pleasant an Echo as is enough to refresh a Devout and Pious Soul meditating upon the Mercies of God So that an Excellent Pattern of a great Solemnity in this kind we have here and many more there are in the holy Records of the Jewish Church Exod 15. Such is the Song of Moses and the Children of Israel after the Overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea and their own safe passage through the same from their hard Servitude and Bondage in Egypt Such is the Song of Deborah and Barak Jude 5. for their great Victory over Sisera Captain or General of the Host of Jabin King of Canaan and Israel's Deliverance from his Master's Oppression Such is the Celebration of King Jehoshaphat's and his People's Praise 2 Chro. 20. and Joy and Triumph for a mighty Victory over and Salvation from a numerous Heathenish Host besides many others which deserve our Observation When Godly Princes and Rulers have excited themselves and their People to be thankful as our Most Gracious King has commanded us now to be as His Royal Ancestors and many other Kings and Potentates have upon the like Occasions sent out their Mandates and Decrees requiring their People to give Glory and Praise unto the God of their Salvation And a good Principle it is of the Church of England readily to obey from time to time the Defenders of Her Faith in commanding that which she owns an Indispensible Duty and Tribute to the King of Kings from which may not any of her Members swerve at this time But may every one with joint consent heartily say Amen this Day to these words blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation and that upon the account of our present Grounds for Thanksgiving Which Metaphor of a Rock is of frequent use in Holy Writ and hath divers significations So that this thankful Expression blessed be my Rock carries the sence and authority of Blessed be my sure and immoveable Foundation Blessed be my Help and mighty Defence Blessed be my Refuge and Salvation And so Blessed be my God Himself who is all these to His Faithful Servants As to illustrate this by other Examples he is also an Horn and Tower or Fortress of Salvation unto them For a Horn denotes Glory and Strength great Power and Might all which are Infinite in Him And a Tower is the Emblem of Succour and Safeguard and as such well applied unto God Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe Wherefore holy David aptly resembles God to a Rock For what in Nature is stronger than a Rock And therefore what could be a more proper Hieroglyphick than it to express God in His Attribute of Omnipotency by which He is able to deliver His Servants when void of all Hope and who is not only above Nature but infinitely transcends all other Supernatural Beings whether they be Thrones Principalities Powers or any other Order and Degree of the whole Celestial Hierarchy it self And whereas it follows in the Text exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation The meaning is obvious and easie with this Comment or Gloss unto it naturally drawn from the aforesaid Interpretation of the Trope by which the Lord is likened to a Rock for by it this Clause doth ascribe Exaltation and Praise to the God strong and able to save As if the Royal Prophet had magnified him thus exalted or praised be the God of the Strength or of the Power of my Salvation by whose irresistible Might I was preserved from the Violence of my Cruel Enemies Not that Man can add any thing to God in all this whereby to make Him greater in any respect than He is in Himself but it is by way of an humble and thankful Declaration of His Glory His Greatness His Immense Power and Goodness It is a telling out of His Praise and Wondrous Acts a shewing forth the Mercy and Loving-kindness of the Lord with Gratitude and Joy When Men are not hardned against Mercy but are sensible that they have seen and tasted the abundant Goodness of the Lord after His Countenance hath of His Free Grace shined with unspeakable Favour upon them And now Deut. 32.1 Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my Mouth For I will publish mighty things that the Lord hath done for us And I will ascribe the Glory and Greatness of all unto our God For many and great are the wondrous Works which the Lord our God hath done like as be also his Thoughts which are to us-ward O how great is the Sum of them Who can reckon them up in order to Him If I should declare them and speak of them they should be more than I am able to express Wherefore I shall not pretend to enumerate and publish the whole Series and Catalogue of His Mercies from time to time conferred upon us for if I could bring them all within the reach of my Discourse which is next to impossibility yet my present Task does not oblige me to run through so large a Province but more especially binds me to the Business of this Day of the Great and Auspicious Deliverance for which we Celebrate the Solemnity of a Publick Thanksgiving for God's late unspeakable Mercies to the King and these Realms And therefore we will in silence admire His Marvellous Preservations that are past and employ our Thoughts on his present Salvation We will only think how Famous the Two last Eighty Eights are The former by a Successful Deliverance of this Nation from the threatned Destruction when her Enemies sent against it their Invincible Armada as they then in the height of Pride and Ostentation named it and which perished with Shame and Confusion And the last Eighty Eight is Glorious for our Memorable and Blessed Preservation from Apparent Dangers at Home from Evil and Destruction growing up in the midst of us the Flames of which were quenched and the Rage and Fury stopt by the most Happy Coming of our Good and Gracious KING WILLIAM to our Relief making thereby another Fifth Day of November as great an Ensign of God's special Providence to us as that Fifth of November still is by the Discovery of that Horrid that most Trayterous and Bloody-intended Massacre by Gunpowder These things let us think on with the Praises of God in our Mouths and with all Humility Devotion and Gratitude in our Hearts And for His unspeakable Goodness for which we Solemnize this Day set apart by Royal Authority for the Holy Exercise of Praise and Adoration unto the Supreme Governour of the Universe from whom cometh Salvation at all times let us believe in the Lord with Joy and Thanksgiving and Triumphantly say That the Lord liveth that He seeth and ordereth all things that his Presence fills all places and his Providence is busie and active every where that He
Pleasure O therefore great is the Deliverance beyond the Comprehensions of our Understandings And praised be the Lord who hath not given us over for a prey unto their Teeth for our Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler the Snare is broken and we are delivered For which may all that are or would have been sensible of the Black Device if it had taken its Dismal Effect Bless and Exalt God's holy Name May all the good People of this Nation Obey their Sovereign Lord the KING's Commands in such manner as may be acceptable to God And as His Majesty doth so may they acknowledge the singular Mercy and Goodness of God See His Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to Both Houses of Parliament Feb. 24. 