The DIVINE ORIGINAL and the SUPREME DIGNITY OF KINGS, No defensative against Death.  
A SERMON, Preached the 22. February 1684 / 5 S. V. before the Right Worshipful the Fellowship of MERCHANTS ADVENTURERS of ENGLAND, resideing at DORT, upon occasion of the Decease of our late most Gracious sovereign CHARLES II. of ever Blessed memory.  
BY AUG. FREZER, Master of Arts of St. Edmunds Hall in Oxford, and Preacher to the said Society.  Eccles. 8. 4. Where the Word of a King is there is Power, and who may say unto him what dost thou? 
At ROTTERDAM, Printed by REINIER LEERS, and are to be Sold by NICHOLAS COX near Queens college OXON. MDCLXXXV.   

To the most ILLUSTRIOUS princess Her ROYAL HIGHNESSE mary, princess OF GREAT BRITAIN, AND ORANGE.  
MADAM,  
THe design of this Sermon being to possess the minds of his Majesties subjects, with such a just and aw full sense of the Divine Original, and Supreme Dignity of Kings as may keep them within the bounds of their Duty and Allegiance to their natural sovereign, Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE'S most Glorious Father now reigning, I have been encouraged to make it public: and since the glory of God, for which Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE has so great a Concern, and the service of the Crown, to which You are so nearly related, and which ought to be the study as it is the duty of every true Englishman, are the sole ends both of preaching and publishing it, I have taken the confidence in all humility to present it to Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE not out of any opinion of its worth, but as a testimony of my loyalty and dutiful affection to my Prince, and of that profound veneration which I have for those divine Excellencies, forthwith God hath abundantly enriched Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE, and which exact the utmost adoration that can be paid by one mortal to another, and whereby You are raised as much above others of an inferior quality in the highest exaltation of every virtue as You excel them in the High and Royal Dignity of Your Birth. This, MADAM, is the sense of all the world that have but so much as heard of Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE, and Your exemplary piety, and constant attendance upon the public worship of God, and humble demeanour at it, the regular and uninterrupted course of Your private Devotions, Your sincere affection to the Church of England; Your princely Charity and Liberality to the afflicted, Your great Humility, courtesy and Affability towards all, and what ever is admired by the best men, or can render a Person Excellent and illustrious in the eyes of the world, and which shine forth every day more and more in Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE with a greater lustre; all these blow that the world is not mistaken in the high opinion it has of Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE, and that all that can be said of Your virtues and Perfections will come far short of the truth: and those strangers who have only heard of them by common report, when they come to be never so little acquainted with the truth of things, will be as much confounded, as the Queen of Sheba was when she came her self and heard the wisdom of Solomon, and saw the glory of his Court, there will be no more spirit left in them.  
All these divine Graces and Dispositions of the soul together with all other both moral and intellectual Accomplishments, whether natural or acquired that are any where to be found among mankind, being united in Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE, and joined to the Beauties and Perfections of a body, fit for the Reception and Habitation of so heavenly a Guest, with a carriage and deportment compounded of Humility, goodness and majesty, do at once qualify Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE for the highest place in the Calendar of Saints, and to fill a Throne without any danger or diminution to the brightness of Your Innocence. That goodness which is so natural to all Your August Family, and of which Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE has so great a share forbids me to despair of Your HIGHNESSE'S pardon for this great presumption, or of Your favourable acceptance of this mean but sincerest Demonstration of my being,  
MADAM, Your ROYAL HIGHNESSE'S most humble and devoted Servant, A. FREZER.   

To the right Worshipful, the Fellowship of MERCHANTS ADVENTURERS of ENGLAND, In all the Places of their residence, and more particularly to that Part of it resideing at DORT.  
RIGHT WORSHIPFUL,  
THe usual apology which is made by those who are willing to appear in print, but would not be thought so; is either the importunity of Friends, or the commands of superiors. Nothing of all this was the cause of publishing this Sermon. I was neither importuned to it by Friends, nor commanded by superiors, nor was I desirous to be seen in print. But there were other more weighty reason which moved me to it. When I was spoke to, presently after it was preached, by a very worthy and loyal person, to let it be printed, I rejected the motion, as being conscious of the meanness and carelessness of the dress, and other defects which thô they might pass well enough in the delivery, yet were unfit to come abroad in the world. But when I considered the many virulent Libels that have been lately scattered abroad, and translated into several languages, that the poison might have more room to diffuse its malignity to the dishonour of God, the scandal of Christianity, the defamation of the best of Kings, to the stirring up of rebellion, and to the subversion of all Government, by men whose immoralities and offences against God, and whose Treasons against their Prince are of such a prodigious magnitude that they despair ever of obtaining pardon, either from the one or the other, and whose crimes of all sorts, they are persuaded themselves are so great already, that they cannot be safe, but by attempting greater; I thought I could not do a more acceptable piece of service, at this juncture of time, to God, my Prince, and my native Country, than by publishing a discourse, how mean soever, concerning the divine authority of Kings, the dignity and sacrednesse of their Persons, and the unconditional obedience due to them from their Subjects; which three points( upon which the safety of all Government depends) are so clearly proved and made so plain to every vulgar capacity, that none can have any reason to doubt of the truth and certainty of what is here asserted; and which I make no question, but will leave such an impression of duty and loyalty upon the minds of all unprejudiced persons, and who are not obstinately resolved to be deceived to their own destruction, as will help to confirm all true Christians and good Subjects in the honour and respect which they have for their Prince; and to recover it where it has been debauched, or corrupted by impious and anarchical Principles and Doctrines of men, who by their frequent resisting the truth and the convictions of their own consciences seem to be given over by God to strong delusions to believe a lye, and to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, and who( it is to be feared) have involved themselves in the sin against the Holy Ghost.  
There is only one thing more which I shall ad concerning the Original of Power, which is the first point that is handled in the ensuing discourse; that what ever right the People have in the choice of their own ruler, in an elective Kingdom, it can never be proved that they came justly by it, 
* Cum Valentinianus omnium suffragio eligeretur Imperator, & insignia Imperii sascepisset, vociferantibus, militibus, ut alteram sibi Imperii Consortem adjungeret: Vestri quidem, inquit, Arbiteii fuit, Commilitones, ut me Imperatorem vestrum eligeretis, said posiea quàm elegistis, id quod petitis, mei arbitrii est, non vestri. Et vos quidem tanquam subditos quiescere decet: me vero utpote Imperatorem, quid agendum sit spectare. Sozom. Hist. Eccles. lib. 6. cap. 6.  or that they can resume it into their own hands when ever they have once partend with it; but it is most certain they can pretend to no such right where the Crown is hereditary and derived by a long and regular succession for many Generations, and by immemorial prescription in any one family, which is the state of the English monarchy.  
