justified in thy sight These latter Corrections also or chastenings of our heavenly Father are called Iudgments too When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord but in a quite different notion Because God proceedeth therein not with Violence and Fury as men that are in passion use to do but coolly and advisedly and with judgment And therefore whereas David deprecated Gods judgment as we heard in that former notion and as judgment is opposed to Favour Ieremy on the other side desireth Gods judgment in this latter notion and as it is opposed to Fury Correct me O Lord yet in thy judgment not in thy fury Jer. 10. 6. Now we see the several sorts of Gods judgments which of all these may we think is here meant If we should take them all in the Conclusion would hold them and hold true too Iudicia Oris and judicia Operis publick and private judgments those Plagues wherewith in fury he punisheth his Enemies and those rods wherewith in mercy he correcteth his children most certain it is they are all right But yet I conceive those judicia oris not to be so properly meant in this place for the Exegesis in the latter part of the verse wherein what are here called judgments are there expounded by troubles seemeth to exclude them and to confine the Text in the proper intent thereof to these judicia operis only but yet to all them of what sort soever publick or private Plagues or Corrections Of all which he pronounceth that they are right which is the Predicate of the Conclusion and cometh next to be considered I know O Lord that thy judgments are right 7. And we may know it too if we will but care to know either God or Our selves First for God though we be not able to comprehend the reasons of his dispensations the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the judgments are right it may satisfie us if we do but know that they are his Tua will infer recta strongly enough for the Lord who is righteous in all his ways must needs be so in the way of his judgments too 1. Mens judgments are sometimes not right through misinformations and sundry other mistakings and defects for which the Laws therefore allow Writs of Errour Appeals and other remedies But as for God he not only spieth out the goings but also searcheth into the hearts of all men he pondereth their spirits and by him all their actions are weighed 2. Mens judgments are sometimes not right because themselves are partial and unjust awed with Fear blinded with Gifts transported with Passion carried away with Favour or Dis affection or wearied with Importunity But as for God with him is no respect of Persons nor possibility of being corrupted Abraham took that for granted that the judge of all the world must needs do right Gen. 18. And the Apostle rejecteth all suspicion to the contrary with an Absit What shall we say then Is there unrighteousness with God God forbid Rom. 9. 3. Mens judgments are sometimes not right merely for want of zeal to justice They lay not the causes of poor men to heart nor are willing to put themselves to the pains or trouble of sifting a cause to the bottom nor care much which way it go so as they may but be at rest and enjoy their ease But as for God he is zealous of doing justice he loveth it himself he requireth it in others punishing the neglect of it and rewarding the administration of it in them to whom it belongeth The righteous Lord loveth righteousness Psal. 11. 8. And then secondly in our selves we may find if we will but look enough to satisfie us even for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too so far as is meet for us to expect satisfaction The judgments of God indeed are Abyssus multa his ways are in the Sea and his paths are in the deep waters and his footsteps are not known 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soon may we lose our selves in the search but never find them out Yet even there where the judgments of God are like a great deep unfathomable by any finite understanding his righteousness yet standeth like the high mountains as it is in Psal. 36. visible to every eye If any of us shall search well into his own heart and weigh his own carriage and deservings if he shall not then find enough in himself to justifie God in all his proceedings I forbid him not to say which yet I tremble but to rehearse that God is unrighteous 9. The holy Saints of God therefore have ever acquitted him by condemning themselves The Prophet Ieremy in the behalf of himself and the whole Church of God The Lord is righteous for I have rebelled against his Commandments Lam. 1. So did Daniel in that his solemn Confession when he set his face to seek the Lord God by prayer and supplications with fasting and sack-cloth and ashes Dan. 9. O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of face as it is this day to our Kings to our Princes and to our Fathers because we have sinned against thee ver 7. and again after at verse 14. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doth for we obeyed not his Voice Yea so illustrious many times is the righteousness of God in his judicial proceedings that it hath extorted an acknowledgment from men obstinately wicked Pharaoh who sometimes in the pride of his heart had said Who is the Lord was afterwards by the evidence of the fact it self forced to this confession I have sinned the Lord is righteous but I and my people are wicked Exod. 9. 10. They are then at least in that respect worse than wicked Pharaoh that to justifie themselves will not stick to repine either at God himself or his judgments as if he were cruel and they unrighteous like the slothful Servant in the Parable that did his Master no service at all and yet as lazy as he was could blame his Master for being an hard man Cain when he had slain his righteous brother and God had laid a judgment upon him for it complained of the burden of it as if the Lord had dealt hardly with him in laying more upon him than he was able to bear never considering the weight of the sin which God in justice could not bear Solomon noteth it as a fault common among men when by their own sinful folly they have pulled misery upon themselves then to murmur against God and complain of his providence The folly of a man perverteth his ways and his heart fretteth against the Lord Prov. 19. As the Israelites in their passage through the Wilderness were ever and anon murmuring and complaining at somewhat or other either against God or which cometh much to one against
