Avaritia coram Tribunali: OR, The Miser arraigned AT The Bar of Scripture and Reason; For his sinful neglect of Charity, in this present lamentable and dreadful Visitation Of the PLAGUE.  
By a Gentleman that loves Men more than Money.  
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,  S. Mat. 5.16. 
He that soweth little, shall reap little; and he that soweth plenteously, shall reap plenteously. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver,  2 Cor. 9.6,7. Sen. Hoc habent Homines cum Diis common, ut aliis Benefecerint. 
London, Printed for Elizabeth Calvert, and are to be sold at the Black-spread-Eagle, at the West End of S. Paul's. 1666.   

Avaritia coram Tribunali: OR, The MISER arraigned at the BAR OF SCRIPTURE and REASON.  
IT is no news to persons who have delighted themselves with the pleasant and profitable conversation of a Library, That the World is so imperious a Critic, that the first thing an Epistle commonly presents the Reader, is, A complimental Excuse for troubling him. Importunity of Friends; surreptitious Copies; to spend my idle time, or gratify my good friend the Stationer; & other suchlike Sconces (commonly built to defend Castles in the Air) are the hackney Defences against the Rustic Battery of Ignorance, and her Daughter Impudence; of Detraction, and her Mother Envy. But the best friend to such pretensions, is a Socratical Ingenuousness; Erubuit salva res est; The young Blade blushes, and all is well: Let not the morose melancholy of a Study put in Interrogatories, Shall friends seduce a man a degree or two on this side a Frenzy, to run the Gauntlet? How many have you known tamburlaine curtae supellectilis, so ill furnished as to want Trunks susticient to contain their own Papers? O Tempora! O Mores! Is not Idleness the Fool's Largess? and do Grocers and Cooks want waste-Paper? Sed non tibi notus Ulysses; there's a fetch for applause beyond all this, A pretence of Public Good, which avoids many strict examinations, with that ordinary Certificate, Bonum quo communius, eo melius; and indeed this Apology (when the Chaff of Hypocrisy is fanned away) is the Christian Author's complete Armour, whereby his devout Thoughts are left invulnerable, not only against pragmatical Censure, but Principalities and Powers, and all the sinful works of Darkness: and how can popular breath, though never so sharp and impetuous, force him to an ignoble flight, who (through Gods discriminating grace and favour) has resolutely fixed the Eye of his Discourse upon his Creator's glory, and the benefit of his Neighbour; which word under the interpretation of an unbyass'd Conscience and sincere Heart, is as comprehensive and universal as Humanity itself? Fecisti Domine Cor propter te, & irrequietum est donec perveniat ad te, said the holy Bishop of Hippo. Give me Aquinas, take you Scotus; give me Aristotle, take you Des Cartes: Does a Pen trace Galen, or ruffling Paracelsus? yet the Laconian Ti may serve to answer King Philip, and scoff all tuggers at the Quill. If your endeavours prove fortunate, then 
Digito monstrarier, & dicier hic est:  
This, this is he, stretched-out fore-fingers tell,  
Writ that brave Piece which sold so wondrous well.   
But not a few learned Men could I summon in to testify how skittish our Age is, how apt to start, how apt to stumble; so that Irrequieta est Penna tuo, donec perveniat ad Deum. All sublunary Transactions have no other Insurance-Office than the Providence of the Almighty: when his Honour and Service are the Marks levelled at, than we quickly discern it to be true Philosophy, that the whole Earth is but as an indivisible point, compared to the Heavens. What matter who derides? what matter who reviles? canst clap thy Breast, and talk in Apelles' strain, Pingo Eternitati; then (in the Scripture-Language) gird up thy Loins, and be strong; the Fountain of Goodness can never turn Bankrupt; and that by S. Paul insures thy Bark, at least to the Port of everlasting Happiness, 1 Cor. 15.58. Therefore, my beloved Brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forsomuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.  
When the destroying Angel brandishes his Sword over our Jerusalem, and the Pestilence has already shot in many terrible and barbed Arrows of Divine Vengeance; certainly he must have very little sense of his own Offences, and the whole Nations both Crime and Punishment, that can't afford a sigh, a tear, and God be merciful unto us, for we have sinned. When many thousands have died since April, 7496 is found at the foot of the last Weekly Bill; and many, very many of their lives might have been preserved (as a great Blessing to their Relations) if rich men were but Men; if they would but live till they died; not deserve Hic situs est, an Epitaph a long while before the Mourners go about the streets. It can't undoubtedly be accounted unprofitable spending my hours on this instant Fastday (the sixth of September) if I plead in Forma Pauperis, and voluntarily undertake Timothy's hard task, 1 Epist. 6.17,18. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.  
