DId not the solemne com­ming up of your Tribes to this Place, and the publike preparation loudly speake that Festivall we meet to celebrate; the very reading of this Text, were Trumpet enough to proclaime the cause of your addresse and my appearing here.

I may begin my Sermon as David his Psalme: I speake of the things which I have made touching the King: Psal. 45.1. and the Hodiè in the Text applies my speech to the season. That God who This Day set [Page 2] Him over us warrants the occasion, and this Scripture gives me matter.

The words were spoken immediately to the Prophet Jeremy, a Sonne of Oyle by his Office, though not of him but improperly and figuratively. Quod dici­tur Jeremiae, Eccè constitui Te, non dubium quin figurata tota locutio sit, Aug. lib. 3. de Doctrina Christiana cap. 11. saith [...]aint Augustin. Jeremy then was the Messen­ger, not the Party, for which reason one Translation reads not Constitui, but Le­gavi Te. Literally and Properly, they are meant of Christ, importing his Regall Power, and the Latitude of His Kingdome▪ Non ergo Ieremias, Ambros. in Psal. 43. sed Dominus Iesus. Not Ieremy, but the Lord Iesus, sa [...]th [...] ^t. Ambrose. Nor is He alone, S ^t. Cyprian, S ^t. Chrysostome, Victorinus and o [...]hers agree with him. Wh [...]ch makes good S ^t. Hieromes attestation, Multi hunc locum sup [...]r Persona Christi intelligunt: Divers understand this Text of Christs Person. Hieron. C [...]mment. in Ierem. 1. Neverthelesse, as we d [...]aw Coppies with­out wrong to the Originall, so without injury to the sense of the Text, or the [Page 3] Person of Christ; I shall apply the words to the King, who in respect of his Office and Domination upon Earth is Christs Image and Deputy; the Christus Domini, the Lords Annoynted.

First therefore, Divis. 1. I shall from hence trace this Soveraigne Power to the very Spring, discovering unto you the Author whose Ordinance Dominion is, who is God Himselfe; Ego Constitui, I have set, or I have Constituted.

Secondly, the Person Exalted, Thee. 2.

Thirdly, the Extent of this Exalta­tion, Over the Nations, 3. and over the King­domes.

Fourthly, 4. the End or Exercise of His Power, which is twofold:

• 1. Destructive, to Roote out, and to pull downe, to Destroy & to throw down.
• 2. Conservative, To Build, and to Plant.

The Ecce here prefixt shall serve as an Herald to usher in my Discourse and Application.

Behold. Behold. And sure an Argument where­in [Page 4] God and the King are interessed will deserve an Ecce. Both these Persons meet in the Text, yet in that order, that the King may know his Dependance upon God, and the People their obedi­ence to the King, even for this reason, because God hath set him over them ▪ Where He comes priviledged by such an Author, and vested with such Autho­ri [...]y, He will deserve not an Ecce alone, but an Osanna too, Blessed be hee that commeth in the Name of the Lord. 1. I have set. For this, I, is the Lord, I have set.

Though you finde no Name subscri­bed, the Deed sufficiently declares the Author. And where the Act is Eloquent, other denominations are of little use. Men are divided by their Tribes, and di­stinguished by their Titles; If God have any Name, it is to be read in his Attri­butes; the first of which is His Power, and the effect of that Power; Ego Constitui, I have set thee up.

The Government of the Earth is in the hand of the Lord; Ecclesiastic. 10.4. and when Time is, He [Page 5] will set up a profitable Ruler over it, saith the sonne of Syrac. Heathens themselves were sensible of this truth. Homer termes Kings, [...], and Callimachus, Homer. Callimachus. [...], The Off-spring of Iupiter. So Tacitus, Tacitus Annal. lib. 3. Principes imperium à Deo habent, eosque instar Dei esse. Princes re­ceive their Scepters from God, and are in His stead.

Doe they not appeare worse then Heathens who goe about to fetch the derivation of Kings from any other Pedigree then this? Those who either place the power of making them in the Pope, as doe the Pontificials; or in the People, as Buchanan, Populo jus est, Buchanan de Iure Reg. Edit. Anno 158 [...]. Edim­burgi. ut imperium cui vult deferat; Or that joyne the People in Commission with God, abridging the Latitude of the Text, and liberty of Gods institutions: Deum Reges Instituere, Regna Regibus dare, Iunius Brutus vindic. quaest. 3. Re­ges Eligere, Populum Reges Constituere, Regna tradere, Electionem suo suffragio comprobare, (A Distinction whose termes are contrary to the Text, 'Tis there Con­stitui [Page 6] te:) God Institutes, the People con­stitute the King; God gives the King­dome, the people deliver it; God elects, but the People confirme the Election. If this be true, sure our Bibles are false, and our interpretation as erroneous as our Texts: Why doe not these Men who in many things so neerely parallel the Je­suites, get leave from their Consistory, as the other from the Conclave, to frame an Index Expurgatorius, to expunge those places of Scripture which make against them? Dan. 4.7. Blot out that of Daniel; The most High ruleth in the Kingdome, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. You heard now, who said the People had right to bestow it where they listed. Blot out that of Moses; Let the Lord God of the Spirits of all flesh appoint a man over the Congregation. Num. 27.17. Nisi Regem suffragiis E­lectum habe­amus, vereor ne legitimum ullum habi­turi simus. Buchan. ibid. Prov. 8.5.Gods election is no­thing, unlesse the People approve it. Lastly, Blot out that of Salomon; By me Kings reigne: These men have more wisely ordered the matter. And let Kings Themselves no more write, Dei [Page 7] Gratiâ (which Rebuffus notes to be the just acknowledgement of His Power, who gave Them Theirs) since 'tis not so much, By the Grace of God, as by the favour and Leave of the People.

It was ignorance of the first Cause, which threw a Myst of blindnesse upon the World; which Myst for all the Beames of Knowledge that have shone upon it, never since could cleare up. For it is a permanent Error in man-kind to mistake the Instruments, and Secon­dary Agents in Gods purposes, for the Maine Efficient. It is so in this, where because in the setling or translation of Kingdomes, some Intermediate Actors are used, many ascribe th [...]se Effects to them, which are onely the worke of God. The Romans were wont vari­ously to distinguish the derivation of their Empire. By Force, so Iulius Caesar was invested: By the Senates Election, Eutrop. lib. 7. so Tiberius. By the Souldiers, so Severus. Fenestel. cap. 4. By Inheritance, so Octavius Augustus But to what meanes soever they imputed [Page 8] their Emperours, were it Birth or Con­quest, Election or Usurpation, 'tis God who gives the Title to Kingdomes by the First, and He also directs and per­mits it by the Last.

