It was inevitable that in the breakdown of trade and civil authority, and in a time of widespread hunger, that crime would increase. Serious crime, including murder, was widely reported, but the author is skeptical of these accounts. He believes that murder was unlikely, and even unnecessary, in a time when imminent and sudden death was otherwise so prevalent. In fact, the author proves himself a very discerning analyst of what we now call urban legends, noting the patterned similarity in so many of these tales and the fact that they were always said to take place at the other end of town.
Petty crime, and crimes of opportunity, on the other hand, were indeed widespread, and he concludes this episode with an account of a visit to his brother’s warehouse, where he found women from the neighborhood making off with stylish “high-crowned” hats, which, they claimed, no longer had an owner.
[For notes on the main themes of the novel, visit https://londonplague.com/postscript/. To see some ways in which our reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic are anticipated in the Journal, see https://londonplague.com/concordance/.]
Credits:
Podcast produced by Sam Brelsfoard.
Music from Funeral Sentences of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), performed by the Choir of Clare College at the University of Cambridge, Timothy Brown conducting. Used by permission.
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