away the dross of their iniqâ—â—â—y 〈◊〉 are prepared and fitted for it I will purely purge away thy dross and take away thy tin and then I will restore thy Judges as at the first I shall not further insist upon this but â—hut up all with a few words of Application of these things 1. Oh! bless then the Lord for the hopes of such a 〈◊〉 restored to us this day as was that of Moses I Ioshâ—◠〈◊〉 and David Authority vested and re-estated in â—he hands of its rightful Subject Usurpation which for these twelve yearâ— past without dispute hath invaded the Throne broken and â—hiver'd into pieces in a moment and the 〈◊〉 head of him lâ—â—â—â—d up by God whose known â—eportment under his deâ—pest â—â—yals and whose 〈…〉 report and faâ—◠〈◊〉 him to us as another Titus dâ—â—icia humani generiâ— another Câ—sar of whom Cicero said Oblivisâ—i nihil solet nisi injurâ— and as another 〈◊〉 whose zeal for the truth and strenuous interposings of his Authority for the peace and settlement of the discompoâ—â—d Church maâ—e 〈◊〉 the Mirâ—our of Monarchâ— the Patâ—â—n 〈…〉 the glory of Christian Princes to this day Such â—n one report and relation tells us he is Religion teacheth us to believe and pray that he may be to this people however 〈…〉 those pregnant presages of future good to all that are deâ—â—â—â—â—le enough from divers things 〈◊〉 not now enumerate yet we have the unquestionable â—oundation of his rightful title to these Dominions that may raise up our triumphings to the greatest pitch and wind up our hearts iâ— thanksgivings to the highest elevation Bless thou the Lord Oh! my soul and all that is within â—hee blâ—â—â— his holy Name I â—â— not unsensible how many 〈…〉 others whose lot it was in 〈…〉 of theâ—â— distrâ—ctions to judge it their duty to 〈…〉 Parliament as if this desired blessed day were the 〈…〉 hearts and 〈…〉 with their principles 〈…〉 The Lord comes with â—en thousand of â—is 〈…〉 judgment upon them that are ungodly But if the constant profession of their judgment in point of allegiance even in the saddest times their Sufferings and Sequestrations for non-compliance with those Anti-monarchical Engagements which overspread so great a part of the Nation pretending to greater loyalty if their volleys of prayers and flouds of tears for the settlement of the Kingdoms upon their own Basis if their unwearied activity till the Nation were as now it is purged from the guilt and freed from the yoke of Usurpation nay if the bloud of divers of them spilt in the justification of that part of their Covenant which relates to the interest of his sacred Majesty I say If all these may evidence the reality of their joy at this deliverance I know not what can be defective and a more assured testimony of their cordial joy then all those practices of debauchery in which too many have the hard fate to be involved But I forbear to harp any more upon that string the Lord in his mercy bury those distinctions and animosities among the people which in their continuation have too ominous an aspect upon the settlement and tranquillity of the Kingdom But Christians do you bless the Lord in and for the mercy of this day Bless him that God hath restored us such a Magistracy whose endowments and qualifications for the regal Office and Imployment carry such a bright and glorious beam of hope to all such a Prince as by his publick Declaration hath held forth such unalterable resolutions of preserving and supporting the Protestant cause of burying the exorbirancies of our times in everlasting oblivion and of satisfactory care to the Consciences of good men that they be not tyrannized over by unscriptural impositions and however God shall issue the results of this mutation yet bless the Lord that Authority is returned to its natural centre the scandals upon Covenanters wiped off and the most necessary part of righteousness done to the breath of our nostrils who is worth ten thousand of us in that restauration of him which the Saints pray'd for the World expected the very Angels themselves approve and the God of Gods with many pierâ—ing câ—ies and calls required from us I hope there is no sufficient reason to suspect any diminution to come hereby to the interest of the Protestant cause and the saving truths of the Gospel we are not without much ground to hope that the intended and Covenâ—nted Reformation of the Church shall hereby attain some â—â—â—ther advance to its full accomplishment and that so it may we shall with all subjection supplicate at his royal feet If in other things of temporal importance this mutation shall bring any impairing or loss yet I shall say as Mephibosheth when abused by Ziba No matter forasmuch as my Lord the King is returned home in peace to his own house 2. Be exhorted to pray for your Superior Powers that forasmuch as their glory lies in the grace and goodness of their people God would bless them with being effectually instrumental that this Nation may become a City of righteousness a faithful people This is the flower of their Crown and you may be useful to the adorning of the Imperial Diadem with it not only by your practice that it may be said and observed by all that since his royal Majesty sat upon his Throne iniquity and sin wither'd and perished blush'd and was ashamed in all his people and that the