IN the words before us, the prophet seems clearly to indicate to us the troublesome vexations and distur­bing animosities which must of necessity prevail, in some future time, amongst a particular people. And he endeavours to point out the beginning of these trou­bles in so very distinct a manner, as if he designed to give the inhabitants a timely warning of this dread­ful catastrophe, that, by proper means, they might, in some measure, prevent its coming so severe upon them as utterly to destroy them in their sins. He not only prophesies in general terms, but is also parti­cularly careful respecting the time and place when and where these things shall come to pass.

A fox, says he, shall come from the NORTH— a lion from the SOUTH— and there shall come distresses in THIS great city—and in THESE days [Page 14] locusts shall overspread the face of the land. So you find, my brethren, that when the fox is come from the north —and the he-lion has rouzed himself in the south— distresses and tumults are to be expected in the city, and over the whole face of the land; and, that hundreds and thousands of oppressed people shall rise up together—and, when these things are so far accomplished, then, in THESE days, locusts shall come in upon us and dwell on the land.

Having thus considered the words in general, as they stand before us, it may be necessary, for the further illustration of this passage, to consider particularly,

I. What we are to understand by A fox coming from the North.

II. How, and in what manner, a he-lion is to rouze himself in the south, and why they shall be at war, and shall not dwell at quiet.

III. Consider what distresses and tumults shall op­press the land, so that the oppressed shall rise up by hun­dreds and by thousands.

IV. Give some description of the locusts which are to overspread the face of the whole land. And,

Lastly, Conclude with some practical improve­ment upon the whole. And,

First, What we are to understand by A fox co­ming from the north.

It may appear necessary, for the right apprehen­ding of the text, now under our consideration, that the book of Prophecies, was, originally, wrote in London; and therefore, when the prophet says, "even in this great city," he must be understood to mean that place: and of course it follows, that the land spoken of is no other than that of South-Britain, on the north of which lieth that part which is called Scotland, from whence our admired penman hath in­formed us the fox should come.

[Page 15]And, as it may not be altogether disagreeable, or in the least unworthy the notice of my hearers, I will first give a short description of these animals, and then proceed. In general, foxes are very remarkable for their deep cunning. They will, when pursued by hunters, make urine on their tails, and strike them upon the faces of the dogs. When trapped by a gin, they have been known to bite of the part con­fined, and so escaped. And being hungry, they feign themselves dead, on whom the fowls lighting, for prey, they rise and devour them. But, as there are different kinds of foxes, so their artful inventi­ons are as various. That kind of fox, mentioned by the prophet, the generality of commentators agree to be the BOOT-FOX, and describe him with an extraordinary long head, smooth tongue, and remar­kable long eyes. His legs are covered with a kind of mottled, woolly furr, though bare at the joints of his knees, and his feet to be cloven. This fox, my beloved, it is well known, has been amongst us for some time, and did, originally, come from the north, answering every description that is given of him by the Prophet in the former part of this chapter, be­ginning at the sixteenth verse: And the fox that shall appear in high places, and, by his cunning, get even in­to the houses of the most high, shall be a favourite fox. He shall feed upon dainties, and he shall have influence over many foxes; yea, and lambs shall lie down before him and do reverence. But the lions of spirit, and the wolves, and their young ones, shall seek his destruction continually. From hence it is plain, that this same fox is now amongst us, and has been seen COUR [...]ing it up and down in high forests, and, by his secret fawnings, and detestable undermining attempss, he [Page 16] has got into good feed, and that, as it were, unob­served. We have, my brethren, too long borne with his ferriting scratches; we have already reason to curse the time that ever such an animal existed amongst us. O my beloved, take care! be upon the watch! this hungry Reynard still lives—still acts— still rules! and unless the other part of this prophecy had taken place, we had been utterly undone for ever. Having considering thus far, I shall proceed, in the next place, to shew,

