minds were darkened and confused, their judgments infatuated, their souls dispirited, and their ears stopped, so that their authority did only- accent their misery : and this filled many citizens' hearts with fear, terror, amazement, and discontent. These things being done, the city quickly was undone. Had the care and diligence both of magistrates and people been more for the securing of the public good than it was for securing their own private interest, much of London, by a good hand of providence upon their endeavours, might have been standing, that is now turned into a ruinous heap. Troy was lost by the sloth and carelessness of her inhabitants ; and may I not say that much of London was lost by the sloth and carelessness of some, and by the fears, frights, and amazement of others, and by others endeavouring more to secure their own packs and patrimonies than the safety of the whole ? When London was in flames, men's courage did flag, and their spirits did fail, the strong helpers stood helpless. Some stood looking on, others stood weeping, and shaking their heads, and wringing their hands, and others walked uj) and down the streets like so many ghosts : Ps. Ixxvi. 5, ' The stout-hearted are spoiled,' — or as the Hebrew runs, ' The stout-hearted have yielded themselves up for a prey ; ' which the Eabbins thus expound, ' They are spoiled of their understand- ings and infatuated,' — ' and none of the men of might have found their hands ;' or as some read the words, ' None of the men of riches,' that is, rich men, ' have found their hands ;' or as others carry the words, ' God took away their courage, and their wonted strength failed them.' So when London was in flames, how were high and low, rich and poor, honourable and base, spoiled of their understanding and infatuated ! The Lord took away all wisdom, courage, counsel, and strength from them. So Judges xx. 40, ' But when the flames began to arise out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of their city ascended up to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed ; for they saw that evil was come upon them.' These Benjamites were the very picture of our citizens ; for when they saw the flame begin to arise out of the city with a pillar of smoke, when they saw the flame of the city ascend up to heaven, oh how amazed and confounded were they ! All wisdom, courage, and counsel was taken away, both from magistrate and peo})le, and none of them could find either heads, hands, or hearts to prevent London's desolation. Job xxxiv. 19, 20, 24. In Ps. Ixxvi. 12, Grod is said ' to cut off the spirits of princes ;' or as the Hebrew runs, ' He shall slip off the spirits of princes,' as men slip off a bunch of grapes, or a flower between their fingers, easily, suddenly, unexpectedly, as he did by Sennacherib's princes, 1 Kings xix. 36. Princes usually are men of the greatest spirits, and yet sometimes God does dispirit them ; he slips off their spirits, as men do a flower, which soon withereth in their hand. How soon did God slip off the spirit of that great, proud, debauched monarch Belshazzar, who, when he was in the midst of his cups, bravery, and jollity, with all his great princes, lords, ladies, and concubines about him, saw a hand writing upon the wall, which did so amaze him and terrify him
every heart. When a ship is sinking, it is sad to see every man run to his cabin, when every one should be at the pumps, or a-stopping of leaks.
148 LONUON'tJ LAMENTATIONS ON [IsA. XLII. 24, 25.
that his ' countenance was clianged, and his thoughts troubled, and the joints of" his loins loosed, and his knees dashed one against another,' Dan. V. 1-6. But you may say, What was the reason that so great a prince should be so greatly astonished ? Ajis. The text tells you, ' he saw a hand.' What hand ? even the hand of a man. What ! could one hand of a man, saith one,^ terrify and startle so great a monarch ? Had he seen the paws of a lion, or the paws of a bear, or the paws of a dragon, there had been some cause of terror. But what need such a puissant prince fear the hand of a man so much, at whose command and beck a hundred troops of armed horse would presently fly to his assistance ? What terrible weapons could that one hand wield or manage ? none but a pen, with which it wrote. But will any man, much less a king, be afraid of a writing pen ? Had he beheld the three darts of Joab, 2 Sam. xviii. 14, or the fiery flaming sword of the cherub. Gen. iii. 24, brandished directly against him, he had then had some argument of astonishment ; but one hand, one pen, one piece of writing which he understood not: this was that which daunted him. Many citizens were as much amazed, astonished, terri- fied, and startled when they saw London in flames, as Belshazzar was when he saw the hand writing upon the wall. Ahab trembled like a shaken leaf, and so did his grandson Manasseh,he that faced the heavens, and that dared God in the day of his prosperity ; when troubles came thick, and his fears rise high, he hides his head among the bushes, Isa. ^di. 1,2; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11,12. Such a fear and trembling was upon many citizens when London was in flames. Though Tullius Hostilius, the third king of the Komans, had a great warlike spirit, as Lactan- tius notes, yet he carried in his bosom two new gods, Pavorem and Pallorem, fear and paleness, which he could not possibly shake off. Oh the fear that was in the citizens' hearts, and the paleness that was upon the citizens' cheeks, when London was in flames ! Now excessive fear fills the heart with all confusion; they strip a man of his reason and understanding, they weaken his hands, and they do so sud- denly and totally dispirit and unman a man, that he is not able to encounter with those visible dangers that threaten his utter ruin ; and this the poor citizens found by woeful experience when London was in flames.2 At the sight of this fire, how were the citizens' hearts melted, their hands feeble, their spirits faint, and their knees weak ! Oh the horror, the terror, the amazement, the confusion that had now seized upon the spirits of all sorts of citizens ! How were the thoughts of men now distracted, their countenances changed, and their hearts overwhelmed ! Oh the sad looks, the pale cheeks, the weeping eyes, the smiting of breasts, and the wringing of hands that were now to be seen in every street and in every corner! What a universal consternation did my eyes behold upon the minds of all men in that day of the Lord's wrath ! There is no expressing of the sighs, the tears, tlie fears, the frights, and the amazement of the citizens, who were now compassed about with flames of fire ! Oh the cries, the tumults,
' DrexoUius's School of I'atience, p. 150-152.