History of the Plague in London by Daniel Defoe
infection.
It must be acknowledged that when people began to use these cautionsthey were less exposed to danger, and the infection did not break intosuch houses so furiously as it did into others before; and thousands offamilies were preserved, speaking with due reserve to the direction ofDivine Providence, by that means.
But it was impossible to beat anything into the heads of the poor. Theywent on with the usual impetuosity of their tempers, full of outcriesand lamentations when taken, but madly careless of themselves,foolhardy, and obstinate, while they were well. Where they could getemployment, they pushed into any kind of business, the most dangerousand the most liable to infection; and if they were spoken to, theiranswer would be, "I must trust to God for that. If I am taken, then I amprovided for, and there is an end of me;" and the like. Or thus, "Why,what must I do? I cannot starve. I had as good have the plague as perishfor want. I have no work: what could I do? I must do this, or beg."Suppose it was burying the dead, or attending the sick, or watchinginfected houses, which were all terrible hazards; but their tale wasgenerally the same. It is true, necessity was a justifiable, warrantableplea, and nothing could be better; but their way of talk was much thesame where the necessities were not the same. This adventurous conductof the poor was that which brought the plague among them in a mostfurious manner; and this, joined to the distress of their circumstanceswhen taken, was the reason why they died so by heaps; for I cannot sayI could observe one jot of better husbandry[287] among them (I mean thelaboring poor) while they were all well and getting money than there wasbefore; but[288] as lavish, as extravagant, and as thoughtless forto-morrow as ever; so that when they came to be taken sick, they wereimmediately in the utmost distress, as well for want as for sickness, aswell for lack of food as lack of health.
The misery of the poor I had many occasions to be an eyewitness of, andsometimes, also, of the charitable assistance that some pious peopledaily gave to such, sending them relief and supplies, both of food,physic, and other help, as they found they wanted. And indeed it is adebt of justice due to the temper of the people of that day, to takenotice here, that not only great sums, very great sums of money, werecharitably sent to the lord mayor and aldermen for the assistance andsupport of the poor distempered people, but abundance of private peopledaily distributed large sums of money for their relief, and sent peopleabout to inquire into the condition of particular distressed and visitedfamilies, and relieved them. Nay, some pious ladies were transportedwith zeal in so good a work, and so confident in the protection ofProvidence in discharge of the great duty of charity, that they wentabout in person distributing alms to the poor, and even visiting poorfamilies, though sick and infected, in their very houses, appointingnurses to attend those that wanted attending, and ordering apothecariesand surgeons, the first to supply them with drugs or plasters, and suchthings as they wanted, and the last to lance and dress the swellings andtumors, where such were wanting; giving their blessing to the poor insubstantial relief to them, as well as hearty prayers for them.
I will not undertake to say, as some do, that none of those charitablepeople were suffered to fall under the calamity itself; but this I maysay, that I never knew any one of them that miscarried, which I mentionfor the encouragement of others in case of the like distress; anddoubtless if they that give to the poor lend to the Lord, and he willrepay them, those that hazard their lives to give to the poor, and tocomfort and assist the poor in such misery as this, may hope to beprotected in the work.
Nor was this charity so extraordinary eminent only in a few; but (for Icannot lightly quit this point) the charity of the rich, as well in thecity and suburbs as from the country, was so great, that in a word aprodigious number of people, who must otherwise have perished for wantas well as sickness, were supported and subsisted by it; and though Icould never, nor I believe any one else, come to a full knowledge ofwhat was so contributed, yet I do believe, that, as I heard one say thatwas a critical observer of that part,[289] there was not only manythousand pounds contributed, but many hundred thousand pounds, to therelief of the poor of this distressed, afflicted city. Nay, one manaffirmed to me that he could reckon up above one hundred thousand poundsa week which was distributed by the churchwardens at the several parishvestries, by the lord mayor and the aldermen in the several wards andprecincts, and by the particular direction of the court and of thejustices respectively in the parts where they resided, over and abovethe private charity distributed by pious hands in the manner I speak of;and this continued for many weeks together.
I confess this is a very great sum; but if it be true that there wasdistributed, in the parish of Cripplegate only, seventeen thousand eighthundred pounds in one week to the relief of the poor, as I heardreported, and which I really believe was true, the other may not beimprobable.
It was doubtless to be reckoned among the many signal good providenceswhich attended this great city, and of which there were many other worthrecording. I say, this was a very remarkable one, that it pleased Godthus to move the hearts of the people in all parts of the kingdom socheerfully to contribute to the relief and support of the poor atLondon; the good consequences of which were felt many ways, andparticularly in preserving the lives and recovering the health of somany thousands, and keeping so many thousands of families from perishingand starving.
