meerly and simply to transfer the Crown to a better Head Treason Rampant enough But plainly to Chop off that Head that wears it 2 Sam. 17.2 And that this is the Natural Process of successful Rebellion our selves are too well aware 2. Next observe the Terror of the Attempt by the vast Numbers of the Rebells We read of All Israel therein engaged which at the least implies a very Great part of the Ten Tribes Judah onely which includeth Benjamin continuing intirely Loyal Nay * Antiq. Jud. l. 7. c. 9. Josephus tells us That Davids Army had but about Four thousand in it And the Text assures us That * 2 Sam. 18.7 Twenty thousand of the Rebels lost their Lives in the Battel What a frightful advantage had they therefore in their Number But Lastly The King is Saved his Enemies Destroyed 3. and both by the hand of God Thou hast given me the necks of mine Enemies thou hast delivered me from the strivings of my people 't is God that avengeth me and bringeth down the people under me saith the King and upon this account as well as any other 2 Sam. 22. And note it because David was the Lords Anointed he thus became the care of Providence As may be seen in the same Song at Psal 18.50 Great deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy unto his Anointed unto David c. Next for an Heathen Prince An Heathen What a special Providence was it toward Ahasuerus when Two Great Courtiers and his Chamberlains who Treasonably had conspir'd against his Life and had so fair and many opportunities to effect their Villanies were notwithstanding bar'd the Execution of it And how more remarkable was the care of God concerning him in that poor Mordecai no Natural Subject but a Stranger and a Captive taken in War should first come to have notice of the Treason and then have an heart to adventure the discovery of it Was it not dangerous for a man in his Circumstances to Impeach Two such Great Personages whose powerful Interest might well threaten to turn the blow upon his own head and make him the Traytor And what an abatement to his Zeal would it be apt to prove That this very Prince intended to be Destroyed was in a kind the Destroyer of his Native Country and all that was dear unto him in it Far less rebukes than these have too often hindred many from discharge of Duty But God that taketh special care of Princes carries him through all difficulties The Treason is detected the Traytors Punish'd and the King sav'd Esth 2. Lastly A Christian The Christian King Constantine the Great how he was delivered from Treacheries at home preserv'd and prosper'd in the day of Battle abroad and what signal care the Divine Providence continually took of him is declared largely to us with special Remarks of the manifest hand of God frequently stretch'd out for him by the Church Historian Eusebius in vita Constantini But we need not stay longer here for our next Proposition which goes no further than our own doors will put the matter past all doubt Onely Remember That if Gods placing Kings in his own room on Earth charging their people in Thought Word and Deed to be their Votaries And Lastly doing Wonders for them himself suffice to shew the peculiar care of Providence over them then our Second Proposition may be discharged as fully proved And so we come to the 3. 3. Propos Proposition which is Our Present Soveraign is a signal Instance of the Care God takes of Kings For the especial concern of Divine Providence for Royal safety is plainly manifested in His Sacred Majesty who hath obtain'd such frequent and so eminent Salvations from the God of all Salvation And under the same Indulgent care may he live for ever My business is not to give a large account of His Majesties Life with the various Passages of the greatest Jeopardy which by the Heavenly Conduct he hath passed through It shall suffice to point at Three or Four such great Deliverances of him as may convince an Enemy and an Atheist That the hand of God was with him in them and will therefore more confirm our belief of the special Care God takes of Kings and also stir us up to greater Thankfulness for his mercy towards our own The First Deliverance I shall recommend unto you 1 Deliverance shall be that of His Majesties strange but safe escape from Worcester Not to insist upon the Extreamest hazard wherewith his Royal Person was environ'd in that fatal Fight when so many of his Loyal Subjects fell on his Right hand and on his Left before him and behind is it not Evident by this very glance already taken that his Life was precious in the sight of God and that he covered his Head in that day of Battle But after that when all was lost to consider seriously his hardest shifts and greatest dangers but his Preservation still and safe Deliverance at the last must make us say This was the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our Eyes What was it think you for a necessity to lye upon so great a Potentate to change Majestick Robes See Boscobel for a Peasants Weeds To turn his Garter George of Diamonds and other Princely Ornaments into the course Accoutrements of meaner Rusticks For a Crowned Head and Royal Face to be deformed and sullyed so as to Represent a Countrey Slovenly Swain That he should take upon him the place and business of an ordinary inferiour Servant who was the Rightful Lord and Master of Three large Kingdoms And that a Person accustom'd to the choicest Delicacies and greatest Varieties with most noble Attendance suitable to his Imperial State and Dignity should be constrein'd to wait his time and then content his Hunger with