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London, Londoners and
the Great Fire of 1666

The Great Fire of 1666 was one of the greatest catastrophes to befall
London in its long history. While its impact on London and its built envi-
ronment has been studied and documented, its impact on Londoners has
been overlooked. This book makes full and systematic use of the wealth of
manuscript sources that illustrate social, economic and cultural change in
seventeenth-century London to examine the impact of the Fire in terms of
how individuals and communities reacted and responded to it, and to put
the response to the Fire in the context of existing trends in early modern
England. The book also explores the broader effects of the Fire in the rest
of the country, as well as how the Great Fire continued to be an important
polemical tool into the eighteenth century.

Jacob F. Field has taught history at Massey University and the University of
Waikato, New Zealand. He is currently a research associate at the University
of Cambridge.
Routledge Research in Early Modern History
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

The Business of the Roman Inquisition in the Early Modern Era

Germano Maifreda

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James VI and Noble Power in Scotland 1578–1603

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Conversion and Islam in the Early Modern Mediterranean

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London, Londoners and the Great Fire of 1666

Disaster and Recovery
Jacob F. Field
London, Londoners and
the Great Fire of 1666
Disaster and Recovery

Jacob F. Field
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2018 Jacob F. Field
The right of Jacob F. Field to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Field, Jacob, author.
Title: London, Londoners and the Great Fire of 1666 : disaster and
recovery / by Jacob F. Field.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Routledge
research in early modern history | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017028242 (print) | LCCN 2017028721 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315099323 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138207141 (hardback :
alkaline paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Great Fire, London, England, 1666. | Fires—Social
aspects—England—London—History—17th century. | Disasters—Social
aspects—England—London—History—17th century. | Disaster
relief—England—London—History—17th century. | Urban
renewal—England—London—History—17th century. | London
(England)—History—17th century. | London (England)—Social
conditions—17th century. | London (England)—Economic
conditions—17th century.
Classification: LCC DA681 (ebook) | LCC DA681 .F54 2018 (print) |
DDC 942.1/2066—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028242
ISBN: 978-1-138-20714-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-09932-3 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For my parents, and in memory of my sister
Contents

List of figures viii

List of maps ix
List of tables x
Acknowledgments xi
List of abbreviations xiii
Key to maps of parishes xv

Introduction: a new history of the Great Fire of London 1

PART ONE 5

1 A brief account of the Great Fire 7

2 Rebuilding London 30

PART TWO 57

3 Household movement after the Great Fire 59

4 London’s economic topography after the Great Fire 99

5 Cultural reactions to the Great Fire 131

Conclusion: the impact of the Great Fire 160

Index 165
Figures

1.1 Panoramic view of London by Nicolaes Visscher (c. 1666) 8

1.2 View of the Great Fire seen from across the River
Thames (1666) 13
1.3 Plan of the City of London and surrounding area after
the Great Fire of London by Wenceslaus Hollar (1666) 19
2.1 Designs for rebuilding London after the Fire by
Christopher Wren and John Evelyn (1748) 32
2.2 View of Monument’s west side and adjacent buildings
by William Lodge (1676) 46
3.1 Number of hearths per household in London
before the Fire (%) 67
3.2 Number of hearths per household in London
after the Fire (%) 67
3.3 Number of hearths per household in twenty-four parishes,
1666 and 1675 (%) 69
3.4 Number of households in twenty-four parishes,
1666 and 1675 70
3.5 Change in number of hearths per household, c. 1666 and
1675 (%) 81
5.1 Frontispiece of Pyrotechnica Loyolana (1667) 135
Maps

1 The City of London and surrounding parishes xiii

2 London parishes, 1666 xiv
3 Ward map of the City of London xix
Tables

3.1 Number of Households in London before and after the Fire,

by City ward, c. 1666 and 1675 65
3.2 Non-movement of Londoners linked in the Hearth Tax,
c. 1666 and 1675 74
3.3 Movement of nominally linked Londoners from the
Hearth Tax, c. 1666 and 1675 (%) 78
3.4 Distance of residential movement of nominally linked
Londoners from the Hearth Tax, c. 1666 and 1675 79
3.5 Changing locality of nominally linked Londoners from
the Hearth Tax, c. 1666 and 1675 (%) 84
4.1 Place of business, Merchant Taylors, 1652–66,
1666–80 (%) 106
4.2 Geographical distribution of London booksellers,
1663–5, 1667–9 and 1676–8 (%) 107
4.3 Movement of Merchant Taylors, 1652–66 and
1666–80 (%) 110
4.4 Occupational groups of Merchant Taylors, 1652–66 (%) 113
4.5 London’s male occupational structure, 1641–1700 and
1710–12 (%) 115
Acknowledgments

Without the support of my family, friends and colleagues, the researching

and writing of this book would have been impossible. Firstly I would like to
thank my parents, Ellen and Paul, who have unconditionally supported and
inspired me. I owe them more than I can express. To my late sister, Eowyn
Jane, I miss you every day. I would also like to thank my parents’ partners,
Ian and Pam, as well as the rest of my family from across the world, espe-
cially my grandparents – Grandma Billie and the late Albert Cretella, Aussie
Granddad and Nana. Finally I must thank my wife Emily, who makes me
feel lucky every day and never stopped believing in me; I will always be
thankful for this and for her. I would also like to thank my in-laws, the Bell
family, for welcoming me so warmly into their midst.
My friends have kept me from getting too lost in the seventeenth cen-
tury through their good company and encouragement in the twenty-first.
I would like to thank my ‘second families’: the Tomiczeks (Caroline, Isaac
and Safiya) and the Blitzes (Biggi, Barry, Jonas and David), as well as the
Greenwalds (Ava Seave, Bruce and Diana), who have provided generous
support throughout my academic life, and Mark Ravenhill. I would also like
to thank: James, Samir, Ali and Al; the Greens (especially my goddaughter
Isabel); Niheer, Dan, Rich, Tina, Neil, Jillian, Chris, Laura, Josh and the
Heortons; and Elly, Corin, Toby, Pete, Alli and Ellie.
This book could not have been undertaken without the help of the peo-
ple who care for the records it depends upon. I have relied heavily on the
help and advice of those who work at the Guildhall Library, the London
Metropolitan Archives and the National Archives. I have also used the
resources of the Robinson Library at Newcastle, the British Library, the
London Library and the Wellcome Library.
My greatest academic debt is to my doctoral supervisor at Newcastle
University, Jeremy Boulton, who has been a constant source of knowledge
and constructive criticism, and whose expertise and assiduousness has
been invaluable. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Helen
Berry. This book has benefited greatly from the input of the two examin-
ers of the doctoral thesis upon which it was based: Ian Archer and Rachel
Hammersley. My colleagues during my postdoctoral work at the University
xii Acknowledgments
of Cambridge have also been incredibly helpful and stimulating – in par-
ticular Amy Erickson, Gill Newton, Max Satchell, Leigh Shaw-Taylor and
Tony Wrigley. I have also been blessed with wonderful support from my
colleagues at Massey and Waikato universities, especially Michael Belgrave,
James Beattie, Peter Lineham and Rowland Weston. I am also grateful for
conversations, correspondence and advice with many other historians over
the years, including Sylvia Brown, Ian Doolittle, Vanessa Harding, Philippa
Hubbard, John Landers, David Marsh, Joseph Monteyne, Osamu Saito,
Chiaki Yamamoto and Matthew Yeo. I would also like to thank the two
anonymous peer reviewers of this book for their perceptive and constructive
comments, as well as the editorial team at Routledge.
I have been privileged to have received generous financial support from
the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the form of a three-year doc-
toral award at Newcastle University, without which I could not have under-
taken the doctoral research upon which this book is based. I would also like
to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their generous funding of ‘The occupa-
tional structure of England and Wales c.1379 to c.1729’ (F/09/774/G), held
by Dr Leigh Shaw-Taylor and Professor Sir E.A. Wrigley, which financed my
collection of the data for the Fleet Registers used in this book. Finally, I also
received kind bursaries to attend conferences – one from the organisers of
the ‘London in Text and History, 1400–1700’ conference, and one from the
School of Historical Studies at Newcastle University.
Abbreviations

