first of all Supplications and Prayers be made for all men for Kings and all that are in Authority and however the Author of the Life of Julian raking up some passionate Expressions in one of the Fathers hath falsly maliciously and scandalously represented the whole this is agreeable to the Practice of the Primitive Christians as we may read in Tertullian Oramus pro omnibus Imperatoribus vitam illis prolixam Imperium securum domum tutam exercitus fortes Senatum fidelem populum probum orbem quietum quaecunque hominis Caesaris vota sunt We pray for a long Life for our Emperours a secure Empire a safe House valiant Armies a faithful Senate a good People a quiet World and whatsoever Caesar or any man can wish for or desire Thus have I shew'd you that it is the duty of all good Christians and all good Subjects to Pray for the Safety and Preservation of the King I come to the reasons inforcing this duty and the first is we have need to pray for the King 1. Because his Safety is fiercely opposed and his Life in danger upon the account of Policy and under the pretence of Religion Upon the account of Policy Monarchy it self is undermined by the Republicans to lay a foundation for such an Anarchy as they are pleased to call a Common-Wealth but this being wholly out of my Sphere I shall not invade the States-man's Province any further than to tell you besides being Subjects to the King in our Parents Loins and so under Obligations to Obedience by the Law of Nature we are in the bonds of Religion and Conscience tyed to Subjection by many solemn Oaths wherein we have lifted up our hands to the most high and sworn not to indeavour any alteration and change in the Government And I hope we are none of us so fond of a Common Woe as to go to the Devil by wilful Perjury to set up the Tyranny of our Fellow-Subjects and for your fuller Satisfaction give me leave to repeat the words of the Learned Bishop Sanderson whose single judgement is of greater value than the whole rout of those that would unhinge our Government Lib. de Oblig Consc p. 350. I think saith he an Hereditary Kingdom may not lawfully be changed for an Elective nor for any other sort of Government either by the People alone nor by the People and Nobles joyntly nor by the whole Body of the People in their greatest latitude that is the People Nobles and the King consenting together unless perhaps the whole Royal Progeny should so totally fail that there is not one surviving who may claim it as his due by Right of Inheritance all which considered it amounts to this That unless we will violate the Law of Nature and Religion and incur the heavy guilt of Perjury we must behave our selves like dutiful and obedient Subjects praying always God Save the King Again the Safety of Kings is impugned under the pretence of Religion by the several sorts of Dissenters whom I cannot being under one denomination unless it be in calling them all Amalekites and truly it will concern them to consider if they do not deserve the Name and I pray God give them grace to consider whether the Curse of Amaleck be not justly their portion I say this Truth is opposed by the Rebellious and Bloody Tenents of the Jesuits Anabaptists and Presbyterians I rank them all together for tho' like Sampson's Foxes their heads part yet their tails are joyned to put the Kingdom in a Combustion It is the constant Tenent of the Jesuits that King-killing is not only Lawfull but Meritorious if he be an Heretical King that is to say if he be not a Roman-Catholick And to this devilish Doctrine are they so wedded however some of their Church are pleased to obscure it that they leave no ways unattempted to put 'em into practice as the woful Tragedies they have Acted on the Theatre of the World is too sad a proof And that these are their Principles I refer you to Azor Bellarmine and Mariana who have wrote printed and published to the world Tracts of the Lawfulness of Regicide of whom I shall add no more here Cause and Cure of Scandal Pag. 11. having done it fully in another Treatise The Safety of Kings is opposed by the bloody principles of the Independents Anabaptists and Fift-Monarchists for what else were the publick Preachments of all these men in our late days of Rebellion but what tended to the ruine of our Monarchy Evangelium Armatum pag. 26. as you may read in the Parliamentary Sermons of Burton Marshal Nye Caryl Bridges Saltmarsh c. And of the same stamp were the harangues of Muncer in Germany as you may read at large in the first of Sleidan's Commentaries God that cannot lye saith he hath warn'd me face to face to attempt the Change of the Government by killing the Magistrates and Phipher his Brother in Iniquity did