A SERMON Preached before the House of Lords, AT THE Abbey-Church of St. Peter's Westminster, ON Thursday, the 30th of January, 1695/6. BEING The Martyrdom of K. Charles I.  
By the Right Reverend Father in God, Humphrey's Lord Bishop of Bangor.  
LONDON: Printed for John Everingham, at the Star in Ludgate-Street, near the West End of St. Paul's. 1696.   

A SERMON Preached before the House of Lords,  Hosea X. 3. 
For now they shall say, We have no King, because we feared not the Lord; What then should a King do to us?  
IF all the sad effects of the Horrible Sin committed on this day were now ceased, if the reproach that it brought upon our Religion and Nation were quite worn out of the Memories of Men, and the guilt of it entirely expiated in the sight of God, we should then have no more to do here, but to Celebrate the Memory of our Martyred King, as we do those of the Primitive Martyrs, with Joy and Thanksgiving to God for those Triumphs of his Grace, which so eminently appeared in him; and conclude our Devotions, with Prayers to God for a Portion of the same blessed Spirit, that inspired and supported him; to enable us to follow his Example in holy living and patiented suffering. This indeed would be the most pleasing and comfortable exercise upon this day; and this we hope, may be the service in which our posterty may sometimes spend it.  
But it is to be feared we are not yet ripe for this. The humiliation part hath not yet had its full effect upon us. The guilt of innocent blood, leaves a deep and lasting stain; not only upon the persons that shed it, but upon the place where it was shed; How much more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 King, especially such a King, shed by his own subjects; the voice of it cries loud for vengeance, it will be heard long after: And however, some may think we have done enough to still that cry already, and look upon this as an antiquated Solemnity, fit now at last to be Abrogated and laid aside; yet I humbly conceive we ought the rather for that reason to continue our humiliation; I am sure we have the more need of it; because this is a sign, our repentance is not yet gone deep enough: Sincere Penitents are never weary in repenting and humbling themselves for their sins, but are continually exercised in all the Acts of Contrition and Godly Sorrow, till they have both received their pardon, and are past the danger of forfeiting it by a relapse.  
But as some may be weary of their repentance, So th●●e may be others that ●hink they need none; I speak not of them who may perhaps think they were never concerned in this sin, because they did not live in those days, yet even these should remember the second Commandment and consider that our Church hath taught us to pray, Remember not our sins, nor the sins of our Forefathers: But I speak of them who not content to extenuate and excuse the sin, have the boldness to justify and applaud the fact; acquit the guilty, and condemn the innocent, nay murder him over again in his Reputation and Honour, which to use his own words, Were dearer to him than his Kingdoms, or his Life.  
Now, when men are thus insensible under the greatest national guilt, and under a continued succession of Judgements with which God hath pursued it for so many years, it is not only a seasonable, but becomes a necessary duty, still to humble ourselves in the sight of God; still to bewail the crying sin of this Nation, and not only this particular sin, but also all those public, and national sins which prepared the way to it; which provoked God to give us up to to this last degree of wickedness, and brought down the Gild and Judgement of this day upon this Nation.  
To stir you up to this, I know not what to do better than to represent to you the ancient people of God, in a condition something like that we were once involved in by the sin of this day; and to show you their reflections upon it, that we may form ours in like manner.  
In this Text the Prophet gives us the words that were, or might be spoken by the ten Tribes of Israel, with respect to their present condition. They were then in a state of Anarchy, after which there was but one short Reign more, and then the heaviest Judgement of God fell upon them to their destruction.  
How they came to fall into this condition, will soon appear upon a short view of their story about the time of this Prophecy.  
