d concurred,
especially as it met with no interruption.

"But what would appear almost incredible to you, were the fact less
notorious and public, is, that a gang of hardened villains, who had
escaped from prison when the wall fell, were busily employed in
setting fire to those buildings, which stood some chance of escaping
the general destruction. I cannot conceive what could have induced
them to this hellish work, except to add to the horror and confusion,
that they might, by this means, have the better opportunity of
plundering with security. But there was no necessity for taking this
trouble, as they might certainly have done their business without it,
since the whole city was so deserted before night, that I believe not
a soul remained in it, except those execrable villains, and others of
the same stamp. It is possible some of them might have had other
motives besides robbing, as one in particular being apprehended--they
say he was a Moor, condemned to the galleys--confessed at the gallows
that he had set fire to the King's palace with his own hand; at the
same time glorying in the action, and declaring with his last breath,
that he hoped to have burnt all the royal family.

"The whole number of persons that perished, including those who were
burnt or afterwards crushed to death whilst digging in the ruins, is
supposed, on the lowest calculation, to amount to more than sixty
thousand; and though the damage in other respects cannot be computed,
yet you may form some idea of it, when I assure you that this
extensive and opulent city is now nothing but a vast heap of ruins;
that the rich and poor are at present upon a level; some thousands of
families which but the day before had been in easy circumstances,
being now scattered about in the fields, wanting every convenience of
life, and finding none able to relieve them.

"In order that you may partly realize the prodigious havoc that has
been made, I will mention one more instance among the many that have
come under my notice. There was a high arched passage, like one of our
old city gates, fronting the west door of the ancient cathedral; on
the left hand was the famous church of St. Antonio, and on the right,
some private houses several stories high. The whole area surrounded by
all these buildings did not much exceed one of our small courts in
London. At the first shock, numbers of people who were then passing
under the arch, fled into the middle of this area for