England's Breath stopped; Being the Counterpart of JVDAH'S MISERIES, Lamented publicly in the New-Church at Westminster, on January 30. BEING The Anniversary of the Martyrdom OF KING CHARLES the First of Blessed Memory. By ROBERT TWISSE. Lamentat. 5.16. The Crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us, that we have sinned. LONDON, Printed by J. Flesher for R. Royston, Bookseller to His most Sacred MAJESTY. MDCLXV. Lamentations 4.20. The Breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathens. WE are met here this day to drop some Tears on the Hearse of our late Martyred SOVEREIGN, who on this Day of the Month not many years ago was basely sacrificed to the Lusts of a few Ambitious and Unreasonable men. To drop some Tears, did I say? nay rather to pour water before the Lord, to weep Streams and Rivers, if it were possible, that we might at once bewail our own unvaluable Loss in the untimely Death of so Excellent a PRINCE, and the horrid sin of those men, (Scelus nullo Oceano eluendum) that were not content only to pluck the Crown from the Head, but the Head from the Shoulders, and then glory in the committing of so great a Villainy. Jer. 9.1. If the Prophet Jeremiah's grief swelled to that height as to wish his head all waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears, that he might weep day and night for the slain of the Daughter of his people; sure then we must not desire to weep at a less rate for the Murder of a Father, the Father of our People and Country, whose Life was worth ten thousand of ours. 2 Sam. 18.3. But because we are not able to dig the channel of our Sorrow so deep as we could wish, it's some amends to draw it out at length; and therefore Authority hath wisely and piously provided, that the Tribute of our Tears should be Anniversary, and after a sort eternal, by making Posterity their Executors, to see this great Debt of Sorrow discharged, and engaging all future Generations to repair yearly to the house of Mournning; that so the children's Tears may help to supply the defects, and in due time fill up the vacuities of their Forefathers Sorrows. Let no man say, that it is against the Subject's Liberty to pay this yearly Tax and Assessment: It is but to give thee an occasion to present thy dead Sovereign with a Benevolence or Free gift, a small Love-token, as a gage and earnest of thy Fidelity and Loyalty to Him whilst alive, that thy Soul never came into that dark Secret first, nor was thine Honour ever united to that Black Assembly afterwards, where the Rulers sat in Council against the Lord and his Anointed; but as formerly thy soul did weep in secret for the Pride and Treachery of the Enemy, (for thou wert then forced to be a Close mourner) so now thou art not ashamed to appear abroad in the same Livery, and bless God that he hath given thee so fair an opportunity to express thine Affection to thy dead Prince. Besides, we want not precedents in Sacred Writ for an Anniversary lamenting of great losses. For 70 years' space the Jews kept two yearly Fasting and mourning days, Zech. 7.5. in memory of two sore National Calamities; one; the Burning of the City and Temple, done in the fifth month; the other, the unfortunate Murder of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the King of Babylon had set over the remnant of the Jews, done in the seventh month. Now if the Jews fasted and mourned seventy years for the untimely death of a Viceroy only, one that was but the Lieutenant of the King of Babylon; certainly England may mourn twice seventy years for the Murder of her King; and if then she think fit lay aside her mourning weeds. But I believe it will be then thought reason and wisdom to continue the Sorrow, and to produce in public our Joseph's Coat yearly, (for our Joseph was sold too, though not into the land of Egypt, yet into the House of Bondage) I mean the Robe of our Sovereign died into Scarlet with His own Blood; that Posterity beholding with amazement so rueful a spectacle, may passionately cry out with Jacob, Surely some evil Beast hath devoured him, to imagining Men, much less His Subjects, to have been so barbarous. And hereby they will not only lament what is past, but likewise dread the thoughts of attempting the like Villainy for the future. But why such care taken to transmit to posterity the unfortunate end of CHARLES the First, and not the like done for Edward and Richard both of that name the Second, whose lives closed with the like sad Catastrophe, being both violently plucked from their Thrones, and hurried to an early Grave? It's true indeed, other of our English Gods have died like men, like mean, base and plebeian fellows: but the secrecy of the Contrivance and Execution of the Wickedness on their Royal persons argued some Shame in the Authors, as being unwilling to make the Light privy to their Actions. But here, in the Tragedy of our late Sovereign of Blessed memory, the Curtains were drawn, the Windows were opened, the Scene public, the Actors notorious, and withal so confident to come off with applause, that they were not ashamed, Pharisee-like, Matth. 