Hereditary Right It would certainly be one of the strangest things in the World That when every Man's Property is secur'd and made so by the King's Laws and Power and yet He himself should have none That every Man should enjoy the Benefit of Laws and Society and the King the Head of the Society should be in Hobs's State of Nature and every Man had a Right to every thing of His. And if a Man can but get together Men and Arms tho' he cannot without Injustice to a farthing of any Man 's else yet he may lay Claim to the King's Crown and Dignity 'T is Injury and Theft to desire or take away but a penny-worth of ours And is it nothing to Usurp upon the Government to Invade the King's Dues His Patrimony and Inheritance These are and always have been esteem'd the most Sacred and Inviolable All Societies have been so extremely tender of the King 's Rights that the least visible Violation of them hath always in the Eye of the Laws been accounted a Crime of an extraordinary Nature The Scriptures in this particular confine our very Thoughts much more all overt Acts. The King hath a Right to our Honour and Esteem and his Interest and Dignity are wrong'd by insolent Thoughts and undue Estimations much more sure by Reproachful Words and Rebellious Behaviour There is a kind of Divinity in the Persons of King's which breeds Awe and Dread Distance and Reverence and there cannot be a greater Instance of a Profligate Wretch 2 Pet. 2.10 than to break down the Pale of Majesty and not to be afraid to speak Evil of Dignities But when there are Men that defie God and Contemn the Divine Majesty it is not to be wondered if they do as much to his Vicegerent if there are State-Atheists who have so far shaken off all Reverence and Duty as impiously to vilifie the Persons and attempt upon the Interests and Safeties of Kings But these have been always accounted the Pests of the Earth who have violated all the Principles of Humanity and broke through all the Bonds of Society Men who have defy'd God Nature and the Laws The King's Honour Person Life and Government have been always secur'd by all the Tyes and Fences that Wisdom and Law can make and an Invasion of Them is the highest Sin a Man in Society can be guilty of And this is not only the Sense of Mankind but manifest also from the Nature of the thing Without This Society can never be preserv'd the Kingdom and the Interests of it secur'd and the Ends of Government answer'd For 't is a vain thing to expect this where the Supream and Governing Power is expos'd to Outrage and Violence How can the Kingdom be secure if the Government be not How should the King protect his People and administer Justice and Right among them If he himself is not protected if his own Rights are open to Invasion It is necessary therefore for our sakes as well as for the King 's that his Rights be maintain'd Every Stroke against Him is a Wound to the whole Kingdom Every Injury to Him is Injustice to all the People And whatever distinctions Republican Men may make between the Court and the Countrey the King 's Rights are the best preservative of the Peoples and the Security of the Government is the best Hold any Man hath for his own Safety If the King 's Right be liable to Question and Uncertainty to be disputed by the Claims and Pretences of every Man that hath a Mind to it like a Disease in the Head it affects the whole Body and the whole Kingdom will be always in Palsies Tremblings and Convulsions there can be nothing of Peace and Order all will be Confusion and Combustion it will be in a perpetual State of War and every Man against every Man The King's Security therefore and the Preservation of his Rights hath the greatest Influence on the Good of the whole and is the most necessary Principle of Publick Safety And Consequently that must be a very great Evil that Infringes or Invades them For proportionable to the Excellency and Goodness of a Thing that is Violated must be the Malignity of that which Violates it As words that are but a Scandal or a threatning against a Common Man may be Treason when spoke against the King and Blasphemy when against God Rebellion therefore is the greatest Offence that can be committed with Reference to Humane Society Both as it is against the Sacred Person of the King and also as it undermines that Power Authority and Protection which is Necessary to the Security of all Publick Societies The Advocates of the Late * Cromwel Usurper make use of this Argument Hobs Leviathan That because he had got the Force and Protection of the Kingdom into his Hands he was to be obey'd and not to be resisted for that the Attempts against Him would hazard the publick safety Hall of Richmond of Government and Obedience c. The strength of which as it Relates to Usurpation and the Villanous Means of attaining the Government I shall not now examine White of Obedience and Government Dr. J. Goodwin Quaeries And generally all that undertook that vsur pers Cause ofter his Success only infer that the Argument is much more forcible against Rebellion and Resistance when the Power and Government is in the Hands of a Lawful and undoubted Soveraign 2. The Nature and Constitution of Christianity And in the whole Tenor of our Religion there is scarce any thing of any kind but what directly opposes all Rebellious Attempts and