able to believe, would not have been diſtemper'd if they had had Liberty, tho' the Plague was in the Houſe; at which the People were very clamorous and uneaſie at firſt, and ſeveral Violences were committed, and Injuries offered to the Men, who were ſet to watch the Houſes ſo ſhut up; alſo ſeveral People broke out by Force, in many Places, as I ſhall obſerve by and by: But it was a publick Good that juſtified the private Miſchief; and there was no obtaining the leaſt Mitigation, by any Application to Magiſtrates, or Government, at that Time, at leaſt, not that I heard of. This put the People upon all Manner of Stratagem, in order, if poſſible, to get out, and it would fill a little Volume, to ſet down the Arts us'd by the People of ſuch Houſes, to ſhut the Eyes of the Watchmen, who were employ'd, to deceive them, and to eſcape, or break out from them, in which frequent Scuffles, and ſome Miſchief happened; of which by it ſelf.
As I went along Houndſditch one Morning, about eight a-Clock, there was a great Noiſe; it is true indeed, there was not much Croud, becaſe People were not very free to gather together, or to ſtay long together, when they were there, nor did I ſtay long there: But the Outcry was loud enough to prompt my Curioſity, and I call'd to one that look'd out of a Window, and ask'd what was the Matter.
A Watchman, it ſeems, had been employed to keep his Poſt at the Door of a Houſe, which was infected, or ſaid to be infected, and was ſhut up; he had been there all Night for two Nights together, as he told his Story, and the Day Watchman had been there one Day and was now come to relieve him: All this while no Noiſe had been heard in the Houſe, no Light had been ſee; they call'd for nothing, ſent him of no Er-rands,
