July. 3. 1696. Mr Biship. 6d.  
Mr. GARDINER's Thanksgiving-SERMON Preached at St. Michaels-Crooked-Lane, April 16th 1696.   

A Thanksgiving-SERMON Preached at St. Michael's Crooked-Lane, April 16th. 1696.  
Upon Occasion of His MAJESTIE'S Deliverance From the Late Intended Assassination of His SACRED PERSON, In Order to a FRENCH INVASION.  
By JAMES GARDINER, Rector of the said Parish.  
LONDON, Printed for B. Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons in Cornhill, MDCXCVI.   

A Thanksgiving-SERMON.  2 TIM. 3 Chap. ver. 1. and beginning of the 4th. 
1 This know also, that in the last Days, perilous times shall come; for men shall be  
4 Traitors, etc.—  
A Time (Solomon says there is) to be Silent, and a Time to Speak; such an One is this that now offers itself upon the Happy Discovery of the late Barbarous Plot designed against His Majesty's Sacred Life, in Order to a French Invasion. (Of the Truth and Reality of which, the flying of some from Justice; the very extenuating and mincing of Matters by others at their Trials; and their Voluntary Confessions in their Papers delivered with their own Hands immediately before they were turned off, and went to their Place are full Evidence, and irrefragable Arguments; and must satisfy all the World, except such Miscreants that want Demonstration from the accursed Deed; from which Good Lord deliver us.) Which hath so much of Horror, and Villainy in it, that should we now be Dumb, and not open our Mouths in an utter detestation of it, the Stone out of the Wall would cry out against such an Irreligious Silence, and the Beam out of the Timber would answer it.  
It's a Sign that the World is a dangerous place to live in, and almost at an End, not far from the Gates of Death, when we see so many Grey Hairs (the Messengers of an approaching Dissolution) upon her. My meaning is, when Men shall be Traitors. This know also that in the last days, perilous Times shall come; for men shall be— Traitors.  
You'll pardon me if I be not over-methodical to Day, or do not speak so closely to the Text as I ought to have done at another Time; my design being only this at present, viz. to draw you out a short Figure of those Miseries which would infallibly have attended this Cursed Conspiracy had it taken effect; and to hint in two or three Particulars what we are all obliged to (for the day is too little for the day to acquaint you with the whole of your Duty) upon the Receipt of such Favours, of such a Deliverance as this; that can be compared to nothing but itself, and may have many Deliverances in it which we know not of.  
When Sixtus Quintus began his Encomiastical Oration of the Jacobine that killed the French King, it was with the Words of the Prophet Habakkuk; 
Chap. 1.5.  Behold a work wrought in your days, you will not believe it when it shall be told you; a poor Friar hath slain the great King of France. Such another piece of Work should have been done in Our Days, and I make no Question but we should have had such kind of Speeches made too in Defence of it, and the Divine Providence Magnified in it also. But thanks be to GOD (who is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in working) he has done another work, in which with open Face we may behold his Glory: Behold! what Prevention of Desolation he hath wrought in the Land! for nothing Less could have been expected from such Conspirators: Men that neither fear GOD nor Reverence Man; Men of such debauched Principles; (to whom it's as Natural to hate and Kill Princes as to Eat their GOD) Men of such Desperate Fortunes, or, which is worse of the two, Plentiful Ones.  
What Flesh does not tremble to think what would have followed upon the King's Death, or a French Invasion! Blood, and Fire, and Pillars of Smoak! The Confused Noise of the Warrior; and Garments rolled in Blood. The Mother dashed in pieces upon the Children: No Reverence to the Person of the Aged, nor pity to the sucking Babe. The whole Body of the Clergy (to be sure of it) either Banished or Sacrificed: the Church destroyed, and her Lands Escheated to pay all the Charges of the Plot, etc. All Laws overlaid, and stifled: The Nobility, and Gentry rooted out, and all their Possessions given to his Own Soldiers; (nothing remaining to their Heirs after them but Poverty; which is a sure Inheritance, and can neither be plundered, nor forfeited;) forcing them notwithstanding to hold it under them as their Salves and Vassals. Hear his Language.— Thy Silver and Gold is mine, thy Women and Fair Children. And if any thing be denied,— The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the Dust of thy Land be sufficient for my People, every man to take an handful. Not a Remnant to be saved; not a Berry here and there in the utmost Boughs.  
In short; the Consequence would have been, a French Government, and French Popery; the Yoke of which is neither easy, nor the Burden light; which if not complied with would have forced us to the Galleys, or to be Martyrs or Refugees. These would have been the Favours and the Graces that our Three Kingdoms had been crowned and blest withal had the designs of our Foreign Enemies, and our False Brethren within ourselves, (Good God that ever there should be in a certain Island of the World such Devils in Humane shape!) had their designs I say succeeded.  
