Imprimatur, Hen. Maurice Reverend. Dom. Guliel. Archiep Cant. à Sacris. August. 7. 1685. A SERMON Preached in the Parish Church of NEWBURY, Berks, On the 26th of July, 1685. Being the Day of Thanksgiving for His Majesty's Late Victory over the Rebels. By John Hinton, A. M. Rector of the said Church, and Prebendary of the Church of Sarum. Published at the Joint and Earnest Request of the Mayor, aldermans, and Burgesses, and other Inhabitants of the Place. LONDON, Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's- Head in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1685. TO THE Right Reverend Father in God SETH, Lord Bishop of SARUM. My Lord, THough the Acceptance, this plain Discourse has met with, among those that honour the King and love the Church in the place where 'twas Preached, be a slender Excuse for exposing so very slender a Performance to the Censure of the World; yet I am conscious to myself, I should deserve to be more censured, and have much less to excuse me, if having ventured upon this occasion to appear in public, I should not take the Opportunity to make my Acknowledgement of your Lordship's Favours to the Author, as public as the Discourse. I am not so vain to crave your Lordship's Patronage, for what I know to be so unworthy of your Lordship's View: Nor do I make this Address to court your Approbation of a Sermon, too mean for so great a Judgement, as your Lordships to Approve; being Composed only for a Vulgar Auditory, and itself too vulgar even for that: But the design of it, how weakly soever managed, being to promote Piety to God, and Loyalty to the King, Obedience and Gratitude to both, I am willing to hope, your Lordship, who are yourself so Eminent an Example of all, will Pardon the Faults of the Composition for the Honesty of the Design; and forgive the presumption of prefixing so Great a Name to so Small & Thing; when the only end of it, is to testify to the World, the Sense I have of those many personal Obligations, your Lordship has laid upon me which I never was, nor am ever like to be in a Capacity to deserve. And although in publishing this Discourse, I have sufficiently published my own Weakness to a Critical and Censorious Age; yet, if by this means I can but publish at once my Gratitude to your Lordship for your Lordship's Kindness to myself, I am content to undergo the worst of Censures, that either Good or Bad Men can pass upon, My Lord, Your Lordship's most Obliged and Obedient Servant, John Hinton. SERMONS Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Pauls-Church-Yard. Dr. Scot's Sermon before the L. Mayor, July 26th. 85. 4 o. Mr. Wagstaff's Sermon, July 26th. 1685. 4 o. Mr. Cooke's Sermon, July 26th. 1685. 4 o. Dr. Turner's Sermon at White-Hall, May 29th. 4 o. Dr. Sharpe's Sermon at White hall, March 20th. 4 o. Dr. Scot's Sermon before the L. Mayor, Dec. 16th. 4 o. Mr. Brown's Sermon, about the Observation of holidays, 4 o. Mr. Leigh's Sermon of the keeping of holidays, 4 o. Mr. Gaskarth's Visitation Sermon at Bristol, 4 o. Mr. Holland's Sermon at the Assizes at Leicester, 4 o. Mr. Lamb's Sermon, the Liberty of Humane Nature, 4 o. Mr. Wagstaff's Sermon before the Lord Mayor, 4 o. 1684. — Sermon, September 9th. 1683. Mr. Gipps' three Sermons, 4 o. Mr. Grailes four Sermons at Norwich, 8vo. Dr. Bridge's Sermon before the Lord Mayor, 4 o. Mr. Turner's Sermon before Sir Patience Ward, 4 o. — Sermon, September 9th. 4 o. — The Divine Omnipresence, 4 o. — About Transubstantiation. Dr. Hicks' Sermon, the Spirit of Enthusiasm, 4 o. — The strongest Temptation Conquerable by Christians. — 's Peculium Dei, 4 o. — 's True Notion of Persecution. — 's Moral Slechinah, 4 o. — 's Spittle Sermon, 4 o. — 's Sermon Worcester, May 29th. 4 o. — 's— Jan. 30th. 4 o. Mr. Hopkins' Sermon before the Lord Mayor. Mr. Battles Sermon at the Assizes at Hertford. A SERMON Preached in the Parish Church of NEWBURY, Berks, On the 26th of July, 1685. Being the Day of Thanksgiving for His Majesty's Late Victory over the Rebels. 2 Sam. 18.28. the latter part of the Verse. — Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up the Men, that lift up their Hand against my Lord the King. THey are the Words of Ahimaaz, the Son of Zadok the Priest, when he brought King David the good News of the Rebel Absalom's Defeat. And that I may suit my present Discourse upon the Text to the present Solemnity of the Day (this being the Day, wherein we are commanded by His Majesty, to return our Just Tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving, to His, and Our Dread Sovereign, the King o● Heaven and Earth, for his Infinite Goodness both to Him and us, in delivering us from one of the most Infamous Rebellions, that was ever contrived in Hell) I say, that I may suit my Discourse to the Solemnity, I shall consider in the Words, that I have read these Three Things, which they very naturally present to our Observation: First, The Rebellion itself. Secondly, The Defeat of the Rebels; and, Thirdly, The Thanksgiving for the Defeat. The First being plainly signified to us, in their lifting up their Hands against the King: The S●cond, in God's delivering up the Men, that ●ad so done; and the Third, in Ahimaaz his Blessing God, for so delivering of them up. I begin, I. With the First of these, The Rebellion itself, or the People's lifting up their Hands against the King; where I shall consider. 1. The Author. 2. The Impudence; and, 3. The Mischiefs of the Rebellion. First, For the Author of this Rebellion, I have already hinted to you, and if you look into the Context, you will find 'twas Absalon; One of King David's Sons, perverted and alienated from his Duty and Allegiance to the King, through the vile Suggestions of the Devil and Achitophel, by the too early desires, and forbidden hopes of Empire and a Crown. An ambitio●s, vain, young Man, seduced upon slender Grounds into a great opinion of Himself, and by that opinion betrayed into ill Counsels, and worse Actions, to the Grief of his Father, and his own Shame. The King, ye must know, had * 2 Sam. 14.24. Banished him his Presence and the Court, for his ill Behaviour; for no le●s a Crime than * 2 Sam. 13.23,— 30. Murder; and the Murder no less, than that of his own Brother; and that too, when he had first made him Drunk with that design, and that design carried on under a pre●ence of Friendship, when he had invited him and other of the King's Sons to a Solemn Feast. A Crime, one would have thought, too great to have been easily forgiven. But notwithstanding so * Chap. 13.39. fond was the King of this vile Fellow, even to a Fault, that after some time, he gives him his * Chap. 14. ult. Pardon, receives him again into his Presence and his Favour, and treats