A SERMON Preached on The 30th. of January, 1684. The Day of MARTYRDOM OF King Charles Of Blessed Memory.  
BY EDWARD PELLING, Chaplain to His Grace the Duke of Somerset.  
LONDON, Printed for T. M. and are to be sold by Randal Tailor near Stationers-Hall. 1685.   
PSAL. 137. 1. By the Rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
THese Words do manifestly relate to the Captive-condition of the Jews, after that Remarkable Overthrow of Jerusalem, when that Cruel and Barbarous Enemy the Assyrian (called expressly, the Rod of God's Anger, Isa. 10.) had now taken the City, burned the Temple, consumed and dismantled the whole Metropolis, slain the Nobles, and seized the Person of their King Zedekiah, and so carried Him and his Subjects away Captives to Babylon, (that is, into a Land of Confusion, so called from the Confusion of Languages in those Parts) there to smart a long time for their Incorrigibleness and Wantonness at home; that they might Reflect upon their Folly, and learn to value their Former Felicities by the Loss of them: the only Discipline, that can effectually teach those Obstinate and Ungrateful Wretches, that will not learn to be Wise at the Cost of their Ancestors Experience.  
By the Rivers of Babylon, there they sat down; remote from any Towns, or Cities, (saith S. Chrysostom) to spend part of their time (as some conceive) in draining of the Marshes, and to keep away the Rest; and so between Labour and Sorrow, to wear out that miserable Life, for which they had made such a woeful Exchange.  
There they wept (when 'twas too late) at the sad remembrance of Zion; that is, at the thoughts of that Prosperous and Flourishing Condition, which once they Enjoyed, but were now Deprived of, both in Church and State. For Mount Zion was the Principal Place both for the Exercises of Religion, and for the Administration of Justice. There stood the Temple of God, and thither the Tribes went up, the Tribes of the Lord, unto the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord, saith the Psalmist, Psal. 122. 4. And (that God and his Anointed might dwell together) there also were set the Thrones of Judgement, the Thrones of the House of David, as it is ver. 5. Admirable was the Constitution of the Jews State; and they the Happiest of all Nations, as well in Sacred as in Civil respects, till they Surfeited themselves with Abundance of Prosperity, and were so Intoxicated with it under their own Vines and Figtrees, that they forgot both the Author, and Instruments of their Happiness.  
The Story, is of Them: the Application of it, is for Us; and at the very first view we may easily accommodate this sad Text to this sadder Day. For, do but Date the Captivity, Stylo Novo: instead of, By the Rivers of Babylon, read, In a Land of Confusion, (a Babel in our own Country:) Shift you Pious Thoughts from the Monarch of Jerusalem, to the Memory of our Own Sovereign, a Greater, a Better than Zedekiah, (the Mirror of Princes, the Noblest of Martyrs, the Wonder of Ages, and the Honour of Men:) Lay before your Eyes (if yet ye can Endure to behold) the Scaffold, the Axe, the Block, and all that Pageantry of Oppression, which the Sun never before beheld provided in that Manner, and with those Circumstances, for a Crowned Head? Consider with what Pomp of Inhumanity that Mighty Prince fell, how Three Kingdoms fell with Him, how He was buried in the Ruins both of Church and State, as in the Ruins of a Shattered World: Remember those manifold Miseries that were throughout; some, the preface; others, the Epilogue to the dismal Tragedy of this Day; and then tell me, wherein Our Captivity differed from that in the Text, unless it did in This, that 'twas more Infamous and Reproachful, because at Home; and 'twas not (God be Blessed) for Seventy years; 'twas not so Lasting as Our Sins; the Deliverance out of it was too Quick and Hasty for the Repentance of those Miscreants who made us Captives.  
I shall not therefore take much notice of the Miserable Condition of the Jews, it being a matter of Foreign consideration; but apply myself wholly to the Business of the Day. And in the prosecution of it, 1. I shall first give you some account of those Miseries which were the Attendants of Our Captivity; and then, 2. Shall, in the second place, try if it be possible for me to persuade Men, not to be so Improvident again, as to suffer themselves to be made Captives the Second time; but to Beware in Time, and to bethink themselves before it be too Late, before they groan again under such another State of Bondage.  
1. First then; That which was the principal Cause, or at least the greatest Ingredient of all the Miseries of the Jews, was the Captive-condition of their King. This they particularly lamented, that such as had been brought up in Scarlet, did now embrace Dunghills; that their King and their Princes were in the hands of the Gentiles; that the Crown was fallen from their Head; that the Breath of their Nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord, was taken in the Pits, as you find in several places of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.  