These ten Tribes, as they were now divided from Benjamin and Judah, (which together with Levi, was all that remained to the House of David); are usually styled the Kingdom of Israel. Which Kingdom was under Jer●●oa● the second-at the beginning of this Prophecy, so I conceive Hos. 1. The latter part of the 1. v. and beginning of the 2d, should be pointed and read In the days of Jeroboam Son of Joash King of Israel, was the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea; but as we read in the words next before, the end of this Prophecy was in the time of Hezekiah King of Judah, in the 6th year of whose Reign the Ten Tribes were carried a way Captives into Assyria. So that this Prophecy was in writing from the time of Jeroboam the second, to the Captivity; during which time the people of Israel not only continued in the sin of Jeroboam the first, the Son of Nebat, but alsogave themselves up to several sorts of Heathen Idolatry, andat last were come even to Infidelity and Atheism, They did not believe in the Lord their God, as we read in the History of that Age and Nation, 2 K. 17. v. 14. To which this Prophet Hosea adds, They corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah, That is, They lived in all manner of filthiness and rapine and violence, as the Benjamites did in Gibeah, In those days when there was no King in Israel, Judg. 19 Now the Effect and Consequence of this general Corruption both of Faith and Manners, was a continual Convulsion in the State and Government of the Kingdom, unruly factions, and divided interests and parties among the people their heart is divided, saith the Prophet; and this lead them not only to frequent Mutiny and Rebellion, but even to murder several of their Kings: Four of the five Kings that Reigned in that interval from Jeroboam the 2d to the Captivity, being violently cut off by the hands of their Ambitious and Aspiring Subjects. For Zachary the Son of this Jeroboam, in the 4th Generation from Jehu, (the period which God had assigned to that Family being expired,) was cut off by Shallum. There ended that Race of Kings that was set up by. Divine Designation; therefore saith Hosea, all their Kings are fallen, Hos. 7.7. After this there followed a confused succession of four Kings more, till at length, when Pekah the last of those four Kings was slain by Hosea, not the Prophet Hosea to be sure, but another that got himself to be make King about 10 years afterward. There followed (in the mean time for those 10 years) a State of perfect Anarchy, these was no Government at all, but a liberty for the factious and bold to make a prey of the more quiet and peaceable. In this miserable state and condition, which was a sad presage of their approaching ruin, the Israelites were at last made sensible what mercies they had thrown away, and what Calamities they had drawn down upon themselves by their Rebellion. They were brought to confess their guilt, and to acknowledge the Justice of God in their punishment: for as now they were found faulty, stood convict and received their sentence, in the verse before my Text; so they owned the Righteousness of God in it, in the words of my Text, We have no King: And there is great reason for it, because we feared not the Lord; and having not the fear of God, What then should a King do to us? that is what could a King signify to us?  
Out of which words, I shall take occasion to show these three things.  

1. That then a People are most sensible of the blessing of Living under Kingly Government, when they are deprived of it; Now that they have lost their King they confess and lament their loss, and say, we have no King.  
2. That the cause of a People's being deprived of their King, is commonly the irreligion and wickedness of such a People, we have no King because we feared not the Lord.  
3. I shall show how insignificant and ineffectual all Government is without Religion: We feared not the Lord, What then should a King do to us.   
1. Tho I do not intent at present, to enter into the Controversy about the several forms of Government, yet both the words of my Text, and the happy Government we live under, will sufficiently justify me, to give Monarchy the preference of all others. And sure I am, that for three thousand years from the Creation, we read of no other sort of Government in the world; it was this that God set up a 'mong his own people: And this hath been Universally received, approved and continued in most other Nations to this day. But as I do not design to prejudg the other forms where they are the National and Legal constitutions; so it cannot be denied that for a Nation that hath been always under Kingly Government, and for Ages together hath thriven and prospered with it, where it suits with the genius of the people as well as with their Laws and Constitution, it is an invaluable blessing still to continue under the Protection and Conduct of Kings: And it is the saddest condition that can befall such a Nation, to have no King at all.  
But though this be so, and every man knows it to be true, yet it must be confessed that very few consider it, while they enjoy the blessing of living under Government, and do not actually feel the misery of Anarchy and Confusion; and therefore although Government is certainly the most Beneficial, it is often seen to be the most thankless office in the world: And though Kings were anciently styled 
* Luk. 22.5.  Benefactors, and good Kings are sertainly the truest and greatest Benefactors to Mankind, 
* Rom. 13.  the Ministers of God for the good of men; yet they are too often the most slenderly and ungratefully requited of all others. Men are generally full of thankfulness to other Benefactors while they are actually receiving their favours, however they may often forget them; But to good Kings, they are most ungrateful when most obliged, and slight the obligation, while they are receiving it. For when they fully possess the blessing of living under good Government, and may repose themselves in peace and safety under its protection, while they have all they can desire in this world, in the full and entire Enjoyment of their liberty and property, and may, if it be not their own fault, fecure to themselves all they can hope for in another world, by the undisturbed profession and practice of true Religion; in short, while men are most easy, and most happy, and own that ease and happiness, next to the providence of God, to the conduct and vigilance of the Government they live under; even then, a great many men are most uneasy, and discontented, and most given to murmur and mutiny against it. Tho their Governors make it their whole business to promote the interest, and secure the peace and happiness of their people; though they sacrifice all the ease and comfort of their own lives to preserve them, though they wholly spend themselves in cares and labours for their good, and freely expose their own lives to interpose between them and danger, yet people are generally not only insensible of all this, but also requite it with murmuring and misconstruing every thing they do.  
