A SERMON Preached at WHITEHALL On the 29th. of May, Being the Happy Day of His Majesty's Inauguration and Birth. By HENRY L. Bp. of CHICHESTER. Published by his Majesty's Command. LONDON, Printed for Henry Herringman and are to be sold at his Shop in the Lower Walk in the New Exchange. 1661. A SERMON Preached at Whitehall On the 29 of May, Being the Happy Day of His Majesty's Inauguration and Birth. EZEK. 21. 27. I will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn it, and it shall be no more, until he come whose Right it is, and I will give it him. YOU will easily judge Thunder and Earthquakes improper Prologues to usher in such a Triumph as the Inauguration of a King. When Balaam in his Parable concerning Israel told Balak, The shout of a King is amongst them, Num. 23. 21. sure he meant not such boisterous Acclamations as This, whose noise disturbs the Upper Region, and affrights the Lower; But my excuse must be the common Say, that such Meteors as Thunder & Lightning, usually clear a troubled Sky, and purge an ill-conditioned Ayr. We have of late years sucked in the unwholesome vapours of an Air tainted with Rebellion and Rapine, with ill Opinions and worse Actions, and therefore need the loudest Thunder to fright us into our lost Duties, and cleanse our Element grown as degenerous as ourselves. I do not mistake the words in comparing them to Thunder, It is the voice of the lord Verse 26. Haec dicit Jehovah, 'Tis he utters this voice, a mighty voice, which shakes the wilderness, Psal. 29. 5, 8. and breaks the Cedars of Lebanon; which levels the Mountains to make them equal to the Vale, and beats the Towers, whose height threatened Heaven, to rubbish, until they lie as low as their foundation: The mountains quake at him and the hills melt, Nah. 1. 5. and the Earth is burnt at His presence. The dying Prophet Elisha was angry with the King of Israel, when he bid him strike with the Arrows upon the ground, 2 King, 13. 18. that he struck only Threetimes? had he struck oftener, V. 19 the Syrians had been quite overthrow'n. But this Artillery which stands mounted in my Text is sufficient to do the work intended. After these Three Overturns there needs no reinforcing of the blow, nor is there any Subject left for further execution. The violent Hurrican, fiercest of whirlwinds, doth not more surely destroy all obstacles standing in the way, than these Three Overturns Remove that which obstructs His way who was to Come. I know the History properly points at Zedekiah who was that wicked profane Prince, verse 25. condemned to utter destruction: 2 King. 25. 27. And at Jehojachin, whose head was exalted by Evilmerodach, upon the Abasement of the others height. The Chaldee Paraphrase saith, As those words, Take off the Crown, threatened Zedekiah, so Remove the Diadem, threated Seraiah the High Priest, V. 21. who was accordingly slain at Riblah: This Diadem or Cidaris, being an ornament worn on the Priest's head, and (as Hieron. writes) had the Name of God engraven upon it; As also you read Wisd. 18. 24. with thy Majesty graven upon the Diadem of his head. Yet this particular of my Text is Mystically interpreted of Christ, by whose Copy Kings hold their Right, All dominion being given to Him, and from him derived upon His Vice-Gerents here in Earth. And it may Prophetically and properly enough look on Zerubbabel that excellent Prince, who was a Type of Christ too; whom, after a long interruption of the Regal Line, God raised up to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and Repair the breaches of his Temple. To which end he threateneth an Overthrow to the strength of Kingdoms which should oppose his work of Restauration Agge. 2. 