THE BISHOP OF CHICHESTER's SERMON Before the KING, JANVARY 30. 1696. A SERMON Preached before the KING At WHITEHALL, ON JANVARY 30. 1696. BY JOHN Lord Bishop of CHICHESTER Published by His Majesty's Special Command. LONDON: Printed for Ri. Chiswell, and Tho. Cockerill: At the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard; and at the Corner of Warwick-Lane in Pater-Noster-Row. M DC XC VII. MATTH. XXIII. 34, 35, 36. Behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, Son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar. Verily I say unto you; All these things shall come upon this generation. IN this Chapter our Blessed Saviour pronounces no less than Eight dreadful Woes against the Scribes and Pharisees for their gross Hypocrisy; and amongst the rest, for the pretended Reverence they bore to the Memory of the Ancient Prophets, whom their forefathers wickedly Abused, Persecuted, and Killed; so that they said, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets, v. 30. But our Saviour shows, that if they had lived in those Days, they would have acted in the same way; since the same temper was existent in them, as had been heretofore in their Fathers. So v. 31. Ye are witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the Prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your Fathers, for that ye are now in the way to: Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets, etc. and ye will do unto them as your Fathers heretofore did unto those Prophets, whose Sepulchers ye now Garnish, and whose Praises ye Celebrate. So that in the Event, upon you will come the sorest Judgements; and it will be, as if all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, etc. were required of this Generation. There is some doubt to be made concerning the Zachariah referred to in the Text; for there were several of that Name in Scripture, as also in Josephus the Jewish Historian. But this we may observe, that whoever he was, he was Slain before the time that our Saviour here so sharply inveighs against the Jews; for it is by him charged upon them as a thing past, whom ye slew. Again, it was a story well known to that People, and a case very notorious; and if so, as there was no case more notorious than 2 Chron. 24. 20. that of Zachariah the Son of Jehoiada; so there was none that this Character could agree to, but to him, who was slain in the court of the house of the Lord; or as it is here, between the Temple and the Altar. But then there are Two or Three difficulties remaining, one of which is, That Zachariah, who is here called the Son of Barachias, is in the Regal Story said to be the Son of Jehoiada. 2 Sam. 12. 21. Prov. 31. 1. 2 Kings 23. 34. 2 Chron. 36. 4. Vid. Joseph. Ant. l. 2. c. 12. In answer to which, We may observe from Scripture, That it was common among the Jews (as among many other Nations) to give several Names to the same Person; as Solomon was called Lemuel and Jedidiah; and especially where those Names were of the same signification, as Jehojakim and Eliakim. And thus it is with Jehoiadah and Barachiah. 2. It was usual to give, or to have Names given, upon some Eminent Service done by them, or some Eminent Blessing that befell them. So Gideon had the Name of Jerubbaal given to him by his Father Joash, upon his breaking down Jud. 6. 32. the Altar of Baal: And Jacob was called Israel, Gen. 32. 28. because as a prince he had power with God and men. Thus Zacharias is here called the Son of Barachias, or (as that Name signifies) the blessed of Gen. 24. 31. 26▪ 29▪ the Lord, which was among them a term of Honour and Respect. And a Name without doubt, as it was due, so was given to Jehoiada in a more especial manner, because of his eminent Piety, and of his Zeal in advancing Joash to the Throne; and for restoring the Liberties and Religion of that People, after they had both been invaded by 2 Chron. 23. the Infamous Practices of the Idolatrous Athaliah. He may for this reason well deserve the Name of Barachias, or the blessed of the Lord. And then the Aggravation of the Sin was, That this Zachariah martyred by them, was the Son of that brave Jehoiada, that Patriot of their Country; and whom, without any regard to his Ancestor, to his own Quality, his Message, or the Place, they furiously rushed upon, and Levit. 24. 