BL: British Library

GL: Guildhall Library
LMA: London Metropolitan Archives
LPL: Lambeth Palace Library
PA: Parliamentary Archives, United Kingdom
TNA: The National Archives, United Kingdom

Map 1 The City of London and surrounding parishes. Created by Dr Max Satchell.
Map 2 London parishes, 1666. Created by Dr Max Satchell.
Key to maps of parishes

Within the Walls

1. All Hallows Barking
2. All Hallows Bread Street*
3. All Hallows Honey Lane*
4. All Hallows Lombard Street*
5. All Hallows London Wall
6. All Hallows Staining
7. All Hallows the Great*
8. All Hallows the Less*
9. Christchurch Greyfriars*
10. Holy Trinity the Less*
11. St Alban Wood Street*
12. St Alphage London Wall
13. St Andrew by the Wardrobe
14. St Andrew Hubbard*
15. St Andrew Undershaft
16. St Anne and St Agnes*
17. St Anne Blackfriars*
18. St Antholin Budge Row*
19. St Augustine Watling Street*
20. St Bartholomew by the Royal Exchange*
21. St Benet Fink*
22. St Benet Gracechurch Street*
23. St Benet Paul’s Wharf*
24. St Benet Sherehog*
25. St Botolph Billingsgate*
26. St Christopher-le-Stock*
27. St Clement East Cheap*
28. St Dionis Backchurch*
29. St Dunstan-in-the-East**
30. St Edmund the King and Martyr*
31. St Ethelburga Bishopsgate
xvi Key to maps of parishes
32. St Faith under St Paul’s*
33. St Gabriel Fenchurch Street*
34. St George Botolph Lane*
35. St Gregory by St Paul’s*
36. St Helen Bishopsgate
37. St James Duke’s Place
38. St James Garlickhithe*
39. St John the Baptist Walbrook*
40. St John the Evangelist Friday Street*
41. St John Zachary*
42. St Katherine Coleman
43. St Katherine Cree
44. St Lawrence Jewry*
45. St Lawrence Pountney*
46. St Leonard East Cheap*
47. St Leonard Foster Lane*
48. St Magnus the Martyr*
49. St Margaret Lothbury*
50. St Margaret Moses*
51. St Margaret New Fish Street*
52. St Margaret Pattens*
53. St Martin Ludgate*
54. St Martin Orgars*
55. St Martin Outwich
56. St Martin Pomroy*
57. St Martin Vintry*
58. St Mary Abchurch*
59. St Mary Aldermanbury*
60. St Mary Aldermary*
61. St Mary-at-Hill*
62. St Mary Bothaw*
63. St Mary Colechurch*
64. St Mary-le-Bow*
65. St Mary Magdalen Milk Street*
66. St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street*
67. St Mary Mounthaw*
68. St Mary Somerset*
69. St Mary Staining*
70. St Mary Woolchurch Haw*
71. St Mary Woolnoth**
72. St Matthew Friday Street*
73. St Michael Bassishaw*
74. St Michael Cornhill*
75. St Michael Crooked Lane*
76. St Michael-le-Querne*
 Key to maps of parishes xvii
77. St Michael Paternoster Royal*
78. St Michael Queenhithe*
79. St Michael Wood Street*
80. St Mildred Bread Street*
81. St Mildred Poultry*
82. St Nicholas Acons*
83. St Nicholas Cole Abbey*
84. St Nicholas Olave*
85. St Olave Hart Street
86. St Olave Jewry*
87. St Olave Silver Street*
88. St Pancras Soper Lane*
89. St Peter Cornhill*
90. St Peter-le-Poer**
91. St Peter Paul’s Wharf*
92. St Peter Westcheap*
93. St Stephen Coleman Street*
94. St Stephen Walbrook*
95. St Swithin London Stone*
96. St Thomas the Apostle*
97. St Vedast-alias-Foster*

Without the Walls

98. Bridewell Precinct
99. Charter House
100. Gray’s Inn
101. Holy Trinity Minories
102. Liberty of Glasshouse Yard
103. Liberty of Saffron Hill
104. Liberty of the Rolls
105. Lincoln’s Inn
106. St Andrew Holborn
107. St Bartholomew the Great
108. St Bartholomew the Less
109. St Botolph without Aldersgate
110. St Botolph without Aldgate
111. St Botolph without Bishopsgate
112. St Bride Fleet Street*
113. St Dunstan-in-the-West
114. St George the Martyr Southwark
115. St Giles without Cripplegate
116. St John the Baptist Savoy
117. St Olave Southwark
118. St Saviour Southwark
xviii Key to maps of parishes
119. St Sepulchre Holborn**
120. St Thomas Southwark
121. Temple***
122. Tower of London
123. Whitefriars Precinct***

* Parish where church was destroyed in the Fire

** Parish where church was seriously damaged in the Fire
*** Extra-parochial areas that the Fire also spread to

Westminster city and liberties

124. St Clement Danes
125. St Margaret Westminster
126. St Martin-in-the-Fields
127. St Mary-le-Strand
128. St Paul Covent Garden
129. Westminster Abbey