conscious to my self to have said any thing in the Papers now or at any time heretofore with my allowance published that may give just offence to or merit the hard censure of any sober dispassionate man and that if yet I must fall under some mis-censures it is not my case alone but of many others also wrapt with me in the same common guilt I shall therefore reduce my discourse herein ab hypothesi ad thesin and propose the Objections with my Answers thereunto though with some reflection upon my self in most of the particulars yet as laid against the generality of those mens Sermons Writings and other Discourses who according to the new style of late years taken among us go under the name of the Prelatical Party or Episcopal Divines § IV. The Objections are 1. That in their ordinary Sermons they take any small occasion but when they Preach at the Visitations where most of the Clergy of the Voisinage are convened set themselves purposely in their whole Discourse to let fly at their Godly Brethren who out of tenderness of Conscience dare not submit to some things endeavoured to be imposed upon them by the Prelates The Poor Puritan is sure to be paid home he must be brought under the lash and exposed to contempt and scorn at every publick meeting the Papists professed Enemies of our Church and Religion escaping in the mean while Scot-free seldom or never medled withal in any of their Sermons 2. Or if sometimes some little matter be done that way by some of them it is so little that it is to as little purpose rather for fashions sake ad faciendum Populum and to avoid suspicion than for any ill will they bear them Perhaps give them a light touch by the way a gentle rub as they pass along that shall do them no harm but their Brethren that profess the same Protestant Religion with them they handle with a rougher hand With Elder-guns and Paper-pellits they shoot at those but against these they play with Cannon-bullet 3. And all this anger but for Ceremonies Trifles even in their own esteem who plead hardest for them If they be indeed such Indifferent things as they confess them to be and would have the World believe they make no other account of them Why do they dote on them so extreamly themselves Why do they press them upon others with so much importunity Why do they quarrel with their brethren eternally about them 4. The truth is both We and They judge otherwise of them than as Indifferent things They think them necessary whatever they pretend or else they would not lay so much weight upon them And we hold them Popish Antichristian and superstitious or else we would not so stiffly refuse them 5. It is not therefore without cause that we suspect the Authors of such Sermons and Treatises as have come abroad in the defence of such trash to be Popishly-affected or at least to have been set on by some Popish Bishops or Chancellors though perhaps without any such intention in themselves on purpose to promote the Papal Interest here and to bring back the people of this Nation by degrees if not into the heart and within the Walls of Babylon yet at leastwise into the confines and within the view of it 6. Which as it appeareth otherwise to wit by their great willingness to allow such qualifications to sundry Doctrines taught in the Church of Rome and such interpretations to sundry taught in our Church as may bring them to the nearest agreement and their great endeavours to find out such Expedients as might best bring on a perfect reconciliation between the two Churches 7. So particularly in pressing with so much vehemency the observance of these Popish and Superstitious Ceremonies for which we cannot find nor do they offer to produce any either Command or Example in holy Scripture to warrant to our Consciences the use thereof 8. Which what is it else in effect than to deny the sufficiency of the Scripture to be a perfect Rule of Faith and Manners Which being one of the main Bulwarks of the Protestant Religion as it is differenced from the Roman is by these men and by this means undermined and betrayed ' § V. This is the sum and substance of the usual Censures and Objections of our Anti-Ceremonian Brethren so far as I have observed from their own speeches and writings which I have therefore set down as near as in so few words I could to their sence and for the most part in their own expressions Much of which having as I conceive received its answer before-hand in some passage or other of the ensuing Sermons might supercede me the labour of adding any more now Yet for so much as these answers lye dispersedly and not in one view I held it convenient as I have produced the Objections all together so to offer to the Reader an Answer to them all together and that in the same order as I have given them in Begging at his hands but this one very reasonable favour that he would do both himself and me so much right as not to pass his censure too haâ—tily and too severely upon any part of what is now presented to his view whether he like it or dislike it till he hath had the patience to read over the whole and allowed himself the freedom rightly and without prejudice to consider of it § VI. That which is said in the first place of their Godliness and Tenderness of Conscience is not much to the purpose as to the main business For first besides that all Parties pretend to Godliness ' Papists Anabaptists and who not even the late-sprung-up generation of Levellers whose Principles are so destructive of all that Order and Iustice by which publick societies are supported do yet style themselves as by a kind of peculiarity The Godly And that secondly it is the easiest thing in the world and nothing more common than for men to pretend Conscience when they are not minded to obey I do not believe thirdly though I am well perswaded of the godliness of many of them otherwise that the refusal of indifferent Ceremonies enjoyned by Lawful Authority is any part of their Godliness or any good fruit evidence or sign thereof But certain it is fourthly that the godliest men are men and know but in part and by the power of godliness in their hearts are no more secured from the possibility of falling into Error through Ignorance than from the possibility of falling into Sin through Infirmity And as for Tenderness of Conscience fifthly a most gracious blessed fruit of the holy Spirit of God where it is really and not in pretence only nor mistaken for sure it is no very tender Conscience though sometimes called so that straineth at a Gnat and swalloweth a Camel it is with it as with other tender things very subject to receive harm and soon put
