A Sermon Preach'd upon the Occasion of the Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Fifth of November, 1706 - at the Church of Kensington

The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Sermon Preach’d upon the Occasion of the Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Fifth of November, 1706, by Nath. Hough This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: A Sermon Preach’d upon the Occasion of the Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Fifth of November, 1706 at the Church of Kensington Author: Nath. Hough Release Date: May 1, 2020 [eBook #61990] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SERMON PREACH’D UPON THE OCCASION OF THE ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING OF THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, 1706*** Transcribed from the 1707 W. B. edition by David Price, email [email protected] Many thanks to Kensington and Chelsea local studies for finding this and allowing it to be transcribed. [Picture: Public domain cover] A SERMON Preach’d upon the Occasion of the Anniversary Thanksgiving Of the Fifth of _November_, 1706. AT THE CHURCH of _KENSINGTON_. * * * * * By NATH. HOUGH, M.A. Chaplain to the Countess FAUCONBERG, Lecturer of _Kensington_, and Fellow of _Jesus_ College in _Cambridge_. * * * * * _LONDON_: Printed by _W. B._ for ALEXANDER BOSVILE at the _Dial_ and _Bible_ over against St. _Dunstan’s_ Church in _Fleet Street_. 1707. TO THE GENTLEMEN AND PARISHIONERS OF _KENSINGTON_. _THIS is the second Instance of my Service made publick upon an Occasion of this Nature_. _As none can be more pleased with the double Blessing of the Day_, _than your selves_, _being the best Subjects to Her_ MAJESTY, _as well as the nearest Neighbours to Her __Court_: _So I have this farther Accession to the general Joy_, viz. _As I have a small Opportunity of shewing_, _at your own Request_, _how much I am_, Your most obliged Servant, NATH. HOUGH. * * * * * PSALM cxxiv. _v._ 2. and part of the 3d. _If it had not been the Lord who was on our side_, _when Men rose up against Us_; _Then They had swallowed Us up quick_. WHOEVER compares this _Psalm_ and this _Solemnity_ together, will find the main _Lines_ of the one, and the chief _Circumstances_ of the other exactly agreeable. Had We Who live since the _Deliverance_ of this Day was wrought, been endued with the _Divine Author’s_ Inspiration, we could scarce have pitch’d upon more apposite Words to express the surprizing _Manner_ of it. _Swallowing up quick_, _the Kindling_ of our Enemies _Wrath_, the Torrents _being like to go over our Soul_, our _Escaping like a __Bird out of the Fowler’s Snare_: All these are _Expressions_ so pat for the present _Season_, that whilst We sing an _Hymn_, we seem likewise to read a _Prophecy_. _Our Enemies_ have took effectual Care that the ill _Character_ in this _Psalm_ should not pass unfulfill’d: And I hope we, for our parts, shall not be wanting to make good the pious _Acknowledgments_ of it, saying, _Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us as a Prey to their Teeth_. But perhaps We are got so deep into a _Vein_ of _Thanksgiving_ for _Modern Mercies_: Our _Streets_ are so full of Triumph, and our _Churches_ of Praise for the _Victories_ of the past Year, that either no _Place_ is left for the Recollection of any former _Blessings_, or at least little or no _Taste_. The present _Solemnity_ finds our Gratitude to such a degree exhausted, that tho’ at the utmost ’tis but an _insufficient Return_, yet at this _Juncture_ it must needs be more so, considering how our late _Successes_ have already drain’d our very best _Acknowledgments_. Thus the _Blessings_ of one Age do a seeming Injury to _Those_ of the foregoing; And immediate _Deliverances_ bear down so strongly, as to make distant ones shrink out of _Notice_. _Happy We_, who have such an agreeable _Excuse_ for being _imperfectly_ thankful: I mean, when _Modern_ Favours are so great, as necessarily to impair the Memory of the _Antient_. Tho’ upon second Thoughts this Excuse cannot hold, since the Favours lately _received_, and Those at this Time _recollected_, are so much of a Piece, that unless