A SERMON PREACHED On January 30th. 1683. IN Westminster-Abby, Before the REVEREND and HONOURABLE, the KING'S JUDGES, and Printed at their Request.  
By Edw. Pelling, Praebendary of Westminster, and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Somerset.  
Omnis quidem sub Rege & ipse sub nulló, sed tantùm sub Deo; non est inferior sibi Subjectis, non parem habet in Regno.  Bracton. l 1. c. 8. 
A Deo Rex, à Rege Lex.  
LONDON. Printed by H. Hills Jun. for William Abington, next Door to the Wonder Tavern in Ludgate-Street. 1684.   

To the Right Honourable Sir George Jefferyes, Knt. and Bar. Lord Chief Justice of England, and one of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy-Council.  
My Lord,  
I Do hearty wish, that your Lordship's desires had not been so Earnest and Pressing as they were, to have this Discourse made Public, which I assure Your Lordship was not in the least by me designed to be sent abroad into the World. Your Lordship knew those Obligations I lie under to Your Lordship as my Kind and Noble Friend, and the Principle I go upon of submitting to Authority; so that Your Lordship had me under a double tye, both of Gratitude and Obedience.  
I expect to bear a great many more hard Censures and Invectives for this, though I have done no more than what I think was my bounden Duty to do: But those things I have been so accustomed to hear, that I am now Clamour-proof; I had almost said, that mine Ears are somewhat like a Traitor's Conscience, past all feeling. But (if I may have leave to express my Real thoughts) I cannot but pity Your Lordship and your Reverend Brethren, for Causing this Sermon to be Printed; because hereby you have made it your own, and are Obliged in Honour to undertake for it, and to be my Defendants, if ever I should be Threatened to be brought upon my Knees, or to ho●● up my hand at the Bar for this, as I have been threatened formerly for things of the like Nature.  
And this I may think to be Security good enough. But the mischief is, that if ever tho●● Canicular days should come again, Your Lordships will be in greater Jeopardy than myself and then God help my Advocates as well 〈◊〉 Your Client.  
Let times be as it shall please God: It is, my Lord, your Honour that you are true to you● Duty; and it is my satisfaction, that I can in any thing Obey your Commands: And I do it with the more readiness, because it is observed how ready your Lordship and the rest of the Judges are to stand by the Interest of the Church, and upon all Occasions publicly to Vindicate the Honour and Integrity of the Conformable and Loyal Clergy.  
That the God of peace, for whom you Judge, will Vouchsafe to preserve you in your Great and Honourable Station, and support your Courage, and Bless your Labours in the Ministration of Justice, and Eternally Reward your Faithfulness to the King, to the Church, and to the whole Nation, is, My Lord, the hearty Prayer of  
Your Lordship's most Obliged, and Obedient Servant, Edw. Pelling.   
Rom. 13. 2. Whosoever therefore Resisteth the Power, Resisteth the Ordinance of God; and they that Resist, shall receive to themselves Damnation. 
WHen the Christian Religion began to be planted in the World, there were four very Evil Men, which in their turns Succeeded Augustus in the Roman Empire; Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, (the latter of whom was the Man, that raised the first Persecution against Christians.) I do not know, but the Providence of God might order it thus, that all men might have the most early notices of their Duty to Princes, and that together with the true Faith, they might receive the necessary Doctrines of due Obedience and Subjection, to their Lawful Governors, whether good or bad. It was under Tiberius that Christ (the Great Bishop of all our Souls) gave that Command of rendering to Caesar the things that were Caesar's, Matth. 22. 21. It was under Claudius, that St. Peter (the Great Apostle of the Jews) taught the dispersed Converts, to submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man, for the Lords sake; whether to the King as Supreme, or unto Governors sent by him, etc. 1 Pet. 2. And (as 'tis generally conceived) it was under Nero, that St. Paul (the great Apostle of the Gentiles) gave this so strict a charge: Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers: Because there is no Power but of God. Had not this thing been a prime part of the Christian Religion, we cannot conceive why such great care should have been taken to inform the whole World of it, especially in times which afforded not any common encouragements thereunto.  
Were it not a sad Truth, that some will believe no more of the Scriptures, than what serves their present Turn, we might wonder how 'tis possible for a Christian to be an Undutiful Subject. For, (as that great Christian, and Divine; the Learned and Incomparable Dr. Hammond) hath 
Of Resisting the Lawful Magistrate.  rightly observed; In the New Testament, especially in the Epistles of the Apostles, (which were all Written in time of the Reign of Wicked, Heathen, Bloody Adversaries of Christianity, and can refer to none but those) there is no one Christian Virtue, or Article of Faith more clearly delivered, more effectually enforced upon our Understandings and Affections, to be acknowledged by the one, and submitted to by the other, then that of Obedience unto Kings.  
So that it is not either Ignorance that can excuse, or any allowable principle of Christianity that can encourage Resistance; nor is it Zeal or Conscience that doth it, though that has been pretended by some puling and ill natured Hypocrites; but 'tis either an haughty and unmanageable Spirit, or an hankering after Spoil, or an Aching Tooth after Government, or a Furious Rage for disappointments, or Personal Spite, or hopes of Revenge, or the fear of Justice, or a Restless, Factious Humour, or direct devilishness and Atheism under the Bonnet of Religion; some or all these things have ever been the true causes of those Riots, which have been so Vexatious, so Fatal to Sovereign Powers: It being otherwise impossible, that Men whose Consciences are so Enlightened by Gods own Word; should be so Blind, Wicked and Foolhardy; as to Rise up against their Prince, at the manifest hazard of the Greatest and most Intolerable of all Evils: For that is the Rebel's portion, if St. Paul may be credited, That they who resist shall receive to themselves Damnation.  
