ἘΚΔΊΚΗΣΙΣ OR A DISCOURSE OF Vengeance.  
DELIVERED In a Sermon Preached at Dorchester, at the Assizes holden there for the County of DORSET, March. 4. 1663.  
By Henry Glover Rector of Shroton.  
Id cogitare; quomodo quis remordeat  
Mordentem, & nocenti noceat,  
Ferae est, non Hominis  Muson. 
LONDON, Printed for Henry Brome. And are to be sold by William Churchill. Bookseller in Dorchester. 1664.   

Per legi hanc Concionem, cui Titulus (ἘΚΔΊΚΗΣΙΣ) in qua nihil reperit Doctrinae, Disciplinaeve Ecclesiae Anglicanae, aut bonis moribus contrarium.  
Joh. Hall R. P. D. Episc. Lond. à sac. Domest. April. 14: 1664   

To the Right Worshipful, and my most Honoured Patron, THOMAS FREKE Esq High Sheriff of the County of Dorset.  
SIR,  
IT will be my sufficient Apology for the publishing of this Sermon, to all those that know in what Ties of duty I stand bound to you, that you commanded me, first to Preach it, and then to Print it. A Command by no means, without the deepest stain of ingratitude, to be disobeyed by me; were it but only to take this opportunity of declaring to the world, That there is no man upon earth, to whom I stand so particularly obliged (not at all to disparage the courtesies of other Friends) for many great and extraordinary Favours, as to yourself. You have been pleased not only to make choice of me for your Minister, and freely to present me with a Living, but to give me many other encouragements, not usual for Patrons to bestow upon their Clerks. And indeed, should you not be a Noble Patron, it would be a greater Wonder, then to see many others Ignoble and Base; since (I cannot but think) this Virtue is descended down to you by Inheritance, together with your Estate, and you must needs degenerate from your Ancestors, should you be otherwise; Particularly your excellent Grandfather, Sir Thomas Freke, whose Name is still like a Precious Ointment, and whom I the rather mention (with Honour to his Memory) because among many other works of Piety and Charity that he abounded in, he did at his own Charge raise the Structure of this Church (of which I am through your Bounty a Minister) from the Foundation. By whose Munificence, as we have now a Decent and Comely Place to serve God in; so he himself hath built his own Monument, Aere perennius, which will keep his Name alive for many Generations, after his Body is consumed, and his Bones are rotten. You carry both his Names, which cannot but frequently mind you of his Virtues, and incite you to write after so fair a Copy. To expatiate in your personal Commendations is not the Business of this Epistle: since I know your Disposition to be as fare from vainglory, (as I can truly say) mine is from Flattery; and to Praise you, would be the ready way to displease you. Indeed that is the most  and Immaculate goodness, which doth good, and desires not to be taken Notice of.  
Sir, I beseech you to accept of this slender Testimony of my Thankfulness, the following Sermon; which passing under the Protection of your Name, will (I hope) meet with the kinder entertainment from all that know You. And together with this, my heartiest Prayers, That God would be pleased to enrich your soul with all Spiritual and Heavenly Blessings in Christ Jesus, proportionable to that large Measure of outward and Temporal Blessings, which he hath bestowed upon you, that so you may be happy here, and happy hereafter; which is and shall be the daily Prayer of  
Honoured Sir, Your most obliged servant and devoted Chaplain. HENRY GLOVER.   

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A DISCOURSE OF Vengeance,  ROM. 12. 19 Dear beloved, Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. 
MAn is a middle Creature betwixt an Angel and a Beast. In respect of his soul, and those Noble Intellectual Endowments, which make him capable of Grace and virtue here, and of Glory and Immortality hereafter, he comes near to the nature of Angels. But then in respect of his Body, he partakes as much of the nature of Beasts; The matter the same, the Concupiscible and Irascible Faculties common to both, which (if not regulated by better Principles than the School of Nature affordeth) make him as greedily to hunt after sensual satisfaction, and as eagerly oppose what ever stands in the way of that pursuit, as any Beast whatsoever. Hence Clemens Alexandrinus calls mankind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Clem. Alex. Protrept in Principio.  the wildest of all Beasts, which the Divine voice of the Heavenly Charmer is only able to make Tame. And St. Basil compares Revenge to the Fight of Dogs; one Dog barks at his fellow, 
Basil. Hom. 21.  the next bites him for barking, and in a little Time all the Dogs in the parish are together by the Ears. The Apostle pursues the same Metaphor when he calls it Biting and Devouring one another, Gal. 5. 15. If ye by't and devour one another, take heed ye be not consumed one of another. And this gave occasion to that Fancy of the Poet, that when Prometheus made man (having spent all his skill before in the framing of other Creatures) he was fain to patch him up, 
Hor. Car. l. 1. Ode 16.  by taking a Piece of one, and a Piece of another, and among the Rest, he gave him a Lion's Heart. Hence that proneness to Anger, which is nothing else but Vlciscendi Libido, saith St. 
