ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 157
multitude of his mercies, but afterwards by the severity of his judg- ments : witness the sweeping pestilence and the devouring fire that he sent amongst us ! And as God was known in Judah, first by lesser judgments and then by greater — for he first lashed them with rods, and then with scourges, and at last with scorpions ; so God was first known in London by lesser judgments : witness the violent agues, strange fevers, small-pox, and small fires that broke forth in several places of the city and suburbs ; but these having no kind, no effectual operation upon us, God at last made himself known in the midst of us by such a pestilence, and by such a fire, that the like was never known in that city before. We were once the objects of his noble favours, but we made ourselves at last the subjects of his fury. And as the philosopher tells us, corruptio opthni, est pessima ; or as we find that the sweetest wines become the tartest vinegar, so God's heavenly favours and indulgences being long abused, they at last turned into storms of wrath and vengeance. What Englishman did look upon London as the city of the great God, as a holy city, as that city wherein God was as gloriously made known, and wherein Christ was as much exalted, and religion was as highly prized, as in any part of the world beside, and not mourn over it, now it is laid desolate ? ^ It was long- since said of Athens and Sparta, that they were the eyes of Greece. Was not London the eyes of England ?2 And who then can but weep to see those eyes put out ? Great and populous cities are, as it were, the eyes of the earth ; and when these eyes are lost, wbo can but sit down and sigh and mourn? London was the joyous city of our solemnities, it was the royal chamber of the King of kings, it w^as the mart of nations, it was the lofty city, it was the top-gallant of all our glory. Now, who can but shed tears to see this city laid even to the ground — to see this city sit like a desolate widow in the dust? Such a sight made Jeremiah to lament: Lam. i. 1, ' How doth the city sit solitary,' speaking of Jerusalem's ruin, ' that was full of people ! How is she become as a widow ! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary ! ' Let profane, ignorant, superstitious, and popish defamers of London say what they please, yet doubtless God had more of his mourning ones, and of his marked ones in that city, than he had in a great part of the nation beside, Jer. ix. 1-3 ; Ezek. ix. 4, 6. There was a time when London was a faithful city, a city of righteousness, a city of renown, a city of praise, a city of joy ; yea, the paradise of the world, in respect of the power and purity of gospel ordinances, and that glorious light shined in the midst of her. Who can remember those days of old, and not mourn to see such a city buried in its own ruins ? Under the whole heavens there were not so many thousands to be found that truly feared the Lord, in so narrow a compass of ground, as was to be found in London ; and yet, lo, London is laid in the dust, and the nations round gaze and wonder at her desolation ! Who can but hang down his head and weep in secret for these things ? But, [4.] Fourthly, Who did look upon London as the bulwark, as the
^ Ps. ci. 8 ; laa. Ix. 14; Ps. ilviii. 1, 8, &c. ; Neh. li. 1 ; Isa. iviii. 52 ; Dan. i. 9, 24. * Look, what the face is to the body, that Loudon was to England, the beauty and glory of it.
]58 londom's lamentations on [Lsa. XLII. 24, 25.
stronghold of the nation, that cannot mourn to see their hulwarJc, their stronghold, turned into a ruinous heap ? Ps. xlviii. 12, 13, ' Walk about Zion, and tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, con- sider her palaces ; that ye may tell it to the generation following.' Zion had her bulwarks, her towers, her palaces ; but at last the Chal- deans at one time, and the Komans at another, laid them all waste, Jer. lii. 12, 13 ; Luke xix. 41, 45. So London had her bulwarks, her towers, her palaces, but they are now laid desolate, and many fear, and others say, by malcontent villains and mischievous foreigners of a Romish faith. Loudon was once terrible as an army with banners. Cant. vi. 10. How terrible were the Israelites, encamped and bannered in the wilderness, unto the Moabites, Canaanites, &c. ! Exod. xv. 14-16. So was London more than once terrible to all those Moabites, Canaanites, that have had thoughts to swallow her up, and to divide the prey among themselves. How terrible were the Hussites in Bohemia to the Germans, when all Germany were up in arms against them, and worsted by them ! London hath been as terrible to those that have been cousin-Germans to the Germans. London was once a battle-axe and battle-bow in the hand of the Almighty, which he has wielded against her proudest, strongest, and subtlest enemies, Jer. li. 20 ; Zech. ix. 10, and x. 4 ; Ezek. xxi. 31. Was not London the head city, the royal chamber, the glory of England, the magazine of trade and wealth, the city that had the strength and treasure of the nation in it ? Were there not many thousands in London that were men of fair estates, of exemplary piety, of tried valour, of great prudence, and of unspotted reputation ? and therefore why should it seem impossible that the fire in London should be the effect of desperate designs and complotments from abroad, seconded and encouraged by malcontents at home ? London was the great bulwark of the Reformed religion, against all the batteries of popery, atheism, and profaneness ; and therefore why should any Englishman wonder if these uncircumcised ones should have their heads and their hands and their hearts engaged in the burning of London ? ^ Such whose very principles leads them by the hand to blow up kings, princes, l^arliaments, and reformed religion, to make way for their own religion, or for the good old religion, as some are pleased to call it ; such will never scruple to turn such cities, such bulwarks, into a ruinous heap, that either stands in their way, or that might probably hinder their game, Dan. xi. 24, 39. In all the ages of the world wicked men have (lesigned the ruin and laying waste of Christians' bulwarks and strong- holds, in order to the rooting out of the very name of Christians, as all know that have read anything of Scripture or history ; and therefore why should any men think it strange if that spirit should still be at work ? Was ever England in such imminent danger of being made a prey to foreign power, or of being rid by men of a foreign religion, and whose principles in civil policy are very dangerous both to prince and people, as it hath been since the firing of London, or since that bulwark has been turned into a ruinous heap ? Had not the great God, who laid a law of restraint upon churlish Laban,