The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-29

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poisoned tho air with 4 pestiferous stencil. and
made II certain destruction to breathe the
atmosphere or even touch anv article impreg-
mated by the foul miasma. Few OF those at-
tackled withstood more than a day or two the
torments Of fever and putrefaction that made
death a happy relief and Grove many 10 hasten
IT, advent bv their own hand. The medical
knowledge Of the age was impotent TO cure
or allav the suTerings of the victims. Few
physicians hal the courage to atteni those
seized with the terrible malady. and even tho
priests shunne1 the beds OF the dying. Parents
forsook their children and children their par-
entS in the wild panic which the outbreak OF
the plague bore from place 10 place. Yet even
the fugitives were not safe, for 10 have once
brcathei the pestilential atmosphere in the
overcrowdoi flthy cities. or even TO have
looked into the eve Of the sick, was TO be un-
done. In gar lens. WOODS, fields. desert places,
the plague tracked the 'fugitives and struck
down Its victims with rcmOrseless certainty.
Even on the sea there was no escape II one
had breathed but for a moment in the injected
zone, and ships were discovered drifting in
the Mediterranean and tho North Sea or oriv-
NC ashore with not a living being on board.
In England the dreadful scouree made
It's appearance In August, i3,s. AT Dorchester,
southampton ana DTlNlbi, Nith'F ~ rpi''u
with fell rapidly all over the southern coun-
ties, raging with especial v~irulence at Nor
wich. Yarmouth. Leicester and York. In
England, as on tho Continent, the inrunerable
bodies were thrown in heaps into trenches,
the higher classes alone. which suffered far
less than the lower. obtaining the r~r.viloG" Of
separate burial. In one field near Smith
field as many as %. 900 ccrpaes were Inferred
in this hasty fashion. Tie very lowest est
mate Of the number ~ victims In LonSon was
100 NO. and in Norwich 5000 persisted. On
Jan. / and March 10. I34s. the meeting of Par
lament had TO DO postponed in consequence
Of the appalling mortality, The adminis,ra-
ton Of Justice ceased from want Of Judges
to hear causes. In many churches divine
services were suspended the priests having
died or fed, and for months candidates for
vacant bencfces could not he procured Tor
ton times the usual stipend. though after the
terrible visitation had passed there was n
rush Of illiterata widowers from among the
lower classes for the vacant ~vicarntes Many
hamlets in England, as in France, were COM
pletcly depopnlated. and the ruined, deserted
houses told for years afterward the
tale Of the ravages Of the angel of death.
In the towns there was hardly a street that
did not boar witness in similar tragic fashion
10 the sorrow Of that sombre year. From
York the plague spread nOrthward into Scot
land in l3lo. According 10 the English chroni-
clers the cvNic brutality Of The Scotch. who
INDUCED in ~resentul witticisms nj the foul
death Of the English" was punished by the
sudden inroid Of the postilCnce with scarcely
less fatal results. The Scots, il SEEM had
assembled an army IN the forest Of SclkirE,
with intent to take advantage of the impo-
tapca of thair vlau,,o -utr3cIna ana,n. -. n
raid into England, when the pest broke out
in their camp with the same symptoms OF loath-
some corruption and inevitable dissolution
and carried Of 5000 Of them. The f|uc.tlves
spread the contaEion in all directions, and
for fully q year death and lamcntation filed
the country. In Scotland as in England, il
was the middle and lower classes that suf-
fered most severely. Here, too. panic rent
aslnder the closest tics Of kin and friend
ship, sons fleeing from their parents for fear
of the contaCion as from the face Of q lcpcr
or an adder" Both WyEtoun and FOrgun
estimate the rate of mortality nj a third Of
the population. In England it was computed
at one halt.
II is well known that the Black Death, by
oil diminishing the supply Of labor 10 a vast eS-
tent, brought social and economic ills in it's
train, A murraip wrought as fell havoc among
the cattle as had the pcstfence among the rural
population Herds and fiocks that had been
deprived OF their owners and shepherds by
death wandered over England carrying tie
epidemic with them, and perishinz by thou
sands, In one pasture ns many ms 5000 car
cases were 10 be seen poisoning Tho air with
an intolerable stencil, The natural result
was a scarcity offood az well ms adenrth oflabor
after the outbreak had spent its force. The
land fell out of cultivation for want Of tenants
md lahorers To I'LL II. In spite Of tho remis- !
sion Of rents by the owners, Grain ms well rs
cattle, which had been very cheap during the
first months Of the plague. In consequence Of
the depletion of the population and of the uni |
versal panic which had diSorgani2ed all bust
ness, soon rose enormously in price. An article
that had sold for n penny before the plague
was not TO be bought afterward for less than
tivepcncc, Famine threatened 10 continue
the mortality, In this dismal state Of things
the English peasant saw an opportunity OF
lettering his condition which, hitherto, owing
to the burden Of vlllein services, had been
wretched indeed If prices rose in consequence !
Of dearth, why should not the price Of his labor,
especially as he was often paid in base coin,
rise In proportion? The number Of laborers
being thinned to a third or more Of what it
was before the plague. the landlord must double
or even treble the starvation pi,tance. or do
without his labor. The law of supply and