De Civ. l. 13. C. 15.  Austin, a Desire to be revenged; and that pleasure which men are apt to take in Revenge, that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or Rendering of Evil for Evil, which is the Exercise of wrath; and a sin that gives such a kind of Pleasure and satisfaction to malice, as scratching doth to one that hath the Itch; it affords a present Delight though he be the sorer for it afterward. O that we had of his Flesh, we cannot be satisfied, say they in Job 31. 31. as if nothing could content them, but a Lion-like Rage, to tear in pieces him whom they hated. Thus is Revenge in Mankind a sin of that Impetuosity and violence, that it hath employed the wisest Men in all ages (and all too little) to set bounds to it.  
1. The Heathen Philosophers did something that way. Aristotle tells us in his Ethics that it is better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to suffer injury then do it. And he gives this solid Reason for it, Because to do wrong is an Effect of Improbity, but to suffer it patiently the Fruit of Virtue. 
Orig. contra Caelsum b. 7.  Plato goes farther (as Origen citys him against Celsus) and forbids not only to do an injury, but to revenge an injury done. But these Philosophers differing sometimes from themselves, and being contradicted by each other, some making Revenge the Lawful Issue of fortitude, as others did patiented suffering the Product of meekness, their Doctrine took no more effect, than the several Tempers and dispositions it met withal would allow it; the Angry man finding enough in them to justify his Revenge, as well as the Meek man to content and satisfy his Patience.  
2. Moses the mouth of God to the Israelites and therefore the Ablest, the meekest man upon Earth (Num. 12. 3.) and therefore the Fittest to suppress, the sin of Revenge, lays down more punctual Precepts to this purpose, Levit. 19 17, 18. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine Heart; thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the Children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, I am the Lord. Now this being a Law stamped with Gods own Authority, and of Divine revelation, was likely to have had better Effects, than what was only the Product of Natural Light, and had nothing but the bare word of a Philosopher to support it against the unruly Passions of men. But there were two things especially which hindered the desired success of that Law. First the Jews looking upon none as their Brother or neighbour, but only a Jew. And secondly the Pharises corrupt Gloss upon that Text of the Law, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself, which they Expounded, Thou shall love thy neighbour, and hate thine Enemy. Mat. 5. 43. By the first of these all mankind (beside a Jew or a Proselyte) was cut off from any Benefit by that Law; and by the second, the Jews themselves (too prone to Revenge) were taught so to interpret it as their Duty, to perform any such civilites to an Enemy, although a Jew.  
3. But Jesus Christ the great shepherd of the sheep; whose business into the world was to pull down the partition Wall, to make the whole world one great Fraternity, one common sheepfold, began this great work in his Sermon upon the Mount (Mat 5.) which laying down more pressing, more particular and more extensive Precepts, for Bearing of wrongs Loving of Enemies, and Doing good for Evil, then ever the world before was acquainted withal, And the Apostles who followed after, treading in their Master's steps; pressed nothing more frequently, than an holy Amnesty of injuries, and forgiving of Enemies; looking upon no vice so universally opposite to Christianity as Anger and Revenge. Among the many Precepts and Exhortations to this purpose, this is one that I have now read unto you, Dear Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, etc.  
In which words you may observe two general parts, viz. A Prohibition, and A Proof. The Prohibition in the former part of the Text, Dear Beloved, Avenge not yourselves, but rather &c: The proof in the following words, For it is written Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.  
In the first of these you may be pleased to observe.  
1. A Compellation by way of Preface, Dear Beloved, significans Vindictam dilectione repugnare, saith Aretius. The Apostle being with this Compellation, to insinuate into them, that the great duty of Christians is to love one another, as Christ loved them, with which the sin of Revenge is utterly inconsistent. You lose that Noble Title of Beloved if you study Revenge.  
2. The Prohibition itself, Avenge not yourselves. Revenge indeed is solatium doloris as Tertullian calls it; but withal, 
Aug. Qu. 70 super L. v. t.  it is De alieno malo, saith St. Austin; A kind of solacing our own sorrows in another man's misery. And how unsuitable is this to those that are Members of the same Body? The Hand doth not rejoice if the Foot be broken, nor the Foot glory if the Eye be put out. Remember what you are, and avenge not yourselves.  
3. A Remedy or Direction, which is to be used instead of Revenge, But rather give place unto wrath. Either first, 
Orig. in loc.  to the wrath of man, by yielding to it, and endeavouring to appease it; for A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger, Proverbs 15. 1. When two Flints strike together Fire comes out, but strike a Flint against Wool it will not do so. Or else, Give place un●o wrath, that is, to the wrath of God, by referring the whole matter to his Decision. And this brings in the Proof, the second part of my Text; where observe again.  
1. God's Prerogative, Vengeance is mine. The place is in Deut. 32. 35. To me belongeth Vengeance and Recompense. God claims it as his Right, we must not meddle with it. For to rob God of his Prerogative-Rights, is the Highest sort of Sacrilege. You may as justly, though not as easily rob him of his Thunder. Vengeance is mine (saith God) touch it not.  
