ers before the

the writ

II. For the prevention whereof, and the more speeay relief Jailers must of all persons imprisoned for any such criminal or supposed bring prisoncriminal matters, be it enacted by the king's most excellent court when Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spir- ordered by itual and temporal, and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority thereof, that whensoever any person or persons shall bring any habeas corpus directed unto any sheriff or sheriffs, gaoler, minister, or other person whatsoever, for any person in his or their custody, and the said writ shall be served upon the said officer, or left at the gaol or prison with any of the under-officers, under-keepers, or deputy of the said officers or keepers, that the said officer or officers, his or their under-officers, under-keepers, or deputies, shall, within three days after the service thereof as aforesaid (unless the committment aforesaid were for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of committment), ... bring or cause to be brought the body of the party so committed or restrained, unto or before the lord chancellor, or lord keeper of the great seal of England for the time being, or the judges or barons of the said court from whence the said writ shall issue, or unto and before such other person or persons before whom the said writ is made returnable, according to the command thereof, and shall then likewise certify the true causes of his detainer or imprisonment.

...

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any officer or officers, his or their under-officer or under-officers, under-keeper or under-keepers, or deputy, shall neglect or refuse to make the returns aforesaid, or to bring the body or bodies of the prisoner or prisoners according to the command of the said writ, within the respective times aforesaid, or, upon demand made by the prisoner or person in his behalf, shall refuse to deliver, or within the space of six hours after demand shall not deliver, to the person so demanding, a true copy of the warrant or warrants of committment and detainer of such prisoner, which he and they are hereby required to deliver accordingly; all and every the head gaolers and keepers of such prisons, and such other person in whose custody the prisoner shall be detained, shall for

Judges must grant the

writ

317. Extracts

the first offence forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of one hundred pounds; and for the second offence the sum of two hundred pounds, and shall and is hereby made incapable to hold or execute his said office. . .

X. Provided also, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to and for any prisoner and prisoners as aforesaid, to move and obtain his or their habeas corpus as well out of the high court of chancery or court of exchequer as out of the courts of king's bench or common pleas, or either of them; and if the said lord chancellor or lord keeper, or any judge or judges, baron or barons for the time being, of the degree of the coif, of any of the courts aforesaid, in the vacation time, upon view of the capy or copies of the warrant or warrants of committment or detainer, or upon oath made that such copy or copies were denied as aforesaid, shall deny any writ of habeas corpus by this act required to be granted, being moved for as aforesaid, they shall severally forfeit to the prisoner or party grieved the sum of five hundred pounds, to be recovered in manner aforesaid.

The following extracts from Pepys' diary, from August, 1665, to September, 1666, illustrate two of the promi nent events of that year, the last serious attack of the plague in London and the great fire of London.

I went away and walked to Greenwich, in my way seeing from Pepys' a coffin with a dead body therein, dead of the plague, lying Diary in an open close belonging to Coome farme, which was carried out last night, and the parish have not appointed anybody to bury it, but only set a watch there all day and night, that nobody should go hither or come thence, this disease making us more cruel to one another than we are to dogs. . . .

August 22, 1665

September 6

To London, to pack up more things; and there I saw fires burning in the street, as it is through the whole city, by the lord mayor's order. Thence by water to the duke of Albemarle's all the way fires on each side of the Thames, and, strange to see in broad daylight, two or three burials upon the

Bankeside, one at the very heels of another; doubtless all of the plague; and yet at least forty or fifty people going along with every one of them. The duke mighty pleasant with me; telling me that he is certainly informed that the Dutch were not come home upon the 1st instant, and so he hopes our fleet may meet with them. . . .

...

I walked to the Tower; but, Lord! how empty the streets October 16 are and melancholy, so many poor sick people in the streets full of sores; and so many sad stories overheard as I walk, everybody talking of this dead, and that man sick, and so many in this place, and so many in that. And they tell me that, in Westminster, there is never a physician and but one apothecary left, all being dead; but that there are great hopes of a great decrease this week; God send it! At the Tower found my lord duke and duchesse at dinner; so I sat down. And much good cheer, the lieutenant and his lady, and several officers with the duke. But, Lord! to hear the silly talk was there, would make one mad; the duke having none almost but fools about him. . . .

