THe World before it was civilized, may fitly be resembled to a vast Ocean, or to a wilde Wilderness: for as in the vast Ocean, the great­er Fish devour the less without controul; and as in the wilde Wilderness, the strongest Beasts tear in pieces the weaker at their pleasure: So in the World, the raging Nimrods, who are like theJob 41.1. Leviathan in the Ocean; and [Page 2] the furious sons of Belial, who are like Job'sJob 40.15. Be­hemoth in the Wilderness, would make a prey of all who are infirm and quiet, unless there were Government, Law, and Judges, to preserve Pro­priety, Liberty, and Life.

Wherefore Jehoshaphat, a noble and wise Prince, that he might curb unruly Sensuality, re­strain bruitish Violence, punish devouring Op­pression, and bridle unsatiable Avarice, which are the Scylla and Charybdis of Humane Society; as also that he might establish Law and Equity, which are the Pillars of a Kingdome; settle Righ­teousness and Truth, which are the Palladium of a Nation; and protect Meum & Tuum, which are the Foundation of Wealth, Peace, and Indu­stry; He doth (as it is in my Text) set Judges in the Land, thorowout all the fenced Cities of Judah, City by City. And he saith to the Judges, Take heed what you do, &c.

The Context. De Jano bi­fronte. Vide Macrob. Sat. lib. 1. cap. 9.The first word of the Text is a Conjunction copulative, and therefore, like Janus among the Romans, looks backward to the Verse preceding; where we find King Jehoshaphat in his Royal pro­gress, from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and in his progress denying himself many contenting de­lights, and lawfull pleasures, that he might pro­mote the Publick good.

For as he was (after the example of all his [Page 3] Royal Predecessours) Supream in all Causes both Ecclesiastical and Civil, so he takes care in all Cau­ses Ecclesiastical and Civil: and as he was (after the example of all his noble Progenitours) Cu­stos utriusque tabulae, the Guardian of both Tables of the Moral Law, so he takes especiall care for the observance of each Table. His care in Cau­ses Ecclesiastical, appertaining to God, appears in the last words of the former Verse, He brought the people back to the Lord God of their Fathers. His care in Causes Civil, appertaining to the Kingdome, appears in my Text, And he set Judges in the Land, thorowout all the fenced Cities of Judah, City by City. And he said to the Judges, &c.

And here I beseech you take notice of the Piety and Prudence of this most Religious and Heroick King;Observation from the Context. He takes care of God and of Religion in the first place: for what the Soul is to the Body, that is Religion to the State. The Body without the Soul is dead, and the State without some esta­blisht Religion is confused and dis-joynted.

This was well known by the glimmering Lamp of Nature, to wiseVidetur O­pheus hoc co­natus apud Thraces, quod Pythagoras tentavit apud Ionios, & Numa apud Romanos. E [...]as. Adag. Chil. 4 Cent. 8. Num. 99. Orpheus among the Thraci­ans, to aenigmatical Pythagoras among the Greci­ans, and to devout Numa among the Romans; who did endeavour in the first place to instill some Principles of Natural Religion, among the barba­rous [Page 4] and rough People, that so they might molli­fie their savage Natures, and reduce them to Ci­vility, Order, and Obedience.

For Religion in it self is theReligioni serviendum est, quam qui non suspicit, ipse se prosternit in terram, & vitam pecudum secu­tus, humanitate se abdicat. La­ctant. de falsa sap. lib. 3. cap. 10. in fine. foundation of all morall Vertue, the original of all just and pious Law, the cement that strongly combine s all hu­mane Society, and the very life of impartiall Ju­stice, upright Love, and constant Honesty.

And supernatural Religion is theHaec doctrina porta coeli est, & janua paradisi, scala illa Jaco­bi, &c. Armin. orat. de auct. & fine. Theolog. pag. 45. Ladder of Jacob, by which the Soul may gradually ascend from Earth to Heaven; the silver wings of Da­vids Dove, by which we approach into the pre­sence of the Almighty; and the golden Chain that unites God to Man, and draws down the rich Blessings of Heaven upon us poor and needy Mor­tals in the Earth.

