his secret place and his Pavilion round about him Christ was borne in the night as we understand by the Gospell Luke 2. And there were Shepheards watching their Flocks by night Yet when the Angell delivers the tydings of his birth to the Shepheards hee doth not say this night but this day is borne to you a Saviour It was naturally a night but the birth of Christ miraculously made it a day and the glory of the Lord shone about them sayes the Text. Christ dyes wee see here in the day in the mid day but even that is turn'd into a Night It was a day naturally but the death of our Saviour made it a night miraculously And the reason for it is good for it was not altogether so fitting that the earth should have worne one and the same Garment both at the Birth and Funerall of her Lord. He was borne in the night and that becomes day hee dyed in the day and that becomes night See how Christ both in his Nativity and Passion manifests himselfe to be the God of Nature who to shew her allegiance to her Lord and Master quite inverts her ordinary course and doth not wayte upon him in that livery which pleases her best but in that which he commands and is the most agreeable to his fortunes So that as the Disciples cryed out in an admiration when he quieted the Stormes and Tempests Who is this whom the winde and the Sea obeyeth So may wee say here Who is this whom the Night and the Day obeyeth It began at the sixth and lasted till the ninth so that the whole compasse or time of the darknesse was three of our ordinary houres I might here observe a mysterie in the number of 3 being the first perfect number that number which as Geometricians say doth make the first figure the number which Aquinas calls Numerus omnis rei the number of every thing and certainly hee had that hinte from Aristotle in his first booke de Caelo Omne totum sayes he in tribus ponimus To every whole perfect thing is requir'd the number of 3. And why may not wee say that as there went three dayes over his death like three witnesses to beare record of the truth of his death so there went three houres of darknesse over his Passion to beare witnesse of the Truth of his Passion The compleat number of 3 went over his sufferings to manifest to the world that now his sufferings were whole perfect and compleat and therefore no sooner are the three houres of darknesse over but presently he cryes Consummatum est it is finished gave up the ghost But we have beene too long in searching out the cause of this darknesse which was the third thing I propounded to be enquir'd for The neerest cause I told yee was the darkning of the Sunne But alas this will not satisfie us For as the Prophet David in the 114. Psalme which is appointed by the Church to be read upon Easter day doth not content himselfe with saying The Sea saw it and fled Iordan was driven back But hee addes also the question and sayes What aylest thou O Sea that thou fieddest and thou Jordan that thou was driven back So neither must wee thinke it enough to say the Sunne was darkned and goe no further but wee must Causam causae investigare Finde out the supreame cause of that subordinate cause and say What aylest thou O Sunne that thou wast darkened and thou Light that thou wast driven back The Sunne was darkned we confesse but what was it that darkned the Sunne This certainly will trouble us There are but three things supposing that wee are Sub dio et in sterili prospectu Under the open Heaven and withall have our eyes perfect which can any wayes take from us the sight of the Sun First The interposition of Vapours or Clouds Secondly The interposition of the Earth Thirdly The interposition of the Moone As for Clouds it is not likely that they should cause this darknesse For Saint Luke here after hee hath made mention of the darknesse which was in the ayre the place of Clouds and Vapours hee presently addes and the Sunne was darkned making this the reason of the other darknesse below so that wee may very safely beleeve that the Sunne was not darkned onely to us but even in it selfe too Hee who sayes unto the proud billowes of the Sea Be yee still and thus farre yee shall goe and no farther Hee is also able to say unto the Sunne Thou shalt not shine Hee who at the beginning was able to say Let there be light and there was light sayes now Let there be darknesse and it was so It could not be the interposition of the Earth for whensoever that is interposed it makes it night being nothing else but the shadowe of the Earth which is betwixt our eyes and the Sunne but this was at noone-day when the Sunne was in his height over the heads of the people of Jerusalem Nor yet was it possible it should bee the interposing of the Moone for the Sunne never suffers an Eclipse by the darke body of the Moone but onely when the Sunne and Moone are in a conjunction but now they were in opposition the Moone was at the full or but newly past it 180. degrees distant from the Sunne Which is easily proved for the Paschall Lambe was not by Gods command to be slaine nisi Luna quatuordecima but upon the foureteenth day of the Moone Exod. 12. and Levit. 