[Page]A SERMON Preached at St. Martins in the Fields, To the NATIVES of that Parish: Upon the 29 th. of May, 1676.

BEING THE ANNIVERSARY OF His Majesties Birth and happy Return to His Kingdoms.

AS ALSO The Day appointed for their Yearly Meeting and Feasting together.

By JOHN HORDEN, Rector of St. Michael Queen-hithe, London.

LONDON: Printed for Henry Brome, at the Gun in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1676.

Imprimatur,

G. Jane, R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à sacris domesticis.

TO • Mr. John Clayton, , • Mr. Charles Palmer, , • Mr. Charles Titford, , • Mr. John Heames, , • Mr. Thomas Nicholas, , and • Mr. John Steel,  Stewards for the Day.

Gentlemen,

WHAT it was that should make you so earnest for the Printing of a Dis­course, which was only designed for that parti­cular Audience unto which it was preached, I cannot possibly imagine, un­less it were thereby to make your Meeting more publickly known, in hopes that your good Example might prevail upon others, and stir up a for­getful People, to celebrate the Day with that Solemnity which is due unto it: If so, I must confess your Design [Page] is necessary and good; and I am content thus at the expence of my own Repu­tation to become serviceable unto it: though I could wish you had made choice of some better Pen for that pur­pose, and laid your commands on such a person, as was able to have spread abroad your Fame, without the immi­nution of his own. However you see I have obeyed and (which is all I do pre­tend to) shew'd in that, how much you have at your command,

Gentlemen,
Your most affectionate Countryman, and very faithful Servant, John Horden.
II. SAM. xix. 14, 15.

And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the King, Return thou and all thy servants.

So the King returned and came to Jor­dan, and Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the King, to conduct the King over Jordan.

THAT on those days, which as the Psalmist speaks, Psal. cxviii. 24. the Lord hath made, we may rejoyce and be glad; that at such times, as God hath made more especially remarkable, by the then vouchsafement of great and signal favours, we ought to manifest our joyous acceptance, to evidence our grate­ful resentments of them, by the most full and demonstrative expressions; there are none I [Page 2] think, who will deny, but such as are professed enemies to Gratitude, avowedly against all re­turns unto the mercies of their God, and do, for being so, deserve to have their choice be­come their punishment; as they delighted not in joy, so to have it far from them; as they have sullenly chosen a sinful and unseasonable melancholy here, so to have their future por­tion, where there is weeping and wailing for evermore. If then the present day be such, if it appear that the Lord hath been pleased to signalize it, by Kindnesses of such note, Mer­cies of such a rank and quality, as the revolu­tion of many years hath seldom been crown­ed with, the solemnity of this present Meet­ing is sufficiently justified, and Reason will warrant so righteous an indulgence of our Joy. And though to entitle any day unto so great an honour, as is that, of being the day which the Lord hath more particularly made, it be enough, that on it, we have received any single instance of his extraordinary Goodness; yet here to ascertain the claim of this, beyond the questioning of the most scrupulous and doubtful, for greater sureness the thing is doubled, and a succession of Mercies hath con­firm'd this Glory to the Day.

[Page 3]For first, It is the Birth-day of our King, a Name which methinks it self affects, and can­not be mentioned without emotion; The morn which did first give light to him, who is the breath of our nostrils, and the light of our eyes; the day which brought forth an uni­versal blessing to the Land, but did confer particular honours on this place, such as should reach unto its after off-spring, such as doth give to us the Natives of this Parish, such a more especial relation to our King, as doth I'm sure ennoble us, and will I hope for ever endear him, make him precious as our eyes, and more desirable than life unto us. And cer­tainly, if we think fit to observe the time of our own Nativities, and gladly keep the day, on which we wept out the first beginnings of life, as an omen of those future miseries unto which then we were born; with much greater reason we ought to celebrate the Birth-day of our King; to the prudence of whose Govern­ment, under God, we owe the correction of our evil fate; to whose care we are indebted, that under it we may live peaceable and quiet lives; to whose Authority it must thankfully be referr'd, that we are restrained from that violence and evil, whereby we are naturally [Page 4] prone to ruinate our own and our Neigh­bours felicity, to make our selves and others miserable. And upon this very account have all good Subjects in all ages, solemnized the Birth-day of their King, with far greater Re­ligion than they have done their own, thought themselves more obliged then to enlarge their Praises and Thanksgivings unto God. Nor was it ever otherwise, till over this latter Age Im­piety and Rebellion together did prevail; when men began to lay aside all Respect, both to the Lord and his Anointed, and thought it equally superstition to celebrate the Nativity of their Saviour, and Birth of their King.

