those that are given to Change Never did London need more the assistance of Wealthy and Liberal men for albeit to admiration the City seems almost Rebuilt nevertheless but a slow hand forwards the works of Piety and Publick good Now is the time for my Citizen to shew his large and bountiful thoughts in the acts of open Charity and necessary expence No pretences for the contrary can favour his too apparent Covetousness All his veiled excuses are transparent enough to see into his miserable foolish and unworthy temper How do the charitable deeds of his Predecessors reproach his Avarice What a shame it is for a Protestant whose reason is satisfied in what he believes to be exceeded by meer Ignorants who scarce knew any truth in the ends they proposed themselves when they built Churches erected Halls Conduits and other places of Common Advantage built and endowed Colledges Free-Schools Hospitals and Alms-houses when they repaired Bridges High-ways and â—â—ined through their Virtues bright and clear as light in a dark place Wherefore my Citizen ought to consider the works of such as have been great Benefactors and exemplary Promoters of the Publick good And the better to stir him up I have adjoyned hereto the famous and meritorious deeds of some past Citizens so that if he cuts by their Pattern I have my wish In the Reign of Richard the Second the same Sir William Walworth that had so couragiously kill'd Wat Tyler the Rebel repaired St. Michael's Church in Crooked-Lane and founded there a Colledge About the year 1385. John Church-man Sheriff in the Ninth of Richard the Second built the Custom-House nigh the Tower and was besides a great Promoter of any thing was commodious for the City In 1431. John Wells Grocer and Mayor he was a great Benefactour to the New building of the Chappel by Guild-hall and erected the Standard in West-Cheap at his own cost and charges In 1445. Simon Eyre Draper being Mayor built Leaden-hall to be a common Garner for the City In 1480. Bartholomew James Draper and Mayor built new the great Conduit in West-Cheap In 1508. Ralph Jennings Merchant-Taylor being Mayor he built the greatest part of St. Andrews Church called Vndershaft In 1513. John Tare Mercer being Mayor he new built the Church of St. Anthonies Hospital in London In 1521. Sir John Milborn Draper being Mayor he founded fourteen Alms-houses by Crossed-Fryers Church In 1560. Sir Christopher Chester being Mayor the Merchant-Taylors founded their Free-School My Citizen considerately and rationally dividing his time between Particular and Publick Interest Self-love and Society must use all honest and laudable means in advancing the common good In the year 1337. Walter Neal Sheriff gave Lands towards the repair of the High-ways about London In 1378. John Philpot a Citizen of London sent Ships to Sea and scowred it of Pirates taking many of them Prisoners In 1390. Adam Bamme Goldsmith and Mayor in a time of scarcity so prudently and plentifully provided the City with Corn from beyond Sea as the Countrey it self was served out of the Store In 1486. In the Reign of Henry the Seventh William Horn Salter being Mayor and Knighted in the Field by the King he gave to the repairing the Road between London and Cambridge and some other wants 500 Marks a Sum in those days of great value and equal to above 20 times as much now Two especial ways more I shall insist upon First his Study ought to be Unity Scilurus saith Plutarch a King of Tartary having many Sons and feeling his hour to approach called them all before him and bid them one after another to break a bundle of Darts laid before them to the same purpose which being bound together the strongest was not able to perform but he taking them asunder though very feeble easily broak them Thus shall it be with you saith he if you agree together no man shall hurt you but divided you cannot prosper So it fares with a City their safety depends chiefly on Unity and a mutual conjunction of Inferiours with Superiours A threefold Cord is hot easily broken Eccl. 4.12 Themistocles the brave and Aristides the just Athenian were at such variance as the former told the people one day in a full Assembly that unless both he and Aristides were thrust forth of the City it would not stand If Discord then between two men of their wisdom was so dangerous how dreadful would it appear hatcht under Faction and Ignorance Briefly Concord maketh small things mightily to encrease but Division decays and destroyeth the wealth peace strength and Unity of Families Cities and Kingdoms themselves Secondly I could wish Citizens did not so much increase the number of Apprentices as in these times they do It 's strange inferiour Trades should in their policy this way exceed those of a higher rank It 's probable scarce one Artificer in five could have been employ'd three days in a Week without the laudable course