AN Assize-Sermon Preached in the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH OF St. PETER in YORK. March the 8th. 1685/6. Before the Right Honourable Sir EDWARD NEVIL AND Sir HENRY BEDINGFIELD His Majesty's Justices of Assize FOR THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT.  
By CHRISTOPHER WYVILL, Fellow of Trinity College in Cambridge, and Chaplain to His Grace the DUKE of ORMOND.  
LONDON, Printed for Walter Kettilby, at the Bishop's-Head in S. Paul's Churchyard, 1686.   

To the Right Worshipful CHRISTOPHER TANCKRED, Esq; High Sheriff of the County OF YORK.  
Dear Sir,  
YOU Having laid upon me a necessity of publishing This Sermon, I have at last complied therewith, though I cannot conceive what could induce You to have been so earnest with me in This particular, unless it were the design of its composure; which being to persuade men to be true and obedient to the established Government, it might upon That account the more easily meet with a favourable acceptance from You, whose constant Loyalty to the Crown, and unshaken steadfastness to the Church of England, have gained You not only the love and esteem of all good men, but the particular Favour of Your Royal Master, His Most Sacred Majesty; of which He hath given the World a sufficient instance, by continuing You High Sheriff of so large a County this Second Year, an Honour granted to few, and an Office which none can execute better.  
That God Almighty may be graciously pleased to bless You, so as that You may still do Him and the King more Service, is the Hearty Prayer of  
Your most Affectionate Uncle, and Humble Servant, CHRIS. WYVILL.   

IMPRIMATUR.  
Apr. 19 1686. Ex Aedibus Lambeth. Io. Battely, Reverendissimo Patri ac D no D no Wilhelmo Archiep. Cantuar. à Sacris Domesticis.   
JUDGES xvii. 6. In those days there was no King in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 
WE have in this Chapter, and in the rest that follow, to the end of this book, the history of what befell the Children of Israel immediately after the death of Joshua, and of the Elders that were contemporary with him: wherein we meet with several irregularities and disorders that were then brought in amongst them; with a great corruption in their Religion, instanced in the Idolatry of Micah, and afterwards set up and established by the Tribe of Dan, which occasioned a large Division and Schism of a long continuance; with a general depravation of their manners, exemplified in the prodigious lust of the Gibeonites, where we have their sin of a monstrous nature in forcing the Levites Concubine to death, and the punishment ensuing thereupon, inflicted by the rest of Israel, even to the cutting off of almost the whole Tribe of Benjamin: The cause of all which the Holy Ghost hath no less than four times set down to be their want of a King: for in those days there was no King 
Jud●. 7. 6. 18. 1. 19 1. 21. 25.  in Israel, no supreme Ruler that had the management of public affairs, no Chief Governor to keep the People in mind of their duty, no settled Magistrate to take cognizance of evil doers, and to put the Laws in execution against Offenders, or to confer rewards upon them that did well: for Joshua was dead, in whole days we are told they 
Josh. 24. 31.  forsook the Lord; and the Elders were dead, that had known all the works of the Lord that he had done for Israel, and by their countenance and Authority upheld things in a good posture; and the Government under the extraordinary power of particular Judges was not as yet erected. There being therefore no public Person that had the s●le power over the whole Community, than it was that every man did that which was right in his own eyes; by which manner of speech may be understood whatsoever disorder in the worship of God, whatsoever misdemeanour in common conversation a rude multitude without an Head to guide and govern them, might be guilty of whatsoever distraction and confusion either in Church or State, a Nation not having a lawful Governor to support and protect it may be liable unto.  
And thus much being premised by way of Introduction to the Text, from the words thus explained, I shall propound to your consideration, and through God's assistance endeavour to press home to all our Consciences three things;  

I. The Benefits of Government.  
II. The Happiness of a Nation that hath a King.  
III. The Practical influence arising from both.   
I. In prosecution of the first of these, I shall not trouble either you or myself, by comparing one sort of Government with another, or giving my opinion, which ought to have the pre-eminence. I speak to those that have the happiness to live under the Government of a King; and shall therefore take it for granted that it is the best: and in speaking upon such a Government, I shall have respect chiefly to This, under which we live.  
It was for want of Government among the Children of Israel, that things went so ill amongst them, that every man did that which was right in his own eyes: If they had had a King, Government would have been preserved; That Government would have kept the state of affairs in a good condition, and prevented the mischiefs and evils that might arise from every man's doing what was right in his own eyes.  
