The Jus Divinum OF GOVERNMENT; OR MAGISTRACY Proved to be God's Ordinance, AND Justice the MAGISTSRATES Duty.  
In a plain SERMON Preached before the Judges of Assize at East-Grinstead in the County of Sussex.  
By Zacheus Mountagu.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 
LONDON, Printed by A. M. for Abel Roper at the Sign of the Sun over against St Dunstans-Church in Fleetstreet, 1652.   

To the Right Reverend JOHN PULESTON AND PETER WARBURTON, Both Justices of the Common-pleas.  
MY LORDS,  
YOur importunate and joint desires, which my civility taught me to look upon as Commands, are now satisfied, and that hasty Piece which when you first called for it, was scarce legible, now waits upon you in a fairer hand. I cannot promise you with fewer errors, for 'twas never since sub spongia, but I am sure in better Characters; I wish it may but so happily take your eye, as you were pleased to signify it took your ear, and be received with the same candour and sweetness from the Press as it was from the Pulpit: I confess I am not without some fear, that cross to that of the Poet, the instructions in it will Segnius irritare animos, now they are, Occulis subjecta fidelibus, then when they were dimissa per Aures. But however this Discourse, as others of this nature, must take its fate; Your Honours called for it, and it being a Guest of your own invitation, I hope you will not deny to bid it welcome; as for its dress of language, I cannot but judge it plain and without affectation; but yet, I hope, well enough accommodated to my Design, which was not to tickle the Ear, but inform the Judgement. I know Truth is then best apparelled, when she shines in her own native Lustre, and she fears so much that of the wanton to be Ipsa pars minima sui, that she always chooseth rather to affect the gravity and decent plainness of a Matron. I considered farther how that Vocum aucupes, they are usually Rerum proditores, and as the judicious Raleigh observes, Nihil odiosius sapientiae acumine nimio. Neither indeed was my Topick so jejune and barren, as that I should be forced only to face it with words for want of matter to line it thorough with. All that I dare promise or hope in behalf of this plaindealing Countrey-Sermon, is, that you will find it, if not acute and Rhetorical, yet close and substantial, having in it the beauty of a word spoken in season, and being so exactly fitted to the business of an Assize, That if your Honours please to take it as a Line and Rule in your hand when you are upon the Judgement-seat, it will help to render your judicial Proceed levelly and regular. It begs nothing of you but the Patronage of Justice, and the pursuing of that as the main end of your Office; and that you would stand by your own Helena of the Law, and not suffer her to have a Rape committed on her by any of the sons of violence, in whom the Levelling humour is too predominant: should our Laws fail, we should then quickly return to the bed of Nature, where like Beasts the stoutest took all, and the weak should hold by no other Title or Tenure, but that of Indulgence and Dispensation from the strong. I have no more at present, but only this good wish to leave with your Honours, that Justice may meet with a better Orator, and just Government with a stouter Champion, and better Arms to shield and defend its right, then is the unserviceable Pen and Tongue of him, who professeth himself  
In all his Capacities your Honours ready and real Servant Mountagu.   

THE JUS DIVINUM OF GOVERNMENT.  DEUT. 16.18. Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy Gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy Tribes: and they shall judge the People with just Judgement. 
I Shall Preface all with a borrowed note or two from one now in eminency. As the natural body is distinguished into superior and inferior, into Noble and ignoble parts, so is the political; as that body is a monster which is all head, or whose head is too big for the body, so is that which hath no head, or a head too little; where all govern there is no government, and where all are chief, there can be no Order: Magistrates are Rulers over the persons of the people, but they are servants to the good of the people; as it is the duty of all to serve them, so 'tis their office to to serve all: 'tis no paradox to affirm, that Rulers are the greatest Servants. I confess God puts so much of his own work into the hands of Magistrates and Judges, that he therefore puts his own Name upon them, and he calls them Gods, they are god sindeed, but 'tis in a smaller letter neither must they forget that they shall die like men; deservedly culpable was the Idolatrous Courtship of the pagan world, who because truth herself calls Rulers Gods, were content to aequivocate from the similitude to the essence, and so share among them not only the title but the adoration too, but such pagan eulogies are the worst of flatteries, and 'tis better to be the Christians man, than the Heaven's deity. The Sons of Ish they must not forget they are Sons of Adam, and, though they are gods of their subjects they are subject to God; Rule indeed is God's ordinance, but 'twas primitively designed for the world's safety, and not the Creatures vain glory. Rulers they are without a fiction, the true and real Atlas of the world ' its weight and burden leans on them, and they are more for the people's sake, than the people for theirs: great things they are indeed, but God would not have great things to be great in vain; Great things are in design and order to serve and benefit the less: The Sun the Prince of lights, and the Heart of Nature, serves as well for the eyes of a fly as the eyes of a Monarch, and the Sea within its double depth of waters and wonders, supports and feeds as well the smallest fish, as the great Leviathan itself who is made to sport and play therein. Now what Universal causes are in nature, that should Governors be in policy, they should impartially lay out themselves for the Common good of all who have their interest in or dependences upon them. The Jewish Targum tells us, how that it was the ancient mode, and solemn wont of the Hebrews, at the birth of their Prince's Children, to plant Trees, which they reputed sacred, and dressed them with a careful diligence, that of them they might one day make thrones for those little Monarches, when they should be grown up to their inauguration. And what could be the moral of this practice, but to teach they Rulers, that like fruitful and spreading Trees, they ought to yield both shade and shelter to the people, and feed them with their fruits, and secure them with their protections, and that leading quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty, they might be safe under their Covert? This is indeed that wherein consists the preeminency of Magistrates and Judges, above the lowest of the people, this is indeed that wherein especially they have the advantage, and whereby they hold the title of gods, because they have both capacity and opportunity to do more good than others, they have power to secure the distressed, to relieve the the injured, and to help those weak ones to their right, who have not power to right themselves. Thus much the Heathens were convinced of, when one of their own Poets bespeaks the Emperor thus, 
Hoc tecum Commune This, 
Ovid. 2. de ponto.  quod utrique rogati  
Supplicibus vestris ferre soletis opem.   
And 'tis the saying of another of them, Hoc reges habent magnificum & ingens, 
Senec: in Med.  prodesse miseris, supplices fido lare protegere.  