of restraining a man to one or two Apprentices in his appointed time which hath wrought this effect that none in these Callings so ordered can unless the fault be his own complain for want of work In taking many Apprentices a man's Secrets are open to more than one and the likelier to be discovered to his own disadvantage but especially to the hurt of the Publick A man that hath had a good stock to begin with being brought to decay is it not a thousand pities that having paid a Sum of Money at his entrance and discharged all requisite Duties in the City he shall be forc'd to beg or starve in it or go out of it for a Living Again many a Young man which shall not have or for the present hath not a sufficient stock of Money or Credit to begin is it not pity he should leave the City In the year 1371. John Barns Mercer and Mayor gave a Chest with three Locks and one thousand Marks to be Lent to poor young men Yet while men may have what number of Apprentices they please it shall be very hard for either of these to finde employment To redress this fewer Apprentices ought to be taken and those for a longer time than ordinary 'T is not fit that every child because a good Sum of Money is given with him should be bound but for seven years which expired he issues out a Master before he be a Man Thus the splendour of the City grows dimmer and dimmer and Boys stand in Shop-Doors in the places of personable men which is an inconvenience something akin to that Woe to thee O Land Ec. 10.16 when thy King is a Child These things considered let the Common good of all be rather endeavoured than the particular of a few Every private man is a Servant to the Publick it is very disproportionable for Servants to be preferred before their Masters for when a Servant reigns Prov. 30.31 the earth is disquieted Thus have I led my Citizen through the Labyrinth of a Trading life to his Temporal and Eternal profit if he contemns not in my directions the Counsel of Solomon the wisest man ever was or will be the judgments and acts of the most lov'd admir'd and worthily renowned men Antiquity can boast of and finally the real durable nay everlasting benefits and possessions which a just diligence will procure him here and a righteous use bestow on him hereafter besides the honour praise and reverence his very name and memory will exact from posterity A man shall not be established by wickedness Prov. 12.3 but the root of the Righteous shall not be moved A good name is better than precious Ointment Ecc. 7. â— and the day of Death is better than the day of ones Birth The just man walketh in his integrity Prov. 20 2â— his Children are blessed after him FINIS
are so wanted so little minded or promoted by any whose abler parts better leisure and apter utensils would have contributed mightily to the reformation of Citizens manners and to the cleansing them from those corruptions ill courses have filled them with to the disparagement of Commerce to a forced distrust of one another but finally and especially for committing those transgressions which retard the conquest of our Enemies whose down fall with our own amendment which is the only way for obtaining it will compleat the lustre of our City which will be celebrated and rejoyce when it goeth well with those shall deserve the name of Righteous Prov. 11.10 I never intended to court any ones candour but the Press as it seldom is otherwise hath here and there made 〈◊〉 few scapes wherefore to blame me would be through sudden anger to deal foolishly but on all occasions it will be your glory to paâ— over a transgression Prov. 14 17.19 11. THE CITIZEN'S COMPANION OR THE Trades-man's Mirrour c. IT might be expected from me to speak something in the Praise of a Trade or Calling But the benefit accruing by it both to publick and particulars is too perspicuous â—ational useful and honourable to need â—ny Apology 'T is true that for the seven eight or nine years of Apprentiship undergone by a Servant some have been so frighted at a Civil subjection for so long a term as rather to mispend and cast away the aptest part of their dayes in Idleness the Mother of all mischief or any how having the face of a Gentile though mostly in the end a pernicious liberty than to submit to the commands of a Shop-keeper or to reject that airy enjoyment which is aim'd at by Youth and because most concurring with corrupt Nature is embraced before any thing not so easie in the attainment It would grow a mad world if Children should be allowed to be their own choosers A Child left to himself bringeth his Mother to shame Prov. 9.15 certainly if raw and ignorant judgments were determinable in a business of that Nature their poor and insipid inclinations would pitch as soon on the worse courses for the future maintenance of their bodies as they are prone to prefer playing the Truant to going to School and thereby