the most High he may never miscarry So shall thy people gratefully draw nigh to thine holy Altar and pay the vowes which our souls powered out before thee in the day of our calamity and fear and then shalt thou be pleased with us when we draw neer to thee with the multitude that keep Holy-day to of-thee the calves of our lips and to sing thy praise with joy ful lips Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. IV. The care of our King ought to be one of our greatest cares How ill theâ— some have vaunted of merit whâ— pretend to have wrought his return MAN is naturally a sociable creature to whom a singularity oâ— happiness is no way acceptable who delighteth as in a well being so in communion of it To him it is no less glory to cause then to possess joy Thâ— members in the body are kindly dispose to each others prosperous subsistance bâ— cause the common is the surest good but the laborous parts are more especialy regardful both of the honour and dâ—fence of the Head because of its directiâ—â— faculties wholesome administrations and Sâ—premacy For from the Head as from Fountain issue those vital veins whereâ—â— the members each in its proper placâ— are enabled to act and move So is the no safety for either all or any of therâ— when this regal power is disturbed aâ— weakned whether by the frowardness of the members disagreeing among themselves or their rebellion against the Head or if through their ungrateful neglect it be betrayed to external violence Now there is or ought to be mutual giving and receiving between the head and members but yet the Members more need the Head then the Head the Members and the Members in contributing aid to the head are rather grateful than bountiful Reason addeth a Spur to that dutiful subservience where the more is given the more is received as is the case of the body performing allegiance to the Head Herein the members are beneficial to themselves and every part whilest obedient is instrumental to the general good So is the whole state of the Body flourishing and happy because the members are sociable disciplined obedient and loyal The same reasons of general convenience do dictate to Subjects in a Realm the same rules To wound our Head is unnatural rebellion not to preserve and honour him is disingenuous ingratitude considering what sweet streams run throughout the whole body of the Kingdome when the Head-spring is undisturbed he can be no good Subject who shall dip his corrupted parts in these waters to the general annoyance nay more yet who shall not with a generous propensity to the common good interpose even to his own ruine when he apprehendeth any injury offered to the Head of Church and State In the Judgment of the Royal Prophet it was in Abner a desert of no less then death to have onely in curiously slept and not to have kept the Lords Anointed and that Abner might have a through insight of the greatness of his crime David confirmeth his assertion with no less then an Oath A thing of so pernicious example and dangerous consequence is the least negligence in a Subject when the Kingdomes Soul iâ— committed to his keeping and charge The Subject must be the Kings Armour to bear off blows from his sacred body and first to be hewen to shivers himself thaâ— the Sword may make no entry to thaâ— divine mortality but through his very bowels he must be his Fortress with thâ— bulk of his body to receive the shots oâ— contemptuous murmurers and his Artillery which may at distance wound anâ— disperse all the malicious Crews oft reasonable complices he must be his many-handded Servitour to execute his just pleasure upon all essays and his Argolick Watchman prying into all secrets with a provident industry for his good and Searching the Abysses of male contented minds being ever circumspect and waking lest any of the people while he sleep come in to destroy his Lord the King Neither is this the part of the meanest Subject more then the greatest but of all in their proper places respectively It was one of Davids Worthies who succoured him and killed the Son of the Giant but his people were all in general careful of him protecting that he should no more come in danger lest the light of Israel should be quenched It is truely a most noble care and highly commendable which possesseth that Subject who resolutely performeth this his duty but it is nothing more then what is required of all who are to lay to stake their lives liberties fortunes and whatsoever humanity esteemeth dear or precious rather then with a fainty baseness abandon the King to prevailing miseries Men who see the Kings affairs in likelihood of declination and will not put to their shoulders every man to bear his proportion and part are a degree worse then those who mangle and weaken the bearers hoping for a booty in the general ruin For professed enemies may by a prudent prevention be stopt in the carreer of their desperate designs and the edge of their weapons turned upon themselves but those mens cold resolutions bring the King by expectation lower than could the others combinations they dishearten the well affected and besides the base ends upon which they are intent they do in effect but with their own backs levigate a road for armed fury to march on the more speedily as if they feared destruction would come too late I cannot but call him the worst of rebels who pretended readiness at all times yet when his Lord calleth him in time of necessity or when necessity bespeaketh him in his Lords behalf instead of procession maketh an infamous retreat It is true that Rebellion is as witchcraft and therefore Rebels a cursed generation but curse ye Meroz said the Angel curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the Lord to the help of the Lord against the mighty there is an aggravation of bitterness to them who came not to help When God owneth the cause as he doth the Kings who is his Anointed it is a cursed policy to save all and lose ones self to suffer the wrack of honour and forfeit the glorious birth right of an eternal Crown for a mess of slabbered vanities Religion teacheth us to Love our neighbour as our self and in that respect to defend to the utmost of our power all who stand in need of our help as in our own necessity we would willingly be releived Our Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy hold us to a defensive and offensive obedience a bond which no reason or consideration as I conceive may perswade us to juggle with or cast off a Knot which neither conveniences of Hope or fear can safely or justly unty If conveniences of Hope might give a Bull of dispensation to an unwarrantable action as is certainly the breach of an Oath what daring malefactour might not exult and enlarge
