FUMIFUGIUM: OR The Inconveniency of the AER AND SMOAK of LONDON DISSIPATED.  
TOGETHER With some REMEDIES humbly PROPOSED By I. E. Esq To His Sacred MAJESTY; AND To the PARLIAMENT now Assembled.  Lucret. l. 5. 
Carbonúmque gravis vis, atque odor insinuatur  
Quam facile in cerebrum?—  
LONDON, Printed by W. Godbid for Gabriel Bedel, and Thomas Collins, and are to be sold at their Shop at the Middle Temple Gate near Temple-Bar. M. D C. L X I   

TO THE KING'S MOST SACRED MAJESTY.  
SIR,  
IT was one day, as I was Walking in Your MAJESTY'S Palace at WHITEHALL (where I have sometimes the honour to refresh myself with the Sight of Your Illustrious Presence, which is the Joy of Your People's hearts) that a presumptuous Smoke issuing from one or two Tunnels near Northumberland-House, and not far from Scotland-yard, did so invade the Court; that all the Rooms, Galleries, and Places about it were filled and infested with it; and that to such a degree, as Men could hardly discern one another for the Cloud, and none could support, without manifest Inconveniency. It was not this which did first suggest to me what I had long since conceived against this pernicious Accident, upon frequent observation; But it was this alone, and the trouble that it must needs procure to Your Sacred Majesty, as well as hazard to Your Health, which kindled this Indignation of mine, against it, and was the occasion of what it has produced in these Papers.  
Your Majesty who is a Lover of noble Buildings, Gardens, Pictures, and all Royal Magnificences, must needs desire to be freed from this prodigious annoyance; and, which is so great an Enemy to their Lustre and Beauty, that where it once enters there can nothing remain long in its native Splendour and Perfection: Nor must I here forget that Illustrious and divine Princess, Your Majesty's only Sister, the now Duchess of Orleans, who at her Highness late being in this City, did in my hearing, complain of the Effects of this Smoke both in her Breast and Lungs, whilst She was in Your Majesty's Palace. I cannot but greatly apprehend, that Your Majesty (who has been so long accustomed to the excellent Aer of other Countries) may be as much offended at it, in that regard also; especially since the Evil is so Epidemical; endangering as well the Health of Your Subjects, as it sullies the Glory of this Your Imperial Seat.  
Sir, I prepare in this short Discourse, an expedient how this pernicious Nuisance may be reform; and offer at another also, by which the Aer may not only be freed from the present Inconveniency; but (that removed) to render not only Your Majesty's Palace, but the whole City likewise, one of the sweetest, and most delicious Habitations in the World; and this, with little or no expense; but by improving those Plantations which Your Majesty so laudably affects, in the moist, depressed and Marshy Grounds about the Town, to the Culture and production of such things, as upon every gentle emission through the Aer, should so perfume the adjacent places with their breath; as if, by a certain charm, or innocent Magic, they were transferred to that part of Arabia, which is therefore styled the Happy, because it is amongst the Gums and precious spices. Those who take notice of the Sent of the Orange-flowers from the Rivage of Genöa, and St. Pietro dell' Arena; the Blossoms of the Rosemary from the Coasts of Spain many Leagues off at Sea; or the manifest, and odoriferous wafts which flow from Fontenay and Vaugirard, even to Paris in the season of Roses, with the contrary Effects of those less pleasing smells from other accidents, will easily consent to what I suggest: And, I am able to enumerate a Catalogue of native Plants, and such as are familiar to our Country and Clime, whose redolent, and agreeable Emissions would even ravish our senses, as well as perfectly improve and meliorate the Aer about London; and that, without the least prejudice to the Owners and Proprietors of the Land to be employed about it. But because I have treated of this more at large in another curious and noble subject, which I am preparing to present to Your Majesty, as God shall afford me Leisure to finish it, and that I give a Touch of it in this Discourse, I will enlarge my Addresses no farther, then to beg pardon for this Presumption of  
SIR, Your Majesties ever Loyal, most obedient Subject, and Servant. J. EVELYN.   

To the Reader.  
I Have little here to add▪ to implore thy good opinion and approbation, after I have submitted this Essay to his Sacred Majesty: But as it is of universal benefit that I propound it; so I expect a civil entertainment and reception. I have, I confess, been frequently displeased at the small advance and improvement of Public Works in this Nation, wherein it seems to be much inferior to the Countries and Kingdoms which are round about it; especially, during these late years of our sad Confusions: But now that God has miraculously restored to us our Prince, a Prince of so magnanimous and Public a Spirit, we may promise ourselves not only a recovery of our former Splendour; but also whatever any of our Neighbours enjoy of more universal benefit, for Health or Ornament: In sum, whatever may do honour to a Nation so perfectly capable of all advantages.  
It is in order to this, that I have presumed to offer these few Proposals for the Meliorating and refining the Aer of London; being extremely amazed, that where there is so great an affluence of all things which may render the People of this vast City, the most happy upon Earth; the fordid, and accursed Avarice of some few Particular Persons, should be suffered to prejudice the health and felicity of so many: That any Profit (besides what is of absolute necessity) should render men regardless of what chief imports them, when it may be purchased upon so easy conditions, and with so great advantages: For it is not happiness to possess Gold, but to enjoy the Effects of it, and to know how to live cheerfully and in health, Non est vivere, sed valere vita. That men whose very Being is Aer, should not breathe it freely when they may; but (as that Tyrant used his Vassals) condemn themselves to this misery & Fumo praefocari, is strange stupidity: yet thus we see them walk and converse in London, pursued and haunted by that infernal Smoke, and the funest accidents which accompany it whereso: ever they retire.  
That this Glorious and Ancient City, which from Wood might be rendered Brick, and (like another Rome) from Brick made Stone and Marble; which commands the Proud Ocean to the Indies, and reaches to the farthest Antipodes, should wrap her stately head in Clouds of Smoke and Sulphur, so full of Stink and Darkness, I deplore with just Indignation. That the Buildings should be composed of such a Congestion of misshapen and extravagant Houses; That the Streets should be so narrow and incommodious in the very Centre, and busiest places of Intercourse: That there should be so ill and uneasy a form of Paving under foot, so troublesome and malicious a disposure of the Spouts and Gutters overhead, are particulars worthy of Reproof and Reformation; because it is hereby rendered a Labyrinth in its principal passages, and a continual Wet-day after the Storm is over. Add to this the Deformity of so frequent Wharfes and Magazines of Wood, Coale, Board's, and other course Materials, most of them employing the Places of the Noblest aspect for the situation of Palaces towards the goodly River, when they might with far less Disgrace, be removed to the Bankside, and afterwards disposed with as much facility where the Consumption of these Commodities lies; a Key in the mean time so contrived on London-side, as might render it less sensible of the Reciprocation of the Waters, for Use and Health infinitely superior to what it now enjoys. These are the Desiderata which this great City labours under, and which we so much deplore. But I see the Dawning of a brighter day approach; We have a Prince who is Resolved to be a Father to his Country; and a Parliament whose Decrees and Resentiments take their Impression from his Majesty's great Genius, which studies only the Public Good. It is from them therefore, that we Augur our future happiness; since there is nothing which will so much perpetuate their Memories, or more justly merit it. Medails and Inscriptions have heretofore preserved the Fame of less Public Benefits; and for the Repairing of a Dilapidated Bridge, a decayed Aquaeduct, the Paving of a Way, or draining a foggy Marsh, their Eulogies and Reverses have outlasted the Marbles, and been transmitted to future Ages, after so many thousand and Revolutions: But this is the least of that which we Decree to our August CHARLES, and which is due to his Illustrious Senators; because they will live in our Hearts, and in our Records, which are more permanent and lasting.  