But secondly, As it is the day of his Birth, so is it also the day of his Restauration; the day whereon he was Restor'd, a second time to breath that Native Air, unto which he had been so long a stranger, and bless our eyes, which too long had wanted their dear delight. And here we cannot make enquiry into this other happiness of the day, without bringing our faults to mind; we cannot reflect upon our present joy, without calling also to our remembrance a foregoing sorrow; the dark­ness of that long and gloomy night, which clouded the former Glories of this Day, and [Page 5] rob'd us of all the Joy that his Nativity had gi­ven us. He was indeed born with us, but like the greater prodigies of goodness, which the Heavens for a shew, do only drop on Earth, and soon again resume unto themselves, he quickly disappear'd; so much still the more for our guilt and shame, that the hand which gave him took him not away, that the Heavens which shew'd him to us, did not him withdraw; but when God who gave it, was willing still to have continued the favour to us, we wilfully forsook our own mercies, would be wicked that we might be unhappy, and did what we could to evacuate the blessing of his Birth. That Royal Oak which with us Gods own right hand had planted, we forcibly transplanted into a strange Land, suffered it there to grow up in an unna­tural Soil, and might for ever have wanted the defence and comforts of its shade; but that it pleased Almighty God, this day again to re­plant it in its proper place, where we hope through his blessing it hath taken such root, that no storms nor tempests shall ever again be able to unfix it; but underneath its branches for many many years we may yet sit and sing, how much soever the sons of discord are offended at the harmony.

[Page 6]And these indeed are the great and essential happinesses of this day, that have imprinted Gods especial character upon it, that justly do denominate it the day which the Lord hath made, and consequently the day on which we may rejoyce: To which, it is not, nor let it seem to any so small and inconsiderable a mer­cy, as to be thought unworthy to be added, that this day doth annually renew this solemn and great convention of persons so cordial and unanimous, who marching all under the same colours, shew that they are brethren who dwell together in unity, who are of one mind, and have the same designs; and making choice of these, do farther evidence that their designs are good, that they do meet, and will meet, in ho­nour of him, whose are the Colours which they were; and that as chearfully as now they do sit down to eat and drink, so when his Service shall require, they will as heartily rise up to play: I do not mean as did the bruitish Israe­lites, Exod. vi. 32. but, as the young men did at the request of Abner unto Joab, 2 Sam. ii. 14. even to catch them by the heads, and thrust their Swords into the sides of all, that dare re­belliously lift up their hands against our Lord the King. Only to see the first of these must [Page 7] unto every eye be good and pleasant, as was Aaron's oyntment, or the dew of Hermon-hill: but to understand the latter, cannot but infi­nitely rejoyce every good and loyal heart. Nor is this blessing of the Day less glorious in its Au­thor or effects; it being the Lord who maketh men to be of one mind, who causeth us to be at peace and unity among our selves, by making up our breaches, and healing our divisions, by composing our differences, and quieting our strifes; works great as it is to still the raging of the Sea, and turn the storm into a calm: And as it is excellent in its author, so is it lovely in its effects, it being to this love and friendship, this concord and unanimity, of which this pre­sent meeting is an happy instrument and re­presentation, that we owe very great and ma­ny advantages; but to make us set that due value and price upon it which we ought, I shall need to instance only in that one, which de­servedly hath the greatest share in the gladness and solemnity of this day, which the Text that I have now read unto you reckons up, as the immediate consequent of Judah's unity and a­greement; and that is the recalling and restau­ration of their King, an effect so happy and desirable, that there needs no other to recom­mend [Page 8] it to our love, and engage us in its pre­servation. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the King, Return thou and all thy servants. So the King returned and came to Jordan, and Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the King to conduct the King over Jordan. In which words you may be pleased to take notice of these four things considerable.

First, The then state and condition of the men of Judah: And he bowed the heart of the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man.

Secondly, What they did in this condition; They sent this word unto the King, Return thou and all thy servants.

Thirdly, We have the Kings condescension to their embassy and request; The King returned and came to Jordan.

And fourthly, We have those returns of gra­titude and respect, which Judah made unto this kind condescension of their King: Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the King, and to conduct the King over Jordan.

I begin with the first, in which we have again more particularly observable, the state it self, the persons in it, and the person who brought them to it.