that there never was Church so beautifully flourishing which had not some Moles and blemishes but I am confident that for Doctrine and Discipline our Church is to say no more equal to the best and that few Ages of Christianity could more than can this present I speak with respect only to the Kings Dominions boast of Pious and Learned Church-Governours and Pastours Yet so loud an outcry raised by tumultuous Zealots hath been heard as if Religion were stifled in the Nests of Impurity and her blessed Light extinguished by those appointed to keep it still flaming But this as I observed not by any whose remarked and imitable Piety hath proved a light and guide to other mens feet but such as have alway taught the people the utility of Errour such as are what the Philosopher described the ungoverned Youth of his times Seneca Expugnatores alienâ pudicitiâ negligentes suâ such as have cast off the Cords of Religion and burst asunder the Bonds of Loyalty upbraiding Christs Vicegerent with a Crucifix for no other reason that I know but bâ—cause he hath taken off from them the Cross which their Rebellion so much merited So that although his charitable meekness hath looked upon their sin as venial their implacable malice will not permit them to commend or own this Goodness and Charity but provoketh them to deprave that and slander him and his And seeing how at the same time when they reproach the Church they calumniate the King I cannot but applaud that most judicious observation of that most venerable Martyr Land Ser in Psal â—4 22 That those men who are sacrilegious against God and his Church are for the neighbourhood of the sin the likeliest men to offer violence to the honor of Princes and their persons afterward They who will not spare a Princes honour will dare any thing against his sacred person seeing it is certain that a disesteemed Prince is more than half debarred of his regal power which none attempt but such as would if possible utterly dethrone him that themselves may step up and turn just Regiment into execrable Tyranny and the Beauty of Holiness into a Mass of confusion FOR these blessings do the people yeild themselves to be reduced and hearken to their insinuations so eagerly They have it 's true better things promised but it is strange that men whom no performances have justified should yet find a ready belief and that the people court their abuses as if woful experience had given them no caution Each man may at pleasure see the reward wherewith such masters gratifie their followers even the same that Lucifer conferreth upon his beguiled instruments who draweth them by the false representations of liberty to the tortures of the cruellest thraldome What between fear and hope the deceitful causes whereof they industriously scatter many are fitted for commotion as their language intimateth they speak so expertly after their teachers Matters of Hope are not entertained unless some fearful suggestions intervene Therefore when we use either preventives or remedies the fear of an evil induceth us to use such means as we Hope will remove the incumbent or preserve us from ensuing matter of dread But frequently as men are possessed with empty Hopes so are they as it were dispossessed of themselves by causeless fears Such are the Fears and Hopes fomented by seditious murmurers What fear of innovation in Religion or Government have the royal counsels or actions justly caused Where we see irresistible Constancy and the Defender of the Faith standing up in the defence of it why should we groan under suspitions and like timorous harâ—s start when there is no danger deserting the wood for the winds rustling among the dry leaves Those valiant soulders were justly derided quos pulvis motus fuga pecorum exuit castris When we either break our peace or run from our just defence upon noises we know not whence coming or where arising such ridiculous things do we become So is it also when vain Hopes seduce us and we fall to planting Paradises in the Ocean Can men unstable as water who cannot brook a just prosperity under a pious Prince ever enlarge our happiness They dread nothing more then rest and security as they know it not so neither do they desire it Would they then give the same measure of felicity to their followers which they Hope for themselves We see the utmost of it it is at best but an insecure and changeable estate Yet of this minute and treacherous bliss seldome hath the blind votary any more then his leaders promises Ambition loveth to ascend and then cause the dejected ladder to be burnt because there shall be no climbing for others by the same ascent nor any pattern remain to instruct others in the ways of advancement Without teaching the people Rebellion these mens designs never take effect If the ringleaders thereby obtain their ends it is no prudence in them to acknowledge the meaner help or obligations of gratitude to inferiours but these as well as the opposers of their towring motions must equally submit to the same scourge and flame Onely the first assisters may possibly have the favour like the Inventer of the Brazen Bull to have the first taste of their merciless power The unfortunate Hothams not to recount any more are a notable example of the kind remunerations of such services under such Lords Thus may the people see who is more fit to sway the Scepter our King the undoubted Heir of the Crown who when upon just ground he might have required it is tender and sparing of blood or those who care not what effusions they make so that their wills may be effected And surely such as is their road toward what they covet such are their walks when in possession terribly coloured and polluted with blood and slaughter For every ambitious man be hâ—s Words never so oyly and seemingly sanctified tantum ut noceat cupit esse potens AND now that these are their aims is more then probable Men should not be charged with the highest crimes upon slight suspition for then would not the purest innocence escape the foulest stains whilest aggravated mistakes should be unpardonable sins But I could wish my self in this case mistaken and rash being unwilling to foster a defaming prejudice If the seeing men of this age would censure me I should gladly condemn my self and with more joy publickly retract then now accuse which I certainly do compulsively not with delight But being by their light informed I may rather be said to speak their opinions then mine own private sentiments or discoveries And I farther wish that the contrivances of these men were so privately agitated that they came within the veiw of the sharpest judgments onely and were not by themselves proclaimed upon the house tops that men even of the inferiour ranks might behold them and be surprized with previous consternations before they give the blow They vaunt as if