6.2. to sound a Trumpet before them in the Synagogues and streets, and to proclaim in the ears of all, in the chief and Capital City of the Nation, when and where they might behold Majesty itself first Arraigned, and afterwards Executed by a Base and Ignoble hand. Methinks as oft as I reflect upon that Dismal day, when our Royal Sovereign was led as a Lamb to the Slaughter, I cannot only take up a Lamentation, but an Indignation too against myself and the rest of my Countrymen, for being under such a Lethargy of Pusillanimity and Cowardice, that the whole Nation did not rise as one man, to rescue so Noble a Captive from the hands of Tyrants. And if for any Offence the whole Kingdom stood in need of an Act of Oblivion and Pardon from the SON, sure it was for want of Courage on that day, in not doing the utmost that was possible for the deliverance of the FATHER. But what shall we say? The stouthearted were then all fallen asleep, Psal. 76.5. and none of the men of might could find their hands. The Trophies of the English Gallantry won in France, the Low-countries and other foreign Nations, seem to be sullied and defaced by that one day's Cowardice; England was then led Captive in her own Land. 2 Sam. 1. The Beauty of our English Israel was slain, not upon the high places, as of old, but before his own stately Palace. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the Daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the Daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. But though we may not tell it in Gath, nor publish it in Askelon, not in Rome or Constantinople; yet we may proclaim it in Zion, and speak of it in Jerusalem: We are commanded by Authority to tell it among ourselves this day, that our hearts being as it were pierced with the remembrance of so lamentable a Story, may bleed and mourn for such Disloyalty acted towards our Native Prince, such Dishonour done to our English Nation, such Scandal and Reproach brought upon our Reformed Protestant Religion. That ever any English Subjects and Romish Emissaries should lay their heads so close, meet in one Juncto, Cabal and Close-Committee; that a pretended Act should pass to confirm a Vote first passed in the Conclave at Rome, and approve a resolution first taken up in the Congregation De propaganda Fide; that ever Religion should be thus wounded in the House of her friends; This is a Lamentation, Ezek. 19.14. and shall be for a Lamentation. Methinks I hear my dead Sovereign expostulating which his unnatural Children in the words of King David, Psal. 55.12, 13, 14. It was not an Enemy that reproached me; then I could have born it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was Thou, a Man, my Guide, my Acquaintance. We took sweet Counsel together, and walked to the House of God in company. Had either Turk or Papist attempted to take away the Life of a Christian Prince or Protestant Sovereign, it had been no such great wonder. We know well enough from what Magazine the Powder was fetched to blow up King and Parliament; from what Armoury Clement and Pavilliac were furnished with Daggers to sheathe them in the Bowels of their liege Lords, Henry the IIIᵈ and IVth of France. 'Tis no news for Rome to die her Scarlet Robes in grain, the blood of Kings and Saints. It hath been her practice, to allure the Kings of the Earth to be her paramours to commit Fornication with her, and then to stab them whilst she doth embrace them; as the two former Kings are sad examples of such cruel Kindness, both of them murdered whilst they held Communion with the Church of Rome. But for Protestants, and such as would be thought to go beyond others in the strictness of their lives and professions, to transcend others in the looseness of their opinions and practices; to transcribe an Italian and Roman Copy in Great Red Capital Letters; to outdo Draco in Cruelty, who though he wrote his Laws in Blood, yet I never read his Sovereign's Blood was mingled with his Ink; This, this is such an Accumulative Treason as may well fill us all with astonishment, and make great Britain and Ireland to become floating Islands this day in a Sea of Sorrow. Now that we may have plenty of water this day, I have thought good to invite you to sit down by Jeremiah's Rivers, as the Jews sometimes sat down by the waters of Babylon, and wept in the remembrance of Zion. For here in this Book of the Lamentations, the Tide of Grief is full, and the Spring of Sorrow not only warm, but boiling hot, able to thaw the most frozen heart, and by way of sympathy dissolve it into a liquid frame. Here is a full Quiver from whence you may draw store of Arrows to wound your hearts to the quick, and make them bleed over the Blood of your Sovereign. See how passionately he laments both the Fall of CROWN and MITRE. The Crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us that we have sinned, Chap. 5.16. He hath polluted the Kingdom and the Princes thereof, Chap. 2.2. Princes are hanged up by their hand; the faces of the Elders were not honoured, Chap. 5.12. So for the Church, Chap. 2.6, 7. He hath violently taken away his Tabernacle, as it were of a Garden; he hath destroyed the places of Assembly. The Lord hath caused the solemn Feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his Anger the KING and the PRIESTS. The Lord hath cast off his Altar, he hath abhorred his Sanctuary; he hath given up into the hand of the Enemy the walls of her Palaces: They have made a noise in the House of the Lord as in the day of a solemn Feast. In this 4th Chapter the Prophet doth enumerate several sad Accidents which befell Jerusalem: as namely, 1 The Destruction of the Temple, verse 1. 2 The Contempt of the Jews, v. 2. 3 The great Famine in the Land, v. 3, 4, 5. 4 The Destruction and Sack of the City, v. 11, 12. 5 The Captivity and Banishment of the Priests and Prophets, v. 15. 