Upon these considerations I have thought fit to publish this Sermon, and have prefixed your names before it, thereby to testify to the world your Eminent loyalty and Affection which you have always showed to your Prince, and to encourage others to follow your example: and to give some demonstration of my gratitude for the particular obligations I have to your society, which that it may at length be restored( by the favour and clemency of our most Gracious Prince,( whom God long preserve) to its ancient flourishing condition, and may for ever continue in the same to the Glory of God, the Honour of the King, the increase of Trade, and the Renown of the English Nation, is the Prayer of,  
RIGHT WORSHIPFUL, Your Worships most faithful Servant, AUG. FREZER.   

The DIVINE ORIGINAL and the SUPREME DIGNITY OF KINGS, No defensative against Death.  PSALM LXXXII. 6, 7, 8. I have said ye are Gods, and all of you children of the most High: But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes. Arise o God judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all Nations 
IF a sparrow which is sold for less than a farthing, or( which is of less consideration than a sparrow) if a hair of our heads falls not to the ground without the direction of our Heavenly Father, then certainly the death of Kings, who are not only the Image of God after a more excellent manner than other men, but Gods themselves, does not happen but by an extraordinary appointment, and without being attended with a train of unusual consequences in relation to the peace and welfare not only of their own Subjects, but of all the Nations that are round about them.  
To pull down and to exalt, to plant and to root up kingdoms, or to remove the Crown from one Head to another. as it is a Prerogative which God has assumed to Himself, so He never puts it in execution, but he gives some manifest tokens of his kindness or his Displeasure against a People. And therefore when ever such changes come to pass, the minds of men are filled,( as it were by a Divine and supernatural instinct) with different apprehensions of fear or hope, of joy or sorrow for the event, in proportion to the Benefits they have enjoyed, or the Evils they have suffered under the former Government, and which they are like to expect under that which succeeds. There was never any Prince so wicked or cruel but the miseries that have ensued upon his Death or Removal, either for the want of an heir, or by the exclusion of him to whom the Right of succession did belong, have given the Subjects abundant reason to lament his loss. But the death of a Just, a Wise, and a Merciful Prince is a loss that is not to be valued, and can never be sufficiently resented, and ought to be looked upon as an Argument that God is not very well pleased with that People who are more immediately concerned in it. The consideration whereof ought to humble them under the mighty hand of God for those sins which may have occasioned it, to see if by any means they may prevent the evils which they have reason to apprehended may be the effects of it.  
This seems to be the case at present of that Nation to which we belong. It has pleased God to deprive us of a King whose eminent Endowments gave him a just right to all those titles which are usually given either of course or out of compliment to other Princes. He might be truly styled, as he was indeed, the Father of his Country, and the Nursing Father of the Church amongst us, and( which was his ancient and peculiar title) the Defender of the true Faith, and the Protector of all those that were persecuted for it. Whose Clemency, Justice. Wisdom, and all other virtues and Qualifications necessary in a Prince, were sufficient to have procured him the love and veneration of the most savage and barbarous Nations, and which were justly admired by all those foreigners that ever had the happiness to converse with him, and who understood how to set a right value upon those Divine Perfections that shined most conspicuously in him, and which were not to be paralleled by any other Prince in the whole world, so that it might truly be said in relation to him, what † Hiram King of Tyre said of Solomon, 
2 Chron. 2: 11.  because the Lord loved his People, he made him King over them: and then the natural consequence that can be drawn from the loss of such a Prince will be this, that because God was angry with his people, therefore he hath taken him away from them: which is threatened by God, and is always verified either in the violent or immature death of all Princes in general, and much more in the death of a good Prince: for so Samuel 
1 Sam. 12: 25.  tells the People of Israel, that if they did wickedly they should not only be destroyed themselves, but God would destroy, and take away their King for their sakes. And the Breath of our nostrils, said the Prophet 
Lam. 4: 20.  jeremy, the Anointed of the Lord, is taken in their nets, or, as the Septuagint render it, is taken away for our sins. So that it is plain: God is many times provoakt to deprive a Nation of a good King for the wickedness of his People, who do not deserve any longer to enjoy the Benefits of his happy Government. And whether we have not deserved such a deprivation will not be hard to judge, if we reflect upon the time past, and consider how unthankfully we have abused our prosperity and all those blessings which the Nation has enjoyed ever since the happy Restoration of our late sovereign of blessed memory: and above all how his greatest and most unwearied endeavours to preserve the just Rights and Liberties of his Subjects, and to maintain the Religion by Law established have been aspersed with groundless jealousies and suspicions of Popery and arbitrary Government. And would it not be just with God to deprive us with our King of all those blessings, and of that Government which have been so shamefully abused and traduced by us. Certainly if things fall out otherwise, it is more than we deserve or can expect, especially when we consider the endeavours that have been used to exclude the lawful Heir, our present sovereign, from that Right to the Succession which God and Nature had given him; who is now seated in the Throne in spite of his and the kingdoms enemies, and who has it in his power( if his approved and his insuperable goodness and Generosity would give him leave) to resent and revenge the Wrongs that have been don him.  
All these considerations may be sufficient to let us see what reason we have to be affencted with a deep sense of our inestimable loss, and of our ingratitude and other sins which may have occasioned it, and likewise of our Duty for the time to come. When Saul was slain 
2 Sam. 1: 12, 18.  who was none of the best Princes, David and the men that were with him mourned and wept and fasted until even, and he composed a Lamentation over Saul, and commanded that the children of Israel should be taught it under the title of the Bow. And when King Josiah 
2 Chron. 35: 24.  was slain, who was a good Prince, it is said, All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah: and the Prophet jeremy lamented for him, and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an Ordinance for ever.  
