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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45330	The beauty of magistracy in an exposition of the 82 Psalm, where is set forth the necessity, utility, dignity, duty, and mortality of magistrates : here many other texts of Scripture occasionally are cleared, many quæries and cases of conscience about the magistrates power, are resolved, many anabaptistical cavils are confuted, and many seasonable observations containing many other heads of divinity, are raised : together with references to such authors as clear any point more fully / by Thomas Hall ... ; with an additional sermon on verse 6, by George Swinnock.	Hall, Thomas, 1610-1665.; Swinnock, George, 1627-1673. Men are gods.	1660 (1660)	Wing H427; ESTC R18061	228,882	316

to God surely your conversations should be according to the Gospel The several Titles given to you call for sanctity and strictness from you The spirit of God calleth you Kings 1 Sam. 8. 9. and Princes Iosh. 8. 33. Now is it seemly or sutable to see Kings or Princes padling in the mire or playing in the dirt with every beggars brat Doth not every one expect that their Linen should be in print their cloaths clean without the least spot of dirt And is it comely or consonant to see Magistrates honoured with a commission from heaven wallowing in the mire of sin and pollution with every heir of hell Do not all expect that as your places are god-like and honourable so your practice should be godly and answerable that your linen should be white your garments undefiled and your persons higher then others not only in place but piety When King Porus was taken prisoner and demanded by the Conquerour how he would be used he answered Like a King and being three times asked the same question he as often returned the same answer And if you ask me how you should demean your selves I would answer Like Kings Every one resembling the behaviour of a King Prov. 31 3 4. It is not for Kings O Lemuel it is not for Kings to drink wine nor Princes strong drink least they drink and forget the Law Give not thy strength unto women nor thy wayes to that which destroyeth Kings Drunkenness and Uncleanness are sinfull and unwarrantable in Subjects but they are most sordid and a bominable in a Soveraign They are so much worsethen others by how much they ought to be better then others A disease that surprizeth the head or heart is more dangerous then those that infect the exteriour members A spot in silk is far worse then one in sackcloth A Flie in a barrel of pitch doth not the harm which it doth in a box of Ointments When Scipio was offered an Harlot he said Vellem si non essem Imperator I would if I were not a General an Emperour Should such a man as I flie said Nehemiah So should a Ruler consider Should such a man as I be unclean I that punish such sin in others should I commit it my self Should such a man as I swear be lascivious in my language or unsavoury in my speeches A divine sentence is in the mouth of a King Prov. 16. 10. I whose words are Laws and Oracles should speak as the Oracles of God 1 Pet. 4. 11. Should such a man as I prophane the Sabboth associate with sinners be prayerless in my family or venture upon any iniquity It is an abomination for Kings to commit wickedness Prov. 16. 12. Peter Martyr told Queen Elizabeth that Princes were doubly bound to God as Men and as Princes or chief men Their sins are sins against more obligations and therefore are sins of more aggravations then others A great man cannot commit a small sin yet a great man is seldom a good man Godliness in a Ruler is like a Diamond in a golden Ring which shines radiantly but there are few Jewels so set Among all the Kings of Israel not one godly man Among the Kings of Iudah very few Men in high places are apt to have their heads giddy and thereby are in great danger of falling Of one only Roman Emperour Titus it is said that he was the better for his honour most are worse The Spirit of God calleth you the children of God And all of you are children of the most High Now how exactly how circumspectly should the children of God walk Much obedience may be expected from servants but more from sons their preheminence is more and therefore their obedience should be more The fathers of the ●lesh look for much dutifulness from their children but surely the Father of Spirits may look for more from his children Phil. 2. 15. That ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without reb●ke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom ye shine as lights in the world Ye that are Gods sons are appointed to blame others that do evill and therefore it behoveth you to be blameless your selves Qui alterum accusat probri c. but blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke The sons of great men should be without riotousness or rebellion but the sons of God should be without suspition or rebuke that is walk so strictly as that they should do nothing blame-worthy If God be your Father where is his honour Mal. 1. 6. Do you honour him in your hearts by giving him your superlative love and fear and trust and esteem Do you honour him in your houses by causing all within your charges to worship him according to his Word Are your houses houses of holiness praying reading singing catechising houses are they examples of Religion to your neighbours Is holiness to the Lord written upon your selves your children your servants your estates and upon all that belong to you Do you honour God in your lives by walking as he walked Are ye followers of him as dear children Ephes. 