16. stoned him (the Punishment of Blasphemers) in the Court of the Lord's House, or Court of the Priests. A Fact so heinous, that the Jews say, his Blood V. Lightfoot. Vol. 2. Talmud. Exercitat. continully bubbled up, and was not expiated till the Babylonish Captivity, which was about Two hundred and fifty years after. But if it was at this distance from the time of our Saviour, how comes this Instance of Zacharias to be the last, as that of Abel was the first? I answer, Because that Blood was supposed to lie upon that Nation till the Captivity; after which they were as averse to Idolatry, as ever they were before addicted to it; and therefore that sort of Persecution ended with it. But if it were so that Zacharias was the Son of that Jehoiadah, it seems very hard and unjust that this Blood, and much more the Blood of Abel, and all the Righteous Blood shed upon the Earth, should be required of that Generation, as our Saviour here affirms. For what was the blood of Abel to them, who was Killed by his Brother Cain, all of whose Posterity perished in the Deluge? Or how were they concerned in the Blood of such Righteous Persons, as were slain in other parts of the Earth, or even in that of Zacharias, who, though killed by their Ancestors, was slain above Seven hundred years before? I grant, this Blood could no more literally be charged upon that Generation, than they could be said to have been Cotemporaries with those Ages of Abel or Zacharias: But it is here thus represented, partly because they were of the same Temper, and were acted by the like spirit of Envy and Hatred, as the Murderers of Abel and Zacharias, etc. Partly it was as to Zacharias, because the course of impiety in former Ages was carried along (though in a different way) even to that Age; and lastly, because that what they were now agitating, and would shortly accomplish, would be a Crime of such malignity, as would fill up the measure of their fathers; and would determine in their Ruin, ver. 37, 38. O Jerusalem! etc. behold your house is left unto you desolate. And it is as if he had said: Ye think yourselves clear of your Father's Iniquity, forasmuch as ye Garnish the Sepulchers of those Prophets whom they wickedly Killed, and that ye are not Idolaters and Persecutors as they; and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets; but you will so far outdo them, that ye will Kill and Crucify those whom I shall send, and reject the last tender of Divine Mercy, and thereby bring upon yourselves ruin as inexpressible, as irreversible. For think of all the Blood of Pious and Just Men, that has been shed through all Ages of the World; think of that of Abel, and of Zacharias, and all that ye can think of, and yet the case will hold no comparison with what ye will do, in Persecuting, Killing, and Crucifying the Prophets, and Wise Men, that shall be sent to you, and also Him that sends them. Gen. 4. 10. And if the Blood of Abel cried for vengeance, and that of Zacharias was required of your Progenitors; Then what will not fall upon this Generation! It will be such as was not from Matth. 13. 19 the beginning of the creation; It will be such as if all the Blood of the Prophets, and of Righteous Men from Abel downward to that of Zacharias, Luke 11▪ 50. were required of you; Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, etc. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; verily these things shall come upon this generation. In Discoursing upon which Argument, I shall show; I. That it often happens to the Best of Men, to be Opposed, and Persecuted, and Despitefully used in this World. II. That this is consistent with the Providence of God and his Government of the World. III. That in the sequel God doth right to his Providence, and to their Piety and Virtue by extraordinary Events. I. It often happens to the best of Men to be Opposed and Evil-Treated. I shall not go about to prove that which is matter of Fact, and has been the constant Observation of all Ages more or less. We need not go farther for the confirmation of it than the Instances of the Text, Abel and Zacharias, and the rest of the Righteous Men upon Record: Or than the sad Instance which this Day sets before us; when a Person as Eminent for his Piety, as his Character and Dignity, was treated, as if he had been the Off-scouring of all things, and was, as many of the Righteous Men of Old, Persecuted and Slain. And the Causes are as observable as the Fact, and of which there are as many, as there are Prejudices and Misunderstandings, contrary Passions and Interests. As long as there are Ambition and Pride, Envy and Malice, Covetousness on one hand, or expensive Vices on another. As long as there are contrary Habits, which are the Principles that rule in all Mankind, there will be Enmities and Oppositions; and if Virtue, and Religion, and the Best of Men are against Persons in these Circumstances, they will then retaliate the Injury, and be against Virtue, and Religion, and the best of Men. For then it is not what the thing is in itself, but what it is as to them; and it often is not because it is Religion, or Virtue, or the Best of Men, that they thus Despitefully use them; but because they are opposite to their Interest, or their Inclination, or sometimes are to their Reproach. Then it is that the Pharisees are for condemning our Saviour, when they thought that the Romans would John 11. 