winds in an imperious Den or Castle so impossible it is to confound that habitation of equal Justice where nothing is perverted Our Kings many and Miraculous deliverances from most eminent dangers and the thred of his life interwoven with durance and protection may in all reason silence the parlour Sermocinatours of rebellion They all know and some confess whose work both preservation and Restauration is yet they retain a certain inflexible stiffeness God must be beholding to them for a certificate of approbation or the work shall be none of his Nay if the preserved King and grateful people satisfie not their exorbitant lusts before the will of the great Preserver they will attempt the undoing of what God hath done as if aiming at the annihilation of his power BUT their powers and wills are not in the same consistory being as far divided so unequally active And he who now disableth did formerly disappoint They who formerly endeavoured the frustrating of Providence were their own punishments in many fruitless attempts but now they are especially by necessity of forbearance of acting that which in will hath been long since peretuated HOWEVER let them do and think what they will experience teacheth the us truth of this That although hand joyn in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered That the later is performed is punishment for some onely to behold who are besides their sin more miserable then any as being the peevish Authors of their own sufferings The rack of envy in their food the juyce of gall their Drink seeing their Ambition cannot Mount them on horseback while Princes walk on foot But while we enjoy our innocent desires may they long live and wish and hope yet never obtain until their wishes cease to be malignant and fixed upon the bloody ruines of Kings and Kingdomes Such red lines are they desirous to draw in their Calenders as Holy day marks that we may justly thank God who hath set his King upon his high places and withal curbeth their virulent and fierce inclinations so that he hath his enemies objects of derision yet one entire motive to compassion ABUNDANTLY and most deservedly may we thank God for this Sum of mercies A King From each of God's mercies flow so many rivulets as there are persons to enjoy it or that is hours to be enjoyed But this is a Mercy containing innumerable of the greatest The free use of true Religion is one inexplicably Which that each person may apprehend let him with calm and serene thoughts quiet those tumultuous waves within him tossing his affections to and fro at will Then may he with an inquisitive devotion look into our sacred Misteries and return to himselfe charmed out of all crooked prejudice by their noble blandishments and pleasures Adde we to the ornament of this blessing the mercy of uniteing Peace which he that desireth not deserveth to be subservient to shame and misery and justly meriteth our wishes that his own peace onely he may sacrifice to his fury until his temper by suffering becometh pacificatory The magnanimous Christian who mindeth the general good more then his own particular interest findeth himself there safest where none fear and maketh his chief Mansion to be his House who taketh pleasure in seeing brethren dwell together in unity But this blessing without our King was not to be hoped for The Crown and Crown properties sit neither commendably nor quietly upon any head and shoulders but the right Besides for God doth extraordinarily assist those to whom he giveth the sacred Prerogative they are too weighty to sit long on any wrong head or shoulders without a downfal or removal Either of which happening the ship of state falleth in peices the composure of which will never be effected by such crosse-byassed affections as at such a time commonly approach to the management of the work So while many contend for the Master-ship all is lost And in such combustions where some hope and most fear there is onely laughing work for forriegn spectators But this evil is removed when the right hand holdeth the sword of Justice when he who onely ought beareth sway and justly requireth Obedience in all WHAT happiness I here speak of in our enjoyment of him our Sovereigns titles forespeak unto us in these words King and defender of the Faith There needeth no more commendations of the first then a review of the past times which were most sad dismal and utterly obscure for want of this radiant Luminary The Prince of darkness then keep his festivals and prompted thereto by him every man did that which was right in his own eyes The contrary goods hoped for and to be effected by the power of the Regal presence may justly multiply suffrages in its election and esteem Accordingly we have known the joy and heard the acclamations of the people at our Kings return A voice grown much louder in twenty years space A Prince wisely eminent is the express image of God upon earth The loss of such an one therefore could be no less then an unhappy dejection into Cymerian darkness which tyranically usurped a Soveraignty over our benighted souls But violence in the extreames being least durable the glorious beames of Kingly splendour have victoriously dispersed those thick mists and obscuring vapours and our languishing spirits are revived by the bright rayes of his so much longed for presence The happiness to be found under regal government is amply manifested by the events of the contrary Our own memory may serve instead of reasons But among some commendations of it God's own words are express and highly observable They shall say we have no Kng because we feared not the Lord where the cause of deprivation was the Kingdomes sin and a Kings absence the Nations plague And as to our selves we had long been sick of and desperately groaning under the miseries of a changed and still changing state but remembring our selves deservedly punished as privy to our own distempers when sometimes we slighted God's savours at such time as we were full of them conveyed to us through this Golden Conduit we did bear it as we might but do now mightily rejoyce at our recovery As therefore health is truly so esteemed by those who have felt the bitter outrages of a perilous disease and have been rescued out of the very jaws of death whereas their careless thankfulness scarce owneth the Supream Preserver who were never sensible of him as an angry Correct our so we may be taught to prize God's ineffable blessing and to sin no more lest a worse thing come unto us then our overpast misery Humble supplication procureth and gratitude prolongeth divine favours As long as we know and are our selves God will smile upon us and reigne over us by his Word and Vicegerent TRUE greatness is alwayes that which keepeth the road of virtue and goodness They were the prayers of an undoubted and blessed Martyr a
