A SERMON PREACHED AT THE CATHEDRAL-CHURCH OF HEREFORD, On May the 29th 1684. Being the Anniversary Day of His late MAJESTY'S Birth, and happy Restauration, at a Feast than first instituted by some of the Loyal Inhabitants of that County. By Richard Bulkeley, M. A. and Prebendary of that Church. LONDON, Printed for William Crook, at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar, near Devereux-Court. 1685. To the truly Honoured Sir John Morgan, Baronet, and Sir John Ernle, Knight, the Stewards of this Loyal Feast. Gentlemen, NOthing but a deep sense, and just consciousness of my own Inabilities, could have rendered me so pertinaciously backward, even to a rudeness almost unpardonable, in no sooner gratifying your repeated Commands, for the Publication of this mean, but well-intended Discourse: which appearing in the World (though after his Demise) upon the Nativity and happy Restauration of a Prince, who can no more die in his Sacred Memory amongst us, than an English Monarch in his Politic State, makes it (if ever at all) now also equally seasonable. And since I publish this Performance under your Patronage, and with the Licence of my highly Honoured and Right Reverend Diocesan, though I need as many as any one that ever appeared in Print, yet I shall make no Apologies for it. God grant that all the Parts and Inhabitants of this Nation may, by the knowledge of your most generous Example, your most conspicuous, steady, and signalised Loyalty to his late, be emulously influenced to their bounden Duty and Obedience to his present Majesty, whom the God by whose especial Providence he rules over us, long and happily continue unto us. May He never want such Loyal Subjects as yourselves, nor such Loyal Subjects so Gracious a Prince, who has given us his Royal Word to assure us, that he will stand by and defend us both in Church and State, and who never yet did, and indeed (which must needs conquer our Fears, and remove our Jealousies) knows not how, and is yet to learn, to recede from it; may we never forget such unparallelled Goodness; may we in Gratitude comply with Him, and readily satisfy him in every Demand we in Conscience can; May every Feast celebrated throughout his Dominions, like this of ours, regularly end with Loyalty to our King, with Charity to our Neighbour, and with Piety to our God; and, in a word, may every one of us (as we are in Conscience bound) endeavour to beget and propagate in all men, The Fear of God, and the Honour of the King, on which two Foundations the Happiness and Welfare of our Kingdom is superstructed. Which, as it is the fervent Prayer, so shall it ever be the constant and incessant Endeavour, in his Sphere and Station, of, Gentlemen, Your most Devoted, most Obedient and Humble Servant, Richard Bulkeley. PSAL. 126. v. 3. The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.— WHen God ever signally appeared in the behalf of his People the Jews, to relieve them in their Wants, to assist them in the day of their Distress, and so exerted his Almighty, interposed his own Sovereign Power for their Deliverance; when ever he wonderfully preserved them from any Danger that did beset, any Calamity that did befall them, we still, we as constantly find them (though a stubborn and headstrong People) making their solemn and grateful Returns, paying their most enlarged Thanks, and just retribution of Praises. Thus, when the Depths of the Sea overwhelmed Pharaoh and his whole Host, Exod. 1 Ver. 6. so that they sunk into the bottom as a Stone, and as Led into the mighty Waters; when the right hand of the Lord became glorious in Power, dashed their Enemies into pieces, and might have involved them in the same Ruin and fatal overthrow, but yet miraculously preserved them, Ver. 19 so that they went on dry Land, even in the midst of the Sea, we have Moses composing his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, his triumphant Song of Thanksgiving, and in a most devout, most dutiful manner, landing and praising his God, and acknowledging him, v. 11. glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. And thus also, not to mention any more instances, when the Children of Israel were delivered and freed from twenty years' Slavery and Servitude, which they had suffered under Jabin King of Canaan, we find Deborah, and Barach the Son of Abinoam, as you may read in the fifth Chapter of Judges, magnifying God the Author of their Liberty. And as this was their constant, their general Practice, so likewise in particular this Psalm (as a Reverend Divine of our Church in his Argument upon it observes) is universally thought to be a joyful Song composed by Ezra, Dr. Patrick. or some such good man, wherein he celebrates the Jews happy deliverance out of Babylon, a City to which they were carried Captives for their Sins; wherein he ascribes the mighty, the unexpected great things, of their return to their Country, of their restitution to their Laws, Liberty, and Worship, wholly to the Lord, looking upon this happy turn, this Revolution of Affairs (as well he might) as a thing too great to be effected by bare Humane Power, so wonderful, so incomprehensible, that it was judged impossible to be performed. Insomuch that when the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus' King of Persia to issue out his Royal Proclamation for their Return to Jerusalem, Ezra 1. v. 2, 3. we read in the first Verse of this Psalm, that they were like unto them that dream, that they could scarce be wrought into a belief of their Happiness, and that they looked upon themselves under some soft delusion, some kinder Deception, only in a Dream, an imaginary fancy of such unhoped for, unexpected Felicity; but then, when they met with no obstruction or impediment, when they clearly perceived, and had sufficient demonstration and Conviction that God had wrought this for them, and that the men of the place not only permitted them, but also helped them, forwarded them to go; when, I say, the truth and certainty of this appeared, beyond denial or contradiction, than (as became them) were their Mouths filled with Laughter, and their Countenances with Joy, their Tongues employed in singing, and their Breathes in fashioning Hymns to their God, who had magnified his Power in their Deliverance, which justly filled them with Joy and Triumph, so that they expressed themselves in the words of my Text, The Lord hath done great things, etc. And sure, if ever any