instruments of their secret malice Out of that base fear the Elders of Iezreel upon the Queens Letter whom they durst not displease caused an Accusation to be framed against innocent Naboth And out of this base Ambition Doeg to pick a thank with his Master and to endear himself farther into his good opinion told tales of David and Abimelech To remedy this remember the Service and Offices you owe to the greatest Masters upon Earth have their bounds set them which they may not pass Usque ad aras the Altar-stone that is the Meere-stone and Iustice hath her Altars too as well as Religion hers Go as far then as you can in Offices of love and service to your friends and betters salvis pietate justitiâ but not a step farther for a world If you seek to please men beyond this you cannot be the servants of God Coverture is the third Inducement And that is when either to make our own cause the better we seek to bring envy and prejudice upon our adversaries by making his seem worse or when being our selves guilty we think to cover our own crimes and to prevent the Accusations of others by getting the start of them and accusing them first As Potiphar's Wife accused Ioseph and the Elders Susannah of such crimes as they were innocent of and themselves guilty An old trick by which C. Verres like a cunning Colt often holp himself at a pinch when he was Praetor of Sicily as Cicero declareth against him by many instances and at large For sithence the Laws in most cases rather favour the Plaintiff because it is presumed men should not complain without grievance we may think perhaps to get this advantage to our selves and so rather choose to be Plaintiffs than Defendants because as Solomon saith He that is first in his own tale seemeth righteous To remedy this Do nothing but what is just and justifiable be sure your matters be good and right they will then bear out themselves well enough without standing need to such damned shifts for support But the fourth thing is that which causeth more mischief in this kind than all the rest That which the Apostle calleth the root of all evil and which were it not there could not be the hundredth part of those sutes and troubles and wrongs which now there are done under the Sun Even the greedy worm of Covetousness and the thirst after filthy lucre For though men be wicked enough and prone to mischief of themselves but too much yet are there even in corrupt nature such impressions of the common principles of justice and equity that men would not often do great wrongs gratis and for nothing If Zibah slander his Master falsly and treacherously it is in hope of getting the living from him And it was Naboth's Vineyard not blasphemy that made him guilty Those sinners that conspired against the innocent Prov. 1. Come let us lay wait for blood let us lurk privily for the innocent without a cause Let us swallow them up c. They had their end in it and what that was the next following words discover We shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil And most of our prouling Informers like those Old Sycophants in Athens or the Quadruplatores in Rome do they aim think you so much at the execution of good Laws the punishment of Offenders and the reformation of Abuses as at the prey and the booty and to get a piece of money to themselves For let the Offence be what it will deal but with them and then no more speech of Laws or Abuses but all is husht up in a calm silence and no harm done To remedy this as Iohn Baptist said to the Soldiers in Luke 3. Accuse no man falsly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word there too and be content with your wages so if you would be sure not to accuse your Neighbour falsly content your selves with your own Estates and covet not his Ox or his Ass his land or his money or any thing that is his Reckon nothing your own that is not yours by fair and just means nor think that can prosper with you and yours that was wrung from another by Cavil or Calumny I have now done with you that are Accusers whose care must be according to the Text reading not to raise a false Report But the Margent remembers me there are others whom this prohibition concerneth besides you or rather above you whose care it must be not to receive a false report A thing so weighty and withal so pertinent to the general argument of this Scripture that some Translations have passed it in the Text. And the Original word comprehendeth it For albeit the Raiser indeed be the first taker up yet the Receiver taketh it up too at the second hand As it is commonly said of stollen goods There would be no Thieves if there were no Receivers and therefore some Laws have made the Receiver equal Thief with the Stealer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so certainly there would be fewer false reports raised in judgment if they were more sparingly received And therefore in this case also the Receiver must go pari passu with the Raiser who if he give way or countenance to a false Report when he may refuse or hinder it by being an Accessary maketh himself a Party and becometh guilty of the same sins the same wrongs the same mischiefs with the first Offender the false Accuser David as he envieth against Doeg in the Psalm for telling so he elsewhere expostulateth with Saul for hearing unjust Reports of him The Raiser and Receiver are both possessed with the same evil spirit they have the same Devil the same Familiar only here is the difference the Raiser hath his Familiar in his Tongue the Receiver in his Ear. Whosoever then sitteth in the place of Magistracy and publick judicature in foro externo or is by virtue of his Calling otherwise invested with any jurisdiction or power to hear and examine the Accusations of others I know not how he shall be able to discharge himself in foro interno from a kind of Champerty if my ignorance make me not abuse the Word or at leastwise from misprision of Calumny and unjust Accusations if he be not reasonably careful of three things First let him beware how he taketh private informations Men are partial and will not tell their own Tales but with favour and unto advantage And it is so with most men the first Tale possesseth them so as they hear the next with prejudice than which there is not a sorer enemy to right and indifferent judgment A point so material that some Expositors make it a thing principally intended in this first branch of my Text Ut non audiatur una pars sine alia saith Lyra. Suiters will be impudent to