23. I shall take the liberty, and that without violence to the words, or distorsion of the sense, to apply them unto the happy occasion of This Day, and to reflect from hence upon the Calamities suffered under Those who sought to hinder It. Yet with no purpose to refresh the Memory either of Those Persons, or the Mischiefs by them Acted, which the Grace and Mercy of Him who was the greatest sufferer would have buried in an Act of Perpetual Oblivion; but in thankful duty to God to commemorate the defeat of Their late unpardonable practices, who by Fraud Abjured, and by Force did all they could to keep out Him who was to Come, from possessing his undoubted Right. So that this First Part of my Text is a Judgement threatened, Division. not leaving until That it threatens be utterly destroyed, I will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn it, and it shall be no more. But this Judgement hath a Sequel of Mercy, and was intended only to make way for a greater Blessing in One who Comes after: which is an He eminent for His Personal endowments, Until He Come, And eminent for His Power which is supported by Two such Pillars that it can never fail. A successive Right of his own, Until He Come whose Right it is. And then the hand of God, who establisheth this Right as His Donation, And I will Give it Him. I take the words in that Method wherein they lie, 1. Part. I will Overturn, etc. I will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn. The Greek in stead of Overturn, reads, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Iniquity, Iniquity, Iniquity. If you join them Both together, the Construction holds properly in relation to God's Justice, who will certainly by His revenge Overturn all Iniquity. And if you apply it to our own Condition, you must grant we have seen Iniquity and violence and strife in the City; and felt the bitter effects of them for many years. Psal. 55. 9, 10. Nay there was Triplex Iniquitas, Iniquity, Iniquity, Iniquity, one successive to the other, in the several variations of our Misery; And by the blessing of our Gracious God we have seen Three Overturns, like so many Batteries raised to destroy Each of them. The First Overturn bend against the Tyranny of a single Person, who was the fatal Product of a Counsel more impious than the Means whereby he compassed his Bloody ends. A strange Usurper, of whom I may truly say — Nec bellua tetrior ulla est Claudian. Quam servi rabies in libera colla furentis; Never was there Beast of that outrageous Pride and Cruelty, who from a contemptible low condition was lifted so high as to trample upon the Laws and Necks of a (till then) Free people. 'Tis true, Psal. 93. 4. The floods that then lifted up their voice, Psal. 41. 8. Vox Cataractarum, Those Tumultuous waves, and the Madness of the People, in their unruly votes Cried quite contrary to God's Text, In stead of Take off, Set on the Crown upon the head of usurpation, Remove the Diadem from Him who had only Right to wear it, adorn the Temples of a Tyrant; But the voice of God is mightier, (saith David,) This overruling voice, cries here against This Tyrant, as Profane as Zedekiah at his worst, Vers. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (they are his Epithets) and more wicked; for I find not Zedekiah's hand stained with half the Blood our Monster in his short Rule shed; I say the same voice cries from Heaven, which bid Cut down the Tree in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, Dan. 4. 14. Take off the Crown, dethrone the Usurper; and when He says the word, who can resist or countermand? One woe is past: Our first Overturn hath cast down this aspiring Lucifer, causing his Image and remembrance to vanish out of the City, Psal. 73. 20. like a Night vision: So that we may ask Quomodo cecidisti? How art Thou fallen? O how suddenly dost Thou cast them down! such slippery footing hath all Greatness which is not warranted by the true Donor, but built on a Foundation of Blood. The next Overturn is against a Monster of more heads, A Complicated Tyranny under that Bed of Snakes, which Cut asunder formerly, Closed again in 59 Renewing their Cast skins with the old Practice to Tyrannize over their fellow Subjects, According to the Trust reposed in them, (which was the word in fashion.) That Aggregate of Rulers, to whom no Name is proper but his who was the Precedent of their Assembly, Mar. 5. 9 Legion, For they were many; A Medley compounded of all Trades, of all Professions from the Soldier to the Mechanic Artisan, which in their Mixture resemble the Feet of Nebuchadnezzar's Image; Their whole design being supported like That, Da●. 2. 