Canon Gilbert' s SERMON Preached at St. Andrew' s Plymouth, January 30th, 1698/9.
A SERMON Preached at St. Andrew' s Plymouth, January 30th, 1698/9.
By JOHN GILBERT, M. A. Vicar there; and Canon of Exeter.
With a PREFACE, DEFENDING King Charles the Martyr, And the Observation of His Day, against the Libels, and Practice of such, who are Enemies to both.
LONDON: Printed by Sam. Darker, for Tho. Bennet, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard. 1699.
THE Publisher to the Reader, In Defence of KING CHARLES THE MARTYR, And the Observation of His Day.
THE Importunity of Friends, and the Reflection made by others, on this Sermon, gave the Reverend Preacher just Cause to permit its Publication, that he might Gratify the Desires of the one, and Confute the wrong Surmises of the other.
[Page] DISCOURSES of this Nature, never were more seasonable and needful than now; while many, with such Freedom (to call it no worse) calumniate the good Name, and trample on the Ashes of that Glorious Sufferer, the Martyr of the Day: whose pious Memory, and Righteousness, are, by the Command and Example of the highest Authority in England, Yearly Commemorated and Recognized to God and the World.
NO Men pretend greater Regard and Deference to the Authority and Judgment of Parliaments, than many of those, who in the Case of K. Charles, contradict, and give them the Lye. If they Determine or Enact agreeable to the Humor and Interest of those Partial Men, they magnify the Judgment of our Representatives to a Pitch near Infallibility, and make their Power boundless. But if many successive Parliaments Declare, or Decree, contrary to their Opinions, or Principles, or opposite to their Humors and Inclinations, or Credit, no Men less regard, submit, or conform to it, than they.
OF this, the R. Martyr's Case is a Notorious Instance; for he, tho' declared in many Acts of divers Parliaments, A Righteous, Just, Innocent Prinse, and as such, Yearly Commemorated, by their solemn Lamentation on His Day; and ordering publick Thanks to the Preachers, and printing the Sermons then delivered before them (which ought to sway the Judgments of those Men, or at [Page] least, to stop their Mouths. But maugre all that, they spare not to Reproach his Memory, and Brand his Name, with the Odious Characters of Bloody Tyrant, Perjured Popish Pseudo-Martyr, and a Spoyler of the English Government. And do this, not in private Corners, but publick Coffee-houses, not only in Cabals and Clubs, such as the Rhiming Conventicle of the Protestant Joyner, and the Calveshead Meeting of Factious Atheists, every 30th of January, but in Swarms of Libels, openly sold in Westminster-Hall, and Cry'd by the Hawkers at the King's Palace Gate, in the Face of the Supream Authority, and Highest Judicature of the Nation, who have so often, and do so frequently declare and protest against the Falshood and Scandals which those Venomous Libels impudently Disperse, to Reproach His Majesty's most Innocent, and Illustrious Progenitor.
AT the same time, the same Men, with matchless Boldness, do as Openly, and in Print, Extol Ludlow's Mem. Oats, Icon. 1. Op, Reform. Pref. to Milton's Letters, vind. of O. C. vind. L. Parl. and Applaud, as Protestant Heroes, English Patriots, Men full of Grace, the Knowledg of God, and true Religion; Men of Honour, Prudence, &c. Those execrable Traytors, and proscribed Regicides, who in divers Statutes, stand Branded for horrid Murtherers, Parricides, Miscreants, Sons of Belial, neither true Subjects, nor true Protestants, but Authors of the greatest Reproach and Infamy, it was possible for the greatest Enemies of God and the King, to bring on the Protestant Religion, and the Nation.
[Page] THE Preface to a Sermon will not afford room to say all I can, to confute these Men, to shew the Wickedness of their Principles, the Falseness and Injustice of their Reproaches; and the Innocence of K. Charles. But I have prepared, and will shortly publish, full, and unquestionable Proof of them all.
FOR, upon a full and impartial Survey of all that hath been Written on both sides of the Controversy, between the R. M. and his Enemies, I find, though they had the Advantage, by their Success, to be thought the Right Cause, yet they wanted that Strength of Law and Reason, which they had in Arms and Legions. And in this Judgment I am confirm'd, by the Concurrence of all the many Parliaments we have had ever since that Tragical Dispute; every of them having judged for the King, and condemn'd his Enemies; declared Him in the Right, and they in the Wrong And, beside the Determination of those most competent Judges, we have the Evidence of very many Men, who Acted with the greatest Zeal and Violence against Him; and were literally, His Mortal Enemies; who being afterward convinced of their Error, publickly Recanted; declared their Repentance and Remorse; gave Testimony to His Innocence, and the Righteousness of his Cause and from Inveterate Adversaries, became Advocates, and Compurgators.
[Page] NOW, were there no other Evidence, or Argument (as there are abundance) to prove the Innocence of this Holy King, these Two were enough, viz. The constant and agreeing Judgment, and Declarations, of many Parliaments; and the Testimony of many of His greatest Foes. These render all other Pleas needless, and supersede, as well as surmount, all other Proof whatsoever, either from Judgment, or Evidence, or both.
FOR the Parliament, i. e. and the King, and Coke, Jurisd. of Courts, c. 1. Idem, Instit. page 109. three Estates of the Realm assembled, being by none more than the Royal M. Enemies, accounted the most absolute, and supream Judges of right, and wrong; and the Evidence of an Enemy, reputed the most credible in a Man's behalf; and both these full, and clear in the Vindication of King Charles: The Controverfy must End here, unless they will deny what all grant to be true; and themselves with great Ardour, and Zeal, have often asserted. By this Law, and by this Testimony, we will therefore be Tried, and Judged, and let those that will not be convinced by them, be accounted, as the Scripture saith, Men that have no truth in them.
MY Work then, in this short Defence, and Pleading for K. Charles, is to prove (1st.) the Validity, and Competency of their Judgments, or the power, and rights of Parliaments to judge fully, and [Page] finally, in all matters of right, or wrong. (2dly.) That they have given, or declared for the King. And (lastly) that many of his greatest, and most malicious Foes, by the Invincible power and force of Truth, or Conscience, have done the same. So that his very Enemies, being Judges, and Witnesses, King Charles appears Just, and Innocent.
THE power and right of Parliaments to judge, and make final determination, in the matter before us, appears by their own Declaratory Statutes, The nature and practice of all late Parliaments, and by consent and testimony of the King's Enemies.
THE transcendent power of Parliaments to judge finally in all Cases, of which they take cognizance, is evident among many of their own Declarations. One especially made not only before the Union of the Kingdoms, but before the uniting of the contending Royal Houses of Lancaster and York; is done in words very significant, and expressive: The Parliament, say they, is of such Authority, Rot. Parliam. apud Westm. 1 Ric. 3. that manifestation, or declaration, of any Truth or Right, made by them, maketh before all other things, most faith and certainty; quieting Mens Minds, and removing the Occasion of all doubts.