him with all the Tenderness of a Father, with all the Magnificence of a King. And now, such was the Fool's Vanity and Vain Gl●ry, he thinks to vie Splendour with the Court, lives at an Extravagant rate, gets him a mighty Retinue; * Chap. 15.1. Prepares him Chariots and Horses, and has no less th●n 50 Men to run before him. Now he thinks himself a Prince: and so he was, and might have been as happy a Prince as any was in the World, if he had not aspired to a Crown. B●t nothing less than a Crown will gratify his Ambition; and to gratify that like a Vile Traitor, he applies himself to dishonourable and disingenuous Arts, to sordid and ignoble Practices; unworthy of his Education; unworthy of his Birth, unworthy the Son of such a Father. Immediately he strikes in with the Faction, to libel and traduce the Government; represents it as Arbitrary, Tyrannical, Illegal and Unjust● is as forward as they that were most, to tax the Corruptions of the Court, and to talk of the Grievances o● the Subject: As if their Liberty and Property, their Privileges and Immunities were all at Stake, and there were no hopes nor prospect of good Times, till the Evil Councillors, or the King, or both were removed. * Chap. 15.2,— 7. And Absalon risen up early, and stood beside the way of the Gate; to show his zeal for the People and the People's good, he gets him very early to the Palace, or to the Courts of Justice, and other public Conventions; and if any man came to have a Grievance redressed, he takes him aside privately, and tells him (without any more ado) there was no good to be done. See, says he, Thy Matters are Good and Right; thou hast a just Cause, and 'tis pity but thou shouldest have Justice done thee: But alas, here's no Justice, no Equity, no Religion at Court. There's nothing but Bribery and Corruption among 'em, from the highest to the lowest; There is no man deputed of the King to hear thee; or (as you will find it rendered in the Margin of their Bibles) None will hear you from the King downward: Neither the King nor any that are about him: They are all alike, and alike corrupt. Oh that I were made Judge in the Land myself, that the Government were in my hands, that every man, which has any Suit on Cause, might come to me, and I would do him Justice! Then all should ●e reform, and all manner of Grievances redressed. And so it was, that when any one came night to him, to do him Obeisance, to kiss his Hand, and to acknowledge his Princely Goodness and Favour toward him, He put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him; embraced and hugged him with all the sweetness and Condescension imaginable, and without any respect of Persons. As if he (good man) had no other Design in aspiring to be King, but to serve the People, and 'twere the height of his Ambition to oblige his Friends; to free 'em from Illegal Taxes and Impositions, and to maintain their just Rights. On this manner did Absal●m to all Israel that came to the King fo● Judgement: and so Absalon stole the hearts of the Men of Israel, as you will find in the former part of the 15 Chapter of this Book. So Absalon stole the Hearts of the People to himself, not doubting but when he had done that, he should be able to steal the Crown too, from the head of the King. So easily and by such little Arts did he delude and cheat the easy Multitude; and by thus slyly insinuating himself into their Affections, as 'twere, Pilfer their Duty and Allegiance from 'em, which was their Sovereign's Undoubted and Legal Right: Thus he studied, as he affected Popularity, and courted the People, only to be courted by them. And he had his ends in a great measure beyond the good Kings, or any honest Man's expectation. For tho' at this very time he were guilty, and they knew him to be guilty, of the Highest Crimes in Nature, (as if his aspiring Genius had aimed at a kind of Supremacy in Vice as well as Government) though they knew him to be guilty of no less than * Chap. 13.24,— 30. Murder, Premeditated Murder, and Drunkenness, and Treachery, and Revenge; as he was afterwards, during the Rebellion, of * Chap. 16.22. Adultery and Incest, to that Degree of Impudence, that perhaps no Man ever was before or since; and all along of the most intolerable Perfidiousness to God and Man, that the Devil could tempt, or Man be tempted to; yet even these were Venial, they were small Sins, in so great a Saint, in so Gracious an Assertor of their Liberties and their Religion, as he was now become. His Godly Pretences, and his pretended zeal for the Good Old Cause, were enough to sanctisy, or at least to atone for all his Faults; and did in the ●ssue so far recommend him to the Factious Party, that by the Advice of the great Idol, * Chap. 15.12. Achitophel (whose Counsel, tho' suggested by the Devil, was always so highly Oracular among the People, that the Text tells us, * Chap. 16. ult. 'twas as if one had enquired a● the Oracle of God) they soon determined to betake themselves to Arms under his Conduct; and by venturing upon an Insurrection (which in effect was venturing their Lives to damn their Souls) to put things to a push. Accordingly with a very * Chap. 15 7, 8, 9 Religious pretence, he sets out for Hebron, a place not far from Giloh, the * Chap. 15.12. Seat of that Arch-traitor, Achitophel, and so the most Factious part of the Kingdom; where he had most Interest and Acquaintance, and where that old Fox had by himself and by his Agents pretty well prepared People for the Design. You must think he was very secure and confident of the Parties coming in to his Assistance; especially from Giloh, and the Places thereabouts, where his own Acquaintance, and where Achitophel's Interest and Estate lay. For when he came to Hebron, * Chap. 15.11. he brought but 200 Men with him: A small Army to defy so Warlike and so Great a Prince as David was, that had so much a better Cause, and so much greater Power to defend it. But the Rebel was so Foolhardy, that he feared not God nor Man: Tho' he had brought but these 200 with him, he ventures to * Chap. 15.10.19.10. Proclaim himself King; and then sets up his Standard, and requires the Country, upon their Allegiance, to stand by him. And the giddy Multitude had no more Sense of Duty to God or his Vicegerent, than to submit to this Sham-Prince; and to venture their Lives and Fortunes, their Souls and Consciences in his Defence, against their Rightful and Natural Sovereign, whom Heaven had by a Miracle of Providence placed upon the Throne. For now the Conspiracy was strong, and the People increased continually with Absalon. Chap. 15.12. His Gracious Promises, and fair Speeches, drew abundance of the Discontented, and the Poor, and the Ignorant, and the Illaffected, after