' Lib. vii. de Bello Jud. cap. 10, p. 737. " Parous ou the Revelation, p. 110.
^ The Treasury of Ancient and Modern Times, pp. 321, 322.
■* The French, the Dutch, the Dane, the Spaniard, &e., have at times experienced what London's treasure and force have been able to do, \c.
IGG London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
which their enemies design to be their nttcr rnin, Ps. Ixxvi. 5, 10 ; Gen. xxxi. 24, 21), ami xxxiii. 3, 4. We know papists are no change- hngs ; their cruel, bloody, fiery spirits and principles are still the same.' Both king and parliament have taken notice how vigilant and active they have been of late, by what hath been discovered, con- fessed, proved, printed, &c. Is it not more than probable that some iniluenced from Rome have kindled and promoted that dreadful fire that hath laid our city desolate ? The statue of Apollo is said to shed tears for the aiilictions of the Grecians, though he could not help them. Though none of us could prevent the desolation of London, yet let us all be so mgenuous as to weep over the ashes of London. Who can look upon London's glory, as now sacrificed to the fiames, and made a burnt-offering to appease the wrath and fury, as many say, of a papist conclave, and not mourn ?
Ohj. Sir, we readily grant that it is our duty to lament and mourn over the ruins and desolations of London ; yea, some of us have so lamented and mourned over London's dust and ashes, that we have almost reduced ourselves to dust and ashes; and therefore, what cordials, what comforts, what supports can you hand out to us that may help to cheer up our spirits, and to bear up our hearts, so as that we may not utterly faint and sink, neither under the sight of London's ruins, nor yet under a deep sense of our many great and sore losses ?
Now that I may be a little serviceable and useful to you in the present case, give me leave to offer to your most serious consideration these following particulars by way of support : —
(L) First, Consider, for your support and comfort. That the great God might have burned uj) all; he might not have left one house standing, nor one stone upon another. It is true the greatest part of the city is fallen ; but it is rich mercy that the whole is not con- sumed, Luke xix. 41, 44. Though most of the city within the walls be destroyed, yet it is grace upon the throne that the suburbs are standing. Had not God spared some houses in the city, and the main of the suburbs, where would thousands have had a livelihood ? How would any trade have been maintained ? yea, how would the lives of many thousands have been preserved ? It is true the fire was very dreadful, but God might have made it more dreadful ; he might have laid every house level ; he might have consumed all the goods and wealth that was there treasured up ; and he might have refused to have plucked one man ' as a brand out of the fire,' Zech. iii, 2. He might have suffered London to have been as totally de- stroyed as Jerusalem was: Mat. xxiv. 1, 2, 'And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple : and his disciples came to him to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them. See ye not all these things ? verily, I say unto you. There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.' In these words Christ doth foretell the utter destruction and devastation of Jerusalem, which came to pass by Titus and the Roman army ; wasting all with fire and sword, and evening with the ground that mag- nificent temj)le and city, which was the glory of the world. Though
* The woeful desolations that the popish party made by fire and sword amongst the protcfctantB in Ireland ia written with the pen of a diamond.
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 167
Titus, by a strict edict at first storming of the city, forbade the de- facing of the temple, yet the soldiers burned it and the city. The temple was burned, say some, August 10th, when it had stood five hundred [and] eighty-nine years ; and the city was burned September 8th, in the year of our Lord seventy- one. i
Quest. But why did Christ's disciples shew him the buildings of the temple, which they knew were not unknown unto him ?
Ans. To move him to mercy, and to moderate the severity of that former sentence, of leaving their houses desolate unto them, Mat. xxiii. 38. Herod had been at a wonderful charge in building and beautifying the temple. Josephus tells us,^ that for eight whole years together he kept ten thousand men at work about it : and that for magnificence and stateliness it exceeded Solomon's temple. The disciples might very well wonder at these stately buildings, at these goodly, stately, fair stones, which were, as Josephus writeth, fifteen cubits long, twelve high, and eight broad. Now the disciples fondly thought that Christ, upon the full sight of these stately, glorious buildings, which to see laid waste was pity, might have been so worked upon as to reverse his former sentence of laying all desolate. But here they were mistaken ; for ' his thoughts were not as their thoughts.' Others think that the disciples shewed Christ the stately buildings of the temple, that upon a serious consideration of the strength, pomp, stateliness, greatness, and magnificence of the build- ings, he might be the more careful to preserve them from destruction. Others think that the disciples shewed him these strong and stately buildings, to insinuate secretly thereby how difficult, yea, impossible, it was for them to be destroyed, especially considering the strength of the city also. And hence our Saviour seems to answer, ' See ye not all these things ? verily I say unto you. There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down,' &c.
Quest. But when was this prediction fulfilled, that not one stone should be left upon another, which should not be thrown down, &c. ?