When the Israelites desired a King, they asked him of God, who first de­signed Him, and by a Law never to be reversed, reserved the Choice as a Pre­rogative peculiar to Himselfe. Thou shalt make Him King, Deut. 17.15. whom the Lord thy God shall choose over Thee; so that if he come in by any other way, the Act is quarrell'd by the Prophet, and disclaimed by God himselfe, They have set up a King, but not by me. Hos. 8.4: If by Succession, it is God, who Regulates and prolongs that happy Line. Children are Gods blessing to every private family; but an Heire to a Kingdome, is His Blessing to a Land. Which Blessing is enlarged in the good­nesse of the Successour. Therefore when the good Emperour Marcus Aurelius, perceived the ill inclination of his Sonne Commodus who was to succeed, [Page 9] he wish'd himselfe dead. But contrary to him, Hiram congratulates those who were sent from Iudaea. Blessed be the Lord God, 1 King. 5.7 who hath given unto David a wise Sonne over this mighty People. And this was that Sonne whom David pro­fesses the Lord Himselfe had made choice of. Of all my Sonnes (for the Lord hath given me many) He hath chosen Salo­mon to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdome of the Lord over Israel. 1 Chr. 28.5. Nor onely in these Calmes of Peace, but in the Tem­pest of Warre, where the Sword hewes out a title to the Crowne, and the Robe of the Prince, instead of Purple, is Dyed in Blood; Even in this storme, is God the Pilot, to guide all actions to His Ends. In the passing away of the first Monarchies from the Assyrian to the Persian, His hand was set to the deed, visible upon the Wall, and legible in those fatall Characters which told Bel­shazzar, that the Date of his Kingdome was numbred and finished. Dan. 5.26. And truely if you consider the power of Belshazzar, [Page 10] and the number of his tributary Princes, and the strength of Babylon his Metro­polis which was fenced with a treble Wall of great height, and the difficul­ties Cyrus encountred at the assault, be­ing forced by many Channels and tren­ches to drain the River of Euphrates, that so he might approach the Walls which otherwise had beene inaccessi­ble, you will perceive it was not an Arme of Flesh, 2 Chro. 32.8 S ^r. Walter Rauleigh. Hist. 1. part. lib. 3. cap. 3. pag. 35. but the Ordinance of God, which made Cyrus strong and suc­cessefull.

Let all the Kings of the Earth then Throw down their Scepters before this Maker of Kings ▪ and ascribe unto Him Their Kingdomes and their Power, for they are His. Tuum est Regnum & Po­tentia. 'Tis part of the Doxology in Christs prayer. Let them not reckon their Crownes the acquisition of their owne wisedome or strength; as Iacob told Ioseph concerning his portion, With my Sword, Gen. 48.22. and with my Bow I tooke it. But cry with that victorious Captaine [Page 11] of the Lords Battailes, Iudg. 7.20. The Sword of the Lord, and of Gedeon. The Lord first, and then Gedeon. Gedeon may be the instrument, the hand to atchieve; but God the Cause, God the Guider and Di­rector of the Stroke.

And as the King casts downe His Crowne before the Lord, Let the People cast themselves down before the King. They that lift up their hands a­gainst Him in publike Rebellion, or their Tongues in murmur against his commands, or their Hearts in disobe­dient and discontented thoughts, are as ill Subjects to God as to the King. You need not aske, Whom have they resisted? S ^t. Paul tels you, Rom. 13.2. They have resisted the Ordinance of God; for Non est 1 potestas nisi à Deo, He hath his power from God, His Office is Gods Ordi­nance, His person dignified by Him too. Constitui Te; I have set Thee up, which is the Kings Exaltation, my second point. 2 Thee.

[Page 12]When our Saviour rebuked the un­ruly Wind and Sea, the Disciples askd with wonder, Math. 8.27. Who is this whom both Elements of Aire and Water obey? If any enquire who he is before whom God hath prostrated the obedience of of his people, by whom he calmeth the uproare of the multitude, And strivings of the people; Psal. 18.8. He can be no other then the Man whom the King of Kings was pleased to honour above all the rest. He may be greater then all the Rulers of the Earth, the Lord Christ, but lesse He cannot be then the Lords Annointed. He may well be that Lord unto whom the Lord said, Psal. 110.1. sit Thou on my right hand, untill I make thine enemies thy foot-stoole, (for the Text naturally beares it) but meaner He cannot be, then the Man of Gods right hand, Psal. 80.17. whom he hath set up and made so strong for Himself & for His purposes.

It was an Argument of Gods mercy and care of the World, that though the Apostacy of Mankind deserved in justice a finall d [...]ssolu [...]ion whereby all [Page 13] things might have reverted into their first Chaos, yet in the very Act of His displeasure when He dissipated those who in the building of Babel cast up a Mound against Heaven, and raised a worke to assault Him in his Throne, He appointed a Ruler over every People, Eccle. 17.15 when He divided the Nations. Cōmon-wealths without their Governor were like Ships without an Helme, in danger to strike upon the Sand or break upon the Rocks. The King is the States Pilot, and His Law the Compasse. By Him are we kept safe from Enemies, who by inva­sion might break in upon us from a­broad, and by Him defended from Domesticke quarrels in which by fal­ling foule on one another, our Fortune might be broken into nothing. Sheep without a Shepheard, and Water with­out a Bank, and a Body without an Head are Emblemes of a State with­out a King. The King is the Head, the People the Body. He is the Shepheard, they the Sheep. Homer. Iliad. Homer calls Menelaus [Page 14] [...]. And Moses beseeches God to appoint a man over the Congregation, Num. 27.16. least they should be like Sheep without a Shep­heard. Lastly, as Saint Iohn saith, Aquae sunt populi. Rev. 17.15. The people are as an inun­dation of Water, like the waves for number, and for noyse, and would re­semble the wild disorder of a wrought Sea (for David joynes the Noise of the waves, Psalm. 65.7. and the madnesse of the people to­gether:) did not the King by his Autho­rity limit their inconstant motion. So necessary is a King, even as Cujus usus non minor inter homines quam ignis, aquae, solis & Aeris, Calv. Instit. lib. 4. cap. 20. Lam. 4.20. Aire to our Breath; 'Tis Calvins expression, and a true one. The Prophet Ieremy calls Him the Breath of our Nostrils.

There is nothing which more cleare­ly demonstrates the God of Order, then the subordinate Government of the Kingdomes of the Earth. Nor doth any forme of Government come so neere His Owne, which is the Archetype, the first and best patterne of all others; as the Monarchall, when a state is gover­ned by a King as sole Commander over [Page 15] all. For in this singularity of power, that person who is [...], the lively Image of God, will some way represent the Unity of his Maker too. Therefore Gerson defines Dominion, that it is a Soveraigne Rule eommitted to One, Regnum describitur, Gerson part. 2. de Origin, Iur. & leg. Aristot. quod est Politia sub uno Bono, Which Aristotle confesseth to be the most Divine and Ancient kind of Gubernation. Vetustissima & Divinissima Regis gubernatio. Search the whole vo­lume of holy Writ, from Moses to the Iudges, and from them to the Kings, and tell me whether you finde more then One successively designed by God to be the Prince and Ruler of the people. In­deed there is good naturall reason for it. Should the Account of time be regula­ted, not by the Sunne alone who is the Prince and Monarch of the Skie, but by the joint Motion of the other Planets, which were a kind of Oligarchy; or by the Starres of the first Magnitude which are Optimates Coeli the Peeres of Hea­ven, and were an Aristocracy; what dis­order [Page 16] would then creep into our Ka­lendar? But how great would that Con­fusion prove, if those Gregarian sparks, those Plebeian lesser Starres, which peo­ple the Skie, and onely glimmer by that Contribution of Light which they re­ceive from the greater Luminaries, should have a predominant influence upon our Seasons? To prevent there­fore such irregular mischief, the Crea­tour gave the rule of the Day to the Sun alone▪ And He who kindled that Glo­rious light in the Firmament, Set up also the King to governe by the splendour of his Authority upon Earth, as being the Light of our Israel, 2 Sam. 21.17 and Gods Lieute­nant; or (so Plato calls Him) as God amongst Men, Plato in Polit. [...].

