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
comes to that though palliated under another Notion to Pray to the Dead for the Dead or in such occasion as this to mention the Dead is contrary to the Word of God which commands us * 1 Thess 3.22 to abstain from all Appearance of Evil. Wherefore let that Thirtieth of January go out of doors and if we keep a day let it be to God and not to Man let upon occasion days of Humiliation be kept very often too to mourn and be humbled for Personal as for the great many and Epidemical Sins of the Nation whereof I named some before and some are mentioned in * Jer. 6.2 3 10. Jeremiah but no constant set day for any Man whatever whether they be Humiliation or Thanksgiving days The Gun-powder-Treason-day we keep it only to God for such a Deliverance no mention of Man in it This did the Church of the Jews after their Deliverance from the Wicked Designs of Haman but not to the Praise and Honour of Esther or Mordecai though they had been God's Instruments to prevent it To return to King Charles's Death to mourn for it once had been enough When Joseph's Coat was brought to Jacob he might unblameably have expressed as he did a great Sorrow and Grief thereupon even to have kissed it to lament the Death of so dear a Son but if he had hanged it about his Bed or any where else in his Chamber there every Evening and Morning or at every Meal given it such Salutations and done the like as at the first time thereby he might have countenanced many Branches of Superstition once and no more is Diseretion about those things whose continual use degenerates into Abuse Now here we have been so unhappy as to take wrong Measures not only in keeping a day of Humiliation as I shewed already but also a Thanksgiving-day such as that of the Birth and Restoration of King Charles II. the 29th of May for the which we have also a set day once a Year to hear a Sermon preached a Collect an Epistle and a Gospel upon the occasion * Gal. 3.1 O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you This clearly shews the Humour of those Times when some People almost distracted kept no Moderation but went from one Extream into another After his Death in King James's days they thought fit to continue keeping the day but to put a new Face and under another Notion but the thing was the same in Substance So the Children of Israel kept a Feast to the Golden Calf which was proclaimed before and the * Exod. 32.5 6. People sate down to eat and to drink and rose up to play For such a Restoration we must be very glad and make God concerned in our Joy his House must be the place hitherto 't is well if we bring no Idol into it I mean nothing of Man's Merits Worth and Perfection no Inventions devised of our own Heart and things which God hath not commanded We read how after the Rebellion and Death of Absalom the * 2 Sam. 9.14 Men of Judah sent unto David Return thou and all thy Servants But though he was as good a King as any I do not find there was any set day appointed yearly to be kept in any place of God's Worship by way of Thanksgiving for his Birth or Restoration our Religion now is more Courtly and Flattering I do not deny but that upon such an occasion a moderate Joy may be expressed for a while but to entail it upon Posterity is such a piece of Flattery Popery and Pageantry as cannot be warranted by any Laws of God or reasonable Christians * Defence of Perkins p. 886. Dr. Abbot saith That Offerings yearly made for the Dead and for Birth-days were first brought in by the Heretick Montanus who thereby made gain of them Now this reacheth our Case for an Anniversary or every Year keeping a set day for a dead Man is a kind of Offering made for the Dead and keeping the 29th of May in the same manner is keeping a Birth-day as a Restoration-day for upon this day Charles II. was born Now let us see how great a Cause we had to fall into so high and exceeding Demonstration of Joy Let the Event shew how great a Blessing this Restoration proved to the Nation Hos 13.11 We know sometimes God gives Kings in his Anger and takes them away in his Wrath Plague War and Fire came in with King Charles but all little enough in comparison of that Flood of Vice and Corruption in the way of Prophaneness Impiety Debauchery c. which being encouraged by Example and Impunity followed him and like a mighty Stream have so overflow'd the Nation that in all likelihood it will require more Judgments and many Years to come to purge the Land of it 't is over-spread almost from the Child in the Cradle to the Old Man going down to his Grave But I must break off for it defiles my Thoughts my Tongue and my Pen therefore no wonder if this took away our Hearts for * Hos 4.11 Whoredom and Wine take away the Heart and our Understanding too which made us grow an effeminate Nation Contemptible to our Neighbours and made us cast away the Honour and Interest of the Country and become Tools of the Ambition and Greatness of those whose growing Power we ought to have opposed and which since made Europe groan and labour to be delivered from that Bondage or Danger we helped to bring it under We slighted the Suits and Offers of many Princes and States and Addresses of Parliaments who offered their Lives and Fortunes to stop the growing Power of France which had her Emissaries of both Sexes in our Bosom By whose Councils Parliaments were Adjourned Prorogued and Dissolved whilst on the other side in our most Solemn Assemblies the Fidelity of some was Corrupted to Betray their Trust and Country In one we have seen a List of no less than 212 Pensioners to find Monies to satisfie the unsatiable Desires and Idle Expences of Whores Pimps Bawds and Bastards whilst in less than two Years time above 100000 Souls for Religion sake forsook the Kingdom to go into the Plantations Holland and Germany These things and many more which I omit are known to the whole Nation only I must take notice how the Design of ruining Laws Liberty and Religion was driving on and whilst Popery enjoyed Favour and Advantages 't was Treason to say the King was a Papist or Popishly affected though during the whole Course of his Reign he appeared and there are grounds to believe he died such All these things are so recent and late that it were in vain to enlarge upon it only I ask Whether one who set some of the worst of Men upon the Benches in Westminster took away Charters caused Innocent Blood to be shed under pretence of Justice and had some Men to frame Mischief by a Law * Psal 94.20
