ΕΙΡΗΝΟΓΟΝΙΑ; OR THE PEDEGREE OF PEACE, DELIVERED IN A SERMON INTENDED TO THE IVDGES AT THE ASSISES holden at Okeham in Rutland, Iuly. 31. 1629. but after vpon an occasion, preached at Vppingham, in the same Countie, Septemb. 6. 1629.
By Antony Fawkner, Master of Arts, late Student in Jesus Colledge at Oxford.
Righteousnesse and equity are the stablishment of his Throne.
The Law of thy mouth is better vnto me then thousand [...] and silver.
[...] Peace be vnto you.
LONDON. Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Robert Allot [...], and are to be sold at his shop in S. Pauls Churchyard at the signe of the Beare. 1630.
TO THE WORSHIPFVLL MY LOVING VNCLE, MASTER EVERARD FAWKNER, Peace Internall and Externall from God the Author of Peace.
IN the time of your Shriefaltie, you requested this ensuing labour, which I was ready at the time appointed to haue payd as the tribute, not so much of my courtesie, as duty. It was intended for your eare, but (by I know not what preuention twice or thrice put off) J present it now (what ere it is) to your and the Worlds eye. Which is a doctrinall sense too, and by so much the more criticall then the eare, by how much the more curious, and indeed can [Page] better satisfie its owne quaintnesse by a priueledge it hath to dwell longer on its obiect. But for my owne part, J quaile not for any Momus. I haue been so well acquainted with the worlds folly, that J scorne either to flatter, or feare it. I haue knowne it requite fawning with flouting: and he that clawes it, had best take heede that it kicke not him. Such is its dotage, that for the more part it plants its prime flowers in dunghils, not gardens. So that he who dreames to purchase her fauour by deserts, doth but [...] make roapes of sand; a labour foolish, because fruitlesse. Yea this I dare say, that he of our calling (though it be most excellent) which by his laudable indeauours alone, supposeth in these last and worst dayes to gaine preferment, shall with expectation, hunger, and study make himselfe so leane, that (vnlesse Nature be more indulgent, then charity harborous) hee shall scarce euer bee able by all his gaines to put himselfe in flesh againe. So much, and no more honesty may we expect from the World in its downe-right Nature, and as little or lesse from its vailed, hypocriticall, and whining sanctitie. Experto crede. Wherefore if the best [Page] deserts can hope for no better, I haue small reason by my weakest endeauours to expect so much, vnlesse (as indeed it oft happens in this crosse world) the sillier fellow may haue the better fortune. Briefly, I lye so almost leuell with the earth, that Non habeo vndè cadam, I cannot fall much lower. Wherefore I feare no censure; not because I am aboue any enuy, but because in the security of a shrub from the winde, I am beneath all. As for you Sir, to whom I offer this poore piece in its homely proportion, shapen to a Country Auditory, if it offend you, reiect it, for euen so you shall not displease me, or (which J wish) if it please you reade it, and in it
ΕΙΡΗΝΟΓΟΝΙΑ, OR THE PEDEGREE OF PEACE, &c.
His Mothers name also was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the Tribe of Dan.
NAtures perfection presupposeth an imperfection. Instants are too nimble for her sober determination, and her actions for the more part are accomplished by a graduall motion. Art receiues, and imitates her method, first hewing her worke in the rough, ere she can put to vltimam manum, her finishing, her exact hand. And see how the Diuell will bee Ape to them both; he must haue his Climax too, ascending from the conception of a sinne to its birth, from its birth, to its maturitie. Discord boakes to equall contention, contention swelles to the greatnesse of a quarrell, then by its owne poyson bursts in Death.22. q. 37, 38, 41. Tis the Schoolemans [Page 2] gradation from the infancy of malice to its age, from the beginning to the end. Tis conceiued in the heart, brought forth by the tongue, executed by the hand, and receiues its iust vengeance in its selfe-destruction. We need not stray farre to find an example; my Text affoords a wretched one, the sonne of an Egyptian; who first went out, vers. 10. Lo, his heart was full. Then he stroue, againe vers. 10. [...], as the Septuagint, Iurgatus est, as Saint Hierome renders it, he brawled. His tongue would be the Midwife to bring to the birth that mischiefe, which his heart had determined. And it is like, had not preuention hindred, what passion threatned, there would haue been some knocks. Or at the least, suppose the hands bloody execution be preuented; then will the tongue supply its place, and so challenge a double share in guilt. For Maledixit, he cursed. Yea, and because his hand might not wound him, whom his tongue had reuiled, Coelum ipsum petijt stultitiâ; God must be the obiect of his malice, as well as his neighbour; for blasphemauit Nomen Domini: Hee blasphemed the Name of the Lord, ver. 11. And what now can be added? The sin is swolne to its compleat to its, stretched hugenesse: then it must needs burst. Iustice will auenge, they brought him vnto Moses, vers. 11. and vengeance will reward, they stoned him, vers. 14. So then, the transgressour is dead, but not the sinne; or if the sinne, yet not the shame. There are two fames in the fiction, good and euill, each equally perpetuall. Happy are the good, if their fame bee eternall, and as vnhappy are the bad, if [Page 3] theirs be more then momentany. The memoriall of the Iust is as a sweet odour; Illîc Nascuntur violae: the memorie of the wicked repaires, reuiues their ignominies, which otherwise would decay, and lye dead, as their forgotten carkeises. Nay, so selfe-diffusiue is this opprobry of sinne, that tis not limited to the transgressours person, but as more infectious then the contagion of Leprosie spreads it selfe at once ouer both Auncestry and Posterity. If the Father tread awry, [...], [...]. The children shall be sure to taste the shame, perchance the punishment. Achan sinned: he and his whole family perished: Iosh. 7.24. Haman transgressed: he and his ten sonnes were vtterly destroyed: Esth. 9.10. [...]. [...]. So perilous is the company of the vngodly, and so full of danger alliance to the wicked. Nor is it more vnhappinesse to bee the sonne of a wicked father, then to be the father of a rebellious childe. When the Blasphemer in my Text cursed, haply Shelomith was dead, tis probable that Dibri was, and that Dan was, most certaine: yet, as if there had been a secret vnhappinesse due to haue been inflicted vpon them for the mutuall relation betweene their very ashes, and their accursed seede, they must vndergoe the punishment, to bee recorded the misfortunate parents of so gracelesse a sonne: yea, so exact is the register, that it catalogues from the neerest of Kin to the first of the Tribe.
