— Ad Testimonium. A SERMON ON THE KING's Day, February the 6th 1685/6. At St Katherine Colemen, LONDON. By S. P LONDON, Printed by J. Leake, for Henry Bonwike, at the Red Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard. MDCLXXXVI. A SERMON ON THE KING's Day. PSALM lxxij. the latter part of the 15. verse. Prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised. THESE Words have in them a double Energy, both of Prayer and Prophecy; they had likewise a double Completion both in Solomon and Christ. In the Prayers of all Holy Men, there is something of Prophecy, they utter nothing but the Will of God; so God hears and ratifies their requests: The Words likewise of dying Men are esteemed more Prophetic than ordinary, and these are supposed to be the last Words, i. e. as ye have it in the 20. vers. the last Prayers of this Religious King, made, it seems, at that time when Solomon, by David's appointment, (that is by God's appointment, for David herein observed the Will of God) was Proclaimed King. The particulars of Solomon's Inauguration are at large in the First Chapter of the First Book of Kings. We find there that in the latter part of King David's Reign, Adonijah, the Son of Haggith, exalted himself, and put in for the Succession; not that he believed himself that he had a Title to the Crown, as he afterward confessed, Chap. ij. vers. 15. but Joab and Abiathar, and some such troublesome Men, had put it in his Head; and that not for young Adonijahs sake, as Solomon wisely observes in the 22 vers. but for their own Ambitious Ends. One would have thought, that that Declaration of King David to his Privy Council, 1 Chron. xxviij. had been sufficient to blast all pretences of Usurpation. But these Disturbances not only gave him new occasion of declaring God's will in Solomon's Succession, but of giving express Command for his Inauguration before his own death; he resigned rather than bequeathed his Kingdom to him, and recreated his dying hours with the public Joy and Acclamations of the People. David was well pleased with the Compliment that his Nobles made to him, saying, 1 King. i 47. God make the Name of Solomon better than thy Name, and make his Throne greater than thy Throne. These Courtiers are said to bless King David, and in such a sense he took it; for he bowed himself upon the Bed, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he worshipped at those auspicious words, he nodded, he bowed, he worshipped, and then he fell to Prayer and Prophecy. I hope King David was no Flatterer, or Court-Parasite, when he filled his Mouth with Prayer and Praise, and expressed so much pleasure and satisfaction at his Son's Accession to the Crown. In those days it was no crime to be Zealously Loyal, to Worship toward the East, and Adore the rising Sun: He was not then esteemed an Enemy to David, or to the present Government of Israel, that strewed Aves and Welcomes in the new King's way, and forgot to think of any thing but the expectation of new Blessings. David by his own example had discountenanced all intempestive Grief at the death of his first Child by Solomon's Mother, and that without the Comforts of another to succeed in his Affection; and now at his own death he will not suffer 'em to be unmannerly in their Sorrow; but teaches the people to forget him and look up towards his Son; and so they did as hearty as the King could wish, for they blew the Trumpet, Vers. 39, 40. and all the people said, God save King Solomon: And all the people came up after him, and played upon Flutes, and rejoiced with great Joy; so that the Earth rend with the sound of them. It was as if the whole Earth had opened its mouth and sang for Joy too; and all this so long before King David was cold in his Grave, that he himself was one to make up the Chorus. They blew the Trumpet and he Prayed, they Rejoiced and he Prophesied; he prays to God for the Prosperity of his Successor, and desires that all his people might pray for it too; and that not only for his Successor's but for the People's sake; and so he gins, He shall judge thy People with Righteousness, Vers. 2. and thy Poor with Judgement. And indeed this Psalm is not only a Prayer to God, but an Admonition to the People; it is their Cause which he Pleads, and therefore they must come in with their endeavours: God hath performed his part in giving 'em a just and righteous King to succeed David; and now 'tis their parts to pray to God continually for him, to pray that God would continue