1695. May all His Subjects Piously and Joyfully keep this Day and ponder the Occasion of it in their Hearts with a Perpetual Thanksgiving to the utmost extent of their Lives for so great a Salvation May it make such deep and lasting Impressions in their Souls Yea let them tell it to their Childrens Children that the Generations to come may Bless God for it And may no Rank or Quality Sex Order or Degree think themselves exempted from their Duty on this Day which the KING with the Advice of his Nobles hath thought fit to apply to so Solemn and Sacred a Use But praise the Lord ye House of our Israel praise the Lord ye House of Aaron praise the Lord ye House of Levi ye Clergy of this Land Ye that fear the Lord praise the Lord and confess he is Gracious and his Mercy endureth for ever Kings of the Earth and all People Princes and all Judges of the World Young Men and Maidens Old Men and Children praise the Name of the Lord for his Name only is Excellent and his Praise above Heaven and Earth He shall exalt the Horn of his People all his Saints shall praise him And now pray we unto God to open Mens Eyes that they may see and know those things that belong unto their Peace that they may not be Credulous of Dreams and Fancies nor give heed unto Fables As if that Monarch who has Troubled Christendom a long time has Cruelly Persecuted and Tormented Protestants and has laid waste Defenced Cities into Ruinous heaps as if he would shew all Clemency and Kindness to us as if he would make every one Happy and Great with large Donatives of Riches and Honour Fields and Vineyards and all the Delights of the Sons of Men which to think is very incongruous to Reason and dissonant to the Sentiments of common Prudence unless he and all his Admirers and Favourites loved the People of this Nation better than they do and except we would abandon our Religion which may we never so much as think of doing nor fear his Menaces or any high and lofty Looks But keep we stedfast to our God and our Faith to our Duty and Allegiance unto our Sovereign Lord the KING's Majesty to our Laws our Liberties and our Country and to one another in Love and Unity And may god shower down His Blessings upon us and make His great Salvation for which we now offer unto Him the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving a Pledge of more His abundant Favours to His Anointed and His Subjects And let us always therefore have somewhat of a Divine and Holy Song or Eulogy in our Mouths Plenteously may we be furnished in the Song of Moses and the Children of Israel of Deborah and Barak and in that great Magazine of Praises and Benedictions the Book of Psalms together with many other places of the Sacred Canon of Scripture Let us often think of God's Mercies to us and make Melody in our Hearts unto Him with such Excellent and Proper Lessons as may be taken out of those Breathings of the Holy Ghost Let Lute and Harp awake and let us awake right early with the high Praises of God in our Mouth Let this be the Badge of our Honour and Gratitude Praise ye the Lord. Let us bind it as Signs upon our Hands and Frontlets between our Eyes together with the Te Deum the Benedictus the Magnificat and like Joyous and Devout Trophies of God's Salvation Evermore with the Choir of Saints and Angels above Chanting forth the Trishagion Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory Glory be to thee O Lord Most High Finally As we praise God this Day for His Admired Mercy so let us Beg His Continuance of it to us and pray heartily that the now ensuing Campaign may be Victorious both against Fâ—ance and the Ottoman Empire and that an Honourable and Lasting Peace to England and Her Allies and Friends may succeed thereupon and that God will be pleased to Bless with Length of Days and Riches and Honour in His Throne here and to Crown afterwards with a far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory in the highest Heavens His Anointed Servant our Dread Sovereign Lord and Lawful and Rightful KING WILLIAM Amen FINIS
THREE SERMONS PREACHED The First in Richmond Church August 17. 1690. On the Most Happy Accession of Their Majesties KING WILLIAM and QUEEN MARY to the Crown The Second in Mortlake Church in Surrey March 3. 1694. On the Death of Our Late Most Gracious Soveraign Lady the QUEEN of Blessed Memory The Third in Mortlake Church April 16. 1696. Being the Day of Thanksgiving unto Almighty God for Discovering and Disappointing the Horrid and Barbarous Conspiracy to Assassinate His Most Gracious Majesty's Royal Person And for Delivering this Kingdom from an Invasion intended by the French By CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON M. A. and School-master of Richmond in SVRREY Printed to prevent Mistakes concerning the Author LONDON Printed for Samuel Buckley at the Dolphin over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1696. TO THE READER THE Reason of Printing these Sermons is this Mr. Abiel Borfet the late Minister of Richmond in Surrey having written and suffer'd to be dispersed some Scandalous and Ill Notions concerning the Present Most Happy Government for which he is Deprived of his Cure some Persons by Mistake did apprehend the Author of these Sermons being a Clergy-man and living in Richmond to be the said Minister thereof and the Author of those Ill Notions To obviate which and rectifie the Errour and to prevent for the future any the like Misrepresentations of this Author He thought it convenient to make the following Sermons publick ERRATA PAge 11. l. 9. calamnities r. calamities p. 12. l. 2. are the cause r. are often the cause l. 29. in r. on p. 13. l. 24. flames r. a flame p. 14. l. 15. Dioclesian's r. Diocletian's l. 17. almost r. for almost p. 18. l. 1. Nay r. Yea l. 10. a r. the. p. 21. l. 26. the first of r. for p. 22. l. 27. after Faith put l. the last in r. as appears by p. 23. l. 37. born by r. born of p. 25. l. 18. into his place r. unto his place p. 30. l. 7 and 8. r. threatned their total destruction and in part at least wrought it p. 31. l. 17. Her Houshold r. the ways of her Houshold l. 26. which r. as p. 48. l. 1. Proposition r. Particular Where you find rejoice you may read rejoyce And if there be any more Errata's over looked the Reader is desired to Correct them The Deliverance of GOD's Church SERMON I. Preached in Richmond Church in SVRREY August the 17th 1690. On the Happy Accession of their Majesties King William III. and Queen Mary II. to the Crown NUMB. xxiii 23. Surely there is no Enchantment against Jacob neither is there any Divination against Israel AS God hath a Church Triumphant in Heaven pure and undefiled clean from all Sin and free from all Sorrow Glorious without Spot and Joyful without the allay of but one Moments Affliction out of all danger of any Enemy and Eternally blest with Crowns and Palms of Victory So hath he a Church Militant on Earth his Delight and of him greatly Beloved Holy Catholick or Universal full of good Works but yet not perfect some True and though their Lights shine in one sence invisible Members thereof because none knows the Heart of a Man yet these not without Sin though their Errours and Failings are pardonable and shall be forgiven them Others visible Members only and Hypocrites who make a bare outward shew in the World and whose Sins shall not be remitted unto them without the special Grace of Repentance and Amendment whereby a timely Conversion may through the Merits of Christ obtain Salvation But the Church of God on Earth not being perfect is subject to Sufferings Her own Sins arm and make her Enemies powerful against her Her Shame eclipseth her Glory and causeth Sorrows which often exceed her Joys whilst always Fighting she is Victorious but in part by reason of Sin that doth so easily beset her Yet her Infirmities do not annul God's Favours towards her but when the Reins are let loose and Provocations encrease to a great height Divine Justice is concern'd in Vindication of it self to unsheath the Sword and brandish it at least if not strike for the Amendment of those who will be healed and for the Terrour and Astonishment if not present Confusion of obstinate Offenders Neither is Justice alone here but Love and Mercy are Concomitant therewith because the Design of God in the whole is that all may work together for the good of that Mystical Body of which Christ is the Head and therefore it is that when a Lenitive will not Cure he applies a Corrosive Plaister to the Sore For various have been the Methods of the Almighty to keep his People in his Favour and at one with him And not this only but what I am chiefly to insist upon God hath in a most Eminent Manner upon all Occasions appeared in the Cause of his Church for the