The Righteous taken away from the Evil to come. Applied to The DEATH OF THE Late Excellent QUEEN, IN A SERMON PREACHED At St. MARTIN'S CHURCH, On Sunday January the Twentieth, 1694/5. Before the MAYOR, Bailiffs, and Commonalty of the City of OXFORD. By WHITE KENNETT, B. D. One of the Lecturers to that Corporation.  
OXFORD, Printed by Leonard Lichfield, for George West, Bookseller, 1695.   

A Sermon, etc.  ISAIAH. Chap. LVII. Ver. 1. The Righteous perisheth, and no Man layeth it to Heart; and merciful Men are taken away, None considering that the Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come. 
THE preceding Chapter does conclude with a grievous Complaint, which the Prophet makes, of a loose and careless World: when all Persons were either intent upon their Profit, or addicted to their Pleasure: and seemed to have little or no Concern for any public Calamity that fell upon them.  
Hence in the Ninth Verse, All ye Beasts of the Field come to devour: Yea, all ye Beasts in the Forest. That is, the Land of Israel which GOD once Cared for, the Vineyard which he once Planted with his own Right-hand, it is now so Degenerate, and Barren of all that is Good, that it is only Ripe for Desolation. Therefore, All ye Beasts of the Field and the Forest come and devour it. i e. Let this Vineyard be Entered and Trampled by some Foreign Nation: Let it be Profaned by some strange Religion: Let Heathens come, and take away the Place and Nation.  
For alas! All the Inhabitants are Secure and Stupid: They scarce apprehend the common Danger: They take no thought of appeasing the Anger of GOD, or of averting those Judgements that hover o'er their guilty Heads: No! Even they whose Character and Office makes it their especial Duty to attend the public Good, They are all wrapped up in Vice and Ease. ver. 10. His Watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, and so on. Some have their Soul filled up with Thoughts and Cares how to force Trade, and improve their sordid Store. ver. 11. They all look to their own way, every one for his Gain from his Quarter. And while these are drudging to increase their Wealth, there be Others equally unconcerned for National Interest, who drown the sense of common Safety in Riot and Excess. ver. 12. Come ye, say they, I will fetch Wine; and we will fill ourselves with strong Drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.  
And thus, between the base Avarice of some, and the rude Debauchery of others: The Nation sleeps on in fatal Security, and wants the feeling of her own Wounds. If GOD should now threaten Invasions from abroad, and Distractions at home; yet few would apprehend the Storm, more few provide against it. If GOD should take away a righteous Prince, and give the deepest cause for a universal Grief and Lamentation; yet a covetous and dissolute People would scarce be affected with the infinite Loss: For so it follows in the Text.  
The Righteous perisheth, and no Man layeth it to Heart; and merciful Men are taken away; None considering that the Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come.  
Let me ask leave first to explain the Words, and then to reflect on the Sense and Subject of them.  
First, Here is the Character of those who are said to perish, and to be taken away. They are the Righteous and the Merciful: The Righteous perisheth, and merciful Men are taken away.  
To be Righteous does I think imply a universal Goodness, Piety, Justice, Integrity, and most other Graces and Virtues, that make the perfect and upright Soul: Therefore our Blessed SAVIOUR who had no Sin nor Guile, 
Mal. 4.2  is called the Sun of Righteousness; and scarce a higher Eulogy could be given of him, than what the Centurion delivered at his Passion, 
Luk. 23. ver. 47.  Certainly this was a Righteous Man.  
And tho' this Title cannot be strictly conferred on any of us Sinners: For in truth, among us there is no One fully Righteous, no not One. Yet in a qualified sense, and with that allowance which Religion and Language make, those Persons who are Exemplary for Goodness and Virtue, they are justly called Righteous: Partly for their own love, and their own practice of all Equity, and Honesty; but chiefly for the Merits of the Holy JESUS, by which they are justified, or accepted as Righteous, in the sight of GOD: For he is said to cover us with a Robe of Righteousness, Isa. 61.10. and by St. Paul to be made Sin (or a Sufferer for Sin) for us, 
● Cor. 5. ver. 21.  that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him.  