him amongst 'em, that so their Happiness might continue for many Years; so likewise they are to Offer up Praises, they are to Praise the King daily, that is in effect, to Praise God for the King. This is the People's Duty at all times, and this is our present Duty; it is the most particular business of this Day; we come here to pray for the King, we come to praise him and to praise God for him; it is the subject of the Text, and the subject of the Day; Prayer and praise: The only two principal parts into which my Text can be divided. Prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised. First, Of Prayer; which is a duty incumbent upon all Subjects for all Princes, pro omnibus Imperatoribus, without any distinction. My method shall be this: First, To give you some Reasons why this Duty should be performed. And, Secondly, I shall offer at some Directions in the performing it. I. The Obligations which Men lie under of Praying for their Sovereign Prince are Natural, and Political, as well as Divine. The Laws of Nature teach us to look upon Kingly Government, Non adulatione vanâ adducti, 1 De Clem. 14. as a Paternal Function. Every Prince paramount is Father of his Country, so we call them, saith Seneca, not by way of Flattery: So we find him making long Prayers for Nero, Ad Polyb. 31, 32. even when he was disgraced and exiled by him. Nothing being more Natural than for Children to Pray for the Prosperity of their Parents; from our Natural Parents we derive our Natural Life, so from our Political Parents, our Political Life: 1 De Clem. 4. The King is not only Caput & Animus Reipublicae; sed etiam Spiritus vitalis, the vital Spirit, the very Life of the Kingdom; so that to pray for the King, Quod bonum faustumque sit tibi domuique tuae Caesaer Auguste, (sic enim nos perpetuam felicitatem reipublicae & laeta huic praecari existimamus,) etc. Suet. Aug. c. 58. is most correspondent to the First great Law of Nature, Self-preservation; for hereby we pray for our own and the Kingdom's safety; so the Wise Senate of Rome reckoned, when they prayed for their Emperor Augustus: Nor do we read of any Nation or People, though never so Barbarous, but their regard to their Prince, hath been the same as of Children to their Parents, the reasons being the same. For, First, It is from the King that we have our Origination: For as amongst the Jews to beget a Child, was not essentially necessary to be the Father of him, some being the Legal Children of one Man, which was the best and most Excellent Title, although the Natural Children of another: So our Saviour was the Legal Son of Joseph and of David, though by Nature the Son of Mary, Episcopius Institut. Lib. 3. Sect. 4. l. 11. who perhaps was of another Tribe: In like manner, though we have a natural obligation to those Parents which begot us; yet we were Born legally from the influence of Government, we were born Children from natural Parentage, but Sons only from political Authority. It is from the Laws, i. e. from the King, the Fountain of Laws, that we are Legitimate, without which every Man is but Filius populi, the Son of the people. So that every Rebel seems to Bastardise his own Children, in resisting that Authority by which they call him Father; for though the institution of Marriage is an ordinance of God; yet the Circumstances of its Solemnisation are by Magistratual Appointment, whereby we are to remember, that the King is our first Parent. II. Secondly, it is from the King we have our daily Maintenance and Support; it is his Wisdom and Power, that protects us from violence and wrong: Our Estates, our Lives, our All is under his Guardianship. Of the truth of which some of you here present are living Witnesses. You remember the sad time when there was no King in Israel; but it was worse with you, than with the Old Isralites, for they did every Man what seemed good in his own Eyes; whilst they that Sequestered your Estates, Plundered your Goods, and drove you into Want and Exile, committed such Villainies as even out-dared their own Consciences. 