〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the living Images of God and derives their power from him And this I could prove from the consent of most Authors both antient and modern but St Chrysostome hath said enough alone in these words Rom. xiii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be Englished out of St. Paul the Powers that be are ordained of God to which also Tertullian bears witness a Christian saith he is no mans enemy much less the Emperours whom he knows to be appointed by his God Psal xlvii 9. The shields of the earth are the Lords they bear his arms and inscription and he holds them up over all the world The Kingdom is the Lords Psal xxii 28. and he is the governour among all Nations And this truth is the grand supporter of Monarchs Thrones by me Kings Reign (c) Divisim imperium cum Jove Caesar habet which per denotes not a bare permission but by his commission not by Gods sufferance only but by his ordinance also their Charter is granted from heaven and may not be revoked at the peoples pleasure Magnificent Titles triumphant Arches honourable Attendants Crowns Thrones and Scepters are all requisite and suitable to the grandeur of a King and apt to beget awe and reverence in the hearts of the Vulgar but Alas this is but the outside and Ceremony of the Sacred Majesty whose representative the King is this is that which renders him truly sacred to all religious and judicious men and minds that he is placed in the throne to rule and govern us by the appointment of God whose King he is and whose judgment he pronounceth Away then with that dangerous Tenent that so frequently and maliciously falls from the mouths and pens of the seditious Rabble that all Power is from the people interpreting dei Minister the peoples Servant and if he comply not with their giddy humours which in Prudence and Conscience he is not bound to doe then they may assert their native right and reassume the trust reposed in him this monstrous opinion flies in the face of God Almighty by pretending to a law of nature for the violation of all the laws both of God and man And reproacheth the wisdom of the most high for appointing no better government over them And to their other objection I answer that sovereign powers have their imployment from God and by his Authority and so are his servants only and the end of their employment is to be beneficial to the good of others but not in Subjection to their powers Now this truth rightly improved will be matter of Comfort to us that the government we live under is of Gods Institution and that God may bless his own ordinance and continue it in the right Line to the glory of his Name and the good of this Nation Let us pray God save the King the Queen the Illustrious Prince James Duke of York and all the Royal Family The excellency of Kingly dignity appears in this Jus Sangain nullo Jure dâ—rimi potest that even God himself hath among his own honorary titles taken to himself the name of King his title runs thus King of Kings and Lord of Lords and his goverment over the whole world is Monarchical for tho' there be three persons in the sacred Trinity yet there is but one God and confequently but one King everlasting Let then those Scriblers and Pamphlereers who of late have scattered their poyson through the Nation to the disparagement of Kingly government and ruin of unwary Subjects Let them I say blush for shame and tremble to consider how through the side of their lawful Soveraign they have struck at God's own Monarchy over the world as far as their power or malice could extend The dignity of Kings is seen in their Supremacy which is the most express character of himself which God can put upon a man 1 Pet. ii 13. and such a supremacy St. Peter tells us is only in God and the King for God is the supreme ruler of Kings and Kings are the supreme rulers of men therefore God himself the better to oblige our obedience to them Psal lxxxii 7. as well as to himself stiles them Gods That God who by an omnipotent fiat first called the passible world into act and hath ever since laid out the same power for preserving what he first created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath indued Kings with Prerogative more than humane for though they be shrouded under the Veil of mortality yet their power bears no small Resemblance with the Deity and to make the Supreme power accountable to any Inferior Jurisdiction or the will of the people were to set up an authority over him to whom our subjection is due Illa dicitur summa potestas cujus actus alterius juri non sâ—beunt ita ut alterius voluntatis humanae arbitrio irriti possint reddi Grotius which is a down right contradiction in terms For Supreme power is not nor cannot be subject to anothers law and this great truth all good subjects are obliged to defend with their