Out parishes and beyond

130. Liberty of Norton Folgate
131. Old Artillery Ground
132. St Alfege Greenwich
133. St Dunstan Stepney
134. St Giles-in-the-Fields
135. St James Clerkenwell
136. St John Hackney
137. St Katherine by the Tower
138. St Leonard Shoreditch
139. St Mary Lambeth
140. St Mary Islington
141. St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey
142. St Mary Newington
143. St Mary Rotherhithe
144. St Mary Whitechapel
145. St Nicholas Deptford
Map 3 Ward map of the City of London. Created by the author.
Introduction
A new history of the Great Fire
of London

The Great Fire started on 2 September 1666 in a baker’s shop on Pudding

Lane. Over the next four days it spread across the City of London and
beyond, destroying most of the historic core of the metropolis. Thousands
of houses were destroyed and tens of thousands of people were made home-
less. Dozens of parish churches and livery company halls were left in ruins
and St Paul’s Cathedral was gutted. The disaster took place at a vital moment
in England’s history, in the aftermath of the Civil Wars and the Restoration.
By the time of the Fire the lustre of the restored monarchy was beginning
to dim. In 1666 England was recovering from a serious outbreak of plague
and was at war with both the Dutch Republic and France. Over time, the
Great Fire would become an iconic moment in both the history of London
and England. London’s destruction by flame and resurrection through the
industry of her citizens has proved an enduring idiom, buoyed during the
twentieth century by the experience of the Blitz. The Fire is a ‘transcendent
event’ in London history, retaining its relevance to the present day.1
The destruction of much of London had the potential to seriously desta-
bilise the rest of England. London was by far the largest city in the nation.
Yet it was not just significant because of its population – it was the political,
economic and social centre of England.2 London was vital to the English
demographic system. It attracted migrants from across the nation and its
high mortality levels prevented excess population growth.3 By the end of the
seventeenth century one in six adults in England either were living, or had
lived, in London.4 Given London’s importance and centrality, the Fire had
the potential to seriously disrupt not only local, but national, demographic
and economic patterns.
The Fire clearly was, and remains, a moment of national importance.
This is reflected in the length of writing on the Fire in the past century.
For the most part, this encompasses narratives of the Fire and accounts of
the rebuilding. Most of these accounts view the Fire and subsequent events
almost wholly through a metropolitan prism, and devote little to the impact
of the Fire outside London. The demographic and economic context of the
Fire, and what degree of continuity there was after the Fire, has not been
systematically analysed. The Fire also occurred at a key moment in London’s
2 Introduction
topographic development. Vanessa Harding has argued that it created a
more open and clear City, forcing poorer residents into overcrowded sub-
urbs. Therefore the Fire widened the contrast between London’s disorderly
periphery and orderly centre.5 For the first time, this and other assertions
about London’s changing shape in the seventeenth century will be examined
using the systematic evaluation of quantitative sources to provide a new
history of the Fire.
Serous fires were a common feature of London’s history. The earliest
recorded blaze occurred during Boudica’s Revolt in 60. London suffered
serious fires in 122, 798 and 982. After the Norman Conquest, fire con-
tinued to blight London, with serious fires in 1087, 1135 and 1212. There
were no serious city-wide fires between 1212 and 1666, but the nature of
the built environment meant a major blaze was always a possibility. Within
the Walls, the risk of fire was highest in the waterfront area around London
Bridge, characterised by especially densely packed housing and warehouses
full of flammable goods. Derek Keene has made the point that in relative
terms the 1666 Fire was not the worst to inflict London.6 Although earlier
fires destroyed higher proportions of London, none could match the scale of
the destruction of 1666 until the Blitz.
In general, the early modern English urban environment was very vul-
nerable to fire for a number of reasons: highly flammable buildings made
of wood and thatch, closely packed structures, open hearths and limited
water supply and fire-fighting equipment. Fire was always a possibility – ‘a
remorseless engine of destruction and creation, capable of engulfing whole
portions of a town, and posing a constant and serious threat to people’s
livelihood’.7 As such, fires were of great interest to the public and heavily
reported in Restoration newspapers.8 Looking just at seventeenth-century
England, for example, around one-third of Oxford was burned in 1644
and at least 157 houses in Warwick were fired in 1694.9 Neither of these,
nor any other early modern English blazes, approached the sheer scale of
the Great Fire of London. A more useful comparison for the 1666 is other
‘Great Fires’ to inflict major cities. The best seventeenth-century compari-
sons are the Great Fires of Edo (1657) and Istanbul (1660). The Edo Fire
ruined three-quarters of the city and killed about one-seventh of its popula-
tion of 600,000.10 The Istanbul Fire destroyed two-thirds of the city, razing
280,000 households and killing as many as 40,000.11 The Great Fire of
Copenhagen in 1728 was proportionally as devastating as the 1666 Fire,
destroying 80 per cent of the medieval city.12 The Chicago Fire of 1871
destroyed four square miles of the city. As in London, ambitious rebuilding
visions were abandoned.13
This book is divided into two parts. The first will provide an overview of
the Great Fire and rebuilding process. Chapter 1 will give an account of the
progress of the blaze and Chapter 2 will detail the progress of the rebuild-
ing effort. The second part will examine London and England’s reaction to
the disaster in as holistic a method as possible. Chapter 3 will examine the
 Introduction 3
response in terms of household movement and residential structure. It will
use the Hearth Tax assessment records and nominal linkage to determine
how the Fire impacted on residential patterns, and how it affected individual
Londoners and to what extent the Fire affected longer-term shifts in the top-
ographic structure of the metropolis. Chapter 4 will examine the economic
response to the Fire in terms of the reactions of two trade groups: London’s
booksellers and the Merchant Taylors’ Company. This will show how these
two distinct bodies reacted to the economic disruption caused by the Fire,
and where they resettled. Chapter 5 will draw focus on cultural reactions to
the Fire using quantitative sources. The event had major polemic value for
any group that wished to use it – a disaster of this magnitude was a powerful
political tool. It will examine the Fire in the context of its reaction of printed
media such as poems, histories, sermons and broadsides and how percep-
tions of the event changed. This chapter will also use various diary, letter
and memoir sources to investigate the popular reaction to the Fire.
The Great Fire of 1666 was the greatest catastrophic shock to befall the
early modern metropolis. Its impact on London has been extensively studied
and documented to an extent – however, its impact on Londoners has been
overlooked until now. In addition, the broader effects of the Fire in the rest
of the country, and how the rest of England perceived the disaster, will be
detailed. This book will examine the social, economic and cultural impact of
the Fire in terms of how individuals and communities reacted and responded
to it. Using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative sources allows the
study of this response to be as full as possible, and also puts the response to
the Fire in the context of existing trends in early modern England.

