IN this Psalme is set downe the Resolutiō of a King or Iudge, that hee will hold an Assize: The reason of this his purpose is also shewed, which is the ge­nerall dissolution of man­ner [...] amongst the Inhabi­tants of the Earth, they are all out of square and loosed from the integrity of an holy conuersation. Therfore saith the King, When I shall receiue the Congregation, I will Iudge. He doth yet threaten onely, Nondum venit hora, the houre is not yet come, neither hath the Trumpet proclaimed the day of his Sessions. In the meane time men runne on securely in their owne imagi­nations, and labour to enioy the good things that are present, and being not checkt and contrould in the prosperity of their lusts and desires, They lift [Page]vp their Horne on high, and speake with a stiffe necke, as though none were aboue them, and had power to question their carriage and course of life. Not our tongues onely, but our lands, our honours, our greatnes is our owne,Psal. 12. Who is Lord ouer vs? and who shall call vs to an account of our doings? Thus like the flie in the Fable, they thinke all the smoake and dust of a more prosperous fortune to be raised vp by some absolute and vnquestionable power of their owne, deriued vppon them by a peculiar Law of necessitye, attending eyther the wombe that bare them, or the place and houre of their Natiuities, or the fauourable times they liue in, or their owne deseruings. The holy Pro­phet to abate this vaine confidence and selfe-con­ceit in these kind of men, giues them to vnderstād, that in what eleuation soeuer they are, there not­withstanding this Iudge hath the supremacy: ney­ther the East, nor the West, nor the South, no place, no person can plead exemption, for God is this Iudge. Heere is his commission, of extent and au­thority large enough, and it is his peculiar interest and worke, to set vp and pull downe. But God is &c.

Which wordes being well examined, might teach men to know their owne place and strength a little better then many of vs doe, and not so bold­ly to intrude vpon the sacred prerogatiue & right of the Higher Powers, from whence euery inferior agent must acknowledge his place and power of operation, and therein content himselfe, least he be [Page]found to vsurpe and resist against the Ordinance of God. Rom. 13. Indeed naturall agents haue alwaies held themselues within the compasse of their owne seene and function: The Sunne knoweth her risings, and the moone holds on her course: The huge Sea swels not aboue the bankes thereof, on­ly intellectuall and reasonable creatures haue not kept their first estate, and being once past the Line of their alleigeance, they meane to bee impudent and iniurious to the purpose, nothing will satisfie them, but to be superior, or at the least equall with God. Adeo extrema placent cum a recto tenore semel recesseris. The Angels stand yet indited of that treasonable thought, I will ascend into heauen, I will exalt my throne aboue the starres of God, Esay. 14. I will be like the most high: And our first Parents are chargd with that presumptuous attempt, which was to make themselues as Gods, knowing good and euill. Gen. 3. A man would thinke that so large a Dominion and prerogatiue as was giuen them, might haue stayed the aspiring heat of their insolent ambition:Gen. 1. Re­plenish and subdue the earth saith God, and haue domi­nion ouer the Fish of the Sea, and ouer the Fowles of the Aire, and ouer euery liuing thing that moueth vpon the Earth. Nothing was exempted and wanting to their commission, but the eating of that fruit only which would make them, as the Serpent said, as GODS knowing good and euill; And this they most affected: such as the Author was, such the desire, the which I would to God had staied at [Page]the head. But it hath enlarged it selfe, and like an hereditarie and leprous disease hath infected all the children of men more or lesse. Forsooth wee will all be as Gods in some case or other, none shal meddle with vs, and what we cannot attaine to in our selues, wee often maligne and oppose in a se­cond person.

That we may therfore at length learne to range our selues euery one in his due place and calling, without derogation from God himselfe, and that power which he hath set ouer vs, let vs I beseech you take notice of such instructions as this present Text will afford. Wherein, First, we are to con­sider what it is to be The Iudge. Next, this Title and Commission is to be examined from whence a man may claime to bee so. These two points being cleered, it will presently appeare, To whom this charge and function properly belongeth, as also, Who they are that vsurpe and intrude vpon it. Of these in their order, and in few words.