Secondly, How, and what manner, a he-lion is to rouze himself in the south, and why they shall be at war with each other, so as never to dwell at quiet. If our eyes my beloved, have been in the least open, we surely must have perceived, that the words of the Prophet, in this point also, have been fully veri­fied and brought to pass.— Yea, and a he-lion shall rouze himself in the SOUTH; that is, A he-lion shall rouze himself in ENGLAND You cannot be ig­norant, nay, you must be sensible, that, of all beasts, the lion is the most courageous. The pleasing con­trast the Prophet hath here drawn, by way of simile, cannot be sufficiently admired. Than the fox and the lion nothing can be more directly apposite; not only the figure and size, but nature and principle. The one, unused to slattery and deceit, timidity and cow­ardice; the other, a noted partaker of each. With principles thus contrasted, no wonder that each on each should cast so black an eye, and be at variance, and should not dwell at quiet. We well know, how­ever, that when a lion is brought from abroad, in order to be brought under some restraint, he is con­fined in a prison, wherein he may be kept from dis­turbing the quiet of those foxes that are generally the most crafty, and are the most afraid of him. My [Page 17] brethren, apply this particular to the times in which we live: behold and see if nothing of this kind hath yet come to pass amongst us. It was the way of the antients to write by way of fable, and our prophet hath thought proper to adopt that pleasing method above all others. To explain this part of our text, it may not be amiss, therefore, to remark here, what we are to understand by a HE-LION. This accord­ing to the sense of the learned, can mean no other than the resolute Patriot, who has so much exerted himself in the behalf of his country; who has ever kept a jealous eye on the designs and mean artifices of the favourite boot-fox, and gloriously brought to open light what fear and cowardice have been always ashamed to reveal. It is the noble ex­ertion of this lion that hath so terrified the whole nest of foxes. He has, like Samson, knit them all toge­ther, tail to tail, with a firebrand between each two, from which distress and entanglement they know not how to extricate and deliver themselves. By way of trial they have, however, cast him into a den; ne­vertheless, he still continues to cause in them a dread, that easily they cannot conquer and overcome: so that they still are at war with each other, and do not dwell at quiet.—Proceed we now to consider,

Thirdly, What distresses and tumults should op­press the land, so that the oppressed shall rise up by hun­dreds and by thousands. And first, my brethren, I shall consider the distresses—Those who are any way acquainted with life and the world, must, of conse­quence, perceive, how distress and misery fill our streets. For the want of a proper supply of provisi­ons, and the common necessaries of life, how many of our poor have been snatched off in their prime! Others advanced to old age, grey-hair'd subjects, [Page 18] tender fathers, affectionatte mothers, loyal friends, and honest Britons, O! how have they been taken from amongst us by the cruel usage of Poverty and Want! When corn and provisions have been plenty; when Providence hath crowned our harvests with abundance; how have our poor been debarred from partaking thereof, while the owners have stored their barns, and kept it shamefully back from those who were starving with hunger. Not only were these practices, beloved, passed over and winked at by men in power, but at that time it was known to be carried abroad to enemies—open enemies—profes­sed enemies! and sold cheaper to them, by far, than we could possibly purchase at home. Add to this, the large quantities of wheat continually being cast into the waters, which by long standing, had been spoilt, and rendered useless—even to the DESPISED POOR.

Who then can wonder at the risings of the people or be amazed at the tumults (not abroad, but) at home? Is there not reason—sufficient reason for these murmurings and complaints among the lower class of the people? The Prophet might very well lay a particular emphasis here— and the oppressed SHALL rise up, &c.—Never had people more oc­casion to exert what little spirit they had left in their own cause, before they were utterly destroyed.— Thus things were going on in a very foul way for their destruction. They saw them, and were wise. Fair and humble means were at first tried; petitions were offered; supplications were made to men in power, and to UNFEELING ministers whose con­tinual promises were, They WOULD assist;—pro­visions SHOULD lowered in their prices, and they might rely upon their IMMEDIATE considerati­on [Page 19] on and dispatch. These promises, we are now sen­sible, were made to appease the noise of the VUL­GAR, as they are stiled, for never was any thing done in their behalf in consequence of those promises, and they were left to shift for themselves, and to do as well as people in their situation were capable of doing, without THEIR assistance.—In this manner were they kept in suspense, starving and to starve, till Necessity (the mother of invention) taught them how to rise in large bodies together, no longer to pray, but to demand. Then came forth, even in this great city, multitudes of machanics, various in their professions, and firm in their resolutions, exer­ting themselves in their own defence, chusing ra­ther to fall by the sword, than be in the midst of plenty dying for the want of proper sustenance and nourishment.

