WERE not the Annals of the Late Times written in the Memories of the generality of Men; or were not a fresh Generation sufficiently informed touching that Execrable Murder, whereof their Parents were guilty this Day, it would be necessary for me to give you an account of the sad Occasion of our meeting now. But the Clamour of the World about our ears, the Judgments of God that have a­larm'd us even at our doors, that Reproach and Infamy which this Nation lyeth under, those Miseries we have felt, and those we fore-see; but above all the Consciences in our breasts, [Page 2] cannot but storm us into a Confession, that this day the Anointed of the Lord was cut off, the Honour of Christians, the Wonder of Ages, the Mirrour of Kings, the Noblest of Martyrs, and the best of Men. This day that mighty Man fell, by the hands of his own Subjects he fell, by the merciless Ax he fell, before the face of the Sun, and at his own doors he fell; and with him the breath of our Nostrils was taken away, the Joy of the Earth, the Beauty of Si­on, the Fountain of Law, and the Father of the Church; and all Order, Peace, and Religion followed him, and was buried with him in the same Grave. Be astonished, O ye Heavens, and let the Earth put on her Weeds of mourning; let Rhetorick be silent, and our Thoughts be confounded with horrour; let Christianity hide her Face, and let the Thrones of Princes be co­ver'd with Sack-cloth; let the Voice of Loyalty be still, and let all Faces gather blackness; for this was a thing never seen, never heard of be­fore; the Tongue of Men and Angels is not a­ble to express the black Circumstances of it; that Majesty should be accused for Disloyalty to the People, that Subjects should oppress their Sovereign by such pompous and solemn Artifi­ces of Cruelty; that Christians, who are com­manded to Obey for Conscience sake, should for Conscience sake Rebell, for Conscience sake turn the whole Land into an Aceldama, a Field of Blood, and at last be so bold as to cut off, not the Skirt of his Garment, but the very Head of [Page 3] the Lords Anointed, and that for Conscience sake too; that they should be so profligate and prodigiously wicked, as to stamp upon all these unnatural Proceedings the sacred Names of Ju­stice and Religion: This is such a Mystery of In­iquity as no Age can parallel; no History com­eth near it, but that which tells us of the Sel­ling and Arraigning, and Condemning and Exe­cuting of the Son of God himself.

But as long as the Fifth of November and the Thirtieth of January stand in our Calendar in Red Letters, we shall never want occasion of in­forming the World (if it be not inform'd enough already) of the bloody Attempts of the Romish, and the Reformed Jesuite, the Devil with a Cru­cifix and a Legend, and the Devil with a Bible and Samuel's Mantle. I join them together, because like Sampson's Foxes, they set all on Fire, though they are turn'd tail to tail, and their Faces look two contrary ways.

The Argument which has been used by many men to prove the Papacy to be Antichrist, is this, that the Pope exalteth himself above all that is called God, that is (as some Divines un­derstand it) above the Kings of the Earth, arro­gating to himself a Power over them in things Spiritual, and in Temporal matters too, in ordine ad Spiritualia. If this be true, I know not how They can rub the mark of the Beast out of Their Foreheads, who pretending to be Reformers, have claimed the same Power over Kings, whom they are pleased to call Tyrants, as the Pope [Page 4] doth over those whom he is pleased to call He­reticks. Sure I am, 'tis an Antichristian Principle which was never held till these last days, when men of debauch'd Consciences have counted it a great piece of Religion to be Traytors. And into the bargain, 'tis a Principle so seditious, that I am not afraid to say, 'Twas the Trumpet that sounded a Battalia in 1642. And the Ax that cut off the Kings head in 1648.

I find those who were good Christians, and Loyal Subjects, opposing this Principle through­out the late Troubles, (when Goodwin and Bridg­es, and the rest of those Rebels defended it in Print,) particularly, the Judicious and Excellent Dr. Hammond did learnedly confute it in that Treatise of his—Of Resisting the Lawful Magi­strate, which was written in the Heat of the War; And afterwards in his Address to the Lord Fairfax and his Council of War, when they had the King in their Clutches. The So­ber World saw, that nothing could promote, or justifie a Rebellion, nor erect first a Tribunal for the King's Arraigment, and then a Scaffold for his Execution, but this Bloody and desperate Doctrine, that The Magistrate hath his Autho­rity from the People, and that they may re-assume the Authority to themselves, and both Try and Sentence Him, in case of default.