Yet I do not intent to declaim, though the World might well bear with me, and with all others, should our mouths be full of the very Quintessence of bitterness; especially when we reflect upon that most Horrid and Execrable Murder, which was acted about this time upon the person of that Great Monarch and Martyr, of whom the World was not worthy, and perhaps will hardly ever see the like of him again. It would be a pitiful and woeful thing indeed, should not such a superlative piece of Villainy stir at least an honest man's Choler, and provoke him to spit some of it in the Rebel's face. I hope things will not come to that pass yet, but that we who then had not hands to rescue a good King's blood, may now be allowed the use of our Tongues to Revenge it, and I trust in God our honest Posterity will think so too.  
But I will charm myself, as much as 'tis possible, and instead of breaking out into such declamatory speeches as this occasion does justly require, I shall insist upon the natural Sense and Importance of my Text, and with what brevity I can, handle such truths as may be easily discovered by any Eye that is not bloodshot, or that doth not look asquint upon our Government.  
In order hereunto we are to note, 1. That by resistance here is meant in general all undutiful, disobedient and contumacious behaviour, and in particular all open, forcible and violent Opposition. 2. That by the Power in my Text is meant, not only the Governors' Authority, but the Governor himself, the Person of the Chief Magistrate who is vested with the Supreme Authority. This is well to be observed, because the Traitors of the late times proceeded upon a nice distinction between the King's Natural and Politic capacity, cheating the World into a belief, that his Power was Lodged not in his Person, but in the Two Houses of Parliament, and that 'twas not the Man in the Throne, but the Regal Authority which was virtually in the People, that was the thing sacred. According to this sophistical pretence, the King was against himself; and such as stood for him, were understood to Resist his Power in defending his Person: So that in the upshot 'twas his Majesty that was looked upon as the Traitor against the King, and they who destroyed him, did not destroy their Sovereign, but did only cut off Charles Stuart: No, the Rebellious Juncto at Westminster were (in their own Language) the Kings most dutiful and most Loyal Subjects, even when they pulled off his Crown, when one damned Faction held him by the Hair, and the other Godly Reprobates cut off his Head.  
After this rate was not the Apostle, a very Heterodox Malignant, an ill Commonwealths-man, in not dividing the King's Authority from his Person, but joining both together? For he calls the Person of Nero, and other Prince's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Supreme, or Highest Powers, v. 1. And by his following discourse 'tis plain, that by the Power he doth mean the Person of the Magistrate that is in Chief, the person that presideth over all, the person that is the Head of a Nation. For at the 3d. 4th. and 6th. Verses he calls him expressly the Ruler, the Minister of God, the man that beareth the Sword, the Revenger▪ pointing all along to the person himself, that is to receive Tribute, to the person that is God's Substitute and Deputy, to the person that is to praise them that do well, and Execute wrath upon evil-doers. Shall I take leave to give you a paraphrase upon my Text? Why, you shall have it, not out of any single Commentator that may be looked upon as an Arbitrary or Prerogative man, or onePopishly affected, but out of an honest Statute of this Realm, which makes St. Paul's Divinity to be Law too; the Act declares, That it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever, to take Arms against the King, and that the Position of taking Arms by the King's Authority against his Person, or against those that are commissionated by him, is a Traitorous Position. Nay, there is another very significant word yet, which commands every Subject to be an Abhorrer in this point, for faith the Law, it is a Traitorous position, to be Abhorred.  
The Text being thus opened, there are three grand Truths which it offers to every man's conscience, and which cannot but stare in that Rebel's face, whose conscience ●s not seared with an hot Iron, though I think, there are few Rebels in the Land whose consciences are not feared to a very Crust.  
1. That the Supreme Power, or the Authority which is seated in the King's Person, is the Ordinance of God himself.  
2. That because the King is Gods own Minister, ordained Supreme by his Commission, no man must dare upon pain of Damnation, to use any violence against him.  
3. That considering what Princes were, who were the Supreme Powers in St. Paul's time, it is by no means lawful to resist even wicked and Heathen Kings. And when these truths are a little laid open, Duty and Allegiance will further oblige us all to consider the sin of the Day.  
1. First, That the Supreme Power, or the Authority which is seated in the King's Person, is the Ordinance of God himself: Whosoever resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, saith the Apostle: And so this point passed all along uncontradicted through all Ages, till some counted it 〈◊〉 greater virtue to be Politicians, then to b● Honest; I do not know one Christian Writ for 1600 years together, who ever denye● that the Power of the Civil Magistrate is of Divine Institution; though Jure Divino is now looked upon by some either, Fanciful or Ill Men, as a betraying of the People's Liberties and Rights. And yet doth not the Apostle positively tell us, that there is no power but of God? v. 1. And to prevent a mistake; for fear we should interpret this of God's Permission only, he tells us in the next breath, that the Powers that be, are Ordained of God: And that is much more than Permission. He hath permitted Oppressors and Usurpers, bradshaw's, Cromwel's, and such like Excrements of Nature: But he never appointed, or Ordained them as he doth every Lawful Prince. No; the Commission, the Authority of a Lawful Prince is from above; so that he is, Homo à Deo secundus, & quicquid est à Deo consecutus, & Solo Deo minor, as Tertullian (and all Christians then) believed; a Man next unto God, holding all his Regalities of God, Inferior to God alone. And indeed how could St. Paul call Kings, the Ministers of God (as he doth Thrice for failing, in 2. Verses of this Chapter) were not the Authority of Kings by Divine Right, or Designation? All the Apostles expressions are so clear, so significant, so full on the King's behalf, that I should be loath to see the Tithe of so much, for a Chairman in a Commonwealth, or for a Parish Pope, or for a Lay-Elder: Nay, did the Scriptures speak but the Hundred part so much on their side, what a Noise, and Dust should we have about Jus Divinum then?  
