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
we have a Guardian who can defend his Charge and protect his Orphan against the Invasions and Incroachments of his greedy Neighbour Here is a Counsellor who knows the state of Nations and sees into all affairs of Princes both Foreign and at Home He knows what 's done in this Cabal in that Cabinet in the other Conclave nay He knows the Hearts and understands our Thoughts long before So that a Child and Infant of a King under His Conduct shall undermine the Counsels of Achitophel himself It is said of Josiah That he chose David for his Pattern whom he would imitate without going aside to the right or left hand Now David was a glorious Precedent for any Potentate on Earth to take Example by He was great in Arms and in Religion admired for Courage and for Devotion and to satisfie all the World that Religion does not make Cowards He was therefore Great in the Field because Devout at the Altar and in the House of God I shall not give any account of the many eminent Vertues either of Josiah or the Martyr those of the latter which were most in View and in Exercise were Patience and Perseverance and it is but Melancholy discoursing on these Vertues as well as practising them They were both of them Zealous for Religion and for Reforming to the True Ancient and Primitive Way They both studied to adorn the Temple and to serve God in the Beauty of Holiness It was their Endeavour to cleanse the House of God from Sordidness and Superstition and to distinguish it from a Gaol or a Den of Thieves And if others had but been as Careful to have served Them as they were Active and Industrious to serve their God they might have had a much more prosperous and longer Reign over a far better and far more happy People And yet it is not to be wonder'd at That so much Vertue and Piety that so pure a Zeal for Religion and the Love of God should sometime happen to be utterly over-run and ruin'd by the grossest Atheism and Hypocrisie that ever pass'd upon Mankind Our Josiah was bound up to the strictest Honour Truth and Justice and could do nothing which might be a blemish to any of these though it were to save a Kingdom when as his Enemies were for Liberty and as their practice explain'd it were to be confin'd to no Rule or Principle were to be bound by no Law or Promise but to act purely and entirely as their Interest should direct If a Man make a Conscience of Truth and Justice then Liberty of Conscience is very good and men seldom want it but where there is no Conscience all Men must own that Liberty is very dangerous it then becomes Licentiousness or a Liberty such as our Martyr's Enemies made their own and which was allow'd to none besides to kill and to take Possession and to wade through the blood of Innocents to every thing they imagined would enrich honour or advance them And thus I have done with my first Reason why so great Lamentation for Josiah He was Religiously good and the loss of such a Prince is hardly to be repaired Secondly The Jews had reason to mourn when Josiah dyed because it was prophesy'd to them That their Calamity and Misery should commence from the very day that Josiah should be taken away from them It was told them by Huldah the Prophetess That God was very angry with that people and that he had dreadfull Judgments in Reserve whereby to punish the Obstinacy of the Jewish Nation but that for Josiah's sake that most pious and most religious Prince he would not execute his Vengeance so long as he should live but would defer his Indignation till that great good Man should be carry'd to his Grave in Peace that then and from that time Israel should be a miserable and an afflicted People and a hissing and an astonishment to all Nations round about them According to this Decree revealed to and foretold them by the Prophetess all things befell them Josiah's Sons and Successors were one of them carry'd away by Necho King of Egypt another was deposed by the King of Babylon a third was taken Prisoner and judgment given against Him his Sons all slain before his Eyes and then his Eyes bored out that he might see no more of the Misery which he was to suffer Now since this was all foretold them and that all their temporal Bliss and Happiness depended upon the Thred of Josiah's life no wonder they made great Lamentation when he dyed The Ancients reported that in Troy there was an Image which they believed fell from Heaven which so long as they could preserve safe within their Walls would preserve them successfull against all Enemies from abroad but the loss of it was to foretell the Ruin of their City and Civil Government King Josiah was this Image and gave the same security to Judah and Jerusalem and they were well assured that whilst this Palladium was among them no Injury could befall them either from Heaven or Earth for he who is Lord of both had given his Word for it He therefore falling in Megiddo caused this Lamentation among the People their Peace their Plenty their Laws Religion and Lives were all in Danger when he was in Peril or in the least Distress all their Glory was cast down when he fell in Battle and the Arrow that wounded him went to the Heart of every good Man in his Dominions This is therefore my second Reason for so great Mourning in Jerusalem at that time Now give me leave to apply these Reasons of Judah and Jerusalem's Lamentation for their King who fell in Battle and was slain in the Valley or Plain of Megiddo There was upon it an Ordinance a Law made for a solemn Mourning and it was observed even after the Jewish Monarchy was destroy'd I hope our Law of the same nature made after that Divine Example and ordained for the same end and purpose may long continue together with the Enghsh Monarchy and even for that very end that the Monarchy may long endure The Jews Mourning for Josiah endured longer then their Kingdom Their yearly Fast for Gedaliah notwithstanding their Dispersion is religiously observed by them to this day and although they are broken and scattered abroad in all Nations and among all Languages yet their Lamentation is continued with one Voice and one Consent It were not hard to make it appear That we have as great Reason to continue our Humiliation as the Jews had for Josiah and may be it were happy for us if we had not other and greater Reasons for this day's Solemnity then the Jews had Josiah was slain by a foreign Power He fell in Battle and was killed in the heat of Blood Himself was in a Disguise and unknown and an Arrow shot at Random wounded Him that He dyed His own People were no way guilty His Death could not be charged upon any of them nor was