6 And lastly, which brings up the Rear of this sad Troup of Calamities, the Destruction of the King himself; The Breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits. Now here we are first to inquire of whom the Prophet speaks, and what King he intends by these expressions. Some have thought Josiah to be the person aimed at, who was taken away by a violent Stroke, and his untimely death accompanied with an universal Lamentation of all Judah and Jerusalem, and of Jeremiah himself, 2 Chron. 35.24, 25. But the several passages of this Chapter make it appear that it was such a Prince as fallen together with the City and Temple; which Character can agree to none beside Zedekiah, the last Monarch that sat upon the Throne of Judah, as may appear by comparing Jerem. 39.4, 5. with the verse immediately preceding my Text. There we read how Zedekiah made an escape by the Gate betwixt the two Walls, but being pursued by the Chaldean Army, (who had notice given thereof) was overtook in the plains of Jericho, and there made prisoner. Now the verse before my Text seems to point at this very accident; Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of Heaven; they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness: and then it follows, The Breath of our nostrils— IN these words the Prophet takes notice of, I. The Sacredness of Zedekiah's Person by virtue of his Office, in that he calls him The Anointed of the Lord. II. The general and happy Influence of his Government on his people, couched under two Metaphors. 1. He is compared to the Breath of our nostrils, as much as to say, our very Soul and Life. 2. To a great Tree or Rock that casts a shadow; to both which Kings are resembled. 1. To a Tree: as Dan. 4.20, 21, 22. The Tree that Nabuchadnezzar saw in his Dream, great and tall, abounding with fair leaves and much fruit, to shelter and nourish the Beasts that came under it, was the King himself, as Daniel interpreted the meaning thereof. 2. To a Rock, Isai. 32. ver. 1, 2. Behold a King shall reign in righteousness,— And he shall be as a great Rock in a weary Land; to be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. Or, 3. To an Hen, as some will have it, that gathereth her Chickens under her wings, to protect them from the ravenous Kite; for there is mention made in Scripture of the shadow of wings, Psal. 36.7. and 57.1. and 63.7. Though I rather embrace the first Metaphor of a Tree, as most proper for this and other places of Scripture to shadow forth the Excellencies of Kingly Government. III. The unhappy Fall of this tall Cedar, in those words, was taken in their pits. iv The unlooked-for Season, viz. at such a time when the Jews promised themselves no small Happiness under his Government; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathens. The Kingdom of Judah had strangely shifted her Princes in a little time. In the space of less than 12 years four Kings were removed, partly by death, and partly by Deposition. Egypt and Babylon were Judah's Make-kings. And she, poor Kingdom, like a Tennis-ball was bandied up and down, and driven into several straits, according as those two mighty Monarches played their game. At last Babylon having gained the prize from Egypt, Judah was in some hopes of a Settlement under Zedekiah, who being of the Royal Line was advanced to the Throne with the joint consent of Hebuchadnezzar and the Jews: but within few years, as their Riches had fled away long before, so now their Hopes too are upon the wing and gone; The Tree is cut down, the Rock is overturned, all the Feathers of the Wings are plucked, and the poor Jews exposed to the wide world. The Breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord was taken, etc. I begin with the First, viz. The Sacredness of Zedekiahs' Person by virtue of his Kingly Office, being styled the Anointed of the Lord. King's are the Anointed of God: God gave commission to Samuel to anoint Saul the first King of Israel, 1 Sam. 9.15, 16. which accordingly he performed, chap. 10.1. Then Samuel took a vial of Oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be Captain over his Inheritance? Hence is Saul called the Anointed of the Lord by David often: After the Rejection of Saul by God, Samuel is authorized by God to do the like unto David, 1 Sam. 16.1. and did so, v. 13. And of this solemn Consecration to the Royal Office David speaks, Psal. 89.19, 20. Then thou spakest in a vision to thy holy one, (viz. Samuel) and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my Servant; with my holy Oil have I anointed him. And hence in many of the Psalms David styles himself the Anointed of the Lord. And because David's Successors had the like honourable Ceremonies done unto them, thereupon they might challenge the same honourable Title. Neither was this Ceremony of Anointing proper only to David and his Successors, but other Kings likewise had the same Honour done unto them by the special warrant of God; as namely Jehu and Hazael. Now the Effusion of Oil upon their heads did betoken, 1. The pouring out of a spirit of Government and Courage upon them beyond what they were ordinarily endued withal before their Assumption to the Crown; as appears in Saul and David, 1 Sam. 10.6, 9, 10. and ch. 11.6. And of this last it is expressly said, 1 Sam. 16.13. that The Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward, viz. the day of his Anointing. And as by this Ceremony of pouring out Oil upon the head was signified the pouring out of a spirit of Government upon the person so consecrated; so withal, 2. The Dignity and Sacredness of their Persons. With mine holy Oil have I anointed him, doth David bring in God speaking concerning himself, Psal. 89.20. The Person therefore being anointed with holy Oil becomes after a sort Holy, so as not to be rudely or profanely treated either with hand, or tongue, or thoughts; Curse not the King, no not in thy thoughts, Eccl. 10.20. Much less ought his Life to be ravished from him by a stroke of pretended Justice. Nay the very Garments of Kings call for Reverence and Respect from us; else what need David's heart have smote him for but cutting off the skirt of Saul's Garment? 