1. May. 1661.  
Farewell.   

FUMIFUGIUM: OR, The Inconveniency of the Smoke of LONDON dissipated, etc.  

PART. I.  
IT is not without some considerable Analogy, 
Anima, quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  that sundry of the Philosophers have named the Aer the Vehicle of the Soul, as well as that of the Earth, and this frail Vessel of ours which contains it; since we all of us find the benefit which we derive from it, not only for the necessity of common Respiration and functions of the Organs; but likewise for the use of the Spirits and Primigene Humours, which do most nearly approach that Divine particle. But we shall not need to insist, or refine much on this sublime Subject; and, perhaps it might scandalise scrupulous Persons to pursue to the height it may possibly reach (as Diogenes and Anaximenes were wont to Deify it) after we are passed the Aetherial, which is a certain Aer of Plato's denomination, as well as that of the less pure, more turbulent and dense, which, 
In Timaeo.  for most part we live and breath in, and which comes here to be examined as it relates to the design in hand, the City of London, and the environs about it.  
It would doubtless be esteemed for a strange and extravagant Paradox, that one should affirm, that the Aer itself is many times a potent and great disposer to Rebellion; and that Insulary people, and indeed, most of the Septentrion Tracts, where this Medium is gross and heavy, are extremely versatile and obnoxious to change both in Religious and Secular Affairs: Plant the Foot of your Compasses on the very Pole, and extend the other limb to 50 degrees of Latitude: bring it about till it describe the Circle, and then read the Histories of those Nations inclusively and make the Calculation. It must be confessed, that the Aer of those Climates, is not so pure and Defecate as those which are nearer the Tropics, where the Continent is less ragged, and the Wether more constant and steady, as well as the Inclination and Temper of the Inhabitants.  
But it is not here that I pretend to speculate upon these Causes, or nicely to examine the Discourses of the Stoics and Peripatetics, whether the Aer be in itself generally cold, humid, warm or exactly tempered so as best conduces to a material principle, of which it is accounted one of the four; because they are altogether Physical notions, and do not come under our cognisance as a pure and sincere Element; but as it is particularly inquinated, infected, participating of the various Accidents, and informed by extrinsical Causes, which render it noxious to the Inhabitans, who derive and make use of it for Life. Nevertheless, for distinction sake, we may yet be allowed to repute some Aers pure, comparatively, viz. That which is clear, open, sweetly ventilated and put into motion with gentle gales and breezes; not too sharp, but of a temperate constitutution. In a word, That we pronounce for good and pure Aer, which head not to sweats and fointnesse; nor cools to rigidness and trembling; nor dries to wrinkles and hardness; nor moistens to resolution and over much softness. The more hot promotes indeed the Wit, but is weak and trissing; 
Lib. de Aere Aqu. & Lotis.  and therefore Hypocrates speaks the Asiatic people Imbelles and Effeminate, though of a more artificial and ingenious Spirit: If over cold and keen, it too much abotes the heat, but renders the body robust and hardy; as those who are born under the Northern Bears, are more fierce & stupid, caused by a certain internal Antiperistasis and universal Impulsion. The drier Aer is generally the more salutary and healthy, so it be not too sweltery and infested with heat or fuliginous vapours, which is by no means a friend to health and Longavity, as Avicon notes of the Aethiops who seldom arrived to any considerable old Age. As much to be reproved is the moist, viz, that which is over mixed with aquous exhalations, equally pernicious and susciptible of putre faction; notwithstanding does it oftener produce fair and tends skins, and some last along while in it; but commonly not so healthy, as in Aer which is more dry. But the impure and Uliginous, as that which proceeds from stagnated places, is of all other, the most vile and Pestilent.  
Now, that through all these diversiries of Aer, Mores Hominum do Corporis temperamentum Sequi, is for the greater part so true an observation, that a Volume of Instances might be produced, if the Common notices did not sufficiently confirm it even to a Proverb. The Aer on which we continually prey, perpetually inspiring matter to the Animal and Vital Spirits, by which they become more or less obfuscated, clouded and rendered obnoxious: and therefore that Prince of Physicians Hypocrates, wittily calls a sincere and pure Aer, 
De Morb● Sacro. , The Internunce and Interpreter of Prudence. The celestial influences being so much retarded or assisted, and improved through this omnipresent, and as it were, universal Medium: For, though the Aer in its simple substance cannot be vitiated; yet, in its prime qualities it suffers these infinite mutations, both from superior and inferior Causes, so as its accidental effects become almost innumerable;  
Let it be farther considered, what is most evident, That the Body feeds upon Meats commonly but at certain periods and stated times, be it twice a day or oftener; whereas, upon the Aer, or what accompanies it (est enim in ipso Aere occultus vitae cibus) it is always preying sleeping, or waking; and therefore, doubtless the election of this constant and assiduous Food, should something concern us; I affirm, more than even the very Meat we eat, whereof so little and indifferent nourishes and satisfies the most temperate and best Educated persons. Besides, Aer that is corrupt insinuates itself into the vital parts immediately; whereas the meats which we take though never so ill conditioned, require time for the concoction, by which its effects are greatly mitigated; wh●●●● the other, passing so speedily to the Lungs, and virtually to the Heart itself, is derived and communicated over the whole mass: In a word, as the Lucid and noble Aer, clarifies the Blood, subtilizes and excites it, cheering the Spirits and promoting digestion; so the dark, and gross (on the Contrary) perturbs the Body, prohibits necessary Transpiration for the resolution and dissipation of ill Vapours, even to disturbance of the very Rational faculties, which the purer Aer does so far illuminate, as to have rendered some Men healthy and wise even to Miracle. And therefore the Empoisoning of Aer, was ever esteemed no less fatal than the poisoning of Water or Meat itself, and forborn even amongst Barbarians; since (as is said) such Infections become more apt to insinuate themselves and betray the very Spirits, to which they have so near a cognation. Some Aers we know are held to be Alexipharmac and even deleterious to Poison itself, as 'tis reported of that of Ireland: In some we find Carcases will hardly putrify, in others again rot and fall to pieces immediately.  
