if men neglect to do 't God himself will set his Hand to 't and do the Work If the Distemper be but Personal the Punishment of that Person will satisfy God but if it be Epidemical then the Vengeance shall be General nay sometimes the Innocent of that Crime are involved with the Guilty as in the Case of the Gibeonites though they had deceived Joshua with their Lies yet notwithstanding the People had a general Order to destroy all those Nations 't is said (s) Josh 9.15 16 18 19.20 They Smote them not because the Princes of the Congregation had Sworn unto them by the Lord for they said We have Sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel now therefore we may not touch them lest Wrath be upon us because of the Oath which we have Sworn unto them They understood what an Oath is and how dangerous to break it and how long after was the Breach of it by Saul avenged wherefore God sent a Famine for Three Years and being inquired by David declared it is for Saul and his bloody House because he Slew the Gibeonites So for this same Sin the Breach of Oath the whole Land suffered and Seven of Saul's Sons lost their Lives to expiate for it Among the several Instances we have in Scripture of God's signal judgments for breach of Oaths this is a considerable one God's Anger was moved with a witness and would not be appeased till after the Gibeonites had Hanged before the Lord those Sons of Saul (t) 2 Sam. 21.14 which by David's Command had been delivered up to them for then and not before the Lord was intreated for the Land for thereupon the Famine ceased Thus we see that where the Magistrates suffer Faults especially Perjuries to go unpunished there God's judgments lay upon the Land for all that might be pretended to excuse it as here for the Gibeonites had with a Notorious Lye cheated and imposed upon Joshua and the People (u) v. ◠Saul had done it in his Zeal to the Children of Israel and Judah and so long after the Oath had been Sworn All this is I hope Sufficient to shew how God in his Law not only Threatneth but also actually Punisheth the Abuse of his holy Name thorough Perjury in such a publick and solemn a Manner as whole Kingdoms and Nations are therein concerned I pray to God that for that very Sin which is so common in the Nation and no due care taken to prevent and Punish it that Threatning of God by the Prophet Jeremiah already Quoted doth not reach us to bring a Nation upon us not from far but from near I mean that to whom belongs the Character of a bitter and hasty Nation by the Prophet (w) Habek 1.6 given the Chaldeans for our Neighbours in their Nature are Hasty and in their Successes Bitter and Insolent Once God us with the Spaniards blessed be God that he repented him and cast the Rod into the Fire but now he hath gotten another nearer our backs Let us remember that Swearing Falsly is a Nation destroying Sin which God punishes either mediately by Men or immediately by some Extraordinary judgment These publick judgments are upon extraordinary Cases when Kingdoms have contracted this Sin and no due care is taken to stop and punish it the want of punishing it in private Persons ends at last in the Ruine of whole Nations which I pray God may in due time seriously be considered but because the occasion of my Discourse is about things not altogether so universal as chiefly relating to the Courts of Judicature and not to the Politick part of the Government I shall conclude this Head with what God ordered in his Law to be done in the Case of False Witnesses because one man might out of Enmity or desire of Revenge Swear against another God declared one Evidence not to be sufficient but provided there should be Two or Three as being supposed that Number would not so easily design a Man's Ruin as one single Man Well God's Rule which is certainly the wisest and the best that any Man or Nation can follow about False Witnesses is this (x) 〈◊〉 19 15 16 17 18 c. If a False Witness rise up against any man to Testify against him that which is Wrong then both the Men beeween whom the Controversy is shall stand before the Lord before the Priests and the Judges which shall be in those Days and the Judges shall make diligent Inquisition and behold if the Witness be a False Witness and hath Testified falsly against his Brother then shall ye do unto him as he thought to have done unto his Brother So shalt thou put the evil away from among you And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil among you And thine Eye shall not pity but Life shall go for Life Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hand for Hand Foot for Foot This contains