The Rebellious City Destroyed.  
Being an Anniversary SERMON In Memory of the Dreadful Fire OF LONDON, On the Second Day of September, 1666.  
Preached At St. Olave's Hartstreet, London, September the Second, 1682.  
By WILLIAM WRAY, M. A. Chaplain to the Right Honourable John Lord Berkley, Baron of Stratton.  
LONDON, Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1682.   

A SERMON Preached September 2. 1682.  EZRA IU. 15. — So shalt thou find in the Book of the Records, and know that this City is a Rebellious City, and hurtful unto Kings and Provinces, and that they have moved Sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this City destroyed. 
THE Pious design of your present Meeting is, to testify unto God and the World, what Humiliation, his severe Judgement upon this City (yet fresh in your Thoughts, and yet felt in many of your Fortunes) hath begot in you. That it ill behoves you now to dissemble, or proudly to insist upon Self-justification. God has signally manifested his Displeasure: and does not use to scatter such Plagues as these at random, nor suffer his Vengeance to fall so heavy and Epidemically, but where he has been out of measure provoked. Indeed private Calamities often light upon particular Men for other Reasons; and are not always intended for the Punishment of Sin, neither are they infallible Symptoms of the Wrath of God against those that are thus visited. But where a City, a Metropolis, and in that a whole Nation is concerned, and where the Judgement is so dreadfully remarkable, so full of Terror and Amazement as that of this Day; we must not think that Providence plays at small-games, and only recreates itself with these sportive Tragedies, designing nothing worse than its own Diversion: No, God does not use so seriously to Trifle, nor Jest with Nations when he destroys them. Such signal Judgements are evident Signs that he is solemnly Angry and in good earnest. That we do but fond delude our own Consciences, and aggravate the Provocation, by wipeing our Mouths and pleading Innocence. This is plainly to give his Vengeance the Lie, and to contradict that woeful Truth, which he knows better than ourselves. 'Tis as vain to dissemble our Gild to the World also. For God hath made us Notorious to all that are round about us: and they must be very dull and inadvertent, that do not observe our Shame, with a very distinct and Judicious Notice; and the City in Flames, has Beaconed and Blazed it abroad to the whole World. And how shall we Justify ourselves before Men, whom God has so publicly and formally Condemned! If we say that we have no Sin, they may justly allege his Judgements to our Faces, that there is no Truth in us: an Argument of more undoubted Credit, than any that we can Forge in our own Defence; for the Matter is come to this Issue, whether it be Right to hearken unto God or Us?  
Let us therefore deal sincerely with God, the World, and our own Consciences; and Ingenuously confess, and soberly Repent those manifest Sins which we cannot hid: and not Ridicule the Divine Justice with a Mock-fast; and so our Incense become as great an Abomination, as any of those Evils for which we suffer. Which that you may the better do, I shall endeavour to direct your Consciences in the way of a Self-discovery, by laying before you the grossest of those Sins that we of this City and Nation have been most Emphatically guilty of, and which God hath infinite Reason to be Angry at. And doubtless those of the Text are the very Rubric, and stand in the front of the Calendar. These are they for which our Infamous Names are deservedly Posted, for which the World hisses at us, and all the Babylonish Samaritans at home and abroad upbraid us saying, This, this is the Rebellious City, and hurtful unto Kings, for which cause this City was destroyed.  
In handling of which words, we will First, Give you an account of the Story to which they relate, and  
Secondly, See how far it is applicable to the present occasion.  
For the History we must look back, at 
2 Kings 17.  the least, as far as the Reign of Hoshea, Jeroboams Successor over the ten revolted Tribes which dwelled in Samaria: whose Dominions Shalmeneser the King of Assyria invaded, and made the Land Tributary. But they neglected to pay the Annual Duty, and maintained a correspondence with the Egyptians; which the Israelites in all their Distresses were too apt to do. Which Affront Shalmeneser so highly resented, that he sent his Forces again into Samaria, took Hoshea Prisoner, and at three years' end possessed himself of all the Cities, and carried the Inhabitants Captive into his own Land: Into whose Estates and Dwellings, he transplanted some of his own Countrymen, and they possessed Samaria 
verse 14.  and dwelled in the Cities thereof. But these Babylonians did not change their Religion with their Climate, neither Worshipped they the true God, but served the Abominations of their Fathers, and walked in all the superstitious ways they had been severally brought up in. For which Cause God let 
vers. 24.  lose the wild Beasts of the Field upon them, and many of them were destroyed by Lions. By this means they were brought to understand 
verse 25.  their Error; and sent to acquaint the King of Assyria what had befallen them, because 
vers. 26, 27.  they knew not the manner of the God of the Land. Hereupon the King sent them a Priest from among those of the Captivity, to instruct them in the Knowledge and Worship of the true God. But so strong and invincible were the the Prejudices of their Education, that the true Religion found but cold Entertainment among them: and though the Interests of self-preservation indispensably necessitated them to profess it; yet all that God could by his Judgements force, or the Priest persuade them to, was only to admit Him among their other Deities, and to make One in their heathen Catalogue. For they feared the Lord, and served 
verse 33.  their own Gods, after the manner of the Nations from whence they came. And by this medley of Religion they were separated and distinguished from them of the Jewish Communion, unto the very time of our Saviour's coming into the World, and from thence forward till the final Dispersion.  
