THIS Psalm is made up of a complaint for the afflictions, as well as the shortness of human Life, together with an earnest prayer to God for a speedy return of his Mercy: it doth par­ticularly reflect on those times, in which Moses lived, when the Children of Israel suffered great hardships in the Wilderness, and numbers of them were cut off for their provocations.

So that the Author hereof doth in the most passio­nate manner cry out, our Troubles have been very heavy, and have lasted very long; let us have, O Lord! some proportion of Joy to so large a share of Sorrow; and make us glad, according to the days, wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years, wherein we have seen evil.

By the Words we are directed; First, To consider what we have seen of Evil in passed years, chiefly that which this day reminds us of.

Secondly, To flie to the God of all consolation for comfort and joy; that he would make us glad, accord­ing to the days, wherein he hath afflicted us.

To look back upon days of adversity and trouble is an unpleasant and melancholly sight; however some good use may be made of it; for thereby we shall see, that a long Sun-shine of God's Mercy hath ripen'd the Sins of a Nation, so that it shall be ready for the strokes of his Justice. Thereby also we shall perceive, with what subtlety the Seeds of Sedition have been sown, and how mischievously they have been spread a­broad in Libels. To what a degree of heat and mad­ness, the lust and ambition of some Men hath been raised; so that nothing could allay them, till they had sull scope to take their revenge, and wreak [...] their malice, both upon Church and State.

In order to this End, we our selves have seen, and our Fathers have told us, what strange and monstrous Things have been done; it being very much so, for [Page 3]Subjects to Murder their King without shame, and in the face of the Sun; for the feet, thus unnatural­ly, to trample upon and throw off their Head. The meanest indeed of the People must be the most pro­per and fit Instruments for such a work, because low Descent and poor Education do, by a natural Power, incline the thoughts to an imperious Humour, to cru­elty and disobedience.

Now the more effectually to recommend this black Design, and to give it a fair Face, it was nam'd the Cause of God; and the principal Actors therein were stiled God's own Israel. Whereupon every Street was filled with their Cryes, that all People would come out of Egypt, and they had indeed provided them a Red-Sea of Blood for their passage. So that in this day of our affliction, all the Evil was acted under the vizard of Religion; which did much aggravate the guilt of the chief Agents, whose hearts were engag'd in the contrivance of the most unwarrantable Deed, when their hands and eyes were offering up prayers and tears to Gods Throne; nay they seemed to labour under strong Impulses of Spirit, till they had brought forth the evil thing, they had conceived; which they could not have done so easily, had they not united Men of different Interests by a Covenant. What a Device was this to help forward the birth of the most amazing Wickedness, by such an engagement as was never heard of in antient Times, any otherwise than as at the [Page 4]making of their Leagues they were wont to kill Beasts and divide them; so this also was solemniz'd with di­vision and slaughter.

These were the years, in which peaceable and up­right Walking before God, and Obedience to lawful Authority, were exchang'd for an unusual Mode of Speech only, and a formality of Looks. The worst actions Men could be guilty of, were attributed to the dictates of God's Holy Spirit; and they were more busied in finding out some marks of Conversion, than about the practise of real Godliness; till at length the whole State was overthrown by fictions and lying Words: For by these they did blacken and misrepre­sent the King himself, that he might the more plau­sibly be Sacrificed to the will of his Enemies.

The horridness of which Fact may be here briefly considered in the fatal Consequences of it; for as one absurdity begets many,, so did this Evil spread itself into many pernicious Evils; which may be reduced to these two sorts:

• 1. Such as were of Civil,
• 2. Such as were of a Religious Concern.