but dream of Killing Rats and Mice and Expounds his Dream of Murthering the Nobles and did not those Fift-Monarchists the English Rebels in Venner's Rebellion having laid their Accursed Designs the Sunday before in their Conventicle in Coleman-street proceed in the same manner and justifie their Principles with their Arms till the hand of Justice overtook them It was an Observation of old Regnabit Sanguine multo Ad Regnum quisquis venit ab Exilio The King that returns after Exile will Reign for the future in Blood and Revenge but our Gracious Sovereign resembling God in one of his noblest Attributes that of his Mercy had at the same instant given Life to them who were indeavouring to take away his Odiorum causae acriores quia iniquiores Their Hatred was the sharper because it was the unjuster and so stain'd themselves with the black Guilt not only of Rebellion but of an ungrateful Rebellion whereas an ordinary stock of Ingenuity and Religion upon the receipt of so great a Mercy as Pardon and Property would have silenced their Murmurings and made them loud in Applauses and Thanks for the felicity of his Reign but on the contrary we see that when men are inclin'd to Mischief upon the account of their Religion they prove the greatest Villains in the world and notwithstanding all obligations that Heaven and Earth can bestow upon them Hell gets the upper hand Nor have the Sons of the Presbyterian Kirk less opposed the safety and wellfare of Kings by those dangerous positions they have published to the world Doctrines that will make you blush sweat and tremble if you have any fear of God or any honour for the King And that I may not be supposed to do them wrong I will Cite their Names and Books from whence I have collected them Pag. 30. Goodman saith in his Book of Obedience That it is unlawful in any case to resist the Superior pnwers is a dangerous Doctrine taught by some by the Permission of God for
our Sins And again pag. 53. says that the reasons that moved the Pope to despose Kings was good and just and meet to be received and Executed by the body of every Common wealth Apel. Pag. 26. Knox the Scottish Presbyter says it is blasphemy to say we must obey Kings whether they be good or evil And asserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pag. 26. Buchanan in his Book de jure Regni apud Scotos among other things of dangerous consequence to crowned heads says populus rege est prastantior melior Pag. 38. The People are more excellent than the King And this he avoucheth with the greatest confidence imaginable though the Holy Scripture says plainly that the King is worth ten thousand of the people The same Author says that the People have the same power over the King that the King hath over any one man and that Ministers may Excommunicate him and then draws this damnable conclusion that he who by Excommnication is cast into hell is not worthy to live upon earth Thus hath the Scotch Rebell like that Italian Tyrant taught Sbjects how at one blow they may kill both the Body and Soul of their Prince But as if this were not bad enough yet Pagâ— 40. the wretched Presbyter adds that it were very good that rewards were appointed by the people for such as should kill Tyrants and such they account all those Kings that will not submit their necks to the yoke of their discipline as there be sallaries allowed for those qui lupos aut ursos occiderunt aut catulos eorum deprehenderunt Who have killed Wolves or Bears or have destroyed their brood And who that hears these Doctrines more bloody than Popery or Paganism will doubt that 't is the leaders of these people that dipping their pens in Gall make way for the sword to glut it self with the Blood of Kings Nor were our English Presbyters and Independents much behind their holy brethren the Scots in wicked confederacy and against their King and like the Priests and Praeco's of Mars in scattering Fire-brands through the Nation Book of the Covenant in Evangel Armat pag. 42. Mr. Case calls the late Rebellion the Holy War the Cause of God and Saints all that ingaged in it the Scotch Covenant he calls Christs marriage-contract and says to act against it was to despight the Holy Ghost Zach. Crofton's Answ to Bp. Gauden Edit 3. Pag. 22. Crofton says that all Acts of Parliament made against it were damnable and that Parents ought to baptize their Children into the Scotch Covenant Spirit of Popery 7. 26. 42. Calamy's Ser. before the Lords Dec. 25. 1644. Jenkin's Humble Pet. Oct. 15. 