From these, or the like considerations therefore, it might well proceed, that Vitruvius, and the rest who follow that Master-Builder, 
Lib. 1. cap. 1.  mention it as a Principle, for the accomplishment of their Architect, that being skilful in the Art of Physic, amongst other Observations, he sedulously examine the Aer and Situation of the places where he designs to build, the Inclinations of the Heavens, 
Aeres Locorum.  and the Climates; Sine his enim rationibus nulla salubris habitatio fieri potest: there is no dwelling can be safe or healthy without it. 'Tis true, he does likewise add Water also, which is but a kind of condensed Aer; though he might have observed, that Element to be seldom bad, where the other is good; omitting only some peculiar Fountains and Mineral waters, which are percolated through Mines and Metalique Earth's less frequent, and very rarely to be encountered.  
Now whether those who were the Ancient Founders of our goodly Metropolis, had considered these particulars (though long before Vitruvius) I can no ways doubt or make question of; since having respect to the nobleness of the situation of London, we shall every way find it to have been consulted with all imaginable Advantages, not only in relation to Profit, but to Health and Pleasure; and that, if there be any thing which seems to impeach the two last Transcendencies, it will be found to be but something extrinsical and Accidental only, which naturally does not concern the Place at all; but, which may very easily be reform, without any the least inconvenience, as in due time we shall come to demonstrate.  
For first, the City of London is built upon a sweet and most agreeable Eminency of Ground, at the North-side of a goodly and well-conditioned River, towards which it hath an Aspect by a gentle and easy declivity, apt to be improved to all that may render her Palaces, Buildings, and Avenues useful, graceful and most magnificent: The Fumes which exhale from the Waters and lower Grounds lying southward, by which means they are perpetually attracted, carried off or dissipated by the Sun, as soon as they are born and ascend.  
Add to this, that the Soil is universally Gravel, not only where the City itself is placed; but for several Miles about the Countries which environ it: That it is plentifully and richly irrigated, and visited with Waters which Christalize her Fountains in every Street, and may be conducted to them in such farther plenty, as Rome herself might not more abound in this liquid ornament, for the pleasure and divertisement, as well as for the use and refreshment of her Inhabitants. I forbear to enlarge upon the rest of the conveniencies which this August and Opulent City enjoies both by Sea and Land, to accumulate her Encomiums, and render her the most considerable that the Earth has standing upon her ample bosom; became, it belongs to the Orator and the Poet, and is none of my Institution: But I will infer, that if this goodly City justly challenges what is her due, and merits all that can be said to reinforce her Praises, and give her Title; she is to be relieved from that which renders her less healthy, really offends her, and which darkens and eclipses all her other Attributes. And what is all this, but that Hellish and dismal Cloud of SEA-COAL? which is not only perpetually imminent over her head, For as the Poet, 
Conditur in tenebris altum caligine Coelum.  
Aeneid. 11.  but so universally mixed with the otherwise wholesome and excellent Aer, that her Inhabitants breathe nothing but an impure and thick Mist accompanied with a fuligimous and filthy vapour, which renders them obnoxious to a thousand inconveniences, corrupting the Lungs, and disordering the entire habit of their Bodies; so that Catarrhs, Phthisicks, Coughs and Consumptions rage's more in this one City than in the whole Earth besides.  
I shall not here much descant upon the Nature of Smokes, and other Exhalations from things burnt, which have obtained their several Epithets, according to the quality of the Matter consumed, because they are generally accounted noxious and unwholesome, and I would not have it thought, that I do here Fumos vendere, as the word is, or blot paper with insignificant remarks: It was yet haply no inept derivation of that Critic, who took our English, or rather, Saxon appellative, from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corrumpo and exuro, as most agreeable to its destructive effects, especially of what we do here so much declaim against; since this is certain, that of all the common and familiar materials which emit it, the immoderate use of, and indulgence to Sea-coal alone in the City of London, exposes it to one of the foulest Inconveniencies and reproaches, that can possibly befall so noble, and otherwise, incomparable City: And that, not from the Culinary fires, which for being weak, and less often fed below, is with such ease dispelled and scatterred above, as it is hardly at all discernible, but from some few particular Tunnells and Issues, belonging only to Brewers, Dyer's, Lime-burners, Salt, and Soap-boilers, and some other private Trades, One of whose Spiracles alone, does manifestly infect the Aer, more, than all the Chimneys of London put together besides. And that this is not the least Hyperbolie, let the best of Judges decide it, which I take to be our senses: Whilst these are belching it forth their sooty jaws, the City of London resembles the face rather of Mount Aetna, the Court of Vulcan, Stromboli, or the Suburbs of Hell, than an Assembly of Rational Creatures, and the Imperial feat of our incomparable Monarch. For when in all other places the Aer is most Serene and Pure, it is here Eclipsed with such a Cloud of Sulphur, as the Sun itself, which gives day to all the World besides, is hardly able to penetrate and impart it here; and the weary Traveller, at many Miles distance, sooner smells, then sees the City to which he repairs. This is that pernicious Smoke which fullyes all her Glory, superinducing a sooty Crust or fur upon all that it lights, spoiling the moveables, tarnishing the Plate, Gildings and Furniture, and corroding the very Iron-bars and hardest stones with those piercing and acrimonious Spirits which accompany its Sulphur; and executing more in one year, then exposed to the pure Aer of the Country it could effect in some hundreds. 
— piceaque gravatum  
Foedat nube diem;  
Claud. de rap. Pros. l. 1.   
It is this horrid Smoke which obscures our Churches, and makes our Palaces look old, which fouls our Clothes, and corrupts the Waters, so as the very Rain, and refreshing Dews which fall in the several Seasons, precipitate this impure vapour, which, with its black and tenacious quality, spots and contaminates whatsoever is exposed to it. 
— Calidoque involvitur undique fumo.  
Ovid.   
It is this which scatters and strews about those black and smutty Atoms upon all things where it comes, insinuating itself into our very secret Cabinets, and most precious Repositories: Finally, it is this which diffuses and spreads a Yellowness upon our choicest Pictures and Hang: which does this mischief at home; is Avernus to Fowl, and kills our Bees and Flowers abroad, suffering nothing in our Cardens to bud, display themselves, or ripon; so as our Anemonies and many other choicest Flowers, will by no Industry be made to blow in London, or the Precincts of it, unless they be raised on a Hot-bed, and governed with extraordinary Artifice to accellerate their springing, imparting a bitter and ungrateful Taste to those few wretched Fruits, which never arriving to their desired maturity, seem, like the Apples of Sodom, to fall even to dust, when they are but touched. Not therefore to be forgotten, is that which was by many observed, that in the year when Newcastle was besieged and blocked up in our late Wars, so as through the great Dearth and Scarcity of Coals, those fumous Works many of them were either left off, or spent but few Coals in comparison to what they now use: Divers Gardens and Orchards planted even in the very heart of London, (as in particular my Lord marquis of hertford's in the Strand, my Lord Bridgewaters, and some others about Barbican) were observed to bear such plentiful and infinite quantities of Fruits, as they never produced the like either before or since, to their great astonishment: but it was by the Owners rightly imputed to the penury of Coals, and the little Smoke, which they took notice to infest them that year: For there is a virtue in the Aer, to penetrate, altar, nourish, yea and to multiply Plants and Fruits, without-which no vegetable could possibly thrive; but as the Poet. 
