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<DATE>2013-04-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Geremy Carnes</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM> x * Review overall document structure and hierarchy, including GROUP TEXT FRONT BODY BACK DIVs x * Proof title page(s). x * Observe divtop and divbottom material marking beginnings and ends of divisions, check that they are correctly tagged as HEADS, HEADNOTE, CLOSER, OPENER, TRAILER, ARGUMENT, EPIGRAPH, SIGNED, DATELINE, BYLINE, etc. x * Look for unobtrusive numerations and other occult signs of structure. x * Add TYPEs to DIVs in order to validate, making sure that the @type structure makes sense as a navigational aide, and that each type makes sense wrt to the one above it. x * Survey book for troublesome formats of all kinds, including lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, and parallel texts and quasi-tabular arrangments. Made sure that it was correctly tagged. Decide how much is worth changing. x * Assess marginalia. Notes? Running summaries? Multiple series? Are any of them milestones, headings, or labels? x * Look for FIGUREs, make sure that usable text within them has been captured and correctly tagged (especially: head, q, l, lg, byline). x * Watch for any part of the book in a diff language. Use appropriate lang attributes. x * Check for ="", ^, I / J, ae / oe, abq, _, LB, --, &amp;c., @, # x * Check for "q;" x * Check for GAPs and ABBRs. x * If appropriate, check for yoghs. x * If appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like. x * Do cursory check of completeness of page breaks (and placement relative to DIVs) x * Correct the errors found during proofing. x * Survey the illegibles. decide whether resolving them is feasible or even possible. Use the 100 rule only as a rule of thumb. Resolve those you can. x * Run 'skint' x * Run 'check' x * Run "v' (again) DONE.</ITEM>
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<STC T="W">B1671</STC>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">13083625</BIBNO>
<VID>97271</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>Mr. <HI>BEDFORD</HI>'s SERMONS AT THE Two A&s;&s;izes HELD AT <HI>Bury St. Edmund's,</HI> 1698.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<P>TWO SERMONS Preach'd at St. <HI>Maries</HI> in <HI>Bury St. Edmund's,</HI> AT THE ASSIZES.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t, Upon the Seventh of <HI>April</HI> 1698, before the Honourable Sir <HI>Thomas Rokeby</HI> Kt. one of the Ju&s;tices of His Maje&s;ty's Court of Kings-Bench.</P>
<P>The Second, Upon the 16th of <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> 1698, before the Right Honourable Sir <HI>Edward Ward</HI> Kt. Lord Chief Baron of His Maje&s;ty's Court of Exchequer.</P>
<P>By <HI>William Bedford,</HI> Ma&s;ter of Arts, Rector of <HI>Whitton,</HI> and Vicar of <HI>Stradbrooke</HI> and <HI>Wing field.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>S. Man&s;hip</HI> at the <HI>Ship</HI> in <HI>Cornhill,</HI> 1698.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="3" MS="y">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>To the Right Wor&s;hipful <HI>John Cornwallis</HI> E&s;quire, <HI>High-Sheriff,</HI> And one of the Deputy-Lieutenants OF THE County of <HI>SUFFOLK.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>WHEN the Grand-Juries of the County, con&s;i&s;ting of &s;o many Gentlemen of Honourable and Eminent Qualities, Reputation and E&s;tates, (with the Approbation of my Lord Chief Baron) were both plea&s;ed unanimou&s;ly to declare, That their Opinions were, It would be
<PB REF="4">u&s;eful to the Publick that the&s;e Di&s;cour&s;es &s;hould be Printed; I thought my &s;elf obliged to comply with their De&s;ires: And the rather, &s;eeing I am neither afraid nor a&s;hamed, to give the most publick Te&s;timony of my Fidelity to His Maje&s;ty, and Stedfa&s;tne&s;s to the true National In|terests; and hereby I obtain al&s;o this occa&s;ion of expre&s;&s;ing my Gratitude for your many Years Favours and Civilities, being,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your mo&s;t obliged and humble Servant <HI>William Bedford.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="7" REF="4">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>Gene&s;is 18.25.</BIBL>
<P>That be far from thee to do after this manner, to &s;lay the Righteous with the Wicked: And that the Righteous &s;hould be as the Wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>SO ju&s;t and laudable, as well as convenient and u&s;eful, is this Practice of Ju&s;tice traver&s;ing of our Counties and Provinces; and coming (as it were) home to our Habitations, that one would be apt at the fir&s;t view to conjecture, that this Method had &s;ome Divine Original from God's own Example. There never was the Invention of any thing publickly beneficial to Mankind, but the Ancients a&s;cribed it to &s;ome of their Deities; as Agriculture to <HI>Ceres,</HI> Phy&s;ick to <HI>Ae&s;culapius,</HI> and Mu&s;ick to <HI>Apollo:</HI> Well then may we think the like of this Perambulation of Ju&s;tice, the whol&s;om Phy&s;ick of the Body Politick; the tuning of the whole Kingdom into the Mu&s;ical Harmony of Peace and Concord.</P>
<P>I might &s;ay as St. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;aith (in the like ca&s;e) of the Hierarchy of the Church, <HI>Nec nilem reputes hanc formam, quia in terra e&s;t, exemplum habet &egrave; coelo.</HI>
<PB N="8" REF="5">Neither can I think this Method of admini&s;tring Ju&s;tice throughout our Provinces a meer Humane Devi&s;e, but I per&s;wade my &s;elf that the Legi&s;lator that fir&s;t ordained it, had &s;een this Pattern of it in the Mount of God, and lo, if you de&s;ire for to &s;ee it, I have found the Pattern it &s;elf in this Chapter. Here is God the great Judge of the whole Earth, going his Circuit from Heaven to the Plain of <HI>Mamre,</HI> and from <HI>Mamre</HI> to <HI>Sodom.</HI> This Judge comes to them to their own home, and keep his A&s;&s;izes and General Goal-delivery in their own City, <HI>v.</HI> 21. <HI>De&s;cendam &amp; videbo, the Cry of</HI> So|dom <HI>and</HI> Gomorrah <HI>is great, I will go down</HI> my &s;elf to them, and &s;ee how it &s;tands with them.</P>
<P>This Judge condemns them not unheard, but ad|mits Coun&s;el to plead for, and Interce&s;&s;ors to de|precate, as <HI>Abraham</HI> in the Text. So long as there lies a <HI>Certierari</HI> from an higher Court, or an Appeal to an higher Court, the Ca&s;e is not de&s;perate, though the Judge &s;hould not do right; for there is a future Remedy to be hoped for. If the whole State were incen&s;ed again&s;t me, yet I can find an e&s;cape to another Country: If all the World per|&s;ecute me, yet if I be an hone&s;t Man, I have a Supreme Court in my &s;elf; and I am at Peace in being acquitted by my own Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>But God is the unerring Judge of all the Earth, of this which I tread upon, and this Earth which I carry about me; and when he judgeth me, my Con&s;cience turns upon his &s;ide, and confe&s;&s;eth his Judgment to be right.</P>
<P>And therefore St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Argument <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. ra|tifies and &s;econds <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Expo&s;tulation here;
<PB N="9" REF="5"><HI>Is God unrighteous? God forbid: How then &s;hall God judge the World?</HI> A particular Council may err, but then a general Council may help to rectifie that particular: The King may err, but then God, in who&s;e Hand the King's Heart is, can rectifie him: But if God that judgeth all the Earth, judge thee, there is no Error to be a&s;&s;igned in his Judg|ment, no Appeal from God not throughly infor|med, to God better informed, for he always know|eth all Evidence before it is given, and therefore the larger the Juri&s;diction, and higher the Court is, the more careful ought the Judge to be again&s;t wrong Judgment; for <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Expo&s;tulation reacheth in a mea&s;ure to them; <HI>Shall not the Judge of all</HI> (or of a great part of the Earth) <HI>do right?</HI></P>
<P>This Judge, <HI>la&s;tly,</HI> comes not &s;olitary or alone, but a&s;&s;ociated; for in the fir&s;t and third Ver&s;es of this Chapter there are three of them, three Men &s;tood by <HI>Abraham;</HI> and in the nineteenth Chapter and the fir&s;t Ver&s;e, at <HI>Sodom</HI> it &s;elf where the Judg|ment was executed there are two of them (which is the number u&s;ual at the&s;e times with us.)</P>
<P><HI>There came two Angels to</HI> Sodom: A Divine Bench, an honourable Trial; whom&s;oever we follow of all the Chri&s;tian Interpreters, whether the Father generally, (as St. <HI>Athana&s;ius,</HI> St. <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> and <HI>Epi|phanius</HI>) which expound the&s;e three to have been the three Per&s;ons of the adored Trinity, in three Humane Shapes a&s;&s;umed: Or whither we follow &s;ome latter Expo&s;itors, (as <HI>Calvin</HI> and others) who make them to be the &s;econd Per&s;on in Trinity, and two created Angels attending him.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="6">
<P>For as for <HI>Eben Ezra</HI> and the re&s;t of the Jews, which make all three of them Angels and meer Creatures, they are &s;ufficiently confuted by that incommunicable Appellation of the Name <HI>Jehovah,</HI> which <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;o often in this Chapter u&s;eth, when he &s;peaks to them: Thus <HI>Abraham &s;aw the day of Chri&s;t and rejoyced,</HI> as our Lord him&s;elf te&s;ti|fieth, <HI>John</HI> 8.56. for &s;o to this very Apparition &s;ome good Expo&s;itors have referred it: He &s;aw his day indeed, he &s;aw this day of his, he received him into his Hou&s;e, he fea&s;ted him, he brought him on his way, he found gracious Audience with him, as an Interce&s;&s;or and Advocate for others; and all this, even then when Chri&s;t was going in his In|dignation to judge <HI>Sodom.</HI> And in this Judgment, as in a Preludium, to &s;hew how he will judge the whole World at the great Se&s;&s;ions of the la&s;t day, and vi&s;it it with the Flames of an univer&s;al Com|bu&s;tion.</P>
