ree or four days after this,
continually mocking and jeering at all that showed themselves religious
or serious, or that were any way touched with the sense of the terrible
judgment of God upon us; and I was informed they flouted in the same
manner at the good people, who, notwithstanding the contagion, met at
the church, fasted, and prayed to God to remove his hand from them.

I say they continued this dreadful course three or four days (I think it
was no more), when one of them, particularly he who asked the poor
gentleman what he did out of his grave, was struck from Heaven with the
plague, and died in a most deplorable manner; and, in a word, they were
every one of them carried into the great pit, which I have mentioned
above, before it was quite filled up, which was not above a fortnight or
thereabout.

These men were guilty of many extravagances, such as one would think
human nature should have trembled at the thoughts of, at such a time of
general terror as was then upon us, and particularly scoffing and
mocking at everything which they happened to see that was religious
among the people, especially at their thronging zealously to the place
of public worship, to implore mercy from Heaven in such a time of
distress; and this tavern where they held their club, being within view
of the church door, they had the more particular occasion for their
atheistical, profane mirth.

But this began to abate a little with them before the accident, which I
have related, happened; for the infection increased so violently at this
part of the town now, that people began to be afraid to come to the
church: at least such numbers did not resort thither as was usual. Many
of the clergymen, likewise, were dead, and others gone into the country;
for it really required a steady courage and a strong faith, for a man
not only to venture being in town at such a time as this, but likewise
to venture to come to church, and perform the office of a minister to a
congregation of whom he had reason to believe many of them were actually
infected with the plague, and to do this every day, or twice a day, as
in some places was done.

It seems they had been checked, for their open insulting religion in
this manner, by several good people of every persuasion; and that[121]
and the violent raging of the infection, I suppose, was the occasion
that they had abated much of their rudeness for some time before, and
were only roused by the spirit of riba