when he hath made a Law that Law hath its force from its own specifical nature for that Law should bind is quid aeternum immutabile it is an eternal and immutable because it is an essential property of Law 5. Lastly The revival of this Law is not opposite to Scripture nor is the Scripture an adequate rule for all such things as are to be done by us in our several places and callings from whence it must needs follow that the multitude must stand in need of direction and determination either from themselves or from others in many particular cases Let no man think much that I have said that the Scripture is no adequate rule for particular actions for if this were not true it must follow as the late s Dr. Sanderson Praelect 4. Sect. 14. Reverend and Learned Bishop of Lincoln observes that such as never had the Scriptures never had any rule for particular actions which is not onely contrary to experience but to that of the Apostle Rom. 2.15 where he tells you that the Heathens who had not that Law which God gave unto the Jews did govern themselves in particular moral actions by that Law which was written in their hearts A principal but not an adequate rule of moral actions we must acknowledge the Scripture to be and therefore as the Law of nature by reason of its generality doth stand in need of a supply which it hath from the determination thereof by particular humane Laws so the Scripture by reason of its generality though not for that reason onely doth stand in need of a supply from particular rules of particular actions For in moral actions these two things are to be considered First The principal rule by which they are to be governed together with the principal end unto which they are to be directed and so the Scripture is a rule of all our moral actions directing us to do all that we do in Charity for edification of our Brethren and for the Glory of God The second thing is that immediate and adequate rule whereby the action we are about to do is to be govern'd and this as it is not necessary that it should so the Scripture doth not prescribe but as in things left unto our own choice we govern our selves by that rule we esteem best or good so as we are members of the Church or State Reason cannot but tell us that in particular actions our understanding as well as our will may stand in subordination to such as have a right and authority to govern us Dissenters will easily be convinc'd by an instance in both These Reverend and Honorable Persons my Lords the Judges have for performance of their duty this rule of doing it from Scripture Deut. 1.16 Hear the causes between your Brethren and judge righteously between every man and his Brother this is the Principal rule of that action their Lordships are now upon but the form manner time place yea the very rule of judging righteously between every man and his brother is not prescrib'd in Scripture but by the Laws of this Land unto which their Lordships hold themselves bound to conform as the adequate and immediate rule of their consciences in administring justice in this Nation The like instance I shall crave leave to give in a matter of exceeding great concernment to us as we are members of this Church and owe obedience unto his Majesties Ecclesiastical Laws It is the command of our dear Saviour our Lord and Master Jesus Christ that the Sacrament of the Lords Supper be received often in remembrance of his most pretious death and passion and for the actual application of the benefits thereof unto the worthy Receiver and that this be done with such reverence and preparation as becomes so holy and dreadful a mystery but the gesture time place manner and other circumstances are not prescrib'd by Scripture but left in the power of the Church to determine who hath the standart and rule of decency in her hands nisi fortè tantum Sacramentum minùs deceat ordo quà m confusio unless that Sacrament be the onely thing that is best set out by disorder and confusion as t de Rom. Pont. l. 4. o. â—â— Bellarmine smartly if justly replies upon the Centuriators and the Apostle himself hath confuted with Judgements from Heaven 1 Cor. 11.30 Ob. But here it will be objected That if this be granted Christian liberty would be no more but an empty name and thousands of good Christians must hold themselves bound to submit unto such Laws as are not agreeable to their particular consciences which were to lose the sairest Jewel in the Crown of Reformation Sol. To this I say God forbid but that every good Christian should have a due regard unto such things as lye in common unto the whole profession as Liberty and Conscience do but we must remember that non plus nomini quà m veritati tribuendum that we do not sacrisice truths to titles and things to names Liberty is a word that the whole world in a manner first learnt from Luther as that which dropt from Heaven into his arms though many of his words and actions applauded and imitated both then and since could not be warranted by his very large Commission I mean it not so much of his burning the Corpus Jur is Canonici in the publique Market-place in token that he had set all the world free from Laws which he did thereby as truly as Xerxes bound the Hellespont when he cast a chain therein but rather of