I Shall Preface all with a borrowed note or two from one now in eminen­cie. As the naturall body is distinguished into supe­riour and inferiour, into Noble and ig­noble parts, so is the politicall; as that body is a monster which is all head, or whose head is too big for the [Page 2]body, so is that which hath no head, or a head too little; where all govern there is no government, and where all are chief, there can be no Order: Ma­gistrates are Rulers over the persons of the people, but they are servants to the good of the people; as it is the duty of all to serve them, so tis their office to to serve all: 'tis no paradox to affirm, that Rulers are the greatest Servants. I confesse God puts so much of his own work into the hands of Magistrates and Judges, that he therefore puts his own Name upon them, and he calls them Gods, they are god sindeed, but 'tis in a smaller letter neither must they for­get that they shall dye like men; deser­vedly culpable was the Idolatrous Courtship of the pagan world, who because truth her self cals Rulers Gods, were content to aequivocate from the si­militude to the essence, and so share among them not only the title but the adoration too, but such pagan elogies are the worst of flatteries, and 'tis better to be the Christians man, then the Hea­vens deity. The Sons of Ish they must not forget they are Sons of Adam, and, [Page 3]though they are gods of their subjects they are subject to God; Rule indeed is Gods ordinance, but 'twas primitively designed for the worlds safety, and not the Creatures vain glory. Rulers they are without a fiction, the true and reall Atlas of the world 'its weight and bur­then leans on them, and they are more for the peoples sake, then the people for theirs: great things they are indeed, but God would not have great things to be great in vain; Great things are in design and order to serve and bene­fit the lesse: The Sun the Prince of lights, and the Heart of Nature, serves as well for the eyes of a fly as the eyes of a Monarch, and the Sea within its double depth of waters and wonders, supports and feeds as well the smallest fish, as the great Leviathan it self who is made to sport and play therein. Now what Universall causes are in nature, that should Governours be in policie, they should impartially lay out them­selves for the Common good of all who have their interest in or dependances up­on them. The Jewish Targum tels us, how that it was the ancient mode, and [Page 4]solemn wont of the Hebrewes, at the birth of their Princes Children, to plant Trees, which they reputed sacred, and dressed them with a carefull diligence, that of them they might one day make thrones for those little Monarchs, when they should be grown up to their inauguration. And what could be the morall of this practice, but to teach thei Rulers, that like fruitful and sprea­ding Trees, they ought to yield both shade and shelter to the people, and feed them with their fruits, and secure them with their protections, and that leading quiet and peaceable lives in all godlinesse and honesty, they might be safe under their Covert? This is indeed that wherein consists the preheminency of Magistrates and Judges, above the lowest of the people, this is indeed that wherein especially they have the advantage, and whereby they hold the title of gods, because they have both capacity and opportunity to do more good then others, they have power to succour the distressed, to relieve the the injured, and to help those weak ones to their right, who have not pow­er [Page 5]to right themselves. Thus much the Heathens were convinced of, when one of their owne Poets bespeaks the Em­perour thus,

And 'tis the saying of another of them, ‘Hoc reges habent magnificum & ingens,Senec: in Med. prodesse miseris, supplices fido lare prote­gere.’