5. 1. Do you resemble him as children their Father Are you holy as he was holy in all manner of conversation Was your everlasting Father when he walked in your flesh upon earth ever guilty of c●rsing or swearing or lying Did any rotten communication ever drivel out of his lips Was he ever guilty of oppressing the poor or despising the needy of seeking himself or of doing his own will Did he ever neglect praying and instructing his Family of the Apostles or supplication by himself Was not he at prayer early in the morning a great while before day and was not he up at it all night Was it not his meat and drink to do the will of his Father and to finish his work Did not he go about doing good glorifying God upon Earth and doing what was well pleasing in his sight Surely ye that are the sons of God by 〈◊〉 and office should resemble the Son of God by nature O Sirs Think of it ye that are the sons of God by deputation should resemble this Son of God by generation Be not as Eli's and Samuel's and Davids children a disgrace to your Father But as Constantines sons resembled their Father in his good parts and practices so be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect Mat. 5. ult Davids daughters were known to be his children by their garments 2 Sam. 13. 18. Do you make it known to others that you are the children of God by not defiling your garments by keeping your selves unspotted from the world by looking to your cloath●s that they be not defiled though ye walk in dirty streets be as the children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation Consider the Devil is ever watching for your halting and like some unkind servant he blabs presently to the Father what

world as God delights to help those who cannot help themselves Prov 23. 10 11. So must earthly Gods The word is rendred by the Septuagint Poor indeed the poor and fatherless are oft joyned in Scripture and are Synonyma's being put for one and the same person as Psal. 10. 14. The poor committeth himself to thee thou art a Father to the fatherless He that is called Poor in the beginning of the Verse is called fatherless in the end The word is taken sometimes properly for one that hath lost his Father 2. Metaphorically for such as are in deep distress and have no helper Now we are not to restrain the sense here only to Orphans for he that is a Father may be called fatherless and the child that hath a Father yet may be called fatherless when he extreamly needs the help either of God or man Hos. 14. 3. Do justice to the afflicted and the needy or as the Original runs Justifie the afflicted q. d. if his cause be just fear not to Justifie him and pronounce him Judicially just and innocent Many unjust Judges will hear the causes of the poor but when they have heard them and found them to be right yet they do not justifie them but the wicked The Afflicted and the poor are joyned in Scripture Zeph. 3. 12. because poverty is usually accompanied with many afflictions The word Gnani which we render afflicted signifies also to be Humble and Meek Zach. 9. 9 for as Riches make men cruel and proud so affliction makes men humble and lowly And needy Properly the word signifies a poor man that hath lo●t his goods and so is brought to poverty and misery whether by oppression or otherwise These are called the Poor of this world James 2. 5. and the poor of the earth Job 24. 4. Amos 8. 4. Verse 4. Deliver the poor and needy from the violence of the mighty the same is again repeated to make the deeper impression and to shew how earnest God is to have Judges put it in execution God drives this nail to the Head with one exhortation upon the neck of another to fas●en it the better in our hearts and memories Rid them out of the hand of the wicked i. e. free and rescue him from the paws and power of turbulent men who like their father the Devill delight in vexing others The words seem to be a Gradation and not a bare repetition 1. Judges must hear the cause of the poor 2. Having found them innocent they must justifie them and declare their innocency 3. They must not rest there but they must rescue and deliver them as Lambs out of the Paws and Jaws of the Lion By this variety of words and multiplication of expressions the Holy Ghost denotes unto us all kind of misery which we are exposed to in this world by reason of potent and politick enemies What ever the misery be whether in body goods or name such is Gods goodness that he would have Magistrates who are his Vice-gerents to take notice of it and deliver his people out of it Observation 1. Magistrates must be a Defence to the poor and fatherless to the afflicted and the needy They are that great Tree which must shelter such as are under them from storms Dan. 4 20 21 22. They are called Gods and in this they must act like him whose name they bear Now 1. Sometimes the poor lie in deep distress and then the Lord is a Refuge to them Isa. 25. 4. He hears their cry Psal. 34. 6. 69. 33. whether it be vocal or virtual for sometimes the poor mans afflicted condition cryes though he say nothing and God hears this cry Psal 12. 5. for the oppression of the poor will I arise though the oppressed should not Vocally cry yet their very oppression Virtually cries for help Iames 5. 4. 2. Sometimes they lie in the dust and then he raiseth them Psal. 113. 7. they lie amongst the pots and are sullied with affliction yet then he makes them beautifull like a Dove Psal. 68. 13. 