The Grand Assizes, Title page – Dedication
THE Grand Aſsiſes: OR, THE Doctrine of the Laſt Generall Judgment, with the Circumſtances thereof: Compriſed and laid forth In a SERMON Preached at the Aſſiſes holden for the County of Southampton at Wincheſter, on Wedneſday, July 28, 1652.
By WILLIAM SCLATER Doctor in Divinity, Preacher of the Word of God in Broadſtreet, London.
2 Cor. 5.10.
Wee muſt all appear before the Judgment Seat of Chriſt, that every one may receive the things done in his Body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Nemo futurorum metum cogitat, diem Domini, & iram Dei, & incredulis futura ſupplicia, & ſtatuta perfidis aeterna tormenta nemo conſiderat: quod metueret conſcientia noſtra, ſi crederet, quia non credit omnino nec metuit, ſi crederet, & caveret, ſi caveret, evaderet.
S. Cyprian. de Unit. Eccleſ. ſect. 23.
London, Printed by E. Cotes, and are to be ſold by John Sweeting at the ſign of the Angell in Popes-head-alley, 1653.
To the Honble John Wyld Lrd. Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer, a Patriot of Juſtice, & an Exemplary Patron of true Piety; All Heavenly Benedictions.
MY LORD,
IT cannot but be known to your Lordſhip (being ſo full and rich a Magazine of all Learning, and Eloquence) that the two main(a)1 King. 7.21. Pillars, which as Jachin and Boaz in Solomon's Temple, do ſupport a Church and Common-wealth, are(b)Eph. 4.12. Miniſtery and(c)Ti…. 3.1. Magiſtracy; the one upholding Religion, and Divine Worſhip; the oth…r, Order, and Civil Juſtice: Happy is that people which is in(d)Pſ. 144.15 ſuch a caſe, where both of theſe doe not as thoſe twins within Rebecca (e)Gen. 25.22ſtruggle together, but rather as Righteouſneſſe and Peace ſweetly (f)Pſa. 85.10.embrace, and kiſſe each other: It's very remarkable in Holy Writ, how the Spirit of(g)Eph. 4.3, 4. Ʋnity (to ingage, no doubt, an harmonious accord between them) hath been pleaſed to denominate the perſons(h)1 Tim. 1.11. intruſted with either(i)1 Tim. 3.1. Office, by one and the ſame name, ſtyling them foreign, Publick (k)Rom. 15.16. 1 Cor. 3.5. & Rom. 13.4.Miniſters of God for good; the one acting as Stewards of the(l)1 Cor. 4.1. Myſteries of God; the other as Diſpenſers of Righteouſneſſe and(m)Ames 5.24 Judgement unto men; Both by Gods own(n)Rom. 10.15. ſending, and(o)Rom. 13.1. appointment: And methinks, the ſerious meditation of this their ſo ſacred inſtitution, might powerfully put to(p)1 Pet. 2.15. ſil…nce the murmurings whether of(q)2 Tim. 3 4 heady ſons of(r)1 Sā. 10.27. Belial (impatient even of the(s)Matt. 11.30. eaſieſt(t)The word foreign Belial is of foreign non & foreign jugum, id eſt abſque juge. Hieren. yoke of the Lord Chriſt) againſt them, or the repinings of other Christians not well informed, or miſtaken about either: Yea, indeed, it might prove a potent argument to(u)1 Theſſ. 5.13. foreign. eſteem, or(w)Heb. 13.17. obey the one, and to be(x)Tit. 3.1. ſubject unto the other, even for(y)Rom. 13.5. conſcience of God. I can aſſure your Lordſhip, that thoſe beams of encouragement (ſeconded alſo by that learned and godly(z)My Lord Ed. Atkins one of the Juſtices of the Court of Commō pleas. Judge then in the Weſterne Commiſſion with you) darted, and with ſo chearing a diffuſion diſplayed from your ſplendor, as from a bright ſtar of the greater magnitude, upon worthy Miniſters, whom you have profeſſed to reverence, even for their(a)1 The. 5.13. work ſake, owning them (in your ſolid, religious, and elegant Charges given upon the publick Bench of Judicature) under the title of The Lords (b)2 Cor. 5.20.Ambaſſadors, holding ſuch as are found(c)1 Tim. 1.12. Faithfull, as the Philippians did Epaphroditus, in(d)Phil. 2.29. reputation; ſay thoſe beams, by a ſweet reflexion, and influence, ſo warmed the breasts, and revived the drooping ſpirits of the godly Miniſters, that the mention thereof proveth as an amulet, or even as an foreign againſt all preſent miſapprehenſions, or future diſconſolations: It is that which ſhall welcome your approach whitherſoever Providence may direct your Judiciary Circuit, and embalme your Name with Honour, the fragrant odour whereof, ſhall be reſented with a pious, and gladſome Commemoration in following generations.
