Mr. FLEETWOOD's SERMON BEFORE THE Lord-Mayor, etc. JAN. 30. 1698/ 9   

Child Mayor. Jovis nono die Februarii, 1698. Annoque Reg' Regis Willi. Tertii Angliae, etc. decimo.  
THIS Court doth desire Mr. Fleetwood to Print his Sermon Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, the Thirtieth of January last, before the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of this City.  
Goodfellow.   

A SERMON PREACHED at St. PAUL's Cathedral, JANUARY 30. 1698/ 9  
Before the Right Honourable THE LORD MAYOR, AND Court of Aldermen,  
By W. FLEETWOOD, Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.  
LONDON, Printed for Thomas Newborough, at the Golden-Ball in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1698/9.   
1 SAM. xxvi. 10, 11. 
David said furthermore, as the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into Battle and perish.  
The Lord forbidden that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed.  
THO' one must needs be sensible, that Arguments and Inferences fetched from the Jewish Government, cannot by any means conclude with Certainty, another Nation and a different Constitution; and that the Scripture-Instances themselves, without some general positive Command to follow them, can oblige no farther than they carry Reason and Convenience along with them; yet because the World is governed mostly by Examples and Scripture-Examples, chief urged and fittest for our Imitation, it may not be improper to consider, in this History, the Provocations Saul had given to David, and the Opportunities that David had to avenge himself, and take away his Life: This I will do in the first place: and in the second, consider the Reason David here assigns for his Proceed; It is the Lord's anointed: And in the third and last place, apply myself a little to the Occasion of this Day's Assembly.  

I. The Persons here concerned are Saul and David, the King of Israel and his Servant, the Father and the Son-in-law; and the State in which the Text shows us these two, was that of Enmity; it was the second time that Saul, with a premeditated formed Design had hunted after David to destroy him; and 'twas the second time that God had put the former in the latter's Power, and given his Life into his Hands, which he was tender of the second time, and spared it with his old and usual good Expression, God forbidden that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed; a noble Instance this, if 'twere alone, of a most excellent forgiving Nature, of firm and solid Virtue, of steady and unshaken Loyalty; but when considered with its Circumstances that attended it, the Provocations Saul had given, and the Advantages that David had, it will appear an Act so brave and generous, that it would be flattering up ourselves in vain, to hope to see it ever paralleled throughout.  
Consider therefore first, the Prince that was his Captive now, and at his Mercy had somewhile since descended so below himself, as to become the Envier and Detractor from his Praise, was poorly jealous of the Honours he had purchased, and tried to blast the Laurels he had gathered, at the expense of so much painful Toil and Hazard; and 'tis no little share of Grace and Goodness, that can restrain a young aspiring Hero, from taking Vengeance on the Maligners of his Praise, and from removing all Impediments in his pursuit of Fame and Glory.  
Consider, Secondly, This was the Prince that had attempted twice to murder him himself, had thrown his Javelin twice to fix him to the Wall, and chose to make himself the Executioner of his own Choler and Revenge, harkening ungratefully to the Suggestions of that Evil Spirit, which the good Youth was at the present labouring with his Music to appease and charm; and when men's Lives are so apparently sought after, they usually lay all Respects aside, and listen to the Dictates of unruly Nature.  
Thirdly, He was a false perfidious Prince, under pretence of honouring and advancing him, he had removed him from himself, and made him Captain over a Thousand; and still to make the Matter less suspicious, said unto him, Behold my elder Daughter Merab, her will I give to thee for Wife, only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord's Battles. But what follows? For Saul said, let not mine hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines. Nothing affects a generous Mind so sensibly, as being cheated under show of Friendship; and Treachery is never viler, than when 'tis covered with the Mask of Godliness.  
