A SERMON PREACHED Before His EXCELLENCY THE Ld. Lieutenant AND THE Two HOUSES of PARLIAMENT, IN Christ's-Church, DUBLIN; When They First Met there together: On Sunday, October 16. 1692.

By JOHN Lord Archbishop of TƲAM.

Publish'd by His Excellency's Special Command.

LONDON, Printed for R. Clavel at the Peacock in St. Paul's Church Yard, 1692.

JUDG. XVII. 6.

In those days, there was no King in Israel; but every Man did that which was Right in his own Eyes.

THE Book of Judges contains Memorials of the State and People of the Jews, from the Death of Joshua to the Time that Eli Judged Is­rael; with whose Government the first Book of Samuel begins, and carries on their History. We have here an Account of many Vicissitudes of their Govern­ment; and of many very Remarkable Passages con­cerning the Manners and Behaviour, the Sufferings and Deliverances of that Stubborn and Apostatizing Peo­ple: From the day that they left Egypt, they were on eve­ry Turn, murmuring against Moses their Deliverer; all their Grievances are put to his Account: If they at any time want Flesh, or Bread, or Water, they immediately charge him with mis-management, & wish they had still continu'd Slaves, so they might have eaten Onions, and Garlick, and Flesh in Egypt: So that God was forc'd often to stop their Mouths by Miracles, and sometimes to vindicate the Au­thority of his Servant, by extraordinary Judgments on those that Rebell'd against it: So difficult a thing it was, to keep them to their Duty, even when Moses was King in Je­surun, and was Conducting them from Bondage into Liber­ty. [Page 4] But they had not long past over Jordan, and Enjoy'd Rest from their Enemies, before they fell to their old Trade. They serv'd the Lord all the days of Joshua, and of the El­ders that out-lived him; but these were scarce Cold in their Graves, and but just gather'd to their Fathers, when there arose another Generation, which knew not the Lord, but did evil in his sight, and follow'd other Gods; insomuch, that his anger often waxed hot, that they could not stand against their Enemies. Nevertheless, upon their Repentance, God still rais'd them up Judges, and delivered them all the days of the Judge: But as soon as he died, they again corrupt­ed themselves, more than their Fathers, and ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

This is the Account we have of them, in the Second Chapter, which describes the Heads and Contents of the Book following; which is fill'd with little else but such like various Turns of their Affairs, of their Sins and their Pu­nishments, and of their Repentance and Deliverance.

The Text is an Historical Remark, which the Collector of these Passages makes, of a certain Inter-Regnum, or In­tercision in their Civil Government, and of the Consequen­ces that Naturally and Usually attend such a State and Frame of Things. And accordingly, I shall take an Occa­sion to offer to your Consideration the great misery of a People, when they are without restraint from civil Govern­ment: Which I shall with all plainness endeavour to lay before you, from two Heads of Discourse, which are obvi­ous in the Text.

I. Here is a Vacancy in the Throne; In those days there was no King in Israel.

II. A General Debauchery, or Universal Depravation [Page 5] of Manners; Every Man did that which was right in his own Eyes.

When we have viewed and considered these Particulars, I shall in a few Practical Inferences bring them home to our own Doors, and there leave their Application.

I. Here is a Vacancy in the Throne: There was in those Days no King in Israel.

By the word King in this Text, we are not, I conceive, to understand that Form of Government only which we call a Monarchy, but Civil Government in general; if the Text did intend that Form precisely and exclusively of all others, it would, I confess, be the strongest Argument of the Excel­lency and Usefulness thereof, and a reflection upon all other Models, as being less sufficient for their ends. We might from such an Exposition infer, That the Monarchical Go­vernment is the most Powerful and Effectual Restraint to the Passions and Vices of Men. As if we shou'd say, There were other Governours, the standing Council of the Great Sanhedrim, and other Inferiour Judicatories; but these could not check the insolencies of Men, nor stop the course of im­piety or violence; these could not hinder, or durst not pu­nish the Riots and Unlawful Assemblies of the Wicked and Unruly Sons of Belial. There was no King, and therefore every Man did as he pleas'd, as if no Lord were over them.

