rather no Martyr amongst true Christians except it be made to appear that he suffered for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus though otherwise never so unjustly Let those who took away his Life be as Wicked as can be imagined yet they were not professed Infidels his being a Christian was not the Cause or Pretence of his being put to Death the Pretence was how true or false I dive not into it his following Evil Council encroaching upon the Liberties carrying on Designs for Arbitrariness casting into Prison Men for refusing to lend him Mony raising Mony without Parliament as in the case of Ship-Mony for designing to bring in Popery and such other things as the whole Nation knows which the last excepted were all of a Worldly Concernment and no ways fit to qualifie a Martyr him who suffers for them As to this last I must say in his time whether or not of his own Contrivance I cannot tell a Design was carrying on to reconcile us to the Church of Rome whose Interest here did much thrive through the Queens Favour the Persecution of Puritans the prayer-Prayer-book sent into Scotland bringing in Arminianism setting up Crucifixes upon the Communion-Tables by them called Altars as Ministers were and are still by the name of Priests thus promiscuously bringing in Names and Things those and many more were Evidences of the Project then in hand which though it had been true and carried on by the King yet can never justifie the putting him to Death no more than his being put to Death can prove him a Martyr Suppose they were Murderers must we be Blasphemers If they were Villains must we be Idolaters or Superstitious Is it a Warrant for us to do Evil because they did so 'T is very bad Logick for after this we must follow evil Examples After the Light of the Gospel hath since the Reformation so clearly shined amongst us 't is very strange that some who might know better have as to the matter in hand carried things so far on in the way of Superstition A Medal of Bishop Laud a Man so noted in his days soon after King Charles's Restoration was coined in the Tower and consequently by publick Authority of which here are several and many beyond Sea with this Inscription Sancti Caroli Praecursor the fore-runner of St. Charles Here the business is not minced we speak it out plainly in England we have our St. Charles as Italians have theirs his name is entred into the List of Saints he hath his day only we have not builded him a Church as is done for Charles Borromeo in Rome But instead of that he is owned as such in every Church we have let Men honour his Memory but not to such a length as to run into Superstition if not worse for there is no less than Blasphemy in the case in the Medal Bishop Laud is compared to John the Baptist and consequently King Charles is parallelled with Christ for John Baptist both in his Birth and Death was fore-runner of the Lord Jesus This Comparison is come not only out of a Stamp but from Pulpits too a place very improper for such Doctrines some now alive have carried on the Parallel much beyond bounds others have been heard to preach that the Guilt of King Charles's Blood lies upon the Nation never to be washed off What upon Childrens Children and from Generation to Generation to the Worlds end yet God saith by two of his Prophets the Proverb shall no more be used Jer. 31.29 Ezek. 18.2 3. The Fathers have eaten a Soure Grape and the Childrens Teeth are set on edge To see the Blood of the Son of God lie as a Curse upon the Generality of the Jews is no wonder they all cried Crucifie Crucifie they all said Matt. 27.25 Let his Blood be upon us and our Children I hope our thorough-paced Papists in this Point will not have the Face to say that the Blood of Charles I. though never so Innocent can be compared with that of our Lord and Saviour though alas about the time of that Death some were possessed with such extravagant Fits of Superstition as to dye Handkerchiefs in the Blood to keep and use it to Cure Diseases work Miracles and such other things as made an Impression upon the Spirits of Credulous and Ignorant People which true Christians who make Profession of the Purity of the Gospel ought to be ashamed of Others upon the occasion of the day and that lately said Dr. Sherlock's Sermon The Evils and Calamities which we have now more than Forty Years in some degree or other and sometimes very severely suffered under are the natural Effects or just Punishment of that Sin which we this day lament Herein is a great Exaggeration but as to Cursing Swearing Perjury Covenant-breaking Injustice Shedding of Innocent Blood as of late there was too much Drunkenness Uncleanness these are but trifling Sins not worth God's taking notice of let such Preachers as much as they please exalt and commend their Martyrs for such Vertues as are rarely found in mean Persons which in my weak Apprehension is no great Commendation