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
Pretensions and Competitions even from those places which had themselves worn the Crown of Dignity whilst and so long as London was as several times it hath been and now partly is in the dust And now have I undeniably proved if I mistake not that these three Nations are highly concerned in the Restauration of London But now the question will be whether all the Protestant part of the world be so likewise as hath been affirmed tell me then whether England when it is its self be not able to yield a countenance and protection to Protestants all the world over to be a kind of covering upon all their glory If I am not deceived it hath done so particularly in the daies of Queen Elizabeth and may do so again As is the House of Austria to the Papists viz. their great prop and pillar so England hath been is or may be to the Protestants If then the strength and bulwark of Protestants be England and that the strength of England as hath been proved be London we may easily conclude by that sure Maxim Causa causae est causa causati that London is or may be the great bulwark and fortresse of the Protestant Interest and consequently that the whole Protestant World is concerned in the being and well-being of London This the great Zealots for Popery have known and do know too well who in order to the Propagation of that Religion have thought and do think nothing more requisite than that the City of London should be laid in ashes and continued there England being so mighty in shipping as it is at leastwise hath been or may be may be serviceable to them that professe the same Religion with its self not only near at hand but at the greatest distance and will be so if ever God shall cause the zeal and the prosperity of it both to revive together Let me add that if London flourish England cannot likely do much amisse and the most zealous part of the world as for the Protestant Religion will then prosper to the advantage of all others who make the same profession What is it then that not only England but Scotland and Ireland and not those Kingdoms only but any part of Christendome called Protestant can do or contribute towards the rebuilding of London whatsoever it be their own interest doth call upon them to do it with all their might If London rise not they are like to fall after it Shall we not hear of the kindnesses of Holland Sweden Denmark much more of all England and of Scotland and Ireland if they be able to do any thing towards poor desolate London let them be good to themselves in being good to it its interest is their own Help London now you know not how soon you may need its help and find it both a chearful and considerable helper in a time of need DISCOURSE XIV That the Protestant Religion and the principles thereof may contribute as much towards the building of Churches and Hospitals c. as ever Popery hath formerly done HOw many places are demolished by the Fire such as Churches and Hospitals which must be rebuilt if ever upon the accompt of Piety and Charity But where is that Piety and Charity to be found Methinks I hear the Papists vaunting themselves against Protestants extolling their Superstition above our true Religion and their Doctrine of Lies above the truth of ours telling us that they built most of those Churches and Hospitals which are now burnt down and must do it again if ever it be done as Peninnah when time was did upbraid Hannah Sam. 1.1 with her barrennesse so do they the principles of the Protestant Religion as if they could bring forth no good works As for their building those houses again there may be more reason for that than I shall presume to give but that if it must be our work our Religion will not as strongly invite us to do it as theirs would if they might build them for themselves that I utterly deny True it is if God stood in need that men should lie for him none were fitter to do him service than they whose Religion is full of lies and Legends but that he doth not but of such as say or report the Apostles of Christ to say Let us do evil that good may come of it the Scripture saith their damnation is just Rom. 3.8 We know full well their great Incentives to Charity and what falshoods they are telling the people that they must be saved by their good works that is by the merit of them that Christ hath merited to make their works meritorious talking much of opera tincta works died in the bloud of Christ how meritorious they are whereas theirs are rather died in the bloud of Christians and of holy Martyrs how men by their good deeds may satisfie the Justice of God for their evil ones and expiate their sins how by eminent acts of Charity they may hereafter deliver themselves and others out of Purgatory with many more such cunningly devised fables wherewith they pick mens pockets We know there is truth enough in the world or rather in the Word of God to make men as charitable and free in that sense as it is fit they should be We distrust not the efficacy of Divine Truths as they do nor think them Nouns Adjective that cannot stand without our lies as if they were so many Substantives added to them We therefore tell men as the truth is that by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified Gal. 2.16 but withall we tell them that good works are causa sine quâ non or things without which there is no salvation for faith without works is dead as a body without a soul