He raiseth against himself fierce animosity and wrath: for men that are conscious to themselves of their own honest meaning and blameless proceedings, cannot endure to be abused by unjust disparagement; hence are they stirred to boil with passion, and to discharge revenge upon the detractor. opportunity to know his bad qualities, bad | causing them to entertain unjust and unpurposes, or bad deeds; yet wisdom would charitable conceits, to practice unseemly commonly dictate, and goodness dispose, and unworthy behaviour toward good men. not to mar his repute. If we should ob- 5. The detractor produceth great inserve, without danger of mistake, any conveniences and mischiefs to himself. plausible action to be performed out of bad inclinations, principles, or bad designs; yet ordinarily in discretion and honesty we should let it pass with such commendation as its appearance may procure, rather than to slur it by venting our disadvantageous apprehensions about it: for it is no great harm that any man should enjoy undeserved commendation, or that a counterfeit worth should find a dissembled respect; it is but being over-just, which if it be ever a fault, can hardly be so in this case, wherein we do not expend any cost, or suffer any damage: but it may do mischief to blemish an appearance of virtue; it may be a wrong thereto, to deface its very image; the very disclosing hypocrisy doth inflict a wound on goodness, and exposeth it to scandal: for bad men thence will be prone to infer, that all virtue proceedeth from the like bad principles: so the disgrace cast on that which is spurious will redound to the prejudice of that which is most genuine and if it be good to forbear detracting from that which is certainly false, much more is it so in regard to that which is possibly true; and far more still is it so in respect to that which is clear and sure. 2. Hence detraction is very noxious and baneful to all society; for all society is maintained in welfare by encouragement of honesty and industry; the which, when disparagement is cast upon them, will be in danger to languish and decay whence a detractor is the worst member that can be of a society; he is a very moth, a very canker therein. 3. Detraction worketh real damage and mischief to our neighbour; it bereaveth him of that goodly reputation which is the proper reward of virtue, and the main support to the practice of it it often really obstructeth and disappointeth his undertakings, estranging those from him, or setting them against him, who do credulously entertain it. 4. The detractor abuseth those into whose ears he instilleth his poisonous suggestions, engaging them to partake in the injuries done to worth and virtue; VOL. I. 27 He exposeth himself to general hatred all good men loathe him as a base and mischievous person, and a particular enemy of theirs, always ready to wrong them; every man is apt to say, he that doth thus abuse another will be ready to serve me in like manner if I chance to come in his way, vilifying the best thing I can do: even the worst men will dislike him: for even such affect to do somewhat laudable or plausible, and would be glad to enjoy approbation for it; and cannot therefore brook those who lie in wait to rob them of the fruit of their good endeavours: so do all men worthily detest and shun the detractor, as a common enemy to goodness first, and then unto men. Further, 6. The detractor yieldeth occasion to others, and a kind of right to return the same measure upon him. If he hath in him a show of any thing laudable, men will not allow him any commendation from it; for why, conceive they, shall he receive that which he will not suffer others to enjoy? How can any man, admit him to have any real worth or virtue in himself who doth not like it or treat it well in another? Hence, if a detractor hath any good in him, he much injureth himself, depriving himself of all the respect belonging thereto. 7. Again, the detractor, esteeming things according to moral possibility, will assuredly be defeated in his aims; his detraction in the close will avail nothing, but to bring trouble and shame upon himself; for God hath a particular care over innocence and goodness, so as not to let them finally to suffer the good man's righteousness he will bring forth as the light, and his judgment as the noon day. Wise men easily will discern the foul f Psal. xxxvii. 6. play, and will scorn it; good men ever will be ready to clear and vindicate the truth worth, however clouded for a time, will break through all mists, and gloriously expand itself, to the confusion of its most sly opposers. Such are the natural and obvious effects of this practice; the consideration whereof (together with the causes producing it, and the essential adjuncts which it doth involve) will, I should think, suffice to deter us from it. I shall only adjoin one consideration, which our text suggesteth: Speak not evil of one another, brethren, saith the Apostle brethren; that appellation doth imply a strong argument enforcing the precept: brethren, with especial tenderness of affection, should love one another, and delight in each other's good; they should tender the interest and honour of each other as their own; they should therefore by all means cherish and countenance virtue in one another, as that which promoteth the common welfare, which adorneth and illustrateth the dignity of their family. We