graces to be now exercised by us 1. True Repentance 2. Faith and Love let the consideration of this thy repented goodness c. 3. Holy obedience 2ly The motives urged both to move 1. Us to ask it that thou mayst still continue c. 2. God to grant it and that for thy dear sons c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 9. ALmighty God our Heavenly Father who of thy c. The Litany is a proper Office for this Day being designed to avert or remove all kinds of Evil especially Privy Conspiracy and Persecution so that it is always to be used on this Day and after it this Collect which is chiefly Penitential Now nothing will lead us sooner to Repentance than a serious comparing God's goodness with our sinfulness wherefore we introduce the confession of our evil deservings with a memorial of his great Mercy in granting us two signal Deliverances from the Mischiefs designed against us by the same sort of men on the same day though in different Ages And we consider that herein God shewed 1. His Power to be Infinite and so we call him Almighty for he broke all their measures 2. His wonderful goodness and so we stile him our Heavenly Father Now there are two Properties of a loving Father First To provide a supply of all necessary good things for his Children Secondly To pity and help them when they suffer any evil (b) 2 Cor. XII ver 14. and Psal CIII 13. And thus our Heavenly Father hath employed his gracious Providence to secure unto us the free Profession of his true Religion And when these Plots were laid to enable our Foes to persecute us for it his tender mercy moved him to pity us and keep off the fatal blows from us Didst prevent the Malice and Imaginations of our c. From the consideration of those lovely Attributes which excited our good God to undertake our rescue we go on to consider the horrid Evils which he saved us from and First as to the Gunpowder-Treason the Plot sprang from pure Malice and they imagined it was certain to take effect but Heaven confounded this horrid wicked Enterprise by an unexpected Discovery And indeed King James the First could never have found out this Plot since he had no reason to suspect it He had suffered those Penal Laws which their Plots and Rebellions against Queen Elizabeth had occasioned to lie dormant and used the Papists so gently that he hoped he had made them good Subjects But such was their Malice to the Religion he professed and maintained that they imagined his good opinion of them and his security (c) Isai LIX ver 15. Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides Senec. Oedip. Act. 3. was their opportunity to strike him secretly and unexpected together with all who with him were able by their Learning or their Interest to defend that Protestant Government and Religion And then they doubted not but they might set the Crown on a Strangers Head who was a firm Catholick and so alter the Government and the Laws and extirpate that which they falsly call Heresie out of this Land for ever But oh what horrid crouds of barbarous Cruelties must have made way for this The first Massacre of so much Royal and Noble Blood would not have effected it Popery was so known and so hated and Protestant Religion so setled and beloved here then that above nineteen parts of twenty must have been cruelly murdered and the extremest force have been used before so bitter a Pill would have gone down But they valued not making their Native Country one great Aceldema they count us all Enemies of Christ and damned Wretches and so would have gloried in the execution (d) Judaeis ipsis acerbiores hostes Christi multo magis detestandi Maldonat in Johan 4.9 Costerus optat se damnari cum Lucifero Si Lutheranus moriens possit salvari vel ovadere Gehennam Resp ad Osiandr prop. 8. And was it not an infinite Mercy to be delivered out of such Merciless Hands Their Barbarous Cruelties against the Albigenses and Waldenses of old against the Lollards and Protestants in England a sew Reigns before this and the Inhuman Proceedings of the Duke of Alva in Holland these taught that Generation to rejoyce exceedingly that they did not prevail in this bloody design and we have reason to remember it with gratitude to this very Day And didst likewise this Day wonderfully conduct c. But if this seem too remote Behold God hath delivered us from a Second and more probable Design to destroy our Religion and our Laws For now they had secretly gained the next Heir of the Crown to their side and dispensed with him to come to our Prayers Sermons and Sacraments for many years yea allowed him to swear and solemnly promise to defend our Church at his entring into the Throne (e) Nullo modo fides servanda haereticis etiam juramento firmata Simanca ap Sanders de oblig juram All which had so amused many unwary Protestants that their Loyalty would not let them see the danger their Liberties and Religion were in till the Romish Party under this Zealous Prince were grown almost strong enough to declare the Change they intended But blessed be God this Design was at last discerned by almost all the Nation and though they could not prevent it he did by sending on this very Day a Generous Protestant Prince who was deeply concerned in our Laws and Religion to rescue both from imminent and apparent ruin And if the escaping Oppression and Persecution Banishment Prisons Axes Gibbets and Stakes be a Blessing then the present King's landing was so to us We most humbly praise and magnifie thy most Glorious Name c. Having set out the Author of both our Deliverances and described them severally we next proceed to praise him for the Mercy and magnifie him for the Power which were so illustrious in these wondrous Works and they were so great Blessings to us that with the Royal Psalmist we declare No tongue can express our obligations (f) Psal XL. 7. CXXIX ver 17 18. Nemo dignè gratias agit nisi divinae gratiae magnitudinem attendit Greg. Mor. Now such extraordinary Favours deserve extraordinary Praises Mercies so often repeated merit reiterated and redoubled Acts of Gratitude a Day so signalized and singled out by Providence ought to be for ever solemnized with joy by all the true Sons of this Church The ruin whereof was twice intended and both times almost accomplished by Men of the same Principles and Temper and the same God prevented both these dreadful Mischiefs So that he who will not praise the Lord this Day for both may be justly suspected not to be truly thankful for either I know some do lessen our danger in the latter case by pleading That the late King's Promises his Good Temper and Interest would have hindred such severity as we apprehend But we
Battle like a swarm of enraged Bees (y) ira modum supra est laesaeque venenum Morsibus inspirant spicula caeca relinquunt Virg. Georg. l. 4. and how violently afterward they sought his Ruin it was a mighty wonder how he could escape them But he still trusted in Gods help when all human aid failed him and he did miraculously preserve him till their vehement Fury was extinguished like a sudden blaze of Fire among dry Thorns Ver. XIV XV XVI No Prince in the World could upon more just grounds than he declare the Lord to be his Defence none had more reason to praise him or own him for his Deliverer Who could have thought the Voice of Joy and Praise should ever more be heard in that oppressed scattered Royal Family This was so unexpected and surprising an event that nothing but the right hand of God which hath the preheminence above all for bringing mighty things to pass could have effected it Ver. XVII XVIII When his Danger was greatest and his Case at the lowest ebb he still hoped he should weather out the Storm and Live not only to see better Times but to declare his Goodness who then indeed corrected him for his amendment as a loving Father (z) Non erudit Pater nisi quem amat Hieron ad Celant ep 33. but never intended he should be destroyed his Foes had no Commission to touch his Life though they seized upon all that was his besides Ver. XIX XX XXI Wherefore as David after his troubles were over being advanced to the Throne on his Coronation Day went up to Mount Sion and made them open those Gates which just Men frequented for him to go into Gods House and Praise the Lord. So did our restored King go to the Church and offer up his Praises unto God who had heard his Prayers saved him from his Enemies and brought him in Peace to Reign over his own People Ver. XXII XXIII XXIV And truly it was very strange that this Prince which our Great Men had before Despised Excluded and Banished as unworthy and unfit to Govern should come to the Crown with such general Acclamations and extraordinary expressions of an Universal Joy (a) Putrum despexerunt aedificatores qui fuit inter Filios Jesse at meruit constitui Rex Chald. Parap No man could have devised or brought about so wondrous a Change it was the Lords doing and our admiration Oh what a joyful Day did God make that to us after so many years of Tyranny and Anarchy Faction and Impiety Misery and Confusion to see our rightful King the Defender of the True Faith happily restored So great was that Mercy that it is appointed to be a Festival Day in all succeeding Generations Ver. XXV XXVI And it ought now as it was then principally to be celebrated with Religious Exercises the King People and Priests mutually joyned in Prayers Hymns and Praises The King Prayed and said O Lord now thou hast set me over thy People help me to rule them justly The People answered O Lord send us Pease and Prosperity under so good a Prince The Priests welcomed Gods Anointed to his House and said Blessed and happy be our King that professeth the True Religion and comes to us by so special a Providence The King replied He wished and would endeavour the Church should flourish whose Prayers he believed would bring a Blessing on Him and his People Ver. XXVII XXVIII XXIX Then the Priests again broke forth into Praises and said God hath restored us the Light of his Gospel and brought us out of our late Miserable Darkness let us offer a multitude of Oblations of Praise on his Altars And while the Sacrifices were offering the King said Thou art my God who hast set me up to thee therefore and to thy Name let all the Praise and Thanks be given Finally all of them King Priests and People exhorted one another to Bless the Lord as well for the Greatness as for the Continuance of his Mercy Of which since we have many assurances also in our Times let us joyn with them and say Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Lessons 1st 2 Sam. XIX from Ver. 9. or Numb XVI 2d The Epistle of St. Jude § 5. GReat care hath been shewed in the choice of proper Lessons for this Occasion The First Lesson being part of 2 Sam. XIX is almost an exact Parallel to our Case and describes how after Absoloms Rebellion happily ended by his death the People universally resolved to bring back their Lawful King David and sent an honourable Message to him in his Exile to invite him back and he returned not only without any Opposition but by general Consent and to the great satisfaction of all his Subjects his Enemies begging his Pardon and his Loyal People only contending which part of them should shew themselves most forward in bringing their beloved Prince back or express the most Joy at his Return But if any new Practices make it necessary to reflect upon that Faction and Sedition which began the Rebellion the XVIth of Numbers is aded where the Example of Corah Dathan and Abiram doth very clearly set out the greatness of their Sin and the severity of their Punishment who oppose righteous and religious Governours The Second Lesson being the Epistle of St. Jude foretels the coming of false Teachers in the last days and describes their Hypocrisie in pretending to Piety while their Lives are notoriously Evil remarking particularly their railing at those in Authority and prophesying falsly for Reward But withal containing a Prophesie of their Fall and as the Character was exactly answered by some in those sad Times so the Prophesie was soon after fulfilled in their Ruin to warn all others not to be deceived by such Pretenders The Collects § 6. THe first of these is the very Form of Thanksgiving for restoring publick Peace at home which is fully explained before (b) Companion to the Temple Part II. §. 16. p. 408. And if we do but apply that which is there suited to all Occasions to this most eminent restoring of Publick Peace we cannot but make this Prayer with Understanding So that I shall only note that the Composers of these Offices did not affect needless Novelties but when the Old Liturgy had any Form suitable to a new Occasion they chose to retain it being ready to declare as David did of Goliahs Sword (c) 1 Sam. XXI 9. That there was none like it The Second Collect hath Three Parts 1st A Description of our Deliverance setting out 1. The Author of it O Lord God of our Salvation c. 2. The Evils from which we were delivered didst deliver us out of our miserable c. 3. The Means by which by restoring to us and to his c. 4. The Blessed Effects of it thereby restoring also c. 2ly The Return we make for it by 1. Thankful Acknowledgments