1657. Mr. Calamy and Mr. Jenkins said that the Parliament without the King were the Supreme power of the Nation and that they were assisted by the speciall direction of God And that none could do such things viz Rebelling against the King and Butchering his Subjects except God were with them Mr. Love in his Sermon at the Treaty at Vxbridge Says that the Sword not Arguments must end that Controversy Evangel Armat vid. First Second Part of the History of Separation Mr. Baxter hath said enough in his Holy Common-wealth and other writings to prove him the Bell-weather of Sedition and a man of blood and he that would see further let him view the first and second part of the Dissenters sayings collected from their works and besides this Rebellion against and deposing of Princes is warranted in above twenty places in the Assemblies Annotations and of the same Complexion is Mr. Pool's Criticks Vid. Hist Athaliah Thus have you seen the Devil of Rebellion transforming himself into an Angel of Reformation Icon Bisil and those that should have been Embassadours of Peace the fomenters of an unnatural and bloody War And all under the pretence of Religion The true Religion prevailed upon the world by Purity of Doctrine and Innocency of Life but these mens principles having in this particular a nearer affinity to the Laws of the Impostor Mahomet pudet haec opprobr a nobis dici potuisle non potuisle refelli than the precepts of the Holy Jesus a took the same method for the Establishment thereof as he did who injoyn'd his worshipers by a Law Alcor pag. 125. to persevere in Killing Christians till they was rooted out of the earth So that if Rebellion be Religion then the Papists Mahumetans and Presbyterians are the only true Protestants in the world if the Second murther of a King and utter exâ—irpaâ—ion of the Royall Family the way to promote Gods Glory then are Dissenters the only Champion for the Government and to say worse of them than that they are Seditious and Rebellious upon the accompt of their Religious Principles were to cast Iâ—k upon the face of an Ethiopian You have now heard some of those Monstrous Doctrines that in defiance to the Laws of God and Man encourage the Resistance and consequently the ruin of Kings But that they are as opposite to truth as Light is to Darkness is the next particular wherewith I shall Exercise your patience and this I will do by proving that Religion doth not exempt us from the Authority and Power of Kings and rulers though they be infidels and Heathens and not only strangers but Enemies to true Religion and the professors of it It is not objecting Enormities in the Religion Life or Government of a King that can absolve their subjects from Obedience for the tyes and bonds of duty and subjection to them are Sacred and inviolable Dominion and soveraignty are the Ordinances of God not as he is the Author of grace and redeemer of his Church But as he is the Author of mankind and Governour of the world Dominium temporale non fundatur in gratia Supernatural grace is not that which constitutes Kingdoms nor is the calling of Magistrates a Mistery of the Gospel but an appointment of God by his universall providence The duty of Children to Parents of Servants to Masters of Subjects to Princes is not a consequence of Christianity but a principle of Nature and unalterable by Religon a Christian Child cannot abandon his duty to his Parents tho they be Heathens or Infidels a Christian Servant cannot shake off the yoke of Subjection because his Master is an Vnbeliever 1 Tim. vi 1. nor Christian Subjects deny their allegiance to their Lawful Sovereign tho Heathen and Infidells And he must be a stranger to the Sacred records and the practice of good men in all ages that asserts the contrary But that I may give you one Example for all in a case that directly agrees with all that the Enemies of Monarchy can object against our obedience see it in the Prophet Daniels behaviour towards King Darius Now this Darius was a Heathen Prince one that kept the Church and people of God in cruel bondage and captivity Dan. iii.
one that by cruel artifices prâ—â—oâ—ed Idolatry and persecuted the people of God with the Fiery furnace and Sentenced the Prophet Daniel to be Devoured of Lyons And yet we find the good Prophet so far from upbraiding him with Tyranny or threatning him with vengeance and Judgments from God that he owns his Sovereignty and Rightfull Power over him and prays for his Health Prosperity and Eternal felicity in these words O King live for ever Dan. vi 21. The next Example I shall urge is that of the Holy and blessed Jesus John xix â—â— who acknowledges Subjection to Pilate and that his power over him was from Heaven Gloriosum est sequi dominum and tho' he had the whole host of Angells at his command neither made Resistance himself nor would permit it in his followers And St. Paul also who lived in the times of