his contemning and reviling the Civil Magistracy on whom in his book de potestate seculari he bestows this Character sunt communiter maximè fatui pessimi Nebulones super terram which amongst other worse if there could be worse expressions rendred him obnoxious amongst his enemies to that sharp invective in the Diet at Worms Exlex homo leges ipsas omnes damnat c. and made his friend u Con. Gesn in universal biblioth Gesner doubt what would become of that prodigious liberty faxit Deus says he ne contentione impudentiâ oris obsit Ecclesiae suae Yoaks of unjust servitude may sometimes be broken but Christians must not fling the Pieces of them in the face of supreme authority But as for Christian liberty I shall say in one word that it is best known by its contrary and that is by that Spirit of bondage which was in the unconverted Jews so that Christian liberty is no more but a freedom from the burden of the Ceremonial and the curse and rigor of the Moral Law from the guilt and from the Law of Sin from the fear and from the power of Death This I take to be all that can be found in the Scripture which is the Christians Magna Charta the great conservatress of his Liberty Laws therefore that preserve Order and Decency and keep men from falling into sin the onely vassallage of a Christian can
Particulars as the heads of my following discourse First what the tenour and purport of this Judicial Law is of which we treat Secondly whether this Law may be revived by supreme Authority And Thirdly whether there be not either formally or equivalently the like Law in this Church and State in which we live In the prosecution of these I shall crave leave to follow the Counsel of Epicurus in f Diog. Laert. lib. 10. Laertius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to present you with the Flowers of Rhetorick to be more careful to garnish the Dish than to season the meat especially for such an Auditory whose parts and callings must needs furnish them with abilities to concoct far more solid matter and learning than can be expected from my very Ordinary skill and capacity First then concerning the tenour and purport of this Judicial Law And here if my Obligation to discourse of this particular Law would permit me to speak of Laws in general amongst many other things that might be said I should not omit to take notice of the opinion the Heathens themselves had of the Sacredness and of the Necessity of Laws Of the Sacredness of Laws in that the prime Heathen Lawgivers endeavoured to perswade the people that their Laws were of Divine extraction Amongst the Greeks Minos feign'd to have receiv'd his Laws from Jupiter Lycurgus his from Apollo and Zaleuchus his from Minerva as g Strom. lib. 1â— p. 352. Clemens Alexandrinus tells us and for the Romans Numa Pompilius his fam'd addresses to the Goddess Egeria for instructions in making of Laws are notorious to all Foreseeing belike the importance of that truth the h Curtius l. 8. Historian acutely observes as the reason why the Persians were wont to deify their Kings Majestatem imperii salutis esse tutelam their opinion of the Necessity of Laws is inferr'd from their conceit that i Euseb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Sca. Animad p. 19. Phoroneus whom they fancied to be the first Lawgiver was likewise the first man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as k Lib. 32. 1. Phoronâ—us Moyst Antiquior 300. an Sic Euseb Aug. docent cum tamen proecessâ—â—unt regna Assyâ— Argyv Aegypt sed Regna legibus priore Liv. l. 3. Just l. 1 c. Nonnus calls him as if all that lived before him had not been men for want of Laws what think you would they have thought of them who will not live like men under just Law But the due regard of method having confin'd me within narrower bounds I shall in as few words as conveniently I may endeavour fully to explain this Law by insisting on these four particulars or integrant parts of Law 1. Interdictum 2. Censura 3. Sanctio 4. Ratio finalis legis The 1. Interdict 2. Censure 3. Sanction and 4. Final Reason of this Law 1. The Interdict of this Law is this That if it hapned either through the ambiguity of words or exception of cases that there arose any doubt of the extent or meaning of any Judicial or Ceremonial Law in inferiour or local Courts of Judicature the Question was to be brought before the great Sanhedrin or Council of Jerusalem and there a definitive Sentence being made all both Judges and Litigants were bound under pain of death not to reject and contradict the same but it was to be put upon Record as a Rule in such cases for the future To make this more plain we will suppose a Case that may be easily conceived to arise out of the Law of their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or second Tithing Deut. 14.22 The words of the Law are these Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that thy field bringeth forth year by year Upon this Law it might be doubted whether by a direct consequence drawn from this Law the Jews were not bound to pay unto the Levites in their first tithing the tenths of all such things as grew in their Gardens The reasons of which doubt may be First for that prudent men might conceive that the Law intended no more but a fit