A SERMON Preached at the Cathedral Church of Worcester, Upon the Thanksgiving Day, April 16. 1696.  
By W. TALBOT, D. D. and Dean of Worcester.  
Published at the Request of the Mayor and Aldermen of that City.  
LONDON, Printed for T. Bennet, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard, MDCXCVI.   

To the Right Worshipful Nicholas Fayting, Esq; Mayor, and the Worshipful the Aldermen of the City of Worcester.  
Gentlemen,  
THE general Joy and Thankfulness which have appeared throughout the Kingdom, upon the discovery and defeat of the late Designs of France against Us, make me hope that the Eyes of this People, which some have been so busy to put out, by all the Dust they could raise, are at last cleared; and that many well-meaning Persons, who have been misled by the Cunning of such as lie in wait to deceive, do now begin to see that after all the pretences of Honour on the other side the Water, and Conscience on this, the Question is come to this short Issue, Whether we will live like a Free-People under our English Laws and Government which have been so bravely asserted by our Ancestors, and enjoy our Reformed Religion, which has been sealed with the Blood of Martyrs, of our Spiritual Fathers and Brethren in Christ; or, Exchange these for a French Servitude and Papal Bondage, and bring a Yoke upon ourselves and Posterity, which neither we nor our Fathers have been able to bear?  
This You and your Worthy Citizens were certainly sensible of, when upon the late Thanksgiving-Day for the Deliverance of His Majesty and these Kingdoms from the designed Assassination and Invasion You appeared in such Numbers in the House of God, and expressed your respect to it in such Instances as have scarcely been paralleled, upon any occasion, in this place.  
I hearty wish, That my Health and Leisure would have permitted me to have made that part of the Solemnity that fell to my share of a Piece with the others; and that when all the rest deserved to be set in as bright a Light as that with which You illuminated your Streets upon the Evening of that Joyful Day, it only might not have wanted a Veil to cover it.  
But, however needful it may be, I am sure I must not offer at any Apology for making it public: None can be made on my part, but what may be answered in those words of St. Peter to Ananias, While it remained with thee was it not thine own? And as to You, Gentlemen, Now it is yours (tho' You may wish that I had made such a return to your Commands as the Elder Brother did to those of his Father in the Gospel, who said, Sir, I go, and did not, rather than with the second, professed my unwillingness to comply, and afterwards repent and did it) You must be contented to account for it, to take it wholly upon yourselves, and not expect that I should say one word for it, for that would be unwarily to entitle myself to its Defence, when I can so fairly rid my hands of it, and lay it at your Doors.  
If any of those good Ends shall be served by Printing it, which You spoke of when You honoured me with a Visit the Day after it was Preached, I shall think it but reasonable that the acknowledgements thereof should be made only to You, who must bear all the ill Consequences of it, as having commanded it from me by your Authority, which I do own is very great over,  
Worcester, Apr. 20. 1696. Gentlemen, Your most Obedient, and Faithful Humble Servant, W. T.   
PSAL. CXXIV. 6, 7, 8. 
Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a Prey to their Teeth.  
Our Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler; the Snare is broken, and we are escaped.  
Our help is in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.  
The former Part of the Psalm is thus: 
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say:  
If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when Men risen up against us:  
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us.  
Then the Waters had overwhelmed us, the Stream had gone over our Soul.  
Then the proud Waters had gone over our Souls.  
Blessed, etc.   
THE Title of this Psalm shows the Author of it to be King David, and the occasion of his composing it, was certainly some signal Deliverance either Personal or National, which God had bestowed upon himself or his People.  
Whether it were his Deliverance from the several Designs and Attempts upon his Life, of his Father-in-Law King Saul, or from the Conspiracy and Insurrection of his Son Absalon, or from the Philistines who came up to seek him upon their hearing that he was anointed King over Israel in Hebron, or from the Ammonites afterwards with their hired Succours, the Syrians, or whatever the particular Mercy was, that the Royal Prophet had an Eye to when he made this Eucharistical Song, 'tis most admitably contrived and fitted for the Use of any Nation or People, professing God's true Religion, upon any eminent Deliverance of themselves, or their Prince, from the wicked Designs of the Enemies thereof.  
