History of the Plague in London by Daniel Defoe
was there, which I wondered much at, any want of bakers orovens kept open to supply the people with bread; but this was indeedalleged by some families, viz., that their maidservants, going to thebakehouses with their dough to be baked, which was then the custom,sometimes came home with the sickness, that is to say, the plague, uponthem.
In all this dreadful visitation there were, as I have said before, buttwo pesthouses made use of; viz., one in the fields beyond Old Street,and one in Westminster. Neither was there any compulsion used incarrying people thither. Indeed, there was no need of compulsion in thecase, for there were thousands of poor distressed people, who having nohelp, or conveniences, or supplies, but of charity, would have been veryglad to have been carried thither and been taken care of; which, indeed,was the only thing that, I think, was wanting in the whole publicmanagement of the city, seeing nobody was here allowed to be brought tothe pesthouse but where money was given, or security for money, eitherat their introducing,[252] or upon their being cured and sent out; forvery many were sent out again whole, and very good physicians wereappointed to those places; so that many people did very well there, ofwhich I shall make mention again. The principal sort of people sentthither were, as I have said, servants, who got the distemper by goingof errands to fetch necessaries for the families where they lived, andwho, in that case, if they came home sick, were removed to preserve therest of the house; and they were so well looked after there, in all thetime of the visitation, that there was but one hundred and fifty-sixburied in all at the London pesthouse, and one hundred and fifty-nine atthat of Westminster.
By having more pesthouses, I am far from meaning a forcing all peopleinto such places. Had the shutting up of houses been omitted, and thesick hurried out of their dwellings to pesthouses, as some proposed itseems at that time as well as since, it[253] would certainly have beenmuch worse than it was. The very removing the sick would have been aspreading of the infection, and the rather because that removing couldnot effectually clear the house where the sick person was of thedistemper; and the rest of the family, being then left at liberty, wouldcertainly spread it among others.
The methods, also, in private families which would have been universallyused to have concealed the distemper, and to have concealed the personsbeing sick, would have been such that the distemper would sometimes haveseized a whole family before any visitors or examiners could have knownof it. On the other hand, the prodigious numbers which would have beensick at a time would have exceeded all the capacity of public pesthousesto receive them, or of public officers to discover and remove them.
This was well considered in those days, and I have heard them talk of itoften. The magistrates had enough to do to bring people to submit tohaving their houses shut up; and many ways they deceived the watchmen,and got out, as I observed. But that difficulty made it apparent thatthey would have found it impracticable to have gone the other way towork; for they could never have forced the sick people out of their bedsand out of their dwellings: it must not have been my lord mayor'sofficers, but an army of officers, that must have attempted it. And thepeople, on the other hand, would have been enraged and desperate, andwould have killed those that should have offered to have meddled withthem or with their children and relations, whatever had befallen themfor it; so that they would have made the people (who, as it was, were inthe most terrible distraction imaginable), I say, they would have madethem stark mad: whereas the magistrates found it proper on severaloccasions to treat them with lenity and compassion, and not withviolence and terror, such as dragging the sick out of their houses, orobliging them to remove themselves, would have been.
This leads me again to mention the time when the plague firstbegan,[254] that is to say, when it became certain that it would spreadover the whole town, when, as I have said, the better sort of peoplefirst took the alarm, and began to hurry themselves out of town. It wastrue, as I observed in its place, that the throng was so great, and thecoaches, horses, wagons, and carts were so many, driving and draggingthe people away, that it looked as if all the city was running away; andhad any regulations been published that had been terrifying at thattime, especially such as would pretend to dispose of the peopleotherwise than they would dispose of themselves, it would have put boththe city and suburbs into the utmost confusion.
The magistrates wisely caused the people to be encouraged, made verygood by-laws[255] for the regulating the citizens, keeping good order inthe streets, and making everything as eligible as possible to all sortsof people.
In the first place, the lord mayor and the sheriffs,[256] the court ofaldermen, and a certain number of the common councilmen, or theirdeputies, came to a resolution, and published it; viz., that they wouldnot quit the city themselves, but that they would be always at hand forthe preserving good order in every place, and for doing justice on alloccasions, as also for the distributing the public charity to the poor,and, in a word, for the doing the duty and discharging the trust reposedin them by the citizens, to the utmost of their power.
In pursuance of these orders, the lord mayor, sheriffs, etc., heldcouncils every day, more or less, for making such dispositions as theyfound needful for preserving the civil peace; and though they used thepeople with all possible gentleness and clemency, yet all manner ofpresumptuous rogues, such as thieves, housebreakers, plunderers of thedead or of the sick, were duly punished; and several declarations werecontinually published by the lord mayor and court of aldermen againstsuch.
Also all constables and churchwardens were enjoined to stay in the cityupon severe penalties, or to depute such able and sufficienthousekeepers as the deputy aldermen or common councilmen of the precinctshould approve, and for whom they should give security, and alsosecurity, in case of mortality, that they would forthwith constituteother constables in their stead.
