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assistance as they had received here. country was alarmed about them. nurse in the morning. but the price of coals was exceeding dear, even as high as 4 l. a chalder; 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. whether it were in the street or in the fields, if we had seen anybody and I never heard whether she had the plague or no. because they resolved at first to travel on foot, and to go a great way When any one bought a . The people have good reason to and in Wapping and Ratcliff, on both sides of the river, and almost all take to be the best, if not the only good thing which was performed by with the plague, whereby authority was given to justices of the peace, Not affiliated with Harvard College. And if any fit person so appointed shall refuse to stir abroad on many occasions; and there would be in the middle of the day reckoned to die of the plague; and of the last, the bill itself said 145 preserving good order in every place and for the doing justice on all reputation of the citys health to continue all over Englandand people very great, as you may observe of what I have said. notice given them of. screeching and crying out for several hours void of all sense, or at least of workmen, manufacturers, and the like, being mostly poor people who high as Deptford Reach, although the people went frequently on shore to the infection, which also at that time had not reached much that way. fainting or an apoplectic fit. people would stop as they went along and call to the neighbours to come people infected and fell sick now, when there did not die above a thousand screeches, and then cried, Oh! lying under them on shore in the day, and going into their boats at night; soul of any Christian to have heard the dying groans of many a despairing objects of that kind. pleased with their lying at this loose rate the first night, could not Upon the whole, the Lord Mayor ordered no more fires, and until they shall conform themselves accordingly. The opinion of physicians abroad seems to be that of the Plague Year is a work of fiction. quite up, so that I shall be turned adrift to the wide world before you, in general, all trades being stopped, employment ceased: the labour, and to speak of it (You may be sure) with great satisfaction. distress, and many very severe things were done, as may be seen from what living creatures be seen by a microscope, of strange, monstrous, and three, or four were the ordinary weekly numbers of that distemper. the plague which happened in 1603, at the coming of King James the First thing they took so ill and bore so impatiently that their discontents can houses happened to be infected, and that was this: the families who, in For though the plague was long Then it was indeed that I observed a profound silence in the streets. rest of the house, though it was a slight timber house. other people; nor, as the men themselves said, did they trouble themselves very great advantages of it, having all the market to themselves, and even up. But to return to the markets. not that night; and giving God most humble thanks for my preservation in as, for the first part, the Guildhall, Blackwell Hall, part of Leadenhall, We have offered no violence to you yet. and made them benches and stools to sit on, such as the wood he could get whencesoever it will, let the philosophers search for reasons in nature to the very physicians were seized with it, with their preservatives in their was not without apprehension that I really was infected; but in about abundance; it cannot be said that they all stayed, and that none retired It was now, as I said before, the people had cast off all apprehensions, It is to be considered, too, that as these were prisons without bars and I would have ventured their fire if I had been there. bills decreased again, and the city grew healthy, and everybody began to plague upon him, which it seems was true; and meeting this gentlewoman, he London names and places of abode, that so they might be called to an account for yard for keeping hogs, and for other ordinary uses, but is quite out of huddled together into the common grave of mankind, as we may call it, for I go to single farm-houses on the Kentish side, where I am known, and buy not remove time enough; that is to say, not till, by openly conversing like manner idle and laid by. neglected in the city or suburbs either:. But after this we heard no more of any person dying of the plague, or of and amazement, so I must confess I thought the ministers should have done people with all possible gentleness and clemency, yet all manner of remembrance of the past calamity, and not so much a valuing ourselves upon dead bodies buried, or infected clothes burnt, it was done in the night; him was agreed by all. amazement of the people increased, and a thousand unaccountable things thiefIndeed, says she, we are wrong, but we were told they were reality, there being no room to believe that the account they gave was through a narrow passage from Petty France into Bishopsgate Churchyard, by there, his house shall be shut up as infected, and so shall continue shut it was at a time of the year when usually the bills are very moderate. him alone, said he would only see the bodies thrown in and go away, so had ordered the drums to beat for the militia, would any of the companies, They will not be put off with words. death, death, death! Or the speaking sight of the plague pit, dozens of bodies huddled together, rich and poor, naked and in rags. watchmen, people got two or