pulchre munitam arbitror perfidia peculatus ex urbe avaritia si exulant if perfidiousnesse and perjurie and falshood if ambition and pilling and polling were banished it were then a goodly Citie indeed When at a Diet in Wormes in Maximilians time the Princes there met and upon occasion set forth the excellencie of their severall Dominions The Duke of Saxonie glorying in his Minerall veines The Bavarian in his beautifull Cities The Count Palatine in his fertile soyle Onely Eberhard Duke of Wittenburgh said nothing but this I can boast of nothing in that kinde but this I am proud of I can lay downe my head and sleepe securely in the bosome of any of my Subjects an unvaluable prerogative of a Prince and no where to be found but where the Magistrate and the people hate Covetousnesse For as Feare dares not draw the Sword so Covetousnesse will not The third impediment is Hatred and that must not For the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God James 1.20 For although it be said at the end of this verse that the Magistrate is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must take vengeance in wrath or is a Revenger to execute wrath that is punishment upon him that doth evill yet he must not draw the sword in anger against the Person but against the sinne There is a time when a man may be angry Moses was angry against the Israelites idolatry Exod. 32.19 and did not offend Jonas was angry at Gods mercy in sparing the Ninivites and he was reproved Doest thou well to be angry saith God Jon. 4.4 Christ was rail'd at mock'd and crucified yet was not angry but prayed for his enemies Father forgive them for they know not what they doe But when hee saw his Fathers House abus'd then he was angry and whipt them out of the Temple hee had anger certainly though not as a passion of revenge yet of detestation it was zealous anger not vicious anger Unbridled anger is a temporary frenzie for there 's a two-fold madnesse one of the head which makes men runne out of their wits another of the heart which turns them out of their patience and that 's anger This if it be of long continuance growes to be hatred and he that hates his brother is a man-slayer 1 Joh. 3.15 Not so much because he hurts his brother whom he hates but because he slayeth his own soule yea and his brothers too if he could Ille vivit saith S. Augustine tamen tu occidisti hee liveth yet thou hast kill'd him as much as in thee lyeth Now if a Magistrate be drawne into hatred of any mans person hee may be a double Homicide for besides the mischiefe he doth to himselfe hee may be the death of another When Josua proceeded against Achan he did it mildly My sonne confesse thy fault and give glory to God Ios 7.19 A Magistrate should have least interest in himselfe Aristides sitting in judgement upon two men that were adversaries One of them thinking to make his cause the better by accusing his enemie said O Aristides this man hath done thee great wrong My friend quoth Aristides Tell mee what wrong hee hath done thee for I sit here to doe thee justice and not my selfe This sword therefore must not be drawne against the person of the offender but against the offence of the person in detestation of the fault not of the man for it must not be drawne in hatred The fourth impediment is Partialitie or favour Jehosaphat having set Judges in the Land gave them this Charge Take heed what yee doe for you judge not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19. That word excludes all corruption for if he be pusillanimous he will judge for man that makes him feare his enemies if partiall to favour his friends if covetous to love himselfe too much if he be malicious he will hate others And then Truth must needs have a cold Suit when Malice is chiefe Juror and Partialitie the Judge I know Pitie is the best prayse of humanitie and fruit of Christian love but in Judgement it may have no place he must heare the small as well as the great the rich and the wretch both alike Alexander when he sate in judgement would with one eare open heare the Plaintiffe and keepe the other for the Defendant it was justly done for Qui statuit aliquid parte inauditâ alterâ aequum licet statuerit haud aequus fuit said the Tragedian Hee that determineth upon hearing of but one party though his judgement be true yet he is not right Judge For favour being the false advocate of the gracious is injurious to truth and it is required that Judges should be men of truth Exod. 18. Now there is veritas vitae veritas justitiae veritas doctrinae Truth of life when our conversation is framed according to the rule of truth truth of doctrine distinguishing truth from error and right from wrong truth of justice in giving every man his owne A Magistrate therefore must be inflexible unpartiall free from passion and affection with a sword in one hand and his ballance in the other Ponderat haec causas percutit ille reos to ponder mens causes and punish their offences without partiality Now