speak for him who hath adventured far hazarded his life made a voluntary and free expence of his blood suffered ruin of estate bear reproaches imprisonments sequestration of the remainder if any thing were left of a broken fortune hunger nakedness and even utmost of calamities that could willingly have lain in the grave bitten and gnawed by those foul and insatible vermins which surrounded him so long as these miseries were common and now onely desireth to be revived by his Lords resurrection But necessity is no excuse for no man is necessitated to evil Let not I say their words pierce his sacred heart whom he loveth as his life nor let the Heroick excellencies of past dayes be summed up and disparaged by this final of that good subjects who have suffered with him and for him should any way endeavour releif rather than desire that he should now suffer for them For so many are the dayly and unexpected exigences of state that the great boone they expected if his Majesty were resolved upon it would no sooner be beneficial to some but it will would prove destructive to all Some make this answer We desire not neither have at all desired the exhausting of his majesties treasures for our satisfaction but still to have served his Majesty to serve him in peace and war now as well as formerly in war to manifest our continued fidelity by the honest discharge of some offices wherein are men imployed who have been of the cheif conspiratours and merciless spectatours of our long urgent disâ—â—â—â—es Granting all this for reasons where◠〈…〉 not perplex our selves nor 〈…〉 mysteries of State yet here 〈…〉 â—plain Time may recruit 〈…〉 â—t not spiritual Impa◠〈…〉 â—arm then an armed e◠〈…〉 â—continuance in it fre◠〈…〉 losses irreparable A 〈…〉 â—ged and commanded 〈…〉 â—at earnestly and still exhibit tokens of present as well as past desert Let prayers be offered up dayly that the King may be able and we may be assured of his willingness to do his servants good Let him provide for himself first that he may be the more royally liberal at last If there be any who think they have cause to complain let them more wisely bethink themselves that complaint is no satisfaction although it may be cause of delay The patient man soon ripeneth his hopes when the cold air of impatient speeches keepeth back the comfortable seasons Seeing they know their Lord to be of an incomparably sweet disposition but know not his reasons for what he doth nor most probably he their either desert or need let them not through their own bodies wound him for whose sake they once thought their blood vile and 〈◊〉 selves regardless Let their 〈…〉 beg but let not their 〈…〉 grieve him who hath irrit 〈…〉 nities thrown upon h 〈…〉 insupportable were r 〈…〉 assistant Let not I sa 〈…〉 his sacred heart who 〈…〉 nor let the Heroick ex◠〈…〉 be summed up and 〈…〉 of a causeless disgust We may consider our own condition and so judge of his Although some men have scarce so much as a will to do what they can for those who have well deserved of them yet on the other side others are intangled with infirmity and cannot stretch out their hands so far as their good will reacheth And Kings are but men who have the wings of their power many times so clipt that it cannot soare so high nor extend it self so far as it desireth The vastest and most unlimited power on earth meeting with a magnanimous goodness is too little and scant for the good which it would do As we cannot but be satisfied of the immensity of the goodness have we but patience until things grow as neer as may be proportionable to it we shall marvellously applaud the kindness and peradventure for nothing more then its delays by which it will become most magnificent and perfect There was a time when the cruellest of Tyrants made these persons of desert and fame in a sort subservient to a beggarly race of men of the vilest birth and condition Those dayes through Gods infinite mercies have an end which is more then any could by the rules of humane reasons have expected He who hath begun this good work will also finish it in his time Wherefore as a long expectation hath found a large recompence let the one be continued and the other will be compleated It is a great mercy to have ingenuous persons no longer cloystered nor miserable upon every wicked wretches lashes of conscience and merited fears to have alienated patrimonies return to the true proprietors to have many damages repaid with the bountiful favours of a most compassionate Prince But all things cannot presently nor as we will be effected God giveth to man to will and to do and maketh the will preparative to the act When he is pleased to give way other things which are wanting shall have their accomplishment whereas yet perhaps though the will be pregnant there is not strength to bring forth 2. LEVITY is the bane of prosperity although prosperity is the cause of Levity In adversity we can peradventure see aright but too much prosperity following so dazleth us that we are seldome able to look directly forward upon that which is most excellent and had formerly the signaâ— distinction of our Sounder approbation But quite otherwise what we oblickly glance upon we hotly contend for and maintain although ordinary reason consulted with affirmeth it to be the present dotage of our weakned apprehension Here as prosperity perverteth the judgement and introduceth Levity so Levity soon putteth us out of those joyous postures we are set in In the times of bitterness and hardship when an arbitrary power made us sensible of the misery of our deprivation of regal mildness when the just indignation of a remediless tyranny stirred up and cleared our intellectuals nothing was more desireable then the moderation of Princely demands which the juster they are be the more compassionate and sparing Then we hard the lamentable groanings of an oppressed people who notwithstanding professed that their sorrow was greater for that their contributions added nothing to the greaness of true Majesty then that they exchanged fulness and plenty for the pinches of poverty It was more grief that he received not who ought to impose then was any imposition a grievance Those complaints might deservedly have been commended as the brave commotions of noble dispositions but that those spirits are evaporated and quite lost What before seemed a gallant temper appeareth to be but a peevish invective proceeding from a disrellish of the griping carriage of the usurping Potentato whose title it seemeth did not so much displease as the way of maintaining it Blessed is he who condemneth not himself in that which he approveth The same persons now cry out What a King and yet taxes We hoped to have been delivered from such pressures and burthens What difference between this or that Government if the subjects purses must still
