Common Places, Part 2 · Chapter 9 · Section 17
Of Crueltie.
50 And as concerning crueltie, In Iud. 1.we may eaſilie gather by the puniſhment doone vntounto Adonibezeck, that too much crueltie diſpleaſeth God: and thereof I thinke it came to paſſe, that as well by Gods lawes, as mans lawes (of thoſe I meane which are accounted iuſt and honeſt) there hauehave béene certeine puniſhments preſcribed for crimes, according to the gréeuouſneſſe of them; to the intent that iudges might hauehave the leſſe libertie to exerciſe crueltie. Yea and lawiers hauehave added this rule, that puniſhments ſhould rather be diminiſhed by iudges, than augmented: which neuertheleſſe muſt be vnderſtood ſo farre foorth as the nature of the fault and vtilitie of the Common-weale will ſuffer. Which I therefore ſpeake, bicauſe otherwhile thoſe conditions, which commonlie they call circumſtances, doo make the crime ſo odious and horrible, that the iudges muſt there of neceſſitie augment the puniſhment, which hath béene preſcribed by the lawes; to the intent they may terrifie others frō ſo great & deteſtable offenſes. And ſo Dauid, 2. Sam. 12, 5when Nathan the prophet had ſet before him an execrable and horrible thing, decréed a more gréeuous puniſhment againſt him that was guiltie, than the lawe had prouided againſt common théeues, and ſtealers of cattell.
I hauehave therefore made mention of theſe, Three kinds of death in the lawe of God.bicauſe there were in the law thrée kinds of death appointed for euill dooers; I meane, hanging, ſtoning, and burning: wherevnto ſome of the Hebrues adde a fourth; namelie, the puniſhment of the ſword. But bicauſe there is not (as farre as I knowe) anie mention thereof in the lawe, I hauehave therefore paſſed it ouer. We read that Adonias, Ioab, and Agag king of Amalech, were thruſt thorough with ſwords; but we find it not preſcribed by anie lawe or precept, that the guiltie ſhould be put to death. Séeing therefore the matter is ſo, yet we perceiue, An extraordinarie puniſhment of the Hebrues.that the children of Iſrael vſed in their tents a certeine extraordinarie kind of puniſhment againſt king Adonibezek. Neither will I beléeue, that they did this without the inſtinct of GOD: for God would puniſh the crueltie of this tyrant, with an exquiſite puniſhment, which neuertheleſſe was a rendering like for like. Which kind of horrible dooing, to the intent we may the eaſilier auoid, it ſhall not be gréeuous vntounto vsus to ſpeake ſomewhat thereof.
The definition of crueltie.51 This word crueltie, is deriued either of this Latine word Cruor, which ſignifieth Bloud, wherein cruell men like wild beaſts doo delite; or elſe of Crudae carnes, which ſignifieth Rawe fleſh, which barbarous and beaſtlie people doo ſometimes eate: and it may be defined to be an euill habit, by the which we are inclined vntounto ſharpe and hard things aboue reaſon. And ſomtimes it happeneth, that crueltie is counted for a pleaſure: with which wicked affection or habit, how ſome wicked tyrants hauehave ſomtime béene infected, it is euidentlie to be perceiued by manie examples. For the holie hiſtorie ſetteth before our eies Adonibezek: and the euangelicall hiſtorie maketh mention of Herod. Matt. 2, 16.The Ethnike poets hauehave made report of the crueltie of Atreus and Thieſtes. And the moſt cruell fact of Xerxes king of the Perſians is ſet foorth by Seneca in his third booke De ira, The crueltie of Xerxes.the 17. chapter. When a certeine man named Pythius, who had well deſerued at his hands, came vntounto him, and deſired of him to ſpare him one of his fiue ſons from the wars, he cōmanded him, as though he would grant him his requeſt, to chooſe which of them he would hauehave to tarrie at home from the wars. And he did as he was bidden. But this moſt cruell tyrant commanded, that the yoong man, whom he had choſen, ſhould be drawne one ſide of him one waie, and the other ſide of him another waie, vntill at the length he was torne in ſunder: the one part whereof he commanded to be faſtened in one corner of the waie, by the which the ſoldiers ſhould paſſe; and the other in another corner: ſaieng, that by this meanes he purged his armie. Howbeit, not long after, he being moſt ſhamefullie ouercome and beaten by the Graecians, was conſtreined to flie awaie through the ouerthrowes and dead carcaſes of his owne ſoldiers.