The Assyrians, having thus got Footing in Israel; and opened the way into a more entire Conquest, made their next Attempts upon Judah and Jerusalem. But good King Hezekiah, by his own personal Integrity, 
2 Kings 18.  and his Zeal for God's Glory and the Interests of Religion, kept off the stroke all the time of his own Reign. But when the Date of his Life was out, Piety died and was Buried with him: And Manasseh his Son confounded the Reformation his Father had made, revived all the ruined Monuments of 
chap. 21.  Idolatry, reared up Altars for Baal, Worshipped all the Host of Heaven, brought the Abomination even into the Holy Place, and set up a graven Image in the House of the Lord. Thus Religion was laid waist, and a Babel of superstition built upon its ruins. Nay, to fill up the Measure of Impieties, he practised Witchcraft, and kept a familiar Correspondence 
2 Chron. 33. verse 6.  with Devils. And no wonder if Ungodliness and unrighteousness go hand in hand no wonder if they have no regard to the good of Men, that have not the Fear of God before their eyes. Blood is the usual Cement of every Religion, that stands beside the Foundation of Truth and Reason; and force the support of that disjointed Cause that would otherwise tumble and be its own confusion. To this Manasseh had Recourse, suspecting that his bad Divinity would never propagate and stand, but by the help of cruel Politics, (Arguments as wicked as the Cause.) And accordingly you read, that he shed innocent Blood very much, 
2 Kings 21. 16.  till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. And this was indeed the grand provocation that incensed the Divine Justice so irreconcilably, against that Place and Nation. Manassehs wicked Reign was the ground of all those Prophetic Threats, 
2 Chron. 34. 23. 2 Kings 21. 10.  that opened the Mouths of Huldah the Prophetess, of Isaiah and Jeremiah. And for this Cause was Manasseh himself, the first of all the Men of Judah, delivered into the 
2 Chron. 32. 11.  hands of the Assyrians, as an earnest of the approaching Captivity. And from this time forward the Babylonians every day got Ground upon them; bating that little Respite in Josiahs' time, in the latter end whereof 
chap 35. verse 20.  the Egyptians helped to do the work for them. After this Nebuchadnezzer retook the 
chap. 36. verse 5.  Cause into his own hands, subdued Jehoiakim, who for three years held the Crown in Capite of the Conqueror; but he revolting, became accessary to his own Fall. Jehoiachin his Son had scarce Reigned three 
verse 9  Months, when his City was Besieged, his Person seized on, his Relations, Officers of State, Guards and Forces, nay all the Artificers of Jerusalem, taken; to the number of ten thousand Men: so that none remained but the Poor and Refuse of the Land, that seemed beneath the Enemy's Displeasure, over whom Nabuchadnezzar made Zedekiah 
verse 11.  King. But he Rebelled against his Benefactor, and called in the Assistance of the Egyptians. Which Act of Confederacy and Rebellion so enraged the Enemy, that, having dispersed their Forces and entered the City, they put the Inhabitants to the Sword, half dead before with Famine and Pestilence. Neither the grey Hairs of the Aged, nor the 
verse 17.  promising hopes of Youth, nor the Charms of Virginity, nor the Innocent Oratory of Infant Tenderness, could divert the Course of their impartial Fury: All places Sacred and Profane were alike to them, and the Sanctuary itself became a Tophet and Place of Execution. And those poor Remains that escaped the Fury of the Sword, were carried away to Babylon, there to partake in the Captivity of their Brethren, and bewail their Own. Then was the Temple Sacked, the Exchequer Plundered, and all the Seats of the Nobility Spoilt and Pillaged: And having possessed themselves of all the portable Treasure of Jerusalem, they broke down the Wall set fire of the Temple, and left all her goodly Palaces in Flames.  
In this State of Captivity the Jews remained till the seventy years of Jeremiah's Prophecy were accomplished. When, Babylon being subjected to the Persian Empire, God put it 
Ezra 1. 1.  into the Heart of Cyrus to set his People free, and to rebuild the City and Temple, that the Chaldeans had destroyed. To this end he gave them leave to go up, and restored unto them all the Utensils of the House of God, and ordered them to be furnished, out of the places where they sojourned, with Silver and Gold, and whatsoever else was necessary for the Undertaking. And having now with Joy begun the Work, 
chap. 4. 1.  the Samaritans (of whom I gave you an Account before) solicit the Heads of Judah, that they might be joined with them in the Building of the Temple: pretending that they Worshipped the same God, and Professed the same Religion which the Jews did. 