23. and just the night before hee was crucified did Christ eate the Passeover with his Disciples so that this must needs be the fifteenth day of the Moone wherein he suffered quando solennitai erat Azimorum the first day of unleavened bread which was the great and chiefe day of the Passeover howsoever the Evangelist St. Matth. 26.17 may seeme to make the foureteenth day the first day of unleavened bread Mat. 26.17 Now the first day of the Feast of unleavened bread the Disciples came to Iesus saying unto him Where wilt thou that wee prepare for thee to eate the Passeover which must bee understood according to their Civill Account their naturall day according to that computation beginning at Sun-rising and ending with the rising of the next Sunne and in this regard the foureteenth day might be called the first of unleavened bread because it comprehended in it part of the first day of unleavened bread which day in their religious account began at the Sunne-setting and ended at the setting of the next Wee have not yet found out the Cause of this darknesse What should the Night make here usurping the dominion of the Day It is not such a hard question to answere I will give it ye in three words Christ the scond Person in the sacred Trinity united to our humane nature the wisedome of the Father by whom the worlds were made the Lambe without spot who was free from all sinne He hangs
Aristotles answer who sayes that Iustice and Equitie doe not Discrepare in genere sed gradu quodam they are not contrary but doe onely differ a little in degree Equitie making up what the Law in it selfe was deficient in being as I sayd before onely universaliter loquens able onely to speake generally and not to every particular case in which cases equity interprets the Law not opposes it but what is more then all this we have the example of God himselfe for it In the day that yee eate of that Tree yee shall dye the death There was the Law which he gave to our first Parents this Law was presently broken But does God now deale with them according to the strict sentence of this Law No. Out of his infinite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his admirable mercy whereas hee might have justly slaine them presently he suffers them to live that they might have a space for Repentance The like are frequent in the Scriptures nay the whole world is nothing else but a great Booke full of the like examples For alas should the Lord have executed the strict rigour of Iustice upon every one of us we had beene carryed immediately from the wombe of our Mother unto the Grave I am not so farre a Patron for mercy that I desire Iustice should any whit suffer No I subscribe to that voyce Fiat Iustitia Let Iustice be done though the world parish but yet with Aristotles limitation Equitie does not any way change oppose or alter that Ius naturale that naturall justice but having degrees it mittigates the strictnesse of the Law where the Law-giver has not left any thing exprest I have showne yee thus farre what this Veyle is and the necessity of it to be over the face of MOSES the Civill Magistrate I will now descend to the manner both of the framing and wearing it And because the wearing of it belongs to the Magistrate upon the Bench onely the framing of it to many and divers kinde of people I will follow a while the Particulars These five severall sorts of men then doe concurre to the framing or making of this Veyle The Accuser Witnesse Iury-man Advocaâ—e or Pleader Officer I can but touch upon them and first for the Accuser whether in Iudiciall Controversies or in causes criminall who brings the materials for this Covering Let him take heed that he be not found a rayser of false reports a speaker against his Brother Psal 50. And one who slandereth his owne mothers Sonne For be sure then that the Lord will goe on with the 21. verse And will reproove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done We know one of whose greatest and most glorious Titles it is to be called the Accuser of the Brethren and know that whoever he be that participates in the Action must also have his share in the Name and afterwards inherit the punishment too If thou wilt doe the workes exercise the Trade of the Divell which is to accuse falsely expect no other recompence but the reward of the Divell which is to perish utterly But what is it to accuse falsely Not onely Struere de proprio calumnias Innocentiae to create a false report upon an innocent person meerely of our owne heads which the Oratour calls vernaculum crimen a domesticke crime such a crime as is borne with us at home in our owne breasts and has no being but there Such an one was that of Iezebels where it was Naboths Vineyard that had blasphem'd and not himselfe but also to aggravate a small crime and so to blow it up into a quantity when through the multiplying-Glasse of a little glozing Rhetorick they can make an Ant seeme an Elephant which was so common amongst the Roman Pleaders that CICERO calls it Accusatoria Consuetado the Custome of the Accusers And it is to be wish'd that it was not