I say of themselves or their Prince: For David here makes this grateful Recognition of the Divine Goodness in the Name of Israel, as if his People had been in great danger, and very narrowly escaped; when yet, according to good Commentators, 'twas a personal Deliverance from a Design against himself that he here commemorates; and indeed not without Reason, for the Head and the Body-politick are very nearly related, what touches the one must affect the other, and if when one Member suffers another Member suffers with it, when the Head is hurt the whole Body must sympathise with it: I speak of such a Head as has that tender Care for the Members which that relation calls for, that looks upon himself as exalted above them, only that he may the better watch over them, and more essectually provide for the Security and Common Good of the whole; that is a true Father of his Country, and treats his Subjects not as Slaves but Children; that is a good Shepherd, and feeds his People according to the Integrity of his heart, and guides them by the Skillfulness of his hand, as was said of David, he does not defraud them of any thing that is their due, much less does he butcher and make havoc of them; no, that is the Character of the Robber, who climbs into the Skeepfold only to steal, and kill, and destroy: The good Shepherd is as careful of the Lives of his Sheep as of his own; nay, so much more so, that when the Wolf comes he leaves not the Sheep, but exposes himself in their Defence; and rather than that Beast of Prey should catch, and scatter, and tear his Flock, he ventures his own Life for them, proving himself thereby to be no Thief or Hireling, but the true Shepherd, whose own the Sheep are: He leads them with Care and Tenderness, he feeds them with Prudence and Kindness, and sights for them with Zeal and Courage: Such a Prince as considers and endeavours to answer the End of the Institution of Government, the Good of Mankind, that is joined with his Subjects in the same common Interests, both Civil and Religious, that has no base Designs of Ambition, Avarice, or Cruelty, no unworthy private Ends to serve, but thinks he then only consults his own Advantage when he promotes the Good of the whole, that is no Persecutor of his Subjects for their adherence to the true Religion, but professes the same Faith and joins in the same Communion with them. In short, that is a just Guardian of their Civil Rights and Liberties, and a zealous Defender of their Faith and Religion; such a one is so intimately united to his People, that he is in the Scripture Language the Breath of their Nostrils, and to Assassinate him is to Massacre a Kingdom; and therefore when David was delivered from the hurtful Sword of his Enemies, well might all Israel say, Blessed be the Lord who has not given us over as a Prey to their Teeth.  
But whether this Psalm was at first made upon occasion of a personal Deliverance of the King of Israel, or not, is not certain; but this is, that it has been looked upon, and used both by the Jewish and Christian Church as a proper Hymn of Praise to God for National Mercies and Deliverances.  
Thus amongst the Jews, the Levites were appointed to sing it after their Return from their Captivity in Babylon; and thus our Church has ordered it to be sung or said for the Office for the Fifth of November, which we observe yearly in remembrance of our Deliverance from the Designs of our Enemies of Babylon Mystical; and she has appointed it likewise in the Evening Service for this Day, which we are commanded by Authority to observe as a Day of Public Thanksgiving to Almighty God for our late wonderful Deliverance from the no less barbarous and bloody Designs of the same sort of Enemies, the same I mean as to the Principles and Religion they profess; for I would fain hope that not many of any other Communion were engaged in, or privy to the blackest part of this villainous Conspiracy, that few that call themselves Protestant's could join with Papists in their worst Doctrines and Practices, or will ever rob that Church of her peculiar Honour and privilege of Assassinating Princes, of Consecrating Daggers for their Murder, and Canonising the villainous Hands that employed them.  
And how reasonably this Psalm makes a part of this Day's Service will appear,  
I. By considering the two general Parts of it. 

The former whereof gives an Account of a great Deliverance vouchsafed by God to Israel.  
The latter contains the Returns which Israel made to God for it.    
II. By taking a View of the occasion of our present Meeting; and if our Deliverance be as great as that of Israel's, 'twill be but fit that we should join with them in their Returns to God, and make the same Acknowledgements of it.  
First, Let us consider Israel's Deliverance. I have already said, 'tis uncertain what particular occurrence the Psalmist refers to, and therefore shall only take notice of those general Accounts which we have in this Psalm of the Enemies that were conspiring against them, the Mischief they intended, the probability and nearness of their Success, with the happy defeat of them, and rescue of Israel, by the seasonable interposition of Divine Providence.  
As for the Enemies that were conspiring against Israel, the 3d Verse tells us, they were such whose Wrath was kindled against them; they were, it should seem, highly incensed by some Provocations which they had received, which so heard them, their Blood boiled up within them, and nothing could allay the Ferment but the letting out that of Israel's; they were spurred on by Rage and Resentment, and violently bend to wreak their Fury and Malice upon them by all the Methods they could put in practice.  
But Anger without Power hurts no body but the miserable Subject of it; but alas these Men's Power was equal to their Rage; they are represented, V 4. by Waters, which may denote how numerous they were, a vast Conflux or mighty Collection of them; and at the end of that Verse, by Streams or Torrents, violent Interruptions, which bear down all before them; and at the 5th by proud Waters, or, as it is in the other Translation, deep Waters of the proud, so that there was no wading through them, nor standing against them, the Stream was so rapid and the Waters swollen so much above their depth.  
The Mischief they intended against them, was no less than their utter ruin, they were for overwhelming or swallowing them up, as we may read in the 3d and 4th Verses, for making a full end of them, rooting them out, that the Name of Israel might be had no more in remembrance; and this not leisurely, or by degrees, but all of a sudden, they would swallow them up raw or quick, either as some hungry Beast does his Prey, or as the Sea did Pharaoh and his Host, and to this end they risen up against them, V 2. and to make sure work of it, added cunning to their strength, V 7. they laid Snares or Grins for them, attempted them both by open Violence and Secret Treachery.  