And what else was the Undermining and Subverting of Our King's Throne, but an effectual Stratagem to overthrow the Prosperity of the whole Kingdom, and to let in that huge Army of Miseries, which for many years made us not only the most Calamitous, but also the most Contemptible and Infamous Nation under Heaven? He that carefully reads the Shameful History of those Times, will find, that all those Evils which were heaped up upon the Head of our Prince, fell down upon our own Pates. Though He Felt the Burden, yet we Sunk and Perished under the weight of it. Every Wound which Majesty received, did help to let out the Blood and Spirits of the Subject too; nor was it possible to Preserve the Welfare of the Body Politic, by Weakening and Impairing Him, who was the Common Life of the Three Kingdoms. Those Artificial and Long-studied Methods which were used to Lessen His Authority, to Profane His Honour, to Spoil Him of His Peace, (of all but the Peace of His Conscience, and almost of That too) to Strip Him of His Prerogatives, and at last to Destroy His Sacred Life; these Methods, I say, were the Instruments not more of His, than of our own Ruin; and as He fell and died by degrees, so did the whole Nation gradually Languish, and fall into the Pangs of Death with Him. Happy had this Land been for many Ages under the Successive Government of Kings, especially of such as were Good; and none could be ever Better than This. Under the Shadow of His Wings we did Rejoice, till His Feathers were clipped: Peace and Plenty was our Portion; and every Man was Easy in his Cottage, as long as He sat Easy in the Throne: Our Liberties were Secure; our Laws had Life; and Religion, which Exalteth a Nation, never flourished more in This, as long as he enjoyed the Prerogatives which are justly due to the Head of the Church. No sooner was His Honour touched, but our Felicity was invaded too; especially when Wickedness was so Impudent as to draw the Sword upon Him, and to thrust at Him with the Point. Our Happiness Declined as His Peace did: it kept even pace with our Prince His Fortune; the more still That tended to Ruin, the Faster He was Hunted to the Scaffold; and than it Expired (though in hope of a Resurrection) when He laid down His Sacred Neck, and died a Martyr for Religion, and a Victim for His People. Great were the Miseries that attended that Unnatural and Devilish Rebellion; but as long as the King was Safe, the Calamities were the less felt, because there was a Prospect of Reparation; at least, of a speedy End of them. Though that Rebellious Faction in Parliament pursued Him like a Partridge upon the Mountains, yet we did not give all for lost, because they Declared, Promised, Protested, and Swore by all that is Great and Sacred, that they intended not to Hurt His Person, nor to Invade His Just Rights. Throughout that Bloody War, there was something still to allay our Pains, because we hoped that the Wounds in our Sides were not Mortal. Nay, though trusting to men's Compassions, He threw himself into the Hands of those  Villains who afterwards set a Price upon His Blood, as Judas did upon our Saviour's, yet the King Himself did not yet Despair, because those Men had vowed in a Solemn League and Covenant of their own, and with Hands lifted up to the most High God, That they would Preserve His Person, Crown, and Dignity. Nay, when those Iscariots at Westminster had bought Him for 200000 Pounds, and Cromwell, and the rest of those True-Protestant Janissaries, had gotten Him in their Clutches, though there was reason enough for our Hearts to Sink and Fail us, the King Himself being now actually a Captive, and Loyalty and Religion in Captivity with Him; yet such were the Solemn Professions and Protestations of those Men, of Further Addresses to His Majesty, and of Personal Treaties with Him, that we were still willing to hope, that yet we should not sit down by the Rivers of Babel, to weep there. Once more; When the Conspirators carried Him away, first to Holmeby, thence to Hampton-Court, and thence conveyed Him to the Isle of Wight, though we feared, that all their Treaties were nothing but Pretence and Hypocrisy, to blind men's Eyes; though they used Majesty with such Indignities as none, but that Prince, could have born; though some of the Faction did now say openly, That the King was no more than a Dead Dog; though every discerning Man apprehended that the King's Life was now upon the very brink of Destruction; yet even then were we willing to hope that all our Happiness was not yet come to a full Period; because the Majority of the Parliament, enraged at last to see how they had been cheated, and out of a just Abhorrence of the intended Wickedness, voted, That the King's Concessions were Satisfactory, and Sufficient Grounds for Peace. But when once we saw those Men barred out of the House suddenly after; when once we saw that Cursed Vote of the Remaining Faction, That the King had taken Arms against the Parliament, and was guilty of all the Blood which had been shed in the War, and therefore aught to expiate the Crime with His own Blood; when once we saw a Fanatic Army, that had been used to Blood, so Thirsty for more, that nothing would satisfy them, but Blood Royal; when once we saw a Tribunal Erected, and some of the Legion of Hell Sitting on it, and a Judge appointed, whose most Honourable Character is, that he was Pontius Pilate the Second; when once we saw Majesty treated there with such Barbarousness and Contempt, and thence carried through Smoke, Spittle, and Flouts, (some of them such as were used at the Condemnation of the Holy Jesus;) when we saw Him led like a Lamb to be Slaughtered on a Scaffold at His Palace Door; when we saw, that as the Presbyterian had clipped off His Locks, so the Independent had now cut off His Head; when the one Faction had Destroyed the King, and the other had now murdered the Man; Then, than our Hopes were gone, and we could not but conclude ourselves a Lost, a Captivated, an Undone People: And while Some were so Barbarous, as even to wash their Hands in that Blessed Martyr's Blood, the whole Nation was taught to make This Use of the Shedding of it, That if ever it should please God, after the Death of the Father, to Restore the Son, it would be our Best Policy to be most Tender not of His Life only, but of His Honour and Peace too; it being Impossible so to sever His Interest from our Own, but that of necessity we must Stand or Fall with Him: Every Man's Welfare is so wrapped up in His, that we must take some Share in His Fortune, whether it be a Crown of Gold, or of Thorns, that He wears upon His Head.  
2. The King being destroyed, the Miseries which ensued both in Church and State are not to be written fully, but in another Book of Martyrs.  
