King Solomons Solace, Book · Chapter 13
CAP. XIII.
Of Solomons proceedinges against Ioab and Shimei.
KIng Solomon being iuſtified and commended in his iudgement & procéedinges againſt Adoniah and Abiather, in th'execution of th'one,Azariah. and ye depriuatiō of th'other: Azariah the chiefe of the Collectors came foorth & ſaid: But there be, which do not only blame, but condemne the King, concerning his dealing againſt his Coſen Ioab, chiefly after he had taken holde of the hornes of the Altar, where, for the holineſſe and reuerence of the place, be preſumed of ſecuritie: for he verily thought, that the king (which was wiſe and ſingularly affected the holy Religion) would hauehave rather reuerenced the place, and not aduentured to plucke any man out of the Lords houſe (eſpecially from the high Altar) which did flie thither for defence and ſafetie, as to the Sanctuary of the Lord.
To this Benaiah the chiefe Captaine anſwered.Benaiah againſt Ioab In that (my Lord) as I am well aſſured of mine owne guiltleſſe hand, being eſpecially charged by the king to ſlay Ioab: (for indéede I ſlew him at the kings commaundement) ſo am I well perſwaded of the perfect wiſedome and vpright iudgemēt of the king in that matter, for diuers cauſes: firſt, for that Ioab had beene of the confederacie with Abiather, yea and a chiefe Counſellor of Adoniah, both againſt K. David, and againſt our Lord the king: for although he were the ſonne of Zaruiah, Davids ſiſter, placed by him in a very high grade and authority (as the chiefe Captaine of all his heaſtes) and had béene bolde in the preſumption thereof, to doe and commit many thinges both vnlawfull and vndecent againſt the kings will, and good liking, as in the murther of Abner and Amaſa, and ſuch like) yet, here he preſumed too too farre: for as it was not lawfull nor conuenient, ſo was it neither ſafe for himſelfe to aduenture to ſet vp and to proclaime Adoniah king ouer Iſrael, in the life time of K. David, without the goodwill and manifeſt commaundement and warrant of the king, and of his noble Counſellors vntounto whom it better became Ioab to hauehave ſubmitted himſelfe & his Counſailes, to whom he ſhould hauehave hearkened and yéelded the due honour according to the law, chiefly in this high matter, and not in ſuch malepert & lewde ſort hauehave vſurped on the Kings gratious fauour, & arrogantly preſumed ſo farre on the authority of his high place. Truely, this is a fault, which is often committed, and no leſſe noted in them, whom the fauour of gratious Princes hath aduanced and graced, and the honour of the place hath puffed vppe, ſo far,Men being in honour, do often forget themſelues. that forgetting themſelues and their dutie, they neither foreſée their owne dangers imminent: for it is ſufficiently proued, that many men being ſodainely exalted, are alſo ſodainely depreſſed and humbled in their pride, by the ſame which lifted them vp: yea, and ſome are therefore aduanced, that forgetting God and their duties,Gon. 11.…. Iudg. 9.53. they may be thrown downe and confounded as Nimrod was, and Abimelech, aſwell for example vntounto others, which thereby are taught to take heede: as for a iuſt reward of their owne pride, ambition, inſolency, & great wickedneſſe. Secondly, Ioab being faultie againſt God and the King, and now not onelyonly accuſed before the king and his Princes, but iuſtly condemned, and fearing the kinges diſpleaſure, and the reward he had deſerued: hath moſt egregiouſly abuſed that holy place: for Sanctuaries are ordained for a refuge and defence,Sanctuaries. Exod. 21.14. Num. 24. & 35.11.14. Deut. 4.42. & 19.4. Ioſ. 20.3. not for wilful murtherers, ſtubborne malefactors, traytors, rebels, ſeditionaries, and conſpiratours againſt lawful Princes, but for innocents & ſuch as do, or ſhall ignorantly, and by an héedleſſe occaſion offend: that there they may be protected and preſerued, till time the truth of the matters laide againſt them be in iudgement, diſcerned and tryed: as we finde it written in the law of Moſes. Nor was it méete (indéed) that Ioabs eāxple therin (though a noble man, ſo neere of bloud to the king, and no leſſe fauoured of David) ſhould embolden others to commit ſuch hainous actions and villanies, and then to ſhrowde themſelues vnderunder thoſe places of refuge, ſo farre off from the true meaning of the law, and from the right end of the inſtitution of thoſe places. Therefore they that offend in like matters, and thinke to be defended with their cauſes, eyther by ſuch places, or by the wreaſting of the holy lawes to their purpoſe, do alwaies deceiue themſelues, and draw vengeance on their owne heades deſeruedly.
