ſand Pounds a Week, which was diſtributed by the Church Wardens at the ſeveral Pariſh Veſtries, by the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen in the ſeveral Wards and Precincts, and by the particular Direction of the Court and of the Juſtices reſpectively in the parts where they reſided; over and above the private Charity diſtributed by pious Hands in the manner I ſpeak of, and this continued for many Weeks together.
I confeſs this is a very great Sum; but if it be true, that there was diſtributed in the Pariſh of Cripplegate only 17800 Pounds in one Week to the Relief of the Poor, as I heard reported, and which I really believe was true, the other may not be improbable.
It was doubtleſs to be reckon’d among the many ſignal good Providences which attended this great City, and of which there were many other worth recording; I ſay, this was a very remarkable one, that it pleaſed God thus to move the Hearts of the People in all parts of the Kingdom, ſo chearfully to contribute to the Relief and Support of the poor at London; the good Conſequences of which were felt many ways, and particularly in preſerving the Lives and recovering the Health of ſo many thouſands, and keeping ſo many Thouſands of Families from periſhing and ſtarving.
And now I am talking of the merciful Diſpoſition of Providence in this time of Calamity, I cannot but mention again, tho’ I have ſpoken ſeveral times of it already on other Account, I mean that of the Progreſſion of the Diſtemper; how it began at one end of the Town, and proceeded gradually and ſlowly from one Part to another, and like a dark Cloud that paſſes over our Heads, which as it thickens and overcaſts the Air at one End, clears up at the other end: So while the Plague went on raging from Weſt to Eaſt, as it went forwards Eaſt, it abated
