Part 2
For a Sovereign and _Hereditary Monarch_ (it was then an _Hereditary Monarchy_ sure) after many other previous Outrages and Affronts, to be brought to the Bar, as a _common Malefactor_, and that before a pretended _High-Court_ compos'd of his own _Subjects_, surrounded with a Guard of his own _Soldiers_, to be Arraign'd of _Treason_, to be Sentenc'd to _Death_, and Executed on a _Scaffold_, in his _Capital City_, and before the Walls of his own _Palace_: And all this to gratify the Ambition or Revenge of a few turbulent Spirits, whilst a far greater Number, who disapprov'd of that rigorous Extremity, cou'd yet be contented to stand by as unconcern'd Spectators, and suffer the bloody Tragedy to be Acted, without offering to interpose, or stirring to the Rescue of their Prince: The Fact I say thus circumstantiated, is not to be equal'd in any History, by which Majesty its self, as well as the Person of the King, was so outragiously insulted.
And that all this should be done in a Kingdom, _by the undoubted and fundamental Laws_ whereof (I speak in the very Words of a Law, made indeed since the horrid Fact, but made, not to constitute, but recognize this _Essential Prerogative_, as antecedently inherent in the Crown, that) _neither the Peers of the Realm, nor the Commons, nor both together, in Parliament, or out of Parliament, nor the People Collectively, nor Representatively, nor any other Persons whatsoever, ever had, have, or ought to have any coercive Power over the Persons of the Kings of the Realm_. [Note: Stat. 12. _Car._ 2. Ch. 30. §. 7.]
And if no such Authority was lodg'd with the _whole Body_ of Subjects, how much less cou'd it be claim'd by that _inconsiderable Remnant_ of one House, which without the Concurrence of the other, and whilst the far greater Part of its own Members were kept out by Force of Arms; had the Confidence to usurp the venerable Name of _Parliament_.
Never was that _happy Part_ of our _Constitution_, that _Necessary Fence_ against _Arbitrary Rule_, and Bulwark of English Laws and Liberties, so reproachfully perverted. Never were the People of _England_ so untruly said to be represented: which they no more were, by the corrupt Refuse of that Assembly; than the _Catholic Church_ was fairly represented in the pretended _Council_ of _Trent_, where only those cou'd be admitted, who were the known Favorers of the _Pope's Supremacy_, and who wou'd be sure to do his Work effectually.
But let us suppose they had a Power over his Person, and withal that he had misemploy'd his Regal Administration as much as some have represented him to have done; let us take all for Truth that inveterate Malice, or factious Prejudice has endeavour'd to fasten on him; even these Provocations were far from sufficient to justify so extravagant a Remedy as the shedding of his Blood.
Much less when they liv'd under so mild a Government, and a Prince so tender of the Rights and Liberties of his Subjects as he naturally was in his own Temper.
I pretend not to deny that, even in _his_ Reign, there were some just Causes of Complaint, some real Grievances, some unwarrantable Impositions and unjustifiable Demands. Princes are but Men, and fallible like other Men, nor is it any great Wonder if the best of 'em mistake the Extent of their Prerogative, when persuaded into an undue Opinion of it, by those that shou'd advise 'em better.
But how easily might those Greivances have been set right in Time, had not the rough and undutiful Manner in which the Redress of 'em was sought, made him believe for a time there were none that needed it. But when once he was convinc'd of their Reality, how willingly did he redress 'em all, and more than all, that cou'd with any show of Justice be complain'd of, or be thought to deserve the Name of Hardships! How often might Things have been brought to a better Temper, and the unhappy Breach accommodated, had not their own Obstinacy prevented it, whom no Degree of Royal Condescension would satisfie or appease; but his Blood they _would have_, and his Blood they _had_: The Guilt whereof has ever since lay heavy on this sinful Nation, and even now calls for our deepest Humiliation, to deprecate that Vengeance of Almighty God, which might justly be inflicted on the _remote Posterity_ of the Actors in that _unnatural Parricide_.