we are here before thee with all c. 2. Sacrifices of Praise and to offer up our Sacrifice c. 3. Promises 1. Of New Obedience to God Humbly beseeching thee to accept c. 2. Duty Loyalty to the King And promising in thee and for thee c. 3ly A Prayer for the Royal Family that they may be 1. Prosperous here Whom we beseech thee to bless c. 2. Eternally happy hereafter and to crown them with immortality c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 7. O Lord God of our Salvation who hast been c. After so great and happy a Change our first Duty is to look up to the Glorious Author of it even to the Lord who shews himself to be our God not only by preparing Eternal Salvation for us in the next World but by saving us out of many Troubles in this for which Cause David seems much delighted in giving him often the Title of the God of our Salvation (d) Psal LXV 5. and LXXIX 9. and LXXXVIII 1. And as no Land ever had a more illustrious Testimony of Gods gracious Favour than we (e) Psal LXXXV 1. So no Nation hath more reason to use this Title than ours Let us consider what miserable Confusions we were reduced to both in Church and State when our Ancient Governments in both were subverted We had undergon variety of Changes and tried every way but the right to settle us again Lords and Commons Commons alone Keepers of our Liberties a Lord General a Protector a Committee of Safety and a Supream Military Government which ended in plain Anarchy In the Church variety of Sects and Factions but nothing established the Order of the Clergy laid in Common the Articles of Faith Rites of Worship and Rules of Discipline utterly broken to pieces and all Religion left Arbitrary to every puisny Party yea to every whimsical Man till there was not so much as the Face of Unity or Order left among us Now to rescue us out of this Chaos and restore both Church and State of a sudden to their pristine Splendor was really a most miraculous Providence By restoring to us and to his own just and undoubted c. From the consideration of the Author of our Deliverance and the Evils we were freed from we regularly pass to observe the means by which this was effected which was the restoring our late gracious King Charles II. to his People and to his rightful Throne They had Murdered his Father upon false Pretences but his Son and undoubted Heir had done nothing that seemed to forfeit his Title nothing but open Violence and unjust Force excluded him (f) Vis colitur jurisque locum sibi vendicat ensis Sil. Ital. de Bel. Punic l. 2. Ambition and Covetousness backed with usurped Power did first banish him and then kept him out of possession and persecuted him who had done them no injury nor had he any Crime but his undoubted Right Which at last of it self overcame the Hearts of the whole Nation so that without any opposition his Enemies fell before him and he was restored again to the joy of the whole Nation who had been so long oppressed by the very Dregs of their own Fellow-subjects that they expressed an universal satisfaction to see their own King the Defender of the True Faith once more set over Gods Inheritance Restoring also unto us the publick and free profession c. As much as Eternity exceeds Time and the Soul excels the Body so much if possible should our Joy for Spiritual Good Things surpass that which respects our Temporal Advantages and doubtless that was the greatest Cause of all Pious Mens rejoycing at the Restauration that together with the rightful King the publick and free Profession of the right Religion was also restored 'T was Julian's policy to permit the Jews and all sorts of Hereticks to profess their several Religions and prohibit only the Orthodox Christians and our Oppressors imitated him for they Tolerated the vilest Sects the falsest Opinions and the absurdest ways of Worship nothing was Penal nothing Forbid and Persecuted but the old established Religion of this Church So that for many years some thousands of the best Christians could not joyn in the Publick Worship of God nor had they any regular Offices or Sacraments but what they could enjoy in private from Persons silenced and deprived of all means of subsistence Now it was so happy and so comfortable a Change to these to have the true Articles of Faith and Ancient ways of Worship restored with the Bishops the Liturgy and the holy Sacraments that nothing was so pleasing to their Souls as this The end for which Kings are advanced is to be Ministers of God to their People for good (g) Rom. XIII 4. Now the chiefest good that Christian People can have from a Prince is his protecting the True Religion his being a Nursing Father to the Church (h) Isai XLIX 23. and Custos utriusque Tabulae a Keeper of both Tables that is not only to see that every Man doth right to his Neighbour as the Second Table directs but that the True God alone is Owned Worshipped Rightly Reverenced and served by all as the First Table requires A just King is a great Blessing but if he profess and defend the True Religion also that makes him a double Blessing for then he fully answers the end of his Advancement to God and comes up to whatever good Subjects can desire Now this being our Case at the Restauration there was great reason for pious Men to express an extraordinary satisfaction yea those who had no concern for Religion or however for that established had temporal grounds to rejoyce because the State as well as the Church was restored to its former Peace and Prosperity Every private Man regained his just Rights the Prince was content to govern by Law and the Subjects were protected from Injuries at home and abroad Trade flourished Plenty every where abounded and there was a happy Peace given us to improve and enjoy all these Blessings (i) Dulce nomen est Pacis res verò ipsa jucunda tum salutaris Cicer Philip. 2. Now all this after a long War and all the Miseries attending it after Arbitrary and Illegal Uncertain and Violent Methods of Government and finally after such cruel Invasions of Liberty and Property as we had long smarted under must be very sweet and very grateful to all considering Men We are here now before thee with all due thankfulness c. Upon this prospect of our Deliverance and all its blessed effects we must ask David's Question What shall we return unto the Lord (k) Psal CXVI 11. And the Collect leads us to a threefold Return which all of us ought to make for so general a Blessing First to make a publick acknowledgment before Almighty God of his unspeakble Goodness herein and if we forget or neglect this our Ingratitude may
Vow sealed with horrid Imprecations (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Zelot ap Judaeos Philo. leg spec to murder S. Paul as he went towards the Hall of Judgment and first they acquainted their impious Priests with it who approved the Design and encouraged the Actors promising them no doubt if they were seized by the Guards and executed for this Heroick Zeal toward their Old Religion that they should merit Paradise at least for ridding the Church of such an Enemy Thus far the Stories agree But S. Paul was a private Man and their Fellow-Subject and they aimed at a single Sacrifice to their Rage Whereas these Plotters aim at a Gracious Prince their own Sovereign and at a thousand more Lives besides his yea as the Parliament is the Nation in Representative our Plotters seem inspired with the bloody Principles of Caligula (g) Utinam Pop. Rom. unam cervicem haberet Votum Caligul ap Suet. l. 4. p. 24. who wish'd he could cut off all the People of Rome at one stroke They were for destroying a thousand innocent Lives at once and subverting the Religion and the whole Government of the Nation and cutting off all that should oppose them So that the Scripture affords no parallel of such cruel and blood-thirstymen and we must be content with a Crime like it but in a far lower degree The first Collect. The first Collect consist of 1st A Memorial of past Providences observing 1st The Author of them Almighty God who hast in all ages c. 2ly The Objects of them 1. The Church 2. Kings in the miraculous and gracious deliverances c. 3. States 3ly The end of them viz. their safety from such Plots from the wicked Conspiracies c. 2ly An act of Praise for a special Providence to us relating 1st The Thanksgiving it self we yield thee our unfeigned thanks c. 2ly The grounds of it 1. The persons hereby delivered for the wonderful and mighty c. 2. The Evil escaped by Popish Treachery appointed c. 3. The aggravation thereof in a most barbarous c. 3ly An acknowledgment whence it came From this unnatural Conspiracy not our merit c. 4ly A Recognition to whom the Praise is due And therefore not unto us O Lord c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 7. ALmighty God who hast in all Ages shewed c. This Collect relates to our former deliverance and is introduced by observing that this was not the first time Heaven had shewed its Power and Mercy upon such occasions And it is very fit that a new instance of the Divine Goodness to us should revive in our grateful minds the memory of Gods Blessings though granted in ages long since past Time should never blot out their Remembranc especially when a later Act gives us occasion to call to mind all of the like kind For all these Providences aim at the same end that is by preserving righteous and religious Kings and States professing his holy and eternal Truth to preserve his Church and true Religion throughout all ages so that it is come down even unto our times The Old Testament records many Deliverances of the Jewish Church and State and of their Religious Kings David and Asa Jehosaphat and Hezekiah And ever since there were Christian Princes the Annals of the Church abound with Examples of their being preserved from the plots and malice of Jews and Pagans Hereticks and Infidels yea from all sorts of Traitors And the Reign of Queen Elizabeth alone of Blessed Memory is sufficient to confirm this Truth The Romanists hoping with her to destroy the Religion she professed often attempted her Life by poisoning and stabbing and sought to take away her Crown by frequent Rebellions at home and by a formidable Invasion from abroad but still Heaven manifestly defeated them and miraculously preserved Her We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for c. As their malice ended not with her Reign so neither did Almighty God cease his care When there was a fresh occasion by a new Plot against her Successor King James I. a new Providence delivered Him and gave us occasion with all joy and gratitude this day to own it by commemorating First the Persons designed to be destoyed viz. A Wise and Gracious Protestant King his Vertuous and Religigious Queen and their most Innocent and Hopeful Heir Prince Henry together with the whole Parliament consisting of the three Estates and all Officers and Attendants belonging to any of these (h) Parliamentum Curia apud nos suprema magnum trium ordinum Concilium vel Conventus ut cum Rege de rebus arduis consultent Somneri Glossar ap X. Script yea all whose business or curiosity on that solemn Day should bring them to that fatal place under which were privately laid such certain instruments of death as in one instant would have torn these poor Creatures into a thousand pieces