prophaness of your spirits could not breath and live in the purer air of his pious princely Government but also by your prayers that God would under the impressions of his Soveraignty keep his Saints from being persecuted his Sabbaths from being prophaned his Ministers from being despised or impoverished men now pretending to be Ministers but such whose right eye is utterly darkned of desperate life and despicable knowledge from being advanced his Worship from being corrupted his Ordinances from being defiled his Sacraments from being disorderly administred his Name from being blasphemed the Antichristian state and apostacy from being encouraged profession from being scorned and the liberty of communion with God and his people from being abridged or invaded and in stead thereof that God would lay up his precious truths Ordinances and People in the most intimate shades of the love and protection advancement and encouragement of his royal Majesty and so shall this and after-generations call him blessed 3. Lastly As we expect the full accumulation of these blessings upon us Oh! let your dross be purely purged cease not till the way to these royal priviledges be fully prepared by the purging away of that filth from the daughter of Zion which as hitherto it hath debarr'd us from that mercy we now enjoy so if still not purged thoroughly may render even this blessing but as the shell and shadow of a deliverance destitute of that which is the soul and marrow and fatness of it I might tell you 〈◊〉 dross is yet unpurged what rust lies upon the face of 〈◊〉 Church and Kingdom but I conclude Oh! as you have a â—â—spect to the future honour and excellency of your Priâ—â—â— and to the happinesse of this whole body purge away 〈◊〉 dross of wickedness from your lives of Atheism and Irreligâ—â—â— from your own persons and practices purge away the dross 〈◊〉 erroniousness instability and Pyrrhenian fluctuations from yoâ—â— heads purge away the dross of violence extortion â—apine aâ—â— injustice from your hands purge away the dross of will worship innovations superstitions and traditions of men which 〈◊〉 not of God from your Assemblies purge away the dross 〈◊〉 your places too of blind and ignorant and prophane Administrators of holy things that they may neither creep in noâ— keâ—â— in to the defilement of the sacred Ministerial Office purgâ—â—â— way the dross and dregs of that bitter cup of animosities 〈◊〉 rences hatred of which the Nation hath drunk so deeply 〈◊〉 all your spirits expressions deportments purge away the droâ—â— of an empty profession of God and zeal to the trifles and fringâ—â— of external forms and worship without the power and life 〈◊〉 godliness And lastly purge away the dross of any root of 〈◊〉 terness against or contradiction to the sacred interest of law 〈◊〉 Princes which spirit hath eaten as a Gangrene to the reproaâ—â— of our Religion and advantage of the Popish cause in 〈◊〉 Oh! let every National Personal sin every sin and crookâ—â— path in Church or State be discovered and discarded And 〈◊〉 when these things which are the wall of separation betwiâ—â— people and the refreshing beneficial beams of their Supreâ—â— Authority are withdrawn we may with confidence hope 〈◊〉 as our Judges are restored so they shall be as at the first 〈◊〉 our Counsellors as at the beginning and afterwards we shall 〈◊〉 called A City of righteousness a faithful City Which God of his dear love wherewith he hath love◠〈◊〉 out of the bowels of his mercy Grant unto this 〈◊〉 serving Generation Amen FINIS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cornâ—l à Lapiâ—â— Guido Perigran in florâ— Chroâ—â—c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Facit ut moriatur v. g. Petrus impurus â—brius incestus superbus resurg at pâ—rus sobrius castus humilis A lap in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Vide Abulensem Menoch 9 de rep Hebr. Menochius de rep Hebraeâ—rum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 70. Civitaâ— veritatis urbs fideles Chald. Observ. 1. Vide Sixt. Senens Lib. de Poenit. Since the preaching of this he is fallen asleep in Iesus and gone to his rest a person of the sad impression upon all good men of whose loss I shall only say as August of Cyprian's Quos asflixerat sollicitudo certaminis hos consolâ—ta est corona victoris Mach. disput cap. 26. Claudian ad Honor. Non ante rebus suis privatis consultum eupivit quam publicarum procurationem prorsus absolisset Mas. Luc. Malorum blandientium virus est occultum arridentis nequitiae facies quidem laetâ— sed calamitatis abstrusae illecebrosa fallacia Cypr. Observ. 2. Exercitus ducere aliena vastare urbes delere oppida excidere liberos populos aut trucidare aut subjicere servituri Lact. lib. 1. de falsà relig Observ 3â—
