sulphureous fire was evidently seen in the melting of Bells Iron Pots Glasses and other metallique things and in the calcining of stones and bricks which no other single fire of wood coals or other vulgar matter could have done I remember that some four or five years ago the Lightning fell in Herefordshire without doing any harm in the Country but being extinguished of it self the exhalation of it did mix it self with a strong Westerly wind that came as far as London beating down houses plucking up trees by the roots and to shew its nitrous and sulphureous Nature did as it were neglect to touch wood but did chiefly stick upon metal and either broke or bended it the tokens of it are seen to this day upon the Steeples of Bowchurch St. Andrew St. Giles Cripplegate the May-Pole and other places These sulphureous matters were also the cause of another inconveniency which is that the fire being corporified in them did extend the sphaere of his activity at a further distance then ordinary and cast his burning beams furthest off mixing more exactly his Atomes in the Air which he turneth almost into his own Nature which was the cause that no body could come neerer that fire then a hundred or two hundred paces VI. The foregoing Summer that was extraordinaryly hot and dry had also disposed the matter of the buildings to admit the fire more quickly and easily by sucking not only the intrinsecal moisture that was in them but also that of the Air which might have moistned them for though there be no rain falling nevertheless there is a certain evapourish moisture in the Air which if it be not dried up doth moisten all porous things intrinsecally and doth condense it self upon the solid ones in the form of an Oleaginous moisture as doth appear upon Marbles and Glasses VII In cometh now the East-wind to play his part in this Tragedy That unfortunate wind of which it is commonly said that it is neither good for man nor beast did blow with such a wonderful fierceness all the time of the conflagration that it did not only quicken the fire as Bellows do the Furnaces but also getting into the streets and among the houses when it found any let or hinderance that did recoil it back it blew equally both to the right and to the left and caused the fire to burn on all sides which hath perswaded many that this fire was miraculous I my self remember that going into some streets at that time and having the wind impetuously in my face I was in hope that at my return I should have it in my back but it was all one for the reason aforesaid It would be here too tedious to speak of the nature of winds and to shew many reasons why this wind is so dry in England as to burn the flowers and leafs of the trees more then the hottest Sun can do one which I think satisfactory will serve for all It is therefore to be observed that winds do not only participate of the nature of the places where they are begot but also of that of the Countries thorough which they pass Now all the Southern Western and Northern winds must pass thorough the great Ocean to come into England in which passage there mixes with them abundance of vapours which cause their moisture except the North-wind wherein the moisture is condensed by the cold but the East-wind to come to us must pass over the greatest Continent of the world France Germany Hungary Greece Persia c. even to China so that in perusing such a tract of Land it not only droppeth down by the way his moist Effluviums the earth as it were sucking them for its irroration but also carrieth along all the hot and dry exhalations that perpetually arise out of the earth which is the cause of his dry and burning quality I had formerly a little Garden where I did bestow as much pains and cares as I could to bring up some young Fruit-trees that were in 't having the advantage of a very good mould but being seated Eastward and closed narrowly by a Brick-wall on either side this wind that raigneth constantly here in England in the moneths of March April and beginning of May did in their budding so burn the leaves and the flowers that the hottest Sun could not do the like so that I was fain to give it over having been two or three years before I could understand that mystery and the nature of that wind in this countrey for there is some other countreys where this wind is salubrious and fruitful enough VIII It was also a great contributing to this misfortune that the Thames Water-house was out of order so that the Conduits and Pipes were almost all dry as also that the Engines had no liberty to play for the narrowness of the place and crowd of the people but some of them were tumbled down in the river and among the rest that of Clearken-well esteemed one of the best And thus courteous Reader thou seest an admirable concurrence of several causes for the putting of Gods will in execution in other Cities that are not subject to conflagrations as Paris which is all built of Free-stone the innundations have several times played their pranks other Towns as in Italy that think themselves exempted from fiâ—e and water come to their periods by fearful Earthquakes others that escape Fire Water and Earth do perish by the Meteors of the Air and are calcined by the Lightening so that God Almighty never wanteth instruments to compass his will and it seemeth that the four Elements of which this world is compounded do conspire against the happiness and quietness of man when by their daily prevarications they go about to confirm the disobedience of our first Parents Cur Why SECT V. HEre it is that we must wholly stoop and humble our selves under the mighty hand of God and answer with the Apostle O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his ways past finding out For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Rom. 11.33 let it suffice thee O man to know that whether he hath done it to punish thee for thy sins or to try thy Faith and exercise thy Patience if thou canst make benefit of this affliction and sanctify it to thy use We know that all things work together for good to them that love God
