)i?^o^-y^ ¦ - AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCES AT BILSTON, IN THE COUNTY OF STAFFORD, DURING THE AWFUL VISITATION IN THAT TOWN CHOLERA, IN THE MONTHS OF AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, 1832; TO WHICH ARE ADDED, THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH, A LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS FOR THE «sin?F ( .OF THE INHABITANTS, TOGETHER WITH THE APPLICATION OF THE MONEy, AND OTHER INTERESTING PARTICULARS. ,'•> /U/i . BY THE REV. W. LEIGH, A.M., WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND INCUMBENT or BILSTON. WOLVERHAMPTON . PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM PARKI,, 18, HIGH STKLIVI SOLD ALSO BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON : AND ALL OTHER BOOK SULFUR 1 - 1833. BY THE AUTHOR TO THE CLOTHING OF SUCH CHILDREN AT THE CHOLERA ORPHAN SCHOOL, AS MAY ATPEAR TO HIM THE MOST DESERVING, AMrt£/ KbH Ls^o- IS^"3 ROYAL, NOBLE, AND GENEROUS BENEFACTORS, WHO CAME FORWARD SO PROMPTLY AND SO CHARITABLY TO THE RELIEF OF THE INHABITANTS OF BILSTON, DURING THE LATE AWFUL VISITATION, THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED WITH THE MOST PROFOUND RESPECT AND GRATITUDE, r. v THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. In publishing the following Narrative, the Autho has been anxious to lessen, in some degree, th heavy debt which he is conscious that he has con tracted with the British nation. He has deemed due to the public, as well as himself, to lay befoi them all the particulars which urged him, during th late awful visitation at Bilston, to appeal to their hi nanity in terms so earnest, and so supplicating. H ms also been desirous that they should know th nagnificent amount of their alms on that distress ul occasion, and how they have been appliec These are the Author's motives; he seeks neithe ame nor fortune from the performance of his melan choly task ; it has been attempted in the discharge of a solemn duty, and whether executed ill or well, le most respectfully assures his readers that it is a faithful, and so far a valuable Record of suffering and benevolence seldom equalled, never perhaps exceeded in the annals of English history. ERRATA. Page 8, line 19, insert named Elizabeth Smith after widow. ¦ 30, last line, for gentleman, read gentlemen. 40, last line, for Brereton, read Brueton. Appendix, No. 1, page 1' — for J. Davies, read S. Davies. ¦ for W. Waterhouse, read T. M. Waterhouse. for T. Turton, read R. Turton. for T. Cooper, read R. Cooper. — — — ——— — — for T. Procter, read F. C. Procter. — —— page 9—9 — for Boulton, read Bolton. — — — — — — — for Cooke, read Crook. No. 3, page 46 — for Genesle, Rev. Maximilian, read Geneste, Rev. Maximilian 48 — for Freer, R. L. Esq., read Freer, Rev. R. L. i 73- for £6283 17s. 7d., read £6283 7s. 7d. NARRATIVE. In entering upon my sad task, I am anxious to remove from the minds of the public an impression that no precautions were taken to avert the dreadful calamity which visited Bilston in the months of August and September, 1832. This is but an act of justice to the inhabitants, — and the following statement from the Town's Book, the directions contained in which were strictly observed, will shew that they were not so inattentive to the discharge of their duties, in this matter, as may have been supposed : — " Bilston, Vestry Room, March 8, 1832. "At a Public Meeting of the Inhabitants, held at the School House this day, pursuant to public notice thereof given in the Chapel on Sunday last, by William Salter, Parish Clerk, and by notices affixed at the gates of the Chapels of St. Leonard and St. Mary on the same day, in the following words — ' I hereby give notice that a Meeting of the Inhabitants will be held at the School House, on Thursday next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, to take into consideration the necessity of forming a Board of Health in this Township, in consequence of the grievous disease with which it has pleased Almighty God to visit various parts of the kingdom' — " The Rev. W. Leigh in the Chair ; " Resolved unanimously, " That it appears to this Meeting that the general health of n 2 re Township is so good that there is no necessity for establishing Board of Health, at least under the present circumstances. 11 That the Medical Gentlemen of the Township be requested to give the earliest information to the Chairman of this Meeting, should the Cholera unhappily present itself in this place or neighbourhood, and that he is hereby authorised and empowered to call a Public Meeting of the Inhabitants by handbill, immediately after the receipt of such information. " That a copy of the above resolution be forwarded by the Vestry Clerk to each of the Medical Practitioners within the Township. 1" That the Surveyors of the Turnpike-roads and Highways, ad all other Public Officers of the Township, be earnestly reuestedto use their utmost endeavours to remove filth and all other uisances which may come under their notice. " (Signed) W. LEIGH, Chairman." Such was Bilston in the month of March, 1832; and, God be praised, it is generally in the same healthy state. Situated in that part of the country abounding with valuable mines of lime, coal, and ironstone, and in the very centre of them, it is completely enveloped with fire and smoke arising from the numberless coke fires, furnaces, and other erections necessary for carrying on the important and extensive operations connected with them. The population within the distance of five miles cannot be computed at less than 150,000 persons, Bilston itself containing 14,700,* nearly all of whom gain their daily bread by their daily labour. Nevertheless, epidemic or malignant diseases seldom make their appearance, and both men and women live to a good old age. There are several circumstances to which this favourbble condition of the inhabitants may in some mea- • See Appendix, No. 2, page 23. 3 ure be attributed. The town is built upon a rising ground, and from the water having been drawn off or the purpose of getting the mines, is perfectly dry ; he streets for the most part are wide and open, and lie houses, even in the courts and back yards, with few exceptions, not so closely crowded' together as might be expected in a manufacturing district. The Birmingham and Staffordshire canal passes through tie w T hole extent of the township, and a narrow brook uns across it, yet I never heard either the one or the ther, till the late awful visitation, named as the ause of illness. There are other advantages enjoyed Dy the poor which must not be forgotten ; amidst the rost and snow of winter, they may keep themselves warm at the lowest possible expence ; and when the oal and iron trades flourish, those who are disposed o work may have employment, with wages amply sufficient to feed them well, and make them comfortable — and if they are sober, prudent, and industrious, !) enable them to lay up something against the wants nd infirmities of their declining years. This I rieve to say was not the case in March, 1832, trade eing then in a most depressed state, labour scarce, and wages very low. But even at that time the poor were, beyond all comparison, better off than in the years 1816 and 1817. I will now add a few words as to the moral condition of my parishioners. Amongst the very lowest of the people, vice and profligacy, immorality and impiety, present themselves in all their dreadful varieties ; but so far as my observation goes, the same scenes are witnessed in other places simitViati 4 any r»f +V»a •nAirrViTiniTrinrr frowns Tf ie a mntli vlluill Cv'-'-J yJi. LUC IH.IL^UMWUI ILll^ IUVVIIB. it 1O a XIHJDI/ painful reflection to a serious mind that such is the lamentable fact, and every good Christian will offer up his prayers to the Throne of Grace for the moral and religious improvement of the poor in this and every other district. Much has been done to forward this blessed change ; much, very much, still remains undone. I must not, however, pursue this subject farther, important as I know it to be, and intimately connected as it is, not only with the best interests of the poor themselves, but also of the whole community. From the Bth of March till the first week in August, the general health of the inhabitants continued good, and it was fondly hoped that the pestilence would not visit us. Apprehensions indeed were excited about the middle of June, by the information that the disease had commenced its fatal work in the neighbouring parish of Tipton, and diligent enquiries were made from day to day of its progress among the people. Still we were mercifully spared, the mortality not exceeding its usual average. In May the deaths amounted to 23, in June to 31, and in July to 25. On the 29th of July was Bilston Wake. This feast was formerly kept on the 6th of November, (St. Leonard's Day), from which Saint the Parish Church, when consecrated, received its name. The time was changed in 1781 to the Sunday following St. James's Day, that being a more convenient season of the year, many persons even now celebrating the first appointment as well as the second. It must be allowed there are evils, and serious evils, attending these festivals, but there is much real good. The 5 preparation for them amongst the labouring poor is conducive* to their health and comfort ; their dwellings are thoroughly cleaned, and for the most part whitewashed ; they work hard for several previous weeks to purchase for themselves new clothes, new furniture, and an additional supply of food wherewith to regale their children, and relatives, and friends, who never fail to visit them at this particular time. On the Sunday, sermons, in support of the Sunday Schools >elonging to the Established Church, are preached, and collections made to defray the necessary expences of the current year; in Bilston, there is no other und besides this, although the scholars, boys and girls, exceed six hundred. On this day especially, children are brought to the House of God to be baptized, and received into the number of Christ's Church. Throughout the week there are processions of the different benefit societies, of which there are many in this district, and they are very useful. The members are arrayed in their best apparel, and each club is attended by a band of music. After parading the principal streets, they repair (without a single exception I believe) to some place of worship. On the Thursday, seven of them come to my Church, numbering nearly one thousand persons. It is to be hoped that the Word of God then preached may, by the aid of His Holy Spirit, have an abiding influence on some of the hearers, turn them from the paths of sin into the ways of righteousness, lead them for the future to the House of Prayer, shew them the comfort as well as the duty of worshipping their Maker, and impart to them a longing desire to receive in- 6 Eon in the faith of their Redeemer, that faith alone can save them from eternal death. lam lined, however, to confess that these holy services are too frequently followed by scenes of iniquity which it is most distressing to witness, by profaneness, and drunkenness, and debauchery, by that brutal and disgraceful sport (if sport it can be called) 3ull-baiting. This inhuman practice, lam thankful to add, is now confined to the very refuse and outcasts of society, and it is devoutly to be wished that even they may soon forsake it. The means I would recommend to accomplish this desirable object are, — the encouragement by the higher classes of all the nnocent recreations and amusements of the poor, not their abridgment or denial; kind treatment and conciliating language towards them; an endeavour to render them, under their hard lot, contented, and cheerful, and happy ; to persuade them to what is right and good by sound argument, by friendly and Christian exhortation, and, above all, by setting them a good example. These, with the help of a moral and religious education, are my remedies for putting an end to bull-baiting, not any legislative interference, the very worst instrument, in my humble opinion, that can be employed for such a purpose. If this subject had never been introduced in Parliament, it is the decided conviction of my mind that, at Bilston, the inhuman pursuit would have ceased many years ago, and with this impression I have been led to introduce the preceding remarks. The very depressed state of trade occasioned the Wake to be attended by fewer 7 bers were congregated together. The reflecting part of the community, knowing that the pestilence prevailed in some of the neighbouring parishes, dreaded the consequences, and anxiously awaited the event. Alas ! their fears were too well grounded, for, whether from this or from what other cause God only knows, on Saturday morning, the 4th of August, one of the Medical Practitioners (Mr. Procter, who afterwards perished) waited upon me with the melancholy intelligence that the disease had made its appearance amongst us in the person of Elizabeth Dawson, a married woman living in Temple-street, aged 35. There was some faint hope, however, that this was only a violent attack of English Cholera, brought on >y her having, on the night before, imprudently eaten a hearty sapper of pig's fry, and drunk a considerable quantity of small beer. The hope, thus cherished, soon vanished, for within an hour information was brought to me of two other victims to the disease, Richard Dyke, aged 16, in Bridge-street, and Mary Cleaton, aged 2, in Hall-street. All these situations are close and confined, and at nearly an equal distance (about 200 yards) from the brook, and about 400 yards from each other. The families were very poor, and their dwellings in a filthy state, but I cannot learn that they were leading a profligate life ; nor is there any reason to suppose that they had had any communication with persons from Tipton, or the other neighbouring parishes where Cholera prevailed. There are some peculiar circumstances connected with these cases worthy of notice. Elizabeth Dawson was attacked between ten and eleven o'clock in 8 the night of the 3rd with a sudden relaxation of the bowels ; early the next morning, the husband, William Dawson, not knowing the nature of the com)laint, set off to Eedditch, in Worcestershire, for his wife's mother, Mary Allen, to nurse her. She came )ack with him on the sth in the evening, but about a mile from Bilston, hearing that Elizabeth Dawson was dead and buried, they went to the adjoining >arish of Sedgley, to the house of one White, brother to the deceased. On the Bth they came to Dawson's house. Mary Allen slept that night in the same sheets in which Elizabeth Dawson had died. Two or three days after, both the husband and his motherin-law were attacked, and taken to the Cholera Hospital ; he recovered ; she, on the 12th, perished, aged 77. In the same house died, on the 9th of September, Maria, daughter of William Dawson, aged 17 months. Dawson is a labourer. Between Dawson's house and another, inhabited by a widow and four children, there was a pigstye at that time in a most offensive condition. On the 6th, William Smith, son of the above, perished, aged 18, and on the 7th, two daughters, Maria, aged 13, and Martha, aged 11. William Smith was a puddler. Richard Dyke was buried on the morning of the sth; his father, William Dyke, followed him to the grave; — immediately upon his return home he was taken ill, and died at mid-day on the 6th. They were miners. Amelia, the mother of the child Mary Ann Cleaton, who died on the 4th, died on the 6th, aged 38 years. John Cleaton, the father, perished on the 27th, aged 54 years. They have left an orphan 9 Cleaton was a miner. The particular spots where the pestilence first presented itself are marked upon the map in red, and it is remarkable that deaths by Cholera occurred in the neighbourhood so long as the epidemic remained in the township. Having thus ascertained beyond all doubt the existence of the disease, I hastened to some of my neighbours to assist me in adopting such measures as might be deemed necessary, and the remainder of the day to a late hour was so employed. It was agreed that a meeting of the inhabitants should be called for he following morning after divine service, which was most numerously and respectably attended, and a Soard of Health appointed, subject to the approval of his Majesty's Privy Council. I instantly wrote o have it confirmed, and on Tuesday morning, the 7th, received the following answer :—: — " Central Board of Health, Council Office, Whitehall, " 6th August, 1832. « Sir, " I am directed to transmit to you the enclosed order* of the Lords of the Council appointing a Board of Health at Bilston, in Staffordshire, in conformity with the list of names transmitted in your letter of the sth inst. " I am, Sir, " Your most obedient servant, " (Signed) W. MACLEAN, Sec. " Rev. W. Leigh, Bilston Parsonage, " Staffordshire." On the 6th an arrangement was made with my excellent young friend Mr. Fletcher, the Minister of * See Appendix, No. 1, page 1. 10 St. Mary's, for setting apart a certain portion of the burial ground belonging to that chapel for the interment of persons dying by Cholera. The crowded state of my own church yard rendered this absolutely necessary, and, St. Mary's having been newly consecrated, there was a sufficient space for the purpose. The melancholy and fearful task of consigning to this spot upwards of 400 bodies* was performed by Mr. Fletcher, to whose kind co-operation as Secretary of the Board of Health, as a brother clergyman, and a friend, I am greatly indebted, — it contributed much o lessen my labours and relieve my anxiety. But should be most ungrateful to confine the expression of my thanks to Mr. Fletcher ; lam under the deepest obligations to very many of my parishioners for their valuable assistance and advice throughout this awful visitation. It is impossible to describe in adequate terms the sacrifices they made, and the isks they ran. The poor inhabitants little know iow many hours were daily spent in devising plans or their benefit, what pains were taken to supply iheir wants, to avert the pestilence from their dwelings, and when attacked, to promote their recovery, dare not attempt to particularize individuals by name, lest, by some omission, I should do an act of njustice. I must, therefore, content myself with this general expression of my feelings, and an assurance to one and all, that their unwearied labours, their i;easeless attention, and above all, their kind solicitude or my own health, can never be forgotten. * Upwards of 300 were interred in the burial ground belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists. 11 On the 7th the Board of Health held its first meeting which was attended by most of the respectable inhabitants, it having been stated by me that although everything official must be considered as the act of the members named by his Majesty's Privy Council, yet the presence, and advice, and assistance of all persons at all times would be thankfully accepted. This had a most beneficial result, causing a numerous attendance daily, and enabling the Board to do much that otherwise must have remained undone. For an account of the proceedings from first to last I refer my readers to the Appendix, No. I. They speak for themselves, and will be deemed, I venture to hope, a satisfactory answer to any charge against the higher classes in Bilston for negligence or unconcern. On the Bth and 9th the pestilence gradually increased, though not to a very alarming extent.* On the evening of the 9th the heat from eight o'clock till twelve was most oppressive. On the 10th there was a death in Wynn's Fold,f being the first in that part of the town, the disease taking a westerly direction. On this day the death of George Guest, a miner, aged 57, was attended with the following remarkable circumstances : — His wife, Margaret, was staying at Birmingham when he was attacked ; it was in the night, and his landlady, Elizabeth Share, living at the next door, and hearing the poor man fall out of bed, went in her night dress to assist him. The next day she was seized, and died * See Appendix No. 2., Table 1, page 17. + \f \r A 1 \I ' 11 12 n the 12th, aged 42. Ann Ames, Elizabeth Share's eighbour, went to visit her ; on the 15th she was eized, and died on the 18th, aged 42. Ann Holmes, neighbour of Ann Ames, went to nurse her ; she ied on the 26th, aged 55. Margaret Guest was ttacked, but her life was spared. On this day (the Oth) also died William Hill, a Bricklayer, aged 30. lis wife perished on the 16th, and an infant child n the same day. They have left an orphan daughter named Mary Ann, aged four years. On the 11th died Jane Thornton, the wife of William Thornton, a furnaceman. The case of this unhappy family is most awful and affecting. On the 9th the father and mother and six children were all well. On the 11th the mother died, aged 40; on the 12th the father, aged 40; on the 13th a son named John, aged 11 years ; on the 16th a daughter named Ann, aged six years ; on the 20th a daughter named Mary Ann, aged four years. Another daughter, Susannah, aged 17 years, was attacked and taken to the Cholera Hospital, where, after remaining ten days, she recovered. Two others, Eliza, aged eight years, and an infant, Selina, three weeks old, escaped. Eliza found a place of refuge in the house of Joseph Wilcox, a labourer, where she still remains ; he was a neighbour, but no relation whatever to the family, and had children of his own ; the kindness, therefore, of this poor man to a helpless orphan merits a higher meed than the perishable record here given of it. The preservation of the infant is still more interesting ; but before I relate the affecting circumstances, I beg to assure my 13 readers that every incident mentioned in this narrative is authentic. Assisted by my parishioners, I have investigated every case of suffering by a personal examination of the parties ; have committed the particulars to writing in their presence with my own hand, and have seen substantial relief afforded to each. In this instance the scene which presented itself can never be erased from my memory. A young woman, by name Sarah Cherrington, the wife of Joseph Cherrington, a labouring man, came up amongst others to tell her wretched tale. I said to her " I hope it has not pleased God to deprive you of your husband by the pestilence." She replied, "no Sir, thank God, but I am come to ask fcr something, if you please to give it me, for the baby in my arms." An infant was then sucking at her breast. She continued her simple, but touching story, thus — '* when Jane Thornton died, Sir, I had been delivered about three days of a still-born child. I heard that she had left a baby only three weeks old ; — it was brought to my bed, and I have nursed it ever since as my own." I could not help exclaiming, "God does indeed temper the wind to the shorn lamb!" I looked at the friends around me ; the tears of sympathy rolling down their cheeks, shewed what were their feelings at that moment. The poor, but noble hearted woman and the little innocent hanging at her bosom, seemed the only persons unconscious of what was passing. Sarah Cherrington was not a relative, and had a family of her own ! Whenever this case is brought to my recollection, it appears to 14 many oiners, more iiKy ti ciream or sonic VvorK. 