The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural…

There is no righteous Governor on Earth,¹ that will suffer (if he can help it) his disobedient Subjects to persecute those that most carefully obey him, and to make them a common scorn, and to imprison them, torment them, burn them at Stakes, or banish them, and then say, That their obedience is in its own nature so much better than disobedience, that it is Reward enough of it self. It is not the work of a Ruler only to see that no man be a loser by him or his service in point of commutative Justice; but to see that by distributive Justice such a difference be made between the obedient and disobedient, as the difference of their actions do require, in order to the ends of Government. Justice giveth every one his due. Mercy it self when it remitteth a penalty, doth it for the same ends, and upon such reasonable considerations of repentance, confession, satisfaction, reparation, (according to power) that it may be called a Just Mercy: God is such a Lover of Holiness, that he will in his Government manifest that Love; and such a hater of sin that he will signify his hatred of it to the sinner.

There is no righteous Governour on Earth,¹ that will suffer (if he can help it) his disobedient Subjects to persecute those that most carefully obey him, and to make them a common scorn, and to imprison them, torment them, burn them at Stakes, or banish them, and then say, That their obedience is in its own nature so much better than disobedience, that it is Reward enough of it self. It is not the work of a Ruler only to see that no man be a loser by him or his service in point of commutative Justice; but to see that by distributive Justice such a difference be made between the obedient and disobedient, as the difference of their actions do require, in order to the ends of Government. Justice giveth every one his due. Mercy it self when it remitteth a penalty, doth it for the same ends, and upon such reasonable considerations of repentance, confession, satisfaction, reparation, (according to power) that it may be called a Just Mercy: God is such a Lover of Holiness, that he will in his Government manifest that Love; and such a hater of sin that he will signifie his hatred of it to the sinner.

1. 1Quum Pompeio res infeliciter cederent, & ad Caesarem inclinaret victoria, Cato dicebat, in rebus Divinis multum esse caliginis; quod Pompeio praeter jus agenti fuissent omnia prospera; causam reipublicae tuenti nihil succederet. Plutarch. in Catone.