Heathen persecutors enjoyns every Soul to be subject to them though they were Heathens For Christianity is so far from giving immunity from Obedience that it inforceth the duty from our Obligations to God whose Authority they bare and from which divine commission it is directly consequent that he makes any violent Resistance or opposition to the supreme Magistrate to be an affront offered to God himself In talibus non obedientes mortaliter peccant nisi foret illud quod praecipitur contra praeceptum dei vel in Salutis dispendium Angel Sum. verb. obed for which they shall receive that punishment which belongs to so Sacrilegious a contumacy Eternal Damnation St. Peter likewise preaches the same Doctrine and urgeth our Obedience to Claudius or Nero upon the account of giving Credit and Reputation to our Religion Obedience to Authority being one of the prime characteristicks whereby a Christian is to be known and when Subjects are Rebellious although they are so to Heathen Magistrates they draw disgrace upon the Gospel and tempt the Infidels to believe that men are the worse for being Christians that the Doctrine of Christ is corruptive of Principles as well as Manners and Christian Liberty but a Cloak for Rebellious Practices Now to Antidote this Venom and to wipe off this Disparagement St. Peter Commands us to submit to every Ordinance of man for the Lords Sake 1 Pet. ii 13. for so is the will of God that by well-doing ye put to silence the ignorance of foolish men And having thus from plain Scripture shewed that no pretence whatsoever can warrant disobedience to our Lawful Sovereign it will necessarily follow that either the Texts alledged are not Scripture or the men that taught the contrary are not Christians but such a generation of men Non opus vos habere civem qui parere nesciret Marc. Cur. as give the Princes of the world a just occasion to be jealous of them and to root those Principles out of their Dominions for what Prince can be Safe whilst such men abide and multiply in their Territories that profess it to be a Principle of their Religion to make Resistance against them And agreeable to this Doctrine of the Blessed Jesus which secured Obedience to the worst of Kings was the Practice of the Primitive Christians towards their Persecuting Emperours Propter dominum aeternum domino temporali Serviebant Aug. Psal cxxiv that spilt their Blood and made havock of them for tho' they were able to wage War with their Emperors yet Conscience and Christianity forbad them to resist but commanded them to Pray for them And since thanks be to God our Case is otherwise and we have a Merciful and Gracious King Animatam Dei â—maginem Cypr who is our lawful natural liege Lord a just possessor of his Crown a worshipper of the Living God a defender of the true Antient Catholick and Apostolick Faith a maker of good Laws and an Executor of the same I hope all true Israelites in whose mouths are no Guile in whose hearts is no Privy Conspiracy nor in whose hands there is no Rebellion will never forget in their publick and private Devotion to say God save the King And for vindicating our holy and excellent Religion from any imputation of being accessary to Treasonable conspiracies I shall most readily grant that were it any way chargeable with these practices there needed no other thing to be pleaded against it this alone would bar all its pretences of being Christians for ever and therefore there cannot be a greater mischief done to it than to give any just cause to suspect it for it must then never expect Kings to be its Nursing fathers more but rather that they should all combine to banish it out of the world now as they did to prevent its coming into it at first upon the same prejudice But it always was the honour of Christian Religion that it clear'd it self fully of all these unjust imputations and commended it self to Kings and became dear to them was nursed in their royal breasts and was adopted into their laws as being the greatest security of their Government and of Subjection to them and what ever Religion doth contrary to this is by that only argument detected to be perfectly Anti-Christian I confess that few Rebellions have been raised but by the warmth of a pretended zeal for Religion which Fears and Jealousies have animated and given growth and strength to but it was only the Pretence Religion was made a mask to hide the ugly face of Rebellion which without so fine a Cover would have affrighted those deluded souls that were cheated with the beautifull paint that was laid over horrid designs consider beloved what hath Religion to do in designs of this black nature Religion is made up of purity piety peace and holyness and