An Expojition upon the were no other Way for Expiation, no other Method to wa{h away the Stain and ~uilt of Blood, but only by bis who unjullly fpilt it, And again, Deut. 19. ,,, Tbt~e Eyejhall not puy; but Ltfe foal/ go for Ll}e. And indeed, if we tightly confider lt, thiS IS not to butcher up Mankmd, but to prelerv~ them. God bath commanded Magillratcs to Kill _that he migh~ prevent Murther: For our Nature is fo exrreamly corrupt, that there IS no other dletl:ual Vjay to hinder us from killing, but by enjoir:.. ing the MagiClrates to do it. And therefore as Phyficians in Cafes of \'iolent and im· moderate Bleeding do oHen open a Vein in another Part of the Body) as the bell: Method to ftop it by Revulfion; fo when the Body Politick bleecls hy pri"te Rage and Revenge, gufhing out into Murthers, the Way to ftop this Blood is to !hed Blood. Neither cloth our Saviour's Command, not torejift Evil, Jllaub. 5· j9· gainfay this legal and punative Way of Blood·fhedding: For thofe Words do only forbid private Revenge, nor publick. We muft" not be Judges in o~r own Caufes; nor when we ap· prebend our felves wronged, carve out to our felves whac Mcafures of Revenge our Wrath and Fury fhall diUate; we who have no Aurhority or Commiffion ought not to take Life for Lif~, nor Eye for Eye) nor Toorh for ToM:h, much lefs Lite for an injurious Word, or an idle Quarrel; we mufl: not repay with the loafi Re\'enge thc.fe who have done us the greatefl: Wrongs; in which Senfe we mufl: not refill E\•il; but if we have in any Thing fuffered Wrong, we ought ro bring ill our Cauies and Corn· plaints to the Magi!lrare; for inro his Hands bath God pur the Sword of Jufiice, Rom. J 3· 4· Revenge is fo Sacred a Thing, that none ought to intermeddle with it but thofe whom God hath appointed; for he hath folemnly afcribed it to himfelf, Heb. 10. jO. Veng-eance belongctb umo me; I will recompence, foitb rhe Lord. And he bath Conftituted the MagiUrare as his Deputy in this Work and Office; and there~ fore he only oughno Revenge, by Punilhment propdnionable to the Nature of the Crimes committed: So that to fpeak properly, it is only God, and not Mao, that fheds the Blood of wicked Perfons. The MagHlratc receives his Commiifion from God, and doth it as his Minifter and Servant; yea, and in.doing it is fo far from doing a cruel and unjuft Aft, an AE'I: that will either pollure his Hands, or ftain his Conkience, that it makes him the more Holy and Pure·: And therefore when Mofes called the Levites to flay thofe Idolaters that had wotfhipped the Golden Calf, he fpeaks of it as an Holy FunElion, Exod. 32. 29. Confecrate your {elves to Day unttJ the Lord; evtry lHan upon his Son, and upon his Bror/Jer, that be may bt/low upon Jou a Bleffing tbis Day. · Secondly, There may he Blood rhed in a Ju!l and Lawful War without the Charge or Crime of Jl1urtbtr. Indeed we are commanded to follow Peace with all Men, and as much as Iyes in us, and, if po!lible, to have Pence with al! /Ylen, Rom. 12. I~. But fometimes through the Ambition, and turbulent Spirits of other_s, through thetr politick Defigns ?fpicking unjuU Quarrels,.. it may be ~o longer ~ll1bl~ t? maintain feace; and in thiS Cafe~ where we have R1ght and Equny on ourS1de, 1t IS lawful to wage ~·ar: I fpeak not now ofprivate Differences, between Perfon ar.d Perfon, but of publick, between Nation and Nation: In which Cafe the Supreme MagHtrare bath. the Power of Making War, and Proclaiming Peace. . There are fome who decry rh is AO.enion, and think it concrarv to the Temper of a Chrill:ian, who is a Son of Peace, to he a Man of War. I confefs there js nothing that can jufiifie War again A: another Nation. but either, Firfl "Neceffary Dt:ffrx:e againtl: an unjuU Invafion. Or, Suo;d!y, Recovery of what is unjuftly taken away. Thus David purfued the .Ama- !ditu, who had carded his Wives away Captives. Or, Tbirtlly, The pu11i!hing of fome great Injury and Wrong.. Thus Davit! likewife \-Vars again!t the AtJtmonius for the contumelious Ufage of h1s AmbaiTadors. But where the Caufe is juft, the Manner in which we profecute it is warrantable, the Authority wbich,engageth us in it being rightly Confi:itured over us, I fee nothing but that it is very fir, when it is very necefiary to rake up Arms, and in a publick: War to right our felvesupon Injurious Enemies: For as there may be many Wrongs done by one Party againft another~ who muft be judged by the Law common to them borb; fo there may be many Wrongs by one Nation <~gainft another, which, if[bey will not confent to redrefS, there being no common Magiftrare, nor common Law over them both, (except the Law, and Rigbc of Narions, of which the more Powerful ufually mJke little J\.ccount,) in this Cafe certainly the injured may very juU!y have . rccourfe
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