LACRYMAE ECCLESIAE; OR The mourning OF HADADRIMMON For Englands IOSIAH. Delivered in two Sermons, Janu. 30. 1660. at the ſolemn Faſting and Humiliation, for the Martyrdom and horrid Murder of our late gracious King Charles the Firſt, of ever bleſſed Memory, In the Church of the Borough of Blechingley in the County of Sury.
By Wil. Hampton Rector of the ſaid Church.
LONDON, Printed for VVil. Hope, at the ſign of the blew Anchor on the North ſide of the Royall Exchange, 1661.
As you have been a great ſufferer in your Perſon and Eſtate, to the loſs of more then thirty thouſand pounds for your fidelity and loyalty to his late Majeſty of bliſſed memory, and yet were cheared more with the continuall feast of a good and a quiet Conſcience (as I have heard you confeſſe) then you could have been, had you ſaved your eſtate and gained ten times that ſum by engaging on the other ſide: for who can ſtretch forth his hand againſt the Lords anoynted, and be guildeſſe? 1 Sam. 26.9. So no leſs ſorrow for his ſad ſufferings, and chiefly that laſt fatall blow brought upon his ſacred Perſon by the furious rage of mercileſs, and bloody men, when a ſword did even pierce through your heart as your Lordſhip hath often expreſſed in my hearing, & in my houſe, whither you were pleaſed to retire your ſelf aſter your releaſment from Oxford, and at other times; and to honour me with your preſence, when we did in private poure forth our ſouls together in utter deteſtation of that horrid Fact, and in bitter lamentation for it: Therefore upon this account, I think not theſe Sermons more due to any one then your ſelf; as alſo for the many obligations that lie upon me for your manifold favours and reſpects to me, even from your youth up till now.
It is framed in a low and plain ſtile, ſitted for a Country Auditory, and it hath alwaies been my deſire and endeavour to condeſcend to the meaneſt capacity. My warning was very ſhort for ſuch a work, having ſcarce two dayes to prepare, by notice given me by a worſhipfull Neighbour, one of our late Burgeſſes in the late healing Parliament, of ſuch a day to be kept, of which I knew nothing before.
And although the ſhort warning, the exhauſtion of my Spirits, in Preaching twice the Lords day preceding, together with my age might have pleaded my excuſe for ſuch a task, and confind me to praying and weeping: Yet (as nothing ſeemes hard to a willing mind) my cordial affection to the duty (for I have in my ſecret prayers long wiſhed I might live to ſee ſuch a day as this, wherein we might in publick aſ wel expreſs our deteſtation of, as lamentation for that monſtrous and bloody Act) put me on with the aſſiſtance of the Divine Spirit, to a performance beyond my ſtrength and expectation.
The dead Letter cannot be anſwerable to the lively Delivery; which was to the content of my Auditory, which that day was great, many of the adjoyning Pariſhes, where no notice was given of the day, repairing to my Church: And which was to my content, as it drew teares from mine, ſo from the eyes of a great part of my hearers; which is the beſt commendation of a Preacher.
The Lord grant it may work upon their Souls, to whoſe ſight it ſhall come, whoſe hearts or hands, or fingers were defiled with that innocent blood; that they may be deeply humbled, and moved to repentance for ſuch a crimſon ſcarlet ſin; and find Mercy, and obtain Pardon from Heaven, by having their hearts ſprinkled with that blood, which ſpeakes better things then the blood of Abel. And that it may blunt and alleviate the aſperity of their Spirits, who have great thoughts of heart, and thoſe evill too, againſt this bleſſed Change, a work even of Omnipotency: And againſt our dear and gracious Soveraign (whom God long preſerve) a King of ſuch aſweet Christian temper, for Wiſdom, Diſcretion, Meekneſs, Gentleneſs, Pitty, Piety, Mercy, as is too good for ſuch a churliſh and unthankful People. Thus commending this poor labour to the bleſſing of God; and your Lordſhip, and family to his grace, and ſafe protection, I humbly take my leave, and remain
THis day is a day of blackneſs, and gloomineſs, a day of clouds, & thick darkneſs, a day of mourning for a good and a religious King cut off by untimely, violent death, to the unexpreſſible griefe of all good Chriſtians, by the trayterous heads, trecherous hearts, and bloody hands of wicked, and ungodly men; yet great pretenders to holineſs above all other. Now (I ſay) this being a black day, a day of mourning, I have choſen a Text of mourning, of mourning for a godly and a religious King Joſiah, the fitteſt parallel I can find in the whole ſacred book, for our Martyred Soveraign.
2Joſiah was one of the beſt of all the Kings of Iudah; whoſe Hiſtory you may read at large in the foregoing Chapter: and in the former part of this Chapter, and alſo in the 22, and 23. book of the Kings.
He came to the Crown young, at eight yeares old; and ſought the Lord while he was yet young in the eight year of his raign: and the twelfth year began the great work for advancing Religion and Piety. He purged Ieruſalem of Idolatry, reformed abuſes, repaired Gods Houſe, reſtored his worſhip, regarded his Miniſters, kept ſuch a Paſſeover, as had not been kept before ſince the dayes of Samuel the Prophet; neither did all the Kings of Iſrael keep ſuch a Paſſeover, as Ioſiah kept, Verſ. 18. Like unto him there was no King before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his ſoul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moſes, neither after aroſe there any like him, 2 King. 23.25.
And though he was thus good and zealous, yet for the peoples ſin was he taken away by a violent death; as it followeth; Notwithſtanding the Lord turned not from the fierceneſs of his great wrath, where with his anger was kindled againſt Iudah, becauſe of all the provocations that Manaſseh had provoked him withall. And the Lord ſaid, I will remove Jeruſalem out of my ſight, as I have removed Iſrael, and will caſt off this City Jeruſalem, which I have choſen, and the houſe of which I have ſaid, my name ſhall be there 2 King. 23.26.27.
So that for the great ſin of the Land was this bleſſed King ſnatched from his People by untimely death, as a puniſhment (not of his but) of their iniquity. According as Huldah the Propheteſſe had informed the Meſſenger ſent to her by him, 2 King. 22. from ver. 15. to 20. Thus ſaith the Lord, Tell the man that ſent you to me: Thus ſaith the Lord, Behold I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the Inhabitants3 thereof, even all the words of the book, which the King of Judah hath read; becauſe they have forſaken me, and have burnt Incenſe to other gods to provoke me to anger; Therefore my wrath ſhall be kindled againſt this place, and ſhall not be quenched. But to the King of Judah that ſent you; Thus ſhall you ſay to him: Thus ſaith the Lord God of Iſrael, as touching the word which thou haſt heard; becauſe thine heart was tender, and thou haſt humbled thy ſelfe before me, when thou heardeſt what I ſaid againſt this place, and againſt the Inhabitants thereof, to make it a deſolation, and a curſe, and haſt rent thy clothes, and hath wept before me, I have alſo heard thee, ſaith the Lord, Behold therefore I will gather thee unto thy Fathers, and thou ſhalt be gathered unto thy Grave in peace, and thy eies ſhall not ſee all the evill that I will bring upon this Land.
