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
into the work BLessed be God and blessed of the Lord be they for all that countenance which by those that are in Authority hath been given to the rebuilding of London and particularly by that most prudent Act of theirs which was made for that end and purpose That by that Act Londoners were allowed but a Copy-hold Lease of time viz. the term of three years for rebuilding of the City was enacted upon no evil design such as to surprize and take advantage against them for not being able to finish the work in so short a time but with a full intent to renew their Lease at or before the expiration of it if need should be and that upon better conditions than the former as experience should inform them of any thing that might be better Sure I am London had hitherto been like a Tree that stands in the shade if the beams of Authority had not shone upon it so as they have done it had not been in that good forwardness that it is at this day What if it be the true interest of our Rulers and Governours as doubtless it is that London should be rebuilt with all convenient speed are they therefore neither praise nor thank worthy for contributing their assistance If Magistrates espouse the interest of Religion and cherish it both in themselves and others in so doing they shall pursue their own interest upon the best terms for God will honor those that honor him yet for so doing all good men will acknowledge we ought to praise and thank them more than for any thing else I need not tell our Rulers whose interest I have elsewhere proved it is that London should be rebuilt that great works go on but slowly without countenance from Magistrates and ordinarily as swiftly with it when they afford not only permission and connivance but Commission and countenance Our Proverb saith The Masters eye makes the horse fat Of the Temple it is said Ezra 6.14 They builded and finished it according to the Commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes King of Persia How vigorously Cyrus though a Heathen Prince did bestir himself for and towards the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem We are told almost throughout the sixth Chapter of the Book of Ezra and as if Artaxerxes had vyed with Cyrus for zeal in that matter or laboured to out strip him We read as much of him in the seventh Chapter from the 11th verse till towards the end If either of them had had a Palace of his own to build which his heart had been greatly set upon I see not how he could have promoted it more than both of them did the Temple Ezra 7.23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of Heaven let it be diligently done said Artaxerxes in his Decree for the House of the God of Heaven for why should there be wrath against the Realm of the King Under those benigne aspects and influences of great ones the Temple went up amain and so doubtless with the blessing of God may our City if the like countenance and encouragement from such as are in chief Authority shall always be afforded to it And what should make us doubt but so it will be For first our Rulers know full well that nothing will be rescented as a greater demonstration of their love and care than an earnest forwardness expressed to see London up again or of the contrary man a want of that nothing will beget a greater confidence of the people in them and affection towards them than that would do Besides that it is more their own concern in point of Honor and profit that London should be built again than it is the concern of any ten men whatsoever as his Majesty was pleased to say in print That his loss by the burning of London was greater than any mans else and certainly it was Was not his Majesty the great Landlord to whom all the houses in London had wont to pay a kind of Quit-Rent othergise than a Pepper-Corn viz. so much yearly for every Chimney Private men may call this or that or some few houses in London theirs but only the Kings of England can call London their City as they use to do though not in such a sense as to destroy the propriety of particular owners But though owners have more interest in some houses Kings have some in all which cannot be said of any Subject Neither is that of profit which Kings have had by the City of London so great but the interest of honor and reputation which hath accrued to them by their dominion over so famous a City the very quintessence of their Kingdoms hath been as great or greater All which things considered it were not unreasonable or effeminate if a King should openly lament the loss of such a City in some such language as David did the loss of Absalom when he cryed out O Absalom Absalom my Son Absalom O Absalom my Son my Son O London London my City my City c. I should think the loss of London to be as great as was that of Callice which one Queen of England laid so much to heart Should then our Rulers express such a passion for London as David did for Absalom or as Rachel is said to have done for the loss of her children as hardly any case would better bear it or should they say concerning London as Rachel concerning children before she had any Give me children or I die Methinks I easily foresee how the generality of the people would do as Davids valiant men did who brake through an Host of Philistims and drow water out of the Well of Bethlehem and brought it to David because he longed for it 2 Sam. 23.15 My meaning is if Rulers shall express such an earnest longing after another London as David did after the waters of Bethlehem people would adventure life and all