in triumph to his Execution Though to the affront of Heaven and him that dwelleth therein yea Murther him at his Royal Door though contrary to all Examples of Story Precepts of God and Law of Nations no matter for Religion or President This is the Heir come let us Kill him and seize on the Inheritance Quis talia fando temperat à laerymis Where is thy Eye O flint hearted Stoick whose Limbeck will refuse to pay a yearly Tribute at this Sacred Shrine who was the Glory of Europe and shame of his own degenerate People Born it is true in Scotland but he breathed more Gentile Gales than those of Northern Blasts Nay had he not been Born there I would have said and as properly as Nathanael did of Nazereth Can any good thing come from thence Joh. 1.46 Nay may we not read the Characters of Divine Wrath imprinted on those Cursed Judas's and Hellish Varlets to avenge the Blood of this Righteous Abel for as the Offence was equal to that of Cain's so travail the World and you 'll read the Punishment shall be the same Vagabonds and Wanderers shall they be He was a King who was an absolute Conqueror over himself to whom his Passions those attendants on Humane Nature yeilded a more intire Obedience than the Kingdoms he Ruled over For those did never Mutiny but his Kingdoms Loyalty let this day witness Should I conduct you into that large field of Divine Fancies manifested in his Books you would absolutely conclude the Coal which the Seraphim laid on Esays's lips was bestowed on his Pen for they consist of such Ravishing and Eloquent strains that none can read them but with Wonder and Reverence some accurate Pencel might give some faint and weak resemblances of his Personage but who can delineate the Complexion of his Soul so Faithfully as he hath copyed out Himself unto Us in his Writings where we may read his zeal truly ballanced with deep and profound Knowledge Piety and Modesty his Grief for the Ruines of the Church and Miseries of his People his Care for his Friends and Charity for his Enemies his Commiseration of others and Courage in his own Afflictions and in all so even a Temper that he resembled none but him who at his Cross did say Father forgive them they know not what they do In short he was a true Beuclerk as much a Schollar as a Prince and more a Christian than either He was and is not only to this Nation but all Christendom a Mirrour to think how he Lived and a Grief to consider how he Died. Thus fell that shining Star whose Light over-spread the whole Earth and the Royal Dignity Suffer'd an Eclipse in the Greatest King that ever was Let us then Weep and Fast to think how we have rendred our selves guilty of Innocent Blood if the guilt of a Brothers Blood cryed to Heaven for Vengeance how much more the Blood of a Father the common Father of three Christian Kingdoms If Sauls death was so deplorable yet he a wicked Person and the Phylistines none of his Subjects then how much more in this case where wicked Subjects Subjects said I Nay rather the dung of the Earth like Baanah and Rhechab have Murthered a Righteous Man and their most Gracious King How ought this to afflict us Know you not that there is a Prince a great man fallen this day in our Israel He is fallen and his fall accompanied with that of the Nobility and Gentry Laws and Justice with the fall of Church and Religion Doctrine and Discipline Piety and Morality let us Mourn then that our sins of Scarlet may be made white by the Blood of Christ I am charitably perswaded all in this Assembly did detest this Bloody Action with the greatest Horrour and Indignation Nevertheless we must all acknowledge our selves guilty of his Blood because they were our sins the sins of the whole Nation which provoked God to thunder down Vengeance on us in the Person of our Shepherd that so we the sheep might be smitten It was of thy Mercy O Lord thy Mercy alone O praised be that Mercy That we were not utterly consumed when for many years together our Cornutes were turned into Fifes our Dances into Marches and our Banquets into want of Bread and our Livery-Gowns into Buff-Coats and our Suits of Gold into Glittering Armour and our Beavers into Hemlets How was the Pride of our Cupboard and our Fingers Glory turned into Soldiers Sallaries and the price of Blood How were our Girdles turned into Belts and our Gowns and Cassocks into Coats of Mail Our Lofty Houses into Garrisons and our stately Edifices into Prisons our Temples into Stables and the House the Lord the House of Prayer into a Den of Theeves So soon as the Lords Anointed was slain the whole Nation went disorderly and proved out of Course when our Prince of Peace Charles the First was taken from among us then presently sprung up Briars and Brambles more Cruel than Tigers that rifled from Drams of Silver into the Bowels of their own flesh and would either Kill or Die for a days Wages no sooner was Soveraignty dethroned and Majesty destroyed but Desolation and Wo with the whole retinue of Miseries