Page:A Journal of the Plague Year (1722).djvu/234

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226
Memoirs of

one Day, Do not be too confident Mr. —— it is hard to ſay who is ſick and who is well, for we ſee Men alive, and well to outward Appearance one Hour, and dead the next. That is true, ſays the firſt Man, for he was not a Man preſumptuouſly ſecure, but had eſcap’d a long while, and Men, as I ſaid above, eſpecially in the City, began to be over-eaſie upon that Score. That is true, ſays he, I do not think my ſelf ſecure, but I hope I have not been in Company with any Perſon that there has been any Danger in. No! Says his Neighbour, was not you at the Bull-head Tavern in Gracechurch Street with Mr. —— the Night before laſt: Yes, ſays the firft, I was, but there was no Body there, that we had any Reaſon to think dangerous: Upon which his Neigbour ſaid no more, being unwilling to ſurprize him; but this made him more inquiſitive, and as his Neighbour appear’d backward, he was the more impatient, and in a kind of Warmth, ſays he aloud, why he is not dead, is he! upon which his Neighbour ſtill was ſilent, but caſt up his Eyes, and ſaid ſomething to himſelf; at which the firſt Citizen turned pale, and ſaid no more but this, then I am a dead Man too, and went Home immediately, and ſent for a neighbouring Apothecary to give him ſomething preventive, for he had not yet found himſelf ill; but the Apothecary opening his Breaſt, fetch’d a Sigh, and ſaid no more, but this, look up to God; and the Man died in a few Hours.

Now let any Man judge from a Caſe like this, if it is poſſible for the Regulations of Magiſtrates, either by ſhutting up the Sick, or removing them, to ſtop an Infection, which ſpreads itſelf from Man to Man, even while they are perfectly well, and inſenſible of its Approach, and may be ſo for many Days.

It may be proper to aſk here, how long it may be ſuppoſed, Men might have the Seeds of the Con-