him; some, no doubt, out of hopes to gratify their Revenge, others their Covetousness, and others their Ambition; some to repair, some to make their Fortunes; this Party expecting Liberty of Conscience, that Freedom from Taxes; all to have every thing to their own minds; till at length they all united in a Formidable Army, that alarmed the Fears, and threatened the Ruin of the King and Kingdom. An Action very Unaccountable in itself: but 'twill appear stranger yet, if after we have considered the Author, we proceed, Secondly, To consider the Impudence of the Rebellion, which was indeed so Exceeding Great in the whole Management of the thing, that it had then no Parallel in all the preceding Annals of Time; all the Rebels in Hell having never been able, in two thousand nine hundred years and more, to bring any of their Disciples upon Earth to any thing like it. For besides that 'twas begun, as you have partly heard already, with a pretence of Religion, under t●e Colour of * Chap. 15.7, 8, 12. paying a Vow, and offering an Eucharistical Sacrifice at Hebron, (which by the way was contrary to Law, and made a perfect Conventicle of the Assembly, * Levit. 17.3, 4, 5, 6. Deut. 12.4, 5, 6,—: 2. God having positively forbidden his People to offer either Sacrifice or Vow in any place whatsoever, but where he should choose to put his Name, where the Ark or the Tabernacle were, which was now at Jerusalem) I say, beside this, tho' the Rebel Proclaimed himself King upon the place, he had no more Pretence or Title to the Crown, than any of the rest that were in the Association: For David was actually settled in the Throne, and had all the Right to the Kingdom that a King could have. And moreover, as Absalon had himself an * 2 Sam. 3.3. Elder Brother, so God had particularly Chosen * 2 Sam. 7.12, 13. Compared with 2 Sam. 12.24, 25. 1 Chron. 22.7.— 11. 1. Chron. 28.5, 6, 7. Solomon, of all the Sons of David, to succeed him in the Throne; and that long before this Traitorous Association was set on Foot by Achitophel. So that if David had been dead, Absalon had had no pretence to the Crown, much less could he have any, during David's Life. From whence 'tis plain, that he rebelled against his Lawful and Undoubted Sovereign, and one that he was bound, by the Laws of God, and by the Laws of the Land, to yield Faith and Allegiance to. Add to this, that the Laws of Gratitude had tied him in the same Bond; the King having laid all the Obligations upon him, that a King could lay, while he was fit or capable to be Obliged. He had conferred upon him great Favours, he had pardoned him great Crimes, he had given him great Assurances of suture Kindnesses, notwithstanding his past Misdemeanours. Nor had he only obliged this Rebel, but the whole Jewish state: He had often ventured even his own Life in defence of the Nation, and that with good success too, against the most implacable and bitter Enemies of its Peace. He was really the Defender of their Faith, of their Religion, of their Liberties and Rights: A Prince beloved of God and Man; of exemplary Piety, of undaunted Courage, of Impartial Justice; one that governed according to Law, and under whose Government they were, or might have been, if they would themselves, as easy, as happy, as safe, as any People under Heaven: They had the free Liberty of Professing, and of making a public Profession of the True Religion: They were permitted to live a quiet and a peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty; They were permitted a quiet and peaceable Enjoyment of their Properties and Estates: They had all the Privileges and Immunities, that one would have thought their Hearts could wish; sat every Man under his own Vine, and his own Fig tree; and, what others could not, called what they had their own; so that they had all the reason in the World to praise God for his Government, and to pray to God for his Life; having nothing to disturb 'em but themselves, and their own senseless Fears and Jealousies. Yet even against such a Prince, and in such circumstances as these, was this Rebellion both raised and carried on, to the infinite dishonour of God, to the horrid scandal of Religion, to their own eternal shame, to the wonder and amazement of all the World: in contradiction to their bounden Duty, to their solemn Vows; in affront to Divine and Humane Authority, in defiance of Heaven and Earth; with that audacious Virulence, with that Virulent and envenomed rage, as if his Gracious Majesty had been the worst of Tyrants, and the worst of Men; or as if the impudent Rebel had had at once the fairest Title, and the foulest usage in the world. For having most unjustly taken up Arms against his Majesty's Person, Crown and Dignity, to fill up the measure of their Impudence, they threw Stones, they threw Dirt in his Face: And they, that ought not * Eccl, 10.20. to have cursed the King so much as in their thoughts, presumed to curse him openly both in Words and Actions. And when David came to Bahurim, behold there came out a man, whose name was Shimei, one of the chief of the Rebels, and 'tis not to be thought, he was alone, he came forth, and cursed still as he came, and he cast stones at David, and at all the Servants of King David; in contempt both of Majesty, and Loyalty, he cursed still as he went, and threw stones and cast dust, or as 'tis in the marginal Translation, dusted him with dust, (chap. 16.5, 6, 13.) gave him as ill names, and accused him of as ill things, as were possible, to affront his person, to sully his Reputation, to render him and his Government odious to the world. It seems Stones and Dirt, hard Speeches, and foul Language were great part of their Ammunition; (as indeed they are always a great part of the Artillery of a Rebel) and they discharged all they had; they shot out their Arrows, even bitter words, as well against the King himself, as against those that had Loyalty, that had honestly enough, to adhere to his Person, or to assert his Cause. In all these Commotions 'tis observable, that the Church, as indeed 'twas fit it should be, was always Loyal, and eminently Faithful to the Crown. Lo Zadok the Priest, and Abiathar, and all the Levites were with David, bearing the Ark of the Covenant of God (chap. 15.24.) that is all the regular conforming Clergy; for there were a sort of Dissenters too among the Jews; and there is no doubt, but Absalon, when he went to sacrifice at Hebron, had certain Priests there, that were of his own, i. e. of no Religion; that were for his own Turn, and after his own Heart; that blew the Trumpets of Sedition, and so sacrificed to Devils, and not to God; which to be sure, it was not Lawful for 'em to do: But, I say, the regular Clergy, they