2. God's promise, I will repay, saith the Lord. This is to prevent an objection. Perhaps (may the Angry man say) God will never mind the business so far, as to do me Right; and then, Mihi permisiss●e debnerat, si ipse non praestat, 
Tert advers. Marc. l. 4.  (as Tertullian heightens the objection) God should suffer me to do that, which he never intends to do himself. Yes, saith God, I will do thee Right, fear not; for Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.  
The words being thus opened, that you may see the Inside of them, I must now crave leave in the handling of them, to tread in a Method a little unusual to myself, viz: First, to observe the first Rise and spring of Revenge, as it issues clear as Crystal out of the Throne of God. Secondly, to trace it down through the several Channels and Currents of Magistracy, where it runs still clear, unless it be troubled by some unjust, and indirect Courses. And last of all, to see how this clear water becomes a very puddle, when once it is mudied by the unclean Feet of the multitude. Briefly, we shall see these Three things; 

1. How Vengeance is God's Prerogative.  
2. How it is the Magistrates Duty.  
3. How it is the People's Sin.    
1. Vengeance is God's Prerogative. Here he claims it; Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. God is primarily and originally the Revenger, and none but he. Nor hath any Person whatsoever an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or self-terminated power to take away Life, but only he that hath power to give Life. And as this is God's Prerogative, so he held it a long time in his own hands; nor doth it appear that ever the sword of Justice was drawn, or any Capital punishment inflicted till after the Flood, which was above 1600 years at least after the Creation. 
Lactan. div. Instit. lib. ca 10.  Adhuc enim videbatur Nefas, quamvis malos, tamen Homines, supplicio capitis afficere, saith Lactantius; For as yet it seemed an Heinous thing to put any man to Death, though he were a wicked man. When Cain had killed his Brother, God himself took the Judgement seat, arraigned, indicted, and pronounced sentence against him, as the only Revenger of Blood. Nor was that the sentence of Death, but he was condemned to be a Vagabond and Runagate upon the Earth, pursued by the Furies of his own guilty Conscience; 
Fag in Gen. 4. 12. Munst. in Gen. 96.  which God appointed to be his executioners for that sin. Whence Fagius and Munster have both given their Opinion, that before the Flood no man's life was taken away by the Hand of Justice; the greatest punishment that we find inflicted on the greatest Malefactor, being only Banishment and Excommunication from the Church, which (in the defect of a more severe Punishment) was accompanied with the Terors of God upon the soul. So that though the Poet's Fiction of the Golden Age was but a Fiction in this, that he thought there were no Injuries nor Outrages that deserved Death committed during that time; Sponte sua sine Lege Fidem Rectumque colebant: yet it holds true enough in the other part, Nec supplex Turba timebat Judicis ora sui, sed erant sine judice tuti. 
Vide Grot de Jure B. & P. b. 1. c. 2. §. ●.  There was no standing authorized Judge, to punish such crimes with death. And thus stood the Case in that first Age of the world, till after the Flood: God as the supreme Revenger kept the sword in his own hand, and did not communicate his power with any Creaturae whatsoever. And so Vengeance is God's Prerogative; which was my first particular.  
2. Yet now, it is become the Magistrates Duty, and that by virtue of a Delegation or Deputation from God himself, Gen. 9 6. Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his Blood be shed, for in the Image of God made he Man. By man shall his blood be shed; not by every man not by any man that will, not by a private man, but by the Magistrate. 
Masius.  The word Man is here put by way of Eminency, to signify Egregium prae Caeteris atque eximium Virum, an extraordinary Man. And for the manner of executing Justice in the shedding of such guilty Blood, the Chaldee Paraphrase gives us a light, which reads that Text thus, Cum Testibus ex sententia Judicis fundetur sanguis ejus, His Blood shall be shed by the sentence of a Judge, upon the Deposition of witnesses. Whereupon Munster affirms of that Text, that it is Fons ex quo manat totum jus , & jus Gentium; The Fountain from whence all our Civil, and National Laws do flow. It being not to be questioned, but God hath put the power of smaller Controversies into their Hands, into whose hands he hath put the power of life and Death; And whatsoever blood is thus deservedly shed, Non est effusio sanguinis, sed Legum Ministerium saith St. Hierome, is not Murder but Justice. Such blood hath no voice, as the Blood of Abel had, but having nothing to plead for itself, is dumb and quiet. Guilty Blood, let out by the hand of Justice for the preservation of the Body politic, makes no more noise in the Ears of God, than the Blood that's let out of a vein by the hand of a skilful Physician, for the preservation of the Body Natural. And thus you see how the Magistrate comes to be a Revenger; God hath put him into his own seat, and put his own sword into his hand, to execute that Vengeance which before he executed himself.  
