ENGLAND'S BACKWARDNESSE Or a lingring PARTY In bringing back a lawful KING DELIVERED In a SERMON at Waltham Abbey Church in the County of Essex at a solemne fast By THOMAS REEVE D. D. Preacher of Gods Word in that Parish Aegrè facimus facimus tamen LONDON Printed for William Grantham at the black Bear in S. Paul's Church yard near the little North Door 1661. To the Right Honourable THOMAS Earl of Southampton Lord high Treasurer of England and one of his MAIESTIES most Honourable Privy Council length of dayes and increase of Honour Right Honourable and admired Peer WHat is man if but meer man where grace doth not sanctifie what is natural wisdome but a subtil Cacodaemon we may see it in this Synopsis of Davids troubles what variety was there of strange prodigious Wits the Prototype was in Davids time the Antitype hath been in our time There was an Absalom that took up arms against his natural Father and what have we had but Absalom amongst us for these many years Subjects which are political Sons appearing in an hostile manner against their natural Soveraign the true Father of the Countrey we have had the chariots horsmen prepared men persons of servile spirits and complying dispositions to run before the Designer yea the trumpets of sedition have been blown and the popular perfidious cry hath been heard Absalom reigneth in Hebron and our Land hath been filled with as many Spies Intelligencers Face-triers Speech-latchers the vermine of corrupt Commonwealths as ever Israel abounded with in Absaloms dayes And as Absaloms rebellion began with glorious pretexts of religion and reformation so have not we been sprinkled with the Rebels holy Water what was there in this Nation for a great while but paying of vows in Hebron Lectures Fasts Self-denying Ordinances and telling the people that the Form of Government in this Nation was distempered but if any had a cause or suit and they would repair unto them they would do them justice Thus all the engines of execrable policy were set on work And as in those dayes there was a Zibah that betrayed his dear Master Mâ—phibosheth so have not we had many a Zibah Yes what have we had but infinite treacherous servants and supplanting neighbours which to gain the estates of renowned Noblemen and worthy Patriots have used all manner of undermining practises and blemishing informations Si sat sit accusasse quis erit innocens If a bare accusation be enough to make a man guilty who shall be innocent yet a meer aspersion was enough for a Sequestration if this stratagem hath cost me three thousand pounds how many Millions have there been drained by these hellish contrivances from many innocent and eminent men in this Land And as there was a Shimei that cursed David and had no better terms then bloody man and Son of Belial and telling him that the justice of heaven did pursue him and that he was taken in his mischief so have not we had as cursing a generation Yes what was the spittle of many mens lips but sirnames and nicknames Malignants Delinquents limbs of Antichrist hellish Fire brands Cyprianus was called Caprianus and Athanasius Sathanasius no scandalous names they thought were ignominious enough to avile us revile us and reproach us to the people and this by men that professed the spirit of meekness and knew that it was not lawfull to say unto a brother Racah and did they not pronounce upon us and say that we were taken in our mischief judged from heaven and that the hand of the Lord was lift up against us Oh what adoe was there with the righteous cause and of vengeance printed upon our brows by the stigmatizing finger of God Almighty These were a people of high revelations and seemed to be Secretaries of State to the hidden Councils and Decrees of the great God That party carried it in that height as if it had been Master of the Ordinance to the Lord of hosts or been the very Council of War in heaven by authority to sentence poor Malignants as they called us to be shot to death And as Ahithophel was the busie active man in that rebellion so have not we had an abundance of Mercurial brains and dangerous Craftmasters in this Insurrection such as have advised Absalom to lye with his Fathers Concubines in the sight of all Israel I mean to counsel our State Masters to do the most nesarious detestable abominable things which ever the Sun beheld yea to plunder rifle imprison gibbet to make their own countrymen Vagabonds at home to sell them for Slaves beyond sea to break in pieces the great Seal nay the Crowns and Scepter to rase Palaces to demolish Castles to set up Eunuch Parliaments Hermaphroditical Committees Cyclopical High Courts of Iustice to seiz upon Church-land to expel the most reverend Churchmen out of their just Cures Oh how have we had Anabaptistical and Phanatick principles of State delivered as the fundamental Laws of the Kingdome these Ionadabs these wily men these Ahithophels were accounted as the Oracles of God in