Many men do not understand what we mean, when we say that this or that thing is de Jure Divino: many dangerous and mischievous Errors have been occasioned through men's Ignorance in this particular. Therefore for the right understanding of this matter, we must know that a thing may be said to be Jure Divino either in a strict, or in a larger sense.  
1. In a strict sense, when we find it in the Word of God to be Ordained by such an express Command, as that the neglect thereof becometh Sinful. Now when we speak of the Divine Right of Monarchy, we do not mean that God did institute it so, by his Express Command, as if all other Forms of Government were absolutely Unlawful, or as if it were unlawful for a Monarch to Contract his Power, or set Limits to himself in the Use and Exercise of his Power. No; Princess may tie up their own hands themselves, though it be not Lawful for their Subjects to force Manacles upon them: Kings may Abate much of their Greatness, if they will: 'tis lawful for them to do it pro re natâ, though it be Impolitic and Unsafe for them and for their Subjects too, to do so at every Turn. Therefore there is no ground for those Odious and Base Reflections which of late have been made upon the honest Clergy of this 
See Mr. Hunt's Postscript,  Church, as if they were Friends to Arbitrary Power, and Tyranny, and the like, for asserting the King's Power to be of Divine Original. These are Lewd and Unjust censures: But so it is, that if any dirt can be raked out of the Kennel, the Clergy shall be sure to have store of it thrown upon their Faces.  
2. A thing is said to be Jure divino in a Larger sense.  
1. When the Scriptures declare it to be Ordained of God, though we cannot show the Original Command, or the precise time of its Institution:  
2. Or Secondly, when we have strong and highly Probable Reasons to believe it (though there were no Declarations on that behalf.)  
1. Partly from the great Congruity of the thing, by reason whereof it seems to be Morally and Humanely Necessary;  
2. Partly from several Insinuations in Scripture, which render the thing very Credible:  
3. And partly from the General practice of all Mankind, who would not (as we can suppose) have consented in the Universal Observation of the thing, had not God given some Law or other for it in the beginning.  
Now then to apply this matter to our present purpose;  
1. Those places of Scripture which I have alleged already, do abundantly declare, that the King hath his Power and Authority from God. And this is enough to satisfy any Sober Man, who hath any Reverence for the Scripture, that Kingly Government was instituted by God (as the best of Governments) though we could not Trace the Institution of it clearly to the Fountain Head. For in a matter of so Remote Antiquity, it is not easy to Salve all doubts, or to take away all occasion of Cavil from every Witty and Inquisitive Sophister. As long as God hath declared, that King's Reign by Him, 'tis Reasonable for us to rest in that, should we not be able to answer that Impudent Question, which hath been asked us of Late, Where is the Charter for Kings? 'Tis in the Bible, we see: And that must satisfy me, though I could not tell when, or where, or how it was first Signed.  
2. But then, 2ly. It hath been found by the certain Experience of all Ages, that Monarchy is so Excellent, so Incomparably beyond all other Forms, so useful for the Ends of Government, and in many Cases so extremely necessary for the public Good; that 'tis reasonable to conclude from the very Congruity of the thing, that Kings were Ordained of God; because 'tis Reasonable to believe, that in the Beginning God did Order every thing for the Best, did Institute that Government which is most for the good of Prince and People too, and made the World for us all not to plague one another, but to be Happy in, as long as we stay in it.  
3. Besides this, Thirdly, the Scripture gives us such plain, such pregnant Insinuations touching matter of Fact in this point, as do abundantly justify the Jus Divinum of Regal power, to be no Idle, no Groundless Notion. Go to the Creation, and you will find, that God Invested Adam with a plenitude of power over all Creatures, over his very Wife, and by consequence over all her Issue.  
This the Apostle calleth, a Law 1. Cor. 14 34. and as the Law which God gave to all his Works was to hold and last to the World's End; so this Law touching Superiority and Subjection under one person, seems as if it was intended to continue, and to descend from Father to Son by Right of Primogeniture. And this I take to have been the True Reason of that deadly Quarrel which Cain had against his Righteous Brother. When he saw that God had a particular respect to Abel and his Offerings, he was afraid lest Abel should go away with the Regal power; and so he contrived to be rid of him, not so much out of Envy, as out of Ambition, for fear he should lose his Birthright. To quiet his mind as to that, God told him, that if he did well, he should have the Excellence; that his Brothers desire should be subject unto him, and that he should Rule over him (which was the very Form of words, whereby the Protoplast was invested with Authority over his Wife.) And St. Chrysoston Rightly observes, that though God was displeased with Cain, yet he did not presently deprive him of his just Authority and power, but allowed him still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Privileges of Primogeniture.  
Thus it was in the Times before the 
Primo geniti per Patris aut Mortem aut absentiam, paternam quodammòdo auctoritatem in fratres habebant: Sed hoc jus Peccato amitti poterat. Gr●t. Annot. ad Gen. 4. 7.  Flood: Right of Dominion was ordered by God to Descend by Inheritance; and so it did actually descend, where God himself did not cut off that Right which he had given, for some Important Reasons.  
In the times after the Flood, Government went in the same Channel. So Reuben was called the Excellency of Dignity, and the Excellency of Power, because he was the Firstborn. And Esau should have been a Lord and Prince over Jacob, had he not Sold his Birthright; and because he Sold it, he is called a Profane person for Selling that which was not his own; it was a Sacred thing, a Donative from God; therefore he was Cursed for Selling it for a mess of Pottage.  