but they should soon have it and the reason is because Rulers in so passionately wishing for another City would express kindness to the people as well as to themselves and people in pursuing so good a work would shew kindness to themselves as well as to their Rulers the grateful sense of whose love they are ambitious to express and when all those things should meet together it would be as when stream and wind and tide and that a Spring-tide too do all concur to promote a Vessel that is sailing or Galley that goes with Oars When the incouragement of Magistrates together with the interest and inclinations of a people do all run one way then are people like Gyants refreshed with wine who though mighty of themselves are made thereby more mighty to run their Race Had David been to build such a City as London I know what Absâ—lom would have said and many people would have believed him by what I read of him 2 Sam. 15.4 viz. that if it were as much in his as in the power of some other they should not stay long for
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
to such as seek it in the first place and by patient continuance in well doing for that I must adde out of Rom. 2. Should adde any promise of things so much inferiour to it as are the good things of this life the giving whereof might so easily have been inferred and concluded from the promise of that kingdom with a quanto magis as the Apostle in another case If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 He that hath assured us of an heavenly kingdom if we seek it and the righteousness thereof will certainly in that case not deny us an earthly City or any thing of that nature seeing it to be good for us But as young Virgins can hardly perswade themselves their suitors do love them unless they ever and anon present them with one thing or another that might be spared over and above the solid offers they make of setling great and liberal joyntures upon them So the great God by way of condescention to our weakness knowing us to be much what of the same temper hath promised us the little things of this life for so they are comparatively over and above his kingdom if we will but seek his kingdom and the righteousness thereof in the first place It is too apparent that the generality of men have a jealousy they shall lose other things whilst they seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof therefore when men have any great and important work in hand the generality do borrow more time from religion for and towards it than from any thing else I mean proportionably to the time they had wont to spend in it ex gr when they have building work in hand possibly they will pray but half so long or so often read but half so much meditate of good things but a fourth part so much as at other times so that the great tax towards such occasions lieth generally upon Religion as if that could best admit of a defalcation of any thing else for few men content themselves with but half so much sleep half so much recreation as they had wont to use at other times But say I never pinch thy general calling to promote thy particular calling but rather hope to promote thy particular calling by giving full scope to thy general for in this as in other senses the lesse is blessed of the greater Borrow time for thy building from thy rest or recreation not from thy devotion Prayer and other duties are a help to building but so is not superfluous sleep or needless recreation Don't build first and pray afterwards but pray first from day to day and fall to building afterwards neither ask the first blessing upon thy temporal building be it an house or City but upon the building up of thy Soul in thy most holy faith First that thy Soul may prosper and be a habitation for God through his spirit and after that thy house It was a bitter Irony of him that said O cives cives querenda pecunia primum est virtus post nummos that is that the Citizens of his time sought money in the first place and virtue afterwards The kingdom of God at this day I mean the state of religion in the world and in the hearts of most professors is much what in such a condition as is the City of London viz. low and ruinous and very imperfect to what it shall be when the seventh Angel shall sound saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11.15 Let us labour in our several capacities to advance the kingdom of God and if another London be needful for us as who thinks it is not he will certainly advance our City DISCOURSE XLVI Upon the observation of that full imployment which Carpenters Bricklayers and all other Artificers who relate to building have at this day compared with the condition of scholars under various revolutions IT is an ill wind saith our proverb that bloweth no body good Artificers who relate to building have at this day more work than they can turn their hands to Surely Aristotle saith true viz. that Privation is a principle and that the corruption or destruction of one thing is the generation or production of another The burning of London hath made way for all or most poor trades to live but not for Scholars they are the Camelions that must live upon the â—aire if they know how unless they can be Camelions in another sense viz. assume the colour of all things which they come near Water-men tell us they can earn twenty shillings a week with ease if they be good husbands that many excellent scholars cannot do nor half so much though they ply their learned oars ever so hard They are the only men who under several revolutions have bin forced to stand idle in