IF we consider the Nature, and look into the Practice of all late Parliaments, they afford us great reason to trust their Integrity, and rely on their Judgments. Having shewn themselves such irreconcilable [Page] Adversaries and Opposers of Popery and Tyranny; and so quick-sighted, to discover it far off, and alway shewing their Abhorrence of those detestable Faults in a King; and express'd their Indignation with a witness. But when, or where, have they said of a popish Tyrant, as they do of the R. Martyr? And enjoyn anniversary Lamentations, in the most solemn-manner, and most sensible Expressions for the loss of him; and in the heighth of a National Ferment, against Popery and Tyranny Vote, as they did, 70000 l. to erect a Monument A. D. 1678. to his Blessed Memory.
Thirdly, NONE more Magnify, and cry up the Power and Credit of Parliaments, either as Judges, or Evidences, than those who Writ, Fought, and Preach'd against K. Charles, the Martyr, both before, and since, His Murther: So that if they submit not to their Decision in this, as well as other Cases, they must be Men of great confidence and partiality.
THE L. P. Rem. May 26. 1642, declare themselves Husb. Colled. vol. 1. p. 270. Judges between the King and His People in all matters of Right.—The Parliament is, say they, at another time, the Reason of the King and Kingdom, The only competent Judges where the Fault is—when page 278. the Question is, Who is King? or, What is best?—What ever they declare, ought not to be questioned by any one; and all who guide themselves by their Declaration, 288. [Page] ought to be free from all Accounts▪ and Penalties. This was said of them, when they were scarce half two Estates; without Lords Spiritual, and against their Head, the King; And so were but an headless Trunk, or Carcass, as Bracton and Fortescue Fal. 109. cap. 12. saith of the English Community, when without a King: For He is, as my Lord Coke calls him, Caput principium, & finis Parliamenti, so essential to the making of a Parliament, that He is Head, Beginning, and End of it.
W▪ Prinne, in the heighth of their Reign, published four Books concerning the Soveraign Power of Parliaments: Wherein he makes them sole Judges of Wrong done by any one, especially the King; and affirms it Treason to deny it, or refuse Submissions to their Judgments and Declarations.
THE Regicides, on the Bench, and the fame Traytors at the Bar, insisted on this infallible Judgment, and Power of Parliament, to warrant their execrable Treason: But they had no such Power or Judgment to justify them.
Mr. Baxter saith, The Parliament hath Power to Holy C. Wealth, p. 355, 439, 471, &c. declare what is Just, and what is▪ Ʋnjust; What is Law, and what is against Law; They are our Eyes, &c. And we are bound to believe them, a the most competent Judges▪ and Witnesses. And although this was written during, and in justification of, a Rebellion, [Page] and Usurpation: Yet, to do Mr. Baxter right, he did conform to the Judgment of the next compleat Parliament; and declared the R. M. Innocent, and the Person of the King inviolable; and for so doing, hath been lash'd in his Grave, by one otherwise of his own Kidney. All Judgments, especially in things of the greatest moment, are to be Respited, till they have Pref. to E. Strafford 's Tryal. declared and judged, saith Rushworth. Mr. Johnson hath, as much as any Man, asserted the Power, and vouched the Credibility of Parliaments, though he Argum. p. [...]2. sometimes takes the liberty to censure such as they have declared Innocent; and deny some Prerogatives of the Crown, fixed to it by many Statutes.
I forbear to produce the Opinions of Horn, Bracton, Fleta, Fortescue, Sir Tho. Smith, Mr. Cambden, Sir W. Rawleigh, Sir Ed. Coke, Sir R. Cotton, and many others, learned in the Law, Constitution, and History of England, and go on to shew what our Parliament, those Infallible Judges, say to the Case in Controversy.
THE healing Parliament, was convened without a King, under an Illegal and Usurp'd Power, and consisted, for the most part, of such as had been active, either in Council, or Arms, against the R. M. so that they knew well what was done, and where the Right lay: And none more than they asserted His Innocence, detested the Principles, and [Page] branded the Men by whom He fell, as may be seen in most of their Acts.
ALL the succeeding Parliaments, to this Day, do, on all the Occasions they have to mention this good King, repeat, and confirm, the Judgment of their Predecessors, and declare Him Innocent, Sacred, most Excellent, Gracious, and of ever Blessed Memory. Eulogies which belong not, nor will ever be given, to a Popish Tyrant, by any, much less by many, Protestant Parliaments. Vide 12. Car. 2. 11, 12, 14. 30. 13. Car. 2. 5. 9. 38. 14. Car. 2. 9. 21. 22. 29. 16. Car. 2. 1. 6, & 7. Guliel. & Mariae, &c. I refer to the Statute Book for abundance of this kind, and present you with the Extract of one Declaration very Emphatical; not to be found there, because the Act is expired, which contains it: But in the Role, 14. Car. 2. 8. we have it in these words: Whereas there was a Loyal Party, which, through all hazards and extremities in Defence of the KING's Person, Crown, and Dignity, the Rights and Priviledge of Parliament, the Laws and Honour of the English Nation, did bear Arms, by the command of His late Majesty, of ever blessed Memory: And, according to their Duty, and the known Laws of the Land, oppose that Barbarous Rebellion, raised against His most Excellent Majesty in the Year 1640, by some of the Men then sitting at Westminster— by the Rapin, and Oppression of a long Rebellion, Treason, and Ʋsurpation, the Kingdom [Page] became exhausted, &c. Here you have the Matter fully display'd, the true Characters and Right of the King's Cause set forth, the Loyalty of His Friends declared and approved, the Wickedness of His Enemies justly censured and condemn'd, their Resisting and taking up Arms against Him declar'd Traiterous and Unlawful, and the Direful Effects of that Rebellion, briefly, but fully, described: Which shews how contrary to Law and Truth, in Right and Fact, those late Libels are, which Accuse the King, Justify the Traitors, and Vindicate that Rebellion; calling Him Tyrant, them Patriots, and that a Blessed Reformation: Cujus contrarium.
IF we look into the Sermons yearly preach'd before the House of P. and observe their Thanks, and Order to Print such wherein the R. M. is said to be, the best of Kings, a strict Observer of Justice, Honour and Truth; a Prince that had done no harm, nor committed any fault; of perfect Innocence, an upright Man, one that feared God, and eschewed Evil, (like Josiah) a Saint that did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, the Best of Men, the Best of Kings, the most excellent Example of Virtue and Piety that ever the World produced, as Dr. Lancaster, Dr. Langford, and Mr. Blackall, have done the last three Anniversaries: we cannot but see it is still their Judgment and Opinion of K. Charles: And admire at the Impudence and Falshood of those many Libels, [Page] daily published to tell the Nation, That so many Parliaments have vouched a pernicious Lie; allow'd and confirm'd by publick Sanction such a Character of an odious Tyrant, as the best of Princes have not deserved.
And now I would ask all sober Men of Sense, to which of these ought we to adhere, and submit our Judgments and Belief of this injured Monarch? Where shall we find the Truth? Who is most likely to be in the right, the Law, or the Libels? Parliament, or Pamphlets? Surely, all unprejudiced Men will believe the former, before Cook, Milton, Goodwin, Ludlow, Jones, Oates, and all the rest of these scandalous Traytors, who so falsly and impudently gain-say them, and accuse Him, whom they have acquitted, and declared Not Guilty.