Amongst the many ceremonies that in elder times were wont to be used at the installment or inauguration of Princes and Magistrates, this was a chief, they were lifted up upon buck­lers in the day of their Consecration, and there is not the meanest Herald, but if he were asked the reason, Why Ensignes of distinction were first born upon shields, but he would assigne this, because they who did first win them, and weare them, they interposed their own bodies as a shield to bear off those fatall blowes that would otherwise have lighted upon the bodies of the People, and by this act of theirs pay­ed a valuable consideration for all their [Page 6]titles and honours. Judges and Rulers they are called the shields of the Earth, Psal. 47.9. Now what else is a shield, but a kinde of partition-wall between a man and something that would hurt him? Valere ad nocendum, may well be the Tyrants motto, but ad tegendum & protegendum, the shields. Never was any Ensigne of Magistracy better inscribed, then was that of E­lius Adrianus the noble Trajanes suc­cessour, who gave for his device that best of mottoes. Non mihi sed populo, And the learned Navarrus and others tell us, that to be a Prince or Ruler 'tis to be the Peoples man. And so much seems imployed in the practice of Romulus, who when he first founded the Roman Monarchie which was in­tegrated and composed of divers peo­ple, which made a voluntarie tender and free submission of themselves to him, He expressely enacted, that e­very one should present him with some of the earth, and fruits of his own Country, which when he had amassed together, he interr'd it all in a great pit, which he called the (Word) In­tending [Page 7]by this ceremonie to let us know, that dominion or Royaltie is no­thing else but a heap of Wills, of Pow­ers, and Riches, united in one onely Power. Romulus indeed he took of the flowers of the people, but it was to make honie for them. Good Magistrates they gave more to the people, then they take from them, and the good of a good Go­vernour is so great, that to this day the subtilest and the wisest of the School­men have not been able to determine it, whether man be more obliged to God for his being, which consists in his natur­all Constitution, or for his well being, which consists in his politicall instituti­on. If you take Government out of the world, you take the Sun out of the Firmament, and leave it no more a [...], a beautiful structure, but a [...], a ruinous heap of confusion: Job speaking of the territories of darknesse, and shadowes of death, he saies, 'Tis a Land, without order. And Ordo saith Scaliger, 'tis Anima mundi. Simmetry and harmony, they are the two suppor­ters of the universe. Unity is the ground of perfection and perpetuity, and what [Page 8]else is order, but unity, brancht out in­to all the parts of Consociate bodies, to keep them intire and perfect. When Government failes in any Land, why then such a Land becomes disjoynted and convulsed, and Common-Wealths become common miseries, and Cities be­come Forrests, and Forrests everlasting terrours, and States distated, and all things are put into the hands of might and force, and are acted according to the impulses of disordered affections, tumultuous passions and bruitish lusts, Religion, Reason, Law, Justice be­ing all Exiled and out-lawed. Not without good reason therefore do the great Masters of policie, pitch it down for a Maxime, that Tyranny is rather to be indured then Anarchie, and that 'tis better to live under a Nero, then under a Nerva, where nothing is law­full, rather then where all things are lawfull. For commonly, Omnia cùm li­cent, non licet esse pium, an hour it were time much too short, to speak of the numerous evils of anarchie or State ataxies (were they my proper theam,) I must confesse, I never saw them more [Page 9]exactly lim'd, nor set out more to the life, by any pen or pencill, then by that Curious one of Causinus (the Chry­sostom of France) who in his draught of Babylon, or the City of wicked po­licie, pourtrayes it thus; 'Tis built upon ruins in a land of quicksilver, wholly cemented with bloud, having frequent Earth-quakes, and the impetuous blasts and gusts of furious tempests, rending and tearing all in pieces, the very wa­ter infected and the malignity of the air killing all that breathed in it, and the inhabitants such men, as had little else of man in them, but only shape and skin, having no other neighbour­hood but Wolves, and Foxes, Panthers, and Tygers, Ravens on their houses, Com­ets over their heads, Scorpious at their feet: and now surely he that shall but seriously view and contemplate this lively Picture of an anarchicall State, not only in these broken parts of it, I have now presented you with, but in the intire piece and originall draught of it, he will have just cause to cry out, O the blessing of order! O, the im­mense and unspeakable good of a just [Page 10]government. Where such a govern­ment once takes place, and becomes set­led, why there the earth is paradised, and the Heavens perpetually smiling, for the Sun is in Libra, and all things are transacted as the dayes and nights in the equinoctial, the waters are good, the seasons temperate, the winds calm, the ground fertile, the abode delightful, and the contented inhabitants all la­bouring like Bees in a bright summers day; the temples many, and large, de­cent and glorious, the Altars loaden with pure oblations, and smoking with Clouds of acceptable incense, the Priests Solemn, diligent, and devout, The Senatours aged and Sacred, speak­ing like Oracles, and living like An­gels, and being safe, sine militis usu, every thing keeping its order, propor­tion, weight, time, place, and measure, and being in the same tune and harmo­ny, which the infant and the innocent world was blest with, when first the great Architect set all things right, and wrote over them the motto of (good;) nothing altered by heresie either in Doctrine or manners, nothing of com­plaint, [Page 11]murmure, quarrell, tumult, or war, but all's as husht and peaceable as the Halcyons nest which stills the tem­pests and sliks and calmes the brow of Heaven, where all the Citizens enter­taine one another like fingers on the hand, every one taking part with the good of his fellow, being all great in the obedience they render to the law, being all rich in the contenment of their desires, and being all well pleased in the happinesse one of another. In summe, for I have no more room for particulars, whatsoever the Luxuriant and free fancies of Poets, or the choice and delicate pens of antiquity, have ei­ther conceited or written, of the Ely­sian fields, of the fortunate Islands, of the felicities of a golden age, of the vertues and ornaments of an Agathopo­lis, (which was drest as rich as the Ideaes of the divine Plato could make it) why all these do but help to piece out that traine of blessings that follow a good government. When any Land becomes blest with such Magistrates and Judges, as are indeed the faithfull deputies of their Maker, and whose [Page 12]breasts are the Oceans or sewers, into which all the cares of private men em­pty themselves, and whose vigilant eyes are the constant centinels of the peoples safety, and whose steady hands have learned to hold the seales of just­ice try and even, and to weigh right and wrong by their proper weights, and whose just breath is the peoples best and wholsomest aire, as being that that gives life and soul to all their proprie­ties rights and priviledges. In a word, when people have such Judges, that neither turn Judgment into worm­wood, nor into vinegar, that neither imbitter it by injustice, nor sowr it by delay, that suppresse as well fraud as force, that only hear causes speake, and not persons, that are Melchisedeck-like, without father or mother, that hate to pay private wrongs with the advantage of their office, that have so well got the rule over themselves, that their passions do not unfit them to rule over others, that look straight forward in a right line upon equity, without glancing aside upon revenge, displea­sure, or recompence; that keep not only [Page 13]their hearts clean, but their hands too; & take heed of bos in lingua, that in that cause bestow diligence in sifting, where the right is difficult in finding, that love to have truth come naked to the bar without false bodies and disguises, that neither make briars nor springes of the laws to catch every thing they lay hold of, that neither crook nor bow the laws, by hard constructions and strain­ed inferences, but straiten them by just expositions, and if they seem to be antiquated, or obsolete, wipe off their dust by a judicious clearing, that ne­ver browbeat a Witnesse or look an Evidence damp, but with a gentle mid­wifery helpout the stammering tongue, that his proof may not miscarry; that in their callings approve themselves to be the dreadfull instruments of Di­vine revenge, and the ministers of God for good to the people, and to be legum vindices, the guard of laws, and as was said of Cassius, reorum scopulos, the Rocks, or as one cals them, the comets of the guilty, the refuge of innocency, the paymasters of good deserts, the Cham­pions of right, the patrons of peace, the [Page 14]supporters of the Church, and the true Patres Patriae, or Fathers of their Country, being more learned then witty, more reverend then plausible, and more advised then confident, hear­ing all things debated with patience, and then proceeding to sentence in up­rightnesse, and pronouncing nothing but just judgement. I say where Judg­es are such, happy, yea thrice happy are such a people, and blessed is the Land that is in such a case; for then such a Land becomes like the Israel of God, when her Officers are peace, and her Exactors righteousnesse; such Magistrates God commands to be chose, to be Commission'd, and to be impow­red even over his own people: for so you see runs the Writ of election in my Text. Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy Tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgement.

In this great Patent and Divine Char­ter of Magistracy; or in this Theocratia or Government of Gods own setting up; There is considerable, [Page 15]First, The Honour. Secondly, The Office. First, The Dignity. Secondly, The Duty.

Or if these be too generall, take it in more particulars.

First, Here is Gods mandamus from heaven for Government; here is the charge of the Almighty for the erecting of a Magistracy; and this is contained in the word (constituito) Thou shalt (make) or Make thou.

Secondly, As here is the charge, so here is the stile or the titles, Judices & Moderatores constituito] Judges and Of­ficers shalt thou make.

Thirdly, Here are the persons inve­sted with the right and power of elect­ing and constituting Officers, and they are the Collective body of the people, or the Community in whole; and these are included in the Pronown [tibi] Ju­dices & Moderatores constituito tibi] Judges and Officers thou shalt make thee.