too frequent amongst our Word-Merchants who sell ayre and Syllables as men doe horses in a Faire he who bids most is the welcommest man be the Cause what it will An other way of accusing falsely is when thou tel'st the Truth though it bee nothing but the Truth with a wicked intent ayming to doe mischiefe So Doeg though he told Saul nothing but the truth concerning Ahimelech the Priest his releeving of David yet because his intent was ill and he was prickt forward by mischiefe to make that narration we shall finde DAVID Psal 52. Branding him with the Title of a Lyer Thy tongue imagineth wickednesse and with lyes thou cuttest like a sharpe Razor 2. The Witnesse is the next in ranke And let him onely know this that as hee is here brought to beare witnesse against his Neighbour so shall his owne conscience one day be brought to beare witnesse against him which if it finde him peccant shall never leave calling and crying in the cares of that great and righteous Iudge untill hee have passed that irrevocable Sentence against him In what a desperate condition then are all they who make no more of bearing false witnesse against theyr Neighbour I and in taking the just and powerfull Iudge of all the World to record that their false Calumniations are Truths then that Emperour did of cutting off the heads of Poppies O consider this you who are to lay your hands upon the Booke It is not the abatement of the thirtieth part of a Fine when you depose in your Landlords cause nor the Summering of a Horse or a Cow it is not the countenance of the best man as yee call him that is the richest man in the Parish who if thou swearest for him lustily and to the purpose and commest to him beforehand to know of your good Master what it is that will doe the deed peradventure will when thou hast drawne Gods curse upon thee so by thy perjurie that thou art not able to live honestly adventure his credit with the two next Iustices to make thee an Ale-house-keeper and so thou shalt live upon the sinnes and intemperance of the People curst both of God and men Alas it is not this nor greater things then these thou shalt gaine by thy oath which can lye in ballance against the displeasure of so great and righteous a God whom thou as much as in thee was hast endeavour'd to make a mocke of 3. And for the Iurer almost the same admonition will serve for him Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to doe evill Exod. 23. When thou takest thy oath consider with thy selfe whether it be upon the life or estates of men thou goest that thou swearest to bring in thy verdict as thy conscience shall dictate to thee according to truth and Iustice Thou art not bound to follow the first man like horses in a Teame because hee has the fayrest Feather in his Crowne because he has beene an old Iury-man and has layd many a poore Cleargy man on his backe has got himselfe a name amongst the easie swearers of the Laitie No
this motion of the Mountaines to be reall and literall and understand it of Mount Sinai with the former opinion but so as that this Mountaine should turne and spread it selfe over the Children of Israell like a Canopy or cloath of state but this seemes to be fabulous Trevetus makes mention of some other of the Rabbines who report that when their fore-fathers removed their Tents from the river Zared and pitch'd on the other side of Arnon in their passage great multitudes of the Amorites did lye in ambush for them in the secret places of the vally and rocks of Arnon which thing the Lord the Keeper of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps perceiving immediatly caused the rocks and hills of Arnon to fall upon them and so destroy'd them Lyranus and Aiguanus would understand this leaping of the Mountaines Causaliter The Mountaines of Arnon leap'd for joy i. they caused the hearts of the Israelites to leape in them for joy when at the Torrent or streame of Arnon which divides the Moabites and the Amorites the Hills which were on the other side of the banke of the river Miraculosè inclinaverunt vsque ad partem in qua erat populus ut liberè transire possent Did miraculously at the command of God encline and bow downe themselves to the people who were on the other side of the river becomming as it were a bridge for them to passe over And for this they quote Numb 21.14.15 Num. 21.14.15 Wherefore it shall be spoken in the booke of the Battels of the Lord what thing hee did in the red Sea and in the rivers of Arnon and at the streame of the river which goeth downe unto the dwellings of Ar and lyeth upon the border of Moab Wee see that the Text joynes the miracle of the red Sea and the businesse of the rivers of Arnon together and therefore say they there must needes be a miracle here as well as at the red Sea Others of the Jewish Writers doe concurre with this last opinion concerning the bowing downe of the Mountaines to give an easie passage to the Israelites but they deny it to be over the rivers of Arnon and will have it to be done in the vallyes and unpassable hollownesses lying betwixt the craggy rockes of Arnon And even there is a