Matth. 12.36 37. and shall be condemned for idle words much more for vain Oaths It shall go heavily with all sinners at the day of judgment but those that are great in this world shall then undergo the greatest severity For mercy will soon pardon the meanest but mighty men shall be mightily tormented Wisd 6.6 Great mens sins are great sins it is the misery of men that be great that their sins cannot be little and their punishment must be much One would think this the fear of punishment should perswade great persons to circumspection but because even some of these put far away the evil day as our Prophet hath it Amos 6.3 Chap. 6. ver 3. dread not at all the punishments of another world It will be necessary for those that have Authority to do it to make tryal if the pecuniary mulct which the Law injoins to be inflicted upon vain Swearers will keep them in any better compass Let them be compelled to open their Purses that they may shut their mouths 3. My LORD and you Gentlemen of the Magistracy be pleased to help us against the Profaness of the Lords day Many very many notwithstanding the Kings Proclamation take no more notice of it than formerly If they go to Church in the Morning they think they have kept the Fourth Commandment to the full And though they would be loth to pay a Mower or a Shearer a whole dayes wages for a mornings work yet they conclude that God must content himself with a Morning Sacrifice and will needs make the Lords Afternoon their own To walk to the next Town in about earthly business to talk in about worldly Affairs or at the time of the year to run a Nutting in Nutts will down with them a great deal better than prayers Let such take heed that their cracking of Nutts when they should be saying their prayers do not bring them to gnashing of teeth to sleep in or may be which is worse to be drunk in * Aug. de C D. lib. 6. cap. 11. Inter alias civilis Theologiae Superstitiones aprehendit Sacramenta Judaeorum maxime Sabbata inutiliter id â—â—s facere affiemans quod per illos fingulos septem interposiâ—â—s dies septimam fere partem aetatis suae perdunt vacando c. Seneca mock't the Jews because they lost one day in seven to observe the Lords day was with him to lose a day sure I am these Sabbath-breakers lose half a day in seven whil'st they spend that most refined part of time either in doing nothing or wickedly Time was our Saviour whip't some out now there is need of Whips to bring some in to the Temple And you my LORD and you Gentlemen of the Magistracy would do God good service if you would use the very utmost of your Authority to inforce all men to a strict observation of the Lords day for were the Fourth Commandment but kept as it ought to be it would quickly bring us to a conscionable respect to all the rest for none walk so much after the Spirit on other dayes as they that are most in the Spirit on the Lords day 4. Lastly My LORD and you Gentlemen of the Magistracy be pleased to help us against Drunkenness In the time of the Law this sin was punish't with death Deut. 21.21 Deut. 21.20 21. And shall it go I should have said shall it stagger unpunish't now in the time of the Gospel Drunkenness is the Mother of all Vices and will certainly unless Repentance prevent it bring the Drunkard to Hell at the last 2 Cor. 6.10 Nay Drunkenness brings Drunkards into Hell even whil'st they are here upon earth Many 〈◊〉 your Alehouses are little better Very many of them as well as Hell are the very Forges and Store-houses of all kind of Luxury and Wickedness Where are Blasphemers Swearers Lyers Sabbath-breakers Prodigal and Disobedient Children Murtherers Lascivious Persons Slanderers what not but in such places Drunkards enter into Alehouses the Ale enters into Drunkards and the Devil withall Nay Drunkenness it self is a very Fiend so saith St. Bernard Ebrietas est manifestissimus Daemon Drunkenness is a most manifest Devil They that are possest with Satan or with Drunkenness fall alike into the fire into the water alike they gnash alike Matth 17.16 21. alike they foam and as the Disciples could not cast out that one sort of Devils Epist 64. Contra Ebriosos Aphros so not all the Preachers this so saith St. Augustine in his Epistle to Aurelius Tanta est saith he hujus mali pestilentia ut sanari prorsus quantum mihi videtur nisi consilii authoritate non possit The Drunkard is so wedded to his Vice that he will never give over his throwing the Alehouse out at the Windows till his own house do throw him out a doors The Alehouse hath pulled down many a stately Fabrick but doth it self stand firm and will stand though a Preacher bestow never so many powerful Sermons to batter it For those houses though many of them are as indeed its proper they should be rather like Swine-sties than houses being patch't up of a few sticks some dirt and a little straw yet are more hard to conquer than a well-fortifi'd Castle And how it comes to pass whether by the Covetousness of the Justices Clerks or the countenance of some of the Gentry who are too much addicted to this Vice or through what other cause I know not but sure I am it is almost as