Noah's Dove With Her Olive-Branch OR The happy Tidings of the Abatement of the FLOOD of ENGLAND's CIVIL DISCORDS As it was delivered in a SERMON Preached at Preston in the County Palatine of Lancaster on the 24th of May 1660. Being the Publick Day of Thanksgiving for the Restoring of His Sacred and most Excellent MAJESTY CHARLES THE SECOND By William Cole Batchelor of Divinity and Minister of the Gospel there Imaginem Caesaris Caesari redde quae in nummo est imaginem Dei Deo quae in in homine est Tertul. de Idololatr LONDON Printed by Iames Cottrel for Nathanael Webb at the Kings Head in St. Paul's Church-yard 1661. To the Right Faithful and Truly Honourable Patriot of his Country Lover of his Prince and Servant of his GOD Sir George Booth BARONET Most Worthy Sir IT was the Expression of Varius Geminus concerning Caesar That whosoever durst speak to him Ejus videatur ignorare magnitudinem he that durst not singularem ejus nesciat humanitatem Upon this Consideration as to your self there hath been some suspense whether I should adventure these unpolished Meditations upon your Perusall and Protection whilst on the one hand that exemplary humility and humanity with which God hath brightned the rest of your Perfections hath invited me to on the other hand the Greatness and Elevation of your State discouraged me from that Enterprize Yet so fixed and prevailing at the last do the considerations of your Nobleness Ingenuity and Candor prove that here they lie at your feet if not to challenge Approbation from you yet at least to pay the Devotion of the Author to your Honourable Name and Person Had I sought the vain applause of men I should not have communicated to the World my own imperfections of which this Tract cannot but be a Discovery unto all Nor yet had I sought my own advantage should I have suffered these Conceptions to have had a Birth so late and unseasonable as being indeed born out of due time being that a more early publication of those Principles herein contained might have been perhaps as effectual to prevent the losses disappointments and pre-occupate the credit of whispering reproaches which I have since undergone as the supposal and surmise thereof have been in former years to procure unto me hâ— small adversity from those present Powers But of the thing it self and the exhibition of it now to publick censure and view these are the Grounds and Reasons Since the preaching hereof I have with no little sadness of spirit observed the impetuous torrent of most unmerciful reproaches pouring out it self upon many pretious servants of Iesus Christ within this County and indeed upon the whole Body of them who labour under continued travels of soul after necessary Reformation in the house of our GOD. And according to the platform used by the Churches Enemies in the primitive Ages of Christianity so also now the evil will of some persons endeavours to fasten upon us the black imputations of Disaffection and Disloyalty and Dissatisfaction with his Majesties Supremacie according to the Law Of what consequences such Disguises by uncharitable Brethren put upon us without our desert may be to the deprivation of us of our Ministerial function the dispossessing of us from any interest in the Royal Breast of his most Excellent Majesty and the pre-possessing of the spirit of authority with prejudice against our humble expectations and prayers for such a settlement in the Church as may comport in point of righteousness with that establishment which now is in our State your own apprehensions will readily suggest unto you I must confess I could hardly have believed that a Clergy of so famous a Fidelity to their Allegiance as that of this County hath been in the worst of times ever since any observation was possible to them of a designed invasion upon Monarchical Interest that have so notoriously disavowed the Titles and Triumphs of Usurpation and so deeply suffered upon that account should indeed and in earnest be thus misunderstood by any sort of men but that my self have so lately experienced the revival of that Charge and Calumny and been prosecuted thereupon with so much unseasonable and unreasonable fervour as must necessarily arise either from a real perswasion or a most inordinate passion Sir It hath been and is my great honour and satisfaction that I have some considerable acquaintance with those many Orthodox Godly and Learned men whom God hath set up as glorious Lights and Stars in this Northern Hemisphere and I am bold to say that what is in this Paper as to the sacred Interest of our lawful present Power is the Language Spirit Principle and conscientious Iudgement of them all and dropt from the same Spirit that ruleth in the hearts of these precious Dispensers of the Gospel Since these fatal Circumvolutions many Stars of the greatest magnitude have finished their course such as Herle Hollinworth Gee and others and for the rest of us I can say with knowledge as Tertullian speaks of the Christians in his time Ad Coelum suspicientes expansis manibus precamur pro imperatoribus vitam prolixam imperium securam domum tutam exercitus fortes Senatum fidelem populum probum orbem quietum quaecunque hominis Caesaris vota sunt And if by misconception subordinate Authorities shall yet please to frown upon us we shall say with him Hoc agite boni praesides extorquete animam supplicantem pro imperatore Sir Let me adde They are not few nor small afflictions and losses which my self and some others have undergone now very lately upon the account of our objected Non-conformity and our real desires to wait the Royal pleasure of his sacred Majesty in point of Publique Worship as also our willingness not to anticipate or pre-occupate the publique resolutions of State by our own private determination of that controversie in our