1 Sam. 24.5, 6. which was done upon no worse design then to give Saul an earnest of his unspotted Loyalty towards him. Say not it was want of wisdom or courage in David to let his Enemy escape, when the Cave furnished him with so fair an advantage against him. Time was, when you might have seen David so hardy as to dare to take a King by the Beard, 1 Sam. 17. and kill him; but it was a King of Beasts, not of Men, viz. a Lion. A Lion and a Bear were both worsted by David. Yea a tall and mighty Giant in the field, big enough to eat him up at a bit, could not daunt little David, armed indeed weakly, with a Sling and a few small Stones, but backed strongly, with the Name of the Lord, Prov. 18.10. which is a strong Tower. Only a King in a Cave makes David's Sword to fall out of his hand, and his heart too to faint. And observe when it was that David held his hand; when Saul was covering his feet in the Cave. Strange! when our Earthly Gods betray most of man and humane infirmity, even then there should such a Majesty appear in their Persons as to command the Swords and Hearts of all Loyal Subjects. So again, ch. 26.7, 8. when King Saul at another time lay at the mercy of David, being fast asleep, and Abner the General of his Army in the same posture, (who therefore deserved the reward of that Theban Sentinel, who being found asleep by Epaminondas was dispatched by him, with this Memento, Dead I found thee, and dead I leave thee) when Saul, I say, lay fast asleep, Abishai's stomach was sharp set, and very earnest to fall aboard him: but David withholds him, with this strong Cord, v. 9 Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's Anointed, and be guiltless? Who can, and be guiltless? Sure if any might have made bold with Saul's life, David was the man, being a King himself, and so Saul's peer and equal, and having a better Title to the Crown than Saul, since God had rejected him, chap. 16.1. But David cannot persuade himself to thrust his Prince out of the Saddle, that he may mount up. Rather he will attend and wait God's leisure, and not stoop to take up that Crown, which being at all times lined with Thorns, doth then prick most when the Thorns are steeped in Royal blood. Yea, but I hear a muttering of some Patrons of our Regicides: We are as much against King-killing in a Cave as David; we abhor to give our Prince either a Spanish Fig or Dagger; we never once encouraged any to Assassinate or stab our Sovereign; we leave such practices to such as have been tutored thereunto in the Jesuits Chamber of Meditation; we acknowledge in this respect the Lives of Kings to be as consecrate Corn, J. G. fit only to be reaped by the hand of God. But for a Prince that hath bathed his Sword in the Blood of his Subjects to have a fair Trial in open Court, and afterwards to have Justice done upon him by virtue of that ancient Law of God, He that sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, cannot justly be paralleled with Romish and Jesuitical practices, who murder with white-powder, and kill without making any noise. But who is so great a stranger in our Israel as to be ignorant what kind of Trial our Gracious Sovereign underwent? Who knows not that his Judges were his sworn Enemies and forsworn Rebels? Who knows not that our Sovereign's Death was decreed before ever their High Court was erected, which was only to add Mockery to their Malice, as was observed by our late Sovereign? Who knows not what bloody purveyors were sent up and down the Nation to procure hands to Petitions, which the poor Subscriber never heard nor read? only the mention of Justice upon Delinquents from highest to lowest blinded the eyes of some, perhaps honest and well-meaning, but yet silly men, that they could not see to the bottom of that Hellish Design, who otherwise would have shrieked aloud, to have seen the Devil appear at noonday with his cloven foot. And whereas it is said that blood must go for blood; I grant it, if understood aright, viz. so it be ordered to be shed by the Magistrate, that is authorized thereunto by Commission from the Supreme Magistrate: for otherwise if any men may take the Sword of Justice in their hands, they will be sure to do Injustice; our hands then, like Ishmael's, will be lifted up against every man, and every man's hand against us. If the King be Supreme, then sure I am the People are inferior; and if it be an undoubted Maxim, that Par in parem non habet potestatem, then certainly the Inferior, though they may have Power, yet can challenge no Authority over the Superior. The truth is, had either the Law of God, or of Nature, or of the Land been consulted withal, the Sacred Person of a King would never have been made so cheap, nor His Head severed from His Body on such easy terms. If either Moses or Daniel or David or Paul might have been allowed to have been of His Majestie's Counsel, and heard as Advocates on His Royal behalf; I am sure He would have been acquitted at their Mock-Court. Moses saith, Thou shalt not revile the Gods, Exod. 22.28 nor curse the Ruler of thy people: then sure not Behead him. 1 Sam. 26.9. David is