Second Epistle to the Corinthians 11.23 St. Paul tells us That he suffered more than any of the very Twelve Apostles in Labours more abundant in Stripes above Measure in Prisons more frequent in Deaths oft that is in eminent Perils of Death it is an Hebraism the Hebrews express great Dangers Afflictions Conflicts or Agonies by the Name of Death thus Psalm 18.4 5. the Royal Psalmist when his Blood-Thirsty Enemies were ready as a Torrent to overwhelm him complains the Sorrows of Death compassed me and the Floods of ungodly Men made me afraid the Sorrows of Hell compassed me about the Snares of Death prevented me And thus in Deaths oft that is in Deadly Accidents and Dangers And what they were the Verses following sufficiently declare Of the Jews five times received I forty Stripes save one thrice was I beaten with Rods once was I stoned thrice I suffered Shipwrack a Night and a Day I have been in the Deep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are some who according to Theophylact assert this to have been the Name of a Well in which he hid himself after his great Danger at Lystra Acts 14.19 Or else it imports some deep filthy noisom infamous Prison A Night and a Day I have been in the Deep in Journying often in Perils of Waters in Perils of Robbers in Perils by my own Countrymen in Perils by the Heathen in Perils in the City in Perils in the Wilderness in Perils in the Sea in Perils among false Brethren in Weariness and Painfulness in Watchings often in Hunger and Thirst in Fastings often in Cold and Nakedness And at the 32d and 33d Verses in Damascus the Governour under Aretas the King kept the City with a Garison desirous to apprehend me and thro a Window in a Basket was I let down by the Wall and escaped his Hands God delivered him from so great a Death Such were the Sufferings of the Holy Apostle St. Paul thus God was pleased to try him and many other his principal Favourites in the Fiery Furnace of Affliction God for such wise Ends and Purposes as are best known to himself peradventure for an Exploration or Trial of his Faith and Constancy or lest he should be exalted above Measure lest he should be too much elevated with the high transcendent Revelations vouchsafed unto him or for the more effectual Propagation of the Gospel God permitted him to sail through a Sea of Blood to be toss'd with Storms and Tempests of Trouble and Affliction And oh how did he endure them with an undisturbed Patience and an entire Resignation to the Divine Will How did he bear up against them with all Christian Courage with a vigorous and undaunted Resolution How perfectly pleas'd with how did he glory of his Infirmities that is his Sufferings He very well understood that the Sufferings of this present World are not worthy to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be revealed Tho' the Floods of Sorrow arose tho' the Winds of Persecution blew and vehemently beat upon him yet he fell not he had in Prospect the beautiful and fair Haven of Eternity His sole Trust and Confidence was in the Lord his God whom the Winds and the Seas obey Thus tho' he was troubled on every side yet not distressed tho' perplexed yet not in despair though he was persecuted yet not forsaken tho' cast down yet not destroy'd no! God delivered him from so great a Death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet also deliver us And this brings me to the Second thing namely That God in this as well as in the Apostolical Age doth still deliver from Death In the 13th Chapter of the Hebrews Ver. 8. we read Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever The Faith in him the entire Religion of Jesus Christ is not only unchangeable constantly the same throughout all measures of time but also his Care and Love to his Mystical Body and all the Members of it is immutable throughout all Times and Ages of the World with the Lord our God is no Variableness neither Shadow of Turning God never did leave God never will forsake such whose Lives are conformable to his Laws as are Pure and Holy in all Manner of Conversation God hath in all Ages doth now and ever will cover such as fear him with the Wings of his Divine Providence will give them his immense Favour and Almighty Protection so long as the Sun and the Moon shall endure It is God who made who governeth preserveth and taketh Care of the World he sees all the Springs of Motion all Transactions here below all Things are naked and opened to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Tho' his glorious Residence and Habitation be in the Mansions of Bliss above yet he so far humbleth himself as to behold the things done upon Earth and therefore tho' wicked Men encourage themselves in Mischief and commune of laying Snares secretly and say who shall see them tho' they imagine Wickedness and keep it secret among themselves every Man in the Deep of his Heart yet God shall suddenly shoot at them with a swift Arrow that they shall be wounded yea by his good Providence their own Tongues shall make them fall insomuch that whoso seeth them shall laugh them to Scorn Thus Prov. 19.21 Solomon tells us there are many Devices in a Man's Heart nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand There are many Designs and Contrivances in the Minds of Men which they think are so well laid that they cannot miscarry but are all defeated