we break the _Chain_ of _Providence_, we cannot well pretend to _acknowledge_ the one, and yet wholly to _overlook_ the other. ’Tis the same _Cause_, the same _Interest_ this Year so gloriously _promoted_, which upon this Occasion we congratulate, as _twice_ wonderfully _preserved_. The _Reign_ of our _gracious Sovereign_ directly perpetuates the double _Blessing_ which this _Day_ boasts of; And (God be praised) We obey a good _Queen_, who nobly maintains the _Reform’d Religion_, which Heaven so _signally_ rescued under Her _first Royal Ancestor_. We cannot then let one _Thanksgiving_ justle out another, when the _Blessings_ which occasion them hang, as it were, upon one _Link_, level at the same End, and are so many successive _Proofs_ of the same kind and watchful _Providence_. Those Enemies of our Faith, who _formerly_ fought to _undermine_ us at Home, now _forcibly attack_ us from Abroad: So that whilst We are remembring the successful _Repulse_ of their open _Assaults_, it cannot be unseasonable to reflect too upon the happy _Defeat_ of their _private_ Conspiracies. Nor can _Distance_ of Time be any just Reason, why the _One_ should be forgot, when the _Other_ are celebrated, seeing the Interval cannot seem long from the very first _Reformation_, or betwixt the Reigns of two Glorious _Queens_, whose _Characters_ come so near each other, and do so happily resemble. _Easie_ then it is in the general to vindicate the _Honour_ and _Justice_ of celebrating this _Day_; but ’tis as _difficult_ to determine in what particular Manner it may best be done. To attempt an _Historical Account_, wou’d be to trespass upon this judicious _Audience_, so well acquainted with the known _Matter of Fact_: To aim at an _Elegant_ Representation, wou’d be only to fall short of those many Excellent _Pens_ which have set the _Fifth of November_ in the best _Light_ it can bear. For ’tis well known, that this _Festival_ fixes not more Calumny upon the Romish _Clergy_, than it has serv’d to shew the _Oratory_, and advance the Credit of _our Own_: And those Designs which rais’d _Horrour_ in the _Enterprize_, have since produced much _Beauty_ in the _Description_. To these _Admirable Discourses_ upon the _Subject_, I do pleasingly remit You; And shall presume only to offer a few plain _Reflections_ upon the following Words, _If it had not been_, &c. The main Observation directly _flowing_ from the _Text_, and _properly_ suiting the _Solemnity_ is This: _viz._ That the _Defeat_ of such desperate _Enterprizes_ as proceed from a devilish _Intention_, and are not by any Humane Means to be prevented in the _Execution_, argues the unquestionable Interposal of Divine _Providence_. The Observation, I think, is _self-evident_; and shines by its own Light: For if we own the Existence of a _Good Being_ who loves and preserves Us, and of an _Evil One_, who hates and would destroy Us, where should the One declare his _Providence_, but where the Other discovers his _Malice_? And in what _Cases_ can devilish _Malice_ be more visibly discover’d, than in _Those_, where the General Ruin of great Numbers of People is design’d, without any _Provocation_, and beyond all _Prevention_? Or where can Divine _Providence_ more worthily appear, than in baffling those black and barbarous _Attempts_, which at once overcome _Force_, and escapes _Foresight_. Here, if ever, is an important Necessity of _having the Lord on our side_, when an _Insurrection_ is so cruel as not to be resisted, and _Destruction_ swallows so quick as not to be remedied: Two ugly _Characters_ these, which sit close upon the design’d _Tragedy_ of this Day: Insomuch that ’tis hard to say whether the _Intention_ of it was more inhuman, or the _Execution_ in all Appearance more unavoidable. First the Conspiracy was cruel and inhumane. And where can we find any thing like it either under Heathen Tyrants, or amidst the ten Christian Persecutions? A _compendious_ kind of _Martyrdom_ This, such as our _Church-Historians_ say nothing of. Without the Formality of Fire and a Stake for every single Sufferer, here an entire Nation was to be sent up for a _Burnt-Offering_, and the Body of a People to be sacrificed at once in