mala nulla alia nisi naturali normâ dividere possumus Cicero de Legib. l. 1o. if the nature of Good and Evil depended upon the capricious humours and was to be determined by the fallible Constitutions of human Lawgivers it would then be in their Power to reverse the Face of things when they pleas'd and so in time they might quite abolish the Notions and Sentiments which are implanted in Mens minds concerning Right and Wrong Virtue and Vice and the same Actions might pass for Just and Pious at one time which would be look'd upon to be highly Impious and Unjust at another But this can never be for if all the World should conspire together to make it unlawfull to worship God and to honour our Parents to live Soberly Righteously and Godly and should consent to establish a Law to make it lawfull to commit Theft Murder or Adultery c. it would be null and void of it self without being formally repeal'd by another and the same breath that pronounc'd it would only deliver it up to the sport and derision of the winds and they who endeavour to establish iniquity by such a Law would only render themselves guilty before God by keeping it and would pull down upon their own Heads that Curse denounc'd against them by the Prophet Isaiah c. 5. v. 20 Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter 'T is the peculiar Excellence of God that he changeth not and therefore he will never refix those Laws in any time which he had decreed and establish'd before the World began for being infinitely Wise and Just and Good he could not enact any Law which was either foolish unjust or wicked because his Knowledge which is stinted by no other bounds than those of Infinity and Eternity cannot be deceiv'd and his Justice which is as essential to him as his very Being would not have suffer'd it and his Goodness which overspreads the whole Creation could have took no delight and satisfaction in imposing false notions upon his Creatures or in the reflection and contemplation upon an Irregular Action in himself of which he is not capable No he saw all things that He a Gen. 1.31 had made and behold they were very Good as well in a Moral as in a Natural respect so that there was nothing left for the wit of Man to perform towards the Perfection of his own Nature o◠the accomplishment of his own Happiness Peace and Security even in this World God having made such ample Provision for him and plac'd him in such a state of Perfection that he might not only have been Happy himself but also have deriv'd those Endowments with which he was blest and that Felicity which he enjoy'd upon his Posterity too if he had not swerv'd and deviated from the Law of his Creation in first willfully violating that of his Maker For Men therefore to talk of the state of Nature's being a state of War wherein all things were Lawfull and all things Common wherein Men were obliged by no Rules and Laws of Justice and Equity but that they might without controul follow the swing and bent of their own Vitious Inclinations and Irregular Appetites till by consent they tied themselves up to be govern'd by certain Laws is to reflect unworthily upon the Wisdom and Goodness of God as if Men could do better for themselves than either he could or would do for them Alas the utmost we can do cannot restore our lapsed Nature to its Primitive Integrity or re-engrave the defaced Characters of Wisdom and Innocence which were once imprinted on the minds of our first Parents by the Finger of their all Wise Creator For God created man upright but they have sought out many inventions Eccles 7.24 This then being premis'd and granted that the nature of Good and Evil is invariable and that they are not the Fortuitous result and offspring of Arbitrary Power and Will but that the one is built upon the solid Foundation of Everlasting Truth and is conformable to the Will of God and that the other is a deviation from the dictates of Right Reason which is a Ray that proceeds from the Fountain of Light and an aberration from the Divine Law I shall now come to a more strict discussion of the Words of my Text. Only be pleas'd to afford your Patience whilst I make this Reflection upon what I have said that I am sorry we live in such an Age wherein the Prime Rules and Fundamental Principles of Religion and Morality are call'd in question wherein Men affect to be witty at the expence of their own Happiness and Salvation by endeavouring to vindicate their Enormous Crimes with a shew of Reason which God knows is often as corrupt and vitiated as their Morals and therefore it cannot but with Regret and Sorrow be reflected upon that there should be any Occasion for Discourses of this Nature Some alas in this Degenerate Age wherein downright Atheism is dress'd up in the more plausible Colours of Deism are apt to flatter and deceive themselves with the vain and empty Hopes of being accounted Men of extraordinary Parts and piercing Judgments if they can but manage two or three weak and trifling Arguments against all Reveal'd Religion and so having shook off the Yoke that so sorely gall'd them they disdain to be under the restraint and government of any other Law than what their Wild Fancies and Corrupt Imaginations dictate to them and so giving way to their Heacstrong Passions and Craving Appetites they indulge and gratifie their unruly Lusts in all the instances of Impiety Lewdness and Sensuality But as sure as there is a God that governs the World so sure hath he reveal'd his Will to Mankind by his onely Son Jesus Christ who is the Wisdom of the Father and the express Image of his Person in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge such Knowledge as will make us wise unto Salvation in respect of which all other worldly Wisdom is but accounted Folly before God To offer at the proof of this Point would be forreign to my Purpose and therefore I return to the Handling the Words of my Text which in the several Translations of the vulgar Latin Greek and Arabick are so variously rendered that they differ as much among themselves as they do from the Original Hebrew to which our Translation especially taking in the Marginal Reading of more abundant comes nearer than any of those before mentioned and therefore I shall stick to that and take the Words as they fairly lye before us without offending some of your Ears with the uncouth and uncommon Sounds of Greek and Hebrew Words which I could not avoid if I should attempt to make a Critical Disquisition about the different Interpretation of the Original Having therefore in what I have already said fixt the Notions of Good
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
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 quà m planè intelligi nos ad JustitiÄ 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 diveâ—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