by the over-ruling Counsel of the Lord. No! it is not the most refined Policy it is not the most subtle Stratagem it is not the most strong and invincible Contrivance of Man that can out-vie the Strength of Heaven nothing can stand in Competition with the Divine Favour and Protection This the Great Politicians the Hellish Projectors of the Gunpowder-Treason found to be infallibly true The Arch-plotter Garnet who was at that time superior of the Jesuits here the Jesuits a wicked Generation or Men how hath this Church and Nation of ours been and still is plagued by them They are under a Holy League and solemn Oath to pursue our Ruine and the Destruction of our excellent Religion and to effect this they have all along acted and still do act under any Masque they turn themselves Proteus like into any Shape to enkindle Strife and Contention amongst us Alas all our Schisms and unhappy Divisions flow from this bitter Fountain Oh that we would become wise and suffer our selves no longer to be cajol'd and deluded by them Oh that we may see in time the Things which belong to our Peace Oh that we would strive to answer the illustrious Character of the Primitive Church to be all of one Heart of one Mind and of one Soul to meet together with one Accord in one Place But to return I say it is not the
A SERMON Preach'd in the Cathedral and Metropolitical CHURCH OF St. Peter in York On Friday the Fifth of November 1697. Being the ANNIVERSARY-DAY of THANKSGIVING for that Great Deliverance from the Gunpowder-Treason And also the Day of His Majesty's Happy Landing in England With a POSTSCRIPT and Two LETTERS which clearly discover the Roman Designs against the English Church and Nation By GEORGE HALLEY A. M. and Prebendary of Ripon London Printed for and Sold by Tho. Baxter Bookseller in Peter-Gate York 1698. TO THE Most Reverend Father in GOD JOHN By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of York His GRACE Primate of England and Metropolitan MY LORD WHEN I first compos'd this Discourse I had not the least Thought of sending it abroad into the World But partly thro' the Importunity of such as gave it a patient and favourable Audience and partly thro' the Reflections of some who without cause are Enemies to our Great and Triumphant Prince and partly thro' the Incredulity of others touching a Principal and Necessary Branch of true Repentance Restitution as also thro' the Hopes of its proving in some measure a happy Instrument to bring back into the Fold such Sheep as are gone astray I have adventured its Publication And now My Lord this humbly begs the Honour of Your Grace's Patronage and implores the Favour not to interpret the prefixing of Your Great Name to so mean and defective a Piece as great Boldness and Presumption but to accept it as a Specimen of Gratitude and Sincere Affection for all Your Kindnesses unworthily conferr'd upon me I am My Lord incapable of making Your Grace any other Return than this Publick Acknowledgement of them with Fervent Prayer to the Great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls to protect You and Yours and to continue so Great a Blessing as Your Grace is amongst us I am sure all the Flock committed to Your Pastoral Care have the Highest Obligations to render unto Almighty God and His most Excellent Majesty their hearty Thanks as well as gratefully to commemorate the late most Pious and Incomparable Queen for sending so burning a Light so bright and shining a Luminary amongst them In what an Ocean of Peace and Tranquility doth the Great Ship Your Large Diocess now Swim of which God and the King have constituted You the Supreme Commander You not only Direct and Govern but You pull at the Ropes and Sails with as much Vigour as any Common Mariner that Sails therein So Great is Your Lordship's Talent so Indefatigable is Your Industry in Preaching that Your Grace might justly with the late Lord Archbishop of Armagh make this the Motto of Your Archiepiscopal Seal Woe is unto me if I Preach not the Gospel That a Prelate so singularly Eminent for Great Parts and Abilities for Piety and Vertue Care and Diligence Meekness and Humility for Love and Charity may long Preside over and Adorn the Church of God is the Affectionate Desire and Ardent Prayer of My LORD Your Grace's most obliged Dutiful and Grateful Servant GEORGE HALLEY 2 COR. I. 10. Who delivered us from so great a Death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us THE Conjunction of Mercies which the Almighty so eminently and peculiarly wrought on this Day for our Church and Nation makes this Day an High Day a very great and glorious Festival A Day which upon a double Account ought to be had in everlasting Remembrance Not only for the Providential Discovery of the Snares of Death laid this Day for our Ancestors but for the late happy and astonishing Deliverance of us their Posterity from the imminent Danger of Popery and Arbitrary Power The impure Streams of Idolatry and Superstition had gone even over our Souls the proud and insulting Waves the Romanists had triumph'd over us for they began to rage horribly and swell they gnash'd upon us with their Teeth when their small Stock of Arguments was spent and by this time of Day we should have found their Teeth Spears and Arrows and their Tongue a sharp Sword the Romanists I say had triumph'd over us had not God