He has abundantly testified his Displeasure at it, by many bad and mischeivous _Consequences_ it has produc'd, some of which we still smart under, tho' not the first I am going to mention, which is
The Confusion of those Times that immediately ensu'd. The miserable State of _Anarchy_ to which this unhappy Country was reduc'd, after the Extirpation of the _Royal Family_, may be a Warning to all querulous Innovators, who are never contented with the present State of Things. They compass'd their Wish at last, and had the Satisfaction of seeing both _Kingly and Episcopal Government_ at once abolish'd, and themselves, (as they suppos'd) in a State of _religious and civil Liberty_.
But did they enjoy that _Liberty_ any otherwise than in Name? Did it not cost 'em much dearer to maintain their _new Lords_ in their ill-gotten _Tyranny_, than ever it had done to supply the Exigencies of their _lawful Prince_? Was the Freedom of _Parliament_, and Right of _Elections_ more inviolably kept? Were they less under the Terror of an _armed Force_? Were there fewer _Executions_, _Fines_ and _Imprisonments_? Was the Course of the _Law_ more free and undisturb'd, or _Justice_ more equitably and impartially Administer'd? Were the _Taxes_ more moderate, the _Loans_ of Money less constrain'd, or the _Public Faith_ (when no Body knew what or where the _Public_ was) a better Security for what was lent, than before this violent Convulsion of the State.
No. The Reverse of all this is notoriously true, if there be any Truth in History. They dream't and rav'd of Oppression before, but they were then opprest in Earnest. They were before chastis'd with imaginary Whips, but then with real Scorpions. And surely it was a just Judgment of God upon 'em for their Inconstancy of Temper, and Eagerness for a Change, that when once they had shaken off their just Allegiance, and chose new Masters for themselves, they were afterwards forc'd to be perpetually changing, and cou'd find no Power that was able to protect 'em long, but saw more Turns and Revolutions in the Compass of a few Months, than had happen'd in a Thousand Years before.
New Schemes and Models of Government were daily Fashion'd, some of which died in _Embryo_, others made a Blaze for a short Time, but no sooner had they turn'd themselves to the new-started Light, in hopes to be warm'd and directed by it, but the Airy Meteor disappear'd.
'Twas a common Thing then to see Servants on Horseback, whilst Princes walk'd on Foot, to see the meanest of the People in the highest Places; and one might have seen _Jotham_'s Parable exactly verified, when instead of the _Fatness of the Olive_, and the _Fruitfulness of the Vine_; the Supreme Dominion was invested in the despicable, the useless, the hurtful _Brambles_.
Then as to _Spirituals_. Did the _Authors_ of those Troubles find their Account in 'em? Were they able at last quietly to Establish their own Way of Worship, and had they not many contending Rivals? Were not their own Complaints against the Hierarchy, of _taking too much upon 'em_, _imposing_ on the _Lord's People_, and depriving 'em of their _Christian Liberty_, return'd upon themselves? Was there a greater Advancement of Piety, whilst the _Sacrament_ was rarely Administer'd, the Catechizing of Youth exceedingly neglected, and almost all Religion resolv'd into _Hearing_? Was there a greater _Liberty of Conscience_, when the prevailing Sect for the Time Condemn'd the _Toleration_ of the rest as _Anti-christian_?
----_En quo Discordia Cives Perduxit miseros!_
_These_ were the _Blessed_ Fruits of _Discord_ and _Rebellion_. _This_ was the Price of over-turning a legally and peacably settled Constitution.
As another bad Effect (but God be prais'd that's over too) of this Day's Cruelty, may be reckon'd the imminent Danger we were in, not many Years since, of the Return of _Popish Superstition_ into this Nation, to which, in all human Probability, the greatest Part of it had in a little time relaps'd, had not Providence defeated the Designs that were form'd against our Holy Religion, by the late _Happy Revolution_.
That very Danger, I say, of _Popery_, may be imputed, in its Original, to those who, by Banishing the _Royal Progeny_, and obliging 'em to fly for shelter to the Court of a _Popish Prince_, expos'd 'em to the utmost Temptation of changing the Religion of the Country they had left, for that of the Place where they were Entertain'd. It did, in Fact, so happen, that they were earnestly solicited to that Effect, and one of 'em, we know, (and we had like to have known it at too dear a Rate) unhappily complied with the Temptation.
