THE CRYSTAL I A RECORD OF 1605 



she had done she smiled, in her own sweet manner, and said, " The 

 last time I sung this was when with my Aunt Eleanor, at Winches- 

 ter, to her and my cousin in the garden. Poor Hal, who is passion- 

 ately fond of music, used to be a little tender to me on these occa- 

 sions, and I often smiled as I thought to myself, ' how would 

 jealous-pated Jack look if he were present ?' " 



I made no remark, but, it seems, turned very pale ; which she 

 observing, I complained of a sudden head-ache, and went home. 



Next, Dr. Henwick himself died, as he had himself foretold to me 

 in Barnsbury Park. It is true this had no connection with the 

 Crystal ; but it confirmed, generally, the conviction of his power, and 

 of the truth of his predictions, and had therefore a tendency to 

 strengthen my fears. To this the manner of his death not a little 

 conduced. 



His " curious Dame Alice" used often to teaze him, by inquiring 

 of him the time of his own death. At first he would generally 

 answer, " Ah, Alice, Alice ! have but a little patience, and thou'lt 

 bury thy old man soon enough." But at last he yielded to her im- 

 portunities, and told her the day and hour. As the time approached, 

 she, seeing him well and hearty as ever, was accustomed to taunt 

 him, as now at last detected in an erroneous prediction. This he 

 quietly bore till the appointed day came, in the morning of which he 

 was quite well and cheerful. At breakfast, his wife sneeringly re- 

 marked, that the l'2th of October was come. " Ah, Alice, Alice !" 

 he replied, " the ides of March are come, but not over." He shut 

 himself up in his closet till about twenty minutes to twelve, when 

 he went to the river and took a boat to go to Greenwich. Whilst on 

 the way up, and as St. Paul's was striking twelve, he suddenly 

 clapped both his hands to his forehead, and shouting forth, " Now ! 

 now I" expired. 



Then came the plague in all its horrid circumstances; and how 

 much these agreed with the awful scenes exhibited by the Crystal 

 you already know. My hopes, which had been continually on the 

 decline from the beginning of this visitation, were very low indeed, 

 when it became necessary that all personal intercourse between Mar- 

 garet's family and ours should be suspended, though we still endea- 

 voured to keep each other informed of our respective circumstances. 

 I soon heard, in rapid succession, of the deaths of her brother, elder 

 sister, and mother ; and had to communicate, in return, the loss 

 of our venerable father, and of our dear sisters, Grace and Meli- 

 cant. 



Last Wednesday I had been two days without hearing from Mar- 

 garet ; and I rose early in the morning, after a night more than 

 usually disturbed by the scenes of the Crystal, aggravated as usual. 

 The head and limbs of each corpse in the carts, which seemed to 

 roll unceasingly before me, and in the heaps for which the grave was 

 preparing, and which in my dreams appeared great mountains 

 higher than ^Etna or Ararat, seemed to possess a most active prin- 

 ciple of life, whilst the bodies lay motionless and dead. Their limbs 

 they threw about in air, and pointed at me the finger of scorn ; and 

 their eyes were fixed like those of basilisks on mine, while they 