Nor onely amongst the people of God, but in all other Nations of the world was the Authority at first singly invested in the King, if you will be­lieve Iustin the Historian. Principio re­rum gentium nationumque imperium penes Reges erat. Iustin. Hist. lib. 1. And though Livy reports [Page 17] that Regum imperium grave visum est, Livius. Dec. 2. lib. 1. & Vnius Dominatio populo Romano displicuit, the Romans disliked their Government under One, and thought they should do better to put the command of the Com­mon-wealth from a King to a Senate, or to Consuls, yet (as Gregorius Tholo­sanus well observes) in a very short time they deerely repented the errour of their alteration. Gregor. Tholo [...]an. Syntag. jur. lib. 47. ca. 17 n. 1. Magna vis necessitatis urgentis quae etiam superbissimos cogat stultitiam suam fateri & aliquando resipiscere. For not nine yeares after, upon the insurre­ction of Manlius Octavius, one of Tar­quins Race, [...]. Plutarch. in Camillo. they were forced to put the Government to one againe, whom they stiled Dictatour, who was indeed a Monarch for his time, freely and abso­lutely commanding all: for so is his Office described by the writers of the Graecian affaires, as Gregor. Tholos. ob­serves, [...].

Tis true that once in the Carthagini­an warre against Hannibal, Polyb. Hist. lib. 3. the giddy multitude made two Dictatours, Mi­nutius [Page 18] Rufus and Fabius Maximus. Plutarch. in Fabio Max. But upon the losse of that part of the Army which was led by Minutius, whose pride and rashnesse by dividing himself from the counsels or help of his Colleague, hazarded the whole Common-wealth, they would have no more Dictatours then Fabius. Nor did they ever after or­daine more then one; even untill the time of Iulius Caesar who retained the stile of perpetuall Dictatour, reducing the Roman Government according to the first forme into one Hand, onely exchanging the title of King into Em­perour.

I adde no more of this: Plutarch tels us, that in perillous times nothing so much conduceth to the safety of a State then Si unus in principatu unâ sententiâ & liberâ, [...]. Plutarch. in Camillo. & impuni magistratu fungeretur (so Gregor. Tholosanus renders him.) That one only exercised a free indepen­dent and uncontrol'd Authority over all. Whereas commands depending upon divers votes beget distraction and [Page 19] ruine. And as this course prevents warre, so it best conserves peace; Pacis interest omnem Potestatem ad unum transferri. Tacit. Hist. lib. 1. In­deed if there be but one soule to informe the naturall body, why should there be more then one to rule the body of a State? In the predominance of the will or the phantasie, or the affections, or the passions, above reason which should be Soveraigne, we see what a distracted Man is made. Is it not the same in a State? when phantasticke or wilfull or turbulent spirits rise up to contradict their Prince, and disturbe a Realme? I shut up this Point, in the conclusion of Tacitus; Tacitus Annal. 1. Unum imperii corpus unius animo regendum videtur. Tis best to trust the care of the Kingdome to that one whom God hath appointed over it. I have set thee over the Nations, and over the Kingdomes, which imports the Latitude of His Power, and is my third point.

It was an old complaint, 3. Over the Nations. that ill Glosses corrupted good Lawes. Those [Page 20] perversions have long since crept into the Booke of God, and mens particular interests have distorted the Texts there­to their owne practises. This Scripture hath not escaped the Rack of some In­terpretations which would straine it to authorize an Vniversall Monarchy, and others who from this foundation would raise the Popes Supremacy above Kings.

For the first, I deny not the words taken in their primitive meaning im­port an Universall Soveraignty; But it is in Him onely whose Inheritance is the Heathen, Psal. 2.8. whose title is King of Kings; that is the Sonne of God, Rev. 19.16. for [...], Psa. 103.19. His Kingdome ruleth over all. But to extend this to any sonne of Man, is contrary to Gods purpose, and above mans capacity. When Nebuchad­nezzar is termed King of Kings, Dan. 2.37. 'tis in respect of the many Tribu [...]ary Kings under him. Quia multis & magnis Regi­bus imperabat; Per [...]rius in Dan. 2. And when Cyrus profes­seth, Ezra. 1.2. The Lord of Heaven and Earth had [Page 21] given him all the Kingdomes of the Earth; All is taken Synecdochically, for the Greatest or the Most. Gen. 14.1. So though Tidal be called King of the Nations, he was on­ly King of the Scythians. But where this stile is left indefinite and absolute, it belongs onely to Christ. If then such a one as Salmander, call himselfe, Omni­potent: Drexel. Pro­drom. Eter­nit. cap. 1. or the Emperour of Bisnega de­light to be stiled, Magnarum Provincia­rum Deus, Dominus Orientis, Austri, Sep­tentrionis, Occidentis & Maris, The God of great Provinces, Lord of the foure quarters of the Earth and of the Sea; or the Persian, Frater Solis & Lunae, siderum particeps, Brother to the Sunne and Moone, Kinsman to the Starres: or So­lyman the Turkish Emperour, Lord of Lords; I shall not much wonder: These are such who in their timpanous excre­scent Titles imitate Him of whom the Spirit of God testifies, [...], Revel. 13.4. A mouth was given Him which spake high Blasphemy. But if any who should know Christ better, and [Page 22] understand their owne limits are so ex­cessive in their claimes, as if all the world were made for one alone (as La conveni­encia de las dos Monar­quias Cato­licas de la Iglesia Ro­mana y la del Imperio Es­panol. Autor Iuan de la Puente Ma­drid. 1612. Iuan de Puente settles it upon the Catholick King) by assuming so much to them­selves, they detract from Christ, usur­ping upon his right. I deny not divers Kingdomes, and severall Nations may be united under one Scepter. It was a vaunt of the Romane Empire, and per­haps true enough, that Solem utrumque currere in imperio suo cernebat, Petrus Cu­naeus de Re­pub. Heb. l. 1. cap. 10. The rising and setting Sunne were the extent of their Territory in the length. But God onely, is that great King, in whose hand are all the corners of the Earth. Psal. 95.4. The Sonne of Man is Sole Lord of the Princes of the Earth: Revel. 1.5. Vnto Him the Ancient of daies gives such Dominion and such a Kingdome, Dan. 7.14, 27. that all People, Nations, and Languages, and all Powers serve and obey Him.

