Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/95

 1563.] THE ENGLISH A T HA VRE. 75 Where lie felt pain he was bled, and he then drank the ' aqua contra pestem ' the plague water buried him- self in his bed, and if possible perspired. To allay his thirst he was allowed sorrel- water and verjuice, with slices of oranges and lemons. Light food rabbit, chicken or other bird was taken often and in small quantities. To prevent the spread of the contagion the houses and streets and staircases were studiously cleaned ; the windows were set wide open and hung with fresh green boughs of oak or willow ; the floors were strewed with sorrel, lettuce, roses, and oak leaves, and freely and frequently sprinkled with spring water or else with vinegar and rose-water. From cellar to garret six hours a day the houses were fumigated with sandalwood and musk, aloes, amber, and cinnamon. In the poorest cottages there were fires of rosemary and bay. Yet no remedy availed to prevent the mortality, and no precaution to check the progress of the infection. In July the deaths in London had been two hundred a week ; through the following month they rose swiftly to seven hundred, eight hundred, a thousand, in the last week of the month to two thousand ; and at that rate with scarcely a diminution the people continued to die till the November rains washed the sewers and ken- nels clean, and the fury of the disorder was spent. The bishops, attributing the calamity to super- natural causes, and seeing the cause for the provocation of the Almighty in the objects which excited their own displeasure, laid the blame upon the theatres, and peti- tioned the Govcrnment o to inhibit plays and amuse-