of Monarchy and Aristocracie the Principality was elective by the People and their Parliament I mean by the Grand Sanhedrim the Assembly of Seventy Elders which may be understood in the Text by the word Counsellours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint renders it it was not hereditary but transmitted from Families and Tribes as God raised up persons of singular activity and fitness and as the people chose though sometimes as it usually falls out in all but most of all in such kinde of States as Ambition came to have confidence power and opportunity as you may read in Iothams parable in Iudg. 9. Nor was their power so great as that of the succeeding Kings but compared by Menochius to the Dukedom of Venice And thus this Prophecie or Promise seems to have had its accomplishment at the return from the Babylonish captivity when the Government till the Roman invasion was some what like this in the hands of Ezra Nehemiah Ioshua the Sonne of Iosedec Zerubbabel and others For though the Scepter was departed from Iudah yet he had a Law-giveâ— though a Magistracy of a baser metal betwixt his feet till Shiloh came I conceive this cannot be the sense of the Text and my reason is Because 1. there is no necessity to interpret the words Judges and Counsellors as importing such a form The fullest power of Monarchical Government being often expressed by this word Psal. 75. 7. God is the judge and when Absalom desires to be King in the room of his Father 2 Sam. 15. 4. he speaks thus Oh! that I were judge to omit other places the word Counsellors also may well be applied to the Supreme Authority and Legislative power it being common in Scripture for those commands of God which have the highest Authority to enforce them and his own decrees to be expressed by this word as may be seen in Isa. 14. 27. Isa. 23. 9. and Counsellors may be as this Sanhedrim afterwards was assistant to Monarchy besides others particularly chosen to it as 1 Chron. 27. 33. 2. And this sense would too much intrench upon that which was the Authority settled by God in the Family of David and promised to continue in Iudahs posterity until Shiloh come 3. Nor was there ever any restoring thereof after the captivity in the exactness of that form by which it was contradistinguished from regal power formerly as might be instanced in divers particulars 2. Further then the words may import Government in its full administration and execution You shall not only have Authority Supreme but you shall have it fully executed When Iehoshaphat provided for the good of his people he set up Judges in all the Cities as 2 Chron. 19. 8. and these were persons who for the ease and conveniency of the Kingdom were to be ready to see to the dispensation of right at the appointment of the Soveraign Power The Apostle Peter makes a distinction betwixt those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Supreme Authorities and such as are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Magistrates sent and deputed by him And thus Counsellors may be understood as I mention'd before either of the standing Assembly of the seventy Elders or such persons as Princes chose out of a design to bottom their Laws and Government upon the deepest reason most mature deliberation and sound advice Thus then the promise should be that as thou shalt have Magistracy restored so thy Princes shall act by advice and the Law shall have its full administration in the hands of his Deputies and subordinate Judges But this is not full to the purpose of this Prophecie for the breach of Israel was not the losse of these but the losse of the Supreme Authority the Kingdom was made base and they had no strong rod to be a Scepter to bear Rule this was their lamentation Ezek. 19. Therefore lastly 2. The words do import the restitution of Government and Magistracy it self not to lay any stress upon any particular form for though it is true that after the Babylonish captivity the Tribe of Iudah and family of David recovered not the fullness of Monarchical power and splendor yet then the people had their legal although not their regal Magistracy This saith God I will restore a lawful righteous fixed settled Authority I will set you free from the Babylonish usurpations of the Heathen wherein you were vassels to a strange King and servants to a people of a strange god What the state of the people of the Jews was during the seventy years captivity as to this total abolition of their rightful Princes I need not open But now saith God I will restore And indeed such is the misery of Anarchy confusion and want of Government that any form is better then none at all and a Scepter though in an unproper hand is better then the Sword Wars and desolations I say Better then none which may well apologâ—ze for the submission to though dissatisfaction with usurped powers which hath been yeilded by good men in the time of the violent dispossession and disseisure of our rightful sacred Principality But saith the Lord I will restore Authority the rightfulness and legality thereof is more properly couched under the particle thy thy Judges and thy Counsellors and this is the next 2. A second Branch of the promise I will restore thy Iudges and thy Counsellorâ— this is no small part though it be not the main and principal priviledge of the promise Take up the importance of it in these particulars First I will restore thee such Princes as are thine as being of thy own people The Scripture speaks of it as a judgment upon a people from God to be vassaliz'd to the power of foraign Princes of a strange language and of a strange god The command of God in the Law of the Kingdom was Deut. 17. 