For the other that is the Popes Supre­macy, a thing not dream't of in the Churches purer times; it is a pride ill comporting with the Mitre, and much [Page 23] mis-becomming Peters Successour. If Christ disliked the strife for precedence amongst the Disciples, Luk. 22.26. determining the controversie so, that he who made him­self Least, was by Him reputed Highest; we may well conclude, that Princeps Apostolorum, Prince of the Apostles, was an attribute never begot in His purpose, nor form'd in his Schoole. In what Lu­ciferian forge then may we believe that stile of Princeps Regum, Lord of Kings and Disposer of Kingdomes, was sha­ped? If the Master allow not his A­postles to quarrell amongst themselves for Place, can we thinke, he likes that the Apostolicall See should justle with His Annoynted for the upper-hand? whereas Pindarus could say, that [...], Pindar. Kings are the Highest upon Earth; and a better Authour, Super Imperatorem non est nisi Deus qui fecit Im­peratorem, God onely here is above the Emperor. And yet He who is Servus Ser­vorum, A Servant of Servants in nothing but his Name, hath by his aequivocall [Page 24] practise long attempted the lifting up his Triple Mitre above the Crown (as Nep­tune once his Trident above Jupiter:) And whensoever He lists to abuse the Throne, by setting his owne Chaire where that should stand; He will abuse Scripture to make it good. If He list to play at Foot-ball with Crownes, spur­ning them into what Gole he pleases, as once Celestin. 4. settled the Crowne, and then kickt it off the Emperor Henry 6. head. He hath an Omnia sub jecisti pedi­bus ejus, for his warrant, Thou hast put all things under his feet. Psal. 8.7. If He will make the neck of the King his foot-stoole, as Alexander 3. used the Emperour Frede­rick Barbarossa at Venice; he quotes the Psalme for it, Thou shalt tread the yong Lyon and the Dragon under thy feet. Psal. 90.13. If he desire to lift up his own Candlestick made of the Alchymy of swelling Am­bition and Avarice, wrought by the Je­suits, the best Chymists of the world, enchased and imbossed by the Cano­nists with titles of the richest Blasphemy [Page 25] which the tongue of men or divels could devise, Dominus Deus noster Papa, Extrava­gant. Johan. xxii. Tit. 14. verbo Decla­remus. Our Lord God the Pope, & Theses Ca­raffae d [...]dica [...] Paulo Quin­to vice-Deo. Neapol. Ex­cus. 1609. Revel. 1.12. Vice-God; One who Non obstante jure Divino, in de­spight of Gods Law does what he lists: I say, if he desire to set his counterfet Can­dlestick higher then any of the Seven Golden Candlesticks, and then make his own dim Candle, (whose modest light ought To shine in good works before men) blaze like a Comet to out shine the lights of Earth, and vie with the Host of Hea­ven for Lustre, he can finde Text for that too: so did Innocent III. from Gods crea­ting Two Lights, one to rule the day, Gen. 1.16. the other to rule the night, and blushes not to make Himself the Greater. So that whereas Christ whose Vicar he calls himself, is content with the stile of [...], The Starre of the morning ▪ Revel. 22.16 no proportion of light, nor measure of brightnesse will serve as Emblem of his Power, but the Sunne. Not to trou­ble you farther: if he desire to pare the Authority of Princes, and make the [Page 26] King his Subject, He will with Boniface 8. and Iohn 22 pervert this very Text, I have set Thee over the Nations and King­domes.

The note is altered much since the daies of Gregory the great, He (as He ac­knowledgeth to Theotista the Emperour Mauritius his sister) tooke his Bishop­rick then as a Donative from the Em­perour, Grego. Epist. 5. Eccè Serenissimus Dominus Im­perator fieri jussit. He was pleased to make him so. Now in requitall, his Suc­cessour takes upon him to make the Emperour. Formerly, the Pope was wont to begin His letters to Kings with this salutation, Salutem in eo per quem Reges regnant, Health and safety be to you in Him by whom Kings reigne; now he salutes in his Gratiam & Apostolicam Benedictio­nem. own Name, for he takes on him to dispose the Kingdome, and command the King. It was not so from the beginning; Aaron the High Priest never quarrelled with Moses for the place, but obeyed him in all things, as Prince and Ruler. 1 King. 2 35 And Salomon exer­cised [Page 27] his authority upon Abiathar, thru­sting him from his Priest-hood, and be­stowing it upon Zadoc. Indeed the best Popes ever submitted to the Regall Au­thority; & one of them gives the reason Eleutherius by name, who in an Epistle of his, written to King Lucius, Antiquit. Britannic. pag. 5. in Margine. some­times King of this Island, (which Epistle is recorded amongst the Lawes of Ed­ward the Confessour) tells him, Vicarius verò Dei estis in regno, He was within his own Kingdome Gods Vicar, set up with absolute power to governe the Person and the Place, Church as well as State; which is the just meaning of being Set over Nations and Kingdomes.

But much of your wonder concer­ning the Popes Ambition will be taken off, when you shall know the Consi­story to be a Competitour in the Can­vase for Superiority above Kings. S [...]ecan. de Disciplin. Eccles. p. 456 Quot­quot Christi aut Ecclesiae nomine censeri vo­lunt, Disciplinae sese subjiciant. As many as are Members of Christ, and of His Church, must subject themselves to the [Page 28] Consistorian Discipline, Non hic ex­cipitur Epi­scopus aut Imperator? Nulla hic acceptio aut exceptio per­sonarum. ibi. B [...]za. De Presbyt. pag. 124. neither Empe­rour nor Bishop excepted. And Beza is as zealous as he in the cause; Quis tandem Reges aut Principes? &c. Who shall exclude Kings or Princes from this Non Humanâ sed Divinâ dominatione; not Humane, but Divine domination of the Presbytery?

Nay some of this rigid Sect have gone so farre, that as the scornfull Bramble in the Parable of Io [...]ham scratcht and con­tended with the Better Trees for the Kingdome, Iudg. 9.15. they make the people scramble with their Prince for priori [...]y, and carry it too; Iun. Brutus Vindic. contra Tyrannos quest. 3. Buchanan. de Iure regni. Populus potior Rege. And another, Populus Rege praestantior etiam & major, Populi in legibus ferendis summa potestas. Lex Rege, Populus lege potentior. The People greater and better then the King. The Law above the King, the People above the Law. Reade they that list, they are the words of Buchanan. I know I may take up the Prophets words in this particular, Habac. 1.5. I tell you a wonder, which many whilst they heare will not be­lieve. [Page 29] But it is an undenyable truth. Let the Allegations I have produced out of their owne Books testifie for me, that I slander them not. Whence you may plainly discerne, that these two jarring extreames, Papacy and Presbytery, whose faces stand contrary to each other, whose opinions are opposite as the sides of the Diameter, meet in this one Eclip­tick line, to darken the Authority of Gods Annointed; To pluck Him down, and hold Him under whom God hath set over Nations and Kingdomes, to Root out, and to pull down, to Destroy and throw down, to Build and to Plant; which is the Exercise of his Regall Power, and my last part.

