NATIONAL AFFLICTION IMPROVED:

IN

A SERMON

DELIVERED AT THE MAYOR’S CHAPEL,

Bristol,

On WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15th,

1818;

BEING THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL

OF

HER MAJESTY QUEEN CHARLOTTE.

A

SERMON,

&c.

Isaiah xl. 6, 7, 8.

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall
I cry] All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness

THEREOF IS AS THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD. THE
GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH, BECAUSE
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD BLOWETH UPON IT: SURELY
THE PEOPLE IS GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE
FLOWER FADETH; BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL
STAND FOR EVER.

To fear God, and to honour the King, are
duties which Holy Scripture has joined together,
and which cannot without impiety be separated
from each other. These inspired injunctions of
St. Peter were issued at a time when, if ever,
their propriety might have been disputed, — when
Nero Domitian disgraced the imperial diadem of
Rome. They were issued at a time, when those
to whom they were addressed were suffering every
indignity and torment which the most disgraceful
tyrant that perhaps ever filled a throne could
inflict. This coincidence shews us that loyalty
is a duty which has no dependance on the

22

personal character of him for whom it is claimed,
but that its obligation arises out of the obedience
we owe to God, whose revealed will, in this as in
every other particular, is the eternal rule of right
to all his rational creatures.

If, therefore, the character of our revered and
beloved Sovereign were the very reverse of what
it is — If, instead of having proved himself the
father and friend of his people, he had been their
oppressor, — If, instead of having a parent’s place
in the affections, the reverence, and love, of every
British subject, he bad so swayed the sceptre of
his royal progenitors as to have disgraced and
degraded it; — even in this case, the injunction,
“ Honour the king,” w ould have lost no part of its
Divine obligation. Loyalty and true piety are
inseparably connected.

The duty which we owre to the king, involves
corresponding duties to his royal consort, and his
whole illustrious house. The command to honour
him implies the duty of honouring them also.
Had they no other title to respect than that
which they derive from their connexion with
him, that title would be paramount; and to fail
in respect to their persons or stations, would be
a transgression of the Divine injunction.

On this general ground, then, the solemn act
of worship in which we have been now engaged,
is fully justified. It w'as right that we should
humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
and that, with holy Job, we should bless the name
of Him that gave and that has taken away.

I

23

But, though the duty of loyalty is irrespective
of personal considerations; though its obligation
depends not on the character of him for whom
it is claimed yet, when personal excellences are
found in the breast and have been displayed in
the conduct of the Sovereign, additional obligations
arise: gratitude to the man who has been the
instrument of the blessing, unites with the con¬
sciousness of duty to Him by whom kings reign
and princes decree judgment; — under which cir¬
cumstances (and such are the boast of Britons)
there must be a cordiality, a delight, in rendering
every tribute of homage which it is in our power
to pay.

That Her Late Majesty, from respect to whose
memory we are now assembled, has a strong
claim on our veneration as the consort of our
revered Sovereign, the object of his choice, the
partner and the solace of his cares and troubles,
the mother of his children, and, to add no other
view of her character, his faithful, attentive, and
affectionate guardian, during the afflicted years
which he has spent in unconscious solitude; —
that ou these accouuts we owe unfeigned respect
to her memory, no one who feels what every truly
British bosom must feel will deny. For I am dis¬
posed to question, not only the Christianity of that
man who reveres not the person and character of
George the Third, but also whether British blood,
pure and uncontaminate, be found to circulate in
his veins. On this point I am perhaps an enthu¬
siast; but enthusiasm, in the true sense of the

—

u

word, may find its justification, both in religion
and loyalty, from the Scriptures of eternal truth,
A particular delineation of Her Majesty’s cha¬
racter, as a woman and a queen, I leave to the
pen of the historian, as requiring more time for
its composition than I could command, and other
sources of information, in order to verify the
statement, than are within my reach. I consider
also that the historic page is better adapted to
such a delineation than the lips of an ambassador
from God. There is, however, one view of Her
Majesty’s character so clearly manifested as to
need no confirmation from the archives of the
cabinet or from access to the court, and so
generally interesting to the British nation as to
claim a place in the grateful remembrance of
every individual. I refer to the extended and
healthful atmosphere of morality and virtue which
our beloved monarch and his illustrious consort
have shed around them for more than half a
century. The influence of example, good or bad,
needs no illustration ; and the higher the rank
from which the influence is derived, the wider
and more impressive is its diffusion. The in¬
fluence of the female character, in particular, has
justly been considered as more important in
society than that of the other sex, for reasons
which will suggest themselves to every mind.
The royal pair whom Providence has placed and
continued, for so unusual a length of years, on
the throne of this kingdom, have exhibited a
pattern of which the effects have been widely felt.

25

To the throne, the wife and the mother, whether
titled or plebeian, have had their eyes directed;
and there they have learned, unless through their
own fault, for nearly two generations, lessons of
conjugal fidelity, and maternal tenderness. By
the high unstained example before their eyes, the
dissolute have been checked, and the thoughtless
restrained from folly. On the brow which was
graced by the royal diadem, has uniformly
appeared the frown which has driven vice, con¬
founded and abashed, from its presence; and the
same brow, on other occasions, has encouraged
virtue by its smiles. Assured as I am, on the
highest authority, that “righteousness exalteth a
nation,” I feel no hesitation in connecting the
merciful escape of this our beloved country, from
the horrors of the revolutionary war, with the
character of the royal pair. While religion, even
in its external forms, was elsewhere discarded or
disgraced, or even blasphemed, here royal knees
bent duly at the altar of their God; and while
profligacy found patronage in other courts of
Europe, in ours it met with condemnation and
chastisement.

With the most sincere respect, then, may we
mingle ourselves in spirit with the train this day
to be employed in conveying to their silent abode
the remains of our late Queen. And I doubt not
that, in expressing the dutiful feelings of m\r own
heart, 1 have given utterance to those of yours.
But I must not forget that the event which has
taken place, speaks to us in other language than
»

•20

that of honest eulogy and patriotic sentiment,
which I have hitherto been using. I must re¬
member that I stand here in another character
than that of a loyal subject, and a grateful
admirer of royal virtues. I stand here as the
ambassador of heaven, and the text which I have
chosen contains my commission. The oracular
voice commands me to make proclamation. Do
I ask, What must I proclaim? The proclamation
I am to make is furnished. “All flesh is grass,

AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF THE
FIELD : THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER
FADETH, WHEN THE WIND OF JEHOVAH BLOWETH

upon it. Surely this people is grass. The

GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH; BUT
THE WORD OF OUR God SHALL STAND FOR
EVER.”*

I trouble you not on the present occasion with
the prophetic reference which these words bear
to the abolition of the temporary and evanescent
Mosaic dispensation, and the introduction of the
everlasting gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. The outward splendour of the former was,
in its appointed time, to give way to the simple
and durable doctrine which it prefigured. But
on this recondite sense of the prophecy I dwell
not at present. [ take the words in their plain
and obvious exhibition of the frail and transient
nature of human life and human glory: and for
the short time yet allotted me, I shall call your

* Lowth's Translation.