Nor are they only called Righteous, but Merciful: The Merciful men are taken away. Because Mercy, Pity and Compassion, they ought to be always the Temper and Practice of Righteous persons: Therefore the the Wise Man joins these Two Virtues to make up the Characters of Goodness, 
Pro. 21. ver. 21.  He that followeth after Righteousness and Mercy. Mercy without Righteousness makes a soft and a weak Soul, and Righteousness without Mercy has nothing Divine or Humane in it: At least, if Righteousness alone would create some Veneration; yet it is Mercy can alone command the love of Mankind: For scarcely for a Righteous man will one Dye, yet peradventure for a Good man some would even dare to Die.  
This in general is the Righteous and Merciful that perisheth, and is taken away. But Interpreters believe the Prophet meant some one particular Person of eminent Virtue and of high Degree: Perhaps the Messiah himself: or perhaps some Crowned Head in Israel, who reigned a public Blessing, whose Righteousness and Mercy, so long as he lived, did serve to establish his Throne, and to exalt his Nation. 
Grot. in Loc.  And Grotius understands it of the great Example of Royal Virtues Josiah, who did always that which was right in the sight of the Lord; and keeping the noble Mean between Superstition and Profaneness, turned not aside neither to the right Hand nor to the left. 
2 King. 22. v. 2.   
Alas! That righteous Prince, and merciful Governor perisheth, and is taken away. The second Phrase to be explained.  
To perish cannot be here meant a total Destruction, or a return to sleep in Nothing; in which sense the Beasts are said to perish. 
Psal. 12. v. 20.  No one of Mankind can so perish: For when our mortal Bodies drop, our Souls must put on Immortality; and while our Flesh falls back to Dust and Ashes, 
Eccl. 12. ver. 7.  our Spirit does return to God who gave it.  
Nor can perishing here mean that eternal Perdition, which remains the plague and portion of the Wicked, who without doubt shall perish everlastingly: For the Righteous shall be saved from that dreadful Doom, and shall enter into a rest, and peace, and joy for ever and ever.  
But by perishing is here plainly meant a temporal Death, from which no more the Righteous than the Wicked can be exempted. It being appointed for all (however great and good) for all Men once to Dye. 
Heb. 9 v. 27.  So is the sense of the same phrase, Mic. 7.2. The Good man is perished out of the Earth: i. e. is dead and gone; and so is taken away, or removed from one World to another: As the Messiah by his Passion is said to have been taken away and cut off out of the land of the Living. 
Is. 53.8.   
So as the Prophet might design these words should signify to this effect. Some one righteous and merciful Soul, whose Authority and Example countenanced Virtue, and kept up Religion: That Great Soul, of whom the World was not worthy, has left this ungrateful World, and is gone to seek a better Country, and to sit upon a higher Throne, where it has received a Crown of Righteousness laid up for it, where it reigns in greater Glory, and enjoys a Kingdom which shall have no end.  
But tho' the Righteous thus perisheth, and the Merciful be thus taken away: yet No man layeth it to Heart, none considereth.  
To lay to Heart is a Hebrew Phrase to be deeply affected with Concern and Sorrow: to mourn and express the Affliction and Bitterness of our Soul: and to be humbled under the severe Blow that is struck by the mighty Hand of GOD. Then to consider of it: that is, to remember what Provocations we have given to the ALMIGHTY, that he should thus Chastise us in his Anger: to reflect that we have indeed deserved these and worse things to come upon us: but then to weigh and advise, what Course will be most proper to appease an Offended GOD, and to avert those farther Judgements, which this one Calamity seems to threaten and presage.  
And One would think all this Scene of Sorrow musts needs open, when the Righteous perisheth, and when the Merciful are taken away. It is the Instruction of Solomon, that after the day of Death, there will be a house of Mourning: 
Eccl. 7. ver. 2.  and at the End of any Man, the Living will lay it to his Heart.  
