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A61424 A caveat against flattery, and profanation of sacred things to secular ends upon sight of the order of the convention for the thanksgiving, and consideration of the misgovernment and misfortunes of the last race of kings of this nation. Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. 1689 (1689) Wing S5424; ESTC R184625 23,049 37

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A CAVEAT AGAINST FLATTERY AND PROFANATION OF Sacred things to Secular Ends UPON Sight of the Order of the Convention for the Thanksgiving AND Consideration of the Misgovernment and Misfortunes of the last Race of Kings of this Nation LONDON Printed in the Year MDCLXXXIX A CAVEAT AGAINST FLATTERY AND PROFANATION of Sacred things to Secular Ends. I Was not more pleased with the first News of the Order of the present Convention for a Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God upon so just and admirable occasion than I was otherwise moved and disturbed at the first Sight of their Order to see all that lively sense which I expected of such an admirable Providence and Mercy of God to these Nations in so seasonable so easie and yet so great and if it be not our own fault compleat Deliverance to dwindle in my apprehension into a kind of mean servile fawning Complement to the Prince under a Formality of Religion This hath filled me with variety of Thoughts which I cannot forbear to communicate to some of those who are concern'd in it I mean the Members of the Convention The Prince I look upon as a person greatly to be esteem'd lov'd and honour'd both for the Character generally given of his Virtues and more especially for that he seems to be chosen and design'd by the Providence of God for a special Instrument of great and desirable matters in this Age and hath been so already to this Nation And therefore to assist him and concur with him to those ends is in my Opion an Act of Subservience to the Divine Providence which is a Glorious and Angelical Employment but yet to express our Respect to him in such a manner as this whether through Flattery or Transport I conceive is neither proper decent nor safe either for him or for the Nation The Cause of this Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God is thus expressed For having made His Highness the Prince of Orange the Glorious Instrument of the Great Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power Whereas in truth the principal Cause of it is not the Instrument but the Great and very great Deliverance with many such Circumstances as are remarkable indications of the special Providence and over-ruling hand of God in it And for this most solemn Thanks ought to have been paid to Almighty God by this Nation whoever had been the Instrument And yet in this Order is there not one Word of this Great Deliverance more than was necessary to express what it was that the Prince of Orange was the Glorious Instrument of as if his being the Instrument was the Only or the Principal thing for which we were to give Thanks I deny not but there was special reason to give Thanks for that also as well as other Circumstances but then it ought to have been express'd in its proper manner and order the Deliverance first expresly with proper words of its due amplification as the principal and then by what Instrument as is frequently added in the Scripture upon such occasions by the hand of his servant Moses And as our common form expresseth that which is above all Gods inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ It must therefore be confessed that the principal matter of our Thanksgiving is in this Order either omitted or mentioned only occasionally so as to serve only to express the other at best in a preposterous manner And this Inversion of the proper and most natural and easie Order is an Argument that it was so formed not by chance but design or to make the most charitable Construction through some inconsiderate Transport And the same is observable in the Epithets given to each I did never affect to contend about words much less would I give occasion of offence to such an Assembly of such persons for a trifle besides they that know me know me to be a cordial friend and well wisher to this Convention and who desire to promote not prejudice their Proceedings But what I intend in this is no slight matter nor will it so much prejudice as be useful to them and to others if it be taken by the right handle and as is intended For from hence I observe two things which deserve very serious consideration and reflection upon them The one a Defect of that due and profound Sense of so great and undeserved a Mercy and of that answerable Reverence and Gratitude to God which our circumstances and condition require If we admit the form of the Order to have proceeded only through Transport of Affection to the Prince which is the most favourable construction we can make of it yet even that is an evidence of what I say and that there was more respect to the Instrument than to the Mercy it self or perhaps to the Author of it by some for after the Author the Mercy it self is next to be consider'd before the Instrument as the principal Motive of our Gratitude and the expressing it otherwise is a kind or degree of neglect or slighting of the Mercy and of disrespect to the Author which a man may easily perceive if he do but consider how such an expression of thanks for some rare favour would be resented by a great Prince from some of his meanest Subjects Would he not think him an Impertinent Fellow and unworthy to be regarded much more unworthy of such a special favour And if we admit that it passed the Houses meerly through Inadvertence which is also the most favourable Construction we can make of that this very Inadvertence is plainly an evidence of the same for had we been affected as we ought that would have made us more mindful and observant of such a matter But if it did proceed from Flattery and design to Complement the Prince and pass tho' observed through Compliance which might possibly be the case of some that is not only unbecoming and below the Gravity of such an Assembly but a plain Profanation of Religion to base and unworthy ends and greatly aggravates the former And this is so plain of it self that I need not say more to prove or explain it But whether either of these two or both was in the bottom it is not a matter to be slighted or lightly passed over How great are the sins of unsuitable Returns for extraordinary Mercies and of Profanation of Religion to Secular ends and the Judgments they usually provoke I leave to Divines to consider more fully But what are their Natural Effects and Consequences and what the Mischiefs we have seen attending them I think greatly necessary to be explained for our common Benefit and necessary Caution for the future We are just now entring upon a new Scene of Affairs and if we well consider the sad Catastrophes of the two preceeding and make just Enquiry into the causes thereof we may meet with much matter of Admonition Caution and Direction and very pertinent to this purpose King James I.