12 
During the four years that folloAved the great visitation of 
1625, by which more than 35,000 of the inhabitants of London 
were swept away, the mortality from the plague had gradually 
diminished; and in 1629 the return of deaths from that cause 
was nil* But the snake was only scotched, not killed.” In 
the autumn of the same year the king Avas informed how the 
plague was approaching on both sides of the kingdom.”! The 
disease was then ravaging the opposite coasts of France and 
Holland, but did not actually appear in the English metropolis 
until the following spring. As summer advanced the infection 
spread, and in June the fearful dispersion of the plague in 
London” is spoken of. Other parts of the kingdom were also 
visited, and Cambridge especially was severely afflicted. 
The citizens of York were on the alert. In May, strict watch 
and ward were ordered to he kept. The measures adopted were 
so far effectual as to save the city from the pestilence this year. 
But the visitation was only deferred for a short time. 
In June, 1631, the Lord Mayor of London reported to the 
Privy Council that the sickness had been wholly withdrawn, 
and he attributed this happy result to the vigilance of the city 
offlcers. Probably the active measures which purified the 
metropolis, were the cause of mischief to other places. If per¬ 
sons diseased were driven from, or permitted to leave London, 
they would inevitably carry the infection into the provinces. 
In the month of April, great consternation w^as raised among 
the people of York, by the appearance in the city, of a man 
called Balph Best, who had escaped out of an infected house in 
St. Martin’s-lane, London, and was come to York, bringing his 
goods with him. He was immediately taken into custody and 
placed in confinement. The city magistrates thought the 
circumstance of sufflcient importance to he communicated to the 
Vice-President and Council of the North, who were then assem¬ 
bled at York, and with their concurrence, it was determined 
that Best’s goods should he burnt, and that he should remain 
imprisoned in Monk Bar, where he then was, till the change 
of the moon.” 
Tracts on the Plague, p. 61. 
t Secretary Dorchester to Lord Keeper Coventry, Oct. 16, 1629. Cal, State 
papers, p. 80. 