To Die is the debt of Nature, paid by Departing Souls: and to mourn for the Dead is as much the debt of Nature in those Friends that survive. Especially if the Soul taken away were Righteous and Merciful, the Loss is greater, and the greater Sorrow due. More precious is their Death in the sight of the LORD: and more dear should be their Memory among the Sons of Men.  
But especially, when 'tis probable the Prophet meant, not a righteous Soul that inspired a common and ordinary Mortal: but One advanced to Grandeur, One in Royal Dignity and Power; whose Greatness did dilate and recommend his Goodness; who shined in an higher Orb, even as a Sun of Righteousness, and shed a gracious Influence on all Below: For such a One to perish, and be took away, must needs spread a Darkness and a Horror over the Faces and over the Hearts of all, that were so lately blest with that Auspicious heat and light.  
The Prophet might well expect, that on this sad Occasion, every Breast should have swelled and broke in Sighs, and from every Eye should arise a Fountain of Tears, when the Breath of their Nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord, was taken from them: But he found himself disappointed; the People had no sense of Loss, no impression of Grief; as careless and unconcerned, as if common Humanity had been buried with the Dead.  
This provokes the Prophet to upbraid their hardness of Heart, their stupidity of Soul; that they should have no common Justice to lament the perishing of the Righteous; no Bowels left to condole the Merciful being taken away.  
Alas! That the Righteous One should perish, and no Man should lay it to Heart! and that Merciful men should be taken away, none considering that  
The Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come. This Phrase does admit of a double sense: Either first, For the Righteous to be taken away from all personal Evil, that by a longer Life should come upon themselves: Or secondly, The Righteous being taken away from some public Evil, that after their Departure shall fall upon the People and Nation, which they leave behind. It is undoubtedly true in the First, and I am afraid more true in the Second sense.  
First, The Righteous and Merciful are taken away from all personal and private Evils &c. For as the Psalmist declares, Many are the Afflictions of the Righteous, 
Ps. 34. ver. 19  and it is only Death can deliver them out of all: And sure one great Evil, from which they are taken, is to see the Wickedness of the Age they live in: For Righteous persons to observe so much of Fraud and Oppression, of Injury and Violence; for merciful Souls to live on, and behold so much spiteful Revenge, and so many cruel Mercies of the Wicked: This must needs move their Patience, and tempt their Indignation; as was the sore Experience of Lot in the midst of Sodom, when to be an Eye-witness of their scandalous and abominable way of living, He dwelling among them, 
2 Pet. 2. ver. 8.  in seeing and hearing, did vex his righteous Soul from day to day.  
Especially good and pious Princes, they are more nearly concerned for the Glory of GOD, and the Good of Mankind; and therefore are more deeply affected with the heinous and crying Sins of their People. To see that neither their Authority can restrain, nor their Example reform, the Age they live in: In spite of their Laws and their own Obedience to them, to see Vice and Villainy insult, and reign above their Sovereign power; This must needs be a Grief and Vexation to their Royal Spirit: For so holy David was often mourning for the Sins of his dissolute Subjects: 
Ps. 119. v. 136.158.  Rivers of Waters run down mine Eyes, because they keep not thy Law: I beheld the Transgressor's, and was grieved, because they kept not thy Word. From this ungrateful Evil wise and virtuous Princes are taken away by Death, entering then into a Kingdom, where without Punishment or Reproof all Obey: Where, tho' there be different Orders and Degrees, there is no different Interest or Inclination, nor other Passions but those of Love and Joy.  
To be thus taken away from personal and private Evils may be one Sense implied: But I doubt the Sense chiefly intended is, their being taken away from some public Evil, or some common Calamity, that after their Departure shall fall upon the People and Nation, which they leave behind.  

Pro. 14. ver. 34.  As the just GOD does provide that Righteousness should exalt a Nation: So does he resolve that Sin shall prove to the Destruction of every People. Therefore when a whole Country declines into Profaneness and Atheism, into delighting in their Vanity, and glorying in their Shame; then does that God to whom Vengeance belongs, begin to show himself, to vindicate his Justice, and exert his Power: Then does his Resentment break forth in those words of the Prophet: Shall I not Visit for these things, 
Jer. 5.9.  saith the LORD, and shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this?  
