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 L 1 E> RA RY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N I V ER5 ITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS
 
 VI, J^. 
 
 ''Uejoii^c idtli i^remblin(i/' 
 
 SERMON 
 
 §rpachd in McHtminfitcr Jibb^n, 
 
 ON MARCH 15, 1863, 
 
 BEING THE SUNDAY AFTER THE MARRIAGE OP 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 ALBEKT EDWARD PRINCE OF WALES 
 
 vvrrii 
 
 THE PRIiNCESS ALEXANDRA OF DENMARK. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHR. WORDSWORTH, D.D., 
 
 CANON OF WESTMINSTER. 
 
 Prlvafe Inipres^iun , 
 
 LONDON, 18G3.
 
 WESTMINSTER: 
 
 PRINTED BV J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 
 
 25, PARLIAMENT STREET.
 
 A SERMON. 
 
 John ii. 3, 4. — "■And when they wanted wine the Mother of Jesus 
 saith unto Him, IJiey have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what 
 have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." 
 
 We have heard the circumstances which led to 
 this conversation, in the Second Lesson of this 
 morning, Avhich relates the history of the Mani- 
 festation of the divine power of Christ in the first 
 miracle ayIucIi He wrought, at the Marriage Peast 
 of Cana in Galilee, when He changed the water 
 into wine. 
 
 There was a Marriage at Cana in Galilee, and 
 the mother of Jesus ivas there. It would seem 
 that Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, 
 was now dead. He is not mentioned among the 
 guests ; indeed Joseph is nowhere named as 
 present in the Gospel-history of any of the acts 
 of our Blessed Lord during his earthly ministry ; 
 and, if Joseph had been alive at the Crucifixion, 
 it is scarcely probable that Our Lord Avould have 
 then commended His mother to the care of the 
 beloved disciple St. John, and that St. John would 
 have taken her, as he did, to his own home} 
 
 Jesus loas called, and His disciples, to the Ilar- 
 riage. The Marriage feast lasted for several days ; 
 
 ' John xix. 20, "27. 
 A 2
 
 4 
 
 it seems that the bridegroom and the hride were 
 not of hi<^h estate, for the supply of wine ftiiled. 
 And when they wanted icine, the mother of Jesus 
 saith unto Him, they have no wine. Jesus saith 
 unto her, IFoman what have I to do with thee ? 
 mine hour is not yet come. 
 
 Woman, ichat have I to do loith thee ? A^liat 
 shall we say here ? Did Christ come to a marriage 
 in order to disparage womanhood, and mother- 
 hood ? No. Let us not imagine this. Christ was 
 the promised seed of the woman ; four thousand 
 years had longed for His Coming. His Incarna- 
 tion itself was the holiest of all marriages ; He had 
 come forth as a Bridegroom out of his chamber to 
 join our human Nature in a mystical union to the 
 Nature of God, and to take to Himself the Bride 
 his Church, A^hom he loveth and cherisheth as His 
 own flesh} and lohom He will 2)resent to Himself, 
 as a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle^ 
 or any such thing ^^ and who will hereafter be ever 
 a partner of His glory at the Great Marriage 
 Feast in heaven ;^ and He came now to Cana of 
 Galilee, in order to beautify marriaq-e Avith His 
 presence and first miracle, and to adorn it Avith 
 the orient beams of the Epiphany of His glorious 
 Godhead. 
 
 AVhat then did He mean A\iien He said. Woman, 
 ichat have I to do with thee ? He meant this ; 
 that in His Divine Nature, by whose A'irtue He 
 was noAV about to AA^ork miracles, He is not sub- 
 
 ' Epli. V -JO. - Ei)!i. V. 27. 3 Hev. xix. 7-9. 
 