affection to duty shewn in such demeanor so is it no contrivance of safety for the authors or any others It looketh so like to treachery that every eye cannot discern the difference and although at least pretensively it was not so designed yet hath not faild of its ill consequences Which they cannot but own to have experienced if the shame of dishonourable actions would permit an ingenuous confession And more we are like to sustain it being probably conjectured to be past our power to overcome some mischeifes which late miscarriages have created or if a future care and managery do prevail over them that it must be the great work of some considerable time So prejudicial to the publick good are even small neglects of duty or excesses in behaviour AND certainly all disobedience is as much against Interest as duty whence we find it so perpetually miscarrying If Subjects injure their Prince they must never think by so doing to benefit themselves And when they run in division staining their querulous notes to the highest key what they seek and so mournfully lament as lost is too too frequently not discerned although by them possessed Which thing nevertheless mans inclination to evil maketh very usual and few men enjoy what they have because all present goods are nicknamed with reproachful terms and are indeed wanting to the discontented Whose self-vexation is also others mens disease and real miseries attend their uneven motions in whom the blessing of â—rovidence make no composure But if there be a want of something necessary to the accomplishment of our welfare the absence of one or more goods is a lighter inconvenience than to be deprived of all Our minds setled in Obedience and our diligent service of God accompanied with hope have the way of supply of whatsoever our defects God will sooner for us than we can for our selves order the course of worldly affairs Our backs have been long galled with the vexatious burthens of tyrannical imposition and are we not worse than mad men if we think the reception of more such lading will be our ease or that their unmerciful Scourges are to our sores mollifying and healing Nay even those who first move the Engines of Commotion in hope of being Perpetual Commanders of those Affections which they have so disingaged from their Allegiance and stability are but inconsiderate Politicians who cannot by the successes of other men judge what will prove to themselves security but are rendred discerning only by their own miscarriages All Buildings must be answerable to their Foundations if these be laid deceitfully let the Builders proiect what they please the other will be certainly ruinous Negata est magnis sceleribus semper fides What any one getteth by supplanting of that another with as much subtilty and sometimes less injustice beguileth him One alway snappeth the bit out of anothers mouth And nothing is more common than for some Vulpone Contriver to set on work Insâ—â—uments meet for danger and fit to sustain obloquy and envy who by their adventures may catch and adapt a Prey for his teeth And to justifie his Vsurpations he condemneth the former he revengeth the blood of Naboth in the portion of Jezreel but maketh no restauration he cutteth off proud Jezebel and her tyrannical Off-spring and leaveth of wicked Ahabs Race none that pisseth against the wall avenging also the blood of the Lords Prophets upon the worshippers of Baal yet is by their Golden Beauty induced to a Prostration before the Calves at Dan and Bethel For should the beguiled people be undeceived and sent up to Jerusalem to worship he suspecteth the return of the revolted Tribes to their proper subjection to their lawful Prince who may seek to purchase favour by the price of his head Now besides these dreadful and distracting evils paining the heart and griping the Kingdoms Bowels it is left naked to Forreign not barely contempt but surprizal and while disagreeing Factions are decoying the people into Parties the vigilant eye of an ambitious Neighbour espieth his opportunity and composeth the differences by making the captivated Opponents draw together under his Subjugating Power THE miseries of both kinds may be prevented by Christian Meekness more readily acting than disputing its duty Let us then make a sober and diligent enquiry how far and where we went out of this way that our quick return may be the more beneficial to our selves and we thereby made instrumental to the general good Which no man can be whose Eccentrick motions draw besides the lines of Obedience That we may be the more certainly prosperous we must not too eagerly carry on Private Concerns nor have our thoughts totally fixed on our own advantage because such over-byassed inclinations do most assuredly bring us to a state much distant from that we aim at And as they make us apt to miscarry so do they enable each disappointment to wound our hearts and yet blind us so that we not seeing whence our miseries proceed do ravingly vent our passions to the injury of the Innocent We forge the weapons that will destroy us yet when they begin Execution we see not the mark we set upon them but blame other hands and causes I would have each mans virtuous demeanour and exemplary obedience be his Fortune None thrive better than they who dare be Just nor can any add to their own or the Kingdoms glory and happiness but such as abominate the founding them upon ill Principles These are the men who give Splendour and Stablishment to a Nation who judiciously serve their Great Master with a Zeal to God Religious Obedience will confirm us beyond all Arts for it indeed furnisheth us with those Sublime Arts which are essential to a well-being The truth whereof will appear by the practice and Glory will undoubtedly dwell in our Land when we are perfectly taught to fear God and honour the King THE CONTENTS Chap. 1. REflections on the late times shewing the Benefit of Suffering in a just Cause Chap. 2. Reflections on the Mercies of Restauration Chap. 3. Reflections upon particular benefits obtained by his Majesties happy return Chap. 4. The care of our King ought to be one of our greatest cares How ill then some vaunted of Merit who pretend to have wrought his Return Chap. 5. Of the different Murmurings of all Parties Chap. 6. Of the frequent desires of breaking out into Rebellion and the means by Instigators used viz reproaches upon the King and Church Chap. 7. How little the minds of some men are wrought upon by the continual examples of miscarrying Factions Chap. 8. The Blessings and Benefits of Obedience THE Causes and Remedy OF THE DISTEMPERS of the TIMES CHAP. I. Reflections on the late Times shewing the benefit of suffering in a just cause THAT which too often happeneth in humane friendship and is a grand cause of the dissolution of those sacred ties is a misconstruction of each others fidelity Jealousie over ballanceth the truth when