But to the Lord our GOD belong the Issues from Death. Come, and behold his Works of Mercy, and Deliverance: See them, touch them, handle them; they are not Spirits, Fancies, Speculations; they are true Bodies, and have the flesh and bones of real Works. Just when the Arrow was upon the String, and the down-lookt Rebels, men skilful to destroy, had prepared the Instruments of Death, and marked out the very Place where to Fire His Majesty out of his Life; when the Decree was Signed by a King's Letters, and they said, the days of Mourning are come, come let us Kill the Spark, (for we will not have this Man to Rule over us;) and subvert his Kingdom, that his Name may be had no more in Remembrance; than it was that He scattered the Proud in the Imagination of their Hearts; and so disappointed their Devices that their Hands could not perform their Enterprise: The Wicked is snared in the work of his own hands, Higgaion, Selah; Mark, and Meditate. This is the Lord's Doing, and it is marvellous in our Eyes. Da Veniam Imperator; Pardon me, (Great Sir) It was not Flesh and Blood that Revealed this Mystery of Iniquity unto you, but Your Father, and Saviour which is in Heaven.  
Happy art thou, O England, who is like unto Thee saved by the Lord? Thine Enemies are found Liars unto thee. The Snare is broken, and we are delivered; their Machinations are unravelled into Folly, and Shame and Dishonour are their last promotion. They are hurled out of the Land of the Living as out of the midst of a Sling; and are perished in their own Corruption, and have consulted Shame to their Houses. The Mischief is returned upon their own Heads, and the wicked are silent in Darkness, and we are sure that the Judgement of GOD is according to Truth against those which commit such Things.  
Oh the Depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledge of GOD! How unsearchable are his Mercies as well as his Judgements, and his Ways past finding out! Of a Truth the Lord has not forsaken the Earth. Hear O Atheist; perceive, and understand and be Converted: The Lord GOD of Gods he knows; his Eyes behold, and his Eyelids consider: He narrowly observed all their Thoughts, and watched their Motions when they wafted over into France, and conferred at Versailles and St. Germains: He marked the hissing of the Bee of Assur to the Fly of Egypt; all the Intelligence, I mean, that passed betwixt a discontented Party amongst us and an Unworthy Monarch, (whose Character will be infamous to the End of the World, as he is now the Scandal of his Age for this last Unnatural Conspiracy, notwithstanding his Manifesto's, and Fulsome Gazettes, and the Industry of all his Ministers abroad to persuade the World, which no body will believe, of His and some Bodies else pretended Innocency, and that They knew nothing of the Matter,) and the Mischiefs which they designed for others, like overcharged Pieces hath recoiled upon themselves; their own Counsel hath cast them down. So true is the Observation of the Historian, 
Livy.  Consilia callida primâ specie laeta, tractatu dura, eventu tristia; Treacherous Counsels are kindled with many sparkling Hopes, with great difficulty preserved and kept in, and go out in as much Stench and Danger. Thus has GOD made the Wrath of Man (as well as do their Virtues and Graces) to praise him; and the remainder of Wrath he will restrain. The LXX in their Translation have wittily expressed the last words; the Remainder of Wrath, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, shall keep Holy Day unto thee; i. e. shall rest from its Labour, shall be so curbed and bound up as never more to break out, but give his People opportunity to Land and Magnisy his Glorious Name. Which naturally leads me to the Consideration of some few things which this Grand Deliverance of ours does more especially oblige us all unto; which I shall do with that freedom and plainness that becomes the Place I now stand in. And  
First, Let not the Horror of the intended Mischiefs chill the just Triumph of the Day; but let us be affected with, and raise an Altar of Praise, and Thanksgiving to the Known GOD for this so seasonable but unexpected Mercy. What, think we, can be the design of it, but that we should talk of his Lovingkindness in the Morning, and of his Faithfulness every Night; and make known to the Sons of Men his Mighty Acts, and the glorious Majesty of his Kingdom? Awake, awake Deborah, and arise Barac the Son of Ahinoam. Glory and Honour and Thanks to him that sits on the Throne; Hallelujah! For the Lord Omnipotent Reigneth. Nature itself (if there was no Bible) reads us a Lecture and prompts us to this Duty. Hear one of her High Priests. 