* So our Sectaries plead for comprehension, do we not own Christ, his Gospel, the same points of Faith, the same Acts of Worship, see Dr. Owen Plea for Non-Con. p. 21. verse 4.  But the Fathers of Israel, well knowing that such a Comprehension would endanger the Purity of Religion, and the peace of the Church, utterly reject the Proposal, and tell them flatly, that they neither had, nor should have, any thing to do with them in Building a House to their God; but that they would do it Themselves, as King Cyrus had commanded them. This Answer so nettled the Samaritans, that they resolved, (if it were possible,) to hinder, what they could not be admitted to have a hand in: To which end they had always some Statesman or other in Fee, to persuade the 
verse 5. 6. 7.  King to revoke his Grant, and countermand what he had Decreed. At length, Cyrus being personally engaged abroad in Foreign Erterprises, and in the mean time, consigning the Administration of the Government to his Son Cambyses, otherwise called Ahasuerus 
Joseph. de Antiqu. Judaic. l. 11. c. 3 Tirin. in loc & Alii.  and Artaxerxes; the Samaritans looked upon this as a fit Juncture to work their Designs in: Wherefore pretending themselves mightily concerned for the Honour 
verse 14.  and Peace of the Government, they send a Letter to the Vice King, to let him know of what dangerous Consequence the Building of Jerusalem might be; that the Jews were a factious & unquiet People, and if once their Hands were strengthened, and their City Fortified, they would in all likelihood Revolt, and refuse to pay Toll, and Tribute, and Custom; and by this means the Revenues of the Crown would be impaired: for the Probability and Truth whereof, they refer him to the ancient Chronicles, where he should find that this City had been a Rebellious City, and hurtful unto Kings, etc.  
Which Accusation, though spiteful and invidious, was not altogether false: For upon Enquiry, Artaxerxes found it was as they had said; that the City had formerly made Insurrection against Kings, and that Rebellion 
vers. 19  and Sedition had been made therein. So that all the Untruth, if there be any, must lie in the Misapplication: For which Cause this City was destroyed: when indeed, their Destruction was the Execution of God's Sentence upon the Sins of Manasseh; but we do not find, that Sedition or Rebellion are any where reckoned in that Catalogue. But notwithstanding that this was the Original Cause of God's displeasure, yet Sedition and Rebellion were in a great measure the proximate Cause of its Execution. For the Revolt of Jehoiakin and Zedekiah hastened their Ruin, and effectually brought the final Judgement upon them. They were a Conquered People, and by the Law of Nations bound to undergo that Yoke which their Sins had put about their Necks. As for Zedekiah, he was Nebuchadnezars own Creature, and of his preferring: he had also taken a solemn Oath of Allegiance, and deposited, his Faith before God, as a Pledge of his Loyalty and Obedience: beside, he had an express Command from God by the Mouth of Jeremiah, Solemnly backed with the Sanctions of Promises and Threats, to put his Neck under the Yoke of 
Jer. 27. 12.  the King of Babylon, and to serve him and his People, which (if he did he should Live; but if not, He and His should Die, by the Famine, by the Sword, and by the Pestilence;) but he stiffened his Neck and would 
2 Chron. 36. 13.  not hearken, but Conspired with the Egyptians, and Raised Sedition and Rebellion. Now, whether the Text refers to these Instances, (as probably it does) or to any other, I dispute not; but this is certain that for this Cause, among others, the City was destroyed. This is the Story, let us now proceed to the Application.  
Our Judgements are not much unlike to Theirs: only God hath, in Mercy, hitherto abated us the Famine, which we have no less deserved than They. But we have been Blooded till our Veins were almost dry. We have been in Captivity, and our Lives and Liberties sold into the Hands of Tyrants and Usurpers. We have been Plagued with a Witness, and have seen Death march with his Armies through our Streets a Hundred Thousand strong. And as this was the immediate Forerunner of Jerusalem's Desolation; so no sooner were our Citizens returned to their Houses, from whence the destroying Angel had driven them, but the Fire consumed their Dwellings, and the same wet Eyes, that paid the last Tribute at the Graves of their Relations and Friends, were set afloat afresh to bewail the City itself Buried in its own Dust; The Shops of Trade, the Halls of Companies, the Royal Burse of Merchants, the Habitations of Nobles, the Seats of Judgement, the Temples of God, being all crumbled into Ashes, and scarce one stone left upon another.  
And dare we still Justify ourselves, and say we are Innocent, and Plagued for Nothing? Did God thus visit his own People for their Sins, and shall we that have had the very same Sentence Executed upon us, plead Not Guilty? These things are written for our Example: And I think we have Copied them out to Purpose, and are the very Antitype of their Plagnes and Sins.  