His mothers name also was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the Tribe of Dan.
Affectation of method is the confusion of method. Wherefore not to tire, or fright you (as with so many Hydraes heads) with tedious Heptacotomies, nor to delude your apprehensions with subtile curiosities as vaine and brittle, as they are thinne. Briefly, my Text includes a threefold disquiparant relation. The first (according to the order of words) is inter matrem & filium, betweene the mother and the sonne: Shelomith and the blasphemer. The second is Inter Patrem & Filiam; betweene the father and the daughter; Dibri & Shelomith. The third is inter Patrem & Filium; betweene the father and the sonne; Dan and Dibri. This we may obserue from the historicall Genealogie; in which againe, if with a sharpe eye wee but looke into the vailed treasure of the names signification, wee may discouer the like relation included in a genealogie mysticall. Let then so hainous a transgressor as this blasphemer, bee taken in the abstract for his transgression, sinne. Whose sonne is he? Shelomiths. What is shee? The Interpreter translates her,Paguin. de Derinat. Nom. Heb. Peacefull, from [...] [Shalom] Peace. Ascend next to her father, Dibri, which the Translator renders, My Word, from [...] or [...] [Dabar or Dibber] a Word; a written, or vnwritten word, the two diuiding members of Lex, a Law. The Scripture iustifies the interpretation; Ho wrote on the Tables according to the first writing, the ten Words: Deut 10.4. The Words, that is, the Commandements, which are The Law. Climbe yet a few steps higher, and from thence in a faire prospect, view the Ancestor of Dibri: he [Page 5] is Dan. Holy-writ construeth him Iudging, a Iudge, or Iudgement: for first, his reputed mother gaue him that name with her blessing; And Rachel said, God hath iudged me, therefore called she his name Dan: Gen. 30.6. And againe, Iacob confirmed it with his blessing; Dan shall iudge his people: Genes. 49.16. Descend then in the right line of this Genealogy: Dan is the father of Dibri; Iudgement of the Law: Dibri begets Shelomith; the Law, Peace: and Shelomith is the parent of the Blasphemer; Peace brings forth transgression. Dan begets Dibri; againe, Dibri, Shelomith; and Shelomith beares the Curser. Iudgement procreates the Law; the Law, Peace; and Peace brings forth her mishapen off-spring, Sinne. Old Hesiod, whether benefited by the twylight of Nature, or fortunate by a luckie stumble in the Heathenish darkenesse, in his [...],Hesiod. in Theogon. groaped at the shadow of this Genealogie. He makes Iudgement, the Law and Peace, three Sisters, the daughters of one Mother, Themis, or Iustice, [...]. But we leaue the Tale to the Poets patronage, returning to their mutuall and successiue generation in my Text: in which leauing the order of words in the ascent from Shelomith, we will begin at the further end, and so in lineâ rectâ descendente, passe downeward from the father to the children; first, touching him which was first by the priority of Nature and Time, Honour and Order, and he is
Dan, Iudgement.