* Thirdly Ioab expreſſed a moſt ſtubborne nature,Ioabs ſtubbornes. peruerſe will, and diſobedient heart againſt the Lords Annointed: for when in the kinges name, and by his Highneſſe commaundement, I commaunded him to come forth from the Altar, hee neuer ſo much as asked mercy of the king, nor ſought, nor entreated for his owne pardon: but preſuming that the King would not hauehave aduentured to plucke him from the Altar, wherof he had taken hold, although he had been a wilful tranſgreſſor: he then anſwered moſt ſtoutely in the preſumption of his hart: I wil not came forth, and being further certified, yt then the king would not feare nor omit to ſtay him euen there, for his ambitious praetizes and treſpaſſe, he replied (as daring the king and his lawfull authority moſt arrogantly) then let him ſlay me euen here, for I will not come forth. Neither think I but he will hauehave ſome regard to the high reuerence of this place, into the which I hauehave betaken my ſelfe, for the ſafety of my life, as in the Lords Sanctuary: vponupon this aunſwere, the king perceiuing his pride and the ſtubbornes of his hart, commanded me to doe vntounto him, euen as he had ſaid, namely to ſtay him euen there, and ſo hee receiued the execution of his iuſt iudgement. Fourthly, the Lord our God,The rewarde of murther. hath rightly brought vponupon the heade of Ioab, the reuenge of that innocent bloud which he had before that time ſhed cauſeles, and now cried to the Lord for vengeance, according to that word of David, 1. Kin. 2.5.when a little before his death, hee gaue the king a very ſtraite charge concerning this matter, willing that Ioab ſhould not be holden guiltleſſe, nor be brought in peace to his graue, but that he ſhold receiue the reward of a merciles murtherer,Num. 24. after the wordes of the law in that caſe prouided: as whereby the ſooner he might remoue away from the king, and his fathers houſe, that bloud which Ioab had ſhed without iuſt cauſe for (beyond others his manifold ſlaughters and oppreſſions) hee ſmote and moſt traiterouſly murthered two men which were more righteous and better then himſelfe, in the time of peace, namely, Abner the ſonne of Ner, captaine of the hoaſt of Iſrael, 2. Sam. 3.23.who was (as king David in his lamentation for him, acknowledged) a Prince and a Great man: and alſo Amaſa the Sonne of Iether, Captaine of the hoaſt of Iudah: A man likewiſe of right excellent gouernement and valour, for Ioab being a perſon very proude, enuious and ambitious, greatly feared, leſt the fauour and eſtimation of thoſe two Worthies in the kings eyes, would much diminiſh, (or at the leaſt) hinder or withſtand his further and higher honour. Therefore David perceiuing his wicked inclination, and conſidering wel the equitie of the cauſe, charged and required his Sonne our Soueraigne Lord, that the bloud of thoſe two worthy perſōs ſhould be returned on the head of Ioab, and vponupon his ſeede, yt ſo vponupon David and vponupon his ſéede, and vponupon his houſe, and vponupon his ſeat, there might be, and remaine a perpetuall peace. Thus truely, when one creature kils another, the heauenlie Powers crie out to the higheſt Maieſty, ſaying: Lord, Lord, this thy ſeruant preſumes to be like thee! Therefore, if the déed be vniuſt, the Creator of all aunſwereth: Suffer him yet which kils, for he alſo ſhall be killed. Vengeance is mine, and I will repay. And indéed thoſe celeſtiall Powers ſhal and wil ſo often repreſent with their praiſes to the Lord, the death of the perſon ſlaine, till iuſt vengeance be taken of the ſlayer, who therefore ſhall be numbred with them that are appointed to perpetual torments:Hermogenes. *as alſo, one among the Philoſophers of the Gentiles hath truely ſaid: And ſo we obſerue, that albeit the impious and wicked be for their times and turnes aduanced aboue many others better then themſelues, by the great fauour and liberalitie of bountiful Princes, and ſo ſtand a while in an high grade of flouriſhing proſperity: and that, when the vngodly commit wickedneſſe againſt God and his Annointed, they are ſpared or paſſed ouer with ſilence, wherby forgetting God and their proper conditions, they imagine him to bee wel pleaſed, and ſo promiſe themſelues laſting ſecuritie in their impieties: yet neuertheleſſe, in the end, yea euen in their due time, are they well ouertaken and deſtroyed without merciemercy, being nothing worthie of merciemercy, though they crie and call. Therefore the Greeke Homer (whom in this matter without iuſt offence to our Religion, but to the ſhame of ſuch ambitious perſons, we may remember) hath well modulated in all iuſt cenſure: ſaying:
foreign.
foreign.foreign.