But, after all, it came to pass, at the time when Merab, Saul ' s Daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to Wife; an affront in its own Nature very great undoubtedly; but such as, according to the Maxims of our modern Gallantry were never to be pardoned. But worse yet; When Michal's voluntary Love had amply satisfied the disappointment he had had in Merab, the unrighteous Father, hardened in his Cruelty, would make his Daughter instrumental in the murdering of his Son-in-law, would have the Lefthand cut the Right one off, the Wife conspire against her Lord and Husband, and betray the Life she loved and prized above her own. And when a Man has thus apparently attempted to debauch the Loyalty, and break the Union of the Marriagebed, to dissolve those Sacred Bands, to interrupt the sweetest Commerce of Man's Life, and violate all the ties of Nature, Reason, and Religion, by a practice of such horrid and unnatural Wickedness, there is hardly any excess of Fury so exorbitant, but seems at first excusable, in a thus injured and abused Husband. But God forbidden, said David, notwithstanding all this, that I should stretch my hand against the Lord's anointed. The Villainy of this Attempt, the Wickedness of Saul, and David's Virtue, might yet be raised, by considering what were the effects of this his Rage and Disappointment; he was so cruel that he took the Princess from her Husband, broke off the comfort of her Life, and sent her to a Strangers loathed unhallowed Bed; and even when Jonathan himself, his noblest best beloved Son, the prop and comfort of his Age, the light and joy of Israel, the glory of his House, and the support of his Kingdom, came but to intercede in his Friend's behalf, and to excuse his Absence, Saul's Anger was so enkindled at him, that he cast a Javelin at him, to have nailed him to the Wall; a piece of Rage and brutal Violence that Nature wants a name for, but a sure Indication, that such a settled Wrath was never to be appeased, and therefore never to be ventured more, and therefore now secured for ever.  
But farther, he was Perjured, He had but lately taken a solemn Oath before the Lord and Jonathan, David should not be Slain; when behold, upon the first awakening of his Evil Spirit, even whilst his Vows were warm upon his Lips, he threw himself the second Javelin at his Heart, and threw away all Faith and Honour with it. And when a Prince hath thus abandoned common Honesty, broken the sacred Cords that knit Societies, and keep up Governments and mutual Correspondences, together with Relations Natural and Civil, and by his Perjuries, provoked the Vengeance of God, and is delivered into the Hands of those whose Innocence and good Credulity he had imposed on, and abused almost to their Destruction, Oh! what a mighty measure of God's Grace must fill the Heart of him, that then could say, The Lord forbidden that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.  
There are some things besides our Lives and Persons, in which if we are touched, we think ourselves extremely Injured; and they are specially our Friends, our Fortunes and Religion; and David was in every one of these affected more or less by Saul's implacable pursuit, and hunting after him. He was constrained to change his Habitation, carry his Father and his Mother, and his whole Family, into a strange Country, aged and feeble, as they needs must be. To be forced, when one is growing old, and stooping with Infirmities, to forsake one's Native Place, the Dwelling of one's Ancestors, the Comforts of good Neighbourhood, the usual Prospects and familiar Objects of one's Sight, with all the old Conveniencies of Life, in the way one is in, for a strange Country, barbarous Neighbours, new Laws and Usages, and Tongue unknown, must needs be hard and troublesome to humane Nature, and an Oppression scarce to be endured: Yet this was David's Case, who felt these Evils in himself, but much more sensibly in the Distresses of his Parents, who, by the fury of the King, were driven to Mispeh, of the King of Moab.  
And then for his Estate, it could not otherwise be but he must suffer much in that respect, it was impossible to remove his whole Effects: King's have long Hands, and piercing Eyes, and by their Officers can reach and see at mighty distance: And Saul had Harpies in his Court undoubtedly, as well as other Kings, ready to beg and seize upon the Estates of such as by their Crimes or their Misfortunes, were obnoxious to the King's Displeasure.  
Lastly, for his Religion, Although he suffered nothing for or by it, yet much he suffered for the want of it; to be driven away into wicked and idolatrous Country, and be debarred the exercise of his Religion, to be hurried from God's Temple, and the communicating in the appointed daily Service of that Holy Place, was little less than painful Martyrdom to one so zealously and so devoutly bend, as David was.  
Let any Man recount the Evils I have mentioned, sum up the Persecutions and the Provocations of King Saul, and set before his Eyes, himself, or any one in David's Case, wronged in his Honour, divorced from his Nuptial-Bed against his Will, despoiled of his Estate and Property, wounded in the Distresses and Afflictions of his Parents, attempted privately to be destroyed, pursued in Public as an Enemy, and hunted like a Partridge on the Mountains, and forced to wander like a Fugitive, and seek his Bread out in desolate Places, and in a manner Excommunicated, by being barred the use and exercise of his Religion. Let any Man, I say, but put himself in these bad Circumstances, and find himself in a capacity of delivering himself from out of them, as David was, and think with himself what he would do. No,— 'tis not that I would advise him to,— Let him rather think what David here did,— The Lord forbidden, that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.  