I shall not be so magisterial, as to affirm this and that particular sin was the root of our Thorns and Briers, for I am none of the Sons of Aaron; nor if I were, should I presume to snatch my faint and glimmering Candle out of the dark Lantern of silence and obscurity, when our holy Mother the Church has advanced her Torch in a necessary, pious, seasonable Exhortation: Yet since People count it as it were customary for their respective Ministers to persuade Contributions; and Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver, may want their due reverence with the many, by reason of  reiteration; it will be no disservice to the Pulpit, if they find an Echo in a Country Recess: and possibly some or other may mind it, introduced with these circumstantial considerations, That 'tis good will to all in poverty and woeful perplexity, and not either selfish design, or homebred casualties, that form the rebound.  
We will begin our Memoirs, by taking notice that Children (who can't be suspected for Machiavilians) are accounted of good disposition by all, when they are willing to part with this or that trifle they may be called Owners of. By this we may easily conjecture what humane Nature is, before it be estrayed too far from Innocence, and has drunk too deep of the Marah of bad Education and evil Customs. At mature years, Noble House-keeping is the characteristical Letter of Generosity. What more apt or usual expression, than to call a covetous Person, A narrow Soul; and, as one tartly expresses it, fit to live nowhere but in an Ally?  
Can a serious and deliberate Head give Commission to his Tongue to call Vespasian, The Darling of Mankind, and yet forget the usual Sentence that dubbed him so? Diem perdidi: My unlimited Sovereignty, my transcendent Glory has not distilled upon my Subjects any reviving showers of Grace and Munificence; I have lost this day. The men of Nineveh (says our ever-blessed Saviour) shall rise in Judgement against this generation, and condemn it: And do sober Christians imagine that the High and Mighty Monarch of the discovered World should bewail the loss of twenty four hours, for fear of displeasing burnished Brass, and carved Wood; and he not called to a severe account by the Ancient of Days, for bringing forth nothing in it, may be more than four and twenty years, but drowsy Poppy, instead of the staff of Bread; sour Grapes and wild Olives? But admit that even according to the Psalmists Arithmetic, your foot be not yet in the Grave, and decrepit Age is by most designed for the stall of Repentance; yet you cannot convict your security by the Verdict of a wiser than Solomon, Eccl. 11.9. Rejoice O young man in thy youth, and let thy Heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Judgement. The Angelical Doctor observes, That Death is a more treacherous Enemy in surprising youth by stratagem, stealing upon them unawares, when their Backs are towards it; than to the grey-heads, whom it charges on the front; and the dimmer their eyes be, the better they may discern a Coffin: the more cause they have to cry out, O curva senectus, O shrinking shoulders, O feeble knees, the more is the Grave obvious, and consequently might be rendered more familiar. May a spring of warm blood full of spirits, by three or four fits of an Ague, be sadly metamorphosed into shivering December, a pale Cheek, a dull Eye, a soft pace, a restless Bed? Can a Fever (even without the help of an universally-destroying putrefaction of humours) shake off golden Locks (those beautiful leaves of the Arbour Inversa) scorch up the radical moisture, banish the poor Creature into the land of forgetfulness, and make an humble Turf the dishonourable Coverlet of an Airy Gallant, of a rare-accomplished Monsieur? And can Summer, Autumn, Winter, expect fairer usage? Can they that have enjoyed a large Estate many inches of the longest span of Life, conceive it not yet high time to make friends of unrighteous Mammon?  
We need not desire a Legate Kekerman, to repair to his beloved dichotomy, about division of Estates; they may logically enough to our purpose be said to come by divine Providence: but nevertheless it will not be amiss to keep the road, and take for our fellow-travellers Descent and Purchase.  
