THE BISHOP of GLOUCESTER's Thanksgiving Sermon BEFORE THE house of Lords, At Westminster-Abby, April 16 th'. 1696.   

Die Veneris 17o Aprilis, 1696.  
IT is Ordered, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled, That the Thanks of this House shall be, and are hereby given to the Lord Bishop of Gloucester, for his Sermon Preached Yesterday before this House, in the Abby-Church at Westminster; And he is hereby Desired to Print and Publish the same.  
Matt. Johnson, Cler' Parliament '   

A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE The house of Lords In the Abby-Church at Westminster, Upon Thursday the Sixteenth of April, 1696.  
Being a Day of Public Thanksgiving to Almighty GOD, FOR The most Happy Discovery and Disappointment of a Horrid Design to Assassinate His Sacred MAJESTY, AND For Our Deliverance from a French Invasion.  
By EDWARD Lord Bishop of Gloucester.  
LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill. 1696.   
PSAL. lxxxvi. 12, 13. I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify Thy Name for evermore: For Great is Thy Mercy towards me; and Thou hast delivered my Soul from the Lowest Hell. Or (as it is in the Margin) from the Grave. 
IT is not worth our while to inquire, what particular Deliverance from an Extraordinary Danger that was, which King David here expresseth, in very Vigorous and Emphatical Words, his thankful Sense of. 'Tis enough to observe to you, that it was from a Design of Uillains upon his Life. This the next Verse showeth: O God, the Proud are risen up against me, and the Assemblies of Violent men have sought after my Soul, and have not set Thee before them. And, the Deliverance we are now met to Commemorate, being of the same nature; it being from an Horrible Conspiracy of Bloodthirsty People, both Foreigners and our own Countrymen, against our King and his Kingdoms; His Majesty from a Barbarous Assassmation, and all his good Subjects not only from the Loss of him, who is the very Breath of our Nostrils, but also from a most Formidable Invasion ready to follow it: I say, this being the Deliverance which God Almighty, in His undeserved and infinite Goodness, hath now sent us, I take the Words I have read to you, to be a Subject very proper to Employ our Thoughts on, upon this joyful Occasion. I will Praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will Glorify Thy Name for evermore: For Great is thy Mercy towards me; and Thou hast delivered my Soul (or Life) from the Grave. Or, Great is Thy Mercy towards me, in delivering my Life from the Grave.  
The Return which this Pious King here makes to his Great Deliverer, was the Engaging himself to Praise Him for his Deliverance with all his heart, and to Glorify His Name for evermore. And the Example of this as Good as Great Man, are We bound to follow; tho' we need no Example to excite us to make the same Return for Our Deliverance, which is as great a one as his could be; it being a most necessary and indispensable Duty, thus to Express our Gratitude, for far less Expressions of the Divine Grace and Favour.  
In the handling of these words, I will endeavour to show,  
I. What is implied in Praising God with all our hearts, and Glorifying His Name.  
II. That we are under the most necessary Obligation thus to do, for our Deliverances, and, consequently, for our other Blessings.  
1. What is implied in Praising God (the Lord our God) with all our hearts, and Glorifying His Name. I join these two together, because they are one and the same thing; as God Himself saith, Psal. 50. 23. Whoso offereth Praise, Glorifieth me. And Glorifying God's Name is expressed by Singing forth the honour of his Name, and making His Praise glorious, Psal. 66. 2.  
I need not inform those, who are not grossly ignorant of the Divine Nature, that 'tis impossible to make any Addition to the Divine Glory and Praise. There is no greater Contradiction, than that the Glory of an infinitely-Glorious Being is capable of the least augmentation or diminution. But if a greater could be, it would be this, that it lieth in the power of any Creature to add thereto or lessen it. To Glorify God, therefore, is to make His Glory (His Essential Glory) to be more known. observed, and acknowledged. And by His Essential Glory, His Glorious Perfections are to be understood; such as His Power, Wisdom, Righteousness, Holiness, and Goodness. Thus doth God Almighty Glorify Himself, namely, by displaying His Perfections, and making Men and Angels behold them, in their Admirable Effects. And Rational Being's do Glorify Him, by declaring such Effects, and their affecting Sense of them.  
When it is said, That God in all His Actings designeth His own Glory, we are to take notice, that the Glory He designeth to Himself is not a Consequent of, but the selfsame thing with, the Illustration of His 'foresaid Perfections, and making them known and manifest in various Exertions and Exercises of them. The Glory He aims at, is, the making His Intelligent Creatures to feel in themselves, and to observe in other Being's, His Perfections in their Productions. And 'tis absolutely impossible for any Creature, to give Glory to God otherwise, than by rendering His Glorious Perfections more conspicuous, which are much Eclipsed and Obscured by the Sins of Men. In which sense Sinners are said to dishonour God, and to rob Him of His Glory, and to turn His Glory into Shame.  