 ^Sf^i 
 
 o
 
 ject to His human mother ; and that His Divine 
 Power is not to be set in motion at her bidding-. 
 No. As God He is Lord of His mother, He is 
 Creator of His mother, and Sovereign Monarch 
 of the Universe ; as He was about to show by 
 changing the nature of His creatures by the 
 silent fiat of His will. Therefore he said, Woman 
 what have I to do with thee ? Woman, remem- 
 ber thy womanhood, and remember thy Son's 
 Godhead ; mother of His manhood thou art, but 
 mother of His Godhead thou art not. As God^ 
 He is Lord of all and Creator of all. Mine 
 hour is not yet come. As God he has no hour : 
 Time is Christ's creature. He is from everlast- 
 ing. But as man He has an hour, an hour of 
 sorrow and of suffering, of bitter suffering, even 
 unto death, in that nature which He has received 
 from thee ; and then when that hour is come, 
 He will no longer say Tfoman, ichat have I to do 
 icith thee ? No ; then He will remember thee ; 
 then He will comfort thee ; then, when hanging 
 on the cross, He will show His filial love to 
 thee. And so it came to pass. AVhen the hour 
 came, that hour of darkness, and yet of glory, 
 when Jesus was going unto the Eather,^ and His 
 mother was standing at tlie cross, and the dis- 
 ciple whom He loved, then he remembered her; 
 then with his dying breath He said to His mo- 
 ther, IVoman, behold thy son, and then lie said to 
 the disciple Behold thy mother ; and tlie beloved 
 
 ' John xii. lo, xvii. 1.
 
 6 
 
 disciple, St. John, who heard these words, has 
 borne record of them in his Gospel, and as if he 
 would remind us of the meaning of the word 
 how as used by Christ, he says " Prom i\\Viihoiir 
 that disciple took her unto his own home." ^ 
 
 Thus then v^q see, that at the first manifestation 
 of His Divine Glory, our blessed Lord referred 
 prophetically to the hour of His human suffering ; 
 and has thus taught us the doctrine of the per- 
 fect union of the two natures, the divine and 
 human, in Himself; and that at the joyful festi- 
 val of a Marriage He looked forward to the bitter 
 anguish of His Passion, when He, who is God 
 blessed for ever,- would shed forth as man His 
 own most precious blood, and change the puri- 
 fying water of the Old Law into the new wine 
 of the Gospel, and would redeem us from the 
 bondage of sin and Satan, and purchase to Him- 
 self an universal Church,^ whom he has joined in 
 holy espousals to Himself as His bride, and who, 
 after the sorrows of this earthly pilgrimage, will 
 dwell with him for ever and ever in the glories 
 of His heavenly kingdom. 
 
 This union of glory with suffering, of marriage 
 with mourning, of Cana with Calvary, presents 
 to us spiritual food for solemn meditation at this 
 time, Avhcn we mingle the joys of a princely wed- 
 ding with the penitential tears of Lent, and 
 
 ' John xix. lif), -ll. ■ \ln\n. i.\. ■'). ^ Afts xx, 28.
 
 when we think of our own sins, and our need 
 of self-abasement and self-mortification, and look 
 forward to the awful realities of Death, Judg- 
 ment, Heaven, Hell, and Eternity. 
 
 Rejoice loitli trembling, was the precept of the 
 royal Psalmist when he looked up to Christ 
 rejected and crucified, and yet enthroned on 
 high as Lord and Judge of all.^ 
 
 Mejoice with trembling : surely this is a fit 
 precept for us all, whether high or low, in all 
 the pleasures of this life. Sorrow dwells near to 
 joy in all our mortal pilgrimage. Our happiest 
 earthly valley is also a vale of tears. In the jour- 
 ney of the Israelites through the wilderness, 
 which is a figure of our human life," how soon 
 did the bitter waters of Marah come after the glad 
 sound of the song of Moses, and of the timbrel 
 of Miriam, and the joyful passage of the Hed 
 Sea! 
 
 Rejoice ivith trembling. Even the heathen 
 themselves felt the wisdom of this precept ; and 
 therefore the Egyptians of old brought forth a 
 parched and eyeless skull and placed it on the 
 table at their banquets, in order to chasten the 
 exuberant revelry of the guests with mementos 
 of mortality. And the overweening pride and 
 exultation of the Roman Conqueror, riding in his 
 car of triumph to the Capitol, was checked by the 
 monitory voice of the slave who stood in that 
 
 ' Ps. ii. 11 (Bible Version). ^ 1 Cor. 10, 11.
 
 8 
 
 chariot at his side, and said ever and anon "Re- 
 member thou art a man." In this lower workl, 
 the dark leaves of the funereal cypress are ever 
 intertw ined with the bright foliage of the laurel- 
 wreath of victory. 
 
