236 CONFLAGRATION 1671-"T, from designs by Sir Christopher Wren, stands near the spot where the conflagration originated. It is a column 202 ft. high, including the base. It bore originally four inscriptions, of which three were in Latin. The English in- scription, as cut in 1681, ran thus : " This pillar was set vp in perpetval remembrance of that most dreadful burning of this Protestant city, begun and carry ed on by y e treachery and malice of y e popish faction, in y e beginning of Septem. in y e year of our Lord 1666, in order to y e car- rying on their horrid plot for extirpating y 8 Protestant religion and old English liberty, and y e introducing popery and slavery." This in- scription, falsely attributing the fire to a de- liberate plot of the Catholics, gave rise to the indignant couplet of Pope : "Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts its head and lies." This inscription was obliterated under James II., recut under William III., and finally erased in 1831, by order of the common council of London. Many great fires, which may be prop- erly called conflagrations, have since occurred in London. Among these are : the fire at Wap- ping in 1715, when 150 houses were burned and 50 lives lost; in Cornhill yard in 1748, long styled the second great London fire, when 200 houses were burned; in 1780, by the Gor- don mobs, in which the destruction was great ; in 1794, at Wapping, in which 630 houses were burned, including an East India warehouse, containing 35,000 bags of saltpetre, the total loss being estimated at 1,000,000; in 1803, when the great tower over the choir of West- minster abbey was burned ; in 1805, 1808, and 1809, when the Surrey, Covent Garden, and Drury Lane theatres were burned; in 1814, when the custom house, warehouses, and pub- lic records were destroyed ; in 1834, when the houses of parliament were consumed ; in 1856, when the works of Scott Russell and co. were for the third time burned ; in 1859, at London docks, where a great explosion took place ; in 1861, at Cotton's wharf and other wharves near Tooley street, where were stored oil and other combustible substances. This fire lasted nearly a month, involving several lives, and a loss of property estimated at 2,000,000. For the last 40 years the fires in London, great and small, have averaged about 1,200 a year. In 1854 there were 953 ; in 1857, 1,113 ; in 1861, 1,183 ; in 1864, 1,715; in 1867, 1,397; in 1869, 1,572. Copenhagen suffered from great con- flagrations in 1728, when 1,640 houses were burned; in 1795, when the number was 950; and most severely in 1807, when without any dec- laration of hostilities the city was bombarded by the English, because the king refused to surrender to them his fleet. By this bombard- ment and the consequent conflagration 350 buildings were totally destroyed, 2,000 more rendered uninhabitable, and 2,000 citizens were killed. Moscow has several times suffered se- verely from fire. In 1536 there was an acci- dental fire by which the city was nearly de- stroyed, and 2,000 persons perished. In 1571 the Tartars set fire to the suburbs, and a furi- ous wind driving the flames into the city, a considerable part was reduced to ashes. It is said that 100,000 persons perished in the flames or by the sword, but this is hardly credible. In 1611 it was again burned by the Poles. But the great conflagration of 1812 is one of the most noted on record, not only on account of its magnitude, but for its historical importance. The French entered the city Sept. 14, Napoleon proposing to make it his winter quarters. On that very day several fires broke out, but little attention was paid to them by the invading army until the next two days, when they had acquired great headway. On the 17th a high wind arose, and the flames spread rapidly in every direction; by the 18th the whole city appeared a sea of flame, and by the evening of the 20th nine tenths of it was reduced to ashes. The total number of buildings destroyed is stated at between 13,000 and 15,000. The Russians at the time, in order to cast odium upon the French, attributed this conflagration to the orders of Napoleon. It is now, how- ever, generally acknowledged that the fires were the work of the Russians themselves, and that they were kindled by the orders of the governor, Rostoptchin, acting beyond all doubt under the sanction of the emperor Alexander, without which it is hardly conceivable that the governor would have ventured such a step. The object was to deprive the French army of shelter from the winter. Ample precau- tions had been taken to insure the entire de- struction of the city. Inflammable materials were placed in deserted mansions in every quarter, and the torch was applied simultane- ously all over the city. In burning the French out of their proposed winter quarters no pro- vision had been made for the safety of the in- habitants, who were driven to seek shelter in the surrounding woods ; and it is affirmed that more than 20,000 sick and wounded perished in the flames. The direct loss to the French is put down at 40,000; and beyond this it in the end involved the retreat in the dead of winter and the almost complete annihilation of the great French army. This act, which the Russians at the time repudiated, is now considered by them as their highest glory, the greatest example in history of national self- sacrifice for the destruction of an invader. Hamburg was the scene of a great conflagra- tion in 1842. The fire broke out May 5, and raged till the 8th, widening its sweep as it ad- vanced, crossing streets and leaping over broad canals, and destroying fully one third of the city. It overran 61 streets, besides numerous courts and alleys, burning 1,749 buildings, among which were the finest churches and public edifices. Large contributions for the relief of the sufferers were made all over Eu- rope, amounting in all to not less than $2,000,- 000. The authorities took advantage of this conflagration to introduce an extensive system