Notes
1 D. Keene, ‘Fire in London: Destruction and Reconstruction, AD 982–1676’, in
Destruction and Reconstruction of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earth-
quakes, Fire and Water, ed. M. Körner (Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999), 189.
2 A.L. Beier and R.A.P. Finlay, ‘Introduction: The Significance of the Metropolis’,
in London 1500–1700: The Making of the Metropolis, ed. A.L. Beier and R.A.P.
Finlay (London and New York: Longman, 1986), 1–33.
3 J. Landers, Death and the Metropolis: Studies in the Demographic History of
London 1670–1830 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 43.
4 E.A. Wrigley, ‘A Simple Model of London’s Importance in Changing English
Society and Economy, 1650–1750’, Past and Present, 37 (1967), 44–70.
5 V. Harding, ‘City, Capital, and Metropolis: The Changing Shape of Seventeenth-
Century London’, in Imagining Early Modern England: Perceptions and Por-
trayals of the City from Stow to Strype, 1598–1720, ed. J.F. Merritt (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2001), 128.
6 Keene, ‘Fire in London’, 193–9.
7 P. Borsay, ‘Fire and the Early Modern Townscape’, in The English Urban Land-
scape, ed. P. Waller (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000),
110–1.
8 J. Sutherland, The Restoration Newspaper and its Development (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986), 78.
4 Introduction
9 S. Porter, ‘The Oxford Fire of 1644’, Oxoniensia, 49 (1984), 295; P. Borsay, ‘A
County Town in Transition: The Great Fire of Warwick, 1694’, in Provincial
Towns in Early Modern England and Ireland: Change, Convergence and Diver-
gence, ed. P. Borsay and L. Proudfoot (Oxford: Oxford University Press for the
British Academy, 2002), 154.
10 K. Ugawa, ‘The Great Fire of Edo (Tokyo) in 1657’, in Destruction and Recon-
struction of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earthquakes, Fire and Water, ed.
M. Körner (Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999), 213–38.
11 M.D. Baer, ‘The Great Fire of 1660 and the Islamization of Christian and Jew-
ish Space in Istanbul’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 36 (2004),
159–75.
12 H. Gamrath, ‘The Great Fire of Copenhagen in 1728’, in Destruction and Recon-
struction of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earthquakes, Fire and Water, ed.
M. Körner (Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999), 293–302.
13 C.M. Rosen, The Limits of Power: Great Fires and the Process of City Growth
in America (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).

Reference list
Baer, M.D. ‘The Great Fire of 1660 and the Islamization of Christian and Jew-
ish Space in Istanbul’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 36 (2004),
159–75.
Beier, A.L. and Finlay, R.A.P. ‘Introduction: The Significance of the Metropolis’. In
London 1500–1700: The Making of the Metropolis, edited by A.L. Beier and
R.A.P. Finlay, 1–33. London and New York: Longman, 1986.
Borsay, P. ‘Fire and the Early Modern Townscape’. In The English Urban Land-
scape, edited by P. Waller, 110–1. Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 2000.
Borsay, P. ‘A County Town in Transition: The Great Fire of Warwick, 1694’. In
Provincial Towns in Early Modern England and Ireland: Change, Convergence
and Divergence, edited by P. Borsay and L. Proudfoot, 151–70. Oxford: Oxford
University Press for the British Academy, 2002.
Gamrath, H. ‘The Great Fire of Copenhagen in 1728’. In Destruction and Recon-
struction of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earthquakes, Fire and Water,
edited by M. Körner, 293–302. Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999.
Harding, V. ‘City, Capital, and Metropolis: The Changing Shape of Seventeenth-
Century London’. In Imagining Early Modern England: Perceptions and Portray-
als of the City from Stow to Strype, 1598–1720, edited by J.F. Merritt, 117–43.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Keene, D. ‘Fire in London: Destruction and Reconstruction, AD 982–1676’. In
Destruction and Reconstruction of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earth-
quakes, Fire and Water, edited by M. Körner, 187–211. Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999.
Landers, J. Death and the Metropolis: Studies in the Demographic History of Lon-
don 1670–1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Porter, S. ‘The Oxford Fire of 1644’, Oxoniensia, 49 (1984), 289–300.
Rosen, C.M. The Limits of Power: Great Fires and the Process of City Growth in
America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Sutherland, J. The Restoration Newspaper and its Development. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1986.
Ugawa, K. ‘The Great Fire of Edo (Tokyo) in 1657’. In Destruction and Reconstruc-
tion of Towns, Volume 1: Destruction by Earthquakes, Fire and Water, edited by
M. Körner, 213–38. Bern: Paul Haupt, 1999.
Wrigley, E.A. ‘A Simple Model of London’s Importance in Changing English Society
and Economy, 1650–1750’, Past and Present, 37 (1967), 44–70.
Part one
1 A brief account of the
Great Fire