And so near were they to accomplish their Ends upon them, that they had as 'twere seized their Prey, and were possessed of their Game, the rapacious Wolves had got the poor Lambs into their Clutches, and they had no power to resist or rescue themselves; they were like silly Birds taken in the Nets or Springs of the Fowler, they had neither strength to break them, nor Skill to extricate themselves out of them, the more they fluttered the more they were entangled, the more they strove, the faster the Grin held them.  
This briefly was Israel's Case, their Enemies were mighty, and raged horribly, they were unmovably resolved upon their utter Destruction, they wanted neither Policy nor Power to effect it; they had proceeded so far, and were so near doing it, that no humane Means or Power could have prevented or opposed them.  
But then God interposed, and then indeed the Scene was wonderfully changed. How sure soever their Enemies thought themselves in triumphing in their Overthrow and Extinction, yet the Advantage was plainly then on Israel's side; for it was God that was on their side, and they were but Men that risen up against them; and all the Cunning and Power of Men, when opposed to the Divine Wisdom and Strength, is but mere Folly and Weakness: He can make the Counsels of the Wise of none effect, and take the Crafty in their own Wiliness: He can baffle all the Attempts of the Mighty, and turn their own Forces upon themselves: And here he broke the Jawbone of the Lions, and delivered the Prey out of their teeth; he broke the Snare of the , and let the oppressed Captive go free. Great Reason therefore had Israel for such a miraculous Escape, to make these Acknowledgements and Returns to the Author of it, which we here see they did, namely,  
1. To ascribe their Deliverance wholly to God, as the doing of that right hand only, which bringeth mighty things to pass: If the Lord himself had not been on our side, we had been swallowed up quick, and the Stream had gone over our Souls.  
2. To give him the Praise due unto his Name for it: Blessed be the Lord who has not given us over as a Prey to their Teeth.  
3. And Lastly, to declare their Confidence in him, and entire reliance upon his Power and Goodness for the time to come: Our Help standeth in the Name of the Lord who hath made Heaven and Earth. That God who manifested his Power and Goodness, by Creating the World out of Nothing by a Word of his Mouth, and giving Being to all the Creatures in it, has as evidently shown forth those glorious Attributes in our strange Preservation and Rescue out of the Hands of our formidable and implacable Enemies; there will we therefore place our Confidence, not fearing what Man can do unto us: On God we will depend, He only is our Rock and Salvation, our Defence and Refuge, through him we shall do valiantly, and he shall tread down our Enemies.  
This is that short Account of this Psalm, of Israel's imminent Danger, their wonderful Deliverance from it, and grateful Behaviour thereupon.  
I proceed now to take a View of our own Case: It will not, I suppose, be expected that I should go about to prove the Plot, That there has been a most Horrid and Hellish Design onfoot against the Life of our King, and the Laws, and Religion of this Kingdom. After the voluntary Depositions of several that were to be concerned in it; and these confirmed from abroad by the visible Preparations that were made on the French Coasts for a Descent upon us; a great number of their Forces drawn down thither, and Vessels ready to bring them over, when the Signal, an Account of the Dreadful Blow, should be given them; the mighty boast of their great Design and Confidence of Success, which were expressed in Letters from some of the first Quality in that Kingdom, and the Harangues of their Ministers at other Courts: This confirmed also at home by the Confessions of those who have been Convicted and Executed here, who have all owned the shares they were to have had in it upon their Deaths, and some gloried in it: While a Papist at his Execution looks back with regret upon the part he was to have acted in the bloody Tragedy, as a Crime he was led into by his own Rashness and Passion, as a Wickedness which he reputes of, and for the punishment of which particularly he acknowledges he was brought to suffer Death, by the just Hand of God, our Protestant Conspirators, to the reproach (I hope not of our Holy Religion, which I am sure is far enough from countenancing such things, but of) their wretched Guides, boast of the Villainy, take Pride and Comforts at their Deaths in it, so far were they from repenting or expressing the least Sorrow for it, and yet had Absolution publicly after a very unusual manner, which plainly shows what Thoughts their Confessors had of that Matter, for which they died. Blessed God how amazing is it that any that had ever heard of thee, or thy Nature, or Properties, especially that had ever looked into those Revelations thou hast made thereof in thy Written Word, should call the Assassinating the best of Princes, and involving his Subjects in Blood, Destruction of the best Church, and the overturning the best constituted Government in the World, the Murdering their King in cold Blood, and which must have been a consequence the Butchering of many Thousands of their innocent Fellow-Subjects, the making all that survived Slaves to France and Rome, subjecting both their Bodies and Minds to the worst of Tyrannies; How amazing, I say, is it that any should call these the Causes of God, Religion, and the Laws! as if the Blood of Kings shed by their own Subjects was an acceptable Offering to God; as if Religion were promoted by forcing us into the Communion of such a Church as will lock up the Scripture from us; teach us to believe without Reason, to Pray without Understanding, and give the Worship of God to his Creatures; as if our Laws would be safe in the hands of such a Guardian, who Tyrannizes' Arbitrarily over his own Subjects, and would have had the pretence of Conquest to use us worse if possible: If these are the Cause of God and Religion, I know no such thing as the Works of the Devil, and what we renounced as such in our Baptism was a mere Chimaera.  
