THE Conflagration OF LONDON: POETICALLY DELINEATED. AND Directed to the most Noble and DESERUING CITIZEN Sir J. L. Knight and Baronet. Ut Pictura Poesis. Horat. LONDON, Printed for Sa. Gellibrand 1667. The Conflagration of London, Poetically delineated; And directed to the most Noble, and Deserving Citizen, Sir J. L. Knight and Baronet. Poetry's Painting, Horat. What ayls the Poet? what unwonted Fire Thus on a sudden doth his breast inspire? 'Tis thine, O London; From thy Funeral Urn Those flames take birth, that do thy Poet burn. Aetna is my Parnassus; and a Cup Of liquid Fire, Vesuvius belcheth up, My sacred Spring; To give my Passions vent, I need no other Muse, then th' Argument. Your favour, Sir, my Muse and I implore, ( Friend to the Poet, to the Muses more;) 'Tis your Concern. Those neighbour-flames, I sing, That Divine Mercy to remembrance bring, Which those small relics, where a part you have, So lately snatched from a great City's Grave. Scarce hath the City cleared Infectious Heats Scarce yet her Pulse to healthful Measures beats; When( lo!) a sorer Fever her befalls: A fatal Fire, conceived in private walls, nursed by contempt, at last grows past Arrest; Desies all Aids, and scorns to be suppressed. Conflagratio Londinensis Poetice depicta: Patricioque Nobilissimo, Doctissimoque, J. L. Eq. Aur. Inscripta. Ut Pictura Poesis. Horat. HAec nova quae rabies Vati? Quis carminis aestus Jamdudum insueta populatur pect or a flamma? Nempe, tua( Urbs nostrae quondam clarissima Gentis) Funera deflentes, cognato carpimur Igne. Aetna mihi Parnassus; & hausto plena Vesevo Mens furit; & totis Incendia mista medullis Concipit; In Musam mihi sufficit Argumentum. Tu modo( Vir dilect mihi, dilect Camoenis) Usque fave, dum magna absolvimus ausa minores; Nam tua res agitur. Tot proxima Busta canentes, Te monitum Officii volumus, parvasque furentis Relliquias Ignis,( tantae tantilla ruinae Fragmenta,) aeterno dignas ut Numine grates Reddatis; vobis, quo, flamma, jubente, pepercit. Nondum tota,( diu lethali noxia Tabo,) Desaevit Pestis; nondum rediviva salutem Senserat;( ecce!) novam cumulata strage ruinam Urbs patitur. Parvus, contemptuque auctior, Ignis, Grassatur late; vastamque per omnia cladem Spargit; inaccesso bacchatus ubique furore. Heaven's bellows blow the Coals, and every where Toss wanton Fire-balls dancing in the air. The liquid Pitch in flaming clouds doth fly, And scatters clammy Lightnings in the sky: The scared Citizens, with trembling, gaze, To watch the downfall of the hovering blaze; Till, where least feared, it lights, and fatal showers Through Chimney-tops into their dwellings powers. Buckets and Pumps they now for service press; The service hot, and dubious the success: They drain the Thames, and from the broken led Divert those streams which private dwellings fed. Each Street a Brook becomes, each Damme a Pond; Cask knocked o' th' head, and noblest Juices, tunn'd Not for these uses, now to these assigned: The sober stream with sprightly Nectar joined, Great Engines on the thirsty flamme did shed, But what the one did quench, the other fed: The unctuous liquours with the Foe conspire, And drunken Vulcan vomits fiercer Fire. Who dwelled together, now together burn; And houses mixed, to mixed Ashes turn. What was the Nurse of Trade, becomes its Fate; And neigbourhood doth now depopulate. The flame's augmented by the houses crowd, Its hunger still increasing by its food. The Mower strikes not more destructive strokes, When from the Field he polls her golden locks: Then doth the flaming Sythe deal fatal blows, Whiles streets on swaths its keener fury throws. Quinetiam accensos animavit follibus ignes Eurus, in aethereo volvens Incendia caelo. Undique sulphureae librantur in air nubes; Huc, illuc, ventoraptae, casuque minaces, Pinguia longinquo dispergunt fulgura tractu; Deinde cadunt, summisque ardent fastigia tect is. Irriguisque simul perfundunt Ignibus aedes, Flamma tenax piceis quascunque amplectitnr Ulnis. Dum tamen est Undis visus superabilis Hostis, Flumine certatum est. Ubertim affunditur humour; Hauritur situlis