Amongst the many ceremonies that in elder times were wont to be used at the instalment or inauguration of Princes and Magistrates, this was a chief, they were lifted up upon bucklers in the day of their Consecration, and there is not the meanest Herald, but if he were asked the reason, Why Ensigns of distinction were first born upon shields, but he would assign this, because they who did first win them, and wear them, they interposed their own bodies as a shield to bear off those fatal blows that would otherwise have lighted upon the bodies of the People, and by this act of theirs paid a valuable consideration for all their titles and honours. Judges and Rulers they are called the shields of the Earth, Psal. 47.9. Now what else is a shield, but a kind of partition-wall between a man and something that would hurt him? Valere ad nocendum, may well be the Tyrant's motto, but ad tegendum & protegendum, the shields. Never was any Ensign of Magistracy better inscribed, then was that of Elius Adrianus the noble Trajanes successor, who gave for his device that best of mottoes. Non mihi sed populo, And the learned Navarrus and others tell us, that to be a Prince or Ruler 'tis to be the People's man. And so much seems employed in the practice of Romulus, who when he first founded the Roman Monarchy which was integrated and composed of divers people, which made a voluntary tender and free submission of themselves to him, He expressly enacted, that every one should present him with some of the earth, and fruits of his own Country, which when he had amassed together, he interred it all in a great pit, which he called the (Word) Intending by this ceremony to let us know, that dominion or Royalty is nothing else but a heap of Wills, of Powers, and Riches, united in one only Power. Romulus indeed he took of the flowers of the people, but it was to make honey for them. Good Magistrates they gave more to the people, than they take from them, and the good of a good Governor is so great, that to this day the subtlest and the wisest of the Schoolmen have not been able to determine it, whether man be more obliged to God for his being, which consists in his natural Constitution, or for his well being, which consists in his political institution. If you take Government out of the world, you take the Sun out of the Firmament, and leave it no more a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a beautiful structure, but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a ruinous heap of confusion: Job speaking of the territories of darkness, and shadows of death, he says, 'Tis a Land, without order. And Ordo saith Scaliger, 'tis Anima mundi. Symmetry and harmony, they are the two supporters of the universe. Unity is the ground of perfection and perpetuity, and what else is order, but unity, branched out into all the parts of Consociate bodies, to keep them entire and perfect. When Government fails in any Land, why then such a Land becomes disjointed and convulsed, and Commonwealths become common miseries, and Cities become Forests, and Forests everlasting terrors, and States distated, and all things are put into the hands of might and force, and are acted according to the impulses of disordered affections, tumultuous passions and brutish lusts, Religion, Reason, Law, Justice being all Exiled and outlawed. Not without good reason therefore do the great Masters of policy, pitch it down for a Maxim, that Tyranny is rather to be endured then Anarchy, and that 'tis better to live under a Nero, then under a Nerva, where nothing is lawful, rather than where all things are lawful. For commonly, Omnia cùm licent, non licet esse pium, an hour it were time much too short, to speak of the numerous evils of anarchy or State ataxies (were they my proper theme,) I must confess, I never saw them more exactly limned, nor set out more to the life, by any pen or pencil, then by that Curious one of Causinus (the Chrysostom of France) who in his draught of Babylon, or the City of wicked policy, portrays it thus; 'Tis built upon ruins in a land of quicksilver, wholly cemented with blood, having frequent Earthquakes, and the impetuous blasts and gusts of furious tempests, rending and tearing all in pieces, the very water infected and the malignity of the air killing all that breathed in it, and the inhabitants such men, as had little else of man in them, but only shape and skin, having no other neighbourhood but Wolves, and Foxes, Panthers, and Tigers, Ravens on their houses, Comets over their heads, Scorpious at their feet: and now surely he that shall but seriously view and contemplate this lively Picture of an anarchical State, not only in these broken parts of it, I have now presented you with, but in the entire piece and original draught of it, he will have just cause to cry out, O the blessing of order! O, the immense and unspeakable good of a just government. Where such a government once takes place, and becomes settled, why there the earth is paradised, and the Heavens perpetually smiling, for the Sun is in Libra, and all things are transacted as the days and nights in the equinoctial, the waters are good, the seasons temperate, the winds calm, the ground fertile, the abode delightful, and the contented inhabitants all labouring like Bees in a bright summer's day; the temples many, and large, decent and glorious, the Altars loaden with pure oblations, and smoking with Clouds of acceptable incense, the Priests Solemn, diligent, and devout, The Senators aged and Sacred, speaking like Oracles, and living like Angels, and being safe, sine militis usu, every thing keeping its order, proportion, weight, time, place, and measure, and being in the same tune and harmony, which the infant and the innocent world was blest with, when first the great Architect set all things right, and wrote over them the motto of (good;) nothing altered by heresy either in Doctrine or manners, nothing of complaint, murmur, quarrel, tumult, or war, but all's as hushed and peaceable as the Halcyons nest which stills the tempests and sliks' and calms the brow of Heaven, where all the Citizens entertain one another like fingers on the hand, every one taking part with the good of his fellow, being all great in the obedience they render to the law, being all rich in the contentment of their desires, and being all well pleased in the happiness one of another. In sum, for I have no more room for particulars, whatsoever the Luxuriant and free fancies of Poets, or the choice and delicate pens of antiquity, have either conceited or written, of the Elysian fields, of the fortunate Islands, of the felicities of a golden age, of the virtues and ornaments of an Agathopolis, (which was dressed as rich as the Ideas of the divine Plato could make it) why all these do but help to piece out that train of blessings that follow a good government. When any Land becomes blest with such Magistrates and Judges, as are indeed the faithful deputies of their Maker, and whose breasts are the Oceans or sewers, into which all the cares of private men empty themselves, and whose vigilant eyes are the constant sentinels of the people's safety, and whose steady hands have learned to hold the seals of justice try and even, and to weigh right and wrong by their proper weights, and whose just breath is the people's best and wholsomest air, as being that that gives life and soul to all their proprieties rights and privileges. In a word, when people have such Judges, that neither turn Judgement into wormwood, nor into vinegar, that neither embitter it by injustice, nor sour it by delay, that suppress as well fraud as force, that only hear causes speak, and not persons, that are Melchisedeck-like, without father or mother, that hate to pay private wrongs with the advantage of their office, that have so well got the rule over themselves, that their passions do not unfit them to rule over others, that look strait forward in a right line upon equity, without glancing aside upon revenge, displeasure, or recompense; that keep not only their hearts clean, but their hands too; & take heed of bos in lingua, that in that cause bestow diligence in sifting, where the right is difficult in finding, that love to have truth come naked to the bar without false bodies and disguises, that neither make briers nor springes of the laws to catch every thing they lay hold of, that neither crook nor bow the laws, by hard constructions and strained inferences, but straiten them by just expositions, and if they seem to be antiquated, or obsolete, wipe off their dust by a judicious clearing, that never browbeat a Witness or look an Evidence damp, but with a gentle midwifery helpout the stammering tongue, that his proof may not miscarry; that in their callings approve themselves to be the dreadful instruments of Divine revenge, and the ministers of God for good to the people, and to be legum vindices, the guard of laws, and as was said of Cassius, reorum scopulos, the Rocks, or as one calls them, the comets of the guilty, the refuge of innocency, the paymasters of good deserts, the Champions of right, the patrons of peace, the supporters of the Church, and the true Patres Patriae, or Fathers of their Country, being more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible, and more advised then confident, hearing all things debated with patience, and then proceeding to sentence in uprightness, and pronouncing nothing but just judgement. I say where Judges are such, happy, yea thrice happy are such a people, and blessed is the Land that is in such a case; for then such a Land becomes like the Israel of God, when her Officers are peace, and her Exactors righteousness; such Magistrates God commands to be chose, to be Commissioned, and to be empowered even over his own people: for so you see runs the Writ of election in my Text. Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy Tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgement.  