several very important Things First That sometimes and too often some men do rise to Wrong their Neighbours which when it happens as no man may be a judge in his own Cause so the Plaintiff to be Righted must take lawful Courses and prosecute his Adversary before Legal and Competent Judges those who at that very time are in Office and Authority Here besides the Civil Judges the Priests are named for though the Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions be of a different nature and not to be Confounded yet matter of Oaths and Swearing being a part of God's Worship they to whom the Care of things relating to Religion is committed God would have them not excluded but to be present to mind that which concerned his Service the more because at that time the Government of the Jews was Theocratical or Divine God so eminently and visibly directing and ruling over them and therefore 't is said both the men in Controversy shall stand not only before the Judges but before the Lord the true Competent Judge for upon all such occasions the great Judge is ever present to observe how the Judges behave themselves who here are commanded to make diligent Inquisition not perfunctoriously and lightly but to mind and make it their Business for to speak in Solomon's words [a] Prov. 25.2 as 'T is the Glory of God to conceal a thing so the Honour of Kings and of Judges and Juries too is to Search out the matter till the Truth be found out which being Effected judgment and punishment are to follow thereupon and the Mischief the Guilty maliciously intended against his Brother is justly to be retorted upon him Thus this abominable Crime of Perjury is a great Evil to be put away from among a People for fear a whole Nation do suffer for the Wickedness of one or some few particular men and thus Justice being executed upon the Guilty they shall be made Examples unto others who Hearing shall Fear and out of a Terrour of the
FOUR TRACTS I. A Short Discourse about Divorce and its Causes Fornication and Adultery II. A Charge to Judges Juries and Witnesses concerning Oaths III. About Infant Baptism IV. A Letter to a Lady who hath forsaken â—he Protestant Religion for the Romish By J. Gailhard Gent. Righteousness exalteth a Nation but sin is a reproach to any People Prov. 14.34 Let none of you imagine evil in your Hearts against his Neighbour and love no false Oath for all these are things that I hate saith the Lord Zechar. 8.17 Wherever I am and whatsoever I do it seems to me as if I heard the voice of the Archangel saying rise ye dead and come to Judgment Bernard Inest sua gratia parvis LONDON Printed for D. Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar and R. Smith at the Angel and Bible near the May-Pole in the Strand 1699. THE PREFACE TO THE READER THE following Discourses having amidst my most serious Thoughts been Penned at several times and upon different occasions and in this present Conjuncture being like to be useful as 't is every one's duty in his Station to lend a helping hand to pull down that Babel of erroneous Doctrines and of sinful Practises which the Author of Confusion is Building very fast I think it not amiss now to Publish them The First and Second contain Matters of Fact the Third of Faith and the Fourth both of Faith and Fact and as the things therein spoken against do arise out of an evil Principle so they tend to a bad end therefore the more to he minded and opposed As Gods Word speaks of Doctrines so it doth of Works of Devils and thâ— all of them be bad enough and to be avoided yet therein are divers kinds and degrees of evil for tho' every sin be offensive to God yet 't is not equally destructive of Human Society Any one who in a sober Sense will mind it not simply as a Christian but also as a Man not only according to the Dictates of a good Conscience but also in Conformity to Reason Human Wisdom and Interest shall find the two former things I write against to have been and still to be as fatal and pernicious to Mankind as any other Transgression whatsoever of Divine and Human Laws nor ever have they been more Epidemical in the Nation than now they are Therefore never a greater need than now to punish and suppress them or else if not timely prevented we daily more and more shall feel the mischievous inconveniencies and dangerous Consequences thereof No true Servant of God but in seeing and hearing will vex his Soul from day to day with the unlawful deeds of Men of some for committing Sins of others for refusing to restrain and punish them they not only will do no good but also hinder others from it because they think it will reach