We have felt the Death of the King to be a sore Judgment, by the terrible Effects of it, which did spead themselves over the Face, and thrô the Veins, and into the Bowels of the three Kingdoms: Many Noble and Antient Families were not only undone, but there immediately followed a Change of that Go­vernment, [Page 5]whose Praise had been proclaimed on the Earth for many Centuries: For as soon as the King was gone, our Fellow-Subjects took upon them to be our Princes, and to govern us at their pleasure, in or­der to satisfie their Avarice, or their Ambition: and first they called themselves a Council of State; but af­ter that, and the Nobility was excluded, came in the Rule of the Common People by their Representatives only; this increased the Number of our Rulers, con­sequently the Burden of our Slavery, by being forced to serve so many Masters: After these were deprived of the Power they had usurp'd and abused, began the Dominion of the Sword; then we had as many Princes as there were Major-Generals; who perhaps, if they had out liv'd their Captain, would have can­ton'd the Kingdom into so many several Principali­ties; as when it was shred into Democracy, the Streams of Government ran thin and shallow, being cut into many Channels. Thus it was when their Leader, after the Pattern of Jeroboam, who made Priests of the basest of the People, set up his Creatures too in the House of Lords, and would have all the Tribes come up, and worship them. After this manner, when the King was gone, a kind of Giddiness seized those who would be uppermost and usurp his Place; insomuch that the state of things was continually toss'd from hand to hand, rolling like a Ship in the midst of a tempestuous Sea, with all her Rigging, Masts, and [Page 6]Rudder-Bands broken down, and without a Pilot, to stee her into a safe Harbour.

The Second sort of ill Consequences were of a Religious Concern; for upon the King's Murther, a boundless Licence, in Matters of Religion, broke in upon the Nation; all ways of Worshipping God being allowed, but that which ought to be, and was his most reasona­ble Service; all Persons being admitted to the sacred Function, but those, who were lawfully called, and duly qualified by their Knowledg and Virtue: The Bank being in this manner broke down, the whole Body of the People began to crumble into Sects, and every Sect had its Head, and every one that was Head of a Sect, was Prince of that Party: and how many poor Souls have miscarried by following these false Lights, who have led them into the grossest and most abominable Trangsgressions; as it must needs be, when the very Instruments of their Salvation, Preaching, Praying, Fasting, Vowing, were made use of to colour over the vilest Actions; insomuch that nothing at last was accounted so bad, or so unworthy their notice, as Obedience to Superiours; nothing so ridiculous as Restitution of what was unjustly gotten: So that the very Saviour of the World, who taught Patience and Humility, Justice and Mercy thrô his whole Life, is now again most notoriously mock'd with Sol­diers, and vouch'd the Patron of all that hideous Bloodshed, which he hath plainly condemn'd in his [Page 7]Word, and will hereafter as severely sentence in his own Person.

These were sad and mournful days indeed, when our distressed Countrey felt such violent Convulsions within her own Bowels; such deadly Blows from her own disobedient Children: When both its Ci­vil and Religious Concerns were almost destroyed; for that Men made use of both the Name, Word, and Ordinances of God, to palliate the most unrighteous Purposes.

Now a just Reflection on these passed Times of Adversity should arm us, that we may escape the like Troubles,

1st. With a resolution never to meddle with those that are given to change.

2ly. Never to entertain any Principles of Sedition.

For to be involv'd in Factions against the Govern­ment, is a foolish and a dangerous thing; it is foolish, because a Man that engages therein, doth at the same time expose himself to all the Delusions imagina­ble, and to the Cheats of every plotting Knave. Besides, what an unaccountable thing is it, for eve­ry pert and ignorant Fellow to sit in Judgment on his Governours, and arraign their Administration of Af­fairs. Then in Matters of Religion, we shall hear every thing to be branded for Popery; and in Mat­ters of State, every thing to be called Tyranny, which doth not exactly agree with their Model. It is also [Page 8]dangerous to be in with Factions, because they make Men so bold and rash, that at one time or other they will split themselves to pieces against the Law; for their Lives and Fortunes are at pawn in the hands of their Confederates, who in all probability will betray them; or if they do not, their most clandestine Councils may be overheard, or their own guilty Looks and unavoidable Suspicions may discover all, and so hang up their mighty Hopes upon a Gibbet.

Now these Factions are generally laid at first, as they were in the late Times, in some little Disputes about Matters of Religion; and when once the People are whetted by this kind of Zeal to disturb the esta­blish'd Religion, the next thing they do is to mu­ster against the establish'd Government. Thus they grow nice about an indifferent Rite of Worship, and can take in treasonable Principles without remorse.