Now that this judgement pronounced might be accompliſhed upon the Nation: This godly and religious King was unhappily drawn into a deſtructive War. Pharaoh Necho King of Egypt going to War againſt Carchemiſh King of Aſſyria, to the river Euphrates, Ioſiah is drawn in to aid the Aſsyrians: Necho ſends Ambaſſadours to diſſwade him from it; what have I to do with thee thou King of Iudah? I come not againſt thee this day, but againſt the Houſe wherewith I have war; for God commanded me to make haſt; for bear thee from medling with God, who is with me, that he deſtroy thee not. Nevertheleſs Ioſiah would not turn his face from him, but diſguiſed himſelf that he might fight with him, and hearkned not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight with him in the valley of Megidd•. And in this battel he loſt his life, Verſ. 23. And the Archers ſhot at King Joſiah; and the King ſaid to his Servants, have me away, for I am ſore wounded. His Servants therefore took him out of that Chariot, and put him into the ſecond Chariot that he had; and they brought4 him to Jeruſalem, and he dyed, and was buried in one of the Sepulchres of his Futhers: And then followes my mournful Text; And all Judah and Jeruſalem mourned for Joſiah; and Jeremiah lamented for Joſiah, &c. Juſiah dyed by a fatall arrow, (as our Ioſiah by a diſmall blow) to the unexpreſſible griefe of his People, the Church of God, decay of Religion, and damage of the State; which the Nation being ſenſible of, betake themſelves (as our Nation now doth) to a generall lamentation, and a bitter mourning: And all Judah and Jeruſalem mourned, &c. and Jeremiah &c. Wherein we have,
It was a cuſtom amonſt the Iews to have publick mourners at their Funerals, both men and women, who uſed to5 make lamentations in dolefull Tunes, at the death of Perſons of worth; as appeares, Eccl. 12.5. Man goeth to his long home, and the Mourners go about the ſtreets. In theſe lamentations they uſed to make mention of the parties deceaſed, and to mourn for them. Thus they did for Ioſiah in their ſolemn mournings for others, making mention of the great loſſe of him: Inſomuch that it became a conſtant cuſtom, and as it were a ſetled Law or Ordinance, to make mention of the ſad loſs of Joſiah, in their dolefull Elegies: Or it may be, that by reaſon of the loſſe of ſo worthy a King, a ſpeciall Law was enacted for it (as our Nation and State hath now piouſly, and prudently done) that at all other ſolemn mournings, there ſhould be mourning for Joſiah; and that publike Mourners obſerved the ſame. This is meant when 'tis ſaid, And made them an Ordinance in Iſrael.
I ſhall not now by reaſon of my very ſhort warning exactly handle every branch of the text, but only gather for you from hence three generall obſervations, wherin I ſhall compriſe and bind up together, as with a6 threefold cord, the whole ſum and ſubſtance of the Text.
1. Of the firſt of theſe; That the child, the deareſt child of God may undergo a violent death. As a child of God may be expoſed in this world to any tempration that is common to the Nature of man, to the ſoreſt and ſharpeſt affliction ſo to the ſharpeſt kind of death. The reaſon is, becauſe death by the decree of God & by the deſert of man, is the inſeparable ſequel of ſin to all the ſons of Adam, aſwel to the godly, as to the wicked; foraſmuch as all have ſinned all muſt dye, & whatſoever may conduce to, or bring on death, whether it be corruption from within, in theſe our earthly Tabernacles, our bodies breeding ſome noyſome or grivous diſeaſe: or force and violence from without by wounds, hurts, and bruiſes, may befal the the one (God permitting) aſwel as the other. As death is common to all, ſo the ſame cauſes procurers and producers of7 death are incident, and alike common to all.
As the the undergoing any ſore affliction, or a violent death, is no ſure argument, that a man is the child of God, ſo the undergoing the like is no certain evidence that he is not the child of God; we cannot conclude any one to be a reprobate, ſimply from any kind of ſuffering, or from any kind of death; becauſe Gods dear child may be expoſed to the one or the other.
The Donatiſts of old (who were the forefathers of our Anabaptiſticall fanatique Section, ſeparating brood) vainly ſuppoſed, that the undergoing of ſore afflictions and violent death was the moſt ready way to bring them to heaven, and a ſure character of eminent Saints; and therfore would willfully, and needleſly expoſe themſelves to grievous ſufferings, and ſometimes to cruell death. As Venner the Sectarian Preacher, or rather prater, the Wine-cooper, and his curſed crue, lately gloried to ſhed their blood in fighting for King Jeſus (Thus do they blaſphemouſly abuſe that good, ſweet and precious name) though in open and horrid Treaſon and Rebellion againſt the lawfull powers ordained by God, and in plain oppoſition to the laws of God, and of the Land, as if Chriſt who foretold by his Prophets, as a great bleſſing to his Church and People under the Goſpell, That Kings ſhould be their nurſing Fathers, and Queens their nurſing Mothers, would have theſe nurſes all killed, and murthered by their own children: And not remember what he hath ſaid; They that take the ſword (upon ſuch falſe grounds) ſhall periſh by the ſword.
St. Auſtin Epiſt. 50. ad Bonifacium, ſpeaketh of three kinds of death, wherewith the ſaid Donatiſts deſired8 to be killed, or rather indeed killed themſelves: Some of them would make requeſt unto the worſhippers and keepers of Idols to deſtroy them; others would offer themſelves to armed men, robbers and ſpoylers, lying by the high-way ſide to be ſlain of them: and there wanted not ſuch among them, as delighted to caſt themſelves headlong from high places, into the water, and into the fire. In this laſt age ſome Fanatick people have traced their ſteps. Gualterus that famous Preacher of Zurich, who lived about an hundred years ſince, Hom. 209. in Mat. cap. 16. Relateth that he himſelf ſaw a woman (after ſhe had lived many years honeſtly with her husband and among her neighbours) being inſtructed, or rather ſeducted by the Anabaptiſts, ran away from her husband, and forſook her ſeven little children nothing pittying the youngeſt, though a ſucking babe, and being asked why ſo unnaturall, and unlike Mother ſhe forſooke her children; ſhe had that pretence which the reſt of the Anabaptiſts have; Chriſt exhorts us to bear the Croſs.
But though he exhort to bear the Croſſe, yet he requireth not, that we ſhould put needleſs croſſes upon our ſelves; but only to bear them patiently, when he is pleaſed to ſend them, and when he cals to ſuffer: As for thoſe who raſhly expoſe themſelves to troubles, and caſt themſelves into wilful dangers, or death it ſelf, without warrant of Gods word: their actions are ſo far from pleaſing, that they are very diſpleaſing to him: As Saint Auſtin very well affirmeth, Tract. 11. in 3. Iohn. Let Marculus (ſaith he) fling himſelfe downe headlong from a rock: and let Donatus in like ſort, caſt himſelf into a pit, both with intent to9 end their lives, yet ſhall they not be called Martyrs: or at moſt (as he ſpeakes in another place) they are but Martyrs of a fooliſh Philoſophy, mad Fanatick Martyrs.
Now as theſe or like ſufferings, were no evidence to them of their ſalvation; becauſe it is not the meet ſuffering, or the kind of death, but the cauſe that makes a Martyr: So the like being undergone, are no argument that a man is not in Gods favour. The deareſt child of God may undergo a violent death. The Prophet, the man of God that came from Iudah to cry out againſt Iereboams Idolatrous Altar at Bethel, in his return homeward was ſlain by a Lyon, yet all agree, though his body ſuffered yet his ſoul was ſaved; he was the dear child of God; ſo eſteemed by the old Prophet, who took care for his decent burial, and laid him in his own Sepulchre; and they mourned over him, ſaying, alas my brother: and laid a charge upon his ſons to lay him in the ſame Sepuchre, lay my bones beſides his bones, 1 Kin. 13.31. So this good King Ioſiah eſteemed him; for when in accompliſhment of that Propheſie, he brake down the Altar of Bethel, and burnt many bones upon it, digging up the bones of the Idolatrous Prieſts, and burned them; when he came to the Sepulchre of this man of God, and undertood by the title whoſe it was, he gave charge to let him alone, Let no man move his bones, deeming him the ſervant of God, 2 Kin. 23.18. And all thoſe Worthies of the Old Teſtament, ſpoken of, Heb. 11.36, 37, 48. Being too good to live in this world, received hard meaſure from the world; And had tryall of cruell hands and ſcourgings: yea moreover of bonds, and impriſonment, they were ſtoned, they were ſawen aſunder, were tempted, were10 ſlain with the ſword. Bleſſed Steven the Proto-martyr of the New Teſtament, was pelted & knockt to death with ſtones, and many of the beſt of Gods Saints and Servants pledg'd him in the cup of Martyrdom which was very bitter and bloody. The holy Baptiſts head was chopt off to ſatisfie the appetite of a luſtful and luxurious woman, and ſerved up to her in a Charger. And Gods holy child Jeſus, that juſt and religious one, taking our ſins upon him, and ſtanding in that place, underwent a violent death, the painful, ſhameful, and accurſed death of Croſs, yet ſtill moſt dear in his Fathers favour. Ioſiah here, a good and a religious King; yet ſlain by cruell hands, The Archers ſhot him and he dyed: now briefly for Application.
