A Journal of the Plague Year

by Daniel Defoe

  (1.) The Price of Bread in particular was not much raised;* for in the beginning of the Year (viz.) In the first Week in March, the Penny Wheaten Loaf was ten Ounces and a half; and in the height of the Contagion, it was to be had at nine Ounces and an half, and never dearer, no not all that Season: And about the beginning of November it was sold ten Ounces and a half again; the like of which, I believe, was never heard of in any City, under so dreadful a Visitation before.

  (2.) Neither was there (which I wondred much at) any want of Bakers or Ovens kept open to supply the People with Bread; but this was indeed alledg’d by some Families, viz. That their Maid-Servants going to the Bake-houses with their Dough to be baked, which was then the Custom, sometimes came Home with the Sickness, that is to say, the Plague upon them.

  In all this dreadful Visitation, there were, as I have said before, but two Pest-houses* made use of, viz. One in the Fields beyond Old-Street, and one in Westminster; neither was there any Compulsion us’d in carrying People thither: Indeed there was no need of Compulsion in the Case, for there were Thousands of poor distressed People, who having no Help, or Conveniences, or Supplies but of Charity, would have been very glad to have been carryed thither, and been taken Care of, which indeed was the only thing that, I think, was wanting in the whole publick Management of the City; seeing no Body was here allow’d to be brought to the Pest-house, but where Money was given, or Security for Money, either at their introducing, or upon their being cur’d and sent out; for very many were sent out again whole, and very good Physicians were appointed to those Places, so that many People did very well there, of which I shall make Mention again. The principal Sort of People sent thither were, as I have said, Servants, who got the Distemper by going of Errands to fetch Necessaries to the Families where they liv’d; and who in that Case, if they came Home sick, were remov’d to preserve the rest of the House; and they were so well look’d after there in all the time of the Visitation, that there was but 156 buried in all at the London Pest-house, and 159 at that of Westminster.

  By having more Pest-houses, I am far from meaning a forcing all People into such Places. Had the shutting up of Houses been omitted, and the Sick hurried out of their Dwellings to Pest-houses, as some proposed it seems, at that time as well as since, it would certainly have been much worse than it was; the very removing the Sick would have been a spreading of the Infection, and the rather because that removing could not effectually clear the House, where the sick Person was, of the Distemper, and the rest of the Family being then left at Liberty would certainly spread it among others.

  The Methods also in private Families, which would have been universally used to have concealed the Distemper, and to have conceal’d the Persons being sick, would have been such that the Distemper would sometimes have seiz’d a whole Family before any Visitors or Examiners could have known of it: On the other hand, the prodigious Numbers which would have been sick at a time, would have exceeded all the Capacity of publick Pest-houses to receive them, or of publick Officers to discover and remove them.

  This was well considered in those Days, and I have heard them talk of it often: The Magistrates had enough to do to bring People to submit to having their Houses shut up, and many Ways they deceived the Watchmen, and got out, as I have observed: But that Difficulty made it apparent, that they would have found it impracticable to have gone the other way to Work; for they could never have forced the sick People out of their Beds and out of their Dwellings; it must not have been my Lord Mayor’s Officers, but an Army of Officers that must have attempted it; and the People, on the other hand, would have been enrag’d and desperate, and would have kill’d those that should have offered to have meddled with them or with their Children and Relations, whatever had befallen them for it; so that they would have made the People, who, as it was, were in the most terrible Distraction imaginable; I say, they would have made them stark mad; whereas the Magistrates found it proper on several Accounts to treat them with Lenity and Compassion, and not with Violence and Terror, such as dragging the Sick out of their Houses, or obliging them to remove themselves would have been.

