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A42728
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A sermon preached at St. Andrew's Plymouth, January 30th, 1698/9 by John Gilbert ... ; with a preface defending King Charles the martyr, and the observation of his day, against the libels, and practice of such, who are enemies to both.
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Gilbert, John, d. 1722.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing G711; ESTC R3491
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22,764
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68
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King to have as eminent Virtues and few Vices as any Man that He was an excellent Protestant free from intending Tyranny or Arbitrary Government WHAT a multitude of such Characters are there extant from the Tongues and Pens of Great and Good Men who would not Flatter could not be Deceived knowing what they said to be true In what Rapture and Extasie have His Praises been celebrated and the highest Eulogies given of this incomparable King in the most solemn and greatest Assembly of the Nation for its Number and Quality I mean our Parliaments who every Year as I have already observed approve and publish the Praises and Celebrations of this King's Innocence Righteousness Wisdom and great Vertues AND now I appeal to all Rational Men which is of most Credit in such a case The Evidence of Mortal Enemies undeceived and penitent the Judgment of the highest Judicature the Verdict of an English General Council the Declaration of our Oracles and the Dying Testimony of Men of Honour Integrity and a publick Spirit Or the Slanders of such Scandalous Witnesses as are already Convict of Perjury and proved non probus the Calumnies of such proscribed Traitors as Ludlow or the Lyes Reproaches popular Defamations Falshoods of Grub street and Factious Cabals which have neither Foundation or Proof and the Divulgers of which are ashamed to be known Judge like English Men and speak your minds I must end here and reserve the abundance more I have to say on this Head for another Occasion after a few Words to such as are made believe King Charles was not Author of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to those who Neglect or Oppose the Observation of His Day THE former I refer to the Second Edition of that Excellent Defence lately made of His Right to that Seraphick Book by Mr. Wagstaff and is Sold by H. Hindmarsh in Cornhill Where all Objections are obviated and its being Genuine proved by irrefragable Arguments and unquestionable Evidence The same is done by the Author of the Princely Pellican Restitution to the R. Author Mr. Long 's Answer to Dr. Walker And in several Tracts lately written by Dr. Hollingworth and many others TO those who are so barbarous as to Affront God and the Law in making this Day a Festival A. D. 1694. came out a Libel writ by J. G. on purpose to dissuade the People of England from obeying a Law of their Country viz. Statute 3. 2. Car. 12. if they are English Subjects I will only urge the Command of a Statute Law the Practice of the King and three Estates and the Generality of the Nation and beg of them to consider if not in Conformity and Obedience to the Law and Good Manners to the King Lords and Commons for many Dissent from and grow Regardless of all those yet for the Reasons pathetically urged by the Reverend Preacher of this Sermon they at least forbear to Affront and Pervert the solemn Anniversary Celebration of the Day on which for our Sins the R. Martyr went to Heaven and pray with that Church in and for which He Died That His Memory may be ever blessed among us that we may follow the Example of His Courage Constancy Meekness great Patience and Charity And that this our Land may be freed from the Vengeance of His Righteous Blood and Gods Mercy glorified in the Forgiveness of our Sins Amen Yet mighty God! Yet yet we Humbly crave This Floating Isle from Shipwreck save And tho' to wash that Blood which doth it stain It well deserves to sink into the Main Mr. Cowley Yet for the Royal Martyr's Prayer The Royal Martyr Prays we know This guilty perishing Vessel spare Hear but His Soul above And not His Blood below Ita Canit James Yonge A SERMON Preached at St. Andrew ' s Plymouth On the 30th of January 1698 9. 