[Page 9]First, The state it self, a state of amity and friendship, unity and agreement; all the hearts of the men of Judah stood bent the same way, they had all the same inclinations and desires, not any the least appearance of any variance or repugnancy, but they all together moved the same way; the thoughts of their hearts, as we may guess by the agreement of the tongues that spake from them, were in all the same, and there was in every one a like and equal readiness to put them in execution: so that those many bodies seemed, as they ought to be, but so many members of the same body, which one soul did animate, and influence with ease. So we find the phrase often used in Holy Writ with the import of an extraordinary agree­ment and unanimous consent. Thus when the people so universally conspir'd to avenge the indignity offered by the men of Gibeah to the Levites concubine; it is said, that all the people arose as one man, Judges viii. 20. And again, when they so unanimously made their address to Ezra, that he would bring forth, and read the Book of the Law, that all the people ga­thered themselves together as one man. This is that which the policy of Heathens did re­commend, and the Religion of Christians hath [Page 10] since more powerfully enjoyned. So St. Paul in 1 Cor. i. 10. Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you, but that ye be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and the same judgment. Nay the Devil himself, who by di­viding, chiefly doth maintain his Empire upon earth, preserveth and supports his Kingdom by unity at home; whilst Devil with Devil is in league, and all are ready as one Belzebub their Prince, to go about seeking whom they may devour. I could heartily wish that a greater plenty of Christian patterns did wholly supersede the necessity of proposing Hell as an example unto imitation: but alas, so is every Church rent by Schism, so is every State torn by Division, that I know not where on earth to find a parallel union. The Text indeed gives us the instance of a tribe so closely cemented and joyned to­gether, that all the men of it are but as one; and here within these walls, I see a smaller bo­dy, but I hope united by the firmest ties of true affection. O may it still grow on, every year still add unto our numbers, and increase our love, till Neighbours grow enamour'd of the fair Example: every Parish wish that she had sons agreeing and affectionate as you, [Page 11] and the whole Nation study to become so.

So much for the first particular, the state or condition; they who were in it, were the men of Judah, a Tribe of which, though there are many things I might remark, yet I shall at present take notice of nothing more, than that in which this Auditory may seem concern'd; and that is this, that it was David's Tribe, that the King was born among them, and with them did keep his Court and habitation; by which they themselves did think, and the King himself doth allow, that they had contracted somewhat a nearer relation to him: for though the men of Israel, jealous of his kindness, and envious of their honour, in the heat of their expostula­tion, at the last verse of this Chapter, do tell them, that they the men of Israel had ten parts in the King, and also had more right in David; yet we find he himself is of another opinion, acknowledgeth at ver. 12. of this Chapter, that they are his brethren, his bones, and his flesh; very indearing expressions, and such as could not but very effectually gain and win upon them: which though they seem to import a much nearer affinity than that which I have mentioned, yet ought they only to be under­stood of that remoter relation; for other­wise [Page 12] the meanest of the tribe might have claimed kindred with the King; and the basest among them have reckoned himself of the Royal Blood, which would have been a great dishonour to the King, and too criminal a pre­sumption in them: And therefore what the men of Judah do alledge in excuse unto the men of Israel, at the 42. verse of this Chapter, that the King was near of kin unto them, Va­tablus, and I think rightly, makes to be spo­ken upon no other grounds than this, that Da­vid did keep his Court amongst them, Hoc di­cunt quod David habitaret in tribu Judah. And so indeed the word in the Original [...] doth more properly signifie the nearness of vicinity than that of kin: And upon this account it was that David did justly expect more from them, and themselves did rightly think that there lay greater obligations upon them unto Loyalty, and that they ought to be, as anon we shall find they were, more concerned for the service and restitution of their King.

