OBSERVATIONS BOTH Historical and Moral UPON THE BURNING OF LONDON, September 1666.  
With an Account of the LOSSES.  
And a most remarkable Parallel between LONDON and MOSCOW, both as to the PLAGUE and FIRE.  
Also an Essay touching the Easterly-Winde.  
Written by way of Narrative, for satisfaction of the present and future Ages.  
By Rege Sincera.  
LONDON Printed by Thomas Ratcliff, and are to be fold by Robert Pawlet at the Bible in Chancery-lane. 1667.   

To his much honoured and respected Friend JOHN BULLER Esq A Worthy Member of the Honourable House of COMMONS.  
SIR,  
THis little Treatise having lain dormant in a corner of my Desk ever since his Birth, (which was three weeks after the Fire) hath got at last so much strength as to walk abroad. The reason of his long repose was, that I expected when some more pregnant Wit and better Pen would have undertaken this Task, which is altogether out of my Profession and Employment: But finding that hitherto all that hath been written concerning it, as to the Narrative of its beginning, progress and ending, hath been thought defective, I have given it leave to show itself abroad, with Observations thereon, under Your Honourable Name, as well to avoid the malignancy of Censure, as to testify unto the World how much I am  
Your humble and affectionate Servant, Rege Sincera.   

Observations and Reflections, both Historical and Moral, upon the last lamentable FIRE that happened in the famous CITY of LONDON, the Second Day of September, Anno 1666.  
BEfore we proceed any further in the examination of so lamentable and dismal a Subject, we have thought fitting, for the curiosity of those that shall read these Lines, and for the satisfaction of Posterity, in whose hands it may chance to come, to set down the true and naked Narrative of the Fact as it did happen, and as it hath been printed by the consent of His Majesty, and of the Public Authority, that the Reader being made certain of the truth of the Accident, may the more willingly proceed to the Examination of those Observations we have made upon it.  

Whitehall, September 8.  
ON the Second instant, at one of the Clock in the morning, there happened to break out a sad and deplorable Fire in Pudding-lane near New-Fishstreet; which falling out at that hour of the night, and in a quarter of the Town (so close built with Wooden pitched Houses,) spread itself so far before day, and with such distraction to the Inhabitants and Neighbours, that care was not taken for the timely preventing the further diffusion of it, by pulling down Houses, as it ought to have been; so that this lamentable Fire in a short time became too big to be mastered by any Engines, or working near it. It fell out most unhappily too, that a violent Easterly wind fomented it, and kept it burning all that day, and the night following spread itself up to Grace-church-street, and downwards from Canon-street to the Waterside, as far as the Three Cranes in the Vintrey.  
The People in all parts about it, distracted by the vastness of it, and their particular care to carry away their Goods, many attempts were made to prevent the spreading of it, by pulling down Houses, and making great Intervals, but all in vain, the Fire seizing upon the Timber and Rubbish, and so continuing itself even through those spaces, and raging in a bright flame all Monday and Tuesday, notwithstanding His Majesties own, and his Royal Highness indefatigable and personal pains to apply all possible remedies to prevent it, calling upon and helping the People with their Guards, and a great number of Nobility and Gentry unweariedly assisting therein; for which they were requited with a thousand blessings from the poor distressed People. By the favour of God the wind slackened a little on Tuesday night, and the Flames meeting with Brick-buildings at the Temple, by little and little it was observed to lose its force on that side, so that on Wednesday morning we began to hope well, and his Royal Highness never despairing, or slackening his personal care, wrought so well that day, assisted in some parts by the Lords of the Council before and behind it, that a stop was put to it at the Temple-Church, near Holborn-bridge, Pie-corner, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, near the lower end of Coleman-street, at the end of Basinghall-street, by the Postern, at the upper end of Bishopsgate-street, and Leadenhallstreet, at the Standard in Cornhill, at the Church in Fanchurch-street, near Clothworkers-hall in Mincing-lane, at the middle of Mark-lane, and at the Tower-Dock.  
On Thursday, by the blessing of God, it was wholly beat down and extinguished, but so as that Evening it unhappily broke out again at the Temple, by the falling of some sparks (as is supposed) upon a pile of Wooden buildings, but His Royal Highness, who watched there that whole night in person, by the great labours and diligence used, and especially by their applying powder to blow up the Houses about it, before day most happily mastered it.  