But when the day of Visitation is appointed, GOD often calls away the innocent and righteous Souls, and hides them from the Judgement dropping down: As of Old, he prepared a Zoar for righteous Lot, before the Descent of his fiery Indignation upon Sodom: And an Ark was built for Noah, before the Deluge flowed in upon the guilty World. So has it been since observed, that the good St. Augustine departed this Life, just before his City Hippo was taken and laid waist: And Zealous Luther is congratulated for being took out of the World a little before the Civil Wars in Germany, and the Miseries of that divided Country.  
Thus frequently are the Righteous taken away from the Evil to come. Especially, if the Text refers to righteous and merciful Princes, They by the singular Care of Providence seem caught away from some public Calamity, which Themselves deserve to escape, and their People deserve to suffer. It was so in the Reign of Hezekiah, That excellent Prince had a perverse People, for whom GOD had prepared a Vial of Wrath, but would not pour it down, till his Anointed Head was laid safe in his Sepulchre. Wrath was upon Judah and Jerusalem, 
2 Cron. 32.25, 26.  but Hezekiah humbled himself, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah: But when He slept with his Fathers, than came Invasion, and Blood, and Captivity. Then the Lord brought upon them the Captains of the Host of the King of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the Thorns, and bound him with Fetters, and carried him to Babylon.  
This dispensation of Providence was more remarkable in the Reign of religious Josiah: When the People despised the Example of the Best of Princes; and made the City and Country a Stage of Profaneness, while the Court was all Devotion: Then by the mouth of Huldah the Prophetess, thus said the LORD, 
2 Cron. 34.24.  Behold I will bring Evil upon this place, and upon the Inhabitants thereof, even all the Curses that are written in the Book: My wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. But the pious Prince, He was snatched as a Firebrand out of the Fire. As for the King of Judah, thus saith the LORD, Because thine Heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself, and rend thy clothes, and weep before me: 
lb. 27, 28.  Behold I will gather thee to thy Fathers, and Thou shalt be gathered to thy Grave in peace; neither shall thine Eyes see all the Evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the Inhabitants of the same. And so the Reprieve was granted, till his Sanctuary was the Grave. But then, the first Successor was deposed, and carried into Egypt; and under the next, GOD brought upon them the King of the Chaldees, 
2 Cron. 36.17.  who slew the young men with the Sword, and had no compassion upon Young man or maiden, Old man, or him that stooped for Age.  
The Records of our own Church and Nation present us with such an Instance of Divine Mercy in the most Pious of our English Princes, 
Sim. Dunel. sub an. 957.  King Edward the Confessor; 
Allredus de vit. & Mirac. Ed. confess.  whom our Oldest Historians report to have had this Vision on his dying Bed. Two Men of Religious Order and Habit appeared in his Chamber, 
Cron. Joh. Brompton. sub Anno. M LX VI.  and declared themselves the Messengers of GOD, and delivered this Express to him: Your Nobility, Clergy, and People of England have filled up the measure of their Iniquities: 
Henr. de Knighton de Event. Ang. Cap. 14.  So that God has bend his Bow, and made his Arrows ready for them. Die you in Peace, but within One Year, and One Day after your Decease, Strangers shall possess this Land, and condemn it to Fire and Sword. To this Message they say the Prince returned: My Soul is sore troubled to foresee the Affliction of my People; but sure if they turn from their Wickedness, then will God repent, and leave a Blessing for them. A like Sentence was denounced upon the Ninevites, and yet suspended on their Repentance: Nay, the Humiliation of wicked Ahab diverted the Evil from his own days: Therefore (says he) I will persuade my People to repent, that God may have Mercy, and withhold the impending Judgement. No, said the Two Holy Men, The Heart of this People is hardened, and their Eyes are blinded; they cannot see with their Eyes, and understand with their Heart, and God cannot heal them. Depart you in Peace, and escape the Evil to come. The History proceeds, That the decaying Prince recovered strength to tell This to his attending Courtiers; and that Stigand among Others ridiculed the Story, and said it was all the Dotage and Delirium of a dying Man: But it proved a Prophecy, and had a fatal Completion; for within the appointed time, the Normans invaded, and conquered, and divided the Land.  