3. Sometimes they are environed with mighty enemies and then he rescues them Iob 5. 15 16. by cutting off their oppressors and comforting the oppressed Iob 36. 6 15. 4. But specially the godly poor God is very tender over these he that to●cheth them to hurt them ●oucheth the apple of his eye These are his Jewels his Glory his Portion his Pleasant Portion his Inheritance his Dove his Spouse his annointed ones and if Kings wrong them he will rebuke even Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed Psal. 105. 15. Amos 2. 6. God visits for such sins 5. As for the fatherless who are exposed to much sorrow and therefore Christ promiseth his Disciples that he will not leave them Orphans or fatherless I●hn 14. 18. God hath stiled himself a Father to them Psal. 68. 5. Hos. 14. 3. 2. He hath made many Laws for them Exod. 22. 22 De●t 16. 11 14. 24. 17. 26. 12 13. and curseth those that wrong them Deut. 27. 19. 3. He chargeth Magistrates in the Text to be tender over them So Isa. 1. 17. Iob 29. 12. 31. 17 18 21. 4. When Magistrates are negligent in defending them he hears their cry and threatens to visit for that sin Isa. 1. 23 24. Ier. 5. 28 29. 21. 12. Mal. 3. 5. 5 If Magistrates will not plead their cause yet God will D●ut 10. 18. Psal. 10 ult 146. 9. Prov. 23. 11. 6. S. Iames● sums up all religion as t were into this one duty T is not enough that we Hear Pray and Worship God but we must also love our Neighbours and shew pitty to the poor and fatherless without which all our profession is vain Iames 1. 27. Now Magistrates in their capacity and calling must resemble God they must be a Refuge to the poor a Father to the fatherless and a comfort to the comfortless Iob who was an eminent Magistrate in his time how tender was he over the poor and fatherless he was eyes to the blind feet to the lame a father to the poor and the blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon him and he made the widows heart to sing for joy Iob. 29. 12. c. 30. 15. 31. 17 21. especially he must defend the Godly Poor who are oft contemned by the high and haughty of the world for their poverty and hated for their piety These commit themselves and their cause to God Psal. 10. 14. and therefore they are called His poor by a ●pecial propriety Psal. 72. 2. He speaking of Solomon shall judge thy people with equity Gods Deputies must be tender over those whom God so tenders that he prizeth them above all the world besides Do justice Observation 2. As Magistrates m●st administer Iustice unto all so especially to the afflicted and distressed These are most lyable to injury and therefore if Justice incline to any side with

the Devil without the shield of faith or the sword of the spirit He needeth not the agency either of Magistrates in civil things nor Ministers in spiritual things but he hath ordained both It is his pleasure that both should in subordination to him be used and therefore neither can without sinning against him be neglected Objection 5. Say they we may not avenge our selves we must not render evil for evil but overcome evil with good Rom. 13. Answer Though a Christian must rather suffer then offer injuries yet he may nay must mind his own safety He may not unjustly offend his Brother but he may justly defend himself All private revenge is forbidden but the Magistrate is Gods Minister therefore as venge●n●e belongeth unto God so the Magistrate may in Gods place take revenge and one may implore his help as he may commit his cause to God so it be not done with a revengefull mind The meaning of the holy Scriptures is far different from the sense which the Apostate Iulian put on them When he had taken away their estates he put them off with a mock Your Master said Blessed are the poor and when he had sorely beaten them with his hands he would wound them with his tongue saying Your Master said If one beat you on one cheek turn to him the other The Gospel certainly was never intended for a cross but a comfort to a Christian and though its principal aim be to further him spiritually yet it never designed to hinder him corporally by any of those commands Christ is more tender of his people then to thrust them into the world like sheep among ravenous Wolves and to deny them leave of calling to those civil shepherds to take care of them God hath for that end appointed Magistrates to be nursing-Fathers and nursing-Mothers to the children of God to be as tender of them as provident for them as helpfull to them as Parents to their children as Nurses to their Babes They are set up by God himself to be a wall upon which the weak Ivie of the Church may lean and by which it may be supported Thus we see that piety is not opposite to authority though that faIse surmise that Christians were enemies to the policy and government of Kingdoms was the cause of several of the Persecutions in the Primitive times And indeed the Devil and his agents suggest to Princes to much to alienate their affections from religious persons But though some monstrous bodies have brought forth such an hideous birth That Religion denyeth all Rule yet you see how far the Gospel is from being the Father of such a Child when it commandeth lawful obedience to Infidel Magistrates It establisheth the first Table and surely do●h not abol●sh the second And Calvin thinks that least believers should think themselves free from that yoak Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans to inform them of the contrary For it is very strange to corjecture that that God which is the God of order in the Churches should be a God of confusion in the Common-wealth No but the Original of this error is mans corrupt nature which hateth inclosures and banks and would have all common and level that he might run to excess of riot without any rubs or hinderances And thence it is that like waters stopt at a Bridge he roareth and maketh such a noise As the mad dog is enraged because of the chain that tieth him and the unruly Horse foameth and fretteth because of the Bridle that curbeth him So these men mad upon lust cannot endure to be chained by laws these furious Horses would have the reins on their own necks Secondly Those that in their practices contemn Magistracy sin against this ttruth discovered in the Text for they despise an Ordinance of God Rom. 13. 