the various Obstructions and Discouragements they encountred in the Prosecution of it which those pious Men made such dismal Reflections upon as I shall under our present Circumstances forbear to repeat does demand a particular Acknowledgement in this place and deserves to be transmitted to after-Ages when the Names of such as discourage Endeavours of Reformation may either be forgot or be remembred with Ignominy And I not only submit what I have said on this Head of the Clergy and this whole Discourse to This Reverend Body which I think I shall never obtain of my self to Publish without the Approbation of some of the pious Members of it but out of a sense of my own Defects and the tenderest Regard I would always have to matters of Religion I heartily desire if I am ever prevailed on to Publish it a publick Correction from them of any thing I have said in these Papers through Weakness or Inadvertency which I hope all the Advantages of the World would not have prevailed on me if they could have been offered me to have said knowingly that may not be warranted from the Holy Scriptures or that does give Offence to any but those whom the Representation of their Sin or their Duty to them and Religion it self offends whose Sentiments of this Discourse as I have no reason to ask their Censures of it I may know how to value And I must the rather make this humble and solemn Address to them for a speedy Censure of these Papers if there is any just Occasion for it and that at the same time they would be pleased to put this Glorious Cause that I have here represented with no more skill in a better light which I conceive would well become the most celebrated Writers of the Age to do not only because Errors in general as well as Diseases are better prevented than cured after they are spread but because upon a long Consideration and a full Knowledge I have had of the Vndertaking I have treated of and of the Steps by which it hath been carried on from the very Beginning I cannot but believe that the Virtuous part of the Nation when it is laid before them will conclude that there is abundant Reason for their Concurrence and Assistance in it and will think that either the Happiness or Misery of this Kingdom may with great ground be expected from either the Success or the Discouragement that these and others pious and just Endeavours for a National Reformation meet with My Business in the next place is to consider the Magistrates Obligation to be diligent in the Execution of the Laws against Prophaneness and Debauchery It will I think be allowed That Government is of Divine Appointment and that the Power of Magistrates whether it be that of the Supream or that of those that are Inferior and Subordinate is derived originally from God St. Paul speaking of the Magistrate Rom. 13. 4. says He is the Minister of God to thee for Good There is no Power but of God The Rom. 13. 1. Powers that be are ordained of God And Moses speaking to the Judges of the People of Deut. 1. 16 17. Israel says Hear the Causes between your Brethren and Judge righteously between every Man and his Brother Ye shall not respect Persons in Judgment but you shall hear the Small as well as the Great you shall not be afraid of the Face of Man for the Judgment is God's Take heed 2 Chron. 19. 6. said Jehoshaphat to his Judges 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 Thus shall ye do in the Fear of the Lord Ver. 9. faithfully and with a perfect Heart From whence we may I think conclude without adding any further proof of what is so generally confest that Magistrates do act by God's Authority are his Ministers or Instruments which he maketh what use of he pleases in the Governing the Natural and Rational World that they are to Act for his Honour and the Good of his People and that He will call them to account for their Behaviour in this respect Accordingly for Kings and for all that are 1 Tim. 2. 1 2. in Authority the Apostle does particularly direct That Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made that under them we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty For our King therefore and all sorts of Magistrates does it not behove us to pray That God would be pleased to inspire them with Zeal for his Glory and the Good of his People and particularly to direct and assist them in this necessary and most weighty Affair of Reformation And as the Magistrate's Power is primarily and originally from GOD so is the Office and Power of Subordinate Magistrates immediately and visibly conferred upon them as a weighty Trust by their Prince and their Country which they have an Obligation to the faithful Discharge of in their natural Allegiance and Fidelity but this Obligation rises yet higher they are bound yet closer to the faithful Discharge of their