People under the Copes of Heaven had cause to bless God for any Mercies conferred upon them, then certainly we of this Nation have, for those of this days Commemoration. A day, whereon we celebrate a double Blessing; an Anniversary, whereon we repeat our continued Thanks to Almighty God for the Birth, and for the Return of our present Sacred Majesty; A Birth, next to that of our B. Saviour's, the most beneficial, most advantageous to us, being the Nativity of the best of Princes; A Return, the greatest and most signalised Mercy, next to that of our Redemption, being ransomed thereby from the greatest Tyranny but that of Hell, and restored to our Sovereign, and in him to the greatest of Earthly and Temporal Blessings, and therefore have all the reason imaginable to break forth into this grateful recognition of the Psalmists, The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. In the prosecution of which words, (which I hope may suit with the serious business of the day) I shall endeavour these three things. 1. I shall observe unto you the great things that God hath done for us; the signal Mercies he hath vouchsafed unto us in this days Dispensation. Secondly, I shall endeavour to show, (since there is no good Christian, or good Subject, which are reciprocal and convertible terms, but will one way or other be glad, and rejoice in this day which the Lord hath made) which way, and by what means, we may best and most acceptably express our Joys of it. Thirdly, and lastly, I shall make some brief Application to the whole, with reference to this Solemn, this Loyal Appearance. First then, I shall observe unto you the great things that God hath done for us, the signal Mercies he hath vouchsafed unto us in this day's Dispensation. Both which Topics, if taken together, will try the utmost stretch of Thought and Contemplation; will amount to a Subject that can never be exhausted; such that Language itself, cannot, with all its copiousness, sufficiently express. So that when we have used all our Faculties to utter our Praises, and bespeak our Gratitude, when we have been swallowed up in the deep contemplation of the Divine Goodness and Protection to which we own our present Stabiliment and Continuance; when we have almost breathed out our very Souls into Ecstasies of Joy, and pious Raptures of Thanksgiving; and, in a word, have with the best expressions of exalted Gladness, with Acclamations loud as Thunder, and Hallelujahs like the roar of the Sea, manifested our deep, our profound sense of His Majesty's miraculous Restauration from the miseries and hardships of a cruel Exile and unnatural Banishment; when we have done this and more, we shall still find matter of wonder before us, to silently admire, when we can no longer express the immense Goodness, and stupendious Bounty of Heaven, extended unto us in these two instances of the Day, the Nativity of our Sovereign, and his Accession to the Throne. And though we may well expatiate on both, and have as great reason to bless and praise God for the one as well as the other; to bless God, that he who rules over us, rules by undoubted Succession, that he is our Natural Lord, and born Prince, that he sways the Sceptre, not by Violence and Usurpation, as the late infamous Protector, not by Adoption, as Tiberius, not by Election, as Vespasian, heretofore amongst the Romans, but by an uninterrupted Lineal Descent, but by an unalterable Right of Inheritance; a Right, that cannot be alienated without the highest violation of Justice, Oaths, and Laws National, Natural, and Sacred; though, I say, these are Blessings (if any can be) equal with those of His Majesty's happy, thrice happy Restauration, yet I shall forbear the consideration of them at present, and speak to the latter chief, wherein we have sufficient to exert our wonder, and to make us conclude with the Psalmist, Psal. 59 ver. 10. that God hath showed us his goodness plenteously. For, when we were void even of all other help, and quite destitute of hope from Men, from the Arm of Flesh, when we groaned, sighed, and languished, and were ready to expire under the heavy Oppressions of Tyrannical and Arbitrary Government, when we had utterly lost, and were totally deprived of that we now to the full enjoy, viz. our Liberty, Property, and Religion; when we were consumed even from Morning till Evening, all the day long, our Houses plundered, our Wives violated, our Virgins rap't, and our Churches too, without any respect had to the Sacredness of Temples, sacriledged and profaned; when All but Rebels and Traitors were reduced to Cain's sad, Cain's disconsolate condition, to dread every one they met to be their Executioners; and, to consummate our Miseries, and complete our Infelicity (that our better Parts might not escape Fanatic Rage and Tyranny) when we were denied our religious, and well-digested Forms of Prayer, and our Souls almost poisoned with the blasphemous and fulsome stench of Extempore Nonsense; when the Pulpits were usurped by Jeroboam's Priests, the Beasts of the People, the lowest, and vilest, and most contemptible Mechanics, and the revered Name and Sacred Word of God abused and prostituted by Enthusiastic Canting and unintelligible Babble; and, in a word, when all the Miseries that can be thought of, by the loss and most savage Murder of the best of Kings, and by the outrageous cruelty of the worst of Traitors, had sadly, had lamentably befallen and consumed the Nation; then, even then, did it please Almighty God to come in to our Aid and Succour, to free us, by this day's Blessing, from all the Insolences, and Spoils, and Devastations of an Army, from all the direful Issues of a Civil and Intestine War, and (for nothing else, nothing less than our Sovereign's Return would have put the period) from all the different Competitions and variety of endless Claims, which would have been still started up, and so consequently begot and bred everlasting Disturbances, circular, eternal Fears: So that a bare exemption from such a long Train, such a complicated Series of Miseries which must have unavoidably ensued such Confusion in the Government; had no other Blessings (which, God be praised, we abound with) been superadded, must have put us upon declaring our grateful Resentments; but then, if to this we add the miraculous manner of his Majesty's Return, it must needs excite our wonder and admiration. For He was restored to Us, after some Men, some Potent men, had