Wherefore Jehoshaphat did most prudently, as well as piously, to give primitias Deo, the first Fruits to God, who is [...], A­poc. 1.8. Primus & ultimus, the first and the last. And having [...]. Aratus in Phaen. Vid. Lorin. in Act. 17.28. first served God in Religious Affairs, he proceeds in the next place to take care of the Kingdome in Civil Affairs, And he set Judges in the Land, &c.

The which words do represent unto us, as in a clear optick Glass, two noble Objects, namely,

The Kings most Excellent Majesty; And

The most Reverend and Learned Judges.

And they represent these Objects without any [Page 5] envious or eclipsing cloud: They represent them in their orient splendour, and dazling lustre.

1. They represent the King in his Soveraignty and Supremacy, which is the most precious and beautifull Flower in his Crown.

2. They represent the Judges in their Circuit and Commission, which is their venerable Ho­nour and Authority.

1. Here is the King in the Pronoune primi­tive, He.

2. Here is the Kings Soveraignty and Supre­macy, in that, He set Judges in the Land, (which none but Royal Majesty can do.)

3. Here is the Circuit of the Judges, Thorow­out all the fenced Cities of Judah, City by City.

Lastly, Here is the Commission of the Judges; Wherein is contained,

1. A pious and prudent Caveat, Take heed what you do.

2. The Plea for putting in the Caveat, You judge not for men, but for the Lord.

3. The Seal to strengthen the Caveat, God is with you in judgement. And he set Judges in the Land, thorowout all the fenced Cities of Judah. And he said, &c.

1. Of the King, in the first word of the Text, the Pronoun primitive, He.

And now I may say with holy David, Psal. [Page 6] 45 1. My Heart is inditing of a good matter, I speak of the things I have made concerning the King; my Tongue should be as the Pen of a ready Writer.

For Kings are not the Invention of active Wits, or of ambitious Heads, or of politick Brains, as the deludedSleid. eom. lib. 10. Anabaptists, and other Enthusiasts dream; neither are they Creatures of the Peoples making, or the product of the Multitude, asBell. de Laicis. lib. 1. cap. 6. E. Bellarmine on the one hand, and theLonge con­traria est huic doctrinae Chri­sti, Fanatico­rum Angliae o­pinio, qui do­cent Regem esse creaturam po­puli, &c. Salma­sius in reg. de­fens. cap. 3. in principio, & cap. 10. circa medi­um. Indepen­dents, with other seditious Persons on the other hand, maintain: But they are grounded on the Law of Nature in Paternall Authority, which is co-aevall with the World; they are founded on the Law of right Reason, which gives a Dignity and Authority to the First-Born over all his Bre­thren; they are rooted in the Original Law of Nations, as Cicero lib. 3. de Legib. testifies, where he saith, Omnes antiquae Gentes Regibus paruerunt, All the ancient Nations of the World were go­verned by Kings: They are confirmed by the un­erring Law of God, who did institute theDeut. 17.15. Go­vernment of Kings over his own chosen People, and gave express1 Sam. 16.1. Commandement for David to be annointed King over Israel. Finally, they are Prophetically promised, as a very great Blessing to the Church in Gospel-times, Isa. 49.23. Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers, and Queens shall be thy nursing Mothers.

This Government by Kings, Plato the Seraphick PhilosopherIn Timaeo. calls [...], the most divine Government. AndHerodotus lib. 3. in orat. Ostanis, pro Monarchia. Herodotus (who is stiled Pater Historiarum, the first Historian among the Heathen) calls it [...], the most anci­ent Government. And Aristotle (who was the most rational and judicious of all the Philosophers) [...]. Eth. lib. 8. cap. 10. calls it [...], the most excellent Go­vernment.