and that there can be no love to God where there is no charity towards men 1 John 3.17 Who so hath this worlds good and seeth his Brother have need and shutteth up his bowels from him how dwelleth the love of God in him He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how should he love God whom he hath not seen 1 John 4.20 Therefore such as have wherewithall to shew mercy and to do good cannot be saved say we and this principle well considered were enough to make men charitable if we could add no more But then we say further that no one good work or deed of charity that is truly such shall go without a reward quoting and urging Mat. 10.42 with other Texts of like import Whosoever shall give a cup of cold water only to one in the name of a Disciple verily he shall not loose his reward Nay more than so we tell men that the reward of charity and of good works truly so called is no lesse than Eternal Life though not of merit but of grace We charge them that are rich in this world as Paul bid Timothy to do that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing
tongue that is not in word and tongue only which yet is more than many do but in deed and in truth He often warns men and how needful is it he should do so of biting and devouring one another lest they be consumed one of another Gal. 5.15 and comes in like Mercury with his Caduceus or white wand with which they say that Heathen God had wont to lay the strifes of men and make their contentions fall whence they called his wand Caduceus By this time thou knowest enough of the Author or mayest know by that time thou hast read this book over if it be such as he hath told thee and for that matter he appealeth to thy self and to as many more as shall vouchsafe to read it I say to read it carefully candidly thorowly For this I presume that some things in this Book will displease at the first that will not displease at the second reading and part of a Chapter read singly and by it self may give offence when the whole one thing being compared with another will give no offence at all And here those words of Solomon would be thought of Prov. 18.13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it that is heareth it out it is folly and shame unto him Now a more brief account of the book may serve the turn because thou hast the book it self before thee and mayest soon read it over The true design of it is to promote the building and prosperity of London which cannot be effected but by such wayes and means as would tend as much to the welfare of all England yea of all the three Kingdoms Physicians say Non curatur pars nisi curetur totum meaning if you would cure any unsound part you must cleanse the whole body If any such thing have befallen us in this work viz. that we have hapned to prescribe what is as good for all England as for London and would cure the whole if duly applied as it somtimes falls out that the whole body is cured by what is applied but to one part namely when all the rest of the body is ill but only by simpathy and consent I say if this Book should contain any such panacea's or universal remedies as that it may serve not only for the Meridian of London but of all his Majesties Dominions as if calculated for the whole I see no reason why any body should be troubled at that In order to the rebuilding and reflourishing of London I have considered first what are the hindrances both of one and of the other viz. Discouragement of several kinds Divisions Discontents about Religion and otherwise the Dearness of Commodities the badness of materials as ill burnt Bricks seared Timber c. the dishonesty of Workmen the poverty of many that are concerned to build if they had wherewithal the ill method that is or hath been used in building viz. building altogether scatteringly and not every where joyning the new building to the old nor finishing any one whole street the fears and jealousies of people in reference to the former burning in reference to Papists and their designs and in reference to the many lesser burnings which have been since the great Conflagration of London particularly the burning of a stately new house in Mincing Lane all these and it may be some other impediments of Londons rebuilding and reflourishing I have considered as well as I could and prescribed such remedies as I was able for every one of those grievous maladies of most of which not only London but all England is sick I have discoursed of the Builders and assistants in building who they must be viz. first the great God who is the maker and builder of all things next to him those that are called Gods that is Magistrates by affording countenance to the work and improving their Authority on the behalf of it Next to them good Ministers for in all great works Moses and Aaron had need go hand in hand as that Text saith God led his people like a Flock by the hand of Moses and of Aaron and elswhere it s said They builded and prospered through the Prophecying of Haggai c. Next to them men of able purses and good estates though in no publick Offices or Employments either Sacred or Civil And lastly Men of Art and skill as for matter of building and whose proper work and occupation is in and about Architecture c. Of or to all of these I have said what I thought fit I have in the next place shewed how the help and assistance of all the forementioned may be gained and procured as namely how the great God may be