sequestred imprison'd and banished by their own Fellow-subjects In those days the refuse and baser sort of the Multitude enriched themselves with the spoils of Nobles and took possession of their Estates In those days the common People were enslaved and ridden on by those that unjustly took upon them to be Lords over them In those days unlawful Oaths and Covenants were obtruded by those that had no lawful power to impose them In those days it was when the Priviledges of Parliaments the Rights of the People the Intentions of the Laws were no otherwise preserved than by the breach and violation of them when the whole Land was miserably squeez'd and taxed without any just Authority when the true face of a Church was disfigured and a medley of Sects tolerated in the room of it when Religion was made a covert for the blackest crimes and the most horrid Murther that ever the Sun beheld approved of applauded and defended for the most pious Act. In those days it was when the Orthodox Clergy were turned out of their Livings and the Houses of God could no longer be Sanctuaries unto them when the Common-Prayer-Book the surest means of Uniformity in the Publick Worship of God was exploded and Men left at liberty to pray by the Spirit that knew not what manner of Spirit they were of In those days Sacriledge was accounted no Sin Killing no Murther Extortion no Robbery nor any injustice to those that were vilified by the Name of Malignants esteem'd unlawful And what was the cause I beseech you of all these things but that the Crown of our Head was fallen but that the Light of the Nation was quenched but that the breath of our Nostrils was intercepted but that the Anointed of the Lord was taken in the Pits of bloody Men for when I cannot well say we had no King for the King of England in a Political sense never dies the next in blood immediately succeeding as soon as ever the breath is out of the body of the other but when one King was Murthered and another Banished then it was that these Barbarities were perpetrated those were the days wherein every man did that which was right in his own eyes and from that cause arose such deformity in the Church and such disorder in the State Nor could affairs be brought into any good posture till the Kingdom after it had been tossed and turn'd and changed into several shapes and figures was through God's great Mercy and great Providence reduced again into its ancient form of Kingly Government till God was gracious unto our Land and turn'd again the captivity of his People till the King and the whole Royal Family and with them all our happiness were restored together Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with joy then mercy and truth met together righteousness and peace kissed each other truth did then flourish out of the Land and righteousness looked down from Heaven Light did then spring out of Darkness and the course of things turned into their right Channel in which may they successfully continue till time shall be no more May we never again be so unhappy as to see such gloomy days as those were wherein we had no King amongst us may all those Republican Spirits be laid and charm'd to perpetual silence that would Hurry us again into our former thraldome May the enemies of our Peace be for ever as much defeated in their desires as they have been in their designs since Monarchy was restored to us May there never want one of the Royal Progeny to sway the Scepter of these Kingdoms in a Lineal course of descent so long as the World shall stand in which most hearty wishes I am sure to have you my Noble Lords and Gentlemen and all true lovers of the prosperity of their Country to joyn with me III. Having thus done with the two first things proposed to be discoursed upon I shall now proceed in the Third and last place to make Application by propounding to you the Practical influence arising from both 1. And first we cannot but conceive from what hath been hitherto said that it becomes our duty to bless Almighty God for these happy days wherein we live for that we are not involved in Anarchy and Confusion but that we live through His gracious mercy and good appointment under an happy Government wherein as there is no dispensation for Men to live at random no encouragement allow'd of for every man to do what is right in his own eyes so there is the greatest excitement afforded to virtue and goodness a Government under which we may enjoy as much freedom and liberty as reasonable Men can desire to have wherein we are not burthened with any unjust unreasonable or intolerable Impositions wherein things are carried fairly and moderately without Tyrannical or Arbitrary proceedings and wherein we have the establishment of such Laws as may be hugely beneficial and advantagious to us all For that also we are under the Government of a King not in a popular State or Commonwealth wherein many Lords would have the rule over us but that we are governed by a King whom experience hath made wise whom sharp Trials and great Persecutions have inured to business a King who is the Son of Nobles deriving his descent through a long Succession of many Royal Ancestors upon which account we may expect a blessedness will attend our Land for blessed saith Solomon