courser Fare and sometimes too of his own Cooking To be so put to it that wet Stockins gravel'd Shooes and galled Feet must be born with patience by Him Nay Skulking in a Barn Hiding in Holes Sheltring in Woods and Lodging on a Tree become good shifts And with all these Distresses to be infested frequently with the Alarms of many Blood-thirsty Enemies and Jealousies of some seeming Friends and disappointments of most promising Hopes And as the last and perhaps the worst of such a Throng of Evils To have a Price set on his Head which far out bad the reward of Judas's Treason and so the more powerful temptation to a Traytor Yet that after such Great Difficulties and Dangers spun out unto full Six Weeks abating but one day after Travelling up and down near Three hundred Miles always in the Midst of Foes often through his Armed Enemies Quarters and when the whole Country was filled with Watches for the seizing of him it should be possible for our King to get to Sea and be Imbarqued with privacy and safety Escaping all Mischiefs though in the very Mouthes of them Who is there
The Practical Reflections on the Whole Practical Reflections which are but these Two For 1. Obedience to Man For 2. Thankfulness to God 1. For Obedience to Man the Magistrate 1 Reflect that is the King as Supreme and Governours as sent by him as St. Peter Expresseth it And I need do little else than pray you to remember What plentiful Testimony you have already had from the Holy Scriptures for this great Duty So that the Refusers hereof must needs be Rebellious against God disobedient unto and contemners of his Word Whoever will prove faithful Servants of the Lord must also be found Loyal Subjects to their Prince He can never be true unto God that is false to his Minister which the Magistrate is Be dutiful therefore in chearful complying with all good Laws And if any be suspected you must be paâ—…ent in submitting where you cannot be active in fulfilling Joyn also highest Veneration for your Governours and the Chief especially Having heard before That the best thoughts of them should always fill your Minds And let your Discourse be sparing about Publick Matters and still most reverend thereof and of those that manage them Is it fit to say unto a King Thou art wicked And to Princes ye are ungodly Job 34.18 Beware of speaking evil of the Rulers of the people Act. 23.5 The best Constructions and best Expressions of all Publick Managements do best become us and are due from us Our distance will not allow a due Judgment and our duty binds us to the fairest Interpretation of them The Covering very nakedness of Superiours gat the Blessing when the contrary method of divulging it brought the Curse Gen. 9. Private Men's Work doth lye at home within their own Sphear and such a Person should check his aptness to extravagate with Who makes Me a Judge as our Saviour once rebuked a Pragmatick Spirit Luk. 12.14 Why will any be so busie then in Affairs of State which are not their Province Would we consult the Spirit of the Gospel and tread his Steps the Prince of Peace and Lamb for Meekness that did send it and theirs the Sons of Peace of Patience and Submission who did bring it how easie would this business be and how effectual would the Counsel to it prove with All Let us therefore study to be quiet and do our own business as St. Paul Commands 1 Thess 4.11 And according to St. Peter make a full proof that we Fear God by Honour paid unto the King 2. For Thankfulness unto God 2 Reflect The just occasion for it hath so fully been already manifested that nothing else is wanting but the Practice of it whereto so many Motives press us How should our Hearts be now enlarged how should our Mouthes be open'd to Bless and Praise the Lord to Exalt and Magnifie his Name for this so great Salvation he hath wrought 'T was not our Strength and Power no Wisdome and Fore sight of ours nay nor our Care and Diligence that was contributary to the Deliverance But it was God's right Hand and his own Arm and the light of his Countenance that did All because he had a favour to us Shall we not say then and say it from our Hearts Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel who onely doth wondrous things and blessed be his Glorious Name for Ever and Ever Do we love our King Who ought to be the Delight of our Eyes the joy of our Hearts and the breath of our Nostrils Let us Magnifie then the Almighty and most Merciful God That his Anointed was not taken in their pits Have we a value for our Country Acquaintance Friends and near Relations are they dear unto us Let us Exalt his Name that is most High that they are not wallowing in their own goar nor it become a New Akeldama a Field of Blood again Is our Religion and the Gospel more than our very Lives with us Let us give thanks and praise to God that still he doth preserve them For had that wickedness prosper'd when Irreligion like a Deluge must have overwhelm'd us what had become of the Word and Ordinances of all true Piety and Devotion Can we forbear the Psalmists Language now Bless the Lord O our Souls and all within us magnifie his holy Name How should we from our Hearts as I said declare God's praises with our Mouths And let me add thereto before we part How should our Lives and Conversations Eccho hereunto For I must tell you That Thanksgiving unto God is not matter of meer Complement Nor are his Praises the labour of our Lips onely No man can be truly thankful unless he will be really holy To speak well of God and spurn his Laws the while is like to Joab's kind saluting of