to say something of the Reality of those Dangers which we are in some measure delivered from because there are some who have gained such a perfect Mastery of their Consciences that they can believe even a Cheat that serveth their Turn and Dis-believe even a Miracle that wounds their Interest Now Discerning Men have seen for several years last past that our King and Government both were in eminent danger because those very Artifices being imploy'd again which served effectually to destroy the Father we had all the reason to believe that they were intended to destroy the Son too it being impossible but the same Means used in the same manner must tend to the accomplishment of the same Ends. When it was taught for Doctrine that the King is a King by Law and it past so currently for the Protestant-Faith that the Clown hath as much Title to his Cottage as the King hath to his Throne it was manifest enough then that a Mine was preparing to blow the King up and that nothing was wanting but a convenient time to spring it When the Kings Actions were so maliciously mis-interpreted when his Designs were still looked upon to be Insincere when his Counsellors were brandded for Popish Conspirators when His Majesty himself was represented to the People as one that was not to be Trusted and when endeavours were used to reduce him to the mean Condition of an Orphan and a Beggar what could we make of all this but a Devillish Stratagem either to make him once again an Exile abroad or to spoil him of all his Crowns at home and to leave him no more than what they left his Father the Crown of Martyrdom When so many Seditious Libels appeared every week in the World now a Vox Patriae then a Vox Populi now an Appeal then an Advice to the Country now a Treasonable Postscript by a True Protestant and then a whole Treasonable Doleman by a True Jesuit now the Advance and then the Growth of Popery now a Plato and then a Julian Redivivus In a word when we were Plagued with as many Mischievous Pamphelts here as there were almost Locusts in Egypt what could any Reasonable man believe but that Ruin and Desolation would be at the end of all When Faction grew more sturdy and insolent since the Discovery of the Popish Plot than they were before as if they scorn'd to take Quarter and believed that one day it would be at their own pleasure whether they would give any we might well imagine that they thorowly knew what Designs were laid and what Foundation and Bottom they stood upon and hoped in a short time to give us Battel not upon the Level but upon the Highest ground When we have had such Non-conformists-Pleas instead of their Repentance and when they combined together to maintain that Liberty as their Right and Due which before they crouched for as a thing Precarious we might easily see what those Affronts of Authority did mean that now at the last push they would not give over but for their Party-sake and to serve the Interest of the Common Cause against the King and Church they were resolved to Labour hard in their respective Seminaries of Rebellion and never be tempted from their New England Colonies by force of Argument Briefly when for many years we have seen perpetual Endeavours used to pull down that admirable Frame of Government which is by Law settled among us in Church and State and when they who call themselves The True Protestants have imployed all their Wit Power and Malice to make Majesty Odious to expose his Ministers to publick Scorn and Hatred to Reproach and Threaten all his Friends to poyson the World with Rebellious Principles to bespatter the purest Church in the whole Christian World to Revile her whole Government Discipline and Service to Traduce her Clergy of every Rank and Order and to stir up the Fury of an Vngovernable Populace against them it was too too manifest that they intended the utter Destruction of our Laws and Establishments and to bring about their Villanous Ends by some the most violent Methods either by Assassinating his Majesty which some looked upon as the shortest Course or by a General and formed Rebellion which others conceived to be the most Generous and Heroick way These Rogueries were so plain that all men had Reason to mistrust and some had the Confidence to say That while we were in pursuit of the Jesuit an unsuspected Enemy would come behind us and reward us with Joab's Compliment under the fifth Rib. And so it proved in the Issue for while we were afraid of one Enemy we were in danger of another Here was truly a Wheel within a Wheel and while the Papist was at his work the True Protestant so called kick'd him by and took his place That light which a few saw then through a Crevise every man may now behold clearly for now the Window is open and the Conspiracy which we feared is as plain as the Sun We need no further proof hereof than what hath been given us by the Conspirators themselves For if to be Felo de se be an Argument of Guilt we have had too sad an Argument of that