Hezekiahs Recovery, Postscript
POSTSCRIPT.
ANd here London, let mee addreſſe one exhortation to thee: Hitherto we have ſtood amazed at thy miſerie and ſudden change, ſometime ſorrow hath thruſt out ſad complaints, How doth the Citie ſit ſolitary that was full of people, &c. Lam. 1.1. ſometimes ſilence hath ſwallowed up all words and left us ſpeechleſſe, like, lob, friends: now me thought we heard thy in habitors crying, Is it nothing, &c. Lam. 1.12. now again thy friends ſtanding aloofe for feare, as once men ſhall for Babel crying our, Alas, alas that great Citie … bo…re is thy judgement come &c. Rev. 18. Latuimus quis tuta civitas exhausta. &c. Chryſ. hom. 11. ad pop. Ant. Sir W. Ral.In this caſe thou waſt not at leiſure to heare not wee in caſe to ſpeake: At ſuch a time to tell thee of thy faults, had been (as one who wanted not wit, ſpake) to upbraid thee with thy fortune, … than to ſeeke thy reformation. But now the caſe is altered, the heavens are cleered, and thou with them. Now its time for all thy friends to call upon thee, for thee to call upon, thy ſelfe. Wee have waited long to hears when thou wouldeſt ſay, O all ye that mourned for mee, now rejoyce with me, and repay as manie thankes for me, as I have had prayers from you. Take head, no thankfulneſſe ſoone ſpends what prayers hath bin long in geting; forfeit not all againe for want of thankes. Looke upon Hezekiah, he was ſicke and prayed, hee recovered and ſong. If I ſhould ſay that he was ſicke, of your ſickneſſe, I ſhould not ſay it without an Author: V. Valeſ. ſer. Philoſ. Abulenſ. in 4. zol. c. 20. q. 3.this I can ſay, his ſicknes was but perſonall, yet he is thankful; whatever his diſeaſe was, you will yeeld the plague to be a ſickneſſe, yea cuſtome ſaith, The ſickneſs, The plague, The viſitation. This granted, there's great reaſon that thou ſhouldeſt be as thankfull for a thouſand as hee for one, and adde deeds to words as well as he: To this purpoſe, runne his method; 1. Make thy ſelfe ſenſible and mindfull of thy miſerie paſt: foreign Luc. 7.21. Mic 6.9.ſickeneſſe is a rod, as the Goſpell tells us; the voyce now to the Citie is, Heare the rod & who appoints if. the rod hath a mouth, if thou haſt an eare; that ſpeakes its errand, & gives thee thy leſſon. If thou wilt heare me, Ile deliver it to thee with the ſame affection (degrees excepted) that Eltha did to Iob, chap. 34.31.32.
Surely it is meete, Iob 34.31.and it becomes thee to ſay, and that to God, I have borne chaſtiſement; this the firſt leſſon. Farre be it from thee to ſay in thy heart, Tis true, I have buried manie children, but what were they? of the baſer & poorer ſort, ſuch, whoſe lives were burden ſome, whoſe deaths are beneficiall to me: nor let it enter into thy heart to thinke, Well, I ſee the error; had ſuch a place beene ſcoured, ſuch traffique ſtayed, ſuch meanes uſed, this had beene prevented, hereafter Ile bee wiſer. No, it is thy wiſe dome to ſee Gods Name written upon this rod, as Micah ſpeakes, and to acknowledge him: we wiſh thee to uſe all ſecondary meanes, but not to reſt there; thy experience hath taught thee, that the plague nothing feares, either thy new fields, or freſh waters, &c: it comes of Gods errand, and when it comes, take knowledge of it, for it wil not away without its errand. Therefore in the ſecond place, improve the affliction, as well as feele it; proceed to the ſecond leſſon in Iob, and ſay, Ile ſinne no more. Firſt, Iob 5.6.ſee why the rod is ſent as well as by who. The rod buds not out of the duſt, it hath a roote, and that root is ſinne, and that ſinne is manifold. A King doth not uſe to ſmite downe his ſubjects by thouſands for ſmall offences; a father will not draw a ſword upon his children for toyes and trifles: London, thou muſt take the height of thy ſinnes by the compaſſe of the puniſhment, and judge of that by this.
