not spare her but deposed her from her Regency 1. King 15. And indeed it is truly said Iustitia non novit patrem non novit matrem veritatem novit Iustice neither knoweth father nor mother but onely the truth It is reported by a late Traveller that in Zant over the place of judgement where all causes both Criminall and Civill are decided there are these two Latine verses written on the wall in letters of gold Hic locus odit amat punit conservat hâ—norat Nequitiam pacem crimina iâ—ra bonos This place hateth wickedness loveth peace punisheth offences preserveth the lawes honoureth the good implying that there should be no partiality used but every man should be proceeded withall according to his deserts To which purpose was that memorable speech of our King Henry the fourth of that name who when his eldest son the Prince was by the L. chief Iustice for some great misdemeanors commanded and committed to prison hee thanked God that hee had both a sonne of that obedience and a judge of such unpartiall and undanted courage But Agesilaus was as much to blame who when hee commended a friend of his to the Iudge hee mooved him that if his cause were good hee would absolve him for justice sake if not at his motion but howsoever the world went absolved hee must be bee an ill example of dangerous consequence in him who was to be a paterne of indifferent justice to his inferiour Iudges among whom wee finde that too often true which the heathen Orator complained of in his times Omnium Sermone percrebuit It is rife in every mans mouth In his iudiciis quae nunc sunt pecuniosum hominem quamvis sit nocens neminem posse damnari That in these judgements which are now-adayes a monied man though hee bee guilty cannot be condemned Nihil tam sanctum quod non violari nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecuniâ possit There is nothing so holy that may not be violated nothing so well fenced that may not bee overthrowne with money the lawes being made like unto cobwebs which catch and holde little â—lyes but the great ones breake through them Blasphemy and perjury sacriledge and symonie and extortion and oppression and vsury and exeessive bribery passe currant when petty theeverie in case of extreame necessity is most severely punished The fifâ— and last point I proposed is the End our Prophet proposeth to him selfe of this great work heer vowed It is the purging of the Citie of the Lord whereby is meant Ierusalem First for example to the whole Realme it being the Metropolis and head Citie of the Kingdome as also and principally by reason the service of God and the exercise of religion was in a speciall mannâ—r by divine ordinance tied unto it in which regard he cals it the Citie of the Lord as the Evangelist doth the holy Citie Mat. 4. This Citie was so large that it conâ—â—â—â—ed of foure quarters every one of them by walles divided from another The first and highest was mount Sion in it was the Citie of David called by â—osephus the superiour Citie exceeding strong in regard of the naturall situation thereof The second was called the Daughter of Sion because it seemed to come out as it were of the bosome of the other and in this was mount Moriah whereupon the Temple stood This Citie was compassed with a stronge walâ— wherein stood threescore Towres The third was beautified with many ample streets faire buildings compassed with a wall wherein were fourteen Towers The fourth was inhabited by all sorts of Artificers compassed with the third wall which was twenty five cubits high and had in it fourescore and tenne strong Towers So populous withall it was that during the siege of the Romans in the space of five monthes there were slaine and died as Iosephus there present reports it to the number of eleven hundred thousand Now albeit in our Prophets dayes this Citie was not yet brought to this perfection yet was it then very spacious and populous notwithstanding which greatness of the place and disordred multitude of the inhabitants yet by Gods helpe he undertakes the reformation It is a thing which we ought to bear away for it meeteth with the idleâ—ess and litherness of many who imagine that it is impossible to reforme a great City yea if it bee but a little market-town it is impossible say they that all should bee well there Yea this excuse is pretended by such as have but small families in comparison and so under a colour of this impossibility to reform all they doo almost just nothing no not so much as the lawes put into their hands and command them to do Yet these men have but as it were a posterne gate in Ierusalem to keep what thinke you would they doo if they had the charge of so great and large a City True it is let Officers doo their best there will be much disorder what wil it bee then when they doo little or nothing in respect of any care to weed out sinne but rather bolster it out take part with leud companions give them countenance speak and write for them yea keep them company men fitte rather to bee