Now the benefits of Government may be considered in reference, First▪  
(1st.) To every particular private Man, who in a well constituted Kingdom, settled upon good Laws, and administered by lawful Magistrates, may receive great advantages▪ He may keep what is his own with quietness and immunity, without disturbance or distraction: He may reap the benefit of his own labours, eat the fruits of his 
two. Kings 18. 31.  own Vine, and of his own Figtree, and drink the Waters of his own Cistern in happiness and peace: He may serve and worship God in public, according to the will of God (which is the greatest privilege a Man can have upon Earth) with security and cheerfulness. Liberty and property (which are so much in every Man's mouth, the desire of every Man's heart, things in themselves most excellent and useful,) he may in great measure enjoy, provided that he keeps himself within the compass of the Laws, which are the great conservatives of them both: If his Goods be invaded by violence and oppression, if his good Name be called into question, his Reputation injured by evil reports, or his Life in danger through malicious suggestions and false accusations; in such cases, he hath the Government on his side to protect him, to clear him, to do him right and justice. What the Town-Clerk of Ephesus said in the Acts of the Apostles concerning 
Act. 19 38.  That City, may as well be said of every good Government, if Demetrius and the Craftsmen that are with him have a matter against any man, the Law is open, and there are Deputies, let them implead one another. It is free for every Man to sue for what is his own, to seek redress of injuries received, and to urge what he can in his own defence. Every Man may have a fair Trial, by his own Countrymen, in a due course of Law, and by upright Judges. It may indeed so happen, that an innocent Man may suffer; But that is not the fault of the Government, but of the Witnesses that appear against him, according to whose evident proof and positive Oaths the Law determines and proceeds to judgement. But as far as humane Laws and Constitutions are capable of doing, there may be in every well settled Government (in This, God be praised, there is) good provision taken for the security of every Man's Person, and of whatsoever doth rightfully belong unto him. There is no Man whatsoever, though never so private and obscure, though at never so great a distance from the Royal Court and Residence of his King, but may feel the happy effects and comfortable influence of his reign: for the Rays of Majesty, like the beams of the Sun, do reach unto every corner of the Realm, and communicate warmth and life, refreshment and health to the very meanest Subject: and if a Man cannot make immediate application to the King himself, he may to his subordinate Officers, who act in his Name and by his Commission, from whose Hands he may receive the administration of Justice, and by them be secured in the full possession of what may truly and properly be called his own.  
(2dly.) The benefits of Government may be considered in reference to the whole Community or complex Body of the People in general, every Order and Society of Men being hugely advantaged thereby: The Nobility may enjoy the Honours derived to them from their Ancestors, or acquired by their own Merits, or conferr'd on them by the favour of their Prince, if not unenvied, yet undisturbed and undegraded; the just Revenues of their large Inheritance are secured from being leveled by those that would have all things common, and they may expect to receive all that respect and deference which is by God's permission allowed to their Station. The Gentry may, according to their Quality, be as happy as the Nobles; and the Commons need not fear being oppressed or trampled under foot by either: The Rich are in no danger of being over▪ run by the Poor, though they be far more numerous; nor the Poor of being enslaved and depressed by the Rich, though in Wealth they exceed them much.  
Public commerce and traffic is also promoted, and a mutual: correspondence amongst▪ Men settled and maintained by Government; which doth much advance the prosperity of a Nation, and without which it cannot thrive and flourish: and whilst there are rewards and punishments to be by Governors distributed according to the merits and deserts of Men good Men will thereby be encouraged to proceed in Virtue, and those that are ill inclined will be deterred from doing the mischiefs they otherwise would.  
It is not indeed in the power of Government to make Men good when they are not so, (for that can only be done by the Grace of God's Holy Spirit converting their Hearts, changing their natures, and perfectly renewing them in the spirit of their mind;) but it may terrify them from breaking forth into outrageous practices, it may restrain them from doing much harm, it may inflict just Penalties upon them for what they shall do amiss, and by making them a public example, be a great means of hindering others from attempting the like: for, Rulers are a terror to evil works, and they bear not the Sword 
Rom. 13. 3, 4.  in vain, for they are the Ministers of God for our good, revengers to execute wrath upon them that do evil: And the due execution of the Laws upon such Offenders is a great excitement to Virtue and Piety, which cannot well be more discouraged than when Vice goes unpunished.  
Religion will then be most likely to take good footing in the Land, when it is countenanced by those in Authority; when the Professors of it are encouraged by them; when those that oppugn it are put to shame and rebuke: and the Church cannot but remain in a good condition, when the Rites and Ceremonies of it are by the Government upheld, when its privileges are maintained, when the enemies to it are put down, and kept under.  
And then as for the public Peace of a Nation, (without which the condition both of Church and State would be desperately miserable) where Government is preserved, that is sufficiently taken care for. For in case of Seditious Tumults, or the open Rebellion of ill Subjects, there are those who are authorised to oppose them, enabled with power to suppress them, directed how to proceed against them, and to make them quiet and peaceable: and though there may be some that are given to change, that in their hearts wish for an alteration of affairs, and would willingly be in action to the disturbance of common tranquillity, yet through fear of being discovered and subdued, and brought to condign punishment, by the vigilance and care and justice of the Government, they are prevented from endeavouring to commit what their Traitorous hearts do suggest to them: The very Dread of Authority keeps them in awe and subjection, and makes them (contrary to their own inclinations) appear as friends to That Government, which had they power, they would totally ruin and subvert.  