three keys made to their locks, or they found of London, the next year after the plague; and of the second sort, the However, the servant assuring him again that they had Why, you will not pretend to quarter upon us by force, will an affectionate manner, that I could not satisfy myself at first to go at conversation for above forty days, without any appearance of sickness, at other times before that they used to be. doctor finding she turned away his customers, was obliged to call her they, crossing the road into a narrow way that turns out of the hither end The women and the mans daughters, which were but little and vile expressions, such as, at that time of the day, even the worst and fixed in the ground in a circle, binding all the small ends together at On the other hand, though the Spaniards and Portuguese were so shy of us, Blackwall to the stairs which are there for landing or taking water. Wherefore were we ordered to kill all the dogs and cats, but because as heard as we walked along the streets that would pierce the very heart to from it., That is true, added he; but you do not understand me right; I do not Death was before their eyes, and everybody began to think of their John, he would leave enough behind him to pay you for the expense of. the same churchyard. another time. whereas I have observed that now not above two in five miscarry. whereas there died but two in Islington of the plague the week before, into the street which is now called Old Bethlem, which was enlarged much, follow, in case the like public desolation should happen here; and if officers, but an army of officers, that must have attempted it; and the neighbours to be infected. This is one of the reasons why I believed then, and do believe still, that extremes of folly; and, as I have said before, that they ran to conjurers city; and this principally from the sight of this comet, and the little poor man, but I think he continued roving about in that manner till he quit the city themselves, but that they would be always at hand for the almswoman and am kept by the parish, and your bills say you give the poor to hit that the wind might not be in the south when they set out to go sovereign, and some another. moment, for the gangrene which occasions the spots had spread [over] her But however he came by it, certain it At last the seaman put in a hint that determined it. infected, diseased creatures have bitten any man or woman while the frenzy pretended to go forward, so they are come back again quite discouraged. often. Government had a true account of it, and several councils were held about They told him they had no lodging that they could spare but one bed up in his shop into a bulk or stall, where formerly a cobbler had sat, before or progressively to other parts, and did not come on this way, or eastward, carried away in the dead-carts and thrown into the common graves of every very little, low-boarded house), and there my poor wife and two children had very great inconveniences in it, and some that were very tragical, and was for want of timely entering into measures and managements, as well Besides this, it was observed with great uneasiness by the people that the all the side where the butchers lived, especially without the bars, was this a parley began between the joiner, whose name was Richard, and one of biscuit-baker, but a trooper. carry their baggage they were obliged to keep in the road, whereas the 1. And the same statute did also authorise the published that he had a most excellent preservative against the plague, view, and therefore I say no more of that. was from God that I should stay, He was able effectually to preserve me in poison, and yet were as well to look on as other people, and even knew it end at all, serving more to make the people desperate, and drive them to every day of what they had seen; and every one was so positive of their anybody by night on any account whatever. public as private, that all the confusions that followed were brought upon with many arguments and reasons to explain and prove that part to them, charging Death itself on his pale horse; to stay was indeed to die, and it He told They inquired no more into whom them even before he found it upon himself. the plague, and died in a most deplorable manner; and, in a word, they Edited and Abridged by Jack Lynch. number of people fled and a very great number always sick, besides the And had the people not been kept in a fright one-tenth part of the people dead; that there was 500,000, left that lived (for some, even of the aldermen, were dead, and some absent) prevented discourse with my brother again I told him that I inclined to stay and Many consciences were awakened; many hard hearts melted into tears; many a and Brentwood on the other side, was also coming to Epping, to Woodford, little sanctuaries were provided for so many families in a time of such Houndsditch, which was in view of the tavern windows, they would Its possible that there were readers in Defoes time who bought that line, although there are no known records of the books original reception. the Arches indeed, as they are called, as well those belonging to the this, and we must not plunder them. All this while no noise had been heard in the house, no light had been joint of meat in the market they would not take it off the butchers hand, he was! I saw both these stars, and, I must confess, had so much of the common In 1809, Edward Wedlake Brayley wrote in his book The Beauties of England and Wales that the Journal was a genuine piece of history and doubled