And now I am talking of the merciful disposition of Providence in thistime of calamity, I cannot but mention again, though I have spokenseveral times of it already on other accounts (I mean that of theprogression of the distemper), how it began at one end of the town, andproceeded gradually and slowly from one part to another, and like a darkcloud that passes over our heads, which, as it thickens and overcaststhe air at one end, clears up at the other end: so, while the plaguewent on raging from west to east, as it went forwards east, it abated inthe west; by which means those parts of the town which were not seized,or who[290] were left, and where it had spent its fury, were (as itwere) spared to help and assist the other: whereas, had the distemperspread itself over the whole city and suburbs at once, raging in allplaces alike, as it has done since in some places abroad, the whole bodyof the people must have been overwhelmed, and there would have diedtwenty thousand a day, as they say there did at Naples, nor would thepeople have been able to have helped or assisted one another.
For it must be observed that where the plague was in its full force,there indeed the people were very miserable, and the consternation wasinexpressible; but a little before it reached even to that place, orpresently after it was gone, they were quite another sort of people; andI cannot but acknowledge that there was too much of that common temperof mankind to be found among us all at that time, namely, to forget thedeliverance when the danger is past. But I shall come to speak of thatpart again.
It must not be forgot here to take some notice of the state of tradeduring the time of this common calamity; and this with respect toforeign trade, as also to our home trade.
As to foreign trade, there needs little to be said. The trading nationsof Europe were all afraid of us. No port of France, or Holland, orSpain, or Italy, would admit our ships, or correspond with us. Indeed,we stood on ill terms with the Dutch, and were in a furious war withthem, though in a bad condition to fight abroad, who had such dreadfulenemies to struggle with at home.
Our merchants were accordingly at a full stop. Their ships could gonowhere; that is to say, to no place abroad. Their manufactures andmerchandise, that is to say, of our growth, would not be touched abroad.They were as much afraid of our goods as they were of our people; andindeed they had reason, for our woolen manufactures are as retentive ofinfection as human bodies, and, if packed up by persons infected, wouldreceive the infection, and be as dangerous to the touch as a man wouldbe that was infected; and therefore when any English vessel arrived inforeign countries, if they did take the goods on shore, they alwayscaused the bales to be opened and aired in places appointed for thatpurpose. But from London they would not suffer them to come into port,much less to unload
their goods, upon any terms whatever; and thisstrictness was especially used with them in Spain and Italy. In Turkeyand the islands of the Arches,[291] indeed, as they are called, as wellthose belonging to the Turks as to the Venetians, they were not so veryrigid. In the first there was no obstruction at all, and four shipswhich were then in the river loading for Italy (that is, for Leghorn andNaples) being denied product, as they call it, went on to Turkey, andwere freely admitted to unlade their cargo without any difficulty, onlythat when they arrived there, some of their cargo was not fit for salein that country, and other parts of it being consigned to merchants atLeghorn, the captains of the ships had no right nor any orders todispose of the goods; so that great inconveniences followed to themerchants. But this was nothing but what the necessity of affairsrequired; and the merchants at Leghorn and Naples, having notice giventhem, sent again from thence to take care of the effects which wereparticularly consigned to those ports, and
It must be acknowledged that when people began to use these cautionsthey were less exposed to danger, and the infection did not break intosuch houses so furiously as it did into others before; and thousands offamilies were preserved, speaking with due reserve to the direction ofDivine Providence, by that means.
But it was impossible to beat anything into the heads of the poor. Theywent on with the usual impetuosity of their tempers, full of outcriesand lamentations when taken, but madly careless of themselves,foolhardy, and obstinate, while they were well. Where they could getemployment, they pushed into any kind of business, the most dangerousand the most liable to infection; and if they were spoken to, theiranswer would be, "I must trust to God for that. If I am taken, then I amprovided for, and there is an end of me;" and the like. Or thus, "Why,what must I do? I cannot starve. I had as good have the plague as perishfor want. I have no work: what could I do? I must do this, or beg."Suppose it was burying the dead, or attending the sick, or watchinginfected houses, which were all terrible hazards; but their tale wasgenerally the same. It is true, necessity was a justifiable, warrantableplea, and nothing could be better; but their way of talk was much thesame where the necessities were not the same. This adventurous conductof the poor was that which brought the plague among them in a mostfurious manner; and this, joined to the distress of their circumstanceswhen taken, was the reason why they died so by heaps; for I cannot sayI could observe one jot of better husbandry[287] among them (I mean thelaboring poor) while they were all well and getting money than there wasbefore; but[288] as lavish, as extravagant, and as thoughtless forto-morrow as ever; so that when they came to be taken sick, they wereimmediately in the utmost distress, as well for want as for sickness, aswell for lack of food as lack of health.