And then, in case of enemies from abroad, a Nation need not be in much fear of them, whilst the Government is kept entire at home, under the protection of which the whole Body of the People may be safe, it being a good guard and defence unto them, sufficient care being by it taken to shelter them from suffering under a sudden Invasion, or receiving much damage by any outward act of Hostility.  
(3dly.) The benefits of Government may be considered, in reference to the inconveniencies and miseries that will certainly follow upon the want of it.  
God, who made the World, and gave unto Man a being in it, did not only design that he should live, but that he should live well and happily. To which end, he did ordain that there should be some to govern, and some to be governed; and gave a power to the chief Magistrates to guide, correct and rule the People committed to their charge; to punish Offenders according to Law; to protect the innocent according to right; to reward the good according as they shall deserve; and to encourage virtue, and deter Men from vice, and to defend them all against the face of their enemies. But if this Ordinance of God (which he so wisely designed for public good) be not upheld, there can then be no quiet and good living: Take away the good Government of a Place, and then how can we look for tranquillity and peace? what can we otherwise expect, but that great disorder, sad confusion and innumerable Calamities will thereupon inevitably ensue? the weak will then become a prey to the strong, and the good run down by the greater number of the wicked: no cause will then be esteemed good, but what shall have the most voices to vouch for it, or can best be maintained by strength and force: the strongest party will account themselves the only godly, though they act like Devils; and the longest Sword shall decide matters of the greatest controversy: Justice and upright dealing will then be put to silence; and violence and oppression bear the only sway.  
It hath been said of old, that Man is a sociable Creature, which in a civilised State may hold good; But what Society can there be in an ungoverned Rout, where no order, no decency, no civility is observed?  
Liberty is that which every Man desires to have; but that can no where be found but where government is: unless perhaps we shall do violence to our very reason, and account it a liberty to be tyrannised over by the scum and dregs of the People, to be enslaved by the Members of our own Body, and to have our life exposed to the mercy of any that will but take the pains to deprive us of it, unless it be also a liberty to have the gap opened to licentiousness, that we may be permitted to commit iniquity with greediness, and to be allowed the favour of sinning with impunity here, that we may the more surely perish hereafter. This indeed is the liberty that a Nation wherein there is no Government doth allow of, than which certainly nothing can be a greater slavery.  
And then as for Property; in such a Nation where there is no well ordered Government, Property cannot well find any settlement: For no man shall any longer quietly enjoy the Possession of what is his own, than whilst it is the pleasure of another to leave it to him. Secret theft and open robbery, fraudulent dealings, and violent extortions will then be predominant; and which is worst of all, there can no redress be had for such grievances, no justice obtained against such Malefactors, no Magistrate to fly to for help and succour.  
Which things I speak not, as if I thought such barbarity were essential to humane nature, or that all Men naturally are so ill inclined: But we find by experience that some Men are so intolerably bad, so prodigiously unreasonable, that (without an overruling power to restrain and keep them in) 'twill hardly be possible for others, that are not of the like disposition, to live peaceably amongst them. There are some Men even in the best constituted Government, whom the Laws, though in their full force and power, can have no good influence upon, whom no example of Punishment, no fear of Justice, no dread of Authority can withhold from breaking forth into what their wild lusts and vile passions shall prompt them to. Now what will not such Men do, when there is no restraint upon them, none to execute the Laws against them, none that may justly call them to an account for what they do? the Floodgates to irreligion and impiety will then be set wide open, and they may do without control whatsoever shall seem right in their own eyes: This was the case of the Israelites in those days, when they had no King; for they gave themselves over to all profaneness and debauchery, they corrupted themselves more than their 
Judg. 2. 19  Fathers in following other Gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. Religion must needs decay and fall, when Government the Stay and Support of it is thrown down; impiety cannot but be exceedingly outrageous, when Magistracy, the terror and curb to it, is laid aside.  
Besides, a Nation without Government cannot in any probability long subsist, but will be exposed to the rapine and spoil of its neighbouring Inhabitants: An example of which we may find in the 18th. Chapter of this Book of Judges, where we read, that when the People of Laish dwelled careless after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure, when there was no Magistrate in the Land to put them to shame in any thing, than it was that the Danites smote them with the edge of the Sword, and burned the City with fire; and the reason was, because there was no deliverer, ver. 28. Their enemies took from thence an encouragement to set upon them, and thereby had a good opportunity of bringing them to utter destruction. So true indeed it is, that when Government is unhinged, than both Church and State are in the greatest danger of ruin and desolation.  