Fourthly, Here is the Circuit of these Judges, or the Territories of these Ma­gistrates; In singulis portis tuis, quas Jehovah Deus tuus, dat tibi, per tribus tuas] Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy [Page 16]God giveth thee throughout thy tribes. By Gates] we are to understand all the Judicatories in Israel, for Gates they were (Domus Judicii) the seats of Judgement: They were of old placed in the Gates, at the entrance of Cities, for many reasons, as Tarnovius notes at large, upon Amos 5.10. but principally for this, To let us know, that Justice sitting at the Gate, is a bet­ter safeguard for a City, then a Corps­du-gard, then either Bullwarks, Per­cullises, draw-Bridges, or whatsoever else that hath most defence in it.

Fifthly and lastly, Here is the duty of these Judges, in the concluding words of the text, Qui judicent populum ju­dicio justo] Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgement.

And thus I have presented you with the Logick of the Text, and shewed you how the parts lye in it. I shall endeavour to slide apace through them all, as intending only, ut Canis ad Ni­lum, to glance upon the former, but [Page 17]to stop, yea and to stay upon the la­ter.

First then, I will begin with the (constituito) of the Text, Thou shalt make.] 'Tis Gods mandamus to his own Israel. Inde potestas, unde & spi­ritus, Tertul. Apol. so saies Tertullian. And an an­cienter then he, Cuius jussu homines, ejus jussu Reges, so Irenaeus. Iren. lib. 5. cap. 24. And an ancienter then either of them, The pow­ers that are are ordained of God, so Saint Paul, Rom. 13.1. Anarchy is the peo­ples phrensie, but Magistracie the Or­dinance of the Almighty. I deny not but the primitive state of the first cre­ated man, under God, was free and absolute; 'twas his Prerogative and priviledge, that he was born to Com­mand and not to obey. But alas! How short lived was this primitive state? Plus quam veri-simile est, &c. saies the Learned Ʋsher, 'Tis more then proba­ble,Annal. p. 2. that the first day that Adam pos­sest his Paradise, he was forc't to quit it; And such was the guilt and misery of his first sin, that it not only broke the peace between God and man, but also between man and beast, and be­tween [Page 18]man and man, and filled the crea­tion with an universal attaxie and disor­der; & so Government became absolute­ly necessary for the setting of us to rights again: So that what is said of the ori­ginal of Laws, holds true of powers, Ex malis moribus, bonae leges nascuntur, so Ex naturae vitiis bonae potestates, As good Laws have their original from bad manners, so good Government from corrupted natures; and therefore he that shall but trace Government to the spring-head, and first rise of it, he shall finde it to be extracted from God, and to be as old as the first man; It hath not alwaies, I confesse, worn one and the same face, and kept one and the same form, but as the world hath altered, so hath the Government; at first the world was confined within one Family, and then it began to widen by little and lit­tle, and when the world was thus but in fasciis, the Government of it was Patriarchal, and the Governours of it were called Patriarchs or Father-Prin­ces, their compounded name speaking their mixt Authority, and this kinde of Government continued after the death [Page 19]of Methuselah, for we reade of him, that [...],Joseph. Antiq. l. 1. cap. 2. that he passed over his Principality to Lamech his sonne. But now when this first me­thod of Government became discom­posed and disturbed through the nume­rosity of mankinde, and by their farre dispersed habitation, why then other forms of Government succeeded, for men falling among themselves to doe wrong and violence, they saw it neces­sary to set up some Authority, that might restrain by force and punishment, what was committed against peace and common right, and this Authority and Power of self-defence and preservation, before devolved, being originally and naturally in every one of them, and uni­tedly in them all, they for ease, and for order, and that each man might not be his own partial Judge, agreed to trans­ferre and delegate it, either to one whom for eminence of wisdom and in­tegrity, they preferred above the rest, or else to more then one, whom they judged of equal merit; the first of these was called a King, the other Magistrates. Sometimes we read God did by his own [Page 20]immediate designation, appoint the person, make and declare the choice, and invest him with a right of Sove­raignty over his people, as Moses, Da­vid and others; but ordinarily God cals mediately, by committing it to the people to elect; both the form of Go­vernment, and the Persons that are to sway it over them; and of this nature is the (Constituito) in the Text. And thus from the charge I should have came in the next place, to the stile or title [Judices & Moderatores] and then to the Circuit or Territories; but these I shall skip over, as lesse material, and come to the main of the Text, viz. The great and important Duty of all Judges and publick Trustees of State, and that is, to execute judgement. Non tantùm potestas Judici concessa, sed fides, saith Cicero pro Cluentio. Judges they have not only power, but a trust repo­sed in them, not only Dignity but Du­ty; and it is safer for mortals to hear of their duty then of their dignity. Give me leave therefore (my Lords) to dis­course freely and plainly to you, con­cerning the great master-duty, concer­ning [Page 21]the Primum and the Ʋltimum, the Alpha and Omega of your calling, viz. The execution of just judgement. If the world be a Harp (as saith the elo­quent Sinesius) then Justice windeth up the springs, stirreth the fingers, toucheth the instrument, giveth life to the airs, and maketh all the excellent harmonies. If the world be a ring, Ju­stice is the diamond, if it be an eye, Ju­stice is the soul, if it be a Temple, Ju­stice is the Altar. In a word, that which the air is in the elementary world, the Sun in the celestial, and the soul in the intellectual, that is Justice in the civil. It is the air that all the afflicted desire to breathe, the Sun that dispels all clouds, the great principle that in a civil sense gi­veth life to all; all yields to this virtue, it is inchased in all laudable actions, and all laudable actions are incorporated in it, according to that of Aristotle, [...],Arist. Eth. lib. 5. tis inclusive of all other virtues, and they all run out from it as lines from their centre, and they all run into it, as rivers into the ocean. To be just is to be all that which an honest man may be, for Justice is Suum cui (que) [Page 22]tribuere, to give every man his due, and in a large sense tis every mans duty, as well as the Magistrates, but tis not to be considered in the Text in such a latitude, but as tis properly the act of Judges and Officers. Justice and judgement, in the Scripture stile and phrase, they are oft­en Synonima's, and are put for one and the same thing, but sometimes they are distinct. I have read of a tripple acce­ption of (Judgement) intra Gramma­ticos, as also intra Theologos.