arrived to that Audacious degree, that high pitch of Impudence, as to form and pass an Illegal and Diabolical Act, Sir R. Bakers Chron. pag. 588. for the Exheredation of the Royal Line, for the utter Extirpation and Abolishing of Monarchy itself, the best of Governments; He was restored after a Proclamation issued forth, that none should presume not only to declare and publish, nay, Ibid. p. 587. even to breathe or whisper him, or, to express it in their own terms, any ways to promote him to be King. He was restored by General Monk, p. 693. to whom they had offered the Government, and so, one would have thought, should not have proved so industriously instrumental in bringing the Lawful Heir to it; Nay farther yet, to our greater Astonishment, He was restored, when there was a well form, well disciplined Army on foot against him; when his own Friends were low and poor, harrassed and oppressed, but his Enemies strong and powerful; when it was their Interest, as well as Principles, to keep him, now they had him out; And lastly, for all this, He was restored (which must needs convince even the Rebels themselves, that God was in it) without Opposition or Resistance, without a Hand lifted up, or a Blow struck, though, had a thousand Lives been sacrificed, had whole Rivers of Blood been shed, it had proved but a small Offering for so great a good; but a poor Victim, and slender Oblation for so great a Prince; To see, I say, such an Universal Concurrence among so many different Parties and distinct Interests, to see such general and united Joys, such miraculous Circumstances, attending and waiting upon the Return, must make the most Fanatic either renounce his Reason, or else confess, that this was the Lord's doing; and from hence know and learn, that the Lord saveth his Anointed, and will hear him from his holy Heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand; as heretofore, when he was driven from his own Kingdom to another People, so likewise now, being seated on his Father's Throne. For which great and transcendent Mercy let us never cease to bless and praise God, and with our purest Acclamations of Joy and Triumph, clap our hands, and cry, God save the King: 2 Kin. 11.12. which in the Hebrew Phrase, as is observed in the Marginal Note of our Translalation, is, Let the King live, outlive all his Foes; let him receive fresh and new accessions of strength and splendour, and let him now at the last, be amply and largely recompensed for the times wherein he hath suffered Adversity; for the times wherein he fled before, and was glad to escape his own, but rebellious Subjects; for the times wherein he was reduced almost to Lazarus his poor and necessitous condition, and forced for his own Concealment and Security, in an adjacent County, and a little Village, Madely by name, Bak. Chro. p. 609. to take up with no better an Apartment than a Barn; for the times wherein (like our Blessed Saviour) with Reverence and Submission do I speak it, He took upon him the form of a Servant, nay, and was put about Servile and Culinary Emyloys. Now let the World judge, Was there ever Prince so Great, Just, and Good, exposed to such Hardships, put upon such Indignities as these? Indignities that he never would have been driven to, but by two sorts of men, since the beginning of the World, namely, the Crucifiers of our Lord, the Jews, and the Murderers of our late King of blessed Memory, the Presbyterians and Independants; but I shall forbear entering any farther on this black and dismal scene of Affairs, out of the pure respect I have for the Day, and not for them, because I am not willing to overcast the brighter rays of it with such thick and Egyptian darkness, which many of us have too sadly felt, and therefore pass to my second undertaking, which is, to show how we may best and most acceptably express our Joys of so comprehensive a Mercy we this day commemorate. (2.) This I shall perform these two ways; First, Negatively. Secondly, Positively. First, Negatively. Not by any sinful Methods of Excess and Intemperance; not by any irregular or exorbitant Excursions, for these will rather call down, than appease God's Judgements, these will engage him not for, but against us, and make us at enmity and variance, and set us at distance with Heaven itself; nay, and will render us (which we should be loath to be accounted) the worst Subjects and greatest Rebels; for every Vice carries something of Treason along with it; each fit of Drunkenness (especially if a National Sin, as in this of ours) dams up to deluge the Land, and each Lust serves to scorch and fire the place of its Inhabitants, and proves the most fatal Conspiracy, arming God against it; for, as Solomon expresses it, Prov. 1.32. Even the prosperity of such Fools shall destroy them. So that if we should thus sinfully Congratulate the Safety of our King, that very act would contribute towards his Ruin; and in real truth, though we should ever so hearty rejoice for him in such a manner, yet, the best that can be said of it, would be, that it was a Loyal way of destroying him; 2 Kin. 9.22. for as, Jehu answered Joram, What Peace so long as the Whoredoms of thy Mother Jesabel, and her Witchcrafts are so many? So likewise, what Protection, what Assistance can we expect from the Powers above, so long as Vice and Wickedness abounds, and is encouraged among us? I speak not this (for I would not be misunderstood) to disrepute our intended Festival; I acknowledge with the devout Salvian, Salu. de gub. l. 6. Rideamus quamlibet immensuratim, laetemur quamlibet jugiter dummodo innocenter, We may be glad without measure, we may rejoice continually, provided it be done innocently and inoffensively; nor do I speak it, that I in the least doubt, or any ways suspect, but that the whole Action will be performed with Sobriety equal to its Loyalty, which is primitively pure; but only in general, because at such times such Sins are too frequently transacted amongst men: and withal, I affirm, that as long as there is such open and unpunished neglect of God's Worship, Word, and Sacraments, as long as there is such Contempt of his Sacred Laws, and holy Institutions, such horrid Profanation of the Lord's Day, and such promiscuous Incontinence, even from the Cottage to the Palace, that unless a more than ordinary Piety stand in the gap, the Event and Issue of these things will be desolation and ruin, the bane and consumption of our King and