In this great Patent and Divine Charter of Magistracy; or in this Theocratia or Government of Gods own setting up; There is considerable, First, The Honour. Secondly, The Office. First, The Dignity. Secondly, The Duty.  
Or if these be too general, take it in more particulars.  
First, Here is God's mandamus from heaven for Government; here is the charge of the Almighty for the erecting of a Magistracy; and this is contained in the word (constituito) Thou shalt (make) or Make thou.  
Secondly, As here is the charge, so here is the stile or the titles, Judices & Moderatores constituito] Judges and Officers shalt thou make.  
Thirdly, Here are the persons invested with the right and power of electing and constituting Officers, and they are the Collective body of the people, or the Community in whole; and these are included in the Pronown [tibi] Judices & Moderatores constituito tibi] Judges and Officers thou shalt make thee.  
Fourthly, Here is the Circuit of these Judges, or the Territories of these Magistrates; In singulis portis tuis, quas Jehovah Deus tuus, dat tibi, per tribus tuas] Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes. By Gates] we are to understand all the Judicatories in Israel, for Gates they were (Domus Judicii) the seats of Judgement: They were of old placed in the Gates, at the entrance of Cities, for many reasons, as Tarnovius notes at large, upon Amos 5.10. but principally for this, To let us know, that Justice sitting at the Gate, is a better safeguard for a City, than a Corps-du-gard, than either Bulwarks, Percullises, draw-Bridges, or whatsoever else that hath most defence in it.  
Fifthly and lastly, Here is the duty of these Judges, in the concluding words of the text, Qui judicent populum judicio justo] Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgement.  
And thus I have presented you with the Logic of the Text, and shown you how the parts lie in it. I shall endeavour to slide apace through them all, as intending only, ut Canis ad Nilum, to glance upon the former, but to stop, yea and to stay upon the later.  
First then, I will begin with the (constituito) of the Text, Thou shalt make.] 'Tis God's mandamus to his own Israel. Ind potestas, unde & spiritus, 
Tertul. Apol.  so says Tertullian. And an ancienter than he, Cuius jussu homines, ejus jussu Reges, so Irenaeus. 
Iren. lib. 5. cap. 24.  And an ancienter than either of them, The powers that are are ordained of God, so Saint Paul, Rom. 13.1. Anarchy is the people's frenzy, but Magistracy the Ordinance of the Almighty. I deny not but the primitive state of the first created man, under God, was free and absolute; 'twas his Prerogative and privilege, that he was born to Command and not to obey. But alas! How short lived was this primitive state? Plus quam veri-simile est, etc. says the Learned Usher, 'Tis more than probable, 
Annal. p. 2.  that the first day that Adam possessed his Paradise, he was forced to quit it; And such was the guilt and misery of his first sin, that it not only broke the peace between God and man, but also between man and beast, and between man and man, and filled the creation with an universal attaxie and disorder; & so Government became absolutely necessary for the setting of us to rights again: So that what is said of the original of Laws, holds true of powers, Ex malis moribus, bonae leges nascuntur, so Ex naturae vitiis bonae potestates, As good Laws have their original from bad manners, so good Government from corrupted natures; and therefore he that shall but trace Government to the springhead, and first rise of it, he shall find it to be extracted from God, and to be as old as the first man; It hath not always, I confess, worn one and the same face, and kept one and the same form, but as the world hath altered, so hath the Government; at first the world was confined within one Family, and then it began to widen by little and little, and when the world was thus but in fasciis, the Government of it was Patriarchal, and the Governors of it were called Patriarches or Father-Princes, their compounded name speaking their mixed Authority, and this kind of Government continued after the death of Methuselah, for we read of him, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Joseph. Antiq. l. 1. cap. 2.  that he passed over his Principality to Lamech his son. But now when this first method of Government became discomposed and disturbed through the numerosity of mankind, and by their fare dispersed habitation, why then other forms of Government succeeded, for men falling among themselves to do wrong and violence, they saw it necessary to set up some Authority, that might restrain by force and punishment, what was committed against peace and common right, and this Authority and Power of self-defence and preservation, before devolved, being originally and naturally in every one of them, and unitedly in them all, they for ease, and for order, and that each man might not be his own partial Judge, agreed to transfer and delegate it, either to one whom for eminence of wisdom and integrity, they preferred above the rest, or else to more than one, whom they judged of equal merit; the first of these was called a King, the other Magistrates. Sometimes we read God did by his own immediate designation, appoint the person, make and declare the choice, and invest him with a right of Sovereignty over his people, as Moses, David and others; but ordinarily God calls mediately, by committing it to the people to elect; both the form of Government, and the Persons that are to sway it over them; and of this nature is the (Constituito) in the Text. And thus from the charge I should have came in the next place, to the stile or title [Judices & Moderatores] and then to the Circuit or Territories; but these I shall skip over, as less material, and come to the main of the Text, viz. The great and important Duty of all Judges and public trusties of State, and that is, to execute judgement. Non tantùm potestas Judici concessa, sed fides, saith Cicero pro Cluentio. Judges they have not only power, but a trust reposed in them, not only Dignity but Duty; and it is safer for mortals to hear of their duty then of their dignity. Give me leave therefore (my Lords) to discourse freely and plainly to you, concerning the great master-duty, concerning the Primum and the Vltimum, the Alpha and Omega of your calling, viz. The execution of just judgement. If the world be a Harp (as saith the eloquent Sinesius) than Justice windeth up the springs, stirreth the fingers, toucheth the instrument, giveth life to the airs, and maketh all the excellent harmonies. If the world be a ring, Justice is the diamond, if it be an eye, Justice is the soul, if it be a Temple, Justice is the Altar. In a word, that which the air is in the elementary world, the Sun in the celestial, and the soul in the intellectual, that is Justice in the civil. It is the air that all the afflicted desire to breathe, the Sun that dispels all clouds, the great principle that in a civil sense giveth life to all; all yields to this virtue, it is inchased in all laudable actions, and all laudable actions are incorporated in it, according to that of Aristotle, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Arist. Eth. lib. 5.  