He that has digged himself thirty or forty years together in the golden Peru of Profit, should do very well to consider whether his hands be not dirty; whether the Widow and the Orphan, this weak Brain, and that credulous Tenant, Client, Customer, have no just cause to complain of his gripes; though perchance nor well versed how to remedy themselves: If so, how fence you this blow of the Casuists, Without Restitution no Salvation? Delay not, unless thou art content to endure the gnawings of the Worm of Conscience at thy dissolution, when Horror and Amazement cry out, Hast thou found me, O mine Enemy? Nor could that suffice the converted Publican Zacheus; he restored  to heal the wound of Extortion, and gave half that he had to the poor, to prevent a scar. If the pampered flesh turns a deaf ear, and the deceitful World searches Hell for distinctions, carry them both to Tho. à Kempis Cell; Durum est verbum (saith he) tolle crucem & sequere me; sed multo durius, Ite maledicti in ignem sempiternum: 'Tis an hard Chapter, Take up your cross and follow me; but 'tis a far more intolerable, Go ye cursed into everlasting fire. Are you beholden to a rich Ancestor for those Rivulets of Milk and Honey that bedew your condition? then God has given you Press-money in hand; and a superabundant gratitude engages to manage your Stewardship with fidelity, and to employ your Talents with an industrious Zeal. Rising early, going to Bed late, in conjunction with the Bread of carefulness, are strangers to your Birthright: Would you stand idle in the Market all day long, and that after you have received your penny? God gave you not Honour and Wealth to furnish a magazine for rebellious vices, blacker in the eyes of Heaven, than any Ink can render their names. Deceitful, disorderly, and excessive Gaming, put the present Parliament (in the sixteenth of our most gracious Sovereign) to the trouble of an Act to restrain it; from which it is evident that one hundred pound was before looked upon as nothing to lose and run upon the Tick at a time; Discinctis nepotibus, with my extravagant young Masters: one time might be one minute; but should one of those A-la-mode Quakers, or Shakers', give so much in seven years to the relief of the poor and afflicted, he would not to be sure change Soul take thine ease, but instead of Thou hast goods laid up for many years (for that were a Sarcasm of his own inventing) would laugh in his sleeve, and hug the fancy, that he had done good deeds enough for many years, yes even for Methuselah's 969. But all Estates are Dominica Coronae Reg is Coelestis, belong to the King of Kings; His is directum Dominium, an absolute and  Regality: the Posterity of Adam have only Utile Dominium; so that we may truly say, not only, Lord, thou hast made us, and not we ourselves; but, Lord, our Inheritances are thine, and not our own. The Earth is the Lords, and all the fullness thereof: this Lump of Clay he has made a Vessel of Honour, that of Dishonour; some fit objects of Charity, and others his Almoners. Aska fellow as absuedly prodigal as a certain rich Citizen's Heir, (whom some alive remember a petty Prince in the morning of his Age, and a despicable Beggar before noon) who for fear of a surfeit of Wealth made Ducks & Drakes (in the children's Babble) with Six-pences, Shillings and Half-crowns, in the Thames; or a fellow as ridiculously covetous as he in the Comedy, that stopped the top of his Chimney for fear of losing the smoke, few of either Herd will deny that Solomon said true, The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord; or that of Job, The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away: but depraved Nature musters up Quirks to avoid the Statute de Donis conditionalibus, in the Bible; and will by no means allow, that voluntas omnipotentis Donatoris, secundum formam in charta Doni sui manifestè expressam observaretur: That the intent and good pleasure of the omnipotent Donor, plainly expressed in those sacred leaves of his revealed Will, should be punctually observed: a most clear and significant Precept take from Deut. 15.7,8. If there be among you a poor man, of one of thy Brethren, within any of thy gates, in thy Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor Brother; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Deut. 26.12,13. about the third years tything: will you have a comment? read Dr. Hamond's Sermon: I shall quote little from him, and what I do, leave it like Esop's provident Fathers Treasure in the Vineyard; who told his Sons it was hid there, but said no more, on purpose that they might dig and ransack every foot. After that eminent Doctor has proved Charity to be like a Picture, looking upon every one that comes into the great Room of the World; he kills the Bugbear of old Age, and the Patron of Covetousness against the most laudable disbursments, namely, the fear of want; by asserting David's Doctrine in several pious inferences: They that give unto the poor, lend unto the Lord; and he will repay it. To whom first? To the Household of Faith: Where chief? To our Neighbourhood, before places more remote: When? Whensoever we meet with an opportunity; or by a prudent separation of this and the other Sheaf of our Revenue, are enabled to seek one. But let his own words administer advice against the spirit of Slumber, that Chyragra of the Worldling, as to Eleemosynary Landmarks: The proportion to be observed by the Christian Almes-giver, to speak at the least, must be more in any reason then the thirtieth part of his Revenue or Increase. Non magna loquimur, sed vivimus; He preached no more than he lived; nor so much neither: for he gave the tenth part to the Poor constantly, besides the springtides of his extraordinary tender-heartedness and compassion. I wish we could all as easily imitate his Life, as procure a Treatise so called (a Piece of strong lines, and good complexion) But if ever ye desire to converse with the Saint, as well as visit the Shrine; trace him by his own Counsel, Offer unto God the Sacrifice of a contrite Heart, and the sweet incense of universal Obedience.  
