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A63889
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A sermon preached before Their Majesties K. James II and Q. Mary at their coronation in Westminster-Abby, April 23, 1685 by Francis Lord Bishop of Ely ...
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Turner, Francis, 1638?-1700.
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1680
(1680)
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Wing T3290; ESTC R6336
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11,473
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16
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himself after so many wise contemplations by trying those costly experiments in sinful pleasures As he forgot God himself and his own godly dictates in the Book of Proverbs so 't is generally agreed that he wrote his Ecclesiastes as his Penetential that he remembred himself turn'd to the Lord his God that he is numbred among the Children of God and his lot is among the Saints And now to dwell no longer on the particular Story of that great King I may set it down in general as certainly true that wherever in any Prince and People all the same causes of prosperity meet together there and no where else The like wonderful blessed effect will assuredly result and follow 1. And first for a King and People to be happy the King must have a right to his Kingdom For how can an Usurper expect to Reign prosperously when many under his Government must needs think themselves his equals if not his betters and none can reasonably think themselves oblig'd to be his Subjects And how miserable is a King and Kingdom when every private man that is but audacious enough has a fair pretence if he can but gather force to overturn any Settlemen that can be in such a case Such a Pyrat-Prince must be always expos'd to tempests and if like the great Leviathan he can take any pastime in them he may thank his sick fancy for the pleasing dream I will mention only two that were both of them royally descended yet unjustly possess'd of this Crown King Stephen was none of our worst Princes and one of the most valiant but an Intruder he was and he sped accordingly his Reign was the most turbulent of any except that of K John another Usurper and this latter was reduc'd to that extremity that he very meanly surrender'd his Imperial Crown to the Pope who had Interdicted all publick Divine Offices in this miserable kingdom for above six years and who never afterwards mention'd that Prince but with the Title of John our Vassal But then again to provide well for the peace and quietness a Prince and People 't is necessary not only that the Title to the Crown look fair but that it be such as is not easily liable to be contested else there will be Competitors and that of it self is a heavy Judgment Nay I add farther the worthier those Competitors the more capable they are of confounding all before them As in the fatal Dispute between Tork and Lancaster there were two Princes Henry the sixth and Edward the Fourth each of them extraordinary in their different characters one of them accounted a Saint the other a most active generous Prince Both of them had fast hold of the peoples affections in their several Parties and they rent the Kingdom in pieces between them They made our poor Countrey an Aceldama a Field of Blood kill'd up whole Families and the greatest number of both those Royal Families till the woful controversy was happily ended by that auspicious Marriage from which a Race of Kings with undoubted right and our present Gracious Sovereign is Lineally descended 2. But as the Title to the Crown must be clear and right so secondly the management of the Scepter should be as wise as the Tenure is just and Royal. Our two unfortunate Kings the Second Edward and Richard had an indisputable Right which they could never lose The more was the wrong done them though they lost themselves by their Male-administration of the Government But on the other side what vast hopes may be justly conceiv'd what blessed wonders may be wrought for the publick good where the Sovereign Prince has all the dexterity together with all the Activity that is necessary to make his motions as regular as they are vigorous in so bright and so high a Sphere Then will the saying of Solomon prove it self That the King by Judgment establisheth the Land Nay then it will extend to other kingdoms for Kings have long hands especially such a King as may hold the Balance and give Peace and War where he pleases and consequently may give Law to other Nations He may reach out as Solomon did the fruits of his wise Conduct to all the World 3. But in the third place I must needs add be the Title of a King as good as a Warrant from Heaven can make it Be it so undoubted as Hell it self can find no pretence to question it be the King like an Angel of God for his knowledge and Conduct in the Government yet if his Subjects will be Sons of Belial Sons of the Devil so Rebels are call'd in Scripture Belial that is absque Jugo men that will bear no yoke 't is still in their power to be as miserable as they please Since the Wills of men are free 't is confest their leaves must be askt whether they will be happy or no Whether they will obey and enjoy the blessing of Peace or Whether they will resist and pull down ruine upon themselves and their posterity For want of a people obedient and willing to be rul'd by a gentle hand the best of Kings was most vilely cast away as if he had not been Anointed with Oyl How dear these Kingdoms have paid for the Murder of that Blessed King is too grievous a Reflection at this time But one consideration I would offer though the maintenance of Religion is commonly made the most plausible pretence for Rebellion as it was for the last among us and has been made use of since towards the encouraging of another yet Rebellion almost constantly proves as that last prov'd the means to destroy Religion My meaning is not only this that as soon as ever men begin to be Rebels they cease to be inwardly religious and truly good men but I drive it farther That to Rebel is the ready way to ruine the Constitution of the outward profest and establisht Religion in a Nation What need I look any farther for an example of this when I have a most remarkable proof in the History of that King in my Text King Solomon in his declining age fell so as no Christâ—an Prince can ever fall unless he renounce his Baptism from making Beauty his Idol he fell even to worship the Pagan Deities that is Devils for as the Apostle says The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to Devils and nâ—t to Gâ—d Yet all that while all Israel obey'd him and contâ—â—â—ed in the worshâ—p of God as they might do without an inconsistence whatsoever But when Solomon was dead and gone Jeroboam came in by Rebellion for tho he was promis'd the Kingdom 't is said the Matâ—er was from the Lord yet it was promis'd him only upon condâ—tions which he never performd If thou wilt hearken to all that I command thee as David my Servant did But he would hearken to nothing that God commanded him nor would he wait God's time as David had done He drew Ten of the Tribes into Rebellion But then