And that this is so, beside what hath been already said, may be further proved by our Apostle himself; who though in the Text he brings in God laying claim to Vengeance as his peculiar, yet within six or seven verses after (Rom. 13. 4.) he tells us, that the Magistrate is the Minister of God, a REVENGER to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. Now certainly (as Grotius observes) the holy Ghost would not speak Contradictions; and therefore the Text must be necessarily understood of Private Revenge, executed by private Persons ●plendi doloris causa to gratify their own malice, not of Vindictive Justice, which the Magistrate, who is God's deputy, doth in his Name, and by his Authority execute. And then so sacred is the Name, so uncontrollable the Mouth of Justice, that after the sentence prounounced, No private hand must meddle, no other punishment must be inflicted; 'tis Felony to kill a Malefactor going to the Gallows. Now God to honour the Magistrate, and to make him a more fit Representer of his own Majesty on Earth, hath communicated three things to him, which he hath not to others.  
1. He hath communicated his own Name to him. I have said ye are Gods etc. and, Thou shalt not revile the Gods, nor curse the Ruler of the people, Exod. 22 28. It is the observation of Justin Martyr, or whoever was the Author of those Questions and Answers to the Orthodox, 
Qu. & Res. ad Orthod. qu. 124.  which go under his Name, That when ever God appointed an Angel to transact any business in his Name with Mankind, that Angel was, during the time of that Transaction, called by the Name of God himself whom he represented; but as soon as the business was done, he ceased to be called by the Name of God. He instanceth in Gen. 18. 22. where the Angel that talked with Abraham is called Jehovah; and Gen. 32. 30. I have seen God face to face, saith Jacob, when he wrestled with the Angel; and Exodus 23. 20, 21. My name is in him, saith God, of the Angel that he sent before the People of Israel. If any body will contend that those Angels were Christ, let him remember he must contend with the Author of those Questions, not with me. And then, he must contend with Grotius too, who justifies that Author's Opinion, and from Heb. 1. 2. where it is said, that God hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, 
Grot. Expli. De calog. in praef●t.  censures the other opinion with an Errand gaviter etc. They do greatly err who think that God did so frequently speak to the world in those first days by his Son, before the Incarnation. But (I say) as in these Author's Opinion, God put his own name upon those Angels, whom he employed in some special Embassies: So ('tis more clear, that) when God makes choice of a Man to supply his own Room in Judging the People, and executing Vengeance, he cloaths him with his own Titles, puts his own name upon him, during the Time of his Magistracy. So that when God saith, Ye are Gods, the meaning is (saith the same Father) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I have conferred mine own Honour, Dignity, Order, and Name upon you; and therefore Judge you the People, as I myself would judge them.  
2. He hath with his Name conferred his own Power and Authority upon the Magistrate; so that what he doth justly, 
In Ep. Rom. ser. 23.  God himself doth by him. The Magistrate is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to use St. Chrysostom's words, stamped with Gods own Image, and therefore ought to exercise Gods own Power. Now this stamp or Image of God upon the Magistrate, is not barely that which is yet left of his Image stamped upon Man at the Creation, whereby he is enabled to Rule over the Fish of the Sea, and the Foul of the Air, and the Beasts of the Field, Gen. 1. 28; nor barely that part of it which sin defaced, and is new stamped again in the Regeneration which is the Image of his holiness, Ephes. 4. 24; but it is more than all this: It is the Image of Gods own Authority and superiority, and Government, not only over Beasts (as the first;) or over the Bestial part (as the second) but over Men. So that whereas every Rational man hath so far the Image of God upon him, as to rule over the other works of God's hands; and every Regenerate Man so far, as to rule over himself, and bring into subjection the carnal part, the Magistrate hath a more express image of God upon him, to rule over his Fellow Creature, man himself.  
3. Beside his Name and Authority, God hath also communicated his own Throne, his own Tribunal unto the Magistrate; he takes him up into his own seat, and (as Pharaoh did by Joseph) makes him sit next unto him. Therefore is the seat of Judgement, called expressly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this place of the Holy, i. e. The place of God himself, Ecclesia. 8. 10. I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the Place of the Holy. However, Bad men may sometimes get up into it, yet the place is God's place, and the Person that lawfully sits there, sits in God's Room, and the Judgement is God's Judgement, and the Vengeance he executeth is God's Vengeance. As Jehosephat said to his Judges, Take heed what you do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, 2 Chro. 19 6. And so you see my second particular cleared, that though Vengeance be God's Prerogative, yet it is the Magistrates Duty.  
Before I go further, give me leave to draw two Corollaries from this second point.  
1. As we have seen the Lawful power of Vengeance issuing down in an orderly way from the Throne of God; the supreme Magistrate receiving his Commission from Heaven, the Inferior Magistrates from the supreme, and so downward to the lowest Ministers of Vengeance in a Kingdom: so 'tis all the Reason in the world, that the Account for Executing this Power, should ascend upward again, in the same line that it came down. viz. That the subordinate Magistrate should be accountable only to the superior, the superior to the supreme, the supreme Magistrate on Earth only to God, and God, being the supreme both in Heaven and Earth, is accountable for his Actions to none. They that would set up a Plebeian Tribunal, to call their Betters to account, and Execute Vengeance upon their superiors, do endeavour (once again to set the Kingdom upon its Head, with its heels upward and then the next News you hear, 'tis fallen all along upon its Back.  