Amasa when he stab'd him Whilst the Life Dishonours God the praises of the Mouth are no better then Dung Sacrificed which will be thrown back with indignation into his Face that offers it Will the most Holy and Alseeing God account That Tongue doth bless his Name as it ought with Thanks and Praise whose daily trade it is to Blaspheme the same with horrid Oathes and Execrations Or can he reckon those Persons thankful for his Mercies whatever they say that abuse those very Mercies to the Service of their Lusts and Satan What Atheism and Prophaneness pay God the Tribute of his Praises Can drunken Healths or wanton Embraces open Violences or secret frauds or any irreligious Courses give him Glory to whom they bid Defyance Assure your selves That ungodly Lives and holy Praises are like the Ark and Dagon they never stand together in the sight of God You must therefore either necessarily leave your Sins or loose your Thanks how fair soever they may seem If we would then be truly Thankful and to God's Acceptance Let us praise him with our Lips and please him in our Lives Let 's being deliver'd from our Enemies serve him that hath deliver'd us in righteousness and holiness before him all our days Luke 1.75 This is that Thanksgiving which is alone thank-worthy All other is not Current Coyn indeed Reprobate Silver or meer Dross Let us be renewed and reformed therefore Let us Renounce the works of darkness and walk as Children of the light Let us cleanse our selves from filthiness of Flesh and Spirit to the perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 Without a sincere endeavour after which as our Praise is lost so are our Persons too for ever For God hateth all the workers of iniquity And take this further Motive hereunto You would be surely counted Loyal to your Prince but give me leave to tell you a debauch'd vicious and sinful Life is so far from being any proof thereof that it gives great cause to fear the contrary 'T is somewhat hard to think How that Man should be truly Loyal to his King that is an open Rebel against God So such Sinners are Whatever Obligation they may stand in to their Prince those on them unto God are infinitely greater And what security is there that he that breaks the stronger Bond should not likewise snap the weaker This we are sure of That Prophane and Ungodly Subjects may by their wicked Lives work great mischief to their Soveraign though they may not mean it in their Minds And so we are urged unto Holiness on the account of Loyalty also 'T was the Prophets Counsel unto Subjects 1 Sam. 12.24 25. Fear the Lord and serve him in Truth with all your heart for consider how great things he hath done for you And it follows But if ye still do wickedly ye shall be destroyed both ye and your King See here the Publick Mischief that may be done by Private Persons continuing in their wickedness Even Majesty it self is not secure from it And 't is strange Loyalty that over-turns Soveraignty Whereto 't is manifest That Subject's Sins have an apparent tendency For a Conclusion of all If we love our King our Country our Friends our Selves both Souls and Bodies let it be our care and business with highest Praises for all God's mercies and This signal One to joyn the Holy Practice of all God's Commandments Then Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me saith the Scripture and to him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew the Salvation of God Psal 50.23 FINIS
recite them they are so generally known Let me onely add That the Almighty can at pleasure make the very Eater to afford Meat and the Destroyers themselves to become Saviors He that promised his people that their Exactors should be righteousness hath often saved them by those very Hands that should have slain them Nothing is too hard for God and all salvation belongs to him We need not go from home to seek Examples for the proof of this Our late Domestick and most Devilish Plots give ample Testimony hereunto wherein the very Agents in the management of them and that should have been so in the Execution also do by the wonderful hand of God prove Instruments in the revealing and disappointing of them Which as it beareth further witness to the Truth of Scriptures That safety is of the Lord Prov. 21.31 So it engageth us to joyn this day with the Church in the words of my Text The King shall joy in thy strength O Lord and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoyce The rather to For The Second Proposition 2. Propos which is God's salvation useth to be exercised in an especial manner towards Kings Or in other words Divine Providence taketh peculiar care of Princes Which seemeth also to be intimated in my Text in that 't is there so Emphatically said The King shall joy in the strength of God and He shall greatly rejoyce in God's Salvation without the Express mention of his Subjects doing so though they be tenderly concern'd therein as before was hinted and hereafter will be fully proved And certainly if the Fowles of the Air and the very Flowers of the Field are not shut out from the care of God If the little Sparrows as our Saviour doth assure us Matth. 