Tears and sorrow and lamentation are a tribute which to the law of Nature, and the custom of all Nations seem to exact for the death of our Friends, and Relations, and benefactors, and then much more for the death of Kings, especially of good Kings, who are our civil Parents, and to whose protection under God, we owe our lives, liberties, and our well-being: and it can hardly be supposed that they can have any true affection for his present Majesty, who are unconcernd for the Death of our late sovereign, and who do not give some demonstrations of their grief by the usual and solemn expressions of it.  
We cannot better express the sense we have of our ingratitude for the blessings we enjoyed under the Government of the late King, than by showing ourselves more thankful and more dutiful in our carriage towards this; which that we may be the better enabled to do, is the principal design of the words that I have made choice of upon this occasion, which represent to us the high dignity, and yet mortal condition of Kings, and the duty of Subjects towards them, I have said ye are Gods, and all of you children of the most High: but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes. Arise o God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all Nations.  
In the words may be observed three general parts.  
I. Here is the character given to Kings by the Holy Ghost, I have said ye are Gods.  
II. Here is the frailty of their condition, that they are no more exempted from the laws of death and mortality then other men.  
III. Here is the duty of Subjects to their Princes in praying for them, implied in the last verse, Arise o God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all Nations.  
I. The first thing observable in the words, is the character given to Kings and other supreme Powers by the Holy Ghost which is that of Gods; which implies or denotes three things. 1. The Original. 2. The high Dignity and Sacrednesse of their Office. And 3. the Benefits of their Government.  
1. Kings are called Gods in respect of the Original of their Power, which is from God. This appears both from the express testimony of Scripture, and the account which is there given of the original of all Government, that it was immediately from God and Nature, and that for the form, it was Monarchical.  
I. It is plain from the express testimony of Scripture both of the Old and New Testament, that the Power of Kings is originally from God: By me Kings reign, saids God himself by the mouth of the wisest King, and Princes decree justice, Prov. 8: 15. And the Apostle St. Paul speaking of the higher Powers, and these Powers in those dayes were Kings or single Persons, saids, There is no Power but of God, and the Powers that are, are ordained of God, and to resist the Power is to resist the ordinance of God, Rom. 13: 1. Indeed the Apostle St. Peter seems to contradict this, when he calls the 
1 Pet. 2: 13.  Power of Magistrates a human ordinance, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake; but this 
〈◇〉, Non ideo dicitur humana, quod sit juris humani, aut homines hab. at authores, said quia principatus ab hominibus, & in homines exercetur. Sic virga hoins dicitur quâ homines castigat Deus, 2 Sam. 7: 14. & tentatio humana quâ eosdem tentat. Bocharti Epist. ad D. Morlaeum.  is to be understood only in respect of the Subject wherein this Power is lodged, which is man, because it is exercised by man, but not in respect of the original or the fountain of it, which is God only: and this will further appear.  
II. From the account which the Scripture gives of the original and first form of all Government which was that of Kings, and that it was from God. In the very beginning of the world, as soon as there were men in it, there was a power exercised by Fathers over their children, and an obedience and subjection due from children towards their Parents, and this power which Parents naturally had over their children extended to life and death; and was the same which the Magistrate now exerciseth over his Subjects, as appears by that law given to the Sons of Noah, Genes. 6: 9. Whose sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be  shed: which synecdochically includes all the other parts of the regal Power according to that of the Apostle, where he saids that the Magistrate beareth not the sword in vain. This power which was first confined to single families, and to the fathers of each family came by degrees afterwards to be enlarged over many families; and at last over Cities and whole Nations, either by the right of Primogeniture and inheritance, or as the head of each family pleased to dispose of his Dominions to one or more of his children, or for want of children to others, or by the immediate appointment of God: and in process of time by the right of conquest where the war was just; which are the only ways approved of by God whereby power or dominion over others has been preserved; or can be legally acquired in the world.  
After the Flood we know Noah was the Supreme Lord and governor of the whole World, which he divided among his three Sons, Sem, Ham and Japhet, and the posterity of each of these which must have been very numerous, while they themselves were living, seeing they lived several hundreds of years, were of necessity and by the law of nature subject to the heads of their families, and when these died they divided that part of the world which had been given them by their father among as many of their sons and grandsons as they thought fit; and these again did the like to their children; hence it came to pass that in the land of Canaan which was possessed by the posterity of Ham, thô it belonged by the right of inheritance to those of Sem, each City was governed by a particular Monarch, and the same was don in those other parts of the world, which remained to Sem and Japhet, when they died they divided their Dominions among as many of their children as they thought fit, allotting usually the greatest share with the Priesthood to the first born, except there was some extraordinary reason for doing otherwise, which was likewise preached by their successors: so that the people had nothing to say for many ages in the choice of their rulers, but they were to be content and to rest satisfied in those whom God and the right of Succession, or the will of the present governor had or should set over them: and when this order which had but established by God from the beginning, was broken and Subjects began to rebel against their Princes and superiors, then the confusions that followed made way for the introduceing of tyranny, and of all the several forms of Government, distinct from Monarchy, that there are in the world: there being hardly any Commonwealth now in being or ever was,( except where the Prince has part with his right, or where the Government has devolved upon the people for want of a successor) which has not been founded in rebellion and built upon the ruins of monarchy and therefore whatever power the people any where exercise under any form of Government( except in the cases above mentioned) in the designation and choice of their supreme Magistrate, has been acquired merely by violence and usurpation.  
And agreeable to the Scripture is the account which has been given by Heathen Writers of the first form of Government, which all unanimously agree to have been that of Kings. Omnes antiquae gentes Regibus quondam paruerunt, says Cicero: All nations of old times were subject to Kings, and so says Halicarnasseus of all the Cities of Grece, that they were anciently under Kings, and so say Justin, Tacitus and all that ever writ of the original of any people, and of their Government. Indeed 
a De leg. lib. 3. 1.  Cicero and 
b Lib. 1. in princip.  Justin pretend, and others have taken it upon their bare word, that this kind of Government owes its original to the people's choice: Quod genus Imperii( says Cicero) ad homines justissimos & sapientissimos deferebatur: that it was conferred upon those who were observed to be the most just and wise among the people: Et spectata inter bonos moderatio( says Justin) Reges ad hoc fastigium Majestatis provehebat, an approved moderation and discretion was that which raised Kings to their height of Majesty. But this a more supposition without any manner of proof, nor is it capable of any unless it be borrowed from Ovids Metamorphosis, and that it can be proved there has ever been a people who have had no Parents, but either sprung out of the ground, like those who came from the blood of the Giants, or the teeth of the Dragon, and these indeed might be all Levellers or fifth Monarchy men naturally: or else that the first founders of all nations dropped down from heaven immediately and so formed themselves into a Society, and pitched upon kingly Government, as supposeing it the best and fittest to attain the ends they proposed to themselves by it. But it is not very strange that they should all light upon one and the same form of Government, and that this form should be Monarchical? Besides, if all power were originally in the people, and that naturally they are at liberty to choose their own form of Government, is it not very strange they should not be sensible of it? Was ever any principle of nature so universally depraved and obliterated out of mens minds that they should never take notice of such a thing, which is so much( as is pretended) their interest? except only at such times when it is buzzed into their heads by ambitious and designing men, who cajole the senseless multitude into a fools Paradise, by telling them strange stories and chimeras of power and liberty, till they have got their turns served by them, and then all the reward of these poor Drudges at last, is to be condemned to the basest servitude under the worst of Tyrants.  