kind If to fly from Justice be the Indication of an Evil Conscience there are many that Undeniably argue themselves to be Criminals If the Voluntary Confessions of Confederates be Testimony sufficient here is the most Pregnant and Unquestionable Evidence that ever was given by some at the very point of Death and by all before the face of the World against whom nothing can be Objected but this which yet is no Objection at all that what they wickedly Consented and were Privy to they Honestly Discovered and some of them too when there was no Hope of saving either Life or so much as an Hair by it And as for those very few scarce enough to makeup a Number who have taken an Improsperous and Impossible Course to Conceal or Palliate their Crimes we may truly say That by their Tacit Confessions and Open Contradictions and Artificial Shifts they have and perhaps beyond the rest Confirmed the Credit of this Horrid Conspiracy when they intended to Stifle or Weaken it For by extenuating and mincing matters they force all Men to conclude that there was some Great thing in hand which needed the utmost of their Art and Skill And indeed they seem Agreed with us upon the main point only their Language is different from ours for what they call Disorders that the Law and We call Treason Now this is no Denial of the Matter but only a different way of expressing it and I am apt to think that had the Conspiracy taken its intended Effect these Men would have Extenuated and Minced it after the same manner and they who now call Rebellion Stirs and Resistance Innocence would then have lessened the Plot so that Cutting of Throats would have been counted only a Scotch-way of Trimming
their while or consideration to Fore-cast Where the Traytors of the Late Times were Defective and Overseen there these Rebels would have been very Circumspect and Wary so that they would have left us no tolerable Hopes of ever seeing the Royal Family and our Ancient Legal Government restored again And what infinite Havock and Destruction would not this have cost For had these men prevailed which was not possible for them without the Expence of many thousands of Lives besides the sacred Life of Him who is an whole Kingdom unto Vs but had their Villany prospered they could not have been secure long if but a Remnant was left of such as are faithful Friends to the Crown and Church So that they could not propose to themselves any other probable ways of setling themselves in that Power they longed for but by the utter Ruine of Loyalty and by a total destruction of every Honest Family from the Father to the Child in all parts of the Nation And what then would the sum of all have been why I will give it you in the words of a zealous Writer in the Late Dr. Gaâ—den 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Times We should have left us a Kingdom without a King Government without Authority Magistrates without Power People without Laws a Body without an Head Sheep without a Shepherd Christians without Christ Churches without Ministers or Ministers without maintenance and a Nation without Faith and let me add too a Land without any Peace Armies without any end Oppressions without any Mercy Protestants without any Religion and an Associated Heard of the most Savage and Vnclean Beasts without any God That this is not our present Condition we must ascribe it wholly to the great Goodness of God whose Mercies and Compassions never fail And that we may now make some use of this whole matter 1. The Consideration both of our Dangers and of our Deliverance serveth First To Justifie the Zeal of those who for these several years have given the World warning of the Dangers we were in and have vigorously appeared for the interest of the King and the Church Though the generality of Men have been strangely Blinded and Mis-led by the Artifices of those who made use of Mens Fears of Popery to promote their own Fanatick and Republican Interests yet there were many who would not be wrought upon to bow down their Knees to Baal nor suffer themselves to be cheated of their Consciences but told men plainly That Factious and Antimonarchical Designes were carrying on and that Ruin would be at the end of all if they did not take heed in time For how could it otherwise be without the help of Gods special Providence but that men would fall into the same Pit again when they drave on so furiously in the very same Broad ways which led us to Destruction before Yet these Faithful and Plain-dealing not to say Prophetick Monitors were then either laugh'd at for a sort of rash and impolitick Fools or stigmatiz'd for Men of Hot Heads for talking so much of Forty One and of an Intemperate Zeal for Arbitrary Power and Popery And in this respect the honest Clergy some in the Country divers about the City of London have suffered in a very great measure being oftentimes pubickly and in Print exposed to the Fury of a mad Rabble not only as weak and undiscerning men but also as