for a King to say he had those Virtues that are rarely found in mean Persons as indeed 't is rare for mean Persons to be Conspicuous in great Virtues to find such Virtues we must go into an Hermit's Cell we must needs be at a great loss not to have where to search for them but those dark Holes or Places of Darkness this is to have a great Opinion of Hermits Lives as well as of King Charles's great Virtues we must not be wanting also to attribute great Merits to Hermits in their Cells However one could bear with such Stuff if the Preaching of the Gospel of Peace was not turned into the sound of an Alarm What mean these Expressions There is a Spirit of Zeal and Faction the Principles of which if not restrained will ruine the best Princes and overturn the best Governments Again The horrid Fact committed on this Day hath poisoned the very Springs of Government and so deeply tinctured the Minds of Men that I pray God we may not still live to see and feel the miserable effects of it These are Doctrines of a New Gospel to work Differences and Cause and keep up Division But to make our selves the more acceptable we must promise That those who under the late Reigns were for Passive Obedience will be so under this Another in a late Sermon of his doth screw up all his Wits and spend his whole Strength in making an unnecessary and improper Panegyrick I doubt very much whether upon our Saviours Passion-day he ever used Expressions so pathetical and delivered them with so much Zeal as he did upon this last Occasion I confess I never heard before a Prince's though never so good being called a Tyrant to be Blasphemy I thought to Blaspheme was against God and not against Man Then he proceeds to unhandsome and uncharitable
to remember the Death of the young Prince our Reformer Edward the Sixth with Grief and Sorrow though Heylin was of another mind the Death of so Pious a Prince not without Suspicion of Poison was a great loss to Religion and the Nation but yet such set days as the Thirtieth of January and Circumstances must be avoided such a Memory may to this day be well continued by lawful Means as his very Funeral Sermons Epitaphs and such things remaining as were published in or about that time as Jeremiah's Lamentation upon that Subject might be read and sung in after-Ages The Memory of good Princes and other pious Men ought to be precious and dear to Posterity but we must not bestow any thing of Religious Relation upon them but strictly avoid every appearance of it Saul's Death was a Judgment upon him but Josiah's Death was a Mercy to him Because thine heart was tender 2 Chron. 34.27 28. I will gather thee to thy Fathers and to thy Grave in Peace neither shall thine eyes see all the Evil that I will bring upon this place and upon the Inhabitants of the same Now Things and Persons being compared in the Reigns of Josiah and Charles to say no more we shall find a vast Difference The third case is that of Gedaliah whom 2 Kings 25.25 and Jer. 41.2 after the taking of Jerusalem the King of Babylon made a Governour of the Cities of Judah which was treacherously killed by Ishmael the Son of Nethaniah This indeed was a sad Blow to the People that was left in the Land but in the two quoted places in the Margin nor in the Book of Chronicles nothing is said of any publick mourning of the People for it yet some would if possible upon the Opinion of the most Judicious Interpreters as he calls them screw something out of Zech. 7.5 as if their Mourning there was an Ordinance for that lasted till the time of their return from their Captivity but 't is easie to find the true cause of it namely Levit. 23.27 29. a positive order from God On the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of Atonement it shall be an holy Convocation unto you and ye shall afflict your Souls c. And whatsoever Soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day he shall be cut off from amongst his People This is the true cause of the Mourning in the Seventh Month and 't were in vain to fancy any other A very good Use may by present and future Ages be made of such sad Effects of God's Providence as to warn us of our Mortality of the Uncertainty of Life of the Vanity of Honours and to prepare us for Death to shew how our Life is in the Hand of God which he disposeth of how and when he pleases It is good always to be Thankful to God for Mercies always to be humbled and to Mourn for Sins for as we do constantly Sin so we must constantly repent what doth befall others as well as what happeneth to us ought to work upon us And so we have cause enough to keep days of Humiliation both in Publick and Private and this is to make a right use of such Occasions and not to flatter and chuse God's House to make Panegyricks of Dead Men over and over every Year in such a Strain as Papists do for their Pretended Saints and Dead Men. After this way Mr. Newman in his Sermon