2. Some sin in their words by uncivil disrespectfull language The corruption of their hearts breaks out of their lips These filthy dreamers defile the flesh despise dominions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they opposed not so much the Officers as the Office not so much the Magistrate as Magistracy speak evil of dignities Iude ver 8. they blaspheme glories It is blasphemy against the second Table Our wicked times are a wofull Comment on that Text. Those persons and places which are honoured by the Spirit of God with glorious Titles are bespattered by them with dirty disgracefull language Because they could not by the power of their hands displace the Magistrate therefore with the poison of their tongues they did disgrace Magistracy These men begin to speak evil of the Gods and ordinarily end in speaking evil of God himself As Aretine by libellous and contumelious speaking against Princes came at length to disesteem God himself Observe how express the command of God is Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Rulers of thy people Exod. 22. 28. This text is quoted by Paul Acts 23. 2 3. 5 where he called the High Priest whited wall and afterwards said he wist not that he was the High Priest which words are very much controverted by Expositors Some think he spake Ironically because he saw nothing in him worthy of that office and because the Priesthood was now determined in Christ he did usurpe that Office which did not belong to him and probably he was some Surrogate brought in through the disorder of the times by some sinister practices Others and that to me more likely expound it thus I wist not I considered not I heeded not in my haste in heat I took not sufficient notice but termed him whited wall which words I acknowledge might well have been spared The opinion of Iunius is that Paul did not know him to be the High Priest and therefore pleadeth his ignorance as at least an extenuation of his offence But whatever the sense of the words is this is clear that such as revile Princes disobey Gods precept Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor speak evil of the Rulers of thy people that is thou shalt not speak evil of them by reproach or calumny nor wish any evil to them by imprecation or curses Nay the Holy Ghost speaketh the persons guilty of this sin to be impudent audacious sinners 2 Pet. 2. 10. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities as if he had said If they had feared either God or man they would not have dared to commit this sin They were bold sinners indeed that durst spit their venom in the faces of the Gods and with the sword of their mouths adventure upon the mouth of the sword O to what an height of unholiness are they arrived that bring railing accusations against the Gods when the Arch-angel durst not bring one against the Devil Iude ver 9. But their tongues are set fire on hell Iames 3. 6. therefore no wonder if they are set against heaven Psal. 73. 9. Is it fit to say to a King

a dirty pickle his children are in Suppose he seeth the dirt of drunkenness of uncleanness of squeezing tenants of prophaning the Sabboth of scoffing at godliness of irreligion and atheism in your houses and immediately carryes your cloaths to God as the Patriarchs did Ioseths coat For he accuseth men before God day and night Revel 12. 10. Saying Lord is this thy sons coat Know now whether it be thy sons coat or no. Gen. 37. 32. Do thy children use to carry themselves as my children Surely these are of their father the Devil Can you imagine that God should own you No certainly as the Pope disowned the Bishop when the Emperour had sent the Buffe-coat in which he was taken prisoner and deliver●d him up to justice he will not dishonour himself by owning you Nay how can you expect but that Jesus Christ who sitteth by and heareth the indictment against you who useth to appear as an Advocate for others when the Accuser of the Brethren pleadeth against them should even second the Bill against you and say to God as Moses Deut. 32. 