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A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR

By Daniel Defoe



being observations or memorials of the most remarkable occurrences, as
well public as private, which happened in London during the last great
visitation in 1665. Written by a Citizen who continued all the while in
London. Never made public before


It was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the rest of
my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague was returned
again in Holland; for it had been very violent there, and particularly
at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in the year 1663, whither, they say, it was
brought, some said from Italy, others from the Levant, among some goods
which were brought home by their Turkey fleet; others said it was
brought from Candia; others from Cyprus. It mattered not from whence it
came; but all agreed it was come into Holland again.

We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread
rumours and reports of things, and to improve them by the invention of
men, as I have lived to see practised since. But such things as these
were gathered from the letters of merchants and others who corresponded
abroad, and from them was handed about by word of mouth only; so that
things did not spread instantly over the whole nation, as they do now.
But it seems that the Government had a true account of it, and several
councils were held about ways to prevent its coming over; but all was
kept very private. Hence it was that this rumour died off again, and
people began to forget it as a thing we were very little concerned in,
and that we hoped was not true; till the latter end of November or the
beginning of December 1664 when two men, said to be Frenchmen, died of
the plague in Long Acre, or rather at the upper end of Drury Lane. The
family they were in endeavoured to conceal it as much as possible, but
as it had gotten some vent in the discourse of the neighbourhood, the
Secretaries of State got knowledge of it; and concerning themselves to
inquire about it, in order to be certain of the truth, two physicians
and a surgeon were ordered to go to the house and make inspection. This
they did; and finding evident tokens of the sickness upon both the
bodies that were dead, they gave their opinions publicly that they died
of the plague. Whereupon it was given in to the parish clerk, and he
also returned them to the Hall; and it was printed in the weekly bill of
mortality in the usual manner, thus--


Plague, 2. Parishes infected, 1.

The people showed a great concern at this, and began to be alarmed all
over the town, and the more, because in the last week in December 1664
another man died in the same house, and of the same distemper. And then
we were easy again for about six weeks, when none having died with any
marks of infection, it was said the distemper was gone; but after that,
I think it was about the 12th of February, another died in another
house, but in the same parish and in the same manner.

This turned the people's eyes pretty much towards that end of the town,
and the weekly bills showing an increase of burials in St Giles's parish
more than usual, it began to be suspected that the plague was among the
people at that end of the town, and that many had died of it, though
they had taken care to keep it as much from the knowledge of the public
as possible. This possessed the heads of the people very much, and few
cared to go through Drury Lane, or the other streets suspected, unless
they had extraordinary business that obliged them to it

This increase of the bills stood thus: the usual number of burials in a
week, in the parishes of St Giles-in-the-Fields and St Andrew's,
Holborn, were from twelve to seventeen or nineteen each, few more or
less; but from the time that the plague first began in St Giles's
parish, it was observed that the ordinary burials increased in number
considerably. For example:--


     From December 27 to January 3  { St Giles's      16
     "                              { St Andrew's     17

     "     January 3  "    "    10  { St Giles's      12
     "                              { St Andrew's     25

     "     January 10 "    "    17  { St Giles's      18
     "                              { St Andrew's     28

     "     January 17 "    "    24  { St Giles's      23
     "                              { St Andrew's     16

     "     January 24 "    "    31  { St Giles's      24
     "                              { St Andrew's     15

     "     January 30 " February 7  { St Giles's      21
     "                              { St Andrew's     23

     "     February 7 "     "   14  { St Giles's      24

The like increase of the bills was observed in the parishes of St
Bride's, adjoining on one side of Holborn parish, and in the parish of
St James, Clerkenwell, adjoining on the other side of Holborn; in both
which parishes the usual numbers that died weekly were from four to six
or eight, whereas at that time they were increased as follows:--


     From December 20 to December 27  { St Bride's     0
     "                                { St James's     8

     "    December 27 to January   3  { St Bride's     6
     "                                { St James's     9

     "    January  3  "    "      10  { St Bride's    11
     "                                { St James's     7

     "    January 10  "    "      17  { St Bride's    12
     "                                { St James's     9

     "    January 17  "    "      24  { St Bride's     9
     "                                { St James's    15

     "    January 24  "    "      31  { St Bride's     8
     "                                { St James's    12

     "    January 31  " February   7  { St Bride's    13
     "                                { St James's     5

     "    February 7  "    "      14  { St Bride's     12
     "                                { St James's     6

Besides this, it was observed with great uneasiness by the people that
the weekly bills in general increased very much during these weeks,
although it was at a time of the year when usually the bills are very
moderate.