Having thus explained the Notion of giving Glory and Praise to God, I proceed to show what is implied therein. And,  
First, It implieth a strong Belief of our being Principally obliged to God Almighty, for our Deliverances, with all other Blessings; and obliged to none but Him otherwise than as His Instruments.  
Secondly, A grateful Sense of our Unspeakable Obligations to Him.  
1st, It implieth a strong Belief of our being principally Obliged to God for our Deliverances, etc. and to none but Him otherwise than as His Instruments. As those who are acquainted with, and do believe the H. Scriptures, cannot doubt but that God is All in All to the whole Universe; that the most excellent Creatures are perfectly dependent things, things immediately dependent on their Creator, both for their Well-being and their Continuance in being; that all their Powers and Abilities are from Him, and preserved by Him, so all hearry Theists must acknowledge this, nothing being more knowable by Natural Light. And therefore Tully stuck not to pronounce Epicurus an arrant Atheist, because tho' he professed to believe the Existence of a God, he denied the Divine Providence, and that the Affairs of Men are under His Care and Government.  
And as to Deliverances from Open Violence and Secret Conspiracies, and Successes of War, nothing is better known, than that the Pagans who retained any Sense of Religion, have always ascribed them to the Protection and Assistance of their Gods. Even those brutish Idolaters the Philistines, upon the slaying of their great Enemy King Saul, and vanquishing his Forces, did show to whom they acknowledged themselves Obliged for this great Victory, by putting his Armour in the House of their Gods, and fastening his Head in the Temple of Dagon, 1 Chron. X. 10.  
2. Giving Glory and Praise to God for Deliverances and other Blessings, implieth a grateful Sense too of our being Obliged to Him for them. The mere Belief hereof, I need not say, is a most insignificant thing without this. And 'tis equally necessary to express this Sense, by Praising Him with joyful Lips, and by Living to His Praise and Glory. Nor can we glorify and praise Him with all our hearts, but by joining these two together. And therefore Offering Praise, and Ordering the Conversation aright, are conjoined by the Psalmist in the words following those forecited ones, He that offereth Praise, Glorifieth Me.  
As to the former of these Expressions of Gratitude, what Noble Strains do we find of Praise and Thanksgiving, in the H. Scriptures, and especially in the Psalms! As, Bless the Lord O my Soul, and all that is within me Bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all His Benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, and healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy Life from destruction, and Crowneth thee with loving kndness and tender mercies, Psal. 103. beg. I will extol Thee my God, O King, and I will-Bless Thy Name for ever and ever. Every day will I Bless Thee, and I will Praise thy Name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His Greatness is unsearchable. One Generation shall declare Thy Works to another, and shall Praise Thy mighty Acts. I will speak of the glorious Honour of Thy Majesty, and of Thy wondrous Works. And men shall speak of the might of thy Terrible Acts, and I will declare Thy Greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great Goodness, and shall Sing of Thy Righteousness; Psal. 145. 1st to 7th V. And so he goes on admirably to the end of the Psalm.  
But could we sing God's Praises with the Tongues of Angels, we shall be far from Glorifying Him, from giving Him the Glory due unto His Name, (as we are called upon to do) except we live them too; except we are led by the Great things God doth for us, to a more careful Observance of His Righteous Laws. The Praises of the Disobedient do Him no Honour, since the Lives of such do give the Lie to their Tongues. Such will never be believed to Praise God in Earnest, for it may well be concluded, that the Principle which will make a man Sincere in his Praises, must needs excite him to real Expressions of Thankfulness, no less than Verbal ones. It is not to be imagined, that those who take but little Care, to do what is acceptable in the Sight of God, and stick not at wilfully and deliberately Offending Him, can have any great Sense of their being much Obliged to Him.  
And God doth lay so great weight, upon being glorified by our Lives, that this is His great design in obliging us as He doth. And we read particularly of Deliverances from our Enemies, that they are sent us for this end, Luke 1. 74. That we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, may serve Him without fear, in Holiness and Righteousness before Him, all the days of our Life.  
King David, upon his Deliverance (as 'tis very probable) from the imminent danger he was in from his Son Absalon, broke forth into such Expressions as these; I love the Lord, because He hath heard my Voice and my Supplication: Because He hath inclined His Ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live. I will lead a more devout and religious life. Thou hast delivered my Soul from death, mine Eyes from tears, and my Feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Or, therefore I will do so; I will be more caresul than ever, to walk uprightly before Him. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His Benefits towards me? I will take the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will pay my Vows unto the Lord, now in the presence of all his People. O Lord, truly I am Thy Servant, I am Thy Servant, Thou hast loosed my Bonds. Or, by thy having set me free from the fear of mine Enemies, Thou hast laid a new Obligation upon me, to be Thy Servant, Thy faithful Servant. The Israelites (as the Psalmist observes) remembered that God was their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer; and they remembered this in Songs of Praise to their Rock and Redeemer; He had enough of these from them; but their Hearts not being upright with him, as it follows, and they not being steadfast in His Covenant, 'tis said, they flattered Him with their mouth, and lied unto Him with their Lips. All their Thanksgiving Songs (and Sacrifices too) were of no better account with God than mere Mockeries, and were in themselves no better. We ourselves can have no better Opinion of the Thanks we receive from those we have Obliged, tho' they are never so solemn and seemingly hearty, when at the same time we observe an Aversion in them, to answer our reasonable Expectations from them.  
