Jeroboam the Son of Nebat who made Israel to sin This was the pulling up the Sluce that let in all the Inundation that afterwards over-flowed them this so black a Stain that no length of time no possession of the Crown could ever purge it for so the Holy Ghost tells us v. 19. That Israel rebelled against the House of David to this day And the continuing in this Sin and the fatal consequents of it was that which at last made them to be cast off by God deliver'd into the Hands and Power of the Assyrian and as to any Account we have of them ever since lost from being so much as a People in that Captivity for now as 't is Hosea 1. 6. they became Lo-Ruchama and Lo-ammi v. 9. no more either his beloved or his People to shew them their Sin in the Punishment of it they who revolted from their lawful Sovereign and their God were to abide many days without a King without a Prince and without a Sacrifice and without an Image and without an Ephod and without Teraphim Hosea 3. 4. Without any establish'd Government without any the least shew the very counterfeit dress and surface of Religion and when to be restored it will be only by returning to their Allegiance to the Posterity of David as it follows v. 5. and afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King But if this be so great a Guilt how comes God to declare he doth it upon the occasion of Rehoboam's taking Arms to reduce the Rebels and bring back the Kingdom again to Judah 1 Kings 12. 21. 24. that the thing was from him I answer 'T is one thing for God to approve another to permit any Action 1. 'T was from him as thereby the House of Solomon was to be punish'd for their own Rebellion against God in forsaking him and worshipping Idols 1 Kings 11. 33. 'T was from him as their not walking in his ways to do that which was right in his eyes had exposed them to his just Judgments 2. 'T was from him as by his Providence as he had purpos'd to over-rule their Sin to his own Glory 3. 'T was from him and therefore not to be punish'd by their Sword as he would take to himself to repay the Vengeance that was due to so notorious a Revolt as he did by those many Severities inflicted on them by those many Changes of the Succession no less than nine or ten times whilst they continued to be a Kingdom and People to see if any pouring them from Vessel to Vessel would cleanse them from their Dregs and when that could not be by giving them up the greatest Judgment that can befall any Nation to that Anarchy and Confusion they so much affected But however 't was just in God thus to treat one and the other to punish Judah by Israel's Rebellion this will in no case excuse the Actors no more than it will acquit the Devil of his implacable Malice that whom he seduces by his Temptations he is likewise appointed to be the unhappy Instrument 't is his Doom as well as his Nature to torment But might not some great Indignity put on Jeroboam some very signal Disobligation stirring up a Man of publick Spirit justifie his utmost Resentments Might there not be some publick Grievances that were necessary to be redressed Or Might not Religion be called in to assist in so good a Cause Let us see then what stands upon Record in these Matters for 't is the common case of most Traitors and was theirs who contrived and acted the black Tragedy of this day 1. As to the great Indignity put on Jeroboam the very signal Disobligations he had from the Government and what moved his publick Spirit you have the History 1 Kings 11. 26. And Jeroboam the Son of Nebat Solomon's Servant even He that 's the Emphasis the Holy Ghost puts on it He who stood in so near a Relation of personal Duty and stricter Attendance to his Master who was of his constant and daily Guard as every Domestick to a Prince is even he lift up his hand against the King And this was the Cause that he lift up his hand against the King Solomon built Millo and repaired the Breaches of the City of David his Father 't was a Distaste taken at the Strength and Security of his Prince the Envy he had at his Greatness and Power for we find very little Oppression or Injustice charged on Solomon's Reign Indignities and Disobligations he had received none from Solomon till he stood in open Defiance and Rebellion All that Solomon was faulty herein was his advancing Jeroboam to that Dignity whereby he began now to think himself a Match for his Prince v. 28. He had made him Ruler over all the Charge of the House of Joseph so dangerous is it to raise men of turbulent and ambitious Minds that like Lucifer presently Ascendam ero similis altissimo I will ascend and be like the most high is what comes next into their Thoughts Their Heighth makes them giddy and every thing turns round about with them their Glory only fits them 't is the Pattern the Son of the Morning hath left his Followers to be greater Devils 2. As to the publick Grievances necessary to be redressed for 't is pity there should not be some colour for so brave an Attempt what were they We must again consult the History as 't is related 1 Kings 12. 4. and the whole Complaint summ'd up in that grievous Yoke Solomon had put upon them and what that was you have at large 1 Kings 4. 7. c. 'T was only the more regular ordering of his Kingdom and Family 't was his settling his Dominion abroad and securing to them Peace and Plenty at home 't was his making Judah and Israel to dwell safely every man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree from Dan even to Beersheba v. 24. 25. Their great Grievance was That the Wisdom of God was with him ch 3. v. 28. that according to that Wisdom he framed those steddy Rules of Policy which the Sons of Belial who were for casting off every Yoke whose dissolute Lives could bear no Restraint could not withstand And how clamorous and noisy are they presently in their Complaints how diligent to find a fit Person to head the Faction and who so fit as a discontented Courtier a disobliged Favourite Jeroboam must be called home from Egypt 1 Kings 12. v. 3. A Fugitive presently adopted into a Patriot and none so proper to assert the Rights and Liberties of the People as one who by his Rebellion had forfeited all his own These are their intolerable Grievances and not to be redressed but by destroying Root and Branch Rehoboam is the present Oppressor his Father Solomon made the Yoke and David's Name too must be brought in to encrease the Odium v. 16. What Portion have we in David neither have we