Office by a Solemn Oath relating to their particular Trust as well as by the Oath of Allegiance Now the Obligation being thus great and various must I think necessarily draw the dreadful Guilt of Perjury as well as Breach of Trust upon those who being thus intrusted and obliged to Execute the Laws do wilfully neglect to do their Duty For a Justice of the Peace takes this Solemn Oath at his Entrance into that Office That in the County of in all Articles in the King's Commission to him directed he shall do legal Right to the Poor and to the Rich after his Cunning Wit and Power and after the Laws and Customs of the Realm and the Statutes thereof made and wherein he is first obliged to do Right which regards very much the Punishment of Offenders as appears more fully in his Commission and this Equally reaches Rich and Poor The whole County is assign'd in the Oath as the Extent of his Jurisdiction and therefore his Authority is not confin'd to a part he is not tied up to act only in any lesser District of it but is to issue out his Warrants against Offenders upon Informations offered him by Persons that live never so remote from him in the County or for Offences committed in any part of it which though 't is so obvious from the very Words both of the Oath and Commission I thought fit to take notice of lest if we should have any Magistrates that should think it too much to give themselves the Trouble to look into the Disorders of any kind that are committed even in their own Parishes to suppress them when they hear or observe them any-where else as
are not obliged for the removing the load of Guilt that is upon them the obtaining Forgiveness from God a well-grounded Peace in their own Minds and Esteem from Men sincerely to endeavour to repair the Injuries they have done Religion their Neighbours or their Country by their future Care and Diligence And till they do give the World some proof of this they will not take it amiss if we do not think that their late Representatives in Parliament have put them under too heavy a Charge and if we say that this is so very Great that tho' we are sure that the Christian Religion is the best Religion in the World yet it so much condemns such Practices that such as are guilty of them are a dishonour to their Profession that we reckon honest Heathens are not the worst sort of Men or rather that there are few if any worse than corrupt and unfaithful Magistrates And therefore methinks tho' such Magistrates were deaf to all Counsel were so given over to a Spirit of Slumber that no Motives that have been offered them from Religion will make any such Impression upon them as to awaken them to a sense of their Sin and Danger if they have yet any thing of the Modesty of Men remaining Shame might oblige them to a better Behaviour that they should not be able to look a Man in the Face that hath a Love to God and his Country but more especially that they should be in the greatest Confusion to hear in our Churches if they should come there the King's Proclamation Four times in the Year charging them with being the great Cause of the Increase of Prophaneness and Vice in the Nation It hath been generally thought an Indication of a good and generous Mind to desire an honest Reputation among Men and on the contrary a sign of a base Soul wholly to despise it on which Consideration Solon might well presume in the Laws he gave the Athenians That he that hath no Value for his Reputation will have little or no Regard to the publick Interest For how can it be reasonably imagined that he should have a tender sense of the Honour or Interest of his Country who hath no sense of his own Honour and greatest Interest but that he will sacrifice them upon Occasion Indeed he that hath neither regard to Conscience nor sense of Shame seems not only in great danger of not being reduced to Virtue by any common Methods but to be lost to almost all good Purposes to be unfit for common Intercourses with Men but much more unfit to be honoured and entrusted with the Care of the Execution and Maintenance of the Laws wherein the Religion * Inter omnia quae Rempublicam ejusque felicitatem conservant quid utilius quid praestantius quam viros ad Magistratus gerendcs eligere summa prudentia virtute praeditos quique ad honores obtinendos non ambitione non largitionibus sed virtute modestia sibi parent aditum the Honour and Prosperity of the Nation is so highly concerned And therefore I submit it to the Judgment of those who are more especially concerned to consider of these important Matters whether it is not highly to be wished that effectual Care may be taken for the preventing the fatal Consequences of such Mens obtaining in any future Reign Commissions of this kind particularly by disabling any to hold them after they are