There's hardly any one of all these single Passages that happens to ourselves, or our Acquaintance, but puts us to extremity, and provokes us beyond all Patience, we call it an intolerable Oppression, and weary Heaven and Earth with our Complaints, and think ourselves undone, till we have found our Satisfaction or Revenge. How restless are we in contriving Snares, how quick in catching Opportunities, and how malicious in improving them to our ill-natured purposes! Much otherwise was it with Righteous David here, who called not to his Mind his past Wrongs, nor cast his Dangers and Oppressions up, to make a terrible Account; who consulted not with Flesh and Blood, nor debated the Matter with those ill Advisers within, his Choler and Revenge, who cure one Evil by a hundred worse: Yet He, as he had most Reason, so had he most Opportunities, and most Advantages, to carve out whatever Satisfaction he might judge sufficient: Which is what for his Honour, and our Instruction I must Secondly insist on.  
He was, first, the King's Son-in-law, one of the greatest Honours in the Kingdom, and an Advancement that must needs draw after it, a great many Friends and Favourites, and make him strong Alliances at Court; and tho' those Friendships commonly live but like Flies, while the benign and quickening Influences of the Sun continue, and die upon the Frowns and Lowrings of their Prince; yet 'twere too hard a reflection on the lightness of those places, to think such solid Virtue, and unquestioned Merit, as eminently shone in David, had not acquired him a considerable Party, and a well-grounded Interest at Court.  
But, Secondly, he was a mighty Man of Valour, he fought the Lord's Battles; he was the Sword and Shield, the Horsemen and the Chariots of Israel. He was the Scourge of the Philistines, and indeed of all the Idolatrous Nations round; the great Defender of the Jewish Faith, and the Supporter of God's Worship. And 'tis hard to think a Man thus qualified, should fail of bearing sway amongst the Soldiery, and being gracious in the Camp; and all Men know, how far that tends to the promoting and securing any great Designs.  
Thirdly, This David was beloved of all the People, the Favourite of his Country, the very Idol of the Crowd. His Youth, his Beauty, his attractive Grace, and popular Deportment, together with his Virtue and his Valour, had stolen the People's Hearts, and charmed them so to Love and Admiration, that he became the Theme of their perpetual Talk, their Songs and Dances were composed in honour of his great Archieuments, and all their Instruments of Joy and Music, were tuned to his invidious Praises. How harsh and rude must those Expressions of their Pleasure be, how unmannerly and ill-natured a Triumph, to have the Women come to meet the King himself, and grate him with the burden of their Song, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. I do not wonder much, when I consider humane Nature, that Saul, (as it follows in the next Verse) was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and then upon a repetition of that Sentence, 'twas very natural to infer, What can he have more but the Kingdom? 'Tis fatal to a Prince to lose himself, or suffer any else to get the Affections of his People. A King may be as wroth as Ahasuerus was, and may decree terrible things, and Priests may preach up Patience and Obedience long enough; but 'twill not do, unless the Affections of the Subject go along therewith. He that hath never gotten these, or lost them once, may find to his cost, when e'er he comes to try, that the ties of Duty are not half so strong as the bands of Love; nor the Service of the Body comparable to the Affections of the Mind. Whereas he that hath gained the Heart, will certainly be Master of the Hand and Service on Occasion. And this was it that Saul foresaw and dreaded so; and this was it that David was already in possession of. But notwithstanding all this, great as he was in Court, great as he was in Camp, and greater yet in favour of the People, he would not venture on the impious Fact, still it was, The Lord forbidden that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.  
The Lord forbidden;— yet David knew it was this very Lord, that had rejected Saul from being King, that rend the Kingdom from him, and that repent he had ever made him King at all. Nay, David knew himself the Man designed by God to be his Successor, and had accordingly been anointed King by Samuel, at the Town of Bethlehem.  