The Sins of Manasseh were Idolatry; Sorcery and Bloodshed. The First of these (by the Help of God) we have long since Rooted out; and our immoderate Fear of it, is one of the greatest Superstitions that now remain among us: But yet our Temples have been no less defiled, than theirs at Jerusalem. The Sanctuary hath been the Prison of the Loyal and Innocent; our Altars have been Debauched with Rioting and Drunkenness; our Pulpits the Mint of Blasphemy, Heresy and Sedition; The House of God a Den of Thiefs, a Slaughter-House of Murder, a Stable of Horses. Defilements, that Manasseh would, perhaps, have Trembled at, and that none but Babylonians, and such as dare Fire a Temple, durst have been Guilty of. And that Ours escaped it Then, was more of God's Mercy, than any Sense of Religion on the Prophaners' part.  
The next Sin of Manasseh, that the Spirit 
2 Chron. 33. 6.  of God hath put a Mark upon, is Sorcery; and I doubt not but we may Match it with a Parallel. For what do you call inspired Lights, Visions, Revelations, Dauning, Breathe, and the like Familiar Incomes of a Private Spirit? which, if they be not Religious Witchcraft, no sober Man knows how to define. What is, I say, the Enthusiasm of these latter Ages, but the communications of a Satanical Spirit with men's deluded Fancies, whereby the Devil hath made a better Market of his Sophisticated Impostures, among us of this Nation, than ever he did in the World before? And what is that Barbarous Cant and Phraseology, that we have been so long cheated with, (under the Notion of Powerful Preaching, and Spiritual Raptures, the Sense whereof is either Mysterious, or None;) but mere Charms and Exorcisms, to bewitch Vulgar Imaginations; and Spells to possess and lead their Affections Captive.  
The last of Manassehs noted Sins is Bloodshed. He Murdered his own Subjects, and so had the pretence of an abused Power. But we, without all Power, and against all, but what we Usurped, Murdered those, whose Lives were as much their own as ours, and more: Our Fellow-subjects, our Friends and Acquaintance, our Brethren and Fathers, our Masters and Governors, our Priests, our Prelate, our King, and defiled the Land with its best and vital Blood. And what more could Manasseh do, or wherein was his sin of Bloodshed (which the Lord would not pardon) 
2 Kings 24. 4.  greater than ours?  
And now let us see what we have to plead to the Samaritans Charge; Nay, rather let us confess the Fact, and say as They and all the World do; that we are a Rebellious City, and hurtful unto Kings. For our Gild is too manifest to be hid, and of too deep a Grain, to be blanched by Pleas and Excuses, Sedition and Rebellion are the Articles of the Indictment.  
Sedition;  
And that is either Ecclesiastical or Laic. 
Hales of Schism. D. 1.  For there is no great difference between Sedition and Schism; but that Custom hath distinguished them, appropriating One to a Civil, and the Other to an Ecclesiastical sense. And for Church-sedition: What People professing one common Faith, were ever more miserably divided than We have been? In how many shapes have we dressed up Christianity, and called it by so many Names, till our Wits were puzzled to find out Names enough to call it by? We had engrossed all the Heresies of former Ages, and wracked our Inventions, to Coin a Multitude more, that the World never heard of till Then: And every one of these, Constituted a Party, of a distinct Denomination from all Mankind beside. That the whole Nation was, almost, unchurched; and nothing in the World, but a Pack of Schismatics, shuffled together without any Uniformity or Cohaerence. The Body of Christ was rended Piece-meal; and the divided Members, like Bones in a Charnel house, lay unmatched; and no man could tell how they related. Every Man was a Christian, Every Man a Saint; (and almost every man a Church too,) but we were Christians and Saints at large, and Indefinitely; it being Impossible to find out wherein our Relation to Christ, and the Communion of Saints Consisted; or how we belonged to the Common Head, by any Joint Order, and Connexion of the Parts unto one another.  
This Breach of Uniformity in Religion, easily divided our Affections; and when once we ceased to be Brethren, the Gap soon opened to such a Distance; that in fine we were not Friends. All were extreme fond of their own Persuasions; Impatient to hear their Opinions slighted; zealous to prefer their particular Conceits; and Imoderately ambitious, to see their Judgements Enthroned; and that the Pragmatic Votes of their own private Fancies, might pass into public Ordinances, and become the Established, Standing Forms of Religion to the whole Church and Nation.  
And thus from our differences in Religion, arose Sedition in the State: Here was the first Ground of the Quarrellaid: From these unhappy Beginnings, we proceeded to hate, and revile, and proseeute one another, with the utmost Spite and Rancour. At the first we demurely pretended, that we sought only the Liberty of our own Consciences, but afterward nothing would serve us less, than the sovereignty over other men's: And they that refused to allow us this, proclaimed themselves our Enemies in that Denial; (the Government itself not excepted) and as such we proceeded against them; First with bitter Words, and then with downright Blows: and by these Degrees Sedition advanced to an Open and unnatural Rebellion.  
