been so if he had burnt it all and would be so if he should never suffer it to be built again and till he have made us see that except the Lord-build the house and so the City they labour in vain that build it Psal 127.1 That it is impossible for us by our own power and strength to build us another City unless he who is the maker and builder of all things shall consent to and concur in it I say till God have so far humbled us though we may build through his permission we shall not build with his blessing and if we continue in the hateful sin of pride he can give us a City in his wrath and take it away again in his wrath As therefore our City goes up let our pride go down It is too much for such worthless creatures as we all are to think our selves to be any thing but as God influenceth and inspireth us as a Trumpet can give no sound but as the trumpiter breaths into it and therefore he said well who said that no man is any thing more meaning that good is than what God makes him daily and hourly Paul saith himself though I preach the Gospel I have nothing to glory of 1 Cor. 9.16 It is a very significant phrase both in our native tongue that when we would say a man is proud we say he thinks himself to be some body as if every man were nothing and those words were applicable to every proud man he that thinks himself to be something when he is nothing deceiveth himself Gal. 6.3 I find the same phrase in the Greek Testament for we read of Theudas boasting himself to be some body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which methinks is a fuller expression than is used of Simon Magus of whom it is said that he gave out that himself was some great one Acts 8.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the former implieth that for any man to think himself to be any thing in and of himself is a point of pride and such a kind of mistake as if one should think a meere shadow to be a real body or substance Ps 144.4 Man is like vanity his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away When I observe how men do treat those that are notoriously proud I fancy them to be like the picture we see in some Almanacks viz. A man every where pierced with arrows from head to foot because every body is ready to wound the reputation of a proud man and to make his name to bleed and be confident that the great God hath as much displeasure against him as men can have I say therefore once again as you love your selves and as you love your City be humble be lowly minded take heed of lifting up your selves after that God hath cast you down Conquer pride and you conquer a third part of the world for S. John speaketh of the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride life as if they three were all that is in the world 1 John 2.16 Conquer pride and take the comfort of that excellent and incouraging passage Joh 22.29 When men are cast down then thou shalt say there is lifting up and he shall save the humble â—erson DISCOURSE XLV That to seek the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof in the first place for Londoners generally so to do were one of the best ways to obtain a new City HE that reads the title of this Chapter will presently reflect upon Mat. 6.33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you and in reflecting upon those words will see a plain proof of that proposition whereof the title doth consist taking it for granted that though meat and drink and cloathing be the only things expressed in that place of which it is said they shall be added to them that seek the kingdom God yet all other needful things for this life are there implied and intended as by a parity of reason which is a good sort of argument may be concluded The foregoing words are your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things v. 32. From whence we may infer that all such things as our heavenly Father knows we have need or necessity of in this life shall be added to them who seek his Kingdom in the first place Our ultimate or last end so far as we foresee it our selves is always first thought of it is first in intention though it be last in execution We think of the end of our journey or that which for the present we intend shall be so before we seâ— out or enterprize the beginning thereof In this sense ought the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof to be sought by us in the first place that is to be made our highest end our ultimate design to which all other designs are to be referred and subordinated as for example If your ends and aims be regular they are in this order you would have a City that you might buy and sell and get gain that is the lowest round of the ladder you would do that that you and yours might live and comfortably subsist you would have a comfortable subsistence that you might attend upon God without distraction and serve him with chearfulness in the midst of all the good things which he shall give you to injoy and you would serve God on earth in righteousness and holiness before him that you might for ever injoy him in Heaven and arrive to that glorious Kingdom which he hath provided for them that love and serve him This is your highest end and thus doing thus aiming you seek the Kingdom of God in the first place For though that end be the last thing in order of time and of attainment yet it is first in order of nature for all causes are before their effects now ends are causes as the final cause is often spoken of and the highest ends of any action is the first cause thereof that is within our selves and consequently it is the first thing that is in our thoughts it is the first mover the great wheel or spring that sets all the rest a going Now I say in this manner to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness of it if that were generally done by those that are concerned in London would make that desolate City to spring up as tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain and cause the blessing of God to come down upon it like rain upon the women grass Religion all things considered was never a hinderance to any great and worthy undertaking but always a help and furtherance The prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah as I shewed before made the building of the Temple to prosper A religious standing still to allude to those words of Moses Exod. 14.13 stand still and see the salvation of the Lord Will make the City
swallowed up by the greater light and brightness of the Sun Say not that Citizens are already disposed of and setled well enough for are not divers of them forced to live in the country to this day and to leave off their trades ever since the fire as not knowing where to accommodate themselves in or about the City And as for others who since that time have planted themselves either in the City or suburbs how incommodiously are many if not the most of them scituated both as to their trades and families how do they complain of being pent up and streightned for want of room how unsweet and unpleasant are many of their dwellings how private and obscure do not some of them seem to dwell more like Diogenes then like themselves at leastwise rather in tents and booths then in houses who knoweth these things to be so and yet hath the heart to say that Citizens are well enough as they are and that it is no matter if London never be rebuilt If God had not more love and pitty for them then they have that say such things I know what they must trust to but to the shame and confusion of their faces who care not what becomes of London and Londoners and in despight of all the terrible predictions of Astrologers threatning us with I know not what sad effects of a third Comet I doubt not but through the goodness of God London as sinful a place as it is will be built again And now a word to the Astrologers their predictions because I hinted that objection in the second Chapter and then forgot to answer it what Astrologer in the world can assure us that when three Comets appear together or within a little time one of another each of them doth portend a several judgment hanging over the head of that nation or people which those Comets seem to point at As Joseph told Pharaoh That the seven good kine are seven years and the seven good ears are seven years and the dream is one Gen. 41.26 That is the two things he dreamt of did point out but one and the same event and as Joseph had two several dreams Gen. 37.5 9. one about the Sheaves and the other about the Sun Moon and Stars which were but one and the same in signification so it may very well be that two or three Comets may point out but one and the same judgment But admit that each of those Blazing Sars were intended to foretel a several Judgment it doth not follow that one of the Judgments thereby portended must needs be yet to come for if I mistake not we have had three sore Judgments since those Comets viz. Plague Sword and Fire But what I have here said to Astrologers I confess to be a digression in this place and only the supply of an omission in the foregoing chapter therefore I will not much insist upon it but yet must needs put them in mind of that pat and pertinent place Isa 44.25 Thus saith the Lord that frustrateth the takens of the liers and maketh diviners mad c. v. 26. That saith unto Jerusalem thou shalt be inhabited and to the Cities of Judah ye shall be built and I will raise up the decayed places thereof v. 28. That