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A41745
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Three sermons preached at the cathedral in Norwich, and a fourth at a parochial church in Norfolk humbly recommending I. True reformation of our selves, II. Pious reverence toward God and the King, III. Just abhorrence of usurping republicans, and, IV. Due affection to the monarchy / by John Graile ...
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Graile, John.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing G1479; ESTC R38763
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64,056
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194
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which we shall have many Princes and no Government but all contending for the Supremacy one to obtain his just Right others to acquire or to hold an unjust Possession Is the imitating of the Papists themselves in some of the worst of their wicked Practices a good Expedient to keep out Popery Or can this sinful Nation reasonably hope to prevent those Judgments of Almighty God which may be still hanging over us for the execrable Murder of the Royal Father by another high Injustice in disinheriting the Son And what if it should be granted that the Cause of mens Fears and Jealousies concerning the Future State of a Kingdom is true and real The worst that any good man can fear from any lawful Soveraign whatsoever is suffering under him but it is far better to suffer wrong than to do it And when suffering cannot be avoided as in this World it sometimes cannot 't is far more tolerable to suffer under the severest Government of one rightful Prince than under the illegal Tyranny of numerous Invaders who assume the greatest and most unbounded Power without the least right to any Authority Secondly do we desire never more to behold the infinite Outrages of an Army of Rebels with all the calamitous Appendages of Civil Broyls Are we unwilling to change again the Golden Scepter of our Ancient Monarchy into the Iron Rods of Republican Usurpers Let us then unfeignedly lament and in our Places endeavour to remove the crying Sins of our Land the indubitable Causes of such great and National Plagues And let us not think that Sedition and Treason are the only sins that destroy Kings and Governments and bring Confusions upon a People Although these more immediately do Execution yet there be others that make us liable to Condemnation If Atheism and Profaneness Swearing and Cursing Drunkenness and Debauchery Fraud and Oppression abound among us shall not God visit for such Transgressions as these especially when men glory in them and make them the Marks and Badges of their Loyalty as if they could not be good Subjects without Rioting and Ranting Tearing and Hectoring This Goddamming Tribe whatever their Pretensions or Intentions be are as real Enemies to their Soveraign and their Country as any of the Papists or Phanaticks For men may fight against their Prince though they be not up in Arms and give him a fatal Blow though they never Assassinate him All great and National Vices have Treason in them and are not only levelled against the Honour and Majesty of God Almighty but also against the Crown and Dignitie of the King and the Peace and Safety of the Kingdom Let us not therefore joyn with any Wicked men in their God-provoking and King-killing Sins whereby we shall contract at once the complicated Guilt Infamy and Misery of being Promoters of the Common Ruine But let us all unanimously according to the Station in which God hath placed us avoid discountenance and suppress all manner of Wickedness and Irreligion At least let us abate the Publick Guilt by lessening the Number of our own Sins Lastly since it is by a Wise Monarch by a man of understanding and knowledge that the happy State of a Nation is prolonged let us bless and praise God for remembring Mercy in the midst of Wrath for restoring our Gracious Soveraign after a long Exile to sit upon the Throne of his Father for wonderfully delivering him from all Hellish Plots and Conspiracies and for lengthening out our Tranquility under his most just and gentle and prudent Government humbly imploring the same Divine Protection over him for the future to establish his Throne and strengthen what hath been wrought for him that as our Church prays He may still continue to be a Religious Defender of the true Christian Faith a mighty Protector of his People and a Glorious Conqueror over all his Enemies that when he hath reigned many and many years with all Prosperity and Honour he may receive an immortal Crown and leave Flourishing Kingdoms to his Successor and Peaceful Times to his Subjects DUE AFFECTION TO THE MONARCHY SERMON IV. Preached May 29. 