But here we must note, that when Families increased, so that they were forced to part into several Colonies for want of Room; by the grant and Donation of the Father each Son became a distinct Prince, having a distinct Empire over his own Family; and by such Divisions and Subdivisions it came to pass, that so many Monarchies were set up in the World in a short time. Hence it was that Nimrod had a Kingdom of his own: And the Scripture calls him a Mighty Hunter, not because he was a Monarch, but because he was a Violent Encroacher; because not content with his own Empire, he Invaded the Rights and Royalties of others, who were Sovereign's within their Territories, as well as himself. Hence it is too, that upon that 
●ee Mr. Med●s ●iatrib. in Gen. 10.  Orderly dispersion of the Sons of Noah, the whole Earth was by degrees divided into a great many Kingdoms; so that of Noah, Issue there were I know not how many Kings in a short time. They were divided after their Tongues, after their Families, after their Generations, in their several Nations and Countries, as the Scripture often tells us, Gen. 10. Thus all the Monarchies in the World were Founded; not by People's choosing their Leaders and Governors, but by Princes going out with their Respective Families, and using a Sovereign Power over them, pursuant to God's Institution and Ordinance, that the Head and Chief of a Family should have Dominion and Authority over the rest.  
Hence also it was, that we read of Twelve Princes out of the Loins of Ishmael; and of several Dukes which Sprang out of the Loins of Esau. For every Head of a Distinct Great Family was by the Divine appointment a King in his Nation; and his Kingdom was of greater or less Extent, as his Family was more or less Numerous. And hence, lastly, it was, that we Read of many Kingdoms in one Country (as in Canaan, for Instance) because their Territories were according to their Numbers: So that Anciently Principalities were but small, till by the Union of many Great Families (either by Conquest and Force, or by Voluntary Submission) Great Monarchies and Empires came to be Erected.  
4. And this brings me to the last Observable, to prove the Jus Divinum of Kingly Power; viz. The Universal practice of all Nations. For nothing can be more plain, than that Kingly Government was the only Government (we know of) in the whole World for some Thousand Years together. The Greeks were under Monarches all along, till such a Frenzy possessed some of them, as hath possessed some Bedlams among us, to change their Old Government for a New nothing: But their Madness did cost them very dear in the End; they were Undone and Ruined by it, as we should soon be by our Innovations. In the most Ancient Times there was no such thing as an Aristocratick or Democratick State: And the Reason why the Jews would needs have a King (though thy were under a Theocracy) was, because they would not be Singular; therefore they would have a King to Judge them, as all the Nations (all other Nations) had, 1 Sam. 8. 5. Now, Lex currit cum praxi; the Universal Practice of the World is a strong argument to prove, that there was some Antecedent Law, which (as they supposed) did lay some Obligation upon them; because people are not very forward to fall under Government of themselves (supposing them to be in a State of Liberty:) Nor is it conceivable that all Men in the World should be of one mind, or that one Form of Government should please all; especially that Government which is in the hands of one Man: We may as soon believe, that all parts of the World did fall asleep at once, and then all on a sudden did awake into so many Form and Settled Monarchies.  
By this time, I hope, it doth appear, that there are stronger Reasons for the Doctrine of the Jus Divinum of Regal Power, then that it should be looked upon as a State Heresy of a Modern date, and of dangerous Consequence. The sutableness thereof to Humane necessities, the Concurrence of Scripture-history, which doth plainly Insinuate the Institution, the Original, the Usage of Monarchical Dominion, together with the Suffrages of all Mankind, who for a long Tract of Ages submitted unto it, as if it were Entailed upon them from the beginning: All this, I say, doth clearly argue as well the Truth as the Reason of this Proposition, that the King's power is God's Ordinance.  
Which serves also to baffle those Wild and groundless conceits which our Republican Spirits are so very fond of; that there was once a State of Nature, wherein all Mankind were Free, under their own Power, and at their own choice, whether they would have Government or no Government; and whether they would have this Form or another. These and the like are no other than the Lewd and Idle conceits of Factious Brains: For there never was such a State of Nature, but in the Imagination of such Brainsick Men who have fancied a World in the Moon: Whosoever has come out of the Womb hath been Born under Government; nay, under Kingly Government, till Rebellion, or Faction, or the Love of Novelty altered the Natural and Regular course of affairs. I do not blame Aristotle, and other Old Infidels, for not hitting well upon the True Original of Government, considering they were not well acquainted with the Scriptures, but spoke for the most part by guess.  
But I wonder at the confidence of Hobbs and other such Modern Politicians (though in truth even they are for the most part Infidels too) for talking so idly and unphilosophically, as that Kings have their Authority by Compact and Covenant, and the pleasure of the people; so that they may Crown them, or Un-king them, as they think fit; Doctrines, which cost King Charles the 1st, of Blessed Memory, no less than his Crown and his Head too. Whereas! for many Ages after the Creation, Regal Authority descended by Inheritance; and as Nature gave a Man the Fatherhood, so the Authority which went along with it, was God's Donative; people did no more choose their Kings, than Children do choose their Fathers. As for Commonwealths, and Aristocracies and Elective States, the World formerly was unacquainted with them; nay the very Names of them were unknown: No, they are only so many Usurpations, Degenerate and Bastard sorts of Government: The Monarchical Form as it is far the best, so 'tis incomparably the Oldest, and of Gods own Institution: The rest are but Upstarts and Mushrooms of yesterday in comparison; and I think, 'tis nothing but the necessities of some few places in the World, that makes them either Tolerable or Lawful.  
