to introduce distraction and confusion For the people have a power by their Representatives to consent or dissent in the making of Laws but when they are enacted there is a Power over them that can command their obedience These particulars I have only pointed at as not thinking it very suitable either to this occasion or my profession to enlarge upon them I shall rather desire you to consider what God himself hath declared concerning REGAL Government both in the Old Testament and the New and then you may discern that there is nothing more clear than that he approves of the power and authority of KINGS and nothing more certain than that 't is his will and pleasure they should be obeyed When he brought his people out of Aegypt he appointed Moses to be their Leader and Governour who had the power of a KING though not the name and title and yet the Scripture on one place gives him that also Moses commanded us a law even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob and he was King in Jeshurun Deut. 33.4 5. After him succeeded Joshua in the same Authority After his time Israel was governed by Judges extraordinarily called and appointed by God for the space of about three hundred years During which time by reason of the often intervals of Government much sin and many mischiefs grew up in that unsetled State Jud. 17.6 In the 17 of Judges we read of Idolatry set up by Micah and his mother 18.1 In the 18 of Violence and Rapine In the 19 of Adultery and Murder committed in one act 19.1 In the two last Chapters of a publick and insolent Defence of that wicked act and the destruction of almost all the Tribe of Benjamin And the Holy Ghost thus expresses the reason of all this In those days there was no King in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes 22.25 but that which was neither right in it self nor in the sight of God I shall leave you to judge how much of this may be applyed to our Israel since we have been destitute of the presence and authority of a KING After that time although God was displeased with the peoples importunity in requiring a KING yet it clearly appears he had designed that government for them For having rejected Saul he gives this testimony of David I have found David my servant Psal 89.20 with my holy oil have I anointed him And elsewhere promises to establish his Throne and to confirm it to his posterity Again he had promised by the mouth of Jacob Gen. 49. That the Scepter should not depart from Judah And before his time he had said to Abraham Kings shall come out of thee Gen. 17.6 Lastly Moses had long before Saul's time drawn up the KING'S Charter as you may see Deut. 17.14 and so onward Next to this I shall reminde you of some few of the many clear expressions of Scripture that concern this matter If you will search out the foundation of this power you may finde it Prov. 8.15 By me Kings reign and Princes decree justice Would you have the duty it self Take it in these words Prov. 24.21 My son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change Doe you enquire into the danger of disobedience 'T is thus represented Eccles 8.2 3 4. I counsel thee to keep the King's commandment and that in regard of the oath of God Be not hasty to goe out of his sight stand not in an evil thing for he doth whatsoever pleaseth him Where the word of a King is there is power and who may say unto him What dost thou Beside these Doctrinal expressions the Scripture affords us several examples of reverence and obedience among God's own people The first shall be that of Bathsheba whose vertue and piety there is little reason to question since no crime of hers is recorded but what is more expresly charged upon David himself She bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the King and said Let my Lord King David live for ever 1 Kings 1.31 In like manner did Nathan the Prophet who certainly was no flatterer when he was come in before the King he bowed himself before the King with his face to the ground 1 Kings 1.23 The like did Araunah 2 Sam. 24.20 But especially David's reverence to Saul is remarkable though God had rejected Saul and appointed David to be his successour When he had him in his power who sought his life yet he slew him not but onely cut off the skirt of his Robe And yet afterwards his heart smote him because he had cut off Saul 's skirt And he said unto his men The Lord forbid that I should doe this thing unto my master the Lord 's anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him seeing he is the anointed of the Lord 1 Sam. 24.5 6. After these I shall produce but one Example more and that 's equivalent to many being of a great multitude 'T is in 1 Chron. 29.20 And all the congregation bowed down their heads and worshipped the Lord and the King In the New Testament we know to whom that of S. Paul referres Let every soul be subject to the higher powers c. The Romans were then the miserable subjects of the worst of men as well as of Princes which is enough to cut off all pretence of resistance for ever But S. Peter more expresly describes the persons of those in authority Submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto those that are sent by him And again Fear God honour the King Let this be sufficient to shew that Kingly power is ordained of God that it is appointed for the good of those that are subject to it And therefore we are obliged as we regard both our duty and our happiness to render obedience to it and so farre to esteem it the blessing of God as to magnify it and preferre it