those dayes And did this rebellion go on onely with a State-vapour or a daring bravado no as in Absaloms dayes the battle was scattered over the face of the whole Countrey and there fell twenty thousand men and the wood of Ephraim devoured more then the sword so our treason was it not a most satal and destructive attempt to the Nation how many pitched battels were there fought what horrid slaughters were there committed as if here and elsewhere there had been nothing but slaughterhouses to be seen What corner hath not been sprinkled with bloud how many mournful Families hath this war caused we might justly be called Acheldamah The losses of precious treasure is grievous but the losse of mens precious lives is an astonishing dismaying Spectacle Now my honourable good Lord what shall the result of this hideous passage be but to conclude with Samuel that Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft 1 Sam. 15.23 For if men had not been bewitched it could never have entred into the hearts of men or Christians or especially such Christians as seem to defie Iesuites for treason and rebellion to perpetrate such barbarous things upon their natural Country and Countrymen Some say there are no Witches and some say there are no Rebels those that are called Witches there are that say they are but Venesitae Poysoners or Ventriloquae Speakers through the belly so those which some call Rebels are but such as have a rare art in a new way to take away the enemies of State can speak through the belly in a mysterious way to cry up the liberties of the people or if they be Witches they are to be called but Sagae the prime Wits of the time or White-witches that do more good then hurt But I doubt they will be found Maleficae black Witches and their very practises will declare it 1. as Witches are discontented people so these are Malecontents
Martae suo Lyrnessia maenia vidi Ovid. Ep. 3. We have seen the wals or glorious Cities levelled by the hands of their own Natives their own Country-men have been Pioneers and Batterers to work their own desolation nay such a City Quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi Minacis aut Etrusca parsonae manus Horat. Epod 16. Which neither our neighboring Enemies nor our most spightfull full outlandish foes could ever destroy these have brought it to ruin Oh what wastes and spoiles have there been in England and Ireland It would make a Barbarian lament to see how the Houses of Ivory have perished and goodly dwellings have been made possessions for Bitterns and Cormorants and Scritch-owles yea a land that was once as Eden the garden of God hath been since left desolate like the wildernesse sure I am that Ovid. Ep. 2. Luxuriat Phrygio sanguine piguis humus Many a Feild hath been fattened with the blood of the slain and massacred Now oh yee wilde Furies how long will it be before we shall see these wofull skars of your blinde and mad rage healed up No tumult may root up that which moderation cannot in a long time replant The Foole may cast firebrands and Arrows and say Am I not in sport But the wiseman cannot extinguish the burnings of these firebrands nor cure the piercings of these Arrows which the foole hath been the Author of Multi laedunt nemo succurrit nemo opitulatur Hugu Many men hurt but few succour or help When Jehoshuah the high Priest stood before the Angel to procure remedy for Jerusalem Sathan stood at his right hand Zach. 3.1 So when some would redeem a Church or State out of thraldome there are Adversaries enough to continue her miseries and increase her bonds How many soft bowels and State-building hands are there in this land Speech cost nothing and siding with a party is not very chargeable many men will subscribe their Names be Confederates with the just cause and vaunt vapour as highly as the best but it is an hard thing to get a Commonwealth Offering from them No they which are worth thousands and have no charge of Children yet they will give away all that they have to strangers or some new created kinsman rather than bestow ten Talents upon the Publique their Natural Country that hath bred them and fed them and stocked them and bestowed all their Honours upon them get not a Legacy from them in their last Will and Testament His Epitaph will be this Hic jacet Triparcus donec farcae sub hoc tumulo condiderunt here layeth self-thirst till the Destines laid him under this Tombe-stone Therefore seeing help doth come in so slowly let not damage be so rife let this Boutefeau of Nations leave casting of his Bals of wilde-fire Vermine are not beloved every one hate a Woolf and a Crocadile Nimrod the mighty hunter hath no good report it made the tears to spring out of the eys of Elisha to look but upon the face of Hazael who should slay young men with the sword and dash in pieces Infants against the stones and rent in pieces women with childe Thou may est count thy self an Hector by these things but thou art but