maintenance for the Priests and Levites unto which such small things would but little conduce and therefore that they were not included in the Law for Payment of Tithes And secondly because by the uncertainty of their estimation they might raise contentions betwixt the Priests and the People or occasion unnecessary scruples in mens consciences and thereby introduce that post humous way of expiating involuntary Sacrilege by Mortuaries as amongst us And thirdly because the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Law which is rendred a field is sometimes though but seldom found to signifie a Garden Now if the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem should determine that the Jews were bound to pay Tithes of those minute things which grew in their Gardens the People were oblig'd by virtue of this Law in the Text to submit their practise unto that Decree and if upon pretence of error therein some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some contumacious Doctor as the l Grot. ad Loc. Jews call'd him the same with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the m Can. 16. Apostles Canons should factiously oppose the same such a one was by this Law to be put to death This Council at Jerusalem was the same with that the Text styles the Priest or the Judge for in the ancient state of that Government as n Lib. de Prin. constit Philo and o Advers Ap. lib. 2. Josephus tell us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Priests had the hearing and determining of all controversies in the ordinary way of Judicature which course as p In Chron. O 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem Baron ex Phil. l. 2. de Temp. De hujus libri authoritate vid. Baron ad An. Ch. 1. p. 83. n. 20 Plant. ad An. Chr. 32. p. 143. Eusebius notes was observed among them though not without some mixture of the Laity till the reign of Herod the Great in whose time the Scepter being about to depart from Judah the authority whereof had been till then preserved in this Sanhedrin and the Assamonaei and q p. 10. n. 15. Baronius in his Apparatus shews you how Herod I say upon reasons of State slew them all but one and substituted a Council of Proselytes in their stead Let no man think that the Tribe of Levi either took too much upon them or had too much conferr'd upon them by this honour of Judicature it was no more than the Heathen-world bestowed upon their ignorant and Idolatrous Priests for the Ethiopians r Lib. 17. Strabo for the Aegyptians Å¿ lib. 14. Aelian for the Persians t In chron Eusebius for the Athenians u Lib. 14. Ant. Josephus for the Gauls and Britains x Lib. 6 Caesar for the Romans y Lib. 2 d legib Cicero are authentick witnesses Nor was the Impostor Mahomet wanting to the
the first magnitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sins of presumption Qui autem superbierit nolens obedire So the vulgar reads the Text and before that the Septuagint after the * original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore h 22. q. 86.9.3 Aquinas doth rightly define contempt to be nolle subjici legi not to submit ones self to just Law and so i Suar de legib c. 28. n. 13. peccare ex contemptu est peccare ex voluntate non se subjiciendi alteri to be guilty of the sin of contempt is wilfully to refuse to submit our selves to them that have a just and lawful authority over us This sin is first brooded and hatcht in the understanding when that person or his authority to whom we ought to submit is less esteem'd than he or that ought to be next it descends into the inward affections and passions of the mind and there grows and strengthens it self from a desire and contrivance of opportunities to express it and to invite others to the same attempts and lastly it comes out and shews it self to be a fiery flying Serpent ready fledg'd and prepared for action and discovers as much by Overt acts as the Law calls them whereby this pride and malice of the heart becomes discernible to all A Sin it is that of all others carries with it the greatest provocation both with God and Man 't is not always so much the thing that is done as the mind k Tunc non peccati species sed peccantis intentio pensat D. Bern. l. 1. de praecept disp c. 14. v. 27. wherewith it is done that gives unto this sin its true estimate and size When God made Saul King there were some that brought him no presents 1 Sam. 10. the Exchequer 't is like complain'd not for want of them yet the Holy Ghost calls those men sons of Belial as having an eye upon the venome that lay in their hearts they did it not because they despised him We read of one that not long after the commandement for observing the Sabbath was given had gathered sticks upon that day and was therefore by Gods especial appointment ston'd to death Num. 15. the fact was but small but his pride was great he did it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too out of presumption and so fell under their l Caninius disquis c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their judicium animarum as the Jews call'd it for he that despis'd Moses Law was to die without Mercy as the Apostle tells us Heb. 10.28 and t is the Sanction of this Law even that man shall die which is our third particular 3. Laws have