Divers Strangers, Dutch and French, were during the Fire apprehended, upon suspicion that they contributed most mischievously to it, who were all imprisoned, and informations prepared to make a severe inquisition thereupon by my Lord Chief Justice Keeling, assisted by some of the Lords of the Privy-Council, and some principal Members of the City; notwithstanding which suspicions, the manner of the burning all along in a train, and so blown forwards in all its way by strong winds, make us conclude the Whole was an effect of an unhappy Chance, or to speak better, the heavy hand of God upon us for our Sins, showing us the terror of his Judgements in thus raising the Fire; and immediately after his miraculous, and never enough to be acknowledged mercy, in putting a stop to it when we were in the last despair, and that all attempts for the quenching it, however industriously pursued, seemed insufficient. His Majesty then sat hourly in Council, and in his own person making rounds about the City, in all parts of it where the danger and mischief was greatest, till next morning, that he hath sent his Grace the Duke of Arbemarle, whom he called from Sea to assist him in this great occasion, to put his happy and successful hand to the finishing of this memorable Deliliverance.  
About the Tower the seasonable Orders given for plucking down Houses to secure the Magazines of Powder was more especially successful, that part being up the wind; notwithstanding which, it came almost to the very Gates of it, so as by this early provision the several Stores of War lodged in the Tower were entirely saved; and we have further this infinite cause, particularly to give God thanks, that the Fire did not happen in any of those places where his Majesty's Naval-stores are kept; so though it hath pleased God to visit us with his own hand, he hath not by dis-furnishing us with the means of carrying on the War, subjected us unto all our Enemies.  
Through this sad accident it is easy to be imagined, how many Persons were necessitated to remove themselves and Goods into the open Fields, where they were forced to continue some time, which could not but work compassion in the Beholders. But His Majesty's care was most signal in this occasion, who, besides his personal pains, was frequent in consulting always for relieving those distressed persons; which produced so good effect, as well by His Majesty's Proclamations, and the Orders issued to the Neighbours Justices of Peace, to encourage the sending in of Provision to the Markets, which are publicly known, as by other directions, that when His Majesty fearing lest other Orders might not yet have been sufficient, had commanded the victualler of his Navy to send Bread into morefield's for relief of the Poor, which for the more speedy supply he sent in Baskets out of the Sea-stores, it was found that the Markets had been already so well supplied, that the People being unaccustomed to that kind of Bread, declined it, and so it was returned in great part to His Majesty's Stores again, without any use made of it.  
And we cannot but observe, to the confutation of all His Majesty's Enemies, who endeavour to persuade the World abroad of great Parties and Disaffection at home against his Majesty's Government, that a greater instance of the affection of this City could never be given, than hath been now given in this sad and deplorable accident, when, if at any time, disorder might have been expected from the losses, distraction, and almost desperation of some Persons in their private Fortunes, thousands of people not having to cover them. And yet in all this time, it hath been so far from any appearance of Designs or Attempts against His Majesty's Government, His Majesty and His Royal Brother out of their care to stop and prevent the Fire, frequently exposing their Persons with very small Attendants in all parts of the Town, sometimes even to be intermixed with those who laboured in the Business, yet nevertheless there hath not been observed so much as a murmuring word to fall from any; but on the contrary, even those Persons whose Losses rendered their Condition most desperate, and to be fit objects of their Prayers, beholding those frequent instances of His Majesty's care of His People, forgot their own misery, and filled the Streets with their Prayers for His Majesty, whose Trouble they seemed to compassionate before their own.   

Observations.  
THe Philosophers, Rhetoricians and Lawyers do agree, that all the circumstances of a fact, are happily contained in a Latin Verse framed for that purpose, as well to illustrate the Method, which is the life of History, as to help the Memory, which is to reap the benefit of it: the Verse runneth thus;  
Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando?  
Who hath done it, what hath he done,  
Where, by what means, wherefore, how, when?  
Although these Disjunctives seem at first sight to carry no great sense, nevertheless when they shall be throughly examined it will be found, that they do contain all what can be said upon a subject, and that out of them as out of so many living springs may be drawn all what is necessary for the clearing of a propounded Question; and we will not be ashamed in this to follow the method of the Schools and the authority of the learned, knowing that whatsoever fault shall be found in't, will rather be imputed to our incapacity then to the foundation we have built upon. Therefore to begin.  