48. come and take away both their place and nation. And especially is this of the more fatal and pernicious consequence, if this Spirit be edged on by a false and mistaken Zeal; and Religion is pretended to by some to face an evil design, and is believed by others to be concerned in it, and is in danger to suffer. For then this doth, as they will have it, justify and establish the Contention, and make it to be necessary. Then they think it laudable and meritorious even to kill, when, in their Opinion, it is to do God John 16. 2. service. It is then a Cause fit to venture their own life in, and a Cause that will oblige them to take away that of another: Nay, it will even serve to break through the Laws of Nature itself, and will have them to put those to Death, whom Nature would otherwise teach to Preserve, and with the hazard of their own Life to save from it. Thus it was foretold by our Saviour, The brother shall deliver up the brother to Matth. 10. 21. death, and the father the child, etc. By these and the like means, the Best of Men too often fall under the heavy hand of Violence and Oppression; and if we were then to judge of them by the usage they meet with, they must have been the worst of Mankind. A case which hath tempted some to question, and others to deny a Providence. But this without reason, if there be nothing in these Proceedings and Events, but what is consistent with the Divine Oversight and Government of the World. II. Which is the next thing to be Discoursed of: The Providence of God is seen in Preserving all things in the same State and Order as at the first establishment: And as he ordinarily leaves Natural Causes, and necessary Agents to act according to their proper Nature, and to keep to the Law and the Season, at the first appointed and prescribed; so he generally leaves voluntary and intelligent Being's to follow their own Inclinations, and to Choose, and Resolve, and Act as they shall see meet. And if it happens that such Agents proceed upon wrong Principles, or mistaken Measures, it is no more than if in mere Natural Causes there are some Preternatural Accidents happen, through the concourse of different parts of Matter together. And if sometimes Good Men are left to their own Precipitance, as Josiah, when he was not to be dissuaded from Attacking Pharaoh-Necho; 2 Chron. 25. 20. and Wicked Men are left to their own Perverseness and Obstinacy, as Pharaoh; or to their Pride, as Isa. 10. the Haughty Assyrian; and they perish in it: This in the Voluntary World is no more extraordinary, than when there is Seedtime and Harvest in the Natural World; that is, that each acts according to the Nature they are of, and the Condition they are in. And it is no imputation upon Providence, if in this way Good Men, or the Best of Men, fall sometimes into hard Circumstances, when Causes are left to their own tendency, and are (as it were) in their own Power. For Nature is but Nature; and to keep Nature in its course, is an Act of Providence; to keep Stated and Permanent Being's in their Station and Order, and Transient in a continued Succession, and Voluntary in their own Power and Liberty; is a special Fruit of the Divine Providence. But I confess, if there were no more, and that Providence were a mere Supervisor, it would not be the Providence worthy of so Divine a Power, nor so worthy of that Veneration we owe to it. There is therefore a more noble part of it behind, and that is, That though God generally keeps to the Laws he has given, and Preserves the World as he made it; yet he upon occasion interposes, and doth as well Govern the World as Preserve it; and as he can when he pleases stop the current of the violent Ocean for a Passage to his People, and make the stars Judg. 5. 20. in their courses to fight against their Enemies; so he doth Govern the Wills and Passions of Men, Prov. 21. 1. and turns them as the rivers of water, to or from their Purpose and Design, or promotes or hinders their Design from Success, as he thinks fit. And if it be asked, Why he doth not interpose in cases that seem to us to be of the greatest Consequence, and which the Welfare of a Nation, the Safety of his People, the Good of his Church, turn upon; Why, for example, he doth not prevent the Sufferings and Oppressions of Good Men? I Answer, Because it is for a greater Good, sometimes to themselves, sometimes to the Public, by making them an Example of Patience, Charity, and Constancy; sometimes for the Advantage of the Church, and for the Propagation of Religion, and always for his own Honour and Service. Need we a greater Instance of this than the Sufferings and Death of our Blessed Saviour, with which seemingly, the Cause seemed to be lost; We trusted that it was he which should have redeemed Luke 24. 