Such, and so great are the miseries and calamities and confusions, that an ungoverned Nation may be liable unto: And from these considerations, we cannot but discern how necessary Government is, how much it tends to every particular Man's welfare, how much the public benefit and good of a People doth depend upon it.  
II. I shall now in the Second place propound to your Consideration, from the words of my Text, the Happiness of a Nation that hath a King, upon whose shoulders the whole Government doth rest, in whose hands is the sole administration of public Affairs, from whom only all inferior Magistrates derive the power by which they act.  
(1.) And first, we may consider that Kingly or Monarchical Government is the Institution and Ordinance of God, who not only hath taught us in his Holy Word, that he is the Author of it, but did himself also guide and govern his own People the Children of Israel in this very way. For the Patriarches, and Moses, and Joshua, and the several Judges, (although they had not the Solemnity of Regal unction) yet each of them had a Regal power, and governed the People under them as Monarches: And at That very time when the Elders of Israel demanded of Samuel a King, (not by nomination or deputation, as they had formerly had, but by ordinary succession, after the manner of other Nations,) they were indeed reproved, not because it was contrary to the will of God, that they should have a King, but because their demand was rash and unseasonable; rash, without ask counsel of God about it; unseasonable, without staying till God should think fit to grant them such a King. And further, they discovered their ingratitude and disobedience to God by such a demand, who in▪ and by his Viceroy Samuel at That time reigned over them. However, there is no mention made in Scripture of any other form of Government allowed of, or confirmed by God's appointment, but This. And we cannot but plainly perceive a great part of his divine Image, a glorious Ray of his Majesty illustriously shining in it, in that so many Thousands of People should submit themselves to the Supreme Power and Dominion of One man, and freely consent to be subdued and governed by him, which thing could never be, were not the hand of God providentially concerned in it. Wherefore, if it be a blessing to enjoy what God doth give, and is the Author of, we must then conclude that the having of a King is one part of a Nations happiness, forasmuch as it is established by God's appointment, confirmed by his example, and supported by his Providence.  
(2.) And that This blessing, This happiness of having a King may further appear, we may consider that there is a near Relation betwixt a King and his People; for he is not only the Political Father of them, (nourishing them, protecting them, abundantly providing for their welfare, and carefully tending them, as a natural Father doth his own Children) but he is even the very Breath of their nostrils, the Soul that actuates and enlivens the whole body of the Commonwealth, the Spring and Principle of motion, by which his Subjects do, as it were, breath and live, without which they would be but as a dead and breathless Carcase. There is a close connexion betwixt him and them, insomuch that his life, his welfare and prosperity is of great concern to them all. From Him we enjoy many benefits, to Him we are obliged next under God, for divers great comforts and conveniences of life, in consideration of which that character which the Word of God hath given him of the Breath of our Nostrils, may hold good.  
For from Him we have the administration of public Justice distributed throughout the Land, and brought home to our very Doors. 'Tis He who deputes his Ministers (wise, grave, and pious Men) and sends them abroad to see, that they who suffer wrong have right done them. Insomuch that in every Court of Judicature we may imagine that we behold the King Himself (forasmuch as that we see His Representative) sitting before us, speaking unto us, and giving us the explanation and sense of his own Laws. Without him the good and wholesome Laws of the Land (by which our lives, our fortunes, our Privileges, our Religion are secured) would be of no use to us. 'Tis He who gives life unto them, that puts them in force, that orders his Officers to see them duly executed and observed; which if He should not do, they would signify but little, could not in truth avail us any thing.  
To Him we are indebted for the discouragement of wickedness and correction of Vice; for 
Prov. 20. 8.  a King that sitteth in the Throne of Judgement (as every King doth, either in his own Person, or representatively by his Deputy) scattereth away all evil with his eyes; and, a wise King scattereth the 
Prov. 20. 26.  wicked and bringeth the wheel over them.  
To Him we stand engaged for the benefit of Order and Peace, for the preservation of our just rights, for the great advantages of that comfortable Society we enjoy with each other.  
Upon Him depends the stability and welfare of the State, He sustaining the Government of it, He hearing up the Pillars of it; He effecting its Prosperity; promoting its Trade; advancing its Wealth; preserving its tranquillity: He by his care and vigilance protecting it from ruin by intestine broils; by his Arms and Forces vindicating its Honour from received affronts; by his management and conduct, guarding its safety from the injuries and wrongs of our foreign foes. So truly may that compliment of Tertullus to Felix the Governor, in the Acts of the Apostles, be applied to the King, seeing that by Thee we enjoy great quietness, 
Act. 24. 2, 3.  and that very worthy deeds are done unto this Nation by thy Providence, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix with all thankfulness.  
