Then came a hard frost, and it was thought that the
germs would all be killed, but it broke out again in the following June
with 19 deaths, July 56, August 77, September 24, and October 14, and
then the plague died out--possibly because there were very few people
left. During all this time Eyam had been isolated from the rest of the
world, for if a villager tried to get away he was at once driven back,
and for any one to go there was almost certain death. The Earl of
Devonshire, who nobly remained at Chatsworth all the time, sent
provisions periodically to a certain point where no one was allowed to
pass either inwards or outwards. At this time even the coins of the
realm were considered to be infectious, and large stones hollowed out
like basins, which probably contained some disinfectant, were placed
between Eyam and the villages which traded with them. Meantime the
rector of Eyam, whose name was Mompesson, stood his ground like a true
hero, ministering to his parishioners; and, although his wife contracted
the disease and died, and though he referred to himself as "a dying
man," yet was he mercifully preserved; so too was the Rev. Thomas
Stanley, who had been ejected from the rectory after eighteen years'
service because he would not subscribe to the Corporation Act of 1661.
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