Ʋſe. 1. Learn here firſt, That neither goodneſſe nor greatneſs can exempt man from the ſaddeſt ſufferings Ioſiah a King as good as great, yet ſlain in battell. The Lord ſeeth good ſometimes to have it ſo, to humble the beſt and greateſt; that none may preſume or truſt to any worldly priviledge or dignity: and to prepare his ſervants for a ſuffering condition.
2. Let us be inſtructed to beware of raſh Iudgmen, not to be cenſorious of all that ſuffer either ſharp affliction, or ſome bitter death: if they die penitently, &c in true faith of Chriſt, or in a good cauſe, it doth not diminiſh ought from their future happineſſe, but rather promote them in the way to glory. But let none of you ſuffer as a murtherer, (ſaith St Peter) or as a thief, or as an evill doer, or as a buſie bodie in other mans matters; yet if any man ſuffer as a Chriſtian, let him not be aſhamed, but let him glorifie God on this behalfe, 1 Pet. 4.15, 16. Chriſt hath taught us not to deem them the greateſt ſinners who are the greateſt ſufferers, Eo nomine, for that very11 reaſon, becauſe ſufferers by the example of thoſe Galilaans, who ſacrificing were ſacrificed. Pilate mingling their own blood with the blood of the beaſts which they offered: and of the other who were mangled, and quaſhed to death by the ſudden fall of a Tower. Suppoſe ye that theſe Galilaeans were ſinners above all the Galilaeans, becauſe they ſuffered ſuch things? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye ſhall all likewiſe periſh. Or thoſe eighteen upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell and flew them, think ye that they were ſinners above all men that dwell at Ieruſalem? I tell you nay, But except you repent you ſhal likewiſe periſh, Lu. 13.2, 3, 4.
And though our late dear Ioſiah, underwent a bloody death (made as it were a ſacrifice for the Church, and his people) by the rage, malice, and immane cruelty of mercileſſe, and perfidious men, or rather monſters: (Horrendum factum, dictu Horrendum.) Yet God forbid any of us ſhould have the leaſt doubt of his ſouls felicity: Although his hard hearted, and implacable enemies denyed him (that which is freely granted to the vileſt and moſt notorious condemned malefactors) the help and comforts of his Chaplaines, for his ſouls refreſhment, in the time of his hard impriſonment, and therein (as he complaines in his Soliloquies) might ſeem as they ſought to deprive him of all things elſe, ſo to be afraid he ſhould ſave his ſoul, other ſence, charity it ſelfe can hardly pick out of theſe repulſes, I received, ſaith he; Yet we have good ground to conclude and ful aſſurance to perſwade us, that the better part of him is ſafe, they which killed the body had no power to hurt the ſoul. That bitter cup conduced much to his ſouls happineſſe: calix mortis, calix ſalutis, the cup of death, and Martyrdom was to him a cup of Salvation. 12His meek ſubmitting to the will of God; his patient bearing taunts, reproaches, and injuries, evento ſhameful ſpitting on his meek yeelding to an unjuſt and bloody ſtroak, his hearty praying for his enemies, and murtherers, according to that glorious pattern of his bleſſed Maſter, his commending his ſoul to God truſting to his mercies in Jeſus Chriſt our only Saviour for an eternal crown; all being fruits of a ſanctified ſoule, are comfortable evidences of a ſaved ſoule. Though his death was bloody and violent, yet being ſweetned with Chriſts death, and his being waſhed and bathed in the blood of the Lamb, we have firmperſwaſion and good aſſurance, that he lived and dyed the dear child of God, and is now a Saint in Heaven, praiſing God among the noble army of Martyrs: an heire of ſalvation, and of that immarceſcible Crown of glory, which the Lord hath promiſed to them that love him.
Ʋſe 3. Let it prepare and arm us againſt the fear and terrour of violent death, if ſuch ſhould befal any of us, we know not but it may; it is ſometimes the lot of Gods deareſt children. Let us not then overmuch diſquiet our ſelves with the fear of violent death, by theeves, robbers, murtherers, or by the rebellious rout of Fanaticks. The Sectaries talk high, and hope yet to have a day; their hearts are bloody, and their hands would be at work; theſe times, they ſay, will not hold; we ſhall have a change, though we have now a time of rejoycing, yet we ſhall ere long have a time of howling and crying; our harp ſhall be turned into mourning, and our mirth into the voyce of them that weep: but we hope their hornes will be clipt, and their nailes pared, a book be put into their noſtrils, and a bridle in their lips, to hold them back from rebellion and miſchief. If they ſhould13 break out in murther as they did begin; and if any of us ſhould fall by their knives, ſwords, or guns, let not the fear, or thought of this too much affright us. Let us arme and prepare our ſelves with the ſhield of Faith, and be alwaies ready: and if we die in the Faith, and favour of our God in Chriſt, it ſhall not hinder us at all to our way to heaven, but bring us the ſooner to our Fathers Houſe, the place of true reſt, and happineſs.
I proceed to the ſecond Obſervation; That it hath been an ancient cuſtom among the people of God to mourn for the dead; and in a moderate manner to mourn for our departed friends, is not unlawful, but rather Chriſtian and commendable. The cuſtome hath been very ancient: Solomon ſpeakes of it, as a thing commonly uſed in his time, Eccl. 12.5. And we find it more ancient, Abraham the Father of the faithfull, bewailed his dead wife Sarah, Gen. 23.2. Sarah dyed in Kirjath-arba, the ſame is Hebron, in the Land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. Joſeph mourned many dayes for his Father Jacob. They mourned with a very great and ſore lamentation, and with grievous mourning, Gen. 50.10.11. All the people mourned thirty dayes for Moſes, Deut. 34. David mourned for Ammon, and for Abſolom, and for Abner; yea, he was the chiefe mourner there: King David himſelfe followed the biere, and the King lift up his voyce and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept; yea, all the people wept again for Abner, 2 Sam. 3.31, 32. And as in the Old Teſtament ſo we find it uſed in the New. The devout widows wept for the death of Tabitha, Act. 6.39. Chriſt wept at the grave of Lazarus, Joh. 12. And the good woman mourned, and wept14 when he dyed. And devout men carryed Steven to his buriall, and made great lamentation over him, Act. 8.2. And here all Judah and Jeruſalem mourned for Joſiah; and Jeremiah lamented for Joſiah, &c. From all which examples we ſee the the antiquity of this cuſtom, and hence,
Uſe. May learn, That moderate mourning for the dead is not unlawful, but rather commendable. Chriſtians are not to be like Stoicks, or rather Stocks void of all naturall affection.