in this case plead injury for the cause Justice it self ruleth him who sitteth at Stern who cannot but have learned to deal Justice to all men from the abundance of wrong which himself hath suffered It should be each mans wise care to be just to every man for the unjust man is the first troubler of himself Therefore should there be put a Bridle in our Mouths to curb the eager motions of our lips and take away the liberty we too too much permit to our unruly tongues Discontent ought not to seize upon us from any conceit that we are forgotten or not regarded that we are pinched or depressed Also our very ears must be closed to keep out the whisperings of Malecontents lest their words entring engenger in us the Worm of Giddiness Where there is wariness assuredly there is most safety There are at no time wanting Troublers of the Weal publick whose words eat as doth a Canker being as skilful so oâ—ficious in spreading abroad the evil of their minds But let him who heareth any thing of this nature take heed of entertaining it and let him not so much as give the satisfaction of a Reply otherwise than by contempt of the baseness He who said I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgresâ— had learned that way which should keep him from the paths of the Destroyer That the mouth may not transgress it is much requisite to keep the ear at which many times have insensibly crept those mad evils which have corrupted the heart distracted the mind and set upon violent courses not only the tongue but also the hands which have suddenly brought to ruine both the Actors and Innocent Spectators If we hear that which we may have reason to suspect let us valiantly reprove rather than sinfully reply and by Argumentizing at length be drawn to a Partnership with such as are better skilled in Diabolical Subversion than Christian Edification Keep we therefore our ears and tongues if we love life and would see good days As we desire others to be merciful to our Reputations and not with hot words they being the most tender good which belongeth to any man to torment and scorch them so doth it especially concern us not to kindle the combustible Trash of Vulgar Affections by the flames whereof the Excellence of that Name which is sacred might be diminished and lose that esteem in the glory whereof conserved our chief felicity consisteth Let that Name be Magnified the full commendations whereof will prove Gods great blessing upon us Subjects The glory of a Kings Name is a Prophesie of assured happiness to light upon and rest round the secure people it is Armour of defence at home of offence abroad being commonly successful above Policy and Power Where the people willingly contribute to the augmentation of Fame observing the Princes good deeds and applauding them but smothering the hellish brands of suspition and jealousie that Nation needeth not fear suffering under the stroak of unfortunate calamity For obsequious Charity being Gods work carrieth with it his blessing and immuzeth all people who delight in it with invincible safety But Murmuring is none of his work it is nothing of Kind to any thing which he owneth and therefore cannot make any man happy Peaceable words and actions only nourish Prosperity giving the glory of the Divine Presence here wherein is fulness of joy according to our capacity and the hope of its Eternal Fruition in our Glorious Exaltation above Mortality Amen REbuke O Lord the tempestuous troubles of our souls calm our unquiet minds pacifie our unruly affections and subdue our more unruly tongues Leave us not in the troublesome anguish of erroneous darkness but make us clearly to see thy will and joyously to prosecute it both in word and deed Give us thy saving grace which when we want we cannot but be a trouble to our selves we then trouble our selves and the tumults of souls arise against thee whom in thine Anointed we are then apt to reproach passing the bounds and breaking the tyes of religion and Loyalty Bless us with the knowledge of the vanity of this world which passeth away and deludeth us teach us to commune with our hearts and be still and although there be a seeming cause of discontent to offer the Sacrifice of righteousness and put our trust alway in thee There be many who say Who can shew us any good or benefit by the present establishment of affairs But alas blind and heavy souls why walk they in so vain a shew and are disquieted in vain willfully contemning thy greatest favours and their own assured peace Surely thy servants do readily and heartily confess that thou thereby hast put gladness in our hearts having lift up the light of thy countenance upon us O that we could all devoutly wait upon thee and behold thee in the multitudes of thy mercies We are apt to erre in the shadows of imaginary injuries unless by thy especial grace preventing us we are kept from turning aside into those deceitful paths Send out we pray thee thy light and thy truth let them lead us let them bring us to thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles where we shall forget complaint and sing a new song which thou shalt put into our mouths even Praise unto our God O thou most gratious Saviour who hast brought us up out of the horrible pit out of the miry clay and set our feet above danger establish our goings and prevent our backslidings Let us not forsake our harbour nor make the vanity of our words the purchase of a new calamity But what have we wretches already done how far have we transgressed what have we nay what have we unrighteously spoken Pardon our unthankful murmurings and for the time to come set a watch upon our words and keep thou the door of our lips Let not the mischief of our own tongues overtake us but thy goodness mightily prevent us that we may be converted and healed It is in thy power to set up and to destroy to enthral and enlarge and them that seek thee thou never forsakest Give thy people perseverance in prayer to thee the God of their help then wilt thou who hast given courage to continue give grace also to obtaine and their desires accomplished will joy and refresh them Our wants thou knowest and alone canst relieve though we are poor and needy thou thinkest upon us Why then are our souls cast down why are they disquieted within us If we relye upon thee thou wilt enliven us and no good thing wilt thou withhold from us if we walk uprightly before thee Thou hast set before us the examples of those murmurers who lifted up their voices against the Leaders of thy people destroyed in the wilderness to the intent we should not lust as they lusted Thou hast also given encouragement to our faith promising that when we patiently wait for thee thou wilt encline thine ear unto us and hear our cryes