But the consequences of such a supposition are sufficient to show the folly and unreasonableness of it. If the people were at liberty to alter the Government they live under at their pleasure( for it is certain there will never want a sufficient cause if they must be the judges) what a blessed world should we have? Just as it was when the Government was subverted upon the very same principles in the time of the late rebellion, when every shopkeeper set up for a politician, and thought himself wise enough to reform the Church, and to govern the Kingdom. This is one of Solomons grievous evils and not to be born, and for which the earth is disquieted, for a servant when he reigneth, Prov. 30: 22. or when servants are seen upon horses, and Princes walking as servants upon the earth, Eccles. 10: 7. But I have proved out of the Holy Scripture beyond all reasonable contradiction, that there never was, no nor could be any such thing as a free people in nature, or a people that were naturally at liberty to choose their own Government: but that they had a Government imposed upon them by God, and that this Government was first paternal, and then regal or Monarchical. And if you desire to be yet more fully satisfied concerning the blessed original of that form of Government( which some people are so mad after, and which they deserve to be plagued with for their ingratitude) called a Commonwealth, Solomon( who knew as well the first beginnings of all Government, as Junius Brutus, Plato redivivus, and others of the same tribe) will inform you. For the iniquity of a land, saids that wise King, many are the Princes thereof. It is for the sins of a people when God deprives them of their Government by a single person, and sets up many to rule over them, Prov. 28: 2.  
But thô kingly Government be the most ancient form, and was instituted by God himself, yet this is not intended to prejudice or condemn all other forms that are now establishd in the world: thô God may approve of such changes after they have been brought to a settlement and perfection, yet that will not excuse those who were the first authors and promoters of them. In all forms of Government there is a supreme Authority, which Authority is derived from God alone, and in that respect is the ordinance of God, and exacts an obedience, from all that are under it, and if it abuses its power, is accountable only to God, and therefore they that resist the Power resist God, or the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. And to all these supreme Powers as well as to Kings,( thô to these last after a more eminent manner, and among these to the 
† Non tribuamus dandi regni atque Imperii potestatem nisi vero Deo. Ille unus verus Deus: qui nec judicio nec adjutorio deserit genus humanum, velit & quando quantum volvit romans Regnum dedit. Qui dedit Assyriis, vel etiam Persis; qui Ma●●o, ipse Cajo Caesari: qui Augusto, ipse & Neroni, qui Vespasiano vel patri, vel filio suavis●imis Imperatoribus, ipse & Domitiano crudelissimo, & ne per singulos ire necesse sit, qui Constantino Christiano, ipse Apostatae Juliano, &c. Augustin. de Civit. Dei, lib. 5. cap. 21.  evil as well as to the good, to Heathens as well as Christians) it may be said, Ye are Gods. And if God himself be pleased to say, They are Gods, and all of them children of the most High,( which is their patent under the great seal of Heaven) what do we think? Is it not blasphemy and a contradiction to say, They are the creatures and offspring of the people? The inference or use that I design to draw from this doctrine is this, that as they who contend that all power is derived from the People, would conclude from thence, that the people may call their Governours to an account, or remove them at their pleasure; or alter the form of Government itself, so by the same way of argueing, if the power of Kings and other supreme supreme Magistrates be from God, as undoubtable it is, then it is God only, whose Ministers they are, that can call them to an account, and punish them for the neglect of their duty, which will further more clearly appear in the second thing implied in the character here given to Kings, which is the high Dignity and Sacrednesse of their Office.  
2. As the different degrees & qualities of men which there are in the world, whereby one man is reputed more honourable than another, and which commands an awe and a respect from their inferiors, proceed either from names and titles of honour, conferred by the favour of the Prince, who is the fountain of honour, or else derived to them from the dignity of their birth: so God is pleased to signity the supreme honour and dignity which belongs to Kings and the most profound respect and deference which is to be paid to them, by giving them his own name, and owning them for his sons, in a higher degree and upon a more noble account of power and dominion than other mortals, in which respect they may be said to be in a larger and a more humble, what is spoken of the natural Son of God in a strict 
Heb. 1: 3.  and more lofty sense, the brightness of the glory of God, and the express image of his Person. All the wit of men & Angels could never have found out so fit a title to express the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power, which was formerly the Prerogative of the first born, and is now the Prerogative of Kings, & to command the highest awe and reverence which is due to their persons, than that of Gods, nor durst any mortal have been so bold as to have conferred it upon them, if God himself had not. Hence it is that God has declared their Persons to be sacred & inviolable, & when we speak of them we are taught to say, his sacred Majesty, which is a Title that belongs to them by virtue of their Office & Commission: & he has built a hedge about them, & has threatened, as he once did in relation to the holy mount, that who ever touches them shall die. And this fear, and awe, & reverence which the Kings of King would have to be paid his Vice-gerents by inferior mortals, is intended to lay a restraint not only upon mens outward Actions, but likewise upon their words, & upon their most secret thoughts. 
