defid Heaven and God and Providence or did not believe them Now the taking away the most Pious and best of Kings by the most impious and inhumane Practices and by a Civil War where Subject was against Sovereign Father against Son the Bonds of Affection Friendship Blood and Nature all dissolv'd and Hell broke loose was certainly a very dreadfull Judgment of God upon a People tho' it were no worse and if we be not sensible of it God can make us know and understand it to our sorrow which Heaven forbid by bringing upon us again the like Calamity I say the Desolations which attended the downfall of God's Anointed will bear Witness that God was very Angry and it is but modesty in dust and ashes to humble our selves under the sence of his displeasure I do not now consider the Death of King Charles as a Sin much less as a Murder and a National Murder the most crying of all Sins Suppose he had only fallen as Josiah did by a chance Arrow from a Bow or by a Ball or Dart which respects no Persons nor has sence to distinguish betwixt right and wrong yet were it for no other reason but because his Death was one of God's Judgments which are all terrible and abstracting from the Sin and Crime that lie heavy upon this Nation we have still reason as Judah and Jerusalem had to lament and to continue our Mourning as well as the Memory of God's Anger and Indignation Think then who are they that feast and rejoyce that make this a Day of Pastime and Recreation which the Almighty made a day of Vengeance which the Church has set a part for a day of Mourning which the Law has appointed for a solemn Fast think again who are they that provoke God to anger by despising these his Judgments and ridiculing the Signs and Tokens of his heavy Displeasure and then see if these be not the Enemies we are most in danger of These are the Men who are to make God our Enemy and when they have done that it is in vain they boast of their Fidelity and of their other Services to this or any Establishment They are better men and better friends to this their Country who arm Ruffians then they who arm God and Heaven and Providence against us and who put the Sword into the Hand of the destroying Angel to undo us Other Foes may have as much Malice but cannot do half the Mischief as they who defy God and his Ordinances are able to do We fear the secret Contrivances and Conspiracies of ill Men at home we are providing against the Assaults of a crazy Mortal from abroad and of Forces which could not till this Day have stood before us but as our Sins and our Follies had given them advantage over us and kept them up but there 's no fencing nor fighting against Heaven if our open defiance of God's Judgments provoke Him to punish or to forsake us And thus I have shewn that the taking away a good King though consider'd only as God's Judgment upon a People and not their Crime yet ought to be remember'd with the last dedegree of Humiliation and looked upon as a Sign that God was displeased with that Land which he made the Theatre whereon was shed so much Innocent Blood No man sin'd when Josiah was slain in Battle yet the Wisdom of God and the Nation only because he was kill'd in the Field made a Law for a yearly Mourning for Him through all future Ages I now come to Two particular Reasons which I find in the History of Josiah why the people made so great and so universal Lamentation for Him First A Prince was slain in Battle whose Clemency and Goodness and whose Zeal for Religion had created Him a general Esteem and Veneration among all his People Secondly The Jews had reason to mourn and to be afflicted when he dyed because it was prophesied that the Calamity of that Nation should commence and bear date from the very day Josiah should be taken from them 2 Chron. 34.24,28 First The First Reason why the Jews made so great Mourning for Josiah was because his Clemency and Goodness and his great Piety had got him a general Esteem and Veneration among his People Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his Goodness or Clemency and Kindness according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord behold they are in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah 2 Chron. 35.26 Here is then an Argument for the Peoples Mourning and for an Ordinance to establish a yearly Mourning because Violence had taken from them not only a great Prince but also a very good Man his Clemency became his Purple and his Goodness or his Graces shone brighter than all the Jewels in his Crown He was Religiously Good he was Good out of Principle and Conscience and not only out of Policy and in appearance his Goodness or as the Hebrew reads it his Clemency and Kindness would endure the Touchstone for it was according to the Law of the Lord. Now this is the true Standard for all Virtue and he who can walk according to this Rule is a perfect Man This is a Law that is fit to be the Study and Care of Princes because by it they not only hold their Crown and Dignity on Earth but also hope for a more lasting Inheritance and Crown in Heaven No wonder then if goodness win upon the Hearts and Affections of all the World for most Men are in love with Vertue though few will practise it And therefore a greater thing cannot be said of any Man nor of any King or Prince of the Sons of Men than that he 's good according to God's Law other Excellencies may make a Man great in Imagination and continue his Memory so long as Marble will bear his Name but it is his Goodness and this only that gives him Immortality and a Name and Honour that will endure for ever The History tells us That Josiah came very young to the Throne That he was but Eight Years old when he began to reign 2 Chron. 34.1 He must needs at that Age want Understanding and Wisdom and Experience and Strength to wield the Scepter of that Kingdom and Solomon denounces Wo to that Land whose King is a Child Eccl. 10.16 But Josiah made up all these Deficiencies and Imperfections in Nature by the early supplies of Divine Goodness and of Grace 2 Chron. 34.2 During our Minority we are under Tutelage and Government of others we suppose wiser then our selves and Honest as well as able to direct and manage our Affairs who yet have many failings at the very best and great allowances must be made even for their Infirmities But this young Prince chose for the Guide and Conduct of his Infancy the Ancient of Days and of him to learn Experience who himself knew all things by Intuition and at the first sight Here