the market place for that none would hire them or set them at work If poverty and necessity that ingens telum may be compared to Lions as by the fright some have taken at the very roaring of them at a great distance one would think they might they and their families have time after time been consigned to the Lions Den and erruditos instead of Christianos ad Leones that is away with Scholars as heretofore with Christians to the Lions hath bin the great out-cry under several changes They have bin the only men who did they live ever so soberly peacably piously and might they have lived ever so usefully and for publick good if not otherwise qualified have not been thought worthy to live They might not eat because they might not work nor might have leave to work least they should eat They might not tread out the corn because if they did do so their mouths must be unmuzled and they have leave to feed It was no matter what their talents were though the talents of a Holdsworth a Featly c. Talents of lead will give some men as good content if not better than talents of gold The world hath thought that Scholars pains might best be spared which is such a paradox as if they should tell us that Souls are less worth than any thing else which Christ tells us are more worth than the whole world for saith he what shall it profit a man c. It is incredible what shifts Scholars under several changes have been put to one while because they would not take the Ingagement forsooth out they must Let it be no more a proverb that Quaevis terra alit artes that is every country cherisheth learning for there is no truth in it Musculus was an excellent Scholar and yet forced to dig in the town ditch as some others of his profession have bin in Cole-pits and Tin-mines Alas how many Schollars have bin tempted to wish themselves poor mechanicks or handicrafts-men and that when their parents
prayer of the unworthy Authour Who desireth to approve himself a friend to all men but especially to them who are of the houshold of Faith S. R. A Table of all the Chapters or Titles of all the Discourses contained in this Book Discourse 1. OF the grounds we have to hope and expect the compleat rebuilding of the now Ruins of London pag. 1. Disc 2. Of such considerations as may incourage heartless and dispirited Citizens to build again p. 20. Dis 3. Of how great consequence it is that the non wast and desolate City of London should be reedified p. 38. Dis 4. That it is convenient that the reedifying of London should be with all possible speed and expedition p. 44. Dis 5. Of building upon all the ruines of the City with brick as is injoyned p. 48. Dis 6. Of ill-burnt bricks and that great care should be taken to build the new City with good materials p. 53. Dis 7. Of its being intended that the new buildings should be more magnificent than were the old p. 56. Dis 8. That all persons imployed and made use of in and in order to the rebuilding of London ought therein more especially to use all care and good conscience p. 60. Dis 9. Of such as have made bold or shall make bold with other mens materials or with any part thereof p. 63. Dis 10. Of such as have not wherewithall to build again p. 65. Dis 11. That a strict observation of the Lords day might greatly promote the rebuilding of the City p. 67. Dis 12. Of the help that may and is meet to be afforded towards the rebuilding of London p. 74. Dis 13. That not only England but all great Britain and Ireland and all the protestant parts of the world is concerned in the restauration of London p. 77. Dis 14. That the Protestant Religion and the principles thereof may contribute as much towards the rebuilding of Churches and Hospitals c. as ever popery hath formerly done p. 83. Dis 15. Upon the looks and prospect of London whilst but only some few houses are built here and there and others but building in the midst of many ruinous heaps p. 91. Dis 16. That uniting or at leastwise quieting the minds of men as to matter of Religion so far as it can be done would much conduce to the rebuilding of the City p. 98. Dis 17. That a studious advancing and promoting of trade by those that have power to do it would greatly contribute to the rebuilding of London p. 122. Dis 18. That the best way to dispatch the City would be to build some whole Streets together p. 125. Dis 19. That our building ought to begin where the fire ended p. 128. Dis 20. That it might much conduce to the rebuilding of London to have a through search made how and by what means it was burnt p. 131. Dis 21. That the countenance of Rulers expressing much zeal and earnestness to have the City up again and a sad sense of its present ruins would put much life into the work p. 137. Dis 22. That the choice of worthy men in places of power both in City and country would contribute much to the rebuilding of London p. 141. Dis 23. That one good way to promote our City would be to oblige our governors all we can to put to their helping hand p. 146. Dis 24. That easing the burthens of Londoners all that may be till the City be finished would incourage the work p. 158. Dis 25. That to give a general content and satisfaction to men or so far as it can be done would help forward the City very much p. 159. Dis 26. That the continuance of peace begun with forreign nations might much promote the rebuilding of the City p. 165. Dis 27. That lessening the price of coals would incourage building p. 166. Dis 28. That the extirpation of fears and jealousies which do sadly abound might contribute much to the building of the City p. 168. Dis 29. That if that