Preservation thereof against all her Foes in the Patriarchal and Jewish as well as Christian Oeconomy and Government for such we read have been in Ancient time besides what our Fathers have told us and we next after them do now know and hope further to see the Mighty Deliverances of God's People as declare them to be the only Immediate Care of his Watchful and All-seeing Eyes of Providence for whom Omnipotence it self hath and doth stretch forth its Mighty Arm to work Wonders Which great things very much need required to be done all along from the beginning of the World unto this Day for the Salvation of God's Church For in the Infancy thereof when there were only two Adam and Eve to gather together in God's Name to Adore him and perform their Duties of Piety and Religion even then the grand Enemy of Mankind set to work for their Destruction by Hellish Enchantments added unto the subtilty of that Serpent which though not the Devil himself in that form yet at least was possest with and spake by him and so by the Voice and Language of Satan drest up with many Artifices of pleasing words the Temptation became so strong that the Woman soon beguiled thereby caught at the deadly Bait and did eat and gave also unto her Husband and be did eat And then so far even in Paradise it self Satan accomplished his Design and as Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as Birds that are caught in the Snare so were they both snared in an evil time by that Evil One the Tempter But although our First Parents had the Misfortune to fall from such an high and lofty Sphere of Primitive Purity to which they or their Posterity might never think to ascend again in this World yet was not Satan able to pursue and gain a compleat Victory over them because God in Mercy reinforced them with such strength by virtue of his Promise that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head according to the Covenant of Grace wherein it was promised that the Messias should come into the World to Redeem
they would not The words of the Wise Man Prov. 19.21 There are many Devices in a Man's Heart nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And so long as that stands his Church shall stand firm And if at any time she groans by reason of the Fury and Oppressions of her Adversaries he will hear her Cry and help her She shall stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord which he will shew unto her She shall be assured that he will deliver her in Six Troubles yea in Seven and then shall she rest satisfied that although many are the Troubles of the Righteous yet the Lord delivereth them out of them all when she hath seen so much of the Goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living But if at any time her Sins which to be sure are frequently the sad and woful Cause of her Sorrows for they merit Punishments do give her Adversaries both time and power to insult over her and her Faith and Hope begin to fail so that she becomes dubious and mistrusts the veracity of that Promise made in particular to Joshua but by the Author to the Hebrews applied unto all the Faithful as a general and standing Rule of Trust and Confidence in God's Mercy and Protection which is this I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 In such Affliction and Anxiety of Mind let her amend and not despair of God's Love and Mercy And if at the first appearance of help and notice of God's especial Presence with her after many Evils of Punishment from the Enemy she should despond like Gideon when almost in Despair an Angel appear'd unto him with this Sign in his Mouth from the Lord of the Israelites Deliverance from the Oppression of Midian the Lord is with thee who with a sort of diffidence of the Divine Message return'd this Answer to the Angel's Errand as it were with Sorrow in his Heart Oh my Lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us And where be all his Miracles which our Fathers told us of saying Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt But now the Lord bath forsaken us and delivered us into the Hands of the Midianites Judg. 6.13 We shall endeavour presently to give Comfort and some Satisfaction Should the Church and People of God in Times of Affliction answer after the same manner If the Lord be with us why doth the Enemy rejoice and the Adversary triumph over us If it be an Infallible Aphorism that his Church shall stand always firm against the Opposition and Fury of all her Enemies how is it that from the beginning of the World unto this Day Persecution hath been a large share of her Portion Her Tears have been often poured into the Cup of trembling to add the greater Bitterness unto every drop she hath been forced to drink and the Bread of Sorrow hath been her daily Food Her Children have been stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the Sword and a Thousand sorts of Deaths and Tortures have been inflicted upon them so that no Sorrow was ever like unto her Sorrow At one time Righteous Abel was Murder'd by his own Impious Brother Cain here the Bloody Tragedy began and successively was acted on with various Troubles and Torments unto the People of God even to the Days of holy Elijah who also then found himself grievously persecuted by wicked Jezebel and that so sharply that he preferred Death before Life when he requested for himself that he might Die and said It is enough now O Lord take away my Life 1 King 19.4 And twice in the same Chapter we find him sadly complaining of those who had deserted the true Worship of God for that which was false and idolatrous and did persecute those who would not depart with them from serving the Living and True God as these words of that holy Man do infer The Children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down thine Altars and slain thy Prophets with the Sword and I even I only am left and they seek my Life to take it away So sharp and general it seems was the Persecution that Elijah thought that all the Prophets and Faithful People of God were quite swept away thereby for he had some time since fled for his own Life and as the words seem to intimate when he came again no true Israelite was to be seen or did not dare to shew his Face and venture to stand before the heat and fury of Jezebel's inveterate Malice and Hatred to the Professors of True Religion But yet God be thanked for the Comfort of good Elijah Wickedness had not sate so long in the place of Judgment and Righteousness to Triumph so far as to bring the Church in those Days to so low an Ebb as to have the Tears of but one true Member only to run down for her and by the Destruction of whose Life she should have been quite cut off For in the 18th Verse of the aforecited Chapter we find the Lord comforting Elijah thus with a goodly number of truly Religious Persons still remaining Yet saith he I have left me Seven Thousand in Israel all the Knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every Mouth which hath not kissed him But now further may we find the Church clad in Sackcloth with Dust and Ashes upon her Head mourning in her Travail and bringing forth Children with great Lamentation weeping and wailing for that reckoning from the Days of Elijah forward her Afflictions were from time to time renewed Once a whole Seventy Years Captivity in a strange Land besides many Wars and Troubles from the Enemy before and after that unto the time that Messiah the Prince the Glory and Head of the Church came when also He was cut off not for himself but for the Transgression of his People This was most Amazing and full of Wo the cutting off of Members was not enough but the Head must suffer as much too This caused the Sun that great Luminary to put on mourning Apparel of the deepest Dye a black and thick Darkness It forced the Earth into a Convulsion to shake and tremble and the Temple to rend its Vail in twain Then did Nature suffer a Dissolution for a time and needs must the whole Creation groan and be in pain when Christ himself cried out with a loud and lamentable Voice and suffer'd the deepest pangs of Body and Soul This was the Child of God and Heir of all things that poured out his Soul unto Death whom the great Red Dragon mentioned in the Revelations of St. John thought wholly to devour but yet did he revive on the Third Day and was afterwards caught up unto God I mean he ascended into Heaven where he Reigns King and Head of the Church in Triumph over all his Enemies And now the great Red Dragon that Old Serpent called the Devil and Satan being cast out into the Earth as he made an Attempt against