In the Church, our Calamities were such, that whosoever had a respect for Conscience, for Religion, for a God, could not but be deeply afflicted, to see what Contumelies were thrown upon every thing that was Sacred. Indeed the Church's Sufferings began, when the Kings Troubles Commenced, and so Increased, as They did; because Traitors saw, that the Doctrine, Discipline, and Government of the Church were such Pillars of State too, that 'twas Impossible for them to Pull down or Reach the Crown, but by stepping first upon the Ruins of Prelacy, and all Order in Religion. And if we may have leave to make some little Observations, 'tis somewhat Remarkable, That first the Primate, and four years after, the King of England, were both Murdered in the same Month; the one on the Tenth, the other on the Thirtieth of January; that Great Prelate showing his Prince the way that even He was to go too, (somewhat like John the Baptist, that was the Forerunner of Christ in his Sufferings, as well as Birth, and prepared the way for the Prince of Peace, not only into the World, but to the Cross also.) Monarchy followed Episcopacy to the Grave; and Religion, that was the Mourner, dropped in at last. Good God What Variety of Sects had we, that Martyred the very Creed; so that some even of the Faction did confess, that upon the dissolution of Episcopacy, more Sects and Heresies presently started up, than ever were heard of among us before, under that Government which was Decried as Antichristian? And all these Sects were either Engendered, or Encouraged by those Rebels, who by Dividing the Nation into a great many weak Parties, strengthened their own Usurpations, and made each Party both Unable to Rise, and Afraid to Mutter under the Common Oppressions. We had the Independent, the Anabaptist, the Fifth-Monarchist, the Brownist, the Quaker, the Seeker, the Ranter, the Adamite, nay the very Atheist himself for Company; and all these the Natural Spawn of the Presbyterian, that Prolific and Unruly Leviathan, that not content to have taken his Pastime in the Lemain Lake, hath troubled the Waters in all Parts of the Christian World. So many Sects as there were, so many Plagues there were in this little Island; and what could we expect would be the Issue of this Complication of Unhappinesses, but that the Interest of Religion would be weakened, and its Reputation rendered Contemptible; so many Barefaced Enemies being Allowed and Encouraged to fall Foul upon the Church, pursuant to that Base Example which was given them by a most Unconscionable Parliament? Bishops were ready to be torn in pieces, as the Limbs of Antichrist. Multitudes of the Inferior Clergy had no other Rewards for all their Labours and Fidelity in the Service of Christ, but Sequestrations, Imprisonment, and all manner of Cruelties, beyond the Tyranny even of a True-Protestant Grand Signior. The Universities were corrupted with Heresy and Hypocrisy, the Instruments of the Devil having taken his Work out of his Hands, by sowing themselves such Tares and Cockle in the Seminaries of Religion, as in a little time would have destroyed the very Life and Being of Christianity, had not God himself been the Husbandman. The Liturgy, which they solemnly Protested that they would only Reform, was soon thrown out of doors, to make room for Blasphemies, and Enthusiasm, which made the Worship of God an Abomination. Pulpits, that were erected for the Sons of the Prophets, were made the Trading places of Mechanics and the Basest of the People, who were only skilful in Cheating Men of their Money; and such another Famine was in the Church, as was once in Samaria, when every Ass' Head was sold for Fourscore pieces of Silver. Sacraments were neglected, and almost given over, and the People were so Frighted and Discouraged from their Duty, that in some Places of the Kingdom the Holy Communion was not used for almost Twenty years together: A Glorious and Blessed Reformation! Those Lands which the Piety of our Ancestors had so solemnly set apart for the Encouragement of Learning, and for the Edification of Souls, were made the Price of Rebellion and Blood, and a Booty for the most Faithless and Perjured Villains upon the Earth. Truth, Honesty, Justice, Obedience, Love, and other the Essential Parts of Religion, were all Trampled under foot: and when God and his Worship were thus Scandalously Dishonoured, I do not wonder that some of God's Houses were Filthily Polluted too: When the Creed was Contaminated, when the Lords Prayer was Despised, when the Decalogue in all its Parts was Broken, when the Orthodox Ministry was Cashiered, when Fonts and Altars were Defiled, and when the Church was Plundered and Stripped within and without, it is no marvel that many Oratories were so Profaned too, as to be Turned at last into Stables for Horses, by those Beasts of the People, that before had made them Sanctuaries for Traitors, Nurseries of Rebels and Regicides, and Dens of Thiefs.  
3. Well might we Weep, when we remembered Zion, whose ways did now mourn, because her Children could not come to her Solemn Feast her Gates were desolate, her Priests sighed, her Virgins were afflicted, her Beauty was departed, her Princes were pursued like Hearts, her Persecutors overtook her, her Enemies Prospered, and she herself was in Bitterness▪ as the Prophet spoke, Lam. 1. But yet the Church did not suffer alone, nor was Religion the Only bleeding Sacrifice, though the Wounding of That, was infinitely Reproachful to those who sold their very Consciences, pretending a Design to Redeem and Rescue it. The State went Partnership with the Church in its Losses; and we soon saw what it was to want a King, whose Loins were not half so heavy as the Little Finger of that Tyrant who Usurped His Throne, and was such an Hardened Reprobate, as first to Kill, and then to take Possession. Liberty, the Darling of the Nation, the Blessing of Kings, but the Engine of Traitors; Liberty, that Fools never think Secure, till they sue for it in the Field, though they have it in Possession, and no Man questions their Title: Liberty, that was used to Destroy and Pursue Prerogative, was at last Confined within the narrow Compass of a Goal and a Dungeon. Nor did it far better with Property neither; for no Man enjoyed so much of That, as the Beggar and the Bankrupt, that had little to be robbed of, but the Latchet of his Shoe. Sequestrations, Decimations, Plunders, Forfeitures, Contributions, Taxes, Loans, and vast Offerings to the Public Faith, some or all of these devoured all that was either Inheritance or Purchase; and we could call nothing our Own, but those Sins and Follies that had made us Miserable; at least, no man could promise himself any long Enjoyment of what he had; Violence and Rapine being all over the Nation the great Trade of those Times, so that what a Mercenary Soldier Left, a Rapacious Committee-man would be Sure to Take, unless a man would Barter away his Honour, and a Blessed Eternity, by giving up his Conscience as a Composition and Ransom for his Estate. And the Reason of all this was, because the whole Kingdom was Plundered of its Birthright; I mean, the Law, which while it was in the Hands of the King, was every one's Security, from the Peer to the very Meanest Subject: and of this the King was so Tender to the last, that just before His Martyrdom, when He was offered His Life if he would Yield to some Conditions which were Inconsistent with His Conscience and the Laws, He answered, That He would choose to die a Thousand Deaths, before He would Prostitute His Honour, or Betray the Liberties and Rights of His People. Every man was Sure of his Right, as long as that Religious Prince had His just Authority. But when once Usurpation was the Regent, first in the Parliament-House, and then in the King's Palace, we had no Law but the Pleasure and Lust of Tyrants, whose Oppressions were Unsupportable, because their Power was Arbitrary, and their Tyranny Boundless. What was Magna Charta worth, when it hung at the Hilt of the Sword? And what did you talk of Laws, when Votes were too Hard for Statutes? when Trials were Removed from Westminster-Hall to the Camp? and Sentence was given at the Mouth of the Cannon?  