that kept to the Laws, and observed the Canons of the Church, they were all with David; their Hearts were with him, their Prayers were for him, they wished well to his Person, they wished well to his Cause, they were sorry for his Troubles, and added Tears to their Prayers, the best Weapons they were able, or had any Commission to use against the Rebels. And all Loyal good men joined with 'em in their Lamentations. All the Country wept with a loud voice (Chap. 15.23.) All the considerable, all the honest part of City and Country bewailed and lamented the Rebellion. All which considerations, together with many more of the like nature, that might be urged, not only argue the guilt, but demonstrate the impudence of the thing, so much beyond dispute, that whoever has any sense either of honesty or shame, cannot but abominate the very thoughts of an Action, they had the Forehead to act, so extremely scandalous so scandalously vile. For, if thus to trample upon Majesty, to fight against Heaven and revile the Gods; if to fight for a Kingdom without a Title to a Crown, to raise a Rebellion against a Lawful, a Valiant, a Just, a Good King; against the Laws of God, against the Laws of the Realm, against the Laws of Gratitude; contrary to the Doctrine, to the Practice of the Church to their own Promises and Oaths, and to the Sentiments of all good Men; if this be not the very height of impudence, we may in due time learn modesty from Lucifer, and acquit the old Rebel, of Presumption. But, Thirdly, As the Rebellion was extremely impudent in itself; so 'twas extremely fatal and mischievous; and had it succeeded, must have been much more so in its effects. 'Tis indeed hard to recount the miseries and calamities of any intestine and unnatural Rebellion, whether it succeed or no. The mischiefs, that naturally ensue are always great, and always dreadful, not only to the Rebels, but to the King, to the People, to the Church, to Religion in general, that aught to be dearer to us all than Liberty, or Property, or Life. And as for the Rebellion in my Text, could I give you a prospect of a Country wasted and harrassed by the Violence of Bloodthirsty and Deceitful Men, or set before you the Outrages, the Rapes, the Plunders, the Frights usually committed and caused by military insolence; could I represent to you, with the confused noise of War, the horror and sadness of Men wallowing, and Garments rolled in Blood; could I draw you the dismal scene of a Land defiled and covered, or of Fields and Houses filled with Murder, Rapine, Villainy, and Lust; could I delineate the misery or Express the cries of Widows and Orphans, made so by the Sword, or compute the number of Families utterly ruined, according to their Tribes; could I describe the troubles of a Persecuted King, or the sorrows of Afflicted Innocence; could I set before you the Grief of the Church, or exhibit the Joy and Triumph of the Enemies of God, upon this occasion; yet after all, I could give you but a rude and imperfect draught of that abomination of desolation, that this Rebellion caused in Judea. The Truth is, the Miseries of a Civil War are more than can be imagined by any, but those that feel 'em; and too great to be expressed by those that do. And therefore we only read, that David Wept as he went, and had his Head covered, and went barefoot, in Token of a Profound and Inexpressible Sorrow; and all the People that were with him, covered every Man his Head, and they went up by the Ascent of the Mount Olivet, Weeping as they went. (Chap. 15.30.) Weeping, to think of the Miseries that were come upon 'em, to think of the Calamity, the Trouble they were involved in. Their Calamity was Great, tho' the Rebellion did not succeed: But had This succeeded, That had been infinitely greater. It must have ended in the utter Ruin of David and all his Adherents, in the total Subversion of the Government, in the fatal Overthrow of the Church. It must have entailed Anarchy, and Confusion upon the Land; have entailed another, and perhaps a perpetual War upon the Nation. For tho' they had destroyed David, they could not destroy the King: The King could not Die: And to be sure, the next Heir would have asserted his Right to the Crown: And if they had took off him too, the Kingdom could not want Heirs; or if it had, the Rebels would never have agreed long, who should be uppermost. They would still have been pulling down One, and setting up Another, till they had not known whom, or, what to have set up. For tho' it be easy to destroy a well Established Government, 'tis not so easy, when that's done, to Establish another, that shall give either others, or themselves Content. And after all, it had been ten to one, but by their Intestine Differences, they had been made a Prey to Foreigners, and so have made Religion itself a Prey too, to the Common Enemies of God, and of his Church. And these had been Grievances indeed, as great as our Reformers, much greater Grievances themselves, than any they had to redress. But it pleased God to prevent the greatest Mischiefs of all, by preventing the Success of the Rebellion; which brings me to the 2d. thing considerable in my Text, and the more acceptable Subject of this Discourse: II. The Rebels Defeat. The People you see had rebelled under Absalon: They were so Impudent, and so Mischievous, to lift up their Hands against their Lord the King: But God delivered up the Men, that had done so Presumptuously. He delivered up a great part of 'em to Slaughter, and he delivered up the rest to Justice. So that 'twas an entire, and a speedy, and a wonderful Defeat. And, 1. I say 'twas an entire Defeat: For upon the very first Battle the Rebels were so utterly routed, that they had neither Courage nor Force to rally again, or to stand a second Engagement. It seems there were a * Verse 7. great many thousands of 'em killed upon the Place, and the rest put to Flight, and killed afterwards in great Numbers by the King's Forces, and by the Country in the Pursuit. For they were pursued like Beasts of Prey, through the Fields and Forests of Judea; and like Beasts of Prey, as they were, were taken and destroyed, and destroyed in Herds. 