'Tis surely with Ambition, as with other Passions, the fantastic and imaginary Joys are greater than the experienced and substantial ones: The Hopes and Expectations far exceed the pleasures of Possession. Whatever Cares belong to Crowns, they lie concealed within their Circles, and are more seldom seen than felt; and therefore more engage in their pursuits, than are contented when they get them. But this Temptation found no place with David, young, and gay, and vigorous as he was, and even so near the Crown, that by conniving at Abishai's Blow, he might have been in full and sure possession of it; yet he suffered not himself to be transported beyond the Bounds of rigid Honesty and Loyalty; and still cries out, The Lord forbidden.—  
Now, to conclude, and to complete this Character, add, Lastly, to these great Advantages, of being Son-in-law, a mighty Man of Valour, and accepted in the sight of all the People, of knowing Saul rejected, and himself designed for Successor, the greatest yet of all Advantages, and that is Opportunity; that without which all others signify but little; and that with which alone Men serve their turns, and make up the defects of all the rest; that Pander to all Sin, and fatal Snare of Virtue! That that has ruined many thousand Souls, and betrayed them into most detestable Commissions; sometimes against the best Convictions of their Understanding; nay, and sometimes against their Vows and Resolutions; Opportunity, that few have Virtue, few have Strength sufficient to withstand! and of all Opportunities, none are so strong, and work so powerfully upon the Minds of Men, as those that look like Providential one's, and seem to come from God. Yet this was David's Opportunity, and yet withstood. Behold, said the Men of David to him, Chap. 24. and ver. 4. Behold the day, of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold I will deliver thine Enemy into thine hand, that thou may'st do unto him as shall seem good unto thee. And again, in the Chap. of the Text, and ver. 8. Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine Enemy into thine hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray, with the Spear unto the Earth, at once, and I will not smite him the second time. As if he had said, Look round you, noble Youth, and see how Heaven and Earth conspire in your Advancement; mark how the Providence of God hath ordered every thing in your behalf, contriving every Circumstance to concur in setting the Crown upon your Head. How many Psalms have you composed, how many Vows, how many earnest Prayers have you put up, that God would visit your Afflictions, confound your Enemies, and redeem you from Distress? Behold then, in this Opportunity, your Prayers are answered, and your Vows returned. This is the Day, this is the Time, of which the Lord said, I will deliver thine Enemy into thy hand. Is it not he, and he alone, hath wrought this great Salvation for thee? with his own Right-hand, and with his holy Arm, hath he bestowed on thee this Victory; what could our few and feeble Troops have done against a Royal Army, had not the Finger of God been visible in all this Action? Had not his gracious Providence disposed of all Events in favour of your Claim? It is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in all our Eyes; improve it therefore to his Honour, and the advancing his Designs, in setting you over his chosen People. Will you withstand the Purposes of God, or will you not concur with his good Providence? God hath delivered Saul into your hands, and do not tempt the Lord, by slighting or neglecting of his Times and Seasons; 'twere Madness and Impiety to let him 'scape: You must not think the Lord will work out such Deliverances every Day; to Day you are a Conqueror and a King, if you but please; to Morrow you may be a Rebel and undone, and who shall pity you? You shall not need to imbrue your own Hands in his Blood; you shall not need to incur the Odium of Commanding such a thing to any else; I'll spare your Fame, the Gild of both; permit me only, by myself, to be the Minister of Providence, the Executioner of God's Designs. This was the sense and purport of Abishai's Speech, and carried so much force and worldly Reason with it, that none but one that had the fear of God continually before his Eyes, could possibly withstand it, or say with David, The Lord forbidden that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.  
And now having done what right I could to the particular State and Circumstances of Saul and David, King and Subject, and showed such Provocations on the one hand, and such Temptations and Advantages on the other, as it may be never did before, or never will again hereafter happen   

I am to proceed, and consider, Secondly, the Reason David gave for his refusal of Abishai's, and the Soldiers Proffer, It is the Lord's anointed.  
By the Lords anointed is here meant, the Man that was by God's designation and appointment, anointed King or Captain over all the People, which was done by the Ceremony of pouring a Vial of Oil upon his Head, and kissing him: So that the anointed of the Lord, signifies no more than an ordinary King with us. David therefore would not stretch forth his Hand against Saul, because he was his King: He would fly from before him, though he was his King, as he did from Keilah; and he would gather up 600 Men to guard him from the Violence of (I will not say the King, but) his illegal and bloodthirsty Servants that pursued him: But he would not touch the King's Life; and because he has expressed no other reason, than that he was the Lord's anointed, that is, a King, we must either conclude, that the Laws of God, or the fundamental Constitutions of the Nation had guarded the Persons of their Kings from any Violence; or else that David abstained, out of a principle of Tenderness; or from the unreasonableness of the thing itself; or from the Infamy that always waited on that wicked Practice. The Laws of God, did certainly secure the Lives of Kings as well as other men's, if it did no more. And it appears, by the very name of Treason, that the Civil Constitution had preserved the Royal Person sacred and inviolable; and if we take our Measures from the absolute and arbitrary Sway of all the Eastern Monarches, we cannot but conclude the Customs of Judaea, amongst the rest, must have conciliated a mighty Awe and Reverence to their Princes.— And for the unreasonableness of such Attempts, it is plain, that a Government can't possibly subsist for any time, where any kind of Violence is allowed against the Magistrate. We see what wicked work is made in some unhappy States, where private Executions of Revenge, betwixt Particulars, are indulged, or frequently connived at. But Government is at an end, where Rulers are exposed to popular Assaults, or private Assassinations. Besides, there is a great indecency in the nature of the thing, to see the Lord and Master of a Nation reduced to wretched Villainy; to see the Man, whom all the Kingdom honoured and adored, despised and trampled on; but most of all, to find a Sovereign Arbiter and Disposer of his Subjects Lives, to be despoiled of his own: But, Lastly, 'tis, and has always been, and always will, I hope, be infamous, to shed their Blood.  