c. was given in Mercy or Anger I leave to every Sober and Impartial Man to judge and whether he was taken away in Wrath I am not so positive as to determine Sure I am after his Death things were furiously carried on till they were overturned first and then restored through God's Mercy The two Brothers were Papists the one secretly the other openly yet both were prayed for as Defenders of the Faith and as our most Religious Kings who had undertaken to destroy our Religion and openly lived in Notorious Sins They who in the Church pronounced such Lyes have no cause to be satisfied with themselves for so doing The Consideration of this engages me to speak of something which is proper enough for my present purpose Almost in every Age it hath been a Trick of State for the Civil Power to strengthen their Designs with putting on the Cloak of Religion the Generality of the People have a kind of Veneration for those who have the managing of Holy Things This Roman Emperors knew very well which made them add to their Dignity the Titles not only of Consuls and Tribunes but also of Pontifex Maximus High Priest which Popes constantly take with the addition of Optimus most Good one of his Names of Blasphemy Simeon and Levi are sometimes Brethren in Iniquity * Gen. 49.5 Instruments of Cruelty the Spiritual and Temporal Swords joyned together cut very deep Popes who pretend to both think themselves for it the more considerable and thereby heretofore especially before the Reformation proved the more dangerous At first they were not in the same but in two different hands for not to speak of Constantine's Donation which now is out of doors and was long ago known for a Sham it began in the days of Phocas and Bonifacius III. Phocas had made away his Master the Emperor Mauricius whilst he laboured under a Fit of the Gout and this to make him self Emperor The other was Bishop of Rome earnestly desirous to be universal Bishop which his Predecessor Gregory the Great had so much declaimed against Phocas sent to him If you will but own me to be lawful Emperor I will make you to be owned universal Bishop within the Empire Thus they agreed to the Prejudice of those on both sides concerned against them At first the People had Right of choosing their Ministers and Church-Officers Acts 6.2 3. and the manner was with * Acts 14.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lifting up of their hands as an Approbation of him or those that were named Long time after when Hierarchy was formed Deans and Chapters eleced their Bishops as to this day 't is continued amongst Papists in most parts of Germany but in France after the Concordat or Agreement between Francis I. and Pope Leo X. they deprived of that Right the Clergy of that Kingdom the King taking upon him the Nomination and the Pope reserving for himself the Confirmation by his Bulls That here that was the manner appears by the remaining shadows of it called Congè d'Elire for he must be elected who is named by the King The same Mockery for 't is no better if true as generally said is used on the part of the elected Bishop who being asked Visne Episcopari though he hath been sueing for it and made what Interest he could to get it comes with a Lye in his Mouth Nolo Thus Corruption being crept into the Church and amongst the Officers thereof we must not wonder to see so many ill Effects and Consequences of it And I desire no Exceptions be taken against what I am about to say for no Man more than I hath greater Honour for true and worthy Ministers of the Sanctuary though none more grieved than I am at the Abuse therein committed it is to my purpose and I am going to make Application of it Our late Courts in order to carry on these ends of enlarging the Royal Authority and Prerogative went about to get on their side as many especially leading Men of the * I call them so according to Custom for else 't is an Usurpation began amongst Papists for the word Clergy or Heritage belongs to all God's People 1 Pet. 5.3 Clergy as they could the most ambitious and greedy of Preferment were the fittest for their purpose Preach saith the Court to them Monarchy to be Jure Divino not the Gospel but the Extent of Royal Prerogative Preach Non-resistance Passive Obedience the Sinfulness of not obeying or opposing any thing commanded by Supream Powers These Doctrines began to ring out of the Pulpits and Obedience to Man more than to God was pressed a Conformity to the Canons of the Church more than to the Word of God because they had the Stamp of Royal Authority What doth the Court do for this One hath a good Benefice another a Place in the University One is made a Prebend Archdeacon Dean and Bishop they that were greedy of such Places seeing this to be the way to Preferment fell into the same Road and followed the steps of those that went before so that for the Generality to be for Absolute Monarchy was in a Subject a better Qualification than Learning Virtue and Piety To such Ministers as these I say in the words of the Prophet Malachi And now O ye Priests this Commandment is for you Mal. 2.5 2. If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart to give Glory unto my Name saith the Lord of Hosts I will even send a Curse upon you and I will curse your Blessings Yea I have cursed them already because ye do not lay it to heart And so the Prophet goes on till Verse the ninth which contains these words Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the People according as ye have not kept my ways but have been partial in the Law The Court never to want such Men went further They would have Episcopacy to be Jure Divino though Bishops be the King's Creatures they promised to maintain the Church as by Law established with all Annexes and Dependences Ruin to all Dissenters but Papists which was pretty well put in Execution No Moderation in the Minds of some no opening the Mouth against Ignorant and Scandalous Ministers not an hairs breadth of any Ceremony to be dispensed with though to the overthrowing of all Rules of Christian Prudence and Charity Hence it is that some of Corrupt Principles and Practices were in Church advanced to the highest Preferments because Men-pleasers though otherwise unworthy of it and so they were Ministers of the Court more than of Christ they were thought to be sufficiently qualified if able but to promote that Interest and to be true Sons of the Church though never so much Sons of Belial and Prodigal Sons But in this too much like Papists we are pleased with specious names more than with things and are so doting upon Accidents and Formalities that we neglect the Substance
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