Of all the Heathen Emperors Marcus-Antoninus, 
Dion cas; His, Rom. lib. XXXI  was, I think, the best Governor, I am sure, he was the most learned and virtuous man; and yet living in a time of great public Calamities, such as no man could help, his Reign was full of troubles and discontents, which gave occasion to several conspiracies and to one open rebellion against him. Mauricius was one of the best of Christian Emperors, yet his people being generally discontented, by reason of those taxes which his great Wars made necessary, a bold Rebel took the advantage against him, and murdered Him and all his Family. But there is no need to search History, for instances of this kind, the holy Scripture gives us some very remarkable ones. For we read that there were very great murmur among the people of Israel against Moses himself, though he acted in every thing he did, by particular direction from God; though he had rescued them from the last degree of misery and bondage, though he had obtained several signal victories for them against their Enemies; though he conducted and said them with perpetual miracles, and was just leading them into a firm and lasting settlement, and into the possession of a Land flowing with Milk and Honey; yet they could not abstain from frequent murmuring against this great and excellent Prince, while he was present with them, and doing these great things for them.  
K. David was used in like manner by his people, though he had saved them from their Enemies, and had delivered them out of the Hands of the Philistines, as they themselves could not but confess, 2 Sam. 9 v. 9 And though he had been one while so popular, that whatsoever he did pleased all the people, 2 Sam. 3. v. 26. Yet by the cunning and artifices of one or two designing men, we see the whole Nation was turned against him, they cried out What have we to do with the Son of Jesse? to your tents O Israel. To sum up all in one word, the Israelites grew weary and murmured under the immediate Government of God himself; 2 Sam. 12. So impossible is it for any Earthly Government to please all, and so insensible are men of the blessings of it, while they enjoy them; But when men are once deprived of those blessings, then at least they will begin to value them in good earnest; when the Crown is fallen and they are sunk into a state of Anarchy, when every man doth that which is right in his own eyes, and men's lusts and passions are their only Law; when according to Hobb's Law of Nature, every man may claim every thing, and there is no common Umpire between them; a short experiment of this Kind, will soon convince Men how great a Happiness it is to live under Government, and especially under a well tempered Monarchy; and how great a misery it is to be deprived of it. Then they will effectually feel, that there is no Tyranny like that of their fellow Subjects; nothing more Despotic and Arbitrary, more Insolent and Tyrannical, than the Madness of People without Government: In such a state all true Liberty is lost, by being turned into Licentiousness; and all Property is thrown into Common, where there is no Law to distinguish, no Magistrate to stand by and Protect it. The safety of men's Persons, the good order of their Families, the duty to Parents and Relations, the modesty of Virgins, the chastity of Matrons, the reverence of Holy Things and Persons, the sacredness of Religion, the Majesty of God himself, are all laid open and exposed, and subject to every man's Lust and Pleasure. In such a state nothing is safe.  
When a People is fallen into this condition, or find themselves in great danger of it, and see nothing between them and Destruction; then to compare things past and present together, to Reflect upon the Peace and Safety they once Enjoyed, and the continual disorders and dangers they are exposed to by this change; this will make men sensible of their folly, and of their contempt of Government while they lived under it, and were unthankful to God and Man for that inestimable Blessing.  
Thus the Israelites that Murmured so often against Moses, while he lived with them, hearty mourned for him, when he was taken out of their sight, and by their Lamentations in the plains of Moab, made some kind of Honourable Amends to his Memory for their Mutining against him in the Wilderness. It were easy to show the like in many other instances, but I shall reserve so much of your time, as will be necessary to speak of that great instance we are to remember this day.  
II. I now proceed to the Second thing, that of this great and deplorable Calamity to a Nation, in being deprived of their Government, the common and usual cause is the Wickedness and Irreligion of such a People; this will plainly appear if we consider these two things.  

1. That, morally speaking, no Government can subsist without Religion.  
2. If it could subsist, God will not suffer it, because Irreligion, and Wickedness provokes God to deprive Men of that Blessing.   