What I have thought of thee, and thy government in generall, I have ſpoken elſewhere ſeaſonably enough, as I think; but now I ſpeak to thee, I earneſtly entreate thee to take into thy conſideration Ezek. 22. and therein note how the Lord charges her not only with ſuch crimes as were committed by her, but alſo in her, In thee, ſaith God, were they, &c.
For thine owne government & practiſe, I cannot tell how to hope almoſt that it ſhould be much better in ſo populous and various a place, nay I know not the Citieunder heaven, that's better ordred and diſciplined: nevertheleſſe in ſuch a confluence of people of nations, it cannot be avoided but ſuch ſinne will be committed in thee, if not by thee; and theſe ſinnes, ſo farre as connivencie and baſeneſſe makes thine, Tuum eſt quad tibi non diſplic…t Hier.will endanger thee. When therefore thou haſt ſurveyed thine own wayes, caſt into the account thine-other-mens-ſinnes, thine-other-land ſinnes, thy Dutch ſinnes, thy French ſinnes, thy Spaniſh ſinnes, thy Italian ſinnes, thine-owne-countrey-ſinnes; ſee whether there be not in thee thoſe that eate upon the mountaines, and thoſe that for lucre ſake both harbour and hide them. Whether in thee there be not ſuch as never yet ſaw Chriſts face, or heard his voyce in the Aſſemblies: whether in this wonderful light, there be not in thee who know not whether Chriſt be a man or woman: whether there be not in thee men, who ſtudy new oathes and lyes, as men doc new faſhions: whether in thee there be not who never ſee the Sabbath light, but lye eyther buried in bed, or drowned in drinke: whether in thee children be not ſo wantonly bred, that they ſleight father and mother; and, to make ſhort of a long bed-roll; whether in thee there be not wretched men that ſet open their doores to all the bankrupts, unthrifts, gameſters, robbers, cheaters, harlots that the countrey purſues: whether in thee there be not ſome that ſet all to ſale, wife, childe, ſervant, name, conſcience, ſoule, all. And if upon ſearch theſe or any of theſe ſhall bee found within thy walls or reach, O gloriſie God in his viſitation, and ſave thy ſelfe by diſclayming theſe ſinnes. Thine they be not, if thou where thou mayeſt doſt reforme them, and where thy power fayles doſt bewaile them. Howbeit this is not all; as ſinne muſt be ſeene, ſo muſt it be left: and therefore thou muſt proceed, Iob 34.31.and ſay, Ile offend no more: as a Chriſtian, Ile reforme my ſelfe; as a parent, my children; as a Maſter, my family; as a Magiſtrate, my charge; as a tradſman, my courſes. And to the end thy reformation may be acceptable, learne two things more of Elihu, firſt, Verſ. 32be willing to ſee and know thy faults; pray that GOD would adde to correction inſtruction, that he will open thine heart to heare, and ſome mouth to ſpeake home to thy caſe, thy ſoule; Pſal. 94.12.and when light is commin, winke not with thine eyes, ſhut not the doore againſt it. Secondly, carrie ever about thee this reſolution, Let God teach, Ile learne; ſpeake, Ile heare; convince me of a ſinne, Ile leave it whatever becomes of me; be it my living, be it to me as my life, if God will ſay it is a ſinne, Ile leave it in the practiſe, in the purpoſe, in the allowance of it; this murtherous ſinne that hath ſlaine my childe, my friend, ſo manie of my neighbours, nay my Saviour, ſhall never have place againe in my heart or houſe. And this is not onelyonly the way to thankefulneſſe, but alſo a proofe and peece of it: know that ſo many ſinnes as the love of God conſtraines us to leave, ſo manie ſongs are preſented to God; Chryſ. de laude Dei.everie ſlaine luſt is a gratulatorie ſacrifice.