Thamisis; caeduntur ubique Qui privata prius subierunt Tecta canals: Vicatim ruit unda, objectoque aggere stagnat. Quinetiam, effract is vacuantur Dolia fundis, Egeriturque liquour non hos servatus in usus. Sobria Nympha fluit generoso mista Lyaeo; Pugnantesque simul jaculatur Machina fluctus, Extinctura sitim Vulcani; at victa Lyaeo Lympha fuit, donec nimio perfusus Jaccho, Ebrius evomuit duplicatos Mulciber Ignes. Jamque ardent junctae vicinis aestibus aedes; Exitio est habitare simul; commercia vitae Mutua quod dederat, spargit contagia Fati: Namque novi augentur conferta strage furores; Congestaque fames Vulcani crescit ab offa. Utque simul densus prosternit Meslor aristas; Auratisque comis spoliatum undat agellum: Sic acies vastam rutilans demessuit Urbem; Faecundam flammae segetem, qua densior ulla Haud fuit in terris Phoebo sub utroque locatis. Now water's useless: and the next intent, Is by great ruins, greater to prevent. By Hooks and Mines, next houses levelled lye, In hope, the flames may for mere hunger die. But all in vain: Those ruins prove a style o'er which the fire strides to the standing Pile. Yea, where its actual contact is denied, Like mischiefs from inflamed air betid. Here, ruinous cracks; there, doleful shrieks do sound, And those, that danger should unite, confounded. False fears suggested, common Aids distracted; While each his Cabin voids, the Vessel's wracked: Their emptied houses to the flames they yield; And change the City for the open field. So have I seen, when with a fatal spade The gardener doth an Emmet-hill invade: How busy crowds with laden shoulders, wander, Some this, some that way, here some, others yonder; Their brood and goods removing in a trice, They know not whither: onely this advice They jointly take, to leave their ruined Cell; And seek new Homes, where they may safer dwell. Thus, scattered Citizens trudg up and down, Some, charged with others goods, some with their own; Th' uncertain crowd with various motion reels, And following feet oppress preceding heels. The poor man's pack is light, as is his foot, The rich man's load his slower place doth svit. The Porter makes his Markets in the wrack; A friend, or foe, as he bestows his Pack. Flumineam dum spernit Opem Vulcanius Hostis: Hinc Uncis, illinc, nitrato pulvere, Cives, Proxima grassanti subvertunt tecta ruinae; Praeripiuntque avidis obnoxia pabula flammis. Incassum. Prostrata etenim per rudera scandens Ignea Tempestas, distantes contigit aedes. Quin, nec jam contactu opus est: longeque remota Aestibus assiduis ignitus corripit Aer. Cuncta fragore strepunt, circumsonat undique Terror; Dissonus auditur clamour; falsique timores, Dissociant junctas ad certa pericula vires; Dum sibi quisque cavet, cumulantur publica Damna. Diripit ipsa suos incondita Turba Penates; Direptamque fugit, quaqua patet exitus, Urbem; Vix ausi quicquam nisi aperto credere coelo. Haud aliter Fossor, terram versante ligone, Si formicarum fortasse invaserit aedes; Densa cohors, hinc, ind, humeris discurrit onustis: Momento egeritur faetusque, & parva supellex, Quo tamen, incertum est: unum hoc commune videtur Concilium Genti, temerata relinquere tecta, Eversaque novas patria sibi quaerere seeds. Moesta per intact as palatur Turba plateas, Sarcinulis onerata suis pars, pars alienis. Truditur hic veniente prior, truditque priorem, Inque vicem confusa cohors urgetur, & urget: Hic, velox parvo properat sub pondere pauper: Praegrandi tardus nimium gemit ille sub auro: Bajulus in partem praedae discurrit; & ipsas Queis venit auxilio, velut hostis, diripit aedes. And happy now's the mean estate! The higher Affords but richer prey to thieves and fire. The rates of Portage with the danger rise; Sometimes, Half valew's thought but equal Price: And sometimes, half's too short: Justice gives odds To him that stakes a life against my goods. Now range the flames, like Travellers in peace, Where success hopeless is, endeavours cease: The Battel's given for lost; and former checks The Victor into hotter vengeance vex. o'er flowing eyes their flaming Homes bewail, But Tears cannot, where