sent us on this blessed Day a Deliverer to rescue us from Popish Tyranny when we were so near sinking under it Great Reason therefore have we to say with St. Paul God deliver'd us from so great a Death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet also deliver us In which Words consider we I. The great Death from which the Holy Apostle was delivered by God II. I will endeavour to shew you that God in this as well as in the Apostolical Age doth still deliver from Death III. What Method we must of absolute Necessity take to indear the Lord our God to oblige him still to protect and deliver us from Death Who deliver'd us from so great a Death and doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet also deliver us But first In the first Place consider we the great Death from which the Holy Apostle was delivered by God By Death may be understood Troubles and Afflictions extream or uttermost Dangers Troubles and Afflictions in a Superlative in the highest Degree He was press'd out of Measure above Strength insomuch that he had almost black and desponding Thoughts he despair'd even of Life If he had not found more than ordinary Assistances of the good Spirit of God he had certainly sunk under them This is the doleful Account which he himself gives us at the Eighth Verse with the place too where those Troubles came upon him namely Asia What the Troubles were which he met with in Asia we are informed by St. Luke in the 19th of the Acts and the 23d Verse where we read of a Riot or unlawful Assembly a great Stir raised by one Demetrius a Silver-smith and the Workmen of like Occupation about the Doctrine of the Gospel because St. Paul had preach'd against the Images which they made and worshipp'd as confounded be all they that worship carved Images and that delight in vain Gods worship him all ye Gods because he had persuaded much People that they be no Gods which are made with Hands they came upon him in a furious and tumultuary Manner Further In the first Epistle to the Corinthians 15.32 we read if after the manner of men I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus what advantageth it me if the dead rise not Some interpret those Words of his Conflict with the same Demetrius and the Silver-Smiths who were like Beasts in their Conditions and Manners Others are of Opinion that he really was exposed in the Theatre to furious Beasts tho' peradventure he was only so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Purpose of Men the Magistrates had sentenced and condemned him to that Death but Divine Providence interpos'd and rescued him from the Execution of the Sentence Thus probably these Words of my Text relate to his Sufferings at Ephesus when God delivered him from so great a Death Further In the
most refined Policy that can outvy the Strength of Heaven This the Hellish Projecters of the Gun-Powder-Treason found to be infallibly true the Arch-Plotter Garnet a perfect Achitophel a Man that could give and hide his Counsel as deep as Hell with whom his Friends would embark in any design tho' never so black and dangerous yet how far infatuated was this cunning Politician Alas he consider'd not that some of the Conspirators who were willing to work a publick Mischief for his Pleasure might also have a Desire to secure their private Friends from Danger by giving them some general or ambiguous Admonition And indeed that one of them should hint in a Letter to his honourable Friend the instant Danger was not extraordinary save only in this that so much Tenderness of Heart so much good Nature could be left in his Breast who had consented to his Country's Ruine It is really prodigiously strange that such a Man should put on the Bowels of Compassion for a private Friend as had design'd his Country's perpetual Desolation Where was then this Piety Where was then this Religious Affection Alas all Nature all Humanity all Respect of Laws both Divine and Humane were then quite abandoned there was then no Conscience made to extirpate the whole Nation and all for a pretended Zeal to the Catholick Religion Can this be the Christian Religion No the essential Mark the proper Character of the Christian Religion is Love and Charity This is a Religion which hath all of the Dove and nothing of the Vulture in it which is Wisdom from above which is first pure and then peaceable it is a charitable Religion and none can justly pretend to it whose Doctrines are Earthly Sensual and Devilish who breathe nothing but Curses and Slaughters who hold it lawful to destroy all such as differ from them in Matters of Faith to extirpate by Fire and Sword all such as worship God after the Way which they call Heresie and such are the bloody Principles of the Roman Religion Principles diametrically opposite to the Doctrine and Practice of the Author of the Christian Religion the ever Blessed Jesus He came into the World to save and not to destroy the Lives of Men But alas the Papists are for sending Men out of the World in a fiery Chariot for illuminating our Understandings with Fire and Faggot The Marian Persecution is a Demonstration of their Cruelty and the same dismal Tragedy would have been acted over again had not God sent us a Deliverer who deliver'd us from so great a Death Thus I say there was then no Conscience made to extirpate a whole Nation and all for a pretended Zeal to