Thus have I oped the Text, and familiarly explained the several parts of it; so that it is easy for you to apprehend this to have been the sense of the Prophet. In the midst of a wicked and careless Generation, some public Calamity, some universal Loss may happen, and yet None be much affected with it: Even the sharpest Affliction may befall a Nation, their righteous Prince may perish, and their merciful Governor be taken away; and yet the Wound reaches to no Heart, None betray the Concern and Sorrow which so sad an Accident calls for; but drive on their little Humours and Designs with no regard of public Loss, or public Good. When alas! They ought to consider, that by such a providential Chance, they may suffer more than they imagine: For that Castle of Defense being now removed, Enemies and Destruction may come upon them; and sad Experience may too soon convince, that the Righteous was taken away from a fatal Evil to come, which had been longer suspended, had the Righteous longer lived.  
And now All this I will not apply so near, as every Conscience may apply. When righteous Princes perish, their Ashes are too Sacred to be disturbed by every Tongue: And when they seem taken away from an Evil to come, yet it is not fit every bold Person should portend that Evil, or describe the Tokens of it: It is more modest to direct you how to bestow one serious Thought or two on these Branches of the Text.  
First, On the Righteous perishing, and the Merciful being taken away.  
Secondly, On no Man laying it to Heart, nor considering what may be the Consequence of it.  
Thirdly, On the fatal Reason of GOD'S Providence in it: The Righteous may be taken away from some Evil to come.  
First, Let us reflect on the Righteous perishing, and the Merciful being taken away.  
Let us reflect, I say, that Piety and Virtue will save our Souls, but not our Lives: All Graces are subject to Mortality in this World, and only purchase Eternity in that other World. It is true, the prolonging of days in the Land wherein they live, is promised a Reward to the Obedient Keepers of Divine Laws; and so it really proves, by the course of Nature, and by the care of Providence: By the course of Nature, as Sobriety, Temperance, and all Virtue preserve our Health, and protract our Life: And again, By the care of Providence, as GOD more especially protects his own Servants from common Dangers, keeps them as the Apple of his Eye, and hides them under the Shadow of his Wings, and carries them safe to Grey Hairs, and a good Old-age.  
But this is not so meant, as if all Men's Piety were to be a Charm against Sickness and Death: No! Not only the Bloodthirsty and Deceitful do not live out half their days; but even the Good and Virtuous fall often in the prime of their Age: And yet by their untimely Death they justify the Wisdom and Mercy of GOD, in that they more quickly retire to Rest, when they are sooner weary of a wicked World; and particularly are taken away from some ensuing Judgement, which they kept off by their exemplary Lives, and make room for by their sudden Death.  
This is a just Reflection on the Death of all Righteous and Merciful Men: But if the Prophet understood, as we cannot but understand, the Words of some one Righteous and Merciful Prince: Then we should farther reflect, That Royal Blood will run no longer, than that in the Veins of the meanest Subject: That a Court stands as open to Diseases as a Cottage: That Crowns, and Swords, and Sceptres cannot awe, nor bribe the King of Terrors Death. I have said ye are Gods, but ye shall die like Men: For so the haughty Heathen Monarches, who affected to be Divine, soon proved their Humanity by being Mortal.  
Nay, it has so happened, that the Best Princes have generally had the more early Translation to Heaven. Whither because they most despise the vain Glories of an Earthly Crown, and labour to be the more quickly delivered from the Burden of it: Or, whither by their great and good Deeds they sooner work out their Salvation, and deserve the more speedy Admission into the Courts of Heaven: Or, whither their Subjects by such a Loss may be taught more to value such a Blessing: Or whither, as the Text implies, they stand in the Gap, and fence off the Destruction of a profligate People, and must be taken out of the way, that GOD may be avenged on those his Enemies. Whither for One, or All of these Reasons, Holy and Religious Princes are the shortest Loan from Heaven, soon called in from an ungrateful World. Thus the Jews lost their good Josiah, before he was Forty Years of Age; and He, whom we English called our Josiah, 
K. Edw. VI  was a Minor in all but Piety and Parts: As if Rare Princes were to be showed only to the Earth, and then snatched from it; to leave their Memory more esteemed, and turn Envy into Admiration.  