2. The Magistrate, sitting in God's stead to execute Vengeance, aught to behave himself like God, whom he represents; i. e. to do Justice without Passion, without Partiality, with Pity and Compassion to the greatest offender. For thus God doth; Anger is not in me saith God, Esai. 27. 4. and when God is said in Scripture to be angry, 'tis but by an Anthropopathy, signifying only Vlciscendi voluntatem, his will to punish. And God is not a Respecter of Persons; and God pittyes even those that he punisheth. Magistrates of all men should have nothing of passion or partiality, but very much of Pity and Compassion in them. Asentence proceeding upon any partial or passionate account, is a Species of private Revenge, though it proceed from the Mouth of a public person. My Lords; Give me leave only thus far to be your Monitor; The Vengeance you execute is God's Vengeance, & therefore execute it as God himself would do, if he sat upon the Bench.  
And thus have we traced this Fountain of Vengeance from the Wellhead in Heaven, through the streams of Magistracy, and hitherto 'tis clear and wholesome. But now, if we go lower, we shall find it presently nothing but puddle and Filth; and that which was the Magistrate's Duty, as soon as it falls into private hands is the People's sin; which was my third particular, and comes now to be spoken to.  
When the Disciples had taken offence against the Samaritans, for an Incivility offered to their Master and them, they would fain have interested God in their own passionate Quarrel, and called for fire from Heaven to destroy them. 
Aug. de ser. Dom. in mon.  Luke 9 54. But our Saviour sharply rebukes them, Animadvertens eos non amore correctionem, sed odio desiderare vindictam, saith St. Augustine perceiving that they did not out of Love desire their amendment, but out of hatred their destruction. The truth is, by that time God hath had his Portion of Vengeance, and the Magistrate his, here is nothing at all left for any Private Christian in matters of Revenge; and therefore Dear beloved Avenge not yourselves; it belongs not to you upon any Terms. And this Foundation of Doctrine being thus laid, it will be easy to discover the Principal Vices; which fight directly against the Text, and the Text against them.  
1. All Rebellion, Sedition and Treason against the Higher Powers falls directly under the Condemnation of this Text. The rather, because this sort of Revenge doth not only catch the sword out of God's hand, employs it against God himself in his substitutes and Vicegerents, and thrusts God's sword (as it were) in his own Face, so that this is a mere Giganto-Machy, a fight of the Giants against Heaven; 
Cic. 3. de. Leg.  in direct Terms a Theomachy, or fight against God. Noster vero Plato Titanum è genere staivit eos, qui, ut illi caelestibus, sic hi adversentur Magistratibus; Our Master Plato (saith he) doth derive their Pedigree from the Race of the Ancient Giants, who resist the Magistrates, as they did the Gods. St. chrysostom affirmeth the same in like words; He that obeys not the Magistrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Wars with God. And St. Paul, a greater Authority then both, in words to the very same effect, Rom. 13. Whosoever resisteth the power, 
B. Usher Ob●. sub. pag. 28.  resisteth the Ordinance of God. Nor is it a slight observation of the late most Learned primate of Armagh, That the Greeks, though they spoke the most copious Language under Heaven, wherein a skilful man shall never want words to express himself, yet as if they were defective here, do usually call Treason against Princes by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Impiety. The Jews go a step higher and call it Blasphemy; both sins against the first Table. 1 King. 21. 13. Naboth did blaspheme God and the King. There's Blasphemy against the King, as well as against God. Which words, though spoken by men of Belial, against an Innocent person, yet (not doubt) they used the Ordinary Expressions of their Country. Take heed then of any such Private Revenge, which may carry you up to such a high Degree of Impiety and Blasphemy as to resist or speak evil of the powers ordained by God; Dear beloved, Avenge not yourselves.  