Thus tranſlated:
Although in pitie, powerfull love,
A long ſome time, refraines
To ſmite the Sinner: yet at length,
He plagues him to his paines.
But moſt diuinelie hath the kings father ſpoken in his Pſalms and hymnes touching this argument, which when learned Aſaph the kings Scholemaiſter had aduiſedly conſidered with the manifold inſtances dayly occurring: hee thus ſpake as in the Lordes behalfe,
Oh now conſider this▪ ye that forget Gods grace,
Leſt that I rent you for a pray, and none be found in place,
To reſcue or to ſaue your ſoules.
Wherefore as his moſt excellent Maieſtie hath rightly cō demned Ioab, and thereon commaunded him to bee executed according to the law in this caſe prouided, and the charge that David gaue him a little before hee fell a ſleepe: ſo can wee not but worthily approue his iudgementes, iuſtifie his proceedings, and perſwade, that as thereby hee hath remoued away euill form his kingdom and houſe, ſo neither hath he taken thereof any occaſion of this great heauines, wherewith he now languiſheth▪ for Ioab (as ye know) was not onelyonly a wicked murtherer, proud, enuious and ambitious of honor, but alſo ſtubborne and rebellious againſt the king, a conſpiratour with Adoniah the kings enemie, perfidious & treacherous, ſeditious and couetous, and in a word, repleniſhed with many vices where with hee was diſtained to the diſhonor of our religion, the daunger of our king, the euill example of the nobles; and the ſhame of himſelfe. Yee hauehave well ſpoken (ſaide all the other Princes and Lordes) And indéede, this is not ſtrange, for wee our ſelues hauehave oftentimes ſeene and wel obſerued, that the vngodly and irreligious perſons, though long forborne and ſuffered to ſinne, yea and to wallow in impieties, ſaying vntounto themſelues, peace, and all is well, yet ſodainly as holy Iob ſaid, they deſcend downe to the hell, neither ſhal their pompe follow thē: for glutted with proſperitie, inveterated in malice, hardened in heart, and farre off from true repentance, they euen prouoke the diuine power to powre on them that which they hauehave iuſtly merited in their abhominations. And truely this is one of thoſe thinges which follow man ordinary courſe, and ſemblable ſucceſſion in the world. But to ſpeake of Ioab, we know, that the kinges father having the ſpirite of Iehovah his God, taught him, how intollerable the ſufferance of ſuch a member as Ioab was, ſhould bee eſteemed in his wiſedome, which much better were to bee expelled and abandoned of the people, then that hee ſhould bee the occaſion of conſpiracies, and ſeditious in the common State: remembring this (beyond many other his miſchiefes) that hee had embrued his ſword which hung on his loines in the bloud of a friend, as if he had beene his enemie in the open fielde. And now againe, he euen bewraied himſelfe openly, as priuie to ye new conſpiracie of Adoniah, who aſpiring ye ſecond time to the kingdom of Iſrael, ſought to obtain to wife Abiſag, K. Davids laſt bedfellow: for his conſcience condemning him, he fled frō the kings face, and tooke hold (as ye hauehave ſaid) of the horns of the Altar: howbeit being a man wiſe & acquainted with the law, he might hauehave known that a volūtary murtherer or traitor was not to be protected in that place: moreouer, if he had alleadged, that ſeeing the kings pleaſure was to ſlay him indéed, yet he would die in that holy place, as before the Lord: yet he might know for certaintie, that the place ſhold be nothing profitable vntounto him there to die, ſeeing that for his impietie, he was not worthy there to be interred amōg his fathers, whereof all ſuch are worthily depriued, which are executed by an ordinary ſentēce & iudgemēt of law, as execrable malefactors. And in very déed, wherfore ſhold ſuch perſōs as in their profanitie neither feare God, nor louelove his houſe, nor care for his Altar, nor regarde his diuine Seruice, nor ſeeke to honour him in their liues, preſume ſo much on his houſe, on his Altar, on his tabernacle and Sanctuarye as either there to be protected, or there to reſt their wandring bones. For as the Caſtle of Syon ſpewed out the halte and the blinde that David and ſuch as retained both Vrim and Thumim might lodge and dwell there: ſo the Lordes hill, the Lordes tabernacle, and his holy houſe is built, prouided, and prepared for them onelyonly which feare and ſerue him in ſinglenes of heart all the daies of his life.
