And now the king was determined the orders he had already issued
should be obeyed, and that houses standing in direct path of the
fire should be demolished by gunpowder; so that, a greater gap
being effected than any previously made by pulling them down, the
conflagration might have no further material wherewith to
strengthen and feed its further progress.
This plan, Evelyn states, had been proposed by some stout seamen
early enough to have saved nearly the whole city; "but this some
tenacious and avaricious men, aldermen, etc., would not permit,
because their houses would have been the first." Now, however,
this remedy was tried, and with greater despatch, because the
fire threatened the Tower and the powder magazine it contained.
And if the flames once reached this, London Bridge would
assuredly be destroyed, the vessels in the river torn and sunk,
and incalculable damage to life and property effected.
Accordingly Tower Street, which had already become ignited, was,
under supervision of the king, blown up in part, and the fire
happily brought to an end by this means in that part of the town.
Moreover, on Wednesday morning the east wind, which had continued
high from Sunday night, now subsided, so that the flames lost
much of their vehemence, and by means of explosions were more
easily mastered at Leadenhall and in Holborn, and likewise at the
Temple, to which places they had spread during Wednesday and
Thursday.
During these latter days, the king and the Duke of York betrayed
great vigilance, and laboured with vast activity; the latter
especially, riding from post to post, by his example inciting
those whose courage had deserted them, and by his determination
overcoming destruction.
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