Full three and twenty years had now elapsed; no trace of the Sweating Sickness had shewn itself anywhere in this long interval, and England had by its rapid advancement assumed quite another aspect[727] when the old enemy of that people again, and for the last time, burst forth in Shrewsbury, the capital of Shropshire[728]. Here, during the spring, there arose impenetrable fogs from the banks of the Severn, which, from their unusually bad odour, led to a fear of their injurious consequences[729]. It was not long before the Sweating Sickness suddenly broke out on the 15th of April. To many it was entirely unknown or but obscurely recollected; for, amidst the commotions of Henry’s reign, the old malady had long since been forgotten. The visitation was so very general in Shrewsbury and the places in its neighbourhood, that every one must have believed that the atmosphere was poisoned, for no caution availed, no closing of the doors and windows, every individual dwelling became an hospital, and the aged and the young, who could contribute nothing towards the care of their relatives, alone remained unaffected by the pestilence[730]. The disease came as unexpectedly and as completely without all warning as it had ever done on former occasions; at table, during sleep, on journeys, in the midst of amusement, and at all times of the day; and so little had it lost of its old malignity, that in a few hours it summoned some of its victims from the ranks of the living, and even destroyed others in less than one[731]. _Four and twenty hours_, neither more nor less, _were decisive as to the event_; the disease had thus undergone no change. In proportion as the pestilence increased in its baneful violence, the condition of the people became more and more miserable and forlorn; the townspeople fled to the country, the peasants to the towns; some sought lonely places of refuge, others shut themselves up in their houses. Ireland and Scotland received crowds of the fugitives. Others embarked for France or the Netherlands; but security was nowhere to be found; so that people at last resigned themselves to that fate which had so long and heavily oppressed the country. Women ran about negligently clad, as if they had lost their senses, and filled the streets with lamentations and loud prayers; all business was at a stand; no one thought of his daily occupations, and the funeral bells tolled day and night, as if all the living ought to be reminded of their near and inevitable end[732]. There died, within a few days, nine hundred and sixty of the inhabitants of Shrewsbury, the greater part of them robust men and heads of families; from which circumstance we may judge of the profound sorrow that was felt in this city. SECT. 2.—EXTENSION AND DURATION.