we are and which part of the World is our Situation It is another proof of our Ignorance yea of the defectibility of our Senses that we dispute whether the Earth moves or no. A great many Learned and Wise Men of late and some profess'd Mathematicians not the worst Judges in the case hold it doth and yet ten thousand of Considerate heads before this never thought of it And our Senses tell us no such thing but the contrary viz. that the Earth stands Still and is Immoveable This is certain that the Sense and Feeling of all men in the world are mistaken and about their Proper Object and that Continually which is somewhat hard to digest or else the Earth is not moved is not a Planet hath no diurnal Revolution That the doctrine of the Earth is Obscure and Difficult we have a Remarkable Proof in the late Theorists and others that have appear'd on the stage They have been pleas'd to thrust very Harsh and Incredible things upon us and to speak freely there are some of them that are so far from explaining and giving a rational account of the Phâ—nomena of the Earth that they have rendred this doctrine more obscure and perplexed than ever it was besides that they have entrench'd upon the Mosaick Verity and have abandon'd that Account of the Creation and particularly of the Earth which the Inspired Writer hath delivered This is certain that seeing they run a tilt against one another they cannot all of them be in the right about their notions of the Earth and it is a question whether any of them have light upon the Truth excepting what One of them hath deliver'd as matter of Fact and built upon Clear Experiment and Observation which we owe to his Indefatigable Industry and Great Sagacity In brief it must be acknowledg'd that they are very Ingenious and Learned Conjectures but some of their respective Hypothesis and Solutions are loaded with such Difficulties for on that account it is that I mention these things they are loaded I say and oppress'd with such Difficulties as are able to stifle and choak not only the restif and hide-bound Faith of a Socinian but the ordinary belief and assent of a Plain Philosopher be he never so Credulous Then if we come to Particulars belonging to this Terrestrial Globe with what Perplexities are we beset Are not only the Old but the New Opinions concerning them every day quarrell'd with and their Celebrated Authors and Founders turn'd out of the Schools And what is the Reason Because of the Uncertainty Difficulty and Mystery in every thing How unsearchable are the most common and obvious Operations of Nature Who can by any Material Cause solve the Cohesion of parts in bodies Who can assign the True Principle of Gravity or the Cause of the Flowing and Ebbing of the Sea or of the Attraction of the Load-stone or of several other things of that nature To instance more particularly in a Plant tell me if you can the Pedegree of this poor Vegetable blazon the Coat of its Seminal Form Say wherein consists the Life and Death of this sort of beings Shew me exactly how a few Seeds buried in the Earth and entomb'd with clods have so flourishing a Resurrection Give an account of the whole series and progress of their Motion the gradual and successive process of Vegetation in the root fibres pith stalks branches blossoms flowers leaves fruit and by what Rules they direct their course so methodically How is it that they stop at such a Stature and just Proportion What causes the Diversity of their Shape and Figure of their Colour and Smell what produces the excellent variety of their Qualities and Vertues There is no man upon earth whatever pretences he may make is able throughly to resolve himself or others about all or any of these Queries If I should pass to the Mineral Regions there a Celebrated Vertuoso tell us 't is acknowledg'd by a Great Naturalist That it is impossible for one man to understand throughly the nature of Antimony and how then shall he know all the rest of the Subterraneous World And then in the Animal Kingdom there are yet more Puzzling Enquiries the Remarkable Rarieties in the contexture of a despicable Insect are enough to entertain a Man's study all his days if he had nothing else to do and at last he would have cause to complain that he hath found out but little For as a Judicious Enquirer tells us Never was the man yet in the world that could give an accurate account of the nature of a Flie or a Worm in its full comprehension It hath pass'd for current doctrine that Insects are frequently begot of Putrified matter as well as by Univocal Generation but several late Vertuoso's of the First Rate pour in upon us abundance of Experiments to prove that there is not the most Minute Animal that is by Equivocal Production Cochenile hath been thought to belong to Plants but an Inquisitive Author of late hath discarded that Vulgar Notion and tells us it is not a Plant but a Living Creature it is not a Grain but a kind of Insect for thus his Microscope hath