A SERMON To bring to Remembrance GOD's Wonderful Mercies at the BOYN; PREACHED On the Second Day of July, 1699, At St. Nicholas within, DUBLIN:  
By john Stern, D. D.  
DUBLIN, Printed by Joseph Ray, and are to be Sold at his Shop in Skinner-Row, over against the Tholsel. 1699.   

To Their EXCELLENCIES 

CHARLES Duke of Bolton,  
HENRY Earl of galway, And  
NARCISSUS Lord Archbishop of Dublin,   LORDS JUSTICE'S OF IRELAND.  
This SERMON (Preached and Published in Remembrance of God's Wonderful Mercies at the Boyn.) Is humbly Dedicated by  
Their Excellencies Most obedient Servant John Stern.   

A SERMON Preached the Second Day of July, 1699; ON The 24th. and 25th. Verses of the XXXVI. Chap. of Job.  
Remember that thou magnify his Work which Men behold:  
Every Man may see It, Man may behold It a far off.  
THrough the merciful Providence of Almighty God, We are All, this Day (to the great Disappointment of our Enemies) in the Land of the Living: and this very Day, nine Years are completed since We were assured of our Deliverance from the threatening Powers of France, and the bloody Hopes of Rome: for, though the First of July will be long observable in Story, for that Glorious Victory with which Heaven was pleased to bless the Forces of our Mighty Deliverer, KING WILLIAM, at the Boyn; yet, in what Melancholy Thoughts, what fearful Expectations, and what restless Distraction, that doubtful Day was spent, many of this City cannot easily forget. But on the Second of this Month, on this memorable Day, did We joyfully behold the prevailing Fears of our Enemies prevent the Execution of their own cruel Designs.  
This Day, instead of being buried in the Ruins of our City, or of seeing it in Flames and Ashes round about Us, did We (though still with some Remainder of our Fears, as the Sea continues disturbed and rough, for some time after the stormy Winds are laid) this Day, I say, did We look out from our Consinement, and see our Enemies in their disorderly Flight: as if they could not make too much Haste from an advancing Army, whose Hearts and Hands they had lately known to their Loss and Sorrow. For, though they are a sort of Men that allow their Senses to be Dull and Deceitful in the Church; yet, in the Field they are very Quick and Faithful: and in Our Great Day of Battle all their Catholic Faith could not hinder their Senses from doing their proper Office: they soon felt the Blows and Shot of our Army, and believed them Real; They saw their own Party Substantially beaten, and did not conceit that they were knocked down by Accidents. In short, they were too sensible that Our Army was a Body of Men too Brave and Daring for them to rally against and engage; and, therefore, with all the Expedition of Fear, they turned their Backs, ran away, and spurred on, as if a winged, commissioned Angel had pursued their dismayed, flying Camp, to execute the Vengeance of the Lord of Hosts. And since on this Day, We saw Our Enemies scattered, and those that hated us (like well disciplined Soldiers following their Leader) fly before Us; shall not We this Day, shall not Our Posterity for ever, magnify this marvellous Work of God which We beheld, that God may never upbraid Us, as He did his People, with this heavy Charge; They remembered not God's Hand, nor the Day when He delivered them from the Enemy?  
