which amounted to no less than two hundred thousand pounds in which prodigious loss there was one circumstance very lamentable. All those who dwelt near Paul's, carried their goods, books, paper, and the like, as others of greater trades did their commodities, into the large vaults which were under St. Paul's Church, before the fire came thither: which vaults, though all the church above the ground was afterwards burned, with all the houses round about, still stood firm and supported the foundation, and preserved all that was within them; until the impatience of those who had lost their houses, and whatsoever they had else, in the fire, made them very desirous to see what they had saved, upon which all their hopes were founded to repair the rest.

"It was the fourth day after the fire ceased to flame, though it ftill burned in the ruins, from whence there was still an intolerable heat, when the booksellers especially, and some other tradesmen, who had deposited all they had preserved in the greatest and most spacious vault, came to behold all their wealth, which to that moment was safe: but the doors were no sooner opened, and the air from without fanned the strong heat within, but first the dryest and most combustible matters broke into a flame, which consumed all, of what kind soever, that till then had been unhurt there. Yet they who had committed their goods to some lesser vaults, at a distance from the greater, had better fortune; and having learn, ed from the second ruin of their friends to have more patience, attended till the rain fell, and extinguished the fire in all places, and cooled the air: and then they securely opened the doors, and received from thence what they had there.

"If so vast a damage as two hundred thousand pounds befel that little company of Stationers, in books and paper, and the like, what shall we conceive we lost in cloth (of which the country clothiers lost all that they had brought up to Blackwell Hall, against Michaelmass, which was all burned with that fair structure) in silks of all kinds, in linen, and those richer manufactures? Not to speak of money, plate,

and

and jewels, whereof some were recovered out of the ruins of those houses which the owners took care to watch, as containing somewhat that was worth the looking for, and in which deluge there were men ready enough to fish.

"The lord mayor, though a very honest man, was much blamed for want of sagacity in the first night of the fire, before the wind gave it much advancement: for though he came with great diligence as soon as he had notice of it, and was present with the first, yet having never been used to such spectacles, his consternation was equal to that of other men, nor did he know how to apply his authority to the remedying the present distress; and when men who were less terrified with the object, pressed him very earnestly, ⚫ that he would give order for the present pulling down those houses which were nearest, and by which the fire climbed to go farther,' (the doing whereof at that time might probably have prevented much of the mischief that succeeded,) he thought it not safe counsel, and made no other answer,

than that he durst not do it without the consent of the owners.' His want of skill was the less wondered at, when it was known afterwards, that some gentlemen of the Inner Temple, would not endeavour to preserve the goods which were in the lodgings of absent persons, nor suffer others to do it, because,' they said, it was against the law to break up any man's chamber!'

"The sudden repair of those formidable ruins, and the giving so great beauty to all deformity (a beauty and a lustre the city had never before been acquainted with) is little less wonderful than the fire that consumed it."

During the progress of this dreadful conflagration, orders were given for pulling down various houses in the Tower of London, in order to preserve the grand magazine of gunpowder in that fortress; to the preservation of which, the violent easterly wind contributed more than the precaution.

Many thousands of citizens, who by this calamity were deprived of their habitations, were reduced to the utmost distress, and were exposed to the inclemency of the weather,

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till

till a sufficient number of huts could be erected for their relief; but in order to mitigate the misery of the sufferers, his majesty ordered a great quantity of naval bread to be distributed among them; and issued a proclamation, commanding the magistrates of the city to encourage the bringing of all kinds of provisions.

By the certificate of Jonas Moore and Ralph Gatrix, the surveyors appointed to examine the ruins, it appeared that this dreadful fire over-ran three hundred and seventy-three acres of ground within the walls, and burnt thirteen thousand two hundred houses, eighty-nine parish churches, besides chapels; and that only eleven parishes within the walls were left standing.

