/SS OfthepatniPubnent OfAdultery. mong the Romans adultery was punifhedwithdcath,both by the twelue tahles,and by their law called lex Iulia, which was made by Auguf ias Cafar. Other nations which did not inflia death vpon theadul- tcters,puniflied them with tortures , as bitter as death . the Dáodor,Sc. Egyptians decreed that the nofeof the adulterelfe fhould be l:b.a, r.S;c. cut Off, and that the adulterer fhould be beaten witha loop. fit ipes,almoflvnto death. Zalerscus Kirig of the Locrenfes made a law that the adulterer fhould lofe both his ties: which lawwhen his ovine' fonne tranfgrtlled, norwirhfian. ding,thatrhe people being inclined to pity, would haue had Aelian.ánTn. his fault remitted, he would not condefcend,hut caul-eel one ria.biß.lib.13. ofhis owne,andone of his formes des to be pulled out. A. mong the Germans , as Cornelius Tacitas recordeth the a_ dultereffe being flripped naked before her kindred& friéds, had 6rfl her haire cut off, and afterwards WAS beaten with cudgels through the towne by her husband. By all which it appearetii,that cuco by the light ofnature, obie iieta adultery in all ages hath been condemned and punifhhied asa . anprered. capital crime , and confequently that this punifhment a- mong the Imeswas not merely iudiciall , but morall and of commonequity . Ncitheris that obieaionofanyforce,that our Sauiour Chrif+ refuted eo condcmne thewoman taken in adultery , feting pee came into the world not to execute the office ofan earthly Iudge,but ofaMediatour who fhould fromGodprocure the pardon ofour fnnes; hecame not to condemnc,but to faue,and toglue his life a ranfomefor ma- ny; Arainc , whereas our Sauiour asketh the woman ifany man had condemned her according to the law in that cafè prouidcd, itfeemeth thereby that lithe fentence ofdeath had bcene lawfully pafí'ed againf} her, he would not hauc repealed it ; for hcecarne not to violate the law, but to fu1 S.Segt.4. fill ir. That Magi- And thereforeour Chri flian Magiflrates are to beexhor- frares ought ted, that they would not lightly account of this (roar of topump,This whoredcme, which the lawof God and the law of nations yyneof with le. allure- hath condemned as ca itall but that they would enact r} r nll p ; ßraeráiy ucre laves for thepunilldmeut olthisfrme a which is foabo, minable
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