to their People But it would be very false reasoning from hence to conclude That because God is pleased in such a manner to submit his Sovereign Administrations to the Judgment of Men and Men will in the like manner judge of the Actions of Princes that therefore a People may assume to themselves a Judicial Power over their Sovereign Lord. Against an Unrighteous and Illegal Proceeding of this kind the whole Nation enters its solemn anniversary Protest this day acknowledging with Shame and Detestation that the Sentence then executed upon our lawful and rightful Sovereign Lord King Charles the First to have been a notorious and crying piece of Injustice Indeed the Nature of the thing demonstrates at the first View the Absurdity of such a Proceeding nothing being more ridiculous than that a Prince in whom 't is confess'd by all the whole Executive Power of the Law is lodg'd should become legally accountable to his Subjects and answerable to that Justice which he alone has the right of administring But yet it is not necessary to carry this Notion so far as to take all right of Self-preservation from Subjects and to put their Lives and their Estates their Wives and their Children under the lawless Power of every Prince who thinks fit to degenerate into a Tyrant and to oblige Men to sit quietly and to see the Laws the Religion and the Liberties of their Country overturn'd and themselves and their Posterity brought into Slavery But even in such a case as this there can be no Legal Jurisdiction pretended to No Judicature remains to judge of the Prince's Actions Indeed the Pretence of the High Court of Justice to judge of their King was never own'd by the Body of the People 'T was an upstart monstrous Opinion hatch'd by the heat of War And as it was very absurd and monstrous so it was but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Insect of a Days Duration and is now disown'd by all sorts of People amongst us the whole Body of the Nation being affectionately disposed to Monarchy and convinc'd of the utter Impossibility of setting up any other Form of Government amongst us And if there be a Man left that has other Thoughts as such a Visionary there may be 't is well for us that he stands alone that we are sure he can have no sensible Man of his side because no sensible Man can join in a Design against the Genius of the People against the Laws and Customs against the Liberty and Property of the Nation all which are founded upon and united to the true ancient legal Monarchy of this Kingdom And it ought to be a Comfort to us all when we see that Body of Men who in some Church matters unhappily dissent from us yet heartily joining with us to pay a just Deference and dutiful respect to that Man whom God hath raised up to be the nursing Father of his Church amongst us who by his especial Providence and by the universal Consent of the Nation is Rightfully possessed of the Throne of these Realms who as a great Captain defends us from the Destroyer abroad and as a Judge secures us against the Sons of Violence at home who like the good Shepherd our Saviour mentions Joh. 10.11 is always ready to lay down his Life for his Flock and thereby also shews himself as a God amongst us May Almighty God preserve him long to be a Blessing to us and secure his Person in the midst of those Dangers to which he is contented to expose himself for our sakes and for the common Liberty of Europe And since the best and bravest of Princes must at last die may it be many very many Years hence before this Nation may have cause to take up the Lamentation of the Prophet and bewail that the Crown is fallen from our Head II. The Second Consideration which arose from the Text was this viz. In the day of our Lamentation we should lay to Heart those Sins which brought Gods Judgment upon us in order to prevent the like for the future Wo to us that we have sinned Although there be no Evil of any sort in a Land which is not a Moral Cause of bringing it under Gods Visitation yet there are some Sins which are the Natural and Specifick Causes of their respective Punishments Thus Excess brings Diseases Pride begets Contempt Idleness Poverty And the proper Enquiry of this Day is after those sins which by their own particular Energy occasion the loss of a good Prince and thereby bring Affliction upon a People which I take chiefly to be these two I. Flattery And II. Faction 1. Flattery was the Engine Satan first contriv'd to seduce and ruine the Parents of Mankind He told them that some Prerogatives were then wanting to fill up that great Character God had impressed upon them which must be attain'd though against Law that they might do themselves Right For though the Law forbad them to eat of the Tree of Knowledge yet it must be done and then your Eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods Gen. 3.5 said the Flatterer And how the Crown is hereby sallen from our Head what Woes and Lamentations have arisen