Iudicare to iudge, is a word of a Relatiue nature ymplying a reference betwixt diuers par­ties, the one of power to prescribe and rule, the o­ther of an inferiour quality who is to be ruled and ordered by this power: But it properly importeth the respect which the superiour power hath ouer him that is to be iudged. This power hath its de­grees, for there is a supreame one, a Non vltra, be­yond which no appleale can passe, (for otherwise there would be no order in things) & there must [Page]be subordinate powers that the burdē proue not too heauy, & (as Iethro told Moses) Lest the supreme Iudge be not able to performe this charge by himselfe a­lone. Exod. 18. For who is sufficient at once for all thinges? To this latter it belongeth to Iudge, but not to be The Iudge; as among the lower Spheres, there are diuers mouers, yet none of them the first moouer from whence they receiue their power and rule to moue by. For to Iudge is nothing else in sub­ordinate and delegate powers, but to interpret Law, and settle differences betweene particulars according to that scantling and measure which is prescribed them and others to be ruled by. But to be The Iudge, is to be that Maiesty and Architec­tonicall power, which out of its owne absolutenes setteth downe a Law, and appointeth a publike measure, Quatenus, Quomodo, & quovs{que} where­by all mens actions are to be squared and adiudged whether they be good, or whether they be euill. The Latines haue diuers Phrases to expresse this power by,Tullius. Liuius. Tacitus. Caesar. Curtius. as Ius Maiestatis, Ius summi imperij, Principatus, Arbitrium: And the person endued with this greatnes is called Arbiter r [...]rum, Prin­ceps, Dominus rerum temporum{que} vitae, neci{que} Domi­uus, and (as the Hebrewes will haue it) Iudex super nos, Exod. 2. a Iudge ouer vs. Which wordes were spo­ken of Moses, who had al full power and Commaund ouer the Israelites to order them by his Laws and Prescriptions,Exo. 25.20 and to ordaine and substitute other inferiour Ministers ouer feuerall Tribes and socie­ties [Page]to iudge them in smaller matters. And that the word Iudge, will beare this signification, it is euident by that suite which the Elders of ISRAELL made to Samuell, 1. Sam. 8. that they might haue A King like other Nations to IVDGE them, that is, to rule ouer them and gouerne them, not as a forensicall and inferiour Iudge, or as Samuell himselfe did: but as the Kings of other Nations, in all extent of autho­rity and commaund.Preface, Iud. 1.7. And so was Saul annointed by Samuel (ad signandam plenitudinem potestatis, 2 Sa. 15.15 as saith Abulensis) to be an absolute Prince and Lord ouer them, and to order and dispose of things so,Tac. An. l. 1 vt non aliter ratio constet quam si vni reddatur. As it may appeare by his owne and his successors manners described by Samuel, 1. Sam. 6. which shew that he was not onely to haue Iurisdictionem, but Do­minium ouer their persons and estates. To this sence and purpose Absolom spake, O that I were made Iudge in the Land, that so he might be no lon­ger A Doer of the Law, but a Iudge. Iam. 4.5. Let it therfore be vnderstood that to be The Iudge, (the word so taken in my text) is to have the right of suprema­cy ouer all persons and causes, and to gouerne and moderate them and their actions according to that proportion of Law and reason which hee pleaseth to set downe to be obserued. And so I proceed to the examination of the Title, by which a man may claime this prerogatiue and transcendent po­wer vnto himselfe.

It is not for euery man to looke so glorious a ti­tle [Page]as this in the face, nature hath remoud the grea­ter part of men farre enough off; some come more neere, Sed longo interuallo, quos, et si nemo intercedat, ne{que} secundos tamen ne{que} tertios dixerim. Alexan­der the Great being demaunded on his Death-bed to whom it would please him to leaue his Throne of Iudgement and Maiesty; answeres, Ei qui esset optimus. Q. Curt. l. [...]0. A faire Title this; And truely if Semper optimum quod primum, I cannot conceiue where this right and title can more properly rest then v­pon God,Arist. Me­taphys. l. 12.16. as my text speakes, Deus est Iudex, God is the Iudge. Heer's the sourse and fountaine of power and iudgement: For before all time and things hee was, who, to witnesse that which is in himselfe Optimum the best and worthiest (his God­head and Omnipotent power, and the infinite riches of his glory and goodnes) raised this All that we see, furnisht it, and gaue it for a possession vnto men, the workemanship also of his owne handes. And what could haue beene done more, to shew to whom it belonged to bee The Iudge. Fecit & donauit, First he created all things, not vpon com­pulsion or commaund (for this were to acknow­ledge a Superior.) Sed quia voluit, it pleased him to say, Let things bee, and they were made. Isaiath. 45. I haue made the Earth (saith hee) and created man vpon it: I, euen my hands haue stretched out the Heauens, and all their hoast haue I commaunded, I the Lord doe all these things. The Lord, by this name he expresseth his absolute power and will, whereon depend the [Page] Being of things,Acts. 17. and Life of all Creatures. Now from whence Creatures deriue their life and mo­tion, from thence also they receiue a stint and rule to liue and moue by, and of whom the beeing of things is, of the same they take the measure and the manner of their being. And this is nothing else, but to be the Iudge of those things hee hath made. So when the same Prophet had proued God to be the Lord, and none else besides him, that is, that selfe-being, Maiesty & power by which all things are,Heb. 1. and, as Saint Paul speaks, Vpholding all things by the power of his Word. He in another place con­cludes, that the Lord was also Iudge and Lawgiuer, as Saint Iames also doth witnesse Vnus est Legislator & Iudex. 4. cap. And truely all the discourse of man cannot find out a better reason why God should be The Iudge and Law-giuer to all things, then because he made them. Let the Potsherds striue with the Potshers of the earth; Isaiah. 45. saith the Prophet, shall the Clayd men, and other creatures say to him that fa­shioned them, What makst thou to rule ouer vs? Nay, rather let euery one, whether he be a vessell of honour or dishonour, content himselfe with his place, & submit his will to the obedience of those Lawes which his maker hath set downe to be ob­serued. And of all creatures men haue most cause to yeeld their obedience vnto God as The Iudge, not onely Quia fecit, because he made them, Sed donauit too, hee hath bestowed on them those ho­nours and priuiledges which may iustly challenge [Page]this acknowledgement from them, that hee is The Iudge. For whether we shall consider him as Fa­ther, who hath deuided his liuing, Luke 15. and assignd to e­uery Child his place and calling, and meanes to liue by; Or as a Land-lord, Mat. 25. who hath called his owne seruants, and deliuered vnto them has goods: Or as a great King, Mark. 6. who hath giuen euen to the halfe of his Kingdome, all the corners of the Earth, to bee ma­naged by the Sonnes of men; howsoeuer I say we vnderstand of him, hee is alwaies to bee held The Iudge amongst vs. The reason of men hath giuen this prerogatiue to a Father in his own Family, to a Land-lord amongst his Tenants & seruants, to a King amongst his Subiects, to be Law-giuer and Iudge. And this reason is but a beame and ray of that rea­son engrafted into euery mans vnderstanding, by which as he acknowledgeth God to bee, hee also holds him to bee Iudge, and the supreame disposer of his life and goods & manners. To this all, euen the most barbarous of men subscribe, & allow God not onely to bee, but to be the absolute Ruler and Commander or Iudge of all things. Tully in his se­cond booke of Lawes, layes downe this as a Max­ime in Policy, Sit hoc a principio persuasum civihus, &c. Let this be a Principle agreed vpon by all the Citizens and Subiects, Dominos esse omnium rerum et moderatores Does, ea{que} que geruntur eorum geri iu­dicio et numine. And hee setteth downe some rea­sons of State, why this opinion should bee main­taind, though it were but an opinion. But thanks [Page]be to God our knowledge & beliefe is more cer­taine, hauing receiued as St. Paul speakes, not the spi­rit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that wee might know the Lord to bee our Iudge, Isaiah. 33. our Lawgiuer and King. And thus much bespoken of the roote and spring from whence the title and claime to all Principallity and power is to be deduced; he must be God that is The Iudge. But God is, &c.