1. What notions soever we frame to ourselves of Government, and upon what bottom soever we build it, Religion must be the principal foundation, otherwise it cannot stand long and steady. For as the obligation of an Oath is the great band of all civil Society and chief support of all Governent, so that obligation ariseth wholly from the persuasions of Religion. Nothing else maketh an Oath strong and effectual, but a firm persuasion that God Almighty is witness to the making of it, and will avenge the breaking of it, and such a persuasion is properly Religion; all the other obligations which men commonly speak of, are altogether vain, and ineffectual; whether they be those of Honour, or Gratitude, or Interest, or Promises and Contracts, without Religion they signify nothing at all.  
For the Honour of men that have no Religion, and therefore make no Conscience of what they say or do, it is but anempty word, as they will find that rely upon it. Humane gratitude in this corrupt and degenerate Age, is alas! a very short and feeble obligation. Men soon forget benefits, and too oft requite them with injuries. Men's Interests are various and changeable, and he that is a good subject one day, for his Interest, may the next day be a Rebel for the same reason. For the Covenants and Contracts of Men of no Principles, they are no more to be relied on then their words, which are justly to be compared to the wind for their instability: and though their words are confirmed with their Oaths, which all men acknowledge to be the highest and most sacred obligation that can be laid upon Man, yet all must acknowledge also, that without Religion their Oath is no obligation at all. For what can the Oath of men that have no Religion, no fear of God, signify? What signifieth their attesting and calling God to Witness, who believe there is no God at all; or what are the contents of the holy Book to those who believe nothing of it, but look upon it all as fable and imposture? Such men's Oaths are the highest abuse and profanation of that sacred Action, a solemn mockery both of God and Man. Such men's oaths, even where they seem to be in earnest, ought no more to be regarded then those vain Oaths and Imprecations with which they fill up their common discourse. And therefore such men can give no sufficient security to any Government. So that wherever the subjects are Irreligious and Atheistical, there the Government must be very feeble and precarious; the foundation of it is weak and tottering, and those wicked men are always ready to undermine and blow it up; and will certainly do it whenever their Interest, or even their humour tempts them to do it; and they have strength and opportunity to effect it. They may seem indeed to Act like the most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects for a time, while they are enriched and honoured by the bounty and favour of their Prince; while they enjoy their own desires and pleasures under his Government, and every thing goeth as they would have it: But if ever they are disobliged or disappointed, if any thing cometh cross to them, than they are full of discontent and clamour, and the most forward to mutiny and rebel against him. So that those Princes who have any number of such for their subjects, are not only in an unsafe but in a very dangerous condition, they hold their Crowns and Lives at the courtesy of those who (however, they are otherwise obliged) will be ready to deprive them of both whenever they can gain by doing it. We have Examples of this in three of those Kings of Israel, which I mentioned to have been cut off in the time of this Prophecy.  
They were, as Josephus tells us, 
Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. ix. c. xi. & xiii.  murdered by such as had been trusted and preferred by them; Zachariah by his Favourite Shallum, Pekaiah, by a Captain of his own Army, and Pekah by his Friend and Counsellor Hosea.  
These Princes had reason to think they had sufficiently obliged those that killed them; but as we learn from the same Historian, they were irreligious Men, they had not the fear of God; and therefore they easily broke through all the Bands of Duty, Honour, and Gratitude; and Sacrificed their Kings and Benefactors to their own Lust and Ambition. But if Irreligous Atheistical Men should be true to their Kings, (as you see there is no reason to rely upon them) they would do much more hurt to the Government they live under by their ill Principles, than they can possibly do it good any other way: Men that dispute the Being and Providence of God, lessen the Authority of the Magistrate, and the Reverence due to him as the Minister and Ordinance of God; they who deny the Truth of Revealed Religion, and the Authority of the Holy Scriptures, take away the greatest Obligation to Obedience for Conscience sake; and lastly, they who deny the Immortality of the Soul, the Rewards and Punishments of another life, and the Natural differences of Good and Evil, enervate the Obligation, discourage the Practice, and (as much as in them lies) destroy the Being of all those Virtues by which the Throne is Established, and make way for such a torrent of Vice as will soon overwhelm any Nation, and overturn any Government in the World.  
But 2dly, Beside that Irreligion and Wickedness are naturally destructive to Government, they do also provoke God to deprive a People of that Blessing.  