them and their own corrupt inclinations hate to be crossed and curb'd Some who might do better in their Station instead of promoting Piety Virtue and Honour as 't is their duty do with all their craft and strength oppose it and thereby proclaim themselves to the World to be vicious and thorough-pac'd Debauchees would ridicule all Sobriety and Temperance and contrary even to worldly Wisdom which saith Si non castè tamen cautè do not so much as care to avoid the appearances or save their credit in the World but glory in their own shame In my opinion it is a stupendious hardness in their vicious courses for tho' sin would leave them yet they are unwilling to part with it the older they grow the worse they are their Natural strength fails them yet their Lust is not mortified and upon all occasions are Enemies to Virtue and by their Discourses and Example influence the younger sort in an Age that can produce but few Josephs if any at all The generality of Youth giddily and headlong running into sin and destruction of several kinds who are glad of any pretences to justify their Practices by and from those that have more age and experience tho' not more Grace than themselves But of two sorts of Sinners young and old I take the last to be the worse of the two 'T is no more strange than true that they are worse than the Prodigal Son who upon consideration at last and before it was too late came to himself for all the while before he had been out of his Wits as is every Sinner that continues in his evil way Nay they are worse than Creatures void of Reason then some Fowls of the Air (a) Jer. 8.7 for the Stork the Turtle the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but this People knoweth not the Judgement of the Lord. They are a shame to the Nation a Scandal to our Holy Religion and through their unchristian actings and vicious courses cause Gods Enemies to Blaspheme Because they hate to be Reformed themselves they do what they can to hinder others from being Reformed which makes me afraid we are here ripe for Judgment we had a War with a Witness yet after it are as bad as before and now tho' Provisions be not scarce yet we are in a kind of Dearth for they are unreasonably dear may God be pleased to keep it from ending into a Famine which frequent unseasonable Weather gives us just cause to fear or for the same cause from being turn'd into a Plague which God in his just Judgment may send upon us because thorough Repentance suppression of Vice and Immorality we will not return to him tho' he hath called us to 't for when a Land can bear no longer the wickedness of her Inhabitants the Lord thorough War Plague and Famine as thorough so many sluces doth ease it of that burthen and thereby hurries out of this World Man Woman and Child None so desperately wicked but with Balaam would dye well yet there is but one way to 't that is to live well do good within his Sphere to punish and restrain Evil and not countenance and support it as too many directly or indirectly do but what will be the end of this certainly such a bitter Root can produce no other than bitter Fruits but whilst those Men of the World will not obey God's Preceptive those who fear him must submit to his Providential Will. As at this time the Nation labours under the Guilt of Adultery and Perjury so it doth too much under that of Idolatry and Blasphemy Our Church together with all other Protestant ones hath sufficiently made good the charge of Idolatry upon the Romish which we find a sad and frequent Experience of in those Members of hers we have here among us as for Blasphemy it walks bare-fac'd and hath two sorts of Followers one of abominable Monsters lately broke loose against the Son of God whom they after the wicked in the 50th Psalm are not content to think but do say he is altogether such a one as themselves and
Divine Rule Now I must come close to the Point Wherefore I State the Question thus There is a lawful and only cause of Divorce namely the Case of Adultery what God saith about this in the Old Testament we already Examined let us now hear what is his Pleasure under the Gospel Our Saviour (m) Matth. 