The dew of Hermon which fell upon the hill of Sion, or, An answer to a book entituled, Sions groans for her distressed, &c. offered to the King's Majesty, Parliament, and people wherein is pretended to be proved by Scripture, reason, and authority of fifteen ancients, that equal protection under different perswasions, is the undoubted right of Christian liberty : but hereby confuted, wherein the power and proceedings of the Kings Majesty and the church are vindicated.

Sect. 12.

THe next place alledged by them is, Matth. 13. The Parable of the Tares; whereof it is said, Let both grow together till the Harvest.

Answ. I agree with them, that this place does not only respect the second, but the first Table, the subject whereof is the worship of God. But withall I answer first, with that Expositor they mention, that it seems not to note the duty of the civil Magistrate, but the event of Gods Providence, namely, that God would permit the co∣habitation of the wicked in the world with the just; not that the Magistrates or Ministers should permit them, and not by civil pu∣nishment or ecclesiastical remove them out of the Church or world, if the quality of the offence so required it.

But say they, If men did not fight against the truth, they would not so eminently contradict their own sayings, for who can be∣lieve that it should be the mind of God to permit the cohabitation of the wicked in the world with the just, as aforesaid, and yet the Ma∣gistrate should not permit them, but remove them by civil punishment out of the world? Hath the Magistrate power to remove those out of the world, that God would have permitted to live? How soon may a Magistrate, if guided by such a doctrine, bring the bloud of the inno∣cent upon himself and Nation?

Answ. Here is no contradiction at all: neither doth a Magi∣strate bring innocent bloud upon himself by going about to put those to death [if they deserve it] whom the event of Gods providence keeps alive. When a Traytour or Murderer makes an escape, the event of Gods Providence keeps him alive, whom the Magistrate would have put to death, and this without bring∣ing innocent bloud upon himself. Abraham did well in going about to sacrifice his Son Isaack, having a command from God to do it, Yet the event of Gods Providence kept him alive, Genes. 22. The Gibeonites were of the Hivites, whom God commanded the Israelites to destroy, yet the event of Gods pro∣vidence kept them alive, Joshua 9. The Israelites had Com∣mission from God to fight against the Benjamites the first and se∣cond time, yet the event of Gods providence gave them the better till the third Encounter, Judges 20. How these par∣ticulars came to passe, may be read in their several sto∣ries.

And how such events may happen frequently under a Magistate u∣sing his power, is thus made good. The wise Creator of all the World having afforded to every creature, a means most suitable to its na∣ture, for the accomplishment of its end and perefection, and for the removal of impediments which lie in its way thereunto, has done no lesse to man in as much as for the encouragement of his obedience, and the removal of sin out of the way to happinesse; [both which are moral things] he plies him with exhortations, comminations, bles∣sings, curses, examples, precepts, which are moral too; and all this may be done by the Ministers of the word, or of others in their ca∣pacities. And because, if he stayed here, the major part, which have lesse of Natures first institution in them, would be never the better for all these; he hath ordained the Magistracy, so to be a terrour to evil works to execute wrath on them that do evil, Rom. 13. without which no man would be able to maintain his proprieties in goods and lands, preserve his life and liberty, and consequently all civil society [which not men only, but even beasts, birds, fishes, and in sects them∣selves seem to affect] would fall to the ground. Yet let the Magistrate do what he can [and let him do but Justice] the wicked will have a co∣habitation among the Just, and that for these reasons; viz. because he is not omniscient and sees not all wickednesse: 2. although he sees it, yet he may not by testimonies be able to convince all men of their wicked deeds: 3. because that though he may convince, yet all wickednesse is not capital whereof persons may be convinced, without which a man cannot be taken out of the world: and this is the event of Gods providence. If they say that he might have used natu∣ral means to obstruct so great an evil as sin is, and to advance the hap∣pinesse of man, I say then, either the means must be made connatu∣ral to man, or man to the means: If the first, this is done already, in as much as moral and civil means are most connatural to man, a free agent and animal politicum. If the second, its impossible to be done in as much as it were to make him an animate thing, or at the least a Brute, which work, this without choice and that without proper appetition; and consequently he must not have made him at all: for it is well said of Lactantius de falsa sapientia, which is of his works, l. 3. c. 18. Who considering the devotion of Plato, who gave thanks to Nature for three things. 1. That he was born a man, and not a beast. 2. That he was a man rather then a woman, a Grecian and

not a Barbarian. 3. That he was an Athenian, and lived in the time of Socrates. Then which, saies he, what can be said more like a Do∣tard, as though, if he had been a Barbarian, a Woman, or an Asse, he had been the same Plato that he was, and not that very thing which had been so born? If they say that God then may use supernatural means by working transcendently above the wills of men without de∣stroying their Nature or abridging their freedome. Whereunto it is answered that as, had God done the other, he would have destroyed his providence touching the creation of man; so, should he do this, he would destroy his providence preparatory to the last Judgement, wherein every man shall receive according to that he hath done in the body whether good or evil. But though this Exposition be pious and not to be rejected, yet this Parable, methinks more naturally admits of another, which I shall lay before the Reader, and which may import the duty of the Magistrate and Minister of Gods word, as well as the event of Gods providence. It is thus, There are two sorts of evils which may grow up with the good seed of the Law of Nature implanted in man in his first creation, or of the Gospel given for mans renova∣tion. The one sort may be compared to tares (as here) whereof there is a sort which the Greeks, say to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 such as grows up of it self among the wheat in an over-moist and corrupt earth, without any seed sown at all. Such are those evils ei∣ther in manners or opinion which though they seem to us, that cannot see all things, to grow of themselves, yet they owe their beginning to the enemy the Devil, who first corrupted & endeavours daily more & more to corrupt our Nature. The other sort of evils are compared to thorns and briars, Heb. 6. 8. whose end is to be burned, such as are desperate and incorrigible sinners, as may be clearly seen by the scope of the Apostle in that place. The first sort are evils of infirmity for the most part, which are entwisted with our Nature, as tares are with corn, and therefore cannot be cut down, unlesse the good grain goes down with them, all men even the best being subject unto them. Should the Magistrate cut down all these, he must cut himself down for company: and should S. Paul have delivered men to Satan for these, he must have given himself into his hands: for though he knew nothing by himself, yet was he not hereby justified. Nevertheless he used a severity towards himself by keeping down his body and bringing it in∣to subjection, as a Magistrate may do towards his▪ Subjects for reforming

of lesser evils and preventing of greater; nay S. Paul had the messen∣ger of Satan, a thorn in his flesh, sent to him, least he should be puffed up with the abundance of Revelations, 2 Cor. 12. 7. The second sort are evils of presumption which like bryars and thorns are not neces∣sarily entwisted with our Nature, but yet growing up amongst the good grain, will choak it, and therefore calls for present cursing, and lastly for burning, least in the end of the world, it being all be∣come bryars and thorns, there would remain no harvest to the great Husbandman to be brought into his barnes by his reapers: and so this world destroys Gods providence preparatory to the last Judge∣ment on the right hand, as the forementioned supposition would de∣stroy it on the left.