saith unto Cyrus he is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem thou shalt be built and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid The Diviners seem in this place to be called lyars for that very reason because they did prophecy Jerusalem should not be rebuilt flattering the Babylonish monarchy as if that should always last whereas God had purposed to raise it up again I would wish those great deciers viz. of future contingencies for so the name given to Astrologers Isa 47.13 doth signifie to read that chapter also and their doom in it methinks ever since black Munday as they called it only black to the Astrologers themselves as I remember by frustrating their predictions that sort of men should learn to be more modest and not bear the world in hand as if they were Secretaries of Heaven or of the Almighty his privy counsel which I no more believe then I do the vaporing of some of their brethren who pretend to certain rules of their art as Tully reporteth of forty thousand yet some of seventy thousand years standing whereas for many thousand years since that the world being not yet six thousand years old there were neither stars to observe nor men to observe them But to return to the business in hand I wish it were put to the vote of all the people in England whether it be or be not of great importance that London should be rebuilded Here and there we might light upon a person that had an â—aking tooth against that City and would vote for continuing it in its ashes but I am well assured that five to one would be of another mind and say we were undone if London were not restored I am bold to affirm and therewith I shall conclude this Chapter that he is a man that doth not understand consequences which is the character of a person void both of Logick and Reason who thinks it a matter of no consequence and importance that London should be rebuilded DISCOURSE IV. That it is convenient the re-edifying of London should be with all possible speed and expedition I Shall not compare the kindnesses we have received from our Superiours one with another sith comparisons as they say are odious but sure I am they have not been more acknowledg'd and thank'd for any thing they have done than for their prudent Act for and concerning the rebuilding of London nor do I think there is any thing in that Act more thank-worthy than the zeal they have expressed for the dispatch of that work by injoyning under a great penalty that every house should be rebuilt within the space of three years after the date thereof pag. 94. though I doubt not but if that shall prove morally impossible to some though not to all they in their wisdom and clememcy will hereafter allow as much more time as shall be thought absolutely necessary Now if any man shall think it was more than needed to quicken men to a work to which their own interest and inclination might so much prompt them I must crave leave to dissent and to tell them that the dull minds of men had need to be stirred up by more than Ceremonies to those things in which they are greatly concerned witness Lot himself of whom it is said that whilst he lingred which was whilst the Flames of Sodom were pursuing him the men laid hold upon his hand the Lord being merciful to him and they brought him forth and set him without the City Gen. 19.16 I cannot but judge that the rebuilding of London calls for expedition when I consider how the burning Feaver which befel London in the year 66. was not the first fit of
custom of Londoners for Bricks Tiles Timber Glasse Lead Iron and other materials which concern building I conjure them by all that is worthy as they pretend to any thing of Christiantity or of humanity to use them kindly after so great a calamity as hath befallen them Give them their full quantity of every thing they bargain for and let them have that which is truely good and at as low a price as you can afford Rather wrong your selves than wrong them who have suffered so many things already rather lose than gain too much by them and yet I would wish you not to do that neither Let it never be said that you were raised by the Ruines of London or that the impoverishing of that City was that which made you rich unlesse you can become rich by a very small and slender profit out of each commodity If you be English-men London is your Mother as Jerusalem was the Mother of the Jews which are called the Daughters of Jerusalem Cant. 1.5 and consequently Londoners are your Brethren and will you not use them as such Alas many poor Citizens are laying out all they have in the world yea possibly more than all they have of their own upon that one house which they are building for their pure necessity and will you diminish those two mites which are all the treasure they have to lay out We read in Nathan's Parable of a poor man who had nothing save one little Ewe Lamb 2 Sam. 12.3 which lay in his bosom c. Surely the house which some indigent Citizens are building is to them as that Ewe-lamb was to the poor man and will you injure him in that one Lamb Will you make him pay so much for his materials that he shall never be able to pay for his house Did I know that man that had abused or would abuse a burnt-out Citizen in relation to his house whether as to materials or workmanship I say to abuse him or such a one of all men else I would discharge that Apostolical Canon in his face and hereby I do discharge it viz. That no man go beyond or defraud his Brother in any matter because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we have forewarned you and testified 1 Thes 4.6 DISCOURSE IX Of such as have made bold or shall make hold with other men their materials or with any part thereof I Hear that some have borrowed without leave if that may be called borrowing that is of some who have taken their neighbours Bricks and other materials which lay near to their own Ruines and have built their houses with them as confidently as if they had been their own Do such men think that the Fire hath made all things common that it did or could Leveller-like destroy all propriety and that not only de facto but de jure Is now all your own you can lay hands upon and doth every thing of right belong primum occupanti to him that can first get it into his possession Nay surely it is rather a kind of sacriledge to take from men what the Fire had left them forasmuch as the reliques of the Fire may in some sense be accounted Sacred and a kind of Deodates or things vouchsafed us or reserved for us by God immediately He hath a hard heart who grudgeth any man that small Legacy or Remainder of any thing which that most cruel Fire left him when it dyed or went out That took away your neighbor's Vintage and will you grudge them the Gleanings of their own ground Behold Theft upon Theft and that is the falsest Heraldry that can be Citizens were Robbed when their houses were burning and now that they would build their houses they are robb'd again You cannot think that your Neighbors Bricks and other materials have so far trespassed by lying near to yours that you may lawfully pound them in your own houses from whence they are never like to be released if he had took your materials as you did his how would you have taken it at his hands would you have put it up quietly In Jer. 23.30 it is written Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steal my Word every one from his Neighbor Was God against those Spiritual builders for so are Prophets which stole his Word from one another as Hananiah did from Jeremiah using the same words though to other purposes Thus saith the Lord c. Jer. 28.2 compared with Jer. 49.1 and 37. taking the very words out of Jeremiahs mouth c. How much more will he be against those temporal builders which steal away each others Materials because these latter cannot both make use of the same Materials at the same time but that the former viz. the Prophets might have done two of them might have spoken the same thing at the same time but two houses cannot be built with the same numerical Bricks c. Think of a few passages in Habbakkuk 2. v. 6. We to him that increaseth that which is not his How long and that ladeth himself with thick Clay which words are literally applicable to those that build with bricks which are not their own ver 9. Wo to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house that he may set his nest on high v. 10. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house v. 11. For the stones shall cry out of the Wall and the beam out of the Timber shall answer it ver 12. Wo to him that establisheth a City by iniquity Suppose the greater part of your materials were honestly come by even nineteen parts in twenty but a twentieth part or some much less proportion were got by stealth it is greatly to be feared and verily to be expected that even so small a pittance of that which was stollen will go nigh to ruine all the rest if satisfaction be not timely made for the injury done and the sin repented of as Gideon his one only bastard destroyed his 70 sons that were lawfully begotten Judg 9.5 Therefore my advice in short is this If thou hast made use of any part of thy Neighbours Materials unwittingly and afterwards dost come to know it satisfy him for the principal and tender him a fifth part over and above if he please to accept it for so was the Law of Restitution in case of unwilful injury Numb 5.7 but if thou have taken any thing from him knowingly offer him five for one if thou art able so to do for so was provided under the Law if any man did injure another wilfully Exod. 22.1 When thou art in thy Belcony or at the top of thy high house think of Zachaeus in the Sycamore-Tree and of what he said though not there If I have taken any thing from any man falsly I will restore him fourfold Luke 14.8 DISCOURSE X. Of such as have not wherewithal to build again ALas for those poor Londoners that would build their houses again and cannot If men cannot rise
