SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE KEEPING THE Thirtieth of January AND Twenty ninth of MAY. Gal. 4.10 11. Ye observe Days and Months and Times and Years I am afraid of you least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain By J. G. G. LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Ric. Baldwin at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane 1694. SOME OBSERVATIONS Upon the Keeping the Thirtieth of January and XXIXth of May. EVERY Thirtieth of January doth yearly renew my Thoughts upon the occasion of the day We say it hath been appointed to be kept to mourn and humble the Nation for the Death of King Charles I. The thing hath two several Aspects for either it looks upon the Act of some Men against the Living or upon what others have done and do for the Dead both which I take to be ill the one because to me it seems Unlawful and the other as Contrary to True Religion I agree the Fact was an Horrid Murther Execrable as Black as Words can make it neither am ignorant how Blood defiles the Land what a loud and crying Sin is Blood-guiltiness according to other several strong Expressions in Holy Scriptures But when all is said after Justice hath been executed upon the Guilty after 45 Years there ought to be an end It were better more according to Charity and Christian Prudence to forget those things than to renew the Memory of them which continues Divisions for we know 't is too usual on that day to hear from the Pulpit about those who sold him of others that brought him to the Block and of those who cut off his Head which doth not restore to Life nor remedy that which is past and only Exasperates the Spirits of Men. This is too like the Italian Custom to keep and shew Handkerchiefs dipped in the Blood of those that were killed or such like Tokens only to infuse a desire of Vengeance and to make irreconcilable Enmities between Families and Parties after Acts of Oblivion for such things are passed the Memory thereof ought to be forgotten Such things do and must admit of a Prescription neither can I find any sound reason why such a Performance should be entailed upon us and our Posterity 't is enough once for all really and heartily to have done after that it degenerates into Formality and Bigoticism if I may so call it I know amongst us we have Men Zealous without Knowledge guided by Ignorance and as thorough-paced in their way as any Papist is in his who know not how to keep within bounds in many things they do Every one knows the keeping of this day was enacted after a Revolution amidst Heats and Desires of Revengefulness in some who looked upon themselves as having been ill used by others The Order for keeping that day was brought forth with some other things which by and by I shall have occasion to mention but because I do not intend to insist upon the Civil but the Religious part of keeping that day which is the principal thing of it and as the taking away of his Life was an ill thing so by the Grace of God I will shew that every Year keeping a day on that account is as bad if not worse in as much as the Honour and Worship of God are therein concerned What St. Paul saith to the People of Athens in general I may say to some amongst us in particular in this thing * Acts 17.22 You are too Superstitious For I am satisfied we cannot without Superstition whereof the very appearance ought to be avoided keep an Anniversary or a certain day every Year upon any Mans account and on the same day go to Church the place appointed only for God's Worship there to hear a Sermon preached on that Subject and to have a Collect Epistle and Gospel yea such a part of Gospel taken out of a Parable wherein our Blessed Saviour foretells his Death and this must be applied to a Dead Man Nay in that Service we pray to God he will be pleased to give us the Grace to follow that Man's Charity and Patience surely in this we are too Superstitious now Time Place and Service being appointed next thing for us to do will be to Pray to him Heathens had their Apotheosis of Men to make Gods after their Death Papists have their Canonizations or making of Saints but I think our Church ought to be free from such Errors and Abuses without Kalenders and Legends I am sure the best Reformed Churches beyond Sea admit of no such things let for brevities sake the Testimony of one serve for all * Festa autem hominibus divis instituta non probamus Helvet Confess cap. 24. de feriis We approve not of days dedicated to Saints Would to God we had not so many of these Relicks of Popery amongst us such as the Purification of the Virgin a Jewish Ceremony Annunciation Conception c. All Saints Michael and all Angels Innocents c. which as the already quoted Confession saith †Ibidem habent absurda inutilia minimeque toleranda have many things Absurd Superstitious and not to be endured It may be made a question Whether God will ever forgive it those who so stiffly retain such things and oppose a thorough Reformation keeping the Clogs of such Superstitions and Fopperies upon our Holy Religion whereof the Purity is thereby defiled What St. Paul saith to the Galatians You observe days c. I am afraid of you Gal. 4.10 11. least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain may justly be applied to many amongst us I know this enlargement will not be thought to deviate from our purpose But we are not satisfied of him to make a Saint but a Martyr too for that 's now the Name given him the Martyr by Excellency I confess here I am somewhat at a stand to see such a Name so much misapplied but before I proceed I declare I charitably believe God shewed him Mercy but withall 't is not the Manner but the Cause of Death makes one a Martyr I know several kinds of Perswasions have their Witnesses and Martyrs but for us the Martyr who suffers for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus he is the true Martyr who loses his Life for the sake of Christ for his Person for his Attributes for his Offices for his Faith such an one was * Acts 7. St. Stephen such †Acts 12. St. James such ‖ Rev. 2.13 Antipas whom the Lord called his faithful Martyr and many others after for the same Cause and here by the bye I must take notice how the Apostolical Church appointed no day nor Rubrick to remember or mourn for their Death not so much as for that of our Lord and Saviour nor of his Birth only that of his Resurrection the first day of the Week which St. John calls the * Rev. 1.10 Lords-day But for Charles I. he must be a Saint and a Martyr of a new Coining but
