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<DATE>2008-07-25</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A SERMON PREACHED At S^t^. Bartholomevvs the le&s;&s;e in LONDON, on the xxvii. day of <HI>March</HI> 1642; Being the day of the Inaugu|ration of our Soveraigne Lord King CHARLES.</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> WILLIAM HALL. <HI>Minister of that Pari&s;h, and now thought fit to be publi&s;hed.</HI></P>
<P>LONDON, Printed by <HI>T. Badger,</HI> for <HI>Samuel Brown,</HI> 1642.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<HEAD>To the Right Honourable S^r^. IOHN BANKS Knight, Lord chiefe Iu&s;tice of the Court of Common pleas, and one of his Maje&s;ties mo&s;t ho|norable Privy Coun&s;aile.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_THis Sermon being delivered by a &s;on of mine, whom it hath plea&s;ed God to call to his &s;peci|all &s;ervice in the Mini&s;tery of his Go&s;pel, upon the anniver&s;ary day of the Inaugura|tion of our gracious Soveraigne, the <HI>27</HI> of <HI>March</HI> last. In the pa&s;sing of it, not only thorough my eares (for I may well be deemed partiall) but of di|ver&s;e others of the then Auditors (who &s;urely could not be partiall) it found &s;uch approbation, as wee did not thinke fit it &s;hould be confined within tho&s;e narrow limits of a &s;mall Pari&s;h but that it &s;hould bee communicated to others, by this diffu&s;ive way of &s;ilent &s;peaking by the&s;e dumb Characters, to the
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eyes, eares and hearts of all who plea&s;e. My Lord, I have long &s;tudied to find out &s;ome way or other, wherely I might returne &s;ome acknowledgement of tho&s;e many unde&s;erved favours, which I have re|ceived from your Lord&s;hip, and having the free ten|der of this Sermon, from the Deliverer of it as a pledge of his duty to mee: I could not but think fit (I having nothing el&s;e &s;o worthy) to pre&s;ent it to your Lord&s;hip, the rather; Fir&s;t becau&s;e the &s;ubject of it is touching Rulers and Magi&s;trates, a|mong&s;t which your Lord&s;hip &s;its in none of the lowe&s;t rankes. Secondly, becau&s;e it teacheth the duty of the people to their Rulers and Magi&s;trates, and how they ought to deport them&s;elves towards them in words and actions. A thing very nece&s;&s;ary in this licenci|ous age of ours where every man conceives hee may not only thinke what hee list, but utter what he thinkes, be it of the greatest or highe&s;t: I &s;hall humbly de&s;ire your Lord&s;hip, to &s;et apart one va|cant houre for the peru&s;all of it, and con&s;ider it comes from a higher Spirit than from the &s;pirit of the Speaker; Wherefore it cannot bee altogether unworthy Your Lord&s;hips &s;paring &s;o much time for contemplation of it: We &s;hall wi&s;h it may prove acceptable to Your Lord|&s;hip; And for us, both the <HI>Author</HI> and the <HI>Pre|&s;enter,</HI>
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Wee &s;hall ever (as exceedingly obliged) re&s;t de&s;irous to take hold of all occa&s;ions to offer to Your Lord|&s;hip all fit te&s;timonies of our duties and re&s;pects and &s;hall ever remaine</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Lord&s;hips mo&s;t humble and affectionate &s;ervants in all we can performe, NATHANIEL HALL, WILLIAM HALL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
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<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>EXOD. 22.28.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Thou &s;halt not revile the Gods, nor cur&s;e the Ruler of thy people.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THe Pulpit is not to bee made the theater to vent politique Di&s;cour&s;es: Nor is it the taske of the Preacher of the Go&s;pell to bu&s;ie the minds of the peo|ple with Civill matters, who are more ea&s;ily fixed upon them than upon Divine. It hath been one of the di&s;ea&s;es of our age, not only for Laick preachers, but &s;ome of the lawfull Mini|&s;ters of Chri&s;t, to make the matters of the times the &s;ubjects of their Sermons, more than matters more
<PB N="2" REF="5">
nece&s;&s;ary to Salvation, they have taught <GAP DESC="foreign">, the cour&s;e of the World more than the Cro&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t. My Text (though it concern Politique Government) will not, I hope, ingage me to &s;uch an error, to unprofitable di&s;cour&s;es of Policy, or intermedling with the times which is not for e|dification: yet you &s;ee it is fitted to the day. The day is both Gods and the Kings, and therefore chal|lengeth the remembrance of tho&s;e duties, which God requireth towards Kings and Governors. Nei|ther indeed is &s;uch Doctrine more &s;ea&s;onable in re&s;|pect of the day (the anniver&s;ary of our Princes inau|guration) than for tho&s;e dayes wherein we live. The <GAP DESC="foreign">, or liberty of the tongue extends &s;o far that e|very man or woman make them&s;elvs the Cen&s;urers of Magi&s;tracy; one di&s;reli&s;hing and taxing the acti|ons of the &s;acred Senate of our Common-wealth; another throwing his private imputations upon the per&s;on of Gods annoynted. One undertaking (that which only is peculiar to the highe&s;t) to &s;tand in the Congregation of Princes and be Iudge among the Gods; another u&s;ing &s;uch language as that of <HI>Shimei</HI> to <HI>David,</HI> or as innocent <HI>Naboth</HI> was fal&s;ly charged to have u&s;ed again&s;t King <HI>Ahab.</HI> The pro|pounded Scripture wil meet with both kinds of pre|&s;umption; for God forbid we &s;hould &s;o reprehend
<PB N="3" REF="5">
one &s;ort of pre&s;umers as to countenance the other. All &s;orts of Governours are here united in my Text, both the &s;upreame and &s;ubordinate: and may they never be disunited among us; cen&s;orious or bitter &s;peeches again&s;t both kinds are &s;everely prohibited, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>God him&s;elfe had now made knowne the Mo|rall Law in ten precepts, upon Mount <HI>Horeb,</HI> and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> having a Legi&s;lative power derived to him from God him&s;elfe, propounds Ceremoniall and judiciall precepts to the people: The one &s;ort to pre|&s;cribe tho&s;e formalities wherewith God would be wor&s;hipped, the other, to order their politicall go|vernment, for the better maintaining humane &s;ociety in that populous Common-wealth of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> This latter &s;ort of judiciall Lawes, we &s;hall find to begin in the fir&s;t ver&s;e of the former chapter, where we &s;hall finde them intituled judgements, which God commanded <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to &s;et before them. <HI>Judgements