England Saved, Title page – Dedication
ENGLAND SAVED VVITH A NOTWITHSTANDING: REPRESENTED In a SERMON to the Honourable Houſe of COMMONS, aſſembled in Parliament, Novemb. 5. 1647. The Day of Thanks-giving for Deliverance from the Powder-Plot.
BY William Bridge, ſometimes Fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, now Preacher of Gods word at Yarmouth.
Publiſhed by Order of that Houſe.
LONDON, Printed for R. Dawlman, and are to be ſold at the ſigne of the Crowne and Bible at Dowgate, neere Canning-ſtreet. 1648.
Die Sabbathi 6. Novemb. 1647.
ORdered by the Commons aſſembled in Parliament, That Mr. Allen doe give the thanks of this Houſe to Mr. Bridge for the great pains he took in the Sermon he Preached yeſterday the 5. of November, before the Houſe, at Margarets Weſtminſter: and that he be deſired to print his Sermon, and to have the like priviledge in printing thereof as others inlike caſes uſually have.
H. Elſynge Cler. Parl. D. Com.
I Appoint Robert Dawlman to print this Sermon, and no man elſe.
WILLIAM BRIDGE.
TO The Honourable Houſe of COMMONS ASSEMBLED In PARLIAMENT.
IN what frosts and ſnows your hand hath cleaved to your plough, is not unknown to this Kingdome;Magiſtratus labor major ruſticano. Luther. unthankfulneſſe may ſay you have done little for us, but the truth cannot,(a)Guberna…io eſt divina quaedam virtus, ideoque vocat Deus magiſtratus omnes, Deos, non propter creationem, ſed propter adminiſtrationem, quae ſolius Dei eſt, qui igitur in regimine eſt, eſt quaſi Deus incarnatus. Luther in Gen. The Lord hath ſaid ye are Gods. Still therefore be pleaſed to act unweariedly and unchangeably: God doth ſave us with a Notwithſtanding our reluctancy, ſo ſhould the Magiſtrate. God is a Father of the fatherleſs, and an help to the oppreſſed; gathereth the outcaſts, careth for thoſe whom none careth for, and doth ſometimes carve for them firſt who doe ſit loweſt: So ſhould Magiſtrates be and doe, and therefore the Lord having ſaid concerning Magiſtrates, that they are Gods, Pſal. 82.1. he addeth in v. 3. & 4. deliver ye the poor and needy, &c. The Magiſtrate ſhould not alwaies ſtay till the crying complaints of the poor be brought to him, but ſhould ſometimes ſeek and inquire after them;(b)Clamor afflictorum pertinet ad eos, qui in Magiſtratu ſunt etiamſi ad ipſos non clametur; nam non dicit, liberabit egenum ad ſe clamentem, ſed clamentem & afflictum cui non eſt adjutor, hoc eſt, cui nihil eſt in rebus afflictis patrocinii, Muſcul. in Pſal. The cry of the afflicted belongs to the Magistrate, though they cry not to him: Muſculus therefore obſerves well, that the Pſal. doth not ſay of the Magiſtrate, He ſhall deliver the poor and needy when he cryeth unto him, but when he cryeth, Pſal. 72.12. God is a God of love, mercy and grace, he is called love it ſelfe, not juſtice, though he be ſo, but God is love, ſo ſhould the Magiſtrate be, full of love, bowels, and tender compaſſions unto the people; therefore he is called(c)אב ab אבה …elle quaſi volens bene ſuis … dictus, foreign Gen. 41. aliqui ducuna a ברכ benedixit, genua flexit, clamabam enim autem cum, genua fle…te: ſic Ab… Efra; alii dividunt verbum in foreign & foreign R: Solomon quod foreign in lingua Aramaea eſt Rex. Na… Joſeph fuit pater Regis: ſed vo… Ebraica foreign ſignificat tener, mollis, quia princeps tener & mollis pater eſt, Mayer. philolog. Sacr. par. prima. p. 116. foreign a foreign levavit, …leuavit, ſublevavit, portavit. Father, tender Father, and Naſi, not only becauſe he is lift up above the people, but becauſe he doth lift up, or eaſe their burthen, and doth portare populum in gremio ſuo. Now moſt worthy Patriots, ye have conquered this Kingdome with your ſword, conquer us once more with your love, in providing for the poor, deſolate, and in healing our ſad diviſions with a fatherly hand, and you are compleat Saviours and Fathers to this bleeding Kingdome. Pacem nos poſcimus, but not ſuch a peace (as Auguſtine ſpeaks) ut mimici ſubmittant, ſed ut amici jungant. I had thought to have been (date veniam verbo) diſobedient to your command of printing this Sermon, but being perſwaded that it may in ſome … unto love both towards God and man, I choſe rather to diſobey mine own inclinations then your order. Now the Lord himſelf make you the repairers of our breaches, and the reſtorers of paths to dwell in: which is and muſt be the prayer of
Your ſervant in the Goſpel of Chriſt, WILLIAM BRIDGE.