<P>We &s;ee then the Tribunal, and the Judge, and the Form of the Proceeding in the cour&s;e of the whole Chapter: Let us come now preci&s;ely to ob|&s;erve the Text, and hear the Advocate <HI>Abraham</HI> pleading here for the Righteous, that they may not be de&s;troyed with the Wicked; his Plea is intended principally for <HI>Lot,</HI> who was his Nephew dear to him, and that lived among&s;t the <HI>Sodomites;</HI> 'tis intended &s;econdarily, for all righteous Per&s;ons, if any other &s;uch peradventure were living there: And in the la&s;t place, in a commendable Compa&s;&s;ion he would have been glad al&s;o if it might have been extended to the whole City, and to &s;o many Thou|&s;ands
<PB N="11" REF="6">of Per&s;ons as now were about peri&s;hing in it; <HI>Far be that from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?</HI> Which words naturally point out their own divi&s;ion, con&s;i&s;ting apparently of two parts.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is, a Dete&s;tation or Aver&s;ation, <HI>Far be that from thee.</HI></P>
<P>The other is, a Rea&s;on, a Motive, an Aetiology, <HI>Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?</HI></P>
<P>In the Dete&s;tation again, which fir&s;t offers it &s;elf unto us, there are two things; the Subject of it, and the Degree of it; the Subject dete&s;ted in the word <HI>it</HI> or <HI>that, Far be that from thee.</HI></P>
<P>The Degree of the Dete&s;tation is twofold, <HI>Gradus &s;implex,</HI> the plain Degree, <HI>be it from thee;</HI> and <HI>Gradus auctus,</HI> or <HI>Gradus cum adjectione,</HI> the empha|tical Degree, <HI>be it far from thee.</HI> And fir&s;t I will &s;peak of the&s;e.</P>
<P>The Subject of the Dete&s;tation is expre&s;&s;ed rela|tively, <HI>that</HI> or <HI>it, far be it from thee;</HI> and &s;o points us back to that which is pa&s;&s;ed already in the for|mer part of the Ver&s;e, namely, <HI>to &s;lay the righteous with the wicked: far be that from thee.</HI> So that here is a Suppo&s;ition of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s and a Po&s;ition, the Suppo&s;ition is, That the Wicked no doubt are to be &s;tain, and to be de&s;troyed by the Magi&s;trate: And no marvel that this is put <HI>extra Controver&s;iam,</HI> and taken for granted; for what Herbali&s;t doth not root up noi&s;om Weeds? Or what Chyrurgeon doth not cut away all corrupt and putrified Fle&s;h? <HI>Be|times will I root out all wicked doers from the City of the Lord</HI> (&s;aith the Royal P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 101.8.) <HI>Immedicabile vulnus en&s;e recidendum e&s;t, ne pars &s;in|cera
<PB N="12" REF="7">trahatur,</HI> &s;aith the Poet. What are the Wicked but Thorns,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 2.2.</NOTE> and what are Thorns but for the Fire? What are they but Chaff,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 1.4.</NOTE> and what is the Chaff for, but to be &s;evered from the Corn, and blown away of the Wind: A Seditious Di&s;turber of the publick Peace, is a mo&s;t noxious and Savage wild Bea&s;t, &s;aith the Orator, and if it fall into a Pit, let it be overwhelmed there, and come out no more, lea&s;t it do more hurt. It was with good Signifi|cation, that the Roman Magi&s;trates cau&s;ed to be borne before them <HI>Fa&s;ces cum &s;ecuribus,</HI> Rods and Axes both, whom the Rod corrects not, him the Axe chops off.</P>
<P>I take this therefore for granted, as <HI>Abraham</HI> doth, the Wicked are to be de&s;troyed: And I come from his Suppo&s;ition to his Po&s;ition, The Righteous ne|verthele&s;s mu&s;t not be de&s;troyed with them for company: If it falls out &s;o that the Wicked can|not be cut down, unle&s;s the Righteous al&s;o peri&s;h joyntly with them; even the Wicked rather are to be &s;pared for the pre&s;ent, <HI>Far be it from thee, to &s;lay the righteous with the wicked.</HI> 'Tis well this Plea can be in <HI>Sodom,</HI> here is &s;ome Comfort for us, worth our taking up by the way, the World &s;hall never be &s;o bad, but there may be &s;ome hope of finding &s;ome Righteous, even in tho&s;e places which are wor&s;t;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;hua 6. Rev. 3.4. 1 Kings 18.3.</NOTE> in <HI>Sodom</HI> there was a <HI>Lot,</HI> in <HI>Jericho</HI> a <HI>Rahab,</HI> in <HI>Sardis</HI> a few Names which had not de|filed their Garments. In <HI>Ahab</HI>'s Court a good <HI>Obadiah;</HI> in infamous <HI>Nero</HI>'s Family, <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> and <HI>Saints,</HI> Phil. 4.22. The Devil hath but &s;owed Tares among&s;t the Wheat,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 13.25.</NOTE> he could not &s;o root
<PB N="13" REF="7">the Corn it &s;elf out, but that in every Field God will have &s;ome Wheat. 'Tis a mo&s;t true Axiom in the Schools, <HI>Malum non pote&s;t exi&s;tere ni&s;i in bono,</HI> Evil cannot exi&s;t or be, but in &s;omething which is good; and therefore cannot wholly eat out and de&s;troy all Good.</P>
<P>And here is a Caution al&s;o for tho&s;e who have the Sword of Judicature and Authority in their Hands: Be wi&s;e ye that are Judges of the Earth, pre-judge not a Man wholly by his Place, nor yet by his Company; though the Clamours of the Sins of a Place in general, be as the Clamour and the Cry of <HI>Sodom;</HI> yet <HI>de&s;cendite &amp; videte,</HI> look into it nearer, and di&s;tingui&s;h of particulars.</P>
<P>In <HI>Sodom</HI> there was a <HI>Lot;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 27.22.</NOTE> among&s;t <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s malicious Brethren there was a <HI>Reuben</HI> that di&s;|&s;waded the Murther of the Child; with the Rob|bers that were ju&s;tly Crucified, there was a guilt|le&s;s Je&s;us. Even out of <HI>Nazareth,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 23.41.</NOTE> in de&s;pight of the Jewi&s;h Proverb, <HI>John</HI> 1.46. there may come &s;omething which is good: In one and the &s;ame Goal there may be as well as &s;ome Malefactors, &s;ome that are as unju&s;tly &s;u&s;pected. In one and the &s;ame Indictment, there may be &s;ome Nocent and &s;ome Innocent.</P>
<P>But I touch upon the&s;e Matters only by the way, but will in&s;i&s;t upon the Propo&s;ition it &s;elf which <HI>Abraham</HI> lays down here, <HI>The Righteous mu&s;t not be de&s;troyed with the Wicked; he which &s;lays the Righ|teous with the wicked,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Abraham, to him the righteous are as the wicked, but that mu&s;t not be, far be that from thee.</HI></P>
<PB N="14" REF="8">
<P>And &s;ure it is an invincible Argument, for how foul Inju&s;tice is it, <HI>Tam in equalibus equalia tribuere,</HI> to deal alike with Per&s;ons &s;o unlike. How hor|rible an Exorbitancy were it, that they &s;hould be all one in our Valuation, whom &s;o many and un|&s;peakable Differences have di&s;tingui&s;hed in their own Conditions; I mean the Righteous and the Wicked, their own Intentions which they &s;hoot at di&s;tingui&s;h them, the one aims at direct Hone&s;ty and heavenly Piety; the other, at ba&s;e Profit and earthly Plea&s;ure; their Principles which they go by di&s;tingui&s;h them, the one mea&s;ures his Actions by the publick Good, the other by his private; their Fruits redounding to the Common-wealth do di&s;tingui&s;h them; the one are <HI>paces reipublice,</HI> and the other <HI>faces;</HI> their choice of conver&s;ing doth di&s;tingui&s;h them, they come not at each other. The po&s;itive Laws of Men di&s;tingui&s;h them, they appoint Reward for the one, but Puni&s;hments for the other.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t's Judgment doth di&s;tingui&s;h them, he will &s;et the one at his right Hand, the other at his Left; the place of their eternal Habitation doth di&s;tingui&s;h them, for the one Heaven is pre|pared, for the other Hell: In one word, from Eter|nity they were differenced, and to Eternity they &s;hall be: They &s;trove in the Womb like <HI>Rebecca</HI>'s Twins; and like the Smoak of <HI>Eteocles</HI> and <HI>Poly|nices,</HI> when they are dead, they will have no Union; and &s;hall then <HI>the righteous be as the wicked?</HI> If that be not <HI>in equalibus equalia tribuere,</HI> what is? Shall there be no difference of a Son and of a Slave? of a Friend and of an Enemy? of a dutiful Subject
<PB N="15" REF="8">and a plotting Traytor? All other Differences have been reconciled, the Fair <HI>European</HI> and Foul <HI>Negro</HI> marry and live together; Fire and Water meet in the Ingrediency of the mix'd body, Light and Darkne&s;s concur in one <HI>Crepu&s;culum,</HI> one dawning of the day; but this diametrical Oppo&s;ition of Righteous and Wicked, hath been and &s;till is at Di&s;cord, it could never be pacified; <HI>A wicked Man is an Abomination to the Ju&s;t, and he that is upright in his way, is an Abomination to the wicked.</HI></P>
<P>When I con&s;ider therefore, that <HI>Abraham</HI> brings this as a Fundamental Axiom indi&s;putable, that <HI>the righteous mu&s;t not be &s;lain with the wicked;</HI> and that <HI>they mu&s;t not be unto us as the wicked;</HI> and when I weigh the Rea&s;on of it, I am amazed to think of that &s;hameful Lap&s;e of the good Emperor <HI>Theodo&s;ius,</HI> who upon the account of the private Actions of &s;ome mutinous Per&s;ons in <HI>The&s;&s;alonica,</HI> &s;ent his Army upon the City, and promi&s;cuou&s;ly &s;lew the Innocent with the Guilty.</P>
<P>It would make one tremble to think of &s;uch an erroneous Mandate; but it is enough to over|whelm any con&s;idering Per&s;on with Horrour and Amazement, to call to mind the Dome&s;tick Ex|ample of that Infernal Direction of the Romi&s;h Traytor Father <HI>Garnet,</HI> who being not a Military Prince, but an Eccle&s;ia&s;tick profe&s;&s;ing Peace, not an illiterate rude Souldier, but a Clerk of elaborate Education, not on a &s;udden Rage unpremeditated, but upon Deliberation more fully advi&s;ed, &s;hould warrant a more Barbarous Re&s;olution, for being asked by the Popi&s;h Con&s;pirators of the Gun|powder Trea&s;on, <HI>Whither it was lawful for them