upon the high places of the earth that is to dwell aloft in places of security and safety or the words may glance at the Land of Judea being much of it Mountainous and feed thee with the Heritage of Jacob thy Father that is with the good things of the Land of Canaan gâ—ven for an inheritance to him for his posterity See Isa 56.6 7. Every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it even them will I bring to my holy Mountain that is to Mount Sion on which the Temple was scituate See also Jer. 17.24 If ye hallow the Sabbath to do no work thereon then the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever v. 28. But if you will not hallow the Sabbath day I will kindle a fire which shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched From those Texts I infer that unto keeping the Sabbath several promises of God building and blessing of Cities and furnishing men with desirable habitations are made as on the other hand the profaning and polluting of the Sabbath is threatned with the destruction of Cities and of their Inhabitants which being true in the general or in thesi it must needs be in hypothesi or in particular that a Religious observation of the Sabbath day would help to build our City Who knows not that Nehemiah was a great and principal Agent in the building of Jerusalem after it was burnt Nehem. 2.5 and what Magistrate was ever more zealous than he if so zealous to have the Sabbath day kept holy witness his contending with Merchants and Tradesmen of all sorts yea with the very Nobles of Judah for profaning the Sabbath Nehemiah 13. from 15. to v. 22. Did not your Fathers thus said he to the Nobles and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon our City viz. destruction by fire yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath If profanation of Sabbaths procure the burning of Cities the sanctification of that day will promote the building thereof It is said Eadem est ratio loci temporis time and place are much akin if we would have regard to Gods time he would have respect to our place or places if we would mind his day would he not mind our dwellings the sanctifying of Sabbaths is the intrusting of God with the seventh part of our time even then when time is most precious with us Now God is alwayes bountiful to them that do greatly trust him Mal. 3.10 Bring all the tithes into the Storehouse and prove me therewith saith the Lord if I will not poure you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it as if God had said Do but trust me with the tenth part of the encrease and you shall see what the other nine shall amount to If we in like manner would trust God with the seventh part of our time for so our Sabbaths are doubtlesse the other six would through the blessing of God turn to a much better account I doubt not to say that one day in seven that is every Lords day we might promote the building of London much more in Churches and Closets than we could do in working upon the respective foundations for that indeed would set it back and might provoke God to swear in his Wrath it should never be brought to perfection I observe what is said of Manna Exod. 16.29 The Lord hath given you the Sabbath therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two daies let no man go out of his place on the seventh day viz. to gather Manna God made them amends for forbearing to progue on the Sabbath-day They that did as God had appointed them on the Sabbattical year viz. Neither sow their Fields nor prune their Vineyards Levit. 25.4 nor reap what grew of its own accord intirely for themselves but let it lye in common to others lost no more by so doing than a Husbandman doth by letting his ground lye fallow when it is out of heart that it may yield a greater encrease hereafter see Levit. 25.20 If ye shall say what shall we eat the seventh year behold we shall not sow nor gather in our encrease not for two years together when a Sabbattical year and a Jubile came together verse 21. Then will I command my blessing upon you in the sixth year and it shall bring forth fruit for three years He knew not what he said who derided Christians as men that lost the seventh part of their time because of the Sabbaths they kept whereas Sabbaths kept as they ought to be are no losse but the most profitable part of time But alas we so carry the matter as to lose a great part of that hallowed time which is of all our time most precious making holyday of a great part thereof in such sense as Children do understand holy-daies viz. as meer pastimes and play-daies I fear we begin our Sabbaths too late and end them too early we do not remember the Sabbath soon enough to keep it holy as we should and we forget it too soon we are not intent enough either upon preparation before or prosecution afterwards The Sabbaths which men generally keep now a daies are not only unlike to those of glorious Saints and Angels in Heaven but to such as were kept by those good Christians whom some intended to reproach by fixing upon them the honourable name of Puritans which sort of men I remember one that was none of them himself had wont to divide into two ranks saying there was the Knave Puritan that is one that was so but in pretence and for a colour and there was the Knave 's Puritan whom he confessed to be a very honest man and of an excellent sort but out of malice called a Puritan by such as were Knaves themselves because that to such as themselves the Name was odious though both Name and Person were so only for their goodness Now having heard a distinction to that effect I must explain my self and tell you that it was the Knave 's Puritan that is he and such as he whom Knaves had wont to call so of whom I affirm that he had wont to keep Sabbaths at anotherguise rate than we observe them kept now a daies such as Reverend Dod Hildersham c. and yet they were not upon their good behaviour as we are for the building a poor City lying in ashes They would have blusht to have seen our Sabbaths Oh that we could blush to think of them they would scarce have been able to think us sincere Christians observing us to have so small a regard to the fourth Commandement They would have often rebuked us sharply for our Sabbath-daies discourse and minded us of the Text that saith we should not speak our own words on the Lords day Isa 58. when in this respect shall we be followers of those worthies aforesaid who now inherit the Promises A City the
complexions are most tempted to Atheism and Blasphemy and experience telleth us that in times of most discontent those sins do most abound for discontent and melancholy go together In discontented breasts there is envying and strife and where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work James 3.16 Elisha having been disturbed at the sight of Jehoram could not prophesy till he had called for a minstrel to help to compose his Spirit 2 Kings 3.16 Religion as well as prophesying calleth for a composed and a sedate mind God was not in the whirlwind nor in the earthquake but in the still voice It is a proverb that Inter arma silent leges humane laws are but liâ—tle observed in a time of war and it is as true of the laws of God as of men The noise of drums and trumpets useth to drown the still voice of Religion In times of discontent Atheism is wont to swarm like flies in summer and those that were never tainted with it before are subject then to be fly-blown more or less Vexation drew forth those daring words from him that said This evil is of the Lord what should I wait for the Lord any longer 2 Kings 6.33 Discontent is rats-bane to Religion I mean rank poison A little of it will destroy a particular duty and a great deal will shake the very foundations of that grace that is in any of us Moses when vexed brake both the tables of the law though made of stone Discontents are some of those thorns which indanger the choaking of all good seed Religion is a service reasonable but discontent and oppression do make men mad Many Suns are wont to go down upon the wrath of discontented persons and therefore they must needs give place to the Devil Eph. 4.26 and what mean time becomes of their Religion Methinks I cannot say enough to make the world sensible of that vast prejudice which redounds to Religion by the generality of men being discontented and out of humor to the end men may labor to prevent or cure it both in themselves and others The Psalmist saith why do the heathen rage and from sad experience it may be said that to make men rage or outragious is one of the readiest wayes to make them heathens Such as are desperately discontented use not to care either what they say or what they do no not against themselves witness Achitophel no not against God Isa 8.21 Therefore it was that Satan desired of God to touch all that Job had and said he he will curse thee to thy face Job 1.11 If he curse thee not to thy face it is in the