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A63996
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England's breath stopp'd being the counter-part of Jvdah's miseries lamented publickly in the New-Church at Westminster on January 30 being the anniversary of the martydom of King Charles the First of blessed memory / by Robert Twisse.
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Twisse, Robert, d. 1674.
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1665
(1665)
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Wing T3416A; ESTC R967
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16,659
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42
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He could not back it with the same Reason They know not what they doe They knew too too well that they went about to destroy the Lord 's Anointed But oh what pathetical words dropt from the mouth of our dying Swan as they are transmitted to us in His most Excellent Book and in that Part where having preached His own Funeral Sermon He praied for a blessing upon what had been delivered in these words When Thou makest inquisition for my Bloud O sprinkle their polluted yet penitent Souls with the bloud of thy Son that the destroying Angel may pass over them Though they think my Kingdomes on Earth too little to entertain at once both them and Me yet let the capacious Kingdome of thy infinite mercy at last receive both Me and mine Enemies When being reconciled to Thee in the bloud of the same Redeemer we shall live farre above these ambitious desires which beget such mortal Enmities We have now run over the sad parallel of Judah's and England's late Miseries but we have not taken notice of the Cause But Jeremiah will acquaint you with that too in relation to Judah Lamentat 5.16 The Crown is fallen from our head Woe unto us that we have Sinned And herein must England joyn hands with Judah and hold them up at the Barre of God's Justice and confess Guilty But what were the Sins of England that made the Crown sit so loose Our Church hath prudently left every man to search into his own heart and to smite upon his own thigh and therefore God forbid that we should recriminate one another Onely I am afraid that some among us might drink away our King's Life by drinking too too often his Health and some might bring a Curse upon the Life of our Sovereign by Cursing their God Too many undervalued his Person and Government and said with those children of Belial in 1 Sam. 10.27 How shall this man save us and they despised him in their hearts And others that were forward enough to draw out a Sword in his Defence were wanting to make use of the shield of Faith and by joyning the assistence of earnest Praier offer an holy Violence to Heaven that none might be done to the Sacred Person of God's Anointed here on Earth And herein all England failed for otherwise had our Faith been strong and our Praiers fervent why might not the edge of the Axe have been blunted or at least turned some other way Si Fides transferre possit Montem potest Militem said Tertullian of old when he encouraged the Christians to keep their Dominicals notwithstanding they were threatned to be way-lay'd by the Souldiery when they should reshrt to their Assemblies And what may we hereby learn but that if we desire to approve our selves faithfull Subjects to our Prince we must have a care lest we be found Traitors and Rebells against God for as Samuel told the Israelites If you doe wickedly 1 Sam. 20.23 you shall be consumed you and your King But what Use may we make of the sad Falls of Judah's and England's Monarchs First Take notice of the absolute Sovereignty of the Almighty in raising up and tumbling down the greatest Potentates As it is his Prerogative Royal alone to have his Crown so fixed as to be without Variableness and shadow of turning so all other Princes have their Commission to wear their Crowns onely durante Beneplacito during the pleasure of God Almighty By me Kings reign and Princes decree Justice saith the Wisedom of God in the Proverbs Chap. 8. yea and by him they cease to reign and are dethroned All the Kings of the world though made of finer Mold then the rest of their Subjects are yet but as Clay in the hands of the Potter and cannot he doe with them as the Potter with his earthen Vessels yea undoubtedly Let but the word goe forth from thés King and power shall accompany the same to make an Orderly Government return into a dark Chaos of Confusion quite contrary to the method of Creation Oh how frequent is Scripture in blazoning this great and sole Prerogative of the Almighty He putteth down the Mighty from their seats and exalteth them of Low degree saith Mary in her Magnificat Again He smiteth through the Loins of Kings in the day of his wrath And He powreth contempt upon Princes Psal 107.40 and causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way And therefore let all the Kings and mighty Monarchs give ear to a King and oh that France Spain and Germany would hearken to him for if these things be done to the Green Tree what shall be done to the Dry viz. to learn Wisedome Be wise now therefore O ye Kings Psal 2. be instructed ye Judges of the Earth Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little Blessed are all they that put their trust in him And again Vow and pay unto the Lord your God Psal 76.11 12. Let all that are round about him bring presents to him that ought to be feared And why It followeth He shall cut off the spirit of Princes he is terrible to the Kings of the earth Secondly See then the Vanity of all things here below Our Age might afford matter for another Book of Ecclesiastes and Lamentation had we a Solomon and Jeremy to pen them The Crown was tottering in Solomon's time nay the Entail cut off Doth the Crown endure to all Generations Prov. 27 2◠Ten parts of Twelve fell off at once from his Son Rehoboam's Head and the other Two had fallen likewise had not the hand of the Almighty supported them God's promise to David the Grand-father that he should alway have a Light before God in Jerusalem prevented the total Eclipse of the Grand-child's Royalty Solomon saw in his time the very same sights that have been shewed in England Eccl. 10 6 7. Folly set in great Dignity and the Rich sit in low place Servants riding upon Horses and Princes walking as Servants upon the Earth We have seen in our daies the Stage removed from Black-friers to Westminster and they that would make scruple to be Spectators of a Play there yet dare venture to Act a Part here yea and the Fool 's part too and I could have wished that had been all But Thirdly From the Actors of our late Tragedy those that helped to dig the Pit for our late Sovereign we may learn 1. How needfull it is to maintain continual watch over our own Hearts and to be daily in the Exercise of Grace There is no Prince can be safe unless the Traitor in our own Hearts be first suppressed The Heart of man is the too-fruitfull womb of all the monstrous Villanies that are done under the Sun Out of the heart Matth. 15.19 saith our Saviour proceed Murthers Adulteries Fornications Blasphemies