But to this I ſhall not need to exhort, nature it ſelf is apt enough to ſhew it ſelf upon all occaſions of this nature. In mourning for our near relations, we are more apt to erre in the exceſs, then in the defect, to mourn immoderately, then to faile in mourning for our friends deceaſed. Therefore let us take heed that we do not exceed, nor give too much way to our paſſion. The Apoſtle doth not forbid all ſorrow for the dead, but immoderate ſorrow; That we ſhould not grieve, and take on like the Gentiles, who were ignorant of the bleſſed ſtate of the dead that die in the Lord; and had no hope of ever ſeing them again, becauſe they were not perſwaded of the Reſurrection, and ſo mourned out of meaſure, 1 Theſ. 4.13. I would not have you ignorant brethren of them that are aſleep; as ye ſorrow not even as others that have no hope: for if we beleeve that Jeſus dyed and aroſe again, even them alſo which ſleep in Jeſus will God bring with him.
There are four cordials let me give you to moderate, and mitigate this ſorrow; regulate this paſſion.
1. Becauſe it is our common condition; death is no new or ſtrange thing; but the lot and portion of every child of Adam. As by one man ſin entred into the world,15 and death by ſin, ſo death paſſed upon all men for that all men have ſinned, Rom. 5.12. Do we ſee ſome friend go before us? let us not be too much troubled: nothing hath hapned to them, but what muſt happen to us, yea to all; it is the caſe of all to die. Our Fathers are gone before us, and we muſt follow after them, and our children after us; one generation paſſeth, and another ſucceedeth: all things are here in a mutable condition, and ſo are we. Omnia peribunt, ſic ibimus, ibitis ibunt. Demonax the Philoſopher, ſeeing one make great lamentation for a friend departed, wiſhed him to make enquiry among all that company, being very numerous, and ſee if he could find any one, who by death had not been deprived of ſome friend or other: which when he did, and could find none; with the community of the caſe, he comforted himſelfe, and bridled his ſorrow. So if by death we have been deprived of Parents or Brethren, Husbands or Wives, children and Friends; let us remember nothing comes to us, but that which is common to all, and let this reſtrain us from moderate mourning. With this thought David put an end to that ſorrow for his child which he ſo dearly loved, But now he is dead, wherefore ſhould I faſt, can I bring him back again? I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me, 2 Sam. 12.23. As if he had ſaid, death is common to all, I ſhall die as well as he; I muſt follow him in the way of death, the way of all the earth, from which there is no returning hither: Therefore why ſhould I afflict my ſelfe any more?
2. Becauſe death comes by Gods appointment and determination; with him are the iſſues of death, he hath fixed and appointed our time here. All the dayes of my appointed time, will I waite till my change come,16 ſaith Job. So that God hath ſet down how long every ones time ſhall be. The number of our moneths, years, and dayes is with him; he hath ſet us our bounds which we cannot paſs. Job. 14. Indeed to our apprehenſion many times, ſome are taken away untimely, unſeaſonably, ſuddenly, husbands from the wives, and wives from their husbands, children from their parents, and parents from their children, ſome in their youth and ſull ſtrength, when their breaſts are full of milk, and their bones full of marrow: but let it not ſeem ſtrange to us; Their appointed times were come; the will of God is done and we muſt be content, and with patience ſubmit to it.
3. Becauſe by death the faithful go to a better manſion, and mend their condition: they make a happy change; they change their mortall for immortality; this corruption, this earthly houſe for an heavenly houſe. They are freed from their labours, ſorrows, troubles, miſeries, afflictions, moleſtations of this preſent evill-world, and brought to the deſired home of true aeſt, of bliſſe rnd perfect happineſs; ut non tam plangendus ſit, qui hac luce caruerit, quam gratiſicandum ei quod de tantis malis eraſerit, ſaith the Father; That he which departed hence in the Lord, is not ſo much to be lamented for, becauſe he is deprived of this light, as to be rejoyced for, in that he is eſcaped out of ſuch a Sea of miſery, and landed ſafely in the ſure harbour of endleſs felicity; taken up to the true light.
4. Becauſe we have aſſurance of a joyful Reſurrection, they that dye in the Lord, are not loſt, or gone from us for ever; but only gone before us: they are fallen into a ſweet ſleep, and ſhall for certain awake17 again, riſe again at that great day when the Lord Ieſus ſhall ſhew himſelf from heaven, and change our vile body, and make it like unto his own glorious body, when we ſhall enjoy the company and ſociety of our Chriſtian friends in body and ſoul for ever; therefore (as the Apoſtle exhorteth) comfort your ſelves, and one another, with theſe words.
THe third obſervation which I gave you from this Text, which I chiefly intended and aimed at for this day, as being moſt ſuitable to our preſent occaſion and meeting, and which follows now to be ſpoken of, was this:
That the death, eſpecially the violent death of a good King, is a ground of great mourning to all good people. Ioſiah a good, religious, zealous King, being ſlain in battel, the Church and good people among the Jews, yea the whole Nation, City and Country, Prophets and others, all the Inhabitants of the Land, fall to ſad mourning and doleful lamentation.
This truth is ſo apparent, that it needs not much proof, yet it may be further made out upon theſe accounts.
1. The death of any friend doth occaſion ſorrow and mourning, much more the death of a choice friend, of a chief friend, of a common friend, eſpecially if he18 fall into the hands of mercileſs thieves and murderers, and come to a barbarous and bloody end; this muſt needs be a cauſe of great mourning to all that did bear any loving reſpect to him.
And is not a King, a good King a friend, a chief and choice friend, a common friend to all his good people, being the Miniſter and Vicegerent of God, for the puniſhmen: of evil doers, but for the praiſe of them that do well? 1 Pet. 2.14. Muſt not then his death, a violent and bloody death, unmercifully and unjuſtly brought upon him, occaſion ſad hearts and great mourning among thoſe who had any ſpark of goodneſs and affection towards him?
2. A good King is not only a friend, but a Father, Pater Patriae, the Father of his Country, and of the Commonwealth; and ſurely he is no good and dutiful childe that will not mourn for his fathers death; eſpecially if he ſee him ſlain and murthered by bloody hands, in ſuch a caſe not to ſhed tears, were a ſign of a graceleſs and godleſs ſon: and certainly they are no good children, no loyal or dutiful ſubjects, that mourn not for the horrid ſlaughter, and barbarous aſſaſſination of their civil father.
3. A good King is the light of our eyes, and breath of our noſtrils, yea the very life of our lives, a principal means under God of our temporal weal and being, under whoſe ſhadow and protection we enjoy our ſelves and all in ſafety, life, goods, and eſtate: He is the Miniſter of God to thee for good, Rom. 13.4. And is it not a ſad thing to have ſuch a pillar broken down, ſuch a one taken away by cruel hands? What can be expected to follow but ruine, rapine, confuſion and miſery, oppreſſion and calamity, as we have felt by19 woful experience? and will not all that have any goodneſs, that delight not to live by devouring others, lament for the loſs of ſuch a one?
4. A good King is under God a principal cauſe of our well-being, in relation to ſpiritual things for our ſouls benefit, it is under him, and by his power and Law, that we are preſerved to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godlineſs and honeſty, 1 Tim. 2.2. therefore the loſs of him muſt needs be deplorable, as opening a wide gap to all prophaneneſs, and diſſolute living. It was a ſad time with Iſrael when there was no King in Iſrael, every man did what was good in his own eyes, Iudg. 17.6. and to what exorbitances and villanies will not the corrupt nature of man left to its own liberty, and actuated by ſatanical fury, break out in ſuch an Anarchy? will not this make a good heart mourn?
