the Prophet Ieremie. Was not Luther a poor Monk, and other priests, and fhavelins, newly crept out of their fuperftitious Cells, the first Engineers that battered the walls of this great Babylon? who were they but the poorer, & meaner fort of people,that at the firft joyned with the Minifters, to raise the building of Refor mation? few of the Princes, and Nobles, putting their Nch 3.5. necks to the work of the Lord; or if any did, yet the Divine Providence fo ordered it, that either they were fuddenly taken off, as the Duke of Saxony, and Landgrave of Heffen, by imprisonment; or immaturely taken away, as Edward the fixth, by death; or more miraculously preferved, as Queen Elizabeth, a woman, in England, and King James, a childe, in the beginning of Reformation in Scotland, and although in the progreffe of the work, many Kings and Princes have stood up as nurfing Fathers, yet still we may obferve, that the greatest things have been done by them, from whom leaft could be expected; as (not to trouble you with more inftances) the almoft incredible, and ftrange proceedings of the late victorious King of Sweden will abundantly teftifie, who as a contemptible Prince, croffing the Baltick-fea, entred Germany, with not above five, or fix thousand men, and a very fmall fum of Mony,and yet in as little time, had before his death, almoft brought to nothing that mighty Houfe of Austria, thought by many, to be the Sun giving light and influence to the Antichriftian world, upon which the fourth Viall was to be Revel.16.8. poured out. I might, I fay, give you many other inftances, this may fuffice: God will you may be confident) in time make all the world know, that this great Image this great Antichriftian Oppreffour,

fhall

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fhall be broken in pieces, by a Stone cut out of the Mountains without hands, without humane help.

Nahum 1.3. times his

Fourthly, and lastly, and above all, the manner of his working proves them most wonderfull: For if we obferve but the goings of this King of Saints, if we trace him in his footsteps, in this great work of execution upon his enemies, marching before his people, travelling in the greatneffe of his ftrength, we finde him leading them in uncouth wayes, which they knew not, and wayes which to them feemed unpassable: His way hath been in the fea, and his pathes in the great waters, and his footsteps were not known, yet still leading his people like a flock; fometimes removing mountains our of their way, making them flow down at his prefence; fometimes skipping over them; fomeway hath been in the whirl-winde, and in the great ftorm, yet always working in fuch wayes, and in fuch a manner, as that first, his own people have thought he could intend nothing but their ruin, as Ionah did, when caft into the Sea, and swallowed up by the Whale, (an unlikely way of deliverance; ) and in fuch wayes, fecondly, as to the enemy have ever feemed most advantagious to their own purposes, and deftructive to the Church; God fuffering them to lay the Plot for their own ruin, to dig a pit for their own destruction, and making the ways by them intended for the Churches ruin, to be the greatest meanes of their deliverance, as fully and clearly, as Hamans Plot proved the exaltation of the Jews, and Mordecai, and the ruine and deftruction of himfelf and family; a Volume might be filled with inftances of this kinde: The device of Charles the fifth, to difinherit the Duke of Saxony, & to keep the Landgrave

of

Sleidar.

of Heffen in perpetuall imprisonment, thereby intending utter ruine to the Proteftant party in Germany, was the very occafion of the confederacy of Smalcald, which almoft drove Charles out of Germany, and established, the Proteftant party in the liberty of their religion. The Maffacre in France, in which Veramundus were destroyed within the fpace of thirty dayes, (as de furoribus the Hiftorian reports it) above feventy thoufand Gallicis. Proteftant fouls, proved (ye know) a means, within a fhort fpace, to double and treble, if not quadruple their numbers in that Kingdom; and procured them publike Edicts, and Cautionary Towns, for the liberty, and fecurity of their Religion, which before they had not: The cruelty and tyranny of the Spaniards in the Netherlands, ( one of whofe Deputies, Duke D'Alva, boasted that he put to death, fix and thirty thousand Hugenots, and Proteftants) hath been the greatest meanes to prevent the fwelling of his intended Monarchy, and increase the freedom and ftrength of the Proteftant party, not onely in the five United Provinces, but in all thefe parts of Europe. Who that hath read the Scottish Story, is ignorant Knex Hist. that the Archbishop of St. Andrews cruell burning of Scat. of Mr. George Wifchart, conferred much to the Re- Thuanus. formation of that whole Kingdom? The time would fail me, to tell you of the defperate Confpiracies of the Pricfts, and Jefuits in England, all the time of Queen Elizabeth, of the Powder-treason, and their unwearied Machinations in other States and Churchand how conftantly the Lord hath turned them all to the advantage of his Church, and to bring ruine and deftruction upon the contrivers of them. And if any of you have not had time, or means, to ob

es,

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ferve

ferve these things in Story, your eyes cannot but fee them all fulfilled in Chrifts late, and prefent dealings with our felves, and our brethren of Scotland..

For them, what great things hath the Lord lately done, and by what very weak means hardly the fifth part of the Nobility, (as I have heard) appearing for them, the greater part openly oppofing them, fcarfe one fourth part of the Kingdom owning the Cause, how often were they at their wits end, when fome unexpected door was opened to them? And were not all their works wrought for them, by the rage, cruelty, and cunning of their enemies? Were not the book of Service, and the book of Canons, fent, and obtruded upon them from England, the occafion of their late mercies was not the tyrannie of a few of their Prelats, a means to unburden them of their whole Prelacy? and when they were as much fhut up in ftraits, as the Ifraelites at the Red-fea, and knew not over-night, what would become of them the next morning, then conftantly fome abfurd, defperate Plot or other, of their enemies, brake out, which gave them an out-gate to efcape: And even fo hath God dealt with England, his work amongst us is of the very fame warp, and woof. The great mercies which we enjoy, the great deliverances we have lately received, from what a high hand have they come ? to what a very dead low ebbe were we brought Our liberty almoft swallowed up, and turned into flavery; Our Religion into Popery and Arminianisme ? and even Pfal.136.23. then God remembred us in our low eftate: and by what

inftruments, becommeth me not to speak much in your own prefence; Your felves know how finfull, and all the Kingdom how mean and contemptible in

the

the eyes of your adverfaries; they looking upon you as Sanbalat and his company did upon Nehemiah Nehem.4.3. and his builders, and with like fcom uttering the fame reproaches; What do these feeble Icws, will they fortifie themfelves, will they make an end in a day, will they revive the ftones out of the heaps of rubbish? even that which they build, if a fox go up, he fhall even break down their ftone wall. And well may you take up the builders complaint; Hear our God, for we are defpifed, and yet by fuch defpifed broken veffells hath the Lord hitherto delivered us: And which is ftill more wonderfull, (to the glory of God be it fpoken) our greatest deliverances have been more promoted by the cunning, treachery, and violence of the enemy, then by the forefight, vigilancy, and strength of our best friends: The Prelates late Canons and Oath, purpofely contrived for the perpetuating of their Hierarchy,and their other treacherous and malicious endeavours against the State, joyning with the Papists, and with them labouring to turn all into confufion, rather then fuffering the leaft abatement of their former pride and tyranny, have helped thus farre towards the taking them away both root and branch; The multitudes of calumnies,and reproaches, cast upon the Parliaments juft proceedings, fighting their Authority, flandering their intentions, misinterpreting their actions, have they not (through the goodnetfe of Him who preferveth them from the ftrife of tongues) been an occafion of making their Authority, Priviledger, intentions, actions, clear as the Sun at noon day And to inftance no further, this late bloudy, and mischievous Defign, in which this Honorable Senate, this famous Citie, and with them our lives, religion,

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