overseen and guided continually by others than to bee in authority to see or guide any But let such as bee in office doo their duty executing the good lawes put into their hands by higher authority and then not doubt of the impossibility of reforming abuses in their lesser charges seeing David trusting upon the help of God is so confident touching this great populous City Let them but put-to their endeavours and they shall finde such success in the advancement of godlines and suppressing of impiety many times even beyond hope and expectation as they wil see cause to rejoice in the performance of their dutie and to praise God for his blessing upon it Again David vowing to reforme this City meaneth not to stay there but to proceed to the cleansing purging of the whole Land This no doubt hee might think that if Ierusalem were reformed it would be a great light and direction to the whole Kingdome as wee see how it falleth out lesser places look to those that beâ— greater and the meaner sort look to those that beâ— higher froÌ„ whom also there is 〈◊〉 force to draw inferiours either to good or evill Above maiori discit ar are minor A great towne or a great house well ordered may fitly bee compared to a great garden ful of sweet flowrs which yeeldeth much good â—avour and prospect to the neighbours if they bee ill ordered they bee like great dunghills noysome and contagious to such as dwell about A great towne or a great Personages house if they bee good do much good to the Countrey but if they bee naught and sinfull the poison of them is strong and the infection daÌ„gerous It is then a work worthy a King to beginne the reformation of
revenge as zeal of justice For the wrath of max worketh not the righteousnes of God Iames 1. 20. And as hee which hath no skill in Physick cannot with reason controule a skilfull Physician because hee draweth blood from his Patient rather to morrow than to day so neither ought men to censure the proceedings of God whose judgemēts are many times secret but alwaies right having feet of lead but hands of iron and though hee bee long a-striking yet he strikes home at last tarditatem gravitate compensat he makes amends for his sloweness with the waightiness of his blow Nor among men ought inferiours too farre to censure the proceedings of their superiours who many times stop the execution of Iustice for causes just and reasonable in themselves though unknowne to us The Heaven for height the earth for depth and the heart of the king is unsearchable Pro. 25. 3. The Law enacted by Theodosius at the instance of S. Ambrose cannot bee misliked that because being transported with choler hee had caused many Innocents of Thessalonica to be put to the sword from thenceforth thirtie daies should passe betwixt the sentence of death and the execution thereof in as much as the guilty though spared for a time might notwithstanding afterwards bee executed but the guiltlesse beeing once executed could not again bee restored Yet can it not bee denied but upon evident proofe and a fair triall so way bee not given to rash unadvised anger for many waighty reasons already touched it were for the most part better that expedition in punishing great offenses and cutting off notorious malefactours were rather used than slacknes Some others there are who by this Betimes heer mentioned in my Text understand our Prophet as vowing the execution of Iustice at his first entrance to the Crowne in the morning of his raign Like a cleane soule comming out of the hands of the Creator placed in a Kingdom left by Saul as in a body altogether unclean hee promiseth not to draw pollution from it as the soule doth from the body but rather to endeavour to cleanse it from those foule impieties wherewith it swarmed heerin resembling the Sun in the Heavens which as soon as it riseth or before it appear chaseth the darknes before it and is clothed with glory as with a robe Heer reason of State objecteth the danger of sudden innovation feare of the multitude and I knowe not what a number of doubts and difficulties it forecasts but our Prophet though doubtlesse not ignorant of these yet in a holy resolution casts them behinde him as well knowing that the principles of humane policy are as uncertain as the braine wherein they are forged beeing perswaded in conscience and his heart telling him The action it self was good the throng and thickness of difficulties should not discourage him but rather make him the more stoutly to plucke up his spirits and to buckle himself more roundly to the businesse It was a sore task he had in hand a long journey hee had to goe and therefore hee had need to set forth betime if hee meant to arrive at the end thereof before the night of death should overtake him They were memorable peeces of justice which Salomon did as soon as God had put the scepter into his hand Iehu at his first entrance into the Kingdom roots out the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal Iosiah when hee was now but