Then Banaiah proceeded ſaying.The proceedings of the K. againſt Shimei 1. Kings 2.8▪ The like may be reſolued concerning that iudgement, which was giuen and executed on Shimei the ſonne of Gera, the ſonne of Gemini of Bahurim whom the king commanded me to ſtrike. I ſpeak not this (my Lords) to excuſe my ſelfe of crime as guiltie in that action, although I may not want my iuſtification therein: but in regard of the equity of the cauſe. For it is not vnknown vntounto you and to many others that yet remaine aliue, how that Shimei for getting himſelfe and his oath, with the reuerence hee ſhould hauehave yeelded king David, caſt ſtones at him, and at his ſeruants, and withall railed at him and curſed him (being the Lords annointed) with an horrible curſe in the day when he went to Mahavim: and thus he ſaid in great envy, malice pride and contempt of the king, euen to the king himſelfe,The railing wordes of Shimei. 2. Sam. 16.5.6. Come forth, come forth, thou bloodſhedder, & thou mā of Belial. The Lord hath brought vponupon thee all the bloud of the houſe of Saul, in whoſe ſteede thou hast raigned: and the Lord hath delivered the kingdome into the hand of Abſolon thy ſonne. And behold thou art come to thy miſchiefe becauſe thou art a man of bloud! Such words ſpake Shimei, and ſo miſdemeaned he himſelfe euen againſt king David and his ſeruants. Howbeit David was then contented to forbeare to reuenge this iniury on him, although there wer ſtanding about him that offered to go and to take away his head: yea and afterward, when he came and ſubmitted himſelfe to David, he promiſed him reſt from his hand: neither woulde he ſtrike him in all his daies. Neuertheleſſe he left the conſideration therof to Solomon his Sonne, whom (he wel knew) the Lord had inſpired with a princely Spirit and noble mind, and therefore could not be ignorant how to deale and behaue himſelfe in theſe and ſuch like cauſes. And ſo likewiſe our Lord the King beeing as mercifull as he was wiſe, did not in all the haſt ſet on wicked Shimei, to recompence that abuſe he gaue to his father: but, firſt he called him, and remembered him of his vnreuerent behaviour towards the Lords annointed, thē, he willed him to build him an houſe in Ieruſalē to dwelm, & not to aduenture abrode, & ſaid: Be thou ſure, that the day that thou goeſt out and paſſeſt over the river Cedron, thou ſhalt dye, and thy blood ſhalbe on thine owne head. To the which Shemei gaue anſwer: This ſaying is good. As my Lord the King hath ſaid: ſo will thy ſervant doe. By which wordes as he cleared and iuſtified both the king and his proceedings: ſo did hee both iudge and condemne himſelfe if he kept not that commandement of the king. And yet we may not imagine, but that he granted further, then that he had any deſire to performe, as thoſe which being endangered, vow and promiſe many thinges more then euer they purpoſe to pay, the danger beeing once paſt: and that hee thus promiſed more for dread puniſhment, then for any louelove or willingnes he had to obey the kinges commandement, as thoſe men of Belial which forbeare to ſinne openly more for feare of the rod of Iuſtice, then for any louelove or reuerence of godly vertues. Moreouer Shemei might hauehave conſidered (as hee was ſubtle and craftie enough) that men ſuſpected are euer obſerued, and therefore ſuch ſhould be very heedfull, not onelyonly of committing the fact, but of all pretence and ſhew of that which is euill. Howbeit as he that is euill by nature, doth euer preſume in his euill without the reuerent feare of either God or man:How Shemei was brought into the ſnare in his time. as one garded & ſecured in the fooliſh conceit of his own humor: ſo Shemei, either forgetting, or little regarding any of thoſe thinges premiſed, paſſed foorth of Ieruſalem, the place wherein he was commanded to ſtay and went to Geth to Achis, pretending to ſeeke for and to fetch home two of his Seruantes which were ſome little time before that runne away from him. In the which preſumption, he could not eſcape a vehement ſuſpicion of practiſing ſome lewd matters with the Philiſtines, againſt the peace and gouernment of the king whome hee euer envied, and cloſely aſſaied to reduce the kingdome from the houſe of David which the Lord God had choſen, vntounto the poſterity of Saul whom the Lord had reiected. But behold, whiles Shemei went forth in his greedy ambition to finde and fetch home his ſeruants, he loſt and ouerthrew himſelfe! For thus by the diuine preuidence which holdeth them not guiltleſſe, that either touch his annointed, or curſe and maligne their father & mother (howſoeuer the ſeruants of Shemei faulted in their going from him, and he had a iuſt