First, Amongst Humanists and Philo­logers, Judgement is taken for the last act of the understanding, and a conclu­sive resolution, and thus it relates to contemplation.

Secondly, Tis sometimes Synonimous to discretion, and then it relates to pra­ctice, when we consider not so much the very bare act or thing that we are about, as the whole frame or machine of the businesse, as it stands complexio­ned and circumstanced with time, place and beholders.

Thirdly, (Judgement) it not onely relates to present practice, but it en­lightens and governs posterity, and so [Page 23]it comprehends under it decrees and sentences, and judgements in Courts; and thus you see the word in the Cri­ticks sense. Now intra Theologos, Judg­ment paisses first for severe and meer Justice, for that which we call Summum Jus, which on Gods part is alwaies just, though to us it be a depth and unsear­chable.

Secondly, Tis used to signifie not onely meer justice, but as tis attemper­ed and sweetned with mercy;Reuch. de Art. Cabal. lib. 1. The Ca­balists (as one which understood them well observes) have concluded that the word (Judgement) applied to God, hath every where a mixt and partici­pant nature, implies both judgement and mercy.

Thirdly, The word [Judgement] it is used to signifie not onely the judicial part of the Law, as the Talmudists would straiten it, but the whole Law of God. Judgement it sometimes im­plies that right which every man stands obliged at all times to practise, and sometimes its put for the law or rule it self according to which every man is to doe right. (Judgement) is sometimes [Page 24]opposed to anger and severity, and then it signifies mercy and moderation, and tis sometimes opposed to folly and in­discretion, and then it implies an abili­ty to judg, and tis sometimes opposed to injustice and wrong which is the vulgar and common import of it, and so tis-to be understood here in the Text; I have read Drusius and some others differen­cing and distinguishing Judgement and Justice, thus; First (Judgement) they say, it signifies the due order in trying and finding out the state of a Cause, and (Justice) the passing of Sentence or Verdict upon the trial; Secondly, Judgement they say is a clear knowledge of what ought to be done, and Justice is the doing of that which we know: Justice is an evennesse and uprightnesse of conscience, in pas­sing every thing according to received light and evidence; Thirdly, Judge­ment, say some, respects capital causes which are for life, but Justice respects civil causes which are for estate and liberty; Fourthly and lastly, [Judge­ment] sayes Drusius, Poenam respicit, tis in condemning those that are guilty, [Page 25]but Justice that respects Compensationem benefactorum, tis in acquitting the inno­cent, and in recompensing them that do well. It is a Rule, That when Judge­ment and Justice are put together in Scripture, the latter is but an epithete to the former, and so tis in the Text, [They shall judge the people with just judgement] that is, they shall do judge­ment justly, exactly, and to a hair.

So then (my Lords) you see your duty, just you must be, and that upon this account.

First,Arg. 1 Because God not onely expects it and commands it, but accepts of it. Pinguior mactari Deo victima non potest quam homo sceleratus (saies one) We cannot present God with a more plea­sing oblation then is that of the cutting off of a criminal person; Judgements just execution tis attended on with Gods approbation; See this in the case of Phineas, Psal. 106.30, 31. yea with Gods remuneration, Levi had the Ʋrim and Thummim, the Covenant of God, and the honour of an infallible Priest­hood, because he knew no relation, no interest, no engagement, when he ap­peared [Page 26]on Gods side, and fulfilled his command, Exod. 22.27.

Secondly,Arg. 2 Just you must be (my Lords) your office binds you to it, the judiciary power is talented in your hands, you are entrusted with the Laws, they are the Charter and sodder of all Society, the Sanctuary, the flaming Sword of right, to be brandished against all violence and wrong, the Land-marks that bound out to every man his Propriety, the Bulwarks and Defences of a peoples Peace and Safety, the right and strait rules by application whereunto all injustice is discerned and judged of; now this high and sacred trust is deposited with you, though the sanction or first enacting of Law be the act of an higher power, yet the resolu­tion and declaration of what is Law, resides in you, you have a right Jus or Legem dicere, though not Legem dare; Now without this Law is but a ruffled skain of silk, where no end is to be found, a Meander and Labyrinth with­out a clew, where men may sooner lose themselves then finde any place to sit down and rest in; Nay farther, the exe­cution [Page 27]of Law is yours, now this every man knows is the life of Law, without this Law is at least but Justices bare Scales without her Sword, a Pistol that is charged only with powder that can at most but threaten and make an em­pty noise. Oh then let the Laws have life by your just execution of them; consider I beseech you, that the Laws are the Nations joints, whereby each part is tied to other, which once cut asunder, must needs discontinue and unjoint the whole frame, to its most certain and unavoidable ruine. You are (my Lords) the subordinate Custo­des Libertatis Angliae, and should you be unjust you would then Briareus-like doe evil with an hundred hands, and give us just cause to cry out with the Poet, ‘Hei mihi custodes quisnam custodiet ipsos?’

Thirdly, You must be just,Arg. 3 the Land requires it, without this it can never be exalted, tis not all the depths of carnal policy, tis not Jeroboams Calves in Dan and Bethel, tis not Jehu's pompous zeal that would fain be lookt upon, tis not [Page 28]all the mountains of Samaria, nor mines of India, tis neither Magazines, nor Arsenals, nor gold piled up to hea­ven, nor silver as plenty as dust and stones, nor numerous Armies, nor for­midable Fleets, nor impregnable Forts, tis none of all these that can exalt a Na­tion, tis only Justice that can do that, Prov. 14.34. just Judges they are the best Saviours, and the best builders in any Land, for they and only they make a Land a habitation of righteousnesse: on the other hand injustice and publick impunities they procure publick and popular judgements, the not doing Ju­stice upon criminals, when publickly complained of and demanded, especial­ly when the persons interessed call for Justice, and the execution of good Laws, and the Magistrates arm is at li­berty, and in full strength, this engages a Land deep in ruine; See this in the case of the Benjamites, they refused to do justice upon the men that had for­ced and killed the Levites Concubine, and they lost twenty five thousand in battel, their Cities were destroyed, and the whole Tribe almost extinguished, [Page 29]and therefore tis observable in Scri­pture, how that the punishing of great and publick acts of injustice, tis called, A putting away of evil from a Land. Not to punish an evil is a voluntary retenti­on of it, and makes that sinne by for­bearing become National, which was in the acting but personal; And where impunities are, tis no thank to the pub­lick if the best men be not as bad as the worst.