42. v. 43. with Iron and Day. The Miry Clay to show the abject dirty Instruments engaged in their new modelled Rule, The Iron to enforce Obedience to it. At the Building of Babel all sorts of workmen were joined, It was the same in this work of Confusion begun upon the Kingdom and the Church; In so Destructive a work these Operators were needful, 'Twas fit that such men who had before understood the use of the Hammer and the Axe should be employed, when Churches were to be demolished, and the Carved work of our Temples (as Psal. 74. the Prophet complained) Broken down with Axes and Hammers. But this unequal mixture overthrew the whole Frame of their design; The Sword which for a time strengthened this loom building, deserting them, caused it to crumble into dust; As Cramps of Iron with-draw'n from a Rotten House make the ill-built Fabric sink: And those examples of Insolence, which like the Tail of the Dragon had cast down all our Stars, Rev. 12. 4. both Those of the First Magnitude the Peers, and Those who were Equal to Themselves, yet joined not in their horrid sense, were by the blessing of God and by His second Overturn Cast down themselves, becoming spectacles of reproach to all the world in those punishments which they deservedly suffered. There is but one Overturn more, and that, like the last breath and blast of a Storm, when the violence is spent, ushers in a Calm; This I look on as bend against that Rising little more than a year since, whose Spring and Head appeared in these parts, but the Stream was to be increased in every County as they passed from this our Metropolis, whence their frantic Leaders set out, to the other Metropolis in the North; An attempt to hinder His Arrival who was expected, when His Foot was even upon the threshold ready to enter into his own, by an Army Collected from all Quarters of the Kingdom. Which design looked at first with a dreadful aspect, like the Ramm in daniel's vision, Dan. 8. 4. Pushing Westward and Northward and Southward, in each Part whereof some scatter of the storm fell, until the Clouds which bore this Tympany vanished, almost without Noise at the farewell of it. This the prudent Counsels of some Renowned Patriots, industrious to vindicate their oppressed Country's Liberty, and the valour of a Faithful General (who deservedly wears an Honour no man hath cause to envy) by crushing the New threatening dangers aswell as by suppressing the Old, opened so fair a way for His Arrival who was to come, that not a drop of Blood was spilt to slain the Glory of His entrance, nor did any visible Face of danger appear to disturb his Peace being Come, For God says, He will Overturn whatsoever might withstand Him, And it shall be no more. Such an Approach as this discovers the hand which guided him to us, and deserves our loudest Hosanna to welcome Him, Psal. 118. 26. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord Those Others who went before Came in their own Name, mere Properties, Counterfeiting such State as Actors on the Stage, whose Reign lasts no longer than the Scene. We had not for many years beheld the True Face of Majesty until He came, who appears in the next circumstance of my Text. You may please to note He is a single Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, here's no Plurality of Rulers; Until He come. Homer. Prov. 15. 22. Many counsellors are the strength of a Kingdom, but more Princes than one, like many Suns in the Firmament, the certain ostents of destruction. This He stands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as a note of Eminence upon His Person, and Excellence upon His Endowments. We find the First King of Israel was designed from the Goodliness of his Person; Saul was so: of whom I may say as Virgil of Turnus, — Et totô vertice supra est, He was higher by the head than the rest of the People. 1 Sam. 10. 23. 24. See (saith Samuel when he presented Him) whom the Lord hath Chosen, that there is none like to Him amongst all the People. Dionys. Tam excellens statura consona erat Regiae dignitati, such a Stature and such a Person became a King. Pet. Cunaeus de Repub. Hebrae. l. 2. c. 14. Petrus Cunaeus writes, N●n jam Barbarorum duntaxat, sed hominum excultissimorum est Majestatem corporis venerari, Magnorum operum illos capaces putare quos eximiâ specie Natura donavit. Not only Barbarous people, but the most Civilised, attributed very much to the Presence and Stature and Majestic deportment of the Body; Thinking Those Capable of the highest achievements who were endued with the best and Goodliest Shape. Hieron. Hieron. gives the reason, Quia velut pulchro indumento pulchritudo Animae vestiebatur, The beauty of the Soul is considered by the features of the Body which is the Souls outward * Tunica Animae. Garment. This made Samuel sent to Anoint a King out of Jesse's house, 1 Sam. 16. 