Iudgement is the act of Iustice.Aquin. 22. q. 60. art. 1. Iustice an habit, [Page 6] by which we haue an inclination,Aquin. in AR. Ethic. lib. 5. c. 2. power and will to the performance of what is iust: so the Philosopher.Iustinian. de Iustit. & Iure. Or, as the Imperial Lawyer (though not so formally) it is Constans & perpetua voluntas suum cuique tribuens; a constant and perseuering will;Georg. Reisch. Margarit. Philosopn. lib. 12. cap. 23. or more Logically, the habit of that will, which giues, and by which, each one receiues his proper and peculiar right. Now wee know, that Habits are by so much the firmer radicated in their subiects, by how much the actions from whence they flow, are the more frequently and timely vsed.Horat. epist. lib. 1. epist. 2. Quo semel est imbuta recens seruabit odorem Testa diu; The vpright tree was made streight when it was a sprigge. Vertues that are taught to youth, grow habituall to age; and what Nature can neuer find easie, custome make naturall. Wherefore the Persians, that they might be sure to prouide vpright Iudges, made their children petty Iustices, and taught them Law as soone as letters.Xenophon. [...]. They went to the Schoole of Iustice euery day, [...], saith Xenophon, as duly as amongst vs our Nouices to learne their first rudiments. Yea, their very sports were serious, and (as another small Commonweale) they had their [...], Publike Halles to moote their childish Cases in. So would they wisely preuent Nature by their discipline, accompanying their increase of yeeres with a growth of vertue, that they might become men, and iust both together. What the light of Nature taught them,Horrt. carm. lib. 3. ed. 24. the precepts of God commanded the Iewes. Eradenda cupidineis Parui sunt elementa. They were [...] [Page 7] [...], A stiffe-necked people of an vncircumcised heart, Act. 7.51. and the coare of their rebellion must be grubbed vp from the roote, which is easiest done in the Spring of youth, when sinne can take but tender hold, wherefore they must teach Gods Lawes diligently vnto their children, and to make them more habituall, they must talke of them when they are in their houses, and when they walke by the way, and when they lie downe, and when they rise vp: Deut. 6.7. yea, they must binde them as a signe vpon their hands, and as Frontlets betweene their eyes: Vers. 8. Whence the Pharises as seeming-performers of the Law, wrote those sentences in Frontlet-parchments, which they should haue grauen in their hearts, and misplaced their consciences in their Philacteries: Matth. 23.5. Nor is it wonder, that a gemme so precious should be in so high esteeme.Aquin. 22. q. 58. art. 4. For indeed Nature knowing her Original to be of God, hath exalted her vnto a throne at least, for the more part aboue the rest of vertues. Her seate is not in the lower appetite of sense, but in that supreme one of the Will, which being a faculty of the diuiner part of man, is the most conuenient receptacle of a vertue, whose originall is so Diuine. Diuine? Yes: for Iustice is of the Lord, yea tis the Lords. He executed the Iustice of the Lord: Deut. 33.21. Heare then, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord: Deut. 6.4. and that Lord both mercifull and iust: Psal. 116.5. Plato confessed, that hee was attended by a reuenging Iustice, which executed his wrath vpon the transgressours of his Law, and in that was more religious [Page 8] then the accursed Marcion, Iren. advers. haereset, lib. 3. c. 45. a blasphemer at least, equall with the sonne of the Egyptian, diuiding the Diuinity into two Godheads. The one forsooth he called Good, and stiled him, The Father of Mercy: the other Bad, and reputes him the Patrone of Iustice. As if he would make Mercy and Iustice vtter enemies, and by an vniust sentence depriue Iustice of her goodnes. Irenaeus in the power of the Spirit mightily confutes him,Iren. advers. haereses, lib. 3. c. 42.43. & demonstrates him as guilty of contradiction as blasphemy, vnder whose victorious feete wee leaue him cloathed with shame and confusion of face, mocking his foolish Thesis, as apparently repugnant to the first principles of Philosophy, as Theologie, with a Poets fiction, weighty enough to contrapoise his slender position;Hesiod. [...]. [...]: Iudgement is the daughter of the most high God, indeed it is the worke of the Almighty: Ier. 9.24. And because God saith so, Epiphanius is bold to say as much, with as close a tye, knitting the rest of vertues vnto Iustice, as the Philosopher can binde them vnto Prudence: for Non aliter (saith he) quis fiet bonus, Epiph. cont. Haros. lib. 1. si non fuerit Iustus: if a man cannot be iust, it is impossible that he should bee good. To diuide honesty from vertue, and goodnesse from iustice, are equally [...], both aboue the reach of possibility. And that it is a vertue,Adrianus Turnebus aduersario, lib. 8. c. 20. the Coryphaeus of our Moderne Criticks (not to talke of Aristotles Media) induceth Vlpian to conclude from the definition of Iustice, viz. that it is voluntas constans & perpetua; A constant and perpetuall Will: so Stoically both arguing it to [Page 9] be a vertue, and distinguishing it from the perturbations mutability, by a solid, fixed, and perseuering constancie: yea in one eminent acceptation,Aquin. 22. q. [...]8. art. 6. in corpore. in regard of her generall direction, she may iustly be stiled, Omnis virtus, The whole vniuersalitie of vertues, as guiding them al to the common good, as charity directs them to the Diuine Good. All which may challenge their euidence from the office of Iustice: [...]:Hesiod. [...]