5. A good King is a nurſing Father of the Church, ſo called in Scripture phraſe; it is by his care and providence, by his good example and diligence in the ſervice of God, and in the holy duties of his worſhip, that Religion is upheld, and the practiſe of it furthered, and the Church maintained in a flouriſhing condition.
Regis ad exemplum to tus componitur orbis, people are much inclined to follow the example of the Prince: And can good people that wiſh well to Sion, and are well affected to Religion, to the ſervice and worſhip of God, ſee ſuch a one ſnatch'd from them by violent death, to the great decay of Religion, aboliſhing of the ſolemn worſhip of God, and the bringing in a Babel-like confuſion of hearts and Tongues (as we have ſeen to our reproach, to the breaking of our hearts, to20 the joy and deriſion of our enemies) and not be filled with extreme grief, and betake themſelves to great and bitter mourning.
6. A good King is the Bridegroom of the Commonwealth, the Husband of his people: and hence it hath been an ancient cuſtome, at the Inauguration or Coronation of Kings to deliver them a Ring, as a pledge or token of wedding them to their people, and will not the children of the Bride-chamber mourn, when the Bridgeroom is taken away from them? Chriſt himſelf in the Goſpel aſſures us, that they will and ſhall mourn in that day. And here I pray take notice, that they are no children of the Bridechamber that mourn not for ſuch a loſs: what then are they that rejoyce? Can the Bride, a loving Spouſe, endure to ſee her dear Husband aſſaſſinated, murthered by cruel Butchers, and that in the Bridechamber; in his own houſe, or at his own gates? Can ſhe endure for ever to have him ſeparated from her, or to have his head ſeparated from his body before her eyes, without ſhrieking out, and wringing hands, without bitter tears and doleful lamentations? ſurely no: And how then can good people, good Chriſtians, good Subjects, call to mind the murdering of a good King at the door of his own Royal Palace, by ſome of his own people, of his own ſubjects and ſervants, without bleeding hearts, weeping eyes, and mournful ſpirits?
Theſe may ſtand as ſo many grounds or arguments to confirm the point in hand, that the death, eſpecially the violent death of a good King, is a ground of great mourning to all good people.
To all theſe, I might add the confuſion that follows ſuch a black deed. The barbarous murder of a good21 King is commonly attended with a deplorable Chaos of confuſion, both in Church and State: The plotters and actors in ſuch a foul work are none of the beſt, yea they are the very worſt and vileſt of men, men of hard hearts, and ſeared conſciences, of wild, large and looſe principles, who having ſwallowed Royal blood, do eaſily glut themſelves with the blood of Nobles, and other of their fellow ſubjects, and like ravening Wolves having ſlain the Shepherd, ſport themſelves in tearing and worrying the ſheep; and to conclude, make no bones of the greateſt evil, ſo it may promote their wicked deſigns: And muſt not this needs bring on a rueful confuſion?
1. There follows a Chaos of confuſion in the Church when a good King is murdered, if the murderers eſcape, they new-model Religion, and fit it to their own Standard, and make it a meer Machiavillian, politick Engine to prop and boulſter up their uſurped power.
When Ieroboam wreſted the ten Tribes from the houſe of David, with his new Kingdome, he ſet up a new Religion, for fear leaſt if the people kept to their old Religion, they would return to their old King, 1 King. 12.26, 27, 28. Ieroboam ſaid in his heart, Now ſhall the Kingdome return to the houſe of David, if this people go up to do ſacrifice in the Houſe of the Lord at Ieruſalem, then ſhall the heart of this people burn again unto their Lord, even to Rehoboam King of Iudah, and they ſhall kill me: Whereupon he took counſel, and made two calves, and ſet the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan, and pretended all to be done for the good and eaſe of the people; it is too much for you to go up to Ieruſalem: whereas it was for his own baſe ends, and according22 to his new Religion, he made a new ſort of Prieſts, not of the ſons of Aaron, according to Gods Ordination, but whoſoever would, might be a Prieſt for that State-Religion, and ſerved well enough to ſerve calves. He made of the loweſt and meaneſt of the people Prieſts of the high places, whoſoever would he conſecrated him, and he became one of the Priests of the high places; and this thing became a ſin unto the houſe of Ieroboam, even to cut it off, and to deſtroy it from off the face of the earth, 1 King. 13.33, 34. I need not tell you, how exactly the late Tyrants our Maſters followed his ſteps, the ſad thought of it is too freſh in our memories. Our old true and eſtabliſhed Religion muſt be thrown down, and turned out, both for government, diſcipline, doctrine, manner of worſhip, and Divine Ordination, as if all had been nought, and a boundleſs toleration given for a monſtrous many headed new Religion, and Prieſts ſtart up of the meaneſt and loweſt of the people; many boldly intruded upon that holy work to adminiſter the Word and Sacraments, without a lawful call and ſeparation to it; they climbed up, and crept in the wrong way, like thieves and robbers, Iohn 10. they conſecrated themſelves with audacious and ſacrilegious preſumption, ruſhing upon that ſacred Function, and came not in by the door of Divine Ordination, which none ever durſt preſume to do ſince the Apoſtles time, till theſe daies of confuſion; and theſe were the Prieſts of the high places, theſe, theſe, the only men in thoſe diſorderly times, who having never taken holy Orders, were thought moſt worthy to be mounted to the high places of preferment.
2. A Chaos of confuſion follows alſo in the ſtate:23 They which kill the Heir to gain the inheritance, and ſtone Naboth to ſeize his Vineyard, muſt maintain with a vaſt expence of blood and treaſure what they have unjuſtly gotten, by which means the poor people are oppreſſed and ſqueezed, harrowed and peeled to the very bones: We have found and felt this true, what ſore oppreſſions, unſupportable taxes, and overheavy burthens, beſides devouring free-quarter (when our Lord-Danes boaſted that all was theirs, and that they had more to do in our houſes, and with our goods (expertus loquor) then we our ſelves) have we undergone ſince the oppreſſion and murder of our good King.
Beſides, there is a vaſt confuſion after ſuch a fact, by reaſon of conteſtations between Competitors, as was in the Roman Empire upon Caeſars death, between Octavius, Lepidus, Marcus Antonius, and others; there is a furious buſling and ſtrugling, who ſhall be Maſter and Supreme; now one ſtrives for it, and now another; now one hath it, and then another; now one Government is up, and then another, and ſo the oppreſſed people in this time of confuſion are the greateſt ſufferers, pelted and buffeted between both, tumbled and toſſed, and emptied from one veſſel to another, till their purſes are as empty of money, as their hearts of content, or their lives of comfort.
Now then ſeeing ſuch a Chaos of confuſion both in Church and State follows upon the murder or violent death of a good King, as we all alas can too feelingly and knowingly ſpeak, is not the point clear, that the death, eſpecially the violent death of a good King, is a ground of great mourning to all good people; for I am ſure none will grant them to be good people (unleſs24 themſelves may be Judges, and their own mouths praiſe them) who applaud a Chaos of confuſion in Church and State, and delight, like Sharks, Harpies and Cormorants, to fiſh in troubled waters; or like Tories to live upon ſpoil and rapine, becauſe there out, they have formerly ſucked no ſmall advantage.
I haſten on to the application of this truth to all our ſouls.
Vſe 1. Firſt then ſee here what great cauſe we have of ſad mourning, and of great lamentation, who have ſeen a Ioſiah, a good and religious King, our great, our chief friend, our common Father, our Bridegroom, our dear Husband ſnatched from us by bloody hands, and by a violent death, well may this day be called a bitter day, as the mourning for one only ſon, or the mourning of Hadadrimmon for Englands Ioſiah.