<PB N="16" REF="9">to de&s;troy in our Parliament Hou&s;e many good Men for Company with more bad,</HI> (that is, &s;uch as were their Favourers with &s;uch as were not) an&s;wered, <HI>Yea, it was,</HI> Si in grande emolumentum Eccle&s;iae Romanae ce&s;&s;urum &s;it, <HI>&s;o it might bring evident Ad|vancement and Benefit to the Roman Church.</HI></P>
<P>If this Oracle did come (as there are good grounds to believe it did) from the then Po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;or of the Apo&s;tolical Chair at <HI>Rome,</HI> he was but a painted Wall, and Vice-Demon upon Earth: Doth he claim to be Judge of all the World, and doth he command <HI>the righteous to be &s;lain with the wicked?</HI> I am &s;ure that Judge of all the World, with whom <HI>Abraham</HI> here conferreth, is of other Sentiments, unle&s;s he will take a &s;pice of Mani|chei&s;m, and make two Judges of all the World, one good one, which mu&s;t needs be God, and ano|ther evil, which mu&s;t be the Devil.</P>
<P>But I mu&s;t not, like another <HI>Tarquinius,</HI> &s;trike off the tops only of the talle&s;t Poppies, tax none but only the Emperor <HI>Theodo&s;ius,</HI> and the Romi&s;h Pontifex <HI>Maximus;</HI> but the truth is, there are few Men living, of what Condition or Quality &s;oever, but one time or other, more or le&s;s, offend again&s;t this Rule, and make <HI>the righteous as the wicked.</HI></P>
<P>And to comprize it &s;ummarily, four ways it may be done:
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> By indi&s;creet Pitty.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Secondly,</HI> By prepo&s;terous Zeal.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Thirdly,</HI> By Athei&s;tical Neglect.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Fourthly,</HI> By diabolical Malice.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<PB N="17" REF="9">
<P>The&s;e I will very briefly treat of. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> It is done by indi&s;creet Pitty, when we are &s;o childi&s;hly Compa&s;&s;ionate, that we de&s;troy not them that are incorrigibly Wicked;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 13.1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> when like <HI>Joa&s;h</HI> the King of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> we &s;mite but thrice at <HI>Aram,</HI> whereas we ought for to &s;mite five or &s;ix times till they were con&s;umed; when like <HI>Ahab</HI> we let go <HI>Benhadad,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 20.42.</NOTE> the Man appointed for to die, whom God hath de|livered into our Hands, when we find Man|&s;laughter for Willful Murther, and with-hold the Hand of Ju&s;tice from them, which with-hold not the Hand of Violence from their Brethren; this is to make <HI>the righteous as the wicked,</HI> for it gives the Wicked the priviledge of Indemnity, which &s;hould be peculiar to the Righteous; yea, and more than &s;o, by &s;paring the Wicked, con&s;equently it de&s;troys the Righteous, it leaves that Serpentine Brood, which will be in the end the De&s;truction of them.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> By Prepo&s;terous Zeal, we make <HI>the Righteous as the Wicked;</HI> when we are too furi|ou&s;ly hot upon the &s;pur, when we ha&s;ten &s;o to aboli&s;h the Wicked, that nece&s;&s;arily we involve the Righteous in the &s;ame Ruin, when we are more precipitant than <HI>John</HI> him&s;elf,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 10.23.</NOTE> that was &s;o furious a Driver; for he would not let loo&s;e his armed Men upon the Prie&s;ts of <HI>Baal,</HI> till he had taken order effectually that there was no Servant of the Lord <HI>Jehovah</HI> left among&s;t them. God him|&s;elf, to &s;hew that he would ever di&s;criminate the Righteous from the Wicked, he would not bring the Deluge (<HI>Gen.</HI> 7.13.) upon the World of the
<PB N="18" REF="10">Ungodly, till he &s;aw that <HI>Noah</HI> was entered into the Ark: Nor would he &s;end the de&s;troying Angel over <HI>Egypt,</HI> till he knew that the Hou&s;es of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> were &s;prinkled with the Pa&s;chal Blood.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 12.23.</NOTE> Neither would he &s;uffer the Tares in the Go&s;pel (<HI>Matt.</HI> 13.29.) to be plucked up before the Harve&s;t, le&s;t the Wheat al&s;o &s;hould mi&s;carry with them. Vice mu&s;t not be &s;tabbed through the Loines of Vertue, as in a condemned Woman pleading Pregnancy, our merciful Laws worthily expect the Delivery of her Innocent Child. <HI>Let</HI> Rahab <HI>and her Family be brought &s;afe out, and then let</HI> Jericho <HI>be de&s;troyed.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> We make <HI>the Righteous like the Wicked,</HI> by Athei&s;tical Neglect, when we equally regard neither; when if Gain &s;o invite us, we promi&s;|cuou&s;ly oppre&s;s both: Like that Popi&s;h Army which having taken a City mixedly inhabited by Prote&s;tants and Papi&s;ts, put them all indifferently to the Sword, becau&s;e they would finger the whole Spoil; and when tho&s;e of their own Popi&s;h Super&s;tition fell at their Knees and cried, <HI>We are Catholicks;</HI> they an&s;wered, <HI>The better for your Souls;</HI> and that was all the Courte&s;ie that they &s;hewed them.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> It is done by Diabolical Malice, when Men are at a Defiance with God, and take their Pay in the Camp of Lucifer, when the Righteous are the Men of their Hatred, and they purpo&s;ely &s;et them&s;elves to de&s;troy them, but to &s;pare the Wicked. When they cry of Murtherous <HI>Barabbas,
<PB N="19" REF="10">Let him have his Pardon;</HI> but of the Holy Je&s;us, <HI>Crucifie him, Crucifie him.</HI> The Righteous are then not only as the Wicked, but in a much wor&s;e ca&s;e than the Wicked. <HI>Abraham</HI> de&s;ired that they might be better than they, but here they may be glad if they may be but as they. So as of old <HI>Ari&s;tides</HI> mu&s;t have the O&s;traci&s;m, and be bani&s;hed for his Ju&s;tne&s;s, <HI>Nemo apud nos frugi &s;it, nemo ex|cellat, aut &s;i excelluerit abeat.</HI> The <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI> when they bani&s;hed a worthy Per&s;on, were not a&s;hamed to proclaim the Rea&s;on, becau&s;e they would have no Man to excel above the re&s;t; if any Man would be better than others, let him pack away from their Dominions. But I hope no &s;uch vain and unequal Dealings will be countenanced in our times, this were to make the appearance of Goodne&s;s more prejudicial than the Evidence and Con|viction of Evil. Such Practices ought to be far from us.</P>
<P>What I have already &s;poken, &s;hall &s;uffice for a cur&s;ory Declaration of the ways whereby we do make <HI>the Righteous as the Wicked;</HI> of all which four kinds we mu&s;t &s;ay as <HI>Abraham</HI> here &s;aith unto God, <HI>Far be they from us;</HI> all of them mu&s;t be the due &s;ubjects of our Abomination and de|te&s;ting Aver&s;ation; in &s;pecial indeed Inju&s;tice, but in general all Sin and Vice; which our Gracious King, as the true Vice-gerent of God, is now en|deavouring to root out, that God may continue to protect this Nation, living in a Cour&s;e of Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, as he hath done already above our De&s;erts.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="11">
<P>Thus having fini&s;hed the Abhorrence or Abo|mination <HI>to &s;lay the Righteous with the Wicked,</HI> or to e&s;teem <HI>the Righteous as the Wicked, be it from thee, yea, be it far from thee.</HI> The former, the plain Degree, <HI>be it from thee,</HI> Inju&s;tice e&s;pecially; in general, all Iniquity; <HI>be it all from thee.</HI></P>
<P>Here we may &s;ee the vile Condition of Sin and Impiety; no Commerce can it have with God; no Union with his Nature; no Abode or Footing in his Pre&s;ence; it may &s;ay like Vagabond <HI>Cain, Gen.</HI> 4.14. <HI>Behold, thou ha&s;t driven me out this day from the face of the Earth; and from thy face &s;hall I be hid, and I &s;hall be a Fugitive and a Vaga|bond in the Earth: And it &s;hall come to pa&s;s, that every one that findeth me, &s;hall &s;lay me.</HI> And we need no rea&s;on of this Sentence of perpetual Exile, <HI>Be it from thee,</HI> the&s;e three words, <HI>It from thee,</HI> are a mo&s;t compleat Rea&s;on; <HI>it,</HI> which is Mi&s;ery; <HI>from thee,</HI> which art Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s; <HI>it,</HI> which is Death; <HI>from thee,</HI> which art Life it &s;elf; <HI>it,</HI> which is Un|cleanne&s;s; <HI>from thee,</HI> which art Purity; <HI>it,</HI> which is Crookedne&s;s; <HI>from thee,</HI> which art Rectitude; <HI>it,</HI> which is Darkne&s;s; <HI>from thee,</HI> which art Light it &s;elf: A thou&s;and Volumes compiled by never &s;o <HI>Ciceronian</HI> a Pen, a thou&s;and Tongues of Men and Angels, could not more graphically paint out the Cur&s;edne&s;s of Sin and Inju&s;tice as the&s;e three words have done, <HI>It from thee,</HI> it is bani&s;hed from God, the Idea of Goodne&s;s, the Center and the Circumference of Perfection; and when it is &s;aid to be bani&s;hed from God, we mu&s;t conceive it al&s;o (for our own In&s;truction) bani&s;hed from all which any way partake either of the Nature or Name
<PB N="21" REF="11">of God, from all Judges fir&s;t, for &s;o the Scripture &s;aith of them, <HI>Dixi Dii e&s;tis,</HI> I have &s;aid ye are Gods, yea, univer&s;ally from all Men; for Man is in a true Sen&s;e <HI>pars Dei,</HI> a piece of God, and there|fore Sin ought not to be harboured in us. <HI>In God we live, move, and have our Beings. David</HI> &s;aith, That God made Man a little lower than the An|gels; the word will beare, A little lower than God: And indeed our Souls and Bodies are the very Characters of the Divine Image: Our Under|&s;tanding, Will and Memory, are the <HI>Ve&s;tigia,</HI> the Characters of the Divine Trinity; and our Hu|mane Nature born of the Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, hath per&s;onal Union with the eternal Word. The&s;e things plainly evince, that we have &s;ome Partici|pation of the Divine Nature, and that the Rege|nerate partake of the &s;ame Spirit with God; and therefore this, <HI>Be it from thee,</HI> mu&s;t take place with us al&s;o. <HI>Be it from</HI> God, and from all that partake of the Nature and the Name of God.</P>
