rain down fire and brimstone presently No I le goe down and see first saith he See whether they have done altogether according to the cry And thus in punishing the old world And thus in confounding the language And this he did not for himself He is omnicient knows all things and therefore needs no inquisition or examination or triall to informe his knowledge but for our example Nè mala hominum praesumamus credere ante quam probare sayes Gregory Lest we should credit reports before we examine them Judges should herein be {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as Plutarch speaks Living Images of God The Thebanes pictured their Iudges somtimes without eys somtimes without hands but never without ears The cause I knew not I searched out saith Job Examinarion must ever goe before judgement And here mighty warinesse and caution and circumspection is required of Magistrates here they had need to take heed what they doe As namely that they doe it First speedily Without demurs delays procrastinations beyond what is necessary Secondly Meekly mildly patiently not in passion in anger in wrath The wrath of man works not the righteousnesse of God sayes James Thirdly Diligently not oscitantly sluggishly slothfully sleepily as Philip of Macedon once who by that means gave wrong sentence so that the partie was fain to appeal from Philip sleeping to Philip waking Fourthly Equally too indifferently Heare small aswell as great poore as well as rich Stranger as well as brother And heare both parties both sides Plutarch reports of Alexander that when he sate in judgment he was wont alteram aurem praebere actori alteram verò integram servarereo always to stop one eare to the Plaintiffe saying he kept that for the Defendant Condemne no man before he which is accused hath his accuser face to face and hath liberty to answer for himself concerning the thing laid to his charge It was a Rule among the Romans And it was a good Rule for why He that is first in his owne cause is just till his Neighbour comes says Salomon One mans tale is good till another's is heard Besides If to accuse be sufficient to make a man nocent who shall be innocent Fiftly judiciously understandingly A Judge He had need be a man of a most exact understanding that he may be able to discerne betwixt man and man cause and cause just and unjust true and verisimilus false and specious between the confidence of accusing or denying and the truth or falsitie of the accusation betwixt impudent guiltinesse and diffident innocence No cause so bad but there are that by their quirks and devises wil make it seem good And so on th' other side no cause so good but through the modestie or unskilfulnesse or unfaithfulnesse of those that plead it it may possibly seeme bad It 's strange to see with what confidence and what impudence with what a brazen forehead that Harlot carries it 1 King 3. and how right and innocencie in the other had even like to have betray'd it self through modestie and simplicitie of earriage and expression Had not Salomon had {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as Basil speaks a sharpe and exact understanding to discerne between the modesty of the innocent plaintiff and the malice of the envious defendant he had certainly been deceived Quibus bonestior conscientia iis plerumque frons imbecillior sayes Jerome Dishonesty many times like Tamar is vailed with a maske of fair words and a smooth tongue when innocencie is timorous and uneloquent Therefore Justitia though it should be coeca in exequendo yet it must be oculata in dijudicando impartially blinde in executing but eagle-ey'd in searching out a matter That 's the first thing Judges must take heed what they doe in Hearing causes Let the cause be opened let evidences be produced let the accused and the accuser bee brought face to face Let them get a manifest cognizance of the thing by a fair free calme hearing of matters on both sides before they passe sentence For why Possibly they may erre else Nay it 's almost impossible but they should erre else However unjust they shall be sure to be yea aequum licet statuerint as the Tragoedian though possibly they should light upon the right Though the Judgement should be just yet the Judge should be unjust Those that commence suits Those that plead and prosecute suits Those that testifie and give in evidence Those that bring in verdict All had need to take heed what they doe that they carry themselves as in the presence of God and doe nothing in these cases before Gods Vicegerents which they would not doe before God himselfe whose judgement it is and who is with them in the judgement But above all Judges had need to take heed Because when all have said all they can still the judgment lyes in the judges brest Secondly In passing sentence Judges must heare causes speedily patiently diligently indifferently understandingly and when they have so heard them they must passe sentence And here likewise abundance of