This the People of Israel had the greatest: Reason to know; for when God placed a King over them, to Protect and Govern that People, he told them upon what Condition they might enjoy that Blessing, and transmit it safe to Posterity:  
When God had chosen Saul, and they had accepted him for their King by a National Consent, 1 Sam. 12.13. Behold, saith he, (by the Mouth of his Prophet Samuel) the King whom you have chosen, and whom you have desired, and behold the Lord hath set a King over you, if you will fear the Lord and serve him, and not rebel against the Commandments of the Lord, then shall you and also the King that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God: But then on the other Hand he plainly warned them of that which would certainly bereave them of that Happiness: If you will not obey the Voice of the Lord, but rebel against the Commandments of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you; and as the conclusion of all, 
v. 25.  if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed both you and your King.  
Accordingly we still find their Government firm and steady, or feeble and declining, according as they observed or transgressed the Laws of God; and that Observation proved true of them, which St. Augustine somewhere makes of the Ancient Romans, they prospered or decayed as they were Nationally Virtuous or Vicious; and it is as truly and equally applicable to all other Nations. For God's method of Governing all Nations is alike, but with allowance for their different Circumstances. He rewards Religion and Virtue, and punishes Wickedness and Vice equally (tho' not in the same manner) every where God's Blessings and Favours, his Kindness and Protection, are the proper Rewards, and peculiar Privileges of a Righteous and Holy Nation. Especially the comfort and happiness of lasting Peace and Settlement, under Just and Religious Princes; that is a Mercy which will not be thrown away upon a Wicked and Sinful People. None can expect it should be otherwise, that considers the different ways of God's dealing with Nations, and with Persons in this life. As to Persons, God may sometimes permit Wicked Men to be prosperous all their life long, because if they go hence without Punishment, he can overtake them in another World, and there he will pay them once for all, with Eternal Judgements, so much the more heavy, for the abuse of his long suffering, goodness and mercy in this Life: But Nations having no other life but in this World, God must take them here, or let them pass altogether unpunished, which, because the Justice and Wisdom of his Government will not suffer him always to do, therefore he must make Examples of them in this World; he may spare them for a time, in order to their amendment, or to let them fill up the measure of their Iniquities, but sooner or later he pours out his Judgement upon them in this World, because they have no being as Nations in any other World but this.  
But whereas there are many forts of public National Judgements, such as Famine and Sword, and Pestilence, and the like; yet none of all these is more heavy and dreadful to a whole Nation, than the Dissolution of its Government, and giving up a People to be a Prey to their Enemies, or (which is commonly worse) to themselves. If this be not the greatest of Temporal Judgements, it is next to it, and commonly ends in it, I mean their final Destruction.  
Upon this Account the frequent Usurpations and Anarchies, that happened in the Kingdom of Israel, while that of Judah continued still in the House of David, are justly ascribed to the general Corruption of that Nation, occasioned especially by the Apostasy of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, who, as the holy Text saith often, was he that made Israel to sin. And even in the Kingdom of Judah, when the House of David came to its period in the Captivity of Zedekiah, their Fall is attributed to their Sin and Wickedness by the Prophet Jeremiah, 
Lam. 5.16.  The Crown is fallen from our Head, or the Crown of our Head is fallen, woe unto us for we have sinned: And indeed it cannot but seem just and reasonable it should be so, that when a People throw off the Authority of God, and have no regard to his Laws, that then he should also cast them off; that when they deny him their Allegiance, he should withdraw his Protection from them, and remove his Vice-Gerents from among them.  
But if God should still continue the Blessing of Kingly Government to an Irreligious People, they would not be the better for it; for without Religion and the fear of God, it would never be effectual to the end for which Government is properly designed:  
The chief end of Government is to promote the public Good, and to prevent any Evil that may endanger the common Safety; and in order to this, the Work of vernment is to do these three things.  

1. To keep Men within the bounds of Sobriety and Virtue, in their Private Conversations; lest by running out into a course of Vice, they hurt and ruin themselves.  
2. To keep Men also within the bounds of Justice and Honesty, lest they injure others.  
3. To preserve the Peace and Order and Prosperity of the whole Society.   
But none of all these can be attained without the assistance of Religion:  
Without that, in the first place, Men cannot be kept within the bounds of Moral Virtue; it is true indeed that Humane Laws, the hope of Temporal Rewards, and fear of present punishment, are both necessary and useful to this end; but it must be acknowledged also that these alone are not sufficient to effect it; for some Men are so set upon gratifying their Lusts, that in pursuit of them they will boldly break through all the Laws and Sanctions that Man can invent; others can find range and scope enough for their Vices, and yet keep within the bounds of the Laws, or without the knowledge of the Magistrate.  