there is nothing of these in cruel treacheries in bloody Massacres and tragicall murthers What Religion can there be in mens pursuing violent paths on the pretence of Gods glory in a direct opposition to his holy Laws if the Ark of the Lord be shaken and our Religion in danger yet we must not support it by forbiden methods for it never proves well when men forsake Gods directions to follow their own devices Religion desires none to be its Champions till first they are its disciples Let us therefore study to be quiet and do our own business practise the duties of Religion and God Almighty will assert its interest 'T is not Religion then is the cause of these bloody attempts but the men whose preaching is of Cursing and lies to whom we owe all our miseries in this kind and indeed what else can be expected but that such as have cast off obedience to Laws should put themselves under the Devils yoke And if their former actions are the best interpreters of their present designs what can we expect from these Amalekites but ruine and Confusion look backwards as far as the days of their first entrance among us and you will find them to be men made up of the worst of
what to collect unless it be that of the Prophet Isaiah The Leaders of this People cause them to Erre (b) Qui devoratur a malis Pastoribus St. Jerom. for where doth this Gangrene so mortally spread and from whence doth the Plague of Sedition Privy-Conspiracy and Rebellion disperse its contagion but from the Conventicles which are the Schools wherein Male-contents are disciplin'd for publick mischief 't is in those Vnlawful Assemblies that the Sons of Bichry and Belial Gebal and Ammon and Amalec blow the Trumpets of Rebellion disclaim their right in David and persuade others that they have no inheritance in the King 'T is there the deluded Mobile are Taught that the just and equitable Restraints of Authority are Incroachments upon their Birth-Right and 't is there they are Instructed to Obey for Wrath and Disobey for Conscience-Sake Doctrines big with Rebellion and Confusion Nullum malum majus aut infeliciter feâ—â—cius quam inobedientia Senec. whose teeming wombs bring forth no other issue than Blood and Fire and Pillars of Smoke Now have they unridled the mystery of their Non-conformity they would not come to Church because that Holy-Ground could not be Desecrated by such impious Consultations They would not Pray with us well knowing we could not consent with them to injure the Lord 's Anointed and therefore must find out such lurking holes and secret places as correspond with such black Designs Honest dealing dares look the Sun in the Face only Treasonable Purposes must be mantled in the horrid shades of Obscurity Gen. xlix 6. O my Soul come not thou into their Secrets nor unto such Assemblies be your honours united for in their Anger they slew an excellent King and in their Self-will digged down the Walls of the best Government in the World Now that they may not run into the same Extremities nor reduce us to such repeated Confusions Let us Pray God Save the King Which words are the same with those in 1 Kings i. 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and with that in Psal xx 9. Psal xx 9. rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Lord save the King and hear us a form of words used by the Jews at their Feast of Tabernacles and Coronation of their Kings and sounds as much as Vivat Rex Ita vulg Lat. Vatabl. Hâ—m Annot. Psal xx or Let the King Live wherein we do in one word wish the King Prosperity and Peace Long Life and Health Victory over his Enemies and Everlasting Happiness matters of so great consequence and so aptly expressed that our Church hath appointed it to be one of the versieles in her Publick Devotions O Lord save the King and mercifully hear us whose Peace is linck'd with his Prosperity when we call upon Thee Prayer is commonly divided into two parts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Supplicatory for the Blessings and Favours we want and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Gratulatory for the Mercies and Benefits we have already receiv'd and these words Vivat Rex Let the King Live or God save the King are both but I shall Treat of them only as they are a Prayer and Supplication Wherein we have four particulars 1. The Supplicants All the People 2. The Person Supplicated for The King 3. The Person Supplicated to God 4. The matter of the Supplication That the King might be Saved and Preserved And all the People shouted and said God save the King The first particular that offers it self to our consideration and immitation is that Vnity among Brethren so much commended by the Royal Psalmist Psa