But I conceive such an Exposition is too narrow, and not altogether true: For, as Solomon observes, Prov. XXX. 27. The Locusts who have no King, yet go forth all of them by Bands. So, other Constitutions of Government may have Unity, and order and strength, to enforce their respective Laws; and the Finger of their Discipline is found sometimes to be [Page 6] heavier than the Loins of Monarchy; the Generosity and Clemency of Kings (at least of some Kings) Dispensing in some matters with a rigid conformity to their Laws; while others who affect a shew of more liberty, prove generally more severe Exactors of obedience. And therefore, by No King in Israel, I am content you may understand a Cessa­tion of Civil Authority in general, and not of any particu­lar Form of its Administration. So that, No King, shall sig­nifie no Government in Israel. But then, this kind of Go­vernment being here put to signifie any other, we may rea­sonably conclude, Either

1. That this, viz. A Monarchy, is the best of all the seve­ral kinds, the most apt and sufficient for its ends, Parcere Subjectis, & Debellare Superbos, for the Terror of Evil Doers, and the Praise of them that do Well. Or,

2. That, that Government by which God presided over the Jews, in the times of Moses, and Joshua, and the Judges, did more resemble that of a King, than any other sort of administration, whether of Aristocracy or Democra­cy. And therefore we may have leave to think, that such a Paternal Government in a Gentle & well-temper'd Monar­chy, is most like the divine Theocracy over that Nation, and consequently, where ever it obtains, in any other, is most Acceptable and Pleasing unto God, as the nearest Approach to the Pattern in the Mount, the primitive model & Scheme which he contriv'd for his own People: And therefore if any Form of Government be of Divine Right, more than another, such a kind of Monarchy bids fairest for the Cha­racter, as being a Copy from the Divine Original. The rays of Soveraignty did not indeed dazle the eyes here, so much as in the Tyrannies of the Nations, but they were [Page 7] more Benign, and better suited to the Nature and Genius of a free People: The circumstances of Majesty were not so glittering and gaudy, nor the power so Absolute and De­spotical; but was sufficiently qualified to answer all the Ne­cessities both of Prince and People. Power is a wild and often a Destructive thing, if it be not fix'd by Law, and sweeten'd by some Allay; and it becomes not only more useful and Beneficial, by being somewhat Limited and Cir­cumscrib'd, but also more durable and strong, by the wil­lingness of the People to live under it, where it is their Interest to support and Maintain it, as well as Duty to obey it.

But in this Government of the Jews, there could be no defect; every want was supply'd by the special Providence of the All-Wise and Almighty Monarch: For when the Lord rais'd them up Judges, the Lord was with the Judge, and deli­ver'd them out of the Hands of their Enemies all the days of the Judge, Chap. II. 18. All the defect was in the Froward­ness of the people, when they would not hearken to their Judges, Vers. 17. but went a Whoring after other Gods; ei­ther inventing new Gods, or new-ways of worship, after the fashion of their neighbours, & at last throwing off, with their Religion, even their form of civil Polity, both which God had instituted for them. Thus at one time, as soon as Moses turn'd his back, they cry out to Aaron, Make us Gods to go before us; and of their Idols so made, These be thy Gods, O Israel; and at another time to Samuel, for a King to Rule them, after the manner of the Nations. And these things became matter of Gods high and just Displeasure against them; not that such a form was simply, and in it self, un­lawful, but because they were given to Change, and grew weary both of the worship which he had prescribed for [Page 8] them, and the Government by which he had deliver'd them at first out of Aegypt, and carried them into Canaan, and there frequently rescu'd them from such as oppressed and held them in Subjection. The provocation had been equal, to have desir'd a Parliament, or any other Regimen, than that which God himself had chosen for them; and this ap­pears in the reason he gives of his displeasure, to Samuel, 1 Sam. VIII. 7. For in so doing they have not rejected thee but me, that I should not Reign over them.