particular practise We are under good hopes that the Determination of those things which in their present posture may so easily be made the advantage of serving the particular spleens and passions of men against many godly and orthodox and peaceable in the land will produce such a Reformation and Moderation as will issue in mutual satisfaction to all of indifferent perswasions For my own part although I do profess my self zealously affected to a common Uniformity provided it be bottom'd upon such foundations as do not carry in them just cause of dissent or discontent Yet I cannot but remember what Tertullian speaks When men do adimere libertatem Religionis interdicere optionem Divinitatis which he there calls Elogium non Religionis sed Irreligiositatis I know nothing in our Ecclesiastical Affairs but may with comfort and consent draw in the whole Body into a common Mediocrity if the sober ventilation of controverted things might have place and the passion prejudice and opportunities of divided Interests might be exploded Sir You may be a blessed Instrument for this happy composure But
in their legal Magistracie and yet Magistracie it self hath by Violence or Usuâ—pation been intercepted to a present fixing in some anticipating power and this is that stroak with which God hath afflicted any people in such a case Motion and Unsettlement is most probable to prove the means of Restitution Authority having a natural tendency to its proper centre and moving by instinct towards its legal fixation when those inter capedixes juris those stops and obstructions are withdrawn But yet in the State of Israel distress and trouble after the Revolt of the Tribes under Ieroboam did not help but hinder Deliverance did not save but sacrifice the people to be the Victims of Divine Revenge till the Assyrian had swallowed up both the usurping Princes and People too And therefore in my Text 2. The more near and approximate Medium of this Mercie is Affliction not considered simply and in its Effects natural but in its Effects supernatural and in its sanctification by God vers 25. I will thereby purely purge away thy dross and take away thy tinne The affliction of Israel as to its causual relation to and influence upon this promised happy settlement is not considered in the Text otherwise then as blessed by God to be the means of refining the people and purging out the dross and tinne of corruption from their hearts Afflictions that make the object holy make it happy where they work good in them they work good for them where their fruit and issue is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there it is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 12. 11. the peaceable fruit of righteousness Otherwise they are but as Physick which through want of working rather hasteneth then hindereth death rather kills then cures Should I have prophesied the issues of our sad calamities by the observation of their effects upon the hearts of this people finding what is observable in the growth of Popery and Profaneness Errour and Unrighteousness to any common eye what word of peace could any Prophet have had from God but that there have been some few though the most despised and rejected of men who have come out from great tribulations and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb who have come out from our corrections as gold from the fire and as silver purified from the furnace And although the glory of the Churches Deliverance be no wayes impartable or diviâ—ble betwixt man and God yet let not those persons think they have any share or part in being the reason of this our present Mercie whose lives have not been bettered by their losses who have carried their wickedness their lusts their continued course of Atheism and Irreligion their evil spirits along with them through these evil times that happiness of the Nation which perished by such mens sins is not now reviving out of its ashes for such mens sakes That effect which this displeasure of the Lord hath had upon some to humble inform convert and draw their hearts to himself this hath been the way and this onely can be the way by which the shatterings of Nations prosper to and issue in their blessed settlement It is usual for men who are really the greatest Blocks in the passage of Mercie yet to challenge the greatest share in the honor of procuring it when yet it is sent by God in answer to the repentance and prayers of his people So they usurp not upon the glory which is due to God himself let me say as Mephibosheth to David 2 Sam. 19. 30. Let them take all for as much as my Lord the King is come again to his own house Yet this I would have marked that indeed the sanctified Ones are those ten in Sodom for whose sakes the Lord will not pour out his wrath if found in it and that Blessing in the Vine the new wine in the Cluster for whose sake and for whose sake onely except for his own Names sake Isa. 65. 