ween is another-gates matter than to make the face to shine This for material Oil. Then for those other outward things which for some respects I told you might be also comprehended under the name of Ointments Riches Honours and worldly Pleasures alas how poor and sorry comforts are they to a man that hath forfeited his good Name that liveth in no credit not reputation that groaneth under the contempt and reproach and infamy of every honest or but sober man Whereas he that by godly and vertuous Actions by doing Iustice and exercising Mercy and ordering himself and his affairs discreetly holdeth up his good Name and reputation hath that yet to comfort himself withal and to fill his bones as with marrow and fatness though encompassed otherwise with many outward wants and calamities Without which even life it self would be unpleasant I say not to a perfect Christian only but even to every ingenuous moral man The worthier â—ort of men among the Heathens would have chosen rather to have died the most cruel deaths than to have lived infamous under shame and disgrace And do not those words of St. Paul 1 Cor. 9. shew that he was not much otherwise minded It were better for me to dye than that any man should make my glorying void Thus a good Name is better than any precious Ointment take it as you will properly or tropically because it yieldeth more solid content and satisfaction to him that enjoyeth it than the other doth 17. Compare them thirdly in those performances whereunto they enable us Oils and Ointments by a certain penetrative faculty that they have being well chaâ—ed in do supple the joynts and strengthen the sinews very much and thereby greatly enable the body for action making it more nimble and vigorous than otherwise it would be Whence it was that among the Greeks and from their example among the Romans and in other Nations those that were to exercise Arms or other feats of Activity in their solemn Games especially Wrestlers did usually by frictions and anointings prepare and fit their bodies for those Athletick performances to do them with more agility and less weariness Insomuch as Chrysostom and other Greek Fathers almost every where use the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only when they speak of those preparatory advantages such as are prayer fasting meditation of Christs Sufferings or of the Joys of Heaven and the like wherewith Christians may fortifie and secure themselves when they are to enter the combate with their spiritual enemies but more generally to signifie any preparing or fitting of a person for any manner of action whatsoever 18. But how much more excellent then is a good name Which is of such mighty consequence advantage for the expediting of any honest enterprise that we take in hand either in our Christian course or civil life in this World It is an old saying taken up indeed in relation to another matter somewhat distant from that we are now treating of but it holdeth no less true in this than in that other respect Duo cum faciunt idem non est idem Let two men speak the same words give the same advice pursue the same business drive the same design with equal right equal means equal diligence every other thing equal yet commonly the success is strangely different if the one be well thought of and the other labour of an ill name So singular an advantage is it for the crowning of our endeavours with good success to be in a good name If there be a good opinion held of us and our names once up whether we deserve it or no whatsoever we do is well taken whatsoever we propose is readily entertained our counsels yea and rebukes too carry weight and authority with them By which means we are enabled if we have but grace to make that good use thereof to do the more good to bring the more glory to God to give better countenance to his truth and to good causes and things Whereas on the other side if we be in an ill name whether we deserve it or no all our speeches and actions are ill-interpreted no man regardeth much what we say or do our proposals are suspected our counsels and rebukes though wholsom and just scorned and kickt at so as those men we speak for that side we adhere to those causes we defend those businesses we manage shall lie under some prejudice and be like to speed the worse for the evil opinion that is held of us We know well it should be otherwise Non quis sed quid As the Magistrate that exerciseth publick judgment should lay aside all respect of the person and look at the cause only so should we all in our private judgings of other mens speeches and actions look barely upon the truth of what they say and the goodness of what they do and accordingly esteem of both neither better nor worse more or less for whatsoever fore-conceits we may have of the person Otherwise how can we avoid the charge of having the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ the Lord of Glory with respect of persons But yet since men are corrupt and will be partial this way do we what we can and that the World and the affairs thereof are so much steered by Opinion it will be a point of godly wisdom in us so far to make use of this common corruption as not to disadvantage our selves for want of a good name and good Opinion for the doing of that good whilst we live here among men subject to such frailties which we should set our desires and bend our endeavours to do And so a good Name is better than a good Ointment in that it enableth us to better and worthier performances 19. Compare them Fourthly in their Extensions and that both for Place and Time For place first That Quality of the three before-mentioned which especially setteth a value upon Ointments advancing their price and esteem more eminently than any other consideration is their smell those being ever held most precious and of greatest delicacy that excel that way And herein is the excellency of the choicest Aromatical Ointments that they do not only please the sence if they be held near to the Organ but they do also disperse the fragrance of their scent round about them to a great distance Of the sweetest herbs and flowers the smell is not much perceived unless they be held somewhat near to the Nostril But the smell of a precious Ointment will instantly diffuse it self into every corner though of a very spacious room as you heard but now of the Spikenard poured on our Saviours feet Ioh. 12. But see how in that very thing wherein the excellency of precious Ointments consisteth a good Name still goeth beyond it It is more diffusive and spreadeth farther Of King Uzziah so long as he did well and