Poor deluded People! who are Tools only in the hands of the more crafty, and are led by exteriour Appearances, without penetrating into the Cause and Nature of things; they list themselves in Parties and see where they begin, but God knows where they will end; they commence the Quarrel for some Loan, and are trained on from one Evil to another, into the Spilling of Royal Blood; for when they are entred into illegal Actions, soon despairing of a safe Retreat, they think to shelter themselves from the Punishment of one Crime by committing a worse; for I make no [Page 9]doubt that many of those wretched Men, who mur­dered King CHARLES the First, would have trem­bled at the imagination of it, when first they were concerned in the Attempt, but being once drawn in, they had no other way to escape, but by Rebellion, and being Rebels, they had no other Sanctuary, but Regicide.

Wherefore it behoves us, as we regard our own or the publick Safety, to shun all Correspondence with such, as would readvance the old Methods of Sedition; let us look back a while on the passed Years of our Cala­mity, and we must be astonished at the Misfortunes that have been brought about by the feigned Alarms sometimes of Superstition, and sometimes of Arbitrary Power, according as either the one or the other might best serve the Turns of ill-minded Men: When there­fore we find any among us labouring and concerned to raise these Jealousies again, be sure they aim at sinking the whole Frame of things into Confusion; and whenever we discover any sort of Men strugling for Reformation in a tumultuous manner; we must have nothing to do with them; for they will assured­ly be found Deceivers, who make a shew of Re­ligion to undermine the State; and whenever some undutiful Persons speak ill of their Rulers in common Converse, and whisper Stories to magnifie their Faults, be sure they do this to stir [Page 10]up the Passions and Arms of the People against them.

Whereas if we would maintain the Character of good Christians and good Subjects, and desire to walk uprightly in a safe Course of Life, we must follow the honest and peaceable Rules of living through all E­vents whatsoever; so shall we live consistently with our selves, be always the same, immove­ably confirmed in our Obedience both to God and the King.

But then 2ly. We must never entertain any Prin­ciples of Sedition; for if we do, we shall always be prepar'd to break the publick Peace, and to turn the World upside down: We have heard indeed from ill-prin­cipled Politicians, that to be a zealous and sthrô-paced Christian, is to be dangerous to the State: Whereas our Saviour's Gospel contains nothing in it prejudi­cial to the Power of just and lawful Magistrates; but on the other side, hath stated the Rights of Ci­vil Government upon the firmest Principles, hath secured them by the most powerful Obligations, and hath urged them upon us by the most effectual Mo­tives of Rewards and Punishments.

Now if at any time the Professors of our Reli­gion have acted contrary to the Spirit of Christ, who was a gentle Lord, and a Peace-maker, they must be esteemed his Enemies, and not his Disciples; if in [Page 11]the Rule of our Faith there can be found any War­rant to justifie their privy Conspiracies, or open Re­bellion; then may Kings cease to be our nursing Fa­thers, and Queens to be our nursing Mothers; then our preaching is vain, and your Faith is vain. But the truth of the Case is quite otherwise; the Foundation of Government is deeply rooted in the Foundation of our Religion: Insomuch that what human Laws could never effect, that the Christian, in the true Spirit of it, performs to the utmost degree: For our Saviour carried himself with Submission to the Powers, that then were, even to the Sanhedrim and their De­legates; and in his Doctrine he hath commanded us, to render unto Cesar the things, that are Cesars; and the Apostles likewise press earnestly for Obedience to them, who have the rule over us; that we may doe all things without murmuring, and pray for all that are in authority.

But if any object to this, that both Christ and his Followers too submitted, because they had not Strength nor Force enough to resist; we may reply, that he could only have spoke the Word, and his Father would have sent him Twelve Legions of Angels for his Relief; but to this Objection the Behaviour of the Primitive Christians will give a full Answer; for Tertullian tells the Emperour in his Apology, that his Cities, Islands, Castles, and Armies; his Palace, [Page 12]Senate, and Courts of Judicature, were fill'd with Chri­stians, who would make no Stirs, thô they were op­press'd by the severest Edicts: And it is very remark­able, that our Saviour did never look into the ori­ginal Power of the Sanhedrim, or what was left them by the Romans, but because they sat in Moses his Chair, whatsoever they bid you do, be charges them to do it; and in the Writings of his Apostles not a Word oc­curs of any enquiry into the Titles or Rights of the Roman Governours, but their Pains are spent in fix­ing all things that relate to the just Measures of Obe­dience: For it had been a very weak Argument for Rulers to become Christians, if by yielding to our Faith, they must thereby be exposed to the shakings of War, upon every breaking out of Religious Melancholy; whose untoward Influences were in the late Times of trouble so very powerful, as to persuade some over­zealous Persons, that they were exempt from the Laws of Men, when they were confident enough to call themselves the only Friends of the Kingdom of Christ.

