Peace. Dear Truth, it seems not to be unreasonable to close up this passage with a short descant upon the assertion, viz., “A subject without godliness will not be bonus vir, a good man, and a magistrate, except he see godliness preserved, will not be bonus magistratus.”
Truth. I confess that without godliness, or a true worshipping of God with an upright heart, according to God’s ordinances, neither subjects nor magistrates can please God in Christ Jesus, and so be spiritually or Christianly good; which few magistrates and few men either come to, or are ordained unto: God having chosen a little flock out of the world, and those generally poor and mean, 1 Cor. i. 26; James ii. 5, yet this I must remember you of, that when the most high God created all things of nothing, he saw and acknowledged divers sorts of goodness, which must still be acknowledged in their distinct kinds: a good air, a good ground, a good tree, a good sheep, &c.
I say the same in artificials, a good garment, a good house, a good sword, a good ship.
I also add, a good city, a good company or corporation, a good husband, father, master.
Hence also we say, a good physician, a good lawyer, a good seaman, a good merchant, a good pilot for such or such a shore or harbour: that is, morally, civilly good, in their several civil respects and employments.
Hence (Ps. cxxii.) the church, or city of God, is compared to a city compact within itself; which compactness may be found in many towns and cities of the world, where yet hath not shined any spiritual or supernatural goodness. Hence the Lord Jesus, Matt. xii. [25,] describes an ill state of a house or kingdom, viz., to be divided against itself, which cannot stand.
These I observe to prove, that a subject, a magistrate, may be a good subject, a good magistrate, in respect of civil or moral goodness, which thousands want; and where it is, it is commendable and beautiful, though godliness, which is infinitely more beautiful, be wanting, and which is only proper to the Christian state, the commonweal of Israel, the true church, the holy nation, Ephes. ii.; 1 Pet. ii.
Lastly, however the authors deny that there can be bonus magistratus, a good magistrate, except he see all godliness preserved; yet themselves confess that civil honesty is sufficient to make a good subject, in these words, viz., “He must see that honesty be preserved within his jurisdiction, else the subject will not be bonus cives, a good citizen;” and doubtless, if the law of relations hold true, that civil honesty which makes a good citizen, must also, together with qualifications fit for a commander, make also a good magistrate.