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<DATE>2013-04-03</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="order">
<PB REF="1">
<OPENER><SALUTE>CLARKE, Mayor.</SALUTE>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>Martis decimo die Novembr'</HI> 1696. <HI>Anno&abque; R. Rs.</HI> Wilhelmi <HI>Tertii, Angliae, &amp;c. Octavo.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P>THis Court doth de&s;ire Mr. <HI>Bradford</HI> to Print his Sermon preach'd be|fore the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of this City, at the Pari&s;h-Church of St. <HI>Mary-le-Bow,</HI> on <HI>Thur&s;day</HI> la&s;t, being the Fifth of this In&s;tant <HI>November.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>GOODFELLOW.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>A SERMON Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor, THE ALDERMEN, AND Citizens of <HI>LONDON,</HI> At St. <HI>MARY LE BOW,</HI> On <HI>Thur&s;day, November</HI> 5. 1696.</P>
<P>By <HI>SAMUEL BRADFORD,</HI> RECTOR of the &s;aid Church.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>B. Aylmer,</HI> at the <HI>Three Pigeons</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Royal Exchange</HI> in <HI>Cornhill.</HI> MDCXCVII.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="2">
<P>Mr. <HI>BRADFORD</HI>'s SERMON Preach'd before the <HI>Lord-Mayor,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>November</HI> the Fifth, 1696.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<PB REF="3">
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<HEAD>To the Right Honourable Sir <HI>EDWARD CLARKE,</HI> Lord-Mayor of the City of <HI>London,</HI> AND THE Court of Aldermen.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Right Honourable,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>IN Obedience to Your Commands, I pre&s;ent You with this Plain Di&s;cour&s;e, heartily wi&s;hing it may be of U&s;e to tho&s;e Ends for which I preach|ed it.</P>
<P>I charitably believe, That the greater part of tho&s;e who yet remain di&s;&s;atisfied with the E&s;tabli&s;hment we are under, are not &s;o from Malice, but from Preju|dice; and that if they could once get into a ju&s;t way of Thinking calmly and &s;edately, they would &s;oon change their pre&s;ent Opinions. This I have endea|vour'd to lead them to, without giving them any ju&s;t Cau&s;e of Offence, whereby to increa&s;e their Prejudices, in&s;tead of removing them.</P>
<P>Could we of this Nation once again be &s;o happy, as to become thoroughly <HI>One Body,</HI> both as <HI>Members
<PB REF="5">of Society,</HI> and as <HI>Chri&s;tians;</HI> as it would be one of the be&s;t Expre&s;&s;ions of our Gratitude to Almighty God, for the many Deliverances he hath granted us; &s;o it would be the &s;hrewde&s;t Revenge we could take upon our <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Adver&s;aries, and effectually di&s;|hearten them from attempting any farther upon us.</P>
<P>I am per&s;uaded, that the Greater Part of the Na|tion in general, and of this City in particular, &s;tand well-di&s;pos'd towards &s;uch an Union; and 'tis pity that the <HI>Weakne&s;s</HI> of &s;ome, and the <HI>De&s;ign</HI> of others, &s;hould hinder the Effect.</P>
<P><HI>Your Lord&s;hip</HI> is what I would per&s;uade others to be; I mean, An Hearty and Con&s;tant Friend to the <HI>Church</HI> and <HI>State;</HI> and Your <HI>Practice,</HI> as well as Your <HI>Profe&s;&s;ion,</HI> exemplifies what in this Di&s;cour&s;e I aim at.</P>
<P>That it may plea&s;e Almighty God to Pre&s;erve, Di|rect, and Ble&s;s <HI>Your Lord&s;hip,</HI> and by his good Providence to Increa&s;e the Number of &s;uch Magi|&s;trates, is the Prayer of,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Right Honourable,</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your mo&s;t Faithful and Humble Servant, <HI>SAMUEL BRADFORD.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="5">
<HEAD>A SERMON Preach'd before the Lord-Mayor, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ROM. III. 8.</HI></BIBL>
<P>And not rather, as we be &s;landerou&s;ly re|ported, and as &s;ome affirm that we &s;ay, Let us do Evil, that Good may come; who&s;e Damnation is ju&s;t.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THE Double Occa&s;ion of this Day's Solemnity, moved me to treat on the&s;e Words; which will naturally lead me both to condemn that accur&s;ed Princi|ple upon which the avow'd Enemies of our Church and Nation acted on the former of the&s;e Occa&s;ions; as al&s;o to vindicate our &s;elves from the Calumny which &s;ome have &s;pread about concerning us, as if we had acted upon the &s;ame Principle, on the latter of them.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="6">
<P> In the days of our Fathers, the <HI>Romani&s;ts</HI> form'd a Plot again&s;t us for the &s;ubverting our Government, and e&s;pecially for the changing our Religion; in order to which excellent Ends (as they accounted them) they did not &s;tick at making u&s;e of the vile&s;t Means that ei|ther Men or Devils could invent. But that Divine Pro|vidence which hath from one Age to another taken e&s;pe|cial Care of us, di&s;cover'd their De&s;ign, and by that means defeated it; and this in &s;o con&s;picuous a manner, that it was then, and has been ever &s;ince generally own|ed, with Thankfulne&s;s to Almighty God, and with Dete&s;tation both of the Contrivance it &s;elf, and of the Principle from which it proceeded.</P>
<P>In our own days, the &s;ame &s;ort of men had again form'd a very dangerous De&s;ign again&s;t us, and by other Methods hoped to bring about the &s;ame End. But in this In&s;tance al&s;o the Providence of God hath given them a very remarkable Di&s;appointment; which altho it be likewi&s;e by the Body of the Nation thankfully a&s;cribed to Almighty God, as the Great Author of our Deliverance; yet there are not wanting &s;ome, even among&s;t our &s;elves, that charge us with having u&s;ed un|lawful Means for the attaining a good End; and openly declare again&s;t our annexing the <HI>Second</HI> Occa&s;ion of this Day's Thank&s;giving to the <HI>Fir&s;t;</HI> as if in doing &s;o, we were guilty of a manife&s;t Contradiction.</P>
<P>It &s;eems highly rea&s;onable therefore, when we are a&s;|&s;embled in this Solemn Manner to offer up our devout Thanks to God for the Deliverance he hath reiterated to us, to vindicate our &s;elves from &s;o gro&s;s an Ab&s;urdity; and to make it evident, that in Both the&s;e In&s;tances we have great rea&s;on to give Thanks to God, and that we may with a good Con&s;cience a&s;cribe our Deliverance to Him in the <HI>Later</HI> Ca&s;e, as well as in the <HI>Former.</HI></P>
<PB N="3" REF="6">