Not that this was the Fate only of the Honest Royalist. Though His Miseries were beyond measure intolerable, (and he knew not (Poor Wretch!) what to do more, but to shed his Tears, when his Dread Sovereign, the Master of his Dearest Affections, had now shed a whole Stream of Blood;) yet the Generality of the whole Nation began now to be Sensible, what a Miserable Bargain was made by the Unhappy Change of the Times, God showing at once his own Justice, and men's Follies, by letting them see, to their great Cost, that even Armed Rebels rarely get any thing but Woe, by a Sad Victory over their Rightful Sovereign. The Traitors pretended to fight for the Safety of the King's Person, for the Protestant Religion, for the Liberty of the Subject, for the Privileges of Parliament, and for the Laws and Rights of the whole Kingdom. In every of these respects All were Losers but the King: He indeed got Two Crowns for One, a Crown of Martyrdom, and a Crown of Glory, for a Diadem of Thorns: But what his Enemies gained, besides Infamy, and a Curse, and a seared Conscience, with a little Plunder, they themselves will find at the day of Final Retribution; and what the Nation lost, we may reckon a little now. We lost a Prince, too Good for Us to Keep, and (Good God) too Sacred to be Destroyed. We lost a Church, Beautiful in her Structure, Glorious in her Members, Militant for her Head; and when that was struck off, 'twas her Necessary, but yet Honourable Fate, to take her share in the Martyrdom. We lost our Laws too; (That indeed was the first Loss, when Irreligion Levied that War against Majesty, which, in point of Conscience, and Law both, was downright Rebellion.) And when our Monarchy, our Religion, our Liberties and Properties were all gone, Vengeance went at last out of the Field to the very Parliament- house, where all our Miseries had been form, to Invade Privileges too, and to let those Butchers of the World see, how little even They should get by first Beheading the whole Parliament, that others might be enabled to Behead the King too. The Fall of the two hotham's, Father and Son, who were the first that bade Open Desiance to Majesty, and gave Him the first Blow; but in a little time were Executed themselves▪ by the very Masters that Employed them; their Fall, I say, was an early Praesage of what would afterwards befall the Rest, that were the Instruments of the King's Ruin. These Two Men denied the King admittance in to Hull, though He went thither in Person to Demand it. Soon after, upon Remorse of Conscience, they would have opened the Gates to Him: but the Parliament now Hating their own Servants more than they Feared their Sovereign, Rewarded them at last with a Scaffold and an Axe; and by those their own Proceed, they gave an Unpitied Example to Others (a Faction that yet stood behind the Curtain) to make even Them and their Accomplices the worst Returns, for their Best Services. And so indeed it fell out, not in the Country and City only, but in Both Houses of Parliament also. In the Beginning of the Troubles, Petitioning was encouraged (under Pretence of being the Subjects Right) as a most probable Means to bring the King Low, and to lay His Honour in the Dust. But though this Popular Method was for some time fiercely cried up, as being of dangerous Consequence to Majesty; yet when the Faction had served their own Turn by it, it was as violently Opposed, as being of as dangerous Consequence to the Parliament: So that when the County of Surry (in May, 1648.) carried a Petition to the House, that tended unto Peace, all of them were Abused, multitudes of them Beaten, many of them Stripped of their very Clothes, and several of them actually Killed upon the Spot. Thus, that which one day was the Subjects Duty, another day was their Sin; and poor People were taught to use Artifices, which in the end became their Snares; Toils, to catch the People themselves, after They had used them to catch their poor Prince. This was one (but the very Lest) part of the Country's Reward.  
Did it far better with the City, after all its Friendship, Services, Zeal, Charge, Tumults, and unparallelled Wickednesses, for a Damned Cause? We know indeed how it fared, when Vengeance from Heaven struck it down into the Dust, to Expiate (if it were possible) its Sins by Fire. But how, I pray, did Matters go here about the Period and Close of the War? Do not many now alive Remember, how Miserably (I cannot say, Unjustly) this City was used in 1647; how it was overawed and Harassed even by those very Men, whose Hands the City had Armed and Strengthened against its Prince? Upon the Apprentices Insurrection, did not Cromwell Threaten (nay, Command his Forces) to Kill Man, Woman, and Child, and to Fire the City? Were not Speeches made in the Commons House to Confiscate the Estates of many the most Eminent and Wealthy Citizens, and to take off their Heads? Were not the Aldermen and others committed to the Gaol, the Posts and Chains pulled up, and the whole City left to visible Dangers of a Massacre? Was not the Tower seized, the Fortifications about the Town demolished, the Militia voted out of the Cityhands, and every House exposed to the Mercies of an Outrageous Enemy, that was clothed with Plunder, and fed with Blood? Did not an Insolent General ride with his Army through the Streets, for no other Reason, but to Treat Fools at last with Scorn, Contumely, and Reproach, and to Triumph over those who had Assisted so effectually to Beat and Conquer their King? These, and I know not how many such like Usages more, were the City's Reward; not to speak of a Constant (and then in a manner the Only) Trade that was here driven, of Impositions and Loans, and a Thousand Prefidious Tricks, to Cheat men at last of those vast Sums wherewith Zeal and Impiety had liberally entrusted the Public Faith: All which Disgraceful and Contumelious Treatments, Men, though they might be then very sensible of their past Follies, were Forced to yield and submit to Tamely, a Powerful and Veterane Army lying near the Town, to keep People in awe, and to hold them by the Throats, while their Friends at Westminster picked their Purses, and carried away their Money. These were thy Gods, O Israel; These were London's Patriots, London's Tutelar Saints, the Deities and Idols that London Worshipped and Bowed down to, when she Forswore her Allegiance, and Raised such Formidable Mutinies, first against the Earl of Strafford, and then against the King.  