HAVING thus clear'd up the Royal Martyr's Innocence, by the inculcated Verdict and solemn Judgment of the highest Judicature, and supream Court of England, which is the Sense and Judgment of the whole Kingdom, it may seem needless to produce any thing else in His behalf.
BUT, in regard many of His Enemies became convinced of His Justice and Innocency, and made open confession thereof, I will produce a few of them, to Evidence the Truth and Justice of that Judgment our Parliament have given of this Wrong'd INNOCENT.
[Page] O. Cromwel, who was the chiefest in Arms, Council and Judgment against Him, shall be the first I will produce for Him; it may seem incredible, that he should ever think, or speak favourably of the R. M. whose Life and Throne he took from Him: But we are assur'd, by divers of his own Party, that he not only declared his Sense of the King's Goodness, and the Wrong done Him but engaged to Rescue Him out of His Enemies Hands, and settle Him on His Throne. Sir W. Waller's Apologetical Narrative, Sir Tho. Herbert's Threnod. Car. Major Huntington's Address to the Parliament: See also M. Hunt. Letter to Sir W. Dugdal, Aug 1648, Col. George's Account of the Army's Proceedings: All report the Courtship Cromwel and Ireton made to the King, while he was their Prisoner, 1647, and that they often confess'd him to be the best of Kings, His Cause Rightful, and page 270. His Enemies in the Wrong. Ludlow also, in his Memoirs, saith, Cromwel, a little before His Murther, promised to do all he could to Serve and Save Him. And there is lately publish'd, by R. Baldwin, John Darby, &c. Memoirs of Sir John Barkley, which tells us, That Cromwel, while the King was his Prisoner, told him, weeping, that he had been abus'd by a wrong Opinion of the King, who he now thought the most upright, and the most consciencious Man in the three Kingdoms.
[Page] THE Conversion of this infamous Traytor, may seem but a Copy of his Countenance, a Feign, to gain his Point, and delude the King. But the Crocodile said as much after he had murthered Him and got into his Throne, as we are told by the Author of a Paraphrase on the King's Speech, printed 1648. Cromwel, saith he, confess'd, the Martyr'd P. 19. King was a Man of most excellent Parts; great Piety, as a Christian; exceeding Honesty, as a Man; supream Wisdom, as a King; and of Knowledge, as a Commander, exceeding all his Generals; but being the Son of King James, 'twas needful that he died.
Mr. P. Sterry, the Sunday after Cromwel's Death, 18 New Q. Print. 1659. said in his Sermon at the Chappel Royal, That as sure as the Word of God was in his Hand, the late Protector was at the right Hand of God, intercedeing for this Nation. If those People think him such a deified Saint, they cannot refuse credit to what he confesseth; especially of an Enemy.
IRETON declared himself so much a Convert to Loyalty, and sensible of the King's Righteousness, and the Justice of his Cause, that he declared, as Mr. Huntington relates, ut supra, that if he had but six Men to joyn him, he would Fight for it; that he would purge, and purge the House, 'till all his Enemies were outed.
[Page] COOK, the infamous Sollicitor at the High Court of Justice, who Impeach'd the King, used him Rudely, and afterward writ a Vindication of Reg. Tryals, p. 116. 134. that horrid Villany; did, both before and after the Murther, as was proved, and confessed at his Tryal, declare, That he believed King Charles to be as Wise and Gracious a Prince, as any was in the whole World, but he must die, and Monarchy with him And in that scandalous Fardle of Treason, he writ to defend that hellish Fact. He confess'd, That the Appeal. p. 35. King was a great Student, had more Learning, and Dexterity in State Affairs, undoubtedly, than all the Kings in Christendom, and for Parts, had they been sanctified, (i. e. Infatuated by Enthusiasm) a second Solomon.
H. MARTIN who commanded a Regiment C. Walker, Hist. Ind. vol, 1. p. 171. of Horse in the Service of the L. P. and, as one of the Party writes, a Regiment of Whores in his own; sat a Judge at the Tryal and Sentence of K. Charles, and published a Vindication thereof; yet afterward, he declared in the H. of Commons, upon H. M. Polit. and Oecon. Letters. a Motion for making Cromwel King, That if a King were necessary, it had been better keep the last, being the fittest for it, of any Gentleman in England; and C. Walker, ubi supra, p. 149. Tryal, p. 249. that there was no fault in the Person, but the Office; and at his Tryal, confessed his Trason and Repentance.
[Page] SURELY such true Protestant Patriots, such Babes of Grace, such Bulwarks of the Reformed Religion, and Rights of the People, as these Bloody Parricides were by some accounted, would not have said this, of one they thought a Tyrant or a Papist; so that they were such Judges as Pontius Pilat, who condemned to the Cross, a King, in whom he confess'd he found no Fault.
SIR W. Waller, was a Member of the L. P. and one of their Generals, a great Scholar, and a great Soldier; but after he had by his Sword in the Field, and his Voice in the House of Commons, opposed the Royal Cause and Party, 'till their Overthrow, and the King's Captivity at Holdenby; then he became a penitent Convert, and writ an Account of the Transactions of those Times, wherein he Justifies and Applauds the King, and abhors the Rebellion and Murther. In his time, says he, under Apolog. Nar. p. 140. a complaint of Slavery, we lived like Freemen.—I do utterly declare the Proceedings against him, as contrary to Faith, Example, Duty, and Oaths; he granted more than any King ever did to any Parliament, or more than any Parliament ever demanded of any King; and more than the fatal Long Parliament could in the Beginning hope or wish. I do not so much as in Thought, P. 139. reflect on the Honour of His late Majesty, whose Memory shall remain Sacred and Glorious, while that of His Enemies shall rot and stink.
[Page] SEVERAL others, who bore Arms against the King at that time, had the like Remorse and Sentiments, and shewed it openly, even while Nol was in his Altitudes, and drove Army, Parliament, and all before him.
M. R. Huntington, Coll. George, Coll. E. Crooke, Iconoclastes. pref. p. 8. of Higham, Coll. Mat. Tomlinson, were some of them. So true was it, that Milton, the most Inveterate of the King's Enemies observed, that those who hated him, and fought against him with displayed Banners in the Field, afterwards applauded and extolled him, as a Prince, the Wisest, and most Religious, that ever lived.