<P> The Words of the Text are St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s, and the Occa|&s;ion of them was this. The Apo&s;tle in his preceding Di&s;cour&s;e had been intimating, That the <HI>Jews</HI> by di&s;|believing the Go&s;pel of our Saviour,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 3.</NOTE> had not <HI>made void the faithfulne&s;s of God;</HI> nay, on the contrary, That <HI>their unrighteou&s;ne&s;s did commend the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 5.</NOTE> that is, it render'd it more con&s;picuous and illu&s;trious. Upon which he brings in the <HI>Jew</HI> objecting, <HI>But if our unrighteou&s;ne&s;s commend the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, what &s;hall we &s;ay? Is God unrighteous, who taketh venge|ance?</HI> That is, How can God ju&s;tly puni&s;h tho&s;e, who by their Iniquity advance his Glory? To this he an&s;wers with abhorrence (it being an Objection &s;o plainly un|rea&s;onable, that it needed not be confuted by Argument, but only di&s;claim'd), <HI>God forbid;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 6.</NOTE> <HI>for then how &s;hall God judge the world?</HI> That is, If he were chargeable with Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, how could he be a fit Governor or Judge of the World? For <HI>&s;hall not the Judge of all the earth do right?</HI> But here he goes on with the <HI>Jews</HI> Ob|jection;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 7, 8.</NOTE> <HI>If the truth of God hath more abounded through my lye unto his glory, why yet am I al&s;o judged as a &s;inner; and not rather, as we be &s;landerou&s;ly reported, and as &s;ome af|firm that we &s;ay. Let us do evil, that good may come?</HI> That is, If the Truth of God be render'd more illu&s;tri|ous by the Fal&s;ene&s;s of Men, with what Ju&s;tice can the man that is thus fal&s;e, be dealt with as a &s;inner? Seeing his fal&s;ene&s;s is a means of bringing Glory to God, &s;ure|ly it can be no Crime. Why may we not rather argue thus <HI>Let us do evil, that good may come?</HI> This, &s;ays he, we Apo&s;tles, and particularly I <HI>Paul,</HI> are <HI>&s;landerou&s;ly reported to &s;ay; &s;ome affirm that we do &s;ay &s;o,</HI> either directly, or at lea&s;t by con&s;equence&punc; It may be they might not have &s;o little hone&s;ty, as to charge them with &s;aying it expre&s;ly; however, they charged it as a nece&s;&s;ary Con|&s;equence
<PB N="4" REF="7">upon the Doctrine which they taught: To which he again replies, not by Arguing, but by De|te&s;tation, <HI>Who&s;e Damnation is ju&s;t. Who&s;e Damnation;</HI> that is, <HI>Theirs,</HI> who&s;oever they are, that either own, or act upon &s;uch a Principle as this, <HI>That it is lawful to do evil, that good may come;</HI> or <HI>Theirs,</HI> who thus calumni|ate us, as if this Principle were ours; that is, as if this were a Chri&s;tian Principle, either taught or allowed by the Apo&s;tles of our Lord: For the word <HI>Who&s;e,</HI> may refer to either of them. This I take to be the plain meaning of the Words; from which we may make the&s;e <HI>Three</HI> Ob&s;ervations, which are evidently contained or implied in them.</P>
<P N="1">I. That Almighty God can, and often doth over rule the evil Actions of men to his own Glory, and cau&s;e bad Means to conduce to a good End.</P>
<P N="2">II. That notwith&s;tanding this, 'tis a dete&s;table and damnable Principle, <HI>That unlawful Means may be u&s;ed, in order to the bringing about an End that is good.</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. That it is moreover a <HI>&s;landerous,</HI> and therefore a very <HI>unju&s;t</HI> and <HI>dete&s;table</HI> Practice, to charge this Princi|ple upon tho&s;e who not only di&s;own it, but who&s;e Actions have given no ju&s;t occa&s;ion for &s;uch an Impu|tation.</P>
<P>Of each of the&s;e I de&s;ign to di&s;cour&s;e briefly, and as I go along, apply them to the Occa&s;ions of our pre&s;ent meeting.</P>
<P N="1">I. That Almighty God can, and often doth over|rule the evil Actions of men to his own Glory, and cau&s;e bad Means to conduce to a good End.</P>
<P>This is &s;ufficiently intimated in our Apo&s;tle's Di&s;|cour&s;e at the beginning of this Chapter; and his a&s;&s;ert|ing this, was (as I have &s;hewn) that which gave oc|ca&s;ion
<PB N="5" REF="7">to the Reflection made in the Text. The <HI>Jews</HI> had been favoured by God with e&s;pecial Advantages for the knowing the Me&s;&s;ias, when he &s;hould appear among&s;t them; yet we know how they disbeliev'd and rejected him, when he did appear, even to the ruin of their Church and Nation. But yet this their Sin illu&s;trated the Glory of God's Ju&s;tice, in puni&s;hing them &s;o re|markably for their heinous Crime; and by giving occa|&s;ion al&s;o to the Apo&s;tles <HI>to turn from them to the Gentiles;</HI> it proved a means of advancing God's Glory, by pro|pagating the knowledge of him in the world. The <HI>Gentiles</HI> on the other hand had been grievous Sinners, not only &s;trangers to the living and true God, but living in open violation of tho&s;e Laws which he had given them in their very Natures; yet upon their hearing the Chri|&s;tian Doctrine preach'd, many of them embrac'd it with great readine&s;s; which likewi&s;e gave occa&s;ion to the magnifying the Grace of God towards them, in pardoning their pa&s;t Offences, and receiving them into his favour, upon their Repentance and Amendment; which again prov'd another occa&s;ion of the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">ws</HI> bla&s;phe|ming the Doctrine of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> and imputing to him fal&s;ly the &s;ame Principle which they here do in the Text; as he &s;eems to intimate in that Pa&s;&s;age, <HI>Rom</HI> 6.1. <HI>What &s;hall we &s;ay then? Shall we continue in &s;in, that grace may abound?</HI> An&s;wering there, as he does here, by rejecting &s;uch a Po&s;ition with Abhorrence, <HI>God forbid.</HI> Indeed as to both the&s;e In&s;tances, St. <HI>Paul</HI> afterwards in this &s;ame Epi&s;tle re&s;olves the whole of God's Di&s;pen|&s;ation into Infinite Wi&s;dom, when &s;peaking both of the Sin of the <HI>Jews</HI> in rejecting, and the Happine&s;s of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> in embracing the Go&s;pel of our Saviour, he concludes, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.33, 36. <HI>Oh the depth of the riches both of the wi&s;dom and knowledge of God! how un&s;earch|able