2. I have done with the first point, That the King's Power is God's Ordinance, and it brings me to the 2d, That because the King is Gods own Minister, Ordained Supreme by his Commission, no man must dare upon pain of Damnation, to use any Violence against him, they that Resist, shall receive to themselves Damnation. For, if God will Judge the Open and the Secret Actions of men according to the Gospel, and reward every man according to his Works, what less can the bold Rebe● expect, than the Severities of Judgement, that presumes in spite of all the Out-cries of Conscience, to act that which is so contrary to the Ends of Government; so Reproachful to the Gospel, so repugnant to the Spirit of its Author and its Laws? Did not Christ suffer for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps? 1 Pet. 2 21. Did not his Peaceable and Submissive deportment all along Teach us, that all Undutifulness and Violence must be utterly forborn? Did he not pay Caesar his Tribute with a plain command that every Disciple of his should pay him his due? Did he not Rebuke those, who would have called for Fire upon the Heads of the Samaritans? Did he not recommend to us the Practice of his Humility, Meekness, and Patience under the Cross? Was he not angry with Peter for drawing his Sword upon the Chief-Priests Servants? Did he not own pilate's Power to have been from above? Did he not submit to it, when he had at his Command 12 Legions of Angels? Did not every Instance of his Life show us, that 'tis better far to Die, then to Resist? Why, this was Christ's Religion; and this is Christianity, that we should be Conformed to the Image of Christ, Rom. 8. 29. That's the Substance, the Power, the Life of Christianity: That's the business and Office of every Christian: And though Men please themselves with other popular Names, and call themselves the only true Catholics on the one hand, and the only true Protestants on the other; yet as long as they are Disloyal on either hand; as long as they are Gunpowder Catholics, or Cutthroat True Protestants; as long as they shoot at Government either with Bulls, or with Ordinances, as long as Consults or Covenants are in Fashion with them, and the King cannot be safe for them neither in the Field, nor at Home; as long as they Act after this Devilish rate, they do but abuse themselves into a State of Damnation, for all their fine Names; they ought not to be called Christians; or if they will wrongfully Usurp that Name too, there are as good Christians as they with Korah and Judas; and I had rather be a mere Philosopher, or an honest Heathen, than such a Christian.  
And doth not the Gospel strictly Command us, not to Strive, not to Resist Evil, but to be Charitable, Patiented and Peaceable, to obey Magistrates, to Honour the King, to Submit to our Rulers, to be Quiet, to do our own Business, and to be subject for Conscience sake? many Commands more we meet with up and down which hollow the Authority, and immure the Throne of the Chief Magistrate. And doth not my Text award Damnation to every Rebel? Why, one would think, that such Men did use some other Gospel, since they have no benefit by this, nothing but Damnation by the Gospel of Christ. Certainly they have a Gospel by themselves; Evangelium Armatum, a Gospel that is covered in Armour and dipped in Blood: For by ours, there is no Salvation for them, without such a Stinging Repentance as St. Paul describes in 2 Cor. 7. 11.  
But I shall not need to proceed further upon the proof of this Matter, because the clearing of the 3d. Point will serve à Fortiori to confirm this. Only give me leave, before I come to it, to note how the Apostle in my Text doth Limit Nonresistance. He forbids Resistance against the Governor in Chief, against him that is the Fountain of all Authority in the Kingdom. Let every Soul be Subject (but) to the Higher (that is, to the bighest, or Supreme) Powers. And so in my Text, he that Resisteth the Power, meaning the same Power, that is the Power, the Authority, the Magistrate that is over all: Whether it be King as Supreme, saith St. Peter, 1 Pet. 2. 13. Supremacy was in the Crown in those days; there the Highest Power is Lodged, and that is the Power we must be subject unto for Conscience sake. Other Usurping and pretending Powers Men may be forced sometimes to be subject unto upon pain of Plunder and Sequestration; but the Supreme Power, the King is he, whom we must not Resist upon pain of Damnation. There is in every Kingdom the Supreme, and a Subordinate Magistracy. So St. Peter doth distinguish between the King that is Supreme, and Governors that are sent by Him. The King is God's Representative, other Subordinate Governors are the King's: And as long as those Governors' Act Regularly, and according to their Commission, they are to be obeyed too. But I will speak a blunt Truth, whatever be the Issue of it, should our Nation be so unhappy again as it was in 42. when Inferior (or rather, Usurping) Powers forsook their Allegiance, Levied a War, Raised Arms, Issued out Commissions, and turned the points of their Swords against the Supreme (and only Lawful) Power, it would be not only allowable and Lawful, but 'twould be the People's Duty, and in point of Conscience a necessary Duty to Resist such Power even unto Blood, though Ten Thousand Houses of Parliament (were there so many) should pretend to it.  
Perhaps I might have spared that Hint in this Age, when our former sufferings on each side, should be enough (one would think) to make all Men Wise, and for their Interest (if not for Conscience) sake to be Dutiful for the Future. But I could not balk it well, without baulking something in my Text which forbiddeth all Resistance against the Supreme or Sovereign Power.  