Although Mankind has generally a relish of Liberty, and has for every Age received the mention of its brave Asserters, with Reverence and Esteem; yet, I know not how, wherever it has been vindicated by the Blood of Kings, (tho' they were truly very bad) it gives some kind of Shock to human Nature, and blemishes the glory of the Action.  
Never, perhaps, was any Man more sitted for the vindicating the ancient Liberties of Rome, than M. Brutus was, a Sober, Virtuous, Honest, and Disinterested Man, freed from all imputation of Revenge or Malice, by his Enemies, and one that had no other prospect in the World, than the redeeming of his Country from its Slavery; and yet, because he could not compass his Intent, but by the death of its brave Ravisher, his Virtues and most noble Qualities have all been lost under the Infamy of Parricide and Traitor; so natural an abhorrence have all Men for shedding of Prince's Blood, and taking away their Lives.  
But what then, is the World provided for no better than so? Hath God indeed subjected all Mankind to the tyrannic, impotent, and arbitrary Sway of some few Men, who have sometimes less Wisdom, and frequently less Virtue than their Neighbours? it fares but ill, it seems, with us, when our Estates and Properties, our Lives and Persons, Wives and Daughters, our Liberties and our Religion too, are put into the hands of some weak, wicked, or perverse, yet uncontrollable Humour; will not this Impunity breed greater Licentiousness in Princes, and augment the slavery of the Subjects to such degree, as it can go no lower; and so the sacredness of one Man shall be the ruin of many Thousands? In answer to this, we must acknowledge, that according to Nature and good Reason, there seems to be a great deal of Iniquity and Partiality in these Cases; but we must say withal, that Religion is neither chargeable with these Hardships, nor answerable for them; God hath declared himself in favour of no one sort of Government, with respect to all the World, nor laid it, by Command on all People: Our Saviour said, His Kingdom was not of this World, and did indeed concern himself with nothing of it. St. Peter and St. Paul did press Obedience and Subjection on the Christians, as they found occasion; but than it was Obedience and Subjection to the Laws and different Constitutions of the different Governments they lived under, and did not thereby change, or think of changing them.  
There were, no question, in the Apostles Days, very different Forms of Government in the World, some Absolute, and some Limited, some made their Will the Law, and others governed according to known and settled Laws; some succeeded by way of Inheritance, and others were elected to the Rule: Now, if when St. Peter and St. Paul press the Christians they wrote to, to Submission and Obedience, they only mean, that those particular Christians should obey the parcular Governments they lived under; then there arises no Obligation to any other Christians to obey their Governors, by Virtue of any thing said by these Apostles. But if all Christians are hereby understood to be exhorted to Obedience to their Governors (as most undoubtedly they are) then are all Christians exhorted to pay such Obedience to their Governors, as the particular Constitution of the Government they lived under called for and required. And then the Christians who lived under an absolute Monarch were to pay such Obedience as that Government required; and the Christians who lived under a limited and mixed Monarchy, were to obey as that Government required; and so of all the rest, they were all to submit themselves to the several Governments they lived under; for 'tis not to be presumed, that St. Peter and St. Paul by their pressing and commanding Christians to submit to and obey their Governors, changed the several Forms and Constitutions of Government, and required the Christians of a limited and mixed Monarchy, to obey their Superiors, in the same manner, measure, and degree, as those of an Absolute one did theirs; but Christianity required such Obedience as the Laws and Customs of the Country called for, and exacted at their hands: And truly, it would be strange to imagine, that Christianity should press Men to obey, in Instances where the Laws of the Country require no Obedience, since every Country is presumed to understand, and consult its own Interest best, and to secure such Obedience from the Subjects, as would best procure and continue such their Interest. And therefore if one Country had liked and approved of such a Form and Constitution of Government, and found it best and fittest for it, with respect to its Situation, and its Neighbourhood, and to the Temper and the Genius of its People and Inhabitants; if it had pitched upon such Laws, as it found