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OLD SAINT PAUL'S
_A TALE OF THE PLAGUE AND THE FIRE_
BY WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
The portion of the ensuing Tale relating to the Grocer of Wood-street,and his manner of victualling his house, and shutting up himself and hisfamily within it during the worst part of the Plague of 1665, is foundedon a narrative, which I have followed pretty closely in most of itsdetails, contained in a very rare little volume, entitled,"_Preparations against the Plague, both of Soul and Body_," theauthorship of which I have no hesitation in assigning to DEFOE. Indeed,I venture to pronounce it his masterpiece. It is strange that thismatchless performance should have hitherto escaped attention, and thatit should not have been reprinted with some one of the countlessimpressions of the "_History of the Plague of London_," to which itforms an almost necessary accompaniment. The omission, I trust, will berepaired by Mr. HAZLITT the younger, DEFOE'S last and best editor, inhis valuable edition of the works of that great novelist and politicalwriter, now in the course of publication. It may be added, that a caseprecisely similar to that of the Grocer, and attended with the samehappy results, occurred during the Plague of Marseilles, in 1720.
For my acquaintance with this narrative, as well as for the suggestionof its application to the present purpose, I am indebted to my friend,Mr. JAMES CROSSLEY, of Manchester.