  This leads me again to mention the Time, when the Plague first began, that is to say, when it became certain that it would spread over the whole Town, when, as I have said, the better sort of People first took the Alarm, and began to hurry themselves out of Town: It was true, as I observ’d in its Place, that the Throng was so great, and the Coaches, Horses, Waggons and Carts were so many, driving and dragging the People away, that it look’d as if all the City was running away; and had any Regulations been publish’d that had been terrifying at that time, especially such as would pretend to dispose of the People, otherwise than they would dispose of themselves, it would have put both the City and Suburbs into the utmost Confusion.

  But the Magistrates wisely caus’d the People to be encourag’d, made very good By-Laws for the regulating the Citizens, keeping good Order in the Streets, and making every thing as eligible as possible to all Sorts of People.

  In the first Place, the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, the Court of Aldermen, and a certain Number of the Common Council-Men, or their Deputies came to a Resolution and published it, viz. ‘That they would not quit the City themselves, but that they would be always at hand for the preserving good Order in every Place, and for the doing Justice on all Occasions; as also for the distributing the publick Charity to the Poor; and in a Word, for the doing the Duty, and discharging the Trust repos’d in them by the Citizens to the utmost of their Power.’

  In Pursuance of these Orders, the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, &c. held Councils every Day more or less, for making such Dispositions as they found needful for preserving the Civil Peace; and tho’ they used the People with all possible Gentleness and Clemency, yet all manner of presumptuous Rogues, such as Thieves, House-breakers, Plunderers of the Dead, or of the Sick, were duly punish’d, and several Declarations were continually publish’d by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen against such.

  Also all Constables and Church-wardens were enjoin’d to stay in the City upon severe Penalties, or to depute such able and sufficient House-keepers, as the Deputy Aldermen, or Common Council-men of the Precinct should approve, and for whom they should give Security; and also Security in case of Mortality, that they would forthwith constitute other Constables in their stead.

  These things re-establish’d the Minds of the People very much, especially in the first of their Fright, when they talk’d of making so universal a Flight, that the City would have been in Danger of being entirely deserted of its Inhabitants, except the Poor; and the Country of being plunder’d and laid waste by the Multitude. Nor were the Magistrates deficient in performing their Part as boldly as they promised it; for my Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs were continually in the Streets, and at places of the greatest Danger; and tho’ they did not care for having too great a Resort of People crouding about them, yet, in emergent Cases, they never denyed the People Access to them, and heard with Patience all their Grievances and Complaints; my Lord Mayor had a low Gallery built on purpose in his Hall, where he stood a little remov’d from the Croud when any Complaint came to be heard, that he might appear with as much Safety as possible.

  Likewise the proper Officers, call’d my Lord Mayor’s Officers, constantly attended in their Turns, as they were in waiting; and if any of them were sick or infected, as some of them were, others were instantly employed to fill up and officiate in their Places, till it was known whether the other should live or die.

  In like manner the Sheriffs and Aldermen did in their several Stations and Wards, where they were placed by Office; and the Sheriff’s Officers or Sergeants were appointed to receive Orders from the respective Aldermen in their Turn; so that Justice was executed in all Cases without Interruption. In the next Place, it was one of their particular Cares, to see the Orders for the Freedom of the Markets observ’d; and in this part either the Lord Mayor, or one or both of the Sheriffs, were every Market-day on Horseback to see their Or
ders executed, and to see that the Country People had all possible Encouragement and Freedom in their coming to the Markets, and going back again; and that no Nusances or frightful Objects should be seen in the Streets to terrify them, or make them unwilling to come. Also the Bakers were taken under particular Order, and the Master of the Bakers Company* was, with his Court of Assistance, directed to see the Order of my Lord Mayor for their Regulation put in Execution, and the due Assize of Bread, which was weekly appointed by my Lord Mayor, observ’d, and all the Bakers were oblig’d to keep their Ovens going constantly, on pain of losing the Privileges of a Freeman of the City of London.