art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles a King endow'd with a Noble and Heroick mind free from base and sordid inclinations and that hath professed himself averse to all exorbitances and debauchery and will not therefore we may be sure countenance it in his Subjects a King under whose shadow as we do already enjoy great Priviledges the freedom of our Religion the protection of our Church the Security of the State as now by Law established so we may depend upon his Royal promise who is the greatest Example of justness and constancy to his word for the long continuance of them within such a Government under such a King we may and do enjoy great happiness Which things being duly considered we cannot but think it our first duty to return to God the tribute of our humble and hearty praises who is the Author not only of our being but of our being happy We cannot but take notice that it is mention'd in Scripture as a special mark of God's love and delight in the prosperity of a People when he gives them a wise and a good King to reign over them in consideration of which it was that the Queen of Sheba pronounced the Subjects of King Solomon happy Happy saith she are thy men happy are these thy Servants which stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom and blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee to set thee on the Throne of Israel because the Lord loved
are the true Sons of it who can never be unfaithful to Him so long as they are true to it to dissent from which Church either on the one hand or on the other will be a lessening of the number of the Kings fast friends We cannot turn to the Church of Rome without denying a part of the King 's governing Power that is His Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons within his own Dominions We cannot side with the Phanaticks but we must hold Seditious Principles and Doctrines destructive of Government such as are Dominion is founded in Grace the King is major singulis but minór universis the King may be resisted and deposed if he doth not govern as the People would have him the safety of the People is the Supreme Law which if taken in a good sence may be true but otherwise is false and dangerous and many the like pernicious Opinions which are to be found in Buchanan's jus regni apud Scotos and Baxter's Holy Common-wealth and in several of the Non-conformists Writings all which the Church of England abhors and condemns And therefore let not the specious insinuations of the one Party nor the pretended zeal of the other prevail with us to forsake the best constituted Church that is at this day in the whole Christian World let it be seen to all the World that we can be true at the same time both to our Church and our King 6. And lastly that God may be graciously inclin'd to bless the King and the King's Dominions let us make it our business to lead religious and holy lives without which we cannot expect that either He or we shall prosper Let us often consider these places of Scripture and lay them seriously to our hearts If ye will fear the Lord and serve Him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord then shall both ye and the King that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God but if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed both ye and your King And again Righteousness exalteth a Nation but sin is a reproach to any People Again Take away the wicked from before the King and his Throne shall be established in righteousness From all which places and many others of the like nature we may plainly see how much publick evil a wicked conversation may be the cause of how much publick good a Godly life may promote We are generally too apt to impute the ill success and miscarriage of things to the wrong measures of our Governours to the ill management of the King or the ill advice of his Councellors little in the mean time considering how much the grievousness of our sins may be the cause of them whereby God is provoked to take vengeance on us in that way who oftentimes punisheth a wicked People by withdrawing from their King the grace and conduct of his Holy Spirit by blasting his good endeavours by suffering him to incur great misery and trouble What can we imagine was the cause that moved God to visit this Land with a long unnatural civil War that provoked him to suffer so great a breach to arise betwixt the King and his People till they had ruin'd themselves and their King by their own hands what I say can we think to have been the cause of it but the crying sins of the Nation so true is that saying of Saint James Whence come Wars and fightings amongst you come they not hence even of the lusts that war in your members And may we not fear that that great impiety that prodigious licentiousness that vile profaneness that horrid blasphemy that scandalous neglect of God's publick worship which are great sins now too rife amongst us may if not timely repented and amended of bring down upon us the like heavy judgments how justly may that of Isaiah be laid to our charge Ah sinful Nation a People laden with iniquity a Seed of evil doers Children that are corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to Anger they have gone away backward And is this the way to do the