aroused. Three more days passed, when a cow-stall was reported on fire,
and a few hours later, the house of Mr. Thompson; the fire in the latter
case originating in the room where a negro slave slept. The very next day,
live coals were discovered under the stable of John Murray, on Broadway.
This, evidently, was no accident, but the result of design, and the people
began to be alarmed. The day following, the house of a sergeant near the
fort was seen to be on fire, and soon after, flames arose from the roof of
a dwelling near the Fly Market. The rumor now spread like wildfire through
the town that it was the work of incendiaries. It seems to us a small
foundation to base such a belief on, but it must be remembered that the
public mind was in a state to believe almost anything.

The alarm was increased by the statement of Mrs. Earle, who said that on
Sunday, as she was looking out of her window, she saw three negroes
swaggering up Broadway, engaged in earnest conversation. Suddenly she
heard one of them exclaim, "Fire! fire! Scorch! scorch! a little d--n by
and by!" and then throwing up his hands, laughed heartily. Coupled with
the numerous fires that had occurred, and the rumors afloat, it at once
excited her suspicions that this conversation had something to do with a
plot to burn the city. She therefore immediately reported it to an
alderman, and he, next day, to the justices.

Although the number of buildings thus mysteriously set on fire was, in
reality, small, yet it was as great in proportion to the town then, as
three hundred would be in New York to-day. Less than that number, we
imagine, would create a panic in the city, especially if the public mind
was in a feverish state, as, for instance, during the recent civil war.

Some thought the Spanish negroes had set the buildings on fire from
revenge, especially as those of the Government were the first to suffer.