A man might wonder, that since God hath brought a Calm upon this Land by the Happy Restauration of an Exil'd Prince, the same boi­sterous Euroclydon should rise again upon our [Page 5] Coasts, to sink this Kingdom deeper than ever in a Gulph of miseries; But such is the temper of men who love to swim upon the top, like mire in troubled Waters, that nothing is a great­er Eye-sore to them, than a lasting Peace. We know, that some pretending to wit and Policy (I wish I may say Christianity too) have decla­red to this purpose, that The King is King by Law, that Government is not Jure Divino, but that the Country-Swain hath as good a Title to his Cot­tage as the King hath to his Crown. And I con­fess, if St. Hobbs, or St. Machiavil, be as Authen­tick as St. Paul, if once the Scriptures come to be degraded into the same Classis with Magna Charta, and the Voice of the People be made as Authoritative as the Word of God; so it is.

But let them put upon it the best Gloss they can, to make it popular and pleasing to the Rab­ble, it is destructive of all Government, and may be compared to the Locusts, Rev. 8. which though they had comely faces like men, yet were their shapes like unto Horses prepared unto Battel, and had tails like unto Scorpions. We have found by woful experience, that it hath involv'd this Kingdom in One Unnatural War already, and he that is not so quick-sighted as Lynceus, may yet easily fore-see, that when ever it shall be radi­cated in the Consciences of a Tumultuous Rout (and there be many aking Teeth among us) it will Ruine it in another.

For these Reasons, I hope it will not seem ei­ther unseasonable; or unnecessary, if to answer [Page 6] those Obligations, which Religion and Allegi­ance both have laid upon me, I discourse at this time touching the Chief Magistrates Authority; and for my Subject, I have made choice of these words of Wisdom, that is, the Son of God, the Wisdom of the Father; By him Kings Reign; by his Power and Authority; though they are appointed for the Peoples good, yet are they not the Peoples Creatures; they receive not their Commission from any thing under Heaven; nor is their Power a Derivative, from any Consent, or Suffrage of men, or Humane Law; but from his Appointment who is the Original of all Pow­er, and whose Trustees, and Representatives, and immediate Deputies they are. By me Kings Reign.

I know some have look'd upon this Position, as somewhat too much and too lofty to be grant­ed, and would fain have it pass as a piece of Courtship and Flattery brought into Request of late by some Prelates of this Church, by one e­specially, whose Head was more worth than the Noblest Dathan's that ever followed Corah in his Conspiracy. And therefore for the clearing of this matter, I shall endeavour to make it good by Scripture, and Reason, and the Testimonies of the Ancients; which I hope will be enough to satisfie any man but an Atheist, but an Unrea­sonable Machiavillian, but Haughty and Inso­lent Innovators, who are given to Changes, and fear neither God nor the King: as our Solomon in­timates, Prov. 24. 21.

