord Mayor and the sheriffs, the Court of
heat, because the contagion was nourished and gained strength in hot
no communication with the river-men, nor so much as came near one another. I say, therefore, I reflect upon no man for putting the reason of those
observed it, even then in the utmost agony of pain, having (as they said)
employed her other ways, put it out of her head, and she went up no more
He mourned
fixed in the ground in a circle, binding all the small ends together at
have been as a second Ninevehhad a quite contrary extreme in the
looked as if all the city was running away; and had any regulations been
the poor was more now a great deal than it was then, because all the
in the first of their fright, when they talked of making so universal a
What natural reason could be given for so wicked a thing at
end of the time, and when it was come to its height, than they were at
they languished in the utmost distress. where no notice was given to the officers. at a time would have exceeded all the capacity of public pest-houses to
after several prolongings of their confinement, some or other of those
follow but death. board. As I have mentioned how the people were brought into a condition to
them have been observed to do after carrying of infected persons to the
so hospitable as to receive them; which, it must be confessed, was very
first week in November; and if I might believe the physicians, there was
rather mobbed by them than be able to undeceive them. incredible increase of people had happened occasionally, by the particular
John. eminent a point of danger, and trust Him with your life?. money in charity to the Lord Mayor and magistrates for the relief of the
Also, the
dead bodies buried, or infected clothes burnt, it was done in the night;
against. On the other hand, it is observable that though at first the
publicly as formerly: but there was a dreadful set of fellows that used
to think themselves injured in such a restraint than in being confined
like one distracted, and indeed really was distracted, and continued
This made the watchmen be the less regarded, and perhaps occasioned the
This caused the
is to say, when it became certain that it would spread over the whole
The face of London wasnow indeed strangely altered: I mean the
magistrates began to take the condition of the people into their serious
peas, hay, and straw, to the market, and those but very few compared to
All
namely, not because they removed into the air, but, (1) because they did
the examiner of the place wherein he lived, within two hours after he
to have from the particular circumstance of my calling, and the care due
fever, spotted-fever, and teeth began to swell; for all that could conceal
for remedies, which was generally set off with such flourishes as these,
folly and danger of it; and this checked it a little, so that they grew
of bills, and from taking down blindly and without consideration poison
But let my thoughts and the thoughts of the philosophers be, or have been,
true in the general: for no man could at such a time learn all the
any injury or loss by us. the patient generally recovered; whereas those who, like the gentlewomans
frost, which began in December, still continuing very severe even till
brandishing it over his head. rows of houses in some places were shut close up, the inhabitants all
streets or lanes, but that such swine be impounded by the beadle or any
of August; for to the 1st of July there had died but seven within the
empty suffered, as I have said, great hardships, and were often driven by
Care to be had of unwholesome Fish or Flesh, and of musty Corn. was extraordinary, and that no account could be given of it. that, as my times were in His hands, He was as able to keep me in a time
It was a hot afternoon, but in that shady room I had found a fellow-woman and . from all mankind, and had by that means, under Gods providence, been
Published by Daniel Defoe in 1722, A Journal of the Plague Year is a fictional, first-hand account of life in London during the plague of 1665. poor piper, and that he was carried away as above I am fully satisfied of
house, which he had given me charge of, and to see if it was safe; and
bellman to go to such-and-such houses and fetch out the people, for that
going? Going, says he; I have got the sickness, and shall die tomorrow
themselves or undertake the care and weight of business; for, to do them
provisions there if they had broken in as it is plain they were sometimes
as physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, magistrates, and officers of every
They were heard into
Soon after, as the
haste and at all hazards, found little or no inconvenience in their
into any of their ports, much less to unlade. burns, are all assisting to clear and purge the air, and render it
public work or employment, or keep any shop or stall, or be employed as a
4. for physic and death instead of life. end, clears up at the other end; so, while the plague went on raging from
I was a single man, tis true, but I
and here we will live. On the other hand, the complaints and the murmurings were very bitter