It followeth of the Persons to whom it belong­eth to bee The Iudge amongst men. For so it hath pleased God euen from the beginning to rule and Iudge men by men. Some power hee hath put o­uer and deputed to such amongst vs as hee know­eth fittest for so high a calling, whom also he doth adopt as it were into his name and Family. Ego dixi Dij estis, Psal. 82.6. saith he, et filij excelsi, and the whole state and body of the common wealth he cals Coe­tus Dei, Ioh. 10.34 the congregation of God. Now all the matter is to know, ad quos Dei sermo factus est, to what sort of men the word of God comes, Ego dixi &c. Ihaue said ye are Gods. And it should seeme by the analogie of the Scriptures that it is spoken to a select sort of men, of eminence and superlatiue worth & place. For so the word Elohim is attribu­ted to diuers creatures to signifie and expresse their excellence and precedencie before some others. Horeb is called the Mountaine of God, Exod. 3. Psal. 80. Ionah 3. Gen. 2. the taller Cae­dars, the Caedars of God, Ninevie, the Citty of God, and the more religions sort of men, the Sons of God, and the Arke is called Iehouah, quòd symbolum es­set [Page]proesentiae ipsius Iehovae, as Zanchius saith.de Nat. Dei l. 1. thes. 5. But here the holy Ghost doth not onely say Filij excelsi or Dei the Sons of God the most high, but Dij estis ye are Gods.

