Sacrifice to his private Interest He therefore that loves himself at that rate as to be an Enemy to Mankind is very unfit to be a Magistrate for every little prospect of Gain will pervert his Judgment and make him overthrow the Cause he should maintain To conclude the Character Magistrates should be known among the People Not such ordinarily as have liv'd in Obscurity tho' some of them may be excellent Persons too but Men that have more appear'd in the World because such as they have liv'd in the Observation of publick Business and are therefore fitter for it This is requisite also for the greater Assurance of their Vertues and the fuller Satisfaction of those that come to them for Justice who will the more readily acquiesce in their Determinations Every Magistrate therefore is to be a Person of Wisdom and Prudence of Vertue and Courage one that fears God a Man of Truth hating Covetousness and that is known among the People Hoping therefore that I speak to Men of these Qualifications with such other particular Vertues as are consequent to the Fear of God I do with the greater Encouragement beseech you to execute Righteousness with all that Wisdom Courage and Zeal which is necessary especially at such a time as this according to the Will of God and the wholsom a Laws of the Nation You are both the Eyes and Hands of our dread Sovereigns to find out and punish Transgressors and which is more ye are the Deputies of God himself and therefore call'd Gods in the Holy Scriptures Psal 82.1 6. and in his place and stead are to execute Judgement upon Earth Which is necessary not only for the Discharge of a good Conscience in yourselves and the suppressing of such Sins as are naturally injurious to the Nation but also to prevent God's Judgments upon it for he is not wont to punish a People himself till Sins that are committed by some are conniv'd at by others and the hand of the Magistrate is slack in doing Justice upon the Guilty For what is said of Murder Numb 35.33 The land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it is a Rule to us also in respect of other Sins according to their several Aggravations and the Punishments due to them The Land contracts Guilt and Defilement from all heinous and open Sins of particular Persons if they are not duly punish'd by those that are authorized to do it And because a Nation as such cannot receive Punishment in another World God will sooner or later visit them with his Judgments in this and nothing can prevent him but a seasonable Distribution of Justice by his Vice-gerents and a Reformation among the People When Judah were guilty of many Sins that were too generally allow'd amongst them such as Idolatry Fornication Adultery Deceit c. with a Remission of Justice also as might well be suppos'd in so general a Corruption among the People and God threatned them no less then three times by the Prophet Jeremiah in these emphatical words Shall not I visit for these things saith the Lord And shall not my soul be aveng'd on such a nation as this As if he challeng'd the whole World to object against the necessity of it Yet he promises at the same time it there could be found a Man in Jerusalem that executed Judgment he would pardon it Jer. 5.1 Yea when the Wrath of God has already exerted itself upon a People this will put a stop to the Effects of it Thus when Israel for their Idolatry and Whoredomâ— with the Daughters of Moab had a Plague sent among them which together with some that were slain with the Sword destroyed twenty four thousands of the People and the brays and heroick Phineas seeing a great Man of the Israelites bring the Daughter of a Midianitish Prince to his Tear in the face of the Congregation that were now weeping for their Sins and the Anger of God that was broken out upon them took a Javelin in his hand and slew them both together in the Act of Sin Immediately upon this Execution the Plague was staid and God so pleas'd with Phineas for it that he gave unto him the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood and caused this to be register'd to his Honour in all after Ages Num. 25. He was indeed possess'd of a great Zeal for God that made him despise the Dangers he incur'd by this worthy Act which would certainly procure him very powerful Enemies But God does usually protect his Servants in doing his own Work and preserve them afterwards notwithstanding all the efforts of Malice and Revenge against them Now tho' Phineas was no Magistrate yet at this time he did the part of one and by an extraordinary Commission he is therefore a great Example to such so far as they can imitate him in a regular way But when they forbear to do it God will take the matter into his own hand and vindicate his Justice by some terrible Effects of it upon a Nation Therefore when the Psalmist complains that the Gods upon Earth would not do Justice he calls upon the God of Heaven to judge the Earth Psal 82.2 8. But that the Prophets and righteous Men in this Nation may not have cause to do so too by your Default I do again renew my humble Request to you that you would endeavour to exalt the Nation by such an Execution of Righteousness as is requir'd of you And for your farther Encouragement in this matter be pleased to consider that God has done his part for us in a most gracious manner in delivering us from the hand of our Enemies when we saw ourselves very near Destruction and ever since has gone on to perfect our Deliverance The Princes whom God in much Mercy has set over us have done their parts too not only in setting us such Examples of Righteousness as are very rare in the World especially in so eminent a Station but in publishing strict Proclamations for the Punishment