lives and fortunes For yield up the enemy but this one flower the Kings Prerogative and their incroaching fingers will be reaching after all their malice being so unreasonable that a dear-bought experience hath told us It is easier to deny them all than having gratified them in part to prescribe them a measure And now methinks I hear our Antimonarchists say the doctrine of the Kings Supremacy is urged by none but those that by Court-flattery seek their own preferment and promote Arbitrary Government To which I Answer If to preach obedience to Authority does brand men with the name of flatterers they cannot excuse God almighty the blessed Jesus the Patriarks Prophets Apostles Saints and Martyrs from being guilty of it For this is the Doctrine of the Bible and the language of good men in all ages and if this be a scandall God grant that all the Sons of the Church of England may live under this disgrace and dye under this Ignominy Neither is this the way to promote arbitrary government but the contrary for the Kings Supremacy is the Subjects safety t is that Palladium which whilst preserved Inviolable stands as a bulwark about the Nation to protect us in our rights both Civil and Religious For by this Trust reposed in the Prince Each single Person is fortified with the strength of a Nation And this is attested by the every days Experience of all our fellow Subjects who live quiet obedient and peaceable Lives and opposed by none but those that think his Majesties Guards a grievance his Laws an oppression and the benefit of his Life and Reign a check to their disobedience and rebellions Come we now in the third place to speak of the Person supplicated to God and indeed to whom should Persons address their Prayers for their King but unto their God who is King of Kings who hath both Authority
our Sins And again pag. 53. says that the reasons that moved the Pope to despose Kings was good and just and meet to be received and Executed by the body of every Common wealth Apel. Pag. 26. Knox the Scottish Presbyter says it is blasphemy to say we must obey Kings whether they be good or evil And asserts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pag. 26. Buchanan in his Book de jure Regni apud Scotos among other things of dangerous consequence to crowned heads says populus rege est prastantior melior Pag. 38. The People are more excellent than the King And this he avoucheth with the greatest confidence imaginable though the Holy Scripture says plainly that the King is worth ten thousand of the people The same Author says that the People have the same power over the King that the King hath over any one man and that Ministers may Excommunicate him and then draws this damnable conclusion that he who by Excommnication is cast into hell is not worthy to live upon earth Thus hath the Scotch Rebell like that Italian Tyrant taught Sbjects how at one blow they may kill both the Body and Soul of their Prince But as if this were not bad enough yet Pagâ— 40. the wretched Presbyter adds that it were very good that rewards were appointed by the people for such as should kill Tyrants and such they account all those Kings that will not submit their necks to the yoke of their discipline as there be sallaries allowed for those qui lupos aut ursos occiderunt aut catulos eorum deprehenderunt Who have killed Wolves or Bears or have destroyed their brood And who that hears these Doctrines more bloody than Popery or Paganism will doubt that 't is the leaders of these people that dipping their pens in Gall make way for the sword to glut it self with the Blood of Kings Nor were our English Presbyters and Independents much behind their holy brethren the Scots in wicked confederacy and against their King and like the Priests and Praeco's of Mars in scattering Fire-brands through the Nation Book of the Covenant in Evangel Armat pag. 42. Mr. Case calls the late Rebellion the Holy War the Cause of God and Saints all that ingaged in it the Scotch Covenant he calls Christs marriage-contract and says to act against it was to despight the Holy Ghost Zach. Crofton's Answ to Bp. Gauden Edit 3. Pag. 22. Crofton says that all Acts of Parliament made against it were damnable and that Parents ought to baptize their Children into the Scotch Covenant Spirit of Popery 7. 26. 42. Calamy's Ser. before the Lords Dec. 25. 1644. Jenkin's Humble Pet. Oct. 15. 