The necessities of Men, trivial Follies, and that great one, Perverseness, have produced a multitude of cases in Law, of unlike features; so that 'tis not to be expected a Maxim should knock down every particular occurrence with a Thomas Aquinas fist, Conclusum est contra Manichaeos'; that the Rule should ascertain positively either the Affirmative or Negative: But from general Gounds and Eruditions, a learned Inference, a smart Deduction, must state the matter in agitation. We have in the Gospel Line upon Line, and Precept upon Precept, to command us to put on Brotherly Kindness, and the Bowels of Compassion; but should we disband our Vanguard of direct and demonstrative Texts, the proceed of the day of Judgement afford Instructions clearer than the Sun in his Mid-Summer-Glory, and printed in such Elephantine-Characters, that whoso runs may read them, S Mat. 25.35. Giving Meat to the Hungry, Drink to the Thirsty, Lodging to the Stranger,  to the Naked, Visits to the Sick, Redemption to Captives, are assigned as the reason of that triumphant Invitation, vers. 24. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Leaveing Pharaoh and his 600 chosen Chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea, Ahab and Jezebel to the Dogs, Judas to his Halter; great and notorious Sinners to exemplary punishments here; (although Thunderbolts kill not often) or at least unless the generation of Vipers repent, and fly from the wrath to come, to the horrid and racking expectation of the second death: come hither harmless well-meaning Christian, gather the bitter fruit of Omission, and dissect the barren womb of Holiness with this Instrument, vers. 41. Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand, Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Watch and pray, for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come: but it is evident what our Lord will say when he does come to judge every man according to what he has done in the Body, whether good or evil. Wife Virgins know the Bridegroom loves the Oil of Mercy; they will upon no terms show such want of civility and vulgar manners, as to have their Lamps to light, when he passeth by; especially since the fire of Charity devours not the unctuous humour, no more than the Prophet Elijah's Hunger emptied the Widow of Zarephath's Cruse. Fear of a consumption of the Purse, through that excellent and successful Phlebotomy, is routed by the heavenly Host of Promises: Questionless that inexorable Gluttons partner, Luk. 16.19. who treated the Bru●e his Carcase sumptuously every day, has only Animam pro sale, a Soul to keep his Body from stinking, till Death locks up the Purple in the Wardrobe, allowing only the fine Linen of a Winding-Sheet, and then serves him up to the Worms; must at last change the frolic Scene to weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sooty fumes ascending from an impure stomach, causes the brain to want sweeping, the whole unprofitable mass to want evacuation; from whence naturally arises stupidity and unactiveness, and then strutting about, and yawning: 
Pleno laudat Jejunia ventre:  
The Churl is crammed; his Parasite can't carve  
One tempting bit: Steal Poor, be hanged, beg, starve.   
But there will come a time, or rather an eternity, when Lazarus, who by reason of age, sickness, a charge of small Children, losses by Sea or Fire, etc. was compelled to imitate the disconsolate murmurs of the Turtle, and (being far beneath the ownership of a Couch) watered his straw every night with tears; though he might not divide the spoil with the Dogs, in sharing part of the crumbs that fell from the Rich Man's Table, shall be mounted up into Abraham's Bosom upon the Wings of glorious Spirits; when sottish, flint-hearted- Dives, shall not obtain with his earnest and vehement begging, the tip of a wet finger to cool his Tongue that was tormented in the flame, and perpetually frying in the bottomless Pit, that inexhaustible lake of Fire and Brimstone.  