27

attention to —the authority by which the pro¬
clamation of the text is made— the persons by
whom it is to be promulged—its aivjul subject
matter — the evidence by which it is attested •
and the end for which it is commanded to be
published, or the improvement we are to make
( f it.

The authority by 'which the proclamation is
made, is not that of a man like ourselves, a mortal
elevated to rank and dignity of station it is not
that of one in the celestial Hierarchy. It is the
voice of the Supreme, the Most High, that we
hear — the voice of Jehovah Sabaoth. It is by
his commission that his ministers address you.
Their language is, “ O earth, earth, earth, hear ye
the word of the Lord.” How solemn is our
present situation? Jehovah is speaking to us by
his providence aud in his word. I hey concui in
the same message. As it was on mount Sinai,
so now, the thunderings, and lightnings, and the
thick cloud, concur to give effect to “the voice
of words,” or the articulate voice of Divine
Revelation. Let every ear be open— Let every
heart say, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth.”

The voice which you hear in the text, and m
the providential dispensation that accompanies it,
is the same voice that addressed the guilty pro¬
genitor of the human race, when, after summoning
him to appear in those alarming words, “ Adam,
where art thou?” it added, “Dust thou art, and
uuto dust shalt thou return.

It is the voice of the great Judge of quick
and dead, denouncing the sentence of his violated
law, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” For

death is. the wages, the just remuneration, of
transgression.

But it is also the voice of mercy that you hear
in the text. The warning is given in order that
the endangered sinner may escape to the place of
refuge. The word of our God, the text adds,
SHALL STAND for ever ; that is, the everlasting
Gospel of his grace, the word- that proclaims
“ peace on earth, and good will to men.” It is
awfully tiue that it is appointed unto men once
to die, and after death the judgment;” but it is
equally true, that “ Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many,” and that “ to them who
look for him,” in faith and hope, “shall He appear
the second time, without sin, unto salvation.”

We proceed to inquire, who are the persons by
whom the proclamation is to be promulged. The
oracular voice said, “Cry,” or “Proclaim.” The
person, or company of persons, to whom the
command was addressed, answer, “What shall
I proclaim?” The command is addressed to the
heralds of the Divine Speaker, to the ministers of
his word through all generations — It is addressed
to me. To proclaim the frailty of man, the
transient character of human life, and of all
human glory, is a necessary branch of our official
duty at all times. It is necessary, because,
glaring as is the truth, it is slighted, forgotten,
and, in fact, denied.

29

” All men think all men mortal but themselves."

The allurements of the world obscure the mental
vision, and the vanities of time maintain an
ascendency in the affections ; and when, for
a moment, a salutary impression is made by
some awful event, personal or relative, that im¬
pression resembles “ the morning cloud, or the
early dew.”

The doctrine of the text is connected with
every other doctrine which we are commissioned
to proclaim. Do we enforce the doctrine of
“ original sin,” that it “ is the fault and corruption
of the nature of every man that naturally is
engendered of the offspring of Adam,” — and that
“in every person born into this world, itdeserveth
God’s wrath and damnation”? Death affords the
evidence that the doctrine is true, and it enforces
the necessity of that humiliation of soul which
the doctrine demands. “ For,” says the Apostle,
“ by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men ; for that all have sinned.” Do we demand
attention to the glorious Gospel of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ? Death sanctions that de¬
mand ; since it is “ the wages of sin ; and eternal
life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our
Lord." “ Holy Scripture doth set out unto us
only the name of Jesus Christ, whereby men
must be saved.”

But, while the doctrine of the text is suitable
to every day and every hour; while the pro¬
clamation that ALL FLESH IS GRASS, AND ALL ITS

30

GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD, should
ever be sounding in our ears ; there are some
seasons peculiarly favourable to the impression
which this proclamation is intended to make —
seasons when the fleeting sounds which convey it,
are, as it were, substantiated and embodied ; when
the violence of vicious affection is necessary to
close the ear and harden the heart. Such a
season is the present. It realizes the doctrine,
that “ all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the
flower of the field.”

This leads me to consider more particularly,
the subject matter of the text. Both its doctrine,
and the imagery with which it is clothed, are
common in Scripture. A specimen or two must
suffice. In the 103d Psalm, we read, “As for
man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the
field so he flourished! : for the wind passeth over
it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall
know’ it no more.” In the 14th chapter of Job,
the emblem of the text is combined with another
still more affecting. “Man that is born of a
woman is of few days, and full ot trouble: he
cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down : he
fleetb also as a shadow', and continueth not. ’ In
the 90th Psalm also, and in other passages, the
imagery is repeated. O that we may enter fully
into its import!

The imagery of the text is beautifully illustra¬
tive of that which it figuratively describes. The
grass of the field must wither: it is its nature to
decay and perish. But it is, moreover, liable to

31

premature destruction. If the blasting wind pass
over it, it is gone. Such is human life and human
glory. The flower, the beauty, the ornament of
the field, is liable to the same destiny as the
common grass. All human strength, beauty, and
majesty, — all earthly wisdom, pomp, and excel¬
lence, — whether they belong to an individual or
to the greatest empire in the world, must, in a
short time, decay and vanish. They are all sub¬
ject to the will of God, and perish at the blasting
of the breath of his displeasure.

How striking was the comment on the vanity
of all human dependence, which was afforded by
the stroke of poignant national affliction that
congregated us in the house of God about this
time in the last year. God forbid that we should
have forgotten the impressive lesson. How clear,
how loud was the warning. All flesh is grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field.
Look back by the eye of imagination, (for the
reality is for ever hidden from human view,) at
that once beloved form, the still fondly cherished
form, of England’s younger Charlotte, “ the
Daughter of [our] Zion,” “ the Beauty of [our]
Israel;” a form, young, healthy, and full of
sprightliness. It was the habitation of a mind,
furnished with all the stores which the best
education could communicate. It was adorned
with all the splendour that royalty could bestow.
It was, indeed, the flower, the goodliness, the
ornament of the British field. No other flower,
so stately, so lovely, diffusing so wide a fragrance,

32

appeared within the extended boundary of that
field. — But the wind passed over it, and it is gone
— It is cut down, dried up, and withered. Recall
to your recollection the mournful procession ; the
splendid pall, adorned with the escutcheons of
the deceased; the long train of mourners; the
Bereaved husband ; the succession of princes;
the stalls, adorned with trophies of rank and
military grandeur, all covered with a vail of
sable; — the solemn dirge, the spacious dor¬
mitory prepared for royal remains; — Listen to
the voice that breaks the silence — “ It has
pleased'Almighty God of his great mercy to take
unto himself the soul of our dear Sister, here
departed.”

Nor is the warning of the present year less
impressive, if duly attended to, than that of
the preceding. It speaks, it is true, less forcibly
to our senses and sympathies, but its tone is
equally distinct. The necessary decay of age is
not a less powerful monitor than the apparently
accidental blast, which withers in a moment the
blooming flower.