This shows how much the Interest of a Party, when a Man's throughly embarked, can blind his Reason as well as harden his Conscience, how dangerous it is to engage at all in a Faction, since a Man knows not where he shall stop when he is once in, how by steps he is lead to call Evil Good, and Good Evil, and practise accordingly, and to make the measures of both the serviceableness or diserviceableness of any Action to the Party, and how careful every one that has any regard for his Soul should be, when he choosest out for the directors of his Conscience, and entrusts with the Conduct of it.  
But to return, after all this, I say 'twould be but to abuse your Time and Patience to offer at any other proof of the truth and reality of the wicked Design; whoever can call for further Conviction does the least need it; 'tis no breach of Charity to believe, that none can pretend to doubt of it but such as know it too well.  
Let us then briefly see, what the Design was, and as to that, examine the same Particulars which we did in Israel's case, who were engaged in it, what they intended against us, how near they were to effect it, and how strangely we escaped it?  
Our Enemies, like theirs, were such whose Wrath was kindled against us. Nothing under God has or does so much obstruct the aspiring and wicked Designs of our Neighbour on the other side of the Water, as this Nation and Church; nothing can satisfy the Pride and Ambition of that Prince less than an universal Monarchy, and no Methods does he stick at, how base and ungrateful, how fraudulent and treacherous, how violent and cruel soever, that may promote his great end, no ties of Honour and Conscience, no Obligations of Justice or Mercy, no Treaties or Leagues, neither Word nor Oath can hold him, but he breaks through them with as much ease as Samson did the Withs that bond him, which were as a Thread of Tow when it toucheth the Fire. But while he makes War and disturbance every where, that he may have quiet within, that if at any time the Wounds he gives his Neighbours should touch his own Conscience, his Parasitical Priests may pour in their Oil, and speak Peace to him; he, at their instigation and direction, must atone for these Barbarities by committing others; (as 'tis no new thing for those Confessors to enjoin for a Penance the repetition of those Crimes which have been acknowledged in Confession) the Ambition of the universal Monarch may be served, if at the same time care be taken to satisfy the Pride of the ecumenical Bishop; and let him use the most wicked and cruel Methods to enlarge his Dominions, and bring Countries under his Tyranny, they shall be forgiven him, if he will do so meritorious an act as to put the same Methods in practice to extend the Papal Yoke, and bring Heretics into the Bosom of the Catholic Church.  
And what he has done in order to both these ends, is too notorious to need my insisting upon it, and does sufficiently demonstrate how violent and impetuous those Designs are, which are suggested by Ambition and false Zeal; and how eagerly such pursue them as are spurred on by their own Pride, encouraged by the blandishments, or driven with the lash of a Confessor; and what Indignation then may we imagine will such conceive against all those that are obstacles in their way, break their Measures and defeat their Designs?  
Time was when England was in the Interests of France, giving her helping hand to the enslaving the Nations of Europe, and herself among the rest; and not many Years since our Romish Adversaries had a prospect likewise (at least as they flattered themselves) to have established their Antichristian Religion here; and indeed, had that unhappy Alliance continued, had this Nation assisted them, or but stood neuter till now, in all probability before this time the Shackles, the wooden Shoes had been on, the Ears of Europe had been bored; and had they succeeded in their Attempts upon this Church, and by Fraud or Violence destroyed her, the great Bulwark of Protestancy would have been gone, and the Northern Heresy, as they please to call it, laid open to be torn up by the Roots.  
But this Kingdom has broke with France, and joined with the other Princes of Christendom, in defending their common Liberties and Rights, and opposing that torrent that was over-whelming them all; and we may say, without Vanity in ourselves, or Injustice to others, that our Forces in conjunction with theirs, have stemmed the Tide, and that the weight of them has turned the Balance; and that just Zeal, that Strength and Courage wherewith the Fathers and Sons of this Church encountered the daring Attempts of the Priests of the Romish Communion in the last Reign, have given such a foil to that Church, have so baffled their Cause, exposed the Weakness, as well as Wickedness of it, that it must lie dead as long as the Trophies of their Victory remain, nor can revive till their Enemies can have an opportunity of treating their Books as they would their Persons, committing both to the Flames, which indeed is the quickest and surest way of stopping the Mouths of Heretics, and confuting their Writings: No wonder therefore if they look upon us as their worst Adversaries, who have given such a check to the careers of that Monarch, and the designs of that Church, and have all the Malice and Rage against us, that disappointment in their greatest hopes can suggest.  