Fourthly,Arg. 4 Just you must be in respect of the innocent, tis a debt you owe to them, Qui malis parcit piis nocet, to spare the bad, tis cruelty and hard­heartednesse to the good, to let the Wolves and Bears alone, tis to wrong the Sheep and Lambs; If you will pity Cataline (sayes one) pity Rome much more, let the whole have a share in your pity, rather then a part, Pereat unus, magis quam unitas, Better have one injurious person sit mourning, then a whole Nation languishing.

Fifthly and lastly, You must be just,Arg. 5 because the malefactors themselves call for it; the end of Law and Magistracy is to be a terrour both to evil works, and [Page 30]to evil workers; Impunity oft times proves the malefactours encourage­ment, and by accident hardens him, whereas the acts of Justice being Gods appointments, though they be pathe­mata corrections, yet they sometimes prove mathemata instructions, and be­ing blessed and sanctified by God, be­come wholesome, spiritual discipline, and tend to the awakening of the secure conscience, and to the bringing of it, both to a sight and sense of its crime and guilt; God suffers penalties to fall sometimes upon the bodies of offenders, in mercy to their souls; but however if Justice should not work to the saving of their souls, yet it will be sure to work to the restraining of their sinne, making the measure of it the lesse, which is in­deed a mercy. Grave is the speech of Seneca, Ʋt nemo pereat, nisi quem perire etiam pereuntis intersit, That none pe­rish, but those to whom tis an advan­tage to perish. And thus much by way of Argument, Why you must be just. I come next of all to discourse of the Modification, How you must be just.

[Page 31]First, My Lords, You must be reli­giously just, it is indeed the first requi­red qualification, in all Judges and Ma­gistrates, That they should be men fearing God, there is so near an affinity between Justice and Religion, that as Priests are called Judices Sacrorum, so Ʋlpian stiles Judges Sacerdotes Justitiae; Judges must not be like Cardinal Caraffa, of whom it was said, That he was Securus de nu­mine, out of all fear of Gods venge­ance: without Religion Judges will be but prophane, and where the fear of God is not, there the fear of man will be in too great a measure; Alvarez re­ports it to be a custom of the Aethiopi­ans, to place twelve empty Chairs about the Judges seat, and this not out of state, but out of Religion, supposing that their gods sit there with their Judges; And the Rabbins have a saying, That the Angels attend in all Judicatories, how concerns it all Judges then to be religiously just, having such attendants, and such assessors!

Secondly, You must be zealously just, for you judge not for man but for God; Now he that doth the work of the [Page 32]Lord negligently, a curse waits on him; the righteous they are compared to Palm-trees, now they love hot regions, and a warm soil, and so doth Justice zealous hearts, tis S^t Bernards Note, Adami voluntas non habuit fortitudinem, quia non habuit fervorem, You must exe­cute Justice magnanimiter, there must be an ardent zeal for the maintenance of Laws, and there must be an actuall application of all your endeavours, and of all the forces of your minde and cou­rage, to authorize Justice, to strength­en your arms against the torrents of in­iquity, and to put all your particular interests under the discharge of your imploiments: where there is like to be great opposition, there had need to be a great spirit, and great resolution, Odia qui nimium timet, regnare nescit. To resist friends, and to over look enemies will be no easie work, to be just under all the crosse censures of the world, where some will cry out, that you are too mercifull, and others that you are too severe, some that you do nothing, and some that you do too much; now surely it must be a zeal for Justice that [Page 33]must make you struggle thorow all dif­ficulties. Moses he grindes to powder the golden Calf,Exod. 32.20. Num. 25.13. and it was his zeal con­strained him. Phineas he runs Zimri and Cosbi thorow with his Javelin, and twas his zeal that fired him;Joh. 2.17. And Christ he whips the buiers & sellers out of the Temple; and twas the zeal of his fathers house that eat him up; but here you must be sure that this holy fervour be of the right stamp, it must be pure & elementary not base and culinary, not feeding upon carnal respects, it must be zeal for justice as an act of justice, yea and it must be out of love too, or else whilest it is Justice in the Law, it may be murther in the Judg.

Thirdly, You must be impartially just, like God in this, he accepts no mans person, he accepts not the rich because he is rich, nor the poor because of his poverty, [...] is the bane of Justice, Perit omne judicium ubi res transit in affectum. Judges they are as the noble Spartan said of himself, Patriae & le­gibus dati, they have bestowed themselvs upon their Country, and upon the Law, and therfore must know neither parents nor kindred in the cause of Justice. The [Page 34]Statues of the Thebane Judges they were, they were without hands and without eyes, that is, without corrup­tion & without partiality; The Athenians they were wont to judge in the dark, that so they might know no mans face; Judges they must be swayed neither with foolish pity on the one hand, nor with respect to might, power, friend­ship, or greatnesse on the other; usu­ally these are the two prejudices against the execution of justice, either car­nall pity, sayes he, is a poor man, or else carnall fear, sayes he, is a great man, and so outward accidents come in the Scale rather then the merits of the Cause, when judgment is misted or blinded, by any externall glory and appearance, so that Judges cannot discerne truth or right, when they suffer any cause to be overballanc'd by such forraigne circumstances as have no affinity with it: this is a vicious partiality in them: all corruption is not in bribes: the Judges who absolved the beautifull strumpet Phryne, they had their hands cleane but their eyes foule: it was a gallant return which [Page 35]the noble Rutilius made his friend, re­questing of him an unlawfull favour in such language as this, Quid tua mihi opus est amicitia, si non impetro quod rogo? I had as good be without such a friend as with him, who will not let me speed in what I ask: to whom he replied, Imò, quid mihi tua, si tua causa aliquid inhonèste facturus sum? I can want such a friend as you, if for your sake I must do that which is not honest. Memorable is the act of justice,Helmodi. Chrone performed by Canutus King of Den­marke, who after he had examined the processe of twelve Theeves, and con­demned them, he found one, who said he was extracted of Royal bloud: it is reason (saith the King) some favour should be done to this man, therefore give him the highest Gibbet. We read in the twelfth Novell of Justinian, of an oath imposed upon Magistrates a­gainst inclining or addicting to either partie, yea they put themselves under a deep and bitter execration and curse in case of partiality, imploring God in such language as this, Let me have my part with Judas, and let the leprosie of [Page 36] Gehezi cleave to me, and the trembling of Cain come upon me, and whatso­ever else may astonish, and dismay a man.

