Curse Not the King

Curse not the KING.

THat thought is free, is one of our profane Proverbs, not more common then Atheistical; as good say in ones heart (with the fool ) there is no God, as demolish his Throne, or exclude and extirpate his Sovereignty from the hearts of Men; to think that God doth not know, hath not bounded, will not judge the thoughts, were to make him an Idol God; and we know that an Idol is nothing in the world. God is himself most manifest, and for the evidence of his soul supremacy, hath given check to those sins that are least manifest, prohibiting thoughts of pride, envy, malice, covetousness, hypocrisy, Atheism, blasphemy both against himself and his Deputy; and hath in this Text charged us, that we charge not out hearts with the white Powder of disloyal thoughts, sec • etly, and without noise to murder and make away the Honor and Esteem of his Anointed; Curse not the King, no not in thy thought.

Some three or four verses before the Text, Solomon insinuates and bewails the misery of a Nation by the mis-government of its Princes; which may come to pass divers ways.

1. By ignorance and unskillfulness, ver. 16. Woe to thee O Land, when thy King is a child; A child not in Age, so much as in Experience; A sad Pilot to be set at the Sterne that knows not his right hand from his left; such a child was Rehoboam, a child of one and forty years old; almost twice at age, before once at years of discretion.

2. By a Riotous intemperance, and sensuality; When thy Princes eat in the morning, devoting the flower of their time, that should be bestowed upon God, and the Public, to excess and luxury.

3. By stothfulness, and a careless supine oscitancy, ver. 18. By much slothfulness the Building decayeth, and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth thorough: That Kingdom must needs run apace to ruin, where the master Builder lets it rain thorough, and rot the principals, and never minds reparations. And for this State-ill-husbandry Domitian stands upon Record, who spent his time in making fly-traps.

4. By an over-lavish and profase expensiveness, verse. 19. A Feast is made for laughter, and Wine maketh merry; but Money answereth all things. q. d. Feasting and wine make merry; but money makes the Feast, and that must come out of the people's purses.

Now let God have the praise, that England subscribes not this woe by its present experience, but may pity other Lands, whose Princes are in some or more of these respects masters of mis▪ rule, as a man upon shore is a sad spectator of a wrack at Sea.

But when it is thus, and people over-burdened may be apt to kick and winse, (as the mad metal'd Horse would cast the Rider from off his galled back) God hath in this Text senced in Princes, as sacred Persons, from the most secret projections of disloyalty, setting their Subjects thoughts and consciences of their Life-guard, and driving away the busy flies from sucking too much upon the sore place. And much more; when the King is Wise, Temperate, Diligent, and Thristy. Curse not the King, no not in thy thought.

In the words we have a Prohibition, And Reason.

1. A Prohibition; Curse not the King in thy thought, Curse not the Rich in thy Bed-Chamber. Where we may observe Three,

1. An Act, together with its prohibition reduplicated, Curse not, Curse not.

2. This prohibited Act restrained, and limited, Not in thy Bed-Chamber, nay not in that which is more secret, and secure from Eves-dropping then thy bed-chamber, Not in thy thought.

3. The Persons against whom curses may not be levelled, that are (as by virtue of this sacred Charm) to go free from this Gun-shot, The King, The Rich, which are both one; for by the Rich we must here understand the Ruler.

2. A Reason taken from the certainty of discovery: A Bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wing shall tell the matter: not only conscience, the bird in the bosom will be disquieted, and affright thee like a Scriech-Owl; but the birds of the air shall tell tales of thy Treason, and publish that upon the Housetop, which was hatched in a corner,

Which may be understood Literally, Or Metaphorically.

1. Literally, Rather then Treason shall go undiscovered, brute creatures shall turn Intelligencers; as its storied of Bessus, that having murdered his Father, he overthrew a Nest of Swallows that sat chattering by him, because, saith he, they accuse me for killing my Father: as Christ answered the Pharisees that would have had his Disciples checked for praising God, If these should have held their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. That which hath wing, it was a quill, a piece of a wing, that brought to light the hellish Powder-plot, and hath been a pick-look to open the close Cabinet of many clancular and treasonable Conspiracies.

2. It may be taken Metaphorically, and so by the birds of the air some understand the Angels, who like winged Eagles shall make report of thy secret wickedness; and this sense is favored by the Chaldec Paraphrase, that runs thus, Raziel the Angel cries continually out of Heaven, apon Mount Horeb, &c. Others by these Birds of the air understand Fame, a swift-winged Messenger, as of reports we sometimes say, I heard a Bird sing: as if the Wise Man had said, Take heed of treasonable disloyal Designes, l • st thou hear of them again through fames Trumpet, and that will report them with a shrill and f • ightful Echo.

