SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE KEEPING THE Thirtieth of January AND Twenty ninth of MAY. Gal. 4.10 11. Ye observe Days and Months and Times and Years I am afraid of you least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain By J. G. G. LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Ric. Baldwin at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane 1694. SOME OBSERVATIONS Upon the Keeping the Thirtieth of January and XXIXth of May. EVERY Thirtieth of January doth yearly renew my Thoughts upon the occasion of the day We say it hath been appointed to be kept to mourn and humble the Nation for the Death of King Charles I. The thing hath two several Aspects for either it looks upon the Act of some Men against the Living or upon what others have done and do for the Dead both which I take to be ill the one because to me it seems Unlawful and the other as Contrary to True Religion I agree the Fact was an Horrid Murther Execrable as Black as Words can make it neither am ignorant how Blood defiles the Land what a loud and crying Sin is Blood-guiltiness according to other several strong Expressions in Holy Scriptures But when all is said after Justice hath been executed upon the Guilty after 45 Years there ought to be an end It were better more according to Charity and Christian Prudence to forget those things than to renew the Memory of them which continues Divisions for we know 't is too usual on that day to hear from the Pulpit about those who sold him of others that brought him to the Block and of those who cut off his Head which doth not restore to Life nor remedy that which is past and only Exasperates the Spirits of Men. This is too like the Italian Custom to keep and shew Handkerchiefs dipped in the Blood of those that were killed or such like Tokens only to infuse a desire of Vengeance and to make irreconcilable Enmities between Families and Parties after Acts of Oblivion for such things are passed the Memory thereof ought to be forgotten Such things do and must admit of a Prescription neither can I find any sound reason why such a Performance should be entailed upon us and our Posterity 't is enough once for all really and heartily to have done after that it degenerates into Formality and Bigoticism if I may so call it I know amongst us we have Men Zealous without Knowledge guided by Ignorance and as thorough-paced in their way as any Papist is in his who know not how to keep within bounds in many things they do Every one knows the keeping of this day was enacted after a Revolution amidst Heats and Desires of Revengefulness in some who looked upon themselves as having been ill used by others The Order for keeping that day was brought forth with some other things which by and by I shall have occasion to mention but because I do not intend to insist upon the Civil but the Religious part of keeping that day which is the principal thing of it and as the taking away of his Life was an ill thing so by the Grace of God I will shew that every Year keeping a day on that account is as bad if not worse in as much as the Honour and Worship of God are therein concerned What St. Paul saith to the People of Athens in general I may say to some amongst us in particular in this thing * Acts 17.22 You are too Superstitious For I am satisfied we cannot without Superstition whereof the very appearance ought to be avoided keep an Anniversary or a certain day every Year upon any Mans account and on the same day go to Church the place appointed only for God's Worship there to hear a Sermon preached on that Subject and to have a Collect Epistle and Gospel yea such a part of Gospel taken out of a Parable wherein our Blessed Saviour foretells his Death and this must be applied to a Dead Man Nay in that Service we pray to God he will be pleased to give us the Grace to follow that Man's Charity and Patience surely in this we are too Superstitious now Time Place and Service being appointed next thing for us to do will be to Pray to him Heathens had their Apotheosis of Men to make Gods after their Death Papists have their Canonizations or making of Saints but I think our Church ought to be free from such Errors and Abuses without Kalenders and Legends I am sure the best Reformed Churches beyond Sea admit of no such things let for brevities sake the Testimony of one serve for all * Festa autem hominibus divis instituta non probamus Helvet Confess cap. 24. de feriis We approve not of days dedicated to Saints Would to God we had not so many of these Relicks of Popery amongst us such as the Purification of the Virgin a Jewish Ceremony Annunciation Conception c. All Saints Michael and all Angels Innocents c. which as the already quoted Confession saith †Ibidem habent absurda inutilia minimeque toleranda have many things Absurd Superstitious and not to be endured It may be made a question Whether God will ever forgive it those who so stiffly retain such things and oppose a thorough Reformation keeping the Clogs of such Superstitions and Fopperies upon our Holy Religion whereof the Purity is thereby defiled What St. Paul saith to the Galatians You observe days c. I am afraid of you Gal. 4.10 11. least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain may justly be applied to many amongst us I know this enlargement will not be thought to deviate from our purpose But we are not satisfied of him to make a Saint but a Martyr too for that 's now the Name given him the Martyr by Excellency I confess here I am somewhat at a stand to see such a Name so much misapplied but before I proceed I declare I charitably believe God shewed him Mercy but withall 't is not the Manner but the Cause of Death makes one a Martyr I know several kinds of Perswasions have their Witnesses and Martyrs but for us the Martyr who suffers for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus he is the true Martyr who loses his Life for the sake of Christ for his Person for his Attributes for his Offices for his Faith such an one was * Acts 7. St. Stephen such †Acts 12. St. James such ‖ Rev. 2.13 Antipas whom the Lord called his faithful Martyr and many others after for the same Cause and here by the bye I must take notice how the Apostolical Church appointed no day nor Rubrick to remember or mourn for their Death not so much as for that of our Lord and Saviour nor of his Birth only that of his Resurrection the first day of the Week which St. John calls the * Rev. 1.10 Lords-day But for Charles I. he must be a Saint and a Martyr of a new Coining but
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