Having said thus much of the first thing in the Text, viz. the dissolution of the civil Government among the Jews, or the Vacancy of the Throne; I need not trouble you with the enquiry about the period of time to which this obser­vation refers; about which, I cannot find that Agreement on which one may build any certainty: But certain it is, it could not be after the times of Eli and of Sampson, though it is so placed in the History, because we find Phi­neas the Son of Eleazer was alive, and attended the Al­tar, even after this, Chap. XX. 28. The things therefore here Recorded, and in the following Chapters of this Book, are most probably conceiv'd to happen soon after the death of Joshua, and the Elders that were Contemporary with him; when, as you already heard, they forsook the Lord, and God forsook them; and leaving them without Rule and Government to do what was right in their own Eyes, they became an easie Prey to every Tyrant.

But it does not much concern us to know when those days were, if there were at any time such days, in which there was No King in Israel: And that there were such, appears by the frequent mention of this Phrase, in several parts of this Book; the Writer whereof seems not so Cri­tical about the Chronology, as the matters he relates; as not confining himself so much to the Laws of Method, as the simplicity of Truth.

And so I come, from considering the Vacancy in their Government, to view the Consequence of such a State.

II. In the Second Point in the Text, which is this, An universal Debauchery and Depravation of manners; and who indeed could expect other? Who, that considers how difficult it is, even with Bit and Bridle, to restrain the hard mouth of the multitude? It will try the Patience, the Wisdom, the Courage of the most able and experienc'd Ru­lers, even in the best Governments, when they are Arm'd with Power, and bear not the Sword in vain, to quench the Fire of Ambition, and keep down the Passions of Men from boyling over into Lust, and Rage, and Revenge: But when there is none to guide the Chariot, to Address the Motion, to check and arrest the Furies that draw it, into what precipices will they not run? God help those that sit in the One, or stand in the way of the Other. This State of things is Deplorable, but 'tis unavoidable from the Other; every Man will then do what is right in his own Eyes. Whether this Expression does more fully de­scribe the Sinful or the Miserable estate of a People, is a question; but that it does both; I think is none.

1. It does import the Sinfulness and Wickedness of a People walking by this Rule: For to do what is right in our own Eyes, is what we daily confess to be our Sin, in following too much the Devices and Desires of our own Hearts. It is an Expression that is best measur'd by it's contrary, viz. To do what is right in the sight of God: And therefore we are Commanded, Numb. XV. 39. to seek his Statutes, and not to go after our own Hearts, and our own Eyes; and throughout this Book, these Phrases are set in Opposition to each other. The Phrase indeed, consider'd abstractively, is capable of a better sence, to follow the Conduct of Right [Page 10] Reason; but it is plain, that cannot be the Construction here, but the contrary: And I think there is no Expression that gives us a more full and compleat Character of a Per­son or a People wholly abandoned to a Vicious, Profligate and Sensual Life.

2. It does as necessarily imply the Miserable Estate of any People: For no Man is secure of any thing, though never so dear or valuable. The World is too narrow for the Ambition and Avarice of Men: They will not gaze, like other Beasts, in common; but every man would have a property in all: So that every man must be perpetually on his guard against his Neighbour; and none can taste or enjoy his property, for fear of loosing it. Every Man then, will be a Cain in his Family, an Absolon in the Common­wealth, and an Ishmael in the World: His Hand against every Man, and every Mans hand against him. There needs not many words in a matter whereof all Men are convinc'd: For if every Man do what he thinks right, as he pleases, and as he is able, no man can be long pleased, or secure, of his Property, his Liberty, or his Life: Men will grow, without Religion and Law, more destructive than Beasts without reason; and neither of these are suppo­sed in this Case, to have any part: Grace here is turn'd into Wantonness, and Religion is used only as a Vizard to deceive; Reason is turn'd into Craft, and Power abus'd to Oppression; the Weak become the prey of the Strong, and the Simple of the Subtile; Strength is the only Law of Justice; and he that Suffers, is always in the Wrong: And surely there is not a more miserable Condition in the World, than to live in such a State of Anarchy. The most cruel Tyranny is more Tolerable, by how much it is better to be a Slave to one, than every Man. Men would [Page 11] rather choose to open a Passage and let out their Lives, than to be in such continual Torment about them: They would rather strip themselves of all Being, if they could, or venture their condition in another World, than live in this upon such Terms. And yet, with how Pleasing a Spe­culation does this Common wealth of Libertinism entertain many Imaginations? They have nothing but Golden Dreams, they already wallow in Wealth, they swim in Pleasure, and are Masters of all they can desire: But alas! They consider not that others have the same fancies and appetites; and while every man grasps at all, none can hold any thing fast.