Oh, let us anxiously inquire, Is there no light
in this mansion of gloom more satisfactory than
the flaming torches which only discover its
horrors? There is, — There is. Blessed be God,
the light of life is kindled in the cave of death.
“The word of our God shall stand for
ever.” And what is that word? “I am the
Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord; he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall

33

he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me,
shall never die.”

Here, then, is a solid foundation for hope and
comfort, laid in “a full, perfect, and sufficient
sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins
of the whole world ”• — in a righteousness commen¬
surate with every demand of the holy law— in
the covenant and oath of God-in the witness
of his. Spirit — in the resurrection of our Surety
and Representative, whose life insures that of all
his true disciples.

And this leads us to consider the evidence bij
which the truth of the proclamation in our text is
attested. But is it necessary to produce evidence
to substantiate self-evident truths? Nothing but
the thoughtlessness, the vanity, the unbelief of
the human heart, could create such a necessity,
or justify the production of such evidence.

The truth of the first part of the solemn
proclamation is attested, so as no other tiuth was,
perhaps, ever attested. Is the mouth of two or three
witnesses sufficient ? In this case, you have the
attestation of almost three thousand years twice
told. For nearly six thousand years, successive
generations have concurred in bearing testimony
that “ ALL FLF.SH IS GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY
AS THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD. Let the illSClip-
tions on the hallowed memorials of the dead,
inscriptions among the dust of the multitude,
aud over the mouldered remains of the mighty—
inscriptions on which we tread with heedless
$tep in our weekly visits to the house of God,

E

34

and others which adorn the sculptured walls of
those editices where the earthly shell of genius,
of military prowess, of senatorial eloquence, and
of royal dignity, lies immured; — I say, let these
inscriptions, marking the age, the rank, the
prowess of departed worth or greatness, testify
that all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the
flower of the field. Let the event of this day
attest, that “all go unto one place; all are of the
dust, and all turn to dust again.”

But is the converse of the former proposition
equally indisputable? Is it equally certain that

“ THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR

F.VER”? It is. — On this subject also we are com¬
passed about “ with a great cloud of witnesses,”
— unexceptionable witnesses. The testimony of
patriarchs and prophets, — of apostles and martyrs,
and of myriads beside, is positive and concurrent.
But we have better evidence still; for “there are
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost.” And this is the
record they bear, that “ God hath given unto us
eternal life, and that this life is in his Son.”

But “ he that believeth hath the witness in
himself;” for “the Spirit beareth witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God ; and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-
heirs with Christ.” If we have not this internal
testimony, it is “because we have not believed
the record that God hath given of his Son.”

We must not, however, omit to notice the end
for which the proclamation is commanded to be

35

issued; or, the improvement which ive are to derive
from it. Does God speak by his providence?
It is for the instruction and benefit of man. Does
He speak in his word ? It is for the same gracious
purpose. When both concur, in time and place,
how loud is the call! “Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee life.”

But what is the lesson so clearly inculcated?
Is it not, Let mortal man “so number his days
that he may apply his heart unto wisdom”? Let
us lay to heart the cause of all the vanity and
misery to which the creature is subject. Let us
seek the appointed remedy, and “ believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that we may be saved.” Let
us fly “ for refuge to the hope set before us in
the Gospel.” Let us “ set onr affections on things
above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
God.” Let us quit our ineffectual grasp of the
shadow, and embrace the substance. Let us cry,
in sincerity of soul, “ O Lord God most holy,
O God most mighty, O holy and most merciful
Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of
eternal death”!

Let the Christian, the believer in Jesus, keep
more constantly in his view the contrast of the
text. Let him live, while the few remaining
sands of life are falling, with “ his heart surely
fixed there, where true joys are to be found.”
Let him die daily to the world and its vanities.
Let him maintain the blessed hope of the gospel,
“ I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded

3<5

that he will keep what I have committed to him
against that day.”

Let the man of the world, who hath his portion
in this life, if such a oue he present, consider
what that portion is, — how wholly unworthy it
is of the rational immortal mind. Oh, let him,
ere it be too late, seek an interest in that “ in¬
heritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away”! And, in order that he
may secure this invaluable interest, let him, in
penitence of spirit, labour to attain an acquaint¬
ance, by faith, with that Divine Mediator, whose
blood alone can cleanse from sin, whose right¬
eousness alone can justify the ungodly, and whose
Spirit alone can sanctify the unclean. Let him
henceforth build his comforts, his hopes, his
prospects, not on the sand, but on the rock,
even that “ sure foundation,, elect, precious,”
which God himself hath laid. Then, when the
rain descends, and the floods come, and the
winds blow', and beat upon his edifice, it will
stand and not fall, because it is founded on
a rock.

Now to God, &c.

37

THE COLLECT.

O merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life;
in whom whosoever believeth shall live, though
he die ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in
Him, shall not die eternally ; who also hath
taught us, (by his holy Apostle St. Paul,) not
to be sorry, as men without hope, for them that
sleep in Him ; We meekly beseech thee, O Father,
to raise us from the death of sin to the life
of righteousness ; that when we shall depart this
life, we may rest in Him, and that at the general
resurrection in the last day, we may be found
acceptable in thy sight, and receive that blessing
which thy well-beloved Sou shall then pronounce
to all that love and fear thee, saying, Come ye
blessed children of my Father, receive the king¬
dom prepared for you from the beginning of the
world. Grant this, we beseech thee, O merciful
Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and
Redeemer. Amen.

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*

NATIONAL AFFLICTION IMPROVED:

IN

A SERMON

DELIVERED AT ST. JAMES’S CHURCH,

Bristol,

On WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 6th,

1820;

BEING THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL

OF

HIS MAJESTY GEORGE THE THIRD,

Copy of a Minute in the Order-hook of the
Vestry of St. James.

At a meeting of the Vestry of St. James, held
in the Vestry-room on Wednesday, the 16th of
February, 1820, Present, Mr. Churchwarden
Watson, Mr. Churchwarden Fry, Mr. Jarman,
Mr. Cole, Mr. Rvland, Mr. Gadd, Mr. Moore,
Mr. Perry, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Winwood, and Mr.
Whithington :

Resolved— That the thanks of this Vestry be
given to our worthy Minister, the Rev. Thomas
Tregenna Biddulph, for his loyal and very ex¬
cellent sermon, preached this day at our request,
on the occasion of the funeral of our late venerable
and beloved Sovereign, King George the Third,
of blessed memory ; and that Mr. Biddulph
be requested to have the same printed and
published.

That the Churchwardens be requested to wait
on the Rev. Thomas T. Biddulph immediately,
with a copy of this vote of thanks, signed with
their names.

(A true copy.)

W ILLI AM WATSON, 7 Q,urcij wardens.

PETER FRY, 5

F

GENTLEMEN OF THE VESTRY

OF

THE PARISH OF ST. JAMES.