margent q. d. if he do not I am deceived and so he was but knowing the manner of other men he thought he could not forbear to curse God when his affliction was so very great Though one sort of poor are said to receive the Gospel that is more generally than others yet those that are poor unto beggery pincht with cold and hunger are too well known to be generally as vile as any sort of men and as void of the least appearance of Religion which made Agar to deprecate poverty and probable it is that their being greatly male content may be the principal reason It cannot be denied but that we ought to be bettered by miseries as well as by mercies and to learn obedience by the things which we suffer and it is often so that when the troubles of men are but moderate they do them good and not hurt but when men are whipt with Scorpions when their punishments are greater than they can bear then corrupt nature discovers its self as naturalists say in another sense Vexata natura prodit seipsam I could never yet see that deep melancholy and high discontent was a proper soil for Religion to thrive in but rather the quite contrary Saul when at his wits ends betook himself to the witch of Endor and too many are of his mind that said Flectere si nequeo superos Acheronta movebo They will address to Hell if they cannot prevail with Heaven They that look upon their condition to be a kind of Hell upon Earth will scarce refrain blaspheming as they do that are in Hell A general discontent is an axe laâ—d to the root of Religion What Religion can there be where there is no love what love can there be to God or men when there is no contentment with the providence of the one or practises of the other Gods dispensations and mens dealings are so interwoven that men are seldom angry with the latter but they are so with the former because the hand of divine providence is in all the dealings of men though in such a manner as to be no whit accessary to the unrighteousness of any of them How oft is God less loved than otherwise he would be for mens sake and for the sake of those misactings whereby they become hated and all because his providence is known to concur but in a most justifiable way with all the proceedings of men Wizards Witches and Devils shall be the last instances I will now produce of the sad fruits of prevailing discontent as to the extirpating of all Religion Devils we justly account the worst of all creatures Wizards and Witches the worst and farthest from Religion of any sort of men and women now Wizards and Witches are commonly deemed the most discontented parcel of mankind as well as the worst and Devils which are something worse than Witches themselves yet more discontented than they How do I therefore long for Religion sake to see an end of Discontents that some men would take care to give less offence and others would take no more than becomes them Methinks that same is â—o ill proverb Any thing for a quiet life If any reason will satisfie men for Gods sake for religions â—ake let satisfaction be given them either in whole or in part lest the worm of discontent perfectly wither the goard of our Religion and for want of that blessed shade expose us to the scorching heat of the wrath of God England is in a high feaver that feaver is discontent how rough and how black are the tongues of men how restless are they day and night how do they fling and throw and start and sigh and groan and talk many times as they that know not what they say how many seem near unto a phrensy if they be not in one already All this while it must be ill with the heart of England and what is the heart and Soul of a Nation but the Religion thereof was ever man in a feaver and his heart unconcerned or not disordered thereby as much or more than any other part Now for a David with his Harp to lay the evil spirit of discontent now for some musical harmony though made up of discords to cure the venemous bitings of that strange Tarantula discontent I mean which makes men moan and wail and cry
free-will-offering Moreover they are to make such Laws as all or the generality of men may be able to observe Now all men are not in a capacity to fast frequently yea some it may be so much greater is their leasure can better keep one fast every week than others can keep two in a whole year So that though it may be no fault in our Magistrates to injoyn but one fast in a year in order to imploring mercy for the desolate City yet it may be a great fault in the people to whom it is as lawful to fast as it is to pray without special command from their superiors as having a command for him that is supreme to pray always that is at all opportunities and fasting is but a necessary concomitant of prayer as the case may be to observe no more than one day of religious fasting throughout the whole year upon so great an accompt We read that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah four daies in a year Judg 11.40 Now what was the loss of Jephthahs daughter to the loss of such a City as London was though she were made a sacrifice but if that perpetual virginity whereto she was consigned over by her fathers vow as some understand it from v. 39. Who did with her according to his vow and she knew no man were all they went to bewail four daies in a year one would think that the loss of such a City as London might better deserve four weeks or moneths every year to lament it and which is more to implore mercy for it whereas the condition of Jephthahs daughter was irretrievable whether she were put to death or whether it were only that by her fathers vow and her own superadded consent she was obliged to continue single all the daies of her life Now Davids example may tell us that when our fasting and mourning can do good as he thought it might for his child whilst it lived and we believe it may to our desolate City then chiefly if not only ought we to give way to it How often men should fast upon the loss and for the recovery of such a City as London was can be brought within no rule that will take in every man only so often as God shall afford them real opportunities of which some have ten times as many within the compass of one year as some others have But this may incourage us to be as frequent in prayer and fasting as we can namely that no such service rightly performed shall ever be in vain Physicians need not be farther invited to make frequent visits to their patients that need it than by finding they are always welcom come as oft as they will and do never lose their labour This is just the case let us make as frequent applications as we will or can to the throne of grace for our selves or others in such manner as becometh us we shall be always welcom and not lose our labour once For God is nigh to all that call upon him in truth in all things that they call upon him for Deut. 4.7 What better or more sutable examples of praying and fasting and of the good success thereof in such a case as that of our City I say what better examples can we desire than are afforded us in those two famous men viz. Ezra and Nehemiah Ezra 8.21 Then I proclaimed a fast that we might afflict our selves before our God to seek of him a right way for us Namely when he and others were going from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of God there v. 23. So we fasted and besought our God for this and he was intreated of us Se also Nehemiah 1.4 And when I heard these words I sat down and mourned certain daies and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven viz. when he heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates thereof burnt with fire v. 3. The thing he prayed for was that he might find favour in the Kings eyes to go up to Jerusalem every way furnished to build that desolate City Now v. 8. it is said And the King granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me Now I wish that upon all that I have said the resolution of men may be to keep that Anniversary fast which the Magistrate hath appointed for the City in the most solemn way that can be and over and above that to keep as many more such dayes in private though in publick they cannot without publick leave as they shall have opportunity to do For as Israel prevailed against Amaleck as much by Moses lifting up his hands viz. in prayer as by the peoples brandishing their swords in war Exod. 17.11 for when he let down his hand Amaleck prevailed so it is a real truth how few soever do believe it that those who are builders in the common acceptation of that word viz. Carpenters Bricklayers and other artificers do not more truly contribute to the building of such a City as London is in which religion as having been long known and professed there doth claim a great interest than they do who with tender regard to its recovery do earnestly apply themselves to prayer and fasting The bridegroom of England as in a civil sense I may call London though in a spiritual sense Christ himself likewise is so called being taken away fasting is now in season for saith Christ to which we only allude when the bridegroom shall be taken from them then shall they fast As the mother of Augustin comforted her self with this concerning him viz. That a son of so many prayers and tears should not miscarry so may we comfort our selves concerning London if it be a City as he was a son of many prayers and tears that it shall not miscarry but go out its full time and be brought to its intended perfection DISCOURSE XXXII On Ezra 6.14 And the elders of the Jews builded and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah INtending to treat of all the helps we can think upon as for the rebuilding of London that of good Prophets who in former ages have been very serviceable even to the purposes of building witness the text above mentioned may at no hand be omitted I have shewed before that good Magistrates may contribute very much to such a work as is in hand viz the restoring of the City and now I shall make it as evident that good Ministers also might much contribute thereunto It is said in express terms that the Jews builded and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai It is like that Haggai did not lay one stone in the building of the Temple and yet all things considered no man was more instrumental in that work than he for he it was who in the name of God put them upon it and incouraged them in it Haggai 1.4 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai
nearer for having conceived and bred with much sickness and sorrow if she cannot go out half her time can she rejoyce in the untimely fruit of her womb such a thing is London if you now break off What discouraged by the burning of one house The Israelites when by Gods command they went to fight against the Benjamites were twice defeated and lost two and twenty thousand men the first and eighteen thousand the second time Judg. 20.21 25. and yet they went up the third time and prospered v. 30. God would teach us an humble dependance upon himself by some rebukes at first when yet he hath kind intentions towards us afterwards I hear the Gentleman whose house was burnt is building it again as fast as he can and he is to be commended for it If the daughters of Sarah be not afraid of any amazement as it is 1 Pet. 3.6 Why should they who profess themselves the sons of Abraham He hath been twice burnt out you but once why should you be more afraid to build the second time than he to build the third God grant him success answerable to his courage and others a courage as good as his Men so resolved would make those weary of burning who think to make them weary of building Who would comply with the design of an enemy and gratifie him at the first dash So do they who are so far discouraged by the burning of that one house as to desist from building or from the thoughts of it for they give them what they desire whom they presume to have kindled that fire for no other end but to discourage those who had an intent to build A wise man will not seem to be moved at those things which are done or spoken on purpose to make him angry as knowing he shall vex his enemy if he can make him think that he is not vexed by him Mical put an edge upon David when she thought to make him leave dancing before the Ark by scoffing at him as if he made himself vile causing him to answer her 2 Sam. 6.22 I will be yet â—ore vile than thus c. It were better for us to resolve that for every house they burn we will build two God permitting than that we will build no more If there be incendiaries that burn houses on purpose ten to one but they will be taken naping and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they say one time or other and when the actors are discovered the snare will be broken and we for the future delivered If London were once up again being built as now it is with brick c. It would not be so easy to burn it as it was before though God could melt it down if it were all of solid Gold I say in an ordinary way a general conflagration would be with much more difficulty and as for particular burnings men did always venture them and build as chearfully as if they had been liable to no such thing The excellent way of blowing up houses little confided in but rather dreaded before having gotten into use and credit since the burning of London is I am perswaded a great discouragement to the masters of powder plots from making any more attempts of that nature with hope of a general success so that if they still design our destruction they will take some other course in reference to which either to build or not to build may be all a case I mean to which neither building will expose us nor yet forbearing to build will from thence exempt us Not to rebuild London for fear of enemies and their new attempts is no better pollicy than for an army that were routed to refuse to rally and come into order again though they could for fear of a fresh onset from the enemy whom they are in no capacity to withstand or to defend themselves unless they rally again and stand to order My humble advice upon the whole matter is this Be not terrified at a probable conjecture so as if it were an absolute certainty It is yet undemonstrated how that house came burnt though much feared and suspected to have been by treachery Bless God it went no farther Build not alone but get as many as you can to build near and about you Get up the whole City as fast as you can The more of it gets up the harder it will be to get it down Buds are not so easily destroyed as blossoms or ripe fruit as either of them DISCOURSE XLII That the due exercise of mercy and charity would promote the building of the City AS cruelty is a desolating sin Mat. 23.37 Your house is left unto you desolate said Christ to Jerusalem upon that account so mercy on the other hand is a building grace It was an act of mercy in the Egyptian midwives and that contrary to a command but a cruel one with respect to which we read that God built them houses viz. For saving those poor infants whom Pharoah had appointed them to drown One of the best ways to prevail with God for whatsoever mercy we desire for our selves whereof the building of London at this day is one is to shew mercy to others With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful saith the Psalmist speaking of God Ps 18.25 We find a bundle of promises Ps 41.1 2 3. Made to him that confidereth the poor and amongst the rest these two viz. That God will deliver him in the time of trouble and that we shall be blessed upon the earth and that God will not deliver him to the will of his enemies It is yet a time of trouble with London it lieth still as upon â—â—e bed of sickness or languishing the will of its â—â—emies doubtless is that it should never be rebuilt Let it therefore be merciful to it self in being â—erciful to others that God may deliver it in the time of trouble strengthen it upon the bed of languishing and not deliver it into the will of his enemies It is one of Solomons proverbs That the merciful â—an doeth good to his own soul Prov. 1.17 meaning himself In being charitable to others we are most of all so to our selves One of the Psalmists characters of a good man is He is ever merciful and â—â—ndeth Ps 37.26 his counsel is Depart from evil â—nd do good that is be merciful v. 27. the inâ—ouragement followeth and dwell for evermore Christ his counsel is Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may â—â—ceive you into everlasting habitations Luk. 16.9 and â—hall they want temporal habitations who make to â—emselves friends of that Mammon But where is mercy and charity to be found may we not cry out with the Psalmist Ps 12.1 Help Lord for the merciful man ceaseth for so the word chasid translated godly doth signifie May we not say as the Prophet of old The Lord hath a conâ—â—oversy with the land because there is no mercy in the â—and
others is less accounted of and the humble person as the latter who shineth more with the raies of other mens commendation than a proud man that hath more brightness of his own Many kinds of sinners do love one another as such viz. Fellow-drunkards fellow-gamesters fellow-whoremasters but proud persons are great haters of their own order I mean one of another all hate pride in others but none hate it so much as they that have most in themselves We have heard of the family of love a sect so called but proud persons may go by the name of the family of hatred God having signified his hatred to them by leaving them above all other sorts of men to hate one another Proud men so far as such will not suffer God to dwell with them and in them and therefore may not presume that God will as much concern himself for them and for their dwellings as for those who invite God to dwell in them for so by their humility they do and in whom God himself delights to dwell Two texts will fully prove the several branches of this second reason viz. Ps 10.3 The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts Therefore I say proud persons will not let God dwell with them But as to others God saith I dwell with him that is of an humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble Isa 57.15 God will provide dwellings for them with whom himself delights to dwell whilst others it may be shall go without God knows how little thanks himself shall have for building a City or any thing else he shall do for proud persons who will certainly overlook his hand and power and goodness and ascribe all to their own Deut. 8.12 14 17. Beware least when thou art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein then thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God and thou say in thine heart my power and the might of mine hand hath given me this wealth When their hearts were lifted up then were they in danger to overlook the power of God and surely his goodness no less for what the