of their liberties:—And were ready to yield up freely to Charles II, all that enormous power, which they had juſtly reſiſted Charles I, for uſurping to himſelf.
The laſt query mentioned, was, Why thoſe of the Epiſcopal clergy who are very high in the principles of eccleſiaſtical authority, continue to ſpeak of this unhappy prince as a great Saint and a Martyr? This, we know, is what they conſtantly do, eſpecially upon the 30th of January;—a day ſacred to the extolling of him, and to the reproaching of thoſe who are not of the eſtabliſhed church. Out of the ſame mouth on this day, proceedeth bleſſing and curſing; there with bleſs they their God, even Charles, and therewith curſe they the diſſenters: And their tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poiſon. King Charles is, upon this ſolemnity, frequently compared to our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, both in reſpect of the holineſs of his life, and the greatneſs and injuſtice of his ſufferings; and it is a wonder they do not add ſomething concerning the merits of his death alſo—But bleſſed Saint and royal martyr, are as humble titles as any that are thought worthy of him.
Now this may, at firſt view, well appear to be a very ſtrange phenomenon. For king Charles was really a man black with guilt and laden with iniquity, as appears by his crimes before mentioned. He lived a tyrant; and it was the oppreſſion and violence of his reign, that brought him to his untimely and violent end at laſt. Now what of ſaintſhip or martyrdom is there in all this!