Tho' we read of but one Fault charged upon that Excellent Prince Hezekiab, namely, that his Heart was lifted up; that he had a too high Opinion of himself, by means of his being magnified in the sight of all Nations, upon the most Miraculous Deliverance which God had sent him, from an irresistible Invasion; yet, upon this single Account, he is said not to have rendered according to the Benefits done unto him; and it follows, that therefore there was Wrath upon him, and upon his People, 2 Chron. 32. 25. Therefore God punished him, and took this occasion to be very severe upon his People, for former Provocations. And this leads me to show,  
2dly, That we are under a necessary (the most absolutely necessary) Obligation, to Praise the Lord our God with all our hearts, and to Glorify His Name for evermore (as these Phrases have been expounded) for all God's Blessings in general, and for our Deliverances from our Enemies in particular.  
I will not here insist upon God's Command, whose Will and Pleasure must as such be obeyed, but upon those Reasons on which this Command is founded. And those Reasons do speak this Duty, not only a Branch of Natural Religion, but as clearly discernible to be a Duty of the most indispensable necessity, at first sight, as is any corporeal Object apparent to our outward Senses: So that no man in his Wits can doubt, whether he be bound to glorify God both with his Lips, and by his Life, for the great Expressions of His Goodness to him.  
Now the Reasons on which our Obligation hereto is grounded, over and above the Command of God, and which are the Foundation of God's willing to be glorified by us, are these two.  
1. Thus to do is the most comely, the most fit, just, and good thing in itself.  
2. It is the most beneficial and good thing for us.  
1. 'Tis the most comely, the most fit, just, and good thing in itself. Praise is comely, saith the Psalmist, Psa. 147. 1. And Praise is comely for the Upright, Ps. 33. 1. Gratitude is highly becoming, meet, fit, and good in its own nature, without considering it as an Instance of Obedience. And we have every whit as lovely an Idea of Gratitude, as we have of Obedience, not to say a more lovely, Gratitude being the Principle of the most lovely Obedience. 'Tis as disbecoming and unjust, on the other hand, to be ungrateful, as to be disobedient. I mean, the Notion of Ingratitude speaks it to be as unjust and vile a thing, abstractively considered, as the Notion of Disobedience, so considered, speaks it so to be. It is indeed commonly said, Such a one is not bound in Justice to do this or that, but he is in Gratitude. I cannot say this is dishonest dealing, but 'tis disingenuous. But we do ill to distinguish between Justice and Gratitude, and between Disingenuity and downright Dishonesty, otherwise than by making Gratitude a distinct Species of Justice, and Disingenuity of Dishonesty and Injustice. These differ only as one is more Comprehensive than the other. Whatsoever is an Instance of Ingratitude, is so likewise of Injustice; tho' every Instance of Injustice is not so of Ingratitude: And no man can doubt, that 'tis Unjust to be Ungrateful, since it cannot be questioned whether it be Injustice to deny a Due; but Gratitude is due (naturally due) to every Benefactor: for which reason Kindnesses are called Obligations. He who is Bountiful or Merciful to us, hath by so being a Right to our Thankfulness and hearty Endeavours to serve and please him. There is no Notion that more seems to be born with us than this, tho' we nevertheless need to be minded of it, or to have it impressed upon us; so Corrupt is Human Nature. And, next to a Sense of Pleasure and Pain, we discover none more early than a Sense of Gratitude: Nay, we discern in some Brutes that which is as like it, as an Egg to an Egg. And as Solomon sent the Sluggard to School to the poor Pismire, to learn Industry; so may the Dog of the Ungrateful man, teach him Gratitude.  
Now, if Love, Thankfulness, and Obedience are Duties necessarily resulting from the Relations of Fathers, Benefactors, and Deliverers, how much of those must needs be due to the infinitely best of such! His Right to them in the highest degree is so necessary, that He can no more quit or surrender it, than it can be taken from Him. He cannot Will to forgo this Right, any more than He can cease to be what He is, both in Himself, and in reference to His Creation. Contradictions are not Objects of Power, and therefore not of the Divine Power. And farther, setting aside the Divine Will in this Case, God cannot give us liberty not to Glorify Him, because this would be to separate between things Essentially inseparable; which to suppose possible, is a monstrous Contradiction.  