dread and terror of the popish party that is upon the people were taken of the building of the City would thereby be much incouraged p. 174. Dis 30. That to be thankful to God and men for the good beginnings of a new City is one way to perfect it p. 186. Dis 31. That to seek much unto God by prayers and fasting for success would be one of the best wayes to promote the City p. 190. Dis 32. On Ezra 6.14 And the Elders of the Jews builded and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah p. 199. Dis 33. That to be deeply affected with the hand of God in burning the City is one good way to have it built again p. 205. Dis 34. That greatly to bewail those sins both of our own and others which helpt to burn the old City would help to build the new one p. 206. Dis 35. That to reform throughout England whatsoever is manifestly amiss and can be reformed would admirably promote the City p. 211. Dis 36. That it might expedite the building of London if all its former inhabitants were considerably incouraged to replant themselves within the walls p. 225. Dis 37. That to propound to our selves the best of ends in building or attempting to build the City may much promote the work p. 230. Dis 38. That for all men to consider how much it will be for their honour who shall have a great hand in rebuilding the City might much promote the work p. 236. Dis 39. That if the pleasure that is in building were understood by all men more persons of estates would be ingaged in the reedifying of London p. 240. Dis 40. That men of estates would be invited to build in London if the advantage which may probably though not certainly be made thereof were duly considered p. 244. Dis 41. That the burning of a new and stately house in Mincing-lane should not deter Londoners from going on with their building but admonish them to build whole Streets together c. p. 248. Dis 42. That the exercise of Mercy and Charity would promote the building of the City p. 256. Dis 43. That the promoting of Love and Amity throughout the whole nation would much conduce to the rebuilding of the City p. 266. Dis 44. That the grace of humility and the exercise thereof might conduce much to the rebuilding of the City p. 288. Dis 45. 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 wayes to obtain a new City p. 311. Dis 46. Upon the observation of that full imployment which Carpenters Bricklaiers and all other Artificers who relate to building have at this day compared with the condition of Scholars under various revolutions p. 319. Dis 47. Of the rebuilding of Churches p. 337. Dis 48. Of Gods being the maker and builder of all things p. 355. Dis 49. Of our being most unworthy
London London is the head and therefore should be relieved with both hands that is with as many as England hath though it were with danger to themselves All England is but one political body whereof London is as I said before the head Now all members of the same body should not only sympathise with but succour one another in a time of distress but the principal members especially ought to be succoured by the rest when and as need requireth London then should be helpt by all English-men either their persons pains parts purses prayers some or all of them and whatsoever else they have to be helpful with It will pass for a demonstration amongst our forreign neighbours that England is ruined and not able to help its self if London be not rebuilt DISCOURSE XIII That not only England but all great Brittain and Ireland and all the Protestant part of the World is concerned in the restauration of London HE that is a friend to London is as such a friend not only to one City or to one Kingdom but to three united under one and the same Sovereign viz. to England Scotland and Ireland These three like the several Kingdoms and Principalities in Germany constitute but one Emperour They are but three great Arms of one and the same Sea or Ocean the great Port or Haven whereof is London They are but three great branches of that mighty Tree whereof London is the root So Moralists divide the Soul into several faculties as the Understanding Will and Affections whereas the Soul is indeed but one all is but one Soul notionally so diversified and distinguished So some Divines tell us that whereas we speak of several Graces calling one Faith another Love a third Repentance c. it is no otherwise to be understood than when we speak of the Brittish the Irish the German Ocean and several others all which indeed are but one and the same assuming different names and appellations from the different shores which they wash upon It is not distance of place nor yet interposition of Seas one or more that can make those places unconcern'd one in another which do all belong to one and the same Prince and Governour any more than our feet are or can be unconcerned in our heads because they stand at as great a distance therefrom as can be in one and the same body Doubtless London is the glory the strength and stability the Magazine and Storehouse of all the three Nations at leastwise so it hath been and so it is necessary it should alwayes be and so I hope it will First I say it is and hath been the beauty and glory of these three Kingdomes These three Regions are but one Firmament and the Sun of that Firmament hath still been London all three have shoan with the beams of London as they say in Law a Wife doth radiis mariti with the beams of her Husband Doubtless Scotland and Ireland were proud of a London they had interest in and which in a sense was theirs as well as Englands though not so much if London