and Perjury set the price on every honest man's Head and Fortune Admit Treachery in an Army and what will signifie the giving either Word or Colours to be the distinguishing Symbols between them and their Enemies What the Command or Example of the wisest and most valiant General if these are only Signals to the Traitor to turn Sword Pike Musquet or Canon upon him Most uncertain must the Voice of the Trumpet be if when that sounds a Charge the false Heart beats a Retreat What will it avail to raise Forts and lay in Magazines if those within the Walls undermine all If it be only to prepare Bulwarks for others to infest us thence Admit Treachery in our Councils and what can the Wisdom of the most profound Politician profit Admit Treachery into Court and where is the Safety of a Prince among all his Guards Admit Treachery on the Bench Bribery and Partiality are so and how will Laws themselves be taught to speak Injustice and Oppression What will become either of the Prerogative of the Prince or the Property of the Subject where the mercenary Judge makes private Interest and Advantage the Rule of his Decrees Or how must this encourage the corrupt Banker if what is his Crime the Wealth I mean unjustly detain'd from the Widow and Orphan shall be his Protection and Defence Admit Treachery in the Church and how will Conscience trim to the Overthrow of all its Canons Treachery wherever 't is is like the Plague in the Heart that is therefore most fatal because it shews not its self in its natural and outward Tokens To conclude this Head If Treachery lurk in the Bowels what will be all our Care in any State whatever What our Preparations for Peace or War What our Wealth and Honour What all our Stores and Provisions but like fraughting a goodly Vessel with the richest Merchandize giving it sufficient Ballast fitting up tall and stout Masts spreading abroad the most glorious Sails with all the finery of Flags and Streamers to set her off and after all boring a Hole in her bottom whereby she must certainly founder before she gain her Port. 3. Treachery is a Sin that is most contrary too to the Interest of him in particular who is guilty of it for to none is Treachery more false than to the Contrivers of it witness the Fate of Absolom Achitophel Zimri Judas and of the Devil himself Scarce is there any Instance in Divine or Prophane Story but as you read it in one of the proper Psalms for this Day He that made a Pit and digged it falls into the Ditch which he made Psal 7. 15. And to follow the Metaphor I just now made use of how can he who bores the Hole in the Vessel hope to escape in the common Shipwrack Or should he otherwise provide for the present Danger and get timely to Shore yet is not the Hand and Heart of every man against such For he who is once false in his Nature hath put off his Title to the common Protection due to Mankind hath out-lawed himself and is become Vulpinum Caput the Fox or Wolf's Head devoted to common Hatred and Ruine Not to say which is often found upon Experience that he is the mark of his own Vengeance for how frequently doth the Traitor's Heart prove most treacherous to it self how often doth it gall and torment him And to say truth how is it the concern of Providence such should be false to themselves and not with all their Cunning be able to elude the Divine Omniscience whose care of Mankind of the World and its Government they so much defie 4 Treachery is a Sin and that one would think should make it not to be so over charming that is the very Transcript and Copy of the Devil for He is a Lyar and the Father of Lies He is the Arch-Traitor who began his Treachery in Heaven and is still acting it in all the Deceits and Impostures by which he enterprizes on the unwary Sinner he is in this sense most the Prince of Darkness and the utmost lesser Traitors can boast of all their hidden Plots is That they are listing themselves as his Subjects and where can that Villany end which goes to Hell for its Example and Authority I shall scarce need to add that 5. Treachery is a Complication of all other Sins and Miseries which is another Aggravation of the Cheat that it seldom ends where it begins that the Guilt and Villany increase in the acting and he who at the first mention of the horrid Sin is apt to say with Hazael 2 Kings 8. 13. Am I a Dog that I should do this great thing is Dog Wolf Bear Lion every thing to which the Father of Lies can prompt him before he hath done 'T would be superfluous to mention the Baseness of the Traitor's Mind how mean and unmanly the Spirit with which he is acted how apt to stoop to any Drudgery to save that stinking Breath in 's Nostrils which already corrupts the Air he lives in is the great Nusance and Pest of Humane Society There 's something of Bravery in open Violence for 't is to bid our Enemy stand upon 's Guard to bid him look to and defend himself but to hide the Weapon wherewith we intend to give the Stab to flatter him to the Face whose Ruine we are then designing to greet and at the same time smite under the fifth Rib to say Hail Master and betray are the Acts of a Judas or a Devil in him This as to our first Head viz. The heinous nature of Treachery Our second is II. To shew what the Treachery of Israel was Now that I doubt not in the beginning of it to limit to their Revolt from the House of David from their Allegiance to their natural Lord and hereditary Sovereign and what can scarce be divided from their Loyalty to God himself for so we find it in matter of Fact 1 Kings 12. 16. where Jeroboam and his Accomplices had no sooner answered the King What portion have we in David neither have we Inheritance in the Sons of Jesse but the next News we have is vers 26 27. their cutting themselves off from any Portion in God from any Inheritance in his establish'd Worship and Religion And Jeroboam said in his Heart Now shall the Kingdom return to the House of David if this People go up to do Sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem As before their Obedience to their lawful King so now their Duty to God himself is become a Grievance It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem behold thy Gods O Israel c. But was there nothing but this Revolt that was in the whole time of their continuing to be a People charged upon Israel Yes many are the particular Guilts with which the Prophets loade them but this seems to be the Cause this the Burden of all the rest that they walk'd in the ways of