In 1666 around 400,000 people lived in London, making up 7.5 per cent of
England’s total population of 5.3 million. The historic core of the metropolis
was the City of London, the area enclosed by the old Roman walls and the
parishes that immediately surrounded them. For the most part it retained
the same street structure it had had since medieval times. Houses and busi-
nesses were closely packed together, leaning over narrow streets and lanes.
Beyond the City lay London’s suburbs. By 1666 London had been growing
rapidly for over a century. At least 330,000 people (net) had been added to
its population from 1550 to 1650. Most of these new arrivals tended to live
in low-quality, densely packed, filthy houses in yards and alleys.1 Such resi-
dences and people were spread throughout London, although most migrants
first settled in the suburbs. In the City wealthier groups tended to live in the
centre with poorer residents on the riverside and near to the Walls.2
By the mid-seventeenth century, less than half of London lived in the
City within and without the Walls. The latter areas, known as the ‘liberties’,
were outside the boundary of the Walls but within the jurisdiction of the
City. The suburbs were the most rapidly growing areas of the early modern
metropolis.3 New arrivals usually lived in the suburbs because rents tended
to be lower and there were more opportunities for economic growth as guild
controls were less strictly imposed.4 The northern and southern suburbs
expanded rapidly from 1560 to 1600, but thereafter increased at approxi-
mately the same rate as the City. During the seventeenth century, the main
areas of growth were to the west and the east of the City.5 Despite the fact
that the City was decreasing in its share of London’s population, it remained
a centre of wealth, influence and prestige. It was home to many of England’s
wealthiest merchants, a waterside thronged with quays and wharfs, and
famed commercial districts like Cheapside and the Royal Exchange. The
City also included Guildhall, the ceremonial and administrative centre of
civic government, dozens of livery company halls, over 100 parish churches
and the gothic hulk of Old St Paul’s Cathedral.
Even though the Great Fire primarily impacted the City, it is vital to
have an understanding of the suburbs. Each of them developed in different
ways and had distinct functions and specialisations.6 Mirroring the City
8 Part one
was Westminster. The two were connected by the Strand and Fleet Street.
Since the mid-eleventh century Westminster had been a seat of government
and administration for the Crown, as well as the location of England’s
Parliament and key parts of its judiciary. Westminster and the City had
been geographically separate until the sixteenth century, when the fields
between them were filled in. The traditional boundary between the City and
Westminster was Temple Bar, which was located close to the Inns of Court,
the centre of the legal profession since the late fourteenth century. By the
seventeenth century the ‘West End’ had emerged, with nobles, gentry and
professions flocking to live there. It became a centre of fashion and taste,
as well as a centre of commerce and leisure. Here there were larger, more
prestigious dwellings, with high concentrations of elite groups which could
rival the City.7 The West End was not only made up of grand houses for the
wealthy; outside of the large developments around squares, there were still
low-quality houses for poorer residents, who mainly worked in the service
industry, clustered in alleys and courts.8
The East End was the geographical and social opposite of the western
suburbs. A key boundary between the eastern suburbs and the City was the
Tower of London. In the east there was a higher concentration of lower-status

Figure 1.1 Panoramic view of London by Nicolaes Visscher (c. 1666)

(Reproduced with the kind permission of the London Metropolitan Archives [City of London])
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"Here, Jack," said the mate, as he took the glass from the steward,
and filled it two thirds full of the reddish poison.
"Not any for me, thank your honor," replied Jack, to my
astonishment.
"What!" exclaimed the mate.
"None for me, sir."
"Don't you drink liquor?"
"Yes, sir; when I'm on shore I do; but I never was in the habit of
drinking it on board ship."
The mate looked very ugly.
"Here, Baxter," he added, turning to the next man.
"None for me, sir."
I was amazed at the self-denial and firmness of these men. The
others followed their example; not one of them would take the grog.
They understood that it was a bribe—that it was used to induce them
to comply with the new order of events. At that moment I felt that the
Michigan would not bear a cargo of shackled human beings over the
ocean, to be sold into bondage in Cuba or the Southern States. The
grog was served out to the rest of the crew, who did not refuse it.
"I suppose we are to understand that the bark is bound down the
coast of Africa, slaving," continued Jack, when the mate came aft
again.
"You can understand what you please," growled Waterford,
savagely; for his good humor had failed him with the defeat of his
scheme to win over the men.
"We are sorry for it, your honor, because we shipped for Palermo."
"Go forward, every one of you!" roared the mate.
"If this isn't a lawful voyage, Mr. Waterford—"
"Do you hear me?"
"We do, sir. We shipped for a lawful voyage, and—"
"Do you mean to get up a mutiny? Go forward, and attend to your
duty, or I'll put every mother's son of you in irons."
"If you say we are not going a slaving, we shall be satisfied."
"I won't say anything to you," said the mate, picking up a belaying-
pin.
The two passengers went below; but they immediately appeared
again with revolvers in their hands. Captain Farraday picked up a
handspike, and placed himself by the mate. At the same time the five
Spanish and Portuguese sailors came aft, each of them armed with
a handspike or some other weapon. The affair began to look serious
to us, who were provided with nothing to defend ourselves with.
"My men, this is mutiny," interposed Captain Farraday.
"We have a right to know whether this is a lawful voyage or not," said
Baxter.
"You will obey your officers, whether the voyage is lawful or not,"
added the captain.
"I'm not going to parley with mutineers," said Waterford, sternly, as
he moved forward towards us.
The two passengers cocked their pistols, and the five sailors who
were in the plot closed in before us. We were unprepared for a fight,
and we retreated in a body to the forecastle.
 CHAPTER XIV.
IN WHICH PHIL SPEAKS FOR TRUTH AND
JUSTICE, AND A SAIL IS DISCOVERED.
We had not gone aft to fight, only to talk; and we were not prepared
for the violent demonstration which was made against us. We
intended, after the fashion of sailors, to present our grievances, and
have an understanding in regard to the future. The seamen of our
party had refused to accept any liquor simply because it was offered
to them as the price of yielding to the wicked scheme of the officers.
This marvellous piece of self-denial on their part assured me that we
should be successful in the end. I had more respect for the virtue of
sailors than ever before; certainly more than when I first came on
board of the bark, and saw every man of the present crew drunk and
quarrelsome.
We were driven forward by the onslaught of the mate and his
supporters, and we halted forward of the windlass only when we
could go no farther. There was a plentiful supply of handspikes on the
forecastle; but, as the mate halted before we were compelled to
defend ourselves, no battle ensued.
"Now, my lads, I have you where I want you," said Waterford, casting
a triumphant glance over our party.
"We haven't tried to make any trouble, and we were respectful,"
replied Sanderson.
"I want you to understand that I call this mutiny, and I shall treat it as
such!" cried the mate, savagely. "I ordered you forward, and you
didn't go, till you were driven."
"When the ship is not on a lawful voyage, there's no such thing as
mutiny," said Baxter, boldly.
"I'll show you that there is," answered Waterford, shaking his weapon
at the discontented ones. "If you want to have trouble, we'll give you
enough of it."
"We don't want any trouble," added the more prudent Sanderson.
"All right, then; return to your duty. Obey your orders, and do your
work, and there will be no trouble. If you don't do it, I'll skin you alive,
every one of you!"
"We shipped for Palermo, sir; and, if we are not going there, we think
we have a right to know where we are going."
"You shipped for any port to which the vessel might go," added the
mate, doggedly.
"Will you tell us where we are bound, sir?"
"No; I will not be driven to tell you anything. In due time, if you behave
yourselves, I'll tell you all about it."
"Will you tell us whether we are engaged in a lawful voyage?"
"I tell you that every man who behaves himself shall have a thousand
dollars when the cruise is up, and have his grog three times a day,
and plum duff every day."
"That is just the same as saying that it is not a lawful voyage," I
added, in a low tone, to Sanderson.
"That's so, my hearty."
"Come out here, Phil Farringford!" shouted the mate. "You have made
all this trouble."
"No, he didn't, sir," replied Jack Sanderson. "One's as black as
another."
"Come out here, Phil! I'll teach you to get up a mutiny among the
men."
The mate made a demonstration forward, as though he intended to
drag me out from the midst of my companions. Probably he had
seen, and perhaps heard, my communications with the spokesman,
and his wrath against me was fanned into a blaze.
"Don't you go, Phil; we will stand by you," said Baxter.