. Aquin. in Arist. Ethic. lib. 5. cap. 1. lect. 1. Ambros. lib. Offic. suum cuique tribuere; to giue euery one his owne; to God and Man, and to Man and Man. S. Ambrose addes, Alienum non vendicare, propriam vtilitatem negligere vt communem aequalitatem custodiat: Not to lay claime to our neighbours goods, but to preferre the generall equitie, yea to our owne profit. Loe then, beloued, Iustitia tribuit, &c. Iustice giues what is due, she doth not sell it. Iust weights poyze her ballance, not a heauy purse: and to declare her innocency concerning rewards, the Thebans painted her without hands;Plutarch. in Iside. Hesiod. [...]. [...]; Iustice is a Virgin, pure, immaculate, vndefiled, incorrupt: wherefore it is impossible she should associate her self with base mony-gods, whose gaine is their godlinesse, and are therefore [...], corrupt in minde, 1. Tim. 6.5. & Spirituall Fornicatours, for their hearts haue gone a whoring from the Lord: Eccles. 46.11. Wherefore Vlpian doubts not to stile honest Lawyers Sacerdotes Iustitiae; the Priests of Iustice,Turneb. aduersar. lib. 8. c. 20. emulus (as Turnebus coniectures) of the Stoicks sincere wise man,Irenaeus aduersus haeres. lib. 4. cap. 20. sect. 2. to whom onely they vouchsafed the title of a Priest. And doth not Iraeneus astipulate? Omnes [Page 10] Iusti Sacerdotalem habent ordinem; Let any expound the word Iusti in as large and generall sense as hee may, yet in this I suppose I erre not. The integritie of a righteous Iudge may adde vnto his Honour the reuerend title, at least of a Lay-Priest: such a proportionall Anallogie betweene their Callings is grounded vpon the vprightnesse of their actions. It was death amongst the Romans to receiue a bribe, especially in a cause of death. Yea, the Acilian Law did prosecute this sharpe decree against the person accused, with such iust seuerity,Pompon. Laetus de Legib. 1.5. that there was admitted no Iusiitium, no Dies Iustus, but he was immediately condemned sine ampliatione aut comperendinatione, without any delay of Demurre, Adiourning Court, or possibility of repriue. I need not tell you, how Darius fastened corrupt Sandoces to the tormenting Crosse;Barnab. Brisonius de reg. Pers. lib. 1. nor how Cambyses caused Sisamnes skin to be plucked off, and spread vpon the Iudges chaire, placing his sonne first in it, that by the balefull spectacle of his fathers hide, hee might be deterred from peruerting Iustice by receiuing bribes. Wherefore hauing spoken of this [...], very briefly, yet as much as needs, my theame being still of Iustice and Iudgement, I passe vnto two other inconueniences in their administration; Too sudden expedition and delay. From the first of which,Epiph. lib. 11. c. de Manichaeis. Epiphanius testifies, the Persians to bee so free, that in the most capitall offences they were slow to punish; supposing that in causes concerning life, no time was long propeque esse vt lubenter condemnent qui cito, Barnab. Brison. de reg. Pers. li. 1. as Brissonius amplifies: They [Page 11] thought the condemnation halfe voluntary, and consequently vniust, if very sudden. It is obserued from a Rabbi,Targum Ionath. Mumb. 9 8 c that there were foure causes brought vnto Moses: two were respectiuely of small moment, in which he made haste; one was the matter of vncleannesse, keeping from the Passeouer, Numb. 9.9. the other was the case of Zelophebads daughters concerning their inheritance, Numb. 36.10. The other two were of greater weight, as touching life and death, in which he delayed. The first was the matter of the Blasphemer, in my Text: the second, that of him that brake the Sabbath in gathering sticks, Numb. 15.35. yet in none of all these cases was there more haste then good speed, for in them all (saith my Author) Moses answered, Non audiui, Godwin. Moses & Aaron. l. 5. c. 6. I haue not heard, to wit, from the Lord, intimating, that deliberation ought to accompany iudgement, & sentence not to bee pronounced, before consultation with God. For concerning all these cases the Lord spake vnto Moses, and in the least of them, the Lawgiuer solemnely bespeakes the people to stand still, & ego audiam, and I will heare what the Lord will command: Numb. 9.8. On the contrarie, as deliberation is requisite, so voluntary delayes are dangerous. What iniustice doe we reade of in the vnrighteous Iudge, Luk. 18.6. saue onely delay? [...]: The sooner the Cockle is destroyed, the better the Corne will grow. The Royall Iudge, Dauid, knew it, when he said, [...], Betimes, early, Sophocles in Electrá. in the morning will I destroy the wicked of the Land: Ps. 101.8. By this then [Page 12] it is manifest, that Iustice giues freely, deliberately, and (as the case requires) speedily. The next Quaere is, What she giues? Her proper Obiect Ius, or Iustum, What is right and due. Doe you inquire what that is? the Schooleman defines it to bee Opus adaequatum alteri secundum aliquem aequalitatis modum. Aquin. 22. q. 57. art. 1, 2. An action squared and proportioned to anothers benefit or losse, according to the equalitie of desert. Now this equalitie ariseth either ex naturâ rei, from the nature of the thing: as if I lend so much, from the principles of Nature in a Practicke Syllogisme, conscience concludes, that so much is to be restored againe: or else this adequation or equality proceedeth ex condicto, from a mutuall agreement, which againe is either priuate, betwixt person and person; or publike, by common consent, and vnanimous agreement of the publike Magistrate and people. From the first ariseth the iudgement betweene priuate contracts; from the second, that concerning publike Edicts. It followes then,Xenophon. [...]. that [...]: Iustice respects an equalitie; and that equalitie intimates a twofold proportion: one is inter rem & rem: as betwixt the traffike and the value, about which the commutatiue part of Iustice is conuersant:Aquin. 22. art. 2. Arist. Eth. 5. the other is inter rem & personam, betweene the Person deseruing, and the Reward, which by an equall distribution is adapted,Barnab. Brisson. de Reg. Pers. l. 1. or fitted to the persons deserts, by that other subiectiue part of Iustice, to wit, Distributiue. The Persians religiously obserued both parts, but iust Aristides extols them for the latter;Aristid. [...]