But let us secondly reflect on no Man laying this to Heart, nor considering the Greatness of such a Loss.  
Sorrow for the Dead was always an Instinct of Nature, and always a Precept of Religion; and therefore always a Custom in civilised Countries, that, as Solomon expresses it, when Man goeth to his long Home, 
Ecl. 12. ver. 5.  the Mourners went about the Streets. This Ceremony is paid to common Friends, and to ordinary Relations: But when a Prince and Governor, when a righteous and merciful Prince and Governor resigns a well-managed Sceptre, and retires into the inner Chambers of Death; then is it a National Calamity, and calls for a National Grief and Lamentation.  
When meek and righteous Moses was taken away from the Judging of Israel, the People Wept in the Plains of Moah, 
Deu. 34. ver. 8.  and full Thirty Days were employed in the unintermitted Penance of Weeping and Mourning. When good Samuel Died, 
1 Sam. 25.1.  all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him. When devout Josiah fell, they bemoaned him, 
Jer. 22.10.  and wept sore for him that was gone away, because he should return no more, nor see his Native Country. So strict and solemn a Grief, that it became a Proverbial Example of Mourning: 
Zech. 12 ver. 11.  A great Mourning as the Mourning of Hadradrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo.  
Nay, the want of such Condolement GOD threatens as the most Reprobate hardness of Heart, which he can possibly inflict on an obstinate People: It is denounced as the Portion of the Wicked, 
Job. 27. ver. 15.  Those that remain of him shall be buried in Death, and his Widows shall not weep: Or as the Psalmist expresses it, 
Psal. 74. ver. 66.  There shall be no Widows to make lamentation. And when the Prophet Jeremy was to represent the desperate and lost Condition of the Jews, he proposes this as the heaviest Judgement: Thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of Mourning, 
Jer. 16. ver. 5.  neither go to lament nor bemoan them; For I have taken away my Peace from this People, saith the Lord, even Lovingkindness and Mercies.  
And sure Men's Hearts, like Pharoah's, must be doubly-hardened, by their own Perverseness, and by the Judgement of GOD; before they can resist the Torrent of Grief, drove down by the Death of an excellent Prince. Sure Christian Religion must be renounced, and common Humanity put off, before the decent Respects of Silence and Sorrow can be omitted on such a sad Occasion.  
Sure All, that have the Bowels of a Man, cannot but in mere Nature have some Pity and Regret at the Instability of Humane Greatness; and to see how little Distance there is between a Throne and a Grave. Sure All, that have any Love for their Zion, any Value for their Religion, cannot but complain in Bitterness of Soul, when they lose a KING that has been a Nursing Father, or A QUEEN that has been a Nursing Mother. And even All that are concerned only for the Interest of the State, must needs commiserate the Suffering of it, when the Head is laid low that did so wisely Guide it: When There's an end of the Sagacity, and Courtesy, and Clemency, and all the other Excellence of Spirit, that was fit to fill a Throne, and save a Nation.  
Sure Examples are not wanting how much Grief, and grateful Respect, has been paid to the Ashes of Wise and Virtuous Princes. I might offer One from the known Annals of our own Nation: Maud, the Wife of King Henry the First, a Princess, who by her Charity, and Affability, and Piety, all tempered with Prudence, did so win upon the Hearts of all the English People, that when She came to Die, the Nation was in a perfect Tumult of Grief and Sorrow: They all lamented Her, as the most dutiful Daughter of the Church, and the most affectionate Mother of her Country: They laboured to touch her Coffin, 
〈…〉 H●st. W●nt. A●g. 〈…〉 p 2●●.  and to salute her Grave: And in all Discourse and Writing, they scarce ever mentioned Her, but with this Character, Mold the Good Queen.  