I purpose to insist upon the first Clause, Curse not the King, no not in thy thought; And after a short Explication of the words, I shall add the Observations.

[ Curse not ] The word properly signifies to vilify and dis-esteem, it comes from a word that signifies Light; as on the contrary, Glory, and Renown, from a root that imports weight and heaviness. It may here very properly b • rendered, Make not light of the King; the same word is used, Gen. 16. 5. when Sarah made her complaint to Abraham, that upon Hagar's conception She was despised in her eyes▪ and so 1 Sam. 2. 30. Them that honor me, I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. That which this Text forbids is a slighting and irreverend dis-esteem of the King; this God calls Cursing, as its said of Michal, that she despised David in her heart: And those filthy Dreamers, of whom it is said, they despise Dominion, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which signifies the dis-placing a thing with contempt and disdain, as that which is unworthy to abide there any longer.

[ The King ] Neither his Person, nor his Authority.

[ In thy thought ] In thy Conscience, place no powder Barrels in thy inward parts, tamper not with such fire-works as those, which no creature can be privy to but thine own conscience: the Law makes it Treason to falsify the Kings Coyn; It is Treason (saith God) to keep a Mint of disloyal thoughts going under ground.

I shall now sum up the words in two Propositions; The one Implied; The other Expressed.

• 1. People are too apt to commit Treason in their thoughts.
• 2. God allows not in Subjects a dishonorable dis-esteem of Princes.

1. People are too apt to commit Treason in their thoughts. This is strongly implied, for God would never so carefully have raised a sense, and fitted a Ring and Yoke, had he not seen men ready (like swine) to break into, and root up this inclosure. It were easy to confirm and fortify this truth, by drawing up a Chain of Scripture Instances: Moses a meek and excellent Prince, to whose conduct the Israelites were (under God) beholding for their Deliverance out of Egypt, yet at every turn they took pet, and upon a want of bread or water in the wilderness, in a Mutinous discontent they charge him as a Murderer; and when at any time they smarted under those Rods that their own sin had tied up, Moses bears the blame: As when a man is transported with fury and passion, though possibly it be the offense of his hand, or foot that vexes him, yet his head must be scratched. Thus Gideon, when with an happy success he had subdued the Midianites, the Ephraimites, who one would have thought should rather have applauded his valor, and promoted his Triumph, presently pick a new quarrel with him; as though their intent had been to sound an Alarm to a fresh skirmish, upon the rout of the open enemy; They did chide with him sharply, and met him like so many wild Bulls, rather to gore him then draw the Conquerors Chariot. David, a man after God's own heart, whose blackm • uth'd enemies could charge but little upon him unless it were his fault to be almost fault-less, must run the Gant-lope too: Shime • Curses him; Sheba blows the T • umpet as the Ring-leader of faction and sedition: Nay his son Absalom attempts to undermine his Throne, and unnaturally embrew his blood-thirsty fingers in his Fathers Royal blood. And it fared little better with Solomon, his Son, and Successor, in whose Reign silver and gold was as plentiful as stones in the street, (which are the great make-peace of people's discontents) yet then we find some tainted with this fretting Leprosy, Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better then these; there were some morose and repining spirits, who maligned and murmured at the present state of affairs, reflecting upon the Prince, as if it were only by his mis-government; but the wise Man holdeth in the mouths of these Horses and Mules, that have no understanding, as with bit and bridle, telling them, it is the fools bolt that is shot so suddenly, Thou dost not inquire wisely (and that being a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , tis as much as very foolishly) concerning this thing.

This evil fruit of cursing the King, grows, for the most part, from this Threefold root of bitterness.

• 1. Unreasonable Envy.
• 2. Proud Aspiring Ambition.
• 3. Unbridled Licentiousness.

1. Unreasonable Envy, Thus the Ephraimites would blast & fly-blow Gideon's Victory, only because themselves had no hand in it; the ground of their chiding was, because they were not called, and if they had been called, its like they would have quarrelled as much, if they had not been everyone File-leaders in the Army; they had as live upon the matter he should have lost the day, as themselves to lose the credit of it. Envious minds are like weak eyes, that weep when they behold the Sun in the glory of its Meridian; or like Doggs, that bark at the Moon, only because it is bright, and above them. Spite and Malice is a Canker that eats most into the finest and brightest gold, and where this takes place, a Princes great fault is his Greatness.