convicted a certain number of times of the Violations of the Laws which they are entrusted to execute For if we enquire into the Reasons of the Happiness of most if not all of those Nations who have arrived at the greatest pitch of Glory and Prosperity we shall I believe have a general Consent That the Diligence and Faithfulness of Magistrates have been one of the greatest Causes of it unquestionably far more instrumental therein than good †Verè dici potest Magistratum legem esse loquentem legem autem mutum esse Magistratum Magistratibus igitur opus est sine quorum prudentia diligentia civitas non potest stare Cic. de Leg. p. 232. Laws which we know are but dead Letters without the Magistrates Execution of them * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato de Legibus Lib. 12. fol 951. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lb. f 959. And therefore Plato in his Common-Wealth appointed that the Conservators of the Laws whose chief Care was to promote Virtue should be such Men as were Eminent for Virtue and †Cum leges omnes vel optimae absque probatissimis Magistratibus mortuae sint Magistratus autem optimi vel absque legibus scriptis ipsi sunt divae leges merito Plato non in condendis Legibus sed formandis Magistratibus omni diligentia elaboravit more apply'd himself to the Forming of Magistrates than Laws And accordingly 't was wisely observed by Cicero That if Magistrates keep the Laws themselves they had little more to wish for And by the Famous Athenian Law-giver That Magistrates ought to Obey the Laws as well as the People the Magistrates that a Government may be lasting Indeed we cannot easily conceive how any Nation can be long happy without good Magistrates So that 't is with great Reason that our Church directs us to pray That all that are put in Authority may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the Maintenance of God's true Religion and Virtue and that we esteem those that thus discharge their Duty as great Blessings to their Country and may praise God for them and on the contrary that we think that those unhappy Men who under the Obligations of Oaths and Trusts have neglected or opposed the Execution of the Laws for the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and Maintenance of Religion do deservedly lie under the dreadful Imputation of having been a great Cause of the Prophaneness and Debauchery of the Nation and the fatal Enemies of it since we may look on that Nation whether it be our own or any other to be in a very languishing Condition and in manifest danger of Ruine where the Magistrates and the Generality of Men of greater Ranks who have by their being placed in higher Stations as Stars in higher Orbs so many Advantages to conduct the lower Ranks of Men by the shining Examples of virtuous Lives to support the Reputation and Interest of Virtue do by the Abuse of their Authority or by their vicious Behaviour scatter a pestilential Infection where-ever they come basely make use of the Advantages they have above others to the Dishonour of God by whose Permission they enjoy them * Nam licet videre si velis replicare memoriam temporum qualescunque summi Civitatis fuerint talem Civitatem fuisse Idque haud paulò est verius quam quod Platoni nostro placet qui Musicorum cantibus ait mutatis mutari Civitatum status ego autem Nobilium vita victuque mutato mores mutari
to bring them Informations of the Breaches of the Laws against Prophaneness and Immorality and tell them 't is their Duty to do it and promise to give them Encouragement And now lastly His Majesty by His Proclamation does command all Judges Mayors Sheriffs Justices of the Peace and all other Officers and Ministers both Ecclesiastical and Civil and all his Subjects whom it may concern to be very Vigilant and Strict in the Discovery and the effectual Prosecution and Punishment of all Persons who shall be guilty of Excessive Drinking Blasphemy Prophane Swearing and Cursing Lewdness Prophanation of the Lord's-Day c. as they will answer it to Almighty God and upon pain of his highest Displeasure So that those who oppose the giving of Informations in these Cases not only seem directly to strike at the Foundation of our Constitution but do oppose Reformation and confront the Government which are Enormities that demand a due Resentment from all that are concerned for the honour of our Government our Laws or our Religion And if any Magistrates should discourage those that bring them Informations on this occasion by giving them hard words making their work as difficult to them as they can by wilfully forcing them to long and unnecessary Attendance on them in this Business or not sheltring them from the insults of obstinate Offenders if any should be so insolent and daring as to offer them 't is I think