King service Is this the means whereby to express our loyalty to him and to obtain the blessing of God upon Him No surely if we love the King and would have Him reign prosperously over us we must then make a thorough reformation of our lives and become good Christians that we may be good Subjects We can hardly do a greater disservice to the King than by living unanswerably to the Rules of our holy Religion They are the intemperate and the debaucht Persons the common horrid swearers and the great neglecters of the publick worship of God that let them boast never so much of their Loyalty are the greatest enemies the King hath forasmuch as through their sins God may be provoked to punish Him Wherefore let us all begin to repent and amend our lives and then we may hope that God will bless Him and us Let us have the fear of God before our eyes and then we shall be the better enabled to Honour the King Then we may reasonably expect that things will succeed well both in Church and State when our conversation is as it becometh the Gospel of Christ. Let us therefore fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all our heart for consider how great things God hath done for us For a farther encouragement to all which let us often reflect upon the Glories and Happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven where all good Subjects that have faithfully served God and the King shall be rewarded with eternal felicity where no Rebels without severe and sincere repentance shall ever come where all good Kings for an earthly Diadem shall receive an immarcessible Crown of Glory and be for ever happy in the beatifick vision and fruition of the King of Kings To which most glorious Kingdom God of his infinite mercy bring our King with all his Subjects through the Merits of the King of Glory to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God be ascribed by you and by me and by all our Fellow-creatures all Honour Glory and Power both now and for evermore Amen FINIS Jud◠7. 6. 18. 1. 19. 1. 21. 25. Josh. 24. 31. ii Kings 18. 31. Act. 19. 38. Rom. 13. 3 4. Judg. 2. 19. Prov. 20. 8. Prov. 20. 26. Act. 24. 2 3. 1 Tim. 2. 2. Luke 22. 25. Lament 5. 16. 2 Sam. 21. 17. Lament 4. 20. Psal. 126. 1. Psal. 126. 2. Lament 4. 20. 1 Kings 10. 8 9. 1 Sam. 12. 14. 1 Sam. 12. 25. Prov. 14. 34. Prov. 25. 5. Jam. 4. 1. Isai. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 2. 17. Philip. 1. 27. 1 Sam. 12. 24.
fair Trial by his own Country-men in a due course of Law and by upright Judges It may indeed so happen that an innocent Man may suffer But that is not the fault of the Government but of the Witnesses that appear against him according to whose evident proof and positive Oaths the Law determines and proceeds to judgment But as far as humane Laws and Constitutions are capable of doing there may be in every well setled Government in This God be praised there is good provision taken for the security of every Man's Person and of whatsoever doth rightfully belong unto him There is no Man whatsoever though never so private and obscure though at never so great a distance from the Royal Court and Residence of his King but may feel the happy effects and comfortable influence of his reign for the Rays of Majesty like the beams of the Sun do reach unto every corner of the Realm and communicate warmth and life refreshment and health to the very meanest Subject and if a Man cannot make immediate application to the King himself he may to his subordinate Officers who act in his Name and by his Commission from whose Hands he may receive the administration of Justice and by them be secured in the full possession of what may truly and properly be called his own 2dly The benefits of Government may be considered in reference to the whole Community or complex Body of the People in general every Order and Society of Men being hugely advantaged thereby The Nobility may enjoy the Honours derived to them from their Ancestors or acquired by their own Merits or conserr'd on them by the favour of their Prince if not unenvied yet undisturbed and undegraded the just Revenues of their large Inheritance are secured from being levelled by those that would have all things common and they may expect to receive all that respect and deference which is by God's permission allowed to their Station The Gentry may according to their Quality be as happy as the Nobles and the Commons need not fear being oppressed or trampled under foot by either The Rich are in no danger of being over run by the Poor though they be far more numerous nor the Poor of being enslaved and depressed by the Rich though in Wealth they exceed them much Publick commerce and traffick is also promoted and a mutual correspondence amongst Men setled and maintained by Government which doth much advance the prosperity of a Nation and without which it cannot thrive and flourish and whilst there are rewards and punishments to be by Governours distributed according to the merits and deserts of Men good Men will thereby be encouraged to proceed in Vertue and those that are ill inclined will be deterred from doing the mischiefs they otherwise would It is not indeed in the power of Government to make Men good when they are not so for that can only be done by the Grace