quia &s;unt leges &s;ecundum quas judicandum e&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e they were Lawes according to which judgement in judiciall tryalls, was to proceed in <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> Many particular Lawes there are to prevent private injuries betwixt man and man, and here in this precept the Law giver addes a peremptory precept, for deport|ment towards publike per&s;ons, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="6">It is indeed, a Morall precept in its owne nature: a &s;treame derived from the fountain of the fift Com|mandement (as tho&s;e are the &s;tronge&s;t and mo&s;t ob|liging judiciall Lawes, which have neere&s;t depen|dance on the Morall Law) and therefore is of perpe|tuall efficacy, and obligeth all to perpetuall ob&s;erva|tion, but is here placed among the judiciall or poli|ticque Lawes for double rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e it concerned the policy or govern|ment of the Common-wealth, the duty of men to|wards their Magi&s;trates.</P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e upon breach of this precept the Delinquents &s;hould be proceeded again&s;t by the Ci|vill Magi&s;trate, and in a judiciall cour&s;e, puni&s;hment be inflicted. This was now made a penall &s;tatute to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> a&s;well as it was a branch of a morall Com|mandement, and though we find not the nature or degree of the puni&s;hment expre&s;&s;ed (becau&s;e God leaves that arbitrary to Magi&s;trates, who would be forward enough to puni&s;h indignities to them&s;elves) yet is it mo&s;t probably conjectured to be no le&s;&s;e than death it &s;elfe, for notorious open railing upon the highe&s;t Magi&s;trate. He that railed on his Father or Mother, was to be put to death, Chap. 21.17. and &s;ure|ly no le&s;&s;e was he to &s;uffer, who &s;hould cur&s;e and revile them who were <HI>publici parentes,</HI> the publique
<PB N="5" REF="6">
parents of the Country: Neither was it more for bla&s;|phemy again&s;t God, than bla&s;phemy again&s;t the King, that <HI>Naboth</HI> was &s;toned, though he was guilty of neither. What ever their judiciall puni&s;hments were in that Hebrew Common-wealth, that indeed obligeth not other nations to inflict the &s;ame, for pu|ni&s;hments were only nationall, and the indulgence of our Chri&s;tian Lawes, may perhaps not exact &s;uch rigour; but &s;till the &s;in mu&s;t needs be as hainous as ever it was then. There is &s;till the &s;ame &s;tampe or im|pre&s;&s;ion upon Magi&s;tracy, by the &s;ame Almighty hand, and the precept is no le&s;&s;e pre&s;&s;ing upon Chri|&s;tians than upon Iews. <HI>Thou &s;halt not revile,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The Command you &s;ee is double: but the latter part is either exegeticall, of the former, by way of explication, or el&s;e it is emphaticall, to urge it on with vehemence by double repetition: yet may we ju&s;tly find &s;ome aduantage from the variety or du|plicity of the words, and therefore thus di&s;tribute them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Here is <HI>dignitas Magi&s;tratuum,</HI> the Magi&s;trates dignity, and that fir&s;t, of Magi&s;trates in generall, they are all <HI>Dii</HI> Gods. Secondly of one Superior above the re&s;t: he is <HI>Princeps populi &s;ui</HI> the ruler of <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, Here is <HI>officium privatorum,</HI> the duty of private men expre&s;&s;ed in a double negative precept.
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Fir&s;t, for regulating their carriage towards Magi|&s;trates in generall; they mu&s;t not revile nor raile up|on them. Secondly, For their behaviour towards the principall Ruler, they mu&s;t not cur&s;e him, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the dignity of Magi&s;trats in generall, the Ru|lers they are <HI>Elohims</HI> Gods. There were a kind of no|minall Gods, which Saint Paul mentions, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.5. there are Gods many, and Lords many, which &s;ome would under&s;tand in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e (Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> for one) with the&s;e in my Text, of Rulers and Gover|nours, but the Apo&s;tle alludes there to none other but the vaine Idolls of the Heathen, who in the blocki&s;h imagination of the people were e&s;teemed Gods, and &s;o were <HI>Dii nominales,</HI> nominall Gods though not <HI>digni nomine,</HI> worthy of that title, being indeed no|thing at all, as Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> in that 4 ver&s;e of that 8 to the <HI>Cor.</HI> nothing but by meere fancy, and &s;uppo&s;ition. Be&s;ides the&s;e even Sathan him&s;elfe is intituled not only a Prince, but <HI>Deus mundi hujus,</HI> the God of this world, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.4. becau&s;e he is &s;o reputed by the men of this world: the wicked make Sathan to be their God, they obey his dictates, and &s;o do &s;erve and wor|&s;hip him, in &s;tead of him that is God e&s;&s;entially. But the&s;e are Gods <GAP DESC="foreign">, only abu&s;ively, &s;o called by the opinion of fooli&s;h and &s;infull men: But &s;uch
<PB N="7" REF="9">
there are who are dignified with this title by him, in who&s;e only power it is to communicate &s;o high an appellation, <HI>Ego dixi quod vos Dii e&s;tis,</HI> I have &s;aid yee are Gods. <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 82.6. It is not the idolization by mens vaine opinion, that defies Judges and Rulers nor &s;uch an <GAP DESC="foreign">, or ridiculous deification as the <HI>Romans</HI> u&s;ed to their dead Emperours, nor their own arrogant a&s;&s;uming the title of God to them&s;elves (as did <HI>Alexander,</HI> and al&s;o many of the <HI>Romane</HI> Ty|rants) that makes them to be called Gods; but Gods own appellation in his Word, he honours &s;ome of the &s;ons of men with that title which is his owne, and calls them Gods who are but mortall men.</P>
<P>Many &s;ignificant Epethits we finde a&s;cribed to Magi&s;trats, which &s;peak &s;ome of them their emi|nency, &s;ome their duty by prophane Writers they are called &s;omtimes <GAP DESC="foreign"> Leaders, becau&s;e they ought to lead others by their vertuous example, &s;ometimes <GAP DESC="foreign">, adorners, they &s;hould beautifie the world with Order and Government; &s;omtimes <GAP DESC="foreign">, Kee|pers, for they are for the &s;afety of their charge&punc; &s;ome time <GAP DESC="foreign">, Benefactors, as our Saviour intitles them, <HI>Luk.</HI> 22.25. becau&s;e they are &s;et up for the good of men, not for the hurt. The Scripture addeth to them many other expre&s;&s;ive attributes, they are <GAP DESC="foreign">, Saviours, becau&s;e of deliverances wrought,