'Tis you can best tell, whether all that you at present enjoy is not owing unto the King's safety, he is so much more than a Father, that without the Preservation of his Royal Person, it is not in your power to keep your own Children from Starving; and therefore great reason have we, both to pray for him ourselves, and to teach our Children to pray for him too. III. Thirdly, It is the King's Life and Preservation that protects our own. The Shadow of his Wing is a Buckler to all his Subjects, a Buckler against all Foreign Violence, and Domestic Blood-thirstiness: So was the Regal Authority unto the Isralites of old, as we have frequent instances in the Book of Judges; for those Judges were all Kings in Jeshurun as well as Moses, Deut. 33.5. although not Anointed no more than he. So when there was no Judge amongst 'em, it is said, There was no King in Israel, as that dismal Story of the Levite's Wife is Prefaced; Judg. 19.1. which one is a sufficient instance of Domestic Villainy and Barbarity. So every now and then we read of Invasions, and such Public Calamities, as must needs happen to a Nation without a Head; there must needs be much Wrong either done or suffered, where there are no Eyes to see, nor Ears to hear, but Hands to pull down Ruin, or Feet swift to shed Blood. And now, sure here's worth and subject enough for a Prayer, that God would protect that Person by whom our Lives and Fortunes are protected. It is a Duty, and a very modest one too, to pray for Kings. Whereas some very wise Heathens made a mistake and prayed to 'em: But Nature, Reason and Tradition, are not Persuasives strong enough to Men of corrupt practices, to bring 'em over to their Duty; let us see then how far it is encouraged, or rather commanded, in Holy Writ, for the People to pray for their Kings; though some Men can't find any such thing as Monarchy its self in the Scriptures, without an Opprobrium by way of Appendix to it: For all that is there said in the behalf of Monarchy, is not a sufficient Balance to the Eighth Chap. of the First Book of Samuel, for from thence they infer, That God Almighty was angry with the Israelites for desiring a Monarchical Government: Whereas the whole Current of Scripture proves this and no other to be jure Divino, even in the interregna, which were Governed by One only Prophet, or Seer; so that from Adam to Saul, and forwards, the whole Government was purely Monarchical. The Seventy Elders being no other than Justices or Counsellors, and therefore God was so far from being angry at their desiring of a King, i. e. for desiring of one, Menasseh Ben Israel Conciliator. Q. in Deut. 6. that as the Jewish Rabbin tells us, they were commanded by God, That they should do so, Statuendo statues super te Regem, Deut. 17.15. Their Crime was in the manner, the time, and the ends of their ask one: They asked with murmuring and mutiny, they asked importunately, rather demanded than asked; and that for the Idolatrous end of being like other Nations; therefore God said to Samuel, Not thee but 'tis me that they reject: they were better pleased with their Viceroy Samuel, Vers. 11. then with their Emperor God; and it was but a Pretence for 'em to find fault with the Government, when it was the Religion that they would alter; and there is no question, that if they had not had such base purposes in their Heads, that God would have given 'em a King long before, without ask; that blessing was so long delayed, because God saw they were not Capacitated for receiving it. And when a Nation is not capable of Government (we have had the sad experience) God gives 'em up to Anarchy. A people must be ripe for Blessings before they can expect 'em, and then they must put 'em to a good Use, if they desire their Continuance: And amongst all the blessings that God hath promised his Church in this World, I take one of the greatest to be, That Kings should be its Nursing Fathers, and Queens its Nursing Mothers. I am persuaded, that hitherto it hath been the greatest blessing. And so those Christians would have told you, that lived under the Reigns of Constantine, Theodosius, Arcadius, and those good Emperors; each of which did more good to Christ's Church in some respects, than all their Predecessors had done it Mischief: They Nursed it, and Clothed it with Beauty and Glory, which before had lain in Rags and Nakedness, exposed to Contempt and Danger, like Moses among the Rushes. But St. Paul did not look so far as Constantine the Great, when he exhorts the Christians, in the 2 Ch. of the 1 Ep. to Tim. That prayers and intercessions, and giving of Thanks be made for Kings: He doth not say, I exhort you that about Three hundred Years hence, ye shall begin to Pray for Kings; no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, i. e. if we make a Critical search into the Word for the Emperors, for what else can it signify? Who were Supreme then but Emperors? And St. Peter