things that you may take pleasure in And Adam answered saying No we are not forbidden any thing that the Divine life in us approves as good and pleasant We are only forbidden to feed on our own will and to seek pleasures apart and without the warrant of the will of God for if our own will get head in us we shall be Arrested and assuredly be carried into the prison of Mortallity and there lye in the state of death But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and his Dog said unto Adam Tush this is but a Panick fear in you Adam I warrant you you shall not so surely dye as you conceit be ruled by me The only matter is this God indeed loves to keep his Creatures under a Law holding them in from ranging too farr and reaching too high but he knows very well that if you break his Law and but take your liberty with us and satiate your selves freely with with your own will your eyes will be wonderfully opened and you shall meet with a world of variety of Presidents and experiments in things so that you will grow abundantly wise and like Gods know all things whatsoever both good and evill Now the faeminine part in Adam was so tickled with this deceiver that the Concupiscible began to be so immoderate as to resolve to do any thing that may promote pleasure and experience in things and carried away by this warrant Adams will and reason by his heedlesness and inadvertency So that Adam was wholly resolved to obey the power of this Writ signed with a counterfeit mark according the various toyings and titillations of the lascivious life of the whitle no longer calling for God or taking any Assistance of the Divine Genius And when he had tyred himself with a rabble of toyes and unfruitfull and unsatisfactory devices rising from the devil and the multifarious working of the Particles of his Vehicle at last the eyes of his faculties were opened and they perceived they were now naked he having as yet neither the covering of the Heavenly nature nor the Terrestâ— body only they sewed Fig-leaves togâ—her and made some pretences of excuse from the vigor of the Plantal life that now in a thinner manner might manifest it self in Adam and predispose him for a more perfect exercise of his Plastick Power when the prepared matter of the Earth shall drink him in In the mean time the voyce of God or the Divine Wisdom spake for them in the cool of the day when the writ was served and Adams word taken for appearance yet he knew no Atturny now to give a plea to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Declaration but was grown so out of order and so much afraid to plead his own cause being guilty and now estranged from the life of God so much that they durst not come before God but hide themselves from him But the Divine light in the Conscience of Adam persued him and upbraided unto him the case he was in And Adam acknowledged within himself how naked he was having no Power nor Ornaments nor Abilities of his own and yet that he had left his obedience and dependence upon God and submitted to the false feigned Latitat of that cursed Bayliffe and deceiver 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherefore he was ashamed and hid himself at the approach of the Divine light manifesting it self unto him to the reprehension and rebuke of him And the Divine Judge charged all this Misery and confusion that had thus overtaken him upon the following the Luscious dictates of his will But Adam again excu'sd himself within himself that it was the vigour and impetuosity of that life in the vehicle which God himself implanted in it whereby he miscaried the woman that God had given him And the Divine Judge spake in Adam concerning woman What work hath she made here but the woman in Adam excused her self for she was beguiled by that grand deceiver Valifer the Bayliffe as Irictericus cals him In this confusion of mind was Adam by forsaking the Divine Judge and letting his own will get head against it for it so changed the Nature of his vehicle that whereas he might have continued in an Angelical and Aethereal condition and his faeminine part been brought into perfect obedience to the Divine light and had joyes multiplied upon the whole man beyond all Expression and Imagination forever he now sunk more and more and by habeas corpus is carried towards a Mortal and Terrestial Estate himself not being unsensible thereof as you shall hear when I have told you the Judgment of the Eternal God concerning the Serpent and him Things therefore have been carried on in this wise the Eternal Lord God decreed thus with himself concerning the Serpent and Adam That this old Serpent the Prince of the rebellious Angels should be more accursed then all the rest and whereas he Lorded it aloft in the higher parts of the Aire and could glide in the very Ethereal Region amongst the innocent and unfaln Souls of men and the good Genii before that he should now sweep the dust with his belly being cast lower towards the surface of the Earth And that there should be a general enmity betwixt this old Serpent as also all of his fellow Rebels and betwixt mankind and that in progress of time the ever faithfull and obedient soul of the Messias should take a body and should trample over the power of the devel very notoriously here upon Earth and after his death should give Rule and Supersede all mankind being now constituted the Supreme and Principal Attorny Counsellour and Prince of all the Angelical orders what ever in Heaven And concerning Adam the Eternal Lord God decreed that he should indeed be removed down to the Earth and that he should not