Which words cannot bee spoken but of some transcendent excellencie which God himself hath set vp aboue other men, as of Kings, and Princes, which S. Peter confesseth to bee Supreame, 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 13. and St. Paul calleth by the name of the Higher Powers, to which, euery soule must bee subiect. Dicendo omnis, saith Caietan, neminem excipit, Cōment. in Rom. and not onely our goods and bodies, but our liues also ought to bee subiect to secular Princes in that they may lawful­ly require. To whom then God hath said Dij estis Yee are Gods, (heeres their inuestiture) they are Kings, Princes, Law-giuers, and the Iudges of the Earth: (Non sunt haec inanium figmentorum, Musc. com. in Esa. c. 33 sed re­rum verissimarum tituli,) And againe, they who are Kings, and Law-giuers, and Iudges, are Gods, as it is in Exod. 22. Thou shalt not reuile the Gods, nor curse the Ruler of the People. But some will say, all Kings and Iudges, doe not behaue themselues in their places as Gods; some are Vsurpers, others Tyrants, many are prophane and wicked persons, Neither fearing God, nor regarding man: But to cut these men off from their conclusion, they must vn­derstand, that notwithstanding the person and po­wer of the King is alwaies sacred and inuiolable. It is not for those whom God hath appointed to obey, to examine titles & pedigrees, or how Kings [Page]came to their power, and to be rulers ouer them; It sufficeth that being vnder we must obey, not on­ly for feare, Rom. 13. but for conscience sake, least through our disobedience, our conscience accuse vs, for resist­ing the Ordinance of God, for the powers that be, are ordained of God. And whereas it is said of some, Ipsi constituerunt, Hosea 8. &c. They haue set vp Kings, but not by me, they haue made Princes, and I knew it not. It is spoken as I take it vnto the Princes thēselues (who say, Haue wee not taken to vs Hornes by our owne strength?)Amos 6. and not to those men ouer whome it hath pleased God to suffer them to rule; or if it be, it seemes that neither had they, nor any other sub­iects haue allowance to set vp and pull down their gouernors at their owne pleasure. For his Ego dixi hath made them holy, and to bee reuerenced,Ioh. 10. Psal. 72. et preciosus sanguis eorum, they are not to be violated, deposed, or murdered. Wee read that Dauid caused the Amalakite to be slaine, for helping Saul to kill himselfe:2. Sam. 1. How wast not thou afraid saith he, to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lords an­nointed? Ieremiah, Iere. 29. aduised the Captiue [...]ewes to pray vnto the Lord for the peace of Babylon, for in peace thereof, shall ye haue peace, though in the mean time Nebuchadnezer was a prophane and wicked Tyrant.1. Pet. 2. And St. Peter would haue all good Chri­stians, Submit themselues to euery ordinance of man for the Lords sake, whether it be to the King as supreme, or vnto Gouernours sent by him: And lastly wise Sa­lomon aduiseth all men, not so much as in thought to [Page]wish euill vnto to the King, for saith he,Ecclesi. 10. A bird of the ayre shal carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter; But I digresse. I goe on with that which I was about to shew, That Kings are Gods, Portantes imaginem caelestis Dei, 1. Cor. 15. bearing the image of that Maiesty and power which is in hea­uen: To whom as Nihil acceptius quàm concilia, Tull. Som. Scip. caetus{que} hominum iure socia [...]i quae ciuitates appellan­tur, so Harum rectores et conse [...]uatores hinc profecti, saith an Heathen Author. And truely if wee ob­serue the practise of meere naturall men, who ey­ther did or sought to rule ouer any company of men, we shall find it to be a generall receiu'd opi­nion among them & suppos d, That Kings & Prin­ces were to be Gods, or at the least of their line and race, or appointed to be so by the Gods. And ac­cordingly founders and reformers and the gouer­nours of Common-wealths delt with the people alwaies pretending some Diuinity, and by this meanes maintaind their estate, and brought their purposes and plots about with much easines.Liui. l. 1. The beginners of the Romane Empire were forsooth begotten by the God Mars vppon an holie vestall Virgin; and after they had laid the foundations of a Citty, neither of them would presume to take v­pon him to be a King before the Gods by some au­spicious signes should point out the man, who at length also was made a God by the Senate. Numa Pompilius succeeded him, who was much behold­ing to the Goddesse Aegeria, for that great estima­tion [Page]and authority hee had amongst his rude Sub­iects. So among the States and Principallities of the Greekes wee shall scarce number one which is not reported to be founded by some God, and go­uernd by some of their offspring.Q. Cur. l. 8. The Persians in plaine tearms honor'd & reuerenced their Kings as though they were Gods. I might spend much time in setting downe all the waies that Princes haue v­sed to witnesse vnto their Subiects their Deity, or more truely (as Iulius Caesar will haue it) their sanc­tity which is supposde to bee in them.Suet. c. 6. Some will beare the name of their Gods in their Names,Seld. Titles of Honour. 