peremptory, Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's Anointed, and be guiltless? Dan. 4.19. Daniel was wholly seized with Horror and astonishment for one hour, to behold as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sad Doom of Nabuchadnezzar approaching; which yet would not reach his Life, but only his Honour; which yet after seven years' Eclipse would recover his former Lustre and brightness. Oh how much more Trembling and Confusion of spirit would have overtaken him, had it been revealed to him, that his own native Prince should not only have been haled from his Throne, but forced likewise to his Grave, by his own unnatural Subjects! Rom. 13.1. Paul commandeth every Soul to be subject to the Higher powers— And it's worth observing, that this Command was given when Souls were at best, and Powers at worst: But Silent Leges inter Arma, The clattering of Arms will not allow any Laws but Martial to be heard. But if neither the threefold Cord of Reason, Law and Religion can bind you, O ye Justiciaries, to your good behaviour, yet let your own Concernments prevail upon you. Time may come that the wind may tack about, and the Sun shine so hot upon you, that you may wish for a Tree with leaves to shade you: or if you are weary of your own lives, and can be content to stop your own breath; yet be persuaded to let your Neighbours live and breathe a little longer. And this brings me to the consideration of the Second remarkable in the Text. Secondly, The happy Influence of Zedekiah's, and so of all Kingly Government, displayed in two Metaphors. 1. It is compared to the Breath of our nostrils. The Phrase is taken from Gen. 2.7. where we read the Lord form Man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Man became a living Soul. It seems by this expression, that Kings are as Souls to actuate and enliven the great Bodies of people, which without them would be but as so many Corpses when once the breath is gone. As when God made Adam of Clay or Red earth, he is said to breathe into his nostrils the breath of life, and so Man became a living Soul: so when God erects a Nation into an orderly Government, but especially a Kingdom or Monarchy, then are we a living Soul, and breathe indeed. Well may then their Memory stink and rot amongst us, that made Three famous Kingdoms become so many stinking Carcases: They must needs be so when their breath was stopped. And how just is God in taking away their breath, that rob Three Nations of their breath at once? And it is worth observing, That these Three Kingdoms could never thrive till they did breathe again towards Monarchy under a thing called a Protector. But indeed his breath could not agree with our English bodies. His breath was too hot, it did rather scorch then cool the body; and being more Artificial than Natural, for his Head was only fastened to the Body by an Instrument, it could not animate the Body long; so that within a few years the Three Nations lay a gasping and panting for breath, and were in a manner giving up the Ghost, when God in rich Mercy was pleased to inspire a new Life into us, in raising up our present Sovereign to be unto us as Life from the Dead. 2. Kingly Government is compared to a Tree, not a naked one, without Branches or Leaves, but such an one as is stored with plenty of Leaves for Shadow, and Fruit for Food: Of whom we said, Under his Shadow we shall live. Like that fair, tall and well-spread Tree in Dan. 4. whose leaves were fair and fruit much, for all the Beasts that came under it. Not a Bramble or Thorn, which in stead of affording Covert and Nourishment, will scratch and tear the Flesh of those poor Sheep that seek for shelter under their boughs. Not the poisonous Yew, whole melancholic shade is reported by some deadly to those that sit under it. These may be fit Emblems of Democratical and Protectorian Government: But the Tree under which Judah of old and England of late sat was the spreading Vine, that together with the broad Leaves affords thick clusters of Grapes, which yield Wine to cheer the Heart of God and man; Judg. 9.13. The goodly Cedar, whose wood sends forth an odoriferous Savour; The Royal Oak, that abounds in Mast as well as Leaves. Or, As the Appletree is amongst the Trees of the wood, so was our Beloved amongst the Sons. We sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to our taste, Cant. 2.3. I come to the consideration of the Third Particular, which is the unhappy Fall of Judah's Royal Cedar: He was taken in their pits, that is, ex insidiis. The old Translation, agreeable to the Chaldee Paraphrase, renders it their Nets, which is most agreeable to what God foretold should befall Zedekiah, Ezek. 12.13. My Net will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my Snare; and I will bring him to Babylon, the Land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. The same threatening is again repeated, ch. 17.20. But whether we render the Hebrew word by Pits or Nets, is not material; they are both Metaphors taken from Hunters, that sometimes make Pits and cover them with boughs and earth, to entrap the Deer and other Game, and sometimes spread their Nets, to entangle them. And indeed Judah's Enemies, the Babylonians, are compared to Hunters, ver. 18, 19 of this Chapter. They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in the streets— Our Persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of Heaven; they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. And in Jerem. 