there indulge to himself the pleasures of the body without the Concomitants of Pain and Sorrow and that his Faeminine part his Affections should be under the chastisement of the Law of his Reason That he should have a wearisom and toylsom Labour an Travel in this World the Earth bringing forth thornes and thistles though he must subsist by the corn of the field wherefore in the sweat of his brows he should eat his bread till he retured unto the ground of which his terrestrial body is made This was the Counsel of God concerning Adam and the Serpent Now as I was telling you Adam though he was sinking apace into thâ—se lower functions of life yet his mind was not grown so fully stupid but he had the knowledg of his own condition and added to all his former Apologies that the Faeminine part in him though it had seduced him yet there was some use of this Miscariage For the Earth would hence be inhabited by intellectual Animals wherefore he called the life of his vehicle Eve because she is indeed the Mother of the generations of men that live upon the Earth And at last the Plastick power being fully awakened Adams soul was cast into
appear On each side of us without being there I might commend this Learned Work of thine Which proves thy Pen and Fancy all Divine But my dull stock of Learning cannot aid Me to the Tythe of prayses might be paid Unto your Skil for this your Idea The form and figure of all Mundane Law Let learned Lawyers beat the better Brains And fix Encomiums on you for your pains That may be fit so quaint a Subject Let True Poets pay their sharper Verses that Are your just right That like a General Your Book may march in Equipage ' mong'st all With its due State and Train That it may ride Whil'st other Law Books Lac'quey by it's side Let Cook and Littleton give place their dayes Have long enough continued let the Bayes Be given to those deserve it better and Let Shepherd know That Heydon may command The Lawyers Lawreat as his proper due For this choyce treasury so learn'd so true And let it not your greater-Lawyers grieve To Retrograde themselves whilst they receive Another into Honour for you know Lord Mayors of London once a year do so John Gadbury 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Johannis Heydoni viri doctissimi Ideam Legis IDeam Legis monstras Heidone nec illan Commonstras solum sed bonus arte doces Tempora distinguis mores critico ungue rebelles Indicat carpit pagina docta tua Sic Legis formam dum tu monstrasque doc esq Doctoris faelix nomen omen habes Macte piâ virtute precor nec desine pensum Inque annos multos te rogo vive vale The Laws-Idea learned Heydon shows And open-brested teacheth all he knows Twixt times distinguishing and what is bad Wisely both shewes and taxeth Thus is had The Laws true form plainly both shew'd and taught In teaching which I find omitted nought Go on Learn'd Sir and finish this your Task Live long and happily is all I ask George Starkey Eirenaeus Philoponus Philalethes THE IDEA OF THE LAW 1. WHen GOD had made the Heavens and the Earth the Mundus vitae the World of Life and Formes or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus compleated his work in the Senary comprehending the whole Creation in Six Orders of things He ceased from ever creating any thing more either in the outward Material World or in the World of Life But his Creative power retyring into himself he enjoyed his own eternal Rest which is his immutable and indefatigable Nature that with ease oversees all the whole Compass of Beings and continues Essence Life and Activity to them and the better rectifies the worse and all are better rectifies the worse and all are guided by his eternal Word and Spirit but nothing New hath ever been Created since the Six Dayes Production nor shall ever be hereafter 2. Then man fell after all was perfect into disobedience by his Feminine Faculties and the Pride of the Serpent And being in this sinfull Estate his First-born Cain killed his brother Abel and therefore had the mark 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thau set in his Forehead it was done by God and according to his Promise instead of Death he was enabled to walk and live securely among the wildest of Terestrial Creatures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. A sword could not enter him fire could not burn him water could not drown him the air could not blast him nor any thunder or lightning could strike him c. 3. And afterwards Lawes were given to men to be executed One not to oppress another but to fear God do his Statutes and keep his Judgments 4. And thus God forgave Cain and saved his life which I cannot account a downright Punishment but indulged by the mercy of God and necessary to the multiplication of Mankinde c. So Lawes were established amongst men before Moses 5. And I look upon Moses mainly in reference to the publick Inducement in which after this a few generations he appeared admirable viz. As a Politician or Lawgiver In which his skill was so great that even in the Judgment of Heathen Writers he had the preheminence above all the rest the Rosie-Crucians place him in the head of their Infallible Axiomata of the most Famous Law-givers under the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if Eugenius Theodidactus be not mistaken or if he be at least he bears them company that are reputed the best reserv'd for the last and most notable Instance of those that entituled their Lawes Divine and made themselves spokemen betwixt God and the people This Mneues is said to receive his Lawes from Mercury as Minos from Jupiter