  By this means, Bread was always to be had in Plenty, and as cheap as usual, as I said above; and Provisions were never wanting in the Markets, even to such a Degree, that I often wonder’d at it, and reproach’d my self with being so timorous and cautious in stirring abroad, when the Country People came freely and boldly to Market, as if there had been no manner of Infection in the City, or Danger of catching it.

  It was indeed one admirable piece of Conduct in the said Magistrates, that the Streets were kept constantly clear, and free from all manner of frightful Objects, dead Bodies, or any such things as were indecent or unpleasant, unless where any Body fell down suddenly or died in the Streets, as I have said above, and these were generally covered with some Cloth or Blanket, or remov’d into the next Church-yard, till Night: All the needful Works, that carried Terror with them, that were both dismal and dangerous, were done in the Night; if any diseas’d Bodies were remov’d, or dead Bodies buried, or infected Cloths burnt, it was done in the Night; and all the Bodies, which were thrown into the great Pits in the several Church-yards, or burying Grounds, as has been observ’d, were so remov’d in the Night; and every thing was covered and closed before Day: So that in the Day-time there was not the least Signal of the Calamity to be seen or heard of, except what was to be observ’d from the Emptiness of the Streets, and sometimes from the passionate Outcries and Lamentations of the People, out at their Windows, and from the Numbers of Houses and Shops shut up.

  Nor was the Silence and Emptiness of the Streets so much in the City as in the Out-parts, except just at one particular time, when, as I have mention’d, the Plague came East, and spread over all the City: It was indeed a merciful Disposition of God, that as the Plague began at one End of the Town first, as has been observ’d at large, so it proceeded progressively to other Parts, and did not come on this way or Eastward, till it had spent its Fury in the West part of the Town; and so as it came on one way, it abated another. For Example.

  It began at St. Giles’s and the Westminster End of the Town, and it was in its Height in all that part by about the Middle of July, viz. in St. Giles in the Fields, St. Andrew’s Holborn, St. Clement-Danes, St. Martins in the Fields, and in Westminster: The latter End of July it decreased in those Parishes, and coming East, it encreased prodigiously in Cripplegate, St. Sepulchers, St. Ja. Clarkenwell, and St. Brides, and Aldersgate; while it was in all these Parishes, the City and all the Parishes of the Southwark Side of the Water, and all Stepney, White-Chapel, Aldgate, Wapping, and Ratcliff were very little touch’d; so that People went about their Business unconcern’d, carryed on their Trades, kept open their Shops, and conversed freely with one another in all the City, the East and North-East Suburbs, and in Southwark, almost as if the Plague had not been among us.

  Even when the North and North-west Suburbs were fully infected, viz. Cripplegate, Clarkenwell, Bishopsgate, and Shoreditch, yet still all the rest were tolerably well. For Example,

  So that in short there died more that Week in the two Parishes of Cripplegate and St. Sepulchers by 48 than in all the City, and all the East Suburbs, and all the Southwark Parishes put together: This caused the Reputation of the City’s Health to continue all over England, and especially in the Counties and Markets adjacent, from whence our Supply of Provisions chiefly came, even much longer than that Health it self continued; for when the People came into the Streets from the Country, by Shoreditch and Bishopsgate, or by Old-street and Smithfield, they would see the out Streets empty, and the Houses and Shops shut, and the few People that were stirring there walk in the Middle of the Streets; but when they came within the City, there things look’d better, and the Markets and Shops were open, and the People walking about the Streets as usual, tho’ not quite so many; and this continued till the latter End of August, and the Beginning of September.

  But then the Case alter’d quite, the Distemper abated in the West and North-West Parishes, and the Weight of the Infection lay on the City and the Eastern Suburbs and the Southwark Side, and this in a frightful manner.

  Then indeed the City began to look dismal, Shops to be shut, and the Streets desolate; in the High-Street indeed Necessity made People stir abroad on many Occasions; and there would be in the middle of the Day a pretty many People, but in the Mornings and Evenings scarce any to be seen, even there, no not in Cornhill and Cheapside.