1657. Mr. Calamy and Mr. Jenkins said that the Parliament without the King were the Supreme power of the Nation and that they were assisted by the speciall direction of God And that none could do such things viz Rebelling against the King and Butchering his Subjects except God were with them Mr. Love in his Sermon at the Treaty at Vxbridge Says that the Sword not Arguments must end that Controversy Evangel Armat vid. First Second Part of the History of Separation Mr. Baxter hath said enough in his Holy Common-wealth and other writings to prove him the Bell-weather of Sedition and a man of blood and he that would see further let him view the first and second part of the Dissenters sayings collected from their works and besides this Rebellion against and deposing of Princes is warranted in above twenty places in the Assemblies Annotations and of the same Complexion is Mr. Pool's Criticks Vid. Hist Athaliah Thus have you seen the Devil of Rebellion transforming himself into an Angel of Reformation Icon Bisil and those that should have been Embassadours of Peace the fomenters of an unnatural and bloody War And all under the pretence of Religion The true Religion prevailed upon the world by Purity of Doctrine and Innocency of Life but these mens principles having in this particular a nearer affinity to the Laws of the Impostor Mahomet pudet haec opprobr a nobis dici potuisle non potuisle refelli than the precepts of the Holy Jesus a took the same method for the Establishment thereof as he did who injoyn'd his worshipers by a Law Alcor pag. 125. to persevere in Killing Christians till they was rooted out of the earth So that if Rebellion be Religion then the Papists Mahumetans and Presbyterians are the only true Protestants in the world if the Second murther of a King and utter exâ—irpaâ—ion of the Royall Family the way to promote Gods Glory then are Dissenters the only Champion for the Government and to say worse of them than that they are Seditious and Rebellious upon the accompt of their Religious Principles were to cast Iâ—k upon the face of an Ethiopian You have now heard some of those Monstrous Doctrines that in defiance to the Laws of God and Man encourage the Resistance and consequently the ruin of Kings But that they are as opposite to truth as Light is to Darkness is the next particular wherewith I shall Exercise your patience and this I will do by proving that Religion doth not exempt us from the Authority and Power of Kings and rulers though they be infidels and Heathens and not only strangers but Enemies to true Religion and the professors of it It is not objecting Enormities in the Religion Life or Government of a King that can absolve their subjects from Obedience for the tyes and bonds of duty and subjection to them are Sacred and inviolable Dominion and soveraignty are the Ordinances of God not as he is the Author of grace and redeemer of his Church But as he is the Author of mankind and Governour of the world Dominium temporale non fundatur in gratia Supernatural grace is not that which constitutes Kingdoms nor is the calling of Magistrates a Mistery of the Gospel but an appointment of God by his universall providence The duty of Children to Parents of Servants to Masters of Subjects to Princes is not a consequence of Christianity but a principle of Nature and unalterable by Religon a Christian Child cannot abandon his duty to his Parents tho they be Heathens or Infidels a Christian Servant cannot shake off the yoke of Subjection because his Master is an Vnbeliever 1 Tim. vi 1. nor Christian Subjects deny their allegiance to their Lawful Sovereign tho Heathen and Infidells And he must be a stranger to the Sacred records and the practice of good men in all ages that asserts the contrary But that I may give you one Example for all in a case that directly agrees with all that the Enemies of Monarchy can object against our obedience see it in the Prophet Daniels behaviour towards King Darius Now this Darius was a Heathen Prince one that kept the Church and people of God in cruel bondage and captivity Dan. iii.
while they Cry out against Popery they mean Episcopacy and do but amuse us with the Romish Wolf that we may be made a prey to the Northern-Bear Were not the late instances of Tumultuary Proposals and Applications Tricks of the Old Trade Addresses in the nature of Remonstrances Arbitrary Orders for Imprisoning Subjects and Votes suspending Penal Statutes and rendring the King uncapable of making use of his Own Revenue for the Publick Safety and putting him into a worse condition than the meanest of his Subjects did not they court the King to have the Militia and all Offices and Places of Trust at their disposal and were not these the very things that begat the War and ruin'd us all Did not the Parliament in Forty One c. Protest their Duty and Allegiance to his Majesty in the fairest terms imaginable and confirm'd the same by Oaths and Covenants that they had no intentions to offer Violence to his Majesties Person to Hurt his Power or Destroy his Monarchy and yet did not the same Persons against their own Remonstrances Declarations Protestations Promises Vows and Oaths in cold Blood Murther their Lawful Sovereign Did they not in a Declaration publish'd in 42. say they intended nothing but a Reformation