21. Israel, said the despairing Disciples. And his Enemies thought they had prevented all after-growth of that Doctrine he Taught, when they had Slain him, and made sure the Matth. 27. 65. Sepulchre by Sealing the Stone, and setting a Watch. But his Resurrection baffled all their endeavours, and showed how consistent this his Crucifixion was with the Divine Providence, proceeding from the Hand and Counsel of God. Acts 4. 28. Thus it happened, in a lower degree, with the Enemies of our Government, Church, and Religion, who thought all at an end, when they had cut down the Defender of it. But we know what the Event was, Confusion to themselves, and, in process of time, a Glorious Deliverance and Restoration to our Ancient Government, Liberties, and Established Religion. And if God hath these noble Ends in Prospect, and thus brings Good out of Evil; the Objection is foreclosed, and the mouth of all Gainsayers must be stopped. Thus it ordinarily is; and if in some cases this be not so evident, and the Judgements of God prove a great deep▪ and too deep for us to fathom, it is no more an Objection against a Providence, than it is an Argument that a Child is not a Rational Creature, because at the present we cannot find in it the exercise of a Human Understanding. In many cases there is Faith and Expectation, and the farther Success and Events of things, which we are to defer our Judgement to. It is sufficient God doth put forth such acts of a Divine Power in some special Cases and Instances, as shall enforce the Perversest, the most Exod. 9 27. 8. 19 Judg. 1. 7. Dan. 4. 37. Psal. 58. 〈◊〉▪ Inconsiderate, and the most Insolent of Mankind, the Pharaoh's and Magicians, the Adonibezek's and the Nebuchadnezzar's, to confess, Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. And this will bring us nearer yet to the Subject of this Day, in the next Head: Which is, III. That God doth in very eminent Instances, Cases, and Events, do Right to his Providence, and to the Righteous Men that frequently Suffer and meet with the hardest Usage in this World. I shall not enlarge upon this Argument, but confine myself to what is intimated in the Text, when the Punishment of Antecedent Crimes is transferred to, and falls upon Successors; and an after-Age, or Ages, suffer for the foregoing, whether Personal, Domestical, or National; this is intimated here, That upon you may come all the righteous blood, etc. but more expressly is it in that Clause, whom ye slew; which the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, being in the Singular, refers immediately to Zacharias; for it is not said the Blood of Abel, and of all other Righteous Men throughout the World, which they shed, as it is of Zacharias whom ye slew. Which shows, that it is in another relation that they stood in to Zacharias than they did to Abel; and that was, because Zacharias was slain by their Fathers, and which they owned to have for some Ages been imputed to their Nation before the Captivity (as has been beforesaid). The imputation of one Man's, or one Age's Sin, in the Punishment of it to another; and that Princes have suffered for the People * Prov. 28. 2. , and People for their Princes † 2 Sam. 21. 1. , and Children for their Fathers, and an after-Generation for a foregoing, has been owned by all; the Heathens are full of it, and the Scriptures often appeal to it; and Levit. 26. 4. Dan 9 16. therefore this was a part of their solemn Confessions; and their Father's Iniquity, as well as their own, was either Confessed, or Disclaimed. But it concerns us to look somewhat further into this Argument, for the use it may be of. And in Discoursing upon it, In prosecution of which I shall consider, 1. What those Sins are, whose Punishment above others is thus transferred. 2. The case of Persons, or Nations, with respect to those Sins. 3. What is to be done by way of relief and remedy. As to the former, there are Two sorts of Sins, Personal and Relative; Personal are such as in their Effects pass no farther than the Person, and respect not others, when all the hurt is as to himself, bating only what it may be in the Example; Ezek. 18. 