5.32 and chapt 19. from 3 to 10. in two places of St. Matthew decides the matter the first is in his Sermon upon the Mount where he Condemns the common Practise of the Jews who upon any trivial Account used to turn away their Wives as when they did not please them and the like But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the Cause of Fornication causeth her to commit Adultery The other Text is in the same Gospel where our Saviour Argues the Case against the Pharisees who had put the Question to him Whether it is Lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause In this place he more at large speaks to the Point but to the same purpose he makes a Distinction between the Law of God which was from the beginning and the Toleration of Moses only for the Hardness of their Hearts to avoid greater Inconveniences as Abusing and Killing when they were weary of them Moses did after the manner of Egyptians only to prevent a greater Harm give the People leave to put away their Wives out of a Politick Reason but our Lord sends them to the first Institution for therein he Vindicates the Law from the Abuses crept in through ill Custom and Tradition Moses Tolerated not because it was not sin but only to avoid a greater sin as might be thorough the Perverseness of their Heart making them away as I said already and our Saviour declares why those Divorces were Sins except in the Case of Adultery because this made them commit Adultery for God's Law said Thou shalt not commit Adultery This I lay for a Foundation that Humane Laws when contrary to God's cannot make this Void And thô among Human Laws several Causes of Lawful Divorce be assigned yet as said before Divines and Civilians are agreed that Adultery is a just Cause of it Our Saviour decides it in an Emphatical way But I say unto you as if he had said Thô others assign other Causes yet I own but One the Case of Fornication and the Reason is Because ' â—â—s directly opposed to the Essence and Nature of Marriage whereby according to God's Order Husband and Wife are made One Flesh which Union is broken thorough Adultery for One cannot be One Flesh with Two or more she who is joyned to an Adulterer is One Body with him as he who is joyned to an Harlot is One Body with her for (n) 1 Cor. 6.16 Two shall be One Flesh However for the Woman's Credit the Bill was given as also to Secure her in the World for she was to be cleared from Guilt or else to be put to Death according to the Law Divorce upon such Grounds was contrary to the first Institution of Matrimony for thô it be a Voluntary Act yet after it once is Contracted they may not thorough Fancy and Lust break the Bond of it for what God hath joined together let no man put asunder Only Adultery doth it Moses complyed with that Humour of theirs and that Indulgence of his was not of a Moral Concernment only for a time Human Laws do condescend to the Abilities of Men according to what they can do but God's Law hath no such Regard it sheweth what they ought to do To come closer to the Point I say Our blessed Saviour could not have spoken more clearly than he doth that as no Man may put away his Wife except in the case of Adultery so in that case she might be put away with a good Conscience and this is the true Sense of the Words by the Rule of Contraries For Christ saith That whosoever puts away his Wife except for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery therefore he that puts her away for Fornication and marrieth another doth not commit Adultery Although it may not be Dissolved at the Pleasure of men for 't is not only of a Natural and Civil but also of a Divine Right being as already observed a Divine Institution yet 't is not so Indissoluble but it may be Dissolved for a Cause which God approves to be just for it's Dissolution and that is Adultery for that Indissolubility is not Absolute but only in some Respects and was not intended for a Punishment but for a Comfort to the Innocent Therefore Adultery and such Impurities are a lawful Cause of a Divorce and the Woman who hath Perfidiously broken the Conjugal Faith and Contract of Marriage is justly put away and Divorced and the Husband doth very well to prosecute her in Law for that End And let the Success be what it will Christ absolves the Husband whose wife is Convicted of Adultery from the Bond of Marriage It is also to be observed how in that of (a) chapt 5.27 28.32 Matthew our Saviour hath a regard to and explains the Seventh Commandment wherein is Forbidden not only an Outward but also an Inward Adultery for the Law requires Obedience in Thoughts and Heart as well as in the Outward Act of the Body so that Lust is in God's Sight Fornication and Adultery and in the Law Adultery both in Desire and Fact is Forbidden For whosoever looketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart And herein our Saviour opposes his True Interpretation of the Law to the False one of the Scribes and Pharisees and his Judgment he declares to be Antithesis or Opposition of an Exception forbidding Divorce upon Trivial Accounts but allowing it for a just Cause