by Experience most convenient for it, if such and such were the Powers and Prerogatives of the Superiors, and such and such the Privileges and Immunities of the Subjects, Christianity did not intent to alter this, and say, that the Superiors shall have more Power and a fuller Authority over the People, and the People shall have less and fewer Privileges than what are already agreed to on both hands. Neither did it come to set the People higher, and the Prince's lower than they were. Christianity did not meddle with these Matters, nor say any thing on either side; but coming to settle Peace and Quiet, Truth, and Honesty, Justice and Religion, in the Hearts of all Men, and to make the whole World easy and happy; it commanded Governors to exercise their Power with Justice and Uprightness, with Clemency and Prudence, and all Subjects to obey with Reverence and Submission, with Patience and Contentedness; but it came not to alter Constitutions, nor to give either Governors or People more Power and Authority than they had before: For if it had, it had brought a Sword along with it, it had come to set the Princes of the World at variance with the People, and the People with their Princes, to prejudice men's Civil Rights and Liberties, and put them in a worse Condition, as to this World, than they were in before, by overthrowing settled Laws, by undoing Compacts and Agreements, the only Preservatives of Civil Society. In a word, there would be no end of the Mischiefs that would ensue upon understanding Christianity, to oblige all People of the World alike to Obedience and Submission to their Rulers, without respect to the different Laws and Constitutions of different Kingdoms and Governments; and it would be a very bad Account and Character of that Religion. Whereas, if Christianity came to urge Obedience to the Laws of every Country (not Barbarous, Obscene, nor Impious, nor any ways execrable) it came to secure that Country in the way and manner it thought the best and fittest for its Interest and Happiness, and brought a Blessing with it, and shown both to Prince and People, what was the Measure and the Rule of the ones Power, and of the others Obedience; a thing most necessary to be known, where the Event is of so great Importance, both in this World, and that to come. Since therefore Christianity came not to make the Laws that Subjects must obey, but to urge the Subjects to obey the Laws made by the Legislative Power, wherever that resides; there is no reason why it should be charged with any of the Mischiefs or the Inconveniencies of a Government too absolute, or too much limited▪ And therefore, (to bring the Matter home) the unlimited extent of Power, placed in the Prince's hands, or the sacredness of his Person, or his being unaccountable to any one for his Proceed; are things that depend entirely on the Civil-Constitution, and we must know them from the Laws, and the continued Usages and Customs of the Country, immemorial, or agreed upon.  
No doubt but Kings may take up Crowns on pitiful and wretched Terms, as well as Subjects willingly submit their Liberties to the Will of Princes; and each of them must stand to the Conditions, tho' very inconvenient ones, till they can honestly obtain better. I know no better, and no other certain Rule, for all the World to consider, than this, Look to the Constitution, look to the Laws and Customs of a Country, if you would know the Prince's Power or People's Privilege. It is not to the Men of great Reason, and much Reading, the finest Speculators and Essayers, one should be referred to, upon these Occasions, but to the Histories and Records, the Laws and Statutes, Customs and Usages, that are accepted in a Nation; and therefore, where, by these, we find the Lives and Liberties of Princes are held Sacred and Inviolable; 'tis to no purpose to object the Inconveniencies, both real and imaginary, that may arise from such Impunity. Look to the Laws and Constitution. I see, in such a Case, no way is left, but to say with David, in the Text, — The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall perish in the Battle, but God forbidden, that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed.  
The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come, or he shall perish in the Battle, that is, I leave him to God's disposal; let God, the Judge of all the Earth, do with him as he pleases. And tho' we think the leaving wicked Kings to God, is the lightest and the kindest Expression of nothing in the World that can be; yet we would quickly alter our Opinions, and be of David's Mind, if we would give ourselves leave to consider,  
First, That he hates Injustice more.  
Secondly, That he is much more ready. And,  
Thirdly, Much more able to punish it than we can be.  