We must, not only magnify God, for his Eminent Works of Mercy, while they are New, and can hardly be forgotten, but allow them a constant Place in our Remembrance; and that vast Debt of Gratitude which We ourselves cannot wholly discharge, must be entailed upon our late Posterity. In a due Sense of this, did the Jews, upon the sudden Disappointment of Haman's bloody Conspiracy, set a part the Days of Purim, as Days of Feasting and Gladness, in Commemoration of so signal a Deliverance. They ordained that those Days should be kept through every Generation, every Province, every City and every Family; that the Memory of them might not perish from the Jews, nor from their Seed for ever. This their Religious Decree must condemn us all, unless We faithfully record Our Deliverances, for the Generations to come; that the Children which are yet unborn may praise the Lord. If the Deliverance of any People upon the Face of the Earth, has deserved a stated Day of Anniversary Thanksgiving, surely Ours, (as at this Time) may justly expect It: and I wish that the want of an Act of Parliament for celebrating the First of July, as well as the Twenty Ninth of May, or the Twenty Third of October, may not be numbered among those National Sins which provoke the Jealous God to visit Us again, with a more heavy Hand. Should We or Our Posterity ever suffer God's Great and Compendious Mercy at the Boyn to grow into neglect, the Astonished World may justly tell us (in the Psalmist's Words) that We have sinned with our Fathers, who regarded not God's Wonders in Egypt, neither kept his great Goodness in Remembrance, but were disobedient at the Sea, even at the Red Sea. Even the most important Blessings We are too prone to forget: and, therefore, wise and grateful Antiquity contrived various Ways to renew and strengthen our Memories. And our Blessed Saviour, considering how often the thronging Concerns of this present Life thrust Him and All his Benefits out of our Minds, very kindly left us a most indispensible Command for the frequent Celebration, of the Holy Eucharist, saying, Do this in Remembrance, (or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, for a Memorial) of Me. And that the People of God might never want an Evidence of His exceeding Goodness towards them, in destroying Amalek, with the Sword of Joshua, God enjoined Moses to write It in a Book: and for a standing Monument of so glorious a Defeat, Moses built an Altar, and called the Name of It, JEHOUA-nissi, The Lord my Banner. And surely We are not less obliged to convey, by every kind of Tradition, the wonderful Works of Divine Mercy, to the coming Generations; that God's Name may be exalted in every succeeding Age, to the Consummation of all Things: when all Holy Souls shall join with the celestial Choir, in more refined and sprightly Hallelujahs; and keep one great Day of Thanksgiving that shall never know a Night.  
And if this be our Duty, (as most certainly It is) Wonder and Pity must, by Turns, employ a serious Person, when He Duly reflects on our National Mercies, and our general Ingratitude. For, How can He but be filled with Admiration, to consider the many and great Deliverances, which a most gracious Providence has vouchsas'd to give Us, notwithstanding all our provoking Impieties? And how can He but look down, with a sorrowful Eye, upon the unhappy Condition of such Men as (by their continued Course of Wickedness) seem obstinately resolved to disappoint all the obliging Methods of Divine Goodness and Love? Tho' the Lord hath done great Things for Us already, and so done them that they ought to be had in Remembrance; Yet, (so unanswerable is our Return) We hourly magnify our own Ingratitude more than his marvellous Works. Our numerous Transgressions have made our Unthankfulness so prodigiously Great, that, in this one Respect, It is like the Wonderful Work of God in the seasonable Deliverance of our Church and State; every One may see It, Man may behold It a far off.  
It was thought very unreasonable by our Blessed LORD, that, of the Ten that were cleansed, but One returned to give Glory unto GOD for his saving Mercy; and yet our Unthankfulness is more unequal; for, of the many Thousands in this Populous City, which was surprised with a Deliverance from a consuming Fire and an undistinguishing Sword, not One in an Hundred daily offers unto GOD the Public Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving for so  a Mercy. The Devotions of our Church are, generally, so neglected, that many may be thought to be sorry for GOD's Goodness towards them in restoring our Temples, (abused by Superstitious and Idolatrous Worship) to their Pure and Reasonable Service, because this Religious Turn of Providence does take away all Excuse for their Ingratitude, in not constantly Magnifying GOD, in His House of Prayer. Every slighted Opportunity of Thanksgiving does but heighten their Gild: So that it had been better for them to have suffered the utmost Severities of Popery, than to live ungrateful for such an exceeding Blessing as the Continuation of the Protestant Religion: And it would be a very Just Judgement, should GOD (in His Anger) once more, and for ever, give our Churches into the Hands of our Enemies (who would make them Dens of Thiefs that rob the silly People of their Money and their Souls together) since We ourselves too seldom make any Good or Religious use of such Holy Places. One Special Reason, why GOD does often delay the granting of choicest temporal Mercies to a People, is, their own unpreparedness for them; and when He has at length, answered the earnest desire of Their Hearts, Their not Magnifying, in a becoming manner, His Signal Providential Dispensations, or not faithfully improving them to the Glory of His Name, and the Salvation of Their own Souls, does frequently provoke, Him, to vindicate His Honour, and to bring Them unto a better understanding both of Him and of Themselves, by a Sensible Abatement, or a Total Removal of His abused Favours.  