'Tis said, * Verse 8. The Battle was scattered over the Face of all the Country, and that the Wood devoured more People that day, than the Sword devoured. (v. 8. of this Chap.) i. e. as Josephus, the Jewish Historiographer, explains it, There were more killed and taken Prisoners up and down the Country of Them that fled for their Lives into the Woods and Lanes, than there were taken, or died in the Engagement. Their now despised and despicable King Absalon, having scaped Death in the Field, fled for his Life among the rest into the Forest; and in his Flight, by an equally strange and just Judgement of God upon him, was taken and hanged: * Verse 9 Hanged in an unaccountable manner, among the thick Boughs of a great Oak, between Heaven and Earth, as unworthy of both, as fit for neither, forsaken of God and Man, and even of the Beast, that carried him: for the * Ibid. very Beast he road on forsook him too and fled, and in going away from under him sufficiently rebuked the madness of the Rebel; who hung there by the hair of his Head, in the Tree, till * Verse 14, 15. Joab one of the King's Officers with his Servants did Execution upon him. His chief Commander and fellow Rebel, the treacherous and perfidious Amasa, was fled too for fear, the engagement being too hot for him, and had left both Absalon and the Army, to shift for himself, but was found too, and * Chap. 19.13. left to the mercy of the King. And as for his Tutor Achitophel, the Author of the Association, and the Ringleader of all this Villainy, having done all the mischief he could; because he found he could do no more, he had prevented Justice and * Chap. 17.23. hanged himself; or, as some say, died for grief, sometime before this engagement, and before Amasa was made General of the Rebel Army: For sow read. That when Achitophel saw, that his Counsel was not followed, that is, that Absalon was not for making so quick a Dispatch of the Business, as he would have had him, he arose and got him home to his House, and put his Household in order (made his Will) and Hanged himself, (so our English and other Translators say, but some will have it, he * Vide Grotii Annot. in Loc. and in Matth. 27.5. died out of Grief and Indignation, that the Rebel would not take his Measures at last; and others, that he * V Menoch. and Sanctii Comment. in Loc. was Suffocated or Strangled with some Disease, according to the Tradition of several of the Hebrews: However) 'tis sure enough, He died and was buried in the Sepulchre of his Father; I suppose at Giloh, near to the Place where this Rebellion began. (Chap. 17.23.) And now Achitophel's Wisdom being turned into Foolishness indeed, even to a degree beyond David's Prayer (his master the Devil having made a Fool of him too, who never yet taught any Man to be wise for himself) Achitophel's Wisdom being so signally turned into Foolishness, and all the Heads of the Conspiracy as signally delivered up into the Hands of Justice; to convince them and their Associates, That Conspiring against God and the King, was, in effect, but Conspiring against themselves; I say, the Counsels of the Wicked being brought to Nought, and the Counsellors to Justice; after so many Thousands of the Rebels killed, and as many Thousands taken, no wonder, that we do not hear any more of the Rebellion. It had been a wonder indeed, if we had: For surely this was enough to give 'em an Entire Defeat: And so it did. So that the King had the most Absolute Victory over the Rebels, that his Heart could wish; and that too, without so much as any the least hazard to his own Royal Person. For tho' his Majesty had a great mind to have gone into the Army himself, his People would not suffer him; He being more worth, as they say very well, than Ten Thousand of them. (Verse 3.) But to magnify the Mercy of the Deliverance; as 'twas an entire, so I presume 'twas, 2. A speedy Defeat: For tho' in all the Narrative of the Rebellion, we have no Relation of the Exact time, it lasted; yet one may rationally conclude, it did not last long; especially considering the vast Army, that the Rebel had gathered; which we cannot compute to be much less than * Verse 7, 8. 30000 Men; and that in all this time, with all these Numbers, there was but this one Pitched Battle; viz. this, that gave 'em the Defeat; which in all probability there would have been, had not their Ruin been almost as sudden, as 'twas Great. For, besides that Ju'dea was so small a spot of Ground (being but Fourscore Miles in breadth, and but Two Hundred in the utmost length of it) that two such great Armies, as the King's and the Rebel's were, could not well be maintained, in any part of the Country, for any long Space; the Armies were never much above Forty Miles apart, that we know of during the Rebellion: It being but Forty Four Miles from Jerusalem, whereabouts Absalon and his Party lay, most part of the time, to Mahanaim, where David was, and near which the Battle was fought. So that the History mentioning but this one Engagement, it may rationally be supposed, the Armies being so near one another all the while, that it was not long ●'re the Rebels were Defeated. However this we are sure of: 3. That 'twas a very signal and wonderful Defeat; and that there was a very particular Providence presided over the King's Forces, and appeared all along of the King's side. For nothing less than that Almighty Power, that interests itself in the Protection of Righteous and Religious Kings and States, professing his Holy and Eternal Truth; nothing less than that Omnipotent Arm which stills at once the Raging of the Sea, and the more Raging Madness of the People: I say nothing less than the Divine and Almighty Power could preserve the Royal Army from the Treachery and Force of so many Bloodthirsty and Deceitful Men. We read that all the Men of Israel were with Absalon; Chap. 17.24. All, we have reason to believe, from * Chap. 17.11. Dan even to Beersheba. And the King tells us himself, in the 38th and the 69th, and in other Psalms that he composed during this Unnatural Rebellion, That * Psal. 38.11. his Lovers and his Neighbours stood looking upon his Trouble, and his Kinsmen stood affar off: That, * Psal. 38.19. his Enemies lived and were Mighty; and that they who hated him wrongfully were many in Number; * Psal. 69.4. That, they who hated him without a Cause were more than the Hairs of his Head: With many other Expressions to the same purpose. They were no doubt a Numerous, and had God been on their side, had been an Invincible Army. But it appeared, God was not for 'em: Heaven could not favour so Bad a Cause. 