1684. Prov. XXVIII 2. But by a Man of understanding and knowledge the State thereof shall be prolonged ON the last Anniversary of our late Soveraign's Martyrdom the former part of this Verse which begins thus For the Transgression of a Land many are the the Princes thereof gave me occasion to consider the Plagues and Mischiefs of numerous Usurpers and many-headed Republican Factions together with the corrupt Fountain from whence they spring Arguments suitable to that Day of Darkness that Day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy The latter Part of it will now furnish me with no less suitable matter of Discourse on this Day of Joy and Thanksgiving for the Birth and Happy Return of our present most August Monarch by whom through the great Blessing of Almighty God the flourishing condition of these Kingdoms was most auspiciously restored and hath been hitherto preserved In the whole Verse I noted these four things First the ill State of a Nation under Polyarchy or Plurality of Supreme Governours When many are the Princes thereof Secondly the notorious Cause of such a Judgment 't is expresly ascribed to the Wickedness of a People the Transgression of a Land Thirdly the opposite National Mercy or the Happiness of a Nation under a well settled Monarchy When by a man of understanding and knowledge the State thereof is prolonged Fourthly the principal means whereby so great a Mercy is procured The Wisdom of the Monarch his understanding and knowledge The Two former of these I have already discoursed of and now come to the Third of them The National Mercy or the Happiness of a Nation under a well settled Monarchy when by a man of understanding and knowledge the State thereof is prolonged By a Man that is to say by one Man one Soveraign Prince in opposition to the many Princes before mentioned And how great a Blessing a well settled Monarchy must needs be unto any Nation we may more than conjecture from the following Particulars in which I shall endeavour to give some account of its incomparable Dignity and Excellency beyond all other Models of Government First Monarchy is the Government whereby God himself hath always governed Angels and Men and all Creatures ever since they had a Being and always will govern them so long as any of them shall continue in Being God is a Great Monarch the King of all Kings and Lord of Lords the only absolute illimited and Supreme Potentate the one Almighty independent and eternal Rector of the Universe who ever did doth and shall rule and command all other Beings who alone hath all Power of himself and is the Fountain from whence all Dominion in any other is derived Thine O Lord saith David is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory and the Victory and the Majesty for all that is in the Heaven and the Earth
it that by rendring it odious they may persuade people to a defection from it and reduce it to those difficulties and perplexities which may give them opportunity either to undermine or overturn it Neither is it fit indeed that such men should prosper in their accursed Attempts and Machinations 'T is none of the least Benefits which a Kingdom receives from the Prudence of the Soveraign That it is thereby protected from such a Malevolent Party within it which if they were not curbed and restrained would quickly ruine the whole Thus we see the excellent Effects of Wisdom and Knowledge in a Prince and how greatly it makes for the Happiness of a Land But yet we are not to think that every Wise Monarch is always fortunate and successful or that he can continually preserve the Peace and Prosperity of his Subjects For in the Affairs of this world the Effect is not always tyed to the Means The Battel is not to the strong nor the Race to the swift but Time and Chance happen to them all The best of humane Governments is imperfect and the best Governour upon Earth cannot infallibly secure the publick Welfare without the auspicious Superintendency and favourable Assistance of Almighty God Except the Lord keep the City the Watchman waketh but in vain The most vigilant and sagacious Prince cannot certainly foresee all those dangerous Events and unhappy Accidents which if they be not averted may suddenly spring up and prove fatal to the State Neither is he always furnished with the Power to prevent the Mischiefs and Calamities that he may probably expect and prepare against Instruments may be wanting to effect many things which his Wisdom may tell him are necessary to be done and those which he employs if they be not wise and faithful may soon mar all his Contrivances and spoil his most hopeful Designs Yea although he hath all humane Aids imaginable the best and ablest Counsellors the strongest Armies the richest Treasures and all managed with the greatest Prudence Courage and Conduct yet he may be opposed by some sort of Enemies which he can never master All his Wisdom and all his Power can make but a weak Resistance against consuming Famines destroying Plagues violent Tempests raging Inundations and fearful Earth-quakes He cannot stop the malignant Influences of the Stars nor suppresss the noxious Vapours of the Earth nor purifie the contagious Air nor give Laws to the proud swelling Waves that the Winds and Seas may obey him These things he only can do who hath a Supreme Soveraignty over all the World And therefore the truly Wise Prince doth not confide in his own Policy or Strength but humbly implores the Favour and Blessing of the Divine Providence to protect his Person guide his Counsels and prosper all his Endeavours for the publick Welfare Which that he may the better obtain he will employ his Authority for the Maintenance and Preservation of true Religion He will rule over men in the Fear of God always remembring that tho' he hath no Superior upon Earth he hath one in Heaven His Power shall be the support of Virtue the Shield of Innocence the Fence of Right the Shelter of injured and oppressed weakness the Encouragement of them that do well and the Terror of evil Doers whereby he will answer the ends of his Institution as it becomes the Chief Minister of God for the Good of a Nation Now such a Prince notwithstanding all the difficulties of Empire hath no