namely if the Wife hath committed Adultery We also must take notice how in that Exception made by our Saviour saving for the Cause of Fornication He saith not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adultery but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fornication whereby every unlawful Communication is signifyed so that the Word Fornication being more General and of a larger Extent than that of Adultery in as much as every Adultery comprehends Fornication thô Fornication may be without Adultery which is between married Persons and is either Simple when only one of the two is marryed or Double when both are I say hereby we are taught how great a Restraint Christ puts upon Wives and how Close he would have them keep to Matrimonial Faith and Duty Out of what hath been said I hope 't is plain and clear That a man may justly and according to the Law of God put away his Wife in the Case of Adultery As to the Question Whether the Husband 's Fornication as well as the Wife 's doth break the Bond of Matrimony and whether in that Case a Wife may put away her Husband Guilty of Fornication I Answer That
In Judgment 3ly In Righteousness To these Three Conditions are opposed False Rash and unjust Oaths It is a Duty incumbent upon every one that takes an Oath to Swear in Truth that is truly and nothing but what is according to Truth not abusing Godâ—â— Name to attest an Untruth the words of our Oaths if minded are full and comprehensive to swear the Truth nothing but the Truth and the whole Truth that is to the best of my Remembrance Now Truth is a Divine Thing which is asserted by Oath wheâ— in the Dark There is a Truth of the thing spokeâ— of when we speak according as the thing is indeed or as near as possibly it can be and herein sometimes by reason of human weakness the whole Truth doth not come out for we do not always know things aâ— they are But there is also the Truth of the Mind that is one Swears as in his Mind and Conscienceâ— he is perswaded of the thing this must always Necessarily be in the Oath or else there is Perjury in the Case Now Truth relateth either to Divine things or to Human To the former when we entertain and have right Notions and Thoughts due and reverend Expressions of things immediately belonging to God as his Nature Attributes Works and Word The Truth required in regard to Human Things is either in common Society and Dealings between Man and Man or else in publick Judgments in Courts of Judicature which concerns the Judges upon the Bench fairly to Sum up Evidences and impartially to direct the Jury 2ly This Concerns the Jury-men not to receive any Prejudices or suffer themselves to be Byassed or Bribed nor to stand too much upon this that any of them will agree with the rest rather then to be Pinch'd or Suffer in being lock'd up very long when in their Conscience they are Convinced that most of the rest are in the Wrong an Honest Man will say I have rather to be Starved though there be hardly once in Seven Years any such Dilemma than to go against my own judgment and Conscience which when thus wounded will at one time or other rise and fly in their Faces 3ly This regard's the Plaintiff who is to promote his just Cause by Fair and Lawful Ways without False Accusations Subornation or such unwarrantable Practises 4thly The Defendant who in his own Defence must forbear using any malicious and unjust Means and make use of none but such as are according to Truth Law and Reason 5ly The Evidences are concerned whose Duty 't is with bearing true Witness to help and relieve their Neighbour in his just Cause when 't is in danger of being Oppressed And here I would have all Parties from the Judges to the Witnesses to mind that there is a great Day of Judgment a coming when all indifferently shall stand at the Bar to give God an Account of every Idle Word much more of every False and Unjust Judgment Evidence or other Sinful Dealing when the Secrets of all Men shall be made manifest and Mens own Consciences shall be Witnesses against themselves their own Judges and Tormentors and let them know how God ever is among them though in an invisible way and sees hears and sets down upon Record their false and unjust Dealings for (a) Prov. 15 3. the Eyes of the Lord for whom they judge and bear Witness are in every place beholding the Evil and the Good and (b) Zechar. 