ourselves; it will happen unto us, 1 Sam. 12.15. as the Lord spoke unto Israel, If ye do wickedly, ye shall be destroyed, both ye and your King. If so be therefore we will not conspire against ourselves and Prince, if we will not put helping and assisting hands to our own Misfortunes and Calamities; if we will not be instrumental to effect that which the Papists and fanatics are both industriously endeavouring to do for us, let us, as one expresses it in words to this effect, Mistake not Debauchery for Joy and Merriment, Dr. Spark 29 May. nor drown our Reason, to manifest our Loyalty, but pray for the King's Health, and drink only for our own; and this will be good and acceptable to God and our King, and will bring us under, and recommend us to the Divine Favour and Protection. Secondly, Let us express our Joys and thankfulness Pofitively; by doing those Duties, by making such proportionable returns as become good Christrans, that have a thorough sense and conviction of so miraculous and stupendious a Providence as ours of this Day; which may be best performed, First, By an utter abhorrence; and hearty detestation of all such abominable Practices, and Disloyal, Anti-monarchical Principles, that naturally lead, dispose and debauch the minds of men into such bold, daring, and unlawful Attempts, as to fight against, and drive out of his own Territories the Lords Anointed, which are such as these and the like: Namely, That Princes, for just causes (as if there could be any such, when they sin only against God) may be deprived. Psal. That the People taken collectively, are better than the King, and of greater Authority. That they may Arraign their Prince, and they might with as much Justice and Equity on their sides, have said, Murdered him too, as they once did; that it is not sufficient for Subjects not to obey the wicked Commandments of their Prince, (which we are like to have none of) but they must resest them also, and deliver the Children of God (which by a strange kind of Baptism they christian themselves) from the hands of their Enemies, as we would deliver a Sheep that is in danger to be devoured by a Wolf. Which wicked and damnable Doctrines, with many more of the same leven and stamp, which for the embittered poison they carry along with them, I shall forbear to mention, and are at large recited out of Knox and Buchanan, two factious and rebellious Teachers, Book 1. Ch. 4. by Bishop Bancroft, in his most useful Book of dangerous Positions. Now, I say, if we have a hearty and sincere joy and rejoicing, that the King, and in him Monarchy, is restored, we must abhor, dread, and abominate these and such like pernicious Principles, which have seduced men from their bounden Duty and Deference to their Prince, by which they have endeavoured, (though with all the Wit and Malice they had they never could) to justify and maintain their rebellious Commotions against him; otherwise we can have no share or partnership, no communion or fellowship, with those that offer up their Hosannas and Hallelujahs to him that sitteth in the Heavens, laughs our Enemies to scorn, and protects us and our Anointed. Next, Let this our just Joy suggest unto us an important Duty incumbent upon all good Christians and good Subjects, which shall be this; Not only to offer up unto God our devoutest Praises for this and all other his Benefits conferred upon us, but our earnest, our incessant Prayers also, that He (for unless God keep the City the Watchman waketh but in vain) would continue his hedge of Protection about us, and defend us and our Religion, the best and purest in the World, from all the continued Assaults and Batteries that are made and raised against us; and this not only by his Universal Power, as the common Preserver of men, but also, by his more immediate and especial Care, but by his particular Providence, without which, like disagreeing Elements, we shall pray upon, and devour each other. Farther, let us beseech Almighty God (for there never was more need) that He would depute a Guard of Holy Angels, those ministering Spirits, to defend our King and his Royal Brother from all the Plots and Machinations, not only that are, but also that shall ever be form or managed against them; that he would scatter all their Enemies that delight in Blood, as Dust and Chaff before the Wind; that he would confound their Counsels and defeat their Stratagems, that, like the untimely fruit of the Womb, they might prove abortive, and never see the Sun, never behold the Light; and, in fine, that he will suffer no Weapon forged against them to prosper, though never so often consecrated to such impious and unhallowed purposes. Last of all. After we have unanimously sent up our Petitions, with all the Purity we are able, to Almighty God, who is a Defender of All them who repose their trust and confidence in him; let us also add our own earnest and honest Endeavours to suppress all malevolent and disaffected Persons and Parties, and so bring, as much as in us lies, all factious disturbers of the Peace, and fomenters of Discord, to their condign and deserved punishment; let us suffer no reproach, we can prevent, to befall, no Dirt to be cast upon the Government; let us suppress all Conventicles and Meeting-houses, the very Nurseries and Seminaries of Rebellion; and, in a word, let us put all the wholesome Penal Laws in Execution (for nothing less will prevail upon our obstinate Dissenters) whose pernicious Doctrines and impious Positions, whose Midnight Plots and Noon-tide Contrivances, we have good reason, not only to dread and fear, but also, as much as by Law and Honesty we can, to provide against; especially since we see by their late, that they do not repent them of their former Practices; especially since we see they are so enured to, so fond of their old Forty Eight Republican Principles, that we find by their often, though not successful Attempts (thanks to Heaven alone, not to them for it) that no Indulgences will win them, nor a thousand Acts of Oblivion make them forget their Villainy; Villainy that caused all that did but dare to be more honest than their wicked selves, to live such Lives, and be subject to such Tyranny, that, like some of the persecuted Christians of old, they would have embraced Death as a kind and friendly deliverer, that they complained of Life, because of its trouble, Ch. 3. v. 10. and might have cried out with Job, Wherefore is light given to us that are