The Storm

To fatten, dew, and fructifie our Isle:40
But like the Deluge, by great Jove design'd
To drown the Universe, and scourge Mankind.
In vain the frighted Cattel climb so high,
In vain for Refuge to the Hills they fly;
The Waters know no Limits but the Sky.
So now the bleating Flock exchange in vain,
For barren Clifts, their dewy fertil Plain:
In vain, their fatal Destiny to shun,
From Severn's Banks to higher Grounds they run.
Nor has the Navy better Quarter found; 50
There we've receiv'd our worst, our deepest Wound.
The Billows swell, and haughty Neptune raves,
The Winds insulting o're th' impetuous Waves.
Thetis incens'd, rises with angry Frown,
And once more threatens all the World to drown,
And owns no Power, but England's and her own.
Yet the Æolian God dares vent his Rage;
And ev'n the Sovereign of the Seas engage.
What tho' the mighty Charles of Spain's on board,
The Winds obey none but their blust'ring Lord.60
Some Ships were stranded, some by Surges rent,
Down with their Cargo to the bottom went.
Th' absorbent Ocean could desire no more;
So well regal'd he never was before.
The hungry Fish could hardly wait the day,
When the Sun's beams should chase the Storm away,
But quickly seize with greedy Jaws their Prey.

DAM.
So the great Trojan, by the Hand of Fate,
And haughty Power of angry Juno's Hate,
While with like aim he cross'd the Seas, was tost,70
From Shore to Shore, from foreign Coast to Coast:
Yet safe at last his mighty Point he gain'd;
In charming promis'd Peace and Splendor reign'd.

MEL.
So may Great Charles, whom equal Glories move,
Like the great Dardan Prince successful prove:
Like him, with Honour may he mount the Throne,
And long enjoy a brighter destin'd Crown.

CHAPTER IV

Of the Extent of this Storm, and from what Parts it was suppos'd to come; with some Circumstances as to the Time of it

As all our Histories are full of the Relations of Tempests and Storms which have happened in various Parts of the World, I hope it may not be improper that some of them have been thus observ'd with their remarkable Effects.

But as I have all along insisted, that no Storm since the Universal Deluge was like this, either in its Violence or its Duration, so I must also confirm it as to the particular of its prodigious Extent.

All the Storms and Tempests we have heard of in the World, have been Gusts or Squauls of Wind that have been carried on in their proper Channels, and have spent their Force in a shorter space.

We feel nothing here of the Hurricanes of Barbadoes, the North-Wests of New England and Virginia, the terrible Gusts of the Levant, or the frequent Tempests of the North Cape. When Sir Francis Wheeler's Squadron perish'd at Gibralter, when the City of Straelsond was almost ruin'd by a Storm, England felt it not, nor was the Air here disturb'd with the Motion. Even at home we have had Storms of violent Wind in one part of England which have not been felt in another. And if what I have been told has any truth in it, in St. George's Channel there has frequently blown a Storm at Sea right up and down the Channel, which has been felt on neither Coast, tho it is not above 20 Leagues from the English to the Irish Shore.

Sir William Temple gives us the Particulars of two terrible Storms in Holland while he was there; in one of which the great Cathedral Church at Utrecht was utterly destroy'd: and after that there was a Storm so violent in Holland, that 46 Vessels were cast away at the Texel, and almost all the Men drowned: and yet we felt none of these Storms here.

And for this very reason I have reserv'd an Abridgment of these former Cases to this place; which as they are recited by Sir William Temple, I shall put them down in his own Words, being not capable to mend them, and not vain enough to pretend to it.

'I stay'd only a Night at Antwerp, which pass'd with so great Thunders and Lightnings, that I promis'd my self a very fair Day after it, to go back to Rotterdam in the States Yacht, that still attended me. The Morning prov'd so; but towards Evening the Sky grew foul, and the Sea men presag'd ill Weather, and so resolved to lie at Anchor before Bergen ap Zoom, the Wind being cross and little. When the Night was fallen as black as ever I saw, it soon began to clear up, with the most violent Flashes of Lightning as well as Cracks of Thunder, that I believe have ever been heard in our Age and Climate. This continued all Night; and we felt such a fierce Heat from every great Flash of Lightning, that the Captain apprehended it would fire his Ship. But about 8 the next Morning the Wind changed, and came up with so strong a Gale, that we came to Rotterdam in about 4 Hours, and there found all Mouths full of the Mischiefs and Accidents that the last Night's Tempest had occasioned both among the Boats and the Houses, by the Thunder, Lightning, Hail, or Whirlwinds. But the Day after came Stories to the Hague from all Parts, of such violent Effects as were almost incredible: At Amsterdam they were deplorable, many Trees torn up by the Roots, Ships sunk in the Harbour, and Boats in the Channels; Houses beaten down, and several People were snatch'd from the Ground as they walk'd the Streets, and thrown into the Canals. But all was silenc'd by the Relations from Utrecht, where the Great and Ancient Cathedral was torn in pieces by the Violences of this Storm; and the vast Pillars of Stone that supported it, were wreathed like a twisted Club, having been so strongly compos'd and cimented, as rather to suffer such a Change of Figure than break in pieces, as other Parts of the Fabrick did; hardly any Church in the Town escap'd the Violence of this Storm; and very few Houses without the Marks of it; Nor were the Effects of it less astonishing by the Relations from France and Brussels, where the Damages were infinite, as well from Whirlwinds, Thunder, Lightning, as from Hail-stones of prodigious Bigness. This was in the Year 1674.