evident that they not only act therein contrary to their Duty as Christians but to their Oaths and Trust as Magistrates and to their Pretensions of Loyalty and Obedience to the Government as Subjects And now is it possible to conceive that any Magistrates can desire the execution of those Laws nay that any that are not the greatest Enemies to it and are lost to all sense of true Honour as well as Conscience should in defiance of all their Obligations and in full Contradiction to their printed Orders with their Names to them publickly set up by their direction on Churches and other publick Places not treat with respect and give the greatest Encouragement to those excellent Persons particularly by making this business as easie to them as they can by protecting them from any kind of Affronts and Assaults from wicked Men and giving them all possible dispatch who in such a profligate Age do for the preventing the Indignities that are offered to the great God and the ruin of their Country bring them generally with trouble and sometimes with great difficulty Informations of such Offences And on the other hand I do not see generally speaking how those that are convinced that the giving of Informations to Magistrates of these Offences is a Christian Office a likely and proper if not a necessary means of Reformation of Manners and yet wholly neglect the doing it at a time when they see their Fellow-Christians engaging successfully in it can in ordinary cases easily satisfie themselves that they have a due Zeal for God's Honour or Charity to their Neighbours 'T is allowed that this will be sometimes done with some Danger and Inconvenience * Dulce est periculum sequi Deum but so much the more laudable is the doing of it A brave Man who refuses to live under the slavish Dominion of Custom and Example who frequently works against Wind and Tide and steers in the Teeth of Danger must expect to be sometimes tost and batter'd but Dangers and Difficulties do often invite rather than discourage such a one from doing that which becomes him Virtue could I think be hardly distinguished from a kind of Sensuality if it were gained without any Labour Every mean Soul can do such things as require no Resolution or Courage that are not attended with any trouble or inconvenience but though there has never been so general a corruption in any Age or Nation as that there have not been some conspicuous for their Piety yet the number of those wise and happy persons have in most Ages of the World been too few who have preferr'd their Duty to all other Considerations If 't is not generally thought fashionable shionable to inform let it be consider'd whether 't is fashionable to be Religious Don't Men usually meet with the reproachfull Names of Hypocrites Fools Enthusiasts Phanaticks or formal and precise Persons who lead Christian or but modest and regular Lives But those Men that understand what Religion is do not surely think this a sufficient Dispensation for them to be Libertines They know that Elisha and St. Paul were called Mad-men that Holy David was derided by the People that Christ his Apostles and the Christians in the firâ—â— Ages were treated accordingly Wise Men and Christians are not so much afraid of ill Names as of wicked Actions And our Judgment of Actions must not be taken from the opinions of Men but from the Nature of them otherwise the Notions of Good and Evil will be soon confounded Those Actions are dishonourable that carry in their Nature a Repugnancy to Reason and Religion but if those Actions that directly tend to preserve and strengthen Government to promote Religion and the good of Mankind be honourable then the giving of Informations upon these occasions that are so much countenanced and encouraged by the Government and the Laws are I conceive truly honourable though corrupt Men judge otherwise * Apud quos virtus insania furor esse dicitur such for instance who think it more honourable to resent an Affront with the loss of their own or their Fellow-Christians Lives and reckon in short Temperance and Chastity Meekness and Humility Zeal for God and Heavenly-mindedness contemptible Qualities and fit for mean and base Souls Let it be remembred that Christians are to walk by Faith and not by Sight * Non Exemplis sed Legibus judicandum 1 Cor. 3. 19. by Precepts and not by Examples that 't is to the most high GOD Who judgeth righteously and with whom the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness and not to a sinfull Generation that in divers Instances that might be mentioned calls Evil Good and Good Evil that we are to approve our selves So that putting this Case at that Disadvantage as the cowardly and formal Christian who will not fail to raise Objections and start difficulties on such an occasion would have it and will be sure himself to do supposing that the giving of Informations of these Offences should sometimes expose Men to reproachfull Words or rude Treatment from an ill Magistrate or a prosligate Offender which it will not be for the honour of any Government to countenance 't is the business I think of Christians to consider whether they ought not to suffer Shame and undergo some Trouble and Loss for the Exercising an Act of Charity to their Neighbours Souls for the suppressing of National Sins the preventing of God's Dishonour and the ruin of their Country now especially that their Endeavours of this kind will be so very likely