against them openly before their Congregations as unlawful but have been since convinced in their judgments of the Lawfulness thereof should yet with-hold their Conformity thereunto and chuse rather not only to expose themselves to such mischiefs and inconveniences as that refusal may bring upon them but to seem also to persist in their former error to the great scandal of their people and cheating their own Consciences than by acknowledging that they have erred adventure the loss of that great reputation they had by their former opposition gained amongst their credulous followers 3. Alas that there should still be found among our People men who being conscious to themselves of some secret wrongs done to their brethren in their worldly estate by oppression fraud or other false dealing do yet hold off from making them just restitution or other meet compensation for the same and so become really cruel to their own Consciences whil'st they are so fondly tender over their reputations with others as rather to continue still dishonest in retaining than acknowledge their former dishonesty in obtaining those ill gotten parcels 25. But leaving all these to the judgment of God and their own hearts and to ruminate on that sad Text Luk. 16. That which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of God For thee Christian brother who ever thou art that shall at any time be in a strait between two evils shaken with doubtings and distractions what to do when thy Conscience and thy Credit lie both at stake together ' ' Thou hast a ready resolution from the old Maxim E malis minimum As the Merchant in a storm throweth his dear commodities into the Sea to save himself so do thou resolve to redeem thy Conscience howsoever and at any rate whatsoever betide thy Credit I forbid thee not to be tender of thy good Name it is an honest care but I charge thee upon thy soul to be more tender of thy Conscience 26. This admonition premised I shall now with your patience proceed to some Inferences from what hath been delivered concerning the excellency of a good Name and what a precious thing it is But the more precious it is the more grievous first is their sin that seek to rob others of it We read in Pliny that there were some Ointments in the shops in his time made of such costly ingredients so great was the riot of those times that every pound weight was sold at 400 Roman Pence which by computation allowing to the Roman Penny seven pence half-penny of our Coyn cometh to above twenty two pounds English which was a very great rate especially considering the time wherein he lived about fifteen hundred years ago We would all think that man had done a very foul robbery that should have broken a shop and carryed thence any considerable quantity of such Costly ware And must we not then adjudge him a far worse Thief that injuriously taketh away a man's good Name from him which we have heard to be in many respects far more precious than the most precious Ointments can be But Murther is a felony of a higher degree than Theft Sometimes we pity Thieves but we detest Murtherers Yet neither Thieves nor Murtherers are more cruel and injurious than Slanderers and Back-biters and Tale-bearers and Whisperers and false Accusers are Those bereave a manâ— but of his Livelihood or at most of his Life but these take that from him which is justly more dear to him than either Life or Livelihood 27. It were to be wished that all malicious and envious persons would lay this to heart who seek to raise their own Fame upon the ruine of their Brothers whose daily endeavour it is and daily practice to raise scandalous reports of others and to cast foul aspersions upon them without cause to make their Names unsavoury and thereby to render their persons odious among such as will be ready to spread the Report farther and it is great odds they will do it with some addition of their own too or otherwise make ill use of it to their prejudice But since such mischievous persons will not or cannot learn to do better having been long accustomed to do ill no more then a Leopard can change his spots or a blackamore his skin It will concern us very much not to suffer our selves to become Receivers to these Thieves or Abbettors to these Murtheress by setting our Ears wide open to their detractions but rather to suspect him as an Impe of Satan that delighteth in Satan's Office in being an accuser of his Brethren 28. Secondly how distant are they from Solomon's judgment that value any outward thing in the World it may be some little sordid gain or some petty slippery preferment or some poor fruitless pleasure at a higher rate than they do their good Name which Solomon here so much preferreth before them all 1. The Covetous Worldling so he may but lade himself fast enough with thick clay what careth he what men say or think of him Call him Churl Miser Caitiff Wretch or what else they think good at mihi plaudo domi Tush saith he let them say on The Fox fareth best when he is curst If this man be a wise man as himself thinketh none wiser sure then Solomon was not so wise a man as he is taken for to say as he doth Prov. 22. A good Name is rather to be chosen than great riches c. 2. The Ambitious man that panteth after Preferment what regardeth he though all the World should tax him of Flattery of Bribery of Calumny of Treachery of Perjury So he can but climb up to the step at which he aimed and from which he knoweth not how soon he may be justled off by another as ambitious as himself 3. The luxurious Wanton the prodigal Gamester the Glutton Drunkard or other voluptuous beast in any kind when once imboldned in his ways sitteth him down in the seat of the scorner laugheth at all mankind that will not run with him to the same excess of riot resolveth against whatsoever dislikes sober men bewray of his exorbitances to take his own pleasure howsoever and then let others talk theirs bestoweth a nick-name or perhaps a rhime or two upon those that censure him and then as if he had stabb'd them dead and the day were his he insulteth like a Conqueror and thinketh he hath now quit himself sufficiently for the loss of his Reputation 29. Quid facias illi Without more than the ordinary mercy of God in awakening their Consciences by some immediate work of his own desperate is the condition of all these men Shame is the most powerful curb to restrain men from such vicious excesses as are of evil report and Reproof seasonably lovingly and discreetly tendered the most proper instrument to work Shame in those that have done amiss What hope is there then as to humane endeavours and
