derness. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me;- Behold I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out, I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will learn diligently the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.-Jer. xii.

Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.- -Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.-Heb. xii.

EPISTLE FOR THE DAY.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the King, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them

that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well.- -Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.

Fear God. Honor the King.

If, when ye

do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently,

this is acceptable with God.-1 Peter ii.

GOSPEL FOR THE DAY.-St. Matt. xxi. 33.

HISTORY.

LAST DAYS OF K. CHARLES I.

The reputation of King Charles the First has perhaps suffered more from the praises of his friends, than from the calumnies of his enemies. Of the principal acts of his reign, the least that can be said is, that no judicious person can approve of them; but we are inclined to forget his errors, when we contemplate the Christian faith, humility, and courage, which mark the history of his last days.

It is not necessary to dwell on his trial, which was founded on a shameful act of usurpation on the part of Cromwell and fifty-three members of the Commons, and was carried on in defiance of all law and justice. The court was originally composed of one hundred and fifty persons, seventy only of whom could ever be brought to sit;members of the House of Commons, officers of the army, and citizens of London, with Serjeant Bradshaw for their President. During the trial, the King's faithful attendant, Sir Thomas Herbert, tells us, that "he continued his accustomed prudence and patience, so as no outward perturbation could be discerned, with Christian fortitude

submitting to the good pleasure of the Almighty, sometimes sighing, but never breaking out into a passion, or uttering a reproachable or revengeful word against any that were his adversaries; saying only, God forgive their impiety." He protested all along with dignified firmness against the illegality of the proceedings, and requested a conference with a committee of the two Houses, before sentence should be passed; which, however, was refused. When the President gave judgment, "the King was observed to smile, and lift up his eyes to heaven, as appealing to the Divine Majesty, the most supreme Judge. He now

spent the remainder of his time in prayer and other pious exercises of devotion, and in conference with that meek and learned Bishop, Dr. Juxon,” and he desired Mr. Herbert to excuse him to his nephew, the Prince Elector, and others, saying, "that his time was short and precious, and that he hoped they would not take it ill that none had access unto him, but his children: and that the best they could now do, was to pray for him.”

“Jan. 29. The Princess Elizabeth, and the Duke of Gloucester, her brother, came to take their sad farewell of the King, their father, and to ask his blessing. The Princess, being the elder, was the most sensible of her royal father's condition, as appeared by her sorrowful look and excessive weeping; and her little brother, seeing his sister weep, took the like impression, though by reason of his tender age he could not have the like apprehension. The King raised them both from off their knees; he kissed them, gave

them his blessing, and setting them on his knees, admonished them concerning their duty and loyal observance to the Queen their mother, the Prince that was his successor, love to the Duke of York, and his other relations. The King then gave them all his jewels; and again kissing his children, had such pretty and pertinent answers from them both, as drew tears of joy and love from his eyes; and then praying God Almighty to bless them, he turned about, expressing a tenderly and fatherly affection. Most sorrowful was this parting; the young Princess shedding tears and crying lamentably, so as moved others to pity, that formerly were hard-hearted; and at opening the bed-chamber door, the King returned hastily from the window, and kissed them, and blessed them; so parted. This demonstration of a pious affection exceedingly comforted the King in this his affliction; so that in a grateful return he went immediately to prayer, the good Bishop and Mr. Herbert being only present."

"That day the Bishop preached before the King, his text was Romans ii. 16,—— and after that, he administered the Sacrament. The King eat and drank very sparingly, most part of the day being spent in prayer and meditation." At night he slept soundly for four hours, and next morning the Bishop returned to him. It was now that the King charged Mr. Herbert with various small presents for his children and others, amongst which were his own Bible with Annotations in his own hand, Dr. Andrews's Sermons, Laud's answer to Fisher, and the works of Hooker

and Hammond; and he accompanied each bequest with some affectionate and suitable advice.

"His Majesty then bade him withdraw; for he was about an hour in private with the Bishop; and being called in, the Bishop went to prayer; and reading also the 27th Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which relateth the Passion of our blessed Saviour. The King, after the service was done, asked the Bishop, 'if he had made choice of that chapter, being so applicable to his present condition?' The Bishop replied, May it please your gracious Majesty, it is the proper lesson for the day, as appears by the calendar;' which the King was much affected with, so aptly serving as a reasonable preparation for his death that day." It is for this reason, that the Church has appointed this, with other portions of the Scripture relating to our blessed Lord, to be read on this day; in order to remind us, that, as the King in his distress drew hence all his consolation, so we, in the hour of need, must look to the same source only for support.

The King, attended by the Bishop and Mr. Herbert, was then conducted from St. James, to Whitehall; and on his way through the park, he gave Mr. Herbert his silver time-piece to keep in memory of him. Being arrived at Whitehall, he went first to his bed-chamber, and prayed with the Bishop, after which he drunk a glass of wine. When the signal was given, Bishop and Mr. Herbert, weeping, fell upon their knees, and the King gave them his hand to kiss, and helped the Bishop up, for he was

66 the