Art ager: vitio moriens sitit aëris herba:  
Georg. 7.  So as it was not ill said by Paracelsus, that of all things, Aer only could be truly affirmed to have Life, seeing to all things it gave Life. Argument sufficient to demonstrate, how prejudicial it is to the Bodies of men; for that can never be Aer sit for them to breath in, where nor Fruits, nor Flowers do ripen, or come to a seasonable perfection.  
I have strangely wondered, and not without some just indignation, when the Southwind has been gently breathing, to have sometimes beheld that stately House and Garden belonging to my Lord of Northumberland, even as far as Whitehall and Westminster, wrapped in a horrid Cloud of this Smoke, issuing from a Brewhouse or two contiguous to that noble Palace: so as coming up the River, that part of the City has appeared a Sea where no Land was within ken; the same frequently happens from a Lime-kelne 
* I do assent, that both Lime & Sulphur are in some affections specifies for the Lungs; but then they are to be so prepared, as nothing save the purest parts be received into the body (for so Physicians prescribe Flores sulph, etc.) and not accompanied with such gross and plainly virulent vapours, as these fires send forth: Nor are they (as accurately prepared as Art can render them) to be perperually used, but at certain periods, in Form, and with due Regiment.  on the Bankside near the Falcon, which when the Wind blows Southern, dilates itself all over that Point of the Thames, and the opposite part of London, especially about S. Paul's, poisoning the Aer with so dark and thick a Fog, as I have been hardly able to pass through it, for the extraordinary stench and halitus it sends forth; and the like is near Fox-hall at the farther end of Lambeth.  
Now to what funest and deadly Accidents the assiduous invasion of this Smoke exposes the numerous Inhabitants, I have already touched, whatsoever some have fond pretended, not considering that the constant use of the same Aer (be it never so impure) may be consistent with Life and a Valetudinary state; especially, if the Place be native to us, and that we have never lived for any long time out of it; Custom, in this, as in all things else, obtaining another Nature, and all Putrefaction, proceeding from certain Changes, it becomes, as it were, the Form, and Perfection of that which is contained in it: For so (to say nothing of such as by assuefaction have made the rankest poisons their most familiar Diet) we read that Epimenides continued fifty years in a damp Cave, the Eremites dwelled in Dens, and divers live now in the Fens; some are condemned to the Mines, and others, that are perpetually conversant about the Forges, Fornaces of Iron and other Smoky Works, are little concerned with these troublesome accidents: But as it is not (I persuade myself) out of choice, that these Men affect them; so nor will any man, I think, commend and celebrate their manner of Living. A Tabid Body might possibly trail out a miserable Life of seven or eight years by a Sea-coal Fire, as 'tis reported the Wife of a certain famous Physician, did of late by the Prescription of her Husband; but it is to be considered also, how much longer, and happier she might have survived in a better and more noble Aer; and that old Par, who lived in health to an Hundred and fifty years of Age, was not so much concerned with the change of Diet (as some have affirmed) as with that of the Aer, which plainly withered him, and spoiled his Digestion in a short time after his arrival at London.  
There is, I confess, a certain Idiosyncrasia in the Composition of some persons, which may fit and dispose them to thrive better in some Aers, then in other: But, it is manifest, that those who repair to London, no sooner enter into it, but they find a universal alteration in their Bodies, which are either dried up or inflamed, the humours being exasperated and made apt to putrify, their sensories and perspiration so exceedingly stopped, with the loss of Appetite, and a kind of general stupefaction, succeeded with such Cathars and Distillations, as do never, or very rarely quit them, without some further Symptoms of dangerous Inconveniency so long as they abide in the place; which yet are immediately restored to their former habit, so soon as they are retired to their Homes and enjoy the fresh Aer again. And here I may not omit to mention what a most Learned Physician and one of the College assured me, 
Dr. Whistler.  as I remember of a Friend of his, who had so strange an Antipathy to the Aer of London: that though he were a Merchant, and had frequent business in the City, was yet constrained to make his Dwelling some miles without it; and when he came to the Exchange, within an hour or two, grew so extremely indisposed, that (as if out of his proper Element) he was forced to take horse (which used therefore constantly to attend him at the Entrance) and ride as for his Life, till he came into the Fields, and was returning home again, which is an Instance so extraordinary, as not, it may be, to be paralleled in any place of Europe, save the Grotto del Cane, near Naples, the Os Plutonium of Silvius, or some such Subterranean habitation. For Diseases proceed not from so long a Series of causes, as we are apt to conceive; but, most times from those obvious, and despicable mischiefs, which yet we take less notice of, because they are familiar: But how frequently do we hear men say (speaking of some deceased Neighbour or Friend) He went up to London, and took a great Cold, etc. which he could never afterwards claw off again.  
I report myself to all those who (during these sad confusions) have been compelled to breathe the Aer of other Countries for some years: if they do not now perceive a manifest alteration in their Appetite, and clearness of their Spirits; especially such as have lived long in France, and the City of Paris; where, to take off that unjust reproach, the Plague as seldom domineers, as in any part of Europe, which I more impute to the Serenity and Purity of the Aer about it, then to any other qualities which are frequently assigned for the cause of it by divers Writers. But if it be objected that the purest Aers are soon infected; it is answered, that they are also the soon freed again; and that none would therefore choose to live in a corrupt Aer, because of this Article: London 'tis confessed, is not the only City most obnoxious to the Pestilence; but it is yet never clear of this Smoke which is a Plague so many other ways, and indeed intolerable; because it kills not at once, but always; since still to languish, is worse than even Death itself. For is there under Heaven such Coughing and Snuffing to be heard, as in the London Churches and Assemlies of People, where the Parking and the Spitting is uncessant and most importunate. What shall I say? Hinc hominum pecudumque Lues.— 
Lucan.  And what may be the cause of these troublesome effects, but the inspiration of this infernal vapour, accompanying the Aer, which first heats and pollicits the Aspera Arteria, through one of whose Conduits, partly Cartilaginous, and partly membranous, it enters by several branches into the very Parenchyma, and substance of the Lungs, violating, in this passage, the Larynx and Epiglottis, together with those multiform and curious Muscles, the immediate and proper Instruments of the Voice, which becoming rough and dry, can neither be contracted, or dilated for the due modulation of the Voice; so as by some of my Friends (studious in Music, and whereof one is a Doctor of Physic) it has been constantly observed, that coming out of the Country into London, they lost Three whole Notes in the compass of their Voice, which they never recovered again till their retreat; Adeo enim Animantes (to use the Orator's words) aspiratione Aeris sustinentur 
Cic. de Nat. Deor.  ipseque Aer nobiscum videt, nobiscum audit, nobiscum sonat: In sum, we perform nothing without it.  