were our Mother it was their Grandmother and that was an honour to them I have further said that London was the strength and stability of the three Kingdomes and so it was as when there are three great Families allied to one another suppose as Brethren or Sisters they are a mutual strength and establishment one to another but the Head or Chieftain of the greatest Family is a greater ornament and support to all the three than any one of the rest is or can be So in this case for London was as I may call it the Head of these three great Families Kingdomes I mean As the strength of Sampson lay in his hair and when that was cut he became weak as another man so did the strength and puissance of these three Nations lie in London there the force of England was most united there as in a center all the lines of strength did meet and a sure rule it is that vis unita fortior the more united any force is the stronger it is London was as the Sea the tide whereof runs much more strongly than that of particular rivers because all rivers run into the Sea and from thence hath its name Gen. 1.10 The gathering together of the waters he called Seas The beams of strength were concentred in London the great populousness and plenty its great fulness both of people wealth and wisdome considered as the beams of the Sun might be in a burning-glass It will need little proof that London is also the great Magazine and store-house of the three United if now I may call them united Kingdoms London as Tyre may be called a Mart of Nations it being the great Emporium or Mart-Town to which not England only but also Scotland and Ireland are beholden for multitudes of commodities Not only Country Towns and inferiour Cities in England do replenish themselves with many or most things which they need from the City of London but also Edenburgh and Dublin the two Metropoles one of Scotland the other of Ireland if I may call them any more than London's Deputies or vice Metropolitans are glad to do the same Thus we see these three Nations are in point of honour strength and Supplies united under one great City viz. London as well as under one and the same King the genius of our Government affecting a kind of Monarchy as well in and amongst Cities as in other things And thus what was said of Jerusalem holds true of London she was great amongst the Nations and Princesse amongst the Provinces Lam. 11.11 Now if I can prove but one thing more viz. that no City within the compasse of these three Kingdoms is fit to succeed London in its primacy or able to head three Nations so honourably and profitably as it hath done I shall then have demonstrated that England Scotland and Ireland are all three highly concerned in the Restauration of London That three such Nations the form of whose Government is Monarchical have some one head head City I mean over and above all the rest is but suitable and necessary neither can it be less evident that it is of great importance that whatsoever place or City be their Head should be the best and fittest of all others for that purpose Now that London is so I appeal to the incomparable commodiousness of its scituation well known to all men and the advantage which in that respect it hath above any other place in the three Nations By this was it so manifestly designed as it were from heaven for Primacy and Metropolitanship that I know no Town or City that was ever Competitor with it in that behalf or did ever pretend to be what it is viz. chief whilst London its self was in being Now what but the indisputably supereminent fitnesse of London to be the Metropolis of England and the United Kingdoms could have prevented all Usurpations
himself and those that flock together with him But for the generality of men I dare to undertake that a liberty in common with others birds of the same kind though not of the same feather that is persons of the same Religion for substance though of different opinion would make their hearts more glad than theirs whose corn and wine encrease Then would our City go merrily on and men would build with a courage whereas on the other hand dissatisfactions as to Religion dis-spirit men for all good purposes and make them cold and careless whilst men dream of transplanting they will have little heart to building That which makes men listless to Trade will make them so to build and that which qui-ckneth the one as to deal tenderly with their Religion certainly doth will also quicken the other Whilst some upbraid others with their dissonant Opinions they will upbraid them again with their dissolute lives and thus whilst we pry into one anothers weaknesses and pelt each other with dirt the City is like to go but slowly on to what it might do if we had that mutual charity which is said to cover a multitude of infirmities A vexed conscience like the passion of jealousie is the rage of a man and will hardly spare in the day of its wrath A vexed conscience will go nigh to discover it self one time or other as they say vexata natura prodit seipsam And are men fit to build in a rage A serene mind is fit for any thing but a mind that is like the raging Sea will do nothing but cast up dirt and mire We read in Isa 11.13 how that Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim When God shall make and perform some such promise to England then certainly will our City go up amain DISCOURSE XVII That a studious advancing and promoting of Trade by those that have power to do it would greatly contribute to the Re-building of London WHat should we do with a City without a Trade Can men pay great rents