Next to the county of Lancaster, the Metropolis proved the most favourable soil for Presbyterian piety. There stands in London Wall a quaintly-fashioned edifice--like an old world with a few inhabitants left in it to keep watch and ward--its courts almost as silent and desolate as the Alhambra. Few people now see Sion College, with its almshouses, founded by Dr. Thomas White, Vicar of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, and its library, the gift of John Simson, Rector of St. Olave's, Hart Street; but it was a place of great resort during the Commonwealth, when its architectural appearance differed from what it is at present; for then a building erected in the time of James I., and consumed afterwards in the London Fire, covered the spot; and in the little rooms of that monastic-like establishment, young London clergymen found lodgings until they could be provided with houses within the parishes which they served. The snug almshouses accommodated ten poor men and ten poor women. The library, even at that time, was extensive, and could boast of some curious old books and MSS., which have since been burnt or lost; and the whole establishment was governed by a President, two Deans, and four Assistants, who were all furnished with a residence within the spacious precincts. [Sidenote: _Sion College._] Sion College fell into Presbyterian hands at the outbreak of the civil wars. A list of the successive Presidents is preserved, including several well-known names; and some few particulars of its changeful story have been recorded by one of its librarians.[170] From him we learn how the famous Edmund Calamy occupied the Presidential chair in the year 1650, when Cromwell's soldiers, lately quartered within the walls, were removed at the President's request; and how, the next year, they returned, under Colonel Berkestead, for the safety of the city and the parts adjacent--special care being had that "the library should be kept safe, and no injury done to it." These military gentlemen proved troublesome guests; and the clerk was forced to leave his dwelling, and students and others who paid for their lodgings were also compelled to quit--so that through failure of rent-payments there remained not sufficient money to meet the claims of the officers and the poor. At length, by an order of the Court, thanks were voted to the Protector for removing the soldiers; his Highness at the same time being informed of "the spoil and havoc they had made in the College."