8. he will say Destroy it not 3. God would so accomplish this as that his own hand and power should be perspicuous and plain to have been the Fountain of its accomplishment I will restore thy Iudges vers 24. Thus saith the Lord I will restore True it is there is no effect falls out in the world but what doth owe its origination and production to the concourse of Providence separating the action as to its physical being from the moral obliquity and irrectitude thereof which is to be fastened upon its next and most approximate agent and principle Yet there are some things which are the more immediate Refulgencies of the Wisdom Power and Glory of the Deity the very Finger of God himself And such a work is this If any shall ask as Amos 7. 2. By whom shall Iacob arise for he is small Who shall repair the broken staff of Government The Text answers him in a voice from God I will restore thy Iudges as at the first The Restitution of a Kingdom to the rightful establishment of its State Government is no smal no easie work is a work can be done by none but God Where Usurpation hath possessed the Throne and by continuance hath grown up to a face of legal interest where the powers and strengths of interested Parties lies as an unmoveable block in the way of Righteousness where the spirits of them that are cordially zealous to its restoring yet lie at such distance each from other by reason of controversies that are excentrical at least to common peace and maintain such implacability and unreconcile ableness although bottom'd onely upon passions and mis-conceptions where the power of conscientious Principles in Christian Loyalty is to overcome the disobliging height and heat and animosity to say no worse of discontented persons where Christians discharged of their duty to their natural Prince may run their comforts in Gospel-things to a possibility of more or less diminution and eclipse but especially where Magistracie naked and unarmed of Assistance is to adventure its Scepter upon the fidelity of Forces too sadly vertiginous and given to change I say here in such a case yet to have such a Deliverance brought to pass This is the Lords doing and it is marvelous in our eyes And thus much for the manner of the effecting of this Deliverance II. The next thing in the Text is the Mercie it self and this for more perspicuity I shall divide into three Branches 1. I will restore Iudges and Counsellors there may be some variation and variety in the sense of these words You may consider them three ways 1. As importing some particular Form and sort of Government The Scripture sometimes distinguisheth betwixt the administration of Government in the times of the Judges and in the times of the Kings of Israel Ruth 1. 1. 2 King 23. 22. Till Saul and David's time the children of Israel were ruled by Judges and had no King over them At that time the Government was mixed
to evidence the Point but all together do shine with such beams of demonstration as may not only convince the judgment but even sets the heart in flames of affection transported with an holy joy when blessed by God with such a deliverance and at such a time Consider therefore 1. If God do restore to a people such a Government as was that of Moses Ioshua David and Solomon then they have a Government and Authority settled over them They do not lie common each to other to become the Arbitrary preys of power and violence I know this Consideration comes not fully up to what may be expected to be spoken yet it 's a blessing of no small concernment for a people to have a Government fixed over them What the Apostle Paul speaks of the Gospel however in the Ministry of evil principled or unduly officed men Phil. 1. 18. However Christ is preached the same I may translate to this case however the undue administration or fixation of Civil Powers may sadden the hearts of the people of God yet in that condition it is some allay that however Magistracy is kept up and the reins are not left in the neck of the unruly multitude When the Author of the Book of Iudges whom some would suppose to be Samuel other Hezekiah and other Ezra c. would set forth the sad estate of Israel the expression is considerable Iudg 21. 25. In those days there was no King in Israel I do not suppose that text or the other in that Book where the same thing is expressed to point at the want of a regal form of Magistracy for neither in those days nor in any former days till after had there been any such constitution with that people but to signifie those intervals and interregna that fell out betwixt the times of their Judges when there was no Magistracy at all And in those days when there was no King there was no peace there was no justice there was no religion in a sort but every man did what was right in his own eyes Consulâ— but a little the cases therein expressed to which your Marginal Notes and Quotations upon that Text have reference Judg. 17. 5. In those days there was no King in Israel and what then the man Micah had an house of gods and made an Ephod and consecrated one of his sons to be his Priest people set up their worship as pleased the liberty of a perverted judgment and erronious Conscience Judg. 18. 1. There was no King in Israel and what then the Danites take the boldness to make rapes upon their Brethren and to cut out an inheritance by the length of their swords Judg. 19. 1. There was no King in Israel and what followed the men of Gibeah do force the Levites Concubine and most shamefully abuse her even unto death and justifie the action with the concurrence of all the Tribe of Benjamin in the defence of that horrid wickedness These are fruits but not the tenth part of the fruits of Anarchy and confusion when God threatens the pouring out of his wrath upon Israel he tells them in Hos. 3. 