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A46712
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A sermon preached in the Cathedral Church of Norwich at the Mayor's Guild, June xx, 1693 by John Jeffery ...
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Jeffery, John, 1647-1720.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing J520; ESTC R35426
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13,856
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34
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A SERMON Preached in the Cathedral Church OF NORWICH AT THE Mayor's Guild JVNE xx 1693. By JOHN JEFFERY M. A. Minister of S. Peter's of Mancroft in Norwich LONDON Printed for Iames Adamson at the Angel and Crown in S. Paul's Church-Yard 1693. Imprimatur Septemb. 8. 1693. GEO. ROYSE To the Right Worshipful Robert Cooke Esq MAYOR OF The City of Norwich SIR JUstice is so necessary to Society and so essential to Religion that none can be Safe in this World or Happy in the next farther than it prevails in their Hearts and Lives The Dignity and Fitness of the Subject was that which induced me to chuse it for the Occasion And the same Reason I believe made you desire the Sermon might be printed for your Use And as nothing is more agreeable to the Office of a Magistrate or to the Duty of a Christian than Justice so I do most heartily recommend this great Truth to the serious Consideration of all and particularly of your self Adding my Prayers unto God for you That he would endow you with all those Gifts that are necessary for your Office and make you faithful in it which is the most proper Expression of my Regards to you who am Your Humble Servant JOHN JEFFERY 2 Chron. xix 5 6 7. And he set Judges in the Land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah city by city And said to the Judges Take heed what ye do for ye judge not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons nor taking of Gifts THE Matters of Government and the kinds of Governours are Military Civil and Ecclesiastical And the Supreme Powers are supreme in all these Cases Accordingly we find in the History of Jehoshaphat which is contained in Chap. 17 18 19 20. of this Book how he placed subordinate Governours of every kind throughout his whole Kingdom There were Garisons in all those Cities which could be fortified For it was a Time of War c. 17.1 There were also Civil Magistrates in the same Cities as in the Text. There were also Ecclesiastical Rulers which are particularly mentioned concerning Jerusalem v. 8. He set Levites and Priests And the chief Ecclesiastical Governour there was Amariah v. 11. The King himself was supreme and in him all the Powers Military Civil and Ecclesiastical did concenter So it was among the Gentiles and among the Jews And there is a Necessity it should be so for there cannot be two Supremacies in one Nation (a) Letters of Father Paul Let. 123 But the Text and the occasion confine my Discourse to the Subordinate Civil Magistrates which the King placed in every City And these are called Judges The Word Judges is not used so strictly in the Scriptures as in our Nation For there it signifieth at large a Governour and sometimes the supreme Governour Moses in his Time was undoubtedly such and S. Stephen recounting the History of him noteth That the injurious Hâ—brew said unto Moses Who made thee a Ruler and a Judge over us (b) Acts 7.27 and in Exodus it is Who made thee a Prince and a Judge (c) Exod. 2.14 Where Ruler or Prince and Judge are Words of the same import and S. Stephen useth the same Words that the LXX do viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (d) Ex. 2.14 and Acts 7.27 35. Nor was the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unknown in this Signification among the Gentiles any more than among the Jews Among the Jews all the Supreme Governours from Moses and Joshua to the Kings were called Judges and they had such a Power as the Dictators had among the Romans and did such Offices for the Jews as the Heroes Hercules and Theseus (d) v. Plutarc in vita Thess and others did for the Gentiles viz. delivering them from Violence and Oppression I need not enquire further into the Form of the Jewish Government at that Time Or state how far it was in ordinary Aristocratical with respect to the Sanedrim (f) Exod. 18.24 c. or Theocratical with respect to God (g) 1 Sam. 8.7 and 12.12 or Monarchical with respect to the Judges (h) Judg. or how it was mixed of all these 'T is sufficient for my present Purpose that by Judges in Scripture are meant at large Civil Magistrates That the Supreme Governour is sometime so called and that the Subordinate are so called in the Text so that the meaning of it is this That King Jehoshaphat set Civil Magistrates in every City and that each City had a Chief Civil Magistrate of its own And that the King charged them to govern righteously in their several Places In the Words we have I. The Appointment of Civil Magistrates in every City by the King II. The Charge which the King gave unto them concerning their Office I. The Appointment of Civil Magistates in every City by the King Jehoshaphat set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah city by city We have in the Old Testament the History of the Jewish Nation And that from the first original and fundamental establishment thereof so that we know not only what manner the Supreme and Subordinate Magistrates did succeed in after-Times but also how they were constituted at the beginning And as for the Subordinate Magistates we find that they were at the first chosen by Moses the Supreme and that his Choice was approved by God At their coming out of Egypt Moses was the only Governour and Jethro observing the intolerable Encumbrance gave him counsel To provide out of all the people able men such as feared God men of truth hating covetousness and to place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds and rulers of fifties and rulers of tens And let them says he judge the people at all seasons And it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee but every small matter they shall judge So it shall be easier for thy self and they shall bear the burden with thee If thou shalt do this and God command thee so then thou shalt be able to endure and all the people shall go unto their place in Peace (i) Exod. 18.13 c. 24 c. This Counsel Moses followed chusing Subordinate Governours under him and chusing such Men as were fit to be Governours The History of this Moses recounts in his last Speech to the People (k) Deut. 1.9 c. And the Qualifications of those Men were much the same that Aristotle says must be in Governours He that is to govern says the Philosopher must have 1. Love to the People whom he is to govern 2. Power sufficient for his Office And 3. Vertue or Honesty and Justice (l) Arist Pol. l. 5. sect 89. Sufficiency is a necessary Qualification in one who is to