As the following pages are sent to the press
in compliance with yonr request, it seems highly
proper that I should inscribe them to you, and
place them under your patronage. And herein
propriety and inclination are in perfect unison.
For, although I trust that my object, during the
twenty years of my ministry among you, has not
been to please men but God, — not to secure to
myself human applause, but Divine approbation,
by labouring to win souls for Him by whose
good providence I was brought among you; yet
I scarcely need to add, that I am always gratified
by knowing that your sentiments and my own
concur, as I am assured, by the favour of your
obliging letter which 1 have taken the liberty

44

to prefix to this address, they do most fully in
the view which I have taken of that afflictive
event, which forms the theme of the ensuing
Discourse, and which has clad us all in the
garb of most sincere mourning.

Allow me also once more to say, that I rejoice
in every opportunity afforded me, of testifying and
of proving, how much I am

Your faithful and much obliged
Friend and Servant,

THE AUTHOR.

SERMON,

&c.

2 Kings ii. 12.

My father, my father! tiie chariot of Israel,

AND THE HORSEMEN THEREOF.

These words of the prophet Elisha, occasioned
by the translation of his master Elijah to heaven,

I venture to adopt as a suitable expression of my
own feelings at the present solemn and afflictive
moment. In these words 1 announced to you the
national and personal loss we have sustained, by
the removal from earth to heaven, from this wilder¬
ness to the paradise of God, of our late beloved,
venerable, and revered Sovereign, George the
Third, on the day the affecting tidings first
reached us. The exclamation was then a sudden
effusion of the heart, conveyed in language which
suggested itself on the occasion as highly ap¬
propriate to it. And whde a lapse of some days
has established in my judgment the suitability of
the language I then used, to my own lips and to

those of every individual in the nation, subsequent
reflection has in no degree abated the sensibility
which, in the first instance, it expressed.

From the general knowledge which I have
of the loyal audience whom I address, — from a
persuasion that the political sentiments of those
around me, as well as their religious creed, are
founded on the principles of the Bible; I am
convinced that the words of my text give utter¬
ance to their sensibilities as well as to my own.
Indeed, the doctrine contained in that blessed
volume, the only authoritative directory of our
faith and practice, is so distinct and explicit on
the civil duties of a Christian, that, although a
difference in degree of feeling and of its ex¬
pression, may exist among those to whom the
character truly belongs, — a difference arising
from a variety in natural constitution ; — yet no
difference can exist among real disciples of the
great Teacher whom we all acknowledge and
adore, respecting the obligation under which they
lie “ to honour and obey the king and all that
are put in authority under him.” This is one of
the important lessons which the infant-member
of our Church is taught to lisp, almost as soon as
he quits his cradle ; — it is shown to be both his
duty and his privilege as he advances to years of
discretion, by being interwoven with the several
services of the orthodox Liturgy in which he is
continually called to join ; — it grows with his
growth as a true Churchman, and ripens in
his mind as his understanding is progressively

47

matured and if his heart be under the influence
of that grace which his baptismal connexion
with the church of Christ entitles him to implore
and expect, it becomes a fixed principle of action,
which he carries with him into all the civil con¬
cerns of his future life. “ To fear God and
honour the king,” are kindred duties which mark
the path of his daily walk, and which he knows,
like parallel lines, can never diverge from each
other, but must be continued till one of them
shall disappear at the termination of his connexion
with civil society on earth. The current of loyal
affection and duty may be more sluggish in oue
Christian bosom than in another ; but in every
one it must exist. These scriptural sentiments
1 had avowed and enforced, both from the pulpit
and the press* before the providence of God
introduced me to a connexion with you in the
character of your minister ; and I call you to
witness that, by the help of God, I have con¬
tinued to this day testifying the same things as
opportunities have offered ; and this 1 have done
under increased conviction of their truth and
importance.

But, in addressing you, my brethren, on the
present most impressive occasion, I regard you
not merely as a body in which the current of
loyal affection flows, regularly and without inter¬
ruption, from the heart to the utmost extremity
of the system ; but as one in which the vital fluid

See Essays on the Liturgy, Essay IX.

48

has been excited to increased, though not intem¬
perate action. And, if the impulse of the heart
be vigorous under our present circumstances,
who would wish to moderate its vibrations ? We
have lost (I speak without hyperbole) one of the
best of kings that Divine Providence, in its pe¬
culiar indulgence, ever raised up to bless a nation.
The cause for sorrow is of no ordinary kind. It
resembles that which was felt in Judah and Jeru¬
salem at the loss of their king Josiah, of whom it
is testified, that “like unto him there was no king
before him, that turned to the Lord with all his
heart, with all his soul, and with all his might,
according to the law of Moses, neither arose
there any like him.” What wonder then, that
“Jeremiah lamented for Josiah;” and that “all
the singing men and the singing women spake of
Josiah in their lamentations,” as it is stated by
the compiler of the Second Book of Chronicles
that they did, “ unto [his] day, and made them an
ordinance in Israel”! Is it not equally the duty
of the public teachers of our Israel to lament for
one who trod in the steps of good Josiah, and the
years of whose reign nearly doubled those of his
predecessor in piety and virtue? Is it not right that
our “ lamentations ” also should be perpetuated
among our offspring of future generations; that,
while they learn from the Chronicles of the Kings
of England “ the acts of George the Third, and
his goodness, according to that which is written
in the law of the Lord, and his deeds, first and
last,” they may also learn how a grateful people

49

felt, while they exclaimed, at his removal from
them, “My father, my father! the chariot
of Israel, and the horsemen thereof”?

I am under no apprehension, then, in addressing
you , my brethren, that I shall exceed the general
gage of your feelings, by giving full utterance to
an expression of my own. I remember with
pleasure the loyal tears which adorned the cheek,
not only of female sensibility, but of manhood,
and not only of manhood as refined and softened
by education, but of manhood in its less polished
state, in the crowded aisles of this holy edifice,
when we met to join in the lamentations of our
nation over the lovely remains of her beloved
Charlotte of Wales. I say again, the tear of
patriotic sorrow and of penitential compunction
became the cheek down which it flowed, while we
called to our remembrance, “How the Lord had
covered the Daughter of [our] Zion with a cloud
in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the
earth the Beauty of [our] Israel, and remembered
not his footstool in the day of his anger.”* And
though the feelings now excited 'are of a somewhat
different kind; as the loss then sustained was that
of a sappling which had not begun to afford its
promised shade, but from which a long con¬
tinuance of national blessing had been fondly
anticipated, — and that now deplored is the loss
of the venerable oak which, as the glory of the

• Lam. ii. 1. The accommodated text employed on the
solemn occasion.

50

British plain, had long afforded shade from the
midday sun, and shelter from the midnight storm,
— a shade which had covered Britain from its
northern to its southern extremity ; — though, I
say, the feelings excited must be of a somewhat
different kind, yet I think I discern evidence
around me, that, though your emotions have less
of passion in their composition, they have not
less of that Christian temper which loyalty and
religion combine to sanction.