For Monarchy is the imitation of the Govern­ment in Heaven, which is by one God; the resti­tution of the Primitive Government in the World, which was by one King: And it is the reflection of that admirable government of Nature, which rules the many Members of the Body by one Soul.

Experience proves, that Ship is best guided which is steered by one Pilot, though trimmed by many Sailors; that Army is best ordered which is commanded by one General, though assisted by many inferiour Officers; and that Nation is best governed who is ruled by one King, though ad­vised by divers prudent and religious Counsel­lours.

Doth not Nature give us a Hieroglyphick here­of in the mellifluous Bees, whose sweet Com­monwealth is ordered by one King,

[Page 8] whom they all reverence, and like little nimble Courtiers, wait upon. As also in the subtile Cranes, Plin. nat hist. lib. 10. cap. 2 [...]. who in their annuall flight over the Mount Taurus, (where the Eagles, their mortal enemies lodge) do by instinct reduce themselves into a form of Battalio, like a Triangle, and fol­low the conduct of one Leader, who flies before them, as if he was their King. Let us therefore in a unanimous Suffrage conclude with the judge­ment of theHom. Iliad. B. Prince of Poets, [...];— Let there be one Lord, one King.

But what is a King without Power? He is as a Bird without wings, or a Picture without life: He is asJudg. 16.20, 21. Sampson among the Philistins, with his locks cut off; or likeAesop. fab. 17. Aesop's Log, cast by Jupiter into the Lake, among the croaking Frogs, at first their Fear, but afterwards their Scorn.

Power therefore is essential to the Being of a King, without which he is but like the Spartans Nightingale, Vox, & praeterea nihil, a Noise, and nothing else.

Power is so necessary, that without it he cannot protect his loyal Subjects from wrong, or hisVide Salmas. reg. defens. cap. 10. per totum. Sa­cred Person from outrage: He cannot defend his Laws from shamefull neglect, or Himself from base Contempt; neither can he repell a sudden invasi­on from abroad, or charm down the Evil Spirit of Rebellion and Insurrection at home. And this [Page 9] brings me to the second part of the Text, and that is,—The Authority, Soveraignty, and Supremacy of the King, in these words, [...] He set Judges in the Land.

And now behold the King in his Throne. Be­hold him not only with a Crown of Gold upon his head, but with the glittering Sword of Justice in one hand, and the golden Scepter of Law in the other hand. Behold him attended with his reve­rend, wise, and learned Judges; and they not imposed upon him, (as if he was a Minor, and in Wardship) but of his own free choise, and gracious Election; for so saith my Text, [...] He set Judges in the Land.

And this is a Point very remarkable,The second part of the Text. and of highest Concern: For there hath been in our sad and wofull Memory, Two Pretenders unto this su­pream Act of Power; the one is the People, Qui vult decipi, non vult cogi; the other is the Senate, which is the Representative of the People. But to say little hereof, (ne cicatricem refricarem) both are absolutely excluded by my Text: For the Text doth not say, [...], They set Judges in the Land; but the Text speaks in the singular number, [...], He set Judges in the Land. This is an Act of Supremacy, and therefore belongs to the King: It cannot belong to the People, unless we do, with the unreasonable [Page 10] Fanatici' do­cent, populum dominum esse Regis. Salmas. in reg. defen. cap. 3. Fanaticks, make the Feet the Head; neither can it belong to the Senate, for their many Oaths, and the title of their frequent Petitions disavow it, whereby they both swear and declare themselves, His Majesties most humble, loyal, and obedient Sub­jects.

St. Peter the Apostle makes it a ruled Case in the Law of God, 1 Pet. 2.13. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man, for the Lords sake, whe­ther to the King as Supream, (here is the Kings Su­premacy asserted by divine Authority) or to Go­vernours, as sent by him, (here is the inferiority and dependency of all Judges and Magistrates establisht) Jehoshaphat in my Text, after the practice of all his Royal Progenitours, after the ex­ample of all his noble Predecessours, after the president of pious1 Chron. 26.29, 30. 1 King. 4.4, 5. David, wise Solomon, and all the other Kings of Judah, [...], He set Judges in the Land.