<PB N="6" REF="8">are his judgments, and his ways pa&s;t finding out! for of him, and through him, and to him are all things; to whom be glory forever.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P>Whoever is acquainted with the Hi&s;tory of the Holy Scriptures, needs not be at much pains to find out abun|dance of In&s;tances of the like kind. And if we would reflect upon one that has a fair Re&s;emblance to tho&s;e which I &s;hall have occa&s;ion pre&s;ently to mention from among our &s;elves, it may be that in the Book of <HI>E&s;ther;</HI> which Book was written on purpo&s;e to declare the Wi&s;|dom and Goodne&s;s of God, in over-ruling the Pride and Malice of a wicked man, to his own Glory, and the Good of his Church; ordering it &s;o, that the Con&s;pira|tor &s;hould erect a Gallows for him&s;elf to be hang'd on; and that he &s;hould by Lot chu&s;e out a Month and a Day for the de&s;truction of the Nation and Church of the <HI>Jews,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;th. 9.22.</NOTE> which did in effect prove <HI>the day in which the Jews re&s;ted from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from &s;orrow into joy, and from mourning into a good day;</HI> as we read in the Sequel of that Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P>But to pa&s;s by all other In&s;tances that might be given, we Chri&s;tians have one at hand, which may &s;erve in|&s;tead of all, namely, When the greate&s;t Sin that ever was committed, the Crucifying the Son of God, was by the Divine Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s over-ruled, to become a Means of the greate&s;t Good that was ever conferr'd upon the Children of Men, <HI>viz.</HI> putting them into a new Capacity of Eternal Life and Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>And the rea&s;on of all this is evident. That Being, who &s;eeth all things at one view; who not only know|eth what is now doing, but what will be done, nay, what will be attempted or de&s;ign'd hereafter; who farther di&s;cerneth the tendency of every Action, and what will be the natural Con&s;equence of it; and who
<PB N="7" REF="8">at the &s;ame time hath all Power in his Hands, &s;o that he can either permit or prevent the Execution of any De&s;ign; can Confirm or Annul every Purpo&s;e and Intention: He certainly can ea&s;ily out-wit and over|reach the craftie&s;t and the wor&s;t of Men, and con&s;e|quently can di&s;po&s;e and order what they intend wickedly or fooli&s;hly, to quite other purpo&s;es than what were in their Hearts. And fora&s;much as his Goodne&s;s is equal to his Power and Wi&s;dom, we may &s;afely con|clude, that as he can, &s;o he will govern Affairs in &s;uch wi&s;e, as to bring good out of evil. As we may rea|&s;onably argue from the Perfection of his Nature, that he never would have permitted Evil to have come in|to the world, unle&s;s he could have over-rul'd it to &s;ome wi&s;e and good ends: So we may al&s;o, That he never will permit any of his Creatures to do that evil thing, which he cannot, and which he will not make to i&s;&s;ue in the Glory of his Holy Name, and the Good of his Creation.</P>
<P>And now if we would apply this to our pre&s;ent pur|po&s;e, it will not be difficult. That the Con&s;piracy of <HI>this Day</HI> in the time of our Fathers was a Notorious Wickedne&s;s, I will at pre&s;ent take for granted; and if it were, I am &s;ure it prov'd an Eminent occa&s;ion al&s;o of God's Manife&s;ting the Glory of &s;everal of his Attributes. His Wi&s;dom, for in&s;tance, evidently ap|pear'd, in permitting the Con&s;pirators to proceed ju&s;t to Execution, and then all on a &s;udden di&s;covering their dark De&s;igns, nay, making one of them&s;elves the occa&s;ion of this Di&s;covery. His Ju&s;tice was manife&s;t, in turning the Mi&s;chief upon them&s;elves, and &s;ubject|ing them to the Puni&s;hment which their Crime de|&s;erv'd. His Goodne&s;s was very con&s;picuous in &s;aving the Lives of &s;o many innocent Per&s;ons, de&s;ign'd as a
<PB N="8" REF="9">Sacrifice to the cruel Zeal of tho&s;e Ungodly Men, and in pre&s;erving, together with them, the Liberty and the Religion of our Nation. Nor was this all; but this Con&s;piracy farther redounded to the Glory of Al|mighty God, as it became a means of begetting in the People of this Land an hone&s;t Aver&s;ion to that Church, which allow'd and encourag'd &s;uch Wicked and De|&s;tructive Enterprizes as this: And perhaps the keeping <HI>this Day</HI> for &s;o many Years together, in Memory of &s;o remarkable a Deliverance from &s;o Barbarous a De|&s;ign, did in an e&s;pecial manner help towards the keep|ing the Nation awake, and rendring them con&s;tantly jealous of what&s;oever plau&s;ible Pretences that Church might make for the future. I am &s;ure in the I ate Reign, when we were in fre&s;h danger from the &s;ame Quarter, the Zealous Ob&s;ervation of <HI>this Day,</HI> and the Di&s;cour&s;es that were Preach'd and Printed upon this Occa&s;ion, were of very con&s;iderable U&s;e.</P>
<P>And if we pa&s;s from <HI>that,</HI> to the other Occa&s;ion of our pre&s;ent A&s;&s;embling, we &s;hall find a new In&s;tance among our &s;elves, of God's over ruling the Evil Acti|ons of Men to his own Glory. Our Enemies indeed, in this later Ca&s;e, were &s;o fair, as to deal more above|board with us, and plainly to let us know what they were de&s;igning; and perhaps they will ju&s;tify them|&s;elves as le&s;s wicked, becau&s;e more open in their At|tempt. But whoever well con&s;iders the Illegal and Unrighteous Practices that were u&s;ed, in order to the &s;ubverting the Legal Government of this Kingdom, and rooting out God's true Religion from among us, may &s;ee cau&s;e enough to own the Divine Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s, in bringing Good out of Evil in this in&s;tance al&s;o.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="9">
<P>'Twas the Effect of no le&s;s than Divine Wi&s;dom, to bring about our Deliverance at a time, when we were &s;o clo&s;ely be&s;et on all &s;ides, as to have no vi&s;ible way of E&s;caping left us. When after the Endeavours of many Years, all things at la&s;t &s;eem'd to Con&s;pire to the effecting what our Enemies had De&s;ign'd, when they were confident of Succe&s;s, and began to Triumph over us, as already in their Power; it plea&s;ed God all on a &s;udden to give &s;uch an unexpected Turn to Af|fairs, that in&s;tead of a Lawle&s;s Power, and the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Religion being &s;etled among us, they were by a Con|currence of divers Cau&s;es, render'd more unlikely to prevail for the future, than ever. The Government chang'd from Popi&s;h to Prote&s;tant; the Strength of the Kingdom given over into other Hands; many Whole&s;ome and Nece&s;&s;ary Laws made to prevent the like Danger hereafter, which we had then incur'd; And this Kingdom, which &s;eem'd the only One want|ing to turn the Balance of <HI>Europe,</HI> and which was then in a fair way to have done it, made to become the Great Bulwark of the Liberties of all <HI>Europe,</HI> and the main Support of the Prote&s;tant Religion in the World. And &s;o much may &s;uffice for the Fir&s;t Ob&s;ervation I laid down. I proceed to the</P>
