scandalous in their Crimes And sometimes the best Rebuke that can be given some great Men and Superiours is to let them see what is the just and deserved Punishment of their own Faults by the Punishment of Inferiours for the same things which they know themselves to be guilty of AND thus I have faithfully and plainly told you your Duty with the principal Objections against it and with the proper Limitations and Cautions What remains is to Exhort and Urge you to the Practice SHALL I set before you the Publick Interest of the Kingdom Or the Kindness to the particular Persons who offend Or the Honour of our Nation and City Or the just Expectations of GOD and all the World after this Publick Peace Or the Consideration of the Union of so many Worthy Members of the National Church with Protestant Dissenters in this Undertaking There are many things may be urged under all these Heads suitable to our present purpose I will name a few and so Conclude I. THE publick Interest of the Community is maintained by the Execution of good Laws The Welfare of Society and its Publick Peace cannot else be preserved The very Constitution by which you enjoy your many Blessings in a private Capacity must otherwise sink Gouts and Palsies and Consumptions and other Diseases of the Body are not more certainly destructive to the Health and Life of a particular Person than the Impunity of Profane and Wicked People to the Peace and Happiness of a State and Nation THE Divine Presence and Favour which is the Strength and Stability of a People cannot otherwise be secured or his threatned Judgments diverted Wicked Cities and Societies God will punish in this World and as such they cannot otherwise be punished at all tho' particular Persons shall be accountable in another The Crimes you endeavour to punish you know are such for which the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Disobedience For which a flying Roll of Written-Curses is declared to be sent For which other Lands have been made to mourn And on the contrary by executing Judgment for such Offences we read of Divine Judgments removed and his Plagues stayed A few that would publickly and resolutely own God and Religion might have saved a City If you can find a Man that executeth Judgment and seeketh Truth I will pardon Jerusalem saith God by one Prophet Jer. 5.5 I sought for a Man and found none to stand in the Gap therefore I poured out mine Indignation upon them saith another Ezek. 22. Though at the same time there was a Remnant it may be of Seven Thousand unknown Persons that did secretly fear and worship God in their Hearts But they did not preserve the Nation from Captivity and the City from Destruction as a Few openly and resolutely owning God and Religion would have done BUT if GOD had not threatened Judgment such a People would soon undo themselves by their own Vices Which must necessarily weaken divide dishonour impoverish and destroy them Great Numbers of Subjects that in a time of War might defend their Country are effeminated debauched diseased and made uncapable of bearing Arms fitter for an Hospital than an Army to be under a Physician or Chyrurgeon rather than a General who instead of being able to use a Sword or Musket need a Crutch By unrestrained unpunished Vice and Wickedness the very Genius of a Nation is changed a generous and brave People dispirited By Luxury and Debauchery they are softened and dissolved into Cowardize They lose their Reputation abroad and have no Strength at home and are an easie Prey to Foreign Enemies But without that must sink under their own Burden and in a little time will undo themselves II. IT will be Kindness to the Particular Persons whose Manners are so corrupt as to come under the Lash of the Law For it is not of Capital Punishments we now speak He that sinneth against God wrongeth his own Soul And is it no Kindness to preserve them from wounding and hurting and destroying themselves from deforming the Beauty darkning the Glory debasing the Purity weakning the Strength disturbing the Peace undermining the Life and Happiness of their own Souls 'T is to hinder them from laying violent Hands on themselves who like mad Men would thrust a Sword into their own Hearts And yet how many such Spectacles of Compassion are there where Vice is not restrained and punished The Sight of a Wreck at Sea by a Tempest or the Desolations of a Country by War where their Cities have been plundered and Houses burnt and dead Carkasses lay exposed in the Field and Streets This would affect you with Compassion But the unrestrained Wickedness of the World is a worse Sight To see a Man weltering in his own Blood and gasping for Breath after he hath wounded and stabbed himself is a doleful Sight But the Sinfulness and Misery of Mankind by Reason of Sin should much rather move our Compassion ARE you not kind to them to save them from Beggery from Ignominy from Sickness from Death and from the Wrath of God for ever