01 fiction, than one of the realities of private life. Near o Thornton's house was a quantity of filth and stagnant water, and close to his back door a pigstye with a pig in it. About this time engines were em)loyed in throwing water through the confined courts and back yards in different parts of the township ; he experiment, however, did not appear to produce any salutary effects, but, in my opinion, the contrary. On the 12th there was the same number of deaths as on the day preceding ; one of them, Mary Corbett, who died aged 47 ; on the 13th her son Kenias died, aged six, and on the 17th her husband, John Corbett, a labourer, aged 42. By this visitation four orphans were left entirely destitute, namely, Leah, aged 12, Caroline, 8, William, 3, and Jemima, six months. The three first were wandering about the street in search of a place of refuge from the pestilence, and from famine, when God, in his great mercy, put it into the hearts of the following humane persons to give them shelter : — Thomas and Hannah Chambers took Leah ; James and Sophia Purslow took Caroline ; John and Bridget Williams took William, and Joseph and Margaret Corbett took Jemima to their own homes. They were all neighbours, but, except the last, in no way related to the deceased, and in such circumstances of life as to require their utmost exertions and industry to support their respective families. It is really delightful to lay before the public these undeniable proofs of kindly feeling and disinterested benevolence amongst the poor in this rude, and as it is sometimes called, uncivilized district. They are 15 examples worthy of imitation by the most enlightened, and are, I am happy to add, of frequent occurrence amongst us. This will scarcely be credited by those who have merely seen the swarthy faces and uncouth dresses of these honest people, in travelling across the country ; but I, who have been in daily and constant intercourse with them for the last twenty years, am sensible of the fact, and knowing how much of my comfort and happiness I owe to their civility and kindness, am glad of an opportunity to acknowledge The 12th was a very hot and sultry day, followed n the night by rain. On the 14th, the pestilence >egan its ravages in Ettingshall-lane,* the western extremity of Bilston, and rather more than a mile from the spot where the first case occurred. William Worrall, a furnace-man, died there, aged 45. Hewas attacked at the house of his son-in-law, Richard Ready, a miner, who lost, within a few days, two children and three apprentices ; the three latter died at the Hospital. During the night of the 14th, there was a violent thunder-storm, after which the air became considerably cooler. On the 15th, a miserably poor family, of the name of Bagley, was most afflictively visited. The father and mother, and three children, were swept away by the disease. William died on the 15th, aged 2 years, John, on the 16th, aged 5, Elizabeth, the mother, on the 19th, aged 34; on the same day, an infant, Henry, aged one month, and on the 20th, the wretched father, Thomas, aged 40. Two children were spared, Thomas, aged 8, and 16 Susan, aged 7. Upon this day commenced a distribution of provisions amongst the poor in bread, and meat, and oatmeal, from a subscription raised amongst the inhabitants to the amount of £206 11s. Id.* On the 16th, it was noticed that no swallows were to be seen, which may perhaps be accounted for by the •emarkable fact that there were no flies. They returned simultaneously, so soon as the extreme violence of the disease had subsided. On the 17th, there was a very melancholy visitation in the family of a poor man named Phillips, a blacksmith. He, his wife, a son, and a daughter, attended the funeral of another son named Walter, seven years of age. On the 20th, the mother, Fanny, perished, aged 48 ; on the 21 st, the father, Edward, aged 55 ; and on the 24th, John, the son, aged 19. A destitute orphan, Elizabeth, aged 16, is left behind. On this day the pestilence commenced dreadful havock in a row of five houses called Sparrow's Works, f It first attacked a blacksmith named John Clarke, aged 51, William Clarke, his son, aged 29, John Dunn, aged 26 ; they all lived in the same house, and died the same day. In another of the houses there were also three deaths, and in each of the others one. The respective families were in comfortable circumstances, but there were three tubs close to the houses at the time, filled with hog-wash, and very offensive, and a branch of the canal runs near to them. The pestilence now pervaded the whole township, and the position of the * See Appendix, No. 3, page 70. t Marked in (he Man in blue 17 inhabitants became, on each succeeding day more alarming. On the 18th, the report at the Board of Health filled us all with consternation.* Coffins could not be made fast enough for the dead. One of the Medical Practitioners had been attacked; the rest were sinking with fatigue from their professional exertions. In this distressing condition I was requested to go instantly to Birmingham, to endeavour to get a supply of coffins, and to consult with Dr. John Johnstone as to the best means of obtaining additional medical aid. I was also solicited to address His Majesty's Privy Council, and implore them to send us help without delay. I lost no time in executing my sad commissions ; I happily found my much valued and respected friend, Dr. Johnstone, at his rooms ; with his wonted kindness he afforded me all possible assistance, and through his recommendation I was enabled to secure the immediate and valuable services of Mr. Blunt, a Surgeon of talent and experience. He came to Bilston the following morning, where he remained in charge of the Hospital till the 14th of September. I hope it will not be unacceptable to this gentleman to be told, in these pages, that, he discharged his perilous duties in a manner highly honourable to himself, most beneficial to the poor, and to the entire satisfaction of the Board of Health. f Having succeeded so far, I Ed upon Mr. Sands Cox, a gentleman to whom town of Birmingham is much indebted for the )lishment of a School of Medicine, and for whose * See Appendix, No. 1, page 6. t See Appendix, No. 1, page 14. 18 prompt and benevolent exertions, in aid of my suffering parishioners, I beg to offer my grateful acknowledgments. He sent us four of his Students on the 20th, and another a few days afterwards ; they continued at Bilston for some weeks, during which time Mr. Cox frequently visited them. On their departure, each received a gratuity of five guineas in addition to his salary, together with a certificate of good conduct.* Mr. Cox also obtained for me a supply of coffins. On my return home I found the number of cases greatly increased, and every thing growing worse. My situation this evening, as the spiritual guide and adviser of my afflicted people, and as a Christian Minister, was truly appalling. The morrow was the Sabbath, the Lord's Day, the day of holy rest, the day when the rich and the poor " take sweet counsel together, and walk in the House of God as friends," the day when Christians of all denominations throughout the habitable world kneel at the Throne of Grace, and with united voices, in the name of their common Saviour, supplicate for support, and protection, and forgiveness. And, gracious Heaven ! was I about to close the doors of the Sanctuary against my dying parishioners in an hour like this ; in an hour when all human skill and human aid were utterly powerless ; when, if ever, the most hardened wretch alive might be prevailed upon to fly to the Cross of Christ for refuge, and for pardon. Was it at such a time, and under such circumstances, that I could refuse to my flock, even for a single Sabbath, the consolations of public worship? I will not * See Appendix No 1 pace 15 19 iipt to describe what it cost me to come to such ;ermination. I seriously considered the step I about to take ; I paused long before I decided, mgth, at eleven o'clock at night, having offered , fervent prayer to the God of all mercies to t me aright, I sent the following address to the err- " To the Inhabitants of Bilston. " August 19, 1832. "It i 3 with extreme pain and reluctance I have prevailed upon myself to announce to you that there will be no public worship this day* in St. Leonard's chapel. In taking this step I am doing great violence to my sense of religious duty as a Christian Minister, and am urged to it only from the awful situation in which we are now placed. Having learned from the highest medical authorities that large assemblages of people congregated together tend more than anything else to spread disease, I have, after much serious reflection, come to the present determination. I hope, however, that all persons bearing the sacred name of Christians will "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." I hope that family worship will not be forgotten on this most solemn occasion ; and that every household throughout the township will, with united prayers and supplications, implore the God of all mercies to turn away from us that grievous calamity with which it has pleased Him to visit us. I especially offer these considerations to my dissenting brethren, and shall be thankful to find that they come to the same conclusion as myself, f My excellent young friend, Mr. Fletcher, coincides with me in opinion, and begs me to say for him that his Chapel will also be closed. " W. LEIGH, Incumbent of Bilston. " N.B. — The Board of Health earnestly entreat the different lodges and benefit societies not to attend for the present any funeral whatever of their respective members. "W. LEIGH, Chairman." * I never had an idea, for a single moment, of repeating this on any future Sabbath. 20 lnis document, as 1 expected, produced an extraordinary sensation amongst the inhabitants, and had, some at least, most salutary effects. From this time they were impressed with the belief that the pestilence was contagious, and consequently with the necessity of using needful precautions, and avoiding all unnecessary risks. This had not been the case previously ; but from what had already occurred at Bilston, and from what occurred afterwards, I have no hesitation in stating that such an impression was very important. Upon the disputed question as to the contagiousness or non-contagiousness of this tremendous scourge, it is not fitting that I should enter; still, the duty I owe society bids me declare that not the smallest doubt remains upon my mind as to its contagiousness in a place where the epidemic exists ; whether, if I had left Bilston at that period with the disease in my frame, and had been attacked in a pure atmosphere, I could there have conveyed it to another person, I will not venture to give an opinion ; Professional and Scientific men will draw their own conclusions. From the date of my address, so long as the pestilence prevailed, the various clubs and benefit societies consented to forego the custom of attending the burials of their respective members. Crowds of people were no longer collected to see the funerals pass along the streets. The relatives and friends of deceased persons were content to have them interred as soon as possible after death. In numberless instances they refrained from performing the last sad office of affection, and did not follow them to the grave at all ; or, if they did, acceded without a murmur 21 to the regulations suggested for their observance. Having seen the bodies consigned to the earth and covered with lime,* they left the burial ground, not waiting to hear the solemn service of the Church, which from that time was only read three times daily, — early in the morning, at noon, and late in the evening. These circumstances, together with the approbation of my parishioners, f were very comforting after the pain I had suffered in closing the House of God. I was prepared to receive reproof for the course I had taken ; I felt it was quite impossible for strangers to know accurately the causes which led to it. Amongst several letters sent to me upon the subject, there are two which I cannot prevail upon myself to withhold from the public eye; the first contains sentiments in themselves so just and so purely Christian that I am sure my readers will be interested in its perusal, and for the insertion of the other I must crave their indulgence, because it is an answer to one addressed by me to the unknown writer, in justification of my conduct, The following are copies ; I cannot add my own, for really when I wrote I had not time to transcribe that or any other letter : — (Copy, No. 1.) " Rev. Sir, " Your letter of the 21st inst., published in the Wolverhampton Chronicle, and from thence copied into a London newspaper, has just met my eye, and I beg you to believe that it is in the spirit of Christian humility that I address you on the subject. Your description of the appalling situation of the inhabitants of Bilston from the violence of the pestilence now raging amongst them, * See Appendix, No. 1, page 6. 22 must command the sympathy of every Christian reader, must ensure your request that his prayers should be put up to the throne of Grace in their behalf. My own, unworthy as they are, have been offered there, and not only for your parishioners, Rev. Sir, but for you, that the crime of closing the gates of the Sanctuary against them may not be laid to your charge. You have not ventured to do this you say, but, ' after much serious reflection,' after consultation with, and in deference to the judgment of the best medical authority, and even then with extreme reluctance ; you go so far as to acknowledge that, in taking this step, ' you are doing great violence to your sense of religious duty as a Christian Minister.' I would not be thought to undervalue human aid, or to disparage the ability, the promptitude, and benevolence with which it is almost universally exercised by gentlemen of the medical profession ; but I would ask if they, in common I fear with the multitude, are not too much inclined to regard second causes, and overlook the first. In what light must the scourge, which is desolating so many parts of the world at the present moment, be considered, but as one of the judgments of the Almighty ? Are we not a sinful nation ! a rebellious people ! and have we not justly provoked His wrath against us ? Do not the events which are taking place around us prove that his arm is uplifted to punish, and wherewith shall we propitiate His offended Majesty ? Shall we trust in an arm of flesh ? Or rather shall we not humble ourselves before Him, confessing our guilt and unworthiness with shame and confusion of face ? And where, Rev. Sir, are we bidden to offer our petitions ? — in private most assuredly as individuals, but, as a people, as the Church of God, and in deprecation of a public calamity, are we not expressly told in His Word, and in circumstances peculiarly corresponding with the situation of Bilston, to put up our petitions in His Holy Emple. (Vide Ist Kings, c. 8, v. 37 — 39 ; 2nd Chron., c. 20, v. 2nd Chron., c. 7, v. 13—16 ; 2nd Chron., c. 6, v. 28—30 ; Kings, c. 9, v. 3.) Reflect, I beseech you, on the awful responsibility you are incurring by thus depriving your flock of the privilege and consolation of public worship. Is the arm of the Lord shortened that it cannot save ? Or is His power or His wisdom diminished, that we should dare to pursue a path directly contrary to that which He has appointed as (he means of obtaining 23 mercy. I would venture to suggest whether it would not be more befitting the present crisis to throw wide open the gates of the Lord's House, to invite the people to consider their ways, and to turn unto the Lord. Peradventure he may listen to their voice, when He beholds their contrition, and may turn again and bless them. Should it please Him to bless my weak endeavour to direct your attention to this subject, so as to procure again for your perishing flock the spiritual food which your resolution has deprived them of, I will bless and praise His holy name, — for what am I that the Lord should regard my petition but one of the weakest of His children, that am not worthy to be called a child. R enclose £10, which I shall be obliged if you will employ in lief of your poor sufferers ; and again I request you to } that in what has been offered to your consideration, if I my own heart in this matter, presumption has had no part, acknowledging its receipt, directed to A. C. D., Post-office, to be left till called for, will oblige " Yours, &c. "August 29, 1832." (Copy, No. 2.) " Rev. and respected Friend, " I have your answer to mine of the 29th August, and I thank you that, in the midst of avocations so momentous as yours are at present, you should have devoted any portion of your time to the fulfilment of my request. From your letter, I think it appears that the consolation of public worship has been withheld from your flock only for a single Sabbath : had I understood from your statement in the Wolverhampton Chronicle that the privation was intended to be so temporary, I would not have obtruded my feelings and sentiments on the subject upon your attention; particularly as I agree with you that ' the desolation of a Sabbath, in which the assembling together of God's people is prevented, must have an awful and startling influence on every mind not totally dead to religious feeling.' I trust you will accept my having so misconstrued your statement as an apology for my interference. Ido not say I regret it ; it has led me to reflect on my own undeservingness, to acknowledge that we here have no claim to the forbearance of the Almighty beyond those whom in His wisdom 24 He has seen fit to try in so fiery a furnace, — and to implore Him earnestly that the awful infliction you are now suffering may be in love and mercy, however bitter for the present. Should we be visited here, and it is more than suspected that the plague has already reached our suburbs, I entreat your prayers in our behalf; and we know that the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I accept with pleasure your appellation of a dear friend, and should I never realize it personally here, I trust we shall meet in perfect love hereafter. In this blessed hope I subscribe myself " Your very sincere friend, " A. C. D. " I beg you to accept a further contribution of £5 for your poor parishioners ; it should be more were my power equal to my wishes for the mitigation of their sufferings. I will not tax you for a reply ; — before, I feared if the address would ensure my letter reaching you. I shall look with strong interest to the public prints for a report, and I trust a favourable issue will be accorded to our joint petitions. « Bath, 6th September, 1832." Before I attempt to relate the occurrences of the following week, a week which no resident at Bilston can ever forget, and of which none but residents can form the slighest conception, I must call the attention of my readers to the death of Thomas Lear, a miner, aged 39, a poor but very industious man. On the morning of Monday, the 13th, he found himself unwell from a relaxation in his bowels, and went to the Hospital for advice. The Surgeon in charge gave him medicine, with a direction to take it immediately. Having a large family of children (three under nine years of age) to support by his daily labour, and suffering no pain, he said to his wife on his return, *' my wench,* the Doctor has given me some physic, 25 out i. won t taK.e it till ounoiay \ tnee Know st 1 chu t spare the time." She endeavoured to persuade him to do as he had been ordered, but in vain. He continued to go to his work as usual, with the bowel complaint upon him, but still without pain. On the Thursday evening he came home for the last time ; on the Friday he was seized with cramps and vomiting, and on the Saturday he was buried. I wish this unfortunate case could be known far and wide — it shews so clearly the extreme importance of checking the disease in its beginning. Had not the bowel complaint been neglected, in all human probability the man's life would have been saved; and the lives of very many more, under the same lamentable circumstances. The poor are apt to estimate the amount of danger by the amount of pain, and so long as pain is absent, they consider themselves safe. This fatal mode of reasoning was too evident at Bilston, and I cannot help attributing the excess of deaths amongst the lower classes to this, rather than their poverty, or habits of living. Undoubtedly, irregular habits would render them more susceptible of the disease, but an inattention to the premonitory symptoms renders a recovery, in its more advanced stages, almost hopeless. The difficulty of impressing this truth upon the minds of the poor was not removed till a Dispensary had been opened, where they might apply for instant relief, free of all cost, m case of any relaxation in the bowels. On this day, the 18th, I have to record the distressing case of an orphan family named Onions. The father, George Onions, a roll-turner, died, aged 31. The 26 mother, Diana, died on the 25th, aged 36. In the same house, and on the same day, also a lodger, named Charles Lloyd, died, aged 56. They lived in Sparrow's Works. Five young and destitute children are left to bewail their loss, namely, William, aged 10, James, 7, Ann, 5, Joseph, 3 years, and Mary, seven months. These poor little orphans were instantly received, and are still most humanely taken care of by their uncle and aunt, William and Mary Onions, who lived in the same row, and had lost a child and a nephew by the pestilence. On this day also perished, Job Broadhouse Davis, a brassfounder, aged 67. He was employed at the Provision House in carrying bread and meat to the houses of the sick, in one of which, it is apprehended, that he caught the disease. On the 17th, he was in perfect health. On the 19th I rose from my bed with a heavy heart, and had not long been down stairs before Mr. Blunt, who had just arrived from Birmingham to enter upon his perilous duties, called for my advice. He had been at the Hospital, where he found every thing in the utmost confusion ; the person in charge, appalled by his situation, during the preceding night had run away ; the Nurses could not direct him where to find what he wanted for the wretched patients. Under these distressing circumstances no time was to be lost. I well knew the condition of the Medical Gentlemen, and that from them no help could be expected. I hastened, therefore, with Mr. Blunt to the residences of two respectable Druggists, Mr. Bew and Mr. White, to both of whom the poor of Bilston can 27 never be sufficiently grateful for their constant and humane attention, from the first appearance of the disease to the time of its departure. Mr. Bew was ill in bed from fatigue ; Mr. White kindly accompanied Mr. Blunt to the Hospital, and afforded him every possible assistance. This mournful intelligence respecting the young man deeply affected me. Nobody knew whither he had fled ; I trembled lest he should have carried away with him the seeds of disease and death to some place not yet infected. At this moment, too, the address to my flock was circulating amongst them ; the bells of the Church were silent at my bidding ; the gates of the Temple were shut by my direction. It was indeed a sad beginning of this melancholy day. At length the hour for family