able memories to recollect the surreptions and losses sustained in the late barbarous broiles and because these breaches are not made up to charge our hearts with repinings intermixed with joy what do we but make use of our strongest faculties to cheat our selves We are to look forward to what is to come nay to consider what advantages we have in the happy Restauration of King and Church Many it is true are the insiduous baits laid for us every where and way but while God is our chief desire prosperity helpeth nor faileth us Therefore to those who constantly behold Gods will as their most desireable pleasure the good wrought in such varieties maketh wonderfully for the heightening of their Joy None but a distempered palate thinketh bitter sweet and sweet bitter for a sound body hath a distinguishing gust So sincerity of Religion giveth sound judgement for the election of the most savory delights the Sum whereof is God the particulars whatsoever perseverance in Love promoteth to the understanding NOW that prosperity at all proveth obnoxious to future â—â—â—contents by too too indulgent supplies of luxurious appetites is no fault of the times but of the persons who cannot learn to behold the beauteous blessings of God with chast and temperate eyes Neither is the subservient and ready good an excusive plea for immoderate either lust or use nor given otherwise then for a punishment to such unrestrained wills It is true that there is more danger in an exalted state of life then in a depressed because more privy temptations more publick ones but then care is the more commendable and likewisere sistance is the more glorious when the assault is feircest They then who were frighted nearer God and farther off a self-lâ—ve by the Sword Persecution Nakedness and distress have made adversity beneficâ—al to their Souls if their care now become not like a watch not wound up slack in time of greatest urgency Temptation is no necessity nâ—ither store hurtful unless misapplied The â—â—u use of prosperity is to be led amongsâ— and through the dilicacies and charms of pleasure and leave them conquered and as often as we are so led to recede with maiden appetites reserved for God alone Thus onely do we use these benefits aright and thus using them shall we duely remember the greatness of the succour afforded by them when time would wipe away the tract and obliterate the legend Thus using them do we enlarge our Joy in them because our Joy in the Author is thereby perpetuated The greatest and sincerest of pleasures as directly in reference to things of this life is to bear and forbear Temporal things coming suddenly to their height do suddenly decrease and the benefits of this life too greedily taken and used cease to be benefits after one full enjoyment of them onely moderation with reference to God lengtheneth them and preserveth the joy of them entire They are so made to reach from earth to heaven and the joy of our span-long life is spun out into a glorious thred of immortallity SEE now how farr our confidence hath carried us The prayers of Faith have wrestled and prevailed with God for this return of peace to his Church and this Realme A pious boldness in asking any thing of God and resolution in denying any thing to our selves for his sake will procure a more prosperous advancement for us than this even an exaltation above temporal to eternal rest and peace Amen O Lord thou hast been favourable to this thy Land in Redeeming thy people from captivity thou hast forgiven our iniquities and covered our past sins thou hast fallen away thy wrath and turned thy self from the fierceness of thine anger Therefore our meditation of thee shall be sweet because thy salvation is nigh them that hope in thee that glory may dwell in our land Thou hast remembred thy mercy and truth towards thine Israel and the ends of the World have seen thy salvation O righteous God Truely thou art good to such as are of a clean heart but we had well nigh committed folly against thee in being envious at the prosperity of the wicked when we saw the Tabernacles of Robbers prosper and that they were encompassed with Worldly happiness round about But at last when we drew neer to the refuge of thy word and considered the Wisdome of thy disposals we were taught not to condemn our own lot neither envy theirs For we understood destruction to be nigh their habitations and ready to receive them But thy Servants are alway with these thou upholdest them with thy Right Hand Thou shalt guide us with thy counsell and afterwards receive its to Glory Thou shalt encrease our greatness and comfort us on every side so that our lips shall greatly rejoyce when we sing unto thee and our souls also which thou hast wonderfully redeemed Let this be written in our hearts and likewise engraven in the rock for ever for posterities sake that the generations to come may know it and the people which shall be created may praise thy name who lookedst down from the height of thy Sanctuary to hear the groaning of the prisoners and preserve the multitudes of the afflicted Surely the upright shall rejoyce for they have seen the vengeance and shall boastingly say Verily there is a reward for the righteous Thou hast proved us and tried us as silver is tried Thou caused'st men to ride over our heads we went through fire and water But thou hast brought us out into a wealthy place We long sat by the way side mourning for the Ark of God catching at all tidings which might nourish Hope At last we understood and now confess thy power who hast brought it out of the house of Dagon It is well for us that we have been afflicted Yet assuredly if thou hadst not been on our side when malitious men rose up in fury against us they had even swallowed us up quick But praised be thy name our favour and Defence our foot is escaped out of the snare of the fowler the snare is broken and we are delivered What are we that thou hast thus magnified us and heard our prayers continually importuning these to arise and to have mercy upon Sion How great are thy loving Kindnesses and Mercies who considered'st that the time to favour her even the set time was come And now thou hast set thy Tabernacle in Salem that Righteousness and Peace might kiss each other Therefore unto thee do we give thanks O Lord unto thee do we give thanks for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare Let our mouth be filled with thy praise and honour continually and be thou exalted O God above the Heavens let thy glory be above all the earth And now O Lord I beseech thee remember me thine unworthy Servant with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people and visit me with thy Salvation that I may see the good of thy Chosen all my days and rejoyce in