'tis inclusive of all other virtues, and they all run out from it as lines from their centre, and they all run into it, as rivers into the ocean. To be just is to be all that which an honest man may be, for Justice is Suum cuique tribuere, to give every man his due, and in a large sense 'tis every man's duty, as well as the Magistrates, but 'tis not to be considered in the Text in such a latitude, but as 'tis properly the act of Judges and Officers. Justice and judgement, in the Scripture stile and phrase, they are often Synonima's, and are put for one and the same thing, but sometimes they are distinct. I have read of a triple acception of (Judgement) intra Grammaticos, as also intra Theologos.  
First, Amongst Humanists and Philologers, Judgement is taken for the last act of the understanding, and a conclusive resolution, and thus it relates to contemplation.  
Secondly, 'tis sometimes Synonimous to discretion, and then it relates to practice, when we consider not so much the very bare act or thing that we are about, as the whole frame or machine of the business, as it stands complexioned and circumstanced with time, place and beholders.  
Thirdly, (Judgement) it not only relates to present practice, but it enlightens and governs posterity, and so it comprehends under it decrees and sentences, and judgements in Courts; and thus you see the word in the Critics sense. Now intra Theologos, Judgement paisses first for severe and mere Justice, for that which we call Summum Jus, which on God's part is always just, though to us it be a depth and unsearchable.  
Secondly, 'tis used to signify not only mere justice, but as 'tis attempered and sweetened with mercy; 
Reuch. de Art. Cabal. lib. 1.  The Cabalists (as one which understood them well observes) have concluded that the word (Judgement) applied to God, hath every where a mixed and participant nature, implies both judgement and mercy.  
Thirdly, The word [Judgement] it is used to signify not only the judicial part of the Law, as the Talmudists would straiten it, but the whole Law of God. Judgement it sometimes implies that right which every man stands obliged at all times to practise, and sometimes it's put for the law or rule itself according to which every man is to do right. (Judgement) is sometimes opposed to anger and severity, and then it signifies mercy and moderation, and 'tis sometimes opposed to folly and indiscretion, and then it implies an ability to judge, and 'tis sometimes opposed to injustice and wrong which is the vulgar and common import of it, and so tis-to be understood here in the Text; I have read Drusius and some others differencing and distinguishing Judgement and Justice, thus; First (Judgement) they say, it signifies the due order in trying and finding out the state of a Cause, and (Justice) the passing of Sentence or Verdict upon the trial; Secondly, Judgement they say is a clear knowledge of what ought to be done, and Justice is the doing of that which we know: Justice is an evenness and uprightness of conscience, in passing every thing according to received light and evidence; Thirdly, Judgement, say some, respects capital causes which are for life, but Justice respects civil causes which are for estate and liberty; Fourthly and lastly, [Judgement] says Drusius, Poenam respicit, 'tis in condemning those that are guilty, but Justice that respects Compensationem benefactorum, 'tis in acquitting the innocent, and in recompensing them that do well. It is a Rule, That when Judgement and Justice are put together in Scripture, the latter is but an epithet to the former, and so 'tis in the Text, [They shall judge the people with just judgement] that is, they shall do judgement justly, exactly, and to a hair.  
So then (my Lords) you see your duty, just you must be, and that upon this account.  
First, Arg. 1 Because God not only expects it and commands it, but accepts of it. Pinguior mactari Deo victima non potest quam homo sceleratus (says one) We cannot present God with a more pleasing oblation than is that of the cutting off of a criminal person; Judgements just execution 'tis attended on with God's approbation; See this in the case of Phineas, Psal. 106.30, 31. yea with God's remuneration, Levi had the Vrim and Thummim, the Covenant of God, and the honour of an infallible Priesthood, because he knew no relation, no interest, no engagement, when he appeared on God's side, and fulfilled his command, Exod. 22.27.  
Secondly, Arg. 2 Just you must be (my Lords) your office binds you to it, the judiciary power is talented in your hands, you are entrusted with the Laws, they are the Charter and sodder of all Society, the Sanctuary, the flaming Sword of right, to be brandished against all violence and wrong, the Landmarks that bond out to every man his Propriety, the Bulwarks and Defences of a people's Peace and Safety, the right and straight rules by application whereunto all injustice is discerned and judged of; now this high and sacred trust is deposited with you, though the sanction or first enacting of Law be the act of an higher power, yet the resolution and declaration of what is Law, resides in you, you have a right Jus or Legem dicere, though not Legem dare; Now without this Law is but a ruffled skein of silk, where no end is to be found, a Meander and Labyrinth without a clew, where men may sooner lose themselves then find any place to sit down and rest in; Nay farther, the execution of Law is yours, now this every man knows is the life of Law, without this Law is at least but Justice's bare Scales without her Sword, a Pistol that is charged only with powder that can at most but threaten and make an empty noise. Oh then let the Laws have life by your just execution of them; consider I beseech you, that the Laws are the Nations joints, whereby each part is tied to other, which once cut asunder, must needs discontinue and unjoint the whole frame, to its most certain and unavoidable ruin. You are (my Lords) the subordinate Custodes Libertatis Angliae, and should you be unjust you would then Briareus-like do evil with an hundred hands, and give us just cause to cry out with the Poet, Hei mihi custodes quisnam custodiet ipsos?  