in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul? But because, by the blessing of God, and the endeavours of honest men, things are brought to a more promising Crisis, and favourable prospect, I shall insist no longer on this point, but shall conclude it with the ingenious Prefacer to the excellent Treatise of Toleration and Comprehension discussed; That it is too sadly apparent, from the late Books and Pamphlets of these kind of men, (speaking of the Dissenters) and against the Church and State of England, that they endeavour to do that work which Jesuits, and Jesuited Papists, do most hearty wish were accomplished. And I will add, that if ever Popery breaks in upon us, as a severe Scourge and Judgement for our sins, which God avert, that notwithstanding their outcries and clamours against it, yet they will be, in all humane probability, the unhappy Instruments to introduce it; which I wish they may seriously and in time consider, and by an honest Conformity to our Church, (for there is no other way) endeavour to prevent and remedy, that our Land may not again be overwhelmed with Cruelty; that our Church, now purified and refined, may not once more be run over with Idolatry and Superstition; that our Souls may not be enslaved, and our Consciences enthralled; and, that we may not be brought to this sad Dilemma, either to die barbarously, or to live wickedly, either to resign up our Lives, which is a hard case, or else, that which is far harder yet, to worship a true, living God, after a dead and false manner, which Considerations I leave to them with all the earnestness imaginable, begging them to look into the causeless grounds of their Separation from us, and so weigh these and such like consequences which may fatally ensue, and to repent and amend before it be too late; which if they will not, let me tell them, this, and many more Discourses extant in the World of this nature, will leave them without excuse at the great day of retrubution of all things. And so I pass to my third and last undertaking, to make some brief Application to the whole, with reference to this Solemn, this Loyal Appearance. Has Almighty God done such great things for us? Has he been exceedingly gracious to this Land wherein we live? And has he by his miraculous Providence and wonderful Preservation of him, after the fatigue and toil of a savage War, and tedious Exile, at last brought back, at last restored our most gracious Sovereign to his own, and most undoubted Rights? Then let this engage us (in return to such rich and tender Mercies) to do something for his Honour, and to his Glory; and the best we can do, do all we can, is to leave off our Sins, and to repent us of our Vices; that God's Hand may not as visibly be stretched out against our Sovereign, as it was this day remarkably seen in his Deliverance, that he might be at Peace with and reconciled unto us, and still continue what he hitherto hath been, Bp. Piers. Ann. Cyp. our Tutelar God, our Protector and Defender: For as St. Cyprian answered Demetrius the then Proconsul of Africa, who objected against the Christians, that they were the cause of all the Evils that did befall them: No, said he, the true reason why so many Calamities happen unto you, is not because the Christians are among you, but rather, Quod à vobis non colitur Deus, because God is not worshipped amongst you. So as truly may we assign the cause of our Fears and Dangers to our manifold Wickednesses, to our gross Impieties; for could we be but persuaded to be truly Religious, To worship God in Spirit and Truth, which he indispensibly requires of us, and but lead lives answerable to our Vows and Obligations, we might be secure and safe; we might enjoy Wealth and Plenty to the full, like Solomon's Peace, on all sides round about us, and we need not fear (for God would be on our side who is greater than they) though all the Devils in Hell, and Presbyterians on Earth, rise up and conspire together against us. Secondly, Are we, we the Inhabitants, though not Natives of the County, assembled together, to give our best Testimonies and largest Attestations of our hearty Affection to the Government we so happily live under, and are Subjects of? And have we erected a Feast (the usual and ancient way of Commemorating Mercies) to render our Congratulations for his most gracious Majesty's Birth and Restauration? Let us then answer the design and intent (which can be nothing less in the worthy and honourable Founders of it then truly good and loyal) by a regular performance and due execution. Let us crown our meeting, as with Loyalty and Sobriety, so with Bounty and Charity, Heb. 13.16. for with such Sacrifices God is well pleased. Let our abundance, as the Apostle speaks, be a supply to the wants of the Poor; and then will our Feast be acceptable to God and Man, then will it procure a Blessing for ourselves, and the County we are planted in; Nusquam Dominus meritis nostris ad Praemium deerit. Cyp. de Op. & Eleemosynis. God is never wanting, always ready to reward our good Deeds. Then will it give a Credit, and conciliate repute to the Institution of it; and then, to say no more, will it bear a Suitableness and Correspondency with the primitive, purest, and most ancient Feasts, in which, the Money that was collected, as Tertullian informs us, was not expended in eating and drinking to excess, was not consumed in foul Epicurism and filthy Gluttony, but was laid out and employed, Tert. Ap. cap. 39 Egenis alendis humandisque, & Pueris, & Puellis re ac Parentibus destitutis, and so on; in feeding the Poor, and burying them, in comforting Children that were destitute of Parents and Patrimony, and in helping old and decrepit Men that had spent the Vigour and Prime of their Youth, and the best of their days in the Service of the Faithful. To incite and stir us up to such good Duties, I might propose several Instances of this kind, I might propose several Objects of this degree and nature; As our care of some poor, and fatherless, and helpless Children; As our freeing and enlarging some necessitous, and indigent, insolvent Debtors and Prisoners, or, As (which would be a very agreeable Constitution) our establishing a Fund for the Relief of some poor Veterane Soldiers, who had almost lost their Lives, but altogether their Fortunes, in the Service of our King and his Martyred Father, in our late unhappy Wars and Contentions; but I shall commit this to our further