Chap. VII. 7'he HIS T 0 RY of the PuRITANS; 651: Some families fcrupled alking a bleffing on their meat, if five fl:rangers Kingii .J h h h {i • · • h h h Charles • wen: at table. In Lonaon, w ere t e ou es Jom, It was t oug t t e 1662 . law might be evaded if the people met in feveral houf~s, and hea~d the ~ min iller throuv.:h a window or hole in the wall; but It feems tb1s was over-ruled, th~ determination being (as has been obferved), in . the breall of a fingle mercenary jullice of peace. And while confcientious people were thus oppreifed, the common people gave themfelves up to drunkenneJs, prophane fweluing, gaming, lewdnefs, and all kinds of dtbauchery, which brought down the judgments of heaven upon the nation. The firll general calamity that befel the kingdom, was a war with War wit!I the D utch, which the king entered into this winter, by the inlligation the Dut~h, of the youngfrench monarch, Leqvis XIV. who being grown rich by a long peace, fought for an opportunity to make new conquefts in the JPanijh Flanders ; for this purpofe he engaged the maritime powers in a war, that by weakening each others hands, they might not be at lei– fure to affill the Spaniards whom he intended to attack, The englijh made complaints of the encroachments of the du(ch upon their trade, and indignities ofbed to his majelly's fubjects in India, Africa, and elfe– where; the french promoted thefe mifunderftandings, and promifed to fupply the king with what fums of money he wanted; till at length war w~s proclaimed Feb. 22, 1664-65, in the courfe of which fundry bloody engagements happened at fea; the two nations were drained of their blood and treafure, and the proteftant intereft almofi: ruined, while the french were little more than fpectators. The war continued about two years and a half, and then ended with no manner of advantage to either nation. The next judgment which befel the nation, was the moll: dreadful 1665. plague that had been known within the memory of man. This was pre- 'Ihe p-lague~ ceded by an unufLJJ) drought; the meadows were parched and burnt up like the highways, infomuch that there was no food for the cattle, which occafioned firll a murrain amo~g them, .and then a general contagion among the ·humane fpecies, which encreafed in the city and fuburbs of London, till eight or ten thoufand died in a week. The richer inhabitants fled_into the remoter counties; but the calamities of thofe who llayed behmd, and of the poorer fort, are not to be expreifed. Trade was at a full fiand; all commerce between London and the country was entirely cu t off, leafl: the infection fhould be propagated thereby. Nay the country_ houfe-keepers and farmers durfi not entertain their city friends or relatiOns, till they had performed quarantine in the fields or out-houfes. If a ftranger palled through the neighbourhood , they fled from him as an enemy. In London the !hops and houfes were quite ihut up, and many 4 0 2 of
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