direct Betrayers of the Nations Liberties and Religion But there is a time when Wisdom will be justified of her Children and now all well-meaning nay even the moderate men so called must own that there was too great cause for us to act and say as we did Did not the Faction every day grow not in numbers onely but in insolence too beyond all Comparison And when they had so much Strength Malice and Authority on their side what did they want but our Pulpits Had the Alarm been but given there the Sword had been presently drawn and such another Rebellion had followed as was once proclaimed with a Curse ye Meroz and was Sanctified in so many Churches as the Cause and Quarrel of God Indeed I cannot vouch for every Pulpit especially since it is Discovered that Three famous Non-conforming Preachers have baen zealous Promoters of this Horrid Conspiracy and time must shew us how many more of them have been holding forth the Armatum Evangelium the same Gospel of War which was once before covered with Buff and sprinkled with the Blood of a Scotch-Covenant but 't is very suspicious that more than an Ecclesiastical Council of six have been beating the Drum though God be blessed it was only a dead sound in a Corner and the generality of Men have hitherto been out of the hearing of the Beat. 2. I have not said this for the Honest Clergy of our Church for I except a Judas and a Julian out of any Principle of Vanity or with a Design to insinuate that we are any more than mean and poor Instruments in the hand of God No it is the great Bishop of the Church and of our Souls the Lord of Glory and Power to whom we owe this and all other our wonderful Deliverances to and who with his own right hand and with his holy arm hath gotten himself the Victory And therefore Secondly The sense of this Deliverance should make such a deep Impression upon all our Hearts as will bring us to a thorow Repentance from all dead Works and to an Vniversal Obedience to his Heavenly Will And this not only as the best Expression of Thankfulness for this Mercy hitherto but also as the best and only means to incline the Divine Goodness still to perfect that good work which he hath of himself begun among us Lord how near were we to Destruction Upon the very brink and edge of it so that to all Humane appearance had his Sacred Majesty staid at New-market but two days longer of necessity we must have been all Buried before now in a Common Ruin Blessed be God the God that doth wondrous things that he hath given us this one opportunity more to praise his Name and to declare the Works that he doth even for the unthankful children of men But this is not all our Business to offer up unto him the Sacrifices of our Mouth and the Calves of our Lips for unless we be careful to direct our Lives and to order our Conversation as it becometh Saints we shall come very short of our Duty and for ought I know may still come short of our Deliverance Remember what Samuel said to those willful and ungrateful People 1 Sam. 12. 25. If ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King We all pretend great Honour and Affections for his Majesty and a most tender care for his Safety and Preservation Why I will tell you a short and a ready way how he may be safe and happy and continue a long Blessing to us and to our Children Let
Banishment or to Death Truly it is a fine Credit for that Nation But according to the course which some have taken here they were like to lay a Ground for Such Another Account in this Nation by their Barbarous and Bloody dealings with our Kings from Father to Son The consideration whereof is enough to enrage the Spirits of every English Subject that hath the Conscience of a Christian or but the Heart and Face of a Man And now we clearly see the meaning of those late Mysteries which some among us were not able or not willing to look into before The People were told that the Crown is at their disposal and that Princes may be Deposed Our King was Libelled as a Favourer of Popery and was brought into a Plot against himself 'T was insinuated boldly that he would use his Power after an Arbitrary manner and that all our Liberties and Properties were in Danger 'T was said that the Government was abused and that there was no hope of Redress the King being guided by Evil Counsellors All the most wicked Arts of 40 and 41 were used again to Blacken Majesty and to render a most Excellent Prince Contemptible and Vile and Odius to his Subjects and at last his very Guards were complained of as a great Grievance to the Nation and as Mercenary Forces that were raised to advance Arbitrary Power and still kept up to the great Amazement and Terror of all the good People of the Land they are the words of a Treasonable and Cursed Association Now what was the meaning of these and an hundred Devices more but to alienate the Hearts of the Kings Subjects from him to make the whole Nation Discontented and to bring his Majesty to such a Naked and Defenceless Condition