or Pamphlets and to bring them before some Iustice of Peace or Chief Magistrate in order that they may be Proceeded against according to Law Given at Our Court at Kensington the Four and twentieth Day of February 1697. In the Tenth Year of Our Reign God save the KING HER LATE MAJESTIES GRACIOUS LETTER In the Absence of the KING To the Justices of the Peace in the County of Middlesex July 9. 1691. For the Suppressing of Prophaneness and Debauchery MARIE R. TRusty and Well-Beloved We Greet you well Considering the great and indispensable Duty incumbent upon Vs to promote and encourage a Reformation of the Manners of all our Subjects that so the Service of God may be Advanced and those Blessings be procured to these Nations which always attend a Conscientious discharge of our respective Duties according to our several Relations We think it necessary in order to the obtaining of this Publick Good to recommend to you the putting in Execution with all fidelity and impartiality those Laws which have been made and are still in foâ—â—â— against the Prophanation of the Lord's-day Drunkenness Prophane Swearing and Cursing and all other Lewd Enormous and Disorderly Practices which by a long continued neglect and connivance of the Magistrates and Officers concerned have universally spread themselves to the dishonour of God and scandal of our Holy Religion whereby it is now become the more necessary for all Persons in Authority to apply themselves with all possible care and diligence to the suppressing of the same We do therefore hereby charge and require You to take the most effectual Methods for putting the Laws in Execution against the Crimes above-mentioned and all other Sins and Vices particularly those which are most prevailing in this Realm and that especially in such cases where any Officer of Justice shall be guilty of any of those Offences or refuse or neglect to discharge the Duty of his Place for the suppressing them that so such Officer by his Punishment may serve for an Example to others And to this end We would have you careful and diligent in encouraging all Constables Church-Wardens Headboroughs and all other Officers and Persons whatsoever to do their part in their several Stations by timely and impartial Informations and Prosecutions against all such Offenders for preventing of such Judgments which are solemnly denounced against the Sins above-mentioned We cannot doubt of your Performance hereof since it is a Duty to which you are obliged by Oath and are likewise engaged to the discharge of it as you tender the Honour of Almighty God the flourishing condition of his Church in this Kingdom the continuance of His Holy Religion among Us and the Prosperity of Your Country And so We bid you Farewell Given at Our Court at White-Hall the Ninth Day of July One Thousand Six Hundred Ninety One in the Third Year of Our Reign By Her Majesties Command Nottingham To Our Trusty and Well-Beloved the Justices of the Peace for Our County of Middlesex at Hicks's Hall THE HUMBLE ADDRESS OF THE House of Commons TO THE KING For the Suppressing of Prophaneness and Vice May it Please Your MAJESTY WE Your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects the Commons in Parliament Assembled Do with great Joy and Comfort remember the many Testimonies which Your Majesty hath given us of Your Sincerity and Zeal for the True Reformed Religion as Establish'd in this Kingdom And in particular we beg leave to present to Your Majesty our most Humble and Thankful Acknowledgments for the late Gracious Declaration Your Majesty has made to us from the Throne That You would effectually discourage Prophaneness and Immorality which chiefly by the Neglect and ill Example of too many Magistrates are like a general Contagion diffused and spread throughout the Kingdom to the great Scandal and Reproach of our Religion and to the Dishonour and Prejudice of Your Majesties Government Therefore in Concurrence with Your Majesties Pious Intentions we do most humbly Desire That Your Majesty would Issue out Your Royal Proclamation Commanding all Your Majesties Judges Justices of the Peace and other Magistrates to put in