others tears of compassion It is a work worthy the Disciples of Christ as often to weep for themselves so with tears to water the barrenness of such hearts as know not the curse to which they are condemned and if God so please thereby to make them fruitful to repentance not to be repented of that sorrow which is the assured Page to felicity Amen REturn O Lord unto the many thousands of thine Israel thou and the Ark of thy strength return we pray thee and have mercy upon thy people Preserve the Head and members of this Realm even all the people of the land from the highest to the lowest and unite us in Christ Jesus Distractions have crept in among us so that by the pretensive honour of thy name thy worship is made even the reproach of the multitude It is time for thee O Lord to work for they have by the name of religion made void thy Law that high Injunction Fear God and honour the King Lord how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph how long shall they utter hard things and the very workers of iniquity boast themselves Should not all who name thy name depart from iniquity yet there is a sort of men in whose mouth thou art near but far from their hearts O God the God of thy people and their portion for ever we pray that all who are called by thy name may have no aims but thy sole honour neither suffer thou thy religion to be in our mouths to cover the deceitfulness of our hearts running after iâ—â—trange God If any of us should be willing to believe if we should have any reason to think we had deserved more then ordinary yet let the greater truth overcome this reason assuring us that we can never do more then duty requireth for God our King and countrey But as we hope by thy especial grace preventing us we shall never do a good work to a bad end so not attempt to pull down thy Church by performing any part of our Allegiance But it was thou not man who didst set thine Anointed upon high for thy Churches establishment Rebuke therefore those tumultuous Zealots who being enemies to Christian felicity while they pretend to divine peace have no other method for it than by making war upon his and their own Souls Let not the rebellious Children exalt themselves neither their devices prosper for they have imagined evil against thee When they speak great swelling words of vanity fill their faces with shame and confusion and their mouths with the fruit of their own lips Yet rather if it be thy will let thy mercies overtake them then thy judgements that knowing the errours of their lives they may hereafter take pleasure in sincere obedience rejoycing in thy testimonies as in hid treasure Reduce all who have erred from thy commandement and put into their hearts a desire to follow the prescriptions of Religion Reason and Convenience which are the best Counsellours of both Prince and people And forasmuch as our help standeth in the Name of the Lord who made Heaven and Earth not to our selves be the praise of Restauration given but to thy glorious Name Do thou whose countenance doth uphold the upright rejoyce the hearts of such as have therein served thee disdaining the petty triumphs of vain glory and seeking of no recompence but thy favour which indeed exceedeth all that we can desire O that our ways were made so direct that we might keep thy lawes for thy sake and Love thee because by thy mercies in thy best Beloved thou leadest us to good actions stirring up in us a burning zeal to the immortal honour of thy most sublime and infinite Majesty Whom have we in Heaven but thee What can we desire on Earth without thee O how wonderfully blessed are they whose light and defence thou art first guiding them to good and afterwards fortifying them against the strong temptations of self-admiration We are then best when least ourselves then strongest when desparing of help in our selves we put all our confidence in thy wonder working arm and having our desires fulfilled do submissively and faithfully acknowledge thee the good Author of success Thine is the Kingdome the Power and the Glory To thee therefore alone we recommend the tuition of him whom thou hast given to be a Prince and a Ruler over us Remove from him as lying lips so the deceitfull tongue and also far out of his sight the sinner that goeth two wayes Let his right hand find out break in peices and scatter all those who hate him let his enemies lick the dust before him Give him knowledge to Crush out the malignant humors which in some are predominant to their ruin Let the humours be dispelled but the men preserved that all his people may be of one mind endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Adorn us who profess a Faith in thee outwardly with the fair fruits of good works and beautifie our Souls as meet for thine approbation and love with reality of pious intentions Then will our obedience please thee as the best of offerings then wilt thou be our glory and the lifter up of our Head for ever Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. V. Of the different murmurings of all Parties IT is not so much to be admired that men ever looked upon as high mindded and insincere should by the ill breath of their own commendations blast and raise a scab upon the graceful countenance of a good deed as that amid such variety of Blessings as God hath by his Majesties happy return shoured down upon this whole nation the shrill voyces of complainers have and do drown the most acceptable acclamations of thankfulness Being full of the coelestial Manna we become wanton and will not want words to reproach the Giver Every condition is fairer and more contenting then the present so much do our thoughts run division and we abhor the touch of the same string twice together We desire yet frustrate our selves of the enjoyment of our desires obtained by giving nourishment to new desires We droop under one want which is scarce removed but we beg others and more intollerable When we roar for very disquietness of heart being born down by some weighty calamity it commonly happeneth that deliverance was never so acceptable that we were never so weary of the burthen as we quickly become weary of ease The man in the Gospel who had the Devil cast out and the possession of his own home wholly to himself could not in his heart enjoy a colitary blessing nor retain a profitable guest but after sweeping and garnishing his house readmitteth his plague and with him seven more worse than himself That which of a place of misery had begun to be a Paradise how soon doth he convert it into a real Hell what greater misery than to be still jerked with our restless fancy and tossed by our