In the street did overtake and almost run upon two women October 29 crying and carrying a man's coffin between them. I suppose the husband of one of them, which, methinks, is a sad thing.

As an infinite secret, my lord tells me, the factions are high between the king and the duke, and all the court are in an November 16 uproar with their loose amours, the duke of York being in

love desperately with Mrs. Stewart. Nay, that the duchesse herself is fallen in love with her new Master of the Horse, one

Harry Sidney, and another, Harry Savill. . . .

Away to the 'Change, and there hear the ill news, to my December 13 great and all our great trouble, that the plague is increased again this week, notwithstanding there hath been a long day or two great frosts; but we hope it is only the effects of the last close, warm weather, and if the frost continue the next week, may fall again; but the town do thicken so much with people, that it is much if the plague do not grow again upon us.

Met with Sir James Bunch, "This is the time for you," says December 15 he, "that were for Oliver heretofore; you are full of employment, and we poor Cavaliers sit still and can get nothing,"

February 4, 1666

February 16

318. Pepys'

fire (Sep

tember 2,

1666)

which was a pretty reproach I thought, but answered nothing to it, for fear of making it worse.

Lord's day; and my wife and I were the first time together at church since the plague, and now only because of Mr. Mills his coming home to preach his first sermon; expecting a great excuse for his leaving the parish before anybody went, and now staying till all are come home; but he made but a very poor and short excuse and a bad sermon. It was a frost, and had snowed last night, which covered the graves in the churchyard, so as I was the less afraid for going through. . . .

...

To the coffee-house, the first time I have been there, where very full, and company it seems hath been there all the plague time.

Lord's day. Some of our maydes sitting up late last night Diary: the to get things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the city. So I rose and slipped on my night-gown, and went to her window, and thought it to be on the back-side of Market lane at the farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enough off; and so went to bed again and to sleep. About seven rose again to dress myself, and there looked out at the window, and saw the fire not so much as it was and further off. So to my closet to set things to rights after yesterday's cleaning. By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that about 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and it was now burning down all Fish street, by London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places, Sir J. Robertson's little son going up there with me; and there I did see the houses at that end of the Bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side and end of the Bridge; which, among other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the Bridge.

So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begun this morning in the king's baker's house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned

St. Magnus' Church and most part of Fish street already. So I went to the water-side, and there got a boat and through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. Poor Michell's house, as far as the old Swan, already burned that way, and the fire running further, that in a very little time it got as far as the Steele-yard, while K. was there. Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging them into the river or bringing them onto lighters that lay off; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another. And among other things, the poor pigeons, I perceived, were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and balconies till some of them burned their wings and fell down.

Having staid, and in an hour's time seen the fire rage every way, and nobody, to my sight, endeavouring to quench it, but to remove their goods, and leave all to the fire, and having seen it get as far as the Steele-yard, and the wind mighty high and driving it into the city; and everything, after so long a drought, proving combustible, even the very stones of churches, and among other things the poor steeple by which pretty Mrs.

lives, and whereof my old schoolfellow Elborough is parson, taken fire in the very top, and there burned till it fell down I to White Hall (with a gentleman with me who desired to go off from the Tower, to see the fire, in my boat); to White Hall, and there up to the king's closet in the chappel, where people come about me, and I did give them an account. dismayed them all, and the word was carried in to the king.

So I was called for, and did tell the king and the duke of Yorke what I saw, and that unless his Majesty did command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire. They seemed much troubled, and the king commanded me to go to my lord mayor from him, and command him to spare no houses, but to pull down before the fire every way. The duke of Yorke bid me tell him that if he would have any more soldiers he shall; and so did my Lord Arlington afterwards, as a great secret. Here meeting with Captain Cocke, I in his coach which he lent me, and Creed with me to Paul's, and