These were Strange Returns (one would think) for a Confiding City to Receive, after all her Perjuries, after all those Forces of Men and Money which she had Employed to bring her distressed Prince to the Scaffold, (for that was the Event and Natural Consequence, whatever the Intentions of some were, who did not look so far at the First.) But if we go on now, and inquire further into the Story, we shall find, that the Parliament themselves that Blew the Trumpet, and Sent out the Drum, gained nothing neither, but had reason to weep too, and Infinitely more than others, considering that their utmost Acquest was Gild and Reproach, and a Perpetual Curse upon their Names For even They were paid in their own Coin, and were served Themselves as they had served the Government, having soon Lost that which they called the King's Politic Capacity, when they had Ruined His Person. When Cornet Joyce had Surprised His Majesty at Holmeby, bragging of his Exploit, he told Cromwell, That now he had the King in his Power: Well, (said Cromwell) and then I doubt not but I shall have the Parliament in my Pocket. And the truth is, He never had Money so much at his Command, as now he had those who had hitherto been his Masters, and kept him in Pay. Such was his Diabolical Craft, his Monstrous and Superlative Hypocrisy, and his Inseparable Interest with a Potent Faction, that were linked with him in the Communion of the Highest Crimes, that the Traitors which were of a Meaner Size, were Managed at his Pleasure; and 'tis observable, that by the same Methods and Artifices he Baffled and Outed Them, whereby They had Lessened and Destroyed their Sovereign. The Parliament was now divided into Presbyterian and Independent: and each House strove against the other; yet Both clashed within Themselves, till the Army-Officers, grown now too Hard for their Masters, turned their own Arts upon them, and got a Victory over them All, as they had over their Calamitous, but Anointed Lord. Those Lords that Consented to the Exclusion of the Bishops, to the taking away of the King's Negative Voice, and to the Vote against all further Addresses to His Majesty, were in a short space deprived of their own Negative Votes, were Despised in all Proceed, (the Commons acting as they pleased without them) and in the End were turned out of Doors, leaving nothing behind them in the House, but the Memory of having Violated their Honour there, by being Unfortunate Instruments of Undoing Him, who was the Nobility's Defence against the Rudenesses of the Rabble. The Commons could not agree in Peace, though they had Confederated in the Gild of an Unjust War; but fell Foul upon one another, as they had done upon their Prince; till they were by many Purgations Weakened, by many Restraints Baffled, by many Menaces Overawed, and by many Armed Fellow- Traitors first Vanquished, and then Expelled: So that their Reward too was only a Miserable Life, to see Privileges destroyed after Prerogative, and the Power of the Nation Shifted, out of the Hands of a Monarch, into the Claws of a Monster, whose Early Vices had made him a Beggar, whose Contempt of God had made him an Hypocrite, whose Ambition had encouraged him to be an Usurper, and whose Sanguinary Spirit made him a Tyrant, a Parricide, and the Plague of Mankind, till God in his Mercy to us put an Unexpected Period to his Life, and the Devil, whom he had long served, carried him away to his Proper Place.  
It is not to be wondered at, that an Host of Cockatrices should thus pick out the Eyes of those our Repraesentatives, and render their House Desolate and Inhospitable: for That was the Cockatrice's Nest; and when They had warmed the Eggs, and Hatched the Creatures, there was reason enough to Fear, that being once grown up, they would infest not the Nation only, but Them too; because Rebellion and Treason seldom last long; and, such is the Justice of God, that Villainies, though Prosperous for a Time, turn at last to a Sad Account, both to the Projectors and Instruments of them; and so we found the Course of things to go, as well in the Management, as at the End of that Unhappy War. For, not the Parliament only, but their Forces and Stipendiaries Suffered too; the Just God decreeing to Plague the very Ministers and Executioners of Treason, though he was pleased to Behold their Insolences a while, and then took away his Anointed, to let Madmen see, how Happy they might have been, had they not been their Own Enemies, as well as His. The Armed Independent soon tripped up the presbyterians Heels: though the One marched out in the Front, and did cut out the Way, yet the Other followed in the Rear, and first Cashiered him, and then went away with the Spoil. The Reformation of Religion began the Quarrel, and the Disciplinarian fought with Zeal for a Wretched Covenant, for which he had pawned his Conscience and Soul, as well as Plighted his Troth. But the Other Sectaries aimed at the total Subversion of the Government in Church and State too; and to compass this End the better, they Disarmed the Hands of him, whom they knew to be an Hairy, but  Brother: and so, you know, the whole Militia was Purged over and over, the Army was new-officered, Confinding Brethren were put in the room of those Puny Saints, that were afraid to go above half way on the Errand, and Protested they would Preserve the King and His Dignities, though they Destroyed the Establishments of the Church. Therefore when the Covenanter had been sufficiently used as a Toel and Property to do a considerable Part of the great Work of Darkness, than Others thought it time for Them to slep in, to go through with it; and so the Silly Kirkmen were for the most part Laughed at and Discarded, and cheated of their Ends, and their Dear Convenant was Cried down, as Episcopacy had been before, the most Powerful Faction having now Supplanted the Presbyterian, as the Presbyterian had Supplanted the Honest Cavalier; by which means the Power of the Sword fell into the Hands of a Juncto, that hitherto had not been Discovered, nor perhaps Suspected; and then in stead of a Full Parliament by Westminster-hall, you had a Committee of Grandees at Derby-house, that Voted, Managed, Destroyed, and Ruined all; neither Sparing, nor Reverencing the very Crowned Head. Nay, to add 〈◊〉 and Disgrace to our Miseries, this Faction was moulded and made up of those who were Notorious for Debauched Principles, for Atheistical Spirits, for Proffigate Lives, for Impure Conscienees, for Savage Minds, and mostly too for such a Base and Abject Condition, that they were not only the Plague, but the very Vermin of the Nation; a Pack of Fornicators, Bankrupts, Blasphemers of the Holy Trinity, Beggars, and Mechanics of all sorts, Labourers at Furnaces and Stalls, and the like; these were the Honourable, the Right Honourable, His Excellence, His Highness, and such Filth of False Heraldry, that they were a Reproach and Blemish to Christianity, to Honesty, to the Kingdom, shall I say? nay, a Dishonour to the Hangman, a Stain and Disgrace to the very Gallows.  
Yet had not these very Regicides neither more Reason to Insalt over the Miseries of Others, than to Lament their Own. For want of that vigorous Life and Soul, which is Infused into all Just Authority that hath Law for its Parent, their Power was in a manner Strangled in the Birth: and they themselves that Survived it a little, were soon made Signal Instances of the Divine Justice, which upon a Miraculous Revolution justly overtook them; so that an Hateful and Unpitied Death was all the Advantage they gained at the Close of their Unparallelled Villainies. And as for their Posterity and Families they lest behind them, such as have made curious Inquiries into the thing, have Observed, That they bear to this day the Characters and Marks of Divine Vengeance, and have little but a Curse entailed upon them for their Inheritance; as if the Hand of God had Stigmatised Them, as he did Cain; and Cursed them with such a Portion as he left the Jews, for Crucisying our Saviour.  