<P>I have done with the <HI>Gradus &s;implex,</HI> the plain Degree, but <HI>Abraham</HI> contents not him&s;elf thus, he adds, <HI>Gradum auctum, Gradum cum adjectione,</HI> the emphatical Degree, <HI>Be it far from thee;</HI> and he adds this when he &s;peaks to God, not to wi&s;h a thing that is not, but to expre&s;s and acknowledge a thing that is.</P>
<P>The Truth is, there is none but God, of whom we can properly &s;ay, that Sin is far from him: A Creature may be actually free from Sin, and &s;o Sin may be ab&s;ent from it; but it is not far ab&s;ent from it; as it is &s;aid to <HI>Cain, Sin lieth at the door.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 4.7.</NOTE>
<PB N="22" REF="12">Every rational Creature hath a Door, whereby it may let in Sin, a po&s;&s;ibility of being depraved and embracing it; but only the eternal God he hath no door, whereby he can let in Sin, his Nature hath an infinite Repugnancy and Incompa&s;&s;ibility with it; an Angel may Sin, and yet remain an Angel; a Man may Sin, and yet remain a Man; but God cannot have Sin in him and remain God; it cannot con&s;i&s;t with his E&s;&s;ence, and therefore far it is in|deed from him, and far be that Bla&s;phemous Do|ctrine from us, to make God the Author of any Sin; he cannot be the &s;ubject of Sin in him&s;elf, nor can he be the Efficient of Sin in others.</P>
<P>Therefore let us enforce our &s;elves to a Sacred Emulation of God's glorious Prerogatives as far as may be; let not only Sin be from us, <HI>in gradu &s;implici,</HI> but <HI>in gradu aucto,</HI> let it be far from us; there cannot be too great a di&s;tance between us and it, <HI>ratione contagii,</HI> in regard of the Contagi|ou&s;ne&s;s of it, there cannot be too great a di&s;tance, if we flee not from it, it will infect us. 'Tis like a Ba&s;ilisk, it kills as far as it can be &s;een; 'tis like a <HI>Syren,</HI> it enchants as far as it can be heard. 'Twere good that there were a Pe&s;t-hou&s;e for the Wicked, as there is for them that have the Plague, a <HI>Thracian Bo&s;phorus</HI> where they might live by them&s;elves, and have no acce&s;s to other Men to Poy&s;on them; for it is not enough for us not to approach to them, but they will approach to us.</P>
<P>Again, <HI>Ratione &s;upplicii,</HI> in regard of the Pu|ni&s;hment of it, there cannot be too great a di|&s;tance, though we practice it not our &s;elves, if
<PB N="23" REF="12">we be but in company of them that practice it; if they be in our Hou&s;es, if they be in our Towns, we fare the wor&s;e for them; for one <HI>Achan</HI> the whole Army of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> flies before their Enemies. Sin was committed on the Earth by <HI>Adam,</HI> and the very Heavens felt the Smart of it; there were malignant Influences then added to tho&s;e Coele&s;tial Bodies, which had not at the fir&s;t been created in them.</P>
<P>If Sin get a footing in our Servants, in our Followers, 'tis like an Enemy that hath got a Sconce, or a Cittadel, too near us, from thence it will Gall us too; and therefore when it offers to come and dwell with us, we mu&s;t an&s;wer it as <HI>Tully</HI> an&s;wers <HI>Catiline</HI> in the like ca&s;e, <HI>Nullo modo ii&s;dem in parietibus tute e&s;&s;e po&s;&s;umus, qui magno in periculo &s;umus, quod ii&s;dem in manibus ver&s;emur.</HI> Far be it from us.</P>
<P>I have dwelt long enough upon the Aver&s;a|tion, <HI>Far be it from thee;</HI> I will nor therefore long detain this Honourable A&s;&s;embly, but recom|pence it with as much brevity in this other which follows, the Rea&s;on or Aetiology, <HI>Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?</HI> In which words take notice briefly of two things.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> The Perfection of Judges; and then the Judge of Perfection. Here you may ob&s;erve a Judge <HI>in ab&s;tracto,</HI> what it is; and <HI>in concreto,</HI> where or in whom it is.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="13">
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Take notice of the Perfection of a Judge, <HI>in ab&s;tracto,</HI> what it is: It is to do Equity and Right. That is the End and Scope of all Judges, and of all Judgments; that is the Pole-&s;tar of all Judicial Actions; Shall not he do Right who is ordained to that end, to decide Controver&s;ies of Right and Wrong? Shall not a Judge do Right?</P>
<P>You have heard the Perfection of a Judge <HI>in ab&s;tracto,</HI> what it is; there remains the Perfection of a Judge <HI>in concreto,</HI> where or in whom it is; 'tis not every where, nay, 'tis no where but in God. Ab&s;olute Perfection is the incommunicable Property of the Deity, all created Natures, <HI>Tan|tum ab&s;unt &agrave; Perfectione, quantum &agrave; Divinitate,</HI> but in God there is Ab&s;olute Perfection. Negative Que&s;tions in this kind in Scripture, pre-&s;uppo&s;e always Affirmative An&s;wers, <HI>Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do Right?</HI> Yes, he will do it, do it others, or do they not; this Judge will do it.</P>
<P>So that God is here de&s;cribed a perfect Judge in two re&s;pects:</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> In the Extent of his Juri&s;diction; and in the Exerci&s;e of it.</P>
<P>In the Extent of it, He is a Judge of all the Earth. In the Exerci&s;e of it, He will do Right, he cannot but do Right; <HI>Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do Right?</HI></P>
<PB N="25" REF="13">
<P>The Extent of his Juri&s;diction is the whole Earth; 'tis not a Country or two that confine his Circuit; 'tis not a Province or two that bound his Empire; he &s;corneth to borrow a Title as the Old <HI>Romans</HI> did, from one or two Conquered Na|tions, <HI>Sarmaticus, Geticus, Numidicus,</HI> he hath that which others long for, and cannot have, <HI>Ca|tholicus, Oecumenicus:</HI> He needs no <HI>plus ultra,</HI> as that <HI>Charlemayn</HI> who confuted his rich Title with his craving Motto, for all the whole Univer&s;e is his. There is none therefore &s;o weak here, but if he be Oppre&s;&s;ed, &s;ees an higher Tribunal that he may fly unto. There is none &s;o &s;trong here, &s;o armed with Authority and Favour, but if he be an Oppre&s;&s;or, he &s;ees a Tribunal that he may fear. No wonder that <HI>Felix</HI> trembled when he heard St. <HI>Paul</HI> di&s;pute of this Judgment, and of this Judge. From all other Courts there lies an Ap|peal to him, but from him there lies no Appeal to any other: There is a Commi&s;&s;ion, again&s;t which no Prohibition can be brought; we mu&s;t not come there with our <HI>Nemo bis judicabitur de eodem, bis judicabimur de ii&s;dem;</HI> all Cau&s;es that have been heard in this World, &s;hall be heard again in that Prerogative-Court of Heaven; and what was right adjudged here, &s;hall be ratified there; and what was wrong adjudged here, &s;hall be repealed there. And finally, What was never heard here at all, yet &s;hall be deci&s;ively ordered there.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="14">
<P>I will &s;hut up my Di&s;cour&s;e in a few words, (which it becomes me to &s;ay) to demon&s;trate, that the Supream Judge of Heaven and Earth will ever do Right, (according to the Conclu|&s;ion of the Text) doth mo&s;t undeniably appear, with relation to the Church of <HI>England,</HI> (as it is by Law e&s;tabli&s;hed) in who&s;e Cau&s;e he hath been plea&s;ed of late to manife&s;t his Power and Goodne&s;s mo&s;t remarkably; and not only in our Days, but he hath done the like in former Ages; for in re&s;pect of its Doctrine, Di&s;cipline and Ex|ternal Rites, he guided the &s;olid Foundation there|of, by that admirable young Prince King <HI>Edward</HI> the Sixth; and &s;upported it by the Steadine&s;s of the Magnanimous Prince&s;s Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> who (during all her long and glorious Reign) would never admit of any Alterations; no, not in the very Out-works, the External Rites thereof, (which are Securities to the main Fortre&s;s of our Reli|gion) though &s;he was frequently &s;ollicited there|unto by Men of great Fame and Judgment; and though in the 34th Article of our Church it is owned, That the External part of its Wor&s;hip may admit of Alterations (by publick Authority) upon Emergent Cau&s;es, and for Rea&s;ons demon|&s;trably and apparently tending to the Publick Good; and when Times and Mens Manners do re|quire it.</P>
<P>And this Church hath been &s;ince adorned by the Piety and Devout Practice of the late Virtuous and Ble&s;&s;ed Queen <HI>Mary,</HI> (who, by the Counte|nance and Con&s;ent of King <HI>Charles</HI> the Second,
<PB N="27" REF="14">was mo&s;t happily Married to His Pre&s;ent Ma|je&s;ty, notwith&s;tanding all the Secret Oppo&s;ing In|trigues of the Renegado Je&s;uits:) which Famous Prince&s;s lived and dyed in all the Ob&s;ervances of this Church like a Primitive Saint.</P>
<P>And it has been not only dignified by the high Re&s;pect borne toward it by the&s;e two eminent Prince&s;&s;es, who &s;et two &s;uch Examples as are hardly imitable by the very be&s;t and brave&s;t of Womenkind; but it was defended and cheri&s;hed by the Learning and peaceful Temper of King <HI>James</HI> the Fir&s;t, and by the Piety of Queen <HI>Anne.</HI> And it hath been exceedingly honoured and em|belli&s;hed by the Con&s;tancy, Patience and Cha|rity of the Devout Martyr King <HI>Charles</HI> the Fir&s;t.</P>
<P>And thus &s;tood it out again&s;t all A&s;&s;aults, during the Reign of all our Princes &s;ince the Reforma|tion. (Queen <HI>Maries</HI> &s;hort Reign, and part of the twenty Years of our Unhappy Civil Wars, and fooli&s;h Anarchical Governments excepted) after which it was re-e&s;tabli&s;hed in cour&s;e of Law upon the wonderful and peaceable Re&s;tauration of King <HI>Charles</HI> the Second, who at his death left it upon its own E&s;tabli&s;hment.</P>