from hence their whole Posterity both feel and see And has not the same detestable Sin of Flattery drawn Princes to aspire at such an Absolute and Arbitrary Power as was not only beyond but inconsistent with that just Prerogative which God's Providence had invested them with God knows how great a Share in the Calamity which we lament this day this Sin had An entire Subjection of all we had to Despotick Power was call'd Apostolical Obedience and that specious Name was made use of as a Bait to draw the Prince into a Separate Interest from his People which was indeed to divide him from himself And we in our days have seen the same Engine at work and are sadly sensible of the unhappy Consequences the Notion of Passive Obedience having prov'd in a manner as fatal to those who have hearkned to it as that of Apostolical Obedience formerly did Liberty gives the true Relish to all the Comfotrs of Life without it though a Man may possess much he can enjoy nothing to preserve it is the true Prerogative of a Prince To defend the Liberty of a Nation when it is invaded is the most Glorious thing upon Earth And he that is such a Deliverer has a Name above all other Titles And who would change this Style for that of Conqueror Which is the new Disguise Flattery has put on All Flattery carries with it a Tacit Affront to the weakness of that Person to whom it is address'd But this is so gross that it Affronts the common Sense of Mankind and therefore if directed to a particular Person presumes the last degree of weakness You may as well be perswaded that Bread is Flesh as that the Deliverance of a Nation is a Conquest of it For 1. Does not a
the Sin of Judah begets in him a just Indignation So that whilst he bewails the Wound he justifies the Hand that strikes and laments the Sins of the People with deeper Groans than their Punishment Wo unto us that we have sinned These Words together with the occasion upon which they were spoke suggest to us these two Considerations I. The Loss of a Good King gives just Cause of Lamentation to a People The Crown is fallen from our Head II. In the Day of our Lamentation we should lay to Heart those Sins which brought this Judgment upon us in order to prevent the like for the future Wo unto us that we have sinned The first of these Propositions appropriates our Lamentation to the Loss of a good King such as was Josiah of whom the Prophet so pathetically speaks The breath of our nostrils the Anoynted of the Lord Lam. 4.20 was taken in their Pits of whom we said under his shadow we shall live among the Heathen Or as Grotius renders the last words In spite of the Heathen The Fresh Air through the Nostrils makes its way to the Lungs and with them fans the Heart by its nitrous Spirit advancing and by its Coolness adjusting the Circulation of the Blood and thereby imparts new Vigour to each Member of the Body Thus good Josiah 2 Chron 34 3â— by reading the Book of the Law to the People and renewing the Covenant with the Lord restrained those Feuds and Quarrels which the variety of their Idolatries produc'd and united the different Sects into the Worship of one God By this he gave new Strength to Judah and Benjamin for their Support against their Enemies What Streams of Tear did the Loss of such a Prince call for But had they liv'd under a King who by ans open Example and Encouragement of Debauchery should have drawn the People from their Covenant with the Lord and by secret Favours bestow'd on Idolaters should have tempted Judah from worshiping the God of Jacob If he should have prepar'd the way for Pharo Necho by crumbling his People into Factions and by turns wheting the Anger of Judah against Benjamin and Benjamin against Judah it would be hard to perswade Men to call such a King the Breath of their Nostrils And when they were in so much Danger of Ruine by his Life they would be apt not to be very passionately concern'd for his Death From what has been said the Reason of the first Proposition will appear viz. Why the loss of a good King gives such cause of Lamentation 'T is because he has no Interest separate from that of his People This is plainly implied in the Words of the Text The Crown is fallen from our Head That is as the People have no Head but their King so the King has no Body but his People and that there can be no more separate Interest of a Sovereign from his People than of the Head from the Body And that this is the true Notion of that relation which is between Prince and People appears from all those Characters by which Supreme Magistrates are describ'd to us in the Book of Go which are these Five viz. Fathers Captains Judges Shepherds Gods 1. Fathers so God promiseth to a good People suitable Governours Kings shall be thy Nursing fathers Isa 49.23 and Queens thy Nursing-mothers Now what interest can a Father have separate from that of his Family Or can a Mother divide her Assection from her Children the pretended Mother who appear'd before