2 SAM xxi Chap. part of the first Ver. And the Lord answered It is for Saul and for his Bloody House because he slew the Gibeonites IN the former part of this Verse we find there was a Famine in the Days of David Three Years Year after Year and DAVID enquired of the LORD In the Reign of David though a Man after God's own heart an heavy Judgment a Famine for Three Years was inflicted on God's ancient People And the Famine having continued so long a time David might reasonably imagine there was more than a natural Cause and that God for some reason not known to him might inflict the heavy Judgment upon him and his People And therefore being careful of their Welfare he enquired of the Lord that is by the High-Priest with the Vrim and Thummim by whom God upon extraordinary Occasions did give answer to such enquiries And the Answer to this we have in the Text. And the Lord answered It is for Saul and his bloody House because he slew the Gibeonites Now we may find in the following Verse who thefe Gibeonites were and why Soul slew them The Gibeonites were not of the Children of Israel but a remnant of the Amorites and Saul sought to slay them in his Zeal to the Children of Israel and Judah For a further understanding of this Matter we must have recourse to the 9th Chapter of the Book of Joshua where we find that this People when they had heard that Joshua and the Israelites had destroyed Jericho and Ai they sent Ambassadors pretending they came from a far Country saying They heard of the Fame of God and all that He did in Aegypt and to all the Kings of the Amorites and therefore they desired to make a League with them And that they might the better delude them they put on old Garments and brought Provision that was dry and mouldy saying These things became so by their long Journey By this Craft and Dissimulation they obtained a League confirmed by the Oath of the Princes of Israel But there was great murmuring when the People understood how they were outwitted by these Gibeonites and deceived by their Craft and Dissimulation for they belonged to a City of the Amorites who by God's Command were to be destroyed with the rest of the Canaanites And though they pretended they came a long Journey lived not three Days Journey from them But to quiet the People Joshua and the Princes appointed them to be Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water but spared their Lives because they had Sworn unto them by the Name of the Lord God of Israel And in this mean and survile condition they continued till the Days of Saul who slew them for which in the Days of David long after this Act of bloody Cruelty was committed God punished that People with a Famine which continued Three Years Now there is one Thing needs Explication before I come to those Observations which I design to be the main Subjuct of my Discourse at this time These Gibeonites being Amorites how could Saul offend in Killing them since by God's express Command they were to
to shew 1st What cause we have yet to fear the Judgments of God to avenge the innocent Blood of our late SOVERAIGN who was upon this Day Barbarously Murthered And 2d What Course we should take to prevent the Execution of such Judgments 1st To shew what cause we have yet to fear the Judgments of God to Avenge the innocent Blood of our late SOVERAIGN who was Barbarously Murthered on this Day I suppose I need not spend time to prove to you who are before me that the Executing of our late SOVERAIGN was not an Act of Justice but of Inhumane and Barbarous Cruelty If we are not convinced of this it is vile Hipocrisy to assemble upon this occasion The Act of Parliament by which this Day is set apart and enjoined for Humiliation and Prayer declareth the putting our late SOVERAIGN to Death to be An Horrid Impious Execrable 2 Car. 12. Murther and unparalell'd Treason committed by a party of Wretched Men desperately Wicked and hardened in Impiety who were neither true Protestants nor true Subjects but Miscreants whose Fanatick Rage gave the Protestant Religion the greatest VVound and Reproach and the People of England the most insupportable Shame and Infamy it was possible for the Enemies of GOD and the KING to bring upon them And in the Prayers which we Offer up to God this Day the Vertues of this Murther'd Prince His Courage and Constancy His Patience and Charity are commemorated His Innocency is asserted His Cause is justify'd in that His Death is stiled a Martyrdom by which we may know how to judge of that which is called the good Old Cause Old indeed as that of Lucifer but no better though more prosperous We certainly who offer up such Prayers as those if we have one grain of sincerity must be well satisfied that the Blood of this Day was Innocent and therefore may justly provoke God when he maketh Inquisition for Blood to punish our Sinful Land wherein this was shed Taking it then for granted that the Arraigning Condemning and Executing King Charles the First of Blessed Memory was an Act of Barbarous Injustice and Cruelty I proceed to shew what reason we have to fear God may deal with us as he did with David and the People of Israel for Saul's Murthering the Gibeonites If we compare the Person Murthered on this Day with those mentioned in the Text we shall find his Quality to be such that it will aggravate the Shedding of his Blood above that which was punished with a Three Years Famine Our late Murthered Soveraign had the Piety of David without his Sins No Vriah fell by his Cruelty no Bethsheba was defiled by his Lust And if David was worth Ten Thousand Israelites as they all declared 2 Sam. 18. 