twelve yeeres old beganne to purge Iudah and Ierusalem 2. Chro. 34 that men might knowe what they were to trust unto in the succeeding course of his government Yet I take not our Prophets meaning to bee that the Prince at his first entrance should unwisely and without advice destroy and cut off for so perhaps by seeking to make a way for godliness and vertue and to banish impietie and vice he might chance to fall into a mischief more intolerable thā the present condition the remedy might proove worse than the disease In nature wee see that such a body there may bee in which all the blood shall bee so corrupted that before a man should find any good blood therin hee might if he would use phlebotomy draw out take away both the life and last drop together in such a case when the corruption is so grosse and infinite a skilfull Physician will use Epicrasis as they call it labouring to bring the body to a better tēperature He will draw from it at diverse times and by diverse means but yet hee will take no more but what is needfull to unburthen nature which beeing discharged gathereth vigour to it selfe again and evacuateth by sweating and other good meanes the malignant humours at length cleanseth the blood it self so may ◠Prince in these abundant and superfluous humours of the State not presently open a vein lest so perhappes the spirits depart with the blood and the life goe away with the strength but by degrees as hee may displace corrupt Officers and Iudges and substitute better in their roomes and by this discretion and Gods blessing upon it he shall see in a short time a conversion of the body of the Common-wealth without any subversion or trouble to it or in it a new Kingdome and yet without any great novelty or change The shippe of Delos so renowned in antiquity for lasting many years and ages without renewing whence got it that fame but because as soone as a plank was in danger or beganne to rot they presently provided a new sound one in the room thereof And the safest way to restore a decayed State is To proceed by the same course but then there needs constancy and perseverance singalis matutinis morning after morning every morning It is not one mornings work but as Speed is required for such a work without delay and Diligence without remisnes so is Constancy without intermission It is a common saying that A new besome sweepsclean but it is a true one that The end crowns the work for to begin well and then to give over or to go on by starts and not with a constant hand is the next way to draw on a relapse which many times proves more dangerous than the originall sicknesse Many to win applause or the better to settle themselves in their regall or imperiall Thrones have begunne with wholesome Lawes and strict execution of them but within a while they have growne weary either by despairing the event would answer their purposes or by giving themselves over to ease and pleasure and so have lost both their honour with men and their reward with God But as naturall motions gather strength in moving so a reformation begun aright out of a conscience of duty and a zeal of goodnes though it finde some rubs and oppositions at first yet the farther it wades the more easie it findes the passage and the means more ready for the compassing of what it intends Had our King Henry the last of that name
is Mercy and Iudgement inseparable companions of whom it may bee said as our Prophet sometime spake of Saul and Ionathan they were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their deaths they were not divided The two brightest Stars they are in the firmament of Majesty the two fairest Flowers and choicest Iewels in the Imperiall Crown like the Carnation and the Lilly the Ruby and the Saphire or the Carbuncle and the Diamond yeelding a mutuall and interchangeable Iustre each to other They resemble not unfitly the two supporters of the Kings armes or the two Seraphins stretching out their golden wings over the Propitiatory or the white and red Rose in the same Escutchion We read that Salomon set up two goodly pillars in the porch of the Temple the one called Iachin the other Boaz which signifie Stability and Strength such pillars of the State are Mercy and Iudgement The Throne of the King is borne up by them as Salomons was with Lions of Ivory on each side Therefore as in one place it is said that the Throne is established by iustice so in another that it is upheld with Mercy Iustice beeing as the bones and sinewes in the body politicke and Mercy as the veins arteries They are the two hands of Action the two eies of Vertue and the two wings of Honour And as the eyes if they bee rightly set doo both look one way so do Mercy and Iudgement how-ever in the apprehension of the vulgar they seem to look contrary waies And as the Trebble and the Base accord best in Musick so do they in managing the Common-wealâ—h Wherefore David promiseth to make them both â—ound tuneable in his song without jarre or discord I will sing Mercy