Heaven hath with all Choler and Wrath vomited out of his Mouth whole Floods of Persecutions one rolling incessantly upon the back of another to overwhelm the Church in final Ruin and Destruction And to make the Ocean of her Miseries as it were incomprehensible and beyond thought how have many of the Roman Emperors and greatest Potentates of the Earth added a Red Sea thereto by shedding the Blood of the Saints without end or measure The Primitive Christians felt the smart first and their Fellow-servants have been partakers of their Sufferings frequently unto these Days And those who would come out of Babylon that they might not be partakers of her Sins nor receive of her Plagues have had a restraint put upon them that they should not so that when persecuted in one City or Kingdom they could not enjoy the Priviledge given them by Christ in his Gospel to flee into another Now if we hear Zion bemoaning her self thus over all the Evils and Calamnities brought upon her for all the hurt and havock that the Church of God hath suffer'd from the beginning of the World unto this Day besides what she fears may yet happen and by some diffidence arising thereby she should question whether her Basis or Foundation be so strong that it shall remain perpetually firm for the time to come against the force and fury of her implacable and restless Foes For her Comfort and to resolve her Doubts herein let her know that all her Loss is Gain Those that die for their good Faith go from Warring and Fighting here in the Church Militant unto the Mother Church of all Triumphant in Heaven Those that amidst a World of Miseries below were Faithful unto Death ascend into Regions of Bliss above to receive Crowns of Eternal Life Neither is the number of her Members extenuated or diminished on Earth by their departure from us for the Testimony of Christ according to that common saying Sanguis Martyrum est semen Ecclesiae the bare Letter whereof is That the Blood of Martyrs is the Seed of the Church which the sence and meaning construes thus That the more the Church of God is persecuted the more at last she multiplies Like good Seed cast into good Ground it brings forth Thirty Sixty and an Hundred sold And often not only is the number augmented but their Faith is the more vigorous and active too for Marcet sine adversario virtus sed crescit sub pondere their Faith doth fade and fail and is not so lively and brisk as when quickened by the Power and Trials of the Enemy as Rome when Carthage was destroyed fell to Luxury But under the pressure and weight of Sufferings it gets ground and becomes of a more diffusive Nature and therefore the Exercise and Trials of the Faith of the Best Men are meant of God for good And furthermore the Church is to remember that her Sins are the cause of all her Sorrows without which she would have neither Pain nor Grief nor any Enemy could Molest or Trouble her For it is still with her as it was in the Days of the Judges of Israel And we read in the second Chapter of their Book that the People feared the Lord all the Days of Joshua and all the Days of the Elders that out-lived Joshua and so long it was well with them but afterwards it is said The Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim And they forfook the Lord God of their Fathers c. The ill Consequence whereof was this The Anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of Spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the Hands of their Enemies round about So that they could not any longer stand before their Enemies Whithersoever they went out the Hand of the Lord was against them for Evil as the Lord had said and as the Lord had sworn unto them and they were greatly distressed Now Sin was the cause of all this Trouble and so it hath been and will be the Origin and Fountain of all Misery And therefore it is the Duty of the Church and People of God to submit unto his Chastisements without complaint or murmuring because they deserve them and it may be want Correction to make them better And then also we are to bear the Cross patiently as did Christ the Author of our Salvation that so having our share with him in Sufferings we may be partakers of his Glory But yet could not all these Enemies nor all the mighty numbers of them since the World began root out the true Church of God from having a Being in the face of the Earth neither shall they so prevail so long as the Sun and Moon endure but when they have done all they can they shall themselves bear the Punishment They shall reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken Man and be at their Wits-end when the Mischief intended by them to others shall fall on their own Heads And therefore though they should seek to destroy Jacob by Inchantments and Israel by Divination and also to that end should use Pious Frauds and Religious Stratagems against the Church with many fair and specious pretences outwardly build Altars and offer Sacrifices even whole Hecatombs without number on them Though they should present Heaven with never so many Gifts and Dedicate all the Gold of Ophir unto it and pray Night and Day unto God unto Angels and Saints and join thereto never so many Ave Maries unto the Blessed Virgin and Court her with never so many Titles of the greatest Honour and Power in Heaven creating her Queen Regent there with full Authority over her Son to make him do whatsoever she shall command him Yet not all this nor much more that they can do shall any whit prevail Nothing thereof shall serve their turn against that Holy Church they would destroy but she shall stand firm against all the Attempts of her Enemies whatsoever they be though their Folly that is so great be Converted into Fury and their Malice be thereby the deeper yet in their fiercest Rage shall they be weak and like Water spilt on the ground or as the Dust before the Wind so shall the Angel of the Lord scatter them For surely there is no Enchantment against Jacob neither is there any Divination against Israel which introduceth my Second Proposition That the Church hath been and shall be enabled to abide in safety by the Protection and good Providence of God For it is He that keeps her as the Apple of his Eye It is the Eternal God that is her Refuge It is he that beateth down all her Enemies and beareth her on Eagles Wings above them all and brings her unto himself And it is God that maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers Flames of Fire in their order to attend on every good Member of his Church and surround them all with Horses and Chariots of