A SERMON Preached before THEIR MAJESTIES K. JAMES II. and Q. MARY AT Their CORONATION IN VVestminster-Abby April 23. 1685. By Francis Loâ—d Bishop of ELY and Lord Almâ—ner to His Majesty Published by His Majesties special Command DUBLIN Re-printed by Andrew Crook and Samuel Helsham And are to be Sold by Samuel Helsham at the Colledge-Arms in Castle-street A Sermon Preached before their Majesties King James II. and Queen Mary at their Coronation c. 1 CHRON. XXIX 23. Then Solomon sat on the Throne of the Lord as King instead of David his Father and prospered and all Israel obeyed him THen Solomon sate on the throne of the Lord. Then that is to say on the day of his Coronation which is mention'd in the foregoing Verse Then when they anointed him This may suffice to shew my Text is suitable enough to the present royal Solemnity But if I had any mind to parallel all the greatness and solemn glories of this day from the story of that King I should be forc'd as great as King Solomon was to borrow some Illustrious Remarks from several other of his best days besides that of his Coronation For when Solomon was Enthroniz'd no Temple was then built or so much as begun but to day we have seen a spectacle full of all decent splendor in God's House and filling our hearts with joy We have seen a King standing as Solomon on the day when he dedicated the Temple stood before the Altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands Nay we have seen his Majesty in an humbler that is a devouter posture To day we have seen another spectacle of magnificent Piety a Queen for whom it were too low a comparison should I compare her to her that was rais'd immediately to a Throne near to that of K. Solomon then when 't is said his mother crown'd him again in the day of his espousals But a Queen the most faithful companion of her royal Husband's sufferings and hard travels the fitter to be now the Consort of all his Triumphs We have seen her also like her self that is like Humility it self which is the Queen of Vertues The Story of K. Solomon could I bring skill to set it forth would furnish an entertainment for the devotions both of a Royal Audience and a mixt Assembly For the King in my Text made himself his Text He made his own life the subject of an excellent Sermon He was pleased to stile himself the Preacher as well as the King in Jerusalem He once had been instructed by the King his Father the man after God's own heart but afterward he was taught of God on purpose to be set up for an everlasting Guide by the rules and directions he should leave to all other Princes and people To begin then where they began with him in the Text 'T is said they made Solomon the son of David King the second time The first time was then when Adonijah exalted himself and said I will be King when he prepar'd himself Chariots and Horsemen and fifty men to run before him But the race is not always to the swiftest nor to him that sets out soonest for Popularity yet then it was high time for David to declare the Succession for then he was told The eyes of all Israel are upon thee that thou shouldest tell them on supposition as I shall shew anon that God had told him already who should sit upon the Throne of my Lord the King after him Thereupon Solomon was declared and presently anointed to succeed But because the Ceremony then was perform'd in a kind of tumultuary hast 't is now repeated at more leisure with greater state To keep my self within some compass and from wandring in such a world of matter as the Story of K. Solomon would offer me I shall be willingly confin'd to these four Points through which we may see K. Solomon in all his glory 1st That his Title was firm and good 'T is said here He sate on the Throne of the Lord and he sate there as King instead of David his Father And 2dly For his Government that was as good as his Title His management was such as became so wise a King as Solomon And 3dly His people were an obedient people and all Israel obey'd him 4thly The Blessing of God was upon him and his Government 'T is said He prosper'd In the First place for his Title to make that good if this be not Argument enough that 't is said here He sate on the throne of the Lord and that he sate there as King instead of David his Father let me farther observe to you That he was a King of God's own Nomination to prevent dispute among the Sons of David 1. Chron. 22. 9. Behold a Son shall be born to thee his name shall be Solomon and I will establish the throne of his kingdom His Brother Adonijah after his vain Attempt to seize the Crown makes this express acknowledgment of King Solomon's Right to the Kingdom Tho' it were mine from the People yet it was his from the Lord For God's Choice and the People's are not always the same But if this were the Case that he was rais'd to the Throne not properly by the King his Father much less by the People but by God himself how comes it to be said here They made him King They that is all the Congregation Were they the King-makers then Were they the Original of Regal Power Had they it first in themselves Else how could they impart it Towards the clearing of this be pleased to compare the story of another King's Coronation in the Book of Kings with that self same story in the Book of Chronicles And whereas in one place we read the People anointed Joash we find in the other Place that Jehojadah the High Priest and his Sons anointed him so not the people 's Anointed but the Lord 's Anointed Only the People stood by as they do here and express their unanimous good Will with such loud Acclamations as you heard e'ne now not that we imagine our united voices contribute any thing of Right to our Hereditary Prince but to shew that if the Kingdom were Elective we think him most worthy to be King But 't is most plain and most evident that God by his special appointment set over his People the first three succeeding Kings Saul David and Solomon and where ever 't is said the People made them or any other Kings no more is meant but that the People own'd them as Kings of God's making But that immediate Designation of their Kings from Heaven was to cease one day and the Kingdom was to be Hereditary This appears from the Conclusion of those Provisional statutes Deut 17. those precepts for the King that should be set over them that he may prolong his days in the Kingdom he and his Children in the middest of Israel But as Solomon's Right to Empire