<P>But as to two other Princes that have po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the Throne (&s;ince the Reformation) Queen <HI>Mary</HI> the Fir&s;t, and the late King <HI>James</HI> the Second, they both were plea&s;ed to give it publick, high and kind Characters at their fir&s;t Acce&s;&s;ions to their Crowns; and whil&s;t the Men of our Com|munion were bu&s;ily fixing them into their Royal
<PB N="28" REF="15">Authorities; and the latter of them, did for &s;ome con&s;iderable number of Years, outwardly comply with its Ob&s;ervances; (&s;o long as the Polititians of the Court of <HI>Rome</HI> would &s;uffer him) but their deep Engagements and Confederacies with the <HI>Romans</HI> Party, would not admit them for to countenance it further, and that they openly declined Communion with it, &s;hould be no Argu|ment for any Prote&s;tant upon Earth to di&s;like its Con&s;titution, but the rather to embrace and &s;up|port it.</P>
<P>How Queen <HI>Maries</HI> Severities increa&s;ed, <HI>Gentle|men,</HI> your <HI>Suffolk</HI> Ance&s;tors &s;oon felt; and if it had not been for the &s;ea&s;onable Re&s;cue of King <HI>William,</HI> we might long before this time have Sorrowfully felt al&s;o, how King <HI>James</HI> would have increa&s;ed; had not King <HI>William</HI> delivered this Church out of all its Imminent and Surpri|zing Perils; and &s;ecured it by his Valour, Policy and Indefatigable Vigilance (exerted both in the Fatigues of the Field, and the Management of the Treaty) and with the Security thereof he hath &s;uperadded the ancient Lu&s;tre to the Realm of <HI>England,</HI> of becoming once more the Ballance to all the Publick Affairs of <HI>Europe.</HI></P>
<P>And he hath plea&s;ed to e&s;pou&s;e it for his Grand and Profe&s;&s;ed De&s;ign, to endeavour to Found us &s;uch a Settlement, as may &s;ecure both our Reli|gious and Civil Rights to our Po&s;terities.</P>
<P>And towards all the&s;e he hath made as vigorous Attempts, as the Policy, Re&s;olution and Integrity
<PB N="29" REF="15">of the mo&s;t Heroick of our Princes, or the Brave&s;t of Men can parallel.</P>
<P>Therefore we have the highe&s;t Obligation to follow that Example of the Grateful <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to|wards King <HI>Solomon,</HI> recorded in 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 8.66. (with with I &s;hall conclude.)</P>
<Q>To Prai&s;e God, and to Pray daily for the long Life and Grandeur of the King; and to re|turn to our Hou&s;es joyful and glad of Heart, for all the Goodne&s;s that the mo&s;t righteous God hath &s;hewed unto his Anointed, and unto us his People.</Q>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="16">
<PB N="31" REF="16">
<HEAD>The Second Sermon.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>Zechariah 7.9, 10.</BIBL>
<P>Thus &s;peaketh the Lord of Ho&s;ts, &s;ay|ing, Execute true Judgment, and &s;hew Mercy and Compa&s;&s;ion every Man to his Brother. And oppre&s;s not the Widow, nor the Fatherle&s;s, the Stranger, nor the Poor, and let none of you imagine Evil again&s;t his Brother in your Heart.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>MY Song &s;hall be now, as <HI>David</HI>'s was, of <HI>Mercy</HI> and <HI>Judgment. Judgment</HI> and <HI>Mercy</HI> are the proper Subjects for this time, in which <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s</HI> and <HI>Peace</HI> will the mo&s;t gracefully ki&s;s each other.</P>
<P>The liberty of the Go&s;pel hath no way abro|gated the Morality of the Law, for <HI>Chri&s;t came not to de&s;troy, but to fulfil it:</HI> So that this Precept
<PB N="32" REF="17">of executing <HI>true Judgment and Merty,</HI> is not at all excluded from the Doctrine of the Son of God, but he ratifies the Commands of his Father, &s;ay|ing,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 7.24.</NOTE> <HI>Judge not according to the Appearance, but judge righteous Judgment.</HI></P>
<P>The Nature of this Judgment is either Poli|tical or Moral; Political, as being proper to a Supreme Governour, and his Subordinate Magi|&s;trates; or Moral, as implying an Equity between Private Men; whereby every Man is bound, both by the Law of God and Nature, to &s;hew Mercy and Compa&s;&s;ion towards his dejected Brother. By the Law of God, becau&s;e he &s;o commands; by the Laws of Men, becau&s;e we are all the Sons of <HI>Adam:</HI> Therefore <HI>execute true Judgment, and &s;hew Mercy.</HI></P>
<P>It will be a proper Introduction to the re&s;t, that I &s;peak generally (though briefly) of Judg|ment in a Politick State: <HI>Jethro</HI> the Father-in-Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ets forth a Pre&s;ident of a righte|ous Judge, according to the Qualities which he ought for to be endued with, &s;aying, <HI>Thou &s;halt provide out of all the People,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 18.21.</NOTE> able Men, &s;uch as fear God, Men of Truth, hating Covetou&s;ne&s;s, and place &s;uch to be Rulers over them.</HI> Able Men, or Men of Courage and Wi&s;dom; they mu&s;t be In|du&s;trious, able to di&s;patch and expedite Cau&s;es, <HI>Valentes Ingenio,</HI> Men of ready Wit and Dexte|rity.</P>
<PB N="33" REF="17">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Con&s;tancy and Strength are requi&s;ite, le&s;t they quit a good Cau&s;e for fear of the Mighty; tho&s;e that have not an adequate Power derived upon them, are dangerou&s;ly Ambitious of &s;uch a Dignity: Therefore &s;aid the Wi&s;e Man, <HI>Seek not to be a Judge, being not able to take away Iniquity, le&s;t at any time thou fear the Per&s;on of the Mighty, and lay a Stumbling-block in the way of thy &V;p|rightne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> They mu&s;t be Men of E&s;tate as well as of Power, of eminent Birth and E&s;timation; therefore <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Fifteenth of <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI> took the chief of the Tribes, Wi&s;e Men and known, and made them Heads over the People.</P>
<P>Our Modern Polititians therefore affirm, <HI>Futius divites quam pauperes in Magi&s;tratum elegantur.</HI> And they mu&s;t be Men fearing God, that being the Foundation of all Virtue: Be&s;ides, if Men of Might fear not God, when in regard of their great and publick Power, they fear not Men, they are apt to fall into many Outrages; but it behoveth him that judgeth others, to have an exact re&s;pect unto his Superor Judge, to whom he mu&s;t give an account of all his Acts; let them look unto God in who&s;e &s;tead they are.</P>
<P>They mu&s;t be Men of Truth, both under&s;tand|ing the Truth, that they may di&s;tingui&s;h right from wrong: And al&s;o Followers of the Truth in their Will and Practi&s;e; for there is a Specu|lative Truth, in Di&s;cerning and Judging; and a
<PB N="34" REF="18">Practicable Truth, in following a right Judg|ment.</P>
<P>They mu&s;t &s;eek out the Truth by Witne&s;&s;es, Writings and Evidences, and having found it out, give Judgment accordingly: And they mu&s;t be Con&s;tant, and not changeable in their Sentences and Decrees; and they mu&s;t hate Covetou&s;ne&s;s, be &s;o far from that meanne&s;s of Spirit, as to have an Abhorrence of it.</P>
<P>God who commands others to do Ju&s;tice, is plea&s;ed for to &s;hew the highe&s;t Example thereof in him&s;elf; in him there is nothing Unju&s;t or Evil, as Coldne&s;s hath no place in Fire, nor Black|ne&s;s in Snow, nor Ob&s;curity in the Sun, no more hath Sin any place in God, nor &s;hould it have any &s;helter or countenance from Men.</P>
<P>This pre&s;cribed Traytor of our Prince, This Out-law'd Fugitive of our Sovereign, &s;hould not be found harboured with them: God hath put the Sword into the Magi&s;trates hand to puni&s;h, and he expects that he &s;hould not bear it in vain, Execution is the Life of the Law; the Execu|tion is as nece&s;&s;ary as the Promulgation. He that hath Authority, and puni&s;heth not Di&s;orders in others, is con&s;equentially guilty of them him&s;elf: But they mu&s;t not puni&s;h more than the Offence, that is too much, and to puni&s;h le&s;s, makes but Offenders In&s;olent and Multitudinous.</P>
<P>Ju&s;tice is <HI>Columna &amp; corona reipublicae,</HI> it is the Cement which holds the general parts of the Body
<PB N="35" REF="18">Politick together, it is as the Nerves and Sinews thereof, and by it the Throne is e&s;tabli&s;hed.</P>
<P>Judges are <HI>Juris indices,</HI> they are <HI>Jus dicere</HI> and <HI>Jus dare,</HI> if they do not, then is the Law weakened and perverted, and made to patronize Evil, and Wickedne&s;s is committed under Authority, and the Law doth turn its edge again&s;t the Innocent; and that which &s;hould be a Defence, becomes a Maze of Briars and Thorns, and the Rod of Ju&s;tice is turned into a Serpent of Subtilty.</P>
<P>And &s;o it is, if the Jurors give not a &s;ound Ver|dict, but make the wor&s;t &s;ide to &s;eem the be&s;t; this were to be wi&s;e to do Evil, and not <HI>verum dicere,</HI> as their Office &s;ignifies. In Ju&s;tice we are not to re&s;pect Per&s;ons (though that be commanded otherwhere, yet it is forbidden here) here the Cau&s;es are to be heard, more than the Parties ob|&s;erved; the Equity of Cau&s;es is to be weighed, not the Quality of Per&s;ons; if otherwi&s;e, it makes the Law but like Spiders Webs, in which the &s;mall Flies are &s;trangled, whil&s;t the great ones e&s;cape and break through. Hence haughty &s;ucce&s;sful Robbers wear Chains of Gold, whil&s;t poor Pilferers are bound with Fetters of Iron.</P>
<P>The taking of Gifts is a &s;ecret Preventer of Ju&s;tice, it makes Men to over-&s;ee God's Laws and the King's; undermines and devours the Hou&s;es of the poor Widow and the de&s;olate Orphan; the&s;e blind the Eyes of the Wi&s;e, and &s;top the
<PB N="36" REF="19">Mouths of the Skillful: To &s;ome Per&s;ons the greate&s;t Evidence is not half &s;o convincing as a &s;ecret Gift; though where Right is, there is the great Point.</P>
<P>It is no wonder that good Cau&s;es fall not out well, if many Hands be open to receive Gifts.</P>
<P>It is no wonder if the Evidence of the Witne&s;&s;es be &s;trained and diverted; but let &s;uch con&s;ider, what mea&s;ure they meet, &s;hall at the la&s;t be mea|&s;ured unto them again; not only by God's Judg|ment hereafter; but upon the Ob&s;ervance of his righteous Vicegerents, this Retribution will over|take them in this Life to their Shame and Sor|row.</P>