that there never was Church so beautifully flourishing which had not some Moles and blemishes but I am confident that for Doctrine and Discipline our Church is to say no more equal to the best and that few Ages of Christianity could more than can this present I speak with respect only to the Kings Dominions boast of Pious and Learned Church-Governours and Pastours Yet so loud an outcry raised by tumultuous Zealots hath been heard as if Religion were stifled in the Nests of Impurity and her blessed Light extinguished by those appointed to keep it still flaming But this as I observed not by any whose remarked and imitable Piety hath proved a light and guide to other mens feet but such as have alway taught the people the utility of Errour such as are what the Philosopher described the ungoverned Youth of his times Seneca Expugnatores alienâ pudicitiâ negligentes suâ such as have cast off the Cords of Religion and burst asunder the Bonds of Loyalty upbraiding Christs Vicegerent with a Crucifix for no other reason that I know but bâ—cause he hath taken off from them the Cross which their Rebellion so much merited So that although his charitable meekness hath looked upon their sin as venial their implacable malice will not permit them to commend or own this Goodness and Charity but provoketh them to deprave that and slander him and his And seeing how at the same time when they reproach the Church they calumniate the King I cannot but applaud that most judicious observation of that most venerable Martyr Land Ser in Psal â—4 22 That those men who are sacrilegious against God and his Church are for the neighbourhood of the sin the likeliest men to offer violence to the honor of Princes and their persons afterward They who will not spare a Princes honour will dare any thing against his sacred person seeing it is certain that a disesteemed Prince is more than half debarred of his regal power which none attempt but such as would if possible utterly dethrone him that themselves may step up and turn just Regiment into execrable Tyranny and the Beauty of Holiness into a Mass of confusion FOR these blessings do the people yeild themselves to be reduced and hearken to their insinuations so eagerly They have it 's true better things promised but it is strange that men whom no performances have justified should yet find a ready belief and that the people court their abuses as if woful experience had given them no caution Each man may at pleasure see the reward wherewith such masters gratifie their followers even the same that Lucifer conferreth upon his beguiled instruments who draweth them by the false representations of liberty to the tortures of the cruellest thraldome What between fear and hope the deceitful causes whereof they industriously scatter many are fitted for commotion as their language intimateth they speak so expertly after their teachers Matters of Hope are not entertained unless some fearful suggestions intervene Therefore when we use either preventives or remedies the fear of an evil induceth us to use such means as we Hope will remove the incumbent or preserve us from ensuing matter of dread But frequently as men are possessed with empty Hopes so are they as it were dispossessed of themselves by causeless fears Such are the Fears and Hopes fomented by seditious murmurers What fear of innovation in Religion or Government have the royal counsels or actions justly caused Where we see irresistible Constancy and the Defender of the Faith standing up in the defence of it why should we groan under suspitions and like timorous harâ—s start when there is no danger deserting the wood for the winds rustling among the dry leaves Those valiant soulders were justly derided quos pulvis motus fuga pecorum exuit castris When we either break our peace or run from our just defence upon noises we know not whence coming or where arising such ridiculous things do we become So is it also when vain Hopes seduce us and we fall to planting Paradises in the Ocean Can men unstable as water who cannot brook a just prosperity under a pious Prince ever enlarge our happiness They dread nothing more then rest and security as they know it not so neither do they desire it Would they then give the same measure of felicity to their followers which they Hope for themselves We see the utmost of it it is at best but an insecure and changeable estate Yet of this minute and treacherous bliss seldome hath the blind votary any more then his leaders promises Ambition loveth to ascend and then cause the dejected ladder to be burnt because there shall be no climbing for others by the same ascent nor any pattern remain to instruct others in the ways of advancement Without teaching the people Rebellion these mens designs never take effect If the ringleaders thereby obtain their ends it is no prudence in them to acknowledge the meaner help or obligations of gratitude to inferiours but these as well as the opposers of their towring motions must equally submit to the same scourge and flame Onely the first assisters may possibly have the favour like the Inventer of the Brazen Bull to have the first taste of their merciless power The unfortunate Hothams not to recount any more are a notable example of the kind remunerations of such services under such Lords Thus may the people see who is more fit to sway the Scepter our King the undoubted Heir of the Crown who when upon just ground he might have required it is tender and sparing of blood or those who care not what effusions they make so that their wills may be effected And surely such as is their road toward what they covet such are their walks when in possession terribly coloured and polluted with blood and slaughter For every ambitious man be hâ—s Words never so oyly and seemingly sanctified tantum ut noceat cupit esse potens AND now that these are their aims is more then probable Men should not be charged with the highest crimes upon slight suspition for then would not the purest innocence escape the foulest stains whilest aggravated mistakes should be unpardonable sins But I could wish my self in this case mistaken and rash being unwilling to foster a defaming prejudice If the seeing men of this age would censure me I should gladly condemn my self and with more joy publickly retract then now accuse which I certainly do compulsively not with delight But being by their light informed I may rather be said to speak their opinions then mine own private sentiments or discoveries And I farther wish that the contrivances of these men were so privately agitated that they came within the veiw of the sharpest judgments onely and were not by themselves proclaimed upon the house tops that men even of the inferiour ranks might behold them and be surprized with previous consternations before they give the blow They vaunt as if