These things reestablished the minds of the people very much, especiallyin the first of their fright, when they talked of making so universal aflight that the city would have been in danger of being entirelydeserted of its inhabitants, except the poor, and the country of beingplundered and laid waste by the multitude. Nor were the magistratesdeficient in performing their part as boldly as they promised it; for mylord mayor and the sheriffs were continually in the streets and atplaces of the greatest danger; and though they did not care for havingtoo great a resort of people crowding about them, yet in emergent casesthey never denied the people access to them, and heard with patienceall their grievances and complaints. My lord mayor had a low gallerybuilt on purpose in his hall, where he stood, a little removed from thecrowd, when any complaint came to be heard, that he might appear with asmuch safety as possible.
Likewise the proper officers, called my lord mayor's officers,constantly attended in their turns, as they were in waiting; and if anyof them were sick or infected, as some of them were, others wereinstantly employed to fill up, and officiate in their places till it wasknown whether the other should live or die.
In like manner the sheriffs and aldermen did,[257] in their severalstations and wards, where they were placed by office; and the sheriff'sofficers or sergeants were appointed to receive orders from therespective aldermen in their turn; so that justice was executed in allcases without interruption. In the next place, it was one of theirparticular cares to see the orders for the freedom of the marketsobserved; and in this part either the lord mayor, or one or both of thesheriffs, were every market day on horseback to see their ordersexecuted, and to see that the country people had all possibleencouragement and freedom in their coming to the markets and going backagain, and that no nuisance or frightful object should be seen in thestreets to terrify them, or make them unwilling to come. Also the bakerswere taken under particular order, and the master of the Bakers' Companywas, with his court of assistants, directed to see the order of my lordmayor for their regulation put in execution, and the due assize[258] ofbread, which was weekly appointed by my lord mayor, observed; and allthe bakers were obliged to keep their ovens going constantly, on pain oflosing the privileges
of a freeman of the city of London.
By this means, bread was always to be had in plenty, and as cheap asusual, as I said above; and provisions were never wanting in themarkets, even to such a degree that I often wondered at it, andreproached myself with being so timorous and cautious in stirringabroad, when the country people came freely and boldly to market, as ifthere had been no manner of infection in the city, or danger of catchingit.
It was indeed one admirable piece of conduct in the said magistrates,that the streets were kept constantly clear and free from all manner offrightful objects, dead bodies, or any such things as were indecent orunpleasant; unless where anybody fell down suddenly, or died in thestreets, as I have said above, and these were generally covered withsome cloth or blanket, or removed into the next churchyard till night.All the needful works that carried terror with them, that were bothdismal and dangerous, were done in the night. If any diseased bodieswere removed, or dead bodies
In all this dreadful visitation there were, as I have said before, buttwo pesthouses made use of; viz., one in the fields beyond Old Street,and one in Westminster. Neither was there any compulsion used incarrying people thither. Indeed, there was no need of compulsion in thecase, for there were thousands of poor distressed people, who having nohelp, or conveniences, or supplies, but of charity, would have been veryglad to have been carried thither and been taken care of; which, indeed,was the only thing that, I think, was wanting in the whole publicmanagement of the city, seeing nobody was here allowed to be brought tothe pesthouse but where money was given, or security for money, eitherat their introducing,[252] or upon their being cured and sent out; forvery many were sent out again whole, and very good physicians wereappointed to those places; so that many people did very well there, ofwhich I shall make mention again. The principal sort of people sentthither were, as I have said, servants, who got the distemper by goingof errands to fetch necessaries for the families where they lived, andwho, in that case, if they came home sick, were removed to preserve therest of the house; and they were so well looked after there, in all thetime of the visitation, that there was but one hundred and fifty-sixburied in all at the London pesthouse, and one hundred and fifty-nine atthat of Westminster.
By having more pesthouses, I am far from meaning a forcing all peopleinto such places. Had the shutting up of houses been omitted, and thesick hurried out of their dwellings to pesthouses, as some proposed itseems at that time as well as since, it[253] would certainly have beenmuch worse than it was. The very removing the sick would have been aspreading of the infection, and the rather because that removing couldnot effectually clear the house where the sick person was of thedistemper; and the rest of the family, being then left at liberty, wouldcertainly spread it among others.
The methods, also, in private families which would have been universallyused to have concealed the distemper, and to have concealed the personsbeing sick, would have been such that the distemper would sometimes haveseized a whole family before any visitors or examiners could have knownof it. On the other hand, the prodigious numbers which would have beensick at a time would have exceeded all the capacity of public pesthousesto receive them, or of public officers to discover and remove them.
