Ver. 14. Lord fpake unto Mofes, faying, Bring forth him that bath Carfed without the Camp and let all that heard him lay their Hands upon his Head, and let all the Congrega Ezra 9.1. tion ftone him. Now when these things were done, the Princes came to me, faying, The People of Ifrael, and the Priests and the Levites, have not feparated themselves from the People of the Lands, doing according to Matt. 18. their Abominations, &c. And if he neglect 7. to hear them, tell it to the Church. Nay, they would do well to confider in how many Instances, under the Jewish Difpenfation, those who faw, or were acquainted with fuch Offences, were pofitively commanded to be Witneffes or Informers against the Perfons who committed them, tho' they were their nearest Relations: Deut. 13. Thus, If thy Brother, the Son of thy Mo6. ther, or thy Son, or thy Daughter, or the Wife of thy Bofom, or thy Friend which is as thine own Soul, entice thee fecretly, fayVer. 8. ing, Let us go and ferve other Gods. Thou fhalt not confent unto him, nor hearken unto him, neither fhall thine Eye pity him, neither halt thou fpare, neither shalt thou conceal him. But thou shalt furely kill him; thine Hand shall be first upon him to put him to Death, and afterwards the Hand of Ver. 11. all the People. And all Ifrael fhall hear and fear, and shall do no more any fuch Ver. 9. Wicked Wickedness as this is among you. Now tho this Method of giving Informations to the Magistrate against prophane and vicious Perfons may appear to unthinking People to carry Severity in it, I fhall endeavour to fhew that it may be lookt on as a comprehenfive Branch of Charity, and a Religious Office, when 'tis performed, as other good Acts fhould be, with pure Intentions, upon proper Occafions, and in a Christian Temper. It is, in the first place, a great Kindness to the Poor; the Money that is raised by Convictions upon these Statutes against Prophaneness and Vice being by Law given to them, whereby they have in Fact had, for feveral Years paft, in London and Westminster, a confiderable Supply, in the times of their great Diftrefs; and the Burthen of the Provifion for them, that hath lain fo heavy on Parishes, hath' been eased: So that this Office, if there was no other Reafon for it, one would think fhould be agreeable to Men of Charity, to those especially whofe Circumstances will not permit them to give fuch Affiftance to the Poor as they could otherwise wish; the Good of our poor Neighbour being hereby promoted by the fame Act that prevents God's Difhonour. But the giving of Informations against Offenders will, I con ceive, be found, upon an impartial Enquiry, to be a real Act of Charity, even towards the Perfons offending, and to the Publick, as well as to those who are relieved by the Penalties levied upon them. 'Tis universally acknowledged, that we are not only to apply our felves to the working out our own Salvation, but that we are to be concern'd for the Salvation of one anothers Souls, and to endeavour to further it, according to our Advantages and Opportunities; and that this Care is an Expreffion of great Charity to our Neighbour, and highly acceptable to AlJam.5.20. mighty God. For we are told, That be which converteth a Sinner from the Errour of his way, fhall fave a Soul from Death, and fhall bide a multitude of Sins and that they that Dan.12.3. turn many to Righteousness shall shine as the *Jam.5.16. Stars for ever and ever. *Prayer, ExhortatiTim 2.1. on, Admonition, Reproof, and good Example, are all proper means for this end, and are 14. plainly inculcated in the Word of God; but 2 Theff.3. when there is but little or no hope of our Eph.5.11. Neighbour's Amendment by the use of such Mat. 5.16. means, as I conceive there often is, where Heb.3.13. Rom. 15. 15. the Offender is fo impudent and hardned, that he defpifes Counsel and Reproof, or they make no fort of good Impreffion upon him, but he rather takes an Occa fion fion to commit the more Sin, by falling into Paffion, or other Unchriftian Irregularities, and he bids defiance to all other means, as he too often does, when he is fo far from being afhamed of his Wickedness, that he values himself upon it, and makes a Mock at Sin, as So Prov.14.9. lomon tells us Fools do, that he calls upon. his Maker to damn him, or he otherwife glories in his Shame: And our Saviour's Direction takes place, of not cafting of Pearls Matt. 7. 6. before Swine: And we have, laftly, little or no reason to expect any help or redress in this cafe from the Ecclefiaftical Power, by telling his Offences to the Church: Is it not an Act of Charity to try what the bringing the Offender to a legal Correction will do towards the recovering the poor Captive out of the Snare of the Devil, and bringing him to a right mind? And does not the neglect of doing this, the fuffering him to go on in his wicked Courses, to the manifeft danger of the ruin of his Temporal and Eternal Intereft, rather than the bringing him to wholfome Punishment, feem rather an Argument of foolish Pity, than of Love; of a cruel and treacherous Fondness, than real Kindness? We do not think it an expreffion of Kindness to our dearest Relations, that are lying under dangerous Diftempers, to chufe rather to fee them quietly die, than to use Medicines that will give them more Pain and Disturbance, but are proper for the Recovering them. And G it is not the less Kindness to them because in their desperate and delirous Fits they have not a Sence of the Good we intend them by it, but refuse the Remedy, and perhaps fly in the Face of the Phyfician; nay, when Incifions are neceffary, when a Member is to be cut off to prevent a Gangreen, we tie them down, and their Cries and Reproaches of hardship and ill ufage, though they are in their Senfes, do not hinder the Operation. And have we not fo much Compaffion for those miserable Creatures who have little or no true Compaffion for themselves, that lie under the Lethargy of Sin, whereby their Souls are in fo great and evident danger of being for ever loft, to endeavour, by the Magiftrates Punishment of them, to fcarifie and awaken them out of their deadly Sleep, to a Sense of their dangerous Condition and the Confideration of it, which may have its beginning in the Fear of the Law, that they are driven to by the Shame and Punishment that is thereby brought upon them, may be a means of working the happiest Effects, may end in their heartily embracing wholsome Counsels. And will not they then think, that they that brought them to legal Correction did them a Kindness, how grievous foever it was to them when it was upon them; and that it was happy for them that they met with that Punishment that led them to Wisdom? and when this Method for the good of our Neigh bour's Soul fails, we may, as after the use of other |