And tho' good Government may sometimes put such a restraint upon men's outward Actions, as to keep them from public and notorious Sins; yet it can never reach all those various instances of Vice, which the Wit of sensual Men, assisted by the Devil, can devise; nor can the Magistrate follow them into all those dark Retirements, which are the usual Scenes of their Lusts; much less can he look into their Hearts where their Sins are first form before they are acted.  
The Heart of Man is God's peculiar Province; it is he alone that can discern and govern the inward motions of the Mind, and regulate the corrupt and sinful Inclinations of Men; and until that be done, tho' Men may be brought to be outwardly regular, they cannot be sincerely and constantly virtuous; their Virtues will at best be like Flowers without Root; they may appear well for a time, but they soon whither and decay; and tho' their Vices may be suppressed, they are not extinguished, but like a covered spark of Fire, they will be apt to break out again.  
Some will take upon them to say, they can be Virtuous without being Religious, because they are of Opinion that Evil is its own punishment, and Virtue a Reward to itself, and that therefore their own Ease and Interest would oblige them to be Virtuous, tho' there were no Hell to punish, nor Heaven to reward them.  
But alas, (notwithstanding all the fine things that the Stoics and some others have said upon this Subject) there are very few Proselytes to this Doctrine, because as our Nature is now Corrupted, Men cannot but see that to be Virtuous, they must deny themselves and the gratifying their own Inclinations; and they must undergo several things that are unpleasant and difficult to Flesh and Blood, which nothing can sufficiently engage Men to do, but the Belief and Expectation of those glorious Rewards, which Religion alone proposeth to the truly Good and Virtuous.  
A true sense of God's Omniscience, a Contemplation of his infinite Purity, and a Just consideration of his other Attributes, together with the Assistance of his blessed Spirit, will cleanse and sanctify the Hearts of Men, and render them sincerely good and virtuous; but without these, no Humane Government or Power upon Earth can ever do it.  
(2.) In the next place for Justice and Honesty towards others, it will be absolutely impossible to preserve these, without the fear of God, and a due sense of Religion.  
While Men believe there is an Universal Governor, that has the care and inspection of all the Actions of Mankind, and that as they are Good or Evil, Just or Unjust, he will certainly reward or punish them first or last; and while they believe also that this Universal Governor, requireth of them not only to be outwardly Just and Honest, but also to be inwardly sincere and upright; to be so far from taking another's right, as not to wish it from him: While Men truly believe these things, it is an easy matter to preserve Justice in the World, but without this Belief, Men may live fairly with their Neighbours for a time, as long as it stands with their Interest and Convenience; or while their Reputation, or fear of Humane Laws oblige them so to do; but, alas! all these are too weak to make Men truly Honest, when they are strongly tempted to be otherwise, if once they can get lose from the Obligation of Religion, those other things will only oblige them to seem Honest, but not really to be so. For he that is just only because it is his Interest, will be as often unjust as he can hope to gain by being so.  
And if he value his Credit more than his Interest, yet that will never restrain him from doing the most unjust and wrongful things, but only engage him to be cautious and wary in doing them; and if that were all that Men had to consider, there would be a great number of them that would despise their Credit and Reputation, and care not what Men say of their Actions, as long as they find they can thrive by them: And lastly, for Humane Laws it is known to a Proverb, That they are but like Cobwebs, which take the little Flies, while the great ones too usually break through: A great and powerful Oppressor will find ways enough to invade his Neighbour's Right, notwithstanding all Laws in the World; and too often make use of the Laws themselves to serve him in it: Besides this, innumerable Frauds and Thefts, Perjuries and Murders may be committed, and never come under the Cognizance of any Humane Laws. Those Wickednesses are the Works of Darkness, and many of them never come to light; so that no Humane Law can find these any more than it can hold the other. There must be something to restrain the Strong as well as the Weak, the Crafty as well as the Simple, to bring all alike within the bounds of Justice and Honesty, and this must be that which maketh Men inwardly and sincerely good, which I have already showed, nothing else can do but Religion.  
3. In the third and last place, for Peace and Order, it must be acknowledged that tho' there is a peculiar Sociableness in Humane Nature, yet it is Religion that is the great Cement of Men's Affections, and the greatest promoter of Peace and Concord among Men. It is this that is the true Wisdom which comes down from above, and which not only is itself, but also makes Men to be first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated; and renders Men meek and lowly, mild and patiented under Injuries, courteous and charitable to all others, and so brings them to live together in Peace and Love.  