Senec. de Benef. lib. 3. cap. 1.  Ingratus est, qui Beneficium accepisse se negat, quod accepit; ingratus est qui dissimulat; ingratus qui non reddit; ingratissimus Omnium qui oblitus est. That Man is ungrateful that denies a Benefit received, and so is He that dissembles it, nor is he any better that doth not requite it, but he is most of all that hath forgot it. GOD by no means will admit that his Mercies should be writ in Sand to be washed away by the next coming in of the Tide; but expects they should be thankfully had in remembrance. Let us not therefore look upon Public Mercies as we do upon Public Duties, That which is Every man's work is no man's; but let us rejoice in the Good of GOD's Chosen, and glory with his Inheritance: And since this bitter Cup is passed from us, let us take the Cup of Salvation, and praise the Name of the Lord. This is a Day wherein Praises should wait for him; Tibi silet Laus, Pagnine renders it; Praise is silent to Thee O GOD in Zion; such a Throng of Praises and so great that they were unutterable; and therefore silent praise. (as we say of Cares, Leres' Loquuntur, ingentes stupent.) Yet supposing they should be more than we can express, we ought however to endeavour to express them to GOD as well as we can; And we do it in the best manner when we walk answerably to such Loving Kindness. The Riches of God's Goodness should lead us to Repentance, and a Pious Improvement of them: this is the way to hollow his Name, and not only to preserve his Mercies, but to Praise him into greater. But Fatal it would prove, if we should count that we are delivered to commit Abominations: This will cause GOD to be weary of us, and as he hath done great Things for us, so to do great Things against us; to let lose our Enemies upon us again, and to suffer them to strike us home, to execute their Malice, and quench the Light of our Israel.  
When Joshua aggravates the Sin of Achan he seems to play the Herald; 
Jos. 7.1.  for we are told that Achan was the Son of Carmi, the Son of Zabdi, the Son of Zerah, of the Tribe of Judah. Had Achan been a poor ignorant Heathen, his Sin, even in these lower Circumstances, would have incensed the Wrath of the Almighty, and have pulled down Judgement upon him: But Achan that was a Jew, and that no mean Jew, but of the Royal Tribe of Judah, and descended from such Noble Progenitors as Carmi, Zabdi, and Zerah; for him to commit a Trespass of this Nature, his Privileges and Advantages exceedingly aggravated his Sin, and rendered him obnoxious to a double punishment which were both inflicted, as you may read at your Leisure. To apply this to ourselves; If we who call ourselves Members of the best Church in the World, and comparing ourselves with other Nations and Churches Experience the Portion of our Mercies to be like that of the Firstborn, double to what they have at any time enjoyed; if therefore We, who have received much, instead of loving much, provoke him by our Iniquities, what can we expect but that he will pour out upon us the abundance of his Fury? You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth (certainly that People must be blessed indeed that could thus call him their Lord and their GOD; no, very far from it;) therefore will I visit upon you all your Iniquities.  
Strange Punishment, says Job, Chap. 31.3. is to the Workers of Iniquity; i. e. extraordinary, and unusual. That We have and continue to be such, is too notorious to be denied: Yet instead of Strange Punishment inflicted, We have had Strange Mercy conferred upon us: But let us not mistake ourselves, the Word of GOD threatened still remains true, and shall do so for ever; and therefore, tho' he hath shown his Prerogative at this time in the dispensation of his Mercy towards us, and suffered himself to except us from the General Rule by Proclaiming his Name, the Lord, the Lord Gracious, and Merciful, abundant in Goodness; Yet if we abuse this his Mercy, this so great Salvation it will be bitterness in the Latter End; Judgement without Mercy.  
Secondly, May we all, by this happy Deliverance, be provoked to Unity and Peace. We are delivered from being devoured by our Enemies, and shall we be our own destroyers? It was Barbarous in the Priests of Baal to cut and slash themselves, but much worse it is in us to cut, and Slash one another. Let us learn this Wisdom I beg of you, of our Adversaries, since there is One Soul, and Spirit possesses them to ruin us; to Love and Unite (that's the best Association) for mutual Safety. GOD has in Mercy, it's true, diverted the Blow at present; but it's as true that only the Power of our Enemies is abated, not their Malice and Bloody Minds, not their Pride, or their Expectations. We need not a Prophet to tell us what is spoken in the King of Syria's Bedchamber. They stick not yet to say, They shall have a day for it; and if it should not happen in their Time, they have provided that their Malice may survive themselves, (thus one Depth will call for another;) and their Children after them are to imbibe their Sour, poisonous Principles, and revenge their Quarrel. Like the plodding Spaniard at his game of Chess, who having not Success, or Time to give Check etc. leaves it to be played out by his Successor. But what need they to be so very earnest and hot? Let us but alone, and we shall destroy ourselves by our Differences and Divisions; and it's a wounding reflection to consider that Men should not see it plainly, but cause Schisms and Factions, and pursue them too on purpose to make our Ruin unavoidable.  
