The history and antiquities of Eyam; : with a full and particular account of the Great Plague, which desolated that village, A.D. 1666. / By William Wood.

  • Wood, William (Screenwriter)
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The history and antiquities of Eyam; : with a full and particular account of the Great Plague, which desolated that village, A.D. 1666. / By William Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    escaped shipwreck; and at Smyrna he was in- volved in equal peril by fire, in which his papers and manuscripts were wholly consumed. To Cunningham, a residence at Smyrna was banishment, and he resolved to revisit his native land. Without friends, money, desolate, unknown, and far from home, he returned on foot through Germany on his way to Paris; suffering from fatigue and endless privations. During this long journey, he approached one night, after a day’s hard travelling, a large town on the borders of Hungary, when he sat down by the way-side to reflect on his forlorn condition. After having pon- dered awhile over his misfortunes, he took from his pocket, for the first time, a volume of poetry, which had been presented to him by an English lady, on his departure from Smyrna. A particular poem had been recommended for his perusal by his female friend, and he turned to the page, where he found, “ close nestled within the leaves,” a note, or order, for fifty pounds: “ thus delicately,” says Rhodes, “ did an amiable woman contrive to administer to the necessities of a stranger in a foreign land.” To his own country he soon arrived, and under- took the duties of an humble curacy in the vicinity of London, but soon after obtained a small living through the influence of the Devonshire family. This he did not long enjoy. “ Invited to preach to a society to whom he had become endeared, at Islington, he attended, and after delivering his last, and one of his best discourses, he dined with the delighted members. He appeared in high spirits, but as soon as the cloth was drawn, while conversing with a gentleman near him, he fell back in his chair, and expired without a sigh or groan: