Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	authority_n	church_n	person_n	1,479	5	5.0691	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67269	A sermon preached at Great St. Marie's church in Cambridge before the Right Honourable the Lord Chief-Justice Holt, at the assizes held there, August 1, 1693 / by Tho. Walker ...	Walker, Thomas, 1658 or 9-1716.	1693 (1693)	Wing W416; ESTC R4995	18,815	38

loving Mercy of being kind and charitable to all Men even to the Ungratefull and of diffusing our good will to those whom our Bounty cannot reach We never read that God has commanded us to be Omniscient or Omnipotent because the Attainment of these Sublime Excellencies and peculiar Perfections of the God-head is plac'd beyond the Sphere and Capacity of our weak and finite Natures and Abilities But as if we had a sort of Infinity ascrib'd to us in this respect God has commanded us to be Mercifull and Holy as he is so i.e. according to the measure and proportion of our stinted Capacity and our frail and lapsed Condition Which we cannot be without first being Just and Upright in Heart because Justice is a Virtue of the First Magnitude and is of so comprehensive a Nature as that it is said to contain all other Virtues in its Fruitfull Womb. For indeed the love of God and of our Neighbour which as we are assur'd by an Infallible Author is the sum and substance of the whole Law is the Natural Result and Proper Effect of a Primum Justitiae officium est Deum cognescere ut parentem eùmqae metuere ut Dominum diligere ut patrem Secundum Justitiae officium est hominem agnoscere velut fratrem Lactant. Epit. p. 685. Ed. Oxon. Justice and Gratitude For how can we absolve our selves from the nonperformance of these Duties without being highly Unjust and Ungratefull If after having been obliged by God in so Extraordinary a manner in his giving us a being and providing a comfortable subsistance for us in this World and in taking care for our Future Happiness we should refuse to pay him the inconsiderable Tribute and Homage of our Love and Service no Name of Reproach can be bad enough for us except it be those of being Unjust and Ungratefull And as Men are not self-sufficient or able to make themselves Happy like God in contemplating and reflecting upon their own Perfections and so wanting the help of others are naturally inclin'd to Society from which they expect Relief and Comfort in all their Troubles and Necessities so can They by no means escape the Imputation of Injustice who do not lend a mutual assistance to others in their Afflictions and Calamities from whom they themselves expected and perhaps received Kindness and Benevolence when they labour'd under the same or such like Inconveniencies or Disasters a Omnium quae in docterum hominum disputatione versantur nibil est prefectò praestabiliue quàm planè intelligi nos ad Justitiā esse natos Neque opinione sed natura constitutum esse Jus. M. Tull. lib. 1. de leg p. 326. Ed. Lamb. For to that end were they born and not for themselves alone according to that wise saying of Tully of all those things which are disputed on by Learned Men there is nothing better than plainly to understand that we are born to do Justice and that Right is the Constitution of Nature and not of Opinion Hence it is that the Law b Mat. 7.12 of doing to others as we would they should do unto us again has obtain'd so much credit in the World that thô the practice of it be often neglected yet it is every where and by all Men commended to be most Just and Reasonable being taken in a right sense with some Restrictions and Limitations as that our Will must be suppos'd to be Regular and to desire nothing of others which may infringe the Laws of Equity Modesty Decency and good Manners For if one should tempt another to Lewdness and Dishonesty to be partaker with him or her in Theft or Adultery and should make use of an Argument grounded upon this Text that he desires nothing of another but what he should be willing to Gratifie him or her in again upon a like occasion this would be to abuse the Rule before us which is never so to be understood as to patronize Sin or elude the Laws of Justice and the Precepts of Holiness Or if a Criminal standing at the Bar convicted of some Notorious Crimes which deserve that the Sentence of Death should be past upon him should argue thus That if the Judge was in his case he would willingly be acquitted and therefore that he ought not to pass Sentence upon him because if he does he violates the Rule of doing to others as he would they should do unto him again In this Case a Judge ought not to