that nothing should be wanting but a few hands to take him off which among so many Old Rebels Cromwellians and Army-Officers that lately swarmed about the City of London was no very hard matter to find But that Good God who caused a Star at Noon to light our Prince into the World who hath all along covered his Head in the day of Battel who preserved him in the Belly of an Oak as he preserved his Servant David in a Cave who defended him abroad from all the Dangers that attend a Twelve years Banishment who at last bowed the Hearts of his People as he did the Hearts of Davids Subjects and by a new Miracle brought him home without shedding of one drop of Bloud who hath ever since supported him against the strivings of Unthankful and Violent Men and who hath kept him safe from the Practices of Popish Jesuits that Good God hath delivered him from the Inhumane Designs and Bloody Attempts of these Protestant Jesuits also And methinks if men would but seriously consider how the Providence of God hath been particularly concerned for the King all along from his Birth even to this day it should be enough to turn the Hearts of all his Enemies and prevail with them to Love his Government and him who hath continually been and still is the very care of Heaven I have heard of a Jew that was Converted to our Christian Faith by considering the wonderful manner of his Majestics most happy Restauration For he presently concluded that the King and his People were very dear unto God who had wrought such a Miracle for both And truly it will be matter of great Admiration if for the future there be any Republicans or Anti-Royalists among us since the God of Heaven hath seemed thus to Attest and to Assert the Authority of the King and the Righteousness of his Cause by working so many Deliverances for him This late Deliverance especially which nothing but Gods own Hand could work for him As if the Almighty did intend by a continued and long Series of Mercies to him to make up to us all those Losses which the Three Kingdoms sustained by the loss of that Incomparable Prince and Royal Martyr of whom the World was not worthy 3. I am sure every Vpright and Loyal man hath all the reason in the World to be truly thankful for and to keep alive the memory of this wonderful Deliverance For Thirdly This Deliverance was wrought for us all for you and for me and for every Faithful and Righteous Subject throughout the Land and which is more for our Hopeful Posterity too and for the Children that are yet unborn Had the Conspiracy succeeded Lord I tremble to think what Confusion what Violence what Massacres must have presently followed and what Seas of Blood we had been drowned in by this time For these were not the desperate Designs of a few the business was laid very broad as one of the Conspirators did confess in his Letter to the Secretary of State And it seems by the Confession of another of them that in and about the City of London above ten thousand men were ready to rise at the holding up of one Mans finger and that these were to be multiplyed in the space of twenty four hours into five times the number besides an infinite Army of Rebels that were to be raised up and down in all Quarters by the several Agitators in every Country And what could have come of this but Plunders Rapine Murders Outrages an unheard of Slaughter and an Vniversal deluge of Blood over the whole Nation The Loyal Nobility the True-hearted Magistracy the Faithful Clergy the Honest Gentry all were marked out as Sheep appointed for Destruction Peers Prelates Judges every rank of Men from him that sitteth at the Council-Table to him that tradeth in his Shop or laboureth at the Plough all were to be under the same unavoidable necessity either of sacrificing their Lives or of prostituting their Consciences to those Barbarous Villains whose very Mercies are as cruel as the Grave however their Consciences are pretended to be so very Nice Delicate and Tender 'T is no New thing to be observed that some who cannot rise up to all the heights of Conformity as the Northern Phrase is can yet strain a point upon occasion and rise up to all the heights of Rebellion and Barbarity And had not God so marvellously interposed these Squeamish-Conscience-Traytors would have shewed us the Truth of this to our great Sorrow and Cost and beyond the Experience of the former Age. For 't is a Mistake if we think that their facinoâ—us Designs were levelled only at his Majesty and his Royal Brother though that was a most flagitious and barbarous Wickedness No the very Foundations of the Earth were to be moved the whole Form of Government in Church and State was to be new model'd if they could but agree upon the Project To be sure Monarchy and Episcopacy the two great Pillars of all our Happiness and Safety were to be utterly pulled down never to be set up more without a Miracle which they who had not God in all their Thoughts nor any true Notion of a Deity did not think it worth