 It was so with the Son of God Himself when 
 He was on earth. At His glorious Tranfigura- 
 tion, Moses and Elias came and talked with him 
 concernins: His death. At the hour of His 
 earthly triumph when the croud shouted Sosanna, 
 blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord, 
 His eyes were wet with tears, and He wept over 
 Jerusalem.^ How soon were those Hosannas fol- 
 lowed — as He well knew they would be — by the 
 cry of some, perhaps of the same voices, Crucify 
 him, Crucify him ! And as it was with Christ, so 
 it ever has been with the Church of Christ. She is 
 the Queen at Christ's right hand, as the Psalmist 
 describes her,- and yet she is here in sorrow ; she 
 is a Bride and yet she is a Widow, she is fair and 
 lovely, yes, the fairest of loomen, as Solomon 
 describes her in the Canticles, and yet dark as 
 the tents of Kedar, through grief and woe;^ she 
 has a bright crown of twelve stars on her head, as 
 St. John portrays in the Apocalypse,* and yet 
 she is the woman in the icilderness, an exile and 
 a mourner.^ She is like Sarah, a princess, and 
 yet like Hagar, a fugitive. And so it is with her 
 children. The dearest Saints of God have ever 
 been most chastened with sorrow. 
 
 ' Luke xix. 41. ' Ts. xlv. 9. ' Song of Solomon, i. 5, 6, 8. 
 ' Rev. xii. 1. ' Rev. xii. 6.
 
 9 
 
 Wliom the Lord loveth he chasteneth} St Paul 
 had his thorn in the fiesh," and it was never taken 
 from him in this workl,^ and he hore in his hody 
 the marks of the Lord Jesus.* And why ? in order 
 that he might not he exalted ^ by his gifts and 
 graces, and become proud and forget God ; but 
 that he might be meek and humble, and seek for 
 God's grace, and so the thorn in his flesh might 
 become like a roseate wreath, and bloom into a 
 crown of glory for evermore. 
 
 Rejoice with trembling. Every thing in this 
 world instils this precept into our ears. The 
 experience of Nations, the example of Christ, the 
 history of the Church, the personal experience 
 of Christians agree in repeating it. And here 
 let us observe in passing, that there is a silent 
 eloquence, a holy sermon, in that arrangement of 
 our own Book of Common Prayer, where the 
 office for Marriage is followed immediately by the 
 office for the Visitation of the Sick, and for the 
 Bai'ial of the Dead. The joys of Marriage are 
 subdued and spiritualized by the remembrance 
 of sickness and the grave. How soon were the 
 festivities of last Tuesday morning succeeded 
 by the funerals of the evening ! Mirth and mourn- 
 ing dAvell together here. Therefore, as Solomon 
 says. Rejoice., O young man in thine youth, hut 
 think also of judgment to come. Remember thy 
 Creator in the days of thy youth, before the evil 
 
 ' Heb. xii. G. - 2 Cor. xii. 7. ' 2 Cor. xii. 7. 
 
 * Gal. vi. 17. * 2 Cor. .xii. 7.
 
 10 
 
 (lays come^ ichen thou shalt say I have no pleasure 
 
 in til em. 
 
 Brethren, was not this moral presented to us 
 by the splendid pageant of eight days ago ? Rejoice 
 with tremhlinfi:. In the midst of that brilliant 
 display of national hope and exultation, in the 
 splendour of civil pomp, and military grandeur, 
 in the long line of royal and noble equipages 
 passing through our streets, adorned with festive 
 signs of triumph, Avitli bright pictures and stream- 
 ing banners and arches of triumph, and with a 
 living welcome gushing from the hearts and 
 streaming through the eyes of thousands, and 
 showerins: as it were a si'acious rain of benedic- 
 tion on the heads of that princely pair as they 
 moved along, — was there not felt to be a void ? 
 For what is it that imparts the brightest lustre 
 to a bridal procession ? Is it not a Mother's 
 smile, and a Father's blessing ? Surely it is. But 
 were they there ? Present, doubtless, they were 
 to the inner eye which sees what is unseen ; and 
 perhaps more apparent to some, even on that 
 account. — "Eo ipso prsefulgebant, quod nonvise- 
 bantur," as one said of oldr they were more 
 visible to the heart, because they were absent 
 from the eye. And the funeral trappings of some 
 of those royal equipages in that splendid proces- 
 
 ' Eccles. xi. 9, xii. 1. 
 
 ' Tacitus, speaking of tiie absence of tlie images of Brutus and 
 Cassius from tiic funeral procession of Junia, the sister of lirutus 
 and wife of Cassius. — Annal. iii. 76.
 