Quis? Who hath done it? SECT. I.  
FOR the clearing of the darkness wherein the humane understanding is naturally wrapped up in distinguishing the several accidents and events that happen daily in this sublunary World. The Philosophers have establishing two principal causes, whereunto every one may have his recourse for his satisfaction and the securing of himself, that nothing happeneth by chance, which is the opinion of desperate and Atheistical persons. The first and universal cause is God Almighty, who as he alone hath created the World, so hath he also reserved to himself alone the government thereof, insomuch that the least accidents that befall, depend merely from his providence, neither is there any thing hidden to him with whom we have to do; it is he without whose leave and knowledge not a hair falleth from our heads, and who telleth us by his Prophet that There is no evil in the City but he hath done it. This is that first Cause which ought to captivate our understandings under its will, to make us admit all Events with an equal mind, and submit our patience to his dispensations, saying with David, I did hold my peace because thou didst it, Psal. 50. vers. 21. The other Causes are called Second causes, because most commonly God maketh use of them for the accomplishing of his will, and these are divided into as many branches as there are individual creatures in the World. By these a man liveth, being begotten by the seed of his parents; dieth being suffocated, falleth being drunk, is drowned in making shipwreck, etc. Where it is to be observed that several second Causes may concur together to the production of one and the same effect; as in this sad and lamentable Accident we see the carelessness of a Baker, the solitariness and darkness of the Night, the disposition of old and ruinous Buildings, the narrowness of the Streets, the abundance of combustible and Bituminous matter, the foregoing Summer extraordinary hot and dry, a violent Eastern Wind, and the want of Engines and Water, concur as it were unanimously to the production of this wonderful Conflagration, and to do in four days what four Armies of Enemies (not opposed) could scarce have done in eight. The Astrologers, whose science is as abstruse as uncertain, would fain introduce another cause between the first and the second, to wit, the position and influence of the Celestial bodies; but this accident will contribute much to stop their mouths: for either they could not foresee it, or else having foreseen it, they should have given us precaution of it, as they do of many other more frivolous things, and of less consequence than this; and which are never true but by a supposition that 〈◊〉 do not happen in our Country, they may 〈…〉 Let us therefore conclude, that the two Causes above mentioned, that is, first and second, are sufficient to move us to humble ourselves in the sight of God, who having the year before destroyed in the space of Six months about an Hundred thousand people; and seeing our impenitent hearts and seared consciences return again to our first vomiting, of Pride, Drunkenness, Swearing, False deal, Whoring, Treachery, and other vices; after he hath taken away the health of some, he taketh away the wealth of others, and threatneth the rest with an impendent Famine by the last excessive Rains he did send, and may send again in this Sowing-time; and it will avail nothing here to say, as I have heard many, that other Countries, as France and Italy are guilty of as many if not greater Crimes than we are, seeing that God chastiseth every son he loveth, and that he beginneth his Judgements by his own household, and this Nation having received more prosperities and blessings from his hands then any other, and accordingly more peculiarly bound to serve and obey him then all the rest, whom he will find well enough when he seethe his due appointed time: For that servant that knew his lords will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be heaten with few stripes: For unto whom much is given, of him shall be much required, and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Luke, ch. 12. v. 47, 48.   

Quid? What hath he done? SECT. II.  