having removed the impediments I come to the drawing of the Sword which is upright Judgement You will say perhaps it hath beene long in drawing and I answer The blocks in the way were heavie and not soone removed and besides Nulla unquam de vita hominis cunctatio longa est a man cannot demurre too much upon a mans life for if he wrongfully miscarry and the Sword be drawne unjustly what amends can be made for his unjust suffering Upright Judgement therefore according to Law is the true drawing of the Sword whereunto three things are required first Wisdome secondly Pietie thirdly Justice Wisedome in discussing causes This hath ever carried that shew of excellencie that the very wicked have laboured to put on the vizard of it Come sayes Pharaoh let us doe wisely yet his wisedome proved folly because it was against Gods people so it is with all the worldly wise as Saint Paul sayth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whilest they seemed to be wise they became fooles Rom. 1. But marke the wisedome of Job when he was a Magistrate When I knew not the cause I sought it out diligently Job 29.16 This was Gods owne way to teach man for although all things are open and manifest to his eyes yet marke how in judgement he commends deliberation The sinnes of Sodome were exceeding grievous and their Crie was great yet I will goe downe now sayes God and see whether they have done altogether according to that Crie and if not that I may know Questionlesse God heard and knew but noluit audita judicare he would not judge by the eare onely but by the eye Vnus oculatus testis plus valet quam auriti decem One ocular witnesse
the head governes all the body yea many times when the body is at rest the head is most disquieted 3. For necessary use because from thence flowes sence and motion into all the members of the body And all these titles what are they but obligations of greatest duties and of greater necessity to depend upon God both for advice in wisedome and assistance in power But that which transcends all is I said yee are Gods which is to be understood onely representatively because God hath given them power to speake to the people in his name and execute his judgements I have made thee Pharaohs God said God to Moses Exod. 7.1 And these attributes of honour instruct them how to governe and others how to reverence them Them how to governe to rule for God reward for God punish for God remembring alwaies though they are gods of the earth yet they are but earthen gods In their greatest glory they are but virtus in infirmitate and although by their birth or fortune they be sifted from the branne of the vulgar yet they are but ejusdem farinae of the same meale Their heads of gold and breasts of silver c. stand but upon feet of clay the splendour of their renowne the glory of their riches and strength of their greatnesse hath but a dusty foundation pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris Againe it teacheth others how to reverence them They that rule well are worthy of double honour 1 Tim. 5.17 Single honour howsoever because of Rule which is Gods ordinance but double honour if he be a good Magistrate because of his diligence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Chrysostome very much honour or double saith Aquine reverentiae subsidij reverence and maintenance allegeance and allowance So tender is God for preservation of their dignities that hee gave his people charge Elobim lo thikkallel Thou shalt not raile upon the gods nor curse the Ruler of thy people Exod. 22.28 And by an ancient Canon a severe Censure was imposed upon him that was contumeliosus in magistratum if a lay man to excommunicate him if in orders to depose him their persons should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inviolable for they are sacred like an Asylum a Sanctuary or consecrated Temple which for the veneration of Religion might not be violated For this cause David would not lay hands upon Saul when occasion gave him power over his life for though hee was wicked yet hee was the Lords anoynted he had sanctitatem unctionis though not vitae an holy calling though not an holy carriage S. Jude sets it downe for a note of reprobate men to despise dominion and speake evill of dignities Yet such a pernicious brood there is in the world that bend their tongues like a bow against authority and shoot out their arrowes even bitter words What learned Praelate hath not this Blatant beast bitten what Reverend Judge hath not this serpent stung What honest man hath not been bespattered with this filthy vomit yea Christ himselfe was not free from the aspersion of unrighteous speakers who called him a friend of Publicans and sinners and ascribed their miracles to the power of Belzebub But let them goe and good luck have you with your honour ride on because of the word of truth remember it is that which gives you honour and it stands with your honour to maintaine that For you beare the sword And so I take my