But this is not all, we have a Prince who does not more oppose the Ambition of that Monarch by his Arms, than he eclipses his Glory by his Personal Character, while He bravely leads his own Troops, and exposes Himself in the hottest Action, and gallantly faces Death in a thousand Shapes: How does He reproach that undue tenderness and over care which the other has for his Person, who never ventures it within the reach of Danger, or sight of an Enemy; and while One maintains the glorious Character of a Father of his own Country, and a Friend and Patron to the Neighbouring one's, how little doth it make the Other's Figure, who is a Terror to his Subjects, an Oppressor of his Neighbours, dreaded at Home, and hated Abroad?  
'Tis not strange then if the Wrath of Enemies, to whom we have given so great and insupportable Provocations, be kindled against us, and ready to break forth with the greatest Violence, even to the consuming of us, if their Power be equal to it: And so indeed it had like to have done.  
For the mischief they intended, and were ready to execute, was no less than the Murdering our King, and the invading the Kingdom in the distraction that that sad occasion would have put us in; 'Tis more than probable; that that cautious Monarch who never had the Courage to meet his glorious Enemy in the Field, laid, or was privy to the Design of taking him off after such a base and barbarous manner: The dying Criminals that were so careful to clear many others from being accessary to it, say nothing to acquit him, and indeed it is not to be imagined that men would of their own heads have engaged in so black and hazardous an Enterprise; for which if they had succeeded in it he must have sacrificed them to his honour he would have been bound in Prudence and Policy to have washed his hands of the blood of the Murdered King in theirs that shed it, 'tis not, I say, to be believed, that any would have engaged in such an undertaking upon such terms unless they had some previous assurance from him that could give it them, not only of impunity but reward: And if he had not designed the Assassination, as a Preliminary, not only expedient for the facilitating his intended Invasion, but indeed as absolutely necessary in order to the success of it, why upon the discovery and prevention of that has he desisted from this? However that were, a competent number of hardened Villains (much such a number as bound themselves with an Oath to kill St. Paul) were ready for the design, Horses and Arms provided, and the place pitched upon, each had their Post assigned them, and they waited for nothing but an account of the King's going abroad to put it in Execution. If the blow had been given, what a surprise, what a consternation would this Kingdom have been in; if our Shepherd had been Smitten how should we have been Scattered like a flock of silly helpless Sheep? our head would have been gone, and our hearts failed us, we should have had neither Counsel nor Courage to have opposed those Forces that were at that time to Land upon us, but must have fallen an easy pray to them: Reflect a little my Brethren, (if you dare) what would have been the dreadful consequences if this design had taken effect. One cannot without horror think upon a French Army, wasting our country, burning our Towns and Houses, butchering our Friends and Relations; what comfort could any one have taken that should have escaped with his Life, to see a plentiful Country turned into a barren Wilderness, a free People that had many valuable rights made Slaves and dependants upon the Arbitrary Will of a Tyrannical Conqueror; a pure Religion extirpated, and Idolatry and Superstition set up in the room of it?  
This must have been the miserable condition in which we should all have been involved: If any think they should have fared better than their Neighbours upon the account of their own great Merits on the fair promises they may have had from abroad, they have very wrong notions of Popish Gratitude, and French Trust, Alas Papists have engrossed all merit, there is no such thing in Protestants, and Promises made to the prejudice of the great Monarch, or Holy Church, are not to be kept. All they could have hoped for, is, that if they would have gone some few steps further, and turned their Religion, they might possibly have been treated as the new Converts are in France, but otherwise all the mercy to have been expected would have been this, to have been eaten last, though it has not always been so, instances are not wanting where those Protestants that have been most zealous and forward in setting up a Popish Prince have been the first that had cause to repent of it.  
In short, whatever is dear to us as men, English Men, and Protestants, must have been wrested from us, 'tis not to be supposed that being driven on by Rage and Revenge, as well as Avarice and Ambition, they should have used softer methods here than they do in their other Conquests, where they tinge the Rivers with Blood, where Sword and Fire devour all before them, and if they would but totally extirpate the rational Inhabitants of the Country and leave none but the four footed ones of the Field and Forest, the Beasts of burden, the Beasts of prey they would make very proper Subjects for such a Government.  
But though God suffered them to go so far as they did in their Hellish Enterprise, that the proof of it might be clear beyond denial, or doubt, yet was he pleased so seasonably to discover and defeat it, that the mischief falls only on their heads that devised it, and we may say with Israel, he has not given us as a prey to their teeth, our Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler, the Snare is broken, and we are escaped: with them let us also join in making such grateful returns to the Divine Goodness as the great Mercy calls for.  