Practices Let us look upon those Graces that adorn Christianity that are the most Eminent in Religion and we shall find they are utterly inconsistent with a Spirit of Rebellion There is Truth Humility Modesty Meekness and Justice And there is Charity Patience Forgiveness Peaceableness and Contentedness And are these Rebellious Vertues Do these teach Men to be Unquiet and Seditious To be Uneasie and Impatient under Government To vilifie and reproach their Governours To seek the Rights of other Men And to Invade the Crown Nothing in the whole World is so contrary In short these are Vertues without which 't is impossible to be a Christian and with which 't is impossible to be a Rebel And if Religion had done no more but this if it had only oblig'd Men to be Humble and Honest to be Patient and Contented to be Peaceable and Orderly in their Stations it had been abundantly sufficient to restrain any Man that had but the least Conscience or Sense of Religion from being Mutinous Factious or Rebellious For let a Man but Conscientiously observe any one of these Vertues and 't is as impossible for him while he does so to be a Traytor as 't is for a man at the same time to be a Christian and a Turk But Christianity hath gone much further It hath not left the Measures of our Obedience in
Generals but hath given particular and express Orders concerning it and those as Direct Peremptory and Full as any Laws ever have or can make It commands us to give the King his Dues and that sure is not by Invading his Birth-right it enjoyns us to pray for Him and that is not done by Vilifying and Aspersing Him by penning and sending forth Reproachful and Treasonable Declarations against Him It obliges to obey Him for Conscience sake and this is not done by Contemning His Authority and disowning His Government It Commands us if there be Occasion to Suffer but upon no account to Resist and this sure is not comply'd with by bearing of Arms and rising in Actual Rebellion against Him Now these Injunctions of the Gospel are as plain and positive as words can make them And it is not possible to find out Words more express and full than these Let every Soul be subject unto the Higher Powers Rom. 13.1.2 Whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation These are so plain that a man that owns Christianity must have a strange Conscience to evade the Force of them Those therefore that have had Wickedness enough to Rebel and would fain draw in Religion for Countenance have been very hard put to it to shift the Evidence and Strength of these Precepts They are so clear that they cannot do with them as they do with some other parts of Scripture wrest them to a contrary sense for no man can believe that Libelling the King is praying for Him or that rising up against him with Swords and Guns is not resisting him They therefore fall foul upon them and tell you These were Doctrines calculated for the first Times Dr. J. Goodwin Anticavilerisme when Christianity was Weak and the Number of it's Professors few Observat on the P. of Orange Julyan Apost c. and not able to engage the Power and Forces of Kings But are no Rules and binding where is Men Arms and strength enough This indeed makes quick Work of it and if it were sufficient would presently evacuate all the Precepts of the Gospel you might be as licentious and Villanous as you pleas'd you might be as Revengeful Cruel and Uncharitable as you thought fit you might Cheat and Defraud as many as you could 't is but saying the Precepts of Forgiveness Meekness and Honesty were accommodated for the first Times and all is well and your Conscience at ease Suppose a Man had a mind to kill his Father and Murder his Master and possess himself of his Goods 't is but saying the Commands of Duty to Parents and Fidelity to Masters are Temporary and there is no harm done I know they do not say so but I know likewise that no Mortal Man can give a reason why the one should be temporary and not the other there is no such limitation express'd in one more than the other and if the Nature of the thing be consulted there is more Reason for the continual Obligation to Obedience For Government is perpetual and so must Subjection be too for they are Relatives And Obedience to Government is more necessary with reference to the welfare of Mankind than either Common Honesty or Filial Duty And I wonder what those that urge this can say to that Text Rom. 13.5 Ye must needs be Subject not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake Not only for Wrath that is not only because the King hath a coercive Power and can Compel and Punish which is the very thing and all that they insist upon but also upon another ground for Conscience sake with Respect to God and Christ and the Principles of his Religion which in another place is therefore express'd for the Lord's sake 2 Pet. 2.13 Christian Obedience is founded not in Force because the Government is stronger but in Conscience because God commands it All the Duties of Religion are to be done for Conscience sake but 't is somewhat remarkable That of all the rest this only of Subjection to Authority should be so express'd which as it evidences the great Stress the Gospel lays upon this Duty so it takes away all manner of tergiversation and subterfuge for hereby all Rebellious Distinctions