But I have occupied too much of your time in
introductory remarks. I hasten, therefore, to a
more particular application of Elisha’s exclamation
to our present purpose, by considering,

I. The Title which our late revered and
beloved King had to the appellation in
our text, — that of being the Father of his
people. And,

II. The propriety with which we may
speak of him as having been the chariot of
[our] Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

1. The Title which our late revered and
beloved King had to the appellation in our
text, — that of being the Father of his people.

You cannot but remember, my brethren, how
often, during the long period of conflict that is
now happily passed by, when assembled under
this sacred roof by the pious command of our
late venerable King, our singing men and singing
women implored divine protection and blessing on
him, under the character of

“Our King, our Father, and our friend.”

51

The recollection that we often joined with full
chorus in that prayer, united in heart and voice,
is highly gratifying to my own mind, and must,
I conceive, be equally gratifying to yours. The
petitions contained in the three former stanzas of
our metrical prayer have been fully answered ;
and I trust that of the last will be answered also,
in its fullest latitude of meaning.*

* I transcribe the whole prayer.

Lord, Thou hast bid thy people pray
For all who bear the sovereign sway.

And thy vicegerents reign;

To thy protection we commend
Our king, our father, and our friend.

And his domestic train.

O Lord, thy chosen servant guard,

And every threatening danger ward
From his anointed head.

Bid all his griefs and troubles cease.

And him, through paths of heavenly peace.

To life eternal lead.

Cover his enemies with shame;

Defeat their proud malicious aim, —

Their baffled hopes destroy;

But shower on him thy blessings down,

Crown him with grace, with glory crown.

And everlasting joy.

Continue, in his royal race,

A man to stand before thy face.

And exercise thy power;

With wealth, prosperity, and peace.

Our nation and our church to bless.

Till time shall be no more.

It is not my intention to conduct you through
any detailed account of the great events which
have occurred during the long and momentous
reign which has just ended. The facts to be
recorded I must leave to the historian, this not
being the time or place for political memorials.
It is my limited province to catch a few features
of the days that are passed, in order to illustrate
the subject before me, and to make the abundant
blessings vouchsafed to us, and the great canal
through which they flowed, (I mean the personal
character and conduct of our late Sovereign)
a mean of exciting your thankfulness to God for
the channel of blessing so long kept open, but
now closed up for ever; and of exciting also
your earnest prayers to Him, “ by whom kings
reign, and princes decree judgment,” that He
would open a fresh channel in our new rightful
Sovereign, who justly claims and possesses our
love and reverence for his father’s sake, as well as
for the manner in which he has held the reins of
government, while acting “in the name and on the
behalf” of his revered parent.

With these views, then, I recall to the recol¬
lection of some, and, perhaps, for the first time
place before others, the gracious, and I may add,
eloquent declaration, in which His Late Majesty,
on ascending the throne, made known to his sub¬
jects the principles by which he meant to conduct
himself in his high official station, The speech
was delivered to both houses of Parliament on
the 18th of November, 1760, on the fifteenth day

53

after bis accession. “ Born,” he said, “ and
educated in this country, I glory m the name
of Briton; and the peculiar happiness of my
life will ever consist in promoting the welfare ot
a people, whose loyalty and warm affection to
me I consider as the greatest and most permanent
security of my throne; and I doubt not that their
steadiness in those principles will equal the firm¬
ness of my invariable resolution to adhere to ami
strengthen this excellent constitution in Church
and State, and to maintain the Toleration in¬
violable.— The civil and religious rights of my
loving subjects are equally dear to me with t ie
most valuable prerogatives of my crown; and as

* As a sequel to this truly royal declaration, I have pleasure
in recording an extract from an address, presented to Hi*
Majesty on his accession to the throne, by a prelate of dis¬
tinguished piety and learning, then in the 84th year
a„c “You, Sir, are the person whom the people arden y
desire: which affection of theirs is happily returned by your
Majesty's declared concern for their prosperity: and
not i n' disturb this mutual consent. Let there be but one
contes” between them, -whether the king loves the people
best, or the people him: and may it be a long, a very o g
contest! May it never be decided, but let it remain doubtf 1
and may the paternal affection on one side, and the hi
obedience on the other, be had in perpetual remembrance
The «ood Bishops prayer is granted. The contest is un¬
decided. It never can he brought to a determination. For.
though the uniform tenour of a reign of sixty years offers its
stl: evidence in favour of our deceased Monarch s love to
his people; yet the sensibilities, expressed on this oecas.o
seem to ra.se the scale to an equilibrium, so as to leave the
question still at issue.

54

the surest foundation of the whole, and the best
means to draw down the Divine favour on mv
reign, it is my fixed purpose to countenance and

encourage the practice of true religion and of
virtue.”* I produce an extract from this docu¬
ment for the purpose of adding to it the unvarying
comment which his subsequent reign of sixty
years affords. Let the text of his declaration,
and the comment of his reign, be compared
together, and the latter will be found a complete
exposition and a close application of the former.
What he promised, he faithfully performed. He
indeed approved himself, in an eminent degree,
“ 011 r most religious and gracious Sovereign,”
according to the epithets which the compilers of
our Liturgy have taught us to employ in speaking
of our tnonarchs, — epithets which relate not to
their private, but to their public conduct, and to
which they are all entitled while they maintain
inviolate the solemn oath of their coronation,, and
are free from the charge of oppression.

* The following extract from the King’s proclamation “for
the encouragement of Piety and Virtue, and for preventing and
punishing of vice, profaneness, and immorality,” will prove that
he acted on the speech which he addressed to his first Parliament.

We esteem it our indispensable duty to exert the authority
committed to us for the suppression of these spreading evils,
tearing lest they should provoke God’s wrath and indignation
against us, and humbly acknowledging that we cannot expect
the blessing and goodness of Almighty God (by whom kings
reign, and on whom we entirely rely ) to make our reign happy
and prosperous to ourself and our people, without a religious
observance of God’s holy laws.”

55

The attachment of our late Monarch to those
Protestant principles which had seated his illus¬
trious family on the throne, — his zeal to maintain
and enlarge those views which originated the Act
of Toleration, (an act founded on the clearest
maxims of Holy Scripture and sound policy,)
united as this attachment was with a dominant
regard to the episcopal government and admirable
Liturgy of his own Church; — I say, that attach¬
ment can need no evidence to those who are at
all acquainted with the history of his reign. It
discovered itself whenever an opportunity was
given for its exercise. One great occasion must
be in the recollection of many among us: I refer
to that trying period when he stood like a rock
in the midst of a furious storm; when all attempts
to move him from what he deemed the basis of
duty, proved ineffectual; and when, rather than
wound his conscience by infringing his corona¬
tion-oath, he submitted to the removal of his
confidential servants at a crisis of no small diffi¬
culty and danger. His pious and magnanimous
resolution on that occasion seems to have been,
Fiat just ilia, ruat cesium. “ My Lord,” said he
to one of his ministers, “ I am one of those who
respect an oath. I have firmness sufficient to
quit my throne and retire to a cottage, or to place
my neck on a block or a scaffold, if my people
require it; but I have not resolution to break that
oath which 1 took in the most solemn manner at
my coronation.” His Majesty well knew, that
maxims of policy, when in opposition to truth and

5G

righteousness, are always at variance both with
personal and national welfare; — that the path of
duty is always the path of safety. I have re¬
ferred to this noble conduct of our late revered
Sovereign, because it appears to me to have been
one of the main hinges on which the safety and
prosperity of our country was suspended.

