WhyWaitForever - London - History Plague

The Newes. Numb. 52.

By order from the Right Honourable the Lord Arlington principal Secretary of State to His Majestie, I am commanded to publish the following advertisement to satisfy all persons of the great care of the Right Honourable the Lords of His Majesties most Honourable Privy Council, for prevention of spreading of the infection. Who by their order dated the one and thirtieth day of May last past did authorise & require the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex and City and Libertie of Westminster, or any five of them, to treat with James Angier, Esq., upon his offers of certain Remedies and Medicaments for stopping the contagion of the Plague & for disinfecting houses already infected, &c.

And whereas Sir John Rabingon, Knight & Baronet, His Majesties Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir George Charnocke, Knight, His Majesties Serjeant at Arms in Ordinary, Humphrey Weld, Thomas Whartin, Joseph Ayloffe, Robert Jejon, James Norfolk, Serjeant at Arms attending the Homourable House of Commons, and William Bowle, Esquires, Justices of the Peace for the said County of Middlesex, did at the desire of the said Angier & the inhabitants in the house of Jonas Charles in Newton Street, in the Parish of St. Giles in the Fields, in the said County, permit one Richard Goodall, servant of the said Angier, with his Mediacaments, to enter the said house on Thursday, the 8th of July, instant.

After four several persons had dyed full of the spots out of the said house and eight more remained therein, whereof two were infected with the Plague. And whereas upon examination of several witnesses upon oath before the said justices, proof was made-that upon application of the said Medicaments there, and in several other houses, no person had dyed in any of the said houses since the same was therein used. And whereas in persuance of the said Order the said Justices upon the 12th instant did report to the Lords of the Council, to whom the prevention of spreading the infection of the Pestilence is referred, their proceedings thereupon.

And whereas upon reading the said Justices report and the proposals of the said Angier: as also of his several Certificates from foreign parts, for proving the happy success of the said Angiers Remedies in stopping the Infection in Lyons. Paris. Stronbourg and other cities, the said Committee of Lords did order upon the 12th instant the said Justices of the Peace or any three or more of them to receive the said Angiers proposals and upon due consideration to order and settle what they should think fit to be done: Who upon further trial and experience of the said Remedies and Medicaments in several houses infected; and upon further examination of witnesses of the success thereof, have found the same, by God's blessing, to have proved so effectual for stoping the Contagion, that the said Jonas Charles and others, who consider their lives thereby preserved, willingly offer themselves with the said Remedies, to enter into any other infected house for the disenfecting thereof. To the end therefore it may be publickly known where the said Remedies & Medicaments with directions for the use of them may be had, all persons desiring the same may hereby take notice, that the places appointed for the sale thereof are at Mr Brigs his office, behind the Old Exchange, at Mr. Drinkwaters, an Apothecary, at the Fountain Head, Fleet Street, at Mr. Arnolds, a Grocer at the Sugar Loaf and Tobacco Roll at Grays Inn Gate Holborn, at the Flower de Luce in New Street, Covent Garden, at Mr. Williams, his house, a Silk-weaver in Gravel Lane in Houndsditch, at Mr. Thomas Sopers, an Apothcary, at the Signe of the Red Lion by the gate upon London Bridge. And that shortly a fuller narrative of the experiments of the said Remedies and Medicaments will by the said Justices be published.

Whereas, in the Reign of our late Sovereign, King James, of the happy memory, an Act was made for the charitable relief and ordering of persons inflected with the Plague, whereby authority was given to Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Bailiffs, and other head officers, to appoint, within their several limits, Examiners, Searchers, Watchmen, Keepers, and Buriers for the persons and places infected, and to minister unto them oaths for the performances of their offices. And the same Statute did also authorise the giving of other directions as unto them for the present necessity should seem good in their directions. It is now upon special consideration, though very expedient for preventing and assiding of infection of sickness (if it shall so please Almighty God), that the officers following be appointed and these orders herafter duly observed :-

First, it is thought requisite, and so ordered that in every parish there be one, two, or more persons of good sort and credit, chosen and appointed by the Alderman, his Deputy, and Common Council of every ward, by the name of Examiners, to continue in that office the psace of two months at least; and if any fit person so appointed shall refuse to undertake the same, the said parties so refusing be committed to prison until they shall conform themselves accordingly.

That these Examiners be sworn of the Alderman to inquire and learn, from time to time, what houses in every parish be visited and what persons be sick and of what diseases, as near as they can inform themselves, and upon doubt in that case, to command restraint of access until it appear what the disease shall prove ; and if they find any person sick of the infection, to give orders to the Constable that the house be shut up : and if the Constable should be found remiss or negligent, to give present notice thereof to the Alderman of the Ward.

That to every infected house there be appointed two Watchmen, one for every day and the other for the night ; and that these Watchmen have a special care that no person go in or out of such infected houses, whereof they hold the charge, upon pain of severe punishment. And the said Watchmen to do such further offices as the sick house shall need and require : and if the Watchmen be sent upon any business, to lock up the house, and take the key with him, and the Watchmen by day to atend until ten of the clock at night and the Watchmen by night until six in the morning.