  These Observations of mine were abundantly confirm’d by the Weekly Bills of Mortality for those Weeks, an Abstract of which, as they respect the Parishes which I have mention’d, and as they make the Calculations I speak of very evident, take as follows.

  The Weekly Bill, which makes out this Decrease of the Burials in the West and North side of the City, stand thus.

  Here is a strange change of Things indeed, and a sad Change it was, and had it held for two Months more than it did, very few People would have been left alive: But then such, I say, was the merciful Disposition of God, that when it was thus the West and North part which had been so dreadfully visited at first, grew as you see, much better; and as the People disappear’d here, they began to look abroad again there; and the next Week or two altered it still more, that is, more to the Encouragement of the other Part of the Town. For Example:

  And now the Misery of the City, and of the said East and South Parts was complete indeed; for as you see the Weight of the Distemper lay upon those Parts, that is to say, the City, the eight Parishes over the River, with the Parishes of Aldgate, White Chapel, and Stepney, and this was the Time that the Bills came up to such a monstrous Height, as that I mention’d before; and that Eight or Nine, and, as I believe, Ten or Twelve Thousand a Week died; for ’tis my settled Opinion, that they never could come at any just Account of the Numbers, for the Reasons which I have given already.

  Nay one of the most eminent Physicians, who has since publish’d in Latin* an Account of those Times, and of his Observations, says, that in one Week there died twelve Thousand People, and that particularly there died four Thousand in one Night;* tho’ I do not remember that there ever was any such particular Night, so remarkably fatal, as that such a Number died in it: However all this confirms what I have said above of the Uncertainty of the Bills of Mortality, &c., of which I shall say more hereafter.

  And here let me take leave to enter again, tho’ it may seem a Repetition of Circumstances, into a Description of the miserable Condition of the City it self, and of those Parts where I liv’d at this particular Time: The City, and those other Parts, not withstanding the great Numbers of People that were gone into the Country, was vastly full of People, and perhaps the fuller, because People had for a long time a strong Belief, that the Plague would not come into the City, nor into Southwark, no nor into Wapping, or Ratcliff at all; nay such was the Assurance of the People on that Head, that many remov’d from the Suburbs on the West and North Sides, into those Eastern and South Sides as for Safety, and as I verily believe, carry’d, the Plague amongst them there, perhaps sooner than they would otherwise have had it.

  Here also I ought to leave a farther Remark for the use of Posterity, concerning the Manner of Peoples infecting one another; namely, that it was not the sick People only, from whom the Plague was immediately receiv’d by others that were sound, but THE WELL. To explain my self; by the sick People I mean those who were known to be sick, had taken their Beds, had been under Cure, or had Swellings and Tumours upon t
hem, and the like; these every Body could beware of, they were either in their Beds, or in such Condition as cou’d not be conceal’d.

  By the Well, I mean such as had received the Contagion, and had it really upon them, and in their Blood, yet did not shew the Consequences of it in their Countenances, nay even were not sensible of it themselves, as many were not for several Days: These breathed Death in every Place, and upon every Body who came near them; nay their very Cloaths retained the Infection, their Hands would infect the Things they touch’d, especially if they were warm and sweaty, and they were generally apt to sweat too.

  Now it was impossible to know these People, nor did they sometimes, as I have said, know themselves to be infected: These were the People that so often dropt down and fainted in the Streets; for oftentimes they would go about the Streets to the last, till on a sudden they would sweat, grow faint, sit down at a Door and die: It is true, finding themselves thus, they would struggle hard to get Home to their own Doors, or at other Times would be just able to go in to their Houses and die instantly; other Times they would go about till they had the very Tokens come out upon them, and yet not know it, and would die in an Hour or two after they came Home, but be well as long as they were Abroad: These were the dangerous People, these were the People of whom the well People ought to have been afraid; but then on the other side it was impossible to know them.