When the royal patronage was intreated in
support of an establishment for the education of
the poor, His Majesty’s reply was, that he
“hoped to see the day, when every poor

CHILD IN HIS DOMINIONS SHOULD BE ABLE TO

read his Bible.” He must, consequently, have
hoped also that he would have a Bible to read. — •
A wish this, surely, worthy of the royal bosom,
where it arose, — a wish that must endear the
memory of him who breathed it, to the latest
posterity, and which should stimulate all who
profess to venerate his character, to promote, to
the utmost of their power, an object which lay
so near his heart. Professed admiration of
virtue, without its imitation, has but a feeble
claim to sincerity and truth.

1 reluctantly omit to dwell on the proofs which
have been abundantly afforded, that our late be¬
loved King possessed, in a high degree, that most
valuable of mental talents, sober solid sense, —
that talent which qualifies a man to fill, with
honour to himself and utility to others, the station
which he occupies in life, whether it be high or
low; with which the claims of a more brilliant
mind, when devoid of it, bear no more comparison.

57

in the scale of what is excellent, than the froth
of a cascade with the even current of a deep
and gently flowing river. The former creates
a momentary astonishment, and evaporates; the
latter flows in silence, and is useful.

I pass by, also, the instances which are on
record of his personal courage and magnanimity,
in various seasons of danger, to which his own
life, and that which was dearer to him than life
itself, his country, were exposed. When the
assassin’s hand was raised for his destruction,
he only was calm and unruffled ; and when his
ministers were ready to sink under the pressure
of national difficulty and peril, their king sup¬
ported their failing spirits, and exhorted them to
perseverance in that line of noble policy, which
Divine Providence at length blessed with com¬
plete success ; though he to whom chiefly, under
God, it was owing, was not permitted to partake
of its joys. It has been said, with truth, that
the King was, more than even his great minister,

“The pilot that weather'd the storm."

My time will not allow me to dwell on the
devotion of nearly a fourth part of the privy
purse, the annual sum of £.14,000 per annum,
to charitable purposes; nor on the sober but rare
virtues of the husband and the father, which,
during sixty years spread their mild lustre over
domestic scenes, and created a moral atmosphere
through the court and the country ; nor must I
permit myself to expatiate on the universal and
unvarying temperance which was maintained at

H

the royal table, and in all the habits of the palace.
These and other topics, each of which is itself of
high importance in the review we are taking, I am
obliged to notice slightly, in order that I may
enlarge a little on another feature in the character
of George the Third, a name that must be em¬
balmed in the memory of every Christian patriot.
The trait in his character to which I call your
special attention, is that which is most important
to him who possesses it, whatever be his station; it
is closely connected with every virtue of public or
private life ; it is the foundation of all excellences
to be found in the character of our late beloved
Monarch, and of all the distinguished blessings
of his illustrious reign — it is personal religion.
Without this, the external conduct may, at times,
be right; but it must want uniformity of rectitude.
Without this, the measures adopted by an in¬
dividual, in his appointed station of life, may,
occasionally, be beneficial to others ; but there is
no reason to expect the blessing of God on them.
Without it, the stream of prosperity may' flow for
a while, affording verdure to its banks, and re¬
freshment to the thirsty who people them ; but,
like the Prophet’s brook, it must also occasionally
be exhausted, and its channel must ultimately
become perfectly dry.

George the Third was, I sincerely believe, a
penitent believer in the Saviour of the world.
I have no doubt that, in the character of a lost
sinner, he embraced and clung to the grace of
God in Christ, as a sinner’s only refuge and hope.

In proof of this persuasion, I shall not refer to
any among the numerous anecdotes which I have
heard, both in my earlier and later days, many of
which, however, I believe to be founded in truth.
It is sufficient for my satisfaction, that he loved
and habitually read the blessed Book of God,
which has few charms for any other persons than
those who feel their need of the consolations
which its pages, and they only, afford. In his
days of reason, (the assertion is made on com¬
petent testimony) the King never retired to bed
without having the Bible within his reach . It is
said that the works of Homer were the constant
companion of Alexander the great : the Oracles
of God were the chosen companion of George
the good . He was, moreover, a man of prayer,
or one who cultivated communion with God in
secret ; and who can doubt that his closet was
often visited, like Jacob’s Bethel? He was a
constant attendant on the public service of God ;
and his devout behaviour in the house of God
plainly indicated that his attendance there was
not a habit of cold formality. I could produce
witnesses, from among my present congregation,
of the solemnity and fervency with which he
made the responses of the liturgy ; and I may
safely add, that whoever cordially joins in these,
is deticient in none of those sensibilities which
constitute the true follower of Jesus Christ our
Lord.

The painful circumstances which are stated to
have taken place, and the spirit and conduct of

His Majesty at the side of that bed, whereon lay

60

the youngest of his family, and, it should seem,
not the least beloved of his numerous offspring,
were of such a nature as to demonstrate the pre¬
valence of strong religious feeling in the bosom of
the afflicted parent. No one is conscious of
solicitude for the souls of others, who is not
anxious for the salvation of his own; and wherever
the latter anxiety prevails, it will, unquestionably,
be accompanied with the former. The following
account is represented as resting on private and
undoubted authority. A religious friend, (says
the relator,) asked a gentleman who was in the
habit of close and official attendance on the
Princess Amelia, of what nature were the inter¬
views and conversations held between her and
His Majesty. He replied, “ They are of the
most interesting kind.” — “Are they of a religious
tendency?”- — “Yes,” said the gentleman, “de¬
cidedly sot and the relie-inn is exactly nf that

61

interesting circumstances. Nothing can be more
S fh-n the sight Of the King aged and
nearly blind, bending over the coach on which
tl Princess lies, and speaking to her about
salvation through Christ, as a matter far more in¬
teresting to them both, than the highest privileges
and most magnificent pomps of royalty.

The avenues which lead to the retirements of
princes, are, with great propriety closed against
vulgar intrusion and inspection. Indeed, in more
humble stations, the minute particulars of private
life, by which the spirit of Christianity discovers
itself in its least questionable evidences, are un¬
known but to the intimacy of Christian friends lip.

It is, therefore, from the pen of friendship only,
that the full portrait of the Christian, m those
shades of character which mark his re ation to tl
great family of heaven, is to be expected. Ihere
Ire, however, certain great and strongly indented
outlines visible even in the etching of * profile,
which the imagination may easily fill up. Enoug
is known of our late beloved Monarch to fi rm-
us with safe conclusions respecting the habitual
frame of his mind, which, I doubt not, the seveie
afflictions, public and private, personal an io-
mestic, through which he was called to pass, were
the means of maturing, so as to prepare him toi
that state, far beyond all human grandeur or bliss,
to which he is now exalted.