and fines keep servants c. with little or no trade Citizens as is said of the Fowls of the Air can neither sow nor reap illis nec seritur nec metitur in a literal sense London streets are neither arable nor Pasture Take away their Trade and you take their Milstone to pledg which is their very life for so a mans livelyhood is said to be London is a Lamp Trade the Oil that feeds it What is a Lamp without Oil Give them but Oil enough and if others have made them burn you will make them shine again If Trade be destroyed Citizens will be starved and that will make them desperate for Hunger as they say will break through stone walls Those Bees will care for no hive if they can suck no honey If Trades be not the making of men usually they are their undoing If Trading take wings and fly away they will be gone too Could Londoners foresee there would be no Trade they would presently cease from building and betake themselves to the Countrey where they could profit more both by the earth and by the air and could live for less No Trade no City no City no Kingdom Impoverish London and you impoverish the Countrey for the City doubtless was and is the best door of utterance for the Countrey mans best Commodities impoverish the Farmer and you undo both Gentry and Nobility for what shall Landlords live upon when Tenants cannot pay their rents Who knows not that Trade is that to the Politick Body that the Circulation of the Bloud whereby proper nourishment is conveyed to every part is to the Body natural When the Bloud stagnates or doth not circulate freely the Body languisheth Trade is a Mystery of gaining by those that do gain by us and in the same Commodity The Merchant gains by the Drugster the Drugster by the Apothecary the Apothecary by the Patient and the Patient by the Apothecary with the blessing of God though not wealth yet health which is better As friendship is upheld in the World by an intercourse of kindnesses and doing of courtesies one for another so the greatest part of humane society is upheld by Commerce and Traffique one man needing anothers Commodities and he his again Trade is as I may call it a grave Tennis-play whereby the Ball of profit is banded from one man to another an exercise which most men are so well pleased with that should they be deprived of it many men would not much care to be in the World much less in the City In a word Trade is the very radical moisture of London and of other Cities when that is almost dried up Citizens like those that are fallen into a Consumption or hectick Feaver will change the Air and choose to be in the Countrey and to build there if they build any where Give Citizens what you will besides they will never be content without a Trade and the reason is because they cannot be content to starve as we see the Inhabitants of those Towns are ready to do where the ancient Trade were it of Cloathing or whatsoever else is almost quite lost Though Trade would not content them without any thing else yet I am sure nothing else would without the accession of a Trade Men will never believe they have any love for them who have none for their Trading and do naturally hate those whom they do but suspect to be enemies thereunto Enemies to Trade if there be any such Monsters can be no friends to the honour of the King for to be a King of Beggars must needs be a disgrace sith God counts it his honour to be a King of Kings I think the honour as of a King so of a Parliament is not a little concerned in the welfare of Trade For a Parliament is a Colledge of State Physitians and Trade hath been their Patient all along a cachectick obstructed Patient could they cure it at last they would be famous London in the Act for the rebuilding of it is spoken of by the Honourable Title of a place renowned for Traffique and Commerce all the World over So will the contrivers of that Act be for their Wisdom and prudence when they shall bring it to that pass again Could Londoners regain such a Trade as formerly they have had they would not grudg to build such a City as might even dazle the eyes of its beholders but as Trade goes now they think it is fine enough as it is and is intended to be if not too fine DISCOURSE XVIII That the best way to dispatch the City would be to build some whole Streets together WEE have yet but a scattering Village as it were of the new part of London whereas if we had been wise we might have had by this time almost as easily a kind of New City My meaning is this If the Owners of ground belonging to some of the highest and noblest Streets
them that do well Put not a sword into the hands of madmen least they sheath it in your own bowels know that Moses as well as Aaron should have a kind of Urim and Thummim or what those words signifie viz. light of knowledg and integrity of life They that have both of them will doubtless contribute their utmost help to the rebuilding of our City For they that are such will concern themselves for the good of their Kingdoms yea of the whole protestant World which I have proved doth much depend upon the being and well being of London And verily it is much that Magistrates with the blessing of God may do towards the welfare of a nation much more of one City when they are generally set upon it they having the power of a nation in their hands as High Sheriffs are said to have the posse comitatus or power of a county As the other spheres are carried about with the primum mobile so are the people by the Magistrates They are as it were the muscles of a nation which move the body politick how and which way they please Rulers in