of some Abuses crept into the Church and yet did not the same men pull down Churches to set up an Enthusiastick Devotion seize the Churches Patrimony to inrich themselves and at last abolish its Government to gratifie the Phanatick Zeal of a distracted multitude and shall we be ruined by them a second time God forbid One would think there needed no other Argument amongst us against Rebillion or Sedition in the State or against Schism or Division in the Church than the bare remembrance of what this Nation hath already suffer'd by them we have felt to our Costs what it was to want our Lawful Government and what was the Effect of resisting Authority for our Enemies having by a vast Expence of Blood and Treasute wrested the Power into their own hands they threw down the Nobles from their Honours and Estates and set up the very Scum and Dregs of the People in stead of One King of a Glorious Race we had a whole Army of Vsurpers who sent their Horses to Church and went themselves to Conventicles and a great part of their Devotion there was to Curse Loyal Subjects under the Name of Meroz and contrive to Murther their King in the Name of Jesus Two things they promis'd the abus'd Nation viz. Religion and Liberty and made good their promises by bringing in all the Religons in the world except the Orthodox and to be of that was to be an Enemy to the Gate men might pray without sense so they prayed without a Booke but to say the Lords Prayer was to be called a Malignant and to pray for the King was to be accounted a Traytor And as they dealt with us in the affairs of Religion so did they in respect of our Priveledgs allowing no other share to us than what might confirm our Vassalage and uphold there Tyranny they had the Liberty to Plunder and Oppress and we had the Liberty to Beg or Starve they had the Liberty to be Cruel and Savage and we had Liberty to be Dishonest or be Hang'd which I think is sufficient to perswade us by all lawfull means to prevent the designs of those persons which but lately were so mischievous and deadly to the King and his three Kingdoms But say some is it not unreasonable and unjust to charge the sins of the former Age upon this No but on the contrary t is both rational and equitable so to do since the same principles will upon the same occasion eternally act the same things unless prevented by the greatest care and circumspection And for those who are displeased at the rehearsal of former Wickedness if they would lay aside their Prejudice have cause to thank us for our design is to Reform and not Ruine them to shew them the Danger and not draw them into the Snare and to tell them the naked truth of things which they hear not at all in Conventiâ—lâ—s or else are represented to them under more favourable Expressions than they ought be for who that sees Rebellion in its ugly hue and Murther in its own shape would not fly from it with Horror and Amazement and therefore hath it been a man Artifice amongst the Non-Conformist Preachers to disuade their Admirers from frequenting those places where the Doctrine of Obedience is Taught lest their Eyes should be opened and their Consciences convinced and they lose both their Pension and their Proâ—â—lâ—te And therefore if there be any in this great Congregation who have frequented such Plaâ—â—s where People are alienated from their Duty to God and the King let me intreat them by a Religious Conformity to the Laws Ecclesiastical and Civil to seek their own Peace and Safety and by a true Repentance prevent the Ruine of Soul and Body For they that Resist Lawful Authority shall receive to themselves Damnation To which give me leave to add the Advise of a great Lawyer Peruse all Books Records and Histories and you shall find a Principle in Law a Rule in Reason and a Tryal in Experience that Treason doth ever produce fatal and final destruction to the offender and never attains the desired End two incidents inseparable thereunto and therefore let all Men abandon it as the Poysonous Bait of the Devil and follow the Precept in Holy Scripture Serve God and Honour the King and have no Company with the Seditious Lastly Pro quibus orandum pro tis laborandum Let an honest indeavour inforce your Prayers and Seeing we Live among those that are Enemies to Peace a Race of Cruel and Blood-Thirsty Men let it be your greatest Care to Discover and Prevent their Treacherous Designs that we may have no more Rebellions hatched among us Suffer not Ambitious Men to purchase their own Advancement with the Price of your Blood and Treasure for they may Contrive with their Hâ—ads till they drop from their Shoulders unless they have more Hands to Assist them And since I have the Honour to speak to the Magistracy of this Famous City of whose Fidelity to the King I come not to Doubt but rather Congratulate Suffer me to intreat you not to let any Man or Thing divide you from his Majesty for none can do it but with a design to destroy you The Safety of the King is in the Welfare of his People and the Prosperity of this City depends upon the King's Safety and if Men would look into the Truth of things they would soon perceive that their Interests are complicated and indeed the same for it is true in Experience as well as Speculation and whoever will trace either the Ruine of the Late King of Blessed Memory or the subsequent Misery of this City to their first Origins will soon find the Artifice of some Men in Separating them from each