5. They have corrupted themselves their spot is not the spot of Gods children they are perverse and crooked persons Father these are sins not of weakness but wickedness they are not infirmities but enormities they are not the spots of thy children Those that cast thee out of their hearts and let the flesh have the Supremacy there that cast thee out of their houses and let the world have the Superiority there Those that make no conscience of thy day and their duties whose whole care is to be honoured and enriched whose heat and fervour is for credit and profit and put thee off with a few fragments of time and a few scraps of their estate which they can spare from the world and flesh those sin like wretches like rebels not like Saints like sons Their spots are not the spots of thy children There are spots which may be and spots which cannot be the spots of Gods children All sins are unsutable to but some sins are inconsistent with sonship yea the preheminence of Adoption doth absolutely deny the predominancy of any corruption When Antigonus was to go to a place that might probably prove a temptation to sin he asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do He bade him only remember he was a Kings son So say I to you that walk every day in the midst of many snares of temptations and therefore should have the greater care and circumspection Remember that ye are the sons of rhe King of Kings and do nothing unworthy of the name by which he calleth you or the place to which he hath called you It might have been a cutting word to the heart of Brutus whose hand was then stabbing Caesar What thou my son Brutus I could not have expected better from a slave but little looked for this from a son How think you can the Lord take it that you who are his children should wound the Body of his Son with oaths and curses his sacred laws by wickedness and wilful disobedience I beseech you be exceeding holy that ye may shew your selves to be children of the most High In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil He that doth not righteonsness is not of God I Iohn 3. 10. If ye therefore call on the Father who without respect of persons will judge every man according to his works pass the time of your sojurning here in fear 1 Pet. 1. 17. forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver or gold from your vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without spot and blemish vers 18 19. It is written of Boleslaus one of the Kings of Poland that he still carryed about with him the picture of his Father and when he was to do any great work he would look on the picture and pray that he might do nothing unworthy of such a Fathers name So when you set about any busines desire and labour that you may do nothing while on earth unworthy your Father who is in heaven Nay further the Holy Ghost calleth you Gods How godly then should you be how unsutable are the works of the Devil to them that have the name of God! God is light and in him is no darkness at all and should not the Gods shine brightly with the light of holiness and abhor all deeds of darkness The Gods of the Heathen were taxed with several crimes Iupiter with uncleanness Iuno with passion c. Hence saith Austin the Heathen took liberty to sin because their Gods were represented to them as patterns or approvers of such actions As Charaea in Terence Non ego facerem quae Jupiter fecit Should I be backward to what the God himself was forward But the God of Heaven is far from such things He is the holy One of Israel holy in all his wayes and righteous in all his works His Nature is the pattern of holiness his Law is the rule of holiness Holiness is his Essence his glory himself Psal. 89. 13. A God of truth without jniquity just and right is he Deut. 32. 4. There are many spots in our Moons but not the least spot in this Sun of Righteousness Now therefore you that have his Name should get his Nature and be pure as he is pure The Name of God is an honour to yon O be not you a dishonour to it Iames 2. 8. Do not O do not blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called How holy should you be in your hearts how watchful over your words how wary in your works how faithful in your families how conscientious in all companies for the most High hath said Ye are Gods Alexander having a souldier of his name that was a coward bid him either learn to be valiant or be no more called Alexander So say I to you that have the Livery and Name of God and do the drudgery of Satan either learn to be holy to be good or be no more called Gods Sir observe it is it comely for a God to swear for a God to wrong his neighbours for a God to prophane Gods day for a God to despise godliness and godly men for a God to keep company with those that are of their father the Devil for a God to live without God in his affections house and conversation Blush O guilty Justice or Ruler and be ashamed and either amend thy life and nature or disown this name of God I have sometime read of Luther that he used to repel the darts of temptations with this shield I am a Christian. I cannot do it O would you but think when your hearts or lives are swerving from God I am called a God and cannot may not do the work of the Devil I may not do any thing unworthy the name of God it might be helpful to

have been necessitated to be vicious lest they should be accounted vile Be you not only patterns but Patrons of purity Let the world know that greatness can own and countenance goodness The Kings of Gerar were called Abimelech which signifieth My Father Gen. 30. 2. noting that a King should be as carefull and mindfull as tender and chary of his Subjects especially good ones as Fathers of their children Alas if the Magistrates will not own them what what shall the godly do The Devil raiseth all the the Train-bands of hell against them that march to heaven The world loveth its own but because they are not of the world therefore the world hateth them their neighbours malign them and rage because they dare not run to the same excess of riot The whole Parish if occasion be will be gathered together against those that are pious especially if they be zealous for Gods glory against others impieties Now since God hath set you up for their shelter surely you are concerned to secure them in times of danger Sure I am that it is a priviledge and honour to you that you may be serviceable to the people of God God carrieth them upon Eagles wings Exod. 19. 