But when Religion is once thrown off, when that ceaseth to have power over Men, they are left to their own unruly Passions, to the Dominion and Tyranny of those fleshy Lusts, which both war against the Soul, and make Men to war against one another: Such as Pride and Ambition, Covetousness and Envy, Malice and Revenge, impatience of restraint, and Hatred of every thing above them, which naturally hurry Men into such Practices as certainly destroy the Peace, and sometimes the very Being of Societies.  
Now how is it possible to preserve Peace and Order where these violent Passions are predominant? It is as easy to bring the fiercest wild Beasts to be tame and gentle, as to bring Men who are thus abandoned to their Lusts, to be meek and peaceable. Nothing can make such Men peaceable, but what can mortify their Lusts and cure their Passions; and nothing can do that but the Spirit of God, that Dovelike Spirit which dwells in those Temples which are dedicated to him by Religion.  
The result of all that I have said upon these two last general Heads in brief, is this, that as no Government can subsist without Religion, nor continue long, if the Subjects of it have not the fear of God; so on the other hand no Government can obtain its end, either in promoting Virtue, maintaining Justice, or preserving the Peace and Prosperity of a Nation, without the assistance of Religion. And the Conclusion which naturally follows from these two things, is this, That therefore it is the interest as well as the Duty of Kings and Princes, and of all the Ministers of Government, (as they desire their own pres ervation, and the continuance of their Authority, and Hope to do any good in their Stations) to make it their chief care and business to suppress all Irreligion and Vice, and to promote Religion and the Fear of God among their Subjects, without which, (in a word) they themselves can never be safe, nor their People happy.  
And now to apply what hath been said, with respect to the present occasion; all that has been said of the Blessings a Nation enjoyeth, in having a Government over it, especially such a Government in the Person of a King, that makes it his business to do God's work in the World, in restraining men from sin, and promoting Religion and Virtue: All this these Kingdoms had, in the most eminent Degrees, in the Person and Governmentof King Charles I. of glorious Memory. He was a shining Example of Religion and Virtue; there were all the Motives to it in his Government, both in punishing of Vice and Encouraging of Virtue. And though 'tis true, there were Complaints of Grievances and Oppressions in his time; as perhaps there will be in all Governments; yet whatsoever ground there was for them, it is certain, there were such Riches and Wealth in his Reign, as never were known in England before: The Wealth and Plenty and Prosperity of England was then the wonder and Envy of all our Neighbours: And for Arts and Learning, the attendants of Peace and Plenty, we then surpassed all other Nations in the World. And yet from the beginning to the end of his Reign, still there were those Complaints, which I less wonder at, since there were (as I have shown) the like among, God's chosen People, and that even under Moses' Government, and in the time of David's Reign.  
But as this insensibleness of God's Blessings could not hinder his People from feeling the want of them, when by the loss of those Excellent Governors, they could better judge what a Blessing they enjoyed in their continuance with them: Even so it happened among us when our King was taken away. Then there was a general lamentation; not only his Friends, but some that had been his Enemies, joined in it. There was indeed such a general lamentation in this Kingdom at first, when the matter was fresh, that the like has been never known nor heard upon any occasion.  
It was much aggravated and heightened by a Sense of the manner of his being taken from us.  
If the Lord had smitten him, or, his day had come that he should die; or if he had descended into Battle and perished; in all this there had been nothing extraordinary or singular, but that it was the loss of an excellent King: And that was no more than what Judah suffered in the death of their good King Josiah: And yet we see what a sad lamentation they made upon that occasion, 2 Chron. 35.25.  
But there was this extraordinary in our Case, it was that which would astonish one to think of it, that such a blessing should be thrown away with our own hands; that such an excellent King should be murdered by his own Subjects! and that with such unparallelled Circumstances, at the Door of his own Royal Palace, with the Pageantry and Forms of Law, a scornful Mockery of all Earthly Justice, and the boldest Defiance of the Justice of Heaven: This was horror to all good Men that saw or heard of it; it broke the Hearts of not a few at that time, and even now all good Men have that sense of it which they want words to express.  
Indeed it is hard to get over this Subject; it is hard to speak of this blessed King's Murder, without a just detestation of them that were the Authors of it: But that is not my business at this time. I am now to consider this matter as it stands between God and this whole Nation.  
It was certainly a dreadful and almost an unexampled Judgement of God, a Judgement that went very near being fatal to us, it was the great Mercy of God it had not ended in our Ruin. We may therefore be sure there were great National Sins (sins as great and extraordinary as the Judgement) by which we drew it upon ourselves.  