Is it not kindness to save them from languishing painful Sickness from Feavers and Dropsies from Gouts and Cholicks Consumptions and worse Distempers that are the Consequents of their particular Vices and of a disorderly Life and withal to save them from an untimely Death by the Sword of Justice 'T IS impossible to tell from what Mischiefs you preserve a Man who is reclaimed but from that one Vice of Drunkenness For who knows what Mischiefs and Destruction he may run into by running into that Excess when once the Wine has filled him with more Spirits than he is able to govern To be sure you save them from a great deal of Anguish and Trouble of Conscience For even they that laugh and sport and drink away their Fears and Remorse yet when the Company is broken up and the Heat of the Wine is over their gloomy misgiving Thoughts return upon them and they care not to be alone or in the dark for fear of their own guilty Selves HOW many of these need to be pitied especially who have had a good Education to whom it was more difficult to run into an excess of Riot For they must stifle many more Convictions and be at a great deal of Pains to silence the Clamours of Conscience They must lay aside Consideration and serious Thoughts forsake the Publick Assemblies for Divine Worship neglect the Reading of the Bible avoid the serious Company of those that would reprove them They must leave off secret Prayer they must accustom themselves to loose Conversation and admit Principles of Atheism and Infidelity before they can adventure to commit some great Crimes And it may be for a good while Conscience will speak louder in their Ears and the Flames of Hell flash oftener and more terribly in their Eyes because of their Education They have much ado to hold on and if they be sick or like to
not being so much to retaliate the Evil on the Offender as to do good to Others and to keep them from the like Offences Smite a Scorner says the Wise Man one that is an obstinate and insolent Offender 19 Prov. 25. and the Simple will beware Such as were like to sin by Inadvertency or ill Example will take warning 25 Chap. 11. When the Scorners are Punished the Simple are made Wise If one Sinner destroy much good if one root of Bitterness may defile many the Impunity of Criminals upon this account must needs be a great Mischief as likely to spread the Infection through the whole Neighbourhood Street and City And so 't is every Mans concern to have his Neighbours Child or Servant Punished for such Faults from which he would preserve his own And I need not tell you how much greater Influence bad Examples have than good ones you know that Health is not communicated as Diseases are 3. PUNISHMENT is an Act of Government and hath relation to the Law and so one End of it is to preserve the Authority of the Laws and the Honour of the Magistrate who is concerned for the Publick Good See the Bishop of Worcester's Discourse of the Sufferings of Christ Chap. 1. Grotius de Satisf Cap. 2. The reason here of Punishment is not so much because a Law is broken as because if it be not punished the Authority of the Law and Lawgiver can never be upheld and that is necessary or the Community can never be preserv'd And where the Offence to be punished is against GOD and the Publick Laws the Punishment is due to the Honour of GOD and to the Common Good and 't is not in a Private Mans Power to forgive the Injury to the Publick as he may do a pecuniary Debt that is owing to himself Vengeance says God is mine i. e. the inflicting of Punishment belongs to me In him all manner of Right is primarily and originally lodged as the great Lord and Proprietor of all And every Injury and Injustice to another either private or publick redounds upon Him as the Governour of the World The decision of Right and Wrong the distribution of Rewards and Punishments appertains to him Vengeance as taken for the inflicting of Punishment is his undoubted Prerogative his unalienable Right It belongs to him and to those only whom he appoints to be his Ministers to execute WRATH on such as do evil And we are not only to suppose the reason of this to be the Danger that may accrue to Society by the Impunity of Crimes but because of the Dishonour and Affront that is offer'd to GOD as the Governour of the World He assumes Anger Wrath and Jealousie to show he minds his own Glory and will not bear Contempt but avenge it And to make Transgressors suffer is for the Reparation of God's injur'd Honour as well as for the Happiness of Society It cannot therefore unbecome a good Man to call for Justice it being his Duty on all these accounts to further and promote it THESE things will concern us as we are Men under the Obligation of the Law of Nature 2. LET me bespeak you as you are Christians and profess to own Revealed Religion and the Authority of the Holy Scriptures 'T is not the duty of Magistrates and Ministers only but of all the Followers of Christ to be the