enriched and made acceptable to God He looketh upon our simplicity in the first place and knoweth what is done for his sake and honour without our vain glorious proclamations It was surely vilany and not any thing to be drawn into example the act of the souldier who spit in the face of him whom he had before saluted as King or if there be in subjects an ill gotten power they should methinks abhor that paterne and copy of him who said to his Prince All this will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Men of true piety use not to boast of their pulling down and setting up Kings nor will they usurp God's power under pretense of being eminent in his Church I am very loath especially in these times to bring an invective against my fellow servants and those claiming the name of Protestants But I am much more loath that that Name should be aspersed by the practices of those who bear it while they recede from primitive purity entangling themselves in the tentes of those against whom they declaim as if their intentions were to return to Rome although their face is as if they would go to Jerusalem I know both how much displeasing it is to rehearsals and what censures he must undergo who layeth open to publick view errors which the unfortunate Authour would have concealed But the displeasure and blame will be injuriously placed upon him who really aimeth at what others onely pretend to the glory of God and the general good And if the necessity of the times did not open the lips of men of the most known modesty by these kinds of discourses informing me of the justice of these complaints I might peradventure suspect my self either guilty of a misapplication or at least too severe in my indication In truth I heartily wish there were place for such a suspition and that the publick knowledge would not bear me the witness of innocency A triumph over mine own errours would administer unto me ample contentment and in this case the joy of the publick welfare would overwhelme my sorrow seeing my self and not them mistaken BUT the felicity is too great to be obtained Could we see them begin to keep within the prescript rules of modesty we might from those sparks blow up and kindle our hopes But their both words and deeds declaring their own shame encreaseth our sorrow They speak themselves sometimes great friends whom we know to be reconciled enemies and would to God they were reconciled in sincerity or were of a reconcilable nature of whom all cautionary advises bid men beware In the midst of those benefits which should strongly binde the knot of reconcilement they are most apt to shew their dissimulation being never more ungratefully dangerous then under accumulations of kindnesses All that ever hath been granted hath been debt and merit and their demands do clamourously out reach all bounty If we should suppose their deserts great yet we find it an usual admonition of one to another that if any perform an act of courtesie to his ordinary friend he may not stretch the skin of his eye-brows in a bravado neither make his tongue an instrument of vanity the trumpet to sound anâ— publish what he hath done but that bâ— lay his hand upon his mouth that he be silent and then his deeds will praise him whereas a benefit accompanied with insolence is an odious evil This is the rulâ— between private friends But the highâ— any man act and the greater the persoâ— for whom he acteth the more doth reason aâ—vise him to stifle words and if none maâ— upbraid a benefit to a friend much less maâ— he make his duty obedience to his Prinâ—â— an occasion of boasting It is every man bounden duty none can without sin and vengeance neglect it And therefore every good Christian subject hath his action sprouting up to maturity for his only Enlogies If God and the King see his obedience he careth not whether any blasts of commendation publish it But these are not so in love with Virtue who have aimed at praise from contrary actions both against and for the same Cause we have and that even since the Restauration and dayly heard them equally loud and vaunting of far differing services But speak they never so loud they have no Eccho of praise returning from either the reverberating hills or alarmed valleys men both of high and low condition seeing them ready to burst with envious and ambitious thoughts will not add any breath to endanger the cracking of a stinking Bladder The boldness of these men is strange and demandeth our both pity and prayers Poor souls God give them repentance and what they erroneously seek true happiness and joy THESE are my worst wishes for those of whom I have had this discourse that being repentant and paineful in good by their silence and integrity of heart they may be a blessing to themselves Neither although I have encircled some within a list of accusations am I ignorant that diverse of this party which I leave nameless both disown all plea of merit and give testimony to the world of sorrow for their former countenancing harsh and illegal practices To these if I may escape the envy I would become admonitory that seeing they can most powerfully perswade men of their own judgment except in this of compunction both to forbear and lament their contempt of Princes and prostituting their precious souls to the lust of pride they would endeavour that reformation among themselves which they laudably desire in all They should be advised and acquainted that some good actions but those deformed in the production for want of a good intention and every day bespotted with vauntes and brags are insufficient to wipe off many very unjust ones and most notoriously haynous There is nothing but repentant tears falling down which oâ—â— erect a debased sinner and make a way for lâ— ascent and escape from the calamities whicâ— by his sins have circumvented and are ready to devour him These are silent an humble they are neither seen nor heat by men but speak loud to God whoâ— the penitent entreateth to hear the voy of his tears These we all need these aâ— the quicknening and cordials of the be mans soul much more of him who wit the Prodigal Sone cometh to his Father and on his knees confessing them doth implicitly beg pardon for his past delinquences They who have been most plentiful in these should shew their sweetness and efficacy to such as have eyes too dry and smile out their sinful days They who have been most neerly touched at the heart with the sharpness of their guilt and have removed the anguish by these Medicinal drops may most properly perswade because to them the remedy hath proved experimentally sure BUT who can tell how oft he offendeth We have all committed if not the same yet multitudes of transgressions Let us then shed for our selves tears of compunction for