of Vice in requiring Ministers to preach earnestly against it and read those Statutes to their People that were made for the suppressing of it and in giving a particular Charge to Magistrates under them to execute the Laws upon Offenders The faithful Servants of God in the Nation of all Ranks have in a great measure done their parts also in sincere Humiliations for the Sins of the Nation and praying to Almighty God to reform us and avert his Judgments from us and in order to it to inspire Magistrates with those generous and holy Resolutions which are necessary to accomplish so great a Work And I cannot but say you have such an Opportunity before you of carrying on a great Reformation in the Kingdom as both the present and future Ages will for ever praise God for so long as there shall be any Piety in the World and will raise to yourselves a lasting Monument of Honour if you
Hosea How shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel how shall I make thee as Admah how shall I set thee as Zeboim Mine heart is turned within me my repentings are kindled together Hos 11.8 And blessed be his Name we soon found the gracious Effects of such a Compassion and by those many Wonders of Providence which made our late happy Revolution and the great Successes God has since given us we find ourselves a free People in the Enjoyment of our Properties and Religion under the best temper'd Government in the World And tho' the neighbouring Nations engaged in the same Cause with us have endur'd all the dreadful Miseries of War yet we have felt nothing of it in the general but the Payment of Taxes towards it which no good Man will grudge at that knows they are the Price of our Estates our Liberties our Lives and which is more than all our Religion Now after all that is come upon us for our evil Deeds as Ezra speaks seeing that our God hath punished us less then our Iniquities deserve and has given us such a Deliverance as this should we again break his Commandments would he not be angry with us till he had consum'd us so that there should be no Remnant nor Escaping You see therefore what Motives we have to depart from Sin and embrace Righteousness God has continually enrich'd us with his Mercies he has exercis'd great Patience towards us and wrought many wonderful Deliverances for us notwithstanding our heinous Sins and Rebellions against him he has also executed some Judgments upon us and threatned us with more amt greater yet if we do not return to him Yea we have Motives from our very Sins for is it not yet enough that we have transgress'd the Laws of our God and rebell'd against him Hath the Lord often repented of the Evil be threatned us with And shall not we yet repent of our evil Temper and Practices against him Certainly it is high time after so long a Defection to return to ourselves and to our God And does trot the present State of our Affairs too loudly call for it God still gives usVictories but yet the finishing part of our Happiness is kept in suspence which upon a sincere Reformation of our Lives we may hope for but if we come short of this we shall not onely in all likelihood prevent such a Blessing but lose the Advantages he has already given us and become a Prey to the Malice and Fury of the worst Men in the World And would not this be an indelible Reproach to such a People as we are that of all Nations in the World should best understand our Duty to God and have more Obligations to do it than any others 2. From both the parts of my Text we see how much it lies upon us to depart from Sin and to do Righteousness And that I may use the fittest way to perswade you to it I shall 1. Apply myself particularly to several Ranks and Orders of Men in the Nation of which some are here present 2. Speak to all in general 3. Conclude with what concerns the Business of this time and the present Occasion of our meeting together 1. I shall apply myself particularly to several Ranks and Orders of Men in the Nation namely Magistrates Ministers and Gentlemen 1. I shall with all that Humility and Respect that becomes me address myself to Magistrates whether in an higher or a lower Station and desire you would be pleas'd to consider how much the Honour of your Places the Trust reposed in you by Almighty God and the Princes he has set over us and the just Expectations of all good Men do require that ye should be Righteous both in your Persons and in your Office When Jethro advis'd Moses to chuse Magistrates under him to assist him in Judging the People he mentions the necessary Qualifications of such Men Exod. 18.21 Able men such as fear God men of truth hating covetousness And when Moses speaks to the People about this Matter a little before his Death Deut. 1.13 he gives another part of the Character of these Persons namely Wise men and understanding and known among the tribes Magistrates therefore ought to be wise Men whose Capacity and Knowledge is above the common Rate who having furnished their Minds with the best Rules and Nations are able to penetrate doubtful and difficult Causes and discover Wickedness under all those Disguises by which it is shelter'd from common Observation And to this Wisdom must be added Understanding too that is Prudence in the fence of the Original not such as would direct them to consult their own Safety rather then execute Justice when their persons or Estates may be in danger by it for this is a base Craft that undermines and betrays a Nation and therefore deserves not the name of Prudence but that which enables Magistrates to judge of particular Cases with relation to Times Persons c. and to do every part of their Duty with such necessary Precautions as may best serve the ends of it