before other forms of Government as most resembling divine power and carrying the most lively impress of divine approbation as being that which God recommended to his own people and to which they willingly submitted when they were in a setled and most flourishing estate under which our ancestours have lived happily for many Ages and by which our Israel hath been always governed ever since it was a Nation Whence we may confidently conclude that what by the appointment of God is sacred and venerable hath the assurance of his blessing And thus much of the first But this is not all that is required to make a Land blessed The King whom Solomon here describes must be the son of Nobles 'T is in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the son of White ones or as some alluding to the word translate it Filius Heroum the son of Heroes Now that
בן ×—×•×¨×™× Filius Heröum THE SON OF NOBLES Set forth IN A SERMON PREACHED At St Mary's in Cambridge before the University on Thursday the 24th of May 1660. being the day of Solemn Thanksgiving for the Deliverance and Settlement of our Nation By WILL. GODMAN B.D. Fellow of the King's Colledge in Cambridge Because the Lord hath loved his people he hath made thee King over them 2 Chron. 2.11 Nusquam libertas gratior extat Quà m sub Rege pio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by J. Flesher for W. Morden Bookseller in Cambridge An. Dom. M DC LX. To the READER WHEN I saw the happy fruits that have been of late produced by the Counsells of this just and glorious Parliament and in particular by the great Prudence and Valour of the Noble and renowned Lord General I looked up to heaven and gave praise to Almighty God for that he had mercifully answered the prayers of all those that were faithfull and peaceable in the Land And being required by my Superiours here to discharge the duty of rendring publick and solemn thanks to God for this great blessing of our common Deliverance and Settlement I willingly obeyed the authority and chearfully embraced the occasion of expressing my joyfull sense of God's unspeakable goodness in restoring his Sacred Majesty with peace and honour And herein I confess my forward Zeale and pregnant inclinations out-weighed the consideration of mine own insufficiency For as I believe none could have undertaken this charge more chearfully so I am very confident that many could have performed it far more worthily My onely encouragement to enter upon it when it was laid before me was this that I consider'd it to be Opus non Ingenii sed Officii a work that requir'd more honesty than wit and needed rather the assistance of the heart than the influence of the brain However I shall desire the Reader to accept what is here presented to him not for his sake who hath taken the pains to compose it but in regard of the Auditory wherein 't was spoken Let all that is defective or culpable in it be charg'd on me alone But if there be any thing in it that may attain the happiness of any mans regard or approbation as proceeding from a good and peaceable intention and expressing the devout affection of a loyall heart then I desire it may be thought that I am not alone For I know this place so well that I can safely say that many of us here detest what is past love what is present and hope well for the time to come and that we have a great and unfeigned zeal for his Majestie 's service As I knew this long before I express'd my thoughts on that solemn Occasion so I have been since encourag'd and invited by severall persons of better judgement and reputation than ever I shall pretend to to publish what was then delivered And herein I have so little regard to my self that I am more afraid of the Readers censure than I can have reason to hope for his approbation And I conceive that the best that can happen which is yet beyond any merit of mine will be but the fate of him in Horace Laudatur ab his culpatur ab illis But however this shall be entertain'd in the severall judgments and opinions of men I must profess my self to have no other ambition but what is common to all his Majesties faithfull subjects which is to live securely and happily under His most just and gracious government And if I had any suit or controversie with any man I should say as Mephibosheth did of Ziba Let him take all for as much as my Lord the King is come again in peace into his own house 2 Sam. 19.30 I am so much in love with a private and obscure life that if I meet with any discouragement in publishing my name yet I can secure my self from being endammaged or disappointed thereby For the worst that can befall me will but make me retire to my own naturall inclination Neither should I have appear'd at this time but that it was thought requisite I should give some testimony of the dutifull affection of my self and others that I should endeavour to contribute something to the universall joy and help to blow up those sparks of Loyalty that have been so long cover'd and suppress'd by violence Which as it hath been my grief a long time so it is now my joy to see Religion and Loyalty kiss each other And I wish that none may ever hereafter presume to put those asunder which God hath joyned together If I have given any assistance in the least measure to the tying of this blessed knot I shall think my self abundantly happy Upon these and other considerations I shall not much trouble my self or the Reader with an Apology for my self as being but little solicitous what becomes of me in this attempt Onely this I beseech him to take