15. that the King should be one from amongst their brethren they might in no wise set a stranger over them which was not their brother and 't is promised as a blessing Ier. 30. 21. their Nobles shall be of themselves and their Governour shall proceed from the midst of them which though applicable to Christ yet is by others understood of the restoring of Government after the captivity This is a further discovery of this promised mercy Thou shalt lie under the power and be judged by the Laws of the Babylonish Monarchs no more but then I will restore the Princes that are and ought to be of thy own Religion Nation Language People Secondly I will restore thee Princes such are thine as being chosen accepted embraced approved rightfully established over thee and sworn allegiance unto by thee thy rightful lawful powers such whose authority is thy birthright comfort satisfaction The power and prevailing of persons over a people may produce a Government but it is not properly theirs unless it be that and in the hands of such persons with which and with whom both Right and Law Justice and the
thou and all thy servants This is a president worth the deepest consideration of such Kings who have been forced from their Throne as David was Ignoscere pulchrum est jam misero poenaeque satis vidisse precantem and so it comes to pass as is the observation of Bias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fear not more their Prince then they are solicitous for his good and afraid of evil to befal him 3. They were such as preferred the peoples good above their own their Subjects were more dear unto them then their Scepter their Kingdom then their Crown When Ioshua divided the Land for the inheritance of the people it is remarkable he kept not a foot of it for himself nor had he any but what the children of Israel gave him Ioshua 19. 49. And when they put him as Masius judges by the advice of Eleazar the High Priest to ask for himself he fixed upon a very mean and contemptible place so mean that St. Hierom speaks in his Epitaph of Parlea that she was amazed when she came to the Tomb of Joshua quod ipse possessionum omnium distributor montana sibi aspera loca delegisset had ask'd for himself such a mountainous and mean possession in comparison of that of others No less remarkable is that of David 2 Sam. 24. 17. Let thy hand be against me and against the house of my fathers but as for these sheep what have they done and Moses Exod. 32. 32. who would rather wish to be blotted out of the book of God then that his wrath should break out against the people Such Princes are indeed not princeps but patres the Fathers of their Countries and do exercise as Seneca calls it potestatem patriam But further 4. They were such as were zealous for God and godliness set and sharpned the edge of their royal sword against sin and wickedness How passionately zealous in the cause of God was Moses when he sees the Idolatry of the people how earnest in his adjuring and exhorting the people to stick fast to their Religion before he went up to Nebâ— to dye there Ioshua could not 〈…〉 till first he had engaged the people to God in a soleâ—â— Covenant Josh. 24. David he fetched up the Ark of the Lord to Ierusalem and bought a place for the future Temple of it and Solomon he built it an House Quis mente sobrius regibus dicat saith St. Aug. Nolite curare in regno vestro à quo tueatur vel oppugnetur ecclesia domini vestri quis velit esse religiosus vel sacrilegus This is the glory and excellency of Princes that as they are Gods and Gods Vicegerents upon earth so nothing should be more sacred to them then the interest of truth and power of godliness and what mercy greater can befal a people then such a Magistracy For if the delirium regis the miscarriage of the Prince do cause such punishments on the whole body if the excellency and glory of any Government lie in the serviceableness thereof to promote and honour truth and godliness to discountenance and discourage errour and prophaness if as generally it is an holy Prince makes an happy people how great then is this mercy when God shall restore thee such Judges as at the first and such Counsellors as at the beginning But to conclude 5. They were such as what they were the same they continued to be