The miſerable end of Sylla.Sylla baniſhed an innumerable companie of the citizens of Rome: but at the length he was moſt horriblie eaten vp of lice. Euen after the like ſort died that moſt cruell Herod, as it is moſt manifeſtlie declared by Ioſephus. Contrarie to this excéeding great wickednes and moſt heinous miſchéefe is clemencie, which as a ſingular vertue dooth verie well become princes, and is an excellent ornament of chriſtian men. Auguſtine in his third booke of Queſtions, queſtion 31. defineth the ſame after this maner; Clemencie defined.It is an habit, whereby men being ſtirred vp to hatred againſt anie man, are through goodneſſe kept backe. A fooliſh kind of merciemercy.This vertue is a meane betwéene crueltie and fooliſh merciemercy. I call it fooliſh merciemercy, whereby our mind is ſo mooued with other mens miſeries, that it declineth from ſound counſell and iuſt reaſon. And for this cauſe are we ouercome of this affect, bicauſe we would neuer ſuffer ſuch things, as we ſée others iuſtlie and deſeruedlie afflicted withall: and bicauſe we our ſelues indeuour to auoid the ſame, therefore we ceaſe to puniſh the wicked.
52 Dauid, hauing ouercome his enimies, In 2. Sam. 12, verſe. 31.did gréeuouſlie puniſh them; he led the Ammonites foorth of the citie, and ſlue them, not after a vulgar maner, but he had ſawes, wherwith he ſawed them in ſunder. And this is alſo ſhewed to hauehave happened vntounto Eſaie. And in the eleuenth chapter to the Hebrues, it is ſaid of the ſaints, Heb. 11, 37.that they were hewen in ſunder. This kind of puniſhment perhaps was vſuall in thoſe parts. Moreouer, he brought foorth chariots and ſleds, that they ſhould be drawne vponupon them; and he alſo hewed them in ſunder with axes and hatchets, he threw them into the kils of bricke or tile: all which are cruell things. Whether Dauid were cruell.Dauid perhaps in theſe puniſhments, might ſéeme to hauehave degenerated from his owne nature: for he was méeke and gentle; but theſe ſéeme to be parts of excéeding great crueltie. What did he become another Phalaris? No: but if we will iudge by things, as they were doone, manie of them may ſéeme in the holie ſcriptures to hauehave béene cruell. Iudg. 1, 6.For the Iewes ſo puniſhed king Adonibeſek, as they cut off the thumbes of his hands, and of his féet. Ioſua brought foorth the kings, Ioſua. 10, 27which had hidden themſelues in a caue; and they being proſtrated vponupon the earth, he would hauehave them to be troden vponupon by the children of Iſrael, in ſuch wiſe, that they ſhould tread with their féet vponupon euerie one of their necks: and afterward he hanged them vponupon fiue trées. Iudg. 8, 16.Gedeon, in the eight chapter of the booke of Iudges, ſlue the elders of Succoth with thornes and briers. Saules ſonnes, 2. Sam. 21, 9by the will and commandement of the Lord, were hanged vp. Theſe things ſéeme at the firſt ſight to be cruell; but they be not ſo. Which that it may appéere, doo but conſider this; that about the executing of puniſhments, there be found in the minds of men, habits of vertue, and of vices.