Thirdly, You must be just, Arg. 3 the Land requires it, without this it can never be exalted, 'tis not all the depths of carnal policy, 'tis not Jeroboams Calves in Dan and Bethel, 'tis not Jehu's pompous zeal that would fain be looked upon, 'tis not all the mountains of Samaria, nor mines of India, 'tis neither Magazines, nor Arsenals, nor gold piled up to heaven, nor silver as plenty as dust and stones, nor numerous Armies, nor formidable Fleets, nor impregnable Forts, 'tis none of all these that can exalt a Nation, 'tis only Justice that can do that, Prov. 14.34. just Judges they are the best Saviour's, and the best bvilders in any Land, for they and only they make a Land a habitation of righteousness: on the other hand injustice and public impunities they procure public and popular judgements, the not doing Justice upon criminals, when publicly complained of and demanded, especially when the persons interessed call for Justice, and the execution of good Laws, and the Magistrates arm is at liberty, and in full strength, this engages a Land deep in ruin; See this in the case of the Benjamites, they refused to do justice upon the men that had forced and killed the Levites Concubine, and they lost twenty five thousand in battle, their Cities were destroyed, and the whole Tribe almost extinguished, and therefore 'tis observable in Scripture, how that the punishing of great and public acts of injustice, 'tis called, A putting away of evil from a Land. Not to punish an evil is a voluntary retention of it, and makes that sin by forbearing become National, which was in the acting but personal; And where impunities are, 'tis no thank to the public if the best men be not as bad as the worst.  
Fourthly, Arg. 4 Just you must be in respect of the innocent, 'tis a debt you own to them, Qui malis parcit piis nocet, to spare the bad, 'tis cruelty and hardheartedness to the good, to let the Wolves and Bears alone, 'tis to wrong the Sheep and Lambs; If you will pity Catiline (says one) pity Rome much more, let the whole have a share in your pity, rather than a part, Pereat unus, magis quam unitas, Better have one injurious person sit mourning, than a whole Nation languishing.  
Fifthly and lastly, You must be just, Arg. 5 because the malefactors themselves call for it; the end of Law and Magistracy is to be a terror both to evil works, and to evil workers; Impunity oft times proves the malefactors' encouragement, and by accident hardens him, whereas the acts of Justice being God's appointments, though they be pathemata corrections, yet they sometimes prove mathemata instructions, and being blessed and sanctified by God, become wholesome, spiritual discipline, and tend to the awakening of the secure conscience, and to the bringing of it, both to a sight and sense of its crime and guilt; God suffers penalties to fall sometimes upon the bodies of offenders, in mercy to their souls; but however if Justice should not work to the saving of their souls, yet it will be sure to work to the restraining of their sin, making the measure of it the less, which is indeed a mercy. Grave is the speech of Seneca,  nemo pereat, nisi quem perire etiam pereuntis intersit, That none perish, but those to whom 'tis an advantage to perish. And thus much by way of Argument, Why you must be just. I come next of all to discourse of the Modification, How you must be just.  
First, My Lords, You must be religiously just, it is indeed the first required qualification, in all Judges and Magistrates, That they should be men fearing God, there is so near an affinity between Justice and Religion, that as Priests are called Judices Sacrorum, so Ulpian styles Judges Sacerdotes Justitiae; Judges must not be like Cardinal Caraffa, of whom it was said, That he was Securus de numine, out of all fear of God's vengeance: without Religion Judges will be but profane, and where the fear of God is not, there the fear of man will be in too great a measure; Alvarez reports it to be a custom of the Aethiopians, to place twelve empty Chairs about the Judge's seat, and this not out of state, but out of Religion, supposing that their gods sit there with their Judges; And the Rabbins have a saying, That the Angels attend in all Judicatories, how concerns it all Judges then to be religiously just, having such attendants, and such assessors!  
Secondly, You must be zealously just, for you judge not for man but for God; Now he that doth the work of the Lord negligently, a curse waits on him; the righteous they are compared to Palm-trees, now they love hot regions, and a warm soil, and so doth Justice zealous hearts, 'tis St Bernard's Note, Adami voluntas non habuit fortitudinem, quia non habuit fervorem, You must execute Justice magnanimiter, there must be an ardent zeal for the maintenance of Laws, and there must be an actual application of all your endeavours, and of all the forces of your mind and courage, to authorise Justice, to strengthen your arms against the torrents of iniquity, and to put all your particular interests under the discharge of your employments: where there is like to be great opposition, there had need to be a great spirit, and great resolution, Odia qui nimium timet, regnare nescit. To resist friends, and to over look enemies will be no easy work, to be just under all the cross censures of the world, where some will cry out, that you are too merciful, and others that you are too severe, some that you do nothing, and some that you do too much; now surely it must be a zeal for Justice that must make you struggle thorough all difficulties. Moses he grinds to powder the golden Calf, 
Exod. 32.20. Num. 25.13.  and it was his zeal constrained him. Phineas he runs Zimri and Cosbi thorough with his Javelin, and 'twas his zeal that fired him; 
Joh. 2.17.  And Christ he whips the buyers & sellers out of the Temple; and 'twas the zeal of his father's house that eat him up; but here you must be sure that this holy fervour be of the right stamp, it must be pure & elementary not base and culinary, not feeding upon carnal respects, it must be zeal for justice as an act of justice, yea and it must be out of love too, or else whilst it is Justice in the Law, it may be murder in the Judg.  