3. the Martyr of this Day was more worth then all the Gibeonites and therefore we may fear his innocent Blood may pull down more than a Three Years Famine If with the generality of Interpreters we look upon the Murther of the Gibeonites as more Hainous because of the Perjury conjoyned with it by the Violation of that Oath which was taken for their Preservation hath not the Murther of this Day the same Aggravation but in a higher Degree That was an Oath taken by Joshua and the Princes of Israel some Hundred Years before Saul's time But the Authors of this Day 's Murther had Personally taken the Legal Oath of Alegiance and that Illegal one of the Covenant and were obliged by both to preserve the Life of this excellent Prince and his Honour too And if we proceed to compare our Case with those before-mentioned in which you heard God inflicts Judgments for the Blood and Violence of a preceding Generation we may see farther Cause to fear that when God maketh Inquisition for Blood that of this Day may be remembred Did not David as you hear befored mind the killing of the Gibeonites nor the Hardships those were under who did survive that Cruelty Is it not plain the Two last Kings tho' somthing was done to avenge their Father's Blood had little Regard to the Service and Sufferings of his Friends For many of those found more Favour who ventured their Lives and Fortunes to bring the King to the Block then those who Hazarded both to keep him from it Were the Jews Punished for Crucifying our Saviour Forty Years after because they owned and justified that bloody Fact And were the Scribes and Pharisees threatned to be punished for the Blood of Abel and Zacharias because they were acted by the same Temper and Principles by which those unjust and cruel Actions were committed It is plain our Case carrieth great Resemblance to these For are there not Books openly Printed and Sold in which the Murther of this Day is Justified Do we not in Conversation often hear the Righteous Cause of our late Murthered Soveraign Arraigned and Condemned and his sacred Memory Blasphemed And by this it is plain there are many amongst us who want nothing but Age to have appeared in the Court in which the late King was Condemned or on the Scaffold on which he was Executed And doth not that Hatred of Monarchy and Zeal for another Species of Government the Principles by which our late Soveraign was brought to the Block encrease amongst us These are Matters too Evident to be denied though it is very strange it should be so under the Government of a Crowned Head the Grandson of our Royal Martyr who hath the same Blood running in his Veins which was this Day shed And thus having shewed that we have Cause to fear there may be more Judgments in Store to avenge the Royal and Innocent Blood this Day shed I proceed in the 2d Place to consider what Course we should take to prevent the Execution of these Judgments And what more effectual way can be thought on than what the Authority and Wisdom of the Nation hath appointed The Observation I mean of this Day for Humiliation and Prayer To implore the Mercy of God that the Guilt of that Sacred and Innocent Blood may not be Visited on us or our Posterity as the Statute sensibly express'd it Were not too many so Cross-grain'd as to turn this Fast into a Feast Were not those who appoint so many Fasts for the private Concerns of a Conventicle so Froward as to Despise this which is Commanded by Authority for a General and Publick Good Did we all Assemble this Day to Humble our selves before God for our Sins to declare our Abhorrence for the Murther of this Day and to Deprecate the Vengeance it may provoke GOD to Inflict Did we to such an Observation of this Day add a sincere Reformation of our Lives endeavouring to live Peaceably and quietly in all Godliness and Honesty then we might turn our Fears of Divine Vengeance into Hopes of Enjoying many Years of Peace and Prosperity under His present Majesty whom GOD hath set over us Which God of his infinite Mercy grant through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Charles Yeo John Pearce and Philip Bishop BOOKSELLERS in EXON SElect Hymns each fitted to two Tunes to be Sung in Churches The Beauty of Holiness Or a short Defence and Vindication of the pious Decency Regularity and Order of Reading the Communion-Service at the Communion-Table offered to a dissatisfied Neighbour from his Minister A Form of Prayer for Married Persons for the most part taken out of the Liturgy A Practical Treatise concerning Evil Thoughts wherein are some Things more especially useful for Melancholy Persons By William Chilcot M. A. Mr. Blount's Oracles of Reason Examined and Answered in Nine Sections In which his many Heterodox Opinions are Refuted the Holy Scriptures and Revealed Religion are Asserted against Deism and Atheism By Josiah King M. A. and Chaplain to the Right Honourable James Earl of Anglesey A Sermon preach'd in the Parish Church of Bovey Tracy on Easter Day 1698. By Francis Stooke M. A. A Sermon preach'd in St. Saviour's Church in Dartmouth July 24th 1698. Together with some Reflections on the Opinion of those who affirm That the only Difference between the Church and the Meeting-House is that of a few Ceremonies In a Letter to a Friend By Humfry Smith M. A.