as a Publick Judgment and Calamity Fourthly That although the Effusion of his Innocent Blood were no more then a private or a personal Crime or the Sin only of those Men who acted in it yet the punishment is National and the Land polluted The Nation is one Body Politick and the whole must answer for what one or a few Members have done amiss Fifthly That the Pollution of the Land with Blood submits the Nation to the Curse of God which he has said he will sometimes continue to the third or fourth Generation and the Jews when they were so vehement for our Lord 's dying as a Malefactor took his Blood upon themselves and their Posterity I come now to the last thing I am to speak to and that is Secondly That He upon whom God's Judgment falls is not always the Person who offended but the Innocent are many times the Sufferers when the Guilty escape and go free Josiah lost his Crown and Life but it is Wo to us for we have sinned Kings have often suffered for the Sins of the People and perhaps as often has an Innocent Nation been scourged and plagued for the Sins of their King For First David number'd the People which was not their fault nor was it in their Power to prevent their being reckon'd up if the Prince of the People would have it so But the Plague fell upon them alone and not upon the Person who had done the Offence David owns thus much in the Presence of God and the Congregation It is I that have sinned Lord what have these silly sheep done Secondly the Son of Jeroboam dy'd young or was by God removed out of the way by Death not because He had offended but because He should not see the Evil which was to fall upon his Friends and Countrevmen who had He only of all the House of Jeroboam shall go to the Grave in Peace because in him was found some good His goodness shorten'd his days He was early ripe for Heaven and for Eternity as the rest of his Family were for destruction Yet this young Prince did not lose a Crown which he might have come to by slow ways of Succession and of Inheritance but was hasten'd and translated to a Crown that is Immortal This young Son of Jeroboam it is said went down to the Grave in Peace I would here stop a little to enquire what is meant by a Man's going to the Grave in Peace Is it to live as long as the Course of Nature will allow Is it to wear well for Threescore Years and Ten and then to dye an easy and a Natural Death and the Lamp of Life to go out purely for want of Oil No far otherwise It is said of Josiah that He should go to the Grave in Peace Behold I will gather Thee to thy Fathers and Thou shalt be gathered to thy Grave in Peace 2 Chr. 34.28 Now I have already shewn That Josiah was mortally wounded at Megiddo and fell in Battle and how can such a Man who is defeated and dyes in War be said to go to the Grave in Peace And yet Josiah who fell by the Hand of an Egyptian and Jeroboam's Son who was cut off by Death in the most flourishing state of life I say they both went to the Grave in Peace Now to dye or go to the Grave in Peace does not respect the kinds of Death whether in Battle or on a Scaffold or of old Age and in a Man's Bed but it regards the Person who dyes and that Temper and Chearfulness and quiet of Mind wherein a man dyes He then dyes in Peace whom Outrages and Indignities cannot provoke to Anger and whose Patience reremains unshaken when the Storms and Waves of Sorrow beat hardest upon Him He dyes in Peace who resigns his own Will to the Will and Pleasure of him who made him and welcomes the most painful or shameful way of Dying as the ready way to Immortality and Eternal Life Thus dyed Josiah though he fell in Battle and thus fell the Royal Martyr though Murder'd in the face of the Sun and his own Subjects How he went to the Grave it is not known the Graves of Moses and of King Charles being concealed by the Will of God to this day I confess there 's one Reason why Martyrs should not so much be said to die in Peace as they who die in Battle or in their Bed because tho' they go out of the World with a calm and quiet Mind yet their Blood calling for Vengeance seems to declare War But in all other respects Men who die for Religion and patiently suffer in a good Cause though sawn asunder or torn with wild Horses and devour'd by Birds or Beasts of the Field may very well be said to go to the Grave in Peace It is very true that Sorrow and Suffering and Death did all come into the World together and were occasioned by the sin of Man and are all of them continued as Scourges and Judgments of God upon Man for sin The Almighty has but one Arrow in his Quiver sharper than these and that he sends among us when he punishes sin with sin when he suffers ill Men to harden in Impenitence to encrease their Guilt and thereby consigns them over to Damnation This is the most dreadful and amazing Judgment of God upon Earth to leave a Man to a reprobate sence and hard heart and on this side the Grave and Hell without all hopes of Redemption I know not but there may be Men in the World thus left to themselves who instead of repenting of a most horrid Murder and of shedding Innocent Blood have themselves and their Posterity justified the doing it and advanced from the Blood of one King to maintain the Lawfulness of resisting all Kings To sin is not so great a fault as to vindicate and maintain the lawfulness of committing Sin we are all sinners but hope God will give us Grace to repent and amend and then we are again right in his sight But to shed Innocent Blood and to justify the doing it is what Highway-men and common Thieves and Robbers will not do Now Resisting is a comprehensive Word and includes in it reviling and standering deposing and putting to Death and that what way you please whether by Ponyard or Pistol on an open Theatre or by Assassines in the High-Way Any or all of these are Lawful to as many as believe it Lawful to Resist Do but then think Who are they that have been plotting against the Lord 's Anointed Who have been engaged in Conspiracies to murder him in secret and by surprise Who have been in Consult and Intriguing with a Foreign Enemy to invade us and upon what bottom all this mighty process has been form'd and founded but upon this hellish Principle That it is Lawful to resist Our Prince is hereby in as much danger in his Palace or in his Bed as formerly in a Battle and his very Recreations