Whether the Head and the Brain (as some have imagined) take in the ambient Aer, nay the very Arteries through the skin universally over the whole body, is greatly controverted; But if so, of what consequence the goodness and purity of the Aer is, will to every one appear: Sure we are, how much the Respiration is perturbed, and concerned, when the Lungs are prepossessed with these gross and dense vapours, brought along in the Aer; which on the other side being pure and fitly qualified, and so conducted to them, is there commixed with the circulating blood, insinuating itself into the left ventricle of the heart by the Arteria Venosa, to rarify and subtilise that precious vehicle of the Spirits and vital flame: The Vena Arteriosa, and Arteria Venosa disposing themselves into many branches through the Pulmonique lobes, for its Convoy▪ the Aer (as we said) being first brought into them out of the Bronchia (together with the returning blood) to the very Heart itself; so as we are not at all to wonder, at the sudden and prodigious Effects of a poisonous or less wholesome Aer, when it comes to invade such noble Parts, Vessels, Spirits and Humours, as it visits and attaques, through those subtle and curious passages. But this is not all.  
What if there appear to be an Arsenical vapour, as well as Sulphur, breathing sometimes from this intemperate use of Sea-Cole, in great Cities? That there is, what does plainly stupefy, is evident to those who fit long by it; and that which fortuned to the Dutchmen who Wintered in Nova Zembla, was by all Physicians attributed to such a deleterious quality in the like fuel, as well as to the Inspissation of the Aer, which they thought only to have attempered, as is by most esteemed to be the reason of the same dangerous halitus of Char-Cole, not fully enkendled. But to come nearer yet.  
New Castle Cole, as an expert Physician affirms, 
Boetlus a Boot.  causeth Consumptions, Phthisicks, and the Indisposition of the Lungs, not only by the suffocating abundance of Smoke; but also by its Virulency: For all subterrany Fuel hath a kind of virulent or Arsenical vapour rising from it; which, as it speedily destroys those who dig it in the Mines; so does it by little and little, those who use it here above them: Therefore those Diseases (saith this Doctor) most afflict about London, where the very Iron is sooner consumed by the Smoke thereof, then where this Fire is not used.  
And, if indeed there be such a Venomous quality latent, and sometimes breathing from this Fuel, we are less to trouble ourselves for the finding out of the Cause of those Pestilential and Epidemical Sicknesses (Epidemiorum Causa enim in Aere, says Galen) which at divers periods, have so terribly infested and wasted us: or, that it should be so susceptible of infection, all manner of Diseases having so universal a vehicle as is that of the Smoke, which perpetually invests this City: But this is also noted by the Learned Sir Kenelm Digby, 
Discourse of Sympathetick Powder.  in confirmation of the Doctrine of Atomical Essluvia's and Emanations, wasted, mixed and communicated by the Aer, where he well observes, that from the Materials of our London Fires, there results a great quantity of volatile Salts, which being very sharp and dissipated by the Smoke, doth infect the Aer, and so incorporate with it, that, though the very Bodies of those corrosive particles escape our perception, yet we soon find their effects, by the destruction which they induce upon all things that they do but touch; spoiling, and destroying their beautiful colours, with their fuliginous qualities: Yea, though a Chamber be never so closely locked up, Men find at their return, all things that are in it, even covered with a black thin Soot, and all the rest of the Furniture as full of it, as if it were in the house of some Miller, or a Baker's Shop, where the Flower gets into their Cupboards, and Boxes, though never so close and accurately shut.  
This Coal, says Sir K. flies abroad, sowling the Clothes that are exposed a drying upon the Hedges; and in the Springtime (as but now we mentioned) besoots all the Leaves, so as there is nothing free from its universal contamination, and it is for this, that the Bleachers about Harl●em prohibit by an express Law (as I am told) the use of these Coals, for some Miles about that Town; and how curious the Dyer's and Weavers of Dammask, and other precious Silks are at Florence, of the least ingress of any Smoky vapour, whilst their Looms are at work, I shall show upon some other occasion: But in the mean time being thus incorporated with the very Aer, which ministers to the necessary respiration of our Lungs, the Inhabitants of London, and such as frequent it, find it in all their Expectorations; the Spittle, and other excrements which proceed from them, being for the most part of a blackish and fuliginous Colour: Besides this acrimonious Soot produces another sad effect, by rendering the people obnoxious to Inflammations, and comes (in time) to exulcerate the Lungs, which is a mischief so incurable, that it carries away multitudes by Languishing and deep Consumptions, as the Bills of Mortality do Weekly inform us. And these are those Endemii Morbi, vernaculous and proper to London. So corrosive is this Smoke about the City, that if one would hang up Gammons of Bacon, Beef, or other Flesh to sum, and prepare it in the Chimneys, as the good Housewifes' do in the Country, where they make use of sweeter Fuel, it will so Mummifie, dry up, waist and burn it, that it suddenly crumbles away, consumes and comes to nothing.  
The Consequences then of all this is, that (as was said) almost one half of them who perish in London, die of Phthisical and pulmonic distempers; That the Inhabitants are never free from Coughs and importunate Rheumatisms, spitting of Impostumated and corrupt matter: for remedy whereof, there is none so infallible, as that, in time, the Patient change his Aer, and remove into the Country: Such as repair to Paris (where it is excellent) and other like Places, perfectly recovering of their health; which is a demonstration sufficient to confirm what we have asserted, concerning the perniciousness of that about this City, produced only, from this exitial and intolerable Accident.  
But I hear it now objected by some, that in publishing this Invective against the Smoke of London, I hazard the engaging of a whole Faculty against me, and particularly, that the College of Physicians esteem it rather a preservation against Infections, than otherwise any cause of the sad effects which I have enumerated. But, as I have upon several encounters, found the most able, and Learned amongst them, to renounce this opinion, and hearty with for a universal purgation of the Aer by the expedients I propose; so, I cannot believe that any of that Learned Society, should think themselves so far concerned, as to be offended with me for that, which (as well for their sakes, as the rest who derive benefit from it) I wish were at farther distance; since it is certain, that so many of their Patients are driven away from the City, upon the least indisposition which attaques them, on this sole consideration; as esteeming it less dangerous to put themselves into the hands of some Country Doctor or Emperic, then to abide the Aer of London, with all its other advantages. For the rest, that pretend to that honourable Profession; if any shall find themselves aggrieved and think good to contend, I shall easily allow him as much Smoke as he desires, and much good may it do him. But, it is to be suspected, and the answer is made (by as many have ever suggested the Objection to me) That there be some whom I must expect to plead for that, which makes so much work for the Chimny-Sweeper; Since I am secure of the Learned and Ingenuous, and whole Fortunes are not built on Smoke, or raised by a universal Calamity; such as I esteem to be the Nuisances, I have here reproved: I do not hence infer, that I shall be any way impatient of a just and civil Reply, which I shall rather esteem for an honour done me, because I know, that a witty and a Learned man is able to discourse upon any Subject whatsoever; some of them having with praise, written even of the praise of Diseases themselves, for so Favorinus of old, and Menapius since commended a Quartan Ague, Pirckhemierus the Gout, Gutherius celebrated Blindness, Hiensius the Louse, and to come nearer our Theme, Majoragius the nasty Dirt; Not I suppose that they affected these pleasant things, but as 
* De materiis infamibus quae Graeci 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant. Noct. Att. L. 17 c. 12.  A. Gellius has it exercendi gratia, and to show their Wits; for as the Poet, 
Sunt etiam Musis sua ludicra, mista Camaenis  
Otia sunt:—   
But to proceed, I do farther affirm, that it is not the dust and Ordure which is daily cast out of their Houses, much less what is brought in by the Feet of Men and Horses; or the want of more frequent and better conveyances, which renders the Streets of London dirty even to a Proverb: but chief this continual Smoke, which ascending in the daytime, is, by the descending Dew, and Cold, precipitated again at night: And this is manifest, if a piece of clean Linen be spread all Night in any Court or Garden, the least infested as to appearance; but especially if it happen to rain, which carries it down in greater proportion, not only upon the Earth, but upon the Water also, where it leaves a thin Web, or pellicule of dust, dancing upon the Surface of it; as those who go to bathe in the Thames (though at some Miles distance from the City) do easily discern and bring home upon their Bodies: How it sticks on the Hands, Faces, and Linen of our fair Ladies, and nicer Dames, who reside constantly in London (especially during Winter) the prodigious waist of Almond-power for the One, Soap and wearing out of the Other, do sufficiently manifest.  