their _Representatives_. This was a noble _Dispatch_ of _Heresy_, compar’d to the dull _Proceedings_ of _Queen Mary’s_ Reign; and the _Reformation_ now was like to vanish in a Cloud of Smoke in one instant. The _King_ and _Princes_ of the Blood, the _Lords_ and _Commons_ of _England_ were at the same Minute to find both _Death_ and a _Grave_; And upon the Ruins of one _Pile_ was to be rear’d the Tomb of a whole _Kingdom_. Glorious _Mischief_! and what might actually compleat (that which a certain _Emperor_ only ineffectually wish’d) the cutting off a _Common-wealth_ at one Blow. Must not this barbarous _Scene_, tho’ at a hundred Years distance, move every Heart _entirely English_? How does even the imaginary Slaughter of our worthy Ancestors come cold over our Breasts, and the Blood which we draw from them runs chill upon the Reflection. Had they indeed met with a fair Enemy, and heard any Warning of their Danger, then, no doubt, their native Courage would have left Us as little Cause of Concern, as their Adversaries or Boasting: But for _Valour_ and _Bravery_ to be blown up by a _scandalous Stratagem_, for _Nobility_ and _Honour_ to be blasted by an _underground_ Attempt, the Thought raises _Indignation_ and _Compassion_ at once. A _Prince_ and the _Peers_ of a _Realm_ to fall by the Hands of a vile _Incendiary_; _Senators_ and wise _Counsellors_, when studying the common _Safety_, to sink into sudden _Ruin_; Persons of the best _Quality_ and _Rank_ to be swallow’d up in ignominious and undistinguish’d Dust! Who can hear the bare _Mention_ without a _Mixture_ of Grief and Horror? A _Parliament_ in this dreadful manner _dissolv’d_ could forebode no less than Universal Confusion, and the entire Overthrow of _Church_ and _State_. Let not a _Popish Inquisition_, or a _Parisian Massacre_ be any more talk’d of: _Puny_ Cruelties these, not worthy to vie with the Wholesale _Execution_ of a _Community_: Course and common _Villanies_, much below the _refin’d_ and _exquisite_ Methods of slaying Numbers in a Moment. Here that _Order_ of Men, which is ingenious in all the _Arts_ of Ruin, did many degrees outwit it self, and learnt a new way of _consecrating_ that sulphurous _Composition_ which an Age or two before they had invented. _Wo unto us_: For had the Design taken, _We had been as Sodom_, _and been made like unto Gomorra_: Each Destruction, as to the _Materials_ of it, was very much the same: Theirs only was _rain’d_ from Heaven; Ours was to _rise_ from the Bowels of the Earth. Perhaps it might have, in the Conclusion, been more tolerable for _Sodom_ and _Gomorra_ than for Us: Just so much, as ’tis better to fall into the Hands of a merciful _God_, than into Those of Bigotted and Blood-thirsty Men. Moreover, What upon the Principles of the Romish _Church_ must add the finishing Stroke to the _cruel_ Fact, was, the downright sending so many guilty Souls into Hell without any Room for _Repentance_, or Possibility of _Redemption_. There could be no _Purgatory_ to cleanse Them, unless the _Flames_ they were immediately to pass thro’ could attain that Effect. No _Masses_ to be said for _Hereticks_: Those were more worthily reserv’d for the _Chief Promoters_ of this _Catholick Cause_, supposing they should by any means miscarry in it. The _Actors_ in this horrid _Scene_ had pardon and Indulgence ready, if not the Promise of being _Canoniz’d_; But the poor Sufferers were to perish under a _Curse_, and, as if Death was not enough to expiate their _Heresie_, an _Anathema_ too must attend them into the other World. Hard Fate! when the Errors of unhappy _Protestants_ are not to be dispersed with their Ashes, but _Excommunications_ and _Interdicts_ must still pursue them into a miserable Eternity. The Warmth of this Resentment can want no _Apology_, when we consider farther that no ill _Usage_ before-hand gave the least Colour to this unnatural _Conspiracy_. _Subjects_ they were, who thus undutifully aim’d at the Life of their _Sovereign_; And Subjects too very tenderly treated, who quietly enjoyed their _Liberties_ and _Estates_, and had no Occasion to make them uneasie, but the clearing of the same _Faith_ from _additional_ Superstitions, which