1. part c. 3. de Alexand. Plut. Q. Curt. De Sapore Ammianus Marcel. Lonicer chr. tom 1. l. 1. Dion. Aug. 1.53. l. 2. c. 5. as it were the caracter of that Deity which they repre­sent on Earth. Another will be called the Sonne of Iupiter, another Frater Solis et Lunae, a third Filius et nepos Dei; and Octauius Caesar, Augustus, as if hee had beene somewhat more then humane. Et Im­peratori, saith Vegetius, cum Augusti nomen accepit, tanquam praesenti et corporali Deo fidelis praestanda de­votio, et impendendus pervigil famulatus. Deo enim vel priuatus vel militans seruit, cum fideliter eum dili­git, qui Deo regnat authore. Thus we may see that as all men did thinke Kings and Princes were more then ordinary men, quibus est coelestis origo: so ac­cordingly Princes pretended some kind of diuinity or other, for their better credit and security among those they commaunded. And to conclude this point, the Kings of this Island euen to this day to shew to the world from whence their sacred po­wer is deriued, beare amōgst their titles Deigratiâ, [Page]by the Grace and appointment of GOD King of Great Brittaine; and againe the French inscription, God and my right. His Right of Soueraignity stampt as it were and seal'd vnto him with the image and superscription of GOD. If any man heere be not yet throughly resolued on this point, may it please him to obserue the analogie and resemblance be­twixt the one, and the other, and he shall be better satisfied; For euery thing that is, beareth some note and marke of him that ordain'd and made it. As first all things in generall are Good, Gen. 1.3 [...]. then the parti­cular species haue their seuerall resemblances. A­mongst the rest man as he is neerest, and of men, the King is most like vnto God; I speake not of that which is common with other men, there is in him somewhat more peculiar and indiuiduall wherin no man can claime a part. As first Kings are Funda­menta, Foundations and Pillars.Psal. 75. Properly God is the foundation of all things. The Apostle by a Peri­phrasis plainely cals him so, Portans omnia, Heb. 1. Vphold-all thinges. The heathen also could affirme of their principall God Iupiter, that he was Stator statilio{que} Sen. de benef l. 4. c. 7. on whom the great house and frame of Heauen and earth reclineth and stayeth it selfe, as on its proper foundation. The same proportion of or­der and dependance is to be obserued in the little world of euery particular Common-wealth. First, The King a foundation; others are but parts of the frame raysed vpon this foundation. Some are main crosse beames, some polished pilasters, other smal­ler [Page]Rafters: some are for vse, some for ornament, some set vp in places of honour, some of dishonor; all haue their dependance more or lesse: onely the King is the Foundation; and as it were the Selfe-praeexistence and axis of the Common-wealth, vpon whose wel-being & good Lawes the whole state of things, and the good and ill of his Subiects and Cittizens relie. Secondly, Kings, as God, worke all in all within their owne Territory and Dominion,1. Cor. 12. and as Christ said to Pilat, Ioh. 19.10 Thou couldst haue no po­wer at all against me, except it were giuen thee from a­boue: So it may be said to euery subiect, hee hath not this or that power of operation in the Common wealth he liues in, except he be enabled vnto it by the Higher Powers, from whence euery particular deriueth his place and manner of being and work­ing. For as in the body of man the soule is said to be at once in the whole and euery part, the hand, the eye, the foot, euery member receiueth its ena­blement and measure of working from the soule, and yet the members and instruments beare the name of all, as thought they were the principall A­gents: as the hands doe worke, the eies doe see, the care heareth, wee doe not say the Soule doth see, or heare, or goe &c. Euen so it is in the Repub­like, the King is not limited, his power is diffused through the whole and euery particular, and ac­cording to the instruments hee works by, so is his power denominated. In the Chauncery hee is cal­led Lord Chauncelor, in other courts Iudge, Iustice, [Page]and so of the rest. A Cedro qui est in Lebanon vs{que} ad Hyssopum, from him that rideth on the Kings horse vnto the petty Constable the worker & moouer is the same, all are as it were animated & enabled in their places and offices by one and the same Soule, The King. Let not any man therefore forget him­selfe, and take vpon him to be the onely Agent and Controler or a disputer vpon all passages and mat­ters of the Common-wealth. The Soule that is in the hand is not to doe all, for then what neede of an eye, or foote, or a Stomacke, &c. But euerie part doth what they are enabled vnto suteable to their place. Let not the Common sence doe the du­ty, or question the power of the Will, or the Phan­cy meddle with matters belonging to the Vnder­standing; Officers and Iudges must doe no more then what is committed to their charge, least this censure fall vpon them,Wisd. 6. Cum essetis Ministri Regni illius, non rectè iudicastis, When ye were mi­nisters of the Kingdome to gouerne and command in smaller matters, yee did not iudge aright, but like our first Parents not consent with the Domini­on ouer brute creatures, ye would be as Gods too. But let such take heede what they doe, For who so breaketh an hedge, a Serpent shall bite him, Ecclesi. 10. saith the Preacher. Hitherto of this point, and what na­turall reason and discourse, the analogie and neere resemblance of Powers, and Gods own word hath ioyned together, let no man presume to put asun­der. First, God is the Iudge (A love principium) [Page]then Ego dixi, I haue said to Kings &c. ye are Gods, therefore The Iudges also.