4.10 these Eyes of the Lord do run to and fro through the whole Earth So that he leaves not himself without Witness And the Qualification of those who are to judge the People whether under the Name of Judge or Jury are plainly set down in God's Word they must be (c) Exod. 18.21 Able Men such as fear God men of Truth hating Covetousness But we must return to Truth and somewhat longer insist upon it the Importance thereof is made out First By the many positive and reiterated Commands of God for us to Practise it in every thing we say or do Secondly Because God doth so often and so expresly Forbid us the Practise of the Vice contrary unto that heavenly Vertue namely to Lie for as Truth is the Daughter of God so a Lie is the Child of the Devil and often God in one and the same place doth Command one and Forbid the other God's great Commandment is that we should speak the Truth Love Follow and (d) 2 John 4. 3 John 3. 1 John 2.21 Walk in the Truth God is the God of Truth nay Truth it self and no Lie is of the Truth (e) John 1.17 Truth came by Jesus Christ and he himself (f) ch 14.6 is the Truth and (g) ch 18.37 For this cause he came into the World that he should bear witness unto the Truth The necessary Qualification for one to â—e admitted and abide in his Tabernacle is (h) Psal. 15.2 3. To speak the Truth in his Heart not to back-bite with his Tongue nor to take up a Reproach against his Neighbour See how Heart and Tongue are concern'd in matter of Truth to the same purpose the Psalmist says 24.3 4. Who shall stand in the Lord 's holy place he that hath not Sworn Deceitfully c. So that by the Rule of Contraries he that speaketh not the Truth in his Heart shall not abide in his Tabernacle nor he that hath Sworn deceitfully in his holy place This is the Mark by David given of an upright Man but the Character of the Wicked is that he speaks Lies For the Wicked are Estranged from the Womb they go astray assoon as they be Born speaking Lyes Psalm 58.3 but (i) Psal. 96.13 God shall Judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Truth Here is the Pattern for men to Judge by as God doth with Righteousness and with Truth 'T is said of the Messiah the Lord Jesus (k) Isa. 42.3 He shall bring forth Judgement unto Truth Here is a Precedent for you O ye Judges of the Earth Judges Jury-men and Witnesses lay hand upon your Conscience and see whether there be not a just Cause to renew the Prophet's Complaint (l) Jerem. 9.5 They will deceive every one his Neighbour and will not speak the Truth they have taught their Tongue to speak Lies and they delight in Lies Psal 62.4 Another Prophet saith (m) Isa 59.15.4 Truth faileth and have we not a most just cause to complain of it and None calleth for Justice yea some call for 't but cannot obtain it Nor any pleadeth for Truth and though they do 't is to little or no purpose for they Trust in Vanity and speak Lies at least they Believe it I am much afraid that (n) 2 Thess 2.11 God hath sent a strong Delusion that men should Believe a Lie and many too Hear of a glorious Promise (o) Zacha. 8.3 Jerusalem shall be called a City of Truth Would to God we could say
house of him that sweareth falsely by my Name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof This is Lightning Thunderbolt and fire from Heaven and I doubt we have here too much cause with the Prophet to say because of Swearing Cursing and Forswearing (e) Jer. 23.10 the land mourneth This is one of our Loud and Epidemical Sins which hath â—rought upon us the many Judgments we labour â—nder As God hath said he will be a Wittness against False Swearers so he hath declared he will be Judge too (f) Psal 9.8 God shall Judge the World in Righteousness he shall minister judgment to the People in uprightness 'T is as if he had said I will be a just Judge And thus with Abraham we may say (g) Gen. 18.21 Shall not the judge of all the Earth do Right Now if God judgeâ— in Justice without Mercy who can stand in Judgment (h) Rom. 2.2 We are sure saith the Apostle that the judgment of God is according to truth against theâ— which commit such things as are named in the latter end of the foregoing Chapter amongst whom are Covenant breakers that is perjured persons and such others as make no Conscience of their ways and changed the truth of God into a lie (i) Isai 1.23.24 Therefore saith the Lord the Lord of hosts the mighty one of Israel Ah I will ease my self of mine Adversaries and avenge me of mine Enemies But who are those Adversaries who are those Enemies in the foregoing verse they are thus described Every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards they Judge not the Fatherless neither doth the Cause of the Widow come unto them These are their Sins these Things they Commit and Omit therefore upon them will I visit their Injustices whether they be Witnesses in Swearing Falsely or Judges in perverting Judgment