20. and then where the Sin rests, there rests the Punishment; and the soul that sinneth, it shall die; the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,— and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself alone; as it is said in the Prophet. But now where the Sins are Relative, and respect others, and which they are damnified by, than the Punishment is farther dilated and extended, and so it falls upon the Person and the Posterity, as God the Supreme Lawgiver doth direct. I acknowledge that there is one Sin, viz. That of Idolatry, to which a Threatening of this kind is annexed, as we find it in the Second Commandment; though it doth not immediately affect others; but being it so directly struck at the foundation of all Religion, and more especially that of the Jews (whose Constitution was a Theocracy, immediately under God) there was this terrible Sanction added to it, to make Persons the more cautious of Offending. But otherwise the Sins so Threatened, and for which Persons in Succession were Punished, were the Sins that the Interests of others, or the Public, were concerned in and damnified by (as has been said)▪ The reason of which seems to be, Because as to Personal Vices, the Offenders shall answer for them in another World; where every Man shall bear his own Burden, and give an Account of himself to God. But those Sins which respect others, and which the Welfare and Peace of Societies are Prejudiced by, they (besides the Punishments in reserve in the next Life) shall here be Punished for: And that they may be deterred from such Practices, the Threatening involves their Posterity with them; than which nothing, generally, more awes Mankind. And especially is this more to be observed in those cases, which the Laws of Men cannot, or do not, reach, or the Executive Power in a Government is too Weak to Punish. I shall give an Instance or two of this kind, omitting others, viz. 1. Notorious Injustice; the Oppressing of others that are not able to Help, or Right themselves. In this case the Providence of God doth often (I dare not say, always) concern itself: So that if Restitution be not made, either the Person himself shall see it moulder away before his Luke 12. 20. Eyes, or is snatched away from it, as the Fool in the Gospel, with a, This Night,— and then whose shall all these things be which thou hast provided? Or suppose the Estate thus acquired be turned over entire to his Heir, some secret Worm goes along with it, that like Jonah's Gourd it withers away, and he is exposed to all the Miseries of an indigent Life; and ends, perhaps, where the Father began. The Observation is not new, nor rare; it was Proverbial among the Heathens, as is well known, De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres; and no Nation but can answer it in their own Language. 2. Another Instance is that of Blooddsheding, or Murder. The Life of Man is easily taken away, and what any desperate Person may Command; and therefore when nothing is more Valuable, or that the World in Succession more depends upon, Almighty God by a special and early Law took care for the security of it. Gen. 9 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For which no satisfaction was to be allowed, and nothing less than Blood was estimated as an equivalent for it, where it was discovered; and where it was not, it was to lie upon the Place, till it was some way or other Expiated, and as far as could be, there was an Atonement made. This was the case of unknown Homicide under the Law, when Numb 35. 31. the Elders of the City, next to the Slain, were required to wash their Hands over the Heifer, and to say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it; be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people's charge, and that blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, Deut. 21. 3. For Blood was said to Defile the Land, Numb. 35. 35. From hence it appears that innocent Blood was reputed to lie upon the Land till an Expiation was made. The proper Expiation was the Blood of the Guilty himself, wherever he was to be found; and in that case there was no Commutation, no Substitution, no Sacrifice allowed, but Life was to go for Life, according to the Law, Numb. 35. 30, 31. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death,— Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to Death. If he was not discovered, than the course before spoken of, in killing the Heifer, and using the Rites prescribed on that occasion, was to be taken: And in either of those cases, the Gild went no farther. It was not then imputed to the Nation, it lay wholly on him that committed the Fact; and who in the secret Providence of God was to Answer for it. But if it were discovered, and the Murderer was suffered to escape without that condign and personal Punishment required; then besides what he himself should account for to God, the Supreme Judge, the Charge fell upon the Place or the People, and they were to Answer to God for it. And this translation of the Gild is so much the more Observable, as the Fact is Aggravated by the Quality of the Person Suffering, and thus Used; or by the Relation the Person or Persons Offending are in. It was so here, when they were Righteous Men, and Prophets that were Slain, as Abel and Zacharias: And when it was a National Act, as was the Killing of Zacharias, in which Fact there was a concurrence of all Qualities and Degrees, as you may see it, 2 Chron. 24. 