warinesse and circumspection is required of Judges Judges had need to take heed what they doe as namely that they do it 1 Righteously Heare the causes betwixt man and man and judge righteously Deut. 1 16. with equability with proportion Proportion 1 to the minde of the Law 2 To the quality of the offence 3 To the nature and disposition of the party offending 1 To the minde of toe Law A Judge must proportion his sentence square his sentence not to his own or other mens passions affections humours favours but according to the Minde of the Law Not the words of the Law they are but vestitus legis but the Minde of the Law the true sense and meaning of the Law the intent of the Law that is according to justice and truth and equity and reason 2 According to the quality of the offence Artaxerxes that heathen King even by the light of nature prescribed this rule That every one that should offend should be sentenced According to his offence some to death some to banishment same to confiscation of goods some to imprisonment Ezra 7.26 As there is a difference of offences so there must be a difference of punishments Greater offences greater punishments lesser offences lesser punishments 3 According to the nature and disposition of the offender Respect herein must be had to that too It 's true the letter of the Law is the guide of judgement {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} for the most part But yet because mens actions are infinite and there are sundry particular cases which the Law in its generall mandats cannot foresee and provide for by reason of divers circumstances extenuating perhaps the nature of the fact and it would seem harsh if every thing should be censured by the rigour of the Law therefore much is left to the Judge herein and there ought to be in His breast an
{non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as Aristotle calls it a middle equity tempering justice by the milder interpretation of the Law And in this case Judex non jus dat sed docet as Plato The Iudge doth not give Laws but give the sense of Laws And concerning the offender the Iudge is to consider First Whether he did it through weaknesse or whether he did it through wilfulnesse the one is to be beaten with more stripes the other with fewer stripes Luke 12.47 Again whether now remorsefull humbled penitent or stubborne audacious desperate in his wickednesse If the incestuous person upon admonition become sorrowfull and humbled and penitent {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} It 's enough sayes the Apostle it 's sufficient that he hath been admonished now receive him forgive him comfort him confirme your love to him Cor. 2.2.6 And the reason of this rule is because the great designe of a Magistrate in all his administrations of judgementit should be reformation not destruction but reformation He should not Sono catenarum delectare as Seneca speaks delight in the ratling of chains and fetters and the sight of hatchets and haltats c. punish that he may punish but that he may bring to repentance It 's the end of all censures whether civill or Ecclesiasticall Yet I doe not give this for an universall rule neither There are cases wherein the Iudge must not be milder then the Law The Law must have course Iustice must bee done 1 That the Land stand not before God guilty of bloud 2 That others may heare and fear and doe no more so wickedly As namely when the offences are bloudy and crying and hainous connivencie or impunity in these cases it 's not clemencie but cruelty But in other cases again in lesser offences but once or seldome committed and the offender penitent there justice without mercie it 's not justice but severity sayes Chrysostome 2 Religiously piously sincerely without any respect at all to any thing in the world but meerly and onely out of love to God delight in justice zeale to the good of the Common-wealth Otherwise Christians are no otherwise just then Heathens were just Nay otherwise even while just Iudges they are murderers If biassed by carnall interests private respects selfe aims and ends as wee see in Jehu 3 Couragiously too Judges they must be men of courage not weake and timorous and pusillanimous A weake and timorous Judge will easily be an unjust Iudge If Pilate feare ne non amicus Caesari videretur Caesars displeasure he will condemne Christ though it be never so much against his own conscience Joh. 19.12 If the Governours fear Jesabels displeasure upon a letter from her they will condemne Naboth though never so contrary to all Religion and equity 1 King 21. It was Rehoboams fault Hee was tender-hearted and not able to withstand the Sonnes of Belial 2 Chron. 