52. you may read how the Royal Hart of Judah was hotly chased by the Babylonian Hounds, and fell into their pits and nets on the plain of Jericho, v. 7, 8. and there the dogs fell upon him, and tore out his eyes, but yet spared his life. But our English Mastiffs fly at the throat of our Lion. And indeed it's reported, that no creature besides an English Mastiff will adventure to fasten on a Lion, the King of Beasts. Our Iron men had Ostrich stomaches, and could digest Iron. The fish that they had taken must swim in wine, but what kind? not the pure blood of the Grape, but of their King. O my Soul, never long for such Dainties: let us rather fast and fast, yea and starve too, then adventure to sit down at that Table where either King or Baptist's Head is served up in a Charger. Oh what a noise did the Fall of our Royal Oak make! England was then all Earthquake. How did the lesser Trees of the English Forest tremble, to see the bold Feller adventure upon the fairest and strongest Timber! Well might the lesser Trees expect to be made pollard's, when the biggest was plucked up Root and Branch. Oh what Paleness did then arrest every face and visage, when the Breath of our nostrils did expire! Oh the Groans and Sighs that then came from every sad and pensive heart! Oh the Tears that then did bedew and moisten every fair and rosy Cheek, to see Royal blood prodigally spilt upon the Ground, which a Vial of the purest Gold had been but too mean to receive! The whole Nation seemed to be as a woman in travail, followed with thick throes and pangs, delivered of nought but Ichabods, The Glory is departed from our Israel. 1 Sam. 4.21. One would think that what Jeremiah reported concerning the Daughter of Zion, had been rather the complaint of England; Chap. 4. 31. I have heard the voice of a woman in travail, and the anguish of her that bringeth forth her first Child; the voice of the Daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now, for my soul is wearied because of Murderers. And well might men be weary of this world, and be desirous to bid their neighbour's good-night, when the bright Sun was not only set in a dark Cloud, but even fallen from the Firmament. Or if we were so happy as to enjoy any light, 'twas but what Meteors and Comets and Blazing-stars lent us, which did rather astonish then comfort, as being Ominous, and threatening Battles and Blood to follow not long after their appearance. And, which added to the Miseries of our Nation, the Ship of our Commonwealth had the ill hap to be wrecked in the very mouth of the Haven. When we were ready to land in Peace, the perfidious Mariners cast the Master of the Ship overboard, out of a Covetous and Ambitious desire to seize the Goods and steer the Vessel; and then these unskilful Pilots run us all on-ground upon the unknown Coasts of Oceana, and dash out their own Brains against the Rocks; which leads me to the view of the Fourth and last Branch of Judah's Misery, viz. Fourthly, The unlooked-for Season when Judah's Lion was taken in their pits: Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live. The poor Kingdom of Judah had been exercised with strange Convulsions in a short time, so that her spirits were almost spent; she was now in hope to recover some measure of Strength and Beauty under Zedekiah, whom the King of Babylon had appointed to take care of his Patient. But, alas! it proved but as a lightning before Death. Judah's Peace and Prosperity was as short-lived as her own and her Sister's Goodness, Hos. 6.4. No more than a morning Cloud or an early Dew, that quickly vanisheth away. And this was not the least aggravation of their Unhappiness, that their Hopes were high and strong to the contrary. And England's Disappointment herein runs paralleled with Judah's. Whilst King and People were treating of a match with mutual consent, and had proceeded so far as to be contracted each to other; then our boisterous Blades make use of Alexander's Sword to cut asunder that Knot, which they were not able otherwise to untie. When the whole Kingdom was thinking of nothing but beating their Swords into ploughshares, and their Spears into pruning-hooks, our Enemies are converting their Swords into Mattocks and Axes, to cut down our Cedar and grub up her Roots. The Kingdom was so Drunk with Blood, that she did even reel and stagger, and was therefore the more willing to take her Rest, when our mighty Nimrods' had not yet quenched their Thirst, and therefore are resolved to drink hard and to purpose: Begin with the best Wine first, the Blood of their King; and if that be not enough, let the blood of Nobles and Ministers and Commons be brewed together, to make a full Draught. Deliver us from bloodguiltiness, O God, and let those who either plotted or consented to the Effusion of so much innocent blood, bleed inwardly this day, and let the blood of thy Son speak better things than the blood of our Sovereign. And herein it becomes us to imitate a Copy set us by our Sovereign, whose Royal Heart and Pen first transcribed it from the practice of our Saviour. He prayed for his Enemies in these words, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do: Our Royal Sovereign put up the same request for His Persecutors, though He could not back it with the same Reason, They know not what they do. They knew too too well that they went about to destroy the Lord's Anointed. But oh what pathetical words dropped from the mouth of our dying Swan! as they are transmitted to us in His most Excellent Book, and in that Part where, having preached His own Funeral Sermon, He prayed for a blessing upon what had been delivered, in these words. When Thou makest inquisition for my Blood, O sprinkle their polluted, yet penitent, Souls with the blood of thy Son, that the destroying Angel may pass over them. Though they think my Kingdoms on Earth too little to entertain at once both them and Me; yet let the capacious Kingdom of thy infinite mercy at last receive both Me and mine Enemies. When being reconciled to Thee in the blood of the same Redeemer, we shall live fare above these ambitious desires, which beget such mortal Enmities. We have now run over the sad parallel of Judah's and England's late Miseries, but we have not taken notice of the Cause. But Jeremiah will acquaint you with that too in relation to Judah, Lamentat. 