consideration, and shall bespeak you once more (for I never can too often) that you would continually implore the Divine Majesty in the behalf of our Earthly one, and beg of him who is the Fountain and Source of all good gifts, that he would make his Reign to come prosperous, safe, and easy, and his Days many, that he would make him a King in the Wise man's Phrase, Prov. 30.31. against whom there may be no rising up; and influence with his heavenly benediction and blessing, all his Affairs, all his Counsels, and all his Undertake, through the whole course of his Reign over us. And lastly, Let every one of us present, as it is expressed in the Panegyric spoken to Paulinus Bishop of Tyre, upon the building of Churches, With one Spirit and one Soul, Euseb. Ecc. Hist. li. 10. cap. 4. never cease to give thanks and praise to the Author of these our so great good things; keeping them fresh in our Memories both now and throughout all succeeding times; and moreover, setting before the Eyes of our Minds God, the Cause of this present Day's joyful Solemnity, and the Master of this Feast; both by Day and Night, every Hour, and as (I may say) every Moment wherein we fetch our Breath; let us love him, and worship him, with all the strength of our Souls. And let us now rise up, and with the loud voice of our Affections beseech him, that he would continually save and defend us within his Sheep-fold, and that he would afford us his everlasting Peace entire and inviolable in JESUS CHRIST our Saviour, by whom be Glory to him throughout all Ages. Amen. FINIS. Books Printed for, and sold by William Crook, 1685. Divinity. 1. BRevis Demonstratio, being the truth of the Christian Religion, proved by Reason. 12o. price bound 10 d. 2. The Primitive Institution, showing the antiquity and usefulness of Catechising, together with its suitableness to heal the distempers of the Church, by L. Addison, D. D. price 1 s. 6 d. 3. Mr. Howel's Visitation Sermon before the Bishop of Chichester. quarto. price 6 d. 4. Dr. Hascard's two Sermons, one on the 5th of November, and the other before the Lord Mayor of London. In quarto. 5. Mr. Manningham's two Sermons, one before the Lord Mayor, the other at St. Mary's in Oxford. In quarto. 6. A Sermon preached at the Savoy in French, and since printed in French and English. twelve. price bound 8 d. 7. A Modest Plea for the Clergy, wherein is considered the Reasons why the Clergy are so contemned and neglected, by L. A. D.D. price 1 s. 6 d. 8. Hugo Grotius, his Catechism, Greek, Latin, and English, with a Praxis of all the Greek Words therein contained. In octavo. price bound 2 s. 9 The Spirit of Prophecy, proving, that Christ and his Apostles were Prophets: written by the directions of, and recommended to the Press, by the Right Reverend Father in God, Peter, Lord Bishop of Ely. In octavo. price 3 s. 10. The King-killing Doctrine of the Jesuits, in sincere discourse to the French King: written by a Roman Catholic. In quarto. price 1 s. 11. Justifying Faith; or the Faith by which the Just do live, together with the excellency of the Common Prayer Book. In octavo. price bound 1 s. 12. Mercy Triumphant, or the Kingdom of Christ enlarged beyond the narrow bounds which have been wont to be set to it: by Ed. Lane. 13. Du Moulin's Reflections reverberated, being a full Answer to the damning Doctrine of Dr. Lewis Du Moulin: also, a Confutation of Edmund Hickeringill's railing against the Ecclesiastical Courts. by Ed. Lane. In quarto. price 1 s. 6 d. 14. Responsio Valedictoria ad secundum Sandii Epistolam, etc. per Sam. Gardiner, S. T. D. In octavo. price 1 s. 6 d. 15. The Book of Psalms paraphrased, with Arguments to each Psalm, in 2 Vol. by S. Patrick, D. D. and Dean of Peterburgh, in octavo, price 10 s. 16. The Works of the pious, and profoundly learned Joseph Mede, B. D. some time Fellow of Christ's Church, Cambridge, corrected and enlarged according to the Author's own Manuscripts. In Folio. 17. A Demonstration of the Divine Authority of the Law of Nature, and of the Christian Religion; in two parts, by Sam. Parker. D. D. in quarto. 18. Godliness no friend to Rebellion; a Sermon. quarto. 19 A Thanksgiving Sermon preached by Dr. Harrison, Rector of Pulborrow. quarto. 20. An Introduction to the Sacrament, or a short, plain, and safe way to the Communion Table, being an Instruction for the worthy receiving the Lord's Supper, collected for, and familiarly addressed to every particular Communicant. by L. Addison, D. D. Dean of Litchfield, and Archdeacon of Coventry. in 12ᵒ and 24ᵒ. 21. The Case of Resistance of Supreme Powers, stated and resolved. by W. Sherlock, D. D. 8ᵒ 22. The Protestant Religion, the safe way to Salvation; or, an Answer to a Book entitled Mercy and Truth, or Charity maintained by Catholics, which pretend to prove the contrary, together with the Apostolical Institution of Episcopacy, as also nine Sermons on special Occasions; by W. Chillingworth, M. A. of Oxford: the fifth Edition, to which is now added Mr. Chillingworth's Reasons against Popery, to persuade Mr. L. to return to the Church of England. in fol. price 14 s. 23. Dr. Isaac Barrow's two Sermons on the Passion, and at the Spittle, before the Lord Mayor, in Easter Week. In 8ᵒ. 24. Dr. Cave's Primitive Christianity. In octavo. 25. Dr. Sherlock's Continuation and Vindication of Dr. Stillingfleet of Separation. 26. Moral Instructions of a Father to his Son, upon his departure on a long Voyage, or an easy way to guide a man towards all sorts of Virtues, with 100 maxims Christian and Moral. 8ᵒ. 27. A Discourse about Conscience, relating to the present Differences among us, in opposition to both the extremes of Popery and Fanaticism. In 4o. price 6 d. 28. The Doctrine of Passive Obedience, in a Sermon preached January 30. 1684. by J. Ellesby, Vicar of Chiswick, in Middlesex. 