a Psal. 105: 5.  Touch not mine anointed( says God) & do my Prophets no harm, & 
b Exod. 22: 28.  thou shall not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Ruler of my people. And 
c Eccles. 10: 20.  curse not the King no not in thy thought. And all this holy men of God in all ages have thought it their duty religiously to observe, when they have had the greatest provocations & the most plausible pretences to act otherwise. If it had been lawful upon any pretence what soever for subjects to list up their hands against their lawful sovereigns, David of all men that ever lived had the fairest plea for it. He had often ventured his life in the service of his Prince & Country: he had fought several battles with the greatest success, when the glory of the Victory had been owing to his single courage, & conduct, & when his only crime was, that the people were sensible of his merits, & sung in their dances, Saul hath slain his thousands, & David his ten thousands. For this he falls from his Princes favour, & no means or endeavours left unattempted to take away his life. And then ad to all these provocations that he was anointed King himself, & so might seem to be discharged from any bonds of duty or allegiance. Nay further providence itself seemed to favour the lawfulness of his revenge, and resistance by giving him several opportunities at once of freeing himself from his enemy and of ascending the throne, which were all so many temptations of Gods sending on purpose to exercise and make glorious the virtues of his servant, and to recommend him to all posterity to the end of the world as an example of the most invincible patience, submission, & loyalty to his lawful( thô an unthankful & wicked) Prince: as appears by his behaviour under all the above mentiond circumstances. He 
1 Sam. 24: 5, 6.  does but cut of the skirt of Sauls garment & his heart presently smites him for it. And when the men that were with him would have had him to have killed Saul, he condemns the motion as utterly unlawful & tells them, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my 
1 Sam. 26: 9.  master the Lords anointed to stretch forth mine hand against him seeing he is the Lords anointed. And at another time when Saul and those that were with him were fallen into a dead sleep from the Lord, and Abishai desired Davids permission to smite him with his spear, that he would not need to make a second thrust at him: David strictly commands him not to do it, Destroy him not, for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lords anointed & be guiltless: and then he calls to Abner Sauls General, and upbraids him for his negligence that he did not take more care of his master. And what did the Amalekite get for his news that he was the man who had slain Saul? After David had testified his grief & his abhorrence of the fait, commands the messenger to be put to death, because his own mouth had testified against him, saying I have 
2 Sam. 1.  slain the Lords anointed.  
And what was thus taught and practised concerning the reverence due to Kings, & the unlawfulness of offering any violence to their persons, in the Old Testament, has been likewise taught and practised by our Saviour and his Apostles in the New, and by the Church of Christ for 
* B. Tailor Doctor Dubit. lib. 3. pag. 154.  600. years at least successively without any dissent or interruptions. Render unto Caesar( says our Saviour) the things that are Caesars: & when he could have commanded more than 12. Legions of Angels to have come to his rescue, if he had thought resistance lawful, he patiently submits, and acknowledges that Pilate thô a heathen had his power from God. What 
Joan. 19.  need I tell you of the Theban Legion so renowned in the History of the Church, under Maximianus the Emperour, who suffered themselves every man of them to be cut in pieces, rather than to sacrifice to Idols? None of them offering, in that great advantage which they had of number, so much as to lift up his hand, except it was in prayer to God, and all this( it is said) they did according to the Doctrine of Saint Paul: and for the carriage of the Christians under the Apostate Julian, who studied all the ways imaginable to extirpate Christianity out of the world, thô his army consisted most of Christians, yet they had arms for him, but none against him, and who by their Prayers & tears:( the only arms allowed a Christian in such cases) diverted many of his damnable counsels & designs.  
The Christians of those times had not yet learnt to fight for their Religion, or to enter into Covenants and Associations for the defence of it, or rather under the pretence of Religion to gratify their revenge, covetousness, or ambition. They were the 
a Nos Sanctorum Praedecessorum tenentes, eos qui excommunicatis fidelitate aut sacramento constricti sunt Apostolicâ authoritate à juramento absolvimus, &c. Gregor. VII. 15. q. 6. & Urb. II. Episcopo Vapicens. Juratos milites( inquit) Hugoni Comiti ne ipsi quamdiu excommunicatus est serviant prohibeto. Et in Decretal. de Haereticis, cap. 16. Absolutos se noverint à debito fidelitatis Domini & totius obsequii quicunque lapsis manifestè in haeresin aliquo pacto quacunque firmitate vallato tenebantur obstricti. Of the effects of this doctrine in the rebellion raised against Henry IV. and his deposition and imprisonment by his own Son, at the instigation of Pope Greg. VII. Urban II. and Paschal II. see an account in Hadr. Sarav. de Imper. Auth. lib. 3. cap. 42. &c. Balaeus in vit. Greg. VII. &c.  Bishops of Rome that first taught subjects to rebel against their Princes. And from them 
b Vid. Judicium & Decretum Univers. Oxon. Julii 21. 1683. contra quosdam perniciosos libros & Propositiones impias, &c.  others who profess to be of another Communion have taken up the same doctrine and practices, and justify( thô upon different principles) the lawfulness of excommunicateing, deposeing, and of destroying their Princes, and of disinheriting the right Heir, to preserve their Religion, as if God could not or would not take care of his Church without their wickedness, who think it 
c Rom. 3: 8.  lawful and meritorious to do evil that good may come of it, whose damnation is just. How far such persons are from being Saints,( and yet they would be thought to be the only Saints) what hath been already said may be sufficient to satisfy any considering person; and will further appear from what the Apostles every where inculcate concerning the Duty we owe to Kings and other supreme Powers, that it is not only unlawful to resist, and that for consciences sake as well as for wrath or for fear of punishment, but that it is not lawful to speak evil of them; and it is made the character of 
d Rom. 13.  those whose judgement of a long time lingereth not, and whose damnation slumbereth not, that they are presumptuous, 
e 1 Pet. 2.  self willed, and are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities: whereas Angels that are greater in power and might bring not a railing accusation against them before the Lord. Nay Michaël the Archangel would not bring a railing accusation against the Devil, but only said, the Lord rebuk thee, because he had once been a spirit of a superior order. From all which my design is to possess you with such dutiful and aweful apprehensions of Kings, and especially of Him whose natural born subjects you are, so as not to speak, or so much as to think, and then much less to act any evil against him, which the very title that God bestows on them in the words does imply and require of you.  
3. The third and last thing implied in the character of Gods here given to Kings by the Holy Ghost, is the benefits of their Government.  