1. Let us look up to God as the Author of it: I do acknowledge it is not always safe or easy to determine what events are to be ascribed to God's special efficacious Providence, and as the Lords doing, and what are not; yet in some there are such visible marks of Discrimination, that a Man must be wilfully blind if he does not distinguish them. I may not at present enter upon this Argument, and shall only say that in occurrences which are brought about unexpectedly, but seasonably for the deliverance or good of a Church, or Nation, professing God's true Religion, without their privity or assistance, by invisible, or incompetent means, or by the Ministry or Instrumentality of such things as are only, or immediately under the direction and government of God, in such cases not to trace the out-going of the Almighty where his footsteps are so plain, is to be more stupid, or Atheistical than the very Heathens: Ps. 126.2. Exod. 14.25.  
In our deliverance I will remark but two things which must lead us to God as the Author of it: The design against the King's Life was prevented only by the discovery voluntarily made by some of those who were to be concerned in the execution of it; and the Invasion or Descent upon us was hindered by our Fleets being in such a readiness to guard our own Coasts and block up our Enemies in their Harbours.  
But to what shall we ascribe all this, was it through our Policy or Conduct that we had such a Fleet at home? Were they not to have been gone long before to the straits and stopped only by a contrary strange Wind which has hardly been known at that Season of the Year to sit so long in that quarter? And to whom shall we attribute this, but to him whom the Wind and Seas obey, who brings the Winds out of his Treasures, and makes them blow under Heaven whither he lists?  
And what was it that made the discoverers confess the designed Assassination, when it was so near being Executed. were they not Papists, who are not generally over tender of the Blood and lives of Heretics, when their destruction may promote the good of Holy Church, were they not engaged and encouraged in it by some of their Priests, and no doubt assured if they lost their lives in the attempt, of Eternal Life in Exchange; and how came the Christian, the Gentleman, the Man to be too hard for the Papists, Conscience, Honour, or Pity to be too strong for their Religion, what, or who touched their hearts, and melted them into remorse and Confession? Who but he who only knows, and alone can change the heart, take away the heart of stone, and give one of flesh? Him therefore let us acknowledge to be our Saviour and Deliverer, and say if the Lord himself had not been on our side when men risen up against us they had swallowed us up quick, when they were so wrathfully displeased at us.  
2. To him let us in the second place pay the tribute of praise and thanks for it, this is what he expects, call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee and thou shalt praise me: And very reasonable certainly, for any benefit bestowed brings the person that receives it into debt to his Benefactor, and thanks is the least part of payment if God has rescued us from the very Jaws of Death how ought we to glorify him both in Soul and Body which he has redeemed. How should we excite all the powers of our Soul and Members of our Bodies to join in his praise? Praise the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name who saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness. Awake also my Glory, my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, O Lord, and my Lips shall praise thee.  
Has he preserved to us our Churches where we may have liberty to worship him in Purity and the beauty of Holiness; has he secured to us those swept and garnished Houses from the return of the evil spirit, and shall not the Tribes go up thither to worship, to give thanks to his holy name? Has he continued to us a service in our own Language, and shall we not join in it when we may sing with the Spirit, and with the understanding also; and can say Amen at the giving of thanks? Have we still access to him through the Mediation and Intercession of our great High Priest only, and shall we not through him offer to God the Sacrifice of praise continually? May we still partake of the Wine as well as Bread in the Eucharist, and shall we not receive the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord? Is Jerusalem safe notwithstanding her Enemies cried down with her, down with her, even to the ground, and may our Feet stand in her Gates; may we yet frequent her solemn Assembly, and praise the Lord of Heaven with Music Vocal and Instrumental? and shall we be silent? If any thing strikes us dumb but wonder and astonishment at the greatness and strangeness of our Salvation, we shall deserve to continue so, and that our tongues should cleave to the roof of our mouths; 'tis fit the neglected Harps should be hanged for ever upon the Willows, and the skilful hand that touched them forget its cunning, if they make not a cheerful noise to the God of Jacob upon so Joyful an occasion; and if we prefer not Jerusalem above our chief Joy, and join not in one of the Songs of Zion for her deliverance in the Temple of God, how deservedly may God give her up to the will of our Enemies, suffer them to carry us away Captive, and tauntingly require of us in a strange Land, a Song and Melody in our heaviness.  
My Brethren, this is the business for which Authority has this Day called us together, and who ever can wilfully disobey that call, and without very just reason refuse to come up with the multitude to the House of God, with the Voice of Joy and Praise, with the Multitude that keep Holiday, they give but just cause of suspicion that they were Wellwishers to the Villainous Design, and are sorry 'tis defeated. I am very glad to see such a numerous appearance in this place, and hope that better Principles than Formality or Curiosity, or fear of Censure; that a true sense of the never to be forgotten Mercy, and hearty desire to express your thankfulness to the gracious Author of it, has brought you together. And oh! that I could say any thing to increase that sense in you, and to enlarge your Hearts, and raise up your Souls to the highest pitch of Gratitude and Devotion.  