Licurgus from Apollo St. Chrystopher Heydon from his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his good Genius As Moses from Jao that is Jehovah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But they speak like meer Hystorians in the business that say so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word which they boldly abuse to the diminution of all their Authorities promiscuously It is said they feigned they received Lawes from these Deities And Aristotle adds the reason of it too but like an errant Statesman or an incredulous Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Whether it be saies he that they judged it an admirable and plainly Divine Project that redounded unto the Profit of a multitude or whether they conceived that hereby the people looking upon the greatness and Supereminence of their Law-givers would be more obedient to their Lawes Pretorian or Censorian That saying in the Schools is not so trivial as true Quicquid recipitur recipitur admodum recipientis Every thing is as it is taken or at least appears to be so The tincture of our own natures stains the appearance of all objects 6. But to leave Aristotle to his Ethnicism and incredulity As for us that ought to believe Scripture and obey the Lawes of our Land established in the Gospel of Jesus Christ being a President for all Lawes and Statutes 7. And first if we will not gainsay the authority of the Greek Text we shall not only be fully perswaded of Moses his receiving of Laws from Gods own mouth but have some hints to believe that something Analogical to it may have come to pass in other Lawgivers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Deut. 32. When the most High divided the Nations when he separated the Sonnes of Adam he set the bounds of the Nations according to the number of the Angels of God but Jacob was the portion of Jehovah that is Jao c. So that it is not improbable but that as the great Angel of the Covenant he whom I in my Book named The Wisemans Crown and in another entituled A new Method of Rosie Crucian Physick call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The eldest of Angels the Archangel the Word the Beginning the name of God which is Jehovah I say that as he gave Lawes to his charge so the titular Angels of other Nations might be Instructors of those that they
it in such works which are contrary to the world use it rightly and enjoy it as he that hath it not live a temperate life and beware of all sin otherwise my friend you Genius will forsake you and you shall be deprived of happiness for know this of a truth whosoever abuseth this Genius and lives not exemplarily purely and devoutly before men he shall lose this benefit and scarce any hope will there be left ever to recover it afterwards These Genii teach and give Laws to the Servants of God for to deliver to the people These Genii command us to forgive our Enemies and regard not any that speak evil against us for what hath a good man to do with the dull approbation of the vulgar Fame like a River bears up all light things and swolne but drowns things weighty and solid I see the lowest vertues draw praise from the common people the middle vertues work in them Astonishment but of the highest vertues they have no sence or perceivance at all Regard not therefore vaine praises for praise proceeds more out of bravery then out of merit and happiness rather to vain and windy Persons then to persons substantial and solid My Genius hath had some contest with mee in the disposal of The Idea of the Law the subject being cross to the deceit of the times which is both malicious corrupt and spleenatick it was my desire to keep it within doors but the relation it bears to my former discourses and my practice hath forced it to the Press it is the last glass of my thoughts and their first reflex being not compleat I have added this to perfect their Image and simmetry hoping it will be profitable The Genius of the Law of England and of the City of London is naturally the same that King Charles hath who is called King of Scots and there is no Government that will be established with good and wholsome Laws but Monarchy who can incorporate Fire and Water The people will not be happy without the King And it is esteemed more Honour Excellency and Majesty amongst the Legitimate Nobility and Gentry of the world for a General to restore or make a King then to be a King c. My humble and hearty desire is that the Laws of England the Priviledges of Parliament the Liberty of the Subject and the property of all things may be asserted according to the first Declarations of the King and Parliament in the begining of the unfortunate Warr. That the true Protestant Religion in the best sence of the Church of England may be professed and defended all Heresies Sects and Schismes discountenanced and suppressed a lawfull succession of godly and able Ministers continued and encouraged and the two Universities Oxford and Cambridge and all Colleges in both of them may be preserved and countenanced And this is for the prosperity of the Nation I have now done Gentlemen but how much to my own prejudice I cannot tell I hope I have offended no man yet I am confident this shall not pass without noise but if I have err'd in any thing and yet I have followed the best presidents of Lawyers in the World I expose it not to the mercy of man but of God who as he is most able so also he is most willing to forgive in the day of our account And if any more zealous Pretenders to Prudence Policy and Piety shall oppose the Idea of the Law I shall expect from