2. The other Reason on which this Duty is founded; this, of Praising God with all our hearts, and Glorifying His Name for evermore, for our Deliverances, etc. is, that thus to do is as good for us, and that necessarily, as it is just, fit, and good in itself. So that God must leave off to be concerned for the Happiness of his Creatures, according to their Natural Capacities of Happiness, (which so infinitely Good a Being cannot do) should He cease to Oblige us hereunto.  
Now the Sun at Noon is not more clearly visible than it is evident to all, whose Understandings are not blinded with vile Affections, that there is the most necessary Connexion between our Interest, and the Conscientious discharge of ●his Duty; even our Interest relating to both Worlds. And that we must be utterly unqualified for the Heavenly Happiness, and as incapable of all true Self-enjoyment on this side Heaven, and shall have much more of the Brutish (nay, the worse than Brutish) than of the Human Nature, while the Blessings which are so heaped upon us, do not so affect us, as to engage us to live to the Praise of that Good-God, who has so highly Merited at our Hands.  
Nothing is more plainly or easily demonstrable than this, as nothing hath been oftener, or more Abundantly demonstrated. But good Men need not demonstrations of it; this is Self-evident to all such: Which may well excuse me from entering now upon so copious an Argument, tho' my time would permit me, as it will not.  
Now, to make Application of what hath been discoursed to the present Occasion, Is it possible we should any of us be difficultly persuaded, upon such a Deliverance as God has now again given us, to make these words of the Devout King our own, or to repeat them with that sense of the Divine Goodness, which he expressed in them? I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy Name for evermore; for great is Thy Mercy towards me, and towards my King and Country, in that Thou hast delivered our Souls from going down into the Pit. Is it possible, I say, we should not readily and cheerfully thus do for such a Deliverance as this?  
1. And, in the first place, since so doing supposeth an hearty Acknowledgement of God's being the Author of it, can we think much of doing Him this Honour, which is the very lest we can do Him for it?  
It may be censured as no good Manners to ask any of those this Question, who have now been joining in the Praises of God for this Deliverance; and I doubt it may be deservedly so censured, did we not too well know, that nothing is more common than mere formal Addresses to Almighty God, and drawing near to Him with our Lips, when our Hearts are far from Him. With which great Hypocrisy, the Prophet, in His Name, charged even the generality of his Country men, as devout Worshippers, as they would have been thought to be, of the God of Israel.  
And, I would to God that the incomparably greater number of our Country men, be not as chargeable herewith as the Israelites than were, althô the Religion we profess so much excels theirs!  
And as to the great Sin of Infidelity, I wish it could be said, that it does much less prevail among us, (tho' we all call ourselves Christians) than it did among the Jews, even in the Sadducean Age. But however, we must give a better demonstration of our sincerely professing our Obligation to God for this Great Deliverance, than our compliance with Authority in the observance of this day.  
In some Occurrences the Hand of God appeareth much more plainly than in others. We ought to believe it to be in all, but it is to be seen in some; so that those who discern it not, must shut their Eyes on purpose that they may not. And among these may this Deliverance be well reckoned; as, I hope, 'twill appear anon.  
But there have been in the World, such wilfully Blind and Perverse People, as would not acknowledge God's Hand, no, not in the most incontestable Miracles. Such were those of whom the Prophet complained, That they regarded not the Work of the Lord, neither considered the Operation of His Hand. And those of whom the Psalmist saith, That they understood not God's Wonders in Egypt. And, what strange Examples were those of this Perverseness, who had so many of the most Wonderful Miracles, wrought by our Saviour and His Apostles, before their Eyes, and yet believed not!  
Ordinarily the Divine Concurrence with the free Actings of Men, and with natural Agents, is not so discernible as that we are able to say, this is the Divine Part of the Event, and that the Humane, or merely Natural; tho' right Reason, as well as the Divine Oracles, will not so exclude God out of any Event, as to make Him a mere Spectator thereof, or a bare Permitter of any more in it, than what is morally Evil. For the Notion of God's being the Wise Governor, as well as Maker of the World, (which is evident from the Improvement of Natural Reason, as well as from Revelation; and therefore taught by the Pagan Philosophers, as well as by the Jewish and Christian Divines) will not admit of His being wholly Unconcerned inany Occurrence whatsoever; since very great things may be occasioned, and very frequently have been, by as small and inconsiderable ones.  
I say, there are Occurrences, and such as (strictly speaking) may not be called Miracles, which have such Circumstances belonging to them, that an Impartial Considerer of them, must necessarily see a Special Providence, and God's more immediate Hand in them. And these are so far from being Rarities, that all Ages and Countries have abounded with them. Nay, I question, whether there be any one single Person, who hath not experimented several such relating to himself. But as to Public and National Instances of this kind, how full are the Best Historians of them!  