6. when he saw Eliab, to believe him the man for the Bravery of his Person; until God rectified his error, and pointed out David, who though not of the same Size and Pitch with his brother, Ib. vers. 18. was a Goodly Person. You will easily judge that, because intending to combat Goliath, Saul put his own Armour upon him, 1 Sam. 17. 38. which in a small Stature had been ridiculous to attempt. In all the Histories I have read, I find not any Nation but one, who best liked Persons ill-graced in their Body's lineaments for their Princes: Petro M●xia Hist. lib. 3. c. 17. n. 10. Pedro Mexia puts this difference between the Goths and the Saracens, That the Goths desired a Prince of Tall Stature, The Saracens better approved one bedwarfed and of mean Features. Generally the Rule for Princes was the same which God appointed for the Priests: where Blemishes and Imperfections of the Body made the One incapable to serve at the Altar, The Other not so welcome to the Throne. Our Third Richard's deformed Body and ill aspect made him looked on as that Prodigy whom all feared, none loved. Therefore Socrates believed those could portend nothing but Mischief on whose Bodies Nature had set her Brand, and whose Aspect she had marked with cross illboding lines. Now as the Outward Form of the Body makes a Candidate for a Kingdom, according to Aristotle, Forma digna Imperio: So the Endowments of the Mind complete the Choice. As Wisdom; This was the Cause of Joseph 's advancement over Egypt, Gen. 41. 38. Can we find (saith Pharaoh) such a Man as this in whom is the Spirit of God? And it was Hiram 's gratulation to Solomon, 1 King. 5. 7. Blessed be the Lord this day who hath given unto David a wise son to rule over this great People. Deliberation; Not rash in Action, nor unwilling to hear advise, but weighing each enterprise in the Scale of Counsel and Reason: Lips. Polit. Praefat. Vt illud in principatu beatissimum est non Cogi, ita miserrimum non Suaderi, As it is a Prince's Prerogative that he cannot be Compelled, so 'tis his Misery not to be Counsailled. Temperance; Eccle. 10. 17. Happy art thou O Land when thy Princes eat in due season for strength, not admitting Disorder in their Meals. Then Mildness and Sweetness and Affability in disposition; This made Titus the Emperor styled the Delight of Mankind, admired whilst he lived, and lamented in his death as the only darling of his Empire, born to oblige his whole People. Personal valour; This moved Israel to elect Gideon for their Prince, Judg. 8. 21. Come thou and Rule over us, Both Thou and thy Son and thy son's Son: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. Above all Piety and Religion towards God; Josiah's singular Devotion and Zeal to God's service stand as Examples to render his Memory precious through all Ages; Esa. 49. 23. To be a Nursing Father of the Church is one of the richest Jewels in a King's Crown. Lastly, Nobility in his Extraction and Birth; Eccles. 10. 17. Happy art thou O Land when thy King is the son of Nobles, so says the Preacher. But when there are None of These, Neither Care of Religion, nor Regard of Law, Neither Outward form, Nor Inward Endowments, Neither Birth to dignify the Body, Nor Virtue to ennoble the Mind, Psal. 109. 5. Set thou a wicked man to rule over him, This is the highest Calamity, the greatest Curse that can befall a Land. We have cause to say so, having by sad experience too lately felt the Mischief. Be it spoken to the Honour of God, and the Confession of a just Truth (far from any low purpose of Adulation which neither befits my Office nor This Presence) we miss none of these Excellencies, these Virtues in that Royal Person whom God hath set over us. Each one's eye may inform any that doubt, in much of what I say, And the daily experience of his scarcely patterned Goodness confirm the rest. Whether I mention His constant Piety, or love of Justice, His Active or Passive Fortitude; In all probations of a Daring Valour who hath Outdone him? (let Worcester be the witness) And I am sure in the Trial of His Patience for many years none Could Out-suffer Him. 