and buried them all in the Ruins of that Ancient Senate-house If an implicite Faith and a blind Zeal could not work Prodigies it is scarce to be imagined how any thing in human shape could be so infatuated as to believe that God who hates robbery for a Burnt-offering (i) Isa LXI 8. can like some cruel Pagan Doemon be pleased with Murder or delight in a Sacrifice of Human Blood But they who are taught to renounce their Senses (k) Absit credere quae videmus Walt. Mahop de nugis curiae dist 1. c. 11. and must not believe that which they see tast and smell may easily be brought to abandon their Reason also and wretchedly imagine they oblige and serve God in exercising the greatest barbarity upon men To kill one innocent Man wilfully is a damning sin if the Eighth Commandment be one of Gods Eternal Laws but to kill so Many One of them their Sovereign some of them their Friends and Relations and all of them their Countrymen and Civil Neighbours and to do this in so sudden and merciless a manner and still to believe this barbarity to be meritorious is as the Collect notes a Wickedness that hath no parallel nor precedent in former Ages these Monsters staâ—â— single From this unnatural Conspiracy not our merit c. Those who could so long ruminate upon so unnatural a Plot and fortified themselves for it by profaning the Holy Sacrament of Peace and making that the Bond for Murder These would not have shrunk at the Execution And oh what a blessing was it â—hat these cruel Hands were not let loose God â—ne could and he did restrain them and this nor for our Merit for we were then as we are now a sinful nation They were discovered not by our foresight since it was hatched in the dark â—nd carried on closely almost to the very fatal minute But by Heavens never-sleeping and all-seeing Eye while they feared no stop and we apprehended no danger Then as happily as unexpectedly all was disclosed and prevented
saw none of these could hinder the French King at that very time from Ruining Persecuting Destroying and Banishing Millions of his Faithful Subjects only for sticking to their Religion and since that King was then the Example and Guide for our Court and we had the same bigotted Priests to advise here who had pursued those methods there we know they would absolve our Prince from all ties and four his own gracious Disposition and make his Interest stoop to theirs So that we had reason to expect every thing here that was done in France so soon as they had power enough to hope to effect it and therefore to escape this Evil was an unspeakable Mercy and deserves humble and hearty Praises We confess it has been of thy mercy alone that we c. This is the Second and Penitential Part of the Prayer we have seen God's dealing with us and now begin to reflect on our Carriage toward him And lest Pride or Conceit of our Merit should abate our Gratitude we own with the Prophet Jeremy That it is only his Mercy that prevented our ruin (g) Lam. III. 22. We declare we are so far from Merit that we cannot pretend to bare Innocence For both in that Age and this the Nations Sins were so great as to cry loudly to the Divine Justice to punish us and these our Enemies both then and now stood ready to be the Executioners of his Wrath a bare Permission had let them loose upon us So that we can find no reason in our selves why we were spared nay why we were not given up for a Prey to our enraged Foes who like hungry Wolves were ready with open Mouths to devour us The only reason was in God it was his Pity and Clemency which moved him to punish us less than our iniquities deserved (l) Psal CIII 10. Poenam si tuto poterit donare sin minus temperare solet Sen. de Clem. l. 1. c. 20. All things were prepared for our utter destruction God alone who had the justest cause to consent to it was unwilling and by this meer Mercy of his we escaped the ruin prepared for us And it is very proper to mind us of this while we are praising God for our Deliverances for the less we deserved them the more thankful we ought to be for them (m) Majoris precij beneficium est quod praestatur indignis Salv. de gab l. 4. As our unworthiness heightens and increases his kindness so it should add to our joy and gratitude Let the consideration of this thy repeated goodness c. But there must be something more returned for two such eminent favours than bare praises wherefore we beg that this goodness of God may lead us to repentance (n) Rom. II. 4. Otherwise though we have been twice spared and both times guilty Iniquity may and will be our ruin at last (o) Ezek. XVIII 30. He rescued us not to give us opportunity to commit more sins but to afford us time to gain a pardon for past Offences by Repentance It is the most provoking abuse we can be guilty of to make this impunity the encouragement to our Vices St. Paul calls this Despising the riches of his forbearance and long suffering and in that case it is not God who would gladly save us but we that treasure up wrath to our selves against the day of wrath (p) Rom. II. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aster hom in Psal 6. That is we force God either to send some sad Judgment upon us in this World or if not however he must condemn us in the next And alas it is no advantage to be reprieved from a temporal and reserved for eternal Death which without Repentance we cannot escape But further we must not only repent and cease to do evil but bring forth also good Fruits His former care of us must quicken our Faith and engage us to trust in him when any future dangers threaten us it must encrease our Love to him who is so sure and constant a Defence to us against all our Enemies designs And if our Faith be lively and our Love sincere they will certainly produce all holy Obedience (q) 1 Joh. V. 3. Whoever firmly believes that God alone is his Preserver in and from all perils and intirely loves him for it that man will continually strive to oblige Heaven to watch over him by all the Duties of Piety and Charity and by whatever he thinks will please this his Heavenly Father the Faith is not sound nor the Love sincere if it do not produce these Fruits And if we make this use of our Deliverances they will be doubly beneficial to us not only as they are temporal Mercies but as they become by this means a spiritual and an eternal Blessing to every single man who so improves them That thou maist still continue thy favour with c. Finally there is a publick motive to engage us to pray heartily and labour diligently for this sanctified use of these Mercies because this will oblige him to continue his Protection over this Church and Nation in all future times Our Enemies at present seem to want Power but their Malice and evil Will continues (r) Nulla laus est non facere quod facere non possis Salv. de gub l. 6. they wait and wish for an opportunity to bring us again into that Popish Darkness wherein our Fathers lay so long But if we walk according to the Light of the Gospel which shines brighter here than in any other Land Heaven will still baffle all their Plots And why should God keep this Light shining if we resolve to walk in Darkness however What are we better for a Holy Religion if it do not make us holy Let our lives therefore come up to our excellent Profession and let us of this pure reformed Religion resolve to lead very pure and reformed lives and then our Church shall never fail This we must endeavour this we must pray for through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Fourth Collect. The Fourth Collect contains 1st An Introduction respecting former Mercies O Lord who didst this day c. 2ly A Petition both for 1. Our Preservation and be thou still our mighty c. 2. Our Enemies disappointment and scatter our c. 3ly A Description of the means of their failing in their designs 1. By Gods preventing them infatuate and defeat c. 2. By the Kings punishing them strengthen the hands of our gracious c. 4ly A Prospect of the happy events of this 1. The humiliation of our Foes that they may never prevail c. 2. The Church and Nations safety but that our gracious c. 3. Our own freedom to serve God we may all duly serve thee c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 10. O Lord who didst this Day discover the Snares c. This is an Old Collect relating to the former Deliverance and removed to this
advanced and the Royal Family those of it especially who are Professors of the true Religion 'T is our Interest as well as our Duty to beg of Heaven to keep all these Corner Stones in our Building from such Plots and Conspiracies as were this Day twice discovered and prevented Secondly We pray that their Minds may be endued with internal Graces that they who are to defend our Faith may constantly profess it and they whose Example is to be the guide of our practice (k) Vita Principis perpetua censura est ad hanc dirigimur nec tam imperio nobis opus est quam exemplo Plin. paneg ad Trajan may be constant in the Fear and fervent in the Love of God under such Princes true Religion will be maintained Piety and Virtue rewarded Vice every where punished and discovered To such Princes for our own sakes we ought to wish all temporal Prosperity and we may rationally hope as well as earnestly desire that they shall and may after a long and happy Reign exchange their earthly fading Crown for a never fading Crown of Glory and Immortality All which may God grant through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Epistle Rom. XIII ver 1 7. § 12. THE two Designs this Day prevented the one of Subjects against a gracious King the other of a King against his peaceable Subjects shew this Epistle to be very fitly chosen for herein the Peoples Duty to their Prince is strictly enjoyned especially to so gentle a Prince as King James the 1st was to his Popish Subjects but so as the Princes Duty to his People is plainly supposed and made a Foundation for the arguments to obey Wherefore whatever subjection may be due to an evil Ruler other places of Scripture must shew us For that case is not so much as hinted here He who had the Supream Power then when this was writ was Gods Minister to the Christians for good One that did not persecute them but only punished evil Doers and rewarded such as did well Dr. Hammond thinks it was writ about the death of Claudius (l) Ham. Annot. on Ep. Rom. Praef. p. 438. Dr. Lightfoot saith it was writ in the beginning of Nero's Reign (m) Lightfoots Works Tom. 2. p. 1051. within that first five years wherein he ruled well to a Proverb whereas his Persecution began not till the eleventh year of his Reign for want of which observation many do run out into very improper Characters of Nero's cruelty and make such inferences from thence as contradict the Apostles reasoning here or at least quite mistake it This Epistle consists of Two Parts 1st An Exhortation to two special Duties 1. To be subject to Magistrates 1. The latitude of this Duty Ver. I. 2. The reasons for it 1. The Origi of their Authority Ver. I. 2. The sanction of it Ver. II. 3. The end of it 1. To good men Ver. III. 2. To evil men Ver. IV. 3. A conclusion from the premisses Ver. V. 2. To pay Tribute for their Care Ver. VI. 2ly A general direction concerning all Superiours Ver. VII A Paraphrase on this Epistle THAT none may pretend Christianity discharges them from their Allegiance I charge you Let every soul of whatever order or quality they be Rom. XIII 1. that live under any Government be subject to the Persons who are invested with the higher Powers that is in your case the Emperor Nor doth his being a Pagan excuse you For there is no man can attain to the Supreme power but he must have it from and of God who being the most High Lord of the whole World exalts Princes by his Providence and furnishes them with his Authority Wherefore you must not look at the Persons but at the original of their Authority and believe always that the Powers that be now or hereafter shall be supream are ordained of God they are his Delegates and Vice-gerents Ver. II. Whosoever therefore being a Subject resisteth those who have the Power and supreme Authority lodged in them by God He resisteth the Ordinance and declared Will (n) Nos judicium Dei suspicimus in Imperatoribus qui Gentibus