Upon Him especially, and upon his prosperity doth the safety and well-being of the Church deend. It hath been an old, but true saying. No King, no Bishop: Take away the King, and you go the ready way to ruin the Church. They mutually support and sustain each other, they consequently must stand and fall together. Besides, if the King's Affairs do not thrive and prosper, neither can the Affairs of the Church: if his Arms be not victorious, if his Empire be disturbed, His State disordered, and His Throne but once shaken or weakened, the Church cannot but at the same time be in distress, and partake of the shock. We are therefore commanded to pray for Kings, that in the peace and quietness of their Reign we may live in all godliness and honesty. Without public 
1 Tim. 2. 2.  peace and quietness, godliness and honesty (the promoting of which is the great business and design of the Church) cannot well be upheld, and without the King public peace and quietness cannot be had. It was a peculiar blessing promised by God to his Church, that Kings should be the nursing Fathers, and their Queens the nursing Mothers of it. The good effect of which most gracious promise, we of this Church do at this day find, God having set over us a King, through whose indulgence our Church is nourished and supported.  
Now upon these accounts all Sovereign Kings and Princes may be very properly styled (as our Saviour hath called them) Benefactors, for 
Luke 22. 25.  so they really are in an eminent degree; a good King without controversy is so, doing good and seeking the good of his People, and speaking peace to all the Land; and even a bad King may in like manner be called a Benefactor, for that even under Him, Order and Government is upheld; and though it sometimes happen, that under a bad King, good Men may suffer, yet so do the bad too, so that they cannot do the villainies they otherwise most gladly would.  
For these Reasons all Kings are (as in Scripture language they are said to be) the Light and the Horn, the Stay and the Staff of their Subjects; and for these Considerations every King is the breath of their People's nostrils; so close a connexion, so near a Relation is there betwixt Him and them. Whence we may undeniably conclude, that a Nations having of a King must needs be a considerable Happiness, a very great Blessing to it.  
(3.) For the farther confirmation of which, we may add, that God Almighty (for the security of a Nations happiness in the enjoyment of their King) hath by many good Laws provided for the preservation of his Person from harm and violence, making it sinful and damnable for any of his Subjects to resist him, or to lift up an hand with a design to hurt him, or so much as but to speak or think any evil against him.  
And again, for the punishment of a wicked People, God oftentimes taketh away their King from them, depriving them thereby of the blessings they enjoyed by him, suffering Him for their great affliction to fall into sad misfortunes, as was the case of King Josiah of old, and of late the Royal Father of our present Sovereign. And how great an infelicity, how dreadful a judgement it is for a Nation to have its King violently cut off, and to be deprived of its Kingly Government, yourselves, the Kingdom, the whole World doth sadly know.  
There are doubtless many at this time living, and some perhaps in this very Congregation, that cannot but remember what this Nation suffered, when its Kingly Government was destroyed. For, in those days barbarous and cruel Men glutted themselves with the slaughter of their Neighbours, and still went on, insatiably thirsting after more Blood, common Blood, Noble Blood, Royal Blood. In those days, the Loyal Gentry were plundered, sequestered, imprisoned, and banished by their own Fellow-subjects; In those days, the refuse and base sort of the Multitude enriched themselves with the spoils of Nobles, and took possession of their Estates. In those days, the common People were enslaved, and ridden on by those that unjustly took upon them to be Lords over them. In those days, unlawful Oaths and Covenants were obtruded by those that had no lawful power to impose them. In those days it was, when the Privileges of Parliaments, the Rights of the People, the Intentions of the Laws were no otherwise preserved, than by the breach and violation of them; when the whole Land was miserably squeezed and taxed, without any just Authority; when the true face of a Church was disfigured, and a medley of Sects tolerated in the room of it; when Religion was made a covert for the blackest crimes, and the most horrid Murder, that ever the Sun beheld, approved of, applauded, and defended for the most pious Act. In those days it was when the Orthodox Clergy were turned out of their Livings, and the Houses of God could no longer be Sanctuaries unto them; when the Common-Prayer-Book (the surest means of Uniformity in the Public Worship of God) was exploded, and Men left at liberty to pray by the Spirit, that knew not what manner of Spirit they were of. In those days Sacrilege was accounted no Sin, Killing no Murder, Extortion no Robbery, nor any injustice to those that were vilified by the Name of Malignants esteemed unlawful. And what was the cause (I beseech you) of all these things, but that the Crown of our Head was fallen, but that the Light 
Lament. 5. 16. 2 Sam. 21. 17.  of the Nation was quenched, but that the breath of our Nostrils was intercepted, but that the Anointed 
Lament. 4. 20.  of the Lord was taken in the Pits of bloody Men? for when (I cannot well say we had no King, for the King of England in a Political sense never dies, the next in blood immediately succeeding, as soon as ever the breath is out of the body of the other; but when) one King was Murdered, and another Banished, than it was that these Barbarities were perpetrated▪ those were the days wherein every man did that which was right in his own eyes; and from that cause arose such deformity in the Church, and such disorder in the State. Nor could affairs be brought into any good posture till the Kingdom after it had been tossed and turned, and changed into several shapes and figures, was, through God's great Mercy and great Providence, reduced again into its ancient form of Kingly Government; till God was gracious unto our Land, and turned again 
Psal. 126. 1.  the captivity of his People; till the King and the whole Royal Family, and with them all our happiness were restored together. Then was our mouth 
Psal. 126. 2.  filled with laughter, and our tongue with joy; then mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other; truth did then flourish out of the Land, and righteousness looked down from Heaven; Light did then spring out of Darkness, and the course of things turned into their right Channel, in which may they successfully continue, till time shall be no more!  