BUT, besides the Sword Men, who became convinced, and dropp'd their Weapons, many of His busiest Enemies, the great Incendiaries in the Parliament, Pulpit, or Press, had the same Conviction, when the Heat of their Jealousy and Rage was abated; and they had time to consider, or opportunity to converse with him: Then they became convinced, and admired him more than the Q of Sheba did Solomon, for she came to see a Man famous for Wisdom, and found him to exceed her Expectation. But these, a Man Infamous for Folly and Wickedness; and found him so much the contrary, that they cried out, Ecce! plus quam Solomon! Mr. Long ag Walker, p. 48. Dr. Hollings. Jan. 30th. 93. Thus Mr. Vines, after the Dispute at Newport, cri'd [Page] out, Lo! a second Solomon! A. Henderson after that at New Castle, was so charm'd with the King's Learning, Wisdom, &c. that he became severely penitent for what he had acted many Years against him, retired to Scotland, Whitlock Mem. p. 123. Saunderson, Hist. p. 921. Perinchiff, Hist. K. Char. p. 39. Heath, Chr. p. 115. Ravilak Red. p. 4. Athen. Oxon. vol. 2. p. 520. 436, 205. and there died of Grief; leaving such a Character of Him, as his greatest Friends have not exceeded. Sir Tho. Herbert and Mr. Harrington, put into the King's Bedchamber, upon the removal of his Loyal Servants, by the Army, became Converts, and boldly vindicated Him against the Calumnies of His Enemies; and declared him a most Wise and Excellent King. So did Speaker Lental, W. Prinn, Mr. Corbet, &c. Hist. Indep. vol. 2. p. 109. 138, 201. He was the most sanctified, virtuous, and knowing Prince in the World: had learnt the whole Method of Human Perfection, said C. Walker, 1650. who was a Covenanter a Member of the L. Parliament, and had, as himself boasts, faithfully served them from the beginning, with great Pain, Hazard, vast expence of Health and Money, Gratis, and in pure Love of the good old Cause, and Hatred of the King's Will, 1647. The famous Mr. A. Marvel, during Cromwel's Usurpation, was his Under Secretary to Milton, & a great Admirer of both. And altho' after the Restauration, he became the great Idol of the publicans, a Lampooner of the Court, and Friend to its Enemies; yet on all Occasions, he met with in his reflective and satyrical Writings, to mention the R. Martyr, he speaks of him with Applause. When the War broke out, quoth he, Hell broke loose; Hist. Judep. vol. 2. p. 109. 138, 201. [Page] the L. P. ought, and might have trusted the King with Rehearsal Transprosed, part 1. p. 302. Part 2. p. 349. the whole Matter, about which they quarrelled, he was of so accurate and piercing a Judgment—the best Prince that ever wielded the Scepter of these Kingdoms, very pious and religious, of exquisite Ʋnderstanding; Further Instr. to Painter, 1670. —Holy Charles, was like Marcus Aurelius—
THERE cannot be a truer, or better Character given of this most excellent Prince, than in a Hist K. Char. 1649. Libel written 1649. by W. Lilly, on purpose to defame Him, and renown his Murtherers; but it's too long for this Preface. Most of those who embrued their Hands in his Blood, recanted, confess'd their Guilt in shedding the Innocent Blood of a Sacred King, of ever blessed Memory; with Tears abhorr'd the Fact, and themselves for committing it; and like Joseph's Brethren, accused one another at the Bar, for what they had done together on the Bench; as may be seen in Authentick Reports of their Tryals; though a late scandalous Libeller hath the Impudence to affirm, That those who condemned King Charles to Death, were steadfast to the T. O. first [...], p. 73 last, few of them having so little Grace to repent of what they had done; but what he Swears, and what he Writes, are alike with him; usually the breadth of Heaven wide from Truth: For though Rebellion be like the Sin of Witchcraft, seldom or never repented of; yet 23, that is almost all those execrable Regicides, who by a Mockery of Justice, [Page] perpetrated that cruel Villany; were sometimes by the Power of Truth and Conscience, forced, in the midst of, or soon after all their Railing at this Martyr'd King, to cry out, as Satan did to our Saviour, I know Thee, thou art the Son of God! And declare Voice from Heaven, to the Com. Wealth, 1651. openly to the World, as A. Evans soon after the Murther, that He was a Prince Able, Wise, Faithful, of an undefiled good Spirit; perfect in all things, Justified of God and Men; and by His own Enemies.
THUS much for the Evidence given in behalf of the R. M. by many of his Adversaries and Murtherers. There are a (loud of Witnesses beside, who, tho' his Friends, cannot be thought Partial in his Favour, some of them being Men of Honour, who well knew Him, Testified for him when he was Dead; and they Dying by the same Hand that bereft him, 'twas no Time or Subject for Flattery or Falshood.
I will, therefore, produce a couple of them, to clench the whole, and perfume the Court, after that filthy pack who have appeared in this Cause, and then adjourn.
THAT Loyal Martyr, and Noble Patriot, the Lord Capel, was Famous, even among his Enemies, for Piety, Integrity, Wisdom, and Heroic Vertue; when he came to Die for his Fidelity to this Excellent [Page] Prince, he gave Him this Eulogy, with his last Breath: I have considered the Images of all the Greatest Speech on the Scaffold. and most Virtuous Princes which have been in the World, and cannot find one more sufficient than K. Charles.
AND Duke Hamilton, who Died with him for Hamilton's Memoirs, p. 398. the same Cause, took God to witness, at his last moments, that he knew the King to have as eminent Virtues, and few Vices, as any Man; that He was an excellent Protestant, free from intending Tyranny, or Arbitrary Government.
WHAT a multitude of such Characters are there extant from the Tongues and Pens of Great and Good Men, who would not Flatter, could not be Deceived, knowing what they said to be true? In what Rapture and Extasie have His Praises been celebrated, and the highest Eulogies given of this incomparable King, in the most solemn and greatest Assembly of the Nation, for its Number and Quality? I mean our Parliaments, who, every Year, as I have already observed, approve and publish the Praises and Celebrations of this King's Innocence, Righteousness, Wisdom, and great Vertues.
AND now I appeal to all Rational Men, which is of most Credit in such a case? The Evidence of Mortal Enemies undeceived and penitent, the Judgment [Page] of the highest Judicature, the Verdict of an English General Council, the Declaration of our Oracles, and the Dying Testimony of Men of Honour, Integrity, and a publick Spirit: Or the Slanders of such Scandalous Witnesses, as are already Convict of Perjury, and proved non probus; the Calumnies of such proscribed Traitors as Ludlow; or the Lyes, Reproaches, popular Defamations, Falshoods of Grub street, and Factious Cabals, which have neither Foundation, or Proof; and the Divulgers of which are ashamed to be known? Judge, like English Men, and speak your minds!
I must end here; and reserve the abundance more I have to say on this Head, for another Occasion; after a few Words to such as are made believe King Charles was not Author of [...], and to those who Neglect, or Oppose the Observation of His Day.
THE former I refer to the Second Edition of that Excellent Defence, lately made of His Right to that Seraphick Book, by Mr. Wagstaff, and is Sold by H. Hindmarsh, in Cornhill: Where all Objections are obviated; and its being Genuine, proved by irrefragable Arguments, and unquestionable Evidence. The same is done by the Author of the Princely Pellican. Restitution to the R. Author. Mr. Long's Answer to Dr. Walker. And in several [Page] Tracts lately written by Dr. Hollingworth, and many others.
TO those who are so barbarous as to Affront God, and the Law, in making this Day a Festival; A. D. 1694. came out a Libel, writ by J. G. on purpose to dissuade the People of England from obeying a Law of their Country, viz. Statute 3. 2. Car. 12. if they are English Subjects, I will only urge the Command of a Statute Law, the Practice of the King and three Estates, and the Generality of the Nation; and beg of them to consider, if not in Conformity and Obedience to the Law and Good Manners to the King, Lords and Commons; (for many Dissent from, and grow Regardless of, all those) yet for the Reasons pathetically urged by the Reverend Preacher of this Sermon, they at least forbear to Affront and Pervert the solemn Anniversary Celebration of the Day, on which, for our Sins, the R. Martyr went to Heaven; and pray with that Church, in, and for which He Died: That His Memory may be ever blessed among us; that we may follow the Example of His Courage, Constancy, Meekness, great Patience, and Charity: And that this our Land may be freed from the Vengeance of His Righteous Blood, and Gods Mercy glorified in the Forgiveness of our Sins, Amen.