illos praefecit Tert. Apol. cap. 32. of God and sins not only against the earthly Authority of Man but also against the Law and Command of God And therefore they that resist not only incur the penalty of human Laws here but they also shall receive to themselves damnation hereafter unless they repent in time Ver. III. You may perhaps object That these Supream Rulers may be Oppressors of the Innocent and cherish only evil Men who are the instruments of their Tyranny I reply This is contrary to their Commission and the end of their Institution For Rulers are not empowred or allowed by God to be a terror to them that are peaceable and do good works that is to such as you innocent Christians nor do they at this time persecute you for your Religion 'T is not to you therefore but to the Evil Doers who rebel and openly break their just Laws to whom they are appointed by God to be a Terror Wilt thou then who art a Christian live so as thou needest not to be affraid of the Power vested in the chief Magistrate live peaceably and do that which is good as the Laws require and thou shalt have not only Protection but also Rewards and praise of the same Ruler from whom the Turbulent justly fear Punishment especially if he Act according to Gods direction from whom all his Power came Ver. IV For God certainly aimed at the good of the People (o) Adrianus Aug. Promisit Se ita imperium administraturum ut sciret populi rem esse non propriam Spart in vit pag. 36. in setling a King over them his Power could not be given him to oppress For he is by his Institution designed to be the Minister of God and appointed in his stead to thee who livest innocently for good and he then only exercises the Authority given him by his great Master when he rewards Virtue and punishes Vice (p) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. in loc p. 129. So that this Power derived from God cannot hurt thee while thou art good But if thou do that which is evil and breakest the Laws thou hast reason to be affraid he should punish thee For he beareth not the Sword he hath not the Power of punishing given him in vain Doubtless he hath a just right to cut off Evil Doers For he is in this case also the Minister of God armed with his Power and appointed to be a revenger to execute the sentence dictated by just Wrath upon him that doth evil therefore let none of you be Malefactors Ver. V. To conclude You are taught the Magistrates Power both of rewarding and punishing is from God Wherefore ye Christians must needs be subject to their lawful Commands not only for fear of provoking them to wrath and to avoid human punishments but for
restored and setled that neither the Force nor Fraud used in the next Reign could deprive us of them Had the Martyr given up our Church or our Liberties to be for ever destroyed by consenting to any wicked Law (l) Psal XCIV 20. or his Son made our Religion and Rights the Condition of his Restauration probably we had been eternally deprived of both But God prevented both these dismal Evils Wherefore the most sincere Gratitude from the bottom of our hearts (m) Ex initimis cordis penetralibus is due to his holy Name which therefore every good Protestant and true Englishman is bound this day to pay Beseeching thee still to continue thy gracious c. That which makes a Royal Family dear to the Nation is not barely their own Right but their being what God intends them the Ministers of God to them for good (n) Rom. XIII 4. Meque non solum officio publico debitas pendere precas sed officio privato D. Ambros ep ad Grat. The Martyrs first Son was beloved by all because he restored their Liberties and their Religion But we have seen an Experiment since that when one of that Family attempted on these two dear things nothing could make his People believe him to be a Blessing However blessed be God we have now the Martyrs Grandchild one of the same Royal Family on the Throne who keeps up and defends our True Religion and Old Monarchy Wherefore it is fit we should now turn our Praises into Prayers for the Prosperity of all the Branches of this Royal House but especially for him who hath reduced our Religion and Rights to that very state to which his Grandfather of Blessed Memory did though in vain alas attempt to bring them He ventured his Life and Fortune to rescue us and hath Power and Courage to keep off Foreign Foes Prudence and Conduct to suppress Domestick Designs Why should we not therefore pray that his Reign may be long which will lengthen our Felicity and happy since we are sure to share in the Felicities of it He is a Father to his People and a true Friend (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Xen. Cyropaed lib. 6. and therefore we are bound in interest as well as Duty to wish him long Life and Victory Prosperity and Peace So we that are thy People will give thanks c. Gods People and the Sheep of his Pasture can never be more obliged than by his giving them a King who professeth practiseth and defends the True Religion So that since this is our case we may well conclude with a Vow of Gratitude So that we promise him to praise him for our times if he will continue this King to reign over us while we live and we doubt not but our Posterity so long as they have any sense of the Value of True Religion and Legal Right will count it an inestimable Blessing to have such a King as secures both and therefore we promise and engage for their Gratitude who will receive the advantage (p) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutar. de educ Principis we make no question but their Duty and Interest both will engage them as David on a like occasion speaks (q) Psal LXXIX 14. to continue to shew forth the Praises of God in all succeeding Generations through Jesus Christ our Lord by whose intercession we and they obtain this mighty Favour of a good King And may God accept his Intercession and our Prayers for so great and so lasting a Blessing Amen There is nothing more in this part of the Office but the old Collect upon the fifth Sunday after Trinity which desires that the Changes in Government may make none in Religion and that there may be Peace in the State to give the Church more freedom to Pray and serve God devoutly But it is so apparently proper I need not to apply it Only I shall note that by a special Providence this very Collect hapned to be used and was answered a little before the late Revolution when we were in the dubious expectations of an almost hopeless Deliverance Anno 1688. THE Evening Prayer FOR THE XXXth of January § 1. NOthing is new in this Part but the Psalms the Lessons and three Collects The Proper Psalms are three the two former relating to the Miseries of the Civil War (a) Psal LXXIX Psal XCIV The third which is therefore out of its usual order set last respecting the happy Change at the Restauration (b) Psal LXXXV Psal LXXIX contains Five Particulars 1st A relation how Gods People suffered in 1. Their Religion Ver. I. 2. Their Persons Ver. II III. 3. In their good Name Ver. IV. 2ly An Expostulation with God on this Occasion Ver. V. 3ly Prayers 1. For Justice on the Evil-doers Ver. VI VII 2. For Pardon and Help to the Sufferers Vr. VIII IX 4ly Motives to both requests 1. The former 1. Their Insolence Ver. X. 2. Gods Vindication Ver. XI 2. The latter 1. Pity to the Pious who yet remained alive Ver. XIII 2. Justice to the Evil who presumed by Impunity Ver. XIII 5ly A Vow of lasting and constant returns of Praise Ver. XIV Brief Notes upon the LXXIXth Psalm Ver. I II III IV. THis Psalm begins with a lively description of the Miseries of Jerusalem upon the sacking thereof by the King of Babylon and if David writ it he did it by the Spirit of Prophecy However 't is very applicable to our sad Condition during the Civil War only the Jews suffered by Heathens we by such whose deeds were worse than Pagan while they called themselves Christians (c) Quid verba audiam cum facta video Cicero de Graccho Tusc qu. lib. 3. p. 376. Unbelievers and Hypocrites have the same Portion in the next World (d) Mat. XXIV 51. compar'd with Luke XII 42. and we may joyn them here For our pretended Saints but real Infidels outdid the Assyrian Heathens defiled our Churches making them Stables for Horses and Guard-houses for worse Brutes destroyed many Towns and fair Pallaces reducing goodly Castles to be heaps of Ruins They murdered vast numbers of the Kings faithful Subjects stript them and left them in the field unburied But in this they exceeded those Heathens for these seized upon their own lawful Prince and under pretence of zeal murdered him a Fact forbid by all civilized Nations to kill a King of another Country though taken in a just War (e) Benè mojores nostri hoc compara verunt ut nullum regem quem armis cepissent vitâ privarent Cicer. ad Herâ—nn l. 4. Quis unquam Princeps captum Principem trucidavit Petr. de Vineis ep 39. p. 233. but never done in any reformed Country before This made our Nation therefore very infamous to all foreign Lands and a derision to Papists more especially who charged this falsly upon the Reformation This revived the old Scandal upon the Barbarous Britains that they were only
valiant for Civil War And if any of their Princes were more Pious and Gracious than the rest they all combined against him as the subverter of their Country (f) Fortes ad Bella civelia Si quis principum mitior in hunc quasi Britanniae subversorem omnium odia telaque torquebantur Gildas de excid Britan. This verified that Reproach which a Foreigner in the last Age said of the English That we were a stubborn and unruly People whose custom it was often to kill our Kings (g) Textor Officin Tit. Siti Fame Mortui p. 156. h. And in a word this horrid Cruelty and impudent Hypocrisie made our Country-men hated and abused all over Christendom Ver. V VI VII But the whole Nations Fame ought not to be blasted for the faults of a few We had very many good Men who expostulated with God for correcting his best Servants so severely and begged he would turn his Indignation against his Enemies who had committed blacker Crimes than were to be found among the most savage Heathens who did not so much as know nor pretend to worship God for these had (h) Mitius inveni quam te genus omne ferarum Ovid. Parcit cognatis maculis fera murdered their rightful Sovereign and their Fellow-subjects yea and laid waste their own native Country Ver. VIII IX X. These holy men in those sad times bewailed both their Sins and their Misery They confessed their old Offences in the days of Peace and Plenty and earnestly begged pardon for them They most importunately prayed for speedy help and deliverance from the Iron Rods of these Insolent Tyrants whose success in Wickedness had made them despise the Righteous Cause of the King and the Church and they insulted over both as if God had forsaken them (i) Theodosius in praelio contra barbaros recitat hunc versum viz. Psal LXXIX 10. Et Deus dat ei insperatam victoriam Ruffin hist lib. XI cap. 33. and this reflexion upon Gods Honour pierced their hearts deeper than all their other sorrows and sufferings Ver. XI XII XIII These righteous Souls vexed at the open and barefaced Violence and Cruelty of those Atheistical Hypocrites and troubled at the Righteous Blood they had spilt Prayed for speedy Judgments upon the Guilty which might for the Honour of God be as Publick as their Crimes And for such as they had unjustly shut up in Prisons the Confessors in our Martyrs Cause whose Blood was designed a Sacrifice but they were yet alive They interceded with God to rescue them out of their Persecutors hands Finally As to those of the Roman Communion who reproach and blaspheme thy True Religion as if that or its Professors were guilty of this Murder (k) The Royal Martyr affirms that none was active in th s War that was a true Lover of the Protestant Religion established in England 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Letter to the Prince p. 235. Thou who knowest the fashood of this Charge and their treasonable Doctrines and Practices they wished they might be severely punished (l) Gen. IV. 15. Septies pro poenâ gravissimâ as so foul a Calumny justly deserves Ver. XIV And upon Gods gracious hearing and answering