[Page 7] 1. For Scripture. I would fain know what Article of Faith is more plainly, and more ex­presly asserted in the word of God, than this thing. Consult the place in Rom. 13. 1, 2. Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers, for there is no Power but of God, the Powers that be, are ordained of God: whosoever therefore resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God. And at the Fourth ver. the Apostle tells us, twice in a Breath, that the Mgistrate is the Minister of God. Where he confuteth two very gross mistakes, the one on the Christians part, the other on the Heathens. There were some lately con­verted from Judaism to Christianity, who did greatly question whether the Roman Go­vernment they lived under then was from God, as that was under the Kings of Israel. The Pharisees once put the Case to our Savi­our, Whether it were lawful to give Tribute un­to Caesar or not, Mat. 22. 17. Though they were forced of Necessity to submit to the Ro­man Yoke, yet they did not think that it was laid upon their necks by the hand of God. And therefore that Speech of theirs, We have no King but Caesar, Joh. 19. was spoken only to curry-favour with Pilate. For their frequent Rebellions, and endeavours to set themselves free from the Heathen's power, were a plain Argument of their perswasion, that their Ju­risdiction over them was an Illegal Usurpation; and Grotius fetcheth it out of the Talmud, that they were wont to say, We have no King but [Page 8] God. Now this opinion, that the Romans were not their Lawful Governours, continued still in the breasts of some Converts: and for the correcting thereof, St. Paul lays down that plain Proposition, There is no Power but of God. Again, there was another mistake on the Heathen's part, who, among other Calumnies, did cast this Reproach upon the Christians, that they were disloyal, and seditious; and the pretence for their malicious Accusation was this, be­cause they cryed up their Liberty, and refu­sed to Sacrifice to Pagan Deities, and would not swear by the Emperour's Genius, and the like. Therefore, to stop the mouth of Slan­der, and to tye up the hands of Disobedience, the Apostle lays down this short Proposition, as an undoubted Maxime of Christianity, that the Powers that be are Ordained of God; and when St. Paul wrote this, the Power was in the hands of Nero, who was as great a Mon­ster as ever the World bred, excepting Crom­well. Add to this, that of Daniel, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever, for Wis­dom and Might are his; and He changeth the times and seasons, He removeth Kings, and setteth up Kings, Dan. 2. 20. That of the Psalmist, I have said, ye are Gods, that is, in His place, and his Delegates, Ps. 82. 7. That of our Saviour to Pilate, Thou couldst have no power, unless it were given thee from Above, Joh. 19. 11. That, Subjection is required of us not only for wrath, but also for Conscience sake, [Page 9] over which none but God alone hath an immedi­ate power; that, he who Rebelleth is not only a Traytor against the Laws of men, but a Sinner in grain against the Laws of God; and that, as the Wages of sin in general is Death, so the reward of this sin in particular is Dam­nation; Nothing can add light to these words, that are as clear, and bright as the Sun: and the Result of them plainly is this, That the Supreme Power is of Divine Right, because it is set up, not only by Gods Permission, but by his Institution and Appointment; by his Warrant and Ordinance Imperial do Kings reign: so that he that lifteth up his hand against the Lords Anointed, striketh at the Face of God himself; as he told Samuel, that the Jews had rejected Him, (the Lord of Life himself) that He should not Reign over them, 1 Sam. 8. 7.

2. If now in the second place we argue from Reason: It is impossible to shew by the strength of any Philosophy, that Government can be derived but from God alone. For que­stionless, the World was not created to be no­thing else but a huge Wilderness; neither were men sent into it only to beat and devour one another like salvage Beasts. God did ever de­sign, that we should live godly, righteous, and sober Lives; and our Passions being so various and turbulent, and our Wills being so perverse, we cannot imagine how there should be among us any Order without Rule; nor any Rule with­out [Page 10] Law-Makers; and therefore a Governour is of God's Appointment, who never decreeth the End, without decreeing the Means first.

I know what can be said as to this; viz. That every man is born a Free-man by the Charter of Nature; that he comes into the world in­vested naturally with a Title to it, and with Liberty in it, and so no Man can take his Inhe­ritance from him, without his own suffrage and consent. Let this be believed, that every one hath power over his Goods, whether to keep or alienate them: that he has a power over his Liberty, to divest himself of it or no. 'Tis granted, that in Elective States men do volun­tarily put their power into the hands of the Chief Magistrate; and 'tis reasonable they should do so, that by these Advantages he may be enabled the better to protect them. But when this is done, all is done that is in the power of Man to do. There is something else which is the richest Jewel in the Governour's Crown, namely a Power of Life and Death; he must bear a Sword in his hand to execute Ca­pital Punishment upon Malefactors in Cases Cri­minal; or else it cannot be that a Kingdom should stand. Now, this Power can be given him by none but God himself, whose Vicegerent and Representative he is. For none hath an Origi­nal Right to our Lives but He that formed us. Whatever some Heathens have thought, yet it [Page 11] was never granted by any Christian, that a man hath any power to kill himself. He may sell his Estate; he may give away his Liberty, chain himself to an Oar as a Galley-Slave, as a Jew had liberty by the boring of his Ear through, to become a Servant all his days. He may open a Vein, or amputate a Member for the preserva­tion of the rest; but kill himself he cannot, without being felo de se, guilty of his own blood: Now, what he is not able to do himself, how can he impower another to do it for him? How can I communicate that to him which I have no Right to my self? Since no man is Lord of his own life, no man hath liberty to rob him­self of it, nor power to warrant a second Per­son to do it. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord: It is Gods Sword wherewith the Magistrate strikes; and by Him he is Ordained to be an Avenger: By whomsoever he is Chosen, by God alone he Reigneth; his Crown and Scep­ter, his Prerogatives and Royalties he holdeth of Him, and of none besides. Take the World distributively or collectively, either Man by Man, or by whole Communities, the King owns no Superiour or Enfranchiser (much less may he be invaded by an Ʋsurper) here below.