disagreement betwixt those who are of this opinion too For some of them have a great minde to have these rocks and hills after they had bowed downe themselves to fill up the vally and make the way plaine for the passage of the people like Izachar in the 49. of Genesis to see that rest was good and therefore to lye still and couch downe under the burthen Those rockes say they after they had lyen downe to give them way were pleas'd with their new lodging so that there they lye still till this day And this place they will have to be where the mountaines of the Desert of Arnon doe requiescere et inclinare Paulatim donec terminentur in Ar doe lay downe their heads as weary rest themselves and end almost in a Plaine by the Citie of Ar. But others who are for the bowing down of them are against the lying still of the rocks saying that as soone as they had bowed downe themselves and done the businesse Divina virtute ad locum suum reversos esse By an other miracle did retire back againe to their former place to their old hibitation where they still remaine unlesse some Earth-quake hath displac'd them since Amongst these Cajetan also stands stiffe for the reall motion of these mountaines and mee thinks his reason is good for it which is drawne from the â—ontext for we see that this motion of the hills is reckoned and reported in the same Story with the dividing of the red Sea and the beating backe of Iordane The Sea saw it and fled Iordane was driven backe the mountaines skipped like Rammes c. both which first were realities and therefore great probability that this was reall too But hee can by no meanes digest that interpretation of the rockes of Arnon For sayes he first here is no mention made of rockes but of mountaines Secondly not of mountaines bowing downe and stooping but of mountaines leaping and skipping I wil trouble yee no farther with strange opinions only this I 'le say if this Motion of the Mountaines be to be understood in the proper and literall sense as without any inconvenience it very wel may then I have reason with a good approved Authour to thinke that it is the likeliest to be meant of Mount Sinai which having divers heads or tops within the vast compasse of it might be called so many severall mountaines And this was done when the Lord froÌ„ thence delivered the Law to the People for there we read in the 20. of Exod. 18. And all the Mount trembled exceedingly Exod. 20.18 Which trembling of that Mountaine I doe apprehend was not only caus'd by terrour feare at the presence of the Lord but also that joy had a hand in causing that action too Ioy feare met together in the word reverence and so the mountaine trembled And thus wee are able to bring this trembling of the mountaine into the compasse of the word in our Text Exultaverunt montes the mountaines leapt for joy but their leaping proceeded from such a joy as was accompanied with a reverent feare there was trembling mixt with their joy Wee come now to the second Interpretation which is a great deale higher and quite remov'd from the letter as this leaping and skipping of the mountaines and hills points at the joy which was at the resurrection of Christ And I told yee as yee may remember that it was either in the the Figure or in the mysterie In the Figure which is a Prosopopaeta which doth ascribe the actions of living creatures to creatures insensible Psal 98 8. So in the 98. Psalme 8. Let the stouds clap their hands and let the mountaines rejoyce together Psal 96. â— Let the field be joyfull and all that is in it let all the Trees of the Wood rejoyce So that we need not to make this place good be driven to that strange opinion which some attribute to Origen who ascrib'd a soule and sense to Mountaines Woods Trees and other inanimate creatures In the mysterie and so it doth depicture out unto us the joy of Angels and men But for our easier passage through the words wee will observe in the Text these things Quid What it is they doe They leape or ship Qui Who they be that leape The Mountaines and the Hills Quomodo After what manner like Rammes and young Sheepe Quare The cause or reason of this leaping What ayle yee O yee mountaines And that 's exprest in the next verse A facie domini mâ—ta est terra a facie dei Iacob The Earth was moved at the face or presence of the Lord It was the face or presence of the