Secondly, It arises from a proud aspiring ambition: Thus was it with Corah and his Confederates, They gathered themselves together against Moses, and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the Congregation are holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is among them; wherefore then lift you up yourselves above the Congregation of the Lord? They were leavened with Levelling Principles, and an external Sanctity puffed them up to an aspiring after Superiority; and then Moses and Aaron are but Hail fellow, everyone thought himself as good as they. And it was this ambition that lay at the bottom of Absalom's Treason; O that I (saith he) were made a Judge in the Land! Oh if State matters were committed to my management, the best end should go forwards, and every Saddle should (no doubt) be set upon the right Horse; and thus he begins his Mine to blow up his Fathers Throne. Many men bear no good mind to Kings, because they have a good mind to be Kings themselves. An heart swelled with the tympany of proud aspiring thoughts, is a drum ready braced, whereon to beat an Alarm to treasonable disloyalty: And no wonder that they that would be as God's over men, be as Devils to them that are God's.

3. This undervaluing disesteem of Kings arises from an unbridled licentiousness. Regal Dignity and Authority is appointed and conferred to restrain and give checkmate to those lusts that are boundless and boisterous; Now unruly sinners can no more abide restraint, then wild beasts to be put in a Pound. When Moses gave check (though but a gentle one) to that Hebrew that wrongfully smote his brother, he flew in his face, Who made thee a Prince and a Judge over us▪ and by a malicious spiteful discovery of the concealed slaughter of the Egyptian, made him glad to fly for his life; his rebuke, though just and reasonable, was like knocking the flint against the steel, that struck out the sparks of discontented passion. When Lot would have restrained the lusts of the Sodomites, it was taking a Bear by the tooth, or binding a mad man in his bed, they were the more exasperated: This one fellow came in to sojourn (say they) and he will needs be a Judge; Now will we deal worse with thee then with them. These are filthy dreamers that desile the flesh; Now Kings and Magistrates bearing the Sword, to regulate and correct such exorbitant impurities, They despise Dominion, and speak evil of Dignities. Libertines vent their foolish and froward discontent at Kings, as the mad Dog bites the Chain that tyes him to a post: And the Sea with its salt and foaming waves undermines, and washes away those banks that bound its rage. And so I pass on from the First, to the Second Observation, viz.

That God alloweth not in Subjects, distoyal, dishonorable thoughts of Princes: This Text alone were sufficient proof; but I shall further evidence the evil of Cursing the King in thought, in four Particulars.

1. It is a • in against a Divine Ordinance: By him Kings Reign, and Princes decree Justice: Whosoever resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God, (saith the Apostle) [ 4] And again, He is the Minister of God; and again▪ They [ 6] are God's Ministers; the Kings Coronation is on earth, his Commission from Heaven. It is true, had man stood fast in his primitive integrity, there had been no Superiority or subjection among the sons of men, no distinction between Prince and people; then alone would the (now absurd) levelling Principles of some have taken place without incongruity; Man was to have ruled over the Creatures, which God had put under his feet; but one man was not to have ruled over another: but in our lapsed Apostate condition, every sinner being a Master of mis-rule, God hath set up Rulers to regulate, restrain, amend, correct, and keep in compass, those exorbitant passions, and unbridled, brutish affections, that would otherwise suddenly set all on fire, and (as it were) throw the world out at the windows. Kings and Princes are Constituted and Commissioned, the Vice-gerents, and Lord D • putics of Jesus Christ, who hath taken the Government upon his Shoulder, and to whom all power is given in Heaven, and in earth: He saith they are God's, though they die like men, though they are flesh and blood, and their bodies are from earth, and therefore mortal; their Power, Dignity and Authority, is from Heaven, and therefore the Persons vested with that Power are to be Reverenced, as Representatives of Divine Majesty: The Rain bow is, as to the matter of it, but an ordinary Vapour, a common Cloud, but being gilded and enamel'd by the Sun-beams, it is more beautiful and glorious then any other part of the Heavens; Kingly Dignity is a Ray and bright reflection of God's Sovereign Authority, and therefore disloyal and undutiful projections, are an affront to God in Effig • e, a contempt of an higher Majesty then theirs. And as under the Law God forbad cruelty to beasts, viz. not to destroy the dam from the young; nor seeth a Kid in the mothers milk, that such inhibitions might be as a sense and rail about the life of man; so hath he ordered respect to Magistracy, as a kind of fence about his own Dignity and Divine Glory: In Adonijah 's asking Abishag, the Kings, Concubine, Solomon smelt out Treason against himself: A contempt of Princes, that have so immediate relation to, and dependence upon God, can be interpreted no other then a Project and Design against his Crown and Dignity. When Adam had tasted the Tree of Knowledge, God turned him out of Paradise, to keep his itching fingers from plucking the Tree of Life. A disdain of Dominion and Royal Dignity, is as it were, an Alarm to God, to secure and guard his own Throne.