And it must needs be so; for according to the Greek Aphorism, [...], &c. the Throne and the Bed will not bear a Rival. To set Judges in the Land without the King, is either to be a­bove the King, whichNec quen­quam jam ferre potest Caesarve priorem, Pompeiusve parem. Lucan. Phars. lib. 1. Caesar could not brook; or else to be co-ordinate with the King, which Pompey could not digest; or else to cut off a skirt from the Kings royal Mantle, which made1 Sam. 24.5. Da­vids Heart to quake and tremble.

What Gentleman of the long Robe, who is advanced beyond his Littleton, doth not know, it is a received Maxime in the Laws of England, that the King is the Fountain of Honour, and of Ju­stice? Therefore as all Nobility is like a Chrystal Stream, which flows from that glorious Spring; so all Judges, Justices, and inferiour Magistrates, are as Rivers which issue from that noble Ocean. Alexander told the Embassadours of Darius, Q Curt. hist. de Alex. lib. 4. The Firmament will endure no more but one Sun, and the Regal Throne will bear no more but one Su­pream;— ‘He set Judges in the Land.’

But there are two sort of Judges; the one Ec­clesiastical, the other Civil: The one to judge in things that appertain to God, and Divine Wor­ship; the other to judge in things secular, apper­taining to Right and Wrong, which concern Mens Liberties, Lives, and Fortunes. Both these depend upon Kingly Power, and are goodly Branches, which grow and flourish upon the Roy­al Tree of Monarchy.

For we find in the 8th. Verse of this Chapter, that King Jehoshaphat appoints an Ecclesiastical Court of Priests and Levites, to determine in Mat­ters Spiritual and Ceremonial; and he constitutes Amariah the High-Priest, Chief Judge in this his Ecclesiastical Court, Verse the 11th. of this Chapter.

Further, He appoints a Civil Court, to deter­mine matters of the King, and Pleas of the Crown, and constitutes Zebadiah the Son of Ishmael, chief Judge therein, as it is in the same Verse.

And this jurisdiction of King Jehoshaphat in Matters Ecclesiastical and Civil, was no intrusion, or innovation, but a just asserting of the ancient Charter of his most honourable Predecessours: For King Solomon, whoseKing. 4.30. wisdome excelled all the wisdome of the East, and all the wisdome of Egypt, did appoint Zadok the Priest to be1 King. 2.35. High-Priest. And thus did Christian Emperours in theBilson of O­bedience. Primitive times, untill Boniface the Third usurp­ed that ambitious and tyrannical title of Ʋniver­salis Episcopus. Yea Heathen Kings by the prin­ciples of just Policy, have, and do keep this Pre­rogative inviolate, namely, To be Supream Go­vernour over all Pesons, and in all Causes, both Divine and Civil: well knowing, it is a dange­rous Cancer in the body of the State, to suffer any Power in a Kingdome to be independent upon the Royal; and that it makes a Kingdome, like the Serpent (whichPlin. nat. hist. lib. 20. cap. 20. Pliny calls) Amphisbaena, who having two Heads, drawing two severall wayes, doth writhe the body miserably, and af­ter many painfull convulsions, doth tear the bo­dy into loathsome pieces.

Presumptuous therefore, and highly injurious, [Page 13] is the Usurpation of the Bishop of Rome, in claim­ing a Supremacy over Kings and Princes inBell. de Rom. Pontif lib. 5. cap 1. & cap. 6. & cap. 7. Cau­ses Ecclesiastical: especially presumptuous is he in claiming a Superiority over the King of Eng­land, who was held to be [...], by theVide the pri­mitive Rule of Reformation. pag. 33, 34. Ro­manists themselves; and as our learnedCamden. Brit. cap. Ordin. Angl. Antiqua­ry proves, holds not his Empire in vassallage unto any, neither is inthroned, or installed by any for­reign Power, and hath an Arch-Bishop in his own Dominions, who is [...], a great Me­tropolitan, & magnus totius orbis Patriarcha, a great Patriarch of the Christian World.