'Twas Jugum portatum à Juventute, Lam. 3. 27. He hath been yoked to Necessities, and acquainted with Misfortune from his tender Age. And for the Roaylty of His Extraction, were I an Herald and not a Preacher, I might blazon It to the full, Proclaiming to all the World, That He who is come to us, might Claim the Crown by His proper Merit, did it not Descend upon Him as His Undoubted Right. It follows in the next words. Whose Right it is. Whose Right it is. There be but Two Great Rights which you find mentioned in Scripture. 1. Jus Primogeniturae, the Right of Primogeniture, 2. Jus Regni, the Right to a Kingdom. In the first of these all Domination was originally founded; For the Elder Brother in his Tribe was Princeps Familiae, the Prince of his Family. And not only the Excellence of Dignity which was his Birthright, But the Inheritance is so fastened to Him as if God intended no separation, either by the Hatred or Affection of the Parent. The Text is most remarkable (and I wish all Parents would lay it to heart) If a man have Two wives, Deut. 21. 15. one Beloved, and another Hated, and They have born him Children both the Beloved and the Hated, And if the Firstborn son be here's that was Hated, Vers. 16. Then it shall be when he maketh his sons to Inherit that which he hath, That he may not make the son of the Beloved Firstborn before the son of the Hated, Vers. 17. which is indeed the Firstborn; But he shall acknowledge the son of the Hated for the Firstborn, by Giving him a double Portion of all that he hath; for he is the beginning of his strength, the Right of the Firstborn is his. Therefore though the Law hath been overcurious to un-rivet this Birthright by Gods & Man's Law entailed upon the Elder, bringing in Feigned Persons & False Vouchees, and Formal Proclamations to divest it, I must only say thus much, Sic non fuit ab initio (as Christ said of Divorce) It was not so from the Beginning, Mat. 19 8. but out of the hardness of men's hearts did this Invention spring. How ill an Inheritance wrested from the Right heir to be placed upon another hath prospered, let the Example of so many unhappy Families ruined upon this Account testify. The second is Jus Regni, the Right to a Kingdom, which hath Jus Divinum, a Divine Right for its warrant, Francisc. à Victor. Relect. 3. n. 1. Omnis civilis Potestas ità Deum habet Authorem, ut nec Orbis totius consensu tolli potest; This receives such Authority from God, that the whole World cannot abrogate it. I do not only mean a Successive Right but an Elective. I Confess where Princes are Elected by their Subjects, the Government is not so Absolute, being oftimes clogged with Conditions, yet is the Right so firm that it can never be Reversed nor Reassumed by Those who first conferred It. Bellarmine is of a contrary Judgement when he saith, Bellarmin. Ex Navarro citat à Suarez. Populum nunquam suam potestatem ita in Regem transfer, quin illam sibi in habitu retineat, although the People Actually transfer the Power upon the King, Yet Habitually They retain it in Themselves; But this is Contradicted by Persons of his own Party eminent for their Learning and famous for their Writings. Suarez Suarez Defence. Fidei Cathol. li. 3. cap. 3. p. 125 n. 4. plainly chargeth him with Falsehood. Non est simpliciter verum Regem pendere in suâ potestate à Populo, etiamsi ab ipso eam acceperit. And afterwards he very honestly and fairly Concludes, Rex postquam legitimè constitutus est, supremam habet potestatem in omnibus ad quae illam acceperit, etiam si à Populo illam acceperit, When once a King is lawfully constituted, He hath Supreme Power over the People. Again Royardus, Royard Dominic. 1. in Advent. Rege constituto non potest Populus jugum subjectionis repellere, The People cannot withdraw their subjection from a lawful Prince. Lastly, Franciscus à Victoria, In a Case like This, The Cardinal's Election of the Pope, Francis. à Victor. Relect. 