common practise of â—ickedness Then having told their tale smoothly the close of all is Ense recidenâ—â—m the Sword must instate all in order THUS although they seem to breath nothing but Coelestial Sweets and with the strength thereof to drive away the toxious vapours of impurity though God and Religion be their whole discourse which should be a token of their near relation to Heaven yet to the meekness of a Christian perswasion and the Divinity of Concord they are not inclined for the way of peace have they not known Gods Kingdome was never propagated by the Sword much less doth he Authorize Rebellious Wars for the Reformation of the Church So that instead of an inflamed Devotion there 's nothing but a burning Hatred lying hid under arch Hypocrisie instead of publick good avarice and particular self-ends God then forbiddeth such service and no man can foresee any good to follow Now to tell us of sincere Religion in the contempt of the Divine Law or to demonstrate the Vtility accrewing to the Commonwealth by a Civil War must be by such mad perswasions that none but men destitute of Wit and Grace can give or receive them It is very strange that men of any Natural Faculties should abandon themselves to the curse of a fruitless Study renouncing Reason to extol Whimsies and Vanity For if this behaviour with the most artificial gloss can be any other who can determine of the hope of Sincerity and the Crown of Incorruption Surely the people could not thus imagine a vain thing but that like Fools they have said in their hearts there is no God or that the Lord doth not see neither doth the Almighty regard it but let theâ— not be deceived for God is not mocked He who from the Throne of Grace beholdeth the Innocent with an impartial eye seeth the wickedness of the ungodly and that to the intent that he may bring down proud looks and the mouth that speaketh great things HOW dearly some men love Commotions and will not have reason to perswade but violence to obtrude upon mens Consciences not what is indeed fitting but what themselves desire Let them take heed lest troubles and commotions unavoidably seizing upon them scorch their bowels with endless flames even more piercing and intolerable than their Administrations of Terrours whereby they would seem to purifie the Kingdom But were these great clamours these outcryes upon the Government and Establisher upon the Clergy and their Protector such Truths as the Reporters speak them yet Piety resolveth men into compassion and according to Christs and the Churches both direction and practise prayers for them who make unwarrantable breaches upon the holy Commandment are the most usual Weapons of their Reforming and meek Revenge The gentle coersive of prayer for Kings and those who are in Authority doth undoubtedly move Heaven and bring Earth to a sacred compliance with its Majestick Founder sooner than any whatsoever compulsive Arts of wrathful contrivance Prayer and tears are of an excellent power making the heavy minds of the most disobedient and wicked to ascend Heavenward contemplating that compassionate Goodness which revealeth it self to them who were long ignorant of it Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law said a most curious patern of Holiness who thought this remedy more prevalent than any within the reach of his Temporal though Regal power Much greater reason doubtless hath a Subject to bear with his Superiour But if the Royal Dignity think not scorn to lay aside the Sword and turn Execution into mournful Intercession how much more willingly should every Subject put on devout Humility the glorious Badge of his Christian Profession which bringeth down the Divine Grace as fructifying showres upon the barren hills If these open mouths speak truth yet should they know when to speak and when to conceal it all truths being not to be uttered Neither indeed would any but a brood of cursed Chans immodestly utter to the world and with an obscene finger point out their Fathers nakedness Truly their Fathers open infirmity diminisheth not the baseness of their impudence and scoffs nor freeth them from the danger of the approaching doom which is stifly dragged forward in the Chains of such unnatural villany But prayer which publisheth nothing speaking to him alone who knoweth all things maketh a speedy alteration of hearts not so much covering the shame of some past miscarriages as transforming all-giving Grace to a sometime spotted and disfigured mind They then who contemn this way of Reformation do in vain pretend to zeal and uprightness For God having joyned his Fear and the Kings Honour together it is a strange fallacy in their course of life who dishonour the King and his nearest Ministers to give the clearer demonstrations of their fear of the King of Kings AGAIN were there so much truth in their words as might make the condition of those on whom they seek to fasten their imputations to need or deserve their pity and were these Correctors of others really inclined to act only within the lines of publick benefit yet sober persons would before they enter upon any such actions consider whether good may be obtained as a blessing whether one good may be introduced without displacing a greater good or introducing as great an evil to counterbalance it That most Pious and Judicious King very pertinently asked this question What good man had not rather want what he most desired for the peoples good than obtain it by unlawful and irreligious means It is the glory of every good man to hear the applause but withal by worth to entitle himself to the name of a Publick Benefactor No man is so prodigal of his Soul as to instate others in Paradise with his own Damnation to procure inlargement of Religiouâ— Freedom to a people by such foul means as the Purity of Religion abhorreth But no man can expect the Divine Blessing who to his actions hath not the Seal of the Divine Approbation much less can he sincerely love God or study Popular Redemption who loveth not himself but hath delivered himself over a Captive to the Enemy of all goodness and sincere felicity For a man boldly to stand up and bravely to acquit himself in the defence of God's and his Countries Cause is deservedly reputed a most worthy service a service as every where commendable so by Christians generally to be undertaken But then there must be no by interest twisted together with his for that is the way to weaken the help that cometh down from the Almighty neither any ways attempted but commendable and honest lest the honour of the Good Cause be buried in the infamy of the needless and bad succours and God give success according to the ways wherein they who pretend for him do walk and act He who entreth upon a Religious War must be Gods Commissioner and no way abuse his credit by exceeding his Commission or diverting into private Cisterns the