Thirdly, You must be impartially just, like God in this, he accepts no man's person, he accepts not the rich because he is rich, nor the poor because of his poverty, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the bane of Justice, Perit omne judicium ubi res transit in affectum. Judges they are as the noble Spartan said of himself, Patriae & legibus dati, they have bestowed themselves upon their Country, and upon the Law, and therefore must know neither parents nor kindred in the cause of Justice. The Statues of the Theban Judges they were, they were without hands and without eyes, that is, without corruption & without partiality; The Athenians they were wont to judge in the dark, that so they might know no man's face; Judges they must be swayed neither with foolish pity on the one hand, nor with respect to might, power, friendship, or greatness on the other; usually these are the two prejudices against the execution of justice, either carnal pity, says he, is a poor man, or else carnal fear, says he, is a great man, and so outward accidents come in the Scale rather than the merits of the Cause, when judgement is misted or blinded, by any external glory and appearance, so that Judges cannot discern truth or right, when they suffer any cause to be overbalanced by such foreign circumstances as have no affinity with it: this is a vicious partiality in them: all corruption is not in bribes: the Judges who absolved the beautiful strumpet Phryne, they had their hands clean but their eyes foul: it was a gallant return which the noble Rutilius made his friend, requesting of him an unlawful favour in such language as this, Quid tua mihi opus est amicitia, si non impetro quod rogo? I had as good be without such a friend as with him, who will not let me speed in what I ask: to whom he replied, Imò, quid mihi tua, si tua causa aliquid inhonèste facturus sum? I can want such a friend as you, if for your sake I must do that which is not honest. Memorable is the act of justice, 
Helmodi. Chrone  performed by Canutus' King of Denmark, who after he had examined the process of twelve Thiefs, and condemned them, he found one, who said he was extracted of Royal blood: it is reason (saith the King) some favour should be done to this man, therefore give him the highest Gibbet. We read in the twelfth Novel of Justinian, of an oath imposed upon Magistrates against inclining or addicting to either party, yea they put themselves under a deep and bitter execration and curse in case of partiality, imploring God in such language as this, Let me have my part with Judas, and let the leprosy of Gehezi cleave to me, and the trembling of Cain come upon me, and whatsoever else may astonish, and dismay a man.  
Fourthly, you must be sincerely just, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, incorruptness and integrity, 'tis the proper portion of Judges, Judges should be known by giving, not by receiving; 'twas Claudians elogium of Honorius, Non hic privatis crescunt aeraria damnis, foul hands will breed troubled consciences, you must take heed of being takers, he that opens his hand to catch after a reward, cannot choose but let fall his rule out of it; Men have a touchstone (says one) to try gold, but gold is a touchstone to try men. I have read of one Ichis a Polonian Judge, that having long stood up for a poor plaintiff against a rich defendant, he at last received from the defendant a great sum of money stamped with the usual stamp of that Country, which is a man in complete armour, and at the next Sessions he in open Court adjudged the cause in favour of the defendant, and being sharply blamed by his friends, he shown them his large fee, and demanded of them, Quis posset tot armatis resistere? Who could stand out against so many in complete armour? witty was the reply was that returned Demosthenes, who having been well feed by the adverse party to be silent in a cause, being called to plead pretended the squinsy, his Client came handsomely over him, saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, non est ista angina, sed argentumgina, 'tis the silver squinsy; Mazarinus complaineth of foreign judges, that they too much resembled the Haimatites or bloodstone, which hath a special property to staunch blood, but as Jewellers observe, it puts not forth this virtue unless it be let in, or covered over with silver, and so applied to the vein; whereas Judges they should be men hating covetousness, if they be not they will be apt cunningly to divert the straight current of the Law, to bring water to their own Mill: some Judges there have been who for the cleanliness of the conveyance would like mendicant friars touch no money themselves, but have a boy with a bag to receive it for them, but O let all such corrupt Judges, who it may be buy justice by wholesale & sell it by retale, let them consider seriously what is said job 15.34. Fire shall consume the Tabernacle of Bribery, the Septuagint reads it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of men that take gifts, a gift transforms the Judge into a party, and as Buxtorf upon the Hebrew word here notes, makes the Judge and pary to be but one person, there is much gotten, but nothing gained by injustice, men give bribes to undo others, and they that receive them undo themselves; I have read of a Traveller, who coming to Rome, and seeing many curious piles and goodly structures, he was inquisitive to know who built them: it was told him that they were peccata Germanorum, the sins of Germany, meaning thereby that the money brought for pardons out of Germany, built those houses: and may not we make the same answer, when we look upon the Stately houses and Magnificent palaces of corrupt Judges? may not we call them peccata Judicum, and say that bribes and oppressions, bought such Seats, and built such and such houses? but alas if the actor of Justice lives not to see the melting of such get, and the spending of such earnings, yet the heir finds a fire in the foundation, he hears the stones in the wall to cry out, that the mortar in which they were laid, was tempered with the tears of widows and Orphans, and the blood of innocents', and the beam out of the timber answers it, that that was set up by pulling down the poor, and therefore it cannot stand: in God's Court there is no man can buy off a hell not a year or a day, for millions of worlds (my Lords) it should be so in yours. I beseech you let nothing stick to your fingers, that should make your faces to gather paleness in the day of the Lord Jesus.  
Fifthly, you must be deliberately just, Truth is the daughter of time, dies diem docet, Justice hath not a giddy running haste, but a sober grave pace, it was an ancient decree of the Areopagites, 
Orat. de Coron.  as Demosthenes relates it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that Judges should hear both parties, with equal indifferency, and attention, their full time. And 'twas the custom of Philip of Macedon to stop one of his ears whilst the accuser was speaking, that he might reserve it for the defendant: never was any Roman Emperor so much taxed of injustice and folly, as Claudius Caesar, and the reason of his so frequent mistakes was, because he often sentenced causes upon the bare hearing of one side only, and sometimes upon the full hearing of neither. True is that of Seneca, 
Sweton in claud.  Qui aliquid statuit parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit haud aequus est. The ear is not only the sense of discipline and learning according to the Philosopher, and of faith according the Apostle, but also of truth and Justice. He that proceeds on halfe-evidence, he will not do quarter-Justice. Judges they must be attentive, harkening with just and patiented ears, to the plead of both sides: witnesses should be heard out (though tedious) Judges should not meet evidences half way, but stay till they come at them, some persons must be impertinent, before they can be pertinent, and as (one says) if they tell the story of a hen, you must give them leave to begin at the egg; it is no grace to a Judge first to find that, which he might have heard in due time from the Bar; or to show quickness off conceit in cutting of evidence or counsel too short, for sometimes a man of a dreaming utterance may give a waking testimony: Judges they should not prevent informations, by questions though pertinent, In this sense, an overspeaking Judge is no well tuned Cymbal. It is related of Theodosius, that when he had killed many men rashly, which did much trouble him, it was afterwards enacted by him that thirty days should use to intervene between the sentence and the execution; for potest dilata paena exigi, exacta revocari non potest, punishment deferred may be executed at pleasure, but if once executed cannot be recalled; we may read how God himself, though he needs no intelligence from his creatures, yet in his two great acts of justice when he confounded the bvilders of Babel, and destroyed Sodom, he would not only hear, but he would go and see; and Christ he prescribeth a rule to all Judges, Sicut audio, sic Judico. 