A Rebellion that had no tolerable Pretence to Justify it. A Rebellion most unreasonably charged upon the Score of Religion; which in the General does no where countenance it, and for that of this Church in particular, it neither needed nor deserved it. For it was Reform already, as far as Reformation was necessary, and almost tolerable, that is, to its Primative Purity: and wanted nothing, so much, towards its due Perfection, as the Conformity of those, that exclaimed against it. And the Conscientious Profession and Practice of it, might have made us happy in this World and in the next; if it be in the Power of Christianity itself to make us so. Religion was as entire, as Christ and his Apostles left it; our Articles of Faith were neither more nor less, than theirs; and our Rules of Life, the same. And for those Ceremonies that made all the Noise, what were they, but such decent Useages, as were recommended to us, by the best of Christians, for the first four Hundred years: who looked upon them as the Ornaments of Religious Worship; and lived and died in the Use of them. That if they were such Antichristian Prejudices to Religion, and the Salvation of Men, as has been pretended; We must Judge very hardly of those blessed Saints and Martyrs: that they are either on this side Heaven, or that they made but very narrow Escapes thither. But if Religion had been out of repair, how unfit a Rebellion was to mend it, I hope by this time we are all convinced.  
A Rebellion, as unreasonable on the account of the Government, as of Religion: And more unreasonable it could not be For as Monarchy is the best of all Governments, so is Ours the best of the sort. A Government Established by wholesome Laws; that gives to every man as much Right and Liberty, as Justice and Modesty can crave. Laws, that have abated the Royalties of the Crown, for the Interest and easement of the People. Laws, of our own Choosing, and such as our selves have voted for; that no man can Suffer by them, but upon his own Verdict. That a better Government we cannot have, nor an Easier; and they that do not think so, I am afraid, do, for their own Sakes, wish that there might be None.  
The Administration of this so moderate and kindly Government, was then in the Hands of a Monarch so Piously Devout, so Morally Just, so Christianly Good; so every way unfit to fix a Rebellion upon; that we could never have timed it so unhappily, to our own Eternal shame, from the first Monarch that ever sweyed the English Sceptre until now.  
But as these Considerations prevailed not to silence the Seditious Clamours, and tie down the Hands of a Rebellious People; so, neither did they abate one Grain of Malice, in carrying on the Bloody Work. For their Fury and Spite was all one, as if the Grand Sultan, or an Army of Bears and Tigers had invaded them; and as if He they fought with, had neither been their King, a Christian, nor a Man: Refusing all Treaty but what they knew, and were resolved beforehand, should come to naught. And when they had Caught the Prey they Hunted, in defiance to all Divine and Humane Laws, to that Natural Allegiance that Subjects own their Prince, to their own Solemn Vows and Protestations (which they had only used as Baits to betray him) they unkinged, unmanned, and Barbarously Murdered him; and made no more on't, than if they had Cut off a Dog's Neck. All the Formality of the thing, being more a matter of Triumph, than Respect.  
And now, Look into your Records, Look, if you can for Shame; and see, if this City, be not a Rebellious City, and Hurtful unto Kings? This City, I say, that Influences all the Nation: And whose Example, whether Good or Evil, is a Precedent to the whole Kingdom, and Governs it as a Law. In these Kennels, did the Generation of Sects and Vipers Breed. Here, where Schisms brought forth and Encouraged. Here, was Faction Preached, and attended to, with an Eager Joy. Here, were Seditious Libels Penned, and Scattered about the Streets. Here, Rebel's Clubbed into Confederaces, and modelled Forms of Association. This, was the Stay and Confidence of the Projecting Party. This, was the Refuge of Traitors, First; and after that 
The Five Members first sheltered here, and afterward carried through the Streets. in Triumph.  their Theatre. From Hence, were Insolent Petitions preferred; and the Government Solicited against itself, with Vexatious Importunities. From Hence, was the whole Nation Alarmed, and put into a Fright; by their Midnight Out-cries, and unseasonable Doubling their Guards and Watches. From Hence, was the Royal Palace, more than once, assaulted, by an Armed Rabble. Here, the Common Fund was chief Stocked, for carrying on the Design; and they, that begrudged a Mite to the Loan, could freely offer Hundreds, to the Public Faith; and never Boggle at that Bugbear Objection of being Arbitrary. Finally, here were Armies raised, Magazines furnished, and nothing was wanting on the City's Part, that their Zealous Spirits, their outstretched Hands, or their unchristian Bounty could do, to promote and further the Cause.  
And now, what should make us afraid to say, that for this Cause, this City was destroyed. Schism, Sedition, and Rebellion, especially weighed with the former Circumstances, are such aggravating Sins; that certainly we needed no additional Gild to ruin us.  