<P N="2">II. <HI>Viz.</HI> That notwith&s;tanding all this, 'tis a De|te&s;table and Damnable Principle, <HI>That &V;nlawful means may be u&s;ed, in order to the bringing about an End that is good.</HI></P>
<P>You &s;ee with what Abhorrence the Apo&s;tle in the Text di&s;claims it; adding, That <HI>their Damnation is ju&s;t,</HI> who either avow or act upon it. 'Tis in truth &s;uch an open Defiance to God and Goodne&s;s; &s;uch a flat Contradiction to Truth and Rea&s;on, as well as to Chri|&s;tianity,
<PB N="10" REF="10">that it very well became him thus to expre&s;s him&s;elf concerning it.</P>
<P>The &s;ame Apo&s;tle has el&s;ewhere likewi&s;e te&s;tified his Sen&s;e of this Matter; namely, When giving an Account of his own Behaviour, before he became a Chri&s;tian, he &s;ays, That <HI>he verily thought that he ought to do</HI> what he did <HI>contrary to the Name of Je&s;us,</HI> viz. <HI>Shutting up many of his Saints in Pri&s;on; giving his Voice again&s;t them, when they were put to Death; puni&s;h|ing them oft in every Synagogue, and compelling them to Bla&s;pheme; and being exceedingly mad again&s;t them, and per&s;ecuting them into &s;trange Cities,</HI> Acts 26, 9, 10, 11. All the&s;e things, he &s;ays, <HI>he verily thought that he ought to do;</HI> and yet for having done this, he arraigns him|&s;elf, in another place, as <HI>a Bla&s;phemer, a Per&s;ecutor, and Injurious,</HI> 1 Tim. 1.13. Which Crimes he accu&s;es him&s;elf of, not (as it may be objected) meerly be|cau&s;e the Chri&s;tian Religion, which he thus <HI>madly</HI> op|po&s;ed, prov'd to be God's true Religion; but more|over becau&s;e he u&s;ed irregular and unlawful Methods in oppo&s;ing it, even though it had been a fal&s;e Reli|gion, as he then &s;uppos'd it was. If the Chri&s;tian Re|ligion had not been from God, he had not then indeed been <HI>a Bla&s;phemer,</HI> as he here calls him&s;elf; but he would neverthele&s;s have been <HI>a Per&s;ecutor,</HI> and <HI>an In|jurious Per&s;on,</HI> in dealing &s;o hardly and inhumanly with tho&s;e, who &s;incerely and hone&s;tly Profe&s;s'd it, and were otherwi&s;e perfectly Innocent, and Inoffen|&s;ive; nay Righteous, and Holy Men.</P>
<P>Our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour hath in like manner declar'd his Sen&s;e to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, when &s;peaking to his Di&s;ciples, he telleth them, That the <HI>Jews,</HI> after his departure from them, <HI>would put them out of their Synagogues,</HI> and not content with that, <HI>That the time
<PB N="11" REF="10">would come, that who&s;oever &s;hould kill them, &s;hould think that he did God &s;ervice,</HI> John 16.2. And this our Lord not only foretells that the <HI>Jews</HI> would do, but he &s;peaks of it as an heinous Crime in them; for &s;o it follows, <HI>Ver.</HI> 3. <HI>And the&s;e things will they do unto you, becau&s;e they have not known the Father, nor me. They have not known me;</HI> el&s;e they would not deal thus de&s;pitefully and cruelly with my Servants: And <HI>they have not known my father;</HI> el&s;e they would not do &s;uch Acts of Vio|lence, &s;uch unrighteous and unnatural things, to inno|cent and hone&s;t Men, under a pretence of &s;erving him, and promoting his Glory.</P>
<P>And as the <HI>New,</HI> &s;o the <HI>Old</HI> Te&s;tament al&s;o hath fully born it's Te&s;timony again&s;t this dete&s;table Prin|ciple, of <HI>doing Evil, that Good may come.</HI> We have a remarkable Pa&s;&s;age in the Book of <HI>Job,</HI> utter'd by <HI>Job</HI> him&s;elf, who was not &s;o much as initiated in the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Religion, but as far as appears, was a pious and good Man, upon the Principles of Natural Religion only; which Pa&s;&s;age being Recorded in the Canon of the Old Te&s;tament, is a full proof, that God hath both in Nature, and under the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Di&s;pen&s;ation, as well as by Chri&s;tianity, declar'd his di&s;allowance of the Prin|ciple I am &s;peaking of. The words of <HI>Job</HI> are the&s;e, which he &s;pake in the bitterne&s;s of his Soul, when his Friends unkindly charg'd him with Hypocri&s;y, in|tending thereby to Apologize for God, in laying &s;uch heavy Afflictions upon him, <HI>Job</HI> 13.7, 8. <HI>Will you,</HI> &s;ays he, <HI>&s;peak wickedly for God, and talk deceitfully for him? Will ye accept his Per&s;on? Will ye contend for God?</HI> He declares, you &s;ee, again&s;t going about to ju|&s;tify even God him&s;elf, by lying and fal&s;ehood. Not that God Almighty can ever be &s;uppos'd to need &s;uch a ju&s;tification: But <HI>Job</HI> &s;ignifies moreover his Abhorrence
<PB N="12" REF="11">of it, and that he would be very far from approving what they did, (though they &s;eem to have been other|wi&s;e too good men, to have done this knowingly and wilfully;) He therefore adds in the words following, V. 9, 10, 11. <HI>Is it good that he &s;hould &s;earch you out? Or as one man mocketh another, do ye &s;o mock him?</HI> To Lye for God, is it &s;eems <HI>to mock him;</HI> that is, to abu&s;e and affront him. <HI>He will &s;urely reprove you, if ye do &s;ecretly accept Per&s;ons. Shall not his Excellency make you afraid, and his Dread fall upon you?</HI></P>
<P>But indeed there needs no Authority to vouch for us in this Ca&s;e. We may certainly conclude, without the Affirmation of an Apo&s;tle, or a Prophet, or any other In&s;pired Winter, That this is a dete&s;table Principle. 'Tis ab&s;urd and &s;elf-contradictory, and as directly op|po&s;ite to all good Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on, as any Principle can po&s;&s;ibly be. To de&s;ign, and to do good, is the proper bu&s;ine&s;s of an intelligent and rea&s;onable Being. 'Tis the Glory of God Him&s;elf, and 'tis what he re|quires of all, whom he hath made after his own Image. Now <HI>that</HI> is <HI>good</HI> for an intelligent Creature, either to de&s;ign or do, which is according to the Will of the Creator, (his Will being the Rule and the Mea&s;ure of Goodne&s;s;) So that <HI>to do Evil,</HI> in order to the <HI>doing Good,</HI> is to contradict and thwart his Will, in order to the performing it; 'tis to offend him, in order to plea|&s;ing him; 'tis to break his Commandments, in order to the keeping them. In a word, 'tis to do that which is directly oppo&s;ite to the end, which we profe&s;s to aim at. For no Evil has in its own Nature a Ten|dency to Good, but to the ju&s;t contrary. It may in|deed be over-rul'd (as you have heard) to other ends than tho&s;e to which it has a natural Tendency: But then this is not from the Nature of the Thing, but
<PB N="13" REF="11">from the Wi&s;dom of God. The Event only is God's; but that does not alter the nature of the Action, which is to be mea&s;ur'd by the Rule which God has given his Creatures to act by. But I think no more need be &s;aid in &s;o plain a Ca&s;e.</P>