John 5.30.   
Sixthly, You must be speedily just, see Ezra 7.26. you must execute Judgement in the morning, Jer. 21.12. Noon justice and evening justice, 'tis not so seasonable, 'tis not so acceptable to God as morning justice; delays break the spirits of the innocent, and harden the hearts, and strengthen the hands of the guilty. Lewes the twelfth of France, he was wont to tax the delays, reverences, and neglects, of Judges, and to say, that he did not love this stretching of leather with the teeth. A man shall come into few of our Courts, but he shall hear those that wait on them, crying out with him in the Poet, — Quem das finem Rex magne laborum?  
When shall we leave turning Ixion's Wheel? and rolling Sisyphus his stone? I would have all demurring Judges consider seriously, the admirable passage of Theodorick King of the Romans, as it stands related at large in the Chronicle of Alexandria; There was one Juvenalis a Widow, who came to him with a sad complaint, that she had had a suit depending in the Court three years, which might have been ended in a few days: the King demands of her the Judges names: she tells him: there issues out an especial command from the King to them, to give all the speedy dispatch that was possible to this Widow's cause, which they did, and in two days determined it to her very good liking; which being done Theodorick calls for these Judges, and they supposing it had been to receive their applause and reward, for their quick decision, and excellent justice, hastened to him full of joy, but the King having first interrogated with them, about the cause of their former delay, and having sharply reprehended them, he commanded both their heads to be struck off, because they had spun out that cause to a three year's length, which two days would have ended.  
Seventhly, You must be steadfastly just, a Judge should be such an one qui nec fallitur, nec flectitur, lenity becomes not a Judge, levitas est mobilitas animi, qua homines levi de causa mentes vel sermones facile mutant, Judges must not be like the vulgar Jews, who would this day deify, and to morrow crucify the same man, nor yet like Pilate who commanded Christ to the Cross with those very lips, with which a little before he procounced him innocent. A Judge he must be propositi tenax, though not pecuniarum petax; he must be like the needle touched with the Loadstone of constancy, ever looking one way like the unshaken rock, that in the midst of the angry foaming brine and raging billows, appears that apt emblem of stability, with this motto on it, Immota triumphans, or else like the Egyptian pyramid, wearing this inscription Nec flatu, Nec fluctu.  
Eightly, You must be mercifully just, there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ordinate rule of all affections: a Judge must not come under that character, that Josephus gives Herod, that he was Legis dominus, but irae servus, Lord of the Law, but yet Lorded over by his own lusts; a Judge must not be too much affianced to his own will: 
Vel. pater lib. 1. Hist.  not like Brutus and Cassius, of whom Velleius Paterculus hath this note, quicquid voluit Brutus valdè voluit, nimium Cassius; but he must plant his Judgement upon an even ground, and as much as in him lies make inequality equal, considering that merciful Aphorism of Solomon, Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sanguinem, the wring of the nose bringeth forth blood, where the winepress is hard wrought, it yields a harsh wine, that tastes of the grapestone; a butcher they say may not be of the Jury, much less may he be a Judge. There is just cause of relenting whether we consider ourselves or others, as being of the same mould, and subject to the same temptations with others; Though we may and must delight in justice, yet say, Divines, to be glad of it, as 'tis the evil and grief of an other, is very sinful; for a Judge upon the Bench, to put the poor malefactor out of countenance, whom he may put of life, what triumph is it? To jest at man in misery, 'tis the worst use a man can put his wit to, and will come home to him, nay 'tis worse then brutish and beneath a beast, the Lion scorns it, so says the Poet, Corpore magnanimo satis est prostrasse leoni; O than my Lords be merciful even as your Heavenly Father is merciful; and to whomsoever you think God himself if he were upon the Bench, and in your place, would show mercy, why to all such let your mercy extend; I have read of three cases, that seem to be out of the reach of civil mercy. First wilful murder, prepared and projected murder, here your eye is not to pity: in the time of the Law, and by Gods own order, such a murderer, no Asylum, no City of refuge, 
Deut. 19.11, 12, 13.  no Sanctuary, no Altar could protect, but he might be snatched thence. A second case is, when accessaries suffer then the principal must not be spared, this the voice of God, 
Numb. 24 4, 5.  of nature, and of the Law, all give assent to. A third and last case is, when the quarrel is laid in principles of irreconcilable enmity against true Religion, and the government of Christ: and yet even in all these three grand Cases, 
Luk. 19.27.  though mercy must not degenerate into a softness prejudicial to Justice, those Just sentences are best pronounced that are deepest drenched, and most steeped in the Judge's tears.  
Ninthly and lastly, You must be universally just; You are called Scuta terrae, the shields of the earth; and the Law with us 'tis called Lex terrae, to note the universal Benignity thereof, and the equal interest that every person is to have therein; to weigh one man's cause by the rule of Law, and another's by the rule of favour, this is like divers weights and measures, which the Lord abhors; This is not to be Scutum a shield, but rather Galea a helmet, to protect only the heads of the people; You must be like the Sun whose beams shed themselves, with as sweet an influence on a Garden of Cucumbers, as on the Forest of Lebanon; Your Justice must extend itself like the wisdom of Solomon, from the Cedar to the Hyssop; The Apostles rule is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the small as well as the great must be heard. 
Deu. 1.17  Laws must neither be like Nets, to let out little Fishes, and catch only great ones; nor yet like Cobwebs to be broken by great offenders, and to catch only Flies. Universal Justice is that which respects all, rewarding the meanest in well-doing, and punishing the greatest in evildoing, if justice be thus universal, 'twill cashier, 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, all Partiality, all Bribery, and all Timidity; now Timiditas judicis; est calamit as innocentis.  