should rejoice in the good qualities and worthy deeds of any Christian, as glorifying our common Father, as gracing our common profession, as edifying the common body whereof we are members. Members we are one of another, and as such should find complacence in the health and vigour of any part, from whence the whole doth receive benefit and comfort: for one brother to repine at the welfare, to malign the prosperity, to decry the merit, to destroy the reputation of another, is very unnatural; for one Christian any wise to wrong or prejudice another, is highly impious. To conclude it is our duty (which equity, which ingenuity, which charity, which piety, do all concurrently oblige us to,) whenever we do see any good person, or worthy deed, to yield hearty esteem, to pay due respect, gladly to congratulate the person, and willingly to commend the work; rendering withal, thanks and praise for them to the donor of all good gifts: unto whom, for all the good things bestowed upon us, and upon all his creatures, be for ever all glory and praise. Amen. SERMON XX. AGAINST RASH CENSURING AND JUDGING. MATTH. vii. 1.-Judge not. THESE words, being part of our Saviour's most divine Sermon upon the Mount, contain a very short precept, but of vast use and consequence; the observance whereof would much conduce to the good of the world, and to the private quiet of each man; it interdicting a practice, which commonly produceth very mischievous and troublesome effects; a practice never rare among men, but now very rife; when, with the general causes, which ever did and ever will in some measure dispose men thereto, some special ones do concur, that powerfully incline to it. There are innate to men an unjust pride, emboldening them to take upon them beyond what belongeth to them, or doth become them; an excessive selflove, prompting them, as to flatter themselves in their own conceit, so to undervalue others, and from vilifying their neighbours, to seek commendation to themselves; an envious malignity, which ever lusteth to be pampered with finding or making faults; many corrupt affections, springing from fleshly nature, which draw or drive men to this practice; so that in all ages it hath been very common, and never any profession hath been so much invaded, as that of the judge. But divers peculiar causes have such an influence upon our age, as more strongly to sway men thereto : there is a wonderful affectation to seem hugely wise and witty; and how can we seem such, more than in putting on the garb and countenance of judges; scanning and passing sentence upon all persons, and all things incident? There is an extreme niceness and delicacy of conceit, which maketh us apt to relish few things, and to distaste any thing; there are dissensions in opinion, and addictedness to parties, which do tempt us, and seem to authorize us in condemning all that differ from us; there is a deep corruption of mind and manners, which engageth men in their own defence to censure others, diverting the blame from home, and shrouding their own under the covert of other men's faults; there are new prin- | did well understand the nature of this ciples of morality and policy become practice, with the heinous guilt, and concurrent with great vogue, which allow to sequently the deadly hazard, they do do or say anything subservient to our in- incur thereby at this purpose my disterests or designs; which also do repre- course shall aim, wherein I shall endeavsent all men so bad, that, admitting them our both to describe the nature of the true, nothing hardly can be said ill of practice forbidden in my text, and to deany man beyond truth and justice. clare the pravity, iniquity, and folly of Judge not. As to the word, we may observe, that it being in itself, according to its primitive sense, of a middle and indifferent signification, is yet frequently in the scripture used in the worst sense; so as to import those acts, or those effects of judgment, which pass to the disadvantage of the persons subjected thereto; for condemnation, and for infliction of the word doth principally respect, yet not so precisely as to exclude somewhat contained in the larger sense we are so prohibted the condemning and punishing our neighbour in his good name, that withal some acts antecedent, or concomitant to those, are glanced at in the prohibition: undue application thereto, unjust proceeding therein are also signified unlawful; for the meaning of the word and the reason of the case may be so far extended. Hence is the world become so extreme-it. ly critical and censorious, that in many places the chief employment of men, and the main body of conversation is, if we mark it, taken up in judging: every gossipping is, as it were, a court of justice; every seat becometh a tribunal; at every table standeth a bar, whereto all men are cited, whereat every man, as it happeneth, is arraigned and sentenced: no sublimity or sacredness of dignity, no integ-punishment: and this sense here surely rity or innocence of life, no prudence or circumspection of demeanour, can exempt any person from it: not one escapeth being taxed under some scandalous name, or odious character, one or other.