Then they must be able Men that is vertuous in the Original or more particularly Men of Valour and Courage which is always necessary to a Magistrate That he may break the jaws of the Wicked as Job speaks Chap. 29.17 and pluck the spoil out of his teeth That is deliver them that fusser under the cruel Oppressor how powerful soever and execute Judgment on the proudest and most prosperous Offender To this must be added the Fear of God which is to direct and govern them in all their Actions wherein they are to have respect rather to God then Man and to his Will and Honour then to any Temporal Considerations And then they will be Men of Truth too that is of Justice as in the Septuagint Version for Truth is a branch of Justice and this in every part has so near a Resemblance to Truth that it may well enough be call'd by that name To this is added hating Covetousness which indeed the former parts of the Character do necessarily infer and without this it is hard to imagine how they should have either Justice or Courage enough to do their Duty in any tolerable measure and to be sure the Fear of God would be far from them the very name of covetousness is so provoking to one that has any sparks of Generosity that it is hard for him to mention it without the sharpest Invectives He that can stoop to such a Lust as this is not sit to be trusted with any Business of moment for his Soul is not capable of those noble Thoughts and Resolutions that make Men honest and faithful to their Trust and that greater Affection he bears to his little Deities will easily bring him off from the weaker Ties of Friendship or Loyalty so that whenever there shall arise a Competition between them his nearest Friends his Prince and his Country must become a
practice Righteousness and encourage it in a licentious Age when too many live as if they were born only for Ease and Luxury is indeed to undergo a lesser Martyrdom and to stand at least in the place of a Confessor But this should rather provoke the Emulation then move the Fears of all good Men for to contribute their Power and Interest towards the Reforming a Nation is a greater Service then to hazard their Lives in its Defence for they that do this can save it only from the Cruelties of Men while the other so far as they succeed in their pious Attempts rescue it from the Malice of Devils and by a Conquest over those most formidable Enemies preserve it from eternal Destruction These Considerations I hope are of weight with you and I desire it may be remember'd as a father Motive to you that the Power of those two Orders of Men I before spake to lies especially in you Magistrates are chosen from among you and depend greatly on your Assistance in doing their Duty and indeed without it there is but little comparatively can be expected from them Ministers besides the relation they ordinarily have to your Families have very many of them their Preferments from you and all of them do much want your Help and Encouragement in order to the Success of their Labours I beseech you therefore to consider the Power God has given you not only among yourselves but all other Orders of Men in the Kingdom Magistrates Ministers and the common People and to use it zealously in the Cause of God and his Church and you need not doubt of that Success which the Lord delights to give unto such holy Endeavours This would make us happy at Home and victorious Abroad and secure very great Blessings to yourselves and your Posterity 2. I would say something also to all Persons in the general and desire you that every one would do his part towards the exalting of the Nation by repenting of your Sins and doing Righteousness It is our Country I am pleading for that dear Concern to which we owe a thousand times more regard than to our own Lives these we should willingly offer up when the necessity of our Country requires it and shall we grudge to part with our Sins for it Shall we not embrace true Religion when it appears to be so necessary to save the Kingdom and when the Goodness of God does so much oblige us to it It is on this Condition that Victory over Enemies as well as other Blessings are promis'd and therefore without it we cannot expect God should continue them to us for tho' he was pleas'd to turn our Captivity and has hitherto prevented us with his Goodness he can as easily turn our Victories and with one breath of his Displeasure blast all that Prosperity he has lately restor'd to us and I know nothing but a Reformation amongst us that can prevent it It puzzles many serious and considering Men to see so many strange Acts of Providence for the delivering and setling a Nation which they fear'd had fill'd up all the measures of their Sins and were therefore fitted for an unavoidable Destruction But if all there great Effects of God's Goodness which we have lately receiv'd added to the former will not bring us to Repentance as our Destruction when it comes will be the greater on the account of them so we cannot reasonably expect it should be long defer'd And indeed if we do not seriously apply ourselves now to the great Duties of Religion what a Reproach will it be to us that we have always with so much Heat contended for a Form of Godliness Insomuch that I dare affirm if half that Zeal had been spent for Religion itself as has been for the little Appendages of it or at the most for the outside of a Church we had been long e're now the best and happiest Nation in the World It is time therefore that we correct our former Mistakes and set ourselves to the practice of that pure and undefiled Religion we profess that we may contribute what lies in us to the Safety and Prosperity of the Kingdom And at this time it becomes