And that none may think I have represented things in false colours, let us put our Eye to the Perspective, and look upon the Israelites by the light of this Text, and we shall behold them all Chaos, deformity, and confusion, both in their Religious and Civil Affairs.

In the Story here before us, we find Micah and his Mo­ther busie and zealous about their Graven and Molten Ima­ges, their House of Gods, and their Ephod and Tera­phim, making his Son a Priest, who was not of the Tribe of Levi. For the Congregation is holy, said Korah, and every man has the Spirit. In the Verse after the Text, we find a Levite Inveigl'd, to give the more Credit and Countenance to the Idolatry. Tempted by necessity, as may be conceiv'd by the Salary this Chaplain was con­tented with, viz. Ten Shekels of Silver per Annum, a Suit of Cloaths and his Dyet. So that he, that was but a Ser­vant to the Priest in the Divine Appointment, is Consecrated a Priest, by Micha's order; and by the same Rule, the Priest may become a Bishop. And as Micha here, so we find a great part of a Tribe Seduced into the same Sin, Chap. [Page 12] XVIII. 19. Thus the Divine Institution will be despis'd, and all Order inverted in Religion, if every man may do what is right in his own Eyes. Every Man will take Honour to himself, without being call'd as Aaron, will affect the Pre­heminence, as well as Diotrephes, or Aerius, will be an Apo­stle or a Prophet, have a Psalm or a Hymn, a Way and Mode of Worship by himself; and the unity of Religion shall be divided and multiply'd not according to the Number of our Cities or Families, but of Persons. Every man will Cry [...], and Esteem it a fine thing to be Celebrated for an Author and a Setter forth of new and strange Do­ctrines, and applaud themselves for their own happy Dis­coveries, whereof there are no Footstepts in any of the Tra­ditions or Dotages of the Ancients. There is not more Pride, in being first in a Fashion, than being singular in an opinion. Such is the carnality of some minds, That no­thing is more delightful to them, than, as the Scripture Phrases it, to Run a Whoring after their own Inventions.

Nor were the Jews more unhappily led by this Liberty into Apostacy from their Religion, than into the vilest and most shameful Immoralities; of which the lewdness of the Benjamites, in all its Circumstances and Consequences, is an Instance, without a Parallel. And the same Reason is assign'd in the conclusion of the History, as sure there was no King, but every man did that which was right in his own Eyes. Judg. XXI. 25.

But the evil does not rest here, for their Idolatries and Wickedness is punisht, with Civil Wars among themselves, and Invasion from abroad. The Lust of the Benjamites, kindled the Rage of the other Tribes into such a Flame, as almost consum'd a Tribe of Israel. Nor was their Miseries only from a Civil War, but from Foreign Enemies: While [Page 13] they forsook God, who was their Strength, and every one displeas'd him, by doing what was pleasing to himself, their divided house could not stand, but lay open to the Ambiti­on of every powerful Prince, who thought fit to advance the Glory of his Arms, in their Conquest and Destruction. And thus they became a Prey to Chushan the Mesopotamion and Eglon the Moabite, and to the many other Lords, who in their turns rul'd over them, almost to the ruine of their Nation. Had not God sent them frequently Signal and unhop'd for deliverances.

Having entertain'd your patience on the two particulars, I propos'd to discourse of: Give me leave to make a few Inferences from what has been said.