worship was at hand, and it came with " healing on its wings." My own household was joined by Mr. Fletcher, and a family very dear both to me and mine. I called to mind those gracious words of the Redeemer, " where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." I believed the truth of this precious promise ; I felt its power ; I knew that God was amongst us ; I knew that "• in His wrath He remembereth mercy ;" I knew that He listens to the prayers of all those who ask faithfully " in His Son's name." In that name we offered up our fervent petitions for pardon and deliverance. I then read a sermon from the 7th verse of the Ist chapter of Nahum : — " The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him." As I proceeded, I found myself strengthened, 28 and comforted both in body and soul. The same spiritual consolation was mercifully vouchsafed to me at the evening service, and I humbly hope was shared by my whole flock, who, I am thankful to state, after diligent inquiry, observed this memorable day in the most devout and reverential manner. Upon this Sabbath, Somerset Wall died, a labourer, and driver of the carriage for conveying Cholera patients from their dwellings to the Hospital. It is feared that this unfortunate man was a martyr to his own imprudence. He had been repeatedly warned not to expose himself to danger unnecessarily, and on no account to ride with the sick, but walk by the side of his horse ; the advice was not followed, and he perished in the 40th year of his age. He was a tall stout man, and in perfect health when he entered upon his fatal employment. On the 20th, I was requested to visit Birmingham again to procure more medical aid,* the resident Surgeons having sent a notice to the Board of Health, expressing a total inability to attend to the poor any longer. This was not unexpected, and was met by an unanimous vote of thanks to all and each of those gentlemen for their valuable services,f a mark of approbation justly due for the faithful discharge of their perilous and difficult duties. I succeeded in obtaining additional assistance, and had the happiness of seeing the young man who left the Hospital so suddenly, and learning from him that he was with his relations in perfect health. A very distressing case occurred this day in the death of Ann Shepherd, aged 42. In * See Appendix No. 1 page 7. f Ibid. 29 the absence of her husband, James Shepherd, who had gone to seek employment at Newcastle-upon- Tyne, and in the laudable endeavour to help him in supporting herself and two young children, she engaged as a Nurse at the Hospital. On the 19th, she asked permission to attend the funeral of Hannah North, a particular friend; when she reached the house, finding that the body had not been put into the coffin, and that the neighbours were afraid to go near it, she ventured to perform the fearful office. Immediately after the burial she returned to the Hospital, and complained to the Surgeon in charge that she was ill. He ordered her to be bled, but she said she would first go home and take off her mourning. Alas ! she never left her home again, and before morning was a corpse ! There were several showers in the course of this day, but without thunder. On the 21st, the following letter from the Lords of the Council, in answer to my application for medical help, afforded great relief and comfort to my parishioners ; — a numerous body of them was assembled at the School House, anxious to know " Council Office, Whitehall, 20th Aug., 1832. " Sir, " Your letter of yesterday, addressed to the Secretary of the Central Board of Health, having been laid before the Lords of the Council, as containing a distressing representation of the ravages caused by the Cholera in the town of Bilston, I am directed by their Lordships to acquaint you that Dr. Macann, a Medical Officer of great experience in the treatment of the disease, and possessing the fullest confidence of the Central Board, has been ordered to proceed without delay to Bilston, and to place himself 30 for the purpose of affording his best advice in the emergency. " Dr. Macann will be followed, in the course of a day or two, by a younger Medical Gentleman, to act as an Assistant. " I have the honor to be, Sir, 11 Your very obedient servant, " (Signed) WM. L. BATHURST " The Rev. W. Leigh, Bilston, " Staffordshire." Till we received this cheering communication our spirits were sinking at the prospect before us ; indeed our situation was become truly appalling. A very nadequate description of it is given in the following etter, which I addressed to the Editor of the Wolverhampton Chronicle, and which I now lay before my readers as an indispensable part of this nar- 11 Parsonage, Bilston, Aug. 21, 1832. " Sir, " The state of Bilston continues frightful in the extreme, without any abatement of the disease whatever. Our distress has been increased by want of medical aid, all our professional gentlemen having been worn out by fatigue and exertion. So long as they had the strength they were most active, and we feel much indebted to them. Since Saturday, by the kindness of some of the Medical Gentlemen in Birmingham, especially Mr. S. Cox, we have had aid from that place. We have also written to the Central Board, and the Lords of the Council will send us a Physician from Town. When and where this most awful visitation will end God only knows ; here it is unhappily increased by the wretched condition of the poor. We help their starving state in the best way we can. We relieved last week from a subscription raised amongst the inhabitants, 814 families, and we are still proceeding with the same good work, our fund amounting to £200.* It has been quite impossible to transmit a correct list of cases to the Central Board, the Medical Gentleman not having had time to * £206 11s. Id.— See Appendix, No. 3. p^pe 70. 31 make them out. But this I may say with truth, and I tremble whilst I give you the statement, that from the 3rd of this month up to this morning there have been 1,200 cases of Cholera, and 240 deaths, within the township of Bilston.* In this wretched situation I earnestly implore the prayers of your readers to Almighty God on our behalf. Under the sanction of the highest Medical Authorities in Birmingham, I came to the painful resolution of closing my Church on Sunday last, to prevent the congregating together of the people, nothing tending so much to spread the disease. A copy of my address to the inhabitants on this melancholy subject I have enclosed for you.f Those who know me will sympathize with me in my distress, in thus feeling compelled to forego the comfort of public worship myself, and depriving my afflicted flock of the same consolation. " (Signed) W. LEIGH, Incumbent of Bilston." On the 22nd, at the meeting of the Board of Health, the death of Frederick Charles Procter, one of the Surgeons, was announced. This gentleman was a widower, 29 years of age, in full health and vigour, and there is not the least doubt but that he fell a victim to his humane exertions amongst the poor, to none of whom he refused his services so long as his strength remained, whether they were likely to pay him or not. This is the more worthy of being recorded, because his circumstances were far from good ; indeed he died insolvent, leaving behind him one child, an interesting little girl, seven years of age, without a single relation able to assist in supporting her. She has since found an asylum at Christ's Hospital, and is one of the scholars upon that establishment at Hertford, having been nominated thereto by Sir John Key, Bart., the late Lord * For a correct statement, see Appendix, No. 2, page 17. 32 Mayor of London. The particulars of this appointment shew so forcibly the Merciful Providence of God towards this destitute orphan, that I cannot forbear relating them. Amongst the many and valuable correspondents to whom the late awful visitation has introduced me, there is not one to whom I consider myself more deeply indebted, or whom I am more anxious to be permitted to call my friend, than the Rev. Thomas Dale, the Minister of St Matthew's Chapel, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, and Lecturer of St. Sepulchre, London. This gentleman's kindness is so closely connected with the subject matter of these pages, that I hope for his pardon in thus giving his name to the public, and making such extracts from his interesting letters as I may deem necessary for my purpose. I received the first early in October, containing the following humane and acceptable offer : — " * * * * We have in connexion with St. Matthew's Chapel, Denmark Hill, in Brixton District of Lambeth Parish (of which I am Minister) a small Charity School for twenty children, supported by the congregation at the Chapel, which is highly affluent and respectable. In this School four girls, not under twelve years of age, are clothed, lodged, and boarded, until suitable situations can be procured for them. We have at present one vacancy, and previously to entertaining any applications from the immediate neighbourhood, I have been authorised by the Ladies' Committee to apprise you, that they would be willing to take the entire charge of one of your many orphan children, a girl between the ages of 12 and 14, maintaining her until qualified for serintendence 33 and establishment in life. They would take upon themselves all the expences of her outfit and journey to London, only requesting that you would exercise your discretion in the selection of an object, and stipulating that they should have the liberty of returning her within a given period, at her own expence, if found untractable and unmanageable, engaging to receive another similarly circumstanced, and at a suitable age." I need not add that this charitable offer was most gratefully accepted, and a helpless orphan named Rebecca Sutton, whose sad case will be mentioned presently, is now reaping the benefit of it. But it was not likely that a correspondence, with this beginning, should stop here — nor did it ; it led to the interchange of many communications between us, relating, on my part, to the sufferings of my flock, and on Mr. Dale's, to the expression of his solicitude to relieve them. From one of the latter I copy the following extract ; I had been previously describing the hapless condition of Mr. Procter's child, upon which Mr. Dale writes thus : — " In conversation, yesterday, with Sir John Key, the late Lord Mayor, (who is one of my congregation at Denmark Hill), he mentioned that he had at his disposal a presentation for a girl to Christ's Hospital, Hertford, which he held over, that he might dispose of it to that applicant who was at once the most necessitous and the most respectable. * * * * I immediately mentioned the little girl whose case I had from you, and though Sir John did not give me an express promise, he begged that I would draw up 34 tii 6 pari'icuicii's, by what we blind creatures term a contingency t I heard of Sir John's presentation, and that he ationed it to me in a way which admitted of my ting with propriety the circumstances of the little girl, and thus making indirectly a request which I should hardly have ventured to make directly even to a near and dear relative. But you will join me in ascribing the glory where alone it is due." — And I do indeed give glory to God for his goodness, and from my heart pity the man who cannot see His Almighty Hand in this merciful dispensation. I am nevertheless thankful to those who under God have been instrumental in doing His work ; lam grateful in an especial manner to Sir John Key for his noble and disinterested benevolence on this occasion; nor can I forget the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. George Spence, of Camberwell, entire strangers both to the orphan and myself, in receiving her into their house, and supplying the place and attention of parents, 35 when she was sent to London tor admission. May they be recompensed " at the resurrection of the The death of Mr. Procter, joined with the alarming situation of the other medical men, threw a deep gloom over the meeting of the Board of Health, which was increased by the report received from the Parish Poor-house. Between that and the Hospital there was an open yard, but, to prevent any unnecessary communication, a separate road had been formed at some expence, by which the patients were admitted to the Hospital without going through the yard at all. Orders had been also given forbidding any intercourse between the one place and the other. Unhappily these orders were not observed as they ought to have been, the bed linen of the sick having been imprudently taken from the Hospital to the Poor-house to be washed. Three women, were employed in this service, namely, Ann Green, aged 38, Rebecca Priory, aged 50, and Sarah Whitton, aged 45. They were seized two days afterwards, and all perished on the 15th of August. From that date every attempt to stay the progress of the pestilence amongst the wretched inmates had been in vain; seventeen persons had already died, and on the day of which I am now writing, the 22nd, the death of Mary Noake, aged 52, was announced. The whole number in the house was but 43 when the washerwomen were attacked. What a lesson does this fatal occurrence teach as to the necessity of extreme caution in this fell disease ! Coupled as it is with other tacts which 1 nave related, rash indeed must be tnc 36 i H- I^on wxio Ccii 1 ciisrcsctrci ix« * we were (iisciiboniti this painful subject at the Board of Health when Dr. Macann presented himself amongst us, His arrival in some degree dispelled the gloom by which we were surrounded. But I must here pause with my narrative for a few moments, and in the name of my parishioners endeavour to express what we all have just reason to feel respecting this worthy and sensible man, this humane and experienced Physician. High and low, rich and poor, were soon led to regard him as having been sent by Providence for their safety and deliverance. Nor is it to be wondered at. From the hour he came to that of his departure he was incessantly employed in the faithful discharge of his duties, in prescribing and carrying into effect measures for arresting the progress of the disease, in unremitting attention to the sick and suffering poor, and (what was of the last importance) in restoring confidence to the trembling inhabitants. By night as well as day these were his constant occupations, and the almost immediate change in the condition of the inhabitants proved how wise and salutary his arrangements were. Neither did he confine himself to Bilston ; the whole of the surrounding district shared his advice, and reaped the benefit of his services. I offer this tribute of gratitude to Dr. Macann because I was an eye witness to its truth; at my urgent request, and to my great comfort, he took up his abode at the Parsonage, and my house was his home during his residence in the neighbourhood. It is natural to suppose that an introduction under such melancholy circumstances would not, if there were 37 ! thing congenial between us, end in a mere acintanc — nor did it. I have the happiness to call l my friend, and I pray that I may continue to do for the remainder of my life. Since he left Bil-1, Dr. Macann has been ordered by Government Barbadoes, I fear upon the same dread errand ich brought him here. May God, in His Mercy, re so valuable a life, and restore him in health and ;ty to his native country ! To prevent, for the future, every kind of communication between the Hospital and the Poor-house, and to -separate them entirely, a partition wall was erected, and it is a remarkable fact that no case occurred in the Poor-house afterwards. It was also resolved that a Dispensary should be immediately established, where the inhabitants might receive instant advice and relief in case they should be attacked with a looseness in the bowels. Dr. Macann urgently recommended this measure, and was requested, in conjunction with my faithful friend and medical attendant, Mr. Best, to take such steps as might be deemed necessary for the purpose. They hastened to carry the resolution into effect; on the 24th it was acted upon, although the house taken for the Institution was not opened till the 26th. For a statement of the beneficial effects of this establishment, I must refer my readers to Dr. Macann 's tables and observations in the Appendix, No. 2. They will repay any one for a careful examination of them, not merely in this particular, but (to use the Doctor's own words*) " as presenting as accurate a view of * See Appendix, No. 2, page 20. 38 me progrtjoo 01 me HjpiQemii, v^iioieic* <*t i>ii>sion, athe time referred to, and of the extent to which lisease and mortality prevailed there in connexion with that Epidemic, as it is possible to lay before I have now reached the 23rd of August, and hitherto my health, together with that of my household, had been mercifully spared. But the difficulties of my situation increased, and upon this day almost overwhelmed me. Amidst the many afflictive circumstances by which I had been encompassed from the commencement of this awful visitation, there were two peculiarly distressing, one which related to the dying, the other to the dead. In the former, the impossibility of visiting them, and affording that spiritual consolation which it is the bounden duty of a Clergyman to administer to his sick flock, was the source of much uneasiness. In the case of Bilston no human strength, no human constitution could have supported it, and the attempt was never made either by Mr. Fletcher or myself. It is strange, but I was called upon only once, and then I did not go. The poor man who sent for me perished a short time afterwards. But to reject such an application ; to withhold heavenly comfort when all earthly comfort was at an end; to deny one's prayers to a fellow creature on the brink of the grave, and asking them in the name of Christ ; to refuse the Holy Communion to a dying sinner sup* plicating to receive it ; — a Minister of the Gospel, anxious to discharge the duties of his sacred office with fidelity, could not pursue a course like this and 39 not be unhappy, though convinced of its necessity. To me and my friend the sacrifice was most painful, and often became the subject of our conversation. The other afflictive circumstance to which I have alluded, regarded the burial of the dead. I have already stated that, in consequence of the crowded state of my own church-yard, a particular spot attached to St. Mary's Chapel was set apart for the interment of all persons dying by the pestilence. To depart from this regulation would have been not only unwise, but really dangerous ; nevertheless, no one can tell what I underwent by strictly adhering to it. The continual solicitations of surviving relatives to permit the bodies of the deceased to be interred in what they very justly termed their family burial ground, grieved me exceedingly. I knew the desire to be so natural, and so intimately connected with the best and dearest affections of our being; I remembered that passage in the Word of God, " when I am dead, lay my bones beside his bones;" I examined my own heart — I found the self-same feelings there ; and yet a sense of duty bid me do violence to all these suggestions, and say no to every application. I generally succeeded in convincing the parties of the necessity of this painful denial, and they kindly yielded to my wishes without complaint. In one instance I failed, and the result shocked me so severely that I did not recover from it for many days. The friends of Mr. Procter were anxious that his remains should lie by the grave of his wife, who had died about four years before. I could not comply, and assigned my reasons as gently and as tenderly as 40 I knew how. The request was repeated, and at length became so urgent that I was compelled to be peremptory in my refusal. The consequence was that the body, (although Mr. Procter was a member of the Church of England), was interred in the burial ground belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists. I was alarmed by this intelligence ; I trembled for the effect it might produce amongst the lower classes of my parishioners ; I saw nothing in its train but discontent and danger. Happily, however, and providentially, the good sense of the people prevented them from following the bad example. This occurrence is introduced to shew how important it is, in any pressing emergency, that persons of every rank should acquiesce, without a murmur, in whatever regulations may be recommended for their observance. The good of all is the object ; dissatisfaction and disobedience cannot fail to do serious mischief, and may possibly incapacitate those who are most anxious for the general safety, from doing any thing effectually to secure it. The present instance was certainly a concurrent cause of my subsequent illness. The funeral of Mr. Procter was followed by the death of Thomas Marson Waterhouse, another of the Medical Practitioners. This respectable but unfortunate gentleman perished in the 33rd year of his age, leaving a disconsolate widow, with four young and helpless children, in circumstances of the greatest difficulty and distress. Their names are Elizabeth Elvin, aged 6 years, Thomas, aged 4 years, Ann 41 Should some charitable Christian see this melancholy list, and extend the hand of mercy to " one of these little ones," as Sir John Key so humanely did to the orphan daughter of Mr. Procter, how grateful shall I feel to Almighty God that I have been an humble instrument in His hand of "helping the fatherless," and " causing the widow's heart to sing for joy ! ! " On the same day, the house of Richard Sutton was changed into the house of mourning, by the death of his wife Mary, aged 41. Alas! this was but the beginning of sorrows to this wretched family. On the 30th, the husband perished, aged 44. Thus eight children, five under 12 years of age, namely, Rebecca, nearly 12, Isaac, 10, Charles, 8, Martha, 4, and Ephraim, 2 years, were deprived of their parents, and left entirely destitute. Rebecca has since been admitted into the Charity School, Denmark Hill,* and Ephraim has died by the small pox.f The condition of Bilston had now become frightful. The pestilence was literally sweeping every thing before it, neither age, nor sex, nor station escaping. The number of cases and of deaths exceeded that of all previous days ; of the former there were 148, of the latter 50. J To describe the consternation of the people is impossible. Manufactories and workshops were closed ; business completely at a stand ; women seen in a state of distraction running in all directions for medical help for their dying husbands, husbands for their wives, and children for their parents ; the hearse carrying the dead to the grave, without inter- * See page 33. f January 19, 1833. See Appendix, No. 2, page 17. a 42 mission either by night or day ; those inhabitants who possessed the means quitting their homes, and flying for safety to some purer atmosphere; those who remained, seeing nothing before them but disease and death. This awful state of things was enough to shake the stoutest heart, and at length I sunk under it. Overcome by bodily exertion, and worn out by mental anxiety for my perishing flock, Dr. Macann and Mr. Best urged me to go bed. This was a sad alternative, but my strength