losing those opportunities so expedient for the beautifying of their minds Foolishness is bound in the heaâ— of a Child saith Solomon but the Râ—â— of correction shall drive it far from him Prov. 22.15 Parents must then aâ— custome their Sons to a stricter libert than commonly they enjoy They 〈◊〉 more indulgent than discreet if forâ— little crying they shall remit and slacke that obedience they naturally and legall have over their Children especiaâ— knowing by their own sometimes woâ—â— experience the ill consequence of Childish customs and the misery attending inconsideration Withold not correction from thy child for if thou beatest him with a rod he shall not dye Prov. 23.13 How many depending on the fruits of a petty patrimony have begged or stole before they dyed Therefore every Father ought to use his Authority in planting his Sons judiciously to their future benefit not omitting the suiting of each ones inclination to a Trade most agreeable My Citizen by such a means falling under the remarks and advice of this Discourse if he daigns to make it his Companion till he hath read it over he may become of my opinion and conclude it a happy thing for a man to go through his affairs without Injustice which he cannot do save by being Master of his affections and appetites and by a narrow inspection into all his Actions that maturely consulting and discreetly managing his business he may live justly with pleasure and profit Hot Youth running inconsiderately and giving time no leasure to do any thing for him speeds unjustly and with trouble but catches nothing at least nothing durable And a dull-spirited man not taking occasion when 't is readyâ— misseth his advancement yet is noâ— freed from cares and perplexity both these trusting to Fortune the Goddess oâ— Rashness and Sloth their unskilfullneâ— effects their destiny The a Jullice first counâ— of the three is best the b Rashness second anâ— c Stupidity third may rise but it is very doubtful the first must of necessity be promoted the order of his actions being set down in His Decree that made him Thus it iâ— in all Professions no Tradesman can 〈◊〉 counted good except he be a real good man opening his Conscience livingâ— if he were alwayes in publick rather fearing himself than others by this 〈◊〉 raiseth himself above and beyond 〈◊〉 fear contemning the blows of Fortuâ— His wisdom without this will be eâ—â—neous his policy will be knavery 〈◊〉 honesty without wisdom is unprofitable Wisdom saith a Learned man of all 〈◊〉 gifts of God is most pure she infâ—goodness into her Disciples she pardoâ—â— the wicked she maketh the poor riâ—â— and the rich honourable and such as 〈◊〉 feignedly embrace her she makes 〈◊〉 like to God Wisdom is the beauâ—â— and noble composition of him in 〈◊〉 Word Actions and Motions could the eyes see her she would stir up wonderful love by her he enfranchises his Spirit from an unjust subjection unto unnecessary things and out of his calling Socrates according to the judgement of Physiognomers naturally given to all wickedness by the study of wisdom reformed his lewd inclinations And though Cicero in his latter dayes cryed out Would I had never known what wisdom meant Yet Julius Caesar onely by his wisdom and experience brought all his designs to effects However suppose little knowledge to be unfruitful yet the course of a general Learning being too long the purchased experience must be pertinent and within the pale of his own calling and is to be prosecuted diligently because none is so easie to be dived into as it were in a moment A course may be soon begun but every one is sure of meeting with unforeseen rubs As no humane action is delivered to the World without many circumstances so there is no Trade without them there is no circumstance in it but is a step mounting the understanding to the true value and clear perspection of it Nevertheless it would be esteemed a great piece of sottishness to enslave ones self and to be so over-exact and industrious as like Nicias the Painter who was so earnest and intentive in his profession tâ— forget food and omit the reception oâ— Nature's support And Apelles the Paiâ—ter used to chide Protagines who no knowing when a thing was well would never keep his hands from the Table If it could be attain'd the discretion oâ— CRISPVS the Roman is to be imitated who under a colour of negligenâ— accomplished whatever he undertooâ— Though curiosity and excellency are the less reprehensive because setting foâ—â— the glory of a mans Countrey yeâ— mean and moderate care is to be conclâ— ded on because the Bow too long bentâ— subject to breaking