more exalted notions approaching neere unto the contemplation of Angells then he doth from the Hills and Plaines For to whom much is given of him shall much be required So that as Saint Paul said of himselfe concerning preaching of the Gospell Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell so may I say of my self and of all our whole Tribe the Tribe of Levi with me of all the Priests of the Lord the Sonnes of the Prophets who are as it were a portion set apart for God himselfe and like the mountaines neerer heaven are or at the least should be farther removed from the plaines of the earth worldly cares imployments to the end that being freed from these outward destractions and disturbances wee should the more intend the honour of God and the good of his people Woe he unto us if wee above other men doe not leape for joy doe not sing songs of deliverance unto the God of our redemption In the next place O yee Hills praise yee the Lord. 'T is Davids counsell Psalme 148. Yee speculative men who are not yet growne up to the altitude of mountaines yee who are not able yet to climbe into a simple contemplation of God but doe behold his wisedome and power in the Glasse of the creature in the Creation Government of the world O doe yee leape too and although yee cannot yet fetch such Masculine leapes as the Rammes do let not this discourage yee Here is a degree of comparison for you too doe it like the Lambes or the young ones of the Flock Nor must we exempt the Fields the Plaines of the Earth from bearing a part in this joy the men of action and secular businesse they must come in for their share too and although they cannot leape or skip like the mountaines or the hills yet we will finde out an imployment for them too Whilst the mountaines and the hills dance before the presence of the Lord and trace it in comely figures together the fruitfull vallyes shall sing unto them as they passe and this I am sure they are able to doe For David in one of his Psalmes brings them in in the very same action and makes the moving cause of it to bee onely the fruitfulnesse of the Earth The vallyes saith he stand so thick with corne that they doe laugh and sing But wee have a greater cause then the fruitfulnesse of the Earth to move us the fruitfulnesse of heaven is fallen upon us and the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Hee whom the other day wee left hanging upon the Crosse the scorne and laughter of Passengers and hath lyen as imprisoned in the house of death for three dayes and three nights hath now broken from the prison of the Grave and to our endlesse comfort and eternall Salvation loosed and shaken off the bands of death not onely for himselfe over whom death shall have no more dominion but also for us too For now since his conquest Death hath lost his strength nor shall the Grave be able now to hold any of us hereafter The force of the Prison wall is decayed and through the breach which his blessed Resurrection hath made therein shall we finde a way unto eternity of living Let us therefore who are the Vallyes Plaines of the Earth though we are not able to leape and skip after the manner of the mountaines and hills who have higher and purer revelations then our selves although wee cannot sing unto the honour of our Saviour in so heavenly a straine or in so wel penn'd Anthemes as they yet let us not faile to doe our endeavours though it bee in a more homely Musick for the Lord doth not despise the Musick even of an oaten reede tuned to his Praise and he can discover a sweetnesse even in the harsh note of a sigh or a groane which is pointed to him Let us therefore for this present joyne our selves in Chorus with old Zachary Luke 1. and say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people Amen THE THIRD SERMON PREACHED Upon Saint Peters Day JOHN 21. VER 17. He said unto him the third time Simon the sonne of Jona lovest thou mee and Peter was sory because he said unto him the third time lovest thou me and said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe VPon the day dedicated to the memory of St. Peter wee have made choyce of a Text wherein we finde St. Peter sorrowfull and indeede wee should doe wrong to the holy Apostle if we should at all remember him without his sorrow Never feare that sorrow for sinne will ever spoile the face of a good Christian 't is the comeliest thing about him and he doth St. Peter the most honour who pictures him weeping Alas to call to minde onely the sinnes and imperfections of this holy man onely to mention how shamefully he denied his Master and to leave out his bitter weeping and his repentance which is the best part of the story were to bring him upon the stage onely to disgrace him but that man doth St. Peter right who remembers his repentance as well as his sinne Wee have in this Scripture then these three things 1. Peters sorrow Hee was sory saith the Text Secondly The cause of his sorrow And that is we see our Saviours saying unto him the third time lovest thou me Thirdly The effect of St. Peters sorrow And this is double Neerer or farther off The effect which I call the neerer is St. Peters answer Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee The effect of his sorrow which I call the farther off is the reply of Christ unto Peters answer Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe 1. Peter was sory What Peter might this be That Peter who in the Gospell read for this day by reason of that cleare Confession Thou art Christ the Sonne of the living God was pronounced blessed by the mouth of Christ That Peter to whom were given the Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven so that whatsoever he bindes on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever he looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven Yes Even the very same Peter even the very same Simon the sonne of Ionas whom our Saviour himselfe in that 16. of St. Mathew proclaimed blessed He is sorrowfull First Peter the blessed is sorrowfull Certainly then it is not altogether such an accursed and hatefull thing to endure affliction and troubles here upon earth as it is supposed it is Be comforted then thou who art in misery art persecuted or afflicted for thou seest that Saint Peter here who was in the opinion of no lesse then Christ a blessed man hee was in sorrow hee was griev'd which did not a whit diminish his blessednesse but rather encrease it Secondly Peter the holy is sorrowfull O then it is in vaine to looke for true felicity here