these Prayers they promise that they and their Posterity who were Gods peculiar People and under his special Care would Praise his Name and Publish his Glory from Age to Age. Which Promise of our Innocent Ancestors We who have seen their Desires fulfilled are bound this day to keep and so we close this Psalm with our Glory be to the Father c. Psal XCIV is upon the same Subject and consists of Seven Parts 1st A Prayer to God to exert his Justice Ver. I II. 2ly A Complaint for his seeming to defer it Ver. III IV. 3ly A Description 1. Of his Enemies evil Deeds Ver. V VI. 2. Of their vain Hopes to escape Ver. VII 4ly A Confutation of those hopes 1. From Gods Omniscience Ver. VIII IX 2. From his Justice on others Ver. X XI 5ly An Exhortation to Patience from 1. The Comfort of that Grace Ver. XII XIII 2. The Certainty of Deliverance Ver. XIV XV. 3. The Assurance of Aid Ver. XVI 6ly A Declaration of his Faith by 1. Remembring former Mercy to him Ver. XVII XVIII XIX 2. Considering the Reason why it was unlikely God should help them Ver. XX. XXI 7ly A Conclusion full of hope both that 1. God would support him Ver. XXII 2. And also punish them Ver. XXIII Brief Notes upon the XCIVth Psalm § 2. Ver. I II III IV. WHen the Pious Mourners for our Royal Martyr saw those who had shed his Blood and seized his Dominions were grown so proud with long impunity they called to mind that Vengeance belonged to God (m) Rom. XII 19. and that he was the Supream Judge of the World (n) Gen. XVIII 25. wherefore they justly appealed to him who seemed to sleep while he spared these bold Sinners and laboured to awaken his Justice by their importunate Cries They joyned with their Martyred Friends in Heaven and said (o) Rev. VI. 10. How long O Lord holy and true c. Their Triumphs over oppressed Innocence and proud boasting of their prosperous Crimes were so provoking that they could not but expostulate with Heaven for a seeming delay of Justice (p) Luke XVIII 3. Importunus vincâ—t â—â—lum quanto magis bâ—â—tatem mundi Liâ—r San. hedr. in Talm. â—ol 105. and the Calamity being so intolerable excused the Importunity and the Complaint also For they bragged God was on their side and impiously appointed days of publick Thanksgiving (q) Quotiens fagas caedes â—ussit Princess tetiens grates Dijs actaâ— quaeque rerum secundarum olâ—â— tam publicae cladis insigma fuisse Tacit Annal. l. 14. p. 1007. as often as they had success in their wicked Cruelties being so far from repenting or pitying the innocent Sufferers that they despised the Righteous but Afflicted Cause Ver. V VI VII Who can blame them in this Case for setting out the matter of Fact before the supream Judge Wherefore they declare that these wicked Men had slain and cut off many good Christians by the Sword and the Ax and had disquieted this Land where the true Religion was professed with an Unnatural Civil War And when they had made many Widows and Fatherless without any regard to Heaven which is wont to avenge their Cause (r) Exod. XXII 22. Duo ista nomina in quantum destâ—tuta humano auxilio in tantum divinae misericordiae exposita suscipit tuâ—ri Pater onâ—mum Tert. ad Ux. l. 1. p. 166. they starve them by plunder and Sequestrations Yet after all they are so miserably blinded and hardned as to boast that they shall never be accountable to God for this Cruelty and Injustice and because thy Sentence O Lord is not yet executed they think they shall finally escape Ver. VIII IX X XI But this is an imagination as
place because what we Hoped for in the former Collect is directly Prayed for in this and the Petitions are very properly introduced by the consideration of God's Omniscience in discovering and of his Omnipotence in defeating that Horrid Plot upon this Day which had secretly laid the cruel snares of Death for our King our Prince and Nobles For God's First Favours are generally given freely without any reason in us but his Second are added only because he had been kind before (r) Math. XXV ver 29. When his free Grace hath made us instances of his Favour he afterwards preserves us for his own Glory as the Monuments of his eminent Goodness And whereas our Foes have but two ways to hurt us either by secret Plots or by open Force Our Lord that we trust in and pray to is furnished with infinite Wisdom to find out the one and with as infinite Power to dash the other wherefore we go on and say Be thou still our mighty Protector and scatter c. We have owned his Ability to protect us and remembred a great instance of his willingness and thus encouraged we proceed to beg of him when our Enemies who delight in Blood unite and combine against us for our destruction that he will effectually scatter them (s) Psal LXVIII ver 30. That is in the Hebrew Phrase subdue and conquer them (t) Psal LXVIII 1 14. LXXXIX ver 10. because an Army is then only formidable when it is united in one intire Body For when the Union is broken and the Ranks disordered though the number be whole the force is gone and it is easily routed and overcome (u) Periculum enim ab hostibus semper gravissinium sustinet divisus inordinatus exercitus Veget de re milit l. 1. c. 9. This is our first request when our Foes think themselves strong enough to attempt our ruin by open violence and raise Armies or set out Fleets to destroy us Secondly If they proceed by close Cabals secret Plots and deep laid Counsels to obtain the same end we pray that God may infatuate their Minds so that they may mistake their Measures and notwithstanding their pretences to Politicks may be so blinded (w) Praevalebant jam fata consilijs omnemque animi ejus vim perstrinxerint c. Vellei Paterc de Varo as to imagine those methods will end in our subversion which prove the direct way to their undoing This is often the Fate of such as God hates for their wicked designs they become ridiculous by being taken in their own Snares And one would hope his confounding their Devices in this manner should abate their Pride which possessed them with a vain hope of success and abate their Malice which whets them on to new Plots But when the discovery of their old Project by Gunpowder in our Fathers days hindred not their making a new Attempt in our days We see this Prayer that hath been made for 80 years together was heard and they failed and were bafled a second time Strengthen the Hands of our gracious Sovereign King WILLIAM c. We wish the observing how God fights against them and for us might be a warning to them and when they have bought wit by two dreadful experiments (x) Prov. I. 17. Jumenta cum locum ubi semel lapsa sunt semper cavere solent Dux Polar ad Leg. Rom. Avent Annal. l. 3. p 1â—8 that they might never more think of such bloody and impracticable Projects But if they still go on if visible divine disappointments will not reclaim them we pray that human punishments may light upon them and that our gracious King may cut them off either in the field if they use open hostility or by the hands of Justice if they be convicted of new Plots For God hath put the Sword into the Magistrates Hands for this end that he may cut off all such workers of iniquity (y) Rom. XIII 5. He would bear it in vain if he did not use it in such a case The Roman Magistrates as Plutarch notes had Rods and Axes born before them the former to correct lesser the latter to cut off incorrigible Offenders but both tied up to prevent too hasty punishment (z) Plutarch Quaest Rom. p. 183. Now such as will take no warning from God or Man such as make their Faith a pretence to stir up Faction in the Church and believe their Religion warrants them to murder Princes and massacre whole Nations as the bigotted Romanists do (a) Rom Religionis tractare sibi videtur quisquis in Henricum Imp. arma produceret Malms de gest reg l. 3. fol. 64. Vide item Philopator §. 2. p. 144. 146. these as Limbs incurably gangren'd must be cut off or no Prince can be secure of his Crown and Life no People of their Liberties Lives or Fortunes This Principle once imbibed will prepare a desperate Zealot to execute the blackest design that Hell can invent and he will hope to merit Heaven by it This Notion put the Jews upon crucifying Christ and all the Persecutors upon those Inhumanities they exercised on the Christian Marttyrs (b) Joh. XVI 2. And Mahomet excited his Turks to delight in Christian blood by assuring them that to murder them was the way to please God (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sylbuâ—g Satac p. 85. What wonder is it that the Donatists ventured their lives to kill St. Augustine when their Leaders had taught them this was certainly the way to procure remission of all their sins (d) Possidor vit D. Augustin cap 9. Nothing can convince men who implicitly believe in such Guides who tell them the high road to Hell is the certain way to Heaven and none are to be spared but such as it may be hoped will amend These therefore are ripe for Justice it is no cruelty to such Malefactors to cut them off but it is Mercy to many millions of innocent people to dispatch such out of the way and if a Pardon set them loose to do more mischief (e) Non sum crudelis sed vereor ne quod remiscro patiar Petron. Arb. Satyr he that releases them is answerable for their future crimes But that our gracious Sovereign and his Realms c. And now 't is time to excite our selves to put up these Petitions very heartily by a Prospect of the great advantages the King and we shall reap by the prevailing of these Requests For First By this Means our King will be kept in the true Religion and a late instance hath taught us how sad a Judgment it is for a Reformed Nation to have their King perverted to the Roman Faith If we can remember what we feared and felt then we cannot but pray we may never see the like case again in England where that Religion is so odious that if a King profess it and attempt to establish it the fatal consequence must be his own
or his peoples ruin Secondly As these Kingdoms are now generally Protestant we pray that we may be preserved and protected in that Holy Religion which is the same that Christ and his Apostles and all Orthodox Primitive Fathers taught agreeable to our civil Constitution and the certain way to make us and our Posterity happy both here and hereafter Whereas the Roman Doctrine is Corrupt their Worship Idolatrous their Government a heavy Yoke that neither our Fathers were (f) Vid. Angliae Gravamina in Fascicul rer expetend Tom. II. pag. 415. nor we ever can be able to bear So that the success of these Requests will be a mighty Blessing both to Prince and People And Finally We own that every private Christian will have great advantage thereby for then we may all duly serve God we may freely and without interruption come to his House and enjoy his Ordinances which are Purely and Primitively administred there Yea and this mighty Blessing being continued our comfort in that Providence which preserves this Holy Religion will oblige us continually to render Publick Thanks and Praise to him that doth preserve and continue it through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Fifth Collect. The Fifth Collect consists of three Parts 1st A Preface owning 1. Gods Eeternal Power Eternal God and our most c. 2. Our own unworthiness we thy unworthy Servants 2ly a Double Acknowledgment 1. Of the Old Deliverance described 1. By the Author of it acknowledging thy power c. 2. The Persons preserved in preserving the King c. 3. The praises due for it make us we beseech thee c. 2. Of the latter shewing 1. The time when particularly for making c. 2. The meanes by which it was accompliâ—hed we bless thee forgiving his Majesty c. 3ly Petitions for the King and Royal Family begging for them 1. Deliverance and outward safety continue we beseech thee c. 2. Piety and inward Grace preserve them in thy Faith 3. Temporal Prosperity here prosper his Reign with long c. 4. Eternal Glory hereafter and crown them with everlasting c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 11. ETernal God and our most mighty Protector c. On this Prayer we may be the briefer since we have inlarged on both the Deliverances here commemorated before We might justly be discouraged considering how many Years our Enemies have by restless