great cause to despair of a happy success in the management of it Prosperity commonly waits upon well-advised Attempts and the Divine Providence which is wont to afford its Concourse to the just and regular Proceedings of private men is much more concerned for Soveraign Princes who are Gods Vicegerents and Representatives He by whom Kings Reign giveth great Deliverance unto them and sheweth Mercy to his Anointed Where God exalts a man to a Throne and makes him his great Instrument in the Government of a Nation the Person with whom such an Honour and Trust is placed especially if he be prudent and good may reasonably hope that Heaven will afford him all needful Protection and a more than ordinary Assistance in the Administration of his high Office and arduous Affairs But if it should so happen that God should make his Government unfortunate in this world and deliver him up into the Hands of his Enemies thereby to punish the Transgression of an ingrateful Land which was the Case of the Royal Martyr while the guilty People owe all their Miseries to their own Sins the end of the Wise and Just Prince shall be Peace everlasting Peace and Glory in the Life to come And the People also if God be gracious to them after their own sad Experience hath taught them the difference between the gentle Reign of a rightful Monarch and the unbounded Tyranny of various Usurpers may be made happy again by the Re-establishment of the Government and the Restauration of a Lawful Soveraign to Rule over them which is the great Mercy of Heavn towards these Kingdoms that we at this Time solemnly commemorate And now if Monarchy be so excellent a Constitution of Government and if a Wise Monarch be so great a Blessing to a People how happy might we be in these Nations if we would understand our own Happiness And what abundant cause have we to celebrate this Thansgiving-Day with Hearts and Mouths full of Joy and full of Praise This Day our most Gracious Soveraign was Born a Prince designed by Providence to be the Miracle of this Age. A Prince whose great Sufferings and great Wisdom learned by them whose sad Afflictions and wonderful Deliverances from them whose innumerable Dangers and constant Protections against them no History can parallel A Prince whose Government is such that nothing in the World ought to be more desirable to these Nations than the long and happy continuance of it This Day he had also as it were a second Birth when after a long Exile God was pleased in a stupendious manner to bring him back to the Throne of his Fathers and in him and with him to restore the most August Monarchy of Great Britain A Thing effected by such admirable Trains of Providence and such manifest Declarations of the Kindness and Favour of Heaven both to this Imperial Crown and to the present Possessor of it that it alone if thorowly considered were enough for ever to silence all these Factions among us that are any way disaffected either towards the one or towards the other Let us therefore render all possible Thanks to the most High God for putting a Period to our Civil War and all the Calamities of a twelve years unsettlement and Usurpation by placing over us again such a Government and such a Governour and for preserving both Him and It for these twice twelve years since their Miraculous Restauration And with our Praises let us joyn our Prayers That God who hath hitherto so wonderfully delivered our most Gracious Soveraign from Enemies and Dangers of all sorts would still protect his Royal Person continue his Health and Vigor inspire his Mind with Wisdom and Crown his Endeavours with success that by his knowledge and understanding our happy State may be prolonged Amen FINIS Jer. 7. 3. 18. 11. 25. 4 5. 26. 13. 2 Kings 17. 13. Ezek. 33. 11. Jonah 3. 8. Mat 9. 13. Mat. 3. 2. Luk. 13. 3 5. Luk 24. 47 1 Tim. 2. 6. Heb. 2. 9. 2 Tim. 2. 19 Isay 55. 7. Dan. 4. 27. Isa 1. 16. 44. 22. 55. 7. Jer. 4. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 25 James 4. 8. Rom. 13. 12 Acts. 5. 33. Acts. 7. 54. 1 Pet. 4. 17 1 Thes 4. 7. Rom. 2. 22. Pro. 30. 12 1 Thes 5. 9. Acts. 7. 51. 1 Cor. 15. 58. 2 Cor. 12. 9. Phil. 2. 12 13. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Heb. 3. 13. Pro. 1. 24 25 26 27 28. Eccl. 11. 9. Luk. 12. 18 19. Mal. 1. 14. Pro. 27. 1. Deut. 32. 29. Ezek. 18. 30. T it 2. 12 13. Jam. 1. 26. 2 Pet. 2. 10. Jud. 8. Rom. 13. 2. Jam. 2. 19. Isay 6. 2 3. 2 Tim. 1. 7. Dr. Outram Hieron l. 9. in Ezek. Isay 49. 23. Mal. 1. 6. Rom. 13. 2. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 27. Januar. 30. Prov. 16. 14. and 19. 12. Numb 16. 29. Hos 3. 5. Psal 82. 6 7. Plato Redivivus p. 27. Tull. l. 3. de legibus Salust l. 1. See some of these and diverse other Inconveniences of Republicks more largely considered in Dr. Nalfon's Common Interest of King and people Ch. 3. Psal 107. 27. 2 Cor. 4. 17. 2 Sam. 15. 6. 2 Sam. 20. 1. Psal 107. 34. 1 Tim. 2. 2. 2 Kings 23. 26 29. 2 Kings 22. 2 3 4 5 c. Kings 3. 25. Judg. 9. 15. Rev. 9. 2 3 7 8 9 10 11. Jam. 4. 1. 2 Kings 19 3. Isa 37. 3. 1 Chron. 29. 11 12. Gen. 4. 26. Just Hist l. 2. Gro. in Deut. cap. 17. Judg. 17. 6. Judg. 18. 1. Judg. 19. 1. Judg. 20. 1 Sam. 8. 6 19 20. 1 Sam. 13. 16 17. See Dr. Sherlocks Case of Resistance of the Supreme Powers p. 15. 1 Sam. 12. 12. 1 Sam. 8. 7. 1 Sam. 12. 12. See D. Sherlocks Case of Resistance Christian Loyalty l. 1. c. 3. John 18. 36. Mark 12. 14. John 19. 11. Prov. 15. 22. 24. 6. Dan. 5. 11 12. Eccles 9. 11. Psal 127. 1. ◠Prov. 8. 15. Psal 18. 50.