take his Measures from the Irregularity of anothers will but from the Rules of Justice and Equity which all Men are universally obliged to observe thô not always in their utmost rigour and extent For we are advised by the wise Man a Eccles 7.16 not to be righteous over much that is not to stretch things beyond their due measure and make more of a Circumstance or an Evidence than they will naturally and fairly bear but to mix Clemency and Mercy with our Justice and that where Right and Property a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Platon Protag p. 225. Ed. Marsil Ficin Peace and Safety and the Publick Good can be preserv'd and secur'd without inflicting Punishment then to preser Mercy before Justice because it is the Attribute of God we most Admire and Adore and which is said to b Jam. 2.13 Rejoyce or Triumph over Justice or against Judgement 2ly I come now to propound some instances where in a Righteous Man excells his Neighbour First If he be a Person who is entrusted with Rule and Authority and the Administration of Justice if he be Advanc'd to some Eminent Station either in Church or State He prefers the Publick Good before his own Private Interest He aims not at carrying on any base Designs of enslaving his Country to a Forreign Power and Papal Jurisdiction whose Arbitrary Exactions and Impositions have been so Intolerable that they have been often oppos'd and at last cast off even whilst the Nation profess'd the Roman Religion He chuses to stand up in Vindication of the Just Rights and Legal Properties of Millions of People as much as he can without resisting Lawfull Authority rather than suffer the Wise and Ancient Laws of his Country the Freedom and Liberty of his fellow Subjects and the True Religion establish'd amongst us to become a Sacrifice and Prey to the Inveterate Rage or insatiable Ambition of a few Aspiring and Merciless Men. He cannot be perswaded that the Numerous Race of Mankind were created on purpose to be trampled upon by some Nero's and Caligula's who are not contented with the Preheminence and Authority which the Laws of God and the Land whereof they are Governours have Invested and Impower'd them withall or that it is Reasonable to think that God has given them leave at their Pleasure to dive●t their Cruel Minds with exercising the Patience and Fortitude of Innocent Men with Racks and Gibbets and other Torments No as they have no Commission or Authority to do Evil so the

Octob. 20. 1693. Imprimatur Geo. Oxenden Procan Jo. Beaumont S. Th. Pr. Jo. Mountagu Coll. Trin. Magister Ja. Johnson Coll. Sid. Magister A SERMON Preached at Great St MARIE'S Church IN CAMBRIDGE Before the Right Honourable The Lord Chief-Justice HOLT AT THE ASSIZES Held there August 1. 1693. By THO. WALKER B. D. Fellow of Sidney-Sussex Coll. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristoph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes Printer to the University For William Graves Bookseller there 1693. To the Right Honourable Sr JOHN HOLT Lord Chief-Justice OF THE KING'S BENCH And One of Their MAJESTIES Most Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL My LORD WHen I lately had the Honour and Happiness of waiting upon Your Lordship You were pleas'd to Encourage the Publication of this Discourse in such Obliging Terms as I cannot here in Modesty relate Your Lordship 's Repeated Requests which to me are Equivalent to Commands and Your Generous Proffer of giving these Papers Protection being such Powerfull Arguments to me as I could not in Duty withstand have usher'd them into the Publick Light This is a sufficient Apology to excuse me from Arrogance and Presumption if there had been no other Reason for my appearing in Print But whilst I was in the Country I was not only surpriz'd with a Letter sent me by an Vnknown Hand misrepresenting my Sermon but soon after I came to the College I was Allarm'd with the Noise which some Men had made about it and not a little Concern'd at the Invidious misconstructions which they had put upon it And therefore as well in my own Vindication as in Obedience to Your Lordship's Command I submit it to a more Publick Censure than it has already undergone All Men who are Just and Impartial have so High a Value for Your Lordship's Judgement and so Great an Opinion of Your Candour and Integrity that seeing Your Lordship has been pleas'd to cast a Favourable Aspect upon this Discourse it raises some hopes in me that how contemptible soever it may seem in the Eyes of some Persons yet it may meet with a Candid Reception amongst others of Your Lordship's Character who are Hearty