. [...]: [Page 13] They requited not a multitude of honourable attempts with few gifts, nor great deserts with smal rewards. And loe, the Precept of the Lord commands both parts: Iust ballances, iust weights, a iust Ephah, and a iust Hin shall yee haue: Leuit. 19.36. and the Labourer is worthy of his hire: Luk. 10.7. From these are euident the definition of this Ius, or right, and it is necessity. This is that Palladium, that Image of Pallas, that Statue of Iustice fallen downe from Heauen into our Common-wealth, which being religiously preserued, our Cities are conserued from hostile violence: and vpon whose violation, Iustice it selfe immediately, or at least by a sudden consequence receiues the afront, and the reason is [...]: He that iniures the picture, Georg. Hemis. in Hesiod. [...]. ex Proclo. reproacheth the person whose the picture is; now this Iustum, or Right, is the liuely image, the true protraiture of Iustice: which as she renders what is Ius, or Right, so to each one Ius suum, what is his owne, proper, and peculiar right. In matters of possession Iustice takes not notice of conueniency, but Due. It preserues inheritance, and that iustly; yea oft-times to the bad, not because he deserues it, but because tis his. That Story of Cyrus, when he was a boy, is as vsefull as elegant: Being at the Schoole of Iustice,Xenoph [...]. whereof wee spake before, it was his turne to decide a controuersie betweene two of his play fellowes, the one being a great boy that had a little coate, the other being a little boy that had a great coate, and one at strife for the others garment. He, as hee thought most conuenient, iudged that [Page 14] both should change, sentencing the larger coate to the bigger Lad, and the lesser to the smaller. But what followes? [...], hee was punished by his Tutor, to make him remember, that Iustice respects the right of possession, more then the conueniency: it giues to each man what is his peculiar owne by Law: [...]: Wherefore the Iudge ought not to square his sentence by seeming expediency, but by the Law. Hence it is manifest, that the goodnesse of Iustice is not terminated in the person of the iust administratour, but as more selfe-communicatiue then the rest of vertues, extends her benefits ad alterum, to the commoditie of others; yea, ad omnes, euen vnto all; for she giues whats due vnicuique, Plutarch. in Iside. to euery one. She respects no persons, for she sees them not. The Thebanes painted her without eyes: or if shee haue any, they are not in her owne, but in the Iudges head: for him indeed Cyrus stiles [...], the Seeing-Law. Xenophon. [...]. But how? Marry he hath an eye to see, but not to pitie: an eye of vnderstanding to search out the sinne, not an eye of partiality to fauour the delinquent. Respect of persons then is the reiection of Iustice, and by it wee may become Iudges: But of what? Of equity? No: but [...] of euill thoughts: Iam. 2.4. From these then we may of a truth perceiue, that God is no accepter of persons: Act. 10.34. Yea, the poore whom God seemes most to pitie, and for whose reliefe (as Philo with admiration of his Iustice notes) he hath left vnto his people so many precepts and excitements to Mercy and compassion,Philo Iudaeus de officio Iudicis. [Page 15] euen they (I say) are excluded from all commiseration in iudgement, and that by his owne expresse prohibition: Thou shalt not countenance a poore man in his cause: Exod. 23.3. Hence of so glorious esteeme in ancient time was this impartiall iustice, that the Poet calles it [...]:Homer. [...]dys. lib. 4. The iudgement of the most diuine Kings. And loe, Saint Iames by warrant from the holy Ghost, is bold to set the same Crowne of glory on her head, terming her [...]: The Royall Law: Iam. 2.8. And indeed why not a Royall Law,Theod. Beza in loc. cit. if a Law so supremely generall? For the performance of it, is the performance of the Law. I coniecture Saint Iames thought so, when hee made a direct Antithesis betweene [...], Acceptation of persons, and loue to our neighbour, which is the performance of the Law, Ro. 13.9, 10. His words are these: If ye fulfill the Royall Law, according to the Scripture, Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe, yee doe well: [...], But if yee accept persons, yee commit sinne, and are conuinced of the Law as transgressours: Iam. 2.8, 9. Hitherto (Beloued) I haue shadowed Iustice, and consequently Iudgement (though with a slubbering Pencill) together with their properties, and haue prooued each of them to be seuerall Canons of Gods Law. I appeale then, as well to the approbation of your reason as your faith, whether Dibri be of the Tribe of Dan, whether Iudgement be the Father of the
Law. Dibri.
The diuision of the Law in generall into Eternall, [Page 16] Naturall and Humane, or Positiue: with the Originall of the Positiue from the Naturall, and of that from the Eternall, I haue already heretofore in this place handled. At which time I also manifested the strict tie, by which our conscience is bound to the obseruation of this Humane Law, together with the dutie of Magistrates, who ought to proportion their Iudgements according to the rule of this Law: it being the best commendation which Mandana could affoord her husband Cambyses, Xenoph. [...]. that [...]: He made not his will a Law, but the Law his will, and ruled best, because hee would be ruled. She sayd so to her young sonne, Cyrus; and it seemes hee gaue good eare and approbation to the commendations: for when himselfe was after inuested in his dignitie, he confessed the law to be a schoolemistris both to Magistrate and People; teaching them two lessons, to each, one, [...]:Xenoph. [...]