great reafon to "weep for ourfelves and for our children;" for the guilt which the nation contracted, and the infamy it underwent, by reafon of that inhuman deed, and for the other fatal confequences, which then did, and which (as we have just reafon to fear) may ftill attend it. And this is the fecond point, upon which I proposed to enlarge:

II. Secondly, That nations, as nations, are liable to guilt, and confequently to punishment; and fuch punishments mutt be inflicted in this life, in which alone thofe nations and communities fubfift, and cannot be extended to another world, where all kingdoms and people are to be swallowed up in the kingdom of the Lamb, and to become "one fold under one Shepherd;" and that the punishments inflicted by God on nations in this life, may be altogether, or in part, deferred by God for fome time, 'till the iniquity of thofe nations is full, and the finners grown ripe for vengeance: Thefe are all points fufficiently evident from reafon and fcripture, and the hiftory of the world; they need no folemn proof, because they admit of no great doubt. Little indeed is faid on this -head in the books of the New Teftament, which were all written for the ufe of private fcattered Chriftians, ere as yet any one entire nation was · converted, or any of the great rulers of the world had fubmitted their fcepters to the fcepter of Chrift: And, therefore, the precepts there contained, relate chiefly, if not folely, to the conduct of particular perfons, and are filent as to the methods of God's dealing with public bodies and VOL. IV. B

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focieties of men. And there was the lefs occafion for any instructions of this kind in the New Testament, because they had been given fo frequently and fully in the Old, the prophetic parts of which do every where inculcate thefe doctrines, as the matters of fact, recorded in the hiftorical books, illuftrate and confirm them. And from thence, therefore, all our obfervations must be drawn, concerning the influence which a people's fins have upon their fufferings, and concerning the measures of that politicai juftice, by which God governs the world. And in truth, it was proper that the directions of this kind fhould be given under the inftitution of Mojes; the letter of which extended no further than to the concerns of this life: Whereas the duties, the promises, and threatnings of the gofpel do all look beyond the grave, and are defigned to regulate our behaviour in this world, as it relates and leads to another.

The doctrine then of God's visiting nations, as fuch, for fins committed by them in that capacity, being fuppofed; let us briefly apply it to the prefent cafe, and fee how far we ourselves are concerned in it.

That the fin of this day was national, is not to be denied; the nation itself confeffed it, by appointing and obferving these public and stated bumiliations. It was under the colour of a nati(onal authority, that the rebellion was firft raised, and all along carried on, and at last confummated by the erection of that infamous High Court of Justice, which gave the finishing ftroke to the fuccefsful villanies of that time, by taking away the life of our fovereign. Indeed, the greatest

part

part of the nation abhorred that barbarous act (and, had their power been equal to their inclination, would have prevented it); but many of them had contributed to it too much, and too long before; and, having joined in all the fteps that led to the murder of the king, could not at laft, by expreffing their deteftation of the crime, excufe themfelves entirely from the guilt of it.

It was the nation therefore, that finned; and finned with an high hand, and with all the inHaming circumftances of guilt and aggravation. They made their way to the completion of this wickedness. through the moft folemn engagements, through all the ties of reafon, and the reluctances of confcience: The laws of God and man were but as withs upon the arms of thefe Sampfons, which they broke at pleafure; and, when they had once overleaped the mounds and fences of juftice, were refolved to think every ftep lawful, which was neceffary to justify thofe they had already taken. Many years they conti hued ftedfaftly purfuing thefe unrighteous mea fures; they held faft deceit, and refused to return;" Jer viii. 5. and after heaping tranfgref fion upon tranfgreffion, did at laft, through the blood of many of their fellow-fubjects, arrive at that of their fovereign, and in the calmeft and moft deliberate manner perpetrate the black deSign they had for fome time meditated.

The common methods, made use of by rebelHious fubjects in the deftruction of princes, did not please them; poifon, or a private affaffination, was too hafty and clandeftine a way: They were refolved to have the proceeding more public,

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and flow, and folemn; to carry it on by the forms of law, and with the mock thew and pageantry of juftice (a way which crowned heads had not hitherto been treated in); and fince the crime itself was old, and had been often repeated, to recommend it at least by the newness of the invention: In which refpect, it must be confeffed, that they outftripped all their rivals in this fort of wickednefs, even the bloodieft of their king-killing neighbours. Indeed, new inventions for flaughtering kings, and overturning states, are the peculiar reproach of this nation; of which we have two eminent proofs upon record, not to be paralleled in other hiftories, the Gun-powderTreafon, and that of this day; One of them contrived by Papifts, the other by wild Sectaries and enthufiafts; neither of them (God be thanked) by the members of the Church of England!

And, "Shall I not vifit for fuch things, faith the Lord? Shall not my foul be avenged of fuch a nation as this?" Jer. v. 8. Shall a people fin in this remarkable manner; and fhall not that fin be as remarkably punished? It was immediately, and, in fome meafure, punifhed by the fatal and neceffary confequences of it, by the fad diforders and confufions that attended it For, "had Zimri peace who flew his master ?" 2 Kings ix. Kings ix. 31. Did the partners in this black crime quietly reap the expected fruits of it? No! they did not, they were foon difplaced from the high feat of authority, which they had ufurped; and gave way to other ufurpers, and to various forms of government, which prevailed in their turns. The feverifh nation rolled from one pofture, one expedient

to

to another, and found reft in none. It then foon appeared, how great the lofs was of their admirable prince, and of their ancient conftitution, which perifhed with him. The people, who had mifcalled his mild and gentle reign, oppreffion and tyranny, found themselves now "ruled with a rod of iron, and broken in pieces like a potter's yeffel," Pfal. ii. 9. They had complained of arbitrary power without caufe, and now fmarted under it without remedy. To fecure their liberty and laws, they had made this change; which left both of them at the mercy of ftanding armies.. Thus "did their own wickednefs correct them, and their backflidings did reprove them!" Jer.ii 12. They had pulled down a regular primitive church; and immediately churches, fects, and religions, without number, fprang up in the room of it; inftead of the honett English plainnefs and fimpli city, a demure and fly hypocrify prevailed; inftead of fober and well-weighed devotions, all the freaks and rants of enthusiasm. Every way of worshiping God, but the true one, was publicly allowed; all men were admitted to the exercise of the facred function, but thofe who were most lawfully called to it, and best qualified for it. A loud and caufelefs complaint of impofitions on the confciences of men, in things pertaining to God, had helped to ruin the church; and now, every little fociety, pretending to that venerable name, did the very thing they had complained of; impofed the platform of their doctrine, difcipline, and worship, as divine; and were for rooting out all that opposed, or did not comply with it. In the mean time, they, who preferved

them