To prevent such an heavy Fate, let us come unto a closer and more distinct Consideration of Four weighty Duties which this compendious Term, MAGNIFY, does impart and enjoin, as the special, solemn Business of every grateful Soul, in reference to the Eminent, Merciful, Providential Works of GOD. For, 

1st. In order to our Magnifying such Works of GOD, We must freely own His overruling Hand in all, acknowledging Him for the Fountain from which all our Blessings, like so many refreshing and wholesome Streams, are derived unto us.  
2dly. We must carefully observe those more Material and Signal Circumstances which render any national Work of Divine Providence more considerable and obliging.  
3dly. To the utmost of our Power, and with the profoundest Humility, must We pay all that Honour, Reverence, and Adoration unto GOD, for His extraordinary Works of Providence, which They most justly challenge from Us. And  
Lastly, It must be our constant Endeavour to answer (by a sincere Practical Reformation) the just Expectation of GOD in His merciful Works of Providence.    
The First Duty required (in our Method) unto a more respectful Magnifying of GOD's Eminent Works of Mercy, is, a free owning of His overruling Hand in All, and acknowledging Him for the Fountain of all our Blessings.  
‛ Tho' We were blessed with a King of such Undaunted Courage, such Prudent Conduct, and such Constant Devotion, that He seemed, at the Boyn, to design, at once the Conquest of Heaven and Earth, or taking them Both, by the united Force of Arms and Prayer; though We were favoured with a General, deservedly famed through more than the Christian World, for His glorious Exploits in War; and who, as if, with such a King, He had been too great a Blessing for us, like another Moses, only saw that Good and Promised Land which He was not suffered to go over the River and possess: ' Tho' Our dreadful Host was, On the First of July, led forth to Battle, by so Experienced and so Wary a Commander; and ' though such a King be yet, ' through all the long Toils, and bold hazardous Attempts of War, through many treacherous Plots, both at Home and Abroad, mercifully continued to Us, yet all the Success of Our Armies, all the Glory of Our Campagnes, and all Our present Blessings under His gentle and easy Sceptre, must be ascribed unto the Supreme Governor of all Things, whose Power no Creature is able to resist. He, and He only, giveth Salvation unto Kings; He, and He only, at the Immortal Boyn, delivered William His Servant, from the hurtful Cannon. An Horse is counted but a vain Thing to save a Man; nor shall He deliver any by his great Strength: It may be prepared for the Day of Battle, but still Victory is of the LORD. Could a Man be saved by the Multitude of an Host, The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Great Schomberg, might have enjoyed, as well as promoted, Our Deliverance: But how is the Mighty Man fallen? He expired, as He had lived, in the Arms of Victory: For, ' though He lost His Life, He won The Day.  
There may be, and often is a lucky Hit of second Causes, very observable in compassing the general Happiness of a Nation; in delivering the Inhabitants from the complicated Designs of Romish Agents, from Superstition and Idolatry, from Oppression, and Slavery, from Fire and Sword, from the most cruel Tortures, Jesuitical Racks and Inquisition; yet such a grateful Deliverance is the Work of that Alwise and Almighty GOD, who, for the Honour of His Name, in the Defence of His injured Cause, goes forth with the Armies of His Anointed. He only can, at His Pleasure, scatter the People that delight in Blood; and Strike Their Hearts with such a distracting Fear, that They Fly when no Man Pursues; and (taking every Leaf that is moved with the Wind, for the shaking of a Spear) run with a Strong natural Bias, unto Their own Bogs and Woods, as to a more sure Defence against the Strange Engines of War, than all the Auxiliaries of France and Rome, with the long implored Assistance of Their Queen of Heaven.  