Scripture are called shepherds and good shepherds will no doubt provide a fold for their flock They are also called builders as where we read of the stone which the builders refused and questionless they will be found to be master-builders of our ruinous London who are indeed good Magistrates You may elect such men into places of power and authority as would more rejoyce to see London burn't than built again for such spirits there are abroad witness the triumphs of some after the last fire You may again elect others as places shall be vacated by death or otherwise who will be as intent upon the building of the City as the Jews were of old upon the building of Jerusalem and the Temple of God therein I have presented you with both chuse you whither DISCOURSE XXIII That one good way to promote our City would be to oblige our Governors all we can to put to their helping hand I Would not have Rulers be sinfully disobliged upon any terms We ought not to provoke them that are in authority over us unless conscience provoke us to do what will accidentally but not intentionally provoke them that not only for wrath but for conscience sake Rulers are parents patres patriae and if children must not be provoked to wrath by their parents much less ought parents to be so served by their children Away with those Chams who are all for uncovering their fathers nakedness and those scurrilous Pamphlets which design nothing else tell not those things in Gath publish them not in the streets of Ashkelon though with Cham you had seen them which you never did Take the garment of love and dutifulness lay it upon your shoulders and though you go backward and the face of your practice cannot be towards them or answer to theirs as doth face to face in a glass yet cover their nakedness in a sense alluding to what you read of Shem and Japhet Gen. 9.23 To restore those that are overtaken in a fault one or more with a spirit of meekness is a very obliging thing especially when Inferiours shall do this to Superiours for this is for children to have the heart of a Father which is more than for Parents to have a heart like themselves for it is harder for love to ascend than to descend Mourn for their sins in secret but proclaim them not much less aggravate them It may be they will cover your offences more easily which are such to them if you will cover theirs and will do more for you if you will speak less against them that good rule speak evil of no man will justifie your silence as to such matters There are greater obligations that may and ought to be laid upon those that govern us than is our forbearance to speak evil of them or to upbraid them with whatsoever men think they are upbraidable for over and above that it behoveth us in the first place to take thankful notice and make an open acknowledgment of all the good that either we see in them or receive from them God who is infinitely our Superiour doth so by us for speaking of Abijah he saith That in him only there was found some good thing towards the Lord in the house of Jeroboam If God do this to his inferiours ought not we to do the like to our Superiours this being a point of honour and of respect which to superiours from inferiours is much more due than to inseriours from superiours Many would do more good than they do if the good they have done were more generally owned and incouraged Admit we should put the best construction the nature of the thing could bear upon those actions of Rulers which seem liable to more constructions than one would not that our candour oblige them We hold our selves ingaged to those that will make the best that can be made of what we say and do Charity be lieveth all things hopeth all things which there is any colour of reason to believe and hope and charity questionless is due to superiours as well as from them to inferiours It was unkindly said by Eliab to his Brother David I know thy pride and the haughtiness of thy heart for thou art come down to see the battel 1 Sam. 17.28 when indeed he came upon no worse a design than to bring provision to his Brethren from Jesse their Father and by his Command Overmuch jealousie expressed doth but prompt and provoke men to those evil things which they did never before intend and deter them from doing that good which they might and would have done if it had been manifestly expected from them When Paul would invite Agrippa to the Faith see how he insinuates Act. 26.27 King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest Then Agrippa said to Paul almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian Ingenious persons are loth to frustrate that expectation of good which others have from them and count it a point of gratitude for the good opinion they have conceived of them to fulfil what they expect The smallness of our expectance from God is one reason why we receive no more good from his hand for saith God open thy mouth wide and I will fill it and it may be a cause sometimes why men do no more for us I am sure mistrust sometimes brings that evil which else had never come So the Israelites mistrusting they should never get through the wilderness was that which provoked God to let their carcasses fall there They could not enter into the good land and why but because of their unbelief There is doubtless a good medium betwixt being too suspicious and too secure and the less needlesly suspicious of them that govern us and the more candid we are in construing their actions and intentions the more we do and shall oblige them As the
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