2. The next Degree of Revenge condemned in the Text, is that of Duels. A sin every way as ugly in the sight of God, as it appears full of Bravery in the eyes of some vain men; of whom we may use St. Basil's words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, He that doth best is the worst man. A way of Revenge as injurious to common Equity, as to Christian Religion. For beside the injury it doth the Magistrate, in attempting to make him bear the sword in vain, (and in vain he would bear it, if every man might so revenge his own Quarrels;) besides the violence it offers to Justice, in making the punishment no way commensurate to the offence; for every petty affront, and inconsiderable Reproach (which Seneca calls Injuriarum Vmbrae, the shadows of Injuries) is no less than Death, by the Duellers Law; I say, beside all this, this is the Danger that both the Combatants are involved in, that he that kills is an Actual, and he that is killed an Intentional Murderer. And much Fear there is, lest St. Bernard's words should prove too true Occisor bethaliter peccat, occisus aeternaliter perit, He that kills, sins mortally, and he that is killed perisheth eternally. I know the great Objection is the Gentleman's Reputation. But certainly if they are Christians as well as Gentlemen, the Christians Conscience would do well to be looked after, as well as the Gentleman's Credit; Or if they are too high-spirited to be Christians, that is, to forgive Injuries, and love Enemies, they were better renounce Christianity before they draw their swords, that our Religion may no longer be blemished with such bloody sins. The truth is, I take every such challenge to be a kind of Defiance to Jesus Christ and his Doctrine; and I think the best way of answering it, would be in the words of the Christian, Maid to the Devil, when he tempted her to sin, Non possum, baptizata sum; I cannot do it, I am a Christian, and it is contrary to the Laws and commands of my Master Jesus Christ. It would be far a more noble conquest for men inclinable to this way of Revenge, to conquer their own unruly and unchristian passions, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, said Plato; and Solomon a wiser than he, will give you the English of it, Proverbs 16. 32. He that is slow to Anger is better than the Mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a City. Consider, whether it be fit to forsake Christ, to serve unreasonable men's Opinions; whether a man cannot be a Gentleman, unless he be a Murderer; and whether there be no way to maintain a Man's Reputation, but by going to Hell. Dear Beloved Avenge not yourselves.  
3. Another sort of Revenge which falls foul upon the Text, is Pulpit-Vengeance. We will set out the Ministers Tithe of the Sermon too. This ugly sin many times creeps into the Church, and sometimes it crawls up into the pulpit. For a Man that calls himself the Messenger of Jesus Christ, to take sanctuary in this place, where he may be sure not to meet with an Answer, to vent, his private passions against particular persons, and make every petty Difference, betwixt his neighbour and Him his Text, is indeed a most unworthy piece of Revenge, and so altogether unbeseeming a Minister, that it is beneath a Man. And the provoked Person may justly reply in St. Jeroms words, Hoc non est me emendare, sed vitio tuo satisfacere; This is not to benefit my soul, 
Hieron. Ep. 4  but to gratify thine own Revenge. And much more if he should endeavour obliquely to insinuate into the People a dislike of their Governors, or to possess them with prejudices against the Government. When men are persuaded that they cannot render to God the things that are Gods, without taking from Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and that there is no way to pay the Corban, but by robbing the Exchequer, they are in Danger to mingle private Revenge with their very prayers and Sermons. And when their Admirers are ready to cry out in the words of the Apostle, Yea what Zeal! perhaps it may more truly be replied in the following words, Yea what Revenge! 2 Cor. 7. 11. I say not that any do thus, I hope they do not; I only tell you, there's Danger lest they should, and desire you that hear me that you would not; Dear bebeloved avenged, not yourselves.  
If I should now detain you longer, in prosecuting the more Brutish Revenge of Vulgar Tongues, and Fists, and clubs, with such like Lapithean encounters, I should but abuse your Patience. And therefore I shall stop here; and come in the last place to the wary countrymen, whose Vengeance lies under the shelter of the Law: and who will not stick to give a Fee to be taught a handsome way how to be revenged safely. And if he hath now a Trial at the Assizes, he may perhaps by this time (if he takes so much Notice of Sermons) be willing to hear, whether it be lawful in point of conscience to go to Law; and whether it be not a sort of private Revenge, for a Man to put his Neighbour to charges. Especially, when Christ saith,) Resist not evil, and the Apostle blames the Corinthians for going to Law, 1 Cor. 6. 1. 2. etc.  
1. In general. That Christians may with a good Conscience implead each other before a Christian Magistrate, may be sufficiently proved by a Reason drawn from the Text itself. Because this is not the Avenging of ourselves, but a Referring of Vengeance to him to whom it belongs, viz: to God, in the Person of his Vicegerent. There are two things in every considerable and just occasion of Lawsuits, that is, the Injury, and to do good for evil; yet if the Damage he receives by it, either in his Estate or good name, be great, and such as he cannot well bear, he is not bound to remit that, but may seek for Reparations from the Magistrate, whose work it is. When therefore the Apostle blames the Corinthians for going to Law, the Reason is apparent in the very Reproof; because they impleaded one another for every Trifle, before Heathen Tribunals, to the Reproach of Christianity. And for that of our Saviour, Resist not evil, Bellarmine saith well, 
Bellar. de Laicis. l. 3. c. 13.  (I wish he had never said worse,) Non Defensio, sed vindicta prohibetur; It is not Defence, but Revenge that is there forbidden; and that not all Revenge neither but that Quam privati Homines per se Exercere volunt, which private men would exercise upon their own, account, without the Magistrate. And this (in a word) answers that old Heathenish cavil against the Doctrine of Christ, which St. Aug. con●…s at large in his 5. Epistler to Marcelinus. 