But there are some ill Consequences of that great Rebellion, that still affect us, and particularly the unhappy Divisions that reign among us. 'Tis a sad and deplorable Thing indeed, that Men who are Professors of the same Religion, who have the same Political Obligations, who are bound by all the Ties both of Interest and Duty to direct their Designs and Actions to the same End, should notwithstanding, fly into such opposite Extremes, and brand each other with such opprobrious Names.
Such Jealousies and Surmises, such _Names of Distinction_, and forming of _Parties_, were the fatal Beginnings of that _Intestine War_, which depopulated and laid Wast this flourishing Kingdom, and ended in the _Murder_ of the _Sovereign_, and the total overthrow of all orderly Government both in Church and State. And that Spirit of Division which then began to Reign has never since been totally ejected.
Add to this, that many loose Principles as to _Government_, were then imbib'd, of which it were much to be wish'd, there were no Tincture still remaining.
And (which is worst of all) it is too certain that the Pretences to a more than ordinary Sanctity, and the great Apperance of Godliness in such Numbers of Men, who yet, when the Mask was off, were found to be wicked to the last Degree, and to have acted by no Principles but _Iuterest_ and _Ambition_; gave an unhappy Disgust to many Observers of their Conduct, against all that favor'd of Piety and Goodness, and rais'd an unjust suspicion in 'em, that all Religion was counterfeit, that whoever went under the Character of a _devout Person_, was only acting a Part, in order to deceive. Thus were the Seeds of _Atheism_ and _Irreligion_ sown, which have since thriven but too well, and yielded a very ungracious Encrease.
1. To the same Cause too we may ascribe almost all our Differences in Religion. We can call upon all the Persuasions but one, who enjoy the Benefit of the _Toleration_, (and may it ever be enjoy'd by Consciences truly tender) to look back to those unhappy Times for their first Original, and see, in the midst of how much Licenciousness and Disorder they were propagated, and began to spread.
I shall only crave your farther Patience, while I apply what has been said in two short moral Reflections, both which I shall take from the concluding Prayer in the Service for the Day, where we beseech God, _that neither the splendor of any thing that is great, nor the Conceit of any thing that is good in us, may any ways withdraw our Eyes from looking on our selves as sinful Dust and Ashes_.
1. Then, from the tragical Event of this Day, we may observe the _Uncertainty_ of all _Human State and Grandeur_. Of how short Continuance, and consequently of how little Value is the most glittering Pomp, that attracts our vain Eyes, and strikes us with Admiration! Of how slippery a Tenure must _lesser_ Dignities and Honours be, if _Majesty_ it self be so insecure! How little is the Condition of Princes to be envied, who have often Occasion to envy the Quiet and Repose of the meanest of their Subjects, who can Sleep securely, whilst _they_ are waking and caring for 'em! They are equally expos'd to Pain and Sickness, to Infirmity and Diseases; they lye as open to a natural, and much _more_ open to a violent Death. _Plots_ and _Conspiracies_, _Assassinations_ and _Poysonings_ are Accidents peculiar to the _Royal List_ of Mortality, and seldom bring a Subject to his End.
Nor is the _Fame_ of Princes less liable to Injury, than their _Persons_. Calumny dares even assault the _Throne_, and fears not to trample on _Regal Sepulchers_. There is none so great and inaccessible, as to be out of the Reach of that intruding Monster; who will blacken and sully the clearest Fame, turn the brightest Ornaments and Beauties into Deformities, detract from the most Heroical and Princely Vertues, and transform, to the Appearance of such as see by her Glass, a good _Josiah_ into a wicked _Jeroboam_. And as the most conspicuous _Greatness_ is no Preservative against the common Calamities of the World, so neither
2. Is the most eminent _Goodness_. Tryals and Afflictions are the common Lot of Mortality, and every Man, more or less must sustain his Share of 'em. In this, the Righteous and Wicked fare alike, nor can a Man judge of Love or Hatred by all that is before him.
There are indeed many Passages of Scripture, that encourage a good Man to expect even the Blessings of this Life, and ordinarily Speaking, he does actually enjoy 'em, at least in a contented Mind and quiet Conscience, which comprehends 'em all. But we are to look upon these Passages, as moral Observations, not as absolute Promises: That according to the most rational, most probable, most natural Event, such temporal Blessings would be allotted to good Men, not that each particular good Man should be possess'd of every one of 'em, for that would be in some Measure, to have his Portion here.