Certainly our Reformed Religion must have now improved the sense of Tenderness and Love, above the Temper of those who lived in a Communion of a narrow and persecuting Spirit. Certainly that Disposition, for which we have since invented the Name of Good-nature, and boast it the Propriety of our Modern English Tongue, must incline us to more soft and compassionate Thoughts, than could arise to those our rough and hardy Ancestors: And certainly, that very Breeding, to which our Times so much pretend, must direct us to all those just Civilities of Duty and Respect, which were less paid, and less due, in that Ruder Age. One would (I mean) imagine, that the Blessing of a Good QUEEN should make a deeper Impress upon English Hearts; and the being deprived of that Blessing should raise warmer Resentments of Grief, than the like Providence did in the remote Reign of Hen. I. when the Normans were transported with Conquest, and the Saxons were dis-spirited with Oppression; when the Insolence of one Party, and the Indignation of the other, were enough to take away all the better Affections of Humane Nature.  
It is impossible that Nature, Education, and Religion, when they are All reformed, should be All less effectual to strike and wound the Hearts of a Nation, when they have lost a QUEEN equal to the greatest Example of past Ages.  
When, without suspicion of Flattery, Her Character shall be drawn for the Use of Posterity. Posterity will not believe, That a great part of Her People were Indifferent, and Unaffected with Her Death; and only put on their Mourning, as the Pharisees did their Sackcloth, to appear unto Men. At least, Posterity will not believe, That some were so Insolent, as to Ridicule the Divine Judgement, and make a Mock at GOD'S Anger, and their own Sin. A barbarous Indignity, that could have been only tolerable in that Emperor, 
Sueton. in Vit. Ner. Cap. ●8.  who, amidst the Conflagration of his City, was setting Music to the Flames: 
Idem in Vit. Calig. Cap. 31.  Or in that Other, who wished a signal Calamity might happen in his Reign, to distinguish it from ordinary and unobservable Times.  
The Thoughts of such inhuman Practice will naturally lead us to the more melancholy Reflection.  
For we are lastly to reflect on the fatal Reason of GOD'S Providence, in so severe a Dispensation. The Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come.  
History tells us, The First Christians were retreated to Pella, before the Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem: Or else, perhaps their Prayers might have turned back the Armies of the Aliens, and stopped the Blood that was imprecated on the Jews, and on their Children. Indeed GOD cannot execute a dreadful Judgement, while the Righteous remain to intercede, and turn aside his stretched out Arm. Had but Ten Righteous Persons been found upon their Knees in Sodom, 
Gen. 18. ver. 32.  they had quenched the Fire and Brimstone, before it fell on the polluted City. Yes! Righteous and Merciful Men, 
2 Kin. 2. ver. 12.  they are the Chariots and Horsemen of Israel: They are the Guardian Angels, and defend the Province over which they do preside.  
The Messenger of GOD told Lot, that Nothing could be done against the City, while he was within the Walls of it: 
Gen. 19 ver. 22.  Hast thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till Thou be come thither. When the LORD was wroth with his Inheritance of Israel, and resolved their Iniquity should be upon their own Heads; yet the Intercession of Moses stopped his drawn Sword; nor could he strike till Moses should let him alone. 
Ex. 32. ver. 9  I have seen this People, said the LORD, and behold it is a stiffnecked People: Now therefore let me alone, that my Wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them. So much Violence does GOD himself seem to suffer from the Prayers of Holy Men: And in the most Sinful Land, it is rather a Threat than a Decree, 
Eze. 14. ver. 14.  That Noah, Daniel, and Job, shall deliver Nothing but their own Souls.  
Oh! That a People were Wise, and would Consider this! Who cannot but Consider? That when the Walls of a City are broken down, how easy is it for the Enemies to enter and destroy? When the Pillars of a Temple are took away, how soon must the unsupported Fabric fall? When the Banks are laid low, how naturally will the Waters overwhelm the defenceless Ground? Even so, when the Righteous are taken away, how without Resistance must descend the Evil to come?  
It is true: While we reflect on former Mercies, and contemplate our present Affairs, we grow Sanguine, and presume that All will be Safe and Happy: But while we take the other Prospect of Divine Justice, and our own Provocations of it; Then the Light Side of the Pillar is turned round to Cloud and Darkness, and fearful Expectations may remain.  