17, 21. And this was above all manifest in the Case here tacitly referred to, which is the Crucifixion of our Saviour; and which that infatuated People fixed the Gild of upon themselves by an indelible Imprecation, when they cried out, His blood be on us and our children, Matth. 27. 25. And there is somewhat like this, in the Fact which gave the sad Occasion to this Day's Assembly; it was Heinous in itself, Aggravated by the Quality of the Person, and too great a Concurrence in the Gild of it, though not so great as to make it Universal, or a National Crime. God forbid it should ever be so in the Effects of it. 2. But this leads me to consider the Case; and that is Twofold. (1.) Of those that are in the same State with their Ancestors, and are either Guilty of the same Facts, or are of the same Temper with them. As is the case of the Jews represented by our Saviour, who though not Idolaters as their Forefathers before the Captivity, were yet of the same rancorous temper; and would in Fact be Guilty of the same Persecution of Righteous Men as they; and so they might well be called their Children, whose measure they were hastening to fill up. This is a Case all must acknowledge, and is agreeable to the common Sense of Mankind. (2.) There is the case of those, that though Descendants from such as have been Guilty of great Crimes, yet are not involved in them; and so in reason may be thought not obnoxious to any Punishment for their sakes, or for the sake of what has been done by Progenitors. And the case is resolved in favour to such, Ezek. 18. 4, 20. The soul that sinneth shall die, the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, etc. according to the ancient Law given to that People, Deut. 24. 16. The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, neither shall the children be put to death for their fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. But here we are to Observe, That the stress lies upon that, That the son shall not be put to death 2 Kings 14. 6. for the father; this was a standing Law they were to keep to, and which none but Almighty God, the Great Lawgiver, could reverse, as he did, only in some special cases, such as that of Dathan and Achan, Numb. 16. 32. Josh. 7. 24. But it is not to be denied, that notwithstanding this, there are Cases in which the Innocent may suffer for the Nocent; Innocent Posterity, I mean, for their Nocent Ancestors, as has been beforeshewed. I acknowledge it is a difficult matter to state this Case, as to all the Circumstances and Measures of it. There is no constant Rule that the Providence of God inviolably keeps to in the Government of the World; and whatever Judgement we may be liable to make as to some Events, and in which the Power and Justice of God is conspicuous to all; and however in some cases he may generally so proceed, as that we may raise Maxims from thence; yet being it is not universally so, we are not to apply them without great Caution, nor can we particularly apply them without danger of mistake: Our Saviour has taught us not to Judge rashly; in answer to that Question put to him by his Disciples, Who John 9 2. did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? That God may Punish one Generation for the Faults of another, is not inconsistent with his Justice; and that he doth so, is no uncommon Observation: But this is not always visible; it sometimes, for aught appears to us, doth not proceed to such severity in the Instances belonging to this Argument. What becomes us to Observe from hence, is to lay restraints upon ourselves from such a consideration, That as we would not leave a Curse behind us upon our Posterity, so we should be Just and Faithful in all our Concernments. And again, That we should prevent any such Curse from falling upon ourselves, that we may be liable to from our Forefathers; especially where there is a manifest reason for a just suspicion at least. Which brings to 3. To consider what is to be done by way of relief and remedy, where this is the case known, or vehemently suspected to be. If the case be altogether secret or unknown, no Person is therein concerned, more than he is in such as are simply Sins of Ignorance; in which a general Confession and Repentance is sufficient. But in a case known, or much suspected, other measures are to be taken. And the first thing here to be proposed, is, That Posterity be very careful to avoid those Sins, which they know, or may conceive, their Progenitors to have been guilty of; because else they may be accountable, not only for those Sins which are properly theirs, but for those of others so far as that Gild loses not by a progression, Gen. 15. 16. Rev. 14. 