and Pretences are obviated Conscience is always pretended for Rebellion and can there be any thing more plain than that we must needs be Subject for Conscience sake that is from a Principle of Religion from the Laws of the Gospel the same Principle that is the Guide and Rule of our Consciences 'T is not therefore the King's Power and Strength but the Conscience of our Duty to God that makes Christians obey There are two Obligations to Obedience the one is Coertion and this is over Brutes or Brutish Natures ungovernable and Seditious Tempers that need Force and Compulsion and must be held as with a Bridle The other is Conscience and this is a Government over Good Men who yield a Free and Generous Obedience as acting under the Laws and Authority of Christ Every good Christian lives in Subjection by Vertue of his Religion and the Principles of his Conscience And to come yet further to this fulsome Objection Christian Religion which is the Law of Conscience and the Director of all Christians actions is not a fraudulent and deceitful Institution to accommodate its Doctrines as these Men represent it to Times and Seasons and not to the Nature of things and Rules of Common Equity To teach Obedience only to serve a turn with to order Men to be patient and submissive till they could get Numbers to be otherwise is the most dishonourable and Base and the Fowlest thing that can be said of any Institution it makes it not a staid Rule of Practice but a Cheat and Trepan There may be Evil Men that can shew Tricks and make fair Shews till they have opportunity to do their Mischief But this is not possible for a Law and much less for the best of Laws the Gospel which is always even and true always the same to day to morrow and for ever The first Christians were to obey and not to Resist their Rulers and so are we and that not for Reasons variable and alterable according to Times and Seasons but by a standing Rule by Conscience a perpetual Principle binding to us and to all Christians to the end of the World The Law therefore is Good but there are bad Men who would fain Transform it into their own Likeness They are quiet when they dare not be otherwise and resolve to be in Subjection but till they can get strength to Rebel and they would put this Vizor on Religion and make Christianity as Hypocritical as themselves They will obey no longer than there is Force to make them And Thanks be to God the King hath been strong enough for them and God grant He may always be so to keep those in their Allegiance by his Power
IMPRIMATUR Ex Aedibus Lamb. Aug. 1. 1685. Jo. Battely RR. P Dom. Guil. Archiep. Cantuar. a Sacris Domesticis A SERMON Preached on the 26th day of July 1685. Being the Day of THANKS-GIVING Appointed for His Majesty's Victory Over the REBELS In the United Parishes of St. Margaret Pattons and St. Gabriell Fenchurch London By THO. WAGSTAFFE Chancellor of the Cathedral Church of Litchfield and Rector of the said Parishes LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-head in St. Paul's Church-yard 1685. 1 Kings I. 5. Adonijah the Son of Haggith exalted himself saying I will be King and he prepared him Chariots and Horsemen and fifty Men to run before Him THE Throne of David was set up and establish'd by God himself who at that time reserved to himself the particular appointment of the Kings of Israel and Judah He first caus'd Saul and then David to be anointed King And yet notwithstanding God's own appointment there were several Mutinies Seditions and Rebellions of his Subjects which is a sure Evidence that no Right of Government can be so Just no Title to the Crown so Unquestionable and firm which shall not be liable to the Pretences Claims and Disturbances of wicked and Ambitious men Certainly no man could question Gods Right and Power of Nomination or that David was the Person nam'd by him for their King These were evident and undoubted And yet not only Ishbosheth the Son of Saul and Sheba the Son of Bichri but even two of his own Sons lay Claim to the Soveraignty and rise up in Rebellion against him A plain Proof that where the Conscience is large enough for Rebellion it will easily slip thro' all other tyes of Nature and Gratitude These that could quit themselves of their Allegiance easily discharged their Filial Duties He that can be a Traytor to the Father of his Countrey will not scruple the breach of Fidelity to his Natural Parents He that can be a Rebel to his King will soon make nothing of being undutiful to his Father We have a double instance of this in David who was an Excellent King and a most Indulgent Father and yet first his Son Absalom and here his Son Adonijah said I will be King and he prepared him Chariots and Horsemen and fifty Men to run before Him He prepared Him Chariots and Horsemen and fifty men to run before him Whether these Preparations were matters of State and Magnificence suitable to that place of Dignity and Honour he aspir'd unto or whether they were Preparations of Men Arms and Ammunition necessary to maintain his Rebellion The same words are expressed of Absalom when he first began to set up for a Rebel 2 Sam. 15.1 And it came to pass that Absalom prepared him Chariots and Horsemen and fifty Men to run before him Whether therefore these are Instances and Marks of Majesty the Royal Attendance