THE more inexcusable were the actors in this days horrid tragedy, who made the fear of God the cloak of treason; and in direct contradiction to the precept of St. _Peter_, set themselves to resist [E]_every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake_, turning faith into faction, and religion into rebellion: who under a specious pretext of reforming the Church, filled their native country with blood and desolation, trampled upon its laws, and triumphed in the ruin of its constitution: who fasted and prayed, not for the safety of the King, and all that were in authority, that under them they might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; but for strife and debate, and to stir up sedition and insurrection against those whom God had set over them: who, professing a mighty reverence for the divine majesty, rushed upon the most abominable perjuries; first of all violating the oaths which they had taken to the King and established government, by entring into illegal covenants and engagements, and illegally imposing them upon others; and then breaking loose from these also, when they were no longer for their turn: who, with a shew of more than ordinary sanctity and concern for the honour of God, practised all the diabolical arts of defamation and calumny against his image and representative; and not contented with slandering the foot-steps of the Lord's anointed, and blackening his character, deprived him of his royal dignity, barbarously insulted his sacred person, and at length imbrued their hands in the blood of a king, who was an illustrious example to his subjects of genuine piety and sobriety, and meekness and patience, and all other christian vertues: who lastly proceeded to this high pitch of disloyalty and impiety, when all grievances had been long ago redressed, and the King had passed such acts, as will be everlasting monuments of his fatherly affection and tenderness for his people; when he had to the great prejudice of his own interests granted several things, which his subjects could not with justice demand, nor ask with any degree of modesty; nay, when he had consented to part with the best and most considerable branches of his royal authority, and to leave to himself little more than the title of a King: in doing which, as he went beyond the example of his predecessors, so it is to be hoped he will never be followed by any of his successors. [E] _1 Pet._ ii. 13.