councils, the general of our armies, and the father of your country. For this is the tender appellation by which all the good among us salute you from the very soul. Other names you neither have nor could endure; and you deservedly reject that pomp of title which attracts the gaze and admiration of the multitude. For what is a title but a certain definite mode of dignity; but actions such as yours surpass, not only the bounds of our admiration, but our titles; and like the points. of pyramids, which are lost in the clouds, they soar above the possibilities of titular commendation. [Cromwell's administration of the government abroad was marked with very great success; and England has never, under any of her rulers, been more respected by foreign nations. At home, he had many difficulties to contend with; and toward the end of his career, he was tortured by ceaseless apprehension and anxiety, his assassination having been publicly recommended in a work entitled, "Killing no Murder." His death. occurred in 1658. His son Richard succeeded him; but he was entirely incapable of contending with the difficulties of so trying a position, and soon resigned it. A short time after this, through the instrumentality of General Monk (afterward the Duke of Albemarle), Charles II. was restored to the throne (1660). It was during his reign that the event referred to in the following selection occurred.] The Plague in London.-De Foe. [The Great Plague made its appearance in London in December, 1664; but it did not reach its extreme virulence till the summer of the following year. The history of this fearful event was written by Daniel De Foe, with very great minuteness, the particulars being collected by him from the traditions and records of the time. Sir Walter Scott remarked, that "had he not been the author of Robinson Crusoe,' De Foe would have deserved immortality for the genius which he has displayed in this work." The following extracts from it will serve to give some idea of the work as well as of the terrible event which it describes.] 1. It was thought [July, 1665] that there were not less than a thousand houses forsaken of the inhabitants, in the city and suburbs, including what was in the out-parishes, and in Surrey, or the side of the water they called Southwark. This was besides the numbers of lodgers and of particular persons who were fled out of other families, so that in all it was computed that about two hundred thousand people were fled and gone in all. But of this I shall speak again; but I mention it here on this account, namely, that it was a rule with those who had thus two houses in their keeping or care, that if anybody was taken sick in a family, before the master of the family let the examiners or any other officer know of it, he immediately would send all the rest of his family, whether children or servants, as it fell out to be, to such other house which he had not in charge, and then giving notice of the sick person to the examiner, have a nurse or nurses appointed, and having another person to be shut up in the house with them (which many for money would do), so to take charge of the house, in case the person should die. 2. This was in many cases the saving of a whole family, who, if they had been shut up with the sick person, would inevitably have perished; but on the other hand, this was another of the inconveniences of shutting up houses; for the apprehensions and terror of being shut up made many run away with the rest of the family, who, though it was not publicly known, and they were not quite sick, had yet the distemper upon them; and who, by having an uninterrupted liberty to go about, but being obliged still to conceal their circumstances, or, perhaps, not knowing it themselves, gave the distemper to others, and spread the infection in a dreadful manner, as I shall explain further thereafter. 3. I had in my family only an ancient woman, that managed the house, a maid-servant, two apprentices, and myself; and the plague beginning to increase about us, I had many sad thoughts about what course I should take, and how I should act; the many dismal objects which happened everywhere, as I went about the streets, had filled my mind with a great deal of horror, for fear of the distemper itself, which was indeed very horrible itself, and in some more than others; the swellings, which were generally in the neck or groin, when they grew hard and would not break, grew so painful that it was equal to the most exquisite torture; and some, not able to bear the torment, threw themselves out at windows, or shot themselves, or otherwise made themselves away; and I saw several dismal objects of that kind; others, unable to contain themselves, vented their pain by incessant roarings, and such lamentable cries were to be heard, as we walked along the streets, that would pierce the very heart to think of, especially when it was considered that the same dreadful scourge might be expected every moment to seize upon ourselves. 4. I cannot say but that now I began to faint in my resolu tions; my heart failed me very much, and sorely I repented of my rashness, when I had been out and met with such terrible things as these I have talked of; I say, I repented my rashness in venturing to abide in town; and I wished, often, that I had not taken upon me to stay, but had gone away with my brother and his family. Terrified by these frightful objects, I would retire home sometimes, and resolve to go out no more; and perhaps I would keep those resolutions for three or four days, which time I spent in the most serious thankfulness for my preservation, and the preservation of my family, and the constant confession of my sins, giving myself up to God every day, and applying to Him with fasting and humiliation and meditation. 