going and coming out so that for want of Air they all perished The poor Countrey people that had saved themselves in the City with their Cattel from Threescore miles round about seeing the conflagration ran all into the Market-place which is not paved of wood as the rest nevertheless they were all rosted there in such sort that the tallest man seemed but a child so much had the fire contracted their Limbs and this by reason of the great houses that were round about a thing more hideous and frightful then any can imagine In many places of the said Market the bodies were piled one upon another to the heighth of half a pike which put me into a wonderful admiration being not able to apprehend nor understand how it was possible they should be so heaped together This wonderful conflagration caused all the Fortifications of the Town wall to fall and all the Ordnance that were upon it to burst The walls were made of Brick according to the ancient way of building without either Fortifications or Ditches many that had saved themselves along them were nevertheless rosted so fierce and vehement was the fire among them many Italians and Walloons of my acquaintance while the fire lasted we thought that a million of Cannons had been thundering together and our thoughts were upon nothing but death thinking that the fire would last some days because of the great circumference of the Castle and Suburbs but all this was done in less then four hours time at the end of which the noise growing less we were curious to know whether the Tartarians of whom we stood in no less fear then of the fire were entred They are a Warlike people though they eat nothing but Roots and such other like substance and drink onely Water The greatest Lords among them feed upon Flesh baked between a Horse and the Saddle wherein rideth the Horseman nevertheless are they very strong lusty and inured to all hardship as also are their Horses who are wonderful swift and will travel further in one day eating nothing but Grass then ours will do in three feeding upon Oats therefore the Tartarians come so easily from so far to invade the Russians They have also that craft that they onely come in the Summer for the conveniency of their horses their Countrey is temperate from whence they come about the latter end of February that they may be in Russia about the beginning of June and go back again into their own countrey at the end of it least they should be overtaken by the winter in Russia which if iâ— should fall out they would be all starved because of the great deserts uninhabited containing above Three hundred German leagues and therefore void of all relief as well for themselves as for their horses there being then no grass upon the ground which constraineth them to make such a journey which is of above 1200 German leagues in four or five months time with all their Army which consisteth commonly of about 150000 or 200000 horses as good as can be but the horsemen are but slightly armed having for all weapons a jack of Mail a Dart and Bowe and Arrows they know nothing of what belongeth to Guns having in all heir Countrey but Two Cities wherein the Emperor keepeth his Court without any Villages or Houses but are contented to live under Tents which they remove to and fro as they see occasion But to come again to our Misery after we had hearkened a while we hard some Russians running to and fro through the smoak who were talking of walling the Gates to prevent the coming in of the Tartarians who were expecting when the fire went out I and my Interpreter being come out of the Magazine found the Ashes so hot that we durst scarce tread upon them but necessity compelling us we ran towards the chief Gate where we found Twenty five or Thirty men escaped from the fire with whom in few hours we did wall that Gate and the rest and kept a strict watch all that night with some Guns that had been preserved from the fire In the morning seeing that the place was not defensible with so few people as we were we sought the means to get into the Castle whose entry was then inaccessible the Governour was very glad to hear of our intention and cryed to us we should be very welcom but it was a most difficult thing to come in because the Bridges were all burnt so that we were fain to get over the wall having instead of Ladders some high Firr-trees thrown from the Castle to us wherein instead of rounds to get up they had made some notches with a hatchet to keep us from sliding we got up then with much adoe for besides the evident inconveniency of those rough Ladders we did carry about us the sum of 4000 Thalers besides some Jewels which was a great hindrance to us to climb along those high trees and that which did double our fear was that we saw before our eyes some of our company that had nothing but their bodies to save yet tumble down from the middle of those high trees into the Ditch full of burnt bodies so that we could not tread but upon dead corpses whose helps were so thick every where that we could not avoid to tread upon them as if it had been a hill to climb up and that which did augment our trouble was that in treading upon them the Arms and Legs broke like Glass the poor Limbs of these Creatures being calcined by the vehement heat of the fire and our feet sinking into those miserable bodies the bloud and the filth did squirt in our faces which begot such a stench all the Town over that it impossible to subsist in it The 25th of May in the evening as we expected in great perplexity what the Tartarians would attempt against us who were about Four hundred in the Castle the Tartarians whom we had saluted with our Guns and killed some of them that were come too neer one of the Castle-gates began to go back the same way that they came in with so much speed that the next morning all that torrent was drained up for which having given God thanks and set our business in order as well as the present calamity would permit we went away from that desolate place Now O London consider that thy Fate is not peculiar to thy self and that will allay the bitterness of thy sufferings Remember also that if thou sanctifiest this affliction to thy use the Lord promiseth by his Prophet that those shall reap in joy who did sow in tears Psal 126.6 Vbi Where SECT III. IN the richest City of Europe and perhaps of the world the greatest Magazine that could be found for all sorts of Merchandises incomparable for the salubritie of the Air and conveniency of scituation Magnificent in publique buildings Illustrious in good deeds Renowned for Hospitality Famous for government Venerable for antiquity having subsisted about