injury that can be verbally done to them to reproach them with the lye They are not asham'd to lye but to be call'd lyars The Tongue is connexed by veins to the brain and heart by which Nature teacheth us that it is to be govern'd by the Intellect whose seat is in the head so that it may agree with the heart A man deceived through errour may utter this or that falshood thinking that true which is no proper lye To speak falsly thinking it true is to lye materially to speak truth thinking it false is to lye formally but he that speaks false knowing it false lyeth in the matter and form and therefore perfectly Thus to lye to save our lives we may not much less to save or increase our Wealth Buy the truth and sell it not Prov. 23.23 Memorable is the Example of that Woman in St. Hierome she knew how to die but not to tell an untruth In a strait where Money or Justice must be left rather lose Money than Justice There is no disference saith Cicero between a Lyar and a Forswearer for whomsoever I can make to tell a lye I can easily perswade to forswear himself The Egyptians made a Law that every Lyar should be put to death The Persians and Indian used to degrade Lyars of all honour and to cut out their tongues Artaxerxes King of Persia caused a Souldier to be nayled to a post by the tongue for lying The Cretans for lying became despiseâ— of the whole world But Truth hath two Champions Wisdome and Constancy she shines brightest when foil'd looketh most beautiful in rags is bess defended with nakedness smiles before the Judge and needs no Oratour The lips of truth shall be established Prov. 12.19 Pharamond King of France was named Waramond that is Truth Marcus Aurelius the Emperour was called most True because he was never found in a Lye nor ever failed in truth Pyrrhus the King of Epyrus however an Enemy to the Romans yet gave this praise unto Fabritius that a man might assoon turn him from Truth and honesty as the Sun out of his course The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death Prov. 21.6 Lying then must be banished and abominated But this rule must be observed as we may not lye so we need not speak all the truth St. Augustine makes mention of one Firmus who when he was askt to tell where his friend was lest he should be delivered to his enemies hands said he would not tell I will saith he neither lye or betray him This man saith Augustine was Constant in name but more Constant in minde Nor must Pompey the great be forgotten who chose rather to endure the burning of a finger than to disclose the secrets of the Senate But Papilius went beyond him who cut out his own tongue and flung it in the Tyrants face because he would not betray his Associates who together had conspired against him Fourthly Among these Polluters of the tongue Swearing must be spoken of when the rest will not serve turn 't is common to add Oaths and indeed what sin so hainous which he that makes hast to be rich is afraid or ashamed to commit He that maketh hast to be rich shall not be innocent Prov. 28.20 But what need I say any thing against this more than the commandment Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold hint guiltless which taketh his name in vain This Law saith Augustine should be to all Christians as a thousand Sermons He that layeth his faith in pawn bindeth his safety his honour and his soul to the redeeming it Faith gives no honour to an Oath yet Oaths broken dishonour Faith To swear and forswear saith Periander one of the seven Sages is a vice so hateful that slaves themselves judge it worthy punishment Yet all Oaths are not unlawful we may Swear but let the light go before us Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and swear by his name Deut. 6.13 How horrid a thing is it to call God to bear witness to trifles and lyes What is it to swear saith St. Augustine but to call God to witness if this was considered many would not as they do make Rhetorick of an Oath taking delight in that which moves Gods displeasure To forswear is a greater sin than to swear for the Apostle doth not say Jam. 5.12 My Brethren do not forswear but do not swear Wouldst thou be far from Perjury swear not false swearing is deadly true swearing is dangerous Those who have worshipt Stones have been afraid to swear falsly by them and dost thou not fear that God who is everywhere present who sees all things generally without exception evidently without doubt immutably without forgetfulness Let me tell the swearer in anothers words Though the punishment may be deferred yet it shall be heavy Besides all other curses this is one he will certainly be false to man who is not true to Gods honour O matchless folly that men should through open Sluces let their souls run out for nothing Wise men think more than they speak and to swear is the least part of their knowledge A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth but the soul of the transgressour shall eat violence Prov. 13.2 By the blessing of the upright saith Solomon the City is exalted but 't is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked Prov. 11.11 And if the daily misfortunes which