Man I am speaking of looks upon himself in Conscience obliged as much as in him fairly lies to endeavour to repress the Exorbitant Growth of Arbitrary Power to stem the Tide of Tyranny Superstition and Idolatry when it begins to overflow the Land and its Furious Waves attempt to undermine and bear down the True establish'd Religion he Professes which is dearer to him than his Life or any Temporal Concern For he thinks there is no just Reason to expect that God should work Miracles to preserve a Church and Nation from Ruin and Destruction when other Means may be Lawfully us'd toward the Resetling them upon their old Foundations according to their Ancient and Legal Constitution without their being concern'd in Rebellion And here I have a Fair Occasion offer'd me of drawing a Parallel between two Printes who are at open Hostility with one another and of showing the Justice of the Cause in which One of them is Engaged against the Unjust Invasions and Violent Usurpations of the Other Whose Severe not to say Inhuman Usage of his own Faithfull and Loyal Subjects many of whom had obliged him in the Highest Degree and never disobliged him except when they could not comply with his Unlawful Commands may teach us how he would deal with those of another Nation if they once should be so Unhappy as to Groan under his Heavy Yoke How would they then wish and sigh for that Deliverer which too many now so lightly Esteem If Solemn Oaths and Edicts could not bind him from Banishing his own Native Subjects from their Habitations to seek their Bread in Forreign Countreys because they neither could nor would be Papists how can we who of late have been the Greatest Thorn in his Side by endeavouring to stop the Progress of his Arms and curb his Growing Power who no doubt have exasperated him against us in a more than Ordinary Manner by Burning and Sinking some of his Capital Ships can we I say whom he looks upon as the most Formidable Opposers of his Designs expect Better and more Favourable Dealings from him than they have met with Can we think we have obliged him as much as his own Protestant Subjects have done who set the Crown upon his Head And all the World sees how he has Requited them for it It seems to me to proceed either from want of due Consideration oâ— a right Understanding of Affairs to think that a Monarch so much devoted to his own Interest should be at this Vast Expence of Money and Loss of Men barely upon the account of only Reaping the Naked Glory of Restoring an Unfortunate Deserting and Deserted Prince without having any farther Design According to my shallow Judgement in these Matters I am apt to think he had rather be a Conquerour of a Kingdom himself than Restore another to it Can we imagine he should be touch'd with such a feeling Sense of Honour or Conscience as to impoverish his Subjects and weaken his Forces for the Sake of Re-enthroning one Prince when he shows no Concern or Tenderness of either in Dispossessing others being of his own Religion too of their Lawfull and Hereditary Dominions Why should not the Duke of Savoy the Elector Palatine the Emperour or King of Spain be as Dear to him as some Body else And yet I am inclin'd to believe if he had his Will against the foremention'd Princes he would leave the Glory of Restoring them to their Dominions to some other Potentate So that I must beg to be excus'd if I cannot submit to the Judgement of those Men who have so good an Opinion of him as to think he only Designs to do Justice out of Pure Generosity by Restoring the late King And therefore I hope without being Guilty of misapplying my Text or abusing Scripture I may truly say that our Gracious and Righteous King William is more Excellent than This his Neighbouring Prince It cannot but be Evident to a Man of an unbiass'd Judgement that our King seeks to Promote the Publick Good not only of these Kingdoms but of all Europe If he could have been so Base as to have Betray'd the Liberty of his Country or so Tame as only to have fat still whilst the French had overrun and subdu'd it he might have made what Terms he pleas'd for himself and have enjoy'd more Ease and Quiet than he now does But the Safety and Welfare of his Country of which he has been an Hereditary Defender the Liberty of all Europe and the Preservation of the Protestant Religion were Dearer to him than his own Private Interest and Repese otherwise he would never have undertook so Hazardous an Attempt as was that of his coming hither to Secure and Settle the Right of his Princess to the Crown by making his Appeal to a Free Parliament and to put our disjoynted Government into Frame and Order again without any imaginable Probability that He should come to fill an Empty Throne His Actions since his being Possess'd of these Kingdoms sufficiently manifest it to all the World that 't was neither Pride nor Ambition nor love of Ease and Empire that prompted him to undertake our Deliverance and Accept the Crown For since that has he not expos'd his Life to Danger as much or more than ever he had done before Has he not undergone the Greatest Fatigues imaginable in Watchings and Tedious Marches and liv'd in a continual hurry of Business ever since Men who only Design their own Profit and Advantage give over Trading when they have acquir'd a Plentifull Estate that they may Enjoy themselves in Ease and Pleasure and Quiet They then Retire from the Noisy Clutter of the City and Exchange and take some satisfaction in thinking how others scramble for that of which they have now with Care and Industry got enough but the Acquisition of Three Kingdoms does only Inspirit and Invigorate our King for Greater Undertakings that by the help of God he might be the Deliverer of other Nations as well as of these Kingdoms For it is plain he does not so much Delight to wear a Crown as to Deserve it Whilst others spend their flying and Precious Hours amidst all the Softning Divertisements and Entertainments of a Splendid Court He chuses to tread the Rugged but more Noble Paths which lead to True Glory and Immortal Honour in shunning no Opportunity of setting a Gallant Army a Brave Example of Heroick Courage and Undaunted Magnanimity of Prudent Conduct and Inimitable Valour by too much Exposing his Sacred Person to the Common Danger upon all Occasions And notwithstanding He has never declin'd to Engage the Enemy upon Apparent Disadvantage and Unequal Number yet the Watchfull Providence of God has Protected and Defended Him in a more than Ordinary Manner When so many Instruments of Death have flown so Thick about Him that some of them have gently wounded Him yet none of them have had Power to touch his Life for which extraordinary Mercy Gods holy Name be