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by their meanes, <HI>Judg</HI> 3.15. <HI>Nutricij,</HI> Nur&s;es by the Prophet <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> becau&s;e they are to tender, and edu|cate the Church of God; in <HI>Ezekiels</HI> language they are <GAP DESC="foreign"> Shepheards, to feed and rule over the people; in S. <HI>Pauls</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> the Mini&s;ters of God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.6 but this in my Text tran&s;cends them all, they are <HI>Elohim,</HI> Gods them&s;elves. All lawfull Rulers then bee they &s;upreame or &s;ubordi|nate, Iudges or Magi&s;trates are in &s;ome manner mortall Gods, <HI>&s;ublimes &amp; &s;apientes viri,</HI> as <HI>Gregory</HI> under&s;tands it, <HI>Elevati,</HI> as the Hebrew word &s;igni|fies, tho&s;e whom God hath exalted and &s;et over o|thers, &s;uch as was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron,</HI> and the Ru|lers of the great Sauhedcim among the Iews, the&s;e are Gods in Scripture language; and that not with impropriety.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, they are <HI>Imagines Dei,</HI> Images of him who is the Vniver&s;all Ruler and Iudge of all; there is a repre&s;entation and re&s;emblance of the Deity in <HI>Magi&s;trates,</HI> more than in Common men; judge|ment is comitted to them, which belongs ultimate|ly and properly to him; &s;ome rayes and beames of his Maje&s;ty, he hath made to &s;hine in them, though not in all alike, for one Star may differ from ano|ther in glory: &s;hadows and pictures may be made in &s;everall proportions, one piece may repre&s;ent the
<PB N="9" REF="10">
per&s;on only to the &s;houlders, another to the middle, &s;ome at full length; &s;till all are Images, and have a re&s;emblance: Inferiour and &s;upreame Rulers there may be, but all have (more or le&s;&s;e) &s;ome of his likene&s;&s;e: to have a power of Iudging and orde|ring others, to have &s;ome &s;plendor and honor above others, is a Character of Divinity; Gods they are as by their office and dignity they re&s;emble him.</P>
<P>Secondly, Gods they are <HI>quia Dei locum &s;ustinent tanquam legati &amp; vicarii,</HI> they &s;u&s;teine the place and per&s;on of God to men, as his deputies and vicege|rents; God judgeth mediately by and through them, and executes tho&s;e things, which (were they not) he would immediatly do him&s;elfe; they do the works which God him&s;elfe would do: thus <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>(loco Dei)</HI> in&s;tead of God to <HI>Aaron, Exod.</HI> 4.15. thou &s;halt be to him in &s;tead of God, that is, thou &s;halt give him councell, and direct him as my Oracle: and the &s;ame <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is called <HI>Pharaoh's God, Exod.</HI> 7.1 I have made thee Pharaoh's God, becau&s;e he &s;hould execute Gods judgements upon him; God would execute judgement upon <HI>Pharaoh</HI> by <HI>Mo|&s;es.</HI> Tho&s;e who do tho&s;e actions, which belong to the Highe&s;t, as his Mini&s;ters and Sub&s;titutes are <HI>Dii minorum gentium,</HI> they may be called petty inferior Gods, he hath &s;o honored them.</P>
<P><PB N="10" REF="11">Thirdly, Gods, all Magi&s;trats are, <HI>quia &agrave; Deo ordi|nati,</HI> becau&s;e they are ordained of God, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> in expre&s;&s;e tearmes, <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.1. ordeined they are, not only permitted, but e&s;tabli&s;hed by providence, by precept; it is the &s;ame rea&s;on which our Saviour him&s;elfe gives of this title, <HI>Joh.</HI> 10.34. he calleth them Gods (&s;aith he) to whom the Word of God came, that is, <HI>cui &s;peciale venit dominandi mandatum,</HI> to whom the &s;peciall Word of God came to give them power to rule; there is no authority but is from God, he is not only the permitter but the author of it: All Ma|gi&s;tracy is Gods Ordinance. Should we &s;eek to the fountaine and originall of all power, we &s;hall find God Almighty inve&s;ting man with a threefold power at the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, with that which is called <HI>liberum arbitrium,</HI> free will: he erected in Man a Magi&s;tracy and pow|er over him&s;elfe, <HI>ut <GAP DESC="foreign">, pre e&s;&s;et</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, the leading rationall part of the Soule he made the Leader and Commander over the inferiour appetite; hee made man Ma&s;ter and Governour of him&s;elfe till his fall overthrew that internall Magi&s;tracy.</P>
<P>Secondly, he gave a &s;econd power, of man over the creatures, that he &s;hould be Lord of them <HI>Do|minamini animalibus terrae,</HI> rule ye over the bea&s;ts of the earth, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.8.</P>
<P><PB N="11" REF="11">Thirdly, he at that time gave a power of man o|ver man, which when there were but two per&s;ons could only be <HI>pote&s;tas maritalis in uxorem,</HI> the power of the husband over the wife; the Magi&s;tracy could only appeare in that, and in that it did, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">6. But as the World increa&s;ed, &s;o did this power extend it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, in <HI>pote&s;tatem Patriam,</HI> into the paternall power of parents over their children.</P>
<P>Then &s;econdly, in <HI>potestatem herilem,</HI> into the pow|er of Ma&s;ters over Families, and as humane &s;ociety multiplied, &s;o did God by the light of nature imprint in man a knowledge of the nece&s;&s;ity of Order and Government, he taught them by their own bodyes, that &s;ome members mu&s;t be &s;uperior to others; and from the Bees and Cranes, Men learned to choo&s;e a Ruler over them. Indeed we find Magi&s;tracy im|plicitely in&s;tituted by that peremptory Law, <HI>Gen.</HI> 9.6. That who&s;oever &s;hed mans bloud by man &s;hould his blood be &s;hed; Now that any man &s;hould pro|mi&s;cuou&s;ly at his own plea&s;ure execute the Law up|on a murderer without warrant, would make him &s;till a murtherer, and introduce confu&s;ion. It mu&s;t therefore &s;uppo&s;e a Magi&s;trate, who &s;hould have power to execute this Law upon offenders.</P>
<P>Rulers then are all of Gods appointment, they
<PB N="12" REF="12">