And it is no new thing, for such Sins, to be so punished. Thus God avenged himself, upon the Rebellious Schismatics of old; the first of that Denomination: There came out a 
Numb. 16. 35.  Fire from the Lord, and consumed them. And as if it had been their peculiar Right and Portion, the Disciples James and John, ask our Saviour, if he would not that they should 
Luke 9 54.  command Fire from Heaven, to consume the Samaritans? Those obstinate Separatists, from the Jewish Church; who refused common Hospitality to any one, that did but look Jerusalem-ward. And this Demand of Theirs, was grounded upon a like Instance. For so had Elijah the Prophet, destroyed a Hundred Schismatics, Jeroboams Proselytes in Samaria. And that our Saviour refused to 
2 Kings 1.  do so too, was more upon the account of that Mercy and Lovingkindness, which he was so eminent for himself, and by his example and Doctrine, recommended to his Church; than either the Merit of the Men or their Cause. And though Christianity allows not, that persons should be proceeded against, by Fire and Faggot, upon a Religious account in Foro Humano; Yet this is no Abrigement of the Divine Authority, but that he may still thus Visit us for our Schisms, when he pleases. Once more: That Last irraparable Destruction, which caused Jerusalem to be no more; was every way, the consequence of their Faction and Rebellion. They rejected their Messiah, and would have none of him to Reign over them: But served Their King, as we did Ours. And this was the primary Cause, of all their after Miseries. In less than forty years, when the Measure of their Iniquity was filled up, and they were dropping-ripe for Vengeance; as if it came not fast enough, they Rebelled against 
Joseph. de Anti● Judaic. l. 18. c. 2  Cestius Florus, their deputed Governor; and so brought the Empire about their Ears: which never gave them over, till they were totally destroyed. And in the 
De Bell● Jud Ib. l●● c. 50.  very last Siege, by Titus, though they were oppressed by the Enemy without, and the Famine and Plague raged within their Walls, they ceased not to create Intestine Factions among themselves: Three several Parties, whereof the Zealots were One, contending Battle-Royal with one another. And this gave the Enemy an Advantage, equal to that of their own Strength. At length the City being Stormed, an accidental Brand, set Fire o'the Temple; which no endeavours could 
Ibid. l. 12. c. 10.  quench, till both the City and Temple were levelled with the Ground.  
Indeed this City hath been Guilty of many other Popular, and provoking Sins; that doubtless were Accessary to her Ruin: But then they are for the most part, the Monstrous Offspring of the former, and begot between Schism and Rebellion. Atheism hath made its Party strong, by our Diiusions in the Church. Many have been tempted to be of no Religion, because there is so much controversy about the True. Popery, that we are so willing should bear all the Blame, has taken hold of the Advantage: and persuaded many over to that side, because Babylon, forsooth, is a City more at Unity in itself. Profaneness has entered at the same Breach; and the Service of God hath been miserably neglected, through the suspension of the Laws, in Favour of squeamish Consciences: neither hath the Grace of God had its due effect upon the minds of Men, in such a divided State: for that is ordinarily restrained to the Communion of the Church, and hath no where engaged to follow Runagates, in all their extravagant Rambles, and Flyings-out. So that Men have been left Defenceless, both by God and the Law; to the Temptations of the Devil, and the Incentives of their own Lusts: and no marvel then, that they are so Licentious and Profane.  
And that Rebellion hath been as good a Friend to Vice, as Schism, we need not question. For it is a Sin of that prodigious Bulk, that where it enters, it makes an Inroad into the Conscience, and leaves an open Passage to all the lesser Fry, to enter after it. Besides, it is a Propagating Sin, and Many are the natural Issue of it. Such as Fierceness, Revenge, and Murder, etc. For they that have been Fleshed and Blooded in an unnatural War, and have seen Thousands Wallowing upon the Spot; are past trembling at a single Man's Fall: especially such as have been Murderers by Profession, and Espoused THE unrighteous Cause. To these we may add Rapine and Injustice: for what can come amiss to those men's Hands, that have been used to Plunder Palaces, Rob Churches, and Prey upon the sequestered Rights of God's Inheritance? Lastly, Cursing and Swearing, whoredom and Drunkenness, are not where so aptly taught as in an Army, the School of Debauches. Nor were they ever so openly practised in this Nation, as they have been since that unhappy time. And what else could be expected, but that wickedness should break in, like a Torrent upon us; when all the Bonds of Restraint were broken and every Man left to do what was Right in his own Eyes? And now our Sins have taken such hold upon us, that they were not easily to be broken off: Custom has made them Familiar, and Familiarity is improved into Delight; that we pursue our Lusts with infinite Desire and Greediness: not being liable to the checks of Shame, or the fears of Disgrace; Because, the worst of Sins, are now but common Failings, and every Day produces Instances of the like kind. And for all this, we are unfortunatly Beholden to our Schism and Rebellion. So that if this City was destroyed upon the account of our Sins; then doubtless Schism and Rebellion had the Principle and Leading hand in the Judgement.  