To confine ourselves to Deliverances of Kings and their People, out of great Calamities, or from imminent Dangers of falling into such: Who, for Example, can question whether there was an Extraordinary Divine Hand, in the Raising of Cyrus for the Deliverance of the Jews from their Seventy. Years Captivity, tho'he were an utter Stranger to Isaiah's Prophecy (in which he is foretold by Name as their Deliverer, above Two hundred years before he was in being) if he hath read Tully's Prince of Historians Herodotus, Or Xenophon, Or Justin? In whose Accounts of Cyrus' Birth, and Preservation from being Butchered as soon as Born, by the Commandment of his Grandfather Astyages, and of the most wonderful Fortune that all-along attended him, from a poor Shepherd's Boy, to his Advancement to a Mighty Empire, tho' I remember not one Miracle recorded in his Story, yet so long a Series of Marvellous Events as we find therein, must needs have made the observers of them conclude him to be the immediate Care of Heaven, in order to the Accomplishment of some Glorious Design.  
There was no Miracle neither, in the Jews Deliverance from the Cursed Design of proud Haman, but there was a concurrence of such Happy Events for the bringing it about, as spoke it to be the Peculiar Work of God, as evidently every whit, as if it had been the Achievement of many Miracles.  
But because I want time to enlarge upon Examples of this nature, I'll content myself to mention but two or three more, which shall be Deliverances of our own Kings, Church and People.  
There was nothing properly Miraculous in the Discovery of the Hellish Powder Plot, but it being brought to light by such very Strange Means, (which I hope few of us are Ignorant of) and so very late, that had it been delayed but some Hours longer, the Astonishing Blow would have given the first News of it, even Cardinal Bellarmin was so affected with the Consideration of these things, as to acknowledge to the World that he looked on this Deliverance, as no less than Miraculous.  
The Deliverance of King Charles IId from his Twelve years' Banishment, and of his Kingdoms from Arbitrary Government, Oppression, and Confusion, had no Miracle neither accompanying it, but so great a number of the most Surprising things, all of a sudden followed upon the neck of each other, till they had made way for the King's Easy Return, even without the Effusion of a drop of Blood, through the most inconquerable difficulties, that the Divine Power, Wisdom and Goodness were scarcely less eminently visible therein, than if no Human Means had contributed towards it.  
And what are we to think less of our Late Deliverance from Popery and Slavery, and as scaring a Prospect as ever People had? Surely the most Egregious Folly of the Jesuits Counsels, as cunning shrewd Fellows as the World, to that time, had long accounted them: The strong Impressions which were upon the Minds of Great Men Abroad, even of both Religions, to Assist in Promoting this Deliverance: The Unanimous Agreement of so many of different Sentiments at Home, to the utmost to put to their helping Hand: The so close Concealment of so Hazardous a Design, which so many were Privy to: The Ordering of the Wind: The strange dispiriting of those who (humanely speaking) had Power, as well as Will, abundantly enough to defeat this Design: These, with many things more, are demonstrations that this Mighty Deliverance was no less the Work of the Almighty God, than that of the Israelites at the Red Sea tho' it was not properly and strictly Miraculous, as that was.  
I may well add to this, the Deliverance of poor Ireland afterwards, out of the most deplorable Circumstances, it having been brought about by so many most Signal Events, as are enough to make a good Volume.  
After the selfsame manner, that Tully ridiculed the mad Epicuraean Hypothesis of the World's being formed by a lucky jumblement of Atoms, may our Infidels imputing such Deliverances to mere fortunate Chances, be exposed to the Laughter of all, who are but a remove or two from Idiots.  
And we have great reason, to reckon the Deliverance we are now Commemorating, among the 'foremention'd. The Hand of God so appears in this, that no Thanks are due for it, to either any Humane Power or Policy. The happy Discovery of the horrible Design to Assassinate our Gracious Sovereign, and to back his Murder with a powerful Invasion, together with a mighty Assistance from the Combined Forces of Papists, and a strange sort of Protestants among ourselves; I say, the mere Discovery hereof was our Deliverance, like that of the Gunpowder Treason: Which (by the way) was in some respects the less dangerous of the two, viz. as none but Papists were engaged in this, and there was no Division among Protestants at that time; and we had then nothing so formidable an Enemy to our Neighbour, as we have now.  