of God's Holy Spirit converting their Hearts changing their natures and perfectly renewing them in the spirit of their mind but it may terrifie them from breaking forth into outragious practices it may restrain them from doing much harm it may inflict just Penalties upon them for what they shall do amiss and by making them a publick example be a great means of hindring others from attempting the like for Rulers are a terrour to evil works and they bear not the Sword in vain for they are the Ministers of God for our good revengers to execute wrath upon them that do evil And the due execution of the Laws upon such Offenders is a great excitement to Virtue and Piety which cannot well be more discouraged than when Vice goes unpunished Religion will then be most likely to take good footing in the Land when it is countenanced by those in Authority when the Professors of it are encouraged by them when those that oppugn it are put to shame and rebuke and the Church cannot but remain in a good condition when the Rites and Ceremonies of it are by the Government upheld when its priviledges are maintain'd when the enemies to it are put down and kept under And then as for the publick Peace of a Nation without which the condition both of Church and State would be desperately miserable where Government is preserved that is sufficiently taken care for For in case of Seditious Tumults or the open Rebellion of ill Subjects there are those who are authorised to oppose them enabled with power to suppress them directed how to proceed against them and to make them quiet and peaceable and though there may be some that are given to change that in their hearts wish for an alteration of affairs and would willingly be in action to the disturbance of common tranquillity yet through fear of being discovered and subdued and brought to condign punishment by the vigilance and care and justice of the Government they are prevented from endeavouring to commit what their Traiterous hearts do suggest to them The very Dread of Authority keeps them in awe and subjection and makes them contrary to their own inclinations appear as friends to That Government which had they power they would totally ruine and subvert And then in case of enemies from abroad a Nation need not be in much fear of them whilst the Government is kept entire at home under the protection of which the whole Body of the People may be safe it being a good guard and defence unto them sufficient care being by it taken to shelter them from suffering under a sudden Invasion or receiving much damage by any outward act of Hostility 3dly The benefits of Government may be considered in reference to the inconveniencies and miseries that will certainly follow upon the want of it God who made the World and gave unto Man a being in it did not only design that he should live but that he should live well and happily To which end he did ordain that there should be some to govern and some to be governed and gave a power to the chief Magistrates to guide correct and rule the People committed to their charge to punish Offenders according to Law to protect the innocent according to right to reward the good according as they shall deserve and to encourage virtue and deter Men from vice and to defend them all against the face of their enemies But if this Ordinance of God which he so wisely design'd for publick good be not upheld there can then be no quiet and good living Take away the good Government of a Place and then how can we look for tranquillity and peace what can we otherwise expect but that great disorder sad confusion and innumerable Calamities will thereupon inevitably ensue the weak will then become a prey to the strong and the good run down by the greater number of the wicked no cause will then be esteemed good but what shall have the most voices to vouch for it or can best be maintain'd
by strength and force the strongest party will account themselves the only godly though they act like Devils and the longest Sword shall decide matters of the greatest controversie Justice and upright dealing will then be put to silence and violence and oppression bear the only sway It hath been said of old that Man is a sociable Creature which in a civilized State may hold good But what Society can there be in an ungovern'd Rout where no order no decency no civility is observed Liberty is that which every Man desires to have but that can no where be found but where government is unless perhaps we shall do violence to our very reason and account it a liberty to be tyrannized over by the scum and dregs of the People to be enslaved by the Members of our own Body and to have our life exposed to the mercy of any that will but take the pains to deprive us of it unless it be also a liberty to have the gap opened to licentiousness that we may be permitted to commit iniquity with greediness and to be allowed the favour of sinning with impunity here that we may the more surely perish hereafter This indeed is the liberty that a Nation wherein there is no Government doth allow of than which certainly nothing can be a greater slavery And then as for Property in such a Nation where there is no well ordered Government Property cannot well find any settlement For no man shall any longer quietly