Injurious likewise, and more highly presump­tuous, is the little Church of Geneva, in her no­vell and high-minded opinion, concerning the power of the Presbytery over Kings and Princes,Travers. de discipl. Eccl. fol. 136, 137. even to the dreadfull sentence of Excommunica­tion; as also in teaching the People, (as appears in the Writings ofCal. instit. lib 4. cap. 20. Sect. 31. Danaeus de Christiana po­lit. lib. 3. cap. 6. Bucan. Inst. the­ol. de Magistra­tu. num. 77. &c. Calvin, Beza, Danaeus, Buca­nus, Knox, Buchanan, and many others) that it is lawfull for them to take up Arms against their Soveraign, in case of Religion or Liberty; the which seditious Doctrine, clean contrary to sacredRom. 13.1.2, 5. Scripture, clean contrary to the practice of theTertul. in A­polog. primitive Christians, and diametrically contrary to the judgement of the ancientCirca Maje­statem impera­toris infama­mur, tamen nunquam Cassiani inveniri pouerunt Christiani. Tertul. ad Scapulam. Fathers, (if it be not thorowly quenched in England) will be a [Page 14] Fire-brand to kindle a new Warre in the bowels of the Nation,Dolere potero, flere potero ▪ aliter nec de­beo, nec possum resistere. S. Am­br in orat. in Aux [...]nt. as soon as the people are like Tinder prepared for the work. I am sure this novel and people-flattering Opinion is a poysoning of the Subject in point of Loyalty, and a robbing of his gracious Majesty of the most choise and glorious Flower which grows in the Crown Imperial, the which Flower was planted by the hands of God himself.

And thus much for Ecclesiastical Judges; who as they are by Divine and Civil Authority esta­blished in England, do like1 King. 1.23: Nathan the Prophet bow down before King David, and heartily ac­knowledge the King (asTert. in apol. adver. gentes. cap. 30. Tertullian in his Apo­logy declares the primitive Christians acknowledg­ed the Roman Emperour) à Deo secundus, post quem primus, ante omnes, & super omnes; Next to God himself in his own Dominions, and supe­riour to all persons in his own Kingdomes. I proceed to the other kind of Judges, which are Civil, of which my Text directly speaks— ‘He set Judges in the Land.’

And what are Civil Judges? They are the ho­noured Fathers of their Countrey, the worthy Patrons of the Subjects Birth-right, which is Pro­priety, and legal Liberty; and as the holyPsal. 47.9. Scri­pture calls them, [...], the Sheilds of the Earth.

Judges are the Atlas's which bear up the pillars of a flourishing Nation; the Altars to which the desolate Widow, the forlorn Orphan, and the distressed Innocent fly for succour; and they are the Oracles of Law, from whose well-guided Lips the Princes of the Earth learn Wisdome and Righ­teousness.

They are so extreamly necessary, that not only the Well-being of a Kingdome, but the very Be­ing of humane Society depends upon them. So that what some Modern Philosophers say of the Sun, namely,Rob. de fluct. in utriusque cosmi. hist. tract 1. lib. 1. cap. 6. That if that glorious Planet was pulled out of his Sphear, by the hand of Omnipo­tence, the lovely frame of Heaven and Earth would sink into a Chaos: So we may confidently say, that if Judges and Magistrates were thrown out of the Seat of Government, and levelled with the Vulgus, by the evil spirit of Quakerism, Ana­baptism, and Enthusiasm, all humane Society would quickly corrupt into self-destroying Confu­sion, and be swallowed up in the gaping gulph of Oppression, Violence, and ruining Misery.

