up Secondly The great cause we have to return thanks to God when he delivers 'em up I shall begin with the first od these viz. The great concern and interest God hath in the ovethrow of Rebels It is he who delivers 'em up T is true the success of War on which side soever it lights depends upon the divine Providence which having the disposal of all events whether they be adverse or prosperous turns the scale of victory on which side it pleases for the second causes upon which success and victory ordinarily depends is the good conduct of those who command and the strength and courage and expertness of those that execute all which are under the command and sovereign disposal of God who if he pleases can infatuate the wisest and most skilful Commanders blindfold their judgments confound their reason and turn their wisdom into folly so that they shall run quite counter to their own designs and blow up themselves with their own trains who if he doth not infatuate 'em can yet frustrate their wisdom and by a thousand accidents which they can neither foresee nor prevent baffle and defeat their most prudent and promising designs who if he pleases can divide and break the strength of the most numerous dissolve and confound the order of the best disciplined melt and emasculate the courage of the most resolute Armies and having the sovereign disposal of all the second causes of success in his hands 't is he alone that can decide the Battle and determine the hovering Victory to which side he pleases so that whether it lights on the right or wrong side on the usurping Rebels or lawful Prince's Crest 't is by his all-disposing direction and appointment for though the horse is prepared for battle and secondary causes concur as means and instruments yet victory is of the Lord Prov. 21.31 And though sometimes for wise and righteous ends he permits unjust Arms to prosper and triumph over a Righteous cause of which we have a woful instance in our memory yet ordinarily and regularly he declares on the righteous side and awards success according to the Justice of the cause For Battle is an appeal to God in which the contending Parties joyn issue to put their case into his hands and refer the justice of their cause to his award and determination and being hereby constituted the sole arbitrator between 'em he ordinarily decides the victory according to the right of the case and unless there be some very great reason moving him to the contrary awards it to the juster side They therefore who make and unjust War appeal to God in a wrong cause and therefore have all the reason in the world to expect that he will decide against 'em and finally award the victory to their enemies 'T is true God is not obliged in justice always to determine the Victory to the Just cause for there may be just reasons and many times there are moving him to the quite contrary Sometimes it may be more for the publick good of which he is the great conservator that this particular righteous cause should miscarry than that it should prosper and succeed in which case it 's but reasonable that he should rather permit a particular mischief than hinder a publick convenience Sometimes a good cause may be more effectually advanc'd by a present overthrow than by a victory and when this happens it 's a good reason why God should at present pronounce the sentence of victory on the contrary side Sometimes it may be necessary to deny success to those who have the righteous cause on their side in order to the crowning it with some greater blessing and to take away a less good to make room for a greater is such an exchange as is far from Robbery And lastly Sometimes for the sins of those on the right side may be such as do render it not only fit but necessary for God to make 'em examples to the world of his righteous severity And what greater severity can he express than to abandon a good cause and rather permit it to fall to the ground than see it upheld and supported by impious and prophane hands But though there are these and sundry other just reasons why God should not always award success and victory to the right side yet doubtless he ordinarily doth so for all war is either between one Prince and Nation and another or else between Princes and rebellious Subjects Now as for the first it is in most cases impossible for us certainly to determine which of the two parties hath the rightful cause because we do not understand the pretensions on both sides nor are we capable of judging of those nice reasons and intricate circumstances upon which their opposite claims depend and therefore though we through our pity and ignorance together do commonly pronounce the vanquished cause the best and upon that account do foolishly murmur at the decisions of Providence as if they were unjust and unequal yet God who sees through all the circumstances of things doth many times most certainly know the contrary and so determines the case contrary to our blind pity and ignorance according to his own infallible judgment and had we but the understanding of God I make no doubt but we should find many of those prosperous causes which we condemn for unjust to be most just and righteous and be fully satisfied that the awards of Providence in the case are much more equal than we imagine But then as for the other sort of war viz. That between Princes and their rebellious Subjects it 's evident that Providence doth much more constantly decide the success to the just and righteous cause and give judgment on the side of the injured Prince against the Rebellious and usurping Subjects For if you consult History you will find that though for just and righteous ends God hath sometimes permitted Rebellions to succeed yet where he hath prospered one he hath usually cursed and blasted twenty And indeed since War as was before observed is an appeal to God the great Arbitrator of all events there are peculiar reasons why he should more constantly declare himself for the right side in a Rebellious war than in any other First Because Rebellion is an apppeal to him in a cause that is plainly and apparently unjust Secondly Because 't is an appeal to him in a cause that very nearly touches and effects his own Authority Thirdly Because 't is an appeal to him in a cause that is of all others most destructive of humane Society First Because Rebellion is an appeal to God in a Cause that is plainly and apparently unjust For in those wars that are between Princes and Princes the right or wrong of the case is many times not easily decidable the Meum's and Tuum's of Princes and Nations being very often so blended and confounded by Conquests Leagues and Intermarriages and revolutions of Empire that 't is not only difficult