The aberrations of his mind, (I will not say
his heart) during almost ten years of entire seclu¬
sion from the world, from consciousness and care,

62

(and what is consciousness in this present life but
perplexity and trial?)— these very aberrations, if
any credit be due to repeated and confident re¬
ports, afforded strong evidence of a spiritualized
state of soul. The imagination, under such cir¬
cumstances, may be expected to be influenced by
previous habits. Even our dreams, perhaps, are
general indications of our waking tendencies.
^ ery striking were the thoughts which appeared
from the pen of a well known writer, at the time
when the nation was deploring the prostration of
its hopes by the death of the Princess Charlotte,
on the then state of His Majesty. “ There is one/’
he remarked, in reference to the aged parent,
“who was once the glory of that illustrious family,'
who is not dead, and yet who partakes not of the
joys or afflictions of his kindred or his people.
Withdrawn from all eyes but those that watch to
supply his necessities, in silence and in darkness,
to him there is neither sun nor moon, nor king¬
dom, nor wife, nor children, nor subjects. He Is
alone in the midst of the living, and almost as far
removed from them as from the dead, the little
world in which he dwells is a solitude, peopled
only by imagination; but the inhabitants of it are
not those that haunt the guilty mind, even when
reason is not overthrown. It is said— but who
can tell whether truly or not, for nothing con¬
cerning his mysterious insulation can be affirmed,
except the meagre fact of his perpetuated ex¬
istence in a general state of forlorn tranquillity and
occasional perturbation, attested in the monthly

63

Bulletin,— it is, however, said, that ministering
angels are the companions of his thoughts in the
loneliness of that circle by which he is cut off
from rational intercourse either with this world
or the next. Yet he is not forsaken in his hoary
hairs, nor in his deep humiliation, by Him whose
loving-kindness is better than life and all its
pleasures, if all its pleasures could be enjoyed foi
ever. A creature, au intellectual creature, may
be debarred from communion with every thing,
and every being, in the universe, except the
Creator. The venerable Father of the British
people, we have reason to believe, whatever else
may have failed him, is happily conscious of that
presence, which is the hope of earth and the joy
of heaven. The hand of mercy may have shut
him up from the sight of evils, that would have
grieved his eyes, and wrung his heart, had leason
been preserved to him to the end of his lengthened
days. ‘The Lord is his keeper.’”

Pardon, my brethren, this long quotation, and
allow me again to advert to the feelings of my
own heart. Born soon after the accession of
George the Third to the throne of this kingdom,
enjoying, as I have done, inestimable pi ivdeges,
civil and religious, under his auspicious reign,
in some small degree (but alas, how' inadequate!)
conscious from my youth up of the value
ascribable to those privileges, — having sat, in
communion with my Christian brethren, under
our own vine and fig-tree, for more than half a
century, none making us afraid, — having joined,

64

a few years since, with you, my friends, in a
cordial celebration of a civil Jubilee, the com¬
memoration of unexampled blessings, derived to
us through the channel of that model ([ will not
say of human wisdom, but) of Divine goodness,
the British constitution in Church and State, of
which George the Third was the influential head,
and immaculate administrator, — having lived to
witness the subversion of almost every throne and
every altar in Europe, except our own, and the
final triumph of British firmness, of which George
the Third was the main prop, at times when that
of his confidential servants was ready to sink
under its burden — the triumph of that constancy
over irreligion, anarchy, and confusion, and which
terminated in the restoration of legitimate govern¬
ment to the world, and the establishment of
universal peace; — tracing also a revival of the
vital spirit of godliness, commencing about the
time when His Late Majesty ascended the throne,
and progressively increasing to the time of his
death, so that British valour, British commerce,
and British piety, are made known over the face
of the earth, while her Bibles and her Missionaries
spread themselves over the continents and islands
of the globe* — a revival which we trust will

* The following epigraph on the reign of George III. is
extracted from a publication entitled “The King."

“ Under the benign auspices of the reigning prince, George
the Third, and influenced by the piety of his illustrious
example, there have been more societies united for the sup¬
pression of vice ; for extending religious education ; for

65

continue and make progress, till it shall usher m
the latter day-glory of the church of Christ, and
so connect the reign of our late beloved Sovereign
with that of Him whom he adored as “ King
of KINGS, AND Loud of lords ” with these
reflections, and these anticipations in my bosom,
pardon me if I again exclaim, “My father,
my father! the chariot of Israel, and the

horsemen thereof.”

But these reflections lead me to consider,

II. The propriety with which we may

CONTEMPLATE OUR LATE BELOVED SOVEREIGN
AS THE CHARIOT OF [our] ISRAEL AND THE
horsemen thereof. On this, however, after
what has been already said, I need not take up
much of your time, the second branch of my sub¬
ject being a legitimate inference from the first.

Elisha, in using this figurative language, w hc 1
probably was suggested by the sight of the chariot
of fire in which his master ascended heaven-wards,
unquestionably referred to the religious influence
which the spirit and prayers of Elijah had diffused
through the land of Israel. Elijah had never
mounted the armed car, nor bestrid the war-horse;
but his example, his prayers, and his instructions
had been more conducive to the defence and

promoting the intellectual and moral culture of the poor; for
the most benevolent purpose of disseminating the sacl®
Scriptures through every quarter ot the globe , and or t le
propagation of the Christian faith ; than had been formed
during the whole period from the commencement ot the sera
of redemption.”

I

66

prosperity of his country, than any warlike means
which had been employed in its service.

With equal propriety, I conceive, it may be
asserted, that the piety and prayers of him, whom
ministering spirits have recently conveyed to the
footstool of the Eternal Throne, have been closely
and essentially concerned in the protection of our
land amidst almost unparallelled dangers, and
in its elevation to an eminence of rank and dig¬
nity among the nations of the earth never before
attained. In the recollection of empires pros¬
trated at the feet of an unprincipled Invader, of
nations reduced to penury and despair, I may

ask, in the humiliating language of St. Paul, _

“Who, or what hath made us to differ; and what
have we that we have not received” from the
almighty protection of Him “ who alone giveth
victory unto kings”? But He acts by means;
and among those which were employed in our de¬
fence, while the disordered eye of worldly policy
can discern no mediate agency but that of wise
measures in the cabinet, and that of naval or
military skill and prowess, exerted on the ocean
or in the field ; the eye which has been anointed
with heavenly eye-salve, will penetrate into the
oratory of our late beloved Monarch, and con¬
template him as prostrate before the Throne of
Jehovah, confessing his own and his people’s
transgressions, owning Him as Arbiter of the
destiny of individuals and nations, and implor¬
ing mercy on himself and his people. The
enlightened eye of the Christian will trace a

67

connexion, unseen by others, between the in¬
fluence of his government and character on the
minds of his subjects, and the cheerfulness with
which, generally speaking, they bore those pri¬
vations of personal and domestic comfort, which
were essential to support the measures that led to
our national safety and triumph. The Christian,
while he adores the Author of the blessing, must
love the channel through which it flowed, and
cherish its memory with thankful attachment.