expressly names the Supreme; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 1 Pet. 2.13. and again 'twas, Fear God, Honour the Emperor; for 'tis the singular number, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Vers. 17. so this cannot be understood of Governors as Christians, much less of the Reformed Religion, when at that time there was no such denomination; but St. Paul and St. Peter meant, That they should presently pray for the Emperor in being, and the Emperors in succession, as such: For Nero as well as Constantine, for Dioclesian as well as Charlemaign, for Mahomet the iv (had he been Emperor of the World) as well as for JAMES the II. in Great Britain and Ireland. Now since the Roman Empire is broken, this Exhortation belongs to us; because every King in his Kingdom is Emperor, and JAMES the II. (whom God preserve) wears the Imperial Crown of this Realm. Nothing can bar Prayer no more than Allegiance: it is part of our Allegiance, and a most indispensible Tribute. He that defrauds the King of his Prayers had better defraud him of his Coin; saving that such a Man's Prayers would not do him so much good: This is God's Due, and this is Caesar's Due; our Prayers to God, and for the King: So that with one Mite we may pay both Tributes. What remains then, but that we should bethink ourselves how to pay it; which leads me to the second Undertaking, i. e. To give you some Directions how Prayers are to be made for him. There are Two Qualifications necessary to all Prayers, heartinesses and sincerity; the third is constancy, expressed here in my Text, by the word continually; so we are to pray for our King hearty, sincerely, and continually. First hearty, We are not to come to Church on such days as this for fashion-sake, to avoid singularity, or a bad reputation; every good Man must bring a Zealous Heart along with him; a Heart full of Affectionate Duty and Loyalty, with Love and Hope in his Breast, and Joy in his Eyes: He must petition God for the King, as he would petition the King for himself; with all the Elegancies of Entreaty, as if he would petition for a Kingdom: And then sure he would mix a few Vows with his Prayers, something or other to distinguish 'em from common Petitions; at least ways we should pray with such an emphasis, as if we thought ourselves quite undone, if God did not hear our Prayers, and so we may well think; for if God will not hear our Prayers for the King, 'tis a sign he will not hear 'em at all. Let us have a care that those Prayers be not lukewarm, for when God spits them out, he commonly spits 'em into the Cup of Indignation, that's the Cup of Anarchy, when the Prince and the Priest go off together; and then comes the Kingdom of Antichrist: Treatise of resisting the lawful Magistrate. For the Pious and Learned Dr. Hammond proves every stubborn Subject to be a Limb of Antichrist, who exalts himself above all that is called God. But, Secondly, We are to pray for the King sincerely, i. e. without any mental reserves, or mixed equivocations: We must pray for the King in that sense that the Church prays for him, in that sense that the Primitive Church of Christ is wont to pray for their Emperors. Apologet. & add Scap. c. 2. n. 11. Tertullian gives us a taste of those Prayers, by which we may guests at the rest. First their Manner, We pray, saith he, for our Kings with our Hands stretched forth, because they are Innocent, they were never lifted up against 'em; 2. With bareheads, because we are not ashamed, our Consciences do not fly in our Faces, and reproach us with Hypocrisy. 3. Without any humane order or prescription, because we pray willingly and from the bottom of our Hearts. Now follows the form: Vitam illis prolixam; a long Life, a secure Throne, a safe Abode, a potent Army, a faithful Senate, a Conscientious People, and a peaceable Empire: This was a sincere and honest Prayer, such a sort of Prayer as we come here to make, without Parsimony and without Fraud. Let me then give you Three short and general Directions in praying for the King. First, To Pray for him as you would have others pray for you. Secondly, To Pray for him as if you prayed for your selves; and Thirdly, Let the Subject-matter of your Prayers be as sincere and liberal as when he prays for you; we may know how that hath been by the effects: Be sure they are such Prayers as David and Solomon put up, the effects have been the same: Peace is within our Walls, and Prosperity within our Palaces. Besides, methinks we