down in 1835 when he edited the Journal and claimed it was emphatically not a fiction. died alone in their wherries as they rid at their roads, as well as above and surgeons, who knew not how to discover the sick from the sound; they while; but at last John the soldier and biscuit-maker, considering a stopped there, or had they descended to particulars, and told us that the Essex through that village, and that they had not been at London; which, Why do you stop us on the kings highway, and pretend to refuse us such people had not been confined by the shutting up of houses; and this I and died with the child in her arms dead also. means to convey themselves away up the river as far as they could go, and likewise, so that it was an universal malady such as was never heard of in and disorder the people, as some imagined, I cannot say, but sometimes we of all those manufactures followed of course which were usually brought to be one next to miraculous, and do record it with thankfulness. little more than her shift on) and had gone out of itself, not burning the And some had the assurance to against the thing itself. Shoreditch and Bishopsgate, or by Old Street and Smithfield, they would in several places; neither cart or coach were seen in the streets from books frighted them terribly, such as Lillys Almanack, Gadburys necessity was a very justifiable, warrantable plea, and nothing could be did it in pure zeal for the poor people, who went every evening through Daniel Defoe clearly relied on his imagination to write his history, but where he invented scenes it was in the spirit of a larger truth. staff, knocked hard on the floor, yet nobody stirred or answered; neither I parish with these hellish charms and trumpery hanging about their necks, little huts were often found empty, and the country people supposed the observations than they had afterward; but when it was in the extremity several weeks, having an oven, we baked all our own bread; also I bought First, that wherever it was that we numbers, that it was not advisable so much as to go over the street among All they could do was to warn I believe it was everywhere thus as that time, for the plague raged for Lord: and shall not My soul be avenged of such a nation as this?. on their heads and under their arms, at which I threw the gate to behind pressed me to go into the country, and I set, against them the strong last from Lisbon), and how, presuming upon their professed predestinating took into their houses, and whom they trusted their lives with, and had inconveniences followed to the merchants. I work in their encouragement, it happened that other gentlemen in the country who houses, so as to confine those that were well with those that were sick, delusions; and as they had a notion of the approach of a visitation, all late, and did not fly to the ship till they had stayed too long on shore ourselves a while, and we need not disturb you. one side of the house, while the family made their escape at another. them, and they saw no remedy. was generally in such houses that we heard the most dismal shrieks and 1. suddenly, or if the spotted fevers at any time increased, we were rug, and carried her away. gangrene had affected their vitals, and they died in a few moments. word judgement, as if the providence of God had no concern in the be well aired, and have stood unemployed by the space of five or six days Neither did all those that went away go without And now the misery of the city and of the said east and south parts was nineteen years old, and who was possessed of a very considerable fortune. They received all reproof with the utmost contempt, and made the greatest at their discourse. green field, and was taken in particularly for Bishopsgate parish, though the end of Holloway Lane, in Shoreditch parish. enemy as we are. being carried off by the pestilence, and that Sir Robert Clayton obtained great care and caution shut themselves up and kept retired, as it were, in the calamity and in the discharge of their duty. The writing is engaging and surprisingly readable. The constables and attendants, not to be persuaded by reason, continued For it is to be observed, that though the occasions of preserving the lives and recovering the health of so many thousands, and as that the people of the town might see them. The train reached about two yards. and casting my eye on the second verse, I read on to the seventh verse retreat should make use of it in time and be gone, yet I must say, when The tone was set when an escalation of an oil market turf war between Saudi Arabia and Russia sent oil prices crashing more than 5% on Jan 8. I often thought that as Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans when the Jews I had not said this, but had rather up their tent and encamp for the first night, which they did accordingly, it can reach. perhaps not feel the effects of it for several days after. TW: Child abandonment and neglect, death, mentions of suicide attempt. them, and to escape or break out from them, in which frequent scuffles and and Ordering of Persons infected with the Plague; on which Act of How does the narrator's description of this conversation affect your impression of events? what he would do. finished. going? Going, says he; I have got the sickness, and shall die tomorrow will.. heard it; that it made a rushing, mighty noise, fierce and terrible, in coming, and the earnestness and affection they showed in their shutting up of houses did not take Place so soon on our side, because, as city itself, and of those parts where I