other effected both But my assurance that I speak to many of those Prudent and Loyal Magistrates and Citizens whose early Abhorrence of Rebellious Associations and many other demonstrations of their Duty and Allegiance to his Majesty and Submission to his Laws are an unquestionable Evidence that they understand their Interest as well as Duty I shall wave all Discourses on that Subject and with begging pardon for this digression take leave only to shew you by what Methods you may demonstrate your Care of the publick Safety and this I do not as an Imperious Dictator but as an humble Remembrancer First By having a watchful Eye over those Amalâ—kites that by Sowing Sedition amongst you make way for all kinds of Mischief and this besides your Duty and Allegiance you have Provocations too from your own Danger Since some that have been Obliged to this City for their Bread like Vngrateful Villains would have made it the Theatre for Bloody Tragedies and is all their Pretences come to this are these the men that were so fearful of Popery cryed so loud against Arbitrary-Power and called themselves the only true Protestants did the several Factions of the City and Country Club Pray and Drink together for no better purposes than the Murther of a gracious King and the ruine of a Flourishing Kingdom I need make no Answer their Flying from the Face of Justice hath done it for me and confirm'd the Saying of a Learned Statesman That the biggest part of Dissenters are criminally Disobedient I Confess that Charity commands me to believe that some Dissenters are more peaceably minded but these may be easily differenced from the rest by their meekness Patience and readiness to be informed but for those that have Brazen Brows and Iron Necks I can never believe them to have Tender Consciences Therefore if there be any under your Government that will do nothing but what is Right in their own Eyes let them undergo what is Just in Yours for you are more bound in Conscience to Execute Righteous Laws than they can be to break them When the Rabble have a mind to Rebel every thing they would have introduced or altered is their Conscience when 't is only a Pretence that they may Desie the Laws Outface Authority and Advance themselves against whose Cruelties the Execution of the Laws can only defend us and if this were done in all places our Peace would not be disturbed we should either have No Plots or None Prosper and have frequent occasion to bless the Name of God for the Security of Laws and Magistrates the Suppression of Treasons and Conspiracies and the Continuance of Peace and Plenty By putting a stop to that flood of Atheism and Irreligion which hath overflown the whole Land for we can never expect God to be long our Friend Si Religio tollitur nulla nobis ratio cum Caelo est Lactant. instit lib. 3. c. 10. if we do not Reform our Lives There is no Peace to the Wicked saith God and while we make a Mock at Religion what can we expect but that God should Laugh at our Calamities All the Miseries of England may be dated from the time that Men began to wax Wanton in their Religion for then did they become Immoral Loose and Debauched in their Lives Heresy Schism and Factions in the Church and Sedition Privy-Conspiracy in the State are but Gemini Fratres which come into the World at one and the same time And till Sin and Wickedness Debauchery and Prophaness be suppressed which makes the Heavens look so Black over us we cannot expect the Face of God to Shine upon us with a happy Peace and Tranquility 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good Men always make the Best Subjects and they that out of a Pure Conscience give unto God the things that are Gods will never be wanting to give Caesar his Due and you cannot any better way Serve the King and the Government than by restraining Impiety and promoting among all his People the Fear of God and a due Sense of Religion And that your Endeavours may not be ineffectual remember to strengthen them with your fervent Prayers saying God Save the King Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for the sake of our dearest Lord and Saviour to whom with thee O Father and the Holy Spirit be all Glory and Praise for Evermore Amen FINIS