This Doctrine implies a double instruction suteable vnto the Persons, where the Prince may please to consider, and the People learne how to be­haue themselues in their Functions whereunto GOD hath called them. First KINGS are to consider whose person they sustaine,2. Chro. 19, That they Iudge not for man, but for the Lord who is with them in the Iudgement. Hee hath communicated his name vnto them, and made them his Sonnes, that not onely in power and command, but in all other vertues they may be like vnto their Father. Mat. 5. Be ye therefore perfect, saith the true and onely begotten Sonne of GOD, euen as your Father which is in hea­uen is perfect, 1. Pet. 1. and bee yee holy for I am holy. The light of their good example like the rising Sunne must passe into all the corners of their Dominions, They are To defend the poore and Fatherlesse, to doe Iustice to the afflicted, Pasal. 82. and needie, to deliuer and rid them out of the hand of the wicked, to protect and support the Church, to punish offen­ders, to maintaine peace, & loue amongst all men. Et erunt eiues, erunt socij digni hac bonitate, et in to­tum orbem recti mores reuer tentur.

Againe, Subiects are to learne hence, that whom God hath pleased to make so deare vnto him as to set his name vpon them, and to call them his Sonnes, they ought with all reuerence and deare­nesse of affection to honour and respect him also. [Page]The Apostle enioyneth the beleeuing Romanes, Rom. 13. to render to all, their dues, much more vnto the KING, tribute to whome tribute is due, custome to whome custome, feare to whom feare, honour to whom ho­nour; And St. Peter aduiseth all men that next to the feare of God, they should Honour the King, 1. Pet. 2. whether an Apostle saith St. Chrysostome, Homil. 23. in Rom. or an E­vangelish, or a Prophet, or whosoeuer hee be, o­bedience and subiection is required at his hands, and that without any preiudice to good Religion and piety, or to any liberty & priuiledge of grace and spirituall calling that GOD hath pleased to vouchsafe vnto him aboue his fellowes, Sed non omnes vocem hanc accipiunt, all men are not willing to heare of this doctrine.

When passion leades the line, we may obserue euery particular man almost to take vpon him to be a God, and The Iudge, and a Reuenger to execute wrath vppon him that doth evill Who is reuiled, that back-biteth not againe? Who is threatned, that threatneth not? Who is in any sort offended and crost, that seeketh not reuenge? For cursings wee repay cursings, stripes for stripes, wrongs for wrongs. Alas (Beloued) why should another mans malice and violence make vs ill, and to trans­gresse against the law of our Maker? Happily one foot kicks the other, shall that spurne againe? One hand wounds the other, shall the other hand stabb? Shall the mouth deny to receiue, or the teeth to chew meate, because some other mem­ber [Page]hath offended them? That body cannot long endure where euery part and member shall presume to be its owne ludge and executioner.

O that man would consider how sneeke and gentle a creature GOD hath created him to bee? That of all other creatures he hath onely sent him disarmed into the Feild, to teach him to suffer, not to fight; Hee gaue him a Toung, to blesse and in­treate, not to curse and threaten: He gaue him a hand, to support & heale and binde vp the broken and wounded, not to kill: he gaue him thoughts to meditate on his sacred Lawes, not to contriue mischiefe and deceit: he bestowed vpon him so many excellent powers and faculties to serue him withall, no sacrilegiously to vsurpe vpon his right and interest.Rom. 12. Mihi vindicta, Vengeance belongeth to me saith the Lord, Who made thee a Iudge? Hee that but speaketh evill of his Brother, and iudgeth his Brother, Rom. 12. speaketh evill of the Law and iudgeth the Law. And therfore our Lord & Sauiour Iesus Christ (who came into the world nor onely to fulfill the Law, but to teach vs by his example with patience to attend the pleasure of our Iudge) In suffering threatned not, but committed himselfe to him that iudgeth righteously. But of these faults the Lawes of men doe not so exactly take notice, neither can they very well: I come to that great one which strikes more deepe and dangerous into the state and affaires, of men.