2. Cursing the King in thought, is a sin against a man's own welfare; He is (saith the Apostle) the Minister of God to thee for good, showing at once the original and end of his Authority: Its original, God's Minister; Its end, thy good: And were but men content with a quiet, comfortable enjoyment of their liberties, peace and privileges, it would much abate and take down the swelling of the spleen against Authority. It is prophesied of the last times, that men shall be disobedient to Parents, unthankful; two evils, that were they alone, were enough to make perilous times; and disobedience is therefore worse because rooted in ingratitude, and men being insensible of the real benefit by Governors, have too quick a sense of supposed mischiefs. Men possibly fancy to themselves great good by a removal of Kings and Magistrates, alas, it is as the silly child desires the death of his Father, that it may have a new pair of gloves at his Funeral: This Solomon sets out very elegantly in this Chapter, He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it, and who so breaketh an Hedge, a Serpent shall bite him; who so removeth stones shall be hurt therewith, and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby; as if he had said, a desire and endeavor to see Princes go as servants a foot, and to set servants on horse back, is like a man's digging a pit for his own grave, or breaking an hedge to be stung with a snake that lurks at the bottom of it; like a man's removing of stones to be crushed with their weight, or cut with their sharpness, or the cleaving of wood, to be wounded with the splinters. That passenger in a ship that wisheth the Pilot cast over-board, seeks not the preservation of his own Cabin. An evil man seeketh only Rebellion, therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. It is observed that they whom the Scripture hath stigmatized as opposers of Magistrates, have still been punished with a violent and untimely death, as Corah and his confederates, Athaliah, Zimri, Joab, Shimei, Adonijah, Absalom, whose Mule going from under him, hung him up in the Oak as a Traitor; the beast would be laden with such a beast no longer, but left him hanging as a public spectacle of a treacherous and unnatural disloyalty: And to omit foreign Histories, our own English Chronicles give abundant evidence, That pursuing vengeance hath still been at the heels of the rebellious. Who hath not heard of Becket, Moniford, Mortimer, Wyat, Cade, Tyler, Warbeck, and the Powder Traitors: Nay, in this very Parish you had a late memorable instance, God allowed them not the respite and reprieval of a death-bed; nay, the bones of some (who to a wonder, have died quietly in their beds) have not rested quietly in their graves; Divine vengeance hath set them up as Sea-marks, for others to avoid, whose sin was the removal of ancient Land-marks.

Thirdly, Cursing the King in thought is a sin against public Peace and Happiness: Society is the guardian of man, Peace the guardian of Society, Justice the guardian of Peace, the Law the guardian of Justice, and the King the Guardian of the Law; and were not he a God to man, one man would soon prove a Wolf, nay, a Devil to another; were there no Ruler, everyone would be a Ruler, and every Ruler a Tyrant. Life, liberty, and estate would be exposed to the violence, lust and rapine of everyone that had but an heart and hand to assault them. Should such as wish evil to Kings, be taken at their words, and have their desires granted, and gratified by God's taking them them away in wrath, the issue should be the same, that followed Phaetons overturning his Chariot (and let our experience speak the sad fruit of this days sin) a general combustion, and we should be reduced to that sad complaint of the Prophet, being as the fishes of the Sea, and creeping things, where the great ones cat up the little ones, because they have no Ruler over them, Hab. 1. 14. Murder would be valor, Robbery equity, Fraud and Couzenage, ingenuity, exaction exactness, everyone would give out a measuring yard of Justice, as King Henry the First did by the length of his own arm, and all right would be tried (as it is amongst Doggs) by the teeth only.

Were not the Magistrate maintained in his Power and Dignity, every man would be President of an High Court of Justice, to speak Axes and Halters without control, and shoot Bullets (as boys do pease) by his breath, or with Cain, scorn to be his brothers Keeper, and not fear to be his Brothers Butcher.

Fourthly, Cursing the King in thought is a sin that many times breaks out into open R • bellion, it begins underground, but ends not there, They despise Dominion, and speak evil of Dignities. Evil surmisings of the King Tuned up in the heart, frequently ferment, rise up, and run over in treasonable words and practices. Michal despises David in her heart, and then falls into a downright railing upon him; a yielding to such unworthy thoughts is like firing the priming-powder in the Pan, its a wonder if it proceeds not to further mischief; or like wildefire upon a Rope, lighted at one end it runneth to the other. Corah 's Conspiracy, Absalom's Rebellion, the Horrid Powder-Treason, and that execrable Fact that we this day lament before the Lord, were branched Trees that began in this small covered Mustard seed, and fiery flying Serpents, hatched out of this Cockatrice Egg.

Thus much for the Doctrinal part, I proceed now to Application.

[use 1] The first Use I shall make, shall be to deduce some Corollaries by way of Instruction, viz. These five following.