Floods would not avail: So th' helpless bide about her plundered nest, Chatters and flutters, fain she would arrest Her Fate; but overmatched, takes the next three, And there bemoans the wrack she's forced to see. Here Caesar comes, with buckets in his eyes, And Father in his Heart. Come, come, he cries, Let's make one onset more. The scattered Troops At his word rally, and retrieve their Hopes: The Rebel Flames, they say, felt Charles was there; And sneaking back, grew tamer then they were: So that, no doubt, were fates to be defeated By Man, the City's Fate had then retreated. But Loyalty befriends the Flames. Their own Dangers neglected, thine affrights. Alone, Alone, dear Sir, let's fall, they cried aloud, And hazard not three Kingdoms in a crowd. Long may King Charles survive his Cities Fate, His life, and all our hopes bear equal Date: Esse inopem quandoque juvat! Quo quisque minora Possidet, hoc minor est flammae furumque rapina. Nec non vecturae pretium, crescente periclo, Crescit; &( in spoliuni intentus) sua Portitor ipse Pondera, cum Dominis pacto partitur iniquo. Justa tamen quandoque petit, discrimina vitae Qui subit, & semesa rapit sua praemia flammis. Jam data pax Igni. Nullo prohibente, vagatur. Desperata salus, conatus reddit inertes; Auxilium omne malis lassum succumbit; & aestus Repressi toties, nec victi, saevior Ira est. Spectant attoniti sua tecta ruentia Cives, Et fundunt lacrimas; lacrimis nec posse domari Spes est, diluvium quos vix extingueret, Ignes. Si● puero rapiente tuos, Philomela, penates, Qua licet, accedis, ramoque innixa propinquo, voice strepis, said voice nequis tua sistere Damna. Subsidio mox Caesar adest, operamque remissam Excitat; utque Patrem Patriae,( poscente periclo,) Induerat totis, exuto Rege, medullis: Sic monitis, precibus, lacrymis, cessantibus instat, Ignis uti Carolum sentiret adesse rebellis. Nec dubium, humanis si posset viribus ultra Obsisti Fatis, habitura ibi Fata regressum. Immemor ipsa sui, tua jam,( Rex char) pericla Urbs metuit. Quoties dubiae committere Turbae Dilectum vetuere caput; solisque perire Ut per Te liceat, petierunt, Carole, Cives? Vive diu, dixere, Parens, nostrisque superstes Funeribus, superes Pylii tria saecla Tyranni; Flames can't undo us, whiles the King's secure; He lost, though saved from flames, we must be poor. Thus did the pious Trojan venture rather All's Treasure to the City's wrack than's Father! His subjects Love forced Caesar to withdraw: More grieved to leave the Loyalty he saw. Next princely York, with sweat and dirt besmeared, ( More glorious thus, then in his Robes) appeared. He, Neptune-like, his watery Realm doth raise; And's noble Arm the spit-flood Engine sways: That baffled, next, his Thundering Canons spew An armed Blaze, with Flames Flames to subdue; But whom the conquered Dutch and French did fly, These Foes,( 'twas out of's Element,) defy. All help at last grows helpless, but the Last. That too, they try. To Churches, now( in hast) Some fly for shelter, ne're were there before; Others to mourn, they ne're shall see 'em more. The flames even them, with th' owners leave, surprise, Nor was't then sacrilege, but Sacrifice. That reverend fabric, which the world admired, Amongst a crowd of lesser note, is fired. Its cloud-surmounting Steeple flame'd so high, That threatened Heavens ne're feared a flamme so nigh. Yea, some beholders thought 'twas more then feared, Whiles falling sparks like falling Stars appeared. The Fates themselves, burnt Monuments entombed; Their Alabaster melts: and( what's presumed Beyond Art's power) Marble's fusile grown; The sacred relics of the Dead are thrown Cede modo, & nostris spem Regni subtrahe Fatis. Te salvo, Columen rerum, nos nulla ruina Funditus evertet; Tibi siquis casus iniquus Obtigerit, flamma quamvis parcente, ruemus. Sic pus eduxit, Troja flragrante, Parentem Aeneas, animamque opibus tot praetulit unam! Victa est Majestas pietate; dolensque recedit, Et magis ind dolens, ubi sic se vidit amari. Tu simul Eboracensis ades, sudore, lutoque Sordidus, at Tyrio minus aspectabilis Ostro: Poscis aquas, iterumque