cxxxiii 1. and so much desir'd among all true Christians The Israelites were not broken into Parties and consequently not divided in their Judgments and Affections but were at Unity and Agreement among themselves All the People shouted and said God Save the King Their Hearts stood bent the same way they had the same inclinations and desires not the least appearance of any variance or repugnancy the Thoughts of their hearts as we may guess by the Agreement of their Tongues that spake from them were in all the same those many Bodies seemed as they ought to be but so many members of the same Body which were animated and influenced by one Soul This is that Agreement and Consent that the Policy of Heathens did recommend and the Religion of Christians hath since more powerfully enjoyn'd as the way to preserve us in the Fear of God and the King and then none of us would consent to any Treason in our hearts attempt no Mischief with our hands nor by our Schisms and Factions provoke God to Scourge us with the Rod of another Civil-War It was the breach of Vnity and neglect of Religion that exposed us to all the miseries and and mischiefs of Forty one If they had not divided us in our judgments they could never have made us a prey to their Teeth and if we had not been careless in the exercise of Religion and Devotion God would not have removed from us his watchful Care and Providence Look in elder days and you will find the goodness of God to this Kingdom and that he never forsook it whilst we kept inviolate his judgments and statutes Prosperity attended the long Reign of Queen Elizabeth although the enemies of our Church were more numerous then and as busy and active as they are now The peaceable bringing in our King James almost to a miracle was a demonstration of the kindness which God had for a unanimous People for then neither Popery no Phanaticism were tolerated All the time he reigned both Church and State were in a prosperous condition but as soon as ever extravigent spirits began to Teach that the very genious of Religion was Separation and make it their business to set men at an infinit distance from the Solemn Service of almighty God then did God righteously break the bond of Peace which that we may prevent for the future let there be no divisions amongst us but with one minde and one mouth let us say Vivat Rex The next particular is Rex the King and this shews his dignity for melech in the Hebrew and Rex in the Latin tongue come from verbs which signifie to Rule and Reign Rom. xiii 1 2 all powers have their original from God and among all the powers that be ordained of God the Regal is highest being Superiour to all Communitas nihil sui confert Regibus Spalat Tom. II. 529. but inferior to no man or community of men whatsoever Now his Kingly dignity deriues its excellency From the Author or institutor thereof God the sublime power which resides in earthly Potentates Summum Imperium nunquam fuiste populo de mandatum is not a derivation or collection of humane power scattered among many and gathered into one head but a participation of Gods own omnipotency which he never did communicate to any but crowned heads Meriander who are 〈◊〉
while they Cry out against Popery they mean Episcopacy and do but amuse us with the Romish Wolf that we may be made a prey to the Northern-Bear Were not the late instances of Tumultuary Proposals and Applications Tricks of the Old Trade Addresses in the nature of Remonstrances Arbitrary Orders for Imprisoning Subjects and Votes suspending Penal Statutes and rendring the King uncapable of making use of his Own Revenue for the Publick Safety and putting him into a worse condition than the meanest of his Subjects did not they court the King to have the Militia and all Offices and Places of Trust at their disposal and were not these the very things that begat the War and ruin'd us all Did not the Parliament in Forty One c. Protest their Duty and Allegiance to his Majesty in the fairest terms imaginable and confirm'd the same by Oaths and Covenants that they had no intentions to offer Violence to his Majesties Person to Hurt his Power or Destroy his Monarchy and yet did not the same Persons against their own Remonstrances Declarations Protestations Promises Vows and Oaths in cold Blood Murther their Lawful Sovereign Did they not in a Declaration publish'd in 42. say they intended nothing but a Reformation of some Abuses crept into the Church and yet did not the same men pull down Churches to set up an Enthusiastick Devotion seize the Churches Patrimony to inrich themselves and at last abolish its Government to gratifie the Phanatick Zeal of a distracted multitude and shall we be ruined by them a