I do not much wonder at the Inglorious Flight of a vast Army upon the close Advance of Our Jehoshaphat at the Brook, when I remember (and He must be very unworthy of a Deliverance that forgets) those Instruments of GOD, those Men of War whose Names might have been as dreadful to our Enemies, as Epaminondas was unto the Lacedæmonians, and Scanderbag unto the Turks; Hannibal unto the Romans, and the Black-Prince unto the French; and who should therefore, live among the Sons of Fame, in something more lasting than Brass or Marble. Let not Envy or Ingratitude rob those Heroes that have slain their Thousands, or put Ten Thousand to Flight, of the Honour due unto Their worthy Achievements; but let not us so wholly fix Our Thoughts and Admiration upon the Happiness We enjoy, or the great Instruments of GOD in effecting It, as to render ourselves careless in acknowledging the uncontrolled Hand of that GOD, whose Battles They Fought with so much Bravery and so great Success. David could not believe that Joab, His General, and all His Host could answer His Desires with Victory; thus, therefore, does He Question and thus Pray; Who will lead Me into the Strong City? Who will bring Me into Edom? Wilt not Thou O GOD? Give Us Help from Trouble; for vain is the Help of Man: Through GOD We shall do valiantly, for it is He that shall tread down Our Enemies. The Battle is not always to the Strong, but GOD, in His Infinite Wisdom and by His Almighty Arm, putteth down One King, and setteth up Another; that the Living may know that the most High ruleth, in the Kingdom of Men, and that he giveth It to whomsoever He will. In such a surprising wonderful manner does GOD often deliver His People, that They must be very Blind if They do not see, or very ungrateful if They do not own, that They are saved by the LORD Their GOD. Such is HIs Might that He can (according to His own Will) make the most inconsiderable Instrument, One no bigger than David's Pibble, Powerful enough to over-match the Strength of a Weaver's Beam, and to lay the most Insulting Enemy in the Dust. His Command is as wide as his Creation; so that He can, at any time, summon Heaven and Earth, Angels and Men, Sun Moon, and Stars, the Sea and all that is therein, to join in Battle, and execute His Just and Heavy Vengeance upon all such as worship Deaf and Helpless Gods; and to give Salvation unto those that sincerely call upon His Name. Let not us then, be guilty of so much Atheism, as not to acknowledge a Supreme Being, in all the Great Changes of the World. When We behold Lightnings or Inundations, a sudden Earthquake or a devouring Pestilence, depopulating the most delightful, spacious, and frequented Cities, let us employ Ourselves (not so much in curiously searching out Natural Causes, as) in eyeing the Hand of God, in such general Calamities. And when We see a Kingdom, by the destructive Principles, and prodigious Unskilfulness of One, almost shaken in Pieces, and, at length, through the Care of Another more wise Master-builder, settling upon its Old Firm and Lasting Foundation, let Us (in a thankful Acknowledgement of such a Providential Work) say (with the Psalmist,) not unto Us, O Lord, not unto Us, but unto Thy Name, be all the Glory. And that We may be the more disposed to do so, We must,  
In the Second Place, carefully observe those more Material and Signal Circumstances, which render any National Work of Divine Providence more considerable and obliging.  
So curious a Thing is the Work of Providence, that to a diligent Observer, every Part of It will appear full of Wisdom and Beauty: and the more heedfully We survey Its various Circumstances, the more will It excite Our Praise and Admiration. As therefore, true Penitents pathetically charge and load their Confessions with all those Aggravations which may heighten their Detestation and Sorrow; so the grateful Soul does critically remark those many and great Circumstances which set off God's Work, and more advantageously recommend It to Us. Several Acts of Providence, at the first transient view, may seem to offer but little Matter of Importance; yet, upon a repeated Observation, We find them very considerable. In our Present Reformation or Deliverance from Popery, many Circumstances might be taken notice of to raise our Acknowledgements; but several Pens having obliged the Nation with a full Account of the most Remarkable Ones, I shall briefly observe at this time, only some few Particulars that well disposed Our Neighbouring Kingdom for that Blessed Change; and the Seasonableness of such a Revolution to the miserable Inhabitants of this.  