All the fear is, that by this grant a Monarch's Power will be unlimited: An idle Dream, which some Demagogues have held out as a Flambeau, to set the World on Fire: For though [Page 12] he be not under the fear of Law, being exempt from all manner of Penalty, yet it is confessed by all Divines and Lawyers, that the directive power of Laws doth oblige him. Who knoweth not, that God hath bound him to the respects of publick Honesty, though he hath not made him liable to a publick Rod? Who knoweth not, that the Laws of Nature and Religion do oblige him as he is a Man, and much more as he is Prince? Who knows not, that he is under the Munici­pal Laws of his Kingdom, such as is the Petition of Right here with us? To these he hath bound himself by his Own Consent: And who knows not, that a Promise or an Oath obligeth him too? and that sometimes he is more careful to keep it than his very Subjects are? But yet, if a Prince will abuse his Power, and the Law too, he is not subject to any manner of Compulsion, being ac­countable only unto God, who alone hath Seal'd his Commission. It is a violation of the Laws of God and Nature both, to drag a Supreme Ma­gistrate into a Court of Judicature; and I never read but of two that were ever haled so since the World stood, the King of Israel before Pilate, and the King of England before Bradshaw, who was by far the greater Knave of the two, because of his Malicious and Bloody Intention. For, Pilate moved on our Saviours behalf, and sought to deliver him; but This Son of Belial contrived and intended our Soveraign's destruction, and thirsted for his Blood, and therefore his was the greater Sin.

[Page 13] 3. But the time spends, and therefore I must touch a little upon the next Argument, con­cerning the sense of the Ancients about the Di­vine Authority of the Supreme Magistrate. And here I might fill a whole Volume with a Cloud of Witnesses; I, out of the Heathens themselves, who had no Candle to guide them but the light of Nature; and yet [...], Sayeth Homer, Kings are from God. We look so upon our Go­vernours (saith Seneca) as if we saw the immortal Gods themselves; and divers more have said, that Kings are God's Representatives, & à Deo secundi, next of all unto him. 2. Out of the Book of Wisdome, which though it be Apocry­phal, yet is very Ancient, Power is given you from the Lord, and Sovereignty from the Highest, Chap. 6. 3. 3. And if you enquire of the Pri­mitive Christians; Clement in his Constitutions will tell you? That the King is, [...]. The Ordinance of God. Irenaeus will tell you, that by whose Command men are born, by his Command Kings are appointed. Tertullian will assure you, that the Emperour is from him, from whom the Man was before he was Emperour. That he hath received his Power from his hand, of whom he received his Soul. Chrysostome will in­form you, that 'tis the work of Divine Wisdome, that some Rule, and others are in subjection. And Epiphanius, that the Civil Power is Ordained of God, who alone hath put the Sword of Vengeance into his hand. And Augustine is positive, that he who enthron'd Augustus, enthroned Nero too; that he who made Vespatian made also Domitian an [Page 14] Emperour; and that he, who set up Constantine the Christian, did set up also Julian the Apostate. What shall I speak of after Ages, which have all along spoken to the same effect? And what hath been said to this purpose, must be understood with relation to Lawful Magistrates only.

It sufficeth for the close of this matter, that it is, and ever hath been, the plain and honest Do­ctrine of the Church of England, and I should have wonder'd, how any Wise man should not see it in the Homily against Rebellion, but that I do consider, that that Homily is a Looking-glass; wherein those, who have been Traytors, cannot but see their own guilt and deformity, and there­fore do not care to look at all into it.

You see by this time that the King is not by the laws of men, but by the Power and Appoint­ment of God. By him Kings reign. The infe­rences now from this are very obvious.