. The Art of gouernmēt to the Magistrate, the rule of Obedience to the Subiect. It is true indeede, that the Law had once its infancy, whē the rulers wil by necessity for want of Law stood for a Law: Semiramis decrees had the force of Law amongst the Babylonians,Briss. de Keg. Pers. lib. 1. yea euen in oeconomicall & priuate families, the father of the families word had the full vertue of Law. Iudah pronounced the sentence of Death against his daughter in Law, Tamar: Bring her forth and let her be burnt: Gen. 38.24. So that Polydore Virgils coniecture may be supposed, at least probable, to wit, that written Lawes were not in vse in Homers time,Polid. Virgil. de Inuent. Rer, li. 2. cap. 1. for in all his workes (sayth hee) he not so much as names a Law. Yet there [Page 17] was euen then without controuersie [...], though not written, composed and publike edicts or constitutions, yet certaine receiued Traditions agreeing with the Law of Nature, equiualent in proportion with a Law. Such as were intimated by the same Authors [...],Hom. [...] Pelid. Ʋirg. Inuent. Rer. l. 2. c. 1 The Iustice of Retaliation, or retribution of like for like. But after the ruder times of Barbarisme had put off their rugged coate,Demost. cont. Aristogitonem. Draco and Solon brought this [...] (so their Oratour stiles it) this diuine inuention of the Law first to Athens from whence the Romanes after brought their twelue tables well neare 300.Dionys. Halicarnass. lib. 10. Ab. vrb. condit. 293. Glarean. in Eutropij, lib. 1. an. 291. yeres ab vrbe conditâ: from the beginning of their state. So diuers Law-giuers furnished diuers Common-wealths, as Lycurgus the Lacedemonians, and ours (for why should wee forget our owne?) Mulmutius Dunwallo, Iob. Stow Chron. Ang. and the renowned Lady Mercia, the Royall foundresse of our Mercian Lawes Before all which,Flau. Iosep. contrâ Appion. lib. 2. Iosephus iustly vindicates antiquity to the Hebrew Lawes, the only absolute and iust Decrees: Laetus calls them,Pomp. Laetus de legib. cap. 1. Coelo lapsas: Fallen from heauen: and indeed they of all the rest were written with the finger of God. Exod. 31.18. This is that vndefiled Law,Xenop. [...]. the rule and square of all humane Decrees, by which wee are made [...]: Ciuiler and better: for the Law of the Lord is perfect, conuerting the soule. Psalm. 19.7. Nor indeed is it a wonder that the Law should better vs, for it cuts off transgression as its Naturall enemie, sith the Essence of the Law is Order, the Essence of sinne meerely [...]: Disorder. This is that diuine decree to which, as to that of Nature if the [Page 18] rest be conformable,Horat. de Art. Poëticâ. Cruquius in loc. citat. Pompon. Laetus de Legib. lib. 1. we may Leges incidere ligno ingraue them in wood or brasse as eternally & inuiolably to be o [...]rued. But if they are dissentient from this Law, they can neither Imperare, Vetare Punire, nor Permittere: nor Command nor Forbid, nor Punish, Aquin. 12. q. 95. art. 2. nor Permit, depriued of the foure royall prerogatiues of iust Decrees: for they are not Leges, but Legum corruptiones: not Lawes but the corruption of Lawes: And Woe vnto them that decree them, Isay. 10.1. So that in regard of them the knot is loosed, which should binde our consciences to obedience: for we ought to obey God rather then men. Act. 5.29. This is that Law of Order, whose Authour is the God of Order, and which begets the effect of Order; Tranquillitatem ordinis: That calme of order: So Saint Augustine describes Dibries, the Lawes faire daughter
Shelomith, or Peace.
Eustath. in Homer. Il. 1.A daughter, a faire daughter, beautifull as Rachel, amiable as Rebecca, [...]: mixing sweet smiles with a matrons honour; Alma Mater, Hesiod. [...]. a nourishing Mother: [...], the nurse of youth: the comfort of grey haires. What not? The guift,Beza in Epist. ad Rom. cap. 5.1. yea [...], all the gifts of God to men. She is the bond which ties vs vnto God, to men, and to our selues [...],Eustath. in Hom. Il. 21. sayth the Critick from knitting vs by charity to God, by concordance to our neighbours, and by an [...], or selfe-complacencie to our owne selues. The Daughter of the Law: Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri. I remember another woman, Shelomith, [Page] mentioned in holy Writ. 1. Chron. 3.19. and shee the daughter of Zerubbabel. Whats that? [...] The disperser of confusion:Dispergere. and who can that be saue Dibri, that great instrument of Order; Dibri, the Law? Loe in this also the mysterie is continued, Shelomith is the daughter of Dibri, Peace of the Law. Shelomith an Israelitish woman, the daughter of the couenant, and so of the Law. The blessing of Gods people: Peace on Israel; Psalm. 128.6. a stranger to the rebellious: There is no peace saith the Lord, to the wicked. Isay. 48.22. Hee sayth so twice, concluding two Chapters with the same Selah: There is no peace, saith my God to the wicked. Isay. 57.21. Christ chose to be borne in the Peace of the World, and by the embassage of an Angell, sent the Peace of God into the World: [...]:Glarean. in trop. lib. 7. Peace on earth. Luk. 2.14. Loe the bearer was no lesse then an Angell, and the Doner, the verie Sonne of God. Happie then, thrice happie, yea in the Iewes esteeme, [...],Beza in Saint Matth. 