As in God we live and move and have our being, so next under God we owe the safety and preservation of our lives, our liberties, our estates, and all the blessings we enjoy, together with the free exercise of our Religion to the protection and good Government of wise and religious Princes. Upon which account most of the titles that are given to Kings by the Holy Ghost in Scripture are taken from their great usefulness to the public. They are called the breath of our nostrils, to denote 
Lam. 4: 20.  the necessary dependence which the welfare of the Subjects has upon their safety and preservation. The phrase is borrowed from Genes. 2: 7. where God when he created man is said to have breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living soul; which expression as it denotes the original of their power that it is from God, so likewise the benefits of their Government, that as the natural body without the soul and spirit is dead, so the body politic without the Prince who is the civil head is dead also. The head being the fountain of life, and of all the operations of the soul, and communicates life and vigour through the whole body, and to every member of it. There is another translation which renders the phrase instead of spiritus narium the breath of our nostrils, lumen faciei the light of our countenance which is of the same importance with the former, and intimates to us, that as the sun and other celestial bodies by their light and gentle influences impregnate the earth, and revive the drooping face of nature, after their winters absence at the return and revolution of the year and spring; so the Prince like the Sun in the firmament of his glory diffuses the enlivening beams of his majesty, to all those who are under the influences of his Government: as the Psalmist expresses the dependence of the creatures upon God, Thou hidest away thy face, they are troubled, thou 
Psal. 104: 29.  takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. For the same reason likewise of the great usefulness and necessity of Kings and supreme Governours to preserve the peace and welfare of their people, they are called, the shields, the bars, the foundations, and the 
Psal. 47: 9. Lam. 2: 9. Psal. 11: 3. Isaj. 3: 7.  healers of a land, as without whom it is impossible any nation could be supported or preserved from certain ruin and destruction either by foreign invasions or intestine commotions. And therefore it was no compliment which the men of David past upon him, when they  told him, Thou art worth ten thousand of us, in respect of the loss which the Kingdom was like to suffer if he was taken away. And when he was in danger of loseing his life by one of the Sons of the Giant, and was rescued by Abishai his Sisters Son, All the men of David 
2 Sam. 21: 17.  to him, and swear to him, saying, Thou shalt no more go out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of israel.  
Nor are we to think that all these appellations belong only to good Kings, thô to those in a more especial manner, but even to the worst that ever reigned, if we compare the benefits of a bad Government, with the miseries of anarchy and confusion; of which the state of Rome under Nero, and immediately after his death, is an example beyond all exception, there being more blood of the citizens spilled in a few months after Nero was killed, than there had been in all the fourteen years of his reign. And therefore there cannot a more dreadful judgement befall a people than to be left 
† Rege incolumi mens omnibus una, amisso rupêre fidem. Virg. Geor.  without a Head, thô, he be never so wicked or cruel; and for every one to be at liberty to do that which is right in his own eyes: for then the weak will certainly become a prey to the strong, and instead of one Tyrant, there will be a thousand: which was sometimes the unhappy condition of the Jewish Commonwealth, as is observed Jud. 17: 6. and in other places of that book. In those dayes there was no King in israel, and every one did that which was right in his own eyes. And so I proceed to the second thing to be considered in the words, viz. the frail condition of Kings, notwithstanding all their great Prerogatives above other men, they are subject to the same common laws of death and morality with the rest of mankind. I have said ye are Gods, and all of you children of the most High, but ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes.  
II. Thô Kings are Gods, yet they are but mortal Gods: they are called so in respect of their Office, and not of their nature, which is the same with other mens, compounded of the same perishable materials, and as liable to the stroke of death as the meanest of their subjects, and in some respects may be said to be more mortal. They have more enemies, and are exposed to greater dangers than private persons. The Histories of all nations abound with examples of Princes who have lost their lives either in foreign warres or by the treachery of their own subjects.  
In the Sacred Story how many of the Kings of israel and Judah do we red of that died a violent death, as Saul, Ahab, Joram, Ahaziah, Amaziah, Josiah, and many others, and among those some that were excellent Princes, as the two last mentioned, such as in the style of the Holy Ghost, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and yet as David speaks in relation to Saul, without some admiration at the wonderful providence of God in suffering such things to happen, all these fell by the sword, as if they had not been 
Dr. Meggot, Serm. upon 30. Jan. pag. 19.  anointed with oil.  
In the Roman History it is to observed that of the forty Emperours between Julius Caesar and Constantine the Great there were but ten that died in their beds, and of these that did, not one but was endangered by more then one conspiracy. And the same might be observed, 
Vid. Hector Boëthius.  thô perhaps not in so great a proportion, from the Histories of our own and other nations, of which we have a sad instance, yet fresh in the memories of some of you who now hear me, I mean the Murder of that incomparable Prince King Charles the Martyr, of glorious and immortal memory.  
But thô Princes may sometimes escape a violent yet they must certainly yield at last to a natural death. Whats become of all those mighty Monarchs of the Assyrian, the Persian, the graecian, and Roman Empires, they who subdued nations, and obtained the name of great and conquerors, and made the inhabitants of the earth tremble for the fear of them. All their glory, and their numerous armies were not able to secure them from the stroke of death.  
But what need we go any further for an example that Kings are mortal, than the death of our late most gracious sovereign of blessed memory. If power, if greatness, nay if goodness itself, or if the love and the prayers of his subjects could have preserved him alive, we had still enjoyed the benefits of his happy reign over us, but we did not know how to value the blessing of having such an excellent Prince, and therefore it was but fit and just for God to deprive us of him. When death comes he makes no distinction of the great or of the mean, of the honourable or of the vile, of good Princes or of Tyrants, but Crownes and Sceptres must give way as well as the spade and mattock, and be all tumbled together in one common heap. For they were 
Genes. 3: 19.  all taken out of the same earth, and dust they are, and unto dust they shall return.  