fell upon us Insomuch we no sooner sat down to Meat but we expected the intrusion of Armed Guests how often were men dragg'd from their Beds to the Prison and from thence to an untimely and violent Death And as it fared with the State so also with the Church How did their little Disputes and Divisions hinder the building of Jerusalem They contended so long about the Windows they had almost lost the foundation for Sion how did a pretence of inward Sanctity in some devour their outward Decency Pretending the Glory of God by such means as you would think your selves Villified and affronted How was Charity banish'd to fetch home Truth and a Coal from the Altar to set the Temple it self on Fire When men pretended to be Enlightned by the Spirit yet lived after the Lusts of the Flesh Were not thousands made naked to keep the Surplice off from a few mens backs How were the Churches defaced for the little Piques men conceited at the Windows every minuit difference made a quarrel and did not Disputes raised about a Pin or Nail of the Temple shake and endanger the whole Fabrick thereof Men took up the Weapons of the Devil under a shew of the Lords Cause and pretending to fight the Battles of the Lord they entred a Solemn League and Covenant and Swore Allegiance to the Prince of Darkness How was Christian Religion at once violated and defamed Not only by violating her Precepts but by falsly aspersing her to own and countenance such vitious practices These with many more Miseries did our Nation groan under so soon as we had committed that horrid crime of Regicide and what could we expect less Shall Zimri have Peace who slew his Master The King is Gods Vicegerent
by the tyes of Friendship How do we dissolve into Tears How great are our Griefs and Sorrows Now if we be judg'd insensible for our not relenting the loss of Friends What brand of shame and Infamy do they deserve who neither Mourn Weep or Fast when a Cypress Vail hath over-spread the Royal Diadem Shall we not be Dejected and Sorrowful when the Sword of Death hath cut off Him in whose Hand alone rested the Sword of Justice Shall not We Fast and Weep at the Fatal Catastrophe of Saul and Jonathan Are not our Souls Elemented as it were of nothing but Sadness when our Ears are pierced with the lamentable news of the fall of the People of the Lord accompanied with the sad misfortune of the House of Israel Moses's Death may justly command a Brinish shower but much more if accompanied with that of Aaron if King and Priest Nobles and Subjects Lords and Commons be involv'd in the same misfortune then certainly we must want words to express the bitterness of our Griefs Niobe found a vent for her Passion when made unhappy by the loss of one or two of her little Babes but when rob'd of all she became Insensible Curae leves loquuntur They are Inferior Evils admit of Tears but those of a Superior Nature are unexpressible When Church and State King and Priest are partakers of one and the same Calamity what moderation can be expected in our Elegiack Threnes and Mournful Lamentations For where can we find words to express the Conflicts and Agonies of our Souls Yet still the misfortunes are far greater which give occasion to this lamentation in the House of David for when the Amalikite had told them the pitiful and fatal overthrow of Saul and Jonathan by the Philistines Army then the Text tells us They Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. Mourning Weeping and Fasting were the Dutiful as well as Holy Performances of all pertaining to the Family of David and ought not that to be this days chief work in the Houses of us all For God hath commanded me to acquaint you that every Master of a Family and all that are under his Protection should by Fasting serve the Lord and the neglect thereof will be justly imputed to the Masters Charge at the great and solemn day of Account The Hebrew word for Mourning which the Vulgar Latin render Plangentes signifies Funebri ritu Lugere a Funeral Mourning and does not this days Duty command the same David and his Family bemoaned the Effusion of Royal Blood and is not That the dismal occasion of this days Lamentation Lace befits not a Mourning Suit expect not then Flourishes of Rhetorick in a Mourning Sermon On such a Day and Text as this the Preachers words should be Sighs his Accents Groans and the Auditors Tears the best Commendation of the Discourse For this end I appear amongst you this day though not as my Saviour in another case to send fire but as the Woman at the Well to draw water that the Kingdom of England may become like that where the Angel of the Lord deliver'd his doleful Message to the Israelites Bochin a place of Weepers And oh how happy will it be if as when all Israel were gathered together at Mizpeth so when all Subjects pertaining to the Crown of England being Assembled together in the House of God may draw water and pour forth their Prayers before the Lord for the Royal Blood which as