Therefore will we refrain our tongues from evil and accustoming them to prayer will draw nigh to thee in an acceptable time when thou mayest be found that thy loving kindnesse and truth may preserve us at such time as evils do encompass us and the punishments of our iniquities taketh hold upon us Send O Lord thine holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity the very Bond of Peace and of all Virtues which neither doth nor speaketh ill but acquiesceth in the sweet enjoyment of thee This will make thy great Ministers government acceptable to the people and the peoples obedience exemplary to the world so that glory shall dwell in our Land and those who know not the might of thy Majesty will be conâ—â—rted unto thee who art the only blessed and â—ll-glorious Potentate King of Kings and Lord â—f Lords World without end Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. VI. Of the frequent desires of breaking out into Rebellion and the means by the Instigators used viz. Reproaches upon the King and Church MURMURING is a Spark forced out of an ill-disposed breast inflamed with Disloyalty and is a great sin when it is least but is excessive in itâ— call for Vengeance when as now it 〈◊〉 let loose against a good and gracious Prince And surely however by some meâ— applauded they are souly mistaken in the Commonwealth who steep all their humour in gall and yet would entitle themsâ—lve Patrons of Vnity and have not long 〈◊〉 when there was no dissention but their own desired been pretended Petiâ—â—â—ners for Peace For such as that glorious Martyr judiciously observeth themselves know not of what Spirit they are although alâ—â—ther men see it to be fire they call for Rebellion hath its beginnings in such whisperings discontented and doubtful words being cast forth as a Lure to draw some not yet fully fitted to such devillish designs and also to bring together the bloudy beakt-birds of Prey We cannot God forbid it judge so uncharitably of some men that their inclinations are so propense to slaughter and the Publick Ruine because their words make them somewhat forgetful of their Duty and the Reverence they should bear to Anointed and Consecrated Majesty and also to Truth it self which they torture to make their relations credible But the subtil resolved Rebel by this kind of words maketh proof of such as he hopeth by several pretensions to bring to a cursed Complication and having as he accounteth it luckily proceeded in this beginning he is no longer for dallying by privy Murmurs but disburtheneth his foul stomach by strong Contumelies and loathsome Reproaches as if his passion before wanted vent his words fly out like blustring winds which unsettle and make rough the calm tides of the peoples affections or as if with them he were resolved suddenly to put in practise the dictates of his rage he intendeth by Storm to become Master of whatsoever good his envious Soul wisheth ill to another Therefore having long acted Absolom's part in humbling himself and shaking the head as if somewhat or other in the Supreme were out of order he will not at length stick to tell the people that there is none appointed to do Justice or that knoweth Judgment He thinketh it no evil to dishonour the King in his Ministers reiterating the Old Crys against Evil Counsellours in his Judgment forasmuch as he hath chosen and maketh use of such in his Faith as if his word were not kept in his Disposition as if naturally unkind and unnecessarily exacting of his People heavy Taxes in his Religion being a favourer of Popery And indeed all those things which others knowing they therein glorifie God and do his Majesty right think meet to have published with the highest commendations of desert he will needs seem to serve God and the World in misconstruing and depraving But to men sober and judicious he discovereth his Religion and Life to be but a guilded lye And these pretensions methinks cannot but be too wel known to pass even the Ignorant without suspition For to answer no farther to their base objections look back whosoever pleaseth upon those of time past who because they would forsooth seem modest at first and therefore not directly to level at their King rendred their modesty so much the more execrable by how much the more we yet feel the smart of their blows who would make their King most glorious and only knock down Evil Counsellours It was never known that Rebels wanted a pretence he that imployeth them leaveth them not destitute of his helps and shifts which are not the coursest and worst contrived Among all his devices they find most advantagious to their designs the justification of their own proceedings by the contempt of other mens either integrity or sufficiency And so violently are they addicted to this plausible sin of Defamation that they are almost able to deceive the very Elect perswading them were it possible to the dread of those Commissions whereof they were never guilty to make the most Innocent suspect themselves With the 〈◊〉 then this violence for a while passeth currant for Pious Zeal and they seem no less than the Messengers of Light sent down from the Habitation of Holiness to reform the corrupt manners of the present Age and to reduce into a Primitive Order the Affairs of Church and State through negligence and time run into a deplorable confusion It is not indeed a thing strange that what they so hotly and yet so constantly obtruded upon the vulgar peoples abused credulity was so readily accepted and so long retained The same way being once prosperous they reenter and Good they now call Evil wherein they publish to the world what Judges and Reformers they would prove whose very beginning is with subverting the cause of the Upright and cannot thrive without the Devils Patronage and counsel that the filly may be reduced and unstable souls drawn into the grievous and fatal punishment of their promised inlargement and felicity A sad felicity indeed which must have such instruments and so horrid an entrance and passage which must begin in Cruelty and swim on in Rivers of Tears and Blood For their malice who by undue aspersions and unjust reproaches privily murder the Innocent is not there confined Experience hath assured us of the truth of the Wise Man's Rule that the words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood The Envious and Malicious are never satisfied with the triumph of downcast and torn Fames but build their hopes upon Piles of slaughtered bodies and seek to raise themselves Fortunes out of the Rubbish of a ruined Commonwealth Here hath been an old grudge nay an inveterate hate in an Enemy sometime pretending to Reconciliation but indeed to desires of new practises so strongly wedded that it may well from them be made a general admonition that every man do warily trust the sincerity of reconciled Enemies It is well