When I consider the Majesty of a King, his spreading Titles, 4. To Root out, and pul down. to Build, and to Plant. Dan. 4.8. P [...]al. 82.6. like Nebu­chadnezzars Tree whose forehead toucht the Clouds, whose stile reaches Divinity; For God Himselfe hath said, They are Gods: When I consider the extent of his Command, and the subjects of His Power, I cannot but conclude [Page 30] with Livy, Livius li. 26. Regnum res inter Deos homi­nesque pulcherrima, A Kingdome is the most excellent thing in the eyes of God or men. But when I consider the dis­quiet, the frequent toyle and daily dis­turbance to which a King is submitted, I may with another vary the stile, Po­tentia quid est aliud quàm speciosa molestia? Ludovicus Vives. Dominion is nothing but a glorious trouble. They that onely looke upon the glittering matter of a Diadem, and the Lustre of the Jewels set in it, may apprehend somewhat to delight the eye: but could they understand how many cares are lodged and concentred within the Pale and Circle of that Crowne, I may in the words of a great King say, They scarce would take it for the wearing, though it lay in their way. It was (no doubt) a sad Experience which wrung those words from Caesars mouth, when you would name a Masse of cares and crosses, Cogita Caesarem, Think upon Caesar. We who are shrubs, and in the humble valley of a private life, shrowd [Page 31] our obscure heads, heare not the loud Tempests nor feele those incessant storms which beat upon the Cedar; whose exalted top raises him neerer to the lightening and rage of the upper E­lement. We who sit within our own thresholds and under our own Vines, are not sensible of every noise and danger which threatens a State. Post upon Post, Micah. 4.4. Ier. 51.31. and Messenger after Messenger run to adver­tise the King, and whosoevers Midnight is interrupted by the newes, Ours can complaine of no disturbance. We therefore who enjoy the blessing of His shelter, and reape the fruits of His Care, whose trouble is to confirme our quiet, and whose broken sleeps, (as Epaminon­das once told his Souldiers) are to pro­cure our sounder rest; were there no command of God, nor tie of Religion which should enjoyne us to obey and love Him whom He hath set over us, might thinke our selves bound to yield Him these duties, as largely merited in the paines He takes to support our good, [Page 32] and his continuall labour to effect that Peace which we more freely tast then He. I may justly use that speech which once the Poet to Augustus,

Man is borne to labour, saith Job, The very Bread he eates is moulded with the toile of his hand, Iob 5.7. and macerated with the sweat of his brow. And truely if we observe it, this bread of carefulnesse is served up to the Kings Board as part of his Dyet. This Text will shew you of what graines it is made up, and with what labour kneaded; as if God had translated the First Mans Curse, into the Best Mans Office. You have heard of Swords broken into Plowshares, Esai 2.4. and Spears into Sithes; I can from hence tell you of Spades and Pruning-hooks turned into Scepters. Adams Husbandry is a Type of the Kings Office. Adam was set to digge and dresse the ground; Gen. 3.23. so is the King, to Roote out and to Plant, to cast down, and Build. Houses are indeed Epitomes of Kingdomes, and Gardens [Page 33] Models of Common-wealths. When God speaks of a Nation or Kingdome to build and plant it, Ierem. 18.9. the King is both his Over-seer and Actour. He is [...], like a faithfull Architect, He builds up the walls of his Jerusalem, and repaires the breaches of Sion, that so he may se­cure all from the searching drifts of fraud, or gusts of open violence. Nor is He Cementarius onely, but in a sense Hortulaenus too. His Office hath in it [...], somewhat of the dressing of a Garden or husbanding ground. Let not the Comparison seeme vile; God Him­self accepts it. He is [...] (saith Christ) the Husbandman, Iohn 15.1. 1 Cor. 3.9. and we [...] His husbandry. He sowed us in the bed of Nature, and will reape us in Glory here­after. He plants us in our severall voca­tions, and by the irrigation of His grace quickens our Root, and our Leaf, our faith, and our works which are the ger­mination and fruit of that faith. Mary Magdalen mistooke Christ for the Gar­diner, and Saint Augustin commends [Page 34] her mistake. How can we dislike the figure in his Deputy the King? when God is here pleased to expresse His Office by Planting and plucking up by the Root. The disorders of the people are the rubbish of a Land, their Vices like weeds; the Schismatick is a Thorne in the sides of the Church, the factious a Thistle in the State. He that desires to make a cleer and flourishing Common-wealth, must cleanse the soile from such rank weeds extirpe the Brambles, and lop off the feare boughs, else never can any Plantation of good Morality or Religion thrive.

I need not further pursue the Meta­phor. These last words present unto your view the two Pillars upon which a Kingdome leanes, the Justice and Mer­cy of the King. The one in the conserva­tion of good Plants, and cherishing such dispositions as are built for vertue to in­habit. These are the Duo verba laeta (saith Saint Hierom) The other in punishing the bad, Hieron. Comment. in Ierem. 1.11. expressed in Quatuor Tristibus [Page 35] in foure sad words, though the Septua­gint sets down but three, Septuagint. [...] ▪

These Quatuor Infausta (for our Tr [...]n­slation numbers them according to S ^t. Hierom & the Chaldee Paraphrase) Rooting out and pulling down, and destroying and throwing downe, comprehend the Coer­cive power of Christ as King. For which cause [...]xpositors illustrate this place by the Iron R [...]d wherewith he bruiseth the Nations, Psal. 2.9. and the Sharp Sword in the Re­velation. Revel. 1.16. This Coercive power hath he committed to his Deputy. And it is one of the flowers of the Crown pecu­liar to his Regall Office Naturally and Regularly exercised by the King: for by his masters warrant He beares the Sword; and saith Saint Paul, He beares it not in vaine. Rom. 13.4. Indeed He should beare it in vaine, did it either sleep in the Soabberd through the slack execution of Lawes; or when it should strik, were it hindred and withheld by other hands, who as Judges of the Kings Actions counter­mand [Page 36] that Authority which God inten­ded as Absolute, as it is Lawfull. Much more if when it is drawne out, the edge should be turned against Him.