second time God forbid One would think there needed no other Argument amongst us against Rebillion or Sedition in the State or against Schism or Division in the Church than the bare remembrance of what this Nation hath already suffer'd by them we have felt to our Costs what it was to want our Lawful Government and what was the Effect of resisting Authority for our Enemies having by a vast Expence of Blood and Treasute wrested the Power into their own hands they threw down the Nobles from their Honours and Estates and set up the very Scum and Dregs of the People in stead of One King of a Glorious Race we had a whole Army of Vsurpers who sent their Horses to Church and went themselves to Conventicles and a great part of their Devotion there was to Curse Loyal Subjects under the Name of Meroz and contrive to Murther their King in the Name of Jesus Two things they promis'd the abus'd Nation viz. Religion and Liberty and made good their promises by bringing in all the Religons in the world except the Orthodox and to be of that was to be an Enemy to the Gate men might pray without sense so they prayed without a Booke but to say the Lords Prayer was to be called a Malignant and to pray for the King was to be accounted a Traytor And as they dealt with us in the affairs of Religion so did they in respect of our Priveledgs allowing no other share to us than what might confirm our Vassalage and uphold there Tyranny they had the Liberty to Plunder and Oppress and we had the Liberty to Beg or Starve they had the Liberty to be Cruel and Savage and we had Liberty to be Dishonest or be Hang'd which I think is sufficient to perswade us by all lawfull means to prevent the designs of those persons which but lately were so mischievous and deadly to the King and his three Kingdoms But say some is it not unreasonable and unjust to charge the sins of the former Age upon this No but on the contrary t is both rational and equitable so to do since the same principles will upon the same occasion eternally act the same things unless prevented by the greatest care and circumspection And for those who are displeased at the rehearsal of former Wickedness if they would lay aside their Prejudice have cause to thank us for our design is to Reform and not Ruine them to shew them the Danger and not draw them into the Snare and to tell them the naked truth of things which they hear not at all in Conventiâ—lâ—s or else are represented to them under more favourable Expressions than they ought be for who that sees Rebellion in its ugly hue and Murther in its own shape would not fly from it with Horror and Amazement and therefore hath it been a man Artifice amongst the Non-Conformist Preachers to disuade their Admirers from frequenting those places where the Doctrine of Obedience is Taught lest their Eyes should be opened and their Consciences convinced and they lose both their Pension and their Proâ—â—lâ—te And therefore if there be any in this great Congregation who have frequented such Plaâ—â—s where People are alienated from their Duty to God and the King let me intreat them by a Religious Conformity to the Laws Ecclesiastical and Civil to seek their own Peace and Safety and by a true Repentance prevent the Ruine of Soul and Body For they that Resist Lawful Authority shall receive to themselves Damnation To which give me leave to add the Advise of a great Lawyer Peruse all Books Records and Histories and you shall find a Principle in Law a Rule in Reason and a Tryal in Experience that Treason doth ever produce fatal and final destruction to the offender and never attains the desired End two incidents inseparable thereunto and therefore let all Men abandon it as the Poysonous Bait of the Devil and follow the Precept in Holy Scripture Serve God and Honour the King and have no Company with the Seditious Lastly Pro quibus orandum pro tis laborandum Let an honest indeavour inforce your Prayers and Seeing we Live among those that are Enemies to Peace a Race of Cruel and Blood-Thirsty Men let it be your greatest Care to Discover and Prevent their Treacherous Designs that we may have no more Rebellions hatched among us Suffer not Ambitious Men to purchase their own Advancement with the Price of your Blood and Treasure for they may Contrive with their Hâ—ads till they drop from their Shoulders unless they have more Hands to Assist them And since I have the Honour to speak to the Magistracy of this Famous City of whose Fidelity to the King I come not to Doubt but rather Congratulate Suffer me to intreat you not to let any Man or Thing divide you from his Majesty for none can do it but with a design to destroy you The Safety of the King is in the Welfare of his People and the Prosperity of this City depends upon the King's Safety and if Men would look into the Truth of things they would soon perceive that their Interests are complicated and indeed the same for it is true in Experience as well as Speculation and whoever will trace either the Ruine of the Late King of Blessed Memory or the subsequent Misery of this City to their first Origins will soon find the Artifice of some Men in Separating them from each