with the glimmerings of success even while they hear God denouncing the Thunders of his wrath against such Prostitutes of sin Much more do I wonder how God or the World to come can be in their thoughts and lips and they not presently fall into an extasie of horrour The meditation of our approaching end is the most necessary thought to take up both the beginning and continuance of our life Our chief study should be to die well which is a long Art and considering the violent distempers of our nature none of the easiest It moreover requireth a peaceable time but in War the Sword devoureth one as well as another How much Christian then can he be who is resolutely contriving an entrance into the Field without the Divine Guidance and looketh death in the face practising Rebellion not knowing but that in a moment he must give an account to his injured and angry Judge Or how much is his zeal to be accounted of who prodigally wasteth his treasure of Reason wherewith God hath been pleased to bless him to the corruption of other mens judgments not considering that he who lent that misimployed breath may suddenly remand it from those debased uses and commit the Speaker bound over to his self-contrived miseries The consideration of lifes brevity and uncertainty should methinks make every man busied not in a forreign search but an home-enquiry after guilt The time which is so spent upon others is clearly lost what upon our selves is truly gained Most men when they speak of other mens faults encrease their own but they who speak to God of their own by the example undoubtedly make many to be sooner cleansed Then also hath the self-examiner this advantage of others that he dismayeth not at Deaths Menaces having pacified his Judge Whereas the backbiting murmurers hellish life here is all his Heaven He who exerciseth himself with the lashes of pious reproof liveth comfortably and peaceably nay joyfully here but is assured of a superabundant joy after the frail body is cloathed with Honour and Perfection by an happy Resurrection and desired Union with its glorified Redeemer Amen HAve mercy upon us O Lord for the dark places of the Earth are full of the habitations of cruelty Lo the wicked bend their bow they make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart If we had done this evil which they mention or those iniquities were in our hands wherewith they asperse us then were we out of thy protection and the enemy persecuting our souls could not but take and destroy us But thy peircing Knowledge seeth that they travail with iniquity that they have conceived mischeif and brought forth falsehood Surely false witnesses have risen up against us laying to our charge things which we knew not O take thou the matter into thine own hand and be thou the defence of the humble for the wicked have purposed to overthrow their goings They who have known thee will put put their trust in thee and call upon thee in the day of trouble for thou wilt hear them We will not trust in our bow our Sword shall not save us but thou shalt save us from our enemies and put them to shame who hate us Although the blood thirsty lay snares and they who seek to do hurt speak mischeivous things imagining deceit all the day long yet thou maintainest the right thou sittest in the throne judging right and thine Eye-lids try the children of men Thou who alone knowest it do good unto those who are good and upright in heart But as for such as turn aside to their crooked wayes teach them that their end will be to be led forth with the workers of wickedness O Gracious Father and Merciful Redeemer consider the trouble which we suffer of them who hate us and of thy great compassion deliver us and in ransoming deliver us we pray thee from all our offences that we may not deservedly be the rebuke of the foolish Thou hearest and from the seat of thy Majesty beholdest all our miseries Arise for our help and Redeem us for thy mercies sake that the mouths of them who speak lies may be stopped Remember the reproach of thy servants how we do bear in our bosomes the reproach of many people wherewith thine enemies have reproached thee O Lord. And for the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips consume them that they may not be that by thy judgements they may make it known that not cursed policy but thy good power ruleth unto the ends of the earth Instead of the desired effects of mischeif prolong thou the Kings life and his years as many generations O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him Because he will not yeild to the dishonour of thy Church they burden him with these indignities but do thou repay him seven fold into his bosome and let his honour be great in thy salvation This is thine own cause Arise then and plead it remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily the tumult of those who rise up against thee encreaseth continually In thee we trust we cry unto thee to save us For Lo they breath out cruelty against us Deliver us who desire to serve and worship thee in spirit and truth from lying lips and from these deceitful tongues which speak lies in hypocrisie And let our adversaries be clothed with shame let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a mantle Let them curse but bless thou let them be ashamed but let thy servant rejoyce O Lord God of Hosts who judgest righteously if they will not return let us see thy vengeance upon all perverse promoters of bewitching sedition Let their conspiracies be as the dust before the wind and themselves as the stubble before the fire that the World may see that this is thine hand that thou Lord doest establish the just by casting down the wicked So shall the Congregations of the people compass thee about for their sakes therefore lift up thy self on high And to thy servants give patience to bear their calamities and together with a religious boldness to withstand and rebuke their wickedness grant such an innocent and meek deameanour as befitteth the sincere Disciples of a most humble Master By shunning backbiting and the reproach of our neighbour and endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace fit us for our dissolution that we may in peace go down into the bed of silence and joyfully rise again to the possession of invincible tranquility through Jesus Christ our onely Mediatour and Advocate Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. VII How little the minds of some men are wrought upon The continual examples of miscarrying Factions SOLOMON thought the desire accomplished to be sweet to the Soul But it was also his observation taken from the humour of men over-eager in pursuit of their desires that it is an