and Equipage like the Kings Life-guard and because they claim'd to be King's they would be Royally and like Soveraign Princes attended and waited on or whether they were the joyning of other Rebels a getting together of Men and Arms to Invade the King and his Subjects and the preparations of Chariots and Horsemen were the forming a Rebellious Army Which of these two is meant by these words is not so very certain But it is certain that not onely Absalom but Adonijah also however these words are meant did make such preparations did invite and procure many of the Kings Subjects who were inclinable to Faction and Rebellion to abet their Cause to appear in their behalf against their Father and Lawful Soveraign In discoursing of these words I shall indeavour 1. To consider some Circumstances relating to Adonijah's Rebellion parallel to our own Case to the late Rebellion 2. To represent the Iniquity of such and all Rebellious Attempts and Practices 3. To Apply the whole 1. Reflect on some Circumstances relating to Adonijah's Rebellion parallel to the late Rebellion as The Person The Time of His Rebellion The Occasion of it The Persons associating and assisting The Defeat 1. The Person Adonijah the Son of Haggith Who this Haggith was whether David's Wife or his Concubine is not express'd but it is probable she was some obscure woman And the Reason of this Conjecture is that when there is mention made of David's Sons and of whom born the Mothers are exprest who they were in Lineage and Descent except Haggith and one more So we read 2 Sam. 3. and 1 Chron. 3. The first-born was Amnon of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess the second Chileab of Abigail the Wife of Nabal the Carmelite the third Absalom the Son of Maacha the Daughter of Talmai King of Geshur the sixth Ithream by Eglah David ' s Wife but when it speaks of Adonijah and Shephatiah it says only that the one was the Son of Haggith the other of Abital without any intimation from whence or whose Daughters they were Which to me seems that they were probably his Concubines or however of some mean Lineage and low Extraction otherwise there can hardly be a Reason assign'd why the Country Tribe or Parentage of these should not be mention'd as well as the other 2. The time of Adonijah ' s Rebellion and that was some time before the Death of his Father that Father that had been so extreamly kind to him that to enhance the foulness of his Rebellion 't is said immediately after the Text And his Father had not displeased him at any time in saying why hast thou done so Nothing of displeasure but the highest kindness the greatest expressions of tenderness and affection had always been manifested from his Father And herein we shall not need to make the Parallel It only differs That the Rebellion we are delivered from did not break out in the time of the late King of ever blessed memory but it comes thus near it was hatched then and in all probability would have then appear'd in its own colours Rebellion and Treason mixed with the highest ingratitude and ill nature had it not been providentially discovered and seasonably prevented 'T was then laid and contriv'd and just ripe for action but the Providence of God and the Wisdom and Vigilance of the King stifled it and hindered its further appearance 'T was the same then in Intention and would have been the same and probably worse in Execution but that the Discovery brought some of the Conspirators to punishment and dispersed the rest who since associated themselves again and upon the Kings Mercy and Indulgence and the Ruines of the Plot have built up and fram'd this ungrateful and unnatural Rebellion 3. The occasion of this Rebellion and that seems to be that another had a better claim to the Government There was another from God after David declared the rightful Successor of the Crown God had established it in Solomon as David himself openly declares to the People 1 Chron. 6.5 And of all my Sons for the Lord hath given me many Sons
an Army of Rebels The Christian Institution is too soft and gentle too meek and mild for such a hardned and overgrown Temper But he may be well qualified for a Priest to those Heathen Deities delighted with Humane Sacrifices who first slay Men and then offer up the Flesh and Blood to their Gods Murder would then be even as now it is the Exercise of his Religion and Priestly Function It is not in my Nature to speak hardly or reproachfully of any Man but who can be Temperate on such an Occasion A Man whose Profession is Peace and Piety to be Author of the most Abominable Councils and to be a Minister of the Highest Wickedness is a Prodigy and a Monster A Bloody Villain in the Shape of Religion is a Devil in the Name of God and there is nothing in this World comes so near Satan transforming himself into an Angel of Light as a Man pretending he is a Minister of Christ and at the same time to be a Traytor and a Rebel a Murderer and a Cut-throat 5. His Defeat And this was very sudden for as soon as Adonijah and his Associators heard that Solomon was crowned King that Zadock and Nathan and Benaiah and the Cherethites and the Pelethites Men of Loyalty Vertue and Courage stood by the Rightful Successor and Lawful King against the Pretensions of Adonijah they were presently dismay'd and dispers'd 'T is