thou art first bound as farre as thou canst to search out the Truth to receive thy informations attentively and seriously before thou goest out and then laying all by-respects a side to deliver thy conscience clearely and plainely For it is you who have a great stroake in making this Veile of Equity which is to cover the Face of the Magistrate He can but examine the Witnesses heare the testimonies inquests and arguings and afterwards give you an Information of all this T is you who are Vitae necis tam potentes Causarum in whose power the life and death of Causes doe chiefly consist The Magistrate or Iudge like the hand in a dyall may often times poynt to the wrong houre and yet no fault in him but in some of the wheeles which are out of Frame For it is his part to proceed and give sentence secundum probata tantum according to the Testimonies and Allegations onely 4. The next in order is the Councellor or Pleader and these is the Iudge upon the Bench is called a God may in some sort be called little Gods too But I wish I could not call a great part of this Tribe too truly the deities of Nilus the Gods of the Aegyptians Garlick and Onyons whose chiefest vertues are to force teares from the Eyes of theyr votaries O Sanctas Gentes quibus nascuntur in hortis Numina But I forgot my selfe I should have left out the first part of the verse for such are the abhominable corruptions which many of them use now adayes that we may call them the holyest and the happiest Nations who have no such Gods at all grow in their Gardens I do not speake against all mistake me not there be honest and worthy Lawyers amongst us Nor doe I go about any way to disparage the calling For the true use of it is honourable being to defend the oppressed to maintaine or else recover the right of such as have beene troden downe by theyr too potent Adversaries Put when Rhetorick I wrong the Science I must not call it so rheumaticke and obstreperous noise goes about to make the guilty innocent and the innocent guilty to Carusse ore the Blackamoore and to prove the Leopard to have no spots when a little bold wild and Sophisticate language is able to make head against Truth and overcome it and the cause Ad mensuram pulmonis Advocati aut Hares aut non flourisheth or languisheth according to the strength of the Advocates lungs and boldnesse or rather to the depth of the Clients purse and opennesse I doe not onely accuse these times this disease was ever rise amongst the ancient Romanes nay it has beene in use ever since Iupiter had a beard In Saturnes raigne peradventure it was otherwise Aut sub Iove nondum barbato But the Antiquity of it proves not the lawfulnesse yee have a saying in the Law Nullum tempus occurrit Regi No custome can prescribe against the King and by the favour of Law this is as true in Divinity no prescription against GOD the King of Heaven and Earth Hee brings but a weake argument who concludes what ought to be from what has beene Such a colour Murder might have for it selfe who is able to derive its pedigree as farre as Cain It is to no purpose for mee to lay open the sacred thirst of Gold that is in these men I might as well tell yee that there is a Sun or a Heaven which we all aknowledge nor can I hope if I should repeate it to be heard the Masculine delicious and charming harmony which the gold makes in the Bag I know would out-musicke me would sound sweetlier and lowder in theyr eares then all that I could utter The second branch of St. PAVLS distinction of Tongues would out-cry the first the Tongue of Angels would bee lowder then the Tongue of Men. But yet for the discharge of my duty I must let such men know but surely this is a very fruitfull place for controversie I see few of them at Church if they had nothing to doe it is likely they would be here who make the sacred place of Iustice no better then the Stage of a Mountebanke having received their Fee who leave the cause many times where peradventure the whole estate of the Clyent lyes at stake and fall upon theyr Brother pleader or upon the person of the man whose cause is in hand or upon the cloaths and behaviour of some of the witnesses or parties hunting after crude and indigested impertinances which walke like apparitions or ghosts in the shape of Iests thereby as I suppose to catch the easie care of the circumstant Iurer or Country Gentleman who will reserve them for his holy-day reports amongst his admiring neighbours