Thus I have in some measure represented the Universal Miseries which attended our Late Captivity both in Church and State, nay in the very Camp too: and I have the Longer and the more Particularly insisted upon this Theme, for the Information of those, who through their Ignorance of the Condition of those Times, are in danger of being misled into Practices which naturally tend to draw on a Second Captivity. For Treason did not die with those Regicides; neither was the Art of King-killing the Sin of this Day only. The Drinking of Blood once, leaves (it seems) an Appetite and Thirst after More, in stead of Troubling Rebels Bowels, and working a True Repentance for that which hath been shed already. Though His Present Majesty hath been ready to Forgive many wicked Men their Treasons, yet we do not find that They have been as ready to Forgive Him His Mercies: no; that they might be Revenged rather upon Him for His Act of Oblivion to many that were Accessories to His Father's Blood, they have Studied and Plotted how to imbrue their Hands in His Blood too: the thing is so Plain, by so many Unquestionable and Concurring Proofs, and even by the Joint Confession of Criminals, that whosoever shall go about to Deny or Mince the Late (I wish I could not say, the Present) Conspiracy, ought not (I think) to be looked upon as a By-stander, but an Accomplice and Confederate in the Treason. The Truth is, these Demonstrative Evidences have abundantly Satisfied the Law: but there were Arguments enough before, to confirm the Opinion of every Sagacious and Honest Man, that a total Destruction of Prince and Government was intended, and carrying on again. For, what, I pray, was the late Association, but a Transcript of the Solemn League and Covenant? only the Copy exceeded, and was worse than the Original; and yet That did cost the whole Kingdom its Peace, and the King his Head. Those numerous Riots and terrible Confluences of Disaffected and Factious Men, which were seen a while ago, what was it but a Numbering of the People, a Casting up of their Strength and Forces, till the Demagogues should think it fit to Adjourn from the City into the Field? The Forcing of that Petitioning-Trade, which of late was so General over the whole Nation, what was it Designed for by Popular Hucksters of Mischief, but to render the King and His Government a Grievance, and to Dispose Men for another Rebellion? that is, to Sell the Nations Peace, and to Purchase a Crown. Those Base Reflections which have been (nay, which are still) publicly made upon His Majesty, and His Ministers of State, what is the meaning of them, but to make Him Odious, and to Destroy Him Effectually, by Murdering Him first in the Affections of His Subjects; it being Impossible for the most Active and Malicious Villains to strike Him with an Axe, till they have slain His Credit, and laid His Honour in the Dust? The Reprinting of Doleman, and the Dispersing of a Thousand Other Libels, full of Seditious and Jesuitical Principles, is the very same thing that was Practised in the Former Times; and there could be no other Reason for it, but to Justify Rebellion and Regicide again; it being Unconceivable why the very same Methods should be used again, unless the same Designs were at the End of all. Those Popular but Absurd Fears, that all our Throats would be Cut in a Night, is a Stolen and Known Instrument of Rebellion: for a great Noise of such Dangers was thrown about in the beginning of the Late Troubles, so that it was Reported, and Credited too, That the very Thames was to be blown up with Gunpowder, to Stifle every one with Water in their Beds. The Inordinate Apprehension of the Dangers of Arbitrary Power, every man knows that 'twas an Old Device that served to bring it in. There are Twenty things more I might take notice of, were it needful, to show how Industrious Some pretending Patriots and Reformers have been to act over again those Seven years' Sins, which caused that Havoc, and Bloodshed, and Ruin both of Prince and People, from 41, to 48. All the King's Miseries, and our own Calamities, were brought about by Confederacies, by Tumults, by Mutinous Complaints of Grievances, by Seditious Pamphlets, by Defamations of the Government, by years of Tyranny, by all manner of Jesuitical Practices, by Insolent and Impious Votes, by bringing the King into Straits, by answering His Necessities with Remonstrances in stead of Supplies, by crying out against Evil Counsellors, by pulling and tugging at Favourites, by declaiming against Bishops and Ceremonies, by Schismatical Assemblies, and by a great many Stratagems more, which have been lately set on work again so visibly and plainly, that we had reason enough to suspect the Blackest Designs, before ever we heard of or Mistrusted the Villainy intended at the Rye-house. For these Several years last passed, I think there hath been nothing New, but Ignoramus Juries, and a gainful Trade of Swearing and Ferswearing at the Bar: all the other Practices were a Repetition of Old, Tried Artifices, which some Experienced Achitophel's made use of again, because they had once a Pr●●atum est, and became Successful.  
O for the Love of God let us learn to be Wise, and to beware in Time, and not venture the Sad Reckon of a Late Repentance; especially since God has been so Merciful unto us, that, in spite of all the Strive of our Enemies, he hath Kept us Safe, even when we were in the Dark, and hath now laid open the Dangers we were in to every man's view. This was the Aggravation of the Folly and Misery of Jerusalem, that she Considered not well of things till she was quite a Captive. She remembered in the days of her Affliction, and of her Miseries, all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, saith the Prophet, Lam. 1. 7. By the Rivers of Babylon, there the Jews sat down, and wept: but than it was too late; they should have bethought themselves Before, while it was yet in their power to have Prevented their Captivity. I cannot imagine what is likely to work upon People, if neither Other men's Experience, nor their Own, will teach them to beware. Yet this is one thing that maketh the English Ridiculous Abroad, and Unfortunate at Home, that generally they are apt to Try Conclusions, and to make Fresh Experiments still, though they have smarted severely for their Silly Attempts, and have so often tried things to Evil and Miserable Purposes. One would think, our Condition and Case the other day was such, that we should not Forget it, much less desire to make it our Option and Lot once more. Methinks it should be sufficient Warning to us, not to flatter ourselves with Fancies, and Probabilities, and Praesumptions of our own, because we have found, to our great Cost, that in all Considerable, especially Violent Alterations, there is nothing Certain, but Misery. For, as it is Impossible for this Kingdom to be Happy, but upon those Foundations whereon it Stands now both in Sacred and Civil Matters; so it is impossible for men to Tear up those Foundations, but they must fall themselves under the Ruins of the Building. Nor is it enough to say, Thus far only we intent to go, we would take away this Rafter, and remove that Beam, that is such an Eyesore unto us; but will not meddle with, or disturb the Groundwork: for when men begin to Mend a whole Kingdom, by taking it into pieces, God alone Knoweth how far Some may be Tempted, others may be Constrained to proceed at last. Read but the History of the Late Times, and you will find how far the Event ran out beyond the first Intentions, nay, beyond the Expectations and Suspicions of Many, who were very Active and Zealous in Beginning the War against His Majesty. But having once drawn the Sword, they thought it Unadvisable to Sheath it again; because, being Conscious of their Gild, they were Afraid of Justice which they had Deserved, and Doubtful of Mercy which was Precarious; and therefore never thought themselves Safe, but by Accumulating Crimes to a great Bulk; and so one Mischief brought on another, till all terminated in the Destruction of the King, which was the Capital Mischief. 'Tis likely this was not the Primary Design; nay, perhaps it was not Designed at all by many of them, (though it be hard to affirm, that they did not intent the End, who used the Means.) But whatever Their meaning might be, Others that stood Undiscerned in a Dark Corner of the House, made an Improvement of that Treason which the rest had Begun, so that it was out of the Power of the Honester sort to Save the Life of that Prince, whose Honour and Interest they had Betrayed. For the Power shifted with the Sword, out of one Hand into another, as every one could catch it. The Parliament Snatched it from the King, and put it into the Hands of an Army: the Army was Divided, and though the Presbyterians managed it First, yet the Independents soon wrested it out of their Clutches, and held it till it fell to the Share of a Fanatic Committee, that were Resolved to Imbrue it in the King's Blood; which the First Actors could no more hinder then, than they could command a Tempest, or govern an Inundation with their Breath: And by these Means All of them were more or less guilty of Murdering His Majesty; because One Faction Hunted Him till they drove Him to the Scaffold, and the Other presently provided a Block and Axe for Him, and so Both were Murderers; because 'tis the same thing in effect, whether a Man be Killed by the Slow Methods of a War, or by a Hasty Blow, and a Speedy Stab.  