Arise O Sword, and smite my Shepheard, was the barbarous inhumanity used to­wards Christ, Zach. 13.7· and (I confesse) oft-times since practised upon His Vicegerent. I doe not onely meane the Sword of Ex­communication more frequently used by the Bishop of Rome then his Crosyer, (At which weapon also Knox and Bu­chanan have shewed themselves as cun­ning Fencers as he) but the Materiall, the Criminall Sword, And this defended as stiffely by those you scarcely would sus­pect. Men, who like the mutinous Israe­lites, upon all occasions of pretended discontent, Exod. 32.4. cry downe Moses, and set up an Idoll made out of popular Votes and Contributions. Men who have found an arme to weild the Sword of Justice, which God never appointed, in the mannage of which irregular Autho­rity they have presumed to set the people [Page 37] on the Bench, and place the King at the Barre. Heare it justified by one of their own pennes, Buchanan. de Iur. Regn. Rex cum ad populi judicium vocatur, Minor ad Majorem in jus vocatur when the King is cited by the People, the lesse is brought in question by the grea­ter. Ecce iterum Buchananus, Iuvenal. Satyr. & est mihi saepe vocandus Ad partes. This is strange stuffe, which I know as much offends you, who are dutifully met in the feare of God, and in this Holy Place to do Honor unto His Annoynted whom▪ He hath set over you, to heare, as me to rehearse. How much more ingenuously & mannerly do the Jesuits deale with Princes then these kinds of men? Suarius in his Book writ­ten against our late learned Soveraigne; Post quam Rex legitimè constitutus est supre­mam habet potestatem in his omnibus ad quae illā accepit, etiamsi à Populo illam acceperit. Suarius De­fens. Fid. Cathol. lib. 3. cap. 3. Admit the King were made by the peo­ple, (as it is quite otherwise, He is consti­tuted by God,) yet being made, he hath an absolute independant and unquestiona­ble Authority over the People. And [Page 38] Mariana thus writes, Iohan. Ma­riana de Rege & Reg. Inst. lib. 1. cap. 2. Adjuncta est Regia Majestas quasi Multitudinis Custos. The King is that Person unto whom God hath committed the charge and custody of the people. A truth which ye have the more reason to value, since it comes from their pens whom you all know to have been none of the best friends to Soveraignty. 1 Esdr. 4.41 But Magna est veritas; Great is the truth every where, and great this truth which extorts consent from these, and will evict it from all, but such who praeposterous to Gods order and me­thod will needs read this Text back­ward, turning the heeles to Heaven, the head to Earth, whiles they goe about to whelme the Kingdome over the King; and set the Nations, that is, the people, above Him whom God hath set over them. I have set Thee over Nations and King­domes.

ApplicationI have done with the Text, and should here end. But your expectation, and the duty I owe to this Day, require some [Page 39] just Commemoration from me. Here therefore my Eccè turns to you, who in your relation to the Text are concerned with the King. If I have hitherto spoken of a King, is he King for his own sake or for yours? No, the Text tels, he is Super vos constitutus, He is set over you. As God then hath given him the Kingdome, so he hath given you the King, Vobis datus est; and in that gift, as he hath Crowned the King with a Crown of Gold, he hath Crowned you with a Garland of Peace. There was a time, when there was no King in Israel: Judg. 17.6. would you know the Character of that time? Every man did what was good in his own eyes. No Law then but Lust and Will the Rule of each ones Actions: Might, arm'd with injury and violence, made the weaker Subjects, and outrage was authorised by the po­wer of the Actour. Think, how beyond all expression miserable your case were, should the anger of God cause those times to revert upon you. When bar­barous Rapes and ho [...]rid Massacres, [Page 40] (cries wherewith your eares have never been acquainted) should sound in every corner of your City. Here then begin your thanks to God, that to prevent all these mischiefes, He hath given you a King.

And now, as God once said to Moses in the top of Mount Pisgah, let me say to you, Deut. 3.27. Lift up your eyes Westward, and Northward, and Southward, and Eastward. Look upon any other parts of the World which are governed without a King; or where there is a King, yet so abridgd in his Authority that He is, as it were in Wardship to a Senate or some such Supervisors, in Saint Pauls phrase Vnder Tutours and Governours, Gal. 4.2. and from the manifest inconveniences which Plu­rality of Rulers hath produced in the World (for They are a punishment to a Land) learn to prize your own happi­nesse under one Ruler, Prov. 28.2. as he in Homer, [...], Homer. Iliad. 2. and to pray that those may never be Masters of their will, who would subject either Him or [Page 41] you to then Tumultuous Parity. Look forth yet once more upon Kingdomes governed by formes Monarchall and Absolute as yours; and think whether Talem Constituit; whither God hath set such a one over them as over you. Whether the People (in Davids words) are in such a case as you, Psal. 145.15 free to the exercise of true Re­ligion, and quietly enjoying every man his own; and from these steps you will finde cause abundant to raise the mea­sure and to multiply the acts of your thankesgiving to Almighty God, and to say, He hath not dealt so with any other Nation. Psal. 147.20 When in the gratefull apprehen­sion of these blessings, you have applied unto your selves what I have now said, I shall most properly apply all other circumstances of this Text, both to the Day, and to the Person in whose honour it is solemnized.

I may indeed justly take up the words of our Saviour in the Gospell, Luk. 4.21. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your eares.

Fifteene yeares are now fully run out [Page 42] since God who Taketh away, and setteth up Kings, Dan. 2.21. did with one hand both take from us and restore. He translated one King into his own Kingdome, & estab­lished another upon this Throne. Thus Dominus dedit, Job 1.21. Dominus abstulit. The Lord gave, and the Lord tooke away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord. This very day was our Skie darkned, and by the setting of a Sunne ever Glorious and Memorable in his Race, an unnaturall mid-night threatned us even at Noone day, for then He fell; yet I may truely say, Sol occubu­it, nox nulla secuta est: though that Light was taken from our eyes, no night ensu­ed; for a New Light kindled out of His Ashes began to shine upon us, and that Stella de Jacob in a good sense, That Starre of Jacob, who was risen long be­fore, and (though at some distance) sparkled in our hopes, now increasing in the proportion of his light, appeared as he drew neere a perfect Sunne, in our Zodiack. Where ever since He hath hap­pily runne; and may he there long con­tinue [Page 43] in Himself, and longer in His Po­sterity, even whilst the Sunne and Moon in the Firmament continue their Motion and Light. That so this Hodiè in my Text may beare towards Him some part of that signification which it doth to Christ his Master, whose yesterday and to day is for ever.