A SERMON Preached at St. Andrew' s Plymouth, On the 30th of January, 1698/9.
IN the former part of this Verse, we find there was a Famine in the Days of David Three Years, Year after Year; and DAVID enquired of the LORD.
[Page 2] In the Reign of David, though a Man after God's own heart, an heavy Judgment, a Famine, for Three Years, was inflicted on God's ancient People: And the Famine having continued so long a time, David might reasonably imagine, there was more than a natural Cause; and that God, for some reason not known to him, might inflict the heavy Judgment upon him and his People. And, therefore, being careful of their Welfare, he enquired of the Lord, that is, by the High-Priest, with the Ʋrim and Thummim, by whom God, upon extraordinary Occasions, did give answer to such enquiries: And the Answer to this, we have in the Text.
And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and his bloody House, because he slew the Gibeonites.
Now we may find in the following Verse, who thefe Gibeonites were, and why Soul slew them. The Gibeonites were not of the [Page 3] Children of Israel, but a remnant of the Amorites, and Saul sought to slay them in his Zeal to the Children of Israel and Judah.
For a further understanding of this Matter, we must have recourse to the 9th Chapter of the Book of Joshua, where we find, that this People, when they had heard that Joshua and the Israelites had destroyed Jericho, and Ai, they sent Ambassadors, pretending they came from a far Country, saying, They heard of the Fame of God, and all that He did in Aegypt, and to all the Kings of the Amorites; and therefore, they desired to make a League with them. And that they might the better delude them, they put on old Garments, and brought Provision that was dry and mouldy, saying, These things became so by their long Journey. By this Craft and Dissimulation they obtained a League, confirmed by the Oath of the Princes of Israel. But there was great murmuring, when the People understood how they were outwitted by these Gibeonites, and deceived by their Craft and Dissimulation; [Page 4] for they belonged to a City of the Amorites, who, by God's Command, were to be destroyed with the rest of the Canaanites. And though they pretended they came a long Journey, lived not three Days Journey from them. But to quiet the People, Joshua and the Princes appointed them to be Hewers of Wood, and Drawers of Water; but spared their Lives, because they had Sworn unto them by the Name of the Lord God of Israel. And in this mean and survile condition, they continued till the Days of Saul, who slew them; for which, in the Days of David, long after this Act of bloody Cruelty was committed, God punished that People with a Famine, which continued Three Years.
Now there is one Thing needs Explication, before I come to those Observations, which I design to be the main Subjuct of my Discourse at this time. These Gibeonites being Amorites, how could Saul offend in Killing them, since, by God's express Command, they were to be destroyed? For though God allowed them to make [Page 5] Peace with those that were far off; yet for the Cities of the Canaanites, which God gave them for an Inheritance, the Command was, Thou shalt save nothing alive that breatheth, 20. chap. Deut. 16. ver.
But, in Answer to this, it must be considered, Aequitate qûadam erat interpretanda ut cum aeternâ Dei clementiâ congrueret. Mas. in Josh. p. 169. that, according to the most learned Interpreters, the Command to Destroy all, and Save nothing alive, was to be understood with some mitigation, and under some limitations, that it might comport with the Mercies of God, and His readiness to Save Lex universè edicta esset propter eorum paucitatem qui vitae ante-actae paenitentiâ essent meritas paenas essugituri: ibid. those who leave their Sins, and turn to Him. And though the Command have no such express Limitation; yet the reason might be, because there were so few who would leave their Idolatry, and desire Peace with the People of God; these, and Rahab, being the only instances of such a Repentance among all the numerous Inhabitants then in Canaan.
[Page 6] But how doth it appear, may you say, that these Gibeonites did thus Repent and leave their Idolatrous Worship, and embrace that of the God of Israel? Now though this be not expressed in the Sacred History, yet we may collect it from several Passages of it. It is plain these Gibeonites were by some means or other acquainted with the wonders God did in Aegypt, and that God had commanded the Inhabitants of Canaan should be destroyed. And this they believed, as appeareth by their saying, they were sore afraid of their Lives. And this Belief and Terror Josh. 9. 24. must needs dispose them to embrace the Worship of that God, who alone they thought was able to Save them.
And, besides, it is said, That Joshua made them Hewers of Wood, and Drawers of Water for the Congregation, and for the Altar of the Lord, and it is very unlikely that Joshua Quis non intelliget eos afae do Demoniorum cultu debuisse alienissimos esse qui in aede Dei opt. Max. officio at (que) muneri alicui praeessent. Mas. p. 172. would have admitted them to any Service, relating to the Altar of God, if they had [Page 7] been Vile Idolators, and Enemies to the Worship of the true God.
Joshua and the Princes of Israel in his time, were Men that feared God, and acted by a better Zeal than that of Saul. And if they had, by the subtilty of the Gibeonites, been drawn into a League contrary to God's Command, no doubt but they would have broken the Sinful League, and destroyed the Gibeonites with the rest of the Amorites, all solemn Leagues and Covenants, that are ungodly, being better renounced than kept.
This therefore was an exempt Case; these Gibeonites did not joyn with the rest of the Amorites to oppose God's People, and his design to settle them in the Land of Canaan; they desire to be their Servants, and asked only their Lives: They offered to Nihil factum est contra legem, vide 1 Reg. 8. 20, Grot. leave their Idolatry, and to Worship with them, the only true God.
In such a case, it was not against God's Command to spare a Canaanite, as appeared by another Instance, that of Rahab and her Family, as I intimated before. And [Page 8] we may say of these Gibeonites as the Apostle doth of Rahab, By Faith they perished Heb. 11. 9. Eadem ratione vita concessa est Rachabae & tori Familiae Paternae. Jun. not, with them that believed not.
So that it was a greater Sin, an Act of Bloody Cruelty in Saul to kill the Gibeonites who were Proselytes, embraced the true Religion, lived peaceably, and were very serviceable to the People of Israel. And though God deferr'd his Vengeance for this Bloody Act for a time, yet it fell the heavier at last, in David's Days, by a three Years Famine.
The Words being explained, we may from them observe Two things.
1. That Innocence is no security against the Violence and Oppression of Bloody Men.
2. That the Oppression and Violence of Bloody Men of one Generation, may be punished in another.
[Page 9] 1. That Innocence is no security against the Violence and Oppression of Bloody Men.
In the prosecution of this,
1. I shall give some Instances, the best Proof of the Truth of it.
2. I shall shew this is not inconsistent with the Justice of God's Providence, in answer to the main Objection against it. And,
Lastly, Conclude with a brief Application.
1st. I shall give some Instances, by which it may appear, that Innocence is no security against the Oppression and Violence of Bloody Men.