2. nu. 4. Electores non habent Authoritatem in quem eligunt, Sed Authoritatem Applicandi istam Dignitatem, Those who Elect have not Authority over him whom they have Elected, but only an Authority to Apply that Dignity. So sure and irrevocable is the Right of an Elective Prince. But when the Right of Succession brings a King to his Throne, This is of all others the Noblest, the Firmest, and Carries the greatest mark of God's favour, both to the Present Prince, and to Those from whom he was Derived Succession to the Crown of Israel is by God promised to David as one of the Richest Temporal blessings He could give. He bids Nathan the Prophet tell him, When thy days be fulfilled, and Thou shalt sleep with thy Fathers, 2 Sam. 7. 12. I will set up Thy seed after Thee, which shall proceed out of Thy bowels, And I will establish his Kingdom. When God is angry with a Land, he cuts off the Line of Succession, Jer. 22. 30. Write this man Childless; He quencheth his Light and the Lustre of his Name, sending him to his last Bed like a despised Lamp, Job 12. 5. inglorious, and in the Dark, without any Heir to preserve either his Power or his Name. When this Successive Right was interrupted, though by persons of the same Regal Line, what Tragedies ensued, and what Blood was spilt, let our own Chronicles resolve from Richard the 2. to Henry 6. It is the goodness of God to us, that we enjoy a Successive King: And it is the King's Glory, that He comes to us derived to His Crown through a Succession of Numerous Monarches. To what Votes soever Elective Rulers owe their Sceptres, Succession is the Vote of God, who both declares the Right, and then Confirms it as his Donation. It follows in the last place And I will give it. Crowns conferred by other hands sit loose and tottering upon the Head of such as wear them, I will give it, And I will give it. keeps Them fast. This is the Magna Charta for Princes, The Great Charter by which Kings hold the Right to their Kingdoms, Prov. 18. 15. By Me Kings Rule; It is God who sets up and pulls down, Giving the Kingdom unto whom He pleaseth. Tertullian said well, Ind est Imperator unde & Homo antequam Imperator, Dan. 2. 21. The Emperor is made by Him, who made him Man before: Even Heathens joined in the confession of this Truth, Callimachus. The Greek Poet tells you, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: And Tacitus more like a Christian than a Heathen, Tacit. Annal. lib. 3. Principes Imperium à Deo habent eosque instar Dei esse, Princes receive their Ruling Power from God and are in His Stead. Where are Those then who place the Right to Dispose Kingdoms in the Pope? As do his Sycophants the Canonists, who blush not to bestow the Style of God upon him, Dominus Deus noster Papa, That so He may have better colour to bestow the Other. Or Those in another Extreme, who entitle the People to this Power, Buchanan. de Jure Regni apud S●o●os. Populo jus est ut Imperium cui vult deferat. A strange Prodigy in opinion, not heard of until Those Men came into the World, who (as was falsely alleged of the Apostles at Thessalonica) Turned the World upside down, Act. 17. 6. placing the Feet above the Head, Rom. 13. 1. and Subjecting the Higher Powers, contrary to the Rule of God, to the People, who by His Command ought to be subject unto Them. I may apply Nazianzens' question to this purpose, Gregor. Nazian. Orat. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; what madness is this to leave the Head and take Rules from the Feet? He goes on, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ibid. It is preposterous to the Order of Nature when the Fountain is obstructed, and the Stream which borrows being from it holds full Course; when the Sun loseth his lustre, and a dim Star enlightened by it governs the World. Senec. Trag. Malè imperatur cum regit vulgus Deuces, cries the Tragedian, It is a pitiful Kingdom where the People Rule the Prince. Chemist's will tell you, nothing can make Gold but the Great Elixir which Turns all it Toucheth. Doubtless the People's Power is a Metal of too low and Coarse Allay to produce a Crown▪ Thou shalt set a Crown of Pure Gold upon His Head, Psal. 21. 3. is God's Peculiar. When the rebellious Israelites in Moses absence would needs make a God, Exod. 32. 1. That is a Leader or Ruler to go before them, They contributed their Earring to the carrying on that design; But the Effect and Issue of that Contribution was only a Calf. v. 4. I beseech you remember, from all our Contributory Plate, from the silver Basin even to the smallest Bodkin, whether we had any Productions amongst us better than This. Certainly before Knox and Buchanan, and Junius Brutus, These Doctrines to Diminish Princes were never broached. One tells you, The King hath no Propriety either in his Kingdom, or His Revenue, Junius Bruius vindic●ae cont. Tyrannos, quaest. 