Assure yourselves, if the greatness of the destruction which threatened, and was within few days of over taking us, if the wonderfulness of our deliverance, who are escaped as a Bird that was taken in the Snare, if the visible appearance of the hand of God in our rescue, who saw the Snares and Designs our Enemies were privily laying, while we were secure and unapprehensive of them, and discovered and broke them before they could take effect; if these are any motives of thankfulness, they have their full strength and force upon us in the present case: All that is valuable to us, as appertaining either to this Life or Godliness, our Lives, with all the Comforts of them, our Liberties, our Estates, our Friends, and which, I hope, we esteem above all, our Reformed Religion, were all upon the very brink of ruin: The Blow was near being given, and we knew nothing of it, so far were we from being able to have warded it of, which must either have Murdered us presently, or if any had survived it for some time they must have lived Slaves, and then died with the miserable prospect of leaving their wretched Posterity such; fettered both in Body and Mind, under Temporal and Spiritual Chains, and nothing has prevented this Blow, or saved us from this ruin, but a merciful and watchful Providence: Let us then say in the words of our Royal Prophet, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only, doth wondrous things, and blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole Earth be filled with his glory, Amen. Amen.  
3. But lastly, to conclude, let us repose our Trust and Confidence in this God for the future, and say with Israel our help standeth in the name of the Lord who made Heaven and Earth: 'Tis certain this Church and Nation have been for some time preserved in that peaceable and happy state we enjoy by little less than Miracle; God has as plainly appeared for us as he did of old for his People whom he brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand; but yet as they were questioning his power even in the midst of Miracles, and distrusting his goodness at the same time that they had present Experience of it (He smote the stony Rock indeed, but can he give bread, etc.) Those mouths which should have been opened only in his praise, were filled with nothing but murmur and diffidence; so has it been with too many among us, complain and repinings, doubts and despair almost have been heard in our streets, and how justly might God have verified our unreasonable and unthankful fears? When St. Peter at his own request was commanded by Christ to come unto him upon the Water, he walked safely upon the surface of it while his Faith buoy him up, but when at the raging of the Winds his Faith began to shake, and he was afraid, as if Christ who he saw at that time Commanded the Seas and they obeyed, could not govern the Winds too, and secure him against both; how reasonably did Christ chastise his despondency and want of Faith by letting him begin to sink? And so might God have dealt with us, withdrawn his Protection from us, and suffered the Waters to have overwhelmed us, when we had so unworthily disinherited his Power and Readiness to Rule the raging of them, after he had so often forced them within their Banks, and for our sakes said to them, hitherto shall you come, and no further? But he has rather chose to upbraid than correct us for our repining and doubting, and to bring us to our duty of an humble affiance and trust in him, by giving fresh instances of his Power and Goodness, than punish our neglect of it by withdrawing them from us: How should this even shame us out of our insidelty (I can call it no better) and give us a holy Confidence in him, and Dependence upon him; that he who has so often and strangely appeared for us, will be our God and Guide for ever; that he who has delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver, will yet deliver us; and perfect in his time that good work which he has begun, and carried on so far for us.  
But then in order to this trust and reliance, that they may be reasonable and well grounded, we can't but think there is something to be done by us, and what is that but to endeavour to walk worthy of that goodness which God has showed to us, by improving the mercy, he continues to us to his Glory, and by making him the returns of a filial fear, unfeigned Love, and an universal Obedience? without this our Faith will be but a vain Confidence, and mere Presumption.  
We have the best Government and Laws in the World, but if we are lose and lawless in our Lives, the advantage of our Constitution will be so far from availing us, that contrariwise it will make a considerable Article in the charge against us; it will both hasten our account and make it the more heavy.  
We have a Prince to go in and out before us, to Rule us at home, and Fight for us abroad, who does at least come up to the Character of any that have sat upon this, or any other Throne before him; but if we do not approve ourselves good Subjects of the King of Heaven, our Prince's Virtues will not secure us, though our wickedness may injure him: The Spirit of God has told us, that for the Sins of a Nation many are the Princes thereof. God may as well take away a good one as give a bad King in his wrath, and we know he once threatened a People, that if they did wickedly they should be destroyed, both they and their King.  
We have a pure Religion a Church reform from the corruptions of that of Rome, but if our Conversations are impure and we are unreformed in our manners, will our Church, or our Faith save us? God will indeed have a Church to the end of the World, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her, but sure he is not tied to this, or that particular Place, or Country, the Gospel may be taken from one Kingdom and yet not out of the World, but transplanted to another, and our Saviour has plainly enough told us upon what terms he will give, or take it away from a People in those words to the Jews, the Kingdom of Heaven shall be taken from you, and given to a Nation that shall bring forth the Fruits thereof.  