all good Men to deny themselves more then ordinarily out of a generous Sympathy m our Fleets and Armies abroad It was a brave and noble Resolution of Vriah when David had sent for him from the Army that he would not take the Comforts of his own House but chose rather to lie at the King's Gate while the Ark and Israel and Judah abode in Tents and his Lord Joab and the Servants of the King were encamp'd in the open Fields And are not our Israel and Judah some of them in Tents too and others floating upon the Ocean And besides them several brave Armies of the Confederates And have we not many Joabs great and worthy Commanders encamp'd in the Field and which is more is not our David also with them And have we not something in danger there that is greater then the Ark For our Religion is very much bound up in the Safety of our Prince and his Armies It becomes us therefore to have a real sence of these things and exercise that Self-denial and Devotion which will best express it and will also prevail with God for the Continuance and Increase of Publick Blessings to us 3. I shall say something very briefly concerning the Business of the present Time in this Place wherein some it may be of all Orders of Men here are concern'd and put you in mind of the Righteousness that is necessary for you to exercise in it And as to those who are Plaintiffs I would have them consider it does not become Christians to go to Law for small matters Why do ye not rather take wrong says the Apostle why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded 1 Cor. 6.7 Neither should they for greater matters if the Difference may be well determin'd without it And when the Difficulty of the Case requires it the contending Parties are bound to preserve Charity towards one another notwithstanding and each of them should desire that Justice may be done rather then he should gain the Cause For Justice is God's and therefore to be prefer'd before our own Interest And as to Witnesses I advise them by all means to keep a good Conscience and neither for Love or Hatred for the hopes of Gain or fear of any Man's Displeasure to depart from the Truth For lying lips are abomination to the Lord Prov. 12.22 And Lies in this case are dreadful Perjuries which contain in them so many horrid Sins against God and our Neighbour that a Man must be extreamly hardned in Wickedness before he can deliberately forswear himself For in this kind of Perjury there is a most impudent Profanation of the Name of God a Violation of the Truth a perverting of Justice a Treachery to the King and the Laws a bold Affront to the whole Court that are deceiv'd and misguided by it and an Abuse to the Country Besides if a Neighbour's good Name be expos'd by it it is a base Slander it his Goods it is Theft if his Life it is Murder Therefore it is no wonder God has threaten'd That a false Witness shall not be unpunish'd and he that speaketh lies shall perish Prov. 19.9 And that the curse of God shall enter into the House of him that sweareth falsly Zach. 5.4 And as to Pleaders I desire they would always as I hope many do have a greater Respect to Truth and Justice then to any private Advantages and tho' it be their Duty to defend a good Cause and I think none will blame them to make the best of one that is doubtful yet their Business in both these Cases must be ever managed with that Decency and Gravity which becomes their Profession and with that Fairness to Witnesses which the Law of Justice does require But when a Cause appears to be bad to plead this is to be an Advocate against Truth and Justice and consequently against God himself And then what can be expected by such Men but the Effects of that Threatning Is 5.20 23. Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil Which justifie the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him And I hope they will believe the wise Man when he tells us He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just even they both are abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 In a word let those that are to be Jurors consider what shall be before them with all Sincerity and determin according to their Consciences upon good Deliberation and not suffer themselves to be biass'd by any Consideration whatsoever And let them with all others that have any Business in Courts of Judicature remember always that excellent Rule of Justice deliver'd by our Blessed Saviour Mat. 7.12 Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them And now my Lords my Discourse would turn to you if I had not said so much already to Magistrates in general of which notwithstanding I believe your Lordships needed very little or nothing either to put you in mind of your great Duty or to quicken you in it And I think both myself and others have great reason to bless God that he has graciously restor'd to us Judges as at the first and Counsellors as at the beginning from whom we may expect an Execution of our Laws according to the true Intention of them and by whose means we hope Judgment will run every-where amongst us as the Waters and Righteousness as a mighty stream of Water and refresh all the Corners of the Land And as I question not but your Lordships will use that Power and Interest you have to promote Righteousness in general so I do again desire all Orders of Men here as my last Request to them to do their parts also towards it remembring that the same Righteousness which exalts a Nation will at length exalt us also to the Kingdom of Heaven where for all the Service we do and the Self-denial and Sufferings we endure in the Cause of God and his Church here we shall receive a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory The END