And now, what will the Samaritans say to these things? why, they will call us Rebels to our Teeth, and Laugh at the Misery and Shame, we have brought upon ourselves. When we tell them of the Henry's of France, or the Powder-plot nearer hand; The Tragic History of the Martyred Charles, will Strike us Dumb: For the Children of Babel were never guilty of a more bloody Deed: For which Cause this City was destroyed.  
Well But they are only the Samaritans that say so; those Babylonians that helped to destroy it. Yes, our own Consciences, if they be sound put to it, will tell us so too: and would often have told us so ere this, if we had not stifled their Clamours; being loath to ascribe our Ruin to that, which we are so ready to do again.  
The Babylonians, say we, set Fire to our Habitations. I should be loath to wrong them, and add the Sin of an uncharitable Censure, to those I am called to Repent of This Day. But suppose it were so: our Sins, Alas, betrayed the City into their Hands. If we had not lost our Charter, and forfeited our Right, in the Divine Protection; the Flames of Hell could not have prevailed against it. That we may say in this Case, as our Saviour did to Pilate in another. They 
John 19 11.  could have had no power at all against this place, had it not been given them from above: therefore we that delivered it unto them, have the greater Sin.  
And now having discovered to you the true Cause (or what we have too much Reason to suspect was so) of that dreadful Calamity, we are this Day met together to Commemorate and deplore; let me exhort you to a serious Repentance of those Sins, that, in all probability, occasioned it. For if they escape us, we Fast, and keep the Day to no purpose. Sedition and Rebellion are sins of that formidable Look and of that monstrous Size, that if they do not pain our Consciences, and put them in Travel to be delivered; there's little hopes that our under-sized Immoralities, will beget in us any remorse or Godly sorrow working Repentance. If we can carry such a Load upon our Stomaches, our Lesser sins will be easily digested: and so we are but as we were; neither humbled by the Judgement, nor bettered by the solemnity of the Day. I charge none of you with Schism or Rebellion: but yet I exhort you to Repent of both, For though you never worshipped upon Mount Gerizim; though your Hands were never stained with Royal-Blood, nor lifted up against the Lords Anointed; yet if you do not resent these Sins with a very serious Abhorrence, and be not deeply affected with the Gild of the Nation; your Hearts are tainted; and you partake in the Sins, with those that Acted them.  
'Tis too much to be feared, that these sins have scarce entr'd our penitential Thoughts; or that they have passed through them Raw and unconcocted; and like unsavoury Pills, or bitter Draughts, have been turned off without Relishing. For our Disobedience to the Government, our unnecessary Separations from the Church, our Heat and Vehemency against both, and our Factions and Divisions among ourselves, look so unlike any thing of Humiliation, that they rather speak us Proud both of our Sins and Judgements. And as if it were not time to say to the Destroyer it is Enough, we are still stirring up the Old Coals, and kindling the Fire against another Day. And is this all that Visitation upon Visitation, Plague upon Plague, hath wrought upon us? Have we been Stricken, and do we revolt more and more; as if our Backs Itched for the Rod under which they smarted so lately? Is not the Fire still in our Bones, and the Ruins of it yet visible in our unrepared Fortunes? And do we Tempt God to smite us once more; and pursue his Vengeance through the same Tracks, wherein it formerly found us? It might have been hoped  this, that our Fast would have been the better half of a Thanksgiving; and the more seasonable Duty of the Day, to bless and praise God for his Mercy, in the Rebuilding of our City; than to weep before him that our Sins have destroyed it. But alas, we have neither completed our Repentance, nor throughly recovered our Hurts. Our Schisms are as many and wide; our Hearts as ready for Rebellion; as if we had hitherto sinned with Impunity, and our City had never been destroyed at all. That we have no encouragement to rejoice and keep Holiday, so long as those Sins Reign, that have been so fatally unlucky to us; and still look big, and threaten us with another Storm. Our Fasts have hitherto been so far from curing us of our Fears, that they are Dangerous, and a part of the Sins we wots of. We Fast for Strife and Debate, (if not to smite with the Fist of wickedness.) And at that very Instant, when the occasion summoneth us together, to Repent of our Schisms, and pray for a peaceable and happy Union; we are then Schismatically divided; and keep up the Sin, while we pretend to Atone for it. That our Prayer and Fasting, and other external shows of Humiliation, instead of being Acts of Repentance, are become the Subjects of it; and are as much to be lamented, as our other Sins; Thus like an ill Crasis, we turn the very Remedy into Humour and Disease. Saint Cyprian tells us that Schism is a Sin, 
Cyp. de unit Eccles.  which Martyrdom will not expiate: meaning, I suppose; the Martyrdom of such as Die out of the Communion of the Church: much less than will Contrition and Tears avail, if they be Schismatical. For this is but to Repent, and Sin in a Circle; and when we have done the former, we are as much to begin as ever. That there's no reason there should ever be an end of our Fasts, and as little Hopes that ever we shall Fast to any Purpose; until we return to the Communion of the Church, and perform This and all other Acts of Religion, with one Mind and with one Mouth. For whatsoever Sin a Penitent discharges himself off, by Duties of Repentance, performed in any separate Congregation; by the very same Act he puts another upon the File, viz. an actual Schism, and so makes them up again both in Weight and Tale.  