But then thirdly, we must not without ta­king some notice of him, here pass by the hap­py instrument of this accord in Judah; well may he deserve some remembrance, who did so seasonably unite, and in that set them for­ward [Page 13] to an enterprize, that shall for ever be recorded to their immortal honour: But here we are somewhat at a loss, the Text having made no farther discovery than by an indefi­nite Pronoun, which is of dubious reference. And he bowed the heart; which whether it were Amasa in the verse before, or one of the Priests upon whom David had impos'd the perswasion of Amasa and Judah both; or whether it be meant of the King himself, that by the short and kindly admonition he had suddenly and universally prevailed upon them, it is not so ea­sie to determine. 'Tis true, the message alone which David sent, though short, yet was very apt to affect, and recal that sense of duty which they seemed to have lost, Ye are my brethren, my bones, and my flesh; wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the King? To encourage Amasa to enlarge upon it, and stir him up effectually to press it home; a promise great enough was particularly made to him; God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab: and it is no way likely, that he would not endeavour what he was courted to by so great and fair a recom­pence. The Priest indeed only had received his Kings command, and that was (no doubt) [Page 14] enough for him who knew full well his Duty, and never had declin'd its practice; though here in the work it self, there was sufficient in­vitation, to compose and to unite, to promote concord and agreement, to make all Gods peo­ple, as they are thereunto called in one body, so to be of one heart, and of one mind, it is our proper office; in doing which, I heartily wish that then only we may prosper, when we con­federate for God, and bow his peoples heart for his Vice-gerents honour. Where therefore thus we may mistake, it is not prudence too pe­remptorily to decide; but whoever he did the honour to make his instrument, we know who was the author and chief cause of the union, even the Lord in whose hand are the hearts of all men, and he turneth them as the rivers of water, making them now together to run in one channel, that had a different current, and were before divided streams. To him therefore let be the honour, and unto him let us ascribe the glory of the thing, who worketh secretly, but miraculously for his King, and did bow the heart of all the men of Judah as the heart of one man. And so much for the first general: I proceed unto the second, the consequent of their hearts being [Page 15] thus bowed. They sent this word unto the King, Return thou and all thy servants.

Whilst there were as many minds as men, and every one had his particular aim and am­bition, which apart he carried on, by such means as seemed right in his own eyes, it is no wonder if there be no King in Israel, or an U­surper only be permitted to sit upon the Throne, who by toleration and compliance, unworthy and mean concessions, must be as unlike as possible unto a King, wear the Title indeed, but decline the Majesty and Power, pretending himself a servant unto every inte­rest, that each several subject would apart ad­vance: But, Mente omnibus unâ incolumis Rex. When they come to be of one mind, the King is secure, and his Throne must be esta­blished. The very first expressions of their uni­ty are these, that the King would return, he and all his servants. I shall not need to make any long repetition of stories that are so well known, to relate the means whereby the un­grateful Absalom carried on his unnatural and accurst rebellion, to represent unto you David fleeing, with that small handful of those, who did prefer their duty to advantage, and durst be loyal, when it was dangerous to be so. And [Page 16] though to recount the sorrows of his flight, and the necessities of his exile, would not be so me­lancholick a performance, as at first sight it seems; the greatest dangers making this a­mends for the displeasures they have caused, that they are sweet in the after remembrances, and when gone off, do leave delight behind them, equal to the terrors which coming on they brought; yet I shall forbear: for in the message of return it self, there was enough of pleasure, and it needs no inhancement, from the memory of his passed flight. Their desires of his, did plainly speak their own return to Duty; and that they were not forgetful of his faithful servants, but did desire their return al­so, the same whom not improbably before, when a pretext was wanting for Rebellion, they would have had as evil Counsellors re­mov'd, this did declare a through repentance of their crime, was a confession of that virtue, which they had disgrac'd, shew'd that now they did approve it, and gave good hopes of their fu­ture imitation: To make acknowledgment of, and be sorry for, is the only amends that we can make for such commissions, whereby we tres­pass against God; nor is it often in our power to make other reparations for our offences [Page 17] against his Representative, who is in this most truly like him, that he is merciful as he is mer­ciful, forgets our crimes upon the day, that we remember them, and immediately grants our requests, without any exprobration of those faults, which have rendred us unworthy for to make them. David had no sooner received Ju­dah's petition, but he condescends unto it; he presently returns, but he comes no farther than to Jordan:

Where possibly he might expect the like ef­fects of the other Tribes repentance, and think that they also now they had lost all hopes of its advantage, would grow asham'd of their sin, and now that Absalom (whom as the peo­ple rightly speak, they, not God, had anoin­ted over them) was dead in battel, they would again return unto the Lords anointed, and make that a more publick address, which they had already privately discours'd of; that the King who saved them out of the hand of their enemies, and did deliver them out of the hand of the Philistines, might be brought back from that flight, which the son whom he so loved, and the people whom he had thus delivered, had so undutifully put him to. But Judah whom every day did still make more and more sen­sible [Page 18] of those especial obligations which lay upon themselves, whom every hour did more and more affect with the brisker thoughts of a King who was born, had been bred up and lived amongst them, they prevent the tardy consultation of their fellow Tribes, with as unanimous a consent, as before they did send, they now did come to Gilgal, to go to meet the King, and to conduct the King over Jor­dan.