befall those who use too often to call on the name of a Deity who in a moments time they are as apt to slight are not powerful enough to disswade my Citizen from participating of so contemptible a custom if the precepts of holy Writ and the advice of all the Wisest men ever were conduce nothing to abolishing in him so much ignorance and foolishness as an Oath contains then let the dooms of some whâ— valued not at what rate they swore because they counted an Oath to have 〈◊〉 more vertue and validity in it than a jeâ— let their sad frightful departures teâ—fie and scare my Citizen from venturiâ— to swim in a water so rough We wâ— begin with Andronicus Comnenus whâ— having swore to protect the Sons ofâ— manuel Emperour of Constantinoplâ— contrary to his so solemn faith plighted slew them usurped the Empire and to compleat his happiness was not long after deposed hung up by the feet and hewed to pieces for his perjury Christien King of Denmark paid dearly for his faithlesness for conceiving no tye to be in an adjured promise he was dethroned banish'd and lived miserably the rest of his life for all that he was supported by many great Friends Melius Suffetius a Romane was torn in pieces by four Horses for having broken his faith and trampled on that reverence he ought to have paid a Deity To conclude He saith Sigismundus that accustometh himself to
with Corn and know there are a great many more will in few days be up with him if he dissemble this taking advantage of the present want to sell his Corn at too high a rate he is guilty of hard and unjust dealing The wicked worketh a deceitful work but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward Prov. 11.18 Now a Consideration of what cases lessen and raise the price doth here offer it self 1. A Commodity may be worth more being sold to one man than to another For if our Commodities be sold cheap without respect of persons Forraigners in other Countries may afford them as cheap as the English Merchant and this way hath caus'd a decay in several Places of our Trade by Natives 2. Commodity increaseth its price victuals or houshold-provision being dear otherwise thousands of Artificers and Handicrafts-men must fare the worse 3. When Buyers seek Wares they or a sort of them being scarce the common estimation being increased the price may be raised 4. Commodities retailed must be deâ— rer than those sold by whose sale tâ—â— labour and care in selling them thus being greater not to do so is to under value the labour and care of the whoâ—â— profession 5. Lastly Commodities may be sâ—â— dearer for time than ready money Saâ—â— is a perpetual estranging of the properly from the price But that that price should be estranged for a time is neither the most ancient or true way it should be paid upon receipt of the Wares which so paid may by Industry be increas'd not paid thence follows a sensible want of what might have been gained which the Buyer in Conscience ought to recompence and the Seller may take if his Customer be not poor or a loser by the Wares thus bought I have heard and read words against this but not arguments First The price is to be lessened when a man hath foolishly bought his Wares for it may happen that he may sell them cheaper then he bought them and yet do unjustly or if the worth of his Commodities falls after his buying them then the price is to be lessened Secondly When one sells a great deal together here the manner of selling lessening the number of buyers but augmenting his takings abates the price and giving thus occasion of selling them again they must be sold cheaper lest many thousands as it may fall out suffer in buying them at too dear a rate Thirdly When Wares seek buyers according to our Proverb proffered Ware grows cheap yet this is no sufficient reason of lessening the price unless the thing thus sold be little profitable to the Buyer or such as he would not buy or buying it rather respecting the Seller than himself Fourthly When a Commodity proves faulty or is any ways perish'd in the substance or circumstance the price is to be lessened I might insist upon this subject in a larger manner but let this suffice all Contracts must tend to the good of those that make them So shall injustice be avoided That my Citizeâ— may do so I desire that he may never forget that God is All eye and so musâ— behold all his actions There is a Figure in Rhetorick resolving many question with one answer which St. Basil useth thus his Disciples sought amongst theâ— who was oftnest angry who was slowâ—â— to divine service whose minde wandred most at prayers He answered all a once thus He that doth not always thinâ— God to be the Spectatour of all his action So if it be demanded who is a Flatterâ—â— Lyer Dissembler and a Deceitful person I answer He who thinks not that God takes notice of his doings He who remembers this will live justly