If therefore we are sensible how Industrious, Politic, and numerous our Enemies are, in whose Heart still it is to destroy and cut off Nations not a few; If we have any Sense of the Dangers that our Divisions, and Animosities may bring upon us; (which next to Apostasy from GOD have always proved fatal to a Church, or Nation;) If we have any Honour, or Respect for our Country, our Religion, or Posterity; (and GOD forgive them that have not) let these be persuasives to Unity and Peace. Let all petty Interests and Bones of Contention be sacrificed to the Public Benefit; and though it is an Unhappiness at present that we cannot syncretize in the Minutes of Religion and Worship; yet ought not this to prevent our being , or that we should not labour after the things that make for Peace: And was this but hearty once put in Practice, I doubt not in the least but, through the Blessing of GOD, and the Prudence and Goodness of our Governors, but the effect would be the Security of the King, Church and State, maugre all the Attempts and Designs of Our Adversaries.  
Thirdly, Let this Discovery be a Warning how we engage in Factions and Conspiracies. Our Business (my Brethren) is to be Quiet and Governable; and not to fill our Noddles with Politic Whimsies, or interest ourselves with men of Roving Heads, and unsettled Minds: who cannot tell themselves nor any body else for them what they would have but are restless and uneasy in all Reigns. Such Conversation is infectious; it makes men Peevish, and Proud, etc. (with the froward men will learn frowardness;) and unawares draws them into Plots and Rebellion; and what the Consequence of that is let the Tree speak. For what Suetonius reports of such as stabbed Julius Caesar is generally true of all Traitors, Ne quisquam sua morte defunctus est, not one of them died a Natural Death, or went down to his Grave in Peace. And the reason why a Sevenfold Vengeance was threatened more upon him that should kill Cain, than was upon Cain himself though a bloody Fratricide, by some is thought to be this, because Cain was a Prince, and being eldest Son to Adam was Heir apparent to the Crown of the whole World.  
The Sum of all is thus much: All Treacherous Plots are founded in a deep Malice, and Ambition; upheld for a time by Large Expense and vain Confidence, and end in an unexpected discovery, a just Punishment, and perpetual Infamy. My Son therefore, fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with those that are given to Change: And let us all put up the Church Prayer, which is not to be found in any of the Roman Missals, that from all Sedition, Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion GOD would deliver us.  
Fourthly, Let this Deliverance oblige us to put our future Trust in GOD; and to place our Confidence in Him that raiseth the Dead, from whence in a Figure we have been raised. This is our meet, right and our bounden Duty; nay whither would our Reason direct us but unto that GOD whom we have found a very present Help in Trouble, and from whom comes every good and perfect Gift: Who can no more suffer a change in his Mercy then in Himself, but is yesterday, to day and the same for ever. Fear not then Thou Worm Jacob, fear not then little Flock; if the Wolves assault thee, rely upon thy experienced Keeper that neither slumbers nor sleeps; if the clashing of Armour, or the Threats of the Proud affright thee, trust thyself and Cause to the Lord of Hosts who does great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without Number; and has promised to be a Sun and a Shield to them that walk uprightly, Psal. 84.11. A Shield to defend, and a Sun to extinguish the fire of the Adversaries Fury by shining upon it. In short they that know his Name (and Nature) will put their Trust in him; for the Lord never forsaketh them that seek him.  
Lastly, Let us pray to GOD for His Majesty King William (in whose Life all our dearest Interests are bound up, and of whom we trust he hath Sworn by his Holiness that he will never fail him) that as he hath now wonderfully preserved Him that was appointed to die, so He would still keep him as the Apple of an Eye, and hid him under his Feathers, and suffer no Weapon form against him to prosper: That he would Crown his Arms with Victory and Success; that at last he may have rest from all his Enemies on every side, and leisure to pass his Old Age in comfort and safety, serving that GOD without Distraction whose Mercies all along have been so eminent towards him; and then be received up into Glory. Which GOD of his Infinite Mercy Grant, etc.   
FINIS.  

Sermons New Published, and Sold by B. Aylmer in Cornhill.  

THE Bishop of Gloucester's Thanksgiving Sermon before the House of Lords, at Westminster-Abby, April, 16th. 1696.  
Mr. Stephens of Sutton in Surrey his Thanksgiving Sermon, Preached before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen at Bow-Church; April the 16th.  
Mr. Showers his Thanksgiving Sermon, also upon the 16th. of April.  
Mr. Stripes of Low-Layton his Thanksgiving Sermon, the same day.