How far this false Opinion did prevail, and how near it came to the digging the Grave of this Kingdom, we cannot remember without Consternation; but this beneficial Truth we have learnt by it, that there is no Cruelty so great, as Laxeness of Government, nor Tyranny, like the Rage of Subjects let loose and [Page 13]unrestrained: Hence proceeded such a Deed, as was hardly ever seen or heard of before, and that will cause the Ears of all future Ages to tingle, when the King fell by the Rage of his own mistaken People.

However it may be, God suffered this barbarous Wickedness to succeed, that he might shew forth his Wonders in our days, and comfort us under the present Reign for all the afflictions that we have smart­ed under: It may be, this was done, that we might say, the Lord liveth, who hath delivered us from the Teeth of unnatural Zealots, blood thirsty and de­ceitful Men.

Surely all these things have been permitted, that the Faith and Patience of good Men might be made bright and shining, by the flames they have undergone of Persecution; and that in the day when God shall have given the King either the hearts, or the necks of his Enemies, it may not repent him of the deliverance he hath wrought, under God, for the State, out of the snares of wicked Men, or of raising up the afflicted Head of the Church out of the dust; of whose Faith his Grandfather lived the most pious Defender, and for which he died a Glorious Martyr.

Which brings me to the second and more delight­ful part of my Text, to consider the comforts we may now hope for, when God hath made us glad, [Page 14]according to the days, wherein we have been afflicted: And he hath made us so, in that we live,

First, Under a Monarchy, not under a multitude of Rulers.

Secondly, Under the Directions of the true Religion, not under erroneous Doctrine.

Thirdly, Under the Blessings of Peace, not under the Miseries of Civil War.

The late Troubles were the more heavy and into­lerable, in that we had many Masters to serve, ma­ny Taskmasters I mean, who did often require brick without affording straw: And Solomon observes, Prov. 28.2. That for the transgression of a Land many are the Princes thereof, but by a man of understanding shall the state of it be prolonged; especially where the King Go­verns his Subjects, as a Father doth his Children, by equal and just Laws, made with their own consent to them: And at present we have a particular reason for a more than ordinary joy, if we reflect upon the wonderful change from what we were of late, to what we are now; as S. Paul saith of the calling of the Jews, it is like the Resurrection of the dead: And we may believe, that if the Spirits of just men made per­fect [Page 15]know any thing of what is done here below, that King CHARLES the First, was never so much grieved with the Injuries that were done unto himself, as now he may be well pleased with these days of Happiness to his Realms, in having a Monarch of his own Blood, endow'd with all the Heroical Virtues, which may shed a suitable influence upon his Govern­ment: For he appears to be sent by God himself, to build up the Walls of our Jerusalem, and to make up the breaches in Sion, by restoring whatever we want to complete our good Condition, to cure all our Jealou­sies, to banish all our Fears, to confirm all our hopes, and to remove all our Distractions.

Now these Blessings can be no more expected from a Multitude of Rulers, than order can be kept up in the Universe by a multitude of Gods, who will be ever crossing one another. But they may be had under a single Person, especially from one, whom we must own to be designed by Divine Providence, to be preser­ved by Divine Power, to be qualified by Divine Wisdom, to scatter that cloud which began to gather and look black upon Church and State; to establish and prolong our peace, plenty, wealth, strength, se­curity, reputation, and whatsoever other Ingredients there are to render a Nation happy; which was so near perishing under the Conduct of many, it shall by one man of knowledg and virtue, not only be recovered [Page 16]from its former Distempers, but be stedfastly settled, and the State thereof continued, if it be not our own fault, for the future: whereas the whole Constitution of the Land must needs sink, if it should be ever Canton'd into parts, or the Sovereignty of the whole be shared among many or among all, if it should be divided by Sword-men, or by setting up two Chiefs over the same Subjects, one in Civil, the other in Ec­clesiastical Matters, whether the conclave, or the consi­story be the cause of it.