This day hath God set Him up, and Over Nations and Kingdomes, literally so. Gregor. Tho­losan. Synta. Iur. lib. 6. cap. 7. n. 6. Those who are well read in the Schoole of Honour, and have taken the Altitude of Princes Titles, define foure Dukedomes to the making of a King­dome, and foure Earledomes to each of them. How God hath magnified that sacred Person whom He hath set over you, may be discerned in the number of His Realmes. Under His Scepter are Seve­rall Kingdomes, and shall I say different Nations? or rather, what more com­mends the skill and confirmes the greatnesse of the Builder, Two of Them by Union made One: According to that of the Prophet, Faciam eos in gentem [Page 44] unam. Ezek. 37 22. I will make them one Nation. How that Cement which combin'd them is now grown loose, or that distance ap­peares to make them look like Two againe, becomes not me to dispute. I will rather pray that He who is the Great Peace-maker may in his good time close the rupture, and as our Gracious Soveraigne hath by all meanes endea­voured their Re-uniting (in this accor­ding to the Text truely Cementarius) So in the returne to their Obedience unto Him, They may be rendred One with Us againe. Onely this, with much joy I must take leave to say; That what ever else occasions the difference, Religion cannot be the Cause. It was blasphe­mously spoken by Rabshakeh: 2 Kin. 1.10 Let not thy God deceiv [...] thee in whom thou trustest. In all Christian modesty I say to you, Let not any on whose trust you relie, Those who undertake to speak from God, de­ceive you by perswading This to be the Cause. I appeale to their own Consci­ence, if they dare be tryed by truth, whe­ther [Page 45] in any One Fundamentall point our Church hath shrunk from the Ortho­dox Faith, or fallen neerer to Popery Now then at the first Reformation. Our Sacraments as then, so now administred, that no jealousie of Romish Supersti­tion or slighting profanation can taint either Him that Gives, or those that Re­ceive. Our Ceremonies the same, and Those much praised and indeed admi­red by learned Bucer in his Censure pas­sed upon the English Liturgy, Bucer. Scrip. Anglic. pag. 456. Basil. 1577. at the request of Archbishop Cranmer, Egi gratias Deo qui dedisset vobis has Caeremo­nias eo puritatis reformare: nec enim quic­quam in illis deprehendi quod non sit ex ver­bo Dei desumptum, aut saltem ei non ad­versetur commodè acceptum. Calvin. Epist. 200. Anglis Francfordi­ens. And by Calvin earnestly commended to those English who sled to Frankeford, whom he ex­horts to Conform. And as he perswades them, to be lesse Rigid, Vos ultra modum rigidos esse nolim; so He professeth that himself would become more moderate; and if ever he lived to Print his works [Page 46] anew, correct those asperities which gave offence. Calvin. de libero Ar­bitrio contra Pighium. citat. a Spa­latensi lib. 7. cap. 12. pag. 318. Hoc quoque non gravatim agnosco. Nos, si quandò recudantur opera nostra, quae rudiora erant expolire, mitigare quae asperius dicta, &c. Denique in quibus offensionis periculum veremur, moderari eti­am & mitigare.

Quod ad formulam Precum & Rituum Ec­clesiastico­rum valde probo ut cer­ta illa extet, à qua Pasto­ribus in suâ functione discedere non liceat. Cal­vin. Epist. ad Protector. Angliae. 87.Lastly, our Book of Common Prayer whose Forme for the generall is accor­ding to M ^r. Calvins own Rule, in his Epi­stle to the L. Protector of England Setled and Constant: whose particular Matter, by Bucer, Peter Martyr, and other learned Divines who lived in the Time of the Reformation, was approved as a work beyond Exception, every way conso­nant to the Word of God. Bucer. loc. cit. cap. 1. In descriptio­ne Communionis & Quotidianarum Precum nihil video in Libro esse descriptum, quod non sit ex Divinis Literis desumptum, si non ad verbum, ut Psalmi & Lectiones, ta­men sensu, ut Collectae. For which cause he exhorts, that with all religious care it should be retained and vindicated from neglect. Religione igitur summâ retinenda [Page 47] erit & vindicanda haec ceremonia. This I say, continues not varied from the se­cond Service Book of King Edward VI. but in some Two Circumstances; One in the Litany, where somewhat is left out; Act for U­niformiry of Common Prayer. the Other in the Communion, where somewhat is added, as the Act before our own declares. And therein, Those very words, whose omission in the last Printed Service Books occasio­ned so much Cavill, are justly the same with King Edward the Sixths Service Book of the first Edition.

If any doubt the truth of what I deli­ver, let their own Eye resolve them. It was S ^t. Pauls commendation of the Berans, Act. 17·11. that they took not things upon trust, but themselves searched to see if they were so indeed. I would faine commend their Example to you, who if you can be content so to do, you wil neither be mis­perswaded by any who for their own ends suggest apparant falshoods, nor prejudicate those who contradict them.

You see the Latitude of the Kings [Page 48] Domination considered in the Subjects, Nations and Kingdomes. Will you see in what manner He hath exercised His Power over Them? And here I appeale to all: Under what Kings Scepter hath been greater care taken to prevent Di­visions and weed Faction out of the Church? Witnesse that Declaration of his Majesty which banish'd those ab­struse controversies concerning Gods Decrees of Election or Reprobation from the Pulpit. Themes, which onely filled the Hearers with scruples, and sent them home with feares; Teaching by it busie men to preach Christ as they ought, not Themselves, by venting their dange­rous wit or Spleen. Or when hath more sedulitie been used to remove all scan­dalous Rubbish out of the State, which ill morality or lawlesse abuse of locall custome had contracted? When held Distributive Justice (which Plato terms [...], the Prop of Kingdomes) a more equall Ballance, to give every man his owne? Or when hath Criminall Iu­stice [Page 49] been tempered with more Mercy? It was a just complaint of Draco'es Laws in Lacedaemonia, that their Execution was as bloody as their Character, for they were written in Bloody Letters: And the Romans lamented the cruelty of those Tribunals where the cheape Pro­scription of Lives made the Judgment Seate little differ from a Shambles: Amos 2.6. Poore men sould for shoos (so the Prophet.) Or as the Turks to this day sell heads, so many for an Asper. If there be (as I would hope otherwise) any such a­mongst us, who make such low account of mens lives, that they destroy, where they might Build hopes of amendment; or Pluck up by the Root, where they need but pare the Leafe: If there be any who in discharge of such places are go­verned more by Custome then Consci­ence, who take dark Circumstance and lame surmise for Evidence, rashly gi­ving Sentence, and as precipitately pro­ceeding to Execution, Let their own Soules runne the fearefull hazzard of this [Page 50] Account. They learne it not from Him who placed them on the Tribunall, whose Sword hath seldome been wet with striking Offenders, and scarcelie unsheathed against those who brought themselves within the reach of His Co­ercive Justice. I may well apply that of Seneca, By practising so long upon his Patience, Eum docent esse crudelem, qui discere non potest, They have whetted and provoked Him to a Severity, which He hath been most unwilling to put in Exe­cution.