killed himself with his own Sword The News of this Overthrow being brought to David by an Amalakite 1 Sam. 31.2.3 4. and 2 Sam. 1. who thought to bring David acceptable News of the Death of his Mortal Enemy in hopes of a Reward told him a Lye How at his desire he had killed him Whereupon David commanded him to be put to Death which was effected and then made a Lamentation which was well and suitable with the present Occasion the loss of a Battle whereof the King's death was one of the bad Concomitants If the young Amalekite had killed him he had done that which Saul's Armour-bearer would not and therefore deserved to die for killing the King The young Man's Act we condemn but what is that to the purpose We do commend the Mourning upon the Sad Accident at that time but was an Anniversary appointed entailed upon Posterity upon a set day every Year to meet in the place of Worship to mourn for it No such thing David made at that time a Lamentation for the publick Loss and for his own in particular for it was not only over Saul but also over Jonathan his dear Friend I am distressed for thee 2 Sam. 1.17 26. my Brother Jonathan whom he tenderly loved But 't is pulled over head and ears to say David appointed a Lamentation or a Mournful Ditty as he calls it to be Sung by the Children of Judah in succeeding Ages Indeed 't is said in the eighteenth Verse of the same Chapter That he bade them teach the Children of Judah the use of the Bow and not to sing a Lamentation Herein lies a want of Sincerity and something of a Design to impose upon Hearers and Readers Now I conceive the Parallel between Saul and Charles the First lies in being anointed which we know was a Ceremony used under the Law to have Kings Prophets and Priests anointed which all related to Jesus Christ for those three Offices he was to exercise and that anointing signified the Oil of Gladness wherewith he was to be anointed above all his Fellows meaning the Graces of the Spirit of God represented by the Anointing Though the name of Anointed is given to those that were no Kings no Priests nor Prophets as afterwards explained as Abraham Isaac Israel and Family Touch not mine anointed Psalm 105.10 for there the Prophet speaks of them not of Kings And under the Gospel the Holy Ghost is called the Vnction the Anointing which God's People have received 1 John 2.20 27. and which abideth in us and teaches us all things In consequence of this the Lord Jesus who according to his Promise hath sent the * John 16.7 13. Comforter the Spirit of Truth is said under the name of a Lamb to †Rev. 5.10 have made us unto our God Kings and Priests So then all that have the Holy Spirit of Christ are the Anointed of the Lord The God of Truth hath said so and Men must not take upon themselves to teach him how to speak Why do poor silly Men go about as much as in them lie to deprive God's People of what he hath bestowed upon them And if all true Believers be made Kings and Priests Why should Man restrain it to an Order of Man and put asunder that which God hath joyned together Yet this I must say to those who so exceedingly are Admirers of King Charles the First that by what they do I have really a better Opinion of him than they have themselves for I hope he was a better Man than Saul therefore the Comparison they make between them is not very Judicious nor favourable to their King for the Parallel must run upon the Persons as well as the Office they both were Kings and anointed but Saul was not only chosen but also rejected of God from being King 1 Sam 13.22 23 26. who cared for Honour from Men more than Favour from God when he said to Samuel Honour me now Verse 30. I pray thee before the Elders of my People and before Israel In a word Saul is in Scripture branded for a breaker of the Covenant between Joshua and the Gibeonites Josh 9.15 16. and he cruelly slew some of them for which God sent a Famine three Years together and being inquired said It was for Saul and his bloody House He was a wicked Man 2 Sam. 21.1 guilty as Samuel upbraids him of Disobedience Rebellion Witchcraft Stubbornness Iniquity and Idolatry * 1 Chron. 10.4 13. a Self-murtherer and who died for his Transgression one whom God would not have ‖ 1 Sam. 16.1 Samuel to mourn for when alive and when as much as Man knew there might be hope of God's Mercy and Pardon to him How likely is it then that God would have approved after his Death that David had appointed a Lamentation to be Sung by the Children of Judah in succeeding Ages Hence it appears how sometimes Comparisons and Parallels do not answer the end for which they be made use of but on the contrary like one who blowing his Nose presses it so much as to squeeze Blood out of it Such Comparisons ought discreetly and warily to be used or else they will confute that which thereby was intended to be proved Thus the Candle being turned upside down that which made it burn will put it out The second President is that of Josiah 2 Chron. 35.24 25. after whose Death all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him Jeremiah lamented for him all the Singing-men and Singing-women speak of Josiah in their Lamentations to this day All this very true and well but not to their purpose except they can make it out that there was a certain set-day every Year upon which on the occasion of this Death People went into the Temple to renew the Memory of and mourn for it had a Service appointed for the same end which I think none will say or affirm This Comparison is much better between Charles and Josiah than between him and Saul and would be more to the purpose if it might well be fastened When we consider what manner of Man Josiah was 2 Kings 23. to verse 25. what a Reformer what an Enemy to Idolatry and Superstition who put away all the Abominations that were spied in the Land of Judah purged the Worship of God of all Abuses of whom the Spirit of God bears this witness Verse 25 And like unto him was there no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his Heart and with all his Soul and with all his Might according to the Law of Moses neither after him arose any like him A Prince whose Birth by his name God by ‖ 1 Kings 13.2 a Prophet foretold so many years before it happened the Death of such a Prince as this could never enough be lamented yet without Superstition This was in Man's Eye an irrepairable Loss and I dare say this Nation hath some cause upon occasion
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