eyes( tua Regna) profundum; Undivoma atque tua contorta est Machina dextra. Teque salutares bombarda armata jubente, Evomuit flammas, atque Ignes Igne fugavit. Quas timuere tamen Batavi Gallique feroces, Non timet Ignipotens accensas Mulciber Iras. Ultima plebs tandem sensit conanima frustra Intendi: & votis Numen( quae sola supersunt) Sollicitat; votis said inexorabile Numen. Dum delubra petunt, ardent delubra; nec ipsis Sacrilega oimpotens Incendia depulit Aris. Teque stupor Mundi, Moles Paulina, tuamque Pyramidem, summo ferientem vertice Nubes, Corripiunt Ignes avidi, & caelo ind minantur; Nec timuere unquam propiores sidera flammas. Quinetiam, similes referunt labentibus astris Culmine ab excelso visas cecidisse favillas. Ipsaque succensis tumulantur Fata sepulcris: Effluit in flammas Alabastrum; ipsumque( quod Arte Posse negant fieri) fit casu fusile Marmor. Out of their Tombs; and by a means unthought, Are, with their Tombs, from Dust to Ashes brought. [ At building Pauls,] in the late Proverbs sense, Henceforth, I doubt, may prophesy commence: And after-times for what of thee they know, Shall more to th' Pencil, then the Trowel owe. Oft, unawares, doth man's presaging mind Sent future harms! sure, Dugdale, that inclined Thy too prophetic Genius, to prevent The Fate of that illustrious monument, Which, what it was,( sith 'twas not long to be) Had scarce been long knowable, but for Thee. writ Dugdale, with thy Founders, Pauls, and more: Immortal made by him; by none, before. With sacred Flames a learned Blaze doth rise: ( For Twins, they say, Twin-Fates do oft surprise) The labours of the teeming Press and Brain, ( An off-spring Ages can't restore again) One hour destroys: St. Faiths betrusted Cell, ( For public Faith it was) turned Infidel. So Phoebus ne're for Phaeton did mourn, As now he did; the Sisters Nine did burn Their golden Tresses in the richer Fire; And mourning-blacks did Palla's Court attire; Tear-flouds fouled Helicon; your Poets wit Runs Muddy,( Sir) with this short sip of it. The common Fate, the Royal Change doth share, Babel of Tongues; the Universes Fair; Where both Poles daily met, and what between The vast extent of both the Poles is seen; Quinetiam, excelso delapsa cacumine moles Corpora nudavit Tumulis expressa; suis quae Cum Tumulis siunt, jam, plusquam nomine, Busta. Jamdudum reparanda Domus, jam tota ruinis Succumbis, nullo deinceps reparabilis aevo. said nec tota peris; quam poster a sentiet aetas Dugdaliis nuper descriptam vivere chartis. O, Quoties praesaga mali Mens nostra futuri est, Nec tamen agnoscit! Certe, haec te, Dugdale, Vates Praemonuit, memory sculptam mandare Tabellae Illustrem hanc Aedem, quae( tam cito nulla futura) Qualis erat, posthac, nisi per te, ignota futura est. Divisam famam cum Fundatore, proinde, Tu Descriptor habes; nisi quod tua Gloria mayor, Qui facis aeternam, quam struxerat ille caducam. Nec non( fertur enim sociari Fata Gemellis,) Augentur sacri, doctis Ardoribus ignes. Innumerosque simul cerebri, praelique labores, ( Aetatum prolem) in cineres brevis Hora resoluit. Gaza fuit penso contra pretiosior Auro Deposita ad Sanctae Fidei, said( rara reperta est Publica Sancta Fides) inimicis prodita Flammis. Te, Phaëthonteis minus indoluisse ruinis, phoebe, ferunt; scissosque rogos auxere sorores Crine novem; atrata funus sect ante Minerva; Turbatur lacrimis Helicon; non pura Poetae Vena exinde fluit, caenoso è font bibenti. In partem trahitur Regalis Bursa ruinae, Linguarum Babel, & Mundi Mercatus; utrumque Quottidie complexa Polum, quodque inter utrumque est, The Kingdoms's Marble Chronicle. To thee, ( Great Prince) it shew'd thy Royal pedigree, For three times nine Descents. Thy Next, the best; dislodged by Rebels, by thee, repossest: Now, with the Church he bugg'd, in ruins lies, But hopes, by second Charles, a second Rise. By Him, you stood, his name and Vertue's Heir, The make-Peace Act your gracious Hand did bear, draft of that Mind, which in your Royal Breast The Image of th' Eternal Mind expressed; In whom, Oblivion virtue is, and who ( As you) by Pardons Treason doth