1. If by Him Kings reign, then for his sake we are bound to Obey them. It is St. Paul's Conclusion. Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers, for this Reason, because there is no Power but of God. It is an Act of common Ju­stice to be subject to him under whose Govern­ment and Protection we live: For why should that man have any benefit from that Ordinance, which he will not submit to? Nay it is a Prime Act of Religion too to be obedient to the Ma­gistrate, who beareth the stamp and image of God; and that, not only as he is a man, but chiefly as he is a Magistrate.

I know there are some who make nothing of [Page 15] this Command, though the breach of it be attend­ed with no less then Damnation; they can despise Government, and speak evil of Dignities, and pull them down from their Thrones, and take their Crowns from their Heads, and their Heads from their Shoulders, and yet think they are very Godly men too, and perhaps the more Godly for that. But whatever men may pretend, Godliness cannot be without Obedience; the fearing of God, and the honouring of the King must go together, be­cause the King hath no less than God's Authori­ty, and such Religion as is not cloathed with Subjection is plainly nothing else, but the cloak of an Hypocrite. According to this Rule the best Christians have carried themselves before Re­ligion came to be Sophisticated. Witness the whole Company of the old Apologists; Tertul­lian in particular, who boasted with great con­fidence, that Nunquam nec Albiniani, nec Nigriani, nec Cassiani inveniri potuerunt Christiani; that is, never was a true Christian found to be a Traitor to his Prince (though some in these latter dayes could have wish'd that that passage could have never been found in the Writings of Tertulli­an.) I cannot but take notice here of an un­godly and scandalous Evasion, which has been u­sed by some who have come among us, part­ly from Tyber, and partly from the Lemain Lake; and like Herod and Pilate have consent­ed together to do mischief. Bellarmine and Parsons, and other Jesuits, have given this Rea­son, why the Primitive Christians rebell'd not, Quia deerant vires, Because they wanted strength [Page 16] And we cannot but lament when we consider that they, who have so bitterly declaimed against the Papist's, have yet lick'd up their principles, and prosecuted their design. But 'tis well known that Buchanan and Knox long ago, and Goodwin and his fry since; and (within these eight years) the Author of that Expedient, which was the fore-runner of the General Indulgence, have said the very same thing. But, not to speak of the quite contrary Testimonies of Cyprian; nor of the Thebanlegion, consisting of above 6000. in the Reign of Dioclesian, who suffer'd them­selves to be cut in pieces rather than they would rebel; Tertullian himself said, that they wanted not forces to revenge themselves, seeing all places were fill'd with great numbers of Christians; Cities and Islands, Towns and Castles, nay the very Senate, Court and Camp swarming with men of the Christian Profession; and 'tis well known that Ju­lian the Apostate's Army consisted of Christians for the most part, who though they had the Sword in their hands, yet could not lift them up, but in Prayer to God, that he would divert the Emperour's most wicked designs. Religion is so far from disturbing the publick peace, that it settles the King's Throne upon the surest Basis: And as Guiccardine tells us how it pass'd for a Proverb, that Proprium est Ecclesiae Romanae odisse Caesares, it is Natural to the Church of Rome to hate Princes: So the World can bear witness of the Sons of this Church, that they did ever love and honour, and dutifully obey them; and an ingenious and good man, who hath of late [Page 17] excellently written upon our Liturgy, observes, that whereas we pray in our Letany, that God would deliver us from all Sedition, privy Conspi­racy, and Rebellion, nothing to that purpose can be found in any of the Roman Missals: It is a Glory belonging to this Church, that as all her doctrines are pure, so all her practices, and prayers are loyal.