&s;tand by vertue of his Ordinance; be there different ways of admini&s;tration of Power, different States and formes of Government, yet are they &s;till from the &s;ame author: Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall and Civill governe|ments, Monarchies and Democra<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">ies, hereditary Crownes and Magi&s;trats cho&s;en by &s;uffrage of the People, Kings and Parliaments, all are ordained by him; For his providence doth variou&s;ly call the &s;ons of men to authority, and orders &s;everall formes of exerci&s;ing Magi&s;tracy. Thus in that people Which he had taken into his owne &s;peciall immediate care, he ordained various ways of Government; by Cap|taines, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> by a&s;&s;i&s;tance of a Coun|&s;ell of 70 Elders; by Judges, and then by Kings, and &s;o mediatly in &s;everall Common-wealths he ordai|nes &s;everall Magi&s;tracies, though not by his owne immediate appointment yet by the agreement of men, &s;uch as &s;hall be&s;t con&s;i&s;t with the con&s;titution of the People: and upon all tho&s;e he hath &s;tamp'd the character of his authority, they are not ra&s;hly to be di&s;obeyed or altered, they are Gods by his ordinati|on Yet there are &s;cruples rai&s;ed again&s;t this third rea|&s;on (that all Magi&s;trates are called Gods, becau&s;e or|deined by him) for &s;ome would take away the foun|dation of it: Surely, &s;ay &s;ome Objectors, all Magi|&s;trates and their power cannot be from God.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="13" REF="12">1 <HI>Object.</HI> For fir&s;t, they are his own words, by his Prophet <Q><BIBL><HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 8.4.</BIBL> <HI>They have &s;et up Princes, but not by mee, they have made Princes, but I knew it not.</HI></Q></P>
<P><HI>Solu.</HI> It is true indeed, God &s;peaking there of the rending of the Kingdom from the &s;on of <HI>Salomon</HI> by <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> &s;aith, that they have &s;et up Princes but not by him, and yet him&s;elfe tels <HI>Jeroboam</HI> by his Pro|phet <Q><HI>Ahijah, Behold, I will rend the Kingdome out of the hands of Salomon, and will give the ten Tribes to thee,</HI> <BIBL>1 <HI>King.</HI> 11.31.</BIBL></Q> In one place God &s;aith the people had done it, in another, him&s;elfe had done it; &s;urely then the rending of the Kingdome was from God as a ju&s;t revenger for the &s;ins of <HI>Salomon;</HI> the rebellion of the people without con&s;ulting with him, was not from him: <HI>Jeroboam's</HI> power was from him, though not the peoples rebellion and revolt; &s;till all authori|ty finds him for the author, and therefore they are called Gods.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Object.</HI> But &s;econdly, they cannot all bee or|deined of God and &s;o be &s;tiled Gods for that rea&s;on, for then would all the wor&s;t and mo&s;t tyrannicall governments claime God for their Patron: hath he ordeined Tyrants, and made them Gods on earth? Did he appoint <HI>Nimrod</HI> and <HI>Pharaoh?</HI> Did he &s;et up the <HI>Babylonian</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Tyrants? Did he autho|rize
<PB N="14" REF="13">
the <HI>Mahumetane Sultuns?</HI> and &s;et up Governe|ments that prove &s;courges to the &s;ons of men?</P>
<P><HI>Solu&punc;</HI> To an&s;wer this, we mu&s;t fir&s;t know that all tyranny is the corruption of Government; it is not that &s;ound and lawfull authority of which God is the author. Government and Governors have all their degenerations and corruptions, as Politique Writers de&s;cribe them, and the&s;e are not from God, but from the vices and wickedne&s;&s;e of men permit|ted by him for their puni&s;hment.</P>
<P>There are three things which mu&s;t be con&s;idered in all Governments, in every Ruler.</P>
<P>There is fir&s;t, <HI>ip&s;a pote&s;tas,</HI> the power it &s;elfe, and this is by the Will and Ordinance of God, in who&s;e hands &s;oever it is, for by him Kings raigne, and though in anger he gives a King, yet &s;till he gives him <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 13.11.</P>
<P>Secondly, there is <HI>acqui&s;itio pote&s;tatis,</HI> the obteining of this power, this may often be by u&s;urpation, by cor|rupt unlawfull meanes, and of this God is not the author, he may permit evill Governors, by forceable or unju&s;t meanes, to get that power into their hands unlawfully, which him&s;elfe hath lawfully con&s;ti|tuted.</P>
<P>Thirdly, there is <HI>Executio pote&s;tatis,</HI> the execution and u&s;e of that power, which if it be abu&s;ive, excee|ding
<PB N="15" REF="13">
the limits of Iu&s;tice, can no way be a&s;cribed to him, but to the wickedne&s;&s;e of men: Tyrannicall oppre&s;&s;ion, e&s;tabli&s;hment of &s;uper&s;tition and errour, by a lawfull, though an abu&s;ed power, have no rela|tion to Gods ordinance, they find no &s;upport or au|thorization from him: Yet tho&s;e who execute them &s;till <HI>quoad pote&s;tatem,</HI> in re&s;pect of their power are from him, they are ordeined by him, and in that re|&s;pect are called Gods in Scripture.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t yet adde a fourth rea&s;on, why Magi&s;trates are called Gods, and that the be&s;t and mo&s;t proper <HI>quia Deum imitari debent,</HI> becau&s;e they are, or &s;hould be like God him&s;elfe in their actions and qualities. They &s;hould be well acquainted with his attributes; of Wi&s;dome, to di&s;cerne betwixt good and evill; of Ju&s;tice to di&s;tribute to every one with an unpartiall hand; of Mercy in mitigating the utmo&s;t rigour of &s;everity. God hath in Scripture a&s;&s;umed the &s;ame ti|tles which he hath given to Rulers: he is <HI>Pastor I&s;rae|lis,</HI> the Sheepheard of Irael, and they are (or &s;hould be) <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Sheepheards of the people. he is <HI>Salvator I&s;raelis,</HI> the Saviour of I&s;rael, they &s;hould be <GAP DESC="foreign">, deliverers of them (like him) in times of dan|ger. He is <GAP DESC="foreign">, the great Watchman over his people, &amp; they are <GAP DESC="foreign">, watchmen al&s;o &s;ubordinate to him: They &s;hould be like God in all their actions, but e|&s;pecially
<PB N="16" REF="14">
in the&s;e two, fir&s;t, <HI>in protegenda Eccle&s;ia,</HI> in protecting Religion, and the Church of God; it is that whereof the highe&s;t takes the principall care, he by ordinary providence cares for the ju&s;t and unju&s;t, affords them all life, &amp; aire, &amp; raine, and &s;un&s;hine, but his &s;pecial eye is over his Church, how to pre&s;erve his truth, and his &s;ervants; &s;o &s;hould earthly Magi&s;trates &s;hew them&s;elves <HI>&s;imiles Deo,</HI> like Gods in this; Their care and their endeavour &s;hould be principally fixed upon the e&s;tabli&s;hment of Religion, the advance|ment of the Church; they can never be more like God, than when they do his worke, defend his truth, ad|vance his glory. Secondly, like him they ought to be in <HI>faciendo ju&s;titiam,</HI> in doing ju&s;tice and judgement: God is knowne by this, that he is the great executer of ju&s;tice and judgement, relieving the injured, vin|dicating the oppre&s;&s;ed, puni&s;hing the wicked, re|warding the righteous; then are Rulers truly like him when they do that which is corre&s;pondent to the&s;e: thus did the Queene of <HI>Sheba</HI> tell <HI>Salomon,</HI> that the Lord his God &s;et him upon the Throne for that end to do ju&s;tice and judgement; It is the great end of Ma|gi&s;tracy, and they properly de&s;erve the title of Gods, no longer than they re&s;emble him in that. Vnju&s;t Magi&s;trates have more of Sathan in them than of God, more of the God of this world, than of the true