taught him to determine In many other Instances it might be proved that most of our late Learning in Natural Philosophy hath been to shew that what hath been formerly said is false And as for Our selves who are Perfecter Creatures we are Walking Problems we are Talking Wonders we carry about with us even in our Bodies a Complication of Mysteries But if we speak of the Incorporeal part of us then we are environ'd with much greater Darkness and Wonders It is an undeniable demonstration of our Ignorance and Weak Conceptions that we know so little of our Souls the things by which we know all that we know A mans Mind is the Inmost thing he hath nothing is so Near to him and Intimate with him and yet the many disputes and contests of Learned Writers about its Nature and Functions and the manner and method of its Operations acquaint us how obscure and uncertain mens notions are concerning it Especially we are yet to seek how a being that is wholly Bodiless is able to lay hold on Matter to actuate and inform it No man can tell how the Soul causes Motion by Thought or how by the same way it is able to put a stop to bodily motion We experience this to be true but it will puzzle us to give an account of the Manner of it It is no more to be explain'd and apprehended how the Humane Mind can think or will the Animal Spirits into Action than that a man should by his Thoughts or Will command the Winds to blow or the Flames to burn for the Spirits of the body being Material are no more capable in themselves of being thus actuated by the Soul than the others are And lastly though we know we have a Soul and are as certain of it as any
Place and all Men stand gazing at them Rulers that are Vitious like Vzziah carry their Leprosy in their Foreheads their Crimes are exposed to every ones View and it is a wonder if some do not Imitate them as Men usually do the Actions and even the Imperfections of their Superiors Their Care then must be to Cherish Vertue in themselves and to Patronize it in others both by their Authority and Example The Interest of Religion and of the Church among other Matters yea and above them is their Province Of the Church I say for which the World was chiefly made and Commonwealths first Instituted and Civil Societies have ever since been maintained Be perswaded that the promoting of Religion and God's Honour is the proper Task of the Magistrate as well as the Minister And now especially in a declining Age when Religion is rendred Ridiculous and Vertue is grown Unfashionable and a Strict and Circumspect Walking is counted too Demure Now I say you are more especially oblig'd to Befriend the Cause of Religion and to take her part when she hath so many Enemies and Opposers This is that which will administer the most Comfortable Reflections to you when you come to leave the World For he that saith Ye are Gods saith likewise That ye shall die And this Conducts me to the Second General Part of the Text of which I will speak but a few words and so put a Period to my Discourse After the Honourable Concession follows a Peremptory Correction I have already considered the Dignity and Prerogative of the Magistrates Office I am now to Conclude with the Infirmity of their Persons their Obnoxiousness to Death and Dissolution Ye shall die like Men and fall like one of the Princes It is supposed in these words that they must die as to their Place and Office And then what Anguish and Regret must needs overwhelm their Minds when they look back on any of those Unlawful and Unjust things which were done by them A Magistrate that hath any Sense of the High Character he bears knows this That he hath an Account to make to Himself when he leaves his Place And how Dismal and Deplorable will it be if upon recounting his past Carriage he be forced to say of himself as the Historian of Caligula Tho' some things were done by me which were not unbecoming a Man in Place yet for the most part my Behaviour was more like that of a Monster than of a Magistrate With what Terrors will such a Person be filled when he considers that he is in part Guilty of all the Debauchery and Prophaneness all the Disorders and Enormities which he might and ought to have prevented but did not This is a thing which deserves your most serious Thoughts Again this Clause may be look'd upon as a Threatning for the Abuse of their Places They shall die they shall not go Unpunish'd here and hereafter if they Discharge not their Publick Trust with Sincerity and Faitfulness They shall not only die as Men as you shall hear in the next Particular but as Offenders Death shall transmit them to an Impartial and Severe Judgment Magistrates and Ministers of Justice who sit on the Bench and Judge others must appear themselves before the Last and Dreadful Tribunal and there render an Account of their Behaviour and Answer for all that they have done Government and Great Offices will not Priviledge them from this The Title of Gods will not avail them but