But this is so plain a truth confirmed by the universal experience of all Nations that Kings must die like other men, that none can make any doubt of it, and therefore it may seem needless to insist or to put any extraordinary remark upon it. But it is not for nothing that the Holy Ghost in the words takes such particular notice of it; for thô nothing be more certain, nor can they be ignorant of it themselves, that Kings and Princes most die, as well as other men, yet they are apt to forget it, and have more need to be put in mind of it than others. The glories of their state, the adorations which are paid them, the humble addresses and supplications that are made to them, their great and unaccountable power, and the flatteries of those that are continually about them, do commonly blow them up into a vain and foolish opinion of themselves, that they begin to think, they are something more than other men; and some have been so vain as to believe themselves to be Gods indeed, and 
† Suetonius in the life of Caligula, Templum Numini suo proprium, & Sacerdotes, & excogitatissimas hostias instituit, &c.  have commanded that divine honours should be given them by their subjects. Alexander's great success and victories made him forget himself, and to disown his true Father, but he must be called the Son of Jupiter Hammon, and would rather bring a scandal upon his Mother( which 
* Inter Epistolas mundi Procerum.  she resents in a letter to him) than not have the reputation of being descended from a God, and to be thought a God himself. Some such lofty thoughts nabuchadnezzar must have had of himself, when he walked in the Palace of the kingdom of Babylon, and discoursed thus to himself: Is not this great Babylon that I have made for the house 
Dan. 4: 30.  of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? And had not Herod the same extravagant opinion of himself, when he was arrayed in his royal Apparel, and was sate upon his Throne, and made an oration to the people, and they gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God and not of a man. And did 
Act. 12: 21.  not the event show that he was well pleased with the acclamation, for immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten up of worms.  
There are innumerable examples of the like nature to be met with in History, which shows the great need that Princes have to be put in mind of their mortality, therefore it is recorded to the immortal praise of Philip King of Macedon, who by being sensible of his mortality 
Aelian. Histor. lib. 8. cap. 15.  shewed himself a much wiser man than his Son Alexander in desiring to be thought a God, that he ordered one to come every morning to his bed, and to call out to him three times, philip, homo es, Philip remember thou art a man: and the Psalmist prays to God to put the Heathen in mind that they may know themselves to be but men.  
The consideration that Princes are mortal as well as other men will afford several useful inference in relation to themselves and others.  
1. In relation to themselves, to stir them up to consider whose Ministers they are, and that thô they are accountable to their subjects for their good or ill Government, yet they must give an account thereof to the great judge of the world. On the one hand they have the certain expectation of the judgement of God to deter them from doing any thing contrary to their duty or to the laws of God; for there is no respect of persons with God, but Kings as well as others must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, to give an account of the things which they have don in the body, whether they be good, or whether they be evil; and if they have don ill, they shall no more be favoured than the meanest sinner, but the greatness of their quality will expose them to a proportionable degree of punishment, for mighty offenders, says the wise Man, shall be 
Wisd. 6: 6. Isaj. 30: 33.  mightily tormented: and Tophet is ordained of old, says the Prophet, yet for the king it is prepared, he hath made it deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone shall kindle it. And as the consideration of death and mortality ought to strike a terror into evil Princes, so it affords matter of joy and comfort to the good, for when they die they rest 
Rev. 14: 13.  from their labours, and their works follow them. Then will all their cares, and their troubles, the plots and the conspiracies which have been carrying on against them while they were in the world, be at an end; and the good they have don, as it is of a more universal concern, than can come within the sphere of private Persons, so it shall be rewarded with a proportionable degree of happiness. They shall as far outshine others in glory hereafter, as they were placed above others in dignity here: and thô they are taken from a corruptible and transitory crown, they shall receive an incorruptible crown in the place thereof, a crown that fadeth not away, eternal in the heavens.  
2. The Consideration that Kings are mortal may be of use to other persons of an inferior quality. I. The death of Kings ought to put us in mind of our own mortality, that if God spare not those whom he is pleased to honour with his own name, & whom he has declared to be the sons of the most High, & who enjoy so many great privileges & Prerogatives above other men, how can we think he will spare us, who in comparison of his Vicegerents may be said to be worms and no men? And if we are continually mindful of our latter end, then the consequence will be, we shall never do amiss.  
II. From the frail & mortal Condition of Kings we may learn not to put our trust in any thing this world can afford. All the benefits or advantages we enjoy or can expect from them, are but for their lives at the longest, which are of as short and uncertain a continuance as other mens, and therefore the Psalmist exhorts us not to put our trust in Princes or in any child of man, for there is no help in them: and further, if Kings must die, and leave all their Glory behind them what reason can any man have to be fond or proud of his honours or his riches, or of any other earthly enjoyments and satisfactions, which he holds by no other title than only during the pleasure of the donor. For when the greatest King dies,( and die he must and how soon no body can tell) he shall carry nothing away with him, his glory shall not descend 
psal. 49: 17.  after him, thô whiles he lived he blessed himself, and he was well pleased to hear himself praised. He shall go to the generation of his fathers, & shall never see light. Man that is in honour and-understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.  
3. The consideration that Kings must die as well as other men, affords matter of comfort to those who live under the Government of Tyrants and persecutors. Thô the Plowers plow upon their backs and make long 
Heb. 11.  furrows, thô they are not suffered to enjoy the benefit of the law, or the free exercise of their Religion, thô their case be the same with that of the primitive Saints, that they are forced to wander about in sheep skins, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, wandering in deserts, and in mountaines, and in dens and caves of the earth; yet this is not like to continue always. God will not suffer their persecutors to reign and triumph for ever, they must die and then all their malice and fury ceases; and then it will be their turn who were persecuted for righteousness sake to rejoice, and the world shall lament; and then shall the Righteous be glad when he seeth the vengeance, he shal wash his feet in the blood of the ungodly and then shal all men say, verily there is a reward for the richteous, doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth.  
III. I am now come to the last part of the words, which comprehends the duty of subjects to their Princes in praying for them, implyed in the last verse, Arise o God, judge the earth for thou shalt inherit all nations. In the former part of this Psalm to the fourth verse we find the Psalmist censureing the faults of wicked Magistrates, and withall teaching them their duty, and vers. 5. he seems to despair of working any good upon them, and therefore after he had minded them of their mortality and that they must shortly give an account of their rule and Government to the just Judge of the world, he addresses himself to God in prayer, that he would take the Government into his own hands, that he would rectify what is amiss in it, that he would preside over all public debates and counsels, and that he would dispose and turn the hearts of Kings and all that are in authority, as it shal seem best to his godly Wisdom: and the reason of this prayer is given in the latter part of the verse, because to God properly belong all the kingdoms of the earth, & that therefore we ought to address ourselves to him, either to appoint only such to rule over his people as are after his own heart, and will seek his honour and glory, or that he would in his own good time make them such who are otherwise. And that this is the duty of all subjects towards their Governours wheterh they are Heathen or Christian, whether good or bad, we are taught both by the Prophet and the Apostle. Jer. 29: 7. when the people of israel were in Captivity under heathenish Masters in a foreign country, they are commanded by God, Seek the peace of the City whether I have commanded you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the place thereof shall ye have peace. And 1 Tim. 2: 1. I exhort therefore( says the Apostle) that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for Kings and for all that are in authority, that we may led a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. In the former instance we see the Jews are commanded to pray for those that had carried them away captive, and in the latter the Christians of those dayes are exhorted to pray for tyrants, and persecutors, for such were they who at that time governed the Roman empire, from whence it is easy to infer, what is the duty of Christians at all times and in all places, and under what ever Government they live. If it be their happiness to live under the Government of a just, a wise and a merciful Prince, then they are under all the obligations in the world of gratitude, duty and interest to pray for the continuance of his reign over them: but if falls out otherwise and God is pleased to scourge them for their offences by setting a tyrant and a persecutor to rule over them. It is still their duty to pray for him, that God would turn his heart, and turn from them all those evils, and judgmens which they smart under, and which their sins have most righteously deserved, and that by restoreing to them those blessings of peace and the public profession of Religion which they had formerly abused or undervalued, he would once more trust them with an opportunity of living like his people.  