generally in them a double power directive and coercive the first describes and appoints the duty the second determines the punishment to be suffered if the duty be not perform'd Upon this follows a m Dr. Sanderson praelect 6. double obligation of the Subject by Law the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obedience the second is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subjection the former we commonly style active the later passive obedience active obedience is doing the duty passive obedience is submitting to the punishment if we do it not The first Positive Law that ever was made in the world had these two the directive and coercive parts Gen. 2.17 Of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat there 's the directive part for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death there 's the coercive part These two parts of Law have respect to that twofold Power which is in every mans soul the Understanding and the Will the Understanding is the Card and Compass the Will holds the Rudder and steers the course of mens actions that directs this executes Now because the Will is a free power and may choose to do or not doe therefore the coercive part of Law is added to restrain the Will from evil in doing contrary to the rule of Law for if the Will had no freedom in her actions all the Laws of God and men were at best impertinent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as Origen truly speaks and with him two great Fathers of the Church in his n Ch. â—1 Philocalia and St. Cyril of Alexandria of as good authority as any says as much in his sixth Book de Adoratione in Spiritu veritate If this were not true with Reverence to your Lordships be it spoken you would return from your Circuit with sins upon your consciences of the same colour with your Robes I mean sins of bloud Scarlet sins as the o Isa 1.18 Prophet calls them it being utterly unreasonable and therefore unlawful to punish any man for doing that which he had no power to avoyd A consequence so inevitable that some Phanatiques in the close of the late troubles foreseeing the force of it refused to assist in their Councils of War because they would not concur in that mans punishment whose actions as they conceived were no more contingent and free than the motion of a stone tending to the centre of gravity The effect of which pernicious errour was most acutely foreseen by a great States-man of ours for almost an age since as the late Reverend and learned p Part. 1. c. 6. s 12. Author of the Quinque-Articular History will inform you This coercive part of Law belongs to vindicative justice and appoints the punishment due to the breach of each particular Law which is not always to take its measure from the fact materially considered but in conjunction with the will and other faculties of the soul Intentio est quae dat praecipuam formalitatem in actibus moralibus say the q Aquin. 12 a. q 72 1.8 c. 3 a. q. 88.4 1 m. Schoolmen the intention gives the formality to the sin and so creates that difference the r c. quu a. Dist 10. Gloss observes betwixt non parere and contemnere of great importance with Casuists in stating the nature and kinds of offences against Law in foro interiori or in the conscience for in foro exteriori or the publick tribunal there the Law judges of the intention by the fact and not of the fact by the intention The formality of the sin we speak of stands in the nolle obedire in the Text enough to exact the greatest punishment especially from such a Lawgiver who hath absolute Soveraignty over mens lives Ego oâ—cidam ego vivere faciam says God Deut. 32.39 I kill and I make alive that is say * V. Soto de just jur l. 4. q 2. a. 3. Expositors I have the sole original right and authority of taking away mans life and therefore Magistrates cannot take away the lives of Malefactors or expose the lives of their Subjects to the hazard of just wars as having absolute Dominion over mens lives but as conservators of the Peace and publick good And upon this ground it
by no means infringe but rather advance Christian Liberty As to the later part of the Objection that concerns private conscience supposed in some to be oppressed by such Laws to which others may as innocently as willingly submit I answer that it may justly cause all sober men to suspect that there is some error and fascination in that opinion Conscience of late having justified the Jews miraculous Fable of their Manna namely that it had the taste of that which every one best lik'd flesh to one fish to another and fruit to a third Certainly men ought to be very jealous over the importunities of their Consciences against publike Laws when they shall reflect upon the miserable delusions of those Miscreants amongst us who having besmear'd themselves with the blood of their King should dare publikely to justifie in the very face of Death and Judgement so grievous a Crime from the dictates of their private Conscience and their following of God as they term'd it Which last blasphemous expression will not suffer me to leave you unacquainted with that remarkable Caution for all in Authority which fell many years since from the Divine Pen of that incomparable x In praefat Sect. 8. Hooker Impossible saith he