† Not only the outward actions and visible practices of men are judged; but their retired sentiments are brought under trial, their inward dispositions have a verdict past on them, their final states are determined. Whole bodies of men are thus judged at once, and nothing it is in one breath to damn whole churches, at one push to throw down whole nations into the bottomless pit. All mankind in a lump is severely censured, as void of any real goodness or true virtue; so fatally depraved as not to be corrigible by any good discipline, not to be recoverable even by the grace of God: yea God himself is hardly spared, his providence coming under the bold obloquy of those who, as the Psalmist speaketh of some in his time, whose race doth yet survive, speak loftily, and set their mouth against the heavens." This being too apparently the present state of things, and obvious practice of men, it were desirable that, in order to their being reclaimed, men commonly * Expedit vobis neminem videri bonum; quasi aliena virtus exprobratio vestrorum de lictorum sit.-Sen. de Vit. B. xix. † Εἰς τὰ τῶν ἄλλων πολυπραγμονεῖν καὶ καταδικάζειν δαπανᾶται ἡμῖν ἅπας ὁ βίος· καὶ οὐδένα ἂν εὕροις | ταχέως, οὐ βιωτικὸν ἄνδρα, οὐ μοναχὸν ταύτης ἐλεύθερον τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καίτοιγε τοσαύτης ἀπειλῆς κειμένης, aúry.-Chrys. ad den, t. vi. Orat. 42. a Psal. Ixxiii. 8, 9. But for the fuller and clearer understanding of the matter, we must observe, that there are divers sorts of judging, or acts resembling judgment, which do not belong to this precept; which it is requisite to distinguish from this judging prohibited. 1. That exercising public judgment or administering justice, is not here prohibited, I need not to insist; that is necessary: human society could not subsist, right could not be maintained, nor peace preserved without it; God thereby governeth the world, earthly judges being his instruments and substitutes; such judgment is not so much the act of men, as of God himself, by whose authority, in whose name, for whose service, it is ministered. As Moses told the judges in his time, You shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's." And in numberless places of scripture this judgment is allowed and authorized ; it therefore is not touched here. b Deut. i. 17. 2. That trial and censure, although | cerning any one man: wherefore to do out of court, and without formal process, it, as it suiteth discretion, so it doth not which any kind of superiors do exercise thwart justice or charity; and cannot upon their inferiors committed to their therefore be prohibited here. inspection and care; such as of parents over children, masters over servants, pastors over their flock, any governors over their charge, their admonitions, reprehensions, and corrections are, to be excepted hence, as being in themselves needful and warranted, yea enjoined by God. 3. Neither are fraternal correption or friendly reproof, proceeding out of charitable design, upon clear ground, in fit season, within reasonable compass, concerned in this prohibition; this being a wholesome practice, and a duty incumbent on us: Thou shalt (saith the Law) not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 6. We are also not hence obliged, in contradiction to plain sense, to judge well of men; accounting him for a saint, or a good man, whom we see living disorderly, or committing scandalous offences, plainly repugnant to the rules of piety, justice, or sobriety. In fine, there are some special cases and circumstances, wherein good men excusably may in severe terms declare their resentment of manifest wickedness, especially such as is prejudicial to God's honour and public good. Of this there are divers instances, which yet hardly can be reduced to common rules, or proposed for general example; the matter being ticklish, and men being apt to pervert any liberty or pretence of this kind, by indulging to their own bad humours and passions. 4. All observing and reflecting upon our neighbour's actions, all framing an opinion about them, and expressing our minds concerning them, are not forbid- These sorts of allowable judgments beden. For we are not bound perpetually ing excepted, it is then private, affected, to shut our eyes, or go about hoodwink-needless, groundless, rash, and harsh ed; nor to stop our ears and make ourselves deaf and how can we forbear to think according to plain evidence? how can we resist the impressions of sense upon our minds? how can we contest notorious experience? how also, barring such apprehensions of obvious and apparent things, could we bear testimony concerning them? how could we signify our approbation or dislike of them? how could we for his amendment admonish or reprove our neighbour, as in some cases we are obliged to do? censuring the persons or actions of our brethren; such as doth resemble not the acting of a lawful superior, of a needful witness, of a faithful friend, but of a judge acting without competent right, upon no good grounds, or in undue manner, which is here interdicted: the word judging doth well imply the nature of this fault, the manner of our proceeding therein, the grounds of its unlawfulness; neither perhaps can we better understand our duty in this matter, than by expending what are the properties and obligations of a judge, and comparing our practice thereto; for thence it may plainly appear how unqualified we are to bear this office, and how unduly we execute it. 1. No judge should intrude himself into the office, or assume a judicial power without competent authority; that is, by delegation from superior powers, or