Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-06-26
,r,od to have died in the space of four

| cccdcd TO Bristol. The people Of Glouccs'ersh,rc
| immediately intcrdictcd all intercourse WIN
| Bristol, but in vain The disease ran, or rather
| flew, over Worcestershire. Thence IT spread TO
| Oxford; and about the LIST of November reached
London Finally, il spread l;scltal over England,
| scattering every where such dcstr"cton' that out
of tho whole population, hardly one person in ten
was left alive
Incredible as this statement may appear 1t seems
borne out by the details OF contemporary mhaiists.
In the churchyard of Yarmouth IOo2 persons,
who died of the plague, were buried III one year
Ia the city of Norwich 1871 persons died I'm SIX
mouths between the LIST OF January and the list of
July I'm the city of York the mortality was
equal. We find no general statement OF the total
amount OF the mortality in London; but there are
details sufficient TO shew that it must have been
horrible beyond Imagination. Tho dead were
thrown into pits, forty, fifty, sixty, into one,
and larre fields were employed burial places;
the churchyards being insufficient for the purpose.
/ No attempt was made to perform this last office
with tho usual care and dccency. Deep and broad
bitches were made, in which the dead bodies were
laid in rows and covered with earth, and surmount
cd with another layer of bodies, which also was
covered. Sir Walter Nanny (whose name is so
well known from his connection with the affecting
incident of the surrender of Calais to Edwa
! liz bcnevolcnty purchased and appropriated
burial ground. Smithfeld, in which single
place more than tfty-thousand people were buried.
Stow SAYS that he had seen, on Il stone cross i'm
| that burial ground, the following quaint inscrip
ton: "Anno Domini MCCCXLIX rcgnan,c ma q
ma pcstilentia consecratum fut hoe cGiniterium;
i'll quo, ct mira septa presents monastcrii: scpulta
| tuerunt mortuorum corpora plusquam In. prptcr
ALA malta abhinc usque ad presens. Quorum
aninabus propitietur Deus. Amen"
This pestliencc gave occasion to some diploma
tic intercourse between England and France,
winch is striklngly characteristic of the manners
of the age. While the mortality was raging in
those countries, Pope Clement vi. never ceased
importuning the monarchs of both to put an end
to their mutual hostility, and, by doing to avoid
the continuance of a calamity sent by Heaven to
punish the sins of mankind Edward and Philip
were induced by these pious eXhortations appoint
commissioners VINO met between Calais and st.
omers to negotiate treaty. The French insisted
on the restoration of Calais, the raising of it's
tortihcatons; n proposition which the English
would not listen to. At last, however Il truce was
agreed upon for six moths till September follow
ing i'll order to allow time to negotiate for a peace:
and 1t was further agreed that if, at the end of
the truce, Il final treaty not concluded the
crown OF France was to be brought to n convent
cnt place within that realm, and the right to it de-
cded by pitched battle without further appeal
The death of the French king, however, which
happened i'll August 1850, before the expiration of
the truce, put an end to this smooth and anicabe
plan of accommodation.
The mortality fell chiefly upon the lower class
cs OF society, and among than, principally on old
men, women, and children. 1t was remarked,
that not one king prince of any nation died of
the plague; and of the English nobility and people
! of distinction, very few were cut off by it Among
the higher orders of the church the deaths were
! rare; but suoh havoc made among the inferior
clergy, that numbers cf churches were left wholly
void, and without any one to perform Divine ser
vice. or any Offices of religion. At the same time
all suits and proceedings in the courts of Justice
ceased; and the sitting of parliament was intcrmit
/ ted for more than two years.
rms terrible visitation was every where attend
! ed by total dissolution of the bonds of society
An excellent old writer gives the following clo
! qucnt description of the state of England:-'We
are told tho influence of this disease was so conta
g'ous, that it not only infected by touch or
l.Nt 49,
very beams of light, and dartcd death from the
| eyes; and the very seats and garments of such
proved fatal Wherefore parents forsook their
children, and wives their husbands; would ply
sIcians here make their visits, for neither wore they
aoie to DO good to others. and they almost
! certain thereby to destroy themselves. Even the
priests also for the same horrid consideration fore
| bore either to administer the sacramcnts or
! absolvo the dying pcDltent. But vet neither
priests nor physicians, any other who sought
thus to escape, did find their caution of any adyan
tagc: Tor death not only ragged without doors az
well as IN chambers, but if it took Indignation
that any mortal should think TO fly from IT, these
KIND OF people died both more speedily and pro
Pofuonably IN greater numbers Then was their
death without sorrow, affinity without friendship
wiltul penanco and dearth without scarcity fiying
without refuge or succOr. For MANY fled from
place to place because of the pestilence: some int
deserts and places not inhabited, either in hope or
despair But quick sighted destruction found
them out, and nimbe- footed misery was ever ready
to attend them. Others, having hired boats or
other vessels, into which they laid no provision
Thought, or at least hoped, to clude the power
o. iilcction' but the destroying angel, like that
I IN the revelation, had one foot upon The wofers 40
well as on the land, for, alas. the very air they
breathed being tainted, they drew i'm death tore
thcr with life itself The horror of these thinos
made others to lock themselves in their houses
gardens, and sweet retired places; but the evil thew
intended to exclude pursued them through all their
dciences, and they had this only difference to die
without the company of any that might serve or
pity them. No physician could tell the cause mr.
prescribe cure; and even what was SAVING Ia ono
was no less then fatal to another. No astrolaocr
could divine how when it would cease. tho onI,
way lett was to be prepared TO receive it, and the
most comfortable resolution to expect it without
fear"
The pestilcnco extended into Wales, where it
ragged violently; and afterwards, passinp into
ireland, 1T made great havoc among the English
settled IN that island. But 1T was remarked that
the native Irish little affected particularly
those that dwclt in billy districts
AS to the Scots, they said to have BROUGHT
the maiady upon themselves. Taking advantage
OF the defcncelcss state of England they made
hoS'ue lrruptlon with large force, into the
try. But they had not proceeded far, when the
calamity which they courtcd, and so well deserved
from their ungenorous conduct, overlook them
They persisted in thousands; and in atfemntino IN
return homo, they were ovcraken, before they
could reach the border, by strong body Of En-.
lsh who routed them with great slaughter. The
remnant carried the disease into Scotland. whore
ITS ravages were sooR destructive i'm the south
crn parts of the island. "Scotland." saws tbe v,r;
ter whom we have already quoted ''partook of the
universal contagion in high degree and in tbc
same manner as other countries had done before.
only in this there difference that whereas
other nations sat still and waited for IT, tho Scnt
did seem ambitious to fetch it in a1onr Themselves,
However much Scotland may have had 10 com |
PLAIN OF the oppression and tyranny Of England