might with strength of Reason on her side say The Glory is departed from Israel because the Ark of God was taken which when present with them was Salvation to them if Sin did not bar out the Blessing and 't was Death and great Destruction to their grand Enemies when amongst them tho' in Captivity plaguing and slaying them in a very large measure Furthermore so glorious was the Ark and holy that altho' the Bethshemites rejoiced at the sight thereof upon its arrival out of the Philistine's Country into their own and offered Burnt-Offerings and sacrificed Sacrifices unto the Lord the same Day yet because they presumed to pry and look into it he smote of the People Fifty Thousand Threescore and Ten Men to their great Lamentation with Astonishment saying Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God 1 Sam. 6. But on the other hand we find it procured a Blessing to Obed-Edom and all he had when Three Months in his House 2 Sam. 6. from whence David brought it into the City of David with gladness and great solemnity his own Royal Person Dancing before the Lord with all his might with Sacrifices and Offerings shouting and the sound of the Trampet Very glorious also was the Ark in a farther prospect than yet we have mention'd or either perhaps Old Eli and Phinehas's Wife or any of the Israelites did perceive or think of when 't was captivated that is in its mighty Symbols and Prefigurations its Noble Type and Representation of Christ and his Church in the Evangelical Oeconomy its glorious Figures thereof as to it self and all that belong'd to it or was preserv'd and contain'd in it of which we have not time now to speak So that Glory it was to Israel in their then present honourable Thoughts and Conceptions of it according to what they did know and far greater Glory in what they did not understand or conceive Sad then that the Heathen their Enemies should both overcome them in Battel and take it Captive their great Hope be suddenly gone with Terrour and Amazement It was enough for a deep and general Mourning in all Israel enough to make all Disconsolate and some to bid Adieu to all Comforts here to take leave of the World and like Old Eli and his Daughter-in-law yield up the Ghost And now to return from one sad Scene to another from Israel's Loss to our own Their Sins had provoked God to afflict them with a terrible stroke And so have ours caused him in his Displeasure to take from us that great undeserved Blessing which in his Mercy he gave unto us in the Royal Person of his Anointed that Wise and Incomparable Princess for whom the Mourners do now go about the Streets our Late Gracious Soveraign Lady the Queen whose Princely and Sublime Virtues were so numerous and of such a large size and substance by the growth and perfection she gave them through her Most Excellent and Sacred Majesty's daily Increase in all Goodness that we may easier form a Galaxy or Bright Circle of them in our Noblest and Loftiest Conceptions or fix them in the Orbs of our Minds as whole Constellations of Stars of the first Magnitude than speak clearly and fully of all those shining Graces which in her Living were visible to the Eye of the World but now are hid from our Eyes But let the Memory of her Majesty and those her Rich Ornaments be kept Sacred to Posterity that the Generations to come may bless the Age she lived in and withal reprove the wilful Blindness and blackest Ingratitude of those who did not observe her Virtues nor Honour and Esteem her Royal Person with that Duty and Veneration as became Men who by her Enjoy'd the Blessings of Heaven above and of the Earth beneath Spiritual good things and Temporal She who was the Glory of her Age and Sex of our Church and these Nations to her own Greatness and all her Royalties giving Lustre to the Throne by her most Eminent Virtues in great Wisdom and Prudence Crown'd all her self So that I may make Application upon her great Fame 1 King 10. as the Queen of Sheba did to Solomon Happy were her Men happy were those her Servants which did stand continually before her Majesty hearing her Wisdom her good and gracious Words and observing her Piety and Religious Ways a lively Pattern and Example to all about her and who of both Sexes and all Qualities in Sorrow and Bitterness of Heart have caused a Voice to be heard like that of Rachel in Rama Lamentation and Weeping and great Mourning Weeping for her Most Excellent Majesty and would not be comforted because she is not she is not in the Land of the Living And because the Glory is thereby departed from them And from us all of her Majesty's Realms and Dominions and many more parts of the World is The Glory departed So that we in great multitudes Domestick and Foreign may join with the Royal Palace and take up a wailing for us all that our Eyes may run down with Tears and our Eye-lids gush out with Waters But while we mourn let us not forget to make Honourable mention of her Majesty yet further and tho' we cannot paint out to the Life those many Graces which did constantly attend her or rather were implanted in her yet let us Celebrate her Obsequies and Revere her Ashes those Sacred Remains by so just a Commemoration of her Excellent Endowments as the Confusion of Grief and Wo in our Minds will permit Now Virtue in general seem'd innate or connatural to her Majesty by that firmness of Root it had gain'd in her Royal Breast and therefore those many Species thereof which Philosophers for some Thousands of Years have Disputed and Reasoned about and Divines have much preached and written of were Eminently conspicuous and demonstrative in her When she was but a Child they appear'd like Aurora before the Sun as an happy Omen of what her Riper Years would produce She was then a bright Morning-star and like good King Josiah began when she was young to seek after God Dedicated her self unto him and never desisted to the Day of her Death Not forsaking God when she felt the Thorns of her Crowns and the multitude of Business throng'd her or the Baits and Allurements of Recreations might tempt her aside And as she was stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the Work of the Lord so she required her People and Servants to wait upon God with a Vigilant Care her Self over all who ought to repair unto the Chappel-Royal to attend on him in his Worship imitating Faithful Abraham Gen. 18.19 in commanding her Houshold after her to keep the way of the Lord retrieving thereby the long lost Honour of the Court by Converting the Reigning Sins thereof through her Great Example and Pious Authority into Religious Services Sitting therein a Queen to do the Will of the Lord and not of Men. And in all respects
her Virtues shaking the Foundation of those Vices which had Triumph'd too much threat'ned their total and in part at least wrought their Destruction This made her truly Great added much to her High and Illustrious Birth and to her Person on the Throne And in all respects her Qualifications enforced and drew a lively pattern from her for all to profit by according to their several States and Conditions As a Queen and a Ruler let Kings and all Princes follow her with the highest Emulation if with her they will take God's Directions amongst King David's last words into their Books of Politicks how to Govern which Divine Lesson was her Majesty's grand and principal Point in the whole Compass of her Government how to steer by and which way to move The Needle pointing always in her Thoughts to these and the like holy Instructions He that ruleth over Men must be just ruling in the fear of God and he shall be as the light of the Morning when the Sun riseth even a Morning without Clouds as the tender Grass springing out of the Earth by clear shining after Rain 2 Sam. 23.3 4. Which Sacred Aphorism herein seems to have been the Golden Rule and Line she measured her Royal Thoughts Words and Actions by all her Reign the holy Balance in which she first weighted every proceeding through the whole Series of her great Affairs And so she answered likewise this Divine Simile as in Water Face answereth to Face truly and exactly Let it be said then of our most Devout and Religious Queen that like holy David she was after God's own Heart With Hezekiah and other Pions Kings She did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And like good King Josiah she declined neither to the right Hand nor to the left Mercy and Justice resided in the Throne with her the former render'd her very Compassionate but yet her Prudence and Magnanimity were such as shewed her how she should not bear the Sword in vain she being the Ordinance and Minister of God And as she was in high Authority so was she above all idle and vulgar Censures or what was little and mean Consider her Majesty as a Wife Our Great Monarch whom she hath left behind and whom God in his Mercy long preserve to us will