failed, and I had nothing left except my fervent prayers to the Throne of Grace in behalf of my people, myself, and all belonging to me. About midnight there was a violent thunder-storm, with lightning and heavy On the morning of the 24th, by the unwearied attention of my Medical Attendants, under the long suffering and great mercy of God, I was somewhat better, but too ill to leave my bed, or (what was more distressing to me) to render any service to my suffering parishioners, whose dismay had been increased by the report of my sickness. I have to record on this day acts of tenderness and regard on the part of a poor woman, Mary Bayley, which are an honour to our nature, and confirm my previous statement of the kindly and humane feelings which the poor in this district evince towards each other. Elizabeth Bayley, sister-in-law of the above, and wife of William Bayley, a miner, perished, aged 28 ; on the same day, a daughter, Rebecca, aged 12; on the 27th, William, the father, aged 34; on the 30th, Elizabeth, another daughter, aged 5 ; and on the 3rd 43 of September an infant, Mary, aged 5 months. Mary Bayley, upon the death of her sister-in-law, seeing the helpless condition of the little babe just mentioned, made an effort to save its life. She had an infant of her own about the same age; without a moment's hesitation she became the mother of the motherless ; she took it to her own bosom, and suckled it at her own breast with her own offspring, till it died. This was indeed the milk of human kindness ! But it was not all. There was one, and only one spared out of this sorely smitten family, an orphan boy, William, three years old, and he instantly found a home, a father and a mother, under the roof and in the persons of this Mary Bayley and her husband, Thomas Bayley. The history is not even yet completed. Whilst the pestilence was raging in this house of woe, no person except Mary Bayley ventured to approach the dwelling; she 44 made all their bed in their sickness," and actually laid out each of them on the bed of death. At length she was attacked by the disease herself, but recovered, and, by the mercy of Almighty God, is still alive, — an example of Christian kindness and Christian fortitude rarely to be met with in the On this day also perished, aged 56, Elizabeth Rowley, a most respectable neighbour, and highly respected friend. She had been preparing, like many others, to leave the scenes of desolation by which she was surrounded, and, with her husband and her children, seek, as she fondly hoped, some 44 thing was in readiness for the journey. At that hour the destroying angel entered the dwelling, and in that very night the children lost a kind and indulgent parent, and the husband a faithful and affectionate wife. This lamented death was attended by another remarkable occurrence. A poor woman named Mary Morrison, living near the residence of Mr. Rowley, was attacked by the pestilence ; Mrs. Rowley saw Jacob Morrison, the husband, in the street; she threw open her window, and addressed him thus — " If your wife is not taken to the Hospital, she will be the death of us all." The unfortunate man was a corpse the next day, and Mrs. Rowley within four days. Mary Morrison recovered ! My own household was greatly alarmed at this time by the sudden illness of Mrs. Leigh. She had hitherto been exerting herself with unceasing solicitude to relieve the sufferings of the poor, to assist me in the discharge of my arduous duties, and support my sinking spirits. In these exertions she had been wonderfully supported; her strength had not yet failed, and her tender attentions to me on the bed of sickness had been, as they ever are, constant and unwearied. I felt myself much better in the evening, and had hoped, by God's blessing, to return to my labours on the following morning. At ten o'clock at night Dr. Macann entered my room, and communicated to me the mournful intelligence that my wife was not well. I never shall forget my sensations at that moment. I immediately said, looking at him with intense anxiety, " God's Will be done ! but where is she 1 ?" He replied, in the kindest and 45 most feeling manner, " she is gone to lie down in another apartment, but, my dear Sir, indeed I apprehend no danger." I asked, "is she too ill to be removed to this bed ?" " No," said he, " but I cannot recommend it." My agitation was excessive. I paused a little, and then said, " pray let her come, for I cannot be happy if she is from me." I suppose there was an earnestness in my manner which the Doctor could not resist. He left my room, and was absent for a few minutes. How those minutes were employed by me, and what were my reflections, I will not attempt to describe. They only can judge who have been blessed, as I have been, with more than five and twenty years of domestic comfort and happiness, and have heard a warning voice whisper to them that the hour was fast approaching when those joys must terminate! At length she was led to my chamber. In a silent supplication to Almighty il ¦ fervently prayed for a patient submission to Divine Will, and then resigned her and myself, souls and our bodies, into His Hands, trusting in unbounded mercy, through the merits of Jesus st. His long suffering spared our lives, and re;d us to health. May His Holy Spirit sanctify visitation to our eternal good ! On the 25th we 5 able to leave our room, though not strong enough to be of much use to those around us ; I was grieved also to learn from my Medical Attendants that they would not permit me to join my flock at Divine Service the next day. To get assistance from my clerical friends in the neighbourhood was more than I could expect and mv endeavour to do so did 46 not succeed. Thus circumstanced, Mr. Fletcher kindly agreed to close his Chapel in the morning, and supply my place at St. Leonard's ; in the evening he took his own duty, and my Church was closed. By this arrangement, the two congregations had an opportunity of worshipping God once. My friends informed me that the Church had a most desolate appearance. The private pews, for the most part, were empty, either from the proprietors having left the town, or from the sickness of their respective families. Those persons who did attend seemed deeply impressed with the awfulness of their situation, and were most devout in their petitions to the Throne of Grace. Upon this day there was a thunder-storm, but it did not last long, nor was it very violent. On the 27th there was much rain, the wind blowing from the south. There were 270 applications for relief, on this day, at the Dispensary, the beneficial effects of which began to be manifest. The Hospital also, and the House of Recovery which had been fitted up, were in a most efficient state, and the Provision House* was supplying thousandsf of the starving population twice a week with food. But how were these expensive establishments to be continued ? The funds were already exhausted, and the town unable to furnish more. Yet to stop these works of mercy was certain death. Such a course presented not only the terrors of the pestilence, but all the horrors of famine for its companion. To a * This house was granted without any charge for its use by Mr. John Waldron. 47 reflecting mind the prospect was most appalling, and the last resource was an appeal to the benevolence of the British nation, with earnest prayers to Almighty God for its success. These were my feelings on the 28th, when I addressed the following letter to the Editor of the Wolverhampton Chronicle: — " Parsonage, Bilston, August 28, 1832, " Twelve o' Clock. " Sir, " With a heart full of anguish, I send you the following statement : — The pestilence continues its ravages amongst us in a frightful manner. Since its appearance on the 3rd instant, up to the present hour, 530* of the inhabitants have been swept away, which is, as nearly as possible, one twenty-seventh part of the whole population. Well might I implore, last week, the prayers of your readers to Almighty God for our deliverance ! I earnestly implore them still ; but, Sir, my parishioners crave pecuniary aid also. As a Christian Minister, I beseech all Christian people, whom God has blessed with the means, to give us their alms on this most urgent occasion. As a Clergyman of the Established Church, I entreat my brother Clergymen to make collections for our relief in their Parish Churches. Our necessities are increasing every hour, and our resources are fast failing us. Three Hundred Pounds have been granted to the Board of Health out of the Poor-rates, but this sum will not pay for the coffins of the dead. All kind of business is at a stand. Nothing reigns here but Want and Disease, Death and Desolation ! Two of our Medical men have perished ; two more have left the place to recruit their exhausted strength ; my respectable neighbours are nearly worn out by mental anxiety and exertion ; I have been confined to my house since last Thursday, and nearly the whole of that time to my bed. Dr. Macann, the humane, and sensible, and indefatigable Physician, sent to our aid by His Majesty's Privy Council, has made arrangements which, under God, may benefit us. We have also received Medical Assistance from Birmingham; we have an Hospital, a Dispensary, a House of 48 Recovery, a House for the Distribution of Provisions to the starving and the destitute, but all must fall to the ground for want of money. This, however, will not be suffered in a land of Charity ; to many of our neighbours we are already much indebted, and we shall be to very many more. Any sum remitted to me, Kfessrs. Jones, Son, and Foster, Bankers here, will be rewith heartfelt gratitude. If I had strength, I would send j of woe to the editors of other papers, but I have not, and must leave it to their well-known humanity to copy it from yours. Once more I implore your readers to offer up their prayers to Eighty God for our support, and our deliverance ; once more plore alms from all who have the means. I implore them thus ome and ' stand between the dead and the living,' that, by 's Mercy, ' the Plague may be stayed.' " W. LEIGH, Incumbent of Bilston." This was not the only appeal to British benevolence ; the wretched situation of the inhabitants was made known to the public in a similar way by some of my neighbours, and the result of our united applications was waited for with the most anxious solicitude. In the mean time we proceeded without any reference to the cost, trusting that God, in His Mercy, would put into the hearts of those on whom He had bestowed the means, to send us help in our great distress. And, blessed be His Holy Name, we were not disappointed. On the 29th, an awful occurrence took place in the Independent Meeting House during Divine Worship. Whilst George Cartwright was officiating as Clerk, he was suddenly attacked with the pestilence, and was taken home by some of the congregation. Within a few hours he was a corpse ! He was an honest man, aged 57, and had the care of a weighing 49 Wdb 111 LIC 1 1 L till 1 • MIL- VV I Hi. l 110x111* WCbli v^H CllC til tii j } perished, George Hazeldine, labourer, aged 60. Every serious mind will be shocked at the circumstances which attended the death of this miserable man. He had engaged as an assistant in digging graves in St. Mary's burial ground, and, on the day upon which he was seized with the disease, had been expressing the dreadful wish that " the job might last six months longer." In eight and forty hours afterwards he was buried in a grave which he himself had been digging, as he presumptuously supposed, for some one else. What a startling example is this of the depravity of human nature ! ! He was a married man, but his wife had left him in consequence of his cru< • treatment. He had also squandered away in vice and profligacy her property, to the amount of ,£4OC . At the time of his decease, he was lodging with a widow named Elizabeth Martin, who was attacked, and buried on the same day with himself, aged 61. On the 31st, a family of children was deprived of their father, Richard Williams, a keeper, aged 40. A son, Richard, had died on the 29th, and on the Bth of September the mother, Rosannah, perished, aged 42. The names of the unfortunate orphans, who, by this bereavement, were left entirely destitute, are — Thomas, aged 12 years, Mary Ann, 9, Sir Watkin, 4, and Rosannah, 15 months. On Sunday, September 2, the House of God wa;; well attended. I earnestly hope it was not an outward service merely, but that I and every member of the congregation, through the Divine Grace, were duly impressed with the mercy and long suffering of 50 God; in having spared us amidst the surrounding desolation. On the 3rd, the report at the Board of Health was truly comforting. The following letter from Dr. Macann will shew how successful, under God, his measures for arresting the progress of the disease had already proved : — " To the Editor of the Wolverhamptm Chronicle. " Sir, " I have the satisfaction to state, in reply to your note of this day, that the mortality in Bilston Parish, from Cholera, has been reduced during the last week to less than one half what it was during the preceding ; the number of deaths from that disease, during those two periods respectively, as taken from the burial registers, having been as follows :—: — " From 20th of August to 26th 275* • From 27th of August to 2nd of September . . 132f *' For this happy change, and happy it is comparatively, we are, I have no doubt, mainly indebted to the beneficial influence of the Public Dispensary for the bowel complaints ; upwards of eleven hundred personal applications having been made and attended to at that Institution, for such affections, during the last eight days. From this fact, the public may at once perceive the extent to which disease, and disease, too, connected with Cholera, prevails in this district, and, at the same time, be enabled to form some accurate notions of the advantages to be derived from placing within reach of the poor the means of obtaining prompt and proper relief for bowel complaints, in times like the present. For I have no hesitation in saying that a large proportion of the cases above alluded to would, under existing circumstances here, have passed into Cholera if neglected, and that of the Choleric a large proportion would have died. In all places, therefore, where Cholera prevails, or where it is expected, I would again, as I have repeatedly done before, exhort the local authorities to establish, without delay, Public Dispensaries, where the poor, without trouble, or favour, or expence, may receive prompt and effectual * 303. See Appendix, No. 2, Table 1, page 17. 51 Kent for bowel complaints. It cannot, indeed, be too often sd, that looseness of the bowels is the beginning of Cholera, at such looseness admits of an easy and effectual cure, whilst a itself, or that stage of the disease in which vomiting, and ;, and prostrations, are added, or succeed to looseness, is the most fatal and intractable diseases known. " (Signed) FRANCIS MACANN, M.D. K'.S. — The Dispensary was opened on the morning of Sune 26th of August. Two Assistant Surgeons, paid by the of Health, are constantly in attendance, and the resident ns of the town, three in number, visit the Institution daily lar intervals. " Bilston, September 3, 1832." Besides this happy check to the progress of the disease, another blessed and cheering circumstance presented itself. The appeal to the beneficence of the British public had been responded to most liberally. Remittances were received daily, and to such an amount that we were enabled to extend relief to all who were really in want. The town was divided into twenty-seven districts, which fifty-four respectable inhabitants (two to each district) kindly undertook to visit. I, who witnessed their unwearied exertions from day to day, am sensible how cheerfully and zealously they performed their melancholy but grateful task, and every poor family in Bilston must be ready to acknowledge it. On the 4th, I addressed the following letter to the Editor of the Woherhampton Chronicle : — " Parsonage, Bilston, September 4, 1832. " Sir, " With feelings of the deepest humility and gratitude to Almighty God, it is my blessed task to announce to you this week that, by His great mercy and goodness, there is a most favourable 52 52 deaths within the same portion of time.* The whole number from the commencement is 641. f Let the prayers of your readers be still continued to the Throne of Grace on our behalf, that the ' hand of the destroying Angel may no longer be lifted up against 113, and that our Merciful Father may restore us again to health and safety. Under God, we are much indebted to Dr. Macann for his excellent arrangements, especially as regards the establishment in this place of a Dispensary for bowel complaints. I feel it my duty to call the particular attention of all your readers to a letter from Dr. Macann upon this important subject, as connected with Cholera.^ To the noble and benevolent persons who 'mve entrusted me with pecuniary aid for my suffering parishionor3, I offer my heartfelt thanks. The sacred deposits shall be faithfully applied ; and surely, if ever there was an act of mercy performed by man to his fellow man, these good Christians have performed it to the bereaved widows, the orphan children, and the destitute families at Bilston. « (Signed) W. LEIGH, Incumbent." On this and for several successive mornings there was frost, and from this date the violence of the pestilence gradually abated; the cases diminished in number, and fatality. Under God's good Providence, this merciful change was to be attributed not only to !he establishment of a Dispensary for bowel complaints, and other excellent arrangements of Dr. Macann, but also to the plentiful distribution of proper and nourishing food amongst the starving population. Every post brought with it munificent proofs * This ought to have been within the week ; but when my incessant and almost overwhelming engagements, at the time I wrote this and other letters, are considered, I venture to hope that any want of correctness will be received by my readers with indulgence. t For an amended list of cases and deaths, see Appendix, No. 2, pages 17 and 18. X See the last page. 53 how deeply our case was commiserated from one end of England to the other. lam utterly inadequate to express my feelings or my gratitude when I read the various communications then transmitted to me, and consider the unbounded confidence placed in so humble an individual as myself, and an entire stranger to so large a majority of my correspondents. I can state, with perfect truth, that it was the wish of my heart to answer every letter with my own hand ; indeed, I made the attempt, and failed. The apology I am now about to offer to those contributors who received no written acknowledgment from me will, I hope, be accepted. It is simply this : upwards of seven hundred letters were addressed to me. These I shall carefully preserve as an invaluable treasure, and, if it were not for reasons too obvious to mention, they should be printed and handed down to posterity as a precious record of British benevolence. Even Royalty itself graciously condescended to listen to my tale of woe, and sent substantial relief. I dare not venture to particularize farther the very many who so promptly came forward from all quarters, not only with their own alms, but their zealous and personal exertions in collecting the alms of others for my afflicted flock. I fervently pray that Almighty God may bless them in Time and Eternity ! I should, however, be most ungrateful if I did not embrace the present opportunity of conveying, in an especial manner, my heartfelt thanks to the numerous gentlemen connected with the periodical press, for so humanely circulating throughout the kingdom my faint description of our condition, and for so ably and eloquently 54 advocating our cause. 1 heir disinterested, but valuable services can never be forgotten. Heaven knows my extreme reluctance in making an appeal to the public at all. I was aware of the distress which existed in the adjoining parishes, and that in every part of this manufacturing district, wherever the hand of Christian charity was mercifully extended, there numbers would be found ready and eager to grasp it. But our case was an extraordinary one; it was literally a case of life or death. Our wants, like our sufferings, were unexampled. In comparison with us, the chastisement of our neighbours was light ; at Sedgley, containing a population of 20,577, there were but 290 deaths by Cholera, from the time it first made its appearance there till its departure ; at Darlaston, with a population of 6,667, only 68 deaths within the same period. At Bilston, whose population amounted to 14,492, 3568 of the inhabitants were attacked, 742 perished, and 309 of those in the short space of seven days — commencing with the 19th of August, when I closed my Church, and ending on the 26th,* two days before I implored the charitable assistance of my fellow men, in my letter to the Editor of the Wolverhampton Chronicle. This was, indeed, to quote the words of the respected Vicar of Sedgley, " a melancholy pre-eminence in the catalogue of suffering," and will, I trust, justify me for the course I pursued on this miserable LOn the 6th, Dr. Macann, whose labours were casing, wrote the following letter to the Chair- * See Appendix, No. 2, page 17. 55 man of the Board of Health at Chilvers Coton, who, amongst numberless others, had applied to him for instructions on the subject of Cholera. Under God, the observations it contains may prove useful, should the disease unhappily present itself in any place where this narrative happens to be circulated : — " Bilston, September 6, 1832. " Sir, " I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, and truly regret it is not in my power to comply with the request therein made to the extent I could myself wish, and others perhaps may expect — for, situated as I am at this moment, incessantly engaged in laborious duties, and pressed upon by applications from various quarters, it is absolutely impossible for me to sit down and enter into long details on paper. Suffice it to say, therefore, that I neither recommend nor countenance, any where, the establishment of Hospitals for the treatment of Bowel Complaints, but Dispensaries simply, that is to say stations, where the poor, labouring under such complaints, may receive, without delay, or trouble, or expence, proper advice, and treatment and medicines for the same. And, by the word proper, I here mean advice and treatment under the eye of a qualified Medical Practitioner ; for the wholesale and indiscriminate administration of drugs by ignorant and unprofessional men I hold to be absurd and injurious at all times, and more especially so in times like the present, when the life of every man, whose bowels are unduly relaxed, Hangs as it were by a thread, wherever Cholera prevails. Nor can any difficulty exist with respect to medical aid, if men will only pay for it ; for the country is full of well-educated Professional Men, ready and willing to devote themselves to any duties, however hazardous or laborious, if they be properly treated. Establish, therefore, and open without delay, a Public Dispensary ; engage Medical Men, and treat them liberally, but see that they do their duty ; and if any difficulties should arise relative to organization or arrangement, an 56 dOpilCdllOll IO 111 G V r ( 'll l l l\ i liOili'd Ol XT 63.1111 W J I J CIOUDtICSS IM'OCUIO for you any assistance necessary to remove them. k" (Signed) F. MACANN, M.D. the Chairman of the Board of Health, " Chilvers Coton." On the 9th I was devoutly thankful to meet my parishioners again at Public Worship in the House of God, and to see the private pews better filled than on the preceding Sabbath. It proved that the inhabitants who had fled were returning to their respective homes, and that confidence was in some measure restored. I was also greatly comforted to observe the free sittings for the poor almost entirely occupied. After morning and evening Service, I gave notice that the following Wednesday would be kept holy throughout the township by all denominations of Christians, as a day of Humiliation, and Prayer, and Thanksgiving. When the day arrived, the shops were closed, business suspended, and the different places dedicated to God's Service crowded with worshippers. That every supplication offered up to the Throne of Grace, on that solemn occasion, may be mercifully answered, that every pious resolution then formed may be religiously carried into practice, and that every soul then worshipping may be saved, I earnestly pray of the God of all Mercies, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord ! On the 10th, the following statement was sent to the. Editor of the Wolverhampton Chronicle by Dr. Macann : — 11 Bilston, September 10, 1832. " Sir, L" I have again the satisfaction to announce a remarkable dease in the mortality at this place from Cholera ; the number of 57 deaths from that disease, in this parish, during 1 the week which has just terminated, (from the 3rd to the 9th instant, both inclusive) having been only 44, or one third of the number (132) which had taken place during the preceding seven days.