How happy then are we of this Kingdome, Bona si sua norint Agricolae, if we had Eyes to see our Happiness, that we have Judges and Magistrates in the Land: That we are not left like the harm­less Dove, to the greedy violence of Birds of prey; that we are not left as the quiet Sheep, to the gri­ping [Page 16] hunger of ravenous Beasts; nor constrained to cry out according to the elegantE [...]asm Adag. cent 6. num. 22 Greek Adage, [...], Let there be Equality by casting of Lots, and not a taking by the Throat, to snatch away what is ours by strong hand and power.

As also what great cause have we to bless God, that we have Judges in the Land, who make the Law their rule, and Religion their guide; who are loyal to their gracious King, and faithfull to his obedient Subjects; who know God sits in the Congregation of the [...] Psal. 82.1. Gods; and as Homer saith, [...], hath an impartial Eye to re­venge all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

Finally, what great cause have we to magnifie God, for this Happiness of the Kingdome, far above other Kingdomes in the world, that these honourable and learned Judges of our Land, do like the Vine and Fig-tree inJudg. 9.10. Jotham's Parable, leave their own Sweetness and self-enjoyments, to bear precious fruit to us; that they value not their own Ease and Rest, to bring upright Judgement to our doors, and impartial Justice to our Coun­ty; that they are as burning and shining Lamps, wasting the oyl of their Health and Strength to en­lighten and refresh us. In a word, that they do withExod. 18.13. Moses, sit from Morning to Evening, to hear the Causes between man and man. And this brings me to the third part of the Text, the Judges Circuit,— ‘[Page 17]Throughout all the fenced Cities of Judah.The third part of the Text.’

But what have fenced Cities to do with Judges? Fenced Cities have need of valiant Souldiers, and experienced Commanders; have need of swelling Granaries, and loaden Magazins; have need of Vitruvius, to build strong Bulwarks; and ofDe Archime­de. Vid. Plut. in vita Marcelli. Archimedes, to draw Geometricall lines. Juli­us Caesar told the honest Tribune, who forbad him to break open the Roman Treasury, because it was against Law;Plut. in vita Julii Caesar. Julius Caesar told him, that the shrill sound of the Trumpet, and the ratling beat of the Drum, did so deafen his Ears, that he could not hear the voice of any Law.

Yet notwithstanding all this, and much more that might be said, there is great necessity and a­bundant advantage, when Judges are appointed to visit all the fenced Cities of Judah.

For a City may be fenced in the Halcyon dayes of Peace; a City may be fortified, when the Temple of Janus is shut; and the politick Wis­dome of Princes teacheth them, to provide as well against the Fraud of a pretended Ally, as against the watchfull Malice of a proclaimed Enemy. It is something too late to draw Fortifications, when the Herald denounces Warre, and the Canon spits fire: And therefore2 Reg. 23.9. 2 Chron. 19.15, 16. 2 Chron. 26.14, 17. David, and Solomon, and Ʋ [...]iah, did fence their Cities in time of Peace; and every Prince who is a Prometheus will do so. [Page 18] Preventing Physick is the cheapest and the best Physick.

Now in this case, Judges are as needfull and usefull for fenced Cities, as their deep Trenches, and double Walls: Nay, they are more needfull, and more strong defences, than all their Walls of Stone or Earth; stronger than that brazen Wall, which common fame relates, the learned Frier en­deavoured by Magical skill to erect round about this famous Island.

Lycurgus the renowned Law-maker of Sparta was clearly of this judgement, and thereforePlut. in vita Lycur. for­bad his Citizens to build any Walls about their Sparta, affirming, that good Laws duely executed were the strongest monuments to Towns or Cities; the which Truth was confirmed by real Experience, for (as Plutarch observes) Sparta, Plut. in vita Lysandri. which had no Walls, but good Laws, was longer lived, and more illustrious than Thebes, or Corinth, or A­thens, or any other City of Greece, which had sup­posed invincible Fortifications.