Let it be considered what a Fuliginous crust is yearly contracted, and adheres to the Sides of our ordinary Chimneys where this gross Fuel is used; and then imagine, if there were a solid Tent●riu●, or Canopy over London, what a mass of Soot would then stick to it, which now (as was said) comes down every Night in the Streets, on our Houses, the Waters, and is taken into our Bodies.  
And may this much suffice concerning the Causes and Effects of this Evil, and to discover to all the World, how pernicious this Smoke is to our Inhabitants of London; to decry it, and to introduce some happy Expedient, whereby they may for the Future, hope to be freed from so intolerable an inconvenience, if what I shall be able to produce and offer next, may in some measure contribute to it.   

PART. II.  
WE know (as the Proverb commonly speaks) that, as there is no Smoke without Fire; so neither is there hardly any Fire without Smoke, and that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, materials which burn clear are very few, and but comparatively so termed: Thar to talk of serving this vast City (though Paris as great, be so supplied) with Wood, were madness; and yet doubtless it were possible, that much larger proportions of Wood might be brought to London, and sold at easier rates, if that were diligently observed, which both our Laws enjoin, is faisible and practised in other places more remote, by Planting and preserving of Woods and Copses, and by what might by Sea, be brought out of the Northern Countries, where is so greatly abounds, and seems inexhaustible. But the Remedy which I would propose, has nothing in it of this difficulty, requiring only the Removal of such Trades, as are manifest Nuisances to the City, which, I would have placed at farther distances; especially, such as in their Works and Fournaces use great quantities of Sea-Cole, the sole and only cause of those prodigious Clouds of Smoke, which so universally and so fatally infest the Aer, and would in no City of Europe be permitted, where Men had either respect to Health or Ornament. Such we named to be Brewers, Dyer's, Soap and Salt-boylers, Lime-burners, and the like: These I affirm, together with some few others of the same Class removed at competent distance, would produce so considerable (though but partial) a Cure, as Men would even be found to breathe a new life as it were, as well as London appear a new City, delivered from that, which alone renders it one of the most pernicious and insupportable abodes in the World, as subjecting her Inhabitants to so infamous an Aer, otherwise sweet and very healthful: For, (as we said) the Culinary fires (and which charking would greatly reform) contribute little, or nothing in comparison to these foul mouthed Issues, and Curls of Smoke 
Virgil.  which (as the Poet has it) do Caelum subtexere fumo, and draw a sable Curtain over Heaven. Let any man observe it, upon a Sunday, or such time as these Spiracles cease, that the Fires are generally extinguished, and he shall sensibly conclude, by the clearness of the Sky, and universal serenity of the Aer about it, that all the Chimneys in London, do not darken and poison it so much, as one or two of those Tunnels of Smoke; and, that, because the most imperceptible transpirations, which they send forth, are ventilated, and dispersed with the least breath which is stirring: Whereas the Columns and Clouds of Smoke, which are belched forth from the sooty Throats of those Works, are so thick and plentiful, that rushing out with great impetuosity, they are capable even to resist the fiercest winds, and being extremely surcharged with a fuliginous Body, fall down upon the City, before they can be dissipated, as the more thin and weak is; 
Pliny.  so as two or three of these fumid vortices, are able to whirl it about the whole City, rendering it in a few Moment's like the Picture of Troy sacked by the Greeks, or the approaches of Mount-Hecla.  
I propose therefore, that by an Act of this present Parliament, this infernal Nuisance be reform; enjoining, that all those Works be removed five or six miles distant from London below the River of Thames; I say, five or six Miles, or at the least so far as to stand behind that Promontory jetting out, and and securing Greenwich from the pestilent Aer of Plumstead-Marshes: because, being placed at any lesser Interval beneath the City, it would not only prodigiously infect that his Majesty's Royal Seat (and as Barclay calls it) pervetusta Regum Britannicorum domus) but during our nine Months Etesians (for so we may justly name our tedious Western-winds) utterly darken and confound one of the most princely, and magnificent 
* Memorabilis amoenitas pene citius animum quam oculos diffudit, aspectu non Britannia tantum, sed fortasse tota Europa pulcherrimo, etc. Sed pulcherrimum spectaculum praebit ipsa urbs inter eximias Europae celebrata, etc. Io. Barcl. Euphor. Sat. part. 4. c. 2.  Prospects that the World has to show: Whereas, being seated behind that Mountain, and which seems to have been thus industriously elevated; No winds, or other accident whatever can force it through that solid obstacle; and I am persuaded, that the heat of these Works, mixing with the too cold and uliginous vapours which perpetually ascend from these Fenny Grounds, might be a means of rendering that Aer far more healthy than now it is; because it seems to stand in need of some powerful drier; but which London, by reason of its excellent ●●ituation, does not at all require: And if it shall be objected, that the Brakishnesse of the Springtides, happening here about at some periods, may render the Waters less useful for some purposes: It is an extraordinary Accident, which appearing rarely, is cured again at the reversion of the next Tide: Or if it only concern the Brewer, I know no inconveniency, if even some of them were proscribed, as far as any fresh-waters are found dissemboguing into the Thames; since the commodiousness of the passage may bring up their Wares with so great ease: He that considers what quantities are transported from Dantzick, Lubeck, Hamborough, and other remote places into Holland, cannot think this an unreasonable proposition: But if their fondness to be nearer London, procure indulgence for some of them, The Town of Bow, in regard of its s●ituation from our continual Winds may serve for the expedient, and a partial Cure: But the rest of those banished to the utmost extreme propounded on the River.  
At least by this means Thousands of able Watermen may be employed in bringing Commodities unto the City, to certain Magazines & Wharves, commodiously situated to dispense them by Cars or rather Sleds, into the several parts of the Town; all which may be effected with much facility, and small expense; but, with such Conveniency and Benefit to the Inhabitants otherwise, as were altogether inestimable; and therefore, to be valued beyond all other trifling objections of sordid and avaricious persons whatsoever. Nor, indeed, could there at all the lest detriment ensue upon this Reformation; since, the Places and Houses deserted (which commonly take up a great space of Ground) might be converted into Tenements, and some of them into Noble Houses for use and pleasure, respecting the Thames to their no small advantage. Add to this, that it would be a means to prevent the danger of Firing, those sad Calamities, for the most part, proceeding from some Accident or other, which takes beginning from places, where such great and exorbitant Fires are perpetually kept going.  