<PB N="17" REF="14">
God of heaven. Their power makes them like the highe&s;t, but their inju&s;tice like the father of wrongs: Properly and truly are they called Gods, when their wayes are like his. It is the generall title of Magi|&s;trates to be called Gods; here is another added, which &s;eemes to be &s;ingular. <HI>The Ruler of thy people.</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was at this time con&s;tituted by God the principall Ruler of I&s;rael, and &s;o him&s;elfe particular|ly might be thought to be de&s;igned by this expre&s;&s;i|on, <HI>The Ruler of the people:</HI> yet Saint <HI>Paul</HI> applying this expre&s;&s;ion to the high Prie&s;t, when he was char|ged to have reviled him, <HI>Act.</HI> 13.4. calling him the Ruler of the people, implys that it is not wholy to be re&s;trai|ned to one, but to any ruler; yet certainly it may include an <GAP DESC="foreign"> upon the &s;upreame Ruler, where &s;uch there is; if there be one Ruler of the people, whom God hath placed in more eminency than the re&s;t, (as Kings or Monarchs) the Command is principally given con|cerning him: &s;uch as was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> at this time, &s;uch as was the High Prie&s;t in Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> time, for he was then (excepting tho&s;e governours which the <HI>Romans</HI> &s;et over the Jewes) the chiefe ruler in I&s;rael. It is not indeed of ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity, that in every na|tion there &s;hould be one per&s;on honoured, with the title of <GAP DESC="foreign"> the &s;ole ruler of the people: for God
<PB N="18" REF="15">
hath not expre&s;ly impo&s;ed it on all Nations: were the Que&s;tion to be di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in generall, what Go|vernment were be&s;t, it were not ra&s;hly to bee con|cluded for any one, Vniver&s;ally to be the be&s;t: But that were be&s;t for every Nation, which would be&s;t con&s;i&s;t with the di&s;po&s;ition, and manners, and frame of the people. The mixture and contemperation of them, is without que&s;tion the mo&s;t Vniver&s;ally pro|fitable and of longe&s;t duration; where there is one &s;upreame Ruler, and yet &s;upported with and &s;trengthened by repre&s;entative Coun&s;ellors, where there is <GAP DESC="foreign">, one Chiefe, and yet <HI>plures Con&s;i|liarii,</HI> a multitude of Coun&s;ellors. When only one would rule without &s;ubordination of other Magi|&s;trates, the burthen mu&s;t needs prove un&s;upportable: &amp; where each member would rule, there mu&s;t needs be Ataxy and confu&s;ion; where there is one &s;uperior Ruler, and he &s;tanding in <HI>Congregatione Principum, in coetu Deorum,</HI> in the congregation of Princes, a|mong&s;t the inferior Gods, there &s;urely is the happie&s;t commixture, there may be expected with Gods ble&s;|&s;ing, the fruits of a happy temper. It is (beloved) the happine&s;&s;e, wherewith God hath ble&s;&s;ed our &s;infull Nation, that we have both parts of the &s;ubject of this precept in my Text. We have tho&s;e who are called Gods without flattery, wi&s;e, and ju&s;t, and provident
<PB N="19" REF="15">
Rulers. We have one <GAP DESC="foreign"> a Ruler of the people, a gracious King, appointed by God over us, to do Iu&s;tice and Iudgement, e&s;tabli&s;hed in the Throne by long &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, from many Ance&s;tors: May wee therefore joyne them together; and proceed to &s;ee what it is God Commands us concerning them, which is the &s;econd Part of my Text, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The command is not in tearmes affirmative and proportionable to the appellation.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, it is not &s;aid <HI>Deos adorabis,</HI> thou &s;halt a|dore the Gods.</P>
<P>Nor &s;econdly is it &s;aid, thou &s;halt flatter them. <HI>Non ju&s;si &s;unt &s;acrificiis adorari,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Austin,</HI> they are not commanded to bee honored with &s;acrifices, though they are called Gods. It was the fooli&s;h pre|&s;umption of the Heathens, that they would indeed be &s;tiled Gods, and have the people offer them &s;acri|fice, forgetting they &s;hould dye like men. Though God give Rulers his own title, he would not have them arrogate it, &s;o as to forget they are men: though he call them Gods, that men may honour them; yet he would not have them call them&s;elves &s;o in the pride of their hearts: It was <HI>Lucifer's</HI> &s;in to &s;ay <HI>&s;imilis ero Alti&s;simo,</HI> I will be like the Highe&s;t. Nei|ther would he have private men &s;uppo&s;e them to be
<PB N="20" REF="16">
God e&s;&s;entially, and to forget him in re&s;pect of them, nor to a&s;cribe that honor to them, which is only due to him&s;elfe. It was the madne&s;&s;e of the igno|rant Heathen to account <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Barnabas</HI> Gods in the likene&s;&s;e of men, and to be ready to offer &s;acri|fice to them; may &s;uch idolatry never bee found in knowing Chri&s;tians. There have beene no greater enemies to the happine&s;&s;e of Princes than flatterers: Nor is there any way &s;peedier to bring judgements upon Rulers and Nations, then when the due ho|nor &s;hall be taken from God, and a&s;cribed to men, which are but &s;econdary &s;ubordinate in&s;truments to convey them. For God is a jealous God, and though he give the title of <HI>Elohim,</HI> yet he will not give his glory to the &s;ons of men: While the people cry out to <HI>Herod,</HI> that it is the voyce of God and not of man, they draw down a &s;udden vengeance upon him; for immediately the Angell of God &s;mote him, and he is eaten with wormes, <HI>Acts</HI> 12.23. There con|trary to the old ver&s;e, <HI>deliraat Achivi Rex plectitur,</HI> the people flatter and the King is &s;mitten.</P>
<P>It was the frequent affirmation of the late He|roick and Victorious King of <HI>Sweden,</HI> that he feared the peoples a&s;cribing too much of that glory to him, which was due to God, would bee a cau&s;e that God would remove him before the work was fini&s;hed;
<PB N="21" REF="16">