them these following performances 1. A plain positive Exposition of all the passages in this Book without any injury to the sence of their Authour for if they interpret them otherwise then they ought they but create Errors of their own and then overthrow them 2. To prove their Familiarity with the Genius of the Idea of the Law and Knowledge in these Divine and Natural Statutes let them give the Reader a punctual discovery of all the secrets thereof If this be more then they can do it is argument enough that they know not what they oppose and if they do not know how can they Judg or if they judge where is their Evidence to Condemn 3. Let them not mangle and discompose my Book with a scatter of observations but proceed Methodically to the censure of Appologue Book and the account at the end expounding what is obscure and discovering the very intents of my Book in promoting the practice of good Laws for the benefit of my Country that the reader may find if I write for any other end then to disabuse the Nation my positions to be false not only in their Theory but if he will assay it by his own particular experience I intreat all Ingenuous Gentlemen that they will not slight my Endeavours because of my years which are but few it is the custome of most men to measure knowledg by the Beard but look rather on the Soul an Essence of that Nature quae ad perfectionem suam curricula temporis non desiderat and that they would not conclude any thing rashly against me Thus have I Published that knowledg which God gave me Ad fructum bonae Conscientiae I have not bushell'd my Light nor buried my Talent in the ground I will now whilst the poor Communalty are Plaintiffs and Exrcise-men Defendants humbly move for the Plaintiffs and put up my Idea of the Law to the Judg and so let the Attorney and his Counsel on the other side shew cause why we may not have judgment against them the Devil being Nonsuited and my Council hath put all his enemies under his feet Sentence being given I humbly pray the Execution may be served upon the last Enemy that my Counsellor Judg Prince and King may deliver up the Kingdom to his Father For now is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known From my House in the East-side Spitle Fields next door to the Red Lion without Bishops-gate neer London April 27. 1660. JOHN HEYDON In Honorem viri verè eruditi Domini Johannis Heydon generosi in operam suam elaboratissimam Legis Ideam Praeteritum tempus scribis scribisque futurum Illustras radiis tempus utrumque tuis Praeteritum praesens red dis praesensque futurum Nulla tuis oculis non patefacta latent Si tibi praeteritum praesens notumque futurum Inter coelicolas tu quoque caelicola The past and future time thy pregnant qui◠Illustrate 'bove the reach of humane skill Future and past both present are with thee There 's nothing hid from thy perspicacie The present Future past to him 's all one Who in the heavens hath his Station Thomas Revel Arm. To the truly Ingenious his highly deserving Friend John Heydon On his Learned Work Entituled The IDEA of the LAW COuld I of our Antipodes but give A true Description Tell how Those persons live That there Inhabit Acquaint the World how all Things stated are on that side of Earth's Ball Relate the curious Customs that
and undigested lump of the multitude may seek to establish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he calls it therefore he bethinks himself how to purge out the dross from it and tells me in the next place that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inventio ejus quod verè est where it is very remarkable what this Philosopher means by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which he is wont usually to point out a Deity which is stiled by Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but it is not capable of this sense here for thus Laws are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lex est inventio vel donum Dei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore in this place speaks these two particulars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all rectitude has a being and flows from the Fountain of being whereas obliquities and irregularities are meer privations and non-entities and 't is a notable speech in Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very same expression which the Apostle gives to the Law of God when he calls it The Royal Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every thing that is profitable has a being in it but you can gather no fruit from a privation there is no sweetness in an obliquity and therefore a Law is a wholesom mixture of that which is just and profitable Thus do I interpret the first second and third Paragraphs of my Idea of the Law and this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plutarch speaks whereas Turpe praeceptum non est Lex sed iniquitas for obligation that 's the very Form and Essence of a Law Now every Law Obligat in Nomine Dei but so glorious a Name did never bind to any thing that was wicked and unequal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that only is countenanced from heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Golden chain of Laws 't is tyed to the chair of Jupiter and a command is only vigorous as it issues out either Immediately or remotely by the Genii from the great Soveraign of the world So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is my Foundation of the Idea of the Law And in all true kinds of Government there is some Supream Power derived from God himself and fit to contrive Laws and