Marcel. ad Aug. Ep. 4 & Aug. ad marc. Ep. 5.  The Objection was this Quod praedicatio atque Doctrina Christi Reipublicae moribus nullâ ex parte conveniat; That this Doctrine of Christianity (if it were received) would destroy all Civil Government, pull down all Tribunals, and seats of Judicature; because it allows nothing of self-defence, but bids turn the other cheek, and give the Cloak after the Coat, etc. All amounts but to this, That we must bear an injury, if we cannot right ourselves without doing another; but where the latter may be done, the other is not necessary.  
If any one think that the Door is now wide enough, for every common Barretor, and Litigious Client to enter; I shall endeavour to set it at the just Distance the Scripture would have it stand; and than if your Causes be not too boisterous to get through it, Go on and prosper.  
1. To make a Lawsuit just in the Court of Conscience, it must be grounded upon a just cause. And therefore I shall say to you, as Absalon (upon a more wicked design) said once to the People, only with a little variation; see your matters are good and right, for here are Men deputed of the King to hear you. 2. Sam. 15. 3. Take heed of vexing thy Neighbour, when thine own Conscience will tell thee without a Fee, that thy cause is naught and cannot be maintained but by Lying, perjury, and such like unrighteous Proceed.  
2. A just Cause may become unjust, by being unjustly prosecuted; and that either.  
1. When it is prosecuted with Anger, Malice, or a Design of Revenge. Say not, I will do so to him, as he hath done to me, 
Ambros Ep. 28.  I will render to the man according to his work. Pro. 24. 29. Quae enim, virtus hoc a te fieri, quod in altero ipse punias? Saith Ambrose; For what virtue is it, for thee to do that thyself, which thou pretendest to punish in another? This is nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a contending who shall outdo the other in Mischief. To avoid which, you must manifest all manner of Civility, Courtesy, and a Readiness to do good to him with whom the suit is, that it may appear it is not Revenge, but Reparations you seek after. When Julius Caesar had the Head of Pompey, his Mortal Enemy, presented to him, he wept and said, Non mihi placet Vindicta sed Victoria; It was not Revenge but victory that I intended. A shame for Christians who cannot be content with Victory, unless they have also Revenge. 'Tis an excellent Rule for those that go to Law, sic certent causae, ut non certent Pectora, Let the causes contend, but let the men be Friends.  
2. when the suit is purposely drawn out in length, study molestias exhibendi proxime, to exhaust the Purse, and tyre the Patience of the Adversary. And indeed it's a shrewd suspicion, either of the Badness of the Cause, or the Malice of the Man, when he is willing to spin out the suit. By this means Innocence sometimes in a long chase is hunted out of Breath, and forced to fall down at the Feet of some mighty Nimrod. To avoid this suspicion, you must be willing, with what speed you may to bring it to am issue: and then  
3. Sentence pronounced must be received tanquam ex Tripod, or in Seneca's words, velut dimissa divinitus vox, without any murmuring, or repining, as if God himself had decided the controversy. It is a Rule in the Civil Law Res judicata pro veritate accipitur, A matter adjudged is presumed to be Truth. Nor is there generally any Reason to think otherwise. I know but one objection (supposing the Magistrate upright and conscientious) which carries any show of Reason against it, viz.  
Though God hath set the Magistrate in his own room, yet he hath not communicated his Attributed of Omniscience, and Omnipresence to him. And he being forced to see with other men's eyes, and here with other men's ears, it may be possible that there may be an Error in Judgement, and yet no Fault in the Judge.  
To which the Answer is easy. As far as the Law allows of Appeals, a Christian may with a good Conscience make use of them. This being still not a taking of the sword of vengeance out of God's hand, but only the Provocation from the inferior to the superior Gods. S. Paul himself appealed to Caesar, when he could not expect justice from the Roman Deputy, Act. 25. 11. But if at last the man should still suppose himself wronged (which would be almost an unreasonable supposition) he hath no other Remedy on Earth, but with Patience and Submission ●o commit his Cause (as our Saviour did, 1 Pet. ●. 23.) to him that judgeth Righteously; to expect another Hearing in Heaven, where all Causes shall be judged over again; and to remember, that though he be oppressed sine culpâ, yet it is not sine causâ as Aquinas hath it. God's sees Faults enough in him to lay an heavier punishment upon him.  
In such a Case (if such a Case may fall out) it concerns a Christian to reflect upon his sins, and amend his life, not to add another sin to the Heap, by reviling the Magistrate or railing upon the Law. It is a saying in Tacitus, Habet aliquid ex iniquo omne magnum Exemplum; It is a difficult thing to make public Laws, with so much caution, but that they may sometimes redound to the prejudice of some private persons. 
Usher. Obs. of sub. P 153.  The learned Primate gives us a considerable Instance; God himself made a Law, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses, a malefactor should be put to death, Deut. 17. 6. accordingly, Innocent Naboth was put to death upon the subornation of two false witnesses, 1 King. 21. 13. should that Law therefore be abolished? should nothing be determined by the mouth of two or three Witnesses? would not the Impunity of many Malefactors tend more to the Damage of the Public than the casual punishment of one Innocent? I conclude therefore, when men either upon pretended or real injury vent their spleen upon the magistrates and Laws, it's private Revenge, and utterly unbeseeming the meekness and Patience of a Christian.  