And this Truth is establisht by solid Reason: For as Impostumes within the Body, if they are not cured, do more certainly kill, than loathed Ul­cers that are in the external parts: And as infect­ed blood running in the channell of the Veins doth more speedily transfix the heart, than wide wounds which are exposed to the Eye; so Divisi­on, [Page 19] and Oppression, and Riots, and Debauche­ries, and sordid vices within a City, do more certainly and speedily ruine a fenced City or Cor­poration, than Hannibal ante portas, than a threat­ning Enemy that beleaguers the Walls, or a bold Foe that throws a Granado into the Town, or strikes a Petard upon the Gates.

Needfull then are Judges, even in fenced Ci­ties, that they may be Healers of in-bred Divisi­ons, Repairers of tumultuous Breaches, and Re­storers of quiet paths to dwell in.

Necessary be Judges, that they may charm with the rod of Mercury, the evil spirit of Vio­lence, and punish with the glittering Sword of Justice, the impudence of incorrigible Offen­dors. They are necessary to protect the Gown from the Buff; to shelter the un-armed Towns­man, from the imperiousness and rapine of the Man of Warre, who would roar and swell like the raging Waves of the Sea, if Judges and Go­vernours did not with the Trident of Law, as­swage the fury of the thundring Tempest.— But my Text goes further— ‘City by City.’ that is to say, Every City had Judges appointed for the composing of civil differences, and the punishing of notorious malefactours. ‘Ʋrbes no­viter structae, Ʋrbes bello acquisitae, &c.’ Cities [Page 20] which were newly built, and Cities which were lately conquered, have Judges appointed to de­termine in all Causes civil and capital, as the in­comparableGrot. Annot. in loc. Grotius observes upon the Text.

And this was a singular act of Prudence: For if there be no City, Town, or Corporation, (except in Sr. Thomas Moor's Eutopia) which is priviledged in a moral sence, asHeylins Cos­mogr. de Creta & Hibernia. Creet and Ire­land are in an historical sense, from venemous Creatures; then there is an absolute necessity of providing the antidote of Law, and the amulet of Justice for every City, that the Good and Vertu­ous be not stung to death by the flying Serpent of Oppression, or gnawn to the bones by the weep­ing Crocodile of Hypocrisie.

Poets doHefiod. Virg. Ovid, &c, fable of the Golden Age, that it flourished sine Lege, & sine Judice, without Law, or Judges; and that Men were then so vertuous, that—

that men in those ancient times were honest and faithfull of themselves; and that they were just without paenal Laws, or fear of punishment. But that Age of Innocency is long ago expired, and we live in the Iron Age, whereFacit indig­natio Versum. Juvenal. Sat. 1 Num. 79. blushlesse crimes out-face the Sun.

And therefore there is extream need of Judges, and of Law, that the Augaean Stable may be cleansed; the stinking sinks of foul sins may be washed; that men may not be Cannibals, or else turn Brutes, and be like Monsters to tear and de­vour one another.

For the body politick is in many regards like the body natural: And as the body natural doth every year contract some ill humours, and there­fore hath sometimes need of incision, sometimes of purgation, sometimes of breathing a Vein, and sometimes of Causticks, and sometimes of the amputating Saw, Ne pars sincera trahatur, lest the sound parts be gangreen'd; so it is in a City or Corporation, the diseases of Impiety and Iniquity abound, and like the crawling Insects breed and multiply of themselves: and therefore there is a necessity of Judges and Magistrates, to be the blessed Aesculapius's to cure all these destroying Maladies; to cure the Tympany ofHaec sunt septem pecca­ta capitalia, ut numerantur à Canisio in cat. pag. 455. Pride, the Dropsie of Covetousness, the Itch of Luxury, the Impostume of Envy, the Caninus appetitus of Gluttony, the Feaver of Wrath, and the Lethargy of Idleness.

Need of Judges itinerant to visit a Kingdome, City by City, that they may cure the Megrim of [Page 22] Disloyalty, the Leprosie of Schism, the Frenzy of Quarrelling, the stinking Breath of false Wit­ness, the Rheum of railing Language, and the Palsie of a lying Tongue.