subdue. For Rebels, whom despair with courage arms, A safe retreat into subjection charms. Whence, though the Marble, and the paint be not, Charles living, th' Amnesty 'll ne're be forgot. Gresham the Kings survives. The grateful flamme The Founder spared, that would not spare the Frame. The watery Region scapes not. Conquering flames Owe an ill Turn unto their Foe, the Thames. Scullers, and Oars, now, Westward Ho! all cried, Nor had they leisure to expect a Tide. From the Lee-shoar the Ships in hast retire; The Wind was thought a milder Foe, then Fire. The River shrinks, and from the threatening Heats Now to the spring, now to the Sea, retreats. An Envoy-wave dispatched to Thetis Court, Implores her Help. Which granted, to the Port She marched; but when she saw the flames, she fled, 2●0 And under water hide her frighted Head. Marmoreum Regni Chronicon; serieque vetusta Exhibuit quondam proavos tibi, CAROLE, Reges. Optimus a dextris steterat Tibi. seed revulsum Restituisse redux Piet as tua gestit avita, Et reduci charis Ecclesia fulsit in Ulnis; Nunc jacet, expectatque iterum, Te dante, reponi. Proximus Ipse Patri fueras; quem Nominis Hares, Exprimis & virtute pari. Diploma tenebat Pacificum pacata Manus; Mentemque benignam Exhibuit, Menti similem per cuncta meanti, Subjectum cvi mira tenet clementia Mundum. Haec quoque laus vestra est; Non vi domuisse rebelles, said sceleri temere admisso prebendo receptum. Frustra igitur, vulcan furens, in Marmora saevis; Dum manet( & maneat) quem Muta expressit I mago, Et retinet Carolus descriptam in Marmore mentem. Septem habuit supra bis denos nobilis Ordo● Sceptrigeros, flammae praedam; dum Regibus ipsis Unicus a grato stat Conditor Igne superstes. said neque grassantem prohibent victricibus regna; Namque memor Pugnae, pergit victricibus Armis Mulciber in Portus, inimicisque imminet Undis. Omniae confestim solvunt retinacula Puppes Permissae Ventis: ea visa est lenior Ira. Decrescit Thamisis; motuque reciproca, Fontes Nunc petit, Oceanum versus nunc territa tendit. nuntius aequoream Fluctus praemissus ad Aulam Sollicitat Thetin; a fundo Thetis excitat imo Auxilia; & montes praeruptos volvit aquarum; said simulac vidit majores Fluctibus Ignes, Whiles heated waves thus on themselves recoil, The Deep, without a Metaphor, doth boil. The scaly Troops scarce safe at bottom were; The daring Foes chased, and attacked 'em there. The Fishermen, ne're made so strange a draft; 'Tis thought, the Fish were parboyl'd, that they caught. Four days did Phoebus set, but made no night: A brighter blaze supplied his baffled light. And all that while, the City waked: what sense Of weakness called for, danger frighted thence. till the fift Sun ascending from the East, With joy, beholded the Emulous Fire suppressed. Whether, because the Suburbs, where it stayed, Were less with crowded buildings overlay'd: Or their brick Edifices stopped it there: Or that the Flames, so spread, more feeble were, ( As bogs hasht into Gutters, soon are dried:) Or that the wind had spit out's Lungs, and died, Is doubted. Out of doubt, at God's arrest, The all-devouring flames themselves confessed conquered, and yielded to receive again Their former( now too long rejected) chain. The Fire is out. But dismal marks are seen, To tell succeeding Ages where't hath been. The Fate of old Troy did new Troy betid, Its doubtful Pedigree's thus justifi 'd. The City now is the once-Cities Tomb, A skeleton of fleshless bones become. Its venerable ruins have the Name Of what it was, but little else the same: Consternata suis fugiens caput abdidit undis. Aestuat interea, quo non assueverat, aestu, Flumen; & ima petens( vix imo tuta profundo) Squamigera insolitos miratur Turba calores. Retiaque in tepido Piscator gurgite tendens, Educit tepido tepefactum gurgite piscem. Quatriduum sine Nocte agitur; Nam sole fugato Prorogat usque Diem, superatque Vicarius ardour. Quatriduum insomnes peragunt; suasere soporem Exhaustae lassis vires, vetuere peric'la. Quintus ubi Eois Titan emerserat undis, Aemula jam tandem visa est decrescere Flamma. Seu, quoniam, media quo