And thus, my Lords, I have showed you why you must be just, and how you must be just; I had thought in the next place to have reached the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the obstructers of Justice, but I see that cannot be, without entrenching too fare upon that patience, which I would not abuse, or borrowing too much of that time which is allotted your other affairs; I shall only therefore beg your pardon, whilst in words as few as may be, I take leave particularly to apply this great duty of the Text to those that shall be more immediately concerned in the Transactions of this season. Justice you see is the great business of the Text, and 'tis the great business of such a time as this; And that the people may the better follow, let me beseech you (my Lords) to lead them the way in this great duty; I confess I have been long speaking to you, and therefore I shall only add these last words;  
First, Be just to yourselves, by subjecting within you your bodies to your souls, and your souls to God: the first great acts of injustice, are to place Passions upon Altars, Reason in Fetters, and to search for the Kingdom of Heaven in the sway of our own private interests.  
Secondly, My Lords, Be just to the people, which you can never be, unless you be religious in devotion, fearing God, moderate in your passions, impartial in your affections, mortified in your lusts, learned in the Laws, incorrupt in your Courts, deliberate in your Counsels, patiented in hearing, diligent in sifting, expedite in proceeding, grave and solemn in sentencing, and concluding only according to evidence; For Illud tantum judex novit, quod novit judicialiter.  
And thus from you (my Lords) that are commissioned for the Seat of Judgement, I turn to those Gentlemen that are in Commission for this County; And as you at such a time as this, when the Judges themselves are present, have least to do, so I have least to say, only let me leave this Exhortation with you, Let me beseech you to be like Jethroes Justices of peace, Exod. 18.21, 22, 23. Or like Plato's Commonwealthsmen for the Commonwealth; Study your Oath more than your Commission, and think of your Duty more than your Dignity, and do not decline the burdens that cleave to your Honours; and if the calling come upon you before you are grown up to it, let double diligence make you old, and experienced in the Law, though you be tender and green in years, and consider that whatsoever swervings or stumblings any part of the Body politic makes, within your verge, or under your eye, the blame will be sure to light upon you.  
And thus from you the Justices let me address myself to those that shall be Counselors, and Pleaders, and Advocates at this Assize. And let me beseech you to be just, and never to plead that cause wherein your tongue must needs be confuted by your conscience, nor again to set the neck of the Suit that hath once been broken by a definitive sentence. Remember what answer Papian the Orator made to Caracalla the Emperor, when he was requested by him to defend the fratricide of his brother Geta, Non tam facile est excusare fratricidium quàm facere, It is more easy to commit it then to defend it. Take heed you do not, Per verborum aucupia, & tendicula, as Tully speaks, by cunning construction either of Laws or Actions, protect injury, and wrong innocence. When any Client comes to you, be sure you not only hear but examine, and pinch his cause there most, where you fear 'tis foundered; if the cause be doubtful, warrant no more than your own diligence, and whatsoever privacies have passed between your Clients and you, let them sleep between you, and not take air at your tongue. Take heed of tediousness, and (as one says) do not make a Trojan Siege of a Suit, but what you do, do it seriò, and do it subitò; Be not like to those fickle and unstable Lawyers that Sallust so bitterly inveigheth against, condemning them for their floating and uncertainty, Qui fluctuantes huc & illuc agitantur; who deny that to be Law this Term, which they pleaded to be Law the last. And be sure to look to your hearts, and to look to your hands, and keep them both clean; Be not like Ayat the Jew, who could Vtrâque manu tanquam dextrâ uti, Take bribes on both sides, and do Justice on neither; Remember what Aegardus adviseth you to, Magis apud vos valeat amor veri quam lucri, Love Justice above your fee.  
Lastly, Be faithful to the side that first retains you, and not like Demosthenes, who, as Plutarch tells us, secretly wrote one Oration to Phormio, and another in the same matter for Apollidorus his adversary. And thus from the Counsellors and Pleaders, I come to the Jurors. It were well if they would learn too, not to go like Sheep one after another (Qua itur non qua eundum) but to be lead by the sacredness of their Oath, and the light of their Evidence, and to proceed Secundum allegata & probata, and not suffer themselves to be blindly overruled by another man's prejudice; It many times falls out that a tame Jury by the craft of some one cunning fellow in the company, who happily comes possessed with prejudice to the cause, or ill will to the person, are made to swallow any thing, and to give in a Verdict to the Oppression of innocence, whereas their sin is never the less because they sin with company: Let me beseech all those therefore that shall be of the Jury at this Assize, to do no otherwise then as God shall put into their hearts, and the Evidence shall lead them; If crafty Foremen, or subtle and wily After-men, will do that that is not just, and to make quick work of it, conclude of a Verdict before they hear the Evidence; Let the honest Jury man keep pace with the Evidence and his own conscience, and think it not pride but Justice, to be honester (if not wiser) than his Leaders.  
I have now only one word more to them that are to be Witnesses, and then I am at an end. Let me beseech all such to be just, let them consider how that upon their Testimony depends the issue of every Cause; if the Judge's sentence, or the Juries Verdict, point at a false hour, the fault may not be in the hand or gnomon, either in the Judge or the Jury, but only in these wheels of the Clock, the Witnesses; it concerns you therefore to be just, you must not dare to think your Oath, Volaticum jusjurandum, a slip-knot; neither must you dare out of ill will, or fear, or any base end to forge a Testimony, as Gashmu did; 
Nehem. 6.6, 7.  nor yet to stretch a tender truth beyond measure, on purpose to do mischief, 
Psa. 52.3, 4.  as Doeg did. Great is the sin of a false Witness. First, He sins against God, Cujus veritatem annihilat. Secondly, He sins against the Judge, Cujus judicium perturbat. Thirdly, He sins against the party accused, Quem suo testimonio condemnat. Lastly, He sins against himself; first, against his fame and credit, for what more infamous then for a man to be Punica, or Graecafide, to be such an one whom neither word nor wax can bind? and which is worst of all, he sins against his own soul, for a false Witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape, so says Solomon, Prov. 19.5. Let every Witness therefore be just and speak the truth, and the whole truth, As God shall help him.  
And thus I have discharged all my Task in the Pulpit, save only putting up my hearty prayer to God for you all, that from the highest to the lowest, from the Judge to the Witness, you may all discharge yours in the Court, which I shall next proceed to.  
FINIS.