in _Substance_ we jointly believe. Was it fair to destroy their lawful _Prince_, because they were rid of a _Supremacy_ which made them meer _Slaves_? Was it just to overturn the antient _Constitution_, because rescued from a _Discipline_, which, if blindly followed, treats them like _Fools_? Or if they were still so much in Love with the Usurpations of the _Popedom_, could not they be content to bear the galling _Yoke_ themselves, without compelling others into the same _Bondage_? And compelling them too in such a savage manner, that the Best of the _Kingdom_ must be kill’d outright, in Order to enthral the Rest. Their Consciences were full in their own _keeping_, or in that of their _Confessors_; and their usual Violences were not practis’d, tho’ to bring them over to a purer _Communion_: Sure then ’twas better for them to enjoy their _Religion_ in private, and be peaceable, than to let it come abroad to the Ruin of the _Publick_. We do not find the _Romish Missionaries_ are generally so forward as to propagate their Faith Abroad, where there is a Hazard of dying for it: But at Home, where They may profess it without Disturbance, the Death of their own _Countrymen_ is not stuck at to make way for its general Reception. To advance only one Step farther: Let us grant _Popery_ for once to be as pure and _Primitive_, as its most zealous Votaries contend, and as _Catholick_ too as they could wish to have it; yet it makes the Argument still more guiltily recoil, to carry on a _holy_ Cause by impious _Projects_, and to promote a _merciful_ Religion by _inhumane_ Practices. Lord! how did it ever enter into the Hearts of _Christians_, that a kind Religion which heaps Coals of Fire upon the Heads of Enemies, should do This not in a _moral_ Sense to melt and soften, but in a _natural_ One to burn and consume. The Spirit of _Jesus_ is distinguishable by its ingenuous _Simplicity_: Greater Shame, that _Those_ who emphatically stile themselves His _Order_, should be famous for pernicious _Subtlety_, and fatal _Intrigue_! How comes the _Propagation_ of the Gospel to be a perfect Contradiction to its _Precepts_, the latter _enjoining_ whatever is good and benign, the former _authorising_ whatever is cruel and destructive? A strange Way of converting either _Infidels_ or _Hereticks_, when the Doctrine of Christ is directly overturn’d in the manner of the _Publication_. Upon all these Accounts, and under all these Views such a _complicated Cruelty_ is not to be met with in _Story_; and to dwell longer upon it would be apt only to raise too much _Heat_, and run us upon the Hazard of losing _Temper_. 2_ndly_, The _Conspiracy_ was to all appearance as _certain_ in Execution as in Intention, _cruel_. The _Seat_ of this clandestine Wickedness was dark and obscure, as far remov’d from any mortal _Eye_, as one would have thought the Mischief it self was from Humane _Invention_. The _Situation_ of the Place, as well as _Nature_ of the Fact, shew’d that it came too near the Dominions of the _Prince_ of _Darkness_: And He sure was too well pleased with the Infernal _Plot_ ever to give us the least Intimation. More likely it was the _Evil Angels_ should be Ministers and Accomplices, than Betrayers and Divulgers of the _Hellish Deed_, too bad sure ever to be begun without their _Instigation_, or to be accomplish’d without their _Assistance_. In one Sense truly this _Pit_ which They had digg’d for Us was unlike the _Bottomless One_: The Access to it was difficult, the Avenue narrow, and hard it was to find the Way down to _these Chambers of Death_: But, in another Respect it resembled it too much, namely, that being once sunk into the _sad Abyss_, there could be no Hope of Return. How then must the secret _Villany_ but needs succeed, which no prying _Sagacity_ could discover, and from which no appearing _Strength_ deliver Us? What Arbitrary Power _above_ a _Parliament_ was ever so dangerous, as this insidious Design which in another Sense lay _beneath_ It? The _immediate Agents_ were not more cunning in the Contrivance, than obstinate in the Concealment. For apprehending (as truly they had Cause enough) that Nature would shrink at the _forbidding Fact_, and