men they are irksome and intollerable they groan and repine under them Which restlesness is not given by outward trouble but by inward guilt Conscience aggravating nay making it grief That therefore men may the better bear common ones and not incur extraordinary troubles or if they should happen that they may not make them miserable let them free themselves from guilt and by obedience put themselves under the defence of the Almighty Res magna est habere imbecillitatem hominis Sen. ep 53. securitatem Dei said a wise man I cannot say he was a Christian but assuredly the words do well become Christian lips For indeed look every where and search the world over there is no where any help for our despicable frailty but the Divine Security If we shun the examples of proud and disloyal men walking in the paths made plain for us by Christ and his devout Followers this security as an impenetrable Bulwark will keep off evils from us this will surround us and Gods Eye pleased with our walks will alway be over for us our good His blissful Countenance will enlighten and enliven us and nothing shall eclipse our joy which taking its beginning from his service shall be perfected in endless Glory Amen O That mine head were waters and mine eyes a Fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the impenitency of those to whom my Soul wisheth peace but they delight in mischief and contention Many O Lord there are who forsaking thee walk in the ways of darkness who will not open their eyes lest they should see nor their ears lest they should hear and should be converted and thou shouldest heal them They have rejected thy Law and made void thy Covenant making among themselves the Covenant of falshood and the League of Iniquity to the intent that the Name of Israel should be no more in remembrance And although thou hast cut off Corah Dathan and Abiram yet the residue of the rebellious Children do exalt themselves and behave themselves frowardly in thy sight They regard not thee O ever blessed King neither thine Image whom thou hast set up they worship neither thee nor thy Gods They add Rebellion unto Rebellion and sin unto sin not knowing the power of thy wrath nor how much thou art to be feared and that none may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry but as if thine Arm could not avenge the injury of thine Honour they multiply reproaches against thee and thine Anointed Whom as thou hast hitherto so defended that the Sons of Violence could not hurt him As thou hast hitherto made their faces who hated him to be ashamed so we beseech thee to put them to a perpetual rebuke who shall yet presume to rise up to offend him As thou hast given him an heart to endeavour to serve thee in thine own way of mercy and forgiveness so make him happy in his People whose gratitude may contend for superiority with his great love But upon all such to whom his Clemency seemeth vile whose traiterous pride disdaineth the mild mixture of Authority and Compassion pour out thine Indignation for certainly they seek to devour Jacob and lay wast his dwelling place Had they good will to Sion they would strive for peace and intercede unto thee by prayers that thou wouldest be pleased to heal up the breaches of thy torn and divided Church O scatter those who seek her hurt so shall she be exalted in thine Honour and make her boast in thy glory for ever and ever How foolish and ignorant are they who seek Honour by offending thee and Prosperity without thee Should not a people seek to their God and make the observance of thy Statutes their glory and delight But their delight is in rapine and mischief and to shed Innocent blood And although by many examples thou hast admonished them yet they regard not thy works nor the operations of thy hands they despise thy loving kindness and thy Judgments they will not observe O thou Comforter of the righteous and Judge of all how wonderful art thou in thy mercies who being angry with the wicked every day doest first give him warning before thou smitest If he turn not then thou whettest thy Sword bendest thy Bow and makest it ready thou preparest for him the Instruments of Death and ordainest thine Arrows against him that thy threatnings may make him wise and thy gentle correction may make him great whom evil practises had depressed and covered with shame These are thy Fatherly and compassionate Premonitions e're thou wilt destroy And as we praise thee for that unto thee belong Mercies so also for that thou art just and rewardest the obstinate according to his works O consider our trouble that will suffer of them that hate us give them humility and repentance but let the wilful and disobedient perish in their iniquity Let not disloyalty thrive nor disobedience prosper lest the seeming glory thereof tempt the ignorant to reach out their hands to this forbidden fruit But as thou hast dealt graciously with us hitherto by making the wicked plot against themselves and run into their own snare so let their own devices continue to be their shame and bring them down continually O Lord our strength Then shall the righteous rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance when he seeth Judgement finding out those false ones who trusted in the abundance of their riches and thought themselves encircled with power beyond opposition Thou makest us know that thou forgettest not the prayers of thy people who call upon thee faithfully for when the wicked drew their Sword and bent their Bow to slay such as be of upright Conversation thou causedst their Sword to enter into their own heart and their Bow to be broken O that our hearts were made so direct that we might keep thy Statutes and alway sincerely love thee for that thou hast done Thou hast magnified us exceedingly and brought us to great honour O let our lips be evermore filled with thy praise for it becometh thy servants to be incessantly thankful And by this which thou hast wrought for us teach us to rest in thee and wait patiently for thee but not to fret at those who for a time prosper in their way nor because of the men who bring wicked devices to pass For we see that according to thy word evil doers shall be cut off that in a little while they shall not be neither their places to be found Continue thy loving kindness towards us preserve thy Church encreasing her Beauty and Honour make every Member thereof through Christ our Saviour plentifully to bring forth the fruits of Holiness so shall we be assured of present and Eternal Joys For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous with thy favour wilt thou encompass him as with a Shield Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. VIII The Blessings and Benefits of Obedience SUCH is the turbulency and unsettledness of