THE Answer is easy. An Incendie, a Conflagration, a Ruin and devastation by Fire, such (as I believe) did never happen by any natural and ordinary means, for that of Sodom and Gomorrah was supernatural and miraculous, the like being never heard before nor after, that it should rain Fire and Brimstone suddenly, and in such a quantity in fair weather; for the Scripture mentioneth that the Sun was risen upon the Earth, besides, that instead of calcining the said Towns into powder, as Fire and Brimstone will do all solid bodies, it not only turned them, but also the ground on which they stood into a bottomless bituminous Lake, which to this day remaineth before our eyes for a fearful Example of the heinousness of Sin, and of the severity of God's Justice. Concerning the conflagration of Troy, and that of Rome: The first may be fabulous, or exaggerated by the familiar Hyperboles of Poets to whose relation chief we own our belief in that point. As for that of Rome it is to be believed, that those heaps of Stones and Marbles of which she was then builded, gave a great check, if not a stop to the raging of the Fire, and stood in the way of the Tyrant's pleasure. Concerning others, as that of 
(a) Turkish His story.  Constantinople, 
(b) 〈◊〉 Cromen.  Cracow, 
(c) Paulus Jovius 12 Book.  Venice, 
(d) Cusomion in vita Emp.  Vienna in Austria, 
(e) Ad Junius.  Delf in Holland, 
(f) Guicciard 〈◊〉 12 Book.  Malines and Antwerp, they came nothing near this which in three days and three nights of about 460 acres of Ground upon which the City of London stood, hath swept away about 350, which is at the rate of four parts in five, having destroyed about 12000 Houses, 87 Parochial Churches, besides 6 or 7 consecrated Chapels, and the magnificent and stately Cathedral Church of St. Paul, the public and most excellent buildings of the Exchange, Guildhall, Custom-house, and all or very near the Halls belonging to every private Company, besides an innumerable quantity of Goods of all sorts, this City being the best Magazine not only of England, but also of all Europe; but amongst the rest it was a Treasure unspeakable of four Commodities, which for their luggage and cumbersomness, could not be rescued from the jaws of that unmerciful Element, that is Wine, Tobacco, Spices and Books. As for Books, the Booksellers who dwelled for the most part round about the Cathedral Church, had sheltered their Books in a subterraneal Church under the Cathedral, called St. Faiths, which was proped up with so strong an Arch and massy Pillars, that it seemed impossible the Fire could do any harm to it; but the Fire having crept into it through the Windows, it seized upon the Pews, and did so try and examine the Arch and Pillars by sucking the moisture of the mortar that bond the Stones together, that it was calcined into Sand: So that when the top of the Cathedral fell upon it, it beat it flat, and set all things in an irremediable flame. I have heard judicious men of that Trade affirm, that the only loss of Books in that place, and Stationers-hall, public Libraries, and private persons Houses, could amount to no less than 150000 pound. I have seen Bells, and Iron Wares melted, Glass and Earthen pots melted together, as it had been by a fire or fusion; the most big and solid Stones (as those of the Cathedral) slit, scaled, and in some parts calcined to powder by the violence of the frames. Nevertheless, as God's mercy is above all his works, and remembereth it always amongst his judgements, I could not learn of above half a dozen People that did perish by that woeful Conflagration; one of them was of my Acquaintance, and a Watchmaker living in Shooe-lane behind the Globe-Tavern, his name was Paul Lawell, born in Strasbourg, who being about 80 years of age, and dull of hearing, was also deaf to the good admonitions of his Son and Friends, and would neyer desert the House till it fell upon him, and sunk him with the ruins, in the Cellar, where afterwards his Bones, together with his Keys, were found.  
Although the loss of so famous a CITY, and of the Riches contained within its Precinct be inestimable, nevertheless to satisfy the curiosity of the Reader, and that of Posterity, as also to give some light unto those, who, with a more mature deliberation, shall attempt the full History of it; we will set down the chiefest Heads by which it is valued, leaving the liberty to the juditions Reader to add to or subtract from as he shall think fit; for we do not pretend here to give an exact account of all the Losses, which we hope some better, Wits, and that are more at leisure, will undertake hereafter, But only to invite them by this to a more curious and earnest enquiry of the Truth, and so transmit to Posterity a fearful Example of God's Judgement, that they may in avoiding Sin, also avoid the like, to the glory and praise of his most holy Name.  
Let it therefore be said again, that by the computation of the best Geometricians, the City of LONDON within the Walls was seated upon about 460 Acres of Ground, wherein were built about 15000 Houses, besides Churches, Chapels, Schools, Halls, and public Buildings; out of this quantity of Houses 12000 are thought to be burnt, which is four parts of five, each House being valued one with another at Twenty five pound a years Rent, which at Twelve years' Purchase maketh Three hundred pound, the whole 〈…〉.  
Fourscore and seven Parochial Churches, besides that of St. Paul's the Cathedral, and six consecrated Cliappels, the Exchange, Guildhall, Customhouse, the Halls of Companies, and other Public Buildings, amounting to half as much 1800000 l. The Goods that every Private man lost one with another, valued at half the value of the Houses 1800000 l. About 20 Wharses of Coals and Wood, valued at a 1000 l. a piece 20000 l. About 100000 Boats and Barges, 1000 Cart-loads, with Porters to remove the Goods too and fro, as well for the Houses that were a burning, as for those that stood in fear of it, at 20 shillings a Load 150000 l. Sum 7335000 l.  
