adful judgements, when the
plague was at their very doors, and, it may be, in their very houses,
and they did not know but that the dead-cart might stop at their doors
in a few hours to carry them to their graves.

I could not perceive that my discourse made much impression upon
them all that while, till it happened that there came two men of the
neighbourhood, hearing of the disturbance, and knowing my brother,
for they had been both dependents upon his family, and they came to my
assistance. These being, as I said, neighbours, presently knew three of
the women and told me who they were and where they lived; and it seems
they had given me a true account of themselves before.

This brings these two men to a further remembrance. The name of one
was John Hayward, who was at that time undersexton of the parish of
St Stephen, Coleman Street. By undersexton was understood at that time
gravedigger and bearer of the dead. This man carried, or assisted to
carry, all the dead to their graves which were buried in that large
parish, and who were carried in form; and after that form of burying was
stopped, went with the dead-cart and the bell to fetch the dead bodies
from the houses where they lay, and fetched many of them out of the
chambers and houses; for the parish was, and is still, remarkable
particularly, above all the parishes in London, for a great number of
alleys and thoroughfares, very long, into which no carts could come,
and where they were obliged to go and fetch the bodies a very long way;
which alleys now remain to witness it, such as White's Alley, Cross Key
Court, Swan Alley, Bell Alley, White Horse Alley, and many more. Here
they went with a kind of hand-barrow and laid the dead bodies on it, and
carried them out to the carts; which work he performed and never had the
distemper at all, but lived about twenty years after it, and was sexton
of the parish to the time of his death. His wife at the same time was a
nurse to infected people, and tended many that died in the parish, being
for her honesty recommended by the parish officers; yet she never was
infected neither.

He never used any preservative against the infection, other than holding
garlic and rue in his mouth, and smoking tobacco. This I also had from
his own mouth. And his wife's remedy was washing her head in vinegar
and sprinkling her head-clothes so with vinegar as to keep them always
moist, and if the smell of any of those she waited on was more t