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TOTHEMOSTHIGHANDMIGHTY PRINCE JAMES, BYTHEGRACEOF GOD,
KING OF GREAT BRITIAN, FRANCE, AND IRELAND,
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, ETC.
THE TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE WISH GRACE, MERCY, AND PEACE,
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR L
ORD
Great and manifold were the blessings, most dread Sovereign, which Almighty God, the Father
of all mercies, bestowed upon us the people of England, when first he sent Your Majesty's Royal
Person to rule and reign over us. For whereas it was the expectation of many, who wished not well
unto our Sion, that, upon the setting of that bright Occindental Star, Queen Elizabeth, of most happy
memory, some thick and palpable clouds of darkness would so have overshadowed this land, that
men should have been in doubt which way they were to walk, and that it should hardly be known
who was to direct the unsettled State; the appearance of Your Majesty, as of the Sun in his strength,
instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised mists, and gave unto all that were well affected
exceeding cause of comfort; especially when we beheld the Government established in Your
Highness, and Your hopeful Seed, by an undoubted Title; and this also accompanied with peace
and tranquillity at home and abroad.
But among all of our joys, there was no one that more filled our hearts than the blessed
continuance of the preaching of God's sacred Word among us, which is that inestimable treasure
which excelleth all the riches of the earth; because the fruit thereof extendeth itself, not only to the
time spent in this transitory world, but directeth and disposeth men unto that eternal happiness
which is above in heaven.
Then not to suffer this fall to the ground, but rather to take it up, and to continue it in that state
wherein the famous Predecessor of Your Highness did leave it; nay, to go forward with the
confidence and resolution of a man, in maintaining the truth of Christ, and propagating it far and
near is that which hath so bound and firmly knit the hearts of all Your Majesty's loyal and religious
people unto You, that Your very name is precious among them: their eye doth behold You with
comfort, and they bless You in their hearts, as that sanctified Person, who, under God, is the
immediate author of their true happiness. And this their contentment doth not diminish or decay,
but every day increaseth and taketh strength, when they observe that the zeal of Your Majesty
toward the house of God doth not slack or go backward, but is more and more kindled, manifesting
itself abroad in the farthest parts of Christendom, by writing in defence of the truth, (which hath
given such a blow unto that Man of Sin as will not be healed,) and every day at home, by religious
and learned discourse, by frequenting the house of God, by hearing the Word preached, by cherishing
the teachers thereof, by caring for the Church, as a most tender and loving nursing father.
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KJV Bible