* The number of applicants at the Dispensary also (new cases) for relief for bowel complaints has undergone a sensible diminution during- the last few days ; but the daily average for the past week (upwards of 130) is sufficient to shew that the epidemic influence still prevails amongst us, and to a much greater extent than the Cholera reports, taken independently, would seem to indicate.f We have here, therefore a new proof or illustration of the good effects resulting from such institutions, for, although renewed and indefatigable efforts have been made here during the past week to relieve the wants, and add to the comforts, of the poor in other respects, yet no one practically conversant with the subject can doubt but that all those efforts must have proved, in a great measure, unavailing towards arresting the progress of the pestilence, if measures had not, at the same time, been adopted to extinguish, as it were, in each individual, according as he became affected, the seeds of that cruel malady, which want and misery must, at all times, aggravate, or even induce, in those who are otherwise predisposed. It is, therefore, very gratifying to me to find in my various visits through this district, that all classes are becoming daily more and more aware of the vast importance of conjoining together, or carrying into operation, at the same time, proper measures for supplying the destitute poor with food, and bedding, and clothing, and for placing within their reach, by the establishment of Public Dispensaries, the means of obtaining medical relief on the very first appearance of disease, without delta/, or trouble, or expence. " (Signed) F. MACANN." kThe following letter, sent by me to the Editor of same Paper, and written on the 11th, confirms above report : — * See a corrected list, Appendix, No. 2, page 17. t The daily average of Cholera cases (new) during the past week ha* been only 45.-F. M. See this corrected as above. 58 t n Yfr* r ll ti cf '-5 IJ l l*s lOl 1 j kj t. LM » 1 I j A (J\j **» " Sir, Ram permitted, by God's great Mercy, to send you another ible statement. The number of new cases, during 1 the last -four hours, is only five, of deaths six. The total, from the commencement of the disease on the 3rd of August, 2208,— 0f deaths, 684.* Under God, this blessed change is chiefly to be attributed to the establishment of a Dispensary for Bowel Complaints, free of all cost to the poor, under the direction of that able Physician, Dr. Macann, and to the power given us by a humane and generous public, to supply the starving and the destitute with food. When your readers are told that, on the 6th, 7th, and Bth instant, 1193 wretched families, including 407 fatherless and motherless children, were relieved, they will be able to form some idea of the situation in which the inhabitants of Bilston are placed. It speaks for itself — it needs no comment from me ; it is a melaacholy but certain proof, that nothing but the Mercy of Heaven, in sending so many friends, could have saved us from famine, as well as pestilence. Neither is this mass of misery to be wondered at after so awful a visitation. Only think, Sir, that every seventh person in this place has been attacked, and that every twenty-secondf has perished, and then, for one moment, calculate what must be the result in a population like ours. That the funds are large I grant, and, from my heart, I praise God for it ; had they not been so, the apprehensions of starvation, which pressed me to the very earth when I sent my tale of woe to your office, and which was copied by your contemporaries with so much promptness and humanity, must have been realized. I cannot conclude this statement without adding a few words upon the astonishing amount remitted to me on this melancholy occasion. The sum I have paid into the hands of Messrs. Jones and Foster is £4,910, and twenty-one + of my respectable neighbours have had the kindness to promise me their assistance in its faithful application ; I feel the responsibility to be very great, and I pray * For a corrected list, see Appendix, No. 2, page 17. t Nearly one in four was attacked, and one in twenty perished.— See Appendix, No. 2. % Twenty. See Appendix, No. 3, page 71. 59 God to guide me aright. The other observation lam anxious to make is this, and I wish every poor man in the kingdom could hear it : — There are wicked persons who are anxious that the poor should believe that they have no friends ; that the nobles of the land, the wealthy and the great, care not for their sorrows, and trouble not themselves about their wants. But what will such persons say to the list of donations for the poor of Bilston ? I venture to hope that they will read it, and profit by it. It cannot be gainsaid; it cannot be misunderstood. For the poor themselves, the Bilston poor more especially, I shall be grievously disappointed if, henceforth, a word falls from the lips of one of them, that is not expressive of the deepest gratitude to Almighty God, and of every feeling of thankfulness to their munificent bene- "W. LEIGH, Incumbent of Bilston." Each succeeding day still brought with it returning health, and increasing means for feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. By God's Mercy, our condition was so changed for the better, that the Board of Health was enabled to curtail the expences in various ways.* On the 16th the House of God had many worshippers, and it began to have its wonted appearance on a Sabbath-day. It was also refreshing, and consolatory to witness a blessed change in the countenances of the people. Hope had taken the place of despair, and confidence had succeeded dismay, and consternation. Not many days previously, there was a something in the looks of every one you met which it is impossible to describe, a something which told you that it was more than probable you were never to meet again in this world. I perceived this in others, and I doubt not others perceived it in me. The man, indeed, who 60 Phe pity and the prayers of every Surrounded by the dying and the " stand in awe," is the presumption not the courage of a Christian; it ; void of religious principles, and; it impervious to the rays of Divine On the 19th, my parishioners lost the valuable services of Dr. Macann. That those services were duly appreciated, is manifest from the resolution,* which I was requested to transmit to the Lords of the Council, and the Central Board of Health. I also had the pleasure of conveying to Dr. Macann a cordial and unanimous vote of thanks, together with the earnest and sincere wishes of us all for his future welfare and happiness. f Having now arrived nearly at the end of my melancholy history, for history in truth it is, there is one singular fact I must not omit. I have already stated my decided opinion that where the Epidemic exists, Cholera is contagious, and I have given (what I deem) convincing reasons for having formed that opinion. The case I am now about to mention shews that some bodies are not susceptible of the disease, or at least that some are more susceptible of it than others. Sarah Griffiths, aged 35, and Elizabeth Harris, of the same age, were employed by the Board of Health, and it was their fearful office to attend upon the dying and the dead. They were * See Appendix, l*o. 1, page 15. t See Appendix, No. 1, page 16. 61 engaged in this perilous duty so long as the pestilence continued, and actually laid out upon the bed of death 297 of their fellow mortals, and yet neither of them was attacked. The circumstance is the more remarkable as regards Sarah Griffiths, for, although she escaped the disease, her family did not ; it entered her dwelling, and carried away a daughter, Catharine, aged two years and a half. Medical men are to account for this, if they can ; I shall make but one observation upon it, and that in the language of Holy Writ — " How unsearchable are God's judgments, and His ways past finding out ! ! " Of remedies for the cure of this tremendous scourge, in its advanced stages, I have said nothing, nor have I much to say. In fact, from all I have heard, and all I have witnessed, my belief is that none have yet been discovered. One Practitioner recommends one course, another another, and in their turn all fail. An intelligent friend of mine, skilful in his profession, and of extensive practice, who saw as many cases of Cholera at Bilston as any one, has kindly given me the result of his experience, and says — " An emetic, composed of mustard and common salt, followed by saline draughts, taken in a state of effervescence, allowing the patient to drink cold water as freely as he pleased, seemed in many instances to give relief, and in some was, apparently, the means of saving life. Stimulants taken internally, and opium, were at best of doubtful benefit, and frequently were decidedly injurious. Mustard poultices were occasionally of service, but little benefit was derived from hot baths." With respect to the use of 62 stimulants as a preventive, my friend adds, and I perfectly agree with him — " the idea that brandy and generous living would prevent the disease, was the cause of numerous attacks, and many deaths." Dr. Macann's opinion was exactly the same ; he recommended, in every place where the Epidemic existed, the strictest temperance both in eating and drinking, a particular attention to the state of the stomach and )owels, as much fresh air as possible, and exercise without fatigue. This was Dr. Macann's prescripion to prevent an attack, and, under God, a most successful one; but for Cholera, in its aggravated form, he professed to possess no nostrum whatever ; on the contrary, I have heard him frequently declare it to be the most fatal and intractable disease ever known. I must now add a few words as to the application of the magnificent sum* entrusted to my neighbours and myself, for the relief of the suffering inhabitants. The responsibility was great to us all ; but to me, when I reflected on the situation which I filled, the part I had taken, and the heavy debt which I had contracted with the public, it was great indeed. To give perfect satisfaction to every subscriber was not to be expected, but I owe it to the Committee, as well as myself, to declare that neither time nor labour has been spared to discharge our sacred duty faithfully and conscientiously. No case of suffering has been neglected, and in the distribution of the funds no preference whatever given to our own parishioners. The knowledge that relief was wanted, and the applicant an inhabitant, has * See Appendix, NOi 3, page 71 63 been our only guide ; — I trust, also, that the way in which we have husbanded our resources, and the purposes for which a large amount of the contributions has been set apart will meet with general approbation. I entreat my readers to examine with careful attention the statement* which shews what we have done, what we are doing, and what, by God's blessing, we mean to do. It will be there seen that whilst we are supplying, weekly, the necessitous widow and her family with money, we are preparing to supply the poor orphan with the benefits of a Christian education. A School, to be called " the Cholera Orphan School," is in the course of erection, and will soon be completed. With God's permission, it will be opened on the 3rd of next August, the fatal day upon which the pestilence made its first appearance amongst us, and by its ravages deprived 450 helpless children, under twelve years of age, of one or both their parents, f As regards the economy of our expenditure, all possible care has been taken consistent with the wants of the people. Not a single expence has been incurred without the unanimous approval of the Committee ; not a single bill has been paid without a certificate of its correctness by two of the members, nor even then, without a further scrutiny by Mr. Richard Thompson, the Treasurer. Thus examined, the accounts have been discharged by cheques upon the Treasurer, signed by myself, and payable at the Bank of Messrs. Jones, Son, and Foster, with whom the whole of the money was de- * See Appendix, No. 3, page 71. t See Appendix. No. 3, page 74. 64 posited from day to day, so soon as it was received. To the gentlemen forming this Committee,* individually and collectively, I offer my warmest thanks ; to Mr. Thompson, for his great trouble and labour in keeping the books, and for their extreme accuracy ; to Mr. Foster, for his friendly services in assisting me to make out the list of contributors, f and for the liberal manner of transacting the business at his bank ; to Mr. Price, for paying, under the directions of the Committee, the weekly allowances to widows and orphans ; to all, for their kind and constant cooperation, whenever I have called upon them. In the list of contributors, although the utmost diligence has been used, I fear many errors may be discovered ; for these I beg the indulgence of the public, with an assurance, that whatever mistakes may occur in the names or residences of the donors, there are none whatever in the total amount, which is strictly and substantially correct. Although this narrative has been drawn out to a far greater length than I had any idea of, still there is one subject I am bound to introduce before it is concluded. Every Christian reader will be anxious to know the effects of this most awful visitation upon the survivors in my own parish, and in the surrounding district. Alas ! lam constrained to confess, and with shame and sorrow I do confess, that I can see nothing like proof remaining of religious impression, or religious improvement. Whilst the pestilence was raging in all its deadly violence, * See Appendix, No. 3, page 71. f The length of this list, and the difficulty of conveying it to so large a number of contributors in various parts of the kingdom, must be my apology for not transmitting a copy to each, as I originally intended. 65 whilst " the hand of the destroying Angel" was loing its appointed work, and our fellow mortals were falling by our sides on the right hand and on he left, I willingly admit there were, in every class, a seriousness of demeanour, and correctness of conluct, befitting the awfulness of our situation ; and low could it have been otherwise ? The mariner, when the storm is up, and the thunders roll, and the ightnings flash, and death stares him in the face, whatever may have been his former life, calls upon his God for mercy and deliverance. It may then be said of him with perfect truth, " Behold, he prayeth." — 3ut when the Lord " rebukes the wind and the sea, and there is a great calm," then the tempest and he Ruler of the tempest are alike forgotten. I fear t was thus at Bilston. With the terrors of death and judgment before our eyes, we were ready to recognise the power of the Most High, and fly to Him, and the Saviour, for protection and forgiveness. — 3ut when the pestilence had ceased, then the God who sent it in "His Wrath," and removed it in " His Mercy," was no longer in " all our thoughts." The same indifference to " Heavenly Things," as heretofore was soon visible amongst all ranks, the rich and the poor,* and the message from Heaven seemed disregarded. It is painful to make this representation, but, in a matter of such moment, I cannot, and I dare not, withhold the truth. Of the * As intimately connected with the present comfort and future happiness of the poor in this populous parish and neighbourhood, the attention of all friends to religion, and religious education, is respectfully, but earnestly, invited to certain Proposals which I have ventured to subjoin to this narrative, for building an additional Church and Schools, and for endowing the 66 possible, but it is a melancholy fact that, during the many years I have acted as a Magistrate in this populous district^ there never have been brought before my valued friend and colleague, the Rev. J. Clare, and myself, at our Petty Sessions at Bilston, so many cases of iniquity, from all quarters, as within the last six months ! My heart sickens at this humiliating recital, and I tremble to think what must follow, if we thus " despise the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long suffering" towards us. Should another pestilence come from Heaven, do we expect another deliverance"? It is utterly impossible !—"! — " Because I have called, and ye refused, I lave stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; >ut ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." O may these words of Holy Writ sink deep into the soul of every Christian reader ! VLay they, ere it be too late, quicken me and my flock n the pursuit of things eternal ! May they, O Lord, through thy great Mercy in Christ Jesus, and by the aid of thy Holy Spirit, thus bless and sanctify this awful warning to our everlasting salvation ! Amen ! Amen ! W. LEIGH. 67 PROPOSALS For building and endowing a Church, Parsonage, and Schools, at Catchem's Corner, for the Benefit of a District in that Neighbourhood, belonging to Wolverhampton, Bilston, and Sedgley, m the county of StajQPord, and Diocese of Lichfleld and Coventry. It is proposed to build a Church near to the turnpike-gate, known by the name of Catchem's Corner, at which place and neighbourhood there is collected a population of above 3,000 souls. The Church to be of the plainest possible description, consistent with the decency of a place of Christian Worship— to contain, at the least, 500 kneelings, all, or nearly all, free and unappropriated ; — such provision being made for the repairs and incidental expences, that no Church-rates whatever shall, at any time, be incurred by the parishes concerned. To place under the spiritual charge of the Minister of the Church a portion of the surrounding population, from the parochial cures, of Wolverhampton, Bilston, and Sedgley. To erect a small Parsonage House, and also Daily Schools for the poor, as near as possible to the Church, and to endow the same with sufficient means for the necessary repairs, and for the decent maintenance of the Minister. To vest" the whole in trustees for the use of the district, giving the patronage of the benefice to the Bishop of the Diocese. The projectors of this undertaking are encouraged to hope for success by the following considerations :— I.— The notoriously neglected condition of these poor people, distant from one to two miles, all of them, from their respective Churches, and having no Place of Worship amongst them, except ono small Chapel of the Wesleyana. 2.— The circumstance that this poor and neglected population is collected at the point of junction, common to the chief parishes and townships, which are united into one new political constituency. 3. — The great wealth that has been, and is still being, drawn from the mines within the proposed district, and the known liberality of the principal proprietors. 4.— The cordial concurrence of the Bishop of the Diocese, of the Dean of Wolverhampton, of the Archdeacon of Stafford, and of the Clergy of the respective parishes. s.— The large help which may, probably, be obtained towards the several objects from the Church Building and National Societies, and from the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty. 6.— The inadequate provision yet made by the Church for the spiritual 68 Wolverhampton. BiUton. Stdylex. Reputed Acreage 3,260 1,500 7,000 Population in 1831 24,732 14,492 20,577 Clergy resident and officiating . . 5 2 4 Churchea 3 2 3 Church-room for 4,974 3,500 3,908 Schools of the Church 8 4 9 Children attending 950 600 1,000 In making these proposals, we are anxious to secure to this distant portion of our parishioners the ministry and ordinances of the Church, to which they have hitherto had little access. And whilst we are resolved to spare no pains to make the most of such resources as are entrusted to our care for this object, we earnestly invite the cordial co-operation and fervent prayers of all persons who feel an interest in the spiritual welfare of their fellow creatures. T. WALKER, Perpetual Curate of St. Peter's, Wolverhampton. W. LEIGH, Incumbent of Bilston. C. GIRDLESTONE, Vicar of Sedgley. H. POUNTNEY, Minister of St. John's, Wolverhampton. G. B. CLARE, Minister of St. George's, Wolverhampton. Easfer, 1833. H. Hill, Esq. has consented to act as Treasurer to the fund. Subscriptions will also be received by Sir J. Wrottesley, Bart, and Co., and the Banking Company, Wolverhampton ; by the Rev. C. Girdlestone, Sedgley, near Dudley; by the Rev. W. Leigh, and J. Foster, Esq., Bilston; and by Messrs. Mastennan and Co., Bankers, Nicolas-lane, London, 69 SUBSCRIPTIONS. £. s. d. s. Messrs. Bishton and Underhill ; Sedgley 100 0 0 E. and S. M. P. ; Hastings; by the Key. C. Girdle 65 0 0 pd stone w v v f u A Friend ; Sedgley ; by the Rev. C. G 50 0 0 pd A Friend, by the Rev. C. G 50 0 0 pd The Dean of Lichfield 50 0 0 pd, A Clergyman, by the Rev. C. G 25 0 0 pd. A Friend, by the Rev. C. G 25 0 0 Mrs. Randolph ; Seven Oaks, Kent 20 0 0 pd, Rev. C. Girdlestone ; Sedgley 20 0 0 pd E. Woods, Esq. ; Brighton 20 0 0 pd Henry Hill, Esq. ; Tettenhall 20 0 0 pd Lady Emily Pusey ; Pusey, Berks 10 0 0 pd Captain Randolph; Seven Oaks 10 0 0 pd G. Sheppard, Esq. ; Frome, Somerset 10 0 0 pd John Mott, Esq. ; Lichfield 10 0 0 The Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry 10 0 0 A Friend, by the Bishop of Lichfield 10 0 0 Mrs. Edward Douglas ; Brasted, Kent 10 0 0 The Dean of Wolverhampton 10 0 0 Archdeacon Watson 5 0 0 pd, W. Sheppard, Esq. ; Tettenhall 5 0 0 pd, W. E. Gladstone, Esq., M.P 5 0 0 pd Rev. W. Davies ; Windrush, Gloucestershire 5 0 0 pd D r. Rev. E. Blencowe ; Windrush 5 0 0 pd Rev. E. B. Pusey ; Oxford 5 0 0 pd, Archdeacon Hodson 5 0 0 pd 0 r. Miss Raymond Barker ; Portman-square 5 0 0 pd Rev. J. Garbett ; Birmingham 5 0 0 pd 0 0 pd Mrs. Macbride ; Oxford 5 0 0 pd Miss Raymond Barker; Fairford '. 