Selected quad for the lemma: father_n
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A56593
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Ad testimonium a sermon on the King's day, February the 6th, 1685/6 at St Katharine Coleman's, London / by S.P.
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Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing P737; ESTC R26859
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11,936
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31
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tho never so Barbarous but their regard to their Prince hath been the same as of Children to their Parents the reasons being the same For First It is from the King that we have our Origination For as amongst the Jews to beget a Child was not essentially necessary to be the Father of him some being the Legal Children of one Man which was the best and most Excellent Title altho the Natural Children of another So our Saviour was the Legal Son of Joseph and of David tho by Nature the Son of Mary Episcopius Institut Lib. 3. Sect. 4. l. 11. who perhaps was of another Tribe In like manner tho we have a natural obligation to those Parents which begot us yet we were Born legally from the influence of Government we were born Children from natural Parentage but Sons only from political Authority It is from the Laws i. e. from the King the Fountain of Laws that we are Legitimate without which every Man is but Filius populi the Son of the people So that every Rebel seems to Bastardize his own Children in resisting that Authority by which they call him Father for tho the institution of Marriage is an ordinance of God yet the Circumstances of its Solemnization are by Magistratual Appointment whereby we are to remember that the King is our first Parent II. Secondly it is from the King we have our daily Maintenance and Support it is his Wisdom and Power that protects us from violence and wrong Our Estates our Lives our All is under his Guardianship Of the truth of which some of you here present are living Witnesses You remember the sad time when there was no King in Israel but it was worse with you than with the Old Isralites for they did every Man what seem'd good in his own Eyes whilst they that Sequestred your Estates Plunder'd your Goods and drove you into Want and Exile committed such Villanies as even out-dared their own Consciences 'T is you can best tell whether all that you at present enjoy is not owing unto the King's safety he is so much more than a Father that without the Preservation of his Royal Person it is not in your power to keep your own Children from Starving and therefore great reason have we both to pray for him our selves and to teach our Children to pray for him too III. Thirdly It is the King's Life and Preservation that protects our own The Shadow of his Wing is a Buckler to all his Subjects a Buckler against all Foreign Violence and Domestic Blood-thirstiness So was the Regal Authority unto the Isralites of old as we have frequent instances in the Book of Judges for those Judges were all Kings in Jeshurun as well as Moses Deut. 33.5 altho not Anointed no more then he So when there was no Judge amongst 'em it is said There was no King in Israel as that dismal Story of the Levite's Wife is Prefaced Judg. 19.1 which one is a sufficient instance of Domestic Villany and Barbarity So every now and then we read of Invasions and such Publick Calamities as must needs happen to a Nation without a Head there must needs be much Wrong either done or suffered where there are no Eyes to see nor Ears to hear but Hands to pull down Ruin or Feet swift to shed Blood And now sure here 's worth and subject enough for a Prayer that God would protect that Person by whom our Lives and Fortunes are protected It is a Duty and a very modest one too to pray for Kings Whereas some very wise Heathens made a mistake and pray'd to 'em But Nature Reason and Tradition are not Perswasives strong enough to Men of corrupt practices to bring 'em over to their Duty let us see then how far it is encouraged or rather commanded in Holy Writ for the People to pray for their Kings tho some Men can't find any such thing as Monarchy its self in the Scriptures without an Opprobrium by way of Appendix to it For all that is there said in the behalf of Monarchy is not a sufficient Ballance to the Eighth Chap. of the First Book of Samuel for from thence they infer That God Almighty was angry with the Israelites for desiring a Monarchical Government Whereas the whole Current of Scripture proves this and no other to be jure Divino even in the interregna which were Governed by One only Prophet or Seer so that from Adam to Saul and forwards the whole Government was purely Monarchical The Seventy Elders being no other than Justices or Counsellors and therefore God was so far from being angry at their desiring of a King i. e. for desiring of one Menasseh Ben Israel Conciliator Q. in Deut. 6. that as the Jewish Rabbin tells us they were commanded by God That they should do so Statuendo statues super te Regem Deut. 17.15 Their Crime was in the manner the time and the ends of their asking one They ask'd with murmuring and mutiny they ask'd importunately rather demanded than ask'd and that for the Idolatrous end of being like other Nations therefore God said to Samuel Not thee but 't is me that they reject they were better pleased with their Vice-Roy Samuel Vers 11. then with their Emperour God and it was but a Pretence for 'em to find fault with the Government when it was the Religion that they would alter and there is no question that if they had not had such base purposes in their Heads that God would have given 'em a King long before without asking that blessing was so long delay'd because God saw they were not Capacitated for receiving it And when a Nation is not capable of Government we have had the sad experience God gives 'em up to Anarchy A people must be ripe for Blessings before they can expect 'em and then they must put 'em to a good Use if they desire their Continuance And amongst all the blessings that God hath promised his Church in this World I take one of the greatest to be That Kings should be its Nursing Fathers and Queens its Nursing Mothers I am perswaded that hitherto it hath been the greatest blessing And so those Christians would have told you that lived under the Reigns of Constantine Theodosius Arcadius and those good Emperours each of which did more good to Christ's Church in some respects than all their Predecessors had done it Mischief They Nursed it and Cloathed it with Beauty and Glory which before had lain in Rags and Nakedness exposed to Contempt and Danger like Moses among the Rushes But St. Paul did not look so far as Constantine the Great when he exhorts the Christians in the 2 Ch. of the 1 Ep. to Tim. That prayers and intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for Kings He doth not say I exhort you that about Three hundred Years hence ye shall begin to Pray for Kings no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. if we make a Critical