3. p. 136. Non Proprietarius, sanè nè usufructuarius Regni. Another quarrels Him for the upperhand, scarcely grants him Precedence: If he do 'tis all, And unless in Private will not allow Him the Better Man: when he comes in Public, Buchanan. de lure Reg. apud Scotos. Populus Rege praestan●ior & Major, The People are his better and much above him. Again Though the King be * Singulis Major Universis Minor. ibid. Greater than any Particular Subject, Yet he is Less than the whole People, Populum à quo Reges nostri habent quicquid Juris sibi vendicant Regibus esse Potentiorem. Ibid. Again, Populus eandem Potestatem habet in Regem quam Rex in Singulum: The People have the same Power over their King as the King hath over any single Man: And again (take him for all) when the People call their King in question before them, Ibid. Minor ad Majorem in Jus vocatur, the Lesser is Convented, Arraigned, Condemned by the Greater. Excellent stuff! From whence you may discern what hands laid the first foundation of our High Courts of Justice. Indeed after all the Arts and Labour to assert this pretended Power of the People, after all the distorted Scriptures and Miss-applyed Texts by Those Sons of Bichri who blue the First Trumpets of Sedition in our Israel, Curse ye Meroz &c. And cursed be he that withholds his Sword from shedding Blood, And To your Tents O Israel we have no part in the son of Jesse, with many like these; There was but one speeding uncontrollable Text to do Their Bloody Business, Mat. 21. 37. This is the Heir, come let us kill Him, and then the Inheritance (the Right to dispose the Kingdom) is ours. I cannot without horror mention it; And I pray God There be not too many amongst us who yet hold an Obedience not out of Conscience but Constraint or Outward Compliance, because They want opportunity to Resist. This is the sense of a great Leader in his time, who by occasion of that Text, Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities, replies, Tit. 3. 1. It was good Politic advice St. Paul gave for that time, The Christians were few and poor, had no power to do otherwise, Nor were Ripe for any other purpose. I give you his own words. Buchanan. de Jure Reg. Finge ad Christianos qui sub Turcis vivunt aliquem è nostris Doctoribus scribere, ad homines inquam Re tenues, Animo demissos, & Inermes & Paucos, et ad omnem omnium injuriam expositos, Quid rogo aliud consuleret quam quod Paulus Ecclesiae quae tum Romae erat? Strange kind of Men; who from such Principles as these scatter their Wildfire both from the Press and Pulpit, to inflame their abused Hearers, and Kindle that Combustion which by the Mercy of God hath been so newly quenched within this City, and indeed through the whole Kingdom (for it was a very diffusive Plott) And as it was one of the most Treacherous Designs wherewith these late Days of Mischief Teemed, so we have Cause to Multiply our Thanksgiving to God for the Timely Discovery and Defeat of it. The Apostle gives Them their proper Style, of Filthy Dreamers, fanatics and Enthusiasts who despise Dominions, and speak evil of Dignities, jud. ep. v. 8. whether in the State or in the Church. If any thing of Order, or Decency, or Settled devotion be offered to Them, They Cry out Popery and Superstition, with as much Noise and as Little Sense as Demetrius with his Fellow Craft-men did upon Diana at Ephesus: Act. 19 24. 28. And when you come to examine their dislike by sober Reason They can give as little account as They: The greater part whereof (The Text tells you) Knew not what They ailed, Vers. 32. why They came together, or why they made those hideous exclamations. Men who decry the Pope, yet Cry up Themselves into an Authority as great as His, Not only over the People but over the Prince, That declaim against the present Government to introduce a Worse of their own. judg. 9 15. As Abimelech, who was the Bramble in Jothani's Parable, invited All to Rest under his shadow,, which Could afford no Shelter but a Scratch: No Appeal lying from their Irregular Consistories but to Themselves, (I need not tell you who Proclaimed Assemblies to be the