And many of these were narrow, without pavements, badly drained; constantly strewn with every kind of refuse and filth, engendering pestilential vapors. Naturally, all these noxious influences resulted in plague, by which London had been ravaged on many occasions. But the plague known in history as "The Plague of London," occurred in 1665, and was the last and most terrible one. During its death-dealing term more than 100,000 men, women, and children perished.
June 7, 1665, Pepys records that he saw houses marked with a red cross and the words "Lord have mercy upon us" over the doors. Deaths daily increased, and all business was stopped. Grass grew in the streets, and the silence of death was broken only by the stern command given from house to house, "Bring out your dead!" and the solemn tolling of the funeral knell.
September 2, 1666, a fire broke out early in the morning at a house in Pudding Lane, and a strong east wind spread the flames which raged with fury during four days and nights, sweeping away the London of ancient times. Yet in its ashes was laid the foundation of the grandest city the world has ever known.
King Charles did every thing in his power to relieve the distress of his people even before the fire had burnt itself out. He caused the taxes of London citizens to be immediately remitted by special act of Parliament, and took great personal interest in rebuilding the city upon a rational and sanitary basis. Many splendid buildings were