it is that ever the wit of man should imagine what will grow out of such errors as go mask'd under the Cloak of divine Authority till time have brought forth the fruits of them for which cause it behoveth Wisdom to fear the sequels thereof even beyond all apparent cause of fear But to speak something that may comport with the remainder of my time concerning this Objection This maxim must first be laid down as an unquestionable Truth viz. y Suar. de Leg. l. 1. Contra omnem rectitudinem est bonum commune ad privatum ordinare seu totum ad partem propter ipsam referre Law-givers judge what is fit for the common good and unreasonable it were to stoop that unto private interests and respects Supposing then that some Laws may appear contrary to some particular mens Consciences What shall be done obey contrary to their judgements or disobey those Laws for conscience sake For answer hereto give me leave to say first That there is no contrariety betwixt a z Soto de Just Jur. l. 1. q. 6. art 4. just Law and a good Conscience That Law is undoubtedly a just Law in which there is a concurrence of the justice of these four causes of Law wherein the whole of it doth consist That is to say the justice of the final efficient formal and material causes of Law 1. It must be for the common good 2. The Law-maker must have a true legislative power 3. The matter of the Law must be good at least indifferent And 4. lastly It must have the right form of Law i. e. it must be a rule of rectitude for humane actions Such a Law doth necessarily oblige them to whom it is given nor can it possibly be contrary to a good Conscience because such a Law is conform to right reason as right reason is conform to the Law of Nature and the Law of Nature to that eternal Law in the minde of the Divine Essence Let me give an instance or two This is the Law of Nature and to this right reason is conform viz. That men live temperately This Principle considered by the Law-makers they judge it fit to make a Law prohibiting the eating some kinds of meats as of flesh in the Spring or Lent that thereby amongst other reasons Christians might shew their temperance which is not onely an abstinence from excess in the Quantity of all but in regard of the Quality of some meats as appears by Daniel's fast in the 10. of that Prophecy vers 3. Such a Law as this cannot be contrary to a good conscience because it is appointed for the practise of a noble Virtue to wit Temperance Again as to the case in hand This is a rule in the Law of Nature That such as are Governors of others use all prudent means to prevent Sedition and Schism in the Church and State Now if Law-givers are morally assured that this cannot be done without defining some things under dispute amongst their Subjects and exacting from all a submission unto that rule which they shall prescribe by Law and shall thereupon injoyn an uniformity of practice unto all the community such a Law cannot be contrary to a good conscience the reason is because the submission thereunto is an actual exercise of the Virtues of humility obedience charity and sobriety So that unless to practise even Cardinal Virtues be contrary to a good conscience There is no contrariety betwixt a just Law and a good conscience 2. I answer secondly That it is the opinion of many learned men both a Halensis Ant. Henr. Carthus Vasq c. Divines and Canonists That he that submits unto a just Law though contrary to his own judgment is not thereby guilty of sin The reason I conceive to be because no man is guilty of sin in doing of that which God expresly commands him to do Now it is Gods express command that Subjects obey their lawful Governors not onely for fear of wrath i. e. punishment but likewise for conscience sake i. e. that by their obedience they might avoid the guilt of sin Rom. 13.5 which obedience of Magistrates it is impertinent for any one to say he performs that refuseth to obey the just Laws of such as God hath plac'd in authority over him Some indeed have thought that there is a middle course to be taken in this case and that willingly to submit to the penalty of the Law is sufficient to discharge charge the conscience from all guilt of disobedience The reason of this assertion is because there is this rule in the Law Et si non potest infligi poena sine causâ potest tamen sine culpâ there may be no fault for which a punishment may be inflicted but there must be some cause This I acknowledge to be the judgement of some excellent Divines but withall it is to be observed that they confess it holds true only in that sort of Laws which the Canonists term Leges purè poenales Laws purely penal but it extends not unto Leges mixtae poenales Laws of a mixt nature But as those Laws which are purely penal are very few as appears by that Character of them which b Quoties per verba legis poenalis non declaratur sufficienter proprium praeceptum obligans ad actum vel omissionem ejus praesumendum est esse legem purè poenalem Suar. de Leg. l. 5. c. 4 n. 9. Suarez gives us so are they not such Laws of which we now treat for these are both moral and penal and in this case to undergo the punishment doth not discharge the Conscience from the guilt of sin the reason is because there is a double obligation in every such Law it binds