prevailed with to bless and prosper the Building in which sense he is said to be the builder viz. by our keeping his Sabbaths relieving his Servants reforming our wayes and doings that are not good rebuilding places for his Worship out of love to Publick Ordinances seeking of his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof in the first place propounding good and pious ends to our selves in that great undertaking humbling our selves under his mighty hand seeking his face and favour by Prayer and Fasting walking humbly with God and by thankfully acknowledging what God hath done for the City already How we may engage the Gods that are upon earth Magistrates I mean to put their helping hand to this work I have shewed Chap. 23. As for Ministers if they be good they will be forward enough to quicken and encourage such a work as is the building of the City and their interest may go very far and contribute very much To rich men I have spoken Chap. 42. where I have pressed them to the exercise of mercy and Charity towards an undone City for so it is at present and all its undone Citizens also in the Chapter of Rebuilding Churches I have again called upon the bowels and compassions of all rich people throughout England As for all Tradesmen and Artificers whose ware or work belongs to building I have adjured them to be honest and to do their best for and towards the rebuilding of London and to use that Mother of theirs kindly in all respects and upon all accounts Chap. 8. As for the old Inhabitants I have wished them to replant themselves within the Walls that London may flourish again Chap. 36. For and in order to the rebuilding of London I have further propounded in distinct Discourses that good Magistrates may be chosen into those places of power which are conveyed by Election that such Ministers may be incouraged as can do much by their interest in the esteem and affections of the people that trading may be encouraged and advanced that the burthens of Londoners may be eased for the present that a general content and satisfaction may be given so far as is possible whilst this work is in hand that they would build the New City contiguous with the old and continuous with it self that is to say that they
that which of its self was sweet even as honey then which nothing is sweeter Therefore lastly methinks God hath given us earnest great earnest of another City in place of that which was burnt and what should I mean by that but the many Foundations that are already laid yea some hundreds of houses that are built in so short a time though those hundreds as yet be fewer then were the thousands of what was burnt But suppose we seven or eight hundred houses finished already it being now March 12. 1667. and not much above one year and half since the Fire in which time two Winters have passed over our heads and but one Summer War with three several Nations was unconcluded when the building began Trading as dead as could be imagined Citizens generally impoverished materials and necessaries such as Coals c. at a stupendious rate admit I say there be yet but eight hundred houses finished though some think there be more is it not a good and a great progress all things considered After one of the burnings of London I do not find that in 70 years and upward so much was done towards the restoring of it as hath now been done in less then two Is it not remarkable that since the rebuilding of London was this last time taken in hand no one disaster hath befallen it there hath appeared nothing like an Angel with a Sword in his hand to obstruct those that have attempted to bless the City by rebuilding of it as did to obstruct Balaam when he went forth to curse Israel How early did the wrath of God break out against the builders of Jericho the very foundation whereof was laid in the death and blood of Hiel the Founder his first-born Son But all the foundations that have been laid in London yea and houses which are finished there for ought I learn have not cost so dear As Mannoah's Wife said unto him Judg. 13.23 If the Lord were pleased to kill us he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands neither would he have shewed us all these things So may we probably argue if I be not deceived that if God had purposed to anticipate the full harvest of Londons restauration he would scarce have given us so timely and so ample first fruits as he hath vouchsafed already Reflecting upon all that I have said I doubt not to bid defiance to such as have or shall presume to call London by the odious and misapplied name of Babylon for though it may be said of London It is fallen it is fallen yet not so as of Babylon that it shall never rise again DISCOURSE II. Of such considerations as may incourage heartless and dis-spirited Citizens to build again WHy see I so many people with their hands upon their loyns like a travelling Woman and so many faces turned into paleness as the Prophet expresseth himself Jer. 20.6 Why are the generality of men and women at this day as is said of Ephraim Hos 7.11 like a silly Dove without heart Why hear I little else but the voice of the Turtle viz. Mourning and Lamentation yea like to that of Rachel who refused to be comforted Would you have us say they build so methinks I over-hear them speaking pray what another Babel for alas our Languages are all confounded England is a Kingdome and London a City that are divided against themselves