and that God which sees him do so hath a blessing for him The Righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead Prov. 11.8 Surely in the flood of many waters they shall not come neer him he will draw him out of many waters as he did Moses he will keep him safe in the midst of many waters as he did Jonas so trouble shall not hurt him he and his seed after him shall prosper But unjust wicked deceitful ways are so common as I must for a while say nothing of blessings Mercy go aside Peace return to the God of Peace and not be spoken of There is judgment with thee O Lord with thee there is ruine and subversion battel and famine snares and plagues storms and tempests fire and brimstone and therefore thou shalt be feared Psal 95.10 Above forty years long hast thou been grieved with this generation who have erred in their hearts and not known thy ways that thou hast been forc'd to punish it still art caus'd to complain of it and that daily by thy Ministers that the noyse is uttered from them with grievous sighs but if any oppress thee thus it shall not be London for whom thy mercy hath done so much that they are quieter in their houses than their Enemies in their Castles they have many Conduits to convey comfort to their souls which others wander many leagues for Thy mercies towards them are new and strange If God be Vnder as our vileness is too ponderous for his patience which is no fit place for his Majesty methinks he should not be Vnder you of London I therefore speak from the mouth of David for my words will not be regarded God turns a fruitful Land to barrennes Psal 107. for the wickedness of them that dwell therein and from St. Augustine The ruine of a City is not wrought by the Walls weakness but the Citizens wickedness Livy observes that Rome began to lose all when sin abounded amongst all In Gellius mention is made of Sejus Sejanus his Horse who though handsome and brave to look on yet whoever kept him was unfortunate Such is Injustice fair to the eye but the practises of it seldom prosper The Enemy is within the Walls this Enemy is Injustice but shall that be found in Sion If the same things be there that were in Sodom How then shall not God do to one City as to another Or shall there be any difference between one and tother but that it shall be easier in the day of judgment for them of Sodom than them of Sion The more grace Sion the more grace London hath receiv'd the more fearfully for their sins shall her inhabitants be punish'd and tormented But lest I be censur'd for putting my Sickle into the Divines Harvest I turn this Discourse into Prayer beseeching God to guide my Citizen so in the way of Justice that he may follow him that said I am the truth Let him indeavour to be with him truth in words not knowing how to be deceived truth in deeds conforming his actions to the Divine will teaching him thus which is the truth he follows him which is the way too and that Way which leads to life to a good one here and a better hereafter The path of the just is
generally walk as men with dark Lanthorns they light none but themselves as we love none save our selves But mark Prov. 21.13 He that stoppeth his ear at the cry of the Poor he also shall cry himself and not be heard The Romans made a certain Law that no man should make a publick Feast except he had provided before for the Poor Far alas is the sense of such a thing from us much less the imitation Cymon of Athens saith a famous Author gave a yearly pension to the poor fed the hungry and cloath'd the naked The house of Lucius Lucullus was the Hospital of all that travail'd from Greece to Rome Pertinax the Successor of Comodus the Roman Emperor was liberal above all before or after him he used to say that His Lands were not proper to him alone but common to all the people of Rome If I would swell my Piece with such observations how bulky might it be made but I deem what 's already quoted enough to shame my Citizen if he be too close-fisted and to enkindle the sparks of his charity till his Zeal for God's Service like David's consumes him Psal 119.139 I shall end this Subject by enlivening him with two or three recompens'd as the Scripture assures us and that meerly for their tenderness and hospitality Rahab on this score was with all her kindred saved from death when all the people of Jericho besides both great and small past the edg of the Sword I should have mention'd formost Gen. 19. how Lot was drawn out of Sodom by force and preserved from burning in it because he entertain'd most kindly two Angels in the shapes of men 2 Kings 4. Elisha to requite the charitableness of the Shunamite who had constrained him so often to eat bread restored her dead Son to life And now if my Citizen can lock up his Yellow and White rather than impart to the wants of distressed and unfortunate people he may cloath himself in fine Linen and fare