I. And First, this shews an absolute necessity of Civil Power, and a due Execution of Penal Laws, for the well Governing of any People. Since these only can sufficient­ly curb and restrain this Maxim of the Libertine, which if pursu'd, must necessarily destroy all our most Important Interests of Religion, of Liberty and Property. And all these are necessary. As good no King, as no Law; no Law, as no Execution.

In the Case before us, we find the want of Civil Go­vernment to be the Reason of all the Sins and Miseries of the Jewish Nation. They had the best Religion, then, in the World, and the best Laws for their use. And Phinehas the High-Priest stood before the Altar, Chap. XX. 28. in those days when there was no King.

But though he was a man famous for his Zeal, as Abra­ham for his Faith, for it was Imputed to him for Righte­ousness, and we cannot imagine he was idle in that high Employment; yet neither his Courage nor his Piety could stem the Torrent of Vice and of Idolatry, by the Power purely Spiritual.

Where Men have Faith to believe Eternal Rewards and Punishments, the Weapons of the Religious Warfare are indeed mighty, and of great Efficacy to the pulling down of strong holds. But even our Saviour could do no mighty Works in some Places, because of Mens unbelief; nor can the Ecclesiastical Conjurers work Miracles of Reformation on all men, for the same reason.

But all Men have Sense, though all men have not Faith; and the Athiests fears Death, that does not fear God; and looks on that as a real Evil, though he thinks Hell Tor­ments but a painted Fire. The Cure therefore of these Evils, of Idolatry, of Atheism, Lewdness, and Prophane­ness; which, we are told in Job, are Iniquities to be punish'd by the Judge; is not to be expected from the Spiritual Sword, unless the Secular Arm assist it, by delivering them over to Temporal Punishments, as God did to Satan, in the Pri­mitive Discipline, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

2. The Mischief of this principle, of doing every one what is right in his own Eyes, shews the unreasonableness of those that contend for an Indefinite Liberty, either in Re­ligious or Civil Matters under a Stated and Well-settl'd Government; for it is the first end of Law and Govern­ment to bound and limit such a Liberty. And if Men will not be confin'd by the Socity in which they live, they Cancel the Obligations to which they are suppos'd to have consented, by entering into it; and so endeavour to Sap and Undermine the Foundation on which it stands; and conse­quently expose themselves and others to the same Incon­veniencies and Insecurities they were in, when there was no Government. It is therefore the Interest of Government, and of those that are Protected by it, joyntly to oppose such a Principle as will destroy both. And when a Govern­ment [Page 15] is so Supine and Careless as to suffer Men to speak, Write, or Act, as they list, it is neither true to it self, nor just to those that depend upon it; but seems to Conspire with the Enemy to its own Destruction: For as, when there was No King in Israel, every Man did what was right in his own Eyes; it is as visible if every man be allowed to do so, there cannot long be a King in Israel. Men do not put out their Eyes, when they enter into Society; but they must not walk afterward so much by the Light within, in things Lawful, as by the light of Authority, in things that are to be done; and the Light of Faith in the Divine Reve­lation of the Scriptures, in things that are to be believ'd. And as wise Governments will not abridge the liberties of Men, which they have by the Charter of Nature, or of Christians, which they enjoy, by that of the Gospel, be­yond what is necessary for the Peace or Good Order of the Community; so neither should men be clamorous for being circumscrib'd in some few things in their own Nature per­fectly indifferent.

3. If the want of Civil Government be so great an Evil, Then it is both the Duty and Interest of any People, who are fallen into such a Circumstance, immediately to apply the proper Remedy, by filling the Vacant Throne by a free Election, where they have Power so to do; or Peaceable Submission to those, who have a Right without it. And the Publick necessity of affairs, the Salus Ecclesiae & Salus Po­puli, does both Require and Justifie their doing so, as well for Gods Honour, as their Countrey's safety.