 11 
 
 sion, and the funeral escutcheon hanging over 
 the palace gate, and speaking of a recent sorrow, 
 might well stir the heart with sad emotions, and 
 bring tears into the eyes, and might remind the 
 thoughtful spectator that the noblest and greatest 
 of this world are not exempt ^rom a share of 
 human sadness, and might say to the happiest 
 hearts in that national jubilee, " Rejoice — but 
 rejoice with trembling." 
 
 Hejoice lolth trembling. Rejoice indeed we 
 may, and we must ; for thankfulness is a duty 
 to God, from whom all our blessings come, and 
 we of this English nation have special motives for 
 joy and thankfulness to Him. Compare our own 
 condition with that of other lands. Wherever 
 we look around we see distress of nations with per- 
 plexity} In the West an intestine and interne- 
 cine war, tearing asunder the vast continent of 
 America. In Europe some of the most ancient 
 dynasties are seen no more. Some thrones are 
 tottering, others are vacant, others have fallen. 
 Storms are raging, or seem to be rising, and the 
 shore of the world is strewn with wrecks. But 
 by the goodness of God we in this favoured land 
 enjoy a peaceful calm. We have had our trials, 
 especially in the past year, and we still have our 
 sorrows in some parts of the realm, but how 
 patiently have they been borne ; and content- 
 ment and loyalty reign among us ; and the rap- 
 turous enthusiasm which greeted the progress of 
 
 ' Luke x.\i. '!,').
 
 12 
 
 that youthful pair was an eloquent proof that the 
 Eoyal House of England possesses the noblest 
 throne — a Throne in the Nation's heart. 
 
 Bejoice then we may and must — but still, 
 rejoice with trembling. This royal Minster sug- 
 gests this couns(^ Here are the graves of Kings. 
 Among them are the tombs of two English Sove- 
 reigns who were allied by marriasre with the Hoyal 
 House of Denmark. Here they were crowned ; 
 and here they and their Danish consorts lie buried. 
 How instructive is their history ! How full of 
 solemn admonition ! Both had a numerous off- 
 spring. A neighbouring chapel contains the 
 mortal remains of some of their young children. 
 A son of the former was a martyr ; and the son 
 of that son was an exile and a wanderer for 
 many years. The other had many children, 
 but none of them reached man's estate. She 
 was left a widow and had no child to succeed 
 her on the throne. Thus joy and sorrow are 
 woven together even in the diadems of Princes, 
 and mirth and mourning are near neighbours 
 even in palaces and on thrones. 
 
 Let us also consider this. In this church, and 
 near this spot, the Kings and Queens of England 
 are crowned ; and at their Coronation, the Bible 
 is laid on that altar, and that Sacred A^ohmie is 
 brought from the altar and is placed in the Sove- 
 reign's hands, and is presented to them with these 
 w^ords, "Here in this Book is Wisdom; this is 
 the royal law, these are the lively oracles of
 
 13 
 
 God. Blessed is lie that readeth, and they that 
 keep the words of this Book. These are the 
 words of Eternal Life able to make you wise unto 
 salvation, and happy for evermore." 
 
 Brethren, is not this true ? Surely it is. We 
 rejoice in our power, and prosperity. And to 
 what do we owe it ? To God, and to His Word. 
 We owe it to the Bible. The truths contained in 
 that blessed Book are the source of our happiness 
 and greatness, public and private. Take that 
 book away ; shake our faith in the Bible, where 
 then would be our belief in future rewards and 
 punishments ? where our hopes of heaven, where 
 our fear of hell? where our reverence for our 
 Bulers as God's ministers for good? where our 
 loyalty and love ? where our obedience to law as 
 God's voice, and for conscience sake, and with an 
 eye to Him who reads the heart and sees all 
 things, and will bring all things to light and 
 judgment at the Great Day ? It is the Bible and 
 the Bible alone which can give ubiquity to Law. 
 It is the Bible and the Bible alone which can 
 hallow a State, and consecrate a Throne, and 
 shield the Sovereign upon it. 
 
 Therefore, again, rejoice, but rejoice with trem- 
 bling. Eor is it not true, that (according to the 
 prediction of St. John) the two Witnesses now 
 propliesy in sackcloth} The two Testaments 
 preach in mourning. Is it not too true, brethren, 
 that great efforts are now made to shake our faith 
 
 ' Kov. xi. 3.
 