till the end of their race till death it self made their sacred heads to stoop to its impartial stroke Indeed in the latter days of Solomon there arose some cloud upon the splendor of his former Government occasion'd by the influence of his Idolatrous Wives upon him so hazardous a thing it is for Kings to marry the Daughters of a strange god but yet he recovered himself from that declination and rose up to as great an altitude of holiness and zeal for God as ever formerly when his own experience had enabled him to pen the Book of Ecclesiastes Moses and Ioshua and David their care of their people lived till they died and what they were at first they were till the very last in their personal graces and profitable Government It is usual for Kings to begin their Dominion with more acceptance then to continue it Mitissima sors est regnorum sub rege novo That Quinque unium Neronis is famous in that story of the Roman Caesars for so long none so good for ever after none so vile and wicked True it is that greatness is a sad temptation to put the best of men upon exorbitances Aeneas Sylvius in the Council at Basil contended stifly against the Pope when he got that Chair himself he was no more Aeneas Sylvius I shall not need to lay open the disadvantages of vertue that fall upon Princes when peaceably setled in the Throne the Lord I hope will give us to see the piety and integrity the moderation and clemency the unalterable zeal to the Protestant cause the fixed detestation of debauchery and prophaness the right understanding and apprehension of the principles and deportments of honest men however now aspersed all these and more then these precious pearls in the Imperial Crown of his sacred Majesty shall yet keep their orient lustre and unspotted brightness notwithstanding what attempts may be made by temptation to eclipse them or shadow off their vital influence from the people Such Princes were these who were the older better the longer they lived the more deeply did they love their people and the more dearly were they loved by them and went to their graves with common lamentation 4. I might add if God do restore to a people such a Government then their Government is vested in the hands of such as have parts and abilities from God for the fitting of them to manage their Authority God had put of the spirit of Government upon Moses and Ioshua and David and the whole earth came to hear the Wisdom of Solomon He himself that had had the experience of what was necessary for the Ruler of such a people cries out Eccles. 10. 16. Wo unto thee O land when thy King is a child viz. for Wisdom Soberness Judgment and Understanding and to the same purpose is Isa. 3. 4 5. But I shall conclude this with this Observation As the giving to a people of such a Government is a blessing so the restoring of it is much more for so the Text speaks I will restore or I will cause to return as the word imports thy Judges as at the first c. I have touched at some inconveniences of the force that may fall out upon legal gracious rightful Authorities And what woful effects do attend such violences and usurpations and therefore shall add no more But in such a day as this when God doth not only give but restore and cause to return a separated Husband to the bosom of his disconsolate Wife a banished Father to the arms of his
indispensable free Obligations and Oaths of people are fully satisfied What a people may do if free and as the Apostle speaks of a woman loosed from the Law of her husband Rom. 7. by his death which properly cannot be said of the Supreme Magistracy however under a present force is another case but in the interim the intrusion of the greatest persons into that sacred bed is but the ravishment of the people and of such it may be said as in that of Christ to the woman This which thou hast is not thy husband How much the most powerful and fixed sword of usurpation may under all the terrours it keepeth a people under yet lie under the secret disownings nauseatings and disgusts thereof by them I need not open to you whose hearts have been for many years exercised under that affliction and whose many days of prayer and fasting for deliverance have shewn the reality of such dislikes in your own experiences And yet I do not think that the propriety and title of Kings is dependent on the approbation Oathes and Covenants of their people the title of authority being as it was with Israel as it is with us God hath not left a people liberty to carve out the model of their own authority and take it up or cast it off as their own reason or passion shall dictate to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plutarch speaks meddle not with them the duty of Allegiance to Supreme powers is not that which hangs upon the unfixed and wavering principles of humane choice for so there should be as many sorts of Kings as Israel had of gods and as many sorts of Governments as distemper'd brains could fancie to themselves The