Adrian's chief endeavour, after the immediate succour of the sick, had been

to disguise the symptoms and progress of the plague from the inhabitants of

London. He knew that fear and melancholy forebodings were powerful

assistants to disease; that desponding and brooding care rendered the

physical nature of man peculiarly susceptible of infection. No unseemly

sights were therefore discernible: the shops were in general open, the

concourse of passengers in some degree kept up. But although the appearance

of an infected town was avoided, to me, who had not beheld it since the

commencement of the visitation, London appeared sufficiently changed. There

were no carriages, and grass had sprung high in the streets; the houses had

a desolate look; most of the shutters were closed; and there was a ghast

and frightened stare in the persons I met, very different from the usual

business-like demeanour of the Londoners. My solitary carriage attracted

notice, as it rattled along towards the Protectoral Palace--and the

fashionable streets leading to it wore a still more dreary and deserted

appearance. I found Adrian's anti-chamber crowded--it was his hour for

giving audience. I was unwilling to disturb his labours, and waited,

watching the ingress and egress of the petitioners. They consisted of

people of the middling and lower classes of society, whose means of

subsistence failed with the cessation of trade, and of the busy spirit of

money-making in all its branches, peculiar to our country. There was an air

of anxiety, sometimes of terror in the new-comers, strongly contrasted with

the resigned and even satisfied mien of those who had had audience. I could

read the influence of my friend in their quickened motions and cheerful

faces. Two o'clock struck, after which none were admitted; those who had

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The Last Man