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
noble accomplishments O what a pitiful dull thing is this rebellious malice how base and weak is it in its attempts how happily is it defeated and disappointed what have they done but to raise us higher by our fall and to lift themselves up on high that they might fall with a greater more dreadful ruine What do you think now you that us'd to talk so much of Providence where was your consideration of God's eternity I speak this not to reproach you but to undeceive you Did you think that God would never come and appear again because he hid his face from us for a time 2 Pet. 3.9 The Lord is not slack as some men count slackness for a thousand years in his sight are but as one day He hath now appeared again sooner than we could expect and much sooner than we deserv'd The stone which the builders Psal 118.22 23. not of Jerusalem but of Babel refused is now become the head of the corner This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The other was the Lord's doing too in exercising his just judgment upon a sinful Nation But this is his work of mercy the benefit whereof we hope will endure to all succeeding ages 'T is our comfort that we have remaining an illustrious branch of that ROYAL STEMME from which we hope to enjoy the fruits of Justice Goodness and Clemency Uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus simili frondescit virga metallo God and Nature his undoubted right and his Princely vertues have made him our King long since though we have wanted the comfort of his presence If any of his enemies should impertinently ask where his Kingdom hath been all this time 'T is easily answer'd where their 's never was He hath reign'd in the hearts and affections of his loving and faithful subjects which is a Kingdom farre more great and glorious than the proudest and most insolent Usurpers can ever hope to obtain Our Bodies only the worser part of us were under their power but our Minds which are most truly and properly our selves were at his dispose They bound our Hands but our Hearts were knit and oblig'd to him They possess'd the Cabinet but they could never come at the Jewel In the worst of times duty and allegiance were farre from suffering a totall defection and I dare confidently affirm that there are more than seven times seven thousand in England that never bow'd their knees to Baal If you could have then discover'd the hearts of many that were faithful in the Land there might you have discern'd a constant and immoveable Allegiance there might you have beheld the brightest flames of unextinguish'd love and Loyalty And now since the danger of owning him is taken away and the obstruction is removed behold how those hidden flames break out and make a glorious appearance Your eyes have seen and your ears have heard with how great a chearfulness with what expressions of unexpressible joy he is every where acknowledged I know no rejoycing that can so well be compared with ours as that of the Israelites at the proclaiming and crowning of Solomon 1 Kings 1. 39 40. They blew the trumpet and all the people said God save King Solomon And all the people came up after him and the people piped with pipes and rejoyced with great joy so that the earth rent with the sound of them And yet they had not so great reason to rejoyce as we Their change was but from a David to a Solomon immediately from a righteous KING and a great warriour to a wise and peaceful Prince But we I need not tell you the difference What shall we say now to those impostours that endeavour'd to put out our eyes by their frequent boasting of the consent of the people by pretending that their advancement was the Nation 's interest 'T is a sign they were farre from true Nobility that could so impudently practise that base and slavish vice of lying to maintain their ill-gotten authority I confess the late Tyrant in one or two instances seem'd to be somewhat modest but I attribute that rather to the over-ruling hand of Providence than to any goodness of his He styled himself Protectour of England Scotland and Ireland This was a notorious untruth for he was the ruiner and destroyer of these flourishing Kingdoms But here his impudence fail'd him that he durst not adventure to write himself By the Grace of God Again you know time was when he would and would not be King when he refus'd and yet hop'd that his refusal would have gain'd him that honour But in conclusion he miss'd of that which he had sought with so much ambition This again I ascribe to Divine Providence whose admirable contrivance it was that the Crown the sacred Embleme of Divine Power and Majesty should never touch that villanous and polluted head I need not tell you your own experience may abundantly inform you how dangerous it is to be under the dominion of ignoble and unworthy persons Whereas he that is of Royal birth and is a King by the appointment of God and Nature can maintain his dignity without those base and ignoble arts without those ambitious shifts and contrivances which are the only support of those that have no right and as little merit Again he that is a King by birth must needs look upon his people as his own natural possession and is thereby engag'd to provide more affectionately for their good and welfare and to regard them with a more tender and paternal care Lastly He that is such will be more sensible of honour and is likely to propound more noble ends in all his designs and counsels Therefore whether we look back upon what we have suffer'd or forward upon what we hope to enjoy in both respects we have reason to acknowledge this blessing of the Text Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the son of Nobles And we may well take up those words of the Queen of Sheba Blessed he the Lord our God which delighted in him to set him on the throne of this our Israel 1 Kings 10.9 Because the Lord our God loved Israel for ever therefore he hath made him King to doe justice and judgement 'T has been our very great unhappiness to know him yet but little by experience But all the fame and the report of those that know him speaks him to be a rare and most accomplish'd Prince And yet I hope that his wisdome and goodness will hereafter so much exceed our present expectations that we shall say 1 King 10.6 7. as the fore-mentioned Queen did to Solomon It was a true report which we heard but the half was not told us In the mean time I shall give you two ample and honourable testimonies of him when he was nine or ten years younger than now he is from two dying Lords who being persons of honour and at the point of death are
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