A great part of sacred and prophane History, is made up of Instances of this Nature. [Page 10] Such unjust and violent Proceedings began soon after the Creation, and Fall of Man, as appeareth by Cain's murthering his Brother Abel. And there have been many in all Ages, who, as St. Jude saith, have Verse 11. gone in the way of Cain, and have ran greedily after the error of Balaam for Reward. Those of whom the World was not worthy, Heb. 11. 37, 38. were, as the Apostle saith, stoned, saw'n asunder, and slain with the Sword. This was the Usage which Prophets and Holy Men met with under the Law: And our Saviour himself, the Apostles, and many eminent Bishops which succeeded them, met with no better under the Gospel.
Our blessed Saviour was not only a Lamb without spot, a Person of incomparable Piety and Vertue, but also, one that went about doing good, curing Diseases, restoring the Lame to their Strength, the Blind to their Sight, and the Dead to Life. But neither his Innocence, nor Benificence, could secure him against the Blood-thirsty Scribes and Pharisees, who often sought his Life, [Page 11] and at last, with pretended Forms of Justice, condemned him as a Malefactor, and Crucified him with Thieves. And the Apostles, when they received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and were sent to preach the Gospel to all Nations, they were sent as Lambs among Wolves; the purity of their Doctrine, the innocence of their Lives, the benefit of their Miracles, could not preserve them from the Violence of Bloody Men: And though by their Miracles they saved other Mens lives, yet by Violence they lost their own. The time would fail me to speak of those eminent Bishops and other excellent Christians, who in all Ages, though harmless in their Lives as those Gibeonites, but more serviceable, helping Men to that Living water, of which, St. John 4. 14. those that drink shall never thirst, met with some as Bloody as Saul, who by their unjust Violence defiled their Hands with their innocent Blood. But amongst the Noble Army of Martyrs, we must not forget The Glorious Martyr of this Day, which singular Instance, if there were no other, was [Page 12] sufficient to convince us, that the best of Men are no more secure from Violence than from Natural Death. I proceed now in the
2d. Place, To shew how this can consist with the Justice of God's Providence, a seeming Contradiction to this being the maine Objection against it.
We must consider, with Job, that God doth great Things past finding out, so that his Judgments are a great Deep, and our Reason Chap. 9. 10. cannot reach it.
St. Paul, speaking of God's dealing with the Jews, who were His chosen People, and a long time favoured by Him above all other Nations, and at last rejected, and suffered the effects of His heaviest Displeasure: I say, the Apostle speaking of this instance of the Divine Providence, acknowledgeth it above his Comprehension; How unsearcahble are His Judgments, and His Ways past finding out! And so this Act of the Divine Providence, in giving up the most Innocent [Page 13] to the Rage and Fury of Blood-Thirsty Men, is thought somewhat obscure and unaccountable to the Reason of Men. But we ought to own the Justice and Wisdom of God in all His Proceedings, and though we cannot understand how they can consist with those Perfections, yet we ought firmly to believe, That the Lord is Righteous in all His Ways, and Holy in all His Works.
And yet this was not so great a Difficulty as to puzzle the reason of Philosophical and Inquisitive Men amongst the Heathens, as appears by Plutarch, Simplicius, Cicero, and Seneca.
But I am speaking to Christians, who believe God's Holy Word, by which Divine Revelation we may best be satisfied in this matter; and I shall thence produce a few of those Reasons, by which the Justice of God's Providence is Vindicated against this Objection.
[Page 14] 1. The Calamities of this Life, which may befall the best of Men, are consistant with the Justice of God's Providence, because the best of Men, as the Apostle saith, offend God in many things. And the least Sin against God, justly deserveth the heaviest Calamities of this Life, the Wages of Sin being Death, Eternal as well as Temporal. And therefore the Prophet saith, Why doth a Lam. 3. 39. living Man complain a Man for the Punishment of his Sin? That is, no Man can reasonably complain, he suffereth more than he deserveth from the Justice of God.
2. These Calamities of Good Men are consistant with the Justice of God's Providence, because, by the Wisdome and Goodness of that Providence, they receive Benefit and Advantage from them, which David acknowledged, saying, It is good for me that I have been afflicted.
[Page 15] It would take up too much Time to shew the many Advantages Good Men receive by their Sufferings in this Life. In short, by this, they are more fully weaned from the Love of the World, and their Hearts and Affections are more firmly set upon Spiritual and Heavenly Things, and thereby their Sufferings yield the Peaceable Fruit of Righteousness; so that by this means their Title to the Eternal Happiness of Heaven is Strengthen'd and Confirm'd: And this is not all; they are hereby qualified and prepared for a sweeter relish of the Felicities of that Blissful State. The Plenty of Canaan was the greater Happiness after the Bondage of Aegypt, and the scarcity and miseries of the Wilderness: And an Haven is not so welcome to those who have Sail'd with fair and gentle Gales, as to those who have met with Storms and Tempests. And that Rest which remaineth for the People of God, will be received with a peculiar Joy and Satisfaction by those, who have been tossed upon the Waves of a tempestuous and unquiet World. [Page 16] And the Peace and Love, the Harmony and Concord, which the glorious MARTYR of this Day enjoyeth with the Saints above, is the more sweet and pleasant, because of the Tumults and Insurrections, the Contradiction and Scorn, he met with from those who assumed that Name here below.
3. Great Glory redoundeth to God by the Patience, the Courage, and Constancy of his Servants, suffering for his sake, the Violence and Oppression of Bloody Men. And God's Justice cannot reasonably be questioned for those Disposals of his Providence, which tend to His Glory as well as the Good of Men. God was glorify'd by Job's Patience in his Afflictions, as well as by his Justice and Charity in his Prosperous State. And the Royal MARTYR of this Day, brought more Glory to God, by his incomparable Patience, Humility, and Constancy, than other Princes, who were blessed with Victory and Triumph over their Enemies.
[Page 17] Last. Above all, a full and clear Vindication of God's Providence in this Matter, will appear by the Retributions of the Life to come. Were there no other Life but this, and no other Reward for mens Vertue and Goodness but what they receive in this World, then we have an Instance by the Murther mentioned in the Text, and a far greater from that of this Day; which will yield an unanswerable Argument against the Justice of God's Providence. But since God hath appointed a Day, in which he will after this Life reward the Sufferings of Holy and Innocent Men, with unspeakable and eternal Happiness, whatsoever they suffer in this Life, maketh no Argument against His Justice towards them. The Providence of God over his Servants, is to be considered as one continued Work, from their first Entrance into this World, till they take Possession of a better. And if any of them pass through an afflicted Life, an unjust and a [Page 18] bloody Death to this blisful State, they have no more reason to complain of Injustice or Severity in God, than the Israelites had, because God led them through the Wilderness and the Red Sea, the safest Way to take Possession of the Promised Land.
The Gibeonites therefore in the Text could have no reason to complain, if God took them from a slavish and painful, to a blissful and happy Life. And the same we may say of our late Soveraign this Day barbarously Murthered, whom God rewarded with an incorruptible Crown, for losing one for his sake, that was corruptible and fading. And thus having shewed that Innocence is no security against the Violence and Oppression of Bloody Men, by giving some Proof of this Assertion, and answering the great Objection against it; the Application I promised, in the Last place shall be very Brief, only to make us more cautious of passing Sentence upon Men as guilty [Page 19] of great Crimes, because they meet with great Calamities in this Life.