Jews said to Christ touching the Centurion viz. That he was worthy for whom he should do this so proud persons are apt to think that they themselves are worthy of all that is done for them either by God or men and who will be so thankful for what he takes as a due as for what he takes as a curtesy and meer benevolence To do great things for proud men as to build a City for them were to increase their pride and to make them greater in their own eyes who are too great already therefore the text saith Beware least when thou hast built goodly houses and dwelt in them thine heart be lifted up Deut. 8. When God hath made men humble then and not till then he hath had his design in ruining them and therefore then it may be hoped he will go about to restore them Deut. 8.15 Who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness that he might humble thee and do thee good at thy latter end but first humble thee What should proud men do with goodly Cities set them on fire with contention for of pride commeth contention and make them less desirable than a wilderness as Solomon Prov. 21.9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the house top than with a brawling woman in a wide house Both from the promises and threatnings of God may humble men collect that they shall fare better than those that are proud The threatning saith that God resisteth the proud and he whom God resisteth is but in an ill case and unlike to prosper God seems to delight in crossing and carrying headlong the designs of proud persons as of those that went about to build the tower of Babel of Pharaoh and of Nebuchadnezar and it is the temper of not a few men and women to love to cross and set themselves against those persons whom they judg exceeding proud The word of promise is that the meek shall inherit the earth and therefore they have most reason to expect that God will build a City for them and for their sakes Why should proud men be more adorned they make too great a shew already and are like meat that is stuck with many scuers fairer to the eye but worse for spending and most apt to be fly-blown Pride and self confidence or confidence in those things which men are proud of usually go together Therefore the Apostle saith Charg them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches and Solomon warns men not to lean to their own understanding viz. Such as are apt to be proud thereof now God delights to frustrate the designs and enterprises of those persons who trust in themselves or in any other creature and to shew them the weakness of an arm of flesh Jer. 17.5 Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm for he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited Proud men are apt to affront God and therefore it is not to be wondred at that God should not do as much for them as for those that are humble Give me not riches said Agur least I be ful and deny thee and say who is the Lord Prov. 30.4 How can men affront God more than in saying who is the Lord and so said Pharaoh in the pride of his heart who is the Lord that I should obey him Proud men must be crossed and frustrated least they should think themselves to be more than men Ps 9.20 Put them in fear O Lord that the nations may know themselves to be but men Considering then how many wayes God is obliged as it were to resist those that are proud them and their designs and how he hath obliged himself by promise to do great things for them that are â—â—mble viz. To teach them to dwell with them 〈◊〉 revive and comfort them c. These things â—â—sidered if you would up with your City down â—ith your pride proud looks words habits geâ—res manner of living and above all proud hearts â—hich are the cause of all the rest Consider those â—ords Lam. 3.29 He putteth his mouth in the dust 〈◊〉 so be there may be hope and that in James 4.10 Humble your selves in the sight of the Lord and he shall â—â—ft you up No misery but Hell nor that neither â—ill humble that person that is not humbled by the â—urning of such a City as London was himself being greatly concerned in it Till God have made us kiss his rod and so far forth accept the punishment of our iniquity as to acknowledg that he was righteous in burning so great a part of our City and had
to night in visiting the sick on a Dying-bed as also the means how a Christian may do this and some motives to it 4. The Door of Salvation opened by the Key of Regeneration 5. Heaven and Hell Epitomized and the True Christan Characterized 6. The Fading of the Flesh and the flourishing of Faith Or One cast for Eternity with the only way to throw it well all these by George Swinnock M. A. Large Octavo's A learned Commentary on the fourth Chapter of the second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians to which is added First A Conference between Christ and Mary Second the Spiritual Mans Aim Third Emanuel or Miracle of Miracles by Richard Sibbs D. D. 4 to An Exposition of the five first Chapters of Ezekiel with useful observations thereupon by Will. Greenhil 4 to The Gospel-Covenant or the Covenant of Grace opened Preached in New England by Peter Bulkeley 4 to Gods Holy Mind touching Matters Moral which himself uttered in ten words or ten Commandments Also an Exposition on the Lords Prayer by Edward Elton B. D. 4 to A plain and familiar Exposition of the ten Commandments by John Dod 4 to Fiery Jesuite or an Historical Collection of the Rise Increase Doctrines and Deeds of the Jesuites Exposed to view for the sake of London 4 to Horologiographia Optica Dialing Universal and Particular Speculative and Practical together with the Description of the Court of Arts by a new Method by Sylvanus Morgan 4 to Praxis Medicinae or the Physicians Practice wherein are contained all inward diseases from the head to the foot by Walter Bruel Regimen Sanitatis Salerni or the School of Salerns Regiment of Health containing Directions and Instructions for the guide and government of Mans Life 4 to Christ and the Covenant the work and way of Meditation Delivered in ten Sermons Large Octavo's By William Bridge late of great Yarmouth Heart-treasure or a Treatise tending to fill and furnish the head and heart of every Christian with soul-inriching treasure of truths graces experiences and comforts to help him in Meditation Conference Religious Performances Spiritual Actions Enduring Afflictions and to fit him for all conditions that he may live Holily dye Happily and go to Heaven Triumphantly by O. H. with an Epistle prefixed by John Chester Large Octavo A Glimpse of Eternity by A. Caley A Practical Discourse of Prayer wherein is handled the Nature and Duty of Prayer by Tho. Cobbet Of Quenching the Spirit the evil of it in respect both of its causes and effects discovered by Theophilus Polwheile Wells of Salvation opened or Words whereby we may be saved with advice to Young Men by Tho. Vincent The sure way to Salvation or a Treatise of the Saints Mystical Union with Christ wherein that great Mystery and Priviledge is opened in the nature properties and the necessity of it by R. Stedman M. A. The greatest loss upon Matth. 16.26 By James Livesey small Octavo's Moses unvailed by William Guild The Protestants Triumph being an exact answer to all the sophistical Arguments of Papists By Ch. Drelincourt A Defence against the fear of Death By Z. Crofton Gods Soveraignty displayed By William Geering A sober Discourse concerning the Interest of words in Prayer The Godly Mans Ark or City of refuge in the day of his distress in five Sermons with Mistriss Moores Evidences for Heaven By Ed. Calamy The Almost Christian Discovered or the false Professor tryed and cast By Mr. Mead. Spiritual Wisdom improved against temptation by Mr. Mead. A Divine Cordial A word of comfort for the Church of God A Plea for Alms in a Sermon at the Spittle The Godly Mans Picture drawn with a Scripture-pensil These four last were written by Tho. Watson The Doctrine of Repentance useful for these times with two Sermons against Popery by Thomas Watson The True bounds of Christian freedom or a Discourse shewing the extents and restraints of Christian liberty wherein the truth is setled many errors confuted out of John 8. ver 36. A Treatise of the Sacrament shewing a Christians Priviledge in approaching to God in Ordinances duty in his Sacramental approaches danger if he do not sanctifie God in them both by Sam. Bolton D. D. The Lords Day enlivened or a Treatise of the Sabbath by Philip Goodwin The sinfulness of Sin and the Fulness of Christ two Sermons by W. Bridge A serious Exhortation to a Holy Life by Tho. Wadsworth Ovid's Metamorphosis Translated Grammatically by J. Brinsley Comfortable Crumbs of refreshment by Prayers Meditations Consolations and Ejaculations with a Confession of Faith and summ of the Bible Aurifodina Linguae Gallicae or the Golden Mine of the French Language opened by Ed. Gostlin Gent. The difference between the spots of the Godly and Wicked in four Sermons by Jer. Burroughs Four Centuries of Select Hymns collected out of Scripture by Will. Barton