Constitutions agreeable to the welfare and happiness of those that are to be subject to them and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Rosie Crucians are the fittest makers of Laws 7. Plato did not lay stress enough upon that binding vertue which is the very sinew nay life and soul of a Law according to my fifth Paragraph That these three Descriptions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intend only humane Laws and so are engrost fair for the pure notion of a Law in general 8. And though the same other branch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may seem to defend my Idea yet it is too obscure too much in the clouds to give a clear manifestation of the Idea of the Law and yet Aristotle does not in this supply Plato's defects but seems rather to Paraphrase upon the descriptions or rather Interpretations of Humane Laws and tells me in more enlarged language that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where yet he cannot possibly mean that every individium should give his suffrage but certainly the Representative consent of the whole will content him 9. But I see these antient Philosophers are not so well furnisht to lend me any thing to defend my Idea of the Law But I must return to London again and see what assistance William Prinne Esq and other Lawyers of the Temple will lend me who by this time have lickt their former Interpretations into a more comely form I will look upon W. Prinne Esq first Lex sayes he est ordinatio rationis ad bonum Commune ab eo qui curam habet Communitatis promulgata It is a rational Ordinance for the advantage of the Publique good made known by that power which has care and tuition of the Publique 10. And Judge Roll his Picture of a Law now that it is fully drawn after Littleton by Cook and then by Roll hath much the same Aspect Lex est Commune Praeceptum Justum ac stabile sufficientur Promulgatum A Law is a Publique Command a just and immoveable command lifting up its voyce like a Trumpet and in respect of the Law-giver though it be praesupponere actum intellectus as all acts of the will do yet it does formally consist in actu voluntatis not the understanding but the will of a Law-giver makes a Law But in respect of him that is subject to the Law it does consist in actu Rationis 't is required only that he should know it not in actu voluntatis it does not depend upon his obedience The want of his will is not enough to enervate and invalidate a Law when 't is made all Laws then would be abrogated every moment His will indeed is required to execution and fulfilling of the Law not to the validity and existence of the Law And thus all the Laws of God do not at all depend upon the will of man and thus interpret my seventh Paragraph of the Idea of the Law but upon the power and will of the Law-giver Now in the framing of every Law there is to be Intentio boni communis and thus that speech of L. Verulam Vtilitas Justi propè mater aequi if it be took in this sense in which 't is thought he meant it is not so much as tolerable Law-givers should send out Laws with Olive branches in their mouths they should be fruitful and peaceable they should drop sweetness and fatness upon a Land Let not then Brambles make Laws for Trees as O. Cromwell and his fellows did for King Charles and his Dukes Earls and Lords c. least they scratch them and tear them and write their Laws in blood as you have seen lately 11. But King Charles will send out Laws as the Sun shoots forth his Beams with healing in his wings And thus that elegant Plutarch speaks God sayes he is angry with them that counterfeit his Thunder and Lightning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Scepter and his Thunderbolt and his Trident he will not let them meddle with these He does not love they should imitate him in his absolute Dominion and Soveraignty but loves to see them darting out those warm and amiable and cherishing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those beamings out of Justice and goodness and clemency And as for Laws they should be like so many green and pleasant pastures into which these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are to lead their flocks where the people may feed them sweetly and securely by those refreshing streams of Justice that run down like water and righteousness like a mighty Torrent And this Consideration would sweep down the Cobweb-Laws of Bradshaw Lenthall Prideaux Oliver Cromwel and the Fanatique Parliament c. that argue only the venom and subtilty of them that
best they would be esteemed of them but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the noble Off-spring and Progeny of Lawes blessing this womb that bare them and this breast that gave them suck 19. And now the Law of Nature would have a double portion as being Lex primo-genita the first-born of the Law of God and the beginning of its strength Now as God himself shews somewhat of his face in the glass of his creature so the beauty of this Law gives some representations of it self in those pure derivations of inferiour Laws that stream from it And as we ascend to the first and supream being by the steps of second causes so we may climb to a sight of this eternal Law by those fruitfull branches of secondary Lawes which seem to have their root in earth when as indeed it is in heaven and that I may vary a little that of the Apostle to the Romans The invisible Law of God long before the creation of the world is now cleerly seen being understood by those Laws which do appear so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manifested