Supreme Indicatures in all Causes Ecclesiastical, Protestat. Jul. 1638. Proclaimed at Glasgow. some of those Heads are high enough now) By which means They so entangle Thofe who fly to Their perplexed Judicatures for Relief, that, like Sheep who in a Tempest run to the Briar for Protection, They Return with a lost Fleece and a Torn skin. But This is a Day of Good tidings, Conclusion. a Day of Comfort and Rejoicing. I will not therefore mingle any sharp Invective with it against Those who entertain it not with equal Duty or with the same affection as we do; Neither will I give a farther mention to These Discords which mar the Music of this Day, A day of Gods making, Psal. 118 24. Hic est Dies quem fecit Dominus: Nay, Hic est Dies in quô Dominus fecit Regem, This is the Day upon which God Made the King. This 29 th'. of May was the Happy Day of His Nativity, — Illa Sidus inocciduum perpetuum que dedit. On this Day did This Star arise in Our British Haemisphere, who shines the brighter by this Concurrence, this addition to our Happiness, That the Inauguration to His Life is now become the Solemn Inauguration to His Crown. A Day wherein we meet to offer up our Thanks to God that He is Come to His Throne whose Right it is; And Upon whom the Desire of All our Israel was set, 1 Sam. 9 20 as Samuel told the first Anointed King. To Offer up our hearty Prayers for the Continuance of this Triumph, That this Anniversary may long be celebrated by us; That the King may see a Revolution of many Sunshines like This: And that as it was made a solemn Decree in Israel to keep an Annual Mourning for the slain Josiah, 2 Chron. 35. 25. so it may pass among our Laws to hold this Day, as once the Feast of Purim in ester's time, Ester 9 24. in memory of our Deliverance from a Servitude, nay from a Massacre unto which we by Lot were destined. Especially for the Deliverance of our Sovereign from the hands of a Bloody Human now parched higher than the Gallows by Him prepared for others; And from the dangerous Votes of Those Miscreants who had Abjured His Right, to place it upon That Barrabas, who carries on him the perpetual Stamp of Sedition and Murder. Luc. 23. 19 To bless His Glorious Name that He hath preserved Him from foreign Attempts laid to Destroy Him during His Exile, and undertaken by such whose near Trust freed them from all suspect, As well as from Domestic Dangers after His Return. To Bless God who preserved Him that He might Come; And Bless him again That He is Come, Given to the Hearty Desires of His Loyal People. Finally, Ezra 6. 10. as Darius Commanded the Jews, To Pray for the Life of the King: And though at present I cannot say (as it there follows) To Pray for the King's Sons; Yet to Pray according to the Prospect our Hopes now have of that Happiness, That He may have Sons to be the Subject of our Prayers in the future, as Himself this Day is. That He may grow Old, Yet never superannuated in His Prosperity and Comforts; That God would add many Years unto His Life, Yea take from our years, who most gladly would spare them, to add unto His. De nostris Annis tibi Jupiter augeat Annos. That we may account our felicity involved and wrapped up in His; As Alexander's Army confessed, Quint. Cur●ius. Omnes unius Spiritu vivere, They were Spirited by Him. That as He is the Breath of our Nostrils, Lamen. 4. 20. so we take Care that no unwholesome Vapours, no seditious Damps be raised to annoy His Peace or offend Him. That God would place Him, as He promised Zerubbabel, Agge 2. 23. As a Signet upon his right hand; That He would own Him in all His undertake, as He did Zerubbabel that excellent Instrument of His Glory. What can I say more? Let me sum up all in that Eulogy, that Loyal Acclamation which Tertullian says the Roman People used to their Emperor, Tertullian. Vitam Prolixam, Apologet. cap. 35. Imperium Securum, Domum tutam, Exercitus fortes, Senatum fidelem, Populum probum, Orbem quietum: That God would Bless Him with a Long Life, A Secure Empire, A Safe Palace, A Valiant Army, A Faithful Counsel, A Contented People, and (if it be possible) Peace with all the World. Let God Hear and Grant these our Prayers, And let Those want the Comforts of Life and benefit of Prayer themselves, who do not Cordially and with all Loyalty of Soul say Amen to this Prayer. AMEN. FINIS.