May we never again be so unhappy, as to see such gloomy days as those were, wherein we had no King amongst us! may all those Republican Spirits be laid and charmed to perpetual silence, that would Hurry us again into our former thraldom! May the enemies of our Peace be for ever as much defeated in their desires, as they have been in their designs since Monarchy was restored to us! May there never want one of the Royal Progeny to sway the Sceptre of these Kingdoms in a Lineal course of descent, so long as the World shall stand! in which most hearty wishes, I am sure to have you, my Noble Lords and Gentlemen, and all true lovers of the prosperity of their Country to join with me.  
III. Having thus done with the two first things proposed to be discoursed upon, I shall now proceed in the Third and last place, to make Application, by propounding to you the Practical influence arising from both.  
(1.) And first; we cannot but conceive from what hath been hitherto said, that it becomes our duty to bless Almighty God for these happy days wherein we live, for that we are not involved in Anarchy and Confusion, but that we live through His gracious mercy and good appointment under an happy Government; wherein, as there is no dispensation for Men to live at random, no encouragement allowed of, for every man to do what is right in his own eyes: so there is the greatest excitement afforded to virtue and goodness; a Government, under which we may enjoy as much freedom and liberty, as reasonable Men can desire to have; wherein we are not burdened with any unjust, unreasonable, or intolerable Impositions; wherein things are carried fairly and moderately, without Tyrannical or Arbitrary proceedings; and wherein we have the establishment of such Laws, as may be hugely beneficial and advantageous to us all. For that also we are under the Government of a King, not in a popular State or Commonwealth, wherein many Lords would have the rule over us, but that we are governed by a King, whom experience hath made wise, whom sharp Trials and great Persecutions have enured to business; a King, who is the Son of Nobles, deriving his descent through a long Succession of many Royal Ancestors, upon which account we may expect a blessedness will attend our Land; for blessed (saith Solomon) art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of Nobles; a King endowed with a Noble and Heroic mind, free from base and sordid inclinations, and that hath professed himself averse to all exorbitances and debauchery, and will not therefore (we may be sure) countenance it in his Subjects; a King, under whose 
Lament. 4. 20.  shadow, as we do already enjoy great Privileges, (the freedom of our Religion, the protection of our Church, the Security of the State as now by Law established,) so we may depend upon his Royal promise (who is the greatest Example of justness and constancy to his word) for the long continuance of them; within such a Government, under such a King we may and do enjoy great happiness. Which things being duly considered, we cannot but think it our first duty to return to God the tribute of our humble and hearty praises, who is the Author not only of our being, but of our being happy. We cannot but take notice, that it is mentioned in Scripture as a special mark of God's love and delight in the prosperity of a People, when he gives them a wise and a good King to reign over them▪ in consideration of which it was, that the Queen of Sheba pronounced the Subjects of King Solomon happy, Happy (saith she) are thy men, happy are these thy Servants which stand continually before 
1 Kings 10. 8, 9  thee and hear thy wisdom: and blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee on the Throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee King to do judgement and justice: And if we should not be sensible of such love of God towards us, if we should not bless the Lord our God for thus providing for our good, the Queen of Sheba will rise up in judgement against us.  
(2.) We are in the next place obliged in point of gratitude, to give the King thanks for his care over us, for his kindness to us, and for that justice we receive from Him: which, because we cannot perform immediately to himself, we should therefore do it to his Deputies, the Magistrates, he sends amongst us, by expressing all that Honour and reverence in our behaviour towards them, which their Age, their Gravity, their Prudence, and the Consideration of their Royal Master whom they represent may demand from us; which being actually done to them, doth virtually redound to him.  