The conflagration was extended by various concurrent circumstances. The buildings, as already noticed, were of a combustible nature. The fire broke out on a Saturday night, when many of the principal citizens were retired to their country houses and lodgings, and only their servants left at home; consequently many hands were wanting that might otherwise have been useful in extinguishing the flames. The heat of the summer had so dried the timber, that when it once caught fire, it was the less easy to be repelled; and a strong easterly wind blew the whole time. The waterworks at London Bridge were entirely burnt, so that no relief could be had from thence, and the New River unexpectedly failed. Besides this, there was a general negligence at first in the most effectual means for quenching the fire, from a confidence the people entertained of its stopping at different openings; which at length turned to general confusion, and people endeavoured rather to save their goods by flight, than to preserve their own and their neighbours houses. To these causes, and to these only, can the surprizing progress of the fire be naturally attributed.

While the city lay in ruins, several temporary conve niences were formed for the benefit of the public. in general. Tabernacles were erected in various places for the exercise of divine worship. Gresham College was converted into an Exchange for the merchants; in the apart

ments

ments of which the public business of the city was transacted, instead of Guildhall: and the Royal Society being thus excluded from Gresham College, were accommodated with apartments in Arundel House. The Excise Office was kept in Southampton Fields, near Bedford House; the General Post Office was removed to Bridges Street, Covent Garden; the affairs of the Custom House were transacted in Mark Lane; the king's wardrobe was removed from Puddle Wharf to York Buildings; and the offices belonging to Doctors Commons were held in Exeter House in the Strand.

The temporary distress which the fire had occasioned was ameliorated by the attention which government, and all ranks of people, shewed towards the relief and comfort of the citizens.

When the consternation which such an accident must necessarily have occasioned, was in some degree abated, his majesty issued the following proclamation for prohibiting the rebuilding of houses till proper regulations were made for re-edifying the city with such propriety, uniformity and security, as might effectually prevent the like destruction for the future.

This proclamation, after reciting the circumstances of the fire, as a punishment from heaven, &c. proceeds to lay down some general rules for constructing a new and more beautiful city; some of which would be of essential use among the improvements of the present period.

"In the first place the woeful experience in this late heavy visitation hath sufficiently convinced all men of the pernicious consequences which have attended the building with timber, and even with stone itself, and the notable benefit of brick, which in so many places hath resisted, and even extinguished the fire; and we do therefore hereby declare our express will and pleasure that no man whatsoever shall presume to erect any house or building, great or small, but of brick or stone; and if any man shall do the contrary, the next magistrate shall forthwith cause it to be pulled down, and such further course shall be taken for his

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punishment

punishment as he deserves; and we suppose that the notable benefit many men have rendered from those cellars which have been well and strongly arched, will persuade most men who built good houses to practice that good husbandry by arching all convenient places.

may

"We do declare that Fleet Street, Cheapside, Cornhill, and all other eminent and notorious streets, shall be of such a breadth, as may with God's blessing prevent the mischief that side one suffer if the other be on fire, which was the case lately in Cheapside: the precise breadth of which several streets shall be, upon advice with the lord mayor and aldermen, shortly published, with many other particular orders and rules which cannot yet be adjusted: in the mean time we resolve, though all the streets cannot be of equal breadth, yet none shall be so narrow as to make the passage uneasy or inconvenient, especially towards the water-side; nor will we suffer any lanes or alleys to be erected but where, upon mature deliberation, the same shall be found absolutely necessary; except such places shall be set aside which shall be designed only for building of that kind, and from whence no public mischief may probably arise.

"The irreparable damage and loss by the late fire, being next to the hand of God in the terrible wind, to be imputed to the place in which it first broke out, amongst small timber houses, standing so close together, that as no remedy could be applied from the river for the quenching thereof, to the contiguousness of the buildings, hindering and keeping all possible relief from the land side; we do resolve and declare, that there shall be a fair key or wharf on all the river side; that no house shall be erected within so many feet of the river, as shall be within a few days declared in the rules formerly mentioned; nor shall there be in those buildings, which shall be erected next the river, which we desire may be fair structures for the ornament of the city, any houses to be inhabited by the brewers or dyers, or sugar bakers, which trades, by their continual smoak, contribute much to the unhealthfulness of the ad

jacent