'Tis said, The Lord had appointed to Defeat the Counsel of Achitophel, to this very Intent, that he might bring evil upon Absalon, Chap. 17.14. That he might show the Justice of his Providence, in the Destruction of him and all such Unrighteous Rebleses. And accordingly 'twas shown: The Victory was so signal, that Providence itself seemed to be engaged in the Fight. They Fought from Heaven: The Stars in their Courses, as once * Judg. 5.20. against Sisera, about 260 years before, the Stars in their Courses Fought against Absalon. The Lord himself Eminently asserted the Right of his Vicegerent: So that they could not but say, * Psal. 118.23. This was the Lords doing, and'twas marvellous in their Eyes. For the King's Forces, at least they that engaged, were but few in Comparison of the Rebels; and they were much fewer, that fell in the Engagement. We read of no less than * Vers. 7, 8. Twenty Thousand of the Rebels, that were slain in the Battle; besides we know not how many more destroyed and taken in the Pursuit: But not a Word of any Considerable Loss, that the King or the King's Forces had, nor of any Considerable Officer of the King's that fell. The two chief of his Commanders Joab and Abishai we are sure survived the Defeat. From all which 'tis plain, 'twas * Psal. 144.10. God who gave Victory to his King, and delivered David his Servant from the peril of the Sword. And accordingly in my Text, we have the Honour of the Victory ascribed to God, who Defeated the Rebels, that had lift up their Hand against him. But this brings me to the third thing considerable in my Text. III. The Thanksgiving for the Defeat. And Ahimaaz said unto the King, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up the Men, that lift up their Hand against my Lord the King. In which words, the good Man first acknowledges God to be the Author of the Deliverance; and Secondly Offers unto him the just Tribute of Praise and Thanks for the Deliverance that he wrought. 1. I say he acknowledges God to be the Author, the sole Author of the Deliverance. He confesses 'tis God, that delivered up the Men, that had lift up their Hands against his Lord the King. And the same acknowledgement the thankful King makes himself in the 30th. 37th. 124th. and in several. other Psalms, that are concluded by Learned Men to have been Composed upon this very Defeat, wherein he confesses, * Psal. 30.3. That, the Lord had kept his Life from them that went down to the Pit; that, * Psal. 30.11. 'twas he, that had turned his Heaviness into Joy, and put off his Sackcloth, and girded him with Gladness: That, Psal. 37.39. the Salvation of the. Righteous cometh of the Lord, who is also their Strength in the time of Trouble. And that, Psal. 124.1, 2, 3, 4. If the Lord had not been on their side, now might they say, if the Lord had not been on their side, when Men rise up against 'em, they had swallowed up 'em quick, when they were so Wrathfully displeased at 'em: Tea, the Waters had drowned, 'em, and the Stream had gone oven their Soul; the deep, Waters of the Proud had gone even over their Soul; their Enemies had overwhelmed 'em like a mighty Deluge, and buried 'em in the Flood. And then he adds, Verse 6. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us over, as a Prey unto their Teeth: Which is the second part of his Thanksgiving; 2. The Oblation of his just Tribute of Praise and Thanks to the God, whom he had before acknowledged for the Author of his Deliverance. To which purpose we find him, in the forementioned, and in other Psalms, Composed, as I said before, upon this Defeat, Psal. 30.1. Magnifying the Lord, who had set him up, and not made his Foes to Triumph over him: And Commanding others to Magnify the Lord with him: * Psal. 31.23. Oh Love the Lord all yet his Saints; for the Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the Proud Doer. * Psal. 40.16. Let all those that seek thee, rejoice, and be glad in thee; let such as love thy Salvation, say continually, The Lord be Magnified. * Psal. 27.6. And now shall my Head be lifted up above mine Enemies round about me. God has given me a Glorious Victory, and made me to Triumph over mine Enemies; therefore will I offer in his Tabernacle Sacrifices of Joy; I will sing, yea I will sing Praises unto the Lord, etc. 'Tis true the Death of Absalon did somewhat lessen and abate his Joy: and he seems to lament it with a Great Lamentation; * Verse 33. O Absalon, my Son, my Son Absalon, would to God I had died for thee, oh Absalon, my Son, my Son! Insomuch that 'tis said, the Victory, for a time, was turned into Mourning unto all the People. Chap. 19.2. But 'tis not to be thought, he was sorry for the Rebels Defeat. No, that had lately been the 01 matter of many Prayers; 'twas even now the matter 01 of many Praises unto God. Doubtless 'twas not the Death of the Rebel, but the Death of the Man that he bewailed; a Man, whose Person he loved, and whose Crimes he would have pardoned. Or rather, 'twas not the Death of the Rebel, but the Rebel's dying with the Gild of Rebellion upon him; that he did not live, as he would have had him; that he did not live to repent; but went out of the World, as Rebels generally do, without any Remorse for his Crime, without any sense of his Sin or Danger; without making his Peace with God, or with the King; without which, there could be no hopes of Mercy for him. And truly this is a sad Consideration indeed; so sad, that I must beg your Pardon for mentioning it upon a day of Thanksgiving, upon a day of Joy. But all our Joys in this World have a Tincture of Sorrow: And the Mercy of God is never the less to us, that others fall, and will fall into the hands of Justice. David therefore had reason to rejoice, and he did rejoice in the Goodness of God toward him. And * Psal. 21.1. his Joy was great in his Salvation. And surely ours, my Brethren, aught to be no less: For God be blessed, we have the very same reason for Joy; we have the very same Obligation to Thanksgiving, with David and the Men of Judah in my Text. And I pray God, we may be as Joyful, we may be as Thankful as they were. The truth is, our Case seems to be so much the same with theirs, almost in every Particular, that I cannot but wonder, that I even stand amazed at the Exactness of the Parallel. For with Changing only the Names of Things, what has been said of this Conspiracy of Absaloms, which was acted almost 3000. years ago, might pass for the History of our Late Rebellion: The one being so perfect a Transcript of the other, both as to the Rebels Defeated, and as to the Defeat of the Rebels, that, in good earnest, I am almost at a loss what to say in the Application of the Subject, without saying over again, what I have said already. For we too have had a young, foolish Absalon, the ill Son of a good King, corrupted by as Perfidious as Wicked an Achitophel, from all sense of Duty to his Father, to his Prince; and by the like Vanity of Ambition, by the like Affectation of Popularity, betrayed into as ill Counsels, into as ill Actions, to as bad an End. A Man, whom the King was himself once so Fond of, even beyond his Deserts, that had he kept within the Bounds of his Duty, he might have been as happy a Prince, as 'twas fit for a Subject to be, or as any Subject under Heaven. But, such was his Folly, he soon forfeited his Majesty's Favour by his Crimes; and by his Crimes even forced