Endeavours and variety of Designs laboured to extirpate Our Religion and set up Theirs But we remember our God lives for ever he is Eternal he ever was is and will be able to defeat them and save us (g) Omnia quae mutantur desinunt esse quod erant incipiunt esse quod non erant Esse verum non habet nisi qui non mutatur D. Aug. in Exod. III. 13. Let them by their Interest abroad and Insinuations at home draw in never so many to assist them our Protector is mightier than their United Force and we hope he will employ his Eternal and Infinite Power for our Defence because we are his Servants believing as he hath taught and worshiping as he hath directed us in his Holy Word 'T is true we are very unworthy Servants to so good a Master too apt to offend him by our disobedience and to disoblige him by our ingratitude and distrust But since he is pleased to be favourable to us still in a deep sense of his goodness and our unworthiness we do this Day come to his House and on our bended Knees acknowledge both our Deliverances We declare that three of his glorious Attributes were very visible in the former His Power in breaking that horrid Design his Wisdom in letting it run on almost to the last Minute till the Principal Actor was taken so prepared for the Fact that it could not be denied And Finally His Goodness in saving so many eminent and innocent Persons from the suddenest and horridest Destruction that ever was invented Make us we beseech thee truly thankful for this c. Perhaps some may think our Forefathers were but we are not obliged to give Thanks for this Mercy But let it be considered if this Plot had succeeded our Nation had been subjected to a foreign Power and our Religion extirpated here so that we had sucked in Slavery and Popery with our Mothers Milk We owe the Liberty that we now enjoy and the Faith we at this day profess to the Discovery and Prevention of this dreadful Plot wherefore as long as this Church and Government endures we must be thankful throughout all Ages upon this happy Day especially since God hath now refreshed our Memories by another Deliverance from the same sort of Enemies upon the very same Day If our Ancestors only had received evidences of his infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness we might have had some excuse but when we needed the assistance of the same Attributes they were exerted again for our rescue Let us therefore heartily praise his Holy Name We bless thee for giving his Majesty that now is c. This is a grateful owning the Means of our Second Deliverance which was his present Majesty's Arrival he loved our Religion pitied to see us and it like to be oppressed was nearly concerned by his Title to the Succession to keep all right here and therefore generously ventured his Life and Fortune to rescue us Our Enemies hoped the Waves would have swallowed him and a bare rumour of that made them cry high and violent as ever to convince us it was not love to us but fear of him that made them seem to desist (h) Quae quia non potuit non facit illa facit Ovid. am l. 3. cl 4. But Heaven set him safe on shoar and then their next Resolve was to expel him again by Force but no considering Protestants could be found willing to destroy their Deliverer nor to fight against their own Religion and Liberties and thus all opposition fell before him and that unhappy Prince who had deserted the God of his Father was deserted by his Army and then secretly deserted the Nation leaving us no other Choice but to remain in Anarchy to stay till he should return with foreign Force Or to put the next undoubted Heir with her Consort our Deliverer a near Branch of the same Royal House into the Vacant Throne And the last expedient was pitcht upon as the only means of our safety by the unanimous consent of the far greatest part of the Kingdom Wherefore those who truly love their Religion and their Civil Rights do justly rejoyce that there is so powerful and faithful a Friend to both by so signal a Providence now reigning over us Continue we beseech thee to protect and defend him c. As we believe this Revolution was conducted by Providence we have just cause to pray with holy David That God would establish the thing he hath wrought for us (i) Psal LXVIII 28. and preserve both this King whom he
Conscience sake and in obedience to the holy Law of God who hath advanced them for excellent ends even to keep off great evils and do much good (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. to thee and many others Ver. VI. Upon the same Principles of Conscience and Gratitude is your submitting to publick payments grounded For for this cause pay you Tribute also as an acknowledgment of their Supreme Authority and a just reward for their care in defending your Persons and Properties from publick and private Injuries (r) Nec quies gentium sine armis neque arma sine stipendijs neque stipendia sine tributis haberi queunt Tacit. An. lib. 4. The Gospel enjoyns you to pay these to Princes For they are Gods Ministers in this part of their Office also And as their time and pains are employed in attending continually on this very thing So Subjects are bound in justice to requite them for it and as they cannot govern and defend us without Tribute it would be wicked and ungrateful in us to deny it Ver. VII In a word you Christians are obliged in Conscience to give all sorts of Superiors that which is due to them by the Law of Nature or the Constitutions of your own Country Render therefore to all that are above and over you what is thus made their Due and particularly you must pay Tribute for your Persons and Lands to them to whom Tribute is due by Law and Custom for Wares and Merchandise to them to whom Custom is due by the Constitutions of the State To the Magistrates who have power to punish shew reverence and Fear for these are they to whom Fear is due And to all that are in any Dignity yea to all your betters give honour and respect these being they to whom honour justly belongs The Gospel St. Luke XI 51 56. § 13. THE design of this Gospel is to correct the unruly effects of mistaken zeal for Religion shewing that our Faith if it be never so true cannot warrant us to destroy all those that differ from us For Jesus who was the Truth it self when he was inhumanly used by the Samaritans out of meer Spite and Malice to the Jewish Religion then professed by our Saviour would not allow his Disciples so much as to wish Fire might come from Heaven upon these unnatural Miscreants Much less will he allow Popish Subjects unprovoked to plot the fetching Fire as it were from Hell to destroy their Soveraign and many hundred Innocents more only for being of a different Faith And by the same Rule it appears that Christ would not permit a Prince who had sworn to protect his Subjects to oppress ruin and persecute them purely for being of another Religion Whoever gives Subjects or Kings such counsel and calls it zeal for holy Church to rebel or persecute (s) Non est Religionis cogere Religionem Tert. ad Scap. they are led by the evil Spirit who was a Murderer from the beginning not by the Spirit of Christ they are false Teachers and Corrupters of the Rules of Christianity This Gospel gives the History of 1st Our Saviours 1. Intent to keep an holy Feast Ver. LI. 2. Care to be accommodated Ver. LII 2ly The Affront put on him by the Samaritans Ver. LIII 3ly His Disciples deep resentment thereof Ver. LIV. 4ly His own 1. Dislike of their mistaken Zeal Ver. LV. 2. His reason for that dislike Ver. LVI 3. His practice on that Occasion Ibid. A Paraphrase on this Gospel St. Luke IX 51. AND it came to pass A little before our Lords Passion when the time was drawing nigh and almost come that he should leave this World and be received up again with glory into Heaven Being then in Galilee he stedfastly resolved to keep the Passover and so set his face (t) 2 Kings XII 17. Phras signif Omnia fecit quo crederetur se iturum toward and was on his Journey to go to Ierusalem though he knew what he was to suffer there Ver. LII Now in his way from Galilee to Jerusalem he must pass through the Country of the Samaritans (u) John LV. 4. whose bitter aversion to the Jews he knew (w) Justinus M. olim Samaritan de sciâ—â—s o. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apol. 2. pag. 61. intending therefore to give them no trouble but for one Nights Lodging He chose out and sent Messengers probably James and John before his face that they might not be surprized and they went and entred into a village belonging to the Country of the Samaritans intending to make ready the Provisions they had brought for him and procure him a Bed for one Night Ver. LIII But so hot was their blind Zeal for a false Religion (x) Quibus nec Pontifex nec Templum Tert. de Samarit that his Disciples were denied the use of an House And they did not receive him so much as into their Town but though it was late and our Saviour weary they most inhumanly turned him out without any other reason for it but because he set his face as though he would go to Ierusalem to keep there the Passover For perceiving by this he was of the Jewish Religion which they hated they thought they were bound in Conscience to refuse him the most common favour Ver. LIV. And when two of his Disciples Iames and Iohn who intirely loved their Master saw this barbarous rudeness in the Samaritans they said out of indignation against them and as they imagined true zeal for Jesus Lord wilt thou suffer such inhuman wretches to go unpunished We know thy Power and crave thy Leave that we in thy Name may command fire to come down from Heaven where thy Father dwells to destroy and consume them this moment and warn others that they may not dare to injure and affront thee for why may not we do as Elias did (y) 2 Kings I. 10. RR dicunt Deum sustulisse Eliam ob iracundiam dicendo Non expedit hominbus ille cui tantum zeli inest perderet enim cos Maimon praef ad Pirk. Ab. c. 7. upon a less provocation since a greater than Elias is here Ver. LV. For which zealous Design tending so evidently to Christs Honour and the confusion of a false Religion they expected such commendation and encouragement as the Romish Priests gave their People in the former and their Prince in the later Plot. But He turned back looked angrily on them and rebuked them sharply for their folly and dangerous mistake And said Do you take this for a motion of my Spirit and think it a just Zeal for me and your Religion to wish such dreadful Vengeance on those who are of a different Persuasion I tell you 't is Bloody Rage not Piety and a Motion not of the Holy but the Evil Spirit I find you know not what manner of Guide you follow nor what kind of spirit you are of it is the Devil who blows you up into