10.12, compleately happy is that blessed broode, to whom belongeth that diuine title of [...]: the sons of Peace. O my brethren, know and blush. Loe we are they, Pacem habemus sine timore, Ireneus aduers, haeres. lib. 4. ca. 49. in vijs ambulamus, nauigamus quocunque volumus. So Irenaeus describes the peace of his time, of which his Name was the Prophet. Let vs at once interpret and applie it. Was euer nation voide of feare? We are more; we haue beene a refuge to the fearefull. Had euer people securitie in their daily iourneys? we haue more: our houses nightly are our Castles; yea our open fieldes are free from ciuill and forreine inuasions was euer Countrie [Page 20] rich in Merchandize? we are more; our ships haue brought home gold from Ophyr, yea wee haue lent to other Nations. Briefely, our wiues are not rauished; our Virgins are not defloured; the bloud of our Babes is not mixed with their Parents; our grey-haired Fathers close not the eyes of their gasping sonnes; there is no crie in our streets: God hath not dealt so with euery Nation. And what hath now our Shelomith? What hath our Peace brought foorth? An ougly broode, infinitly dislike her selfe. Alas, a curser, a blasphemer, or a thiefe,Hugo Cardin. in loc. cit. which also takes Gods name in vaine. Prou. 30.9. Shee was indeed louely as Dinah, but as vnhappy: The one rauished by Shechem: The other contracted to a foule Egyptian. Though then the Israelitish woman bare him, the Egyptian begate him,Godwin. Moses & Aaron. lib. 6. cap. 4. ex Euricide. & Aben Ezrà in Num. 1.2. [...]: Familia matris non vocatur familia: The mohers families amongst the Iewes was esteemed as no family. He takes his name from his Father: He was the sonne of an Egyptian: vers. 10. and though Peace per accidens, Accidentally may be stiled the mother, yet the procreatour, the begetter, the father of sinne, is that black Egyptian the Deuill. He begets sinne, not on the Substance, but the excrements of Peace: as the best beauty may be corrupted, and that corruption ingender wormes. To the euidence of which [...], to adde one more mysticke Genealogy, adstipulates, that of Hose; Hos. 1. His wife in the vision was Gomer, [...] Deficere, consumi. a Consumption or Rottennesse, the Daughter of Diblaim, a Cluster of figges, the expressiue embleme of Plentie: Deut. 8.8. Her children, Izreel, Lo-Ruhamah, [Page 21] and Lo-Ammi, A Scattered people, [...] Massae ficuum. an Negation of Mercy, an Alienation from God. Thus peace procreates plentie; abused plentie, rottennesse; [...] Non misericordiam consequi. and rottennesse the curse. Lo then my brethren, to what a passe our transgressions haue brought vs: Wee haue abused Gods plentie vnto rottennesse: his gifts vnto immoderate riote and excesse, all of vs; the two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, Samaria and Ierusalem, the People and Priests haue committed fornication with our owne inordinate desires, Ezek. 23.3. and offered vp the gifts of God vnto Baal: Hos. 2.8. euen to that Idol of our own sensual concupiscence. The Romanes Leges Cibariae, Dion. Hist. Xiphilin. in Claudio. their frugall sumptuarie Lawes which moderated heathen feasts, may rayse a blush of shame in the face of vs Christians. Good God what Epicurean curiosities are dayly deuised by sluggish braines, able to labour for nothing but their lust, to satisfie and delight the various lusts of our palates! What more then abundant idle expences, as foolish, as vaine, are squandered away, euen to the iustification of that most dissinct and lauishly profuse Heliogable! When, God knowes, we commit extortion in our riot: A nobis extrahitur crudeliter quod consumitur inaniter, saith a good man in the person of the poore; The ouerplus of our estates is not ours, but Gods: He giues them to the poore, but we vsurpe them to our own pleasures, turning our Peace into gluttony, conuerting his Plentie into Luxurie. These are [...],Iud. 12. Spots in our banquets, which should be temperate feasts of Charity [...], when without feare of God, [Page 22] or Magistrates, drunkennesse is mixed with gluttonie, and all our tables are full of vomiting: Isay. 28.8. Shall we then be any more Israel, preuailing with God by our prayers? I should suppose not, but rather Izreel, a scattered people, ful of bloud. 2 King. 10.8, 11. yea Lo-Ammi and Lo-Ruhamah, None of mine, saith the Lord, nor obtaining mercie, vnto whom thus saith the Lord: Pleade with your mother, pleade with her; for shee is not my wife, neither am I her husband, but let her take her fornications out of her sight and her adulteries from betweene her breastes. Lest I strippe her naked as in the day when shee was borne, and make her as a wildernesse, and leaue her as a drie land, and slay her for thirst. And I will haue no pittie vpon her children, for they are the children of fornications; Hos. 2.2, 3, 4. Their dainty mouthes at last must bee filled with vnsauoury earth, and their pampered flesh one day become the cold food of crawling wormes. Temperance commended Ius nigrum, a messe of thinne blacke water-gruell, as a diet to the famous Spartans, and [...], Nasturtium, Xenophon. [...]. a slender, homelie sallet of Water-cresses, for a breakefast to the noblest Persians. Rich Abrahams banquet for three Angels, was but a piece of flesh, a messe of milke, a dish of butter and a hearthcake. Genes 18.6, 7, 8. and part of that royall present, which prudent Abigal bestowed vpon King Dauid and his Chiefetaines to dinner, was fiue measures of parched corne. 1. Sam. 15.16. What shall we doe then with this loose prodigall, this sonne of the Egyptian, who spends his patrimonie to fill his belly, and, like Esau, his birth-right [Page 23] for a messe of pottage: Let him be brought vnto Moses, Nigri patiatur carceris vncum, Iuuenal saytr. 13 Let the hand of Iustice be vpon him.Hor. Carm. lib. 3. ode. 23. Quid tristes querimoniae Si non supplicio culpa reciditur? The blasphemer will still curse, if hee be not punished:Ouid. meta. lib. 1. yea Pars syncera trahetur, That corrupt member will rotte the bodie. Wherefore thine eye shall not spare him. Deut. 19.13. It is Gods command or he will not transgresse his owne precepts. The Heathen could confesse his Iustice to haue Acrem oculum: Heliod. hist. Ethiop. lib 1. & 8. [...]. A sharpe eye to note transgressions, and a heauie hand to punish them. [...], Stolne waters are sweete but they fill the mouth full of grauell: for, vnderstand it of what theft you will, the dead are there, and her guests are in the depth of hell. Prou. 9.17, 18. The theefe in the Epigramme finding the golden sworde, [...], [...]