In the first of which they had a respect to his honour, and in the latter they had a regard to his safety; So we find it antiently was, and still it doth continue a testimony of respect to go out and meet such persons, for whom we do desire to make as honourable a reception as we can: Thus the King of Sodom went out to meet victorious Abram, as he returned in Triumph from the slaughter of Chedorlao­mer, and the redemption of his own subjects, Gen. xiv. 17. So Joseph went up to Goshen to meet his Father Israel, Gen. xlvi. 29. And for the same reason Judah in my Text went out to meet their King, and not to meet him only, but to conduct him also, to be a wall unto him on the right hand and on the left, that no Traitorous hand might privily approach to [Page 19] hurt him, nor any sons of violence dare open­ly to stop his way. Thus should our past omis­sions make us more vigorous and careful in all our after-performances of duty, and may the sense of former failures still put us upon fresh endeavours, of making up what heretofore we have been wanting in, by more eminent and extraordinary acts of piety to God, and loyalty unto our King.

And thus I have with all imaginable brevity gone through the several parts of the Text, the parallel unto which (in those things which have been transacted among our selves, and may so exactly, and so easily be run) is that for which we have met this day to rejoyce in eve­ry way of laudable and holy gladness; in sing­ing praises first to God, and chearing then our selves. It is not so long since our David too was forced for to fly, with a far less attendance than the King of Israel, since he went away not with many servants, but himself as one was glad for to escape, since the best advice which his most faithful counsellors could give, was that which Hushai sent to David, 2 Sam. xvii. 16. to arise and pass quickly o're the water, lest the wicked should spill his blood, and so pour it out that it should never be gathered [Page 20] up again. But blessed be God, who then defen­ded him from evil, when the snares of death compassed him, and he walked in the shadow of it, who preserved him in a strange land, till he had healed the breaches which shook his own, till he had composed those differences, which divided him from his people, and se­parated them among themselves, till he had bowed all their hearts even as the heart of one man; so that they also sent this word unto the King, Return thou and all thy servants. And blessed be God, that his goodness hath superseded the necessity of this exhortation, that you, who, if I may speak as David doth of Judah, are his Bre­thren, his bones, and his flesh; or as the men of Judah speak of David, have this honour, that the King is near of kin unto you, would not be the last to bring back the King: among the forwardest I hope you have already shewed your selves, and there are many here, who have gone out to meet and to conduct the King: all therefore that remains for me to press upon you more, from this Text, is by way of application to address my self unto you, in a most serious and importunate supplication.

First, That you would always remember, that you are as the Tribe of Judah, that you [Page 21] stand in a like relation to your King, and as they to David are near unto him, upon which as often as you do reflect, you cannot but still think your selves to be more and more engaged in all the services of love and duty, and we al­ways shall, I hope, accordingly perform them, without murmuring or disputing, not grudg­ingly as of necessity, but chearfully and readi­ly, as if indeed we thought, that whilst we were zealous for his honour and welfare, we were officious for our selves, and did promote our own. This very consideration it was, which did so far influence the men of Shechem, that they preferr'd a spurious issue, before the legi­timate off-spring; and passing by the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal, any of which had a greater right and better title to the Crown, they chose Abimelech to reign over them, that they might advance his throne, Judges ix. 4. did not stick to spoil the Temple of their God; and all this upon no other account or ground than this, that he was their brother, as they speak, Judges ix. 3. or that he was their bone, and their flesh, as he speaks of himself in the second verse: all which amounts to no more, than that he was their Towns-man, born in the same place with them: for we cannot imagin that he [Page 22] could be more nearly related unto all the men of Shechem. Far be it from me to justifie the traiterous conspiracy, nor would I have any man so far mistake me, as to think that I be­lieve this, or a much greater consideration, is a sufficient motive to desert the lawful heir, and side with an unjust pretender; but cer­tainly what did so far prevail with them in an unrighteous cause, ought much more in a good one to be of force, and make us more firmly adhere to a Prince who is so nearly related to us, whom however, were he not so, we could not without sin and treachery forsake. If there­fore ever yet again (which God fore-fend) any son of Bichri should arise, any Benjamite of Belial should blow the trumpet of Sedition, disclaim his part in David, and endeavour to perswade others, that they have no inheritance in the King, let not in Judah there ever one be found who would go after him; let not any of us ever stir an hand, or move a tongue against the King; let not us lift up any offensive wea­pon, no not that little one, which though little, yet as David himself can tell, Psal. lii. 2. is sharp as any rasor, and makes wounds so deep, that they go into the innermost parts of the belly. But remembring who we are, and what he is [Page 23] to us, let us demean our selves suitably to our obligations, employ every member in his ser­vice, assist him with our heads, pray for him with our tongues and hearts, and after all, act mightily for him with our arms. And all this that as it is fit for Judah, as it well becometh us, we may to purpose do;