5 0 0 Rev. R. L. Cotton ; Denchworth, Bucks 5 0 0 A Friend ; Sandgate, Kent 3 3 6 pd Rev. Dr. Arnold ; Rugby 3 3 ° Mrs. S. G. ; Hemel Hempstead 3 0 0 70 Rev. Hi Raymond Barker ; Churchill, Oxfordshire. . 2 0 0 pd ttev. W. Wallinger ; Hastings 2 0 0 pd A Friend 2 0 0 H. R., by the Rev. C. G 2 0 0 Rev. R. W. Lloyd ; Tamworth 2 0 0 A Friend, by the" Rev. C. G 1 15 6 pd. Rev. J. G. Foyster ; Hastings 1 1 0 pd. Rev. T. Freeman ; Dunsell, Surrey 1 1 0 pd. Rev. J. C. Egginton ; Bilbrook 1 1 0 pd. G. Dalton, Esq. ; Dudley 1 0 0 pd. Miss Foyster ; Hastings 1 0 0 pd. Rev. J. A. Baxter; Churchill, Worcestershire 1 0 0 pd. Rev. Dr. Gilbert; Oxford 1 0 0 pd. Rev. W. Marsh ; Birmingham 1 0 0 pd. A Clergyman 1 0 0 pd. A Friend 1 0 0 pd. Rev. J. Marriott ; Buckland, Berks 1 0 0 pd. K. J. Marriott ; Buckland, Berks lergyman Eriend, by the Rev. R. W. Jelf . Bale ; Wythyham Idy Crichton; Scale. s. Charles Randolph onymous KBennet; Dudley Rhodes; Dudley nymous , t George Ward Duckinfield . . Total subscribed Total paid . 1 0 0 pd 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 pd. 0 10 0 pd. 0 10 0 pd. 0 10 0 pd. 0 10 0 0 10 0 631 9 0 429 6 0 HENRY HILL, Treasurer. APPENDIX, No. I. Proceedings OK THE BOARD OF HEALTH. ft the Council Chamber, Whitehall, the 6th of August, 1832.— By the Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy It is this day ordered by their Lordships, that a Board of Health be constituted for the Township of Bilston, in the County of Stafford, consisting of the following Members, viz. : — Rev. W. Leigh, Chairman — - H. S. Fletcher, Secretary J. Pool J. Denison Davies The Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor for the time being Messrs. Adam Hill J. Etheridge Richard Thompson Thomas Beebee Norris Best T. Turton I T. Cooper \ T. Procter J Surgeons. Thomas Perry. And the said Board are to proceed in the execution of the duties required of them accordingly. (Signed) C. C. GREVILLE. a 2 Board of Health, School House,* August 7. Ordered, tThat the large building, lately occupied by the detachment of 21st regiment, be immediately fitted up with all necessary cles as a temporary Hospital, for the reception and cure of sons affected with Cholera. That a horse and covered carriage be provided for conveying Cholera patients to the Hospital, and a Nurse engaged to attend them constantly, with a salary of 10s. per week and board and lodging. That the following Surgeons, Messrs. Waterhouse, Cooper, Mckenson, Turton, and Procter, be employed by the Board to ttend Cholera patients needing parish assistance, and that their ervices be required twenty-four hours alternately ; that they will >c expected to write down the particulars of every case, to precribe, to see that the medicines are properly dispensed, to meet he Board at six o'clock in the evening to certify the proceedngs of the day, and to point out the existence in the townhip of any filth, or other offensive impurities dangerous to the mblic health, that the same may be removed. tThat the sum of £3 3s. be paid to each Medical Gentleman r every day of attendance. That the following handbill be printed and circulated :—: — "CHOLERA. "Notice to the Poor of Bilston. " The inhabitants of the township, who may be attacked with Cholera, are earnestly requested to apply, without one moment's delay, at the Cholera Hospital, near the Workhouse, where they will receive medical assistance immediately. " (Signed) W. LEIGH, Chairman." That a Vestry Meeting be called on Sunday next, for the grant of £300 out of the poor rates, to defray the expences which may be reasonably and properly incurred by this Board, in carrying into effect any order of the Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, f * A room where the parish business is transacted. 3 That the Board meet every evening at six o'clock, to receive the Surgeon's report for the day, and transact any other business connected with this fatal malady. Board of Health, School House, August 8. Ordered, That an additional Nurse be immediately procured for the Hospital, and a person exclusively employed to attend to the horse and carriage for the conveyance of Cholera patients. That the following handbill be printed and circulated :—: — " CHOLERA. " Board of Health, Bilston, August 8. " All persons attacked with Cholera should instantly send for Medical Man, and, if not at home, a packet of medicines may >c obtained from any of the following Druggists, with proper irections for their use until he comes — [Here follow the names f several Druggists."] They may also be had at the Hospital near the Workhouse. The poor will receive these medicines free f all cost, and other persons may obtain them as above at Is. ach packet. The poor are also informed that they may obtain ime for whitewashing their houses at any of the following staions, which it is hoped they will immediately use — Hall-street, Vorkhouse-fold, Bridge-street, New Buildings near the Blue Joar. The Board of Health, most anxious to render every posible assistance to the poor of this township under this awful visitation, are sorry to hear from the Medical Practitioners that hey experience great difficulty in obtaining consent from the cholera patients to be removed to the Hospital, purposely and at jreat expence prepared for them. Convinced that such removal s, under God, most likely to secure their recovery, the Board, in he discharge of their important duties, have been compelled to order all the Medical Gentlemen, employed by them, to refuse urther attendance upon those patients who will not suffer themselves to be conveyed to the Hospital, when the Medical Gentleman recommends such a step to be taken. The poor, however, are hereby assured, that, at the Hospital, proper Nurses have >een provided, with every thing else which can promote their comfort, or is in the least degree likely to restore them to health. The Board of Health also inform the inhabitants that the intertwenty-four 4 hours after their decease, under a penalty of £5 ; but, in order to encourage the interment of such persons within the before-limited time of twenty-four hours, the Board of Health hereby undertake to pay the cost of the coffin, together with all the burial fees, when the funeral takes place within fifteen hours after death. "(Signed) W. LEIGH, Chairman," Board of Health, School House, August 9. Ordered, That two of the Medical Practitioners be solicited to inspect certain supposed nuisances in Church-street, Walsall-street, the New Road, and the New Building, — and that the following Members of the Board, upon receiving the necessary certificates, see that they are immediately removed : — Mr. Thomas Perry, Mr. T. L. Johnson, Rev. H. S. Fletcher, Mr. Job H. Lester, Mr. J. Etheridge, Mr. Richard Thompson, Mr. T. Beebee, and Mr. A. Hill. Board of Health, School House, August 10. Ordered, That whenever a Cholera patient is removed to the Hospital, the house from which that patient is taken be immediately thoroughly cleaned and whitewashed, — and that Mr. Etheridge be requested to engage persons for that special purpose. That every patient, receiving a cure at the Hospital, be required to return public thanks to Almighty God, at the place of worship to which that patient belongs, on the Sunday next jut one after recovery ; and that a certificate for that purpose be given him by the Medical Attendant of the day. Board of Health, School House, August 11. Ordered, That the sum of £1 ss. per week be given to each of the Deputy Constables, John Woolley and John Fellows, till further notice, in consequence of their services being wanted by the 5 Board of Health, School House, August 13. Ordered, That, from this day, the meetings of the Board be held every morning 1 at nine o'clock precisely, Sundays excepted. Board of Health, School House, August 14. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till to-morrow. Board of Health, School House, August 15. Ordered, That the Medical Gentlemen be requested to take into their consideration the propriety of trying the effect of Warm Baths for the cure of Cholera patients, or any other means they may think likely to check the ravages of the disease. That the letter, bearing the signature "J. Parkin," and received by the Chairman, with all other recommendations, medicines, or receipts to pure the Cholera, be referred to the Medical Gentlemen. That the offer of Mr. James Francis of a carriage, to convey the dead from the Hospital to the burial ground till another can be provided, be accepted, and that the car for conveying patients be on no account used for that purpose. That the several coffin makers in the township be desired immediately to employ all their hands for that purpose, without any limit as to the number of coffins. That the sum of £1 ss. be paid by Mr. Bew to the servants employed at the Hospital. That the sum of £2 be paid to the two women, Harris and Griffiths, for their services to the Board. Board of Health, School House, August 16. Ordered, That, although means have been some time back taken to discover and remove all dangerous nuisances within the township, it is desirable that a committee be again appointed for that purpose, and that the following gentlemen be requested to undertake the office : — Messrs. Oerton, Yates, Perry, White, Nokes, j I ou/ic That nnnn thp Hi«mv*»rv nf any nni mcc a rr*r 6 tificate having been obtained from two Medical Practitioners, as enjoined by His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, an order be forthwith given to the Deputy Constables for its instant Board of Health, School House, August 17. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till to-morrow. Board of Health, School House, August 18. Ordered, That the Cholera having increased in a most alarming manner n the township, and there appearing to the Board an urgent necesity of additional Medical Aid, the Chairman is earnestly requested o proceed instantly to Birmingham, and consult with Dr. John as to the best means of obtaining it. That Mr. Yates be requested to go to Shiffnal, it being understood that Medical Assistance may be procured from that place. That the Chairman draw up a handbill, exhorting the members of clubs, lodges, and all other benefit societies, not to attend the funerals of Cholera patients. That lime be deposited in the several burial grounds, for the purpose of covering the coffins immediately after they are interred, before the burial service is read. I That, it being found impossible to procure a sufficient number f coffins in the township, the Chairman be requested to obtain orae from Birmingham. That, from the appalling condition of the inhabitants, and the excessive fatigue of the resident Medical Practitioners from their >rofessional exertions, the Chairman be requested to address His Majesty's Privy Council, imploring them to send down to Bilston Vfedical Assistance without delay. Board of Health, School House, August 20. Ordered, Mhat Mr. R. Thompson and Mr. W. Bowen be requested to lase a carriage for conveying the dead by Cholera to the I crroiitici 7 Pat Mr. Adam Hill and Mr. T. Beebee be requested to prox additional Nurses at the Hospital. I That Dr. Burgess, from Shiffnal, be paid £5, with an intimaon that his services are no longer required. it is necessary to appoint two additional Constables, to st John Woolley and John Fellows. tThat the Chairman be requested to go to Birmingham, and deavour to procure two additional Medical Gentlemen, and o Dispensers of Medicine, one of the latter having run away >m the Hospital. I That Mr. R. Thompson be requested to wait upon Mr. Bagley, Medical Practitioner, and solicit his services. That the resident Surgeons, having expressed their total inability to fulfil their important duties to the poor, and at the same time attend to their private practice, be no longer employed >y the Board. At the same time, the Board are anxious to convey to all and each of those gentlemen their best thanks for their valuable services. That, under the distressing circumstances of the two or threo ast days, the Board beg to express their entire approbation of the Chairman's conduct in closing St. Leonard's Chapel yesterday, as also that of the Rev. H. S. Fletcher for pursuing the same course at St. Mary's. Board of Health, School House, August 21. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till to-morrow. Board of Health, School House, August 22. Ordered, That the Board approve of the Chairman's sending the sum of three guineas to the friends of the late Mr. Procter, on account of his professional services. That the following gentlemen, namely, Mr. J. Willim, jun., Mr. Yates, and Mr. White, be appointed a committee to purchase, for the Surgeon in charge at the Hospital, whatever may be deemed necessary to enable him to discharge his important duties in a way the most beneficial to the unhappy patients. 8 Ie Hospital from the Workhouse, and thus prevent every kind f communication between the one and the other. That five guineas per week be given to each of the Medical Students, and that this sum include every charge for their board, lodgings, and services. That one particular station be immediately provided, where the inhabitants may apply for instant relief, in case they should be attacked by a looseness in the bowels. That Dr. Macann be requested to see the Medical Pracitioners of the township, and, in conjunction with Mr. Best, endeavour to form such an arrangement with those gentlemen as may be deemed expedient, for carrying the last resolution into effect. I That Messrs. White and Bew supply the Hospital and Disensary with such drugs as may be required. Board of Health, School House, August 23. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till one o'clock this day. Board of Health, School House, August 23, 1 o'clock. Ordered, That Mr. Best be requested to obtain any additional Medical Aid he may deem necessary for the establishment of the Dispensary. That the friends of the late Mr. Waterhouse be immediately paid whatever sum may be due for the services of that lamented gentleman. That a house on the Swan Bank, belonging to Mrs. Tomkys, be taken by the Board, and fitted up, with the least possible delay, as a Dispensary, — and that Mr. Best, Mr. Bowen, and Mr. Dean be requested to superintend the necessary preparations. Board of Health, School House, August 24. Ordered, That the sum of 14s. per week be paid to the Porter at the Hospital. That £2 be paid to Mr. Perm for his services. That this Meeting be adjourned till half-past six this evening. 9 Board of Health, School House, August 24, half-past"six. Ordered, I That no cases be attended to by Mr. Blunt, the surgeon in arge of the Hospital, but those which come under the description of Cholera, and that all applications for cases of merely Bowel Complaints, be referred to the Dispensary. That a daily report be made by Mr. Blunt to the Board of the number of patients under his care at the Hospital, as also of those attended by Messrs. Boulton, Minster, Taylor, and Cooke, the Medical Students. That the Medical Gentlemen attending Cholera Patients in their private practice be requested to make a daily return to the Board of the number of such cases, and of the names and residences of those individuals, who are with their families likely to become chargeable to the parish. kThat the Surgeon in charge of the Dispensary, be required to ke a daily report of the number of cases of Bowel Complaints t have applied to him for relief. That a messenger be sent every morning to the Hospital, the Dispensary, and to each of the Medical Gentlemen of the town, for their respective returns, made up to eight o'clock the previous evening, conformably to the three last resolutions, and that the same be presented to the Board precisely at nine o'clock. That handbills be immediately printed and circulated, apprising the inhabitants of the situation of the Dispensary, and the purposes for which it is established. Board of Health, School House, August 25. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till Monday, the 27th instant. Board of Health, School House, August 27. Ordered, That the sum of £1 per week be paid to the Assistant Constables for their services. That the sum of 15s. be paid to Mr. Moseley, and that he be informed his services will no longer be required. tThat the thanks of the Board be given to Mr. Henry Poole, r his offer of assistance, and that the same be accepted. b 10 Board of Health, School House, August 28. Ordered, I That an additional Assistant be procured for the Dispensary, d that Mr. Blunt be requested to obtain one. That the sum of 7s. 6d. be paid to John Harper. the sum of £ 1 be paid to Mrs. Horton, for her voluntary ices to poor Cholera patients. I That the sum of 7s. per week be paid to the woman attending the Dispensary. I That the linen of persons dying by Cholera, and the sheets in hich they die, be immediately burnt, with an intimation to the mily that every endeavour will be used to replace the same. Board of Health, School House, August 29. Ordered, LThat the services of Mr. King be engaged for the Dispensary, d that he be paid six guineas a week for the same. That Messrs. Dickenson and Turton be requested to inform the Board whether they can conveniently attend in their turn at the Dispensary according to a former arrangement. That it having been represented to the Board that many persons, being members of benefit societies, have applied at the Dispensary for relief, the Medical Gentlemen of the town be immediately informed that the establishment is not intended for the relief of such patients. Board of Health, School House, August 30. Ordered, That any person having been attacked by Cholera, and his own regular Surgeon being from home, may apply at the Hospital (under such circumstances,) for medical assistance. That the Board meet for the future at eleven o'clock, a. m., Sundays excepted. That the Medical Gentlemen of the town be earnestly requested to be punctual in transmitting their returns to the Board. Board of Health, School House, August 31. Ordered, That, Mr. King having left the Dispensary, and Mr. James 11 having applied to succeed him, it be left to Dr. Macann to engage him or not, as he may think fit. That the carriage, provided by the Board for conveying the dead to the grave, be used, whenever desired, to carry bodies to any burial ground belonging to dissenters, just the same as to that of the established church ; and that the demand of Is. for such service be not countenanced by the Board. That the arrangement made by the Chairman and Dr. Macann with the Board of Health at Wolverhampton, as regards Ettingshall-lane, be approved, and that the said Board be informed of it. Board of Health, School House, Sept. I. Ordered, That the Assistant Constables be required to attend at the Board of Health every morning at eleven o'clock, and report what they have done on the day preceding. That the Board approve of the discharge of one of the Nurses, for misconduct, by Mr. Blunt, and that no wages be paid her. That Mr. Foster be requested to wait upon Mr. Isaac Caddick, to learn from him upon what terms he will remove his varnjsh shop, or discontinue the use of it so long as the Board of Health is in operation, and report the same. That the thanks of the Board be offered to Dr. Macann, for the arrangement of the Dispensary, and to Mr. Best, for his assistance on this occasion. That the thanks of the Board be also offered to Messrs Dickenson and Turton, for their kindness in acceding to the arrangement. That the Dispensary Committee be requested to purchase two beds and a little furniture, for the use of the two Medical Gentlemen belonging to that establishment. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 3. Ordered, That the Medical Gentlemen be paid their respective salaries up to the present time. I That the sum of £2 9s. be paid to Mrs. Waterhouse, for meicines supplied by her late husband. That the nuisance in Walsall-street be immediately removed 12 by the Assistant Constables, and the one in Dickenson's-fold by the Deputy Constables. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 4. Ordered, That this Meeting be adjourned till to-morrow morning at eleven o'clock. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 5. Ordered, kThat a Vestry Meeting be called on Sunday next, for a further nt of money out of the Poor Rates, to defray the necessary and sonable expences of this Board.* Board of Health, School House, Sept. 6. Ordered, That, an application having been made by Mr. Taylor, one of he Medical Students at the Hospital, for permission to leave his ituation on Sunday next, the same be referred to Dr. Macann and Ifr. Blunt, and if in their judgment his services can be dispensed with, he may be released from his engagement. ? That, when any one of the Medical Gentlemen leaves Bilston, >rovided he has conducted himself to the satisfaction of the Board, a gratuity of one week's salary be presented to him, with a certificate of approbation, signed by the Chairman and Dr. Macann. That the parish burial fees, for those dying by Cholera, be four shillings and sixpence. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 7. Ordered, That there be an interchange of reports between Bilston and Wolverhampton, according to an arrangement entered into with the Wolverhampton Board of Health by Dr. Macann. That some additional handbills be printed for the Dispensary, and circulated. That the Constables, upon obtaining correct information of the existence of any thing dangerous to the public health, within any 13 closed house in which persons have died by Cholera, and having procured proper certificates, be directed to remove the same, after having placed upon the door of the said house a notice to that effect, the said notice having remained there for the space of one That, complaints having been made of the filthy state of certain back streets leading into the main street, the Surveyors of the Highways be informed of the same, with an earnest request from the Board immediately to cleanse them. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 8. Ordered, (That Mr. Dean be requested to procure necessary Nurses to ttend upon Elizabeth Mason, now lying in a dangerous state. That Dr. Ward be authorised by this Board to give written ecommendations for relief to any of the inhabitants of Ettingshallane, in the township of Bilston, whom he may think in want of necessary food, — and that the Committee, appointed for disributing provisions to the poor, be requested to attend to the same without delay. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 10. Ordered, That the Rev. H. S. Fletcher be requested to pay to Messrs. Henry Taylor and Henry Francis Minster, the sum of ten guineas each for their services, and ten guineas in addition, in pursuance of a former order, as a mark of the Board's approbation of their conduct ; also, that a certificate to the same effect, signed by the Chairman and Dr. Macann, be given to each of them. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 11. Ordered, That £ 1 ss. per week be paid to John Perm, for his services at the Hospital. That 10s. be paid to the two women who attended upon the late Elizabeth Mason. 14 Board of Health, School House, Sept. 18. Ordered, LThat this Meeting be adjourned till to-morrow morning, at even o'clock. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 14. Ordered, That the sum of £1 Is. be paid to the Trustees of the Methodist Chapel, for three burials ; that, from this date, only 4s. 6d. be allowed for each funeral, in pursuance of an order passed Sept. 6. That the thanks of the Board be given to Mr. Blunt, for his valuable services as Surgeon in charge of the Hospital, and that le be requested to accept a gratuity of ten guineas, in addition to lis salary. That this Meeting be adjourned to Monday next, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 17. Ordered, That the following notice be inserted in the Wolverhampton Chronicle of Wednesday next, and that 2000 handbills of the same, with 300 on large paper, be printed immediately, and circulated as widely as possible :—: — " The Bilston Board of Health have the satisfaction of announcing that the dreadful disease, which has been making such destructive ravages throughout the township, is, by God's mercy, rapidly and steadily declining. The Board are induced to make this statement public, for the purpose of satisfying the minds of xTsoiis at a distance that all cause for alarm has ceased, and in he earnest hope of restoring generally that confidence, from the loss of which the manufacturers and tradesmen of the place are sufferng so very severely. « (Signed) W. LEIGH, Chairman. " Board of Health, Sept. 17, 1832." Board of Health, School House, Sept. 18. Ordered, That the Assistant Constables, and the two Porters at the Hospital, be discharged, and one week's wagos be given them. 15 That one of the Medical Students be discharged from the Hospital, and one from the Dispensary, on Saturday next, and a gratuity of one week's salary, together with a certificate of good conduct, be presented to each of them, signed by the Chairman and Dr. Macann. Mr. Best be requested to superintend the Hospital and pensary. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 19. Ordered, That the Chairman be requested to forward a copy of the following resolution, unanimously passed by this Board, to the Lords of the Council, and to the Central Board of Health, and that it be advertised once in the Wolverhampton Chronicle : — " The Board of Health are anxious to convey to the Lords of le Council, their grateful acknowledgments for the important and aluable services rendered to the township by Dr. Macann, durfng lis sojourn amongst them. To his unwearied diligence in the disharge of his arduous and perilous duties, to his humane and unremitting attention to the poor, and, above all, to his wise and alutary arrangements for arresting the progress of Cholera in Jilston, the Board feel that, under God, they owe, in a great legree, the present favourable change in the condition of the nhabitants ; and so fully are the Board convinced of this, that hey cannot refrain from expressing most respectfully their anxious hope, that measures may be adopted, under the sanction of their Lordships, for carrying into effect, in other places where the pestilence may unhappily prevail, or where its approach may be apprehended, similar arrangements to those from which they themselves, under God's good providence, have derived such signal advantages. "(Signed) W. LEIGH, Chairman. " Board of Health, Bilston, Sept. 19, 1832." That a copy of the above be also given to Dr. Macann by the Chairman. Board of Health, School House, Sept. 20. Ordered, That the Chairman be requested to allow the following letter, 16 teived by him from Dr. Macann, to be recorded amongst the iceedings of the Board :—: — " Bilston, Sept. 15, 1832. " My dear Sir, " I feel it incumbent upon me, before leaving Bilston, to make my acknowledgments to you, and to the Parochial Board of lealth, for the kindness and attention with which every suggeson made by me, for the relief of the afflicted poor, has been eceived since my arrival here, and for the zeal, activity, and good eeling with which those and other similar suggestions were car.cd into effect ; nor can I be silent with respect to the conduct f the poor themselves, distinguished as it has been during the whole course of the late awful visitation, by the total absence of lamour or insult, or outrage of any kind whatever, and by a eady acquiescence in every regulation and arrangement precribed for their guidance, or instituted for their relief. " Believe me, my dear Sir, " With great respect and esteem, " Your faithful servant, " (Signed) F. MACANN. " Rev. W. Leigh, " Chairman Parochial Board of Health, " Bilston." That the Chairman be requested to convey to Dr. Macann the cordial and unanimous thanks of this Board, for his most valuable services to the inhabitants of Bilston during the late awful visitation, together with their earnest and sincere wishes for his future welfare and happiness. It having pleased Almighty God, in his Great Mercy, that he Pestilence should no longer continue its ravages in Bilston, [ have not deemed it necessary to publish any further proceedngs of the Board of Health, their labours since having been confined to the gradual breaking up of the different establishments connected with the disease, and to the settlement of the accounts. W. LEIGH. APPENDIX, No. 11. CONTAINING TABLES OF CASES, &c WITH OBSERVATIONS THEREON, BY F. MACANN, M.D. TABLE 1. Exhibiting a Daily State of the new cases of disease, and of the eaths from Cholera, at Bilston, in August and September, 1832. August C?. ses of Deaths. September. es of Deaths. Disease. Disease. [Brought up.] 2522 651 4 5 2 1 120 14 5 10 3 2 122 12 6 15 5 3 122 10 7 20 6 4 105 9 8 20 6 5 95 7 9 40 7 6 75 6 10 40 7 7 55 4 11 60 17 8 44 6 12 60 17 9 40 6 13 92 21 10 38 5 14 92 22 11 38 4 15 98 16 12 36 0 16 98 18 13 36 0 17 116 22 14 18 2 18 116 25 15 18 3 19 122 41 16 18 0 20 122 41 17 16 2 21 134 45 18 14 1 22 134 50 19 14 0 23 148 50 20 12 0 24 148 46 21 10 0 25 122 36 *26 122 35 27 116 27 28 116 26 29 118 24 30 118 22 31 120 14 2522 651 Total. 3568 742 * Dispensary opened. c 18 TABLE 2. Exhibiting a Weekly State of the new cases of disease, and of the deaths from Cholera at Bilston, in August and September, rW<: nf Rati ° ° f »™ Deaths. . 1 From 4to 10 August. 150 36 lin 4 2 11 17 616 133 1— 4& 3 18 24 924 298 1— 3 4 25 31 832 184 1 — 4* 5 17 Sept. 694 62 1— 11 6 8 14 250 23 1— 11 7 15 21 102 6 1— 17 Totals. 3568 742 I—s * The Ratio hero is to be considered as en approximation merely.— Vide Table 4. TABLE 3. Exhibiting a Weekly State of the Mortality at Bilston, from Cholera, in August and September, 1832. — The children of both sexes up to ten years of age, and the males and females above that age being each given separately. Children Above Ten Years - AVeeks. to _ . , Tea Years. ~ I _ , Totals - Males. Females. 1 To 10th Aug. 5 15 16 36 2 — 17th 23 54 56 133 3 __ 24th 58 135 105 298 4 — 3i s t 34 77 73 184 5 — 7th Sept. 18 23 21 62 6 — 14th 6 6 11 23 7 — 21st 4 2—6 Totals. 148 312 282 742 19 TABLE 4 v, Liiicircn A-Dovc I cq \ c£irs» to Ten Years. — " - ; Totals. Males. Females. Estimated population of Bilston, August 4, 1832 3675 5703 5322 14,700 Reported cases of disease, August 4 to September 21 — — 3,568 f Ascertained deaths from Cholera, same period 148 312 282 742 Ratio of cases to population, say, as 1 in 4 — — deaths to cases, 1 — 5 to population, 1 — 20 or |l in 23£ 1 in 18 j 1 in 18£ 1 in 20 * The Ratio here as in Table 2, is to be considered merely as an approximation to the truth, not ac critically exact in any case ; but as nearly so, perhaps, as can be deemed necessary. f It was found impossible to ascertain the ages and sexes of those who survived the attack : the gross number, therefore, under this head only could be given, as no calculation can be formed relative to the ratio of deaths to cases in any particular 20 TABLE 5. L Exhibiting the number of persons who died at Bilston, in the nths of August and September, in 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1831, when Cholera did not prevail, and in 1832, when it did. The deaths from Cholera in that year, being distinguished from the others. r, u ., , Above Ten Years. ,_, . . Children August and September. (- 0 Ten Years. Males Females Totals ' No Cholera, 1828 47 15 14 76 ditto 1829 28 8 7 43 ditto 1830 25 9 11 45 ditto 1831 66 17 13 96 1832 — — — — Of Cholera 148 312 282 742 Of other diseases 18 9 12 39 Total in 1832 166 321 294 781 OBSERVATIONS. These tables have been compiled from the Daily Reports made )y the Surgeons, from the Burial Registers, the Hospital and Dis>ensary Records, and the Details furnished by the families of deceased persons, — and present, I am inclined to believe, as accurate a view of the progress of the Epidemic Cholera at Bilston, at the time referred to, and of the extent to which disease and mortality prevailed there in connexion with that Epidemic, as it is )ossible to lay before the public. 21 En saying- this, I speak, of course, of the view exhibited by i tables taken as a whole, for I am sensible that the particular jers assigned to each day, or to each week, or even to the whole period, are not to be relied upon as critically exact. This observation is more especially applicable to the cases of disease, relative to which we had no such check or source of information as the Burial Registers furnished with respect to the deaths. With reference to both these points, however, I may add that nothing has E?n admitted on mere conjecture, and that the gross totals der every head are undoubtedly rather below than above the ith. The tables, it will be observed, include a period of seven weeks, namely, from the 4th of August, when the disease first appeared in Bilston, to the 21st of September, when it may be considered as having altogether ceased as an Epidemic — none but mild or isolated cases of the disease having subsequently appeared TABLE 1. In several instances, the numbers given in this table are the mean of the reported numbers for two consecutive days, — it being sometimes found impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, with respect to particular days, in any other manner. I Amongst the new cases in this table are included many in fhich the disease never advanced further than a simple Bowel Complaint ( DiarrhccaJ , that is, a Bowel Complaint more or less* evere, but not attended by cramps or vomiting. During the first three weeks, however, these cases bear but a small proportion to the cases of confirmed Cholera reported, the brmer having been, in a manner, overlooked until the opening of he Dispensary on the 26th August. From that time the proportion^ of Diarrhoea cases is to be considered as daily increasing until * Such cases were truly as much a part of the Epidemic Visitation as the more advanced or aggravated cases which occurred, and should not, therefore, on any account, be neglected in estimating the extent and progress of the disease in Bilston. 22 the 21st of September, when no case of confirmed Cholera was to be met with in the town, although Bowel Complaints still continued to present themselves. This statement will best explain the remarkable difference in the ratio of mortality during the earlier and the later periods of the Epidemic, as exhibited in this and the following table, TABLE 2. This table exhibits a weekly abstract of the daily numbers given v the one preceding, and as the whole of the cases and deaths are ms brought under the eye at once, and a weekly ratio struck, more satisfactory notion may be obtained from it of the actual >rogress of the epidemic and of the relative mortality at different >eriods, than by examining the items in detail. It requires no xplanation ; but it may be proper to add that the weekly numbers given here approach nearer, perhaps, to the truth than the daily nes, and the totals than either. I may also observe that the ratio iven here and elsewhere is to be considered as an approximation merely, the case neither admitting of nor requiring critical xactness in this point. TABLE 3. In enquiries like the present the population of a place is usually divided into two classes, viz. males and females, and, as he great mass of each of these classes is, generally speaking, distinguished from the other by various well marked peculiarities resulting from, or connected with, the difference of sex, — the arrangement is so far good. * During the seven days which immediately preceded that on which the Dispensary, for the treatment of Bowel Complaints, was opened (August 26), 930 cases of disease were reported, of whom 309 are known to have died, being, as nearly as possible, in the ratio of one in three. During the seven days, however, which immediately followed that date, the ratio, it will be seen, fell to one in six, 830 cases being recorded, of whom 139 only are known to have died. The actual number of deaths, it will also be observed, was diminished more than one half in that time — an additional proof of the beneficial 23 There is, however, in every community, a third class of persons: a class composed of individuals, amongst whom, on account of their tender age, no distinction of sex, moral distinction at least, can be said to exist. This class, also, is distinguished from the other two by wants peculiar to itself, and by being at the same time in a great measure exempt from the influence of those injurious consequences which personal misconduct, mental anxiety, and professional occupations entail so often upon persons of riper years. It may be difficult to say at what age the line should be drawn which is to separate this class from the others in any particular place ; but for general purposes and with reference to the great mass of the population in this country we may, perhaps, be permitted to assume, that it ought to include all those who have not exceeded their tenth year. Acting upon this assumption, then, I have drawn up this table (No. 3.), in which the actual extent of the mortality at Bilston, amongst the three classes of persons here referred to, is distinctly, and I trust, to a certain extent, accurately set forth. As this table, however, only exhibits the actual mortality in each class, no conclusion can of course be drawn from it relative to the comparative ravages of the disease amongst the various classes at Bilston, or even in any one class with reference to its actual numbers, or to the gross population at the time the epidemic commenced. I have, therefore, added another table (No. 4.), for the purpose of supplying these deficiencies, and enabling the reader to form something like a rational opinion for himself with respect to the extent and nature of the calamity now under consideration. TABLE 4. The gross population of Bilston in 1831, amounted, according to the census then taken, to 14,492 persons, and as during the preceding ten years it had been increasing at the rate of about 250 a-year, we cannot well estimate the total number of inhabitants at the time the epidemic broke out (August, 1832,) at less, perhaps, than 14,700, in round numbers, and such accordingly I assume it to have been at that time. Of this number it will be observed that I have in the table (No. 4. ) assigned 3675 to the class of children not exceeding ten years 24 of 3.11(1 i)'>_j"j; to the — oio o 54 lea, Mr., Haddington .... 100 eamington, collections at the Church, per Rev. Robert Downes 76 17 3 edbury, collections at the Church of 38 0 0 edsam, Daniel, Esq., Birmingham 5 0 0 edsam, J. F. Esq., Birmingham 5 0 0 eech, Rev. Burton, Sutton Montague 1 10 0 eek, subscriptions at, per Mr. G. Nail : — Challinor, Miss 0 10 0 Chorley, Mr. 100 Cruso, Mr. Michael .... 100 Cruso, Mrs. 100 F. C. . . 10 0 Deakin, Mr. 100 Fowler, Miss 5 0 0 A Friend 100 A Friend 100 Gaunt, Mr. John 100 Goodwin, Miss 0 10 0 Heathcote, Rev. T. H., Vicar 1 0* 0 Lowndes, Mr. 0 10 0 Morrow, Rev. James .... 0 10 0 Nail, Mr. G. 0 10 0 Roe, Miss 0 10 0 Thompson, Mr. G 10 0. Wardle, Mr. James .... 100 Williams, Miss 0 10 0 Small sums 1 1 0 20 11 0 Lees, T. Esq., Edgbaston .... 5 0 (>( > Lefevre, Mr. G. 0 10 G Leicester, collections at St. Martin's, per Hon. and Rev. H. D. Erskine 10 0 0 jeicester, a Friend at, per Messrs. Taylor and Lloyds .. 100 ..eigh Parsonage, Uttoxeter, subscriptions at, per Rev. James Bevan 700 Lewis, Mr., Wolverhampton .. 0100 Leycester, Hugh, Esq 10 0 0 ?eycester, Rev. Oswald, Hodnet • 5 0 0 Leycester, — — , Esq., Family of, Tolthall, near Monsheath 500 L. G-, Nottingham 25 0 0 Lichfield, collections at St. Mary's, per Rev. G. Buckeridge 38 2 8 55 Islington, S. A. Esq., Elmdon Hall 5 0 0 Little Malvern, collections at the Church, per Rev. Thomas Dean .... 11 19 7 Little and Woodcock, Messrs., Coventry 10 0 0 Lloyd, Samuel, Esq., Horsley, Gloucestershire 5 0 0 Locton, Rev. Thomas, Brampton, near Northampton 500 Longdon, Miss, Foxlow, near Buxton 5 0 0 Lory, Mrs. Alice 10 0 0 Lowe, Rev. John, Swinton, Rotherham 10 0 Lowndes, Richard, Esq., Binfield, Berks 20 0 0 Luard, , Esq., Austin Friars, London .... 700 Luckock, Mr. J., Great Barr . . ...... 110 Ludlow, collections at St Lawrence's, per Rev. Edward Baines 54 7 4 Lutterworth, collections at the Church, per Rev. R. H. Johnson 34 1 f Luxmore, Rev. Charles Scott, and Sister, Brom- Luxmore, Rev. C. Guilsford . . c n A Lymes, Mr. and Miss 2 2 0 £• s. d. £. s. d. donckton, Hon. Mrs., Somerford 5 0 0 M - A 20 0 0 A. A., Malvern 100 M'Michael, Mr. William, Bridgnorth (subscriptions> > •• 512 7 M'Neil, Mr. John 10 0 Madan, Rev. Spencer, Ibstock, Leicester 5 0 0 M. A. E. P., Plymouth 10 0 0 Maine, Rev. Thomas John, Husband's Bosworth 5 0 0 Mainwaring, Miss, Whitmore Hall 10 0 0 Mainwaring, Charles Kynvaston, Esq., Ellesmere 5 0 0 Malaba, George, Esq., Daventry 5 0 0 Malvern, subscriptions at, per Messrs. Robarts andCo ' 10 10 6 Manufacturers' Relief Committee, Bishopgatestreet-within, London .... ...... qqq n n Marshall, Mr. F., Wolverhampton 110 Marshall, Mrs., Trysull 0 0 56 £. s. U. £. s. d. Vlatlouk, subscriptions at, per J. C. Hobson, Esq 10 10 0 Mavesyn Ridware, near Lichh'eld, subscriptions at, per Rev. Thomas Grove 23 7 0 M. 8., Bristol 500 Members of a Friendly Society, at Mr. Chambers's, George and Dragon, Church-street, Birmingham 210 tfetham, Rev. George, Barwell, near Hinckley 5 0 0 M. G. N 2 0 0 Middleton, Mrs. Sarah, Willesley 5 0 0 lillford, subscriptions at, per Mrs. Catherine Strode .. 6 12 6 Minion, John, Esq., Statfold . . 10 0 Mite for the Poor of Bilston, Dorking 2 0 0 Mitford, Miss, per Rev. R. Warner 5 0 0 Mitford, Miss, for a Friend ..., 500 M. X 0 10 0 Monckton, Edward, Esq., Somerford 20 0 0 lonckton, George, Esq., Stretton Hall 10 0 0 lonckton, Major-General, Somerford 2 0 0 Vlonk, J. B. Esq., Coley Pork, Reading 5 0 0 Moore, Rev. T. J., King's Bromley 5 0 0 More, Mrs. Hannah, Clifton 5 0 0 Morgan, Miss Susannah, Parkfield Cottage, Stone 5 0 0 Mostyn, Rev. F., Wolverhampton, for a Friend 10 0 Mott, John, Esq., Lichfield .... 25 0 0 Muckleston, Mrs. per Robert A. Slaney, Esq., Walford 500 My Brother and Me, Leamington 5 0 0 My Mother and Myself, Worcester 5 0 0 £. s. d. £. s. d. Jailstone, collections at the Church, per Rev. Robert Crockett 700 A Neighbour, London 500 Seville, Rev. Edward and a few Individuals, Prees .... 500 Jewcastle-under-Lyne, donations from, per Messrs. Thomas Kinnersley and Sons . . 2 0 0 fewcastle-under-Lyme, contributions at, per Rev. Clement Leigh .... 69 4 6 57 Newcastle-under-Lyme, contributions at, by Mr. John Myatt, Mr. William Bailey, Mr. Joseph Gallimore, Journeymen Hatters belonging to the Fair Trade, and Workmen of Messrs. Mason and Sons, Mr. Thomas Hurdley, Mr. R. Hand, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Ford, Mr. Richard Turner, Mr. Joseph Harrison, Mr. Josiah Fox, and Mr. Charles Meadowcroft 10 0 0 Newport, Salop, collections at the Church, per Rev. W. Sandford 51 16 10 Newport, Salop, collections at the Independent Chapel .. 940 Newton, Mr. William, Birmingham 2 0 0 Nicholls, Samuel, Esq., Catstree 5 0 0 Nightingale, Miss T. R 5 0 0 Noel, Hon. and Rev. Gerard F. 5 0 0 Norris, Rev. H. H., Prebendary of St. Paul's and Llandaff 500 Norris, Mr. Thomas, Enville . . 10 0 Northampton, subscriptions at, per Messrs. Percivals .. 60 19 6 North Thoresby, Lincolnshire, subscriptions at, per Rev. F. Flowers .... 200 Obins, Rev. Archdeacon, Hemingford Abbots . . 5 0 0 One who has the means, London ...... 500 O. P., London 100 Ord, Rev. James and Family, Langton Hall, Market Harborough .... 500 Orton-on-the-Hill, collection at, by the Rev. J. Cory . . 13 2 0 Osmaston, Derbyshire, subscriptions at, per Wm. Leper Newton, Esq 560 O. S. 0., Henstead 500 Outram, Rev. P. T. Redmile, near Grantham 2 0 0 Owen, Rev. P. E., Wellington 5 0 0 Owen, Rev. H. E., Cound Rectory 2 0 0 Oxford-street, No. 272 0 10 0 Patten, J. Wilson, Esq., M.P. 5 0 0 58 £. s. d. £. s. d. Peel, Right Hon. Sir Robert, Bart. M.P 10 0 0 Peel, William, Esq., Bonehill, Tamworth 10 0 0 Plymouth, Right Hon. the Earl of 20 0 0 Pacey, Rev. Dr., Boston, Lincolnshire 5 0 0 Packer, Mr. Robt, Birmingham 10 0 Painswick, subscriptions at, per Mrs. Julia Strong 7 10 6 Parker, Admiral, Shenstone Lodge 6 0 0 Parr, Miss, Lythwood Hall, near Salop 5 0 0 Parry, Miss Jane, Gloucester . . 110 Parton, Messrs. J. and Co., Birmingham 10 0 Peari, Mr. James, Family, and a Friend, Bath 5 0 0 r. Pearley, Mrs., Workmen of, per Mr. W. Hodgetts, Birmingham 1 10 0 A few Friends, per do. Nag's Head, Lichfield-street 500 A Friend to the Distressed 10 0 Cotterell, Miss 1 0 0 8 0 0 Pearse, G. J., Esq., South Molton, Devon 10 0 0 Peel, Edmund, Esq., Bonehill House, Fazeley 10 0 0 Penkridge, collections at the Church, per Rev. J. Stafford 28 14 11 Penleaze, John, Esq., Swaffham 10 0 Perm, Wm, Esq., Clifford . . 5 0 0 Perm, Mrs., Clifford 5 0 0 Percivals, the Misses, Wolverhampton 3 0 0 Perkins, Mr. Mark, per Birmingham Banking Company 200 Perry, W., Esq.., Trysull .... 500 >\ Perry, Samuel, Esq., Liverpool 10 0 0 Pershouse, Wm. B. Esq., Perm Hall 3 0 0 Pershouse, Mrs., Perm Hall . . 2 0 0 Petersham, subscriptions from, per Mrs. Harper : — * Dawkins, Mrs., Richmond 0 10 0 * Don Manuel and Mrs. de la Terre .... 0 10 0 * Haldimand, Esq., Seymour Place, London 5 00 Harper, Mrs. 1 11 6 A Party of Well-wishers .. 0106 Pigou, Mr. Frederick .... 0 10 0 Small sums . . 17 0 10 0 0 Peters, Ralph, Esq., Southport, near Ormskirk 10 0 0 Phillips, Mrs. and Misses, Brislington Ha 11.... 15 0 0 59 £. I. d. £. i. d. Phillips, J. Burton, Esq., Heath House, Cheadle 10 0 0 Pigou, M. H., Esq., Twickenham 4 0 0 Pinches, Mr., Great Barr .... 100 Potter, Peter, Esq., Gorway House, Walsall. ... 10 0 Powell, Mr. S. 11., Stretton on Dunsmore, Coventry 220 Power, John, Esq., Hinckley . . 10 0 Price, Theodore, Esq., Harborne 5 0 0 Priors Hardwick and Priors Marston, collections at the Churches, per Rev. W. Corbett Wilson . . 7 18 0 Pritchards, Messrs. J. and G., Broseley 10 0 0 Proud, Mr. Thomas Aston, Birmingham 5 0 0 Pudsey, T. P., Esq. Seisdon 5 0 0 Pulverbatch, subscriptions at, per Rev. W.Gilpin 7 7 0 Pupils of Richard Sheldon, Esq., Grove House, near Birmingham 110 P. V. Z., Northampton .... 510 0 P. W., London 500 Pye, Mr., Chacombe 500 £. s. d. £. i. d. Q. H., London 5 0 0 T> XV £. i. d. £. i. d. Radnor, Right Hon. the Earl of 31 10 0 Rose, Lady .. 