and perhaps it was a &s;peech too Propheticall. Wee mu&s;t not a&s;cribe,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Gods Power, his Omnipotency to Princes and Rulers, as Flatterers have made weake Princes believe that they had power to do any thing, that their will was a Law, that <HI>Quicquid libet licet,</HI> that they &s;hould be able to bring any de&s;igne to pa&s;&s;e, be it never &s;o impo&s;&s;ible or unju&s;t; this was <HI>Je&s;abell</HI> to <HI>Ahab: dost thou now governe I&s;rael, and can&s;t not do this?</HI> Whereas the power of earthly Gods is circum|&s;cribed both by Law, and by the &s;hort limits of hu|mane power; they neither may nor can doe all things; they are <HI>Dii,</HI> but non <HI>Omnipotentes,</HI> they are Gods, but not Almighty.</P>
<P>Secondly, we mu&s;t take heed we do not a&s;cribe to them Gods glory, that is, not make them the ut|mo&s;t objects of our thankfulne&s;&s;e, or the fir&s;t and prime cau&s;es of any happine&s;&s;e that betides us; we mu&s;t looke beyond them in our deliverances, give glory to God on High, above tho&s;e on earth.</P>
<P>Many eminent and unparalelled ble&s;&s;ings God Al|mighty hath conveyed (Beloved) upon this Nation, by meanes of tho&s;e who are called Gods among&s;t us, our gracious King and Parliament, and more we expect by their meanes&punc; he is not worthy of a tongue or a heart, that will not acknowledge them; but
<PB N="22" REF="17">
take we heed we do not forfeit them all, by a&s;cribing too much to the &s;econd cau&s;es, and too little to the fir&s;t, by looking more to them for &s;afety, than to him from whence it commeth. As I am confident, none of tho&s;e Worthies will arrogate it, but take up that of <HI>David, Non nobis Domine,</HI> Not unto us &ocirc; Lord, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So let us al&s;o a&s;cribe the honour of all ultima|tely and principally to God, <HI>for thine is the Kingdome, and the Power, and the Glory.</HI> Surely it is the Lord's doing, if our liberties be a&s;&s;erted, our Religion &s;etled, our &s;elves &s;ecured: Ble&s;&s;ed and renowned for ever be the &s;edulous Procurors, and the Royall ratifier of it: But let not our thankfulne&s;&s;e to them, make us forget God above. Gods they be called, but not <HI>Dii, imprimis glorificandi,</HI> Gods principally to be glorified, here is neither an injunction of adoration, nor of flattery.</P>
<P>But a negative command it is, either becau&s;e ne|gatives are more peremptory and generall, they bind <HI>ad &s;emper,</HI> For it is never lawfull to do evill, in no place, by no per&s;on; or becau&s;e the fir&s;t worke of Reformation mu&s;t be by not doing evill; But as in the Decalogue or Morall Law affirmative precepts do include negative, and negative the affirmative, &s;o here we may conceive this negative precept to comprehend al&s;o affirmative duties to Magi&s;trates;
<PB N="23" REF="17">
and &s;o &s;hall con&s;ider it both wayes, negatively and affirmatively. And fir&s;t as it is a prohibition: <HI>(Thou &s;halt not raile, or revile, or cur&s;e)</HI> &s;o it includes three &s;ins to be avoyded.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, it is <HI>Contra re&s;i&s;tentiam in factis,</HI> it is again&s;t re|&s;i&s;tance in actions; for the Argument is good in Lo|gique, <HI>&agrave; minore ad majus,</HI> we mu&s;t not revile, or cur&s;e in words, therefore we mu&s;t not re&s;i&s;t in actions.</P>
<P>There is a threefold di&s;tinction of re&s;i&s;tance ob|&s;erved by &s;ome, One is <HI>Precepta negligendo,</HI> by neg|lecting commands; For this is a kind of re&s;i&s;tance.</P>
<P>A &s;econd <HI>Peter Martyr</HI> ob&s;erves, <HI>Fraude</HI> by de|ceiving or mi&s;-informing Princes or Rulers, for &s;uch abu&s;e is indeed no better than an unfriendly oppo&s;i|tion, and may come in (rightly under&s;tood) under the title of re&s;i&s;tance.</P>
<P>A third is, <HI>aperta vi,</HI> by open violence, &amp; this is &s;urely prohibited inclu&s;ively by Gods Co~mandement, <HI>Thou &s;halt not revile the Gods,</HI> as it is expre&s;ly by S. <HI>Paul,</HI> who|&s;oever re&s;i&s;teth the power, re&s;i&s;teth the Ordinance of God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.12. Rebellion again&s;t authority, which God hath &s;et over men is contrary to his precept, to the practice of all his Servants. If indeed &s;uch earthly gods and rulers there &s;hall be, who &s;hall impo&s;e im|pious or di&s;hone&s;t commands, contradictory to the Laws of God, it is then no breach of this Comman|dement
<PB N="24" REF="18">
to di&s;obey him; for then they cea&s;e to bee called Gods properly, they are rather Diabolicall; the Immortall God is rather to be obeyed than they, according to the determination of the Apo&s;tles, <Q><HI>It is better to obey God than man,</HI> <BIBL>Acts 4.19.</BIBL></Q> Yet even then find we not re&s;i&s;tance countenanced again&s;t them in private men: Much difference and many re&s;tri|ctions there are among&s;t the Ca&s;ui&s;ts, how far the whole Civill State united in it &s;elfe, may oppo&s;e the &s;upreame Ruler; but all agree upon &s;uch ca&s;es only as can hardly be imagined, to fall out in Chri&s;tian Common-wealthes.</P>
<P>If there be any &s;uch re&s;i&s;tance tolerable it mu&s;t be &s;ay they Fir&s;t, where there is direct and ab&s;olute Ty|ranny executed upon Lives and Con&s;ciences.</P>
<P>Secondly, where there is flat Idolatry introduced by force.</P>
<P>Thirdly, where there is none other refuge left, but re&s;i&s;tance; neither flight nor &s;uffering, and in the&s;e ca&s;es (which God forbid &s;hould ever go further than &s;uppo&s;ition) there are &s;o many cautions added for moderation, and again&s;t revenge, that they who maintaine re&s;i&s;tance lawfull, yet might a&s;well conclude it impo&s;&s;ible to be meri|ted, unfit to be executed. But as for us who are but private per&s;ons, there is no difficulty but that we
<PB N="25" REF="18">
may re&s;olve again&s;t all re&s;i&s;tance, without an extra|ordinary per&s;cription. The <HI>Lacedemonian</HI> re&s;olution, becomes Chri&s;tians to their Rulers. <HI>Si duriora morte imperetis, potius moriemur,</HI> if yee command things har|der than death we will rather dye: There is no allo|wance of offence, or oppo&s;ition again&s;t tho&s;e whom God hath &s;et over us: the Primitive Chri&s;tians have no armes but <HI>preces &amp; lachrymae</HI> again&s;t their furious per&s;ecuting Magi&s;trates. Saint <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> u&s;eth no other force but of his &s;tronge&s;t Petitions, <HI>Rogamus Augu&s;te non pugnamus:</HI> Surely there is no re&s;i&s;ting the Ordi|nance of God: that is the fir&s;t thing included in the prohibition.</P>