4. they shall abide many days without a King and without a Priest and without an Ephod which some apply to the time of the captivity others to the days of Antiochus and some to this present state of that people since the time of Christ. It is indeed observed by Tertullian as the misery of that people Dispersi palabundi coeli soli qui exterres vagantur per orbem sine homine sine Deo rege without either God or man to be their King And however Rabbi Benjamin in his Itinerary lately have attempted to publish their places of abode and formes of Government yet the world knows that the Scepter is departed from that people and that they live under the powers and pleasures of others subjected to the Laws to which their wandring estate upon the earth doth bring them in several States Principalities and Kingdoms Seneca calls Government the very vital spirits of a Commonwealth ipsa nihil per se futura nisi onus praeda si mens imperii subtrahatur she her self would be nothing else but a burden to her self and a prey to others if once she had expired the soul of Government And therefore the restitution hereof is a choice and singular mercy to any Kingdom But more 2. If God do restore a Kingdom to such a Government as that of Moses Ioshua David and Solomon then they are restored to a legal rightful and just Government and Authority Those persons were just and lawful Princes such as came to the Scepter by a warrant from God I need not stand upon the proof of that They were not such as mounted the Throne by wickedness and force nor compassed the Crown by falshood or flattery they did not pawn their Consciences and stain their reputation as Tertullian speaks of some in his time propter unius anni volaticum gaudium for the fleeting glory of a short time but they were sent of God Nor shall I need to open by what ways and upon what foundations Magistracy comes to be rightfully and with justice settled in any person He that would have satisfaction in that point I shall desire him but to do his own understanding that right as to consult and ponder that renowned and elaborate Tractate of our reverend Neighbour Mr. Edward Gee about usurped powers Printed and Published in the worst of times with no lesse boldnesse of his blessed soul for God and the vindication of his people then it was pen'd with laboriousnesse judgment and depth of solid reason But that which I shall set before you is the unvaluable blessings of a Magistracy sent approved and warranted and justified by God himself To clear up this let me set before you but a little of what I might say as to the evil of usurpation upon Authority First Usurpers in Magistracy usually fall most foul upon God and the interest of Religion either imposing and enforcing corrupt and wicked innovations upon the people or else supporting a wretched toleration of a boundlesse liberty See for this the practice of Ieroboam for I speak of such Kingdoms and Principalities as have the knowledge and worship of the true God or Jesus Christ whom he hath sent No sooner was he setled in that Throne which of right belonged to the Son of Solomon but the whole course of sacred worship is changed and golden Calves set up at Bethel in stead of God and this thing became a sin to Israel that was inexpiable And indeed usurpation contracts upon its self a sort of necessity of this wickednesse It is one of the Rules and Principles of Machiavil about persons that invade the regal power In id unice intendat oportet ut sicut ipse novus princeps est it a in suo principatu innovet omnia that they be sure of this to bring an innovation
of all things else together with the mutation and change of Government What such powers and persons do observe may tend to gratifie and please the people or at least the most active stirring and tumultuous part of it for such usually is that part which is the most corruptly principled or may lay the greatest foundations for their own possession of their unjust Authority this is that Pole-Star by which Usurpation steers its course And therefore wo unto thee thou sacred and blessed interest of truth and true Religion when such disseisures are made of lawful Powers who need not the assistance of such cursed contrivances Machiavilian plots and debauched Consciences to support them And no marvel if usurpation be at least the fountain of a boundless toleration since erronious spirits though the most hateful enemies to a just Authority yet are the fastest friends and fittest Instruments for arbitrary Powers as being principled to own or approve any Authority only as it is fitted to countenance and support their way being not of that antient Christian spirit of which Tertullian speaks of fidelity to Princes never so opposite to Christianity Secondly Usurpation in Magistracy brings a snare upon the People as to their obedience and subjection Alas what woful troubles what scruples to Conscience what wracking and tentering of invention and understanding to finde out nice and subtle distinctions and evasions doth this produce for although the imposition and command of sinful and unlawful things be possible to the most approved and sacred powers yet it is generally an inseparable adjunct of any ones violent intrusion into Supremacy as might be proved at large both in profane and sacred story and might be demonstrated from the very interest of usurpation Upon this ground how many both Priests and People were forced either to quit their Conscience or to quit their house and home and all they had you may read in the case of Ieroboam in 2 Chron. 