ho were then upon the spot,
there were not one-third of the people in the town during the months of
August and September as were in the months of January and February. In a
word, the usual number that used to die of these three articles, and, as
I hear, did die of them the year before, was thus:--

1664. 1665.
Child-bed 189 Child-bed 625
Abortive and still-born 458 Abortive and still-born 617
- ---- ----
- 647 1242

This inequality, I say, is exceedingly augmented when the numbers of
people are considered. I pretend not to make any exact calculation of
the numbers of people which were at this time in the city, but I shall
make a probable conjecture at that part by-and-by. What I have said now
is to explain the misery of those poor creatures above; so that it might
well be said, as in the Scripture, Woe be to those who are with child,
and to those which give suck in that day. For, indeed, it was a woe to
them in particular.

I was not conversant in many particular families where these things
happened, but the outcries of the miserable were heard afar off. As to
those who were with child, we have seen some calculation made; 291 women
dead in child-bed in nine weeks, out of one-third part of the number
of whom there usually died in that time but eighty-four of the same
disaster. Let the reader calculate the proportion.

There is no room to doubt but the misery of those that gave suck was in
proportion as great. Our bills of mortality could give but little light
in this, yet some it did. There were several more than usual starved
at nurse, but this was nothing. The misery was where they were, first,
starved for want of a nurse, the mother dying and all the family and
the infants found dead by them, merely for want; and, if I may speak
my opinion, I do believe that many hundreds of poor helpless infants
perished in this manner. Secondly, not starved, but poisoned by the
nurse. Nay, even where the mother has been nurse, and having received
the infection, has poisoned, that is, infected the infant with her milk
even before they knew they were infected themselves; nay, and the infant
has died in such a case before the mother. I cannot but remember
to leave this admonition upon record, if ever such another dre