it seeketh to please them if that be for their good so it careth not to displease them if that also be for their good St. Paul was ad utrumque paratus he could use both as occasion required either the rod or the spirit of meekness and he would make choice ever of that which he saw to be for the present the more expedient He was a wise Master builder and knew how to lay his work to make the building rise both fair and strong He took his model from the great Arch-architect the builder and maker of all things which is God Suaviter fortiter in the book of Wisdom all Gods works go on so He doth whatsoever he doth fortiter effectually and withour fail in respect of the end that is to build strong But yet suaviter sweetly and without violence in the use of the means that 's to build fair 33. Can any Governour any Minister any private man that desireth to do so much as falleth to his share in this Building desire a better pattern to work by A Governour that hath advisedly resolved upon a just course for that must still be supposed if justice do not lye at the bottom the frame cannot stand let him go through-stich with it in Gods name do it fortiter as is said of David Psal. 78. He ruled them prudently with all his power so as his commands may be obeyed his authority feared his enemies quelled But then he must do it suaviter too that must not be forgotten with such equity lenity and moderation that they may be left without excuse in their undutifulness that will not both acknowledge his justice and clemencie A Minister also of the Gospel who hath a great part in the work both for the pulling down of error and sin and for the setting up of truth and godliness he must do his part fortiter instruct exhort reprove correct with full demonstration of the spirit and power and with clear evidence of truth and reason that he may build strong Yet suaviter too with all sweetness and meekness with much beseeching and brotherly language that he may build fair approving himself both ways a Workman that needeth not be ashamed But if he either put in ill stuff or lay it ill that is if either he prove with bad arguments or reprove with bad words he may then be ashamed of his work he doth but blunder and bungle and not build Yea every private man that hath in his hand the managing of any good cause wherein he meeteth with opposition cannot give better proof both of his wisdom and charity than by doing it fortiter and suaviter to the uttermost of his power and skill effectually but yet fairly withal 34. I have now done with all my three observations and should draw to a conclusion but that for the preventing of a foul mistake in this affair it is needful I should first put in one caution of some importance and it is this That in weighing the decency and expediency of things we ought to make a difference between those lawful things wherein superiour authority hath interposed and determined our liberty either way and those things wherein we are left wholly to our selves What hath been said concerning the yielding to the weaknesses of our brethren for the avoiding of their offence and the forbearing of lawful things sometimes when they grow inexpedient is to be understood of such things only as are wholly in our own power no superiour authority either divine or humane having limited us therein But where lawful Authority hath determined our choice we must hold to their determination any seeming inexpediency to the contrary notwithstanding 35. Whiles things are in agitation private men may if any thing seem to them inexpedient modestly tender their thoughts together with the reasons thereof to the consideration of those that are in authority to whose care and wisdom it belongeth in prescribing any thing concerning indifferent things to proceed with all just advisedness and moderation that so the subject may be encouraged to perform that obedience with chearfulness which of necessity he must perform howsoever It concerneth Superiours therefore to look well to the expediency and inexpediency of what they enjoyn in indifferent things Wherein if there be a fault it must lie upon their account the necessity of obedience is to us a sufficient discharge in that behalf Only it were good we did remember that they are to give up that account to God only and not to us But after that things are once concluded and established by publick Authority Acts passed and constitutions made concerning the same and the will and pleasure of the higher powers sufficiently made known therein then for private men to put in their vye and with unseasonable diligence to call in question the decency or expediency of the things so established yea with intolerable pride to refuse obedience thereunto meerly upon this pretension That they are undecent or inexpedient is it self indeed the most indecent and inexpedient thing that can be imagined 36. For that the fear of offending a private brother is a thing not considerable in comparison of the duty of obedience to a publick Governour might be shewn so apparently by sundry arguments if we had time to inlarge and illustrate them as must sufficiently convince the judgment of any man not wilfully obstinate in that point I shall only crave leave briefly to touch at some of them First then when Governours shall have appointed what seemed to them expedient and private men shall refuse to observe the same pretending it to be inexpedient who shall judge thereof Either they themselves that take the exceptions must be judges which is both unreasonable and preposterous or else every man must be his own judge which were to overthrow all Government and to bring in a confusion every man to do what is good in his own eyes or else the known Governours must judge and then you know what will follow even to submit and obey 37. Secondly to allow men under the pretence of inexpediency and because of some offence that may be taken thereat to disobey Laws and Constitutions made by those that are in authority were the next way to cut the sinews of all authority and to bring both Magistrates and Laws into contempt For what Law ever was made or can be made so just and reasonable but some man or other either did or might take offence thereat And what man that is disposed to disobey but may pretend some inexpediency or other wherewith to countenance out such his disobedience 38. Thirdly It is agreed by consent of all that handle the matter of Scandal that we may not commit any sin whatsoever be it never so small for the avoiding of any scandal be it never so great But to disobey lawful authority in lawful things is a sin against the fifth Commandment Therefore we may not redeem a scandal by such our