notice of that where I have express'd any bitterness against the murtherers of his late Majesty as I was prompted thereto by my own passionate indignation so I have a warrant for that invective from the justice of Parliament For I have reflected onely on those upon whom they have publickly fix'd the mark of their just displeasure and severity And I desire that whatever I have said may be so understood as that it may be coincident with their Decrees and Resolutions I bless God that there are so few offenders as 66 and I am glad to see that the short list of their names admits no possibility of adding a third figure of the same kinde 666 to make up the number of the Beast As to the length of the Application in comparison of the whole I have given some account in the body of the Discourse to which I shall onely adde that I see no reason that can oblige me to adhere rigidly to common rules and methods on an extraordinary occasion And in generall I profess it my private opinion that it were better Sermons had more of Application than sometimes they have And now to put an end to this preliminary trouble which I have given the Reader and that this Introduction may be somewhat conformable to the following Discourse I shall close it up with beseeching Almighty God to bless his Sacred Majesty with a long and happy reign over us and when he shall have accomplish'd the daies of his mortality on earth to crown him with everlasting joy and glory in that Kingdome which shall have no end This is my devout hearty and fervent prayer to which I hope all those who shall vouchsafe to peruse this paper will say Amen King's Colledge in Cambridge June 5. 1660. In בן ×—×•×¨×™× Gulielmi Godmanni Sodalis vere Regii carmen amicum ΦΙΛΟΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ EUge vel Augusto Princeps felioâ—â—r ipso Trajano melior succinit Anglus â—vaâ—s Quid Romane crepas quinquâ—nnia curâ—â— Nerâ—nis Secula sub CAROLO nos mâ—liora
two great arguments that they spake the truth according to the best of their knowledge The one thus expresseth it L. Capel Truly I never saw greater hopes of vertue in any young person than in him great judgement great understanding strong apprehension much of honour in his nature and a very perfect English-man in his inclinations E. of Derby The other gives him a more ample testimony in these words Certainly saith he as I believe this Nation will never be well contented without a King so I believe also that K. CHARLES THE SECOND our now lawful KING were he a stranger to this Crown were the most fit and most accomplish'd Prince that this day lives to take the Government of this people His admirable piety vertue justice great valour and discretion farre above so few years doth now make him in all places he comes highly belov'd and will hereafter make him honourable in all Nations And I wish the people of this Nation so much happiness when my eyes are clos'd that he may peaceably be receiv'd to the enjoyment of his just right and then they shall never want their just rights which till then they will always want We may very well suppose that since the time that these excellent things were spoken of him he hath gain'd much in the improvement of his Princely Vertues At present as farre as we can know him at such a distance we may all judge of him by his gracious Offers and Proposals to his great Council and his general Declaration wherein he promiseth to embrace all his Subjects equally within the arms of his comprehensive Goodness and Clemency Which without doubt with many other Divine instructions he hath received from his most ROYAL FATHER beside what his own Princely disposition variety of observation the trial of Affliction frequent discourse and meditation and above all the extraordinary blessing of God have added to him Now therefore let us not adde to all those unworthy reproaches and contumelies that have been thrown upon him by his and our enemies this of suspicion and mistrust that he will not make good his gracious promises We must not look on him as on those whose interest it hath been to deceive and abuse us Most certainly such unworthy arts are infinitely below his Noble and Heroick mind He knows very well whose Vicegerent he is that he represents the God of Peace and Truth whose two grand properties are according to the doctrine of an ancient Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to doe good and to speak truth There is no fear that he should fail in the truth of his word who comes to imitate God in doing good For he hath no other design upon us but to doe that for us which we have found by experience that none else can doe to cure our wounds to heal our distempers and to repair our ruines The hope of the Syrians when they were vanquish'd was That the Kings of Israel were merciful Kings The same may as truly be said of the Kings of England and to be sure the last we had was such for had he not been a merciful King he had never felt the fury of unmerciful Subjects Although his Mercy would never have brought any affliction on him but that it met with some ill humours in a distemper'd State But however things have been let our reflexions on times past excite our most zealous care to repair that Duty and Allegiance that hath been so many years deny'd to his Sacred Majesty and his Blessed Father And as he is willing to remit what is past so let us meet his Goodness in endeavouring to make him some recompence for the time to come Which if we doe we shall both more facilitate his power of doing us good and we shall