this fury Ver. LVI You hear my Preaching and see my Example both which tend only to Patience and Meekness forbearing and forgiving and winning all that differ from me by Love and Gentleness so that Cruelty and Force cannot suit the end of my coming now For the son of man in this dispensation of the Gospel is not come to destroy mens lives by his Power and Justice that is the business of his last coming to Judgment on the finally Impenitent your Motion therefore is very incongruous now since I am not come to send men quick to Hell but to save them and bring them by Mercy to Heaven Being thus checkt Christ passed by the Affront and they with him late though it was went to another village inhabited by the Jews The Sentence at the Offertory S. Mat. VII 12. WHatsoever ye would c. As this Sentence relates to giving in Charity at the Collection which should always be made this Day in acknowledgment of Gods Mercy I have considered it before (z) Comp. to the Altar §. 6. p. 30. But I must note it is very proper for this Day and contains a Method to prevent such evil Designs as we have been twice on this Day rescued from For if those Priesâ— who encouraged the Gun-powder Traitors had been asked Whether it were lawful for Protestant Subjects out of a zeal for their Religion to plot the Death of a Popish King his Heirs and his Nobles and to contrive afterward to set up their Faith by a violent Persecution of the far greatest part of their fellow Subjects doubtless they had answered No. Had it been enquired of the late Kings Confessors Whether it were lawful for a Protestant King reigning over a Country of the Roman Communion to break his Oath and Promises to his Catholick Subjects imprison their Bishops for an humble Petition turn men out of their Freeholds only for their Conscience and finally to resolve to impose the Reformed Religion by force on a Nation which generally hated it This had been certainly answered also in the Negative Wherefore since other men love their Religion Liberties and Lives as well as Roman-Catholicks they should not have advised their Votaries to do that against a Protestant Prince or Nation which they would not have these do against them (a) Quod quis in se approbat id in alio reprobare non possit L. in arenam Cap. de inoffic testum So that this single Rule impartially weighed had prevented both these wicked Projects and if duly followed will keep all Parties from Cruelty and Oppression The Sixth and Last Collect. The Last Collect hath four Parts 1st A Preface setting out the Glory of God O God whose name is excellent in all c. 2ly A Memorial of two great deliverances 1. From secret Mischief who on this Day didst miraculously c. 2. From open Violence and on this Day also didst begin to give c. 3ly A return of hearty Praises for both we bless and adore thy glorious Majesty c. 4ly A Prayer that they may produce in us 1. Love and Gratitude to God and we humbly pray that the devout c. 2. Submission to the King a Spirit of peaceable submission and c. 3. Zeal for the true Religion a Spirit of fervent zeal for our holy c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 14. O God whose name is excellent in all the Earth c. This Collect begins with the words of one of Davids laudatory Hymns (b) Psal VIII 1. And they seasonably mind us that such eminent Deliverances of so famous a Church and Nation by so visible a Hand of Providence are not only famous among us but God is glorified for them in all foreign Lands they that live in the farthest ends of the Earth see and hear of this Salvation of God (c) Psal XCVIII ver 4. His Praise on so great an Occasion is so far from being confined to the narrow compass of our Island that this lower World cannot contain it (d) Tanta enim est gloria tua ut in hoc Orbe centinâ—ri nequit Vid. Gejer. in Psal 8. He sets his Glory above these visible Heavens For no doubt the holy Angels do sing Hallelujahs to his Honour when he so remarkably delivers and protects innocent and holy Men who are their special charge and discovers and punishes the wicked And methinks the prospect of the Joy and Gratitude of all other Reformed Churches and the Praises of Angels who are only engaged by their Charity to rejoyce with and for us should excite us whose Ancestors and our selves have been the Objects of these Divine Favours and who still enjoy the happy Effects of them to give Thanks most sincerely and fervently Who on this Day didst most miraculously preserve c. These being distinct parts of the Office we ought in every of them to remember these two Deliverances and in variety of Expressions to repeat our Gratitude We may here consider that the first time our Preservation was wrought miraculously for the Plot was laid so secretly and discovered so strangely that nothing lesâ— than a Miracle of Divine Omniscience could have brought it to light The Ruin also was intended against both Church and State our Religion and Government were resolved to be altered by the most violent methods after the fatal Blow was given The Plot was contrived by those of the Romish Church the implacable Enemies of the whole Reformation and especially of this Regular and Flourishing Part of it the Malice that inspired the Conspirators was so Diabolical that nothing but Hell could be the Original of it Now for so many Millions so excellent a Church so happy a Nation to escape from the merciless rage of such Foes doubtless is a great Mercy As to the second the danger was equally great but only it was more open the Enemies had the same Principles and Final Design but having drawn in a zealous King to abet their Interest against his own and his Peoples both they put him who would otherwise have been Gracious and might have been happy upon trampling on Right and Law and persuaded him by the terrour of a standing Army (e) Malè terrere veneratio acquiritur lengè valentior amor ad obtinendum quod velis quam timer Plin. lib. 8. cp 24. to affright his Subjects into parting with their Laws and Religion it was easie to foresee the dismal consequences of such Proceedings But alas we were Subjects and defenceless so that we had been for ever ruined if God on this same Day had not sent a foreign Prince to rescue us and from His landing we justly date our Safety We bless and adore thy glorious Majesty as for c. Upon these just Grounds we proceed to give most humble and hearty Praises to the Divine Majesty for his repeated Kindness to this Church and Nation which have been the special Care of Heaven for many Ages No People ever
been really guilty yea and at last to bring him to that cruel Death which they all along designed Psal XXXV 11. 'T is true they could not do this without perverting his Actions and hiring false Witnesses (n) cum sint proemia salsi Nulla ratam debet testis habere fidem Ovid. But these prosligate Wretches after repeated Murders and Perjuries stuck at nothing though never so false unjust and impious Lam. IV. 13. Without doubt the People of this Land had highly provoked Heaven by their Sins and the very Priests had grievously offended God or he would not have laid such a Judgment on Church and State both (o) adsit Regula peccatis quae poenas irroget aequas Nec scutica dignum horribili sectere flagello Horat. Sat. 3. nor permitted Religion and the Government to be both ruined by the Murder of this just Prince whose Blood was openly shed in the greatest of our Cities and none appeared to rescue him Gen. XLIX 6. But as old Jacob hearing of the Massacre of the Shechemites shewed at once his innocence and indignation by detesting the Fact So we abhor their Plots abominate their Counsels and bloody Judicatures (p) Consilium eorum non placuit animae meae Targ. Hieros in loc We desire our Life may never come before such Judges nor our Honour be stained with such Associates (q) Eorum nolim ut in fidem vita mea veniat aut in Societatem honos committatur Vers Castal who make nothing of killing a man Psal LXXX ver 17. No nor of murdering a King who was set up by Gods own right Hand singularly beloved by him and advanced to live and dye for Gods true Religion Wisd V. 4. III. 3 4. V. 5. They foolishly imagined he was brought to the last degree of misery and thought they had with his Life deprived him of all good And as the Pagans thought the Christians mad (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. Iphigen who for fear of dying after they were dead feared not to dye for their Faith So these Atheists thought his holy Life madness and his fatal Stroak infamous Not considering that this outward punishment sitted him better for and sent him sooner to Eternal peace His death made him immortal (s) Si tamen fas est omnino mertem vocare quâ tanti viri mortalitas magis est finita quam vita Plin. lib. 2. ep 1. And he whom they falsly numbred among Transgressors is numbred among the Saints in glory Psal XCIV 1. LI. 18. However this was a grievous Sin and when we remember that thou O God art the supreme Judge to whom it originally alone belongs to punish (t) Vindicta pro Poena Mich. V. 15. Rom. III. 5. we cannot but humbly beg of thee Not to judge and condemn this Nation for this horrid Crime Since we are thy peculiar People be so kind for thy Truth 's sake which is professed here to spare this Land Deut. XXI 8. Thou didst command Israel when a man was found murdered to pray to thee in these words Be merciful O Lord unto thy People whom thou hast redeemed and lay not innocent Blood to our charge and by this means they were to remove that guilt We therefore use the same Prayer and hope it shall have the same effect in this deplorable case Psal XXVI 9. LI. 14. The Vengeance due to those Sinners and blood-thirsty Wretches who committed this execrable Murder is so dreadful that we beseech thee to keep off that Death from us here and that Damnation hereafter which they deserve Blood is a crying Sin O Lord deliver us for thou only canst save us from it and if thou wilt pardon and acquit us we shall have great reason to sing the praises of thy infinite Mercy Psal V. 4 ver 6. As for the Actors in this wicked Tragedy they cannot hope to escape for God is so Holy in his Nature that he cannot be pleased with Wickedness nor have Any agreement with the workers of Evil (u) 2 Cor. VI. 14 15. His Truth and Justice bind him to destroy false Witnesses and false Accusers and he abhors utterly such bloody Hypocrites as under colour of Religion (w) Simulata aequitas est duplex iniquitas Aug. in Psal 63. shed innocent Blood Psal LXXIII 18 19. They were indeed advanced by this Impiety to very great wealth and honour but they enjoyed not very long what they got so basely When Heaven began with these Regicides Oh how deplorable and how very suddenly did they consume away They perished without pity and such as did not dye of Grief and odious Diseases came to fearful ends either executing themselves (x) Percussorum autem ferè neque triennio quisquam ampliùs supervixit neque sua morte defunctus est Sueton. de percus Jul. Caesar p. 112. or being cut off by the Law as Traytors So that their usurped Power and Grandeur vanished like a Dream when one awaketh and like the Images we behold in sleep so God made them all to vanish and now nothing is left of them in this Kingdom but an indelible Infamy upon their Memory Apocalyp XV. 3. Psal CXIX 137. Now how can we consider this Mercy of God to the Royal Martyr and the Vengeance he took on his Murderers and not sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Owning that our Almighty Lord God is Great and wonderful in his Works his Methods at last appear to be Just and True He proves himself King of his Saints by avenging their Blood Wherefore we end as we began with declaring that He is righteous in his Nature and all his Judgments are just Glory therefore be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The proper Psalms IX X XI § II. THere are also very pertinent Psalms chosen for this Occasion which I shall first explain by a brief Analysis and then apply by short Notes Psal IX was writ on Goliah's death and it contains 1st Praise 1st With respect to himself and so 1st He solemnly performs it ver I II. 2ly He gives the Reasons of it 1. Gods Justice on his Enemies ver III IV V VI. 2. His continual Authority ver VII VIII 3. His care of the Injured ver IX X. 2ly With respect to others and so 1st He exhorts others to it ver XI 2ly Gives the Reason why he doth so ver XII 2ly Prayer 1st The Petition for Mercy in his Distress ver XIII 2ly The Motive for God to hear it viz. his Gratitude ver XIV 3ly A Declaration 1st Of the Divine Judgments on the wicked v. XV XVI v. XVII 2ly Of his Mercy to the patient and oppressed v. XVIII 4ly A Conclusion by way of desiring God to exert his Power still ver XIX ver XX. Brief Notes upon the IXth Psalm VEr I II. We who have seen the Justice of God executed on those
