Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A63996
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England's breath stopp'd being the counter-part of Jvdah's miseries lamented publickly in the New-Church at Westminster on January 30 being the anniversary of the martydom of King Charles the First of blessed memory / by Robert Twisse.
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Twisse, Robert, d. 1674.
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1665
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Wing T3416A; ESTC R967
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16,659
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42
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Chickens under her wings to protect them from the ravenous Kite for there is mention made in Scripture of the shadow of wings Psal 36.7 and 57.1 and 63.7 Though I rather embrace the first Metaphor of a Tree as most proper for this and other places of Scripture to shadow forth the Excellencies of Kingly Government III. The unhappy Fall of this tall Cedar in those words was taken in their pits IV. The unlooked-for Season viz. at such a time when the Jews promised themselves no small Happiness under his Government Of whom we said Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathens The Kingdome of Judah had strangely shifted her Princes in a little time In the space of less then 12 years four Kings were removed partly by death and partly by Deposition Egypt and Babylon were Judah's Make-kings And she poor Kingdome like a Tennis-ball was bandied up and down and driven into several streights according as those two mighty Monarchs play'd their game At last Babylon having gained the prize from Egypt Judah was in some hopes of a Settlement under Zedekiah who being of the Royal Line was advanced to the Throne with the joynt consent of Hebuchadnezzar and the Jews but within few years as their Riches had fled away long before so now their Hopes too are upon the wing and gone The Tree is cut down the Rock is overturned all the Feathers of the Wings are plucked and the poor Jews exposed to the wide world The Breath of our nostrils the Anointed of the Lord was taken c. I begin with the First viz. The Sacredness of Zedekiahs's Person by virtue of his Kingly Office being styled the Anointed of the Lord. Kings are the Anointed of God God gave commission to Samuel to anoint Saul the first King of Israel 1 Sam. 9.15 16. which accordingly he performed chap. 10.1 Then Samuel took a vial of Oyle and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be Captain over his Inheritance Hence is Saul called the Anointed of the Lord by David often After the Rejection of Saul by God Samuel is authorized by God to doe the like unto David 1 Sam. 16.1 and did so v. 13. And of this solemn Consecration to the Royal Office David speaks Psal 89.19 20. Then thou spakest in a vision to thy holy one viz. Samuel and saidest I have laid help upon one that is mighty I have exalted one chosen out of the people I have found David my Servant with my holy Oyle have I anointed him And hence in many of the Psalms David styles himself the Anointed of the Lord. And because David's Successors had the like honourable Ceremonies done unto them thereupon they might challenge the same honourable Title Neither was this Ceremony of Anointing proper onely to David and his Successors but other Kings likewise had the same Honour done unto them by the special warrant of God as namely Jehu and Hazael Now the Effusion of Oyle upon their heads did betoken 1. The pouring out of a spirit of Government and Courage upon them beyond what they were ordinarily endued withall before their Assumption to the Crown as appears in Saul and David 1 Sam. 10.6 9 10. and ch 11.6 And of this last it is expresly said 1 Sam. 16.13 that The Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward viz. the day of his Anointing And as by this Ceremony of pouring out Oyle upon the head was signified the pouring out of a spirit of Government upon the person so consecrated so withall 2. The Dignity and Sacredness of their Persons With mine holy Oyle have I anointed him doth David bring in God speaking concerning himself Psal 89.20 The Person therefore being anointed with holy Oyle becomes after a sort Holy so as not to be rudely or prophanely treated either with hand or tongue or thoughts Curse not the King no not in thy thoughts Eccl. 10.20 Much less ought his Life to be ravished from him by a stroke of pretended Justice Nay the very Garments of Kings call for Reverence and Respect from us else what need David's heart have smote him for but cutting off the skirt of Saul's Garment 1 Sam. 24.5 6. which was done upon no worse design then to give Saul an earnest of his unspotted Loyalty towards him Say not it was want of wisedome or courage in David to let his Enemy escape when the Cave furnished him with so fair an advantage against him Time was when you might have seen David so hardy as to dare to take a King by the Beard 1 Sam. 17. and kill him but it was a King of Beasts not of Men viz. a Lion A Lion and a Bear were both worsted by David Yea a tall and mighty Giant in the field big enough to eat him up at a bit could not daunt little David armed indeed weakly with a Sling and a few small Stones but backed strongly with the Name of the Lord Prov. 18.10 which is a strong Tower Onely a King in a Cave makes David's Sword to fall out of his hand and his heart too to faint And observe when it was that David held his hand when Saul was covering his feet in the Cave Strange when our Earthly Gods betray most of man and humane infirmity even then there should such a Majesty appear in their Persons as to command the Swords and Hearts of all Loyal Subjects So again ch 26.7 8. when King Saul at another time lay at the mercy of David being fast asleep and Abner the General of his Army in the same posture who therefore deserved the reward of that Thebane Sentinel who being found asleep by Epaminondas was dispatched by him with this Memento Dead I found thee and dead I leave thee when Saul I say lay fast asleep Abishai's stomach was sharp set and very earnest to fall aboard him but David withholds him with this strong Cord v. 9. Destroy him not for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord 's Anointed and be guiltless Who can and be guiltless Sure if any might have made bold with Saul's life David was the man being a King himself and so Saul's peer and equal and having a better Title to the Crown then Saul since God had rejected him chap. 16.1 But David cannot persuade himself to thrust his Prince out of the Saddle that he may mount up Rather he will attend and wait God's leisure and not stoop to take up that Crown which being at all times lined with Thorns doth then prick most when the Thorns are steeped in Royal bloud Yea but I hear a muttering of some Patrons of our Regicides We are as much against King-killing in a Cave as David we abhor to give our Prince either a Spanish Figg or Dagger we never once encouraged any to Assassinate or stab our Sovereign we leave such practices to such as have been tutored thereunto in the Jesuites Chamber of