<P>I know that 'tis commonly pretended by tho&s;e that act upon this Principle, That the Actions they do would not inded be good, but only as they are directed to &s;uch an end; but that the Goodne&s;s of the End will San|ctify the Means, and take off the evil that otherwi&s;e would naturally be in &s;uch Actions. But let us try how this way of arguing will &s;olve the Difficulty in any of the In&s;tances already given.</P>
<P><HI>Job</HI>'s Friends intended to ju&s;tify, and &s;o to Honour God, by accu&s;ing their Friend, and laying to his charge what he was not guilty of. Their End was good; but it did not for all that, it &s;eems, alter the nature of the Means. 'Twas &s;till <HI>&s;peaking wickedly for God, and talking deceitfully for him;</HI> it was <HI>mocking</HI> (or af|fronting) <HI>God,</HI> for which, as he there tells them, they were in danger of being <HI>&s;earched out,</HI> and <HI>reproved</HI> by him. The <HI>Jews</HI> again propos'd to them&s;elves <HI>the doing God Service:</HI> But this did not render <HI>Killing</HI> of inno|cent Men, no Murder. St. <HI>Paul verily thought that he ought to do</HI> what he did, for the Honour of God (no doubt) and the good of his Church: But yet this would not make <HI>Per&s;ecution</HI> and <HI>Injurious Dealing,</HI> to become Innocent and Righteous Actions. And &s;o again in our Text, he &s;uppo&s;es that the De&s;ign may be, <HI>that Good may come;</HI> whil&s;t the Action in order to that end is <HI>Evil,</HI> and thereupon dete&s;ts the Prin|ciple.</P>
<P>The Truth of this matter is in &s;hort this. There are &s;ome Actions &s;o manife&s;tly unlawful in their own na|ture,
<PB N="14" REF="12">that they cannot be made lawful by being de&s;ign'd to bring about the be&s;t End that can be thought of. There are &s;ome Actions &s;o plainly contrary to the Laws of God, and to the Rea&s;on and Nature of Things e&s;ta|bli&s;h'd by him, that they mu&s;t not be done upon any account what&s;oever.</P>
<P>And now to Apply this to our pre&s;ent Purpo&s;e, par|ticularly to that Con&s;piracy which fir&s;t gave occa&s;ion for the Ob&s;ervation of <HI>this Day.</HI> There can be no great doubt made, whether it were begun and carried on upon this dete&s;table Principle, which the Apo&s;tle renounces in the Text, and declares to be <HI>damnable.</HI> 'Tis true, the Actors in it did not avow, That they thought it lawful <HI>to do Evil, that Good might come.</HI> No; they &s;aid, ac|cording to the Pretence I ju&s;t now &s;ugge&s;ted, That &s;o Excellent an End as theirs was, could not chu&s;e but ju|&s;tify the Means they were about to u&s;e in order to it. And therefore, though from the Remains of Rea&s;on and Good Nature, &s;ome of them &s;tartled at the Man|ner of bringing about their End, yet that Scruple was overcome by the Zeal they had for the Intere&s;ts of their Church and Religion. Wherein, by the way, we &s;ee the danger of being engaged in a Fal&s;e Religion; and particularly, how much the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> has de|bauch'd the Con&s;ciences of tho&s;e that have been tho|rough pac'd in their Profe&s;&s;ion. But need we &s;tand to prove that the&s;e were unlawful, nay, wicked and abo|minable Means, whatever their End might be? Was it no Crime then, at one Blow to de&s;troy the Lives of &s;o many innocent Per&s;ons, who had not the lea&s;t appre|hen&s;ion of their Danger? Was it no Crime to offer Violence to the Per&s;on of the King, and tho&s;e of the E&s;tates of the Kingdom a&s;&s;embled in Parliament? To
<PB N="15" REF="12">cut off the Flower of our Nobility and Gentry at once, and upon that to involve the whole Nation in Confu&s;i|on, Slaughter, and Blood; which mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily have en&s;ued, as &s;oon as the <HI>deadly Blow</HI> had been given? Good God! That ever Human Nature &s;hould be capa|ble of being thus wrought upon, to throw off all the Principles and Inclinations of Humanity! And that ever any Men, in order to advance Reveal'd Religion, &s;hould thus directly contradict and violate all that is Na|tural! The mere naming the&s;e things, without com|menting upon them, is abundantly &s;ufficient to declare the Wickedne&s;s of the Means they u&s;ed.</P>
<P>And after all, What was the End to be brought about by the&s;e Means, which might be able to &s;anctify them, and to purge out the Evil that was naturally in them? Why, here's the mi&s;chief, and thus commonly it falls out, That tho&s;e who make u&s;e of &s;uch kind of Means as the&s;e, under the Pretence of pur&s;uing &s;ome worthy End, are as gro&s;ly mi&s;taken about their End, as they are about the Means. 'Tis indeed an ob&s;ervable In&s;tance of the Divine Ju&s;tice towards men, in thus blinding their eyes, and hardening their hearts, in <HI>gi|ving them up to &s;trong delu&s;ions, that they may believe a lye,</HI> when they do not &s;incerely and heartily love the Truth. They commonly fir&s;t propo&s;e to them&s;elves very wicked Ends, and then no wonder if they chu&s;e Means that are equally wicked. And thus it was in this ca&s;e. The End was to root out God's true Religion from among&s;t us, and to ree&s;tabli&s;h the Errors and evil Practices of the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Church, which had been ju&s;tly di&s;carded by us. Had <HI>their</HI> Religion been true, and <HI>ours</HI> fal&s;e, nothing but a <HI>&s;trong Delu&s;ion</HI> could have led them to the taking this cour&s;e, for the introducing the one, and the rooting out the other. It cannot be
<PB N="16" REF="13">from God, with his approbation, or allowance, that men &s;hould violate tho&s;e Laws of his, which are &s;o plainly written in our very Nature; that they &s;hould renounce all Ju&s;tice and Mercy, and put off Humanity it &s;elf, for the Advancement of the true&s;t Religion, or the be&s;t Church in the world. And what then &s;hall be &s;aid, when the greate&s;t Barbarities are exerci&s;ed, for the e&s;tabli&s;hing Error, Super&s;tition, and Idolatry; for the ruining an Excellent Church, and the &s;ubverting a well-order'd Government? We may very well &s;ay, in the Words of our Text, Tho&s;e who pre&s;ume to do <HI>Evil,</HI> that &s;uch <HI>Good may come, their Damnation is ju&s;t.</HI> But let us pa&s;s from this, to the la&s;t Ob&s;ervation I laid down from the Words, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. That it is a <HI>&s;landerous,</HI> and therefore a very <HI>un|ju&s;t</HI> and <HI>dete&s;table</HI> Practice, to charge this Principle up|on tho&s;e who not only di&s;own it, but who&s;e Actions have given no ju&s;t occa&s;ion for &s;uch an Imputation.</P>