Salt of the Earth and the Lights of the World in their several places Every Member is bound to promote the welfare of the whole Body according to his Capacity Every Christian must imitate his Master who went about doing good He is created and redeemed and sanctified for it as the Tree is made for the Fruit. Many devout Persons may think if they were Rich enough to live without bodily Labour and could spend all their time in Meditation and Prayer and hearing Sermons c. That this were the happiest Life in the World The Popish Nuns and Fryars are under this mistake But no Man is made for himself alone we are Members of Society We must do good to Others and in doing so we take Care of our own Salvation Our Lord has taught us to pray that the Name of God may be Sanctified and shall we silently suffer it to be profaned And his Kingdom come and shall we do nothing that it may take place And his Will be done on Earth as in Heaven without endeavouring this we contradict our own Prayers And when we desire the Will of God may be done we mean it by Others as well as our selves And is it not the Will of God that such Offences should be Punished We beg Forgiveness of our own Sins and the Sins of the Nation Can we do it uprightly and not endeavour Reformation We may not suffer Sin upon Others any more than allow it in our selves The Scripture Examples of Zerubbabel Nehemiah Ezra c. may be urged to this purpose as you have heard in some former Sermons and I hope with very good Effect BUT let me here reason with you a little Is it fit for Christians to be concerned that Justice be done between Man and Man as to their Lives Estates and Civil Rights and shall we be more indifferent as to those Laws where the Honour of GOD and of our Blessed Redeemer are more immediately concerned If a notorious Cheat or Thief be discovered and taken what general Rejoycing is there in the City What Crowds will attend him to the Justice of Peace to the Prison to the Sessions-House to the Pillory Is it only because your selves may one time or other be injured by such a Crime or have been so Doubtless in Criminal Cases there is more reason to assist and more reason to rejoyce as these Offenders are the Pests of Humane Society and as their Crimes do carry an open Affront to Heaven Is the cheating of you of a little Money so great a matter the defrauding you in a Bill of Exchange or a Bank Note so very considerable that every one is ready to assist to have such a Fellow punished And is there not more reason in the other Case Is the value of Ten or Twenty Pounds more to be regarded than the Vertue Honour Safety Health Life and Soul of your Relations and Neighbours which may be corrupted and destroyed by unpunished Vice and Examples of Debauchery YOU know you are not to intice and tempt Others to Sin but are you not likewise to prevent others from being tempted You may not lay a stumbling block in anothers way to make him fall but if you see him ready to cast himself down a Precipice will you do nothing to prevent it Nehemiah charges the Rulers for breaking the Sabbath because they did not restrain others from bearing Burthens How dear did it cost Ely and his House that when his Sons made themselves vile he restrained them not Tho' Pilate spake to the Jews on the behalf of Christ as Innocent yet is he
die how ready are they to Despair Unless they leave the World like stupified Brutes they are usually in most dreadful Agonies Is it not kind to pity 'em and endeavour to save them from all this and from Eternal Damnation after all ARE you not kind to them when you consider they cannot be undone for ever by a sinful Course without being miserable now and you would fain preserve them from both Every Week's Experience will confirm the Truth of this If Men reflect and consider what they have got by a vicious disorderly Life What Fruit have they had in the Way of Sin Let them bring in their Account and let us view the Sum Total What Fruit have they had but so much Shame and Fear so much Care and Trouble so much Disgrace and Disapointment Dissatisfaction and Disquiet so many Sorrows and Calamities an ill Name an empty Purse a decayed Fortune a diseased Body an accusing Conscience c. And all these by such Sins as you would restrain punish and prevent And is it not Kindness thus to convince them that if they will perish for ever they must purchase Eternal Misery by present Punishment and run the Hazard at least of being Undone in this World that they may be Damned in the next III. IS not the Honour of the City and of the Nation concerned in this To revive those Vertues which were anciently the Glory of England and to check and reform those Disorders which the Licentiousness of the latter Reigns has introduced Is Reverence for the Blessed God his Name his Word his Day his Institutions Is Honesty Truth and Justice Sobriety Temperance and Chastity less a Duty in our Age than heretofore Were these things only fit to be admired