God's terrible voice in the city

Now some Ministers, formerly put out of their places, who did abide in the City when most of Ministers in place were fled and gone from the people, as well as from the disease, into the Countries, seeing the people crowd so fast into the grave and eternity, who seemed to cry as they went for spiritual Physicians; and perceiving the Churches to be open, and Pulpits to be open, and finding Pamphlets flung about the streets, of Pulpits to be let, they judged that the Law of God and nature did now dispense with, yea command their preaching in public places, though the Law of man (it is to be supposed in ordinary cases) did forbid them to do it. Surely if there had been a Law that none should practise Physic in the City, but such as were licensed by the College of Physicians, and most of those, when there was the greatest need of them, should in the time of the Plague, have retired into the Country, and other Physicians who had as good skill in Physic, and no license should have staid amongst the sick, none would have judged it to have been breach of Law, in such an extraordinary case to endeavour by their practise though without a license, to save the lives of those who by good care and Physic were capable of a cure; and they could hardly have freed themselves from the guilt of murder of many bodies, if for a nicety of Law in such a case of necessity they should have neglected to administer Physic: the case was the same with the unlicensed ⟨p. 49⟩Ministers which stayed, when so many of the licensed ones were gone, and as the need of souls was greater than the need of bodies; the sickness of the one being more universal and dangerous, than the sickness of the other; and the saving or losing of the soul being so many degrees beyond the preservation or death of the body: so the obligation upon Ministers was stronger, and the motive to preach greater, and for them to have incurred the guilt of soul-murder, by their neglect to administer soul-physic, would have been more heinous and unanswerable, that they were called by the Lord into public: I suppose that few of any seriousness will deny, when the Lord did so eminently own them, in giving many seals of their Ministry unto them.

Now some Ministers, formerly put out of their places, who did abide in the City when most of Ministers in place were fled and gone from the people, as well as from the disease, into the Countreys, seeing the people crowd so fast into the grave and eternity, who seemed to cry as they went for spiritual Physicians; and perceiving the Churches to be open, and Pulpits to be open, and finding Pamphlets flung about the streets, of Pulpits to be let, they judged that the Law of God and nature did now dispense with, yea command their preaching in publick places, though the Law of man (it is to be supposed in ordinary cases) did forbid them to do it. Surely if there had been a Law that none should practise Physick in the City, but such as were licenc'd by the Colledge of Physitians, and most of those, when there was the greatest need of them, should in the time of the Plague, have retired into the Country, and other Physitians who had as good skill in Physick, and no license should have staid amongst the sick, none would have judged it to have been breach of Law, in such an extraordinary case to endeavour by their practise though without a license, to save the lives of those who by good care and Physick were capable of a cure; and they could hardly have freed themselves from the guilt of murther of many bodies, if for a nicety of Law in such a case of necessity they should have neglected to administer Physick: the case was the same with the unlicensed