That there be a spcial care to appoint Women Searchers in every parish, such as are of honest reputation, and of the best sort as can be got of this kind : and these to be sworn to make due search and true report to the utmost of their knowledge, whether the persons whose bodies they are appointed to search, do die of the infection or of what other diseases, as near as they can. And that the Physicians who shall be appointed for the several parishes under their respective cares, to the end they may consider whether they are fitly qualified for that employment, and charge them, from time to time, as they shall see cause, if they appear defective in their duties.

That no Searcher, during the time of visitation, be permitted to use any public work of employment, or keep any shop, or shall he be employed as a laundress, or in any other common employment whatsoever.

For better assistance of the Searchers, for as much as there hath been heretofore great abuse in misreporting the disease, to the further spreading of the infection, it is therefore ordered that there be chosen and appointed able and discreet Chirurgeons, besides those that do already belong to the pest house, amongst whom the city and liberties to be quartered as the places lie most apt and convenient, and every of there to have one quarter for his limit, and the said Chirurgeons in every of their limits to join with the Searchers for the view of the body, to the end there may be a true report made of the disease.

And further, that the said Chirurgeons shall visit and search such like persons as shall either send for them or be named and directed untoi them by the Examiners of every Parish, and inform themselves of the disease of the said parts.

And forasmuch as the said Chirurgeons are to be sequestered from all other cures, and keep only to the disease of the infection, it is ordered that every of the said Chirurgeons shall have twelve-pence a body searched by them, to be paid out of the goods of the party searched, if he be able, or otherwise by the Parish.

If any Nurse-keeper shall remove herself out of infected house before twenty-eight days of the decease of any person dying of the infection, the house to which the said Nurse-keeper doth so remove herself shall be shut up until the said twentyeight days be expired.

Orders concerning infected houses and persons sick of the Plague.

The master of every house, as soon as any one in his house complaineth either of botch or pimple, or swelling in any part of his body, or falleth otherwise dangerously sick, without apparent cause of some other disease, shall give knwledge thereof to the Examiner of Health within two hours after the said sign shall appear.

As soon as any man shall be found by the Examiner, Chirurgeon, or Searcher to be sick of the Plague, he shall the same night be sequestered in the same house, and in case he be so sequestered there, though be afterwards die not, the house wherein he sickened should be shut up for a month after the use of the due preservatives taken by the rest.

For registration of the goods and stuff of the infection, their bedding and apparel, and hangings of chambers, must be well aired with fire, and such perfumes as are requisite within the infected house before they be taken again to use, this to be done by the appointment of the Examiner.

If any person shall have visited any man known to be infected of the plague, or entered willingly into any known infected house being not allowed, the house wherein he inhabiteth shall be shut up for certain days by the Examiners direction.

None to be removed out of infected houses, but &c.

Item, that none be removed out of the house where he falleth sick of the infection into any house in the City (except it be to the pest-house, or a tent, or unto some such house, which the owner of the said visited house holdeth in his own hands and occupieth by his own servants) and so security be given to the parish, whither such remove is made that the attendance and charge about the said visited persons shall be observed and charged in all the particulars before expressed, without any cost of that parish to which any such remove shall happen to be made, and this remove to be done by night, and it shall be lawful to any person, that hath two houses, to remove either either his sound or his afflicted people to his spare house at his choice, so as if he send away first his sound he not agter send thither the sick, nor again unto the sick the sound. And that the same which he sendeth be for one week at least shut up and secluded from company, for fear of some infection at first not appearing.

That the burial of the dead by this visitation be at most convenient hours, always either before sun rising or after sun setting, with the privity of the Churchwardens or Constables, and not otherwise, and that no neighbours nor friends be suffered to accompany the corpse to church or to enter the house visited upon pain of having his house shut up or be imprisoned.

And that no corpse dying or infectious shall be buried or remain in any church in time of common prayer, sermon, or lecture : and that no children be suffered at the time of burial of any corpse in any church, churchyard, or burying-place, to come near the corpse, coffin, or grave. And that all the graves shall be at least six feet deep.

And further, all public asemblies at other burials are to be forborne during the conmtinuance of this visitation.

That no clothes, stuff, bedding, or garments be suffered to be carried or conveyed out of any infected houses, and that the carriers abroad of bedding or old apparel to be sold or pawned be utterly prohibited and restrained and no brokers of bedding or old apparel be permitted to make any outward show, or hang forth on their stall, shopboards, or windows, towards any street, lane, common, way, or passage any old bedding or apparel to be sold, upon pain of imprisonment. And if any broker or other person shall buy any bedding, apparel, or other stuff out of any infected house within two months after the infection hath been there his house shall be shut up as infected and shall continue shut up twenty days at the least.

If any person visited do fortune by negligent looking unto, or by any other means, to come or conveyed from a place infected, to any other place, the parish from whence such party hath come or been conveyed upon notice thereof given, shall at their charge cause the said party so visited, and escaped to be carried and brought back again by night, and the parties in this case offending to be puniched at the direction of the Alderman of the Ward, and the house of the receiver of such visited person to be shut up for twenty days.