England's Breath stopp'd Being the Counter-part of JVDAH'S MISERIES Lamented publickly in the New-Church at Westminster on January 30. BEING The Anniversary of the Martyrdom OF KING CHARLES the First of Blessed Memory By ROBERT TWISSE Lamentat 5.16 The Crown is fallen from our head woe unto us that we have sinned LONDON Printed by J. Flesher for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred MAJESTY MDCLXV Lamentations 4.20 The Breath of our nostrils the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said Vnder his shadow we shall live among the Heathens WE are met here this day to drop some Tears on the Herse of our late Martyred SOVEREIGN who on this Day of the Month not many years agoe was basely sacrificed to the Lusts of a few Ambitious and Unreasonable men To drop some Tears did I say nay rather to pour water before the Lord to weep Streams and Rivers if it were possible that we might at once bewail our own unvaluable Loss in the untimely Death of so Excellent a PRINCE and the horrid sin of those men Scelus nullo Oceano eluendum that were not content onely to pluck the Crown from the Head but the Head from the Shoulders and then glory in the committing of so great a Villany Jer. 9.1 If the Prophet Jeremiah's grief swelled to that height as to wish his head all waters and his eys a fountain of tears that he might weep day and night for the slain of the Daughter of his people sure then we must not desire to weep at a less rate for the Murther of a Father the Father of our People and Country whose Life was worth ten thousand of ours 2 Sam. 18.3 But because we are not able to dig the chanel of our Sorrow so deep as we could wish it 's some amends to draw it out at length and therefore Authority hath wisely and piously provided that the Tribute of our Tears should be Anniversary and after a sort eternal by making Posterity their Executors to see this great Debt of Sorrow discharged and engaging all future Generations to repair yearly to the house of Mournning that so the Childrens Tears may help to supply the defects and in due time fill up the vacuities of their Forefathers Sorrows Let no man say that it is against the Subjects Liberty to pay this yearly Tax and Assessment It is but to give thee an occasion to present thy dead Sovereign with a Benevolence or Free gift a small Love-token as a gage and earnest of thy Fidelity and Loyalty to Him whilst alive that thy Soul never came into that dark Secret first nor was thine Honour ever united to that Black Assembly afterwards where the Rulers sate in Councel against the Lord and his Anointed but as formerly thy soul did weep in secret for the Pride and Treachery of the Enemie for thou wert then forced to be a Close mourner so now thou art not ashamed to appear abroad in the same Livery and bless God that he hath given thee so fair an opportunity to express thine Affection to thy dead Prince Besides we want not precedents in Sacred Writ for an Anniversary lamenting of great losses For 70 years space the Jews kept two yearly Fasting and mourning daies Zech. 7.5 in memory of two sore National Calamities one the Burning of the City and Temple done in the fifth month the other the unfortunate Murther of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam whom the King of Babylon had set over the remnant of the Jews done in the seventh month Now if the Jews fasted and mourned seventy years for the untimely death of a Viceroy onely one that was but the Lieutenant of the King of Babylon certainly England may mourn twice seventy years for the Murther of her King and if then she think fit lay aside her mourning weeds But I believe it will be then thought reason and wisedome to continue the Sorrow and to produce in publick our Joseph's Coat yearly for our Joseph was sold too though not into the land of Egypt yet into the House of Bondage I mean the Robe of our Sovereign died into Scarlet with His own Bloud that Posterity beholding with amazement so rufull a spectacle may passionately cry out with Jacob Surely some evil Beast hath devoured him to imagining Men much less His Subjects to have been so barbarous And hereby they will not onely lament what is past but likewise dread the thoughts of attempting the like Villany for the future But why such care taken to transmit to posterity the unfortunate end of CHARLES the First and not the like done for Edward and Richard both of that name the Second whose lives closed with the like sad Catastrophe being both violently plucked from their Thrones and hurried to an early Grave It 's true indeed other of our English Gods have died like men like mean base and plebeian fellows but the secrecy of the Contrivance and Execution of the Wickedness on their Royal persons argued some Shame in the Authors as being unwilling to make the Light privy to their Actions But here in the Tragedy of our late Sovereign of Blessed memory the Curtains were drawn the Windows were opened the Scene publick the Actors notorious and withall so confident to come off with applause that they were not ashamed Pharisee-like Matth. 6.2 to sound a Trumpet before them in the Synagogues and streets and to proclaim in the ears of all in the chief and Capital City of the Nation when and where they might behold Majesty it self first Arraigned and afterwards Executed by a Base and Ignoble hand Methinks as oft as I reflect upon that Dismal day when our Royal Sovereign was led as a Lamb to the Slaughter I cannot onely take up a Lamentation but an Indignation too against my self and the rest of my Countrymen for being under such a Lethargy of Pusillanimity and Cowardice that the whole Nation did not rise as one man to rescue so Noble a Captive from the hands of Tyrants And if for any Offence the whole Kingdome stood in need of an Act of Oblivion and Pardon from the SON sure it was for want of Courage on that day in not doing the utmost that was possible for the deliverance of the FATHER But what shall we say The stout-hearted were then all fallen asleep Psal 76.5 and none of the men of might could finde their hands The Trophees of the English Gallantry wone in France the Low-countries and other forein Nations seem to be sullied and defaced by that one day's Cowardice England was then led Captive in her own Land 2 Sam. 1. The Beauty of our English Israel was slain not upon the high places as of old but before his own stately Palace Tell it not in Gath publish it not in the streets of Askelon lest the Daughters of the Philistines rejoice lest the Daughters of the uncircumcised triumph But though we may not tell it in Gath nor publish it