This being reduced to the Account of French-Money, taking one pound Sterling for 13 Livers, amounteth to 10569675000 Livers.  
Now O London! it may well be said of thee, How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people, how is she become widow, she that was great among the Nations, and Princess among the Provinces? Jerem. Lam. chap. 1.1. But courage O thou that art now my Country, thou art fallen into the hands of God and not of men; he that chastiseth thee is thy Father, and if he hath a rod to punish thee, he hath also a staff to comfort thee, turn to him and he will turn to thee, for he is a merciful, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, therefore be not overwhelmed with sorrow, no thing hath befallen thee, but hath happened to others before thee; and if it be true that the likeness and participation of afflictions doth mitigate the sense of them, that I may something allay thy present sorrow, I will relate thee a story that hath much parallel with thine, to show thou hast not been the only miserable: It is a true one, written and testified by an Honourable Dutch Merchant who was an eye witness to it; and although it hath been once printed, yet because the Book is scarce, and the Language foreign, I thought thou wouldst not take it ill if I should impart it unto thee.  
Moscow the chief City of all the Countries of the Emperor of Russia, is a very great City, but not well compacted, it hath in compass with the Suburbs, well inhabited, and as full of people as the Town, about three Germane leagues and a half, which maketh about 14 English miles; the compass of the Town within the walls is about three English miles; the streets and path ways are of great trees set close together, and some boards by the houses side; and it is so dirty in rainy weather, that it is impossible to go thorough the City otherwise then on horseback; according to the custom of the Country where horses are of small value, and of little expense, never being shod for any journey whatsoever, unless it be during the Ice. The houses are but one story high, or two at the most, all built with wood set up at the top one of another; there is in the City, Suburbs and castle about 5500 Churches, built for the most part like Chapels, most of them, with great trees set one upon another; The great Duke's Lodging is also built of wood, which he thinketh wholesomer than stone; the Castle is pretty well fortified with walls and broad ditches; it occupieth as much room as all the rest of the City. On one side of it dwells the Sins, on the other the Optisins, who are as the Treasurers of the Great Duke, in whose hands (as soon as you come) you must put in all your Merchandises; Being departed from Nerva about the tenth of July 1570. we came on the beginning of August to Moscow, where I found the Great Duke and his Officers busy in seeking out about 30 persons, 
This Great Duke was John Basclides the famous Tyrant.  who fell all under the sword of the Hangman, except one who was cast alive in boiling water, and this because they had taken Bribes, most of them were great Lords, and Familiars with the Great Duke, others were Merchants of Novogard, with their Wife's Children and Families, accused of Treason in the behalf of the King of Poland. Few days after, a horrid Plague invaded the town of Moscow, and the places about it, with such violence, that in four months there died above 250000 people, and it was particularly observed that in eight days, that is, from the tenth to the eighteenth of August, there died 2703 Priests, and this Plague did continue so fiercely, that in the end of it, every one wondered when he met any body of his acquaintance.  