easie to beat back the prevailing TURK as to get down a rotten Alehouse Let these houses be reduced to a lesser number and brought into better order which cannot be done unless some course be taken by those which have authority for the ordering of Civil and Ecclesiastical Affairs to inforce Constables and Churchwardens to look better to their Offices than they have done It is through their negligence that Schism goes down so slowly that the Lords Name is abused that his Day is sacrilegiously imbezel'd and idled away and that this sin of Drunkenness is every day so much practised Judges and Justices cannot see what is done in particular Towns They as I conceive belong to the inspection and care of inferiour Officers But they are either so partial as being guilty of the same sins or so careless that they will not make use of the Authority they have and are so loth of their labour that they will suffer God Almighty to be highly offended and exceedingly dishonoured rather than go one step for a Justice of Peace's Warrant further to impower them to regulate Abuses And are so desirous to be accounted peaceable men amongst their Neighbours that rather than they will hazard the displeasure of any of them they will not care how much God is displeased and dishonoured so that I cannot tell how to compare Constables and Churchwardens better than to those great brass Andyrons which stand in great mens Chimnies which are more for shew than for use Let these Officers be compell'd to look better to their places that so sinners may be punished and Gods judgments avoided For we must not think that we can long enjoy â—eace upon earth if notorious sinners be â—â—ffer'd unpunish't to fight against heaven â—ut if all from the highest to the lowest do their â—uties for the reclaiming of siners or punishing sin that 's the way to make us live in a peaceful Kingdom 〈◊〉 when we dye to depart into the Kingâ—â—â— of Peace Of which blessed Kingdom Lord make us all partakers not for our meâ—â—t and worthiness but for the merits and â—â—thiness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the righteous To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost Three Persons One Everliving Ever-loving Lord God be given at is most due all Honour and Glory Power 〈◊〉 Praise Dignity and Dominion now and so ever Amen GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO FINIS
the persons Exod. 23.3 Thou shalt not countenance a poor man in his cause And if not a poor man much less a rich for if the person of any should be accepted certainly in all Equity the person of the poor doth bespeak pity rather than the person of the potent but then see here is a strict Command against this Again Justice is pictur'd with a balance to shew that Judges should scan those Causes exactly that are brought before them It was the practice of holy Job Chap. 29.16 Job 29.16 The cause which I knew not I searched out It is not safe to ride Post over matters for that Judge doth ill purchase to himself the Title of a man of expedition and dispatch that overhastens Causes and ends them before they be ripe Not that Causes are to be spun out with unnecessary Demurrs and Protractions to mens great charge and vexation but only that a Judge should with all possible pains and patience hear both Parties search Writings and Evidences weigh every Information and Circumstance examine Witnesses and not suffer a bold Lawyer to dash plain men out of countenance though may be they cannot give in their Testimony in a fluent language but according to their breeding are only able to lisp out the Truth in a home-spun speech ' I was good counsel which the good King Jehoshaphat gave unto his Judges 2 Chron. 19.6 2 Chron. 19.6 He said to the Judges Take heed what you do Rush not at things by guess but weigh them deliberately exactly And if you read the remainder of this verse and then afterwards the seventh Ver. 6 7. you will see three Motives to stir up Judges to this exactness He said to the Judges Take heed what you do now observe for ye judge not for man but for the Lord that 's the first Who is with you in judgment that 's the second Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you take heed and do it for there is no iniquity with the Lord nor respect of persons nor taking of gifts there 's the third 1. Judges ought to look diligently at the justness of the Cause and to proceed very carefully because they judge not for man but for the Lord. Did you only judge for man though you should act negligently injustly yet you might do it with so much untrivance as you might come off well eâ—ough but since you judge for the Lord you had need to behave your selves circumpectly faithfully for there is nothing though never so closely carried that can scape his eyes Hebr. 4.12 He makes 〈◊〉 search with Candles Zeph. 5.12 Nay 〈◊〉 himself is a light beyond Ten thousand Candles so that he can with ease make 〈◊〉 discovery of all your Actions though â—hey should be covered with an Egyptian â—arkness Quantascunque tenebras factis tuis superstruxeris Lib. de Poenitentia c. 6. Deus lumen est saith Tertullian And as God