will rather aggravate and inhanse their Misery for how intolerable will it be to enter into the Portion of Evil Demons and Damned Spirits after they have born the Name of Gods here upon Earth Lastly To confine my self to the bare words of the Text the Psalmist here humbles the Magistrate after he had Exalted him and at the same time he teaches him how to Deport himself whilst he is in Place and Dignity He must then think of the Fate and Mortality which are common to him with the meanest Persons It was rightly said by One of your Order All Precepts concerning Kings and Magistrates are in effect comprehended in these two Remembrances Remember that you are Gods and Remember that you are Men The one Bridles their Will the other their Power The Text presents you with both these Considerations and now I am concluding all with the latter of them viz. the Memento that they are Men. Magistrates are of a different Make and Composure Look on one side and they are Gods but look on them on the other and they are Mortal Men. Ye shall die like Men like Adam so 't is according to the Original like the First Parent of Mankind and as the whole Race of Adam ever since for ye are no better than your Fathers That of Pliny in his Panegyrick to Trajan is almost the only Passage in it that is void of Flattery Princes saith he though they seem to themselves and others too to be Gods yet they are as short-liv'd as other Men. Here indeed we must be Plain with the Greatest Men though they are such yet Death will despoil them of this Character and strip them of all the Badges and Ensigns of Authority and will make them equal with others in the Grave This Part of my Text puts me in mind of two or three remarkable Passages that are upon Antient Record The Crier at Rome used to follow the Chariot of the Triumphant and cry to him after this Fashion Remember that Thou art Mortal Be mindful of this in the midst of these Triumphal Ovations that you must leave the World as goodly and Glorious as your Procession is now And Philip the Famous King of Macedon after a great Victory that he had obtained over the Athenians ordered a Youth to come to him every Morning and to refresh his Memory after the same manner i.e. to tell him that he was but a Man And with Pagan let me mix Christian Story The Grecian Emperors on the day of their Coronation used to have several Marble-Stones of divers Colours presented to them to make Choice of which sort of them they thought fit to have their Sepulchral Monuments made of So here by the Psalmist the Magistrates Dignity and Mortality are remembred together Here is their Solemn Inauguration I have said Ye are Gods and then their Funerals Ye shall die like Men. It is good to mix these together and accordingly in the midst of your Glories and Honours I have presumed to remind you of your Leaving of them This latter Consideration if effectually managed is able to Instruct you in your Whole Duty and the best Discharge of it For though it is the Epicure's Catch Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die yet Solomon's Argument runs quite counter to it Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest Eccl. ix 10. If it
Ruler requires Obedience to the Laws and yet is Lawless himself He cannot do it with a clear and Manlike Spirit his Conâ—cience must needs buffet him and if there be any spark of Ingenuity yet remaining he cannot but labour under great Uneaâ—ineâ—s and Reluctancy The next Consideration is this That Magistrates are to Punish others and upon that account are obliged to be Blameless and Upright themselves It was said of Cato the Censor that the Strictness of his own Life made him a Bold Severe and Rigid Animadverter on others And so every Governor may with Confidence and Authority restrain and correct Vice in others when he permits it not in himself But how can he punish Offences that commits them With what Face can he be actually Guilty of that which he Animadverts upon and severely Chastises in others For this Reason a Ruler should be exceeding wary in his Life and Manners Again by his effectual Influencing on others it will come to pass that their Actions will be interpreted his Their Good Deeds will be reckon'd so because they were the Effect of his Authority And how joyful a Reflection must this needs be that the Vertuous Acts of so many Persons are esteem'd as his own But then on the other side the Evil Actions and Enormities of Men shall be attributed to him if he made them Bad by his Example This must needs lie very heavy on his Mind and therefore it follows hence that those who preside over others are hugely concern'd to look to their Lives Moreover this might be added in the last place that the Devil the Malicious Spirit of Darkness chiefly designs and endeavours the Corrupting of Governors and those in high Places Fight neither against small nor great but against the King against Rulers and Potentates is the Maxim of that Infernal Politician We read