pretence to reclaime them) an occaſion was rightly miniſtred in this time of his iudgement, to caſt him as guiltie into the kinges danger, as whereby the king might euen in this (though vponupon a freſh occaſion) perform the word of his father David, adminiſter true iudgement, and yeeld that deſerued recompence to that rebellious beaſt. Now (my Lords) it is apparant (as ye ſee) that Shemei, though a perſon of great place, could neither be iuſtified nor defended in ſuch his impieties: for why (to recapitulate his crimes) he was moſt proud and malitious, a rayler, ſeditious, perfidious, an infringer of oath, a lyar and a couetous wretch, for hauing wealth beyond his worthines, he was thereof puffed vp both againſt God and his Soueraign, enuying the regimēt of David and his proſperitie: he curſed the Lords annointed with a moſt horrible curſe, againſt the law and the equitie of the kings cauſe: he moved the people to rebellion againſt David and his houſe from whome hee aſſaide to tranſlate the Scepter: he was vntruſtie and treacherous to his Lorde, whome with all faithfulneſſe hee ſhoulde hauehave ſerued in diſcharge of his duetie. Hee had broken his oathe which hee had made to God and the King departing moſt preſumptuouſlye from the Cittie of Ieruſalem, wherein hee had vowed to contain himſelfe. Hee had ſcandalized the Lordes annointed moſt egregiouſlye and more hee regarded his owne priuate lucre and gaine in fetching home his Seruantes which were departed, and drawing thinges vnlawfully to himſelfe, then the kings manifeſt and expreſſe commandement, and therfore in reſpect of th'one, he too boldly tranſgreſſed the other. Wherefore the king ſitting in the ſeate of the Lord, gaue vponupon him moſt iuſtly the ſentence of death, and withall commanded me (the captaine of his gard) to execute the ſame accordingly, whereof the king (in my iudgement) or any other his true ſubiects neede not to be ſory or diſpleaſed. To this the Princes anſwered with one mouth: And truly in our iudgements, as ye king being moſt wiſe hath done iuſt iudgemēt therein: ſo ſhold he not only be iuſtified, but alſo commended for the ſame of as many as either heare or conſider thereof. Thus indeed hath K. Solomon rightly recompenced his dangerous enemies by the prouidence & help of the power diuine. For doubtles this is the Lords doing, who loueth righteouſnes and hateth iniquity (as the kings father did ſing) therfore as he defendeth the iuſt that feare him in their iuſtice,Pſal. 45. ſo he ouertaketh the vngodly that diſhonour his high maieſtie in their miſchieuous deuiſes and caſteth them downe. Thus the cankred old ſerpent, whiles he purpoſed and had ſubtly plotted not only to deceiue, but to deſtroy that noble mankind in Paradiſe, was by Gods vpright iudgement worthily condemned to the deepeſt hell: and ſo the bleſſed Seede of the Woman, whom hee had beguiled and thought to kill, did in the end confounde both him and his kingdome. To this might we adde the tragecall examples of enuious Cain whō the Lord God execrated & exiled from the earth for his ſavage villany againſt his brother being a righteous man. Alſo of that proud and tyrannous Codorlaomor, and thoſe other profane princes which had captiued iuſt Lot, which princes therefore our Father Abraham worthily ſmote and diſcomfited: of hard hearted Pharao and thoſe cruel Aegyptians, who were ouerwhelmed in the red-ſea, when they verily preſumed to hauehave ſubdued and vtterly rooted out our fathers: Of thoſe curſed Chananites, whom the Lord proſtrated to the powerfull hand of his ſeruant Ioſuah: of the peruerſe and hateful Philiſtines whom Sampſon the Nazarite plagued in the ſpirit of Iehovah: of the mōſtrous Goliah the Gyant of Geth, whom the kinegs father being yet but a yong man and tender, ſlew & cut off his head with his own ſword: of vnnaturall Abſolō the kings elder brother, who had practiſed to ſupplant his father being lawful king who by the iuſt vengeance from the higheſt was hanged on a trée by the hair of his head as he rode throgh the woods: and (beyond ſome others) th'example of that trecherous and rebellious Achitophel, a chiefe Counſailor of Abſolon is yet freſh in memory, who, ſeeing that his crafty and impious counſell was not affected to his deſier, ſtrangled himſelfe with his owne handes. Many more fearefull ſpectacles of the ſemblable iudgements wee find extant, not onelyonly with vsus within thoſe his highnes dominions, but els where among the Gentiles and eueryevery where to the terror and aſtoniſhment of the Sonnes of men, but yet to the conſolation and vnſpeakable ioy of the righteous. Wherein is verified that which the kings father hath modulated in his holy ſonges.