10. are interessed in his Providence Humane Affairs must claim undoubtedly a greater share therein and more tender respect from thence And therefore Government of States and Kingdoms without which nothing but Confusions and Desolations would be Mankind's dismal Portion cannot but be admitted to have the highest interest in the same And so at last Princes and Chief Governors upon whose Fates that is the Good or Ill befalling them the Publick and General Weal or Woe dependeth must be allowed to be the Peculiar concern of him that Governeth all Things with Infinite Wisdom and Goodness But to put this past all doubt there are Three Considerations that do offer their effectual service 1. Consiâ—…nations The Station God setteth them in 2. The Charge he lays on People concerning them 3. His own very marvellous Actings for them 1. Consid The station God sets them in Kings are by him Ordain'd not onely Superior unto others but Supream over all their People to Rule and Govern them under himself and in his own room and place It is by him Kings reign saith Solomon Prov. 8.15 He sets them up saith Daniel 2.21 Wherefore not a Saul onely whom God particularly appointed to Rule his People Israel but Cyrus also an Heathen Prince is honour'd by the Mouth of God himself with that high Title of being God's Anointed Isa 45.1 And in this matter there is great Harmony between the Gospel and the Law St. Paul tells us The higher powers are God's Ordinance Rom. 13.1 2. And that they Rule as his Vice-gerents Deputies and Lieutenants in hiâ— room and place that is For ver 4. 'T is said He is the Minister of God Nay they are dignifyed so as to be styled Gods of old Exod. 22.28 Psal 82.1 That is Gods on earth as Vice-roys to the God of Heaven and Earth â—nd who by his Commission are to keep good order in the World by punishing Wickedness and Vice and encouraging Religion and Vertue among the Sons of Men. Wherefore whatsoever injuries and affronts shall be offer'd unto them they do redound to God himself whose Character they bear and whose Person they represent Doth it not stand to all reason then that the Almighty should own abet and be especially concern'd for his own Commissioners and in the Execution of the Trust receiv'd from him Can it be otherwise than that his peculiar Providence should be engaged for his Highest Officer upon Earth who derives his Title from and is an Immediate substitute to the Supreme in Heaven Do we not know That Earthly Soveraigns will be careful for the greatest safety and best respect to those whom they depute to supply their place in Administring Justice to their Subjects And will they not avenge indignities put upon those Ministers with severity because they light upon Themselves at last by whom they are Authoriz'd And who can doubt but that the Supreme Governour of the Universe will take equal care of Princes that stand in the like relation unto him and for like reason We may be well assured of it And shall be better by what follows 2. 2 Consid The Charge God lays on People concerning them If God commandeth us the Highest Value Greatest Respect and Vtmost Service to our Soveraigns it must be necessarily admitted That the Almighty hath most tender and especial care for them King Davids so strict a charge to his General and other Captains concerning Absalom for the safety of him and their kindness to him 2 Sam. 18. makes it most manifest how dear he was unto his Father and what an Affectionate care he took of him Thus an Indulgent Providence towards Princes cannot but be inferred since we do find the Word of God so copious in the New as well as Old Testament for exacting such true and high Devotion unto Kings and this as rooted in our minds so professed by our Mouthes and attested to by our Lives To be particular 1. 1. Our Mind It was from God that Solomon spake it Prov. 24.21 My son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change A man would think upon first Hearing that this Counsel were directed peculiarly to our times But certain 't is that as 't was not amiss for any age so it is very proper to the present Generation And observe the Precept serves to put our Minds into the fittest temper towards those that are Above us the Heavenly and the Earthly Soveraign and that 's of Fear I knows This commonly coucheth under it all the Expression of Love and Duty and Obedience But as I need not so I shall not thus consider it here Wee 'l keep it therefore to its stricter and most proper sense of Awe and Reverence Esteem and Veneration of the Mind unto its Object So God is indeed to be first served as he best deserveth First we must fear the Lord who is King of Kings and next the King who is under him and over us The meaning is the Best opinion and most worthy thoughts of Princes must be entertained by us The most fair construction must be put on all their Counsels and Affairs that they can possibly bear And we may not
from Or that our Dear Religion and the Gospel would have been by such Confusions cast upon their Death-bed if ever they had recovered thence There is no man knoweth whose very Life should have been given him as a Prey How frightful are the thoughts of these things But how abominable to God and all Good Men must be the Authors of them But thanks be unto God Our King is safe and we together with him Wherein those Men of Mischief dealt proudly indeed cruelly the Almighty was above them Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us a Prey unto their teeth The snare is broken and we are escaped Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth Psal 124.6 7 8. Thus is our King a Signal Instance of God's peculiar Care of Princes which fairly leads us unto the Fourth 4. Propos and Last Proposition This is just occasion for His Mafesties and his Peoples great joy and thankfulness unto God All Mercies bring with them just matter of Rejoyceing in and giving Thanks for unto God that gives them But the more signal any Blessing is the greater is the Obligation thereby laid upon us to enlarge our Hearts in joyful gratitude 'T was a great fault in King Hezekiah though a good Man otherwise That he rendred not again according to the benefit done unto him 2 Chron. 