11. 16. And upon this ground in the imposition of Engagements Oaths Fasts and Thanksgivings some in this Congregation what they have suffered know abundantly But besides all this there lies no small difficulty upon the People of God as to obedience of unlawful Powers in even lawful things what conflicts of the soul betwixt the goodness and necessity of the action on the one hand inducing and perswading to the acting of it and betwixt the illegality of the Power that commands it on the other hand and the unwillingness of any sober spirit to do even good it self to the strengthening of the hands and claim of violence for my part I shall wish we may rather never have occasion to be put to experience and try then any more to be exercised under such temptations But such is the fate and state of usurped Powers as to the case of people Thirdly Usurpation in Magistracy deprives a people of the liberty and opportunity of discharging their real and their confessed duty to their lawful Prince and Soveraign Surely Christians this is no small affliction Princes and legal Powers when under bondage banishment or other separation from their people may look with a troubled eye upon them but alas the people themselves do feel no less affliction and smart in that divorce then they It is as irksome to a Christian people to be forced from their lawful Powers as it is for them to be forced from their people I know no interest that hath deeper impression upon the Conscience and Spirit of the People of God under and below their devotion to God himself and the happiness of their precious souls then their reverence and obedience affection and fidelity to the majesty of their Prince And however the misunderstandings or other fatal providences betwixt them and their lawful Princes may sometimes by the righteous judgment of God as it hath lately been with us produce the distance of each from other yet when the honest and rational ends of men have been abused to the injury and wrong of the Supreme Authority it is not unobserved by every common understanding how much those rapes and violences have sat upon the spirits of the godly in this Land to their deep affliction and grief and the producing of those fervent frequent Fasts and Prayers which have been answer'd from heaven as we now see Whilest a People therefore have so much of grace godliness and fidelity left as not to prostitute themselves to the lust of usurpation and not to take a present suspension of their political husbands power and presence for a dissolution of their matrimonial bond and liberty to admit Invaders into that Virgin undefiled Bed which is a more gross Adultery then that of a Wife from her Husband unless endured by force and ravishment I say whilst this is so what can we imagine of such a People in such dismal violent separations but that they sit solitary as a Widow that hath none to comfort her When it shall be Treason Death Destruction what not so much as to Preach or Pray for their natural Lords nay to mention their very Names with any mark of honour respect or reverence Fourthly Usurpation in Magistracy commonly proves the extirpation of the Ministry in Christian States and Kingdoms amongst a People that worship the true God This is visible enough under the Tyranny of Ieroboam 2 Chron. 11. 14. wherein the Levites either left their possessions or lost their integrity and flock'd in such numbers to Ierusalem from all their Cities I know it is possible for the Ministers of Christ to lie under deep affliction even under lawful Powers and although we are active and laborious to promote the resettlement of his sacred Majesty a thing of so indisputable an obligation upon us all yet we are not without the pre-conception and foresight of the evil use which evil men may make of this deliverance to vassallize and persecute the dearest of the Truths Ordinances and Interests and Ministers of Jesus Christ. Yet in usurped Powers there lies a kind of fatal necessity of persecution against such For besides that obligation which lies upon usurped Powers to serve the satisfactions of such a Clergy as have been the Stirrâ—p to help them to mount the Saddle of Authority the very truth of God which is and ought to be in the mouth of his faithful Prophets that be sure never speaks good of or to either wicked or usurping Princes is a continual torture and vexation to their spirits a continual dissettlement and disquiet to their Power I know the intermeddling of us with matters of State hath been mightily cried against as a thing out of the Commission of the Ministers of the Gospel as if we were not as well to Preach against the sins of great as small of Powers as of the People under them When Ieroboam had set up his Idols the Prophet and he was sent of God cried out to his face against his Idols and Idolatry Oh Altar Altar 1 King 13. Although