<P>Let not tho&s;e therefore that &s;hould be the Sup|porters of others be their Supplanters; but let Ju&s;tice and Equity be &s;o exactly ob&s;erved, that the Voice of Fraud may be no more heard among&s;t us; when the Contentious Violence of Men did overflow the Banks of Right, then would God have the Law take &s;trength to it &s;elf, to curb Mens fiery Pa&s;&s;ions and Attempts: To this end Judges and Officers of the Law were appointed to &s;ee the Laws impartially executed, without wre&s;ting or extorting: This is the end of the Law, the Office of the Judge, and the Occa&s;ion of this time.</P>
<P>The Charge of the Judicial Office is great, therefore to him that gives the Charge, a Charge is given of God, <HI>Thou &s;halt not wre&s;t Judgment;</HI>
<PB N="37" REF="19">thou &s;halt not re&s;pect Per&s;ons, nor take a Gift, for the Judgment is not only before Men, but be|fore God al&s;o.</P>
<P>If they that &s;it in Judgment pro&s;pect him that judgeth all the Earth, in the exactne&s;s of his Judg|ment, and follow it, their Integrity will grow Pro|verbial, Like the Judgment of <HI>Bochoris,</HI> or the Sentence of <HI>Bias;</HI> he that thus &s;etteth him before his Eyes, &s;hall never fear what <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> the <HI>Per|&s;ian</HI> made <HI>Othones</HI> to do, <HI>Se &s;amnem excoriavit, &amp; filium ejus Othonem corio in&s;idere coegit:</HI> For he hath here a great Terror and Re&s;traint, he know|eth that God &s;tandeth in the Congregation of the Judges.</P>
<P>But a People &s;o wi&s;ely Zealous of their Laws and Liberties (as the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI>) will not be ea&s;ily impo&s;ed upon; and &s;uch Sages of the Laws as we have, that admini&s;ter &s;o exactly, need not any &s;uch tremendous Memorials.</P>
<P>As in the Pallace of the <HI>Ottoman Emperor,</HI> four of the mo&s;t Honourable Ba&s;&s;a's &s;it in Judgment in the great Hall, and the Grand Seignior him&s;elf, through a &s;ecret Window, unheard and un&s;een, hears the Complaints of his People, and the Sen|tences of his Judges: So is our Great God con|&s;cious unto all that Men do here, in their Depu|tations under him; they mu&s;t therefore remember that no Greatne&s;s can exempt them from his hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> Cen&s;ure, when they willingly corrupt <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">em|&s;elves.</P>
<P>The <HI>Egyptians</HI> of old would not &s;uffer the Bodies of their Kings to have Royal Interments,
<PB N="38" REF="20">till their Lives were &s;can'd, by a &s;evere Exami|nation of their Management of the Regal Scepter whil&s;t they had it; and as that was approved, their Funeral Honours were augmented or dimi|ni&s;hed; &s;hewing that all Earthly Greatne&s;s hath an undoubted account, whereunto it is liable and &s;toop|eth after Death.</P>
<P>And Ble&s;&s;ed is he who &s;o judgeth here, as that his Judgment may be approved by that Judge there, he which putteth &s;o all Inju&s;tice far from him, and truly di&s;tingui&s;heth between the Righteous and the Wicked, &s;hall be ab&s;olved by that Great Lord, who&s;e Servants he him&s;elf ab&s;olveth, and who&s;e Enemies he condemneth. Ble&s;&s;ed is this Judge as to him&s;elf, and Ble&s;&s;ed are the People over whom he pre&s;ideth.</P>
<P>It is the Judges Bu&s;ine&s;s and Profe&s;&s;ion to do Right; therefore the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Hieroglyphick pain|ted him without Hands, with his Eyes almo&s;t &s;hut, and from his Neck a Saphire hanging down, with this word <HI>Veritas</HI> engraven upon it. He mu&s;t have no Hands for Bribes, no Eyes for Sini&s;ter Re&s;pects, or to re&s;pect Per&s;ons.</P>
<P>To the &s;ame purpo&s;e the Image of <HI>Jupiter</HI> was made in <HI>Creta</HI> without Ears: He mu&s;t have no Ears to hear Importunity again&s;t Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>The <HI>Areopagites</HI> for the &s;ame cau&s;e never &s;ate <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 word"> Judgment in the Day, but in the Night-time alwa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">s, and by an ob&s;cure Light, that they might not be moved by Apparel, Habits, Ge&s;tures or Countenances of the Per&s;ons &s;ummoned before them: And &s;urely Inju&s;tice, though it be a Blemi&s;h
<PB N="39" REF="20">to any Man, yet it is not half &s;o much a Blemi&s;h to another Man as to a Judge; di&s;ta&s;tful it is in any, but mo&s;t of all in him.</P>
<P>And if Right be thus the Pole-&s;tar of all Judges in their Judicial Actions, we mu&s;t conceive it to be &s;o too in all others, in their Actions Subordinate to Judicial; yea, we mu&s;t give it the due Extent of it.</P>
<P>If the Judge mu&s;t Decree right, the Accu&s;er al&s;o mu&s;t Object right, the Witne&s;s mu&s;t Te&s;tifie right, the Learned Coun&s;ellor mu&s;t Plead right, and the Jury mu&s;t Find right, <HI>&V;ltimus finis dat me|diis ordinem &amp; men&s;uram,</HI> all the&s;e will be Plane|tical &s;ometimes, and have the proper Motions of their own Sphere, the Plaintiff is hot and fiery like <HI>Mars;</HI> the Defendant is Sullen and Froward like <HI>Saturn,</HI> the Advocate is Crafty and Wily like <HI>Mer|cury,</HI> the Witne&s;s is Variable and Changeable like <HI>Luna;</HI> but the Judge, like to the highe&s;t Orb of the Heavens, mu&s;t over-rule all the&s;e inferior Spheres of the Planets, and carry them all along in his own diurnal Motion with him&s;elf.</P>
<P>But e&s;pecially the Advocate mu&s;t be looked into, that he may not too lightly di&s;pen&s;e with him&s;elf, he thinks, though others are bound to the Right, yet he may Sophi&s;ticate and plead wrong; but Equity and Right is the Scope that he ought to aim at; if he will not give Right an helping hand, he &s;hould give it none at all.</P>
<P>The general Calling of a good Chri&s;tian, is pre|&s;uppo&s;ed in all particular Callings, a Souldier mu&s;t live by Fighting, but not in fighting a wicked
<PB N="40" REF="21">Quarrel; and he that Pleads &s;hould live honourably by it, but not in bol&s;tering Oppre&s;&s;ions again&s;t the Orphan and the Widow.</P>
<P>St. <HI>Tertullian</HI> in his Book of Idolatry, condemns all tho&s;e Chri&s;tians mo&s;t deeply, who being Car|vers, Painters, or Embroiderers, would do any Work what&s;oever which had the lea&s;t and re|mote&s;t Subordination to the decking of an Heathen Idol.</P>
<P>It were a goodly matter if the Pilot &s;hould be bound to arrive at (or &s;teer to) the right Haven, and the Oar-men be permitted to row towards the wrong: 'Twere a pretty devi&s;e, if the Captain were tied to lead the Army to the place of right Service, and the Sentinels have licen&s;e to mi&s; in|form him: And what were it then, if the Judge were enjoyned to award the true Sentence, and the Advocate be &s;uffered to patronize the fal&s;e.</P>
<P>The famous Civilian <HI>Papinianus,</HI> rather than he would defend the Emperor <HI>Caracalla</HI>'s barbarous Murther of his Brother, willingly admitted of death under that bloody Tyrant.</P>
<P>And which you will more wonder at, the no le&s;s &s;amous <HI>Ce&s;elius</HI> in his Age, he would never be brought by Favour or Fear, &s;o much as to draw a Conveiance of any of tho&s;e Lands, which <HI>An|thony</HI> and his Fellow-Triumvirs had given away in the Oppre&s;&s;ion of the Roman Liberties.</P>
<P>Famous may the Memory be of &s;uch Spirits, and long may the like flouri&s;h, and deterr or a&s;hame our Advocates from &s;upporting corrupt Cau&s;es for large Fees: For their Pleadings ought
<PB N="41" REF="21">not to be con&s;idered as Sophi&s;ters Acts, tending to the O&s;tentation and Exerci&s;e of Wit, but are &s;erious and important Proceedings, that ought to aim totally at Equity and Right.</P>
<P>But the Text &s;eemeth to require me to &s;peak &s;omething of the Moral Equity that ought to be betwixt private Per&s;ons: And that this may be more exerci&s;ed, I will with the Prophet wi&s;h you by way of intreaty, to <HI>Execute true Judgment, Lex talionis,</HI> the Law of like for like is of great Antiquity, common as well with the <HI>Gentiles</HI> by the Law of Nature, as with the <HI>Jews</HI> by the Law of God, whereby we are taught not to u&s;e others as we would not be u&s;ed our &s;elves; to which ac|cords that of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, <HI>What&s;oever you would that Men &s;hould do unto you, even &s;o do unto them, for this is the Law and the Pro|phets.</HI></P>
<P>In the&s;e Admonitions we are taught <HI>Mercy and Compa&s;&s;ion</HI> when we have our Adver&s;ary in a &s;traight, and to forgive the Delinquences of our Neighbours, as we hope to receive a Remi&s;&s;ion of our Tre&s;pa&s;&s;es committed again&s;t the Supreme Judge and Father of us all: For after the Exe|cution of true Judgment, we are admoni&s;hed for to &s;hew Mercy.</P>
<P>Among&s;t the Heathens, the great <HI>Alexander</HI> is reported to have taken greater delight in Pardon|ing than Puni&s;hing an Offender. When <HI>Bias</HI> came to the Condemning of a Man he wept; and <HI>Cicero</HI> profe&s;&s;ed, <HI>Cum pareere vel ledere poru|i&s;&s;em,
<PB N="42" REF="22">igno&s;cende quaereham cau&s;as, non puniendi oc|ca&s;iones;</HI> but to induce us by a greater Authority, God Almighty is our Pre&s;ident, and he is &s;tiled <HI>Merciful and Long-&s;uffering,</HI> and we by our Lord's Command &s;hould be the like, <HI>Be you Merciful as your Heavenly Father is Merciful:</HI> And he adds thereunto a Benediction, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the Merciful, for they &s;hall obtain Mercy.</HI></P>
<P>Let us therefore make no Separation between <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>Mercy,</HI> but execute both truly: Let us be blind to in&s;inuating Impo&s;tors, and deaf to palli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ting Flatterers; it were better to want Sen&s;e, tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> to judge an unrighteous Judgment, either erring again&s;t Ju&s;tice or Mercy.</P>