Not were this a thing yet so extravagant, and without all Presidous of former times; since even the Smoke and burning of less foetid and noxious Fuel, produced an inconvenience so universal, in some Countries of this Nation (Not to mention the complaint which I have heard some parts even of France itself lying South-west of England, did formerly make of being infested with Smokes driven from out Maritime Coasts, which injured their Vines in Flower) that it was thought expedient an Act of Parliament should be made purposely to reform it in the seventh year of the Reign of His Majesty's Grandfather that now is, which, to take off all prejudice, I shall here recite, as it remains upon Record.  

Anno seven. jacobi Regis.  
An Act against burning of Ling, and Heath, and other Moor-burning in the Countries of York, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster, Derby, Nottingham, & Leicester, at unseasonable times of the year.  
WHereas, many Inconveniencies are observed to happen in divers Counties of this Realm, by Moore-burning, and by raising of Fires in Moorish grounds and Mountanious Countries, for burning of Ling, Heath, Hather, Furs, Gorsse, Turf, Fearn, Whinnes, Broom, and the like in the Spring time, and Summer-Times: For as much as thereby happeneth yearly a great destruction of the Brood of Wild-fowl, and Moore-game, and by the multitude of gross vapours, and Clouds arising from those great fires, the Aer is so distempered, and such unseasonable and unnatural storms are engendered, as that the Corn, and the Fruits of the Earth are thereby in divers places blasted, and greatly hindered in their due course of ripening and reaping. As also, for that sometimes it hath happened, that by the violence of those Fires driven with the Wind, great Fields of Corn growing, have been consumed, and Meadows spoiled, to the great hurt and damage of His Majesty's Subjects; which Moor-burning, nevertheless, may be used, and practised at some other convenient times, without such eminent danger or prejudice.  
Be it therefore Enacted by our Sovereign Lord the King's most excellent Majesty, with the assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of the Commons in this Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same; That from, and after the last day of July next ensuing the end of this present Session of Parliament, it shall not be lawful for any Person of Persons whatsoever in the Months of April, May, June, July, August, and September, nor in any of them, to raise, kindle, or begin; or to cause or practise to be raised, kindled, or begun any Fires or Moor-burning in the said Counties of York, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster, Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester, or in any of them, for burning of Ling, Heath, Hather, Furs, Gorsse, Turfs, Fearne, Whinnes, Broome or the like; neither to assist, further, nourish or continue the same; And that all and every Person and Persons, which from and after the said last day of July, shall offend contrary to the true intent, and meaning of this Statute, the same offence being proved by contession of the Party, or by the Testimonies of two sufficient Witnesses upon Oath, before one or more justices of the Peace of the same County, City, or Tow Corporate, where the offence shall be committed; or the Person or Persons offending, apprehended, shall be by the said justice, or justices of the peace, for every such offence, committed to the Common Goal of the County, City, or Tow Corporate, where the Offence shall be committed, or the person or persons apprehended, there to remain for the space of one Month without Bail or Mainprize.  
And further, be it Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that all, and every person and persons, which shall be so convicted and imprisoned as aforesaid, shall not be enlarged from their said Imprisonment; but shall there remain after the said Month is expired, without Bail or Mainprize, until such time as every such Offender respectively shall pay, or cause to be paid to the Churchwardens, or unto the Overseers of the poor of the Parish, or place, where the same Offence shall be committed, or the Offender or Offenders apprehended, or unto some of them, to the use of the poor of the said parish or place, where the same Offence shall be committed, the Sum of Twenty Shillings, for every such Offence committed or done, contrary no this Act. This Act to continue until the end of the first Session of the next Parliament.  
So far the Act. And here you see was care taken for the Fowl and the Game, as well as for the Fruits, Corn, and Grass, which were universally incommoded by these unwholesome vapours, that distempered the A, 
See Hipp. de Flatibus & Gal. l. Ctb. boni & mali succi, instancing in Corn and Water, poisoned by ill Aer.  to the very raising of Storms and sempests; upon which a Philosopher might amply discourse. And if such care was taken for the Country, where the more Acreall parts predominate, and are in comparison free; how much greater ought there to be for the City, where are such Multitudes of Inhabitants concerned? And surely it was so of old, when (to object all that can be replied against it) even for the very Service of God, the Sacrifices were to be burnt without the Camp; amongst the jews; as (of old) amongst the Romans, Hominem mortuum in urbe ne sepelito, neuè urito. That Men should burn, or bury the Dead within the City Walls, was expressly prohibited by a Law of the XII. Tables; and truly, I am persuaded, that the frequency of Churchyards, and Charnel-Houses contamminate the Aer, in many parts of this Town, as well as the Pumps and Waters, which are any thing near unto them; so that those Pipes and Conveyances which pass through them (obnoxious to many dangerous accidents) ought either to be directed some other way, or very carefully to be looked after.  
We might add to these, Chandler's and Butcher's, because of those horrid stinks, niderous and unwholesome smells which proceed from the Tallow, and corrupted Blood: At least should no cattle be killed within the City (to this day observed in the Spanish great Towns of America) since the Flesh and Candles might so easily be brought to the Shambles and Shops from other places less remote than the former; by which means also, might be avoided the driving of cattle through the Streets, which is a very great inconvenience and some danger: The same might be affirmed of Fishmongers, so wittily perstringed by Erasmus, per Salsamentarios nempe, inqainari Civitatem, infici terram, slumina, aerem & ignem, & si quod aliud est elementum. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Then for the Butcher; That the Lex Carnaria of the Romans forbade them to kill, or have their Slaughter-houses within the Walls; that they had a certain Station assigned them without; ne si passim vivant, totam urbem reddant pestiletem: So, as were the people to choose, malunt (says he) habere vicinos decem Lenones, quam unum Lanionem; They would rather dwell near Ten Bawds, than one Butcher: But this is insulsus Salsamentarius, a quibble of the Fishmongers. I could yet wish that our Nasty Prisons and Common Goals might bear them Company; since I affirm they might all be removed to some distant places near the River, the situation whereof does so invite, and rarely contribute to the effecting of it. But if the Avarice of the men of this Age, be so far deplorable, that we may not hope for so absolute a cure of all that is offensive; at least let such, whose Works are upon the Margin of the Thames, and which are indeed the most intolerable, be banished further off, and not once dare to approach that silver Channel (but at the distance prescribed) which glides by her stately Palaces, and irrigates her welcome Banks.  