Page 17 18 19 c. maketh King Charles a great Poet nay a Laureat one a great Orator He saith He was Master of a Sublime Grandure of Language and in Points of Controversie and in Cases of Conscience so great a Divine as he might have challenged the Theological Chair upon the account of meer Worth If he had but attributed some Miracles then we might have said as Jesuits use to speak of their Ignatius Franciscans of their Francis and Dominicans of their Dominick upon their days And all this he affirms upon hear-say and by relation if this be not Flattery 't is too much like it this is a studied Discourse to make a shew of his Parts to flatter the Dead deceive the Living but edifie none To say the setting apart such days is not intended as if thereby they were made Holier than others but only to appoint them to an Holier Use is not enough to excuse the thing we all know 't is not in the power of Man in that kind to make one day better than another that 's the Work of God alone and of all the days of the Week the Seventh his Sabbath-day * Gen. 2.3 and Exod. 20.11 he sanctified it blessed and hallowed it Nay the other Feasts which were but Typical and for a time which we read of in the Book of * Chap. 23. Leviticus were of God's own special Appointment So that to Institute such days is an Act of Religion And though we agree that the Church may make Rules for Order-sake as to Circumstances yet under the Gospel no Man may upon Humane Account Institute days wherein is a Cessation of Work God having commanded Six days to labour and do our work Thus there would be no end one day this Year another or more the next as we see it in the Church of Rome where every new Saint hath a day allowed him every Year By the same reason it is done for one it may be done for an hundred All Orthodox Divines do agree That in the First and Second Commandment not only Idolatry but also Superstition are forbidden whereby the Fixedness of the Minds of Men which ought to be upon God is tossed and distracted here and there upon different Objects Prayers of Mourning Repentance or Thanksgiving must be directed to God for they are part of his Worship without any Collateral regard to the Merits or Sufferings of any Man Dead or Alive And here by the by I must take notice of a Clause which some of our Ministers use in their Prayers to thank God for his Servants deceased which in my opinion is very Improper for those who own we ought not to pray to or for the Dead the Gospel and God's other Mercies is What we ought to thank God for And though a Minister may make mention of those Faithful Servants of his remembred in his Word and exhort us to follow their Example and Divine Rules they were acted by the Faith of Abraham the Patience of Job the Repentance of Peter yet the Case is different when he is in Prayer for then he is the Mouth of the People to God in that Condition of Supplicants no Humane Rule or Example is to be mentioned to God especially now when so gross an Abuse about it is committed by Papists whereof we ought to avoid the very Appearance The Dangers of bringing such things into the Church is very great though at first not perceptible sometimes great Evils had but small beginnings the Devil is
our Dross then there will be Peace and Plenty within Honour and Safety round about and God will humble our Enemies abroad To bring this good Work to an happy End Prejudices about controverted Matters must be laid aside Stumbling-blocks removed the Vail rent the Partition-wall pulled down that we may go all together into the House of God joyn in his Worship and make but one Sheep-fold And let this be taken notice of That amongst the Diffenters from the Church who own and have a Ministry by way of Office who Administer both Sacraments and are for Order and Government in the Church there is nothing whereby those who are called Church-men may justly be offended But in the Church by Law established there are several things which Dissenters think they have cause to except against So that the Ground of Church-men disliking Non-conformity is Negative that is They have not and do not act that which they would have them to do and have But the Ground of Dissenters not liking Church-mens Practice is positive that is They do and have things which they think they ought not to do nor to have And this is the State of the question between Protestants and Papists for these do believe all we do believe but we do not believe all what they believe I shall not say much about the Matters in dispute so many things having already been said and written about it only shall in few words modestly lay down some reasonable Grounds of an Agreement and Union First As to the Common-Prayer-Book under two Notions I st As to the Matter of it 2d As to the Manner of using it As to the Matter Out of it a good Liturgy could be made taking away many Superfluous Repetitions and altering several Expressions