and therefore how can they stand England is a Land as it were of all Ishmaels every mans hand is lifted up against his Brother and his Brothers against him How like is England at this day to a great Army all in mutiny or to a routed Army all whose Ranks are broken and themselves flying some one way some another every man shifting for himself or like a great Fleet riding in a Storm some of which are driven upon the Sands others split upon Rocks and the major part fall foul one upon another Would you have us as secure as the Sodomites were in the daies of Lot who planted and builded till such time as fire came down from heaven and destroyed them all Luk. 17.29 Would you have us build to be burnt again are we not yet to expect the fatal influence and effects of a third prodigious Comet as Astronomers do tell us and if the Product or signification of that shall be such as was of the two former woe be to us Wherewithall shall we build England is become as poor as Job a dunghill served his turn as those words imply Job 2.8 He sat down amongst the ashes and why may it not serve ours Those Primitive Christians of whom the world was not worthy wandred in Desarts and Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the earth Heb. 11.38 And are we better then they The fire hath made a multitude of caves let us go down into them and dwell there let us hide our selves in those clefts of rocks as it were till the indignation be overpast Is it time for us to dwell in cieled houses whilest the House of God lieth wast for so to our thinking it doth at this day or shall we build houses and soon after be made to dwell in prisons either for debt or it may be for Conscience sake Is it for us to build when God seemeth to be pulling down and plucking up and making an utter end England hath not only grey hairs upon it here and there but as some Searchers judge them Plague tokens so that there is no hope or next to none of its recovery And is this a time to build in when we neither expect Religion nor Trade to our content nor any long continuance of Peace either at home or abroad Would you have us trim up our Cabins whilst we suspect the whole Ship will be lost who hath not heard such language as this with his own ears But will it admit of no reply or confutation doubtless it may It was the dark side of the Pillar that was turned to us on which side it was a meer Cloud but the other side is bright and as it were a Pillar of Fire The same Instrument or Subject otherwise played upon may afford us as pleasant Musick as that we heard was doleful First who art thou that limitest the holy One of Israel Who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Councellor Rom. 11.34 and Isa 40.14 Have you forgotten what God saith Isa 55.8 My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my wayes your wayes for as the heavens are higher then the earth so are my wayes higher then your wayes and my thoughts then your thoughts That saying Jer. 29.11 should be considered I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord implying they did not know the thoughts of God toward them till he had thus revealed them thoughts of peace and not of evil It is incident to us to think of the Mountain of our adversity as well as of the other
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
another City It is not fit for any man to boast as he boasted Go too saith S. James ye that say we will go to such a City and continue there a year and get gain James 4.13 Much more might he have checkt those that should say by such a time they would build such a great City but most certain it is that such a work might be greatly expedited and will be so when Rulers shall please to act in it as natural Agents always do ad extremum vitium to the utmost of their power and to be intent upon it as if amongst their earthly concerns it were for the present the one thing necessary Their real so expressed would doubtless provoke many and incourage all DISCOURSE XXII That the choice of worthy men into places of Power both in City and Country would contribute much to the rebuilding of London ALl Power in England is not conveyed by Election and choice of the people neither is it sit it should The Supreme Power viz. that of the King as also the power of the Nobility in Parliament is not Elective but as I may call it Native that which they are not chosen but born to that I may avoid his expression as fearing he shewed his wit more than his grace who said that the Nobles in Parliament were called but not chosen Surely the hereditariness of the Crown in England and some other places is an end of much strife which would result from popular elections upon every vacancy or decease of the supreme magistrate Witness the many late confusions in the Kingdom of Poland which is conferred by election But setting aside those two orders or estates as some call them viz. King and Nobles which according to the constitution of England have a birth-right in power all others derive their offices and power from the choice and appointment either of the King or people as Judges Parliament men Mayors Sheriffs Barliffs c. Most of these and of the rest that are invested with power are made by the choice of the people and much the lesser part come by their authority any other way Now for that there is great reason viz. that they who chuse for the people should be chosen by them So Orphans have leave to chuse their own gardians