The Burning of London, Part 3 · Meditation 4 – Meditation 5
MEDITATION IV. Upon the diſhoneſt Carters, who exacted exceſſive Rates.
IS there a Conſcience in men, or is there none? Or is there ſome ſuch thing in Pagans and Infidels, but no ſuch thing in Chriſtians? or is there a Conſcience in the Chriſtians of other parts, but none in Engliſhmen? Or is there ſome in other Engliſhmen, but none in plow-men, and Carters, at leaſtwiſe in the moſt of them, who came to help the Londoners away with their goods in the time of the Fire? Whatſoever there be in other men, there ſeems to have been no ſuch thing in them; witneſs their plowing, as they did, upon the backs of poor Citizens, and making long furrowes in the time of their utmoſt Calamity. Londoners have been glad ſometimes, if they could get but one in ten of their broken Chapmen, but you, when you ſaw a fire that was like to break hundreds of Citizens, would have ten for one; five pound for ſo little work, as ten ſhillings, if not five, would have been taken for at another time. Let it not be known in Gath: never let Papiſt, or Turk, or Jew, read this paper, whereby to know, what you have done: They would think it were never poſſible, to go to heaven in your Religion. Who can believe you to be ſo much, or ſo good as meer men? For can there be a man without humanity? The Apoſtle ſaith, He is not a Jew that is a Jew outwardly, and may I not ſay, He is not a Man that is a Man outwardly, but he that hath the tender heart and bowels of a man. As there are, VVolves in Sheeps cloathing, (as our Saviour ſpeaks) ſo, Are there not evil Angels appearing in the ſhape of Men? Did you do as you would be done by (which is the Rule of Juſtice) when you ſeemed to vie with the fire it's ſelf, which ſhould be moſt cruel, you or it? It gave moſt men ſpace to carry away their goods, you might have given them opportunity to have done it, and would not, but upon moſt unreaſonable tearms, ſuch as many were not able to come up to. Should Landlords, knowing you cannot live without ground to work upon, make you pay ten times ſo much Rent as it is worth, How would you curſe them, and be ready to call them Baptized Jews, Uncircumciſed Turks, or other names, as bad as thoſe; and ſuch as I dare not call you, (whatſoever you deſerve) as remembring, how the Arch-angel durſt not bring a railing accuſation againſt the Devil himſelf, but only ſaid, The Lord rebuke thee, Jude the 9th. Were any of you dangerouſly ſick, and in great extremity, and being ſo, ſhould ſend for the only Phyſician near at hand, and he ſhould refuſe to come, though it were to ſave your life, unleſs you would give him ten Fees for one; would you not go nigh to uſe that rude Proverb, concerning him, viz. That he would get the Devil and all? and would you not think, that one good angel might be better to him, than ten evil ones (and ſuch are all that are ill gotten)? Were your Wives in ſore Travail, and but one Midwife to be had, that were able to deliver them; and ſhe, knowing their neceſſity to make uſe of her, ſhould ſo far work upon it, as to capitulate for as many pounds as ſhe uſed to have ſhillings, or elſe, give out, that, for her, mother and child ſhould both periſh together: How would you make the Countrey ring of the ſavage cruelty of ſo extorting a Midwife? If you had urgent occaſion for money, and ſome biting Uſurer, knowing of it, ſhould make you, directly or indirectly, to pay twenty or thirty pound per Cent. how would you take on at him, and clamour upon him? Such was your dealing with poor Londoners in the day of their diſtreſs.
As the raging Sea, when men are in danger of being caſt away, will have a great part of their lading caſt into her lap, or not ſuffer them to ride ſafe; or as Thieves, do make men buy their lives at a great rate, which they ought nevertheleſſe to ſave, and ſuffer them to enjoy free-coſt; or, as the Devil himſelf, when he oſters his aſſiſtance to men in their great ſtraights, exacts that of them for his pains, which is more worth than the whole world, viz. Their Souls; requiring to be paid manifold more than his work comes to: Such was the equity you uſed towards diſtreſſed Citizens in the time of the fire, (as if you had been Jews and they Samaritans.) There was a Samaritan himſelf, who when he ſaw a ſtranger that had been robb'd, and wounded, and half-dead, had compaſſion on him, bound up his wounds, paid for his lodging, took care of him, Luke 10 33. Surely you are no akin to that good Samaritan; you took from them whom the fire had robbed before; you made their wounds bleed afreſh with your unkindneſs; you even killed thoſe outright with your cruelty, whom fire, and grief, and fear had made half dead before.