5.16. The Crown is fallen from our head; Woe unto us that we have Sinned. And herein must England join hands with Judah, and hold them up at the Bar of God's Justice, and confess Guilty. But what were the Sins of England that made the Crown sit so lose? Our Church hath prudently left every man to search into his own heart, and to smite upon his own thigh; and therefore God forbidden that we should recriminate one another: Only I am afraid that some among us might drink away our King's Life, by drinking too too often his Health; and some might bring a Curse upon the Life of our Sovereign by Cursing their God. Too many undervalved his Person and Government, and said, with those children of Belial in 1 Sam. 10.27. How shall this man save us? and they despised him in their hearts. And others, that were forward enough to draw out a Sword in his Defence, were wanting to make use of the shield of Faith, and by joining the assistence of earnest Prayer, offer an holy Violence to Heaven, that none might be done to the Sacred Person of God's Anointed here on Earth. And herein all England failed: for otherwise had our Faith been strong and our Prayers fervent, why might not the edge of the Axe have been blunted, or at least turned some other way? Si Fides transfer possit Montem, potest & Militem, said Tertullian of old, when he encouraged the Christians to keep their Dominicals, notwithstanding they were threatened to be way-layed by the Soldiery when they should reshrt to their Assemblies. And what may we hereby learn, but that if we desire to approve ourselves faithful Subjects to our Prince, we must have a care lest we be found Traitors and Rebels against God? for, as Samuel told the Israelites, If you do wickedly, 1 Sam. 20.23. you shall be consumed, you and your King. But what Use may we make of the sad Falls of Judah's and England's Monarches? First, Take notice of the absolute Sovereignty of the Almighty in raising up and tumbling down the greatest Potentates. As it is his Prerogative Royal alone to have his Crown so fixed as to be without Variableness and shadow of turning; so all other Princes have their Commission to wear their Crowns only durante Beneplacito, during the pleasure of God Almighty. By me King's reign, and Princes decree Justice, saith the Wisdom of God in the Proverbs, Chap. 8. yea and by him they cease to reign, and are dethroned. All the Kings of the world, though made of finer Mould than the rest of their Subjects, are yet but as Clay in the hands of the Potter; and cannot he do with them as the Potter with his earthen Vessels? yea undoubtedly. Let but the word go forth from thés King, and power shall accompany the same, to make an Orderly Government return into a dark Chaos of Confusion, quite contrary to the method of Creation. Oh how frequent is Scripture in blazoning this great and sole Prerogative of the Almighty! He putteth down the Mighty from their seats, and exalteth them of Low degree, saith Mary in her Magnificat. Again, He smiteth through the Loins of Kings in the day of his wrath. And, He poureth contempt upon Princes, Psal. 107.40. and causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way. And therefore let all the Kings and mighty Monarches give ear to a King, (and oh that France, Spain and Germany would hearken to him, for if these things be done to the Green Tree, what shall be done to the Dry?) viz. to learn Wisdom. Be wise now therefore, O ye Kings; Psal. 2. be instructed, ye Judges of the Earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. And again; Vow and pay unto the Lord your God: Psal. 76.11, 12. Let all that are round about him bring presents to him, that aught to be feared. And why? It followeth, He shall cut off the spirit of Princes; he is terrible to the Kings of the earth. Secondly, See then the Vanity of all things here below. Our Age might afford matter for another Book of Ecclesiastes and Lamentation, had we a Solomon and Jeremy to pen them. The Crown was tottering in Solomon's time, nay, the Entail cut off. Doth the Crown endure to all Generations? Prov. 27. 2● Ten parts of Twelve fell off at once from his Son Rehoboam's Head; and the other Two had fallen likewise, had not the hand of the Almighty supported them. God's promise to David the Grandfather, that he should always have a Light before God in Jerusalem, prevented the total Eclipse of the Grandchild's Royalty. Solomon saw in his time the very same sights that have been showed in England; Eccl. 10, 6, 7. Folly set in great Dignity, and the Rich sit in low place: Servants riding upon Horses, and Princes walking as Servants upon the Earth. We have seen in our days the Stage removed from Blackfriars to Westminster; and they that would make scruple to be Spectators of a Play there, yet dare venture to Act a Part here, yea and the Fool's part too, and I could have wished that had been all. But Thirdly, From the Actors of our late Tragedy, those that helped to dig the Pit for our late Sovereign, we may learn, 1. How needful it is to maintain continual watch over our own Hearts, and to be daily in the Exercise of Grace. There is no Prince can be safe, unless the Traitor in our own. Hearts be first suppressed. The Heart of man is the too-fruitfull womb of all the monstrous Villainies that are done under the Sun. Out of the heart, Matth. 