. Hee would faine haue beene fingering the gold; Oh but it was a sword, & it is dangerous medling with edged tooles, let him take heede: The issues thereof are Death. Prou. 14.12. Indeed he may for a time escape, and so make haste to be rich: but the hand of God, though it bee slow, wounds very deepe. The Poet can tell you a Tale worth the rehearsall, of a murtherer, who slept vnder a rotten wall; hee was warned in a dreame to depart thence: hee starts vp, and was no sooner out of danger, but the wall fell. He thankes God, as hee had good reason to doe, but intertaines a very euill opinion of him, and supposed, that hee was well pleased with his murther. But the next night another vision certifies him, that he was fouly mistaken, [Page 24] [...];Xenoph. [...]. God was nothing at all delighted with his sin, neither did he fauour the transgressour: hee preuented that death, not in pitie to saue him, but in vengeance to keepe him for a worse and more shamefull: he preserued him from the wall, to reserue him for the gallowes. None must kill Caine, Gen. 4.15. not because hee should be fauourably preserued from death, but because he should be punished and tired with a Vagabonds tedious and shamefull life, Vers. 12. Againe, as for the conseruation of an inuiolate Peace, we must abstaine from wicked deeds; so are we no lesse bound to refraine from iniurious words. One asked Charillus, why Lycurgus gaue so few Lawes to the Lacedemonians: he pithily answers,Plutarch. [...]. [...]: Because they vsed not many words. The fewer the offences, the lesse need of Lawes; and the fewer the words, the fewer the offences: sith the hypocrite with his mouth hurts his neighbours, Prou. 11.8. Wherefore Dauid makes no great difference betweene [...] and [...], a prater, and an vniust man. Hee rankes both names in one Text together with their punishments: The backbiter shall not be established on the earth: euill shall hunt the cruell man to destruction: Psal. 140.11. Yea, God shall destroy him for euer; hee shall take him, and plucke him out of his Tabernacle, and roote him out of the Land of the liuing: Psalm. 52.5. Loe, what a world of punishment is inflicted vpon the tongue! Nor is it wonder: for it is a world of wickednesse, yea, a flame of Hell fire: Iam. 3.6. O then Ierusalem, Ierusalem, [Page 25] which scornest Gods Ministers, and re-crucifiest the Lord of glory with prophane oathes, and wicked blasphemies, happy haddest thou been, haddest thou but knowne the things that belonged to thy Peace.Flauius Iosephus contra Appion. lib. 2. The Law-giuer (as Iosephus records) forbad the Iewes to blaspheme the gods of the Nations, though they were but Idoles: and why? Because they were reputed gods. Such reuerence belongs vnto the very naked esteeme of a Diuinity. But now (O tremble to receiue what I tremble to relate!) how often may wee heare the most sacred name of God puffed from the blasphemers mouthes, as often as their Tobacco, or (almost) their breath! And yet is no punishment proportioned to the offence, nor destinate to the offendour; or if there be, may we not iustly say, not executed? This sinne the Diuell (sith Nature hath cloathed it with no pleasure) hath seasoned with a customary delight. Tis the young Gentlemans eloquence, and I pray God it creepe into no higher titles. Will not my Lord sweare a greater oath, then a meane Gentleman, yea, and thinke it very proportionate to his Nobilitie? [...].Suetonius in Vespasi. Who ere thou art that vainly supposest by thy greatnesse to countenance this sinne; Sir, Sir, remember that when you die, and rise again, you must leaue your Honour behind you, and be a naked man; when so many eternall punishments must be inflicted on thy trembling soule, as thou hast giuen wounds vnto thy blessed, but violated Sauiour by wicked oathes, and cursed blasphemies:Hesiod. [...]. [...] [Page 26] [...], when thou dartest thy curses to pierce another, they violently recoyle, and wound thine owne soule. And though by chance you escape the punishment of man, yet The Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine. Exod. 20.7. And this guilt shall surely be punished, for A man that vseth much swearing, the Plague shall neuer depart from his house, &c: Ecclus. 23.11. This is that word which is cloathed with death: God grant it be not found in the heritage of our Iacob: but they that feare God wil eschewe all such, & are not wrapped in sin. V. 12. Gods vengeance is slow, but sure. [...]: [...]. He delayes long, not because he will remit all punishment, but because in that time of delay he will increase and prouide more. For his iudgement (as elegantly Tertullian) Non in compede aut pileo versatur, Tertul. lib. de Patient. sed in aeternitate aut poenae aut salutis; doth not repay with momentany retributions, but rewards with eternitie, either of ioy or paine. To conclude then: concerning other offences; let him that hath sinned and escaped punishment, sinne no more, lest a worse thing happen vnto him. But let the blasphemer, the notorious offendour, the sonne of the Egyptian bee brought vnto Moses, and let Moses enquire of the Lord, and then in the feare of the Lord execute the Iustice of the Lord. [...]: And you which set in Moses chaire: take heede that you iudge righteously, lest the righteous Lord iudge you. As Peace hath brought foorth transgression, by a circular generation, let transgression excite to Iudgement, that so Dan may beget Dibri; and Dibri, [Page] Shelomith; that Iudgement may procreate the Law, and the Law beget a refined Peace. So shall our Land bee cleansed from the guilt of sinne, and Peace shall bee on Israel. Which the God of Peace grant vnto vs, whom yet hee hath continued the sonnes of Peace, for the Merits, and by the mediation of Iesus Christ the Prince of Peace, to whom with the holy Spirit of consolation and peace bee ascribed, as to the onely Author and Source, as all Power, &c. so all iust Iudgement, vpright Lawes, and perfect Peace, &c. Amen.