The wicked hauehave I ſeene moſt ſtrong,
and plac'd in high degree:
In wealth and ſtoare faire floriſhing,
much like the lawrell tree.
But ſodainly he paſt him hence:
and priſoned was in hell:
Nor could I find within a whiles,
the place where he did dwell:
But as for iuſt and perfect men:
the Lord them doth encreaſe
Who have from him them to content,
great ioy with reſt and peace.
Againe, the Lord protects the iuſt,
his wealth, his life, his lot:
When wicked men are dawnted with
the ſhaftes themſelves had ſhot.
Oh bleſſed therefore Godly men,
preſeru'd by God your King!
But woe yee wicked, in your waies,
your lot and eueryevery thing.
The King himſelfe in his moſt graue and high Parables hath many thinges of this argument to be noted, as alſo in and among thoſe patheticall ſpeeches which we dayly heare him to ruminate. Neither in truth, are the heathen and thoſe which are without, free of ſemblable exāples, which ſchooled them to learne what that is which the higheſt God loueth, and what he moſt abhorreth. Among the which, it may not iuſtly offend either ourſelues or our Religion and people, that we remember one other graue ſentence of the ſame Gréeke poet, who liuing in the time of our Iudges, and obſeruing many things of thoſe daies in the world, whereof he alſo wrote of great diſtructions of Kings, Princes, noble Captaines, and mightie Potentates, with the cauſes of the ſame, we find that in the worke whereof he tels of the wandrings of the famous Vliſſes, he hath theſe wordes.
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That is
In truth all godleſſe deeds are nought eſtem'd with God above:
But rightfull heaſtes and godlie workes of goodmen doth he love.
And eke his foes and wicked wreatches which on earth here live
By others ſpoile, at length a pray to iust men doth he give.
And in this manner Iehovah our God confounded the kinges aduerſaries, eſtabliſhing the kingdome in his hand, according to that promiſe made by him to David, in the time of his grace.The ready way how to preſerue Peace. Neither did his method of proceeding vnworthelie beſeeme him, notwithſtanding his name noteth Peace, or a Peaceable perſon: ſeing it behoued him for the purchaſe of true peace to extinguiſh the Seditious and broachers of vnneceſſarie wars, a thing no leſſe neceſſary, thē that part of his office which concerneth his gouerment, to and for the which his father king David counſailed and ſang as before: Gird thee with thy ſword vponupon thy thigh, pſal. 45.O thou moſt mightie! Againe, ſeing that al thinges are in vaine, wc are attempted without an happie ſucceſſe, the which is a ſingular gift of God, and of him to be deſired, he added: Proſper thou in thine Honour. And all this wel-beſéemed ye king to whome ye Lord hath granted reſt for ye building of his houſe,Solomons name. & therefore hath named him Solomon. This being ſaide, the Princes (with one accord) approued the kings iudgements and orderlie proceedinges in the premiſſes, prayſed his royall maieſtie in the ſame: bleſſed the God of Iſrael that had placed ouer his people ſo prudent and happie a king and humbly beſeeched the moſt holie of Iſrael for his graces happy health and wiſhed proſperitie.