Solomon would have divided a Living Child that she might have had part of it to her self 1 Kings 3.26 while the true Mother could not separate her Bowels of Compassion from the Fruit of her Womb. This Title of Father expresses justly the nature of that Love which is owing by the Prince to his People It has indeed been made use of by some to a very different purpose to prove that Regal Authority is founded in Paternal although whoever considers the Relation between Father and Son will see how absurd this Notion is For 1. Nature gives to all Parents equal power over their Families so as to exclude the Unkles power over his Nephews Family and the Grandfathers nay Fathers over the respective Families of Son and Grandson 2. The Mother has to Filial Obedience equal Right with the Father 3. Execution of Vindictive Power whereby a Father shall pass Sentence of Death upon his Son seems unnatural Nor do we find it came into the Thoughts of Adam to avenge the Murther of Abel by adjudging Cain to death nor can I perceive that the imaginary Patriarchal Authority has any Foundation in Nature so as to render the younger Brother upon the Father's death subject to the Elder For 1. Brotherhood bespeaks equality as appears by what God saith to the Elder Brother of all Mankind when he had conceiv'd Wrath against his younger Gen. 4.6,7 And the Lord said unto Cain why art thou wrath And why is thy countenance fallen If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted If thou dost not well sin lyeth at the door that is the punishment of thy sin draws near the following words of the Verse want only a point of Interrogation to make 'em understood for instead of Vnto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him The Learned P. Fagius thus renders it Num Abelis desiderium ad te erit num tu eris ejus dominus Shall his desire be to thee Shalt thou rule over him Such an Interrogation is a strong denial of any Authority the Elder Brother can by nature claim over the Younger But 2dly How can we conceive that Nature gives the Nephew Authority over his Unkle and Great Unkle Which the Notion of Patriarchal Power does necessarily infer And 3dly To found Kingly Power in Patriarchal Primogeniture seems as Impolitick as 't is Unnatural because it shakes the Thrones of all Kings there being no Throne at this time fill'd with the true Patriarch Lineally descended from the Eldest Son of Noah Or at least who is able to derive and prove such a Pedigree But to return from this digression We are sure that we can justly say of a good King He is a Father of his Countrey 'T is Fatherly Care he expresses in the Administration of his High Office he provides for the Education of his People in good Living he restrains the publishing of Bad Principles he checks ill Tempers and chastiseth those wicked Servants who by their ill Examples would endanger the corrupting of his Family he bears an equal Affection to all his Dutiful Subjects not suffering himself through any unaccountable fondness to distinguish some of his Children from others so long as all join in an equal respect to him But if there be any such in his Family who have the impudence to own another Father either Spiritual or Civil 't is a just provocation for him to disown them and look upon them as the Children of
ASHVRST MAYOR Jovis primo die Februarii 1693. Annoque Regni Regis Reginae Gulielmi Mariae Angl. c. Quinto THIS Court doth Desire Mr. Stephens to Print his Sermon Preached before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of this City at the Parish Church of St. Mary-Le-Bow on Tuesday the 30 th of January last GOODFELLOW A SERMON Preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor AND ALDERMEN OF THE City of London AT St. Mary-Le-Bow Jan 30 th 1693 4 By WILLIAM STEPHENS B. D. Rector of Sutton in Surrey LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey And Brab Aylmer at the Three Pidgeons in Cornhill 1694 Mr. STEPHEN's SERMON Preached before the Lord Mayor AT St. Mary-Le-Bow Jan. 30. 1693 4. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir WILLIAM ASHVRST Lord Mayor OF THE City of London AND THE Worshipful the Court of ALDERMEN My LORD ALthough the Sins of this Nation which call for frequent Fasting and sincere Humiliation might give us but a very Melancholy Prospect of Affairs yet when we call to mind the many Deliverances which God hath heretofore and of late wrought for us it will point out a Door of Hope to us and may serve for a promising presage that he will go on to do us good will perfect our Deliverance and secure our Righteous Establishment But St. Austin teaches us That he who made us without any help of ours will not save us without our own Concurrence and this is true as well in respect to our Happiness in this Life as in another Men who are well-affected to the common Interest of their Countrey must be Zealously Active to promote it watch the seasonable Appearances of God in their behalf and