The misery of the poor I had many occasions to be an eyewitness of, andsometimes, also, of the charitable assistance that some pious peopledaily gave to such, sending them relief and supplies, both of food,physic, and other help, as they found they wanted. And indeed it is adebt of justice due to the temper of the people of that day, to takenotice here, that not only great sums, very great sums of money, werecharitably sent to the lord mayor and aldermen for the assistance andsupport of the poor distempered people, but abundance of private peopledaily distributed large sums of money for their relief, and sent peopleabout to inquire into the condition of particular distressed and visitedfamilies, and relieved them. Nay, some pious ladies were transportedwith zeal in so good a work, and so confident in the protection ofProvidence in discharge of the great duty of charity, that they wentabout in person distributing alms to the poor, and even visiting poorfamilies, though sick and infected, in their very houses, appointingnurses to attend those that wanted attending, and ordering apothecariesand surgeons, the first to supply them with drugs or plasters, and suchthings as they wanted, and the last to lance and dress the swellings andtumors, where such were wanting; giving their blessing to the poor insubstantial relief to them, as well as hearty prayers for them.
I will not undertake to say, as some do, that none of those charitablepeople were suffered to fall under the calamity itself; but this I maysay, that I never knew any one of them that miscarried, which I mentionfor the encouragement of others in case of the like distress; anddoubtless if they that give to the poor lend to the Lord, and he willrepay them, those that hazard their lives to give to the poor, and tocomfort and assist the poor in such misery as this, may hope to beprotected in the work.
Nor was this charity so extraordinary eminent only in a few; but (for Icannot lightly quit this point) the charity of the rich, as well in thecity and suburbs as from the country, was so great, that in a word aprodigious number of people, who must otherwise have perished for wantas well as sickness, were supported and subsisted by it; and though Icould never, nor I believe any one else, come to a full knowledge ofwhat was so contributed, yet I do believe, that, as I heard one say thatwas a critical observer of that part,[289] there was not only manythousand pounds contributed, but many hundred thousand pounds, to therelief of the poor of this distressed, afflicted city. Nay, one manaffirmed to me that he could reckon up above one hundred thousand poundsa week which was distributed by the churchwardens at the several parishvestries, by the lord mayor and the aldermen in the several wards andprecincts, and by the particular direction of the court and of thejustices respectively in the parts where they resided, over and abovethe private charity distributed by pious hands in the manner I speak of;and this continued for many weeks together.
I confess this is a very great sum; but if it be true that there wasdistributed, in the parish of Cripplegate only, seventeen thousand eighthundred pounds in one week to the relief of the poor, as I heardreported, and which I really believe was true, the other may not beimprobable.
It was doubtless to be reckoned among the many signal good providenceswhich attended this great city, and of which there were many other worthrecording. I say, this was a very remarkable one, that it pleased Godthus to move the hearts of the people in all parts of the kingdom socheerfully to contribute to the relief and support of the poor atLondon; the good consequences of which were felt many ways, andparticularly in preserving the lives and recovering the health of somany thousands, and keeping so many thousands of families from perishingand starving.
And now I am talking of the merciful disposition of Providence in thistime of calamity, I cannot but mention again, though I have spokenseveral times of it already on other accounts (I mean that of theprogression of the distemper), how it began at one end of the town, andproceeded gradually and slowly from one part to another, and like a darkcloud that passes over our heads, which, as it thickens and overcaststhe air at one end, clears up at the other end: so, while the plaguewent on raging from west to east, as it went forwards east, it abated inthe west; by which means those parts of the town which were not seized,or who[290] were left, and where it had spent its fury, were (as itwere) spared to help and assist the other: whereas, had the distemperspread itself over the whole city and suburbs at once, raging in allplaces alike, as it has done since in some places abroad, the whole bodyof the people must have been overwhelmed, and there would have diedtwenty thousand a day, as they say there did at Naples, nor would thepeople have been able to have helped or assisted one another.
For it must be observed that where the plague was in its full force,there indeed the people were very miserable, and the consternation wasinexpressible; but a little before it reached even to that place, orpresently after it was gone, they were quite another sort of people; andI cannot but acknowledge that there was too much of that common temperof mankind to be found among us all at that time, namely, to forget thedeliverance when the danger is past. But I shall come to speak of thatpart again.
It must not be forgot here to take some notice of the state of tradeduring the time of this common calamity; and this with respect toforeign trade, as also to our home trade.
As to foreign trade, there needs little to be said. The trading nationsof Europe were all afraid of us. No port of France, or Holland, orSpain, or Italy, would admit our ships, or correspond with us. Indeed,we stood on ill terms with the Dutch, and were in a furious war withthem, though in a bad condition to fight abroad, who had such dreadfulenemies to struggle with at home.
Our merchants were accordingly at a full stop. Their ships could gonowhere; that is to say, to no place abroad. Their manufactures andmerchandise, that is to say, of our growth, would not be touched abroad.They were as much afraid of our goods as they were of our people; andindeed they had reason, for our woolen manufactures are as retentive ofinfection as human bodies, and, if packed up by persons infected, wouldreceive the infection, and be as dangerous to the touch as a man wouldbe that was infected; and therefore when any English vessel arrived inforeign countries, if they did take the goods on shore, they alwayscaused the bales to be opened and aired in places appointed for thatpurpose. But from London they would not suffer them to come into port,much less to unload