How willingly could I now wiſh my ſelfe a Chryſoſtome, or a Nazianzen, ſome Thucydides, or Cicero, yea the Quinteſſence of all their Oratory united into one, and that as by ſome Pythagoricall foreign tranſmigrated into my breaſt, that ſo I might but in ſome meaſure expreſſe (it being a skill beyond Apelles himſelfe graphically and fully to delineate) your eximious endowments and perfections, which render you first a compleat Chriſtian, and ſo by far the better and more accompliſhed Magiſtrate.
Should I mention your Ethicks, or Morall part, if Plato, Ariſtotle, or the whole Chorus of the most refined Philoſophers had lived in your dayes, your practiſe might have given them exact rules for all their deſcriptions, or characters of the Vertues; or if we look unto what is any way perfect in them, there needs no better Comment on them than your practiſe, in Juſtice, Temperance, Liberality, Manſuetude, and that Architectonicall vertue, which mainly ſteers all (for which alſo Sergius Paulus a governor is comm…nded in Scripture)(e)Act. 13.7. Prudence.
In your Theologicall or religious part, as is recorded of Cornelius, foreign, you are a(f)Act. 10.2. Devout man, one that feareth God with all your houſe, a lover and frequenter of all Gods publick Ordinances, giving much Almes to the people, and praying to God alway; your retinue alſo, and attendants qualified after the perfect Canon of Scripture, with(g)Pſ. 101.6, 7. truth, (h)Tit. 2.10.fidelity, and(i)Epheſ. 6.5, 6, 7. Col. 3.22, 23. ſingle-hearted (k)Tit. 2.9.obedience, and all ſobriety.
In your Noble profeſſion, a Promptuary of the laws, a learned(l)Act. 5.31. Gamaliel had in ſingular reputation; in the adminiſtration of Juſtice*2 Sam. 23.3. upright, and†Deut. 1.17. impartiall, and where is a meet Subject capable, full of clemency, bowells, and indulgence: A terror to none but to the evill, giving(m)Rom. 13.3. praiſe and encouragement to every good man and work.
All which conſidered, How can I but excecdingly congratulate unto my ſelf the ſo unexpected Happineſſe of your Lordſhips favour, and countenance! eſpecially when I meditate the occaſion thereof to have proceeded from your candid approbation of theſe my weake endeavours ſhewn in this and ſome other Sermons, which you were pleaſed to deſire (where as you might have commanded it) to the Preſſe: The ſubject of it was ſeaſonable, I hope, for that occaſion, and generally uſefull for theſe times, intended as a Preſervative against the growing malady of this corrupt age, Atheiſin; Being ſtraitned by the time, and your important buſineſſe enſuing, this copious Theam, as a Camell paſſing through a needles eye, was compendiated into a narrow compaſs: If your Lordſhip doe look upon it as in it ſelf, it is too mean a preſent for your acceptation, but if on the affectionate Heart wherewith it is tendred to your Patronage, you may judg it a great one: It's ſometimes as Noble to accept ſmall things as to conferre great: ſuch as it is, it proſtrates it ſelfe at your feet, beſeeching an entertainment, in finding whereof, his Devotions ſhall bee enlarged for your bliſſe, Who is
MY LORD, Your Lordſhips humble Orator and Servant William Sclater.