3. That Power is privileged from all Resistance, though the King should happen to be a Wicked, or an Heathen Prince; which is the 3d. and last point, and it is concluded from the Consideration of what those Princes were, when the Apostles were planting Christianity: For when St. Peter wrote his First Epistle, wherein he Charged Christians to Submit to the King as Supreme, and unto Governors, his Ministers of State, Christians were so hardly dealt with, that they were forced to Flee up and down into places where they could best shift, into Pontus, Galatia, and divers Provinces more, as we find at the beginning of that Epistle. And Claudius himself, who probably was Emperor at that Time, was a Man of a Cruel disposition, Zealous for Heathenish Idolatry, Severe to all of a Foreign Religion, so that he would not suffer the Jews to meet together (saith Dio;) and at last he Expelled the whole Body of Jews out of Rome (Believers, and Unbelievers too,) and that upon Christ's account, saith Suetonius, such was the Emperor, and such were his Ministers, that they would not allow Christians neither the exercise of their Religion, nor the Liberty of their Native Countries, nor the protection of their own Houses; and yet, both Claudius and his Deputies must be submitted unto. After Claudius immediately came Nero to be Emperor: A man called a Lion by St. Paul himself, because he was of a Savage and ferine mind, especially after he had got a taste of Blood (that I may save Seneca's credit in his Book de Clementià:) A Man that killed his Tutor after all his Courtship of him; that dispatch his Wife and Ripped open the Bowels of his Own Mother. A man that had a spite against every thing that was Good (saith Tertullian,) and that some Christians took to have been the Antichrist spoken of. For he was the Man that raised the first of the Ten Famous and General Persecutions, that inflicted punishments upon Christians, saith Suetonius; put them to the most exquisite Torments, saith Cornelius Tacitus. For he Crucified some, and others he Burned. And as before, he set Fire on Rome, that he might please himself with the Resemblance of the Burning of Troy, so after that he burnt Christians in huge Heaps and Piles, that the light of the Fires might direct Passengers in dark Nights (saith the Historian:) and not content with all this Cruelty, many Christians he dressed up in the Skins of Wild Beasts, that they might be Torn in pieces by Dogs, as the same Tacitus Relates further. It was in the Reign of this Monster of Men, that St. Paul lived, by this Token, that he caused that Apostle himself to be Beheaded; and it was in the 2d. Year of Nero (as 'tis probably conjectured by Baronius out of Origen) that St. Paul wrote this Epistle to the Christians in and about the Imperial City: And though St. Paul knew enough of the Man already, and the Spirit of God foresaw a great deal more, yet you see what was written touching Subjection even to him (who was a shame to all Princes) even this, Let every Soul be subject to the Highest Powers; for there is no Power but of God: The Powers that be, are Ordained of God: Whosoever therefore Resisteth the Power, Resisteth the Ordinance of God, and they that Resist shall receive to themselves Damnation.  
Against this that hath been spoken there is one popular objection which I must take notice of, and it is this: That where a Kingdom hath adopted the True Religion, so that it is Established by public Authority (as God be Blessed it is in this Kingdom) and the Laws of the Country are on its side, there Resistance is not unlawful, if a Prince doth endeavour the Destruction or Alteration of the True Faith.  
In answer hereunto these things in short are to be considered.  
1. First that the true Religion was Established in the Jewish State by the Municipal Laws of that Nation, and that by the Authority of God himself and yet, though several Kings did attempt the introduction of Idolatry, nay did actually introduce it, the Jews Resisted not nevertheless, and if they had Resisted, such Resistance had been sinful notwithstanding.  
2. It is very hard and unjust, that Prince's Favours should be made use of against themselves, that their Prerogatives should be prejudiced for their having received the Faith, and for the Kindnesses they have showed to the Church of Christ. Because Constantine was a Zealous Protector of the true Religion, it would have been highly Unreasonable, should this have redounded to the Violation of the Imperial Dignity of his Son Constantius. The Primitive Christians had the Laws of Constantine on their side: And yet they did not think Resistance Lawful, though the Son was an Enemy to that Faith, of which the Father was the Defender.  
3. No Laws ought to be pleaded beyond their plain Design and Meaning. Now the intent of our Laws is to secure our Religion against Schismatics, and Heretics; but not to Arm Subjects against their Prince. For the same Laws which are the Stabiliment of the Church, do manifestly and Roundly declare all Resistance to be unlawful and Treasonable, and do Agnize the power of the Sword to be in the King, and in the King only: So that no Law is on our side as to matter of Resistance.  
4. Should our Laws be so bad, as to allow of Resistance in some Cases, yet this could be no Bar against the Laws of God which forbidden Resistance in all Cases. For it is not in the power of men to give us leave to Sin; nor can any Humane Authority give us the liberty whether we will obey the Commands of Christ or no. I may not in any wise Hurt my Prince, had I his own leave for it, because the King of Kings hath commanded me under pain of his high displeasure to do the Contrary.  
5. Nay I will be bold to say, in the last place that supposing Lawgivers should be so Impolitic as under pain of Death to require, and by a Form Law to command us to Resist the Sovereign power, it ought not in any wise to be done however. For it is a standing Rule in Christianity, that Authority is not to be obeyed in things that are Unlawful, now Resistance is simply and in its own Nature Sinful; and all Casuists will tell us, that rei illicitae nulla est obligatio, an Unlawful Command cannot bind, unless it be to Sufferings; such a command would be Null and Void of itself; the matter of a Law sometimes taking off its Obligation, when 'tis contrary to the Laws of God and Nature; and such would a Law for Resistance be, should the Authority of the whole Kingdom consent to it.  
I have done now with the Consideration of my Text, and come at length to the day: but am at a great loss, how or where to begin, or in what Language to express my Sense of that Superlative Villainy Acted at this time; which hath stained the Consciences of Rebels with Blood, which hath died the Faces of all Christians with shame, which hath brought upon all English Men a perpetual Reproach, which was an astonishment to all Nations, a blow to all Thrones, a wound to the hearts of all Princes, a Contumely to Heaven, and such an horrid Affront to the great God, that I am afraid, whatsoever Judgements and Plagues we have laboured under since, or do labour under still, have fallen upon our Heads as the Returns of that Cry, with which the Sacred Blood of the Lords Anointed, his late Majesty, went up to Heaven. I pray God our Land may be once throughly cleansed from the Gild of it. The Blood of Christ can, and nothing but Christ's own blood can purge us. And I am of the opinion, that if the blood of any Prince or Martyr could be so valuable and precious, as never to be atoned for in this World, it would be that Royal, that Sacred, that Innocent blood, which was so barbarously shed upon the Earth, as at this time.  