This extraordinary misery was so lowed the year after on the fifteenth of May, by a strange ruin and conflagration; the occasion was, that the Emperor of the Tartarians, being discontented that the Russians did not pay him some annual Tribute, and hearing besides that the Great Duke by his tyranny and massacres had so depopulated the Country, that he should find no great resistance that way, did summon him to pay the said Tribute, but the Great Duke returned nothing in answer but spiteful and reproachful words; wherefore the Tartarian came out of his Country about the end of February, followed with an Army of 100000 horse, who within the space of two months and a half did ride about 500 Germane leagues which makes 2000 Englist miles; when they were come about two days journey from the frontiers of the Duke, he resolved to meet them and to give them battle, but he lost it with a prodigious slaughter of his men; The Duke knowing that the Tartarian would seek him out, ran away as fast and as far as he could; he was only within nine leagues of Moscow, when the Tartarians came and encompassed the Town, thinking he was within, they set a fire all the Villages round about it, and seeing that the war would prove too tedious for them, resolved to burn that great City, or at least the Suburbs of it; for this purpose having placed their Troops round about it, they set fire on all sides, so that it seemed a burning Globe; then did arise so fierce and violent a wind, that it drove the Rafters and long Trees from the Suburbs into the City; the conslagration was so sudden that no body had time to save himself but in that place where he was then; the persons that were burnt in this fire were above 200000. which did happen, because the houses are all of wood, and the streets paved with great Firr-trees set close together, which being Oily and Rosinous made the incendie unexpressible, so that in four hours' time, the City and Suburbs were wholly consumed. I and a young man of Rochel that was my Interpreter, were in the middle of the Fire, in a Magazine vaulted with stone, and extraordinarily strong, whose wall was three foot and a half thick, and had no Air but on two sides, one wherein was the coming in and going out, which was a long Alley, in which there was three iron Gates, distant about six foot one from another; on the other side there was a Window or Grate, fenced with three iron shutters, distant half a foot one from another, we shut them inwardly as well as possibly we could; nevertheless, there came in so much smoke, that it was more than sufficient to choke us, had it not been for some Beer that was there, with the which we refreshed ourselves now and then. Many Lords and Gentlemen were stifled in the Caves where they had retired, because their houses being made of great trees, when they fell they crushed down all that was underneath; others being consumed to ashes, stopped all the passages of going and coming out, so that for want of Air they all perished. The poor Country people that had saved themselves in the City, with their  from Threescore miles round about, seeing the conflagration, ran all into the Marketplace. which is not paved of wood as the rest; nevertheless they were all roasted 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 than any can imagine. In many places of the said Market, the bodies were piled one upon another to the height 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 roasted, 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 than 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 than of the fire, were entered. They are a Warlike people, though they eat nothing but Roots, and such other like substance, and drink only 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 enured 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 only come in the Summer for the conveniency of their horses; their Country 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 country at the end of it, lest they should be overtaken by the winter in Russia, which if i● should fall out they would be all starved because of the great deserts uninhabited, containing above Three hundred Germane 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 Germane 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 Bow and Arrows, they know nothing of what belongeth to Guns, having in all heir Country 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 harkened a while, we hard some Russians running to and fro through the smoke, 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 Governor was very glad to hear of our intention, and cried to us, we should be very welcome, 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 ado; 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  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 blood 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 near 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 thyself, 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 salubrity of the Air, and conveniency of situation; Magnificent in public 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 pen than 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 chief 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 satisfy 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 ruin; 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 near hand, and as it were whispering at our ear, doth move and stir 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 Organs, she turneth to the wrong way and neglecteth those things wherein she is merely 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 mere accident to put fire in an Oven, and to leave quantity of dry wood, and some flitches of Bacon by it within the sphere 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 Chandler's 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 show 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 mere 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 reflection 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 Council, 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 Situation.  
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 Oil, Butter, Brandy, Pitch, Brimstone, Saltpetre, Cables, etc. and by the Thames side were almost all Wharfes full of Coals and Wood Now as fire of itself is nothing but light which corporifieth itself 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 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 itself, the exhalation of it did mix itself with a strong Westerly wind, that came as far as London, beating down houses, plucking up trees by the roots; and to show its nitrous and sulphureous Nature, did as it were neglect to touch wood, but did chief 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 Maypole, 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 sphere of his activity at a further distance then ordinary, and cast his burning beams furthest off, mixing more exactly his Atoms in the Air, which he turneth almost into his own Nature, which was the cause that no body could come nearer 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  moisture that was in them, but also that of the Air which might have moistened 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 intrinsically, and doth condense itself 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 hindrance 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 persuaded many that this fire was miraculous: I myself 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 show many reasons why this wind is so dry in England, as to burn the flowers and leaves of the trees, more than 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 through which they pass: Now all the Southern, Western, and Northern winds, must pass through the great Ocean to come into England, in which passage there mixes with them abundance of vapours which cause their moisture, except the Northwind, 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, etc. 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 Brickwall on either side; this wind that reigneth constantly here in England in the months 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 country, for there is some other countries 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 Clerkenwell, esteemed one of the best.  
And thus courteous Reader, thou seest an admirable concurrence of several causes, for the putting of God's will in execution; in other Cities that are not subject to conflagrations; as Paris, which is all built of Freestone, the inundations have several times played their pranks; other Towns, as in Italy that think themselves exempted from fi●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 Lightning; 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 ourselves 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.