The Crew stand by Phil.

"You will?" roared the mate.

"We are all in the same boat, sir."
"You would all have done very well, if his cant hadn't spoiled you. I
know him, and I'll put him in irons. Shove him out here and I will pass
over what you have done."
"No, sir; we won't give him up," answered Sanderson, decidedly.
"Then you will take the consequences."
"We are willing, sir."
The mate rolled up his sleeves, and glanced at his supporters, as
though he intended to make an assault upon the refractory crew; but
at this moment the captain and the two passengers spoke to him, and
they went aft together.
"We are in for it now, my lads," said old Jack Sanderson.
"We might as well be hung for a bull as a calf," added Baxter.
"If I'm the calf, I don't want you to get into trouble on my account," I
added.
"Phil's a good fellow, and we'll stand by him," replied Baxter.
"Ay, ay! stand by him," said half a dozen others.
"I say I don't want you to get yourselves into trouble for my sake; but I
would rather be hanged for mutiny than be hanged for being
concerned in the slave trade. It's piracy, you know, and there is no
law that can compel you to do duty in a vessel engaged in an illegal
voyage."
"That's so; Phil's a sea lawyer," said Walker.
"We won't let him have Phil," echoed Baxter, "or any other man. We'll
stick together, and go down together, if we can't get out of the
scrape."
"But what can we do?" asked one of the more timid of the men.
"We can only refuse to do duty, and take the consequences."
"I, for one, don't propose to take the consequences," I ventured to
say; for, though I had not said much thus far, I was decidedly in favor
of an aggressive policy.
"What do you think we ought to do?" demanded Baxter.
"Take the bark!" I replied emphatically, when I had satisfied myself
that no one was within hearing except our own party.
"That's just my idea," responded Baxter, bringing his fist down upon
the windlass to prove that he was in earnest. "I don't know what there
is in the hold, but I'll bet there is everything used in the slave trade—
the rice, the water, and the irons. If we should be overhauled by a
British or an American vessel, we should be captured, and sent into
an English or a United States port. If we are not hung, we shall lose
our wages, and be sent to prison."
"That's it!" exclaimed Sanderson.
"Our papers show that we are bound for Palermo, and they would
condemn us, if the stuff in the hold didn't. I'll never help carry a nigger
across the ocean, if I can help it, and I'll fight an honest fight, too, to
keep from doing it. I don't believe in fastening the door with a biled
parsnip."
Baxter was earnest and eloquent, and I honored him for his noble
and humane sentiments. His speech stiffened the backs of those who
were wavering. Twelve of us were of one mind, and we were sure
that York, the second mate, was with us, which made a majority.
Three of the crew still remained doubtful, ready to go with whichever
proved to be the winning side. Their very position showed them to be
weak, and of not much value to either party.
"We are all of one mind," said Sanderson; "but what can we do? It
isn't an easy thing to stand up against the officers, who are provided
with fire-arms."
"Never mind their fire-arms. Truth and justice are on our side, and
they will do us more good than all the guns and pistols that were ever
invented."
"That's all very pretty, but it don't always work so."
"We'll make it work so this time," said Baxter, stoutly. "It's no use to
refuse to do duty, and make a milk-and-water mess of it. When we do
something, we'll strike a blow that shall be felt."
"How are you going to do it?" asked Bilger, who was one of the timid
ones.
"We haven't decided that question yet; but where there's a will there's
a way. In the first place, we must stick together," replied Baxter. "We
will make a plan, and then we will put it through."
"Suppose we take the vessel; what can we do with it? We haven't a
navigator among us," suggested Walker.
"I can take an observation, and work up the reckoning," I replied.
"You!" exclaimed the doubter.
"I can. I have studied navigation, and I can lay down the position of
the bark on the chart every day that the sun shines."
"Good! York is a good sailor. In fact we have all the able and ordinary
seamen with us but the five Spaniards and Portuguese," said Baxter.
"But how shall we take the bark?"
"We'll watch our time, and strike when it comes. You have done some
fighting in your day, Phil; what do you say?"
"I never did any fighting on board of a ship, though I know something
about Indian strategy."
"It's all the same. How shall we go to work to make a sure thing of it?"
"I haven't looked the matter over yet, but I have an idea. In the first
place, we must organize."
"How organize?"
"We must have a leader, and all hands must obey his orders."
"That ought to be the second mate," suggested Sanderson.
"He has not taken part with us yet."
"But he has said he would when it was proved that the bark was
going a slaving," replied Baxter.
"All right," I added. "We must wait till night, if possible."
"There may be a row before night. The captain, mate, and the two
passengers are talking the matter over on the quarter-deck," said
Walker.
"Who's at the helm?"
"Schneider."
"He's one of the doubtful ones, and won't meddle as long as the thing
is undecided. The second mate has the first watch to-night," I
continued.
"Ay, ay," answered Baxter, deeply interested in my suggestion.
"At that time, the captain, mate, and the two passengers will be in
their state-rooms. I believe in taking them there."
"But we have Gorro and Martino in the starboard watch. What shall
we do with them?"
"We'll fix them," I replied. "Two of our stoutest hands must take care
of them. I'm not much more than a boy, but I can handle one of them."
"Plucky!" said Baxter.
"Two more must take care of the three in the forecastle. We can
fasten the door on them when we have got our own men out."
"Good! That will all work well," added Baxter.
"Who has the first trick at the wheel in our watch?" I asked.
"Martino," replied Sanderson.
"Then we must muzzle Gorro forward. Each man must have his own
job to do. Six men shall take off the forward hatch, and passing
through the between-decks, make their way to the cabin through the
steerage."
"Why not go down the cabin stairs?" asked Sanderson.
"Because Martino, at the helm, would give the alarm."
"I like the plan, Phil. We will go over it again, and give each man his
part of the work."
"Sail ho!" shouted Sylvio, one of the Spanish sailors, who was in the
waist.
The mate sprang into the weather mizzen rigging to examine the sail,
and in a few moments we all discovered a streak of black smoke on
the sky, which indicated a steamer.
 CHAPTER XV.
IN WHICH PHIL IS ASSIGNED TO AN IMPORTANT
POSITION BY HIS SHIPMATES.
The streak of smoke was on our weather bow, the wind being from
the north-east. The fact that the sail was a steamer rendered it
almost certain that she was a man-of-war; one of the cruisers on the
coast of Africa, on the lookout for slavers. If all hands had not been
busy attending to the exciting scenes on board, we might have
sooner discovered the sail.
"That's in our favor," said Dick Baxter, as soon as the steamer was
made out.
"I don't know about that," replied Jack Sanderson. "If we had taken
possession of the bark it would be in our favor. I don't like the idea of
being taken just yet, for the man-of-war won't be able to tell who's
guilty and who's innocent."
"The steamer will put an end to this cruise, at any rate," I added.
"I'm not so sure of that. The Michigan is a very fast sailer, and I
suppose that's the strongest reason why she happens to be in this
business. She's more'n a match for some of those old drogers of
steamers in the navy," continued Baxter. "She has logged more'n
fourteen knots on this cruise; and as the wind is to-day, she's good
for twelve, when she gets it on the quarter. That's a British steamer."
"What makes you think so?" I asked.
"Her black smoke. The English men-of-war use that kind of coal
which makes smoke as black as ink, and the American men-of-war
don't make any smoke."
"All hands on deck!" shouted the mate. "Stand by tacks and braces!"
"How's that? Shall we go to work?" said Baxter.
"Yes; let us wait for a proper time to carry out our plans," I replied.
All hands sprang to their stations, as though nothing had happened.
"Starboard the helm!" continued the mate, taking his order from the
captain, who appeared to be too drunk to handle the bark.
The order was given to ease off on the lee braces, and haul on the
weather.
"Steady as she is! Avast hauling! A small pull on the weather main-
topsail brace! That will do! A little more spanker-sheet. Belay, all!"
The bark was then headed about south-south-west, with the wind on
the port quarter, which Baxter had declared to be her best point in
sailing.
"The mate knows what that steamer is," said Sanderson, as we
gathered together again on the forecastle.
"That he does; he knows what black smoke means," responded
Baxter.
"Sartinly; he wouldn't run away from her, if he wasn't afraid of her.
That's what one puppy does when he's afraid of another."
"I don't want any more proof that this is an unlawful voyage."
"Even this was not needed," I added. "Can you see how the steamer
is headed?"
"No; you can hardly make her out at all. Her black smoke is about all
there is of her yet," answered Baxter. "But she will see us before
long, if she has not already. You may be sure that she will give
chase, for those men-of-war don't sail with their eyes shut."
"Are we alone now?" I asked, looking over the men to see that none
who did not belong to our party were present.
"Ay, ay, lad; we are all by ourselves," answered Baxter.
"Let us divide the work for to-night, then."
"The sooner the better."
"Six men must go into the cabin through the between-decks," I
continued. "Who shall they be?"
"You shall be one of them, Phil," said Baxter.
"Very well; I am willing. Sanderson shall be another."