and malefactors themselves have a power of refusing such Jury-men as they do not like because when accepted of they must stand to their verdict As for those who are born to rule according to the laws of England it is not in the people to prevent their power they can only pray that God would make them just ruling in the fear of God as it is said they that rule over men ought to be But as for others and they are the greater part who cannot get into the saddle of power unless the people hold the styrop for them or who are made or to be made by the election of the people if they be not such as they ought to be the people may thank themselves If having two sorts of men set before them one very good the other very bad as were Jeremy's figs Jer. 24.2 they will chuse the bad and refuse the good it is their own fault and they are like to pay dearly for it as those women use to do who withstand good motions one after another and at length cast away themselves upon some vain Prodigal who will imbezzle their estates and undoe both them and theirs Methinks the Psalmists language is not too sharp to be used in this case Ps 94.8 Understand ye brutish amongst the people and ye fools when will ye be wise Do you think that bad Magistrates if you shall chuse such will cordially help to build a good City Solomon telleth us that Every wise woman buildeth her house but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands Prov. 14.11 Unwise rulers may be good at pulling down but not at building up The choice of ill magistrates is like a fault made in the first concoction which can never be repaired in either of the two later It is an errour in the foundation which can never be mended in the superstructure I am not of their mind who say Dominium temporale fundatur in gratiâ that none ought to be intrusted with power but those that appear to have saving grace Grace is indeed excellent in a magistrate but morallity only is essential unto being good in an office and that to be sure is He that shall use but the office of a Deacon this mean office in the Church it is said of him that he must be grave not given to much wine not greedy of filthy lucre that he must be proved and found blameless 1 Tim. 3.8 Now what magistrate properly so called is not intrusted with more power than he that is a Deacon in the Church and therefore ought not to be defective in the mean qualifications of one that is but a Deacon Some have seemed to think that any thing is good enough to make a Magistrate contrary to that old proverb E quovis ligno non fit Mercurius Who can make Gods of Devils now Magistrates in the Scripture are called Gods but dissolute men are little better than Devils and may be called Satan a thousand times upon as great or greater reasons as Peter was once so called by our Saviour saying to him get thee behind me Satan It is more than Egyptian idolatry in some sense to deify what is worse than leeks and onions The people that make such Gods are like unto them Admit the Gods you make be of gold and silver whereas some it may be are of no better stuff then was the lower part of Nebuchadnezars Image will the richness of the mettal be a sufficient excuse why then were the Israelites punished for worshipping a golden Calf Think not if a man have wealth enough he is presenly fit to make a Magistrate you would be loth to chuse him for a pilot especially in a storm that hath no skill in sea-faring affairs because he hath more goods in the ship than most other men or to take him for the Physician in a dangerous distemper who understands not the cure of any one disease because a man of great estate or your good Landlord A Magistrate may better want an inheritance than want wisedom though both together would best accomplish him We read of a poor wise man that saved a City but never of a rich fool that did any such thing All will confess that Magistrates should be sober men and that they may be such all men should be sober when they chuse them else their choice may be such that their best excuse may be that they were drunk when they made it That corporation is like to reel and stagger whose officers are chosen by drunken men or by many that are such at the making of their choice Defeat not the ends which are that Magistrates should be a terror to evil doers but an incouragement to
have power in their hands reform but all those things which they think in their consciences ought to be reformed and that no good account can be given thereof to the great God when they shall stand before his Tribunal I say let them reform but so much which is also certainly within the verge of their power though there may be difficulty in it and when they have so done that both London England and all the three Kingdomes will reap the happy fruits of it I make no question And now that I have bespoken a Reformation of what is not disputably but manifestly amiss that God may bless us in our great design of rebuilding London it may be expected I should express whom I would have to be the Reformers If then the question be put concerning the reforming not of a person or family but of a Nation and of such abuses as are National I profess sincerely that I am utterly an enemy to a popular Reformation further than of their own persons and families that is unto the people or body of the people or any party from amongst them rising up and saying This and that is amiss either in Church or State and we will reform