enjoy the Possession of what is his own than whilst it is the pleasure of another to leave it to him Secret theft and open robbery fraudulent dealings and violent extortions will then be predominant and which is worst of all there can no redress be had for such grievances no justice obtain'd against such Malefactors no Magistrate to flie to for help and succour Which things I speak not as if I thought such barbarity were essential to humane nature or that all Men naturally are so ill inclin'd But we find by experience that some Men are so intolerably bad so prodigiously unreasonable that without an over-ruling power to restrain and keep them in 't will hardly be possible for others that are not of the like disposition to live peaceably amongst them There are some Men even in the best constituted Government whom the Laws though in their full force and power can have no good influence upon whom no example of Punishment no fear of Justice no dread of Authority can with-hold from breaking forth into what their wild lusts and vile passions shall prompt them to Now what will not such Men do when there is no restraint upon them none to execute the Laws against them none that may justly call them to an account for what they do the Flood-gates to irreligion and impiety will then be set wide open and they may do without controul whatsoever shall seem right in their own eyes This was the case of the Israelites in those days when they had no King for they gave themselves over to all profaneness and debauchery they corrupted themselves more than their Fathers in following other Gods to serve them and to bow down unto them they ceased not from their own doings nor from their stubborn way Religion must needs decay and fall when Government the Stay and Support of it is thrown down impiety cannot but be exceedingly outragious when Magistracy the terrour and curb to it is laid aside Besides a Nation without Government cannot in any probability long subsist but will be exposed to the rapine and spoil of its neighbouring Inhabitants An example of which we may find in the 18th Chapter of this Book of Judges where we read that when the People of Laish dwelt careless after the manner of the Zidonians quiet and secure when there was no Magistrate in the Land to put them to shame in any thing then it was that the Danites smote them with the edge of the Sword and burnt the City with fire and the reason was because there was no deliverer ver 28. Their enemies took from thence an encouragement to set upon them and thereby had a good opportunity of bringing them to utter destruction So true indeed it is that when Government is unhinged then both Church and State are in the greatest danger of ruine and desolation Such and so great are the miseries and calamities and confusions that an ungovern'd Nation may be liable unto And from these considerations we cannot but discern how necessary Government is how much it tends to every particular Man's welfare how much the publick benefit and good of a People doth depend upon it II. I shall now in the Second place propound to your Consideration from the words of my Text the Happiness of a Nation that hath a King upon whose shoulders the whole Government doth rest in whose hands is the sole administration of publick Affairs from whom only all inferiour Magistrates derive the power by which they act 1. And first we may consider that Kingly or Monarchical Government is the Institution and Ordinance of God who not only hath taught us in his Holy Word that he is the Author of it but did himself also guide and govern his own People the Children of Israel in this very way For the Patriarchs and Moses and Joshua and the several Judges although they had not the Solemnity of Regal unction yet each of them had a Regal power and govern'd the People under them as Monarchs And at That very time when the Elders of Israel demanded of Samuel a King not by nomination or deputation as they had formerly had but by ordinary succession after the manner of other Nations they were indeed reproved not because it was contrary to the will of God that they should have a King but because their demand was rash and unseasonable rash without asking counsel of God about it unseasonable without staying till God should think fit to grant them such a King And further they discovered their ingratitude and disobedience to God by such a demand who in and by his Vice-roy Samuel at That time reigned over them However there is no mention made in Scripture of any other form of Government allow'd of or confirm'd by God's appointment but This. And we cannot but plainly perceive a great part of his divine Image a glorious Ray of his Majesty illustriously shining in it in that so many Thousands of People should submit themselves to the Supream Power and Dominion of One man and freely consent to be subdued and governed by him which thing could never be were not the hand of God providentially concern'd in it Wherefore if it be a blessing to enjoy what God doth give and is the Author of we must then conclude that the having of a King is one part of a Nations happiness forasmuch as it is established by God's appointment confirm'd by his example and supported by his Providence 2. And that This blessing This happiness