5. Such intervals as I had, I employed in reading books and in writing down my memorandums of what occurred to me every day, and out of which, afterward, I took most of this work, as it relates to my observations without doors; what I wrote of my private meditations I reserve for private use, and desire it may not be made public on any account whatever. I also wrote other meditations upon divine subjects, such as occurred to me at that time, and were profitable to myself but not fit for any other view, and therefore I say no more of that. 6. I had a very good friend, a physician, whose name was Heath, whom I frequently visited during this dismal time, and to whose advice I was very much obliged for many things which he directed me to take by way of preventing the infection when I went out, as he found I frequently did, and to hold in my mouth when I was in the street; he also came very often to see me, and as he was a good Christian, as well as a good physician, his agreeable conversation was a very great support to me, in the worst of this terrible time. 7. It was now the beginning of August, and the plague grew very violent and terrible in the place where I lived; and Dr. Heath coming to visit me, and finding that I ventured so often out in the streets, earnestly persuaded me to lock myself up and my family, and not to suffer any of us to go out of doors; to keep all our windows fast, shutters and curtains close, and never to open them; but first to make a very strong smoke in the room, when the window or door was to be opened, with rosin and pitch, brimstone and gunpowder, and the like, and we did this for some time; but as I had not laid in a store of provision for such a retreat, it was impossible that we could keep within doors entirely; however, I attempted, though it was very late, to do something toward it; and first, as I had convenience both for brewing and baking, I went and bought two sacks of meal, and for several weeks, having an oven, we baked all our bread; also I bought malt, and brewed as much beer as the cask I had would hold, and which seemed enough to serve my house for five or six weeks; also, I laid in a quantity of salt butter and Cheshire cheese, but I had no flesh meat, and the plague raged so violently among the butchers and slaughter-houses on the other side of the street, where they are known to dwell in great numbers, that it was not advisable so much as to go over the street among them. 8. And here I must observe again, that this necessity of going out of our houses to buy provisions was, in a great measure, the ruin of the whole city; for the people catched the distemper, on these occasions, one of another, and even the provisions themselves were often tainted, at least I had great reason to believe so; and, therefore, I cannot say with satisfaction what I know is repeated with great assurance, that the market-people and such as brought provisions to town were never infected. I am certain the butchers of Whitechapel, where the greatest part of the flesh-meat was killed, were dreadfully visited, and that at least to such a degree, that few of their shops were kept open, and those that remained of them killed their meat at Mile End, and that way, and brought it to market upon horses. 9. However, the poor people could not lay up provisions, and there was a necessity that they must go to market to buy, and others to send servants or their children; and, as this was a necessity which renewed itself daily, it brought abundance of unsound people to the markets, and a great many that went thither sound, brought death home with them. It is true people used all possible precaution; when any one bought a joint of meat in the market, they would not take it out of the butcher's hand, but took it off the hooks themselves. On the other hand, the butcher would not touch the money, but have it put into a pot full of vinegar, which he kept for that purpose. The buyers carried always small money to make up any odd sum, that they might take no change. They carried bottles for scent and perfumes in their hands, and all the means that could be used were employed; but then the poor could not do even these things, and they went at all hazards. 10. Innumerable dismal stories we heard every day on this very account. Sometimes a man or woman dropped down dead in the very market; for many people that had the plague upon them knew nothing of it till the inward gangrene had affected their vitals, and they died in a few moments; this caused that many died frequently in that manner in the street suddenly, without any warning. Others, perhaps, had time to go to the next bulk or stall, or to any door or porch, and just sit down and die, as I have said before. 11. These objects were so frequent in the streets, that, when the plague grew to be very raging on one side, there was scarce any passing by the streets but that several dead bodies would be lying here and there upon the ground. On the other hand, it is observable, that though, at first, the people would stop as they went along, and call to the neighbors to come out on such an occasion, yet, afterward, no notice was taken of them; but that, if at any time we found a corpse lying, go across the way and not come near it; or, if in a narrow lane or passage, go back again, and seek some other way to go on the business we were upon; and, in those cases, the corpse was always left till the officers had notice to come and take them away, or till night, when the bearers attending the dead-cart would take them up and carry them away. Nor did those undaunted creatures, who performed these offices, |