(3.) Lastly, being it hath pleased Almighty God to make us happy under a Monarchical Government, it becomes our duty not only to love it, to value it, and to be obedient unto it; but to endeavour what may be for the support, for the defence, for the flourishing condition of it; and so to behave ourselves in our lives and conversations, as that the King may be happy in his Subjects, and they in him; to which end give me leave to propose to you the Observation of these following Rules:  
1. Let us quietly and contentedly suffer the King to enjoy his just and full Prerogatives, which either the Word of God, or the Laws of the Land do allow him to have; the diminishing of which cost his Royal Father his Life, and brought a Deluge of Miseries upon this Nation. Unreasonable and bold Men took away his Militia, and then fought Him with it; they wrung the Sword out of his Hand, and then made it keen against His Sacred Person; they extorted from Him several of His just Rights, till by degrees when they had left Him nothing else to grant, they took off— His Head. Wherefore let our former sad experience teach us now to be sober and wise, and so to rest satisfied: with our own Privileges, as not to entrench and encroach upon those of the King, the violation of whose Prerogatives (besides the unreasonableness, the injustice, the iniquity of it,) will in time tend to his and our destruction; He cannot be safe in his Throne without them, nor can we at the long run be advantaged by them.  
2. Let us permit the King to Reign and Rule the Kingdom without our intermeddling with it, He knows how to govern better than we can tell him, nor is it for Private men to pretend to instruct Him. God hath endowed Him with an understanding Heart, and a tenderly love and affection towards all His People. He hath the assistance of a wise and prudent Council, and all that we have to do, is to pray for a blessing upon their Consultations, and humbly to beseech that great God (in whose hands are the Hearts of Kings, who turneth them and fashioneth them as he pleaseth) to be ever with the King, and to direct and aid him so, as that He may do what may be for the true interest and good of his People. But for us, upon every occasion, to be interposing, to be advising, to be petitioning in a tumultuous way, contrary to a Statute in that case provided, contrary to the King's express command and declaration, is not only rude and pragmatical, and looks as if we had a mind to take the Government out of his hands, but may be also of very bad consequence. Such proceedings are oftentimes the fomenters of great heats and discontents, and usually prove the forerunners of great evils. Seldom do such clouds of disorderly actions appear, but presently a storm follows. 'Tis insufferable for the Multitude, whose duty it is to be governed, to concern themselves in public affairs, as if they were sharers in the Government itself. Let us leave the management of weighty matters to Him that sits at the Helm, and suffer the skilful Pilot to guide the Ship, according to his own discretion, that so through God's blessing, without springing a leak, or splitting on a Rock, it may safely arrive at the intended Port.  
3. Let us not entertain any ill suspicions of the King, much less foment those suspicions in the minds of others, as if he had some ill design against us, or would not be true to his trust, nor faithful to his promises▪ as if he had a mind to tyrannize over us, or (contrary to the protestations he hath given us) would destroy our Church, and set up a Religion contrary to that which is by Law established. For such suspicions as these were the beginning of the late unhappy troubles in the life time of his Father, and brought Him to an untimely death. Men began at first to fancy, that he would introduce Popery (a certain thing that some Men make use of, as a stalking-horse to Rebellion) and that he would Rule by an Arbitrary power; they would not trust him, nor rely upon his Sacred Word and Promise to them. And from This beginning they fell to action; from the raising of such suspicions, they raised an Army against Him, and caused such a Tempest in the Nation, as could not be laid, but with the ruin of the Government. Which things I cannot but again take notice of, that for the future we may beware of what was the moving cause of that unnatural Rebellion, and the subversion of the Monarchy.  
4. Let us not listen and give ear to any insinuation and pretence to Rebellion; for there can be no pretence to it, how fair and plausible soever it may seem to be. The Devil is the Author of it, Religion doth abhor it, and the end of it (without God's great mercy, upon which we must not presume) is utter damnation. The Primitive Christians, who lived under Heathen Emperors that persecuted them, and endeavoured to abolish their Religion, yet made it their choice rather to die and suffer the greatest torments, than but once to rebel, though they were numerous and strong enough to have done it, and might have alleged sufficient provocations (if any could have been sufficient) for it. From which example we may learn, that there can be no just grounds for any Man's rebelling against his lawful King.  