Humanity not be able to hold out, they thought no Course so sure as fulfilling this Morning’s _second Lesson_, and binding themselves (like the Way-layers of St. _Paul_) under Oath and Imprecation. Religion was speciously call’d in to back the accurs’d _Confederacy_, to stifle the faint Motions of Compassion or Conscience, and to gloss over a Crime too gross to go down, if not _superficially sanctified_: And (what is Ill beyond all Epithets) the _Holy Sacrament_ was made the Test of the Treason, and the sacred Seal of the New _Covenant_ of _Grace_ made to confirm _One_ of Treachery and _Malice_. If we count it so bad to prostitute this _Institution_, even for a _temporal_ Preferment; What must it be to make it jointly the Cement, and the Cover of such an _Infernal_ Machination? No Thought then but the fatal _Train_ must take, when the Mouths of the wicked _Associates_ were as cautiously stopp’d, as the very Passages tending down into the dark _Apartment_ it self. So far were the _Conspirators_ from any Fear of _Detection_, that they hugg’d themselves over it, as a finish’d Work: So far from any Purpose of _Confession_, that they bless’d themselves for it, as a brave Achievement. The Sense of _Punishment_, even when the Affair had miscarried, could extort no Discovery; much less could _Pity_, or any other _Principle_ do it, whilst it was in Agitation. To this Day We do not find They are asham’d of the Thing, or afflicted at any Part of it, bating the _Disappointment_. The Picture of an _English Jesuit_, who was principally concern’d in it, is now shown at _Rome_ among the _Rarities_ of the _Place_, and preserved there as a venerable _Relique_: This looks like recommending the Crime to Posterity, and facing the present _Solemnity_ out of Countenance. This tells us that if more such _Champions_ for the _Romish See_ are to be met with, their Merits shall not go unrewarded: And consequently, what Cause _We_ have to be still upon our Guard, and to keep up the _Anniversary Memorial_, not only by way of _Thankfulness_ for what is past, but of _Warning_ too for the future. No Danger could insensibly be nearer the very Act and Minute of Accomplishment. The whole _Scheme_ was laid; The gloomy _Theatre_ prepar’d; The fatal _Materials_ ready; The _Undertakers_ resolute; The _nick_ of Time at Hand, and nothing but a thin _Partition_ betwixt the Regions of Light and Darkness, of Life and Death. Upon firm _Ground_ we seemingly stood, not dreaming that without a Parable, _There was a great Gulf fixed_, and We inevitably to perish in it, unless some kind Messenger from the other World would inform us of the Hazard. The granting of that _deny’d_ Petition seem’d now the only _Expedient_ of our Rescue. How _slender_ a _Support_ at that Minute had the Fate and Felicity of _England_? Upon how _slight_ a _Bottom_ was our Hope and Happiness founded? A small _Surface_ of Earth, the _Space_ of a few Hours was all that Mediated betwixt us and Ruin: Then by a _Fate_ not unlike to _Corah_ and his _Company_, was the Earth to open and devour Us, tho’ (thank God) for no _Fault_ of the same Nature. If to every _Nation_ there be, as some have thought, its _adverse_, and its _tutelary Angel_, we cannot doubt but the utmost Contest was betwixt _Them_ at this critical _Period_; The One _eager_ to push on our impending Overthrow, the Other as _Industrious_ to prevent it. No: What do we talk of _Tutelary Angels_? _If the Lord Himself had not been on our side_, _They had swallowed Us up quick_: To frustrate an Intention so cruel, and an Execution so certain, was _something_ sure which _wanted_ immediate _Providence_, and _worthy_ of it also. To save a whole _Community_, when upon the Brink of Peril, as little appriz’d of it, as they gave their Enemies Occasion to design it: To catch _Conspirators_ in the Snares of their own _Policy_, and to plunge them into the _Pit_ which they had prepar’d for Others: To guide inconsiderable _Causes_ to the producing of wondrous good Effects, and to make accidental _Hints_ the Means of mighty _Preservations_: All these, and many more Particulars of _this Day_, are plain Instances of Divine Interposal. Strange it was that such a