that however these Musitians of Pythagoras these Angels who play upon the Spheares may for a time delight them and they may dance after theyr musick too yet at the latter end they shall have but a harsh close they shall end in a discord 5 And so for the Officer who by bribes taken in secret is corrupted to foyst in or take out what he please let him know also that there is an other which is a generall Assizes to come hereafter when he shall be put out of his office when the Bookes of his owne conscience shall be layd open before that great Iudge the Lord of Heaven and earth in which booke there shal be no enterlining no blotting out no putting in but all his actions shall appeare faire and in a full Character All these five sorts of men have a hand in the framing and making this Veyle which is to be put upon the Face of the Civill Magistrate but yet not altogether so but that the Iudge has the overseeing of this theyr Worke. If hee perceives that the Accuser brings materials unfitting and which will not conduce to the making of the Covering of Equitie he may so canvase the businesse eyther by examination or if that will not doe by delay so that at the last the Truth may bee found out For he does ill purchase to himselfe the title of a man of Expedition and Dispatch who hastens causes and ends them before they be ripe If he findes a palpable malice and confederacie in the Witnesse who is here in the second ranke of workmen it is in his power I take it for my want of experience in these matters will not suffer mee to be confident to deny him his Oath If hee perceives ignorance supinitie and negligence in the Iurer he may impannell new ones If Sophistry Cavelling or Meram Superbientem lasciviam verborum an unnecessary trifling and wantonnesse of of words in the Advocate his wisedome sharpe insight and experience peradventure hee himselfe once being a Pleader and so knowing the way of them the better may looke through that Veyle of forc'd language and view the realities and after those direct his sentence If in his Officer he finds Bribery and Corruption as the best Princes and Magistrates in the world sometimes cannot bee without bad Officers 't is in his power to rectifie that too But these things yee know better farre I confesse then I am able to direct yee yet it is not a bare knowledge of them that will benefit yee in the last day but Happy are yee if yee doe them It it not the knowledge that swims above in the braine but that which sinkes downe into the heart takes root in the affections and brings forth fruit in actions that will then profit thee For to whom much is given of him much shal be required not onely the Principall which was trusted to the understanding and Theorye but also the interest which is expected from the Practick part There is another kinde of Veyle too which is to be put upon the Face of MOSES which is the same that our Hieroglyphicks in the embleme put before the Face of Iustice whom they picture out by a woman having a Covering before her eyes and a payre of ballance in her hand and this is to denote unto us the impartiality that should be in a judge he should be blinded not his understanding for that cannot be too quick-sighted but to show us that there should be no respect of persons in him Exod. 23.3 Thou shalt not countenance no not a poore man in his Cause And if not a poore mâ—n much lesse does it become him to put off his Veyle that his Eyes may let in the greatnesse the favour the Friendship of the rich and potent For if the person of any man should be accepted certainly in all equity it is the person of the Poore but yee see here is a strict command against this Doe therefore all things as beeing assured that you your selves one day shall be ungodded againe for he who has sayd yee are Gods has also sayd that yee shall dye like men For the time shall come when a poore Vrne shall hold your Ashes all that little all which shall remaine of your voluminous greatnesse when that Eternall Iustice shall poize the ballance with an equall hand wicked AHAB shall then answer for NABOTHS Vineyard and IEZEBELL for the bloud of the Prophets Have but this therefore in your mindes and the God of all Iustice and mercy direct your actions labour to goe up into the Mountaine with MOSES and consult with the Lord 1 Be just and righteous let your faces reflect those cornua lucis those beams of light yee shall there receive from God and with MOSES your faces shall shine amongst the people yee shall be honour'd and reverenc'd ride on then and good lucke have yee with your honour and having past a glorious life here below the end of the Text shall be the end of your dayes Yee shall goe up againe and speake with God where your discourse shall never be interrupted so long as there is Eternity For if with MOSES yee live in the Mountaine and converse with GOD that is be imploy'd in his service and doe Iustice yee shall also with MOSES at the length heare that invitation of GOD to him in the 32. of Deutr. 50. verse Goe up into the Mountaine and dye yee shall depart this life in the favour of the Highest FINIS