And thus I have told you what you may do; let me, now in the last place tell you what I would advise you to do: for every thing that is Lawful, is not always expedient.  
1. For small, inconsiderable wrongs, or damages, put them up, and bear them patiently. Forgive as you would be forgiven. God hath greater things against thee, than thou hast against thy Brother. Take heed then of taking thy Fellow servant by the Throat, for the odd penny lest God score up thy Talents against thee, and deliver thee to the Torments, till thou pay the utmost Farthing, Mat. 18. 28. etc. Harken to that advice of the Apostle, Eph. 4. 32. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. And Col. 3. 13. For bearing one another, and fogiving one another, 
Lactant,  if any man hath any quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. He hath done thee wrong; what then? Non minus mali est referre injuriam, quam infer; To Revenge is as great a sin, as to do an injury. When all is done, our Saviour's advice is best (and if you will not follow that, you may pay dearer for worse Counsel) In your patience possess you souls. Luke. 21. 19  
2. For those things that are of greater consequence, be ready to offer satisfaction, if thou hast done injury; to take it, if injury hath been done to thee. And embrace all equitable Terms of Reconciliation, nay rather recede something from thy Right, than foment a quarrel, that it may appear it is not thy Fault, if the Breach be not made up. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 7.  
3. Do nothing in Rash Anger against thy offending Brother. Lay aside passion, and first weigh both causes in the Balance of discretion, with calm and sedate Affections, before you seek a Remedy, which may prove worse than the disease. 'Tis good Counsel which Solomon gives you, Pro. 25. 8. Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Ira peccati Magistra est, saith Ambrose; Anger is the Mistrese of sin; and Revenge is the Handmaid of Anger; and the next word you hear from an Angry man, is, I'll be revenged. Yea, but hear what Seneca (a Heathen man) will tell thee, Inhumanum verbum est Vltio; Revenge is a Brutish, barbarous word. If Dogs and Bears could speak, they would talk of Revenge just as you do. One said well, There is no such Injury as Revenge, and no such Revenge as the contempt of an injury.  
4. Fortify your souls with Rational and Scriptural Arguments, against that intemperate and exorbitant passion of Anger and Revenge such as these, which I shall but mention.  
1. It's Discovery of much Impotency and weakness of Judgement, to be so transported Invalidum omne natura querulum est; 
Senec.  The weaker any thing is the more querulous ever. Children, and old, and sick people are most apt to be angry.  
2. It degrades the Noble, Reasonable soul, and turns it down into the Rank of the most malicious and Ravenous Beasts. Anger and Revenge in a Man, is the same saith Basil that poison in a serpent. Now a venomous Beast doth not only do hurt by his poison, but is provoked and stirred up by it to do hurt. So is Anger and Revenge in a man; it doth not only enable him to do mischief, but provokes him to it.  
3. It fetcheth coals out of Hell, to kindle a Fire in the Heart, and the Devil comes along with it, to blow those coals. so t●at if you give not place to wrath you must give place to the Devil, to that Devil of Revenge, Eph. 4. 26. 27. which if once admitted, will set the whole course of Nature on fire of Hell, Jam. 3. 6. Such sober considerations as these (if timely applied) may happen to charm that evil spirit of Revenge, and cast him out, before he hath taken the full possession of the soul.  
5. Imitate the Examples of the best and wisest men, who have looked upon nothing so irrational as Revenge nothing so noble as Forgiveness. What Revenge do you think, that pious Barnard did wish to the worst Enemies he had in the world? 
Bern. ser. 63. sup. Cant.  utinam omnes adversantes mihi sine causâ ita capere possim, ut Christo eos vel restituam, vel acquiram. He wisheth this Revenge to all his causeless enemies, that he might be an Instrument to restore them, or win them to Christ. That indeed is the right Christian Revenge, which our Saviour Jesus-Christ hath taught us, not only by his Precept but Example too, viz. to wish well and do well to the worst enemies we have.  
6. Last of all, if Scripture and Christian Examples will not prevail, learn this lesson, and be ashamed, even of Heathens and Turks. of Julius Caesar it is reported, Quad nihil oblivisci solebat, nisi injurias, that he forgot nothing but injuries; he had an excellent memory for any thing else, but injuries and shrewd turns he could not remember. Nay the very Turks themselves (they say) when they see their Fellows quarrelling, or fight, or reviling one another, will reprove them thus; what, a Musselman do so? fie upon't 'tis enough for a Christian. And fie upon us indeed, that we have given them such occasion to speak thus of us. While we are Turk's one to another, we may fear lest God should make the Turk a Turk to us all. If we give them occasion thus to Reproach and blaspheme Christ, it is but just if Christ, give them occasion to harasse and lay waist Christendom. God Almighty power down his holy spirit among us, that we may live in Love and Peace, and the God of Love and Peace may be with us; to which God of Love and Peace, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be all glory and praise etc.  
FINIS.