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"ful men of the City aforesaid, not suspected, who "have the best knowledge of the person of the said "I. of N. and of such disease, you go to him the said "I. and cause him to be seen and diligently examined "in the presence of the said men, and if you shall "find him to be a Leper, as before is said, then with"out delay, in the best manner you can, cause him to "be carried away, and removed from the communica"tion of the said men, to a solitary place, to dwell "there, as the custom is, lest by such his common "conversation, damage or peril should in any wise "happen to the said men. Witness, &c."

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"But it seemeth, if a man' be a Leper “or a Lazar, and will keep himself within "his house, and will not converse with "his neighbours, that then he shall not "be moved out of his house."

King EDWARD the Third, in the 20th year of his reign, gave commandment to The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London, to make Proclamation in every Ward of the City and Suburbs, "that all leprous persons inhabiting there, should avoid "within fifteen days next; and that no 66 man suffer any such leprous person to "abide within his house and to incur the

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King's displeasure. And that they "should cause the said Lepers to be re

"moved into some out-places of the fields, "from the haunt or company of sound " people."

Lepers about this period were very frequently in the City,—and the disease of Leprosy was so infectious, that as there were many separate houses for these afflicted people to dwell by themselves, they had their overseers and keepers,—there were also certain laws and regulations formed by The Corporation for their government.4

To the change from the use of salted to that of fresh meat, joined to the advantage of the vegetable productions, now common throughout the year, is principally to be ascribed the almost total extirpation of that most malignant and loathsome disease, "The Leprosy," which formerly made such dreadful havoc among mankind,—though the introduction of linen, tea, and tobacco, are considered as having contributed very much to that happy effect.5

4 Wilkinson's Londina Illustrata.

5 Brady's Clavis Calendaria, vol. i. p. 90.

It was not until the end of the reign of King HENRY the Eighth, that any salads, carrots, turnips, or other edible roots, were produced in England. The little of these vegetables which was used, was formerly imported from Holland and Flanders. And Queen CATHERINE, when she wanted a salad, was obliged to despatch a messenger thither on purpose."

The Hospitals which were founded for the habitation and relief of persons afflicted with Leprosy, are generally dedicated to St. MARY MAGDALEN, and are of very ancient date.

It cannot be ascertained at what time The Magdalen Hospital in Exeter ceased to be a receptacle for Lepers, in consequence of there being no persons of that description to be found. At the present time, a preference is given to Candidates who are afflicted with the disease of Scrofula." The Commissioners were informed, that this practice has prevailed for the last fifty or sixty years, and it is • Hume's Hist. of England, vol. iv. p. 273.

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not improbable, that it has been acted since the extinction of the disease

upon,

of Leprosy."

In 1712, ELIZABETH STRODE, Spinster, gave to the poor strangers that come to" The Leper's Bath" at Bath, the yearly sum of 57., to be paid out of her lands in the County of Gloucester,—and she appointed Mr. MOOR, an Apothecary at the Bath, during his life, to be the receiver and distributor of her bounty,and after his decease, she appointed the Rector of the Abbey Church to perform the same duties.

The sum of 51. was continued to be paid for the benefit of persons who could not afford to drink the Bath waters, until the year 1786, since which time no payment has been made, there being no Bath known by the name of The Leper's Bath," now existing in the City of Bath, and it is not known therefore to whom to pay it.

The objects intended to be relieved by 7 Rep. vi. p. 58.

this Charity appearing to be now provided for by THE GENERAL HOSPITAL at Bath, it is recommended by The Commissioners, that the Arrears which are now due, be paid over to the Rector, and by him appropriated to the purposes of that Institution, and that the future yearly payments be paid to the Rector for the time being, and applied by him in like

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The Lepers' Bath appears, however, to have been well known to Mr. Wood, who says, that "this Cistern being the place "of resource for the most miserable ob"jects who seek relief from the healing "fountains, is proportionably mean, ob66 scure, and small,-it's medium size is "no more than about 10 feet in length "from North to South, by 8 feet in "breadth from East to West,-and it is "filled by the overflowing of "The Hot "Bath," - But, nevertheless, the fluid "retains it's medicinal virtues so well in "our little Bath, that numberless cures * Rep. iv. p. 295.

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