For, Secondly, The Confusions of the late Times were the more grievous for the variety of Teachers that sprung up, and filled the Heads of their Disci­ples with wrong Notions of things, particularly that they might avoid the Power of the Magistrate, by pleading sometimes their Christian Liberty, and som­times by pretending a tenderness of Conscience. Now if our Christian Liberty should extend so far, as to cancel all Bonds of Subjection to Princes, it must be the perpetual occasion of Wars and Commotions; which made it necessary for the Apostles, almost in all their Writings, to press Obedience to Superiours, least the Christians should once think themselves free from these tyes; which would render Civil Govern­ment very uncertain, and the Condition of Rulers ve­ry precarious. But our most pure and inoffensive Reli­gion hath found out an admirable temper for these [Page 17]things, and doth positively command all Persons, to conform also to every thing lawful, which Publick Authority shall prescribe: The Contents of the great Charter brought in by our Lord Jesus being these; that besides the delivering us from the Dominion of Sin, and the burdensom Rites of Judaism, our minds might enjoy a freedom to follow their Reason, and to obey any Laws of Men, that do not interfere with, or contradict the express Laws of the Gospel: From which Obedience no pretences to a tender mind can by any means excuse us; notwithstanding some Men by the softness hereof, have endeavour'd to limit Magistrates, null their Laws, and to justifie any extra­vagant Action in the Person who pretends to it; so that if the King himself shall meddle with such a one to stop the current of his zeal, he shall be named a fighter against God. Thus by the same Persons Divine Honour hath been given to a Passion, and the Prince at the same time hath been Dethroned: Hence also it is probable, that dangerous Principle arose; That it is Lawful for any Man of what quality soever, to set up for a Reformer.

I need not put you in mind of the Disorders, such as were never hammer'd out by the wit and wicked­ness of Man before, which have hereby been brought upon the Kingdom: It is our present comfort and security, that we live under the peaceable directions of [Page 18]that Religion, which is of another Spirit, and will not suffer us to dishonour our Profession by a false No­tion of Liberty, or to commit any sin under the dis­guise of a tender Conscience: Upon this account it is, that we may hope to live

Thirdly, Under the blessings of Peace; not that we are rid of Enemies, but we may maintain our ground against their attacks, so long as the wheels of Government are set right, and move with an entire harmony. For if we view the posture we stand in in at this day, if ever any people were obliged to live in good agreement with one another, we undoubtedly are that People; especially if we look back upon the days of our Calamity, and the miseries our Country lay under from the outrages of War. And it was ob­served of old, that the Conquest of this Island by the Romans was effected with ease, by reason of the dif­ferences that were among the Inhabitants; whereas had they made a joynt Defence, they had certainly either preserved their Liberty, or at least sold it at a dearer rate. At this instant we have too great cause to fear, that while the several Parties contend, a com­mon Enemy should rush in upon us, who cannot swallow us whole, as he may do, when we are cut in­to small pieces: And then, as my Lord Bacon says well, we must take it to be a desperate case, when those, [Page 19]who seem to be in with the Proceedings of the State, are full of Discord, and those that are against it, are intire and united.

However I cannot but believe, that the Providence of God hath yet continued Peace among us, for this End, that we may be the more vigilant against the approach of Enemies from abroad, chiefly those of Rome, who cannot set their foot here without bring­ing an Inundation of Ruin upon all orders of Men: For if we should be so good natured, as to cherish this Serpent in our bosoms, which now we imagine to have neither power nor will to hurt us, I question not, but we should feel it to resume its former malice and poyson, together with its warmth and strength: And give me leave to tell you, that if, now the house is well swept, the old unclean Spirit should come back again, he would take unto him seven other Spirits, worse than himself, and dwell there, and so make our latter end worse than our beginning.