<P>God required of the <HI>Jews,</HI> as a Demon&s;tration of their Repentance,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58.6, 7.</NOTE> <HI>To loo&s;e the Bands of Wick|edne&s;s, to undo the heavy Burdens, and to let the Oppre&s;&s;ed go free, and that they &s;hould break every Yoke, to deal their Bread to the Hungry, and to bring the Poor that are ca&s;t out to their Hou&s;es, and when they &s;aw the Naked that they cover them, and that they &s;hould not hide them&s;elves from their own Fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>Afflict not the Poor, was the Precept of an anclent Philo&s;opher, and &s;uitably the Prophet in the Text excites Mankind by way of Prohibition, not to oppre&s;s any Subject to Oppre&s;&s;ion; <HI>the W<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">|dow, nor the Fatherle&s;s;</HI> the <HI>Stringer, nor the Poor; and let none of you imagine Evil again&s;t his Brother in yo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">r heart.</HI></P>
<P>The Sin of Oppre&s;&s;ion in former times was ex|pi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ted by Death or Bani&s;hment, as may be &s;een
<PB N="43" REF="22">by &s;ome Edicts of our ancient Kings: It was con|demned of old by the Prophet <HI>Amos, Woe to them that make the Ephah &s;mall, but the Shekel great;</HI> to oppo&s;e the Oppre&s;&s;ion of the Widow, let there be the Love of an Husband; of an Orphan, let there be the Affection of a Father; of a Stranger, let there be the Ho&s;pitality of <HI>Abraham;</HI> of the Poor, let there be the Charity of <HI>Job,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 29.12, &amp;c.</NOTE> He <HI>delivered the Poor that cried, the Fatherle&s;s, and him that had none to help him. The Ble&s;&s;ing of him that was ready to peri&s;h came upon</HI> him. <HI>And</HI> he <HI>cau&s;ed the Widows heart to &s;ing for joy.</HI> He <HI>put on Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, and it cloathed him;</HI> and <HI>Judgment was</HI> to him <HI>as a Robe and a Diadem.</HI> He <HI>was Eyes to the Blind, and Feet to the Lame.</HI> He <HI>was a Fa|ther to the Poor; and the cau&s;e which</HI> he <HI>knew not,</HI> he <HI>&s;earched out.</HI> Then he <HI>brake the Jaws of the Wicked, and plucked the Spoil out of his Teeth.</HI> Then <HI>was</HI> his <HI>Glory fre&s;h in</HI> him, <HI>and</HI> his <HI>Bow was renewed in</HI> his <HI>hand.</HI> He relieved the Nece&s;&s;ities of di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Widowhood, and was a Father to the di&s;abled Orphans.</P>
<P>As we hear the Complaints and Cries of others that are overwhelmed with Calamities, &s;o God will hear us, and as we behold them; &s;o will he behold us: Therefore &s;top not your Ears at the Cry of the Poor, for who&s;e doth, he him&s;elf al&s;o &s;hall cry aloud, and not be heard.</P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> pronounceth <HI>Woe unto them that decree unrighteous Decrees, and write grievou&s;ne&s;s which they have pre&s;cribed:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 10.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> To tarn a&s;ide the Needy from Judgment, and to take away Right from the
<PB N="44" REF="23">Poor of the People, that Widows may be their Prey, and that they may rob the Fatherle&s;s. What will</HI> they <HI>do in the day of Vi&s;itation, and in the De&s;olation that &s;hall come from far? To whom</HI> can they <HI>flee for help? and where will they leave their Glory?</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>Micah,</HI> Chap. 2. Ver. 1, 2, 3. de|nounceth <HI>Woe again&s;t them that practice Mi&s;chief as often as it is in the power of their hands; That covet Fields, and take them by force; and Hou&s;es, and take them violently. Therefore thus &s;aith the Lord, Behold, again&s;t the Family that doth oppre&s;s a Man and his Hou&s;e, do I devi&s;e an evil, from which they &s;hall not remove their Necks.</HI> The Redeemer of the Poor and Afflicted is Mighty, and he will plead their Cau&s;e with their Oppre&s;&s;ors. <HI>Cur&s;ed</HI> (&s;aith the great Law giver) <HI>be he that perverteth the Judgment of the Stranger, Fatherle&s;s and Wi|dow, and all the People &s;hall &s;ay, Amen.</HI> And this is repeated upon &s;olemne&s;t time (in the Com|mination) by the con&s;tant Practice of our Church. Oppre&s;s not a Stranger, injure him not by Word or Deed, neither &s;ecretly by Fraud, nor openly by Violence; but in&s;tead of Injury &s;hew Kindne&s;s: We may learn a Pre&s;ident from the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> who were Strangers and Bond &s;laves in <HI>Egypt,</HI> they did feel by Experience, what it was for to u&s;e Stran|gers cruelly, and learn'd by that Experience (and by God's e&s;pecial Command) to have Com|pa&s;&s;ion upon others.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, there are many Rea&s;ons why Strangers &s;hould be re&s;pected, Men of every Nation, Lan|guage and Country, have originally one common
<PB N="45" REF="23">Father, and have the Stamp of the &s;ame Omnipo|tency upon them.</P>
<P>The next kind of Oppre&s;&s;ion is of the Widow and Fatherle&s;s; as we are to &s;hew Pitty and Com|pa&s;&s;ion to Strangers that are in Mi&s;ery, &s;o we are al&s;o to &s;hew Pitty to them that are in Mi&s;ery which are no Strangers, as Widows and Orphans. As we mu&s;t not turn a&s;ide the Stranger from his Right, neither mu&s;t we the Widow or the Father|le&s;s; if Men regard not their Tears, their God will; and whom they Contemn, he will Favour; though none at all are to be wronged and afflicted, yet the&s;e e&s;pecially mu&s;t not be hurt, <HI>Quia defen|&s;orem non habent</HI> (&s;aith good St. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI>) the one wanteth a Father, and the other an Hus|band.</P>
<P><HI>Oppre&s;s not the Poor</HI> (&s;aith the Text) in gene|ral; the Poor are commonly oppre&s;&s;ed by Extor|tion in U&s;ury; this is not felt much in the be|ginning, but at the la&s;t, <HI>Devorat totam hominis &s;ub&s;tantiam,</HI> the&s;e Extortioners live upon the Poor, and eat them up by their Severities, like Savage Bea&s;ts, by biting of others they feed them&s;elves; the Men I &s;peak of, are &s;uch as make an unrea|&s;onable and illegal Gain of Money, catching at the pre&s;ent Nece&s;&s;ity of others.</P>
<P>The&s;e Men con&s;ider not, that they are <HI>not to oppre&s;s the Widow, nor the Fatherle&s;s, the Stranger, nor the Poor.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Oppre&s;s not,</HI> out of the&s;e Prohibitions, we mu&s;t look to do their contraries; &s;ince <HI>the Lord of Ho&s;ts</HI>
<PB N="46" REF="24">in the Text, hath commanded us for to <HI>&s;hew Com|pa&s;&s;ion every Man to his Brother, and that none of us &s;hould imagine Evil again&s;t his Brother in his heart.</HI></P>
<P>In the Text (you have &s;een) there are four Precepts, two Imperative, and two Prohibitive: The fir&s;t two, of <HI>Judgment</HI> and <HI>Mercy;</HI> the &s;econd, of <HI>Oppre&s;&s;ion</HI> and <HI>Malice.</HI></P>
<P>The Imperative Precepts are, <HI>Execute true Judg|ment, and &s;hew Mercy and Compa&s;&s;ion every Man to his Brother.</HI></P>
<P>The Prohibitive Precepts; <HI>Oppre&s;s not the Widow, not the Fatherle&s;s, the Stranger, nor the Poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his Brother in your heart.</HI></P>
<P>The Author of them both is God, <HI>Thus &s;peaketh the Lord of Ho&s;ts, &s;aying.</HI></P>
<P>I have fini&s;hed all the Parts, except the very la&s;t, which prohibits Malice; <HI>And let none of you imagine Evil again&s;t his Brother in your heart.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall for order &s;ake (now in the Conclu&s;ion) &s;peak of this branch of the Text, and &s;omewhat the more largely, becau&s;e it is to be pre&s;umed, that In&s;olence and cro&s;&s;ne&s;s of Temper brings many Per&s;ons hither; and that their Pro&s;ecutions are rather the Effects of Malice, than De&s;ires of Right; &s;uch Mens impertinent, but evil and mi&s;|chievous Imaginations, give unnece&s;&s;ary Trouble to the Court and Country, and de&s;erve the Magi|&s;trates
<PB N="47" REF="24">Reproofs, and to meet with Deri&s;ion and Di&s;appointment from all men.</P>
<P>As the Heart is the beginning of Life, and the Elaboratory of the vital Spirits, &s;o it is the Maga|zine and Store-hou&s;e of Humane Cogitations whi|ther good or bad, and whereon, as upon an Anvil, are forged tho&s;e Thoughts which the Tongue its In&s;trument brings to light; for &s;o our Ble&s;&s;ed Lord informs us,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 12.34.</NOTE> That <HI>out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth &s;peaketh. A good Man out of the good Trea&s;ure of the Heart, bringeth forth good things; and an evil Man out of the evil Trea&s;ure, bringeth forth evil things. Out of the Heart</HI> (&s;aith our Lord) <HI>proceed evil Thoughts, Murders, Adul|teries, Fornications, Thefts, Fal&s;e-witne&s;s, Bla&s;phe|mies;</HI> therefore the Holy Prophet &s;hut up his Ex|hortation with a Prohibition from &s;uch Offences, nominating the place wherein they have re&s;idence, <HI>and let none of you imagine evil again&s;t his Brother in your heart.</HI></P>
<P>Here ob&s;erve fir&s;t, The Offence and Imagina|tion of Evil made apparent by Bla&s;phemy, Envy, Calumny, Revenge, Fal&s;e-witne&s;s, Murder.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> The Re&s;idence of that Evil, in the Heart, <HI>let none of you imagine evil again&s;t his Bro|ther in your heart.</HI></P>
<P>'Tis a Negative Precept, whereby we are here fir&s;t, and by St. <HI>Paul</HI> afterwards, commanded to ab&s;tain from all appearances of Evil; here from evil Thoughts, there from evil Actions; for &s;eldom
<PB N="48" REF="25">doth a perver&s;e Imagination &s;et a Brood, but it hatcheth &s;ome di&s;mal Exploit.</P>