"I'm agreed," responded the old salt.
"And Baxter shall look out for Martino at the helm. Walker shall lie
down upon Gorro, and Bilger shall see that only our own men come
out of the forecastle."
"Good, Phil!" exclaimed Baxter. "But what shall we do with York?"
"He must not commit himself till we have made a sure thing of the
job. Don't say a word to him; but he will not interfere," answered
Sanderson.
We stationed every man according to his ability for the great
enterprise, and I felt almost sure that it would be a success, if the
man-of-war did not overhaul us before we had time to put it in
operation. While we were thus engaged, the mate and the
passengers were busy watching the movements of the steamer with
a glass. They did not look forward to see what the crew were doing.
The Spanish and Portuguese sailors did not come near us. They had
already committed themselves on the side of the officers, and knew
that their shipmates had no good will towards them on this account.
They were in the waist, and seemed to be as busy as we were in
discussing the exciting affair which had occurred. I afterwards
learned that they had been engaged before in the slave trade, and
had been shipped by the Spanish passengers as willing agents in
the inhuman business.
I do not know what the mate had discovered in regard to the
steamer; but he ordered the studding-sails, alow and aloft, to be set
forward. The wind was fresh, and under this additional canvas the
bark flew through the water. The log was thrown; and Baxter, who
had charge of the operation, informed us that the Michigan was
making thirteen knots. I admired the vessel, and thought it a shame
and a pity that such a noble craft should be used in such a horrid
trade. She had been built to run up the Mediterranean as a fruiter,
and it was desirable that she should make quick passages. Some of
her carrying capacity had been sacrificed on this account; but she
could still carry negroes enough to make her voyage a very
profitable investment.
After we had set the studding-sails forward, our party again
discussed the details of our plan for the evening. The part of each
man, and each gang of men, was carefully considered. To each party
a leader was appointed, who was to be held responsible for the
share of the work assigned to him, and whom the others were to
obey without a question. I had the honor to be selected as the leader
of the largest gang, who were to do the job in the cabin. The fact that
I had been engaged in an Indian campaign seemed to give me a
great deal of credit for the service which we were to perform, and my
name was suggested for the important place by Jack Sanderson,
who was to be one of my party.
I found myself very popular with the crew; first, I suppose, because I
had been persecuted by the mate,—which was his fault, and not my
merit,—and second, because I had always tried to be kind and
obliging to my shipmates. I had read to them from the Bible every
Sunday, and always found them glad to hear the blessed word. I had
watched with those who were sick, and helped them whenever I had
an opportunity to do so. I told them all about the wilds of the Upper
Missouri, and related the story of the campaign with the Indians. I
had given them the history of Waterford in Chicago, so far as I knew
it. I had no intention of making myself popular with the men;
probably, if I had, I should have failed. I only wished to act the part of
a Christian towards them; and, for carrying out this simple and
sincere desire, I obtained a great deal more credit than I deserved.
Rude and rough as these men were, depraved even as a few of
them had become by the agency of that fiend which is the sailor's
direst curse, Rum, they were still men, and some of them had
received a fair education. Some of them were blessed with inquiring
minds, and many an hour of the silent watches of the night, as the
bark ploughed her way over the ocean, our discussions were upon
moral, religious, and scientific subjects. Though I was but eighteen,
my studies gave me a great advantage over my companions, and I
found myself consulted upon questions in which the men were
interested. I can only say, that whatever measure of regard and
respect I won from my shipmates was merited only by an earnest
and sincere desire to serve and benefit them.
Everything went along quietly on deck. The captain had
disappeared. Doubtless the excitement of the day had caused him to
drink deeper than usual, and I suppose he was asleep in his state-
room. Waterford was the real captain of the bark, though Farraday
sometimes acted as such. The mate must have been sadly disturbed
by the incipient mutiny which had appeared; but he took no further
steps to strengthen his position. He kept his eye on the streak of
black smoke over the lee quarter. Perhaps he felt that, as there was
no actual demonstration of mutiny on the part of the crew, he could
better afford to wait for the indications of the future than the crew
could. Certainly everything on board went along as usual, except
that the Spanish and Portuguese sailors separated themselves from
their shipmates, unless required, in the discharge of their duty, to
mingle with them.
Feeling that a great event was likely to occur within the next twenty-
four hours, I could not help considering the safety of my money, for I
hoped, by some means or other, that I should be able to reach
Europe, and find my mother. I looked all about the deck for a better
hiding-place for my treasure. While I was thinking of the matter, I was
ordered, with others, to get up a barrel of beef from the hold. I was
sure that I could find a safe place below for my gold; and, passing
into the forecastle, I put the bag into my pocket. After we had hoisted
up the barrel, I went aft to the temporary steerage which had been
built for this voyage. I noticed the position of the door, and satisfied
myself that it was not fastened; but I found no good place for my
money.
While the men were closing the hatch in the lower deck, I went
forward to the bow, where there was a pile of fire-wood. I climbed
over it, and found a crevice between the stem and the planking of
the deck, into which I jammed the bag. I was sure the mate would
not find it there; and, having disposed of my treasure, I hastened to
join my shipmates who were men of our party. They understood that
I was surveying the ground for the movement that night, and covered
my operations so that I was not noticed by any person on the other
side.
I felt easier after I had put my money in what I regarded as a safe
place. I did not expect to leave the vessel before we had captured
her; but, even if we failed, I could, with the assistance of my friends,
take off the fore scuttle, and recover the bag. I felt full of confidence
that we should succeed in our plan, and that, before eight bells in the
morning watch, the bark would be headed to the north. We actually
ran away from the steamer, if she discovered us at all. The mate
made no more trouble, and everything went along quietly till the first
dog watch, in which I had my trick at the wheel.
 CHAPTER XVI.
IN WHICH PHIL FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER IN
THE STEERAGE.
Waterford certainly looked as ugly as ever, if he did not act so. He
planked the deck on the weather side, and occasionally glanced at
me, as though I was the cause of all the misfortunes that had
checkered the calendar of his existence. My party were all forward,
as there was nothing to do; for the mate, besides promising the men
plum duff and grog, had also given them "watch and watch." Before,
he had labored hard to make work for the men; now, he gave them an
easy time, and one watch was to be permitted to be below all the
time, except when heavy weather required all hands.
The five Spanish and Portuguese sailors were leaning against the
fiferail of the mainmast. They had drank their grog, and being in high
favor with the mate, were very cheerful. I paid little or no attention to
them, for I was obliged to keep my eye steadily on the binnacle. I saw
Waterford stop at the foot of the mainmast, and talk with these slave-
trading ruffians; but he soon resumed his walk, and took no further
notice of them.
The mate, as he came near the wheel, half an hour later, halted, and
looked at the spanker.
"Aft here, three of you, and give a pull on the spanker-sheet," said he.
Martino, Gorro, and Grego hastened upon the quarter-deck to obey
the order. They cast off the sheet, and gave it a pull.
"Avast—too much," interposed the mate. "Ease off again."
"Ease off," replied Martino; and I observed that they let out the sheet
till the sail was in exactly the same position as before.
"Avast; belay!" added the mate. "Take the helm, Gorro."
I looked up with astonishment when I heard this order, for it involved
a departure from the ordinary routine of the vessel. The Portuguese
took the helm; and while I was waiting for further commands, a pair of
hands were placed over my mouth, and I was suddenly and violently
borne down upon the deck. In a word, I was garroted after the
Spanish fashion. Grego seized me by the legs, and I was unable
either to struggle or to cry out. The two men picked me up, and
hastened into the cabin with me. Waterford walked forward as far as
the mainmast, and that was the last I saw of him. It was evident that
none of my shipmates forward had seen the trick played upon me, for
they were all behind the house on deck.
My captors bore me to the steerage, where they tied me hand and
foot, and made me fast to a stanchion. I began to understand why the
mate had been so quiet and peaceful since the row on deck. He had
concluded to fight his enemies in detail, instead of in the aggregate. I
was helpless now, and my companions in the forecastle did not even
know that any misfortune had happened to me. But I was sure they
would miss me when the helm was relieved, and I was more afraid
that they would go to work rashly than that they would do nothing.
 Phil a Prisoner in the Steerage.