'In November, 1675, happen'd a Storm at North-West, with a Spring-tide, so violent, as gave apprehensions of some loss irrecoverable to the Province of Holland, and by several breaches in the great Diques near Enchusen, and others between Amsterdam and Harlem, made way for such Inundations as had not been seen before by any man then alive, and fill'd the Country with many relations of most deplorable Events. But the incredible Diligence and unanimous Endeavours of the People upon such occasions, gave a stop to the Fury of that Element, and made way for recovering next Year all the Lands, though not the People, Cattel, and Houses that had been lost.'

Thus far Sir William Temple

I am also credibly inform'd that the greatest Storm that ever we had in England before, and which was as universal here as this, did no Damage in Holland or France, comparable to this Tempest: I mean the great Wind in 1661. An Abstract of which, as it was printed in Mirabilis Annis, an unknown, but unquestion'd Author, take as follows, in his own Words.

A dreadful Storm of Wind, accompanied with Thunder, Lightning, Hail and Rain; together with the sad Effects of it in many Parts of the Nation

Upon the 18th of February, 1661, being Tuesday, very early in the Morning, there began a very great and dreadful Storm of Wind (accompanied with Thunder, Lightning, Hail, and Rain, which in many Places were as salt as Brine) which continued with a strange and unusual Violence till almost Night: the sad Effects whereof throughout the Nation are so many, that a very great Volume is not sufficient to contain the Narrative of them. And indeed some of them are so stupendious and amazing, that the Report of them, though from never so authentick Hands, will scarce gain Credit among any but those that have an affectionate Sense of the unlimited Power of the Almighty, knowing and believing that there is nothing too hard for Him to do.

Some few of which wonderful Effects we shall give a brief Account of, as we have received them from Persons of most unquestionable Credit in the several Parts of the Nation.

In the City of London, and in Covent Garden and other Parts about London and Westminster, five or six Persons were killed outright by the Fall of Houses and Chimneys; especially one Mr. Luke Blith an Attorney, that lived at or near Stamford in the County of Lincoln, was killed that Day by the fall of a Riding-House not far from Pickadilla: and there are some very remarkable Circumstances in this Man's Case, which do make his Death to appear at least like a most eminent Judgment and severe Stroak of the Lord's Hand upon him.

From other Parts likewise we have received certain Information, that divers Persons were killed by the Effects of this great Wind.

At Chiltenham in Gloucestershire, a Maid was killed by the Fall of a Tree, in or near the Church-Yard.

An honest Yeoman likewise of Scaldwel in Northamptonshire, being upon a Ladder to save his Hovel, was blown off, and fell upon a Plough, died outright, and never spoke Word more.

Also at Tewksbury in Gloucestershire, a Man was blown from an House, and broken to Pieces.

At Elsbury likewise in the same County, a Woman was killed by the Fall of Tiles or Bricks from an House.

And not far from the same Place, a Girl was killed by the Fall of a Tree.

Near Northampton, a Man was killed by the Fall of a great Barn.

Near Colchester, a Young-man was killed by the Fall of a Wind-mill.

Not far from Ipswich in Suffolk, a Man was killed by the Fall of a Barn.

And about two Miles from the said Town of Ipswich, a Man was killed by the Fall of a Tree.

At Langton, or near to it, in the County of Leicester, one Mr. Roberts had a Wind-mill blown down, in which were three Men; and by the Fall of it, one of them was killed outright, a second had his Back broken, and the other had his Arm or Leg struck off; and both of them (according to our best Information) are since dead.

Several other Instances there are of the like Nature; but it would be too tedious to mention them: Let these therefore suffice to stir us up to Repentance, lest we likewise perish.

There are also many Effects of this Storm which are of another Nature, whereof we shall give this following brief Account.