Is it not remembered what rapid strides the
principles of Infidelity, with its never-failing
attendants, Insubordination and Sedition, had
made among us at the period of our greatest
outward danger ; principles begotten in hell,
spawned and cherished in France, and from
thence introduced among ourselves ? While this
is remembered, it should not be forgotten that the
energetic measures of our celebrated statesman,
the Prime Minister of George the Third — a man
of no common talents, brought into political
action by his Sovereign’s discerning eye, and kept
at the helm of government by his persevering
wisdom, — that those measures were the means,
under Divine Providence, of crushing the viper’s
spawn, and of ejecting the parent of that spawn,
at least in his overt and dominant form and influ¬
ence, from our paradise. Nor can it be doubted,
that the firm attachment of our Monarch to the
faith of the Bible, and the consistency of his
private life with the profession which he officially'
made, constituted him in reality, what all our

68

monarchs are by title, “The Defender of the
Iaith.” # Thus again are we justified in
adopting the exclamation of our text, “ My

* The Bishop of Cloyne, at the annual meeting of the British
and Foreign Bible Society, in the year 1810, in support of
a position he laid down, “That God, in whose hands are the
times and seasons, has always taken care, by suitable arrange¬
ments of his providence, that special means and facilities should
be afforded for the knowledge of the Scriptures, at those
periods when error and infidelity were making their most
daring and presumptuous efforts,” thus reasoned on the subject.
“ I know,” said his Lordship, “ that, by the very utterance of
the name of our revered and beloved Sovereign, I shall neces¬
sarily awaken in the breast of every man who hears me,
sentiments of loyal regret and affectionate sympathy, on ac¬
count of that long affliction, under which it has been his lot
to labour. I hope, however, it is not improper to express my
opinion, that the peculiarly religious character, which has
marked the life and reign of George the Third, is a circum¬
stance which, under the blessing of God, has most materially
contributed to uphold the interests and the influence of the
Bible in the present age. At a period when the infidel rulers
of some continental nations were actively combining their
efforts w ith those of pretended philosophers, and plotting the
destruction of Christianity, how mischievous must have been the
consequences, humanly speaking, if our Sovereigirhad adopted
similar views, and embarked in similar antichristia.n projects !
Happily for this empire, and happily for Europe and the
world, whose moral prosperity seems to be, in a great measure,
dependant on the slate of moral feeling and energy in our
country, George the Third was a Christian on
principle, and has employed, in various ways, the influence
of his exalted station in the patronage and maintenance of true
religion and virtue. It has been stated in print, though not
so generally known perhaps as such a fact deserves to be, that
on the publication of Dr. Leland’s 4 View of Deistical Writers,’
His Royal Highness, now our most gracious Sovereign, then in
the bloom of youth, purchased a number of copies of that

69

FATHER, MY FATHER1. THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL,
AND THE HORSEMEN THEREOF.”

The improvement to be made of this affecting
solemnity is easily pointed out. It consists in the
duties of praise, of prayer, and of imitation.

1. The painful emotions which have been
occasioned by the loss we have sustained, should
not be unaccompanied with thankfulness to God.
If George the Third, our late gracious King, was
a truly Christian Icing, differing widely in the
essentials of his personal character from mul¬
titudes of crowned heads who have borne that
prostituted title; if he has been the patron of
Virtue and of true Religion, supporting them by
his example as well as by his royal influence; if
he and his kingdom almost singly escaped from
subversion, amidst the crash of tailing empires;
we know to whom the praise is exclusively due.
This, then, is a day in which God should be
worshipped with no common degree of thankful
emotion in every bosom, as He hath been already
acknowledged by every tongue. The regular
object of this day, as set apart in the calendar
of our Church for solemn humiliation before God,
corresponds with the occasional circumstance,
which has, I trust, added peculiar emphasis to
our devotions. We are, indeed, “ less than the
least of all God’s mercies;” and it is of his mercy
that we survive, individually, or as a nation ; it is
“ because his compassions fail not.”

work, to the amount of one hundred pounds in value, merely
for the purpose of distribution among his personal friends.”

70

But, 2dly. Prayer, earnest and importunate
prayer, should be mingled with our adoring
thankfulness. And, while we thank God for
raising up our gracious Sovereign Lord, King
George the Fourth from the imminent peril of life
to which he has been exposed, (an introductory
circumstance, we hope, in a new series of national
blessings,) let us pray that, as he has inherited his
father’s royal mantle, a double portion of that
spirit by which George the Third was actuated,
may rest upon him. May this late affliction in his
own person, and the repeated bereavements which
have occurred year after year, in his illustrious
house, be so sanctified, that they may evidently
appear to have been means of preparation for the
high and momentous duties of his royal station ;
and may the times that are passed, highly dis¬
tinguished as they have been by Divine goodness,
appear hereafter as only a small earnest of still
better times to come — as the dawn of morning
ushering in a bright and glorious day. Your
time will not allow me to enlarge ; but you know
my object, — It is to excite you to earnest sup¬
plication, “ that peace and happiness, truth and
justice, religion and piety, may be established
among us for all generations;” and that our
Church may become, by a wide diffusion of its
doctrine and spirit, “the joy of the whole earth.”

Finally, Let every one contemplate, again and
again, the character of our late revered Monarch,
with a view to imitation. Let the pattern be
before our eyes, when mixed in our several

71

domestic circles, when seated at our tables, wherv
kneeling in our closets, and in the house of God.
George the Third was affectionate and faithful
in his relative connexions; sincere and earnest,
we have reason to believe, in the private exercises
of his closet; unquestionably, punctual and de¬
vout in the public service of the sanctuary, and
charitable in the expenditure of his income. —
“ Go thou, and do likewise.” Imitation of his
example will afford the best proof of attachment
to his memory and reverence for his character.*
The most devoted Christian is the best subject,
and the truest patriot.

* It is said that, after the flagitious murder of Charles the
First, a party of gentlemen, who were devoted to the cause of
the fleceased monarch, being met together, one of them ex¬
patiated, in terms of the highest eulogy, on his character,
interlarding, or rather, disgracing his panegyric with frequent
instances of profaneness. When he had ceased, another
gentleman rose and said, that he thought there was one im¬
portant feature in the character of Charles, which had been
entirely omitted. “Let me hear it,” said the first speaker
eagerly, “ for I would lose nothing than can be said to his
honour.” “To his honour, then,” said the second gentleman,
“ it has been affirmed, that he was never heard to utter an
oath.” The profane gentlemau took kindly the delicate re¬
proof, and promised never to offend again in the same way.
Let the admirers of George the Third remember, that, amidst
the cares and perplexities of royalty, he loved and read his
Bible, and sought his solace from it, — that he was a man of
prayer, that he regularly attended the public w orship of God,
— and that his devout behaviour in the house of God was the
admiration of all persons w ho had an opportunity of w itnessing
this outward token of inward fervency of mind.