The Burning of London, Part 3 · Meditation 8
MEDITATION VIII. Upon the burning multitudes of Books of all ſorts.
VVHat the Prophet ſpeaks in another caſe, Habbak, 3.8. Was the Lord diſpleaſed againſt the Rivers? Was thing anger againſt the Rivers? Was thy wrath againſt the Sea? I may here allude to, and ſay, Was the Lord diſpleaſed againſt the Books? Was his anger againſt the famous Libraries that were burnt? I doubt not, but there were many Books amongſt them, fit for nothing but the fire, viz. wanton Poems, idle Romances, prophane Comedies, lying Legends, heretical Treatiſes, ſcandalous and pernicious Pamphlets, but were they all ſuch? It had then been a good riddance, and this fire had proved the beſt Index Expurgatorius, that ever was. But alas! Who knows not, that better Books were not extant in the whole World than were thouſands of thoſe, which this Fire conſumed, and amongſt the reſt an innumerable company of Bibles, the beſt of Books. I can hardly forbear expoſtulating as Abraham did, Gen. 18.3. Lord, Wile thou deſtroy the Righteous with the Wicked? Thou didſt do ſo in this caſe, and yet wert certainly righteous in what thou didſt. Good Books are made for us, and for our ſakes too, they were deſtroyed; they had not offended, but we: We by our ſins, make the whole Creation groan, and ſubject it to vanity.
Who can ſufficiently lament the poor Bookſellers more generally undone, by this Fire, than any one ſort of men? But Why? No man can tell, there being amongſt them many honeſt and induſtrious men. But, O Lord, thy Judgements are unſearchable, and thy wayes paſt finding out: The greateſt viſible crime, wherewith I can charge them (and but ſome of them neither) was their printing, and ſelling ſome Books not fit to ſee the light: One Jonas diſquieted and indangered …all that were in the ſame ſhip, and one Achan trouble all Iſrael, and one Leviathan might miſchief an Ocean of Books, as we read of the Creature ſo called, Job. 41.31. That he maketh the Sea to b…il like a pot, he maketh the deep to boil like a pot of …in… ment. Why did you ſet up Dagon by the Ark? Scripture and Anti-ſcripturiſme did do ill together in one and the ſame Shop: Bibles at one end, and Atheiſticall books at another: Books of Divinity in one corner of your Shops, and Books of Obſcenity in another: What was this, but from the ſame Fountain to ſend forth bitter and ſweet? This was like gun-powder put amongſt other commodities, which hazards the blowing up of all the reſt. This might be the great provocation on your part, but, I doubt not, but the loſſe came as much for their ſakes, that were Buyers, as for yours that were Sellers of Books: for the ſakes of your Cuſtomers, (that either were, or ſhould have been) as much as for your own. Some wanted a heart to buy Books, though they could and ſhould have done it: others bought books enough, but wanted induſtry to peruſe them (and ſo anticipated others that would have read thoſe Books, if they had had them, or could have gotten them) Others both bought Books and read them, but did not too many do it, onelyonly for oſtentation ſake, or out of curioſity (as deſirous to taſte the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge both of good and evill) with deſign meerly to inform, not to reform and amend themſelves thereby, or for other ſuch low, and ſiniſter ends? In all this we played the Wantons with our books, and Was it not juſt with God to take them from us, as Parents uſe to take the meat from off their Childrens trenchers, when they ſee, they eat out of meer wantonneſſe? Put to no better uſes, they would but have riſen up againſt us in the day, when the Books mentioned, Revelat. 20.12. Shall be opened, and the dead judged out of the things therein contained.
But, whatſoever the particular cauſes of this Judgement were, ſure I am, the loſſe of ſo many excellent books, was a great blow, both to Religion and Learning. We loſt a far greater treaſure in their worth, than in their price, though that alſo amounted to a very great ſum, far ſurpaſſing the price of thoſe Books of curious Arts, ſpoken of, Act. 19.19. Which thoſe that believed are ſaid to have burnt, though they reckoned them worth fifty thouſand pieces of ſilver. Alas! What was that to four times fifty thouſand pieces of Gold, which ſome have judged this loſſe to amount unto? Who ſeeth not, by this inſtance, that Books are of a periſhing nature, as well as other things; he, that, by means thereof, would raiſe to himſelf a laſting monument, may fail of his end. He ſpake like a vapouring Poet, that ſaid, Jamque opus exegi qu…d non Jovis ira nec ignes, nec poterunt flammae …c…ed…x …bolere vetuſtas. I doubt not but many of thoſe Poems of his were at this time metamorphoſed into flames; and, by the ſame reaſon, all may be one time or other. Books worth a thouſand of that ſuffered in the ſame flames, and yet, I think, their ſufferings not to have been the ſame; as is uſually ſaid, Cum duo faciunt idem, non eſt idem; ſo, Cum duo p…tiuntur idem, non eſt idem, is as true. Good books burnt like Martyrs, Bad ones like Malefactours: the former aſcended up to Heaven, like ſweet Incenſe: the latter like the ſmoke of the Bottomleſs pit. As ſome waters run by each other, and yet mix not, ſo in a morall ſenſe may we judge of theſe flames, which conſumed the good Books, and the bad ones.
Were it not in vain to wiſh for a reſurrection of Books, How ſhould I long to ſee it? Oh! that at leaſt our forty thouſand Bibles might be recovered again, though all the other books were irrecoverably loſt; the next Age may be for books, though this be all for News. But ſince, à privatione ad habitum non datur regreſſis: (in this as in ſome other caſes) ſince we can never look for them again; let us remember the Italian proverb, which ſaith, Deliver us from that man that reads but one book (intimating, that he, that doth ſo, is like to be too hard for any man, in defending the principles of that one Author) and be thence encouraged to read thoſe few books that are left us over and over, ſo ſhall we find dimidium plus to to to be verified in this caſe, a part, ſo improved, will do us more good, than the whole had wont to do, as one diſh, well fed upon, refreſheth us more than twenty, that do but glut us with the ſight and ſent of them. Let us take occaſion from this, to acquaint our ſelves more then ever, with thoſe four Books, which are of more conſequence than all the reſt, viz. The Book of Creation, Providence, Scripture, and that of our own Hearts and Conſciences. The multitude of our other Books may have impeded us from looking, ſo much as we ought, into theſe; and now they are diminiſhed, let us more then ever delight ourſelves in theſe, and meditate therein day and night. If thou didſt make an Idol of thy books (as ſome men did) and doſt now mourn, for the loſs of them, as Micha did for the taking away of his gods (Judges 18.24.) Conſider, that the beſt of knowledge (and that the Scripture is ſufficient to inſtruct thee in) is that, Saint John ſpeaks of, John 17.3. This is Life eternal, that they might know thee, the onelyonly true God, and Jeſus Chriſt, whom thou haſt ſent.