longius itur ab Urbe, Rarior occurrit, spatioque remotior, aedes; Coctilis & paries surgit, non commodus Igni: sieve( quod in sulcos divisis accidit Undis) Sparsus in extremas partes elanguit aestus: sieve Euri furor, exhausto pulmone, resedit: sieve aliud( Coelo certe miserant,) repressit Vulcani rabiem: tandem se fassa domari, Induit excussas vastatrix flamma catenas. Magna tamen tantae remanent vestigia stragis Usque vel ad seros forsan mansura Nepotes. Troja nova est jam Troja vetus; dumque omina replet Nominis, & tantae fatis aequata Parenti, Occidit; ind fidem dubiis natalibus addit. Urbs Augusta sibi incubuit, sibi facta sepulchrum; Carnibus ossa exuta jacent, sceletonque venusti Corporis ostentant, ipsa venerabile called. Et velut in Tumulis cassorum lumine Regum As in Kings Monuments, their Ashes bear Titles and Scutcheons, which the Kings did wear. Its greatest part without the walls bestowed; London's not now within, but gone abroad. Grief cramps my heart; nor doth my Muse suffice To the last Act of London's Tragedies. Let those impregnate Fancies, which the view Of that disaster filled, this Theme pursue: mere famed, I know, dull Notions must infuse; Yet wish not such a sight, t' enrich my Muse. In brief,( for tired Accountants close with Greats) Know; Churches, public Halls, and Princely Seats, Schools, Hospitals; and what brave Piles so e're, For State, or Use, our Ancestors did rear, lie razed: with what was raised by later Times, To eternize their virtues, or their Crimes. All Europe mourns at London's Funerals. Yea, our suspected Foes( if true, or false, Day 'll bring to light) like solemn Grief declare. We,( sith we wish 'em innocent) not dare To charge 'em with a guilt, they thus disclaim. And yet, if time shall hidden fraud proclaim, Resolve to lash ' em. Our just Muse bestows Bays on the Valiant, Rods on treacherous Foes. nile, quod erat, praeter cineres, & Nomina restat: Nomen habent cineres; Urbs vix reperitur in Urbe: Exulat( heu!) exclusasuis pars maxima muris. Plura loqui dolor ipse vetat: neque sufficit ultra Melpomene aequalem mihi tanta ad funera versum. Vos, quibus ista oculis subjecta fidelibus, alta Mente reposta sedet, Musamque impraegnat Imago, Scribite. Namque audita mihi, non visa, canenti ( Nec vellem vidisse tamen) sterilescat oportet Ingenium, specie nequaquam compare fultum. Nec mihi propositum est, numerum superantia damna Exigere ad numeros,( generatim dicere lasso Sufficiat:) Fumant Musaea, Palatia, Templa, Hospitia: & quicquid sumptu spectabile, & usu, Antiqua extruxit Pietas; & quicquid avitis Magnifici adjecit pietas, luxusve Nepotum. Indolet interea nostris Europa ruinis. Quin & suspectus tanti modo criminis Hostis Ingemit, aut saltem cupit ingemuisse videri. Nos, neque, quae voluisse negant, objecta probamus: said neque( si volvenda dies, quae vera Tenebris Eruit, indiciis fraudem nudabit apertis;) Parcemus: cumulare simul benefacta parati Laudibus; & malefacta notis proscindere justis. THE AUTHOR TO THE GRAVER, Upon occasion of a draft of London in Flames, designed to have been prefixed as a frontispiece to the Poem, but forborn upon second thoughts. HOld Graver hold, in vain thou dost engage To crowd the Poem into th' Title page.; Thy Picture much beneath thy Project falls, Though thou present us flames and tottering Walls: If that be all, thy Title thou'lt belie; The Scene's the least part of the Tragedy. Canst thou delineate shrieks, and doleful cries, That rent the Clouds, and pierced the melting Skies? Can thy Lines reach to accent Babels voices, Or, give the echo to confused noises? Canst thou express the bawlings of a Crowd, Wherein none's heard, 'cause every one is loud? And the extortion, thefts, and cozening Feats Of Porters, Carters, Watermen, and Cheats? Canst thou describe the sounds of tuneless Bells, Whose awkward music tolls their Steeples knells? The cracks of tumbling Houses; and the greeting▪ Of tottering Roofs, and battering Canons meeting? Canst thou to view expose the hissing streams Of melted Metals, checked with quenching streams! Or, draw the Medley of compounded