cheerfully co-operate with those Means which his Providence has recommended to 'em for their common Preservation Your Lordship is one of those who cannot satisfie your self with an Vnactive Vertue You sludy the Welfare of your Countrey Diligently and pursue it Affectionately And it ought to be no little matter of Joy to us all to see the Chief City of the Kingdom acting by so Noble a Principle in the Choice of Magistrates to Rule over them as to pitch upon one who could never stoop so low as to serve a narrow Interest or a base or private End who prays for the Peace of Jerusalem and without regard to any Party wishes all may Prosper that love it may this good Example of the Metropolis have a happy Influence upon all other Corporations and engage them to an Imitation of such a Choice If the Soveraign Prince be taught from all the Characters by which his Super-eminent Office is describ'd in God's Word that he can Espouse no Interest separate from that of his People as is shewn in the ensuing Sermon which was at first Preach'd and is now Publish'd by Your Lordship's Order surely no Man is qualify'd for any Inferior Magistracy who can be so far misguided as to act the Business of a Party or will suffer any private Interest to mislead his Affection from the common Good Plato had once a Project to preserve the Community by destroying Property he suppos'd that a common Fund set up for the whole Body Politick would necessarily engage a publick Spirit in every Individual but a greater Law-giver than he has taught us that Property and publick Weal are to be preserv'd by loving our Neighbour as our self And when this Spirit prevails among the Rulers of a people what may not be hoped for in Favour of such a Nation That Almighty God may still continue a Succession of such Magistrates in the Chair which Your Lordship so Honourably fills is the Hearty Prayer of My LORD Your Lordships most Obliged and Humble Servant WILLIAM STEPHENS LAM V. 16. The Crown is fallen from our Head wo unto us that we have sinned HOW the Death of good King Josiah was lamented is thus Recorded in the Chronicles And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah 2 Chron. 35.25 and all the Singing Men and the Singing Women spake of Josiah in their Lamentations to this day and made them an Ordinance in Israel and behold they are written in the Lamentations It was no small loss to Judah that such a Prince fell by the Sword whose Heart was so tenderly affected towards his Country Who remov'd all the Abominations out of the Land making a Covenant before the Lord 2 Chron. 34.27 and causing all Jerusalem and Benjamen to stand to it He had a right Sense of that true Politick Maxim which Solomon his Predecessor lest behind him viz. Prov. 14.34 Righteousness exalteth a Nation but Sin is a reproach to any People This good Disposition towards his Subjects was rewarded with that gracious Answer God sent him from the Mouth of Huldah the Prophetess when he enquir'd of her what should become of his Kingdom The Effect of which was That he should honourably end his days and not see the Captivity of his People And as for the King of Judah 2 Chron. 34.26 who sent you to enquire of the Lord so shall ye say unto him Because thy Heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God when thou heardst his Words against this place and against the Inhabitants thereof I have even heard thee also saith the Lord Behold I will gather thee to thy Grave in peace neither shall thy Eyes see all the evil I will bring upon this place and upon the Inhabitants thereof If it be ask'd How was this Prophecy fulfill'd when Josiah died of a Wound received in Battle against Necho King of Egypt Let the Enquirer put on those Bowels of Compassion to his Country which Josiah took with him then to the Battle of Megiddo 2 Chron. 25.22 that he might stop the Passage of Pharo Necho and prevent the swarming of the Egyptian Locusts over Judah and he will think his honourable Death in Defence of his People to be the last and greatest distinguishing Mark which God could in this World bestow upon so good a Prince St. Paul has indeed told us 1 Cor. 13.3 that a Man may give his Body to be burnt and not deserve the Name of a Martyr because he may yet want Charity And we see 't is possible for a Sovereign Prince to hazard his Crown not out of Charity to relieve his Country but from a Desire to oppress it and so may die the Martyr or live the Confessor of his own Folly When good Josiah put his Life into his hand to keep out that Egyptian Slavery which an ill Prince would willingly introduce And thus I have set forth the occasion of Judah's Tears and Jeremy's Lamentation viz. The Loss of a good King and what not long after followed the Captivity of the People To this the Prophet relates in these Words of the Text The Crown is fallen from our Head But whilst the Reflection upon his Countrey 's Ruine fills him with a just Grief the Consideration of the Cause of it