All the late Fears and Jealousies in England; all the solemnly made, and as often solemnly broken Promises of a King; all the Intrigues managed with an Old Prince abroad, to set up a pretended Young Prince at Home; all the base, mercenary Compliances of many Civil and Ecclesiastical Ministers; dissolving Charters, and authorising Mass in Colleges; advising a general Toleration, and advancing an unlimited dispensing Power; labouring to repeal the Penal Laws and Test, setting up a New High Commission, and Committing the Right Reverend Bishops to the Tower, for not acting against Law and Conscience; turning out good Protestants, and promoting professed Papists to the most considerable Civil and Military Places of Profit and Honour; All these Things, and many more (too many either to have been done by any King that would not follow Dioclesian, or to be repeated by me now) did strongly incline the Nation to a quicker Apprehension of the growing Evils of Popery; and bring them to a more easy Compliance with the Methods of God's Wonderful Work.  
And how seasonable the happy Consequences of all such Proceed were to Us of this Kingdom, our whole Lives will be too short duly to consider. If the well timing of a Mercy does make It the more valuable, surely Our Deliverance must be highly recommended to Us by the Seasonableness of It. To what shall I, for This, compare so great a Mercy? The Coming of our King was like that of the Angel of God to Isaac, when the Hand was lifted up for the Fatal Stroke: Poor Ireland's Relief was like the refreshing Well of Water to the disconsolate Hagar, when she had given up Herself to Sorrow, and Her Son to Death: in a Word, the Generous Resolution of King WILLIAM to visit this distressed Nation, was as Opportune as the Night-thoughts of King Ahasuerus (kept awake by the special Providence of God) to reward the Good, recorded service of Mordecai; just at a time when the Ambitious and Revengeful Haman's Plot, for an utter Exterpation of the Jews, was ripe for Execution.  
And what shall we render unto the Lord for all the Benefits comprehended in so seasonable a Mercy? I will magnify thee, O Lord, because Thou hast set me up, and not made my Foes to triumph over me: O praise the Lord with me, and let Us magnify His Name together. The Dead praise not Thee, O Lord, neither All they that go down into silence. The Living, the Living, they shall praise Thee as We do this Day: the Father: to the Children shall make known thy Work. Thou Lord wast ready to save; therefore will We sing of Thy Praise without ceasing; O my God I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.  
The grateful Resolution of Two Pious Princes, (David, and Hezekiah) in these Words, which I have applied unto Our own case, cannot but mind you of  
The Third propounded Particular, viz. That We must to the utmost of Our Power, and with the profoundest Humility, pay all that Honour, Reverence, and Adoration, unto God, for His more Eminent and Extraordinary Works of Providence, which they most justly challenge from Us.  