rather no Martyr amongst true Christians except it be made to appear that he suffered for the Testimony of the Lord Jesus though otherwise never so unjustly Let those who took away his Life be as Wicked as can be imagined yet they were not professed Infidels his being a Christian was not the Cause or Pretence of his being put to Death the Pretence was how true or false I dive not into it his following Evil Council encroaching upon the Liberties carrying on Designs for Arbitrariness casting into Prison Men for refusing to lend him Mony raising Mony without Parliament as in the case of Ship-Mony for designing to bring in Popery and such other things as the whole Nation knows which the last excepted were all of a Worldly Concernment and no ways fit to qualifie a Martyr him who suffers for them As to this last I must say in his time whether or not of his own Contrivance I cannot tell a Design was carrying on to reconcile us to the Church of Rome whose Interest here did much thrive through the Queens Favour the Persecution of Puritans the Prayer-book sent into Scotland bringing in Arminianism setting up Crucifixes upon the Communion-Tables by them called Altars as Ministers were and are still by the name of Priests thus promiscuously bringing in Names and Things those and many more were Evidences of the Project then in hand which though it had been true and carried on by the King yet can never justifie the putting him to Death no more than his being put to Death can prove him a Martyr Suppose they were Murderers must we be Blasphemers If they were Villains must we be Idolaters or Superstitious Is it a Warrant for us to do Evil because they did so 'T is very bad Logick for after this we must follow evil Examples After the Light of the Gospel hath since the Reformation so clearly shined amongst us 't is very strange that some who might know better have as to the matter in hand carried things so far on in the way of Superstition A Medal of Bishop Laud a Man so noted in his days soon after King Charles's Restoration was coined in the Tower and consequently by publick Authority of which here are several and many beyond Sea with this Inscription Sancti Caroli Praecursor the fore-runner of St. Charles Here the business is not minced we speak it out plainly in England we have our St. Charles as Italians have theirs his name is entred into the List of Saints he hath his day only we have not builded him a Church as is done for Charles Borromeo in Rome But instead of that he is owned as such in every Church we have let Men honour his Memory but not to such a length as to run into Superstition if not worse for there is no less than Blasphemy in the case in the Medal Bishop Laud is compared to John the Baptist and consequently King Charles is parallelled with Christ for John Baptist both in his Birth and Death was fore-runner of the Lord Jesus This Comparison is come not only out of a Stamp but from Pulpits too a place very improper for such Doctrines some now alive have carried on the Parallel much beyond bounds others have been heard to preach that the Guilt of King Charles's Blood lies upon the Nation never to be washed off What upon Childrens Children and from Generation to Generation to the Worlds end yet God saith by two of his Prophets the Proverb shall no more be used Jer. 31.29 Ezek. 18.2 3. The Fathers have eaten a Soure Grape and the Childrens Teeth are set on edge To see the Blood of the Son of God lie as a Curse upon the Generality of the Jews is no wonder they all cried Crucifie Crucifie they all said Matt. 27.25 Let his Blood be upon us and our Children I hope our thorough-paced Papists in this Point will not have the Face to say that the Blood of Charles I. though never so Innocent can be compared with that of our Lord and Saviour though alas about the time of that Death some were possessed with such extravagant Fits of Superstition as to dye Handkerchiefs in the Blood to keep and use it to Cure Diseases work Miracles and such other things as made an Impression upon the Spirits of Credulous and Ignorant People which true Christians who make Profession of the Purity of the Gospel ought to be ashamed of Others upon the occasion of the day and that lately said Dr. Sherlock's Sermon The Evils and Calamities which we have now more than Forty Years in some degree or other and sometimes very severely suffered under are the natural Effects or just Punishment of that Sin which we this day lament Herein is a great Exaggeration but as to Cursing Swearing Perjury Covenant-breaking Injustice Shedding of Innocent Blood as of late there was too much Drunkenness Uncleanness these are but trifling Sins not worth God's taking notice of let such Preachers as much as they please exalt and commend their Martyrs for such Vertues as are rarely found in mean Persons which in my weak Apprehension is no great Commendation for a King to say he had those Virtues that are rarely found in mean Persons as indeed 't is rare for mean Persons to be Conspicuous in great Virtues to find such Virtues we must go into an Hermit's Cell we must needs be at a great loss not to have where to search for them but those dark Holes or Places of Darkness this is to have a great Opinion of Hermits Lives as well as of King Charles's great Virtues we must not be wanting also to attribute great Merits to Hermits in their Cells However one could bear with such Stuff if the Preaching of the Gospel of Peace was not turned into the sound of an Alarm What mean these Expressions There is a Spirit of Zeal and Faction the Principles of which if not restrained will ruine the best Princes and overturn the best Governments Again The horrid Fact committed on this Day hath poisoned the very Springs of Government and so deeply tinctured the Minds of Men that I pray God we may not still live to see and feel the miserable effects of it These are Doctrines of a New Gospel to work Differences and Cause and keep up Division But to make our selves the more acceptable we must promise That those who under the late Reigns were for Passive Obedience will be so under this Another in a late Sermon of his doth screw up all his Wits and spend his whole Strength in making an unnecessary and improper Panegyrick I doubt very much whether upon our Saviours Passion-day he ever used Expressions so pathetical and delivered them with so much Zeal as he did upon this last Occasion I confess I never heard before a Prince's though never so good being called a Tyrant to be Blasphemy I thought to Blaspheme was against God and not against Man Then he proceeds to unhandsome and uncharitable