"You'll hold still now, Phil," said Martino.

"I suppose I shall as long as these ropes hold out," I replied.
"You made the trouble, and now you will have to take it. If the men
don't want to obey orders now, they will catch pistol balls, instead of
plum duff and grog."
"What does the mate mean to do with me?" I asked.
"He means to make you work when we get the niggers on board. You
will have to feed them, and clean them out," laughed the Spaniard.
"Come; he is safe where he is now," added Grego.
My persecutors left me alone, and went on deck to report to the mate
what they had done. They had certainly done their work well, for my
wrists ached, the line was so tight upon them. My situation looked
very hopeless; and, after I had tested the strength of the cords that
bound me, I felt very much like giving up in despair. But, in the cause
of truth and justice, I felt that I had no right to despair. I was one of
those upon whom devolved the duty of preventing the Michigan from
being turned into a slave ship. We were to act not alone for our own
safety and comfort, but in the interests of humanity. God would bless
our efforts in his own way, and we were in duty bound to do our best,
without regard to consequences.
Though I did not know till afterwards, what followed on deck, I shall
relate it now, in the order of the events. Martino and Grego returned
to the waist, and reported to the mate that the prisoner was safe.
Martino then went forward, and told the men what had happened to
me. They had no suspicion of it before, so skilfully and silently had
the ruffians done their work. They were shocked and confounded.
They immediately took counsel among themselves; and at the
suggestion of Baxter, they decided to appear to yield to the
circumstances.
While the conference was in progress, the steward went forward with
the grog. This time they drank, and Sanderson took my allowance.
Every man seemed to be happy and cheerful; and the mate called all
hands to brace up the bark; for, as the steamer had not been seen for
several hours, it was decided to resume the course. The mate then
spoke to the hands, as he had in the forenoon, and they yielded the
point. They were willing to make a thousand dollars, and glad to have
"watch and watch," plum duff, and grog. The mate was satisfied; and,
when the starboard watch came on duty in the second dog watch, he
went below. I knew the sound of his step, and I heard him coming
towards the steerage.
"Mr. Waterford," said the captain, calling to him from his state-room,
which was near the open door leading into the steerage.
"Well, captain," replied the mate.
"What's the matter?"
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