Praise Praise is the result of Liking and Approbation without which Honor is no better than Mockery But in this place the Holy Psalmist doth not speak of that Praise and Honor which is universally due to all Princes but of that extraordinary Praise which his Successor King Solomon and all such Princes as he may justly claim So here we are to consider the Character of a Prince who is praise-worthy And here I have a fair opportunity of entring into a Panegyric upon that Glorious Prince whose Praises we come hither to Celebrate as well as to offer up our Prayers for him But I would willingly avoid all Invidiousness as well of the malevolent for my Ambition as of the Censorious for my Presumption and yet I fear neither But because it is so co-incident with my Text and most appropriate to the undoubted Sence of it I shall give you a short Character of that Prince for whom 't was first made that not only ours but all Princes of those Excellencies may come in for their Dues First He was a Prince of the most Celebrated Wisdom and Vnderstanding in the World this was his Natural Talent which because he had so well improved God Almighty at his request added to it He was mature for Government and well qualified for Empire so that God sent him to the People with a Blessing in his Hand It is the King's Wisdom that is the Peoples Safety and therefore when God in Isaiah threatens 'em to give 'em Children to be their Princes Ch. 3. v. 4. and Babes to rule over 'em the Consequences of such a Government follow in the next vers Vers 5. And the People shall be oppressed every one by another and every one by his Neighbour Secondly He was a most industrious Prince he made his Duty his business and very Conscientiously considered the great Charge committed to him he was always employ'd for the Peoples good Vigilant and Active upon all occasions We read indeed that in all his Reign the people had little else to do 1 King 4.25 But to sit down every Man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree from Dan even to Beersheba Eating and Drinking and making Merry it was well for them but you 'l find the good King otherwise employ'd His greatest pleasure was to see his People safe and to be the Author of all those pleasures and comforts that they enjoy'd and which they could not enjoy but by his pains and care Thirdly He was a King very eminent for Justice which was one great effect of his Wisdom 'T is Solomon's own Maxim That a Prince that wants Vnderstanding is a great Oppressor but a Prince of Understanding and Wisdom will never do nor suffer Wrong The Lawyers tell us That the King cannot wrong his Subjects and our Divinity-Books tell us Quia enim Deus vult honorari Superiores vult etiam ut ipsi honorem suum tueantur Pareus Corp. Doct. p. 3. Q. 104. Lib. 2. That he ought not to wrong himself The King is as responsible to God for his own Honor as for the peoples Safety And that the rather because 't is God's Honor as well as his but yet he had much of David's Clemency and Mercy I am sure Paterculus would have thought so if he had lived in his Reign for he look'd upon it as a thing even incredible Quod humanam excedat fidem That Caesar who was but an Usurper Afranius Faustus Scylla Filia Pompeii Florus Suet. Dio. Cass should spare those that were of Pompey's Faction and yet we read of some great Persons Executed upon that account even L. Caesar his Kinsman contrary to due form of Law Fourthly He was a Prince of great Constancy and Resolution he met with many difficulties in coming to the Crown and even at his first Accession he was forced to encounter with an unnatural and dangerous Rebellion It was a difficult Juncto and required a steady Hand of Government Tranquillo quilibet gubernator est Adag Vet. Sen. Ep. 86. every one can Sail in a Calm Sea but Storms and Tempests make a proof of the Pilot. Sal. Orat. ad Caes 2. It might be said of him as it was of Caesar His mind was greater in Adversity than in Prosperity David was not afraid to leave him amongst so many of his Enemies 1 King 2.9 Thou art a Wise Man saith he and knowest what thou ought'st to do 1 Chr. 28.20 Be strong only and of good courage That is strengthen thy self and be resolute It was verbum sapienti he did so Lastly He was a Man of extraordinary Piety and Devotion in this he shewed himself to be the true Son of Holy David We are not to enquire whether Solomon served God with the same Circumstances of Religion as David his Father For so 't is said 1 King 3.3 That Solomon loved the Lord walking in the Statutes of David his Father 'T is true from the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 following some Learned Men have inferr'd That the outward circumstances of his Worship were not altogether so laudable Deut. 12 13 14. 2 Chr. 1.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Targ. Jonath as his inward Sincerity and Devotion because whereas there was but one legal High-place of Worship ordained by Moses he did nevertheless in imitation of the Antient Patriarchs Diodat in 1 King 3.3 permit their use in the plural number But leaving this Dispute to the more Learned I here only take notice That as this was not sufficient to obstruct God's Indulgence and great Love towards him So it could be no bar to his people's Prayers and Praises For as Solomon loved the Lord so the Lord loved him and blessed him with immensity of Wisdom and Justice and this appears from the following passage to be the undoubted Reward of his exemplary Piety And now to summ up all This incomparable Wisdom this indefatigable Industry this Justice Resolution Constancy and Piety might well deserve the Acclamation and daily Applause of his people And if Solomon did justly deserve his peoples Praise behold this Day a Prince not inferior to Solomon The Wisdom of this One Years Reign will equal all the History of that Eastern Prince And as for all those other Qualifications which I have mentioned it is but too plain that I have strain'd the Character of Solomon to make it bear some proportion with that of our King and still the faint Lines come short of a Resemblance But if undaunted Courage and Bravery in Battle a vertue that never was experienced in Solomon the voluntary Exposing of his Royal Person for the Good of his Country the repeated instances of his Love and Affections to it and such other his more peculiar and Characteristical vertues were to be insisted upon it would require such Sentences as Solomon's to declare his Worth But I come not here to usurp upon Fame's Province his Name is already spread as far as Solomon's and