witness yea his great Grief of Heart doth Attest how she answer'd God's intent in the Creation of Woman that she should be (a) Gen. 2.18 an help meet for Man And according to the Apostolical Canons with a meek and quiet Spirit she gave reverence and yielded Subjection to her Royal Husband who with mutual Returns of Endearment according to like Holy Rules loved and honoured her as the weaker Vessel and his Glory also For the Man is the Image and Glory of God but the Woman is the Glory of the Man 1 Cor. 11.7 She well deserved the praise of the Virtuous Woman in the last Chapter of the Proverbs Ver. 11 12. For the Heart of her Husband did safely trust in her and she did do him good and not evil all the Days of her Life Her Candle did not go out by Night Ver. 18. for she was always mindful of her Duty and great Affairs She looked well to her Houshould and did not eat the Bread of Idleness Ver. 27. for by her own Labours she gave a New-birth to Work and Industry Her Children her good and dutiful Subjects I mean for she was a most Dear Tender and Compassionate Mother to us all did arise up and call her blessed her Husband also and he praised her Ver. 28. Both whose mutual Affections and Returns of Love and Kindness united their Two Royal Persons into One. Think upon her Majesty only as a Woman but of an uncommon Excellency of Spirit and largeness of Heart of such a Capacious Soul and Radiancy of Mind which is very seldom found and all tending more to Ambition of Goodness than Desire of Greatness for Majesty it self could not tempt her to Pride in any thing All which looked as happy presages of bringing much Benefit to Mankind But according to our purpose to descend from the Throne let us view her as if in a far lower Station amongst her Sex and say no more but she was a Woman We shall find her Exemplary Virtues justly Claim an high precedency amongst the whole Feminine Race For shew us such another when we call to witness her Majesty's profound Piety and Devotion her admired Meekness and Humility her Sweet Temper her Courteous Behaviour and Affability yet preserving Majesty as a Queen and her Moderation which was known unto all Men with that Serenity and Evenness of Mind also that not Passion but Reason moved and sway'd her that not easily lifted up nor soon cast down Heroick and Free yet Serious and Grave Chearful but without Levity She opened her Mouth with Wisdom and in her Tongue was the Law of Kindness Pro. 31.26 so Obliging and Discreet that she gain'd much upon the Affections even of her Enemies and at least often silenced the Tongues of unreasonable Men if she could not correct and alter their Judgments But to Crown all her Majesty's Excellencies she was a holy and good Christian Zealous always in that one thing needful Her unspotted and unblameable Life and Conversation shined before Men whilst she adorn'd the Gospel of Christ with her Divine Graces amongst which we must again inroll her Piety her unaffected Piety and Devotion and all the aforemention'd Virtues that belong to the Christian Chain with an unwearied Constancy in all her Duties At the Head of all placing her servent Charity that notable Badge of Christianity by which she forgave many Affronts and return'd none but with an high sort of Divine Clemency did do good for evil that her Light might shine not for vain Ostentation far from it was she but for God's Glory and an imitable Example to all others and that by an entire Resignation of her Will to Christ's Law which himself exemplified in pardoning and praying for his bitterest Enemies Mat. 5.48 she might be perfect as her Father which is in Heaven is perfect Add we here her Boundless Charity in giving and distributing to those in Want Alas how many indigent and decay'd Persons whom her Royal Bounty and Pity Relieved may bemoan themselves For her Charity was so unlimited that few if any but her self knew its utmost extent or could give it a place wide enough in the vast Sphere of Imagination that the compass of any Persons Thought could comprehend it So Largely and Secretly but Prudently withal did she stretch out her Hands to the Poor yea she reached forth her Hands to the Needy In general shewing the Celestial Extraction of her Blessed Soul when her Love and Charity was Universal like that of her Heavenly Father which our Blessed Saviour hath set forth for our Imitation Mat. 5.45 Who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and
on the good and sendeth Rain on the just and on the unjust After such Charity 't is impossible for us to doubt of her Faith and Hope but we may rest assured that both were very great And in short that she might finish her Course with Joy she left not the great Work of Repentance to the last Call but with the Wise Virgins had her Lamp ready trimmed with Oyl in it when the Bridegroom came requiring her to come away So did she watch that when her Lord came expecting immediate Attendance she was not found Sleeping nor Trifling or wasting away her precious time but in the Exercise of all those Christian Graces which with her humble Submission and Resignation to God's Will through Christ translated her from the Corruptible Crowns here below to an Eternal and Glorious Diadem above when being Faithful to her Death God gave her a Crown of Life O to her most Happy and Glorious Second Coronation in the highest Heavens while we Mortals here below lament our Loss which is her Gain Thus have I Coasted upon the Sea-shore of those Graces and Virtues which did shine on Earth in God's Anointed and the Nursing-Mother of our Church And to launch out farther into the unfathomable Ocean of them would require more time with a stronger and larger Vessel than my poor Talent can equip and send out into so vast a Deep An Ocean of them I mention because her Brook became a River and her River became a Sea a main Sea Ecclus 24.31 encompassing that whole Globe of Goodness which was inherent in Her Majesty while she acted in that great Sphere of Glory and Honour here to save our Church and these Nations and the sinking Parts of Europe out of the Hands of their Potent and Common Enemy which was purely Her Majesty's Design and is the Intent of the Mighty NASSAU our Most Gracious King And so to prevent a Rushing Destruction at Hand and be the Deliverers of many Nations and People from Ruin by the Power put into their Hands through God's Merciful Providence when the Nobles and Patriots of this Nation made their Requests to Their Majesties and the Peoples Cries and humble Prayers and Solicitations by their Representatives wrought upon them to fill the Empty Throne therefore This did not I hope infrinnge or trespass against the Fifth Commandment when the People of the Land took them and made them KING and QUEEN their Crowns were even forced upon their Heads for the Salvation of our Church and an Universal Deliverance from the approaching Thraldom of a Foreign but yet too Near and too Potent an Enemy I Challenge the World then to find out any Blemish or Spot in that Bright and most Clear Luminary which now the Curtain being drawn by the interposition of the great Vail and Canopy of the Heavens between her and us suffers an Eclipse in respect of our selves but not of her who enjoys a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory And yet Her Just Title here was Glorious too MARY the Second by the Grace of God QUEEN of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. But she added thereto the Choicest Ornaments and most precious Rubies in her Crowns the Transcendent Virtues of her most Comely and Graceful Person with great Majesty outwardly and all Mercy within So that as our Loss is more than we can express so are her due Praises beyond all the Flowers of Rhetorick and Art of Elocution To Enumerate whose Virtues as the Honourable House of Commons said were to aggravate our Sorrow Address to the King Dec. 31.1694 Wherefore a mighty Glory is departed from us from the Christian World from all true Protestants chiefly whose great Hope and Joy and