by voluntary reference of the parties concerned. This condition we fail in, whenever without warrant from God, or special reason exacting it from us, we do pry 5. We are not hence obliged to think so well of all men, as without competent knowledge always to rely upon their pretences, or to entrust our interests in their hands; for common experience acquainteth us that we may be deceived in trusting men; prudence biddeth us in matters of importance not to confide in uncertainties; wherefore we shall not be culpable for being wary in such cases: this indeed is not a positive judgment, but only a waving to declare in favour, when sufficient ground of doing so doth not ap-into, scan, and tax the actions of our neighpear; it is only a reasonable suspecting bour." When, I say, we are pragmatithe posibility of miscarriage in some per- cally inquisitive into the purposes and sons, not a downright asserting ill con• Levit. xix. 17; Thess. v. 14. 1 Pet. iv. 15; 1 Thess. iv. 11; xxvii. 16; 1 Tim. v. 13. proceedings of our superiors, of our | false colours; his mind is discomposed equals, of those who are not subject to and disturbed, so that he cannot calmly our charge and care, when we narrowly and steadily apprehend or consider the examine them, when we peremptorily just state of the case; his will is biassed, blame them, then do we unduly exalt and strongly propendeth one way, so that ourselves above them, and exercise an he cannot proceed uprightly in a straight unwarrantable jurisdiction over them. and even course: being not indifferently What sense doth offer, we may receive affected, but concerned on one side, he in; what judgment reason doth extort, is become a party, or an adversary, and we may follow; what testimony public thence unfit to be a judge; he hath debenefit requireth, we may yield; what termined the cause with himself beforeexpression charity doth call for toward hand, so that no place is left to further our neighbour's edification, we may sea- discussion or defence; wherefore before sonably vent: but if we proceed further such a judge the best cause will fall, the in this way, the party concerned may ap- clearest innocence shall not preserve peal from us as incompetent and unlaw- from condemnation. He, therefore, that ful judges of his actions or his state; we will undertake this office, must first divest are arrogant and injurious in presuming to himself of all prejudices, must rid himexercise that office.* God is the master self of all passions, must purify himself and judge of men, and without authority from all corrupt inclinations, taking care from him, we must not presume to judge not to come with a condemning mind, or his servants and subjects: so we are a lust to punish the obnoxious party; taught by St. Paul: Who (saith he) art otherwise a just exception lieth against thou that judgest another man's servant? him, and reasonably his jurisdiction may to his own master he standeth or falleth: be declined. and St. James in like manner, upon the If this rule were put in practice, there same ground, expostulateth with the cen- would be little censuring; for few surer: there is (saith he) one Lawgiver, come to it with a free and pure mind; who is able to save, or to destroy; who few blame their neighbours without some art thou that judgest another? Our pre-occupation of judgment, or some disLord himself for this reason declined in-affection toward them. termeddling in the affairs of men: Who 3. A judge should never procéed in (said he) made me a judge or divider over you? And shall we constitute ourselves in the office, shall we seat ourselves on the tribunal, without any commission from God or call from men? How many judges, if this proviso were observed, would have their quietus! how many censurers would be voided hence! 2. A judge should be free from all prejudices and all partial affections; especially from those which are disadvantageous to the party in danger to suffer; such as tempt or incline to condemn him; from ill opinion and ill-will, from anger, envy, revengefulness, contempt, and the like: for he that is possessed with these is nowise qualified to be a judge; his eyes are blinded, or distorted, or infected with bad tinctures, so that he cannot discern what is right, or that he seeth things represented in the wrong place, and under * Quid in potestatem alienam irruis? quid temerarius Dei tribunal ascendis ?-Opt. lib. 2. judgment, without careful examination of the cause, so as well to understand it. Even those, who out of indispensable duty, or by a just power, may call others to account, are yet obliged to be wary, and never to pass sentence without due cognizance of the cause; otherwise they will judge blindly and rashly; they will either decide wrongly, or so truly, that doing it must be imputed not to their virtue, but to their fortune; often they will be mistaken, and it is luck that they are not so always: and what plainer iniquity can there be, than that the reputation or real interest of any man should be put to the arbitrement of chance; that he should be defamed, or damnified, not for a certain fault, but from an unhappy lot? As things viewed at a distance appear much different in bigness, shape, and colour, from what they are in nature and reality; so if we do not look nearly and narrowly we shall greatly misapprehend the na i James ii. 1; Matt. xxii. 16; 1 Tim. v. 21. Deut. i. 16. |