What a new Spirit would these easy Remedies create among the Inhabitants of London? what another Genius infuse in the face of things? and, there is none but observes, and feels in himself the Change which a serene and clear day produces; how heavy and less disposed to motion; Yea, even to good humour and friendly inclinations, we many times find ourselves when the Heavens are clouded, and discomposed? when the South-winds blow, and the humours are fluid, for what we are when the Sky is fair, and the Aer in good temper? And there is reason, that we, who are composed of the Elements, should participate of their qualities: For as the Humours have their source from the Elements; so have our Passions from the Humours, and the Soul which is united to this Rody of ours, cannot but be affected with its Inclinations: The very dumb creatures themselves being sensible of the alteration of the Aer, though not by ratiocination, yet by many notorious Symptoms.  
But I forbear to Philosophise farther upon this Subject, capable of very large and noble reflections; having with my promised brevity, endeavoured to show the Inconveniencies and the Remedies of what does so universally offend, and obscure the Glory of this our renowned Metropolis; and which, I hope, may produce some effects towards the reforming of so public a Nuisance. At least, let the continual sejourn of our Illustrious CHARLES, who is the very Breath of our Nostrils, in whose health all our happiness consists, be precious in our Eyes, and make our Noble Patriots now assembled in Parliament, consult for the speedy removal of this universal grievance.  
It is certainly of far greater concernment (however light and airy it may appear to some) than the draining of a Fen, or beautifying an Aquaduct, for which some have received such public honours, Statues and Inseriptions; and will (if ever any thing did) deserve the like acknowledgements both of the present and future Ages. You therefore, that have Houses in the City, you that bring up your Wives and Families from their sweet Habitations in the Country; that Educate your Children here; that have Offices at Court; that study the Laws: In fine, all that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & ad eundem fumum degentes, bear a part in this request of mine, which concerns the universal benefit; and the rather, for that having neither Habitation, Office, nor Being in the City, I cannot be suspected to oblige any particular. The Elegant Ladies and nice Dames; All that are in Health, and would continue so; that are infirm or Convalescent, and would be perfect; that affect the Glory of our Court and City, Health or Beauty, are concerned in this Petition; and it will become our wise Senators, and we earnestly expect it, that they would consult as well the State of the Natural, as the Politic Body of this Great Nation, so considerable a part whereof are Inhabitants of this August City; since, without their mutual harmony, and well-being, there can nothing prosper, or arrive to its desired perfection.    

PART. III.  
An offer at the Improvement, and Melioration of the Aer of LONDON, by way of Plantations, etc.  
THere goes a pleasant Tale of a certain Sir Politic, that in the last great Plague projected, how by a Vessel fraight with peeled Onions, which should pass along the Thames by the City, when the Wind fate in a favourable quarter, to attract the pollution of the Aer, and sail away with the Infection to the Sea: Transplantation of Diseases we sometimes read of amongst the Magnetical, or rather Magical Cures; but never before of this way of Transfretation: but, however this excellent conceit has often afforded good mirth on the Stage, and I now mention to prevent the application to what I hope propound; There is yet another expedient, which I have here to offer (were This of the poisonous and filthy smoke removed) by which the City and environs about it, might be rendered one of the most pleasant and agreeable places in the world. In order to this I propose.  
That all lowgrounds circumjacent to the City, especially East and South-west, be cast and contrived into square plots, or Fields of twenty, thirty, and forty Acres, or more, separated from each others by Fences of double Palisads, or Contr'spaliers, which should enclose a Plantation of an hundred and fifty, or more, feet deep, about each Field; not much unlike to what His Majesty has already begun by the wall from Old Spring-garden to St. James' in that Park; and is somewhat resembled in the new Spring-garden at Lambeth. That these Palisad's be elegantly planted, diligently kept and supplied, with such Shrubs, as yield the most fragrant and odoriferous Flowers, and are aptest to tinge the Aer upon every gentle emission at a great distance: Such as are (for instance amongst many others) the Sweet-brier, all the Periclymena's and Woodbinds; the Common white and yellow jessamine, both the Syringas or Pipe trees; the Guelder-Rose, the Musk, and all other Roses; Genista Hispanica: To these may be added the Rubus odoratus, Bays, juniper, Lignum-vitae, Laevander: but above all, Rosemary, the Flowers whereof are credibly reported to give their scent above thirty Leagues off at Sea, upon the coasts of Spain: and at some distance towards the Meadow side, Vines, yea, Hops. 
— Et Arbuta passim, 
Virgil.   
Et Glaucas Salices, Casiamque Crocumque rebentem,  
Et pinguem Tiliam, & ferrugineos Hyacinthos, etc.   
For, there is a very sweet smelling Sally, and the blossoms of the Tilia or Limetree, are incomparably fragrant; in brief, whatsoever is odoriferous and refreshing.  
That the Spaces, or Aera between these Palisads, and Fences, be employed in Beds and Bordures of Pinks, Carnations, Clove, Stock-gilly-flower, Primroses, Aurieulds, Violets, not forgetting the White, which are in flower twice a year, April and August: Cowslips, Lilies, Nareissus, Strawberries, whose very leaves as well as fruit, emit a Cardiaque, and most refreshing Halitus: also Parietaria Lutea, Musk, Lemmon, and Mastic, Thyme: Spike, Cammomile, Balm, Mint, Marjoram, Pempernel, and Serpillum, etc. which upon the least pressure and cutting, breathe out and betray their ravishing odours.  
That the Fields, and Crofts within these Closures, or Environing Gardens, be, some of them, planted with wild Thyme, and others reserved for Plots of Beans, Pease (not Cabbages, whose rotten and perishing stalks have a very noisome and unhealthy smell, and therefore by Hippocrates utterly condemned near great Cities) but such blossom-bearing Grain as send forth their virtue at farthest distance, and are all of them marketable at London; by which means, the Aer and Winds perpetually fanned from so many circling and encompassing Hedges, fragrant Shrubs, Trees, and Flowers (the amputation and prune of whose superfluities, may in Winter, on some occasions of weather, and winds, be burnt, to visit the City with a more benign smoke) not only all that did approach the Region, which is properly designed to be Flowery; but even the whole City, would be sensible of the sweet and ravishing varieties of the perfumes, as well as of the most delightful and pleasant objects, and places of Recreation for the Inhabitants; yielding also a Prospect of a noble and masculine Majesty, by reason of the frequent plantations of Trees, and Nurseries for Ornament, Profit, and Security: The remainder of the Fields included, yielding the same, and better Shelter, and Pasture for Sheep and cattle then now; that they lie bleak, exposed and abandoned to the winds, which perpetually invade them.  
That, to this end, the Gardiner's (which now cultivate the upper, more dry and ungrateful soil) be encouraged to begin Plantations in such places only: and the farther exorbitant increase of Tenements, poor and nasty Cottages near the City, be prohibited, which disgrace and take off from the sweetness and amoenity of the Environs of London, and are already become a great Eyesore in the grounds opposite to His Majesty's Palace of White hall; which being converted to this use, might yield a diversion inferior to none that could be imagined for Health, Profit, and Beauty, which are the three Transcendencies that render a place without all exception. And this is what (in short) I had to offer, for the Improvement and Melioration of the Aer about London, and with which I shall conclude this discourse.  
FINIS.