Charity is a comprehensive word, and like the Mediterranean Sea, acquires several names from the adjacent shores: Mercy, Alms, Liberality, Beneficence, all fall under that title, and may not unfitly be looked upon as only several degrees of heat, and alterations of the same inestimable Elixir. Let the Understanding say, There stands a deplorable Object; Mercy, from a cold Still, presently melts into a drop or two of Silver: If exquisite Education, and a perception that the virtue of money lies only in its subserviency to commerce, and the mutual necessities of the Inhabitants of this terrestrial Globe; put a merciful disposition into a Limbeck, than this and the other Bag will be thought well spent in generous Hospitality; and Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, (provided the Cookmaid be in a good mood) half a dozen of the poor of the Parish, may fill their Bellies after a fashion. But still here's the head of the Crow, a black sediment at the bottom; an Ox or two at Christmas, a feast now and then for Tenants, a dish extraordinary at command, to prevent the surprise of Acquaintance; and then call me Niggard who dare. But when from being good in an humour, and doing good by fits; Virtue proceeds from single Acts to an Habit; from an Habit, to an Heroical Exaltation; a beam of the Sun of Righteousness that arises with healing in his Wings infused, will produce the pure and unvaluable crimson Tincture; and make the Artist cry out, I desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. All the Income (though never so vast) will bear the Image and Superscription of the heavenly Caesar; and every day yields precious opportunities of exchanging his Jacobusses and Gynnyes to the New Jerusalem; whose Street is pure Gold, and whose Gates are Pearls; where Rust cannot corrupt, nor Thiefs break through, and steal.  
But for my part, I shall neither usurp the Divines Chair, nor domineer in the Peripatetic School; this Meditation is ambitious of no higher preferment, then to be Usher to the Basket, and call aloud, For God's sake remember the Poor. A Duty at all times seasonable; in this Huge Mortality, Clamerously urgent. The Poor you have always with you; but never had a more amazing Argument to frequent the Offertory, to give the Overseers measure pressed down, and running over. Augusta est Charitas ad Leges vincta; A Parochial Tax, A Monthly Collection, add the  Offerings of here and there a Star of the first, second, and third Magnitude, (whose Names let History convey to the Temple of Honour, and there Engrave in a Marble Column;) all conjoined, are too narrow, and too weak Emplasters to be applied to all the Plague-Sores (that deserve Commiseration, and want the ordinary means of Cure) in the 130 Parishes of London, and many Country-Towns, and Villages; unless the Physician wanted no more chargeable Drugs, than the Royal Prophet Isaiahs' lump of Figs.  
Skin for skin, and all a man hath will he give for his Life; was the sharpest Tooth, and strongest Paw, wherewith the Roaring Lion Satan, assaulted the Integrity of Job. Ventum erat ad Triarios; the Devil was driven to his last charge, when he fell on so furiously. But though so many hundreds have drunk the dregs of the Lords Wrath, (as to the temporal Vial) and that City which was lately the Joy and Delight of the whole Nation, is turned into a kind of Golgotha, and like dejected Rachel, sits with dishevelled Hair, weeping, and mourning, and will not be comforted because her Children are not; Yet, Ille meos oculos comprimat, Ille tuos; It were a Cordial to the gasping Patient, if a discreet Friend might draw his Will; this dear Son, or Daughter, or the other Affectionate Kinsman might close his Eyes, and pulling the Curtains close, Modestly hid the deformities of a ruin'd Cottage, from impertinent Curiosity. But, Hinc ille Lachrymae! Infected persons can't expect Visiters; and the spur of Fear hurries away Neighbours (of any Quality) so fast, that before they come to their rural Sanctuaries, they have scarce leisure to afford the kindness of Lot's Wife to Sodom, a pitiful Retrospection.  
The greatest cruelty the Poet could brand a Tyrant with, was, 
Mortua— jungebat Corpora vivis.  
Quick tied to Dead, were hurled to seek their Graves,  
To Neptune's Executioners, the Waves.   
Not the Tyranny, but merciful Wisdom of Authority, concludes it necessary to shut up the whole Family; not only the Sick, but the Well; for, Latet anguis in Herba, all flesh is grass, and be it never so green, the Constitution strong, and florid, yet in a few days the sting of Contagion may wound under the fifth Rib; the Throat may rattle, the Pulse cease, and Dust return to Dust. Nor may they which seem in Health be permitted to straggle, lest the raging Disease should Rob in the open Street, and King's Highway; justles be Fatal, salutations Deadly. It is remarqued concerning Holland, that 'tis a kind of a Courtesy for the Poor to be put in Prison, because the rich Creditors are bound to provide for them. But in many cases there's no Justice in that, for Laziness, and Brandy might contract, and a restless Importunity extort the Debt. But, Actus Dei nemini facit Injuria; without dispute they ought to be carefully provided for, that lose Liberty; (the darling of Sublunary enjoyments, and Favourite of the Law;) and are made Prisoners by the angry dispensation of God; and not by their own Idleness, and Debauchery.  