300 Rosse, Dowager Countess of .. 1000 Russell, W. C. Esq., M.P 500 Rainey, Robert, Esq., per Messrs. Spooner and Co., London 100 Record Newspaper, per Editor of 51 11 6 Record Office, London, from the, per John S. Gordon, Esq. 20 11 6 R. G., London 25 0 0 Rice, Mr. J., Southampton .... 100 Richard .... 100 Richards, William, Esq., New City Chambers, London .. 500 Ridgway, Mr., Workmen of, Potteries 6 0 0 Robarts, Curtis, and Co,, Messrs. 26 5 0 Robins, William, Esq., Stourbridge 5 0 0 Robinson, Mr. John, Tittensor, near Trentham 1 0 O Roby, John, Esq., and a few Friends, Rochdale 15 0 0 60 £. s. d. £. s. d. Rodd, F. Earle, Esq., Trebartha Hall, Cornwall 10 0 0 Rogers, H. Esq., Wolverhampton 5 0 0 Rose, Thomas, Esq., Newcastle-upon-Tyne .... 500 Royal Armoury Mills, Enfield, Middlesex, per Mr. W. R. Gunner .... 45 0 Lovell, Mr. George, Store Keeper 0 10 0 4 15 0 Russell, Jesse Watts, Esq., Ham Hall 20 0 0 Russell, Frederick, Esq., Bristol 4 0 0 Ryton, William, Esq., Wolverhampton 2 10 0 Ryde, Isle of Wight, collected at : — Bennett, Mrs. 100 Other Friends 1 17 0 Small sums 3 18 0 6 15 0 £. s. d. £. s. d. Scholefield, Joshua, Esq., M. P. 10 0 0 Scott, Sir E. D., Bart., M.P., and E. T. Foley, Esq., M.P, 15 0 0 Shepherd, Sir Thomas Cotton, Bart 10 0 0 Shepherd, Lady 500 Slaney, Robert A. Esq., M.P. 1q 0 0 Sparrow, Right Hon. Lady Olivia 5 0 0 Stamford and Warrington, Right Hon. the Earl of 20 0 0 St. Germains, Right Hon. the Earl of, for a Lady 5 0 0 Stowell, Right Hon. Lord .... 550 Sutherland, his Grace the Duke of 50 0 0 Salt, Thomas, Esq., Shrewsbury 5 0 0 Sant, Edward, Esq., Cannock 5 0 0 Savadge, William, Esq., Compton 25 0 0 S. C, Horncastle 500 Scarborough, per Rev. Augustus Thurlow :—: — Cooke, Mrs. 1 0 0 Nicholson, Mrs 100 Thornton, A. D., Esq. . . 10 0 Thurlow, Rev. Augustus . . 10 0 Small sums . . 10 0 5 0 o Scarisbrick, Thomas, Esq., Great Malvern .... 500 Scarisbrick, Mrs 5 0 0 10 0 0 Scott, John, Esq., Brereton, near Rugeley, subcriptions per :-— Alldrith, Mr. 0 10 0 L Birch, Miss 20 0 0 Moore, Mr. J 10 0 Scott, John, Esq. (additional) 2 0 0 Small sums . . 0 5 0 23 15 0 61 Seadon, Mr. William, Leicester, subscriptions per 1 19 11 Secret, Shipston-on-Stour .... 100 Sellers, Mr. John, and Friend, Sheffield 10 0 Servants of the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Country 1 16 0 Seymour, Mrs., Speen Hill, near Newbery .... 1300 Seymour, R. J. Esq., Crowood 3 3 0 Sharrow Lodge, subscriptions at, per Rev. Septimus Hodson 5 10 0 Shaw, George, Esq., Bath .... 500 Shelton, collections at Bethesda Chapel, per Rev. Charles Meigh 23 0 0 Shenstone, subscriptions at, per Rev. James Hargreaves 15 12 8 Sherard, W. C. Esq., Oundle 5 0 0 Shiffnal, a third subscription raised at, per Rev. John Brooke 9 7 1 1 0 Shrewsbury, donations from, per Mr. Watton :— Clarke, Messrs. T. C. and Co. 0 10 0 A Friend to the Poor, by a lady unknown . . 10 0 Griffiths, Mrs 100 Tipton, Miss, Plealey .... j 00 Small sums .. 3 10 o 7 0 0 Shrewsbury, collections at the Church, per Rev. E. Egremont 19 4 3 Sibthorp, Rev. Waldo, Ryde, Isle of Wight .... 10 0 0 Sick Club, Birmingham 100 Sikes, Thomas, Esq., Guilsborough, Northampton .... 500 Simpson, Mr., per Messrs. Spooner and Co., London .. 100 A Sincere Friend of the distressed, Rockampton 5 0 0 A Sincere Adherent to the Church, Shrewsbury 1 0 0 Small A 2 0 0 Small, Mrs. Dorothy, and Friends, St. Alban's.. 5 0 0 Smallwood, William, Esq., Edgbaston 3 0 0 Smith, Joseph, Esq., Sion Hill 5 o o Lea, Miss, Franche 5 q 0 Lea, Misses Sarah and Hannah, Franche . . 5 0 0 15 0 0 Smith, John, Esq. Rugeley . . 5 0 0 Smith, Rev. Samuel, Illminster j jo g Smith, Mr., per Messrs. Spooner and Co., London . ...... ».,... 110 Sneyd, Wm, Esq., Ashcomb, per Sir T. C. Shepherd, Bart 500 62 Solihull subscriptions at: — Cattell, Mr. H., Bell Inn, Birmingham.. 10 0 Chattock, Thos., Esq 500 Cumber, Mr. 10 0 Curtis, Miss 0 10 0 Edwards, Mr. Joseph 0 10 0 Evans, Mrs. 0 10 0 Evetts, Miss 0 10 0 Finden, Mr. Joseph 10 0 Freer, Mr., Shirley-street 1 0 0 Greswold, Lieut.-Col 500 Griffin, Rev. John 2 0 0 Griffin, Miss 10 0 Harborne, Mr. Thomas, sen. I 0 0 Havborne, Mr. Thomas, jun. 1 0 0 Harborne, Mrs. E 0 10 0 Harding, Mr. George Joseph 0 10 0 Hawkins, Captain 100 Hirst, Mr. 0 10 0 Homer, Messrs. G. and A. 2 0 0 Homer, Miss 100 Homer, Miss M 0 10 0 Lee, Mr. J. 0 10 0 Madeley, Mr. John 100 Marshal], Mr. Thomas . . 10 0 Millward, Mr. James 0 10 0 Powell, Mr. John 2 0 0 Reddall, Mrs. 100 Short, Mr. E. 0 10 0 Short, Mr. Richard 0 10 0 Swatkins, Mr. T 0 10 0 Taylor, Mr. Hugh 0 10 0 Thompson, Mr. R. B 0 10 0 Whitgreave, Mr 0 10 0 Wimbridge's, Mrs., Young Ladies at .... 0 17 6 Yates, Miss 2 0 0 Small subscriptions under 10». 10 7 6 49 5 0 South Staffordshire Bread Company 21 0 0 S. P 2 0 0 Spence and Desborough, Messrs., Sise Lane, London .. 220 Spooner, Isaac, Esq 5 0 0 Spooner, Venerable Archdeacon 2 2 0 S. T., Clapton, near London . . 5 0 0 63 £. *. a. £. i. j. Stafford, subscriptions at, per Mr. Arthur Morgan :—: — Hughes, Francis, Esq 200 Hughes, Mrs 1 0 0 3 0 0 Salt, J. S., Esq., London 10 0 0 Salt, William, Esq. do. . . 2 0 0 Salt, Mr. John, do 2 0 0 14 0 0 Stubbs, Joseph, Esq., Longport Potteries . . 5 0 0 Workmen of do 5 0 0— — 10 0 0 •Stafford, subscriptions at, per Mr. Mort: — Assistant Servants at the Lunatic Asylum 2 11 6 Bentley, Mr. 0 10 0 Bourne, C, Esq 0 10 0 Brookes, Colonel 100 Cartwright, Mr. Sampson 0 10 0 Chester, Mr. 2 0 0 Cliff, Mr. . . 10 0 Company at the Blue Posts 112 6 Company at the Cock Inn 1 1 0 Cramer, James, Esq 100 Critchley, Wm. sen. Esq. 1 0 0 Dawson, Mr. C 10 0 Elley and Son, Messrs. . . 1 0 0 Hanbury, Wm., Esq., Millford 1 0 0 Henshaw, Joseph, Esq., Tillington 1 0 0 Jones, Mr. Wm 10 0 Keeling, Mr. B 0 10 0 Kemsey, Mr. 10 0 Kenderdine, C. Esq 10 0 Kenderdinc, Mrs., Brook House 1 0 0 Kenderdine, Messrs. W. and T. 1 0 o Kenderdine, Lieut. R. . . 0 10 0 Kenderdine, Lieut. J. . . 010 0 Lakin, Mr. 10 0 Lithgoe, Mr. 0 10 0 Lockley, Miss 100 Meeson, Mr. 100 Morgan, Mr. C 10 0 Mort, Mr. Charles C. . . 10 0 Mort, Mrs., Newcastle .. 0100 Non-commissioned officers, &c. of the Staf- fordshire Militia . . 2 12 6 Rogers, Mr. John 100 Salt, Thomas, Esq., Weeping Cross 2 0 0 64 Stafford (continued). £• ¦• d. L. s. v. Shaw, Mrs., Red Lion .. 0100 Sirdefield, Mr 110 Smith, Misses 100 Society of Journeymen Curriers 1 0 0 Talbot Mr., and the young men at Messrs. Boulton and Talbot's, mercers 3 0 0 Turnock, Messrs 1 1 0 Turnock, Misses 1 1 0 Turnock, Mrs 1 0 0 Webb, James, Esq 100 Webb, Mr. Thomas . . 10 0 Webb, Mr. George 100 Webb, Mrs., Infirmary . . 0 10 0 Wright, Mr. Martin 0 10 0 Small sums . . 2 19 6 52 0 0 Stafford, subscriptions at, per Rev. W. E. Cold- well .... 50 0 6 Stafford Independent Chapel, collections at, per Rev. H. W. Dorman 13 0 0 Stanton, Mr. Cornelius, Walsall 10 0 Stevens, William, Esq., Prospect Hill, near Reading 10 0 0 Stevenson, Mr. Thomas, Tipton, 2 0 0 Stilwell, Thomas, Esq., Arundel-street, London 5 0 0 St. James's Chronicle 500 Stock and Sharpe, Messrs. Birmingham 5 0 0 Stockley, Mr. Moses 0 10 0 Stockton, collections at the Church, per Rev. JohnNunn 9 12 6 Stokes, W. Esq., Willenhall . . 5 0 0 Stoke-upon-Trent :—: — Subscriptions of the Inhabitants 28 0 0 Subscriptions of Persons employed at China and Earthenware Manufactories of Mr. T. Minton . . 12 2 1 Ditto of those of the Executors of the late Josiah Spode, Esq. 11 3 0 Ditto of those of Messrs. Boyle 1 4 2 Ditto of those of Messrs. Daniel 1 14 9 Ditto of those of Messrs. Davenport and Co. 13 0 Ditto of those of Messrs. Dimmock 113 0 57 0 0 Stone, subscriptions at, per Rev. Henry Sneyd, and Rev. Francis Kitchen :—: — St. Vincent, Right Hon. Viscountess .... 200 A flf}f*rlpv TVTr "P^warfi 010 O 65 Stone (continued). £. s. d. £. *. d Allen, George, Esq 100 Baines, Mr. M., from Odd Fellows' Lodge, Hand and Trumpet 10 0 Bakewell, Mr. 0 10 0 Barlow, E. Esq 2 00 Beech, Mr. 0 10 0 Boreham, Mr. M. C, Pupils of 3 7 4 Boreham, Mr. M. C 10 0 Briscoe, Mr. Ralph 0 10 0 Coleman, Mr. 0 10 0 Collett, Mr. Thomas and Family 0 17 6 Dixon, W. Esq 100 Fallows, Mr. 0 10 0 Gallimore, Mr. W 0 10 0 Gallimore, Mr. A 0 10 0 Highway, Mr., Family of 0 10 0 Jervis, Swynfen, Esq. . . 3 0 0 Joule, J. Esq 100 Joule, Mr. F 10 0 Kitchen, Rev. F 10 0 Maer, Mr. S 10 0 Masefield, Mr. W 10 0 Meeke, W. B. Esq 2 0 0 Oulton, subscriptions at, per Misses Turner 16 0 0 Plant, Thomas, Esq 100 Reay, Mr. William and Sister 0 12 6 Robotham, Mr. J 10 0 Sharpe, Miss, subscriptions by 0 10 6 Smith, Mr. M 0 10 0 Sneyd, Rev. H 3 10 Tharme, Mr. Joseph .... 0 10 0 Tharme, Mr. Thomas 0 10 0 Timmis, Mr. W 0 10 0 Vaughan, Mr 10 0 Vaughan, Mr. Thomas . . 10 0 Wakeman, Miss, Pupils of 1 10 0 Young, Mrs. 100 Small subscriptions not exceeding 10s. 6 17 ll 62 6 9 Stone, Gloucestershire, donations from :— - Hickes, Rev. George .... 100 Hickes, Miss 100 Hickes, Miss M 10 0 Jenkins, Miss 100 Jenkins, Miss E 10 0 5 0 0 i 66 £. s. <1. £. *. d. owe Church, Lichfield, collections at, per Rev. W. Gresley 37 G 7 Stranger, London 500 Stranger, Bristol 500 Stranger, Rugby 500 Stranger . . 10 0 Stranger, Birmingham .... 0100 tretton, , Esq., No 67, Lincoln' s-inn-fields 5 0 0 trutt, Mrs. Ann, Camberwell ...... 500 tubbs, Francis, Esq., London 5 0 0 tubbs, , Esq., London . . 5 0 0 uffolk, Mr. . . 10 0 urtees, Mrs. Harriet 2 0 0 utton Coldfield, subscriptions at, per Rev. W. R. Bedford . . 54 13 0 Sutton, Mr. Thomas, Wainfleet, subscriptions per 3 14 10 Swainston, Rev. Charles, Wistanstow 3 0 0 Swarm, Roland, Esq., Christleton, Chester .... 500 Swarm, Mr., per Mr. Blunt, Birmingham .... 100 £. s. d. £. b. d. Talbot, Right Hon. Earl ...... 30 0 0 Tamworth, subscriptions at, per — — Bird, Esq. 15 0 0 Taylor, Rev. Robert and Mrs., Clifton Hall, near Tamworth 10 0 0 Taylor, Miss, Moseley Hall . . 5 0 0 Taylor, Mr., for a Traveller, at Spread Eagle, Bilston .. 110 T. B. A. L. . . 5 5 0 T. C. H., Isle of Brewer, Somerset 0 10 0 Tean, collections at the Wesleyan Chapel, per Rev. Thomas Weston 2 10 0 Tettenhall, collections at the Church, per Rev. G. W. Woodhouse 11 14 0 Thomas, Rev. Dr., Billesdon, Leicestershire .... 10 0 0 Thomas, Rev. Edward, Billesdon, Leicestershire 5 0 0 Thompson, Mr. Richard .... 500 Thompson, Rev. C. M., Woodstone, near Peterborough 200 Thorneycroft, Rev. Charles, Macclesfield 5 0 0 Thornley, Edward, Esq., Birmingham • 5 0 0 Thorpe and Middleton, Messrs., for a Friend, Loughborough 10 0 0 67 A J ft * JL. f. d. i.. s. il Thursby, Rev. G. A., Vicar of Perm 5 0 0 Thursby, Rev. H. and Mrs., Perm 2 0 0 Tiverton, subscriptions at, per Rev. Charles Nutt 5 0 0 Tongue, Miss, Orton 100 Towers, William, Esq., Montague-square, Lon- don .... 500 Townley, Rev. Gall William, Upwell, Wisbeach 5 0 0 Trentham, subscriptions at, per Rev. Thos. Butt 16 11 0 T. S 2 0 0 Tudor, Mr. H., Manchester . . ...... 200 Turner, Mr. G., per Sir T. C. Shepherd, Bart. 5 0 0 Turner, Mr. Richard, Armitage 10 0 Turner, Mrs., for Friends 0 18 6 Turner, Mr., for Servants Oil 0 2 9 6 Twamley, John, Esq., Dudley 5 0 0 Twemlow, Francis, Esq., Betley Court 10 10 0 Twemlow, Thomas, Esq., Peatswood 5 0 0 Twining, Mr. Richard 200 Two Ladies, Newport, Monmouthshire 1 19 11 Twopenny, Rev. Richard, Little Casterton .... 1120 Two Sisters, M. and E. R., Retford 5 0 0 £. s. d. £. g. d. An Undergraduate, Cambridge 10 0 Union Benefit Society, held at Mrs. Ashwin's, Mount-street, Birmingham 2 0 0 Unwin, Mrs. 110 Upper Brook-street, London . . 15 2 0 y £. s. d. £. s. d. Van Wart, Son, and Co. Messrs., Birmingham .. 5 0 0 Vickers, Valentine, Esq., Cranmere 2 10 0 £. s. d. £. s. d. Wenlock* Right Hon. Lady . . 10 0 0 Whitmore, W. W. Esq., M.P. 10 0 0 Willoughby de Broke, Right Hon. Lord 20 0 0 Willoughby de Broke, Right Hon. Lady 5 0 0 Wilson, Right Rev. Dr., Lord Bishop of Calcutta 5 0 0 Windsor and Wolverhampton, the Hon. and Very Rev the Dean of 5 0 0 68 £. s. d. £ i. d. Wrottesley, Sir John, Bart. M.P. 10 0 0 W. A., Sheffield 10 0 0 Waddington, Mrs., Caversham 3 0 0 Wainwright, Robert, Esq 550 Wainwright, Mr. 2 2 0 Wakefield, Mr. Theodore, Swan Hotel, Birmingham 10 0 0 Wakefield, Mrs., Minworth Greaves 2 2 0 Walker, Mrs., subscriptions from her Neighbours, Chesterfield 17 1 6 Walker, Joseph, Esq., Birmingham 5 0 0 Walker, Mr. Samuel, Birmingham 10 0 Walsh, H. Esq., Warminster 5 0 0 Walsh, Right Rev. Dr., Wolverhampton .... 500 W. and A. . . 415 1 Warburton, R. E. Esq., Arley Hall, Knutsford 5 0 0 Ward, John, Esq., per Rev. J. Cooper, Burslem 2 0 0 Ward, T. E. Esq., per Mr. W. Baldwin, Chirk 1 0 0 Waring, Richard, Esq., Trowbridge 25 6 6 Warner, Henry Lee, Esq., and Family, Waltsingham Abbey ...... 20 0 0 arner, Miss Lee, and Sisters, High-grove, Walsingham 400 arner, Rev. R., and Family, Combe Villa, Bath 2 10 0 astell, Rev. J., Risby 5 0 Watkins, P. George, Esq 100 Watkins, Rev. John, Clifton Campville 10 0 tatson, Joshua, Esq., Lincoln's-inn-fields, London .... 50 atson, Mrs., Broom Hill, near Sheffield .... 30 Watson, John, Esq 100 Waugh, W. Esq. 5 0 Way, Rev. L., Warwick 500 Weaver and Mander, Messrs., Wolverhampton 5 0 0 Webb, Henry Charles, Esq., Green Hall, Forebridge, Stafford 500 Webb, Mrs. .. 500 Weedall, Rev. Dr., for Students, Oscott College 12 0 0 Wellingborough, subscriptions at, per Mrs. Matilda Corria 2446 Wellington, Parishioners of . . 33 16 0 Wellington, subscriptions at, per Mrs. Owen .. 10 12 6 Wellington, subscriptions at, per Messrs. Rey- 69 Vein, collections at the Church, per Rev. George Salt 24 2 6 Wenman, William, Esq., Gorsebrook ....!. 500 Westbromwich, per Mr. W. Salter: — A Friend 1 0 0 A Friend 100 Gordon, Rev. William . . 1 0 0 Harper, Rev. G. P 1 C 0 Poole, Mr. G. 0 10 0 Salter, Mr. George 5 o o 9 \q Weston, Rev. C, Horseley . . 0 10 Westwood, Mr. J. 0 10 W. F. S ! j W. G. S. D., Oxford 5 0 W. H., Birmingham 3 0 W. H. A., Weybridge, Surrey 10 0 Whalley, Rev. J. 3 3 ( Whieldon, Rev. Edward, Wood House, Cheadle 5 0 Whieldon, George, Esq., Welton Place, Daventry y •••• 5 0 White, Rev. P. Thomas, Droxford 5 0 White, George, Esq., for a Lady, War Office, London . . 5 0 White, Mrs., King's House, Lyndhurst 5 0 White, Rev. Thomas, Epperstone, Notts 2 0 Vhitlock, Mr. Thomas 1 0 ( Whitton, Dr. W., London . . 11 A Widow's Christmas Mite, Leamington 5 0 A Widow's Mite 5 0 A Widow's Mite, Warwick . . 5 0 ( A Widow's Mite, Cheltenham 5 0 A Widow, Canterbury 500 A Widow's Mite 200 A Widow's Mite, for the Sufferers at Bilston, Clifton .. 100 Wilbraham, Randle, Esq., Rode Hall, per Rev. Wilkes, Mr., Wolverhampton * 2 0 0 Willenhall, collections at the Church, including £5 from Mrs. Rabone . . 23 17 1 Willenhall, collections at the Methodist Chapel 10 0 0 Ditto, ditto at the Primitive Ditto 0 5 0 10 5 0 Willenhall, collections at the Baptist Chapel . . 5 0 0 Williams, Mr. John, and a few Friends, Birmingham ...... ?.... 200 70 £. s. d. £. s d Williams, Mr. John, Dudley . . 10 0 Wilson, George, Esq., and Friends, Monmouth 14 0 0 Wilson, Rev. Dr., Southampton 13 12 6 Wilson, Thomas, Esq., Leeds 5 0 0 Wilson, Mr. George, Wakefield 10 0 Wolferstan, Stanley Pipe, Esq., Statfold .... 500 Wood, James, Esq. 5 0 0 Woore, collections at the Chapel, per Rev. John Hawkesworth 594 Worsey, Messrs., Birmingham 0 10 0 Wright, Mr. Smith, Walton .. 6160 Wrottesley, Rev. Charles, East Knoyle, Wilts 2 0 0 Yarlington, Somerset, collections at the Church, per Rev. G. R. Rogers . . 10 13 0 Yates, Mr. Richard, London . . 2 0 0 Yates, Mr. Francis, London . . 1 0 0 Yates, Mr. John, London .... 100 Yates, Miss, London 100 Yates, Mr. John 100 Yonge, Mrs. Barbara 10 0 0 A Young Man, Westmoreland 10 0 0 A Young Lady, Birmingham 10 0 Z. Z., Leeds . . 10 0 0 Total of the foregoing subscriptions, including small sums under 10s. each 8312 1 9 Subscriptions of the inhabitants of Bilston .... 206 11 1 8518 12 10 Cash for Suet, sold from the Provision House . . 15 10 9 Discount allowed on Bread .... 050 Received for the use of the Dispensary in taking the votes of the Bilston burgesses, at the first general election of Members for the Borough of Wolverhampton .... 200 71 A STATEMENT, Shewing how the before-named sum of £8,536 Bs. Id. has been applied, as directed by the following Committee, appointed September 3, 1832, for that special purpose :—: — Rev. W. Leigh, Incumbent H. S. Fletcher, Minister of St. Mary's S. Davies, Independent Minister T. Hall, Wesleyan Minister J. Ham, Baptist Minister J. Pool, Baptist Minister Messrs. N. Best, Surgeon R. Bew, Druggist W. Bowen, Brass Founder W. Dean, Brass Founder J. Etheridge, Ironmonger . J. Foster, Banker J. H. Lester, Japanner J. Mason, Solicitor W. Oerton, Wine Merchant T. Perry, Ironmaster Joseph Price, Surveyor M. Taylor, Wine Merchant R. Thompson, Gentleman J. Willim, jun., Solicitor T. White, Druggist. Bread 296 7 11 Mutton 511 5 6 Oatmeal 15 1 4 To Widows and Orphans in Money 982 1 4 Bedding and Clothing* 898 15 8 Carried forward 2703 11 9 * In compliance with a letter, signed Richard Harley, for Mr. Hyett, dated Manufacturers' Relief Committee, 19, Bishopgate-street-within, 29th of August, 1832, and containing the munificent grant of £300, a Committee of nine gentlemen was appointed to decide upon its application, and by them it was unanimously agreed that the whole amount should be distributed to the sufferers by cholera in clothing and bedding on the approach of winter. This 72 Brought forward 2703 11 9 rvants, and other Expences attending the distribution of the above 60 12 11 Lime 25 8 4 resented to the Board of Health, towards defraying the expences of the Hospital, House of Recovery, and Disponsary* 500 0 0 fo Medical Men and Nurses, and for Drugs and Coffins 346 14 3 Printing and Stationery 45 6 8 Advertising Contributions, &c 158 10 2 Postage, Parcels, and Messengers 43 3 6 I Paid for Land and the erection of a School, for the education of Cholera Orphans, as per contract 400 0 0 (Lent on Mortgage on real Security, the interest to be applied in paying the salaries of a Master and Mistress, and other expences of the above School 2000 0 0 Carried forward 6283 7 7 * The Board of Health, in addition to the above, received out of the Poor Rates another sum of £500. — See Appendix No. 1., pages 2 and 12. tf The following extracts from the proceedings of the Committee, it is ped, will be satisfactory to all those benevolent persons who came forward mercifully, so liberally, and so promptly, during the late awful visitation :—: — " Resolved unanimously, " That the sum of 2,000/. be lent on mortgage, on real security in the name of the Committee, and the interest thereof applied in paying a master and mistress and other necessary expences for the education of orphans by cholera, it being the opinion of the Committee that a school for this purpose ought to be established. " That, in addition to the above-mentioned sum of 2,000/. the sum of 400/. be set apart for the purchase of land and the erection of school rooms. " That the said 2,000/. be lent on condition of repayment after six months notice, but that it be not otherwise appropriated, so long as any cholera orphans remain to be educated, unless it should please Almighty God again to visit the township with pestilence, and not even then unless a majority of the committee agree that the suffering is so great as to warrant such a proceeding, which may God in His Mercy avert. (i 'i'}.-)* ori cnftn 9q all flip cliolo]"! omhfiiis In vo 1)0011 otliieritod tlic oonimi t too 73 X. S. (I. Brought forward 6283 17 7 (urchaso of £2000 in Exchequer Bills, to enable the Committee to continue the weekly allowances to the necessitous Widows and Orphans by Cholera* 2030 15 0 In the Banker's Hands, this 17th day of April, 1833 222 6 0 8536 8 7 shall dispose of the school house and apply the proceeds, together with the principal sum of 2,000 J. in such a manner, and for such charitable purposes, as may seem to a majority of them most likely to meet the wishes of the contributors. " That the system of education be the Lancasterian. " That the children of all denominations belonging to the school attend divine service at St. Leonard's Chapel every Sabbath morning, accompanied by the master and mistress. That in the afternoon and evening, each child will be permitted and expected to go to such place of public worship within the township of Bilston, as the friends and relatives of the child may direct." * The sum paid weekly to the destitute widows and orphans amounts at this tim« (April 17, 1833) to £18 6s. Od. 74 A TABLE Shewing the number of Widowers, Widows, and Orphans, by Cholera at Bilston, in August and September, 1832, and containing also some particulars in the application of the funds, as given in the preceding statement. Orphans by Cholera, with- Orphans who lost their fa- Orphans who lost their mo. wid who lost their Widows who lost their husout father or mother, un- thers by Cholera, under thers by Cholera, under wiveB b y Cholera. bands by Cholera. der twelve years of age. twelve years of age. twelve years of age. J J 28 Males. 94 Males. 105 Males. 34 Females. 105 Females. 93 Females. 103 131 -* 62 Total. 199 Total. 198 Total. = Number of persons supplied j^mbe,. of loaves of bread, Number of Widows and j? with provisions on the and pounds of meat, &c. Number of Widows and Or- Wllmhpr nfF __ iH ., whn ._ Orphans who are at, this ' average, and for the most distl .; uute d between the phans who received mo. time (April 17, 1*33), repart twice a week, from , 3th of Auffust an d the ney and clothes. eelvea Deaain »- ceivlng pecuniary relief | the I3th of August, till the 30th of September. from the fund. 2 end of September. I 10,366 Lvs. of bread 116 Widows Atu .Q 21,980 lbs. of mutton .^ «« 9 o 268 Orphans 4,2b» 155 Sheeps' heads DyU aM 1,878 lbs, of oatmeal 384 ? Total number of Orphans under twelve years of age — 450 W. LEIGH. William Parke, Printer, Wolveiliarnpton. THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS THE REV. C. GIRDLESTONE, Vicar of Sedgley. I. The NEW TESTAMENT, with a COMMENTARY. Bvo. Consisting of short Lectures for the daily use of families. Part I. — containing St. Matthew and St. Mark. ('Second Edition. J Price 9*. Part II. — containing St. Luke and. St. John, price 9*. is just published. These two parts may be had in one volume, extra cloth boards, lettered. 18*. There is also an edition in numbers. Price 6rf. each. 11. TWENTY PAROCHIAL SERMONS. 12mo. s*. ( Second Edition. ) 111. TWENTY PAROCHIAL SERMONS. (Second Series.) (-Second Edition.) 12mo. ss. The Appendix to this volume, containing Family Prayers, may be had separately. Price Ad. IV. SEVEN SERMONS, on the COURSE of CHRISTIAN LIFE. 12mo. 2s. Qd. (Third Edition, Revised.) V. SEVEN SERMONS, on the SOCIAL CONDUCT of a CHRISTIAN. 12mo. 2*. 6d. (Second Edition.) VI. SEVEN SERMONS, preached during the Prevalence of Cholera, in the Parish of Sedgley ; together with a Narrative of this Visitation, and of the Religious Impression produced in the South of Stafford Mining District. With a Map of the District. 2*. 6d. The Narrative, which forms the Preface of this Volume, may be had separately. Price 6d. VII. SEVEN SERMONS, on the LORD'S SUPPER. With appropriate Devotions for Private or Family Use. 2*. 6d. boards, or gilt-edged and lettered, 3s. VIII. The CHURCH CATECHISM, broken into more Questions and Answers. 12mo. 3d. or 2*. 6d. the dozen. (Second Edition.^ IX. A LETTER on CHURCH REFORM. Bvo. I*. X. A SECOND LETTER on CHURCH REFORM. Bvo. I*. XI. Affection between the Church and the Dissenters. A SERMON on Luke ix. 49, 50. Preached before the University of Oxford. Bvo. 1,.