1. Hence we may fetch an Argument for the Divine original, and Authority of Scripture; it being a Law given to the thoughts, whereof human Laws can take no cognizance Though (it is true) the Law of England makes it Treason to imagine the death of the King, yet it annexeth no punishment, unless when those imaginations appear above ground, but the Scripture prohibits treasonable thoughts, and that under a penalty, a convincing Argument that it cometh from God, the Searcher, and Supervisor of thoughts; for the obligation of no Law can extend further then the Authority and Jurisdiction of the Legislator. Now the holy Scriptures, both here, and elsewhere, fixing bounds to our thoughts, (which can no more be confined or kept in compass by Laws of man's making, then a Pigeon can be hedged in a Pinfold) It is an unanswerable evidence, that they are from him, thoughts being only open to his knowledge, and under his judicature; the Apostle doubts not to call it God's Word, which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a discerner of the thoughts.

2. Hence I infer the Wise & wonderful Providence of God for man's welfare, who hath set up, and secured Kings, in order to our security. No creature wants so much a Ruler as man, other creatures come into the world Cooks, Physicians, Tailors, Carpenters, Soldiers to themselves, armed, appareled, and otherwise accouter'd by nature, they bring (as it were) a train of Artillery along with them; only poor man comes naked, without skill, strength, or weapon; And Oh, how good is God that provides protectors for us, and protection for them? violent, bloody, and unreasonable men fear not Hell, so much as the Halter, the terrous of the Magistrate is more dreadful to them then the wrath and curse of God, like some silly and timorous children, that quake and tremble at the flash of lightning, or roaring noise of the Thunder, more then at the killing stroke of the bolt. Now how doth God manifest his Mercy, and express a tender compassionate care for our quiet, comfortable passage, through a transitory troublesome world, that defends us with Rulers, and by such prohibitions, as that of the Text is himself the defense of Rulers: as when the husbandman sets a quick hedge to preserve his pastures from the intrusions of beasts from without, and compasses it with a Rail, or covers it with Bushes, that it be not bitten, or trodden down by beasts within. And it is most righteous with God, that they should feel the Curse and smart of confused headless Anarchy, who are not sensible of, and thankful for, the multiplied blessings of Regular, well modeled Monarchy.

3. Christianity destroyeth not, but strengtheneth Magistracy; One Ordinance of God doth not interfere with, or abolish another. The taking an Oath of Allegiance unto Christ, doth not at all weaken, but knit the sinews of our Allegiance to such as Rule by derived Authority from, and in subordination unto Christ. He maketh his Saints Kings and Priests, but in a spiritual sense; and as their being Priests doth not clash with the Office of Evangelical Ministry, so their being Kings doth not in the least justle with lawful Magistracy, they are Kings to God his Father, and that is no ground of opposing or despising Kings that are Civil Fathers. The Scepter of our Lord Christ swallows not up (as Aaron's Rod did the other) the Scepters of earthly Monarchs; Nor doth he that came to purchase and bestow Heavenly, batter and break in pieces earthly Crowns. Loyalty to the King will not excuse from Piety to God, and Piety to God excludes not Loyalty to the King. Never was man the worse Subject for being a good Christian: It may, without any great breach of charity, be concluded, that they have no Religion, that by a pretence thereof are encouraged to Rebellion, and they have as little, who by a mere pretence, and clamour of Rebellion, go about to discourage any from Religion. It is one of Satan's Masterpeice-policies, to persuade Princes that Christ's Kingdom is opposite to their Dominion; thus the Jews enemies obstructed the building of the Wall by aspersing Jerusalem to Artaxerxes, as a rebellious and bad City, and that if the Walls were once set up, they would deny the payment of Toll, Tribute and Custom, and so diminish and endamage the Kings Revenue. David was cashiered the Army of Achish upon a suggestion and suspicion of Treason. Thus the Chaldean Courtiers blemished those three resolute Champions with refractoriness and rebellion against the Kings Proclamation.

And by the same fetch Haman attempted the overthrow and extirpation of the Jews, falsely insinuating their non-observance of the Kings Laws. The subtle and malicious Devil would not have holy and good men watered and refreshed at the root, by the dew and benign influences of Government, and thereupon traduceth them, as men that would root up Government. Some observe, That not one godly man is recorded in Scripture, as an opposer of Magistracy; and if any such can be found there, or elsewhere, this sure is no part of his godliness. King Jesus hath indeed been represented and reproached by some persons of furious and frantic Principles, as an overturner of secular Dignities; but this is an abuse of him now in heaven, like that the Jews offered when he was upon earth, who accused and executed him as an enemy to Caesar.