the Catholick Religion a horribly mistaken blind Zeal a Zeal not at all according to Knowledge Alas They know not what manner of Spirit they are of But God deliver'd the King the Queen the tender Princes the Nobles the whole Kingdom from their design'd Destruction God deliver'd them from so great a Death Death How exorbitant was that Death in its Nature How transcendently wicked in its Design How barbarous and unnatural Such a prodigious Cruelty as is beyond the Example of former Ages as is not to be parallell'd in all the voluminous Records of time from the Beginning of the World The Plot was deeply laid it was hatch'd and contriv'd in the dark they kept it secret every Man in the Deep of his Heart and not without Ceremonies of Religion Ay they swore by the Blessed Trinity and by the Holy Sacrament never to disclose it directly nor indirectly by Word or Circumstance But by the good Providence of God it was proclaim'd upon the House-tops A most wonderful Proclamation and never enough to be reflected upon with Praise and Thanksgiving such a Discovery as Bellarmin himself confesses to have been miraculous Had it taken effect as it was just ripe for Execution my Blood chills I tremble to think of the dismal Consequences of it We had then been depriv'd of King Queen Princes and all the Nobility It would have been a most miserable Desolation How would this poor Church and Nation have laid a bleeding Peace and Happiness would presently have taken the Wing and flown from this British Isle there would then have been nothing but intestine War Bloodshed and the greatest Confusion Never did the Ear of Man hear of such a Conspiracy before The highest Treason that could ever be imagin'd by any who either made or writ of Laws was Crimen laesae Majestatis the violating the Majesty of the Prince But the Gunpowder-Treason wants a Name sufficient to express it it tended not only to the Hurt but to the Death of the King and not to the Death of the King only but of his whole Kingdom to the Destruction of the beautiful Frame the Dissolation of the Noble Fabrick of this Ancient Famous and Flourishing Monarchy even the Deletion of our whole Name and Nation No Mantle of Holiness can cover such a Treason no Pretence of Religion can excuse it God and Heaven condemn it all Souls of a truly Christian Temper and Disposition must detest and abhor it Six and Thirty Barrels of Powder with Bars of Iron Stones and Wood upon them What a great Breach what a fiery Tempest what a Motion and Commotion of Earth and Air would there have been But God deliver'd our Ancestors from so great a Death But Secondly God doth still deliver from Death Ay God hath lately deliver'd us their Posterity from Death and Destruction It is not many Years ago since we had a sad and melancholy Prospect of Affairs it is not long since a thick and black Cloud hung over our Heads which in all probability would have broke and pour'd down upon us a Deluge of Waters if it had not been timely dispell'd by the comfortable Appearance of a Bright and Glorious Star in our Hemisphere by the happy Arrival of King William upon this Day I need not acquaint you how our Popish Enemies attempted to destroy both our Laws and Religion It was an excellent Reply which an ancient and eminent Serjeant at Law gave the King when he complemented him upon his Arrival His Majesty told him he had out-liv'd most of his Profession and he truly answer'd that if his Majesty had not come over he should have out-liv'd the Law it self We flatter'd our selves indeed with a Belief that it was impossible to have the Popish Religion ever introduced here because a thing so absolutely against the English Constitution that let the Principles of the Prince be what they would the Administration of the Laws must of necessity run in the same Channel he found them in But we soon saw how the Course of the River was forc'd and the Stream turn'd so as to run over our Soul we were quickly made sensible of our gross Mistake and Delusion we presently understood that there is no Government too hard for a Jesuit to cut in sunder no Constitution so strong as to wrestle
with a dispensing Power Thus our Religion our Laws our Liberties all that is near and dear to us would have been destroy'd had not God deliver'd them from so great a Death by sending us the best of Princes who this Day set his Foot on the British Shore It was he alone whom God made the happy Instrument of our Preservation it was he who stop'd our furious Enemies in their Career who prevented their base Designs by a sudden and an unexpected Change of the Scene by such an astonishing Revolution of Affairs as no Age peradventure can parallel A most happy Revolution whatsoever our Male-contents think of it Alass when once the Minds of Men are darkned with Ambition Pride Revenge Hatred Malice and Envy let Acts of Providence be never so illustriously visible they will not see them such Darkness is thick to Admiration how great is that Darkness It was I say a most happy Revolution Tho' it is true indeed the Consequence of it hath been a vast Expence of Blood and Treasure but still we have the least Reason to murmur or complain This Blood hath not been spil'd this terrible War hath not rag'd in our own but in a Foreign Land all the Havock which hath been made all the Devastations by Fire and Sword were not here but in other