probable they expected more of the Kings Subjects to have joyn'd them that all the Discontented in the Land or the Remainders of Absalom's Rebellion would have flock'd in unto them But when by the suddenness of Solomon's Crowning and the expeditious meeting of the Loyal Party they saw themselves overpower'd they broke up their Rebellious Meeting and every Man went his way v. 41. Now the Case before us in this particular is not every way Parallel the Late Rebels were not so very soon defeated but thanks be to God it was not long they did some Mischief first and kill'd some Loyal and Good Men but the Kings Care and Industry prevented them from doing much So soon as they came to a picht Fight God whose Name be prais'd gave the Victory to his Majesties Forces and the Rebels were totally routed And This is the Matter of our Thanksgiving and the Purpose of this Day So it is Parallel in the Compleatness of their Dissipation tho' not altogether in the suddenness of it 'T is Parallel in the chearful and ready appearance of the King 's Loyal and Dutiful Subjects to Oppose with their Lives and Fortunes all false Claims and Pretensions whatsoever And so I have done with the first thing Reflecting on some Circumstances relating to Adonijah's Rebellion parallel to the Rebellion we have been delivered from I have not indeed been so very exact and punctual as to point out every parallel and to compare every particular but where I have not the Things are so very plain and obvious that they compare themselves and it would be needless to do that which every Man's understanding cannot but supply 2. To Represent the Iniquity of such and all Rebellious Attempts and Practices And this I must confess is more than I can do they are Evils of such a Size as exceed all the Powers I have and surpass all the Representation I can make Some Mischiefs like some Sorrows are so great that they silence all Expression they astonish our Faculties and are too big for vent As there are Extasies of Joy and Agonies of Pain things that may be felt and conceiv'd but are so High that no Description reaches them So there are Quintessences of Villany a kind of inexpressible Wickedness which damps and stupifies the thoughts of which overcharge the Spirits and possess us with a kind of Extatic Horror and Confusion I can tell you what Fraud and Injustice is and I can describe Theft and Murder to you I can lay open the Vileness of unnatural Parricide But all these together and more the Dismal Contrivances of Assassination the Horrid Consequences of a Seditious Army the united Mischiefs of Treason and Rebellion who can tell what to call them Or where are words bad enough to express them They overwhelm our Minds and are not so properly Objects of our speech as of our amazement I shall not therefore undertake the full Representation for that is more than I can do but we may besides many others make some Conception of the Mischiefs of it in these two following Particulars 1. As it violates all the Principles of Humane Society 2. As 't is contrary to the Nature and Constitution of Christianity 1. As it violates the Principles of Humane Society The Fundamental Principles of all Humane Society are the securing every Man's Right and the Preservation of the whole The Prophet speaks of a Time when every Man shall sit under his Vine Micah 4.4 and under his Fig-Tree and none shall make them afraid v. 3. But when is this When Men shall beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks But not when there are Rebels in the Land who do quite contrary who beat their Plough-shares into Swords and their Pruning-books into Spears No man can sit under his Vine can be at ease and rejoyce in his Labours and reap the Fruits of his Care and Industry when Injustice and Spoyl lye at the Doors What can we call our own Or what Property can secure us When there are men of Prey and Violence that will seize our Possessions and take the Meat of our Mouths What Justice to our Rights can be expected from these Men Whose whole Pretence and Business is invading the Rights of our Soveraign And this I doubt not hath been sadly experimented by many the Inhabitants of those Counties that were the Seat of the Late Rebellion We have a Right to our Religion and to our King To our Lives and Possessions To our Families and Relations And all these are violated by Rebellion Rebellion is a Comprehensive Evil and contains in it all that is Vile 'T is not one single Sin but all 'T is not onely Rebellion and yet that is bad enough but 't is Treason and Theft and Murder and Perjury besides Consider therefore what it is to have your God Dishonour'd your King Injur'd your Religion Prophan'd your Goods Plunder'd your Churches Rob'd your Persons Kill'd your Wives Ravish'd and your Daughters Deflour'd Consider the Tears of Widows and Orphans the loss of Children the Demolishing of Edifices the Destruction of Corn and Cattel and all the Ravages and Devastations of Merciless and Blood-thirsty Men. And These and all These and much more than These is Rebellion In short 't is all the Evil the wisest Men can think and the worst Men can act But yet there is another Right in Humane Society and that is the King 's Right For sure the Crown is not a Prize that every Man may put in and Fight for but a Matter of Right an Ancient and