<P>This is in truth &s;o lewd a Principle, that tho&s;e who do act upon it, will probably not be &s;o hardy as to own that they do &s;o. But however, if they do evi|dently act upon it, then 'tis no Slander, no Inju&s;tice to &s;ay they do. But if, on the contrary, they not only di&s;avow the Principle, but have given no ju&s;t ground for &s;uch a Charge, then it is without all que&s;tion a <HI>&s;lan|derous Report.</HI> So St. <HI>Paul</HI> affirms in the Text, u&s;ing the &s;ame word, which, when applied to God, is ren|der'd <HI>Bla&s;phemy,</HI> and when to Men, 'tis tran&s;lated by <HI>evil &s;peaking,</HI> or (as here) by <HI>&s;landerou&s;ly reporting,</HI> or <HI>calumniating.</HI> And he adds, <HI>Who&s;e damnation is ju&s;t;</HI> by which, as I took notice in the Explication of the Text, &s;ome under&s;tand his meaning to have been, That tho&s;e <HI>Jews</HI> who rais'd this <HI>&s;landerous Report</HI> upon the
<PB N="17" REF="13">Apo&s;tles, when they did, or at lea&s;t might ea&s;ily, if it had not been their own fault, have known that it was <HI>a &s;lander,</HI> were <HI>ju&s;tly liable to damnation</HI> for &s;o doing; &s;o that God would puni&s;h them, not only for rejecting the Go&s;pel when preach'd to them, but al&s;o for <HI>calum|niating</HI> the Doctrine of Chri&s;tianity, and <HI>&s;landering</HI> its Preachers.</P>
<P>I need not &s;tand to prove the Truth of the Ob&s;erva|tion. Every one will readily allow it, that to lay &s;o &s;oul an Imputation upon any that have not de&s;erved it, is the wor&s;t &s;ort of <HI>Calumny</HI> and <HI>Inju&s;tice.</HI> But the rea&s;on of my mentioning it, is, both becau&s;e it is evidently implied in the Text, and becau&s;e there are <HI>Some who have &s;landerou&s;ly reported and affirmed,</HI> That We of this Church and Nation have acted upon this Principle, and this particularly in One of tho&s;e In&s;tances which we have made a new Rea&s;on for our a&s;&s;embling at this Time.</P>
<P>They own indeed, That the Pre&s;ervation of our Go|vernment and our Religion in our Fathers days, was a &s;ignal Act of Divine Providence, for which we ought &s;till to expre&s;s our Thankfulne&s;s: But they &s;ay, That our late Deliverance, however permitted by God for wi&s;e and good Ends, was neverthele&s;s brought about by unlawful Means; &s;o that in&s;tead of rendring Thanks to God, as we now do, we ought rather to humble our &s;elves before Him for the great Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion we have been guilty of. I thus plainly relate what has been too often &s;aid upon this occa&s;ion; which, if it were not notorious, ought not to have been mentioned. But &s;eeing &s;ome have the Confidence thus to charge us, it &s;eems rea&s;onable, nay, nece&s;&s;ary on &s;uch Occa&s;ions as this, to &s;hew that the Imputation is fal&s;e and <HI>&s;landerous,</HI> and this partly, to do right to our &s;elves; partly, for
<PB N="18" REF="14">the fortifying &s;uch as may be liable to be &s;hockt by the bold A&s;&s;ertions of Confident Men; and partly for the convincing tho&s;e among&s;t them, who&s;e Prejudices and Pa&s;&s;ions have not &s;et them out of the reach of all calm and &s;ober Rea&s;oning.</P>
<P>To come to the point therefore with <HI>the Reporters of this &s;lander.</HI> The &s;econd Occa&s;ion of this Solemnity was the happy Arrival of His Pre&s;ent Maje&s;ty on <HI>this Day</HI> for the Deliverance of our Church and Nation. It was, I am &s;ure, an Arrival which was eagerly de&s;ired and expected by a con&s;iderable number of tho&s;e, who have appear'd di&s;&s;atisfied at the Event. By the &s;oberer part of them, I think it is not now made a Matter of Di&s;pute, Whether our Laws, and Liberties, and Re|ligion, were at That time in imminent Danger, or not; nor whether His Maje&s;ty's Undertaking were not very de&s;irable, in order to the re&s;cuing us from the Evils we then fear'd were coming upon us. But according to the&s;e Mens pre&s;ent Apprehen&s;ions, we did not, it &s;eems, make a right u&s;e of the Ble&s;&s;ing which Providence be|&s;tow'd upon us; that is, things were order'd and &s;et|led in &s;uch manner, as prov'd contrary to their expecta|tions, and to &s;ome Schemes which they had form'd to them&s;elves. Well, be it &s;o for once: But who was it that made this Settlement for us? Even Tho&s;e who alone at that time were in a Capacity of doing it. We were fir&s;t reduced to that State, that we wanted &s;ome Deliverer from Abroad; we were generally de&s;irous of his Speedy Arrival among us; &s;oon after his Arrival we were left in a &s;tate of Anarchy and Confu&s;ion, and put under a new Nece&s;&s;ity of taking up &s;ome &s;peedy and effectual Re&s;olutions of &s;ecuring the Publick Peace; we were by tho&s;e who had through their unhappy Management fir&s;t brought us to the&s;e &s;traits, and af|terwards
<PB N="19" REF="14">de&s;erted us in the mid&s;t of them, left to do the be&s;t we could for our &s;elves. Now I would fain know of our di&s;affected Countreymen, Who in &s;uch a Ca&s;e mu&s;t determine what was to be done? When <HI>the Legal Con&s;titution,</HI> whereby any Society or Body of Men is held together, is once broken, let it be by what means it will, there are but two ways, that I can think of, to bring things to an I&s;&s;ue; <HI>viz.</HI> Either <HI>Fighting</HI> or <HI>Voting.</HI> The latter certainly is the more <HI>Human</HI> way of the two, and &s;uch as it much better becomes <HI>Rea&s;onable</HI> Creatures to u&s;e, than the former; and if once matters come to a Publick <HI>Vote,</HI> as in this Ca&s;e of ours they ne|ce&s;&s;arily did, <HI>the Law of Rea&s;on,</HI> which is Eternal and Immutable, dictates, That the Le&s;&s;er Part &s;hould yield to the Greater; and this &s;o, that in all matters of purely <HI>Civil Right,</HI> every Private Man is in rea&s;on bound, ei|ther to &s;ubmit to the Major Vote, or to leave the So|ciety, or to be contented with what they &s;hall plea&s;e to inflict upon him for his Singularity. This is &s;o plain a Ca&s;e, that it often &s;eems to me matter of wonder, and what is not to be accounted for from any Rea&s;on, but is to be re&s;olv'd into the mere &s;trength of Prejudice, That men otherwi&s;e of good Sen&s;e and Meaning, &s;hould not be thoroughly convinc'd by this Con&s;idera|tion. In&s;omuch that tho&s;e who &s;tand off from our pre&s;ent E&s;tabli&s;hment, and will not own them&s;elves Subjects to this Government, are, as far as I can per|ceive, the only Body of Men that ever yet di&s;&s;ented from <HI>an E&s;tabli&s;h'd Government,</HI> upon their Principles. Had they been <HI>Conquer'd,</HI> that is, compell'd by down|right Force of Arms, as far as I under&s;tand their Scheme, they might have yielded upon their own Principles. But let them con&s;ider this Matter fairly once again.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="15">