Countries Taxes and Impositions indeed we have not been freed from but what then our Yoke hath been easy and our Burden light and if Judgment may be form'd according to the Sumptuous way of living according to the little Abatement there hath been ever since the War commenc'd either of Diet splendid Attire or other expensive Diversions all the Charge we have been at is comparatively as nothing It is a Question whether greater Injury hath been done to the Publick whether the Nation in general hath suffer'd more by impairing the Coin than by the War the Prevention of which great Mischief for the future is such a glorious Act as ought never to be forgotten To have call'd in our base Money at a time when we slept upon the downy Bed of Peace would have been a matter of far less Difficulty but to regulate the Coin when we were engag'd in a bloody and expensive War this Act no Age peradventure can parallel It is a Question I say whether the Nation in general hath suffer'd more by impairing the Coin than by the War I heartily wish that such as have thus been guilty of plunging the Nation into calamitous Circumstances may be deeply touch'd and affected with the Consideration of it that they may Repent of the great Wrong and universal Robbery which they have committed and demonstrate the Sincerity of their Repentance by giving the Wealth they have gotten by Injury Fraud and Deceit to Charitable Vses If they do not the time will come when they will wish they had not enriched themselves by others Poverty that they had mov'd in a low Sphere and been contented with a mean Condition that they had cast themselves naked into the Arms of Divine Providence and known nothing of Temporal Affluence and Prosperity Oh! What is a Man advantaged if he gain the whole World and lose himself or be a cast-away Luke 9.25 Oh! what shall a Man give in Exchange for his Soul Mat. 16.26 I am sure Thieves and such are the greatest Thieves as either impair'd or by furnishing were instrumental to the impairing of our Coin unless they repent of their Wickedness and make Restitution if there be a Capacity for it can never enter into the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6.10 But blessed be God the Tables of the Money Changers are now overturn'd this great and dangerous Distemper which the Nation hath long labour'd under is now healed this base Art as well as the terrible War hath had its happy Period and Conclusion and if we would but put away from us all Bitterness and Wrath Anger and Clamour Malice and Envy and live in Christian Love and Charity if we would but endeavour to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace what could hinder us from being the happiest People upon the Face of the Earth What complaining could then be in our Streets Trade which is the Life and Soul of this Nation will now flourish our Money hath recover'd its ancient Weight and Fineness it hath now the greatest Beauty and Comliness and tho' we have been at a vast Expence of Blood and Treasure yet the Happiness we have gotten thereby will infinitely over-ballance and preponderate all our Harm and Loss we have purchased therewith a Jewel of a Transcendent value of the greatest Price an Honourable and I hope a durable and lasting Peace God hath made the War to cease it is he who is the Author of all our Deliverances it is he who maketh Wars to cease in all the World who breaketh the Bow and knappeth the Spear in sunder and burneth the Chariots in the Fire God I say hath made the War to cease thro' the Noble Conduct and Heroick Valour of our Great King God hath given unto us the Blessings of Peace God Land him safe again on our joyful Shore let him return with the greatest Glory and Triumph with the loudest Shouts and Acclamations God Almighty give him always the Hearts of his Parliament and the Affections of his People O Young Men and Maidens Old Men and Children cry God Save King William for he it is by whom God hath deliver'd us from Death from innumerable Dangers and doth deliver In whom we trust that he will yet also deliver us And this brings me to the Third and the Last thing Namely What Method we must of absolute necessity take to endear the Lord our God to oblige him still to protect and deliver us from Death And here if ever we hope to endear the God of Heaven to us to oblige him to protect and deliver us from Death this is the Method which we must of absolute necessity take We must lead an holy and exemplary Life we must endeavour as much as in us lies to be Pure and Holy in all manner of Conversation Do we pretend to trust in the Lord our God Alas without Holiness we trust in vain unless we purify our selves we can have no sure and certain Hope no rational Assurance of the Divine Protection No People under Heaven have more liberally tasted of the Favour and loving Kindness of the Lord than we No People in the World have stronger Obligations to Piety and Vertue than we What is it that the Lord could have done for this our Nation and he hath not done it God hath given us the best Religion the best Government the best Laws and the best of Princes and by him the best of Blessings Peace How many Deliverances from Death have we had The Time and your Patience would fail me to give you a particular Enumeration of them they are more in Number than I am now able to express How often hath the Lord