leave of your honour and come next to your charge for as I have shewed them how great they are so I must needs tell them how good they should be Their charge standeth in the use of the sword whereunto three things are required 1. Good lawes they are like the sword in the scabbard 2. Vpright judgement according to those lawes that 's like a sword drawne 3. Just execution that strikes the stroke To the making of good lawes three things are required 1. The matter which must be agreeable to the law of nature and will of God 2. The end to maintaine vertue and suppresse vice 3. Their extent not for private gaine but for publick good And when lawes are made there 's no exemption of any person from their obedience and subjection Let every soule be subject to the higher powers saith the Apostle Omnis anima anima propter voluntatem omnis propter universalitatem the soule because obedience ought to be voluntary every soule because it must universall To say therefore the Clergie is exempted because it is not said Omnis spiritus but omnis anima that is animalis homo the laity not spiritualis homo the Clergie is viperina glossa and cates out the bowels of the text For the soule is taken for the whole man every soule that is every man there were eight soules in Noahs Ark that is eight persons 1 Pet. 3.20 But I grant you saith Bellarmine they are subject obligatione directiva non coactiva by obligation of direction not coercion which is as much as to say as farre as they list themselves Is this subjection or rather is it not a cunning evasion that 's no law that hath onely reference to their disceretion for whom it is enacted that very reference loseth the reverence and authority of it Justice and right in giving every one his due should have the same place in the common-wealth which faith and religion claymeth in the Church Now as in religion there are some things in substance and some things of ceremony so there are some points essentiall in justice and some accidentall the essentiall points of justice are the same in lawes of all common-wealths for what is a law but a divine ordinance commanding things honest and forbidding the contrary The accidentall parts doe and may vary according to the circumstances of times persons and places For as good remedies are occasioned from bad diseases so ex malis moribus bonae leges oriuntur There was in ancient times no law against a Parricide whereof Solon being ask'd the reason answered Hee thought no man so unnaturall as to commit that sinne but when the wickednesse of the times had produc'd such monstrous Imps that did kill their owne fathers then a law was provided and a punishment set downe for the Party so offending was to be sowed in a leathern sack with a Dogge a Cock a Viper and an Ape foure angry creatures and so cast into some deepe water as unworthy to reape the benefit of any of the foure elements the reason whereof is given to be this Vt qui eum necasset unde ipse natus esset careret rebus omnibus unde omnia nascuntur That he which kill'd him of whom he was borne should be deprived of those things whereof all things are bred In the time of Innocencie God gave man a law One tree he must not eate of It was not envie as the devill would perswade but a type of Adams obedience as if God should tell him saith Saint Austin If Adam
would know the reason Quia ego dominus tu servus obedientem te volo non contradicentem I am thy Lord thou my servant I will have thee obedient not repugnant Much more now are lawes necessarie yea new lawes according to occasion either for prevention to stop a mischiefe ensuing or for subvention to remedy evils past They are like waters that receive their tincture and tasts from the soyles through which they runne and so change according to the regions and governments where they are planted yet they proceed from the same fountaine of justice They ought not by multitude of constitutions to be snares to good minds nor by the quirks of mercenarie wits to be perverted to bad purposes Lawes should command not dispute The people of Aegina did impose a pecuniarie mulct upon him that had occasioned a new Law Amongst the Athenians there was but one new Law made for an hundred yeares and that was procured by one that was monoculus and the Law was this That hee should lose both his eyes who had put out his that had but one For our part God be thanked wee have good Lawes no Kingdome better and whether there be any need of more that must be left to the wisdom of the Estates If I have herein exceeded my bounds I cry pardon of the Lawyers I am sure the lesse wee have to doe with their Law the better men will like of our Divinity Only with old father Latimer I hope it is no harme to wish one Law more to be made which might be like that of the Medes and Persians unalterable namely for execution of those Lawes that are to be made For Lawes only made and not executed are like the Sword in the scabbard I come therefore to the second point which is the Sword drawne