Indulgence itself to banish him both the Court and Kingdom for a Time; and when afterwards restored to the King's Favour by his Pardon, which ought at once to have restored him to his Duty, was by that very Pardon encouraged, contrary to all Gratitude, to all Reason, to commit greater Crimes, than what before he was banished for; to side with the Faction against his Father and Benefactor, to abuse the Mercy, to traduce the Government, to asperse the Actions, to attempt the Ruin of his Sovereign; to raise a Rebellion in the Land, and to disturb the Peace of the King and Kingdom. We have had the Rebel, after the Example of Absalon, with the same Foolhardiness, and with the same Number of Men, with about 200, at his first Entrance upon the Rebellion, to Proclaim himself King, and to require People upon their Allegiance, i. e. quite contrary to their Allegiance, to assist him in his Unrighteous Cause. But this being done near the Seat of Achitophel, and where Achitophel's and his own Interest lay, in the most Factious Part of the Kingdom: We have had likewise the Mock-King, in a very little time, attended and followed by thousands; some out of Fear, some out of Hope, some in hopes of one thing, some another, till he came to terrify a Mighty Nation, and to give Battle to a Mighty Prince. And surely the Rebellion, was in all Respects as Impudent, as ever his Brother Absalom's was; begun and carried on with the like Hypocritical Pretence, to assert the Purity of Religion, and the Properties of the Subject, and to redress Grievances, in truth abundantly less than those they caused: And this too, with no more Pretence of Title to the Crown, than his Achitophel or his Amasa; nay, than the veriest Peasant among his fellow Rebels, might have as justly claimed: and yet against a King, that had all the right and title in the World; against a King, that he had himself all the obligations in Nature, Personal, Civil, and Religious to be subject to; against a King, that has obliged, if any thing would obl●ge the whole Nation, as well as him; that has, as David did for his people, often ventured his Life for us, and to whose Grace and Mercy, under God, we own our own Lives, our Liberties, our Properties, and Estates; to whose protection we are indebted, that we can call any thing our own; and by whose favour we enjoy all the Privileges and Immunities we can in reason desire or expect; against a King that has often engaged his Royal Word, and Sacred Promise, for the defence, for the support of our Church and our Religion; and under whose Government we have Liberty, we have public Liberty, to worship God, in a way suitable to his Nature, and agreeable to his Will; a way the most primitive, the most Apostolical of any that we know of upon the Earth; that is, under whose Government we are cerrainly at this day, or might be, it we would ourselves, the happiest people under Heaven. Yet against a Prince of that Clemency and Goodness, that Justice and Veracity, that Magnanimity and Courage, that Honour and Renown, have our Daring Rebels had the forehead to take up Arms; and that too against more positive Laws, both Human and Divine, against clearer Revelations, and stricter Oaths than ever Absalon or Israel were obliged by. Nor have they only taken up Arms, but also carried along with 'em, as Rebels always do, their more Dreadful, their more Fatal Artillery of Slanders, Lies and Curses; and even outdone Achitophel, and Shimei in their own way; with a Traitorous design to murder the Reputation, or at least to wound the credit of the King and the Church; and indeed of all that are Loyal to the one, or Faithful to the other. So notoriously has the Impudence of our Rebellion paralleled that in my Text. And I wish I could not say, that the Parallel held likewise in its Consequences and Effects. But that it really does, 'twere really as easy, as 'tis sad, to show you. Only I confess, I am unwilling to enter upon this task: I am unwilling upon a Thanksgiving Day, upon a Day of rejoicing, to interrupt your Gratitude, or to lessen your Joy, by reminding you of the Miseries or Sorrows of the West. 'Tis now too sad and too Melancholy a subject, to reflect upon the Violence, the Rapine, the Desolation, the Plunders, the Rapes, the Frights, the Profanations, the Murders, or the Blood, that through these sons of Corah, these Sons of Belial, the Land has miserably suffered and been defiled by. Nor have I a mind, upon this happy and glad Solemnity, to consider, how much sadder mischiefs, how much greater sorrows would have been the unhappy Consequences of their success; what Confusion and Anarchy, what War, what Blood we must necessarily have been involved in; what our Religion, our Church, our Nation, our Posterity, or We must unavoidably have Endured; what Tyranny, what Slavery. what Heresies, what Schisms, what Atheism, what Popery, petty, we had been overrun and overwlielmed with; what Dishonour had been done to God, what Scandal had been brought upon the Protestant name, what Villainies had been Canonised for Virtues, what Calamities of all sorts would have ensued, had not God of his Mercy heard the Prayers of our most Holy Church, and abated the Pride, and assuaged the Malice, and confounded the Devices of our Enemies? But the greater the Calamities the more calamitous the Consequences of this infamous Rebellion either have, or would have been; the greater, and the more signal has been the goodness of God toward us, in giving us so absolute, so signal a Victory over the Rebels. For (God be Blessed) our Rebels too have had an Entire, and a Speedy, and a Wonderful Defeat; a Defeat, t●at in every respect equas that in my Text, and runs as exactly Parallel with it, as the Rebe lion itself does. Our Rebels too were defeated in the very first Battle, and notoriously routed beyond a possibility of recruit: Rilled in great Numbers upon the Place, and in great Numbers forced to fly; and to fly likewise into the Fields and Woods, like Natural Brute Beasts ('Tis the expression of an * 2 Peter 2.12. Apostle) to be destroyed or taken there. Thither also fled our Absalon, our Amasa, having forsaken their Conquered Army, themselves forsaken of God and Man: and there too were they taken; and the one immediately brought to Justice as the other yet lest to the mercy of the King, I could tell you moreover of our Achitophel's Dying, as some say, for Indignation, that his Counsel was not so speedily followed as he would have had it, or that Absalon hearkened to more Dilatory Counsels, and slower Methods of Sedition than his were; however that he died before this Horrid and Traitorous Conspiracy came to an Head, and having before he Died set his House in Order, being buried