Now this should be enough to Warn and Terrify every well-meaning Person among Us, from having any the least Fellowship with, nay from lending so much as an Ear to those Malcontents of Our days, who are given to Change, and only wait for an Opportunity. For it is Impossible to be Innocent long in the midst of Such Temptations; because a little Communion in Evil, and the very Course of things, will of Necessity drive all Unwary Men so far by degrees, as to bring them under the Gild of the Highest Crimes at last, though as yet they be not Disaffected to the Government. One saith, I am for our Monarchy; another, I am for Episcopacy too; a Third, I am for the whole Frame of the Government as it is now Established by Law; and All these say, God forbidden that we should have any hand in Killing or Deposing the King, or in setting up another Commonwealth: No, we would only Keep out Popery, and secure ourselves against Arbitrary Power; and then we will give over. Now all this is Justifiable and Good, as long as the Means are Honest, and Men are Sincere. But then, Consider, I pray, what those Methods be which are Proposed by Popular Pretenders for the Accomplishing of these Ends. Are they not the very Methods of the Old Conspiracy, Revised, and Set out in a New Edition, and with Augmentations too? Is not another Rebellion form? Do not the Ringleaders (most of whom have no Religion at all) go to work again by Spreading of Lies and Calumnies, by raising many groundless Jealousies, by increasing Fears beyond a due measure, by Consulting and Trucking with all sorts of Sects and Traitors, by Usurping a Power over Crowns, and by such manifest Endeavours to spoil the King of His Regalities, that had not the wonderful Providence of God interposed, they had long ago made a Spoil of His very Life too? These Practices are Open and Manifest, and as Visible as the Sun: and we ought with all manner of Diligence and Shyness to Beware of Men that deal in Arts of this Horrid Nature, lest we be led like Fools into Captivity again, and be forced to Lose not our Tears only, but our Blood too, when 'twill be too Late to say, We did not think that Matters would have come to this Miserable pass. When Men think to go so far, but no farther, they should consider how much farther Others may go by their Example and Encouragement; they should have a Care that they lend them not neither an Helping Hand, nor so much as a Finger; for fear that the Least Assistance may be Fatal. In the Former Times, though some did from the Beginning design (as many of Late have done) the killing of their Prince; and though endeavours were used by a Base Faction, first in the Northern Camp, then at Hampton-Court, and at last in the Isle of Wight, to make him away Privately, either by Pistol, or Poison, or some other means of Assassination, yet the generality of People did not dream of it, much less did they believe that any could be so Diabolically Impudent and Wicked, as to Murder him Publicly under Colour of Justice: but yet Murdered he was after that manner; and our Nation since hath lain under such Gild by it, as God alone knoweth when it will be Expiated. I am sure, the shedding more Blood is not the way to Atone for the shedding of that; but a ready way rather to provoke a Just God to cut us down Root and Branch, that we be no more a People. Every the least drop of our Prince's Blood is Sacred, and more to be valued by us than the Blood of our Parents; and that none of that Blood may hereafter be upon Us, or upon our Children, for God's sake let us be very careful of these two things; and so we will Conclude.  