Fourthly, It is a much greater evil, and more inexcusable to speak of Princes reproachfully, and yet greater to offer violence to their persons: The first is that sin wherewith Shimei stands branded upon Record, who cursed David, not in thought only, but word, and the pestilential blasphemy of his heart broke out at his lips, Come out, come out thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: and so Michal, when she saw him dancing before the Ark, tauntingly scoffed at him, How glorious was the King of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself? upbraiding his zeal with the unbeseeming levity and wanton carriage of a Morrice-dancer; whereupon she was cursed with barrenness, God taking order that no daughter of hers should give the like language to her husband. God hath restrained the licentiousness of our tongues, not only by the natural fence of teeth and lips, (whereby he hath put the wild beast in a double rail'd pownd) but an express prohibition, Thou shalt not revile the God's, nor curse the Ruler of thy people. When Miriam and Aaron were taken tardy as to some intemperancy of speech against Moses, God himself tartly rebukes that extravagancy, Wherefore were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses: And when the Apostle Paul had called Ananias Whited Wall, and thereby run himself into this premunire, and some by standers taxed him for it, he was glad to fetch himself off with an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , I wist not that he was the High Priest: the meaning whereof some make to be this, I wist not, I considered, I heeded not, though I did know, yet I had then no such thing in my thoughts; others, (as Beza and Heinsius out of Josephus ) and (I conceive) more probably, suppose, that there being at that time such a confusion and disturbed succession of High Priests, one today, and another tomorrow, he did not know who was then High Priest; had he known, and considered it, he would rather have bitten his tongue, then it should have blacked and smutted his honor, by calling him Whited Wall, and he renders this reason, Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people.

And as Princes may not be struck with the sword of the mouth, so much less with the mouth of the sword. Its noted of the Persians when they came into the presence of their Prince, they drew their hands into their sleeves, in token both of reverence and Loyalty, they would not have an hand stirring while Majesty was in presence. When David cut off Saul's skirt (and it was but his skirt) he made a deeper gash in his own heart, than the Kings Garment; and when at another time he found him fast asleep, and was advised to dispatch him forever waking more, he thought a Kingdom dear bought with contracting the guilt of Royal blood upon him, and resolves better, Destroy him not; for who ca •• stretch forth his hand against the Lord's Anointed and be guililess? And it was not his particular practice only, but he hath passed it into a rule, Touch not mine Anointed. It was an ancient custom among Wrestlers to anoint themselves, that their Antagonists might take no hold of them. God hath written upon his Anointed a Noli me tangere; and if any shall think fit to fight against Kings under the Shield of the foregoing words, Hereproved Kings for their sakes, this is no armor of proof, in as much as that reproof of Kings is there mentioned as his Act, that is, King of Kings; they must, its true, be accountable to him, but upon earth their Sacred Persons cannot be judged and sentenced by their Peers.

Fifthly, Princes should hence be instructed to improve their Power for God, who hath made such ample provision for their Protection; The Prayer of David, and the Advice of Solomon (who were both Kings) compared together, may excite and quicken to a zealous and diligent faithfulness. Keep me as the Apple of the eye. Keep my Commandments and live, and my Law as the Apple of thine Eye; God keeping them as the apple of his eye, expects (and 'tis but reason, one good turn requiring another) that they should keep his Law, & lay out their interest to have it kept by others as the apple of their eye; and especially obedience to the will of God, being not so much kindness as duty, nor so much duty as honor and p • iviledge; and their conformity unto God being a • r • it of higher grace and favor than either dignity or security received from him. Princes are called God's; Now it were a contradiction to their Title, no less then a black Swan, or an earthly Angel, for them not to promote Godliness in themselves and others: Herodotus reporteth of the Egyptians, that living in Fens, and by reason thereof vexed with Gnats, they used to sleep in high Towers, whereby those faint & feeble creatures being not able to fly so high, they were delivered from the sting and smart of their troublesome bitings; a rare Project this for Princes, To have their Conversation in Heaven, and so get above the virulency of disloyal thoughts, and the biting blasphemies of reproachful tongues; God hath taken care that none Curse them in their thought, in their Bed-chamber, and thereby engaged them to take care, so far as in them lieth, that none be about them who Curse God in their Bed-chamber. What can be more just and equitable, then that all Christian and Pious Princes should with utmost care secure and keep God's Honor as he keepeth theirs, secvetly in a Pavilion from the strife of tongues.