Smyth Mayor Jovis xxx die Julii 1685. Annoque Regni Regis Jacobi Secundi Angl. c. primo THIS Court doth desire Dr Scott to Print his Sermon Preached in the Parish Church of S. Mary le Bow on Sunday last before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of this City Wagstaffe August 10. 1685. Imprimatur Hen. Maurice Rmo Dom. W mo Cant. Archipe à Sacris A SERMON PREACHED Before the Right Honourable THE Lord Mayor AND ALDERMEN Of the CITY of LONDON At St. Mary le Bow July 26. 1685. BEING The Day of Publick Thanksgiving for His MAJESTIES late Victory over the REBELS By JOHN SCOTT D. D. Rector of St. Peters Poor London LONDON Printed by R. N. for Rob. Horne at the South Entrance of the Royal Exchange and Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1685. 2 SAM XVIII 28. And Ahimaaz called and said unto the King All is well And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the King and said Blessed be the Lord thy God which hath delivered up the men that lift up their hand against my Lord the King THIS Ahimaaz was a Soldier under Joab in the battle which he fought with Absalom the Rebellious Son of his too kind and indulgent Father King David who having newly pardon'd him that unnatural murder of his brother Amnon and received him into grace and favour and furnished him with a plentiful revenue and slendid equipage so that if he had pleased he might have lived in peace and glory and been a comfort to his Father a Patriot to his Countrey and a blessing to his Family and after he had finished the circle of a happy and prosperous life might have gone down with honour to his grave The foolish ungrateful young man being thereto excited partly perhaps by the insinuations of a company of crafty Male-contents but chiefly by his own Ambition imbarques himself in a wicked and desperate design against his Father's Life and Crown in order whereunto he industriously sets himself by mean and poor condescensions to cajole and inveagle the rude and giddy Mobile which partly by declaiming against the Male-administrations of his Father's Government partly by promising them a through reformation if ever he arrived to be a Judge in Israel he at length accomplished And now having formed to himself a strong and numerous party he gets his Fathers leave to make a progress to Hebron a factious town without doubt and it lay West-ward of Jerusalem under pretence of paying a Vow there for so Religion is the usual sham of Rebellion where being arrived with 200 men out of Jerusalem who followed him blindfold without either fear or wit he sends for one Achitophel who had been a Councellor to his Father but at this time as it seems probable was discarded the Court for some high misdemeanour this canker'd old wretch glad of the opportunity to revenge himself upon his Master immediately joins interests with his undutiful Son and thereby increases his party into a strong and numerous Army with which he marches against his King and Father and is overthrown in a pitch'd battle and notwithstanding his Father's orders to the contrary is slain by the hand of Joab who wisely foresaw that David could never hope to Raign in peace so long as the Rebel Absalom was alive Hereupon Ahimaaz the son of Zadock a valiant Soldier and swift and nimble foot-man desires Joab his General that he may be the messenger of the good tidings to the King but Joab having a kindness for the man and wisely considering that the news of Absalom's death would be very unwelcome to David and in all probability transport him into a high displeasure and so prove fatal to the deliverer at first refuses to let him go and in his room sends Cushi who was either a common or a foreign Soldier but Ahimaaz upon his importunate desire at length obtains of Joab leave to follow him and being much the nimbler out-runs Cushi and being arrived into the King's presence cries All is well being unable either through excess of Joy or want of breath to express his message at lagre after which having recovered himself a little he throws himself at the King's feet and in a transport of Joy and Thanksgiving thus expresses himself Blessed be the Lord thy God which hath delivered up the men the lift up their hand against my Lord the King In choosing which words for my Text upon this joyful occasion God knows I have no design to insult and trample on the memory of that wofully mislead and unfortunate Gentleman who was Captain of that late black Rebellion the happy overthrow and conclusion of which we are now thankfully commemorating For though it cannot be denied but that his unnatural and undutiful behaviour to his late most gracious Father and Soveraign did but too justly intitle him to the Name and Character of Absalom and that his Rebellion against Infidelity to and barbarous aspersions of his present Majesty who was always his generous Patron and Benefactor do but too deservedly brand him the perfidious and ungrateful Absalom yet considering the Relation he bore to our late dear Soveraign of ever blessed Memory the promising blossom of his Youth before it was blasted with wild and boundless ambition and the glorious sphere in which he once moved where had he not aspired to the Seat of the Sun he might have shone among Stars of the first magnitude and shed forth a benign influence upon his Country and Family Considering these things I say I am so far from triumphing on his ruine that I heartily lament and bewail his being seduc'd into the crimes that were the cause of it and detest those cursed Achitophels that seduc'd