Thus I have briefly considered the distresses and tumults which have come to pass, according to the prophecy of the Prophet. I come now to give some description of the locusts which are to overspread the face of the whole land.

And in these days, &c. As there are of foxes seve­rals kinds, so of locusts the same. But, in general, every species of this insect are accounted vile. Their nature is to herd many together, therefore vast mul­titudes are resembled by them. In Arabia, as well as in England, the people are infested with them; but, in these times, they more particularly infest the latter. They generally come upon corn, when ripe, and what they do not eat, they infect with their touch. They die whole swarms together; and, after death, they poison the air, and cause a pestilence.—How happy our prophetic writer appears in his expressions and similies, I leave to the determination of my hea­rers! [Page 20] Nothing could have been more to the pur­pose in answering his design to paint to the people the events of futurity, in this respect, than that of the locust. According to the description I have given of that insect, how striking a resemblance does it bear with the swarm of vile locusts which was daily found in the western patt of our renouned city, where numbers have been seen to assemble together in companies and flights, to accomplish their evil designs. In the twelfth chapter of the Prophecies, the Prophet takes notice of the time when they dis­appear, and what events follow, from verse 88 to verse 92. Now after the locusts shall have perplexed the people, and have been even in one place years two and five, they shall divide themselves apart. And it shall come to pass, that when the old locusts shall die away, that there shall be great joy and feasting among the people. But behold, they shall fear the coming of another swarm, for they shall not know what they shall do. And the people shall be divided amongst themselves what manner of swarm it shall be. But the beginning thereof shall be destructive unto many. I have my be­loved, quoted thus much that ye be not misguided: locusts are amongst you; they are even come with a great power: and, though the last swarm are sepe­rated, and are gone; yet, take care, the beginning of these, you perceive, have already been destructive unto many.

Having thus gone through the principal parts which I at first intended, I now proceed to some practical improvement upon the whole, and will have done. And,

1. Seeing that a fox is come from the north, let us be watchful, and extremely jealous, of every mo­tion that may be made of his exertion. His cun­ning [Page 21] is deep; his attempts sly; and deceit artful. He may be found to make urine of the strongest taint upon his tail, and close your eyes in such a man­ner, that we cannot pursue him in his intrigues. He may feign dead or inactive, but at last rouze up and devour a multitude. It requires, therefore, the greatest diligence and perseverance to prevent his becoming our detestable and inveterate destroyer.

2. As we are incouraged by the presence of a li­on, we ought not to be cast down, grieve our spirits, and faint, as though no prospect of help were nigh.— The lion is a furious beast; hardships and difficul­ties, which appear so to us, become as nothing to him; and we have already found, that his power ALONE hath defended us in our Houses—in our Castles—in our Possessions. We should therefore be thankful, and rejoice that there is one power provided against another, so that our attempts, for the liberty of our children, do not entirely become of non-effect.

3. In all times of public distress and tumultuous proceedings, we should be particularly careful how we think and act, neither to be seen defending our own cause, or walking by the way-side ^*, lest either by fire or sword we be destroyed, and our lives taken away. In short, my brethren, to be in favour with the GREAT, let your conversation be nought, lie down peaceably and be trod upon, resisting none who im­pose upon you, and then! * * * * and then! * * * * O then!

[Page 22]4. Seeing that locusts of a new kind are come up­on us, let us behold them a while in their actions. If they oppress us, and, as the last swarm, blast every gleam of hope, that may appear favourable in our behalf, we may expect little good from them. if they direct themselves by the NORTH wind, and are governed by that cold corner, it is reason­able to expect that we shall soon be in a starving condition, since that wind carries with it a most omenous aspect, of which we have been the too sad and uncomfortable spectators.

To conclude. Let every one be upon their guard. Whatever appears in the strict eye of Rea­son, to carry with it the impression of Truth, a taste of true Patriotism, and a love of Liberty and an universal Freedom, by all means let that be first embraced. And I trust, my brethren, that these few hints, which I have just thrown together, will not be unworthy your notice. May this discourse have its desired effect upon you, and promote, in some degree, your fortitude and courage under every imposition that may be lain upon you by a set of arbitrary ******* and ******. Amen.

Now unto all men be consolation, friendship, and good­will, from this time forth, and for evermore. Amen.