 14 
 
 in the Bible ? and whatever sliakes our faith in 
 the Bible, will weaken the foundations of the 
 Throne. 
 
 But God forbid that this should be so. Bather 
 may both be strengthened! And therefore let 
 us pray Ilim to shed the abundance of His grace 
 on the royal house of England. Princes have a 
 special claim on our prayers. I exhort (says St. 
 Paul) that first of all, supplications, i^ayers, and 
 intercessions be made for all tnen, for Kings and 
 for all that are in authority, that we may lead a 
 quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and ho- 
 nesty} Princely piety brings God's blessing on 
 a nation : the example of princely virtues sheds 
 a ffenial influence on every household. And 
 Princes have special needof our prayers. Their high 
 estate, their wealth and power, and their compa- 
 rative exemption from restraint expose them to 
 many temptations and dangers, which are in- 
 creased by their multitude of flatterers, and the 
 scarcity of friends. Therefore they have more 
 need of God's grace, and of our prayers. And 
 this is especially the case with youthful Princes ; 
 particularly in such a juncture as the present, 
 Avhen royalty is veiled from the view in the 
 shade and sorrow of Avidowhood. Therefore let 
 us earnestly pray to God to shed the blessings of 
 His heavenly grace on the Prince of Wales and 
 the Princess of AVales. May He make them 
 loving children, and dutiful subjects to her who 
 
 ' 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.
 
 15 
 
 has the strongest and tenderest claims on their 
 reverence, loyalty, and love, as a Mother, a Wi- 
 dow, and a Queen. By faithful service let them 
 prove their fitness to rule. By loyal obedience 
 let them learn to reign. As they are the first 
 among subjects in rank, so let them be first in 
 subordination to the law. There is sometliins" 
 very significant in the motto of the Prince of 
 Wales, which has lately been blazoned far and 
 wide in brilliant illuminations in our streets, — Ich 
 dien, I serve. That motto, remember, was first 
 won at the great victory of Cressy. The fruit 
 of victory is to serve. And the day of that great 
 victory has been endeared to us in our own days as 
 the birthday of the illustrious Pather of our own 
 Prince of Wales. And what more instructive 
 legacy could he have bequeathed to his princely 
 son than this motto, I serve ? Pirst, I serve 
 God, who is King of Kings; next I serve the 
 Queen for the sake of God, and as His Minister, 
 having His authority ;i and I serve my Country 
 for the sake of both. And thus serving, may 
 I by God's grace, and in His due time, become 
 fitted to reign ; to reign for Christ on earth, and 
 to reign in His glory in heaven ! 
 
 Pinally, as we have seen. Our Blessed Lord, 
 who is God blessed for ever, and who showed 
 His power as God at the Marriage of Cana in 
 Galilee, gave us all a lesson of love, loyalty, and 
 
 ' Koiu. xiii. 1, 2.
 
 in 
 
 ol)edience at Calvary, when dying for us as Man 
 upon the Cross He commended His widoAved 
 Mother to the care of the heloved Disciple St. 
 John, "Woman, behold thy Son." May this 
 blessed exam2)le be ever present to the minds 
 — not only of the royal children — but of all !' We 
 all owe the duties of filial reverence and affection 
 to our Queen. And may she receive that comfort 
 and strength which the Gospel alone can supply, 
 and which is abundantly supplied by that Gospel 
 especially, which was written by the beloved 
 Discijile who stood by the Cross — the Apostle 
 and Evangelist St. John ! In that Gospel, Christ 
 speaks most clearly of the joys of a Blessed 
 Ilesurrection and of our reunion hereafter Avith 
 those we love ;^ I am the Hestirrection and the 
 Life: he that helleveth in me, though he were 
 dead, yet shall he live. There He promises ever- 
 lasting mansions in His princely palace ; I go to 
 prepare a place for you. ^ There He promises the 
 gracious consolation of the Ever-Blessed Com- 
 forter; I will not leave you comfortless -^"^ I loill 
 come unto you. There he promises Peace — Peace 
 eternal, 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
 unto you; not as the world giveth give I unto yoii.^ 
 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
 afraid. Li the world ye shall have tribulation; 
 but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world? 
 
 ' Jolin xi. 2.). ^ John xiv. 2. ' John xiv. 18. 
 
 * John xiv. 27. * John xvi. .')3. 
 
 London : .1. B. Nichols and Sons, Printers, 2.5, Parliament Street.
 
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