2. If by him Kings reign: Then beware we of those deceitful workers, who, like Rats that gnaw in the dark, do privily go about to un­dermine Government, by such poisonous Do­ctrines as these, that Kings may be deposed. For if all the powers on the Earth cannot give a King his Authority and Prerogative, neither can all the powers on the Earth take them away. We know whose Creed it is, that the Pope is Head of the Church; that Princes hold their Crownes of him; that by his command their Kingdomes may be taken from them; that a dispensation absolveth men from all manner of Oaths, and an Excommunication doth discharge them from their Allegiance; that, if Subjects cannot depose their King but by War, then they may raise an Army, and proclaim him a common E­nemy, and at last take away his life: nay, that though sentence be not formally pronounced against him Ex Cathedrâ, yet a Prince his be­ing guilty of Heresie doth ipso facto deprive him of all his Royalties, and any private person whatsoever may lawfuly kill him. Hence it was that Chilperick of France was dethron'd; that Francis Dandalus of Venice was bound [Page 18] with chains, and fed like a dog with scraps and bones; that Henry the third was murder'd by Clement, and Henry the fourth by Ravaillac. These are such deep staines in his Holiness's Sleeve, that all the waters of Tiber will not wash them out. Indeed some of his flatterers have used this devise as Fullers-soap to take it off, if possible; that these were only the Do­ctrines of the Canonists, and a few more; and the practices of some private men; and there­fore they take it ill that they should charge it upon their whole Church: But 'tis observable what we find in the Controversial Letters, that when Blackwell, the Arch-Priest, advis'd the Eng­lish Recusants to take the Oath of Allegiance, the Pope sent over a Breve, and forbad the Oath: and Bellarmine reprehended Blackwell for an Apostate from the Catholick Faith. And in the dayes of King Charles, our blessed Mar­tyr, Anno 47. when there were hopes that all parties would agree, the Papists subscribing to some Articles which tended to the confir­mation of our Government, the Old man at Rome check't them, and made some do pennance for it. And since this Kings happy Restaur­ation, when the Irish Remonstrance came out with hopes of gaining a Toleration, by the renouncing of some pestilent Doctrines, Peter Walsh the Contriver of it was Censur'd for his disobedience to the infallible Sea. To these I shall add but one observation more, that when Henry the third of France was murder'd, the Jesuites wrote a Book de justâ abdicatione [Page 19] Henrici tertii, wherein they affirm that it is lawful for any man to kill a Tyrant; and that Book was allowed at Rome; my witness for this is Father Watson the Seminary Priest (in his Quodlibets;) and yet that very man, who accused the Jesuites, was afterwards ex­ecuted for Treason himself. And now let the impartial world judge how it concerneth all States to spew those villains out of their land, who do not only like the Egyptian Frogs croak in Kings Chambers, but like so many Leviathan's are ready to devour them.

But we must not think, that disloyalty and treason do lurk onely under a Friers Cool: it had been well for us, if it had not found shelter under the Schismaticks Cloak. We look upon the Jesuites as the very worst of Papists; because no other Sect is such an enemy to civil Govern­ment, as they. And what a sad consideration is it, that they, who have called themselves the purest Protestants, should choose no principles to espouse and pursue, but the Jesuites? Let im­partial men consider what seditious practices King James charged some Reformers with in the conference at Hampton Court; that, in the Geneva Translation of the Bible, the Mar­ginal Note upon the 2 Chron. 15. 16. taxeth Asa for deposing his Mother only, and not killing her: that Salmasius hath marked a sort of men in England with as black a coal as ever the Art of man could find; that the two great Apostles of the North did teach, that if Princes were Tyrants, their Subjects were free from all [Page 20] bonds of Allegiance, that it was as lawful to kill them as Wolves and Bears, and that it is Blasphemy to say, (though Paul and the old Fa­thers said) that we must obey Kings, be they good or bad. Let us consider that a Book for­merly written against the Supreme Civil Ma­gistrate (whereof Ficlerus a Papist was thought to be the Author) was proved to have been written by a Dissenter; and that, in the very year when King Charls was beheaded, a­nother book was Printed (and as some say, licensed by the Fag-end of the house of Com­mons) bearing this Title, Several Speeches deli­ver'd at a Conference concerning the power of Par­liament to proceed against their King, which was found to have been the same with the sediti­ous Pamphlet of Parsons the Jesuit, of Succession to the Crown. I say, whoso shall consider these things rightly (that I may not mention any new instances, since the discovery of the late devillish Plot) must needs see, that many great Pretenders among us have been plain Jesuites, and we may say of them, as was once said of one of their Fraternity, that they preached such a Gospel as was clad in Armour. From such Preachers as these, Good Lord deliver us.