sees what 's done amiss so certainly if he be not prevented by Repentance he will punish it The day will come when you shall be again ungodded for he that hath said Ye are gods hath also said Ye shall dye like men Psal 82.7 Dye you must and come to judgment All the Lyons of the World must bow before and give account to the Lamb of God He hath appointed a day Cornelius à Lapide calls it Horizon Temporis Aeternitatis in which he will judge the World in righteousness Acts 17.31 And shall the World be judged and shall you be exempted surely no. And how severely the Lord Jesus Christ shall exercise his power the same à Lapide tells you Ipse à Vobis rationem vel praestitae vel neglectae justitiae severam exiget ac pro merritis praemiabit vel puniet 2. Judges ought diligently to mind the justness of the Cause and to give sentence accordingly because God is with them in judgment He stands in the Congregation of gods Psal 82.1 stands with attention stands with power He takes notice of the whole behaviour of the Judge all the while he sits upon the Bench not 〈◊〉 word not a smile not a frown passeth from him but he observes it There is a saying That the King is vertually present in his Courts as long as they continue his Courts God is really present in these Courts of Justice In Eccles 8.10 The â—eat of Judicature is called the place of the â—â—ly I saw the wicked buried who had â—ome and gone from the place of the holy â—agnin renders it à loco sancto from the â—oly place Junius reads è loco sancto out of â—he place of the Holy And why the place of he Holy I coÌ„ceive this may be said because â—e who is Holiness it self sits chief Justice â—here Apud Râ—bbinos Deus dicitur Makom locus quia omnia in se comprehendit nullo loco comprehenditur Bithner in Exod. 21.13 The Rabbins as Buxtorf tells â—â—s put Makom which signifies â—lace amongst the Names of God â—â—thner brings them expounding that Text in Esther 4.14 Deliâ—erance shall arise to the Jews from another place i. e. from God They â—alled him place because he is in every â—lace There is not any place whether Sacred or Profane whether Private 〈◊〉 Publick but we may say of it as Jacob â—â—d of Bethel Gen. 28.16 Surely God 〈◊〉 in this place and we were not aware â—t though we cannot go from Gods Spirit Psal 139.7 or flee from his presence because he is present everywhere yet in his own Courtâ— and in yours he is present more eminently and more perspicuously When the AEthiopian Judges were set in their Seats of Judicature certain empty Chairs were set at the upper end of their Consistories wherein they imagined the Holy Angels came to sit Angels are very frequent in and observant of such Solemn Conventions Hoc judicium animos ad vigilantiam reverentiam inflecteret saith Quintus Pius This they thought and so it ought would work an awe and fear in their Magistrates a resolution and care in them to do Justice exactly He who is greater than any of the Cherubins or Seraphins He whose Center is everywhere and Circumference nowhere He who fills Heaven with his glory the Earth with his mercy and Hell with his fury how full soever your Hall anon be thwacked and thronged will find a room among them and this should make all from the Judge to the Witness to beware of wrong-doing in such a dreadful presence 3. Judges ought diligently to look to the justness of the cause because there is no iniquity with our God no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not injustice so the Seventy therefore let there be none in you Non tam mei quam â—ei estis Vicarii c. as C. à Lapide You are not so much the Deputy of the King â—s of the King of Kings As therefore the Lord is righteous in all his wayes and â—â—ly in all his works Psal
145.17 so â—e you just in all your Sentences These are the three Motives which Jeâ—â—shaphat presented to his Judges to stir them up to carefulness I have only given â—ou the same And I beseech you my LORD remember 1. That you judge not 〈◊〉 Man but for the Lord. 2. That God â—s with you in Judgment 3. That there 〈◊〉 no injustice in the Lord your God And â—hen I am sure as you are the mortal picture â—f the Immortal God so you as he will â—ever punish without a cause and those judgments that you execute will be alâ—ayes just and righteous 2. This Exhortation doth extend it self to Lawyers Do you after Gods example look at the justness of mens Cauâ—â—s and be more ready to compose than â—art differences It is Panormitan's adâ—ice Promptior sit quisque vestrum ad â—mponendum quam ad contendendum And â—bove all things take heed that you do not knowingly plead a bad Cause else you cannot be good men Bonus vir non agit nisi bonas causas as Quintil. tells you Plâ—â—tarch reports That Phocyon would not defend his Son-in-law Charles in an evil Cause Why should you Strangers Undertake good Causes only and having undertaken them betray them not for want of pleading Take not Fees of both sides Demosthenes said to one of his Fellow-Lawyers that brag'd he had receiv'd 〈◊〉 Talent for his Pleading Tush Fool I haâ—â— more for holding my Peace Some Lawyers sell their very silence at a great rate