As to the Tragedy now to be Acted, there was late notice from Abroad of great French Preparations, but no great Apprehension from them of a Design to invade us, till the Assassinating Part was brought to light. And the Circumstances of the discovery hereof are such, as speak it the Lord's doing. And indeed without the knowledge of those Circumstances (which may hereafter be more fully published) whosoever believes a Providence superintending the Affairs of the World, will think it highly reasonable to impute this Discovery to a Secret Impulse from Him, who hath the hearts of all Men in His Hand, (as the Wise Man saith of the hearts of Kings) and turneth them as the Rivers of Water. And to what can we ascribe so certainly the bringing to light such a hidden Work of darkness as this was, and which was so very shrewdly laid, as to His Special Providence, from whom there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, (to use Elibu's words) where the Workers of Iniquity may hide themselves? Since nothing is more worthy of Infinite Goodness, than to take the most special Care of those, to whom is committed the Care of Whole Nations; and who are the Greatest Instruments of Good to Manking; as all good Kings are. And never did the Welfare of any People in the World more necessarily (under God) depend upon the Life of their King, than does Ours at this time (as our Enemies well know) upon the Preservation of his Life, who (not as our Conqueror, but for having been the Glorious Instrument of our Deliverance) now Reigns over us. And who that is a hearty Assertor of the Divine Providence, can find in his heart to impute an Event of so Mighty a consequence as this is, to God's bare Permission, since he knows that the most insignificant and trivial matters can't come to pass without it?  
And as to the Invasion, what a PROVIDENCE was it that the Wind should so constantly blow, for, I think, near a Quarter of a Year together, and in the Winter too, from such Points of the Compass, as that the Squadron designed for the Mediterranean, could not stir! Which if it had gone within that time, our Island had been left naked of all Defence. I am sure we concluded this stay of those Ships, a very Unhappy Providence, and that it boded extremely ill to us, whereas it proved to be the Happiest we could have wished for. Little did we imagine that now God had sent us another Protestant Wind. To nothing better than most Stupid Infidelity can the not seeing God's immediate Hand in this, be attributed by us.  
But, God be thanked, no Body, would he never so fain, can now be so stupid or perverse, as to have the least doubt ' of even the basest and most barbarous part of this Conspiracy; as many as at first would have had it a Shame; it being confessed, under their hands, by two of those three Papists who have Suffered for it, and not denied by the third; tho' they could not have Wanted Absolution, had they Protested most solemnly in their Old Form, That they knew no more of it than the Child unborn. But all they Attempted was, the Clearing their King from having any hand in it. And how did they this? They only affirmed, that they saw not, nor knew of any Commission from him for it. And this they might truly affirm in the strict sense of the word [Know] if they had never seen it, tho' it had been never so well Attested to them. But those little understand what a Papist is, who can think the Conscience of any of them so straight laced, as to scruple so small an Equivocation as this, to serve so highly meritorious a purpose, as the wiping off such a horrible Scandal from a King so bigoted to the Church of Rome, as to part with three Kingdoms for her sake. But 'tis a Jest which no Sensible Man can forbear smiling at, that there should be a Commission for an Invasion, but none for that on which their Hopes of Success did so much depend.  
2. In the second place, since the Hand of God is so Apparent in this Deliverance, let us not only Acknowledge it, which (as hath been said) is the least Honour we can do Him for it, but let us most Gratefully Acknowledge it. And let us express our Gratitude, by Praising our Great and most Merciful Deliverer with all our hearts, and Glorisying His Name for evermore, in the full sense which hath been given of these Phrases. Let us express it by crying out, with the same holy Man, O Magnify the Lord with me, and let us Exalt His Name together: By adapting the Doxology of the Mother of our Lord hereto, My Soul doth Magnify the Lord, and my Spirit doth Rejoice in God my Saviour: And, above all, by more fearing to offend Him, and more delighting to please Him, for the time to come; this being the great End and Design of Deliverances particularly, as hath been showed: And God Almighty having told us the same thing, Psal. 50. 15. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt Glorify Me. And I need not repeat it, that the Reforming of our Lives is absolutely necessary to our Glorifying of God. Certainly, a very little Ingenuity will constrein us to these Expressions of Thankfulness, if we well consider,  
First, What our Deliverance is.  
Secondly, What little Reason, we had now, of any time, to expect such a Deliverance.  
1. If we well consider, what our Deliverance is, and therefore seriously Reflect upon what we are delivered from, we shall be presently satisfied, that no People under Heaven ever had a Greater. Had our Enemies Accomplished their Horrid Design, upon the Royal Person of our Sovereign, How would our Faces have gathered Blackness! With what Fearfulness and Trembling should we have been seized, upon the dreadful Outcry, The King is Murdered! The King is Murdered! And how would our Hearts have failed us for fear, and for looking after the things that were coming upon us! And what Horror and Astonishment would have filled all Places, upon the Rushing in of so many Thousands of Bloody French, joined with an Army of Unnatural English!  
Then would our Streets have Rung with as doleful Moan, as that of the Prophet Jeremy, upon the Babylonians invading his Country: My Bowels! My Bowels! I am pained at the very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me, I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my Soul, the Sound of the Trumpet, the Alarm of War; Destruction upon Destruction is Cried. And like that of Isaiah, in the name of Jerusalem, upon the Assyrian Invasion; Look away from me, I will weep bitterly, because of the Spoiling of the Daughter of my People: For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord of Hosts. And what frightful Spectacles should we have been forced to behold, while ourselves were not among those Spectacles! Such as dead Bodies covering our Streets, and Blood running down the Kennels: Our Houses all on a Flame: The Ravishing of Wives and Daughters; and All manner of Savage Outrages.  