to his Messengers and which shall render him the fruits in their season according to the Condition of the Covenant made with him And this was the Event in this Case for God soon after the Death of Christ cut off and miserably destroyed the unbelieving Jews and finally rejecting them chose the Christians for his own People And in our Case Heaven brought our Regicides to condign Punishment and set up rightful and just Governours both in Church and State The Last Morning Collect. This Collect relates to the happy End of that great Rebellion and contains 1st An humble Confession 1. In general of Gods Mildness O Lord our Heavenly Father c. 2. In particular of 1. Our great loss by the Fathers Death that though for our many c. 2. Our own deliverance from Anarchy Yet thou didst not leave us c. 3. The preservation and restoring of the Son But by thy gracious providence didst c. 2ly A hearty Thanksgiving for these Mercies For these thy great and unspeakable mercies c. 3ly An earnest Prayer for 1. The whole Royal Family Beseeching thee still to continue c. 2. His Majesty now reigning and to grant to our Gracious c. 4ly A Vow of Gratitude on the Answer of it So we that are thy people c. A Practical Discourse on this Collect. § 10. O Lord our Heavenly Father who didst not punish c. The late Gospel puts us in mind that our Sin was so like that of the Jews as may give us just cause to fear our Punishment also should have been the same that is to have our Name and Nation rooted out But since the Mercy of Heaven reversed that severe Doom we begin this Prayer with the words of Ezra and Job's Friend (b) Exod. IX 13. Job XI 6. and confess that our Heavenly Father exacted of us and punished us less than our Iniquity deserved The Debt of our Sins was so great that if God had exacted the utmost Farthing for an Impiety so transcendent we had been no more a People But while he was punishing us under the Regicides usurpation according to the Prophets Prayer in the midst of wrath he remembred mercy (c) Hab. III. 2. and even while he was correcting us he was contriving a way for our escape (d) 1 Cor. X. 13. which shews Mercy is his Nature and Delight always it proves he doth not either afflict willingly or long because while our Sins force him to punish his Heart inclines him to pity us and his Power is at work to deliver us and our grief for a past and now helpless Calamity must not proceed so far as to make us ungrateful for the Event which Gods goodness gave to those Dismal Times We acknowledge it thine especial Favour that though c. This Period begins to apply Gods correcting Mercy to our Case and to render our Deliverance more illustrious we here place the Midnight of our sad Distress before the Light of our thrice happy Deliverance commemorating how far our Sins had forced the Divine Permission to give way to the very worst of all Judgments to befall us that is to give up one so dear to himself so like to be a Blessing to us and so perfectly Innocent as to his own Actions into the hands of the worst and most wicked of all Human Race Our Sins must be very provoking to move our Heavenly Father to suffer such an injury to be done to us and his Mercy must be as stupendious to pity us then when we were groaning under the Iron Rods of their Tyranny whose lashes we had made our selves liable to by suffering the best of all our Princes that ever adorned the English Throne to be cut off so unjustly And therefore the Judgment it self though very severe must not hinder us from owning the truly admirable concern of Divine Mercy for so just sufferers which we therefore own to be his especial Favour Yet didst thou not leave us for ever as Sheep c. Kings are often compared to Shepherds in Sacred Ecclesiastical and Civil Authors (e) Isai XLIV 28. Sorores sunt artes pascendi D. Basil Conc. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer And the comparison is verified by woful experience when the sheepherd is smitten and the sheep scattered (f) Mat. XXVI 31. For then alas a People becomes like sheep having no shepherd (g) 1 King XXII 17. And if this were Israels case when Ahab was cut off it must be more sadly ours upon the Death of our good Josiah The Wolves and Foxes who seized his Power fleeced us and tore us scattered and devoured us without Restraint or Mercy during their twelve years Tyranny But God did not leave us for ever in this estate but by a singular Providence very gracious to us and miraculous in it self did first preserve the Martyrs Son King Charles the 2d though Bloody Peters a name twice fatal to us after the Fathers Murder blasphemously applied that of Isaiah (h) Isai XIV 21. Prepare the slaughter for his Children to encourage the Regicides to cut off the Son Yet after they had routed this Innocent Prince in Battel and not only sought him here with all the diligence of implacable Malice but hired Assassins and offered Mony to Foreign Nations whither he fled for refuge to dispatch him still he was by Heaven preserved and as David in Sauls Persecution hid as it were under the shadow of Gods wings until their Tyranny was overpast (i) Psal LVII 1. This was the first step of Divine Mercy And didst bring him back in thy good appointed time c. The second step was the Restauration The Storm was long and violent but when we had smarted severely under variety of precarious Forms of Government then Gods appointed and the fit time came for our Deliverance Then the Martyrs Son was restored not by Blood and Foreign Arms which that good Prince would never use against his own Subjects but by Gods turning all mens hearts (k) 2 Sam. XIX 14. the thing was effected to the satisfaction of all but the surviving Criminals But this was a Blessing which reached farther than that Kings Person and lasted longer than his Life for with him that Family was restored which had before afforded us Two Religious and Righteous Kings and which was more with him came in the True Protestant Religion and the Primitive Doctrine Discipline and Government of the Church as also the ancient hereditary Monarchy evenly poised between the Princes Prerogative and the Peoples Rights was recalled with him And these consequences of his Return made his Return to be so great a Blessing in it self and so Just a Subject of our Praises For these thy great and unspeakable Mercies we render c. The preserving that Prince abroad and bringing him back to Rule over us was therefore an unspeakable Mercy to us because with him our ancient Government and true Religion was so
omnes alios hostile edium Tacit. hist lib. 5. pag. 557. Obstinatio viris foeminisque par Id. pag. 571. and evil Doers towards all They may by your good works especially by that submission to the Government and Peaceableness which they shall behold in you Christian Converts take occasion to glorifie God and admire the Principles of your Religion which make you so gentle and patient And by this means also you may be spared in the day of visitation when the Roman Emperors shall come to destroy the rest of the Jews for their frequent Seditions and Rebellions So that as it is honourable in it self it will by Divine Providence be safe for you to submit c. see Ver. 13. and the rest in the Office for Jan. 30. The Gospel § 10. THis portion of Scripture is fitly chosen to represent the Hyprocrisie of our pretended Saints who made a very great shew of Religion and yet took away the Fathers Crown and Life and did their utmost to deprive an undoubted and innocent Heir of his Right the wickedness whereof in our Saviours Opinion this Parable will represent This Gospel contains Four Particulars 1st The Persons asking and manner of proposing it Ver. XVI 2ly The Question which was proposed Ver. XVII 3ly His Answer shewing 1. He knew their design Ver. XVIII 2. He clearly baffled it Ver. XIX XX XXI 4ly The Effect it had upon the Enquirers Ver. XXII A Paraphrase on this Gospel S. Mat. XXII Ver. XVI THE Pharisees had contrived either to expose Jesus to the Peoples rage or make him obnoxious to the Roman Laws And they sent out unto him two different sorts of Men First their Disciples popular Zealots who from Scripture misinterpreted (g) Deut. XVII 15. compar'd with Acts V. 37. believed Gods People owed neither Subjection nor Tribute to any Prince that was not an Israelite Secondly These went with the Herodians who were high for Loyalty to the Roman Emperor that set up and supported their Master Herod who was an Alien But how dâ—â—ferent soever these were in their Principles they both pretended to choose him Umpire of the Dispute and submissively spake to him saying Master we know that thou art true and just in all thou saist and dost and teachest the way of God in truth despising the World so much as that thou art not to be byassed by fear nor favour neither carest thou for any man of any Party or Sect for thou regardest not the persons of men be they never so great or honourable Thou ever declarest the intire Truth to them so that thou wilt never flatter the Emperors party nor crouch to the fierce popular Men. Ver. XVII Tell us therefore O thou whose Wisdom and Integrity is so conspicuous what thinkest thou as to this famous and much disputed Question Is it lawful for us Jews who are Gods peculiar People to give tribute in token of our Subjection unto Cesar the Roman Emperor who is an Heathen and gained his Dominion over us by Force declare to us freely is it lawful or not in this Case Ver. XVIII But Iesus being God as well as Man perceived their wickedness in speaking so fair to him while their Intentions were Bloody and Malicious And said unto them why tempt ye me by pretending to admire my Doctrine and offering to submit to my Judgment while you only design to insnare me you are discovered O ye hypocrites I am not to be imposed on by your flattery Ver. XIX Yet I will not be afraid to tell you the Truth without any regard to your Persons Parties or Interests or any fear of your Malice therefore shew me the tribute mony that is a piece of that Coin in which you pay Taxes to the Romans and they brought unto him the fourth part of a Shekel called by them a penny being about seven pence half penny of our mony and was the usual rate for every mans Poll (h) Denarium est tributum Capitis Ulpian lib. 3. de cens by the Roman Laws Ver. XX. He then takes this Coin into his hands And pointing to it he saith to them tell me whose is this Image in the midst of this piece of Mony what are these Letters and superscription round about it For he that coyns Mony and gives it its Value hath certainly a Sovereign Power and it is he that protects your Persons and secures your Estates Ver. XXI They say unto him both the Image and the Superscription declare the Coin is Cesars the Emperor of Rome Then saith he to them you have decided your own Question for your trading with his Coin owns his Sovereignty over you and declares he protects you for which you owe him Tribute because he cannot send Governors to do you justice nor keep Armies to defend you without it To withhold it is a manifest wrong Render therefore every one of you though you be Gods People unto Cesar who is now your Supreme Ruler and protects you the things that by Reason and Law both are Cesars that is Honour Allegiance Submission to his Lawful Commands and to Publick Taxes And this need not hinder you from giving unto God your Hearts and Souls and presenting Tithes and Offerings for his Service which are the things that are Gods upon a spiritual Account That is you may be Gods Servants and good Subjects both because the things that are required are different and grounded on different Reasons and if the one Authority contradict the other there the Prince is subordinate So that you Herodians must not dote so much on your Master and Caesar as to deny your Religion to please them Nor may you Zealots under pretence of Conscience refuse to own the present Powers that protect you Ver. XXII When they heard these words how Wisely Justly and Impartially he had answered them they marvelled at his Prudence and Integrity and having nothing to reply nor hopes of taking any advantage they were ashamed and left him in great haste and went their way They troubled him no more and after so plain a declaration of our Saviours Mind we might have hoped no Christians would either have quitted their Religion under pretence of Loyalty with the Herodians or denyed Tribute and Allegiance to the Government which doth protect them under pretence of Conscience as the Zealots yet we have seen many instances of both sorts among us The Sentence at the Offertory § 11. THE Gospel is well followed by a proper Sentence taken out of our Lords Sermon on the Mount against such Hypocrites as make great shews of Religion but do very wicked Deeds S. Mat. VII Ver. XXI There are many great Professors as the Pharisees were of old and the Precise Party in our times who seem very zealous in Praying Hearing and keeping the Sabbath and yet scruple not to break other plain Laws of God declared by me especially this of Submission to Governours Now these think themselves sure of Heaven But I say who am to