but would they deal uprightly it would be more for their advantage Some write of the Ostriches feather that it will in time moult and consume all the feathers in the Tâ—â— wherein it is put Sure I am unlawful Fees will consume those Treasures which you have well gotten You may indeed by playing Jack-a-both-sides or by being for any side right or wrong heap up an Estate suddenly but it will neither do you nor yours any great good for it will not be permanent An inheritance may be hastily gotten at the beginning but the end thereof shall not be blessed Prov. 20.21 3. This Exhortation doth extend it self unto Jurors they are also to take heed of wrong-doing Remember thy Oath â—â—d as far as thou canst search out the Truth receive thy Informations attentiveâ—â— and seriously before thou goest out and then all by-respects set aside deliver â—â—y Conscience clearly and plainly Let â—ot the nearness of Kinsmen the malice thou hast to any man the frowns of great â—en nor the hope of reward from rich â—en cause you to clear the Guilty or oppress the Innocent I speak to you all not â—o the Foreman only I have heard indeed that in Juries all the rest are apt to follow the first as if they were so many Horâ—es in a Teem But I beseech you remember that you are all to kiss the Book as well as your Foreman and therefore be not any wayes byass'd or coy'd in by him to bring in an unjust Verdict but act according to your Consciences Sheep will follow the first qua itur non quà eundum whether it be right or wrong but you are Twelve men not twelve sheep and therefore let reason and conscience and not example only be your guide 4. This Exhortation doth likewise extend it self unto Witnesses they must by all means take heed of wrong-doing Remember Gods Commandment Thou shall not bear false witness against thy Neighbour Exod. 20.16 Do not forget thy Oath take heed of Perjury It is Mendacium juramento firmatum a Lye confirmed by an Oath Thou shalt swear in truth and judgment and righteousness Jer. 4.2 Si ista defuerint saith St. Jerom nequaquam erit juramentum sed perjurium If these be wanting it is not an Oath but Perjury The Prophet Zachary saw a flying Roll and in it a curse written against Thieves and Swearers such as swear rashly and falsly Zach. 5.3 4. The curse of God will follow thee to thy house it is impossible to over-run it for it will flie after thee and when it comes there it will not stand knocking at thy door and be gone but it shall remain in the midst of thy house and shall consume it with the Timber thereof and the stones thereof Did men consider this Threatning well they would not sell Oaths so cheap as they say some do It is not thy Landlords abating thee a little Rent or his giving thee a piece of Money now and then not his making thee eat and drink of the best and to the full all the Assizes for swearing lustily in his Cause and coming to him before-hand to know what it is that will do the deed Alas it is not all this nor greater things than these thou possibly may'st gain by forswearing thy self that can lie in balance against the displeasure of Almighty God Though thou couldest gain the whole World for thy Perjury thou wouldest for all that be a great loser by the bargain For what shall it profit a man â—f he shall gain the whole World and lose â—is own soul Mark 8.36 These four Judges Lawyers Jurors Witnesses are in â—he first place more particularly concern'd 〈◊〉 this Use of Exhortation 2. Those that suffer under Gods and howsoever and the Exhortation to â—hem is double 1. To justifie God in their sufferings â—cknowledging themselves sinners and that â—e also is righteous in all that he hath done This hath been the constant practice of all â—e Saints of God in Scripture as St. Auâ—stine observes upon Psal 145. Omnes â—ncti in tribulationibus constituti non deâ—â—runt Deo injustitiam c. The Lord is â—ighteous saith the Church in the Lamenâ—â—tions Chap. 1.18 for I have rebelled â—gainst his Commandment O Lord righâ—â—usness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces Dan. 9.7 saith Daniel Chap. 9.7 Again The Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doth for we obeyed not his voyce Ver. 14. ver 14. O my God saith Ezra I am asham'd and blush to lift up my face to thee for our iniquities are incrcasâ—â— over our head Ezra 9.6 and our trespass is grown up unto the Heavens Chap. 9.6 And in ver ult Ver. 15. O Lord God thou art righteous behold we are before thee in our trespasses Howbeit Neh. 9 33 saith Nehemiah Thou art just in all that is brought upon us for thou hast done right but we have done wickedly Chap. 9.33 I know O Lord that thy judgments are right saith David and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me Psal 119.75 Psal 119.75 Again Righteous art thou O Lord Ver. 137. and upright are thy judgments ver 137. Or as it is in the Original upright is thy judgments To shew that every one of his judgments is upright and so David confessed for when a Verb singular is join'd with a Substantive plural iâ— notes a distribution Again Psal 51.4 Against thee only have I sinned and donâ— this evil in thy