Two thousand years inhabited by Citizens whose courage was equal to their fortunes in a word a City of which it might be said more truly then of Ormus Si terrarum orbis quaqua patet annulus esset Londinum illius gemma decusque foret This circumstance which we tread over so slightly that we may not be suspected of flattery is not the least that aggravateth the enormity of this accident there is none of those characters we have given it but is very true and might be the worthy employment of a better penn then mine and the subject of a full volume Quibus auxiliis By whose help SECT IV. HEre we must have recourse to what we have said before in the first Paragrapht when we spoke of the second causes and say that God hath made use chiefly of eight things to accomplish this work The negligence of the Master or his Servants in whose house the fire did first begin the solitariness of the night the narrowness of the place the weakness of the buildings the quantity of combustible and bituminous matters gathered thereabout the preceding Summer which was extraordinarily hot and dry the East wind that blew violently all that while and the want of Engines and water to quench the fire we shall give every one his little Section to satisfie the curiosity of these who inquire so much of the causes that have made this conflagration so violent dismal and irremediable I. Though there be some accidents which no humane prudence can prevent as when a man either in his own house or going through the street is crashed by a sudden ruine nevertheless the Philosophers are not to blame when they say that every one may be the author of his own fortune for it is certain that if a man neglecteth or forsaketh that providence given him by nature he doth together forsake the instrument and the means which his good genius maketh use of to make him avoid the ill accidents that may befall him for as our soul doth only act by the Organs of our body so our Genius either good or bad cannot act but by the means of our soul now if our soul enjoyeth a sound and temperate body and doth her functions with purity and facility that Genius which is always neer hand and as it were whispering at our ear doth move and stirr her to the preservation of whatsoever belongeth or concerneth her if on the contrary this soul inhabiteth a body dyscratiated melanchollick full of obstructions or drowned in the excesses of eating and drinking or passions its nature being igneous and never ceasing from action it necessarily followeth that according to the disposition of the Organes she turneth to the wrong way and neglecteth those things wherein she is meerly concerned Now in things that might be prevented or remedied it is an invalid excuse to say I would never have thought that such thing should happen For who can attribute it to a meer accident to put fire in an Oven and to leave quantity of dry wood and some flitches of Bacon by it within the sphaere of its activity and so go to bed in leaving his providence with his slippers I remember that some 36 years ago in a Town of Brie a Province of France called Sezane upon a Sunday morning a Woman that kept a Chandlers shop having occasion to snuff a Candle threw the snuff into a corner of her shop among some old rags and papers and so shutting the door went to Mass but within the space of half an hour and before she could come back again not only her house but those of her Neighbours were all in a flame which being helped by an East-wind which blew at that time and which is the most dangerous of all the Winds for Incendies as we shall shew hereafter did in the space of a day and a night consume the whole Town consisting of about four hundred houses Can this be called a meer accident since there is no body so void of common sense but might have either foreseen or prevented so calamitous a consequence II. The second cause of this misfortune is the time wherein it did happen to wit about one of the clock in the night when every one is buried in his first sleep when some for weariness others by deboistness have given leave to their cares to retire when slothfulness and the heat of the bed have riveted a man to his Pillow and made him almost incapable of waking much less of acting and helping his Neighbours III. The narrowness of the place did also much contribute to this Conflagration for the Street where it did happen as also most of those about it were the narrowest of the City insomuch that in some a Cart could scarce go along and in others not at all The danger I did once run of my life thereabouts by the crowd of Carts hath caused me many times to make reflexion on the covetousness of the Citizens and connivency of Magistrates who have suffered them from time to time to encroach upon the streets and so to jet the top of their houses so as from one side of the street to touch the other which as it doth facilitate a conflagration so doth it also hinder the remedy and besides taketh away the liberty of the air making it unwholesome and disfigureth the Beauty and Symmetry of the City I hope that for the future his Majesty his Councel and that of the City will take care that such disorder happen no more and will cause this City to be as commodious in its Buildings as it is happy in its Scituation IV. Now followeth the weakness of the buildings which were almost all of wood which by age was grown as dry as a chip This inconvenient will easily be remedied in building the houses with Stone or Brick according to the Statutes and Ordinances of Parliament provided and Enacted long ago in that behalf though for the most part ill observed V. The quantity of combustible and bituminous matter hath given the greatest encouragement to this devouring Fire for as the place where the fire begun was not far from the Thames and from those Wharfes where most Merchandises are landed so Thames-street and others thereabout were almost nothing else but Magazines of combustible and sulphurous Merchandises Thereabout were a prodigious quantity of Oyl Butter Brandy Pitch Brimstone Saltpeter Cables c. and by the Thames side were almost all Wharfes full of Coals and Wood. Now as fire of it self is nothing but light which corporifieth it self in the matter and acteth more or less according to the disposition of it as we see that a fire of Straw is less violent than that of Coals it followeth that this fire having lighted upon these sulphureous and bituminous matters did feed upon them as in his proper Element and not only devoured them with ease but imparts to the next combustible matters a disposition more fitting and apt to receive him The Nature of this