cities to William of Orange. He also asked Villeroi to consider the injustice of taking vengeance on Brussels, when the bombardments of French cities were entirely the fault of the King of England. Villeroi scoffed at this, saying the king "... has not given me the authority to enter into a treaty with the Prince of Orange." Effect of bombardment The French batteries began to fire just before seven in the evening. The first incendiary bombs and shells hit several houses, which caught fire, starting a fire which spread rapidly amongst the narrow alleys, which were frequently lined by houses and workshops which were partially made of wood. All alone, three defensive batteries installed on the western ramparts of the city attempted to return fire, but they were short of gunpowder, ammunition and gunners. The few salvos of cannonballs, and later cobblestones, that the Brussels militias were able to get off were nonetheless able to kill around 35 French soldiers, but were not able to slow down the bombardment. The city's authorities believed until the last minute that the worst could be avoided, and as such urged the populace to stay home with buckets of water, so as to be prepared to extinguish any fire and prevent its spread. So feeble a means of stopping the fire quickly proved useless, and the panicked residents tried to save their most precious belongings and fled to the heights of the city, east of the Senne valley. A helpless crowd watched the fire from the park at the ducal palace. By the middle of the night, the entire heart of the city was aflame, including the stone buildings of the Grand-Place and its surroundings, the Town Hall, abandoned by the authorities and whose spire was being used as a target by the French artillery, the Breadhouse, the Récollet convent and the Church of Saint Nicholas, whose bell fell on and crushed the neighbouring houses. Max Emmanuel, who had hastily returned from Namur with several troops, tried in vain to organize an effective resistance against the inferno and to maintain order. On the morning of August 14, the barrage stopped for long enough for the French to resupply their batteries. Rumours that the French would be choosing new targets quickly spread, and in the confusion, the residents transported their belongings to the parts of the city which had already been hit. All of these