4. If the want of Civil Government be an occasion of so much wickedness & mischief, what great reason have these Nations to bless Almighty God, for the Restraint he put upon the hearts and hands of Men, when these Kingdoms were left in such a State? Though in some Places the Rab­ble proceeded to some Excess, yet how little mischief was [Page 16] done, in comparison of what all reasonably fear'd would have come to pass? When the People were left without Go­vernment, and an Army was disbanded, but not disarm'd, it could be nothing less than the incontroulable Dominion which God has over the hearts of men, that Restrain'd their Spirits, and chain'd up their desires, from the utmost Violence, even from sheathing our Swords in one anothers Bowels. But on the contrary, the men whose hands were mighty, found nothing; while the Multitude, apt enough at other times to run to do evil, now generally stand still to see the Salvation of God; and God chose (not in the Wind, and in the Fire, but) in a soft still Voice to speak Peace to his People.

5. When there was no King in England, but the People were left as Sheep without a Shepherd; and those in Ireland were expos'd to the Fury of their implacable and invete­rate Enemies; when the Ship was left to run a Drift among Rocks and Sands, without a Pilot, What reason have we all to rejoyce, and to praise God, who has committed us to the Care of such a Shepherd, who has put the Helm into such a hand, as hath hitherto so steer'd the good Ship be­tween all difficulties, that we may comfortably hope he will at length carry her into a safe Harbour?

Blessed be God, and blessed be the Name of Their Ma­jesties, this Days Assembly opens to us a fair prospect of our being upon the Borders of Better Times than we have yet seen. We are not, as the Israelites in the Text, with­out a King, nor without a Priest, nor without God in the World, as some, in so charging us, have lyed unto God. God has restor'd our Religion and our Monarchy, our Laws and our Law-makers; our Judges, as at the First; and our Counsellors, as in the beginning. I hope we shall not be like them, in the other Part, by doing every one, That which is right in our [Page 17] own Eyes; seeking our selves, our pleasures, and our gains from our Quarters, our private Interests either of parties, or persons, in the prejudice of the common Stake, and to the Disservice of their Majesties, who have call'd, or the People, who have sent us hither.

I hope again we shall not be like them as at other times murmuring at Gods providence, because our Deliverance is wrought in measure, and keeps not up with the Vehemence of our desires; or repining at such Miscarriages, as are ine­vitably incident to all great Revolutions: Lest our Ingrati­tude should become an occasion of our Complaints, and slacken the full Accomplishment of what we long for, with such impatience. Let us not therefore look only on the Dark side of the Cloud, on our personal sufferings, and fret our selves because of the Evil doers, but behold the bright and amazing deliverance which God has wrought for us, and rather than still be complaining, let us say with good old Mephibosheth, when he lost half his Estate, by the pri­vate Accusation of a false Informer, Yea, let them take all, since my Lord the King is Return'd in Peace.

And now, what shall we render unto the Lord, for all the be­nefits he has bestow'd? Since the King is victorious over our Enemies, and we are thereby restor'd to all those blessings, of which they had unjustly depriv'd us; surely the most just & suitable Acknowledgment we can make, is to serve him, in every station and Relation, wherein we have receiv'd advan­tage; in our Religious, & Private, and Legislative Capacities.

1. Let it be right in our Eyes, to serve their Majesties, in our Religious stations, by praying sincerely and Earnestly, for them, by whom the House of Prayer is Restor'd to us, That the God of Israel would protect the King of Israel, and establish him, on the holy Hill of Sion, where his Right Hand hath set him. Let us thus support the hands of our [Page 18] Deliverer, while his Armies are Fighting against Amalek; that being call'd out of the narrow Scene, where his pro­genitors Actions were confin'd for the Deliverance of Op­pressed Provinces, to assert the Liberties of Europe, against the Great Destroyer, he may ride Prosperously, because of Truth, till he see the desire of his Soul.

2. Let it be right in our Eyes, to serve them with our Properties, and Private Interests, to enable them to com­pleat that Deliverance, for which his Majesty so freely Ven­tur'd his Life among us: At least let it appear, that we are even in our low Estate, to our power, yea and beyond our po­wer, willing of our selves, to supply the necessities, of which we have been a great occasion, that our Loyalty and Zeal may provoke many.