Comfort she was And France it self tho' different in Religion from us is not free from that Cloud of Darkness whether sensible of it or no that covers us by the Decease of Her Most Excellent Majesty That such an Unparallel'd Good Princess had so Just a Title to that Crown from Her Royal Ancestors For not to insist upon all that we might we will only mention that our Valiant King Edward the Third but for the unjust Salique Law was Heir to France after the Death of Philip the Fair * Philip Duke De Valois the other See Sir R. Baker's Chron. Life of Edw. 3. being then according to some Histories the nearer in Blood of the Two Competitors but drawing his Pedigree by a Female Our Victorious King Henry the Fifth was Proclaim'd in France as well as in England to be the only Regent of that Realm and Heir Apparent to that Crown Whose Son the Devout King Henry the Sixth was not only Proclaim'd but with all usual Ceremonies Crown'd in Paris King of France And now consider we what profound Veneration and Love had this our Great Princess gain'd in the Minds and Affections of those beyond the Sea What Universal Affliction is in those Countries she lived in What huge Expressions of Sorrow for her Death do they give Blessed be they of the Lord for the great Honour and Kindness they bare to her when she was in a strange Country But O the unexcuseable Ingratitude of those who did not the like to Her Majesty in the Land of her Nativity When in other Parts of the World she so drew the Eyes and Hearts of all People after her that she was Beloved to Admiration and was their great Desire But now she is taken from us as well as from them Of whom the World was not worthy she being too Good and Virtuous for this Wicked and Adulterous Generation And so like another Astraea she is fled to Heaven for a Resting-place And what Vows would we make What Prayers would we offer up to Enjoy her again What Returns of Praises and Thanksgivings would we present to God in imitation of David and all Israel when they brought home the Ark But alas she is gone and shall not return to us Which sad Affliction is enough to damp and weigh down the greatest Spirits and to strike us all Dumb that we open not our Mouths only by the way of Mourning and Humiliation because it is God's doing who in the Flower of her Days as well as of our Hopes sent forth his Decree to call her hence To reverse which if it had been the Blessed Will of the Lord what Prayers what Sighs and Tears were poured forth and Means used that the Distemper might not prevail over her nor the King of Terrors Conquer by to us such a bitter Destiny cutting so early the Thread of so Precious a Life so universally desired long to remain But Oh! the Hand of the Lord hath been very heavy upon us for our Sins and to the utmost period of her Race here she hath suddenly and unexpectedly run So that with Job we may now say Our Harp is turned to Mourning Job 30.31 and our Organ into the Voice of them that weep
But the Comfort of all is The Lord liveth who seeth what we cannot so much as think of and saves us when we are ignorant of our Danger and of our Help and Salvation ready at the same time the one to devour and the other to rescue and protect us Wherefore again and again we will with great Joy say The Lord liveth Or Let the Lord live if any will have it Translated so in way of Triumph also As the Hebrews were wont to express their Joy and good Wishes for their Kings Let the King live which we turning into an Anglicism or form of Speech agreeable to our own Idiom and Language do express by saying God save the King and so we have Translated it in several parts of Scripture as that God save King Solomon at his Inauguration when he was Anointed King Which both in the Hebraism and our Mode or Way of speaking implies Zeal and a joyful Acclamation of Triumph and Delight for the King and also a Prayer for his Life in which last sence it is improper to Translate this part of the Text Let the Lord live but not so in the former for with an holy Zeal and Joy and Triumph Delight and Pleasure for his Gracious Goodness it may without any Solecism be said Let the Lord live as well as Let God arise Psal 68.1 that is Let the Lord appear and manifest himself to the World that He is the only Living God the Almighty and Merciful Johovah in saving his own People by putting his Hook into the Noses and his Bridle into the Lips of their Enemies and thus checking their malignant Rage and Fury But to return as we have most fitly render'd it The Lord liveth we may farther take this weighty Clause to have been directed by holy David's Eye against a set of Ungodly and Atheistical Men against such as was the Patron of all Fools the Fool that said in his Heart Psal 14.1 there is no God a Fool 's saying indeed for who but a Fool would ever have said so And therefore they thought it impossible their Devices should prove Abortive for if there had been no God by his Omniscience and Providence to disclose their Secret Cabals and the Arrows of Death prepared by them to let fly against the Lord 's Anointed the stroke would have been unavoidable and fatal for it is not in Man to discover the Secrets of the Hearts of other Men It is a peculiar Prerogative of the Great Searcher of Hearts to do it who knows the Thoughts thereof long before their Conception What a miserable Condition then had holy David been involved in amidst all his Enemies Plotting and Devising his Ruin if there had been no God He must then have fallen into their Pit Well then might he Joy in the God of his Salvation and Congratulate his own Safety with these words expressing his Assurance of Omnipotency on his side against his Enemies to their Confusion The Lord liveth baffling all hereby who in his Days denied the Omnipotent Being or lived and acted as if there were none And the words have the same force against the Atheists and Wicked Men of our Times who deny the Existence of a Deity or else surely never have him in their Thoughts but Plot on and imagine Vain Things in their ungodly Counsels until they fall into the Pit which they make for the Lord 's Anointed and for the Destruction of his People But further this Clause seems also to be levell'd against a second sort of Fools who it 's true might have such a Grain of true Faith as to make a Confession of the Godhead but received false Articles into their Creed in respect of his Providence and Government as that having his Throne so high in the Heavens he would not humble himself to behold the things done on the Earth and so never took any Care of Sublunary Affairs neither of setting up or pulling down of right nor wrong of oppression or injustice or any sore evil under the San So that wicked Men might live in Robbery Spoil and Oppression committing Outrage and Violence and brave it along saying Who is Lord over us And spurning at Omniscience say Tush How should God perceive it Is there Knowledge in the Most High And how shall we think better Principles have governed or influenced those amongst us who so lately meditated upon Regicide Rebellion Invasion and a Total Subversion of these Three Kingdoms besides all the Evil Consequences that would necessarily like a mighty Deluge have flowed in upon many other Nations and People For their Barbarous Practices seem to be the Interpreters of their Minds so that if any will deny the Hypothesis that they were such the sequel drawn from their Bitter Designs infers a Conclusion proving as much against them in deed and reality let them plead for their Thoughts and their Faith or Belief as they please at most their Arguments can be of no force on their side any otherwise than those of Rank Practical Atheists are against them we call speculative And certainly they are the worst of Men who profess to believe well and practice most ill and such justly incur the Divine Abhorrence are frequently forsaken of God being Vessels of his Wrath and left alone to themselves working out their own Destruction That burden of the Lord in the 23d Chapter