govern and that Sufficiency consisteth in Wisdom Justice and Power The reason for this is because the Administration of Government is a Work of great Difficulty and of great Consequence And because those who do govern are a Pattern to those who are governed Governours are publick Persons and cannot lead private Lives And therefore they ought so to live that they may be exemplary Themistocles did so when he came unto the Government he laid aside those Liberties that he took before and behaved himself in all things with a special Severity (m) Plutarch And great Reason there was why he should do so for the People do narrowly observe not only the publick Justice but also the common Converversation of the Magistrate insomuch that small Things were objected against Pompey the Great The grave Philosopher observes That as a little Wen or Wart in the Face is more troublesome than far greater Irregularities and Mutilations in other Parts of the Body so small Faults in the Life of a Magistrate are accounted great ones through the Opinion which Mankind have that Governours are extraordinary Persons and such as ought to be free from all Error and Fault (n) Plutarch de Reip. ger praecept Livius Drusus was sensible of this and when after he was made Tribune a Carpenter offered him for five Talents to alter all those Places in his House through which it could be inspected by his Neighbours The Tribune answered That he would give him ten Talents if he would contrive to lay his House so open that all the Citizens might see how he lived Plutarch notes That he was a sober and vertuous Man But adds That there was no need his House should be so open the Citizens would know how he lived without that Advantage (o) Plut. Reip. gerend praecepâ— Because therefore the Interest of great Multitudes dependeth upon the Vertue of Governours and because the Lives of many will be formed by their Example it is necessary that Governours should bâ— strictly Vertuous 'T is necessary that Magistrates should be qualified for their Office and 't is necessary that there should be many subordinate Magistrates for if one Man were sufficient for several Offices yet it were not safe for him to undertake them (p) Arist Pol. l. 2. but according to Plutarch's Similitude (q) Plutarch Reip. ger praecept as the Hand being divided into Fingers is not thereby made the more impotent but is a more compleat and artificial Instrument for the use of Man so dividing the Parts of Government among many is most Advantagious for the Society So Moses did here and so it has been in all Nations and what the Nature of things did require the Law of God does approve For in the Institution of the Sanedrim (r) Numb 11.16 17. we find that Moses chose Seventy Elders by the Order of God and God put the Spirit of Government upon those whom Moses had chosen as he promised Thus it was at the first erecting of the Jewish Polity and the same was observed afterward for in the Days of Jehâ—shaphat we see he appointed subordinate Governours as Moses had done at first He set Judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah city by city Agreeably the Apostle says (s) 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him Subordinate Governours derive their Power from the Supreme and are accountable to him Subordinate Governours are to obey as well as to govern And they are directed in their Government by their Obedience It is an old Saying That he who would govern well must first obey (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Pol. l. 7. sect 58. And Ariâ—totle quotes it as a Saying in his Time received by common and long Consent But Subordinate and Temporary Governours have this special Advantage for governing well That they have obeyed before that they must obey again those who are in the same Places they hold and they do obey all the Time those who are Supreme Government is necessary to Society and Subordination is necessary to Government For as no Society can subsist without Government so no Government can subsist without Subordination And this unavoidable Necessity is a publick Benefit for as those who govern take care of the publick Interest so it is expedient there should be those to whom they should give an account (u) Arist Pol. l. 6. § 40. l. 3. §. 53 c. l. 2. p. 134 153 126 l. 3. §. 30. Dan. 6.1 2. and 1 Sam. 12.1 c. And so it is in all Subordinate Governours Thus we see That particular subordinate Magistrates are necessary That Vertue is a necessary Qualification in Magistrates That the Law is the Rule (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Pol. l. 1. c 6. And that the Supreme is the Judge of their Administration Hitherto we have seen the Appointment of Subordinate Magistrates by the King II. We have the Charge which the King gave unto those whom he had appointed Subordinate Magistrates The Charge was given by a Religious King And so there is Power (y) Eccl. 8.4 and so there is Equity in it But herein I am to consider 1. The matter of the Admonition which is contained in the Charge or Speech of the King and that Admonition is short and Comprehensive Take heed what ye do and Take heed and do it 2. The Reasons for that Admonition and they are strong and irresistible as we shall see presently 1. The Matter of the Admonition which is contained in the Charge or Speech of the King and that Admonition is short and comprehensive Take heed what ye do and take heed and do it The particulars of their Office are not recited nor was it necessary they should be recited to Men who were fit for their Office They knew from the nature of their Office which was to Govern and from the matter of the Laws according to which they were to Govern what their Duty was In some it was their necessary Duty to do right unto all and to help them to right who stand in need of their help For this purpose they were furnished with Power and qualified with Knowledge and supposed to be Just The general Rule for this Justice is given by Menelaus in Homer (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. Il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Determine equally between both Parties and not with partiality (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Eth. L. 5. C. 4. The Law is supposed to be the Rule of Justice and Governours are to execute the Law and to administer Justice Therefore Aristotle says To go unto the Magistrate is to go unto Justice (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist Eth. L. 5. C. 4. And among us some of our Magistrates are called by the Name of Justice And Aristotle's