on this day was poured out and spilt as water upon the ground that so we may imitate the example of the Royal Prophet and his Domesticks Who Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. The Text may afford us many Particulars but least I seem tedious I shall contract my Meditations into these Two The Persons Mourning and the persons Mourned for Consider we the first And it were needless to dwell upon a Theam obvious to all who consult this Chapter For who are they But David and his Family and those who are of his Retinue at the first accosting the Amalikites that Condoled the hard Fate of Saul and Jonathan For though he was disaffected to David an adversary who hunted after his Life and from whom he had escaped as a bird from the hand of the Fowler Nevertheless David forgets not to commiserate His and his Nobles condition Nay though God himself had rent the Kingdom from Saul and conveyed it over unto David yet still he Song his Elegy that he might not go to the Grave unlamented and he gives the reason of this in his Tenderness and Pity to Saul who was so Cruel unto him why he was so troubled for his Death who should be no sooner dead then his own Head should be incircled with the Royal Diadem and that was because he was Anointed with Oyl None that are Anointed with Oyl but ought to have a Tribute of Salt Tears pay'd unto their Hearse By the Laws of Friendship he was oblig'd to be concern'd for the Death of Jonathan but as for Saul who studied his destruction and laboured his ruine who was his inveterate Enemy and wholly bent to do him mischief whence cou'd it proceed but from an unfeigned Respect and untainted Loyalty to his Prince an Obedience and Love to him whom God had instituted his Vicegerent over Israel and it is on that account we read they Mourned c. 2. I descend to the Persons Mourned for And who are they But King Priest and Commons and indeed all of us are equally concerned to Mourn and Weep for their Saul's and Jonathan for their Priest the People of the Lord and for their Brethren the whole House of Israel when they are cropt by the Seyth of an immature and sudden death we have a Duty incumbent on us to Mourn and Fast and Humble our selves when God punishes Kings for the sakes of our Sins by an unripe and untimely Death Common reason will teach nature to pay a more than ordinary Tribute of Sighs and Tears at the last Obsequies of them who move in the highest Sphere publick Persons Hearses may justly challenge the Distillation of private Persons Eyes all Rivulets and little Torrents empty themselves into the main Ocean Can any man forbid or fault this Holy Water Who would not be Baptized in such a Fountain Dethroned Princes have had this paid them by their Enslav'd Subjects Cum nil nisi flere relictum When they were not capacitated to do more their grateful and generous Spirits disdain'd to do less Eminent persons in all Ages have been thus bemoaned by the Church of God not only those who have been blasted in the greenness and tenderness of their Age in their most precious days but those also who have dropt away with Age and been gathered to their Fathers by the long Rake of silent Time Thus the Sons oâ— Jacob bewailed their Aged Father seven days with great and sore Lamentation Thus when Moses the Faithful Prince and Ruler of his People fell asleep all
Israel mourned for him thirty days in the Plains of Moab Thus Judah and Jerusalem bemoaned the death of their King Josiah And thus David and his Family Wept and Fasted for the death of Saul and Jonathan That Light shining in the dark Lanthorn of our Bodies I mean the the Light of Nature wherewith we are invested hath taught all Nations to Reverence their Kings whilst Living and to Condole them being Dead Thus the Romans erected Funeral Piles and Massy Columns in Memory of their Caesars Jus gentium est obedire Regibus The Law of Nations hath consented that Homage and Obedience is due to them who sit at the Helm of State And what is the Law of Nations but the Law of God Engraven in the Heart And what is the Law of Christians but the Will of God written not only in the Heart but also express'd unto us in the most lively Characters of Holy Writ As then none better instructed in the Principles of governing Subjects then Christian Kings so none more and clearly convinc'd of the Fealty due to Kings then Subjects Professing Christianity And therefore They should better understand the value of a King and consequently be more nearly touched for his loss Whatsoever the Babylonians did for Nebuchadnezar or the Persians for their Cyrus That did David and his Family for Saul and Jonathan Peace and Happiness Prosperity and Safety are so strictly tyed to Soveraignty and entail'd upon the Crown that a Churches Glory and Nations Safety depend upon the strict maintaining the Royal Prerogative For all our Felicity is held in Capite and where a Princes Honour is but faintly miantain'd and begins to languish the Subjects Property