Who knows not that Cities and Corporations are as Common-shores, wherein the filth of a Kingdome runs? As great Rivers, which admit the streams of any muddy Rivulet to mingle with them; as vast boyling Pots, wherein there ariseth naturally abundance of Scum.

In a Kingdome there is foul-mouth'd Swearing, Heaven-provoking Cursing, swinish Drinking, abominable Cheating, injurious Bargaining, false Conveyances, pretended Titles, cursed failing in Trust.

In a Kingdome there are bloody Murthers, im­poverishing Thefts, frighting Burglaries, Soul-destroying Perjury, Religion-ruining Simony, execrable Treasons, and detestable Sacriledge.

Wherefore it is necessary to have Law and Judges in the Land, that these Impostumes may be launced, that these Ulcers may be cured, that these pestilential Humours may be emptied, and these epidemical Diseases may be thorowly pur­ged by the soveraign Pill of Justice, Righteousness, and Equity.

And it is high time that these ill Humours of Vice and Wickedness be evacuated: For what a [Page 23] blazing Comet, in reference to the whole King­dome, is that universall Profaneness which abounds both in City, Town, and Countrey With what dreadfull rayes doth it threaten t [...] whole Nation? when as Gods holy Ordinanc [...] the spiritual Manna of our Souls, is loathe [...] when Gods sacred Messengers, the Heralds [...] Evangelical Peace, are despised; when Gods di­vine Worship, which is the Quotidiana Oblatio, the daily Offering prophesied of by Malachy, Mal. 1.11. is not only omitted, but mocked at. And men make no account of their immortal Souls, more precious than ten thousand Worlds, but sell them, as prophane Esau sold his Birth-right,Heb. 12.16. for a mess of Pottage, to gratifie any worldly Interest, or carnal, momentary Pleasure.

What a dismall Prognostication for the whole Kingdome is the slighting of Authority, the speaking evil of Dignities, the murmuring of Co­rah's, the whispering of Miriam's, the refusing the Waters of Siloam, which run softly, and the im­patient longings after the puddles of levelling Go­vernment in the Church, as the fickle and giddy Israelites did once long after the stinking Leeks and Onions of Egypt. Numb. 11.5.

Certainly these prodigious Iniquities, these ominous Disorders, and these dangerous Presum­ptions, call aloud for the coercive Power of the [Page 24] Magistrate, who is [...], the Minister of God,Rom. 13 4. [...], the Reven­ger, to execute wrath on them that do evil.

Certainly these hainous and monstrous Sins cry aloud in the Ears of our most Reverend Judges, for due execution of the Laws, without which God himself will enter into Judgement with us, and plead his own Cause in Thunder and Light­ning, in Storms and Tempests, far more terrible than the late fiery Torrent of Aetna, which to the amazement of the World, consumed all that was before it.

And doubtless it is most safe for Judges and Magistrates, Venienti occurrere Morbo, to meet a Disease, before the Malignity of it hath seized the Vitals; and to destroy the Cockatrice, whilest it is in the shell. I beseech you consider seriously, what dreadfull flames have kindled from neglect­ed sparks; and how many stately Ships have sunk by small neglected leaks. I may not, I must not enlarge—‘Cinthius aurem vellit, Virgil Eglog. 6. & admonuit.’

And so much for the third part of the Text, the Circuit of the Judges,— ‘Thorowout all the fenced Cities of Judah, City by City.’

The fourth part of the Text.We should come to the last Part of the Text, which is the Commission of the Judges.— But that Part of the Text is the beginning of the [Page 25] next Verse, and therefore may be the Conclusion of my present Discourse. And the first particular in that part is the Caveat which King Jehoshaphat gives to the Judges, in these words— ‘And he said to the Judges, Take heed what you do’ — Which Caveat given to such Wise, Reverend, and Learned Persons, should move me to reflect upon my self, and to take heed what I do, namely, lest I presume upon your Honoured Patience, and retard your Weighty Affairs, and Publick Con­cerns. Wherefore beseeching God to bless what hath been delivered, we humbly return to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, &c.