<P>Secondly, as it is a negative precept, &s;o it forbids <HI>maledicentiam in verbis,</HI> railing or reviling in words, God hath not allowed man a liberty of reviling his neighbour, his equall; nor are mens tongues at their own command &s;o ab&s;olutely as to vent that which their malice or virulency &s;hall dictate again&s;t any man: for did not the Law of man take cognizance of their &s;landers, yet if they &s;hall give account of eve|ry idle word, much more of every malignant and &s;landerous word again&s;t their brethren. The cur|&s;ed &s;peaker is a greater enemy to him&s;elfe, than tho&s;e he cur&s;eth. But needs mu&s;t it be more blameable a|gain&s;t publique Magi&s;tracy, then particular per&s;ons;
<PB N="26" REF="19">
for there the Magi&s;trates re&s;emblance to God, makes the injury reflect on him. He that &s;peaketh evill of Rulers, &s;peaketh not evill of man but God, and there|fore it is called no le&s;&s;e than <GAP DESC="foreign"> pla&s;phemy in Scripture. Tho&s;e whom God hath &s;et in Authority, he would not have &s;ubjected to the &s;currilous tongues of railours, no more than he would have his own name bla&s;phemed: Saint <HI>Jude</HI> therefore makes tho&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign"> (tho&s;e filthy dreamers as we tran&s;late it) the wor&s;t of men who &s;peake evill of dignities: <HI>Mi|chael</HI> the Archangell (&s;aith he) dur&s;t not bring a rai|ling accu&s;ation again&s;t the Devill. We never find the Saints of God, though never &s;o highly provoked, ut|tering bitter words again&s;t the higher powers, not <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> again&s;t <HI>Pharoah,</HI> not the three Children again&s;t <HI>Nabuchadnezzar,</HI> when the Furnace is prepared, but <HI>O King live for ever.</HI> We heare not our Saviour ex|claiming again&s;t <HI>Herod,</HI> or <HI>Pilate</HI> condemning him; not <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaking to <HI>Fe&s;tus</HI> in other tearmes when he &s;aith he is mad, then in that mild reply, <HI>I am not mad mo&s;t noble Fe&s;tus:</HI> Once when he &s;eemed to the &s;tanders by to forget him&s;elfe, he recollecteth him|&s;elfe with this Text of mine, <Q><HI>I wot not brethren that he was the high Prie&s;t,</HI> for it is written, <HI>thou &s;halt not &s;peak evill of the Ruler of thy people</HI> <BIBL>Acts 23 4.</BIBL></Q>  a great diffe|rence there is among&s;t Expo&s;itors, upon tho&s;e words
<PB N="27" REF="19">
of <HI>Paul,</HI> which are partly quoted from my Text, and therefore I &s;hall &s;hortly indeavour to cleere them. He had called <HI>Ananias</HI> the High Prie&s;t whited wall, be|cau&s;e he had commanded him to be &s;mitten, and being rebuked by the &s;tanders by for reviling Gods High Prie&s;t (for &s;o they called <HI>Ananias</HI>) he an&s;wers, I knew not, brethren, that he was the High Prie&s;t, for it is, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Some &s;ay his meaning was, that he did not regard or con&s;ider him as the High Prie&s;t: o|thers, that he did not account him worthy to bee the High Prie&s;t: others, that he plainly meant he did not know him to be the High Prie&s;t, for it was po&s;|&s;ible he might mi&s;take: The chiefe Captaine &s;itting there al&s;o in judicature, and the High Prie&s;t not in his Prie&s;tly habit, which &s;hould di&s;tingui&s;h him from others; &s;o that <HI>Pauls</HI> an&s;wer to them con&s;i&s;ts of two parts. Fir&s;t, an acknowledgement of his ignorance, that he knew him not.</P>
<P>Secondly, a deniall that he did raile at all, for he knew that there was a law again&s;t that: as if he &s;hould &s;ay, I did not (I confe&s;&s;e brethren) know that he was &s;o great a Magi&s;trate as the High Prie&s;t, yet be he &s;o, as I know him to be a Judge I did not raile upon him, though I &s;harply reprehended his inju&s;tice to|wards me, for I know very well I &s;hould not revile the Ruler of the people.</P>
<P><PB N="28" REF="20">Reprehen&s;ions there may be of Rulers, but no re|viling, ju&s;t charges or accu&s;ations again&s;t them, but without rayling or cur&s;ing; All manner of rayling again&s;t them is here prohibited, be it in &s;ecret mur|mured among&s;t friends, by &s;til detraction: or &s;econd|ly, be it openly before many, and that either by tra|ducing them before others, or impudent reviling them to their own faces, as <HI>Shimeis</HI> was to <HI>David,</HI> all the&s;e are here forbidden, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>How can we then but from hence taxe and con|demne three &s;orts of breakers of this Law?</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, even tho&s;e of the Mini&s;try, who take too free a liberty of traducing, if not the highe&s;t Magi&s;trate, yet at lea&s;t inferior rulers, both Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall and Ci|vill, in rude and homely language. It was never the le&s;&s;on their Ma&s;ter taught them to mixe their owne virulency with preaching the Go&s;pell. It is true the Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pell, who will be faithfull, mu&s;t admoni&s;h the blamable Magi&s;trate, hee mu&s;t boldly exhort, rebuke, convince him; <HI>Elias</HI> may reprove <HI>A|hab</HI> to his face, and <HI>John Baptist</HI> doth well to tell <HI>He|rod</HI> plainly it is not lawfull for him to have his bro|thers wife; <HI>Nathan</HI> may come and tell <HI>David, Thou art the man;</HI> and <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> boldly taxe the Emperour <HI>Theodo&s;ius.</HI> But much caution there is nece&s;&s;ary in &s;uch reprehen&s;ions of Princes and Rulers, they mu&s;t
<PB N="29" REF="20">
not be for &s;u&s;pitions or jealou&s;ies, or &s;uppo&s;ed faults or &s;lighter error, but for enormous &amp; apparant &s;ins, for &s;uch there were in all tho&s;e we in&s;tanced: Open Idolatry and oppre&s;&s;ion in <HI>Ahab;</HI> Ince&s;t in <HI>Herod,</HI> A|dultery and Murder in <HI>David;</HI> Inju&s;t tyranny in exe|cuting many Innocents in <HI>Theodo&s;ius:</HI> The &s;innes of Rulers mu&s;t be very evident, ere the pulpit taxe them.</P>
<P>Secondly, there mu&s;t be di&s;tinction made betwixt the per&s;ons &amp; their faults, the per&s;ons of Magi&s;trats mu&s;t be &s;pared <HI>(for they are called Gods)</HI> while their &s;ins are taxed.</P>
<P>Thirdly, there mu&s;t be di&s;cretion u&s;ed, no bitter|ne&s;&s;e or unmannerly termes, no railing or reviling.</P>
<P>Fourthly, it &s;hould be <HI>coram</HI> too before them, as all tho&s;e reprehen&s;ions were. Mini&s;teriall reprehen&s;ions mu&s;t not degenerate in <HI>tribunitios clamores,</HI> be turned into popular clamors; the people not be rated for the &s;ins of their Governors, and the Magi&s;trates faults be aggravated before tho&s;e who are not to redre&s;&s;e them To exceed the&s;e limits, is an unhappy breach of this Law, with which our Churches have lately rung too loud, &s;o that we had need have it the Mottoe of our Pulpits, <HI>Thou &s;halt not,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Secondly, this mu&s;t al&s;o condemne the &s;currilous generation of Libellers, who taking advantage of the