God is known by the Mercies He bestows, as well as by the Judgme●… which He executes, upon a Nation. Sometimes the merciful Work of Providence comes so recommended to Us, by the Image and Superscription of a God, bearing such clear and legible Characters of the Divine Wisdom, Power, and Goodness, that upon the First serious View, We cannot but conclude that It is the Lord's Doing. And the more conspicuous and remarkable the Appearances of a God are, in any of His Works of Providence (in raising a Nation that was almost as much without Hope (though not so free from Misery and Sorrow) as those that lie in the Grave, with the Speed of a Resurrection, unto a comfortable State of Affairs; the more signal, I say, the Hand of an Omnipotent God is, in any such Providential Dispensations) still the more Public and Extraordinary Expressions of Respect and Gratitude, do they justly command from all that share in such gracious Manifestations of His Goodness. And should not Man spread abroad the Praises of His Great Creator and Preserver, his very fellow-creatures that want, not only Reason, but Sense, would condemn his ungrateful Silence. Even The Heavens declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament showeth His handiwork. As constantly as Day and Night do follow one another, they instruct the World concerning the Wisdom and other Attributes of God, which most illustriously appear in their appointed Course and orderly Succession: and their Voice is understood by every Nation under Heaven; as if every Man heard them speak in his own Tongue, the Wonderful Works of God. And, as every Return of Day renews the bright demonstrations of God's Glory, so Day by Day our Souls should magnify the Lord. When senseless Creatures do thus (according to Ability) manifest unto the World the Glory of their Maker, surely a much greater Obligation must lie upon Man, to join in that universal Work, and to perform It in a more noble Manner; in a way most suitable to the Excellency of his own Rational and Immortal Soul. Since the Glory of God's eminent Works of Mercy is so conspicuously Great, that Man may behold It a far off, and yet can never come near their surpassing Excellency, in the most sublime Acknowledgements of a grateful Spirit; since the Dignity of any Person does command a proportionable Respect; and We greatly honour Kings for their Transcendent Majesty, how can We sufficiently reverence and admire the infinitely Glorious Lord GOD, whose Perfections have been so wonderfully displayed in the Works of Wisdom, Power, and Love to this undeserving Nation? Or (in the wise Ben-Sirach's full Expression) Who can magnify Him, as He is? Admiration is the Gazing or Fixing of the Understanding upon an Object that is too big for It: and since there is such a Discovery of God's Excellencies in His late signal Providences towards Us, that We cannot comprehend all the Glory which shineth in them, well may We, in an humble and awful Respect join with the Saints in the Revelation, saying, Great and Marvellous are Thy Works, Lord GOD Almighty! Just and true are Thy Ways, Thou King of Saints! who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and magnify Thy Name? And for your better Instruction in this important Duty, you may, at your Leisure, consult Moses' Song of Thanksgiving in the 15th. Chap. of Exodus. In that, you hear him solemnly blessing the Lord for the dreadful Overthrow of Pharaoh and his mighty Host, at the Red Sea: in that, you may easily observe with what Affection and Reverence, he magnifieth the Hand of God in completing that Wonderful Deliverance of His People. So far is Moses from letting the Merciful Works of God pass by unregarded, and from concealing them in his own Breast; that, in the most lofty Strain, he openly declares his noble Deeds, and labours in provoking others unto a joint acknowledgement of God's Glorious Attributes in so strange a Dispensation of his ever-watchful Providence. And, following so fair a Pattern, after such a Manner, must We celebrate and record the adorable Perfections of our God, most illustriously appearing in His Special Providences towards Us, as may most excite (not only the present Generation, but) future Ages of the World, unto all possible Returns of Gratitude, for the seasonable Preservation of Our Liberties, Our Lives, Our King, and Our Religion, to the Almighty Defender of them All. God does often permit the Enemies of His People to oppress and triumph over them, with the most intolerable Insolency; as the Protestants, in this City, were abused, plundered, crushed, and trampled on, by the Jacobite Party, before the Arm of God and Man restrained their fierce Malice at the Boyn: He frequently sees his Own brought into extreme Distress, into a Straight like that of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, (having Rocks and Mountains on the right Hand, and on the left a strong Garrison of the Egyptians, an unpassable Sea before, and behind a mighty pursuing Host; He suffers This,) before His Hand is stretched out in any appointed Instrument which, like Moses' Rod, must open a Way for their Deliverance. And this Method He is pleased to take (not only for an Improvement of their Graces, which come more pure and bright out of the fiery Trial but also) to magnify the more His own Attributes in the Strangeness and Seasonableness of their Salvation. His own Glory is the End of all His Actions: And That is in a more visible manner displayed in such opportune Acts of Providence. And shall not a Delivered People answer GOD's Great Design, by exalting, in the most public way, His Glorious Name, for such well-timed Expressions of His Care and Goodness. If when the LORD turned Our Captivity, They said even among Our Enemies, (as before them, the Egyptians once did in the Day of Their Distress) Let Us Fly for the LORD Fighteth for them; if Our Enemies, said then (as the Babylonians did on another great Deliverance of GOD's People) The LORD hath done Great Things for Them; surely it would be very base and unworthy in Us not to take up and thus gratefully improve Their Acknowledgement, Yea the LORD hath done Great Things for Us already. O that Men would therefore Praise the LORD for His Goodness, and Declare the Wonders He hath done for (Us) the Children of Men: That They would offer unto Him the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, and tell out His Works with Gladness. And if by performing These and the foregoing Duties, We expect any Advantage, it must be,  
In the Fourth and last Place, our constant Endeavour, to answer, by a sincere practical Reformation, the just Expectation of GOD in His Merciful Works of Providence.  