a Mastiff for What is thy servant a Dog that I should do such things Thou hadst better be a Dung-hill carrier than to lay Cities in heaps or be a Fox-hunter then a Kingchaser for when David is driven from Jerusalem Absalon doth play mad prankes and thy poore Conscience is subject to the advise of Achitophel thou silly wretch doest thou know no God but thy Commander then see thy Captain General and his Zanee at his elbow Art not thou a rare Swordman under Absalon and Achitophel Give over thy trade therefore for poore blinde soule thou art doing that that the childe that is unborn shall curse thee for yea that after ages shall defie thee and execrute thee for For thou hast nothing in thy mind but wastes and ruines pulling down of Nobles and frighting and pursuing Kings but of the Nation Egregiam vero laudem spolia ampla thou wouldst faine have a great name for vilany and be egregious for that which is prodigious and execrable But when thou hast done all thy mischief who shall make satisfaction for it We know thy Venomous heart in the state that thou art in very well thou hast nothing but poyson in thy breast but who shall pull out the stings that thou hast left in other mens sides Thou art bad enough thy self and it is an hard thing to finde good men enough to redresse that which thou hast left deploreable The best are not very forward to promote good things no that which some have damnified others will hardly repair him whom some have driven away others will hardly bring back no they are the last usually in such a work Wherefore then are ye the last to bring back The King Now let us come to the person of quality to be reinstated The King It was not to bring back a Patriot or a Peere but one more Pretious than all the Potentates of the Nation one worth a whole Land a King From hence observe that a Nations Lustre is a King So long as a King is wanting there is an eclipse in the Hemisphere but so soon as he is brought back the whole Dominion doth shine If Agar wept so for want of water and Saul went so sorrowing up and down for the want of his Fathers Asses then how great may be the National dolour for the want of a King A Land without a King doth seem to be without ey-sight for that thou mayest be unto us in stead of eyes Num. 10.31 and unarmed for Kings are the sheilds of the earth Psal 47.9 and without day-light for a King is the Light of Israel 2 Sam. 21.17 and without her Capitall member for a King is the head of the Tribes 1 Sam. 15.17 and without motion for he is the breath of the Nostrils Lane 4.20 put all the grandees the high and mighty Ones of a Land together yet can they match a King in Stature no he is higher than Agag Num. 24.7 the rest are but Hillocks these are the Mountaines of Israel Ezek. 36.1 these are so great that they are called Dignities 2. Pet. 2.10 The foundations of the Earth Ps 82 5. they are the shepheards to the sheepe Num 27.17 Nursing Father which bear the children in their Armes or cary them in their bosomes Num 11.12 They are kind of bright Spirits in a Nation for David is called an Angel of God and Cyrus an anointed Cherubin yea the Deity it self hath not a clerer reflex upon earth then a King for I have said ye are Gods Is 82. very Extracts of Gods Power Superiority and Authority The earth hath not a Nobler object of grandeur then a King for Excellent Majesty is added to him Dan. 4.36 Oh how great is Eminency Excellency
choose him the Ordinance do make him and when he is once constituted a King he is out of the power and constraint of the people he can neither be deposed nor opposed no the Ordinance doth secure him and his priviledges This is for a King by election and hereditary King hath a greater priviledge Secondly that there is a Co ordination with Kings for he which is supreme can have no Co-ordination with hint the best in the land and the greatest representatives at the highest are but grand Counsellers not joint Commanders Was it ever heard that Counsellers were the principall men in an estate Authority and direction are two distinct things All the Members may help in execution of things but still the head doth maintain its honour Thirdly that Kings in point of tyranny idolatry may be repressed and suppressed rejected ejected I hear it but I do not find it Manasses I am sure vomitted both these things for he worshipped the host of heaven made his children pass through the fire to the idol Molech and filled the streets of Jerusalem with blood and yet no Prophet stirred up the people to rebellion against him Is it fit to say to Kings ye are wicked or to Princes ye are ungodly Job 34 18. No though Kings should be wicked or ungodly yet we must not dispossess the Devil with another or cure a Princes sin with a greater crime of our own Therefore against a King there is no rising up Prov. 30.31 when a King was but set up by Prophecy obedience is enjoyned towards him Thou Judah shalt have the Scepter thy brethren shall