4. as tenderly as the Eagle her young ones of which some observe she carrieth her prey between her Talons but her young under her wings and if a Fowler shoot at her she will first have her own body shot through before they shall be hurt God is therefore called their shield Gen. 17. 1. Now a shield is between the body and the weapon Look therefore that you imitate God in this Remember that men were not made for you but you were made for them God took David from the sheepfold to feed Iacob his people and Israel his inheritance Psal. 78. 70 71. It was said by Nazianzen of Athanasius that he was Magnes Adamas an Adamant in his stout resolute carriage against vice and a Load-stone to encourage and draw vertue to him And the wise man telleth us The Kings favour is towards a wise servant but his wrath is towards him that causeth shame Prov. 14. ult As the wind hurteth not the reeds and corn which yield to it but rooteth up the sturdy stubborn Oak which will not bow so the Ruler should deal sharply with the obstinate but gently with the mild and flexible Augustus Caesar in whose time Christ was born was so tender of his people that when he died they wept saying Would he had never been born or never died Secondly As you should work like Gods amongst men in executing Justice impartially so likewese in shewing mercy God is the Father of mercies 1 Cor. 1. 3. Rich in mercy Ephes. 2. 4. He hath multitudes of tender mercies Psal. 51. 1. He is abundant in mercy 1 Pet. 1. 3. His mercy is free Rom. 9. 15. Great Psal. 57. 10. Matchless Jer. 3. 1. Sure Isa. 55. 1. Mercy as one observeth is the chief of all Gods attributes though in themselves they are all equal but in regard of our necessities as Oyl swims above all other liquors as the Eagle is the chief of Birds the Lion of Beasts Gold of metals so mercy is the chief of all Gods attributes He hath a Mercy-seat to note that he sitteth at ease when he is shewing mercy Whereas judgement is his strange work Isa. 28. 21. we read likewise that mercy pleaseth him Mica 7. 18. Thus the Gods should be mercifull men your hearts should be full of mercy and pitty to the sinner when your hands are executing justice against the sin The Bee doth not sting till provoked God doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men Lam. 3. 33. There should be bowels of compassion in him that pronounceth sentence of condemnacion Ille dolet quoties cogitur esse ferox Augustus never pronounced a deadly sentence without deep sorrow Our Laws forbid Butchers to be Jurors because it is supposed they will be hard-hearted Among several qualifications which the Jews required in their Judges these were two 1. That they should be Fathers of children hoping that their paternal affection would incline them to commiseration 2. That they should not be Eunuches for they conceived such very cruel It is a bestial cruelty to delight in blood The Laws of Draco are generally condemned for they were written in blood and the offender was sure to die of what nature soever his offence was A. Gell. Our English Deborah Queen Elizabeth did not without cause exceedingly prize Seneca's first book of Clemency because it treated of that which is so needfull to a Prince It is the Devils work to be Abaddon a destroyer It is Christ work to be Goel a Redeemer Mercy and truth preserve the King his Throne is established by mercy Prov. 20. 28. Mercy sometime to them that sin through weakness may be as profitable as severity to them that sin through wil●ulness It was certainly a cursed speech of that man or rather Monster whom the Italian Orator mentioneth that being a Judge said To hang many is my Jubile and a great execution is my great recreation The expression of the Roman Emperour is worthy of imitation That he had rather save the life of one of his Subjects then take away the lives of a thousand of his enemies Life is a precious jewel more worth then all this world Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life Iob 1. It is not therefore to be taken away for every trifle I do not now dispute the question Whether any Theft may lawfully be punished with death but I am sure every Theft ought not The Romans had their Axes and Rods carried before their Consuls to shew that if the lesser punishments as of the rods would serve the greater of the Axe should not be used And they did justly lament the cruelty of those tribunals where the cheap prescription of lives made the Judgement-seat differ little from a Shambles 3. Work as Gods among men in promoting piety to your power The great design and work of God is to promote holiness in the world This was his aim in his internal work of his decree Ephes. 1. 4. This is the great end he drives at in his external works As in the work of redemption Tit. 2. 14. Luke 1. 92. In bestowing his word The precepts in it are the perfect rule of godliness Gal. 6. 16. the promises are pretious encouragements to godliness 2 Cor. 7. 1. the threatnings are like the Angel with a drawn sword in his hand to deter men from the way of ungodliness Rom. 1. 18. And his works of providence are to the same purpose Afflictions are like the fire to consume the dross and purifie the gold Heb. 12. 6. Mercies are like the warm influences of the vernal Sun to draw forth the Sap of grace and hasten mens growth in holiness Thus should the Gods promote godliness as the