of the Prophet Jeremiah v. 33. being their Portion I will even forsake you saith the Lord with that direful Catastrophe as an Appendix to the Curse subjoin'd in the end of the Chapter And I will bring an Everlasting Reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which shall not be forgotten This was to be the Fate of some Prophets and Priests with the People who were untoward and dissatisfied with God's Ways in those Days And let them who find themselves alike grieved in our Age make Application hereof to themselves whilst we who are sensible of God's great and undeserved Blessings to us in our Most Gracious King and this Deliverance and are thankful for them will sing Hallelujahs unto His Infinite Holiness and with Glory and Triumph express the gladness of our Souls in saying every one of us with the Royal Psalmist The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation Which introduces the Second Proposition comprehending King David's grateful Return to God of Benediction and Praise or Exaltation for his Marvellous and Powerful Deliverances of him from the Mischiess formed against him Emphatically expressed in these words and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation Agreeable to the Dutiful and Pious Custom of God's Church in all Ages of blessing and praising Him for His particular Providence in great Deliverances besides the Acts of His Universal Goodness is this Hymn of holy David And of the whole Composure these words last recited have a sound which seems the most Harmonious because they rebound with so
hath done great things for us whereof we rejoice And this affirm we in defiance of all who deny Him or his Providence whether in Thought or in Act or be it by both And for all this may we fear Him may we love Him above all things in Heaven and in Earth May all our Hearts all our Souls our Minds and our Strength have a full share in this Affection towards God and so by the Operation of every Faculty and Power in us proper thereto may we take our fill in loving Him that as He hath loved us so the love of Him may dwell plenteously in us To excite us the more to our Duty of Love and Praise Adoration and Thanksgiving it is requisite that we consider what and how great the Blessing is wherein consists the Salvation wrought so lately in our Land And of the Blessing of God now upon us and His Salvation vouchsafed unto us none can be ignorant forasmuch as all know that God Almighty has manifested his Providence his Power and Mercy towards His Most Excellent Majesty and His People by laying open the Depths of Satan and the secret Intentions of wicked Men that He has Discovered and Delivered the King from an Horrid and Barbarous Conspiracy of Papists and other Trayterous Persons to Assassinate and Murder His Royal Person and the Kingdom from an Intended Invasion by the greatest Enemies to its and all Europe's Repose the French By which great Deliverance the King 's Royal Person is saved from Destruction His Government Secured and this Realm Freed from that Total Subversion of its Religion Laws and Liberties which if God had not thus mercifully interposed would have been the Fate of it Lo this is the Blessing and it is very great this is the Salvation we now give thanks for and it is wonderful Here is repeated Mercy and Goodness to an unwise and foolish People who have ill requited God with Ingratitude for His former Loving-kindnesses But as we now meditate on His Mercy so may we with Rivers of Tears in our Eyes think of the other Method God so lately used to reduce us unto a right Sense of our selves by the Deplorable Loss of that most Virtuous and Pious Princess the Queen of Blessed Memory who fell by a heavy stroke alas To us it was God punishing us for our many Provocations our Incorrigible and Undutiful Behaviour to Him that He might melt us thereby into Sorrow and Repentance that He might force us to humble our selves with Weeping and Fasting and to cloath our Souls with Mourning Attire when the thick Cloud of his Anger overspread these Nations by Her Death And now again He invites us to Him in love for lo the Bright Beams of His Mercy shining every where He hath called us this Day out of the Houses of Mourning into those of Joy He hath put a new Song into our Mouths even a Thanksgiving unto our God for the Safety of our Most Serene and Illustrious Monarch KING WILLIAM the Father of our Country the Great Joy and Hope and Support of many Nations the most Heroick and Noble Patron and Assertor of ours and all Europe's Liberties by whose Crown falling from His Head and so the Glory departing again from us God might have laid us with Bleeding Hearts in Dust and Ashes have heaped upon us all the Mischiefs that the Rage and Madness of our Incensed Enemies could bring who would have number'd their Merits by the quantities of our Blood they should have caused to run in our Streets when the more of us they had killed the more Service to God they would have boasted that they had done like that Duke D'Alva who assumed much Glory and Honour to himself for the Slaughter he made of many Thousand Protestants or Hereticks by such Men of Blood falsly so called But O that Men would praise the Lord for his Goodness and declare the Wonders he doeth for us the Children of Men when by a Miracle of Mercy we are saved from that Wo and Destruction which otherwise would at this time have been raging by Fire and Sword in these Islands with Apparent Danger of Ruin and Desolation upon all the Confederate Countries by that Ambitious Prince who has hunted after the Precious Life of our KING that he might Subdue the Nations to the Rod of his Power and tread them under his Feet But behold the Justice of the Lord as well as his Mercy in the King's Salvation For what had Men to do to take God's Prerogative out of His Hands and to number the King's Moments of Life by the time they should set a Fatal period thereto So long as God hath bound up his Soul in the Bundle of Life and may it be I pray God for many Years even to a good Old Age those who have to do with the Stool of Wickedness may sit thereon long enough Plotting and Contriving his Death thus imagining or framing Mischief by their own Wicked Counsels as a Law or Decree written like but more Cruel than those of Draco said to be in Blood and yet shall not be able to prevail with all the Powers of Hell on their side For no Sorcery no Divination no Inchantment no Conspiracy or Weapon form'd against this Mighty Defender of our Faith and of the Liberties of Europe can prosper so long as the Lord is on our side so long as He is the Rock of our Salvation and He will not leave us nor forsake us if we do not leave Him first O therefore draw we near unto Him in Faith and full Assurance of His continual Favour and keep we from every wicked thing from Atheism of the Mind from Atheism of the Will and the Act From Profaneness in our Hearts in our Words and in our Deeds Let us Religiously observe this Day with an holy Joy that it may be acceptable unto the Lord. Let no vain Oaths cause the Land to mourn nor any other Sin of our Souls or Bodies pollute this Day And let us observe every Lord's Day with greater distinction from other Days than we have hitherto done And so may we now turn unto the Lord and prosper May we wash off all Stains and Blemishes of past Ingratitude and be thankful for evermore hereafter And then will we say unto the Grand Enemy of Europe The Virgin Isa 37.22 the Daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her Head at thee Then the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church of England for her Faith is Built on a Rock and He who is truly the Defender thereof shall stand by Her with Power from God to preserve Her as He hath promised to do to His utmost To our Consolation then be it spoken That Great Deliverance giveth God unto His King that he is a Tower of Salvation unto him and sheweth Mercy unto His Anointed Wherefore will we rejoice and sing triumphantly The Lord liveth and blessed be