only have beaten and destroyed all y^e Bridge, but sunke and torne the vessells in y^e River.’ The report of Samuel Pepys, in his ‘_Diary_,’ already quoted, does not give us much additional information; though he tells us in volume i., page 445, that on the morning of the 2nd, he went on the Tower battlements, whence he saw ‘the houses at that end of the Bridge all on fire; and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of the Bridge, which, with other people, did trouble me for poor little Michell and our Sarah on the Bridge.’ He subsequently adds that the fire increased on both sides the North end of London Bridge, but there is nothing said farther concerning its attack upon the edifice itself. “There are several prospects of this dreadful conflagration, though few of them are worthy of any credit, most having been executed in Holland; and it is probable, indeed, that the best was a small and spirited etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, measuring 7 inches by 2-3/4, and inserted on the right hand side of ‘_A New and Exact Map of Great Britaine. Published by John Overton, at the White Horse, without Newgate_. 1667.’ Single sheet. This view is taken from Hollar’s old observatory, the tower of St. Mary Overies Church; and represents the fire spreading furiously Westward, whilst the Bridge appears untouched. This fine little print you will find to be the first illustration in volume ii. of Mr. Crowle’s Pennant in the Print Room of the British Museum; and it is entitled ‘_Prospect of the Citty of London, as it appeared in the time of its flames_:’ it has frequently sold for 10_s._ 6_d._, and sometimes for 15_s._, even without the plate it belongs to. Hollar’s long view of the City immediately after the conflagration, I have already mentioned; and in that we see with much more certainty the actual damage sustained by our unhappy old edifice, in the RUINS OF THE RIVERSIDE AND BRIDGE AFTER THE FIRE. [Illustration] “The alteration appears chiefly to consist in the destruction of that large square building, which terminated the Northern end of the Bridge; and, of course, the entire demolition of the wooden pales and passage, which had been erected after the fire of 1633; but beyond this the flames do not seem to have penetrated. The banks of the River, indeed, presented a more entire picture of ruin. Of the grand Church of St. Magnus nothing remained but some of the walls, and the buildings in front of it were destroyed even to the water’s edge; whilst on the Western side of the Bridge, the Water-works and Tower, numerous houses lining the River, and the ancient edifice of Fishmongers’ Hall, were reduced either to smouldering fragments, scarcely bearing even the forms of what they once had been, or else had not one stone left upon another. ‘_The Long Antwerp View of London_,’ which has been already so minutely described, furnishes us with a good representation of FISHMONGERS’ HALL BEFORE THE FIRE OF 1666; [Illustration]