Sir Walter Rawley. Judge Jenkins.  We are beholden to the Fleet, for Fleta. To the Tower, for an Incomparable History. And Newgate itself, in our unhappy Civil War, could cry out, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Neither the Laws written by the Finger of God in Tables of Stone, nor those of England, (which may challenge a modest Eternity ex parte ante, as having their Original hid like the Head of Nilus, in the folds of Antiquity;) will allow Subjects to take up Arms against their King.  
The Soul may Aethereas volitare per Auras, take the fresh Air, and like the Bee suck Hony out of variety of Classic Authors; when the Body is confined, and like a Tennis-Ball tossed from Hazard to Hazard, in a Solitary Walk, from this, to the opposite Wall, of a Dark, Pitiful Chamber: But how can they who have the Pestilence for their Gaoler, alleviate the pressures of an unhappy Condition by a sweet Thought, or brisker Meditation? They sit like Niobe turned to Stones; or if great Grief can speak, it is in Jeremiahs' Dialect; Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, (To your Country-houses, and are no more heard of till the Tempest be over?) behold and see if there be any sorrow, like unto my sorrow; which is done unto Me; wherewith the Lord hath afflicted Me in the day of his fierce Anger? Lam. 1.12.  
Burning is the Punishment of great and heinous Malefactors; and yet that's the Epithet of a common Fever. If the dismal Ingredient of prevailing Venom be added to the Trophy of a less observable Choleric Putrefaction, the Measles, and Smallpox (borrowing the Future tense from Elishas' curse,) make a Gehazi; a Leper, from the Crown of the Head, to the Sole of the Foot; and 'tis well if at last he escapes alive from the Potsherds, and the Dunghill.  
A more Rampant Malignity generates the Spotted-Feaver. But if the Pale Horse of Death rushes more outrageously into the Battle, and tramples upon his Thousands, and ten Thonsands, than the Plague, (that Attila of Diseases) harases City, and Country; and Michael the Angel of Vengeance (in spite of the Rabbins Proverb) has two Wings, as well as Gabriel; and strikes whole Legions, cum Flagello Domini, with the Scorpions of incensed Justice; Imprinting Botches under the Ears, and about the Neck; Blains of a Straw-colour, and Bronish Blue; fiery and corroding Carbuncles; Particoloured spots on the Breast, Back, etc. All which may be termed not only Ingravescentis Morbi, sed Peccatorum Indices; not only the symptoms of a Spreading and Depopulating Plague, but the Tokens of Indignation upon a stiffnecked, and stubborn Generation; whom odious and unnatural Broils could not terrify from the superfluity of Naughtiness; nor the Olive-branch of Peace, and a return from Captivity allure to a Spiritual (well if to a Vocal) Te Deum Laudamus.  
But let us Rentour Hearts, and not our Garments; acknowledge our Transgressions, and set our Iniquities before us; doubtless we that have cumbered the Ground long, (though Glory be to God on High, we are not yet cut down) are as great sinners as those buried under the Rubbish of this Tower of Shilo. Let Phinehas execute Judgement, that the Plague may be stayed. Let the Priest cry mightily betwixt the Temple, and the Altar; and the people's amendment say Amen. Let the Rich Scribe and Pharisee bring their Talents; the middle sort their Shekels, the poor Widow her two Mites, to provide Bread and treacle; Meat and Medicine; Pest-houses, and Keepers; and all other Materials which may serve Religiously to Exorcise the Spirit of Desperation out of those whom the deplorable Mortality have enforced to want Doctor, Apothecary, Chirurgeon, etc. or another Lues Epidemica, an Universal deadness of Trading, has put into the Furnace of Affliction; and made like Narcissus in Tacitus, Certa sibi pernicies, seu Britannicus rerum, seu Nero potiretur; Foreseeing approaching destruction to them, and their Families, if not by the Plague, yet by Famine; Surgunt indocti & coelum rapiunt, cum nos cum Doctrina nostra mergimur in Gehennam. The unlearned practical Christian rakes Heaven by violence, whilst the speculative Master in Israel, with all his Quidlibets, and Quodlibets of a dead Faith, is plunged into Hell.  