13.7 And so Davids too that he let the sonnes of Servia be too hard for him hee durst not censure Joab though a murtherer Why hee was the Generall of his Armie and he feared a mutiny therefore Deus judicet saith he the Lord judge him Alas a private man every subject might have said so Solomons throne was supported by Lions 1 King 10.20 Lion-like vertues courage and valour and resolution and magnanimity should be in Magistrates they should not be terrified or daunted or diverted from justice by the threats of the potent or the frowns of the mighty or the haughty looks of any or the letters or messages or wills or pleasures of great ones be they men or women Caesars or Jesabels Kings or Queens Must not fear the face of man Deut. 1.17 but must be men of bold undaunted couragious spirits 4 Impartially Without respect of persons {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} without preferring one before another or inclining to one more then to another Respect of persons in judgement is every where condemned in Scripture Thou shalt not favour the person of the poore nor honour the person of the rich Levit. 19.15 A Iudge must not pitie a poore man because hee is poore Nor favour a rich man because he is rich but according to the equitie of the cause must be the equitie of the sentence A mean man a great man an enemy a friend it must be all one in this respect Exuat personam Judicis qui induit personam amici says one Let him put off the person of a Iudge that puts on the person of a friend A Iudge sits in the place of justice not to judge of mens persons but of their causes And therefore in former times sometimes the bare causes were propounded without any so much as mentioning of the persons sometimes again obducto velo judicabant says Musculus They covered the Iudges face with a Vaile when hee sate in judgment that so hee might not see their persons And the Thebanes alwayes painted their Iudges without Eyes A Iudge must be like Melchizedeck without father and without mother It is Asa's high commendation that when Maacha though his own mother committed Idolatry he would not spare her but deposed her from her Regencie And 2 Chron. 16 16. It 's Levies too In the execution of justice He said to his father and to his mother I have not seene them neither knew hee his brethren nor his own children Amicus Plato Amicus Socrates It 's true such a one is my friend and such a one is my friend sed magis amica veritas The affection of a friend suits not the Function of a Iudge In some cases it was not lawfull for the father or mother to spare there owne son Deut. 21.18 19 21. The husband to spare the wife of his own bosome Deut. 13.6 7 8. c. A Iudge must equally and impartially give to every one that portion which the Law gives him No outward respect must move him either to pitie or to severitie more then the equitie of the cause requires Freely A Iudge should not be moved either minis or donis With threats or gifts The motions of justice should be like those of the Heavens from inward principles not like those of Mils or Clocks or Iacks and the like Mechanick Engines that stir not but by force of waters or winds or waights Imitantur hamos dona Bribes they are the mightie bane of justice It 's said of Elies sonnes dilexerunt munera They turn'd aside after Lucre and tooke bribes and what follows perverterunt judicium they perverted judgment A Iudge should not receive bribes no not in a just cause A Counsellour may sell his advice and an Advocate may fell his pleading but a Iudge may not sell justice Iustice should be as cheap as aire It 's a debt he owes and can he be just that must be hired to pay his debts No difference in Gods account betweene briberie and thieverie Yea for this verie thing are the Princes of Jerusalem called thieves
order for bloudie Joabs cursing Shimeys treacherous Absolons punish sin as well in great ones as in small ones not sparing with Moses To hang up even the Princes of the people before the Lord God is no respecter of persons no more be you Remember that message out of Smithfield the other day Freely too Let love of justice constraine you to do justice and desire of Gods glorie and desire of the publike good Not promises gifts rewards gratuities Herodotus has a dreadfull story of one Cambyses a Persian King who finding that one Sicanus a Iudge had been hired by money to pronounce a wrong sentence Eum excoriari jussit pellem ejus affigi ad sedem judicialem Hee caused him to be flead and his skin to be nailed over the judgement seat and there to remain for the terrour of succeeding Iudges If all perverters of judgment had been so served there be many Iudges in England had had but little skin on their backs Bion was wont to say A Magistrate when he leaves his place should go out non ditior sed clarior not more rich but more righteous And what is it for a Iudge to have lucrum in arca damnum in conscientia as Austine speaks Gaine in his Coffer and losse in his Conscience A full purse a foul soul 'T will prove like Judas his bag his bane at last Remember that of Iob Fire shall consume the Tabernacle of bribery Never let it be said of you as Eschanes said of Demosthenes that you incline that way most that brings In most Iustice is a debt you owe scorne to be hired to pay