and that 's upright judgement To cleare this passage foure obstacles must be removed Feare Covetousnesse Hatred and Favour Feare dares not draw the Sword Covetousnesse will not Hatred must not and Favour may not of each of these some thing Feare was Pilats fault hee sought many meanes to deliver Jesus but feare of Caesars displeasure hindered him If thou let this man goe thou art not Caesars friend said the Jewes then he condemned Christ Iohn 19.12 If he had said Vivat Rex currat Lex God blesse Caesar and let the Law have his course he had beene a good Judge There is a Signe in Heaven called Virgo betwixt Leo and Libra Pierius in his Hieroglyphicks compares Justice to this Signe for Justice is a pure intemerate Virgin never corrupted by those too shamelesse Sollicitors Nimium Parum Excesse and Defect shee hath Leo on the one side because a just man is bold as a Lion Prov. 26.1 and Libra a paire of Ballances on the other side weighing out to every man his right which he cannot doe equally if he feare any mans displeasure He must remember Gods encouragement to Josua Be valiant and of a good courage Feare is forbidden by our Saviour Christ Mat. 10. Feare not them that can kill the Body A three-fold reason is there given first in regard of mans impotence for his power reacheth no further than the Body which is but the Bellowes of the Soule through which she breathes Anaxarchi follem tundis non Anaxarchum said he when he was maul'd to death Secondly in regard of Gods providence which extendeth it selfe to the lives of unreasonable creatures without which a Sparrow falls not upon the ground If the life of a Sparrow be governed by Divine Providence the price whereof is not a farthing shall not the life of the Just much more the price whereof is the blood of Christ Thirdly whatsoever becomes of our Bodies not an haire shall be missing at the Resurrection The haires of your head are numbred saith Christ Non est timendum de majoribus ubi est cura de minimis si sic custodiuntur superflua tua in quanta securitate est anima tua If God care for our superfluities much more for our necessaries the Soule especially Feare not therefore saith our Saviour Christ The Magistrate that beares the Sword must be magnanimous Certainely God hath set such an impression of Majestie in the face of lawfull Authoritie that wickednesse is confounded in it selfe to behold it For if from hence the Power that is visible were not more feared than the invisible God the world would be over-run with outrage Therefore a good Magistrate like a wise Physician feares not to let out the corrupt blood of Malefactors to save the life of the State for the Body of the Common-wealth cannot live unlesse her bad Members bleed This requireth fortitude and Feare dares not draw the Sword The second impediment is Covetousnesse and that will not draw the Sword The Prophet Osee complaineth Their Rulers love to say with shame Bring yee Os 4.18 It was the fault of Samuels sonnes they did not walke in their fathers wayes Why so Dilexerunt munera they loved Gifts nay Bribes that was the right name What followed Perverterunt judicium 1 Sam. 8.3 Then God tooke away the Government the people chose Saul King and those bribing Judges were cast off Aristophanes jeasting upon Cleon as Plutarch hath it saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This man can skill of no straine but the Dorick alluding to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 muneribus corrumpi the bribing straine rightly so called for a wicked man saith Salomon taketh a gift out of the bosome to wrest or straine the wayes of Judgement Many a heavie Curse hath God layd upon this sinne Woe be unto them saith the Prophet Esay that joyne house to house and field to field till there be no place Es 5.8 not speaking against honest purchasing but wicked compassing till there be no place no place for a neighbour to live by them Saint Ambrose complained in his time of such greedie encroachments Rich men cannot dwell alone upon earth sayes hee beasts herd together birds flock together fishes swim in sholes together nec damnum ducunt sed commercium vivendi They finde a kinde of commerce no dammage in it Solus tu homo consortem excludis includis feras struis habitacula bestiarum destruis hominem Man alone shuts out the companion of his life and emparketh beasts When Alexander sent Phocion an hundred talents he asked why amongst so many Athenians the King sent gifts unto him because saith the Messenger he heares that thou onely art a just man then Phocion Quin igitur posthac me bonum esse permittat Let him suffer mee to be so still for this is the way to make me stark naught What is the glory of a Citie not sumptuous buildings and stately pallaces but where the three faire daughters of Themis doe flourish Eunomia Dice Eirene Equity Justice and Peace Or as Persa the Captive virgin said of Athens being asked if it were not a goodly strong fenced Citie answered Si incolae bene sint morati