In this whole psalm which is chiefly directed to evil Magistrates, nor in any other place of Scripture, we hear not one word of resistance in case the supreme Magistrate did not do his duty. Here is no appeal to the Senate, or to the inferior Magistrate, or to the body of the common people for redress of grievances or for the reformation of Religion, or to punish the offender. If the supreme Magistrate neglects his duty, or acts beyond his commission, he offends against none but God, and is accountable to no other, let his crimes be never so great or never so many. 
a Psalm. 51: 4. Tibi soli peccavi, Rex enim eram, &c. Hieron. ad Rust. ●. 1. pag. 224. & Arnob. ad Psalmum 50. Omnis qui sub jugo vivit, cum deliquerit peccat Deo, peccat & legibus mundi; hic autem Rex sub nullo alio, nisi sub solo Deo agens, ipsum solum supper potestatem suam metuens soli Deo peccavit. Sic Chrysost. Ambros. &c.  Against thee, thee only have I sinned, says the Royal Prophet, when he had committed two grievous sins, adultery and murder. And it is sufficient that God whose vicegerent he is will call him to an account and punish him, if he does any thing amiss: with this consideration David restrained some from killing Saul, who only wanted his leave to have don it, 
b 1 Sam. 26: 10.  As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish, but the Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords anointed.  
The duty of subjects whether considered jointly or severally is to obey in all things lawful, and wherein they cannot obey without offering violence to their conscience, to suffer. In all cases they must needs be subject not only for wrath but conscience sake. They must not only submit when it is not in their power to make resistance( which 
c Nos contrà dicimus( inquit Bellarm.) eos( id est, infidels & Haereticos Principes) fuisse toleratos, propterea quod ad eos dejiciendos vires Ecclesiae non suppetebant, cum Tertullianus scribit, suo tempore( id est, sub Ethnicis & persecutoribus Principibus) f●isse Christianos omni bello idoneos, nee iis vim numerorum & copiarum defuisse. Et addit, numerosiores fuisse Mauris & Marcomannis asque adeò Parthis. tertul. Apol. cap. 37. Vid. Barcl. Vind. pro Reg. cap. 20.  Bellarmine and some others impudently, and traitorously affirm to have been the case of the primitive Christians) but because submission is a duty of the evangelical Religion, and there is a promise of an extraordinary great reward to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, and we ought to be glad of the opportunity, and to account it an honour that we are thought worthy not only to believe on Christ, 
Philipp. 1: 29. Matth. 5.  but also to suffer for his name. rejoice and be exceeding glad, says our Saviour, for great is your reward in Heaven.  
All the remedy that is allowed us under the worst of Tyrants is to have our recourse to God, to make our complaint to him, and after the example of our great Master to pray for our persecutors, and to commit ourselves 
1 Pet. 2: 21.  to him who judgeth righteously, for he has left us an example that we should follow his steps, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.  
If God did not take care of the world, and inspire the hearts of Kings with wisdom and other necessary qualifications for their most weighty employment, we should be but in a miserable condition: as the Emperour Maximilian used to say of himself and Pope Julius the second. Deus aeterne, nisi vigilares, quàm malè esset mundo, quem regimus nos, ego miser venator & ebriosus ille ac sceleratus Julius. O eternal God, if thou didst not keep watch over us, how ill would it be with the world, which we two govern, I who am a miserable hunter, and that drunken and profligate wretch Julius? Let us but be careful to discharge our duty to God and his anointed, and we need not fear but things will be ordered for the best. It is God who judgeth the earth and who inherits all nations, and there is nothing comes to pass without his ordering, nor is it in any man's power to hinder what he has ordered from coming to pass. Let us give those leave to govern whom God has set over us; as they shall think fit, and as God shall direct their hearts; all that we have to do, is to submit and to pray to God for them, and therefore I shall conclude with that excellent prayer of our Church for the King, in the communion service, and desire you to join with me in it, which is set down in these words: Almighty God, whose Kingdom is everlasting and power infinite, have mercy upon the whole Church and so rule the heart of thy chosen servant James our King and governor, that he knowing whose Minister he is, may above all things seek thy honour and glory: and that we and all his subjects duly considering whose authority he hath, may faithfully serve, honour and humbly obey him in thee and for thee, according to thy blessed word and ordinance, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be ascribed as is most due all praise, honour and glory now and for ever, AMEN.  
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
THe Reader is desired to correct the following faults, which either alter the sense or render it unintelligible, and which will the more easily be excused, when it is considered that the author was absent, and the persons employed about the press were strangers to the language.  
page. 5. line 10. for to red which. p. 6. last line save one, and in other places, for saids red says. p. 8. l. 26. for preached red practised, and last line save one of the same page., for but red been. p. 9. l. 7. red partend. p. 10. l. 14. for but it is red but is it? p. 11. last line save one red ancient Government. p. 12. after genus humanum red quando velit & quantum velit. p. 14. l. 19. for list red lift. p. 15. last line save 4. for fait red fact. p. 21. l. 16. red not without some admiration. p. 24. l. 17. red are not accountable.  
There are other smaller faults, as where the plural number is put for the singular, and one vowel for another, which may easily be perceived, and therefore are not thought considerable enough to be taken notice of.