Dubious Dangerous or otherwise liable to Just Exceptions There is some Gold I mean Good things but they must own there is also Dross which ought to be purged What these things are hath been said and named at many and several times though we have some amongst us who out of Ignorance or Obstinacy take the prayer-Prayer-book to be of an equal Authority with the Holy Bible and that to read and hear it read at the appointed times is sufficient Performance of Christian Duty Nay * Abbot against Church-forsakers one of some Note hath written That all the Wit of Angels and Men can find no Fault with it A bold Assertion too positive for any Humane Book Several other things in that kind which I omit have been said by others not willing to press too far upon the Subject and I think there is enough said by the by upon the Matter of the Common-Prayer-Book only I add That the Preference therein given to the Apocrypha before some places of the Canonical to be read when the others are to be lest out is not at all to be approved Several Exceptions are taken against the Order and Distribution of several parts of the Book out of several lame and maimed parcels of Scriptures as three or four Verses of one Chapter as many of another especially in most places the leaving out that excellent and comfortable Clause of the Lords Prayer For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory which in us raises Hopes and Confidence of being heard and that God will give us what we ask him in the six Petitions First Because he is our King Now a King grants the Just Petitions of his Subjects Secondly Because he is able to give what we ask according to Christ's direction And Thirdly Because what we ask is for his Glory Then dividing the Matter of the Prayer-book into Gospels Epistles Collects or Prayers is after the Pattern of Popish Missals and Rituals and clear out of the way of Liturgies of all Reformed Churches Secondly Several things are said against the Manner of using it as in a certain Tone or Singing way which is the Popish of the very Prayers in Cathedrals Then as to the place some at the middle of the Church others by the Altar as if there was in the Church one place Holier than the other or that God will hear us there better than here Then as to the Posture sometimes sitting then standing as if the Epistle was not the Word of God as much to be heard with a Reverence if standing be a more reverend Posture than sitting as the Gospel being both the Word of God Nay Gospel is made different from Gospel for in the first Lesson a whole Chapter being read People sit but at the second Lesson when few Verses of a Chapter of the Gospel are read then every one stands up Herein is too much of Formality and I could almost say too mimical for Christian Reformed Churches Thus the Liturgy ought to be mended so to be imposed as not to exclude Extemporary Prayers of Ministers As to the formal Ties called Church Ceremonies they ought wholly to be abolished as introducing Superstition under the name of Decency and being contrary to Christian Liberty Such is the use of Surpliss so abominably abused in the Church of Rome where 't is thought necessary when they perform their Idolatrous Worship of the Mass at the very act of Idolatry and some amongst us have been so Superstitiously inclined as to say Angels have appeared in it But let them look how they can prove out of Scripture that the * Matt. 28.3 Angels Raiment as white as Snow †Mark 16.5 that the long white Garment ‖ Luke 24.4 and the shining Garments of the two Men were a Surpliss And to say as some do that that colour is a Sign of Purity and Candor which is of it to make a Sacrament I would have those who are so much for the Surpliss to remember how fine Linen as well as Purple and Scarlet is reckoned among the Merchandise of Babylon Rev. 18.12 As to the Sign of the Cross in Baptism it is an Addition to the Sacrament None but he who hath right to Institute Sacraments may make any Addition Diminution or Alteration thereunto without Impiety or committing Sacrilege And it were to have a mean Opinion of the Lord Jesus's Divine Wisdom to think he left with his Church an Imperfect Ordnance in the Institution and none may institute Sacraments but he that can bestow the Graces thereby signified Bowing towards the Altar For so some call Improperly the Communion-Table as the Minister a Priest is very unfit for Protestants and Reformed Christians when Papists from whom 't is derived do it 'T is according to their Principle they believe Transubstantiation to be made upon such places and therefore they give them such Signs of Religious Worship But 't is very odd for us so to do who do not believe one place in the Church to be Holier than the other And what need in Cathedrals and some Chappels of Candle-sticks and unlighted Candles upon the Altars in the day-time As for bowing at the Name of Jesus it is of the same