Format 
Page no. 
Search this text 
Title:  Civil magistrates must be just, ruling in the fear of God. A sermon preached before His Excellency William Shirley, Esq; the Honourable His Majesty's Council, and House of Representatives, of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay in N. England; May 27. 1747. Being the anniversary for the election of His Majesty's Council for the said province. / By Charles Chauncy, D.D. one of the Pastors of the First Church in Boston. ; [One line from Deuteronomy] ; N.B. The several paragraphs which, for want of time, were omitted in preaching, are inserted in their proper places, and, for distinction's sake, comprehended in crotchets.
Author: Chauncy, Charles, 1705-1787.
Table of contents | Add to bookbag
constituted guardians of the laws, who are indo|lent, inactive and irresolute; much more, if, to|gether herewith, they are known to be of a vi|cious turn of mind. It can't be supposed, men of this character should be faithful in the execu|tion of justice; and to devolve this care on them, would be to wrong the community, and expose authority.Not that those, with whom it lies to appoint officers, are always to blame, when unqualified persons are put into places of trust; for they are liable, after all prudent caution, to be mistaken in their own judgment, and to be imposed on by misinformation from others. But then, they should take due care, when such persons are found, upon trial, to be unequal to the trust committed to them, to remedy the inconvenience: Nor o|therwise will they continue innocent, however faultless they might be at first. 'Tis evidently the demand of justice, that such unmeet persons should be displaced, and others better qualified put in their room.And 'tis equally just, that those who are capa|ble of behaving well, but behave ill in their re|spective stations, should be testified against. And should they be so unadvised, as grosly to abuse their power; applying it to the purposes of ty|ranny and oppression, rather than to serve the good ends of government, it ought to be taken out of their hands, that they might no longer be 0