Let us in the second place take care, that as Judah was so we continue, having all our hearts bowed as the heart of one man: this it is that will best fit us for, and incline us to the forego­ing duties, preserve us firm in our allegiance to the King, and enable us more effectually to do him service. Whilst men separately and apart carry on their designs, though each of them be well intended, and all of them peradventure may have the same end and aim, yet do they seldom prosper; every man being ambitious that his own may succeed, and they mutually hindering and crossing one another, whilst the less likely to prevail, repines at the others pro­bability of success, every one of them when be­hind, still pulls him who appears formost back; and each of them envying unto another, the re­compence and honour of the thing, the whole of all their endeavours ends in an inglorious miscarriage, and a too fatal disappointment: but [Page 24] when hand joyns in hand, and hearts too are united, we cannot then but mightily prevail: by this agreement, strength and counsel meet together, policy and power do kiss each other: and what is there that we may not expect from such an assocration? And to this unity and con­cord, this amity and love, that very considera­tion, which from such distant places, hath brought so many hither in this place to solem­nize this day, is a sufficient, and will I hope, prove a very successful obligation, that we were all born in this Parish, and had our first Education within the same precincts. To be of one and the same Nation, how strongly doth it bind? what firm, and yet what easie friend­ships in Countries that are remote, doth this a­lone create between such, as at home were strangers, and upon no other accompt abroad have taken cognizance of one another? And if to have been of the same Nation only doth tye thus fast together, to have had more neighbour­ing Nativities, to have been born in the same Shire or City, ought certainly to link more closely yet to one another: but to have been Natives of the same Parish, must draw yet streighter much the knot, and joyn us in so fast and near a friendship, as nothing should excel [Page 25] but Brothers love, who yet have had their births within a shorter compass, and came forth from one and the same womb. To these indeed we may yield, according to the rule their affecti­ons must be proportionably more vigorous and strong, for they are brethren, and between such no strife should be, none but for the mastery in love, which of the two should be most kind, and shew the greatest tenderness to one an­other: But next to these are we, near was the resemblance of our births, and as nearly as we can our lives should represent them; at least we ought to live like brethren, and as them to love, that which I hope ye all already do; and that ye never may do otherwise, but that the love sowell begun on earth, may continue till it comes to be perfected in Heaven; where when Hope shall terminate in enjoyment, and Faith be swallowed up in vision, the exercise of this shall still remain. I should now come in the last place to give you some directions for its main­tainance and preservation; but you your selves have taken such a course as justly supersedes the necessity of any such advice: and having ap­pointed this day for the holding of your annual Feast, you have prevented me of what I should prescribe. This very meeting to rejoyce and [Page 26] feast together, to eat the fat, and drink the sweet, as Nehemiah phraseth it, ch. viii. v. 10. is of it self apt to mollifie and soften the harshness of our nature, and to create good humour in us: this will prepare and fit us to forgive offences, insensibly disposeth us for reconciliation, and will in one day compose the differences of a year. This creates acquaintance where before was none, renews it where it was decayed, and so improves it by an annual increase, till at length it grow to perfect friendship, and be­come an union like that of soul and body, which there is nought but death can break in sunder. Let then the dissenting sons of discord, (as we know they oft have done) fast for strife and debate, and Drunkards tarry at their wine, till that false fire which at their first meeting lookt like love, break forth before they part into a flame, and make them burn with an­ger, instead of being warm with love. These are the two extremes which like those of vir­tue we equally must flie; both of them will destroy the business of this day: the former is contradiction on a Festival, and the latter ruines what thereby we pretend our purpose to advance. Against the one I question not, but the care of good and liberal Stewards most [Page 27] amply hath provided; from the other I hope your own Virtue and Temperance will secure your selves: so shall there need no future sor­row to expiate any madness or sin in this days Joy, so may we hope to continue this inno­cent Society, this Feast of Love on Earth, till being made fellow-citizens with the Saints, we are called to the Supper of the Lamb in Hea­ven, where all these ways and needs of feast­ing happily shall cease; and to love God and do his will, that shall be our meat and drink for ever.

Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three Persons, and but one Eternal God, be all Honour and Glory, now and for ever. Amen.

FINIS.

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