I do not mean only those particular sins which immediately produced this doleful effect, and which were personal to the Actors in it; but I mean those public and National sins, in which all had their share, and which first set the other on Work. They were these that deprived us first of the Protection of our God, and then made him pour down his Judgement upon us, and deprive us of our King.  
To name nothing more at present but that which was the Fountain of all our Misery, it is certain (if we may believe them that lived in those days) there was a very great neglect of Religion at that time in this Nation. I do not mean of the outward Form and Profession of Religion, perhaps that was never more in request on both sides, among them that were Contending about it; but the great defect was in the Life and Power of Religion.  
This appeared too much on both sides. On one side, we must confess, among them who adhered to the Principles of Loyalty and true Religion, there appeared too great a neglect of the Life and Power of it in them; which gave occasion for some to say, that their looseness and Irreligion was the Ruin of the King's most Righteous Cause. But on the other hand, this appeared most manifestly in them, who, notwithstanding all their great and specious Profession of Religion, and all their Pretences to tender Consciences, yet had no sense, and made no Conscience of their sin, in running out into that Rebellion, and into all those Rapines, Sacrileges, and Murders which they committed in the Profecution of it.  
This great want of the true Power and Spirit of Religion was the unhappy Fountain from whence all those other sins issued forth, that made up the measure of our Iniquity, and drew down that dismal Judgement upon us, which we lament on this day. What then remains, but that we still humble ourselves under the mighty Hand of God; that at the same time we Mourn over the Memory of our Martyred Sovereign, we also lament those great and National Sins which deprived us of him?  
But while we lament what is past, let us also do what we can to prevent the like for the future. That is the true end of our Humiliation this day. It is to be feared we are not better than our Fathers, pray God we are not many degrees worse. What will become of us, if we continue in such a state of National Sin? If we continue unthankful to God for those many Mercies we enjoy, and still murmur against him, because we have not all we would have, and because we have some allay mixed with them, not considering that we Enjoy much more, and suffer much less than we deserve.  
If we are perpetually reviling and slandering the Government, under whose Protection we live in Peace and safety at home, while our Neighbouring Nations are overrun with the devastations of War; if like the Israelites of Old, upon every cross Acoident or Disappointment, or any thing that is uneasy to us, we break out into Complaints and Exclamations against Moses and Aaron, and are presently for returning back into Egypt; have we not then just reason to fear, that God should at last cast us off, and either give us over to the Will of our Enemies, or to our own Follies and Delusions?  
But besides this, when God has delivered us from the hands of our Enemies, that we might serve him without fear, if instead of serving him, we dishonour him more and more; if vice and wickedness are grown Common and bold among us; if blasphemous Opinions against the Godhead of our blessed Saviour, and the Holy Ghost, are divulged and entertained; if men are not afraid to set themselves directly against God, despising his Holy Word, blaspeming his Blessed Name, and denying his Providence and Being; if this be our Case, what Judgements may we then expect, yea, what may we not expect, from the Justice of Almighty God?  
He hath showed us a Token of his heavy Displeasure against us, in taking away that Excellent Queen the great Blessing and Glory of our Church and Nation.  
I tremble to think what we have Reason to fear he should do more; but that he may not do it, that he may not go on to punish, and that his anger may be turned away from us, let us now turn to him with Weeping, Fasting, and Praying, with a sincere and Universal Repentance of our Sins.  
Oh that all Orders and Degrees of Men among us would hearty join in that blessed Work, every one of us in particular for our personal Sins, and all together for our Public and National sins. If such a Work were once set about in good earnest, it would soon show itself in bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance; a generous Opposition to Irreligion and Wickedness, and a hearty Zeal for Religion and the Honour of God. If that holy Fire were kindled in the House of God, and from thence inflamed our Nobility and Gentry, especially those who are Magistrates, with hate to sin, and an ardent love t God and Goodness; how soon would this dissipate those Clouds that now hang over us, and spread abroad a glorious Light of Religion and Holiness, and of Hope and Comfort over all the Land. Such Illustrious instances and Examples of Religion and Virtue, would at once teach by their Example, and Command by their Authority, a general Reformation among the People; and so bring Religion and Virtue to be as common and universal as Irreligion and Vice now are or ever have been. What a Blessing would this be to the Nation? What Strength and Security to our Government? What safety to our King? And what abundant Honour to them that should be the Instruments of so much Public Good.  
This would add a Lustre to their Names, beyond all the Titles and Characters in the World: This would secure to them a double Immortality; Immortal Honour to their Memories on Earth, Immortal Glory to their Souls in Heaven.  
FINI