Acts xiii 8. that Elymas the Sorcerer sought to turn away Sergius Paulus the Deputy the Great Man of the Country from the Faith If he could pervert him he knew he should gain others fast enough That which was Nero's Bloody wish That all the People of Rome had but one Neck that he might cut it off at one blow the same in some kind is Satan's constant Endeavour viz. in the Person of the Head and Governor to destroy all the People whilst by his wicked Example he Debauches all that are under him A Magistrate for this reason ought to be very observant of his Actions thereby to Defeat and Baffle the Designs of the Prince of Darkness These are the Reasons of that Proposition which I founded on the Words of the Text. Now I will offer some seasonable Inferences from what hath been said First Let those in Authority check and reprove themselves if they find that their Lives are Evil and that instead of being Examples of Goodness and Holiness they have taught others by their Practice to act Wickedly and Prophanely When it was the Fashion heretofore to make Gods some Great Men would needs Practise this upon themselves and then they thought they had a Licence to do what they pleased And too many tho' not of Pagan Principles are seen to Imitate them too much whilst being of the number of those whom the Scripture calls Gods they take Liberty to act that which is unworthy of Men And whereas they should Punish Vice they are themselves Examples of it But this is a very Gross and Abominable Miscarriage and therefore you that are Magistrates ought seriously to consider of it You must not imagine that your Authority cancels your Obligations to Vertue and that your Greatness compounds for your Wickedness Reckon not that you have an Advantage above others to do Ill and go unpunish'd Think of this that your Quality doth not Annihilate or Extenuate your Faults but hugely Aggravates and Inhanses them There is an evil that I have seen under the Sun saith Solomon an error that proceedeth from the Ruler and it is his Fault as he adds that folly is set in great dignity as you read Eccl. x. 5 6. Thus this Great Monarch takes notice of and reproves the Evil Behaviour of Crown'd Heads and of Subordinate Governors and therefore you must not imagin that your Place gives you leave to do what you will But rather perswade your selves of this that the thing which should Exalt Palaces above Cottages and Magistrates above the Common People is the Transcendency of their Vertues Secondly then As you are desirous to do any good in your Places be careful that your Lives be Vertuous and Exemplary The Advice of one of the Antient Moralists to a Person in Authority shall be mine to you Set your selves Patterns to others in Sobriety and all other commendable Qualities knowing that the Manners of the whole City are conformable to the Behaviour of those that are in Authority Remember that your Actions are all taken notice of and therefore they ought to be such as should be Imitated Take heed that you Soil not your Worthy Endowments and Good Actions with others that are Blameable as 't is said that Iulius Cesar stain'd his Valour and Great Learning with Prodigality and Lasciviousness His Successor Augustus Tainted his Liberality and Clemency with Impatience and Envy Vespasian Clouded his Good Nature and Prowess with Avarice And Trajan Sullied his Justice and Affability with his Cruelty to the Christians And to give an Instance at Home our King Henry VII Eclips'd his Wisdom by his Covetousness Let your Vertues be entire let there be nothing seen to Obscure them Shine forth with a perfect Light and remember that others shine with a Light borrow'd from you Therefore if you substract your Rays you leave them in Darkness Great Men generally endure not any Rivals they cannot brook Competitors and Equals Let it be seen that you cannot suffer Rivals in Vertue and Goodness Strive to surpass others in Sobriety Justice Mercy Piety and Religion Endeavour to Excel your Inferiors in Sanctity as well as in Authority and Dignity Be not only above their Conditions and Stations in the World but above the Qualities of their Minds and the Actions of their Lives Thirdly Not only Rulers but the whole Community are concern'd in this Text and in the Doctrin I have treated of We are all bound to Bless God for Good Rulers and Able Magistrates This is a signal Favour and Blessing to a Nation Rulers are like Heavenly Bodies which cause Good or Evil Times saith the Lord Verulam Whether we speak of the Civil or Ecclesiastical Governors it is most true Whether we apply it to those that are concern'd in the Temporal or Spiritual Affairs it holds good Next to a Good Magistrate there is not a greater Blessing under Heaven than a Good Minister But of the former I speak at present There is nothing more profitable desirable and excellent than a Worthy Goververnor And on the contrary what can be more pestilent and destructive than Bad ones They are indeed Rulers of Sodom