other effected both But my assurance that I speak to many of those Prudent and Loyal Magistrates and Citizens whose early Abhorrence of Rebellious Associations and many other demonstrations of their Duty and Allegiance to his Majesty and Submission to his Laws are an unquestionable Evidence that they understand their Interest as well as Duty I shall wave all Discourses on that Subject and with begging pardon for this digression take leave only to shew you by what Methods you may demonstrate your Care of the publick Safety and this I do not as an Imperious Dictator but as an humble Remembrancer First By having a watchful Eye over those Amalâ—kites that by Sowing Sedition amongst you make way for all kinds of Mischief and this besides your Duty and Allegiance you have Provocations too from your own Danger Since some that have been Obliged to this City for their Bread like Vngrateful Villains would have made it the Theatre for Bloody Tragedies and is all their Pretences come to this are these the men that were so fearful of Popery cryed so loud against Arbitrary-Power and called themselves the only true Protestants did the several Factions of the City and Country Club Pray and Drink together for no better purposes than the Murther of a gracious King and the ruine of a Flourishing Kingdom I need make no Answer their Flying from the Face of Justice hath done it for me and confirm'd the Saying of a Learned Statesman That the biggest part of Dissenters are criminally Disobedient I Confess that Charity commands me to believe that some Dissenters are more peaceably minded but these may be easily differenced from the rest by their meekness Patience and readiness to be informed but for those that have Brazen Brows and Iron Necks I can never believe them to have Tender Consciences Therefore if there be any under your Government that will do nothing but what is Right in their own Eyes let them undergo what is Just in Yours for you are more bound in Conscience to Execute Righteous Laws than they can be to break them When the Rabble have a mind to Rebel every thing they would have introduced or altered is their Conscience when 't is only a Pretence that they may Desie the Laws Outface Authority and Advance themselves against whose Cruelties the Execution of the Laws can only defend us and if this were done in all places our Peace would not be disturbed we should either have No Plots or None Prosper and have frequent occasion to bless the Name of God for the Security of Laws and Magistrates the Suppression of Treasons and Conspiracies and the Continuance of Peace and Plenty By putting a stop to that flood of Atheism and Irreligion which hath overflown the whole Land for we can never expect God to be long our Friend Si Religio tollitur nulla nobis ratio cum Caelo est Lactant. instit lib. 3. c. 10. if we do not Reform our Lives There is no Peace to the Wicked saith God and while we make a Mock at Religion what can we expect but that God should Laugh at our Calamities All the Miseries of England may be dated from the time that Men began to wax Wanton in their Religion for then did they become Immoral Loose and Debauched in their Lives Heresy Schism and Factions in the Church and Sedition Privy-Conspiracy in the State are but Gemini Fratres which come into the World at one and the same time And till Sin and Wickedness Debauchery and Prophaness be suppressed which makes the Heavens look so Black over us we cannot expect the Face of God to Shine upon us with a happy Peace and Tranquility 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good Men always make the Best Subjects and they that out of a Pure Conscience give unto God the things that are Gods will never be wanting to give Caesar his Due and you cannot any better way Serve the King and the Government than by restraining Impiety and promoting among all his People the Fear of God and a due Sense of Religion And that your Endeavours may not be ineffectual remember to strengthen them with your fervent Prayers saying God Save the King Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for the sake of our dearest Lord and Saviour to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Spirit be all Glory and Praise for Evermore Amen FINIS