men they are irksome and intollerable they groan and repine under them Which restlesness is not given by outward trouble but by inward guilt Conscience aggravating nay making it grief That therefore men may the better bear common ones and not incur extraordinary troubles or if they should happen that they may not make them miserable let them free themselves from guilt and by obedience put themselves under the defence of the Almighty Res magna est habere imbecillitatem hominis Sen. ep 53. securitatem Dei said a wise man I cannot say he was a Christian but assuredly the words do well become Christian lips For indeed look every where and search the world over there is no where any help for our despicable frailty but the Divine Security If we shun the examples of proud and disloyal men walking in the paths made plain for us by Christ and his devout Followers this security as an impenetrable Bulwark will keep off evils from us this will surround us and Gods Eye pleased with our walks will alway be over for us our good His blissful Countenance will enlighten and enliven us and nothing shall eclipse our joy which taking its beginning from his service shall be perfected in endless Glory Amen O That mine head were waters and mine eyes a Fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the impenitency of those to whom my Soul wisheth peace but they delight in mischief and contention Many O Lord there are who forsaking thee walk in the ways of darkness who will not open their eyes lest they should see nor their ears lest they should hear and should be converted and thou shouldest heal them They have rejected thy Law and made void thy Covenant making among themselves the Covenant of falshood and the League of Iniquity to the intent that the Name of Israel should be no more in remembrance And although thou hast cut off Corah Dathan and Abiram yet the residue of the rebellious Children do exalt themselves and behave themselves frowardly in thy sight They regard not thee O ever blessed King neither thine Image whom thou hast set up they worship neither thee nor thy Gods They add Rebellion unto Rebellion and sin unto sin not knowing the power of thy wrath nor how much thou art to be feared and that none may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry but as if thine Arm could not avenge the injury of thine Honour they multiply reproaches against thee and thine Anointed Whom as thou hast hitherto so defended that the Sons of Violence could not hurt him As thou hast hitherto made their faces who hated him to be ashamed so we beseech thee to put them to a perpetual rebuke who shall yet presume to rise up to offend him As thou hast given him an heart to endeavour to serve thee in thine own way of mercy and forgiveness so make him happy in his People whose gratitude may contend for superiority with his great love But upon all such to whom his Clemency seemeth vile whose traiterous pride disdaineth the mild mixture of Authority and Compassion pour out thine Indignation for certainly they seek to devour Jacob and lay wast his dwelling place Had they good will to Sion they would strive for peace and intercede unto thee by prayers that thou wouldest be pleased to heal up the breaches of thy torn and divided Church O scatter those who seek her hurt so shall she be exalted in thine Honour and make her boast in thy glory for ever and ever How foolish and ignorant are they who seek Honour by offending thee and Prosperity without thee Should not a people seek to their God and make the observance of thy Statutes their glory and delight But their delight is in rapine and mischief and to shed Innocent blood And although by many examples thou hast admonished them yet they regard not thy works nor the operations of thy hands they despise thy loving kindness and thy Judgments they will not observe O thou Comforter of the righteous and Judge of all how wonderful art thou in thy mercies who being angry with the wicked every day doest first give him warning before thou smitest If he turn not then thou whettest thy Sword bendest thy Bow and makest it ready thou preparest for him the Instruments of Death and ordainest thine Arrows against him that thy threatnings may make him wise and thy gentle correction may make him great whom evil practises had depressed and covered with shame These are thy Fatherly and compassionate Premonitions e're thou wilt destroy And as we praise thee for that unto thee belong Mercies so also for that thou art just and rewardest the obstinate according to his works O consider our trouble that will suffer of them that hate us give them humility and repentance but let the wilful and disobedient perish in their iniquity Let not disloyalty thrive nor disobedience prosper lest the seeming glory thereof tempt the ignorant to reach out their hands to this forbidden fruit But as thou hast dealt graciously with us hitherto by making the wicked plot against themselves and run into their own snare so let their own devices continue to be their shame and bring them down continually O Lord our strength Then shall the righteous rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance when he seeth Judgement finding out those false ones who trusted in the abundance of their riches and thought themselves encircled with power beyond opposition Thou makest us know that thou forgettest not the prayers of thy people who call upon thee faithfully for when the wicked drew their Sword and bent their Bow to slay such as be of upright Conversation thou causedst their Sword to enter into their own heart and their Bow to be broken O that our hearts were made so direct that we might keep thy Statutes and alway sincerely love thee for that thou hast done Thou hast magnified us exceedingly and brought us to great honour O let our lips be evermore filled with thy praise for it becometh thy servants to be incessantly thankful And by this which thou hast wrought for us teach us to rest in thee and wait patiently for thee but not to fret at those who for a time prosper in their way nor because of the men who bring wicked devices to pass For we see that according to thy word evil doers shall be cut off that in a little while they shall not be neither their places to be found Continue thy loving kindness towards us preserve thy Church encreasing her Beauty and Honour make every Member thereof through Christ our Saviour plentifully to bring forth the fruits of Holiness so shall we be assured of present and Eternal Joys For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous with thy favour wilt thou encompass him as with a Shield Amen Our Father which art in Heaven c. CHAP. VIII The Blessings and Benefits of Obedience SUCH is the turbulency and unsettledness of