of any great weight for altering the meaning of the words Nor is it my purpose to insist upon such inferior observations as might be raised from some expressions or circumstances in the Text otherwise than as they shall occasionally fall in our way in the prosecution of those main points which to the apprehension of evâ—râ— understanding hearer do at the very first view appear to have been chiefly intended therein 2. And they but two First The supposal of a duty tho for the most part and by most Men very slackly regarded and that is the delivering of the oppressed In the two former verses If thou faint in the day of adversity If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain Secondly The removal of the common pretensions which Men usually plead by way of excuse or extenuation at least when they have failed in the former duty In the last verse If thou sayest Behold we knew it not doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it c. So that if we will speak any thing to the purpose of the Text we must of necessity speak to those two points that do therefrom so readily offer themselves to our consideration to wit the necessity of the Duty first and then the vanity of the Excuses 3. The Duty is contained and the necessity of it gathered in and from the tenth and eleventh verses in these words If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain Wherein the particulars considerable are First The persons to whom the duty is to be performed as the proper object of our justice and charity Them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain They especially but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also all others that are in their condition in any kind or degree those that are injured or oppressed or in danger to be injured or oppressed by any manner way or means 2ly An act of Charity and Justice to be performed towards those that are in such a condition by such as by reason of the power and opportunities and other advantages that God hath put into their hands are in a capacity to do it which is the very duty it self viz. to look upon them in the day of their adversity and to deliver them out of the hand of their oppressors 3ly A possibility of the neglect or non-performance of this so just and charitable a duty by those that might and therefore ought to do it expressed here by the name of forbearance If thou forbear to deliver 4ly The true immediate cause of that neglect wheresoever it is found viz. the want of spirit and courage in the heart faint-heartedness from whatsoever former or remoter cause thht faintness may proceed whether a pusillanimous fear of the displeasure or a desire to wind himself into the favour of some great person or the expectation of a reward or a lothness to interpose in other Mens affairs or meer sloth and a kind of unwillingness of putting himself to so much trouble or whatever other reason or inducement can be supposed If thou faint in the day of adversity Lastly The censure of that neglect it is an evident demonstration à posteriori and as all other visible effects are of their more inward and secret causes a certain Token and Argument of a sinful weakness of mind If thou faintest c. thy strength is small 4. The result of these particulars amount in the whole to this Every Man according to his place and power but especially those that being in place of Magistracy and Iudicature are armed with publick authority for it are both in Charity and Iustice obliged to use the utmost of their power and to lay hold on all fit opportunities by all lawful means to help those to right that suffer wrong to stand by their poorer Brethren and Neighbours in the day of calamity and distress and to set in for them throughly and stoutly in their righteous causes to protect them from injuries and to deliver them out of the hands of such as are too mighty or too crafty for them and as seek either by violence or cunning to deprive them either of their lives or livelihoods Briefly thus and according to the language of the Text It is our duty every one of us to use our best strength to deliver the oppressed but our sin if we faint and forbear so to do And the making good and the pressing of this duty is like to be all our business at this time 5. A point of such clear and certain truth that the very Heathen Philosophers and Law givers have owned it as a beam of the light of Nature insomuch as even in their account he that abstaineth from doing injuries hath done but the one half of that which is required to compleat Iustice if he do not withal defend others from injuries when it is in his power so to do But of all other Men our Solomon could least be ignorant of this truth not only for that reason because God had filled his heart with a large measure of wisdom beyond other Men but even for this reason also that being born of wise and godly Parents and born to a Kingdom too in which high calling he should be sure to meet with occasions enough whereon to exercise all the strength he had he had this truth considering the great usefulness of it to him in the whole time of his future Government early distilled into him by both his Parents and was seasoned thereinto from his childhood in his education His father David in Psal. 72. which he penned of purpose as a prophetical benediction and instruction for his Son as appeareth by the Inscription it beareth in the Title of it a Psalm for Solomon beginneth the Psalm with a Prayer to God both for himself and him Give the King thy judgments O God and thy righteousness unto the King's Son And then after sheweth for what end he made that Prayer and what should be the effect in order to the Publick if God should be pleased to grant it Then shall he judg the people according unto right and defend the poor vers 2. He shall keep the simple folk by their right defend the children of the poor and punish the wrong doer or as it is in the last Translation break in pieces the oppressor vers 4. and after at the 12 13 and 14 verses altho perhaps the passages there might principally look at Christ the true Solomon and Prince of Peace a greater than Solomon and of whom Solomon was but a Figure yet I believe they were also literally intended for Solomon himself He shall deliver the poor when he crieth the needy also and him that hath no helper He shall be favourable to the simple and needy and shall preserve the souls of the