And should an entire Conquest at last have been made of us; which, considering all our Circumstances (not now to be mentioned) would, in the Eye of Reason, have been inevitable, without God Almighty's Wonderful Interposing, and been but a short Work too, our Religion, Liberty, Property, every thing valuable and worth the keeping, would for ever have taken leave of the Survivers of those Calamities; and of how many succeeding Generations also, God only knows. For who needs be told, that Tyranny and Cruelty are inseparable from Popery, wheresoever it has its full Swing, and is under no restraint; and nothing in Nature is more Evident, than that now it would be so. For, at least, our Protestant Allies must undoubtedly in a little time, have drank as deep as ourselves, of the same Bitter Cup.  
And now, to digress a while, could our Restless Protestant Countrymen, who have longed for nothing more than the Downfall of this Government (as Easy as they might, if they would, live under it) could they have hoped that this Bitterest of Cups should have passed from them? We know they more than hoped it, they presumed it would, or they could never have adventured to Engage with Popish Foreigners, and the most deadly Enemies in the World to England, in such a Conspiracy. But never was Faith built upon such foolish Evidence. For, if we can be certain of any Futurity, we may be of this, that, had their Design prospered, they would have been so far from not being involved in the sad Circumstances of the Friends of this Government, that they must have been the most Wretched People among us. And therefore, if any have more cause than others, to Praise God for this Deliverance, these have most of any; All of them that shall be so Fortunate, as to Escape the Hand of Justice.  
For, how Miserable must those be, who have not Abandoned all Concern for their Native Country (which, I should think, none of them can, should they never so much endeavour it) when, upon observing the Miseries they have brought upon it, they would be forced to take up that Cry of Fools, Non Putâram, I could never have thought it; and when they should have no better Cordial for the allaying of their Grief, than themselves and their Families faring no better than their Neighbours.  
And that they could not, is every whit as certain, as that Protestants Merits can have no other Influence upon Papists, than to raise Laughter, whensoever they are wholly at the mercy of their Ingenuity: And as certain too, as that nothing but Interest can oblige Papists, to keep faith with Heretics. And these men's Greatest Master may satisfy them, that against what he shall please to call his Interest, he cannot be obliged (no, not by the most Solemn Oaths at the Holy Altar) not to break faith with his Brother Catholics. The Most Catholic King well knows to his Cost, what hold such Cords as those can have, of his Most Christian Majesty.  
But as to these gentlemen's Great Merits, on which they have built such mighty Confidence, how sanguine are they in taking it for granted, that their Aftergame would be better Remembered than their having had no Concern for their King, when they might, possibly, have kept him upon his Throne! Nay, that it would be better Remembered than their having been so very Angry with him, for his Arbitrary Proceedings; or rather (to speak plain truth) for his not employing themselves in advancing Prerogative above Law; and for his having so forgot their former Merits, as to kick them off, to receive the fanatics in their room. And, once more, how came they by their Confidence, that this their Aftergame must needs be better Remembered, than their Rejoicing as much as others at the Prince's Landing; and than their being so willing to have K. James shackled, and made a kind of Doge of Venice? Not to go farther in the Demerits of some of the Chiefest of them, as they know I might.  
I wish these People could have looked on their Dark, as well as on their Bright side, and then have thought with themselves what Darlings they are like to be, when a View shall be taken of both together, or rather of their Dark side only. And all but themselves must needs call to mind enough to conclude, that their Ill deservings will be best Remembered, when there's no farther occasion for their Service; as there would have been none in a little time.  
What I have said, is upon a charitable Supposition, that, for the completing of their Merits, they would not (at least Generally) be prevailed with to Renounce their Religion; but 'tis easy to think that whosoever should thus late be persuaded to it, his Motives thereto would be so well understood, as that 'twould stand him in but little stead. Not to mention how dear he must expect to pay for his Apostasy in the Other World.  
But indeed, half an Eye may see, that under a French Conquest, 'twill be Crime enough to be an English Man; and that should K. James be never so willing to show favour to his Subjects, he would have none to show favour to. That, at best, the Power of a Viceroy must then Content him. Who can question this, that hath not forgot, how very short his Power was of a Vice-Roys in Ireland, and that Lauzune made all the Figure there? 
