"He swore—with flaming faggot sticks, In sixteen hundred sixty-six, That they through London took their marches, And burnt the city down with torches; Yet all invisible they were, Clad in their coats of Lapland air. The sniffling Whig-mayor Patience Ward To this damn’d lie paid such regard, That he his godly masons sent, T’ engrave it round the Monument: They did so; but let such things pass— His men were fools, himself an ass." (M666) On the accession of James II the obnoxious inscription was removed, but the feeling against Papists had obtained so strong a hold over the popular mind, that it was again set up as soon as William III came to the throne.(1317) There it remained until 1830, when, wisdom having come with years, it was finally removed by order of the Common Council (6 Dec.).(1318) No longer is it true, in the words of Pope, that "... London’s column pointing at the skies Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies." (M667) As soon as the fire began to abate measures were taken to provide food for the houseless poor. A detachment of 200 soldiers was ordered to London from Hertfordshire with carts laden with pickaxes, ropes, buckets, etc., to prevent any further outbreak, whilst the justices of the peace and deputy lieutenants were instructed to forward provisions to the city, especially bread and cheese, lest the much suffering inhabitants should perish from starvation.(1319) (M668) The City received much sympathy and no little assistance from other cities, both in England and Ireland. The city of York not only despatched its town clerk to London to express its condolences with the Londoners in their great loss, but the lord mayor of York wrote (17 Sept.) to the lord mayor of London to tell him that a small sum of money—"as much as this poore decayed citty could furnish us with"—was on its way to London for the relief of the most necessitous and distressed.(1320) (M669) Ten days later (29 Sept.) Lord Ormond and the Lords of the Council of Ireland wrote to Bludworth expressing their hearty sorrow at the calamity that had befallen the citizens of London, who had shown so much humanity and kindness to the Protestants of Ireland in the late rebellion. They desired to assist the city in its distress, but money was so scarce in Ireland that they were compelled to ask the city to accept the greater part of such assistance as that country could offer in cattle, which should be despatched either alive or slaughtered, as his lordship should prefer, to any port in Ireland. But before this could be done the assent of parliament would have to be obtained.(1321) (M670)