3. If it be by God that Kings reign, then we may well ask the Question, by whom it is that Kings are murder'd? By God's permission, no doubt. He may hold his hand, and not interpose his Omnipotence, to rescue an innocent man from violence, but let things go on in vengeance for a peoples sins: So he suffer'd Abel to be mur­der'd, [Page 21] and his own Son to be murder'd; and 'tis no wonder that in wrath to this Nation he suffer'd our Good King to be murder'd. But all this will not excuse either Cain, or the Jews, or the high Court of Injustice, which outvyed Both in their boldness and wickedness. 'Twas by God's permission that all this was done, but yet by the Contrivance and Instigation of him, who worketh in the children of disobe­dience. Ephes. 2. 2. Before Judas betrayed Christ the Text saith Emphatically, that the Devil enter'd into him. Had not the Devil been in him, he could not have betrayed his Master: But considering all the circumstances of that horrible Act committed at this time, it was so diabolical, so transcendently and eminently Diabolical, that the Divel never shewed himself to be an Absolute Prince and Ruler until now. Shall I crucifie your King? sayes Pilate. The Heathen could not but speak it with indignation and horrour. What? Cru­cifie your King? 'Tis such a Base as well as Bar­barous Act, as every one, who as but the face of a man, though he be never so great a Villain cannot, methinks, but blush at the very thoughts of it. The Jews were an inhumane, and blood­thirsty people; They killed the Prophets, and stoned them which were sent unto them, and yet when Pilate put it to the Vote, whether he should crucifie their King, they seem'd to de­test and abhor it; they said we have no King but Caesar; intimating, that had they been satis­fied that Jesus was their King, they would [Page 22] not by any means have his blood shed, or so much as lift up a finger against him. To con­firm this, our Saviour himself upon the Cross pleaded their Ignorance. Father forgive them for they know not what they do. It was ignorantia Facti, ignorance of the fact, not of the Law. They knew, by the Laws of God and nature, they ought not to murder any, much less their King; but they were not convinced that that man was He. But those sordid and degene­rous Traitors, who executed their Malice upon this holy Martyr, they knew him to be their King, they confess't he was so at his tryal. They had Sworn Allegiance to him, nay they swore it in a Solemn Covenant of their own, in which little was good or tolerable but that very clause; and to let the world see how little they regard­ed, either Humanity or Religion, Promises or Oaths; to convince us that they feared neither Man, nor God, nor the Divel himself, they kept that Covenant where they should have broken it, and forswore it where they should have kept it.

I cannot but wonder at the monstrous Hypo­crisie of those Times, when the Glory of God was set in the Frontispiece of every dismal Tra­gedy. I have read of Pompey the Great, that he erected a Theatre for Digladiators to fence and kill one another in, and, as if intended to san­ctifie his horrible Design, he built a Temple over it, and dedicated it to Venus: so did these cursed Miscreants (whose Religion was of the same size with their Loyalty) act all along under the Vi­zour of Religion (Their Father Lucifer is often [Page 23] transform'd into an Angel of light) they perjur'd themselves in the name of the Lord, enter'd into a wicked League in the name of the Lord; Levyed and carried on a Rebellion in the name of the Lord; proclaimed a Fast before the Execution day, (as Jezebel did when she saught Naboth's bloud,) in the name of the Lord; in the name of the Lord they cut off the head of his Vice-gerent; and did such wonderful works, as the Sun never saw before, since 'twas created. Religion, that tyeth the hearts of men in a bond of love; Re­ligion, which is a Preservative of Government and obedience; Religion, which assigneth an appartment in hell to every Rebel, and, I believe, the lowest Dungeon in hell to every Regicide; that, it seems, did bring the good King to the block, which should have upheld him in his throne. Is this the Glorious King they promised to make us? Is this the Holy Reformation which they cryed up to the skies? Holy did I say? This One act will make the memory of it odious, and de­testable to all eternity; however some make a shift to wipe their mouths at last, with the Whore in the Proverbs, as if they had done no wickedness.

And shall the Bloud of Charles the first be for­gotten Thus? However it was spilt upon the Earth, yet the cry of it is gone up to Heaven, and hath returned upon our Heads, in Plagues and Wars, and many dismal Fires by Sea and Land: and if we repent not of it seriously and heartily, it is to be feared that God will enter into Judgement further with us yet. The guilt [Page 24] of that Innocent and Sacred Bloud, is not so easily washed off, as an Act of Indemnity is made.