All this is beside our Contract with God. The Reward there stipulated, is the _Kingdom of Heaven_, and if he does think fit to _add these Things unto us_, and to enlarge our Portion, by the Accession of some external good Things, 'tis over and above our covenanted Recompence.
But whatever the Lot may be of a righteous Man here on _Earth_, he will be sure of his Reward in a _better Place_, in those Regions of endless Bliss and Glory, where the _Blessed Martyr_, whom we this Day Commemorate, we may Charitably presume, is now adorn'd with that _Crown of Life_, which he Purchas'd by his constant _Perseverance unto Death_.
_FINIS._
_BOOKS Printed for, and sold by_ Jonah Bowyer, _at the Rose in_ Ludgate-street, _near the West-End of St._ Paul_'s Church._
Fourteen Sermons, preach'd on several Occaosins, together with a large Vindication of the Doctrine contain'd in the Sermon preach'd at the Funeral of Mr. _Thomas Bennet_. By _Francis Atterbury_, D. D. Dean of Dean of _Carlisle_, Preacher at the _Rolls_, and Chaplain in Ordinary to her Majesty.
Not included in the said Volume; a Spittal Sermon preach'd at St. _Bridget_'s Church, before the Right Honourable the Lord-Mayor, _&c._
_Concio ad Clerum Londinensem, habita in Ecclesia S. Elphegi, Maij 17. 1709._ _A Francisco Atterbury_, S. T. P. _Carliolensis Ecclesiæ Decano, & Regiæ Majestati a Sacris Domesticis._
_Sancti Patris nostri Joannis Chrysostomi Archiepiscopi Constantinopolitani de Sercerdotio Libri_ VI. _accessere Dissertationes quædam Promiales de Dignitate Sacerdotali, item S. Chrysostomi Vita e Celeber. Cavij Historia Litteraria desumpta. Adornavit, Præfationemq; adjecit Joannes Hughes_, A. M. _Collegij Jesu apud Cantabrigienses Socius. Cantabrigiæ Typis Academicis._
Instructions for the Education of a Daughter, by the Author of _Temelachus_. To which is added a small Tract of Instructions for the Conduct of young Ladies of the highest Rank, with suitable Devotions annex'd. Done into _English_, and revis'd by Dr. _Geo. Hicks_: The second Edition.
The glorious Descent, or the Blessings of the Holy Ghost, represented in thre Discourses on St. _John_, vi. 7. Lately preach'd at _Triploe_ near _Cambridge_. To which are added, three other Sermons, Two on the Feast of _Easter_; and, one on the Nativity of our Lord. By _Edmund Brome_, B. D. and Fellow of St. _John_'s College in _Cambridge_, being improv'd with Notes and Enlargements.
An Account of the Earl of _Peterboroughs_ Conduct in _Spain_, chiefly since the Raising the Seige of _Barcelona_, 1706. To which is added the Campagne of _Valencia_. With Original Papers. The second Edition corrected.
_Epicteti Enchiridion_, made _English_, in a Poetical Phrase. By _Ellis Walker_, M. A.
A Sermon preach'd at the Anniversary Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy, in the Cathedral Church of St. _Paul_, on _Thursday, Dec. 2. 1708_. By _Phillip Basse_, D. D.
A Sermon Preach'd before the Sons of the Clergy, at their _Anniversary-Meeting_ in the Church of St. _Paul_, _Dec. 6. 1709_. By _Francis Atterbury_, D. D. Preacher at the _Rolls_, Dean of _Carlisle_, and Chaplain in Ordinary to Her Majesty. To which are annex'd, An _Abstract_ of the _Charter_, erecting the _Corporation_; and a True Account of the _Sums_, distributed sinee its Erection.
_Just Publish'd_
A True State of the Case of the Reverend Mr. _Greenshields_, now Prisoner in the _Tolbooth_ in _Edenburgh_, For Reading _Common-Prayer_, in an _Episcopal Congregation_ there; tho' qualify'd by taking the _Oaths_, and praying for the _Queen_ and Princess _Sophia_. With Copies of several Original Papers relating to his _Accusation_, _Defense_, _Imprisonment_, and _Appeal_, first to the Lords of the Session in _North-Britain_, and since to the House of Lords.