All of vs, I know not by what ill spirit set on [Page]being desperately prone both to giue and execute sentence vppon our owne wronges (if happily wrongs) by dint of sword and bloody death. Be­loued, what high presumption is it and boldnes, that for euery sleight affront and idle word the King must haue a subiect, or two, or more raiusht from him? Dicam nunc quàm iniqua sit inuicem imuriae compensatio, quám{que} non solum logi aduer sased etiam paci. Quint. de­clam. 13. Amongst other reasons why God ap­pointed pointed and set vp Kings and Princes to rule ouer the Sonnes of men, I thinke this was not the least, that in so quarrelling a generation, and so prone to bloud and violence, euery man might not bee The Iudge and reuenger of his owne griefe, and that wrath and passion might not take the place of Law. Leaue a passage for this insolence, let euery man haue the freedome of his owne sword, suffer them to abuse their owne bodies and liues vnto the satisfiyung of the bloudy purpose of their owne or other mens desperate & malicious disposition, there will soone be an end of all ciuill society, and good order amongst the affaires of men. Immani­um et ferorum ille conuentus, ther's no Common­wealth where strength and violence administreth iustice an iudgement, and right is determined by the fortume of the Field. I say God to preuent this mischiefe and barbarous disorder amongst the In­habitants of the earth, and to hold them within compasse of their good behauiour, did euen from the beginning ordaine overseers & Iudges to giue [Page]Lawes vnto them to liue by, to moderate their courses and causes according to equity and right, & to prouide that no part or member be offended or left vnsatisfied.The statute of Marl-bridge. c. 1. It is not for euery passionate man to take this power vnto himselfe as often as there is cause offred or apprehended: but to whō God hath said Dij estis, they are to be sought vnto for iustice and iudgement. Damnum accepistis? lex, forum, Ibid. Quint. Iudex est, nisi vos Iure vindicare pudet, saith an heathen Author. But the hot-spurd Duellers and braue spirits of these daies hold it for an argument of a degenerous spirit to wait for an indifferent ex­amination of their disgraces, or an equall debating and deciding of their iniuries receiued, no propor­tion of iustice will content them, except they pre­sently measure it out with their owne handes. Thus while they hastily preuent and anticipate the course of law in rectifiyng and redressing their owne iniuries and losses, they become the greatest iniurers themselues. First they offend and wrong those persons whom by no lawfull right they can meddle with: Then they take the sword of iustice out of the Iudges hand and abuse it to the satisfiyng of their priuate lust and malice. While a man shall consider the times, the danger of a reconciled ene­mie, and the impossibility of two Kings long to continue in the same Kingdome: Mee thinks the bloudy act of Ioab & the two brothers Rechab and Baanah might haue found some fauourable con­struction:2. Sam. 3. and 4. yet the one was accursed by Dauid, [Page]the other put to death. The reason heereof was because they went beyond their commission in violating those persons whom the King had recei­ued into his fauour to be his seruants and friends. For euery act is not good and lawfull which hath a good intent and purpose, or the care of the publike safetie to pleade for it: but there must be the allowance and authority of him ad quem spect at aestimare quià subtrahendum sit partibus pro salute to­tius. Tho. Aqui. Secūda, sec. q. 64. art. 3 And yet I would to God that our Combatāts had thus much to say for themselues as Rechab and the rest had. But her's no enemie of the Kings to bee remou'd, no competitor to bee degraded, no common good pretended; onely some foule words haue past or a disgracefull nod, or happily some little tap; and presently they proceed to Cai­phas his sentence, a bloudie one, expedit vt vnus moriatur, one at the lest must die for it, and so hee be murthered fairely all is well wee think.Nat. quest. l. 6. c. 22. Seneca laies the death of Calistenes hard to Alexanders charge, though a King and his Soueraigne. Hoc­est Alexandri crimen aeternum, saith hee, quod nulla virtus, nulla bellorum felicitas redimet. And as often as it shall be said, he ouerthrew many Thousands of Persians, it shall be likewise oppos d that he slew Calistenes: as often as it shall be said that hee van­quished Darius the great King, it shall bee remem­bred also that hee slew Calistenes, &c. The like may be more truely said to our braue-killing Gal­lants, They are Noble and potent you'le say, I but [Page]they haue kild a man; they haue or are able to doe some seruice to the state, but yet they haue kild a man, they are rich and much in fauour with the times, I but they haue kild a man: when we haue reckoned vp all the good that can any way plead for them, yet still this sticks close, they haue slaine a man, a creature made in the Image of God him selfe, and yet they durst deface and wrong this sa­cred Image, a creature made to be the Temple for God to dwell in, and yet they haue destroyd it and thrust God out of his dwelling place. It may please them farther to consider that blood hath a lowde voice, it reacheth euen to Heauen; What hast thou done, saith God, the voyce of thy brothers bloud crieth vnto me from the ground. Gen. 4. And are not we all bro­thers of one Father? all Subiect and seruants vn­der one King? parts and members of one body? While wee stand in these tearmes of relation wee haue not power to dispose of our selues and other men as we list.Iustinian In­stit. l. 1. Tit. 8. Interest Reipub. nequis re suâ malè vtatur: It pertaines vnto publike authority and the common good of men, that no man abuse him­selfe or his, much lesse another man: and where reparation of wrongs may be had gratis, Stultum est alium velle vlcisci poenâ suá. If no worldly con­sideration can make vs to hold our hands, yet let the thought of the accompt wee are to make be­fore God perswade vs to a better temper. Not to speake of the manner of our departure hence, (which in my opinion cannot bee altogether so [Page]faire, while the Enemie is in our eye, the Flesh smarts, heate preuailes, and nature bids kill ra­ther then be kild) But if in what state wee dye wee shall bee iudged, I doe not see what colour of Plea wee shall find for our selues. How can we say, O God forgiue vs our trespasses, as wee forgiue thē that trespasse against vs, & suffer vs not to be led into the pit of eternall death, while wee haue our Swords in our hands, malice and vio­lence is in our breasts, furie and rednesse in our eyes, and the bleeding wounds of a departing Soule pleads for vengeance against vs. While it is to day therfore, Let vs put on bowels of mercies, Coloss. 3. kindnesse, humblenesse of mind, meekenesse, long suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiuing one another if any man haue a quarrell against any; euen as Christ forgaue you, so also doe yee. And bee as­sured that hee shall haue peace in the Kingdome of peace, who hath liued peaceably.