Those Heathen, that were deservedly Renowned in their several Ages, for Improving the Light of Nature to a severe virtuous Life, shall find the Day of Judgement an easier-to-be entreated and propitious Audit, than the Profane, Dissolute, or Scraping, penurious Professors of the Doctrine of the Holy Jesus; who will not be persuaded to work out their Salvation with Fear, and Trembling; Although they may have a Light to their Feet, and a Lantern to their Paths, the glad Tidings of the Gospel; which shines clearly, and beautifies every corner of our Horizon. This made Cyrus the Persians Deathbed soft, and stuffed his pillow with Down; I have been Merciful, and Munificent, cast continually a good Aspect, and made it my business to benefit, and contrive the felicity of all Regions under my Influence; and now I expect to find favour, and receive my Dividend of his Lovingkindness; who is a great God, from whom Men challenge their Original, and Mercy flows in a deep Channel, and perpetually refreshing Streams. O si hoc esset pugnare! O how happy might we count ourselves if this were to fight! humed out the sleepy Soldier, enamoured of his Nest; stretching his hands over his head, and opening his eyes by halves. Balaam, an Enchanter, wished that he might die the death of the Righteous, and that his last end might be like his. (He durst not curse Israel, and in those days 'twas not the fashion to curse themselves) But not a syllable fell from him expressing an inclination (not so much as a whimsical Velleity) to live the Life of the Righteous. But notwithstanding the Ass was smitten three times, yet she deserved better of her Master, then either that son of Beor, or any of the sons of Belial do of their God; For though she turned aside out of the way, crushed his foot against a Wall, and at last fell under him; yet she has a far better Apology for herself, than the presumptuous sinner; Numb. 22.30. Am not I thine Ass? A dutiful acknowledgement of property; Upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day; A frequent service, and probably for a considerable part of the Life of that short-lived Animal; Was I ever wont to do so unto thee? 'Twas a rare contingent, a single instance, no incorrigible fault, no inveterate Jadishness; And he said, Nay. A great truth sure, that anger had not the face to deny. If God be God, then serve him; set resolutely upon the whole duty of Man. Open your hands wide unto the poor and needy. Thou shalt do no murder. No, why then does Abel's blood sum up into the third Heaven, and sue an Appeal against malicious execrable Cain? Homo Homini Deus, is no repealed Statute, though vanity and sordidness wave the Reading upon it. Am I my Brother's keeper? This froward and contumacious Answer was given; But trace the Dialogue a little further, God had no sooner examined the cause, and pronounced, Cursed art thou from the Earth; But the Murderer makes this rueful Reflection, My punishment is greater than I can bear.  
Forum nactus sylvam suam, Testem mortuum, Apparitorem Umbram, Carnificem Culpam, Judicem Deum: London is the Shire-house, those who die for default of seasonable Administrations Witnesses, Conscience the Accuser, God the Judge, the Devil the Executioner.  
Semper ego Auditor tantum, nunquamne reponam? Shall I hear Sermon after Sermon, and not make my life the practice of Piety?  
Turn over Volumes of Devotion, and not be converted? Walk through Hospitals, and never merit the truly Honourable style of a Benefactor? Make thy Chest sweat, whilst the Poor quake for cold? My sin, and luxury Hydropic, while the indigent starve? Wallow in the complacency of Honour and Riches, when my Saviour's side is pierced through with a spear? His forgotten and despised Members cry out, O my head, my head! My heart, my heart! And pine, and languish, and die. God is not mocked: and God forbidden but that we should be able immediately to digest the sincere Milk of the Word, S. Jam. 1.27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God, even the Father, is this; To visit the Fatherless, and Widows in their Afflictions, and to keep himself unspotted from the World. And then, Procul hinc, procul ite Prophani! I am none of your Tribe, ye Nimrods', ye mighty Hunters, and Unsatiable Birds of prey! And Nabal, I magnanimously defy you, in the words of the same Apostle, Chap. 2. v. 18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast Faith, and I have Works; Show me thy Faith without thy Works, and I will show thee my Faith by my Works.  
FINIS.