[use 2] The Second Use shall be by way of Humiliation, and particularly for that sin which we are come to lament before the Lord this day, where cursing the King in thought vented itself in an open and abominable Regicide: a Fact, the sin whereof is not easily bewailed enough before God, nor detested enough before the world. A wonderful and horrible thing hath been committed in the Land, such as no Chronicle hath recorded the like, nor Age can parallel; for though Kings have heretofore been secretly Murdered, yet never was such a bare-faceit Heaven-challenging Treason (set aside only that violence that was offered to the Lord of Glory) beheld by the Sun, and that acted under a pretence of Justice. I shall not here meddle with its civil Concern, which hath already been canvassed in Parliament, and a Subordinate Court of Judicature, and is indeed most proper for thei • cognizance: Nor shall I prosecute the Actors in this bloody Tragedy, with Sarcastical revilings, the Action is itself a greater Reproach then words can lay upon them; and there needs no soot for the blacking of a Cual.

I shall only mind you of it as a

1. Dishonor to God.

2. Reproach to the Gospel.

3. Blemish to the Protestant Profession.

1. A Dishonor to God, before whom all manner of Obligations were profanely violated; that fatal stroke that cut off a Royal Head Crowned with Majesty, cut asunder therewith all Oaths and Covenants, and God was called upon as the Witness and Avenger of a Treasonable Perjury.

2. A Reproach to the Gospel, Oh that ever the Sun should behold the horrid Murder of a Christian Prince, where the Sun of righteousness had so long and so brightly displayed his Beams! Oh that England should ever be polluted with the blood of its King, which the Gospel had besprinkled with the Blood of Christ!

3. A blemish to the Protestant Profession: brave sport at Rome this! where they serve up the Head of our late Gracious Sovereign (as the Baptists Head in a Charger) at their Festivals; As Jacob complained of Simeon and Levi's butchering the circumvented Shechemites: Ye have troubled me, to make me to stink among the Inhabitants of the Land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; in like manner may reformed Protestancy sadly bemoan this barbarous and inhumane violence, as that which hath made it more offensive, and unsavory to the Critical and quick-scented Romanists. We justly tax Jesuits with King-killing Principles; and Oh that ever they should have occasion to retort upon Protestants King-killing practices, ( Who yet were as far from being true Protestants, as they were from being true Subjects, ) they'll need no more Powder plots, for why should Popish Treason creep into the Cellar, when some among ourselves have Acted it upon the Scaffold?

David lamented over the death of Saul, though a wicked Prince, though mortally wounded in battle, and afterward slain out-right (as he supposed) by the hand of one single Amalektte, The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph; Much more, that the Beauty of our Israel hath been slain, and its published in Gath and Askelon, to the joy and triumph of the uncircumcised, It is a Lamentation, and shall be for a Lamentation.

[use 3] A Third and last Use shall be by way of Advice and Direction, That all persons may keep themselves within due limits of Loyalty, and maintain a Reverend and Honorable esteem of the Lord's Anointed, Let these following Rules be Observed, Remembered, and Practised.

Beware of giving way to Discontent; the Israelites when displeased with their condition, in a froward and waspish petulancy fly upon Moses, the dregs of a discontented humor at the bottom often boiled up into this scum. To a mind that is grieved and fretful, everything is a grievance, the Horse that hath a galled back flinches and kicks with a fly upon it, no less then if down loaden with an heavy burden: They shall fret themselves, and curse their King and their God, and look upward. Sparks of peevish and fretful passion should fire the mouth-granadoes of blasphemy against the god on earth, and the God of Heaven. When the House is on fire, and the tyles fly, they spare neither friend nor foe, but whosoever stands in the way smarts for it; they shall fret themselves with their hunger and other hardships, and when that sit is upon them, be it God, or the King, that comes next, they know no difference. Those whom the Apostle Jude in one place calleth Despisers of Dominion, in another he calleth Murmurers; a sharp corroding humor breeds that Cancer in the breast. The Be never stings when surrounded in its wax hole with honey of its own gathering, were but men conscientiously industrious in their callings, and contentedly satisfied with the blessing of God upon their honest endeavors, they might live like Bees in an Hive, and would not so often put out the sting against their Governors.

Take heed of Self-conceit, Disloyal affections are Meteors made of gross earthly Vapours, and for the most part in the upper Region of a conceited fancy-full selfopinion, the i • ch and titillation of a self-applauding ambition, ordinarily rises up into the botch of Rebellion. In the last times (it is said) They shall be Traitors, heady, high-minded, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , when the bladder is full-blown, the lest pin is enough to make it puff in his face that pricked it; a swelling impetuous land-flood of pride breaks down, and bears away all Banks of duty and Allegiance to those whom God hath set over us. When Micah had made himself an House of God's, he never cared for a Priest according to gods Method and prescription; That man whose self-admiring heart is as an house of Idol-gods, is in as probable a way lightly to esteem a King of God's appointment; self-denial and humility makes not good Christians only, but good Subjects; and unworthy thoughts of our Rulers would cease, were but this our Rule, Without ceasing to think of our own unworthiness.