Parliament the people of this Nation having their Representatives it must follow that Equity will oblige them to stand to their own Act as being done in that Great Council wherein are both the Priest and the Judge and from which lies no Appeal A doctrine surely which now deserves a better regard than when it was for many years together the Palpit-aphorism of three Nations I shall conclude with a special direction of a few words to all as their Places Callings and Opinions may be duly thought to concern them in the design of this Discourse which the Searcher of all hearts knows to be the product of that sincere love which I have unto all my Christian Brethren and unto the peace and wellfare of that Church and State in which we live And the words shall not be mine but they shall be the words of the wise which I trust will be as goads and as nails fastned by the Masters of assemblies Eccl. 12.11 1. And first for such as are Dissenters from this point I shall leave upon their thoughts that milde and pious exhortation of the judicious Hooker in his Preface to his unanswerable Treatise of Ecclesiastical Policy The best and safest way for you my dear Brethren says he is to re-examine the cause you have taken in hand and to try it even point by point argument by argument with all the diligent exactness you can to lay aside all gall of bitterness and with meekness to search the truth Think you are men deem it not impossible for you to err sift impartially your own hearts whether it be force of reason which hath bred and still doth feed these opinions in you If truth doth any where appèar seek not to smother it by glosing delusions acknowledge the greatness thereof and think it the best victory when it doth prevail over you Far more comfort it were for us so small is the comfort we take in these strifes to labor under the same yoak as men that look for the same eternal reward of their Labors to be joyned with you in indissolvable bonds of love and amity To live as if our persons being many our souls were but one rather than in such dismembered sort to spend our few and wretched days in a tedious prosecution of wearisom contentions the end whereof if they have not some speedy end will be heavy on both sides Experience hath made the Prophecy observable 2. For these honorable Gentlemen whose concernment in Church and State are now allyed and twisted by his Majesties favor unto one and the same common end to be procur'd and advanc'd by the same common trust of power of which I may say as Alexander in k L. 10. Curtius did of his marriage with Darius his Daughter that it was done by him ut hoc sacro foedere omne discrimen victi victoris excluderet I shall only minde you of that advise the late Wise and Pious l ΕΙΚ. ΒΑΣ p. 238. King gave unto his Son his Majesty that now reigns Let nothing seem little or despicable to you in matters which concern Religion and the Churches Peace so as to neglect a speedy reforming and effual suppression of Error and Schisms which seem at first but an hand-breadth by Seditious Spirits as by strong winds are soon made to cover and darken the whole Heaven I press you not to extremities God forbid Neither prudence nor Charity allow such courses the State of this Church resembles that in St. Austin's time and therefore we may all say as m Lib. cont Donat c. 20. he did Non tamen ideo Ecclesiam negligimus sed toleramus quae nolum us ut perveniamus quo volumus To you my Lords the Judges I shall conclude with an humble desire that your Lordships will be pleased to reflect upon a few words of the Oracle of the Law I shall give you them in his own language out of that excellent n Ib in Prafat A Prince ought not to suffer his Laws to become a laughing-stock And woful experience hath often taught which I my self have sometimes observed that mâ—ny of those men that have strained their wits and stretched their tongues to scandalize or caluminate these Laws had either practised or plotted some heynous crimes and therefore hated because they feared the just sentence and heavy stroke Preface to the fourth Book of his Reports Non debet Princeps ferre suarum legum ludibrium Quin saepius docuit misera luctuosa experientia quod aliquando ipse etiam observavi multos qui in id ingenii nervos omnes intendêrunt linguasque exacuêrunt ut legibus hisce scandalum aut calumniam imponerent nefarium aliquod crimen aut commisisse aut fuisse machinatos ideoque leges odisse quia justam censuram gravem plagam metuêrunt My Lords * 2 Kin. 9.11 You know the man and his communication Let me add but a word more Amongst the Jews God made o Exod. 21.29 this Law That If an Oxe were wont to push with his horn in time past and it hath been certified to his owner and he hath not kept him in and he hath kill d a man or woman the Ox shall be ston'd and the owner also shall be put to death The words my Lords have a tropological sense t is obvious and I shall leave it to your Lordships wisdom to apply it And lastly that I may knit both ends of my discourse together I shall conclude to and for all in the words of Holy David Psalm 19. Lord keep thy servants from presumptuous sins lest they get the Dominion over us so shall we be undefil'd and innocent from the great offence THE END