speedy Execution those good Laws that are now in Force against Prophaneness and Immorality giving due Incouragement to all such as do their Duty therein And that Your Majesty would be Pleased to Require from Your Judges and Justices of Assize from time to time an Account of such their Proceedings And since the Examples of Men in High and Publick Stations have a Powerful Influence upon the Lives of others we do most humbly beseech Your Majesty That all Vice Prophaneness and Irreligion may in a particular manner be Discouraged in all those who have the Honour to be Employed near Your Royal Person and in all others who are in Your Majesties Service by Sea and Land Appointing Strict Orders to be given to all Your Commanders That they not only shew a Good Example themselves but also Inspect the Manners of those under them And that Your Majesty would upon all Occasions distinguish Men of Piety and Virtue by Marks of Your Royal Favour We do further in all Humility beseech Your Majesty That Your Majesty would give such Effectual Orders as to Your Royal Wisdom shall seem fit for the Suppressing all Pernicious Books and Pamphlets which contain in them Impious Doctrines against the Holy Trinity and other Fundamental Articles of our Faith tending to the Subversion of the Christian Religion and that the Authors and Publishers thereof may be Discountenanced and Punished And we do also most humbly beseech Your Majesty That Your said Proclamation may be Ordered to be Read at least Four times in the Year in all Churches and Chapels immediately after Divine Service and at the Assizes and Quarter-Sessions of the Peace just before the Charge is given We present to Your Majesty this our most Humble ADDRESS proceeding from our Duty and Zeal for the Glory of God and to the end that all our Counsels may be bless'd by his Divine Assistance and may produce Honour Safety and Happiness with all the Blessings of a Lasting Peace to Your Majesty and Your People To the AUTHOR SIR WE have perused the Book you sent us Entituled An Account of the Societies for Reformation of Manners the Design of which is so truly Great and Noble so much for the Honour of God the Advancement of Piety and Virtue and the publick Good both of Church and State that it cannot fail of being approved by all good Men. The Method likewise proposed in order to the Promoting and Accomplishing complishing the said Design is We conceive most proper and by the Blessing of God attending it most likely to prove effectual And that Pious Men of all Ranks and Qualities may be excited by this good Book to contribute in their respective Places and Stations their best Endeavours towards a National Reformation of Manners is the most Humble and Hearty Prayer of SIR Your very Loving Friends Lords Temporal Pembroke P
Civitatum guto Cic. de Leg. p. 336. instead of being Patrons of Religion help to debauch those about them and ruine their Country Inferior Officers are likewise obliged by their Oaths as well as by the Design of their Offices to be diligent in bringing Offenders to Punishment and therefore they are highly criminal if they are negligent therein The Constable's Oath tells him That he is to use his Endeavour that Night-walkers be apprehended To see that the Statutes made for punishing Vagabonds and such idle Persons coming within his Bounds and Limits be duly put in Execution To have a watchful Eye to such Persons as shall maintain or keep any Common House or Place where any unlawful Game is or shall be used as also to such as shall frequent or use such Places or shall use or exercise any unlawful Games there or elsewhere contrary to the Statutes To present at the Assizes Sessions of the Peace or Leet all and every the Offences done contrary to the Statutes made to restrain the inordinate haunting and tipling in Inns Ale-houses and other Victualling-houses and for Repressing of Drunkenness and that he is well and duly according to his Knâ—wledge Power and Ability to do and execute all other things belonging to a Constable's Office Whoever therefore they be that undertake this Office and wink at Offenders or do not endeavour to bring them to Punishment would do well to consider how they can be acquitted from Perjury but how much clearer is their Fault if they neglect or refuse to serve those Warrants which are brought to them against Swearers Drunkards Lewd Persons and Prophaners of the Lord's-Day or to levy the several Forfeitures for those Offences as too many Constables Headboroughs Overseers and Church Wardens have done which the Commission of a Justice of the Dalt p. 18. c. 5. Peace tells him he is to inquire after Their Guilt is of the same Nature with that of those Justices who discourage Informations and refuse to sign Warrants against such Offenders whereby besides all