This was well considered in those days, and I have heard them talk of itoften. The magistrates had enough to do to bring people to submit tohaving their houses shut up; and many ways they deceived the watchmen,and got out, as I observed. But that difficulty made it apparent thatthey would have found it impracticable to have gone the other way towork; for they could never have forced the sick people out of their bedsand out of their dwellings: it must not have been my lord mayor'sofficers, but an army of officers, that must have attempted it. And thepeople, on the other hand, would have been enraged and desperate, andwould have killed those that should have offered to have meddled withthem or with their children and relations, whatever had befallen themfor it; so that they would have made the people (who, as it was, were inthe most terrible distraction imaginable), I say, they would have madethem stark mad: whereas the magistrates found it proper on severaloccasions to treat them with lenity and compassion, and not withviolence and terror, such as dragging the sick out of their houses, orobliging them to remove themselves, would have been.
This leads me again to mention the time when the plague firstbegan,[254] that is to say, when it became certain that it would spreadover the whole town, when, as I have said, the better sort of peoplefirst took the alarm, and began to hurry themselves out of town. It wastrue, as I observed in its place, that the throng was so great, and thecoaches, horses, wagons, and carts were so many, driving and draggingthe people away, that it looked as if all the city was running away; andhad any regulations been published that had been terrifying at thattime, especially such as would pretend to dispose of the peopleotherwise than they would dispose of themselves, it would have put boththe city and suburbs into the utmost confusion.
The magistrates wisely caused the people to be encouraged, made verygood by-laws[255] for the regulating the citizens, keeping good order inthe streets, and making everything as eligible as possible to all sortsof people.
In the first place, the lord mayor and the sheriffs,[256] the court ofaldermen, and a certain number of the common councilmen, or theirdeputies, came to a resolution, and published it; viz., that they wouldnot quit the city themselves, but that they would be always at hand forthe preserving good order in every place, and for doing justice on alloccasions, as also for the distributing the public charity to the poor,and, in a word, for the doing the duty and discharging the trust reposedin them by the citizens, to the utmost of their power.
In pursuance of these orders, the lord mayor, sheriffs, etc., heldcouncils every day, more or less, for making such dispositions as theyfound needful for preserving the civil peace; and though they used thepeople with all possible gentleness and clemency, yet all manner ofpresumptuous rogues, such as thieves, housebreakers, plunderers of thedead or of the sick, were duly punished; and several declarations werecontinually published by the lord mayor and court of aldermen againstsuch.
Also all constables and churchwardens were enjoined to stay in the cityupon severe penalties, or to depute such able and sufficienthousekeepers as the deputy aldermen or common councilmen of the precinctshould approve, and for whom they should give security, and alsosecurity, in case of mortality, that they would forthwith constituteother constables in their stead.
These things reestablished the minds of the people very much, especiallyin the first of their fright, when they talked of making so universal aflight that the city would have been in danger of being entirelydeserted of its inhabitants, except the poor, and the country of beingplundered and laid waste by the multitude. Nor were the magistratesdeficient in performing their part as boldly as they promised it; for mylord mayor and the sheriffs were continually in the streets and atplaces of the greatest danger; and though they did not care for havingtoo great a resort of people crowding about them, yet in emergent casesthey never denied the people access to them, and heard with patienceall their grievances and complaints. My lord mayor had a low gallerybuilt on purpose in his hall, where he stood, a little removed from thecrowd, when any complaint came to be heard, that he might appear with asmuch safety as possible.
Likewise the proper officers, called my lord mayor's officers,constantly attended in their turns, as they were in waiting; and if anyof them were sick or infected, as some of them were, others wereinstantly employed to fill up, and officiate in their places till it wasknown whether the other should live or die.
In like manner the sheriffs and aldermen did,[257] in their severalstations and wards, where they were placed by office; and the sheriff'sofficers or sergeants were appointed to receive orders from therespective aldermen in their turn; so that justice was executed in allcases without interruption. In the next place, it was one of theirparticular cares to see the orders for the freedom of the marketsobserved; and in this part either the lord mayor, or one or both of thesheriffs, were every market day on horseback to see their ordersexecuted, and to see that the country people had all possibleencouragement and freedom in their coming to the markets and going backagain, and that no nuisance or frightful object should be seen in thestreets to terrify them, or make them unwilling to come. Also the bakerswere taken under particular order, and the master of the Bakers' Companywas, with his court of assistants, directed to see the order of my lordmayor for their regulation put in execution, and the due assize[258] ofbread, which was weekly appointed by my lord mayor, observed; and allthe bakers were obliged to keep their ovens going constantly, on pain oflosing the privileges
By this means, bread was always to be had in plenty, and as cheap asusual, as I said above; and provisions were never wanting in themarkets, even to such a degree that I often wondered at it, andreproached myself with being so timorous and cautious in stirringabroad, when the country people came freely and boldly to market, as ifthere had been no manner of infection in the city, or danger of catchingit.
It was indeed one admirable piece of conduct in the said magistrates,that the streets were kept constantly clear and free from all manner offrightful objects, dead bodies, or any such things as were indecent orunpleasant; unless where anybody fell down suddenly, or died in thestreets, as I have said above, and these were generally covered withsome cloth or blanket, or removed into the next churchyard till night.All the needful works that carried terror with them, that were bothdismal and dangerous, were done in the night. If any diseased bodieswere removed, or dead bodies