The usual number of burials within the bills of mortality for a week was
from about 240 or thereabouts to 300. The last was esteemed a pretty
high bill; but after this we found the bills successively increasing as
follows:--


     Buried.  Increased.
     December the 20th to the 27th               291      ...
     "     "      27th  "     3rd January        349        58
     January  the  3rd  "    10th   "            394        45
     "     "      10th  "    17th   "            415        21
     "     "      17th  "    24th   "            474        59

This last bill was really frightful, being a higher number than had been
known to have been buried in one week since the preceding visitation of
1656.

However, all this went off again, and the weather proving cold, and the
frost, which began in December, still continuing very severe even till
near the end of February, attended with sharp though moderate winds, the
bills decreased again, and the city grew healthy, and everybody began to
look upon the danger as good as over; only that still the burials in St
Giles's continued high. From the beginning of April especially they
stood at twenty-five each week, till the week from the 18th to the 25th,
when there was buried in St Giles's parish thirty, whereof two of the
plague and eight of the spotted-fever, which was looked upon as the same
thing; likewise the number that died of the spotted-fever in the whole
increased, being eight the week before, and twelve the week above-named.

This alarmed us all again, and terrible apprehensions were among the
people, especially the weather being now changed and growing warm, and
the summer being at hand. However, the next week there seemed to be some
hopes again; the bills were low, the number of the dead in all was but
388, there was none of the plague, and but four of the spotted-fever.

But the following week it returned again, and the distemper was spread
into two or three other parishes, viz., St Andrew's, Holborn; St Clement
Danes; and, to the great affliction of the city, one died within the
walls, in the parish of St Mary Woolchurch, that is to say, in
Bearbinder Lane, near Stocks Market; in all there were nine of the
plague and six of the spotted-fever. It was, however, upon inquiry found
that this Frenchman who died in Bearbinder Lane was one who, having
lived in Long Acre, near the infected houses, had removed for fear of
the distemper, not knowing that he was already infected.

This was the beginning of May, yet the weather was temperate, variable,
and cool enough, and people had still some hopes. That which encouraged
them was that the city was healthy: the whole ninety-seven parishes
buried but fifty-four, and we began to hope that, as it was chiefly
among the people at that end of the town, it might go no farther; and
the rather, because the next week, which was from the 9th of May to the
16th, there died but three, of which not one within the whole city or
liberties; and St Andrew's buried but fifteen, which was very low. 'Tis
true St Giles's buried two-and-thirty, but still, as there was but one
of the plague, people began to be easy. The whole bill also was very
low, for the week before the bill was but 347, and the week above
mentioned but 343. We continued in these hopes for a few days, but it
was but for a few, for the people were no more to be deceived thus; they
searched the houses and found that the plague was really spread every
way, and that many died of it every day. So that now all our
extenuations abated, and it was no more to be concealed; nay, it quickly
appeared that the infection had spread itself beyond all hopes of
abatement. That in the parish of St Giles it was gotten into several
streets, and several families lay all sick together; and, accordingly,
in the weekly bill for the next week the thing began to show itself.
There was indeed but fourteen set down of the plague, but this was all
knavery and collusion, for in St Giles's parish they buried forty in
all, whereof it was certain most of them died of the plague, though they
were set down of other distempers; and though the number of all the
burials were not increased above thirty-two, and the whole bill being
but 385, yet there was fourteen of the spotted-fever, as well as
fourteen of the plague; and we took it for granted upon the whole that
there were fifty died that week of the plague.

The next bill was from the 23rd of May to the 30th, when the number of
the plague was seventeen. But the burials in St Giles's were fifty-
three--a frightful number!--of whom they set down but nine of the
plague; but on an examination more strictly by the justices of peace,
and at the Lord Mayor's request, it was found there were twenty more who
were really dead of the plague in that parish, but had been set down of
the spotted-fever or other distempers, besides others concealed.

But those were trifling things to what followed immediately after; for
now the weather set