4o. price 6 d. 29. Contemplation's Moral and Divine, in two parts, by Sir Matthew Hales, late Chief Justice of England. In 8ᵒ. 30. The Soul's Communion with her Saviour, or the History of our Lord Jesus Christ, written by the four Evangelists, in Devotional Meditations. In 12o. price bound 1 s. 6 s. Law. 1. THE Jurisdiction of the Authority of Court-Leets, Court-Barons, Court-Marshalsea, etc. Together with the most necessary learning of Tenors, and all their Incidents of Essoyns, etc. With the Return and Forms of several Original and Judicial Writs, now in use, relating to Writs of Error, Writs of false Judgement, and other Proceed of frequent use in the Courts of Westminster, by J. Kitchen, of Grays-Inn Esq; To which is added, Brevia selecta, being a choice Collection of Special Writs; the fifth Edition. in 8o. price 7 s. 2. Praxis Curiae Admiralitatis Angliae, Author Francis Clarke. in twelves. price 1 s. 3. The Reports of Sir Henry Hobart, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. folio. price 10 s. 4. The second Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, containing the Expositions of the Statutes, by Sir Ed. Coke, folio. price 15 s. 5. The third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, concerning the Pleas of the Crown, by Sir Edward Coke. folio. price 6 s. 6. The fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts, by Sir Edward Coke. in folio. price 10 s. 7. The Law of charitable Uses revised, and much enlarged, with many cases in Law, both Ancient and Modern; with the Readins of Sir Francis Moor upon the Statute of the 43 of Eliz. digested by G. Duke, Esq; folio. 8. Officina brevium, select and approved Forms of Judicial Writs, and other Process, with their Returns and Entries in the Court of Common Pleas: as also special pleading to Writs. folio. 9 Young Clerk's Guide, in four Parts, or an exact Collection of choice English Precedents. 8ᵒ. 10. A Dialogue betwixt a Student and a Philosopher, about the Common Law of England, by Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury. in 8ᵒ. 11. Several Statutes of Bankrupt, with the Judge's Resolution thereon. in 8o. price 1 s. 6 d. 12. Les Reports desires Honourable Edward Seigneur Littleton, Baron de Mounslow, Custos de la Grand Seal d' Angleterre, & de ses Majesty pluis Honorable Privy Council en le Courts deal Common Bank & Exchequer ans del Reign de Roy Charles, etc. fol. 13. The Complete Clerk, containing the best Forms of all sorts of Precedents for Conveyances now in Use, etc. with Alphabetical Tables of the whole Contents of the Book. in quarto. price 12 s. 14. The Complete Solicitor, Entering Clerk and Attorney, fully instructed in the Practices, and Methods, and Clerkship of all his Majesty's Courts of Equity and Common Law-Precedents, etc. of Mr. J. Hansard, Mr. Leake, etc. of Clements-Inn: now printing, in folio. 15. The Reports with all the Plead of the late Lord Chief Justice Saunders, in two Vol. in folio. printing. 16. Pleas of the Crown, by Sir Matthew Hales, late Chief Justice of England. in octavo. History. 1. AN Institution of general History, or the History of the World; being a complete Body thereof, in two Volumes, by W. Howel, late Chancellor of Lincoln. in fol. 2. Historical Collections, being an account of the Proceed of the four last Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth, by H. Townsend Esq; in folio. 3. Clelia, the whole Work, in five parts; written in French, now put into English, in folio. 4. Scarron 's Comical Romance, being an Historical account of a company of Stage-players, full of variety of Novels, rare Adventures, amorous Intrigues, etc. being both witty and pleasant, in folio. 5. Popish Cruelties, being an account of the Treasons of Dr. Parry against Queen Elizabeth, with his Confession of it at his Trial, and his Denial at his Execution, folio, price 1 s. 6. The Life of Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, written by himself in Latin, since translated into English, in folio, price 6 d. 7. An Historical Narration of Heresy, with an account of the Punishments thereof, by Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury, in folio, price 6 d. 8. Megalopsichy, being a particular and exact account of the last seventeen years of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, both Military and Civil, the first written by Sir W. Monson, one of the said Queen's Admirals; the second written by H. Townsend Esq; a Member of her last Parliament. Wherein is a true and faithful Relation of all the expeditious Attempts, Designs, Successes, and Errors, both of the English and Spanish, in the Wars from the Year 1585. to the said Queen's Death, With a full account of the Eminent Speeches and Debates, etc. in the said time. To which is added, Dr. Parry's Trial in the Year 1584. All written at the time of their Actions, by Persons that were eminently acting therein. folio. price bound 10 s. 9 A Voyage into the Levant, being a Relation of a Journey lately performed from England to Grand Cairo, by Sir Hen. Blunt. twelve. price 1 s. 10. A Description of Candia, with an exact account of the last Siege and Surrender of it to the Turks. in octavo. price bound 1 s. 11. A Discourse of the Dukedom of Modena, containing the Original, Antiquity, etc. of that Dukedom. in quarto. price 6 d. 12. The Travels of Ulysses, how he went to Hell and came back again, etc. by Tho. Hobbs. price 1 s. 13. The present state of London, containing the Antiquity, Fame, Walls, Rivers, Gates, Churches, Bridge, with the Customs and Infranchizements, by J. Bridal, Esq. price 1 s. 14. The Wonders of the Peak in Derbyshire, commonly called the Devil's Arse of Peak, by Tho. Hobbs. oct. price 1 s. 15. The Life and Death of Mahomet, being the first estate of Mahometism, showing all the designs that that Impostor Mahomet had to carry on and settle the Turkish Religion. Written by L. Addison D. D. price 1 s. 6 d. 16. The Historians Guide, or Brittain's Remembrancer, being a summary account of all the Actions, Exploits, Sieges, battles, Designs, Attempts, etc. taking notice of the Year, Month, and day of the Month, all eminent Passages have been for 85 years' last passed. A portable Book, printing to 1685. 17. The Connexion, being Collections of some principal Matters in the Reign of King James, being the time that nothing of this nature is printed, being betwixt the end of Megalopsichy, or the last seventeen years of Queen Elizabeth, and the beginnings of Mr. Rushworth, Heath, Nalson, Whitlock, and others, price 1 s. 6 d. 18. The Moors baffled, being a discourse of the Government of Tangier, under the Earl of Tiviot, showing the Subtlety and Policies of both Parties. Written by Dr. Addison, who lived there many years, price 6 d. quarto. 