Frequently and Impartially examine your own miscarriages: We should see fewer moats in the eyes of our Superiors, did we but more seriously mind pulling out the beams in our own: Did we oftener, and in good earnest, throw stones at our own naughty hearts, we should not be so busy to pelt, and throw stones at David; by descending into the deep and dark pit of our own souls, we should see and admire the brightness of those stars in the highest Sphere, which not seen by others, (whose fools eyes are in the ends of the earth ) is disregarded. The Israelites are idle (saith Pharaoh ) and they cry, Let us go and Sacrifice, they that are most bufie in sacrificing their Princes Honor by an undutiful disloyalty, are (it is to be feared) most idle as to their own business: Plato standing over a servant that had angered him, as ready to strike, being asked by his friend, what he was doing, I am (replled he) punishining myself for being angry.

Keep not an ear open to every flying and frivolous Rumour; you will take heed that you be not cheated of your money by a fair story, and let none rob you of that honorable Esteem you owe to the King upon so easy terms, try before you trust any with this Jewel; Naturalists speak of a poison, that dropt into the ear suddenly goes to the heart, and kills, such are malicious and mischievous reports of Princes, if too credulously entertained, they derive a venomous influence; the Wasp first buzzes upon the outside of the glass, and then creeps in, keep the cork tied down, and there is danger. The Receiver (it is commonly said) is as bad as the Thief; whosoever readily receiveth every Report of his Princes miscarriages, is an accessory to his stolen Reputation. Reports of good we should embrace readily, thankfully, but rumors of detraction and disparagement, warily, leisurely: and it is part of that Honor you owe to the King, to deal with such aspersing suggestions, as you would do with infected garments, let them lie by a while, and be well aired, before they come too near you. Lend no hand for the laying brain-begotten Brats of malicious mis-reports at your P • inces door, as the Apostle of his Corinthians, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it; When you hear any speaking evil, do not take it in the lump, or swallow it down whole without chewing, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , take it in by small parcels; be as cautious of consenting to them that clip the Kings Credit, as you would be of joy • ing with others that clip his Coyn. Kings have long ears (saith the Proverb) but we should have short ones: When one officiously told Simonides how ill people generally spoke of him, he bade him be gone, and be sure that he slandered him not with his ears too; our tongues should rather be Spunges to suck out, then our ears Spunges to suck in the spots and stains of Rumour.

Take heed of Mis-judging the Kings Actions, Rumour often mis-representeth, and prejudice mis-judgeeth, without any foreign and extrinsic mis-representation. Michal despised and reviled David, and upon what iscore? Why, she misconstrued that for Levity, which indeed was Piety. Banish prejudice, all look's red to him that hath blood-shotten eyes, and therefore he cannot discern the beautiful variety of colors. The King himself cannot judge out of his own Territories; to carp at his carriage with censorious severity is to try a Cause, coram non judice, and determine in a matter beyond our Cognizance; the King may not be judged by us, as another's Servant, much less as our Master and Ruler; the truth is, we are no competent Judges of the Princes Mis-actings: Who is so far above us, no man standing in the valley can tell what prospect he hath that is on the top of the hill, and not one in ten thousand hath a Galilaeus his glass, to take a right account of the spots in the Moon. How frequently a • e Princes censured for the exorbitancies of their Ministers? and what Master of a private family would not judge it hard measure, for him to bear the blame of his servants miscarriages?

That neither disloyal words, nor thoughts, may be shot as poisoned darts against the King, Let us have other Arrows in the quiver, and ready upon the string, viz. Hearty Prayers. He is but a man, though a titular God, a Man of great burdens, a Man of great temptations, a Man of great Cares, and let him be a man of many and fervent Prayers. The larger the Ship, and the deeper the Lading, there is required the stronger gale of wind to fill the Sails, and force it through the rough and boisterous waves. Pray we should for their Persons, their Lives, their Crowns, their Victories, their Prosperity, their Peace, their Posterity their Salvation. When Moses was upon the Hill, and his hands grew heavy, Aaron and Hur held them up; Kings have that work upon their hands that may make them Heavy: Let us then neither be so unchristianly uncharitable to them, nor so unreasonably injurious to ourselves, as to deny, or withdraw the support, and bolsterings of Prayer. This was the practice of the primitive Christians, though their Princes were Pagan, yet they shut them out of their Prayers; and Tertuilian makes it part of his Apology on their behalf, and before his days, this was a duty enforced by Apostolical Exhortation. I Exhort therefore, That first of all, Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions, and giving of Thanks, be made for all men, for Kings, and for all that are in Authority, That we may lead a quiet, and peaceable Life, in all Godliness and Honesty. Amen.