Butte record., 1854-06-17
The Great PIzruo

land, volume two, we find the following
respecting the Great Plague that pre-
vailed in the 18th century in the city Of
London
For thls was the year and the time Of
the Great Plague in London. During
the winter Of 1864, It hal been Whisper
Cd about that some few people had d,ed
here ard there Of the disease called The
plague, in some Of the unknown suburbs
around London News was not pub
lisAed al that time as it Is now. and
some people believed til So rumo-g. and
some people disbelieyed them, ana thcv
we're soon forgotten. But in the month
OF May, 1888, It began to be said aI
over the town, that the disease had
borsted cnt with great violence in s.
Giles and thai The people we're diving
II great numbers Ihis soon turned olt
TO be awfgliy true The roads ont az
London were caoked pp t7 people en-
deavoring % escape from tile infected
city, and large sums We're paid ior anv
kind OF conveyance. The disease sarzad
50 fast that At was necessary to shut up
the houses IL which sick people we're.
and to cut them of from communication
With the living Every one OF these
houses vas marked On the outside OF the
door with a Fcd cross, and he words.
Lord have mercy upon usr' The
streets We're all deserted, grass grew IN
public ways, and there VS. a dreadf.l
silence in The air. When night cams on:
dismal iumb.ings used 70 be- heard. and
these were the wheels Of the deata-carts.
ATTENDED b. men wi.h veiied f4cas and
holding CLOTHS 10 their mouths. uho rang
doleiul bells. and cied in loud and /
emn voice, bring oat your dead -
The corp>es put into these carts were
buried by torchliant in great pits, no
service being performed over tAam-an
men being afraid to stay fer a moment
On the brink Of the ghastiy graves. In
general fear, children raa awa7 from
their parents, and parents from their
children. SoIae Who We're taken III died
alone aud without help Some were
stabbed or strangled by hired nurses,
who robbed them OF al their money. and
stole the very beds on which they lav.
Some went mad, dropped from the win
dows, Tau through the streets. aaa +.
their pain and frenzy f1nc themselves
INTO the river These were not al ibe
horrors Of the tine. The wicked and
dissolute, IN wild desperation. sat in the
taverns singing roaring songs, and were
stricken as they drans, ana went out and
died The fsartul and snpetsticl Gus per-
saaded themselve- that they saw super
uatural sights--burning swords in the
sky, gigantic arms and darts Others
pretended THAI at night vast crowds of
ghosts walked round and round iLe dis
nal pits. One nadmau, naked, ana
carrying brazier fuil 81 burning Goals
upon hls head, stalked through the
streets crying out that he was a prophet.
commissioned to deuounce the venr .auce
Ct the Lord on wicked London An0th-
er always went 10 and ffo, cxclai1li1-,
Yet forty days. and London snail be
destroyed" 4 third awoke tha echoes
il the dismal streets, by night aud D,
day, and made the blood Of the sick run
coid, by calling out necessarily. ia a deep.
hoarse voice, 20, the great and dread
tul God y
Through the months Of July, and Au-
gust, and September, the Great Plague
ragged mere and more Great fires we're
lighted il the streets, in the hopes Of
stopping the infection but there was a
plague Of rain too, and it beat the fires
cut. At last, the winds, which usually
arise at the time Of the year which i
called the equinox, when day anl night
are Of equal length all over the world,
began to blow ana purify the wretched
town The deaths beg-n to decrease,
the red crosses slowly to disapp ar, the
fugitiyes 80 return, the shops to open
again, pale, frightened faces to be seen
IL the streets The plague had been in
every part of England, but in close and
unwboleSome London it had killed one
hundred thousand people
0ov'r $50 II Too SrRoN- -.-'-The