this alone one would think should be enough to disparage the mad Attempts of the Rebel that as Gowry is said to have made his Remark when he was hatching his Treason that no Conspiracy was ever so form'd amongst all that he had met with as not to be defective in one Circumstance or other and therefore he would take care to out-do them all and needs it must be so for it can never take God into the Counsel never have the Help of his Wisdom and Providence to accomplish it a shrewd Defect indeed and such a Circumstance as might serve to recover Men to their Wits if any thing were sufficient to recover him who is so bewitch'd with his own Pride Malice or Revenge some of the necessary Ingredients in this Sorcery and what is still more dreadful than all this 6. 'T is a Sin that shall be eternally punish'd with that Despair in Hell with which 't is begun and prosecuted on Earth Use 2. From hence see the many and great Reasons we have to detest the execrable Treason of this Day Tell it not in Gath publish it not in Askelon That ever Religion should be prostituted to serve so great a Villany That the Holy Name of God should be made use of to countenance the Murdering of his own Vicegerent 'T was David's Question to the Amalekite who might have pleaded the Royal Command of Saul and but a sort of Allegiance paid to him in his Anguish to stand upon him and slay him 2 Sam. 1. 14. How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord 's Anointed Is it nothing to have the Divine Character effaced Nothing to be guilty of Royal Blood To behead the Nation at a Blow and then bring him by whom Kings reign into the Conspiracy Blessed Saviour Was this thy meaning when thou commandedst to give to Caesar the things that are Caesars Was this the Reason of thy submitting to Civil Powers that thy Disciples must presently construe it to signifie their Right to depose them Or was it for this Thou inspired'st good St. Paul to tell us We must needs be subject not only for Wrath but Conscience sake Rom. 13. 5. that for Conscience sake we should Rebell against them I might farther aggravate the Fact from the Excellency of the Person his Clemency his Justice his Temperance his Chastity his exemplary Piety and Patience but 't is too stupifying an Argument to dwell on and therefore shall only add this that the only way not to make all this horrid Guilt ours is that which God predicts as what must lead to the Recovery of Israel from that Captivity their Rebellion brought upon them which shall be my last Use viz. Use 3. A turning to God and for they must go together to our King so 't is Hosea 3. 5. Afterward shall the Children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their King There is a sort of Allegiance there is a Duty we can still pay to the Royal Martyr what was wanting to his Person let us pay to his Memory rather let us pay to what of him survives our Dear Sovereign for He too suffer'd in and with him Let us consider who 't was that set either Father or Son on the Throne and let us not forget to pay all Duty and Allegiance there 't is the only Method left us to redeem the Nation and make the Stain of the Guilt not publick still Let us above all disclaim the Principles on which 't was acted let neither Israel nor Judah Religion under any Name whatever so unhallow it self as to justifie the least Degree of Treason 'T is a Debt we all owe to the Honour of our great Master's Name which hath so much suffer'd on either hand as to take care that that be no longer thus reproached for thus to dishonour him and his Gospel certainly is more than to crucifie him afresh 't is to make him the very Malefactor on the Cross to make him the Barabbas the Author of Sedition and Murder in the greatest Detestation and Abhorrence whereof give me leave to conclude with the Words of the Apostle Wherefore you must needs be subject 'T is the Duty as Christians we owe to that Holy Name 't is the truest Honour you can do the Gospel to free it from those Abuses to which turbulent and seditious Men prostitute that Holy Heavenly and Peaceable Doctrine You are those who your selves expect Crowns 't is the Name under which the future Glory you hope for is express'd and is the Rebel fit to be advanced to that Dignity you expect an everlasting Kingdom think not a little Patience and Subjection too much to pay for it you look after Eternal Joy let not Repining and Murmuring be the Preparatives for it Submit to those whom the Lord hath set over you 'T is your undoubted Duty and 't is your Reward your Reward here in that Peace that Quiet that Content and what doth not that Name contain which such a Temper leads to and enjoys at present and 't will be your Reward hereafter in that State of everlasting and unalterable Obedience to the King of Kings in which Heaven and its Happiness will consist Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only Wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS ADVERTISEMENT ☞ England's Black Tribunal Containing the Tryal of the Blessed Martyr-King Charles I. with the Dying Speeches and Behaviour of many of the Nobility and Gentry who suffered Death for their Loyalty by the then Rebels Sold by Henry Playford near the Temple-Church 8o. Price bound 2 s.