First, that there shall be about the city two houses and no more allowed to serve for the use of the common stage plays; of the which houses one shall be in Surrey, in that place which is commonly called the Bankside, or thereabouts, and the other in Middlesex.... It is likewise ordered that the house of Allen shall be allowed to be one of the two houses, and namely for the house to be allowed in Middlesex. And for the other, allowed to be on Surrey side, their Lordships are pleased to permit to the company of players that shall play there, to make their own choice which they will have, choosing one of them and no more. And especially is it forbidden that any stage plays shall be played (as sometimes they have been) in any common inn for public assembly in or near about the city.
Secondly, forasmuch as these stage plays by the multitude of houses and company of players have been too frequent, not serving for recreation, but inviting and calling the people daily from their trade and work to misspend their time; it is likewise ordered that the two several companies of players, assigned unto the two houses allowed, may play each of them in their several house twice a week and no oftener; and especially that they shall refrain to play on the sabbath day, upon pain of imprisonment and further penalty; and that they shall forbear altogether in the time of Lent and likewise at such time and times as any extraordinary sickness or infection of disease shall appear to be in or about the city.
Thirdly, because these orders will be of little force and effect unless they be duly put into execution, it is ordered that several copies shall be sent to the Lord Mayor of London and to the Justices of the Peace of the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, and that letters should be written to them straightly charging them to see the execution of the same by committing to prison the owners of playhouses and players who shall disobey and resist these orders.
A PLAGUE ORDER (1593).
Since the Great Plague of 1665 there has been no similar outbreak in this country, but before that year plagues were of comparatively frequent occurrence. Despite the enormous loss of life which these pestilences caused, no effective measures were taken to prevent their recurrence. Although the outbreaks were by no means confined to the towns, they appear invariably to have commenced there, and the blame was usually attached to immigrants, or to the importation of infected foreign goods. The conditions in the towns, particularly London, were so utterly insanitary that infectious diseases were positively encouraged, and the annals of London contain periodical accounts of disastrous visitations such as the one described by Stow as occurring in 1603. The early literature concerning the Plague is not very illuminating, and we get very few details as to treatment. The chief points of the regulations which were issued on the occasion of every serious outbreak appear to be isolation of infected persons and special attention to sanitation. These measures, of course, are exactly those which are adopted at the present day; but it seems that, excellent though the regulations themselves might be, they were very imperfectly enforced, and we are almost entirely in the dark as to the treatment accorded to the sufferers and the remedies, if any, which were found to prove at all effective.
Sources.—(a) Lansdowne MSS.,
Malone Society, Collections, 1., ii., xix;
(b) Stow,Annals, p. 857.
(a) 1593. Orders to be sett downe by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London for taking awaie such enormities as be meanes not only to continue but increase the plague and disorders of the Citie; being taken out of the proclamations set out by the Citie and the articles sett downe for providing for the poor and setting them to work.
Aldermen or their Deputies.
1. To give charge to Churchwardens, Constables, Parish Clerks and Bedells to enquire what houses be infected.
2. To visit the ward often to see orders observed, especially touching cleanness in the streets.