The Burning of London, Part 3 · Meditation 6
MEDITATION VI. Upon unconſcionable Landlords, demanding exceſſiv… Fines and Rents, ſince the Fire.
IS it a good Rule, that men may take as much as ever they can get, for ſuch things as men cannot live without? Surely, that is the Rule you go by, in asking and taking ſuch vaſt Fines and Rents for the houſes you lett. By that Rule, if ſome few men could be ſuppoſed to have all the Corn in England in their hands, they might ſell it for five pounds a buſhel: for men would give it, if they had wherewithall, rather than be without bread, which is the ſtaffe of life: But how would you curſe them that ſhould ſerve you ſo? You ſeem to have made a Covenant with fire, (as ſome are ſaid to have done with death, Iſa. 26.15.) and with ſlames (as others with hell) to be at an agreement, that if an overflowing ſcourge ſhould paſſe thorough, it might not hurt you, as who ſhould ſay, If your houſes be burnt hereafter, yet they are paid for; ſuch Fines may be ſufficient to build them again: Methinks, I hear the great God ſaying, Your Covenant ſhall be diſannulled, and your Agreement ſhall not ſtand; when the overflouring ſcourge ſhall p…ſſe thorough, you ſhall he trodden down by it, as it is, verſe 18. Like the builders of B…b…, you ſeem to have been raiſing a Tower, to fortifie your ſelves againſt heaven, but God will confound your Languages. Would you anticipate the rebuilding of the City, by obliging men alwayes to remain in the Suburbs? I wiſh, it may not be ſaid of you in a bad ſenſe (what the Pſalmiſt ſayes of others in a good) that You take pleaſure in the ſtones of London (as they of Zion) and ſavour the duſt thereof, Pſalm 102.14. becauſe its ruine hath been your riſe. I doubt not, but the Fines you have taken, and the Rents you have agreed for, will be the undoing of many a poor Family, that, but for thoſe exactions, might have made a ſhift to live. Poſſibly, all the gains of your Tenants, (trading being ſo dead as it is, and is like to be) will ſcarce pay for the houſes they live in, and if ſo, wherewithall ſhall they and theirs ſubſiſt? Men muſt have meat to eat, and clothes to wear, as well houſes to dwell in; but your rack-Rents, and more than rack Fines, do eat the very bread out of their mouthes. When I think of the Fire, the Carters, the Pilferers, and you extorting Landlords, I cannot but recount, what is ſaid, Ioel 1.4. That which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locuſt eaten; and that which the locuſt hath left, hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left, hath the caterpiller eaten. How contrary have you been to Jeſus Chriſt, who impoveriſhell himſelf to make others rich, 2 Cor. 8.9. whereas you have inricht your ſelves by making others poor. You have handled the poor City, as the Sybils are ſaid to have done their Prophecies, when they had burnt the greateſt part of them, asking as great a price for the Remains, as they did at firſt for the whole Book: what ever reaſon they had for that, I am ſure you have none for this. Ruminate, I beſeech you, upon one Text I ſhall name to you, (with others of like nature) and then if you think fit to keep all the Fines you have taken, and to take all the Rent you have contracted for, give me leave to think, that your hearts do ſtand in no awe of Gods Word: The place I mean, is, Zach. 2.9, 10, 11. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetouſneſs to his houſe, that he may ſet his …ſt on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou haſt conſulted ſhame to thy ſelf, thou haſt ſinned againſt thy ſoul; For the ſtone ſhall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber ſhall anſwer it. If you will not believe, try at your peril, if that ſaying of Chriſt be not true, viz. that It will profit a man nothing to gain the world and leſe his own ſoul.