are all grown better of late; a New Genius ascends the Horizon. No doubt but from some new Cause, from our new King's prayers, For thou, O God, Psal. 61. hast heard his Vows; thou hast given him the heritage of those that fear thy Name. Then let us all join in the Chorus: Thou wilt prolong the King's Life; and his Years as many Generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will we sing praise unto thy Name for ever, and daily perform our Vows. Thirdly, We are to pray for him continually. Prayer also shall be made for him continually: So that we come here to Day, but to learn what we are to do all the Year after. This is but a solemn Remonstrance of what we resolve to do all the Days of our Life; and reason good, if we continue to expect the blessed Effects of such Prayers. Not that some Men's Omission of Prayer, (no nor their Curses) can do the King, and his Loyal Subjects, any harm: For God can rain down Blessings upon the Fleece, and let the Barren Ground remain dry; and so God can rain down Curses upon the Ground, and yet Gideon's Fleece shall escape, every lock and hair of it. If some will not continually pray for the King, yet God will continually bless him for their sakes that do; at least if the King prays for the People, God will return his Prayers upon his own Head: Thus much for Prayer. The second part is Praise: This is a more particular Duty, incumbent only for particular Reasons: Prayers for their Kings is the Duty of all Nations, but Praise only belongs to Solomon, and such Kings as Solomon was; and yet there is this Duty incumbent upon all Mankind, which is, To praise the Government, when they cannot praise the Person. The Character of a King, in the person of one Prince, is as Laudable, Divine, and Sacred, as in the person of another. They are all of them, In Luk. 1.21. as Calvin tells us, the Sons of God; they are so ex Officio, and Praise is as just a Debt to their Office, as Honour to their Persons: Indeed there can be no Honour without Praise. Praise is the result of Liking and Approbation; without which, Honour is no better than Mockery. But in this place the Holy Psalmist doth not speak of that Praise and Honour, which is universally due to all Princes, but of that extraordinary Praise, which his Successor King Solomon, and all such Princes as he, may justly claim. So here we are to consider the Character of a Prince who is praiseworthy. And here I have a fair opportunity of entering into a Panegyric upon that Glorious Prince, whose Praises we come hither to Celebrate, as well as to offer up our Prayers for him: But I would willingly avoid all Invidiousness, as well of the malevolent, for my Ambition, as of the Censorious, for my Presumption, and yet I fear neither. But because it is so co-incident with my Text, and most appropriate to the undoubted Sense of it, I shall give you a short Character of that Prince for whom 'twas first made; that not only ours, but all Princes of those Excellencies, may come in for their Deuce. First, He was a Prince of the most Celebrated Wisdom and Understanding in the World, this was his Natural Talon; which because he had so well improved, God Almighty at his request added to it: He was mature for Government, and well qualified for Empire; so that God sent him to the People with a Blessing in his Hand. It is the King's Wisdom that is the People's Safety; and therefore when God in Isaiah threatens 'em to give 'em Children to be their Princes, Ch. 3. v. 4. and Babes to rule over 'em; the Consequences of such a Government follow in the next vers. Vers. 5. And the People shall be oppressed every one by another, and every one by his Neighbour. Secondly, He was a most industrious Prince; he made his Duty his business, and very Conscientiously considered the great Charge committed to him; he was always employed for the People's good, Vigilant and Active upon all occasions. We read indeed, that in all his Reign the people had little else to do, 1 King. 4.25. But to sit down every Man under his Vine, and under his Figtree, from Dan even to Beersheba, Eating and Drinking and making Merry; it was well for them; but you'll find the good King otherwise employed: His greatest pleasure was, to see his People safe, and to be the Author of all those pleasures and comforts that they enjoyed, and which they could not enjoy, but by his pains and care. Thirdly, He was a King very eminent for Justice; which was one great effect of his Wisdom. 