Helen's, Bishopsgate, seeking
certificates of health, so that for some weeks it was difficult
to reach his door for the throng that gathered there, as is
stated by John Noorthouck. Such official testimonies to the good
health of those leaving London had now become necessary; for the
inhabitants of provincial towns, catching the general alarm,
refused to shelter in their houses, or even let pass through
their streets, the residents of the plague-stricken city, unless
officially assured they were free from the dreaded distemper.
Nay, even with such certificates in their possession, many were
refused admittance to inns, or houses of entertainment, and were
therefore obliged to sleep in fields by night, and beg food by
day, and not a few deaths were caused by want and exposure.
And now were the thoroughfares of the capital crowded all day
long with coaches conveying those who sought safety in flight,
and with waggons and carts containing their household goods and
belongings, until it seemed as if the city mould be left without
a soul. Many merchants and shipowners together with their
families betook themselves to vessels, which they caused to be
towed down the river towards Greenwich, and in which they resided
for months; whilst others sought refuge in smacks and fishing-
boats, using them as shelters by day, and lodging on the banks by
night. Some few families remaining in the capital laid in stores
of provisions, and shutting themselves up securely in their
houses, permitted none to enter or leave, by which means some of
them escaped contagion and death.
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