<P> The Nation, thanks be to God, was not <HI>Conquer'd;</HI> &s;o far from that, that this Revolution was not only made and e&s;tabli&s;h'd by our <HI>Repre&s;entatives</HI> freely cho|&s;en and a&s;&s;embled, but what they did, I take to be agreeable to the Sen&s;e of the far Greater and Better Part of the Kingdom; &s;o that it is <HI>Con&s;ent,</HI> not <HI>Con|que&s;t,</HI> upon which the pre&s;ent E&s;tabli&s;hment is plainly founded. But after all, the profe&s;s'd <HI>Enemies</HI> of the Government are, I hope, <HI>Conquer'd.</HI> They were fir&s;t <HI>out voted,</HI> and they are ever &s;ince <HI>over-power'd</HI> and <HI>over|rul'd;</HI> and if they will not allow them&s;elves after all this to be <HI>conquer'd,</HI> it mu&s;t be only becau&s;e the Govern|ment has been &s;o gentle, as not to let them <HI>feel</HI> that they are &s;o. But one would think, that Wi&s;e Men &s;hould rather chu&s;e to be conquer'd in this gentle and ea&s;y way, and that Ingenuity &s;hould work upon them, where the utmo&s;t Force is &s;par'd. And this, I think, is all that is nece&s;&s;ary to be &s;aid, for the Vindication of Tho&s;e that are mere <HI>Subjects,</HI> or for the Satisfaction of Tho&s;e that ought to be &s;o.</P>
<P>As to the <HI>Government</HI> it &s;elf, and particularly the <HI>States</HI> of the Nation, who fir&s;t in <HI>Convention,</HI> when Nece&s;&s;ity requir'd, and afterwards in a <HI>Parliament</HI> call'd according to the Forms of Law, have determin'd things as they are, it would be as pre&s;umptuous, as 'tis need|le&s;s, to pretend to Apologize for them. The <HI>Govern|ment,</HI> thanks be to God, is, and I hope always will be, able to vindicate it &s;elf again&s;t all that &s;hall pre&s;ume openly to affront or calumniate it. All therefore that I &s;hall farther add upon this Subject, is to put a few &s;eri|ous Que&s;tions to tho&s;e that &s;peak evil of us; and they are the&s;e.</P>
<P>Whether before the happy Arrival of his Maje&s;ty on <HI>this Day,</HI> our Laws and Liberties, and particularly our
<PB N="21" REF="15">Religion e&s;tabli&s;h'd by Law, were not in the utmo&s;t danger?</P>
<P>Whether at the &s;ame time, the Liberties of <HI>Europe,</HI> and the Prote&s;tant Religion in general, were not in the &s;ame danger?</P>
<P>Whether we did not then earne&s;tly wi&s;h and pray, That Providence would find out &s;ome way for our De|liverance? And whether it was not fit and rea&s;onable that we &s;hould do &s;o?</P>
<P>Whether, when Providence &s;tirr'd up a Neighbour|ing Prince and State to yield us their A&s;&s;i&s;tance, it were rea&s;onable for us to refu&s;e it? Nay, Whether it had not been high Ingratitude to Almighty God, and to his In&s;trument in our Deliverance, as well as great Folly with re&s;pect to our &s;elves, and a &s;tupid and &s;en&s;le&s;s Di&s;|regard of our own and our Neighbour's Welfare, if we had not thankfully receiv'd and embrac'd it?</P>
<P>Let me ask them farther, Whether the <HI>Fundamental Con&s;titution</HI> of a Government may not be &s;o violated, and the <HI>Regular</HI> and <HI>Legal</HI> &s;tate of things &s;o &s;hook and di&s;order'd, that the <HI>Law of Rea&s;on,</HI> which is ever &s;upe|rior to all <HI>Particular Forms</HI> and <HI>Con&s;titutions</HI> of Govern|ment, ought to take place?</P>
<P>And, Whether, when we were reduced to &s;uch Cir|cum&s;tances, that both the <HI>Repre&s;entatives</HI> and the <HI>Body</HI> of this Nation took it to be our Ca&s;e, they might not, nay, they ought not, to &s;ettle things for the future in the be&s;t manner they could?</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, Whether this being done, every good man ought not to acquie&s;ce under, nay, be thankful for &s;uch a Settlement? The&s;e things I leave to be &s;eriou&s;ly weigh'd by them, whenever they are in Temper to con&s;ider.</P>
<PB N="22" REF="16">
<P> And now what remains, as the Clo&s;e of all, but that reflecting upon both the&s;e Deliverances together, we render our hearty Thanks and Prai&s;e to Almighty God, as the principal Author of them? There is indeed very much of the Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s of God to be contemplated in both In&s;tances; the Con&s;ideration of which &s;hould in&s;pire us with a hearty Thankfulne&s;s to him for what is pa&s;t, and with a good Hope in him for the future. We may ju&s;tly upon this Occa&s;ion u&s;e the words of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in his Song, upon the occa&s;ion of the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> being delivered from the pur&s;uit of <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s Ho&s;t, and re&s;cued from the Danger they were in of be|ing either carried back into <HI>Egypt,</HI> or cut off by the way; <HI>The Lord is my &s;trength and &s;ong,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod 15.2.</NOTE> <HI>and he is become my &s;al|vation; he is my God, and I will glorify him; my father's God, and I will exalt him.</HI> We may again &s;ay with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> upon occa&s;ion of another Deliverance of that People;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 48.8.</NOTE> <HI>As we have heard, &s;o have we &s;een, in the city of the Lord of ho&s;ts, in the city of our God; God &s;hall e&s;ta|bli&s;h it for ever.</HI></P>
<P>And if we heartily de&s;ire that God may E&s;tabli&s;h us, we ought to expre&s;s our Thankfulne&s;s &s;ome better way, than meerly by Words. If our Sen&s;e of the Divine Goodne&s;s be real, it will produce &s;ome real effects upon us; and if our de&s;ires of the continuance of the Divine Favour to our Church and Nation are in earne&s;t, they will put us upon u&s;ing all the means that are proper on our part, in order to that end; particularly,</P>
<P N="1">1. As we give thanks to God, for the pre&s;erving our <HI>Legal Government,</HI> and therewith our <HI>Liberties</HI> and <HI>Properties</HI> to us; &s;o let us manife&s;t our ju&s;t Value for the&s;e Ble&s;&s;ings, by a wi&s;e and &s;ober u&s;e of them. Let us endeavour the E&s;tabli&s;hing this Government,
<PB N="23" REF="16">by di&s;charging the Duties of our &s;everal places under it. Let tho&s;e that are Magi&s;trates put the whole&s;ome Laws in Execution, e&s;pecially again&s;t &s;uch Practices as may provoke the Wrath of Almighty God again&s;t us. Let each private Man Obey the Laws of his Countrey, and Honour the Per&s;ons of Governors and Magi&s;trates, up|on the account of the Characters and Offices they bear. Let every one of us excite in him&s;elf an inward Con|cern for the <HI>Publick Good,</HI> for the Welfare of <HI>the whole Body;</HI> preferring this, as it becomes us, before all pri|vate and particular Intere&s;ts. Let us lay a&s;ide all Facti|ous contending for Parties, and promote Concord and Unanimity as much as is po&s;&s;ible; remembring Who hath told us, That <HI>every Kingdom divided again&s;t it &s;elf is brought to De&s;olation; and every City divided again&s;t it &s;elf &s;hall not &s;tand,</HI> Matth. 12.25.</P>