First, He hates it more: He hates it purely for the malice of its Nature, and its intrinsic Evil. We only for our own, and Interests sake, because we either feel or dread its Mischiefs. He hates Oppression, Tyranny, and Cruelty, because they are the Contradictions of his own Divine, and the Corruptions of our Humane Nature: They are directly opposite to his most glorious Attribute of Justice, to his most gracious ones of Mercy and Compassion. He looks with Indignation on those haughty Sons of Violence and Injustice, that abuse the Power that God entrusted them, and the great Titles that he honoured them withal, for the use and benefit, to the destruction and confusion of the World, only to satisfy their cruel Rage or vain Ambition. There's not a Groan nor Murmur of the poor oppressed, but makes its way to Heaven, and finds accession to the Throne of Grace; He numbers all our Sighs, and counts our Tears, and notes down our Afflictions in his Book, and treasures them in Wrath, against the Day of Wrath. And if we would be strong and patiented for a while, and tarry but the Lord's leisure, we should certainly see, he is a God that hates▪ and punishes Iniquity.  
Secondly, He is much more willing to punish wicked Governors than we can be. Not that the Goodness of God is so ready to afflict or grieve the Sons of Men, as they are to deserve it, or that the human Fury does not sometimes anticipate the divine Vengeance, but that it is more present to his Nature, and more immediately his Will, to punish Sin, than it can possibly be with us. The love of Justice, and the hate of Sin is so essentially united to his Being, that one may sooner fancy no Divinity at all, than that it is not willing to reward the proud Oppressors after their deservings.  
Men may be bribed by Passions, Interest and Affections, some from pursuing, others from administering the Justice due to great Offenders. The fears and threaten of Displeasure, the hopes of Favour and Advancement, the charm of soft Words, and the natural pity of Mankind, have oftentimes diverted the most Resolved, and laid the fury of the most Enraged. But God, as he sees not with men's Eyes, so neither is he moved with human Motives; but is inflexible in his Decrees, which are to punish great Delinquents with great Wrath; and has declared, that nothing but sincere Repentance can prevent his Judgements.  
And, Lastly, He is much more able. He is able to punish them in this Life, and in the next: He can punish them in this Life, by defeating all their Enterprises, and blasting all their Purposes; by infatuating their Counsellors, and turning the Wisdom of Achitophel to Folly and Destruction; by suffering the Enemy to sow Dissensions, Strife, and Discord in their Nations; by alienating the Affections of the People; by scattering the Spirit of Fear and of Distrust throughout their Armies, and causing them to turn their Backs upon their Enemies; and by reducing them themselves to Misery and great Distress; and sometimes suffering them to perish by the Sword, or some more ignominious Death, as well as common Men. But if this be not enough, let them know, that he is able, after he has destroyed the Body, to cast both Soul and Body into Hell Fire. Tophet, saith Isaiah, the 30th and the 33d, is prepared for the King, he hath made it deep and large; the Pile thereof is Fire, and much Wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it. Hear therefore, O ye Kings, (in the 6th of the Wisdom of Solomon) and understand; learn ye that be Judges of the ends of the Earth; give ear you that Rule the People, and glory in the multitude of Nations; for Power is given you of the Lord, and Sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your Words, and search out your Counsels; because being Ministers of his Kingdom, you have not judged aright, nor kept the Law, nor walked after the Counsel of God; horribly and speedily shall he come upon you; for a sharp judgement shall be to them that be in high places; for Mercy will soon pardon the meanest, but mighty Men shall be mightily tormented.  
And is it not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, thus sharpened and prepared to execute full Vengeance on ungodly Governors? it is not therefore so unreasonable and trifling a thing, as is commonly reputed, to say, that wicked Princes must be left to God; it is saying, they are left to one that hates them with a perfect Hatred; to one that will and can pour out the Vials of such Wrath upon their Heads, as neither Eye can see, nor Tongue express, nor Heart of Man conceive, and that to all Eternity.   

And having thus gone through my Text, I should in the last place, apply myself to the sad Occasion of this Days assembling; but having been so free in handling the first Parts, I shall scarce be allowed to do right at full to this; and there is, I hope, the less occasion for it, because the sad History is so well known, and so sufficiently regreted and deplored by honest Men; and the design especially of this Anniversary, being more for the Use, Instruction, and Advantage of the living Subject, than for the Praise and Honour of the dead King, the Discourse I have raised from the Text, will, if attended to, answer the greater and the better end; and there is little need to meddle with the second and the less.  