Well, it is time to Conclude. Those black and gloomy days are gone, and God grant we may never see them more. What I have said, was not intended to ease me of my Cho­ler, or to provoke mens Passions (unless it be that of sorrow) or onely to rip open an Old Ulcer to enrage the Patient: But to lay before you the Grand Impiety of the Fact, which indeed this Solemnity doth re­quire of us in some measure, that out of a deep Sense of this Nations guilt, we may be stirred up (All of us) to be Humbled True­ly and Sincerely for so foul a Crime, and from the bottome of the most penitent hearts to beg of God, not to lay this Sin, this grievous and horrid Sin, to our charge. And in this Duty there are two sorts Concerned.

1. Those old, and Grey-headed Rebels, who did either assist, or encourage, or countenance the Murder, and have liv'd to see the fearful Con­sequences thereof: I wish they may have liv'd to repent and be asham'd of the sin too. But how many are there, who will not own them­selves to have had an hand in it, but lay it ra­ther at the Jesuites door, or some where else; far enough, to be sure, from their own Threshold? One would think, that men who have been so horribly disloyal to the Father, if they were sensible of it indeed, and convinced in their Con­sciences that they sinned, would long ago (as one [Page 25] fruit of their Repentance) have shewn the most Dubtiful submission and obedience unto the Son. But 'tis sad to consider, that instead of a sincere Amendment, they are not yet come so far as to Judas his Remorse. For he Repented himself, saith the Text, and acknowledg'd that 'twas Innocent Blood, which had been betray'd, and that he him­self had betray'd it, and that he had sinned in betraying it: I have sinned, said he, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood, Mat. 27. 4. Here was a very great sorrow, and that which made him refund the thirty pieces of Silver, and at last to go and hang himself too. I do not wish the men, I now speak of, Judas's end; but I hear­tily wish that they were so sorrowful as to confess their guilt; and so honest, as to make some Resti­tution of the Price of Blood; and moreover, that they were such friends to themselves, and so just to the whole Nation, as to bring forth such fruits of Righteousness, Peace, and Obedience, as are meet for Repentance. For if they would consider it, 'tis an Eternal reproach (besides many other mischiefs) which they have brought upon Religi­on by the Sin of this day; and for it's kind, greater, then what the Romanists themselves have hitherto occasioned. They have murder'd Kings privately with poyson; they have assassinated Princes openly with Knives and Ponyards: but they never yet brought a Monarch to the Block by a sem­blance of Judicial proceedings, daring the Ma­jesty of Heaven by their Superlative Villany. The Jesuite has been but a Puny, in compari­son of these Regicides; and yet I wish there were [Page 26] no Room for the Prophets complaint, I hearken­ed and heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done, Jer. 8. 6.

2. But even we also are concern'd in the Du­ty of the Day, who were not concern'd as Actors in the Sin. There are thousands of us, that either were then unborn, or had not power so much as to make an attempt to rescue Innocence: and there are many more in this Kingdome, who were so far from helping to cut off the Kings head, that they did not help to drive him to his Scaf­fold, or to hold him by the Hair, but disown'd and declared against those inhumane, unnatural, and barbarous Proceedings. But this notwith­standing, we are all of us concern'd to be through­ly humbled for that, which was acted by other hands. For that sin hath redounded to the de­triment of the whole Nation: And that Bloud is still clamarous against us in the language of those Soul's under the Altar, Rev. 6. 10. How long, O Lord, Holy and True, dost thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the Earth? and though Vengeance hath been com­ing upon us with a slow pace, yet if we repent not in time of our evil courses, God will reckon with us at last, and reckon with us severely too, we have already smarted for this sin in a high de­gree; and as the Jews were wont to say: that in every of their Visitations there were some drams of the Golden Calf, so we have Reason to believe, that in every of our Visitations there have been some drops of that Sacred [Page 27] Bloud, and yet the Anger of God is not turn­ed away, but his hand is stretched out still, either to Correct, or to dash us in pieces. God of his Mercy grant us first sincere and Universal Repen­tance, and then Peace and a lasting Prosperity, for Christ Jesus his sake, whose Bloud speaketh better things, than the Sacrifices of Abel. Amen.