What Judgement may we expect? What may we not expect? Shall we choose any One of the Three Evils, which Gad offered to David? 
2 Sam. 24.  Shall Seven Years of Famine come upon us in our Land? Our Bodies Hungry and Thirsty, and our Souls fainting in them? No! Bless, O LORD, our Victuals with Increase, and satisfy our Poor with Bread; and suffer us not to know the want of that Plenty we abuse! Shall we flee Three Months before our Enemies, while they pursue us? Shall Invasion, and Conquest, and Slavery, drown us in Sweat and Blood? No! Defend us, Good LORD, from barbarous and insulting Foes: Give us the undeserved Favour of Victory Abroad, and Peace at Home! Well, but Shall there be Three Days Pestilence in the Land? Shall Carcases fall in Heaps, and the Living be buried among the Dead? Yea, rather Let us fall into the Hand of the Lord, for his Mercies are great, and let us not fall into the Hand of Man: But rather, O LORD, turn away this Plague from us: Give us Strength and Health: Give us leave to wait our appointed Time, till a natural and gentle Change shall come.  
Tho' the Handwriting seems upon the Wall; and the Sentence of Death be already executed against that just Person, who could alone have stopped the determined Woe: Yet, Let us turn unto the Lord with all our heart, with Fasting, 
Joel. 2. ver. 15.  and with Weeping, and with Mourning: Let us rend our Heart, and not our Garment; and looking upon the Evil to come, let us try whither the Merciful and Gracious LORD will Repent him of that Evil: Who knoweth, if he will return, and repent, and leave a Blessing behind him?  
Merciful GOD! Let it be Judgement Enough! That we have lost a Princess, whom past Ages never did Exceed, and future Generations shall scarce ever Equal! Judgement Enough! That we have lost the Benefit of so many Prayers of that Devout QUEEN, who loved no Apartment of Her Palace, so well as Her Chapel; and behaved Herself in it with that Zeal and Affection, as if She believed it the House of God, 
Gen. 28. ver. 17.  and the Gate of Heaven, which is now Opened to Her: Who made Her Closet a continued Oratory of private Devotions: Who prosecuted all Business, as if She had no leisure to Pray; and yet Prayed so Continually, as if She had attended no other Business. Judgement enough! That we have lost Her who believed Religion, and adorned it; who understood the Constitution of our Church, and therefore loved it: Who Honoured Divines for the Sake of their Profession, and made Her Preferments the Reward of good Preaching, and good Living. And (what is not improper to mention within these Walls) Lost Her, who was a Friend to Learning, who knew how to choose Books, and to digest them; and amidst all urgent Affairs, could descend to the Cares of a Library. Judgement Enough! That we have lost Her, who paid all the obedient Duties of a Wife, so rare in Royal Consorts, who, in a less Coparcenry than Hers, are tempted to bear no Equal, at least to acknowledge no Superior. Lost Her, who was a Mistress Affable and Humble; and who, if She had wanted Power, could have been Persuasive; whom supreme Authority could not make Imperious to Her Servants: Who set Her Maidens an Example of Domestic Industry; and Governed Her Family, as if that had been her Only Kingdom. Lost Her! Who could Rule a Nation, and make Her Lord seem Absent to None, but to Herself: Who could do Justice without Revenge, and show Mercy without Weakness, and Reign in the Hearts of Her People. In a word, Judgement Enough! To lose Her, wherein Her Quality has lost an Ornament, Her Sex a Glory, Her Nation a Blessing, and the World an Example.  
Good GOD! Permit no other Judgement to fall upon us: Let Us the Priests, and You the People, Weep between the Porch and the Altar; and let us say, Spare thy People O Lord, and give not thy Heritage to Reproach: Be jealous for thy Land, and pity thy People, Thy Distressed People.  
To Thee, O Father of Mercies, with the Son of thy Love, and the Spirit of Consolation, be ascribed the Kingdom, Power, and Glory, for Ever and Ever.  
Amen.