Clemencie cauſeth minds to be bent vntounto the mitigation of puniſhments, according vntounto right reaſon. The vice that is in defect, is a certeine remiſſeneſſe and ſlackneſſe in puniſhing: for we may ſée manie, which doo not once touch heinous crimes. And on the other part, there is a certeine habit of fierceneſſe and crueltie, that paſſeth meaſure. Thoſe be called cruell (if we giuegive credit to Seneca, in his ſecond booke De clementia) which excéed a meaſure in puniſhing offenders. And, as we bréeflie touched, cruell men are ſo called either of Cruor, that is, Bloud: as who ſhould ſaie, they be delited therewith; or elſe of Cruditas, that is, Rawneſſe. For euen as thoſe things, which be ſodden, hauehave a pleaſant taſte; ſo hauehave rawe things an vnpleaſantneſſe ioined with them, togither with a certeine taſte that is horrible. Thoſe be ſauage and cruell, which doo torment without a cauſe, as though they were delited with the torments of other men; euen as beaſts that knowe not goodneſſe and honeſtie, but hauehave onelie reſpect vntounto ſwéetneſſe and commoditie: either for that the ſight of bloud is delitefull, or elſe bicauſe they will be fed with fleſh. Now, ſince crueltie conſiſteth in this, that therein is a going beyond the meaſure of right reaſon; let vsus ſée, whether Dauid and others hauehave paſſed the bounds of reaſon. Certes, they followed a mediocritie; and thoſe things, which they did, belonged vntounto puniſhing iuſtice: for thoſe were woorthie of the greateſt puniſhments. Dauid followed reaſon, but yet a diuine reaſon; the which reaſon alone is called good. God ſtirred him vp vntounto theſe things, not without a cauſe. And it was neceſſarie for him, ſince he was a grand capteine, to followe that reaſon, which God had ſhewed vntounto him.
53 That the Ammonites were moſt wicked men, we may knowe it by manie cauſes. Firſt of all, they againſt the lawe of nations, ſhamed the ambaſſadors of Dauid, in cutting ſhort their beards and garments. They gaue an ill iudgement of the moſt godlie king Dauid; namelie, that he had ſent that ambaſſage with a feigned hart, not to comfort the ſonne of the king of the Ammonites, which was dead, but to deſtroie him. Againe, when the head citie was beſieged, and that they had ſlaine Vrias, and other valiant men, they alſo vaunted againſt God. This did Nathan declare; 2. Sa. 12, 14.Bicauſe thou haſt prouoked mine enimies (ſaith he) to ſpeake euill of me, the child, which is borne of thee, ſhall be ſlaine. If God ſlue the child of Dauid, bicauſe Dauid had giuen an occaſion of blaſpheming God; how much more gréeuouſlie were they to be puniſhed, which did this thing? And further, wheras they had doone iniuries vntounto Dauid, yet did they firſt mooue war againſt him. And neither would they onelie hurt Dauid, but they alſo ſolicited others of his ſubiects and tributaries to forſake him. They diſquieted all thoſe regions of Syria and Meſopotamia: and that (which is moſt of all) they burned their ſonnes and daughters for their idoll ſake, which they worſhipped. And what maruell was it, if they were throwne into the ſame fornaces, The puniſhment of like for like.wherein they threw their owne children? This was a puniſhment of like for like.
And alwaies in thoſe puniſhments, which are not reprooued in the ſcriptures, we muſt flie vntounto this; namelie, that God gouerned thoſe fathers. Some, to make theſe puniſhments the leſſe, ſaie that all were not ſo handled; but the ſeigniors and princes onelie, which were as the ſtaie and ſuccour of the people. But Ioſephus ſaith, that they were all rid out of the waie. And the ſcriptures alſo ſéeme to make it a generall puniſhment. Howbeit, I would thinke that ſome were excepted: for in the 17. chapter of the ſecond booke of Samuel, we read, 2. Sa. 17, 37.that Sobi the ſonne of king Nahas, did helpe Dauid, when he was driuen out of the kingdome by Abſolom. Wherevpon it is gathered, that the one ſonne of king Nahas was ſlaine, and that the other was by Dauid made ruler of the countrie. Theſe things are not ſo much to be woondered at in him, ſéeing he was a figure of the true Dauid, which at the laſt daie ſhall ſaie vntounto all men; Go ye curſſed into euerlaſting fire, which is prepared for the diuell and his angels. Thoſe puniſhments which God ſhall laie vponupon the wicked in hell, are not cruell. They ſhall be as it were intollerable puniſhments, but yet they procéed of a right puniſhing iuſtice. He ſaith in the Goſpell; Matt. 25. 41.Bring ye vntounto me all them, which would not hauehave me reigne ouer them, and ſlaie them in my ſight. Here let magiſtrates learne to hauehave a regard vntounto right reaſon, when the guiltie are deliuered to them to be puniſhed. It muſt not gréeue their mind to execute thoſe puniſhments, which are iuſt, and commanded to be doone.