title of Ieroboam was not the better for the unanimous consent of the ten Tribes in that revolt You inherit as much reason to preserve your Princes as you do by descent to possess your Patrimonies And therefore thirdly I will restore thee Princes such as are thine by designation from God whether accepted or not accepted by thee yet if they come with a mission and unction from God in the active and approbative influx of his will this is a mercy for thee not he whom the people shall chuse for the people chose Absalom and outed David chose Ieroboam and rejected the son of Solomon but he whom God shall chuse And lastly I will restore thee Princes that shall be thine as being such as seek not thine but thee such as do possess that honour splendor power and greatness not for themselves but for thee such as seek thy good and not their own greatness thy profit and not their own praise And surely this is a blessing to purpose and then indeed thy Princes may be called thine when their Magistratical interest is wholly for peoples benefit and advantage 3. The last Branch of the mercy I will restore thy Judges as at the first and thy Magistracy as at the beginning This is the upshot of all The Question is to what time the Prophet relates in those expressions at the first and at the beginning It may refer either to that time when Israel began to be a distinct people from the rest of the Nations and grown up to be a considerable body having overgrown the notion of a Family or a Colony only and that was when God fetched them out of Egypt and set them under the Government of Moses and Ioshua after him or when Israel began to be a distinct Kingdom in the time of David and Solomon It is not much material which of these ways you understand it because I conceive the design of the words herein is not so much to point out some exact platform of the kind and sort of Magistracy as it is to hold forth 1. The Qualification of the persons that God doth promise shall weild the Scepter of Authority they shall be such as Moses and Ioshua and David and Solomon 2. The right of such persons to possess the Crown having a respect to that captivity in which the people for seventy years shoul lie under the Tyranny of usurped powers And so the whole of this promise is When I have by afflicting thee purged away the dross of thy sin then I will restore the settlement of Authority in its rightful hands to whom by the institution and appointment of God it appertains and thy Princes shall be such as was Moses and Ioshua and my servant David And then this promise had its full accomplishment in the Government of Ezra Ioshua Zerubbabel and others though not in that fullnesse of outward pomp and glory as before And so much for the second part of the Text. 3. Lastly The words set before you that influence of this mercy upon the people upon the account whereof it is a mercy of so great and precious value Afterwards thou shalt be called a City of righteousness the faithful City In these last words is considerable First What shall be the effect of that Government so restored by God It shall have this influence upon the people that 1. They shall become a City of righteousness and faithfulnesse A City or People in which dwells righteousnesse justice to men holinesse to God truth and faithfulnesse the very face and countenance of such a Government shall cause errour wickednesse prophanesse falsenesse and deceitfulness to wither away what rooting soever it have got in this interregna in this time of the destruction or usurpation of Authority And 2. they shall not only so become but so be called they shall be taken notice of as a people eminent and famous and remarkable for justice truth and holinesse and all this by the influence of such a restored Magistracy And then secondly the words import this to be as the effect and â—ssue of this deliverance as appears in that expression afterwarde when this comes to passe so also the crown and glory and perfection of it This is that in which thou shalt receive the greatest good by 〈…〉 of thy lawful Princes that their Authority shall be influential and successful to make thee become and be called The City of righteousnesse The whole of these words being thus opened I shall set before you out of that abundance which the Text affords onely three Considerations pâ—â—tinent and proper to the occasion of this Thanksgiving and such as will comprehend in them the main importance of the Text. It is a choice and singular mercy to any Kingdom Nation or People when especially after a breach made upon it God doth restore to them such a Government and Authority as was that of Moses Ioshua David and Solomon to his people Israel The work of this day is to triumph in the Lord and his goodness upon this very reason God his restoring our Judges as at the first and our Counsellors as at the beginning And therefore I shall but cast in these Considerations as to the truth of this Observation each of which carries light enough