Besides these I haue now spoken of, there is another sort of men who wil needs haue the Law­giuer and Iudge to bee of their Tribe, nay as God himselfe hee shall bee; Rex Regum, et Dominnus Dominantium, Kings his vassals, and Princes his foot-stoole. Heer's not rash impatience or lusti­nesse of Spirit, or reputation alleaged; Their ti­tle is more faire and forcible. Scriptum est, Haec dicit Dominus, God hath appointed it by his word therefore it must bee so. From these Scripture­men proceede these vncharitable diuisions, and [Page]suspicions that are amonst the people, by these are Treasons, inuasions, rebellions, murthers con­triu'd and further'd: the safety of the Prince is in continuall hazard, and the whole State troubled. But let vs I pray heare what they alleage for them­selues, And forsooth they produce a text out of 1. Cor. 2. He that is Spirituall Iudgeth all things, yet hee himselfe is iudged of no man. Heer's one that is made a Iudge, and indeed a vniuersall One, iudg­ing all things,Bellar. de verbo Dei, l. 3. c. 10. Tam spiritualia, quàm temporalia, saith Bellarmine, and is iudged of no man, heer's his absolutenesse and supremacie aboue all, hee hath no Superior to controule or censure him. The Minor they supply thus, But Church-men who are annoynted and receiued into the Church by the Bishops, that is as, Stapleton will haue it, Pastores et Doctores Ecclesiae, Cōment. in Rom. are the Spirituall-men; therefore to them it appertaines to bee The Iudge. To this wee answere, First to Iudge, in this place, is to discerne and to distinguish betwixt all true and false Doctrine, Quae ad vitam et iustitiam suf­ficit, (which may bee euerie good mans case so farre foorth as hee is enabled by the spirit of wise­dome,) and not to sit on a Throne of Maiestie, iudging all the Tribes and Families, and the King­domes of the Earth. Againe, by the Collation of spirituall man with naturall, it seemes they are not onely pointed at; For if it be ment onely of them­selues, What? are all other naturall and sensuall? God forbid; Indeed Bellarmine seemes to yeelde [Page]that other men may bee spirituall too; but yet be­cause wee cannot bee so certainely resolued who these are, Sicut certi sumus Papam esse spiritualem, Therefore the Pope is the man, well, because Bel­larmine will needs haue the Pope to be this spiritu­all man, Let vs try, An sit ex Deo, whether Gods Ego dixi, hath past vpon him or not. The touch­stone is the written word of God, by which his right is to be examined, for so the Prophet bids vs to doe.Isaiah. 8. Ad legem et ad testimonium &c. Seeke to the Law and to the Testimonie. If they speake not according to this word, how spirituall soeuer Bellarmine and others will make him, wee shall hardly receiue him for the Supreame Iudge ouer vs. Now what saith the word of God? Where is it written, Peter or the successor of Peter, Ego dixi Dij estis, I haue said yee are Gods? Indeed it is not to bee denied but that the Scriptures speake of one, Who exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God, or that is worshipped, 2 Thes. 1. so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himselfe that hee is God. And if this Scriptum est will serue their turne I haue not to gaine-say. Albeit my beliefe is otherwise, that since the good Father Saint Chrysostome tels mee an Apostle, and an Evangelist, and one of their Cardinall men of whom I spake before, will haue No man exempted from the secular power; I say I must beleeue that they cannot altogether so cleerely proue their title both of Exemption and Supremacy ouer all States and Princes, to bee so [Page]good as they pretend. Hitherto of these. There be more sorts of offenders in this kind, if the time and present occasion of this meeting did not ra­ther expect others then my selfe to bee the accu­ser of them; but these I take to bee the principall and most harmefull.

Generally the offences and wronges that are done, concerne our goods, and such thinges that are without vs, and in time may be repaired and supplied againe, and the motiues heereunto, are commonly so degenerous and base, as the offen­ders themselues are ashamed to bee taken and to bee seene in them. But the offence of these men goes beyond the skin and out-side, it peirceth e­uen to the marrow and the heart. For heere the Person and Life of man is oppos'd, which hath beene alwaies of better esteeme then his moouea­bles, and beeing once lost can neuer bee made vp againe.

To adde a little more of the quality of the per­son that is thus endangered, it most commonlie is the PRINCE himselfe, and with him the peace of the whole State, or some principall Gen­tleman of a Familie, or at least such an one whose worth might haue more profitably beene dispo­sed of for the Common good of men. Such as these whome the Common-wealth can least spare, are soonest taken away, and the offender mournes not for it, not so much as blusheth, yea hee rejoyceth rather in his deeded. For if hee [Page]bee of the first sort, a Dueller, forsooth his tinsell-honour and reputation, which lay at the stake, pleades the iustice of his cause: If of the Second a Romane Catholike Traytor, tis his Religion that puts him on, and this also must iustifie his wic­kednesse. Fayre pretences, for foule deedes, Heere's Iacobs voyce, but their hands are as rough as Esaues. Indeede it is true that the reputation of a man may bee lawfully vindicated, and Reli­gion mayntain'd euen with the hazard of out owne and other mens liues and Fortunes. But heeres our fault, wee neuer examine when, and how, and by whom our Honour and Religion is to bee defended and righted; No, there bee o­ther circumstances that wee more take notice of.

The opinion and voyce of the people is to bee gained or satisfied, some malitious or ambi­tious humour of our owne to bee stopt, some better fortune to bee raysed; These or the like thursts vs on head long to sinne, without any re­spect of Law, or Magistrate, of GOD, of man, or good sense; Come what can, wee in our owne case will take vppon vs to bee both witnesse and Iudge, and Executioner.

To rectifie and redresse these Enormities, or top preuent them from a Beeing, You most Re­uerend Fathers and Elders of ISRAELL are here mett: Let the feare and wisedome of the Lord bee vppon you, take heede, and doe according to all that the LORD by the hand of our Moses [Page]hath commaunded you this day, For there is no iniquity with the Lord our GOD, no respct of persons, no taking of gifts. Deale couragiously and iustly, and the Lord shall bee with the Good.