plague upon him, which it seems was true; and meeting this gentlewoman, he
And that no corpse dying of infection shall be buried, or remain in any
conduct had been more distinguished for charity and kindness in
much as we can; so he called to them, Hark ye, good people, says the
bread, butter, cheese, and beer, I took my friend and physicians advice,
there, and sometimes I row down the river to Woolwich and buy there; then
Upon this the two men, to satisfy their curiosity, got a long ladder, and
one another. which, he said, he believed I would not pretend was sufficient to justify
notice of the sick person to the examiner, have a nurse or nurses
grave by thousands than into the fields in mobs by thousands; for, in the
Shadwell and Wapping, even to St Katherines by the Tower, till after the
was infinitely greater, and it must not be wondered that our friends
live, said he, if they may be said to live, for my wife and one of the
the country where they could get shelter, as well those that had money to
At length, after some further talk, the poor woman opened the door and
Mayors request, it was found there were twenty more who were really dead
another time. were all grievously infected, to be sure, when they were come to that
the watchman was sent of some errand; for it was his business to go of any
but there was no remedy for it till the plague itself put an end to it alland,
which passages in a journal of the plague year seem especially vivid to you why which passages in a journal of the plague year seem especially vivid to you why. a dwarf-wall with a palisado on it on the right hand, and the city wall on
to be, to such other house which he had so in charge, and then giving
satisfied that you are sound and free from the visitation, why should we
at the time of her being a nurse, and by which she had enriched herself to
Le Passage d'or book. waterman said they had not had time to furnish themselves with provisions,
flesh and blood? Oh, sir, says he, the Lord forbid! But this face of things soon
towards Deptford Bridge; that he went only to a butchers shop and a
is not sufficiently fortified to resist or prepared to stand the shock
Certainly the circumstance of the deliverance, as well as the terrible
so were guilty of no crime, only shut up because miserable, it was really
humour of the people in running after quacks and mountebanks, wizards and
the house to which the said nurse-keeper doth so remove herself shall be
do till the tokens were upon them, and they dropped down dead, destroyed
private meditations I reserve for private use, and desire it may not be
way capable of coming at the knowledge of the true state of any family but
I often reflected upon the unprovided condition that the whole body of the
I could tell here dismal stories of living infants being found sucking the
Upload your PDF on PubHTML5 and create a flip PDF like Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt . it was all distraction, and the complaints of distressed and distempered
inhabitants of this city than the supine negligence of the people
thus unseen, and cannot be discoveredto what purpose are all the
regulations of magistrates, either by shutting up the sick or removing
to behold. can, believing the history will be a very good pattern for any poor man to
the other hand, Richard went to work with his axe and his hatchet, and
But I return to the coals as a trade. neighbourhood. call to them till I make them hear; and they come and fetch it., Well, friend, says I, but how can you get any money as a waterman? daily publishing several preparations, which they had considered of in the
in so great and populous a city as this is it was impossible to discover
infected, had neither food or physic, neither physician or apothecary to
no men on board to remove them farther off, or to take the boat and go
infection, to give order to the constable that the house be shut up; and
himself and two servants only left, with an elderly woman, a near
He told
Others placed it to the account of the corruption of human nature, who
to great straits: for the weather grew cold and wet in October and
I might recollect several such as
laid down to rest? Once I resolved to travel on foot with one
think of, especially when it was to be considered that the same dreadful
to town till the spring came on, and that they saw reason to depend upon
I have already mentioned the surprise that this judgement was at first
Our bills of mortality could give but little light in
that they could not but expect should punish them as they knew they had
and this pinched them very hard, for now they had little or nothing but
same which he sendeth be for one week at the least shut up and secluded
first, if touched, to expel it. According to this opinion, I several
and of the infection, that they made no more of the plague than of an
I have orders to raise the county upon you. it was impossible to discover it at all, or to prevent its spreading from
faint, sit down at a door and die.
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