and Iudgement The answer of Apollonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instruction Vespasian asked him what was Nero's overthrowe he answered Nero could touch and tune the Harp well but in government sometimes hee used to winde the pinnes too high and sometimes to let them down too lowe thereby intimating that hee applied Causticks and Corrosives where gentle Lenitives would have served the turne again he applied Lenitives where Corrosives were needfull Sometimes hee administred Iustice without Mercy and sometimes Mercy without Iustice Iustice without Mercy beeing nothing else but cruelty like Esau red and rough bitter as wormwood and Mercy without Iustice but fond pity foolish partiality As Mercy then serves to abate the edge and rigour of Iustice so doth Iustice to quicken the slownes and sharpen the dulness of Mercy As Mercy without Iustice is coÌ„temned so Iustice without Mercy is hated Astronomers conceive that the Crystalline Sphear which they suppose to be the waters above the heavens mentioned in the first of Genesis is set next the first Mover for allaying the heat thereof which by reason of the incomprehensible swiftnes of its motion would otherwise set the whole world on fire This I take to bee but a fancy of theirs but Mercy I am sure is set so neer Iustice for the cooling and tempering of it Hee that iustifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the righteous they are both an abomination to the Lord Pro. 17. 15. Now he that pretends Mercy but without Iustice will bee sure to justifie the wicked and again hee that pretends Iustice but without Mercy cannot but condemne the righteous but the right mixture and true temper of both justifies the righteous and condemns the wicked Which temper is by S. Paul commended to the publique Magistrate Rom. 13 If thou doo well hee is the Minister of God for thy good but to take vengeance of thee if thou do evill And by S. Peter in his first Epistle and second chapter They are sent of God for the punishment of evill doers and the praise of them that do well All precepts touching supream Governours are in effect comprehended in these two Remembrances Memento quod es homo and Memento quod es Deus or vice Dei Remember thou art a man remember thou art a God or in stead of God the one to bridle their power the other their will From the former of which issue the acts of Mercy and from the other of Iustice nay the verie remembraÌ„ce that they are vice-gods is sufficient to put them in minde of both inasmuch as Gracious and righteous is the Lord and all his paths are Mercy and Truth Psal. 25. Hee hath not one path of Mercy and another of Truth but all his paths are Mercie and Truth like Crimsin and White Silk twisted together or woven one within the other His red Cross of Iustice is ever set in the white streamer of Mercy as the rod of Aâ—ron and the pot of Manna were by his commandement laid up in the same Ark. Through the thickest blackest cloud of his Iustice alwaies appears some beams or sparks of Mercy and the clearest sunshine of his Mercy is overshadowed with showres of Iustice What infinite Mercy did hee shew in the redemption of mankind when he might justly have tumbled them down as hee did the Apostate Angels to the bottomless pit of helâ— and yet withall what infinite Iustice did hee express in the same action in laying the sinnes of the whole world and the punishment due to sinne upon the shoulders of his innocent best-beloved and only-begotten Son And thus did his wisedom finde out a way for the making of his Mercy and Truth one path much like Zalâ—uchus who shewed his Iustice in causing one of his sons eyes to bee put out for comitting adultery according to a law newly before made by himselfe and his Mercy in putting out one of his owne for the sparing of the other of his sons which the law also required to have been put out Hence S. Peter represents God unto us both as a Father and as a Iudge in one the same verse 1. 1. 17 to shew that he is mercifull as a Father and righteous as a Iudge So ought his Vicegerents heer on earth having therefore a sceptre given them to putte them in minde of Mercy a sword that they forget not Iustice Scarlet and Purple to think upon Iustice and white Miniver or Ermins to remember Mercy that so the people committed to their charge may sing with joyfull thankfull harts Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousnes Peace have kissed each other And themselves at last may finde Salomons saying true Hee that followeth after Righteousnes and Mercy shall finde life righteousnes and glory as holy Iob did who in his prosperity did not onely put on Iustice as a robe and as a crowne by breaking the iawes of the unrighteous and plucking the prey out of his teeth but expressed works of Mercy in beeing eyes to the blinde and feet to the lame and a father to the poor Iob. 29. 14. 15. 16. 17. Having thus handled these two Vertues jointly together let us now take a view of them single apart for