That Prince's Praises speak themselves aloud; and tho' Misfortunes add great lustre to men's Virtues, and set them off to great Advantage (as Tears show some fair Faces yet more beautiful,) yet Charles the First might well have passed for one of our most excellent Kings, altho' he had not had the exercise of such Afflictions as he met withal, but had been always Fortunate. But having had the advantage of those Trials, and thereby practised many other Virtues rare and unseen in Kings, I know not now whom to prefer before him; and God forbidden I should be thought to put him under the disadvantage of representing Saul in the Comparison. He was (and that is as much as I can say) no more like Saul, than any of his Murderers, was like David. If there was some Misgovernment, and some unhappy Maladministration in his Reign (as who can be so ignorant and partial to deny it) we must, if we will be just to the Truth, discharge his Person, in great measure of it, and lay it where it ought to lie, much of it on some of his indiscreet and zealous Servants, who were unquestionably Men of better Meaning than Abilities, and who appear (atleast at so much distance) not to have understood sufficiently the Ground they stood upon, the Times they lived in, and the Men they had to deal withal: And some what on the Passions of Her, who (tho' she could intent no ill to him, yet) through her fondness for her Party (that constant mischief to this Nation) embroiled him first with his distempered People. But having taken this liberty, I ought to add, that never were Miscarriages improved to such a height, nor aggravated with more Malice. Their Adversaries got some Truths, and used them, as the Devil does the Scriptures, always perversely, and to bad Purposes; they mingled them with odious Calumnies and Slanders, and treacherous Insinuations; and made them help to make the stronger Poison, and to disperse it more effectually into the People's Veins.  
As to the Personal Virtues of this Prince, Envy itself hath never yet found any thing to say against them. Sober and Temperate to a wonder, Chaste to his Queen, and faithful to his first Vows; of so pure Innocence, and such unspotted Sanctity in that behalf, that Calumny hath never fixed so much as a Suspicion on his Reputation. And for his Zeal to God, and his Devotion to his Service, his constant Attendance, and good Behaviour in his Prayers, his firm Adhesion to the Church, not out of Prejudice or pertinacious Obstinacy in what he had been educated, but true and solid understanding of her Constitution, with his great Care and Love to all her Ministers, as they were made his Crimes and Accusation by his Enemies, so by his Friends they have been made an Objection to God's Providence, in suffering such a Righteous Prince to fall into the hands of such abominable People; and such an Objection as must stay (they think) to be solved by that great Day, when all such Arguments will certainly be fully answered, and all such Clamours silenced, and all the World shall see and feel that God is Just, and no Unrighteousness dwells with him.  
And yet we cannot strictly say, this Days Offence hath hitherto been unaccounted for, and unavenged. No Man (I think) can assign any one Head, to which we may so properly ascribe the continual Troubles and Alarms that have for many Years disturbed this Nation, the vast Calamities and most amazing Distresses it has laboured under, as to the atrocious and most execrable Action of this Day, and its most cursed Consequences, the debaunching both the Morals and Religion of our Princes and great Men. Had not our Sins increased with our Afflictions, I should have hoped, this Days Offence had now been fully expiated, by that long train of Mischiefs that has followed by way of Consequence, if not Retaliation. But if there yet remain any dregs of Wrath for us to drink, I know of nothing that can possibly prevent them, or support us under them, but true sincere Repentance, which through the Merits of the Blood of Christ, will wash away all past Offences, reconcile us again to God, and fit us for what future Favours we shall want, either as private People, or a Nation, and he in his abundant Wisdom and Goodness shall see expedient for us.   
FINIS.   

These Books Printed for Tho. Newborough, at the Golden. Ball in St. Paul's Churchyard.  
A Sermon Preached at Guild-Hall Chappel, Decemb. 11. 1692. before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen.  
A Sermon Preached before the Queen at White-Hall, Feb. 12. 1692/ 3.  
A Sermon of the Education of Children, Preached at Guild-Hall Chappel, Novemb. 1. 1696. Before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen.  
All Three by W. Fleetwood, Rector of St. Austin's, and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.  
Kettlewel's Measures of Christian Obedience, showing what Obedience is indispensibly necessary to a Regenerate State, and what Defects are consistent with it. 8vo.  
— His Practical Believer, or the Articles of the Apostles Creed, drawn out to form a true Christians Heart and Practice. In Two Parts, 8vo.  
— His Companion to the Penitent, and to Persons troubled in Mind. 12o.  
— His Companion to the Persecuted, or an Office for those who suffer for Righteousness. 12o.  
— His Four Tracts, Quarto.  
— The Christian indeed: or, a serious Exhortation to the Holy Communion. Together with some plain Directions for a due Preparation for it, Behaviour at it, and a seasonable Admonition to Live and Act after it, as becomes Persons publicly professing to be Christians. With some necessary Prayers designed chief for the Use and Benefit of those who have not better Helps. 12o.