Let us a little parallel Ioſiah in my Text with our Ioſiah, that ſo ſeeing his excellent worth, we may be the more ſenſible of this exceeding loſs, and find what cauſe we have for great mourning.
1. Ioſiah was a very pious and religious Prince, well affected to Religion, to the true Religion, the reformed Religion, as it was by his care reformed and reſtored according to the Law of God, found in the Temple by Hilkiah the High-Prieſt: to this he adhered, cleaving to the Lord with all his heart, and walking in all the wayes of David his father, and turned not aſide to the right hand, or to the leſt, 2 King. 22.2.
So our Ioſiah was very pious, and zealouſly affected to Religion, to the true reformed Proteſtant Religion, which he firmly profeſſed and cleaved to: And though his adverſaries in the beginning of our troubles blaſted him with Popery, as if he had been a Papiſt, (a25 ſlander as falſe as the Father of Lies could invent, and one of their moſt cunning Engines, whereby (Abſalem-like) they ſtole away the hearts of his people, and brought him ſo low) yet he continued conſtant in it to his laſt breath, and ſealed it with his blood; and that unparallell'd book which he wrote and left behinde,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, wherein he commends that Religion to his ſon, our now gracious Soveraign, to be conſtantly imbraced and profeſſed by him, which he found by proof to be the beſt of all Religions, and neereſt to the Apoſtolical primity and purity. I ſay, this ſhall ſtand as a laſting monument to all poſterity, to the perpetual ſhame of thoſe malitious Traducers. Out of that divine book (ſo I may call it, for much of a divinely inſpir'd ſpirit appears in it) give me leave to add ſome of his own ſweet words to the Prince of Wales: If you never ſee my face again, I do require and entreat you, as your Father and your King, that you never ſuffer your heart to receive the least check againſt, or diſaffection from the true Religion eſtabliſhed in the Church of England; I tell you I have tryed it, and after much ſearch, and many diſputes, have concluded it to be the beſt in the world, not only in the community as Chriſtian, but alſo in the ſpecial notion as reformed, keeping the middle way between the pomp of ſuperſtitious tyranny, and the meanneſs of fantaſtick Anarchy: And a little after, The ſcandal of the late troubles, which ſome may object, and urge to you againſt the Proteſtant Religion eſtabliſhed in England, is eaſily anſwered to them, or your own thoughts in this, that ſcarce any one who hath been a beginner, or an active proſecutor of this late War against the Church, the Law and me, either was, or is a true lover, imbracer, or practiſer of the Proteſtant Religion establiſhed in England, which neither26 gives ſuch rule, nor ever before ſet ſuch examples.
2. Ioſiah was very zealous for Gods houſe, he took great care for the repairing of the Temple, and the beautifying of it, 2 King. 22.3.1 Chron. 35.20. So our Ioſiah was zealous for the houſes of God; in the year of his raign he took order that the Temples and Churches through the Kingdome ſhould be repaired and beautified: and attempted, and to a good degree brought on the reparation of that great Mother-Church, (the old Ornament of our Metropolis, or great City,) famous for the antiquity of it, and for its great bulk: being reputed for its building the greateſt pile in the Chriſtian world: great part of which charge he took upon himſelfe: which with his fall, is falling down apace; as alſo are many other Churches within the Land. That (O ſhame to Chriſtianity) by our great reformers for many years, made not only a den of theeves, but a ſtable for horſes: As the barbarous Turks dealt with that renouned Temple of St. Sophia in Conſtantinople, when they had conquered that imperial City.
3. Joſiah was a great friend to the Clergy, to the Prophets and Miniſters of God, the Prieſts, the Levites, and gave them encouragement in their Service, 2 Cron. 35.2. So was our Ioſiah, a great lover and reſpecter of Godly and learned men, of able, and Orthodox Divines; a great benefactor to the Univerſities and Schools of learning; the greateſt countenancer, cheriſher, and encourager of the Clergy, and Miniſters of England of any King before him. A tender nurſe, a moſt propitious Father of the Church. Hear his own words in the foreſaid heavenly booke; Pag. 208. I am ſo much a friend to all Church-men that27 have any thing in them beſeeming that ſacred function, that I have hazarded mine own intereſt, chiefly upon conſcience, and conſtancy to maintain their rights; whom the more I looked upon as Orphans, and under the ſacrilegious eyes of many cruell and rapacious reformers: So I thought it my duty, the more to appear as a Father, and Patron of them and the Church. And again ſpeaking of the harſh deniall of his Chaplains attendance, during his impriſoment, But my Agony muſt not be relieved with the preſence of one good Angel, for ſuch I account a learned, godly and diſcreet Divine: and ſuch I would have all mine to be: And again, As I owe to the Clergy the protection of a Chriſtian King, I deſire from them the benefit of their gifts and prayers; which I look upon as more prevalent then my own, or other mens; by how much they flow from minds more enlightned, and affections leſſe diſtracted, then thoſe which are encumbred with ſecular affaires: beſides, I think a greater bleſſing and acceptableneſs attends theſe duties, which are performed as proper to, and within the limits of the calling, to which God and the Church have ſpecially deſigned and conſecrated ſome men. And laſtly, Pag. 214. I muſt confeſs I bear with more griefe and impatience, the want of my Chaplaines, then of any other my Servants, and next (if not beyond in ſomethings) to the being ſequeſtred from my wife and children; ſince from theſe indeed more of earthly and temporary affections, but from thoſe more of heavenly and eternal improvements may be expected. What more cordiall expreſſions could come from a pious ſoul, of love and affection to that calling?
4. Ioſiah was a great promoter, and furtherer of Gods publike and ſolemn worſhip, that it might be decently, and reverently performed; as appears by28 that moſt famous, and ſolemn Paſſeover which he kept in this Chapter; which was done by his command, and to which he contributed upon his own charge ſuper abundantly thirty thouſand Lambs and Kids, and three thouſand great cattell, 2 Chron. 35.7.
So our Ioſiah was a zealous furtherer of the publike and ſolemn worſhip of God, that it might be performed with all holy devotion, decency and reverence; not negligently, irreverently, rudly, and ſlovenly. And which is to be pitied, and with a fountain of tears to be lamented, this his pious zeal for Gods houſe, and worſhip, and Miniſters, for the true Proteſtant Religion, for the Church, and its Patrimony, and for the ancient and orderly Government, and Diſcipline therof, was the great crime that provoked the Sectaries to haſten his deſtruction.
5. Ioſiah was a King unblameable in regard of any notorious perſonal crime; we find him not noted for any remarkeable perſonal evill, as moſt of the former Kings had been: fome are ſaid to be good, and ſome bad; but the beſt of them had their naevus, their ſpots and blemiſhes; we read of Davids Adultery, and of Solomons Idolatry: but none was ſtamped upon Ioſiah. The greateſt blemiſh I can poſſible diſcover in him, was a little too much wilfulneſſe, his raſh, and unadviſed ruſhing into that fattall battell at Megiddon; for which the good man paid dear.
So our Ioſiah was of unblameable life, more entire and free from any notorious perſonal crime, as ſearing, drunkenneſſe, whoredom, or the like, then moſt of the Kings before him, no ſuch like as theſe could be charged upon him: even his moſt bittereſt enemies could not taxe him: had they eſpied any blemiſh, no29 doubt we ſhould have heard it again and again.