Fourthly, you must be sincerely just, [...], incorruptnesse and integri­ty, 'tis the proper portion of Judges, Judges should be known by giving, not by receiving; 'twas Claudians elogium of Honorius, Non hic privatis crescunt aera­ria damnis, foul hands will breed trou­bled consciences, you must take heed of being takers, he that opens his hand to catch after a reward, cannot choose but let fall his rule out of it; Men have a touchstone (says one) to try gold, but gold is a touchstone to try men. I have read of one Ichis a Polonian Judge, that having long stood up for a poor plaintiff against a rich defendant, he at last re­ceived from the defendant a great sum of mony stamped with the usual stamp of that Country, which is a man in com­pleat armour, and at the next Sessions he in open Court adjudged the cause in favour of the defendant, and being sharply blamed by his friends, he shew­ed them his large fee, and demanded of them, Quis posset tot armatis resi­stere? [Page 37]Who could stand out against so many in compleat armour? witty was the reply was that returned Demosthenes, who having been well feed by the ad­verse party to be silent in a cause, being called to plead pretended the Squinsie, his Client came hansomly over him, say­ing [...], non est ista angina, sed argentumgina, 'tis the sil­ver Squinsie; Mazarinus complaineth of forraign Iudges, that they too much resembled the Haimatites or bloud­stone, which hath a special property to stanch bloud, but as Jewellers observe, it puts not forth this virtue unlesse it be let in, or covered over with silver, and so applyed to the vein; whereas Judges they should be men hating covetuous­nesse, if they be not they will be apt cunningly to divert the strait current of the Law, to bring water to their own Mill: some Judges there have been who for the cleanlinesse of the conveyance would like mendicant friers touch no mony themselves, but have a boy with a bag to receive it for them, but O let all such corrupt Judges, who it may be buy justice by whole-sale & sell it by retale, [Page 38]let them consider seriously what is said Iob 15.34. Fire shall consume the Taber­nacle of Bribery, the Septuagint reads it, [...], of men that take guifts, a gift transforms the Judge into a par­ty, and as Buxtorf upon the Hebrew word here notes, makes the Judge and pary to be but one person, there is much gotten, but nothing gained by injustice, men give bribes to undo others, and they that receive them un­do themselves; I have read of a Tra­vellour, who coming to Rome, and see­ing many curious piles and goodly structures, he was inquisitive to know who built them: it was told him that they were peccata Germanorum, the sins of Germany, meaning thereby that the mony brought for pardons out of Germany, built those houses: and may not we make the same answer, when we look upon the Stately houses and Magnificent palaces of corrupt Judges? may not we call them peccata Judicum, and say that bribes and op­pressions, bought such Seats, and built such and such houses? but alas if the actor of Justice lives not to see the [Page 39]melting of such gettings, and the spen­ding of such earnings, yet the heir finds a fire in the foundation, he hears the stones in the wall to cry out, that the morter in which they were layed, was tempered with the tears of wid­dowes and Orphans, and the blood of innocents, and the beam out of the timber answers it, that that was set up by pulling down the poor, and there­fore it cannot stand: in Gods Court there is no man can buy off a hell not a year or a day, for millions of worlds (my Lords) it should be so in yours. I beseech you let nothing stick to your fingers, that should make your faces to gather palenesse in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Fifthly, you must be deliberately just, Truth is the daughter of time, dies diem docet, Justice hath not a giddy running hast, but a sober grave pace, it was an ancient decree of the Areopagites, Orat. de Coron. as Demosthenes relates it, [...], that Judges should hear both par­ties, with equall indifferency, and attention, their full time. And 'twas the custom of Philip of Macedon to stop [Page 40]one of his ears whilst the accuser was speaking, that he might reserve it for the defendant: never was any Romane Emperor so much taxed of injustice and folly, as Claudius Caesar, and the rea­son of his so frequent mistakes was, because he often sentenced causes upon the bare hearing of one side only, and sometimes upon the full hearing of nei­ther. True is that of Seneca, Sweton in claud. Qui ali­quid statuit parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit haud aequus est. The eare is not only the sense of discipline and learning according to the Philosopher, and of faith according the Apostle, but also of truth and Justice. He that pro­ceeds on halfe-evidence, he will not do quarter-Justice. Judges they must be attentive, harkning with just and pa­tient ears, to the pleadings of both sides: witnesses should be heard out (though tedious) Judges should not meet evi­dences half way, but stay till they come at them, some persons must be impertinent, before they can be per­tinent, and as (one sayes) if they tell the story of a hen, you must give them leave to begin at the egg; it is no grace [Page 41]to a Judge first to find that, which he might have heard in due time from the Bar; or to shew quicknesse off conceit in cutting of evidence or counsel too short, for sometimes a man of a dreaming ut­terance may give a waking testimony: Judges they should not prevent infor­mations, by questions though pertinent, In this sense, an over-speaking Judge is no well tuned Cymbal. It is related of Theodosius, that when he had killed many men rashly, which did much trou­ble him, it was afterwards enacted by him that thirty dayes should use to inter­vene between the sentence and the ex­ecution; for potest dilata paena exigi, exacta revocari non potest, punishment deferred may be executed at pleasure, but if once executed cannot be recalled; we may read how God himself, though he needs no intelligence from his crea­tures, yet in his two great acts of justice when he confounded the builders of Babel, and destroyed Sodom, he would not only hear, but he would go and see; and Christ he prescribeth a rule to all Judges, Sicut audio, sic Judico. John 5.30.