him only to make him the tool of their own dire revenge and restless ambition and if God so please may that same Justice which hath reach'd him lay hands on them and by a yet more infamous punishment revenge his sin and ruin on their heads And since his memory cannot live with honour I heartily wish it might dye in oblivion that so having paid that debt which Law and Justice and the necessary reasons of things exacted of him it might never hereafter be remembred against him how desperately he broke through all the ties of Nature Honour Gratitude and Religion to precipitate himself into a shameful and untimely fate But this being only a hopeless wish I shall in pity to his memory forbear running the odious parallel between Absalom and him through all the black circumstances of their sin and punishment having said enough already and yet no more than what was necessary to explain the sutableness of the Text to the occasion Blessed be the Lord thy God who hath delivered up the men that lift up their hand against my Lord the King In which words there are two things observable First The great concern and interest God hath in the overthrow of Rebels It is he that delivers 'em
Almighty Thunderbolts it concerns us to be very careful that we do not swerve from our due Allegiance to our Prince that we do not suffer our Pride or discontent to prey upon our Loyalty nor imbibe Seditious Principles nor intriegue our selves with factious Combinations which are the Seminaries of Rebellion but that out of an awful fear and dread of God we honour and obey the King and avoid as we would the Air of a Plague-sore medling with those that are given to change I now proceed to the second observable in the Text viz. That God's delivering up of Rebels is a just ground of praise and thansgiving to him for the proof of which I shall not need to urge any other argument than the signal defeat and overthrow of his late Rebellion for which we are now rendering our thankful acknowledgments to God For considering the temper and quality of the Persons of which this unnatural Rebellion was composed a very small Prophet may easily prognosticate to what a deplorable condition this Nation must have been reduc'd if it had prosper'd and succeeded for it was nothing but a common shore into which all the kennels of the Nation ran being partly made up of the most debauch'd and profligate Atheists that had broke through all the Laws of humanity and stript themselves so naked of all the shew of Piety and Vertue that they had not hypocrisie enough remaining to disguise their lewd and villanous intentions partly of beggarly Male-contents who had no other way to repair their broken fortunes but by running in to the shipwrack of the Nation but chiefly of hot-brain'd furious Sectaries whose blind zeal like the Devil in the possess'd Man threw 'em into Fire and Water transported and hurried 'em into any villany into Perjury and Murder Treason and Sacrilege and would not permit 'em to stop at any thing that made for the Interest of their cause such were the Ingredients of this poisonous mixture So that had God for our sins permitted it to prevail we had quickly seen a flourishing Kingdom like Herod in all his glory and splendor seized on eaten up by Lice by a swarm of the basest and most infamous Vermin that ever bred out of the filth of a Nation We had seen the Atheist glutting his lust with the rapes of our Wives and Daughters and quaffing the tears of Widows and Orphans we had seen the beggar on Horse-back flaunting in the spoils of our fortunes and triumphing on the heads of our Nobles and Gentry and the bloudy Enthusiast imbrewing his hands in Loyal bloud appeasing his furious zeal again with Royal Sacrifice and throwing down all that is Sacred in our Jerusalem to make way for the erecting his Phanatick Babel his Tumult and confusion of Religions in a word we had seen our Laws trampled on our Liberties inslaved and our yet Sacred and Virgin Throne to our everlasting infamy deflowred and prophaned by a spurious illegitimate Issue With this dire spectacle our eyes had most certainly been entertained had this black Rebellion succeeded wherefore our Gracious God being moved to commiseration by this woful prospect of our approaching Calamity roused up himself like a mighty Man of War and with an avengeful eye looked down upon this Host of Assyrians and with the breath of his Nostrils scattered the Rebellious Rout before him Wherefore not unto us O Lord not to our conduct or puissance but to thy Name be all the Glory and Honour And since we are all of us sharers in this Great Deliverance it 's just we should all return the Tribute of our Praise to our Great Deliverer O give thanks unto the Lord therefore for he is good because his Mercy endureth for ever Let Israel now say that his Mercy endureth for ever Let the House of Aaron now say that his Mercy endureth for ever Let all them that fear the Lord say that his Mercy endureth for ever And as the best Return of Gratitude we can make to God let us by our future Loyalty to his Illustrious Vice-gerent by our firm relyance on his Royal Promises which hitherto have been ever sacred and inviolate by our chearful submission to his Laws and constant forwardness to oppose and detect all treasonous designs against his Person and Government endeavour as much as in us lies to render his Reign safe and easie and prosperous And by our immovable constancy in the profession and practice of our holy Religion the most pure and unsophisticated the most Primitive and Loyal Religion of the Church of England let us endeavour to indear our selves to God that so by our faithful supplications we may prevail with God to fix the Crown upon his Royal Head to guard and protect his Sacred Person to bless and secure his Government to abate the Pride asswage the Malice and confound the devices of his Enemies and after he hath injoyed a long a pious and prosperous Reign upon Earth to Crown him with everlasting Glory in Heaven To which Prayer I am sure all that are the genuine Sons of the Church of England will with a true Heart and Zealous affection say Amen FINIS