15. but every Age Contributes their share; till (as it was with the Amorites) their iniquity be full, and they become ripe for excision and destruction (as has been before said). And the next thing is, that they show their aversion to them by some particular and special marks and significations of it. I acknowledge that there are some cases so extreme, that such a remedy may come too late; and there are some reasons why Almighty God will not altogether pass by the tokens of a high displeasure. So it was with David, though a true Penitent. And 2 Sam. 12▪ 10, 14. so it was with the Israelites, whom neither the Religion and Conduct of an Excellent Prince, 2 Kings 23. 25. Josiah; nor even the Intercession of such Pious Persons Jerem. 15. 1. Ezek. 14. 14. as Noah, Job, and Moses, etc. could have saved. But let the case be what it will, as we know not how far the Mercy of God may extend, and Jonah 3. 9 who can tell if God will turn and repent, as the Ninevites rightly argued; so if it be otherwise determined, that God will not spare nor forgive as to Temporal Punishment; yet such Persons, and such a People, have done all that is possible for them to do, and must submit the whole to the secret Judgement of God. From the whole we may be able to judge of the Case before us this day. The Crime was indeed Public and Notorious, but I am not willing to call it National; for a National Act implies a National Consent, and a National Consent is by a Universal Voice of the Community of all degrees, or by their proper Representatives. But the Contrivers and Executors of this Bloody Design, were far from being in such a Capacity, being no more truly the Representatives of the People, than Pirates and Robbers, that for a season obtain so strong a Force as is not to be opposed. All that can be said is, That too great a part of the Nation might have been guilty of such things as gradually and insensibly led to it, and contrary to whatever they forethought, ended in it; or at least our other crying sins (as the Office for the Day signifies) might have provoked Almighty God to suffer it so to be. This may render it a suspected case, and what may be a reason sufficient for a National Humiliation; as it was of Job's Sacrifice, it may Job 1. 5. be, saith he, that my sons have sinned, in their Festival Entertainments. And accordingly we have the proper course taken by the Nation and their Representatives (as soon as it was in its own power) to prevent any further Punishment, and that was to disclaim it before God and Men, and to show their Resentment of it by the most public Declaration, and their Establishing an Anniversary Day of Fasting and Humiliation, that whatever Gild might lie upon the Nation, by that means, might be averted. And we have good reason to hope this course has not failed of success, and that God has had, and will have a Favour for us, and be Merciful to us, by the many Testimonies he has given us of it in our frequent Deliverance, in a wonderful manner, from those Dangers which threatened us, and we were encompassed with, wherein he has done right to his Providence, and showed that there is nothing too hard for him to do. What remains, but that this should be a warning to all, that they be cautious how far they engage in any Design against the Public Peace and Welfare of a Nation; that they press not too near upon the fences of Government, lest by some violent motion they be transported beyond the conduct of their own Reason and Duty. For as no Man is safe in his own custody without the Divine Aid; so neither is he in his own custody if he is not watchful over himself. And when he is neither in his own keeping, nor in that of Divine Providence (as He is not that ventures beyond the bounds of his Duty) who can tell how far he will go, or what the event may be? But however, let Men be as bad as they will, and want neither boldness to undertake a bad Design, even that of Assassinating Princes, nor others to instigate them; let Princes be fearless of Danger (as David was, 2 Sam. 21. 16.) and be never so liable to it; yet He that is higher Eccles. 5. 8. than the highest regardeth, and there be higher than they, that will Protect them. It is that Divine Providence, that not only sits at the Helm, and steers all Public Counsels and Affairs, but also watcheth over the Persons and Lives of the greatest Monarches (who stand in as much need of such an Invisible Guard, as we of their Protection). And what therefore, as it becomes the greatest to Acknowledge, and to Implore the Protection of for themselves, so what it becomes all that are Lovers of their Prince, their Country, and their own Interest to join in, according to the Apostle's direction, I exhort, that first of all (in a more especial manner) supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks, be made for all men: for kings, and all that are in authority; that we may lead, etc. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, 1 Tim. 2. 1. FINIS.