Now for the Conservative part of His Office, expressed in these Termes, To Build, and to Plant: whether you take Building Materially or Morally, in both these sens [...]s hath He been and still is a Glorious Builder. Nor will I carry you farre off for instance. As the Disciples to Christ concerning the Temple of Je­rusalem, Mark. 18.1. so let me say to you, [...], See the Materialls for the re-edifying of this Mother Church, of which should I say nothing, the Timber would cry, Et [Page 51] Saxa loquentur, and the very stones speake. Did any Eye within these few yeares hope to behold this neglected Temple (like Sion in her mournfull wid­dowhood sitting in the Dust) trimmed up like a fresh Bride? Her wrinckled face guttered with the teares of her de­cay, and furrowed by the injurie of Time, made smooth againe, Her ragged garments changed into costly robes. Need I tell you who hath put upon her, Beautie for Dust and Rubbish, and a face of Repaire for Ruine? Is it not the zeale of our most gracious Jehoash? who hath not onely (as King Iehoash) said, Goe out into the Cities of Iudah, and gather of all Israel money, 2 Chr. 24.5 to repaire the House of God, but set them a pattern in His Own Munificence; Is it not His zeale, and the Care of his Pious Iehoiaeda the High Priest? who hath faithfully Stewarded the cheerfull Contributions of the Princes and all the People, vers. 10. and (what I mention to your Reputation) Your Benevolence to the advancement of this Good worke [Page 52] performed to God, and to His House.

vers. 16.I can referre you to other Walls then These, of differing Matter, and quite another Station; whose Foundations are layed not in the Hils, Psal. 86.1· (as the Psalmist spake of Jerusalem) but in the Floods. I doe not here crie out in the Poets wonder, ‘Quanti montes volvuntur aquarum!’ what Hils of water rowle there? but what a Royall Navie (for Number and Burthen farre exceeding all which pre­ceded Him) to bestride and mount the tops of those foaming Billowes? what Mountaines of Oake upon those Watery Mountaines? what Wooden Castles to keepe the Ocean in awe? like strong Walls and Bulwarks to repell those Ad­versaries, who have long made this Kingdome the aime of their Ambition and Revenge. V. Chalcon­dil. Mart. Crusi [...]. in Turco-Graec. & Archie­piscop. Myte­len. de capt. Constant. It was the Grecians Ob­loquie, indeed the Losse of the whole Empire, that at the Siege of Constantino­ple they would not help their Emperour Constantinus Palaeologus with mony, either [Page 53] to provide Ammunition, or pay Souldi­ers to Man the Walls; A.D. 1453 29. Maii. by which defect that famous Citty was left to the pillage of Mahomet, and their incomparable wealth enriched the Turkes, a very small portion whereof timely afforded had saved all, and rescued themselves from slavery. It will be much for your Ho­nour that in succeeding Times History may not have cause to report you men of such narrow hearts or Close hands; And let it be your present Comfort, that, like good Patriots for your Countries safety, you have contributed to the Buil­ding and Manning of those Wooden Wals; which unlesse they be able to keep off an Enemy, You flatter your selves in vaine to thinke that yours at home can doe it.

Finally, for his Morall Building, I may boldly affirme, That for all the vertues requisite to the making up of a most compleat Prince, and the Example of such a Life wherin the blackest fangs of detraction (though dared to speak [Page 54] their worst) can finde nothing to tra­duce or fasten on, No one (Consult your Chronicles) I say no One hath more fairely Edified, then He whom God hath set over You. With how much truth may I apply to Him the Poets Comple­ment to Augustus?

He hath as Gloriously Reigned over you in His Example, as in His Care. And to the whole World approved Himselfe as Great a King in Vertue, as in Title; In every particular, making good that Rule, Sit Exemplo major qui est authoritate Maximus. Whether I looke on his Oeconomick Relations as Husband, Fa­ther, or indeed as a good Man: Or whe­ther I mention his solid Wisedome, and cleere Judgement, able to steere the Counsels, and direct the most prudent Ministers of State in His Affaires: Or his undaunted Courage (for as God hath given Him a strong and Active Body, so He hath matcht it with as Active a [Page 55] Mind) not sparing to adventure His own Person where the safety of His People required. And thus,— Mon­strat tolerare labores, Non jubet, He hath not onely commanded others upon danger, but lead them on Himself: Or His excellent Moderation and Patience, not apt to be wrought into easie heate or rash effect of Passion: Or the Humi­lity of His Disposition made up of Titus his Affability accessible to the meanest Suitors who come to solicit Him, and at all times more like a Father then a Ma­ster to those about Him: Or His singu­lar Integrity, in which He may acquite Himselfe as righteous Samuel once did, Beare record of me before the Lord, whom have I done wrong to, or whom have I hurt, 1 Sam. 12.3. or of whose hand have I received any Bribe to blind my Eyes? making His Justice, not His Power, the rule of what He doth. For Nescit posse quod posse non debet, He will not know the use of his Authority, but where Religion and Right make his Commands legitimate. [Page 54] [...] [Page 55] [...]

[Page 56]Let me not here omit the Regular distribution of his Time, for his Exer­cise, for his Meales, through the whole Course of his Life never guilty of the least intemperance. 'Tis that which Sa­lomon holds worth the noting: Blessed art thou, Eccles. 10.17. O Land, when thy Princes eat in due season, for strength, not for excesse. But above all, (that indeed which crownes the rest,) The Regularity of his Devo­tions, used by Him with such Reverence and Constancy, that He hath made the Court Canonicall by His houres. Twise every Day, and openly presenting Him­selfe in Gods Service, as if He meant by his owne practise to demonstrate before His Houshold, a Text much like the Apostles Rule, 2 Thes. 3.10 He that will not Pray, let him not Eate.

I am not to learne, that in such Argu­ments as these, mens eares are common­ly so obstructed with prejudice, Truth can hardly find Admittance; The sup­posed Ends of the Speaker, or flattery of the Object are the ordinary excuses to [Page 57] divert their beliefe. But this must not prohibit me to speake, nor should it make you loth to heare. I doe not forget Where I am, or Whose Errand I deliver. This is no place to give Titles to Men, but to give Honour to God. Yet I must tell you, when there is so much Justice in the Cause, and so much Merit in the Person, and such an Opportunity as this to warrant, and my Conscience to beare Record, that in the Attestation of Saint Paul, I speake the truth in Christ, Rom. 9.1. I lie not. For 'tis not Quod Audivimus, but Quod vidimus, I take not up on heare­say, my owne Attendance hath long and often made me an Eye-witnesse, and I thanke God that I have seene it. I say, for me on these termes to be silent, were to prevaricate against the Truth; and for you not to desire to heare it, were to declare your selves most unthankfull to God, who hath blest you with so Religious and Just a King.

[Page 58]I might adde a great deale more: But as the Person I speake of needs not, so all I can deliver, falls short, and rather Darkens then Sets Him forth. I will therefore in the last Place, for all the vertues His Example hath Planted a­mongst you, for His sincere endevours to continue (like a true Nursing Father of His Church) the Religion planted in It, Esa. 49.23. Exhort you to Pray, that for our sins God deprive not us too soone, of so rich a Blessing, by Taking Him away. For if there be any (as I am farre from the belief) who love not to heare Him prai­sed; I hope they may well like to heare Him Pray'd for. Pray therefore for the Life of the King, Ezra 6.10. and of his Sonnes: Pray for Him, and for His Plants, The Pledges of our future Peace; That God will blesse Him in His Gracious Queene, and Her happy Fruits, In His Root, and in His Branch, Deut. 28.3. In the City, and in the Field. Let all who rise up against Him be Covered with shame and ruine, Psa. 132.19. But upon Himself, Let His Crown flourish; O [Page 59] let it long flourish. And when the sad Day comes wherein He must exchange This Kingdome for a Better; Let His Crown of Gold be changed into a Crown of Glory. Amen.