smells, forced, some from fragrant, some from nasty Cells? Canst reach the horrors of distempered Minds, Where ghastly fear with woeful grief combines; A grief, that Mourning from Amazement borrows, Whiles Tears are stisted by profounder sorrows? Or, th' Hurry which distracted Fancies fills, Where, thought stabs thought; and project, project kills: Where, what to save's in doubt, till all be lost, And slow Resolves by speedy Fates are crossed! Canst draw the Misers Passions, while he laggs In midst of flames, hugging his darling gabs; Whom, loth to lose, and loth to give, divide, near sacrificed to what he deified? Or a just Love 'twixt equal Children partend, When, one must be prefer 'd, th' other deserted: Or, whilst both goods, and Childrens danger scares The Mothers bowels, and the Fathers cares! Or, labouring throws, and Births precipitate, Where the Fright's Midwife, and the Nurse is Fate! If all these missed in thy Picture are, Not th' hundredth part of Londons Woes is there. Hold then: For old Plays fashion pleaseth not, Wherein, the Prologue onely told the Plot. Yet,( now I think on't) somewhat thou mayst do To stead the Stationer, and Poem too. The Book is sometimes turned for th' Baby-Letter; And sorry Cuts help Ballads off the better. In Chawcer, since his Language grew so stale, Each Picture speaks more English, then its Tale. And in Saints Legends Romanists believe The Cut's do best edification give. Perhaps thou mayst too, better Readers draw To greet a Muse, till now, they never saw. For oft the Bush directs us to the Wine, And men know where the Sight is, by the Sign. Go on, for once then. But thy Next shall be A Nobler draft, if thou'lt be ruled by me. Take my Directions, and I'll show thee how To act th' Engraver, and the Poet too. Conceit Troy's Flames, and those that Nero made To symbolise with the sad Tune he played. Or those, He made, whose Name did * Brennus Burning bear, When Jove, and Rome to goose obliged were. With those that laid Jerusalem in Dust; And those of foreign Vulcans, ta'en on Trust From Travellers; t' impregnate thy Design, And make thy lines more to resemble mine. Then, from some Ghostly Father get a spell To view the Cave( they say) joins next to Hell; From that Original thy Fancy fill, ( For, that's pure fancy,) and go, try thy skill. And lastly, antedate the General Fire In thought: and thy Invention thence inspire. Thus armed; take Londons Situation right; And spread a Mantle o'er 't of blackest Night; Take Lights and shades from its Blaze. Lookers on Were satisfied, it might supply the Sun. next, place instead of th' often changing Dame, A black cloud, big with sheets of oily flamme; Ruffled by Eurus, puffing out of th' East Aetnean Vapours from's incensed Breast: Let them drop melted stars, tossed up and down To scatter ruins through the scared Town; Out of the Skies( to show from whence it came) Stretch out an Hand, armed with a Rod of flamme: Bound with a scroll; which let this Motto fill, LONDON Amend: His Hand is stretched out still. Let Flames on March, a mile in Front appear, Brought up, with ruins smoth'ring in the Rear. Before, express me Paul's as yet entire, Its leaden Roof, weeping for fear o'th' Fire. Some dwellings charged by the Van Heats, let smoke: Let others stand forlorn, t' expect the shock. On tops of some, thick Clouds with Buckets arm For Charge, but flying at the next Alar'm. Let ruining hooks others exposed, shake; And gaping Chasmes let warlike Engines make. Express me Roofs blown up into the Air; And Flames they fly beneath, let meet 'em there. Next, draw a reeking Thames, and Barges flying With scorched sails, and stisted Fishes dying. This done: A Jesuit cut▪ ' ith' view o'th' whole, At Faux's Bo-peep in some lurking Hole; Laughing in's sleeve: and let this be the Mot, Ha! This hits better then the Powder Plot! For close: At top of Pauls let be expressed A melting Phoenix in a flaming Nest. Hope will expound the emblem; though I fear Few hope, 'twill soon be verified there. In sum: If any wish this draft annexed, Say, This Edition sold, it may i'th' next. FINIS.