We cannot make a right Estimate of Mens Innocency or Guilt, by what befals them in this World, one Event happening to the Righteous and the Wicked, as the wise Man saith. Therefore as Prosperity is no certain Rule whereby to judge of Mens Vertue and Goodness; so neither is Affliction and Misery a sure Rule to pronounce them Guilty. By this Rule we must acquit Saul and his Bloody House, and condemn the poor Gibeonites, whose Cause God did plead; and which would be a greater Error, we may condemn the whole Army of Martyrs, and justify that of Rebels. And into what Absurdities will this way of Judging bring us? For by this Rule, the pretended Judges of our late Soveraign must be Saints when they sate in Westminster-Hall, and fall from that Grace and become Reprobates, when they received their just Punishments at Tyburn.
[Page 20] I proceed now to the
2d. Observation, That the Oppression and Violence of Bloody Men in one Generation may be punished in another. Of this,
1. I shall give some Proof.
2. I shall shew in what Cases God taketh this Method. And
Lastly, Conclude with some Application.
1. For some Proof of this Assertion, That the Oppression and Violence of Bloody Men in one Generation may be punished in another.
This Proof depends most upon Matter of Fact, and of which we have one plain and undeniable Instance in the Text.
[Page 21] But the Truth of this may be farther confirmed by many other Matters of the like Nature; but I shall mention but a few.
The First, I Collect from the 23th. Chap. of St. Matth. Ver. 35. 36. where our Saviour saith, That upon that Generation should come all the righteous Blood shed upon Earth, from the Blood of righteous Abel, to the Blood of Zacharias. Here it is plainly threatned, that this Generation should suffer the Vengeance of God for the Blood of Abel, that was shed by Cain in the beginning of the World; and for the Blood of Zacharias, who, if he were that Zacharias mentioned in the second Book of the Chronicles (as is very probable) he was slain about Seven Hundred Years before this Generation.
The bloody Cruelty of the Jews in the Crucifixion of our Saviour, is another Instance. The Destruction of Jerusalem by [Page 22] the Emperor Titus, was chiefly for the Punishment of that horrible Murther; but this was nigh Forty Years after the Fact, and those suffered for it, who were not born when it was committed.
The same we may observe in the Destruction of Babylon; of which we read in the 18th Chapter of the Revelation of St. John, in the 21st Verse it is said, A mighty Angel took up a Stone like a great Mill-stone, and cast it into the Sea, saying, Thus with Violence shall that great City of Babylon be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.
I shall not enter into the consideration of what City St. John meaneth by this City of Babylon; and whether this Prophesy was fulfilled in the Destruction of the Old Heathen Rome, which was the Opinion of several of the antient Fathers, or is yet to be fulfilled by the Destruction of this Present Rome, which is the Opinion of later Interpreters. That which I observe is, that in the Destruction of Babylon Men are punished, not [Page 23] only for their own bloody Cruelties, but also for those that were committed by their Ancestors, and in the Ages before them. And this is evident from the last Verse of that Chapter, And in her was found the Blood of the Prophets, and of Saints, and of all that were slain upon the Earth. So that they were charged with the bloody Cruelties of others in preceding Ages, and were punished for them. These Instances as well as that in the Text, are a full Proof of the Truth of what was observed.
I proceed in the
2d. Place, to shew in what Cases God taketh this Method, and inflicts Judgments on the present for the Oppression and Violence of Bloody Men, in pass'd Generations.
This is not the constant Method of the Divine Providence, but only in some particular [Page 24] Cases, in which the Justice of His Providence cannot reasonably be questioned, and they are such as these that follow.
1st. When the present Generation have no Sense of the Blood and Violence of a former, no Pity and Compasion for those Innocent and Holy Ones, who suffered by the Tiranny and Cruelty of Men. This, some think, was the Case of David and his People with respect to the Gibeonites. Videbatur David rem negligere, saith one. David Pet. Mart. and his People took no notice of what was done under a former Reign; and for this reason they were Punished for it. For we ought to be Humbled for the Sins that were committed before we were Born; as appeareth by the Examples of God's Servants, recorded in His Word, who made Confession of the Sins of their Fore-fathers, as well as their own, that neither might pull down God's Judgments upon them.
[Page 25] 2d. God taketh this Method, and Punisheth Men of a succeeding Generation for the Violence and Oppression of a former, when they enjoy the Fruits of that unjust Violence, and make no Restitution to the Posterity of Men unjustly Ruined and Undone.
And this some learned Expositors observe also in the case of the Gibeonites, in the Text. It is said in the following Verse, Saul sought to slay the Gibeonites, in his Zeal for the Children of Israel and Judah. Ais Pretence was the Command of God before-mentioned, to destroy all the Canaanites, and to take Possession of their Cities, which, with all they enjoyed, and had gotten by their hard Labour, He gave to the People to ingratiate himself with them. And this was afterwards in David's time enjoy'd by those on whom he bestow'd it, or their Posterity. For this God punisheth them with a long Famine, and it is that noted Case in which God Visiteth [Page 26] the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children, who Inherit an ill-gotten Estate, and on which a Curse is usually intail'd.
3d. The present Generation may suffer for the Blood and Violence of a former, when they own, applaud, and justify such violent and unjust Practices. And this was the Case of the Jews, with respect to the Crucifixion of our Saviour. The following Generation adher'd to the Unbelief of the former; they rejected the only Son of God as an Impostor; Persecuted even to Death all that believed on Him; and by this means made themselves as accountable for His Blood, as those that cryed out, His Blood be upon us and our Children.
Last. The present Generation may suffer for the Blood and Violence of a former, [Page 27] when they hold the same Principles, and are of the same Temper, by which their Ancestors were engaged in such Actions before their time. And this was the Case of the Scribes and Pharisees, with respect to the Blood of Abel and Zacharias, and of those Prophets and Holy Men that were slain before they were Born. What they profess in the 23. chap. of St. Mat. vers. 30. That if they had been in the days of their Fathers, they would not have been partakers with them in the. Blood of the Prophets, was Falshood and Hipocrisy. Malitia ad omnes extendere vellet si posset, as one observes upon that place.
They had the same malicious and bloody Temper with their Fore-fathers, and they who murthered Christ and His Apostles, would have done the same to Abel and Zacharias, yea, to Moses and the Prophets, if they had lived in their Days.
[Page 28] And thus having shewed, in what Cases we are to understand God's afflicting Judgments on a present, for the Blood and Violence of a preceding Generation. In the
Last Place, the Application I shall make, shall be to shew,
1st. What cause we have yet to fear the Judgments of God to avenge the innocent Blood of our late SOVERAIGN, who was upon this Day Barbarously Murthered. And
2d. What Course we should take to prevent the Execution of such Judgments.
[Page 29] 1st. To shew what cause we have yet to fear the Judgments of God to Avenge the innocent Blood of our late SOVERAIGN, who was Barbarously Murthered on this Day.