Which must be so, without the return of Popery, unless we forsake every evil way; because every sin is vertually a Treason against the Government, and threa­tens the alteration of it: And it is too notorious, how long an angry no less, than a sinful Spirit, hath reign'd among us; with what a bare fare, and brazen forehead doth he walk about the Nation! With what Traders for Hell hath the Land of late years abound­ed! [Page 20]Men who are Adversaries to God and Virtue; and consequently must be so to the Establish'd Government. In their Cabals they are so impudent and base, as to revile the King, backbite his Ministers, carry about false Stories, give odious Characters, and raise imaginary Fears; as it hath been in times past; so this is done now, to let loose the Rabble upon their Governors, which Beggars do ever impatiently long for.

Now would we be willing to see the Tragical Scene of Forty One acted over again, by a crew of Malecontents? Would we see that restless, plot­ing humour, which boyls and ferments in many Men's breasts, display itself in the dismal Effects of War and Desolation? Would it please us to see men of broken Fortunes, and the most profligate Lives, in Troops and Tumults beleaguering the Goverment? Would we have an Army of Irish Papists, the stand­ing Instruments of our perpetual Slavery? Would we rejoyce to have that spiteful saying verified, Delenda est Carthago, that is, would we have our Friends destroyed, and our greatest Foe advanced to an Universal Monarchy? Would we hear the Priests absolving their Congregations from the Oath of Allegiance to their Sovereign? Would we be contented to have an insolent, overturning Army in the Bowels of the Nation, to tear every body to pieces? Would [Page 21]it delight us to behold the Husbandman undone, the Gentry starv'd, the Nobility harrass'd, and the Crown trampled on with the vilest Circumstances of Malice and Cruetly, with all good Men dying at the feet of merciless and blody Cut-throats?

Now if we would stop this Deluge of Evils from breaking in, and would prevent a Relapse into our old Diseases; if we dread these Furies to be let loose again upon us; let us fear a return of our former Iniquities; if we would keep off the Axe from the Root of our Country, let us lay it to the Root of our Sins; if we would preserve the Lives of our Posterity, let us amend our own; for when we hear of Conspiracies, or seditious Combinations, they need not so much move or affright us, as when we behold Treachery and Falseness the predominant Principle of Mens Actions; as when we see the same or more open Profaneness, the same or more lewd Debaucheries of all kinds, calling aloud for Vengeance from Heaven: This is the Cause, that, if we look back but a few Years, we shall find God's Judgments have all along followed us, still corroding into our very Bones. This would more plainly appear, if I might be suffer'd to rehearse the Evils that have befaln this Nation, and might trace them backward to that great one, which was the Spring of many others, and the unhappy Cause of this Day's Observation.

Blessed be God, that after so many Afflictions, he hath caused Light to spring out of Darkness, and Order out of Confusion; who hath reduced all things into that firm State, out of which they have been distorted; hath wrung our Religion, and our Liberties out of the very Clutches of the Roman Wolf; hath fixed the Throne and the Church upon a sure bottom; both which are fenced about with the most excellent and useful Laws.

But then what Requital have we made to God for all these Benefits? How have we demeaned our selves under this happy Constitution of Affairs? What Fruits do we yield answerable to these great Advantages? One might rationally expect to see Religion in quite another Face among us, than is hath in other parts of the World; and having had sufficient experience of the manifold Woes arising from Discord, there should no such thing as Division be heard of; and living under the most merciful and indulgent Prince, all the Strife methinks should be how to serve faithfully so good and so great a Master.

But alas! the Behaviour of many is contrary to all this; who quarrel still without any Ground, and without any Measure; who do not yet give over to re­proach and Nick-name one another: What the issue of these unreasonable Differences may be, we know not; I pray God they do not end in our Fall, for [Page 23]these were the Sins, if it be lawful to guess at the reason of God's Judgments from outward Appear­ances, that brought the sorest Evils upon our Fore­fathers.

Wherefore if these uneasie and quarrelsom Persons have not the Grace of Christians, have they not the Hearts of Men? Have they no Compassion nor Love for the Good of their Countrey? Will they not at least pity their own Progeny? Will they commit Sins, and breed up Children to inherit the Curse? Shall the Infants now unborn have cause to say hereafter in the Bitterness of their Souls, our Fathers have by their Falshood and Rebellion forfeited those Liberties, and Lost that Religion, which should have been our just Inheritance!