too in the Sepulchre of his Father, near to the very place, where our Rebellion began. I could tell you of others delivered up to Slaughter or to Justice, to Prison or to Death, and of a general Dispersion of all the rest; contemptible pieces of Mortality, that are gone, that are vanished, like a Shadow, and there place can no where be found. I could tell you, in the next place, of the Suddenness, as well as the Entireness of their Defeat: how that their Calamity has risen as suddenly, and as unexpectedly to themselves, as their Rebellion did to us: that they are speedily fallen themselves into the Pit they designed for others; and were not so swift to shed Blood, but they have brought upon themselves as swift Destruction. I could tell you yet farther, and I ought, That the Providence of God has appeared likewise very wonderfully and signally on our King's side; and, That Heaven has manifestly fought for us too, as it did for David and Judah, in old time: that we have vanquished a numerous Army with the loss of a Few: so very few, that perhaps no modern Story can parallel the Disproportion; that if an hundred have not chased a Thousand, nor two put two Thousand to Flight; yet that, for aught we hear, with the loss of not many more than two Hundred, we have routed more than twice two Thousand. I could tell you of many other Instances of the Divine Mercy toward us, that might make us, with David, sing for joy; * Ps. 86.10. Thou, O Lord, art great, and dost wondrous things, thou art God alone. * Ps. 77.14. Thou hast declared thy power among the People, Thou hast mightily delivered thy People, even the sons of Jacob and Joseph. But the time would fail me, and now, I fear, your Patience too, should I insist upon these things, or other things of this Nature: and what I have hinted to you already is so well known to the Nation, and to all of you here present, that having drawn one Line to your Hands, you may save me the Labour in drawing out the Parallel yourselves. Only I shall pray, that you and I may continue the Parallel to the end in our Thanksgiving for the Defeat: which is indeed the Last, but should be the Chief Part of our Task. What therefore remains, my Brethren, but that with Ahimaaz in my Text, we also Bless the Lord our God, who has delivered up the Men, that lift up their Hands against, our. Lord the King? and after the * Ps. 124.6. Example of David, give him our just Praises, that he has not given us over as a Prey unto their Teeth? Our King has himself given us his Royal Example, He has given us his Royal Command for so doing. You have lately heard by This Proclamation, that upon due considerations hereof, he does with all Humility, admire and adore the late Mercy and Goodness of God, in giving Victory to his Arms, and Delivering him and his Kingdoms from the Miseries and Calamities, that might, and that constantly do ensue an Intestine and Unnatural Rebellion. And that, considering such Signal and Public Mercies are an invitation from Heaven to render the most Public and Cheerful Expressions of Thankfulness to the Divine Goodness; that we who equally share in the Blessings and Joys of this Deliverance, may be United in the Devotions, which are offered, for it, 'tis his Will, that the just Tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving to his and our Great Sovereign, the King of Heaven and Earth, be returned by himself and us, for the late Mercy. Let then our Joy, let our Praise be as Public, be as Universal as the Occasion: Let us with David, let us with our King ascribe the Honour of the Victory to God; let us offer Thanks and Praise unto God, who has given us the Victory. Let us give unto the Lord, my Friends, let us give unto the Lord Glory and Honour, let us give unto the Lord the Glory due unto his Name. Oh! Praise the Lord with me, and let us Magnify his Name together; High and Low, Rich and Poor, Young Men and Maidens, Old Men and Children, let us all Praise the Name of the Lord; for his Name only is Excellent and his Praise above Heaven and Earth. Oh! sing Praises, sing Praises unto our God, sing Praises unto our King, sing Praises: for God is the King of all the Earth; sing ye Praises with Understanding. Let us Praise him with our whole Hearts, let us Praise him among much People; let as show forth his Praise not only with our Lips, but in our Lives, by giving up ourselves to his Service, and by serving him without Fear. Let the Righteous be glad and rejoice before God: Let them also be merry and joyful. Rejoice in the Lord, ye Righteous; yea, and again, I say, rejoice. Shout unto God with the Voice of Triumph; shout for joy, all ye that are upright in Heart, that he has not made our Foes to Triumph over us, nor delivered us into the Hands of the Wicked, whose very Mercies are Cruel. This is the Day, that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad with exceeding Joy. But let us not show our Joy by our Excesses: Nor let Gladness transport us beyond the Bounds of Sobriety and Discretion. For true Joy, as Seneca tells us, is a * Sen. Epist. 23.59. Severe, a Serious and a Sober thing; and can no where be found, but in a temperate, a just, and a good Man. Whoever rejoices to Intemperance, rejoices to Madness, rejoices to his Sorrow: he must one day be sorry for his very Joy. And surely all such Rejoicing is Evil. This is not Rejoicing in God: For 'tis as Impossible as Absurd, while we Rejoice in his Mercy, to Provoke his Wrath. * Eccl. 7.14. In this day of Prosperity therefore let us be Joyful; but let our Joy be Religious, let our Joy be Serious; or, to use the Expression of King David, let us * Psal. 2.11. rejoice with Reverence. Let us so rejoice for past, that we do not render ourselves unworthy of future Mercies. And if our Joy proceed from Gratitude, let it appear by our Obedience; by our Obedience to God, by our Obedience to the King; by performing the vows, that we promised with our Lips, and spoke with our Mouths, when we were in Trouble. God of his Infinite Mercy hath delivered us from the Rebels; and let not us rebel ourselves against the God of our Deliverance, nor against the King, whom God has delivered: But let us be thankful to God for his Goodness to our Sovereign; let us be thankful to our Sovereign for his Goodness to us: And let us Express our Thankfulness to the one, and to the other, by Honouring and by Fearing Both; that he who has already delivered us, may continue to deliver us from our Enemies, and from the Hands of all that hate us; till he settle us at length in the Holy Land, the Land of Rest and Peace, where no Absaloms', not Achitophel's, nor any of their Associates dwell, where even Conspiracies are Impossible, and Rebellion has no place. FINIS.