15.19 saith our Saviour, proceed Murders, Adulteries, Fornications, Blasphemies, etc. And from thence springs Treason too. Oh therefore look that there be no root of Bitterness growing there against your King. Eccl. 10.20. Curse not your King, no not in your thoughts. For if he that hates his Brother be a Murderer in God's account; then sure I am, he that hates his Prince is not only a Traitor, but a King-killer. I am confident that if any should have told those Unhappy men that sat in Judgement upon their King, a few years before, that they would in a short time attempt to take away the Life of their Sovereign, they would have been ready to have sent a Challenge to him that should entertain such a Suspicion of them; 2 King. 8.13. and Hazael's answer to Elisha would then have been in every one of their mouths, What, are we Dogs, that we should do such a thing? and yet in a few years they are metamorphosed into that shape they so much abhorred, and learned not only to grin and bark against, but likewise to by't and devour Majesty itself. So that our Sovereign might apply to his case the words of the Psalmist, Psal. 22.16. For Dogs have compassed me, the Assembly of the Wicked have enclosed me. 2. To adore the Righteous Judgement of God, in bringing the wheel over those men that digged the Pit for their Sovereign. Righteous art thou, O Lord, and Just are thy Judgements. We shall now no longer be tempted with Jeremy, Jerem. 12.1. to talk with thee of thy Judgements, why the way of the wicked doth prosper; and wherefore all they are happy that deal very treacherously. We shall never envy more the pastures or fatness of those Sheep that are only preparing against the day of slaughter. We read in Scripture often, He that diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and again, The Lord is known by the Judgements he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion, Selah. And all this we have beheld with our own eyes. And farther, that Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days: Or if they chance to go to their Graves in peace and honour, yet the Vengeance of the Almighty shall follow them there, and they shall be raised again in dishonour before the General Resurrection, and come to Judgement before the Day of Doom. Fourthly, How often are men disappointed of their Hopes, even when they are entering upon the fruition of them? Judah's people of old not only thought, but said of their King, Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathens. And England said as much of her King, at the time of the Treaty in the Isle of Wight, Under his shadow we shall live. But our Hopes were blasted by the Almighty, and like the Figtree in the Gospel presently withered away. Jer. 8.15, 16, 17. We looked for Peace, but no good came; for a time of Health, but behold Trouble. The snorting of his Horses was heard from Dan, the whole Land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones: for they are come and have devoured the Land, and all that is in the City, and all that dwell therein. For behold I will send Serpents and Cockatrices amongst you, which will not be charmed, and they shall by't you, saith the Lord. Thus it was with us at that time, our Wound was made the more incurable by applying the Weapon-salve. Fifthly, Let us acknowledge God's Mercy in disappointing our Fears, as well as his Justice in blasting our Hopes. We said, We should live under the shadow of our former Prince, but could hardly imagine we should ever sit down under a Branch of the Old Tree. And yet behold a Miracle of Mercy: Out of the Ashes of our Martyred Sovereign God hath raised another Phoenix. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. We were not so unhappy as the Kingdom of Judah, whose Tree left never a Branch nor Rod to make a Sceptre. Ezek. 19.14. Thanks be to God, ours had many. God hath made the Horn of our David to bud and blossom, and bear fruit. We have another Tall Oak sprang up in the place where the other Royal one fell, which hath flourished already to a great height. May He be always as the Tree planted by the Rivers of waters, Psal. 1. that may not only abound in Leaves for shade, and Fruit pleasant to the eye, but good for food too. Let Him bring forth His fruit in good season, Rev. 22.2. like the Tree in the Revelation, that brought forth Fruit every month; and let His Leaves be for the healing of the Nations; that all our Breaches and Divisions may be bound up by His fair hands. Let His Leaf never whither, but let Him be always as a green Olive-tree in the House of God, and let whatsoever He takes in hand prosper. Let no Axe ever come near His Boughs, nor Mattock uncover his Root. And when through time and Age our Royal Oak gins to stoop, may the skilful hand of that Heavenly Arborist and Husbandman remove him gently in the Winter of His Old age, and transplant Him from this barren soil, the Wilderness of this World, to a richer Enclosure, that Heavenly Paradise, where His Root may be continually watered with that pure River of the water of Life, clear as Crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb. Rev. 22. FINIS.