6. Joſiah was a Prince of a ſoft heart, and a tender conſcience: Thine heart was tender, and thou haſt humbled thy ſelf before me, ſaith the Lord, 2 King. 22.19. So our Ioſiah was of a ſoft heart and very tender conſcience: how did his conſcience check and trouble him when by reſtleſs importunity he had yeelded compliance (for plenary conſent it was not, as he ſaid) to the Act for the Earle of Straffords death, which in his Iudgement and conſcience he could not be ſatisfied, was juſt by any clear Law? he confeſſeth he did never bear any touch of conſcience with greater regret. How did he mourn like a Dove, and complain of itin the bitterneſs of his ſoul? How meekly did he mention it with griefe, as the main thing troubling him at the time of his Martyrdom, acknowledging that the giving way to an unjuſt ſentence, might beſome cauſe that the Lord permitted ſuch an unjuſt ſentence to be executed upon him? What is it that made him ſo firm and conſtant to uphold the Church in her juſt and ancient Rights, Government, and Patrimony, but his tender Conſcience? which as alſo his Oath perſwaded him that Epiſtcopacy (with ſome ſmal regulations) was moſt Ancient, Univerſall, Divine, and Apoſtolical; and therefore could not yeeld to the extirpation of that Government, and to the alienation of the Church-revenues, without wounding his conſcience, with ſome ſtain of perjury, ſacraledge and impiety. This tenderneſſe of conſcience, and the immeaſurable, and unmercifull preſſing him againſt it, ſtruck him to the heart, and ſtuck nearer to him then any thing elſe, as we find it at large in his wofull complaints uttered between God and his own ſoul in his Soliloquies.
This his tenderneſs of conſcience was a clear evidence of a godly, gracious, and ſanctified ſoul, wicked and ungenerate men feel no ſuch cheeks of conſcience at ſin: Though ſin be an unſpeakable burden, like a talent of lead, yet the30 weight of it doth not trouble them, ſo as to ſeek eaſe from the Lord. They complain not with David, My ſin is ever before me: and mine iniquities are gone over my head, and are like aſore burden too heavy for me to bear.
The Philoſophers obſerve that no Element is heavy in its own place; in the Sea, let a man be in the bottom of it, although he hath the whole Sea on his back, yet he feeles not the weight of it; but let him take but a bucket full out of the Sea, out of its place, and then he ſhall feel how heavy it is; So unregenerate, and graceleſſe perſons, though they have a huge weight of ſin upon them, yet they feel it not; their conſciences are not preſſed nor troubled with it, becauſe it is in its proper place. But the child of God is ſenſible of the leaſt ſin, even the appearance of evill: and trembles under the weight of it, becauſe there it is out of his own place and proper Element. A ſoft heart, a tender conſcience checking of ſin, argues a divine impreſſion upon it, if the true fear of God, and of his dreadfull Majeſty.
7. Ioſiah was a King as devout to God, ſo devoted to his peoples good; good to his people, full of goodneſſe to his people. In the verſe following my text, there is mention of the acts of Joſiah and his goodneſs; Now the reſt of the Acts of Joſiah, and his goodneſs or kindneſs, ver. 26. His Acts and his goodneſs or kindneſs are joyned together, becauſe he did many Acts of goodneſs and kindneſs to his people; what an Act of bounty and kindneſſe to his people was it, to be at that vaſt charge in the Paſſe over feaſt for their eaſe and benefit, before mentioned?
So our Ioſiah did many good Acts in relation to his people. In the beginning of the long Parliament, he paſſed ſundry Acts of grace and goodneſs, for the eaſe and comfort of his people; as for taking away ſhip mony, for taking away all illegall taxes; for the taking down the Star-Chamber Court, and the high Commiſſion Court, which31 were found to be oppreſſive to his people: for a trienniall Parliament, and other; enough to have made abundant and ample reparations for any former miſcarriages of his Officers, and Miniſters, had he been to deal with reaſonable and moderate men: and more he would have done, and more he intended to do, yea more then could in reaſon be required, had his precious life been ſpared. But the greedy appetite of ſome could not be ſatisfied without innocent blood, royall blood, as the Jews would reſt in nothing but our Saviours crucifige, crucifige, crucifie him, crucifie him, though they pull'd the horrid guilt of it upon themſelves, and upon their children.
Thus you have heard what a King, what a good King we had, and what a bleſſing in him. Now to have ſuch a Ioſiah taken from us, is it not a ſad loſſe? and by a violent and bloody death, is it not a ſad caſe? He was ſlain, not as Ioſiah in my text by ſtrangers of another Nation, and in the hear of battell; but murdered in cold blood, and that by ſome of his own Subjects, and Servants, who had ſworn allegeance and fidelity to him, who had declared, promiſed, profeſſed, proteſted, vowed, covenanted to protect, preſerve, and defend him, and to make him a glorious King: (O damnable Hypocriſie!) for theſe to murder him, and that not in private, as other Traytors have dealt with their Princes, but to do it openly with great pomp and artifice (as men ſolemnly wicked) and under pretence and ſhew of Juſtice (Oh helliſh mockery of juſtice, added to cruelty and malice?) as it were in defiance of Heaven, in the ſight of all Iſrael, and in the ſight of the Sun; in oppoſition to all Laws, both of God and man; againſt the light of their own conſciences. This was a ſad, and a black fact. The Powder-plotters were a great deal more modeſt, they did their work under ground, and in darkneſs, as being aſhamed of it. But theſe played a game above board, in the open32 light, with an harlots face, without ſhame or bluſhing; ſo that all circumſtances and aggravations conſidered that might be named, it was the moſt daring and horrid act of immanity and iniquity, that was ever perpetrated under the Sun, next to the crucifying of the Lord of Life; an act not to be equalized in any hiſtory, not only of Holy Writ, but alſo of prophane and heathen Authors.
For ſuch a King to be thus murthered, is the faddeſt ground of mourning that ever the good people of this Nation had; therefore for this, O England, gird thee with ſackcloth, lament and howl, Ier. 4.8. yea, wallow and rowl thy ſelf in aſhes, make thee mourning as for an only ſon, yea bitter lamentation, Ier. 6.26. and as it is Zach. 11.2. howl firre tree, for the Cedar is fallen: And let us everyone wiſh with the Prophet, O that mine head were full of water, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, to weep day and night for the ſlain, the Ruler of the people, Ier. 9.1. or as it is, Ier. 14.17. Let mine eyes run down night and day, and let them not ceaſe, for the Virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, and with a very grievous blow. O that blow, that very grievous blow, made the greateſt breach upon the ſons and daughters of Sion, upon all true children of this Church, that ever was made, to the piercing of their hearts, and wounding of their ſpirits, and bleeding of their very ſouls; therefore weep and mourn for this, let our hearts be filled with bitter grief, and our eyes with briniſh tears.
And as for the loſs of ſuch a King, ſo much more let us mourn for that wonderful and horrid ſin which was this day committed in the Land, the ſhedding of his innocent blood, a ſin over paſſing the deeds of the wicked, a ſin that no Nation, no people ever committed. Let us beſeech the Lord to pardon it, to acquit the Land of it, that it may no longer cry for vengeance, and call for judgements to be continued upon us, and cauſe him to poure out his fury upon33 us in blood. Let the blood of ſprinkling, the blood of Chriſt ſpeak better things then the blood of Abel. Abel's blood cryed for vengeance, and ſo may the blood of this righteous one, but the blood of Chriſt cryes for mercy. Holy Father, let that blood of thy dear Son out-cry the other, and bring down mercy upon the Land. O deliver us, and be merciful to us, in regard of that crying ſin, for it was great; Lord lay not the guilt of that blood this day ſhed: upon the whole Nation, for thou haſt many among us, who having neither hands not hearts defiled in it, did with abhorrency of ſoul deteſt and loath, and in much bitterneſs of ſpirit mourn for that odious fact. Thou who art the ſearcher of hearts, and knoweſt our thoughts, knoweſt this to be true.