in them God having shewn it to them Thus as the Lawyers say well Omnis Lex participata supponit Legem per essentiam every impresion supposes a seal from whence it came every Ray of light puts you in mind of a Sun from which it shines Wisdome and power these are the chief Ingredients into a Law Now where does Wisdome dwell but in the head of a Deity and where doth Power triumph but in the Arm of Omnipetency 20. A Law is born Ex cerebro Jovis and it is not brachium seculare but Coâ—leste that must maintain it even humane Laws have their vertue radicaliter remote as Atturney's declare from the Revolution of Law Thus Tully expresses the Descent of Laws in this golden manner Hanc video sapientissimorum fuisse sententiam Legem namque hominum ingeniis excogitatam neque scitum aliquod esse populorum sed aeternum quiddam quod universum mundumregeret imperandi prohibendique sapientia Ita Principem illam Legem ultimam mentem dicebant omnia ratione â—ut cogentis aut vetantis Dei i. e. Wise-men did ever look upon a Law not as one a spark struck from humane intellectuals not blown up or kindled with popular breath but they thought it an eternal Light shining from God himself irradiating guiding and ruling the whole Universe most sweet and powerfully seeing what wayes were to be chosen and what to be refused and the mind of God himself is the center of Lawes from which they were drawn and into which they must return 21. And Doctor Flud R. C. a Learned Philosopher by fire in his Alphesi Inventious Contemplative or in discourse seems to resolve all Law and Justice into the Primitve and eternall Law even God himselfe for thus he told me Justice doth not only say's he sit like a Queen at the right hand of Jupiter when he is upon his Throne but she is alwaies in his bosom and one with himself is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As he is the most Antient of days so also is he the most antient of Laws as he is the perfection of beings so is he also the rule of operations 22. Nor must I let slip that passage of Plato where he calls a Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Golden Scepter by which God himself Rules and Commands for as all Protestant Kings have a bright stamp of Divine Soveraignty so his Justice Kings and Lawes are annointed by God himselfe and most Precious oyl drops down uppon them to the Skirts of a Nation And the Divine and Natural Jdea of the Law had the oyle of gladnesse poured upon it above its fellowes 23. So then that there is such a primo and Supream Law is clear and unquestionable Moses is sufficient defence for that But who is worthy to unseale and open this Law and who can sufficiently display the glory of it you had need of a Moses that could ascend up into the Mount and converse with God himselfe and yet when he came down he would be faine to put a vaile upon his face and upon his expressions lest otherwise he might dazle inferiour understandings but if the Law-givers will satisfie you and you know some of them are stiled Angelical and Seraphicall you shall hear if you will what they I say to it 24. Now this Law according to them is Aeterna quaedam ratio practica totius dispositionis gubernationis universalis 'T is an eternall ordinance made in the depth of Gods Infinite wisdom for Regulating governing the whole world which yet had not its binding vertue in respect of God himself who has alwayes the full and unrestrained Liberty of his own Essence which is so infinite and that it cannot bind it self and which needs no law all goodnesse and perfection being so intrinsecall and essentiall to it but it was a binding determination in reference to the Creature which yet in respect of all Irrational beings did only fortiter inclinare but in respect of Rationals it does formaliter obligare 25. By these thirty five verses of this great and glorious Law you must understand every good Action was commanded and all evil was discountenanced and so bidden from everlasting according to this Righteous Law all rewards and punishments were distributed in the eternall thoughts of God At this command of this Law all created beings took their severall ranks and stations and put themselves in such operations as were best agreeable and conformable to their beings by this Law all essences were ordained to their ends by most happy and convenient means The life and vigour of this Law sprang from the will of God himselfe from the voluntary decree of that eternal Law-giver minding the publick welfare of beings who when there were heaps of varieties and possibilities in his own most glorious thoughts when he could have made such or such words in this or that manner in this or that time with such species that should have had more or fewer individualls as he pleased with such operations as he would allow unto them he did then select and pitch upon this way and Method in which you see things now constituted and did bind all things according to their several capacities to an exact and accurate observation of it 26. So that by this you see how those Divine Idea's in the mind of God and this Idea of the Law do differ I speak now of Idea's not in a Platonical sense but in a Lawyers or my own unless they both agree as some would have them for Jdea est possibilium lex tantùm faâ—urorum God had before him the picture of every possibility yet he did not intend to bind a possibility but only a futurity besides Ide'as they were scituated only in the understanding of God whereas a Law has force and efficacy from his will according to that much commended saying of my Kinsman Mr. Thomas Heydon