Sixthly, You must be speedily just, see [Page 42] Ezra 7.26. you must execute Judgment in the morning, Jer. 21.12. Noon justice and evening justice, 'tis not so season­able, 'tis not so acceptable to God as morning justice; delays break the spi­rits of the innocent, and harden the hearts, and strengthen the hands of the guilty. Lewes the twelfth of France, he was wont to taxe the delayes, reve­rences, and neglects, of Judges, and to say, that he did not love this stretching of leather with the teeth. A man shall come into few of our Courts, but he shall hear those that wait on them, cry­ing out with him in the Poet, ‘— Quem das finem Rex magne laborum?’

When shall we leave turning Ix­ions Wheel? and rowling Sisyphus his stone? I would have all demurring Judges consider seriously, the admirable passage of Theodorick King of the Ro­mans, as it stands related at large in the Chronicle of Alexandria; There was one Juvenalis a Widow, who came to him with a sad complaint, that she had had a suit depending in the Court three years, which might have been ended in a few dayes: the King demands [Page 43]of her the Judges names: she tels him: there issues out an especiall command from the King to them, to give all the speedy dispatch that was possible to this Widowes cause, which they did, and in two dayes determi­ned it to her very good liking; which being done Theodorick cals for these Judges, and they supposing it had been to receive their applause and reward, for their quick decision, and excellent justice, hastned to him full of joy, but the King having first interrogated with them, about the cause of their former delay, and having sharply re­prehended them, he commanded both their heads to be struck off, because they had spun out that cause to a three yeares length, which two dayes would have ended.

Seventhly, You must be stedfastly just, a Judge should be such an one qui nec fallitur, nec flectitur, lenity becomes not a Judge, levitas est mo­bilitas animi, qua homines levi de cau­sa mentes vel sermones facile mutant, Judges must not be like the vulgar Jews, who would this day deifie, and [Page 44]to morrow crucify the same man, nor yet like Pilate who commanded Christ to the Crosse with those very lips, with which a little before he pro­counced him innocent. A Judge he must be propositi tenax, though not pecuniarum petax; he must be like the needle toucht with the Loadstone of constancy, ever looking one way like the unshaken rock, that in the midst of the angrie foaming brine and raging billowes, appears that apt emblem of stabilitie, with this motto on it, Immota triumphans, or else like the Egyptian pyramis, wearing this in­scription Nec flatu, Nec fluctu.

Eightly, You must be mercifully just, there must be [...] an ordinate rule of all affections: a Judge must not come under that character, that Josephus gives Herod, that he was Legis dominus, but irae servus, Lord of the Law, but yet Lorded over by his own lusts; a Judg must not be too much affianced to his own will:Vel. pater lib. 1. Hist. not like Brutus and Cassius, of whom Velleius Paterculus hath this note, quic­quid voluit Brutus valdè voluit, ni­mium [Page 45]Cassius; but he must plant his Judgement upon an even ground, and as much as in him lies make inequality equal, considering that merciful Apho­risme of Solomon, Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sanguinem, the wringing of the nose bringeth forth bloud, where the winepresse is hard wrought, it yields a harsh wine, that tastes of the grape­stone; a butcher they say may not be of the Jury, much lesse may he be a Judge. There is just cause of relenting whether we consider our selves or o­thers, as being of the same mould, and subject to the same temptations with others; Though we may and must de­light in justice, yet say, Divines, to be glad of it, as 'tis the evill and grief of an other, is very sinfull; for a Judge upon the Bench, to put the poor ma­lefactor out of countenance, whom he may put of life, what triumph is it? To jest at man in misery, 'tis the worst use a man can put his wit to, and will come home to him, nay 'tis worse then brutish and beneath a beast, the Lion scornes it, so sayes the Poet, Corpore magnanimo satis est prostrasse leoni; O [Page 46]then my Lords be mercifull even as your Heavenly Father is mercifull; and to whomsoever you think God himself if he were upon the Bench, and in your place, would shew mer­cy, why to all such let your mercy extend; I have read of three cases, that seem to be out of the reach of civill mercy. First wilfull murder, pre­pared and projected murder, here your eye is not to pitie: in the time of the Law, and by Gods own order, such a murderer, no Asylum, no City of refuge,Deut. 19.11, 12, 13. no Sanctuary, no Altar could protect, but he might be snatcht thence. A second case is, when accessaries suffer then the principall must not be spared, this the voice of God,Numb. 24 4, 5. of nature, and of the Law, all give assent to. A third and last case is, when the quarrel is laid in princi­ples of irreconcileable enmity against true Religion, and the government of Christ: and yet even in all these three grand Cases,Luk. 19.27. though mercy must not degenerate into a softnesse pre­judiciall to Justice, those Just senten­ces are best pronounced that are deep­est [Page 47]drenched, and most steeped in the Judges tears.

Ninthly and lastly, You must be universally just; You are called Scuta terrae, the shields of the earth; and the Law with us tis called Lex terrae, to note the universal Benignity thereof, and the equal interest that every per­son is to have therein; to weigh one mans cause by the rule of Law, and anothers by the rule of favour, this is like divers weights and measures, which the Lord abhorres; This is not to be Scutum a shield, but rather Galea a helmet, to protect onely the heads of the people; You must be like the Sunne whose beams shed themselves, with as sweet an influence on a Garden of Cu­cumbers, as on the Forest of Lebanon; Your Justice must extend it self like the wisdom of Solomon, from the Ce­dar to the Hysop; The Apostles rule is [...], the small as well as the great must be heard.Deu. 1.17 Laws must neither be like Nets, to let out little Fishes, and catch onely great ones; nor yet like Cobwebs to be broken by great offenders, and to catch only Flies. Uni­versal [Page 48]Justice is that which respects all, rewarding the meanest in well-doing, and punishing the greatest in evil-doing, if justice be thus universal, 'twill cashier, 1. [...]. 2. [...]. 3. [...], all Partiality, all Bribe­ry, and all Timidity; now Timiditas ju­dicis; est calamit as innocentis.

And thus, my Lords, I have shewed you why you must be just, and how you must be just; I had thought in the next place to have reacht the [...], the obstructers of Justice, but I see that cannot be, without intrenching too farre upon that patience, which I would not abuse, or borrowing too much of that time which is allotted your other affairs; I shall only therefore beg your pardon, whilest in words as few as may be, I take leave particularly to apply this great duty of the Text to those that shall be more immediately concerned in the Transactions of this season. Justice you see is the great businesse of the Text, and tis the great businesse of such a time as this; And that the people may the better follow, let me beseech you (my Lords) to [Page 49]lead them the way in this great duty; I confesse I have been long speaking to you, and therefore I shall onely adde these last words;

First, Be just to your selves, by sub­jecting within you your bodies to your souls, and your souls to God: the first great acts of injustice, are to place Passions upon Altars, Reason in Fet­ters, and to search for the Kingdom of Heaven in the sway of our own private interests.