praise thee thy Fathers children shall bow down before thee thou shalt-be a Lions whelp that shall come down from the spoil thou shalt couch down and who shall rouse thee up Gen. 49.8 9. And how do the Fathers children praise him when they call him enemy to the State how do the Fathers children bow down before him when they stand up against him with spear and poleaxes how do they fulfill that who shall rouse him up when there are those that dare rouse him up and clap him up Are there not mary spirits at this hour and perhaps in this presence so bitter that when there is but a motion of the Kings return they are so opposite to it that they wish never to hear his trumpets blowing nor behold his chariots stirring nor to see his royal face no they had rather that he were smitten with some mortall disease beyond sea or drowned in his passage or slain at his landing then that he should enter the Nation freely to come with pomp and triumph to his Throne We have preached obedience these many years but we have but taught ferrum natare iron to swim or but put our bread as Plato said in frigidum furmum into a cold Oven but let the Viper delight in biting as the old Adage saith and Frogs in croking but let all those who are of these venomous and slate troubling humours express better dispositions Away therefore with all paradoxes and let us once again embrace true Orthodox Divinity that Princes are to be obeyed Let those which hold that Princes may be resisted desist from this cursed opinion for this is but to keep the fire-brand still kindled in the Church And let those which hold that there ought to be no King upon earth but Christ at last be cured of this Lunasie for this is but to pull down lawful Kings and to set up mongrel Princes of their own faction For will not men be aspiring to be Kings amongst the Phanaticks yea there are none of them so humble but if they can they will wear the Crown Arthur hoped to have been a Prince and some say Henry was anointed and was not John of Leyden where this opinion was most rife an actual King and a most bloody one as ever was heard of Oh that men therefore would leave their delusions and be guided by true inspiration Kings there may be and Kings there must be Oh therefore let us acknowledge the calling and submit to him who by the Law of God nature and Nations ought to reign over us Have a reverend opinion of the name of a King and honourable and loyall thoughts to the person of a King yea and principally to your own lawful indubitable and invaluable King though he hath been a long time obscured yet let him come and shine in his proper Horizon though he hath been driven out yet let him be brought back For think that your Countrey will never be happy nor your Church blessed till the Guardian of the Countrey and the Patron of the Church be restored Let others therefore stand upon their tiptoes to defie him but be ye ready to bend your knees and honour him let others be forward to bind his hands but be ye ready to kisse his hand let others go into the gunroom if they can to shoot him back but go ye to the tops of your turrets to see him coming let others wish his absence but do ye pray for his return say oh that the bringing of him back were concluded on oh that the day were dawned when he should set forward oh that our eares might hear that he were upon our shoars and that our eies could set him within our streets oh that the citie were ecchoing to welcome him home oh that his Court-gate were opening to entertain him oh that the Crown Imperial were setting upon his head Walk not with pleasure eat not with contentment sleep not with satisfaction till ye be happy in the sight of his princely face He is the true heir to the Crown and would it not be an unspeakable comfort to see as the Scripture saith the inhertance of the father passe to the son Numb 27.7 We have had too much of Usurpers oh let us desire a Prince lineally descended Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the son of Nobles He is eminent in vertues and what a blessing were it to us to have a man after Gods own heart made Captain over Israel he hath been honoured in foreign lands and how should our Nation be illustred to enjoy him whom many Countries and Kingdomes have magnified he hath high experience in State affairs and what a glory would it be to us to have such a Prince reigning over us as hath been famed through Christendome for his deep and profound judgement he is merciful and what a joy would it be to us that after we have met with so many bloud-suckers we might rest in the bosome of such a tender-hearted father he is valiant how would the presence of such a puissant Prince fill the Land full of prowesse and make the fear of us and the dread of us to fall upon all Nations he is of a magnificent spirit of princely birth and most princely qualifications that knows not as I hear how to be Prince enough in kindnesse bounty and all manner of acts of