Did you ever read that Text Acts 28.2. where Paul ſaith, The barbarous people ſhewed us no little kindneſſe, for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, becauſe of the preſent rain, and becauſe of the cold. This did Barbarians to ſtrangers, when expoſed but to rain and cold, which is nothing like ſo dangerous as fire: but what you Carters, called Chriſtians, did to men of your own Nation, and of your own Religion, the world knows too well; as if you, indeed, had been the Barbarians; and they that Paul ſpeaks of had been Chriſtians. Will not the Chriſtian-like carriage of thoſe Barbarians judge the barbarous carriage of you Chriſtians (if I may ſo call you)? Have you never read thoſe words, 1 Cor. 6.10. Extortioners ſhall not inherit the Kingdome of God? nor thoſe in 1 Theſ. 4.6. Let no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter, becauſe the Lord is the avenger of all ſuch. Quit yourſelves, if you can, from having been Extortioners, and ſuch as have defrauded and gone beyond others. I doubt not in the leaſt, but this was a real theft in the ſight of God: You think it was not, becauſe they conſented and contracted to give you ſo much: But ſo may a man conſent to deliver his purſe to a highway man, that threatneth, if he do not ſo, he will have his life: Doth that make it no theft on his part that takes it? A man may conſent to that which is a real injury to himſelf, to avoid a greater than that; all that can be ſaid, is, No man can be forced, if he conſent. Volenti non fit violentia, is true, but not Volenti non fit injuria. If you have not wronged the poor Citizens, whether with or againſt their conſents (as it was partly both) never were men wronged. How many, think you, did loſe all, or the moſt of their goods, becauſe they had not wherewithall to give thoſe unreaſonable rates which you demanded, who yet could and would have honeſtly paid you as much as you in reaſon and conſcience could have demanded for the removal of their goods. Will not the great God, think you, place the loſs of thoſe goods, and the undoing of thoſe poor families to your accompt? Therefore, O Countrey men (honeſt Countreymen I muſt not call you till you better deſerve it) let my advice be acceptable to you: Bluſh for what you have done, repent, reſtore, make ſatisfaction to the full. What you have gotten in that way (unleſſe it be ſuch of you as ventured your own lives, or the lives of your beaſts, by going near the fire) will never thrive with you, yea, may prove a moth and canker to all you have beſides. Who were the large contributers to all Briefs, when your Towns and Houſes were at any time burnt, but theſe very Citizens, whom you have uſed thus unkindly? If fire ſhould happen in your thatch, which may eaſily be, (and which you have provoked God to ſend) how dearly would you miſs that City which you have ſo inhumanely oppreſſed? You that have not pitied Londoners, pity your own ſouls; and remember that true ſaying, Unjuſt gain is not remitted, (that is, forgiven) unleſſe, intentionally by thoſe that cannot, and actually by thoſe that can, reſtitution be made.
MEDITATION V. Upon thoſe that ſtole what they could in the time of th… Fire.
IT ſhould ſeem it was not enough for Londoners to have their houſes conſumed by fire, and their faces grownd by unconſcionable Carters, demanding half as much for carrying away their goods, as ſome of them were worth; (yea, ten times ſo much as was their due) but, as a further aggravation of their miſery, God was pleaſed to give London, as he gave Jacob, to the ſpoil, and as he gave Iſrael to the robbers. How many, under pretence of reſcuing their neighbours goods out of the fire, carried them away for altogether, (as if all things now had been common, becauſe the fire had broken down mens incloſures): Was this your kindneſſe to your friends? Was this the pity that ſhould be ſhewed to them that are in miſery? I have heard indeed of Janizaries, (that is, Turkiſh Souldiers), that when fires have been in Conſtantinople, would ſall to plundering; but, are you Turks? Some living upon the Sea-coaſt, may, perchance, gain now and then by racks, bringing rich goods to their hands; but then, it is preſumed, the owners are caſt away, or cannot be known. They ſay, ſome Nurſes, that uſe to attend on ſuch as have the plague, are wont to make away all they can lay their hands on: but then they ſtay, till the people whoſe goods they take, be dead, and have no further need of them. But you, barbarous wretches, ſtript the poor Citizens, being yet alive, and likely to live, and to need all they had, and more: Do you think much, to be chid for what you have done? Alas, yours is a great crime, It is an iniquity to be puniſhed by the Judges, yet, I had rather you would judge your ſelves for it, ſatisfie for the wrong you have done, and ſo avoid the puniſhment both of God and Men. You make me think of the Eagle, that ſtole away a coal from the Altar, and fired his own neſt with it. Were they not fire-brands ſnatcht out of the fire that you ſtole away? If you continue to keep them in your Neſts, ſure enough they will ſet them on fire; I mean, they will bring a curſe upon all the reſt of your ſubſtance. You have done that, which one would have thought, no mans heart could ſerve him to have done. If other Thieves deſerve hanging, you are worthy of a Gallows as high as Haman's; for, the circumſtance of time makes your ſin out of meaſure ſinful. Would you offer to be ſtealing when God was burning? Would you take from thoſe, to whom you had more need to have given? Now you are told of your fault, be not worſe than Iudas himſelf, who, when admoniſhed but by his own conſcience, came and brought back that wages of unrighteouſneſs, which he had received, viz. The thirty pieces of Silver. I do not adviſe you, by any unneceſſary confeſſion, to bring your ſelves into danger; ſo you do every man right, what matter is it, whether they know who it was that wronged them? If ever God pardon you, ſee one Condition that muſt be performed by you, Ezek. 33.15. If the wicked reſtore the pledge, give again that he hath robbed; he ſhall ſurely live, he ſhall not dye.