vilifie others who are much their betters both as to gifts and graces which is so irrational a thing that one would think it should easily be apprehended and avoided We bring Religion its self even that which is truly so called into great dis-esteem whilst we refuse to own it in any dress but one for if all should do so Religion so and so modified would no where have the applause and suffrage of any more then one party of men if there be twenty and fall under the censure and condemnation of all the rest By that means the faith of such as are weak would be staggered and they would be tempted to question the truth of that Religion which is represented to them as peculiar to themselves though it be indeed common to all sound Christians and sober Protestants that is so much of it as the Church of God determineth to be de fide that is of absolute certainty and necessary to salvation That men of another Opinion then our selves are of in matters controverted are therefore of another Religion and that utterly vain is a principle that hath bred a great deal of strife and debate but a principle so fond and sensless so ignorant and arrogant that one would think it should easily be parted with and when ever men shall let it go the fire of our dissentions would slake presently and that if love to one another begin to kindle why should men say in opposition to one another Lot here is Christ viz. in the Desart or there viz. in the secret Chambers as it is Mat. 24.26 whereas Christ may be here and there too and hath said that wheresoever he recordeth his name thither he will come Surely there are not fewer different Opinions as to Religion openly professed in the Low-Countries then are in England neither are there fewer different modes and wayes in and of the exercise of Religion there then here yet there they are quiet and here we are all in an uproar And what is the reason but because here we are alwayes biting and devouring one another as if it were a part of our Religion to oppose and vilifie the Religion of others though but circumstantially differing from our own whereas we ought to have charity and Veneration for it as agreeing with our own in the most material things and as the Apostles rule is Phil. 3.16 Whereto we have attained already walk by the same rule and mind the same things Now the causes of our divisions being so manifest as they are and the cure so easie as appeareth by the obviousness and easie practicableness of those thirteen healing Principles which I have laid down why should we despair that those causes will ever be removed and our divisions and discontents at length healed Surely there is Balm in our Gilead Jer. 8.22 there is some Physitian there though the health of the Daughter of our people be not recovered nay give me leave to say that I think our wounds are not so great as great as they are but that they might be cured with Vnguentum Apostolorum if I may so call it I mean such as is prescribed Rom. 14. almost throughout that Chapter especially if for better digestion sake a little Basilicon were added thereunto All the Objections I have now left to answer against the building of London are those which were taken from the present poverty of the Nation and the fear of future troubles both from abroad and at home I much fear what was said of Cinna is true of London Cinna videtur esse pauper est pauper London doth not only seem to be much impoverished but is really so And how can it otherwise be all things considered But must Citizens therefore quit their trades How shall they ever be rich again but by means of trading yea how can many of them so much as subsist without it And if trade they must where should they trade but in the City and how should they trade there unless they build again Whereas the fear of future troubles hath been insinuated as an argument against building it cannot be denied but that our manifold sins and present distractions may cause us to exspect them But first of all may not the infinite mercies of God possibly prevent the confusions which we exspect and not suffer the things we fear to come upon us or may not the Divine patience reprieve the Nation for some considerable time as the old world was reprieved after sentence denounced and if so will it not be every mans wisdome to make the best provision he can for him and his in the mean time shall men certainly and forthwith undo themselves for fear of being hereafter undone Shall not men seek to live whilst they may for fear they may not afterwards be able to live if they would ever so fain Solomon saith He that observeth the wind shall not sow that is He shall never atchieve any thing who will adventure nothing like one that would not sow till he were sure of the wind and weather to continue such as he would have them and that he can never be Go which way you will to work to improve your estates you shall run an adventure He that layeth out his mony upon lands shall have little profit great taxes and it may be bad title he that will turn Merchant must run the hazard of winds and seas and shelves and sands and Pirats unfaithful servants at home unconscionable and uncontroulable Factors abroad He that shall put his mony to interest besides that some scruple the lawfulness of so doing shall if he fare no better then other men be in danger of loosing both it and his principal if he happen to loose neither six per cent is all the increase he can exspect whereas in the way of building upon the wast of London there are that hope to make almost double that improvement To them that shall say they are under hatches and therefore they have no heart to build I would propose what is written Jer. 29.4 5. Thus saith the Lord to all that are carried away captives c. Build ye houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them Who can say it is worse with them now then it was with the Jews when this advice was given them more I could say to incourage heartless builders but that these two first Chapters have swelled too much already for which I can make no Apology but this that these were strings most of all to be harped upon and that the rest of my discourses are like to prove like those that sprang up after the flood viz. much shorter liv'd then those that went before them upon the whole matter I shall take leave to apply to desponding Londoners those words of the Prophet Jer. 26.19 Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs c. As also what was said of the dry bones mentioned
Ezek. 37.5 Thus saith the Lord God unto those bones behold I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live And I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin and ye shall know that I am the Lord. DISCOURSE III. Of how great Consequence it is that the now wast and desolate City of London should be re-edified SUrely it was not without cause that London whilest standing hath always continued the Metropolis of England though no such promise were ever made to it as unto Judah of old that the scepter or principality should never depart from it and though an old prophecy hath been that London was and York should be Yea though London hath several times ceased to be its self for a while lying in ashes as now it doth once fourscore years together and other places have succeded in the Metropolitanship for that time yet no sooner was it raised again but other places as if but its Deputies and Viceroies did presently resign the preheminence to it and like to Nebuchadnezzar come from grass and turn'd man again it was presently re-inthroned and restored to its former dignity and Primacy This I say was not for nothing but did certainly imply there was something in the place the scituation I mean for sometimes little else hath been left that did render it much more fit then any other to be the Metropolis or head City of England so that as often as London was in being no other town or City would offer to come in competition with it It was the river Nilus made Egypt rich and fruitful and hath it not been the River of Thames hath alwayes under God made London what it was They that would utterly destroy London must dry up that River as the river Euphrates for the destroying of Babylon or set it at some greater distance from that City For whilst they two stand so near together London is like to be rich and fruitful like trees that are planted by the rivers of water or like meadow ground that is overflown What is said of Joseph is like to be verified of London Gen. 49.22 Joseph is a fruitful bough by a wall whose branches run over the wall By the side of London is planted that great trunk of the vena porta of the Nation I mean the great mouth and inlet of trade the river of Thames I mean which makes it so necessary for England that England cannot much better subsist without it that is to say in wealth and prosperity then a man can live whose mouth is sowed up and who can take no nourishment but as a glyster no breath but at his nostrils They are deceived that think England may be destroyed meerly and only by destroying London for a time for if England its self be not first destroyed it must and will God permitting always have another London let the former be burnt or demolished ever so often London is the heart of England and if it were not primum vivens it will be ultimum moriens at leastwise England if it do not die first must die not long after it for without a heart it cannot long live If London fall it must rise again or all England must fall too at leastwise into great misery disgrace and poverty London is the place to which those passages of the Prophet concerning Tyre are most applicable of any place I know Isa 23.4 Thou whom the Merchants that pass over sea have replenished the harvest of the river is her revenue and she is a mart of Nations c. v. 8. The crowning City whose merchants