it As our Saviour replied Luke 12.14 Who made me a Judge or a divider of you So may I say to the people who made them Judges or who hath authorized them to be Reformers If those waters use to overflow their banks instead of making the Land fruitful as Nilus did Egypt they will drown and swallow up all The Law saith a mischief ought to be endured rather than an inconvenience Now for the common people to have a power of judging and determining what is amiss and altering all things at their pleasure were an inconvenience in the sense of our Law viz. a standing evil and principle of mis-rule whereas to deny them that power is a rule that is generally good and safe though it should admit of some exception now and then and breed what they call a mischief As the Wisdom of God hath thought fit to constitute Husbands to be the Head of their Wives because though here and there a woman one of a thousand may have more wisdom than her Husband and could govern the family better than he and to such it is a mischief though but what they deserve for chusing Husbands that have less wit than themselves yet the generality of women being not so fit for government as men are an inconvenience much worse than that mischief is avoided thereby viz. by placing the headship of the family in the Husband The like may be said of Gods placing the sole power of publick reformation in Magistrates and men in Authority and denying any such power to the common people because though the community of the people might now and then do better things than are done by persons in power yet generally they would do worse and be the Authors not of better order but of more confusion People may humbly represent to those that are in Authority what they take for grievances and implore the redress of them so far as to their wisdom shall seem fit beseeching God to incline their hearts thereunto but that is all they can do This Paragraph I have added as a grain of salt wherewith to season what I have said as touching some things which seem necessary to be reformed the notice whereof taken with this grain of salt can do no body any hurt There is no hurt in seeking a Reformation of what is manifestly evil but only in seeking it from the peoples hands from whom it is not to be sought but only from the Magistrate Could we whisper in the ears of Magistrates which we have not opportunity to do what we suppose doth need their reforming hand by my consent the people should never hear of it their Errata's should be mended if it were possible before the people did ever so much as know of them nor have we presumed to acquaint them with any thing of that Nature but what they knew too well before and do ordinarily complain of though not where they should viz. to them that can afford them relief to whom this Treatise directeth all its complaints if there be any in it as to them by whom it is most fit they should be heard Reformation is needful in two cases First in case there be good Laws but ill observed notoriously broken and violated There are not better Laws in the World than many if not most of ours in England as for the curbing and restraining most kinds of vices drunkenness swearing whoredom c. but yet alas they abound as if the Laws were rather for than against them which shews one Law is too much wanting viz. a Law to put the rest in execution And verily they to whom the execution of Laws doth appertain are the persons upon whom it is incumbent and whose proper work it is to see those miscarriages which are contrary to good Laws regulated and reformed But secondly It is possible that Laws themselves humane Laws I mean may some of them not be good or not so good as they should be and in that case a reformation of the Law it self is as necessary as in the former a reformation by it I am sure that Decree of Darius Dan. 6.17 That whosoever shall ask a Petition of any God or Man for thirty daies save of the King shall be cast into the Den of Lyons was a sinful Law as was also that of Nebuchadnezzar That every man shall fall down and worship the Golden Image Dan. 3.10 Magistrates are not infallible in Cathedra or in the Seat of Judgment as the Pope pretends himself to be in St. Peters Chair nor do Protestant Magistrates pretend that they who sit in Moses his Chair whilst they sit there cannot erre they know themselves to be but fallible men and the Laws of such cannot be infallibly good I confess that private men ought to be very tender of speaking evil of the Law and judging the Law To allude to James 4.11 yet Laws may have their faults as well as men and when they have so there are but two remedies I can think of and the first is that those who are Legislators or Law-makers should either repeal or alter them as Nebuchadnezzar did his Decree Dan. 3.29 and Darius his Dan. 6.26 though the Laws of the Medes and Persians were said to be unalterable or if that be not done that those who have power to suspend the execution of unwholesome Laws though not to repeal them be pleased to suspend their execution I have only shewed how an evil or sinful Law may be reformed and by whom but not presumed to call any Law evil but that of Darius and of Nebuchadnezzar which themselves by recalling did acknowledge as such But for fear of tediousness I would press hard for that kind of Reformation for which we need not be beholden to any man but our selves viz. personal
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