<P>Let us again have a care of abu&s;ing our Liberty to any kind of Licentiou&s;ne&s;s; and particularly let us be|ware of running into the Extreme, which is directly oppo&s;ite to <HI>that</HI> we have &s;o lately avoided. Con&s;idering how prone Mankind are to run from one Extreme to the other, it may not be ami&s;s for us, who have been within the&s;e few Years &s;car'd with the Fears of <HI>Arbitrary</HI> and <HI>Lawle&s;s Power,</HI> to be watchful over our &s;elves, le&s;t we &s;hould throw off that Reverence which is ju&s;tly due to Government. Obedience and Submi&s;&s;ion to Authority (I mean always that which is <HI>Legally</HI> &s;o, according to the particular Con&s;titution of each Coun|trey) is an indi&s;pen&s;able Duty, both according to Rea&s;on and Scripture: And there is no le&s;s danger to the Pub|lick; nay, in &s;o well-temper'd a Con&s;titution as Ours, I doubt the danger is ordinarily greater, from the Un|dutifulne&s;s of Subjects, than from the Arbitrarine&s;s of Governors. A <HI>Legal Government,</HI> &s;uch as Ours is, is
<PB N="24" REF="17">the ju&s;t Middle between the two Extremes; and we ought both from Rea&s;on, and from the Experience we have had in this Nation, to beware of both alike.</P>
<P>But this I &s;peak by way of Caution only; hoping and believing better things, not only of tho&s;e that now hear me, but of the Body of our Nation in General; who have, notwith&s;tanding the late pre&s;&s;ing Difficul|ties we have been under, and tho&s;e e&s;pecially upon the more ordinary &s;ort of People among us, maintain'd a &s;teady Loyalty to our Governors; and, to the great Regret of our Enemies, &s;hewn, That we are not &s;o giddy and uncon&s;tant, as they would either repre&s;ent us, or per&s;uade us to be.</P>
<P N="2">2. As we give Thanks to God for the Pre&s;ervation of our Religion; Let us likewi&s;e expre&s;s our ju&s;t Value for &s;o ine&s;timable a Ble&s;&s;ing, by &s;uffering it to have its due effect upon our Temper and our Lives.</P>
<P>The only rea&s;on why the <HI>Reform'd Religion</HI> is &s;o much to be prefer'd before the <HI>Romi&s;h,</HI> is becau&s;e it tends to make us better Men. And it had been much better for us to have been bred in the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> or to have had the Ignorance and Errors of Popery intro|duced again among&s;t us; unle&s;s we improve the Ad|vantages we have by the Reformation, to the Reform|ing our Manners. It would then have been &s;ome ex|cu&s;e to us, that we had known no better; whereas now being plainly in&s;tructed in our Duty, 'twill be a high Aggravation of our Guilt, if we refu&s;e to comply with it. The de&s;ign of all true Religion, is to render us &s;ober and cha&s;t, mode&s;t and humble, ju&s;t and charita|ble, pious and devout, more like to God, and more like Gods one to another.</P>
<PB N="25" REF="17">
<P> And here again I cannot forbear recommending Con|cord and Unanimity, which are altogether as u&s;eful and nece&s;&s;ary, with re&s;pect to our <HI>Religious,</HI> as to our <HI>Civil</HI> Intere&s;ts. 'Tis a Melancholy Con&s;ideration, That &s;ince the fir&s;t Reformation of our Church, we are crumbled into &s;o many Parties and Divi&s;ions. The E&s;tabli&s;h'd Church is the very &s;ame that it was in the Glorious Reign of Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> which we &s;o frequently and &s;o ju&s;tly admire and magnify; and the Terms of Communion are the very &s;ame now, that they were then.</P>
<P>If we trace our Divi&s;ions to the beginning, and exa|mine how the <HI>Tares</HI> of Di&s;&s;ention came to be &s;ow'd among us; the An&s;wer mu&s;t be that which our Saviour hath taught us in the Parable, <HI>The Enemy did this,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 13.24.</NOTE> <HI>whil&s;t we were &s;leeping.</HI> And &s;urely after &s;o long Expe|rience of the Enemy's De&s;igns upon us, we ought to awake, and to learn at lea&s;t this nece&s;&s;ary piece of Wi&s;dom, To render our &s;elves firm again&s;t all future Attempts, by a clo&s;er Union among&s;t our &s;elves.</P>
<P>And this will appear the more nece&s;&s;ary at this time, if we con&s;ider the danger we are in upon the &s;ame ac|count from Adver&s;aries of another &s;ort. I mean, &s;ome that have no regard for any Religion, or at lea&s;t not for that which is Reveal'd; and others, who though they profe&s;s them&s;elves <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> yet pre&s;ume not only to Di&s;pute and Cavil at, but to ridicule and expo&s;e to Contempt all the <HI>My&s;teries</HI> of our Chri&s;tian Faith.</P>
<P>When I &s;peak of Union, I do not think it is to be expected, that we &s;hould be all pre&s;ently of one mind in all things. But it were to be hoped, That among other good effects of the late Happy Revolution, we, who were delivered from <HI>a Common Enemy,</HI> might be|come better Friends to one another, 'Tis certainly our
<PB N="26" REF="18" MS="y">Duty and our Intere&s;t on all &s;ides to do what in us lies towards the becoming <HI>One Body</HI> in <HI>Church</HI> as well as in <HI>State;</HI> and if every one among us would but do ju&s;t as much as <HI>in Con&s;cience</HI> he can towards this, our Divi&s;ions, I am per&s;uaded, would not continue much longer, at lea&s;t they would quickly be much &s;ewer than they are.</P>
<P>To conclude; Let us not willingly differ in any thing but Mind, and Speak, and Do the &s;ame things; and where, after our be&s;t endeavours, our Judgments &s;till happen to differ, there let our Charity and Mu|tual Forbearance take place. For though I am very &s;ure 'tis the Duty and the Intere&s;t of Chri&s;tians to be of one Mind, and of one Communion; yet 'tis certainly as great a Duty, and I think a greater Perfection, to maintain Chri&s;tian Charity in the mid&s;t of our Dif|ferences.</P>
<P>I &s;hall &s;hut up my Exhortation with that Apo&s;tolical Precept, which carries both Rea&s;on and Authority in it;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.15, 16.</NOTE> <HI>Let us therefore as many as are perfect, be thus mind|ed: And if in any thing ye be otherwi&s;e minded, may God reveal even this unto you. Neverthele&s;s whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the &s;ame Rule; let us mind the &s;ame thing.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Now to the God of Peace and Concord, the Great Author of that Peace which we enjoy, the Founder and Protector of that Holy Religion which we Profe&s;s; To God even our Father, and to the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the Only-begotten of the Father, with the Eternal Spirit, be a&s;cribed as is mo&s;t due, all Prai&s;e and Glory, now and for ever.</HI> Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