<PB N="30" REF="21">
freedome of our times (of which we &s;hould make better u&s;e) have vented their railing invective Pam|phlets again&s;t many &s;orts of Magi&s;trates; were the ac|cu&s;ations never &s;o ju&s;t, the crimes never &s;o odious, yet could not the&s;e men be ju&s;tified in their bitternes; which exceeds the bounds of Chri&s;tianity, of Com|mon humanity it &s;elfe; the Devill that great accu&s;er dur&s;t not have brought &s;uch railing accu&s;ations a|gain&s;t <HI>Michael.</HI> The&s;e mu&s;t needs &s;tand guilty of the breach of this injunction.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It mu&s;t al&s;o reprehend tho&s;e who in their Common di&s;cour&s;es make them&s;elvs too eager Cen|&s;urers of the actions of the Higher Powers; tongues are not left at liberty to accu&s;e and Cen&s;ure as they plea&s;e, the proceedings of the Superiors.</P>
<P>It was indeed a noble and generous &s;peech of that <HI>Roman</HI> Emperour <HI>Augu&s;t. In libera Civitate liberas lin|guas e&s;&s;e oportere,</HI> That in a free State tongues &s;hould be at liberty, and a happine&s;&s;e truely accounted by the Hi&s;torian of his Times; <HI>&V;bi &s;entire quicquid velis, &amp; quicquid &s;entis dicere licet;</HI> When men may think wLat they plea&s;e, and &s;peake what they think: nor can we but admire the lenity of tho&s;e Chri&s;tian Emperors, <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> and <HI>Honorius,</HI> &amp; <HI>Arcadius,</HI> who would have no man puni&s;hed for &s;peaking evill of them, for <HI>Si ex levitate profectum, e&s;t contemnendum; Si ex in&s;ania,
<PB N="31" REF="21">
mi&s;eratione digni&s;simum; &s;i ab injuria, remittendum:</HI> if it proceed from lightne&s;&s;e, or vanity, it is to be de&s;pi&s;ed; if from madne&s;&s;e, it is to be pittyed; if from malice, to be forgiven: But notwith&s;tanding &s;uch indulgence (whereof our times have had a &s;hare) Chri&s;tians mu&s;t know not to abu&s;e their liberty: if they &s;tretch it to traduce and cen&s;ure tho&s;e who are &s;et over them, they u&s;e it for a cloake of maliciou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and breake that peremptory Law, which expre&s;&s;ely &s;aith, <HI>Thou &s;halt not revile,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>There is yet more in this Precept: for as it forbids re&s;i&s;tance in act and railing in words; &s;o thirdly, <HI>exe|crationes in men<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">e,</HI> cur&s;ing in the thought of tho&s;e who are called Gods; malignant conceits of their actions in our brea&s;ts mu&s;t not be entertained, nor evill wi|&s;hes imagined and contrived again&s;t them; for even the &s;oule mu&s;t be &s;ubject to powers that are ordained of God. <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.1. They are little beholding to him for re&s;training his tongue, who harbours and frames cur&s;es in his heart: It is the advi&s;e of the wi&s;e&s;t of men, <Q><BIBL><HI>Eccl.</HI> 10.20.</BIBL> <HI>Cur&s;e not the King, no not in thy thought: and cur&s;e not the rich in thy bedchamber, for a bird of the aire &s;hall carry the voyce, and that which hath wings &s;hall tell the matter:</HI></Q> that is, thy guilty thoughts may betray thee before thou art aware: for Kings and Magi&s;trates have quicke eyes and eares; or at the lea&s;t
<PB N="32" REF="22">
thou mai&s;t be &s;ure thy thoughts are knowne to him to whom thou mu&s;t give account of them, and he can never approve them, when there is cur&s;ing of his Ordinance.</P>
<P>For us therefore (Beloved) let not our impatience or mi&s;-under&s;tanding drive us to &s;uch intemperance: let us not harbour any cur&s;ing or malignant thought, either again&s;t him whom God hath made our graci|ous Soveraigne, or tho&s;e who under him, he hath de|&s;igned to be the in&s;truments of our e&s;tabli&s;hment. The meeke and patient Spirit, mu&s;t looke upon the actions of both, as them whom God hath ordai|ned for his good, and in &s;tead of the&s;e requitalls, which are flately forbidden in my Text, railing and cur&s;ing (which neither become our mouthes, nor hearts) let us frame our &s;elves to the contrary affirma|tive duties, which are here virtually included, But I mu&s;t but name them.</P>
<P>In oppo&s;ition then to reviling and cur&s;ing, there mu&s;t be u&s;ed towards them who are called Gods. Fir&s;t, Subjection, we mu&s;t heartily &s;ubmit our &s;elves to them, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.13. Secondly, honor and reverence, we mu&s;t honor the King, and con&s;equently all who derive power from him. Thirdly, fidelity, as <HI>I<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">tai</HI> to <HI>David,</HI> <Q><BIBL>2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.21.</BIBL> <HI>Where&s;oever my Lord the King &s;hall be, whether in life or death; even there will thy &s;er|vant be:</HI></Q> and while we are faithfull to him, we can|not,
<PB N="33" REF="22">
wee mu&s;t not bee unfaithfull to his Coun|&s;ellors, as our owne late prote&s;tation will remem|ber us. Fourthly, We owe them obedience, for this is due to the Commands &amp; Laws of Kings &amp; Rulers, while they are con&s;onant to tho&s;e of God. Fiftly, Let us allow them paying of tribute, for this both our Saviour, and Saint <HI>Paul</HI> tels us is due to Kings, and Rulers, and never let that be denied, which mu&s;t purcha&s;e publique &s;ecurity. La&s;tly, in &s;tead of this for|bidden cur&s;ing, let us allow them prayer; for if Saint <HI>Paul</HI> enjoyne &s;upplication for Kings, and all that are in authority in generall; much more doth it oblige us to pray for a gracious King, for the authority we have mo&s;t de&s;ired and prayed for; and this duty is the mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary, and highe&s;t we can allow them. May we therefore never cea&s;e to pray, that God would unite the hearts more and more, of our King and Parliament: That he will direct and a&s;&s;i&s;t them with his Spirit of wi&s;dome. That he will pro&s;per them in their de&s;ignes, again&s;t enemies abroad, in their Reformations at home. That he will protect them again&s;t all oppo&s;itions forraine, or dome&s;tique. That he will give us a ble&s;&s;ing upon all their deter|minations. The&s;e things we mo&s;t humbly be&s;eech thee (oh mo&s;t gracious Father) to grant unto us, and that for the merits of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