'Tis Solomon's own Maxim, That a Prince that wants Understanding is a great Oppressor; but a Prince of Understanding and Wisdom, will never do, nor suffer Wrong. The Lawyers tell us, That the King cannot wrong his Subjects; and our Divinity-Books tell us, Quia enim Deus vult honorari Superiores, vult etiam ut ipsi honorem suum tueantur. Pareus Corp. Doct. p. 3. Q. 104. Lib. 2. That he ought not to wrong himself. The King is as responsible to God for his own Honour, as for the people's Safety: And that the rather, because 'tis God's Honour as well as his; but yet he had much of David's Clemency and Mercy. I am sure Paterculus would have thought so, if he had lived in his Reign; for he looked upon it as a thing even incredible, Quod humanam excedat fidem: That Caesar, who was but an Usurper, Afranius, Faustus, Scylla, Filia Pompeii. Florus. Suet. Dio. Cass. should spare those that were of Pompey's Faction; and yet we read of some great Persons Executed upon that account, even L. Caesar, his Kinsman, contrary to due form of Law. Fourthly, He was a Prince of great Constancy and Resolution; he met with many difficulties in coming to the Crown, and even at his first Accession, he was forced to encounter with an unnatural and dangerous Rebellion: It was a difficult Juncto, and required a steady Hand of Government. Tranquillo quilibet gubernator est; Adag. Vet. Sen. Ep. 86. every one can Sail in a Calm Sea, but Storms and Tempests make a proof of the Pilot. Sal. Orat. ad Caes. 2. It might be said of him, as it was of Caesar, His mind was greater in Adversity than in Prosperity. David was not afraid to leave him amongst so many of his Enemies; 1 King. 2.9. Thou art a Wise Man, saith he, and knowest what thou ought'st to do: 1 Chr. 28.20. Be strong only and of good courage: That is, strengthen thyself, and be resolute: It was verbum sapienti; he did so. Lastly, He was a Man of extraordinary Piety and Devotion; in this he shown himself to be the true Son of Holy David. We are not to inquire, whether Solomon served God with the same Circumstances of Religion as David his Father: For so 'tis said, 1 King. 3.3. That Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the Statutes of David his Father. 'Tis true, from the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 following, some Learned Men have inferred, That the outward circumstances of his Worship, were not altogether so laudable, Deut. 12, 13, 14. 2 Chr. 1.3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Targ. Jonath. as his inward Sincerity and Devotion; because, whereas there was but one legal High-place of Worship ordained by Moses, he did nevertheless, in imitation of the Ancient Patriarches, Diodat. in 1 King. 3.3. permit their use in the plural number. But leaving this Dispute to the more Learned, I here only take notice, That as this was not sufficient to obstruct God's Indulgence, and great Love towards him; So it could be no bar to his people's Prayers and Praises: For as Solomon loved the Lord, so the Lord loved him; and blessed him with immensity of Wisdom and Justice; and this appears from the following passage, to be the undoubted Reward of his exemplary Piety. And now, to sum up all: This incomparable Wisdom, this indefatigable Industry, this Justice, Resolution, Constancy and Piety, might well deserve the Acclamation and daily Applause of his people: And if Solomon did justly deserve his people's Praise, behold this Day a Prince not inferior to Solomon. The Wisdom of this One Years Reign will equal all the History of that Eastern Prince. And as for all those other Qualifications, which I have mentioned, it is but too plain, that I have strained the Character of Solomon to make it bear some proportion with that of our King, and still the faint Lines come short of a Resemblance: But if undaunted Courage and Bravery in Battle, (a virtue that never was experienced in Solomon;) the voluntary Exposing of his Royal Person for the Good of his Country; the repeated instances of his Love and Affections to it; and such other his more peculiar and Characteristical virtues, were to be insisted upon; it would require such Sentences as Solomon's to declare his Worth. But I come not here to usurp upon Fame's Province; his Name is already spread as far as Solomon's, and shall continue as long as his, as long as the World shall endure. But sure the Obligations of his Subjects to him are far greater than any People ever lay under, and aught therefore to be paid in the most dutiful and solemn Manner: That