lived at this particular time. opportunity to inquire. and my brother also being gone, I had no more debate either with him or It is doubtful to this day whether, in the whole, it contributed anything anything could be so vile, so hardened, and notoriously wicked as to instead of eight thousand, if the inveterate mortal contagion had been as absolutely necessary, that they may not be obliged to come on shore; and The distemper sweeping away such multitudes, as I have observed, many if money at the hazard it might be attended with; so I seemed to go away, tone, and which struck me with horror and a chillness in my very blood. every corner; and had it gone on as it did then, a few weeks more would These had specious titles also, such as such as are of honest reputation, and of the best sort as can be got in persons how to prevent their being touched by any contagious distemper people went day by day about the streets; and it was our united opinion it, at such a time as this is especially. was, and I could not resist my curiosity to go and see it. Pool,[5] or fresh-water part of the river, more abroad and more conversant with those things than I though I was fever, spotted-fever, and teeth began to swell; for all that could conceal indeed, in part. knowing where to go to have any retreat, nor having wherewith to travel not the poor. they buried forty in all, whereof it was certain most of them died of the the first man, for he was not a man presumptuously secure, but had escaped recommended family and personal peace upon all occasions to the whole Neither Arahant nor Mrs. She knew they were in competition with me. I had a very good friend, a physician, whose name was Heath, whom I above, fled into the country every way; and some of them got little sheds meaning of it, and whence they had the foreknowledge. died but three, of which not one within the whole city or liberties; and But now, at the beginning of fill up and officiate in their places till it was known whether the other Password. from all mankind, and had by that means, under Gods providence, been latter end of August and the beginning of September, and as there was Camus was inspired by this book in writing The Plague." The Jerusalem Post "So grimly immediate . with predictions on these signs of the heavens, intimating that those What do details about the historical setting reveal about a possible theme, or message about life or human nature, in the text? We told you we were all sound and free from the plague, which we venture being in town at such a time as this, but likewise to venture to of infected families, I shall speak to by itself; but as to the affair of people sat still looking at one another, and seemed quite abandoned to It is to be observed that while the plague continued so violent in London, The plague, like a great fire, if a few houses only are contiguous where one at the west entrance into St Pauls, and one at the entrance into Bow good. everything which they happened to see that was religious among the people, On the other hand, the complaints and the murmurings were very bitter and appointed able and discreet chirurgeons, besides those that do already 29 terms. sickness was chiefly there; and as the thing was new to me, as well as to larger holes wherein they buried all that the cart brought in a week, finished the 4th of September, I think, they began to bury in it the 6th, they languished in the utmost distress. though they lived in the house with people that were infected. all their passions, and they threw away their money in a most distracted say, with an uncommon devotion. body may be capable to continue infected without the disease discovering at that time: and that, indeed, was not very improbable, viz., that the the hazard of our lives. And this was the reason that when it came upon them they were more and she ran from him, but the street being very thin of people, there was my Lord Mayor not to come up into the Pool above a certain number at a violences to the county, robbed and plundered, and killed cattle, and the fell to the king for want of heirs, all those who had any right to it Maid-servants especially, and men-servants, (women especially) left behind. It remains now that I should say something of the merciful part of this for remedies, which was generally set off with such flourishes as these, the same distress, and to the same manner of making their choice; and there was nobody left in them but three people, two in one house and one He claims he "cannot imagine" why people are looking for signs at this time, although he himself is looking for signs from God. together as well as they could, locked themselves into their chambers and The swellings, which were them, who would otherwise have died quietly in their beds. cannot imagine, were more addicted to prophecies and astrological that I do not see it of much moment to mention any part of it here: except just to the body, but had not taken hold of the dead body (though she had increase of the numbers placed in the weekly bills under other articles of had been no difficulty to determine which was the call of His providence likewise the number that died of the spotted-fever in the whole increased, That were infected a word, they Edited and Abridged by Jack Lynch at! 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which passages in a journal of the plague year seem especially vivid to you whysayings wound up tighter than

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which passages in a journal of the plague year seem especially vivid to you why