in former Times without being practised in ours 'T is certainly for the Honour of London which is one of the most considerable Cities in the World on other Accounts that base Assassinations Murders and Robberies are not so common every Day and Night here as in many Cities of Spain and Italy That a Man may walk safely upon a lawful Occasion at any time of the Night from one end of the City to the other without hazard of his Life by Pistol or Stilletto Would it not be a greater Honour to this City and the Protestant Religion professed here to be able to walk up and down and not meet a Drunkard reeling in the Streets or hear the GOD of Heaven blasphemed or a prophane Oath sworn in the Places of publick Concourse not to hear Men curse and swear and pray to GOD to damn them which is and should be the Business of their their Lives to escape and prevent On which account also common Conversation and publick Converse is uneasie to a Serious Christian For the Company of many witty and ingenious Persons must be declin'd and avoided by a Man of Conscience by Reason of their Oaths and Curses and impious Language which otherwise would be both pleasing and profitable However If we cannot go so far in such a Reformation as to hope to live to see all this let us do what we can and beg that the next Generation may carry it further IV. SHALL I urge you to these joint Endeavours for suppressing Profneness from the Seasonableness of them after the Publick Peace which GOD hath mercifully given us Many Penal Laws in a time of War are more faintly executed because the Government may stand in need of the Assistance of the Bad as well as the Good But when the Sword of War abroad is sheathed that of Civil Justice should be drawn against Profaneness because the Government has occasion only for the Service of Good Men in a time of Peace And hath not so much other Business to divert them from executing the Laws So that not to punish Vice in a time of Peace will be a greater Reflection on the Government than if the War had continued And alas how little Security can we have of the Continuance of Peace or of any of the Blessings of it without Reformation Is it Peace Jehu Is there can there be a lasting well-grounded Peace while Whoredoms and Adulteries Perjuries and Blasphemies profane Oaths and Curses and other Abominations unpunished are so many Lastly Consider These are Things that we All Agree in The visible Countenance of so many worthy Persons of different Perswasions in lesser Things thus to abet the Cause of Religion and to discourage Profaneness is a Great Thing It may help to bring Sobriety and Serious Godliness into request Whereas if good Men be timorous and bashful if they be afraid or ashamed to take the Part of Religion tho' the Laws of GOD are seconded by those of the Nation the Profligate and Profane will be more hardened more numerous and insolent For there is hardly any thing does more embolden Men in Sin than to see Others commit the like with Impunity And we may justly apprehend that the spreading of Debauchery in City and Country is very much owing to this That Good Men who are inwardly Friends to Religion stand Neuters and will not concern themselves to appear against Profaneness and help to stem the Tide 'T is in this Case as one says of a Plague If the Sound and Healthy will withdraw themselves in a time of Infection and do nothing to stop the Pestilence if only the Sick and Infected do walk abroad and appear in publick how unavoidably must the Contagion spread and the Plague reign even to Desolation in such a place I AM not without hope that this laudable and Christian Undertaking will promote a better Understanding between the Protestants of the National Church and Those who in some things dissent from it As far as we have attained let us agree to mind the same thing And to suppress Immorality and Profaneness I am sure is one of those things wherein we ought and may and do Agree And by more familiar Acquaintance with one another you may find so many Persons of both sorts worthy of your Esteem and Love as will take off many Prejudices destroy Bitterness and Rancor and cure that Evil speaking and Detraction which hath been complained of on all sides It may tend to heal that Moroseness and Reservedness and Distrust of one another which has kept us at such a Distance And let us see that there was no sufficient reason for such an Estrangment I promise my self that Dissenters will be so wise and charitable as to be of Luther's mind When so much was done at Marpurg towards an Agreement between him and the Helvetians he said on that Occasion that he would not allow that Praise to the other Party to be more desirous of Peace and Concord than he There is the more ground to hope for this in the present Age because we agree in the Mystery of GOD even of the Father and the Lord JESVS CHRIST I mean in the Doctrinal Articles of The Church of England and thereupon we have sufficient ground