Lovers of the Church of England of their Majesties and this Nation As for those who are not as I neither expect their Favour so neither do I much regard their Displeasure If any are offended with my Sermon it is their own fault and not mine I am perswaded no Honest Man will Vindicate the Characters of those whom I undertake to expose As I have said nothing but what I really believe to be true so I hope my Sincerity may Atone for the meanness of my Performance and Your Lordship 's Kind Acceptance of it will in my Esteem overballance the Sleights and Reproaches of those who vilifie and condemn it May your Lordship live many Happy Years to Adorn the Station You deservedly Possess to do Justice and Promote the Publick Good and after You have long been a Blessing to this Kingdom may You be receiv'd into that of Eternal Glory which is the Vnfeigned Prayer of My LORD Your Honour 's Most Obedient Obliged and Very Humble Servant THO. WALKER Prov. xii V. 26. The Righteous is more Excellent than his Neighbour THAT there is a real Distinction between Good and Evil Virtue and Vice which was so antecedently to all positive Laws whether Human or Divine and that the natural Deformity and innate Turpitude of the one and the amiable Agreeableness and inherent Rectitude of the other do not barely depend upon the arbitrary Sanctions of those who have enacted Laws concerning them is a Truth so obvious and manifest to any one who duly considers the Nature of things and soberly attends to the reasonings and reflections of his own Mind that one may justly admire how it comes to pass that the dull and exploded Notions of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diegen Laert. in Vita Aristip p. 134. ed. Amstel Aristippus b V. Lactant. l. 5. de Justitia Carneades and other Philosophers of old concerning these matters should be again with Confidence enough reviv'd especially in this Thinking and Philosophical Age by Mr. Hobbs and his Followers who pretend to a more than ordinary smartness and sagacity in Reasoning and Speculation Thus He who whilst he lived was the Greatest wonder of the Peak in the Preface to his Book de Cive huggs and applauds himself for having found out the great and infallible Medicine for Wounded Consciences and troubled Minds by dispelling those mists of Error as he calls them in which Men before this Phosphorus arose were involv'd concerning Just and Unjust Good and Evil in having clearly demonstrated by solid Reasons as he vainly insinuates that there are no Doctrines Authentick concerning them beside the Laws and Constitutions of each particular City And in his Book de Corpore Politico he boldly and in plain terms asserts that a C. 1. p. 5. Jus Vtile right and profit is the same thing So that according to this Doctrine if it should happen that two or more Cities or Nations should have contrary Apprehensions and different Sentiments concerning Good and Evil Just and Unjust that then these Creatures of Civil Power must submit to new Names and change their Liveries as often as they change their Masters But I can never believe that theft and cruelty injustice and oppression deceit and treachery should become good and laudable Qualities by what Laws soever they were enacted or by what Authority soever they should be confirmed or that amongst Wise and sober Men they should be reputed more excellent and praise-worthy than Honesty and Clemency than Justice and Integrity than Sincerity and Fair-Dealing in all the mutual transactions of our Affairs Certainly the Foundations upon which the laws and principles of Justice and Equity are built are as unchangeable and immovable as the Will of God whereby he establishes the immutable Decrees of his Wisdom and Goodness and that we may as well suppose Men able to change the Nature of things to turn a Spirit into a Body or a Body into a Spirit as that they should be able to alter and unfix those steady Rules whereby we take our measures concerning Good or Evil. The laws of the invisible and immaterial World are no less stable and certain than those are by which we observe this visible Frame of things to be guided in the production of their necessary Effects and in their stated and constant courses and periodical Revolutions 'T is as unnatural and irrational to say or make a law that God is not to be worshipped to affirm that 't is wickedness and impiety to render to every one their due or that it is sin and folly to live soberly righteously and Godly as it would be for a Man to attempt to make fire and water lose their innate Qualities of heat and coldness by commanding them to do so and that