Secondly, My Lords, Be just to the people, which you can never be, un­lesse you be religious in devotion, fear­ing God, moderate in your passions, impartial in your affections, mortified in your lusts, learned in the Laws, in­corrupt in your Courts, deliberate in your Counsels, patient in hearing, di­ligent in sifting, expedite in proceed­ing, grave and solemn in sentencing, and concluding onely according to evi­dence; For Illud tantum judex novit, quod novit judicialiter.

And thus from you (my Lords) that are commissioned for the Seat of Judgement, I turn to those Gentle­men [Page 50]that are in Commission for this County; And as you at such a time as this, when the Judges themselves are present, have least to doe, so I have least to say, onely let me leave this Exhortation with you, Let me beseech you to be like Jethro's Justices of peace, Exod. 18.21, 22, 23. Or like Plato's Commonwealths-men for the Com­monwealth; Study your Oath more then your Commission, and think of your Duty more then your Dignity, and doe not decline the burdens that cleave to your Honours; and if the calling come upon you before you are grown up to it, let double diligence make you old, and experienced in the Law, though you be tender and green in years, and consider that whatsoever swervings or stumblings any part of the Body politick makes, within your verge, or under your eye, the blame will be sure to light upon you.

And thus from you the Justices let me addresse my self to those that shall be Counsellours, and Pleaders, and Advocates at this Assize. And let me beseech you to be just, and never to [Page 51]plead that cause wherein your tongue must needs be confuted by your con­science, nor again to set the neck of the Suit that hath once been broken by a definitive sentence. Remember what answer Papian the Oratour made to Caracalla the Emperour, when he was requested by him to defend the fratri­cide of his brother Geta, Non tam faci­le est excusare fratricidium quàm facere, It is more easie to commit it then to de­fend it. Take heed you doe not, Per verborum aucupia, & tendicula, as Tul­ly speaks, by cunning construction ei­ther of Laws or Actions, protect inju­rie, and wrong innocence. When any Client comes to you, be sure you not onely hear but examine, and pinch his cause there most, where you fear tis foundred; if the cause be doubtfull, warrant no more then your own dili­gence, and whatsoever privacies have past between your Clients and you, let them sleep between you, and not take air at your tongue. Take heed of te­diousnesse, and (as one saies) doe not make a Trojan Siege of a Suit, but what you doe, doe it seriò, and doe it su­bitò; [Page 52]Be not like to those fickle and unstable Lawyers that Salust so bitter­ly inveigheth against, condemn­ing them for their floating and uncer­tainty, Qui fluctuantes huc & illuc agi­tantur; who deny that to be Law this Term, which they pleaded to be Law the last. And be sure to look to your hearts, and to look to your hands, and keep them both cleane; Be not like Ayat the Jew, who could Ʋtrâque ma­nu tanquam dextrâ uti, Take bribes on both sides, and doe Justice on neither; Remember what Aegardus adviseth you to, Magis apud vos valeat amor veri quam lucri, Love Justice above your fee.

Lastly, Be faithfull to the side that first retains you, and not like Demost­henes, who, as Plutarch tels us, secret­ly wrote one Oration to Phormio, and another in the same matter for Apollido­rus his adversary. And thus from the Councellours and Pleaders, I come to the Jurors. It were well if they would learn too, not to goe like Sheep one after another (Qua itur non qua eundum) but to be lead by the sacred­nesse [Page 53]of their Oath, and the light of their Evidence, and to proceed Secun­dum allegata & probata, and not suffer themselves to be blindely overruled by another mans prejudice; It many times fals out that a tame Jury by the craft of some one cunning fellow in the company, who happily comes possest with prejudice to the cause, or ill will to the person, are made to swallow any thing, and to give in a Verdict to the Oppression of innocence, whereas their sinne is never the lesse because they sinne with company: Let me be­seech all those therefore that shall be of the Jury at this Assize, to doe no otherwise then as God shall put into their hearts, and the Evidence shall lead them; If crafty Fore-men, or sub­til and wily After-men, will doe that that is not just, and to make quick work of it, conclude of a Verdict be­fore they hear the Evidence; Let the honest Jury man keep pace with the Evidence and his own conscience, and think it not pride but Justice, to be ho­nester (if not wiser) then his Lead­ers.

[Page 54]I have now onely one word more to them that are to be Witnesses, and then I am at an end. Let me beseech all such to be just, let them consider how that upon their Testimony depends the issue of every Cause; if the Judges sentence, or the Juries Verdict, point at a false hour, the fault may not be in the hand or gnomon, either in the Judge or the Jury, but onely in these wheels of the Clock, the Witnesses; it con­cerns you therefore to be just, you must not dare to think your Oath, Vo­laticum jusjurandum, a slip-knot; neither must you dare out of ill will, or fear, or any base end to forge a Testimonie, as Gashmu did;Nehem. 6.6, 7. nor yet to stretch a tender truth beyond measure, on pur­pose to do mischief,Psa. 52.3, 4. as Doeg did. Great is the sin of a false Witness. First, He sins against God, Cujus veritatem annihilat. Secondly, He sins against the Judge, Cu­jus judicium perturbat. Thirdly, He sins against the party accused, Quem suo testimonio condemnat. Lastly, He sins against himself; first, against his fame and credit, for what more infamous then for a man to be Punica, or Graecafide, to [Page 55]be such an one whom neither word nor wax can binde? and which is worst of all, he sins against his own soul, for a false Witnesse shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape, so saies Solomon, Prov. 19.5. Let every Witnesse therefore be just and speak the truth, and the whole truth, As God shall help him.

And thus I have discharg'd all my Task in the Pulpit, save onely putting up my hearty praier to God for you all, that from the highest to the lowest, from the Judge to the Witnesse, you may all discharge yours in the Court, which I shall next proceed to.