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And now let these Gentlemen take it for a great Civility, to be addressed to in no harder words than those of K. Solomon, How long, ye Simple ones, will you love Simplicity? Or of his Royal Father's, Ye Fools, when will ye be Wise? When will you be made sensible, how destructive to all Humane Society, the Principles are, on which you have founded your Flaming Loyalty? When will you be Convinced of the Pernicious Folly of such an Extravagant Notion of Passive Obedience, as levels a Legal with the most Arbitrary Constitution; as makes Laws not worth a Straw, one jot longer than the Prince pleases; as hath not the least shadow of Truth, except instead of Kings being made for People, People are made to be wholly subjected to the Lusts of Kings; to Abuse them, Harass and Plague them, and do what they list with them? Which to suppose, would speak God Almighty such a Being, as that 'twould be even a less horrid Blasphemy, boldly to affirm He hath no Being.  
I am sure, much more than enough hath been written since this Happy Revolution, to make these Friends of ours sensible, not only how False their Principles of Government are, but also how fatally Mischievous and Destructive. I pray God their Eyes may at length be opened; and I should think that now is the time for it, if ever they be.  
The less Innocent of them do well deserve to have those words of the Prophet applied to them, Let favour be showed to the Wicked, yet will be not learn Righteousness; and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord. Lord, when Thine Hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall see and be Ashamed, etc. Or they shall see when 'tis too late for seeing to do them Service. But I choose rather to give them the necessary Advice of Our Blessed Saviour, Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. And let them thank God with all their Hearts, that he hath done infinitely better now for them, than what they had done for themselves, if He had not defeated their most Desperate Design.  
2. In order to our being the more Affected with the Greatness of our Deliverance, let us not only reflect upon what Miseries we are delivered from, but likewise consider what little Reason we had now (we had now of any time) to expect from Him such a Deliverance. Had we, I beseech you, made such Returns for our late so wonderful a one, as reasonably to hope for such another, should we again need it? Alas, alas! never was our Good God worse Requited for any Delivearance, than He hath been for that. So that we had all the reason in the World to fear, that (as He threatened the Israelites, Judg. x. 13.) He would deliver us no more; and yet we are not only again rescued from a worse than Egyptian Bondage, but also delivered from being so much as Scared with the Imminent Danger we were in again of falling under it. What shall we say to this? What other Account can be given of it, but that of the Son of Sirach, As is God's Majesty, so is His Mercy.  
I say, our former Deliverance, as Amazing as it was, was (to our Infinite Shame) very soon forgotten; and that notwithstanding many very strange and most surprising Providences, in order to the more completing thereof. And notwithstanding the severe Scourges we have since met with, for our horrible Ingratitude, we have still persisted therein, as if we had a mind to provoke God Almighty, to become no less our Enemy, than He had been our Friend. But if an Affecting Sense of the Dreadful things we have been delivered from, be not now revived; and (whereas we apparently grew a Worse People, after that Deliverance, having begun to be a Better, while the Rod was upon some of us, and hung over us all) if there be now no Visible Reformation; if Debauchery and Prosaneness shall abound among the Friends of this Government as much as ever; if those who have been Infidels in their Principles, or such in Practice (living without God in the World, and disacknowledging Him in their Ways) shall be generally so still; if Pride and Vanity, a dear Love of the World, Factiousness, and base Selfishness, or the preference of our Personal or Private Interests, before the Interest of the Public (of the Church and State) shall reign as much as ever; if Religion shall hold on at so very low an ebb, as it is now at (ay, and the Old English Honesty too, God knows); if Divisions and Animosities, Emulation and Strife do not now abate; if we continue so Unconcerned for each others Welfare, while our God so concerns Himself for all our Welfares; if neither the Wrath of our Enemies, nor our repeated Deliverances from their Wrath, can Reconcile us to God, nor to one-another: And, lastly, whereas we have at length obtained an Excellent Law, against profane Swearing and Cursing, (which, I fear, begins already to signify much less than it did at first) if there be not henceforth an Hearty Zeal for a more thorough Reformation; I say, if this Great Deliverance shall do no more than past Deliverances, towards the making us a more Honest, a more Sober, a better Natured, and a more Religious People; and I think fit to add too, if a Sober and Discreet Use be not made of it; as much as good Men Rejoice in it, they will rejoice with trembling to think, what things may yet be reserved for our Church and Nation, after all the Extraordinary and next to Miraculous Appearances of God for both.  
'T will not then be our Associating in Defence of the King and of each other, from which we may reasonably promise much to ourselves; but if we shall still hate to be Reform, the Prophet's Ironical Apostrophe to the Assyrians, will as well fit us; Associate yourselves, O ye People, and ye shall be broken in pieces, Isa. 8. 9 And besides, there is no Relying upon the best Security wicked men can give us.  
I will leave with you, part of the 13th and 14th Verses of the 9th of Ezra, and so conclude: Seeing Thou our God hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a Deliverance as this, should we again break Thy Commandments, wouldst not Thou be Angry with us, till Thou hast consumed us; so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping?  
And God Almighty give us all His Grace, to know (now at last) in this our day, the things which belong to our Peace, before they be hidden from our Eyes.  
THE END.