put our selves into a better capacity of being happy under his Government I hope that now we shall understand one another better since we are deliver'd from those whose concernment it was to nourish factions and divisions among us that their dominion over us might be more entire and absolute I hope our cordial union consent in obedience to our Soveraign will bring us nearer to one another And to this end I heartily desire that they who always loved and honoured him may shew in themselves the first and greatest examples of Moderation As for my own part since I have this occasion given me I must freely profess and declare my self to be one of those whose Loyalty is the result of a natural and constant principle and not of the event of things or necessity of times who always abhorred to flatter prosperous wickedness and would never stoop to adore usurping tyranny And yet all the advantage I wish for those of the same perswasion and inclination is onely this that they goe beyond others in humane civility in brotherly love and in Christian charity That they lay aside all animosities all uncharitable opposition against those that have formerly differed from them as alway remembring that they serve a merciful GOD and a gracious KING For otherwise let them not pretend to be his obedient Subjects to whose goodness they will not conform For as Tertullian well expresses it Obsequii ratio in animorum similitudine constituta est As for those that run into excess and debauchery I think I may truly say such practises flow not from their principles but from their temper and disposition and that they would act the same things under any judgment To such I shal only say at present that I desire them to consider what a Philosopher once said to a vicious person in the same ship with him who when in a storm he began to pray Hold your peace said he for fear lest the Gods take notice you are here and cast us all away for your sake As for others I shall hope that a little time may wear away those prejudices and the ill consequences of those erroneous opinions into which some may possibly have fallen especially such as give a check to Obedience and set Liberty at too high a pitch I wish that none may ever hereafter mistake Fancy for Religion and call Obstinacy by the specious name of Conscience I heartily desire that all men would seriously understand and consider what a necessary connexion there is between keeping the Laws of God and those of our lawful Superiours between the first and second Table between Fear God and Honour the King I would advise men not to be fond either of their sins or errours but to be content to sacrifice both to the publick good and to the lasting tranquillity and welfare of Church and State And I beseech God to remove all obstructions that may disturb or hinder our peace and happiness to reduce the whole Kingdome to such a perfect unity to such an happy composure to such a blessed harmony that it may be said of England as it was of Portugal at the late restitution That as never Subjects had a more Gracious King so never King had more Loyal Subjects To this end the Lord give to our SOVERAIGN a wise and understanding heart The Lord make him as an Angel of God to discern good and evil God bless him with Wisdome in his Counsels Justice in his Designs and Success in his Undertakings God grant him the victorious Fortitude of Henry the 5th the Piety and innocence of Henry the 6th the Prudence of Henry the 7th the Magnanimity of Henry the 8th the Felicity of Qu. Elizabeth and whatever was eminent and illustrious in K. Charls the First Let him be like him in his Vertues but most unlike him in his Fortunes Let shame and confusion cover the faces of those who shall hereafter maliciously persist to blaspheme thee O Lord and to slander the footsteps of thine Anointed But upon the sacred head of thine Anointed and upon his Seed and upon his Throne and upon all his Kingdomes and upon all his loyal and faithful people 1 Kin. 2.33 let there be peace for ever from the Lord. Which he grant through the tender mercies of the most holy and eternal Jesus to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost in the unity of one infinite Majesty be praise and honour and glory everlasting Amen We praise thee O God c. Books printed for and sold by W. Morden Bookseller in Cambridge ORigenes contra Celsum Ejusdem Philocalia cum Annotat. Gulielmi Spenceri 4o. Scheyneri Fundamenta Optic 4o. Officium Concionatorium 4o. Medi opuscula Epicteti Enchiridion cum Cebetis Tabula Accesserunt Arriani Comment item Porphyrius de Abstinentia de Vita Pythagorae Ejusdem item Sentent de Antro Nympharum Vita deinde Scripta Porphyrii à L. Holstenio 8o. Gassendi Astronomia Cui accessere Galilaei Galilaei Nuncius Sidereus Johannis Kepleri Dioptrice 8o. Sebast Castellio Dialogi 4 de Praedestinatione Sebast Castellio Dialogi 4 de Electione Sebast Castellio Dialogi 4 de Libero Arbitrio Sebast Castellio Dialogi 4 de Fide Justificatione Angelini Gazaei Pia Hilaria Accessit Tomus alter cum Indice Philologico 12o. Mores Antidote against Atheism Enthusiasmus Triumphatus or a Discourse of the Nature Causes Kinds and Cures of Enthusiasm His threefold Cabbal Literal Philosophical Mystical or Divinely Moral Immortality of the Soul 8o. Billingsly's Idea of Arithmetick 8o. 2 Sermons of Mr. Clerk Fellow of Peter-house Select Discourses by John Smith late Fellow of Queen's College in Cambridge As also a Sermon preached by Simon Patrick at the Authors Funeral with a brief account of his Life and Death FINIS