Note 37 — THE LIFE OF DE FOE, BY GEORGE CHALMERS, ESQ.

The following is the account of this storm by a contemporary historian:—

"About the middle of the night, a violent wind arose, which blew down the steeples of churches, tore off the tiles, and rolled up the leads of houses, tossing them through the air to great distances, rooted up the largest trees, or broke them off short, carried hayricks and stacks of corn to great heights, scattered them abroad, and beat down the chimneys in divers places, to the destruction of many people in the towns. The ships which lay in the mouth of the Thames and other parts, were driven foul of one another. The sailors, not knowing what to avoid, or which way to steer, abandoned themselves to despair, expecting every moment to be their last. Some ships having broke their cables, and lost their anchors, drove before the wind, without helm or steerage, and either dashed one another to pieces, or were swallowed up in the raging deep. Some were driven out to sea, without any rigging; and others run upon the sands, rocks, and shores. The admiral was driven to sea without mast or anchor, from the Downs, and lost together with his ship; and other ships which had been in his squadron were driven to the coast of Holland in five hours' time, with their masts broken, without any art or direction, and others to other places. The watch-towers, with the watchmen, were overthrown together; and the destruction which this storm occasioned was long remembered with awe and horror. In the space of one tempestuous night, a gallant English fleet was reduced to nothing: and it is incredible what a dismal appearance there was at London and other towns. The mathematicians observed that the force of this tempest did not extend further south than the river Loire, in France, nor further north than the river Trent, in England." [Cunningham, vol. i. p. 356.]