Secondly, thou muſt proceed with Hezekiah, and ſee from what, to what God hath brought thee: ſhall a Citie conceive and bring forth in a day? it hath beene ſo with thee. I may ſay of thy ſorrowes, what Iob ſpeakes of his comforts, they have beene ſwifter than a ſhuttle: Iob 7.Didſt thou or anie man living thinke, that within one Summer thou ſhouldeſt burie ſo manie, and ſo few weekely? could it be imagined, that when thy channels were diſcovered in ſo low an ebbe, that thy banks ſhould be ſo ſuddenly filled againe? O London looke upon thy ſelfe, and wonder at thy ſelfe: invert now Ieremies lamentation, and ſay, How is the ſolitarie Citie become full! how is ſhee that was barren, made fruitfull! Sit downe with Hezekiah, See the plague at Aſex in Cypr. & Euſand conſider what thy bitterneſſe was when death walkt in the ſtreets, raged in the chambers, when death was in the pot, in the bedde, in the diſh, in the hall, in the parlour, when the bells ſpake nothing but death, the doores preſented nothing but death, and every man thou ſaweſt, thing thou touchedſt, place thou ſateſt in threatned thee with death: conſider what thy cares, fears, griefs, thoughts were then; and now whileſt thine eyes behold as it were a reſurrection to life, ſo that now life is in the ſtreetes, life in the houſe, life in the Church, trading, building, ſinging, &c. alive againe, bleſſe thy GOD that hath wrought this change, and get up with Hezekiah to the houſe of the Lord: Strange it was, that hee in ſo ſhort a ſpace ſhould meaſure the whole diſtance betwixt death and life; yeſterday dead in nature, as unlikely to live as the ſunne to goe backward, and to morrow ſo ſtrong that he could ſhew himſelfe in the Lords courts: This is wonderfull, and this made him wondrous thankfull. And what (I pray) wants thy deliverance of this? how much leſſe wonderfull? how faſt did ſickneſſe come in, how faſt did it gallop out? how faſt did it riſe from ſcores to thouſands, how faſt did it fall againe from thouſands to ſcores? London, lay theſe things together, and forget not him who hath done ſo great things for thee.
In the third place, Hezekiah loves not to diſpatch all at one journey: hee begins his ſong aſſoone as mought be, but tis not ended yet; he hath left a patterne for thee to work by. Thinke it not ſufficient to complement God with a few words, and a ſhort ſong, for along deliverance; write this mercy with a pen of Diamond, in a book of Marble; call upon all within thee, Pſal. 103.1.as David did within him, to ſpeake of this deliverance to childrens children, and doe ſomething that may ſet men on ſinging 500. yeares hence: Thou haſt ſonnes of all ſorts; ſome Enginers, ſome Artiſts, ſome Poets, ſome of excellent invention, ſome of great activity, ſome very daring and undertaking, ſome ſtrong, ſome wiſe, ſome rich, of all ranks ſome; call upon them, ſome to write, ſome to build, ſome to invent, ſome to give, that cirie, country, Church, State, ſea and land may take occaſion thence of bleſſing God, whilſt London or England ſtands. Now happy Hezekiah, and happy ſickneſſe of his that ended ſo well: his afflictions ſent him to God with prayers, his recovery with praiſes; nor God nor man loſt by this bargaine: God had more ſervice, Hezekiah more experience, we gaine a good coppy, and Hezekiah hath his leaſe renewed for fifteene yeares: And thus afflictions conclude, which begin with prayer and end in thankfulneſſe. London, make thy ſelfe againer by thy loſſe, joine praiſes to thy former prayers, grow more wiſe, holy, humble, temperate, juſt, mercifull, fruitfull, and thou art a winner; thy gaines exceed thy loſſes preſent, and for the future, thou haſt opened a faire proſpect to a conſtant peace. The beſt ſecurity from future miſeries, is to profit by former; beleeve it, thou canſt not take a better medecine againſt the Plague, than to profit by what is paſt. Now the Lord hath promiſed to teach us to profit, by Eſay, and he performe it for his mercies ſake, that ſo the controverſie may end here, and the Lord may not bee put to ſaddle his pale horſe of famine, which hath made parents to eat up their children, once, and to wiſh them alive againe, that they might eate them againe. Amen.
FINIS.
End of the text · Robert Harris, Hezekiahs Recovery (1626)