ation sat singly and apart. The Courts of
Justice were empty: there were no crimes to try: in the streets the
passengers avoided each other. In the markets which had to be kept open,
the buyer lifted down his purchase with a hook and dropped the money
into a bowl of vinegar. Many families voluntarily shut their houses and
would neither go in or out. Some of these escaped the infection; the
history of one such family during their six months' imprisonment has
been preserved. They thanked God solemnly every morning for continued
health: they prayed three times a day for safety. Some went on board
ship and, as the Plague increased, dropped down the river.

[Illustration: A COUNTRYMAN. A COUNTRYWOMAN.

ORDINARY CIVIL COSTUME; _temp._ CHARLES I.

(_From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646._)]

The deaths, which in the four weeks of July numbered 725, 1,089, 1,843,
and 2,010, respectively, rose in August and September to three, four,
five, and even eight thousand a week: but it was believed that the
registers were badly kept and that the numbers were greater than
appeared. Every evening carts were sent round, the drivers who smoked
tobacco as a disinfectant, crying out, 'Bring out your Dead. Bring out
your Dead,' and ringing a bell. The churchyards were filled and pits
were dug outside the City into which the bodies were thrown without
coffins. When the pestilence ceased the churchyards were covered with a
thick deposit of fresh mould to prevent ill consequences. It was
observed that during the prevalence of the disease there was an
extraordinary continuance of calm and serene sunshine. For many weeks
together not the least breath of wind could be perceived.

When the summer was over and the autumn came on, the disease became
milder in its form: it lasted longer: and whereas, at the first, not one
in five recovered, now not two in five died. Presently the cold weather
returned and the Plague was stayed. They burned or washed all the linen,
flannel, clothes, bedding, tapestry and curtains belonging to the
infected houses: and they whitewashed the rooms in which the disease had
appeared. But they did not take steps for the cleansing of the City. The
voice had spoken in vain. The number of deaths during the year was
registered as 97,306 of which 68,596 were attributed to the Plague. But
there seems little doubt that the registers were inefficiently kept. It
was believed that the number who perished by Plague alone w