Lay it home to their conſciences who had a hand in it, and are yet living, that they may ſee the greatneſs of their ſin, and be moved to great ſorrow, and bitter repentance, and obtain pardon out of thy great and abundant mercies in Chriſt, that the innocency of thy bleſſed Martyr may be cleared, our Religion vindicated from the ſcandal, and out Nation cleared from the vengeance of that blood, and thy mercy glorified in the converſion of ſo great ſinners.
And as for this horrid fact, ſo for all our other ſins and provocations let us mourn, which helped forward this judgment, for our perſonal ſins, and for our National ſins, we have all contributed to that ſtock of ſin which brought that ſtroak of divine vengeance upon the Land. Let us weep in the bitterneſs of out ſouls for the great and crying ſins of the Land, our mourning, repining unthankfulneſs for former mercies, our barrenneſs and unfruitfulneſs under the means of grace, our ſwearing and blaſphemy, our exceſs and drunkenneſs, our hatred and uncharitableneſs, our irreligiouſneſs and prophaneneſs, and all other our heinous ſins which ſo highly provoked the Lords anger, to deliver up both us and our King into the hands of ſuch mercileſs and blood-thirſty men: let us (I ſay) mourn for them in the34 bitterneſs our ſouls, and beſeech the Father of heaven to pardon them all for the merits ſake of his dear Son.
And as we mourn for our provoking ſins, ſo let us turn from them, ſubdue and mortifie them, that ſo we turning from our evil wayes, and ceaſing from ſinning, the Lord may ceaſe from puniſhing, and turn from his wrathful indignation, and reſtore to us his wonted bleſſings and favors, as (praiſed be his name) he hath in great mercy begun.
Our ſins, our ſins have been the cauſe of this judgment, and of all the judgments following it. O let us ſtir up our hearts with indignation againſt our ſins; as the Jews took hold of Paul, crying men of Iſrael help, this is the man that teacheth every where againſt the people; ſo ſhould we lay hold on our ſins, which are the greateſt diſturbers, and cry to the Lord for help againſt them: as we read of Marcus Antonius, when Iulius Caeſar was murdered in the Senate houſe, and ſome ſought to pacifie the buſineſs, he brought forth Caeſars coat all bloody, rent and cut, and ſpread it before the people: Look here (ſayes he) you have your Emperours coat thus bloody and torn; whereupon the people were preſently in an uproar, and cryed out to ſlay the murderers. Thus looking upon this horrid bloody fact, and the other judgements crowding in upon us of late years, and conſidering that our ſins have been the murderers, and authors of all theſe miſchiefs, our hearts ſhould be raiſed to fly upon our ſins with indignation, and not be ſatisfied without the deſtruction of them which have wrought ſo much diſtraction among us.
Vſe 2. If the violent death of a good King be a ground of great mourning to all good people, ſee here what good people they are who mourn not, nor ever did mourn upon this account; what good people they are who plotted, contrived, abetted, aſſiſted, and acted in that black and bloody work, the horrid murder of our dear Soveraign; what good35 people they were, who gloried in it, rejoyced in it, and juſtified it being done, as I my ſelf heard one ſay, that the taking off of the head of that bleſſed King, was the greateſt and worthieſt piece of Juſtice that ever was. We know who they were, and of what principles they were, whoſe hands were dipt in that blood, and whoſe fingers were defiled with the iniquity. The Sectarian party, Anabaptiſts, Quakers, Independents, fifth Monarchiſts of a new ſtamp, were the ſticklers in that deteſtable, black buſineſs, and the approvers, applauders of it ▪ Judge wha they are. They have indeed of late uſurped to themſelves the name of Saints, good people, the well affected of the Nation, pious, precious men, the holy, the godly men, the holy, the godly party, as if all other were reprobates to them, Whether they be ſuch or no, let their workes ſpeak and let the world judge, and the Lord himſelf ſhall judge. If murder, aeaſon, homicide, parricide, regicide, hypocriſie, perjury, immrnity, cruelty be piety, then let them be Saints, Solomon ſaith; That the mercies (not of the Saints, but) of the wicked are cruel, from ſuch Saints, and from their mercies, good Lord deliver us.
Vſe 3. See what cauſe we have to bleſs God for the late bleſſed and healing Parliament, which hath endeavoured to avert Gods wrath, and to acquit the Land of that innocent blood, by diſavowing the deed, and by Juſtice upon the Traytors and murderers, and to vindicate our Nation and Religion from that ſhame and reproach which the adverſaries caſt upon both (though unjuſtly) for that horrid fact; whereas neither our Nation nor Religion liked or allowed it, but loathed abhorred and deteſted it, it was deviſed, hatched and perpetrated, by a Sectarian Anabaptiſtical fanatick party, who (as the Act ſaith) were as far from being true Proteſtants, as from being true ſubjects: all true Proteſtants did abominate it, and in bitterneſs of ſoul mourned in ſecret for it. And bleſſed alſo may they be for enacting this Law and Ordinance in our Iſrael, for an anniverſary faſting and humiliation in relation to it (a thing my ſoul deſired) that ſo we may have liberty and opportunity to expreſs our deteſtation of it, and lamentation for it in publick.
Vſe 4. See what cauſe we have to pour forth our humble prayers, and moſt hearty ſupplications to the moſt high, for his mercifull and powerful protection and preſervation of our moſt gracious Soveraign that now is, (ſuch a ſon of ſuch a father) that this land may never have the like cauſe of mourning, that he may be a ſecond36 Joſiah (only any ſuch tragick act or end excepted, which the good Lord avert) for the glory of God, and for the joy and comfort of this Church and Nation.
That as he hath even miraculouſly kept him from the peril of the ſword, and reſcued him from the midſt of his furious enemies, brought him back to his people, and reſtored him (with little leſs then a miracle) to his juſt rights, and placed him on his Fathers Throne; ſo he will vouchſafe to be his defence and ſtrong Tower, to hide him under the ſhadow of his wings, until uniquity be overpaſt. That his ſacred perſon may never come under the power, or be at the mercy of ſuch Saints, or rather Sataniſts, whom nothing could ſuffice but the blood of a righteous King, the Lords anointed; and (as we have juſt cauſe to fear) who being levened with ſuch ſowre principles, thirſt no leſs after his.
Lord therefore diſappoint their plots, and confound them in their wicked devices. Let all that riſe up againſt him be like Siſera and Iabin, who periſhed at Endor, and became as the dung of the earth: make them and their Princes like Oreb and Zeb, yea, make all their leaders like as Zeba and Salmunah: O our God, make them like a wheel, and as the ſtubble before the wind, perſecute them even ſo with thy tempeſt, and make them afraid with thy ſtorms, make their faces aſhamed, let them cover themſelves with their own confuſion, as with a cloak: let their miſchief come upon their own heads, and their cruelty fall on their own pates, ſo ſhall the King rejoyce in thy ſtrength, exceeding glad ſhall he be of thy ſalvation, for why the King putteth his truſt in the Lord, and in thy mercy. O thou moſt high let him not miſcarry, ſo we thy people, and ſheep of thy paſture, ſhall give thee thanks for ever, and will be ſhewing forth thy praiſe from one generation to another: ſo ſhall thy name be glorified, thy ſon magnified, thy truth defended, thy Goſpel propagated, our breaches repaired, thy poor Church comforted, which we humbly beſeech thee to grant, O Father of mercies, for his ſake who is the Son of thy love, and our only Saviour, Jeſus Chriſt the righteous, to whom with thee and the bleſſed Spirit of Grace and Truth, one Almighty and ever-living God, be all honour, praiſe, and glory, adoration and obedience, now and for ever, Amen.
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