Tho' GOD cannot receive any Addition to His own Essential Perfections, from Our most exact Performances, yet, it must be highly reasonable to answer the Expectation of such an infinite Being, in conferring any special Favours on Us, by conforming our Lives unto His Holy Commandments. 'Tis a Damnable Hypocrisy to own GOD with our Lips, by the most solemn Returns of Praise in His Holy House; and to deny Him by an unsuitable Conversation. And yet, there is too much Reason to believe, that GOD is not so much Magnified by all the Time many allow unto Their public Devotions, as dishonoured by Their spending loosely and in the most abominable Impieties, the Remainder and much greater Portion of Their Days. But how unbecoming is such an Abuse of God's Favours? How provoking must it be to sin thus against the Mercies of Heaven? What can We confidently depend upon either for Eternal or Temporal Salvation, but the infinite Mercies of God the Father, and the equal Merits of His Son Christ Jesus? But a Course of Life unanswerable to those Deliverances God has been pleased to give Us, cuts off all reasonable claim to Both: and if Mercy Itself be disobliged, what can save Us? Seeing that our GOD has given Us such a Deliverance as this, which We this Day, (and which We for ever ought to) magnify, should We again break His Commandments, would He not be angry with Us, till He has consumed Us, so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping. Thou art inexcusable, O Man, whosoever thou art, that despisest the Riches, of God's Goodness, Forbearance, and Long-suffering, not considering that the Goodness of GOD should lead thee to Repentance. God seems to have repent of those threatening Evils which We had long feared, because We most righteously had deserved: and by His own Example (in an Ancient Writer's if not Tertullian's Phrase) dedicavit Poenitentiam, has consecrated Repentance for our Imitation. And if this His Goodness does not so far prevail as to make Us repent too, notwithstanding all that has been done for Us, We are miserable: for He will repent, at last, even of His own Kindnesses to such an ungrateful People. And what Revenge more hot than that of abused Love? Because the Children of Israel (whom God by a mighty Hand, and a stretoh'dout Arm brought up from the Land of Egypt,) had forgotten GOD their Saviour and lightly esteemed the Rock of their Salvation, therefore, thus said the Lord unto them, by the Prophet Amos; You only have I known, (or favoured in a more signal Manner,) of all the Families of the Earth; therefore I will punish (more severely punish) you for all your Iniquities. And the Psalmist assures Us, that when GOD brought forth His People with Joy, and His Chosen with Gladness, His Great and Just Expectation was, That they might keep His Statutes and observe His Laws. And do not the extraordinary Mercies We enjoy oblige Us unto a like answerable Return? Did you not make large Promises unto God, in the Day of Trouble? Did you not then pray and resolve with David; Deliver me, O Lord, from the Oppression of Men, and so will I keep thy Precepts? And are all our Promises, all our Resolutions like the hasty Vows of some endangered Passengers at Sea? Are they all forgotten now the Storm is, in a great Measure, rebuked and laid? To be freed from out late Oppressions, (of which too many that took timely shelter in another Kingdom, from that violent Tempest which almost overturned all in This, are not truly sensible,) what would We have done for Our Deliverer? And yet, how strangely, how unworthily do too many, now, requite a most Generous Monarch for all his Royal Favours, by provoking God with their bold Impieties, to infatuate his Councils, and to destroy his Armies that have so successfully advanced in Our Preservation! Let not any wicked Man be so vain as to boast of his great Affection to the Church of England, and Loyalty to his Prince; or of what mighty Things he would attempt for the Honour and Safety of a King, that is the Dread of France, the Delight of the Protestant World, and the Special Favourite of Heaven; that appeared, at once, a Moses and a Joshua, boldly charging his Enemy in the Field, and boldly praying unto Heaven for Success; Let not, I say; any Man whose Life is not answerable to those great Blessings which such a King has, under God, conveyed unto Us, talk at so extravagant a Rate; for He that unsheaths his Sword against our King in Battle, does not so much shake his Throne as a debauched WILLIAMITE: and after all is considered that can be feared from the Dissenters, He will be found to be the most dangerous Nonconformist, whose persevering wicked Life contradicts Our established Liturgy, in calling for Plague, Pestilence, and Famine, Battle, and Murder and sudden Death.  
