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48
The polite practice of giving a lady the wall was then a real
benefit. Among other evils, Oldham, writing in the time of
Charles II., describes the disgusting practice of emptying
chamber utensils from bedroom windows, a practice which
prevailed at least until the time of Hogarth. And not only
so, but the nuisances of a house were frequently deposited in
the street for removal by scavengers, and the well which
received the house drainage was emptied, when necessary, by
the contents being pumped into the street. Before quitting
this unsavoury topic, it may be remarked that the Fleet ditch
remained an open sewer up to the year 1737.
It is difficult to imagine a more unsatisfactory state of
affairs, and the marvel is not so much that the Metropolis
was frequently subject to the ravages of the plague, as that it
was ever free from an epidemic. No means exist of accurately
estimating the population of London, for no census was taken
until the commencement of the present century, nor was any
attempt made at a systematic registration of births and deaths
until the present reign, except by the compilation of weekly
bills of mortality by the voluntary agency of the parish
clerks.
Although the Great Plague occurred twenty years previously
to the creation of the Parish of St. James, and therefore
may be somewhat beside these remarks, yet the figures
relating to this calamity are so suggestive as to justify some
brief reference to the event, which, from a Metropolitan and
domestic point of view, stands out with ghastly prominence
as the most frightful visitation of the century. The bills of
mortality record no fewer than 97,306 deaths from plague
during the visitation of 1665, but this was probably below the
actual number, as it can scarcely be conceived that accuracy
was observed when deaths were occurring by thousands every
week, and sextons and parish clerks were numbered among
the dead. Sir William Petty estimated the population of the