Thanks be to God, that at present we are made whole; he hath by a Miracle of Good­ness healed our Breaches, applied a proper Reme­dy to our Maladies, and hath poured Balsam into the Wounds of a distemper'd Nation: What re­mains then, but that we take the Counsel that was given upon a like miraculous Cure; Go, and sin no more, lest a worse thing happen unto you; Go and raise no more intestine Feuds, lest you make your selves weak, little, and indefensible.

But since our Sufferings have been so great, as none to be acknowledged worse; since our Calami­ties have reach'd the very top; I must say, Go and sin no more, lest the same Evils befall you; if my Advice will not be receiv'd, let that in 1 Sam. 12.24, 25. prevail; Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth; for consider, how great things he hath done for you; But if ye still do wickedly, ye shall all pe­rish, both ye, and your King.

For there is no such mighty difference in the Wits and Contrivances of Men; no such great Advan­tages in Military Power and Conduct; no such wonderful Disproportion in the Courage or Wis­dom of Mankind: But when God hath been pleas­ed to send his Locusts or his Grashoppers, the mean­est and very contemptible Creatures; the most flou­rishing Kingdoms, the best disciplin'd Armies, and the most fortified Cities have been overturned: But a due Regard to our most holy and peaceable Re­ligion, as it will prevent private Animosities by Ju­stice and Honesty, Truth and Plain-dealing; so it will keep off publick Disturbances, by casting out all bad Principles, which are the fatal Nurseries of Rebellion; by teaching us Patience, a due Govern­ment of our selves, and Obedience, not only for Wrath, but also for Conscience sake.

Whereas a vicious Course of Life, all loose and extravagant Desires, do naturally dispose Men to endeavour After-changes in hopes of bettering their Condition; and this Expectation prompts them on to unhinge the Government by Fraud, or to cut the Sinews of it by Force.

But if Men were wise, they would consider in this their Day, the things which do belong to their Peace; for whose sake, if they were wise, they would aban­don their most beloved Sins, and for whose sake, if they were wise, they would lay aside their most be­loved Scruples: For how can they answer it to their own Consciences, if at such a critical time, when all things valuable to us lie at Stake, they shall then labour to support the Interests of distinct Parties, and refuse to do those things, which they may do lawfully towards a Union with the whole Nation: They would not act thus, if they had any Veneration for the Memory of King CHARLES the First, or did from their Souls abhor those black Counsels and accursed Practices, which finished the last part of his Tragedy.

May all of us therefore be most industriously watchful, that the same Spirit of Peevishness and Division, which, in the Years of our trouble, inspired so many ill Men, mis-guided some credulous Persons, and cost the King so dear, may not once more [Page 26]revive and insinuate it self again, under the same, or craftier Disguises, and find an Opportunity to at­tempt the like Mischiefs.

May all dissatisfied Persons be brought to a bet­ter Temper, by reflecting seriously on those great things, which God hath done for the saving their Country, and not be so debased in their Spirits, as to court Bondage and Destruction: May they at length cease to be turbulent, or to justle their Brethren; when we are all standing upon the brink, as it were of a steep Precipice; we are at present held up by a strong hand, but as by one single Thread; Can we then think our selves secure from so great Danger?

We are bound therefore to humble our selves before God; to bewail, with a broken and a con­trite Heart, those crying Sins, which may justly provoke him to punish us with the utmost Severi­ty; earnestly imploring his Mercy, that he would protect our Church and Nation from the Designs of their Enemies, and deliver us all from unrea­sonable and wicked Men: That in the midst of Judgment he would remember Mercy, and make us glad in giving Health, long Life, and Prosperity to the King, after the Time in which we have been so forely afflicted for the late Loss of our most Gracious Queen, who was truly the Breath of our Nostrils, the Delight of our Eyes, and the Joy of [Page 27]all our Hearts: Which Mercy we importunately pray, that God would grant us, for the Sake of Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be ascribed, as is most due, all Honour, Praise, and Dominion now and for ever.