5. That we may become the better Subjects to the King; let us unchangeably and immovably adhere to the Church of England; the deserting of which Church (besides that there is no reason in the World for it, it being a true and sound part of the Catholic Church, is teaching all things necessary to Salvation, which either Christ or his Apostles taught, it retaining nothing, but what is Orthodox and Ancient; besides (I say) all this, the deserting of this Church,) may be very prejudicial to his Majesty's interest, it being the great stay and support of Monarchy, of which the King is so very sensible, that he relies much upon the Loyalty of those that are the true Sons of it, who can never be unfaithful to Him, so long as they are true to it; to descent from which Church, either on the one hand, or on the other, will be a lessening of the number of the King's fast friends. We cannot turn to the Church of Rome, without denying a part of the King's governing Power, that is, His Supremacy in all Causes, and over all Persons, within his own Dominions. We cannot sided with the fanatics, but we must hold Seditious Principles and Doctrines destructive of Government, such as are, Dominion is founded in Grace; the King is major singulis, but minór universis; the King may be resisted and deposed, if he doth not govern as the People would have him; the safety of the People is the Supreme Law, (which if taken in a good sense may be true, but otherwise is false and dangerous;) and many the like pernicious Opinions, which are to be found in Buchanan's jus regni apud Scotos, and Baxter's Holy Commonwealth, and in several of the Non-conformists Writings, all which the Church of England abhors and condemns. And therefore let not the specious insinuations of the one Party, nor the pretended zeal of the other, prevail with us, to forsake the best constituted Church, that is at this day in the whole Christian World; let it be seen to all the World, that we can be true at the same time, both to our Church and our King.  
6. And lastly, that God may be graciously inclined to bless the King and the King's Dominions, let us make it our business to lead religious and holy lives, without which we cannot expect, that either He or we shall prosper. Let us often consider these places of Scripture, and lay them seriously to our hearts; If ye will fear the Lord and 
1 Sam. 12. 14.  serve Him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and the King that reigneth over you, continue following the Lord your God, but if ye shall still do wickedly, 
1 Sam. 12. 25.  ye shall be consumed both ye and your King. And again, Righteousness exalteth a Nation, but sin is a 
Prov. 14. 34.  reproach to any People. Again, Take away the wicked 
Prov. 25. 5.  from before the King, and his Throne shall be established in righteousness. From all which places, and many others of the like nature, we may plainly see how much public evil a wicked conversation may be the cause of, how much public good a Godly life may promote.  
We are generally too apt to impute the ill success and miscarriage of things to the wrong measures of our Governors, to the ill management of the King, or the ill advice of his Councillors; little, in the mean time, considering how much the grievousness of our sins may be the cause of them, whereby God is provoked to take vengeance on us in that way, who oftentimes punisheth a wicked People, by withdrawing from their King the grace and conduct of his Holy Spirit, by blasting his good endeavours, by suffering him to incur great misery and trouble. What can we imagine was the cause that moved God to visit this Land with a long unnatural civil War, that provoked him to suffer so great a breach to arise betwixt the King and his People, till they had ruined themselves and their King by their own hands; what I say, can we think to have been the cause of it, but the crying sins of the Nation? so true is that saying of Saint James, Whence come 
Jam. 4. 1.  Wars and fightings amongst you? come they not hence, even of the lusts that war in your members? And may we not fear that that great impiety, that prodigious licentiousness, that vile profaneness, that horrid blasphemy, that scandalous neglect of God's public worship, which are great sins now too rife amongst us, may (if not timely repent and amended of) bring down upon us the like heavy judgements? how justly may that of Isaiah be laid to our charge; Ah sinful 
Isai. 1. 4.  Nation, a People laden with iniquity, a Seed of evil doers, Children that are corrupters, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to Anger, they have gone away backward? And is this the way to do the King service? Is this the means whereby to express our loyalty to him, and to obtain the blessing of God upon Him? No surely; if we love the King, and would have Him reign prosperously over us, we must then make a thorough reformation of our lives, and become good Christians, that we may be good Subjects. We can hardly do a greater disservice to the King, than by living unanswerably to the Rules of our holy Religion. They are the intemperate and the debauched Persons, the common horrid swearers, and the great neglecters of the public worship of God, that (let them boast never so much of their Loyalty) are the greatest enemies the King hath, forasmuch as through their sins God may be provoked to punish Him. Wherefore let us all begin to repent and amend our lives, and then we may hope that God will bless Him and us. Let us have the fear 
1 Pet. 2. 17.  of God before our eyes, and then we shall be the better enabled to Honour the King. Then we may reasonably expect that things will succeed well both in Church and State, when our conversation is, as it becometh the Gospel of Christ. Let us 
Philip. 1. 27. 1 Sam. 12. 24.  therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all our heart; for consider how great things God hath done for us.  
For a farther encouragement to all which, let us often reflect upon the Glories and Happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven, where all good Subjects, that have faithfully served God and the King, shall be rewarded with eternal felicity; where no Rebels, without severe and sincere repentance, shall ever come; where all good Kings for an earthly Diadem shall receive an immarcessible Crown of Glory, and be for ever happy in the beatific vision and fruition of the King of Kings; To which most glorious Kingdom, God of his infinite mercy bring our King, with all his Subjects, through the Merits of the King of Glory, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, be ascribed by you, and by me, and by all our Fellow-creatures, all Honour, Glory, and Power, both now and for evermore. Amen.  
FINIS.