Journal of the Plague Year

continued, by a Gentleman

There remaineth but ſmall Room for Dubiety, that the inſidious Woo Han Peſtilence hath ſtruck back in renewed Fury of its Oriental Fiſts, in deſpite of all Precautions ſuch as collective Worſhip according to the Rites of the Church of England, and reſtricting of the Gluttonies of the Poor. Therefore it muſt be that we have failed in Faith and Humility, ſince as Anglicans and Subjects of Her moſt Britannick Majesty, with Laws againſt Vagrancy which can impoſe Fines of £100 upon the Unpropertied, we may take the Love of our Neighbours as granted. But alas, our merciful God continueth His great Chaſtiſement, in ſuch Generoſity of Meaſure as to ſtrike Terror even into the Antichriſt at Rome, who hath been obſerved upon ſundry Occaſions without that demonick Maſque which conceals from his Dupes that hideous Maw of forked Tongue and ſlavering Fangs, through which the Great Beaſt proclaimeth his unſpeakable Doctrine, that the Tithes and Monies of true Chriſtians belong at the Vatican and not the Bank of England. It is doubtleſs in the inadequate Perſecution of ſuch abominable Hereſies and Blaſphemies, along with the worldly Pride ſtill manifeſt in the ſuperfluous Cleanlineſs of many Hoſpitals and Aſylums for the Poor, that the Cauſe and Provocation of our preſent juſt Puniſhment is to be found.