<P>Thus he that gives him&s;elf to imagine Evil, will at la&s;t proceed to give Fal&s;e-witne&s;s; fir&s;t privately, and then publickly in Judgment; and in Judicial Acts this is diver&s;ly committed:</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> By the fal&s;e and unju&s;t Accu&s;er; and therefore the Law admoni&s;heth, <HI>Lev.</HI> 19. <HI>Thou &s;halt not &s;tand again&s;t the Blood of thy Neighbour, thou &s;halt not accu&s;e him wrongfully, and bring his Life in danger.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> By the Magi&s;trate who pronounceth an indirect Sentence.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> By corrupt Advocates that patronize fal&s;e Titles, as <HI>Tertullus</HI> abu&s;ed his Eloquence in di&s;gracing St. <HI>Paul, Acts</HI> 24. any way to be a Fal&s;e Witne&s;s, is a grievous thing; he commits Sin in the Violation of Ju&s;tice, and by Lying and Perjury; in every fal&s;e Te&s;timony a Man Sins again&s;t God, oppre&s;&s;eth the Innocent, and con|demneth his own Soul. For Fal&s;e-witne&s;s, the Puni&s;hment by the Law of God was Retalia|tion. <HI>If the witne&s;s be a Fal&s;e-witne&s;s, and &s;hall te&s;tifie fal&s;ly again&s;t his Brother; then &s;hall you do unto him, as he thought to have done unto his Bro|ther,</HI> Deut. 19.18, 19.</P>
<P>So <HI>Haman</HI> was ju&s;tly hanged on the &s;ame Gib|bet that he had &s;et up for <HI>Mordecai;</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Accu&s;ers were ca&s;t into the Lion's Den, whi|ther he was before condemned. Fal&s;e Witne&s;&s;es were by the Edict of the ancient <HI>Romans,</HI> thrown down as Malefactors from the <HI>Tarpeian-hill.</HI></P>
<PB N="49" REF="25">
<P>This Malady hath its original in the Heart of Man, but the Searcher of Hearts can find all out, there is no di&s;&s;embling with him that knows the very Thoughts thereof. Though <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> could not, yet God can immediately &s;ee through the mo&s;t curious Umbrages and lying Te&s;timonials which the mo&s;t Politick <HI>Gibeonites</HI> can invent, though Fal&s;ities were never &s;o cunningly couched, he will find them out, though a <HI>French</HI> Tongue con|&s;pired with a <HI>Spani&s;h</HI> Arrogance to frame a Greeki&s;h Lye.</P>
<P>Therefore God will avenge the Hurt that we do to an Innocent Neighbour, if we Bla&s;pheme him either in Name, or in Per&s;on, as <HI>Jezebel</HI> pro|cured <HI>Naboth</HI> to be thought a Bla&s;phemer of God and the King, and thereupon had him-Murthered: Of this &s;ort of Calumny or Backbiting there are four kinds.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Men begin with Evil Su&s;picions, of which <HI>Eliab</HI> was guilty, when he &s;aid to his Brother <HI>David, I know thy Pride, and the Naughtine&s;s of thy Heart,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 17.28.</NOTE> <HI>for thou art come down that thou mighte&s;t &s;ee the Battel.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> They proceed therein, having itching Ears ready and open to receive Detractions; &s;uch were <HI>Saul</HI>'s, who leaned to tho&s;e Promoters that informed again&s;t <HI>David,</HI> till <HI>David</HI> demon&s;trated them to be fal&s;e Men, by his &s;paring of <HI>Saul</HI>'s Life in the Cave at <HI>Engaddi.</HI></P>
<P>The third procedure in this Vice, is by Ra&s;hne&s;s in Judging; but this our Lord forbids in the&s;e pregnant words, <HI>Judge not, and you &s;hall not be judged.</HI>
<PB N="50" REF="26">And this Evil is fini&s;hed by a continual but an unhappy Inclination or malicious De&s;ire of Back|biting, the Laws utterly forbids this, <HI>Lev.</HI> 19.16. <HI>Thou &s;halt not go up and down as a Tail bearer amongst thy People:</HI> The&s;e being the mo&s;t Pe&s;ti|lent &s;ort of Vagabonds, &s;hould be whip'd from every Hou&s;e.</P>
<P>He that Back-bites his Neighbour, hath Satan in his Mouth; he that hears the Calumny, hath him in his Ear; and he that believes it, hath him in his Heart, having ca&s;t out Charity, which is the Bond of Peace.</P>
<P>The Puni&s;hment that the Witty Comedian a lots them is, That all Libellers &s;hould hang the Hearers by the Ears, and the Detractors by the Tongues. To credit Fal&s;e Reports and Seditious News, is a &s;ign of malevolent Manners, or of childi&s;h Con|ditions: And therefore the Philo&s;opher being asked what Bea&s;t did bite the &s;oare&s;t, an&s;wered, Of wild Bea&s;ts, a Detractor; and of tame, a Flat|terer.</P>
<P>Therefore hath our Great God forbidden all evil Surmi&s;es; yet having an Eye to our Frailty, he would &s;tint us betimes, le&s;t we &s;hould proceed to wicked Practices; therefore he &s;tops the next I&s;&s;ue of an evil Heart, &s;aying, <HI>Thou &s;halt not bear Fal&s;e-witne&s;s again&s;t thy Neighbour;</HI> forewarn|ing us again&s;t all Untruths and fal&s;e Evidences. We mu&s;t not admit of evil Thoughts, for the&s;e are the fir&s;t Actors of our Brothers Tragedy, for out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts, Fal&s;e-witne&s;s, Murthers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Here the Scene of bloody
<PB N="51" REF="26">Thoughts is fini&s;hed, for Murther is either In|ternal or External; the Internal likewi&s;e is Two|fold, either conceived, as in Anger, Hatred, De|&s;ire of Revenge, or el&s;e permitted by con&s;enting to another Man's Death, <HI>Who knowing the Judg|ment of God, (that they who do &s;uch things are worthy of death) not only do the &s;ame, but have plea&s;ure in, or favour them that do them,</HI> Rom. 1.32.</P>
<P>The External is actually committed by hand, as Wounding, and &s;o con&s;equently Slaying; by the Mouth, as Reviling, and giving Pernicious Coun&s;el; by Help, as admini&s;tring Aid, and &s;o being acce&s;&s;ary to the Murther: This External Murther is either wi&s;hed in Words, attempted in Ge&s;tures, or perpetrated in Deed.</P>
<P>There is an External Act of Murther likewi&s;e forbidden, that is committed by ha&s;ty Rage, Ma|lice, Envy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The Law of God is Spiritual, and therefore it binds not only the Hands and Tongue, but the Heart and Affections al&s;o: As our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, the be&s;t Interpreter of the Law teacheth; He that is angry with his Brother without a cau&s;e, in re|&s;pect of his own Will and Purpo&s;e, hath com|mitted Man-&s;laughter; and therefore the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>He that hateth his Brother is a Man-&s;layer,</HI> 1. <HI>John</HI> 3.15.</P>
<P>A good Phy&s;ician doth not only take away the Evil that is apparent, but al&s;o removes the very Root of the Di&s;ea&s;e; therefore our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour not only forbids to take heed of Murther, but of
<PB N="52" REF="27">Anger al&s;o; for Homicide and Murther are en|gendered by Anger and Rage.</P>
<P>You have now heard the Effects which an Evil Heart doth produce, the Inconveniencies that it en&s;nares the Soul of Man with, let none of us therefore be &s;o defrauded and &s;educed, but rather to <HI>Execute true Judgment, and &s;hew Mercy and Com|pa&s;&s;ion every Man to his Brother; and oppre&s;s not the Widow, nor the Fatherle&s;s, the Stranger, nor the Poor, and let none of you imagine evil again&s;t his Brother in your Heart.</HI></P>
<P>That none of the&s;e Evils may be countenanced, the Laws of God and of this Realm have con&s;ti|tuted Judges and Officers to ob&s;erve, and to for|bid and puni&s;h them.</P>
<P>And it did plea&s;e Almighty God, to &s;et before us the very Model of executing Ju&s;tice, by &s;end|ing his great Officers upon the place to make their Inque&s;t; (which Method our Wi&s;e Laws have therefore e&s;pou&s;ed,) and my Lords the King's Judges pur&s;ue it now in their &s;everal Circuits. 'Tis in 1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.15, 16, 17. <HI>And</HI> Samuel <HI>judged</HI> I&s;rael <HI>all the days of his Life. And he went from year to year in Circuit to</HI> Bethel, <HI>and</HI> Gilgal, <HI>and</HI> Mizpeh, <HI>and judged</HI> I&s;rael <HI>in all tho&s;e places. And his return was to</HI> Ramah, <HI>for there was his Hou&s;e, and there he judged</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and there he built an Altar unto the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Samuel</HI> began at <HI>Bethel</HI> where was the Hou&s;e of God, and at the fini&s;hing of his Circuit at
<PB N="53" REF="27"><HI>Ramah</HI> he built an Altar and prai&s;ed God; which is the Foundation of this Honourable and Solemn Audience, before which I having made &s;uch &s;uit|able Ob&s;ervations (upon the Text) as the time and the publick Affairs will admit of.</P>
<P>I will clo&s;e up all with a very few words of general Advice, and publick Exhortation, de&s;iring every Per&s;on in this great A&s;&s;embly, &s;eriou&s;ly to con&s;ider, as it becomes them in their Allegiance, That as on the one &s;ide the King's Maje&s;ty hath ended the late War gloriou&s;ly, and is rai&s;ing a &s;olid and defen&s;ive Super&s;tructure upon the Foun|dation of the Peace: So the late unparallell'd Par|liament (that Phenix-like can only ari&s;e again out of its own A&s;hes of Di&s;&s;olution) hath gratefully and honourably provided for the King's Support, that he may enjoy the compleat Lu&s;tre and Repo&s;e of his Succe&s;&s;es. And indeed, they that were not Zealous to Support our King, might ju&s;tly have been &s;u&s;pected to be in Pen&s;ion with a Forreign King.</P>
<P>Our Dangers di&s;appear and vani&s;h, and our Charges will begin to le&s;&s;en, which though for many Years they have been great, yet were they our very Security.</P>
<P>Since therefore our publick Charges, as well as our publick Hazards, will decline together, (unle&s;s evil and fooli&s;h Men, by clamouring un&s;ea&s;onably again&s;t them, entail them upon them&s;elves and
<PB N="54" REF="28">us too) Let us unite in Amity and Friend&s;hip; and forget all Names of Di&s;tinction, and decline all peevi&s;h and clande&s;tine Projects one again&s;t ano|ther: Then a&s;&s;uredly will our Enemies be weakened and infatuated by our Reconciliation, and our own Intere&s;ts be &s;trengthned and e&s;tabli&s;hed; So that every di&s;creet Ob&s;erver may &s;ay with Holy <HI>David:</HI>
<Q>Behold! How good and joyful a thing it is, for Brethren to dwell together in &V;nity.</Q></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
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