As often as I cast my thoughts upon the consideration of this most Horrid Fact, I cannot but think on those Memorable words of David, to the Amalekite upon the death of Saul. Part of the whole Story we have in 2 Sam. 1. Saul indeed had killed himself with his own Sword, at least, had given himself his Deaths-wound. This Amalekite took off the Crown from his Head, and the Bracelet from his Arm, and brought both unto David, pretending that he had slain Saul. Very probable it is, that he hoped for some good reward at David's Hands (which has sometimes been the Traitor's Fortune;) and he was the first I read of, that counted King killing a Meritorious Act: But instead of reaping his expected Booty he obtained not so much as a Para●●, but received his Final and deserved Doom. David stood amazed and astonished at the Villainy How wast thou not afraid (saith he) to▪ stretch forth thine hand, to destroy the Lords Anointed? 2 Sam. 1. 14. It was a Formidable and dreadful Crime in David's account: And yet there are some Circumstances in that Story, which those Accursed Regicides in 48 would have used to have Justified their Fact, had the Case then been Parallel. For first, as for this Villain; he was no Jew, nor, (by what we find of him) any sworn Subject of saul's: I am, saith he▪ the Son of a Stranger, an Amalekite, v. 13. 2ly, as for Saul Himself, he was a Man that had been Rejected of God for his Disobedience: A Man full of spite and causeless Revenge; a Man so wicked, as that he consulted with the Devil, when he applied himself to the Witch at End or? And yet for all this you see, David called him the Lords Anointed. Besides, he was a Man so implacably set against David in particular, that he pursued him like a Partridge upon the Mountains, and would gladly have been at any Labour or Ghost to have made him away▪ notwithstanding all his Honourable Achievements even for saul's sake. Nevertheless though David was sure to▪ Succeed him 〈◊〉 in the Throne, and so was little Concerned (in comparison) in point of Interest, either to have spared him himself, or to have Revenged his Blood being shed by another; yet be did not only himself let him go, when he had him in his Power (nay, his Heart smote him, when he only cut off the skirt of his Mantle,) but as soon as this Amalekite had owned that he had slain him, he strait ordered him to be Executed, with these upbraiding and wrathful words▪ How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lords Anointed?  
And what a fearful sin was that then▪ which was at this time acted? 1. By persons, that were the King's Natural and Born▪ Subjects, Members and Children, as it were, of his Family; such as he had a natural interest in, such as lay under all those obligations, which God and Nature ever laid upon Men, to Obey and Honour, to Revere and Love the great and common Father of the Country, who was no more accountable to his Subjects, than Parents are punishable by those of their own . So that the sin of this day was not only Murder, but Parricide too. A crime, which the very Heathens of old did not dream, that it could enter into any Man's thought to meditate, therefore neither Numa nor Solon made any Laws against it. But when Hostius and Malleolus had once taken the heart to kill their Parents, than it was provided, that all such Unnatural Wretches (or Brutes rather) should be burnt alive, or drowned in the Sea with Dogs, or be cast to the wild Beasts, or be tumbled headlong from the top of some tugged Precipice. And yet, Secondly, besides these natural obligations, there were voluntary and Adventitious ones, which those persons laid themselves under; the most sacred ties in the World, and therefore called the Oaths of God; I mean the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, which no Man can break, but must be in danger of Hellfire. We thought once, that the devilish stratagem of dispensing with Oaths, and of Absolving Men from their Allegiance, had been the work of the Pope only; to prove whom to be Antichrist, one of the best Arguments is this, that he exalteth himself above all that is called God, that is, above the Kings of the Earth.  
But it seems, some who were great pretending Enemies to Popery▪ could Dispense with themselves, and Absolve themselves, and that at a cheaper rate too: So that in spite of Honour, Nature, Religion, and all the most strict and inviolable bands upon the Conscience, they took the unparallelled boldness, not only to invade his Prerogative, to divest him of his Regalities, and to number him among Traitors (even beneath themselves, the very Worst and Rankest of all Traitors,) but after they had cut off his Locks, and taken off his Crown, they proceeded yet further, even to stretch forth their hands to destroy the Life of Gods Anointed, than which nothing under Heaven could be secured with a more sacred Fence.  
And yet behold a greater than Saul was here: A Prince, for Intellectual and Moral virtues, for Natural and Acquired accomplishments, for Wisdom, Eloquence, and all kinds of Literature, for his sincere Piety, for his Christian and well-governed Zeal; for his Exemplary Temperance, for his Unspotted Chastity, for his Invincible Patience, for his Inexhaustible Clemency, for the Tenderness and Compassions of his Heart, for his most Condescending and Gracious Spirit, for his Love to God, to his People, to the Church, for his Courage, Constancy, and singular Christian Charity even to his Enemies, and to his last breath; for all necessary and admirable Endowments, becoming a Man, a Christian, a King, a Martyr, he was a Prince by the confession of the World so Heroic, Singular, and Incomparable, that even a Romish Priest gave this character of him, that he was the greatest of Men and of Kings, nisi quod Haereticus, only he was an▪ Heretic (in their account,) that is, in truth, he proved a Defender, Reigned a Confessor, Lived a Sufferer, and Died a Martyr for the True, Ancient, Catholic and Apostolic Faith and Government of Christ's Church.  
The whole and only design of this Discourse is, to make Men throughly sensible of the Foul and Horrid nature of this days sin; that if any chance to hear me, who were either Actors, or Accesseries in it they▪ may join with us in such) a sincere and hearty sorrow for the Excerable Murder, as may both answer the ends of all those judgements which we have already felt; and may be a means to prevent those further Scourges which we have reason yet to Fear.  
Before God and the World I confess myself abundantly satisfied, that Popish Jesuits were in that Horrid Plot, to execute which some Protestant Jesuits were the Instruments and Hands. That Roman Priest and Confessor is known, (saith my Author) 
Answer to Philanax, p. 58.  who when he saw the fatal stroke given to our Holy King, flourished with his Sword, and said, now the greatest Enemy that we have in the World is gone: And when the news of that Horrible Execution came to Rouen some Jesuited persons there told a Protestant Gentleman (of good credit) that now they were Revenged upon the King of England, for not re-establishing the Catholic Religion: And much more to the same effect we have in the answer to Phila●a●.  