If there be any Gentlemen of the Sword present, let them know that it nearly concerns them to remember and duly ponder these Things: and, more particularly, I leave unto their sober Meditations, that pertinent Injunction in the 23. Chap. of Deut. When the Host goeth forth against thine Enemy, then keep thee from every wicked Thing. Observing diligently this Law of God, though they fall in the day of Battle, they may, at last, stand in Glory with those renowned Worthies of God (Joshua, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, and David) who, through Faith, so much prevailed with Heaven, that they subdued Kingdoms, escaped the Edge of the Sword, were made strong, waxed valiant in Fight, and turned to flight the Arms of the Aliens.  
And such Persons as are favoured with a more easy worldly Fortune, and are not engaged in the Fatigues of War, must be told, that being delivered from the Hands of their Enemies (who had, by the most illegal Methods, seized their Purchases and Inheritances,) if they reasonably expect to keep their Estates, they must keep the Commandments of their God too: Without such Obedience never let them hope to enjoy them with the Blessing of Heaven.  
In a Word, let all such as (through the common Calamities of War) are fallen from a plentiful, to a mean Condition in the World, gratefully remember that God has already, and lately, as on this very Morning, made Our Day of Light and Joy break when the Night was darkest; that His Arm never casts down His People lower, than It can reach to lift them up; that, though Enemies, as bad as the Chaldaean Bands, have destroyed their Substance in the Land, fallen upon their  and driven them away, and slain their Servants with the Edge of the Sword; Yet God can be as bountiful unto them, as he was to Job, and bless their latter End more than their Beginning. Many, out of the Abundance of their thankful Hearts, will readily acknowledge, that Providence has restored them, in a very considerable Measure, unto that flourishing State which they enjoyed before, and which they were deprived of in, the last Reign. And the Consideration of this should encourage such as have not yet recovered their former Prosperity, to apply unto themselves those Words of the Temanite in the 22th. Chap. of Job, (according to the usual Limitations of Temporal Promises under the Gospel,) If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up; The Almighty shall be thy Defence, and thou shalt deliver the Island of the Innocent.  
And when We are all from the Highest to the Lowest, Rich and Poor (even in Gratitude to God for his past Mercies) thus sincerely reformed, We may boldly address unto the Throne of Grace, for a continued, for a more complete Deliverance: that every day may be as the First of July unto our King, and as the Second unto Us All.  
On this Day particularly (for a Close of the whole Discourse) let all truehearted Protestants, that love their Country and their Religion, jointly petition for Him, in that joyful and comprehensive Acclamation of the Clergy and People, at the splendid Inauguration of Charles the Great, (Emperor of the West) GULIELMO Magno, Piissimo, Augusto, à DEO Coronato, Vita & Victoria. To WILLIAM the Great, most Pious, August, and crowned by GOD, long Life and Victory. Amen.  
FINIS.