I suppose I need not spend time, to prove to you who are before me, that the Executing of our late SOVERAIGN, was not an Act of Justice, but of Inhumane and Barbarous Cruelty. If we are not convinced of this, it is vile Hipocrisy to assemble upon this occasion.
The Act of Parliament, by which this Day is set apart, and enjoined for Humiliation and Prayer, declareth the putting our late SOVERAIGN to Death, to be An Horrid, Impious, Execrable 2 Car. 12. Murther, and unparalell'd [Page 30] Treason, committed by a party of Wretched Men, desperately Wicked, and hardened in Impiety, who were neither true Protestants nor true Subjects, but Miscreants, whose Fanatick Rage gave the Protestant Religion the greatest VVound and Reproach, and the People of England the most insupportable Shame and Infamy it was possible for the Enemies of GOD and the KING to bring upon them.
[Page 31] And in the Prayers which we Offer up to God this Day; the Vertues of this Murther'd Prince, His Courage and Constancy, His Patience and Charity are commemorated; His Innocency is asserted, His Cause is justify'd, in that His Death is stiled a Martyrdom, by which we may know how to judge of that which is called the good Old Cause; Old indeed as that of Lucifer, but no better, though more prosperous. We, certainly, who offer up such Prayers as those, if we have one grain of sincerity, must be well satisfied that the Blood of this Day was Innocent, and therefore may justly provoke God, when he maketh Inquisition for Blood, to punish our Sinful Land wherein this was shed. Taking it then for granted, that the Arraigning, Condemning, and Executing King Charles the First, of Blessed Memory, was an Act of Barbarous Injustice and Cruelty; I proceed to shew what reason we have to fear God may deal with us as he did with David, and the People of Israel for Saul's Murthering the Gibeonites.
[Page 32] If we compare the Person Murthered on this Day, with those mentioned in the Text, we shall find his Quality to be such, that it will aggravate the Shedding of his Blood, above that which was punished with a Three Years Famine.
Our late Murthered Soveraign had the Piety of David without his Sins: No Ʋriah fell by his Cruelty, no Bethsheba was defiled by his Lust. And if David was worth Ten Thousand Israelites, as they all declared, 2 Sam. 18. 3. the Martyr of this Day was more worth then all the Gibeonites; and therefore we may fear, his innocent Blood may pull down more than a Three Years Famine.
If with the generality of Interpreters, we look upon the Murther of the Gibeonites as more Hainous, because of the Perjury conjoyned with it, by the Violation of that Oath [Page 33] which was taken for their Preservation, hath not the Murther of this Day the same Aggravation, but in a higher Degree? That was an Oath taken by Joshua and the Princes of Israel, some Hundred Years before Saul's time: But the Authors of this Day's Murther, had Personally taken the Legal Oath of Alegiance, and that Illegal one of the Covenant, and were obliged by both to preserve the Life of this excellent Prince, and his Honour too.
And if we proceed to compare our Case with those before-mentioned, in which you heard God inflicts Judgments for the Blood and Violence of a preceding Generation, we may see farther Cause to fear, that when God maketh Inquisition for Blood, that of this Day may be remembred.
Did not David, as you hear befored, mind the killing of the Gibeonites, nor the Hardships those were under who did survive that [Page 34] Cruelty? Is it not plain, the Two last Kings (tho' somthing was done to avenge their Father's Blood) had little Regard to the Service and Sufferings of his Friends? For many of those found more Favour, who ventured their Lives and Fortunes to bring the King to the Block, then those who Hazarded both to keep him from it.
Were the Jews Punished for Crucifying our Saviour Forty Years after, because they owned and justified that bloody Fact? And were the Scribes and Pharisees threatned to be punished for the Blood of Abel and Zacharias, because they were acted by the same Temper and Principles, by which those unjust and cruel Actions were committed? It is plain, our Case carrieth great Resemblance to these. For, are there not Books openly Printed and Sold, in which the Murther of this Day is Justified? Do we not in Conversation often hear the [Page 35] Righteous Cause of our late Murthered Soveraign Arraigned and Condemned, and his sacred Memory Blasphemed? And by this it is plain, there are many amongst us, who want nothing but Age, to have appeared in the Court, in which the late King was Condemned, or on the Scaffold on which he was Executed. And doth not that Hatred of Monarchy, and Zeal for another Species of Government, the Principles by which our late Soveraign was brought to the Block, encrease amongst us? These are Matters too Evident to be denied, though it is very strange it should be so, under the Government of a Crowned Head, the Grandson of our Royal Martyr, who hath the same Blood running in his Veins which was this Day shed.
And thus having shewed that we have Cause to fear there may be more Judgments in Store to avenge the Royal and Innocent Blood this Day shed; I proceed in the
[Page 36] 2d. Place, to consider what Course we should take to prevent the Execution of these Judgments. And what more effectual way can be thought on, than what the Authority and Wisdom of the Nation hath appointed? The Observation, I mean, of this Day, for Humiliation and Prayer; To implore the Mercy of God, that the Guilt of that Sacred and Innocent Blood may not be Visited on us, or our Posterity, as the Statute sensibly express'd it.
Were not too many so Cross-grain'd, as to turn this Fast into a Feast? Were not those who appoint so many Fasts for the private Concerns of a Conventicle, so Froward, as to Despise this which is Commanded by Authority, for a General and Publick Good? Did we all Assemble this Day, to Humble our selves before God for our Sins, to declare our Abhorrence for the Murther [Page 37] of this Day, and to Deprecate the Vengeance it may provoke GOD to Inflict? Did we to such an Observation of this Day, add a sincere Reformation of our Lives, endeavouring to live Peaceably and quietly in all Godliness and Honesty, then we might turn our Fears of Divine Vengeance, into Hopes of Enjoying many Years of Peace and Prosperity under His present Majesty, whom GOD hath set over us: Which God of his infinite Mercy grant, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
BOOKS Printed for, and Sold by, Charles Yeo, John Pearce, and Philip Bishop, BOOKSELLERS in EXON.
SElect Hymns, each fitted to two Tunes, to be Sung in Churches.
The Beauty of Holiness: Or, a short Defence and Vindication of the pious Decency, Regularity, and Order, of Reading the Communion-Service, at the Communion-Table; offered to a dissatisfied Neighbour, from his Minister.
A Form of Prayer for Married Persons, for the most part taken out of the Liturgy.
[Page] A Practical Treatise concerning Evil Thoughts; wherein are some Things more especially useful for Melancholy Persons. By William Chilcot, M. A.
Mr. Blount's Oracles of Reason, Examined and Answered in Nine Sections: In which his many Heterodox Opinions are Refuted, the Holy Scriptures and Revealed Religion are Asserted, against Deism and Atheism. By Josiah King, M. A. and Chaplain to the Right Honourable James Earl of Anglesey.
A Sermon preach'd in the Parish Church of Bovey Tracy, on Easter Day, 1698. By Francis Stooke, M. A.
A Sermon preach'd in St. Saviour's Church in Dartmouth, July 24th, 1698. Together with some Reflections on the Opinion of those, who affirm, That the only Difference between the Church and the Meeting-House, is that of a few Ceremonies. In a Letter to a Friend. By Humfry Smith, M. A.