great Tribute of Praise as well as of Prayer. Give me leave likewise herein to offer you some few Directions, and so I'll conclude. The Church directs us to praise God, not only with our Lips, but in our Lives, we may take the same instruction in Praising God's Vicegerent. He best praises the Lawgiver, who lives most conformable to his Laws; and the greatest Panegyric upon Caesar is, To Obey his Commands; they are the only Flatterers, whose Hearts and Tongues do not go together; and 'tis our Duty to praise our Prince, and not to Flatter him. Nothing can be grosser than to praise the King's Wisdom, and yet at the same time to prefer our own above it: My Lord the King, saith Mephibosheth, is as an Angel of God: But then he thought so as well as said it; and therefore resigned all he had in the World to the King's dispose. All Distrust and Jealousy is inconsistent with Praise; for this must proceed from Love, and Love casteth out Fear. We have a Prince, that of all Mankind ought the most to be trusted; because it is not in our powers, to provoke him him more to break his Word than we have done. Our Provocations have been so great, That nothing but his Sacred Word could stand between us and his Anger. But this must not encourage us to use him ill; for though the Decree for our Good is gone out of the King's Mouth, yet it is not ratified by God, without good Conditions. We have been grievous Delinquents, and are now but upon good Behaviour; and Lives, as well as Hearts, are in God's Hand. Conc. Lat. Bishop Andrews terms Kings the treasures of the People: If so, we at present have a most inestimable Treasure. But then he bids us remember, 2 Cor. 4.7. That we have these Treasures in Earthen Vessels: Let us have a great care, and use it tenderly, that we, together with our Prince, may see our children's Children, and peace upon Israel. Our Blessing is to us but a new Comer: we hardly know yet what it is that we enjoy. Consider but one Particular, That the English Nation, for this last Year, hath been a greater Terror abroad, than for some Ages before; at least-ways, 'tis in our power soon to be so; only by this, in not being a Terror to ourselves. Let but the English Praise and Love their King, and all the World will soon stand in awe of him. Not that he trusts in his own strength, or in the Arm of Flesh, but in his God; in his Right, and in his Innocence. Witness that one Act of his, whereby in the Assembly now in being, he would not (what others would perhaps) have Excluded his Exclusioners. But there is no occasion to be loud and importunate in our Praises, they'll be best understood by our being still and quiet. Let us all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make it our Ambition to be so. It should be our Ambition, 1 Thes. 4.7. because it is our Interest; nay, we see it is to no purpose to be otherwise: It is but a folly to resist so often, the plain and visible Hand of Providence; the Injuries and Affronts that are done to Majesty still turn to Blessings. And, as to our Prince in particular, God hath as plainly and manifestly protected him from all his Enemies; as if with our own Eyes we had seen him guarded with a Flaming Sword, or resting his Head under an Angel's Wing. God Almighty hath given him so many and such signal Deliverances, that we should be even Faithless, if we did not believe, that it can never be in the power of Men or Devils to hurt him. So that God will Reign, and the King will Reign, be the People never so unquiet. God hath Judged the King, Ps. 43.1. and hath pleaded his Cause against an ungodly Nation: He hath delivered him from the deceitful and unjust Man. Ps. 18.20. The Lord hath rewarded him according to his Righteousness, according to the cleanness of his Hands, hath he recompensed him. And now, the King will be sure to live Peaceably and Quietly himself. He is resolved to stand fast like a Rock in the midst of his Ocean; neither the Raging Waves of the Sea, nor the Madness of the People, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Hom. II. l. 1. shall ever remove him from his Centre. He is resolved to deserve Praise, and to have it too, if not from his People, yet from his God. To conclude then with the Words of this Psalm. His Name shall endure for ever, his Name shall be continued as long as the Sun, and Men shall be Blessed in him. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doth wondrous things: And Blessed be his Glorious Name for ever. Amen, and Amen. FINIS.