3. Let it be right in our Eyes, to serve them in our Le­gislative capacities, by whom our old Laws are restor'd to us, and we to the Authority of making new ones, without any Challenge of such a Dispensing Power, as might ren­der both useless. Let us therefore give Consent to, and offer matter for such Laws, as will secure their Majesties Govern­ment, by promoting the Glory of God, and love and good­will in the People, to their Majesties, and to one another; by suppressing Idolatry and Vice; that by Righteous Laws, and severe Executions, and Good Examples, all Immorality and prophaneness may be punisht, and if possible, put out of Countenance; that so, some stop may be given to that Flood of Impiety, That is roll'd in upon us, and is become too strong for Pulpit Reproof, or ordinary Discipline.

It is your Duty, (Most Noble Lords, Most Wise and Worthy Patriots) in this your day, to consider things that make for peace, and to bear your Testimony against the crying Sins of this Generation, which call aloud for Refor­mation, or for Vengeance. By frequent Rapines, we have [Page 19] almost lost all Sense of justice: By the commonness of swear­ing and cursing, all Reverence for God, and holy things, Because of these things, our Government is weakned, and Reproach'd, our Religion dishonour'd, and the wrath of God cometh on the Children of disobedience. You cannot serve their Majesties more acceptably, who are great Examples of Vertue, and scatter iniquity with their eyes, nor settle their Thrones more securely, which are best establish't by righteous­ness, nor your own peace more durably, than by retrieving the credit of our worship, and making it a support of Vertue as well as of the Protestant Religion. Then Righteousness and Peace will kiss each other, Truth will look down from Hea­ven, and Glory shall dwell in our Land.

But if after so great a deliverance, we shall again Return, or rather still continue, in our follies and our Vanities, in our filthiness and intemperance, in our Opressions and our plunders, esteeming all right in our own eyes, whereby the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, or the pride of Life, is nourished and pamper'd; we vainly trust in Princes, or in Armies, tho never so brave and fortunate: Our boasting of a true Religion is vain also, while we hold it in Unrigh­teousness; nor will it stay long with us upon such dishonou­rable terms. God knows how to punish, as well as to deli­ver: He can give us up to our own hearts lusts, to bite and devour, and consume one another, by civil Wars; or he can hiss for our Enemies from abroad, and bring upon us a Chushan, or an Eglon, or stir up the conquer'd Philistine, and arm the Canaanite yet in the Land against us; & the Thorns in our Sides will prove Skiens and Daggers at our hearts, & Fire come out of the Bramble, and destroy the Cedars of Lebanon. But I hope better things of you, while I thus speak. Which God of his infinite Mercy grant for his sake, who speaks better things: To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory for ever. Amen.

FINIS.

A Catalogue of some Books lately Printed for Robert Clavel, at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-Yard.

☞ THE State of the Protestants of Ireland, under the late King James's Government; in which their Carriage towards him is justified, and the absolute Neces­sity of their endeavouring to be freed from his Govern­ment, and of submitting to their present Majesties, is de­monstrated. The Fourth Edition, with Additions.

Bede Venerabili Opera quaedam Theologica nunc primum edita necnon Historica ante a semel edita accesserunt Egberti Archiepiscopi Eborocensis Dialogus de Ecclesiastica Instituti­one & Aldhelmi Episcopi Scireburnensis Liber de Virginitate ex codicae antiquissimo emendatus.

A Defence of Pluralities, or holding Two Benefices with Cure of Souls, as now practised in the Church of England.

L. Annaei Flori Rerum Romanorum Epitome, interpretati­one, & Notis illustravit Anna Tanaquilli Fabri Filia, Jussu Christianismi Regis, in usum Serenissimi Delphini.

De Presbyteratu Dissertatio Quadripartita, Presbytera­tus Sacri Origines, Naturam Titulum, Officia & Ordines, ab ipsis Mundi primordiis usque ad Catholicae Ecclesiae consum­matam Plantationem complectens. In qua Hierarchiae Epis­copalis Jus divinum & Immutabile, ex Auctoritate Scriptu­rarum Canonice expositarum, & Ecclesiasticae traditionis Suf­fragiis, breviter quidem, sed luculenter asseritur.

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