Lastly, we have not yet recovered the Judgement of this Day. For though we dwell in our Gieled Houses, yet the Houses of the Lord lie waste in many places; The House of the Lord, The Temple of the Living God (in 
S● Paul's.  comparison whereof, all the rest are but Tabernacles and Synagogues) is yet but an 
Ezra  Embryo: and the Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, the Babylonians abroad, and the Samaritans on this side the River, wish it never may be otherwise. And what hinders the Progress of so Magnificent and Pious an Undertaking; but that the Hands of the People 
verse 4.  of Judah, are weakened by our Factions and Divisions? On one hand, it is suggested, that 'tis like to be but a nest of Idolaters; and indeed our Schisms, if any thing, are like to make it so. Others, that compare the Sins of the former, with those of the present Age; fear, lest it should rather be, a Den of Thiefs again, or a Prey to the devouring Flames. But thus the Work, on all Hands, is discouraged. A Work, that David would have been. Proud to have done; and it was not the least of Solomon's Glories, that he did it. A Work which the Devout Jews equally affected with their Liberty, if not more: Laying the Foundation, as Men Overjoyed, with Trumpets sounding, the People shouting, and the Levites 
Ezra 3. 10.  singing one of the Songs of Zion. The like Pious Zeal was eminent in the Ancient Church; for no sooner were the Primitive Christians got lose from their Slavery and 
●useb. Ecl. Hist. l. 8.  Persecution, and blessed with a calm and peaceable Interval; but they endeavoured to acknowledge the Mercy, in Erecting and Consecrating Places of Religious Worship, to the Honour of their Great Benefactor. And certainly, We cannot more aptly express our Sense of the Divine Favour, in restoring our Houses to themselves, and Us to our Houses; than by Preparing a Dwelling for Him among us: A Dwelling some way Proportionable to the Mercy, in Rebuilding Ours so soon, and so much beyond Themselves: and suitable in Magnificence and Splendour, to his Essential Grandeur and Majesty. For from Hence, Solomon took his Measures, for the Building of the Temple, 2 Chron. 2. 5. The House which I Build, is Great; for Great is our God above all Gods. This would be a good Argument of our Repentance; and some small Restitution, for our late Sequestration & Sacrilege, the Effects of Schism & Rebellion. This would Invite & Confirm the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory of God's Presence among us. This might be a means to compose our Divisions, and reduce sober men to the Communion of the Church, by the Decency and Order of her Service daily performed therein. And, among other Blessings, why should we not hope, that the Peace and Security of the Government, against the wicked Endeavours of the Seditious and Rebellious, might be one? While the Priests of the Lord embody to lift up Holy and Loyal Hands; and to offer Daily Sacrifices 
Ezra 6. 1  of sweet Savour, and Pray for the Life of the King, and of his Sons, or Successors.  
But, Alas, our sins yet stand between Us, and so Great a Mercy; and I doubt, the Samaritans are no Friends to the Design. Do they not persuade their Bigoted Saints, that God is more Purely & Spiritually Worshipped in their Unhallowed Synagogues? Do they not Greedily Sponge a Monopoly of all Public Charity to the Clan? Do they not, by stirring up Feuds and Commotions, put the State into such dubious Uncertainties, that Pious Well-minded Men, whose Zeal is run down by their Fears, are Jealous of doing Good lest their Charity should be subject to a 
* 17138 l. toward the Repairing Paul's, taken out of the Chamber of London, to carry on the Rebellion, and the Materials Sold, to pay off the Arrears of Jephson's Regiment. Heylin in the Life of Laud.  late Abuse, and turn to the Public Detriment? But I hope the Government will shortly Answer that Objection; And that we shall again see such Happy Times when Piety will be no Scandal, when there will be no Danger in Doing Good. But how much more Happy would they be, if we would every Man (as it is our Duty) concur with the Government to make them so! If we would Repent of our Schism, Sedition and Rebellion; If we would Repent and leave them, and let God & his Church, the King & his Government, never hear more of them. Then should soon we see the Temple in its Glory, Zion in her perfect Beauty, & Jerusalem in Peace: Then should we see the Church and State and City, delivered of their Grievances and Fears, and Established in the Way of a lasting Happiness. In Order whereunto, let us endeavour to Live Peaceable and Quiet Lives, in all Godliness and Honesty. Let us put away all Bitterness, and Wrath and Clamour, and Evil-speaking, and all Malice. Let us Study to be Quiet, to be of One Mind, and to Live in Peace, and the God of Peace shall be with us. Yea the Lord shall so Bless us out of Zion, that we shall see Jerusalem in Prosperity all our Lives long.  
Peace be within her Walls, and Prosperity within her Palaces, Amen.  
FINIS.