farther direction from the Lord Samuel condescendeth to them and dismisseth them with a promise that it should be done to them as they desired and a King they should have ere it were long 3. And within a while he made good his promise The Lord had designed Saul to be their King and had secretly revealed the same to Samuel Who did also by God's appointment first anoint him very privately no Man being by but they two alone and after in a full Assembly of the people at Mispeth evidenced him to be the Man whom God had chosen by the determination of a Lot Whereupon the most part of the people accepted Saul for their King elect testifying their acceptance by their joyful acclamations and by sending him Presents Yet did not Saul then immediatly enter upon his full Regalities whether by reason of some contradiction made to his Election or for whatsoever other cause but that Samuel still continued in the Government till upon occasion of the Ammonites invading the Land and laying siege against Iabesh Gilead Saul made such proof of his valour by relieving the Town and destroying the enemy that no Man had the forehead to oppose against him any more Samuel therefore took the hint of that Victory to establish Saul compleatly in the Kingdom by calling the people to Gilgal where the Tabernacle then was where he once more anointed Saul before the Lord and in a full Congregation investing him into the Kingdom with great solemnity Sacrifices of Peace-offerings and all manner of rejoycings 4. Now had the people according to their desire a King and now was Samuel who had long governed in chief again become a private Man Yet was he still the Lord's Prophet and by virtue of that Calling took himself bound to make the people sensible of the greatness of their sin in being so forward to ask a King before they had first asked to know the Lord's pleasure therein And this is in a manner the business of the whole Chapter Yet before he begin to fall upon them he doth wisely first to clear himself and for the purpose he challengeth all and every of them if they could accuse him of any injustice or corruption in the whole time of his Government then and there to speak it out and they should receive satisfaction or else for ever after to hold their tongues in the three first verses of this Chapter but especially in this third verse Behold here I am witness against me before the Lord c. 5. In which words are observable both the Matter and Form of Samuel's Challenge The Matter of it to wit the thing whereof he would clear himself is set down first in general terms that he had not wrongfully taken to himself that which was anothers Whose Oxe have I taken or whose Ass have I taken And then more particularly by a perfect enumeration of the several species or kinds thereof which being but three in all are all expressed in this Challenge All wrongful taking of any thing from another Man is done either with or without the parties consent If without the parties consent then either by cunning or violence fraud or oppression over-reaching another by wit or over-bearing him by might If with the parties consent then it is by contracting with him for some Fee Reward or Gratification Samuel here disclaimeth them all Whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed or of whose hand have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith That is the matter of the Challenge 6. In the form we may observe concerning Samuel three other things First his great forwardness in the business in putting himself upon the trial by his own voluntary offer before he was called thereunto by others Behold here I am Secondly his great Confidence upon the conscience of his own integrity in that he durst put himself upon his trial before God and the World Witness against me before the Lord and before his Anointed Thirdly his great Equity in offering to make real satisfaction to the full in case any thing should be justly proved against him in any of the premisses Whose Oxe or whose Ass c. and I will restore it you 7. The particulars are many and I may not take time to give them all their due enlargements We will therefore pass through them lightly insisting perhaps somewhat more upon those things that shall seem more material or useful for this Assembly than upon some of the rest yet not much upon any Neither do I mean in the handling thereof to tie my self precisely to the method of my former division but following the course of the Text to take the words in the same order as I find them here laid to my hand Behold here I am witness against me c. 8. Behold here I am More haste than needeth may some say It savoureth not well that Samuel is so forward to justify himself before any Man accuse him Voluntary purgations commonly carry with them strong suspicions of guilt We presume there is a fault when a Man sweareth to put off a crime before it be laid to his charge True and well we may presume it where there appeareth not some reasonable cause otherwise for so doing But there occur sundry reasons some apparent and the rest at least probable why Samuel should here do as he did 9. First He was presently to convince the people of their great sin in asking a King and to chastise them for it with a severe reprehension It might therefore seem to him expedient before he did charge them with innovating the Government to discharge himself first from having abused it He that is either to rebuke or to punish others for their faults had need stand clear both in his own conscience and in the eye of the World of those faults he should censure and of all other crimes as foul as they lest he be choaked with that bitter Proverb retorted upon him to his great reproach Physician heal thy self Vitia ultima fictos contemnunt Scauros castigata remordent How unequal a thing is it and incongruous that he who wanteth no ill conditions himself should bind his neighbour to the good behaviour That a sacrilegious Church-robber should make a Mittimus for a poor Sheep-stealer Or as he complained of old that great Thieves should hang up little ones How canst thou say to thy brother Brother let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye when behold there is a beam in thine own eye That is with what conscience nay with what face canst thou offer it Turpe est doctori every School-boy can tell you See to it all you who by the condition of your Callings are bound to take notice of the actions aud demeanors of others and to censure them that you walk orderly and unreproveably your selves It is only the sincerity and unblameableness of your conversations that will best add weight to your words win