But yet it is too too manifest, who they were and what they professed, who were the actual Regicides. And I will take this just occasion from hence to warn all well meaning persons who profess the Reformed Religion, that they take great care, how they suffer themselves to be Abused for the future, or be drawn into the guilt of Disloyalty or Resistance. For I am persuaded, when our late troubles were upon breaking out, many (even Hot) Men did not look as far as the Scaffold, or dream that it would be built for the King at his own Palace door, but would have abhorred the very thoughts and suspicion of it. Many specious and popular pretences ran up and down the Kingdom, and those set on foot by the Jesuits themselves; that innovations crept into the Church, that the Prelates were Popishly-affected, that there was great danger of Arbitrary Power, and the like. All the Histories of those times do bear witness to the truth of this. But would to God all Sober and Honest Men would consider, whither those things came at last. Did they not end in the slaughter of the best of Kings? Was not that the Period and sad conclusion of all? Did not all the clamours and strive of the people end in that? all actions & proceed, however otherwise intended by some; all was at last unhappily Sealed up▪ with that blood, which ever since has cried aloud for Vengeance upon this Nation. Men ought to be careful and wary for the future, and endeavour to choke the beginnings of Mischief.  
For if once the bank be cut, who can tell how far the Deluge will run? In the late times, it was not the First Intentions, but the subsequent designs of Men, which took place so, that after the effusion of so much Heroic, Noble, and at last Royal Blood too, God plagued people straight for their First Resistance; he suffered the Basest of Men to ride over our backs; he brought us under the very Faeces and Scum of the Nation; and permitted such to be our Lords, as a Man of Honour would have disdained to have set with the Dogs of his flock, as the expression is, Job 30. 1. And what was the end of this? Why, nothing but Tyranny, Hypocrisy, and Oppression. To uphold Religion they introduced Atheism: To promote Arbitrary Power they banished our Laws; and to preserve our Liberties, they made us Slaves, and the very worst of Slaves, Slaves to the vilest of our Fellow-subjects. In a word; it may deserve to be considered, whether all those grievances which People have complained of all along under the Kings of England (putting them all together) since the Conquest, do amount to half the value and number of those Cruelties, Miseries, and Oppressions, which within the compass of a few years were brought upon us, by those few Carrion Members, of that one Rakehell Parliament of cursed Memory.  
Thus it is, when Men will be Arbitrary, and despise the Laws. To affirm (saith my Author) that the King's Power is separable from his Person, is High Treason by the Law of this Land. And he observes out of the case of the two Spencers in the Reign of Edw. 2. that to cover their Treason, they went upon three principles; 1st. That if the King do not demean himself by Reason in the right of his Crown, his Subjects are bound by Oath to remove him. 2ly. That seeing the King could not be reform by suit at Law, that aught to be done by Force. 3ly. That his Liege's are bound to govern in aid of him, and in default of him. Jenkins Rediu. Vindic. Pag. 74.  
These Principles were condemned as Execrable and Detestable by two several Parliaments in those days: And yet these were the Fundamental Principles on which that Lewd and Profligate Party did rely in 41. Then, what had been adjudged to be Execrable before, passed for Law and for Gospel too: Then Treason was their Conscience, Resistance was their Creed, V●●es and Ordinances their Magna Charta, the Sword was their Judge, and hence it followed, that so many of the Representatives of our Nation was our greatest Grievance.  
God would not stay till Doomsday to reckon with us; but his Judgements pursued us close at heels: We had Wormwood for loathing Manna, and a Yoke of Bondage upon us, for a Stubborn and Ungovernable humour under a Light hand.  
This was part of our Reward in this World; and should God add weight to our Burden yet, Rebellious people must confess (if they will ever speak Truth in earnest) that they have deserved the most intolerable of all Evils▪ if our Apostle be in the night, that They that Resist, shall receive to themselves Damnition.  
To prevent the Execution of this sad sentence, 〈◊〉 all such as have a Real and True value of their Souls, and desire to live so in this world, as not to he miserable in another, let such account Subjection to the King, both an Honourable and a Necessary part o● Religion, and not suffer themselves either to b● wheadled out of their Loyalty by Flatteries, or to 〈◊〉 husst out of it by Fears. Methinks 'tis something odd, that when we all agree in the Premises, we should differ in the Conclusion. That Kings ought to be submitted unto, is a Truth assented to by all sober Christians in the World; This is owned in general. The mischief is, that when we come to Particulars (whether Things or Persons) either prejudice, or passions, or interests of Men, start Evasions, and Conditions, which were never heard of in the World among Christians before. Some are for the King, as long as he is Rich, Powerful, and able to maintain their Interest; that's the Loyalty of the Leviathan. Others stick to him, as long as he sticks to their Religion; that is, the Loyalty of the Conclave, and the Kirk. But the Faith of the Church of England is this (which I am sure is consonant to the universal sense and practice of the Ancient, Apostolic Church, that let Princes be (as it shall please God) either a Blessing, or a Rod to a Kingdom, in all things Lawful they are to be Obeyed; and where we cannot Obey them, but by sinning against God, there their Authority is to be submitted unto; so that whatever their Practices, or their Faith be, yet their Prerogatives, their Persons, their Lives must be Sacred: though they be saul's, yet 'tis a most fearful thing to lift up ones hand to destroy the Lords Anointed. I shall conclude all with that of the wisest of Monarches and Men, Prov. 24. 21. My Son, fear thou the Lord, and the King, and meddle not with them that are given to change. Amen,  
Soli Deo Gratia.  
FINIS.