your debts Doe it speedily too Jethro was troubled to see causes hanging from morning to evening Surely t would have troubled him more to see them hanging from year to year To see causes depending to become immortall And then execute that sentence when you have passed it And if it be to life execute it with all the allowance of time of mercie of clemencie of mitigation that justice will permit And with aboundance of compassion In a word doe nothing rashly unadvisedly inconsiderately but every thing gravely warily deliberately with abaundance of caution and circumspection To helpe you a little consider 1 the person you represent in judgement You judge not for man but for the Lord The Ordinance of Magistracie it is the Ordinance of God Rom. 13. The person who judgeth is a person sent of God {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} the Minister of God Rom. 13.4 The person sustain'd by the Iudge is the person of God He is Gods vicegerent Gods delegate Gods deputy The persons and causes to be judged are Gods The man is Gods his life is Gods his estate Gods The judgement too If righteous and just and good it 's Gods God will own it approve it defend it reward it Consider that You have your commission from God receive your office from God derive your power and authority from God sustain Gods person doe Gods worke execute Gods judgement take heed therfore what you doe Doe nothing but what God would doe if he were in your room Now would God punish the poor and pardon the rich would God justifie the wicked and condemne the righteous would God pervert judgement would God accept persons would God receive gifts would God be corrupted why no more be you You execute Gods judgement make God your pattern in the execution of it Follow his rule Imitate his example He accepts not persons nor takes rewards Deut. 10.17 but without respect of persons judges according to every mans work 1 Pet. 1.17 The greatest potentates and the highest Monarchs in the world if wicked and ungodly can no more escape the vengeance of God then the poorest wretches that live upon the face of the earth witnesse Pharaoh Zenacherib Nebuchadnezer Herod Hamon c. Yea and his dearest children he corrects as well as those that are his veriest enemies Yea Judgment Begins at the house of God 1 Pet. 4.17 and tribulation and anguish to every one that doth evil to the Jew First Rom. 2.9 God carries himselfe equally and indifferently to all in the execution of judgement Doe you likewise Set up God for your pattern your president imitate God Thinke would God shew mercie now would God acquit this man now or would God condemn this man now If not why should I doe it It is a sweet thing when a Magistrate lying down at night can reflect upon the day and say I have done nothing this day but what God himselfe would have done if he had been in my room That 's the first reason And He is with you in the judgement That 's another mighty argument why you should take heed what you doe The Lord is with you in the judgement 1. with you to assist you The burthen 's too heavie for you aye but God will put under his own shoulders you shall be assisted by the great God 2 With you to protect you defend you safeguard you from wrongs from hurts from violences Friends may frown enemies may threaten aye but God is with you and if God be with you who can be against you 3 With you To behold all your proceedings God stands in the assembly of gods Psal. 62.1 Stands Not sits but stands Stands to looke this way and that way and the other way to heare what this man sayes and what that man does To heare who gives an I when the nocent is to be punished who gives a No when the innocent is to be quitted Therefore take heed what you do 4 With you To reward your integritie punish your partialitie Remember that When ever you set foot into the place of judgement say as Jacob Surely the Lord is in this place ô how dreadfull is this place The Lord is here and he heares every word I speak and he sees every action I doe I have not only men to behold mee and Angels to behold me but even God himself he is present with me There was a Canon made in the Chalcedon and Ephesine Councell that upon the Judges Bench the Book of the Gospell should be set up which the Judges were to cast their eyes upon to the end they might doe every thing according to the minde of Christ And the Ethiopians were wont to set up a Chaire of State in their Senate and that to be emptie as if the God of judgement sate there as Umpire and Moderator whom the Senators ought to look upon in passing sentence that they might imitate him in their judgment to the end they might doe every thing as in the sight of God who as the text says is with them in the judgement These are the Reasons in the text You sustain the person of God sit in the seat of God execute the judgment of God stand in the presence of God Therefore take heed what you doe Execute Gods judgment as God himself would execute it Nay yet more you must