would have imagined king Charles not subject to the weaknesses of those against whom it was chiefly pointed; yet nothing can be Twelfth-night, in very cold weather, so that the house was not filled according to expectation. The act of council to drive all men into the country, the coldness of the weather, the day Sunday, and the illness of the invention of the scenes, were given for causes, why so small a company came to see it. My lord-treasurer [bishop Juxton] was there by command."-But to go on. It certainly is a very odd way to express a pious on.-It care for the service of God, by encouraging Moricedances, May-games, and May-poles, on the day set apart for his worship; and men could not easily bring themselves to believe that the practice of virtue could be much promoted by the mixt dancing of men and women, and their association at Wakes and Whitsonales. For, whatever may be thought of it, if the common people gad abroad on the Sunday, and spend it in idleness or diversions, a loose turn of mind will be contracted, and a great depravity of manners ensue : and, therefore, it behoves those who are in authority, to promote a regular and exemplary behaviour on the Lord's-day, whereby decency of manners will be increased, knowledge advanced, and a sense of religion (a thing of the greatest importance to societies, as well as to individuals) heightened in the minds of men. This, I say, is the duty of those in authority: If they neglect it, they are not to wonder at the wickedness and stupidity of those about them, or complain of their breach of every social duty. * Strafforde's Letters and Dispatches, vol. II. p. 148. more certain, than that's he fell into super 15 He fell into superstition, the vice of weak minds.] Superstition is a debasement of reason and religion; it is entertaining misapprehensions of Almighty God; it is the practice of things weak and ridiculous, in order to please him, whereby it excites in the mind chimerical hopes, ill-grounded fears, and vain expectations in short, it is weakness, attended with uneasiness and dread, and productive of confusion and horror. Every one knows the mischiefs superstition has produced in the world: gods of all sorts and kinds; sacrifices of beasts and men; rights, ceremonies, and postures; antick tricks, and cruel torments; with every other thing which, from time to time, has been falsely called by the name of religion, have arose from hence. It took its rise early in the world, and soon spread itself over the face of the earth; and few, very few, were there who were wholly free from it. The doctrine of Christ, indeed, was calculated to destroy its dominion, and to restore religion to its original lustre, by teaching men to think honourably of the Deity, to practise virtue, to submit cheerfully to the Divine Will, and expect happiness from his hands in consequence thereof. Very little stress is laid on externals by the writers of the New Testament. It is sobriety and righteousness, it is the love of God and men, it is meekness and humility, and every thing lovely and praiseworthy, which are insisted on in, and recommended by it: but as for pomp, and parade and shew, these were not thought worthy of notice, or deemed mischievous and hurtful. Yet, notwithstanding this, superstition very soon found an entrance among Christians, and at length increased to an enormous sizę. The reformation of religion, and the revival of letters, were somewhat unfriendly to it: but whether it be the stition, the vice of weak minds; which oc craft of those who subsist by the ignorance and credulity of others, or whether it be a proneness in men to superstition, or their laziness and inattention to other than sensible objects; I say, whether it be owing to one of all of these causes, superstition remained still alive, and shewed itself even among those who gloried that they had got rid of the papal yoke. I doubt not, Charles would have been affronted, had any one told him he was superstitious, especially when in the height of his power; and, I believe, it would not have been very safe for any one to have attempted to prove it: however, what would have then been imprudent, may now be safe; and therefore, at the distance of more than an hundred years, I think I may hazard the charging it on him. But it is not expected my word alone should be taken: let the reader hear the evidence, and then judge impartially. His majesty in a letter to the queen, dated Jan. 14, 1644-5, has the following paragraph. "I will not trouble thee with repetitions of news, Digby's dispatch, which I have seen, being so full, that I can add nothing; yet I cannot but paraphrase on that which he calls his superstitious observation. It is this: nothing can be more evident, than that Straf`ford's innocent blood hath been one of the great causes of God's just judgments upon this nation, by a furious civil war; both sides hitherto being almost equally punished, as being in a manner equally guilty: but now this last crying blood [Laud's] being totally theirs, I believe it no presumption hereafter to hope, that his hand of justice must be heavier upon them, and lighter upon us, looking now upon our cause, having passed by our faults." * The King's Cabinet Opened, p. 24. casioned his making unreasonable vows, "That after the army Dr. Perinchief assures us, had forced him from Holmby, and in their several removes had brought him to Latmas, an house of the earl of Devonshire, on August 1, being Sunday in the morning, before sermon, he led forth with him, into the garden, the reverend Dr. Sheldon, (who then attended on him, and whom he was pleased to use as his confessor) and drawing out of his pocket a paper, commanded him to read it, transcribe it, and so to deliver it to him again. This paper contained several vows, which he had obliged his soul unto, for the glory of his Maker, the advance of true piety, and the emolument of the church. And among them this was one; that he would do public penance for the injustice he had suffered to be done to the earl of Strafford, his consent to those injuries that were done to the church of England, (though at that time he had yielded to no more than the taking away of the high commission, and the bishops' power to vote in parliament) and to the church of Scotland: and adjured the doctor, that if ever he saw him in a condition to observe that or any of those vows, he should solicitously mind him of the obligations, as he dreaded the guilt of the breach should lie upon his own soul"." One of these vows we have remaining in his majes ty's own words, as follows: "I do hereby promise and solemnly vow, in the presence and for the service of almighty God, that if it shall please the Divine Majesty, of his infinite goodness, to restore me to my just kingly rights, and to re-establish me in my throne, I will wholly give back to his church all those impropriations which are now held by the crown; and what lands soever I do now, or should enjoy, which have * Perinchief's Life of Charles I. p. 69. consulting the stars, and regarding omens! been taken away either from any episcopal see, or any cathedral or collegiate church, from any abbey, or other religious house. I likewise promise for hereafter to hold them from the church, under such reasonable fines and rents as shall be set down by some conscientious persons, whom I propose to chuse, with all uprightness of heart, to direct me in this particular. And I most humbly beseech God to accept of this my vow, and to bless me in the design I have now in hand, through Jesus Christ our Lord.. Amen. "This is a true copy of the king's vow, which was preserved thirteen years under ground, by me, “1660, Aug. 21. a Gilb. Sheldon "." I would not chuse to make any reflections on these vows of Charles; but I am persuaded the sensible reader will not be displeased with the following observations on vows in general. In my own opinion, they are very just." I remember a saying of some of the Jewish doctors, that vows, for the most part, come from some evil principle; and therefore they advise those who consult the quiet of their minds, to be very cautious in making them, because they are most times only snares to them: and it very often appears, that those who are of the most unfit tempers to make vows, are the most ready to do it. For those who are apt to be transported with passion, or are sensible of the instability of their own temper, think to give stronger checks to themselves by entering into solemn vows; from whence they vow that frequently, in a heat of zeal or passion, which, upon farther consideration, * Le Neve's Lives of the Archbishops, &c. p. 178. 8vo. Lond. 1720. |