19 All the Works of Homer, both Illiads and Oddyses, translated out of Greek into English, by Tho. Hobbs of Malmsbury, price 5 s. 6 d. 20. Considerations on the Loyalty, Religion, Manners, and Reputation of Tho. Hobbs, octavo, price bound 1 s. 21. The Memoires, and rare Adventures of Henrietta Sylvia Moliere, a great Lady in France, now living, written by herself, in six parts in French, and now translated into English, price 4 s. 22. Tho. Hobb's Angli Malmsb. Vita, being an account of Mr. Hobbs, of the Books he wrote, of the times when, and the occasion thereof, of the Books and Authors against him, of his Conversation, Acquaintance, etc. Part wrote by himself, the rest by Dr. B. in octavo, printed 1681. 23. Behemoth, being the History of the Civil Wars of England, and the Counsels and Artifices, by which they were carried on, from 1640, to 1660, printed now from his own perfect Copy, in which is many pages more than was in the former Counterfeit Editions, none of which Editions before this, had less than a thousand Faults in them, whole Lines left out in a hundred Places, which did extremely prevert the sense of the Author, Tho. Hobbs. 24. The Tracts of Mr. Tho. Hobbs of Malmsb. in two Vol. in octavo, gathering Nine of his Treatises together, which are also to be had single, viz. 1. His Life, in Latin. 2. His Considerations on his Loyalty, Religion, etc. 3. His Art of Rhetoric in English. 4. His Dialogue about the Common Law of England. 5. His ten Dialogues of Natural Philosophy. 6. His Civil Wars of England, the perfect Edition. 7. His Historical Narration of Heresy. 8. His Answer to Bishop Bramhal in defence of his Leviathan. 9 His seven Problems, with an Apology for his Writings, to the King, price bound 9 s. 25. A New Survey of the Present State of Europe, newly written in French, and now translated into English, in octavo. 26. Compendium Geographicum, or a more exact, plain and easy Introduction to all Geography than yet extant, after the latest Discoveries and new Alterations, with two Geographical Dictionaries, the one of Ancient, the other of the Modern Names of Towns, Places, etc. very useful for all Gentlemen, the like not done in English before. by P. Chamberlain of the Inner-Temple Gent. The second Edition with Additions, in twelves, price bound 1 s. portable. 27. The present State of the Jews, wherein is contained an exact Account of their Rites Secular, and Religious; to which is added a summary Discourse of the Misna, Talmud, and Gemara. by L. Addison, D. D. Dean of Lichfeild, in twelves, price bound 1 s. 6 d. 28. The Bucaniers of America; or, a true account of the most remarkable Assaults committed of late years upon the Coasts of the West-Indies, by the Bucaniers of Jamaica and Tortuga, by the English, French, Dutch, etc. against the Spaniards in those parts; written in Dutch, translated into Spanish, and now into English, with many Copper Cuts. The second Edition, with the Addition of Captain Cooks, etc. in quarto, price bound 5 s. 29. The Bucaniers of America, the second Volume, containing the dangerous Voyage and bold Attempts of Captain Bartholomew Sharpe, Captain Coxon, Captain Harris, Captain Sawkins, Captain Row, Captain Macket, etc. performed on the Coasts of the South-Seas for the space of two years, etc. from the original Journal of the said Voyage, by Mr. Bazill Ringross Gent. who was all along present at those Transactions. in quarto, price bound 6 s. 30. The History of the , being once a Carthusian-Order, setting out the Gift of Mr. Sutton, etc. with all the Laws and Institutions of it, etc. octavo. 31. The French Intrigues; or, the History of their delusory Promises, since the Pyrenaean Treaty; printed in French at Cologne, and now made English, twelves, price bound 1 s. 32. The Memoires of the Duke de la Roche Foucault, being private Intrigues of France, etc. octavo. 33. Boccace de Cameron his Tales, in folio. 34. The Grecian Story, by J. H. Esq; in quarto, price 4 s. Plays and Poetry. 1. HOmer's Works in English, by Tho. Hobbs, in twelves. 2. A Poem on the Life of Mr. Hobbs, written by himself. 3. Melpomene, or the Muse's Delight, being a Collection of new Songs and Poems, by several of the present Wits, in 8ᵒ. 4. A Poem Latin and English on the Devil's Arse of Peak, by Tho: Hobbs. 5. Hug. Grotius' Catechism in Greek, Latin, and English, in a Poem. 6. The Confinement, a Poem, with Annotations on it, in 8ᵒ. 7. Vittoria Corombona, or the White Devil, a Tragedy, 4ᵒ. 8. Catiline's Conspiracy, a Tragedy, quarto. 9 Rival Kings, or the Loves of Oroondates, a Tragedy, in quarto. 10. The Old Troop, or Monsieur Raggou, a Comedy, 4o. 11. The Amorous Gallant, or Love in Fashion, a Comedy, quarto. 12. The Mock-Duellist, a Comedy, quarto. 13. Wrangling Lovers, a Comedy, quarto. 14. Tom Essence, a Comedy, quarto. 15. The Wits led by the Nose, a Comedy, quarto. 16. The French Conjurer, a Comedy, quarto. 17. Counterfeit Bridegroom, a Comedy, quarto. 18. Tunbridge Wells, a Comedy, quarto. 19 The Man of New Market, a Comedy, quarto. 20. The Constant Nymph, a Pastoral, quarto. 21. Carolina, being Loyal Poems by Thomas Shipman Esq; published by Tho. Flatman, price bound 2 s. 6 d. 22. The Grecian Story, being an Historical Poem in five Books; to which is annexed the Grove, consisting of divers shorter Poems upon several Subjects, by J. H. Esq; in 4ᵒ. 23. The Odes and Epidon of Horace in five Books, translated into English by J. H. Esq; octavo. Miscellanies. 1. THE deaf and dumb Man's Discourse; being a Discourse to show how the deaf and dumb do understand one another, with a Tract of inanimate Creatures, octavo, price bound 1 s. 2. The Complete Measurer; or a new and exact way of Mensuration, by Tho. Hammond, octavo, price 1 s. 3. Camera Regis; or, the present State of London, by J. B. Esq; octavo. 4. The American Physician, treating of all the Roots, Trees, Herbs, Shrubs, Fruits, etc. in his Majesty's Plantations in the West-Indies, by William Hughes, in twelves, price bound 1 s. To which is added the ways in Jamaica for making of all sorts of Chocolate. 5. Lord Bacon's Apothegms, or witty Say, in twelves, price bound 6 d. 6. A Letter about Liberty and Necessity, written by Thomas Hobbs to the Duke of Newcastle, with Bishop Lany's Answer to it, in twelves, price bound 10 d. 7. Reflections on the Philosophy and Philosophers of the ancient and the modern Times, by M. Rapine, in octavo, price bound 2 s. 8. Ten Dialogues of Natural Philosophy, by Tho. Hobbs, in octavo, price bound 2 s. 9 Quinquina; a Discourse of curing Agues and Fevers by the Quinquina Bark, commonly called the Jesuits Powder, in twelves, price bound 1 s. 10. A Sermon preached at S. P. T. by the late Usurper Oliver Cromwell, quarto, price 3 d. 11. A Treatise of Usury, by Sir Rob. Filmer. FINIS.