must decay and perish The King of Poets relates concerning those Illustrious Creatures Bees Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est Amisso Rupere fidem When their King is lost instead of Honey they have nothing but Gall their pretty contrived waxen Fabricks are easily demolish'd and Drones devour and run away with the Fruits of all their pains and care After the same manner it fares with Men if the King be gone what can we expect but Factions and Fractions Sects and Schisms then Armed Swarms encounter and fall down dead together as though they agreed in nothing but a resolution how to disagree among themselves When the Head is ill all the Members are out of Temper and complain of smart So ominious is the Death of a King to a whole Nation that well may David and his Family Mourn and Fast for Saul and Jonathan his Son By how much Kings excel in Virtue by so much the more their Corruption from us increase our Floods of Grief making our Tears to swell beyond its margent But be they never so bad or wicked they must not go to their long home un-attended with a weeping Eye and a bleeding Heart Let them be Josia's or Sauls we have still an Injunction on us to Fast and Mourn which calls to remembrance that old Woman Hymaera who seldom fail'd a day to Pray to God to prolong the Life of that Tyrant Dionisius which exprest her not only more Loyal but far Wiser than those whose Hearts and Heads are ever given to Change with whom it is the Advice of the wisest of men to have nothing to do The event and consequence of every Change is dubious and un-intelligible a Kings translation often proves as a Prologue to a Nations Tragedy that the World may understand there is a genuine Sympathy between King and People as well as between the Head and Body natural 'T is not the Sun but the Sublunary Creatures suffer by the Suns Eclipse He must be more than blind that reads not Gods anger in the loss of a good King when he himself hath given us to understand it is none of the highest of his Judgements to constitute a bad one to Rule over us I gave thee a King in my anger and I took him away in my wrath Nay we may observe how Holy David discerned Gods anger against the Land in Sauls overthrow and how sensible he was of it insomuch that he not only Mourns and Fasts but he even curses the place where the Armies of Saul and the Philistines Forces disputed their Valour Ye mountains of Gilboâ— let there be no Dew nor Rain upon you nor Fields of Offerings for there the Shield of the Mighty was vilely cast away the Shield of Saul as though he had not been Anointed with Oyl verse 21. For so much is a Nation concerned to bewail the fall of a Prince though of a Saul and rejected of God for thus did David and his Family They Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. I have now finished the Text and I am still to begin my Sermon For if David thus Mourned and Fasted for Saul and Jonathan what Groans and Sighs mayst thou expect O blessed Martyr whose Blood on this day we Traiterously shed How shall we expiate this our Offence If David lamented the Death of Saul occasion'd by the accidents of War how ought We to Mourn bitterly who contrived thy Murder and Confederated against thee David took not up Arms against Saul yet still he Wept and Mourned much more then ought We who not only Rebelled against thee But O damnable Impiety Even Betray'd Bought and Sold Thee Who pretended a Law and erected a Scaffold to Butcher thee making thy Royal Pallace an Akeldama or field of Blood No what an Amalekite did the Royal Prophet lamented Bathing his Hearse with Tears and embalming his memory with a set form of Lamentation for they Mourned and Wept and Fasted c. But our case is more deplorable than that of Sauls and hath the nearest relation to that of the Blessed Jesus who inter malitiam avaritiam between the Malice of some and Ambition of others as Christ between the Theeves was Crucified Here a Judas come from that cursed Clymate the North with a Quantum dabitis what shall be the Reward of my Treason and I will betray and Sell him There a Temporizing Courtier who Eate his Bread at his Table lifted up his Heel against him O! that our Heads for these things were Rivers of Water and our Eyes a Fountain of Tears for the Beauty of England is slain and he who cloathed us in Scarlet cut off by an Ax wheted at Geneva and sharpen'd at Amsterdam But oh wretched Stupidity How unwilling are we to credit these Reports Being ambitious as it were to run the same risque of Confusion Will it not appear strange and unparallel'd in Story that a Nation should be twice ruin'd twice undone by the self-same ways and means How Weep for the King The very pronounciation of such a word not many years since would have cost a man his Life to Rail Revile or Blaspheme him call him Papistical Tyrant Traytor Murtherer Plunder and undo all that stand up for him lay Hands on him Imprison and Arraign him as a Malefactor Condemn him and carry him