are Princes and whose trâ—ffiquers are the honourable of the earth At leastwise this she was fuimus troes nigens gloria and this with the blessing of God she is most capable to be again And is it not of great consequence that a City of so vast a concernment to the whole nation should be rebuilt Which of all our famous Cities is fit to make a Head for so vast and Noble a Body as England is London excepted There is much deformity and inconvenience in a Head that is much too little for the body as in one that is too big Besides if a head be not well scituated as suppose a mans head were placed upon his arm or back and not upon his shoulders such a posture would be not only inconvenient but monstrous And verily any other Metropolis for England besides London would be of like inconvenient positure and scituation the head would not stand in the right place either for commodiousness or decency I would know what great Kingdome there is in the world that hath not a Metropolis or Head City answerable to its self And why should England differ from all the rest should we be unlike all other Nations and become their scorn Is not some one City magnificent and splendid above all the rest like the Sun that out-shineth all the other stars greatly for the honor both of a King and Kingdome I had almost said England looks sneakingly whilst it is without a London it doth as it were hide its head in the dust and seemeth to be ashamed of its self if it have any head to hide Tell us not of the Suburbs Citizens know how inconvenient they are for their business over what the City is and besides both together are little enough for traders and other inhabitants else it might have saved them charge and trouble to have dwelt in houses built to their hands and well seasoned they durst not go after the declining Sun lest they themselves should decline also in their trade and business They found more warmth in the heart of London then ever they expect in the extreme parts as they say of arterial blood that is warmest for that it cometh immediately from the heart Cottages within the walls seem to please and accommodate them better then stately houses without He that thinks the rebuilding of London might well be spared if any man or woman can so think let him or her consider how many houses upon survey are said to have been consumed by the late fire viz. no less then thirteen thousand or thereabouts now many of those houses did contain two some three families apiece so that we may well suppose twenty thousand families most of them traders to have been by that fire dispossest now where shall so many thousand families of trading people be disposed of if London be not built again shall they go into the country and trade there how inconvenient and insignificant would that be besides that so to do were to eat the bread out of the mouths of country shop-keepers Whilst they live at a distance from them Citizens are helpful to tradesmen in the country as the sun when it is farthest removed from the moon shines full upon it and exhibits that which is called the full moon but when they two are in conjunction then doth the Moon disappear being
go forward when a prophane activity would but hinder it Suppose the City should require seven years time to build it again some may think that doing nothing to it upon the Sabbath day is a great hinderance and would be the loss of no less than one whole year in seven but if we consider the curse which it prevents and the blessing which it procureth it will be found to be no loss at all and that the City in effect and in due construction goes up as fast or faster on the Sabbath-day than on any day in the week Whilst we are seeking Gods Kingdom and the righteousness thereof God though in an invisible way is adding to us Jer. 17.24 It shall come to pass if ye hallow the Sabbath-day to do no work therein then shall there enter into the gate of this City Kings and Princes and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever God who had set apart a tenth for his own use gave the Jews assurance they should be nothing the poorer but much the richer for paying of it Mal. 3.10 Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in my house and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts if I will not open the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it The Israelites when they were before Jericho besieging it lost no time by carrying about the Ark and sounding the Trumpets as was appointed them for it is said It shall come to pass when ye hear the sound of the Trumpet all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the City shall fall down flat Joshua 6.5 The Prophet was angry with the King of Israel for smiting the ground but thrice 2 Kings 13.19 Thou shouldst have smitten five or six times said he then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice Alluding to that story I would say if we smote the ground oftner if we were more clothed with the Sun and did more frequently trample the earth under our feet my meaning is if we were more abundant in the duties and exercises of Religion than most of us are it would be no hindrance to our worldly concerns and particularly to that of building our City but rather a help and furtherance The practise of Religion both in refraining what is evil and doing what is good is never more necessary than when some great undertaking is in hand Deut. 23.9 When the host goes forth against thine enemies then keep thee from every wicked thing and are we not as much concerned so to do when we have a City to build as at this day Our way to have another City even upon earth is to imitate those worthies we read of Heb. 11.16 But now they desire a better country that is an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City When Saul went to seek his Fathers Asses he unexpectedly found a Kingdom but it is to be feared that many will lose a Kingdom whilst they seek for Asses I mean for poor trifles an earthly house or City which are no better in comparison of a heavenly Kingdom It is incident to us to invert Gods method we would seek other things either in the first place or altogether and have the Kingdom of God added to us we would seek earth and find Heaven but God will not alter his method and men by going about to do it do indanger the loss of Heaven and earth both both of their interest if I may so call the world which they live upon for the present and of their principal which they expect hereafter How unreasonable a presumption is it that God should mind our concerns and we not mind his that God should regard our houses if we will not regard his Kingdom the beginning increase and perfecting thereof both in our selves and others By the Kingdom of God I mean the Kingdom of Grace which is glory begun and the kingdom of glory which is grace perfected Which being but gradually distinct as the same person in infancy and at full age I may speak of as one kingdom viz. specifically so I speak of that kingdom as Gods concern because his glory is as truly concerned in it as our good his honor as our happiness And thence it is that they who refuse to be subjects of that kingdom are so severely threatned Those mine enemies who would not that I should raign over them bring them hither and slay them before me It is said of the Hebrew Midwives that because they feared God he made them houses Exod. 1.21 But will God build houses and Cities for them that fear him not yea for his enemies whom he hath threatned to slay at leastwise can they promise themselves he will do so or hath he any where promised so to do nay in Prov. 14.11 it is said The house of the wicked shall be overthrown but the tabernacle of the righteous shall flourish The children of rich and noble persons need take no care for houses to dwell in let them but study to please their parents and they shall want neither houses nor any thing else let them be good and their parents will be as good to them as they can wish and shall not his children whose name is El-shaddai God alsufficient expect as much from their heavenly Father But ere I proceed in speaking to men let me speak a few words to God on behalf of my self and others Lord give me more faith in this promise this double promise for so I understand it that they who seek thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof in the first place shall have it and all other needful things with it for so the phrase of adding or superadding seemeth to imply And Lord give the same faith to others for hundreds need it at this day who till of late never knew they needed it or went about to make experiment of it O Lord how fearful are most men to swim when they are above their depth when they can feel no ground under them that meer sense and reason can stand upon We would fain be always in those shallows where lambs may wade but never cast into those depths where Elephants must swim but thou Lord dost sometimes try us with the latter of those give us but faith enough in that conditional promise that they who seek thy kingdom c. shall have all things added and together with that faith give us but the condition of that promise viz. hearts to seek thy kingdom as we ought to seek it and having those two we shall not doubt but to arrive at whatsoever is and shall be necessary both for the life that is and that which is to come To me it seemeth a little strang that the great God having made the promise of a Kingdom