delicately but the doom of Dives too assuredly and dreadfully will at length light on him He that denyed a Crum of bread to Lazarus was denyed a drop of water when he was all afire Alas what is the Ocean to the infinite World of fire in Hell Yet Dives unhappy and much to be pityed Dives who wasted in his life so many Tuns of Wine cannot now procure a drop of Water to cool the tip of his tongue Lastly my Citizen must not be backward to promote the weal of the Publick lest at one time or other he be chastised by another Epaminondas who commanding a miserable Citizen of Thebes to give another a round Sum of Money was askt by him upon what account Because reply'd he sharply thou hast robbed the Common-Wealth An Ant is a wise Creature for it self but a shrew'd thing in an Orchard or Garden and certainly men that are great Lovers of themselves waste the Publick Men saith Cicero are not born for themselves but for their Gountrey Parents Kindred and Friends I can't hold now from reproving with reason the Cowardise and fearful amazement of our late Citizens when they should have succour'd singly or in gross the best of Princes How can the Ghost of Wat Tyler's Conqueror do less than haunt such a degenerate brood whose aim is at a dignity springing from Majesty and King-ship and yet none stir'd before the dreadful stroak with a single blow to deliver their oppress'd Countrey but especially a Prince that as meer man never had his fellow upon Earth Mutius Scaevola that magnanimous Roman was possess'd with that courage that to free the City by Porsenna's death he entred the Camp alone and killing the King's Secretary instead of himself not knowing well to distinguish them notwithstanding he undauntedly justified his intention by burning his hand in a fire before Porsenna's face seeming to feel no more heat than if he warm'd it in the Sun and thereby frighting the King to a dismissing of him honourably though with the loss of his right hand and to the raising his Siege from before Rome Dion of Syracuse never rested till he had dethron'd Dionysius the Tyrant Aglauros an Athenian hearing the Oracle had pronounced the ruine of his Country unless some one dyed voluntarily to expiate their crimes cast himself feaâ—lesly from the walls of the City But faint-heartedness avarice sloath and luxury caused the fall of Constantinople into the Great Turk's hands Mahomet the first and cruel Emperour caused Constantine a pious vertuous Prince and the last Eastern Emperour to expire amidst the horrour and confusion of the City and afterwards to have his Head exalted on a pole and carried by the Turks in derision through the City The Pride and ill affections the cowardize and covetousness of our City undoubtedly concur'd most to the deplorable end of our Learned Wise Virtuous Valiant Merciful and Religious Soveraign But as Constantinople was destroyed with Fire and Sword and desolated as a deserved punishment on those that had wherewithal and might with ease have prevented their own miseries and their Princes So with a kind of Authority for I could cite a credible Prophecy for it may I speak London comparatively to have labour'd under the effects of impartial Justice for their defaults and bewailable negligence in permitting Gods Anointed to be so ignominiously used as was our Royal Martyr But Ah the Mercies of a patient and ever-loving God! it hapned with this difference as if we had been put to David's choice and chose like him Whereas Constantinople was almost razed and its Inhabitants e'n extirpated the Earth by the rage and cruelty of Men Our London blessed be the lot was almost depopulated by a Pestilence and its Buildings e'n consum'd through Fire but by the immediate and powerful hand of a most merciful and restoring God I may well say restoring For what man ever read or heard of such a prodigious and sudden Rebuilding a City so vast and ruinated who can't but admire the populousness of a place whose Inhabitants had been first innumerably swallow'd by a Pestilence and afterwards dispers'd into all parts of England by an entire overthrow of their dwellings Certainly my Citizen must needs be astonish'd to consider those wonders he may behold in our Phoenix-City And it 's impossible to refrain crying out with David Psal 126.3 The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad Finally if my Citizen would be reckoned a just peaceable and profitable man he must reverence the higher Powers established by Time Right Reason and the Laws of the Land The present Government is most agreeable and consistent with the Divine most suitable to the Genius of the Nation and the advantage of particular persons It is free from discords emulation and ambitious desires concluding that For the sins of our Land many were the Princes thereof Wherefore my Citizen Prov. 24.21 Fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with