imaginary If suspitions upon probable grounds should present themselves they are to be rejected neither may we if truth should manifest a miscarriage contend for a removal otherwise then by prayer and submissive holiness But I may say that observing the complaints of late days concerning certain publick administrations in the Kingdome that fear and opinion are our greatest mischeifes The times of darkness have had so long and potent dominion over some that although it be now clear day they cannot see the right path but run out of the way and stumble at every thing But happiness offereth it self to such as will embrace it If religious whisperings are frequent and active for the begetting jealousies and fears a sober and religious man troubleth not his thoughts with the consideration of other mens duties but laboureth not to be found forgetful of his own And alway doth such a man discover the most assured way to a blessed and happy estate by obedience for conscience sake He remembreth Solomons asseveration and delighteth in the hope it giveth In the way of righteousness saith he is life Pro. 12 28. and in the path way thereof there is no death Into that way then will he direct his foot steps where he is sure the Viper lurketh not to bite his heel nor is the net privily spread to take his inoffensive foot neither can misfortunes lie neer in ambush to surprize his secure soul Herein if we would all walk we should presently obtain what with fruitless labours we are long seeking and wonder that we find not Saint James his reason to such as did ask yet did not receive is mine to those who seek felicity with great earnestness yet could never come within view of it Ye have not because ye ask and seek amiss Ch. 4 3. Endeavours directing us the right and proper way come to a blessed end I know not neither can I ever be perswaded that subjects can have any other rule leading them to prosperity but religious obedience That it is the onely way to eternal Felicity is agreed upon and acknowledged by them who act the contrary And I must needs follow them so close as to affirm that then by consequence it is that onely which can conduce to the present well being of a Nation For as no good can come elsewhere then from God so no blessing can descend upon those actions which have not his warrant Obedience hath too motives urging us to its practise the first that it is a most plain and easie walk the second that it hath most large promises and the best assurances the very knowledge whereof doth doubtless make it more easie It is the first nay the only Commandement with promise which we find in the Decalogue and is in none observed by God without very high esteem and acceptance And consider with common reason that as nothing can be easier then humility and submission so nothing sooner prevaileth for satisfaction in what it sueth for The most haughty spirits and furious Tyrants have been wont Cinere exceptos super alta locare And as for the mild man who sweetneth all his actions with clemency nothing can be more offensive to his compassionate nature then to see humility pass along irreverenced much more to see it scorned and injured But neither is this all for it being that virtue wherewith he is chiefly conversant he will undoubtedly soon receive into his bosome such as a constant exercise in the same virtue hath commended to him Likewise if affections plead a reward and that no mean one to be their due and he cannot suffer them by neglect to be discouraged It must then be a vanity and folly to travel far about after an uncertainty and slight an undoubted good within reach which without care or fear is to be possessed Such are the rewards of Religious Loyalty it with great facility thriveth and prospereth and being exempt from fear doth easily keep its well gotten store Honor and Riches are insensibly multiplied upon a Nation that seeketh its glory by a dutiful submission to its Lawful Prince While it looketh upon Vnion as the best accommodation and choisest treasure the Heavens and Earth conspire to make it plentiful and abounding in all manner of Riches The neighbouring Nations with admiration gaze upon her ornaments and flourishing spring and at once envy and wish for her unspeakable fruitions and delights When our whole care next to God is that our King be as much as possibly we can without care we make him the Arbitrator of other Princes fortunes and set him as upon the top of the grand Orb to dispose unto them their potions of either prosperity or adversity His smiles will as it were enliven them and his frowns peirce their hearts with dismaying terrors Subjects are never strong but in their Kings strength and the Kings great strength is the Subjects Love Joyn we prayers and hands and our utmost labors to fortifie him and what we do of this nature for him redoundeth to our own advantage It was rightly observed by that wise Senator that Armarium Regis fortuna cunctorum est Cassiodil 12. ep â—1 merito refugium omnium dicitur ubi universorum securitas invenitur The mad counsels the Kingdome hath frequently given was to depress Royalty for the publick good But to say nothing of present inconveniences which we hope a timely care will remove look we back upon our late times looking further back into the Annals and Records of past times and after just perusal and due examination tell me whoso can whether ever was known a great calamity lighting upon the King and the Kingdome not forced to partake of the misery And how can it be otherwise When the foundation shaketh how can the superstructure abide stable No man can truely Love and seek his own welfare but he must desire and to the utmost labour the Kings prosperity which is the foundation of the Kingdomes tranquillity Royalty hath God's favour given unto the land through which for many generations it gloriously flourished And although in some Kings raigns the splendor of the English glory appeared less bright then at other times yet was it never extinguished till Kingly power seemed offensive and Majesty dethroned Never was this Realm so truely acquainted with misery when wantonness made it so exceedingly disobedient as to spurn at and disown that most excellent Regiment through which God had so long conveighed his blessings and without which it must never have hoped to be fortunate or find a return out of Egypt Blessings never multiply where disobedience aboundeth Disorderly Subjects when they have injured their Head must at length submit to his goverment for their own good for as much as without it dissolution onely raigneth attended by distraction and confusion Non aliter durare queant Nisi converso rursus amore Refluant causae quae dedit esse Beot de Consol l. 4. Then onely are these calamities removed when