35.25 And our Saviour makes a just complaint against the Nine Lepers That they returned not to give God glory for his Mercy to them Luk. 17.17 18. As for our Soveraign so many remarkable Circumstances in that Deliverance this day acknowledg'd concur to commend and advance the singular kindness of the Almighty towards him that they cannot but influence his Royal Soul to joyful Thanksgiving As First A Design in its Nature so horrid and feral to be disapointed The very Life of Himself and Dearest Brother with such Cruelty and Inhumanity to be ravish'd from them And by his own Subjects and Servants that ought with alacrity to have lay'd down their Lives for his sake So many Principal Ministers if not all his Loyal Subjects and Three whole Kingdoms lying at stake together Again To escape such a Plot that was unsuspected For though the King knew no doubt of a Discontented Party Nothing is more probable than that he was secure of any such vile and villanous Attempt And truly the thing is so uncouth and monstrous so aliene from and adverse to Humane Nature to say nothing of Christian Religion which damns the very Seeds and Principles thereof that an innocent honest and well-meaning man but for such clear Evidence that shines like the Sun at noon-day would be apt in this Case to take up the words of Nicodemus in an other How can these things be But so plain is the proof that now for one to deny it seems if not to Confess he is in it at least to signifie good wishes to it Yet further an horrible mischief to be blasted That was so easie to have been effected His Majesty though not without need we clearly perceive being always provided of a meet Defence for his Sacred Person yet at this time and place out of Confidence we may suppose of the Loyalty and Love of his People seeming to neglect his wonted Guards at least to be satisfied with a less number than usual encourag'd the Villany and threatned less danger to the vile Undertakers Besides The unexpectedness of the Providence that defeated the Treason adds much to the mercy of scaping it The burning down of his Majesties Town kept up the Tabernacle of his Majesties Body New-Market Fire though it were not likely to quench those Traytors thirst for his Sacred Blood yet it choak'd them from drinking it For that so sad an Accident there was made the occasion of great gladness elsewhere in causing the removal of the King before his intended and their expected Season Lastly That a Confederate in the Villany as deep and as forward as any of the vilest should be smitten so with the Horror of the Fact as himself doth confess that the Feaver and Convulsion of his own mind would give him no rest till he made the Discovery These are all such Circumstances that severally would do much but joyned as they are do mightily enhance the price of God's Care for the King's Preservation And accordingly they have prevailed upon him for the most Solemn and Publick Acknowledgment thereof Which past all doubt is very well and most Religiously done That as Mordecai called his People to a day of Publick Gladness and Rejoycing for his Own and Their Deliverance from Haman's Rage and Cruelty So on a much like occasion our Soveraign should invite his Subjects to such a Solemnity of Publick and joyful Thanksgiving as at this day both on his own behalf and ours For it must be remembred as 't was told us before That we likewise are concer'd in duty herein It must be our business as well as our Kings To rejoyce and bless God for this great Salvation And were there none other reason we were oblig'd hereto solely for the sake of our Soveraign The Holy Scriptures have told you already That Prayers and Praises besides are owing for Kings and All in Authoriiy And what is more reasonable and just Doth not He Protect us under God in our Lives and Liberties and Estates Nay which is yet more Is not He the Defender of the Faith and a Preserver of the Gospel amongst us You know He 's our Governour our Father and our Head How great is our Concernment therefore in His Safety and Happiness Is there any of us that can honestly grudge to say to our King as David's good Subjects once said unto him Thou art worth ten thousand of us And if God's Church of Old bewailed the loss of their King as loosing the breath of their nostrils Lam. 4.20 Should not a Christian Church have an Equal Value for their King now Nay verily if God had permitted this Dreadful Design to have prosper'd we should have had but too much cause to have taken up their mournful Dialect and in the Utmost Extent of its sense too For I beseech you consider into what a dismal Chaos Matters had presently been trun'd What frights and spoils what havocks and slaughters must have instantly followed When the White Flag of Peace had been dip'd a Blood-colour and the ravenous Sword like an hunger-bit Lyon at his Prey were tearing and devouring our Flesh whither then could we fly for Refuge Say that some of us might have scaped with our Lives where had our Liberties been Must not our Ears have been bored and We sealed an Indenture of perpetual Slavery to the Prevailing Party What would have become of Religion Posterity and Numberless Souls God onely knows The Prevention whereof gives us just reason to say This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad therein But this will have its more proper place in