The Great Day of the General Assizes of the World is coming on when we all Judges Juries Witnesses Plaintiffs and Defendants must stand at the Bar and then God shall want no Witnesses but the Guilty Mens Consciences which now are Asleep and Seared with a hot Iron will Awake be Quickned and fly into their Faces and be as a Thousand Witnesses to Convict as many Judges to Condemn and as a Thousand Executioners to Torment them the Devil himself who is here a Seducer will then be an Informer and Accuser Now we are assured that (k) Acts 17.31 God hath appointed a Day in the which he will Judge the World in Righteousness by the Man whom he hath Ordained Such a Man as is God also that knows all things and needeth not that any one should tâ—ll him what is in Man for he searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins and this God-Man Judge of the World is named elsewhere (l) 2 Cor. 5.10 and Rom. 14.10 For we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be Good or Evil called (m) Jude 6 the Judgment of the great Day though many wish there was no Judgment Day yet 't is such a Truth as they may not deny and the Thoughts thereof should make all wicked Men to Tremble if they be not worse and more hardned than (n) Acts 24 25. Felix an Heathen was who Trembled when Paul reasoned of Judgment to come And now let first the Judges hear their Charge what is their Duty here and what shall be Required of them hereafter I mean not only the Judges upon the Bench but also the Juries whose Verdict is the Sentence and only in point of Law are guided by the Judges The Thing ought to answer the Name 't is called Verdict quasi Verum Dictum therefore let it not be Falsum Dictum a False and Unjust Sentence thorough Seduction of the Judgment or Bribery for Judges such as indeed they are ought not to be influenced by any corrupt Practises whether Judges upon the Bench or Jury-men in the Court (o) Psal 2.10 Therefore be Instructed Ye Judges of the Earth which is a Charge by David's Pen given by the Judge of all the Earth And hear what saith upon the matter the great Law-giver under God I mean Moses (p) Deut. 1.16 17. And I charged your Judges at that time saying Hear the Causes between your Brethren and Judge righteously between every Man and his Brother and the Stranger that is with him Ye shall not Respect Persons in Judgment but ye shall Hear the Small as the Great You shall not be afraid of the Face of Man for the Judgment is God's Herein they were told of the Duty of their Office first to hear which must neither de denyed nor delayed and according to what they hear they are bound to judge justly whether between Jew and Jew or between Jew and a Stranger for Justice ought equally and impartially to be render'd unto all without any Byass or Regard of Persons in Judgment whether Friends or Enemies Relations or Strangers Great or Small Poor or Rich and because some men are often apt to be dazled and influenced by the greatness and wordly Advantage of others either out of Interest Love or Fear here Judgeâ— are charged not to mind any such thing nor to suffer themselves to be wrought upon by any such outward Advantages and wordly Considerations and the Reason is given in the Text For the Judgment is God's and not Man's The Heathens in their Hieroglyphicks represented Justice one of the Four Moral Cardinal or chief Vertues by the Figure of a Woman Blindfolded and holding Scales in her Hand the first to signify she ought not to look upon or see any thing in the Parties to Byass her Judgment the second that the justice of the Cause without any regard to the Person must decide the Dispute and both to require an Impariality in the Judge always looking on God as present with them (q) Psal 82 1 For God Judgeth among the gods In Jetro's Prudent Advice to Moses about Judges he mentioneth Four Qualifications required in all that are in such a station (r) Exod. 18.21 Able Men such as fear God men of Truth hating Covetousness First Men endued with Knowledge and Understanding which are natural Parts necessary for those that are in such places for else how can they that want judgment in themselves be competent Judges over others The Understanding is the Light of the Soul whereby it must be guided and which without it lyes in Darkness wherefore it concerns those that appoint Judges to make choice of such as God hath fitted for the place and given them Endowments proper for it But this is not enough all Natural Gifts are defective without Grace therefore the Heart of Judges should be Sanctified with the Fear of God This ought to direct their Knowledge and here must be the Ground