In Bowditch v. Boston, (1879) 101 U.S. 16, it was adjudged that no action would lie, either at common law or by statute, against the city of Boston to recover damages for the destruction of a building, blown up under a general order of the chief engineer of the city to prevent the spreading of a conflagration; that the action, not being maintainable at common law, could only be supported by an express statute; and that the statutes of Massachusetts, as construed by the highest court of the State, did not authorize such an action against the city, except for the destruction of a building by specific order of three firewards or engineers acting jointly.