Relenting _Message_ should be sent at all, when the _Conspirators_ were so hardened in _Bigotry_, and bandied together upon _Principle_! Stranger still that it should be so fortunately _misconvey’d_ and come to a _Person_ for whom it was not meant! Strangest of all, that being writ in such blind and ambiguous _Terms_, it should be so speedily and seasonably explained! So many concurring _Circumstances_, when meeting in such a Momentous _Point_, cannot fairly be resolved into _Chance_, one of which had no manner of _Coherence_ with the Other. How should the _King_, without some Glance of extraordinary _Light_, pierce into the horrid _Vault_, the hidden Store-house of Destruction? How without some Touch of a Prophetick _Spirit_ should He ever think of that fatal _One_ that was to blow up both the _Houses_ of _Parliament_. The _Conjecture_ at first Hearing must appear as _ridiculous_, as the _Fact_ it self was _barbarous_; And the _Wit_ of Man seem’d as incapable of hitting upon the _One_, as his _Malice_ of committing the _Other_. But the less the natural _Likelihood_ was, the greater was the Providential _Appearance_; And what might be laught at under the Notion of a _Humane_ Guess, upon the Proof of the Thing we adore the more as _Divine_ Discovery. Never sure shall we cease to Adore the _Great Author_ of our unexpected Safety, who rescued us at once from the _Fiery Furnace_, and from the _devouring Den_: Those Punishments which _Old Babylon_ distinctly inflicted, the _New_ had join’d together, as it were in One. How unwillingly were the base Workers of Iniquity expos’d to open _Day_, unable to bear it, because _their Deeds were reproved_? How happily did _We_ escape the perpetual _Night_ in which they sought to overwhelm Us? Loth were They to quit their private _Cell_ wherein they labour’d for our Overthrow, as the Miner for his Oar, and counted our Ruin their _Riches_. But _Heaven_ sent a sudden _Damp_ upon their Designs, and the Weapons which they had formed in this _Hellish Forge_ would not prosper. So far was _God_ from giving us up unto Destruction, that he suffer’d us not so much as to fear It, but scatter’d both the _Fear_ and _Destruction_ at once. No _Peril_ was ever more imminent, and yet our Deliverance scarce put Us to the Expence of a _Fright_; And without Time for being troubled, We saw our _Danger_, and gave our _Thanks_. The _Plot_ was just perfected to the clear _Conviction_ and Condemnation of our Enemies; And yet conceal’d from Us, till ’twas prevented, that We might labour under no _Confusion_. Astonishing _Wisdom_! which knows how to let the _Wicked_ prosper for a while, and yet at the same Time not to perplex the _Good_: So that in the Event the One may be more _justly_ punish’d, the Other more _surprisingly_ saved. We have yet taken but a Half-view of this Happy _Day_. ’Tis famous for a _second Deliverance_ of later Date, tho’ very much of the same kind. The _Adversaries_ the same, the _Hazard_ as great, and the _Escape_ at that Juncture not less welcom. _One_ serves to heighten and advance the _Other_, tho’ each of them singly stands above Acknowledgment. They both have a like Place in the _Offices_ of the _Church_, and equally adorn its _Calendar_. To give as particular Relation of _This_, as of the _Former_, would be both Unnecessary and Indecent: _Unnecessary_, as copying only what is writ in your own Memory: _Indecent_, as seeming to call your Gratitude into Question. Few here present have forgot the dreadful Apprehensions of approaching _Popery_: Not twenty Years are turn’d, since _Liberty_ and _Religion_, the two great Blessings of Humane Life, were taking their flight from this melancholy _Island_. Unhappy _Britain_ was putting on Her Chains, lay sunk and dispirited, fighting for _Relief_, but saw it not. That _Church_ which is the Bulwark of the _Reformation_, was Her self defenceless; And _She_ to whom her _Sister-Churches_ fled for Refuge, thought of seeking the same favour, and could no where find it. Our _Ark_ was actually tottering, and no one could put his Hand forth to uphold it, without feeling _Uzziah’s_ Fate: Not inflicted indeed for the same unwarrantable _Cause_, but equal to it in the _Certainty_ of the Danger. We could not tell how soon our _Bibles_ might be shut, and our _Temples_. It was already common with us to offer up our _Prayers_ in an _unknown Language_, that I mean wherein we privately begg’d of God to defend his poor _Church_, but durst let none hear Us but our selves. The Fountains of _Education_ were insensibly corrupted: What follow’d was no _Knowledge_ at all, and _Superstition_ in lieu of it. The _Host_ was daily expected in our Streets, the next was _Flame_ and _Faggot_ for not adoring it. I appeal to the dejected Looks, and down cast Eyes of every true _Protestant_ at that Time, if it was not Thus. No Glimpse of Assistance all this while from _Heaven_, or any _Humane_ Power. The former seem’d _angry_; The latter was _impotent_, and could not help Us. Thus was _Darkness_ and _Despair_ spread over the Face of the whole _Kingdom_, till an _Invited Prince_ rose from the _East_, and rejoiced with the Sun to begin his Course. We saw Him, as upon this _Day_, appearing with feeble Rays, with few _Forces_, attended tho’ with united _Wishes_. His _Coming_ was not with a _killing_ Lustre, or with a Glory that _destroys_, whilst it _shines_; But all Folks then were refresh’d with the pleasing Sight, and felt a strange Revival. By his Presence He caus’d an _Effusion_ of _Joy_, but none of _Christian Blood_. The farther he advanc’d, his _Influence_ was found the more agreeable. _Slavery_ and _Idolatry_ instantly vanish’d, and the Shades of _Superstition_ fled before Him. The _Emissaries_ of _Rome_, those Creatures of Prey, got them away together, and laid them down in their Dens. Into Holes and Corners they retir’d, haunted by the Guilt of their ill _Counsels_, and as forward to desert an _unhappy Prince_, as formerly they had been to Mislead Him. We, in the mean Time, wrapt up in _Silence_ and in _Wonder_, where wholly like to them that Dream. To us the _Deliverance_ seem’d meer _Vision_, and the Surprize into which it cast Us, would scarce allow us to think it _Real_. Our _Rescue_ was well nigh over, as soon as undertook, and we lifted up our _Heads_ to see a Safety obtained, in which our _Hands_ had no share. The only _Difficulty_ We were then left under was how to prize and honour our _Deliverer_ enough. We judg’d it as impossible ever to be unthankful for the seasonable _Relief_, as once it seem’d so, ever to obtain it; And we could repine at nothing (how much soever We have done it since) but at our own _Inability_, justly to acknowledge so great an _Undertaking_. May this Auspicious _Day_ ever bear a bright Figure in the _English Annals_, and continue, as it always has been, the Ornament of _History_, and Shame of _Popery_. May the glad _Celebration_ of it run down to late Posterity, and so keep those Blessings upon perpetual Record, which otherwise, as at present they are too big to be own’d; so in an Age or two would seem too great to be believ’d. ’Tis but fitting the _Church_ should observe a _Festival_, from which she dates her double Preservation; And we cannot fairly grudge the Day a Share in her Service, when without it the Whole had been lost. It has in former Time been thought, that the Conjunction of Stars made some Days particularly successful to Persons, or Nations: But our Faith upon this Occasion carries Us above Those, and puts us under a higher and a better Aspect; namely, that of a wise and benign Providence. Heaven will not allow us to be ungrateful, when we are thus critically and opportunely reminded, twice I mean on one Day. This confirm’d Experience gives us cause enough to conclude with the last Words of this Psalm: _Our Help standeth in the Name of the Lord_, _who hath made Heaven and Earth_. * * * * * _FINIS_. ***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SERMON PREACH’D UPON THE OCCASION OF THE ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING OF THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, 1706*** ******* This file should be named 61990-0.txt or 61990-0.zip ******* This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/1/9/9/61990 Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed. 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