searchers, and persons appointed to give account of the dead, and what diseases they died of; and as people were very loth at first to have the neighbours believe their houses were infected, so they gave money to procure, or otherwise procured, the dead persons to be returned as dying of other distempers; and this I know was practised afterwards in many places, I believe I might say in all places where the distemper came, as will be seen by the vast increase of the numbers placed in the weekly bills under other articles of diseases during the time of the infection.  For example, in the months of July and August, when the plague was coming on to its highest pitch, it was very ordinary to have from a thousand to twelve hundred, nay, to almost fifteen hundred a week of other distempers.  Not that the numbers of those distempers were really increased to such a degree, but the great number of families and houses where really the infection was, obtained the favour to have their dead be returned of other distempers, to prevent the shutting up their houses.  For example:—­

Dead of other diseases beside the plague—­ — From the 18th July to the 25th 942 — " 25th July " 1st August 1004 — " 1st August " 8th 1213 — " 8th " 15th 1439 — " 15th " 22nd 1331 — " 22nd " 29th 1394 — " 29th " 5th September 1264 — " 5th September to the 12th 1056 — " 12th " 19th 1132 — " 19th " 26th 927

Now it was not doubted but the greatest part of these, or a great part of them, were dead of the plague, but the officers were prevailed with to return them as above, and the numbers of some particular articles of distempers discovered is as follows:—­

—         Aug.     Aug.     Aug.     Aug.     Aug.     Sept.   Sept.    Sept.
—          1       8       15      22     29        5     12      19
—         to 8   to 15   to 22   to 29 to Sept.5  to 12  to 19   to 26

Fever 314 353 348 383 364 332 309 268 Spotted 174 190 166 165 157 97 101 65 Fever Surfeit 85 87 74 99 68 45 49 36 Teeth 90 113 111 133 138 128 121 112 — —–­ ——­ ——­ ——­ ——­ ——­ ——­ ——­ — 663 743 699 780 727 602 580 481

There were several other articles which bore a proportion to these, and which, it is easy to perceive, were increased on the same account, as aged, consumptions, vomitings, imposthumes, gripes, and the like, many of which were not doubted to be infected people; but as it was of the utmost consequence to families not to be known to be infected, if it was possible to avoid it, so they took all the measures they could to have it not believed, and if any died in their houses, to get them returned to the examiners, and by the searchers, as having died of other distempers.