Would we therefore that God should go on to preserve and secure these blessings to us, and that we may raise to ourselves a ground and confidence in him that he will, we see how we must qualify ourselves for them, we must not be barren and unfruitful under all the Cultivations and Husbandry, all the gracious methods which he uses to improve us, but must bring forth Fruits meet for repentance, the blessed Fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Being thus disposed we may reasonably hope for God's Blessing upon our endeavours; 'tis true our endeavours without the divine assistance will turn to little account, and 'tis certain God can if he pleases, save us without our contributing any thing towards it; but yet, though God may, and does sometimes for weighty reasons act either immediately, at least without the ministry of them, for whose sake he acts and after a very extraordinary manner, yet where there is no special promise, 'tis not to be expected that God should go out of his ordinary methods of his Providence, which is to act by the instrumentality of second causes to cooperate with the honest endeavours of Men, when there is room for them, and make that successful for their support, or preservation: And therefore as no success is to be expected from our endeavours without the divine assistance, so that assistance cannot reasonably be expected without the use of our endeavours.  
The Husbandman would be thought very wild and extravagant in his expectation that should think to reap a plentiful Crop without manuring and tilling his ground, preparing it for and committing the seed to it in due manner and season, and yet 'tis certain 'tis God only that can give the increase. The Watchman undoubtedly waketh but in vain unless the Lord keep the City, but yet if a Town beleaguered by an Enemy should neglect to Man their Forts, and guard their Avenues, and instead of unanimously joining together to defend themselves and oppose the Foe, should quarrel among themselves and fall a tearing and devouring one another, it would not be hard to guests what would be the fate of it. I say, our endeavours must not be wanting towards our own safety, though 'tis only God's Blessing upon them that can make them successful for that end. That therefore we may expect and receive that blessing, let us do our parts, pursue those methods that tend most plainly to the securing them, and trust God with the event.  
Nothing under Heaven but Union and Resolution can secure us; if we are broken into Factions, and pursuing the interest of Parties, or private Revenge, while the Enemy is watching for the ruin of the whole. We may learn from our Saviour what is like to become of us, a Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.  
If now the Adversary has showed himself so openly and daringly, we shall be Cowardly, or to put it into other words, cautious and reserved; we invite and encourage his attempts upon us: This is no time to dissemble, we must declare plainly one way or other; either resolve upon a brave Defence, or to yield our Necks to the Yoke.  
My Brethren we want no Engagements or Encouragements to unite and to be bold.  
The cause we are to unite in, is the Cause of our King and Country, and indeed of all Europe; 'tis the Cause of our Church and the whole Protestant Religion.  
We are not left alone to grapple with our Enemies, we have most of the Princes and States of Christendom joined with us; and which is most encouraging of all, hitherto God has appeared for us: Let us then join as one Man, both Heart and Hand, in defence of ourselves, our little ones, and all our Substance (as Ezra expresses it) in defence of our Liberties, our Laws and Religion; and for the sake of these in defence of our King and Government, upon whom, under God, all these depend. We have all the strictest Obligations to him that can be laid upon us, of Gratitude, of Duty, of Interest.  
Shall we not unite in the defence of him that has once rescued us out of the very Jaws of Destruction, and is still guarding us with the utmost hazards and fatigue, in defence of that Precious Life which has been so often exposed for the security of ours?  
Have we not sworn many of us, to bear Faith and true Allegiance to him, and do we not all every day beg of God, in our public Prayers, to strengthen him that he may Vanquish and Overcome all his Enemies; and ought we not to convince the World that we have not in our Oaths prevaricated with God as well as imposed upon Man; that in our Prayers our Hearts do not give the Lie to our Tongues, by our readiness to make good our Oaths upon such an occasion, and to second our Prayers by our hearty endeavours? Are we not Embarked in one Cause, have we not the same common concern with him, both Civil and Religious? So that to join in his Defence, is indeed to join in our own: why then should we not resolve to stand by him and one another, with the same Courage with which he Fights for us all?  
To conclude, Let us first seek and engage the Divine Favour and Blessing, and then add our joint Endeavours, as our Places and Capacities give us opportunity, for our common Security; and being reconciled to God by Repentance and newness of Life, and united to one another by all the Bonds which our common Relation and Interests, as to Nature, Country, and Religion obliges us; and resolve to act in good earnest for the benefit and safety of the whole, we may confidently rely upon God, that he will prosper and give success to our Endeavours, that he will guard us at home, and go forth with our Fleets and Armies, and fight our Battles abroad, that he will preserve the breath of our Nostrils; bless him in his going out and coming in, give his Angels charge over him, and cover his head in the day of Battle: that he will be a Sun and a Shield to enlighten and protect him, to keep him from the Arrow that flieth by day, and the evil that walketh in darkness; that he will bring him back with Honour and Victory, and Crown at last all his Labours and our Wishes with a happy and durable Peace: and that our Enemies being scattered, who delighted in blood, we being delivered from their hands, may serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, before him, all the days of our Life.  
FINIS.