1. That we stifle all Conceptions of Disloyalty in our very Thoughts, that we choke even the Beginnings of it, and that we abstain not only from all Appearance of Wickedness of this kind, but from all Possibilities of Gild. He that hateth his Brother is a Murderer; and so he that entertaineth any Undutiful and Unworthy Apprehensions of his Prince, is in a ready way to be a Regicide. Out of the Heart proceed evil Surmises, Jealousies, Fears, Hatreds; thence Men go on to Blasphemies, and Reproaches of a Prince's Actions, and Government, and the basest Misconstructions that can be made of his Counsels and Administrations, though they be for the most part Honourable, and in all points Innocent and Just: And when the Heart, and the Tongue both are set on Fire, the whole Kingdom will be presently set on Fire too; and 'tis twenty to one but the King himself is made at last a Flaming Sacrifice. These were the Original sins in the late times: From Idle Jealousies, which Undutiful Spirits were very Receptive of, they went to Hard Words, from Words to Blows, and at last the War ended in the Barbarous Parricide that was acted upon 〈◊〉 Great Father of our Country; though to still (if it were possible) the Madness of the People, he was willing to part with any thing, but his whole Crown and his Conscience. And yet, to see what a sad Fate commonly attends an Impatient and Heady Generation, when his dangers of being destroyed were now Open and Manifest, all considering Persons that had any regard for Humanity and Religion, were presently in a Rage. And, not only many Honourable Persons, who had ever been Faithful and True to Him, and particularly those truly Loyal and Noble Lords, Hertford, Richmond, Southampton, Lindsey, and some more, freely offered themselves to Die, and be Sacrificed for him; but also very many of those who had been the Unfortunate Instruments of his Ruin, Relented when they saw the Axe coming, and would have hindered the intended Barbarity, being brought at last to a Sense, whether of their Sin, or of their Misery, I cannot tell. The Scots Protested against it; but, alas! it was too Late; and their strength was now gone, before their Prince, the Glory of their Nation fell. Considerable Insurrections were in several parts of this Kingdom for the Liberty of their Sovereign. The London Apprentices took Arms, to Atone (if they could) for their Master's Crimes, and to Deliver their Captive Prince. The Parliament, that now saw the sad issues of their Disobedience, voted an Agreement with His Majesty. Only from the Army, and the Veteran Faction of the City, Petitions came for Justice against Him. All other Faces gathered Blackness through Horror and Amazement at the intended Villainy; nay, many of those very Ministers, who had thrown Firebrands from the Pulpit, would now have Quenched them with their Tears; they Repent, as Judas did; but were at last Despised and Hated by the Faction that had hitherto Abetted them, but now could have been well pleased, if, as they Repent, so they would have Hanged themselves too, as Judas (their Elder-brother) did, after he had Betrayed the Innocent Blood.  
This is enough to show, what a Dangerous Matter it is for People but to Affect Innovation, and to be Disposed for it; and how Necessary it is for Us, that would live Quietly in the Land, to Stifle all manner of Disloyalty in the very Beginnings, lest by giving way to those things which already have Caused the Subversion of our Government and Laws, and the Death of the King, we should fall again into Distractions and Outrages, till by the Wiles and Artifices of Evil Men, we be led like Fools to the Correction of the Stocks, and make ourselves Captives once more, beyond all Hopes or Possibilities of Redemption.  
2. And in order thereunto, let us all be very careful, in the next place, to keep our Brains from being Infected with those Vicious Principles, which the Enemies of our Peace are wont to use as Tools and Instruments to bring all their Bloody and Execrable Conspiracies to Effect: I mean, such Principles as These; That the King's Power is not derived immediately from God, but from the People; That by their own Voluntary Act the People do make Princes their Commissioners and trusties; That they may call Him to account, if they judge him to have failed in the Execution of His Office; That if He will not come to Trial with Tameness and Submission, the People may use any Force or Violence against Him; That upon Proof and Conviction touching His Breach of Trust, they may Condemn, Depose, and Kill Him if they please, and Dispose of the Crown according as they shall think best for the People's Good. They that thus make Court to the People, as if all Sovereignty were in Them, and would make them believe that They have Really that Power which the Devil pretended to, of Bestowing Kingdoms, can design nothing else but to Debauch Men out of their Allegiance, and to fit them for the perpetrating of any the most Horrid Villainies: and whosoever he be that is strongly persuaded of the Truth of those Principles, wants nothing but Opportunity and an Axe to make him a Regicide. The Faction of the Late Times, to Justify (if they could) their Proceed against the King, Reprinted a Treasonable Book, which had been written by a most violent Jesuit, under the Counterfeit Name of Doleman, with some few Alterations to Disguise it; which very Libel was Lately Printed again entire by the Faction now, though it was Condemned by Act of Parliament in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Now 
H●st. of Indep. p. 113.  the Fundamental Principle in that Book is this, That every Commonwealth hath Power within itself to Dispose of the Governors, and either to Alter or Abolish any Form of Government, according to the Pleasure of the People. A little before the King's Trial, the Pestilent Remnant of the House of Commons, that were now at the Army's Devotion, to Prepare the King's way first to the Court, and so to the Scaffold, agreed upon this Vote, (as if they had been a Conclave of Jesuits) That the People under God are the Original of all Just Power. And upon this Fundamental Principle they raised these other Positions, which were the Natural Consequents of it; 1. That the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament, have the Supreme Authority of the Nation. 2. That whatsoever is declared for Law by the Commons, hath the force of a Law. 3. That all the People of the Nation are concluded thereby, although the Consent of the King and the Peers be not had thereunto. 4. That to raise Arms against the People's Representatives, is High-Treason. Thus were these Popular Principles Previous and Preparative for that Horrid Murder, which, to the Dishonour of Nature, to the Reproach of Religion, to the Shame of this Kingdom, and to the Scandal of all Nations, was so barbarously committed on this Day. The Charge against that Incomparable Prince ran in the Name of the People; He had violated that Trust which the People had reposed in Him. Which thing when an Honourable Lady that was present Herd, she cried out openly before the whole Court, It was a Lie, for not the Tenth part of the People would be guilty of such a Crime. When the King demanded, by what Authority they brought Him to Trial, that most Impudent and  Judge, the Blasphemer of God and His Anointed, answered, That 'twas by the Authority of the People. When the King had Solidly and Eloquently refuted that Pretence, that Monster of Mankind persisted in it, That the People of England were the Supreme Authority of the Nation, over King and Laws too; that he was an Officer in Trust, and that having broken his Compact with the People, they might justly proceed against Him, even unto Death: And this he endeavoured to prove by Arguments and Examples, all taken one by one out of the Counterfeit Doleman, which I mentioned before.  
Thus did these Treasonable Principles cost that excellent Monarch, first his Peace, and at last his Life, to the Eternal warning as well of every Upright Magistrate, that he presume not to Suffer, as of every Faithful Subject that he presume not to Listen to those Cursed Principles and Doctrines, which were never Form and Designed but for Blood, were never Countenanced and Cherished but for Blood, were never Obeyed and Followed but by Men, that Longed and Thirst for Blood Royal.  
I have no more to add, but my Humble and Hearty Prayers to the God of Order and Power, That he would Pardon that Great Sin which this day was acted against Himself and his Anointed, and Bless his Present Majesty, and the whole Royal Family, with a long continuance of Life, Health, Peace, and Honour; and that the course of this World may be so peaceably ordered by his Governance, that his Church may joyfully serve him in all Godly Quietness, through Jesus Christ the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory World without end,  
Amen.  
FINIS.