other Aggravations of their Sin before-mention'd they hinder the Poor of that Relief which the Law gives them out of the Penalties upon those Statutes which in some Cases may happen to be the depriving them of their Lives * Panis Pauperum est vita eorum qui fraudat eos est vir sanguinis and ought to be a dreadful Consideration to those that have the Guilt of it upon them the Poor having as good and undoubted a Right to these Forfeitures vested in them by Law as any Man hath to his own Estate I have said so much of the Constable's Duty that there is the less need of my adding much of the Church Warden's Sidesman's and other Inferior Officers Obligations in this respect which fall in with that of the Constable's The Church-Warden's and Sidesmen's Oath does not run in the same terms in all Diocesses though their Office is I suppose much the same in most if not all The Tenor of the Church-Warden's and Sidesmen's Oath in the Diocess of London is as follows You shall Swear truly and faithfully to execute the Office of a Church-Warden within your Parish and according to the best of your Skill and Knowledge present such Things and Persons as you know to be presentable by the Laws Ecclesiastical of the Realm And one of the Articles of Enquiry exhibited to the Ministers Church-Wardens and Sidesmen of every Parish runs thus Are any of your Parish known or suspected to be guilty of Incest Adultery Fornication or any other Enormous Crimes Do any Prophane the Lord's-Day or any other great Holy-day or the Name of GOD And if the Church-Wardens and Sidesmen neglect to Present the Ministers are told That they may and ought to present as they have the highest Obligations to suppress Iniquity From hence 't is plain That the Power of Inferior Officers as well as that of Magistrates is great and would have a very remarkable Effect for the Suppressing of publick Disorders if it was generally used and might with God's Blessing go very far towards a National Reformation with the Assistance of the Magistrate if private Persons would but do as I conceive becomes them in giving Informations against Swearers Drunkards Lewd Persons and Prophaners of the Lord's Day to the Magistrate which shall be my next Business to recommend to the Consideration of all that have a Love to God their Neighbour or their Country It hath been proved That the Execution of Good Laws is requisite in our present Circumstances for the Suppressing of Vice and the Effecting a Reformation of Manners but Magistrates cannot put the Laws in Execution against Offenders without they have the Knowledge of the Offences And they cannot be present at all Places to observe them tho' they have either such a Sense of their Duty or so pious a Concern to do all the good they can in their Office as frequently to take their Walks to observe Disorders as divers of the worthy Magistrates have here done in the several Quarters of the County in which they live and in embracing all Opportunities of using their Authority for the Suppressing them And those Offences that are deeds of Darkness it may be hoped for the Honour of our Magistrates are not now generally and knowingly committed before them One would think that the Presence of a Magistrate should have such an Awe upon ill Men that they should not dare to transgress before him That he should resent it as a high Affront to him if a Person of the highest Rank should discover so base an Opinion of him as to expect that he should be content to break his Oath to suffer him upon the Account of his Quality to go unpunished for any Offence of this kind committed before him It is certainly much so where Magistrates have a just Sense of Honour or are as Zealous and Faithful in the Discharge of their Office as they ought But the less this may reasonably be hoped from all Magistrates at this day there appears I am sure the more reason or rather necessity for private Persons applying themselves to this Business of giving Informations to them of our reigning Sins without which it is not reasonably to be expected that Offenders will be generally brought to Punishment especially in Cities and Corporations where it may be presumed without Uncharitableness that many are daily either publickly or privately breaking the Laws against Prophaneness and Immorality Thus then our giving of Informations of these Offences to the Magistrate seems absolutely necessary in our present Circumstances as we heartily desire or expect the Suppression of Prophaneness and Vice by Humane Laws And I desire those who would be informed whether there is any Direction or Example for this Practice from the Word of God to consider the following Texts of Scripture If there be found Deut. 17. 2. among you within any of thy Gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee Man or